#and throw myself at the exact same brick wall for hours a day over the course of two weeks before just giving in and watching a playthrough | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

auriel187 · 3 years

Text

Purgatory Ch.1

Word count: 8500 (around)

Warnings: Creepy Capitals being Creepy Capitals...

Pairings: None yet (ship who you want)

The Conclave

In times I tremble, I hold onto my heart knowing their safety is more important than my own.

In krono mhe slipp lowa, mhe kep onto mi beeta knowing demens secur is masal imprativ than mi own.

Eulalia

The cityscape was unapologetically urban. There were no trees or city planted blooms, just monoliths of concrete and glass soaring out of the sidewalk in an exact grid pattern. At night it was beautiful in it's own way, there were so many lights. By day you relied on the sky to let you know that it wasn't a monochromatic world; just one in which the people were too busy for life. For over a generation progress had meant the teaching of specific skill sets to the children of The Felicity and The Hope Rises. In most parts of this city we only work and eat, there was no time to sweep fall leaves or plant spring flowers, so they eliminated them. It was sad how mundane and rigid life became. There was no beauty, hardly even enough to notice the blue above. With no more designers, our clothing and cars never change, there are five styles of everything in Ellis, but you’ll very rarely see different districts dressed the same way. In this way our city outperforms those in the region.

In the mind of the young outcast I used to be, it was like a story to me. One that became more and more like a nightmare as time ripped every shred of innocence from my life.

The coldness of the slate tile and it's dampness seeped through the thin polyester trousers my brother, Hami, had stolen from the market. With knees pulled tight to my pronounced rib cage I shivered in the early morning chill. In this poor light the roof-tops spread in every direction like great grey serpents with rectangular scales. Only the red brick chimneys ruined the illusion, but in this light they were just as monochromatic as everything else, the slate, the swirling smog, the streets that were never deserted, the unfriendly sky with its dense cloud robbing me of the sunrise. From here I could see what a maze this borough was, every house three stories and each joined to the next. The streets curved as if laid down on a whim a few centuries ago before anyone had conceived of a grid pattern idea.

There I’d stay while I waited for school to begin, in my ripped khakis and oversized faded maroon shirt. There I’d stay telling myself stories of brave heroes who had it all wishing I could be one of them. Hungry, cold and tired from all the city had to give me, was it selfish of me to wish this on the little girl in my class who called me by the wrong name telling me I’d live the rest of my life covered in mud and shit and drinking out of a clogged gutter?

From the Mass, you could see all the things to love about the city, and there was a lot to love about this city. It was one thing I loved about Capital Hill. From the high arches in the towering glass buildings to the balconies that look over the sea of homes and businesses. It was one of the things I never had back home. The views from here were stunning. I could see The Torch glistening in the golden rays of sunlight, and the sense of safety that fills me is almost overwhelming. “Miss Suarez,” I heard behind me as I felt the soft breeze hitting the apples of my cheeks. The stray hairs behind my ears flailed about behind my ears as I turned to face the intruder now standing before me. He practically filled the doorway, in his uniform that made him look more like a cinder block than a man. His half shaved black hair glistened in the light before he took a step toward me. “The work day is over for you. There’s gonna be a Conclave later this evening at The Torch.”

I tried to keep my face as neutral as possible, but judging by the way he held back his laughter I guess I failed. “What for?” I proceeded on as if I didn’t realise the cameras were there, and Seraphineas was living for it. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes as he chuckled boredly, “Maybe it’s another execution...or maybe they’re announcing a new system in place that only benefits them.” It was impossible not to hear the humour in his deep voice as he mocked the Capitals and the past Conclaves. Of course, knowing that he would never say anything like this in front of his other guard buddies really put a damper on things. He must’ve seen my fading smile because he immediately turned to walk me out. I slipped into the elevator, the wall of glass turned into a mirror. I see why people assumed we were related. We were both relatively tall, him at six feet and myself at almost five foot eight. Thin figures adorned with muscle that came from our unique forms of exercise. “The Conclave begins at five. You’ll be charted too so be careful.” Phineas warned me as we exited the elevator just before we parted ways.

Well, that wasn’t ominous at all. You’d think something like that would bother a girl, but no. I’ve lived in this city my whole life. A girl gets used to the threats disguised as requests. They don’t just crash suddenly before you like lightning in a storm, I’ve known them to be the sudden raindrop before a downpour. It reminded me of the unease I felt every time I entered The Felicity. The Capital Hill district was beautiful. With their grand buildings and picturesque views, it was easy to say how much nicer it was then The Barrens or The Shadows. It was just another monster behind the curtain. A puppeteer pulling the strings of laws and lives of the people around them. They were an oxygen mask filled with poisonous gas to anyone that wasn’t their own. Luckily, I was close enough for them to view my life worth saving if shit ever happened.

I was a Regal now. Almost thirty eight percent of the population, we were almost untouchable in the eyes of society. We were privileged and we knew it, most of us acting like assholes because of it. I knew better. I used to be part of the forty two percent of Ellis. In short, my family was living ration to ration, sick and in a small house that was barely standing. I had a mother who worked her ass off just to come home to four kids and a father I barely knew because he was off working the most shifts he could. Unfortunately, the whole family plan didn’t work out when my mother and brothers all got Galixx, leaving only my dad and I.

I think we lived because we weren’t always home. I was the only one who went to school. Maybe if they didn’t think to send me away, I could’ve been with them. Instead, I left for school everyday and came home one day to my crying mother holding my brother, Devis, whose face was covered with sweat, dirt and tears as he coughed up blood. I turned and ran outside my home and began screaming until I found one of the town guard. I don’t know who long it took me to find him but when we got back, my mother was wailing and begging for the guard to take me away as she started coughing between her sobs.

I went to bed that night with tear stains running down my face, and to make matters worse, I was completely alone. I didn’t call anyone, simply sitting in my room with my eyes screwed shut until I eventually dozed off.

I woke up the next morning with a guard outside ready to escort me to my new home. My new home in The Hope Rises. It was nicer than my old home there was also more room up here not that my dad would be spending much time at home. It didn’t matter though, I was never completely alone. We all had our own family, mine just came in the form of Tauriel.

She was at the root of most of my happy memories. From my first day of school when she braided my hair and told me stories from books she had read from before the bunkers opened. I’d spend some nights at her house doing homework. She never really paid attention to anything aside from Earth Class. It was considered a Rogue class, but that didn’t stop a few Blends from coming in. Maybe she was interested because of the books she read of mountains that reached clouds, or butterflies with bright wings and this class was the closest thing to actually learning about them. She just wanted a world beyond these walls. I understood that. It just made us better friends. Even when I changed districts, we were still inseparable.

But, as Murphy’s Law dictates, “Everything that can go wrong will.” It was one of those days where Tauriel’s mom and I were baking for some Capital party. One of the snobby events where they needed catering and waiters. Zenobia, Tauriel’s mother, had been working for hours and seemed glad to have the assistance of a twelve year old. I had been decorating the large cake when I heard screaming from outside. Zenobia quickly ran to the window and nearly passed out. I muttered ‘Tori?’ before I was out the front door, seeing three guards trying to cuff her and shocking her into submission. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Her mom asked, trying to make it for her child. “Your child hacked into a government system with intent to distribute information.” I saw red, almost jumping on the guard closest to me. “She’s eleven, you lunatics!” Her mother reached for her daughter and the guard holding her hit her in the stomach. Tauriel and I froze. I didn’t know where to look. From the guard beating Zenobia to the guards dragging Tauriel to a large truck and throwing her in. I took a step in Tauriel’s direction and regretted it instantly.

A loud clang echoed behind me and Zenobia was lying on the ground, the guard walking to the truck without a second thought. When I ran to the unconscious woman, the truck drove away and I was stuck. Do I run for help or do I stay with her? I couldn’t shake the memory of my mom and Devis and what if I could just have faster? I need to stay with her. I’m not risking it again.

“Miss Fa Suarez?” I heard a voice say from behind me. I only turn my head but I stay pretty much in place as the swaying of the shuttle brings me back to the world I should be in. “It’s your stop.” He looks concerned. In his words, I’m usually ‘sharp as a tack’. I walk to the front of the shuttle and reach into my pocket. He’s here everyday. From my six AM trips to The Felicity straight to my trips back home at eight PM. “Take a day.” I say handing him my fair, plus another tip for waiting for me to get off. He never accepts my tips, but that doesn’t stop me from stuffing it in the small basket where he keeps his personal belongings. “This is why I got you these. Tell that sister yours I said to eat.” He handed me four wraps. I nodded my thanks at the sweet old man. “My love to the greats.” He laughed at my words before watching to make sure I descended the shuttle safely.

I turned towards my building. A large gold bricked building not very many stories high, but it was honestly much smaller on the inside than one would think when examining the building from outside. The air was cold here, it always was. With Tauriel constantly in the garage and having several pieces of machinery, the cool air prevented her and I from becoming casualties of her rage. She only ever got into tinkering when she was pissed. Based on the loud echoing clanking I could hear echoing from downstairs, I figured she’d need time to cool off and maybe put down whatever large metal object was colliding with her desk. In any sense, we had to be at a Conclave in a few hours.

My room wasn’t very big, only enough space to place my bed and two drawers. The room already had a large closet in the back so it’s not like I needed much in here anyways. The bronze and turquoise lights that swirled designs in my room. The premise of light and shadow was always appealing to me, maybe because it accrued anywhere and remained a natural part of life no matter what district you lived in. I headed towards my closet in search of something formal for the Conclave. I was never one for overt femininity, having been taught at a young age to not give a crap about what I look like and to just get the work done. That being said, I always managed to find a dress or two that I really did like. Scouring through pieces of cotton and linen, I stopped suddenly when I saw it again. A distressed brown leather coat.

It was just a jacket. It was just a stupid leather jacket with a padded quilt patch on the left elbow and a crap ton of buckles. There were faded letters on the left chest and a sort of mesh material that would cover my knuckles. It was just a jacket, and I loved it. Like a hidden piece of me that I never really show. This jacket screamed Rogue in uppercase letters. I loved that, even though I hadn’t been a Rogue in sixteen years. It almost felt wrong to wear it sometimes. Like I was an impostor trying to pass as something I wasn’t. I wasn’t even close.

I always envied Tauriel in that regard. Despite living here in The Regal Ward, The Hope Rises, with me, she never seemed to fear being shunned for not attempting to fit into the higher classed district. Fiercely adorning leather and denim in her everyday attire, she looked more like a Rogue than a Blend. Then again, why try fitting in when the world already looks down on you. Being that Tauriel’s district accounted for only one percent, and having been around Rogues most of her life it was easy to understand why she might be more comfortable in leather and studs.

“Are you wearing that tonight?” I heard her ask behind me. I should’ve figured she was on her way up when the banging and crashing ceased. I was holding the jacket in my hands, my fingers running over the cuff. “No...it doesn’t go with anything I own.” I gave my reply, letting my eyes drift past the coat and toward some of the other items of clothing in the confined space. I grab an old dress. The ornate gold dress collar along the black halter top matched the asymmetrical leaves on the red rose skirt. If it still fits like I remember, it should stop a little above my knee. “I’ll be in the shower. Do you…” before I could even finish asking, she responded. “Yes.” And with that, I left.

I spent almost thirty minutes in the bathroom, I was wrapped in my robe with my hair soaking wet. In the mirror, I hold my own gaze for just a second before taking into account how tired I must look. The bags under my eyes were devastatingly prominent. I don’t look at myself often, too afraid to not recognize myself from the old photos I had hanging in my room, and I was right. My features are sharper now, more pronounced jaw, higher cheekbones, and my eyes look more almond than monolid. I look like my mom. Though her hair was shiny black and mine was dark brown and my eyes are slightly darker than hers, I can still see it sickeningly clear. I placed my hand on the scar on my neck, remembering where my birthmark used to be. Descended from Natives and Malaysian ancestors, teachers at school would tell me that the very DNA in my bones held more history than our textbooks.

I’d know. I read them all.

It wasn’t much but keeping my hair down with a braid securely clipped behind my ears, neither Tauriel nor I had any makeup so my bare face and simple hairdo, Just dry your tears and fake a smile. Nobody wants to see a Regal cry. “You know, your eyes are going to get all puffed up. Here.” Tauriel stood behind me clutching a bottle of eye drops. I smiled at my oldest friend before I slung my arm over her shoulder and we walked to her room. I could never imagine my life without her. At this point, she was all I had to live for.

My little sister. I would walk from Heaven to Hell (and everywhere in between) for.

Tauriel

I always hated Conclaves. They always seemed too public. Ironic when you think about it. The word ‘conclave’ actually meant private meeting so the large citywide events seemed like a lie. I felt almost pageant-ish, told to look my best because of how many “eligible bachelors” there were. I honestly just think it’s because the Capitals would never want to be seen with the lower districts in our ‘rags and cheap coats’. In my opinion, the clothes the lower districts could afford only seemed to make the Capitals look more classy, almost like they were subtly jabbing at us in a way that said “haha, even in your best you’re not at level with our best.” And if we were looking to impress the eligible, more attractive people, The Rogues held that trophy for decades. Honestly, the glassy dullness of Capitals creeped me out. I wasn’t the only one who thought that either, the distinct features of each district were almost immediately identifiable.

The Capitals, born and raised in Capital Hill (aka The Felicity) had the most interesting eyes in the world, very distinctive for their central heterochromic irises that housed multiple colours at a time. That and the fact that most of them were fat faced from being able to eat was a dead giveaway. They look like the Bill Nye bobblehead Eulalia had on her desk. Capital also wore their hair short. I never understood why, but long hair was a sign of rebellion against the “oppressive and derogatory order of the Capital men.” I’ll give you one guess what demographic was saying shit like that. I’ll give you a hint, they steal daddy’s cards and mommy’s rocks to go flirt with the Rogue boys much to the disapproval of the elders. Acting like they were edgy for going through the same phase as their mothers did, before they realize that Rogue men don’t give a fuck about rocks unless it gets them paid.

The Regals were similar, wearing their hair slightly longer. Most had extremely lean frames due to the training most of them worked for since the age of six to become a guard. The Regal Ward housed most of the idiotic soldier boys, I was honestly surprised when a Regal came along and decided that they would rather sell booze to the city rather than tote a gun and act like you owned the place. Most regal women (like Eulalia) studied for the higher grades, like doctors and lawyers. It was cool to see Regals, though. Their tag was their hair. Yes it was usually cut short but I think they made up for it with the silver that rimmed their hair from birth.

Rogues were almost unbelievable in their district appearance. They had all the most beautiful features from their naturally sharp jawlines with either dimples or freckles (sometimes both). The boys usually had long hair, mostly because the Government didn’t think it was a good idea to give Rogues and Infects access to sharp edged tools, partly because most of them thought they looked tough. They were all ripped, boys and girls from years of literal heavy lifting. I always considered myself lucky to be a Blend in that regard. We always got some kind of Rogue gene. I dawned dimples. My Jawline wasn’t as defined but I had that feature and I was glad I did. Eulalia was of Native descent so her bone structure resembled a statue carved of marble.

Eulalia kept fidgeting with the metal collar on her dress, her jacket fitting her narrow frame as the dress hung above her knees. I know for a fact how much she hated wearing tight, single layers. Regales often wore baggy jumpers with tattered looking overlayers. It was the perfect look for her. Mostly Regal but with an obvious Rogue history. “Hey.” I whispered, her head snapping down to me due to her not only being a few inches taller than me but in heels nearly the same height Seraphineas. “You okay?” I asked. The huge influx of people walking towards The Torch, once a mighty statue.

She always had this moment where she stands just out of view of the guard. The Conclaves would separate people based on district and having only recently (not recently) turned twenty one, the word Regal was now branded on her identifications, she still felt like a traitor for standing with them. She nodded, softly patting my hand before walking towards the desk. I did the same.

“Hold out your hand please.” A woman asked, holding a large glass plate with a few small censors out to me. It was cold under my palms as it scanned the fingerprints. My face appeared on a small screen in front of the woman. It must’ve had the words Bruise in big block letters because the demeanor of this woman changed as she stared me down. She quickly gripped my arm and clasped a large silver cuff on my wrist. Could she feel me rolling my eyes at this? I huffed a laugh at her attempt to be nonchalant. She has to know how obvious it is that she now fears a twenty three year old. I stared at the blinking light as I walked through the stone arch that led to the city center. The four sectors were at least proportional to the Districts population, Blends/ Bruises having the least amount of people. I stood in the back, my eyes glancing over to the Regal section where I attempted to find Eulalia. I can see Seraphineas walking down the row and walking towards the back of the section. The silver streaks in his shortened hair I can recognize immediately, even in the sea of silver headed citizens. He liked to dye his hair darker, I know he tries to keep his hair as neutral as possible as to not get busted right away when he gets sent undercover, but that only made the silver look like a slate blue.

The microphone screamed. A short, sickly woman stood on the stage with a tall, semi healthy looking man. They were Capital to the heights accord. The Jevons to be exact. They were the parents to three kids. Spoiled like asshats as most people like to call them. They come to the Mopes once a week. They go thrifting cause it sounds real fun and looks real cool when a Capital is down to get down, while they wear their false lashes that wave like flags to the men here. I can see their eldest, a girl by the name of Apathy and yes she lives up to her name. A narcissist who spends her time ridiculing the districts for the fact that The Felicity robs us blind. Places like The Barrens and The Bounds were trash holes where the people should bow down and kiss her feet. The only reason she even dares cross the boundary is to find a piece of ass they’d dump after a month anyway.

Even now, Apathy and Power (yes, Elodora and Zenier Jevon named their son Power) were basking in the spotlight of Capital glory, whilst Anarchy, the youngest, was staring off into the Regal section with her lower lip between her teeth. Apparently mommy and daddy’s speech was a bore. She really thought she was somebody though. Her honey gold tresses dangle to her lower back rather than the neatly buzzed pixie most of the women wore.

“We celebrate another year of safety and sanctity behind the walls of Ellis...” The woman on stage spoke in a shrill voice that instantly made my whole brain throb. Can this day get any better? Well yes actually. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the one and only October Vervent. I was nearly four years older than him and I'm thoroughly convinced he’s been taller than me since birth. I slowly weaved my way through the section to find the taller young man. I pat his shoulder causing him to jump slightly and smile almost immediately. His mother was a Rogue, just like mine. His jawline was more rounded, less sharp than most Rogues and Blends. He was of Chinese descent, which gave him shiny black hair that only cut off below his ears with a single streak of silver just behind his left ear. Just below but still in sight, was a tattoo that read “I CAN’T HEAR YOU.” Well, that’s one way to tell the world you’re deaf and mute.

I knew he had spent the better half of ten minutes reading the lips of the Jevons standing on the large metal podium. I turned to face him. He followed suit with an even bigger smile. I saw two small scars just above his ears. I’ll have to do something with that later. “It is our pleasure to present the recipients of this year's Grands.” Elodora continued with her rehearsed and very poorly executed speech. I normally would have stopped listening by now, but October needed a break from people being completely oblivious to his needs and the needs of people like him. I began signing to him, each word they said. “Mara Fox of the Barrens District. An extra one hundred was added to your wage, congratulations on receiving Dead Eye, Miss Fox.” A knew the name. I’m sure Everybody did. Every member of the Fox family walking the earth had naturally bright red hair. Mara was the only one with a fiery red.

She walked up on stage almost gingerly. The apprehension in her warm brown eyes as she twisted the material of her dusty rose dress, which was actually just an oversized T shirt with bleach stains and burn holes at the bottom. Her hair was in an updo. The front was twisted up to the right side of her head with a long braid that wrapped the rest into a sock bun. The smile on her face was fake. She usually had these deep dimples in her cheeks when she smiled. She was on the stage, the uncomfortable feeling that this was some kind of sick joke was evident by her wandering eyes. The part that made me sick, though, was when Zenier Jevon looked her up and down, biting his lip at the exposed fair skin of her legs. He stared at her almost greedily as he shook her hand. He was married with three demon children and was currently drooling at the thought of being with a twenty five year old on a public stage. A girl the same age as his youngest daughter with his wife standing right next to him as the creep caressed her hand. Were all men in power this fucking gross? She bid the couple a near silent thank you as she practically flew off the stage.

A low applause filled the room as she returned to her place with all the other Rogues and Infects. Everyone began to move out of the aisle, heading for the doors when, “The next recipient of this grand is…” What the hell? In the 23 years I’ve lived in the city and all the Conclaves I attended, there was never more than one recipient. Never has there been multiple. Ever. The crowds all stood frozen. Something wasn’t quite right about this. “...Eulalia Fa Suarez!”

Something definitely was right here.

Eulalia looked more confused than I thought she would. Her eyes narrowed as she slowly walked to the stage. She kept shooting questioning looks to both Seraphineas and I as she shook the hands of the Jevon’s on stage. Xenier had the fakest of fake smiles before he practically pushed her off the stage, where the crowd raised their hands in an awkwardly pushed applause. October and I didn't applaud though. I think he might’ve been able to sense my worry because even as I stood completely spaced out, staring at the empty space where Eulalia was standing not that long ago.

“The next grand being received,” I snapped out of my daze and signed to October. I know he was able to read lips but honestly he deserved all the help the world had to offer. “Thayer Michaels for bringing in the most food for the city!” Eladora spoke pridefully as the Rogues and Blends (Infects and Bruises included) either scoffed or dramatically rolled their eyes. Of course we did. Regals had the highest population and spent most days begging for scraps. Blends were treated just the same unless both parents were in the picture. Capitals were less than fifteen percent of Ellis and for some ridiculous reason, they deem themselves more important than every other district taking first picks of long hauls and leaving enough for them to have a chuckle watching the poorest of citizens fight for stale bread or and water rations.

I wasn’t complaining. If anyone deserved the grand, it was Mara Fox, EulaliaFa Suarez and Thayer Michaels. Mara Fox, when she wasn’t doing the wood work or in the meat room, spent hours teaching young Rogues how to read, giving them the education most of them had to give up in order to eat. Eulalia bought big portions of food and would walk the streets of the Barren giving food to families. She cries when she comes back and begs me not to ask about it. In guilt, she pushes to raise the ration fund for Capitals and Regals before she offers her leisure time (which she barely has) to teach kids in the neighborhoods that had no doctors basic medical skills. Thayer spent his time not hunting as a caretaker. He would walk October and a few other people to and from places, getting them groceries and even playing with them in parks. It didn’t need to be said that October was his favorite. October was partial to him too, if the smile that was currently on his face said anything as he watched the much taller, much older man walk on stage. He deserved it. All three of them did, but giving them grands to commemorate for all they’ve done almost exclusively for The Felicity made them seem far less noble.

At this point, for October, I tried not to focus on the fact that Eladore was eyeing Thayer the same way Zenier was eyeing Mara. What the fuck is wrong with these people?

When the Conclave ended, there was this feeling of unease. October and I still stood side by side as the Capitals made their way out first, not wanting to be surrounded by the lowest of lows for longer than necessary. They also just got to leave. Every other district was either held back to get your cuff taken off or you were waiting for someone who did. Yet another way to separate us and treat us like crap. All because I have a flashy red label next to my name. To hell with it all. I stood in the line watching as people existed around me. I never felt like I was existing anywhere close to them. Eulalia was having a conversation with October, Mara was having a moment with her boyfriend and Seraphineas is breaking up a fight. Oh this chaotic world of mine.

“You know,” I heard a deep voice behind me. An air of familiarity hit and shifted to my comfortable numbness once I knew who it was. “The point is for you to move up when people leave, right. Don’t tell me you grew attached to that thing.” Yup, same old Thayer. I took a few steps forward closing the gap between me and the tall Rogue girl in front of me. “Still not much of a talker, huh, Jailbait?” He said quietly enough so only I could hear him. Part of me wanted to clock him for bring up that stupid ass nickname. Another part wanted to give a smart ass reply. I was so in my own head, I missed the opportunity. “You always did prefer hunks of metal to people.” He bit. I just knew the bastard had a smirk on his face right now. “Hunks of metal don’t talk and aren’t nearly as narcissistic.” I responded, adamant on getting away from the prick.

I was never so glad to see a Capital in my life and this one was a real bitch. The younger woman had the angriest look in her eye when I walked up, not sure why. I don’t fuck with Capitals and the feeling was mutual. “Have you stolen any property not belonging to you during the conclave?” What the fuck was there to steal, all the shits a person could give? “No.” She sized me up before shooting a quick glance to Thayer, who was still behind me. “During the Conclave, did you skip a mandatory announcement for-” She looked at Thayer again, this time slowly taking in his features, “any reason of recreation?” Is she serious? I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, we ran off to tap dance on the Torch. I guess you caught us.” I could hear a few people snickering at my rebuttal. At least they have a sense of humour.

Eulalia

Tauriel looked about as comfortable as I thought she would. She had a scowl on her face as the attendant pried the cuff off of her wrist. “Ak heppia?” I called out to her. She turned to me with a small smile. She didn’t have to look up to see who was talking to her, I’m pretty sure only a handful of people still speak Dyselian. It made Tauriel feel safe, like people couldn’t poke their nose into our thoughts and conversations. She nodded slowly, she was alright but the exhaustion of having to deal with so many people was getting to her. “Mhe am heppia, mhe just desir to vette hadven.” I chuckled at that, because of course she just wanted to go back home. I honestly am not sure why she didn’t want to stay. Most girls would kill to get Thayer to utter a single word to them. Like most Regal boys, he was broad shouldered with rippling muscles that were obvious under any shirt and tall as hell. Who was I kidding, she'd rather break every bone than deal with her old tormenter again.

She walked over to Toby and I, glad to be with people she could actually tolerate. “U beso to gat allies!” I whispered, pinching her arm. She visibly cringed at the idea. “Mhe would rather pia in hutted.” she replied, turning to look at October. She quickly signed ‘Eula says I need to make friends.’ The taller boys tried to stifle his laughter before he signed ‘She’s right.’ Tauriel rolled her eyes before the two began to playfully bicker back and forth. I left them to their devices when I turned to notice Mara standing to the side waiting for Cecil to get his cuff off.

“Hey, Fox.” I said nudging the redhead’s shoulder. She quickly turned to face me, a smile quickly spread when she realized I wasn’t some other Regal. She whispered a quiet hello before turning to look at her boyfriend. It’s been a while since I’d seen Cecil but he grew up nice. He was now a little over six foot two, typical for Rogue males. “He asks about you two.” Mara stated seemingly out of the blue. I know she worried about him all the time, more so since he stopped coming over for exams. It was the same look in her eyes the night she called Tauriel and I to help him after a few guards thought it right to attack him. “You let him know it’s nothing for me to do an exam?” I asked as the freckled young man moved up in the line. Mara’s voice quivered as she nodded “Everyday. He doesn’t want to bother you, you being a doctor and all.” She smiled slightly when he waved our way. “He still working in the mines?” I asked. Mara scoffed, “Like he’d ever stop. Thick as he and his buddies are?” I couldn't help but laugh. Cecil definitely hadn’t changed. I nearly jumped out of my skin when the chimes rang throughout the city. Fuck!

“Tell him I say to give that shoulder a break every once in a while!” I say before I began running back to Tauriel and October. This wasn’t good. Tauriel looked ready to break something. Her fists were clenched so tight, I thought she'd pierce the skin. As quickly as I could, I signed to the two of them, ‘We need to leave. October, you’re staying at our house for tonight.’ Tauriel froze in place. I only sent her a sympathetic smile when October ran to grab his protector. Thayer had placed his hoodie over October as we all started to Tori and my building. We walked the back alleys and listened for the easy to identify marching of the guards.

I’m not surprised that Thayer is good at this. He was a hunter. Standing at nearly six six, he is both light on his feet and stealthy. I imagine his training was horrifying but I know for a fact that he learned his skills while he was in prison not when he got out. He had the same urgent distrust of his surroundings that Tauriel has whenever she leaves our house. What the fuck did they do to them?

Tauriel sneaks to the back of the building and then there’s silence. I held my breath as I waited for her. I smiled when I heard a whistle emit from around the corner. We were behind the building in a second as she held the window open. She turned to Thayer first, I know it was because he was the tallest and the window was a little more than seven feet above the ground. He went down feet first and let out a satisfied smirk when he landed. I sent October in next, only because I wanted him inside before any guards decided to check back here. I went next, grabbing onto the copper pole that hung above the window I quickly slid in. Thayer made sure to place me down on the concrete floor rather than actually let me jump. Tauriel came in and jumped from the window, closing it before the guards could see her.

We got inside just before eight. The second we entered upstairs from the basement, the alarms started blaring. They had placed a curfew after the Conclave. I can see Tauriel standing awkwardly by the door before she disappeared into the garage. October sent me a curious look and I was glad he didn’t hear what I assumed to be her shelf colliding with the ground or the string of Dyselian profanities. He didn’t need to witness that. Thayer seemed a little shocked at first but I guess he knew the feeling because he sent me a sorrowful half smile.

“Hey! Go lon out isei yella!” She reluctantly exited the garage with a kid bruise forming at her knuckles. She looked beyond pissed. “Mhe deid howa infolo! Mhe deid howa infolo it was a angaari!” She began pacing around. I sent a look to October who was all too quick to leave, practically dragging Thayer behind him as he headed upstairs. I could feel Tori’s blood boiling from here. “I knew they were up to something. I should’ve guessed there would be a trap too!” I said nothing. She was right about something weird going on. The Capitals never offered more money than necessary, they never offered grands and fundings to more than one person each. It’s fairly odd that three people won the grands and six won the funding.

We walked upstairs seeing Thayer and Toby looking for something to eat. Tauriel had walked into her room, closing the door behind her as I walked into the kitchen. October was stuffing his face with bread, not at all worried about anything today had to offer. Thayer on the other hand was standing against the wall, watching as his little brother consumed his food ravenously. I could see how hungry he was too. I tossed him a loaf of his own, standing next to him as we watched the near twenty year old fill himself while sitting on the floor. “You take great care of him.” I said quietly. Most people thought that Rogues like Thayer, tough guys who got into fights, were barbaric animals. They get told that they’re animals so much that they believe it so much.

He looked me in the eye before quickly averting his gaze to the floor. He shrugged off my compliment like it was nothing, but the itching of his lip and the dimple in his cheek let me know that he appreciated it. We sat in silence for a minute before I blurted out “Can I ask you something?” To which he laughed in response. He rolled his shoulders back and relaxed a bit. “Go ahead but I might not answer.” ‘Cheeky bastard’ I thought, rolling my eyes at him “It’s about Tauriel.” He got serious rather quickly at the mention of her name, standing up and staring at me in concern. “Sure, what’s up?” His voice dropped a bit.

“What was she like? In prison?” It hurt me to ask but I might learn something. I pretended not to notice the disappointment and guilt in his eyes even though his long hair had fallen in his eyes.He scratched the back of his neck before clearing his throat. “She was noticeable.” He smiled to himself. “When she got there, a bunch of guys sought her out as a punching bag. They learned pretty quick not to mess with her.” his voice carried such pride as he spoke it was kinda heartwarming. I knew this story. Some prick came in ready to throw punches on anyone in there, he immediately thought Tauriel would make a good target. Thayer got in the way just in time. It’s why he started calling her Jailbait. Easy pickings for a prison brawl. “She was so fucking smart! So much smarter than the guards there. Smart ass got into her fair share of trouble. They threw her in the pit the first night!” That explained a lot. “She came back with a tattoo, we all did.” He mumbled, pulling down the neckline of his shirt to reveal his collarbone. Liberties lined his skin from his collarbone to his right shoulder. “What does “people are poison” mean?” I asked suddenly. He seemed caught off guard. “It means that most people will try to kill you before they actually help you.” He must’ve noticed my furrowed brow because he immediately nudged me with his shoulder “Don’t worry. It’s about Capitals.”

I scoffed. “You definitely sound like Tauriel. She always worries. Thinks they’re monsters that suck the world around them dry.” He laughed at the idea. “You think they’re evil too?” I asked. He shook his head. “I think they know not to poison the water they need to drink.” He says picking up October, who had fallen asleep on my kitchen floor with a half eaten bread roll in his hand. “You boys take my and Tauriel’s beds. We got a couch in the garage.” Thayer shot me a look of refusal. “Like you AND October can fit on the thing, go!” I shooed him away with a humoured grin plastered on my face. He put October in my room, I had a sneaking suspicion he would. “Any particular reason why you opted to take the room of a young girl, Mr. Michaels?” I heard him scoff. He looked up at me with a grin. “She fashioned her room like I did mine.” He responded. I shot him a curious look before it hit me. It looked and felt like a prison cell. That’s why it was always so cold.

I stood silently in the doorway of the garage. Tauriel, currently sitting on the floor fixing her busted shelf with her braid in a sort of bun, paid no mind to my existence as she worked. “You can come in here.” She mumbled under her breath before filling the shelf so it stood at its proper height. I sat on my bench, filled with some of my tools as Tauriel sat in hers. She was tinkering away at something.

When she was arrested, I became her only family left. I would call her everyday and visit her every chance I got, but these walls became so quiet when she went away. I would go to school, earn some quick cash from dumb kids then big bucks from dumb adults. I called her and taught her lessons over the phone and she’d be happy. When I’d go visit her, she’d keep her head down and speak slowly. There were times I’d wonder if she’d make it, but as time went on she became the queen. When she was finally let out, due to the ‘Liberty Act’ all occupants twenty one and lower got released at that point she was seventeen and only a fraction of the eleven year old I saw arrested over a decade ago for no real reason.

She came out with a tattoo, two Liberties on her waist and a new habit of looking over her shoulder at every turn. On her twenty first, when she was branded Bruise by the rule of the Capitals I noticed the scars on her back for the first time. She was wearing her hair up, similar to how it was styled right now, and her top tied around her neck leaving her upper back open. She said she wanted to see the rain so we figured out a way to do it. That year, she spent over a hundred days teaching me how to fix things. I guess when you have a tendency to break things you learn how to fix them.

“I saw Mara earlier. She and Cecil said hi.” I saw her break into a small smile. She adored the redhead, always finding humour in her quickly retorts and sarcastic remarks. “Tell them I say hi.” Tauriel went back to work in a much better mood. “You know…” I started watching Tauriel place an old pair of headphones over her ears. She nodded at me to continue. “With Cecil’s longer hair and dimples, he kinda looks like Thayer…” I held in my laughter when Tauriel’s face fell. She rolled her eyes dramatically before taking off the headphones. “Eula, sharp bone structure and long hair is kinda the norm. And don’t go ruining Cecil for me, he’s my friend.” She still laughed. It’s been years since I heard that sound.

I always loved the sound of Liberties in the morning. The sweet sound of their bird song that let me know I was still in the garage when I should’ve been sleeping hours ago. What did I care? I spent most of my nights on this very bench and often woke up with my head against the cool metal of my desk. I sit with my head in my hand for a minute or two before I actually stand. The boots I ditched last night were still on the floor by my feet, so I decided to leave them there and go eat. The fixed up headphones were around Tauriel’s neck, with a stray wire tickling the back of her head. “Need your room back?” He asked from behind me. I actually did but I wasn’t going to let him know that. I spared a glance in his direction, he almost filled the door frame. He was smirking at me. That devilish smirk, like I didn’t know that's not who he really was. “Is October awake, I need him for something.” I kept my voice cold as I spoke to the older man. He gave me that look, the same one he gave me in prison when he wasn’t overly trying to be a jerk or when he thought I wouldn’t notice. He gave me a quick smile before heading into my room for the sleeping twenty year old.

Toby came out rubbing his dark brown eyes. I pulled him into the kitchen as Thayer emerged. He smiled at his brother before pushing off the door post he was leaning on and going back into Tauriel’s room to get dressed. October kept looking around the kitchen for food as I placed a food bag in front of him. We went through the cupboards, grabbing things for the young man to take home. I knew it would be easier for me to stock my cupboards rather than Toby and Thayer to stock theirs. We were almost done wrapping the bread when the alarm blared throughout the city. “THAYER MICHAELS, REPORT TO THE HAULING STATION.” I nodded at October to continue, letting him know I’d be right back before quickly making my way to the hall where Tauriel was waiting outside the bathroom. When he came out of the bathroom, his hair was tousled and slightly damp. Tauriel wasted no time heading into the steam filled room, waving the soft white clouds from her face. “Sorry in advance. I used a lot of hot water.” He stated through the door to which Tauriel offered no reply. Whatever he did to get this reaction from her must’ve been bad. I saw a glint of that subtle irritation in his eyes, understanding too, but mostly just irritation. “Don’t worry, she likes to take cold showers.” He looked my way with a forced smile. I watched as he quickly put on his jacket and boots shooting me a questioning look. I chuckled knowing exactly what he planned to ask me. “I’ve got work in a couple hours, but Tori will watch him okay?”

He only stiffly nodded before opening the door and heading to the Hauling Station.

@jayloxoxo @thinkinghardhardlythinking @justagirlinafandomworld @mashedpotatowithcheese

2 notes · View notes

puffwriter1998 · 3 years

Text

The Things We Let Go Ch. 5

Summary: Addison makes her way to King’s Cross and back to Hogwarts for her fifth year.

Character Pairings: Fred Weasley X OC

Word Count: 4.6k

The next couple of weeks staying at The Leaky Cauldron were filled with lots of tension and whispers between the adults. Immediately following the events at the World Cup, the Abbotts had offered to deliver me back home to my parents until the end of the holiday. I’d insisted that this was completely unnecessary, saying that I truly didn’t want to worry my parents over a band of drunken men who’d wanted to stir up trouble.

Truthfully, I was terrified of bringing the prejudices and problems of the wizarding world, home into their non-magical lives. If for some crazy reason, the Death Eaters wanted to come after me for what I’d seen that night, or even just because of my blood status, I didn’t intend for them to find me at home. I had half convinced myself that I would be able to avoid going home for the rest of my magical education, but I hadn’t been able to work out a good enough reason to be gone the entirety of the summer holidays every year.

Between afternoons of shopping for my school books and supplies in Flourish and Blott’s and enjoying ice cream sundaes with Charlie and Hanna at Florean Fortescue's I’d received several letters from Ginny; each delivered by the Weasley’s slightly decrepit owl, Errol. Each of them demanded to know exactly what had gone on that night in the woods between Fred and I. I hadn’t responded to any of them yet, simply because there wasn’t anything to say. We really had just sat together like a couple of scared puppies in the darkness. But I knew I’d have to fill Ginny in on the way to school.

The day before we were due back on the Hogwarts Express, we had just returned from purchasing sets of dress robes from Madam Malkin’s and were packing our trunks when a small screech owl began pecking at mine and Charlie’s bedroom window. The owl interrupted the first thought I’d had about how curious it was that we’d need formal robes for our year at Hogwarts. I quickly crossed the scantly decorated bedroom and opened the window to let the petite, proud-looking bird in. In the slight breeze that wafted in through the opening, I noticed the smell of coming rain. I groaned internally at the thought of trekking to the carriages tomorrow in the rain.

The little brown owl stood regally on the windowsill and held out his leg to me. On it was a rolled up slip of paper with my name scrawled on the outside.

“I wonder who this is from?” I scowled as I untied the twine binding the roll of parchment to the bird.

“I bet I can guess,” giggled Charlie, who had given up on her packing momentarily and was spread across her bed.

I unrolled the paper and squinted at the messy handwriting on the page. Immediately, the name scratched into the bottom made my heart jump into my throat.

Morris,

Hope you’re holding up okay after The Cup. I reckon you might be a bit of a cry baby, but you can cry on my shoulder any time. See you at King’s Cross.

-Fred

I turned to face Charlie and beamed. I couldn’t believe Fred Weasley had taken the time to check up on me. My stomach twisted up into the same butterflies that I’d experienced before the World Cup.

“Well go on,” Charlie laughed, “What’s it say?”

I crossed the tiny bedroom and flopped down on the bed next to her. Even though we’d been staying here for a while, dust motes floated up from it through the dim sunlight filtering in through the discolored window. I held the paper out to her, “I think it says that he wants to meet me at King’s Cross tomorrow.”

“You think?” she frowned and nearly ripped the parchment from my hands. She read it over a couple of times silently and pursed her lips. “You did not cry in front of Fred Weasley.”

We both bust into a fit of giggles as I grabbed one of the ancient green throw pillows and beamed it at her head. “Shut it! We thought we were going to die!” I managed. “Besides, do you think that’s what he meant? He wants to meet before we get on the train tomorrow?”

“It certainly sounds like it. Ooooh d’you think he likes you?” she asked, handing the note back to me.

“I doubt it,” I sighed, settling down further into the musty smell of the pillows, “honestly, he probably just feels bad that I was such a git about the whole mess at the Cup.”

Charlie propped herself up on her elbows and bored her emerald eyes into mine, “I know you think you’re disgusting or something after that whole mess with Cedric, but honestly Addie, that was ages ago. You just need to get over it,” she said pointedly.

I was slightly taken back by the bluntness of her statement, but I knew there was probably some truth to it. I opened my mouth to object, but before I could say anything she started again.

“And you’re kind of gorgeous you know,” she laughed. “Fred would be lucky to have someone like you. If I liked girls, I’d date you.”

“Not so fast there,” I chuckled. “Who say’s I’d date you?”

She clutched her heart and flipped over backwards like she’d been wounded. I laid my head down and stared up at the grey ceiling. Letting my eyes trail up and down the grain in the wood, I pondered what this note from Fred could mean. Part of me wanted to hope that Charlie was right, that he’d be lucky to have someone like me. I tried very quickly to shut that part up though; the thought of opening myself up to the humiliation and rejection that I’d felt before was a petrifying one. The number of students at Hogwarts was so small, almost everyone at least knew everyone else’s face, if not their name, blood status, and life history. Word got around quickly at school, and I’d surely never get a boyfriend if everyone thought I was desperate.

I let out another large sigh. Charlie ignored it and jumped off the bed and resumed putting her things away into her trunk.

“What’re you going to wear?” she asked.

“I was just thinking a pullover, it looks like rain. Why?”

“No, no,” she shook her head. “You’re hopeless Addie. Fred wants to see you! You can’t just wear your ratty pullover with the hood!”

“Hey how did you-” I started.

“You’ll thank me later,” she called over her shoulder as she dug through her trunk. After a moment she tossed an armful of light blue wool at me. “That’s my favorite jumper, and I want it back, but it’ll look lovely with your eyes.”

I held up the soft blue sweater and looked it over. It was the same color as the sky on a clear summer day; the exact color of the eyes my mother had passed on to me.

“You think a sweater will make Fred Weasley fall in love with me?” I rolled my eyes, but trying to hide the excitement on my face. The jumper would be a lot nicer than anything I’d planned to wear. We change into our school robes on the train, so I never put too much effort into my appearance on the morning of September first.

“I think you can make Fred Weasley fall in love with you dressed in a tea towel like a House Elf; the sweater is just a plus.”

I mused over the idea of pursuing Fred for the next several hours while we packed our things and had dinner with Charlie’s family. It was hard to imagine, I just kept seeing scenes of Fred making fun of me and me being too embarrassed and flustered to ever be somewhat appealing to him. Fred probably liked the funny girls, and funny I was not. I could appreciate a good joke as much as the next girl, but mine always landed poorly and were awkwardly timed. I just couldn’t make people laugh.

Several times, I almost talked myself into avoiding Fred the next day completely, and pretending like the World Cup never happened. But something kept telling me that there would be no forgetting that night. Not anytime soon anyway, so I might as well embrace it.

The next morning, Mr. and Mrs. Abbott accompanied the three of us, still rubbing the sleep out of our eyes, to Kings Cross Station. The rain was coming down in sheets, soaking us to the bone in the few moments it took us to run from the Abbott house into the Muggle Taxi they’d called. Wind howled past the car windows as we drove bending trees nearly in half on the side of the road. Charlie and Hannah looked around with wonder, and told me that they only ever got to ride in a car when they were due back at Hogwarts.

I was reminded again of the stark difference in our upbringing. Riding in a car was how I got everywhere before I’d found out I was a witch, and was still how I got around with my family over the summer holidays. It was humorous how such a mundane activity was lighting their eyes up with excitement.

Lightning cracked overhead, causing us all to start, as we stood in the downpour and retrieved our trunks from the car. The jumper Charlie had lent me was clinging to my body awkwardly and had taken on the smell of a wet dog. My hair hung in long wet strands down my face and every time I wiped the water away from my face, it was immediately soaked again. So much for looking nice.

When we made our way inside, Mrs. Abbott pulled the three of us into a washroom and pulled out her wand. “No one wants to show up on the first day of the term soaking wet,” she said with a wink.

She quickly looked over her shoulder and pointed her wand at us. She murmured something under her breath, and suddenly all of the water from our soggy clothes was rising up towards the ceiling as steam. A smile slowly spread across my face as I remembered why I loved this world so much. There is no such thing as an inconvenience when you have magic in your pocket.

Now dry and comfortable, our group made our way towards the wall directly between platforms nine and ten. Given that this was my fifth year returning, some of the wonder that had come from running at the red brick at full speed and sliding right through, had worn off. Not all of it though. It was always slightly exhilarating to check to see if no one was watching, and then take off, only to appear safely on platform nine and three quarters, where the gleaming scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express sat on the tracks.

Hannah walked onto the platform following me, but took off towards a group of younger Hufflepuffs immediately, without as much as a “see you!” over her shoulder. I guessed that we’d never really be great friends. Charlie and Mrs. Abbott came through next, followed by Mr. Abbott, who today had chosen a grey jumper to compliment his mustache.

Now that we were in the presence of the train, the butterflies in my stomach returned. I hadn’t yet spotted the sea of red hair that would be the Weasley family, but I knew they’d be here any minute, it was nearly eleven. I was nervously adjusting my sweater time and time again the entire time that the Abbotts hugged us goodbye. I couldn’t even remember if I gave them a proper goodbye.

“Cool it Addie,” Charlie whispered out of the corner of her mouth as we crossed the platform towards the train. “It’s Fred, not the bloody Prime Minister.”

I nodded and tried to still my hands. I didn’t know why I was so nervous, I’d spent the entire night at the Cup pressed up against his chest. Surely I could say hello to him without feinting.

“Addison!” I heard my name called from the crowd behind me, and whipped my head around. A petite frame with a head of long carrot-colored hair was bounding towards me, agilely dodging students and trunks.

“Hey, Ginny,” I laughed as she reached us.

“You,” she wheezed, trying to catch her breath. “You didn’t respond to a single one of my letters.” She poked a finger at my chest.

“Hello to you too Ginny,” Charlie muttered from my side. We both ignored her.

“Look, there wasn’t much to say,” I batted her finger away and laughed. “Besides, I figured it would give us something to talk about on the ride up today.”

The scowl that had settled into her brow softened. “Fine, but I want every single detail,” then she turned to Charlie. “Forgive me, had to get that bit off my chest. Did you both enjoy the end of your holiday?”

“It was alright, Mum just about wouldn’t let us out of her sight after what happened at the Cup,” Charlie sighed, “I’m just ready to get back to Hogwarts so I can have some freedom again.”

Suddenly, we were interrupted by the approach of another red head. This one taller, with soft brown eyes and the sweetest of grins set on his lips. There was an identical copy of him at his side.

“Hope you lot are ready for a bit of fun this year,” said George, the look of mischief clear in his eyes.

“Yeah, we’ve got a few things up our sleeve. Should be an interesting term,” Fred said, shooting me a wink over Ginny’s head. My stomach launched into backflips and my face burned red.

Ginny rolled her eyes, “You both would be wise to stay away from these two. They’re taking the pranking to a bit of an extreme these days.”

“You can’t tell me you don’t admire our entrepreneurship, little sister?” asked George, a fake pained expression on his face.

“Come off it,” Ginny grumbled, “You can do whatever you’d like, but keep it away from my friends.”

“Alright, alright,” conceded Fred, “But can I steal your friend Morris for a minute?”

Ginny glared at him.

“I promise not to offer her anything to eat,” he chuckled.

“Fine,” she said finally. “C’mon Charlie, let’s go find a seat before all the good compartments are filled.”

They turned to board the train, followed by George who was grinning at Fred over his shoulder every few moments. As soon as they were gone, Fred’s goofy demeanor slipped away a little bit.

I had suddenly become very aware that my back was nearly up against the gleaming metal of the train and Fred was barely a foot in front of me. The bustling platform was starting to feel much more intimate. I slid my hands into the pockets of my jeans and tried to look up at him casually.

“Thanks for the owl,” I said too nonchalantly, “I know I seemed pretty shaken up that night, but I’m fine. Honestly.”

“Well, yeah, I’m glad you’re okay,” he said, a bit of red creeping up into his freckled cheeks. “I didn’t think you were a mess or anything I just wanted to er- let you know I was thinking about you.”

“Oh, er- that’s really kind of you,” I stammered, trying to calm my racing heart enough to form a coherent thought. “I really appreciate you looking out for me. I don’t know if I got to properly thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” he grinned again. “Besides, I didn’t mind spending the evening pressed up against a tree with you.”

I could feel the heat rising into my face and I knew my blush gave me away this time. I couldn’t believe Fred Weasley was actually flirting with me, but as long as it was happening, I was going to roll with it.

“Well I’ve got to say Weasley, you’re stronger than you look,” I put emphasis on using his last name, the way he always used mine.

“Got to be if Gryffindor’s going to keep kicking Hufflepuff arse on the quidditch pitch,” he pulled his lips back over his teeth and laughed.

“You wish! Just wait until you see what Cedric has in store for us this year. We beat you last year,” I pointed out.

“You beat us because Harry fell off his broom,” said Fred “Diggory’s no match for him.”

“This is going to be our best season yet,” I teased. “You’ll be kissing our arses when we win the House Cup.”

Fred ran a hand through his shaggy red hair and smiled at me again, “I guess we’ll see.”

Suddenly, the whistle on the train let out a wail, causing us both to jump. I remembered we were surrounded by people as I saw parents giving last minute hugs and handing forgotten belongings through the open windows.

“Better get a move on,” Fred gestured to the open door next to us. “Unless you want to take my dad’s car?”

I rolled my eyes at his joke and turned to climb on board the train. We walked down the narrow hallway, glancing into compartments full of students looking for our friends. Towards the end, I finally spotted Ginny, sitting with Charlie, Ron, Hermione, and Harry. George was nowhere to be seen.

I slid open the compartment door and turned to Fred, “You’re not coming in are you?”

He smiled and shook his head slightly, “Gotta go find George. We’ve got mischief to attend to.”

“Right,” I tried to smile, but was slightly disappointed that he wasn’t going to be spending the day with us. “Well maybe I’ll see you later?”

“Definitely. See you later Addie,” he drew out the nickname that my friends used for me and winked.

“See ya, Freddie,” I replied, using the same tone.

I stood for a second and watched him turn and disappear back up the long hallway that was still buzzing with students trying to find a seat. I tried to wipe the silly grin off my face as I turned back around and sat down next to Charlie. I busied myself trying to settle my belongings into the storage space at my feet. When I looked up, the five of them were all staring at me with varying looks of smugness and shock. Most of the smugness was coming from Ginny and Charlie.

“Well I’m just going to say it,” said Ron finally. “What the bloody hell was that?”

Charlie laughed. “Addison has a thing for Fred, obviously.”

“Do not!” I insisted, shooting her a warning look.

“Oh calm down,” dismissed Ginny, “It’s quite obvious that Fred’s got a thing for Addie too.”

“Fred doesn’t get ‘things’ for girls. I was starting to think he wasn’t interested in them!” bellowed Ron.

“Honestly Ronald,” interjected Hermione, “he’s nearly of age. I think it’s nice that he’s finally found someone he’s interested in,” she added reassuringly.

“Look he’s not interested in me!” I blushed for what felt like the hundredth time today.

“I think you all would be really good together,” said Harry matter-of-factly. He ran a hand through his shaggy black hair. “You both play quidditch, you’re both nice and my friends. I just think it could be a good match.”

Ron looked at Harry in confusion, but before he could say anything Hermione started again, “I agree with Harry. I think you should go for it.”

“Don’t I get a say in one of my best friend’s dating my older brother?” grumbled Ginny.

“Christ! We aren’t dating. I hardly even know him. He just looked out for me during the craziness at the World Cup, and he just wanted to make sure I was okay.”

“Oh yeah,” scoffed Ginny, “that’s why he spent days writing and rewriting that four line note he sent you. Face it Addie, he’s into you.”

I started to protest again but suddenly Ron was shushing us. “Oi! Listen!”

Hermione was pressing a finger to her lips and pointing at the compartment door that I’d left open. I tilted my head and listened to the familiar cold, sneering voice drifting in.

“… Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore – the man’s such a Mudblood-lover –” my blood chilled at the word, and I noticed Hermione’s face pale, “and Durmstrang doesn’t admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn’t like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do…”

Ginny suddenly stood up angrily, stalked across the compartment and pulled the door closed with a woosh, effectively cutting off the voice of Draco Malfoy. A Slytherin in the same year as Harry, Draco was the son of Lucius Malfoy, a suspected supporter of Voldemort from the first war.

“So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he?” said Hermione angrily. “I wish he had gone, then we wouldn’t have to put up with him.”

“What is Durmstrang?” I asked.

“Yeah, is it another Wizarding school?” added Harry.

“Yes,” Hermione said to both of us, “and it’s got a horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts.”

“I think I’ve heard of that one before. Dad’s maybe talked about it. Where is it?” interjected Charlie.

“Well, no one really knows, do they?” said Hermione, raising an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” asked Ginny. I would have thought this would be a boring conversation for people already raised in the magical world, but Charlie, Ginny, and Ron seemed just as intrigued as Harry and I.

“Well,” started Hermione as if she were reading to us straight from a book, “There’s traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets.”

“Come off it,” laughed Ron. “Durmstrang’s got to be about the same size as Hogwarts – how are you going to hide a great big castle?”

Now it was my turn to have the answer, “Actually Ron, Hogwarts is hidden. I think they bewitch it so that muggles can only see old ruins of a castle.”

“So Durmstrang just looks like a ruined castle to outsiders?” asked Charlie.

“Maybe,” said Hermione with a slight shrug, “or it might have a Muggle-repelling charm like the stadium at the World Cup. But I think It would be very far north. Somewhere very cold, because they’ve got fur capes as part of their uniforms.”

“Just think of the possibilities,” mused Ginny. “It would have been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident.”

“Shame his mother likes him..” snorted Ron.

I pondered the thought of the various Wizarding schools across the world as the train surged onward towards Hogwarts. The storm raged on outside the windows, and the sky was so black with rain clouds that the lanterns in the corridor were lit by lunchtime. We ate Cauldron Cakes silently as I savored the taste of the long missed Hogwarts cooking.

A few of Harry and Ron’s friends popped their heads in to say hello, and Cedric Diggory even stopped by to ask if Harry and I were ready for the quidditch season to start. Cedric had been very kind to me since the incident where he turned me down, and always did his best not to make things awkward, even if they were.

When Ron began recanting their experience in the Top Box at the Cup to Neville Longbottom, a Gryffindor boy in their year, Draco Malfoy appeared in the doorway of our compartment; hair slicked back, a smug smile on his face, and his two goons Crabbe and Goyle towering behind him.

“First and last time in your life, Weasley,” he sneered.

“Don’t remember asking you to join us, Malfoy,” Harry said coolly.

Ignoring him, Draco continued with Ron, “So… going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There’s money involved as well, you know… You’d be able to afford decent robes if you won…” he said, glancing over at the mess of lace that I could only assume was Ron’s dress robes, covering a bird cage.

“What are you talking about?” asked Ron snappily.

“Are you going to enter?” Malfoy repeated more slowly, like he was talking to a child. “I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?”

“Either tell us what you’re going on about or beat it, Malfoy,” Ginny piped up with annoyance. A sinister smile spread across Malfoy’s face.

“Don’t tell me you lot don’t know?” he sounded delighted. “You’ve got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don’t even know? My god, my father told me about it ages ago… heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father’s always associated with the top people at the Ministry… Maybe your father’s too junior to know about it, Weasley… yes… they probably don’t talk about important stuff in front of him…” Malfoy laughed and motioned to Crabbe and Goyle and the three of them disappeared off down the hallway.

Ginny was clenching her fists so hard that she was surely drawing blood under her fingernails. Ron jumped up and slammed the door with such force that the glass pane shattered, sending shards spraying around the small space.

“Ron!” Scolded Hermione, pulling out her wand. She muttered, “Reparo!” and the glass that littered the floor and seats returned to the doorframe and repaired themselves.

“Honestly, Ron,” grumbled Charlie, “Don’t let Malfoy get to you like that. He’s a twat.”

“Him! Get to me!? As if!” Ron scoffed, but he was absentmindedly crushing a Cauldron Cake in his right hand.

Everyone was in a horrible mood for the rest of the train ride, so we continued the afternoon with minimal conversation. No one spoke as we changed into our house robes, the Gryffindor robes accented in scarlet, and ours in yellow. The Hogwarts Express gradually slowed, so I knew we must be getting close to Hogsmeade Station. Hogsmeade was the only entirely magical settlement in Great Britain, so it was the perfect place to let off a train full of young Wizards.

Charlie and I excused ourselves to go find Hannah and a few other fellow Hufflepuffs before disembarking the train. As the doors slid open, a giant strike of lightnings accompanied by an immediate clap of thunder caused everyone to jump. I filed out onto the platform behind Susan Bones, a dark haired Hufflepuff in Hannah’s year. We bent over to brace against the rain, which was now coming down in what seemed like swimming pools full at a time. All but running, we made our way to the line of carriages waiting for us outside the station.

We climbed into one behind Hannah and Susan and slammed the door, shivering. We were all chilled to our cores, huddled together for warmth as the carriages started to roll forward, pulling themselves without horses. I tried to squint out the window at the passing forest, but couldn’t see through the curtain of rain. We soon cleared the trees and began the incline up towards the school grounds. Suddenly, the rain let up just enough for me to see. And there, etched in black against the night sky, was the silhouette of Hogwarts Castle, welcoming us home.

#harry potter fanfiction #fred weasley fic #fred weasley #harry potter #fanfic #Fred #hp fanfic #hp #harry potter and the goblet of fire #goblet of fire #fuck jkr tho #fanfiction #fred weasley x oc #fanfiction dot net

1 note · View note

thirteen-beaxhes · 5 years

Text

Of Knights and Dragons

Summary: Cyrus has been sent to fight the same dragon for the past year, and frankly he is getting bored. But, what happens when something is revealed about someone Cyrus had tried to forget about? (Tyrus and Ambris)

Words: 5973

AO3 LINK IN REBLOG

~~~~~~~~

"Shit, here we go again," Cyrus whispered, and Amber stifled a giggle, resulting in a snort, raising the eyebrows of the other councillors.

"We need you to ride out to the tower in the forest and bring the dragon under control, Ser Goodman," The Queen said, her smile sweet but concerned. "And check if the princess is alive and well."

"As you say, your Majesty" Cyrus said, bowing down. "I swear, someday, I'm gonna end up retiring before that dragon leaves this place," Cyrus grumbled under his breath, as he got up. Amber, who stood beside the Queen, gave him a sympathetic smile as he walked away. He flashed a reassuring smile at her before heading out of the throne room to the stables.

"Hey Jonah," Cyrus said with a pleasant smile, and the boy brushing down the horse's coat turned around with his characteristic smile. Cyrus walked up to his horse, Philip, and petted him, cooing slightly.

"Forest again?" Jonah asked, putting down the brush and grabbing the saddle from the hook. Cyrus groaned, nodding. Jonah laughed, shaking his head. "That's one hell of a dragon."

"Tell me about it," Cyrus said in a deadpanned voice.

"You must really care about the princess to always go after it."

"Well, this is mostly the Queen's prompting, I have nothing to say about who goes after it."

"But still, there must be a reason she always picks you. Because if it was a matter of sending the best knight, you and I both know Driscoll would be the one saddling up," Jonah said with a smirk as he fixed the saddle on Philip.

Cyrus just shrugged. "Well, Buffy is needed to maintain borders in case the neighbouring kingdoms decide they're bored and wanna do some invading. So I'm the next best option."

Jonah chuckled, fixing the saddle and tightening it. "You're avoiding the topic of the princess. You should try and save her, you know. Then you could actually get together. It'd be perfect!"

Cyrus just sighed, looking at Jonah with a forced smile. But I don't like that princess. Or any princess. Or any girl. I just wanna sit down in the library with a cute boy and read for hours but here I am trudging into a forest for a girl. At least the dragon is vaguely interesting.

Jonah just shook his head in amusement. "Anyway, you're all set. Which horse is this by the way?" Jonah asked, his voice suddenly growing flustered. "God, doing this alone is really tough. This was easier when…"

"Yeah I know," Cyrus said sadly, trying to avoid having to hear his name. But it reverberated in his mind. As it did every time he walked into the stables, when he saw Jonah tending to the horses instead of him.

Jonah looked up at him. "Still no clue where?"

Cyrus just shook his head, running his hand over the saddle on Philip's back. Jonah nodded, pursing his lips.

"How you holding up?"

Cyrus smiled back, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I’ve always been okay." With that, he climbed up into Philip, clutching the reins as he rode out of the stables. Only to come back within 5 seconds, Jonah holding out his sword with his left hand, not even looking up from the ground.

"I knew that, I planned that," Cyrus fumbled, before riding away, leaving Jonah laughing softly to himself.

It wasn't all bad, having to ride out almost every two days into the forest. At least the ride was scenic, the cool wind and quiet giving Cyrus a brief respite from the crowd of the kingdom. Frankly, a part of Cyrus envied Princess Iris, wherever she was. Rumours were all that said she lived in the tower that the dragon made its home near. Even Cyrus myself had only caught glimpses of a girl in the tower, and even then he couldn't be sure it was the lost princess. For all he knew it could be a random girl who had been kidnapped by a wicked witch because her mom owed her the firstborn child, and now she had grown up in the tower, and in alternate universes she would have magical hair.

But that was too ridiculous to even be a story. Philip trotted leisurely through the woods, the birds chirping around them. Cyrus had lost himself in the sounds, his drowsiness catching up to him. The sounds of the forest were enough to make his eyes close. He hadn't been sleeping well for a long time now. To be exact, almost 2 years. Ever since he had gone missing. The princess had left a few months before that, never to be heard from since. The panic the kingdom had dissolved into wasn't one Cyrus liked remembering.

But now, in the forest, sleep seemed possible. He could just rest on Philip and be carried down, down the road. The reason he was there faded away, and his eyes shut, and Cyrus slumped forward onto Philip's back, the best sleep he was going to have in the past 2 years.

"FACE ME, BRAVE AND STRONG PUNY KNIGHT!" came a growl from ahead.

He was going to fucking kill the dragon for that.

Cyrus rubbed his eyes, stifling a yawn. He pulled the reins, making Philip stop as he grabbed the hilt of his sword and swung off the horse, heading to the tower on foot.

"And in 3, 2 and 1," Cyrus whispered to himself, looking up with a neutral face at the 30 foot green and blue dragon in front of him. Its scales were the size of his entire arm, a gash running down its side. Its claws were massive, and everyone in the kingdom always went on about how it was 'a God-given miracle' that Cyrus was still alive. But honestly, after a year of this gig, Cyrus had realised that the dragon was a fucking wimp. But then again, so was Cyrus. So they would pretend to kick each other's asses, throw some benign threats around, maybe Cyrus would brandish his sword a bit, but ultimately the dragon would retreat, almost spectacularly disappearing completely from sight, and Cyrus would settle down by a nearby tree and read for a while. It was usually around when the dragon disappeared that Cyrus caught a glimpse of brown hair and a gown in the window of the nearby brick tower. But he thought nothing of it, just wanting to spend as much of the peace and quiet he got relaxing before heading back to the routine and noise and sleeplessness.

"TREMBLE BEFORE ME!" the dragon roared, flaring its nostrils as it rose.

Cyrus sighed, holding up a hand in a wave. "Hey there buddy. Um, I'm kinda tired, so can we do the whole 'Tremble before me' and 'Take my sword' bit faster than usual?" he said, running a hand through his hair.

The dragon tilted its head to one side, clearly confused. But soon, it steadied itself, positioning itself in a battle stance, ready to fight.

Cyrus lifted his sword, hit suddenly by immense exhaustion. How long had it been since he had slept for a whole night? Probably a couple weeks, if not months. No matter, he had to do this, he thought to himself, holding up his sword.

The dragon snarled in the way it usually did, making it seem like something bad was going to happen, but till then the only injury Cyrus had sustained was one that he had gotten himself by tripping over a rock and the dragon growled as if it was laughing at him.

Cyrus looked up at its face, its green eyes looking with fire in them, and he couldn't shake the exhaustion he was feeling. His vision grew hazy, and suddenly the sword felt heavy in his hand. Well, heavier than normal. Cyrus squinted, looking up at the tower, and in his haze, he swore he could see a girl with outstretched hands, her palms held as if they were manipulating something. But he had to be hallucinating.

Until she caught his eye.

He could hear her yelling, setting down her hands. He tried to listen closely, her words sounding like, "Eejay, eejay-"

No. No way. Not that name he had spent too long trying to forget that name for it to haunt him.

By then, Cyrus' head had grown light, and his knees gave way under him and he fell to the ground. He lost grip of his sword, falling into the ground. Cyrus lay on the ground, struggling to keep his vision from going black.

Was it just him or was the dragon fading? Cyrus blinked, his vision closing in. His breath grew shallow as it grew dark.

The last thing he remembered was someone lifting his head up, and green. The green he had only seen in someone's eyes a while ago.

Peeling open his eyes, the first thing Cyrus noticed was that he wasn't lying in the grass, the distinct lack of grass scratching his face and going in his ears. In fact, he was lying on a comfortable and roomy chaise lounge, the red velvet caressing his cheeks. Cyrus winced, the light temporarily blinding him as he looked around the room.

It was quite a homely place. There were bookshelves lining the wall directly in front of him, a large window to its left. A bed was in the corner, nearly made, and the walls were exposed stone, giving the room a warm toned light. There was a staircase to the other side, leading downwards, so he was probably on the topmost level. Cyrus caught a glimpse out of the window, and did a double take.

He was higher than he had ever been. Which meant…

He was in the tower.

With that thought, he jerked up, his head pounding. But someone held him back, pushing his head back down onto the pillow.

“You need to rest,” said a gentle voice, pushing his hair back. Cyrus peered up, trying to see who it was, and caught sight of them. Long brown hair, warm hazel eyes and a soft smile on her face. Despite her protests, Cyrus pushed himself up, bowing his head before her.

“Princess Iris,” he said, keeping his head down. “Good fortune it is to see you well.”

But Iris just waved her hands before her, shaking her head. “Yeah, drop this ‘Princess’ business and all that old talk, please. I’m cool with normal language.”

“Oh thank fuck,” Cyrus sighed, resting back against the pillow, earning a loud laugh from Iris.

“Wow, that was quick.”

“I was dreading having to talk like I’m a walking lexicon.”

Iris shook her head in amusement, getting up to head to the next room. Cyrus was mildly surprised to see her sporting a simple shirt and trousers, but that wasn’t something he really cared about. She walked back in a few moments later, holding a tray with tea and biscuits.

“How long was I out?” Cyrus asked, rubbing his eyes.

“A while. But don’t worry, the sun is still up,” Iris said with a shrug, handing him the teacup. She watched Cyrus sip the tea quietly, as he weighed the option of him going absolutely to town on the biscuits because he had not eaten a single thing all day at the expense of his dignity before the princess She sighed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “So, I guess now that you’ve found me, you will be courting me?”

At that sentence, Cyrus choked on his tea, sputtering, but immediately covering his mouth. “What?!” he choked out, coughing to cover it up, as Iris stared at him with wide eyes. “What? Is that what you think?”

Iris just shrugged, looking at him curiously.

Cyrus shook his head, looking down at his feet. “I, I’m not gonna do that. Sorry, Princess. I’m not looking for that.”

“I told you, no ‘Princess’ business. And, why not? Any knight in your position would’ve jumped at the opportunity.”

“Sorry,” Cyrus gasped, looking at her with a small smile. “Well, I’m not really looking for that. No offence to you, you seem lovely and amazing, but. Well, princesses aren’t my type.”

“What do you mean by that?” Iris asked, her tone defensive as she straightened up. Cyrus shook his head vehemently, holding out his hand.

“No no no, I didn’t mean it like that! Shit,” he muttered, looking at the ceiling. “I meant, princes are more my type,” he said with a nervous shrug.

It took her a minute, but soon Iris was hit by realisation, and she let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god! I’m so, so sorry. I meant, I just misunderstood. My type is princesses.”

“Oh great!” Cyrus said with a smile, letting a small laugh out.

They sat in relative silence, Cyrus finishing his tea. Now that he had gained back some of his strength, he got up and walked over to the window, looking around at the nearby woods.

“What happened?” Iris asked, walking up behind him.

“Where did that dragon go?” Cyrus muttered, and he heard a sharp intake of breath from Iris.

“What?” she asked, her voice shaky. Cyrus turned around to look at her, laughing a bit.

“Hope it hasn’t bothered you. But honestly, it’s kind of okay, it never hurts me and stuff. It’s almost like it’s just there to draw me out to the woods every day,” Cyrus said with a laugh, soon narrowing his eyes. “Although, I did think I saw it fading away? But I was also fainting at that exact moment, and I thought I heard someone call this person’s name.”

“Cyrus,” Iris said quietly, making Cyrus turn around to look at her.

“What?”

“There’s something you need to know,” she said nervously, and Cyrus furrowed his eyebrows. “But I can’t tell you everything.”

Cyrus was about to ask what was going on, but then he heard a voice speak up from another room.

“I can explain.”

The voice alone made Cyrus freeze up, memories from more than two years ago, of soft laughs, of stolen glances and his heart beating out of his chest as he hid it all behind his eyes, all pulled out from behind the wall he had tried to build every night he couldn’t sleep since that fateful day.

But then Cyrus turned around, and his eyes met green, the same green that had kept him up every night, the same green he had seen before passing out just a few hours ago.

TJ.

“Hey Cyrus,” TJ said softly, nervously wringing his hands.

“Seriously? Hey?” Cyrus said, his voice coming out harsh, but he couldn’t find it in himself to hold it back, even if the wince TJ gave broke his heart. Yeah, the same heart that was suddenly speeding up. Emotions.

“Cyrus,” TJ started, trying to explain himself, but Cyrus cut him off.

“No TJ. You go ahead and disappear for two fucking years, and I think you’re dead, and all the while you’ve been here, just a short distance away, and you didn’t think to tell me?!” Cyrus said, his voice rising. “Do you have any idea what you going missing did to me? Cuz guess what? The answer is what just happened! I haven’t fucking slept well in 2 years because every time I try to your fucking face keeps me up!”

TJ just stood there, letting Cyrus yell whatever he needed to, with every second getting closer to him. Iris just stood there, looking between the two of them, TJ’s face was calm, but his eyes were brimming with tears, but not of sadness. He walked up close to Cyrus, who was losing steam, and tears filled his eyes.

“And now here you are, just fucking saying hey. Like it’s completely casual, and like you didn’t leave for 2 years and just hang me out to dry. And you aren’t dead, thank fuck you aren’t dead, I don’t know what I would’ve done,” Cyrus said, his last few words gasps as he finally let the tears fall, collapsing into TJ’s arms, clinging onto him tight as his body was wracked with sobs. TJ just held him, letting some tears fall as he held Cyrus, letting his fingers thread through his hair.

“I’m so sorry Cyrus,” TJ whispered into Cyrus’ ear, pushing his hair back as he rested his head on his shoulder. “I’m so so sorry, I didn’t wanna do that to you. But shit happened, and I had to leave. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how safe it was.”

“But what happened?” Cyrus asked softly, finally gaining his composure as he looked up at TJ. “What happened that you left? And what does that have to do with Iris and the dragon?”

TJ looked down. “It’s a long story.”

“So let me get this straight,” Cyrus said as he gulped down another cup of tea. Iris snorted in the corner.

“Literally no one in this room is straight,” she muttered, and TJ stifled a laugh as Cyrus rolled his eyes at her.

“Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted by Iris with the bad jokes,” he said, catching the pillow Iris tossed at him. “You left because of what happened with your mom, but you got lost in the woods and Iris helped you out by taking you in and taking care of you. So you just continued living here. But where does the dragon come in?”

TJ nodded, looking back at Iris. “Um, how do I say this without being weird?”

“He made me conjure a dragon every time to which he gave the voice with this weird sound device he built in the basement. Just so that he could see you regularly when you would come to slay it like a dumb gay, instead of actually going up to you and talking to you like an actual human being,” Iris called out in a deadpanned voice, TJ staring at her, his jaw wide open.

Cyrus looked over at TJ, raising an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“Why ever would you think that?” TJ said, avoiding eye contact with Cyrus, finding a sudden interest in the placement of the stones in the walls of the tower.

Cyrus just laughed softly, grabbing TJ’s hand. “Even when you were home, you only watched me from the stables, it’s okay. Just like that time, I have to make the first move.”

“Wait, you saw me all those times?!”

“Well, duh. I’m a knight, TJ, I have impeccable observational skills. That, and Buffy and Jonah would always look in your direction and give each other a ‘look’.”

“What look?”

“Like a, ‘there-he-goes-again-with-the-gay-pining’ look.”

“There’s no such thing,” TJ said, shaking his head. Cyrus just smiled in amusement, shrugging.

“It’s okay TJ. I didn’t mind it,” he replied, squeezing his hand, noting the way his cheeks were tinged pink.

“Hey while you two were busy flirting, the sun started to go down,” Iris called out, walking up to Cyrus, holding out an envelope.

“Oh shit!” Cyrus yelled, looking out the window, as he grabbed his sword, latching on his armour. He looked down at the envelope Iris was holding out to him. “What’s that?”

“Something you should ask for at the apothecary to help with your sleep,” she said, and before Cyrus could protest, she held up a hand. “Just take it, and trust me. Can’t have you falling asleep while on duty.”

“Thanks, Iris,” he said gratefully, giving her a quick hug as he turned to the stairs.

“I’ll walk you down,” TJ said, sharing a look with Iris before he walked down the stairs beside Cyrus, Iris flashing him a thumbs-up before going back into the other room.

They walked down the stairs in silence, both stealing glances at each other the whole way down. Cyrus had missed the way TJ made him feel, cherishing the feeling if he were to wake up and realise it had all been a dream. Finally, after some time walking, Cyrus looked over at TJ.

“You know, you could have waited to disappear after the day you were supposed to take me out on a date,” Cyrus said with a smirk. TJ laughed shortly, looking up slightly.

“Oh yeah, where were we gonna go?” he asked, the smile evident in his voice.

“The library,” the two said simultaneously, causing the two to giggle slightly.

TJ shook his head, his smile dropping slightly. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not mad about being stood up, TJ,” Cyrus laughed, but TJ grabbed his elbow and held him back.

“That’s not all I’m sorry for, Cy,” TJ said softly. The old nickname made Cyrus’ heart flutter in his chest, a small smile on his face. “I’m sorry for everything I put you through. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like for you.”

“Hey,” Cyrus said quietly. “It’s okay. It sucked, but it was the same for you too. Not that I’m not still mad about all the sleepless nights,” Cyrus said, eliciting a small laugh from TJ. “But, here we are now.”

“Yeah,” TJ said, as they continued down the stairs.

Soon enough, Cyrus was standing in front of the door at the bottom. His hand hovered on the handle, as he slowly opened the door, pale moonlight now shining through the door, lighting up their faces in a silver glow. Cyrus turned back to look at TJ, who was looking at his shoes.

“I guess I won’t be seeing you, now that you know everything,” TJ whispered, wringing his hands.

“Well,” Cyrus said, tilting his head to one side. “According to the Queen, the dragon is still a big problem. So, while it still exists, I’ll still be ordered to come here.”

“Is that so?” TJ said with a smirk, looking up at Cyrus, who nodded back at him.

Before he left, Cyrus leaned in, pressing a quick kiss to TJ’s cheek, touching their noses together, before pulling away.

“Philip misses you, by the way,” Cyrus whispered, before running out to where Philip was waiting for him, leaving TJ standing there, catching his breath.

Maybe not sleeping was the best thing to have happened to him.

A few months passed by, and Cyrus’ schedule had changed slightly. Whenever the Queen would ask him to go ‘deal’ with the dragon, Cyrus would ride up to the tower, grab the key Iris had now left for him hidden under the rock by the white rose bush, and head up to the top of the tower where Iris would greet him with a high five and a book. TJ would be in the kitchen cooking up a storm, dishes that he would practically invent out of thin air, and Iris and Cyrus would always wait in anticipation at what delicacy he would cook up. Then, over lunch, Cyrus would relay all the juicy gossip fro the kingdom to the two, leading to several gasps and laughs.

“Wait, what?! Walker Brodsky and Jonah Beck?!” TJ gasped, Iris, laughing, unable to eat her salad. Cyrus would just nod, and TJ would throw his head back, giving his commentary as the other two just sat back and laughed.

Then, after lunch, Iris would go into her room for some time, leaving Cyrus and TJ alone outside. Usually, they would both sit by the windowsill, both curled up with their respective books. They had started out on opposite sides of the windowsill, unsure of where they stood with each other after 2 years of nothing. But soon enough, they were curled up close to each other, TJ leaning against the window and Cyrus’ head on his lap, TJ’s fingers lazily running through TJ’s hair.

Those afternoons were the most peaceful Cyrus had felt in a long time.

Cyrus had gotten so used to the routine, that he didn’t even listen through the Queen’s words before heading straight for the stables.

However, one day, as Cyrus was gearing up to go back to the tower, Amber walked up behind him.

“I’m coming with you,” she declared, something that made Cyrus drop his sword on his foot (not the sharp part. That had happened before but not this time.)

“What?” he asked incredulously, turning to look at her.

“Cyrus,” she said, looking at him. “You’ve been fighting this thing for almost two years now. And you’re nowhere near getting rid of it. Face it, you need a mage’s help.”

“That’s really sweet, Amber, but uh, no thanks,” Cyrus fumbled, getting up on Philip. But Amber sighed, and grabbed the front of his armour, pulling him down.

“Wasn’t a question. I’m coming,” she said, and Cyrus just rolled his eyes. “Come on!” she said, letting go. “I never get to leave the fucking castle. And you’re out there having fun! Just let me come along. I need to get out of the castle before the Queen asks me to magic her another pair of shoes.”

After a minute, Cyrus groaned and nodded his head, and Amber excitedly climbed behind him, grabbing onto his shoulders. Cyrus rode out into the woods, nervousness growing in his stomach with every passing moment. Was this a good idea? Probably not. But here he was and Amber was not going to let him go anytime soon unless he agreed.

They neared the tower, and Amber leaned to the side, peering ahead. “I don’t see any dragon.”

“Give it a minute,” Cyrus hissed, hoping that Iris had spotted another presence through her telescope that she used to keep track of when Cyrus was coming by.

As if on cue, a low roar, shook the ground beneath them, and Amber gasped in excitement.

“Oh. My. God. I’m going to see a real, live dragon!” she squealed, shaking Cyrus’ shoulders.

If only it were any of those things.

“TREMBLE BEFORE ME, BRAVE KNIGHT!” The voice boomed, and Cyrus had to hide his smile in front of Amber, knowing the face behind that voice. Cyrus dismounted from Philip, Amber closely following him, narrowly avoiding a fall as she tripped on her gown and cloak.

“Stand against my sword, foul beast!” Cyrus said, unable to keep the laziness from his voice, a fact that earned him a puzzled look from Amber.

“You’re facing a dragon! Why do you sound like you’ve been with him for dinner and he’s harmless?!” she said, looking between him and the dragon, that reared its head.

“Stand back, Amber,” Cyrus said, stepping forward, as he swung at the dragon with his sword. The dragon stepped back, swiping at him with its claw, something Cyrus easily jumped over. It went on like this for a while, Cyrus doing the bare minimum to make sure Iris didn’t have to tire herself out too much by maintaining the illusion. But soon enough, he heard a frustrated groan from Amber.

“Ugh, you’re useless!” she yelled stepping in front of Cyrus.

“Um, Amber what are you doing?” Cyrus asked, eyes wide. Amber huffed, tying up her hair in a ponytail.

“Showing you how to properly slay a dragon, punk,” she said, holding her hands together. She twirled them together, muttering a spell under her breath. Suddenly, she pushed her hands forward, and a blast of light hit the dragon square in the chest, the energy knocking it back. Cyrus saw the illusion waver, but soon it grew solid again. Iris was being challenged here.

The dragon roared, blowing fire at Amber, but since it was an illusion, it harmed no one. Amber looked around in puzzlement at the lack of burning, while Cyrus just silently facepalmed.

“Guess I just need to fight fire with fire,” Amber muttered, twirling her hands as she muttered another spell, glaring at the dragon.

“What are you doing, Amber?” Cyrus asked, the panic in his voice growing.

“I’m about to flame this motherfucker,” Amber said, returning to his spell.

In that moment, Cyrus got the unmistakable feeling that if he didn’t do something, right that instant, everything would go to absolute hell. So, he did the only thing he could think of.

He ran in front of Amber and stood between her and the dragon, wildly shaking his hands.

“Cyrus, get out of the way!” Amber hissed, jerking her head to the side.

“No, Amber I can’t let you do this!” Cyrus pleaded.

“And why not? Why can’t I kill this reptile and free our kingdom, and restore-”

“Because the dragon isn’t real!”

For a moment, even the birds stopped chirping, and a deathly silence fell throughout the forest. It was only broken by Amber going, “What?”

Cyrus stood up straight, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s an illusion.” He then turned around to look at the window of the tower. “Iris, you can drop the illusion.”

And as suddenly as the dragon had appeared, it faded away, leaving no indication it had ever been there. Amber’s jaw dropped and she looked around wildly.

“What, where?” she said, looking around. “What just happened?”

Just then, Iris opened the window and stared at Cyrus from the top of the tower. “Okay, can you explain what just happened?” she yelled, and Cyrus winced slightly.

“We’ll come up and talk, okay?” he called back.

“Wait,” Iris yelled looking over at Amber. “Who’s, who’s that?” she asked, in a voice that seemed almost nervous and softer.

“I’ll come up and explain,” Cyrus said, heading over to the rose bush.

“Wait, who is that?” Amber asked, pointing up.

“I’ll explain,” Cyrus sighed, dislodging the rock.

“Are we waiting for her to, like, let her hair down for us to climb?”

“What? No! What are you, stupid? I’m using my key,” Cyrus said, opening the door and heading u the stairs, Amber close in tow.

“Wait, you said, Iris,” Amber said, looking at Cyrus. “You, you don’t mean that’s…”

At that, the door opened, and Iris stood at the door, hand on her hip. “You owe me an explanation, Goodman.”

“Oh my god, it’s Princess Iris,” Amber whispered, bowing slightly. “Good fortune to lay my eyes on your Highness.”

“Ugh why does everyone have to be like that? It’s just iris,” Iris said, shaking her head as she grabbed Amber’s shoulder, looking at her with a soft smile.

“Oh, okay, just Iris,” Amber said with a nervous giggle.

“Yeah, plans changed when Amber decided to join me today,” Cyrus said, setting down his sword as he gave Iris a hug, earning an unreadable look from Amber. “Catch being, she didn’t know the truth.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Iris said, smiling at him as she held up a book for Cyrus and handed him a cup of tea.

“Ooh, ‘Great Expectations’, nice one,” Cyrus said with a smile as he sat down on the chair. Iris turned to Amber with a soft smile.

“Would you, you know, like some tea?” she asked, nervously, and all Amber could do was nod shyly.

“So, Amber, what do you do now?” Iris asked after pouring out a cup of tea for her. “Last I remember you were a mage-in-training.”

“You, you know who I am?” Amber said nervously, looking up at Iris, who looked down, her cheeks tinged pink.

“Yes of course I do,” she said with a smile, looking down at her hands.

Amber giggled, a sound Cyrus had never heard before, causing him to sip his tea with a smirk as he looked at the two.

“Actually, I’m Head Mage now,” Amber said, and Iris smiled, impressed.

“I’m just gonna, check on the food,” she said, getting up and wiping her hands on her trousers.

“If you can even call it that,” Cyrus muttered, earning a shove in the shoulder from Iris.

After she had left the room, Amber turned to Cyrus, her expression accusatory. “I know why you’ve been hiding the fact that she’s here,” she said quietly.

“Because she asked me to?” Cyrus said slowly, taken aback by Amber’s tone.

“No,” she said, looking at him with an unsure expression. “It’s because you’re in love with her.”

“What?!” Cyrus said, scoffing. “Amber are you okay?”

“You are, aren’t you?” she said, her voice hurt more than anything else. “Even though you knew about what I felt!”

“No, I’m not!” Cyrus said, shaking his head, his voice growing louder

“How come?” Amber said, looking at him, her voice louder than before.

“Because I’m in love with TJ!” Cyrus yelled, immediately clapping a hand over his mouth.

Amber furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Who’s TJ?”

“You’re in love with me?” said a voice from behind Cyrus, and he turned around to see TJ standing at the doorway of his room, looking at Cyrus, an expression of disbelief on his face.

“TJ, I,” Cyrus stammered, walking up to him. But TJ grabbed his hands, looking him in the eye. Cyrus sighed, looking down at his feet, and nodded.

“Hey,” TJ said gently, lifting up Cyrus’ chin. “I’m in love with you too, Cy.”

Cyrus sighed, letting out a small laugh. “Well, that’s a relief,” he said softly, looking up at TJ.

TJ laughed before pulling Cyrus forward, kissing him. Cyrus sighed, wrapping his arms around TJ’s neck, and TJ grabbed Cyrus’ waist, pulling him closer. After they pulled away, they rested their foreheads against each other, giddy smiles on their faces as Cyrus bumped their noses together.

“Huh,” Amber said, looking at them. “Well, that took a turn for the ‘well that might as well happen’, I guess,” she said, earning a laugh from Iris, who set down dishes on the table.

She smiled at Amber, walking over to her.

“For the record,” she said, looking Amber in the eye. “Cyrus is great and all, but you don’t have to worry about him and me. My type is more,” she said, smirking at her. “Like you.” With that, Iris winked at her before setting the table, leaving Amber a stuttering and blushing mess.

“Amber, I think your face got replaced by a cherry,” Cyrus said, and Amber just grimaced and threw the finger at him.

The afternoon progressed as normal, except Amber joined Iris in her room, where they talked for hours on end about everything and nothing. And if the two girls snuck glances at each other every opportunity they got, they knew they could go at whatever pace they wanted. They had time.

TJ and Cyrus were on the windowsill, TJ leaning against the window, Cyrus on his lap. But this time, their fingers were lazily threaded together, and TJ kept rubbing his thumb against Cyrus’ palm, the action calming Cyrus down as he read.

But the day ended as it always did. Cyrus kissed TJ goodbye, and gave Iris a hug before heading down the stairs. But before Amber could head down, Iris grabbed her by the elbow.

“So, is this where we say goodbye?” she asked nervously, looking down at the ground.

Amber smiled, bringing up Iris’ hand to kiss it before she replied, “Not by a long shot.”

With that, she headed down, joining Cyrus on Philip as they rode back to the kingdom, both throwing one last glance back at the tower, where Iris and TJ watched after them as they rode away.

It looked like the kingdom would be having a dragon problem for a while, but that was no problem for Amber Brown or Cyrus Goodman, the Mage and the Knight who fell for the Princess and the Stable Boy in the tower outside town.

~~~~~~~~

i was so bored i was like lets do this cuz why not sorry if its bad lol

dedicated to @heart-eyes-kippen cuz ilysm sarah <3

#andi mack #my fic #cyrus goodman #tj kippen #amber brown #amber (andi mack)#iris (andi mack)#iris andi mack #amber andi mack #jonah beck #tyrus #ambris #tj x cyrus #amber x iris #one shot #fanfiction #fanfic

58 notes · View notes

skyblue-369 · 5 years

Text

We are so many on this world, but everybody starts their path here in exact the same way, don't they?

Somehow, that was not my case because I shared my birth with only 42 other children.

On The Twelfth Hour Of The First Day Of October 1989, Forty Three Women Around The World Gave Birth. This Was Unusual Only In The Fact That None Of The Women Had Been Pregnant When The Day First Began.

One of those unfortunate ladies was my mother. I don't know much about her. Just that she happened to pass by a very calm city in Northern Italy when I burst in her life. She didn't even have the time to look at me in the eyes that she decided to leave me by the door of a catholic orphanage. I still don't understand the reason why she didn't at least try to raise me by herself, but it's better like this. I must have caused her a hard trauma, and in addition we would have both lived a sad existence knowing that she didn't want me in the first place.

Anyway, being a religious building, there were nuns to run it. They welcomed me with open arms and named me Maria, even though they saw right away what I was capable of.

They always used to tell me how everytime I cried they had to wear gloves to hold me up because I would cover their hands in musk. Or wait, wait, wait! Also that I created little flower patterns on most of the hall floors when I moved my first steps. Yeah, I can grow plants by the way, but let's move on!

I brought some troubles with me, but they couldn't see a monster through this little girl's laughter. I was just another God's gift that needed care and protection. Actually, precisely because I was special, I was the one to receive it the most.

Besides the common bedroom, I had a space all for myself to practice in. Someone would expect some private garden, maybe a backyard. Now that I think of it, mine looked kinda like a cage, a room whose floor was covered in a thick layer of soil. Only the roof was replaced with a glass one in order to give me access to sunlight. I was supervised for all of my "playtime", when I mostly grew food for our supplies. No high plants were allowed except for fruit trees. Sometimes they'd let me recreate some pictures from my botany books, nothing more. Those brick walls made me frustrated, but I was too superficial at the time to understand they wanted to prevent me from escaping.

People continued to reassure me that I was doing good and that everyone relied on me to survive. They drowned my curiosity with privileges such as eating sweets more often than the others, having a higher education or receiving better gifts at Christmas. I cannot say I was living in luxury, but the nuns did their bests to make me live happily.

On the other side, the only thing they couldn't replace was my lack of affection.

The nuns treated me too well, but the other kids didn't seem happy about it.

It's insane that we've lived under the same roof for so many years, but we felt like acquaintances to each other. Although there was tension between us, they were never mean to me. Or maybe they were just gossiping when no one was watching. As a kid, I didn't understand how true friends are supposed to behave towards you. However, I knew that in friendship there should be a sort of feeling of comfort when staying together, and well, we didn't have it.

At the beginning, I was trying too hard to gain their trust, but then I started repeating to myself "I'm way better than everybody here. I could grow a whole forest in less than a minute if I wanted to. Who needs them? I'll have crowds cheering me one day."

...weird flex but okay

Unfortunately, I hoped to escape my very first failure by finding a family. I insisted and I've had some meetings with nice couples. Even if I couldn't show my powers, I was flawless. Aaand I received total rejection.

Probably it was all just a set up. For once, I envied the other children. Who wouldn't in my position? I had so much love to give and I would have been a good daughter! What have I possibly done wrong? I remember crying on the floor of my private room a few times and getting surrounded by weeds when I got up.

Time passed by and I ended up being eleven and without a family.

I used to dream about moving to the Amazon forest to look for a new species of flower. Maybe I would have found a guy who could talk to animals, who knows?

And then, I fell on a banana peel and slid into a series of unlucky events.

One day, we were having lunch and a silly argument came in. I'm still a teenager, it should be pretty normal at my age, shouldn'it? These two kids were mocking me and they were getting really heavy on me. I wasn't used to insults. Moreover, those words looked more and more like pieces of a bigger truth to me, so much that I hurt myself by pushing my hands over my ears. However, it was a single phrase that started it all.

"How can you even think that someone would love a narcissistic freak like you?"

I remember falling on my knees and closing my eyes, hands still on my ears. I just wanted silence, just for a moment. And I had it, indeed. It's only that when I opened my eyes, I saw them. The boys were lifeless, speared by some big branches all covered in blood. Branches that I made. It was my fault. It was my fault.

I needed to be calmed by those I thought as my loved ones, but I just receieved a shocked stare by every single nun. Some were standing still, while others were taking the children away.

"I can't stay here..." my body finally responded and I started running away. I restrained myself from throwing up. I went out and while I was climbing over the gate my left leg got stuck into a tube full of screws. I took it out right away without caring about my open wounds or how much they were making me suffer. I had to go on, I didn't even know where. I was finally visiting the world I wanted to see so desperately and I didn't even realise it. Eventually, I got to the harbour and both the stress and the seagulls put me to sleep in a ship container.

When I woke up, I didn't expect to be on the other side of the world. A bunch of sailors had brought me to the hospital of a little mountain town in the States called Anise Peak. When the nurse spoke English to me I freaked out. Luckily, I had taken some English classes at the orphanage and I could get away with it. Of course I ran away. They would have called the police and have sent me back to where I was from. I was wandering again, this time in the woods that surrounds the city. I was feeling completely lost. The single thought of the horror I had just committed made me impossible to use my powers in the future, so my chances of dying were higher. Nevertheless, something made me change my mind. Maybe God wanted me to stay longer and decided to bring me to a waterfall. I was taking a cold shower when I slipped on a door of leaves and saw that there was a hidden cave behind the waterfall. Eventually, it became my shelter. I've lived in here for almost three years now. How did I make it?

Well, thanks to my abilities I don't really need money for food. But after a while, when I found out that I couldn't live only on vegetables and fruit, I had to make up something. Almost outside the city old Damien has a supermarket, who unfortunately had a big problem at getting fresh veggies in such a cold area. And here it comes a farmer who lives nearby and is always busy, so sends his daughter to offer the man his services. Every two weeks I magically give him tons of goods in exchange of a little pay and some products such as bread or soap. I know it's not legal at all, but people are simple here and Damien was making a lot of money anyway. For me, it's tiring because I feel dizzy after I grow plants for a long period and because of transport, but at least I could live decently. The problem is that I had to be subtle to people's eyes. At night I have to put out the fire, or if I have to go out aside from work hours I have to climb trees and walk very high. I learned with time, and my scars prove it. Or maybe I can't walk around the town because everyone would recognise a new face.

I cannot call this "life" or "home", but it's fine at the moment. I get lonely from time to time, but I can always spy on families that come here camping. It's not that weird and it improves my language skills.

Oh my! Are those...gunshots? From the woods? What the hell is happening? It's better if I go check...

If you want to know more, go check:

#the umbrella academy #umbrella academy oc #umbrella acedmy #tua oc #tua ocs #oc appreciation #ocappreciation

11 notes · View notes

veridium · 5 years

Text

the kids aren’t alright

college au update aka I’m finally getting to write some wonderful dating fluff so what if it’s all nervous and a bit clumsy? it’s so stinkin’ adorable. have fun, readers!

special thanks to one of my favorite Fall Out Boy songs for the title.

chapter index + previous episode

So they are dating.

Not just friends, not just hanging out. Dating. Dating? Dating.

When Olivia says goodbye to Cassandra on Sunday night, first order of business is to sit on her bed and overthink things, of course. Even while doing homework with her typical fearsome dedication. They’re dating. It’s a step that needs getting used to all of Monday while their days keep them apart: Cassandra has an evening exam to work on, and Olivia needs her alone time to process, anyways. They still text, though; they’re good about that when they want to be.

But then, it’s Tuesday. Tuesday, when they can cross paths. They lose the ‘privacy’ of a weekend free of classes and intermingling with the rest of the student body. How is that going to go?

It’s just past 8:30am and she’s putting in silver stud earrings when someone knocks on her half-open door. “Look alive,” Ellinor says as she enters, backpack on with jeans and a long-sleeve pullover on. Both look clean. Hm, she must have found time for laundry in between her stringent schedule of being Cullen’s respirator and procuring flowers for her nice plastic vase.

“Morning!” she runs her fingers through her loose and combed hair. Waves of blonde that look effortless, but are really the work of a 7:30am shower and a 7:45 blow dry.

“Fun plans for today?”

“Class.” She’s curt, but she means it. Class is fun. Yet Ellinor only groans and kicks back on the freshly-made bed. Living in a single occupancy dorm room has its perks, but with her friends, the term ‘single’ doesn’t really hit home. More like ‘selective.’

“Class. What, no…?” Ellinor tries to tease it out of her. She can’t blame her -- it only takes 30 seconds and a brief glance to know Olivia is on edge. She sucks at retaining some semblance of calm. Then again, Ellinor of all people could be trusted to do well by it. She’s kind and wonderful like that.

But the question remains: what’s going to happen?

“Uh, no,” she shakes her head, assembling her notebooks from her desk table. Two, both political science, just with different course numbers written in sharpie on the front. She’ll need the third one already in her backpack for the class she TA’s for, and then she’ll be set.

Her phone vibrates on her pillow but she’s too distracted to run for it, leaving Ellinor the perfect, gaping open window to do the honors herself. She makes a “tsk” sound.

“You’re a dirty liar, Olivia Sinclair. You’ve been texting her all morning! Who texts this much at 7am?”

“It is not that much!” she hisses, rushing over and swiping the phone away from her. It isn’t all that much: just a good morning, then some playful wordplay, and about plans for the day...she answers more in depth than she did Ellinor: classes, possibly a workout in the afternoon if she feels up for it. Then she’s subbing for an evening dance class because her coworker is out sick still. Cassandra shares much the same detail. It’s perfectly normal. Right?

Ellinor doesn’t flinch. “Alright then…”

“It’s...I’m…” Olivia clicks her home button and tossing the phone on her desk by her bag.

“So, are you going to invite her to the party, or blindfold her until we pull up in the driveway?”

Maybe. Could that work? “No! I’m telling her, okay, it’s only Tuesday. Shit.”

“Only Tuesday. You said you’d ask her yesterday when we got Boba. Soon it’ll be Wednesday, then Friday, and she’ll be wondering why you aren’t around for your brooding Planet Earth marathon date.”

“Hey! Planet Earth is a masterpiece!” She’s never seen more than 15 minutes of Planet Earth in her entire life thanks to a High School Biology class Sub.

Ellinor rolls her eyes, air blowing out her puffed cheeks as she lazily slides feet first off the bed like some all-knowing smug-slug. Back on her feet, she hooks her thumbs on her backpack straps and shrugs. “Liv, you know I’m not her biggest fan--”

“Oh! Ohoho! Bombshell tonight! Call Nancy Grace!”

“Man,” Ellinor winces, eyes closed as she heads for the door, “you are still terrible to be around under-caffeinated. Look, all I’m saying is, the writing’s on the wall. You want your girl--”

“We are not using labels yet.”

“--to come to a party with you, you tell her about the party. Step one.”

Olivia sighs and leans against her chair, legs crossing. Their Sunday heart-to-heart only 24 hours gone, and Ellinor is back to pushing sense. Who gave her the right? If Olivia hadn’t been just as terrorizing with her, she’d call foul. Only, with one park bench rant and Rutherfaker stand-off in the hallway under her belt, she knows she’s the last sinner to throw a stone. Besides, Ellinor is right.

Ugh, Cassandra hates parties. She hates parties and she hates drama. Since they have collided, Olivia has introduced a bounty of both things. But this is who she is: she works hard, dances on tables on the weekends sometimes, and lurks on soccer field grass with her best friend like a fool. The everyday college student, she is.

“You’re worrying.” Ellinor cuts in, and Olivia comes to. They’re both still standing there, like statues, while she has descended down the rabbit hole of internal questions and concerns. With renewed gusto she tosses her notebooks in her bag and adjusts the way her black jumpsuit fits around her waist.

“I’m worrying. But I have a right to.” She walks over to where her shoes are neatly stacked on the a rack, and picks out her dark red velvet boot heels. “Even if she does agree, she definitely isn’t wearing a costume.”

“Oh, LORD forbid,” Ellinor rolls her eyes, hands up in the air before she slips out the door. Probably to immediately pull out her phone and gawk at whatever cutesy bitmoji Cullen sent her after five minutes of not messaging.

It’s not like her and Cassandra couldn’t have the exact same glee about things. Shouldn’t they be gleeful? Is that the correct term? After all this would be the honeymoon stage in all the stereotypical romantic comedies. Bleh.

She continues to mull over it throughout her back-to-back morning classes, and her notes are uncharacteristically direct and thorough, even for her. When she writes, she exerts her anxiety on the page -- this is why she stopped using mechanical pencils after freshman year. Poor .7 lead never stands a chance. Coming out of class, she decides it’s her turn to make the plan.

Hey, meet me for lunch after class at 12:30? Or do you have somewhere else to be?

Cassandra, within a minute or two:

Sure. I just have to drop off books to a Professor. Meet me by the benches on North side?

Olivia: Yep! Sounds good! :)

Lunch plans. Those are good. Those are nice. Maybe they can talk and be cute, and she won’t revile it or find some reason to feel uncomfortable with it. It’s just...so surreal. Lucky enough, it’s a beautiful day outside. Fall is in full bloom, and the leaves that were once changing color are now beginning to release themselves from the abundant trees all over campus. Quad is especially scenic, so much so when she parks herself with her butt on the top of the bench and her feet in the seat, she actually enjoys the moment. Taking perhaps her first long, relaxed breath of fresh air she has had all day.

“Olivia!”

Well, that was short-lived.

Opening her eyes and looking up and down the concrete path, the first thing she sees is a nice grey peacoat buttoned around a nimble and tall body. There’s a strap of a backpack on one shoulder only, and a white and gold glittery beanie on a head of auburn red hair. Oh, not again.

“Leliana.” She braces, her flight or fight instinct dueling for dominance in her head. If she can projectile spit and then run, she could make it. It’d be fine. Or, even better, kick some muddy leaves on her expensive looking shoes.

Leliana approaches as if there’s absolutely no problem with her existence as far as Olivia is concerned, hands in her pockets and grin on her face. When she reaches the ground in front of the bench, she halts and rocks onto her toes.

“Hey. It’s been a while!”

“It’s been a week.” Not long enough, would be my true answer.

“I...can’t believe how fast the semester’s gone. It’s almost Thanksgiving. And Halloween is tomorrow!”

“Yep. Tomorrow.”

“Got any fun plans?” she keeps smiling.

“Uh, no,” Olivia manages to animate herself with a shrug. Otherwise she’s pretty much a gargoyle on the poor bench. “I don’t really go out during the Holiday itself. It’s a lot of...unnecessary antics.”

Leliana nods and steps even closer. “Yeah, you have a point. Hey, could I talk to you for a second?”

Oh Jesus please take the wheel and drive me promptly into a brick wall. “Uh...well, I’m supposed to be--”

“Meeting Cassandra for lunch. I know! I won’t stay long.”

Oh, will you? Olivia fights off a scowl. She can only hope Leliana found out about their lunch plans the old fashioned way called ‘texting’ or ‘pleasant conversation,’ but a part of here fears her phone camera’s been hacked. Nevertheless, she scoots off to the side, thereby inviting her to sit down. Once seated, Leliana pivots towards her, and crosses one leg over the other. The well-meaning smile then dissipates.

“Look, I know...you may not have the best opinions about me after what happened at the Gala. If you’d let me, I’d like to explain myself.”

“Oh?” Olivia raises a brow, back arching. “And what possible explanation could make me understand why you felt the need to take digs at me in public so that I would become upset? You barely even know me. What gi--”

“You’re right, I barely know you. But, try to look at it from my point-of-view: one of my good friends suddenly perks up about a girl, after denying herself the chance for so long. She starts getting all wound up, and before you know it, she starts hanging out with her, only every few days when you reach out to check in, she says she’s upset about something or other. If you’re me, you’re pretty damn concerned as to what this girl’s intentions are, and you want to investigate for yourself. So I...got a little carried away. I can admit that.”

Olivia is side-eyeing her so hard she wonders if she’s using x-ray vision through the bridge of her nose. Once again someone has been a dick for the sake of friendship, then. Fine, she can understand that...but the one thing she can’t figure out is how Leliana seems to come out of nowhere. Cassandra had never mentioned her throughout any of their hangouts or conversations. For all she knew, Cullen was her one companion.

“Thanks for that. I guess.” She does her best to loosen up, but her pride gets in the way of a lot of things. Shit, maybe she is Pride. Maybe that is what she’ll be for Halloween. Priorities, Liv.

“You’re welcome. I can see now you aren’t just spinning for a good time at the expense of someone else’s feelings, or else you wouldn’t have bothered coming back around after what happened. Cassandra is difficult sometimes.”

“She isn’t difficult, she’s just deliberate.”

Leliana grins. “Cassandra is many things.”

“How do you two even know each other? I never saw you around when we were first starting to hang out. She doesn’t…”

“She doesn’t mention me?” her grin grows into a smile as she rests her elbow back behind her. “I know. It doesn’t bother me. She and I met when we were both involved with the Campus Chapel. Josie might have told you I was a Student Chaplain last year?”

“Uh…” she hesitates on whether to admit they’ve discussed her, but she can’t resist the chance to know more about Cassandra even if it’s through her. “Yes.”

“Yeah! We ended up working together a lot on events and volunteer stuff. It took awhile for us to be anything but that. She’s a hard cookie to crumble. I am, too, though.”

“She’s...she’s a cookie, alright.”

Leliana giggles, and her gaze returns to her. “On a...well, okay,” she adjusts, “can I be real with you?”

“Real? Have you not been real this entire time?”

“Oh, hush,” she giggles some more, “I’m serious.”

“Sure.”

Leliana’s face goes back to that mature expression she had when she first sat down. Solemn. “I know that it may be easy to believe Cassandra is as put-together and unbreakable. But...you should know, it’s not all there is to her.”

Olivia shakes her head a bit. “I didn’t think it was.”

“I know, but, just trust me on this one. I know from experience.”

“Experience?”

She sighs under her breath, and dares to place a hand on Olivia’s knee. “Just be careful with her. I tease, but, she is my friend.” She then stands, facing her head on. It’s slightly intimidating -- scratch that, considerably. Leliana is jovial, but there’s an intensity to her. One you catch if you look long enough.

“I trust you get me when I say I would do anything for my friend’s happiness,” she adds, taking hold of her shoulder bag handle. Olivia doesn’t know whether to take that as a compliment, or a threat. Either way, she continues to eye her but play along.

“I do,” she answers, tucking some hair behind her own ear. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Leliana waves her hand, before looking over her shoulder. They both do, because coming up the path is a well-dressed woman with short black hair, a knee-length blazer coat, and those black leggings Olivia cuddled against on the couch Saturday afternoon. In that moment, Leliana’s reply hits home.

Not long after it does, she is smiling at Olivia and stepping back onto her merry way. “You’re turning heads. Take care.” She walks with a pep in her step, departing just as Cassandra draws near.

Well, that wasn’t foreboding at all, Olivia thinks to herself as she watches Leliana’s beanie grow smaller and harder to see through the neighboring figures walking to-and-from her direction. Cassandra’s boots scuff onto the grass, jerking Olivia’s attention out of her staring.

“What did Leliana want?” she asks, already folding her arms. Her nice leather satchel shines in the sunlight like it’s polished.

She sounds displeased. “Leliana?” Olivia blinks, “Oh, she just wanted to clear the air about the Gala. To say sorry.”

Cassandra’s eyes narrow and gaze down the path where her very nice and peculiar friend had gone. Not convinced. “Really. That’s it?”

“Yes!” Olivia smiles and hops off the bench, nearer to her. Her movement distracts Cassandra, which is what she hoped for. “You said it yourself, she’s your friend. You don’t trust her to make things right?”

“I trust her to do a lot of things. Namely: too much.” She starts to get caught up in it, but rather than raising the heat, she loosens up her shoulders. It’s like a well-oiled machine of emotions.

Cassandra then changes the subject to salvage the moment. “Anyway, I thought we could try the Greek place on the corner by Williamson?”

Olivia smiles. Now she’s talking. Dusting off her thighs, she follows at her side as they walk. The first bit of their journey is quiet, observant of the goings-on. It’s peak campus foot traffic, as people hurry to overwhelm the different food hubs all around. Cassandra doesn’t just have good taste, she has smart taste: Williamson is in a tucked corner, perhaps the most removed from the rush hour. Olivia had learned this when she went with Ellinor once, trying to satiate her Greek craving with the nearest place on Google Maps.

As they near the shop, Cassandra breaks the silence. “Yesterday was fun. Thank you again for making breakfast.”

“What? Oh!” Olivia waves it off, “It’s no big deal, stop thanking me! It was good to...to cook again.”

“Everything okay?” Cassandra notices the slight low-tick in her tone at the end. It’s almost cliche, the way it happens -- and she hopes she wouldn’t catch it. But she does.

“Yeah,” she brushes it off, “I’m just still processing lecture.”

Cassandra smiles, and lowers her gaze to the ground in front of them as they round the corner. It’s easy being like this with her. Easier than all the hype Olivia builds in her head about the way things are, the way they should be, and what they aren’t. In the moment, in the thick of it, it all makes sense. No comparison and no longing.

She folds her arms against her chest as they keep going. Only a minute or so ‘till gyro goodness.

An hour later they are sprawled on playfield grass nearby the shop, under the sparse shade of old trees planted around the perimeter of it. A bit like the Siberia of the campus athletic areas, out on its own in a nook of campus not many people frequent. For casual picnicking with food and bare feet in the grass for two women who say they have distaste for exhibiting affection, though, it’s perfect.

Besides, they’re sharing bites of each other’s food, now. That shit is damn-near explicit. No one wants to see that rated X, woman-on-woman action.

“I think we had a practice out here, once,” Cassandra balls up her gyro foil, the remnants of a meal long-gone. “It was miserable, actually.”

Olivia has long-devoured her gyro into oblivion, and is laying flat on her back beside her with her glasses on, taking in the blue and cloudy sky. “Oh? Is the grass not...green enough?”

“Is that a serious question?”

“I don’t know! Is grass...like...a factor to consider?”

“In a way, yeah.”

“Oh…” she wrinkles her nose, a foot itching the other with toes. “Huh.”

“Think of it this way,” she says as she twists open her hydroflask, the squeaking sound of the seal an echo of every single time a person does during class seminar discussions. “You’re a dancer. Flooring matters, right?”

“Pff, yeah, you won’t catch me launching myself six feet in the air to land on gravel.”

“See? It’s like soccer. Or any field sport. The grass you land on, run on, fall on. It matters.”

Olivia stares up at her shoulder, and can only imagine what her face looks like. It must be beautiful, because there’s an excitement in her voice that is almost infectious. Maybe, if she stays exposed to it, she could grow a...tolerance, of athletic occupations. Maybe. Maybe with Cassandra, she could do a whole lot of things.

She’s been to quiet. Cassandra glances down, looking like she’s expecting Olivia to be asleep or something. But when their eyes meet, it’s all grins and unexpected butterflies.

“You’re teaching me something new every day,” Olivia remarks as she lifts herself up, propping on her hands. “I like that. Keep doing that.”

Cassandra reclines back to be shoulder-to-shoulder with her. “I’ll keep doing it as long as you want,” she says sweetly, “even if you wish to argue about it sometimes.”

“It helps me process information. If I can’t fight about it, it isn’t worth knowing.”

“Socrates, reincarnated.”

“Not even!” Olivia chuckles, nudging her. She lingers in the lean-in a bit indulgently. Cassandra nudges her back, until they are both veering into one another and away like haphazard pendulums. Then, their faces still in suspension close enough to tempt. And then, the lean...the closing in...slow closing of the eyes...and then the kiss. If anything could convince Olivia movie scenes in life were real, it was the way it felt getting used to kissing her. To being kissed by her. To be the person she kissed, out of everyone.

She gets into it. Too into it. It’ll overwhelm things. She stops herself and pulls back. Her lip rolls as their eyes open into each other, and Cassandra looks a bit surprised.

“Um…agh,” she says, a bit short on a breath, but happy.

Olivia grins. “Yeah. I know.” It’s terrifying. And so good.

Cassandra exhales in a smile, and they separate. This, this is the honeymoon sensation. Everything feels right, and generous. This is what makes brave risks happen.

Olivia pulls her knees up against her chest and opens her mouth. Pausing, and struggling, but she gets it out. “H-hey, I keep meaning to ask you something.”

“Yeah?”

“This weekend. Do you have anything planned?”

“This weekend?” Cassandra tilts her chin, gazing out at the empty half-brown field. “Not really. I mean, if you wanted to do anything, I was going to…” she trails off. The butterflies hum in Olivia’s core, but she does her best to stay steady.

“Oh! Uh, yeah. Well, that’s what I was gonna say. Our friend Dorian, he’s having this Halloween party thing. Ellinor and I were invited, and we can bring plus ones. I was...I mean I know you’re not into parties like, in the...the Hangover sense…”

“‘The Hangover’ sense?” She asks, alarmed.

“Uh y--no! Not that bad, just!” she laughs anxiously, “okay more like...like Clueless.”

“The one where the guy is an asshole and she and her best friend get a fight ab--”

“No, try...uh...fuck,” she shuts her eyes hard and taps her forehead, “well, okay, it’s a thing. It’s just...a production. Dorian, he--”

“Dorian Pavus, right? I know him.”

Olivia’s train of thought, derailed in a half-second’s worth of what the fuck. Her eyes go wide, and she whips her head around. “You know Dorian Pavus? God, please don’t say Church. Don’t say it.”

Cassandra raises a brow. “No. Not Church. I don’t know him well, but I know of him. He’s...interesting.”

“He’s really cool. I mean, we go to the same gym and he works there part-time like me. I mean, he’s...he usually just calls me the name of a blonde character. Like Elle Woods or...you know, Piper Chapman.”

“Piper Chapman.”

“...Yeah.”

Cassandra nods slow. “Okay. So, I was right to say...interesting.”

“Okay yeah fine. But he throws amazing parties, and all of my little crowd will be there. Ellinor and Cullen are going!” She throws it in like it’s a last ditch brownie point to take her over the edge. The look of overt skepticism on Cassandra’s face is telling, though.

“I imagine this won’t be no small backyard BBQ,” she rejoins, taking a second sip from her open canteen before putting the cap back on. “But this also explains why Cullen all of a sudden started his laundry this morning.”

“Does he not do his laundry?”

“He…” Cassandra looks for the words, “He does. It’s not that he’s not all about that kind of stuff. It’s just...for some reason laundry is like a tell-tale sign he’s emotionally preparing himself for something. Once, his sister tried to run off to Nevada to be in some cover band her friends made and his half of the suite smelled like lavender linen on steroids.”

“Oh…” Olivia frowns, “that’s...intense.”

“Yeah. It was fine though, in the end. Don’t say I told you that. He’d die if anyone found out. Especially you, or the team.”

“No worries. I don’t really hang out in that crowd anyway, you know that. I mean, Ellinor and I showing up at Rylen’s party...”

“Rylen doesn’t throw parties, he throws beer in an ice cooler and pulls out a frisbee yelling at everyone to dare him to ‘Air Bud’ it,” Cassandra jests harshly, her legs criss-crossing as she sits up.

“I wasn’t saying...well, I just meant that it’s not the same thing. Dorian’s parties aren’t small like that, but they’re fun! And good people will be there. I’d like you to go with me.” With me.

Cassandra quietly looks ahead. Her fingers pensively tousle and twist at the grass, but she doesn’t prick or pull. Only feeling, only tactile.

“Liv, there’s…there’s reasons why I tend to keep things lowkey.”

“I know,” she’s quick to offer compassion, perhaps a little too quick. “I get it. No drama, the better. I just didn’t want to go on ahead without considering you. We did say...well, you said we should be compassionate with each other, and communicate.”

Cassandra half-smiles, and her shoulders roll straight. “Yeah, but there’s...well. thank you for considering me.”

Her heart flutters. “Anytime.”

“Does this mean you’re asking me to be your date?”

Olivia purses her lips, and her shoulders bunch. “Maybe. You don’t even have to wear a costume. I’m doing the ‘deadly sins’ thing with Ellinor. You can just wear whatever you want.”

“So that is why you were arguing about Ellinor being Wrath. Hm. You have a point, there.”

Oh, God, if she ever heard you say that. Olivia’s reaction is half smile, half grimace. “Yeah. She’ll warm up to it. I think I might go as Envy. Make things fair so that neither of us win the coveted and almighty Lust mantle.”

“That would be the favored one, between you two.” Cassandra takes Olivia’s hand into hers, so cooly it makes Olivia blush. “I don’t think you’d be Envy though.”

“What? Oh, is this where you call me Sloth?”

“No way,” Cassandra huffs, “I was going to say Pride.”

She echoes her thoughts back when her and Leliana talked on the bench. A second affirmation of her search. Pride? Pride. Alright. She looks out, her head going from side-to-side as she thinks it over.

“Pride. How would I dress as Pride, though?”

Cassandra’s tongue is quicksilver. “Simple, wear what you had on when you came to Rylen’s with Ellinor. You could have been the dictionary image for it.”

“Oh, fuck that! You!” Olivia has urge to do something she hasn’t done in years. And certainly not to anyone she’s been involved with. She shoots her arms out to Cassandra’s sides and begins to tickle her, fingers spindling up and under her arms. It’s a daring move, one you’d think someone like Cassandra would stiffen and admonish. Yet, in a strangely amazing twist of fate, she lurches and begins to laugh. Laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Falling back onto the ground as her knees bend towards the sky, curved and kicking as Olivia rushes up and over her. Laughing,right along with her out of sympathy.

It’s a light she’s never seen, Cassandra losing control like this. And she loves it. She is so stunning.

“Stop it! S-stop!” Cassandra cuts in between laughs, breath escaping quick and shallow. “Y-you! Ahh!”

Olivia gives an Aha! To her tone, Then, it all starts to slow down. Laughs ease. Cassandra’s snuck her arm around Olivia’s waist, holding her close despite having been held captive. Chuckles boil down to snickering, and then recuperating heavy breathing.

“You...you didn’t tell me you were ticklish!”

“I-I,” Cassandra bubbles out the remainder of her glee, “I don’t think that’s something you...you brag about.”

“I think it is!” Olivia argues, chest half on top of hers. “You, ticklish? It’s like the world’s best kept secret.”

“Well, now I have to kill you, so it will stay that way.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Cassandra smiles and clings to her, the strength in one arm enough to nearly crack the spot in Olivia’s back that’s been a problem for her since 9th grade. Good to know for future amateur chiropractor needs.

The romantic position they’ve found themselves in sticks, the Siberia soccer field enough of a stowaway place for something considered ‘PDA’ to be acceptable. Olivia is engrossed, her chin resting on her chest. A subtle, lucid breeze combs through the edges her hair.Cassandra’s olive skin basks so well in the sunlight overhead, especially when she’s contented.

“This party,” Cassandra says after a few moments of wordless admiring, “it would be fun?”

“Hmm, Yes. I’d be there, after all.”

“Well, then I suppose it is my kind of fun then.” She agrees, but there’s a touch of carefulness to the end of her sentence. Carefulness from trying despite implicit reluctance. Olivia pauses to examine, but is only met with a well-meaning stoicism.

“You mean it?” she questions, sliding her knee in between Cassandra’s to rest.

“Yeah. If you can handle Rylen and the others, I should be able to handle your crowd.”

Olivia is reminded of Ellinor’s eye-for-an-eye logic, and her brow furrows. “My crowd is...I think you’ll like them. I mean, they’re all just really gay and well-dressed.”

Cassandra holds back a chuckle. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah! You saw! And besides, we can join them. Be gay, and well dressed, and if you’re lucky we can also be gay and well-dressed in taco bell,” she whispers the ‘taco bell’ part like she’s a screaming concert-goer, something that provokes Cassandra into poking her ticklish waist in return. More giggling, more effortless giggling, and it’s all even.

“See! I am the master of persuasion!” Olivia rejoices, still stuck on the feeling of lounging on her. Class where? Campus whomst?

“You have talent, I think you’ll go far in life.” Cassandra rubs up the side of her back, before laying her head into the grass and closing her eyes. Grinning and inhaling, nice and deep. “Alright, a few more minutes, and we have to head back. Or, at least I do.”

“So we do.”

Cassandra opens an eye at her, but Olivia only winks. A last exchange before she lays her head back down on her chest.

Cassandra exhales. “So we do.”

It’s all so good. No dramatic fights, no screaming matches, no salty comments. Just them. It’s so potent, Olivia understands why Ellinor was so moth-drawn-to-flame when her and Cullen started...doing things. This is fucking great. It’s like...nothing can touch her, and everything is as good as it’ll ever get. Which is pretty damn good, by her standards. Not even Leliana’s odd behavior can get her down.

Though, admittedly, as they took the last minutes they could to rest in the sun-baked grass, she wonders. If Cassandra was not all alright, then, what would she ever have to hide? She peers up, tempted to ask straight out. Cassandra has her eyes closed, and she’s so tranquil. Her hand wrapped around her, making her a part of it. Olivia can’t stomach the idea of ruining it.

What goes on inside that head of yours when no one thinks to ask? If you have your reasons, what are they?

She gives up, and lays her cheek back down, and the world washes away for a moment longer. The trees and their enduring leaves sway gently up above in a wind, A moment that screams ‘take your time.’

#college au update #adventures of ellinor and olivia #day & age #ellinor trevelyan #olivia sinclair #modern!olivia #WOO FLUFF #HAPPY IT'S GONNA BE MAY UPDATE

24 notes · View notes

iminlovewiththestars · 4 years

Text

Followed

by Shannon Burns

The barista shouts my name over the din.

I leap at my coffee, intending to snatch it off the bar in a huff.

I was already running late before the espresso machine jammed, sending scalding coffee spewing in every direction. The resulting debacle was an utter nightmare and really, if I weren’t such an addict, and if I had gotten more than 12 minutes of sleep last night, I would have taken off sans coffee. But I knew there’d be no possible way for me to get through the day without my customary triple venti. Today I made it a quad.

Of course, some dude chooses the exact same moment to retrieve his iced green tea that’s been chilling on the bar for at least five minutes.

“Oof.” I end up wrapped around him like a car around a steel pole. “Sorry.” I try not to sound resentful when I say it.

“No, my fault.” He slides me my coffee with a sheepish grin. “Looks like you could use this.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” I nick the cup, and begrudgingly give him the once over.

He’s attractive enough, but he looks like a total wannabe. The shabby, artsy type. Scruffy face. Beany. Nerdy glasses. Wearing a plaid shirt, skinny jeans, and converse to boot. So cliché. I mean, who drinks iced green tea in the middle of January, anyway? Give me a break. I don’t have time for slackers when I’m already late for my real job.

I slip past him to make my escape.

He calls after my retreating form. “Please, let me …”

But I don’t catch the rest. The door slams behind me and his words are whipped away by the howling wind.

I toss back a shot of the brew to banish the cold. It scorches my throat, but I don’t care. I need caffeine like a hypothermic reptile needs the sun. Like I need the sun, which happens to be hiding its radiance, I note, glowering at the hazy sky. Not that I’m surprised. The sun rarely makes an appearance around here this time of year. Plus, it’s before sunrise, or at least, I think it is.

My breath ices the air and I pull my cowl tighter to block the arctic wind. I hoof it six blocks down Main without looking up, gulping at the dregs of my coffee before I’ve even made it two. The caffeine buzz jolts my pulse into high gear and the resulting jitters snuff even the memory of sleep deprivation from my limbs.

Now that I’m more than semi-conscious, I feel a tinge of regret over the coffee shop incident. Green Tea Guy seemed nice enough, and I was a bit abrupt with him. Okay, so, I totally blew him off.

I sigh. Too late to do anything about it now. So, I tell myself to get over it. It’s not like he’s my type anyway. Still, I should have let him down easy with my go-to, I’m-married-to-my-job excuse. Strictly speaking, it’s not even a lie.

I sneak a quick peak from beneath my cocoon of warmth, intending to hang a left on 132nd, like always, only to realize I’m not at 132nd. I’m not even on Main.

Dammit. Six years. Six years that coffee shop was on Main and then two weeks ago, out of nowhere, they up and moved. And, in my zombie-like state, I forgot to remind myself that my autopilot is broken until I can reprogram the new route.

I glance around, hoping to spot something familiar, but I don’t frequent this side of town. Actually, I’m not even sure I’m still in town.

Dilapidated, industrial buildings loom over the street. In the dim light, colorful, broken glass throws distorted shapes on graffiti-littered walls. Dark, broken-out windows glare from above. A fire escape hangs precariously like a gruesome scar slashed across the face of the building. A trash dumpster’s lid has been thrown wide like a gaping maw without teeth. The mist rises off the concrete like the visible stench of a monstrous beast, slumbering in the darkness of the predawn hours.

I take a step back.

Maybe it’s just coffee jitters, but my heart is racing out of control. It strikes against my ribs like a caged animal attempting to break free.

I gulp at the frigid air in an attempt to calm my frantic nerves. The bitter cold seeps through me. Icy fingers claw their way under my coat, piercing my flesh and chilling my bones. A shiver crawls up my spine.

I turn, escaping back the direction I came. My slow, plodding footsteps echo on the pavement like a gong, reverberating off the buildings, amplifying with every step.

My eye catches movement, shadows darting between the buildings.

My roommate jokingly sent me an internet meme once, mocking my caffeine addiction. I poured red bull in my coffee this morning. I can see sounds. At the time I laughed. But it’s not so funny now as paranoia sweeps over me.

I’m being followed. Only it isn’t possible. It’s just my footsteps hammering at my brain. There’s nothing there. Just my imagination. But I keep glancing over my shoulder anyway.

Nothing. Still, I can’t help but sense something is watching me.

Light floods the street behind me.

I turn and shield my eyes, trying to peer through the hazy brilliance. What the…?

A car bears down on me from the far end of the ally.

I beeline to an adjacent alley, barely clearing the car’s path.

An enormous, black beast of a car roars past. It screeches to a halt, and then reverses to stop dead in front of me. I don’t know cars, but this one looks sleek and fast, like a panther stalking its prey in the night. Unfortunately, I’m the only game around.

I stand unmoving, rooted to the spot, gaping.

The engine idles. A darkened window whirls down.

Curiosity has gotten the best of me. Or maybe it’s that my adrenaline response is broken. Instead of fight or flight, mine’s set to freeze.

“Get in.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s just Green Tea Guy from the coffee shop. But then my heart’s doing double time.

He followed me. And he looks different. Maybe it’s just the car, but I doubt it. He’s dropped the starving artist act. Instead, he’s opted for full on Men in Black.

“Wow, stalker much?” I snap, trying to force my shaking voice into indifference. I turn on my heel, intending to escape down the side alley that saved me from being the victim of vehicular manslaughter mere moments ago. But no such luck. It’s a dead end.

“Rachel. Get. In.” He punctuates each word, eyes darting around anxiously. He’s seriously tweaking.

I’d be wigging out right now that he knows my name, if it weren’t for the fact that the coffee shop barista broadcast it loud enough for the whole world to hear. I bet the North Koreans are trying to decode who or what a “Rachel” is and whether or not it signaled the launch of World War III.

“I’m armed.” My declaration is probably a wasted effort, but I’m hoping against hope that it will buy me a moment.

My shaking hands fumble my keys, unable to locate the object of my intent. Finally, I hold up my pepper spray in evidence. The fact that it’s glittery probably isn’t doing me any favors at the moment, but what I can say, it’s not like I ever thought I would actually I use it. Well, I mean, use it for anything more than ornamentation.

He approaches, his speed belied by his smooth, languid movements.

I shrink against the wall, holding my sparkly weapon aloft. I can’t watch. I squeeze my eyes shut. My hand trembling, I take aim and...

My keys clatter to the ground before my finger finds the trigger.

I’m shotgun and he’s back in the driver’s seat, punching the gas before I can unravel what happened.

I reach for the door, trying to get out, but it’s locked. I pound the unlock button but it’s no use. My only weapon is gone, and I’m trapped. “Let me out, you psycho!”

He doesn’t even glance my way. “You have to come with me.” His frantic nature of a moment ago is replaced by statuesque indifference.

Now I’m the one tweaking. “Like hell I do.” I claw at any button I can reach, hoping one will be the key to my freedom.

“It’s not safe.”

He may appear to be the epitome of control, but something’s wrong with this dude. Because yeah, being kidnapped and held hostage does not scream safe and sound to me.

I flip through ideas, trying to come up with something, anything. I need a plan of action to get out of this mess. But I’ve got nothing. Nothing but desperation. So, I guess that will have to do.

I lean over, grab the steering wheel, and veer hard to the right, directly into a brick wall. I brace for impact.

He jerks the wheel, swerving back toward the center of the road. “You trying to kill yourself?” He eyes me like I’m the crazy one, pushing me back down into my seat where I can no longer interfere with his driving.

I turn away like a petulant child. “No, apparently that’s your job.”

“Rachel, I’m here to protec--”

I snap. “Seriously, dude. You don’t know me. So, stop acting like you do.”

My outrage is met with no response.

I sigh. Being hostile has gotten me nowhere. So I opt to switch tactics. “Look, we got off on the wrong foot. How about I tell you about myself? I’m the only child of parents who adore me. And, I know I don’t see them as much as I should these days, but losing me would destroy them. And they aren’t made of money. Not the kind needed for a ransom. So, how about you just let me go? We can forget this whole thing ever happened.” I’m rambling. And I know it’s a long shot, but maybe, just maybe, appealing to his humanity might work.

“Bad plan. I’m not human.”

That settles it. He’s completely off his rocker. “What… what do you mean you’re not human?” I don’t even want to think about how he knew what I was just thinking.

“I’m taking you somewhere safe.”

Safe. There’s that word again. Just who does he think he is? I shake my head. “So, the batcave then?” Maybe he’s under the misguided impression that he’s some sort of superhero. Nothing else makes sense. I mean, this whole thing is just so inexplicable.

“Batman’s human.” His words carry no inflection. No indication as to whether or not this is one big joke. And nothing to indicate that what is occurring is in any way out of the ordinary. He just stares straight ahead. Rigid. Focused. Driving like a bat out of hell.

“Human. Riiiiight.”

#writing #fiction #ya #oc #mood

1 note · View note

yaachtynoboat711 · 5 years

Text

Fonder Ch.1

A/N: It’s finally here! Welcome to the series premiere of Fonder. Apparently, y’all were excited as hell for this series, which forced me to write my ass off and force myself to stick to angst. This is definitely going to be much longer than At First Glance was. If you have any feedback, please free to talk to me in either my asks, my messages, or in the notes. Don’t forget to reblog and like!

Warning(s): Angst, Our faves separating, a few typos(?)

Word Count: 1.6K

June 20, 2014, 2:37 PM

Manhattan, New York

New acting endeavors and opportunities called for Winston to decide to make the move to Los Angeles. The success of his Law & Order: SVU episode made him a hot item for more exposure (as it should’ve). With a few more days until his big move, he wanted to show his girlfriend Khalida the final draft of his talent agency contract. Though she wasn’t by any stretch an entertainment lawyer, she understand the deceptive language of contracts and how to counter the finesse. So much so that the final draft of the contract was actually the sixth draft. No one was bullshitting Winston Christopher Duke and his career as long as she was “Black and breathing” as she always said.

She entered his Manhattan apartment as she always did: ringing the doorbell as she unlocked the door with her key. Before she could announce herself , she was sidetracked by the various moving boxes that littering the apartment floor. Pictures and posters that sat or hung throughout the apartment were packed up, making the main room feel much bigger than it was. The furniture had already been sent to his new space in Los Angeles. Winston walked into the living room to meet his girlfriend.

“Hey, you.”, Winston said as he stepped over two boxes to pepper her lips with two kisses.

“Hey,Mr. Hollywood! I didn’t even know your place was this big. You look like you’re ready to go today.”, she laughed as she returned his kisses, “You got that final draft for me?”.

“Of course.” He ran back to his room and returned with a thick stack of papers.

She rested her elbows on the kitchen counter carefully read every page of the contract,occasionally shaking her head or making comments to herself.

“Perfect. Gone ahead and sign. I also came to turn my key in. I’ll be in court when you leave so I came to say that I’ll miss our New York/D.C. weekend excursions and complaining to you about these cold ass days.”, she noted as she looked down and toyed with her keys.

“Well, funny you say that. I was trying to figure out how to ask…”

She sat up from the kitchen counter. “Ask what, Chris?” She helped herself to the second to last Naked Green Machine juice in the bare fridge.

“Ask if you could move in with me?” Silence.

She choked on the juice. Her eyebrows furrowed and a corner of her lip drew into her mouth as though she was processing what Winston just asked her.

“Move to where?”, she responded.

His face turned. “Khalida, be serious. For once.”

“For once?! Fuck you mean for once? You the one asking stupid ass questions and you’re telling me to ‘be serious for once’? On muvas, you trippin.”

“Excuse me? I’m the one asking stupid questions?”

“Hopefully, you’re the only person I’m talking to right now. I can’t move, Winston. We’ve gone over this, yet you don’t wanna listen. What happened to us maintaining the long-distance relationship?”

Winston pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. “Because…”, he began, “I feel like this’ll be easier for us to stay together and bond.”

She stared at him with a confused look on her face. “So what the hell have we been doing for the past seven months then? Hmm?”

“I just feel like we can take our relationship to the next lev—“

“—We just started dating. You’re talking about the next level and we’re barely in through the first level. It’s not gonna happen,Chris.”, she shrugged. He walked across the room closer to Khalida.

“Why not,Yaa?”, he exhaled sharply.

“I can’t leave D.C. right now, Chris: I just started my career! Hell, the ink on the lease hasn’t even dried completely, Kimya and I finally are gaining some clientele, and even if I weren’t just starting a few months ago, California’s the last state I’ll ever move to. At least in my right mind.”

“What are you saying?”, Winston scoffed.

“Honey, lemme break it down for you: I’m a lawyer. In order to legally practice law, I have to be barred in insert state or commonwealth here. While there are a handful of states that have a Universal Bar Exam, Cali ain’t one of them. The California State Bar is the hardest bar exam in the country and I’m simply not taking that shit. You’ve decided as an actor that the best move for you and your future is to be closer to the action in Los Angeles. My work is in DC; moving would defeat the purpose. I can’t just stop what I’m still figuring out for someone else.”

He shook his head, “So this has to be easiest decision you’ve ever made, I see. Choosing your career over us? Is this what you’re doing?” He paced the floor.

Khalida pushed off the kitchen counter and walked closer to Winston, “First off, don’t ever do that. You have a career to nurture and grow and so do I. I’m not your possession. Pussy don’t pay the bills,Wins.”,she hissed.

“You still didn’t answer my question, Khalida. Are you choosing your career over us?”

“Why can’t I? Apparently, you’ve done the same and it’s no issue for you. I can’t just drop my career and my purpose for no reason at all. You know what? I gotta catch my train in an hour. Traffic’s a whore, y’know?”

Khalida walked towards the front door, stepping over the moving boxes in her path. Sensing her sincerity, he began running behind her.

“Khalida, if you walk out of that door, consider us done.”, his shaky voice commanded.

Her head whipped around. “Come again?!”

“I said...if you walk out of that door, Khalida, consider us finished.”

Khalida’s bottom lip quivered and tears began falling down her face as she slowly closed the door. Still facing the door, she inhaled deeply. She slowly turned around walked towards Winston, who was now standing in the former dining area. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. Afterwards, she held his hands in hers, placing her key in his palm.

“What’s wrong, baby? Wh-What are you doing? Don’t do this to me, Khalida, please. I love you so much.”, Winston pleaded. His words choked him and he sensed an unsettling feeling come over him. The conclusion.

“I’m so sorry. We need to take some time to ourselves and build our careers and ourselves up. We've gone too fast in such a small window of time. I think for the preservation of us that we should take a break.”, she cupped his face into her hands.

Tears began to well up in Winston’s eyes, “A break? I thought you said you’d be here for me every step of the way.”

“Here isn’t exclusive to the physical, Wins. No matter what happens, I’ll always be here and here.” She pointed at his forehead and heart. “Moreover, you need to be there for yourself. This is what you were made to do. I’m still gonna cheer you on. Plus, I’d rather the plane malfunction on the ground than 10,000 feet in the air.”

The latter part of Khalida’s words hit Winston like a ton of bricks. She said the exact same thing back in New Orleans after Carrie disclosed their inevitable separation. Carrie and Khalida’s words replayed in his subconscious all the time. He never wanted to think about separating from the love of his life. Moreover, he didn’t want to think about how easy it was for Khalida to let go so easily (or so he thought).

Before she walked out of the door, she turned around one last time. “Is this truly what you want,Winston?”, she asked softly.

Winston pondered on her question. He didn’t want to let go. He couldn’t let go. But if it meant saving their special bond, then by all means. He nodded with hesitation. She reluctantly accepted his non-verbal response.

“Okay.”, her voice broke barely above a whisper. She turned around one final time and walked out of the door. “We’ll be back together, I promise.”

When she closed the door, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Seven months worth of memories quickly replayed in her mind. The intimate moments stuck out more. The realization of their end hit her like a truck. “Oh, God.”, she said to herself as her hands rested on her knees to keep her from falling over. Her grief overwhelmed her; the tears released and so too her anger. She was angry with herself for allowing a stupid prophecy for separating them. Before she could allow her spirit of lamentation to further consume her, she ran down the hallway to the elevator.

He was incensed. He was mad at everything and everyone. Mad at Yaa for letting a suggestion tear them apart. Mad as hell with Carrie for even fixing her wicked mouth to even suggest a separation in the first fucking place. Mostly, he was pissed with God for allowing any and all of this to happen. Tears quickly fell from his face as he too lamented over his sudden loss. There was now a void in his heart. He held on to what was left of Yaa: her key. Suddenly, he shot up from his seated position on the floor and chucked the key at the wall. All of the anger,hurt, and confusion went into that one throw. He fell to the ground as his pain grew stronger.

Carrie was right: it was doomed to happen, but only time would tell if absence would make their hearts grow fonder.

Taglist:

@muse-of-mbaku @kumkaniudaku @eriknutinthispoosy @whoramilaje @mbakusthrone @mbakuwife @turn-thy-paige @inlovewithmakeupcomicsanimelove @starryeyedsav @jackburtonsays @randomwordprompts @stark-red19 @bartierbakarimobisson @wakandan-flowerz @blackpantherreblogs @babygirlofwakanda @eerythingisshaka @washyourlinens @wakandas-vibranium @dramaqueenamby @destinio1 @sonofnjobu @teheeboo @sarahboseman @iamrheaspeaks @doublesidedscoobysnacks @chaneajoyyy @lovelynervouschaos @cay-cah @coonflix @katasstrophey @mareethequeen @jozigrrl @great-neckpectations @jellybean531 @yofavcocoa @storibambino @maya-leche @blackgirloneshots @royallyprincesslilly @texasbama

#thefonderseries #winston duke x oc #dukeandthedoctor #winston duke imagine #winston x yaa

109 notes · View notes

stoopsbookstore · 6 years

Text

Drive (Part 6)

It had been 2 days since Y/N went missing and S.Coups was freaking out. He had spent every day and night trying to figure out the perfect plan to get Y/N out safely and get G7 out of their lives permanently. Officer Heechul has been attempting to help, but with no avail, even with the help of Y/N's parents. Nayoung was like a zombie walking around, Seungkwan working on getting her out of her slump. It was like the whole town just stopped. S.Coups was shaken out of his trance by Woozi, a Greaser, calling his name, pointing to the TV.

"Day 2 of the disappearance of a local girl, Y/N L/N. She was last seen with Mark Tuan and Jackson Wang at the popular local hangout, Paige's Diner. When we got an interview with Mark, here's what he had to say."

"Y/N is a sweet girl, I just can't believe anyone who do th- actually there's two, Choi Seungcheol, he's obsessed with her and his creepy friend, Lee Seokmin, always tried to grope and touch her," he said, boldly shouting their names as if to taunt them, accusing them of harming Y/N, "I wouldn't be surprised if they were helping Officer Heechul as to not put suspicions on them."

"The case is still wide ope-" S.Coups had thrown the remote at the TV, shattering the small 20-inch screen. DK looked at Wonwoo, widened eyes behind round-rimmed glasses, who had been standing behind S.Coups as he took out his phone.

DK had gotten up from the couch, running out as everyone shouted for him. He was seeing red at this point. He ended up walking into a sports bar, all of the drunk men were too busy fucking around to even notice a tall Korean boy going up to someone's baseball bag and pulling out the heaviest steel bat he could find. His only goal was to get Y/N back at any cost needed.

Back at the house, everyone was scrambling, trying to contact DK as Mingyu, Hoshi and Vernon ran out after him. The house was in chaos, members of the same group were screaming at each other while the leaders tried to calm them down. It wasn't until Nayoung appeared and shouted that everyone stopped.

"You fucking assholes really can't stop fighting long enough to save someone. You reall-"

Seungkwan had cut her off, "Nayoung, you were the bitch that turned your ba-"

"She was fucking with Seungcheol's hea-"

"Both of you, shut the fuck up," a low growl emitted from S.Coups as the room looked at the distraught male, "I texted JB. I only need Jun and Wonwoo. Everyone else, including you Nayoung, stay here. Those 4 fuckasses come back, tell them to stay put."

S.Coups grabbed his jacket and signaled the other 2 leaders to follow him.

"Where are we going?," the youngest male of the trio asked.

"Football field. We're making a trade," S.Coups had his head hung low as if he was trying not to cry, a sign of weakness in his eyes. It wasn't until Jun patted his back that the tears started to flow. S.Coups was about to punch the closest brick wall, remembering the events that happened last time he did that exact same thing.

"She deserves DK, she deserves someone who is good to her and doesn't treat her like shit. Which is why I'm trading myself for her. G7 has said they'll leave the town, forgive everyone else, leave you guys alone and give Y/N back if I surrender."

"Coups," Jun started at the oldest of the trio as it looked like every ounce of energy has been drained from him, “you can’t do that. They won’t keep that promise.”

“JB said they’ll start to harass Y/N for ransom, keep her away from us no matter what. He said they would even go to a different town. Make sure none of us ever see her again.”

“Coups, I’ve never seen you get like this over a girl. Not even Dahyun and you were each other’s first love,” Wonwoo removed his glasses, hiding them in his jacket pocket.

“We’ll get her back, bro,” Jun patted the oldest boy’s back again, “We’re not going to lose each other this time.”

The trio arrived at the field, seeing Jackson and Yugyeom. S.Coups's phone buzzed as he was about to speak.

"You fucking promised!," S.Coups lunged at Jackson, throwing his phone that had shown a picture of Y/N cuddling with Youngjae. Jun had picked it up as Wonwoo attempted to hold S.Coups back.

"That's not Y/N, you bastard," S.Coups barked in Jackson's face. Jackson decked him right in the face, tackling him to the ground as they fought. Jun and Yugyeom tried to pull the two away from each other. Police sirens rang through the field as the two G7 members bolted.

"Hey dicks! JB doesn't owe you shit!" Yugyeom yelled at the trio. The trio ran and hid under the bleachers as they saw DK's dad come out of the cop car, calling out for them.

"Seungcheol, Wonwoo, Jun, I know you're out here, Minghao texted me," Officer Lee shined his flashlight on them as they peeked out from under their hiding spot, “It’s ok, you’re not in trouble, we can help. It’s DK’s dad, just come out and we can solve this together and get everyone back safely.”

The trio surrenders themself as the lone officer lowered the flashlight, only being illuminated by the worn light coming from the concession stand.

"What's happening?" The policeman asked.

"G7 is back. They have Y/N and DK went to find her and we have no idea where he we-"

"Alright. Calm down, Seungcheol. DK called me a few minutes ago, he's fine, he said he's with some guys named Hoshi, Mingyu and Vernon. He didn't say much other than that. Officer Heechul is working hard to find Y/N. Now, let's get you three home before you get anymore hurt."

The trio walked to the car, S.Coups in shotgun, Jun and Wonwoo in the back. The silence was deafening and awkward as the drive felt like it was hours. Arriving at S.Coups's house, all three got out.

"Are you two sure you're gonna stay here?" The cop asked.

Jun and Wonwoo nodded, getting out of the vehicle, helping S.Coups, who was still in a state of stunned silence. As the officer wished them a good night and left. They walked in the house to see the ones who stayed asleep all around the house. Nayoung was curled up on the couch with Woozi as Seungkwan had his head in her lap, Minghao was asleep at the bar, Vernon, who had came back from trying to find DK as his foot was in pain, was sleeping at the table. The others guys were on the floor, piled together like a group of puppies.

Wonwoo checked his phone as S.Coups retired to his bed and Jun decided to plop on the floor in between Dino and Jeonghan.

As he read the texts, a familiar name popped up in the notifications. He hurriedly to open the texts as he hoped for something good. A look of his confusion on his face appears as he read the first text.

Wonwoo walked over to Jeonghan, kicking his leg as he threw a pillow at Woozi, accidentally waking up Nayoung, who had been cuddling with the short male, in the process.

"Dumbass needs to get picked up, he has Y/N, she's not talking to anyone. Please go get them, here's their location," Wonwoo sent Jeonghan a screenshot and they immediately left.

S.Coups fell right asleep as soon as he hit the bed. It only felt like he was asleep for a few minutes until he felt a weight on the bed, curling up into his side.

"Thank you," a voice he's been wanting to hear for the past 48 hours rang through his ears. He immediately turned around in his bed, seeing Y/N's face.

"Hi," Y/N said with a smile. S.Coups pulled her closer to him as he let out all of the exhausting emotions from the chaos.

"Please, don't let me go. Ever," S.Coups mumbled into her shoulder.

"I won't ever let you go, Youngjae."

S.Coups shot straight up as soon as he heard Y/N say Youngjae. He looked around his room, no Y/N in sight, no warmth next to him in his bed, just a Wonwoo at the door, looking concerned.

"Are you okay, dude?" S.Coups just shook his head, Wonwoo jumped into acting, remembering from their childhood what happens when S.Coups has a panic attack. Wonwoo practically jumped towards the bed, hugging the distressed boy as he tries to calm him down.

"They found her. Woozi and Jeonghan went to go get them. Just get some rest," Wonwoo continued to hold S.Coups as his sobs filled the room. He was relieved they found Y/N, but he’s scared as to what will happen next.

"According to Hoshi, shes's not really talking to anyone. He said that when DK found her, she immediately ran up to him and wouldn't let him go. They'll be back tomorrow."

"She's back, that's good," the older male said with a pained smile, "she has DK, Hoshi, Mingyu and Vernon with her, they won’t let anything happen to her. We need to focus on getting rid of G7."

Wonwoo got up as he walked to the closet, pulling out an old faded orange sleeping bag. S.Coups chuckled as he shook his head.

"Still remember where everything is?"

"Yes, sir I do. Can't believe you still have this. Now get the hell to bed, so we can work on fucking shit up tomorrow."

22 notes · View notes

otteron-the-sun · 7 years

Text

[1] Two side of a coin

State : In progress Characters : Moobin x Rocky x OC (Mee Joo) Genre : fluff / a bit of angst / maybe future smut? Featured : Poly!Rockbin and College!AU Summary : Being a college student seems to be easier for your love life, little did I know that a bet between two guys won’t make everything goes so smoothly after all. Side note : So, I finally made it, first chapter of my Rockbin fic *wipe away a tear*, and some mistakes are probably there, sorry about that- But thanks to @wolfheart-46 to read this before (yeaaah, I already spoiled you some surprise by tagging you here) and @awkwarderror , there you go for some Rockbin feels ~

Receiving a message on my phone wasn't something really extraordinary, even for me. It could be one of my friends from college, or one of my coworkers from the coffee shop where I work at part time. But I didn't expected it to be my childhood best friend. Seeing the little "Evil SanHa" on the top of my screen was something quite surprising. We didn't talked as much as we used to do before we went to different high school. And now that we were on the same campus, our studies didn't help much on the rare time we had together. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss him. And an understatement saying I was excited. I was ecstatic. So I jumped on my phone to read his words.

[15:23] Evil SanHa : Hey Mee, we have a free week with the hyungs, would you like to come eat with us tonight? You could meet them ;)

Obviously, I laughed. Their fraternity is well-known on the campus for being the fluffiest, cutest and squishiest of all. And the icing of this cake was how handsome and kind they are. Cherry on top? My best friend is, surprisingly, one of them. Minus being kind, he filled the others features pretty well. As always, every time we find some minutes to text each other, it feels like yesterday since the last time we talked. But no, it must have been a few weeks before this one. So I typed right away.

[15:26] You : Sure, plus it's been a while ! Where and when?

I only waited a few minutes before SanHa responded with the address of a nice restaurant and an hour. If it wasn't him, it'll probably feel like a date. I put down my phone before going back to my essay that was due for next week, work always was my main priority after all.

A few hours later, and an essay well advanced by now, I set my work aside so I could start to prepare myself. Just a cute top with a high-waisted short and a jacket. Something casual, but fancier than just some sweatpants and tank top. A cute ponytail, some makeup and it was over. Something more pretty than what I usually wear with SanHa around. And for once, it didn't took me half an hour to get ready. So it was only bonus. In time, I was in front of the little restaurant. The outside made it almost invisible in the rest of the shop around, between the bricks and the few signs that were on the wall. It looked nice, a bit family-like. Something warm and comfy. Totally like SanHa, now I think a bit about it... Immediately after my right foot landed on the carpet inside the shop, I spotted them. And SanHa saw me too apparently, getting up to come see me, with the speed of a scared mouse, and take me in a big bear hug, almost crushing all my bones. Yup, I think he missed me too.

While I was patting his back, partly to make him loose his grip on my ribcage, he looked at me, all smile "We really need to see each other more often Noona" and I just approve his words, happy that he didn’t broke me in half, going back to his table, letting me introduce myself to the others. So I bow slightly, greeted by six smiles.

"Hi, nice to finally meet you, I'm SanHa's best friend, Mee Joo"

They totally deserve their title of cutest, fluffiest and squishiest boys. I took my seat between SanHa and Rocky, taken in a conversation between the two in less than a second. Between a Rocky totally hyper and smiling and an evil maknae who take so much fun to tease me slightly, trying to get me flustered. Thing I couldn't deny is how attractive Rocky was. Sure, I wasn't some shy highschooler anymore, and I never was, so it was easier for me to talk to him and properly meet him. But I had to admit that he did most of the work in being friendly with me. Sometimes, I almost forgot that my best friend was there, joking too much with Rocky.

I was sipping my drink when EunWoo, out of the blue, decided to ask us a question, since SanHa never shut is mouth about me, to repeat what they said earlier, and about how great I was, and they finally had the chance to meet me so it was time to ask some question about me, but also about the maknae, and his childhood. "Mee Joo-ah, when did you two met actually? He never told us all the story…"

Every conversation died instantly and everyone was looking at me the second after, I let out a chuckle "Since kindergarten, he made me fall because I had the toy he wanted and then he laughed when I cried on the floor, before I kicked him in the knee a bit after. So much love since diaper era. He always was evil actually."

While SanHa seems shocked of the story and by how violent we were, the five others can't stop laughing at this little fact, learning that the maknae always was evil. It was those kind of questions and stories that was nice to learn about he others. It always was this kind of things that make you learn so much about people. That’s the funniest. Then MJ asked me another cute question "How do you think you're different or alike from him?"

And after another sip to let me think about it, I opened my mouth again. "He's my evil twin... Wait no, we are two side of a coin, he's the evil side while I'm the kind and angelic side."

They were a few questions like that, searching to know how we were younger, mostly how SanHa was. But Moonbin, who didn't ask much from the beginning, now that I think about it, finally asked me something with his big smile. How many have fallen for this smile? "I'm curious, what are you studying in college?"

Seriously, how many have fallen? Between this smile, his voice, and just how cute he was?! I just smiled for a bit, trying to find some honor to respond to him, at thz same time Rocky seemed way more interested than before. It took me some long seconds to understand what he said and to find the right words to respond. "Literature and particularly English literature. So yeah, I'm better in English than him-"

_Another round of laughs from the boys, that seemed to like my humor and how much I teased my best friend on a daily basis. Daily basis if we saw each other daily actually, but whatever. SanHa took the opportunity to pinch my forearm while, in the corner of my eye, I noticed Rocky leaning to whisper with Moonbin. Normally, I wouldn’t mind it, but I just couldn’t resist and asked myself about what they were talking about. Was it me? The question about Moonbin subsided in my mind for a while after. He has this smile that I could melt for. And I guessed I wasn't alone thinking that. I mean, how many girls did actually fall for him. Now that I think about it, a lot. A lot of girls on the campus know them, and I always can learn their feelings about the boys. Those about SanHa always tend to make me laugh. But I heard a lot about how few of them fell hard for Moonbin. Maybe I should be careful.

I was playing with my napkin on my laps, waiting for the dessert. But seeing Rocky leaned to whisper another thing to Moonbin, seeing how smiley he was when he talked to him, words escaped my lips without my consent, leaning near Rocky to whisper them "Are you really this close to Moonbin?"

He scoffs, choking on his drink. After all, it could only be a façade in front of people, so I prefer to ask. And he couldn't help but blush a little, leaning back to me "We know each other for seven years but... Yeah... Just friends..."

I lifted an eyebrow, questioning, but he didn't add much. And I didn't know why he acted like that. It was maybe a bad subject. Maybe they just acted to be this close but they weren’t. Maybe they just tolerate each other for the sake of their fraternity. Or maybe it was a one-sided love? Wait slow down there, that was near impossible.

Once again, Monbin was there to save me from further embarrassment with any of the other boys. If only he knew how he saved my life at this exact moment. "Wait... Mee, where is your apartment exactly, are you so far from our dorm?"

"Actually, I'm not, I'm really close. I live in the building C, third floor, you could all come sometimes!»

"Noona ! Why did you never tell me ! I could've come see you sooner !"

Another chuckle escaped me while I flashed a smile at my best friend "You never asked me."

It was true, if only he asked me before, he could’ve come anytime, hanging out together like the good old days, despite the amount of work we have from school. Some of the boys laughed, but Rocky looked at me a bit longer, not even smiling anymore. Was he mad about before? "Why did you never came then?" Oh.

Face flushing red, I slightly bit my bottom lip, looking back at him, suddenly feeling shy. "I didn't want to bother actually..."

My reply awoken some chitter chatter from the boys, telling me to never hesitate to come at their dorm, even sleep there sometimes if I ever want to, having movie nights together, just to learn about each other more. And that I should come at the next party they’ll throw the next Saturday, since they didn’t have classes for a week. Lucky one. It only last around ten minutes before moving on another subject. Moonbin took this opportunity to lean behind Rocky to talk to me directly, without everyone listening about it, about some random things about the boys, things they did or said in the past, and the fact that I should follow their fraternity snapchat account for other fun facts. Before finishing it by telling me that he thought I could like it.

The rest of the evening went on smoothly, and before I could leave to the way of my building, six other boys were around, chatting. I almost forgot that we were heading the same way actually. They almost escorted me home before finally leaving to the way of their dorm. It was a nice diner after all, meeting them and seeing my best friend. Immediately after walked into my apartment, my journey went on the shower, slipping under the hot, water I showered fast enough to not fell asleep under it, before slide in some comfy pajamas, heading to bed with a last glance at my phone.

[00:12] Unknown : I wish you're safely home, it was nice meeting you :) [00:13] Unknown : Would you like to grab some coffee after one of your classes this week? [00:15] Unknown : Oh, it's Rocky btw, hope you don't mind me having your number?

But I fell asleep before I could reply to any of these texts, promising myself that I would reply the next morning before class. But I forgot the day after. And also the one after. Until the third day of me forgetting, where he sent another text, making me feel like the worst person on earth.

[10:28] Unknown : I'm sorry for bothering you then [10:28] You : OH NO ! Rocky, I totally forgot, is tomorrow 3pm ok? [10:29] Rocky : Thank god, I was afraid you didn't like me [10:29] Rocky : But yeah, totally, I'll be waiting for you, at 3 sharp :)

Next part ->

#astro #fluff #rockbin #moonbin #poly!rockbin #poly!moonrock #moonrock #rocky #astro fanfic #astro college

15 notes · View notes

chaletnz · 7 years

Text

Alternative Berlin

This morning didn't go exactly to plan... I had set my alarm for 8am so I could get up early and go out to the Charlottenburg Palace, then come back and enjoy my fancy breakfast. But instead I turned off my alarm when it went off and slept in until 10. The castle could wait! I eventually dragged myself out of bed and down to the breakfast restaurant where I was seated and started off with a cappuccino. My first course was some hashbrowns, bacon and a muffin. I washed it down with a tall glass of pineapple juice and then ordered my next dish from the kitchen which was French toast with maple syrup and jam. It turned out to be very small so I still had room for some traditional German dessert - apple strudel, some pineapple and mango slices and a yoghurt. I waddled back up to my room to shower and say goodbye to the comfort. After checking out I rushed myself to the East Side Gallery to join an alternative walking tour which I just managed to arrive in time for. The guide was a lovely girl called Daphna from Herzliya in Israel, she broke the ice by doing a round of introductions and then we crossed the Oberbaunbrücke bridge from East to West Berlin to begin our tour. Halfway across the bridge we paused at one of the many balconies on the bridge (this one flooded with water and/or pee and littered with cigarette butts) where we could see our first street art piece. A small portrait of a man and a woman on the wall of the bridge painted by Alice Pasquini from Rome that had been scribbled over on the edges. Daphna also pointed out a statue in the distance of what appeared to be two robots fighting but was in fact two people hugging. On the other side of the bridge we saw a large portrait by an Italian street artist known as BLU, the wall was a commissioned piece and he spent some time in the area to get a vibe for what to paint and he noticed how public land was being privatized by corporations so he painted his mural as all these workers being identical brainwashed cogs in a machine. It is a well regarded piece as he painted it in its entirety in less than a week. We saw a street pole with 9 months worth of posters wrapped around its base and Daphna explained that it's because the city has no money to clean it up and the responsibilities lie with building owners - which is why graffiti is rampant in Berlin. Just down the road from here is where a large squat used to be, a commune of people who were homeless or between homes. There used to be two more large art pieces by BLU on the brick wall behind it but unfortunately the squat was burned down, evacuated, red taped and never investigated or reopened. In its place apartments are due to be built and have been sold with the promise of famous street art in view. But BLU asked his friends to paint over the works to ensure they cannot profit from them after forcing people from their squat. Their revenge was painting a giant middle finger and profanities instead. Down a quieter residential street Daphna pointed out some potato characters that are everywhere throughout Berlin and mushrooms which are rumored to be drawn on special paper so that if you lick them you get high. We walked into a small park/playground with a large deep puddle that looked like one of those sinkhole puddles and here we saw quite a special work. It was painted high up in what appeared to be a rough paint job (it had been done with a roller on a stick from the ground apparently!) but once we all squinted our eyes we saw the immense detail come alive! The shading on the faces and clothing of the three boys in the painting was really something quite amazing to see on a ragged wall above a dirty park bench laden with a trio of homeless men and their trolleys. This artwork was all about reclaiming their city and occupying public land, however if caught graffitiing the artists face fines of a minimum of €500 as it is a vandalism charge to start and repeat offenders can face jail time. Daphna's neighbour went to prison for graffiti and said to her one day; "hey I'm renting my room on Air BnB while I'm in prison, can you take care of it and we can split profits?" Around the corner at a convenience store we bought some beers and Fritz colas and sat outside for a little break to discuss Israeli politics and life in Berlin. Back out on the street and we were shown some zebra illustrations drawn on paper and then glued to walls, the reason for this style is that if you're caught gluing paper up it is only prosecuted with a charge of unlawful advertising with a fine of €15 so many artists prefer to take the small risk and with the other benefit being they can create their pieces in the comfort of a studio somewhere. On a busy intersection with streets below and the U Bahn tracks above we were shown where a favourite German burger restaurant was- a place called Burgermeister located in a refurbished public toilet. On one of the side streets opposite we took a moment to check out a large wall piece painted by a pair of Brazilian twin brothers. As the story goes they were commissioned to paint the wall so both went to feel the energy of the wall, fell asleep, and woke up to sketch the exact same man who would become the subject of the work. They also painted an airplane for a Brazilian football team that was so popular it is now a regular carrier. As we were standing looking at the U Bahn anyway, Daphna decided to point out how the trains are always so clean despite Berlin being a bit dirty overall. The trains were seen as difficult to graffiti without being caught - until the group 1-Up decided to target the trains and trams to leave their name on. They strike together pulling the emergency stop, knowing they have three minutes until police arrive they then spend two minutes spraying their work before running off down the tracks. One of our last stops was the Lux Club which originally had a huge mural with the general theme of love by an artist called Oliver. In the dead of night someone had painted over it with the words "Go Die". Friends, artists and members of the public banded together for Oliver throwing a party with blaring music and a confetti cannon to make a new masterpiece in its place. We parted ways with Daphna's final tale about a poster in a cafe that said "Linda I love you, I'm sorry. Please take me back, I'll be here next Saturday waiting for you." Then a week later was replaced with "Linda I love you, if you can forgive me I'll be here next Saturday and Sunday waiting for you." The messages to Linda gradually got more and more desperate and pleading, and people started to write notes on napkins and stick them on the posters telling Linda that he was crazy and that she was right to leave him. Other men said, "Linda you must be great here's my number." Eventually they all stopped and disappeared but the public wondered what had become of Linda and her ex boyfriend until one day on local radio a man went on air and said "hi I'm Linda's ex, I was writing my thesis on how the people of Berlin would interact personally with street art and I passed so thank you all!" After the tour I went for a quick coffee at a specialty shop called 19 grams then I walked down the street only to randomly discover the Urban Spree art gallery and flea market. Plus tons of graffiti and street art, quirky shops and stalls and even the Berlin Skateboarding Open being held in the skatehaus. I browsed for an hour or so then began walking back to the hotel via the East Side Gallery until it started to rain quite heavily so I caught a bus the rest of the way back. I checked in and chilled waiting for the rain to stop then headed back out to Curry 36 for the typical Berlin currywurst sausage and chips. I browsed a few souvenir shops to get my usual collectible fridge magnet and also found the Ampelmann store - the Germans are so weird they are obsessed with the little red and green men that tell you when to cross the street so they dedicated a whole store to selling merchandise of him. You can even buy your own traffic light for at home! The sun was still out so I took the train to the Berliner Dom to see it in the evening light, then visited Mio for a little tub of ice cream for dessert before darkness set in.

#Germany #Berlin

2 notes · View notes

unholyhelbiglinked · 7 years

Text

Paging Dr.Hart | Twenty One

The room was almost unbearable, with its four close walls. It's fan oscillating in the corner. It did nothing but move hot air around the office, making me irritable as I pulled the collar of my black shirt from my neck.

I could feel the sweat stick the bottom of my shirt to my back, making me even more uncomfortable as I shifted in the seat. I didn't want to be here. Everything was the same. From the pictures on the walls to the trophies collecting dust in the far corner.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," The woman's voice stirred me as I began to turn around, but she was already in front of me before I had the chance to address her in the first place. I stood quickly, placing my hand in hers as she gripped it carefully. "I'm Mrs. Hughes."

"Grace Helbig," I glanced up, catching her gaze for the first time. Her eyes were a pale grey, brown side bangs falling over her forehead. She was young, my age. A black pants suit hugged her much defined figure.

"Joselyn," I cocked my head to the side in question, hoping I wasn't too far off in my assumptions. As a small smile covered her lips, I had my suspicions concerned. I knew the name Hughes had rung a bell. "What happened to getting out of this place?" I knit my eyebrows together.

"Well," She shrugged, plopping down in the seat across from me as I lowered back into the hot leather chair, "I guess all those detentions made me like the place a little."

I nodded with a smile. Joselyn was the certified bad ass of high school. She smoked in the bathroom stalls, wrote on the lockers, and even had been caught doing some unmentionable things in the stairwells with student teachers. The only reason she was kept around was because of her impermeable track record. She could run like I had never seen before, that's maybe why she ran right out of high school, crumpling up her diploma on the way out the door.

"Sorry for calling you on such short notice," She explained, leaning back in her chair "I just didn't know who else to contact. Once I heard from Charlie that he ran into you, I thought maybe I'd see if you were interested in a part time position here."

I knit my eyebrows together, leaning heavily to one side as my chin rested on my hand. A position at the high school? I could never give up medical practice, that was a fact. I loved it, despite some of the lows that came along with the job. For high school nonetheless.

"It would fit to your hours as a paramedic of course," She said, obviously taking the notice of the doubt on my face. "You're free from three to five every day if I'm correct?"

I nodded. There was always that two hour block where I could begin my shift at five and work through the night, or begin it at four in the morning, ending at three in the afternoon.

"Well, our track coach just quit, and... considering half of these trophies have your name on it." She glanced at the large case behind her that was lit. The golden statues were still in pristine condition, which was a wonder to me. "It's just until the end of the season. There are only five games left."

I bit my lip roughly, feeling a slight sting where the cold had gotten to it. I still wasn't sure, I hated this school, but I did love track.

"Half of those trophies were yours too," I told her, knitting my eyebrows together as I saw the desperate look in her eyes. "I'll think about it... okay?"

This sent a smile upon her lips that deepened my guilt for even considering turning down the offer. Maybe going back to high school for the afternoons wouldn't be the worst.

Mamrie leaned into me heavily as her eyes began to droop shut, drool started to drip from her lips as she grumbled, falling into an uneasy sleep on my shoulder.

I smiled; she needed to sleep, despite her protests of wanting to go out for a night on the town. She had just done a 16 hour surgery and needed her rest, even if her snoring did interrupt dance moms.

I leaned my head against the back of the couch myself, not really paying attention to the television anymore as I focused on the fan moving above me. Mamrie's breathing synched with mine, creating a small rhythm between the two of us.

My phone buzzed next to me, catching my interest as I picked it up, reading the message.

H: Hey, I know it's late. Are you free to meet at the spot?

G: The spot? We have a spot now?

H: Hush... just meet me on the roof in twenty. It's important Helbig, so don't be late.

I pressed my hand to my temple as I let out a sigh, not bothering to respond as I peeled myself away from Mamrie. She was a heavy sleeper and just plopped face down into the couch, still snoring like a log cutter as I dragged the throw blanket form the back of the couch over her shoulders.

I slid my jacket over my t-shirt before I grasped my keys and headed to the car. It was about a ten minute drive into town on a good day, but it wasn't day, it was night. So that meant I would either be right on time, or late. The drive was spent in silence.

The night was cold, colder than I thought a rooftop meeting would supply. From the way I remember it, Hannah was the one wary of trespassing, but I guess that rule didn't apply tonight.

My foot hit the first iron rung before I got a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had no idea why she would text me out of nowhere to get me to climb onto a roof. The view wasn't that good.

I popped my head up over the side of the roof, not seeing anything yet due to the large laid brick chimney, but as I placed both feet on the gravel rooftop, I saw a bit of a yellow glow that wasn't from the lights of the city.

A table was set up in the middle of the area, a red checkered cloth coated it, wine and a beautifully prepared dinner sat in the middle of it. White lights strung above it in straight lines as soft instrumental music began to play.

This scene was an exact recreation of the bistro we had our first date on, only this time, it carried a better view than a street sidewalk.

That was almost a year ago. All of this started almost a year ago.

I move my palm up to my mouth as I clenched my jaw, holding back a thick sob as my eyes moved to Hannah, kneeling in front of me with a single red rose, and a black velvet box.

#Gracehelbig #Hannahhart #mamriehart #hartbig #fanfiction

3 notes · View notes

topicprinter · 5 years

Link

I was encouraged to post this after joking about it in the Amazon FBA $8k loss post. My story takes place back in 2005-2006 but I would imagine everything in it is still pretty relevant today.It was my first year out of college, I was living at home in Long Island while a friend and I were trying to come up with a business idea to avoid living the meme that is Office Space for the rest of our lives (we were both cubicle-based design engineers). I had a decent $60k + OT salary and my partner was finishing up his last year of college but he had a decent amount of savings from a small inheritance to contribute with. We had no debt or major expenses. We considered a lawn care business, pool cleaning, and eventually settled on the most expensive thing we could possibly pick - house flipping in LI, at the peak of the housing bubble.We started by looking at a lot of houses and after looking for an eternity of maybe 2 months, we settled on a house that we thought we could make bank on. It was a probate and we bid up against multiple bidders, settling at $385k on a 2Bd/2Ba where comps were going for $480-$500k with $13k in taxes/yr. We estimated it probably needed $30-40k worth of work and were planning on putting in sweat equity rather than paying out expensive contractors. We had our inspection done, got approved for way more than we should have ($400k @ 23 yrs old?!) and got to work.The house needed to be gutted. And I mean GUTTED with some uppercase letters. The yard was over grown, the patio was falling apart, the aluminum awning needed torn out (we actually sold this for scrap), the roof had to be replaced, the interior smelled of smoke which permeated the 3 layers of wall paper that we found in every room UNDER the wood paneling that covered it, the kitchen was straight from 1950, the breakers were those old circle types, the bathrooms were blue and pink, and the windows were aluminum framed garbage.We worked daily with 2 day laborers that my partner had worked with in the past. They were paid $100/day each and were worth every penny. They chose to work 10-12 hours a day, we never asked for more than 8 and often I was asking if they were ready to leave... My friend and I jumped in and helped wherever we could - though we were more effective in the demolition side of things. We had some fun, throwing old toilets off the roof into the dumpster and punching through drywall between studs before we ever knew the situation had a chance to not turn out well.The beginning was exciting and we were quite creative. I managed to replace all of our 16 windows for like $3500 by contacting a local manufacturer directly and representing myself as a reseller. My partner convinced his friends to help paint the house by hosting a keg party. I designed the kitchen in Ikea and learned to tile. We leveraged any connection we had to save money with every aspect of the flip, friends who were electricians upgraded the electrical panel to modern day 200amp service, and my landscaper buddy helped us clear out the yard. We used the HD credit card and got discounts on almost everything we purchased, and often purchased from the clearance section when possible. Craigslist was a great place to find used appliances in decent shape.Our laborers accomplished a ton, they tore down the aluminum siding and put up vinyl. They brought in a couple more guys to do the roof & also replaced 25 rotted 4'x8' pieces of plywood under the roof & fixed some trusses. They installed all of the windows I purchased, including 2 large bay windows. They sanded and poly'd the original wood floors. They laid a new patio in the back and a small brick porch in the front. Those guys were master carpenters and whenever I had an opportunity, I tried to learn what I could from them as they did different projects.And then the house was done. It took about 2-3 months over the summer to finish everything but we didn't just polish this turd, it actually looked pretty good! At this point, we probably had $40k invested and we knew we had to start working on getting it listed to unload it before we made too many more mortgage payments. So we put it on the market FSBO and I actually had a guy stop by that first week it was for sale who offered me $440k. I had recently read a book about negotiating and it said when someone makes an offer, don't respond, let them sweat while you think about it. I wish I never read that advice because I was dying to say "450 and its a deal" but I went against my gut and told him I'd get back to him after I spoke with my partner. I did speak with my partner and he said we should probably just take it and move on. We were hoping for $450k+ but $440k is close enough when you consider we wouldn't have to make more than another 1 or 2 mortgage payments. We probably would have come out very close to break even, maybe even have made a small profit, but he never returned my calls. And I called, a lot.We didn't get any other bites and we didn't know enough about advertising FSBO to really make it work. We also didn't have the same supporting websites that exist today outside of craigslist and the very beginnings of the biggerpockets forum. We couldn't just throw it on Zillow & Redfin, etc., we relied on signage and newspaper ads. Time wore on and then the school season started, and the housing bubble had just begun to burst. My partner managed to find someone to rent the home to for $500 or so a month less than what we were paying on the mortgage but if you remember the environment when the bubble did actually burst, it was better than trying to continue to list it. We were in a bad spot and I was working a lot of overtime to keep the mortgage going and the absurd taxes that started to hit us ($6500 semi-annual). I was making as much as I could and got paid straight time for OT which was barely enough to keep me out of bankruptcy. At this point I had a $20k credit card bill hanging over my head, my first and last experience with CC debt.After a year or so, our tenant was ready to move on and she let us show the house with her furniture in it to show it staged. We finally bit the bullet and get a real estate agent who was pretty hard core. This time we vetted the agent and she had a strategy for us to sell the house. We listed at $440k and within a couple of weeks had an offer for $415k. We both knew that there was nothing left to do other than take the loss and finally get out from under it. The buyer's inspection was done and we got some bad news - apparently a neighbor had been "taking care of" a 2 foot by 10 foot portion of our property that was on the other side of a fence for many years. The buyer's inspector noticed this and we found out there are some absurd laws in NY where the neighbor was able to make an ownership claim of that property because they had been taking care of it. If the inspector hadn't seen him mowing this part of the property that day, it would have never been an issue. We had to pay this neighbor $10,000 to get the property back. This was done through a real estate lawyer and exhausted all of our options before this. God damn this house was trying to take my soul.We finally made it to closing and if you thought I already went through the worst of this process, there was apparently one more bonus kick in the balls waiting for me: the guy who bought the house is the guy who offered me $440k a year prior. I shit you not.Lessons learned:We over bid. We wanted the house (or any house?) so badly we over paid to make sure we "won"We over leveraged with a mortgage we should not have been approved for (thanks Countrywide!!)We chose our real estate agent probably more based on her looks than her knowledge. I believe a better agent would have stopped us from choosing a 2 bed 2 bath project for our first flip. A 3 bedroom is way more marketable. Surround yourself with good people.Too big of a project. We should have started with a cosmetic flip, not something needed structural work.You can get mulch for "free" from the town. We only paid $15 to rent a home depot pick up truck.Renting the HD pickup was a life saver... used that 5 or 6 times over the life of the projectRenting tools is not a bad idea to save some cash if you don't think you'll use the same tool more than onceDesigning a kitchen was actually pretty easyGuys who own dumpster companies don't fuck around, if you don't pay on time they will literally dump your garbage out in your driveway... we paid before they did.Follow your gut, not some shitty advice you don't yet know is shitty that you got somewhere on the internet. I can't figure out how to properly phrase this, but at least if you fail when following your gut you have a known piece of yourself that you can work to adjust.CC bills are as most here probably know, the worst debt to have, avoid at all cost!If you get an offer that's pretty close to what you're looking for, take it and run, cash really is king.Due diligence is critical. Do not cheap out on the up front work of digging through potential issues that can cost you $10k in the wash. I probably could not have ever figured this out short of doing a survey and knowing real estate law and this was an expensive lesson.Partnerships are not for everyone. My partner and I were not on speaking terms for a while there for a variety of reasons. Our work ethics were different and some of our goals did not align well. Thankfully we were able to get our shit together and wrap things up before either of us went bankrupt.I don't have an exact figure for what my loss was on that project. It was definitely at least $40k, possibly closer to $50k. I sold my 1992 corvette for $15k to pay off a big chunk of my CC debt and I was not fully recovered for another year or two. Do I have any regrets? Sure, some. But honestly, I'm still glad I did it. I learned a lot, and the painful lessons I learned were burned into my brain where they've been called upon many times since. I haven't flipped a house since and I probably never will with where I am now in having a good career and stable life that really doesn't need that type of chaos again. I'm more likely to buy some houses as rentals and hire a property management company than put the type of hustle in needed to make a flip work and I'd like to continue investing in small businesses like I have been the past few years.One last thing to note: in my experiences, you will learn much, much more from your failures than your success. In that regard, failure is the key to success.TL;DR: Office space is a great movie.

#/r/entrepreneur #reddit

0 notes

itswomanswork · 6 years

Text

If You’re Going Through Hard Times, Watch This!

Hard times are a normal part of life. When you get hit with them, you can either fall down or rise up.

Everyone experiences highs and lows. However, some people cope better than others. In studies of people facing trauma, many describe their experience as a catalyst for profound change and transformation, leading to a phenomenon known as ‘post-traumatic growth.’

The most successful people in this world are those that have known defeat. They have been at rock bottom and have been able to make their way out of the depths of their own despair. These people were not born with this skill. Rather, they developed it over time. In doing so, they developed a greater appreciation for life.

Are you ready to learn how you can boost your resilience during hard times and come back stronger than ever before? As the old Japanese proverb states, “Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”

Watch the video below:

youtube

(Click here to watch on YouTube)

(Podcast Coming Soon)

Are you ready to learn 21-powerful morning rituals that will take your life to the next level? CLICK HERE to receive instant access to my free cheat sheet!

This page contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of them, I will receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). I only ever endorse products that I have personally used and benefitted from personally. Thank you for your support!

Hard times are the key to a happy and healthy life.

This sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Not according to science. Recent research indicates that psychological flexibility is the key to greater happiness and well-being. For example, being open to emotional experiences and the ability to tolerate periods of discomfort can allow us to move towards a richer, more meaningful existence.

Sure, it’s easy to feel like giving up when the world continues to throw you challenges. That being said, it’s up to you how you are going to respond to life’s setbacks. Struggling is a choice.

One of my favorite quotes about strength in hard times is by Joel Osteen, who said – “When you face difficult times, know that challenges aren’t sent to destroy you. They’re sent to increase and challenge you.”

If you are going through a difficult time in your life right now, I want you to know that you aren’t alone. I’ve been there. We all have. I know what it feels like when your entire world turns upside down and you don’t know where to turn.

I won’t begin to claim that I understand your pain, because everyone has a different life story. That being said, I can share with you the knowledge that I have learned from my own experiences. I made it through the hard times in my life and so can you. You are still standing and there is a reason for that. Sometimes we all need a friendly reminder of how strong we really are.

Here are 5 ways that you can thrive through the hard times.

1. Accept That Hard Times Will Happen

Why is it so hard to accept that hard times are a part of life? Well, it’s usually because our ego tells us that everything should be perfect. If life doesn’t go our way, then we assume that there must be something wrong with us.

In her book, Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow, Elizabeth Lesser says that “When we resist change and loss, we bring more pain onto ourselves. We become hardened, angry, resentful.”

Accepting something doesn’t mean that you have to like it. Rather, it simply means that you have made the choice to stop resisting it. Instead of forcing an outcome, you let go of control and embrace what is.

Randy Pausch is a shining example of this idea. Randy was a leading professor at Carnegie Mellon, a husband, and a father of 3. In 2007, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The doctors only gave him a few months to live. Instead of curling in a ball and giving up, he decided to accept his illness and live out his remaining time on earth in a positive and purposeful way.

In the words of Randy himself – “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

If you have yet to watch his Last Lecture, I encourage you to do so.

2. Be Proactive

When hard times hit, it’s the proactive people that are able to get through challenges with grace and ease. They don’t allow struggles to define who they are because they refuse to be defeated. Nobody said that life would be a walk in the park. However, many of us are ill-prepared from an early age to get through hard times.

I know what rock bottom feels like. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was the beginning of me questioning everything that I ever thought was true. I was faced, head on, with the disempowering belief systems that were keeping me locked away from living my life to the fullest.

Sometimes we need to hit our emotional threshold in order to light a fire under our butts and change our lives for the better. Every struggle in my life has shaped me into the person that I am today. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, but you’ve got to find it. Don’t you want to become the CEO of your life?

Nobody is going to fix your problems for you. Rather, you need to take action and create the change that you want to see. You can learn about all the strategies in the world for getting through hard times, but none of them will matter unless you actually apply them in your life.

3. Have Faith

Hard times can challenge our faith if we allow them to. Hard times are, in actuality, hard. That being said, how we choose to approach these moments in our lives ends up determining whether or not we merely survive or thrive through life. Having an unshakeable faith in our strength is the answer, and it starts with gratitude.

Numerous studies have proven that when you adopt an attitude of gratitude, you are a happier person. However, when people are trying to get through the hard times, they usually don’t reflect upon how grateful they are. Why?

Because challenges don’t feel good. I get it. However, if you only rely on your anger and frustration to get you through the bad times, you won’t do yourself any good. This mindset will only get you stuck in a negative spiral that will feel impossible to get out of. When we feel sorry for ourselves, we become a victim of our circumstances. This is no way to live.

Have you ever had an experience in life where something didn’t work out, but as a result, something better came from it? When you believe that everything is a blessing in disguise, that’s exactly what the Universe gives to you. By adopting this positive perspective on life, it motivates you to view every challenge as an opportunity to grow and become more. Have faith that in yourself and in a better tomorrow. That alone will make the invisible, visible.

Nicole Reed said it best – “Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us.”

4. Focus on What You Can Control

If you think that you can control everything in your life, you are setting yourself up for failure. The harsh reality is that you have zero control over many of the things that happen in life. This is where people get into trouble. They think that if they can gain enough control over people or a situation, then they can prevent hard times from happening.

This is far from true.

When you are going through hard times, the natural response is to try and fix whatever it is that feels bad. However, the longer that you linger here, the more helpless that you will feel. We tend to forget that the only thing that we have control over is our inner world. It is your reaction to life that matters most. Two different people could experience the exact same challenge but have a drastically different response to it.

Attitude is everything. Hard times will happen throughout your life, but it is up to you how you will interpret them. You are always in control of your emotions, no matter how difficult the situation may be or feel. When you are able to change your reaction to people and events, don’t be surprised if you see a massive shift take place in every area of your life.

5. Develop A Morning Ritual

Ever since I was 17 years old I’ve committed to a morning ritual. It is the most important part of my entire day because it is the time at which I prime myself for success. By conditioning my mindset, I am prepared to tackle whatever challenges may come my way. You may be wondering, “How is this possible?”

Well, when you take the time to engage in rituals like reciting positive affirmations or doing a meditation practice, you feel more positive and calm. When hard times hit, you are more equipped to handle them because you have done the work to master your emotional state.

Sure, some days I wouldn’t mind sleeping in an extra hour, but I have committed to not getting caught up in these moments of pleasure because I know how good I feel when I stick with my routine. It helps to put me into an optimal state of mind. When I’m energized, focused and inspired, I feel unstoppable. It’s as simple as that.

I’m not saying that I don’t get frustrated when challenges occur. However, every time that I engage in my routine, I am making subtle mental and emotional shifts in how I think about life and hard times. As a result, when the shit hits the fan, I am prepared. Instead of freaking out, I make choices and decisions that serve my highest self.

I hope these words of encouragement for hard times have inspired you to keep moving forward.

We all face hard times. Ultimately, we all become stronger and wiser as a result. It comes down to adopting a positive mindset through every challenge that you face in life. Will it be easy? No. When we face difficulties, it’s easy to get sucked into a negativity trap. However, this is the moment at which you need to believe in yourself and search for solutions that will allow you to weather the storm and come out the other side, happier and healthier.

In his final Rocky movie, Sylver Stallone says, “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. But it ain’t how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. It’s how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”

If you want to learn more about how you can become the master of your life, check out my Life Mastery Accelerator program.

Whatever you are going through, never forget that don’t hard times don’t last. This too shall pass and the skies will shine again. Until then, pull upon your inner strength and trust that you have everything inside of you in order to get through the hard times. You are stronger than you know.

Are you ready to learn 21-powerful morning rituals that will take your life to the next level? CLICK HERE to receive instant access to my free cheat sheet!

The post If You’re Going Through Hard Times, Watch This! appeared first on Project Life Mastery.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2tgXU3l via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes