#and your family is about to fall apart but the exchange program is so important to someone you trusted (vaguely)

[flufflebones]

started thinking about mimas and dia’s relationship and realized that its doomed from the start because mimas is so chronically responsible and so impossibly grudge-holdy and dia’s. dia.

and that isnt to say that she doesnt care about him or that its Just because of those things but those are probably the major points of contention between them and once she realizes what happened with lucifer.... grimacing emoji

[solomonish]

Hey! If you're up for it how about The Fool, The Hierophant, and The Tower for Solomon. And The Moon as a bonus for any character that strikes your fancy!

hell YES i am up for it! i would do the entire thing for Solomon in one go if asked (please don’t ask......let me pace myself lol)

major arcana headcanon requests!

SOLOMON

The Fool -  what are your muse’s thoughts on new beginnings? does it frighten them or excite them?

Well, I think Solomon has a different opinion on new beginnings for himself than he does others, first of all. Considering all he’s seen and been through and what role he has in the universe now, it makes sense that he’d hold himself to a different standard. 

I think for him, he doesn’t necessarily think there’s even the option? Like, he has stagnated. His power and knowledge grows, sure, but in terms of personal development he’s kind of stuck. (At least, that’s how I think he defaults to seeing himself. Can’t keep the realms under control if you’re distracted by trying to be a better person, you know?) He just has to move forward without any thought to “starting over.” Maybe there’s too many layers to get through to start from the top again. Maybe he can never have a new beginning because he cannot end. Maybe he just forgets to take a personal day and do some self reflection because he’s busy, haha. But I can kind of see him not really...thinking that’s an option for himself. The concept seems like wishful thinking, but if ever given the opportunity he’d definitely have some reservations about whether or not he could make it through the transition. Not scared per se, but...wary.

For others, though, I think Solomon definitely thinks it’s possible, especially for humans. Angels and demons have such a stiff role they have to fulfill, but humans? They can kinda do whatever they want. Even if he feels a bit detached from humanity, he still cares deeply for it (them? us?) and the ability to just decide you’re unhappy and completely reinvent yourself, especially with the little time we have, probably just adds to our charm, you know? It’s probably one of the things he’s jealous of or misses, if he thinks about it

The Hierophant -  what are your muse’s morals / ethics? do they follow their moral code strictly?

oh boy, solomon and ethics....

Solomon’s ethics are better off described rather than labeled. If you labeled them, you’d start with “gray” and then you’d get nowhere else. I definitely don’t think he’s amoral, and I don’t think he’s immoral either. It’s very easy to determine a person void of morals or ethics when judging them based on a life where there aren’t many choices that would be “immoral” but necessary. Like, in the average life, the most immoral thing is easy to not do. But considering he’s got, ahem, large responsibilities on his shoulders, there’s probably quite a few times where the best course of action would be horrifying for someone to hear of him doing.

Overall, he prioritizes humanity above all else, along with its longevity and preservation. He definitely has a different internal attitude (at least) when interacting with angels and demons as opposed to humans, a combination of not really feeling as directly responsible for them and also knowing that if he ever is, he would have few to no qualms about giving them the short end of the stick in a situation that would benefit “his team,” if he could manage to pass it by Diavolo or Michael. 

I don’t think his internal values change, things like autonomy and equality for all, free pursuit of knowledge, y’know, all the good stuff everybody wants. And in his day-to-day life, he doesn’t seem the type to pass quick judgement or have some inherent unwillingness to compromise. “Morals” and “ethics” seems to imply a more grand scenario, and as the “keeper of humanity” or however he sees himself, he wouldn’t exactly be hesitant or emotionally torn apart by having to hurt somebody if it meant he could protect and support humanity as a whole.

I feel like I spent however many paragraphs being extremely vague and I’m not sure if this makes sense or even says anything of importance, haha...

The Tower -  what event drastically changed your muse’s life? do they resent that event or are they glad of it?

Well, I mean, there’s a few obvious answers here. You have his fall from the graces of the heavens, the exchange program, any number of biblical events, his discovery of magic and the path he took to immortality, the fallout with his apprentice....and to be honest, with the exception of the exchange program, i think he is resentful but also glad? He’s the type to see the good and the bad outcomes of the situation. He’s probably made peace with the sentiment that “oh it made me who i am today” but he does have days where he grapples with all he’s lost and must now deal with for practically eternity. 

Though, and these aren’t drastic events that shatter him forever (but i think they can be mentioned here), I do think that he takes little pieces of the people he meets and cares about until he becomes a sort of mosiac of the people he loves. Not necessarily romantic love, either. He met a witch who he was close friends with who couldn’t put down cheesy teen romance novels from a specific author, so you can find a few copies of her favorites sandwiched between spellbooks and old archival texts in his room. He isn’t big on self care, but Asmo did teach him a quick and efficient way to wash his face and keep his skin clear. Simeon and Luke gave him an appreciation for finely crafted tea sets. Again, the event i guess would be “making a friend” (which for him very well may be a once in a lifetime kind of deal lol) and isn’t what the question meant, but idk. I think it was worth mentioning here because long-term, it does incorporate into him as a person.

LUCIFER (my other fave <3)

The Moon -  what does your muse long for? is it a realistic desire?

Not to be surface-level and cheesy, but I think he longs for him and his brothers to feel like a family. Not that they don’t already, but I think he longs for the way they used to be in the Celestial Realm, how complete they used to feel. In that way, it’s probably the most unrealistic desire. The hole in their family isn’t one that can or even should be filled, and your addition is just that - an addition, not a replacement.

Something that could give him (kind of) what he craves is if he and his brothers could heal. They’re already on the right path, but they’re still all kind of dysfunctional. The complicated part of this is that a lot of their strife is due to the nature of demons, and the wholesome unity is a brand that has never really been found in he Devildom. That’s not to say it’s impossible - the brothers still love each other, they still are loyal to each other, but Lucifer can feel that there is some sort of rift between them that has not yet been fixed that he yearns to solve.

(If you ask me, the “rift” is probably something caused by trying to heal in an environment that will never offer mercy or forgiveness. If the brothers can find solace in each other, maybe that’ll get them a step closer. But sometimes their interactions still feel like walking on eggshells, and...I don’t know. I really do think Lucifer longs for the type of relationship they had when they were angels, and he’s trying to deal with the realization that maybe that type of relationship just isn’t in the cards for a demon.)

[thedeviltohisangel]

The Only Good I’ve Ever Done

During the five years he was blipped away, he thought about the snippets of his life that he would miss the most. The moments that he never appreciated enough. The moments that were so fleeting that he never got to expound upon. Plenty of them involved his family. Times on the fishing boat that he didn’t realize would keep him alive in his adult years. Holding his nephews for the first time and learning there was so much more to life and legacy. But so many also involved her.

masterlist is my url/writing

accepting requests for this pairing

There were a few things about Louisiana that Sam knew would never change. They would always have the best seafood. His sister and nephews would always be there. And he would always hold his breath waiting to run into Leila. 

During the five years he was blipped away, he thought about the snippets of his life that he would miss the most. The moments that he never appreciated enough. The moments that were so fleeting that he never got to expound upon. Plenty of them involved his family. Times on the fishing boat that he didn’t realize would keep him alive in his adult years. Holding his nephews for the first time and learning there was so much more to life and legacy. But so many also involved her. Kissing on the cheek during recess. Her cheering on the sidelines during his big game. Senior prom. When she said I love you right before he left to join the Air Force. 

They kept in contact while he was deployed. Spotty phone calls and fuzzy video calls sustained them but Sam cherished the letters she sent him more than anything. It was as if each stroke of her pen captured a bit of her heart that she sent away to be with him. Everyone teased him about how he was whipped for this girl. Asked him why he came out to this hellscape if he had such a beautiful woman at home waiting for him. He never answered because he didn’t think they would get it. He was here because he had a lot to prove. Prove to his parents that he could be responsible and mature. Prove to Leila and her family that he could keep her safe and provide for her. Prove to himself he deserved her.

When he was selected for the Falcon program, their communication slowed and slowed until it stopped altogether. He was pulling long hours and participating in highly classified missions and he didn’t know how to balance it. Leila still sent him letters even though he stopped writing back. He read them and felt numb. After so long, she stopped writing too. Every stroke of her pen broke her heart. She didn’t have anything left to give. She stopped visiting his sister and parents. Stopped looking at the houses for sale in the paper. Stopped looking at the bridal magazines in the waiting area of the doctor’s office. Her mom told her that sometimes people grow apart. Tried to help her rationalize Sam’s sudden disinterest. Her father told her that he had been right all along. That Sam was just some boy, not ready to be a man. That she deserved better. Leila held onto the hope that when he came back, she could look him in the eyes and talk to him and everything would be better. That they just needed to see each other again and it would all be okay. He would be hers again.

But his end date came and went. She heard nothing from him. Didn’t see him around town. When she found the courage to ask Sarah, she broke the news Sam wasn’t moving back to Louisiana. And she felt the nail in the coffin go right through her chest.

Sam thought about her when he watched Riley fall from the sky. Thought about her when he jumped out of the building in DC. Thought about her when he was locked in a cell on the Raft. He thought of her when he was snapped away and when he was snapped back and he had never known just how temporary life was than he did in those five years. 

And now he stood on a dock in Louisiana and there were seagulls and old friends and she was there. She was smiling and laughing and he didn’t even know how to say hello to her. 

She had heard Sam was back in town. She had been actively avoiding anywhere she thought he might be but there he was. A part of her could have guessed this was where they would ultimately cross paths. His family had so much history here. If there was anywhere for him to feel grounded, it would be at this dock.

It was also very clear that he was not going to come up and talk to her. At least not anytime soon. And if she wanted to have a conversation with him, after the years without one, she would have to be the one to initiate it.

“Hi, Sam Wilson.” There was no use in being nervous about it. No use in beating around the bush or pretending that they didn’t have the history that they did. She no longer held any resentment towards him. There had been too many years since then and too many astronomical events for him to hold her hostage. Since the last time she heard from him, she had loved others and lost others and learned how to grieve and how to cope and why her mother always told her the most important thing to be is resilient.

“Hey. I saw you over there and I was gonna-”

“You weren’t. That’s why I did,” she said with a smile. He was different. She could tell in just the handful of words they had exchanged. But he was still Sam. Maybe just a little rougher around the edges.

“If I didn’t know how to be with you Leila, I certainly don’t know how to be around you now.” He figured she deserved honesty after all these years. Besides, he had lost his chance with her long ago. There was no use in trying to save face or act suaver than he was.

“Well, if you’re here long enough we can try to figure it out. Try to find our inner second graders and go back to the simpler times,” she teased. Sam smiled and felt warm at the thought. Sometimes, people were meant to be in your life. You don’t always know how or why but you know you can’t live fully without them. She was one of those people to him. He was one of those people to her. It’d be worth the awkwardness to find some sense of rhythm and belonging again.

“Okay then let’s start simple. I’m here to work on the boat and brought some stuff for dinner if you have the time.” It sounded easy enough. Harmless enough. Two people catching up. There was a lot of that going around since they all had been snapped back. “Unless there’s someone in your life and doing that would be weird cause all the ladies here would certainly spread that around town.” She looked down at her shoes with a sad smile.

“There is but there isn’t. It’s a long story,” she replied.

“I have a lot of long stories too,” he shared. Without thinking, he reached for her hand and she met him halfway. Just the simple act made her feel safe and secure. Made her feel more protected than she had in years. Like she didn’t need to look over her shoulder in fear because he would be behind her. “Come on.” 

She followed him to the old Wilson family boat and stood still for a moment once her feet landed on deck. It had been so long since she had stepped foot on the vessel, years of memories rushing back at her. She found her way down into the galley and smiled as she thought about the times with Sam where they had taken full advantage of the privacy being below deck brought them. As kids they had pretended it was pirate ship. As teenagers it was place to steal kisses and exploring touches. As young adults it had been sharing beers and learning about physical intimacy. “During those five years, Sarah let displaced persons live here. The marina felt like a real community again. Like it did back when we were little.” Leila paused at the corkboard with pictures and let her fingers brush the polaroid of her that was pinned there.

“She hasn’t mentioned that to me,” Sam replied as he emptied the paper bag of food onto the tiny table tucked into the corner. 

“I’m sure you’ve both had more than enough to catch up on.” She slid into the chair he pulled out for her and took a nervous sip of a water bottle. “Thanks for the food,” she said with a smile as she popped a piece of shrimp into her mouth. 

“It’s your favorite place. It’d be sacrilege to eat it without you.” 

“It’s weird. The things you still remember about someone after time apart. The things you didn’t know you remembered until you saw them again.” She avoided his gaze when she looked up and saw how soft his eyes were as they landed on her. He had caused her nothing but pain and heartbreak since she had seen him last. He didn’t deserve her forgiveness. Didn’t deserve a second chance with her heart. Didn’t deserve to look at her like he loved her.

“You said there was someone,” Sam asked, clearing his throat. He couldn’t spend another second with her, falling in love all over again, if there was someone waiting for her at home. 

“I was engaged. Pre-blip. He...dusted while we were on vacation. Everyone else came back…” she paused and wiped a tear from her cheek. “I assume he’s happier wherever he is and doesn’t want to come back to me.” In her eyes, it was exactly what Sam had done. Gotten a taste of life without her and decided it was the one he preferred to live. Sam reached for her hand across the table but she pulled it out of his reach.

“I’m sorry.” For what he did or her fiance did, he wasn’t sure.

“Don’t be. I’m tired of everyone feeling sorry for me. I should be used to being alone by now.” She dropped her head into her hands with a sad chuckle. “I didn’t take you up on your offer to be snarky or rehash the past. I’m sorry.”

Now it was his turn. “Don’t be. What I did all those years ago. Not writing you back. Not calling when I got to DC-”

“I can’t relive it, Sam.” It was still too raw. Too real. Too ever present in the back of her mind that she barely survived it the first time, let alone talking it out with him a second time.

“I was scared. Scared of the fact that we had a real future together and real plans and a real chance of making it in this world. I was scared back then and I can’t be scared now. Not anymore.” If he didn’t say what he needed to, wanted to, he would never be able to live with himself. Not with all the loss he had suffered. “And when I watched my partner fall from the sky I was even more scared of not having those things. Of depriving you of your chance to have them. I knew I was committed to a life of service and that there’d be times when I had to put you second and I didn’t want to make that choice.”

“It wasn’t your choice to make. You took that choice away from me,” she responded with a new fire residing inside of her. She had never got the chance to have this fight with Sam. Her spirit had been waiting long enough.

“You’re right. I made the choice to give us a clean break-”

“Clean? Were you high on gunpowder over there?” She slid off the chair angrily and grabbed her purse from where she had tossed it. Her appetite was gone. Her elation at sharing a meal with Sam Wilson was gone.

“Don’t walk away from this. We owe it to ourselves to have this out. End things for good!” he called after her as he followed her onto the deck of the boat.

“I hate you, Sam! I hated you everyday for years and even when others came along I hated you for making it impossible to move on! I hate you for being you and I hate myself even more for still loving you!” she jabbed her finger in his direction then promptly deflated. 

“I never hated you, Leila. I never stopped being in love with you.” He wanted to kiss her. Crush her against him and never let her go. Promise her that he was ready to settle down and give her the life they had dreamt about together all those years ago. He took a step and she held up a hand to stop him.

“If you take another step, you have to understand what it means.” Sam grabbed her hand and pressed his lips to her palm. Kissed the tip of every finger and held it to his chest.

“It means I will never break another promise to you. Means you’re my forever and you have my heart for the rest of time. It means I will never put you second ever again and will spend the rest of my days earning your trust and forgiveness.” She stepped forward but kept her hand right where it was.

“Kiss me,” she whispered. And he did. It was softer than the reunion kisses of his dreams. His fingers were threaded in her hair, her eyelashes brushing against the top of his cheekbones as she leaned against him to try and get closer, closer, closer. Her hands were softer against his cheeks than he thinks he deserves. They held him with care. A delicate nature that had been removed from his life since the last time he held her like this. Leila’s toes stretched her upwards until Sam read her cue and gripped her thighs so she could jump and be his height. “Keep your hands above my waist.”

“What?” he asked dizzily as he pulled away but nipped at her jaw.

“You still have a lot of trust and forgiveness to earn,” she teased as she unhooked her legs from his waist and landed on her own two feet.

“Damn do you know how to wrap a man around your finger.” He pulled her in for a searing kiss. But he couldn’t help his mind wandering to her fiance. The man who abandoned her in some far corner of the world. Sam wanted to find him and...and maybe his anger at himself now had a different target after all these years. “Do you have a ride home?” he asked tenderly as he swayed with her in his arms.

“Are you offering to fly me back?” she asked jokingly but also seriously. She’d say yes if he offered. 

“No. I wish I could but the men in camo don’t trust me outside the base.” She pouted and it punched him in the gut. “Soon. I’ll make it work, figure something out.” The following moment of peaceful silence and companionship was interrupted by his phone ringing in his pocket.

“Real work or superhero work?” she asked as he looked at it with a furrowed brow. 

“Both. Just need a minute and then...then…” It kept ringing and ringing, he couldn’t get a thought out.

“I’ll go clean downstairs. Don’t take too long.” She kissed his cheek, dragging her hand down his arm before twining their fingers briefly, Sam not letting her escape his grasp until she got too far away to hold onto. He knew he kept putting this on his plate. His normal missions as Falcon. The Flag Smashers. The house and the boat. All of them felt like a weight on his soul but Leila...Leila felt like she lifted it. When she was around, he felt like he could breathe again. He was doing his best to juggle everything and he hoped, and prayed, none of them fell from his grasp. Not again. Not this time.

[seriouslyhooked]

Feels Like This (Part 10)

Emma Swan is a once lost girl who is now making good. She has made a way in the world for her and her young son, Henry, and after years of hard work, Emma is in her last stretch of schooling for the career she’s always wanted. Unexpectedly, she finds herself in a tiny nation no one’s ever heard of for her last year of study. She knows nothing about the place except that it’s beautiful, has a world-renowned child life program, and is filled with possibility. Meanwhile, Prince Killian is hardly happy with the title he received at birth. As the second in line for the crown, Killian has long tried shaking his royal duties. He built a career in the royal navy, and has stayed out of the limelight, but his ship has been called to port indefinitely at the request of his brother, the King. Fate (in her many forms) brings Emma and Killian together and the resulting fic is a cute, fluffy, trope filled romp featuring heart felt moments, a healthy dose of insta-love and an assured happily ever after. Story rated M and will have 12 parts. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9. Available on FF Here and AO3 Here.

A/N: Hi everybody! I am so excited to FINALLY be back with a new chapter of a fic that so many of you have fallen in love with. This response has been truly unprecedented in my writing experience. I have had lots of fics that many of you rooted for and supported me in, and I am always so grateful for that, but having a hiatus from writing this story showed me just how invested so many of you are. This is a great feeling as a writer, and that excitement you all have is the only reason I have been able to write more of this fic. My ability to write at my usual pace has been tested this fall, and there’s been some ups and downs in my attempts to reengage, but I love this story and I am so excited to share the rest of it with you all. I hope you will all like this new installment, I thank you again for continuing this with me, and I cannot wait to hear what you think!

“Mmmm, this smells delicious,” Henry said, hovering over the skillet not for the first time this evening, and breathing in the pasta sauce Killian had been working on the past half hour. To the boy’s credit, it did smell absolutely wonderful, a comforting classic anyone would love, and which the three of them had earned, after a day of unexpected meetings and introductions. This pasta was a traditional Montennaran recipe, not far off from a classic Sicilian pomodoro, but with the benefit of a few of this country’s specialties. It was a favorite of his personally, and one of the few meals he’d learned to cook well during his time in the service.

“Seriously. Who knew you could cook like this?” Emma said, still stunned at the display before them. She must have assumed from pizza night and the slow cooking speed of their first date  that he was fully a novice, and he was in many ways. But he did have a few small tricks up his sleeves, and one was this sauce, which was easy to make as long as he had the right ingredients. It was quick, but precise, and it gave off the perception that he had mastered something difficult, even though that wasn’t true.

“This dish is a special one for me and for my unit. This is the spread each of us waited for during deployments. You crave so many things when you’re without them for so long, but this meal symbolized something else. The moment we’d touch down on Montennaran soil, this is the first thing we would eat. It represents safety just as much as it does a good meal.”

“You always had this?” Henry asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. “No matter what time?”

“Breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This was it,” Killian said, smiling at the memory of early morning pasta meals that he’d enjoyed more than most other moments in his time at sea. Those were the times when they all felt at peace again, and where they allowed themselves to breathe and heal no matter what dark moments had been withstood. “We took turns preparing it, tired as we’d all be from the tour and the travel, but the pressure was on. The last thing you want to do is disappoint newly anchored sailors. It’s a mistake that may just be your last.”

“No kidding,” Henry said, surprised but taking the words at face value. “It sounds so cool though. Being in the Navy, I mean. You meet all those people, people who are your family too even if you’re not related.”

“Aye, lad, they are my family. Always will be.”

“I can’t wait to meet them someday,” Henry said eagerly. Killian noticed Emma tense a bit but she didn’t need to worry. It was always his intention to introduce them all, because it was his plan to keep Emma and Henry with him forever. “Will it be like today do you think?”

“That depends on how you think today went.”

Killian’s quip earned a laugh from Henry and a soft smile from Emma. He was teasing as if the afternoon had been anything but excellent, when of course that was not the case. Despite the unexpected nature of it all, his family had been on their best behavior and they’d all immediately loved Emma and her boy. He knew in his heart they would, but it took a lot of pressure off and hopefully would help ease some of Emma’s worries about where this was going and if his family would approve.

“Today was totally awesome!” Henry said. “Everyone was so nice and cool. But Gran was definitely my favorite.”

“For now maybe,” Killian said, knowing full well what the draw of his Gran was and how her energy and feistiness made her infinitely lovable. “But give it time. My Mum and Liam both have a few more tricks up their sleeves.”

“What did you think of today, Mom?” Henry asked, and Killian was intrigued to know her thoughts. He doubted that Emma would go very deep with her assessment, but she was always honest with her son, of that Killian was totally assured.

“It was… easy,” Emma confessed, smiling at the memories of the day. “I never expected to feel so welcomed right away, but everyone was so normal, it was nice.”

“Normal is pushing it a bit, love. My grandmother’s revelations alone somewhat undermine my family’s classification as something so benign.”

“Maybe,” Emma said with a shrug. “But the families I’ve seen all have some kind of well-meaning meddling, don’t they? Hers just has a bit more royal flare.”

“Oh, Gran’s got flare all right. No doubt about that,” Henry said cheekily as he took the dishes and silverware from Emma and headed to the dining room to set the table.

It wasn’t a statement the boy had meant to be impactful, but it hit Killian right in the heart. That was another special moment from today. There was no formality with his family and Henry and Emma, and he had witnessed the moment his grandmother insisted that Henry call her Gran as well. To have Henry accept that so quickly was a blessing, and another bright spot in what had been a beautiful day.

“And what about you?” Emma asked him when they were alone. “How did you think today went?”

Instinctively Killian turned off the burner, knowing the food was ready to serve but not wanting it to be ruined. He wiped his hands clean of any rogue tomato and then he pulled Emma straight into his arms in one fluid motion. Without pause, he pressed a kiss to her lips that was meant to be soft and nonintrusive in case Henry returned, but quickly morphed to something heated when Emma clutched at his shirt and arched in closer. By the time they pulled apart, he almost forgot the question, but Emma’s curious green eyes prompted him to reassure her of the truth.

“Today was one of the best days I’ve ever known, love. The most important people in my world came together, and if my instincts are correct, it’s gone just about as perfectly as it could. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that…”

“Sounds like there’s a ‘but’ hanging in that statement,” she said, running her fingers across his cheek as she looked at him, searching for answers. “Talk to me.”

“It’s just that I -,”

“Okay, table’s set!” Henry said, barreling back into the kitchen and prompting Killian to step back from Emma but to keep his hand in hers.

Emma and Killian exchanged a look that silently said they would pick up this conversation again later, but Killian squeezed her hand in what he hoped was a calming and comforting gesture. The hanging words he’d yet to say were hardly bad ones, he just had to admit that as beautiful as today was he wanted so much more. He’d never have enough days like this one for his liking. He would always want more, no matter what came, and that was what he’d have to ask her for if not today then someday very soon.

Dinner proceeded without a hitch, and not only was his cooking a success, but the meal was fun and lively. Henry made for so much conversation, and his thoughts on the day were long and varied. He was so full of excitement and energy that it was contagious, and Killian learned more from both the boy and his mother about what they’d taken from meeting his family. They all talked about the center too, about Marco and Marie and Cecelia, and then at length about Anna and especially Elsa.

“Do you think anything will come from it?” Emma asked Killian at one point, after they’d already dissected how undeniable the moment was between Emma’s friend and Killian’s brother.

“Oh for sure,” Henry said before Killian could respond. Both Emma and Killian laughed at his confidence.

“You seem rather certain, lad.”

“Well it’s pretty obvious. I mean he looks at Elsa the way you look at Mom. They’re totally gonna get together. It was love at first sight. Just like with you two.”

“Henry,” Emma said, chastising him somewhat but in a measured way.

“What?”

“Well not for nothing, but you didn’t even see Killian and I meet how could you know it was…”

“Love at first sight?” Killian offered, grinning at her, knowing in his heart that was exactly what they’d felt the moment they laid eyes on each other.

“Exactly.”

“Oh, come on, Mom,” Henry said, rolling his eyes in a move Killian rarely ever saw, but which looked exactly like his mother when she was exasperated. He nearly choked on his water, but he powered through, biting back a laugh at Emma’s shocked face. “It was totally love. You came home extra happy and you had a dreamy look on your face all the time when Killian started volunteering. And since then you’ve been kinda… what does Mrs. H call it again? Oh right, scatterbrained. Love can do that, you know. I asked Gran about it today and she said it’s a telltale sign.”

“You asked her that?” Emma asked, shocked and maybe just a little bit mortified as Henry nodded like it was no big deal.

“Yup. She knows everything. She said that’s what happens when you’re old, and since Mrs. H says that too I think it’s probably true. Come to think of it, they’d be great friends don’t you think?”

“Mrs. H and Queen Eleanor?” Emma asked, as if the thought of their neighbor and Killian’s grandmother being ‘friends’ was too much to handle. “Well I mean, now that you mention it, there are a few similarities there.”

“Totally. And if Mrs. H was here she’d agree with me about Liam and Elsa. It’s totally love, and that’s awesome. Queen Elsa. It has a nice ring to it. Like she was meant to be a royal.”

Killian didn’t think Elsa was the only one with a name suited for royalty. In his estimation Princess Emma and even Prince Henry were rather fitting as well, but he bit that statement back, not wanting to overwhelm Emma or bring something up in front of Henry that she wasn’t ready for. Instead he steered the conversation in other directions, enjoying himself thoroughly as they all enjoyed dessert together that Emma had put together before watching a movie the three of them. It was a totally natural thing, and at more than one point Killian thought that they really looked like a family. It filled his heart with hope, and he wished one day he could officially claim both of them as his. But tonight, he’d just enjoy how good it felt to be with two such special people who seemed to see something in him too.

“Okay, kid, it’s about that time. It’s late already, so PJs and then you can read two chapters and then that’s all she wrote. You got me?”

“Sure, Mom. But can I read to Killian tonight? I’m at a great part in the story. The pirates are about to board the ship.”

“Um, I’m not – I mean, if you want?” Emma asked deferring to him though she was obviously flustered.

“Sounds good to me,” Killian said prompting relief in Emma and a sound of excitement from Henry.

Henry hurried to get himself ready for bed, and just as he’d promised, he proceeded to read Killian two chapters of his current book. The title was one Killian recognized from his youth, but he was impressed that a ten year old had such command of the story. Henry was a good reader but also theatrical, keeping Killian’s attention all the while. Only when he closed the book did Killian leave the swashbuckling alternative universe the story took place in.

“Quite the tale there, lad. You’ll have to keep me apprised of what happens next.”

“No need, I’ll save it until you come back again,” Henry said easily, gesturing to his bookcase which was full of books in so many shades and shapes. “I’ve got tons of them to read.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Killian said truthfully standing back up and heading towards the door. “Well thanks again for the story, Henry. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Killian,” Henry said, letting out a yawn and settling into bed. “Love you.”

The words placed a direct hit on Killian’s heart, and he was unsure if Henry had meant to say it or if sleep was getting the better of him, but Killian could only go on instinct. He answered honestly, telling the boy he loved him too and seeing him smile and settle to sleep before slipping into the hall and walking right into Emma who had tears in her eyes.

“Emma?” he asked, mindful to keep his voice more a whisper than something that could wake up Henry. “Is everything all right?”

“He said he loves you,” Emma whispered, and Killian nodded, brushing her tears away as he held her close.

“He did, love, and it made me feel ten feet tall.”

“Because you love him too,” she whispered, awed at that as if were some kind of stunning revelation and not a given fact of life.

“Of course I do. He’s an amazing boy, and his mother… well she’s the beating of my heart. How could I do anything but love him when he’s a piece of you, Emma?”

“What were you going to say earlier?” Emma asked, abruptly pulling them back to that moment in the kitchen. He debated holding back, but he decided ultimately it was better to put all of his cards on the table. Transparency was key if they had any shot of making this work.

“I was going to say that you, Emma Swan, are the reason. You’re my reason for everything, this impossible gift I never saw coming, and I’m lost in you. I see this perfect moment and forever when I look in your eyes, I see a life I’m desperate to pursue and real hope for the future. I still can’t believe that you’ve chosen me and that I’m standing here with you at all, and a day as good as this one only reminds me that I’ll always have this want - this need - for you. I love you, Emma, irrefutably, incandescently. In a forever and so much longer kind of way.”

“I love you too. Just as much,” Emma said, her voice stronger this time though her tears still came. They appeared to be the product of joy instead of sadness, but they still clutched at his chest like a vice. The only antidote was pulling Emma somewhere private, in this case her bedroom, and confirming he was right.

Once the door was closed behind them, locking them into a sound tight suite on the other end of Emma’s temporary home, their actions blended together. He didn’t lead the way, but moved with Emma, a dance that felt so much more practiced than it was. Emma pulled him for steamy kisses, and he savored her taste on his tongue as he held her close and moved her back towards the bed in her room. The lights were dimmed, but washed the room in a warmth he felt upon his skin. He was burning up from the closeness and the promise of what was to come, but the only thing he could think was that he needed more.

In the back of his mind, Killian also realized that this moment needed quiet. With Henry in the house, they didn’t have the freedom he might yearn for, but no matter. He had the love of the most incredible woman and she’d accepted his love in return. That needed celebration and merited some long-desired reveling. He wanted to show her how he felt, and though he’d finally said the words and attempted to make her understand, the feelings he had went so much deeper. Looking in her eyes right now, he could tell she felt just as much, but the time for waiting and wondering was over. They had put the truth between them and now it was time to truly immerse themselves in it.

Instinct and hunger soon took over for Killian, melding with the love he felt and the softer feelings in his heart in a wickedly wonderful way. He wanted Emma bared to him as soon as could be, spread out on the sheets of this bed and ready for his taking. They’d been flirting with the pleasures they could have for a while now, and they’d been intimate before, but this was different. This was a first in many ways, and Killian was intent on having this moment be one they wouldn’t rush, and that they’d remember for the rest of their lives.

A primal voice in his brain urged him to take her fast and hard, to make a claim they’d both feel branded by, but Killian anchored himself to an idea of something slower and more sensual. He knew taking his time would prove so much more gratifying, and he wanted to make this as good for his Swan as it could possibly be. He helped Emma out of clothes, noticing the tremble of her hands as he did. She was buzzing with excitement and electricity, but she matched his pace, understanding that if they drove each other crazy for just a little longer it would be sublime.

He was entranced by her entirely, and as her clothes from the day fell away, revealing two extremely unexpected scraps of red lace underneath, he couldn’t help but groan. No woman had a right to be so lovely, to claw at him so surely, and to set him alight in this way, but God did he love it. Emma was impossible, but somehow she was real. He felt her responsiveness to him and tracked the way that she noticed how his appreciative gaze moved up her body. A flush spread across her creamy skin, but she stood there, proud and sure as her hands moved across his body, removing his clothes as he’d done hers.

“I didn’t know that I could want this much,” she whispered, the honey-laced tone of her voice a sweet melody to his ears. “I need you, Killian. I love you.”

“Fuck me,” he grumbled, surprising her by taking her in his arms and lowering her to the bed. She let out a gasp before giving into laughter, her eyes bright and sparkling in the lamp light.

“Believe me, I’m trying,” she quipped, but her feistiness faded somewhat as he shed the rest of his clothes. Now her attention had switched, she was watching him steadily, and unconsciously licked her lips. That was it. His patience broke and he was on her, hands roaming, mouth teasing, and hellbent on more.

“Much as I might love that idea, Swan, tonight isn’t about fucking. Tonight I make love to the woman of my dreams. Tonight I show you my heart in full. It’s so much more than sex.”

“I know,” Emma whispered, running her hands along his cheek. “So show me.”

Bound by her request, Killian set out to do just that. It began with roaming hands and removing the last two scraps of red that shielded her from him. Once she was bare, he let himself explore and learn every spot and lick and nip that made her breathless. He traced the sensitive places on her body that made her hum in pleasure, and cherished each freckle on her skin that had come from the summer sun. He riled her up with his hands and his mouth until she was pleading for release, and then he gave it to her, touching her tender flesh and prompting a thready moan from her lips.

“Killian.” Emma’s croon was ragged and gorgeous, making him harder than he ever thought possible.  The sound of her desire reached within his soul and engulfed him completely. Unable to resist, he felt himself growing addicted, unsure if he could ever stop. He needed her sighs like he needed to breath, and he purposefully pulled as many sounds of pleasure from her as he could.

There was nothing like Emma lost in lust. She’d never been more beautiful and he didn’t know how that was possible. As his thumb swirled against her clit and his fingers filled her, she gave more away, revealing herself and her needs in ways that made him dizzy. Every response set Killian aflame, and every breathy sigh and plea for more was a sign he intended to follow until he’d led her right over the edge and she shattered beneath him.

“You destroy me, love,” he found himself saying as he looked down at her and brushed some strands of her curled blonde hair out of her eyes. “Destroy me and make me into so much more. I’m in awe of you.”

In the face of her release, and the sincere words that he meant completely, Emma blushed again but smiled. Her expression was one he’d only ever seen her share with him, and it made him feel indestructible. He’d never met a person with more impact on his soul, and he’d never met a woman who so effortlessly created hope and good in his heart. Emma Swan was everything a man could ever want made real, and Killian still couldn’t comprehend how he was lucky enough to be here.

“I can’t imagine this is real,” Emma said, her words still dazed, but happy and content. “But I know it is. I know you are. I’m in this, Killian. I’ve never been more in.”

“Thank God for that, love,” Killian said with a grin and one more kiss before he trailed lower.

With careful attentions designed for maximum pleasure, Killian hit each peak point on her body, bestowing licks and nips that made her jump and mewl. By the time he’d reached her inner thighs, she was breathing heavy, anticipation clear as day. Killian looked up to her now emerald colored eyes as his hands held her steady, needing to know that this was what she wanted and what he saw was irrefutable. Emma was just as desirous for this as he was, and Killian was never so glad for anything in his life.

When his tongue met her sex, he tasted her need for him. Her body writhed beneath him, but he held her still, knowing she needed this from him now. She was wound up tight, the desire twisting around inside her and making her try to break away, but he built it up wanting to give her something she’d never get enough of. With slow, languid licks, he built the moment for him and her. The higher she climbed, the more crazed he himself became, but he waited until she shattered again to take his own pleasure. Once she had, though, all bets were off.

Their coming together was sensational serenity, walking the line between hard and gentle, tender and heated. Further and further they moved towards bliss, but time was off its normal tracks and their minds were filled with only this glorious moment. Soon enough, and yet not soon enough at all, they met that magic, crashing into climax. Minutes later they remained, both spent and breathing heavy, glowing from the aftermath and intertwined together, two bodies hell bent on never being parted. Killian found himself speechless in the aftermath, though his hands drew unknown figures on her skin. He had to touch her, had to hold her, even though he had just felt heaven itself. Truth be told, Killian was totally complete, and more invigorated than ever. Life had never felt more perfect and nothing had ever made more sense.

These revelations were all thanks to Emma. She was the one who made him believe love could be honest and true. She showed him depths he’d never dreamed of, and right now, as the swift and gentle tug of sleep came beckoning, she was a vision. Smiling at him, holding him close and whispering a promise he almost couldn’t bear.

“Forever, Killian,” she breathed, cuddling towards his chest after pressing one last kiss upon his skin. “That’s how long I know I’ll love you.”

“Forever, Emma,” he replied, though he knew even now she may already have succumbed to slumber. “Forever and whatever exists beyond.”

……………

Sneaking back into the castle now was a stark contrast to the many mornings he’d snuck out for a bit of space. Killian couldn’t resist smiling at how much things had changed since that time, and on those days when he walked out in the hills to watch the sunrise. However, unlike those other mornings, Killian knew the moment he walked through the great oak doors that he was not the only one up at this God forsaken hour. Call it instinct or intuition, but Killian could sense uneasiness in the palace, and as he moved up the corridor and saw light emanating from one of Liam’s studies, his hunch was proven right.  

With measured steps he approached the open door. It remained ajar, a beacon to anyone who may pass by that his brother was here but still approachable. What Killian saw when he walked to the doorway, however, was the undeniable truth that Liam was not well, and that he likely had no idea the door was open. He’d been up all night, burning the midnight oil, and studying files and photos strewn about his desk.

“For your information, you’re about…” Killian’s words trailed off as he checked the clock on the mantel to clarify the time, “twenty-two and a half minutes from being discovered by Francine or Claudette. Give or take or minute or so.”

The mention of two of the maids on the morning shift in the palace seemed to ground Liam into the reality of this moment and the predawn light outside. He looked up at Killian and then out the antique windows which offered a familiar view of the palace grounds, now bathed in the early morning sunshine. Liam let out a sigh, running a hand through his dark hair that had already been mussed with some frequency. There was no way his brother had slept this evening. He was wild and unkempt, and so far from his state of normal it was fascinating to see.

“Any other day and I’d be focused on your early morning return,” Liam mused, offering something like a smile. It surprised Killian, given how infrequent smiles had become for his brother, but before he could mention it, Liam looked back to the papers and the books strewn about the mahogany desk. Killian wasn’t sure what he expected, but these archives of the family’s public events was not it. His curiosity grew, and he urged his brother to explain himself.

“But it’s not so ordinary, is it?”

“No, she isn’t,” Liam whispered, slipping up and referring to the woman who had turned his head completely, instead of the morning itself. “I didn’t plan for this.”

“No one ever does,” Killian quipped. “Gran will be the first to tell you that to love is to surrender. Planning has no place in affairs of the heart.”

“That old bird is too crafty,” Liam said shaking his head as Killian’s brow furrowed in confusion. “All these years of talk, throwing opinions here there and everywhere. She never met a moment where words failed her and she never lets a day slip past where she doesn’t share her every whim. But I’ve always written it off as her opinion or some grandiose turn of phrase that sounds ripped from a book of clichés rather than something rooted in truth.”

“The worst are the riddles. The woman loves a riddle,” Killian added and Liam groaned, a sound of actual pain that Killian felt, despite its humor.

“I hate the bloody things. The flowery words, the abstract philosophies. It’s all just meaningless. Or so I thought. A whole life spent listening to this woman, and I never took much of it seriously. To be sure there were some times when she offered sage counsel, but I found it unlikely that she was actually providing me with answers to anything really sentimental. Half the time she’s as vague as can be. I wrote off nearly all her musings for the better part of my life.”

“Yet here we are,” Killian said evenly and Liam nodded.

“Aye, here we are.”

Liam stood from his chair and walked towards the windows. Killian watched as his brother’s arms crossed over his chest, his gaze turned out to the world, looking but not really seeing. He was lost in his own thoughts, struggling to give voice to them, and so Killian was patient. There was no use dragging Liam to conversation. His brother was guarded and grappling for control. Only when he was ready, would the truth come out. A few minutes later, after a prolonged bit of silence, they finally did.  

“I’ve long put off the inevitable, brother. Royal expectation demands that I choose a bride, but for years I’ve hesitated, unwilling to commit to any kind of match. The press has questioned my delay for ages, but that talk is mostly harmless. Still, I have always known that would change. A day would come when talk became more, and I needed to settle, to choose duty over heart.”

“You’ve said as much before, brother, but nothing in the law says that you have to forsake your heart for the sake of the country. A love match is allowed. You know this.”

“Aye, I do, but I never entertained the premise, not really. After our parents’ fiasco of a marriage, I ruled it out entirely. My best hope was for what had existed before, something arranged where, if I was lucky, love may bloom. Look at Gran and Grandad. It was love, absolutely, but it was also a merger. There was very little choice involved at all, just logic and good reasoning. At least in those situations you know what you’re getting into. There’s a safety in settling for that which is known. But fuck if I want that anymore. Truth be told the thought makes me sick, and I barely spoke to her.”

“To Elsa, you mean?” Killian prodded and Liam’s eyes brightened as he nodded.

“How can she move me like this already? One day in her presence and I hardly know myself. One day and I know that everything I thought would happen will never come to pass. I’ll never be the man that settles, not when I know she’s out there. I can’t describe it except to say that I have to know her, have to pursue this, have to hope she’ll give me a chance. I’ve never felt this out of my depths. I saw her and the rest of the world just ceased to matter. I wasn’t the King, or a ruler, or a politician. I had no duty and no course. I was just a man, and she was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, plain and simple. I know it’s mad, but damn if it’s not true.”

“If it’s mad, you’re in good company. That’s exactly how I felt the first time I saw Emma.”

“That’s reassuring, and yet… it’s the strangest thing, I swear I looked at Elsa and I was halfway in a memory. I was a boy again, but the details were hazy. It just felt familiar, like we’ve met before. My heart had skipped that particular beat. My gut had felt that strongly. Now though I’m lost. I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s more than what it is. Maybe I missed something, but how could anyone ever miss her?”

“Ah that explains these books,” Killian said gesturing to everything here. “But let me guess, no sign of her in these.”

“None. But the feeling still lingers. It’s like I dreamed her up. The recognition is strong, but just barely out of grasp. God, listen to me. I’ve become an absolute melt.”

Killian couldn’t help but laugh at the slang of their youth. Their boarding schools had been filled with Brits and other Europeans, and to be a melt was to be a sop, a sap, someone who had given in to their most romantic feelings.

“Maybe, but if that’s true, God knows I’m happy for it.”

“You are?”

“Of course I am. I’ve always wanted more for you, Liam. You shouldn’t aim for mere contentment, or to just be comforted by honor and duty. The goal is to be genuinely, honestly happy, and this morning, despite the anxiety of newness, I see the start of something in you. Something good.”

“I fear I’ve been too hard on you, Killian,” Liam said, his voice softer and his tone sincere. “Not lately I mean, and hopefully you’ve noticed the shift over the past few weeks, but in the beginning, I didn’t see how you could feel so much. I asked a lot of you, with the parade and royal obligations, and I didn’t realize what the risk was. Slowly I’ve grown to understand that the changes in you I have seen can only be attributed to love. You are happy and it is clear for the world to see. I’ve respected that, but now to know it’s more than hypothetical, I just think it bears repeating. To lose this feeling…” Liam brushed his hand against his heart absentmindedly, as if his chest ached from some physical pain. “Anyway, I hate that I forced that choice upon you. I’m sorry.”

“It’s forgiven, brother. Well, it will be, if you grant me one wish.”

“Anything.”

“I’d like your blessing, and not a royal one, not a King’s well wishes. Just you, as my brother, backing me when I ask Emma to be my wife.”

The look of surprise on Liam’s face quickly morphed into a grin. There was his brother of old, the one who had existed before royal training. He was truly happy and a bit mischievous as well. The two of them had long been told they shared that smile, but coming from Liam, it felt like a most precious gift.

“You plan to ask her already?”

“Already?” Killian laughed. “It feels like I’ve been waiting forever. But I suppose you’re right. It is fast.”

“Fast seems to run in this family,” Liam said thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t have said that before yesterday, but as it stands, I understand. You have my backing, Killian. Emma is right for you, and if she’ll have you, we’d be lucky to have her.”

Liam came around the table, hugging Killian and showing him the depth of his joy. It was genuine, this support from his brother, and it made a world of difference. No matter what, Killian would ask Emma to be his wife, but knowing that his family felt as good about this as he did settled something in him. Now all he had to do was find the perfect moment. It was hard to be patient, especially when they’d admitted how they felt, and when he knew his feelings for Emma would only ever grow, but he’d find away. More than anything he wanted Emma to have a perfect moment, one they could build their future on forever more.

“And what of you and Elsa? Where do you go from here?”

“The only way I can go,” Liam said, resuming his assured control even though he was at the precipice of something totally foreign to him. “Towards her.”

“Good man. Trust in that feeling. It’s yet to steer me wrong.”

The two of them would have no doubt shared more, but at that moment, the voices of the morning staff could be heard down the hall. Their privacy had expired, the day had dawned, and reality beckoned, yet Killian knew even without proof, that things would work out. For now, there was a tremendous amount of hope for both him and Liam, hope that had been missing for many many years. Things may still be a bit uncertain, hearts needed to be won and vows needed to be made, but in his soul, Killian knew it would all work out. For Gran was usually right in the end, and he and Liam would both certainly surrender to love. Killian, for his part, already had, and honestly, it was the best damn thing he’d ever done. Soon, though, he would need to do more, to take the steps he so badly wanted with Emma, and to build a life with her and Henry worthy of them both. It was a mission he felt down to his bones, and one he simply would not fail. He’d find a way to their happily ever after, whatever it may look like, and the excitement of that would keep him going as long as it took.

Post-Note: So there we have it – a new chapter of this story, and the setup for the next chapter which will have more of the Elsa/Anna backstory for you all. From there we get to move towards my typical happily ever after recipe, a proposal, a wedding, and the joyful thereafter.  I think there’s going to be about 4 more installments left total (though one of those will be an epilogue and it may be quite a while before I am ready to publish that). But I promise to do my best to update more frequently than I have been. I have had so many of you sending love and wishes for faster updates, and those requests have not fallen on deaf ears. In fact, every comment and message makes writing that much easier, and I am so grateful for the overwhelming support. I promise I am doing my best to get you all this story, and just hope it’ll live up to everyone’s excited expectations. Either way, I thank you all so much for reading, and I wish you all well and healthy in this time. Sending you all the best!

[milkybonya]

apple pie

🍎Warnings: food mentions, some angst

🍎Pairing: college!Wooseok x college!(gender neutral)reader

🍎Summary: where i twist my (irl) first year university experience and give it the happy ending i wanted :D 

🍎Word count: 5k

🍎first year of university is annoying. some tall guy keeps stealing your seat, making your mornings a little more frustrating. when you find the guts to take your seat back, your feelings of anger develop into something else. but like a poisoned apple, though seemingly sweet, some things, or some people, are just forbidden. yet when an apple is baked with love into a pie, a pie that needs much care and time to bake properly, won’t the outcome be a good one? 🍎

You always sit in the front. It helps you to stay focused and it’s very important that you sit in the same spot everyday.

It always took a few weeks of getting to class early before everyone would stay away from your seat, since in university, there aren’t any seating plans. Consequently, it didn’t normally bother you if someone took your seat.

But this time, it did.

Getting to your chem class from calc involved rushing from one side of campus to the other, so by the time you arrived, someone was sitting in ‘your seat’. You sighed and sat somewhere a few rows back, glaring at the figure of this intruder. He had his black bag on the seat next to him, and you wondered who he was saving his seat for.

It was hard to focus in class, especially when you realized that this boy had not been saving the seat next to him, but was just putting his bag there. I could have sat there... you thought.

During class, there would often be multiple choice questions that you would have to answer on your phone called ‘iclickers’. It was a method of keeping track of attendance and who was paying attention. Your eyes were glued to your intruder’s back for the first twenty minutes of class, so you got the first iclicker wrong. They were supposed to be easy marks, but you got it wrong.

It’s all his fault, you thought. If only he hadn’t sat there!

From that day on, he’d always beat you to your seat. If he only sat there once, you would’ve been able to forgive him, but the fact that he was there everyday made you angry. Even worse, his bag took up the spot next to him. A perfectly good spot taken by a bag...

One day, you stomped up to him and without saying ‘excuse me’ or asking if the seat next to him was taken, you slid into the spot where his bag was, forcing him to remove it.

I did it! You thought. Front row spot secured.

Everyday, you would sit next to him, and the two of you never exchanged a word. You didn’t want to start the conversation because he was the intruder and you wouldn’t do that for him. 

Yes, at first, you hated him just a bit. He’d taken your seat! Why wouldn’t you? 

You started to notice how he would clear his throat every few seconds right before sniffling. How he’d push up his wire-rimmed glasses after looking down at his notes. How he removed his cap so he could fix his overgrown, dark locks underneath. The sound of his black jacket crinkling as he shifted his arms so he could rest his chin in his palm... Cute, you thought. No! Cute? Intruder man? No no no...

Your crush was in full swing before you knew it. You were excited to come to class everyday just to see him. That was it. See him. Not talk to him, but see him. You were too scared to suddenly start a conversation after sitting next to him in silence for a week, but you knew you would regret it if you didn’t try.

After frantically texting your friends for courage and advice, you walked to class early on Monday so you could be there before him. When he came to sit next you, your heart was racing. Okay, I’ll just ask him about the lecture notes so I don’t seem weird, then I’ll ask for his name, then...

You took a deep breath. Your heart beat was like an earthquake, shaking your entire body. Were your ribs crumbling inside? Why did it feel like your body was collapsing?

“Hey um...” he didn’t hear you, so you gently poked his shoulder and he turned to look at you. You were too scared to meet his eyes, so you stared somewhere to his left.

“Um, do you know where we left off in the lecture notes last week?” You asked. I did it, I’m doing it !

“Yeah,” he said, shuffling a few pages around and pulling out a paper, pointing to something. “Here.” His voice was deep.

“Ah, thank you,” you said, pretending to go through your own notes. “I know I always sit next to you, but I’ve never spoken to you before, what’s your name?”

“Me?” he asked, pointing to himself with wide eyes. “Wooseok.” 

“Wooseok... My name is [y/n],” You said. He nodded, looking back at his notes.

Realizing that he wasn’t going to continue the conversation, you decided to try asking him a question while mentally kicking yourself for doing all the hard work in the conversation.

He answered, telling you that he was studying Humanities. Unsure of which specific program he wanted to pursue, he was taking a variety of courses, including chemistry for some reason. 

“Just keeping my options open,” he said with a chuckle.

It felt a bit awkward, like you were interviewing him, but you were glad to have started the conversation, proud that you were brave for once despite being so scared of initiating conversations.

The professor strolled in and class begun, so you decided not to bother Wooseok anymore for the time being.

The next day, you tried again, asking him more questions. He told you how he was an international student from Korea, living here without his parents and family. You felt a little upset, knowing that his family was far away. It made you want to be kinder to the intruder who stole your seat. And your heart.

Each day, you tried to talk to him more and eventually, he seemed to feel more comfortable around you.

“How’s your day going?” he asked you for the first time as you sat beside him. You responded while smiling, earning you a grin in return from the tall boy.

At some point, he also started saving your seat for you. He had stopped placing his bag beside him when you forcefully sat next to him the first time, but he started placing his bag there again now, removing it as soon as he saw you rushing through the double doors to the front row.

He didn’t want anyone to sit beside him except for you.

Those brief moments before class were something that you treasured. The two of you talking and getting to know one another, Wooseok’s eye smile as he spoke... it was so lovely. Even during class, you’d share answers for the iclickers, explaining your thoughts to one another and debating the answers. You’d both groan when you got them wrong and grinned when you got them right.

The front row experience meant an up-close view of the demos, so the two of you would share your amazement with every explosion, trying to predict what would happen next.

During your bleak and often stressful first year of university, your crush on Wooseok and his presence had become your solace. That was, until February 14th. The day before reading week. A Friday. Valentine’s day.

Frankly, you were worried that Wooseok was seeing someone from the very start. He was so pretty, and pretty international students were known for having s/os. You used Valentine’s day as an excuse to see if you could find an answer to your question.

“Woah Wooseok, it’s Valentine’s day. The days are passing so quickly, I didn’t even notice!” you said, trying to play it cool.

“Oh yeah!” Wooseok said, scratching the back of his neck. “I should buy something for my s/o...”

s/o. There it was. The answer that you expected but dreaded.

You felt your heart drop but tried to keep it together. Wooseok returned to his notes, unaware of the fact that you were falling apart right beside him.

Even when the professor began to lecture, you were unable to pay attention, drifting in and out of sadness. You didn’t realize how big your crush on Wooseok was until now.

That’s okay! you told yourself. I can still just be his friend. I should ask for his socials later to see if he’ll want to meet during the break.

Wooseok was in a rush to leave as soon as the professor dismissed the class. A big smile on his face, he quickly packed up.

“Finally, the break is here!” he exclaimed.

You tried to keep up with the tall boy’s pace, scurrying behind him and quietly asking him if he would want to meet during your week off school. He seemed to be in a daze, grinning while he took your phone to search for his sns account. 

He left you standing there. 

You were happy that you could contact him but sad that he would be nothing but a friend.

🍎

During the break, you decided to ask him what he was up to while you were sitting in the boba store at your local mall. He told you that he was in a nearby city, staying at his friend’s house. Damn, he probably won’t want to meet me since he’s so far away.

You were glad that he wasn’t alone though, and after quite a dry text conversation with him, you slipped your phone into your pocket and walked off.

By the time the break was over and you were back in your chemistry class, Wooseok seemed sad again. When you asked him what was up, he told you he was sad because the break ended so fast and he hadn’t gotten much done. A lot of deadlines were waiting for him. It wasn’t even your problem, but you felt upset seeing him stressed. 

You had gotten used to recognizing his moods by the way he acted. He was a little more quiet when he was tired, sad or stressed, but when he wanted to talk to you, you could tell he was feeling happier, which also made you happy.

🍎

A few days later, there was a day when the professor didn’t come to class. Half an hour had passed and he still wasn’t there, so you decided to leave. Wooseok wanted to stay to do some work, so you left alone. 

You passed a boba shop in the student centre on your way to your next class and quickly messaged Wooseok asking him if he wanted you to buy anything. It was another stressful day for him it seemed, and you wanted to cheer him up.

He thanked you but said he didn’t want anything, so you trudged away to your next class, feeling defeated. You wished you had just asked him to come along with you.

It was your biggest goal and dream to see Wooseok outside of your chemistry class. It seemed like he only existed there, and you wished that you could randomly run into him on campus or have a study date with him... It felt like he wasn’t even real, since you only saw him in chemistry.

One day, it actually happened. Your next class was cancelled so you had an extra two hours, and Wooseok was also free for the next two hours. When you asked him where he was going to spend his time, he said, “the library. Wanna come with me?”

The fact that he wanted you to come along, that he asked the question with his eyes widened and a small smile on his face, eager for an answer, all of this was enough to make your heart flutter. 

As you left the lecture hall while walking right next to him, the cold winter air hit your face and both of you almost tripped on a pile of snow right outside the door. You laughed along with him, thankful that you see him outside of the lecture hall.

I guess he is real and not just some figment of my imagination...

The library was packed, buzzing with the sound of students studying for their midterms. The two of you managed to find an empty table though, sitting side by side and opening your books. 

Wooseok complained about his crazy final exam schedule, and as you showed him your own schedule on your laptop, he shuffled over to lean in closer, trying to get a better view. It made your heart race; he was so close.

Even as the two of you studied, he would lean in to see what part of the mock test your were on.

When it was time to head to class, the two of you walked side by side for as far as you could until you had to part ways. Wooseok’s tall frame towered over you from your right, and the fact that you had to look up at him every time he spoke made you feel small and cute. He was the only person who could make you feel this way.

Waving goodbye, you checked the time and began to ran as you realized you were late. Quickly shuffling into a seat, your friend elbowed you from beside you, asking you where you had been.

“In the library with Wooseok,” you whispered.

“A library date?!” your friend exclaimed. You slapped their shoulder shyly and tried to pay attention in class, but your head was still spinning. Finally you had gotten to hang out with Wooseok outside of class... Could this mean that your friendship was growing?

🍎

You and Wooseok would leave class together more often, sometimes meeting when you were both free to study. Even though you were both only close enough to talk about school and not your personal interests, you still tried to learn more about him and his love for anime, music, and his weird sleeping schedule.

Sometimes the two of you would only talk instead of studying, which you didn’t mind in the slightest bit.

Things were going well. You even got to hang out with Wooseok on a weekend, walking around town and exploring some shops. 

You stole glances at him as his long fingers thumbed through jackets, his eyes focused, trying to find something he wanted. When he pulled out a funny T-shirt that he wanted to show you, you quickly looked away and blushed, not wanted him to know that you were staring.

“[y/n], look! Isn’t this funny?” he asked you, grinning cutely. You nodded and walked over to look at the shirt, which has quite a weird design on it.

“I kind of want to buy it...” he admitted.

“You should do it!” you told him, lightly nudging him.

When you got hungry and found a place to eat, Wooseok shared his food with you.

“Hey, I shared mine with you so you better give me some of yours!” he demanded jokingly. He only ended up taking the smallest amount of your food, not wanting to take a lot from the dish that he noticed you were enjoying.

At the last store that you decided to check out before leaving, you found a keychain that you really liked. You rubbed your thumb over its edges, turning it over and over in your hand. Eventually, you left it there. It was too expensive and you didn’t want to spend your money on something you didn’t really need.

When you and Wooseok were about to part ways, he handed you a small plastic bag, eyeing you eagerly. When you opened it and looked inside, you found the keychain you had looked at earlier.

“I noticed you liked it... it would look pretty cool on your bag,” he said nervously, scratching his neck. 

As soon as Wooseok was out of sight, you attached it to your bag right away.

🍎

The two of you had become closer as friends. Things were going so well, and even though you still had a crush on Wooseok, you controlled yourself and reminded yourself that you were only his friend. He was in a happy, long term relationship and you didn’t want to ruin anything.

You didn’t ruin anything, but someone else did.

Strangely enough, even though you never saw Wooseok on campus, you saw him on this day, walking towards you while scrolling through his phone. His cream coloured winter jacket bounced up and down with every one of his long strides.

You nudged your friend beside you.

“You know how you’ve never seen Wooseok before? There he is, that’s him,” you told them.

Your friend followed your gaze and laid eyes on Wooseok.

“Yo! Wooseok!” they yelled. Wooseok looked up, confused, but smiled when he saw you next to your friend.

The three of you stepped off the sidewalk and onto the grass, since there were a lot of people walking around, trying to get to places and you didn’t want to cause what you and your friends called a ‘hallway traffic blockage’.

“Hi Wooseok, this is my friend,” you told him. He greeted your friend and your friend seemed quite excited. They were very outgoing, and finally having met your crush of a few months made them even more ecstatic.

“Nice to meet you, Wooseok! I’ve heard so much about you and now I finally met you... I’m like ‘ohhh, so this is the guy who [y/n] has a phat crush on’, they’re always talking about you I swear-” your friend rambled.

What? Crush? Did they just...

Your friend slapped their own mouth, turning to you with wide eyes.

You started laughing out of nervousness, making Wooseok, who was quite speechless, chuckle along.

“You’re so funny!” you said to your friend. “They’re just joking, Wooseok. Anyway, we’re so busy, gotta go I’ll see you soon!”

You grabbed your friend and pushed them forward, both of you speed-walking away from Wooseok.

“What are you doing?!” you asked your friend.

They looked down, completely guilty.

“I don’t know why that just slipped out; I have no idea...”

How am I going to face him again?

You couldn’t. Even though you thought you shook it off as a ‘joke’ quite smoothly, you still couldn’t face him knowing that he heard what he heard.

You started to skip lectures. So full of embarrassment, you followed along with the podcasts and recorded lectures instead, doing the iclickers from the library and teaching everything to yourself. It was difficult, but for the sake of hiding your shame, you would work hard.

Wooseok messaged you after a few days.

Hey... Have u been ok? why aren’t u in class anymore?

You responded by telling him that you were extremely sick, but after a few weeks passed and the end of the term approached, Wooseok continued to message you.

Is it really bad? It’s been a couple of weeks now... Do u need any help? Will u be able to write the exam?

I can write the exam... it’s just hard to come to lecture, I’m sorry

After the final exam, you spent the rest of the summer ignoring Wooseok’s messages out of pure embarrassment. He didn’t message you often, but tried to check up on you every few days.

hello? r u still sick?

are you feeling any better yet? is everything ok?

it’s not bad... right?

pls if you need any help, pls tell me

He stopped messaging you after a month, but your friend told you that they got a message from him asking about you.

“Tell him I’m fine, I’m just busy,” you told them.

“That’s not a good enough excuse, [y/n]... you can’t keep hiding just because he found out you like him. He probably thought it was a joke anyway, just message him back, okay?” your friend told you.

You never got the courage to message Wooseok, but your friend was pulling tricks behind your own back. 

A month later, your doorbell rang, and you cautiously approached the door. Not expecting anyone, you peeked through a window beside your door and saw Wooseok, who waved at you with a worried look on his face.

My friend did this, didn’t they... I’ll get them back for this..

Wooseok had seen your face, so you couldn’t ignore him anyway. You slowly opened the door, ducking your head down.

“[y/n], are you okay? Are you still sick? What’s going on?” he asked.

“Do you want to come in?” you asked him. You let him into your house and he politely removed his shoes, shuffling into your living room.

“Do you want anything to drink?” you asked him, hovering in the kitchen.

“I’m fine, [y/n], please just tell me what’s going on. I’ve been so worried, you never missed lectures and you always messaged me... What’s happening?” he asked you.

You sat next to him, leaving adequate space to avoid making either of you uncomfortable.

There were no more lies that you could make up now. Might as well come clean and end the friendship here.

“Wooseok... did you know I liked you?” you asked, quietly.

“You liked me?” his tone was high-pitched and sharp. “So what your friend said...”

“It wasn’t a joke. I know you didn’t believe it, but I couldn’t face you anymore after that, so I lied to avoid coming to lectures, I’m sorry. I swear I didn’t have any bad intentions, I know you have an s/o but I don’t want you to break up-”

“I don’t have an s/o,” Wooseok said.

“What?” you asked, finally turning to face him. Wooseok’s face was flushed, his long, soft hair perfectly sitting around his face as he looked down.

“We broke up... Some things just didn’t really work out,” he said.

“Wooseok, I’m so sorry...” You said, carefully placing a hand on his shoulder. 

It wasn’t because of me, right? What if they found out I liked Wooseok and they broke up with him because of that?

“You better not think it was your fault,” he said, looking into your eyes. “Cause it wasn’t...”

You bit your lip, trying to think of something to say.

“Do you wanna watch some movies... or something?” you asked him, carefully.

He smiled and sat up straight, suddenly towering over you.

“That sounds nice.”

You pulled out whatever snacks you could find and let Wooseok choose a movie. Despite feeling awkward at first, the two of you eventually sat comfortably on the couch. 

Hearing Wooseok’s laugh when a character cracked a joke, feeling his happiness and presence from beside you filled your heart with so much joy that you wondered how you had ignored him for all this time and went weeks without seeing him. You were glad that you could be friends again.

After the movie ended, Wooseok decided to leave, saying he ‘didn’t want to bother you’, but he made you promise to answer all his messages and hang out with him over the summer.

Following that, there were many late night messages from Wooseok ‘checking up on you’.

are u awake?

yes, Wooseok, i’m awake

but why, you should be sleeping

IT’S 9PM !

yeah.. bedtime cmon, don’t stay up late

says the one with the whack sleeping schedule

Wooseok was messaging you all day and was like a reminder to drink water, eat your meals and sleep on time. It got so out of hand that you had to meet up just to tell him that you were okay. He didn’t let you go though, and grabbed your hand to pull you towards the bus stop.

“Well you’ve come all the way here, wanna go to my favourite arcade?”

He didn’t even wait for your answer, but pulled you onto the bus and to the  seat at the very back. Seeing his long legs squished together and his knees hitting the back of the seat in front of him, you let out a giggle.

“What’s so funny?” he asked you.

“Your legs... you must be uncomfortable.”

You shuffled over so he could move his legs over to your side. The cute shorts that he wore and his pale, exposed skin made you want to poke his legs. They looked as soft as mochi.

While he was staring out the window, you quickly poked his leg and looked away. Wooseok poked you back in response, starting a poking war that caused the two of you to miss your stop.

It was okay though, because you got to walk back to the arcade and pass through a pretty park.

“[y/n]!” Wooseok said. “We should have a picnic in there someday.”

“That sounds nice,” you admitted, watching some kids running through the green grass, chasing each other.

The arcade was quite a small one with mostly claw machines.

“You like claw machines?” you asked the tall boy.

“Well...” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “I just really wanted to win you something.”

So he set off one a mission to win something from one of the claw machines, but it turned out to be harder than he’d thought. There were many frustrated groans that escaped his lips and he even hit one of the machines, earning the both of you a glare from the worker.

“Don’t worry [y/n], I’m going to get it this time,” Wooseok said, pouting as he carefully moved the claw around with the handle.

“It’s okay, Wooseok,” you told him. “You’ve already spent so many tokens!”

When he pressed the button and the stuffed animal was captured by the claw, lifted higher, dropping into the compartment, both of you high-fived one another in excitement.

“See, I got it!” Wooseok exclaimed, handing you the result of his hard work.

“It’s so cute... It even looks like you,” you said, holding it up to his face.

“Well I guess that means you’re stuck with me for life,” he said with a cheeky grin as he left the arcade. 

You ran to catch up with him, trying to shrug off his comment.

🍎

After spending your summer being in touch with a worried Wooseok every day and meeting up with him several times a week, the two of you were laying down in the sand at the beach. The sun had set and it was getting dark, but the calming sound of the deep blue waves and the soothing, chilly breeze was putting your mind at ease.

Another year of classes would be starting after the coming weekend, and you were trying to get as much rest up until that point.

Kicking at the darkened sand with your shoe, you looked up at Wooseok, who was staring at the sky. There was a glint in his eyes that you’d never seen before, and he seemed to be deep in thought.

Looking up the sky for yourself, you admired the navy colour and the dim stars that tried their best to shine through. Your gaze trailed back down to Wooseok and you stared at the straight outline of his nose.

Boop.

Wooseok’s nose gently squished under your finger as you touched it, and his eyes shifted to your face.

“What are you doing?” he asked in his deep voice.

“Booping your nose.”

He shifted in his position so that he could face you, and your heart felt like it was gasping in shock at how close the two of you were.

“[y/n],” Wooseok called out softly, even though he was right next to you.

“Yes?” you mumbled.

“Has it been lonely liking me all this time?”

Your eyes shifted down to the shore where the waves seemed to hesitate before falling on top of the sand.

“I’ve been controlling my heart, so don’t worry,” you reassured him, meeting his eyes again. His facial expression held pity, but also something you couldn’t quite describe. His small smile gave you a peek of his teeth, which you always told him you adored.

“I think I owe you an apology,” Wooseok said. Then he pressed his lips together in a smirk, turning his back to you as he quickly looked through his bag for something.

He turned back to you with an apple in his hand.

“Apple-ogy,” he said, wheezing at the corny mess of a joke that just escaped him.

You pressed your lips together, supressing a laugh.

“What’s the apple-ogy for?” you asked him, lightly punching his shoulder.

“I think, [y/n],” Wooseok said, choosing his words carefully. “I think I’ve actually liked you for some time too, but I made it seem like it was only you who liked me, I’m sorry.”

“You what?” you asked. “Since when?”

“When you ghosted me in that chemistry class and things fell apart with my s/o, I found myself worrying about you more than I worried about myself. And now I can’t even go a day without hearing from you. I really think I like you, [y/n].”

“Are you sure?” you asked him quietly. You didn’t want him to mistake his feelings as any sort of love if it was something else; you didn’t want him to feel bad that you liked him.

You wanted him to be sure of his feelings.

“Yes, [y/n]. This is kind of cringe and sappy to say, but even now Ireallywanttowrapmyarmsaroundyou and hold you,” he muttered quickly.

A smile made its way on your face before you even knew it, and you reached out to hug Wooseok first.

“If you’re sure, then I’m glad,” you hold Wooseok, who snaked his long legs in between yours, pulling you closer. You were laying on his chest now while he laid on his back, your ear against his ribs, listening to his heartbeat.

His arms were the only thing that held you in place.

🍎

When classes finally began again, you and Wooseok had purposely taken the same elective. You both enjoyed it, which was a bonus, but you would also be able to see each other in class everyday.

On the first day, you had to rush to your shared class from another class. You instinctively walked towards the front row, scanning for free seats. A tall boy was sitting with his black bag on the seat next to him, and you felt nostalgia deep in your gut.

Walking towards him, you realized that this was exactly who you thought it was. Wooseok looked up just before you reached where he sat, and with a big smile, moved his bag to the floor so you could sit beside him.

“Still saving seats for me?” you asked him as you settled in.

“It’s not my fault you’re always late,” he said, fake annoyance in his tone.

[jadonsancho09]

BullPerks

BullPerks - The fairest and most community dedicated decentralized VC and multi chain launchpad.

#bullperks #bsc #crypto

I'm Jadon Sancho here will explain more about the project Bullperks

About BullPerks

The Ultimate and most fair platform for retail buyers to get access to private sale allocations to the most sought after crypto projects just like crypto funds do

Who is behind this?

The BullPerks team and advisors have been around for a while and have over 20 years of combined crypto experience. Each member has managed tons of projects in the crypto space.

A mix of talented individuals at the top of their fields is here to build a unique skill set to have a fun and successful journey from crypto start-up ideation to execution.

What's unique about Bullperks?

The majority of decentralized VCs and launchpads have become private member clubs after their token price increased. With a set tier system based on the token amount you hold, only early investors have access to those tiers and share in the deals.

BullPerks, with its adaptive tier system, is the fairest and most community-dedicated platform giving access to early-stage deals.

BullPerks — The All-Inclusive Decentralized VC That Can’t be Tamed

As a proud crypto bull, you know this is an exciting time to invest in a wide range of cutting-edge blockchain technologies that show great potential to revolutionize an industry or service. However, having access to those groundfloor investments with typical VCs presents its challenges because of the exclusivity that comes with getting in early. This results in missed opportunities and keeps you on the sidelines as great projects turn into great companies.

At BullPerks we intend to disrupt this pattern and provide stakeholders with even modest starting capital the chance to buy into projects they feel align with their vision of a healthy crypto/blockchain portfolio.

The Team Behind the Bull

The experts that make up our BullPerks team are entrepreneurs, advisors, investors, marketing professionals, and VC fundraisers. We are at the top of our respective fields with a long list of projects to their credit and over two decades of experience in the crypto space. The wealth of knowledge our team possesses allows for us to present you with projects that will bring new blockchain technology to the forefront of the business world.

Where To Get Started

Investors are encouraged to contact BullPerks through our website info page and join our Telegram group. It’s important to purchase BLP tokens and establish which allocation tier you fall into. This will also allow you to see which projects are available to you.

We also understand that from time to time, you may come across a project that does not resonate with you; and this leads to one of the many “perks’’ of joining Bullperks. Your investment is your choice, which means you have the freedom to buy into or pass on any project you see fit. You simply select the “pass” option on the BullPerks platform and you will maintain your place in the queue.

Support For Your Project

As a founder of a project, the BullPerks team will pool their extensive experience and resources to help raise funds, develop an effective marketing strategy, and advise you on a wide range of procedures and opportunities that may include potential partnerships with other successful projects.

What Sets Bullperks Apart?

BullPerks acts as a VC/fund that offers traders access to seed and private rounds which are otherwise known as “exclusive” allocations. It is well known that to partake in these types of investments, an individual or organization must have access to a high-profile network and must also provide very large sums of capital. Being able to participate in these types of exclusive sales is one of the most coveted opportunities in the crypto space and something typically far out of reach for the average joe.

Experience and Focus That Equals

The various skill sets of our team of crypto and blockchain experts help every project we bring to market reach its full potential. As a trader or project founder, you will have the support you need as you join a community of like-minded people with years of experience and a proven track record of success. Contact us at BullPerks today to get more information on how you can get started on our platform.

Tokenomics

300M total tokens BLP

Token sale

Total raise: $2,120,000

Team: 1 year cliff and then 8.33% per month

Advisors: 8 months cliff and then 8.33% per month

Initial market cap on TGE - Seed + Strategic + Private + Public at $0.05

7.389M tokens = $369.5K

Buyback Program

The 3% fees on investment will go fully to buy backs!

All the profits from the sales of the NFT store

Using 10% of the profits of the company investments

Our Investment model and tiers

There are other platforms that offer so-called investing like VС’s, however in all of those only if you join early you win and really get allocation for projects

We will have deals and allocations for each group or fair mixes

Silver Bulls will be guaranteed to get some allocations on some deals.

Per every 4 deals:

Leadership

Eran Elhanani: Co-Founder

Constantin Kogan: Co-Founder

Team

Dmitry Chirun

CTO

Seasoned CTO with over 20 years of creating and managing remote teams in a variety of industries. Master’s in cryptography. Building engineering teams from concept to delivery. Ex-VP of Wargaming, USGold, advisor to various crypto projects and accelerators.

Sheynel Smith

Compliance Officer/Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO)

Managing Director of Driftwood Advisory Services. An experienced crypto compliance professional with a Master's of Law specializing in Financial Crime. She is certified as a Crypto Currency Investigator (CCI), Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS) and Financial Crimes Specialist (ACFCS).

Alex Man

Head of Business Development & Partnerships

Partner at Jun Capital, serial entrepreneur, futurist. A digital assets specialist primarily focused on early stage emerging technologies, startups and revolutionary DLT projects. Alex helps companies get access to strategic capital and builds bridges between global partners.

Dima Doroshenko

Project Manager

Calculated and strategic decision maker with 10 years of proven leadership, communication skills and a relentless drive to exceed expectations.

Nikita Drozdov

UX/UI, Graphic Designer

An award-winning UI/UX designer with a core focus in FinTech.

Tina Kocharian

Content Manager

Technical content writer with experience in blockchain technology.

Advisors

Dr Deeban Ratneswaran

CEO and Founder GD10 Ventures

An award-winning academic, serial entrepreneur and international educationalist. As an early-stage blockchain investor, multinational VC advisor, Deeban has developed impressive investment achievements with a 25x portfolio growth between 2019 and 2021.

Josh Meier

Partner at Latitude Blockchain Services. Marketing Team & Strategic Advisor for multiple projects, including Splyt, StackOS, OMNI, Ally, EQIFI and others. Holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a Major in Marketing and a Minor in Finance. Over 10 years of professional sales and marketing experience and 5 years of experience in blockchain technology.

Mike Miglio

Founder and managing partner of the esteemed American cryptocurrency law firm, Wolfe Miglio. Throughout his career, Mike has aided in successfully launching dozens of cryptocurrency projects. In 2020, Mike moved away from providing services as an attorney to found Bridge Mutual, a popular decentralized coverage platform that allows users to protect themselves from losses caused by hacks or exploits against cryptocurrency projects and exchanges.

Shane McQuillan

VC at Alphabit Fund, fundraiser and strategist, a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience working with startups in all aspects and stages. Former Saxo Bank executive, Shane has been at the forefront of development through blockchain-based startups, co-founder of "TrustedIn Trading."

Jason Fang

Jason is a Founder and Managing Partner at Sora Ventures. Prior to Sora, Jason was the Head of Global Business Development at Juzix (now PlatON). Jason joined the blockchain industry in early 2016 as an Investment Associate at Fenbushi Capital, where he did deal flows and post management of North American companies.

Yida Gao

Founder of Shima Capital.

Former Bitcoin and Ethereum Investor, former VC Investor at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30. Former M&A Investment Banker at Morgan Stanley, Former Consultant at McKinsey, M.B.A., Stanford Business School (dropped out). B.S. in Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Ilia Maksimenka

CEO/Founder PlasmaPay

Ilia Maksimenka is a builder of Web 4.0, early-stage investor, DeFi engineer, founder, and financial architect of PlasmaDLT - blockchain for Decentralized Finance, Payments and Banks, and Spaceport.

Corey Billington

Director of Latitude Blockchain Services, Senior advisor of multiple projects, including AuBit, Splyt and StackOS. Has a professional background in business development, marketing and mechanical engineering.

Edna Yuan

Edna Yuan, Investor in 40+ project, including ANKR and Chiliz, incubated over 10 projects such as Findora, Channels, Oddz, Reef. Former Investment Fund Analysis Manager at Fidelity & Securities Trading Broker at TD Ameritrade.

Aylon Morley

Prolific investor in the blockchain space With more than 20 years of experience in the capital markets under his belt. Previously Tech Investment Director for Wentworth Hall, a London-based family office that specializes in private equity ventures and start-up investments. He is also a strategic partner in the SAVA Digital asset Fund. Advisor to Tezos and DuskNetwork.

For more information please follow the link below:

Website : https://bullperks.com/

Twitter : https://twitter.com/bullperks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bullperks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bullperks/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/77364631/admin/

Telegram : https://t.me/BullPerks_Official

Medium : https://medium.com/bull-perks

youtube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIY2Vz-X3vmBLSqbMcPZyMQ

Author:

Forum Username: Jadon Sancho

Forum Profile Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2954208

Telegram Username: @Jadonsancho09

BEP-20 Wallet Address: 0xb05fc25bCfa612Eaef1Fa17cEBF05A675a40D5e1

[missnxthingg]

𝕗𝕝𝕒𝕨𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 • 𝕠𝕟𝕖

SUMMARY: Tom has to move to New York when his father got a new job and he’s afraid of moving to a different place. (Y/N) is daughter of a world famous fashion stylist and big wealthy lawyer. What happens when this two keep meeting each other everywhere?

Based on my one-shot, Flawless.

PAIRING: Rich!Tom Holland x Rich!Reader (Best Friends to Lovers AU)

WORDS: 6.4K 

WARNINGS: Swearing and vomiting.

main masterlist | series masterlist | taglist | main blog | playlist

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                              𝕠𝕟𝕖 • 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕣𝕜

New York is the city that never sleeps, at least that’s what they all say. Every single person that ever walked through its streets fell in love with them and the images stuck in their head like it was the most amazing time they ever had in their lives. That first step you take, breathing in the new air, you just feel like right there everything… works. Even though it had bad traffic, didn’t smell so nice and it was visually polluted. New York was magical somehow and it made everyone feel home even when they are so far away from their own. That’s how Tom felt like on the first time he stepped foot in New York. Renewed and ready to take what the city would throw at him.

When he first heard that he would be moving to a different country, he was fucking terrified. He was so used to London and his friends, changing it out of the nowhere would be really hard for him. He just started making some solid friendships and it was his senior year, he wasn’t ready to let go of the city. What if he got lonely? Or maybe they didn’t like him? He might be cool for a British kid, but maybe he wasn’t so cool as a New Yorker and people would laugh at him. Things for him were falling perfectly into place, he got a scholarship in one of the best schools in the city, his parents got an awesome apartment on the Upper East Side, but he still was afraid of change.

“You don’t have to go alone, you know that darling?” Nikki said to Tom when he admitted to his mother he was feeling afraid of moving. “The school you just got in has an exchange program and I’m sure the Osterfields would love to come along for a year until you and Harrison graduate. And even if he doesn’t come along, it will be such a great opportunity to you as an actor. Maybe if Harrison came along, it would be good for him too.”

And that’s the story of how Tom’s best friend came with him to America. But how he got there in the first place? Well, it’s very simple. Tom’s dad, Dominic, was a comedian and got offered to work in New York and had to move as quick as he could and he would be there for a long time. After a long conversation, the whole Holland family decided to move with him and they all had to manage their whole year again, including finding a place to support the whole family, a new job for Nikki and new schools for the kids. Luckily, the Hollands were a wealthy family, not extremely wealthy, but money never was a problem. Having their firstborn with a scholarship in one of the best schools in New York was huge for them.

The day they left England was the worst anxiety attack Tom had in his life, but all of the boy’s worries went away the first time he stood in the middle of the city, right in front of his building and took a good look, standing right next to his best mate, who rested an arm over his shoulders with a smile on his face, admiring the city just like the one standing next to him. 

“We’re gonna take New York City, mate.” He said loud and proudly, making Tom chuckle at his words, shaking his head.

“I’m so glad we’re doing this together.” The boys smiled at each other and Harrison nodded. He would never admit it, but if Tom moved and they got separated, he wouldn’t know what to do. The two of them were attached to the hip ever since the first day of High School when they met. They were too much alike, the same dreams, similar personalities. It just made sense that they were both there.

“Maybe we’ll be on Broadway very soon.” Harrison arched his eyebrows and that made Tom laugh. Harrison’s smile died and he rolled his eyes. “Why are you laughing?”

“Easy there, mate. You’re dreaming too high.”

“This is a place to dream high.” Harrison winked and retreated to help the rest of the family move their stuff up to the apartment. He turned around before he entered the building carrying some bags and shouted. “Also, I have a good feeling about this place.”

“Yeah, me too.” Tom shouted back and curved his lips into a smile before turning back to the street full of cars before coming back to help his family.

It was a long day of moving, especially since they were doing two apartments in different neighbourhoods. They didn’t have much to organize at that moment, no furniture, only clothes. The full house would take a while until it was ready. For now, all that Tom had was a small mattress to sleep for the first nights and a bunch of bags holding pretty much all of his stuff. One thing was sure, he had only been there for a day, but he was already feeling good about it.

“The apartment is just…” Harrison swallowed hard as if he was trying to find the right words to say when he met Tom the next day for lunch. “Fucking amazing! And the girls… Ugh, they are fantastic. I already got one of their numbers, a tall brunette that lives two apartments above mine, so you know… when our parents are gone…” Harrison arched his eyebrows and Tom caught him midway. Harry rolled his eyes when he joined the boys at the table.

“You will never change.” Harry ran his fingers through his red hair and rolled his eyes. “I thought that maybe a new place would make you guys change somehow. I guess I was wrong.”

“Harry, if there’s one thing that won’t ever change is our love for women.” Tom said frowning a little and Sam joined their conversation.

“Or the lack of love for them.” The brother that just arrived said, making Harrison laugh.

“Yeah, we don’t like relationships. So what?” He shrugged and leaned into the table. “Also it’s a brand new town that doesn’t know our reputation yet.”

Oh yes, Tom and Harrison’s reputation in their school back in London wasn’t the worst one. They were very funny and nice to everyone, but they were also known to be the heartbreakers and to get all the girls they wanted running after them. It wasn’t like they treated them like a piece of garbage for sex and only sex, on contrary, they were the nicest boys in the world and that was what always got them to fall in love with the two. But New York didn’t know that yet and they weren’t planning on changing their reputation because they liked it. Harrison tried to be in a relationship once in the past year, but that didn’t last long. Tom never even liked a girl, at least not in that type of being head over heels about her, heart beating faster and that good feeling on his chest. To be honest, he didn’t even know how it was like to be in love and maybe that’s why he had the reputation to be with every girl. He was still out there trying to find that feeling, but he ended up enjoying playing the game much more than winning it.

“New unexplored girls just dying to meet us. If you want, you can join us, Harry. Since your twin twat is taken.” Tom said, receiving a punch from his younger brother.

“Don’t mention Elysia. I miss her so fucking much and I can’t believe I’m going to do long distance until I’m back.” He boy leaned his head over his hands and rubbed his eyes.

“Ditch her and then you won’t have to do long distance.” Harrison suggested and received a death glare.

“She’s gonna try some other schools for an exchange program since Constance Billard didn’t accept her.” Sam reminded the boys of what happened when he tried to get his girlfriend to come along once he got the news and how that didn’t work out. “And you’re not corrupting my twin brother, I won’t let you.”

“That way he’s gonna die a virgin.” Tom whispered with a hand on his mouth and Harry rolled his eyes.

“I’m not a fucking virgin, I had sex wi… Why am I even telling you this? Fuck off.” Harry made the boys laugh at him, which pissed him off a little. “Can we change the subject?”

“You started it.” Tom did a weird face before burying his face on the menu.

“Shut up.”

(...)

The heels were killing the poor girl’s feet, but she stood strong by the stylist’s side while she gave the interview, displaying the most beautiful sleeve mesh black dress, designed by the woman herself, Josephine (Y/L/N), one of the most respected stylists of the world who happened to be her mother. She was trying not to look bored, but being quiet as if she didn’t exist and being blinded by camera flashes weren’t the most entertaining thing in the world. When it was finished, you couldn’t be more thankful.

(Y/N) (Y/L/N) was getting tired of those events after two full months in Paris working with her mother. She was tired of the red carpets, standing in heels, making small talk with people she didn’t know and were only talking to her because she was somehow important. Of course, all the glamour and the pretty dresses were fun, but in the end, it was all just empty and a momentary feeling of joy. So when she got back to New York, she couldn’t wait to just be in her nighties all day and catch up with her Netflix list, maybe visit her dad and have a drink with her friends at the club. But she had to cancel because her mother needed her to be with the whole team on an event.

“Is it over? Can I go?” She asked her mother, who was now drinking a glass of white wine with a fake smile for the cameras.

“No.” (Y/N) rolled her eyes at her mother and crossed her arms, frowning at her. “Don’t frown, it causes wrinkles.”

“I was planning on visiting dad today.”

“Oh sweetie, he’s in Chicago for the week. Didn’t he tell you?” Josephine caressed her daughter’s left arm which made the girl snort. 

“He never returned my calls.” She said a tone under her normal voice. “Can I at least go home and rest? My heels are killing me.”

“That’s the price you gotta pay to look good. Or do you think I’m comfortable in these?” Josie glanced down to her outfit, making her daughter follow her look. She was wearing the biggest baby blue fur coat, a dress and high heels that matched the colour. “I just got used to it. You should too.”

“Well, I’ll only stay if you let me go out with the girls after we’re done here.”

“Where are you going?” 

“To the club.” Her mother chuckled and drank down her wine to make it go away.

“I already think you’re drinking was too much and you’re asking for my permission to go drink more in some club? Why don’t I give you the condoms so you’ll have the full liberal mom package?” 

“Since when do you care?” The girl frowned and Josie fixed her position to hide her face from the photographers in front of them.

“I’m your fucking mother. I’ll always care. So if I’m saying that my underaged daughter won’t go out and drink, then she’s not.”

“You went to rehab for alcoholism last year and you’re still drinking wine.” (Y/N) pointed her index finger at her mother’s hand, who shrugged.

“Casually, only.” She cut the girl, who took a deep breath to not hit the woman in her face.

“I’ve been drinking since… forever with you. I’m not gonna stop now. At least I don’t have a fucking problem.”

“Okay. So I’m cutting you right now because you’re starting to stress me out and I need a cig.” She got the shinny golden cigarette case out of her purse, making her daughter lose it.

“That’s it, I’m done with your bullshit.” She rushed to the door without even saying goodbye to anyone and not carrying about the photographers around her.

“Where are you going?” Josephine shouted from far away, not even bothering to rush after her.

“I’m going home, mother.” The girl turned around and opened her arms to show defeat. 

(Y/N) swam through the sea of photographers with difficulty, making her even more pissed off. The tears in her eyes weren’t helping her at all, only blinding her vision and making her more upset. When she finally got to step out of the building, she bumped right into a person passing on the street, a boy to be exact. He was slightly taller and he looked kind of pretty, but (Y/N) wasn’t in the mood to pay attention to that. He held her by the arms to prevent her from falling. He took a couple of seconds to look at her, but soon enough she freed herself from his arms.

“Sorry. Excuse me, I gotta go.” She didn’t look twice at him, just entered the limo parked next to them as fast as she could, leaving the boy paralyzed looking at the limousine driving away.

“Tom, are you okay?” Harry asked the boy who was still watching the limousine drive away. They just had their lunch and decided to take a walk around Manhattan to get to know it and they slowed their pace when they spotted an event full of photographers and a red carpet coming out of a building. Seconds later, Tom was run over by a girl in a black dress.

“Yeah.” He shook his head and looked to his twin brothers and his best friend. 

“That was a really pretty girl.” Harrison said and Tom nodded, running his hand through his brown locks.

“She was crying though.” He frowned and started to walk again, followed by the other boys. “I wonder why she was crying.”

“It’s probably nothing.” One of the boys said, but Tom didn’t even bother to pay attention to which one of them was talking.

“Nobody cries for nothing.”

Tom didn’t know why but he found himself shook with what happened with him and he wasn’t sure why. He saw her crying face and somehow he got worried with that stranger, surrounded by luxury and photographers, wearing fancy clothes and still so sad. It was like some of her sadness was transferred to him when they touched. But come on, he didn’t even know her and he probably would never see her again, why was he feeling so strange like that?

“Welcome to New York, mate.”

(...)

Before the beginning of every school year, the twin schools, Constance Billard and St. Jude, always hosted an event to welcome the students back with lots of music, food and activities. The students loved it because it was a day to reunite with their friends and eat some junk food, even though it was considered a lame event. After all, they were too grown up to participate in their lame activities and the music was always bad. But it was a good way to make new friends if you’re new, like Tom and Harrison.

Being new in school was like you were magnetic and all eyes were on you. That was exactly what happened to the boys and they felt a little exposed when they arrived. Normal people would feel a little embarrassed, but Tom and Harrison were liking all the attention on them, especially from the girls. A lot of people came to talk to them and they were all different. Some guys from the basketball team came to talk to them, some other popular ones and not so nice too, and the girls who were already throwing themselves over them. They even heard some whispers from them trying to guess if they were indeed British.

“I have to admit it’s a little weird. But I’m loving it.” Harrison whispered in Tom’s ear when some people walked away from them.

“Me too. One of the girls even got her hands in my back pocket” Tom said excitedly, remembering the pretty girl and her boldness when she let her hand slip on his ass. He removed a small piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to Harrison. “It’s her number!”

“Nice.” Harrison licked his lips and looked around. “Are you feeling hungry?”

“A little, yeah.”

“Wanna get something to eat?” Tom nodded and Harrison looked around to find something good to eat. “I’m feeling nachos. What about you?”

“I think I’ll stick to the good old hot dog.”

“So we’ll meet in those stairs, okay?” Harrison pointed to some stairs on the school’s entrance and Tom nodded, waving goodbye to his friend.

The first day of the school year was always an event for (Y/N) and for every single person around her. It was very known as the day she searched for new people to be friends with. It started as an innocent thing in her sophomore year due to her lack of real friendships during her freshman year. She was feeling lonely and felt as if people only pretended to be her friend because she was rich and famous, but it didn’t work at all, remaining the same for the next year. On the junior year, she gave up on trying to find someone for a true friend and kind of made a competition out of the day, making some crazy shit happen, like two girls fist fighting for her friendship. So people were looking forward to this year’s first day. (Y/N), on the other hand, wasn’t.

She arrived alone and didn’t spend much time looking around for new people to not give them the false impression that she was looking for someone to be friends with. That was why she kept walking to the stairs in front of Constance Billard’s entrance, where she normally sat with her friends and waited. (Y/N) knew that eventually, people would start sitting around her to talk and it didn’t take long until two girls sit in front of her. 

The first one, Courtney Bailey, was a very rich girl that could have much power herself being the daughter of a Wall Street stockbroker, but the lack of confidence made her weak and small, even though (Y/N) tried to build that up plenty of times during the past year but gave up once she realised the girl wasn’t interested in changing. She’s (Y/N) oldest friend since their fathers used to work together and Courtney was the one she would go to when she needed a girl to. The second one, Stacy Brummer, didn’t have the big potential to be a queen bee, all she wanted was status and to suck it all from someone without needing any work, but she was fun to be around, making (Y/N) remain friends with her because Stacy boosted her esteem, although she wasn’t trustable at all.

“Hey, girls. Good to see you.” (Y/N) said when the two girls sat in front of her.

“It’s good to see you too.” Stacy said with a smile on her face. “How was Paris?”

“Tiring.” She sighed remembering the two long months of hard work and having to up with her mother’s bullshit. “But it was good to finally be sure that I want law school as my future.”

“Are you sure? I mean, you’re such a fashionista! I always imagined you following your mother’s steps.” Courtney finally said and (Y/N) shrugged. They always thought she would turn out to be like her mother, but the truth was that she was tired of the fashion world and she wanted to prove the world that she was more than just a pretty face by following her father’s steps, all the way to Harvard’s Law School.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” She sympathetically smiled at them. “What about your summer, girls?”

“I spent it on The Hamptons and it was amazing. So many pretty boys and I had so much fun playing with them.” Courtney remembered her summer and started to ramble on about it. 

“That’s my girl.” (Y/N) winked and slightly touched the tip of Courtney’s nose with her finger. “And you, Stacy?”

“I went to Los Angeles with my boyfriend and his family. It was nice, except for the fact that after it I had to start calling him ex-boyfriend.” She shrugged and looked anywhere else. (Y/N) knew that she was just being dramatic.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I just had to get away with him for a while to find out it wasn’t meant to be.” The girls nodded and waited for her to finish. “He’s a dick, so I don’t feel bad.”

“Oh, there’s Noel!” Courtney pointed at the boy approaching them.

Noel Kaim was one of the most popular guys in school and one of the richest as well. His father practically owned Wall Street and a good part of Brooklyn buildings. Also, he was part of the rugby team and any jock in St. Jude was automatically popular. To help out, he was very attractive, with his dark hair that always looked good and in place; light green eyes that were so deep and felt like they could penetrate your soul; and fancy clothes that were a big contribution to his appearance. Noel had a small thing for (Y/N) since they met and they always had something going on between them, always hooking up when they had the chance and everybody in school knew they had a thing, but it never got bigger than an affair for fun. He was a good company and a huge booster for her self-esteem, also a good listener and friend, maybe the one she liked the most. Still, she knew he only wanted her because of her good reputation and popularity, and to satisfy his needs.

“Hello, ladies.” He said with a small smile of his lips and looking at both the girls sitting a few step under (Y/N) until his eyes landed on her. “(Y/N).”

“Hi, Noel.” If she was being honest, (Y/N) was also getting tired and bored with Noel because it was starting to get clingy and it pissed her off. In his mind, she was her property and he was certain that they were more than just a fixed hook up. Ever since they last saw each other, the day before she left for Europe, she’s been on the dry and even though she would never admit it, she missed Noel.

“So, you’re back from Paris.” He ran his fingers through his hair and bite his bottom lips because he knew it would drive her insane, which worked.

“And you’re back from Brazil.” She fixed her hair and sighed. 

“I thought you would have called me once you landed in America.” 

“Well, Noel. The world does not turn around you. I was busy. Also, I was pissed because you didn’t even text me for the past two months.”  (Y/N) smiled cynically and Noel got a little speechless.

“I was busy too.” He defended and she shrugged.

“I don’t care anymore. Anywho… I’m gonna get something to eat.” (Y/N) stood and bumped their shoulders as she passed by. He held her by the wrist making her turn back to face him.

“I’ll see you tonight? My parents are gone for the whole week.” He said keeping his voice low, so it would be a little more private, even though a lot of people were around to hear what they were saying.

“I’ll think about it.” She winked and walked away swaying her hips side to side because if Noel was playing a game to drive her crazy, so would she.

Leaving him on the cold was part of the game, and of course, she was dying for some hotdogs after long two months without eating real fast food and she was getting tired of all the croissants and fancy food, all she wanted was some dirty New York food and there was nothing better than food truck’s hotdogs. Her mom would probably have a heart attack if she saw her eating those, but she didn’t care.

She was much more comfortable on her own, eating that delicious hot dog and listening to the (bad) music on her own while searching for new faces around the students. She wasn’t looking for new friends anymore, but she couldn’t help if she was curious about what’s new around her. After a while, she came back to her friends and filled them up with new stories from her “vacations” in France. 

Tom was also having a good time with Harrison and talking to some other people that were being very nice to him. He was exploring the new territory in the best way possible, making a lot of new friends, getting familiar with what was around him and laughing a lot during that.

“So are you enjoying New York?” One of the guys they were talking to, Tyrell, asked.

“Yes. I mean, we love London, but we are loving what we’ve seen so far.” Harrison replied before Tom even opened his mouth.

“Also, the babes are helping.” Tom smiled and winked at a girl passing by, making her blush and send a kiss his way. The guys around them laughed at his actions.

“You guys are really fun to hang with.”

“That’s a nice thing to hear.” Tom smiled and fixed his hair. “To be honest, I was very nervous about people not liking me.”

“That’s impossible, you guys are cool.” Another guy, maybe his name was Fran, said and they all agreed. “Also, you’re stealing the spotlight. Everyone’s got their eyes on you two.”

“And that’s a good thing?” Harrison asked and the guys nodded.

“That’s a fucking awesome thing around here. St. Jude���s and Constance Billard care too much about popularity and it’s not even officially the first day and yet, you guys managed to get all the eyes to you.”

Tom smirked and looked around the new environment that was going to be home for a whole year for him, and to be honest, it didn’t look bad. Both him and (Y/N) were having a good time with friends until they felt sick and the biggest urge to just throw up. Tom didn’t get the chance to go inside the school, throwing up in the nearest trash bin. 

“Wow, Tommy, are you okay?” Harrison asked his friend who was now looking green as ever and could just faint right there. He shook his head, hand resting on his tummy and Harrison nodded. “I’m taking you to the nursery.”

(Y/N) got to the bathroom as quickly as she could and threw everything in the toilet. Luckily it was empty, so no one saw her thrown at the floor, reaching for her scrunchie to tie her hair in a bun. It all happened too quickly and she didn’t have time to even tell her friends what was going on. Courtney came over looking for her and found her destroyed on the floor.

“Oh, baby. Get up here and I’ll clean this makeup off your face and we’ll get you to the nursery.” She helped (Y/N) get up and lean against the bathroom sink, where she used makeup wipes from her purse to clean her face and a toothbrush from (Y/N)’s purse so she could clean her teeth. “C’mon, let’s get your ass to the nursery.”

The nursery was crowded that day and apparently, everyone that had hot dogs got food poisoning. Harrison was very worried about Tom and he dragged his best mate to the crowded room where the nurses were working their asses off to help everyone. One of them came to Tom and already knew what to do, get him away from Harrison to a separated room where he got an IV and was told to hold a bucket for if he felt sick again. When Courtney came with (Y/N), they did the same thing to her. When she finally got to take a good look around the room she was inserted, she knew that something fucked up happened.

(Y/N) never felt so vulnerable in front of a good part of the school, running for the bathroom to throw up, all makeup removed and feeling very ill. Everybody knew her as the power it girl that showed no weakness and there she was, holding a bucket in a room with at least ten people around her. Tom wasn’t feeling much better than her, a little embarrassed that he threw up on the first day of school in front of everyone. He didn’t even get to the bathroom to hide from the whole school, he had done just do it in front of everyone. But he knew he wasn’t alone judging by the faces around him. He took the opportunity to look at every single one of them individually, analyzing how bad they were until his eyes landed on her.

(Y/N) was sitting next to him, curled up in her seat, hidden behind a bucket, playing with the IV’s tubes and some small tears falling from her face, which she was trying to hide. And Tom recognized her, of course he would. She was the girl who bumped into him back in his first day in New York and was crying her eyes out. Her image was stuck in his head for weeks now and he was struggling to get it out. Why she was always crying?

“Hey, are you okay?” Tom asked keeping his voice low so nobody could hear what he was saying.

“I-I don’t think anyone here is okay.” She sobbed and cleaned some tears that were falling when she realised someone noticed it.

“I recognize you.” She furrowed her eyebrows when those words left his mouth. The boy talking to her was visibly new in school, but maybe he knew her from tabloids and the fashion world. “You’re the girl I bumped on the street a couple of weeks ago.”  Her eyes widened and she started to remember the last time she bumped into someone. Her memory went back to that awful event where she ran away from her mother and bumped into a guy on the sidewalk. She didn’t remember much of his face since she didn’t see it at all, blinded by the tears.

“Uhm, I’m sorry about that.”

“Why are you always crying?” He asked softly and she tried to come up with an excuse but started to cry harder. She cleaned her throat and leaned back into her seat.

“I, uhm… Am feeling vulnerable right now. You’re new in school, but all eyes are on me all the time. And I’m wearing no makeup, I’m green as a pea and I’m crying because I don’t like to feel like this.”

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re only human, these things happen.” He tried to comfort her and she shrunk in her seat. Nobody around there was ever nice to her, considering they all acknowledge her reputation from the second they stepped into that school. “Why were you crying them?”

“I don’t really wanna talk about it.” She lowered her head and they fell into an uncomfortable silence. She wanted to talk to him though, because no one had ever been that nice to her, especially on the first time they met and something about him made her want to know more. “You know, no one ever asked me what was wrong before.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He lowered his head and for the first time that day, she let a small smile form on her lips.

“I like it.” Tom’s eyes widened when she said that and he smiled give her some comfort. “I’m (Y/N) (Y/L/N).”

“I’m Tom Holland.” 

“You’re an exchange student, right? Maybe Australia or…”

“England. I just moved here from London.” (Y/N) nodded and moaned when she felt sick again, but she held it in. There was no way she would vomit in front of a bunch of people. Tom was thinking the same, especially while he was talking to the girl who stuck in his mind for days just by bumping into him in the middle of the street, and now she had a name.

“Welcome to New York, mate.” She winked, trying to force a British accent, which made Tom giggle. “Just be careful with the food trucks.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever eat a hot dog again.” He moaned and she truly laughed, feeling a little better to be having a conversation with someone that didn’t even know about her reputation and wasn’t going to talk to her because it was convenient. 

“Well, that’s just not true.”

“You’re right, darling.” He smiled and closed his eyes to concentrate on not vomiting. “Uhm, I’m sorry that you’re sad. You shouldn’t be crying because you feel vulnerable. If there’s anything I can do to cheer you up…”

“Tom, you’re a nice guy.” She cut him and he nodded for her to continue. “But you’re new in school and you don’t want to be friends with me.”

“Why wouldn’t I? You seem pretty nice.”

“Well, I’m not.” She said in a serious tone and Tom started to feel bad because he felt as if something he said was wrong. “You’ll learn that people don’t like me very soon and I’m already anticipating it before you get disappointed.”

“(Y/N), I don’t care about what the others think. But I do care about what I think and I think you’re very cool.” She smiled again and nodded. “I guess the meds are starting to work. Do you feel better?”

“Kind of. I just want my bed and to be alone.” She rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. People around them were too sick to care about their conversation and they were keeping their voice low to not bother anyone.

“Yeah, me too.” They fell into silence again, but it wasn’t that uncomfortable yet. They wanted to keep talking but were both insecure with what to say. Even though they had a nice moment together, they just met and sharing too much might not be the best idea.

“I was upset with someone that day.” She said once he wasn’t even looking, but it was a courageous step to keep talking to him. “Family is shit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He pressed his lips together and looked at her with a little bit of pity. “Family can suck sometimes, but I hope everything is alright now.”

“I don’t think it will ever be, but it’s okay.” She smiled weakly and nodded. “Let’s not talk about depressing things right now or I’ll start crying again. Also, you just met me and I’m pretty sure you’re the only person in the world to think I’m cool.” He laughed smoothly and nodded. “By the way, huge mistake.”

“I don’t think it is. But I guess I’ll have to stick around to find out.” He winked, making her blush harder than ever.

They had to stay there for a while in observation, so they kept talking about some small stuff. Where they were from, Tom’s first time in America, some school things and from all the people Tom met today, (Y/N) was the best, even though she didn’t have the best reputation around both of the schools, but he wasn’t sure why. He knew she was popular and slightly famous, but the reason why she was afraid of being vulnerable and a little lonely was still unknown.

Tom wanted to stick around and learn much more about her and he could swear it was so comfortable to be around her and just talk, it all just occurred to smoothly. Something about her attracted him, but not the kind of attraction he felt towards other girls, this was different but he didn’t know what it was. She was just… different. Actually, he couldn’t put a word to what she was. 

On the other way, (Y/N) thought Tom was the nicest guy she’d ever met. For years guy only talked to her to get into her pants or maybe take some advantage of her. Tom just talked to her because he saw her crying. Although maybe he was trying to get in her pants, after all, she didn’t know him. But he didn’t give her that vibe and that’s why she was so comfortable around him.

By the time they got out of the nursery, Harrison had been waiting for his mate outside the whole time. He was really worried and didn’t know where else to go until he got out. (Y/N) found it very cute, but got a little sad that there was no one out there waiting worriedly for her. You can have all the money, power and popularity in the world, but they will never overpower real friendship and happiness.

“Uhm, thank you for distracting me.” (Y/N) said when Tom was done talking to his friend.

“Don’t need to thank me. You were a nice company.”

“I hope this school doesn’t give you the wrong impression of me. I’m definitely not what I show them.” She fixed her hair and pressed her lips together. 

“So you should show yourself much more because I like the real you.” He truly made her smile with that. “If that’s what you gave me.”

“At least I tried to.” They both chuckled and fell into silence a couple of seconds later. They didn’t know how to say goodbye to each other. Maybe just a wave, or a hug… It was awkward. “I’ll see you around?”

“Of course, you won’t get rid of me very easily.” He winked and she leaned in for a small hug. He was caught by surprise but hugged her back. 

“I’m sorry, I was too invasive.” She blushed and he shrugged.

“It’s okay. I liked it.” She gave him a small grin and Tom looked back at Harrison, waiting for him in the corner, to hide his blush. “I have to go, but I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“After class?” She squinted her eyes waiting for his response and he nodded. “Okay.”

“Cool.” Tom blush only grew bigger and he stepped back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye!”

❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁

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[i-will-physically-fight-you]

A Singular Cog in the Machine Chapter 3

Chapter Title: Soul and Emotion

Summary: "It was pure logic when it came down to it. Why allow harm befall the others if Logan could stop it? Surely, it was much more beneficial for only one to be harmed than for all to undergo excruciating pain and misery. A broken cog is more easily replaced than if the whole machine fell apart.“

Logan adheres to the belief that needs of the many far outweigh the needs of the one, the latter being himself. Or in other words, Logan tries to sacrifice himself for the sake of the others. Fortunately for Logan, they won’t let him get away with that.

Chapter Word-Count: 2k

Pairings: platonic lamp

Warnings: Injuries, Referenced Torture, Crying, Misunderstandings, Angst With a Happy Ending

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | End       AO3 LINK

As promised, here comes the comfort! I want to give a quick shout-out to both @delimeful and @today-only-happens-once as their own sci-fi aus helped inspire me to finish what I started with this one heh <3

-

Logan woke up alone for the first time in a long while. Approximately sixty-six cycles, five hours, thirty-two minutes, four, five, six seconds ago. 

‘Internal Clock program is running functionally,’ Logan thought as he closed his eyes, running a quick diagnosis scan. It was not...completely optimal. Parts of his code had been ravaged, leaving him vulnerable and exposed. His biological body still suffered grievous breaches. His artificial eyes were damaged, only working at 70% efficiency. 

This made viewing things from a distance rather difficult. However, it was clear enough to recognize he was not in his own quarters. Rather, he was still in the ship’s common recreation area. The “living room” as Virgil referred to it. 

He laid on the couch, swaddled in soft blankets and cushioned with a plethora of pillows. Both he expected came from Patton’s hoard in his quarters. He was almost surprised not to see a stuffed animal in the crook of his arm. The television was on, the volume lowered to only a pleasant murmur could be heard. Images of animals flashed onto the screen. A nature documentary, one that Logan had previously found to be captivatingly informative.

 “--we’ll take care of you, we’ll watch all your favorite nature documentaries, how does that sound?”

Patton had said that, he recalled. But when? He tried locating the source of the memory file. Except--

ERROR MEMORY FILE CORRUPTED.

He dug a bit deeper, finding more and more memory files in a similar disarray. He’d known this problem was occurring. But that didn’t explain the chill that swept through his body just then. A fever perhaps? No, his body temperatures remained at their normal regulated levels.

Before he could contemplate this further, his ears picked up on noises in the distance. Too far away to make it out from his position. There was a simple solution to his quandary. The ship computer. Or Odysseus as Roman insisted on calling it. He could request an audio transcript. 

Pinging...pinging...pinging…

He couldn’t reach the ship computer. That was not optimal. His only option was to investigate the noises himself.

Logic dictated he was wounded. He should remain on the couch unless absolutely necessary. He remained put, concentrating on the television. The urge to find the source of the noises would not go away. It festered, growing rapidly like a disease until he could not withstand it any longer. 

Standing up from the couch proved far more difficult than he anticipated. His torso flared in pain, his legs shaky and unstable. He gripped the side of the couch, breathing in deeply. His vision spun, distorted and decorated with bright spots of light. It took a moment for it to completely clear.

He looked down the corridor, the distance stretching into oblivion. No, that was a falsehood. It was only ten meters long. However, in his current physical state it might as well be a thousand meters.

It didn’t cause his pressing curiosity to fade in the slightest. He took a step forward, his foot stinging like pins and needles to quote an idiom of Virgil’s. He didn’t collapse. Granted, he heavily leaned onto the couch for support. He took another step forward and then another.

 He held onto the corridor wall the whole way, a small grunt of pain leaving him. The dizziness returned, but he pushed through it. All that mattered was reaching the end of the corridor. If Logan’s memory was still accurate, it should lead to the ship galley. Perhaps the others were engaged in re-energizing through fuel consumption? 

As he drew close, the noises crystallized into recognizable speech. 

“Are you sure?” Virgil’s voice asked, pointed and edged. Someone responded, much too low for Logan to catch. He gritted his teeth, propelling himself onward at an accelerated rate. His vision frizzled and crackled, everything becoming a blobby mess of colors.

“Maybe we should--Logan!” 

An arm wrapped around his waist, hoisting him up. Logan opened his mouth to protest when a wave of nausea hit him. He quickly shut it in favor of keeping his stomach contents down. The person guided him to a chair, careful and steady. He sat there, grimacing as the nausea gradually subsided from his systems.

When he glanced up again, he met the furrowed brows of Roman, Patton and Virgil. They gathered around him, forming a semi-circle. He examined them, scrutinizing every detail. His drive whirred from the amount of tests he processed in the matter of nanoseconds. Each one proving the validity of his suspicions every single time.

“You’re real.” He croaked.

They all exchanged a glance.

“Yes, we’re here Logan, you’re safe now,” Patton confirmed, laying a hand on Logan’s shoulder. A gesture meant to be reassuring except it wasn’t reassuring at all. 

“No,” Logan shook his head, “You should--cannot---I don’t--it does not make sense!”

“Why does it not make sense?” Roman asked, dropping down on one knee. He acted odd,  more muted than usual. The way his head bowed indicated a sign of exhaustion. Logan shook this thought aside in an attempt to formulate a response.

“To quote Spock from the movie Star Trek II Wrath Of Khan, ‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one,’” Logan said. Upon their blank stares, he elaborated, “A singular cog in the machine is more easily replaced than if the whole machine falls apart. As the ship engineer and navigator, my role is vital but replaceable, therefore--” 

Patton drove into Logan, embracing him firmly around his middle. The titekan’s whole frame shook as deep, guttural sobs fell erupted from him. Logan blinked, almost short-circuiting from this unexpected turn of events.

“I...do not understand.” Logan admitted. He glanced up at Roman and Virgil only to find them in similar states of malfunction. 

“You colossal intelligent idiot,” Roman murmured, his face dripping with ivory tears. He shoved his head against Logan’s shoulder, placing his arms around both him and Patton. “Did you really think we could function without you?”

‘‘Yes,’’ Logan wanted to say, but he couldn’t. The word wouldn’t come out of his clenched throat. Virgil was the only one left standing at this point. He was the captain, the system administrator. He was a much-appreciated source of reality.  Surely, despite his human emotions, he understood the logic. 

“Lo,” Virgil sighed, running his hand through his hair, “When you disappeared, we searched all over the galaxy looking for you. We looked for weeks. And after we found you, we’ve been taking care of you in shifts. You know why?”

Logan shook his head.

“Because you’re not a broken cog to us. You’re more than that--you’re a kraffing sentient being. You’re--” Virgil’s voice wobbled. He inhaled harshly, pushing on, “Dammit, you’re family, Logan. And it’s cheesy but we don’t give up on one another. Never.”

“Captain Fearless is right,” Roman said, and Patton made a rumbling sound of agreement.

“Oh,” Logan managed, swallowing, “Oh.”

He’d thought so much about the others’ and their importance to the system. He analyzed and calculated it all. He saw how removing any of their variables would be detrimental. But in all his calculations, he never considered how he himself affected the equation. 

“I did not--I made a slight miscalculation--” Logan breathed in, “I am sorry.”

“No,” Virgil said, stepping closer, “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I should’ve told you, I assumed it was an understood thing. We could’ve rescued you sooner if I hadn’t second-guessed myself--”

“Virgil.” Logan said, the clenching feeling in his throat tightening. Wordlessly, he reached out a hand to Virgil. He wasn’t quite sure what he was attempting to convey. Fortunately Virgil seemed to understand. He leaned over and joined the entangling of limbs and bodies. 

‘A group hug,’ Logan’s dictionary program informed him, ‘an instance of three or more people embracing one another simultaneously, typically to provide support or express solidarity.’

They held onto one another for quite a while, not moving a single muscle. Great globs of tears were shed amongst them all; even Logan wasn’t immune to it. He rationalized it was his body reacting to the others’ emotional displays. It probably did not have to do with the strange, tingly warmth lit up inside his chest.

He would worry about this sensation if not for the melatonin in his system starting to take effect. He closed his eyes, a long intake of oxygen following this action. 

“Logan?” Patton sniffled.

“Yes?” 

“Th...there’s something we need to tell you about.”

Logan’s eyes fluttered open. He looked expectantly at Patton, waiting. The titekan opened his mouth to continue, but Virgil and Roman beat him to it.

“Patton, are you seriously going to tell him--”

“We should wait--”

“No,” Patton said, interrupting them both, “we can’t keep this from him. He deserves to know.”

It didn’t increase in volume, but Logan’s heart was the only thing roaring in his ears. Deserves to know? The only scenarios Logan could come up in his mind was his tests were faulty, wrong wrong wrong about this being real. It was all fake. A simulation, surely or worse; an experiment. The thousand eyes watching him behind a screen, shattering his hopes once more.

“Logan?” A soft hand touched his cheek, “you with us?”

“Yes,” Logan heard himself saying, “Yes, I’m here. Go on, Patton. What is it that you’d like to divulge?” 

“When we brought you back, I did a few medical scans, to try and see if there was any internal bleeding going on,” Patton hesitated, refusing to meet Logan’s eyes, “I found an AI chip in your brain.”

What? Impossible, his AI was supposed to be undetectable by scans--

“That disgusting buvah must’ve stuck it in you for the kriffs and giggles,” Roman growled, his scaled tail whipping with indignation. 

“As far we can tell, it doesn’t have a tracker,” Virgil said, “and removing it could be lethal.”

“Okay.” Logan said faintly. 

“Okay?” Roman repeated, squinting, “We just told you that you have a freaky AI chip in your brain and your response is, ‘okay?!’”

“Hey, lay off him, Princey,” Virgil hissed, “He’s been through a lot, you know that.”

“Well,” Logan began, “this is not how I expected to inform you all of the fact that I am an advanced artificial intelligence operating inside of a biological body.”

“What?!” Roman gaped at him. Virgil and Patton also stared at him, showing similar signs of duress. 

“I did not think it was imperative intel as it did not negatively impact my performance as neither an engineer or navigator.” Logan said. And while it was true, it was also a bit of a lie. The reality was that most people seemed to be wary of AIs. This was why he chose to clothe himself with a biological body to blend in, so to speak. All it took was working lungs and a beating heart for others to respect and listen as illogical as that may be.

“I admit, that perhaps that was another lapse of judgment on my part. I understand if knowing this...makes you uncomfortable,” Logan added, a weird twisting feeling settling in his gut. Perhaps he was ill? He could not find himself to meet their gazes. He tried not thinking about how that was a sign of nervousness. He was not nervous, after all, AIs do not get nervous.

“Freaky?” Roman let out a high-pitched laugh, “did I say freaky? I meant to say there’s a freaking fantastic AI chip in your brain.”

“I agree,” Patton chirped up, “You could almost say that he’s too cute to compute!”

Now it was Logan’s turn to gape at them. “It really does not bother any of you?”

“It’s like I said,” Virgil told him, a small smirk growing on his lips, “you’re family. We love you, AI or not.”

Logan blinked, slowly processing the others--no, his family’s words. It didn’t make sense. His systems struggled putting it in neat, quantifiable boxes. He feared trying would only result in his systems crashing. For once, however, he found it didn’t matter that didn’t need to make sense.

So his response to this was purely logical. In ways Logan refused to elaborate or share even within himself.

“I...find you all sufficient as well.”

[yuta-nakamots]

Beautiful Time - h.rj ; Part 4 of 6

Pairing - Vampire!Renjun x Reader

Genre - Fluff i guess?? with some angst in the beginning??

Warnings - Mentions of blood, feeding, general vampire stuff

Summary - Vampires are creatures forced to walk upon the earth for longer than humans could possibly imagine. One would think it gets boring after a while, but not to Renjun, the foreign exchange student who seems to know a little too much about the early twentieth century. 

Word Count - 3.2k

A/N - this is the last calm chapter we’re having haha. sorry it took me so long to update. i just started online summer school but my schedule turned out to be somewhat lighter than expected so i’ll try to update more frequently. feedback is greatly appreciated!

Today was the day that you’d be saying your last farewell to your friends and family. It was a day you dreaded and feared for, a day you never thought you’d ever have to endure. You were at the airport, surrounded by your loved ones as they wished you well in your journey abroad. You wished you could trick yourself into thinking that it was just that simple, that you were only going to be away for four years before being able to return, but you knew it wasn’t that easy.

Renjun was there for you the entire time, he was waiting for you at the check-in gate and came to help you with your luggage as soon as he saw you step out of the car. “Hello, my name is Huang Renjun, I’ll be a transfer student at the same university as y/n this coming school year. Nice to meet you” he said, introducing himself to your parents as he struggled to keep a respectful distance between the two of you.

“Oh, that’s wonderful! It’s nice to know that y/n will already have a friend before school starts. She’s not the best at making friends” your mother jokes, oblivious to the way you rolled your eyes at her.

Despite the fact that Renjun was there, your emotions were just too much. You tried your hardest to not let the tears escape your eyes as you hugged your favorite relatives for what just might be the last time, though your crying would be easily justified anyways.

Once your little party had dispersed, everyone leaving the airport to continue on in their normal lives, you turned to Renjun who immediately pulled you into a hug before the tears could start falling again. You let out a sob, your tears wetting his shirt as he held you in his embrace. “Everything will work out, I promise. You won’t ever be alone as I’m still alive” he whispered, his lips almost grazing your ear as he spoke. “I know it’s not the same but you have a family with me. Whether it includes the other guys or whether it’s just us, I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you.”

You felt numb the entire plane ride, barely even speaking to Renjun other than asking how to say the name of the airport, which he told you was the ‘Changchun Longjia International Airport’ and even taught you the pronunciation in Mandarin. As soon as the plane had taken off, Renjun was quick to raise the armrest between the two of you and pulled you so that your head rested against his shoulder, his arm wrapped around you with his hand gripping your waist.

Renjun felt your intense overflow of emotions from the sadness and grief of parting from your loved ones to the fear of making such a giant change in your life, the excitement of going somewhere new, but also the smallest amount of happiness and fulfillment. He didn’t know the cause of it, but you did. You knew you loved him even if you weren’t big on vocalizing it towards him, but you always showed it to him whether it be through the way you untangled his hair after he spent an hour messing it up out of frustration, or the way you pressed your face further into the hoodie he was currently wearing. You let his scent calm you and eventually sleep overtook you, your energy spent from dealing with so much within just the past few hours.

By the time Renjun is gently rubbing your shoulder and calling your name to wake you, the plane is already about to land. Once you got off the plane and retrieved your luggage, you didn’t even have to think about finding Jaemin, who was supposed to pick you up because that’s literally what he did. Your mind was blank, just absently staring at the ground when suddenly the monotonous tiled floor was no longer under your feet. You didn’t even have enough energy to flinch as Jaemin’s arms held you as he swung you around cooing, “oh my baby is finally here! Do you know how much I missed you? Did you miss me too? I think you did!”

Renjun had to forcefully grab you out of Jaemin’s hold while lightly scolding him, “can’t you see that she’s tired?”

“My little cutie can fall asleep in my arms any day” Jaemin said, pulling you back into his arms and smashing his cheek into yours as if he were a cat. Renjun could only roll his eyes as he took your bags over to where Haechan was waiting, leaning against an expensive-looking car and as you got closer, you noticed it was a Tesla. You were shocked that they had a Tesla, you were even more shocked to find out that Haechan could drive, as none of them had previously mentioned any driving abilities, not that they really needed it with their superhuman speed.

“Did you guys actually steal a car or what?” Renjun exclaimed, clearly just as shocked as you.

Haechan scoffed as he pushed himself off the car, “‘or what’ is your answer. I’ll have you know that we didn’t steal it and it was fully paid for,” he said as he helped Renjun and Jaemin with your luggage, “not by us though. Chenle paid for it. That kid is loaded, I swear.”

At the mention of the new ‘kid’, Renjun’s face lit up as he let out a noise of surprise. As Renjun helped you into the backseat of the car, you made eye contact with him and asked, “who’s Chenle?”

“Ah! Chenle, he’s-” Renjun began, only to be cut off by Haechan, who was buckling himself into the driver’s seat.

“A pain in the ass.”

“Haechan, please be quiet or so help me, I will remove you from this vehicle.” His statement caused you and Jaemin to laugh, only getting an eye roll from Haechan as he started the car. “Chenle is, I guess what you could say, a younger cousin of mine. He’s a whole lot closer to your age though,” that sentence earning a chuckle from Haechan before Renjun reached over to smack the side of his head before continuing, “so he and I are definitely a ways apart in the family bloodline but I heard he was recently turned and he’s in training to take over some business his family runs.”

“Oh? How old is he?” You asked, excited to possibly meet someone who hasn’t been the same age for over ten years now.

Jaemin abruptly turned around, nearly scaring Haechan as he pulled out from the stall, his toothy smile showing as he spoke to you, “he’s only nineteen though he was turned a few years ago so I think he should be about twenty-three maybe.”

“Anyways,” Renjun began, “I think you’d like Chenle. He’s a lot more modern than I am so he’ll probably get your jokes more often than I do.”

“It’s okay that you’re old,” you interjected, “I think it’s cute when you get all confused and I have to teach you.”

Renjun shook his head, letting out a sigh of embarrassment, “The important thing about Chenle though is that he’s still considered a new vampire and I think you’ll find comfort in him since you’ll be transitioning alongside him. You’ll have him to play around with and talk to so it won’t be as lonely.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t believe how boring it was to just have Renjun to talk to” Haechan blurted as he navigated his way out of the airport.

“But you two are like old grandpas,” Jaemin complained, “I had no one to play with and talk to, they were both already some thousands of years old when I was turned. It was like being around mummies” he said, clearly exaggerating.

Despite the overly playful bantering, you were actually thinking about this Chenle guy and you were excited to meet him though you immediately associated him with your imminent fate to become one of them. The thought makes you shudder just a little because you had already done your own research and you knew just how painful it could be.

Haechan seems to always drive a little faster than what seems safe but you’re too tired to care, already dozing off, leaning against the window. The next time you open your eyes is due to Jaemin screaming at you to wake up as the car pulls up in front of a small, traditional, yet cute looking house. The aesthetics of the house immediately sparked the architecture major in you and you knew you could spend hours admiring what you assume to be Renjun’s house, but thankfully said boy pulls you inside the front door, not giving you much time to fully root yourself into the driveway.

Renjun himself seemed to pause in awe when he walked through the front door. “Like what we did to the place?” Haechan asked with a smug look on his face. The interior of the house was almost nothing like the exterior. The furniture was modern but minimalistic, mostly white with occasional wooden accents and grey walls. The difference was almost shocking yet you noticed how there were still traditional elements like the dragons carved into the walls and the gold plating around the light switches.

“Chenle paid for it” Jaemin stated. Again, it was that kid being mentioned with money, causing you to wonder just how much of it he had while Haechan complained to Renjun about how much work it was to remodel, only having himself, Jaemin, and Chenle to do the work. Though when Renjun continued to ignore him and wander off down a hallway, he moved onto bothering you, telling you how he plans to enroll in an interior design program in order to be your other half, who was interested in exterior design.

You playfully pushed him away as you followed Renjun, not wanting to be left alone with the most annoying one out of the bunch. You walked down the hallway to find Renjun  and Jaemin already in what you presumed to be you and Renjun’s shared room.

It was a large, spacious room, the walls colored a cute pastel grey-blue mixture, almost the same color as Jaemin’s hair, ironically. Your eyes went from the large closets on opposite sides of the room to the entrance to the bathroom with the beautiful marbled flooring, then finally landing on the large queen-sized bed which was definitely an upgrade from the twin bed that you and Renjun had gotten used to sharing, the other person always half, if not fully, on top of the other.

Haechan quickly joined the three of you and immediately took it upon himself to challenge Jaemin, “I bet I can unpack a suitcase faster than you.” So of course, they both used this opportunity to utilize their enhanced speed to compete against each other in unpacking your suitcases, only slowing down to ask you or Renjun where you wanted a certain item or who it belonged to. You thoroughly enjoyed the show they put on for you, even if it was slightly headache-inducing due to the fact that your eyes couldn’t fully capture them moving so quickly.

By the time you sat down to eat the stew Jaemin had lovingly cooked for you, you were starved. You had barely even taken a single bite when there was a knock at the door. Jaemin left his position in front of the stove to see who it was, exclaiming as he opened the door and letting out a loud “Chenle-yahhhh!”

Your head immediately jerked up at the mention of the name, curious to see what he  looked like after hearing so much about him. You were met by his fox-like smile and darkened red eyes as he introduced himself to you, already seeming to know who you were all the while squirming in Jaemin’s hold. “I’m Chenle, though I suppose you could tell already. Nice to finally meet you, y/n.”

“Oh, I’m so happy! Our Chenle is finally talking to a girl! And I can’t believe my two babies are here together~” Jaemin’s incessant cooing causing Haechan to do his infamous dry heave as Renjun directed your attention back to your stew which was already cooling down.

Once Jaemin had calmed down, he took a seat next to you as Haechan and Renjun were busy talking to Chenle about business-related things. You had slowly lost your appetite, as you still associated Chenle with the fact that you had promised them that you’d let them turn you once you settled down here. Jaemin sensed the drop in your mood and didn’t hesitate to grab your hand, that had balled up without you noticing, and drawing shapes on it while reassuring you that it won’t hurt as much as you think. “Y/n, look at me. As long as Renjun is here, it won’t hurt at all. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

He only continues speaking once you take another mouthful of your food. “You’re lucky you have him, though I was lucky enough to have my sister. She turned me to save me after we got into a car accident with my parents,” he looked at you to gauge your reaction, going on after he sees you still chewing, “my parents didn’t make it and she knew they wouldn’t so instead she chose to save me, not wanting to lose all the people she cared for. Personally though, I only really appreciated her after I made the transition,” he looked at you again and you motioned for him to continue while gathering up another scoop. “She spent her early years as a vampire going back and forth between us and her husband. I didn’t realize how much self-control it took until after I had to experience it myself, the constant thirst, especially when your significant other isn’t around.”

You swallowed the food that was in your mouth before asking, “why do you always refer to relationships as if you’re still human? You never just call people ‘mates.’”

“Ah, I think that’s because I’m still fairly new to the whole vampire thing. I still view relationships the way you would, you know? I could be married by now and had kids if I was still human, I think I’d be turning thirty this year” he mused.

While you were lost in the thought of Jaemin having kids and chasing his own little toddlers around, you didn’t notice Chenle taking the seat across from you until he cleared his throat, a little too obnoxiously for Haechan’s liking, getting a slap to the back of his head. The second you looked up and made eye contact with him, he asked “so when are you turning?”

All eyes went to you and Renjun, who had begun stuttering from the sudden attention. “W-we, uh, we haven’t discussed it yet.” If his ears could turn red, they’d have been burning by now.

“Well hurry up then. I can’t wait to finally have someone to play with. Everyone here is so old and boring, they don’t even know what memes are” Chenle quips, earning himself yet another slap from Haechan along with an eye roll from Jaemin, who claims he’s not that old and knows what memes are too.

You miraculously managed to finish your dinner and stayed to help Jaemin clean up the few dishes he had used to cook for you. Haechan and Renjun had ventured off somewhere while Chenle stayed seated at the table, only turning the chair around so he could face you and ask you questions while you did the dishes. Chenle asked you countless questions ranging from when you were born to what your favorite season was and if you had watched the latest trending shows on Netflix.

You could tell he was much closer to your age, as it soon felt like you were talking to just another friend rather than someone who wasn’t even the species as you. Chenle was very energetic and playful, already having taken to teasing you in the slightest ways while cracking jokes that you doubt Renjun, or even Haechan, would understand.

As you finished with the dishes, Renjun had returned to the kitchen, coming up behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist while resting his head on your shoulder. “My love, there’s something I want to show you” he murmured into your ear, gently pulling you away from the sink. Jaemin and Chenle followed along as Renjun led you downstairs and through the lounge area you only caught a glimpse of earlier.

While your attention was drawn to all the high-tech gaming devices set up, you didn’t notice the solid steel door Renjun was guiding you to, only turning to look at it as he was turning the handle and pushing the door open, revealing Haechan inside a small room painted almost entirely grey. It resembled the look of a hospital room, except instead of the cot, there was a metal table with leather straps hanging loosely from the sides which Haechan was playing with.

You looked at Renjun, having an idea as to what this room is for, as he places an arm around your waist and steps inside. Haechan looks up and clears his throat loudly, almost as annoying as the way Chenle did earlier except this one is filled with pride. “Lady and not-so-gentlemen,” he began, Jaemin whining from behind you, clearly upset at Haechan’s choice of words, “this room is my work of art, which Renjun had commissioned me to construct. It is complete with state of the art noise cancelling walls and sealed ventilation to aid you in your transfer from human to vampire” he said, with a smirk at the end.

You were taken aback at how blunt Haechan was being, but you didn’t have much time to dwell on it due to Jaemin letting out a loud ‘wOW’ and running to the table, dragging Chenle along and asking him to strap him down. You let out a laugh at their childish antics while Haechan let out a sigh before turning back to you and Renjun and stating, “I’ll be ready whenever both of you are.”

Later that night, as you were cuddling in bed with Renjun after letting him feed from you, you turned to face him in your euphoric haze and whined “Renjunnieee~ when are you going to make me into a vampire? I want to be like youuu.”

“When would you like to do it, darling?” He replied, smiling at your current state, your eyes barely even open as you struggled to stay awake.

“I want it a-s-a-p,” you babbled, “as soon as possible.” Renjun only laughed as he placed a hand on your cheek while running his thumb over your lip. “I need to stop aging now or else I’m gonna end up older than youuuu.”

Renjun wheezed at your worry of passing his frozen age of twenty when yet, he was well over a hundred years old. As you were about to start whining again, he leaned in to press a kiss to your lips, effectively silencing you and saying “we’ll turn you as soon as possible then.” He pulled away slowly as your eyelids fluttered shut, smiling to himself as you let yourself drift off to sleep.

A/N - this is the last calm chapter we’re having haha. sorry it took me so long to update. i just started online summer school but my schedule turned out to be somewhat lighter than expected so i’ll try to update more frequently. feedback is greatly appreciated!

@nct-writers​

[duckbeater]

People Think You’re Really into Church

My friend Neely also recently underwent a breakup, a hardship she finds comparable to something like a botched surgery. “I’m actually physically sore all the time now,” she said, “and I feel ugly.”

She had moved to L.A. for Luis. At first they only fought about money. Her work (she reports, irregularly, for the Times there) made them fight about other things too, like the environment and homelessness and certain irredeemable publicly-funded architectural projects. So they broke up.

“It’s weird, but I found out I have all this aggression that I thought was passion. ‘I’m very passionate about housing rights,’ you know? That’s something I would say to myself in the car. But Luis said I didn’t cultivate passion, I just stoked anger, and the anger was in me. Now he won’t even be friends with me. He doesn’t want to be friends with angry people. He says I wreck his vibe. I can respect that. But I don’t really know anybody else in L.A.”

I commiserarated. I didn’t really know anybody else in Chicago—why I was Facetiming Neely at her job. She was in some desert glen, a canyon perhaps, resplendent in bee whites, her veil open but still sun-shaded, so the contrast made it seem like I had a Stormtrooper on the line. I never quite got the full story on her apiary jaunts, but apprarently she was working (probably volunteering) at some sort of bee farm (bee non-profit?) and that day was painting the tops of Langstrop hives a viciously marigold yellow.

I didn’t know anyone in Chicago, I offered before averring, “I am, though... I’m having more sex than I’ve ever had in my entire life.” Not that I really knew these people, either, I explained. Not even their names. They were often wonderful, attentive, breathy, dashing, fashionable, curious, age-appropriate and obsequiously grateful men—and I knew them as either single letters (J) or emoji (rain drop, hand)—but had declined follow-up encounters just as surely as I’d declined remembering full names and taking down full phone numbers.

“You don’t want them to know you’re an angry person,” she said.

“I don’t want them to know I’m...” But actually that was it. Wow. I was furious. All the time. I was so piping-hot full of fucking anger, so lunatic with rage, I was spending a visible part of my commute crying in the car listening to music now. I hardly ever listen to music. I don’t like how music makes me feel, how it sucks at my feelings, and embellishes them, like tequila. Now I depended on it, at 6:30 a.m., to wreck me into a tantrum. So here I was, doing “Knee 5” by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson off the Einstein on the Beach recording, sobbing as soon as the baritone steps in to sing:

two lovers sat on a park bench with their bodies touching each other holding hands in the moonlight there was silence between them so profound was their love for each other they needed no words to express it

That image alone—of lovers, a park bench, the stupid moonlight—and the lovers’ silence, it brought me to a boil. I argued with the song. SILENT AFFECTION IS SENSELESS AND DOESN’T SUSTAIN ANYONE. LANGUAGE DOESN’T MAKE LOVE. LOVE IS MADE BY ACTIONS. IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE SPECIFIC AND ACTIVE WHEN YOU LOVE SOMEONE. The song didn’t care. Maybe it even agreed. Regardless, I was arriving to my building’s parking garage an hour later, so depleted by disgust and anger and impotence, by the feeling of complete failure, of five years destroyed, of my youth and beauty corroded, of the hackneyed cliché of my entirely normal situation, that I’d sit barking out sobs under the concrete ramps in the dark, until it was safe to stagger inside. What surprised me was that I hated it. I hated him. There was this new person in my life (despite the relative lack of people), and that person lived in my car and made a striking, humorless, dramatic and painful cacophony. I left him there, parked, every day, then inhabited him for the hour and half commute back home.

“People think you’re really into church now,” said Neely, “because of all your Instagram posts in churches.”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “I’m not. Into church.” I had been going to churches a lot. To sit in them, and to sit through services, and to meekly sing. “I like them though,” I conceded. “I like that they’re the very beautiful and very quiet.”

“You can like church, you know,” she said. Luis and Neely were a part of the Catholic Relief in South Bend, IN, their senior years, and lived among the Brothers and other devout volunteers for a time, until falling in love. They served meals together to the homeless, and volunteered on home-builds and river cleanups, and rock-climbed with the city’s under-served youths. I let them live rent-free for a few months at 1269 Woodward when it became untenable for them to try to keep fucking in what was essentially a gender-segregated Catholic co-op. She said, “For me, I’m not really, specifically into church right now, or prayer, but I’m really into everyday intentions, you know? Energy in the world.”

“Thank you,” I said, “I’m really not into that either. You don’t—we don’t—need to do—please let’s not with ‘thoughts and prayers,’ if that’ okay?”

“But!” shouted Neely, laughing, “You have all my thoughts! Aww!”

“Thank you, thank you.”

“And with all the sex you’re having, maybe going to church is okay?”

“It’s definitely a prophylactic: I’ve not gotten pregnant one time. And the STIs—I can feel em’ just, falling away.”

Neely keeps her hair in two thick brown braids. She has freckles and ears that slightly stick out, and until very recently, confusingly, a top-row of braces that I’ve also never bothered to ask about. Women with braces in their late-20s (besides giving off that extreme Parker Posey-vibe) have always projected an air of fearless unconventionality to me, despite braces being, obviously, an expensive and prescriptive and primarily cosmetic ordeal. When she was thinking, she still touched her teeth as though they were braced.

“What are you doing with your anger now?” I asked.

“I’m giving it to the valley, you know?”

While scrutinizing her face I nonetheless forgot we were doing Facetime so she could see my consternation, which was radical.

“I give it to the valley, Evan! To the bees and the flowers and the arroyo and the brush!” She laughed at me. “I can’t figure out what to do with it. I was listening to myself on the phone with my mom the other night, and had this overwhelming sense that she hated who I’d become. Because I’d become this poor, boring person who just wanted to find shelters for 60,000 Americans, and implement a needle exchange program, and super-charge our food pantries, and develop a network of affordable health care services and career prep classrooms for families on hard times—and the obviousness of this, the obvious good need of this, of caring for my brothers and sisters, and seeing them warm and fed and safe, it was so stupid and boring and strange to her, because it was so impossible, and so we ended up spending like the next forty-five minutes talking about my sister’s big Fucking Expensive STUPID WEDDING!” On this crescendo she added an “AAAAAHHHHH!”—really giving her anger to the valley. “AAAAHHHH! It’s like, the things I know I could do, like write about these things, I can’t pay myself to focus on. I feel very... young,” she said, choosing the word carefully.

“I feel very, very old, Neely,” I said. Then I said something that surprised me: “I feel as though I am too old to have sons, now, that I’ve poisoned my timeline.”

“Your dick! Seems to work! Just fine!” she sing-songed.

“I think I mean that I had thought I had the family I was building. I had spent five years working toward the place where I could have a son. Or a daughter. I’m not sure what brazen sexist impulse keeps me making these patrician claims. I had thought I was coming home every night to this... place... condo, I guess... where the next day or the next year, I knew held greater peace. More success. Manageable strife, if ever strife.”

“You can start that again,” said Neely.

“I can start that again. And develop it over the next five years again, so I’m past forty when I’m a father, and an old man when my son starts his own family, and a burden,” I added, to seem more pitiable than I actually felt. (Or anyway to acknowledge how pitiable I was sometimes feeling.)

“I want to give some of your anger to the valley,” she said, “before I have to hang up. Gimme a little of that sweet sweet anger.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“No no, lemme have just a teaspoon. Let me whisper something to the valley.”

I thought for a moment and then said: “I’m mad that I’ve stopped liking kissing.”

“Evan is”—and she whispered this part—“mad that kissing’s no good no mo’. What else?”

“I’m mad that I don’t have a parking tag for my neighborhood.”

“No place to park,” whispered Neely.

“I’m mad that in addition to moving into a tower-garret-studio-apartment, with a broken towel rod and busted dishwasher, I left the cat, I left what feels like a piece of my soul, and I can’t hold that part of my soul anymore, and that part of my soul was the patient part, the part that could read in place for hours and sleep uncomfortably and carry heavy things.”

“Needs a new cat,” said Neely to the valley.

“I’m not getting a new fucking cat.”

“Needs a new soul,” said Neely.

We considered the silence that followed. The valley was quiet. My office was quiet. “Ugh,” I said, and snorted.

Neely’s bonnet fluttered back to reveal her wide forehead and braids. “That wind!” she laughed.

And indeed, I thought I had hated Neely’s valley thing, but then I did not listen to any music on the drive home.

[shivamgumber50]

Digital Marketing Skills For Business

Digital Marketing Skills For Business

Today’s digital marketing experts must have a diverse skill set, including a sophisticated grasp of available media channels. And the ability to identify up-and-coming opportunities. On top of having the basic skills of a brilliant marketer. In this post, I talk about 7 Essential Digital Marketing Skills For Business. And why one should learn these underrated or overlooked skills.

The Digital Marketing Industry is vast, and it can be difficult to navigate for newcomers. Or those looking to find their niche. So, how do you set yourself apart from the competition? And fast-track your way up the corporate world.

The thing is that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is key to all levels of digital marketing. Anyone going into the field must have at least a basic handle on it. SEO and SEM are ruling in the Digital world. So I’m gonna talk about What are the other skills that people often ignore but are very essential Digital Marketing Skills For Business.

So here are 7 Essential Digital Marketing Skills For Business in High demand.

1. Lead Generation

Lead generation is the process of attracting and converting strangers. And prospects into someone who has indicated an interest in your company’s product or service. Some examples of lead generators are job applications, blog posts, coupons, live events, and online content.

Prospects can come as names and addresses, names and telephone numbers, email locations and fax numbers. Whenever we do marketing for business on the basis of first priority we focus the number of leads. And how many customers we are getting per day. Lead generation is the concept in that we have to convert a stranger into our customer. We all here doing marketing to get some leads from clients.

Let’s look a bit deep in the process of Lead Generation.

First, a visitor discovers your business through one of your marketing channels, such as your website, blog, or social media page.

That visitor then clicks on your call to action (CTA) — an image, button, or message that encourages website visitors to take some sort of action.

That CTA takes your visitor to a landing page, which is a web page that is designed to capture lead information in exchange for an offer.

Once on the landing page, your visitor fills out a form in exchange for the offer. That is, as long as you’re following lead-capture form best practices.

2. Online Reputation Management

Online Reputation Management (ORM) is the act of monitoring, addressing or mitigating SERPs (search engine result pages) or mentions in online media and Web content. It is of great importance to companies to monitor how someone or something is perceived based on an internet search. Whenever we search for a query of anything on the internet. First, we go through the review segment. Then we can make positive feedback for any company to have its services. Online Reputation Management also a good platform to make your job profile.

As the amount of user-generated content on the internet is growing. It began to affect internet search results more meaningfully. And the desire to change those results naturally followed. Reviews are a very important part of any brand reputation. They can make your reputation either positive or negative.

3. E-commerce Marketing

Today nearly every marketing operation takes place online. It can be tough to distinguish between the various types of digital marketing people use today. What about e-commerce marketing? What is it, and how does it compare to practices like social media, content, search engine, and email marketing?

E-commerce Marketing is the act of driving awareness and action toward a business that sells its product or service electronically. Ecommerce marketers can use social media, digital content, search engines, and email campaigns to attract visitors and facilitate purchases online. Ecommerce marketing is just one community of marketers who can use the principles of digital and inbound marketing to convert visitors into customers.

E-commerce businesses have several marketing tools at their disposal. So you can use digital and inbound marketing just the right way. You can create campaigns that are designed to help your online store attract customers and grow better.

4. Viral Marketing

Viral marketing seeks to spread information about a product or service from person to person. By word of mouth or sharing via the internet or email. The goal of viral marketing is to inspire individuals to share a marketing message with friends, family, and other individuals. This is to create exponential growth in the number of its recipients. Viral marketing is a deliberate enterprise. Though the distribution of a message happens organically. As such, social media provides the perfect ecosystem for viral marketing. Though it has its roots in traditional word-of-mouth marketing.

Viral marketing can be less expensive than traditional marketing campaigns. Yet grow faster especially with the help of social networks as a force multiplier. Since it can receive so much traffic in a short time. It can also lead to mainstream media attention. The widespread adoption of social networks, including YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook, has enabled modern viral marketing efforts and increased their efficacy.

5. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is an advertising model in which a company compensates third-party publishers to generate traffic or leads to the company’s products and services. The third-party publishers are affiliates, and the commission fee incentivizes them to find ways to promote the company.

The Internet has increased the prominence of affiliate marketing. Amazon popularized the practice by creating an affiliate marketing program. Where websites and bloggers put links to the Amazon page for a reviewed or discussed product. They receive advertising fees when a purchase is made. In this sense, affiliate marketing is essentially a pay for performance marketing program where the act of selling is outsourced across a vast network.

Affiliate marketing predates the Internet. But it is the world of digital marketing, analytics, and cookies that have made it a billion-dollar industry. A company running an affiliate marketing program can track the links that bring in leads. And through internal analytics, see how many convert to sales.

6. Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing is a multi-channel, digital marketing strategy aimed at reaching a target audience on their smartphones, tablets, and/or other mobile devices. It is done via websites, email, SMS and MMS, social media, and apps. Mobile is disrupting the way people engage with brands. Everything that can be done on a desktop computer is now available on a mobile device. From opening an email to visiting your website to reading your content. It’s all accessible through a small mobile screen.

A mobile marketing strategy is not a stand-alone effort. But it is a large chunk of any long-term or short-term marketing campaign. And its importance is only growing. From email to PPC, to SEO, to content, to social media marketing. There is a mobile marketing channel to reach every part of your audience where they are most comfortable.

Optimizing your website and email sends for mobile devices. Taking advantage of the SMS and MMS channels. Building a native app for your most highly engaged audience is all big projects. So, start by updating your buyer personas to get a better idea of where the majority of your target audience spends its mobile time. That will give you your start line. And the rest will fall into a logical order.

Mobile technology is not a fad that’s going away any time soon. Optimizing your marketing strategy for mobile will give your brand an edge over the competition. Don’t wait—go mobile today!

7. Infographic Marketing

Last but not least is Infographic Marketing. Infographics are essentially visual representations of data, presented in a format that is more engaging than usual written copy. It can be challenging to achieve the same depth of information as text. But a compelling infographic can be more attractive to web users while telling a relevant narrative.

Quality infographics require high-caliber editorial research. And copy combined with appropriate, interesting and logical designs. Companies marketing with infographics must be especially conscious of choosing subjects and formats befitting of their brands.

As more businesses begin using the web to boost their marketing campaigns. Differentiating content becomes increasingly important. Infographic marketing provides an opportunity for a company to present information in a dynamic, visual format. That’s how it will stand out from the rest of its website. And set it apart from competitors.

Conclusion

A great digital marketing professional will have the ability to adapt quickly and learn on their own. Even being ready to pivot into different digital careers as they choose or as needed. They will be working with diverse teams and clients. So they will have to know how to communicate well and build strong teams.

While there are a number of things that you will have to do in order to be competitive in the digital marketing career field. It’s important not to forget about leveraging. And improve your hard and soft skills. As you move forward into exciting new positions.

So what do you think of 7 essential Digital Marketing Skills For Business? If you have any queries regarding these modules let me know about your feedback on this post in the comment section and don’t forget to share it with your network?

My Digital Tomorrow - Blog

www.mydigitaltomorrow.com

[brooklynmuseum]

Dear friends, I hope your summer has been glorious! As the season winds down, things are heating up here at the Brooklyn Museum. Fall is always an exciting time for us, and this year is no exception. Through a robust series of exhibitions and public programs, matched with expanding educational opportunities and community collaborations, we have a big season ahead of us and there’s a lot to share. We’ve long been committed to exhibitions and programs that amplify inclusive and canon-expanding narratives, and this tradition continues on September 14 with the opening of our hotly anticipated fall exhibition, Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. The show, originated at Tate Modern, shines a new light on Black artists working during a time of rapid artistic experimentation and political change during the Black Power Movement of the 1960s and ’70s. We have incredible public programs planned to coincide with the show—from an opening weekend celebration to artist talks, a special BkM Teen Night, two dedicated Target First Saturdays, and a program that honors intergenerational leaders of Black-led arts organizations here in Brooklyn and throughout the city. Thanks to the Ford Foundation for their lead support of this important exhibition. We’re also giving our visitors an opportunity to look at the Museum’s collection in unexpected ways. Rob Wynne’s FLOAT is creating poetic, beautiful encounters with our world-famous collection of American art on the 5th Floor, and Cecilia Vicuña: Disappeared Quipu breathes new life into the collection of ancient Andean textiles and quipus with a monumental installation in our Great Hall. Half the Picture: A Feminist Look at the Collection, on view in our Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, highlights work by more than fifty artists created in response to crucial social and political moments from the last 100 years—from World War I to the Civil Rights Movement and #MeToo. We know you count on us for timely conversations about today’s key issues. So, this fall, we’re working with a number of contemporary artists who are thinking more broadly about the universal search for home and community in the face of social, political, and economic hardships occurring around the world and in our own backyard. Artists who have been personally affected by global displacement, forced migration, and immigration are exploring ways to forge community, stay connected, and create a new home in the toughest of circumstances. Opening in October, a monumental installation and new acquisition for our collection by Korean American artist Do Ho Suh will be on view in our 5th Floor Rotunda: it re-creates the artist’s longtime home in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, and highlights his artistic concerns with cultural displacement, memory, and identity. Another show takes a personal look at the refugee crisis in Syria, as well as its historical roots: Syria, Then and Now: Stories from Refugees a Century Apart, made possible by the Misk Institute and the Arab Art and Education Initiative, draws attention to the plight of refugees in early twentieth-century Syria and today by pairing artifacts from our collection of Islamic art with work by three contemporary Arab artists. Meanwhile, thanks to our partnership with Bank of America, our conservators are hard at work in the 3rd Floor galleries restoring six ancient Assyrian reliefs from the Nimrud Palace, near Mosul, Iraq—where numerous cultural heritage sites have been desecrated by ISIL. Stop by to get a rare, behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to restore these important reliefs from the ninth century B.C.E. At our front door, we’ve invited four Brooklyn artists to install text-based works, in our public plaza and entry spaces, for a yearlong activation that highlights the Museum’s responsibility as a leader in civic discourse, inspiring thoughtful dialogue and exchange around relevant issues of the day. Something to Say celebrates the work of local artists Brooklyn Hi-Art! Machine, Deborah Kass, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Hank Willis Thomas, and will be on view through summer 2019! To kick off this activation, we’re inviting friends and family for a day of art-making and activities on October 6, leading up to our evening Target First Saturday programming. As ever, our Education team is also making huge strides by expanding our paid internship programs through partnerships with colleges around the country, from CUNY to Stanford, and has launched a new two-year partnership with Citibank that allows us to bring in ten full-time paid fellows. Working in collaboration with historically Black colleges and universities, the Citi fellowship aims to access promising young talent and to ensure that the next generation of museum professionals reflects the growing diversity of museum audiences. We’ve also trained and paid 45 local teens in our Education department—not to mention that our brand-new summer camp program provided increased access to the Museum for all of Brooklyn’s youth, thanks to our recently created Carol Frieman Finkel Scholarship Fund. From education to community partnerships, our commitments are growing, and we couldn’t be more excited to go even further in the coming months. I hope you’ll come visit us this fall and check out our progress. It’s going to be another blockbuster season for our new exhibitions and public programs. We’ve been your Brooklyn Museum for 195 years—and counting—and we look forward to sharing many years to come, each one full of fun, inspiration, and memorable experiences with great art. And, as ever, we thank you for your support and belief in our work. I look forward to seeing you in our galleries and at our public programs this fall! Yours,

Anne Pasternak Shelby White and Leon Levy Director Brooklyn Museum

[bald-tales]

Witness Protection at the Bears Den - part 8 and 9

Dan was now studying a case file marked: 359. The client, one Bret Williamson, witness for the District Attorney in the successful prosecution of Carl Gandifino, a high ranking mobster in a world-wide Drug syndicate.  Bret had been a drop-out from college and sought his riches by working for Carlo. He poised as a college student in order to infiltrate the college campuses, peddling his drugs. After being picked up by the police, they told him his only chance to escape a lengthy jail term was to tell them everything. Of course he knew his life was in danger – however he was promised money and complete re-location.  Dan was sitting at his desk at work, a company called; New Beginnings. He was having such a great day because it looked like he was going to head up the company’s’ witness protection program. His former boss, Jerrod O’Leary, had terminated his employment, effective immediately! Both he and his Barber mate, Ken had seen to it that the new Jerrod, now known as Jerry Hawk, write a resignation letter the night before. After Jerry’s transformation into punk biker, by Ken’s talented hands, he had no desire to return to his former life.  Now the company heads were unimpressed the ‘kid’ had left so quickly and mysteriously. They asked Dan to organise an investigation so as not to compromise there security. Dan couldn’t believe how easy it was to get rid of his boss, and with him now heading the investigation into Jerrod’s resignation, it was going to be even simpler to delete all information on Jerrod O’Leary. Dan already had an idea to link the recent security breach where a customer’s new identity had been discovered, and latter –  Kidnapped –to Jerrod.  Dan picked up the photo of Bret. A good-looking kid, well not a kid -he was 28, but he could pass for a 17 year-old. His hair was blonde and tied into a ponytail. He was clean shaven and seemed to be rather scrawny, like he needed a good feed. He probably was a user himself, Dan thought. Well he’d soon meet him in the flesh, the NCF (National Crime Force) were dropping him off in a hour or so.  Dan wasn’t going to waste anytime with ensuring Bret’s safety. He had arranged to take him straight to Ken’s Barbershop straight away – Ken was preparing for them!  It was important that Bret’s new identity begin as soon as possible.  MEANWHILE AT KEN”S BARBERSHOP  Ken had closed his shop for the afternoon in order to prepare for his new client, Dan was bringing round. He had been given no specific information about this guy – Dan thought it safer if Ken knew as little about him as possible.  “How yer getting on with the new hired help?” asked Ken when he saw his partner, Bart, enter the back door of the shop. Ken was referring to Jerry, the new improved Biker version of Jerrod, Dan’s ex-boss. They’d put him to work in their bar next door, ‘The Bears Den’, seeing he was staying with them in their upstairs apartment. He was popular with the customers alright, and at the end of a long hard day – he certainly was very eager to let Ken and Bart take turns fucking him – he just seemed to be so eager to satisfy. Ken realised that his programming techniques were better than he could have imagined. First with Luke who became Lucas, and now Jerrod. This could indeed become a very lucrative business given time, he thought to himself. Already he had some patrons asking about Lucas and whether he was for sale. Ken hadn’t thought about that originally, he was just having plain fun turning these Jocks into big macho Bears.  “Well his not the hardest worker behind the bar – he spends more time chatting up the customers or touching up his Mohawk”, Bart replied. “So what have you got planned for the new arrival?”  “Well I’ll know what to do when I see what he looks like, but according to Dan he thinks I should just keep doing what I’m doing already. Normally his company uses plastic surgeons to alter the witness appearance, but he thinks there are still risks in that. Once they have the new identity their finding it hard and often slip up, contacting friends or family from their previous lives. Dan said over the last 6 months they’ve lost 2 clients to hit men.”  “Wow!” Bart exclaimed,” So their safer in your hands of course.”  “Let’s hope so, “answered Ken. He hadn’t really thought about the dangers involved, but he knew this part of town was the last place anyone would come looking for a white middle class jock.  Suddenly, a knock at the front door startled both of them. “That’ll be the new client Bart, would you like to show him in,” asked Ken.  After the pleasantries were exchanged, Bret, Dan and Ken sat down on the waiting area chairs while Bart returned to the bar to check on Luke. Ken noticed that even though Bret was thin he certainly was a looker. He certainly looked a lot younger than his 28 years.  Dan hadn’t told his client what they had in store for him – only that his Barber friend was a genius a creating whole new looks. Bret seemed pretty relaxed , obviously unaware of the changes he would undergo.  “Okay then Bret, into the chair and let’s see what I can do”, said Ken with a distinct cheerfulness in his voice,  “I don’t want anything freaky, like shaving my head,” returned Bret, nodding at Dan’s and Ken’s hairless scalps.  Ken responded, “Trust me Bret, we have to make sure nobody finds you, and when I’m finished with you even your own mother wont recognise you.”  For the first time since entering the shop, Bret looked worried.  As Ken fastened the cape around Bret’s neck, he asked Dan to take a seat and enjoy the show. Soon the sound of vibrating clippers filled the room. As Ken drew them towards Bret’s hairline, Dan could feel his cock growing. Then the hungry teeth of the clippers made direct contact with Bret’s hairline – stripping the guy of his longish bangs.  “Hey!” Bret shouted, “What gives, I told you I didn’t want the same look as you Bozo’s have.”  Annoyed at this interruption and the Bozo reference, Ken switched off the clippers.  Bret continued his ranting, “I’ve got very use to my long blonde locks and I’m only going to let you trim the ends or maybe dye it.”  Bret didn’t see what Ken was doing behind him, but Ken touched a switch and two wrist clamps appeared from under the chair arms and locked in place around Bret’s wrists.  “Fuck man! What gives, you can’t do this to me….” And before Bret could react any further, Ken was strapping Bret’s feet to the chair, while he tossed another leather strap to Dan. “Would you mind old friend?”  “Be a pleasure,” replied Dan  “You fat fuck, you can’t do this – I’ll call my lawy……….ahhhh!” cried Bret as Dan slapped him hard across the face. “Now’s the time to start resembling some of your family, Bret.” Said Ken sounding almost sinister.  “Listen you weasel. You’re lucky to have Ken. Without his help, you would fall back into the hands of the mob. No lawyer is going to help you now, we’re all you got if you want to stay alive,” spat Dan as he grabbed Bret by the shirt collar.  “Yeah,” said Ken as he took something from a drawer. “We’re your new family now.”  And before Bret could say anything Ken shoved a rubber ball gag into his mouth – so big there was no need to fasten it. This gave Ken the freedom to work on the kid’s head.  Fear had replaced the arrogance. Bret knew these guy’s meant business – he hadn’t really thought the changes he would undergo would be too drastic. Just a haircut, a new name and a different city.  Part 9  Dan was surprised how different their new boy was looking already. Ken had been working solidly for the past hour whilst Bret, still strapped to the Barber’s Chair, just stared at the mirror in front of him – eyes red from all the tears he’d shed. He couldn’t believe what was happening to him and he was powerless to stop these maniacs!  His hair was almost history, just a light covering of stubble and because he was blonde, his head seemed shaved clean. The Barber working on him, had already applied some thick green goop to his face, he didn’t know what it was but it certainly tingled after a short time. The biggest thing that had frightened Brett was when he was hooked up to some IV bag on a stand. The Barber had inserted a needle in his forearm, and the bag had already emptied it’s contents and they replaced it with a new bag. Nothing made sense to Brett; why were these guys doing to him? Were they going to turn him into a fag like them? Shit! That’s shaving cream his using as the warmth of the lather brought him out of his tangled thoughts.  Ken had started removing Bret’s remaining hair. The straight razor, with some resistance at first, began to remove the remaining stubble. As more and more pink skin showed through the thick lather, the razor found less and less drag. Ken continued to run the razor over and over Bret’s head, ensuring no stubble remained. When satisfied with the smoothness, which he checked by running his tongue over the denuded scalp, he took a jar from the counter and applied this heavy white cream to the top of Bret’s newly shaved head, rubbing it in. He was careful to only apply it only where he didn’t want any hair to grow again. Bret could feel a slight tightening of his scalp then it started to sting.  “I think an mpb will make you look years older, especially with that baby-face”, smiled Ken in the mirror at Bret. He noticed tears welling up in Bret’s eyes, along with a muffled whimper. Dan couldn’t believe how different the college dropout looked with his long blonde hair gone. Because of the colour of his hair, his shaved head didn’t have a hint of shadow anywhere.  “I think a low dip in the back is the best style for you Bret,” Ken said as he continued to apply the depilatory cream to the back of Bret’s head. Bret was horrified to hear he’d never have his long, flowing hair anymore. Why were these fuckers doing this to him?  This wasn’t in the deal he’d made with the Feds. If only he’d known, it would have been easier to face his former Bosses’ goons.  “So this stuff really stops any hair growth?” Dan asked Ken?  “A recent invention on my part,” replied Ken, “I’m hoping to market it.”  “Maybe you can line me up with some of that stuff,” Dan smiled running a hand over the three day stubble that was on his head.  “Sure thing but you have to be shaved smooth first as it only works by acting on the hair root, the less hair in the way, the better exposed the root ball. In fact, why don’t we do you now? It’ll give us some time for Bret’s initial changes to take place.” Replied Ken, motioning Dan to the neighbouring Barbers Chair.  “Now your sure you want this?” asked Ken as he started up his lather machine.  “Positive, you know I get lazy with shaving my head.”  “Okay, one cue ball for life coming up,” and with that Ken began to lather up the stubble on Dan’s head. Bret couldn’t believe any of what he was seeing. He was starting to feel strange – was it the drugs they were putting into him?  Ken started to shave his friend’s scalp for the last time. He took long, deliberate strokes with the straight razor, finally saying, “your gonna miss this aren’t you Dan?”  “Yeah! It feels great, but this way I always have a smooth head, with not even a hint of shadow. So now I’ll always wake up with no stubble.” Smiled Dan.  After Ken had re-lathered Dan’s head, he carefully shaved against the grain, and as each stroke removed more and more white foam, smooth, clean skin glowed under the bright shop lights. After Ken wiped the scalp dry, he then took the thick paste and spread it all over Dan’s bald pate. “While we’re waiting for the cream to set, why don’t I tighten up that goat and tache of yours,” said Ken not waiting for a reply as he started to lather Dan’s face. Dan was enjoying himself and trusted Ken with all his grooming. It was Ken who had designed his present look.  Ken finished the tightening up of Dan’s goatee, trimming his moustache and blending the edges. Next he went back to the hair removal paste on Dan’s scalp; taking a damp towel, he carefully wiped away all the paste. “Now your scalp will feel a little raw for a while- I’ll apply some aloe lotion now and that should help.” Ken said.  When he’d finished rubbing the aloe on Dan’s head he held a mirror up so Dan could see the sides and back. “Smooth as!” smiled Dan as he took a hand and felt the new permanent smoothness of his head.  “Well, we’d better get back to our client” stated Ken, “I’m sure his been ‘basting’ long enough.”  Bret had been watching all this still secured to his chair with leather restraints and ball gag still in his mouth. He didn’t want to be here, he certainly didn’t want to look like these guy’s, but already they were turning him into a ‘ baldy’ like them.  Ken and Dan stood beside Bret looking at their captive client. Dan spoke first, “I can’t believe it Ken…I mean it’s only been a short time, and look at his face. That’s a pretty decent beard growth already.”  “It’s working better than expected, but then I did increase the stimulants in the Hair Growth formulae. When combined with the growth steroids we’re pumping into him, it’s working overtime,” Ken replied. “And speaking of the steroids we need to replace that bag.” Dan went to retrieve another IV bag, containing a mixture of potent steroids, hormones and chemicals all designed to alter Bret’s body shape as quickly as possible. The quicker the whole transformation process happened, the less chance of anyone finding Bret or indeed the Barbershop and Bar. Dan was well aware they hadn’t caught the culprit at work who’d been leaking information about certain clients. He needed to still be cautious, even here in this part of town.  Dan had every reason to be worried – at that very moment in the ‘Bears Den’, Bart had a guy he’d never seen before, enter the still quiet bar. 

[wonderlandmind4]

Delicate Stages Drabbles: Twelve

The One With the Feelings

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC

Summary: Drabbles following Delicate Stages. Looking into the life of Bucky and Ana.

Warnings: Language. Sadness (because someone misses people) fluff.

Words: 2.3k

A/N: These drabbles are starting to go somewhere now, catching up with the timeline….I’m posting drabbles for Delicate Stages here! (Do not read unless you’ve read Delicate Stages first)

The past several months has been a mixture of calm, lazy days, and frantic, sad ones. The frantic one comes with Ana nearly pulling her hair out because wedding planning is a dumb feat. Why can’t see just have a simple one, a small one with just a handful of important people in their lives as they exchange vows.

“We really appreciate it, Tony, honestly,” Ana sighs on day while on the phone. “But we don’t need a venue that…extravagant. We just want to it keep it rather simple.”

Tony finally relents but insists that he pay for the entire wedding. Ana playfully argues with him, having come to an agreement that she at least pay for the deposit on a place. However, their conversation sends Ana into an emotion filled fit at one point, because a glaring fact just hit her in the face.

The lights in their apartment begin to flicker, and things begin to shake, trembling along with Ana’s own hands. She doesn’t try to rein it in, but she ends up grabbing the box the energy rings are in and quickly shoves them on. She twists them, and immediately, the lights steady.

She ends up taking a walk, coming to a stop by the lake. She finds rocks and begins chucking them are far and as hard as hard as she can. They land in the water with a satisfying splash, and she makes a game out of it; how far can she out throw the others.

Ana doesn’t know how long she stands there, tossing rocks as her heart clenches with stinging, longing sadness. It’s not like she completely forgot about it, the thought being a forefront in her mind since Bucky asked her to marry him. But now, now she has to acknowledge it aloud.

“I knew we should’ve set up a punching bag in the living room,” Bucky’s voice comes from behind her, carrying in the wind.

Ana drops the rock in her hand. She can feel him coming closer, as if he’s reaching out his hand to comfort her.

“Don’t,” She warns, “I have the rings on.”

When Bucky is next to her, he picks up the rock she dropped. He pulls his arm back, then throws it as hard as he can. It takes a while for them to hear a faint splash. Ana glares out over the lake. Damn super strength.

“Annie,” He whispers. A gentle sound that reassures her that she isn’t alone.

She twists the rings off. “It’s not that I forgot or anything,” She begins, gasping in a breath. “But all this planning, all this happiness, it just makes the fact glaringly obvious.”

Bucky brushes her hair off her shoulder, tenderly swiping his thumb across her collarbone. It breaks her. She nearly collapses against his chest, pressing her face in his shirt, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. She cries. She sobs as he holds her just as tight.

“I just wish,” She heaves, “I- I wish they were here, Bucky. All of them. I-I…who…I can’t-“

Soothing coos sounds from above her, Bucky trying his best to calm her breathing. She feels him press his lips to the top of her head, and she tries to listen to the musical beating of his heart.

“I’m suppose to plan this with my mother. I’m supposed to be excited with my brother, ask him to be a man of honor. I-I’m supposed to have my father walk me down the aisle. But-…but…”

Her body shakes with more sobs. “I can’t-can’t share any-any of it w-with them.” Abruptly she pulls away, hastily wiping her tears away. Bucky looks baffled for a moment, before his eyes soften.

“Ana-“

“I’m so sorry, Buck. I, sorry. This is happy, I should be happy and excited, and I am because I get to marry you. Fuck, babe, I’m sorry about this, I-“

“Hey, sweetheart,” Bucky cups the sides of her jaws. “Don’t do that, don’t hide your sadness behind that wall. It’s okay, baby. You don’t need to apologize for anything. Just cry it out, be sad, it’s alright to miss them like this.”

Ana falls against his chest once more. She allows herself to cry, to release all the emotions of missing her family for this important even in her life to come out. Bucky stands here with her for god knows how long, rubbing his fingers up and down her spine. Softly humming familiar tunes under his breath and dropping random kisses along her head.

Later, once they’re back in their apartment, cuddling up on the couch with her head in Bucky’s lap, she lets his own feelings wash over her. Bucky is remitting comfort, love, support. His calm relaxed breathing lulls her into a daze, so she pulls his left hand from her hair and kisses each knuckle. She feels a little better now, being able to release everything.

“They would love you,” She tells him quietly, shifting so she’s looking up at him.

Bucky pulls his gaze away from the TV, smiling softly down at her. “As I would love them, too.”

“Bucky,” Ana breathes out, now kissing his palm. “I’m going to ask Tony if he would walk me down the aisle.”

“I think he’d take that as the highest, honor, Darling.”

They fall silent for a while. Ana ends up laughing eventually as they watch a program. Almost two hours pass before someone speaks again, and when they do, it’s with a nervous touch.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you something, Ana,” Bucky starts, shifting so Ana can sit up. “Do you…would you want to keep your last name? I will accept yours like your father did with your mother.”

If Ana wasn’t already engaged, she’d asked Bucky to marry her. She places her hand over her heart, simply because she’s so incredibly touched and a whole different wave of emotions curls through her.

“I love you.” She states simply, leaning to press a kiss to his cheek. “I really am so touched you would even ask that, Bucky. You’re wonderful. But, I’m really looking forward to taking your own name, if that’s alright. We can start our own family.”

Bucky’s breath hitches. “Our own family, as in…with me?”

“Nah, I was thinking of finding M’Baku and-“ Ana breaks out, laughing brightly. “Of course, with you, silly! We can talk about that later, although the way you’re turning white tells me diff-“

“No! No!” He says frantically, grabbing her face and kisses her sloppily. “Yes, I mean. We can start our own family.”

Ana scrunches her nose and tugs his hair as she wipes off the wet kiss from the corner of her mouth. “Besides,” She continues, going back to the name change. “I think Annie Barnes has a nice ring to it.”

When Bucky pulls her in again, it’s softer, gentler. “If we didn’t agree to that whole abstinence thing for the wedding, I’d start making a family right now.”

“That’s a stupid arrangement, let’s go!”

Ana straddles him on the couch as he laughs brightly into her mouth.

***

The whole ‘no sex before a wedding’ agreement took affect the month before. Considering they wanted it to be more special the night of, however Bucky thought it was going to be much more difficult than it is. Some days it was, others it wasn’t. Like the four days when Ana was sick with a nasty cold, and it was filled with Bucky making her soup and bringing her back medicine from the Healers and wrapping her up in fuzzy blankets.

It was hard when Ana found that black dress Bucky had mentioned that got him hot and bothered. She put it on, like the little minx she is, claiming she would wear it for the rehearsal dinner. He almost broke, but then Ana’s phone rang, and she chatted on the phone with Wanda for two hours.

Then they flew to New York, checking out a venue that Ana insisted they have. It’s the same place her parents got married, and Pepper was able to pull some strings, setting the date for their wedding along with it. Ana didn’t full on cry later that night, but she did shed some tears and all she wanted to do was snuggle up next to him.

The plans were falling together, and Bucky was becoming more nervous with each passing day. He was going to marry the love of his life, his girl he had given his heart too. On some nights, he would sneak away from her, leave her a note, and meet Steve outside of Tony’s place they were staying in.

He thought it strange they weren’t staying in the compound like last time, until Steve told him why. So, maybe that’s why Bucky is feel extra frustrated at this very moment, just days before their wedding. Steve had convinced him to go over to Sam’s new apartment in the city, so they could talk about it.

Bucky forces a slow, but hard breath through his nose, trying not to knock his fist up side anyone’s head. He keeps his arms crossed tightly across his chest, closing his eyes to block out the tense faces around him. He thinks, considers, the options they have in front of them, then quickly comes up with a solution. One he does not like.

“So,” He speaks up, breaking the long silence, heavy with tension. “Ana has absolutely no idea this has been going on? For the past three months. She has no idea that you’re all at each other’s throats because no one can agree on those goddamn Accords. Ana has no inkling of the Avengers, the people she considers family, are falling apart, and if said Avenger members refuse to sign, they will be considered criminals? Is that correct?”

Christ, he thought when they all fought before in Germany nearly two years ago that that was a shit show. Somehow this feels worse. Somehow, this is worse.

“We get it, Barnes,” Natasha snips from her place on the couch, but there’s a teasing twitch to her mouth. “We haven’t told her, when we should have.”

“Which is why,” Tony cuts in sharply, “we are considering telling her now.”

Bucky drops his arms in favor of pinching the bridge of his nose. “You want to tell her two days before our wedding?”

Sam snorts as a collective response. He gets it.

“What other choice do we have?” Steve questions, sounding defeated. Regretful.

Bucky eyes his friend. There’s a subtle twitch of his jaw, grinding his teeth. It’s always been a sign of Steve’s anger being held at bay. His eyes are hard, determined not to back down from his decision, from what he thinks is the right thing.

“You don’t tell Ana.” Bucky states firmly. “That’s what you’re all going to do, because none of you will add any stress to her. She’s happy, she’s excited, she’s…well. She has been extremely calm about the wedding for the past two weeks. You will not inform her of any of this, the Accords, the dumbass riff between you all, because then that’s all she will focus on.”

He shakes his head in frustration, wishing they hadn’t told him either. “She’ll want to fix everything, and as much as it sucks to hear, that is not her burden.”

“We know, Buck,” Steve assures quietly.

“Then we just don’t tell her at all?” Clint asks, his elbow resting on Natasha’s shoulders. “That doesn’t seem like a wise choice either.”

“Oh, you’ll tell her, because the longer she doesn’t know, the angrier she’ll be,” Bucky counters. “But after the wedding.” He pauses, considering something. He smirks. “Well, maybe an extra day after.”

Tony visibly blanches, rolling his eyes. “Great plan, genius. Good thing Ana won’t be able to feel the tension here. She’ll know something is up instantly.”

Shrugging, Bucky says, “Then rein it in. Can’t you all just ignore this shit for the sake of, not even for me, but for Ana? She just wants to be happy and celebrate with the people she loves. We both do. There’s going to be some repercussions of hiding it, but I’m asking you all as a favor. Please.”

Wanda, who has been standing quietly by the large window of the living room, finally speaks up. “Of course, Bucky. We just want to see you both happy. You both deserve it.”

The softness of her tone makes him walk over to her. While he was living in the compound with them during the Sessions, he had grown quiet a soft spot for the young woman. He wraps his left arm around her shoulders in a tight side hug.

“Thank you,” He expresses softly. He lifts his eyes to the rest of his friends. “I know it isn’t the greatest idea, but I really appreciate it.”

The halfhearted smiles he gets is enough for him. He nods once, then abruptly changes the subject. Bucky steps away from Wanda but grips her elbow and drags her over to Natasha.

“Now, Ana woke up an hour ago. She demanded that if I was going to have a bachelor night, which was not the case,” He gives a hard look to Steve who just shrugs. “She demanded both of you ladies to meet with her and Pepper at their house,” He tells them, now leading them towards another door. “Something about champagne and orange juice?”

“Mimosa’s, at this hour?” Natasha questions curiously. “It’s eleven at night.”

“Don’t question my bride, Natalia,” He responds flatly. He earns a sharp jab of his elbow in his ribs at her birth name.

“Just because you fully remember training me doesn’t mean you can call me by that name, Barnes.”

Wanda giggles next to them.

Bucky just rolls his eyes, fighting back a smug smile. He watches them go, chatting about picking up Sharon as well. Once they shut the door behind them, he turns back around and sighs, leaning against the door. It’s quiet, the room filled with tension for several moments. Then Tony breaks it.

“Well, if she thinks you’re having a bachelor night. Then lets make it happen!”

****************************************************

Drabbles Eleven   Drabbles Thirteen

Tags: @kat-lives @justreadingfics @watchoutforfrostbite @stressedasalways

[backtogether-rp]

Welcome Elle! Congrats you’ve been accepted for the role of Valentina Cruz, send your account in within the next 24 hours. Also, make sure to check everything out here. 

Out of Character Information.

name: Elle age (18+): 20 timezone: EST activity level: Same as previously stated, it goes around 5-6 but it increases when I’m on break from school. 

In-Character Information.

face claim: Eiza Gonzalez full name: Valentina Crystal Cruz age: 26 birthday: December 29th 1993 hometown: Miami, Florida current location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania gender identity: Female orientation: Bisexual ships: Age gaps and super understanding people will be the best for her and her storyline, otherwise, anything wish chemistry is good! anti ships: Forced, No Chemistry. triggers: None occupation: Escort and saleswoman for a lingerie store. siblings: None (would be open to step-siblings) +3 positive traits: Loyal, Supportive, Trustworthy -3 negative traits: Tactless, Gullible, Possessive extra details:

She does work in a sexual place and most of her work life involves it, but I don’t roleplay smut. I don’t mind reading it, mentioning it and fading to black once a smut scene is happening, but I will never roleplay it. This is just me trying to say she’s more than what she does at night.

She gets attached very easily to people outside her job, with friends or parental figures. However, commitment is something she does not master yet, or probably never will.

She kind of has two personalities, even outside of her job. The cute and shy Lena and the outgoing and confident Chanel. She can switch from one to the other depending on how comfortable she feels.

Biography.

Born on December 29th 1993 to Alejandro Cruz, a physical education teacher at one of Miami’s high schools, and to Esmeralda Garcia, a mother who always juggled with multiple jobs. Valentina did not arrive on a life already set on a silver platter. To her, family time  was resumed to spending a week with her mother and the next one at her father’s small cabin by the beach. She did not have much, a tutu, dancing shoes and a stuffed animal she named Chanel. Yet, she was not unhappy. How could she have been aware of how unfortunate she was to land in a family that was already broken before she even existed? She could not, because she didn’t know better.

Well, maybe she did. Between the age of six and ten, her parents cooperated to afford her dancing classes. From contemporary, to lyrical and passing by ballet, she learned and loved all of it. After she got in a fight with one of the other girls who shared her classes, she was forced to leave the dance school. She was forced to go back to reality, where her mother and father did not meet to pick her up, did not exchange a smile: did not prove that the broken pieces could be fixed. Valentina was naïve, she did not understand that she would never see her parents in the same room again and that her dream of living like any other little girls she danced with would be impossible.

She was not very demanding, did not believe in the miracle of Christmas and only wanted to spend her birthday with her two parents, which, obviously, never happened. In exchange, Esmeralda saved enough money and put the envelope in Lena’s back pack, sending her by taxi to the cabin by the beach. This ritual was repeated on her 12th and 13th birthday, leaving the young teenager two entire months to spend with her father. They would find new activities for his next year as a teacher, they would collect seashells and make necklaces out of it and, most importantly, they would surf. They would ride the waves at day and stare at the starts, being rocked by the calm water, at night. Valentina had a new hobby to keep her mind busy.

As the young woman’s hair started to lighten up under the sun, her talent started to increase. She won one competition after another, she was becoming a legend in the world of surfing. Some called her a prodigy and nothing could be more realistic: Valentina practically never fell, she dominated the most violent waves and collected gold medals at her father’s cabin. Along with talent and victory came the pressure to participate in bigger competitions, in Malibu or in Santa Monica, sometimes in Ibiza or Australia. No matter how much she begged for it, Alejandro could not afford his daughter’s dream. Neither could Esmeralda.

Valentina quit surfing at the age of seventeen. And by that time, something changed within her. She aspired to be the Miami babe everyone adored. She had wanted a simple life for so long, by the cabin, eating the same thing everyday and spreading positivity around by teaching others how to swim, how to surf, how to let fish play a tickle fight. She loved those kids, with supportive parents. She loved those parents, with enough money to afford anything their kids wanted. She loved this life, but Alejandro hurt his knee while trying to teach his students gymnastic and he had to quit his job for a year. She had to come back to reality, again.

So, she was stuck with her mother all the time. She had nothing better to distract her than attracting trouble at school. Her argumentative behavior that made her win every debate and made of her a witty student was now an issue for every professors. She accumulated the warnings, always managed to get away with them by a wink or a smile. She learned that after watching her mother accumulate the unsuccessful one night stands and from listening closely to her personal stories. Valentina started to sleep around, girls or boys, it did not matter.

She started to sneak out of class, she did not think it would matter. She was not allowed to go to prom as her first consequence. She was not allowed to participate in the graduation party, fearing she would cause too much trouble. She would get the boys excited, she would make the girls jealous. There was a rumor following her footsteps, that even teachers would crush on her. Still, Valentina learned not to care. She got it from her mama.

College was next door and it was her chance to escape from the vicious circle built by the matriarch of the family. Valentina seized the opportunity of moving to New York to apply to college, at a dance program. It was not the greatest nor the worst. She used her surfing scholarship to afford the fees, but she was not accepted. Her grades were a roller coaster, her attendance and behavior issues finally became a problem. She ruined her own chances of having her better life by reproducing the life she had always wanted to avoid.

Thankfully, she had more tricks up her sleeve. Behind her mother’s back, she found someone online who was searching for a roommate. A week later, she was out of the family loft and she was getting to know who would quickly become her best friend. Andrew was a young man, a musician full of talent, and a single dad. The only reason why he accepted Liana as a roommate was because she could do magic with her son, Xavier. They got along instantly, and the deal was sealed. In order to help paying the bills, the rent and the grocery, Valentina accepted all kinds of jobs until she settled with a part-time job at a lingerie store and a full-time job as a nanny to rich, boring and busy families. Kids loved her, lonely fathers did too, sometimes even mothers. She could stay the night once and make more money than she would during the entire month. It lit up an idea.

One of those lonely fathers was a business man, a strip club owner. He obviously noticed that Valentina had a certain talent only he would know how to put under the spotlight. “Do you want a job that will make you afford your biggest dreams?” He said, “I would never refuse anything.” She replied. That was how she started working as an exotic dancer to one of New York City’s highest class strip clubs. It was clean, it was safe: it was the best she could do. She loved to dance, they loved to see her strip down to her naturally tan skin. She was twenty one years-old when she reconnected to a whole different form of dancing she would fall in love with like any other.

Lena ignored that this father was divorcing from his wife who found out about their affair. He tried to comfort her, telling her everything was fine and that they would make it through. She was too important in his life to let her slip away, but that was what happened anyways. She was kicked out of his luxurious condo with nowhere to go for the night. When she came back home to her roommate, her only option was to tell the truth and he, too, kicked her out. She received a huge deposit in her bank account not long after those sad events, then an email, and another one and one more… It was him. He was worried. He wanted to help her.

Not too long ago, he told her he was moving away from his ex-wife and closing his strip club to open another one somewhere else. Without hesitation, she packed her bags and followed him. She was even further to the sea that she loved, but she had nothing to complain about. He paid a lovely apartment and she got a job in a similar lingerie store. She started seeing other clients again. Within a few months of adjustment, she was swimming in money.

Valentina hides behind a persona, she calls her Chanel. Chanel rolls her hips when she walks, bats her eyes when she talks. Chanel knows how to get what she wants. Chanel dances for big crowds, or even privately. In exchange of a pair of shoes, a new set of earrings or simply money, she would spend the rest of night with them. Chanel, and Valentina, loved this life. She could be free, dancing out there in the prettiest lingerie. She could be free, leaving every morning and taking the subway back home. She could be free, pleasing strangers, building relationships, pretending to know what love felt like. She could be free, getting closer to the life she had always wanted.

[envisionoverseas]

This article is about the best ways to study abroad.

It was one of the most memorable experiences I had in college. As an exchange student, I was able to live in Paris and study at a university there. Those were some of my most memorable memories. 

This is my top advice and tips for college students planning to study abroad in the future. These were my biggest mistakes, but I also learned from them. Study In Australia.

As soon as you can, plan to study abroad

At the end of my freshman year, I made the decision to go abroad for my second year's spring semester. Right away I started planning. I researched the details of the program over the summer and found it. I booked my flight, and I even arranged for an Airbnb apartment. After school began in the fall, my application for the program was approved. In the months that followed my departure, I was able to obtain the student visa and secure other details, such as registering for classes. Study In Australia With Scholarship.

It is important to plan ahead because you have a lot of details that you need to consider before you travel abroad. It is a good idea to start planning at least six months before you intend to depart so that you have enough time to complete everything. Study Abroad In UK.

Save as soon as you can!

It can be costly to study abroad so it is a smart idea to start saving. While I was able to receive scholarships and grants to pay for my studies abroad, I knew that I would still need money to buy my apartment, food, and travel around Europe. Study In UK For Indian Students After 12th.

I worked during the summer to save some money, and then I was fortunate enough to be offered a part-time job in the fall. This allowed me to save even more money before I left for New York in January.

Babysitting, tutoring and working on campus are all great ways to save money for studying abroad. You should plan how much money you will need each month to study abroad and then try to save as much as possible in the months before your departure. Study In UK With Scholarship.

Find financial assistance

My study abroad experience would have been impossible without scholarships and grants. Apart from the scholarship and grant that I received each semester at college, two additional scholarships were available just for studying abroad.

To learn more about scholarships and grants that you might be eligible for, speak to your university's financial assistance office or to your study abroad advisor. You can apply for national scholarships such as the Gilman Scholarship which is open to all students in the United States. You will have a better chance of getting funding if your application is for smaller scholarships, such as those offered by universities or ones that are restricted to students who travel to certain countries.

Learn the language of the local area

It is my firm belief that it is a good idea to study abroad in a country where English does not become the primary language. Many Americans travel to Australia, Ireland, and England. To study abroad, but why not stay in the U.S. If you can, consider going to a more foreign country for your study abroad.

It doesn't matter if you don’t know a foreign language. Many study abroad programs offer classes in foreign languages starting at the beginner level. Once you are proficient, you can continue to learn. A homestay with a local family is a great way to learn the language as well as experience the local culture.