#and we were the only ones who aced our audition

[evansbby]

I WANNA HEAR ABOUT THE DREAM TELL ME

OKAY SO

I’m gonna say it in the tags cos it’s less embarrassing ajdjsjsjka

[twistifiedz]

"WHO ARE TWIST? - DAZED KOREA ISSUE VOL.1 (OCT 2016)

"One twist for ya mind, one twist for ya soul! Hello, We are Twist!"

TWIST Discuss DEBUT SINGLES 'ATTENTION' and 'WOW THING' & THE MEANING OF TWIST.

TWIST entered the K-pop scene with a fresh and exciting energy, debuting with double title tracks 'Attention' and 'Wow Thing', who both cite influences from 2000s pop and 90s R&B music, Twist make sure to command the public's attention and let the people know that they are here.

On the afternoon of October 1, 2016, TWIST had a magazine interview with Dazed Korea, their first-ever interview, TWIST open up to Dazed regarding their massive debut success, the meaning of the group's name, and where they want to go next.

It's been a month since your debut and you have already received two number ones on Gaon as well as your first music-show win! Did you think you this would happen so quickly?

Mina: We come from a small independent label such as JYL Records, so it is very surprising to us that the public even found out about Twist so quickly. We are very grateful for the public's reception to the music!

Sohye: It feels like a dream. To suddenly go from being a trainee and preparing for your debut for year 3 years to basically overnight success is such a new feeling. When you're in the trainee phase, you're met with many ups and downs to the point where you even doubt if you want to continue... In the end, you realize that your hard work paid off.

Your debut single album, ATTENTION, captures the essence of girl crush as well as a very powerful and intimidating image. As a group, many of you were involved in the creative process. Would this be a proper introduction to TWIST in your eyes?

Chaeyoung: I usually put my hand in the writing and composing of the music, whereas Mina will write occasionally, Hyerim also writes and produces, and both Sohye and Hyerim will come up with the image and creative direction for the music after hearing a final base of it. After careful consideration between multiple tracks, we believed that this is indeed the best introduction to TWIST.

Sohye: Chaeyoung's our main producer of the group in terms of members. She's extremely talented, especially when you learn that she's been composing music since the mere age of 12. I think Chaeyoung did a wonderful job and capturing the sound of TWIST.

Mina: For 'WOW THING', Hyerim was the main producer and that song is personally my favorite out of the three we've released. Hyerim's musical ear is interesting. She made the single by analyzing our personalities just immediately after a week in training back in 2015.

Hyerim: To continue from Mina, I made the instrumental for 'WOW THING' after watching Bratz. This was back when I was a trainee at JYL, I was quite a new trainee, but I had been partnered with these three for the group's lineup and I had made the song after being with them for a week. 'WOW THING' showcases the dynamic and different levels of how TWIST can be.

You work extremely well as a team. How did the four of you become a team?

Mina: It's been 3-4 years of me with Sohye and Chaeyoung, however, as a group, it's been one year of us four together. I meshed really well with Sohye and Chaeyoung in our trainee days, and as of 2015, Jiyeon Lee told us she found someone that would be an interesting addition to the group. Thus, we met Hyerim. Hyerim added the ace feeling that we wanted in the group.

Hyerim: I was only a trainee for a year, but I wasn't supposed to be a trainee at JYL Records. I had originally auditioned for YG Entertainment and ended up in first place, however, Jiyeon Lee actually snatched me! She gave me a tour of JYL and let me watch trainees perform and this is how I came across these three! They were performing "Survivor" by Destiny's Child and I immediately wanted to join them!

Speaking of dynamic and the versatility of TWIST, how would you describe the three songs you've released so far?

Mina: Attention is our debut single, we basically come out the gate demanding attention from the public and peers. It has a very sweet 2000s pop sound to it, and I would liken it to being inspired by Cassie's "Me & U". The choreography, made by Hyerim and Sohye, was made with the intention of being mesmerizing and give a vibe of cheerleading. This song is meant to show our dancing abilities!

Hyerim: Our double debut single, or title track, Wow Thing, has a more R&B sound to it. I previously mentioned making it after watching Bratz, however, musically, I was inspired by a Christina Aguilera track. We showcase our powerful vocals here compared to the other two tracks on the single release. I made sure that the public would know that we can sing.

Chaeyoung: Uh-Oh, the bside of the album, is an ode to 1990s hip hop. I specifically referenced the boom bap side genre with this track. While 'WOW THING' shows the vocals of TWIST, Uh Oh is meant to showcase the rap skills of TWIST.

Sohye: I came up with the overall concept of 'Uh Oh' as a response to the people in my life who didn't believe in me and had doubts of me becoming an idol. However, Chaeyoung helped put my vision to life as I'm currently working on my writing skills.

What does TWIST mean? What are your fans called?

Mina: TWIST means we can do any genre, any sound, any concept, any image by putting a twist to it. We each have individual charms that contribute to the music. We each have an input on the creative process whether its composing or coming up with the concept. We're simply putting our twist on things.

Hyerim: As for our fans, we were considering TWISTERS... but that is absolutely corny. I had to beg the members to not go for that. However, I came up with NADOS. Representing the tornado that is TWIST storming into the industry!

Sohye: That happens to be less corny. But I will add to the possibility of our fanbase becoming huge to the point where their power is equivalent to a tornado.

Would you say you have musical influences?

Chaeyoung: I feel as it may be impossible for someone to not be inspired or influenced by another act. However, I would say as a group, we look to 2NE1 for the goal of being strong of stage like them.

Hyerim: Vocally, I would love to have harmonies like Destiny's Child. I want us to be a vocal force.

Sohye: Individually, I am influenced by The Spice Girls. Each member had a specific charm to them that was quite different from the other, however, they didn't contrast or clash.

Mina: Mariah Carey's songwriting abilities and musical ear is something I would love for us to be likened too.

What are your plans after this?

Mina: Surprising fact, we do have another release planned before the end of the year! We also plan to do more promos and try to get the public to see us more. As of now, we have a couple variety shows lined up.

Do you have any words for your fans and the future ones to come?

Mina: Firstly, thank you Dazed, for having us. We're very thankful for our fans and we will work harder to show many sides of ourselves.

Sohye: I'm thankful for your immediate interest in us and I hope you stay.

Hyerim: I'm very excited for the future to come! I'm grateful for everything that has happened! May we continue to develop from here.

Chaeyoung: For our next release, we will promise to continue to raise the expectations of NADOS. We are grateful for your love.

You can listen to TWIST's debut release, ATTENTION, here.

[inkybloom-luv]

Words Unsaid 12, so there's school festivals here too?

Heya guys! Today there's another setup chapter for you cuties! The chapters will come out slower now as I have not yet read chapter 5 completely so please give me time to do so! In the meantime I'd like to know if drabble requests are something you guys would be interested in.

Slight Chapter 5 spoilers!

Part 1 Part 11 Masterpost Part 13

1.5k+ words

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Even though he slept less than usual Jamil felt strangely energetic today. Perhaps it was because he'd slept the best he had in a while or straight up because he woke up next to Inky. It was such a simple thing but he'd be lying if he didn't wish it would happen more, just because of how nice it felt. Is it bad he wished the prefect would have more nightmares only so he could hold her..? Probably. But as it stood, this was the only way he was able to act on his own feelings. Not like he didn't know Inky had feelings for him before his Overblot but he doubted it was love, now that he'd done what he did. Still he hopes and dreams as he stirred the non-proverbial pot of curry in front of him. It was one of the dishes he was making for lunch. He was making something else for Kalim, of course, as Kalim obviously didn't like curry.. but Jamil and Inky could have it, especially since the prefect did say one time she really wanted to eat something Jamil made and admitted in the same sentence that they've been looking to try more foreign food like different curries. Also in that sentence they said that anything Jamil made would be more than satisfactory though.

At the same time that day Kalim was at a housewarden meeting, simply to discuss the future event that would be held soon. The National Arcane Academy Cultural Fair. It was a yearly event mostly consisting of artistic type events like poetry slams, research presentations and, the most well known part of it all, the SDC. The SDC, or Song & Dance Championship, was a contest for singers and dancers, basically any musical talent, to go up on stage, by themselves or in a group, and show their aforementioned talent to the world to show who was the best of the participants that year. The winners would get not only a monetary prize but also a ticket to stardom. Of course that ticket to stardom wasn't exclusive to first place but they had the best chance.

Riddle, who was head of the planning committee was rambling on and on about the details but the report was necessary. Turns out both Vil Schönheit and Neige LeBlanche would be participating this year as well, which meant extra press coverage for the school. Crowley was delighted about this of course and put up audition posters through negotiation with Vil that very same day. They were plastered all over a few notice boards, especially the one in the cafeteria. By lunchtime it was surrounded by people, which had sent Ace, Deuce and Grim to check it out. Inky stayed seated with Jamil and Kalim, though the occasional glance was thrown their way, since she was pally with Kalim as well as Jamil, who had literally tried to off them over the winter holidays that ended recently. Not that Inky really cared.

Unfortunately she did have to tear herself away from the Scarabian duo as she had class duty along with Deuce for the upcoming alchemy lesson and Ace was tagging along to chat. Speaking of Kalim and Jamil, that was where the conversation drifted, though grim did most of the talking.

"Seriously, first he tries to manipulate and kill you and now you're friends? Kinda weird if you ask me" Ace commented.

"Don't call my hench-human weird! Besides, it's not like he hasn't apologized and more. He's been taking care of me and Inky very well, Kalim also..! I think my henchman and I can decide who we, mostly I as a great mage, will spend our time with!"

"Thank you Grim.. I think that gets the point across. Besides.. Jamil is really nice to me, I like him a lot" The two half-students said, one confirming the other.

"What, you're still crushing on the guy? How? He literally gave you a massive scar on your arm, he could have ended you..!" Ace once again protested.

"And again, he apologized."

"You believe that?"

"Yes and you know next to nothing about him so I won't be hearing another word out of you about this..!" The prefect said, anger lacing into her stern tone, sending ace a small glare.

"Alright alright, I'll shut up" He said, though not happy about it. Before their conversation continued though, they were promptly distracted by singing.

"Who's singing? It sounds really nice" Deuce said as they listened, right after though, the singer seemed to choke up on their own voice, which sounded less than healthy. So, with slight concern, the group closed in on where the sounds were coming from, the well in the school courtyard.

Upon approach they met another first year, his name was Epel Felmier. He had lavender hair and blue eyes, his stature was small and skinny but well balanced, his skin was pale too and he spoke in a generally soft voice, unless some sort of accent came out that Inky personally could not place. All went well until they were interrupted by the Pomefiore housewarden Vil Schönheit. He had a regal presence, something like a king or queen in a sense that he was confident and knowledgeable in a few areas. Basically a perfect upperclassman if it weren't for his temper at that moment. Vil was upset that Epel was not training so he wanted to move Epel somewhere else so he wouldn't get interrupted. This went over wrong with Ace as well as Deuce as they misinterpreted Vil's tone and words. The fight that ensued wasn't even that long as Vil was vastly better at his magic than those two unfortunate souls.

The end result was an utter defeat which gave Vil the opportunity to leave with the lavender haired boy. Though not before the latter waved goodbye to Inky as she ushered Ace and Deuce up on their feet to clean themselves up and check for scrapes. She did wave back though. They went to Professor Crewel's lab and classroom, setting up the next lesson with the instruction of the teacher. In the midst of this, another student came in.

This girl was pale as can be and her hair was back length and white. She was rather short as well.

"Hello professor Crewel! I'm here to deliver those late project papers you asked me to go get" Her voice rang through the room as she grinned in a friendly way, waving to the first year trio that was setting up.

"Poor guy was really under the weather, caught a stomach bug or something but he'll be fine. He's over the worst of it according to the nurse, he needs a day or two to recover properly."

"Good girl, thank you for informing me. You have a free period now, yes? Why don't you sit in on the first years and help out? I could use a helping hand to whip these bumbling pups into shape and you're on the school's student tutoring program, so you'd be a good fit." Crewel said, to which the pretty student agreed as he explained what they would be doing during the class period.

It gave Inky the ability to look at her a little more closely. She had facial piercings and some on her ears. The ones on her face were a septum and a lip ring as far as Inky could tell. She didn't wear a blazer, had her sleeves rolled up and her purple vest was open. She wore her white blouse tied up in a way that it would expose her stomach, though not in a war that was inappropriate. She wore a shorter skirt variant at her hips that ended above her knees and flip flops as her footwear. It left a lot of questions as to how she wasn't cold. Then again it wasn't too cold, simply chilly.. she dressed like it was summer though. She had jewelry too, a few rings, a choker and a necklace, an anklet, two bracelets and on her other arm she wore her Pomefiore Armband, except she had it tied more around her wrist than anything, like another bracelet.

That lesson was over quickly, and it was fairly nice. Turns out the student's name was Alani and she helped out around the classroom after having changed into appropriate gear. She was a Pomefiore third year apparently and had heard about the prefect from Leona, whom she visited during spelldrive practice after school occasionally so she could exercise with them. She was good at explaining things and this included her clothing. Apparently she was dressed the way she was because it was usually hot or at least warm here compared to her homeland, which was very far up north. In conclusion the lesson was lovely and after all the cleanup the prefect even managed to get Alani's number, for emergencies or if Inky ever really needed or wanted something.

The rest of the school day went off without a hitch as well, only really starting to pick up the pace when ace and Deuce along with grim decided they would contact this 'Rook' character to get an audition appointment.

♪~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♪

@leonistic

@dove-da-birb

@azulashengrottospiano

@az-flaming-sword

@escaaaaaanyeh

@viperwhispered

@krenenbaker

[spine-buster]

To Sail Beyond the Sunset ft. Sidney Crosby | Chapter 2

gif credit @/hannovers

A/N: As always, I can't wait for you guys to read this chapter. I know it's very early on but I would love to know what you guys think of the flashback scenes! TW: parental emotional abuse

“Alright my lovely ladies, are we ready to dance?” June asked as she stepped into the studio she worked out of for the past five years, smiling at all her students lined up and stretching on the barre just as they always did when they came in. Their pink tights, dance dresses, and pointe shoes brought back so many memories for her every time she stepped in the room.

“Yes Miss June!” they sung out in unison, taking their usual places in the classroom and assuming first position.

June smiled at them warmly. While there were only eight girls, they were a great bunch. June had been teaching all of them since they were pre-teens. They’d essentially grown up with her, and she cared about them on more than just a ballet level. “How was your week, girls? Anything exciting happen?”

“I aced my last chemistry test before our exam,” Franny Louton said.

“Good for you, Franny!”

“And I got a 90 on my English essay, Miss June! The one I was so worried about!” Isabella Bouchard was giddy just speaking about it.

“I told you you’d ace it!” June smiled. She waited a moment to see if anyone had anything else to say. “How are we feeling, girls? Are we good? Is there anything bothering us? Not just physically – anything I should know before we begin?”

June asked these questions because she wished someone had asked her these questions when she was taking ballet classes growing up. Nobody had ever really cared. Not her instructors and definitely not her mother. It was all about dancing and perfecting technique instead of mental and physical health. She wanted the girls (and their parents) to know she wasn’t going to be that type of teacher – that she couldn’t be that type of teacher. It definitely made for a healthier environment, and an environment where the girls actually wanted to come to ballet class. And with these girls – the cream of the crop – it meant more opportunities for them, more auditions and performances. In fact, almost all of them had already been to auditions or sent tapes for various ballet companies around Canada, and they were all anxious to hear back.

“We’re all just anxious to hear back from the companies, Miss June,” Anna Fitzgerald said. “Have you heard anything?”

June shook her head. “I haven’t, girls, but be patient,” she encouraged them. “It’s going to take a few weeks, especially those of you who auditioned with the National Ballet. You were very lucky to get those invitations to audition, anyway.”

“Cause it’s not like you were the best principal dancer they ever had, and now we’re learning from you,” Franny commented with a cheeky smile. “I’m confident in us, ladies!”

June couldn’t help but giggle. “That’s the spirit! Now let’s begin, girls. Aaaaaaaand tendu…tendu…tendu…first arabesque…”

***

Sidney woke up that morning and went straight to a training session with Andy O’Brien. It was gruelling, but it always was – nothing he didn’t expect. And because Nate was still in the playoffs with Colorado, he was alone, which meant Sid only had to deal with his own ultra-competitive nature, and not Nate’s too. Colorado was playing a game tonight though, so he’d still “see” Nate, maybe even get a phone call from him, depending on the outcome, while he did whatever he thought to do tonight. Sid thought about inviting June over and grabbing some takeout before heading to his house. Now that it was the summer, he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible – as much as his workouts, media commitments, interviews, commercial filming, and training allowed. He also had to keep reminding himself that June couldn’t just drop everything and be with him at his beck and call, either. She had her own commitments – studio time, paperwork, auditions, correspondences, and other important things to do with her work.

During the half way point in the workout, Sid and Andy took a hydration break. Sid sat on one of the benches and drank half of his water bottle in one go, with Andy wiping the sweat off his brow as if he was the one doing all the work. “What are you up to the rest of the day?” Andy asked.

Sidney shrugged. “Lunch. Wash up. Probably go surprise June and her ballet class.”

Andy couldn’t help but smile at the mention of June. It took longer than usual, he thought. “When’re you gonna make an honest woman out of her and marry her?” he demanded.

“What?!” Sid exclaimed. “Andy, come on.”

“You know I’m right,” Andy shook his head, chuckling at Sid’s reaction. “You’ve known each other since you were kids. She’s a beautiful girl, Sid. You know everything about one another, she’s always been there, you guys spend all your time together, she’s the only other person who’s as competitive as you are and who knows what it’s like to be at the level you are…Sid, I’m telling you – you’re in love with that girl and you don’t even know it.”

“She’s my best friend, Andy. It’s not like that at all,” Sidney bit his bottom lip. Andy’s words made him think about how others perceived them. Did everybody think this way about them? Was it only Andy? His teammates had said some things to him before, but he thought they were all in good fun – it was just ribbing him…right?

“I think it is like that and you’re just too stupid to realize,” Andy said, giving Sid a look. “Anyways, break’s over. Let’s go.”

***

“Relevé…wait for the cue…aaaand one-two-three-one-two-three-one-two-three-aaaaand-one-two-three…good ladies!-two-three-one-two-three-pirouette and hold! Good! And one-two-three-one-two-three-and-one-two…girls…girls why are we giggling? What’s so funny? Girls, I—”

“Behind you, Miss June!”

June whipped her head to look behind her. She saw Sidney in the doorway, a giant goofy smile on his face, dressed in jeans and a zip pullover sweater. “Oh, you’re here!”

“Hi Mr. Crosby!” the girls all said in unison. They knew that Miss June and Sidney Crosby were best friends – June told them early so it didn’t come as a surprise if he did something like this, dropping into their classes unannounced. He’d done this at least once a summer since they’d been her students, and every time he did, they giggled like schoolgirls. Sidney would end up staying and watching the end of their practice, and afterwards he’d take pictures and sign autographs if they wanted it. The girls’ brothers were always extremely jealous – June would often see them the next day in the car with the parents during drop-off, which was hilarious.

“Hi girls,” he said, nodding at them as he stepped into the room carefully, knowing he wasn’t allowed far with his shoes on. He noticed June walking towards him. “Hey Junebug.”

“Take off yo—”

“—Take off my shoes, I know,” he said, slipping out of them and pushing them away from the doorway so no-one would trip on them. “Can I watch the end of class?”

“Yeah of course,” she nodded, smiling slightly. “God, their brothers are going to be so jealous again when they get wind of this.” June turned around to address her class, who still had some giggles and smiles left in them as they watched June and Sid whisper with each other. “Would you girls like to show Sid what we’ve been working on?”

“Can we show him our Swan Lake numbers instead?” Claire Dempsey asked.

June checked her watch. Though it was cutting it close, she could indulge them with five or ten extra minutes of her time. “Well, alright. I think Sid will be very impressed.”

Sidney remembered Swan Lake. He remembered Swan Lake because at one point in her life, it was all June could talk about. He even remembered the music – well, the more popular pieces – and how much June would practice. But June’s girls now were so much different than she was at their age. They were so much more well-adjusted, and that had to be 50% their parents not being as bad as Miss Hockley, and 50% June’s teaching and mentoring methods. Having gone through hell and back, Sid knew that June wanted better for these girls, and she’d told him as much when she got into teaching. She didn’t want history to repeat itself with any of them.

While June loved ballet, and was ultracompetitive just like Sidney was with being the best, there were definitely times it turned more into a love/hate relationship. Another reason why they understood each other so well was because of their similar experiences. Growing up and getting a lot of attention in hockey, there was bound to be negative attention too – from parents, kids, teammates, and various other people. There were times where Sidney felt like everything was completely out of his control. He didn’t understand, especially as a kid, why some people were so angry with him, why so many people wished him ill, complained about him, told their kids to target him on the ice. It was the same for June. Some of the girls could be vicious, and they were vicious because they knew they could never be at her level. They resorted to mental tactics to try to tear her down.

But nobody was as bad as Miss Hockley herself.

June had a tough time with her mom while developing as a ballet dancer. Miss Hockley always expected excellence from June, and when she didn’t get it, she’d get disappointed or mad – and she definitely let June know about it. When Sidney lost a game in hockey, he’d be more disappointed than his parents. They’d talk to him in the car and tell him it was okay and that they were still proud of him, and all would be well. If June placed second in a competition or fell out of a turn, June would never hear the end of it from Miss Hockley.

1996.

Sidney didn’t know why Miss Hockley was so upset. She kept shaking her head as she sat in her seat, muttering to herself words that he couldn’t quite make out. She sat down the row, and it was hard to see in the dim lighting since all the light was focused on the stage, but he could tell she was angry. June had just performed her dance, and she was amazing. Even Trina thought so. Miss Hockley didn’t.

When all the dancers in the age group were done, the lights turned on and everybody started to get up. Trina got up from her seat and held out her hand for Sidney. “C’mon, we can go backstage now and see June.”

Sid jumped up and held his mom’s hand. He was thankful that the dance competition just happened to be at the local high school, which meant that he could go. But the school was much bigger than his own elementary school, so he was a bit spooked. “Is Miss Hockley going to come, too?”

“Of course she will,” Trina said, eyeing down the row, only to see Miss Hockley almost already out of the auditorium and on her way to the classrooms, which were being used as dressing rooms. “Miss Hockley will talk to June first and then we can go in, okay?”

Sidney nodded, and they made their way through the crowd. There were girls everywhere in sparkly, fancy costumes; they were dressed up as princesses or sailors or even baseball players. Some of them even had lots of makeup on, so much that even Sidney could tell. Sidney saw that June’s lips were red on stage, which meant she was wearing lipstick. He wondered what it would look like up close.

As he and his mom approached the classroom, even amongst all the chatter outside, Sidney could hear yelling. Yelling from Miss Hockley. “You turned out of all your turns!!! ALL OF THEM!!! How are you so stupid, Juniper?!”

“I d-d-didn’t mean—”

“How often did we practice?! How often?! And then you go out on stage and you perform like an amateur!!! You made yourself look like an idiot!!!”

“B-b-but mommy—”

“I don’t want to hear your stupid excuses, Juniper. And you can cry all you want – you’re not getting any sympathy from me. You don’t even deserve to place. I want to hear nothing from you on the way home, do you understand me?! Not a word. You’re an embarrassment.”

Sidney and his mom were waiting against the wall outside the classroom, hearing every word. Trina was standing behind him and had placed her hands over his chest, hugging him to her. They watched silently as Miss Hockley burst through the door, marching off in the opposite direction, not even seeing them. He could feel his mom take a deep breath before she bent down to be at eye-level with him. “I think you should go in first,” she said, her voice so much more soothing than Miss Hockley’s. “I think June will appreciate that very much. You can tell her how much you loved her dance.”

Sidney nodded, and his mom let go of him so he could go inside. He closed the door behind him. He looked around the classroom to see June curled up in one of the chairs, knees to her chest, sobbing. “Hi Junebug,” he said, loud enough that she could hear over her tears.

June raised her head slightly to see Sidney. Her makeup was running down her face, and her red lipstick was smudged. “Hi S-S-Sid,” she managed to say through a sob, trying to wipe away her tears but only smearing her makeup more.

“Are you okay?” he asked, even though he knew she wasn’t. He didn’t want her to know he’d heard everything her mom said. June shook her head, trying to compose herself and keep in her sobs. “You looked beautiful out there…” he tried to say.

June’s face scrunched up, and no matter how hard she tried to hold it in, she let out another sob. “No I didn’t,” she huffed out, tears streaming down her face.

“Yes you did!” he said. “I thought you looked beautiful. And your dance was amazing!”

She shook her head. “I f-fell out of all my t-t-turns. It was so bad. I’m not going t-to place and now my m-m-mom is mad and I…I…I just ruined everything!”

Sidney realized he couldn’t say any encouraging words that would get through to her. Nothing he could say would make a difference. But then he remembered a saying his dad always said to him, about bullies on the ice. “Actions speak louder than words.” It meant that his skills and what he did on the ice would always speak louder than any names other kids would call him to try and get in his head. Sidney knew that he was only nine years old, but he knew that it could be applied in this situation, too.

So Sidney did the only thing he could think of: he wrapped his arms around June and hugged her tight. She wrapped her arms around him too, hugging him just as tight, and she cried and cried and cried.

“Okay girls, let’s set up for the Dance of the Cygnets,” June announced as Claire, Franny, Zoë, and Malika stepped forward, joining hands and assuming position. When June started the music, the girls began moving, dancing in almost perfect sync with each other. Sidney remembered this dance – it was one of the dances a pre-teen June knew how to do as a teenager. She’d perfected it in no time, and her teacher had pressured the other girls June was paired with to be up to her standard. None of the other girls could reach it; they found it impossible.

1998.

“Sidney! June’s here!” Sidney heard Troy call out from the front door as he was reading in his room. If it was any of his other friends, he would have heard their loud footsteps making their way through his house and towards his room. But this was June, and she was a ballerina in every sense of the word – she moved like one everywhere she went, which meant there were no loud footsteps. She practically floated. It was only when he heard his bedroom door open that he realized she had moved through the house.

“Hey Junebug,” he said, setting down his book spine-up so he didn’t lose his page. He noticed she brought her dance bag with her, flung down beside his door before she closed it (Sidney’s parents allowed the door to be closed only with June because, well, it was June), which meant that she had just come from class and Miss Hockley was probably going in for a shift at work at the supermarket.

“Hey,” she said, looking away from him.

“How was dance?”

She shrugged her shoulders in response. “What’re you reading? Is that for our book report?”

Sidney tried to get a good look at her, and when he did, he saw something that he always hated to see. “Why’re your eyes red?” he asked. “Were you crying?”

She was caught. There was no use hiding it anymore. June could only nod. “Yeah, I was. Just a bit.”

“Why were you crying?”

“I got yelled at a lot today because my pirouettes were horrible,” she informed him.

Sidney’s eyebrows furrowed. That was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard, considering what he knew about June and her dancing ability. “Didn’t you tell me you’re the only one in your class who can even go up en pointe?”

“Yeah.”

“Well then why would they be mad? How could they even be mad if you’re the only one that can do them?”

June couldn’t help but smile slightly at his tone of voice, even letting out a slight chuckle at how incredulous he sounded. “Because I was doing them perfectly just yesterday. And now all of the sudden I can’t do them. I’m not doing the dance bad on purpose, I swear. I just—I need to be more consistent.”

Sidney wanted to roll his eyes. That was Miss Hockley or her teacher talking, not June. June was one of the most consistent people he knew – like him. “Well I bet they were great,” he said, ending the conversation so he didn’t upset her even more. “What book are you reading for the book report?”

“It’s this new book I found at the library. It’s called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Have you heard of it?”

Sidney was clapping loudly, another giant, dumb grin on his face at what he just saw. “Wow girls, that was impressive!” he exclaimed. “You guys were so in sync!”

“You’ve seen Miss June dance when she was our age, Mr. Crosby. Are we as good?” Zoë asked as a joke, already knowing the answer.

“Aaaaalright alright alright,” June cut them off, laughing along with them. “Don’t put him on the spot like that. Now go change girls, I’m sure your parents are waiting outside.”

“Will Sid—”

“—Yeeesss, Sidney will take pictures and sign autographs for you outside,” June said, placating them. The girls were antsy as they scurried away to the dressing room, leaving Sidney and June alone in the studio. “They all have massive crushes on you,” she told him, if only to get him riled up.

“Oh geeze,” Sidney blushed, shaking his head. “Don’t say that. I’ve known them since they were, like, twelve.”

“That’s exactly why. You always visit.”

He shook his head, his smile still on his face. “Wanna get takeout and watch Netflix tonight?” he asked. “You pick the food.”

June frowned. “I wish I could,” she began, “but I have to work late.”

“Work late? Really?”

June nodded. “Some of the girls are actually coming back tonight for some extra sessions. They all just had their auditions so they want to fine-tune everything, you know…”

June had never stayed late at work before. She was always done by a specific time. Part of him was suspicious, because it was so out of character for her to stay so late at the studio, even if the girls asked for extra lessons. But he guessed the reason was plausible enough – the girls did just have their big auditions for various ballet companies. “Well, okay then,” he nodded.

“You’ll have to choose the food on your own,” she joked.

“Well, if it’s not too late, feel free to come by,” he offered. “I’m sure I’ll have leftovers. You know me and how I order.”

“It will be late, and you know how I don’t like to drive in the dark,” she said. She could see disappointment in his face, and she was disappointed, too. But what she had to do had to be done. “We can meet tomorrow for lunch if you’re not with Andy,” she offered.

“Yeah, for sure,” Sidney nodded, looking down at the ground to find his shoes. “I better get out there. They’re probably waiting.”

As he signed autographs and took pictures with all the girls, hearing chorus after chorus of how this would make their brothers soooooo jealous, Sidney kept thinking about his reaction in the studio. Why was he so suspicious of June? She told him she had work to do and she was going to do it – she wasn’t going to skirt out on a responsibility. He had to accept that, and he did. But why was his first feeling suspicion? She’d never lied to him before, and he had no reason to not believe her.

June eventually came out and had an amused look on her face, as she always did when watching the girls interact with Sid. He watched as she stepped away behind her desk at one point, typing vigorously into her phone. When the last of the girls left, he watched as she scrolled and typed, scrolled and typed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Junebug,” he said softly, not wanting to startle her too bad since she seemed so concentrated.

When she heard his voice, she gave him her complete and undivided attention. “For sure,” she nodded. “I’ll call you. Don’t order too much food.”

“I can’t make any promises.”

[reiisan]

WHITE SCORPION RELAY INTERVIEW - ACE

WHITE SCORPION released their 5th digital single "Satisfaction graffiti" on April 7, attracting a lot of attention as an 11-member idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto, who was selected through the IDOL 3.0 PROJECT audition. Since their debut with "Eyes on the Sniper," they have released a series of digital singles every month, and this is the fifth in the series. The girls were still a little primitive when they debuted, but they have shown remarkable growth in the past four months. We asked the girls about their thoughts on this album and the changes that have taken place since their debut. The interview will be delivered in a relay format. First up is ACE.

-Looking back from your debut to the present, were there any impressive events or changes or growth in yourself?

I have felt the changes and growth in myself during the course of my activities. Before I became an idol, I would wake up late every day around noon, go to school, had a part-time job, and went out with my family and friends on my days off. Thankfully, I was able to change that daily routine and started taking lessons and filming from the day I passed the auditions, which kept me busy and gave me many new experiences. I felt that I gained a lot from the music video shoots in particular. I can really feel the passion of the people who are involved in the project, and we would practice seriously so that we can produce great results. We do shootings from morning till night, and whenever I look at the finished music video, I'll be touched by it, I'll also find a new side of myself with a happy expression. At first, there was a part of me that was happy my dream that I had been chasing for a long time had finally come true, but as get to know the people involved, I realized that I should not be complacent and that I should continue to work hard. I no longer have the need to tell my mother on the phone that I am weak, or that I feel depressed because of how boring everyday is. I think that is growth.

-You had many big events such as TV appearances and TGC since. Could you tell us how it went? Also, what did those experiences mean to you?

I had many opportunities to appear on TV with "Eyes on the Sniper" right after my debut, but since it had only been a short time since my debut, at first it felt like a dream come true. I was influenced by the responses I received after the show aired and by the people I had the opportunity to work with, and now I am determined to steadily seize each opportunity. I was really surprised to appear in TGC. It was something I had been aiming to do someday, so I was very happy, but at the same time, I was very excited to be on such a big stage like Yoyogi National Gymnasium.

When I thought about how to promote ourselves to people who don't know us, I thought that a performance in which we give our all and work hard would win the hearts of the audience. I remember Ally, who was standing in the front with me, patting me on the back when I was nervous, and that really motivated me to do my best.

-There has been many song releases and I think that you have been able to show many different sides through the songs. Please choose one of the songs and tell us about which part that has impressed you the most. Please also tell us how the song affected the group, the members, and yourself.

It is very difficult to choose one song because they are all so wonderful and attractive.... I think that the 2nd song " The Coyotes Are Calling" is the song that had a greatest impact on me and the group. After the 1st single “Eyes on the Sniper”, I decided to spread WHITE SCORPION to as many people as possible! At that time, I received my first singing and solo part. When I saw the choreography video, I was filled with joy, but at the same time, I also felt anxious. I cried a lot, out of frustration when I couldn't hit the high notes due to nervousness during the first performance. Now, I have gradually gained more confidence and can able to sing with pride. I wonder if I am growing together with this song? I think. It's a song that is very popular with both the fans and the members, so I'm really happy and grateful to have been given this song.

--How do you see the current state of White Scorpion and yourself after having gone through all those things? If there have been any changes since your debut, please tell us about them as well.

Although we are still far from WHITE SCORPION's goals of “worldwide” and “dome performances,'' the number of people coming to our monthly release events is increasing, and our songs are starting to be played at various stores. I feel like we're making a lot of progress, so I want everyone to work together and not be too satisfied with the current situation. As for myself, I'm still figuring it out. I don't fully understand my position in the group, my character, or my abilities, so I want to focus on what's in front of me with all my might. I'm thinking that by doing this, not just myself, but the fans and staff who watch me around will be able to find my true self.

--What are your thoughts on the new song "Satisfaction graffiti" and what are the impressive lyrics?

All four of our songs so far have been amazing, so I listened to the preview with high expectations. "Satisfaction graffiti", which starts with an electronic-like sound, is the most shocking song I've ever heard. I thought that the lyrics, which depict the struggle between being an adult and a child, would resonate with many people. In particular, the first chorus, "I don't care if I get hurt, just ruin everything…" and "I want you to return this love sometime somewhere," are amazing and my favorite lyrics because they are both sad yet strong and willful.

--How was the choreography, music video shooting, and recording? What were some of the difficulties or hardships you faced, what did you discuss with the members, or what did you practice by yourself?

"Satisfaction graffiti" is a song where detailed accents and rhythms are important, so I listened to it many times and wrote a lot in my notebook before the day of recording, but I struggled with different nuances and different ways of putting accents. Many members said that this song was the most difficult. Both regarding the choreography and MV filming, the period between the choreography and the shooting was really short, and there were many changes made to the music video, so we tried our best to keep our heads working. I even watched the video until the few minutes before the start of the shoot. The speed of the choreography was really fast, and I managed to keep up with it, so I feel that I have really grown compared to when I first started.

-What do you think this song will mean to the group? What new thoughts, goals, or dreams have you developed through these songs?

I think this song "Satisfaction graffiti" is a song that will help spread WHITE SCORPION to many people. With lyrics that many people can relate to, a sound that makes you want to listen to it over and over again, and a striking and cool music video in black and white. I think that if there is a chance, this song will explode with popularity. We were given a really great song, and I will do my best to seize this opportunity. I want to let many people know about WHITE SCORPION and get closer to my dream of expanding overseas and performing in domes. I would also like to repay all the fans who have always supported us and stood by our side.

[asktherejectsau]

💥🔪Exclusive interview with actor, temporary Gorillaz band member, and current bassist for the Rejects — Ace D. Copular🔪💥

Ace: Ayeee!

Interviewer: Oh! Hello there, Mr. Copular. [shakes his hand]

A: Ah, no need to call me ”Mister.” [sits down promptly] Just call me Ace, man.

I: Alright then, Ace. Before we get to talking about The Rejects, I think everyone wants to know, what was it like being the temporary bassist for Gorillaz?

A: I still can’t believe half the stuff I went through was even real… It all feels like I’ve been stuck in a dream and haven’t woken up since. [laughs] Seriously though, it was really fun! Everybody was super nice and welcoming and gettin’ to perform with ‘em was whole ’nother thing. Truly one of the best experiences of my life.

I: How did you first meet Gorillaz?

A: Well, me and Murdoc go way back, since the start of film production for the Powerpuff Girls movie. I knew he had a band but, to tell ya the truth, I had no idea about Gorillaz. Didn’t even realize they made Clint Eastwood and I love that song. But when he called me from prison, telling me I should try and audition to be his replacement for his band, I took it in a heartbeat. Once I got accepted, I had to fly from California to Kentucky in order to meet ‘em at the Derby and… yeah! The rest is history.

I: Now where do you know Murdoc from?

A: Uhh… I’m not gonna go too deep into that as there’s some personal stuff in there, and I’d expect Murdoc wouldn’t want me blabbin’ on about it. But what I will say is that we’ve known each other for a long time. About 18 years now, I’d say. We have a good rapport, y’know? We can relate to a lot of things. We both have screwed up childhoods and we managed to make the best of it through our stardom. We used to write letters to one another but we kinda lost connection back in ’06. I mean, he got back to me eventually. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have helped his band out while he was in prison, amirite? [chuckles awkwardly]

I: Hmm… alright. How did you first get into music? A: It was a little after I finished working on the Powerpuff Girls movie. I was supposed to get more screen time on there, but I got injured during filmin’ so neither me or the Gang could continue bein’ on set. I don’t blame ‘em though. I mean, ya can’t have the Gangreen Gang without Ace, right? So while I was in the hospital for recovery, I started playin’ guitar but I didn’t start playin’ bass until Mudz waltzed into my life. I only started taking music seriously because of him actually. [chuckles to himself, bouncing his leg] Ooo boy, that’s embarrassing to admit, saying that out loud… I probably sound like some hyper fan or somethin’. I: Oh, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I think it’s rather sweet! It sounds like he meant a lot to you. A: Yeah… he did. [rubs the back of his neck, deep in thought] I: Now, how did your friends and family react when they found out you got into the band?

A: [perks up] I don’t got much family anymore but the Gangreen Gang? They’re the only family I’ve ever known aside from ol Muddy Duddy. When I got the email from Gorillaz’s business manager, Jamie Hewlett (real nice fella by the way) that I was in the band, I showed it to the boys and they all freaked when they saw it. Jumping up and down, screaming and yelling with all of us in a group hug. We hadn’t hung out together in a really long time since we all moved on and had our own lives after the OG Powerpuff Girls ended. I mean, the only other times was for filming in the reboot but that was just work, y’know? Although, when I got back to Townsville, it was surprising to see the amount of people who came to congratulate me. I guess kinda became a local legend since I joined the band. Even the Powerpuff Girls came by to say how proud they were. The OG girls not the reboot ones, they were still busy filming. I: What’s it like filming for the 2016 reboot anyway? A: I don’t wanna talk about it. I: I see, you can’t talk about it due to an NDA? A: Um, sure. Yeah, let’s call it that.

I: Oh, uh, okay… Umm, how have you been since leaving Gorillaz?

A: Thanks to them, I’ve been able to actually live a life for once. Like, since I left… I’ve been to Mexico with fellow bassist, Seye Adelekan, I got to write some memoirs, performed many-a-gig since then, and have even been able to get my own place aside from living in a shitty studio apartment. Not rent it, but actually buy it. I not only could afford a new place for me, but I had enough cash to buy places for the rest of the Gang too! Gorillaz has forever changed my life for the better and I couldn’t be more grateful.

I: Speaking of the Gangreen Gang, what are they up to these days?

A: Well, they certainly ain’t kids no more. [laughs] Big Billy owns his own tattoo parlor while his wife is a vet tech. Heard they’re expecting their first kid soon, in which whoof! God, I feel old. I didn’t think I’d live long enough to see my friends have kids. Grubber went on to be a lawyer. Dunno what kind, I wanna say he works civil suits? Arturo is working 9 to 5 at a Seven Eleven up in Townsville City Square with Snake but he’s trying to start up a music career on Soundcloud. Snake, aside from working with Lil Arturo at the gas station, also is an entertainer at a nightclub downtown that goes by the stage name, Ivy. I’ve been to a couple of their shows actually, real top notch stuff! They told me they’re trying to save money to go to art school so they can become a stop motion animator. I have high hopes for them, I just know they’ll make it far someday. I have high hopes for the whole gang actually. I just hope they know how much I still think about ’em. If they’re reading this though, I miss you guys!

(Picture of Ace and the Gangreen Gang after he was accepted into Gorillaz. April 20th, 2018 from Lil Arturo’s Snapchat)

I: Have you been in contact with any of the other Gorillaz members?

A: A little bit, mostly to Noodle though. Haven’t heard much from Russ but we’ve said hello once or twice while I was on the phone with her. Strangely enough, Murdoc’s been calling me a lot more than normal. Mainly to ask about 2-D. I dunno if it’s some midlife crisis thing, just to make up for lost time, or what but I don’t mind it. I like talkin’ to him! Always comes with lot of stories. Although sometimes when he calls me I can’t help but worry about him. I dunno why, but sometimes I get this gut feelin’ like he’s not tellin’ me something or that something’s wrong. But that might be me worrying too much about it. I mean, he just got outta prison and the band’s all on their own separate vacations right now, much like how 2-D is. They deserve the break anyways with all the tourin’ they’ve been doin’. Yeah, it’s probably just me bein’ too wound up.

I: I heard from Gorillaz lead singer and now the Rejects’ co-producer, 2-D that you two were in a relationship. How’s that working out for the both of you?

A: W-Wait, he said that? To you?

I: Yes… Is something wrong with what I said?

A: [starts to get flustered] Oh no, no! Not at all. There’s nothin’ wrong. I-I’m just happy he’s finally mentionin’ that publicly, that’s all. [covers his face with his hands] Sorry. Ahh! I’m blushing so bad… [giggles] I probably look ridiculous right about now. [laughs loudly]

I: Oh, it’s okay! Is this your first time in a relationship like this?

A: Not my first time with a guy, if that’s what you’re askin’. Now first time with a celebrity? Yes. And lemme tell you, it is amazing so far. I’ve had many different partners in my lifetime but him? He’s somethin’ else. He’s the only one who’s managed to capture my attention immediately. I thought that whole ”love at first sight” thing was nothin’ but a hoax but then he came around and changed my whole worldview. Now, it was a bit rocky at first but we managed to patch things up. [sighs] I’m so glad that he said that we’re dating. Oh, I feel like I’m 16 again with how happy he makes me!

I: What do you mean by that? “Patch things up?”

A: Well, back in September last year when Murdoc came back and I left to take the subway back to the airport, Stu had um… given me something to take on the way home. At first, I thought maybe it was just some European thing but nah, he… he kissed me. Like really kissed me. I think some kid captured it on camera too but me and ’D just told ‘em to keep it outta the press and that was that. The problem was he didn’t talk to me for two whole months later when we ended up bumping into each other in Townsville. I was just… I dunno, confused? Like, I couldn’t tell if he liked me or not and I was too embarrassed to ask, which was kinda stupid the more I think about it. But by the time ‘D came to Townsville and we hung out at my place, he said he wanted to maybe start somethin’ with me. Not fully dating just yet but umm… y’know… [clears throat, blushing] “experimenting.” I was really excited cuz like ”holy shit, a singer from a Grammy nominated band is in love with me” but then he was actin’ so distant. Like, he’s more open with me now but before he used to be so nervous about us doing anything normal things couples tend to do, like kissing or holding hands. He even flinched whenever I’d touch him like he thought I was gonna hit him, which really hurt me cuz I didn’t know why he was seemed so afraid of me. I thought, “Why does this guy wanna be in a relationship with me if he doesn’t even want me near him?” But after we talked about it, he finally admitted to me that he had some pretty bad relationships in the past. One cheated on him, the other left him, and his last one was a douchebag who not only beat him for years but told him to stay in the closet for “the sake of his career.” Now that pissed me off cuz I’ve been told that by other agents before when I was tryin’ to come out as bi. That last one really stuck with him though and he became so afraid that our relationship could possibly turn something like that, that he thought maybe keepin’ some distance between us was the better option. Needless to say, I completely understood what he was goin’ through and I know now he wasn’t tryin’ to hurt me by doin’ that. I love him and I wanna make sure he knows that. So we went slow, felt the waters for a bit, and here we are. I know I’m not gonna fix him overnight but I swear, if I ever find that fucker who hurt him, I’m gonna make sure he’s in for a world of pain when I’m done with him. People who hurt their partners like that deserve to be thrown under the jail.

I: Where did you two first meet?

A: We actually met at the Kentucky Derby. I’m not too big on fancy shmancy events like that plus I couldn’t drink at the bar due to my contract, so I walked around the venue for a bit. We bumped into each other, I fell to the floor, didn’t know who he was so I was gonna yell at him to watch where he was goin’ but then I met his eyes. And just… wow. What an image. For a second I thought I must’ve stumbled onto Olympus cuz there was no way this guy wasn’t some sort of god with how pretty he was. As fans swarmed around him like bees to honey, he just took me by the hand, ran with me to a secret spot outside the venue, and we talked. As we were waiting for the race to end, I realized that he was just a normal guy. Well, as normal as a singer in a famous band would be. Sure he was a bit… off but he was sweet and kind and clearly passionate. He’d get excitable whenever he talked about his favorite horror movies and it was fun to be with someone so… I dunno, filled with life, I guess. We ended up talking that entire day. He even gave me a handful of several month old Lucky Charm marshmallows he found from his pocket when he led me to my hotel room. [sighs] He was so adorable… Still is too.

(Picture of 2-D and Ace at the London Underground on Sept. 25th, 2018)

I: Aww, how sweet. How would you describe 2-D as a partner?

A: Since we’ve started dating, he’s grown to be pretty affectionate. He’s not as physically affectionate as I am, but he always makes sure to tell me that he loves me. He’s still getting used to saying it out loud, but every time he does, he gets real stoked about it. It’s almost like when a little kid starts learning a new word and gets all happy when they say it right. He’ll say it at the most random times too. Like, he’ll look at me while I’m working and just go. “Did I tell you I love you today? No? Well, I do. I love you. I love you a whole lot.” and I… oh, it just makes me melt, man…Sometimes, he forgets that he already asked me so then he asks me multiple times a day if he said that he loved me or not and it just makes me so giddy every time he does it. He also likes to tell me he loves me in his own unique way too. Like, he’ll make me a cup of coffee or he’ll sit down to watch me work while he spitballs song ideas. Then, he’ll just give me knick knacks he found from some store he was shopping at. He used to do in order to celebrate some small milestone in our relationship but now he just does it to say he loves me in the corniest ways possible. One time, he slapped down a pack of blunt shaped birthday candles on the table and straight up asked me, “Are you made of weed? Cuz I think I’m getting high off you.” It wasn’t even my birthday. Like, how the hell am I supposed to respond to that? How can I not smooch the guy all day long? I mean, c’mon! That’s just too much for one guy to handle. I swear to god, at this rate, Stuart’s gonna end up givin’ me both diabetes and a coronary with how sweet he fuckin’ is. Ugh… I can’t stand it!

I: Well, it seems like the two of you are very happy together.

A: [hums happily] Never been happier with anyone else…

I: Now, onto talking about the band you’re currently in. How did you come across the Rejects?

A: Well, it’s kinda embarrassing. About a month after I left Gorillaz, I went on this huge spending spree. [scratches his chin, laughing nervously] I admit, the popularity went to my head a lil bit. I mean, back in the ‘90s, I was a teen star from some popular reality TV show. I’d never seen that much money before in my life! Mainly cuz my ma kept it all until I turned 18 but that’s besides the point, this is about how I met the band. Thankfully I wasn’t too broke yet so I started going to all kinds of concerts that month. One day, I went to this one event Snake really wanted to go to. We went together and that’s when I met the Rejects. They were initially supposed to perform at Demon Dayz LA but I heard from somewhere their performance got cancelled due to tech issues and instead they performed at this festival to fill in an open slot. They turned out to be fuckin’ sick! I loved their punk rock, indie rock vibe and I later met up with the robot girl afterwards. She and her bandmate turned out to be pretty cool. We found out we both like the same indie musicians like Little Dragon, Jack Stauber, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, even Florence and the Machine. We partied with them all night long but as they were about to leave, I found out that they were living from their van in order to make ends meet. I felt band cuz I knew what that life was like in my 20s. Now I couldn’t exactly afford two roommates at the time with all the spendin’ I was doin’ but I knew at least by next month I would’ve been fine as long as I didn’t go overboard. So I invited them to my place as my roommates. They refused at first but after a few days they took up my offer and we’ve been roomies ever since. I: How did you end up becoming the bassist for them? A: When they were just staying at my place, I kinda became their business manager. Not on purpose, just mainly out of knowing my way around Townsville and some of the more popular spots in LA so it just kinda happened…? I don’t remember when exactly I later became their bassist officially but there was this one time I performed at Townsville Park’s open mic night and performed with my friend Archie Sutton and his band, Some Other Guys and they flipped out. Cynthia especially was freakin’ out cuz she so hyped to know that I could play bass when she struggled for years to do it. She asked me to play on a few their songs and that’s how I became their bassist. I: How would you describe your experience with the Rejects so far? A: It’s been really fun so far! I glad that I’m playing music again with the people I care about the most. I can’t wait for people to hear our stuff once the EP comes out. I: What is your favorite track from the EP by the way? A: Definitely “runaway.” Has probably one of the best bass lines I’ve ever done aside from Sorcererz on the Now Now. The track has this very ethereal sound to it that just ties the whole thing together, in my opinion. It’s eerie but soothing, y’know? Cynthia and Lenny told me that the track was inspired by the Satoshi Kon film, Perfect Blue while thematically, it’s all about finding yourself and the fear of not knowing if someone will still love you in the end of this long, hard journey. Although I feel like that message is only heightened thanks to 2-D’s synth work and all the little flairs he put into it. I think the way did it turned this song into a… horrifyingly beautiful lullaby. I’m just more amazed by how well it turned out in the end.

(runaway. Promo Cover)

I: Well we’ll certainly check it out once it’s released. Now I’ve asked this before with some of the others but how would you describe your bandmates? A: They’re cool. I: …Um, i-is that it? A: Well, I dunno what else to say other than that… they’re cool. I think… I: Right… Well if that’s all then I guess we’re— A: Actually, no. Sorry, that’s a lie. I guess, if I could go on a bit of a tangent it’d be that Cynthia kinda reminds me a lot like Buttercup. The OG one not the reboot clone. I: I’m sorry, the what-? A: I know that’s a weird thing to say but really, she does. She’s spunky, outspoken, and has absolutely no filter. We’re probably the only two band members that butt heads. It’s all in good sport though, nothin’ truly hateful or anything. Although she does smack me with a stray cable from time to time. Also, was no one gonna tell me that she was cyborg version of Noodle? Noodle? Like, how much more badass could you get? With a mouth gun, that’s how! Also, Lenny’s pretty chill. He’s kinda like Russel but instead of giving infinite words of wisdom, he’s the whole mom friend package. He makes sure we always stay on schedule, he packs us snacks occasionally during practice… He also has a pretty good sense of hearing too. It’s insane what kind of tones he’s able to pick up just from listening to me play. He’ll give me pointers on what notes would help improve the song and even encourages me to riff more which I was never confident in doin’ before. Overall, pretty swell guy. I: Okay then, I think that’s all we have for today. Is there anything else you’d like to add? A: Umm… nope. Not really but thanks for having me! [shakes interviewer’s hand, door heard opening] Hmm? Oh, hey ‘D. Ready to go? 2-D: Yep. I found a new skatepark we can go to if you wanna try out rollerblading with me. A: Eh, I’ll try. Can’t make promises that I’ll be any good though. 2-D: Oh don’t worry about that, Ace. You’re still learning! You’ll get the hang of it someday. Now let’s get going. Cuz I dunno about you, love, but I’m famished. A: [laughs] Okay, ‘D. Shouldn’t you tie your shoes first? I don’t want you trippin’ over yourself aga— Hey, wait a minute are those the new slip ons I gave you? 2-D: Yeah! You were right, they are pretty comfy. I Thank you, I like ‘em a lot. A: [gets flustered] Uhh, good! Yep! I’m glad. Mmm-hmm, that’s great. 2-D: Oh no, you’re gettin’ all pink again. Need me to get you some sunscreen? I: Tune in next time where we’ll be interviewing the forth and final member of the Rejects, “Lenny.” What are his origins, who is he really? See you soon!

[sanctum-of-ramshackle]

Habits of The Master

Context: Even though Miyeon is far from home, that doesn’t kill her habits she inherited from her Appa and Mama.

[A/N]: Some of these habits are based from Korean/Russian superstitions.

[Edit]: I’m terribly sorry for everyone who read these scenarios. They were posted last night, and I was tired so I didn’t check for grammatical errors/missing dialogues. Hopefully these edits are better than before.

[Ramshackle Sanctum, 1:30 p.m.]

Miyeon: Hey guys! Ready for some awesome spells?

Deuce: Yes, Sensai!

Ace: I’m ready to blow stuff up.

Miyeon: *Come to realization* 잠깐만. You need to take your shoes off first before walking inside the Sanctum.

Ace: *Confused* Why? We always wear our shoes in our dorm and other dorms.

Miyeon: True. Except this is my dorm and I’m telling you this as your professor/Dorm Leader/friend. Also do you know how filthy the floors are if you keep tracking in dirt from the outside? What else did you step on before coming here?

[Flashback of Ace and Deuce stepping over red paint and the flamingo area.]

Deuce: You have a point…

Miyeon: Take them off. I have these cute slippers I found online.

([A/N]: Just pretend Miyeon has blue and red sets of these slippers. Also here’s the link if you’re curious.)

[During Lunch]

Epel: I want to be stronger and more manly.

Miyeon: *Drops off a large-sized bento box filled with assorted meat and vegetables* You need the protein anyway. Your body isn’t going to help if another Overblot happens.

Epel: *Cries of happiness* Thank you, Miyeon.

Vil: *Horrid from the size of the bento* Choi, do you know how many calories are in there?

Miyeon: Vil, give the little man a cheat day. He probably only weighs a couple of apples, and with his body shape, I’m concerned he’ll snap like a twig.

Vil: And you know this by what claim?

Miyeon: My older cousin from my father’s side broke their leg while on a strict diet, lacking some muscle. They were about to audition to join a group with HY*E Entertainment. Sadly they didn’t make the cut after the incident.

Epel: Wow, that is terrible.

Miyeon: Last I heard from them, they’re doing okay.

[Idia’s Room, 1:47 p.m.]

Idia: *Drowsy from the heat and sweating because of an broken A.C.* So hot… *Turns on a fan before going back to his gaming session*

Miyeon: *Opens a portal to his room* Oppa! What are you doing?

Idia: *Freaks out* Ah! M-Miyeon! Why are you opening portals this late?

Miyeon: I can’t help but be concerned for you. Are you going to leave the fan on after gaming and then sleep?

Idia: *Scared and confused* Yes. Why?

Miyeon: *Nods in disapproval* I’m not letting you have a Seonpoonggi samangseol.

Idia: *Baffled* A what?

Miyeon: After gaming, you’re sleeping in the Sanctum where I have A.C. If there was a funeral for your honor, I can’t move on from the fact my partner died by an electric fan.

[At the Library, 3:45 p.m.]

Miyeon: *Feels her ears heating up* …Who’s talking sh*t about me?

[Meanwhile]

Crowley: That young lady thinks she can curse at me?! I’m the one who sheltered her since night one. I’m Oh-So-Kind enough to let her in as a professor! I’m-

Crewel: Dire, don’t move.

Crowley: Hmph! Why should I not move?

Crewel: You will thank me later if you don’t say another word.

Crowley: Now I can’t speak?

Crewel: Dire, just listen.

Crowley: I am listening. What is it that you’re warning me about?

Miyeon: *Holding up a hammer* Me~

Crowley: *Turns back to see Miyeon* OH! Choi! What brings you here? *Nervous as hell*

Miyeon: Somebody is talking behind my back. The ears don’t lie.

[Through the NRC Halls]

Miyeon: *Feels her lips itching* Oh. Guess I’m receiving a kiss today.

[2:35 a.m. The same night after Miyeon warned Idia about the Fan Death superstition.]

Miyeon: Oh, I forgot one thing.

Idia: What is it?

Miyeon: *Stands on her toes and kisses him*

Idia: *Frozen in place while blushing with tips of his hair turning bright pink*

Miyeon: Idia? Hello? Player 1? My Universe?

Idia: *Snaps out of his trance* Oh! What was that for?

Miyeon: Sorry about that. My lips were itching this morning.

Idia: What does that have to do with a kiss?

Miyeon: My Mama told me it’s a superstition back in Russia when if your lips are itching, you’ll kiss somebody soon. So I kissed you. *Smiles fondly*

Idia: *Blushing more* Y-You used a cheat code on me? No fair…

[mcheang]

Bad vibes

I have no idea what this is....

With all of Lila’s bragging, is it any wonder her class tries to avoid her. She always has to top up whatever accomplishment they’ve done and make them feel small

Lila notices that the class seems to have nothing to want to do with her. She suspects Marinette and asks if they believe that she is a liar.

The rest assure her that is not the case

Lila: then why is everyone avoiding me?

Alix: because you won’t stop bragging. You keep butting into others’ spotlight and won’t give the rest of us our time to shine.

Lila gasped, fake tears on her face. “I just wanted to say I could introduce you to my friends in the fields you are interested in.”

Mylène: don’t take this the wrong way Lila. But that only needs one sentence. We don’t need (or want) to hear your whole story

Lila apologized and promised to never outshine others again. Her phrasing was a lot more tactful.

This didn’t feed Lila’s need for attention. So if she cannot outshine others, she can just find more audience.

And true, other students were interested about this well-connected girl. It seemed like she was friends with every celebrity they were interested in.

Unfortunately, the students had better things to do than spend their free time listening to Lila talk. After the first or second time, each eventually moved on.

Rumors spread that Lila was the girl who knew every celebrity and that she didn’t mind telling gossip about them.

Giselle loved all kinds of gossip but even she got tired of Lila’s non-stop blather.

Giselle: is it alright if you write a blog about all your adventures? Because reading would be a lot faster.

Actually, why didn’t Lila think of that before?

She started her own blog: Lila’s Life that included photoshopped selfies of her with celebrities, fake links to her charity drives, and (for once) genuine accounts of different cultures

Giselle thoroughly enjoyed the gossip and told her sister about it.

Giselle’s sister frowned. It’s a fanciful blog but where’s the plot?

Giselle: she’s not some YA heroine, sis. This is her real life.

Giselle’s sister snorted. Yeah right. Haven’t you been fooled enough by accounts pretending to be celebrities? How can you believe such nonsense?

Giselle: why is it so hard to believe? Lila’s from the akuma class. They may be akumatized a lot but they do have connections.

Giselle’s sister: yeah, but this blog is just unbelievable. You’re telling me that some diplomat’s daughter is friends with over 100 celebrities? I bet that model Adrien doesn’t even know that many personally. And he also travels for work, mind you. He is much more likely to meet celebrities than a diplomat’s daughter.

Giselle frowned. True...

Giselle’s sister: and if she’s really friends with celebrities, then why don’t their official accounts follow hers, let alone follow this blog?

Giselle: ...

Giselle’s sister: don’t be so naive, little sis. I’m saying this for your own good.

But Giselle was still curious, if Lila wasn’t special, then why was she in the akuma class?

Giselle asked Marinette herself.

Marinette: please stop calling us the akuma class, we’re not all well-connected. Other classes have plenty of students with connections

Giselle: Adrien and Chloé are children of well known public figures. You design for Jagged Stone. Kitty Section performed on TV. Nathaniel has his own comic series. Nino is a working DJ. Alya is known for her blog. Need I say more? Everyone in your class is known for something.

Marinette: maybe Lila is a future actress.

Giselle: then why isn’t she in the drama club?

Actually that was a really good question.

Marinette even went to Lila to ask why she didn’t join the drama club since she is so good at acting and wants to be famous. It was a truce moment.

Lila: you think I don’t know I would ace every audition? I was the star of every drama club I joined. But that’s all. My mother would never consider the idea of letting me tryout for real film roles or theatre productions. We would not be able to stay in the area for that long.

Marinette: but from what I heard, your mother is barely at home. Why can’t she let you stay in a country by yourself?

Lila: because I’m still too young for that. And why bother getting lead role admiration when I get more gratifying ones with my lies.

Marinette: except your audience is tired of the whole “Me, Myself and I” routine.

Lila shrugged: I have back up plans (aka donation scams)

Marinette was trying to see some good in Lila. “Did you ever audition for small films.”

Lila: I go big or go home.

Marinette: Alya’s blog isn’t exactly what I would call big...

Lila shrugged. “It still received a lot of attention. Besides, I’ve seen the others act. For the record, you sound wooden when you were about to kiss Adrien.”

Marinette bristled and tried to rein in her temper. “Why not audition for Nino’s upcoming film project? Isn’t it better to be famous for something you actually did than to be popular over lies that will eventually get discovered”

Lila: I was going to anyway.

Marinette: and by the way, aren’t you worried about haters when your lies are exposed?

Lila: celebrities have haters too. It doesn’t bother me. I’ll be gone by then. Your plan to get me to stop lying isn’t going to work. So I would quit now if I were you.

Marinette sighed. She tried.

Lila did attempt her donation scam thing, only by now Giselle had spread the word that Lila was possibly a liar. It also didn’t help that she went to her blog and realized the donation link was a scam.

Lila blamed Marinette for it but the class pointed out that her endless tales were just getting too ridiculous to be believable.

[dreamii-yume]

New Episode Update Let’s GOO!!!

Warning : This is just Yume having a mental breakdown, seriously. This episode update was WHACK.

~ MAJOR SPOILERS FOR 68-75 ~

I know we ain’t participating and all but the game reminding you that there’s 10 minutes left to prepare is seriously bad for my heart.

Aah, shiet. Vil is still hurt.

He still has small wounds and scratches that he hid make up. Daddy, I’m worried.

Apparently, yeah, I’m not the only one cause my homeboy, Epel just asked to switch the center role with Vil. THE CONFIDENCE.

Aw, he’s worried about him falling over during stage (And make the performance look bad) Come on, Epel just be honest-

...He finally became the ideal poisoned apple that Vil wanted, huh?

Vil being proud a mom.

But the queen inside him is STRONG.

He’ll embrace the villain in him, OUR QUEEN CAN STILL GO. INJURED, WHO?

...AAND he proceeds to roast Epel again lol Typical Vil.

I love how Epel just accepted a nickname like “Doku Ringo-chan” lol It’s so cute, senior-junior relationship goals right there.

HERE WE GO.

Everyone is actually really confident hahaha

I really wish Deuce’s mom, Ace’s brother, Jamil’s sister, and Vil’s dad were here in person to watch.

HECK I WANT KALIM’S WHOLE FAMILY HERE WHY NOT

T-THEY’RE REALLY LETTING US HEAR THE FULL SONG. 

IS THAT JAMIL RAPPING.

Look at Jamil’s solo SD dancing. LOOK AT IT.

I really fucking love Vil’s singing voice aaa

HIS VOICE IS SO GOOD.

Album when disney.

Is Vil okay.

...aight im hearing some high quality panting here

...dont mind me listening to it a bit too much...

...they’re going to be great reference for some spicy- leave me alone

Vil panting is making me feel SOMETHING.

ANYWAY. THE CROWD IS A MOOD.

IS VIL OKAY.

Unmei no megami is giving me idia ptsd here.

Heartslabyul Senpais are watching their kids, looking all proud *sniff

Oh god, after playing Obey Me, it just occurred to me how similar Cater and Asmodeus’ voices are...

Watch these Senpai dorks act like Ace and Deuce’s second family. Trey being the dad, Riddle being the mom, and Cater being the supportive big bro. It’s so beautiful.

Riddle’s voice is a lot more softer now, I just realized...It’s so soothing...

God i miss u too octavinelle never change

Yeah, why tf did Floyd not audition for this

Bro, can you imagine Nobuhiko Okamoto in the squad as well??? IMAGINE-

Of course, he wasn’t in the mood back then. Of course. Why did i even ask.

IMAGINE FLOYD BEING IN VDC NEXT YEAR.

Omg i miss u too octavinelle never change

Azul’s gonna overblot again with Floyd’s marketing skills lol

Jade coming in like welp i guess thats that. Too bad, huh Azul?

GOD i miss u too octavinelle never change

SAVANA BITCHES HI

I wonder if these mfs knew that Vil just overblotted and malmal was the one who fixed the stage lol

oooh Leona’s sus about something he a sharp boi

Speak up my guy—

still so weird leona taking his job seriously

Malleus looking happier seeing this performance rather than Lilia’s lol

I miss the simpery in Sebek

Silver’s not in the verge of falling into a coma for once wow

Chenya’s so cute.

AND WE’RE BACK TO CUTE HEIGH HO TEAM

fcking shotacons man...im not one to talk

Aw, they didn’t show Neige performance...

The simping in the crowd is a MASSIVE mood.

WHO WINS TELL ME

These night raven fuckers better vote for us and not pull a “oh shie my hand slipped lololol” i swear to god- im gonna throw hands

*me holding my phone and pretending to vote as well

Suspense music intensifies be like-

HAAA

BOIS, ITS ONE VOTE DIFFERENCE WHO IS IT AAAA

WHAT.

HOW DARE- HOW!? HOW DID WE LOSE!?

WE LOST BY ONE VOTE!?

EVERYONE’S SO SHOCKED LOL

vil pls dont overblot again-

Noooo grim’s tuna cans-

WE REALLY LOST TO A LEGIT KIDS SONG.

These children do not have the right to be this cute. I wanna take Timmy, Toby, and Shelpie home.

I swear to god one of these dwarves sounds like Cheka lol Is it Toby?

EPEEELLLL DONT CRRYYYY

KALIMMMM DONT CRRYYYY

KALIM HAVING THE AUDACITY TO SOUNDING LIKE A BIG BROTHER AND THEN CRYING HIS OWN RIGHT AFTER LOLOLOL

I HATE THIS EPISODE YALL MADE MY TWO BOIS CRY IM FIGHTING THIS EPISODE. BURN THIS.

This background music too though im deeeeddd

KALIM IM SO SORRY FOR MAKING A SINFIC ABOUT YOU PLS DONT CRY-

Jamil impressed about Vil being “calm” and Vil just going “h e h. you dont even know.”

....ha...

Monsieur Rook. WHAT did you say.

ROOK VOTED FOR ROYAL SWORD. Are you kidding me. You snek how could you- i loved you

WHAT DID I SAY- Ya’ll night raven fuckers shall not slip by their fingers when voting rook.

Vil is in the brink of passing out aaaaa

I have never heard Ace this pissed before whoa- lol he sounds like Deuce in his delinquent mode

Aw...Rook felt that Neige’s performance carries a stronger bond than theirs :’( it’s hard to put the blame on him when he’s saying all these stuff

It’s just like what they said in the past episodes that it’s really hard voting for your own team when you know the opposing team is better.

Aww...He just wanted Vil to believe in himself more...Rook is such a best man. Im crying-

Oh noooo is Vil gonna cry too nooo- daddy turned to baby really quick SOMEONE GIVE HIM AN EMERGENCY HUG

Well- at least...at least the 100 year record of not being able to win is still going, yeah? Um...bad joke? Sorry, i’ll see myself out-

NEIGE NOT NOW AND YOUR VII-KUN BULLSHIT- we’re having a moment here

Neige is such sweetheart but aaaahh— This makes it worse, we can’t even hate him aaa—

OMG JUST WHEN I THOUGHT THINGS COULDN’T- AAAAA

MONSIEUR ROOK. YOU’RE A FAN OF NEIGE!?

MOTHERFUCKER just got exposed by Neige himself lol

Going to Neige’s shake hand events, sending him letters, buying all his merch and shie- HE’S A FULL BLOWN NEIGE STAN

WTF YOU SNEK GET OUT OF THIS SCHOOL-

OOOOHHH THAT FUCKING ALBUM- HIS “LIFE’S WORK” or whatever bullshit IS FULL OF NEIGE

...actually- my japanese is lacking- im not sure lol what is a ブロマイド??? Lol I feel like a clown.

Rook is sweating profusely LOL

...what do you have to say for yourself, monsieur rook.

Wait- huh is that-

IS HE GONNA CRY-

WHY IS EVERYONE CRYING!??!?!?!

HE’S SILENTLY CRYING AS HE INTRODUCED HIMSELF TO NEIGE WHAT. THE. FUCK IS THIS EPISODE.

Neige fanclub??? Eternal Snow??? What kind of creepy-ass- OH, HE EVEN HAS A MEMBERSHIP NUMBER TOO-

Props to Neige with his :) expression unfaltering.

I’m- I’m speechless.

Vil is just looking down at Rook in disappointment like- “you’re more pathetic than I am”

Queen just went “I think you need this handkerchief more than I do now” THAT’S RIGHT. REPENT MOTHERFUCKER.

Rook crying is cursed.

But damn, I’m kinda liking this new relationship this bitchy relationship they have

Neige just dragged everyone’s ass back on stage and his snow white energy just said “LETS ALL BE FRIENDS AND SING”

NEIGE IS FUCKING GREAT- HE REALLY DID GOT THESE BITCHES TO SING HEIGH HO LOL

ACE’S RELUCTANT SINGING AND DEUCE LOOKING LIKE HE’S HAVING FUN

KALIM IS SUCH A MOOD, SINGING EVEN WITHOUT KNOWING THE LYRICS AND JAMIL JUST HAVING THAT “i want to die” ENERGY

AIGHT. ROOK IS HAVING WAY TOO MUCH FUN AND EPEL IS TRYING HIS BEST. HE’S SO CUTE-

OMG NEIGE AND VIL HAVING SUCH GOOD HARMONY—

YAHOO Y A H O O TANOSHIINDA~~ 

YA’LL SURE ABOUT GIVING ME THIS BLESSED MOMENT??

What a somewhat happy ending, even though Rook just backstabbed us I’m crying Beauté 100 points!!!

LOL Vil realizing he’s having fun singing with Neige- “SOMEONE JUST END ME RIGHT NOW-“ The desperation in his voice-

I love how Neige’s yahoo yahoo is messing with everyone’s head, even Vil wants to pass out lol

haha Crowley is so depressed lol

WHA- WHO-

HEADMASTER OF ROYAL SWORD!?

He looks like your typical grandpa- and his outfit looks like that one mickey mouse wizard outfit but blue—

Old man just went “we won lol” just to piss Crowley off I like this guy’s energy already-

Crowley being most likely as old as this guy—

ooohh this man just sensed something in this stage- Leona did too, didn’t he???

* Damn. Crowley talking so fast sounds like he’s making a load of bullshit lol

Anyway, I’m just glad that it’s not mickey mouse who’s the headmaster— I would’ve lost my shit.

We’re back in our dorms and I forgot that the squad doesn’t live with us anymore. It’s suddenly so lonely now...

Grim is getting the yahoo yahoo ptsd too lol it’s too goddamn catchy

oooohh shiet- mickey is calling us again

YES we finally got a good picture of this motherfucker

It seems like nothing is disrupting our communication this time, so MC thought to call Grim but—

Grim is not here.

Uuhhh...Grim? Where you’ve gone??? We’re getting flashbacks of the first parts of the game.

We went out to find Grim and HE’S CHOMPING ON ANOTHER BLACK STONE ON THE STAGE-

GRIM SPIT THAT OUT YOU LOOK TERRIFYING

AAAAAHH GRIM HAS GONE FERAL— He’s attacking US

Is this because we didn’t win his tuna canss nooo

NoOO SWEET BABY COME BACK.

Legit I’m sad, please baby don’t overblot like this...

He learned a new move though- SCRATCH

Ooh— We’re seeing some Ignihyde scenes here~

P U H I H I

Idia getting a lot of emails from bigshot companies whoa—

THAT OLYMPUS—?! EXCUSE ME??? Ortho what- Are we finally getting that Hercules episode—

Damn getting a hot chance in olympus only to put them down the recycling bin oof— Idia why edit : Yume was informed that olympus is kind of a company that sponsored VDC sorry she was mind-fucked at this moment and the ability to understand proper Japanese just went whoosh lol Thanks to @starshiningsirius for pointing it out for Yume~ ♥︎ HONESTLY YUME’S JUST GONNA WAIT FOR ACTUAL PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATORS AT THIS POINT LOL Don’t trust me for important situation too much lol

Aaaahh...We’re getting this shut-in out of his room in the next episode, are we?

And that concludes the whole Pomefiore Episode! JESUS CHRIST 75 CHAPTERS ALL IN ALL!? How long is the Ignihyde chapter going to be, huh!?

This was a really, really fun episode lol I’d consider this a fan service episode actually cause of all the things we get to experience— The singing, dancing, and the new songs, THE DRAMA. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

But then, the plot thickens, no? What’s going to happen to Grim? In the Ignihyde episode? And those reoccurring memories of us? And our relationship with Tsunotarou lol ALSO WE NEVER REALLY DID FIND OUT WHAT ROOK’S UNIQUE MAGIC IS. DISNEY EXPLAIN—

Thanks for reading this shitpost of Yume losing her shiet lol See you all in the Ignihyde Episode~ ❤

[leelaihardly]

Ch. 2. That Stupid F*CKING ugly Sweater

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 3]

Rhett nearly choked on his Reuben when he got the call at noon on the dot.

He knew that voice anywhere. It was the man himself.

"Heya Rhett. Did I wake ya?" he chuckled.

"Mister Neal?" Rhett found himself saying.

Dumbass. He thought loudly.

Link laughed.

Worth it. He thought softly.

"Yup, last time I checked. Can I trouble you to come down to the studio tomorrow?"

Rhett was unable to make sounds come out of his mouth.

"Y-yes!"

"Bright and early, fresh and clean."

He'd got it.

He'd got the job.

The rest of the day was hazy, he was warm and excited all over, Link Neal's voice lingered in his ears replaying what he'd heard him say on the phone.

"You're too tall for our setup so we'll have to make some adjustments but, hey, any man worth his belt buckle who can work a mouth guitar like that..."

Rhett's brain was in static mode all day that day, like he'd eaten a fistful of pop rocks. Fast forwarded through a week later of hasty good-byes, apartment hunting (he settled on a place with woefully low ceilings but they were pet-friendly and he wasn't that picky). Anyways, with any luck he'd be spending most of his waking hours at Mythical Valley Studios. With Him.

"It's really happening, Barbara. Here. Bite me so I know I'm not dreaming." she licked his hand.

"Good enough!" and he was out the door.

Lady Luck was fickle and Rhett was running late as fuck.

Fuck. Shit. Shit Shit Shit.

Rhett cursed in his mind. Catastrophic thoughts tumbled around in which he entered MV Studios in increasingly embarrassing ways. Panting, then pantsless, then on fire, and worst of all, one in which Mister Neal flat out told him he could take this job more seriously or he could get to stepping. He stumbled through the lot door after security check and ducked inside. Nobody was in the hall except a bearded intern with a blase expression who pointed to a room labelled 'CR1.'

"Sorry I'm late I-"

Rhett had expected the room to be running like the efficient machine it had been on Audition Day. All quick shuffling and curt gesturing, beeper buzzing and walkie talking. But here was a room with sceneries painted on the walls where seemingly the entire staff was sat round a huge wooden table, yawning and curling their sleeves around their hot coffees in the AC. Unmistakably sleepy but curiously chipper and amused for Hollywood folk up at the asscrack of dawn.

"Do we still have that old Ringmaster Chase getup?"

"Nah," said a blonde woman in a backwards cap that said 'crew' "Chase borrowed it last week for date night, didn't you, Chase?"

Chase quipped back "Yeah, only cause Jen's Postal shorts needed ironing."

"Oh, Fudge you." said the woman, Jen, rolling her eyes but failing to hide a crooked smile.

Nobody had noticed him coming in except Link, who got up.

"Well hey there sleepyhead. Glad you could join us."

Mister Neal was all smiles, his tone teasing but light,

"Was startin to think you'd gotten cold feet and split on us before we even got started."

"Sorry I'm late I-"

"Hey, hey- don't apologize. You're here aren't ya?" Link eyed him over his glasses.

"Yeah I...I guess...yeah." Rhett finished lamely. Link shook his head and chuckled.

"Stevie saved you a seat. Siddown. It's table read time." He clapped his hands together and took his seat.

Rhett sat next to Stevie, 3 seats away from Mister Neal. The table had no 'head'. It was circular, wooden and covered with scribbles. But the body language of everyone in the room as they adjusted to Link sitting down made it obvious. Mister Neal was the power source of the whole operation. The reason all these different people were gathered at this unholy hour. There was a reverence akin to sitting in church pews, a common mission and a sense of taking things seriously, side conversations broke up as people read their scripts, there were no notes passing and whispering and shushing and chiding. A joke was to be shared with the room, any source of laughter scribbled into the margins wherever possible.

Rhett'd just had to shift his whole perspective and accept that the storybook Valley was just that- a fairytail. And then suddenly here was this company that felt more like the friendly woodland neighbourhood than his own hometown. He'd been thrown for a loop again but one that had him feeling the not-unpleasant swooping sensation of being on a coaster.

Link cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses and read the show intro.

Rhett read his few parts. It basically boiled down to doing a guitar riff when Mailperson Jen delivered the mail, and was provided a sheet music template to work off of (he scoffed internally, he knew the Mail song forwards and back and probably blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back too).

"Ooh, I like the sound of that." said Link.

"Wha- oh."

Rhett came back to himself in time to notice he'd been drumming his pencil absentmindedly on the desk to the tune in his head. He stopped automatically, the conversation in the room lulling as some of the cast turned around. Link giggled.

"Why'd you stop? It was just gettin' good!" he emphasized this point by clinking his spoon against the side of his coffee mug.

Rhett blinked, then got back into his rhythm. He didn't know what was happening but they were having some kind of a jam session, Link throwing in some ad libs and Rhett switching between random items on the tabletop, experimenting on the acoustics.

This was so weird.

This was so fun.

Light was starting to stream through the one window. Link's eyes sparkled. Link's voice sparkled. Everything about him. His laugh made Rhett laugh which made Link laugh more, tipping his head back. Rhett felt like his own head had been dipped in a stream of warm bubbly Topo Chico. Stevie was looking between the two of them with a queer smirk. Rhett was just about to reach for a rubber band when he heard shattering ceramic-

Link jumped back from the hot splatter of coffee. Rhett somehow found himself half out of his chair.

"Ah shoot!"

"Ah shit!"

They said simultaneously. Link shot him a look, sucking his scalded ring finger.

"Rhett! Potty mouth!"

"Sorry."

The bubble was burst. Link straightened his sweater and went back to his seat. He didn't make eye contact with Rhett again for the whole meeting, and Rhett checked every chance he got, risking glances over the top of his sheet music.

An hour later Rhett was shuffling out of CR1 when a voice behind him stopped him in his tracks.

"Rhett... can you hang back a sec?"

Link sure had a way of asking questions that felt like commands.

Rhett turned around to face a still-seated Link, halo'd from behind by the brightening outside sun.

"I got a little homework for you, Rhett."

"H-homework?" Rhett said. What was it about the measured tone and tented fingertips that made him stammer like a schoolboy.

"Yep." Link said, still flicking through the script. "Please try and tamp down on your little naughty language issue."

"Now, I'm not partial to rules," he went on, continuing to not look at Rhett, "but we do like to keep things Y7 here on set just because, well, you never want something like that to slip out at the wrong time." He was looking outside now, he lost himself in thought for a minute before whipping back around, still silhouetted.

"I worked long and hard making MV a reality and keeping this world," he gestured around him, "Squeaky clean." he emphasized this latter bit by wiping the spotless table top.

"You wouldn't want to jeopardize that, would you?"

Another not-question question.

Rhett's answer came directly from his gut to his mouth, bypassing his brain.

"Of course not! Uh, Mister Neal."

Link's silhouette was dark but Rhett could feel a spreading smile. Could feel those eyes finally, finally lift up to look at him again.

"Wonderful."

That night. Another dream.

One of those cliché first-day-of-school dreams Rhett had often. Usually ending with him getting tarred and feathered and called Big Bird or missing the final free-throw of the championship game.

But this one was different.

When he got into class his teacher wasn't wearing his usual button down with the pit stains, he was wearing a sweater. An ugly sweater.

"....Mister Neal?" he heard his own voice, squeaky and pubescent.

Embarrassing.

"You're late." came the reply. Severe but calm. He paused his writing on the board but did not turn around.

"Shit." Rhett blurted, "I'm sorry-"

Mister Neal's posture stiffened. Lowered the piece of chalk and placed it carefully on the rack.

"Rhett." he said, "What did I say about cussing?"

"S-"

"And," he began turning around, "what did I say about over-apologizing?"

Rhett's chest flooded with -something -something frightening and effervescent.

Mister Neal stalked over to him and looked him in the eyes.

The something was straining against his ribs, threatening to spill out. Suddenly the voice was soft,

"Should I put ya to sit in the corner or should we get out the ol' bar of soap and make that dirty mouth of yours squeaky clean?"

Rhett was being asked to pick his punishment. He knew which one he wanted, uh- preferred- weirdly drawn to the scenario that involved more attention from his mentor. I guess, if he had to walk home burping up bubbles it'd be worth it to have Link's voice in his ear.

"S-second one." Rhett spoke. His voice suddenly low and gravely.

"You're not a kid, Rhett." Link said, and Rhett realized he was his normal (abnormal) height again.

"You're a man." Link said, the quarest tilt to his head and tinge to his tone.

"If you're really sorry..." Link said, closing the space between them and hooking a finger into the collar of Rhett's shirt, trailing it down and grazing a button that was just begging to be unclasped.

"Show me."

Rhett woke up to his alarm radio blasting some pop entirely too synth-y for 5am.

He knew he'd had another dream because, well, yeah.

Again.

Worse this time.

As much as he tried to summon that fantasy during his morning shower nothing came to him except the word 'soap'.

You're literally in the shower, dumbnut.

This new (old) apartment smelled damp, with only the light from a dusty window streaming in but Rhett didn't care. For the first time in ages he felt like he was home. He was excited to go to work. To be fair, he'd only had minor experience doing ride repair for a small town amusement park, which involved more cleaning puke out from between gears than he'd like to remember.

"Bright and early, fresh and clean." he said aloud, shooting a look at Barbara who was eyeing him as he toweled off. Her face probably meant to telegraph 'food now.' but Rhett read it as a smug 'Are you actually quoting your boss?' followed by a sophomoric whip-crack sound effect that would probably be hard for a dog to do.

"Yeah yeah," Rhett admitted, "I know."

Rhett prided himself on a lot of things none the least of which was his ability to pick something up and become an expert. Former friends would roll their eyes whenever they sensed the start of a 'Rhett rhant' or a burgeoning interest that would no-doubt eclipse Rhett's field of interest for the next 6 months.

His current fascination with Link Neal was not so short-lived, it had been a lifetime in the making. And now he was finally getting the chance to observe the man, the myth(ical) the legend up close and personal. The first lesson learned was how to make him laugh. The only downside to making Link laugh was not being able to fully take him in when Rhett's own eyes crinkled shut. He got a little kick of satisfaction whenever Mister Neal noticed him watching him across the conference table.

He liked seeing other sides of him like, okay, wow, Link Neal is terrible at multitasking. He calls raisin bran crunch his 'healthy snack' but picks at tomatoes or olives when they get catering, and (this one was Rhett's favourite) tells the crew to stop cussing but apparently likes dirty jokes when they're from Rhett.

Link likes the way Rhett plays the guitar when they sing the mail song. Rhett's off screen and finds it way easier to focus without that gaze on him.

Link likes this loud Rhett but he also likes how soft Rhett's voice gets when he's playing Damiel the 'woof', asking precocious questions while Mister Neal patiently explains how a train works ("Awh, no, Damiel, trains don't make cotton candy clouds, that's steam off the engine".).

They sometimes go a little off-script cause Link Neal (Link motherflippin' Neal) flubs a line and instead of re-taking it Rhett calls back to it in a way that makes Mr. Neal giggle. Stevie calls cut but they're still 'in character' teasing each other about a joke about tunnels.

"It'll go over the kids heads, keep it in." Link jokes.

"Keep it in.' he says" Rhett adds, risking a wink and earning a playful knuckle-tap to his shoulder.

It was addictive, watching Link's cheeks turn as pink as his lips, curling into a smile that could break into a giggle laugh if you were lucky enough, funny enough. Rhett wanted to catch that laugh like lightning bugs in a jar, take it home to keep at his bedside for the long weekends between episode shoots.

Currently he was tucking in to sleep with a white noise machine and a new (durable, he was told) alarm clock and something that'd jumped out at him from a bookshop window 'discount' display. "Pocket Dream Dictionary: Your Guide to Unlocking the Subconscious" was printed in faded lettering (hence the discount).

"Write down your dream details as soon as you wake up for best results" the first page had said, which was as far as he'd read so far.

Settling onto his pillow and looking at Barbara on her doggie bed who was eyeing him skeptically.

"Eh. Worth a shot." he answered and was out like a light.

[wonniesmile]

❥ i-land (the entry test)

⤷ ellie takes on her very first mission in i-land, the entrance test.

⤷ word count: 1.4k+

⤷ warning: this is all purely fictional, none of the arguments and conflicts within this series is a true reflection of the trainees. everything you read is made up from my pea-sized brain.

“good lord, am i in a dream?” ellie was sure she was lost, i mean that’s what she thinks at least. who knew getting into the actual building was gonna require physical strength and mosquito repellent?

“i just gotta follow this path and i should be-“ she trips on a stick, luckily enough, she had time to catch herself, “anyways...that was embarrassing.”

“ellie hwang, our only girl trainee.” bang pd introduces ellie to the panel of producers, “a very determined trainee, may i add, i wanted to add her to the lineup solely because i know how much potential she has and just how much she can bring to the team.” the producers laugh as ellie takes a stumble, “she’s got the visuals- again...where are you finding these trainees? they are all so good looking!” rain mentions. bang pd chuckles, “i want you all to pay attention to her dancing and singing, she is very talented.”

“holy he-” ellie slaps her mouth to prevent cussing, “this is huge!” she says to herself, flailing her arms around, “now how do i-” suddenly, the enormous doors open, “oh my god.” she stands in awe, “this has to be a dream.”

through the screen, the panel of judges laugh at ellie’s cute commentary, “her personality would be great on variety shows.” zico adds.

ellie walks through the doors, “here goes nothing.” following the path, she rubs her arms to soothe herself, “relax babe, you can do this.”

she arrives at the last stretch of the path, the actual entrance. squinting her eyes, she notices that all the trainees’ eyes were on her. upon further observation, she realizes that she was the last one to arrive, ‘great’ she thinks to herself, ‘just what i needed.’

from the other side of the room, the applicants have the purest shocked expressions on their faces. “oh my god” one adds. “a girl trainee?!’ another one exclaims. the room was filled up with a sea of murmurs and flustered faces. “does anyone know who she is?” a trainee by the name of seon asks, “no, i’ve bever seen her around before.” another trainee by the name of k replies.

“they all look so shocked seeing her enter, this probably surprised them all.” rain comments and bang pd lets out a low chuckle, “yep, the last thing they were expecting was for a lady to show up.” they turn their attention back to the monitor, where ellie was just stepping onto the platform, “has she been a trainee at bighit?” zico asks, “no, ellie was a trainee from a different company a year ago before she left and signed with us, so no trainee really knows her.” the producers hum to show that they understand.

back in the room, ellie steps onto the white platform, confused. the white...thing...suddenly starts moving forward and she yelps, the applicants all giggle at her reaction. ellie sheepishly holds her hands together in front of her, feeling embarrassed.

she finally arrives at the main platform, getting a better look at the trainees. she knew none of them, of course, it was what she was expecting. hopefully they get along well.

she looks around, finding an open seat next to a young boy, not looking too far from her age, dressed in a pink shirt with some black slacks. the two make eye contact and he looks away. ellie cautiously walks over to the open seat and sits down. she introduces herself to the people around her, including the boy with a pink shirt, “hi, i’m ellie.” she holds her hands out, “i’m ni-ki.” he says accepting her handshake. the two went silent for a bit. there were still some eyes on ellie, but she ignored them. “so, did you three come together?” she asks ni-ki and the other two next to him, wanting to break the ice, “yeah! we did!” hanbin, who she had learned about after ni-ki introduced the other two applicants sitting next to him. she realized he had a cute accent, indicating he wasn’t originally from here. the four of them make small talk. ellie learns that hanbin was from vietnam, nicholas was from taiwan, and ni-ki was from japan. ellie mentions that she speaks japanese immediately after ni-ki announces that he was from japan and his eyes light up. they didn’t get too much time to converse in japanese before an alarm rang.

the lights suddenly glow red and the floor lights up. a voice suddenly appears out of nowhere, explaining the rules of the entrance test. the room was again filled with mumbles. ellie takes deep breaths to calm herself down, “you can do this.” she says to herself. she closes her eyes to find a quiet place in her head, free of distractions.

“we’ll now begin the vote.” choi seon has finished his performance, marking the very first entrance audition of the day. ellie looked around, reading people’s faces. some looked skeptical, some were blanking out, and others looked...confused? “if choi seon deserves to go into the i-land, then raise your hands.” ellie, yet again, looks around for some reassurance. she doesn’t want to raise her hand, but something was telling her to. noticing that others were raising their hands, she carefully raises hers as well.

some time went on and more applicants went on and off stage, some feeling defeated, while others looked accomplished. before she knew it, she was the last one left, ‘great job ellie, way to go third!’ she thinks to herself. listen, she WAS going to go third, but there were already so many people competing for it, so she ultimately decided not to.

“she’s going up.” seon announces. an uneasy tension filled the room...ellie felt it, but why was it there? rubbing her hands on her thighs, she walks up with confidence. she told herself she could do it and she WILL do it (and ace it, might i add).

stepping up onto the stage, ellie’s breathing becomes unsteady. “not right now, ellie.” she told herself. putting her hand on her chest, she takes three breaths while closing her eyes, finding that serene place. once she feels her body relax, she turns around to face the applicants. checking to see if her mic was working, she introduces herself.

“hello everyone! my name is ellie and i am 16 years old...mmh...my strengths are dancing, singing, and speaking new languages.” she takes a breath, “please enjoy my performance!” she bows and moves to her starting position.

“you said earlier that ellie has a very determined attitude?” rain asks bang pd, “yes, i would say she does. no matter what challenge she faces, she always finds a way to overcome it and keep going and i think that is a great trait for when performing on stage.” the producers nod their heads in approval.

ellie takes one last deep breath to ease her tensed muscles. quietly mumbling a, “fighting!” to herself, she waits as the first beats of itzy’s ‘dalla dalla’ starts playing.

(ellie’s performance- 0:00-1:40 & 2:12-the end)

the last ‘ding’ is heard through the speakers as ellie reaches her ending point. heavily panting, she waits a bit and smiles, she did it. moving back from her position, she bows and says thank you to the other trainees. she didn’t get to see everyone’s reactions...but boy were they amazed.

“that was such a stable performance! especially from an energy-depleting dance like the one she performed, not many can manage to sing that well!” rain compliments ellie’s performance. “i can see why you were so adamant in choosing her to be in i-lands lineup.” bang pd smiles to himself and nods his head in agreement.

“we’ll now begin the vote.” the voice through the speaker says, ellie feels her body tense, again. she looks off into the audience, not really sure what to expect, “if ellie deserves to go into the i-land, then raise your hands.” she squints her eyes, trying to get a better look at the trainees’ faces. her face goes in shock as she sees a majority of them raise their hands for her. she smiles, “the participant ellie...gets into the i-land.” the voice announces. she smiles even wider and claps. bowing down, she yells a thank you to the applicants and then shoots back up with a somehow even bigger smile on her face.

“adorable.” a trainee mentions.

she walks back excitedly to her seat and bites her lip to prevent any more smiling, “see ellie,” she starts to herself, “that wasn’t so bad.” ellie couldn’t help the grin tattooed on her face, this was going to be a fun ride.

[sparkkeyper]

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Word Count: 3,797

Warnings: None    

Summary: Old habits die hard. Crowley and Aziraphale’s habits are very, very old. Building their own side is difficult when 6000 years of instincts won’t shut up. 

(Originally very loosely-based on the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" but then it kind of did its own thing, haha. I was originally going to post this for Advent  Omens but uhhh you can see that didn’t quite happen. Written as ace but you can read it however you want, really. Guess what fools, it’s Soft Boi hours again!)

(Now on AO3!)

-----------

The snow had started early in the day. When Aziraphale arrived at the Mayfair flat it was just a dusting. But the flurry had become a proper snowfall, and then quickly decided 'go big or go home' and transitioned into a flat-out storm.

This didn't phase the two immortals in the slightest, of course. If anything, the swirling flakes outside made it feel even cozier inside. Crowley's sleek, minimalist flat had grown a fireplace for the occasion, and a very surprised new chimney on the roof of the building found itself venting smoke that somehow managed to bypass three floors.

They sat together on the plush sofa (obtained at Aziraphale's insistence several months prior, on the grounds that he wasn't going to continue coming over if there was nowhere comfortable to sit, and Crowley couldn't have that) and drank wine and talked and laughed and reveled in the feeling of being cozy and warm on a cold, blustery day.

Time had traveled on in the usual manner since Armageddon failed to happen. The two of them were unwinding slowly. Thousands of years of looking over shoulders did not evaporate in an evening, benevolent Antichrist or no, and 'our side' was a concept they were still carefully exploring. But what a glorious exploration it was.

There was no limit to the amount of time they could spend together. It was a dizzying concept that they were both adjusting to, but one that carried a thrill through it all the same. Crowley had been sorely tempted to buy tickets to every concert, play, and musical revue London had to offer and do nothing but attend shows for the foreseeable future, the two of them together. In public. He very well might have done too, if Aziraphale hadn't talked him down amid giddy chuckles. "We have time," Aziraphale had reminded him, and Crowley was ecstatic to realize that it was true.

He had relented to two a week.

It was elating. They stood closer together, they sat beside each other on public transportation rather than one behind the other, they gave each other teasing nudges with elbows.

And sometimes - when they were both at least a bottle in - one of them might even bump their hand against the other's, and fingers might intertwine, and an electric tingle would flood Crowley like a live thing, and most importantly neither would pull away for at least two solid minutes and oh wasn't that alone worth saving the world for?

Crowley spent a previously-unheard-of amount of time at the bookshop and Aziraphale's face always lit up like the sun whenever he walked in. He arrived early, stayed late, sometimes didn't bother going home at all, often showed up with wine or snacks, and they were together and it was wonderful. He had fallen asleep on the bookshop couch in the past, but these months he got the impression that Aziraphale had zoned the piece of furniture as specifically his. There was a permanent place set aside for him in Aziraphale's home, in Aziraphale's life. It made a warmth pool in his stomach to think about it despite the creeping winter chill.

Aziraphale had begun to visit Crowley's flat in return. The angel had never once set foot in the place until the night after the airfield - Crowley had never given him the address, to be fair - but now that permission had been granted Aziraphale was here increasingly often. It was so like the easy evenings at the bookshop, just with more austere surroundings. Music, alcohol, debates and memories and slightly drunken speculation. The occasional temporary twining of fingers. It was good.

It was overwhelming sometimes, this new 'good'.

Aziraphale always left the flat at the end of the evening, usually around ten. He had no reservations whatsoever about chatting until dawn in the bookshop but the flat was a new environment, Crowley supposed. Possibly something to do with propriety.

Possibly something to do with thousands of years of distance that they were both still figuring out how to cross.

But that was Aziraphale, all right: as slow and steady as a glacier when it came to his set, comfortable ways. So much had changed in the past few months and the angel had had to adapt quickly. Crowley didn't begrudge him taking a few things slow. Old habits were hard to break and their habits were very, very old.

Crowley understood well how shadows could linger even in the bright daylight. It was all well and good to say he was off Hell's payroll. It was another thing entirely when instinct crept up on him screaming that he needed to watch his back, to sit a row behind Aziraphale on the bus, to have forty excuses ready for when Dagon came auditing. It took considerable effort to override those instincts and remind himself that 'together' was okay. It was allowed. And still he'd so far only managed to turn the volume down on them, not silence them completely. He didn't know if he ever would. Crowley didn't doubt Aziraphale had similar instincts of his own. If the angel felt better setting himself a curfew, Crowley certainly wasn't going to judge.

But tonight they were here, and warm, and sheltered from the blizzard. As 'retro' had begun to slide back into style, Crowley had picked up a sleek addition to his stereo system that was at once a record turntable, radio, tape deck, and CD player, with added Bluetooth capability for good measure. Strains of Vivaldi swam through the room from a vinyl, mingling with the crackling of the fire and the clinking of wine glasses. Aziraphale was settled deeply into the sofa, his posture several steps short of perfect which was how Crowley knew he was truly relaxed. Crowley, as per usual, was draped over the couch like he'd never seen one before in his life, as though he had too many limbs and didn't know what to do with them all. It was good.

Life was good.

It was a little after ten when Aziraphale spoke up. "It's getting late." His voice was a bit distant as he looked out the window, snow glinting in the reflected light as it fell. "I suppose I ought to be going."

There was a note of regret to his voice, a lack of conviction in his eyes, that Crowley had learned to read over the long years of the Arrangement. A smile pulled at the corner of the demon's mouth, covered up easily by another sip of wine. It was a very old game they played, treading carefully along the outside edges of things that could not or should not be said aloud. Expectations, angelic ones in particular, built a lot of barriers. Aziraphale wanted something that wasn't allowed him - or wasn't supposed to be allowed him - and couldn't bring himself to reach out and grasp it. It was Crowley's job to find ways for him to justify the forbidden something to himself.

In the subtle language they shared, the angel was asking Crowley to tempt him, and how could Crowley pass up a request like that?

"Awfully cold out there," the demon drawled, gesturing languidly toward the window with his wine glass. "Snowing like nobody's business. Wind and ice and subzero chill. Terrible night to be out in."

"I'm sure it's not so bad."

"Not so bad? It's been raging for hours! Look at it! It's knee-high! You expect me to try and drive my poor car out in that mess?"

Aziraphale raised an eyebrow at the demon. "Ah yes. Imagine if humans invented other forms of transportation aside from your horrid car."

The demon's argument was all bluff and they both knew it. The Bentley could slice through the snowdrifts like a hot knife through butter if Crowley wanted it to. It wasn't the strength of the argument that mattered - it was whether or not Aziraphale could twist it to bypass the metaphorical roadblocks. Crowley rose to the challenge by sprawling back on the sofa with a smirk. "Other forms of transportation? You mean a bus, in weather like that? And good luck finding a cab out there, angel. City's practically shut down."

Aziraphale stood, giving his back a tentative stretch. "I could walk, of course. I've done it loads of times. It doesn't take much more than twenty minutes, not counting the care that has to be taken for ice."

"Walk, he says!" Crowley tossed back the remainder of his wine like a shot glass. "Think of it - the first angel in history to catch pneumonia! Bad job I'm not working for Hell anymore; they'd give me an award!"

"If doing those temptations in Qashliq for you didn't give me pneumonia, I'm quite sure nothing will."

"Are you ever going to let that go? It was over four hundred years ago!"

"It was February in Siberia, no I will not."

"Suppose you did stay a bit longer," Crowley ventured, changing tactics. It was a risk, coming at the problem from such a direct angle when they were both so used to ghosting along edges. "Bookshop wouldn't go anywhere, would it?"

Aziraphale blinked at the abrupt transition. "Well no, I shouldn't think so. It's just...I mean if I don't return home someone might notice of course and well...people will talk."

Crowley leaned forward over his knees, seriously. "Angel. When, in two hundred years in that bookshop, have you ever given a single fuck what your human neighbours think?"

Aziraphale drew himself up with a huff, and Crowley was delighted to see familiar indignation winning out over nerves. "I am an upstanding member of the community, I'll have you know. And it's not just my neighbours, of course - it's yours as well. That little old lady who lives on the floor below, for example. She always gives me that look when I pass her in the lift."

"What look?"

"You know! That look! Like she thinks she knows what's going on between the two of us."

The demon grinned like a Cheshire cat and gave a suggestive wiggle of his shoulders just for the expression it painted across the angel's face. "You're worried that my neighbours are going to think you and I took a tumble in the sheets?"

"They already suspect! Or at least she suspects." Aziraphale was trying so hard to keep a straight face, but mirth glinted behind his eyes. "Do you know what she said to me as she was getting out of the lift the other day? 'Don't forget to use protection; you don't know where he's been!'"

Crowley howled, leaning so far back in his laughter that he fell off the couch.

"I don't know what's more outlandish, the idea that we're in here having a lurid physical affair or the idea that I don't know exactly where you've been."

Crowley wiped his eyes dry and held out a hand so the angel could help pull him up from the floor. "Remind me to miracle her fridge so that all her milk keeps past its date. 'Don't know where he's been' indeed."

Aziraphale fought to get his own smile under control, for the sake of his argument if nothing else. "Yes, but it just goes to show, Crowley, people do notice. And they will talk, I'm sure of it."

"Let them," he waved it off. "I've seen tissue paper with more durability than human gossip. It'll all get forgotten in a day or two." Crowley leaned over and refilled both glasses.

"Right. I suppose it will." The angel took a tentative sip and sat back into the sofa again. "Silly thing to get worked up about, really."

On a regular night that might have been the end of it. They'd had their verbal tennis, they'd had a laugh, and Aziraphale had accepted another drink. But try as he might, the angel couldn't seem to settle. There was a stiffness, a tension to his spine that would not unwind. He fidgeted with the stemware, shooting furtive glances at the window, the fireplace, the clock. 

The ceiling.

The final notes of Vivaldi faded out, leaving the room in silence, and Crowley rose to swap the record. The discomfort radiating off the angel was almost palpable and it made his own spine crawl. "Aziraphale--"

"Only, the wind really looks dreadful," Aziraphale blurted out, jolting to his feet and crossing to the window. "I really ought to go before it gets worse."

"Can't get much worse than it is, I think," Crowley countered carefully. "Best stay where it's warm."

"I don't..." Aziraphale stared out at the London skyline, nearly invisible in the storm. Pale fingers worried absently at the hem of his waistcoat. His mouth was down to a thin line and there was quite a lot behind his eyes. He looked pained. "I shouldn't impose."

"You're not imposing if I'm offering."

"It isn't...it isn't right for me to stay!"

The demon set down the vinyl he was holding, something dangerous layering his words. "Says who?"

"I've been ignoring protocol too much as it is--"

Crowley gritted his teeth, a growl rising in his throat. "There is no protocol on our side!"

"I know!" Aziraphale snapped. There was a beat of silence and the anger in the angel's face melted as suddenly as it had come, leaving his expression frustrated and upset. He scrubbed a hand across his eyes, almost apologetically. "I...I really can't...surely you understand why I can't just..." He ran a hand through his hair helplessly, eyes darting to the ceiling.

The demon set his glass down and moved over to the window.

It was a very old game they played. Crowley was good at his job and Aziraphale was good at the mental gymnastics required to fit through some of the more dubious loopholes. But every now and then they still lost.

He positioned himself in front of the principality, forcing Aziraphale to look at him.

"Angel," he said quietly, as though someone might overhear. "If you want to head home, I'll take you. You know I will. I'd just rather it be because you want to rather than because they would want you to."

Aziraphale looked truly miserable. "Crowley, you've been a marvelous host, you really have, but...I'm so sorry, I..."

Crowley stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. For just a moment the demon's face was soft, genuine. A bit sad but still impossibly fond. "Don't be." He gave the shoulder a gentle squeeze. "It's late. Get your coat, angel, it's cold out there." He doused the fireplace with a wave and stretched his back out. "Give me a moment to sober up and I'll start the car."

Aziraphale sighed, clearly frustrated at a great many things, but headed for the coat rack while the demon forced the alcohol from his system. "It ought to be fine," he muttered as the wine bottles in the corner finished refilling. "It ought to be fine. I can't explain it, I..."

"It's like someone's standing too close inside your personal space," Crowley finished for him quietly, pulling a coat of his own from the ether. "Like you're driving on the motorway and you end up in the blind spot of a lorry. There's no great outward change but all of a sudden the hairs are up on the back of your neck and your skin is crawling. And you just have this overwhelming sense of this is not a good place to be, get out."

"Yes," Aziraphale murmured unsteadily. "Yes, that's it exactly." His eyes found Crowley's, apologetic, searching.

"It is what it is, angel," he assured him softly. "We have time."

A weight seemed to lift from Aziraphale's shoulders. "I...thank you. Truly." There were things unspoken that Crowley could hear beneath that simple phrase. Thank you for understanding. Thank you for being patient with me.

Don't say that, hesitated on the tip of Crowley's tongue. Instinct was, of course, very old and very strong. He swallowed down the words and searched for new ones to replace them.

"You're welcome," he said quietly. The syllables tasted foreign in his mouth.

There was silence in the flat as he buttoned up his coat. Despite the passing months they truly had only moved the barest steps away from where they had been.

They had so very far to go yet.

But it was true. They had time.

"Right." He tried to break the mood as casually as he could, slipping dark glasses on and turning his voice into something light and easy. "Shall we be off then? After you, angel."

The lift ride down was silent, subdued. Something complicated was warring behind the blue eyes and Crowley wasn't going to even begin to touch on it until they were in the car. Aziraphale's steps faltered as he reached the glass doors of the lobby, and Crowley was halfway down the outside stairs before he realized he wasn't following.

"Oi, you coming?"

Aziraphale stared down at the space beyond the door with a peculiar expression: uncertainty and determination and anger and hurt. "I - I don't..." There was a moment of indecision, of frantic debate on his face, then he backed quickly over to the lobby bench and sat down hard.

Crowley pulled his coat tighter about himself as the wind bit through his clothes and ducked back into the building.

Aziraphale held very still, eyes closed and fingers gripping the edge of the bench.

"Angel?"

"Give me a moment. Please."

Crowley paced a cautious half-circle around him, instinctively scanning the principality for damage and the storm beyond the glass wall for threats. Another old habit - nearly useless now but one he wasn't going to be able to drop any time soon. He sat down beside the angel and the lobby was quiet for a very, very long time.

"I think," murmured Aziraphale at last, "if it's all right with you, I'd like to stay."

Crowley studied him closely. "Are you sure?"

"No." Aziraphale met his gaze. "I haven't been sure of much of anything, recently. Not since Tadfield. But I do not want to be forced back to the bookshop tonight."

"Shouldn't force yourself to stay if you're only going to be miserable."

"It's not so bad down here, that's the silly thing. But for some reason the idea of going back upstairs is just..." He laughed wryly. "What a mess I've made of the evening."

"It was a fine evening," Crowley told him earnestly.

"I thought so too, at least until the end there." He straightened, and looked a bit more like himself to Crowley's eyes. "And it's my most sincere hope that, with some more wine and another record, it might be again. Give me a few minutes. I think I can work up to it."

The demon took his glasses off and studied him closely. The determination in those eyes, the set of that jaw, were so familiar they hurt. There was a nervousness there, but there was a stubbornness as well. Like the glacier: slow, steady, but deep down so, so strong.

Crowley reached behind himself and retrieved a pair of full wine glasses that suddenly and thoughtfully decided to exist. "You know, I reckon..." he said quietly, handing one to Aziraphale, "that these will taste just as good right here as they would upstairs."

Aziraphale blinked. Glanced from his glass to the demon to the lift and back again. And his expression softened considerably.

"And if music and wine is what it takes to hang onto your company for a little longer, I s'pose that's the sacrifice I'll have to make, won't I?" He sat his phone down beside him and with a few taps Mozart began to play from its speakers.

Aziraphale stared deep into his wine glass, a smile spreading across his face that he didn't seem quite ready to share with the world yet. "A little unorthodox, isn't it?"

"And?" Crowley shrugged. "Last I checked, there's no protocol on our side."

"So there isn't. Do you know, I think I like that about it."

The demon lowered his voice. "Say the word any time, you know. We'll go, no questions asked."

"I know." Aziraphale let out a long breath and settled back onto cushions that were suddenly far more plush than anything the lobby bench had seen before. "But at the moment I'd rather be here."

The storm howled beyond the glass wall but the central heating vent behind them kept any stray chills at bay. They sat in gentle silence for a long time.

Piano Sonata No. 14 wound through the room, mingling with the warmth and the wine to kindle a sense of calm: a concoction of human magic that miracles, for all their power, could never replicate. Clever things, those humans.

Crowley traced a finger around the rim of his glass. "Can I ask what changed your mind?" he asked softly.

Aziraphale gazed off into the distance for a moment before looking back to his companion. "It was the 'you're welcome', funnily enough. You've always objected so vehemently to being thanked before."

"Yeah, well..." Crowley took another sip of his drink so as not to meet Aziraphale's eyes. "Like being in the blind spot of a lorry."

Aziraphale nodded. "It's..." He trailed off. Took a swig of wine and swallowed it down hard, as though for courage. "It's a comfort," he admitted so quietly that Crowley had to strain to hear him. "To know that it's not just me."

Crowley pursed his lips. "Not by a long shot, no" he confessed, equally quiet.

"I know accepting gratitude doesn't come easy to you. But you managed, tonight."

"It isn't a footrace, angel. I'm not asking you to keep pace with me."

"I know that. And I'm grateful. It's just... seeing you be brave makes me feel like...like I can be as well."

That smile was tugging at the edge of Crowley's mouth again. He reached out and clinked the edge of his glass with Aziraphale's. "Course you can be. Always have been."

The angel smiled back at him, warm and glowing and grateful, just the faintest hint of pink darkening his cheeks. With a daring Crowley had only seen behind the safety of closed doors and wine bottles, he placed a hand on the bench between them, palm up. 

Crowley took it.

Meeting him in the middle, as always.

"Careful, angel," the demon murmured in his ear. "Remember, you don't know where I've been."

Aziraphale gave an undignified snort into his wine glass and their laughter echoed throughout the lobby.

The storm raged cold outside, but here, in their own little in-between place, they were warm.

[rickybowensfever]

Sicktember - What If Ricky Bowen Missed Auditions?

Decided to do @sicktember last minute! I’ll be doing some for HSMTMTS and with my ocs! 

HSMTMTS 

Sick at School/Work

Strep Throat/Laryngitis 

Faking It 

 SUMMARY: Ricky isn’t ready for the Math test on Friday. Follow Ricky through the days following up to the test as he pretends he’s sick, but gets himself sick by accident causing him to miss auditions for Beauty and the Beast. 

 “Class. Don’t forget, this Friday is our first Math test of the semester. We’ll be reviewing on Thursday. I’m passing around review worksheets for those of you who want to study” the woman announced. 

Ricky groaned looking over at Big Red sitting across from him. “A test, already?” 

“I’m sure it’ll be easy! It’s only what we’ve been learning so far” Big Red told him. 

“Guess I’m going to be sick” Ricky said, smirking at his friend as he put his folder into his bag and zipped it up for dismissal. 

“How do you know that? Oh, no. You’re not sick, are you? I can’t get sick. This is my first time auditioning for a room full of people and Ashlyn would be so upset!” Big Red said, panicking. 

“No. I’m not actually sick. I’m just going to happen to be too sick for the test on Friday” Ricky winked at his friend. 

The bell rang dismissing them from school. Big Red and Ricky walked out to the hallway to catch their rides home. Carpooling with Nini, Gina, and Ashlynn 

“You’d rather not take the test? You’re going to have to make it up anyway” Big Red suggested, confused about his friend’s decisions. 

“I know I’ll have to take the test. But, it’s two days away, no way I’ll be able to ace it by then. I just need...time” Ricky explained, waving at Nini as she stood by Ashlynn’s mini van. 

 “Hey guys!!” Nini exclaimed, smiling big at the boys as they walked through the student parking lot. 

Ricky smiled softly at his girlfriend as they all climbed into the van. Ricky sat next to Nini while Big Red sat in the back, Gina in the passenger seat. 

Ricky cleared his throat. He had thought about his approach since his teacher announced their test. He was a master of pretending to be sick. His dad wasn’t very strict which made it much easier. 

“You okay?” Nini asked. 

“Yeah, fine. Just a little scratchy. Probably allergies” he said, smiling at her. 

Nini nodded looking through her bag for cough drops. “Ooh, here!” she said, pulling out a honey flavored cough drop. 

“These always help,” she said, handing the cough drop to him. 

Ricky nodded, “Thanks”. 

Ricky tried to study for the test in his room just in case his plan fell through. But, he was too distracted. He would rather practice his lines for his audition for The Beast on Saturday. 

 He grabbed his script and cleared his throat. Pacing around the room as he read the lines aloud. 

He heard a knock at his door, startling him. He jumped, almost dropping his paper. “Come in” he said, letting out a train of coughs. 

“Hey, sorry. I just made dinner. You alright?” Mr. Bowen said watching his son coughing into his fist. 

“Uh, yeah. I was just rehearsing. Sometimes this happens” he lied. 

Mr. Bowen chuckled, “Alright. Pasta is down stairs when you’re ready” he said closing the door. 

Ricky sighed. “That was not my plan” he muttered. Maybe the weather changing would give him an advantage? He thought. 

 After he ate dinner with his Dad, Ricky went back to working on his Math problems when his phone started ringing. 

Nini is requesting FaceTime. 

Ricky jumped and clicked accept immediately, clearing his throat again. 

“Hey! Throat still bothering you?” she asked, raising her eyebrow. 

“Yeah” he said, pouting. 

“That’s not good. Maybe you need voice rest?” she pondered.

“I don’t think it’s that serious” he said, “anyway, what’s up?”

“Not much. Just finished game night with my Moms. Just wanted to say Hi” she said smiling into the camera. 

Two Days Before the Test (Wednesday)

Ricky got to school feeling exhausted. The first thing he did when he got to the cafeteria was sit with his friends and lie his head down. 

“Ricky? Are you okay?” Ashlynn asked him, looking at the boy who was usually hyper and talkative. 

“I haven’t been sleeping. Just need to close my eyes” he muttered. 

Nini was the next to sit down at the table. She looked over at Ricky and frowned. 

“Ash, is he okay?” she whispered. 

“He’s tired,” the girl whispered back. 

Nini put her bag down and walked over to Ricky, sitting at the end of the table. 

“Babe? Are you feeling okay? We can go to the nurse and get you home if you’re unwell” she said with worry in her voice.

Ricky groaned. “M’tired” he mumbled. 

Nini laid her hand on her boyfriend’s forehead. 

“Okay, he’s just tired,” she said from his content forehead. 

 Ricky stayed up later than usual getting his Math homework done and scrolling aimlessly online, watching YouTube videos and getting lost in his Instagram feed. He felt horrible when his alarm rang around six am. 

As soon as he got home from school, Ricky slept up until dinner. He scrolled through his phone with worried texts from Nini. 

N: Babe, I’m so worried about you. Get some sleep, please xo 

R: I’m fine! Just woke up from a nap. Was up late doing homework. Sorry 

 The test was in two days. So, Ricky had to perform best in front of his Dad. When he went down for dinner, he started sniffling. 

“Hey, do we have any cold medicine? My nose is kinda congested’ he said, sniffling. 

“Yeah, we should have something. You feeling okay? 

“Yeah, I’m fine, really. My nose is just stuffed up and my throat has been really scratchy,” he explained. Mr. Bowen raised his eyebrows in concern, looking at his son closely. 

“Maybe you should stay home tomorrow.  Get some rest?” he suggested. “Don’t you have auditions? Would hate for you get sick for that” 

“Auditions are Saturday. I think I’m okay” he said, letting out another cough. 

Mr. Bowen stared at him. “I’ll go out and get some medicine tonight. Looks like we’re out. Seriously, if you feel sick at all, you can stay home. I don’t mind” he said. 

Ricky really had the best dad. So much so, he was starting to feel guilty. 

“I’ll think about it,” he said sniffling. “I’ll just take these,” he said, grabbing a box of tissues as he went back up to his room. 

 Ricky heard a knock at his door. Nini. Right! We were supposed to go over lines. Ricky cleared his throat.

 “One minute” he croaked, spraying his face with water to look like he was sweating and got into his bed. 

“Come in” he said, lying his head on his pillow to look like was just waking up.

 “Sorry! I should’ve called but I thought maybe we were still going over our lines?” she said before looking at her boyfriend. 

Ricky took a tissue and blew his nose hard. “I might have to cancel. My throat is killing me” he said, throwing the tissue into the trash. 

“Oof. You sound horrible” she said, taking a seat on his bed. She laid her palm onto his wet forehead. 

“Ew” she said, pulling her hand away. “Need Hand sanitizer. Lots of it”

Ricky slumped into his bed. “Sorry” he croaked. 

“Babe, if you were getting sick, you should’ve just told me” 

“I don’t want you catching anything. I need to not be sick for auditions on Saturday” he told her. 

“Oh. Don’t worry about me. I always stock up and prepare my immune system for auditions. I guess I should’ve taught you the same” she said, staring at him. 

Ricky rolled his eyes and laughed, “I’m fine, really. It’s probably nothing” he lied. 

“Oh my god” Nini said, rolling her eyes, pumping hand sanitizer onto her palms. 

One Day Before the Test (Thursday)

Ricky woke up the next morning, telling his Dad he was way too sick to go to school. After the hot-towel to the forehead trick to fake a fever, his Dad was convinced Ricky was under the weather. 

He woke up from a long nap to see his girlfriend sitting on his desk chair. He had been in and out of sleep all day, groggily texting his friends to tell them he was home with a fever. 

“Hey sleepy head,” she whispered. 

His head and throat were pounding, and he was congested.  Ugh, I didn’t mean to actually get sick, he thought. 

“Nin, you’re gonna get sick” Ricky croaked. 

“Ssh!” she said, putting a finger on her lips. “You need vocal rest” she said, putting a palm on his forehead. This time, a fever was actually present. 

“Ooh. You’re warm” she told him. Ricky frowned, curling up in his bed. 

He let out a train of coughs. His faking sick plans were over, now he was officially sick and on the road to a speedy recovery. 

“I have a test tomorrow” he muttered, receiving a glare from Nini as he continued to disobey her rules. 

“You can retake the test, you can’t retake auditions” she declared, brushing her hand through her boyfriend’s curls. 

SEE PART TWO 

[kookiebunnii]

d4u || easy employment

march 2019. jungkook had his first ever job interview today. i told him i believed in him but, to be honest, i wasn’t sure if we were going to finish a carton of ice cream on the couch afterwards because he landed the job or because he got rejected on the spot. hopefully it’s the former.

pairing: bestfriend!jungkook x reader

genre: slice of life, humor

word count: 2.6k

warnings: some inappropriate humor

“Y/N? Can you help me?”

You straighten up from where you’re leaning on the kitchen counter, popping cherry tomatoes into your mouth for a mid-afternoon snack. It was Wednesday, meaning you were able to clamber home as soon as your early morning classes ended. Biting into another tomato and savoring the tart sweetness coating your tongue, you ask, “What’s up?”

Jungkook walks up to you and snatches the next tomato right out of your fingers before tossing it into his own mouth with gusto. He smiles at the way your face immediately drops in disappointment before answering smartly, “I don’t know how to tie a tie.”

Raising your eyebrows, you give his form a quick up-and-down before immediately noticing that the boy was dressed quite differently than usual. He typically left the house in whatever oversized tee or old hoodie he could find, but this time he was wearing a nice button-up with khakis. Pushing aside thoughts of how to get back at Guk for taking your last cherry tomato, you decide instead to inquire about what the occasion might be.

“What’s with the outfit?”

He spins around once for you, just to show off, before he replies, “I’ve got a job interview.”

You laugh while washing the bowl you’d previously used to house your snack for the day. Before drying your hands on a kitchen towel, you can’t help but check him out once again. He looked different for sure, but it wasn’t like you’d never seen the kid dressed up. You practically took wedding pictures with him last month.

So why was your pulse thrumming like a teen girl in a young adult novel?

Refraining from the urge to slap yourself, which was a very difficult task, you continue, “Where at? Must be a weird place if they’re willing to consider you.”

He frowns to show his dismay at your words before he strides closer to you shyly like a child wanting approval, “It’s at a magazine publisher’s. They’re looking for a photographer, someone to provide a few shots for their articles.”

Your jaw drops and you grip the sides of his arms before squeaking in excitement, “That sounds great! That’s perfect for you.”

Jungkook seems a lot happier now that you’re as thrilled about the job prospect as he is. He brushes some stray hairs away from your face to tuck behind your ear before saying, “It sure is. My friend is one of their writers, he recommended me.”

You take hold of the bright red tie that’s casually slung around his shoulders. It’s slightly wrinkled near the middle, a likely result of Jungkook failing multiple times to correctly tie a knot. The idea of him struggling with something so small makes you giggle, and you instantly wrap the fabric around your hands.

“Good thing I know how this works. We should probably go with a black or blue tie though, it’ll go with your shirt better,” you suggest, poking him in the chest as an indication for him to lead you to his closet.

He immediately understands your prodding, turning around to make a beeline towards his bedroom door. His obedience makes you smile, so you tug the hem of his shirt in your fingers as he leads the way. It’s usually easier for you to make this gesture, given the looseness of his regular clothing. However, with the pressed shirt tucked into the waistband of his pants, there is very little give in the fabric. You’re momentarily mesmerized by the change, watching the way your hand hangs onto the back of a man, instead of a boy.

“You’re not looking at my ass, right?”

Rolling your eyes, even though you knew he couldn’t see you, you grip his shirt tighter in order to pinch the skin underneath. He yelps, trying to grab you in retaliation, but you’re fast enough to quickly dodge inside his room and start sorting through the ties hanging from the inside of the closet door.

Laughing loudly, you pull a deep blue tie dotted with smiling whales off the hook and wave it in front of your best friend. Jungkook runs a hand through his hair before replying, “That was Jin’s birthday gift last year.”

“He has good taste,” you muse, giving the comedic tie another glance before returning it to its place. The fact that Jungkook had the tie sitting alongside his others, ones that are definitely more practical, says a lot about him. Even if he would likely never wear the thing, he respected his senior enough to keep the present. Under the typical silly and absentminded behavior of your roommate, he has a good heart.

“Should we go with the black one?” he suggests, walking forward to tug another tie off the hook above where your hand was resting.

Leaning your head against the closet door in thought, you examine the fabric in his hands before giving him a curt nod, “It’ll do.”

Seconds later, Jungkook is sitting on a corner of the bed with his legs slightly apart so that you’re able to stand between them with relative ease. You try your absolute hardest to focus on the task at hand, and not at the way he’s looking at you. It’s silly, the way your head fills with irrelevant thoughts when you knew that you were fantasizing about a boy that likely only ever saw you as the chill friend who was easy to tease. As you slide the tie under his collar while holding your fingers as steady as possible, you narrowly miss the way his Adam’s apple quickly dips in nervousness. Even if it was an irrational thought, you wanted to believe that your touch was doing somethingto him.

“You should be grateful that back in the day, my prom date didn’t know how to tie a tie either,” you chortle, your movements a little uncertain since it wasn’t everyday you were tying ties for men, but overall your memory served you well.

He grinned, “I remember him. He was trying to kiss you the whole night.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Jungkook laughs at the clear discomfort on your face, before gently patting the side of your hip as if to apologize. His touch is brief, not staying longer than necessary, but enough for the pressure to linger against your waist. Thinking about this causes you to mess up the next step, so you curse and start all over again.

“You’ve never had an interview before. Are you prepared?” you ask, curious but mostly just trying to hide the fact that you were back to square one due to being easily distracted.

His lips press together in thought, as he unconsciously leans back and uses his hands to prop himself up. You’re forced to follow the motion, so you also lean yourself slightly forward in order to prevent yourself from accidentally choking the boy. Not that that wouldn’t be entertaining.

“I read whatever popped up on the first page of the Google after I searched ‘how to ace your interview’,” he straightens up again after noticing the uncomfortable position he’s put you in, “It’s probably good enough.”

You shake your head, clicking your tongue in disapproval. Quickly finishing and straightening the knot, you stand back to admire your handiwork before saying, “That’s not the same as actually practicing. If you’re ready, let’s do a practice run before you head out.”

He looks up at you like a startled rabbit before he tries his best to regain his composure, “That’s probably not necessary…”

“Of course it is! Pretend I’m your interviewer,” you take a seat in his bright orange gaming chair, giving it a spin just for your own entertainment.

Jungkook appears slightly out of his element, but you recognize the exact moment he makes up his mind to humor you for the time being. Immediately, the air about him changes as he straightens up. Even though he is sitting, it feels like he towers over you. You wonder momentarily if out of all the things Jungkook is good at, acing interviews will just be another on that list.  

“Welcome, Mr. Jeon. How are you doing?” you settle into your role easily, crossing your legs as you briefly compliment yourself on your own persona. Perhaps if your career in international business doesn’t pan out after graduation, you could try auditioning for a few television shows.

Giving you an easy smile, the one he usually uses on adults he wants to make a good impression on, he replies, “Very well, thank you. And you?”

Surprisingly, he answers all of your following questions with confidence and poise. Even if he briefly pauses for a few seconds to consider his answers at times, you knew that that would simply give him extra points. Interviewers usually liked signs that the candidate was considering his or her answer carefully, and not just rattling off whatever popped into their heads. You really shouldn’t have doubted Jungkook’s abilities, even if it was his first time trying something. Perhaps you’ll continue your quest of “find something Jungkook is bad at” some other time.

“For our last question, we’d like to know what you consider your greatest weakness,” you chirp, knowing that this exact question used to trip you up all the time. It was easy to make up something you were good at and try to brag about it without coming off as arrogant. However, what could you say that would simultaneously be accepted as a weakness yet not make you look totally inept? You hated this question.

“I’m too handsome,” Jungkook announced proudly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. His nose wrinkles as he smiles, and you know immediately he wants you to laugh at his comment.

You decide not to be the obedient counterpart to his comedy routine, so you say, “I’m afraid I’ll have to disagree with that one Mr. Jeon. Thank you for coming but unfortunately we will not be-” 

“You couldn’t even pretend to humor me?” he gets up to try and pull you out of your chair, which is an easy feat for him. 

“Good girls don’t tell lies.”

“And you’re supposed to be a good girl?” he replies, raising an eyebrow as a dangerous smirk tugs against his lips.

Whatever was happening, it was definitely doing something to you. His comment was definitely harmless, but given how much you were struggling with your thoughts recently, it easy threatened the wall you were trying to keep up. You bite your lip, trying to casually brush it off and think of a snide comment to counter with, but your mind refused to operate. 

“There’s still some time left,” he says after the silence drags for a beat longer than it should. You press your fingers against your cheeks to make sure you’re not beet red, as he paces over to a full-length mirror attached to the wall and starts fixing his hair. You don’t see any issues with it, but if fiddling with his locks made him feel better, than so be it. Standing behind him, you notice the way your reflection is beaming with pride. Even if you were too bashful to admit it, seeing him all dressed up with your help made you feel accomplished. You had a hand in helping him out, thus his successes could also be counted as you own.

“Don’t we look good together?” Jungkook chirps, bring you forward with an arm around your shoulders. You’re shorter than him, so the gesture looks a bit weird in the mirror, especially given the dichotomy of your outfits. Next to Jungkook’s office worker look, you look more like the casual homebody in your ratty t-shirt and shorts.

“I think it’s mainly me,” you strike a pose and give yourself a once-over.

He laughs, and you immediately smile at the familiar sound. Busying himself with packing various items in his backpack, you watch from the sidelines as your best friend prepares. You hand him his freshly printed resume when you notice it laying on his dresser. He gives you his mumbled thanks while scanning to room the ensure that he hadn’t forgotten anything else.

“One last thing.”

You unbutton the cuffs of his shirtsleeves, rolling them up so they end just under his elbows. Smoothing out any remaining wrinkles from your ministrations, you look up at him with a satisfied expression. He observes your newest addition before deadpanning, “What’s this for?”

“It looks better this way. Haven’t you seen those memes about how men get ten times more attractive with their sleeves rolled up?” you muse, reaching up in an attempt to squeeze his cheeks but your victim expert dodges away at the last minute.

“How could I be more attractive though?” he teases, striking the same pose you had earlier in front of the mirror.

“Alright that’s your cue to leave.”

He chuckles, slinging his backpack on his shoulder and heading out of his room. You follow him dutifully, hoping to at least see him out the door. You can feel the tiny buzz of anticipation along your arms, knowing that Jungkook had to face the upcoming challenge on his own. You knew he could do it, but you worry nevertheless.

“Hey um, don’t make fun of me…but could I get a hug?”

The awkward way Jungkook stands at the door, arms slightly raised at his sides in preparation for the hug he was requesting, almost made you melt on the spot. He was comfortable with physical touch for sure, but he had never really asked you for a hug like this before. It was like he had this big boy image he wanted to portray daily, but you suppose that he must be even more nervous than you are if he’s willing to shed that in front of you—even at the expense of you teasing him about it for the next month.

You don’t answer, holding back the usual quip you’d throw at him. On a normal day, perhaps you’d coo and slyly ask him if he’s turning into a soft baby boy, but you knew that this was a serious request. Bounding up to him, you wrap your arms around his waist and give him the embrace he requested. Doing your best to convey all the joy and hope into the hug, you relish the way he holds you just as tight with his face buried in your neck. His breath tickles your hair, and you hope that somehow despite how close the two of you were, he couldn’t feel the way your heart betrayed you. Because if the proximity meant he could feel it pounding a mile a minute, then maybe he’d realize just how much more he was starting to mean to you.

“I’ll be back by dinner,” he says, patting the top of your head as he does so, before he opens the door in preparation to head to his interview.

When he turns back one last time, as if he needs one last look at you for encouragement, you give him your brightest smile and a thumbs up.

You knew in that moment that you would always be behind him—every step of the way.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

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[writeroutoftime]

dreamland

pairing: jack castello x reader (requested by: anon) 

summary: when one day you meet the charming jack castello, you never thought your relationship would be anything more than business, but as this dreamer slowly starts to break down your walls, you find yourself falling hard adn fast. though at what cost? 

warnings: ANGST, infidelity? (I mean the it’s Dreamland, like from the show)

words: 2.7k 

a/n: this was requested MONTHS ago, and I am so sorry, anon. also, I’m not sure if this is what you had in mind because the request only said “they meet in dreamland,” and this is where my mind went. but, I’ve spent a lot of time on this story, and I’m very proud of it. I know that hollywood and jack castello doesn’t get a lot of attention, but if you’re reading this, I truly hope you enjoy it! 

oOoOo

The warm air hit your face as you drove through the streets of Hollywood, only slowing to pull into the Golden Tip gas station as you stopped in front of extremely attractive attendant. “Take me to Dreamland?” you purred, pulling your sunglasses down.

“S-sure thing, miss.” he stuttered. There was a moment of hesitation in his eyes as he looked back towards Ernie, then, after a silent conversation, hopped into your car.

As soon as he sat down, you moved your glasses up once more and pulled out of the station, back onto the busy road. It was by no means your first time going to Dreamland, in fact, you had been a loyal customer at the Golden Tip for years. The entire drive to the hotel, you noticed the man next to you bouncing his leg up and down. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the sun reflect off his wedding band, and you sighed internally. Of course, you knew that many attendants at the Golden Tip were married, but you didn’t want to coach this rookie through his first act of infidelity.  

Once in your hotel room, the man hadn’t seemed to have calmed down at all. “So, what’s your name, stud?” you asked with a smile as you threw your purse on the dresser and began to get comfortable in the room.

“Jack.” he answered, clipped and a little shaky.

By that point you had moved to the bed and tossed your shoes to the side. “Well, Jack, I’m y/n, and you don’t gotta be so nervous around me. I don’t bite, you know.” you teased.

“Oh, I know.” he said as he wrung his hat nervously between his hands. Then, he set the hat down and took a step towards you until he stood over you seated on the bed. He leaned down and kissed you, but there was hesitancy and an air of awkwardness as he did so. It wasn’t that Jack was a bad kisser, but you could tell it felt obligatory on his part.

Breaking the kiss, you placed your hands on his chest. “Jack, it’s alright.” you told him gently. “First day working for Ernie?”

“That obvious?” he asked, hand running across his face.

“A little.” you admitted but rushed to added on. “But that’s good. Means this damn town hasn’t taken your morals yet.” you told him, your tone becoming cold and harsh at the end.  

“What do you mean?”

There was a moment of hesitancy as you tried to think of the best way to express your thoughts. “Well, you’re still wearing your wedding band, so obviously you have some sense of responsibility, and you’re just trying to make ends meet however you can. Wanna tell me about her?”

His eyes shot open in surprise and he looked like he didn’t know how to respond. “Uh….”

“Alright, maybe that wasn’t my best idea.” you chuckled, then an idea popped in your head. “How ‘bout this, Jack? We just talk. I’ll still pay you for your time, but I don’t want you being uncomfortable. Oh, and we’ll say that our relationships are off the table.” you explained and stood up to grab your cigarettes before you sat back down and draped your legs over the nearby chair. “So, what brings you to Hollywood?”

“Well, I-I wanna be a movie star.” Jack said and sat down, already beginning to feel less uncomfortable.

“A movie star?” you asked, intrigued. “Would I have seen you in anything recently?”

“No, not yet. But I’m trying to get my break and become a contract actor at Ace Pictures.” he explained and accepted your offer of a cigarette.

“Well isn’t that something. I can see it, you know.” you said before you took a drag of your own cigarette with a thoughtful look. “Your name, up in lights on that big screen. You’re gonna make it big in this town. Just don’t forget yourself.” you warned – and that wasn’t a lie. You had been in the town long enough to know that Jack had the charm, looks, and charisma to make it big, but at what cost?

Jack studied you before he spoke. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Well, what did you mean earlier when you said this town hasn’t taken my morals yet?” he questioned, blue eyes scrunched in confusion.

For the briefest moment, you closed your eyes to choose your words carefully before you spoke. “You know how it is. People come out to Hollywood with only a dream and the clothes on their back, they sell their soul to get their shot, and if it fails, they’re kicked to the curb like yesterday’s trash.” you explained with a wave of your hand.

“And are you speaking from personal experience?” he egged.

“I thought we agreed not to talk about our relationships.” you reminded him with narrowed eyes and a teasing smile. “Now I may not be the biggest fan of this town, but I do love a good movie. So, what’s your favorite?”

The next few hours passed as conversation flowed easily between you and Jack, and the darkening sky told you that you had stayed at the hotel longer that you originally planned. Somewhat reluctantly, you drove Jack back to the Golden Tip and handed him the cash as he stepped out of the car.

“Thanks for the chat. See you around, movie star.” you said, and threw him a wink before you drove away.

oOoOo

The next time you pulled into the Golden Tip, you made sure that Jack was the one to take you to Dreamland. He already seemed less nervous, and once more, the two of you spent the whole time lost in conversation. There was something about Jack that was just so intoxicating. From the way he spoke, you could clearly tell how passionate he was and how he still saw the good the world had to offer. 

There was an even deeper sense of connection when Jack stopped accepting your money. This was, of course, ridiculous in your eyes, and you still found a way for Ernie to slip him the cash each week. Not because that’s all you saw him as, but because you knew Jack was trying to make ends meet. But despite the voluntary lack of payment, Jack would drop everything each time he watched your car pull in. It didn’t take long for the other attendants to understand that when your car pulled up, Jack would be the only one to greet you.

It was a little longer than a month when Jack finally took the initiative to kiss you again. It was unexpected, but heated and passionate. However, you quickly pulled away and rested your hand on your chest as you panted to catch your breath. “Are you sure you want to do this, Jack?” you questioned, wanting him to know that it wasn’t anything you expected.

“I’m finally taking you to Dreamland.” Jack breathed, huskily, and kissed you once more.

Clothes flew to the floor and you were enthralled by the passion and the ecstasy that Jack brought you. Afterwards, the two of you laid side by side under a thin sheet, and you couldn’t help the way your finger traced patterns over Jack’s chest. Although every nerve in your body was telling you not to, you couldn’t help the way your heart had started to soften for Jack. It was a dangerous situation to get yourself into, but love was a risk all in of itself. You and Jack stayed at the hotel later than you normally did, and even once you had dropped Jack back off at the Golden Tip station, you couldn’t get him out of your head.

Of course, it had been his brown hair and dazzling, blue eyes that you had first been attracted to, but it was the story behind his smile and his refreshing optimism that had that drew you in and trapped your heart when you were completely unaware. Even the way he spoke of his passions for film began to soften you heart and thoughts on Hollywood, something you never thought would be possible. He gave you a sense of security, in which you felt yourself begin to lower the walls you had built around your heart years ago. For the first time in a long time, you showed Jack who you really were, and not your paper-thin, Hollywood creation.

Each time Jack took you to Dreamland over the next few weeks, you promised yourself it would be the last – but it never was. He was intoxicating, and even though you knew he had a wife, you dangerously let yourself imagine a world where the two of you could be together. Not only did the fact that he had a wife make you say that you were crazy, but you had vowed long ago that you wouldn’t let yourself fall in love again. However, there was little you could do and each time you saw him, you had to stop yourself from laying all your feelings out on the table. 

“So, what drew you to Hollywood, y/n?” Jack finally whispered, after one of your escapes to Dreamland, looking down at you laying on his chest, not wanting to scare you off.

At his question, your heart began to beat a little faster as the memories came rushing in. Normally, you would brush the question off and turn the conversation on the other person, but Jack made you feel safe, and you wanted to get this burden off your chest. “What brings any young, naïve girl to Hollywood, a man.” you began, and Jack sat up, with you still in his arms, to give you his full attention. “We meet in my small town and he charmed me with the glamour of his clothes and his fairytale life. He told me how talented I was and how beautiful I’d look up on the silver screen.

“Well, fast forward to me leaving my family behind, giving him most of my money to make the move out here, and then the bastard left me shortly after a string of failed auditions.”

There was an uncomfortable silence as Jack processed your words and felt fury towards the man who had abused your trust. “But everything happens for a reason, right?” you told him and placed a kiss to his bare skin. “Then I picked myself back up, opened my shop, and now I’m doing better than I would have if he had stuck around. Besides,” you added. “I’m not meant to be up on that big screen.”

“I think you’d look beautiful up there.” Jack told you and you hid your head in his chest, though your heart soared, and you savored the warmth Jack offered you.

In that moment, you allowed yourself to close your eyes and imagine a life that you and Jack could live. Happier and together, and in a world where nothing would ever be able to hurt you again. 

oOoOo

One afternoon you pulled in front of the Golden Tip, a flirty comment ready on your lips, until you realized there was a blonde attendant at your car, and not your Jack. Eyes furrowed in confusion, you feigned a smile at the man in front of you and asked to talk to Ernie. Of course, you knew Jack must have had other customers, but he always made sure he was available when you showed up.

“Didn’t the kid tell you?” Ernie asked, cigar in between his fingers.

Slowly, you shook your head, gripping the wheel tighter, nervous for what was to come out of Ernie’s mouth next. “No, I haven’t heard from or seen Jack in a while.” Things had picked up quite a bit at your shop and it was hard to find time to sneak away during the day.

“Well, he got a part in one of Ace Pictures upcoming movies. Meg, I think it is.” Ernie told you with a big grin on his face. “Can you believe it? Our Jack out there in the big leagues! Course that means he had to quit, but I don’t blame him.”

Ernie’s words faded away as you processed everything, and struggled to keep the tears at bay. While you were so proud and excited for Jack, you couldn’t help but feel let down once more, and in Dreamland this time no less`. Even after everything that happened, you were foolish enough to believe the pretty words Jack had whispered to you between the sheets and allowed him access to your heart. 

Suddenly, Ernie stopped talking as he took in your blank expression and felt his own heart ache for you. “Aw, doll, I’m sorry.” he whispered, not needing the confirm what he suspected, it was easy enough to tell. “I’m sure Jack’ll be back around soon. You know what? I’ll call him and tell him to-“

“No, Ernie.” you snapped, then wiped your eyes and looked up the man who had watched you go through a similar thing all those years ago when you first moved to Hollywood. “I’m so happy for Jack, truly. Besides, I’m sure he’s got so much on his mind, I don’t want him to worry about little old me.” you said and tried to chuckle, though it sounded more like a choked back sob.

“Don’t say that. I know that he cared for you.” Ernie rushed to say, but you didn’t want his pity. 

“I’ll be fine Ernie. Thank you though.” you said and kissed his cheek, wanting to get out of there as quickly as you could.

oOoOo

Time passed and you slowly began to heal, just like you had the first time. Once more, you rebuilt the walls around your heart – this time twice as strong. It was hard most days to think about Jack and everything you imagined the two of you could have been. Of course, you also found yourself chiding yourself for being so irrational. Who falls in love with a married man that was just sleeping with you until he got his big break?

‘No,’ you thought. ‘Jack was different. Maybe he just got busy with the movie.’ You often told yourself to feel better. There had been a lot of press (both good and bad) around Jack’s upcoming movie, and rumors swirled that he and his co-star Claire Wood had been seen getting cozy. For whatever reason, you could never find it in your heart to truly be mad at Jack. Besides, how could you compare to the lure of a contract with Ace Pictures? 

Eventually, the pain faded to a dull throb until most days you didn’t even notice.

It wasn’t until a few months later that the thought of Jack crossed your mind once more. It had happened on a late, evening weeknight as you drove around downtown, looking for something to do, when you eventually stumbled across a movie theater still playing shows. Without even looking at what the movie was, you bought your ticket and sat down in the nearly empty, darkened theater.

The moment the credits began to roll on screen you felt your heart stop. There, up on the silver screen, just like you had told him all those months ago, was Jack Castello.

The movie unfolded and you found yourself entranced by his performance. Everything you had thought about him when you met him was true – he was bold, charismatic, and meant to be up on the silver screen. The end of the movie brought you to tears, and not just because of the scene. As you watched Jack’s character passionately kiss his co-star, all the feelings you had for Jack came rushing back and you had to leave the theater to let out your sobs.

All the times the two of you had spent in each other’s arms felt like little needles that pierced your skin. The secret kisses and giggles as you checked into a new hotel room under a different alias each time. The thrill of being with Jack, and the contentment your heart felt afterwards as he protected you with his embrace. For those few hours, you always believed you had belonged to him, and he to you. 

Thinking back on it all, you felt as foolish as a schoolgirl. Had you really expected you and Jack to run off into the sunset for your very own Hollywood style happily ever after? This town had a way to make situations seem shiny and new, when it reality, it would all eventually reveal itself to be a mirage. It seemed as though your time had come sooner than you expected, and for once, you felt at peace with your fate. 

With one, final look up at the marquis, you felt a watery smile tug at your lips. “You did good, movie star.” you whispered before driving off into the warm, Hollywood night.  

oOoOo

tagging: @quilledcheese​, @theliterarymess​, @nonotespepperwood​, @lauren-lopez-blasting-off​, @dylanxobriannn (based on my post a few weeks ago)

[jenchase]

You're the one that I want

Can I interest anyone in a 2k Shoni High School AU in which Shelby plays Sandy in a performance of Grease? Also available on AO3 right here:

Toni is not a musical theatre kid, she is not even a fan. But, well, Shelby is. So when auditions for the spring play production of Grease come around and her best friend unsurprisingly gets the part of Sandy, the pure joy on Shelby’s face is enough for her to know she will be watching every single one of her performances. And when they find out, not a minute later, that Andrew, Shelby’s asshole of an ex-boyfriend, got the part of Danny, Toni without hesitation signs up to help out behind the scenes, so Shelby will not be forced to spend time with him on her own.

The weeks leading up to opening night are both Toni’s best and worst weeks of her life. Shelby only broke up with Andrew shortly before the production started, so Toni takes full advantage of the fact that she finally gets to spend time with her best friend again. However, Andrew is dead set on getting Shelby back and uses every opportunity to rehearse with her one on one. “You know, just so we have the appropriate chemistry on stage.” He claims and it makes Toni want to puke. As lame as Andrew’s attempts are, Shelby always seems to find a way to include Toni in the “scene rehearing processes”, which makes him behave as best as he can. Toni has broken his nose before and at this point, the whole school knows that she is not hesitant to do it again. In fact, there are a couple of times Shelby actively has to keep Toni from punching Andrew, when he makes a particularly stupid comment or claims that Danny should definitely be touching Sandy for some ridiculous reason. Their drama teacher, Ms Klein, reminds him that Danny and Sandy must not touch until the grand finale of the show to build up and keep the romantic tension and Toni cannot remember a time she has been more grateful for their teacher’s artistic “visions”.

The night before opening night Toni lays in her bed, wide awake and anxious. Which is absolutely ridiculous, she thinks, because she is not even going to be on stage herself and all she will really have to do during the performance is check that all the probs are where they should be backstage. But Toni also knows she is not nervous about what she will have to do tomorrow, but rather, what Shelby will have to do. It is her first leading role and Toni really wants her to nail it. Which she definitely will. Toni has seen her act at rehearsals and while she might not know shit about musical theatre, she knows that Shelby is the best actress and singer their school has seen since probably ever.

But fuck, why does the whole thing have to involve kissing Andrew? Toni really thought that her days of being jealous of that asshole were over, but here we go again.

Right before her thoughts can go spiraling down a path of trying to figure out ways to take Andrew’s place instead, Toni hears her phone vibrate on the nightstand.

Shelby: You awake?

Toni: Yeah, but why are you?

Shelby: Can’t sleep, can I call?

Instead of texting her back, Toni calls her best friend who picks up after the first ring.

“Hey,” Shelby says and sounds a little breathless.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Toni asks as she sits up in her bed.

“Nothing, nothing, just… nervous, I guess?” She hears the other girl take a deep breath. “I’m just a little scared that I’ll screw up.”

“No reason for that.” Toni answers quickly and adds with all the certainty in her voice. “Cause you won’t.”

She can practically envision how Shelby is starting to protest on the other end of the phone, so she does not even let her say anything. “And I do know that. You wanna know why?”

It takes a moment before Toni hears Shelby’s hesitant “yeah” over the line.

“Because you’ve rehearsed so much for this that you do not only know all of your lines by heart, but the whole fucking play. You could do all the dances if being dragged out the bed at 3am, which I know because you made me fucking do that to you.”

She hears Shelby giggling quietly and cannot help the smile that spreads over her face.

“So yeah, there is no way that you’ll screw things up tomorrow. You’re so well prepared, there could be an earthquake during the performance and you’d still nail it.”

“Thank you, Toni.” Shelby says and to Toni’s relief sounds a bit calmer.

“And you know what. Even in the one to a billion chance that you do mess up, it’s not going to be a big deal, okay? You’re just human and we fuck up all the time. It’s not going to make you any less of a great performer and it sure as hell doesn’t make you any less of a great person. Puke on stage, for all I care, I’m still going to be your number one fan.”

Both of them stay quiet for what feels like an eternity to Toni. So long she starts to fear she has overstepped the line of platonic love and accidentally let Shelby know that she feels way more for her than a best friend should. Her heart feels like it is beating out of her chest when Shelby speaks up.

“I love you, Toni.”

“I love you, too.” She answers without hesitation but knowing full well that they do not mean the sentiment in the same way. “You think, you can sleep now?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Shelby says after a pause.

“Okay, good.”

Neither of them hang up the phone and Toni is just content listening to Shelby’s steady breathing on the other end of the line, letting the familiar sound calm her.

“Thank you, Toni.” She mumbles and Toni can tell she is about to fall asleep.

“Anytime.” She nearly whispers into the phone and waits until Shelby’s breath sounds deeper and there is a little thud indicating that her phone probably dropped onto her pillow before she hangs up and goes to sleep herself.

***

Shelby nails it and Toni even has to discreetly wipe away some tears after watching her perform “Hopelessly Devoted to You” from the side of the stage.

She is so enamored by Shelby’s on-stage presence, she does not even realize when the girl is walking directly towards her after her last solo performance in the play.

“Come on.” The blonde grabs her by the writs and drags her along to her changing room. “I need your help to get into all that leather.”

She trips over her own feet and nearly falls on her face even though this should have not even been a surprise to her since she knew Shelby made her personally responsible to help out with costume changes. Toni tries her very best to not look and keep her thoughts at a best friend appropriate level while she helps Shelby into her leather pants.

Fucking leather pants. Jesus Christ.

“How do I look?” Shelby asks nervously, looking at herself in a mirror and ruffling through her own hair to make it look messier.

“Hot.” Toni answers quickly without thinking.

It is not like she has not seen Shelby in this outfit before. She helped picking it out for crying out loud, but Shelby is oozing with confidence right now and she has been amazing throughout the whole play and Toni is just so fucking proud of and very much in love with her. Who could blame her for losing it a little bit.

“Way too good for Andrew.” She says still impulsive but significantly quieter and definitely not with the intention to have Shelby pick it up.

She knows Shelby heard her anyways when she meets the blonde’s eyes in the reflection of the mirror.

“I’m not trying to look good for Andrew.” She starts and Toni immediately shakes her head.

“No, I know, of course not.” And Toni, still without a filter as it seems, adds, “I just hate that he gets to kiss you soon.”

Shelby raises her eyebrow at her and this end-of-play-Sandy confidence is truly doing nothing to help Toni think straight.

“You jealous?” Her best friend asks her and Toni cannot tell if she is joking or not.

Not that it would matter because Toni’s “yeah” slips out before she can fully process the gravity of the situation.

It is not until Shelby turns around and towers over Toni, with the added height from the heels she is now wearing, that Toni understands what she just admitted.

Her heart rate quickens and she knows her face is as red as Shelby’s lipstick.

“I-“ she starts, ready to take it back and apologize but Shelby interrupts her.

“You have nothing to be worried about.”

Toni stares at her with wide eyes and a slightly opened mouth, uncertain what exactly she means with that statement.

“Shelby, you ready? You’re up in a minute!” They hear Leah, the stage manager, yell into the changing room.

Toni swears she sees Shelby’s gaze drop to her lips before she steps away and follows Leah back to the main stage. Still in a haze, Toni trails behind them.

She is even more focused on Shelby for the rest of the play, only looking away when she knows it is time for the kiss between Danny and Sandy.

They get standing ovations and Toni’s hands start hurting from how hard she claps them together when Shelby’s name is called and the audience goes just as crazy as she does. And because she is absolutely whipped for the other girl, she even lets her drag out when they call her name for the behind the scenes credit. She flees the stage after a quick awkward wave at the audience and an attemptto bow and rushes to pick up her opening night gift for Shelby which she carefully hid in an unknown corner behind the stage.

Toni does not move back to her regular place at the side entrance to the stage where she knows all the actors are going to leave soon to head to the dressing rooms. Instead, she stays at the back, carefully watching the crowd of performers for Shelby.

She is one of the last people to leave the stage, together with Andrew, who tries to get her attention but the Shelby seems more interested in looking around in search of Toni. She smiles brightly when she spots her and makes her way over, not giving Andrew a second glance, who thankfully and finally acknowledges his defeat and walks to the dressing rooms.

Toni’s heart leaps in her chest, as her best friend comes closer and for a second she thinks the bouquet of Shelby’s favorite flowers was a really bad idea, especially with the potentially friendship ending behavior she has displayed earlier.

“What are you doing back here?” Shelby asks with a puzzled look but an unwavering smile.

Toni’s words get stuck in her throat and before she can chicken out, she brings out the flowers from behind her back and holds them out to Shelby.

“You were great.” She miraculously manages to get out and takes a little pride in the way Shelby’s cheeks turn red.

She takes them from Toni with all the tenderness in the world but holds them to the side to pull Toni in for a hug.

“Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.” Toni says with her head buried in Shelby’s neck.

“Come on.” Shelby says and for the second time tonight drags her to her dressing room.

With the brighter light and lack of time pressure, because Shelby does not have to be on stage again in a couple of minutes, Toni cannot help but take in Shelby’s entire appearance with more detail. All that leather clearly distracts her enough to miss how Shelby locked the door and by the time Toni’s eyes reach her face, she knows she has been caught.

“Are you going to help me out of these? Or would you rather keep staring?”

Toni is sure that the amount of blood rushing to her face right now is enough to make her head explode. She panics before she can see the smug smile on Shelby’s face.

“I’m so sorry, Shelby.” She looks everywhere but at her best friend. “I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. I’m gonna go.” She says quickly and heads to the door with a lowered head.

Unfortunately, Shelby is blocking her escape route and contrary to what Toni expected, the blonde does not seem to want her to leave at all if pressing her up against the door is any indication for that.

“Shelby?” Toni creaks out and does not even recognize her own voice with her best friend staring her down intensely.

“You know, for someone who used to talk a whole lot about their flirting game, you sure are oblivious to it.” She says, pinning Toni to the wall with her hands on her hips and their faces mere inches apart.

With Shelby’s warm breath hitting her face, Toni is too paralyzed to do anything but stare at the lips she has wanted to kiss for so long now.

Shelby starts leaning in and Toni is pretty sure her heart has stopped beating at this point. She closes her eyes as their lips meet in the faintest brush and nearly whimpers as Shelby moves them from her mouth over her right cheek to her ear.

“Don’t you get it.” She whispers and shivers run across Toni’s entire body. “You’re the one that I want.”