#also I did cheat a little bit on this I did do a quick white balance

[laomelettedufromage]

The aroace flag color picked from my profile picture of Wuxian because I am aroace and once I saw it I couldn’t unsee it

[yzzart]

hii!! love your work and i appreciate you so much for writing for tom <3 i was wondering if you could write a tom blyth x reader for the interview the cast did of how well the know each other??

An unfair test.

pairing: tom blyth x actress!reader

summary: do you, Rachel and Josh, really, know Tom?

word count: 1.990!

notes: anon, you don't know how much i enjoy writing these types of interviews and i love you for requesting this! — and i'm serious, I LOVE writing this!

"And today, we'll be competing against each other to see how well we know our friend Tom Blyth!" — You explained, crossing your legs and excited about what could happen.

"And I'm saying…" — Rachel raised a finger up, supporting it in a sign of pronouncement. — "I'm saying that I think it's unfair for Y/N to participate in this!" — She laughed, looking at you and, soon, wanting support from Josh; you took one of the small cards that Tom was holding, which was part of the game, and placed it on your face, holding it.

"I also think!" — Josh confessed. — "Is asking his girlfriend to answer questions about him cheating?" — He asked, jokingly, with his arms raised.

"Not in my world." — Tom mentioned, shrugging his shoulders, looking at the camera and pointing the small white cards towards it.

"Are you afraid of losing?" — Now it was your turn to tease, arching your eyebrows and running a hand through some strands of your hair and returning the small card to your boyfriend.

"Oh yeah?" —Rachel said; while, Tom's hand gently and knowingly held your and the camera captured and focused on the moment. - "Look at this!" — She exclaimed, surprised and Josh's laugh was followed by the camera.

"Alright, let's do it." — Tom continued with an excited tone, moving the pen, which will be used, and reading for quick seconds the question that was on one of the cards. — "First question…" — He placed the card with the name 'Vanity Fair' on his chest. — "…what is my biggest fear?"

Tom looked at you, with a funny look of complicity and as if he was saying "oh, you know the answer" and it was, impossible, to try or contain the laughter. — Receiving looks and attention from Rachel and Josh.

"She knows." — Josh stated, thinking about his possible answer or something that could come to a correct conclusion. — "She definitely knows." — Leaning on the chain, you touched his arm.

"It's kind of funny to look at you and be like, hm, let me guess." — Rachel leaned over, resting her fingers on her chin, indicating a thoughtful pose and appearance. — "Let me guess, you don't wanna die alone." — She laughed. — "Please, Y/N, give me a clue!" — Her head rested on your shoulder.

"Wait, i guess i'm not so sure about my answer." — Tom's eyebrows furrowed and his mouth opened, dramatically, a little at your words. — "I just think! "— You bit your lip, poking his knee.

"I have a guess." — Rachel turned to her boyfriend, waiting for him to say something or even give the correct answer.

"I think, mine is probably a little bit more shallow, but i think i got a guess, too." — Tom laughed at Josh's comment.

"Mine's the opposite." — Rachel said. — "You have a fear of like open water." — She observed some reaction or at least a simple speck of something new on his face, trying to guess if she was correct, but, she found nothing. — "Okay, you don't."

"What, is that your guess?" — He asked, tilting his head, as if wanting confirmation and certainty, to Rachel.

"Yeah, that's my guess." — She shook her head.

"Okay, Josh?" — Tom asked.

"I was gonna say mountain lions." — He reflected, still not sure if he would really go ahead with this guess and loud, synchronized laughter erupted in the room.

"In what way is this more shallow?" — Your boyfriend questioned himself and looked for a justification, a meaning for that comment. — "I'm curious."

"That's very poetic, in certain words." — You raised his hand in defense.

"I thought you were gonna say something like conceptual." — He referred to Rachel's guess, which failed along the way, and tried to justify it.

"Are you sure about your guess, darling?" — Tom pointed the card, with the answer, at you and he couldn't hide, even biting his lip, the anxious smile and, really, hoping that you would say the right answer. — "Or will it be a concrete answer?"

"You're making me nervous, excuse me?" — Rachel and Josh laughed. — "Definitely snakes." — You replied confidently, looking at your boyfriend and then at the camera.

"Actually, ironically, and that's like my childhood fear…" — He waved his hand. — "…which i've already overcome." — Tom finally turned the little card over so that the answer was visible and being revealed. — "Snakes!"

"The purest irony, that's incredible." — Tom pointed at you, a sign of affirmation. — "And so funny at the same time."

"Yes!" — He turned the card over again.. — "I was afraid of snakes when i was a kid because i saw a lot of Indiana Jones, and i watched a lot." — A scenario of little Tom watching Indiana Jones played in his head, causing a smile to appear on his lips. — "And i feel like this fear transformed me, you know?"

"Because cool people can be afraid of snakes." — Rachel added.

"Because cool people are afraid of snakes." — Tom agreed.

"And the fact that on set, we had two snakes, and you had to act with them for one part, is impressive." — Tom once again placed his hand on your knee, squeezing it lightly.

"But, i'm not afraid of them anymore." — Maybe, a little, but, he wouldn't say at that moment. — "I've had a lot of therapy, honey." — You laughed. — "That's my biggest childhood fear, like, it's the first thing that would come to my mind if you asked me that."

In the future, during the editing of the video, a scoreboard with your name, Rachel's and Josh's would appear at that moment and with each one's score. — And you would be ahead, even with your colleagues' comments about how unfair it seemed that you were winning. — Indeed.

"Next question!" — Tom warned, holding up another card. — "Who is my ideal dinner guest?" — He looked at you again as you thought of yet another answer or possible guess.

"Normally, i would say, but, anyway." — You shrugged, pretending to be thinking about something and got laughs in the room, including from the people who were working behind the cameras; Rachel rested her hand on your back, still laughing. — "This is difficult even for me."

"That's my first and foremost answer!" — Tom stuttered confidently, lifting the paper carefully so that the answer wasn't visible. — "But, let's consider a second option."

"I'm going to say Francis Lawrence…" — Rachel suggested, slowly, and focusing on the main camera in front of her. — "…director of The Hunger Games." — You laughed. — "And to be fair, we'd all have him as a special guest, and he's the best guest."

"He's a great dinner guest." — You mumbled. — "I think he could easily be my guess."

"Oh, mine too." — Rachel positioned herself. — “And i feel like you, that's your ideal, someone who can talk about wine and loves food.” — She paused, thinking about her words and acting as if she said something. — "Y/N could fit that description like a shame, now that i see it." — Her voice swore, and turning her head towards you .

"I was going to say that now!" — Josh said, crossing his arms. — "My guess, which i feel is terrible, is going to be Cyndi Lauper, you know." — He uncrossed his arms, resting one of them on his leg and Rachel hugged the other.

"Okay, okay." — Tom turns the paper to the camera. — "I think it would be David Bowie." — God, you would never get that right.

"I swear he didn't cross my mind for a second." — Your head shook in denial, and in disbelief.

"Me too, i wouldn't understand that." — Josh looked at one of the cameras and Rachel moved one of her hands, a little in disbelief and intrigued.

"What it is, i just think it would be really fun." — Tom tried to justify. — "Okay, so, we have no points for Rachel and Josh and…" — He acted out a movement like they were playing a drum. — "…one point for Y/N."

"We are terrible." — Rachel confessed to her boyfriend. — "Terrible."

“And i feel like she can get another point now.” — Tom read the question quickly, before looking at you, who furrowed your eyebrows in confusion.

"Really?" — You questioned, shook your leg and the british nodded.

"What's my go-to karaoke song?" — He read it and, in the same second, he started writing the answer and thousands of songs ran through his mind; one after the other.

The last karaoke night where you and Tom were present was recent; and, magically, incredible to the point of completing an album of photos and videos in your gallery. — However, it was clearly impossible to conclude what his favorite song was. — And it wasn't an exaggeration or anything like that.

"And you saying i was going to get this one right." — Your complaint passed through the ears of your boyfriend, who showed an incredulous expression.

"Our last karaoke night was, like, two weeks ago?" — Tom didn't remember, and he remembered few things. — "I think, i'm not sure."

"I'm not going to karaoke with you guys" — Rachel's soft voice introduced. — "And i need to start going." — She turned to Josh and you.

"I don't think you sing." — Josh looked up as he spoke.

"He actually sings." — You answered him. — "And he dedicates himself like no one else, a true spectacle."

“I will say it was definitely a punk rock thing.” — Josh's guess entered his mind, and he thought about agreeing with it. — "Something like."

"I would say that a chorus of a Spice Girls or Backsteet Boys song with your voice crossed my mind, but i don't want to consider it as a guess right now." — You placed your hand on your mouth, laughing at the fictional scenario.

"And i would say i don't know what to say." — Rachel murmured. — "Serious."

"I'll give you a hint, it's probably not what you'd expect." — Tom tried to help, but nothing came to her mind.

"I guess that didn't help, dear."

"Mambo number five…" — Josh suggested, speaking quietly, but sure of his guess.

"Josh's mambo number five, what's your guess?" — Blyth directed the small card towards you and Rachel, waiting for your response.

"Any of backsteet boys." — You didn't even specify any of the group's songs, and you wouldn't even have time to choose them; it was as if all their names had disappeared from your consciousness. — "Any one."

"I'm gonna say…" — Rachel thought.

"No, i'll change mine to All the small things." — At the last second, Josh changed his guess and you thought about changing but decided against it.

"All the small things, okay." — Tom pointed out.

"I'm going to say 'I miss you' by Blink 182." — Rachel said with certainty, as there weren't many options due to the lack of opportunities to attend singing nights.

"Wow, it's really the 2000s." — He separated some cards on his lap before turning to the question. — "The answer is, somewhat surprisingly…" — For the third time, Tom turns over the paper with the answer. — "Senhorita by Justin Timberlake."

The disbelieving and doubtful reactions and expressions on your faces were met by Tom's warm and loud laugh. — None of you expected that song. — And you don't remember him singing it.

Or, simply put, that memory was in the back of your mind.

"No chance, not possible." — You said intrigued, looking at your boyfriend and shaking your head in denial, for the second time.

"I don't remember you singing that." — Josh also tried to remember or have some memory with the mentioned song but nothing happened, he didn't remember either. — "Serious."

"We sing!" — Tom insinuated, pointing at you and Josh, who looked at each other and still don't remember the moment; that is if it really existed and he sang that song. — "Because Y/N mentioned Backsteet boys, we can put at least half a point." — Therefore, your name would have a new punctuation, even though it was small and not very valid. — "And she continues ahead!"

"Oh, i give up." — Rachel and Josh spoke at the same time, holding their hands up and laughing loudly.

[whitherwanderer]

Pride Backlighting Tutorial

A few people have shown interest in replicating the pride backlighting I did, so hey, here’s a quick tutorial below the cut.

Enjoy, and happy Pride Month. 🏳️‍🌈

STEP 1 — SETUP

First thing you’ll want to do is find a suitably dark background to bounce the light off of. I use the White Screen housing item dyed Soot Black, available from the Housing Merchant or Apartment Merchant in any of the housing zones for 3000 gil.

I line up 2-3 of them for coverage, but one will do if you're trying to be frugal.

If you don’t have an apartment or an FC room to use, try asking friends, FC mates, or even folks you share a Discord server with. You might even find someone who already has a studio space set up and is willing to let you use it!

Lighting in your studio space should be 0 (though you might have success at 1 as well), so make sure to adjust that or ask the studio owner if they can make that change before you start posing.

STEP 2 — GPOSE

Position your character(s) just a little ways back from the edge of the screen. You want some space between them and the screen so that the lighting can float there without casting a weird circle on the wall.

Hop into /gpose and bump up the “Manual brightness adjustment” to about 120 or whatever level allows you to see your character well enough to pose them. Pose to your heart's content.

STEP 3 — LIGHTS

Here’s the fun part. In the Light tab of the Gpose menu, switch all of your Light sources to Type 1, which has the shortest falloff radius (meaning it doesn't reach as far as Type 2 or 3). I also set all of my lights to one strong color to differentiate them while I worked on lighting—red, green, and blue, all maxed out at 255 (for now).

Swing your camera (still on all default settings) around to your character’s back and up above their head a little ways. This is where Light 1 (red) will go.

Now pan your camera down at about mid-back height and set Light 2 (green) there.

Pan your camera down one last time until you have a nice shot of your character’s butt and set Light 3 (blue).

Spin your camera back around and enjoy this nice little macaw-colored gradient.

STEP 4 — CAMERA

Set your camera angle.

The way FFIXV’s lighting works is partially dependent on how much light is in a shot. It will adjust a lot like your eyes do when you’re entering a dark room from a bright room, or vice versa. Your zoom level and camera angle are going to directly affect the lighting, so set this before you start messing with light strength and color. Sometimes this means weaker lighting will actually light your character better.

I ended up bringing my lights down to around ~160 and boosted the "Manual brightness adjustment" up quite a bit to get lighting I was happier with.

For a straightforward vertical shot, I like to have my Field of View (FOV) at 200 and of course my rotation is set to 90. Zoom in or out as needed. Remember to save your camera angle if you plan to pan around and fix things!

STEP 5 — COLOR

Make it ~queer~.

Take your flag of choice and pick out 2-3 “main” hues. Generally these will be the strongest hues in the flag, if not the only ones. Some flags, like the Pride/Progress/Intersex-Inclusive flag itself, are difficult to replicate for the sheer number of colors that are in it. You can loosely represent a rainbow with some adjustment to the RGB colors, if you’re determined to have a whole rainbow in there.

Shader Note: I recommend picking a shader preset that doesn’t mess too much with color so that colors are represented correctly. You may need to adjust light strength and “Manual brightness adjustment” to be compatible with your preset of choice. Bloom will also heavily affect the way your colors are showing up, so you may need to tone down the bloom FX or toggle it off entirely. This all depends on your preset, however.

If you’re not into RGB math, here are some cheat sheets! Not every flag is represented here of course, but I tried to cover as many colors as I could so that you could grab a color from another flag as needed! Please note that colors will need some adjustment for your own screenshot, presets, and preferences.

And that’s it, y’all! 🏳️‍🌈

(Open this image up in a new tab for more detail.)

These were taken using a heavily customized shader for that nice glowy effect.

[wolfiemcwolferson]

From your list - Carlando 33? ❤️❤️❤️

I miss your Carlando!!!

33. Seeing your ex at a party, you grab the closest person to kiss them, and now you’re dating. (With a twist)

Darling, I’m so sorry to keep you waiting for more Carlando 💙

It’s not like Lando didn’t know he’d be here. It’s his sisters wedding gods sake’s, but Lando had managed to avoid him all weekend through diversion tactics and making a quick exit out of rooms, but there’s no escaping him now.

He’s walking right towards Lando and for the fifteenth time in the last four days he resolves to murder Alexander Albon for feeding George Russell dodgy chicken and robbing him of his faux date for this weekend.

Lando is hyping himself up - going over what exactly he’s going to say, wishing he had a drink in hand. Hi Brad, how are you? It’s good to see you. I heard you moved to Kent you cheating bastard. I’m not hurt at all over you anymore, but I’m pissed that you told everyone we broke up because I didn’t want to marry you. How does it feel to get kicked out of the wedding party you selfish piece of shit? The cat you abandoned with me is thriving though. Hope you’re well.

The first bit of it is on his tongue when a hand slides around his waist and a violently purple drink appears in front of him, but before he can properly take the glass or even startle, there’s lips on his lips.

Lips that belong to one of the groomsmen - Carlos Sainz. The one that went to uni with the groom. The one that Lando met briefly, considered precisely what his dick would look like and then fled the room. Mostly because Brad had walked in, but also because the last time he met someone through Charlotte, he had ended up here. Fleeing a room because of Brad.

“There you are,” Carlos hums, still looking at him, apologizing to him with his eyes before pulling back.

Lando takes the drink without even thinking through the movement, and he nods at Carlos, watching the wrinkles around his mouth and his eyes smooth out.

Carlos’ head disappears from his line of sight and Lando watches Brad come back into view, but now he looks confused and a bit afraid, clutching his own drink with white knuckles.

“Hello, Brad.” Carlos fucking purrs. “It is good to see you.”

Brad swallows and darts his eyes between Carlos’ hand on Lando’s waist, and the fresh drink Carlos has just handed to Lando, and then to Lando’s face.

“Lando, you look well.” And then he hesitates. “I did not know you knew Carlos.”

Lando opens his mouth to tell a barely passable lie when Carlos presses into his body harder, pulling Lando tighter. Lando is no longer wondering what his dick looks like because he can feel it, pressing into his hip where Carlos has shifted him to be a bit in front of his body. It’s possessive and intimate.

“We met when I came to London six months ago.” Carlos says, and Lando knows it’s pointed because that’s about two weeks after Lando had kicked Brad out for good. “You did not think the only reason I left the firm in Madrid to come here was because of money, do you?”

Carlos places a gentle kiss to the side of Lando’s head and Lando closes his eyes. He can’t stand to see Brad’s face at the moment, but mostly because it feels…natural and…sweet…and like there’s only this. There’s only this and not because they’re putting on a show and playing pretend.

Lando flutters his eyes open and he sees that Brad has turned to leave, walking away with one hand shoved in his pocket and Lando knows what anger looks like on him so he knows he’s angry. Furious even.

“I am sorry, Lando.” Carlos whispers, releasing the hold he has on him. “I know that was not okay, but I cannot stand the sight of him. He deserves it.”

Lando spins, feeling off kilter and exposed that Carlos apparently knows about his messy break-up when Lando doesn’t know anything about him. He didn’t even know he lived in London.

“Thank you,” Lando smiles at him, darting his eyes over to the place where Brad is slumped against the wall. “But I’m afraid that little show you put on can’t end now. You’ll have to stick close to me tonight.”

Carlos’ grin is wicked. Indulgent. “Yes, and you’ll have to buy me a proper drink next week as a thank you.”

Lando feels light headed. “Yes, alright. But you’ve got to dance with me now.”

.

Charlotte remains insufferable about the fact that they share an anniversary.

[https-harlow]

Fight The Feeling Prologue- Part 10 Mistakes.

Summary- After your over one year relationship, Jack ends up cheating on you with his co-star.

A/N- Alexa Demie plays Tatiana in this series. No, I do not think anything like this happened in real life, everything is fictional.

Jack sighed, him and Urban were sitting in his dressing room, it had been about a month since you and Jack had been staying in California while he was filming White Men Can’t Jump. Jack still hadn’t proposed to you, though he thought about it almost every day. 

“I don’t know, nothing feels right. We’re both super busy the next couple months, so it’s not like I can take her on a trip or anything. I think proposing in the Bahamas would be special since that’s where we went for our first date, our anniversary, I feel like it would make sense. We just don’t have time, I don’t want it to be a quick weekend trip if I’m proposing.” Jack told Urban. 

“After tour?” Urban suggested.

“I don’t want to wait that long, but I might have to unless I can figure something out.” Jack sighed again. “I just hate waiting, you know, like we’ve talked about our futures before, but I won’t be one hundred precent certain she’s going to say yes until I ask. It’s fucking stressful.” Jack said, laughing softly. 

“It sounds stressful.” Urban said, laughing as he stood up. “I’ll be right back.” Urban told Jack. 

Urban walked out of Jack’s trailer, seeing Alexa Demie, who was playing Jack’s love interest, standing by the door, clearly listening in on their conversation. Urban didn’t say anything to her as he walked out. 

Alexa waited a moment before knocking on the door.

“Come in.” Jack called out, looking over to the door, seeing Alexa walking in.  “Oh hey.” Jack smiled at her.

“Hi.” Alexa smiled, sitting down in a free chair. “What were you guys talking about?” She asked.

 “Oh, nothing, it’s not a big deal.” Jack said.

“I thought I heard something about proposing when I walked by, maybe I could help?” She suggested. “I didn’t even know you had a girlfriend.”

Ever since they started filming together, Alexa thought Jack was flirting with her. Overtime this led to her developing a crush on him so finding out that he not only had a girlfriend, he had a girlfriend that he was considering proposing to, hurt her. All this time she thought she had a chance to be with Jack, and she was determined to still make it happen, even if it wasn’t an ideal situation.

“It’s something not many people do know.” Jack laughed softly. 

“Who is it? Tell me everything.” Alexa smiled at him.

“Oh, we’re not really telling people.” Jack told her.

“C’mon, I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” Alexa told Jack, leaning towards him a little bit.

“Fine, only because I trust you.” Jack said. “I’m dating Y/N.” 

“Wait. You’re dating Y/N? You know that everyone thinks she’s dating that male model she did that photoshoot with right?” Alexa asked. You had recently done a photoshoot with a male model that was a little more scandalous than anything you had done before. Since you have previously hinted that you had a boyfriend on social media, everyone assumed it was him.

“Yeah, I know. Why does it matter?” Jack asked and Alexa shrugged.

“I don’t know, I just couldn’t deal with people thinking that my partner is dating someone else.”

“I mean, she told me she was doing the photoshoot, she told me who it was with, she even showed me the photos before they got released. It’s not really something I’ve worried about.” Jack told Alexa.

“You must really trust her. I can’t imagine keeping my relationship so secret. There’s really only one reason I’ve heard of people keeping their partner such a secret.”

“We both trust each other. We just both enjoy the privacy.” Jack said.

“I guess that’s also a reason.” Alexa had a plan, she just had to hope it worked.

“What’s the other reason?” Jack asked.

“You don’t know? People keep their relationship a secret so they can cheat. Either of you could do it so easily. Keeping your relationship so private, always being away from each other. You don’t think it’s ever crossed her mind to cheat on you when she’s away? Or even that you’re cheating on her? Think about it, for all she knows you’re not even on set, you could be out fucking another girl behind her back.” Alexa said.

“I mean, I’ve never thought about it. I don’t think she’s out there cheating on me. I’ve also never thought about cheating on her.” Jack told Alexa.

“Not even once?” She asked. “When you’re on different sides of the country, you could have sex with whoever you wanted, and she’d never find out. Fuck, you could have multiple girlfriends and she’d never know because no one knows about you two.” 

“I’ve just never had a reason. I mean, why would I cheat on the girl I love?” Jack asked and Alexa shrugged.

“People do it all the time. Especially celebrities. I could name five rappers right now who’ve cheated on their partners without a second thought.”

“I’ll admit it gets hard sometimes being apart and so private, but it’s not like I’d change anything. I’d take the challenges we have now over the public interfering with our relationship.” Jack told her.

“What are the challenges that you have with your relationship?” Alexa asked Jack.

“I guess it’s just tough not being able to go everywhere she goes or bring her everywhere with me. I would love to walk a red carpet with her or attend an event together. Or even have her here with me instead of doing her own thing because there’s people here who don’t know we are together.” Jack said and Alexa nodded.

“Do you want to propose to her before your relationship is public?”

“Why not? We’ve managed to keep everything private; I don’t see what the big deal is with keeping the engagement private too.”

“If you really love each other, why do you feel the need to keep things private? If you love each other why does it matter what other people think?” Alexa asked Jack.

“It’s complicated. It’s not a normal situation and I know that, but it’s what works for us.”

“How were you planning on proposing to Y/N?” 

Jack and Alexa talked about Jack’s plans to propose to you for about twenty minutes before she had to leave to go film a scene. Alexa’s plan didn’t work out exactly the way she would have liked it to. Her goal was to get Jack to admit he had thought about cheating on you, or even admit that he’s thought you’ve cheated on him. But he didn’t. She at least got the idea into his head, while also looking like that wasn’t her goal by ending the conversation talking about your engagement.

A few days later, Jack was in his trailer alone again when Alexa knocked on the door, Jack telling her to come in. 

“Hey, do you have a few minutes?” Alexa asked Jack. 

“Yeah, what’s up?” 

“I was just wondering if we could go over some scenes.” Alexa suggested and Jack nodded.

“Sure, which ones?” Jack asked, and Alexa sat down next to Jack, Alexa suggested a scene that they would be filming later that day. They ran their lines a couple times before Alexa ended up moving closer to Jack. Letting her fingers trace shapes on his arm, Jack looked at her hand but didn’t stop her.

“Did you see the rumors about Y/N?” Alexa asked Jack, and Jack looked at her confused.

“No? What are they?” Jack asked her.

“Apparently she was seen having lunch with some guy the other day.” Alexa said.

“Really? With who?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know, I didn’t look at the pictures and it didn’t say who it was.” Alexa lied. She did look at the pictures, and she knew very well that the guy in the pictures was Urban. You and Urban had went to lunch one day while Jack was busy on set and Urban got bored of waiting around. Sure, it sparked a couple of rumors that you and Urban were dating, but Jack knew you two went to lunch together, hell, he’s even the one who suggested it since he was tired of Urban complaining that he was bored and he knew you had no plans for lunch, but in the moment, he forgot about it.

Due to the conversation he and Alexa had previously, he couldn’t help but let his thoughts linger on the rumors. Alexa couldn’t help but notice that Jack was deep in thought, so she sighed softly.

“Hey.” She said as she moved to straddle Jack’s waist. “That just means what we did the other day isn’t so bad after all.” Alexa told Jack as his hands rested on her hips.

“I just feel bad, you know? Cheating on the girl that I’ve loved for the past year. I still love her, I feel like that makes it worse.” Jack admitted.

“Yes, but if she’s cheating on you, then there isn’t a reason to feel bad. It’s better to cheat then be cheated on.”

“Is it really though, because cheating certainly feels worse than being cheated on.”

“At least if you find out she is cheating on you, it’s not like you are fully committed to her anymore.” Alexa said.

“But I should be. I was. I never thought about cheating until it happened.” Jack admitted. The first time Jack and Alexa had sex, Jack wasn’t thinking, it was an in the moment thing where one thing led to another, and it happened. You and Jack had gotten into a fight the night before, essentially your first serious fight, and Alexa said just the right thing the next day.

“Right now, let’s just forget about her.” Alexa said, reaching down into his pocket, pulling out the engagement ring box Jack had been bringing with him to set so you didn’t find the ring when he wasn’t home, and placed it on a nearby table. Alexa leaned forward slightly, resting her hands on his chest as she pressed her lips to his. “We got 45 minutes until we need to be on set, and I can think of a lot better ways to spend that time then talking about Y/N.” 

Alexa attached her lips to Jack’s jaw, slowly pressing kisses down his neck, finding his sensitive spot before pulling away.

“But, if you want to stop, all you have to do is tell me to and I will.” Alexa said, looking into Jack’s eyes. Jack hesitated for just a second before he shook his head. “Want me to keep going?” She asked and Jack nodded.

“Yes.” Jack said before sliding his hands from her waist to her back so he could pull her forward to kiss her again.

Both you and Urban could tell something was off about the way Jack had been acting the past couple days, but you both just assumed he was tired from spending long days on set and preparing for his tour at the same time.

Jack and Urban were sitting in his trailer in silence which was unusual for the two.

“Everything good?” Urban asked Jack, and he didn’t respond for a moment.

“I fucked up.” Jack told Urban. “Like, I fucked up bad.”

“What? How?” Urban asked.

“I cheated on Y/N with Alexa.” Jack admitted, leaning back on the couch, his hands covering his face as he sighed.

“What the fuck, when?” 

“Uh, like 3 days ago, and again today.”

“I have to be honest with you, that is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.” Urban told him.

“You don’t think I fucking know that?” Jack said.

“Are you going to tell Y/N?” Urban asked.

“I don’t know. I should but if I tell her she’s going to leave me.”

“You should have thought about that before you stuck your dick in another girl.” Urban muttered underneath his breath, Jack glared at him. 

“If you’re just going to make stupid snarky comments, you can get out.” Jack told Urban.

“I’m just telling you the truth.” Urban told him.

“Do you think Y/N’s cheating on me?” Jack asked Urban.

“Why do you think she’s cheating when you’re the one who’s cheating?”

“Alexa told me that she is. Or I guess she didn’t really tell me, but we talked, and I guess it just made me question everything.” Jack admitted. 

“We both know Y/N would never cheat on you.”

“She just knew exactly what, how, and when to say everything. Then Y/N and I got in that big stupid fight, and I don’t want to say Alexa was there when Y/N wasn’t, because Y/N has always been there for me. I don’t know how to explain why I did it and I don’t think I ever will.” 

“Are you going to continue having sex with Alexa behind Y/N’s back?” Urban asked and Jack’s hesitation was the only answer Urban needed.

Jack felt horrible about what he had done, and as much as he regretted it, he didn’t think you would forgive him for what he had done. He was afraid that if he cut Alexa off, she would retaliate and tell you what he had done, so ironically, he thought his best option to keep you from finding out, was to continue to cheat on you. So, he did. 

Jack continued to cheat on you for almost a month before you found out. 

You were laying on the bed, Jack just got out of the shower, still wrapped in a towel. You had both just picked a restaurant to order dinner from.

“Here.” Jack said, handing you, his phone. “You can put in whatever you want, I’m going to go get dressed.” He leaned down to kiss the top of your head before walking to grab his clothes. 

“Okay.” You said as he walked away. You scrolled on his phone for a few minutes, trying to decide what you wanted before you saw a text pop up.

“Meet me in my trailer during your break tomorrow.” Alexa had texted Jack. You looked at the text, confused for a moment. You didn’t think anything of it at first, the text wasn’t suspicious, but something told you to pull up the text thread, so you did. You saw several different texts that made it obvious Jack was cheating on you, more from Alexa’s side then Jack’s, but some of Jack’s responses made it obvious as well.

You were shocked to say the least. The guy you loved, and thought would never hurt you, was cheating on you. You had no idea how to react. So, you didn’t. You wanted to confront Jack, but you had no idea what to say or how to do it. 

“Are you okay?” Jack asked, walking back into the bedroom. Jack was able to tell you were distracted by something, but he didn’t know what. You quickly closed the texts and opened where you were ordering food from. As Jack laid down next to you.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” You lied and Jack nodded softly, pulling you into his side.

Tag list @jackharloww @harlowcomehome @nattinatalia @hoodharlow @itsyagirljaz @heavyhitterheaux @harlowsbby @awhore4moree

[nightghoul381]

Dead or Love ~ Ellis Twilight

This a fan translation so it is definitely not 100% accurate. I do not own anything related to Ikemen Villains. Support Cybird by buying their amazing stories!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Bitter End | Premium End | Epilogue

Ellis: “Beautiful lady over there. Are you meeting someone…?”

The person who came up beside me without making a sound was Ellis.

Kate: “Ellis…”

Ellis: “Thank you for wearing that dress. It looks great on you.”

Ellis: “You’re so cute, and beautiful, and easy to talk to… I was a little nervous.”

Kate: “I never expected you to prepare such a wonderful present for me…Thank you very much.”

Ellis: “Yes, but Christmas is still here…right?”

(Ah…)

Ellis’ hand grabs mine in a fluid gesture.

Kate: ���Ellis, that…”

Ellis: “Tonight, I’m your Santa Claus.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous the explanation was.

(It’s Christmas tonight…okay?)

Kate: “Yes, please escort me, Santa.”

Ellis: “Shall we go to the Christmas market first?”

Ellis: “It seems like there will be lots of things that can make you happy.”

As predicted by Santa Ellis, there were many exciting things lined up at the Christmas market.

(Ah, the sweets, and a mini tree!)

Kate: “There’s a nutcracker, Ellis.”

Ellis: “The nutcracker… what was that story about?”

Kate: “The nutcracker is actually a prince and ultimately protects the princess.”

Ellis: “Oh, I see. If that was the story…”

Ellis: “Then you were just cheating on me.”

Kate: “Eh, uh, cheating!?”

Ellis: “Even though I’m right next to you, you’re looking at a prince.”

Kate: “Um, uh, that’s…”

Ellis: “Just kidding… I just wanted to see your cute face.”

Kate: “…already. Please don’t make fun of me.”

Ellis: “…fufu, sorry.”

Still, I see Ellis smiling quietly next to me, looking happy, and it makes me happy too.

That’s why I wanted to step into Ellis’ life just a little bit.

Kate: “What kind of Christmases have you had so far, Ellis?”

Ellis: “Me?”

Ellis: “I see… I guess I’ve been working a lot lately.”

(It seems like Jude is working regardless of Christmas.)

Kate: “Oh, so what about when you were a child?”

Ellis: “My house was a normal house, so I had a Christmas like any other.”

Ellis: “A little bit of a special meal, a little bit of cake after dinner.”

Kate: “Fufu, sounds like fun.”

Ellis: “Oh, and at my parents’ urging, I even wrote a letter to Santa Claus about what I wanted and left it by my bedside.”

Kate: “What did you write as a child, Ellis?”

Ellis: “It was…”

Ellis: “…”

Ellis: “I forgot.”

Kate: “I see. I’m sure your parents were happy that you asked for it…”

Ellis: “Hey, Kate. Aren’t you hungry? I’m starving.”

Kate: “Me too. In that case, we can go to the deli or one of the street stalls I always go to—”

Ellis: “Leave it to Santa Claus today. Let’s go, Kate.”

Kate: “Whoa, Ellis…?”

Ellis starts walking while holding my hand.

(…I’ll indulge Ellis tonight. And he looks like he’s having a great time.)

(What’s that…?)

Suddenly my gaze dropped to Ellis’ feet.

Ellis: “Kate?”

Kate: “Ah, no, it’s nothing. Let’s go, Ellis.”

(Th-this is…)

Ellis escorted me to the first-class lounge of the luxury cruise ship, Orelus.

The pure white table was decorated with flowers, food was lined up, and Ellis and I were sitting across from each other.

Ellis: “It’s only anchored at the port for Christmas.”

(I was given a quick tour.)

Kate: “You made a reservation, right?”

Ellis: “Yeah, I kinda stand out.”

Ellis: “Oh, they’re serving freshly baked bread! Yay!”

Ellis: “It looks like there’s also one with your favorite chocolate, Kate.”

Dining in such a nice place, I enjoy my meal.

Although he said he felt like he stood out, Ellis seems naturally at home here.

Kate: “It’s strange to ask this now, but…”

Ellis: “…hm?”

Kate: “You’re very popular, aren’t you Ellis?”

Ellis: “…What do you think? I don’t know if I’m popular or not.”

Ellis: “I want to be popular with you.”

(Uh…)

Kate: “You’re teasing me like that again…”

Ellis: “You’re evading me like that again.”

Kate: “…don’t imitate me.”

Ellis: “Fufu, I was scolded.”

Then a spot light shone on the stage and the crew members smiled.

Attendant: “We will give away gorgeous and fabulous prizes to everyone who dances during the dance time that is about to take place!”

Perhaps from drunkenness, the voices around us sound like they’re having a good time.

Kate: “It looks like it’s gong to be fun. Shall we join in as well?”

Ellis: “Ah, yeah… Right.”

It was only for a moment, but I could feel the confusion in Ellis’ reply.

(Something isn’t right…and)

Ellis’ gait seemed a little different today.

(Maybe it’s just my imagination, but if something happened.)

Kate: “Ellis, uh…are you okay?”

Ellis: “Kate?”

I take him out to a secluded place and look into Ellis’ eyes.

Ellis: “What’s wrong, Kate?”

Kate: “Um, sorry if I’m wrong.”

Kate: “Ellis, is your leg injured?”

Ellis: “…Ah, that’s…”

(I knew it!)

Kate: “Please show me, how bad is the wound—”

Ellis: “…Kate, don’t get too close!”

When I rolled up the hem of Ellis’ bottoms, I found something I hadn’t expected.

Kate: “What….What is this…”

Ellis: “A time bomb.”

Kate: “T-time…bomb?”

Ellis: “Yesterday, I had another job to do with Jude.”

(Then, you’ve spent all this time with it on.)

Even though it’s a time bomb, there is no way of knowing when it will go off.

This fact sends chills down the spine.

Kate: “W-why did you stay quiet for so long—”

I was taken aback by almost saying that.

(“I want to give you a very special, very happy Christmas.”)

(It’s, because you promised me?)

I swallowed hard and pulled Ellis’s pant leg back down.

Ellis: “I’m sorry for keeping quiet, Kate.”

Kate: “…It’s okay. I’m really glad it didn’t explode...”

Kate: “So, how do we disarm it?”

Ellis: “Jude will figure it out in time.”

(Jude is strict, but he always keeps his promises… I’m sure he’ll be okay.)

Kate: “Okay. Once we get off this ship, let’s try not to walk around as much as possible.”

Ellis: “Okay. In that case—”

After getting of the ship, we headed to the church where he had planned to meet up with Jude.

When we step into the church, instead of a tranquil atmosphere, we find--.

Ellis: “Ah…”

Part 1 | Part 2 | Bitter End | Premium End | Epilogue

[minologistt]

00

TOO MANY NIGHTS I PJM

your lovely boyfriend gets you a bodyguard. one or two drinks lead into a spiral of things. however don't forget, never mix business with pleasure.

genre forbidden love / fwb(ish) -> lovers

M.LIST

warnings angst, implied cheating and neglecting partners

it was getting warmer, ice cream trucks starting to resurface, more fun shows and movies, even better outfits. however instead of feeling the warmth of the outdoors. you stuck inside, your expensive hotel room, arguing with your boyfriend.

why are you arguing with your oh-so-loving boyfriend, you may ask. well it all started about a couple months ago.

———————————————————————--------------------------

“babe have you seen the concept photo sketches for my latest runway?” you excitedly scroll through the photos on your ipad. you’re a very successful model and you’re gorgeous. in fact you’re the global IT girl currently, known for breaking beauty standards and such. in all, you’re a pretty big deal.

“yeah of course i did.. i don’t like that outfit they put you in” your boyfriend, jihoon, scoffed as he tapped away at his screen. jihoon is a famous producer in the music industry. you both have been together for roughly a year and a month, however—

RING RING RING

“hey sara.. now?… hmm i’m not busy so i’ll be right over”

jihoon is also a total A-hole.

your boyfriend is a horrible person, well towards you. lately he’s become over protective, controlling, and over all just toxic. so why are you in this relationship still?

people were too fearful of your boyfriend to even get close to you.

and you might be wondering—

“who’s sara..?” you shut your ipad off and looked over at your boyfriend that is putting on his best cologne.

“my assistant”

“why didn’t you say you with me..?”

“i’m not busy am i?”

“guess not.. we’ll i’m going to call taehyung over to—“

“no you’re not, go take a nap or something”

“are you serious?”

“hell yeah i am.. i’ll be back a little late so just go to sleep without me” and with that he was out of the door, quick footsteps were heard going down the hall.

a sigh escaped your lips, you knew who sara was already. she was the woman who accompanies him to almost every event. yes she was his assistant but she didn’t need to be attached to his hip. you sat on the windowsill watching as your boyfriend walks toward a all white benz. a short slim blonde hops out with a wide smile.

———————————————————————--------------------------

back to present day.

“jihoon are you seriously telling me that i’m a cheater?!” you raised you voice and threw your hands up in the air with pure rage as your boyfriends eyebrows knitted together. “you can’t be fucking serious—“

“don’t you go swearing at me—“

“you’re not my fucking dad, okay?! hell is wrong with you jihoon..” you huffed out as your boyfriend rolled his eyes.

“either way i don’t trust you, so i hired a body guard for you and he’s gonna watch over you..” jihoon walked to his side of the bed and laid down with his back facing you. “he’s my ex bodyguard so he’s pretty good and i trust him, not your little taehyung friend” jihoon curled up and took his phone out. “you can get going now or whatever you said you were gonna do” he made a ‘shoo’ing hand motion.

you didn’t want to be in his presence any longer so you stormed out of the hotel room. “bodyguard my ass, are you kidding?” you muttered under your breath as you made your way to the lobby doors. your car was parked in the downstairs garage, because you didn’t drive yourself places often. as you tapped away on your phone, you bumped into someone. before you could even begin to stable yourself, a firm arm came around your waist.

“be careful miss” a soft voice came from the person holding you. as you looked up to see whom this person was, your mouth parted a bit as you admired the man’s features. he had a mask on however his eyes were captivating and his light blond hair was a compliment to his beauty. “yeah, uh, sorry..” you moved out of his grasp and noticed he’s standing in front of your car. “excuse me but this is my car so, uhm.. can you move please?” you held up your keys and jingled them to push the point.

“oh i’m aware!” the man’s eyes crinkled into half moons as he watched the keys in her hand. “i’m your bodyguard but if you wanna get fancy then your personal escort!” he ended the statement with a small bow.

“don’t skrew around dude..”

“i’m not and my name is jimin park.. not dude”

there was a beat of silence that went by before you sighed and just handed the keys over. you didn’t have enough energy to argue with a stranger. mr park took the keys and held the car door open as you made you way over.

———————————————————————--------------------------

the drive was silent until you spoke up to break the awkward silence. “so.. mr park, how much is he paying you..?” you glanced from the side of your eye to look at him. he still had his mask on but he looked a bit stiff while driving.

“huh?”

“my so-called-boyfriend, how much is he paying you to give a fuck about my well being?” you rolled your eyes as you watch the street lights go by. it was just 5 pm but it felt like night was approaching sooner.

“enough”

“honest i guess, so how does your partner feel about your job? are they ever worried?” you wondered aloud. he let out a hearty chuckle “i actually don’t have a partner”

and then there was silence.

however just like the world is on your side, you arrive to your destination which is a a night club. you were called over to do some taste testing but this club wasn’t some random club, it belong to your close friend taehyung.

your bodyguard parked on a side street near by and then let you out of the car. “you can wait here if you’d like mr jimin park.. i’m just taste testing so i’ll be back in a bit” you said as you began walking towards the club, jimin followed closely behind.

as you stepped into the club you were greeted with workers coming to bow and welcome you. you smiled and waved at them as you made you way to the bar with jimin on your tail. “y/n it’s so good to see you and who is this pretty boy? finally got a new boyfriend?” the deep voice came out of nowhere as a tall male approached the duo standing idle at the bar table.

“no actually this is my bodyguard—“ you made sure to do air quotations when saying ‘bodyguard’. “—that my boyfriend thought i needed..” you rubbed your temple to show how stressed you actually were. “well don’t let that get you down too much, yeah?" taehyung came up behind y/n and rubbed her back in concern.

jimin carefully watches the interaction and takes a few mental notes of the environment. "so y/n's bodyguard.. want to help taste testing the drinks?" tae offered a friendly smile as he watched jimin's eyes turn into half moons. "i'd love to but i have to be sober to drive miss y/n home", y/n scoffed after the statement and took a seat at the bar. "okay tae.. hit me with the latest and strongest stuff you've got"

______________________________________________________________

it's about 2 hours into the taste testing hangout and y/n is a little more than just tipsy.

"i can't believe you're still with that dickhead of a man.. come on you need to get out more" tae shook his head at the drunken woman whom was now leaning on jimin who was been sitting silently as the two held their long conversations with the occasional drinking. "jimin-" tae called the man and turned his head towards him, "don't you agree that y/n can totally get out more?"

jimin turned his gaze to taehyung. "i don't condone cheating however, y/n is beautiful so if she did get out there then she'd pull everyone of them", he then turned his gaze back to the half sleeping woman. "i believe i should bring her home now, thank you for the entertaining talks you both had, mr kim." jimin smiled beneath his mask and began to bring y/n towards the exit. "of course mr park, have a nice night" tae yelled back as he began cleaning up the bar.

jimin makes it to the car and puts y/n in the passenger seat. he goes around and takes a seat in the driver's seat and starts up the car. "mr park.. do you think i should actually go back to that man" y/n asks as she frowns and leans her against the window. "what man? your boyfriend? you most likely should however i'm just here to keep you safe", jimin then drove off from the bar. "oh.. guess you're right" y/n closes her eyes and a sigh leaves her lips.

it felt like time flew as jimin pulls up to the hotel room that y/n is staying in. "we've arrived, miss y/n", jimin turns the car off and opens the passenger door for her. she steps out on wobbly legs, so jimin helps her up by wrapping an arm under her arms. y/n and jimin make their way up to the hotel room at a very slow pace. "mr park.. thank you for accompanying me today.. i know it may have been a bit awkward here and there but it felt a little nice to have someone with me that didn't yell at me all day or ditch me." jimin kept looking ahead even as he heard y/n sniffling and holding back tears. he wasn't sure why she was so thankful for the bare minimum but he was also getting paid to spy on her every move, not be her company or 'bodyguard'.

so he simply responds, "you're welcome, miss y/n"

 minologistt | do not copy, translate or edit this.

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

hey,,hey! I was wondering if you still do the matchmaking thing? If you do:

Fandom: percy jackson or the cruel prince.

Im pretty tall, I have a wolfcut but it's like...overgrown. I wear glasses and have an arched nose. A few dyed streaks of dull purple is present in my hair. I like being funny/humorous and making people laugh, however I'm quick to anger as well,sadly. I think I'm a loyal friend and like making self depracating jokes. Feelings are not really my thing, but I can comfort people by making them laugh. I usually wear baggy shirts and cargo pants, but I'm okay with an occasional frock or skirt. My favourite colors are blue, black, purple and white.

Hope this is enough I couldn't think of anything else. 😭😭

Just putting this here for reference 

Your Fandom Ship: Grover Underwood (PJO) and Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl (DCU)

Explanation: starting off with your physical appearance I think that he would be extremely attracted to you because I think that he just likes Wolf cuts and thinks that you’re dyed hair is super cool and kick ass. when you get angry easily, I feel like he’s two times faster to delude the anger and one of the only people that would be able to calm me down because he doesn’t really like conflict, but he will try to work through it if you’re mad at him for some reason and he will own up to it. he thinks you’re super cute and always laughs the hardest at your jokes and I feel like you guys are extremely loyal to each other and one of the best couples like no one could ever really imagine one or the other getting jealous or cheating or things like that because you guys just have a really healthy ideology. also, I feel like you guys would really balance each other out because of feelings aren’t your fit thing feelings are definitely Grovers thing and he could help you try and express the more and in return you could maybe help him try to not let everything that anyone says to him get to him so deeply. because we’re talking about P JO, it’s safe to assume that you have ADHD because you’re a Demigod, which is totally normal for him and I don’t think he would be phased by it at all because he’s used to dealing with campers with ADHD dyslexia, all sorts of things like that would help you sort through it and figure out what’s right for you. he’s also an extrovert and even though he’s shit at art I feel like he would absolutely support you and ask a ton of questions and if he did a portrait of him, I just think he would die like he wouldn’t even know what to do and he’d like try carving it into a tree or something. I don’t even know he just love if he did a portrait of him. He’d be so proud. I mean this is also canon that he likes being someone’s muse Because he meets this daughter of I don’t know. I forgot what it is, but it’s in the chalice of the gods where she’s really good at photography and he constantly wants to be in her photos so I feel like it would be the same thing for you. He’d always be asking. Hey, can you draw me? Hey can you write a poem about me you know things like that, he respect if you said no but he’d love it if you said yes. He’s also a very touchy guy and he’s definitely the person to go to if you’re looking for words of affirmation because he would be consistently complementing you throughout your relationship anyway I think you guys are cute together and I would ship this. 🩷🩷🩷

Explanation: starting off with appearances I think that she thinks you’re cute as hell and would make sure that you know that as well she wears glasses too, so she thinks that yours are adorable and she also thinks that hers don’t look as good on her as yours look on you and is a little bit jealous of that. I also think that she thinks your hair is pretty bad ass and loves the different streaks in it and just really loves your hair in general and it’s probably one of her favorite features of you. She’s also pretty quick to anger so I’d say that’s one of the only downsides of your guys relationship is that you guys would have to kind of work through your anger issues together because yeah girl also need some anger management skills but I feel like you guys could help each other with that through relation like you would get that she gets angry easily and she would get you getting angry easily. She appreciates your loyalty and I think that she would also kind of help you talk through your feelings. She hasn’t had a lot of loyalty in her life so I think that she would feel greatly honored that you stick by her side through thick and thin, no matter what, and by that she would forever owe you. She prefers more clean, casual academic types of outfits, but she respects your style. She knows comfort over fashion is a number one role. You guys would be perfect because she’s actually an introvert so I feel like you would help her warm up pretty easily and I think she would also really love your humor like I feel like she would laugh really hard and that’s kind of how you guys got along cause she was being a grumpy little introvert and then you befriended her crack some jokes and she was instantly like whoa. I love this person so much. They’re so cool. I feel like she would read and draw with you and then I don’t feel like she’s act at poetry, but she would support you and she’s great with vocabulary so she could at least help you add some advanced wording your poetry if you ever needed it. It would take her a while to get used to physical touch, but I’m pretty sure that she would be into it if you were and words of affirmation of course she is constantly complementing you and I feel like they’re genuine too. She wouldn’t complement you unless she thought you deserved it and she does think you deserve it. 💙💙💙

[l-eternity-l]

-Loving You

summary. - when a young lady has a little bit too much to drink, a certain singer comes to her rescue.

pairing. - Elvis x Black OC

warnings. - age gap, alcohol, creepy dude

word count. - 3k

author's note. - ahhh okay guys this is my first fic. I'm honestly thinking about turning this into a long series because I already have an idea for a few more chapters. The only thing is I don't know what name to give the character so I literally just named her after me, but I really want to change it. I hope you guys enjoy!!! (also feel free to send request!!)

 ═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════ ═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════ 

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE 1957 The Country Club

    MERCEDES clapped her hands together as her brothers finished rehearsing their new hit song.

  "You guys sound great," she tells her brothers as people walk onto the little stage at the front of the building, fixing the boy's microphones and retuning instruments.

  "We did just as expected" Luther breathed out "everyone was off-key, not to mention Raymond forgot the damn words" he takes a quick sip of his water before handing it to Mercedes.

"Oh, can it Luther!" Raymond speaks up "why don't you focus on whatever the hell you need to do and stay the hell outta my business" Luther sends him a harsh glare.

  "This is my business Raymond, fuck it's all of our business. These people pay us to put on a good show".

"Okay, so what!" Raymond becomes more frustrated by the second "all you ever wanna do is please some white man by dancing and singing like a damn fool, you ever realize I don't put effort into this shit because I don't care!" he throws his water onto the ground before storming off the stage. Mercedes sighs.

  "Why do you guys always have to do this" before her brother can respond she keeps going "always doin' something right before you have to perform. you know he may not be coming back" Luther shrugs.

  As far as everyone was concerned, Luther cared more about the music industry than anyone in the world-- blasting music and putting his all into everything the band did.

  He played the instruments, mixed the records, and wrote most of the lyrics. people may say that he takes some things too seriously but Luther never cared--he was going to be a star and no one would hold him back from that. not even his own family.

  "As if we need him, if push comes to shove we pull you up here and make Jerome a back up".

  "Hey" Jerome yells out "don't punish me for what ray did" Luther just shrugs him off, walking over to his brother Ronnie "Raymond just needs a second to calm down, he’ll come back after he's had a smoke" The boy tries his best to reason with his angry brother.

  Jerome and Mercedes were less than a year apart, their parents not being able to wait another second to try for a girl.

  Even though he's one of the lead singers, people still tend to forget about him, especially his mother.

  Jerome has no interest in being famous--by the time he was born his brother had already started their carer singing outside of their father's barbershop to bring attention to it. Jerome's real dream is to become a pilot --singing is just a small hobby to him.

  "I don't know why you ain't performing now Sadie" Ronnie speaks up causing the young girl to roll her eyes and lean up against the stage with her arms crossed.

  "Because the women specifically asked for a male quartet. those poor girls have a hard enough time keeping their men from cheating under their own roof, much less outside of it" she picks at the skin around her nails in boredom.

  Mercedes has always been the most outspoken of the siblings, the exact opposite of what her mother wants from her. The only one their mother actually likes is Ronnie.

  Ronnie is the quiet sibling, he does whatever his mother says--doesn't matter if it's something small as bringing her the TV remote that's right next to her, or big as donating a kidney, Ronnie would do it in a heartbeat.

  Even though he does all of this for his mother, it doesn't save him from being called ungrateful and useless--but that's just how things went in the Estelle household.

  "If it were up to me you'd replace Raymond right now, he's sloppy and he doesn't care about anything or anyone," Ronnie says fixing his bow tie in the reflection of a mirror.

  In the boys' defense, Raymond has been causing issues lately. if he's not showing up to rehearse late then he's off with some girl, it drives their mom crazy, which only causes her to snap at the rest of them.

  Raymond wasn't always like this. As a child, he was charming and loved to sing and dance when company came over. it wasn't until his mom and dad started fighting, he came a little devil.

  Raymond has gone through more than the other siblings--having to be the one who dealt with their mom and her outburst when dad had got done beating on her. When their dad had just died and their mom left, Raymond was the one to take care of everyone.

  After all these years, Raymond's care for anyone but himself faded, and so did his relationship with his family.

  "You know mama wouldn't let that happen. He has a great voice, he just doesn't like to perform. Thinks it's silly" Mercedes reminds her brother "besides, he's just angry because it's gettin' late and he ain't had dinner yet".

  "Well, he needs to get over it because people are gonna start showin' up soon. We've only got a few minutes of rehearsal time left" the girl pushes off of the stage.

  "I'll go try and find him, you guys just keep practicing".

...

  Mercedes wanders around the expensive country club in an attempt to find her oldest brother.

  After what felt like hours but was only a couple of minutes, she found him leaning against their car with a freshly lit cigarette between his lips.

  "I ain't goin' back in there" Raymond starts before his sister even gets the chance to speak "I ain't gonna make a fool of myself for all of those people. singin' bout love and rainbows and girls all while swayin' back and forth and dancin'".

   He takes a long drag of smoke before continuing "I'm gonna quit and tell momma to go get somebody else to do it. I ain't doin' this shit no more!".

  "Are you done," Mercedes ask, unamused by his outburst "because you have a show to do and all of your brothers are waiting on you to stop throwing yourself a pity party" he shakes his head.

  "You're just as bad as the rest of them Sadie. if you think doing dumb shit like this is what's gonna help us be famous then you go and do it. I know father wouldn't have wanted this for us, he wanted us to be stars, not clowns" he take another long drag "and I ain't gonna be a clown no more".

  "I don't care what you wanna do or what you don't wanna do, it's about what you gotta do. Fathers gone and Mommas crazy, we gotta make ends meet somehow" the boy tosses his cigarette on the ground and crushes it with his heel.

  "I can't keep on doin' this stuff Sadie. I wanna be able to do what I want with my life, not what momma wants." Much as Mercedes wanted to tell her brother he could do that, she also didn't want to lie to him.

  "Look I don't like the way momma does stuff around here either, but as long as we live under her roof, we have to do what she says." he runs his hand through his thick hair "We need you ray" she places his hand on his arm "Only for a few more years, then we can stop doing shows and just make music" he lets out a long sigh.

  "Let's just head back," he slides his hands in his pockets and starts to walk away from the car, Mercedes next to him "Mamas gonna be here in a few minutes and if I'm not there she'll just take it out on y'all".

"See now you're using your brain" his large hand forcefully shoves her away from him "Oww, what the hell-".

"Go find somethin' to do while we rehearse, you look like you wanna put a pistol in your mouth just sitting there".

If Mercedes was being completely honest, her brother wasn't wrong. they've all performed together since childhood, her and Jerome switching who'd lead, often doing duets. Any time Mercedes didn't get the chance to perform she felt an extreme sense of jealousy. Her mother only ever took her out saying it looked better with the boys singing, the boys are too tall and she doesn't fit in, and that four people on stage looked better than five. All this did was make Mercedes want to perform more.

  Mercedes and her mother didn't have the most loving relationship. After Luther was born, all Her dad ever talked about was having a girl-- after begging for years she agreed but they had another boy. This only fueled his want for a little girl more and they immediately had another child, even though Grace never wanted more than 3 kids. Soon after Mercedes was born, her father passed away from an unknown illness-- leaving her mother alone with 5 kids. Because of this Grace had resented her youngest child for years. Mercedes being unruly and never taking no for answer, only made this situation worse.  

She walked around the country club for a few minutes, trying to find something to cure her growing boredom. She feels an arm brush against her and quickly moves over to give the person more room, only they don't walk away. Mercedes glances up at the culprit. The man was older, maybe 25-35, with jet-black hair that was combed over and slicked down. you could see the gel glistening from the lights. He held a cigarette in his hand and sported a kind yet devious smirk.

"I'm sorry sir" Mercedes voices, quick to apologize in an attempt to avoid conflict. he waves his hand as if to dismiss her apology.

"Don't worry honey, it was my fault. What are you doin' here anyways" his gentle voice surprised Mercedes. Though the girl has never had a bad interaction with a white person before, she had heard many war stories of what her people go through on a daily basis-- this lead her to avoid them as much as humanly possible. "don't seem like the kind of place you'd find a nice young lady such as yourself," thought every cell in Mercedes's body told her to run away from the man, something else was begging her to stay--to figure out what it was this man wanted.

"I'm here with my brothers, they're performing tonight" he slowly nods his head.

"And they left you all alone out here, all by yourself" he sets his hand on her arm, a gesture that would normally make her pull away with fear, but the kind smile on his face seemed to soothe the thoughts that ran through her head.

"What? don't think I can take of myself" she says dripping with fake innocence. his smile grows.

"Oh the exact opposite," he moves his arm around to the small of her back, leading her away from where they stood "Why don't you come sit with me and my friends while you wait for your brothers, they're right over here," thought the situation feels off, Mercedes doesn't really have anything else to do at this party-- Not to mention, she loves the thrill of a little danger.

...

  Surprisingly, she ends up having a good time, talking to the men along with some of their girlfriends. They talk about music and performing while they sip on their expensive drinks. the night was going well and her brothers were putting on a good show, even though Raymond looked like he wanted to die the entire time. She sat beside the man she had met earlier, James. He had his arm resting on the back of her chair as he bragged about his yacht club and how much his soap company makes in a month. Even though Mercedes couldn't give a shit about his boat and his money, she did enjoy the drinks that the man kept handing her, Loving the burn of her stomach as she sipped on the fruity cocktails. One of the boy's songs comes to an end as Mercedes laughs at another one James' corny jokes. normally she wouldn't have, but her intoxication could make her laugh at a blank wall.

  "So," he pulls the drink away from her lips "why don't we get out of here" he runs his course hand up and down her knee, going a bit further each time "we should head someplace a bit more private". though Mercedes was so out of it she could barely form a sentence, she knew when something sounded sketchy. and in that very moment, she realized just how close he was to her. she clears her throat, sliding her chair a bit further away.

  "Yeah," she pushes his hand off of her leg, "I think I'm gonna have to pass on that" She lets out a nervous giggle as she takes another sip of her drink.

  "Don't be like that, I bought you all of these drinks and you're not gonna give me something in return" he leans to place a kiss on her cheek before whispering in her ear "Come on baby, I'll take you to my boat."

  "Sorry Captian, guess I'm not the girl you took me for" the man plasters on a fake smile, sliding his hand back onto her knee.

  "Why don't you have another drink, maybe then you'll change your mind" she pushes him off again, the chair letting out a loud cry as she stands with haste.

  "I've gotta go check on my brothers, I'll be back later" Mercedes says in an attempt to remove herself from the situation. She shoots the others at the table a quick smile before she quickly maneuvers her way through the crowd with unsteady feet, using the wall as a crutch. A sea of various people occupied the dance floor as she tries her best to make it to a less crowded area. The girl spots some public restrooms not too far away and makes her way toward them, stumbling with every step. Once she's there she lies against the side of the building before sinking to the plush grass, resting her head against the smooth concrete wall, a nauseating feeling overcoming her. Mercedes knew that people got drunk, hell she had to carry Raymond back into the house several times, but what she didn't know was how it felt. Her vision was clouded and her head was pounding. it felt as though her world was spinning. For a second, she even wondered if the man had slipped something inside her drink. The distant sounds of toilets flushing could be heard as she tried her best to regain her composure.

  "You okay there?" a southern voice draws her out of her dazed state. Mercedes looks up to yet another white man with slicked-back hair, only this time it was a bit longer and more in his face. though she felt like she really shouldn't be talking to him, the alcohol had clouded her judgment.

  "Umm... no. I don't know" Mercedes drops her head into her hands "I drank," she tells him.

  He lets out a slight chuckle "Well I can see that" he sits down next to her, lighting the cigarette between his lips. "What's a pretty girl like you doin' out here all alone?" he asks. Mercedes knows this trick all too well--in fact, she had experienced this trick less than two hours ago.

"I ain't gonna leave with you" her words slurred together, getting to the point as soon as possible.

"I ain't tryna take you anywhere honey, just wanted to make sure you aren't here alone. My name is Elvis, what's yours?".

"Sadie, and I'm not alone, 'm here with my mom and my brothers. There performing tonight." he hums.

"Your brothers are the Estelle's" the girl nods "I used to play basketball with them. I remember when you were just a baby. Your momma let you drink at this age?" he asked tilting his head. she shakes no.

  "No, she doesn't. But what she doesn't know won't hurt her" he raises his brows, amused at the girl's response.

  "Guess no one can tell you anything huh?" Elvis's voice was laced with sarcasm. Mercedes- not finding his little joke too funny, rolls her eyes.

  "What do you want" you'd swear you could see the annoyance radiating from the girl's body.

  "As I said before, I just wanna make sure you're okay" The girl scoffs as she tries to push herself back to her feet, failing miserably. Luckily Elvis helped her before she slid back down the wall.

  "Well, you can go find some other dame to save because I'm fine" The amusing thing is that Mercedes is definitely not fine, seeing as the only thing holding her up is Elvis.

  "I'll believe that when hell freezes over." he moves her arm around his shoulder for support before he leads begins to lead her away from the restrooms "Don't worry little girl, I'm gonna take you to your momma" she immediately starts to resist against his attempts to move.

  "No!" she says franticly "Are you crazy? If she finds out she'll beat me 'till I'm black and blue" Elvis stops for a moment, trying to think of a better option.

  "Okay, then I'll go get your brothers. How 'bout that?" Elvis offers.

  "No they'll kill me too " she argues "If they find out I was talking to a man they'd...they'd...oh, I don't know what they'd do but I know it wouldn't be pretty."

  "Look I gotta tell somebody, I can't just leave you sitting here drunk outta your mind!" Mercedes lets out a frustrated sigh "I don't care how mad it makes you you've gotta chose somebody. So who will it be? Your brothers or your mom?" Though both options sounded like a death wish, she knew that her brothers wouldn't lay a hand on her-- the most they would do is yell at her for a few hours and act distant for a day or two.

  "My brothers have an intermission in a few minutes, they usually smoke by the car." Mercedes reluctantly tells him, slightly pissed at the fact he's so hell-bent on getting her in trouble today.

PART TWO IS POSTED!!

[middleearthpixie]

Human Touch ~ Chapter One

A/N: This is the follow up to Playing With Fire, but can be read as a standalone. I thought Frerin deserved a nice, steamy romp just like his older brother got with Leda, so this is his story. I know I’ve got like three other fics to update, but I thought maybe I’d throw this out there and see what everyone thought of it… 

Summary: Frerin Durin had the perfect life, until he found out his wife was cheating on him. Now, he’s navigating uncharted territory as an about-to-be divorced single dad. Dating is a mess, he’s dealing with the fallout where his kids are concerned, and really, he would just love a vacation away from all of it. 

Elena Madison is new to Sidleburg, new to the history department at the high school, and also navigating life as a newly single parent. The last thing she needed was for her daughter to come down sick, when she hasn’t even had time to unpack the moving boxes, never mind find a pediatrician. And the last thing she ever expected was to meet a man like Dr. Frerin Durin…

Neither Elena nor Frerin were looking for anything, but fate has a way of messing up even the best laid plans. However, both have been hurt and both aren't at all sure they trust themselves, never mind trusting someone else...

Pairings:  Modern!Frerin  x OFC Elena Madison

Characters: Frerin, Elena, Alyssa, Nurse Angela Hart, Nurse Leigh Addams

Warnings: None (yet)

Rating: T

Word Count: 4.1k

Tag List: @mrsdurin @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @linasofia @fizzyxcustard @legolasbadass @kibleedibleedoo @xxbyimm @arrthurpendragon @exhausted-humxn-being @rachel1959 @laurfilijames @sketch-and-write-lover @sherala007 @enchantzz @knittastically @notlostgnome @myselfandfantasy @medusas-hairband @guardianofrivendell @jotink78 @sorisooyaa @ruthoakenshield @frosticenow @quiall321 @dianakc @buckybarnes-thorin @glassgulls @evenstaredits @heilith @asgardianhobbit98 @albionscastle @absentmindeduniverse @way-too-addicted-to-fandoms

If you’d like to be added (or removed) to the tag list, please just let me know!

I know I ain’t nobody’s bargain, but hell, a little touch-up and a little paint ~ Bruce Springsteen

December 15

Monday night, 2:50AM

“Dr. Durin?”

Frerin rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, but we just got a call from the ER. They need you down there.”

“What time is it, Leigh?”

“Ten to three.”

He bit back a groan as he sat up. He was getting too old for being yanked out of bed in the middle of the night. “Okay. I’m coming. What is it?”

“A six year old with exposure.”

“Exposure?”

“That’s what they said.”

He slid down from the bed where he was tying to catch some sleep in the on call room, and grabbed his white coat from the foot of it. “What the hell was a six year old doing out in this?” He gestured to the sleet pounding against the window. 

“I don’t know,” Nurse Leigh Addams shook her head as he joined her in the hallway. The lights were softer than normal, since it was the middle of the night, but he was still mole-eyed. 

“Damn it, do you know where I left my steth?”

“Take mine, but give it back.” She reached up to drape it around his neck, then gave him a gentle push. “Go.”

“I’m going.” He rubbed his eyes as he turned to make his way to the elevators. The pediatric unit was on the eighth floor, and fortunately, the elevator was quick. He was alone in the car, and all he could think about was getting a cup of coffee. Caffeine was a must when he worked the night shift. His days of being able to power through without it were firmly behind him.

The doors slid open and where the pediatric unit was fairly quiet at almost three in the morning, the ER was a bit busier and must’ve been for some time, judging by the sheer number of patients he saw. The rooms and curtain areas must’ve been at capacity, since there were nearly half a dozen patients on gurneys in the hallway as well. He moved by them, dodged paramedics clattering by with their stretchers, and at the main desk, said, “You called, Angela?”

Angela Hart smiled. “Dr. Durin, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you on nights.”

“Yeah, well, McArthur is out with the flu, so someone has to cover. Where is the frozen six year old?”

“Paramedics are rolling up now.”

He rubbed his eyes again. “Is there coffee in the lounge?”

“There should be, but it might be from the day shift.”

“It’s caffeine. I don’t care if I have to chew it. Let me know when the kid’s back.” 

The lounge was directly across from the main desk, and thank Christ the coffee seemed fresh. He poured a cup, raided the fridge for half and half, only to find nothing but flavored creamers. He wrinkled his nose, but grabbed the French vanilla and poured it into the cup. 

“Frerin,” Angela poked her head into the lounge, “your boy is in Trauma One.”

“Okay.” He swallowed a mouthful of coffee, winced as it scalded its way down his throat, and then he set the cup on the table. “I’m coming.”

Trauma One was down the short hallway and to his right, one of three in the ER, as they were the county trauma center when Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital was too far for transport. He hadn’t spent much time in the ER lately, but had spent enough that he knew the ER docs and nurses, they knew him, and they all worked well together. 

“Okay,” he said as he came into the room, “give me the bullet…”

“Mom?”

Elena Madison bit back a groan at her daughter’s whisper. “What is it, Alyssa?”

“I don't feel well.”

Elena lifted her head to squint at the clock. Three-thirty in the morning. She reached over to switch on the lamp. “What’s wrong?”

“My throat really hurts and I can’t get warm and everything hurts.”

“Do you want to sleep here, with me?”

“Can I?”

“Come on.”

Alyssa climbed up into the bed and snuggled up against her. Heat wafted from her daughter’s body, hot enough that Elena laid a hand on her forehead. “How long have you been feeling like this?”

“A while. I felt funny when I was doing my homework, but thought I was just tired. But now… I really feel awful.”

“Let me see if I can find the thermometer. It might not be unpacked yet.”

Alyssa squinted at the light and nodded. “Okay.”

Elena frowned. Alyssa looked pale. Almost chalk-white, actually. The flu was going around at Sidleburg High, where she was a freshman. Oh, she hoped it wasn't that. They’d only been in town a few days, she hadn’t had time to find any kind of doctors yet and didn't even know where the nearest medimerge was.

Still, she got up and padded into the bathroom, where she searched for the digital thermometer. Luck was on her side. It was tucked into her makeup bag. 

She brought it back to her bedroom. “Under your tongue, peanut.”

Alyssa nodded as she opened her mouth and let Elena slip the thermometer under her tongue.  Then, she sat very quietly, just resting her head against Elena’s shoulder until the thermometer beeped.

Alyssa pulled it out and frowned. “One-oh-two, Mom.”

“Okay, tell you what, why don’t you just stay here and try to get some sleep and if it gets any higher, we’ll run to the ER?”

Alyssa winced. “Everything just hurts… I don't even want to lay down.”

Elena sighed softly. “Do you want to go see a doctor?”

“Will it help?”

“I don't know. It’s probably just the flu, but it might not be, either.” Elena gently pressed her hand to Alyssa’s forehead only to have her flinch and jerk back with a muted cry. “Okay. We’ll go over to the ER. Let me throw some clothes on, okay?”

Alyssa nodded and gingerly lay down to curl into the fetal position. “Okay.”

Elena grabbed a hoodie to tug on over her tee shirt, The leggings she had on would suffice, so she tugged on thick socks and her work boots, ran a brush through her hair and tugged it up into a hasty bun. “Ready, honey?”

Alyssa nodded slowly, sitting up with a wince. “My hair hurts.”

“Yeah, fevers do that. Come on.” Elena eased an arm about Alyssa’s waist and gently helped her to her feet. “Let me just grab my keys and we can go.”

Outside, Alyssa sucked in a sharp breath. “The snow hurts…”

“I know, baby, I know. I’ll have the car warmed up in a jiffy, I promise.” She helped Alyssa around to the passenger side of her Accord and gingerly fastened the seat belt. “Just close your eyes and try to sleep a little if you can. We’ll be there in a few minutes, if I don't get lost.”

“Try not to get lost, Mom.”

“I’ll do my best, Sarge.”

That earned her a weak smile and she pressed a light kiss into Alyssa’s hot forehead. Then, she closed the car door, skirted the car’s nose, and sank into the driver’s seat. 

The advantage to trying to find Sidleberg Memorial Hospital in the dead of night was there wasn’t a lot of traffic. The downside? She still didn't know exactly where it was and even with the GPS, it took her longer than she would have liked to find it. But finally, she swung the car into the driveway, looped around to pull up in front of the big revolving door leading to the ER.

“We’re here, honey. Let’s get you inside and I’ll move the car, okay?”

Alyssa nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Good. Come on, baby, small steps. We’re almost there.”

“I’m so cold…”

Elena came around to grab her about the waist. It might have only been her imagination, but it seemed more heat radiated from her daughter than before and she shivered as well now. “Easy, honey. We’re almost there.”

“I just want to lay down, Mom.”

“I know. Soon.” She nudged the door with her hip to close it, then slowly walked Alyssa into the brightly lit waiting room and guided her over to a chair. “I’ll be right back.”

Alyssa nodded, curling into a ball once more. “Okay, Mom.”

Elena crossed to the reception desk, where the nurse sat behind a plexiglass wall. “How can I help you?”

“I think my daughter has the flu, but her temperature has really shot up in the last half hour. It was one-oh-two when we left and I think it’s gone up.”

“Her name?”

“Alyssa Madison.”

“Date of birth?”

Elena gave her the information, dug out her insurance card, and waited as the nurse typed all of the info into the computer system. The nurse offered up a reassuring smile. “She’ll be brought back as soon as possible, Mrs. Madison.”

“Thank you.”

She went back to where Alyssa sat and not five minutes later, another nurse, in cranberry colored scrubs, came over to them with a wheelchair and a hospital bracelet. “Alyssa?”

“Yeah?” 

“I’m Carol, how are you feeling?”

“Like crap.” Alyssa looked over at Elena. “Sorry, Mom.”

“It’s okay.” Elena ruffled her hair. “You get a pass because you look like you feel like crap.”

Carol smiled. “I know, there’s a lot of flu going around.” She looked up at Elena. “Who is your pediatrician?”

“We don't have one yet. We’re new to the area.”

“Well, you’re in luck. We’ve got the head of the department here tonight and he’s really good. So,” she fastened the bracelet about Alyssa’s right wrist, “why don't we get you back into a bed and get you a nice heated blanket?”

“I’ve got to go move my car,” Elena said, gesturing to the black Accord still in front of the door. 

“That’s not a problem. Gloria will buzz you back and tell you where to find us. Don’t worry, Mom. We’ll keep an eye on her. Can you move over into the chair for me, Alyssa?”

“Sure.” 

As Alyssa moved, Elena went out to park her car in the parking deck. There was spot just beyond where the ambulances charged, and she quickly locked the doors and hurried back inside, where Gloria told her she’d find Alyssa in Room Six, and told her where she’d find Room Six.

Alyssa was dozing, looking almost as pale as the hospital linens and Carol was still there. “Her temp is one-oh-two-point-three. You made the right decision in bringing her in, Mom. Is she allergic to any anything?”

“Cashews,” Elena said with a slight smile as she cast a worried look over at her daughter. “They make her lips and tongue tingle and swell.”

“Is she on any medications?”

“No. She’s always been a healthy kid. Aside from finding out about the cashews, anyway.”

“And medical conditions? Heart or kidney problems?”

“No. Again, she’s a healthy kid.”

“Okay. We’re a little busy, but it shouldn’t take Dr. Durin long. If you want to watch television, the remote is on the tray.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.”

After Carol left, Elena sank into the single chair alongside Alyssa’s bed with a soft sigh, reaching up to rub one eye. It was nearly three-thirty. Thank God tomorrow was Saturday. She hated calling out sick when she’d only been there a few weeks, but would have had no choice if it was a weekday. She had no idea how long they would be there, and had no idea if Alyssa was sick with the flu or something worse, and she had no support system aside from herself. The last thing she wanted to do was call Alyssa’s father and even if she wanted to, there was no point. He and his girlfriend were in Aruba for the holidays.

She sighed softly, tucking her legs up under her and propped her head on her fist as CNN played softly on the television. 

She didn't know she’d dozed off until she heard a soft, “Mrs. Madison?” and felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

She jumped as if someone had shouted at her. “I’m up… I—I mean, I’m Mrs. Madison… yes…”

“Sorry. I tried to not to startle you.”

“No, it’s—it’s okay. I didn’t even know I fell asleep.” She rubbed her eyes slowly and squinted up to find herself looking at a rather tired-looking man in white lab coat with a hot pink stethoscope around his neck who moved to the box of latex exam gloves and tugged two free. 

“I’m Dr. Durin. This is your daughter,” he glanced down at the chart in his hand, “Alyssa?”

“Yes. I think she might have the flu, but I’m not sure. She’s had a cold for the last two days, but tonight started running a fever and it shot up pretty quickly.”

“Okay. You’re probably right, but I’ll check her just the same.” He set the chart down on the counter and pulled on the gloves. “You’re welcome to stay in the room, or if you want to step out, I’ll have a nurse come in, instead.”

“I’ll ask Alyssa.”

“Fair enough.” He smiled. “Don’t look so worried, Mom. She’s in good hands.”

“I didn't realize it was my worry was showing.”

“I can see it.” He moved closer to the bed and gave Alyssa a gentle shake. “Alyssa? Can you open your eyes for me?”

“What… who… who are?”

“I’m Dr. Durin. Mom said you’re sick? You think you might have the flu?”

“Maybe. I thought it was just a cold, but now… I’m freezing and the nurse said my fever got higher.”

“One-oh-two-point-three. Yeah, I’d say you’re definitely sick.” He touched the top of her head. “Does that hurt?”

“Everything hurts.”

“That’s the fever. We’ll give you some Tylenol to help, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Now,” he lifted the stethoscope from around his neck to fit the earpieces in place, “do you want Mom to stay or would you rather Carol stay while I examine you?”

“Mom can stay.” Alyssa managed a slight smile. “I like your stethoscope. Pink is my favorite color.”

“Oh, yeah? This isn’t mine. Mine went missing, so I borrowed it from one of the nurses. I think she has a purple one, too.”

“I didn't know they came in different colors.”

“They do, indeed. You name the color, you can find one in it.” He warmed the diaphragm part of the stethoscope between his palms, then slid it beneath her hospital gown, bringing his free hand up to hold a finger to his lips for minute. Then, he moved it, saying, “Take a deep breath for me?”

She did. He moved it again. “Another, please.”

She did and he slid the stethoscope free. “Can you sit forward for me, Alyssa?”

She nodded and did, then began coughing. He waited until she finished. “Do you need a drink?”

She shook her head. “I’m okay, Dr. Durin.”

“Okay.” He pressed the stethoscope to her back. “Again, a deep breath for me.”  

She did and then he tugged the ear pieces from his ears and draped the stethoscope around his neck once more. “Okay. You can lie back,” before picking up her chart to make a notation. “Your lungs sound clear and that’s a good thing.”

She sighed softly as she sank into the pillow. “What color is yours?”

“My steth? I’m afraid it’s boring gray.” 

“You should get a pink one.”

Elena pressed her lips together to hold back her smile as Dr. Durin said, “You think so? It wouldn’t make me look dorky?”

Alyssa shook her head. “I don't think so.”

“I’ll think about it.” He set her chart on the tray table and brought his hands to her neck, feeling around and under her jaw. “Glands are a little swollen. Do you have a sore throat?”

“It’s a little scratchy. It was worse yesterday.”

“How much worse?”

“It felt like razor blades.”

“How old are you, Alyssa?”

“I’ll be fourteen on the twenty-ninth.”

“Yeah? My daughter’s about your age. Are you a freshman?”

“Yeah.”

“So’s Maura. How do you like school?”

“I like everything but algebra.”

“I hated algebra myself. I like Chem and Bio. Anytime there was a chance I could blow something up, I was there.”

Alyssa chuckled. “I can’t wait to take Chem.”

“Mom, how is she doing in school?”

“Don’t let her fool you. She’s a straight-A student.”

“Really? Good for you, Alyssa. Keep those grades up and get into a good college.” He took a pencil flashlight from his pocket. “Do me a favor? Follow the light with just your eyes, okay? Don’t turn your head.”

“I won’t.”

Elena tucked her legs back under her as Dr. Durin then shined the light in first Alyssa’s left eye, then her right, and then straightened to tuck the flashlight back in his coat pocket. “Okay. I’d like to draw some blood, Mom, if I can, just to rule out a few things. I think it’s flu, and lord knows we’ve seen enough of it, but I want to be sure, because she’s a little sensitive to the light.” 

He turned back to Elena. “It’s probably the fever, but we’ve also seen a few cases of meningitis, so I want to rule that out entirely.”

“That’ll show in a blood test?”

He nodded. “It can, so that’s where we’ll start.”

“Do I have to get a shot?”

He turned back to Alyssa. “No, I don't think so, but I do want to take some blood. I promise you, Carol has the lightest touch and you’ll barely even feel it, okay?”

Alyssa’s pale face went paler still. “I don't like needles.”

“It’s not really a needle, Alyssa. It’s smaller, and I promise, I’ll only take a little bit.” He patted her through the blanket then looked back at Elena, peeling the gloves off to toss in the trashcan. “Mom, can I have a word with you?”

Elena’s stomach curdled as she nodded and rose to follow him out of the exam room. “Is something wrong?”

“No. But, I’ll need your permission to draw the blood and if necessary, to do a lumbar puncture.”

“A what?”

“A spinal tap. But,” he held out a hand as she opened her mouth to protest, “that’s only if the bloodwork comes up inconclusive. So, it’s a last resort, I promise. I do think’s it’s the flu, but like I said, we’ve had a few cases of meningitis and I don't want to risk it.”

She sighed softly, tucking a wayward curl behind her ear. “I suppose. I hate the idea of a spinal tap, though.”

“It’s only if I can’t rule it out through the bloodwork. And I’d give her plenty of local anesthetic so she wouldn’t feel much.”

Elena sighed again. She supposed at one time, she’d have wished Alyssa’s father was there, helping her make the tough decisions. But then she remembered that the reason she was there alone because he didn't care about making any decisions with her or being a team. He was far more interested if where he could stick his cock next.

So, slowly, and not at all certain she was making the right decision, she nodded. “Okay.”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Madison,” he told her with a hint of a smile. “I’ve done more of these than I can count and she won’t feel it. I promise.”

“Do I look that worried?”

“A little.”

“I’m sorry… I just… I just thought it was a cold and then—”

“It’s been a rough flu season, and like I said, that’s probably what this is. I just want to be sure.”

“I know.” She peered around the doorway at Alyssa, who looked even younger now, her eyes closed, and she fought back a sigh. “But… that’s my kid.”

“I know.” He smiled. “I’ve got three of my own and I would react the same way if I was in your shoes. But, I promise you, Mrs. Madison, I won’t do it unless I have to.”

She looked back at him. “Okay. But, if you were me, would you agree to it?”

“I would. If it’s something like meningitis, you don't want to play around with it.”

“I know that. I do. I’m mostly a rational adult person, but—”

“It’s different when it’s your kid.”

Elena nodded, rubbing her forehead with one hand as she sighed softly for at least the third time. She couldn’t remember the last time she was so damn tired. “It’s different when it’s your kid. And I already hate being in the ER for something like this, but we don’t have a pediatrician yet and I don't even know if there’s a medimerge type place anywhere in town.”

“It’s okay that you brought her here.” He reached out to touch her shoulder. “It’s better to be safe than sorry. In all honesty, I do think it’s just the flu. I just prefer to err on the side of caution. So, I’ll have Carol come in and do the draw and when the results come in, I’ll come find you, okay? The cafeteria is closed, unfortunately, but there is a coffee machine just down the hallway if you could use a boost.”

She managed a slight laugh. “There isn’t enough caffeine in the world for a night like this.”

“I know. I’ve been there. Like I said, I’ve got three kids and they never get sick at good times. But, she’s in good hands. I promise.”

Elena nodded and rubbed her eyes this time. They stung with a fury and she really just wanted to curl up in a ball and let them close. But, since she couldn’t, she lowered her hand to look up at him  “I know.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I have the results of her bloodwork. You can use your cell in here if you want to call your husband.”

“There is no husband. It’s just me and Alyssa.”

“Okay, well… if there’s anything you need, just let Carol know, okay?”

“I will. Thank you.”

“Of course.” He smiled and then started off down the hallway. She stood there for a moment, just watching, and then berated herself silently since it was not the time to be thinking about how beautiful his blue-gray eyes were. Not when she was waiting to find out if Alyssa had meningitis or not.

So with a sigh, she went back into the room and back to her chair, where Alyssa offered up a tired smile and said, “I like him, Mom. He’s nicer than Dr. Garrett was. Cuter, too.”

“Alyssa.”

“Oh, tell me he isn’t.”

“I thought you were sick?”

Alyssa tugged the blanket back up to her chin. “Mom, you could totally land a doctor. Dad would stew in envy if you did.”

“I’m not looking to land anyone, Alyssa. Especially not tonight.”

“I’m just saying. You could.”

“Alyssa?” Carol tapped softly on the door and came into the room. “Dr. Durin asked me to draw some blood.”

Alyssa went paler still as she nodded. “If you have to.”

“Mom, I just need you to sign the consent form and then we’ll get started.”

Elena looked over the form and sighed as Carol tugged on a pair of gloves and unwrapped the kit. Alyssa held out her left hand. “Mommy?”

Mommy. Elena couldn't remember the last time Alyssa called her that. Without hesitation, Elena caught Alyssa’s hand and whispered, “It’ll be fine, peanut,” as Carol tied the rubber tubing about Alyssa’s right arm. Alyssa sucked in a sharp breath, her fingers tightening about Elena’s, and Elena kept whispering, “It’s okay, sweetie.”

“All done,” Carol said, untying the tourniquet and pressing a small piece of gauze into the crook of Alyssa’s arm. She unwrapped a Band-Aid and pressed that over the gauze. “Try to get some sleep, Alyssa. Hopefully the results won’t take long, but you never know. We’re crazy busy tonight and I have no idea how backed up the lab might be.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course. Do you need anything?”

“No, we’re fine.” Elena looked over at Alyssa, who was already asleep. “I just need her to get better.”

“She will. And Dr. Durin will be in as soon as the results are in as well.”

“Thank you again.”

Carol smiled and left with the vials, and a few minutes later, despite her uncomfortable position, Elena managed to doze off as well. 

[lilymatthews]

Welcome to Aurora Bay, [LILY MATTHEWS]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [MARGARET QUALLEY]. You must be the [TWENTY-FIVE] year old [WAITRESS AT TEJAS CANTINA/GRAD STUDENT AT AURORA BAY COLLEGE]. Word is you’re [OUTSPOKEN] but can also be a bit [ENTITLED] and your favorite song is [BLOOD AND BUTTER by CAROLINE POLACHEK]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [OCEAN CREST APARTMENTS]. I’m sure you’ll love it!

*Trigger Warnings: Drug abuse, drug overdose, divorce, drowning

STATS.

Full Name: Lily Matthews Nickname(s): Lil, Lils, Lilypad (her parents only) Gender: Cis woman,she/her Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Birthday: April 29, 1998 (25) Religion: None Nationality: American Ethnicity: White Hometown: Houston, Texas Current Residence: Ocean Crest Apartments Length of time in Aurora Bay: 3 months (as of 6/30/23) Occupation: Waitstaff at Tejas Cantina Education: Currently enrolled at Aurora Bay College working towards a Linguistics MA

Height: 5′6 Tattoos: Three butterflies under her right titty Piercings: Both lobes Scars: (tba)

Mother: Addie Matthews Father: Darren Matthews Siblings: Xavier Matthews (32) Pet(s): A teeny tiny little 4-year-old rat terrier called Norma Jean

PERSONALITY.

+ Outspoken, intelligent, witty, sympathetic - Entitled, sarcastic, judgmental, insecure

CURRENT CONNECTIONS.

@xaviermattthews — Lily's older brother

@lorelailewis — Cunty besties

QUICK FACTS.

not a bitch unless she gets pissed off then she's a stone cold bitch

slut!

great gf tho, very loyal would never cheat

pop princess. looooves pop music always blasting charli xcx on the way to the clubs

fashion girly. can be caught online shopping at 2.30am squinting at the screen 3 inches from her face

good artist but doesn't rly do much with it

drink fiend. always has like arizona tea or kombucha with her

genuinely loves linguistics and is fascinated with language (ideally wants to do research with language and apes) but she's not super ambitious so she has to work extra hard to make herself go out and do her research projects and work on her thesis and is secretly very anxious about her future in the field bc of it

between feeling like she could never possibly live up to what xavier's accomplished on one hand and on the other being pressured by her parents into "doing better" than her drug-addicted brother, she's developed massive insecurities about what she actually wants and who she is

almost drowned in the gulf of mexico when she was 12 after hurting her ankle and then going swimming after she was told not to. when she’s especially stressed or in a bad headspace she’ll have drowning dreams and it takes a while to fall back asleep. is totally fine with pools and will go into the water at the beach up to her waist but being fully submerged in open water will start giving her anxiety usually

DEEP DIVE.

Lily wasn't planned, which is ironic considering she wound up the golden child before she even turned ten -- Xavier, eight years older than her, went off the deep end when their parents divorced and by the time he overdosed five years later, Addie and Darren had both all but written him off and set about channelling all their hope for the future into Lily

She was six years old when their dad left and tried to compensate by becoming super-dad to her, and Lily was too young to understand the dynamic shift between her dad and her brother, or why it affected Xavier the way it did

Her teens were easy in a lot of important ways. She had a lot of friends, usually had a boyfriend, did well in most classes without having to spend all her time studying, and her parents got her pretty much whatever she wanted

In other important ways, her teen years were incredibly difficult. Her parents often used her against each other, which as she got older and started to see it saddled her with a weird type of guilt and resentment. Meanwhile her brother, whom she idolized growing up, was off doing drugs and, eventually, getting famous

She got an English degree right out of high school at the University of Houston but took a couple years after that to try and figure out what exactly she wanted to do, before finally deciding on Linguistics only last year

In that liminal space in between, she worked a waitressing job at an upscale restaurant and lived with her boyfriend whom she'd started dating her sophomore year of college. It was a healthy relationship and her parents loved him, and in the end it was him wanting to start settling down together before either of them were 25 that led to their breakup

It was a combination of that breakup one year ago, and her brother getting sober just about a year before that, that spurred Lily on to making a huge change in her life -- that being, moving to Aurora Bay to finish her MA, and to try and reconnect with Xavier

She's been here three months, is just settling into the new routine of things, and still hasn't contacted her brother to tell him she's in town

[positivelybeastly]

💖 for cain...im disgustingly curious

How likely they are to enter a relationship with them:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

(So, I picked the verse I did for Cain and Hank's interactions because this is the time period where Hank is most in need of grounding, of sensibility, but he's also a free agent with his own issues that would make him and Cain kindred spirits of a sort, so in this particular verse, and especially with how things have been going? Hank is single and very, very ready to mingle.)

Would they…

Make the first move? Yes | No (This is one of the rare times where I think Hank might! He feels more confident, at least in terms of doing what he wants and not what he feels like he should, and he feels like he doesn't have as much to lose by being a hopeless romantic by this point in his life, so I could actually see him going for it.)

Say “I love you” first? Yes | No (Hank's quick to tell people he loves them, honestly. He believes that romantic relationships require that kind of emotional honesty or there's really no point.)

Cheat on them? Yes | No (If Hank has cheated, he is a Skrull imposter.)

Be the jealous type? Yes | No (A little bit. Juuuust a little bit. It wouldn't always make itself apparent, but he wouldn't necessarily be against occasionally playing more to beastly type to make his attachment clear.)

Plan the dates? Yes | No (I feel like they collaborate! They have schedules, they're both mature adults - they compromise, and Hank is very respectful of Cain's boundaries, needs, and wants.)

Initiate the first kiss? Yes | No (After the landing lights have been put on and he's sure it's going to go through, and he's very, very sure he's not in Die Hard 2 and going to crash and burn? Yeah, he's in there.)

Remember anniversaries? Yes | No (Honestly, I feel like they both become very aware of anniversaries and at least try to do something for the big ones, though their ideas probably differ quite a bit on what makes an appropriate anniversary date.)

BOLD WHAT APPLIES:

Their Relationship Is:

friends to lovers | rivals to lovers | enemies to lovers | still just enemies | mutual pining | star crossed lovers | old married couple | perpetual honeymoon phase | stable and boring | stable but not boring | secret lovers | best friends hiding their feelings | and they were roommates | friends with benefits | coworkers avoiding HR | one-sided affection | weird sexual tension | it’s complicated | toxic relationship | a secret affair | an actual dumpster fire | other

PUBLIC Displays of Affection:

hand holding | kiss on the hand | kiss on the cheek | kiss on the forehead | kiss on the lips |  cuddling | hugging | affectionate messages or comments | pet names | pictures together | no displays of affection

PRIVATE Displays of Affection:

hand holding | kiss on the hand | kiss on the cheek | kiss on the forehead | kiss on the lips |  cuddling | hugging | affectionate messages or comments | pet names | pictures together | no displays of affection

(Hank will cuddle. This is not possible to avoid.)

Do they stay together?

yes, this is endgame | yes but someone is gonna die tragically | something is keeping them apart | they part ways as friends | they part ways as enemies | they’re on-again-off-again | they have a super messy breakup | it was just a fling | other

(I feel like they get married and become cute and old together, tbh. Hank goes grey and then white furred and they are old and sweet.)

BONUS

What terrible pet names would they give each other?

I don't know if they go for pet names here! I could see Hank playfully calling him Sugar Cain just for fun and to see his reaction, but I doubt it would stick and he'd probably knock it off quick unless Cain makes it clear he likes it.

[kleinstar]

☎👋😍✔️👂

RELATIONSHIPBUILDING (NOT ACCEPTING)

☎ for your muse’s info in my muses phone (name, ringtone, picture, last text received/sent).

Name: Quincy!!! (maybe he adds a heart or five later hehe) Picture: a picture of quincy napping he snapped one this one time - he'd change it sometimes but its usually him napping regardless, topper is there too Last text sent: [txt] ate this today let's go together next time (text seen ) [txt] im bringing these to topper today ok? *picture of treats* (text seen) [txt] *another very mundane text about something (text seen) ....AND SO ON IT GOES LIKE THAT FOR A LONG TIME maybe some noes or yesses here and there, cut by calls etc. Eiden's actually pretty fine with left on read when it comes to Quincy really, if he sees it that means he's probably read it unless its incomprehensible wall of text or something lmao

👋for three things that describe our muses relationship. i struggle(d) with this one for no reason aaaa itd be cool to do more abstract stuff but im so bad at that

long naps after busy day

nights under starry skies before fire

scent of home

Send 😍 for my muse to tell yours three things they love about them.

" Hehe, ehehe.... Just three things? That's funny! I can say more but I don't know if I feel like counting! "

" I mean saying looks is like almost cheating, too easy but I mean have you seen him --- whaa ? You haven't huh? But also like there's that whole gap with how he looks or even acts sometimes and then how he actually is! I mean nobody's perfect so there's some truth to that too but he really is actually really gentle, attentive, kind and reliable... All of that! He's also really skilled in practical stuff and you know survival skills and all of that and he always teaches me even when I'm not doing so good!! With him being like that he's really good with kids and of course with animals it's like some snow white stuff if snow white was a hot guy? "

" And uh... how do I say? You know since I'm like ... kind of busybody I keep sometimes taking up a liiiiiiittle too much stuff - I mean not as much as I used to, I've become a little better at taking care of myself - but that guy reaaaaally makes sure I relax right? I'm sure it's on purpose sometimes but sometimes it's probably all unwittingly too.... I don't know if I noticed it myself.... "

" --- ah but that should be all in past tense okay? But I guess he still is all that so maybe not? Hehe. Anyway that's why I'm here so hehe - will you pretty please throw me something a little stronger than that? Something sweet though, I don't like bitter stuff ok? " this is probably eiden @ bartender already just a little bit tipsy, before quincy was eventually called to pick up hehe

✔️ for a daydream my muse has had about/involving yours.

He can see the water pooling down from the hose, pressing down the dirty blond hair continuing to broad frame wetting his shirt. His shirt would be all white for this, revealing all so easily... The way the fabric would stick to his skin, complimenting the shape of his muscles. As the hose would be pulled off he'd sigh all worn out but content in the fight for summer heat.. He'd brush his weathered fingers through the wet hair and maybe pull the t-shirt's hem up just a little ... Through the shirt you'd be able to see the pecs and the pink hue visible through.

Then he'd look at him and approach --

" Wait Quincy nooo... We're in public surrounded by all these people-- "

" ..... I'm leaving you here. "

It wakes Eiden up and quick he runs to Quincy, explaining himself in rapid fire pace that Quincy doesn't really seem to bother in deciphering.

Behind the two is left the ad looking for participants for an event in the summer. In big clear letters reads WET T-SHIRT CONTEST.

Send 👂 to overhear my muse talking about yours.

" Oh it was really cute - since he's so big kids would climb over him and all, and he'd sigh but then end up taking them around like it's nothing and -- "

" ---Quincy! When did you appear there? I was just bragging for you! "

[takerfoxx]

Would Charlotte get along better with Homura than Kyoko? Like if both Madoka and Homura die and end up stopping at the N. Platform, and between Madoka and any post death reflections from both Homura and Mami that would make Homura at least a semi-regular fixture, plus a lack of Reibey interest, would Homura and Charlotte have less problems than Charlotte, and Kyoko do or more (remove the life disruption stresses, but add on the fact that Mami and Homura will get along a lot less than Mami and Kyoko).

The answer to that is a bit more complicated than it seems, but short answer? Assuming that the Reibey stuff never happened, I think Charlotte would get along better with Kyoko than she would with Homura.

See, the biggest reason that Charlotte and Kyoko got off on the wrong foot and stayed there for so long is that Kyoko fully disrupted Charlotte's life. Charlotte's not exactly shy and can be very personable, but she's still a very introverted individual who prefers to keep to herself with her wife on their isolated ocean platform and interacting with other people as little as possible, and then Kyoko blew in and basically took all that away, all the while acting belligerent and stubborn in exactly the right way to piss Charlotte off. They're alike in that they're both blunt and forward, but at the end of the day, Charlotte's an introvert, Kyoko's an extrovert, and their personalities clashed.

But if none of that happened and Kyoko was basically Mami's ex-protege with whom she had a lot of complicated feelings, then Charlotte would be wary of her for a while. Not that she thought Mami would cheat on her or anything, but Charlotte knows that Mami's past is wrought with regret and shame, and Kyoko is a living representation of that, so she would be worried about how Mami's mental health would be affected. And I think Kyoko would still irritate her with her overall attitude. But give Kyoko the necessary therapy and support, and I definitely see the two working past those differences and becoming genuine friends. Plus, they both like Oktavia, albeit in different ways.

See, here's the thing a lot of people seem to forget about Kyoko. Yes, when we meet her in the series she's at her absolute worst, literally quick to try to murder Sayaka because she annoyed her. But there were a lot of personal circumstances involved there, and when we see her at other parts throughout the franchise, she does come off as something of a people person. She recognizes game and shows respect where it's merited. She's perfectly cool with working with others and gets along with other people. She takes things seriously, looks out for those who need it, watches other people's backs, and is even okay with submitting to authority if the situation merits it. Stay away from some specific triggers, and she's actually a pretty pleasant person. So I totally could see her settling into things in Freehaven.

Homura is a...different case. She's a white hot mess of neurological issues kept in check by an ironclad discipline that gives her the demeanor of the Terminator. She's been traumatized by Madoka's death so many times that it's a miracle that she's held on as long as she has, and we've all seen what happens when she breaks. Plus, she's also been trapped in those timeloops for so long that plucking her out of them could trigger a meltdown all on its own.

So I don't see her adjusting well to the afterlife. Nor do I see her and Charlotte getting along. Most likely Homura would dismiss Charlotte outright, and Charlotte would try not to take it personally but still get miffed about the rudeness. I can see her taken a shine to Madoka, perhaps not to the same extent as she did Oktavia, but even so, Homura would be that friend of a friend that you just don't like but tolerate for your friend's sake. Or rather, a friend of your wife's friend who's pretty okay, but you really wish she would stop bringing her scary girlfriend around.

Also, I totally see Homura acting hostile toward Mami at the start, and that's a big no-no to Charlotte.

[porkcutletbowl44]

So I will write this ask while reading chapter 16 because my mind is too smooth to do it afterwards.

frist of all, SINCE WHEN CAN YOU TWIST OPEN A BEER BOTTLE BABY GIRL BEER BOTTLES ARE NORMALLY CAPS ONLY THE CHEAP ONE IN PASTIC IS WITH A TWIST OPENING

damn my german ass came out for a sec. But i really think they would have proper beer. The shit in the plastic bottles is piss with the wrong label on it and I don't even like beer to begin with LOL But it seems they are into it which… damn kinda sad but I guess that's a german thing to see cheap beer as a crime 😭💀

God, I love the interactions with the boys sooo much! It's so funny and makes me miss my old friend group. well at least the good parts of it and that wasn't much to being with 🥴

microwaving cereal 😭😭😭 I'm laughing so hard right now omg I never was drunk in my 24 years of living so it always makes me the one who holds the hair or fight of the guys who think they could get a quick fun. No fun with me, I will ruin they're night for good haha Only got tipsy twice and the first time I kinda regret because I didn't register how much the one dude overstep the line with this one girl. Mind you I just met her at the party but she was so sweet. God I would have beaten the living shit out of him. Still hate him to this day and he is a close friend of my cousin which is like a sister to me. Damn sorry for the rant LOL

NO HE DOES NOT ACT LIKE THIS MY GOD THIS MAN MAKES ME SO MAD I never wanted to punch a character in a fic so much as I want to punch Simon. Wtf is he thinking? Mf was cheating, is engaged with another woman who makes our life way too hard and he thinks it's all fine and dandy to tell us that WE are selfish??????

Jesus fucking Christ, Keegan needs to punch the shit out Simon. Holy moly macaroni i'm so mad

"Rank ain't gonna save you from a broken nose."

OMG JUST DO IT! BEAT HIM OMG PLS

I don't get it. I DON'T HIM! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS MAN

of course Keegan is a sweet boy like always. How he can hold back not to give us small kisses is beyond me but ok. Well maybe because I'm someone who gives affection to everyone that is close to me, be it friends or family.

YES MY FAVORITE DADDY IS FINALLY HERE! Was about time that Price is joining! God, he is so sweet. He always reminds me of a Berniece Mountain dog! Big, gentle, protective and efficient at work. They are one of my fav dogs so maybe I'm a bit biased haha

wow, the fact that he called it out all those years ago? John knows Simon really well. We should have listened to him more. On the other hand, he also said, Simon would never hurt us and now look at this mess. My God, I just feel so sorry for our girl.

Jesus every time we get a flashback of better times... I makes heart so heavy. This story feels so real, like we're a fly on the wall that watches a tragedy unfold.

Please give me a man like Price, he is such a sweet mew mew

not me almost crying at his little speech of how much he cares for her 😭😭

Song recommendation: Another Life - Motionless in White

HIIIII! it's wonderful hearing from you again I hope all is well! 🫶🏻💛

Tbh, I did a little research about beer in the UK, and some of it is similar to the US aluminum caps lol

And, I'm not sure if you read chapter 17 yet, so I'll refrain from commenting on the Simon rant to avoid spoilers 🫠

Peepaw Price cures depression for FREE. that's free therapy and I'm taking it!! 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️

(MOTIONLESS IN WHITE MENTION RAAAAHHHHHHHHHH💖💖💖)

[cool-anyways]

🚙 Bumper

Khelsey

Tossing her sneakers to the corner of her studio, Khelsey (Kels-sey) sits on her bed, taking in the cozy fairy lights and several duvets. Finally.

Honestly, she hates her job. She’s not fond of her coworkers given that they act like she’s not there. One of them didn’t even know she worked there. Khelsey rolled her eyes and hopped out of bed, grabbing her controller and turning on her console. Her hands scanned under her bed, snatching up a cardboard box covered in gift wrap. Her boyfriend, Lionel, gifted her a headset and was waiting for a change to play together.

But that was when they were still dating and, Khelsey hopes, before Lionel had started cheating on her.

Her eyes scanned the box. Quiet plasticky pops follow her nails as they pierce the tape and paper. The rather poorly wrapped gift bursting from the wrap and the box opening weakly. Inside sat the headset and a game. Reaching into the box and bringing the case to light, she read the title. Pit Stop Ln.

“Huh, well he did always like racing games” Khelsey mumbled, grimacing a bit before opening the case. The disk is popped into the console and a download begins as she starts inspecting the headset.

“How do I even…whatever, I’ll figure it out.” Khelsey shrugs and starts the game, popping the headset on.

On the console screen the icon, a small scene with a red car speeding past a black one, expanded to fill the now blacked out screen. For a moment she felt weightless, her surroundings loading into a textured white mechanics shop.

“Whoa…no wonder…” Khelsey mumbled thinking about how badly Lionel wanted her to play the game.

As she thought to herself, a thick neon sign flickered. An empty box lit by white filaments asks for a username along side a woman’s voice.

“Please create a username.”

Khelsey clicked her tongue and giggled as she started typing. She looked at the keyboard, curious about it being shaped like a phone keyboard.

“Kitt_y. Same username I’ve used for everything.” Khelsey sighed with a smile as she hit enter.

There was a quick loading screen before the sound of a garage door opening. In pulled a bright yellow car with a few stripes, a young man stuck his head out the window. His face was covered by a black sheisty and yellow goggles. He lifted the lower part of his mask as he stepped out the car his dark lips pulled into a boyish smile.

“What’s up, Kitt_y (Kitty)! Was getting’ worried ‘bout you. Names BK but just call me Bee.”

The man pat the hood of his car, the bumblebee hood ornament made far more sense to Khelsey now.

“Nice ride, sweet cutscene too.” Khelsey jokes, startling when Bee laughs with her.

“There aren’t cutscenes in this game, Kitt_y. It’s au naturel.”

“…So you’re not like…a character or something?” She stares at Bee curiously.

“I am. I’m actually your mentor.”

“Whoa whoa wait. So you’re like…AI?”

He shrugged. “Also no? But yes? It’s complicated. You got here a little after the other new guy. Here.” Bee tossed a red disk to Khelsey.

“What’s this?” She asked, watching 3 dashes appear on the flat part.

“Your car key, name tag, house key, race ticket, etcétera etcétera.” Bee tapped his fingers, yellow and black tape around the tips. “Let’s get you started—“

Khelsey grinned. “I mean I know this is a car game but this is so cool and this feels super real.”

Bee looked at her. “I mean…yeah? It’s…ah whatever, don’t wanna be late for your hot date.”

“Hot date?” She lifted her chin challengingly.

Bee grinned, “With your car.”

“Oh—“ She broke into laughter and clasped her hands. “Right right right. Alright let’s go.”

Bee nodded to the open garage door, only now did Khelsey look out to see the wide environment. Outside were racing cars and suited drivers walking around. Helmed racers sit on tire barriers as cars speed dangerously around tight corners and over steep ramps.

“Whoa…” Khelsey gasps with a smile. “Finally a game for us free roam girlies.”

There’s a gentle tap on Khelsey’s shoulder from Bee as he points to another garage door with a woman standing next to it, her long red braids twisted into a four buns. The woman perked up and spun around into a proud pose, clown make-up smeared across her face.

“Hehe, heyo!” The woman’s hands sit the asphalt as she threw her feet over her back, flipping like a slinky until she sprung up inches from Khelsey. “Yo yo! What’s poppin’, Kitty cat?”

What kind of clown says ‘yo yo’?

Khelsey wondered with a face of confusion.

The woman grinned a golden toothed grin, her grills sparkling in the sunlight. She pressed a gold ringed finger against her nose, a soft honk coming from her lips.

“C’mon, don’t get your balloons tangled!” She laughed as she clicked her red sneakers together. “I see Bee caught you first, did ya get your ride yet?”

Khelsey shook her head before grinning. “I like your style.”

The woman laughed and put her hands up. “Thank you!”

Bee cleared his throat and made a hand sign at the clown girl. The woman nodded and did a little twirl.

“I gotta get going! Catch you on the slick side! Names Gogo by the way!” And she ran—more like cartwheeled off to a big wheeled clown car.

Khelsey looked at Bee and pointed. “I want that car but like…cat themed.”

Bee shrugged. “Cars your oyster, now let’s hurry so you’re on time for your first race.”

“What? Already?” Khelsey whined as she followed Bee. “I haven’t learned the controls!”

Bee jogged to a garage and opened it, illuminated by the midday sun a grey car sat lonely only beside a mirror.

Khelsey circled the car. “Is it…supposed to be so boring?”

Bee shook his head. “Nah, not after you’re done with it. You don’t have to be boring either. Let me know when you’re done, Kitt_y, I’ll be here.” He sounded a bit hasty.

Khelsey shrugged and walked to the car, the menu for customising rising to her right.