#anyway hope the fishies are ok and that they do not actually live in the computers as their regular tank

[mammonshuman92]

- Watched - Pt.3

(Mammon x GN!MC)

**TW: cussing, stalking, kidnapping, religion, 

Note: C/N (coworker name)

-

“Man, I’m starvin’. What’s takin’ so long anyway?” He grumbled, remembering the whole ‘first name basis’ thing with the delivery driver. 

He was laid on his back across your bed scrolling through social media, impatiently waiting for you to return. His stomach started to growl.

“Maybe I should go check? But, MC said to stay here so no one could see me.” He said to himself, a slight pout on his lips.

He heard a small shuffling noise come from the living room, it sounded like a paper bag crinkling.

Ok, ya got the food, now don’t be tryin’ to chit chat MC, I know how ya are. I’m dyin’ in here!

The bedroom was a straight shot down the hall from the door, making it impossible to sneak a quick peek without fully exposing himself.

He could hear you talking back and forth with...Alex. He huffed to himself remembering your chumminess with the take out guy. Something just seemed weird to him about the whole thing. 

Somethin’ is fishy about him always havin’ MC’s route or whatever. Does nobody else deliver for that place? I bet he’s got a crush on MC or somethin’. 

“I’ll kick his ass.” He said out loud, his own thoughts making him sour.

He listened again, trying to hear what was being said. He couldn’t hear any actual words, but he could hear Alex’s voice. Barely, though.

Wait a minute.. Is he whisperin’? What’s he gotta say to MC that requires whisperin’?! I gotta get outta here.

Mammon was getting himself worked up, assuming this delivery guy was confessing his love to you. He’d nearly convinced himself to march out there and confront the creep. To hell with staying hidden!

Before he could blow his cover, he heard something hit the front door followed by more shuffling movement. He calmed down a bit, thinking the noises he heard were of you getting the food inside and trying to kick the door shut.

He impatiently waited for you to call out, telling him the coast was clear and that he could finally come eat. But, you didn’t.

After a couple minutes passed with no new noise, he grew slightly anxious.

He stood up and started pacing beside the bed, feeling antsy.

C’mon, MC. What’re ya doin’? I’m witherin’ away! Before long I’m gonna shrink up and turn into a Little D or somethin’..

Suddenly, he heard voices again. Well, just the delivery guy’s voice, still a hushed tone. He groaned to himself.

“If he don’t hurry up and go away, I’m gonna eat him instead.” He grumbled quietly to himself.

Something didn’t feel right though. Why was Alex’s voice the only one he heard? It had been at least five minutes since he heard you say something. It’s not like he just missed what you said because you were too quiet for him to hear, or you just chose not to contribute to the guy’s conversation.

You always talk, to basically anyone you come in contact with, never really knowing a stranger. He’s pretty sure you haven’t gone five minutes without talking since he met you. That’s why it seemed so weird to him. 

That alone wasn’t really enough to expose himself though, was it? 

To say you’ve been through a lot lately is an understatement. You’re sleep deprived and your nerves are shot. With everything that’s been going on, it would be more weird if you didn’t act a little different. He didn’t blame you for not being your usual self.

He still couldn’t shake this feeling though.

A sudden, loud noise outside got his attention.

Was that a car door?

He moved quickly, putting his back against the wall, scooting over to the doorway.

“MC? Is he gone?” He whispered.

No answer.

Screw it.

Very slowly, he peeked his head around the corner, careful not to be seen.

“MC?” He whispered again, louder this time. 

Still nothing.

Somethin’ is definitely wrong..

He fully emerged in the doorway, eyes darting around, taking in his surroundings. As he quickly made his way up the hall, he noticed the door standing wide open. He could see that an older model car was parked in front of the house and you were no where in sight.

Hand still on the door knob, he turned around to call out into the house, “MC, where ya at? Ya know ya left the door-”

Before he could finish, the car outside suddenly accelerated, kicking up dirt and rocks as they sped off.

What the..?

“Guess he didn’t like his tip..?” He whispered to himself.

He shut the door and turned around slowly, only taking a couple steps before he came to a stop. He couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling he had.

“Oi, MC! D-don’t ya know you’re supposed to answer when THE Great Mammon calls for ya?” He waited, but the house was still. All he could hear was his heartbeat in his ears.

He walked further into the house, quickly looking around the kitchen before heading back down the hall.

Why ain’t they answerin’.. c-could it..? Nah..

“This ain’t funny ya know..” He called through the house, hoping that you’d somehow slipped past him. 

Again, he was met with bone chilling silence.

Slowly, he started piecing all the little weird things that didn’t make sense together like a puzzle. The silent house and wide open door, abandoned food, the car speeding away.. 

The same delivery guy somehow always having this route...

His heart sank.

No, no, no, no!

He ran from room to room in a panic, desperately calling out to you, begging you to answer him.

This ain’t happenin’.. They gotta be hidin’ or something. Yeah, that’s it!

“MC! Where are ya? Talk to me, please!” He screamed, voice breaking around the hard lump forming in his throat, tears beginning to prick at his eyes.

No, it can’t be.. It can’t be..

With trembling hands, he dug his phone from his pocket, quickly dialing your number.

“C’mon, pick up. Please, please pick up.” He pleaded as he paced the floor.

His stomach dropped when he heard it ringing within the house, quickly following the sound until he found it on the coffee table where you had left it earlier. He stood there unmoving, staring at his picture and contact name with hearts on the screen, tears streaking down his face.

The weight of it all came crashing down like a tsunami, forcing him to his knees. With his face in his hands, he sobbed uncontrollably.

I shoulda listened to my gut when I thought somethin’ was wrong! Why did I wait so long to look for ‘em?! He took MC, he took MC! Dammit!

How did he let this happen? He was right here, right here, and he didn’t sense the danger. He couldn't protect you again, letting you fall right into the hands of the psycho creep who had been relentlessly harassing you, who was planning to do who knows what.

He had to do something. Anything. 

Get the hell up! Ya gotta go find MC NOW! There’s no tellin’ what this creep is gonna try.

He stood up and wiped his face, trying to compose himself as he switched into demon form.

“I can still catch ‘em!” He made a beeline for the door, stopping abruptly as he reached the thresh hold.

“Wait, it’s the middle of the day and this ain’t the Devildom. A demon flyin’ around on a man hunt would be real bad.” He thought aloud.

People would most likely panic and if history proves anything, nothing good ever comes from humans when they panic.

He had to try and think rationally, as hard as it was. He wanted to rush in and save you as quick as he could, but going in blind without a decent plan could get you hurt...or possibly worse.

He switched out of demon form and moved back into the living room, trying to come up with an idea.

Your phone was here so he couldn’t have you tracked by GPS and he didn’t remember much about the car except that it was older. He didn’t even know what the guy looked like since he’d had to hide. All he knew about him was his first name and that he worked at a restaurant. 

“The take out place would for sure have everything about him on file!” He quickly punched in the name of the place into his phone’s search engine, then suddenly paused.

“Wait a minute..I can’t just waltz in there and ask for someone’s personal info. They’d call the cops or somethin’. Damn!”

He was beginning to feel hysterical. He didn’t have much to go on and every idea he came up with was crap. A few ‘ding’ sounds from the coffee table tore him from his thoughts. It was your phone.

Someone named C/N had sent you a couple texts about work and judging by the text log, you talked to them often.

“Man, I hope this C/N knows somethin’ cause I’ve got nothin’ else to go on..” 

Luckily, he remembered the name of the coffee shop, having heard you talk about work often. A quick internet search and he had the directions. He was out the door like a shot.

With his newfound breadcrumb, he was one step closer to finding you.

-

A bell chimed above the door when he entered the shop, alerting the worker behind the counter of his presence.

“Hi, how can I help you?” They greeted him as he walked up to the counter.

“Hey, is there a C/N here by any chance?”

“Oh, uh, yeah just a sec.” They went through a doorway behind the counter, returning moments later with another person in tow.

“Hello..? I’m sorry, do I know you?” They asked, approaching Mammon, visibly confused.

“No, but you know MC, right?” He asked, uninterested in beating around the bush.

“I’m not sure I can answer that.” They said cautiously, visibly tense.

They do know somethin’.

“Here, look.” He said, pulling up the gallery on his phone, showing them multiple pictures of you and MC together.

“Oh, so you’re the boyfriend. MC has told me about you. Uh, anyway, is there something I can help you with? I need to get back to work..”

“Yeah, has MC ever mentioned anythin’ about a guy named Alex before?” He asked.

Please, please, please

“Alex..Alex..” They repeated, tapping a finger on their chin as they thought it over. “They did, actually. We went to the movies about two months ago, and ran into a guy they knew. It was their usual deliver guy I think? Said his name was Alex. He gave me the creeps.” They explained.

“Why is that?”

Yes! We’re gettin’ somewhere.

“He just seemed..I don’t know, off? And when I met him, I actually remembered seeing him a few days earlier on my way to work. There was another A.T.A. protest and I saw him in the group demonstrators. He denied being there when I brought it up, saying it had to be his doppelganger or something, but I know it was him. When we ran into him at the movies he said he had just got off work, and he was wearing the exact same shirt and hat as the day of the protest.” They informed him.

“Wait, A.T.A.? What’s that?” He asked curiously.

“Anti-Treaty Association. They’re exactly what the name suggests. Everyone involved in the exchange program is public knowledge. Names, pictures, updates on how the program was going, etc. All easily found on any search engine. If he is part of the A.T.A., why would he be friendly with MC? There’s no way he didn’t know who they were.” They said.

This Alex guy is definitely the stalker. I bet if I dig into this A.T.A. I can find him..

“Alright. Thanks for your help.” He said as he turned to leave, C/N took a few steps after him.

“Hey, uh, is MC okay? I know they haven’t been themselves lately, but uh, you coming here and asking all these questions kinda scares me..” They admitted, fear for their friend written on their face.

“MC is uh, goin’ through some stuff. I’m gonna put an end to it though.” His voice was rough, angry. His face however, was full of desperation and sadness.

Mammon thanked C/N again for their information and left the coffee shop on a new mission. He uncovered another piece of the puzzle, new information that could lead him to you.

No one knew exactly what this guy was capable of, but he had the most important piece of Mammon's existence with him. There wasn’t anything he wasn’t willing to do, in any realm, to bring you back safely. He would breach the Celestial Gates without thinking twice if it would bring you back to him.

He was going to show them exactly why he's the second strongest of the seven rulers of the underworld.

I’m comin’ MC. I will find ya, I promise.

-

“Get out.”

The scorching heat inside the trunk made you nauseous, and severely thirsty. You felt weak and disoriented, unable to move much. You weren’t sure how long you had been stuck in there before you finally felt the car come to a stop. The lid opened, blazing sunshine poured inside the dark space, making your eyes water and squint reflexively.

“I said, get out!” He screamed.

He wrapped his hand around your wrist hard and yanked you from the trunk, letting you drop to the ground. You were much to weak to try and brace yourself so you fell pretty hard, getting small scrapes and dirt on your elbows and forearms.

You tried to open your eyes to try and get an idea of where he had taken you, but before they could adjust to the blinding sunlight, he tied something around your eyes.

“Can’t have you trying to escape.” He said to himself, as he finished tying up your hands. The restraints were very tight, already starting to hurt your wrists.

“I’m not going to.” You said weakly, your words making him laugh.

“Well, at least your a smart demon slut. Somewhat, anyway.”

Honestly, you weren’t planning to escape. If the opportunity presented itself, you would make a run for it, but you weren’t actively looking for an escape route. However, you had no intention of giving this creep what he wanted, or giving up without one hell of a fight.

Pulling you by the restraint around your wrists, he began to drag you across the ground. He let go of you a minute or so later. He didn’t drag you very far, ending up in some kind of building judging by the change in temperature and the rough feeling of concrete beneath you. It felt a little cooler in here as if you were out of direct sunlight, but the air was still fairly hot and sticky.

You did your best to pay attention to the things around you. The sounds, smells, what little you could feel. Outside you could hear cows in the distance and some kind of humming noise. It was definitely hot, but more like that humid feeling before it storms. You could also smell it too, the incoming rain. That warm earthy smell.

You could hear Alex nearby messing with something metal, there was also the sound of running water somewhere close.

I can’t believe Alex was actually the stalker this entire time... Explains how pictures taken of me from outside my house though.. I wonder what he plans to do..

You promptly chased away those thoughts in order to keep yourself calm, replacing them with thoughts of him, the time you’d spent together along with all the memories that came with it.

How soft and fluffy his hair felt when ran your fingers through it. The way he smelled; not the Devilish No.5, although you did love it, it’s smell closely related to the famous human world version, but his smell. Crisp and clean like fresh laundry or new clothes, slightly smoky like leather because of his favorite jacket and small undertones of warm cinnamon and vanilla.

The always groaned about your selection for movie night but was the first one to get really into it. Having a concert while cooking when you had kitchen duty together, getting in trouble for talking and laughing in class and later being scolded by Lucifer for it. How he always used to complain how bad humans smell, only to find out he started buying your brand of body wash for himself and would also try to casually smell his hoodie after you’d worn it.

The thought of never seeing him again, never experiencing anymore memories like these or the chance to make new ones, kept haunting you. A hard lump was forming in your throat, tears beginning to prick your eyes.

“Aw, what’s the matter darlin’? The abomination you chose as a lover isn’t rushing in to save you like Prince Charming? Imagine that.” He spat. 

You ignored his sarcastic comments, wanting answers of you own, “Why are you doing this?” You could hear him walking toward you, his footsteps getting louder as he approached. The sound stopped abruptly, then he crouched down next to your head.

“I told you, you need to be cleansed.” His tone was very matter-of-fact.

He grabbed your wrist restraint again and drug you another ten feet or so. Easily picking you up and hoisting you into the air until the rope around your wrists caught on something. He let go, your full weight coming down on your restraint. You were suspended in the air, feet barely skimming the floor. 

He checked your ropes to make sure it was still secure with the added weight and gravity, then he removed your blindfold. The sudden change causing you to blink several times.

Your previous assumptions had been right, you appeared to be in a warehouse that had been abandoned for quite some time. Most of the windows were broken, big vines and other foliage creeping into the building. The rusted remnants of machinery scattered around the large, open room. You looked above you to see that you were hanging from a large hook that was suspended by thick chain from a metal beam up above. Far to your left you could see what looked like a large pool or even one of those big basins you usually use to water cattle, with a hose draped over the side. There’s the source of the running water you heard.  

Wait...a stock tank with water, ’cleansed’...is he going to..baptize me?

“Cleansed? That’s been mentioned quite a bit in the dozens of letters I’ve been getting. Well, you would know, huh? Since you’re the one behind it all. What I don’t understand is why?” 

It came off as more sarcastic than you intended, but you didn’t really care. You had been terrified for weeks about the stalker. What would they do when they finally got to you? You haven’t truly felt alone in over a month, as if someone was always hiding in the shadows watching, waiting. Your anxiety has been through the roof and you’re in a nearly constant state of paranoia and fear. 

But, now that he was in front of you, you didn’t feel scared. You wanted answers.

“Because they don’t belong with our kind. Uniting our realms is blasphemy and will throw the human world into chaos.”

‘Don’t belong with our kind’..? Whoa, what the hell..

“Blasphemy? But, the Celestial Realm is on board with it. The angels in the exchange progr-” He cut you off before you could finish, his sudden booming voice echoed through the spacious warehouse, startling you.

He stood with his back to you, facing a long metal table that looked as if it used to be a conveyor or some other piece that once belonged to one of the old machines inside the long forgotten building.

“The exchange program was a joke! Those devils just needed a good cover to get their claws on our realm so they could take it over! Using their dirty tricks and magic to bring corruption and pollute us with sin.” He stared you down like a mad man while he yelled.

This was so bizarre, he sounded insane. Like, one of those people that wore tin foil hats. This version of Alex, the real one, was scary. You would’ve never guessed in a million years that this guy was the same one that you talked about the weather and current events with a few times a week.

“None of that is even remotely true! They just want to bring peace among the realms, to prove that they are not what all the harmful, hateful rhetoric claims they are. So we can all just co-exist! That was the entire point of the exchange program! To learn about the Devildom; it’s people and culture.” You fought back.

His face twisted up in disgust, visibly becoming more and more agitated every time you spoke. He stalked closer, stopping maybe six feet in front of you, staring at you intently.

“That kind of thinking is exactly why you need to be cleansed. You’re a human, or has being a demon whore and becoming the embodiment of sin made you forget that? You are nothing but a weak, powerless human to them. A pawn in their bigger plan, collateral damage if things went wrong.” 

You never cared what assumptions people made or the rumors they started regarding your stay in the Devildom. However, when the very demons you loved and cared about became the subject of people’s whispering, you were willing to fight with no intentions of backing down.

You, out of everyone, who had to live in the House of Lamentation for a year, escaped death from a couple of the brothers, helped them mend familial bonds, and held pacts with all of them, should know better than anyone, exactly who they are.

“You don’t know anything about them!” You yelled lurching forward as you filled with anger, lightly swinging back and forth where you were suspended, the thick chains above you clanking, “The things they’ve been through, they things they’ve seen. The sacrifices they had to make..” You heart ached for them. What happened during the Great Celestial War, their fall.. They’ve been through a great deal and they, along with the rest of the Devildom, are undeserving of such prejudiced hatred. 

“Being demons doesn’t automatically mean they are bad people, just like being human doesn’t make you good.” You stared him down, lacing venom in your words. He squinted his eyes at you, unhappy with your implications. “That fact was thoroughly proven during my time there. Some of kindest people I have ever met, as well as the people I love and cherish the most, are demons.”

You would forever stand behind the program, your now second home, and all the friends and loved ones you made along the way. No matter what this psycho could come up with, you would not be swayed. You knew them for who they are, all Alex knew was hatred.

He scoffed at your words, walking toward you as he shook his head in disgust, eyes boring into yours. He stopped just inches in front of your face. You held onto your resolve, staring back at him intently, not letting him see that you were completely terrified. It’s what he wanted; to feel superior and pass judgement on those he deemed unworthy.

You weren’t going to give him the satisfaction though; to feed his ego, his delusions. You refused to bow to fear, instead giving it all you had to make sure that if this was how it would end for you, you would fight against his prejudice and hatred until your final moments.

“We will start with the normal cleansing.” He backed away from you, confirming your suspicions as he gestured to the stock tank. “Although I think your soul might be too far gone for it to be completely effective.” He smiled wickedly as he turned around, going back to the table he’d been at earlier and picked up the same knife he’d held to you when he kidnapped you. The only other weapons you could see on the table were a baton and a taser. There was also a thick book you could only assume was a bible and a large jar of water. The most concerning however, was the gas can, thick work gloves, and what looked a lot like a body bag.

“This may call for a more extensive purification.” 

PART FOUR COMING SOON!

[lovethisletters]

The Bat & The Lantern || Batman x Reader

Hi, lovely! I had so much fun writing this (I'm not gonna lie, I was quite nervous at first, since I don't know that much about the whole green lantern universe, but guess it turned out...ok?) so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and to be honest, I would like to revisit this story again in the future!

Little disclaimer: The reader is a Human green lantern but similar to star-lord she lived the majority of her life in space, that's why she's so oblivious as to whom Batman is, also this takes place during Dick Grayson early years as robin (12-13).

Word count: 2233!!!

Summary: Reader is a new member of the Justice League...but Batman doesn't seem too happy about it.

Keys: Y/S/N: Your Superhero Name | Y/N: Your (real) Name.

Hal Jordan was your friend since you joined the green lanterns (which it was barely 3 or 4 years ago)

Basically...you were "new"

But that didn't stop your fellow green lanterns (?) From seeing all your potential.

Everyone is convinced that with the right training and perseverance, you will become one of the greatest green lanterns of all time.

So, it didn't take long before you proved yourself to be capable enough to join the big leagues.

More specifically, The Justice League.

Hal was the one to introduce you to his companions.

The Amazonian, the human looking alien, the speedster, the other Alien not so human looking, the half robot; everyone was so nice to you since they met you.

Everyone except...The grumpy bat.

When you first introduced yourself, he didn't even bother to be as welcoming as the others.

He just stood there, looking all big and serious that you almost thought it was a statue or the poor guy had catatonic lapses or was way too shy or socially awkward to approach you.

You felt bad, so you approached him instead.

—Hi! I'm Y/S/N...—You said enthusiastically before being abruptly interrupted.

—I know, I heard your introduction already—His voice so devoid of any kind of emotion that you may as well had been talking to a machine.

"Scanning complete, Batman"

A voice inside his cowl informed him, it sounded like an older man with a British accent.

—Thank you, I'll check it later.

That’s when it hit you…the reason why he was watching you so intensely and standing so incredibly still: He was scanning you.

Fucking. Son. Of. A. Bitch.

You stayed there, your face paralyzed with surprise and anger, without knowing very well what to answer; you didn't want to cause a scene on your first day, but this man was just so rude; That is not an appropriate way to receive a new member. yes, it is normal to have suspicions, but you would appreciate if he had the decency to let his suspicions be known when you weren't present.

—she just introduced herself and already on with the paranoic behavior, Bats? seriously? —Hal stepped in your defense.

—this is a routine procedure; I'm just being cautious.

—He was like that at the beginning with all of us too, don’t worry he’ll warm up to you in no time—Wonder woman whispered in your ear after watching your uncomfortable expression.

Ultimatedly you decided to listen to the amazonian and let that one slide, “is normal to be wary of new things anyways” you repeated yourself.

As the months passed you have grown quite frustrated. Between all the missions and meetings even though you felt your relationship with the rest of the team grow closer and they began to trust you and respect you; your relationship with the Batman stayed pretty much the same.

Yes, there was a bit of progress….a bit.

He was bit more talkative to you, a bit more “friendly”, a bit more trusting.

But it was always just a bit never actually fully a teammate to you, your relationship felt more like distant coworkers.

At the beginning it didn’t worry you too much, until your lack of communication started to mess with your performance in the missions, sometimes something completely bizarre and unexpected would happen and because both of you didn’t know each other very well, the mission would take the double amount of time to resolve since you couldn’t coordinate at all.

One time he almost ran you over with his batwing…

The whole thing was kinda funny looking back on it but at the time you were furious (rightfully so)

In his defense, he didn’t knew you were there…I mean…you basically where standing in his parking spot (not that you knew there was such a thing, most members could fly or at least jump really high, so you kinda always forgot he couldn’t…and to be honest you didn’t know his exact powers)

—Sorry—was all he said as he got out of the strangely shaped flying vehicle and directed only one glance at you to make sure you where ok before entering the building, always maintaining that characteristic calm and cold demeanor.

One day you entered the hall of justice earlier than usual only to find an unexpected guest sitting in one of the empty chairs his gaze fixated on a book, he was wearing a rather colorful suit of some sort matching his green mask, then you realized when you were close enough…he was a C H I L D.

You panicked, why was a child here? Is he some sort of mini spy? How was he able to get through the security system?  Did he touch anything dangerous?

This and many more questions ran through your mind, the child noticed you were looking at him and only gave a polite nod as a greeting before returning his attention to his book.

Perhaps a school trip that you weren’t aware of was taking place and this kid strayed from his class? Perhaps he was looking for one of your teammates to ask for a photo and got lost and decided to wait here for his teacher? That will explain why everyone wasn’t here in the meetings room, perhaps they were busy giving the (hypothetical) group of children a tour?

—Hey kiddo! Are you lost? —you began the conversation in a friendly tone before kneeling down a little in order to appear less imposing…after all he was a child you didn’t wanna scare him.

He looked at you so incredulously.

You could almost hear him think “ma’am wtf are you doing???” through his expressions.

—What’s your name?

—Ummm…uh…Robin?­—He spoke like it was something obvious  while signaling the “R” symbol on his chest.

—Robin, uh? What a pretty name! tell me Robin…why are you here? Are you lost?

Poor boy he was so confused, you didn’t know who he was? Didn’t any of the members told you about him? And more importantly…Why where you talking to him like if he was a 5-year-old?

—No, ma’am…I’m just waiting for Batman.

“Batman? Was he a fan of Batman of all superheroes?”  It surprised you a bit, usually kids tend to like superman or wonder woman more since they are nicer and charismatic, and Batman was the opposite.

—Sorry Kiddo, I don’t think he’s one for photos, perhaps you could ask the others some other time! ­— you began explaining trying to dissuade the kid while guiding him towards the exit.

—He’s not here for photos—smooth as ever…the Bat was behind you.

—He’s my sidekick.

Your jaw dropped, a sidekick? He’s a CHILD! You knew superheroes had sidekicks, but you never knew they were that young!

Before you could even begin to protest, Batman ignored you, looking down at the child and instructing him to collect his things.

—Hurry, you’ll be late for class again. — He said before disappearing behind the door that led to his parking spot.

Robin quickly followed, hanging his backpack over his shoulder before stopping in his tracks directing an apologetic smile towards you and saying:

—Don’t worry miss, I can take care of myself! — He must have noticed the concern on your face before leaving.

Since that day your routine changed.

You would wake up earlier, many times you’ll be the first to arrive to the Hall of justice, and even have breakfast flying on your way there all for one thing: Robin.

Once you learned he was Batman’s sidekick you couldn’t help but worry over that poor child, “what if he gets hurt? Is he eating/sleeping/resting properly?” you just couldn’t help yourself.

At first it was just checking on the kid by just…seeing him in the morning and greeting him casually but there were times he wasn’t there, and you would panic internally and there was no other way to calm your anxiety until you would ask the Bat about the child.

He would always replay shortly: “He’s at home” “He’s at school” “He’s busy” and your conversations always would end there.

One day that Robin was there however, instead of your usual ‘greeting nod’ he started talking to you.

He asked you all sorts of things (that weren’t compromising to your real identity ofc) “What’s your favorite color?” “What music do you like?” “What’s your favorite movie?”

And it started from there.

The conversations with Robin grew not only more frequent but also more personal (as personal as someone with a superhero lifestyle can be), to the point it had become a routine for you to come early and talk to the boy, sometimes you had breakfast together or even helped him with his homework before the Bat would take him to school.

Perhaps it was because you didn’t have many acquittances here on earth, but Robin became family to you.

And family takes care of each other.

It had been a rather difficult and spontaneous mission; Lex Luthor was starting to act a little bit fishy (more than usual) using his connections and money Luthor had been acquiring/robbing very specifically concerning items all over the US, his next objectives: a Radion sample being investigated in a secret laboratory in Star city and a Dionesium sample...contained in the Wayne tower laboratories...

The team decided to split to put a stop to Luthor’s minions and his plan.

The Bat insisted the rest of the team should go to Star city, telling them that he and Robin could handle it, but everyone was immediately against it: Luthor had already collected relatively powerful items and being the intelligent motherfucker he is, probably transformed some of those items to give to his goon’s so they might have a chance in harming any of the members if they were to interfere.

Ultimately, the team agreed you and cyborg would accompany them to Wayne Tower.

Robin was stoked, he would get the opportunity to fight alongside you! But Batman…not so much…he kept trying to lose the two of you on the way there; fortunately, cyborg put a tracker on the batwing, he wasn’t going to get rid of you that easy.

Upon your arrival, you could spot several men (armed like if they were military but with a much more upgraded equipment) already leaving the building, carrying two tanks (presumably full of that substance Martian Manhunter had mentioned before) and heading to a truck without any plates.

Long story short: you organized a plan as quickly as you could but…something went wrong…Cyborg and Robin were supposed to create a distraction while the two of you recovered the tanks without damaging them, since the properties of the substance within remained unknown.

But something went wrong: You and Batman failed to coordinate and so you were spotted by the henchmen, they started aiming their weapons at the two of you, initially you thought a force field generated by the power of your ring would be enough...oh no, honey, you’re so wrong.

Sonic weapons were able to not only break your concentration quickly, but also made your ears bleed! One after another you kept re-making the fields, but the sonic waves so deathly and loud just kept coming.

You don’t know how but you were able to stand your ground long enough to make cover not only for Batman and allow him to get the tanks back safely but also for the rest of your team and give them a slight advantage to take down as many of Luthor’s minions as they could.

And then…you passed out.

You woke up at the infirmary in Justice Hall, your head a mess and wrapped in bandages, you had broken your arm because that shit inside a cast too for some reason…and…your ring was gone!

Panic!

No, never mind it was on the nightstand next to the chair in which batman was sitting on.

WAIT…next to the chair in which batman was sitting on?!?!?!

—How are you feeling? — you didn’t know if it was him suddenly talking or the genuine concern on his voice that startle you, so you just nodded slightly while he approached you.

—Can you hear me properly? —Surprisingly you could, but you still were a bit taken aback by his presence.

—I…­—Before responding your brain reminded you of the fact that you didn’t had your ring on, hence your secret identity was revealed to Batman. Your hands practically flew to your face in embarrassment. You didn’t know why but without your mask you felt naked and vulnerable.

He noticed.

His gaze studying your pained expression before he let out a small sigh.

—I came here…to thank you…and apologize— hesitantly his hands moved to the back of his cowl.

—You not only put yourself in danger for Cyborg and Robin, but you also concerned yourself with my safety even when it was probably my fault that we ended up in that situation —He admitted pressing a hidden button loosing up his cowl before finally taking it off and reviling the most gorgeous man you’ve had ever lay your eyes on.

—And for that I thank you and apologize…sincerely—Such sudden action left you speechless for a while, Batman not only had thanked you and apologized, but he had entrusted his identity to you.

—I think-…I think we started with the wrong foot; you know? —You finally were able to respond, breaking the silence that filled the room and surprising him slightly by your sudden declaration.

—Let’s start again…Hi! I’m Y/N—You imitated the same friendly voice tone you first used to talk to him.

The lips on the man in front of you curved forming a subtle almost imperceptive grin.

—Hello, Y/N, I’m Bruce…Bruce Wayne.

 ♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤

 WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! IT. TOOK. SO. LONG. Sorry :c

I had a bunch of ideas for this request but ended up going with this one since I wanted to expand on their beginning, I’m still trying to figure out a way to write Bruce and this was my first attempt, so…sorry if it was…bad :c I’ll try harder next time!!!

Any errors you might see, please let me know; English is not my first language so I’m trying to improve.

In the final scene I wanted Bruce to show he recognized the Reader as an equal so that’s why he took it off…still I felt like it could improve.

 ♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤

I will forever thank you if you go check out my other profile: @aileysmirnov​ where I post things about my OC: edits, one-shots, imagines, art, etc. If you like Greek mythology and the bat family maybe you would get to be a little bit fond of her as much as I am!

Anyway! Thank you for reading!

[2seokfan]

Scarlet & Hazel | Ch. 4

pairings: hoseok x reader x yoongi

genre: fluff, very light angst, smut (future)

warnings: mentions of physical abuse

word count: 5.3k

chapters: ch.1, ch.2, ch.3, ch.4

summary:

Just cause you’re living paycheck to paycheck in a tiny apartment even after graduating college doesn’t mean you’re not happy. So what if your best friend is working her dream job making close to six figures every year?  So what if she’s in a loving, committed relationship with her perfect boyfriend that you’re 99% sure is going to propose to her sometime next year? It doesn’t matter that your idea of a perfect relationship is a $9.99 bottle of wine on Friday nights while you binge watch Netflix specials.

Ok so maybe you’re a teensy bit miserable. Maybe you have no idea what you’re doing with your life. Maybe all you need to do is accidentally cross paths with two hybrids who will drastically change that.

Meet “Scarlet” and “Hazel”, two of the most gorgeous hybrid men you have ever laid eyes on. With their help, you learn that life is an adventure, a roller-coaster with ups and downs, and you were too preoccupied with yourself to climb out of your own predicament. And hey, you’re not much of a romantic, but with these two, you just might change your mind.

a/n: Y/N gets the surprise of her lifetime today! Also to clarify, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is an old cowboy movie with a very famous theme song (just in case some people don’t get the reference). Thank you for being patient! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

tag list: @wilhelminalucinda @ghostkat23 @ayoo-bangtan @sadgurllayha 

How come whenever you’re excited for something, time purposely slows down?? It’s like the weekend can’t come fast enough. Each day feels like a whole week and each hour stretches like two. You swear the clock hanging on the wall of your clinic has some sort of personal grudge against you, the second hand moving at the pace of a snail.

You’re currently on the last two hours of your shift. The hustle and bustle of morning appointments have died down but that doesn’t stop the constant train of incoming calls. You wonder if there’s an award out there for maintaining a professional voice after getting asked stupid questions, because you deserve that award, exhibit A being the person you’re dealing with right now. You pick at your nails while you balance the work phone on your shoulder.

“Sorry ma'am we’re actually a hybrid clinic so no, I can’t put your son down for a checkup. Mhm. Mhm. Uh huh.” You peel off a hangnail and flick it into the trash can under your counter. “I understand you're frustrated but none of our doctors specialize in human treatment. May I suggest the hospital? Ok have a good day now. Bye.”

You hang up as a string of expletives are leaving the receiving end of your phone. What part of ‘hybrid clinic’ did she not understand?

You lean back into your office chair, vowing for the 100th time to invest in one of those lumbar support pillows for your poor, aching body. Checking today’s schedule, you see that a first-time client should be coming in any minute now. Her voice had sounded eerily familiar when she called all those days ago, but you didn’t bother to think twice.

Right on cue, you hear the clinic door open. A very familiar arctic fox hybrid is ushered in by her impatient owner.

“Hurry up won’t you! We don’t have all day!” 

Yep. That’s blondie alright.

Sylvia has already recognized you, giving you a small smile when her owner isn’t looking. You’re shocked by her appearance, small cuts and bruises adorning her face and a noticeable bandage around her left wrist. You smile back, trying to make her feel as comfortable as possible.

Blondie hasn’t noticed your presence yet, currently rummaging through her gigantic purse for a pen. She freezes when she finally looks up, making eye contact with you.

You both narrow your eyes like it’s some sort of cowboy showdown in the old west, theme song from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly playing in the background. If it weren’t for the counter in front of you you’d probably be slowly circling each other, hands ready to draw your pistols from your holsters.

Except it’s the 21st century and all you can do is clench your jaw and offer her a steely glare.

“What are you doing here?” Blondie is the first to break the silence.

“I work here,” you say matter of factly.

“Don’t you own hybrids?” Her voice is menacing, but it doesn’t mask her confusion. “How can a receptionist afford two hybrids?”

“I’m here on my off time cause I have nothing else to do.” You find it so much easier to lie to her now that you’ve successfully done it before. No harm in stretching your little fable.

Blondie huffs, having no rebuttal ready.

“Anyways, I need you to fill this out here.” You decide not to push her temper further since you’re at work and need to act civilly. You hand her the basic information form and contact the doctor about their arrival. 

While blondie is busy filling out the paperwork, you make quick eye contact with Sylvia, mouthing a silent ‘are you ok?’ to her. She gives you a tense nod but nibbles on her bottom lip and shifts her pupils in blondie’s direction. You can’t forget that look on Sylvia’s face, one of desperation and misery, and you want so badly to pull her out of this situation.

Blondie finishes and hands the papers back to you. You glance down and find her name on the forms. “And Karen,” of course her name is ‘Karen’, “how did Sylvia get these injuries?”

A flicker of panic flashes across her features but it instantly disappears into a frown. 

“She fell down the stairs.” Karen snaps, then proceeds to tap her foot impatiently. “Well? I’ve got an appointment??”

You sigh and swallow down the urge to talk back. “Dr. Lao is ready for you. Just head down the hall and into the office on your left.” 

Karen puts her pen back in her purse, then grabs her fox by the elbow and pulls her down the hallway, out of sight. When they disappear, you sit back and take the time to process what just happened.

You don’t believe for one minute that Sylvia fell down the stairs. Her injuries seem obviously inflicted by another person, most likely Karen, but you don’t want to jump to conclusions. Since you have no proof, you can’t really report the issue. Also you’re well aware of how corrupted Hybrid Services are and you don’t want to leave Sylvia in their hands. 

The phone rings, bringing you back to your senses. Oh yeah, I’m still at work. You remind yourself to google some safe hybrid help centers when you get home. There’s nothing you can do now but you’ll be damned if you won’t try.

The two emerge from the checkup after an hour or so. Karen turns to your counter, face still in her signature scowl as she approaches you.

“I need to schedule a second appointment.” Her tone sounds a little stiff, as if she didn’t want this outcome. “Sylvia will need another checkup for her wrist.” Her entire demeanor is suspicious to you at this point. When you met her for the first time, you were only focused on getting her to stop bothering your two hybrid friends. You regret not noticing her obvious physical aggressiveness.

As the two head out, Sylvia turns back and gives you a small ‘bye’. You melt at how cute she is despite all her injuries. You give her one last wave, determination welling up inside.

You head home and immediately dive to your laptop. Sylvia’s next checkup isn’t till two weeks later so you want to use that time to become as productive as you can in finding the numbers of various hybrid centers. Even though your work revolves around hybrids, you have no personal experience helping any of them out of trouble so you need the advice of professionals. You have no idea what any of these centers can do and you’re aware that your lack of information means you’re starting from scratch but you refuse to sit by and do nothing. Not when something fishy is obviously going on.

You’re surprised to find no decent hybrid centers, even though you live in a pretty big city. Most seem like shady adoption centers that put in the bare minimum amount of effort in taking care of and re-homing their hybrids. One center was so repulsive you’re surprised they’re legally allowed to operate. You click on their ‘About’ page for shits and giggles and the description makes you want to gag. ‘Having problems with your hybrid? Don’t worry! Call this number and we’ll take them off your hands!’ What the actual fuck!? It’s like one of those junk collecting commercials where they take away your old furniture except they’re talking about living, breathing hybrids, not an old refrigerator. This goes to show how little the government actually cares about hybrids and you find yourself involuntarily clenching your fists.

After a few websites that lead nowhere, you stumble across one for a Hope Hybrid Center that seems promising. The description indicates how they’re dedicated to the ‘safety and comfort of all hybrids without discrimination’. The only catch is that the particular center in your city has just been built and will not open till later this week. Nevertheless, you decide to trust this location since there are several other branches under the same name littered across the country that all have raving reviews. You bookmark the page and remind yourself to contact their main call center tomorrow.

You don’t know what’s come over you. It’s true you’ve always had a soft spot for hybrids, and you’ve always been in full support of every new law that passes, bringing them closer to citizenship. But you’ve never been this passionate about personally helping them. It’s a good feeling, being actively involved in something you care about. Saving your two hybrid friends two months ago has really opened your eyes to what human bystanders can do. Every action, big or small, can have an impact and you mentally scold yourself for not being aware of your surroundings previously. Oh how ignorant you were.

The rest of your research is futile, and you end up closing your laptop with a sigh of defeat. This is all you can do right now. Who do you think you are? Some sort of vigilante? What power do you have to make any change?? You’re just one silly receptionist against the big bad world.

Before you start mentally beating yourself up even more, you close your eyes and remember the image of Sylvia’s face. She looked so hopeless, so resigned to her fate, that all your self pity dissipates. Whatever miserable situation you’re in, you know she’s probably experiencing something ten times worse.

You think about bringing this run-in up with Scarlet and Hazel but you chicken out last minute. They’ve been pretty busy on the days leading up to your dinner doing god knows what. They’ve been polite enough to reply to you but you can tell from the short, quipped answers they supply that they have other things going on right now. You know that they’re not doing this on purpose so it doesn’t bother you too much, but you do miss the comic relief they provide in your hectic life. Guess you’ll tell them all about it when you see them on Saturday.

The last thought in your head before you shut your eyes is to call the Hope Hybrid Center as soon as you go on break tomorrow.

“Hi! Thank you for calling the Hope Hybrid Center! This is Jodie speaking, how can I help you?”

“Uh, hi yes!” Jeez why are your palms so clammy? It’s just a phone call, you do these everyday! “My name is Y/N and I was wondering if you can help me with a couple questions about hybrids, if that’s ok?”

“Of course!” Jodie sounds all peppy and excited. You wish you still had her energy when you do your customer service calls. You were like her for only a brief period all those years ago when you began at the clinic. Boy did that die down fast.

“Um,” You’re not really sure where to start. Do you just straight out say someone is hurting their hybrid? That might sound a little too accusatory. “What do I do if I think someone is abusing their hybrid? Like I have no proof but I still feel like it’s happening?” You’re not used to doing things behind other peoples’ backs, even for someone as awful as Karen, and it’s got your entire body erupting in cold sweat. You mentally reprimand yourself. I’m trying to help. This is for a good cause.

“That’s a good question.” Jodie’s voice is reassuring, like she can hear the nervousness of your tone through the call. “There are several things you can do actually! The first thing we recommend you do is observe their behavior as much as you can and try to record or take note of any signs of aggression displayed by the supposed abuser. This can be used in case any legal action is taken.”

“Uh huh.” You reach into your purse and grab your handy dandy little notebook, pull out the pen stuck in the spiral, and quickly flip to a random blank page to jot down everything she says.

“Now if you want to take direct action, that can be a little riskier but it is possible. The best option is to take one of our unique business cards and pass that along to the hybrid in need.”

“Unique business cards…?” She lost you there.

“Yes. You can find them at each of our shelters or we can mail them to you.” She answers fast, and you have a feeling she’s used to this question. “Each of our business cards contain an emergency phone number, a security code, and are coated with a unique scent that is virtually undetectable by humans. When the number is called, our first question is to ask for the security code, then confirm the matching scent of their business card. These cards work best with the majority of hybrids that contain a heightened sense of smell, such as the mammalian hybrids. We may need to adjust for certain bird or aquatic species that rely on other senses.”

Your writing arm is sore from taking all this down but you pause to answer Jodie. “She’s a fox hybrid, so that should be ok I think?”

You hear a large sigh of relief over the receiver. “Ok that makes things a lot easier.” Her tone switches to serious once again. “But remember this can only be done if the hybrid is willing to contact us in the first place. Beyond that, someone will have to catch them in the act of abuse and that can be very hard to do.”

You nod your head in agreement, forgetting that she can’t see you. “I understand. There’s a small chance this may just be nothing but I want to try and help at least.”

“That’s awesome! It takes a lot of guts to report these issues and you’d be surprised how many people let them slide under their noses.” She’s so encouraging that for a short, sweet moment, you envision the whole plan falling into place. You can see it now, a happy Sylvia free from her oppressive captors. Wow they really do a good job. Jodie deserves a raise.

“Thanks Jodie that means a lot!” You shake your sore arm, trying to relieve the pain. “I might need you to mail me a business card since the Hope Hybrid Center in my city isn’t open yet.”

“No problem! I’ll just need your full name, an email and phone number, and your address.”

You relay all your information over. By the time the call is finished, you have a whole 2 minutes left on your lunch break. You look down at your untouched PB&J sandwich and cry internally. It’s for a worthy cause you repeat again and again in your head like a mantra.

Friday. Finally. This week has been the longest you’ve experienced since midterm week of college. You received a package from Hope Hybrid Services this morning and it’s currently sitting on your bedside table. You won’t need to open that up till Sylvia’s next appointment.

You power through another hectic day at work, motivated by the prospect of seeing your two friends in person tomorrow. Both boys are now well aware of your work schedule and take extra care not to text you until you’re off.

5pm rolls around and your phone vibrates just as you enter your car and buckle your seat belt. You check and see that it’s from ‘Hazel’s Nuts’, your favorite groupchat. You gun it towards your apartment, wanting to reply to them in the comfort of your own home. You must have made it in record time and you’re surprised you didn’t get a speeding ticket. Listen, you aren’t the best driver out there but no one’s died on your watch so you count that as a win. When you arrive home you immediately jump onto the couch and unlock your phone.

Hazel: Hi Y/N. Sorry we’ve been so busy this week but we’re excited to see you tomorrow

You: that’s ok! I figured you were occupied

Hazel: Yep. Had to take care of some stuff but we’re all set now

Scarlet: Y/N!!!!!!! I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOOUUUU

Scarlet: (excited emojis)

You: Same!!!

Hazel: Oh yeah

Hazel: We’re meeting at La Cucina Classica tomorrow btw

You let out a small gasp of surprise. No fucking way?! La Cucina Classica is one of THE most expensive restaurants in your city. You’ve never stepped foot inside their doors because they’re usually booked months in advance. Karli’s lucky ass managed to eat there once before and she described the food as, and you quote, ‘orgasmic’. How on earth did they manage to nab a spot there?

You: No way! Really?

Scarlet: Yes way!!

You: how the hell did you manage to get a table???

Hazel: We pulled some strings

You: omg u mysterious boys

Scarlet: We promise to tell you everything tomorrow!! <3

You: ok! but don’t feel obligated or anything

You: i trust u guys

Hazel: Good

Hazel: So tomorrow. 7pm

Scarlet: Oh yeah! Also dress nice

You: you bet! It’s a fancy place so i can’t let them know i’m secretly poor

Hazel: Lol

Hazel: I have to make a call for work so bye for now Y/N

You: bye kitty

Scarlet: See you tomorrow! I can’t wait!!!

You: me too!! 

You: bye!

You set your phone down and whisper to yourself. “What does he mean by ‘work’? They have jobs??”

And they got a table at La Cucina Classica by ‘pulling some strings’, like it was no big deal to them?! Oh my god do you need answers!

You wake up promptly at 9am.

Why? Because it’s #SelfcareSaturday. And this has nothing to do with seeing the boys in person tonight at 7pm. Nothing at all.

You usually have a lot of shit to say about how crappy your little apartment is but today you’re feeling thankful because your dingy bathroom comes equipped with a little tub. You have a bath bomb that was a birthday gift from one of your college friends and you pray these things don’t expire (they do lol) because you’re about to crack this baby open for the first time.

You’ve still got 9 hours, 23 minutes, and 16 seconds till dinner tonight but who’s counting? Not me, you think as you slowly sink into the rainbow-colored tub water. The atmosphere is perfect. You’ve lit up two of your scented candles and have a lofi hip hop playlist on shuffle. You should really do this more often except, you know, water bills.

Right after bath time you decide to do one of your more elaborate skincare routines, hoping to remove the stress and fatigue from your face after a week of work. You facetime Karli so you’re not alone during the whole process.

“Hi Y/N!!” Karli’s face pops up onto the screen. It’s a little more blurry than usual and the sunlight is harsh behind her so she must be outdoors. “Why is your face all glittery?”

“Oh this?” You point to your cheeks. “Remember that fancy Japanese face mask I bought when I got my holiday bonus?”

“Oh yeah! But you said you’d only open it for a special occasion. Unless,” then she comes to a conclusion. “is it for the boys??”

“No!” You correct her too fast. “I mean yes, but also no.” There’s a blush creeping onto your cheeks. “Sometimes a girl just wants to treat herself…”

“Sweetie, your idea of treating yourself is ordering takeout and drinking wine on the weekends, but I’m not gonna pressure you.” Karli sure loves to tease.

“Shut up you don’t know me,” you pout. You’re furiously red at this point.

“Au contraire, I know you too well. You’re like that mole I have on my left ass cheek, I’ll never get rid of you.”

Classy.

“True.” She’s not wrong. You two have been through thick and thin and everything in between. It’ll take divine power to separate you now.

“Oh yeah good thing you called! I’ve got some news!” She’s raising her voice since the background noise of traffic behind her is a little deafening. 

You tilt your head, a question forming on your lips. Is it about the wedding?

“Remember that Bryce guy?”

You do now, since she brought him up. But it does bring back a few embarrassing memories. “Yeah?”

“Well he told me he has a football game coming up so he’s probably gonna text you soon to ask if you can go.” 

“I forgot I said yes to that,” you wince as you suddenly remember that night.

“I mean, you can always let him down gently,” Karli suggests.

“No, I shouldn’t. That would be mean. I did agree to go.” Just admit it. You don’t like disappointing people. 

“Ok girl, if you say so.” She doesn’t push you, probably cause it looks like she’s hurrying somewhere. “Ugh I promised to meet my coworkers for lunch but why did I wear heels downtown!”

“I don’t know girl, sounds like a ‘you’ problem.” You snicker at her.

“Hey don’t be fucking rude!” She quotes that famous Kim Kardashian meme perfectly.

“Stop! Don’t make me laugh too hard!! It’s gonna mess up my face mask!” You’re trying to keep your face still but it’s damn near impossible at this point.

The rest of the day you spend pampering yourself, the whole nine yards. You even booked an appointment with the nearby nail salon after one glance at your unkempt cuticles. God you’re a mess. All you had today was a salad you picked up after your nail appointment because you want your stomach to prepare itself for the gorging you’re about to do tonight.

As the evening approaches, you hunt in your closet once again for appropriate dining attire. The words ‘dress nice’ echo in your head. This time you do open your ho drawer, because you remember having some sort of shimmery dress that isn’t too bad and can probably pass for being presentable in such a fine dining environment. You reach into the furthest corner and finally feel the soft, silky fabric, pulling it out and hoping against all odds that it isn’t full of wrinkles. Lucky for you, the dress is still in good condition. It’s a spaghetti strap and flows all the way down past your ankles. You’ve never found the occasion to wear it, only buying it cause it was on sale and you thought it was so pretty at the time.

You put it on and glance in the mirror. Usually you have a lot to critique about your physical appearance but today you admit you don’t look so bad. The dress shows a little bit of tasteful cleavage and there’s a slit that rides up your right leg but it isn’t too revealing. Attach some chunky, strappy black heels and you’re good to go. Except makeup, you’ve gotta do that first.

As the clock ticks closer to 6:30, you finish up on your smokey eye and swipe on a little lip tint. You’re definitely taking an uber tonight because you don’t want to miss out on the restaurant's excellent drink selection. Also parking on a Saturday night? Absolute nightmare.

The place is downtown and a good 20 minutes away so once you get in the car you tell the driver to step on it, promising to tip him extra when you get off.

You can’t stop the constant drumming of your heart as the car nears the location. You feel like a kid who’s been told they’re going to Disneyland and you’re giddy with excitement. Maybe it’s better not to see them in person because you might faint on the spot.

As the car pulls up you take a deep breath. Calm down Y/N, you think to yourself, I’m just meeting two good friends for dinner.

The restaurant is located at the rooftop of one of the taller buildings downtown. You enter the elevator, smoothing your dress and your nerves at the same time.

When the doors slide open, you’re greeted by an immaculately dressed hostess. You glimpse at the restaurant behind her. Expensive is definitely the right word to describe this place. There’s dimly lit, warm lighting above each of the tables, and a live band is playing soft tunes in the corner. Waiters and waitresses are carrying loads of food on only one hand, serving each table with grace and poise.

“Name?” The hostess asks you, breaking you out of your observation.

“Um,” You’re unsure what to say. Did they put the table down under Scarlet or Hazel? That can’t be right since those are fake names. 

“Y/N?” You try with your name first to see if that’ll lead anywhere.

“Right this way Miss Y/L/N.” Holy shit, ok. Guess that worked.

You’re led past the many tables, ladened with various couples, and back into a private room. They even managed to book a private room?!?! You really feel out of place with your drugstore makeup and cheap dress.

The hostess graciously opens a door for you and-

“Y/N!!”

“Ooof!” You’re enveloped by the familiar scent of honey and cinnamon. “Hi Scar.” You try to compose yourself since he smells too good to be true. Hazel is right behind him, signature sleepy smile on his face. You back away from them, taking in their appearance

Oh. My. God.

Your jaw drops. Beautiful isn’t enough to describe what’s standing in front of you. Scarlet is in a perfectly fitted, baby blue suit that shows off his lean physique. One of his top buttons is undone, revealing his caramel colored skin and collarbones. You pry your eyes away from such sin and opt to look in Hazel’s direction but that does nothing to help you since he’s also dressed to the nines, wearing all black, silver jewelry sparkling on his neck and fingers, a stark contrast to his milky white skin. You look in between them instead, fearing you’ll drool if you stare at them any longer.

Hazel steps forward and also gives you a small hug. His scent is floral, with a spicy undertone, and you want nothing more than to drown in it.

“Hi Hazel,” God you must be blushing like crazy right now. You can’t help it since they look so delicious. Stop that! They’re your friends and they’re not interested!! You want to slap yourself for thinking such impure thoughts.

Well you say that but the way they’re taking in your outfit sends a shiver down your spine. Is it just you or did their eyes darken? The atmosphere quickly returns to normal and you start to wonder if that moment was all in your imagination.

“Look! We already have the champagne ready!” Scarlet’s tail is wagging a mile a minute as he returns to his seat. Hazel slides next to him right after, trying to swat away the offending appendage that’s taking up his spot.

“How ‘bout you control that tail of yours, hm puppy?” Hazel huffs, finally managing to sit down once he successfully shoves the tail back into Scarlet’s lap.

“Hey!” Scarlet looks downright offended. “I’m a fox, not a dog! We’re a much more sophisticated creature.” He crosses his arms and states pointedly, “just like you can’t control your purrs, we can’t control our wagging.”

Hazel only sighs. “Sometimes I wonder why I’m mated to you.”

“Because you love me. Now shut up or poor Y/N’s gonna feel like she’s being third-wheeled.”

Now this is the Scarlet and Hazel you’re used to. You sit across from them, nursing the sparkling flute of champagne that’s calling your name and trying not to snort out loud at their antics. It’s still extremely hard to maintain eye contact with either of the boys but you put in effort all the same.

“I hope you don’t mind, but we already ordered.” Hazel shifts in his seat, one hand ruffling the back of his hair.

“Actually that’s perfect!” You chuckle. “I have no idea what to get in places like these.”

“Ok, good.” His voice is now sounding a little bit shaky, which is very puzzling. Is he nervous?

You take a better look at them, temporarily ignoring their attractiveness (which is a very hard thing to do), and you notice their body language is off. Both their tails are now twitching anxiously and their ears are a little droopy. What’s going on?

“Hey guys.” You keep your voice gentle. “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah! There’s just, um…” Scarlet is twisting the napkin in his lap. “We have some very important things to ask you and-”

“Wait!” You interrupt him, putting one hand up. You need to get this across before the boys tell you anything. “Before you continue, I just want you both to know that under NO circumstances do you ever have to tell me anything you’re uncomfortable with. I understand that you have a lot of secrets to keep, being two hybrids who probably don’t have owners. I want to respect our friendship and your privacy, and if that means not knowing a lot of your secrets, then fine by me.” You’re almost out of breath from letting all this out but it’s worth it because you truly value your friendship with them. You always joke to yourself about wanting to know what they’re hiding but deep down you cherish being their friend more than anything.

Both boys glance at each other for a second, nerves having vanished, then they suddenly throw their heads back and erupt into giggles. Scarlet is full on shaking, slapping his knee while he roars with laughter. Even Hazel is cackling, gummy teeth on full display.

This throws you off and your eyebrows furrow together. What’s so funny? You were being sincere and trying to protect them from revealing secrets they don’t want to tell you.

By this time the waiter has come by with a tray of small appetizers so you grab an olive and chew on it in confusion, waiting for their laughter to die down.

“See? What did I tell you about her?” Hazel is wiping a stray tear off his face.

“You’re right, you’re right!” Scarlet nods back in agreement.

Their laughter has finally fizzled away and they both turn to face you once again.

“Um,” You’re completely lost for words so you take another sip of champagne for courage. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No not at all!” Scarlet is quick to reassure you. “In fact, we were nervous at first but you’re making this so much easier for us.”

“Easier?” If you had a penny for all the times these boys have confused you, you’d probably be a millionaire by now.

“Right.” Hazel leans into the table a little bit, a small smirk on his face. “You see, there’s something very important we want to ask you tonight.”

“But first,” Scarlet juts in, also leaning in next to Hazel, “just to clarify. You trust us right, Y/N?”

“Of course.” You say without hesitation. These boys literally have no reason to harm you. Except they’re a little too close to you now and you resist the urge to fan yourself because oooh boy do they have the prettiest eyes you’ve ever seen. And their ears! Why are their ears so fluffy looking?! You bet their super soft to touch but you dare not reach out.

“Even though you don’t know our real names?” Hazel urges you on.

“Well, I always figured you’ll tell me when you’re comfortable...” Your voice is getting smaller now, and you feel yourself getting red from head to toe. They’re too close to you and you try not to let your obvious attraction show so you look down and twiddle with your silverware.

“Excellent.” Both boys snap back into their seats, startling you.

“Y/N.” Scarlet clears his throat and tries to make his voice sound serious but he can’t hold back his smile. “We would like to officially ask you to adopt us.”

The fork you’re playing with clatters onto the table.

Previous

[baka-monarch]

hello and welcome back to a history of the entire world i guess styled ramble about splatoon on this episode we have splatoon 2 and the octo expansion hi welcome to inkopolis square come on the news is on lets go see what pearl and marina have to say oh my god the great zapfish is gone again what a shocker oh my god wait callie is missing?! oh no, anyway hey is that marie over on that manhole cover? oh hey a fishy alleyway we can investigate later lets go after marie oh squit she needs help finding callie and the zapfish oh come on the dj guy stole it again are you kidding me youre agent 4 now cool go find the electric swim *agent 4 repeats the 5 sectors again and holy squit the dj guy hypnotized callie oh my god* callie proceeded to sing her solo for like 3 minutes while you beat up the dj guy holy squit its marie oh my cod she just shot callie in the head with special ink and now shes confused it was super effective *agent 4 beats up the dj guy and then gets the rainmaker from the weapons guy oh btw the rainmaker is this really powerful weapon thats usually only in ranked modes which are just more intense versions of the og modes which by the way have different rule sets* anyways you just beat up the dj guy again good job!! meanwhile deep in that fishy alleyway an octoling wakes up to that old guy from before staring into their soul and oh my cod is that a phone lets go pick it up oh we gotta collect 4 'thangs' to get out of here ok cool youre agent 8 now btw time to do that i guess *insert crappily drawn montage of agent 8 collecting the thangs with pearl and marina's help oh yeah theyve been talking to * ok can we leave now yay "haha jk youre in a blender and youre gonna become sludge now" oh no *suddenly agent 3 (yes thats right you from the first game) breaks through the ceiling and kills the blender and the phone but simultaneously knocks themself out like an idiot* and now we go through the roof to find a way out of here *wheee* *insert epic montage of agent 8 doing stuff until woah were on a huge elevator now* hey look up there its agent 3 oh no what happened to them OH NO THEYRE SANITIZED D:!!! *insert montage of agent 8 beating up agent 3 until they are no longer evil but they actually passed out too oh no* anyway pearl and marina are here to pick you up now lets leave oh my cod look is that the statue of liberty it is oh no it has a weird laser ew its the phone we thought agent 3 killed "haha die" no *marina is figuring out a plan* "die" no *agent 8 covers the statue in ink with the help of marina's hyperbombs* "die" pearl proceeded to scream at the statue and it died everyone lived happily ever after the end :D (hope you enjoyed this horrible thing)

Wirhrbdksiwjwjeoe so much-

[tellywoodtrash]

immj2 05.04.21 lb

daaaayum, riddhima using her brain soooo much in advance now ki sapne mein hi she foresees what kaand could happen and thinks ways out.

lmaoooooooooooooooo are they making not-rrahul shoot from some random khopcha in his home? kya hi ganda camera angle hai yeh? it looks like a hostage video.

riddhima’s face as sasta!vansh drones on and on about absolutely nothing is me on every single phone call.

ofc vansh has snuck up on this call and taken the phone and decides to take over conversation himself. dude, shaadi hui hai iska matlab yeh nahi ki koiiiiiiiiiii bhi boundaries nahi hain.

sasta!vansh got a taste of his own meds ki how it feels when someone’s just talking AT you, and he hung up.

riddhima is not falling for any of vansh’s intimidation and i am here for it!

NO RIDDHIMA DO NOT DRINK ANY JUICE HE GIVES YOU DO NOT FUCKING DRINK ANYTHINGGGGG HE GIVES YOUUUUUUUUUUUU

“kahin tumne ismein kuch milaaya toh nahi???” she asks with sweeeeeeeet as pie smile. ALKSDJFLKDF HOW MY GIRL HAS GROWN. *sniff, happy tears*

him: oh absolutely milaaya hai! love, care, affection................

her:

him: ............. and a little truth serum, taaki jungle waala sach baahar aaye.

her:

she’s like SOUNDS DELICIOUS, HERE I GO, GULP GULP.

oh god, he’s telling her “baith ke piyo” FUCKER DID YOU PUT PARALYTICS IN THIS AGAIN, I SWEAR TO GOD SCREEN MEIN GHUS KE ILL HOLD YOU DOWN AS RIDDHIMA AND ISHANI AND SIYA TAKE TURNS SHANKING YOU TO DEATH.

she’s coughing and choking. oh boy.

lmaoooooooooooooooooooo she’s like OMG THE TRUTH SERUM IS WORKING, I FEEL LIKE TELLING THE WHOLE TRUTH........... ABOUT THE SHIT YOU PULLED, TO DADI. akldjslkasdjlsakjdlskj man i really love new riddhima!!!!!!!!!!

he’s also sassing her and saying yes yes, jaake baata do, and then she’ll murder the both of us. THIS RELATIONSHIP GOT SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING WHEN THESE TWO STOPPED BEING SUCH DUMBASSES WHO CONSTANTLY UNDERESTIMATE EACH OTHER AND JUST STARTED SEXY-CHALLENGING EACH OTHER RIGHT TO THE FACE.

ouff, siya’s back at saste!bhaiyya’s lair and she’s at the proper set and he’s in that random khopcha and it looks dumb as shit. man why won’t they just get rid of his characterrrrrrrrrrrr????????/

OH GOD SHE’S LIKE “MUJHE LAGA TUM MUJHE MISS KAR RAHE HONGE, TOH MAIN MILNE CHALI AAYI” TF IS THIS GIRL EVEN DOING????????? ISHANI SIS, PLS APNI BEHEN KO KUCH SIKHAO!!!!!!!?!?!?!

and now he’s negging her. siya pls for the love of god why are you into this fucker??????????/

anyway, i’m not interested in these two and their grossass flirtationship so i’m fwding. only thing worth pointing out in this scene is vyom has a sizable pic of vansh with a big X on it, and siya has not noticed it or found it shady. wonderful.

and now she’s promising to turn into whatever type of girl he wants and to take anyyyyyyyyyyy risk for him. PLS TELL ME THIS IS SHAATIR SIYA PLAYING SHUNYA MAN FOR BHAIYYA’S SAKE. I CANNOT TAKE THE DEGRADATION OF HER CHARACTER OTHERWISE. VANSH AND ISHANI DID NOT RAISE YOU TO BE THIS FUCKING STUPID, SIYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

chanchal asking dadi what vyom’s whole deal is, kuch kaand hua tha na uske family ke saath? and dadi’s like we don’t talk about that here.

chachi also dropped a tidbit about siya leaving the house all saj-dhaj ke and dadi’s taking it too easy. let’s hope dadi/siya have formed an allaiance to fuck vyom up?

riddhima has come to talk to dadi. lord.

riddhima trying to gauge dadi ka taapmaan and.......... mafia dadi just gave a very “the family” typa speech and some thinly veiled treats.

glad to see vansh be a responsible pet owner who feeds his fishies everyday.

hein? aryan’s back in the house? already????????/ aur jaake vansh bhai ke mooh bhi lag raha hai........... GUTS mannnnnnn.

vansh is pulling some patronizing bada bhai bs and aryan’s like literally gtfo my face. relatable. vansh IS very irritating.

lmaoooooooooooooooo aryan’s dumb ass still hasn’t figured angre isn’t really dead. vansh’s smile at that is amazing, lol.

anyway aryan’s ranting on about how riddhima ke ishq ne nikkama kar diya, warna vansh bhai bhi the aadmi kaam ke.

wifey is off-limits topic. collar pakad liya bhai ne.

LOL ARYAN ARE YOU SERIOUSLY SO DUMB THAT YOU THINK EVEN IF ANGRE’S DEAD FOR REAL, VANSH CAN’T JUST GET A NEW RIGHT HAND MAN??????????

lmaooooooooooo at the way vansh is snooping at riddhima in the shower. he legit looks like such a pervert lol.

lo mil gaya fingerprint glass se and khol liya uska phone. why are you like this, man????????????

found nothing. pfffffffffffffffffffffft.

OH GOD THE “INTERESTING, VERY INTERESTING” IS BACKKKKKKKK.

riddhima knew fucker would snoop on her!!!!!!!! “tumhi se seekha hai........ SWEETHEART.”  i love ittttttttttt. keep playing him like the sucker he is, babe!

ishani is here to ask aryan for painkillers for angre and aryan’s like HEIN???? ANGRE’S ALIVE?????????

abhi buddhu ko samajh aaya lmaoooooooooooooooo. honestly aryan, you need to do some brain workouts and shit.

sakldjlskajdlkjsalkdjlaskj now ishani took the gun from aryan and is threatening to shoot if he did something to angre.

aryan copped up to it, and ishani actually shot at him!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 omg to be angre, the man who inspires wife and bhaabi to murder this fucker for him!!!! the only good bean. he deserves this kinda loyalty. *happy sigh*

anyway, it’s quite clear now ki vansh bhai ne gun ke saath kuch locha kiya tha.

ew idhar siya is in some sexy sari for saste!bhaiyya and i am not here for this. fwding. *gag gag retching noises*

riddhima is video-calling vyom and he’s panicking to hide siya like a teen who snuck his gf home when mummy papa aren’t here. loserrrrrrrrrrr.

shunya dude is like baby doll, you’re not like other girls, you’re smarter!!!! and riddhima instantly shut him down saying women don’t need YOUR validation so literally stfu. phew. the character growth of this girl. i can only watch with happy tears in my eyes.

riddhima noticed siya’s earring in his hand and him yelling at someone off screen.

riddhima’s called for some help with some “keemti cheez”, which zero man promises to get to her.

ishani is here to yell at vansh bhai for jeopardizing angre’s life like this and it is FUCKING AMAAAAAAZING.

lol vansh is in competition with ishani for angre’s love???? he’s like angre’s life means more to me than it does to you. kya hi ajeeb family hai yeh yaar.

ishani: EVERYTHING IS NOT ABOUT YOU; AUR MAIN ANGRE KO KUCH NAHI HONE DUNGI!!!!!!!!!! HE’S MY HUSBAND!!!!!!!!!

me rn:

ok idk how ishani is just yelling at vansh bhai instead of socking him in the face for his patronizing bs, coz i for sure would have gotten a swing in at a brother who acted this way in front of me, so help me godddddd.

vansh seems to really be enjoying seeing the outburst though. he can’t stop smirking about how baby sis finally in love with her husband. it’s kinda cute.

cut to vangre in their secret room trying to figure out how to open the black box. um there’s a number written quite prominently ON IT. have y’all tried that???

meanwhile lollipop ladki is spying on them. vansh i told you that you needed to shift base. koi bhi aa jaa raha hai yahaan, for fucks sake it’s getting as much footfall as the kitchen. go back to that random container house you used to live in as vihaan.

precap: vansh dispatches angre to check chappa-chappa of that jungle where he was behosh. vansh promising riddhima he’s gonna find out what happened in those 6 hours. ANGRE FINDS KABIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[miioouu]

I would neeevvvvveeerrr be with someone else fishy love! I'm here with you! Right now! I can't leave your sight most of the time and now it's even worse after you saw that...uh… totally random dude with “me”.

Wait, so I have competition for my yandere 👀 this is need and I'm totally gonna lose because in that dream I was only supposed to spy on her to see which potions she was making, I was also a yandere hunter. Not a witch hunter!

Lets just say I will die if the witch confronts me.

F, we both can't find stories 😔

I can see boiboi living for it the most, that kinky bastard- fishy would love it the most like, after something bad happened, maybe a break down or after he saw “you” with boiboi, just to make sure you're real and you have a reflection like a normal person lmao

Man we should really expand on my god boi, we only have his looks but what abt personality, he seems pretty lax with sexual stuff and if it's not a real physical thing. He also doesn't understand shit about normal human things.

I'm cursed by two yanderes 😔 sad

You know, sometimes I do remember my dreams but they're so long I don't even bother trying to remember them so I end up forgetting, if it was juicy or interesting I will tell but if it's only mildly interesting I don't even bother, like I swear my dream today, people had enough time to move houses and there were like 5 plot points with different people at the same time, none was that interesting, there was one count that was most interesting but of course I forgot that part 😔

Rika, like, they went HARD with trying to redeem her. TOO hard. It was basically forced and it made me hate her more, just from the fact that Cheritz is trying this hard. It's stupid honestly and it shows how hard they try :/ it's so hard that I swear a wattpad story about baldi x reader had better redeeming qualities for baldi. Like bro. Stop.

I don't hate V as much because they don't try to redeem him as hard. It's like normal you know, you can choose whether you forgive him or not, it's not something like you have to forgive him or else some 5 year old guilt trip shit happens.

I also just like V more because he's actually nice. Like genuinely a nice person. He tries to help Rika, she refuses, they get into an argument, she go pokey pokey V’s eyes now brokey, he helped us escape (I vaguely know what happens in V’s route but I played Saeran’s route three times now, Jumin 4 (doing 5 rn), so I know what happens in saerans route a lot, and i also played his after ending twice.) but in saerans route he decided he can't live without Rika because of this soulmate shit they got going on and Rika in the end is like “i'm gonna turn my sun into ashes” or some shit like that. Emphasis on “my”.

I swear V’s after ending judge route. It's a mess. I could tell you if you want, you probably don't want to get that damn ending yourself anyway. It's worse than most wattpad guilt trip stories like skdbk please why???

Also i think yoosung just has a MAJOR hero worship for her, basically obsession where it can seem like he's in love, but he just looks up to her A LOT. Anyway Rika is adopted :0

Oh man, maybe he's like, a planner or something, like, that's where well get married, I'm thinking of names for our children, that's where we'll have a date-

You get the idea.

Our local horny and sometimes romantic loner boiboi.

Long hair can be smexy, I've only seen fictional characters and some select few (I've only seen markiplier and Keanu reeves, everyone else I've seen are kind of ugli, probably because most I've seen also have that ugly teenage moustache. Pls shave. I don't really see many celebrities, so yeah)

Anyway, the day Aizawa gets short hair is the day I gauge my eyes out, stab my eyeballs and eye sockets, pour bleach in the wounds and wait until I die of blood loss or the bleach.

Especially a nicely designed cape that fits the character somewhat and isn't just plastered on there because yes.

I actually wanted to get Zen’s route first but I got yoosung, didn't really flirt with Zen after that unless the other option was a mean one. Then ill flirt, though yoosung did become jealous at one point 👀

It seems common that people would get yoosung when going for Zen. You just can't be mean to yoosung, but you have to at least onceif you want Zen. It's too easy to get yoosung hearts.

GIVE THE AFFECTION QWEEN CUDDLES-

Boiboi would totally jump on that.

-🐱nonny “you can decide if you want to take that literally or sexually”

Ok that's a beeg one! Let's start!!!

Fishy is just being stupid... If you think nommy is with someone else, maybe that's because you're not doing your job properly hmm?? Think about that 👀

Well... It's not really a competition. Ghost man wants to be with you, so you already know you're his. Though the witch, i feel like if he's been a ghost for waaaay too long, maybe she lost interest, lost hope. Mayne she could reverse the curse, but she's also sad and lonely... Maybe she'll curse you too👀

Your dreams are very complex and action filled. So yeah, remembering them must be so difficult. My dreams are very boring, so even if i tried to remember, it's basically just wasting my time.

I feel like that was chritz goal. They dont want us to like her, they want us to hate her. So they made her super duper annoying.

V is a nive person, a bit too nice to the point its annoying. He's naive. I understand that he tried helping her and all that. That's amazing. But after all the things she did to him, he still tried to help her?! Why bro! I understand you're in love, but that's obsession! Also, if i remember correctly, the way V talked, it didn't feel genuine. Like the "pick me guy". A bit too manipulative, yk? Like ooouh its ok if you dont forgive me, i understand uwu.... No shut up.

Yes! Yoosung was weird, a bit too baby like! It's not my fav type of characters (obv i love jumin, total opposites!) And same, i wanted to get zen but I got yoosung. And i also tried jaehee, but i got yoosung :(

Affection = sexy timez with boiboi sooo... Have fuuuun

[nobody-knose--archive]

well, today i figured i didn’t have anything better to do & liveblogged the pingry ep. it’s probably a better stepping stone further into the tally void than incomplete demos, coming right off of complete demos, at least.

-from what i know this one basically includes all the mmmm songs that weren't on complete demos (andrew singing ones wahoo) & the expected demos that didn't end up anywhere else + just a friend. i also believe this one was recorded similarly to complete demos so i really have no clue what to expect for taken for a ride's vocals. anyway here i go

-the bidding sounds impressively professional to start things off, but i suppose humming isn't a terribly complex technique anyway. the intro feels a little longer th

-whoah there if that aint a marked difference in audio quality here we go

-guitars also sound different & i don't remember if this album has steve or ross on it i now realize

-goodness the mixing is wonky for rob's segment. the backing vocals do not need to bounce between channels

-why do they have kinda weird voices for the chorus. sounds like they're trying an accent or something. i can barely recognize who's singing

-the keyboard backing in zubin's segment sounds the same as usual, as in, it sounds so stupidly similar to the questions answered backing music that i'm offended i couldn't pick up they're the same for so long

-less echo on disappear actually. at least they still had the brass section

-still a weird sound on the chorus but maybe i can chalk that up to different mixing & more red

-outro sounds not super different. still very good drumming on display which will give me the push i need to decide it's ross drumming

-however i don't hear him shouting out the auctioneer stuff, and given that it was presented as a video during the mmmm recording, i might assume it was done specially for the mmmm releases, so maybe he didn't drum for this album after all

-it does have a greater similarity to the live performances even if the keyboarding is using a different synth

-well now. that's a real piano

-and as any piano will be when played that low, it's out of tune. very

-and everyone's singing? i can't hear andy in the slightest. this is interesting

-i mean i can certainly hear him doing plenty on the piano. but. it's interesting

-i suppose given the ep's hallmanac description, as a compilation of acoustic/one-take recordings i shouldn't be surprised taken for a ride is this different. but boy is it jarring. sounds incredibly different without the heavy synthesizing and complementary instruments

-barebones certainly. not much more of a way to describe it. that's what i expected just not in this way. i like the sound of this bridge though

-do very much wish i could hear andrew's actual voice. even at acoustic live performances he would sing at the very least. then again, that was years later i suppose.

-and it's only now at the final chorus that i realize, somehow, this is a piano-only song. no guitar, no drums even. that's really interesting. even the album version had some drums & bass

-red's singing isn't as impressive here. not as many high notes. understandable. bitch

-different rhythm on the quick part! bet steve feels lucky he didn't have to drum this part although i am hearing some sort of. pants-slapping? now that would be a sight to behold irl

-and that's the end

-goodness. be born. considering how this song was always & every time performed acoustic live i really expect to hear nothing here i haven't from concert recordings

-we're missing whatever the hell that skittery little shaker is called. alas i am not a percussionist & do not know the name of every auxilliary instrument ever

-rippin it up on the melodica bay be. a suitable replacement for whistling considering that never was all that good live. nobody can compare to bora karaca at whistling

-there's extra bass harmonies on display here. swell

-also no percussion i'm realizing

-da-da-da!

-but yeah normally ross uses brushes on a box/seat drum (also don't know what that's called!) for some good gentle percussion & it's not here. really hoping this won't be a trend because i'm fond of drumming even if it's from stebev himself

-bah (chorus) bah

-wait a minute that's not a bah! that's a doo! big difference! what are you doing rob

-i can tell it's one-take because rob has to take a breath in the middle of that final long bah there

-ooh dropping off the guitar there real quick are you? and not even doing the full outro too. good way to spice things up at the end.

-honestly maybe the reason i & so many other th fans dislike be born so much isn't even the country sound and weird subject matter, it's the fact that this song lacks a whole lot of the variability that might separate it from other music. in the album versions there are violins/fiddles, and the live versions... don't have that. maybe some halfway decent whistling at best. it just is what it is. especially compared to the rest of mmmm- g&e could often be more faithfully recreated on stage, but mmmm got to mix things up most of the time, except for be born. food for thought

-anyway. of all the songs i would expect to be absolutely completely identical (other than be born) the whole world and you definitely takes the cake. a delightful song. i should listen to it more.

-but yeah it was a toy orchestra piece long before a tally hall piece, and toy orchestra was & is nothing but silly little live performances. how on earth could they make this one completely different

-other than. the "punk rehearsal" i've heard of from incomplete demos. that's just. a thing i think

-oh hold on i didn't even listen to the end of be born there was a tiny outro with chat at the end oh that's adorable

-hey i can hear andrew's voice! nice!

-starting off with a full ensemble vocals, all sorts of harmonies in action, and a normal piano instead of a toy piano, so already i'm being proven decently wrong on this song's inability to be greatly altered

-other than that. i kinda like how it sounds as if they're stumbling over their words at points

-boy has andrew's voice changed hasn't it. i know i haven't listened to the solo albums so i'm not exactly one to speak but he really developed his singing a lot over time

-clapping live & not in a studio sure sounds a lot worse, especially when it's like 4 people max doing it and not a whole crowd

-zubin (i'm pretty sure) flexing on us all at the end there. good for him

-ayyyyyyy

-it's the song that's sure to invoke an emotional response out of me >:}

-it's also the song i was convinced had andrew vocals in the background (the badadum's between verses) for a good while. still not 100% certain it's rob instead but it's not like i can ask them themselves

-yeah i'll admit it right here this is the song i listen to when i'm going through emotional turmoil. not this version of the song, and no, i don't mean i listen to i'm gonna win or even the tally hall rock version of this one. i mean i listen to the cover of it from we think we're playing in a band. and that's enough on this subject!

-however given the above information yeah i am pretty familiar with this song already. not a new experience right here

-i greatly appreciate the heavy piano work. it's one of my favorite parts about the song

-oh and i should stop talking about that subject right there as well. actually i think i should just say nothing about this song in general. you'll see why in about uhh pauses video

-this friday or so? damn that's sooner than i thought lucky me

-everything will be fine! i'll be making it through!

-oh hello there. "ALBUM" is not a word beamed directly into my brain with great volume thank you very much

-so. it's the outro to good day done with weird haste. looping. no actual chord pro-

-this is. is this some sort of radio performance? what the hell is going on

-steven!!! hello there thanks for the confirmation & god is it surreal to hear his name truly uttered in the context of red rob zubin andrew. wow

-pingry school spring fling. how the hell have i never heard about whatever the hell this track is before

-wait- is it over? song listed as good day but it's in fact the outro to good day done on. a radio program maybe. and now it's a really strange sounding performance of yearbook

-i genuinely can't tell if there's a filter on rob's voice or if the micro- shit that's loud

-what in the hell is going on is this another radio performance or something? like ok yearbook at least was on songs about girls by listedblack but i really want this to be made clear soon

-all i really think i need to know about yearbook is that it's another rob "heterophobic homophonic" cantor angsty boy band song and. listening to it for the first time her. that impression sure isn't going away

-at least i get to hear andrew twinkling those ivories in the back. got a good sound. even if the mixing here is all sorts of wack. a song this complex should not be performed live with only like one microphone

-alright rob i get it you were in love with a girl- and it's over? ok

-live performance of just a friend holy shit hell yes hell yes hell yes for some reason i thought this would be the studio version but no

-i cannot imagine what this song will sound like with steve on the drums hell yes oh will there be banter will rob forget his lines will red say some random 4-syllable phrase will zubin be the best singer in the whole damn band give me an answer now

-already hearing some banter :}

-they're moving weirdly fast and andrew's already got the piano playing even in the beatboxing part. wowie

-ooh kick it andy do those riffs hell yeah

-"that sounded fishy... zubin sedghi!" i'm in love

-KICK IT ANDY

-AND ZUBIN

-and there's the drums! go stevie. go stevie

-good ness andrew just will not let up on the sick as hell keyboarding will he fukc yeah bro kill it

-rob sounds unbelievably tired for this i'm half expecting him to trip up the lyrics at any moment

-"i don't buy it" "don't gimmie that!" you say it boys. oh classic zubin line right there preserved on an official tally hall recording for all eternity, what a treasure this is

-hm isn't this a bit early to go into the pseudo-breakdown chorus? no it works. andrew still rippin it up of course

-and there's the tambourine bay be!

-buildup to the "oh snap" isn't as intense as it could get in later performances which i will gladly blame in its entirety on steve <3

-boy oh boy does rob's voice just sound generally different here. so young so so young

-shooby-doo-wah. well i had low expectations which were not quite fulfilled but it's technically more than what we got on the studio recording so. i won't complain

-THERE IT IS

-BARBEQUE SAUCE BAY BE

-what a fool i was to pause the moment he said it. silly old me <3

-no, no, thank you for coming! but hold on one second. is there not... one more track? technically not a song, technically something i think i've heard before, but if i take a step over to the tally archive...

-cell phone call.

-circus you say? if i had to guess it's the whole world & you given the 08 version of the song but that's a vague guess. can't think of anything better but my current answer isn't that good on its own

-ah! it's joey jo joseph. this wouldn't happen to be that phone call spoken of that, like, invited joe into the band in the first place, would it? i remember that story from an old bio or something, but it doesn't seem like the type of thing that'd be recorded & put on an album. hard to say

-pj? like a certain rob cator frat dude voice JP!?

-well well well now. i'm not sure what to say. i don't recognize that song they're playing as the outro. it could either be some vague listedblack or miscellaneous early tally hall song lost to the void or a demo. i wouldn't exactly know. anyway that ends the pingry ep. shorter than i thought it be, lucky old me. hope you enjoyed!

[abiteofnat]

AN ANXIETY-APPROVED GUIDE TO SOCIALLY-DISTANT  DINING IN THE NORTH SHORE

A headline I truly thought I would never write, because I used to be the type of person to leave work, jam myself into an L train packed with people, scroll through my phone while breathing in someone’s backpack, and then get to a busy restaurant to meet friends and dive into food without washing my hands. My entire immune system was chock-full of city scum, and eating indoors with dozens of other people who likely got off an equally full train? Not even a question of a doubt in my mind. Things took a quick and dire turn in May when suddenly I became afraid of everything and grossed out by anything, and after moving home with family I was certain I would never leave the house again. I miss being the fearless gutter rat I used to be, but times are different, and staying safe is key. 

Alas, while my family has been taking quarantine very seriously, we reached a point in August where we all felt “ok” with sitting at a restaurant once or twice a week to feel like we were still part of society and because we all mutually hate cooking. After not being at a restaurant once since March, we nervously ventured out to a local Italian restaurant, sat outside very far from others, and ate pasta that was still piping hot from the kitchen and that didn’t taste mediocre after sitting in a takeout container for an hour. It was refreshing as FUCK. Rose? In a real wine glass? Served chilled? What am I, a QUEEN? 

Ever since we have been carefully dining, only ever sitting outdoors, and carrying packs upon packs of antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer like actual loons. But safe loons! Being home and enjoying the local restaurants through new eyes and new level of appreciation has made me love them 10x more, even if we’ve eaten somewhere a hundred times before. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to dine with these spots, eat favorite dishes & try new ones, and be out of the house for 1-2 hours on a Friday during these wild times. So, why not share some of my favorite spots?? Maybe you’re also living back in the good ole North Shore, and looking for any excitement at all in the quiet of the suburbs. Here you go. 

1. Mino’s Italian - Winnetka

This restaurant is newer to Winnetka, however it became an instant local favorite and is always, always full. They have a huge patio area with lighting, cozy wooden benches, tons of tables, heaters, and a menu packed with classic Italian dishes done so right. Their Calamari is unreal due to the seasoning and the roasted garlic aioli it comes with for dipping. Their Cacio e Pepe is magically light but still full of cheese and fresh cracked peppercorns, and the seasonal Risotto consists of warm mushroom richness. Their pizza is great to-go as well, and tastes like an NYC slice if you order the largest size. 

2. Pescadero - Wilmette 

Ok to be fair, Pescadero is not somewhere we’ve actually dined AT during the pandemic. We do pick it up quite often though, and it is some of the best carryout in Wilmette. The Fish & Chips is mouth-watering, with fresh fish covered in a seasoned batter that alone is delectable. Their chips (really more french fries) are thin, crispy, and topped with a parmesan and herb dust. DO NOT MISS OUT ON THE FRIES. The Mahi Mahi tacos are excellent and a lighter, fresher dish with broccoli apple slaw and avocado crema, and for fuck’s sake order a side of the Mac & Cheese just to stick a fork in. Pro Tip: You want as much extra tartar sauce as they will give you!!!

* Edit - since I wrote this post a few days ago, we ate on the Pescadero patio and it was delightful. Even though it was 55 degrees, the hot Clam Chowder and Fish & Chips warmed me up real quick. Clam Chowder served in a hot mug = a new fall dinner staple. Will only accept soup in a mug from now on. And, they do have heaters!

3. Depot Nuevo - Wilmette 

I have eaten here no fewer than 3,456 times in my life and every single time I feel like I’m on vacation because the vibes, the food, and the booze are immaculate. Located in an old train station turned restaurant, Depot Nuevo is warm and inviting no matter if you’re inside (pre pandemic) or on their gigantic patio that allows for spaced out and comfy seating. They’ve added heaters for the fall, so don’t worry about being chilly- and if you are, the Pomegranate Margarita will warm you right up. It’s strong, delicious, and comes in a very pleasing traditional margarita glass. I always order the Appetizer Trio as my entree, which has queso fundido (ordered without the chorizo!), guacamole, and ceviche composed of scallops, shrimp, and calamari with vegetables and lime. Usually this comes with tortilla chips as it’s meant to be shared, but I ask for corn tortillas instead and then pile a little of everything in there for the taco of my DREAMS. Do it. Order it. I dare you. 

The staff is exceptionally friendly and have taken COVID precautions seriously, so menus are disposable and everyone has gloves on. They will treat you like family, and they are family to us because we go there so often. See you on Friday, Depot! 

Other good things on the menu are the Fish Tacos, Shrimp Tacos, BBQ Salmon, Chipotle Mashed Potatoes, Cheese Quesadilla (smothered in their salsa verde of course). 

4. The Noodle - Wilmette

Can you tell downtown Wilmette is the place to be? It has truly popped off and the majority of restaurants aren’t serving up your typical “suburbs” food (you know- fried appetizers and burgers and weird salads and overpriced meat dishes) so I am always happy to be out in our little mini city. The Noodle is as classic Italian as you can get, with overflowing ceramic boats of buttery garlic bread, a salad OR soup included with your entree, and no bar- only wine (or beer) if you want a drinky drink. Incredible. I am partial to the house-made spinach linquine with Roasted Garlic and Sun-dried Tomatoes sauce, and the starter salad with house Creamy Garlic Parmesan dressing. Their Tomato Basil soup is also delicious, however I have some suspicion that that soup is the same as the Roasted Garlic and Sun-dried Tomatoes sauce... just served as soup... they refuse to confirm or deny whenever I ask. Either way, delicious. I tried a NEW DISH when we went last week to sit at one of the 6 large tables they have spaced out outside, and let me tell you that the bowtie pasta (not house-made) with Alfredo sauce is THE SHIT. It may be my new go-to when I just want to carbo-load the hecking out of my night. On your way out, get a Pot de Creme to go- it’s the richest, smoothest chocolate dessert on this side of town. 

5. Hometown Coffee & Juice - Glencoe 

Hometown deserves a round of applause for breathing life back into the stuffy grandmother of the North Shore - Glencoe. Between the gorgeous Writers Theatre and countless boutiques selling blouses and hand-blown glass jewelry, it used to only really serve a certain demographic, however Hometown said “let me give it a try” and changed weekends in Glencoe for good. This coffee shop, smoothie bar, bakery, & cafe hotspot is the perfect afternoon spot to grab a drink, enjoy avocado toast, and sit outside at one of the dozens of tables they’ve lined the corner and two streets with. They’ve moved their registers outside so you don’t even need to go inside to order, and the wait staff will bring you your order right to your table to make it as organized and safe as possible. The tables are spread out, the corner it’s located on is beautiful in the fall, and there are lots of good dogs out and about. 

I will say that while Hometown is doing a great job with COVID precautions, the people of Glencoe are a little high & mighty, and seem to think they’re exempt from wearing a mask to wait in line to get their smoothie. It’s irritating that they’re putting the staff at risk and just ignoring state mandates because they feel safe in their little North Shore bubble and because it’s entirely outside, but come on. Be respectful and understand the privilege of these places even being open to serve you, and just wear mask. I hate people. ANYWAY. Love you, Hometown. 

6. Coast Sushi - Evanston 

Ok, so this gem is not open for dining indoors OR outdoors, however they have their carryout system down and their sushi is so, SO fresh and good. I’ve picked up from here a few times and eat time I fall more in love with the flavors and how consistently tasty it is- and with sushi, it’s always a gamble if it’s going to be really good or kinda fishy and old. The Coast in South Loop was a favorite spot for a while, however it has shut down and I am so happy to be able to get my favorite rolls up in the burbs. My go-to order is a Spicy Tuna Maki, Spicy Scallop Maki, Spicy Miso Soup, a side of Spicy Mayo, and a side of Sushi Rice. This sounds odd, but hear me out- I like to mix the spicy mayo into the sushi rice and eat it just like that. It’s. So. Good. Am I gross? I might be gross. 

Anything you get from here is going to rock your socks off, so for your next night in (aka every night lol) treat yourself to some sushi, babbyyy! 

I sincerely hope that we can keep dining outside for at least a few more weeks, and I am absolutely ok with wearing Uggs and a full-on coat to be able to. Just a reminder to keep your mask on when talking to wait staff, be polite, be patient, and don’t be an asshole. You don’t NEED to dine out- it’s a treat- and you should treat it as such. Don’t be a Karen, or don’t leave your house. Those are literally the only two options.

I hope you try somewhere new, whether it’s carryout or dining out, and tell me if you have any favorite North Shore spots I missed! 

Until next time, Happy Eating!

- Natalie

[tokidokitrash]

I’ve never written a fic before (ok maybe when I was like 13) and I was just struggling a little mentally tonight. It’s a Long rambling off the Top of my head and it’s not gonna be any good but I tried. I would appreciate any constructive criticism you’d shoot my way.

It did help me feel better after writing this, so that’s a silver lining:D

I know the mysme fandom is kinda not as strong as it used to be, but reading other people’s fics really brightened my day, since I’m always on my own due to work.

I had this set as a longer timeline compared to the limited days in the game, and my MC clearly struggles with her own inner depression demons,

Sorry in advance about some stuff further down. I couldn’t help myself.

Italics are either MC’s thoughts or flashbacks.

———————————————————————————————

The way we are - 01

Dreadful, depreciating thoughts slowly crept their way into your thoughts, almost like they bore down on the back of your tightly shut eyes.

‘Not this again...’ you mentally scold yourself.

It had been a few weeks since your last battle. The constant struggle you fought deep within you- one only you knew about.

No one knew. No one could ever know. No one would be able to accept you. No one would be able to help either ways.

You curled yourself into a little huddle on your bed. The air-conditioner wasn’t on, leading the air to a standstill. It was suffocating, the stagnancy. But honestly, you couldn’t be bothered with the discomfort.

‘Stagnant air... stagnant just like my life has been...’

You chastised yourself again, me talking rolling your eyes at yourself, this time for being such a dramatic little bitch in your own little mind.

You hated yourself.

Things were actually getting better these past few weeks. You had the RFA and managing their affairs kept you solidly occupied.

Truthfully, that fateful day you encountered them, and they laid out the opportunity to you to help them be their new coordinator, you mentally leapt with joy at the chance.

Yes, the whole thing was pretty fishy, bogus, weird.

But you’d craved and relished the idea that you could be of some help to a greater cause. Your heart soared at the thought of being of use to someone.

It did come as a plus that the members of this new group were all such...unique personalities.

The lively, dramatic, narcissistic but caring Zen.

The adorable, innocent, wide-eyed Yoosung.

The strong and (seriously) overworked Jaehee.

The stern, calculative business man with the strangest streak of humour, Jumin.

And the mysterious hacker with the flaming red hair, the one whom you’d always felt you could ‘click’ with best, the one you were most attracted to,707.

In their own way, they lit up your life, the way they seemed to always be concerned with your wellbeing, peppering your day with their funny arguments and conversations.

Then shit hit the fan, didn’t it?

It had already been a few days since the whole ordeal with ‘Unknown’. It’s events still played fresh in your mind, but yet right now, they seemed so very far away.

Seven had come to your rescue, but since that day, he’s been anything but a knight in shining armour.

Before the incident, you both had so much fun through the limited calls to each other and the chat.

You felt warm feelings towards Seven blossom in your chest every time you heard his voice. And with the way he seemed to flirt back with you, you had the slightest impression that maybe, just maybe, he was interested in you too.

It felt so nice to banter with him, to feel some sort of electric connection between you two.

But these days, it seems that the happy-go-lucky, capable 707 was gone.

The other day, he even lashed out at Yoosung, who called you, distraught and crying over the incident.

You’ve tried to be strong, you understood that whatever transpired that day must have triggered Seven towards reacting this way. Constantly pushing you away, harshly berating you for leaving his sight, then berating you once more for coming too close to him. You wanted to be here for him, to let him know you cared for him more deeply then he knew and you’d accept and like to hear his story. You’d like to think of yourself as capable of helping provide comfort and reassurance to this beautiful mess of a man, despite whatever attitude shocking revelations of danger he may throw at you.

The key word here, is that you ‘tried’.

And sometimes, life gives you so much lemons, you get really sick of fucking lemonade.

You haven’t really left the room for about...maybe 2 days now, you estimate. Only sneaking out for essentials when you didn’t hear typing and it seemed that maybe Seven was asleep. Wallowing in your self-hatred, you think about the things you’ve wanted to accomplish and how you’ve failed them all.

Dammit, even the man you were so into seems to hate you now- and why shouldn’t he?

Depression had sinked her filthy claws into your heart once again, and though you may have won that battle against her before, you knew, deep in the recess of your mind, she was always waiting to crawl back out.

You hated every fibre of your being. Some days you’d wonder why you were even alive. What did you exist for? Even replying the emails from potential guests seem a chore too monumental right now. Why should they care about your invites? You’d ponder over what to send them, then delete everything you’ve typed out of fear you were being out of line or plain stupid, giving the RFA a bad name. Then you’d start to hate yourself more for letting the guests wait on your reply, get more upset with your own inefficiency. It was a vicious cycle in your mind, and it was always tough to break out of it.

You’ve managed before, and kept a happy persona in your interactions with the members. And that’s what you tried to do for Seven, even as he was scowling away, brows scrunched up in frustration at either his computer, or your mere presence. Either way, he let you know you were an annoyance he couldn’t be bothered to entertain.

And you started believing him.

So you’ve locked yourself away in your room. This was your problem to deal with. Your demons to face. You found a small comfort in hearing Seven typing away in the living room. It was odd, but knowing he was there made you feel safe...but so unwanted.

‘Come on MC... you’re a tough girl, so tough this one out. Yes you’re pathetic and there’s nothing more you hate in this world but yourself, but snap out of it.... please... happythoughtshappythoughtshappythoughtskittenspuppies..seven’svoiceandjokesandthoughtsoftakingyoutothemoon...’

Growling in frustration, you pull the pillow over your head and tried to scream into it, only to end up sobbing uncontrollably. Why were you like this? It’s so illogical...so, so stupid.

If only you could force yourself to be happy and cheery.

But admittedly, Seven’s attitude and coldness towards you really shut that cheery side of you down, faster than you’d like to admit.

You recall the freshest wounds he had inflicted upon you... you had tried to talk to him, as he seemed a little nicer that morning, despite being extremely sleep deprived, giving you a nod when you brought him coffee, and didn’t tell you off when you went to sit near him. You had wanted to express a little gratitude for how hard he was working for your sake.

—————

“Hey, Seven... thank you for working so hard fo-

‘“I’m just going to stop you there, you don’t have to say anything to me. You can just leave me alone.”’

“Aish~! I know that~! You’ve said that before, I just wanna thank you- you’re going to hurt my feelings you know” you pout, trying to stay light-hearted.

He takes off his glasses and rubs his temples upon hearing this. Sighing loudly, he adds;

“I don’t care about how you feel at all. I can’t be bothered if you’re hurt. I’m busy and don’t have time for this, so stop bothering me already!”’

“ I just-‘

‘“ just leave me alone.”’

You weren’t sure what made you decide to do this, but you whine quietly, feeling defeated, and perhaps this was actually a last ditch attempt to see if he cared.

“Seven...I’m going to start crying if you keep being so mean to me..”

He pauses, then he shifts in your direction,stony faced, cold liquid gold eyes bearing into your own brown eyes.

‘“Even if you cry, it doesn’t really matter to me.”’

Hearing that, you flashed him the best smile you could manage, hoping your pain wasn’t too obvious, muttered a few apologies and excused yourself to your room.

————-

...you were scared too, after the whole incident. But it seems he truly did not care about how you felt, like he hardly gave it any thought. like you were only a problem he had to fix ASAP to get a move on his life.

——————————————————-

Hours had probably passed when you jolt awake to a knock on your door.

“Oi, MC.” he starts in an annoyed tone “Are you okay? I tried calling you but your phone is dead. What are you doing in there for so long anyway?”

You weren’t sure what time it was, but you knew it must have been quite awhile if Mr cold-and-I-don’t-care-about-you was checking up on you. The room was dark, air still stale. Picking up your phone, you realise you haven’t checked it since the start of your mental battle. Yes, it was dead.

“MC?” You thought maybe you picked up a hint of worry though all that irritation this time. “.....I’m coming in.”

‘Wait what? Nonono did I lock the bloody door? He can’t see me like this I-‘

You bolt up from the bed, nearly tripping on your sheets as you rushed for the door, but you were a beat too slow, and the door was already ajar before your hand could touch the handle.

Golden irises pierce your gaze as your eyes adjusted to the invading light from outside your room, he pauses for a moment and his eyes seem to widen in shock at the sight of you...and your probably very disheveled appearance.

Hurriedly, you press your body against the back of the door, holding , preventing it from opening any further.

“MC?!” He called as he tried to peek his head past the door’s opening to get a better look at you.

You cleared your dry and raspy throat before finally replying the redhead-

“AHHHHh Seven! Geez, don’t you know that you’re supposed to give a lady more time to respond?! You can’t just open doors so suddenly you gave me such a start! Nearly let you see me all horrid looking after taking a nap ahaha ha”

Good lord you hope you sounded convincing, and not at all like you’ve been crying for the last godknowshowlong.

Seven goes quiet for a moment, and the tension in the air still hangs over you two. You notice one of his hands shift and holds onto the door frame as he steadily starts to push the door towards you. Trying your utmost best but failing to be lighthearted, you yelped and tried to swat his hand away, still fervently trying to push the door back against his force.

“Holddddup what are you doing Seveny stop trying to open the door! Didn’t you hear what I said???”

“I heard you. But I said I’m.coming.in.”

He pushes the door harder and you know you’re no match for his strength, and in a last ditch attempt to hide your appearance from him you grab a large towel you had hanging behind your door, wrap it over your head, letting it drape down your shoulders and dash for the corner of the room behind the door. You squat down, huddled in your new corner, and you hear Seven cuss when the door gives way easily at your absence, causing him to stumble into the room. Hearing him cuss a bit more, you sense his gaze sweeping the room, before feeling them land upon your huddled up frame at the corner. There’s a long pause before he quietly asks, incredulously

“..........MC, wh-what are you doing over there”

“I told you I was indecent looking now.... so I’m just going to stay in this corner since you so rudely barged in.” You quipped. Your choice of words may sound harsh but you say them in a sing-song manner. Seven just stays quiet after your reply, which leads you to ramble on, hoping to fill the silence

“So, uh, what’s up? Did you miss me? Come here cuz you’re missing little old me? Ahahhaha or did you manage to find something about this whole....shenanigan? Anyways a-aren’t you busy and all? I won’t bother you anymore so y-you don’t have to worry about me either ahhahaha...hahahah”

I sound insane.

You hear him sigh loudly, again, and it kind of reminds you of how your parents used to sigh at you when you were a disappointment. He mutters under his breath sometimes that’s sounds like ‘fucks sake’ and it cuts you off from your ramblings. You can’t stop the tears from springing to your eyes. You were still hurting, still wallowing. Trying to hide whatever negativity by being weird and using your own brand of humour. And now he was real, in your room and invading your space, you could feel your mind trying to come up with something, anything to avoid possible questions and maybe get him to leave.

“What’s all this? You’re being real weird now, hiding in that corner. I’ve seen you after your naps and you don’t usually look like....that. Turn around and face me, MC.”

You take a deep breathe through your nose, your way of stifling your sniffs from new tears,

“Ahhh you’re so indelicate, I can’t turn to face you, so uh why don’t you just wait outside and I’ll come out when I’m ready?”

“And when will that be? Talk to me MC. Something is wrong, isn’t it?”

No shit, Sherlock.

“Yaaaa Please God Seven, have mercy and give this lady a chance to *sniff* prep herself first”

You could almost hear him rolling his eyes at you, when he says

“Get out of the corner before I drag you out. Seriously, what are you even doing? “

Given his snappiness, you wouldn’t be surprised if he acted out his threat. But his question gave you a chance to exhibit your messed up coping mechanism.

“What am I doing? Fine, I’ll tell you. I’m not hiding myself, I’m prepping for my next cosplay.”

“HAH??” In a very, very annoyed tone.

“Here, look. “

In that moment, you slowly turned your body to face him, and put your hands down on the floor, still in a squatting position but with your hands between your knees. Towel still draped across your head and shoulder, you whisper in a low, slow voice,

“E.......Ed........Edward.....................Nii-san”

“..............’’

“GODDAMMIT MC “

Seven’s loud, booming shout really startles you, as you realise he’s left the room. You started to worry you’ve made him real angry this time, and wait for more cussing and shouting.....only to hear cussing and...laughter? His laughter grows, and soon he’s bellowing, and the raucous peals of laughter is music to your ears actually. Even though you’re still hurt from his words and demeanour, you’ve come to realise the effect this gorgeous man has on you, and it warms your heart a little that you’ve managed to make him laugh for the first time in a Long, Long time. He’s still cackling when you waddle towards the door, still covered mainly by the room’s darkness, peek out at him but with your body still in the same position.

“Hey man” you catch his attention and he stares at you, wiping tears away from his eyes “that’s not cool- that scene wasn’t funny at all in the anime-god you shouldn’t be laughing at this.”

Seven has his hands on his knees as you send him into another mini laughing fit.

You stay like this for awhile, feeling a little better after making 707 laugh, despite it not being your original plan at all. You hoped he’d have forgotten all about how you looked and how you ardently tried to hide from him the fact you’ve been a mess these last 2 days.

Now it just feels a little bittersweet. This whole thing is quite similar to how you’ve always dealt with hiding your hurt and pain from others, and a teeny, tiny part of you was sad that you felt the need to hide your feelings and emotions from the guy you adored.

Deep down, you wanted his comfort, but yet, was too afraid to seek it out.

You were now convinced that Seven perhaps truly had no feelings for you other than just as a ‘member of RFA’.

“Anyways...god Seven?”You whispered quietly once his laughter completely dies down. He looks up, having taken off his glasses to wipe his tears again.

“Ah?” He mutters breathlessly, looking at you through his fringe.

You realise you have it real bad, as this sight of him makes your breathe hitch a little and your heart beat faster. You will thoughts of him away as you continue

“I’m going to go and wash up, then um, head to bed now....“ you shift your hands to grip the towel’s ends, making it cover more of your face. Seven seems to notice how tightly you’re gripping the towel, and patiently waits for you to speak as your struggle to find the words.

“..I’m sorry about the other day, today. Well. Everyday. I hope you feel a little better... good night, okay? Take care of yourself, Remember to eat and sleep and I’ll just be here I Guess an—“

you stop yourself. You were rambling again. Pointless rambles. You forced a small smile, internally dying as you were now telling yourself to give up these feelings, bid him good night once more, and gently shut the door.

—————————————————

I’m sorry about the joke again. I had the idea and I couldn’t put it down.

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: Everything Money Can Buy (5/12)

Summary: The Greatest Store in the World AU. When misfortune strikes and leaves Emma Swan and her son homeless just before Christmas, the ever-resourceful Emma has a ready solution. They’ll move into Mills Department Store, a place they can only dream of affording to buy from. It’s not easy, having to deal with a perpetually grumpy doorman, a nasty assistant manager, and an extremely suspect Santa, but Emma and Henry soon learn that the kindness of strangers is something money can’t buy.

Swan Believer centric, with eventual Swan Queen and background Rumbelle and Dwarf Star.

Rated: G

=====

[One] [Two] [Three] [Four] [AO3]

=====

Five

Henry had to admit that he felt a lot safer sleeping in the tent in the basement than he had done in beds and bedlinen. The zipped-up tent flap added an extra layer of security against, well, the security guards, and sleeping in sleeping bags with the lantern hanging above them reminded him of the van. It was almost a home from home. As much as he didn’t really want to live in Mills for any longer than they had to – the risks seemed to far outweigh the benefits, in his opinion – he could see himself being happy camping indoors for a while.

Or at least, he could have done, until the moment that he woke up on Sunday morning. The main lights in the shop were up, and he could hear people moving around outside the tent.

“Please let it be the cleaners,” he whispered to himself, and he unzipped the tent flap a minute fraction to peep out.

It was not the cleaners. The people just a few feet away from him, looking at sleeping bags, were most definitely customers, and to make matters even worse, they definitely had a sales assistant with them, pointing out the various merits of various different kinds of sleeping bags. As pleased as Henry was to know that the particular model that he himself was currently inside was one of the best they sold and the one that the shop assistant would personally recommend, that did not stop the rising feeling of dread that and Mum had found themselves in what could euphemistically be termed a bit of a pickle.

“Mum!” He scrambled out of his sleeping bag and shook Mum’s shoulder. “Mum! We overslept! The shop’s open!”

“What?” Mum grumbled. “It’s a Sunday, they don’t open till ten, what are you talking about…” She grabbed her phone and looked at the time.

It was ten fifteen.

“Well, bugger.” She looked at the tent flap. “No one’s going to want to look inside this tent, though, are they?”

Henry shrugged. “Maybe not, but we can’t exactly get out whilst they’re out there.” He pointed at the vague shadows of bodies that could be seen through the tent material.

“Good point. Right. We’d better get dressed and think of a plan.”

Henry and Mum had had to make some daring escapes from some daring places before in their time, so gathering together all of their things in either the dead of night or the middle of the day, or from a very small space, was nothing entirely new to them. All the same, Henry was quite certain that this was the most fraught that the experience had ever been. The need to keep very quiet wasn’t exactly helping, although thankfully the background music of looped Christmas pop tunes drowned out most of the noise of them moving luggage around.

Once they were ready to leave, Mum listened at the tent flap for a while. They really couldn’t stay here much longer; Henry’s stomach was growling and the longer they stayed, the greater their chance of discovery would be.

“Is there anyone there?” Henry whispered.

Mum shook her head. “I can’t tell. I think we’re just going to have to make a break for it.”

With a sudden, decisive movement, she unzipped the tent flap, startling the couple who had been looking at sleeping bags and who had appeared to have opted for the sales assistant’s recommendation. Thankfully, the assistant himself had wandered off. She grabbed her backpack and ushered Henry out of the tent.

“Well, the tent is definitely big enough for us and the backpack,” she said brightly, brushing herself off. “Come on Henry, we’ll come back and buy one later. We’ve got other shopping to do.”

They hurried off towards the escalators, leaving the astonished shoppers behind them.

“Do you think they bought it?” Henry asked.

“I have no idea, but we only have to get outside, I don’t think they’re likely to raise that much of a fuss in the time it takes us to get up one escalator and out of the door.”

There were all kinds of things that were wrong with that statement, and Henry couldn’t help but be nervous about all the luggage that they had left piled in the tent with the post-its on, but before he could point this out to Mum, they tripped at the last hurdle. Literally, almost. They were nearly out of the door, going as quickly as they possibly could without drawing attention to themselves, when Mum almost collided with Gold.

Henry had always thought that Gold looked very impressive and very terrifying in his uniform, and right now, he looked even more terrifying than he had ever done.

“Sorry,” Mum said cheerily. “If we could just…” She made to dodge past him, tugging on Henry’s hand, but Gold stood steadfastly in their way.

“I didn’t see you come in this morning,” he said, his tone accusatory, and Henry gulped, glancing up at Mum and hoping that she could talk their way out of this one like she’d talked them out of so many other scrapes in the past.

“Well, you know, it’s a big shop and there are a lot of shoppers. Only have to turn your back for a moment and someone can slip by you. I mean, what about now, you’re not monitoring everyone coming in and out now, are you?”

“That’s not the point,” Gold snapped. “I don’t recall you leaving last night, either. I generally have a good memory for these things.”

“Good for you. Keep eating the carrots. Or is that seeing in the dark? Anyway, if you don’t mind, our purchases have been completed and we’d like to leave the store.”

Gold looked her up and down. “Where are your bags?”

Emma patted the backpack. “Save the planet, cut down on plastic waste. Honestly, where are your environmental credentials, Mr Gold?”

“It’s ok, Alistair.”

Belle from the customer service desk came over to them, smiling brightly.

“I saw them come in earlier,” she said. “You were helping unfold Mrs Rothschild out of her taxi.”

Gold looked from Belle to Mum to Henry and back again, then gave an unsure nod and stood aside. Mum gave him her sweetest, butter wouldn’t melt smile, and they left the store just as Zelena’s high heels clattered down the main steps and her less than dulcet tones could be heard admonishing Gold.

“Mr Gold! I believe we had a conversation yesterday about the doorman’s primary location being on the outside of the building!”

Mum and Henry sped around the side of the shop before Gold could come out and find them loitering on the doorstep. It was only once they were out of sight that Henry felt able to breathe freely again.

“She knows, Mum,” he said mournfully. “Belle must know that we’re sleeping in the shop. Because she definitely didn’t see us come in this morning.”

“Yeah.” Mum leaned back against the wall to get her breath back. “Yeah, she must realise that something’s up. Damn it! Oh Henry, I’m so sorry. I was so certain that we’d found somewhere safe.”

“It’s ok.” Henry knew that Mum was trying her best. “We can find somewhere else.”

Although maybe, now that he thought about it, they wouldn’t have to. Belle had covered for them. She hadn’t seen them go in, and she had lied anyway and got them out of their scrape with Gold. And Belle liked Gold, Henry knew that much just from watching their interaction the previous day. She wouldn’t be doing it to get one over on him.

Maybe, just maybe, she was helping them out of the goodness of her heart, and she was actually helping them.

Henry put this tentative hope to Mum as they walked along in search of breakfast. She said nothing for a long time; Mum was used to not trusting anyone to have her best interests at heart. It had been so long since they’d benefitted from the kindness of strangers that she had begun to believe that it did not exist, although Henry still had faith in it.

He had faith in Belle not to give away their secret.

X

Gold was not having a good day. In fact, a day when Gold did have a good day was a rarity lately. His ex-wife had announced that she would be having their son for Christmas this year despite having had him last year and promising that he could stay with his dad this year, and Gold didn’t have the money or energy to try and dispute her. On top of that, he was cold, tired, and in pain, and he was feeling extremely old. His ankle was complaining bitterly about the long days spent outside in the freezing temperatures; it had been so swollen when he’d woken up this morning that he could barely get his support on, but if he’d left it off then he wouldn’t be able to move by the end of the day.

And, of course, there was the woman and the boy, the ones he wasn’t sure about. There was something fishy about them and the vast amounts of baggage that they always had whenever they came into the store. The fact that they’d left without the vast amounts of baggage this morning gave him even more cause for concern than them leaving with the baggage did. If they’d left with it, then he could put them down as petty thieves – not that it was possible for any kind of thievery in a store like Mills to be petty. Leaving the bags was altogether more perplexing. And he really hadn’t seen them come in this morning, and he wasn’t sure that Belle was telling the complete truth either. Still, he trusted Belle. She would have had her reasons for covering for them, he was sure.

Adding the cherry on top of this rather fine cake of complaints, Zelena was acting like a complete nutcase again, seeming to take a great delight in dressing him down in front of myriad customers whenever she found him inside the building in an effort to stop himself from freezing solid outside, and yet being rather overly friendly whenever they were together in private. He tried to avoid her at all costs, but she always seemed to have a way of finding him after staff briefings and trying to corner him. He couldn’t really tell exactly what she wanted, and he had come to believe that her constant reminding him of his place in the proverbial pecking order was some kind of punishment for rejecting her.

Right now, he was prepared to take it as long as it meant that he could stay away from her rapidly widening aura of insanity.

Gold rubbed his hands together, stamping his feet on the freezing paving slabs outside the door, waiting for customers coming in and out. The handwarmers that Belle had given him yesterday were a blessing, and Gold wished that they made a suit out of the material that he could wear under his uniform to keep him toasty in his entirety.

Actually, forget the handwarmers. Belle herself was a blessing. Right now, it felt like she was the only bright spark in his entire miserable life, and he desperately wanted to tell her how much she meant to him, but he could never bring himself to make a move. After all, who in their right mind would want him? He was probably twice her age for a start, not to mention the fact that he’d gone through a very acrimonious divorce, and he was still recovering from the alcoholic funk that he’d settled into after that had happened. It was a miracle that he’d landed the job at Mills, if he was honest, which was why he knew that he couldn’t complain about it, or about Zelena, too much. He owed a lot to Regina Mills, and if that meant putting up with everything he hated about his job, then so be it. At least he had a roof over his head and food on the table, and his son didn’t hate him quite as much as he’d done a few years ago.

Gold’s thoughts meandered back to Belle. Maybe he ought to take a chance and ask her out. It could be something very casual. He could ask her if she was going to the staff party on Christmas Eve. That way he could just arrange to see her there. It was a big enough shop, after all, they could definitely avoid each other if it got awkward. And it wouldn’t seem too much like a date then; just two colleagues looking out for each other during an evening of drunkenness and general debauchery. Ever since Belle had joined Mills, he’d always shared a camaraderie with her that went beyond the normal interactions of two colleagues who didn’t really know each other all that well. They were united against Zelena, both of them looking out for opportunities to undermine her whenever they could and lamenting the fact that those opportunities did not come anywhere near as often as they would like.

Or maybe he could begin the conversation by asking her what she was reading at the moment. She always had a book with her under the customer service desk and was very good at sneaking a quick half a page whilst looking like she was busy on the computer. Gold had found that his own reading repertoire had increased greatly since meeting Belle, as she was always so enthusiastic about her books and he wanted to experience the same kind of joy that she did from them. It didn’t always work; there were several titles that they’d ended up getting into passionate arguments about in the staff breakroom after hours, but Gold didn’t really care. It gave him an excuse to talk to her, after all.

The suspicious-looking mother and son were coming back. They’d left the store so early this morning, practically before they’d had chance to buy anything, and he hadn’t seen them again. His eyes met the blonde woman’s as they came past, and she narrowed hers, hurrying her son along the pavement and not trying to come in. He wondered if they’d try again when his back was turned. For all Mills was a large shop and took up most of the block, it only had the one entrance, so if they wanted to get in, then they would have to go through him. Gold sighed. He should probably just let them in; it would be his act of Christmas charity for the year. At the same time, though, knowing that someone was living in the store and not doing anything about it was a sure way to get himself fired, and getting fired just a couple of days before Christmas was not something anyone wanted. Maybe he could plead ignorance. Hopefully, whoever they were, they were canny enough not to get caught by someone who wasn’t Belle and didn’t have a kind heart.

The door began to open from the inside and Gold moved automatically to take it. When he saw who was coming out, he very nearly let the heavy glass slam back in his face. Killian, this year’s store Santa, a last-minute replacement for Marco, came out of the building and pulled his beard down, taking a long swig from a hipflask.

“You know that Zelena will pull your innards out if she finds you drinking on the job,” he said conversationally.

Killian just glared. “If I’m outside then I’m not on the job,” he muttered. “You try dealing with hundreds of screaming kids and even more screaming parents.”

As much as Killian rubbed him up the wrong way, Gold did have the tiniest bit of sympathy for him. Christmas always brought out the worst in people. It was a shame that Santa didn’t have a naughty list for adults as well.

Killian continued to stand on the steps beside him. Quite the pair they made, really, Gold in his resplendent uniform and Killian in his ill-fitting red and white suit, reeking of rum.

“The bird on customer services,” Killian said presently. Gold bristled; calling any woman a bird wasn’t great, but especially not Belle. “Do you know if she’s single?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Gold reply through gritted teeth. The seething anger was lost on Killian, who just shrugged.

“Huh. Might try my luck at the party. You know no-one ever gets fired for a bit of bad behaviour under the mistletoe at a Christmas party.” He waggled his eyebrows and Gold glared, opening the door with rather more force than necessary.

“Get back in there before Zelena throws a fit, and for God’s sake find a breath mint somewhere.”

Killian just laughed, but dutifully went back inside. Gold was so angry that he let the blonde woman and her son back into the shop without paying them any mind at all.

[post-itpenny]

“Make a decision. Give up the location or swim with the fishies.”

Some Mafia AU

Let’s meet a few new people. A slight warning because it gets a little bloody.

There is always a reason someone has a nickname.

At the seedier edge of town, on an old and crumbling bridge, were three men. Their figures were silhouetted by the dim street lights and the curl of smoke from one’s cigarette. They were quiet yet clearly amused by something as they were all leaning on the bridge’s rails and looking down at something. A car pulled up and a fourth man stepped out. His face mostly obscured under a wide brim hat. His eyes looked tired yet sparked with interest. 

“Hiya Boss,” one of the men greeted the necommer with a nasty grin. “Sorry to drag you out at this hour.”

“I assume you’ve had a rather successful fishing trip sonny boy.”

The other men nodded, two of them grabbed a set of ropes that were tied to the rails and dragged up their catch. 

Two people, bound and gagged were pulled onto the bridge. “Bloke is a bootlegger, caught him trying to drop off a shipment to the delivery girl here, and on the edge of our territory too! Ha!”

The boss knelt down and inspected the two his men had caught. The man was older with dark brown hair and a scruffy beard. He was clearly strong but a growing knot on the side of his head suggested his men had been keeping him subdued well enough. The girl was shaking in anger, bright red hair had begun to fall from a tight bun and trailed well past her hips. 

“Oh and what do we have here,” the boss whispered. Tapping the thistle pin on the man’s jacket, the girl seemed to have one as well.

“Well if it isn’t a couple of trees that strayed away from the forest. How has my lovely Queen of Hearts been hmm? Been wanting to pay her a visit.”

The girl tried to lunge at him but was stopped when one of the men forced her down to the ground. Despite the gag she started screaming at the boss, no doubt it was supposed to be a rather long list of curse words. 

The boss laughed, “weeelllll you gotta be quicker than that little birdie. Ol’ Jack isn’t one for roughing up a new suit.”

The girl continued to squirm and thrash about, already showing signs of working her hands free from the ropes. Jack rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. In a flash one of his men picked the girl up and tossed her over the side of the bridge. She gave a scream as the rope she was tied to snapped taunt, leaving her swinging upside down like a pendulum. 

“How about you and I chat hmm?” Jack asked as he yanked the gag off the man, “what’s your name?”

The man looked towards Jack in furry but gave in and answered, “It’s Joseph.”

“Hey now, two J’s how about that!” Jack giggled, “ok Joseph now I’m going to ask you all nice and polite like since you’re being so cooperative. I know and you know and you know that I know that there are a good couple storage areas where the Blackwoods keep their goods if you know what I mean. That's what you were delivering yes? What happend to be in this shipment tonight?”

“..... rum…. A couple bottles of whisky.” 

“All illegally made or stolen I’m sure. Tsk, tsk Joey you seem like too decent a fellow for this business. Now I’m going to make a deal with you, I want the location of some of those stockpiles, each one that you actually know how to get to. You tell me this and I’ll let you live, cross my heart and hope to die and yadda, yadda, yadda. We good?”

Joseph’s eyes flicked to the railing in panic, Jack seemed to understand. 

“Oh your friend? Ah well, birdie here needs to learn her manners.”

“Please, she can’t swim.”

“Oh see this right here is proof Joey buddy you are far too soft for this business.”

Jack stood up with a smile, then kicked Joseph in the face.

 “Get mean like that Joey!” Jack screamed with a maniac grin, “now make a decision sunny boy. Give us the location, or join your friend and swim with the fishes!”

“Hey Boss-”

“Not now I’m working.”

“Boss!”

“What?!”

The man pointed at the edge of the bridge, the rope clearly moving, creaking in the silence that befell the rest of the group.

Jack nodded as his men slowly advanced to the rail. One stopping to yank a loose piece of rebar out of the crumbling cement. They all looked over the side. There was a slight flash of red and the rope swung under the bridge and out of sight. Pulling tighter and tighter before loosening, signaling that the girl was coming back.

The redhead sung up with surprising speed, flying high over the group’s heads with arms stretched wide, she had worked her hands free. 

The girl crashed into the man with the piece of rebar, yanking the metal out of his hands.

The man turned towards her, fumbling to draw his gun. “You crazy bit-”

WHACK!

The girl hit him across the face with the rebar, and she didn’t stop.

“Don’t!”

Smack!

“Call!”

Whack!

“Me!”

Slam!

“Crazy!”

Jack’s men seemed frozen in place, some had started to draw guns but were stopped in the horror of watching a small woman mutilate a man twice her size with a chunk of metal. 

By the time she stopped the man was long dead, his skull broken beyond recognition or anything human. She looked down at him and screamed, hair free and blending with the with the gore that now covered her. 

Jack seemed surprisingly calm through all this, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his jacket and lighting one. “Your name wouldn’t happen to be Maggie would it?”

The girl looked up at him, eyes blazing. Several of the men seemed to snap out of it and raise their guns in alarm. 

Jack chuckled, “geeze you grew up didn’t you? How old was you when I was dating Queenie?”

Maggie did not answer, her grip on the rebarb tightening.

Jack motioned for his men to lower their guns, “she would be a little disappointed to see you like this, never was one for violence. But we can keep it a secret between us hmm?” He winked and turned to leave, “boys all that noise our friend made will have spooked someone nearby enough to call the cops. I suggest we call it a truce for now.”

“But boss she-”

“Is my ex’s kid…. He was getting useless anyways. Hey Maggie have you heard from your sister’s lately?”

This seemed to finally take the fight out of the redhead. Maggie shrinking back in some unknown apprehension. Jack smirked and walked away, his goons following. 

Maggie stood in silence as they left, looking down at the metal in her hands in a mix of fear and anger. Finally she shook herself out of it and sat down. Joseph was about to question what she was doing when he realized-

“Did you just do all that with your legs still tied together?”

Maggie gave him a wink and finished freeing herself before turning to Joseph. “Are you ok?” 

Joseph gave an empty laugh, “Vega is going to go through the roof when she sees me like this. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

“You look like it Joe.”

“Maggie we have got to teach you to swim,” Joseph said as he sat up with a heavy sigh, “towards the end of summer I wanted to take Vega and Altas out of the city. We wanted to go to the beach, come with us it will be Atlas’ first swimming lesson too. Vega won’t mind.”

Maggie shook her head vigorously and looked to the bridge rail with a grimace. “I’ll pass thanks.”

[selkiestory]

It was surprisingly easy to fall asleep that night even if a stranger was sharing his bed. He made sure he planted himself firmly on the opposite side of the bed. Too bad Marcas didn’t know that Aed rolled about in his dreams, but when the redhead woke in the middle of the night - limbs sprawled and foot pressed firmly against the the other teen’s back - his guest remained sound asleep.

‘“I’m used to sleeping in the waves”’ Marcas would probably say.’

Aed pulled the covers over himself again and squinted at the bright light. He forgot to move his curtains back and the full moon shone over the ocean, but also right into his eyes.

It was quiet.

One last calm night before summer turned to fall. The redhead grunted and rolled away from the window to face the door. It was too comfortable to get up and draw the blind.

As he waited for sleep to return he studied the other’s resting profile. His companion’s long hair gave the image of spilled ink on his ridiculously pale skin. The teen admitted that the other was handsome, but it was strange for someone as fit as Marcas to be so fair. Only hard work outside could result in muscles like those. It shouldn’t have surprised him that Marcas refused to put his pyjamas on after coming back from the shower. It had taken much persistence to convince the teen to at least wear some boxers before they went to bed. The only piece of clothing Marcas seemed comfortable with was his cloak, which he now had tightly in his grip as if it were a safety blanket.

The thought made Aed snicker. He quickly grabbed a pillow and pressed it over his head to muffle the noise. What a strange day today was.

Well he might as well get more rest. The teen leaned into the darkness of the pillow and, after what seemed like hours, finally went back to sleep.

*

The next morning the teen woke to an empty bed. For a split second he considered all of yesterday to be a dream before seeing his clean room and Marcas’ discarded set of clothes. Shivering in the morning air  Aed quickly dressed - the usual collared shirt and sweater - and went downstairs.

“After all, Aed doesn’t let just anyone into his room.”

“I really appreciate this. I won’t let you down.”

‘Well that’s that.’ His parents had come to their decision rather quickly. It was embarrassing that his Mam had to mention him, though. He waited another moment before slipping into the dining room and making a beeline for the kitchen.

“There’s some left overs on the stove,” Flann patted the space next to her, “after you heat them up please come here. I have something to discuss with you.”

“I know already. Marcas is staying,” Aed flicked the stove on and waited for the oatmeal to warm, “but are you ok with me not working with Dad?”

“You know we support you no matter what.” The teen ducked his head to hide a blush.

Marcas entered the kitchen and began washing his bowl. He offered Aed a smile and waited for him before they both returned to the living room.

“I have to go to work, now, so please clean up after yourselves. Aed, I’m waiting for a form to go though. You should be starting by Friday.”

Flann leaned over and Aed gave her a one-armed hug.

“Have a good one, Mam.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better. Remember to put some water on before I come home!”

The room went quiet as Aed started on his oatmeal. It was a bit awkward with Marcas just sitting there, but at least someone was home.

“So what túath are you?”

He paused from his oatmeal and gave the teen a blank stare.

Marcas elaborated upon noticing his confusion, “Ui Fidgente? Ciarraige Luachra? Corca Duibhne?”

Oh. The old tribes.

“Don’t know. Grandparents probably told me, but forgot.”

“Hm.” Marcas seemed to be scrutinizing him.

“What? That was ages ago,” he took a gulp of milk in his defense, “...what’s your tribe?”

“Murtagh. What do humans do then now days?”

“We have regular families and surnames. For example I'm Aed Carrick.”

“So you grew apart?”

“...” He had never thought of it in that way before, “Not really...I mean, annoying as she is, I don't hate Ena. My Grandma and Grandpa come often. And everyone in the village more or less gets along.”

The younger looked perplexed, then shrugged as if he just accepted that things were different.

“I guess I’ll be meeting them soon enough.”

Deciding to cut the chatter Aed cleared his throat.

“About last night...”

To his surprise, Marcas broke eye contact, the teen suddenly finding Aed’s oatmeal very interesting. Aed narrowed his eyes.

“What did you do?” If he stole anything...

“It got really hot. But if you saw, then you saw that I kept my cloak on.”

“Oh uhh” That was not what he expected...must have happened after he fell asleep, “I wasn’t talking about that.”

“Oh.” Marcas ran a hand through his hair, “then...what?”

“My research. If you’re going to help me, you’re going to need to learn how to read... and write since you probably can’t do that either.”

He saw the younger take on a guarded look, but pressed on.

“You’ll need to jot down figures for me and note descriptions of coastlines at the very least.”

After realizing that he wasn’t being made fun of, Marcas’ expression relaxed into a lazy smile.

“Alright. When do we start?”

“Now is better than never,” he crammed the rest of the oatmeal down, his mind buzzing with plans. A big swallow and he gagged. Shit. Wrong pipe.

His glass was pressed to his lips and he took it gratefully. The younger patted his back as he choked his way through the last of his meal, too busy getting air into his lungs than to shrink away from the teen’s touch.

“Thanks…” the redhead finally managed after a few minutes.

“Anything for a friend,” Marcas replied, hand comfortably resting at the base of Aed’s lower back.

Aed quickly pushed back his chair and tidied the kitchen instructing the other to meet him in his room.

The teen was lounging on his bed when he returned.

“It’s so weird, but I can definitely get used to beds.” Marcas bounced a bit, “there were some of them on Blasket, but they were all banged up. ‘Too busy partying anyway to use em, even if they were fixed. I like em though. They’re softer than rocks.”

“What do you mean? Blasket was abandoned a while ago” Aed shuffled through his books trying to find a simple enough one begin with. Creatures of the West Atlantic, 1000 Leagues Under the Sea, Earth Encyclopedia... He didn’t have any children’s books come to think of it.

“Which is why it’s the perfect spot for us. The times when we turn human could be dangerous if actual humans see us.”

Aed threw him a look that the redhead made sure clearly conveyed his exasperation.

It was hard to ignore ridiculous claims if they were shoved into his face at every opportunity. Yesterday, only his mentally exhausted state caused him to consider the teen’s story to be real.

“You really are stubborn,” Aed bristled at Marcas’ amused tone, “I thought you would be more accepting to the otherworld considering you were able to call me.”

The teen gave up on his shelf and considered his options. He could go to the library tomorrow and borrow some kids books (and get strange looks), or he could try and nick one from the school library when he went to check on his experiment he left behind. But if he got caught that would mean more questions...

He heard Ena’s voice from downstairs and smacked his head. Of course. Ena had most of his hand-me-downs.  

Aed left the bedroom and opened the door to his parent’s room where his sister slept. He picked a thick alphabet book (the chew marks from raising two children had considerably worn down the pages) and tossed it to Marcas when he returned.

“Come to the desk. You aren’t going to learn if you lie around all day.”

“Alright, Mr. Carrick,” the younger plopped down on the single chair and smoothed out the creases in his jeans. He picked up the book and smirked at the bite marks.

“I didn’t know you guys had a dog.”

“It’s Ena’s,” Aed noted with appreciation that the book was held correctly this time. The kid seemed to be a fast learner.

Having no other option he leant against the corner of his desk and pointed at the first brightly colored letter “So there’s the alphabet, and each letter…”

---

When he woke there was an empty spot next to him. Again. For someone so chatty, Marcas could be quite stealthy when he wanted to.

A bit of cautious hope rose with him as he got out of bed and dressed. Today would be the day they both started their jobs and resumed his research. Although they hadn’t made enough progress yesterday to actually begin reading instructions, Aed had given him a test: report back on the patterns of deep sea currents during the week. Those were easy enough to remember to ask, that making tallies would suffice. Although not exactly what he wanted to look for, he had data to compare to that at least...it still felt foolish that he was going along with the teen, but it was the only way today was going to feel productive.

“Me first!”

Before he could open the bathroom door, a flash of orange ran inside.

Sometimes it’d be nice to be an only child…

While his sister hogged the bathroom he stole a few more books from her room. His Mam was already downstairs. Dressed and ate breakfast by now, too. He understood. After all, she was the one who taught them to always arrive to things 15 minutes beforehand.

*

“Look at you, so handsome on your first day. Your tie is so straight!”

“Yeah-yes. I still remember how to do it from graduation.” Aed muttered as he bent down so Flann could push back his hair. Every last bit of red in its place.

“I know you’ll be fine at any job. Just remember to smile.”

And they were in the open air. The sky was grey, and the sea smelled extremely fishy. Aed couldn’t see anyone out among the waves…

They dropped Ena off at school then walked back through town past the grocer's and the post office, past the three pubs and the bed-and-breakfast to the little white bank on the end of mainstreet. When they entered he recognized a couple of his former classmates chatting in the back, and quickly sought out work. He already started later than them, so he had to play catch up. There was no time to socialize.

After being introduced to the bank manager, Osirin, he was sent to work. Sorting mail was plain enough, but book keeping was especially dull when it wasn’t for research. At least then he could visualize the meaning behind the numbers.

When 5 o’clock came, the teen had to contain himself from sprinting out the doors.

As soon as they stepped inside, Ena charged. Flann chuckled as Aed blocked Ena, the youngest Carrick switching to cling to her Mother instead. His sister stuck out a small hand and waved a bright pink paper at Aed.

“We had free time so I drew!“

He was able to discern that the crude image depicted two people fishing...but the fat grey ovals in the water were too big to be fish.

“It’s Dad, Marcas, and Marcas’ family,” the girl proudly explained.

Aed rolled his eyes.

*

The three had finished their dinner and Aed helped Ena with homework before retreating to his room. All of the books from yesterday’s ‘reading class’ were still stacked on his desk. He gave them a long look before busying himself with changing. Research would need to be done in order to teach efficiently on the days when Marcas returned. Luckily Cárnach was small, so boats came back almost every weekend. The easiest way would be to ask Ena. She was still in primary school, so she’d remember her curriculum.

He peeked into her room. Fast asleep.

Returning to his room he flipped through the books for a few minutes before pacing to the window. The sea was vast. A contradiction of pitch-black water and shimmering light from another clear night...but he still could not see any boats in the distance.

It could have been him out there in the dark sleeping above the fish. His father must have seen something in Marcas to take him abroad within a day of meeting him. But then again, he had spoken up for Marcas and his Dad had always respected his opinion.

He was glad. Glad how quickly his family had accepted the teen. It was almost too easy how Marcas settled in. If he really was a selkie, wouldn’t he want to go back to the sea as quickly as possible? In the stories they always left. But then again in stories they were always beautiful ladies. This was different. Marcas would return.

His gut feeling nagged at him. Did he just miss another opportunity? First uni now-no. Stop that.

The other’s story was unusual, but not enough for him to believe in selkies. And if Marcas wasn't a selkie he would have to return.

But it didn’t make sense for him to make up his story, did it? So far only he and his sister knew the teen’s ‘secret.’

He tried to sleep, but his tumultuous thoughts carried him off as slowly as a feather drowning in the open sea.

---

Come the end of the week the selkie had the biggest smile on his face as he stepped into the home of the Carricks. Neil followed, both chuckling as Ena initiated a tackling hug for each. Aed’s eyebrows shot up as the teen stepped away from ruffling Ena’s hair to next approach him. Before the teen could react Marcas leaned forward and they bumped noses.

“Hey, Aed!”

“W...what are you doing?” The redhead sputtered backing away.

Given the looks on Neil and Flann’s faces, the other flushed red as well, immediately realizing his error.

“Er...where I come from, we do that when we haven’t seen each other in a long time.” The teen offered. Aed saw both his parents questioning looks, so he took another big step back turning to address his father.

“Have a good catch?”

“The best in a while! Marcas here is a natural,” Neil nodded at the shorter teen, “quite a good listener as well.”

“It was good to be back at sea, and I’ve never gone fishing on this scale. Neil’s quite a poet. I never knew!”

“Come, let’s not stand here. You two must be starving. Dinner is ready by now,” Flann gently nudged the group into the dining room.

“What was the biggest fish today?” Ena stretched her arms wider than the plate in front of her, “This big? Did you get any pink ones?”

“No pink ones today,” Neil ruffled her hair, “I’m surprised how many we got considering all the seals being ‘round the boat.”

Marcas laughed lightly.

“It was the selkies!” Ena gasped, “Can I go next time? Please, Mam, Dad?”

“It’s too dangerous.” Neil gently chided.

“But it has been a while since we all had a day out,” Flann mused, “when it’s spring next year we should go. It would be lovely to be on the boat then.”

“That sounds great,” Neil shot Aed an amused look, “the last time we were at sea was when you were just about to start high school.”

Aed remembered that summer well. The one where he tried to wear the same shirt every day to determine which bacteria would grow. Highly experimental, but not directional. He cringed.

“It’ll be a few months, but it’s better to plan ahead,” Flann decided. And they dug in.

*

“I assume you’ll want to resume lessons in the morning?”

“I could do a little now,” the selkie gave a yawn and rolled off their bed to join Aed at the single desk. The teen sat up and straightened the small stack of books, ready to put to practice the lesson plan he had produced.

He had gotten through twenty minutes when he felt a nudge at his arm and of course Marcas had nodded off. A little miffed the teen lightly shook his ‘student’ then prodded the younger off to bed.

“Thanks,” Marcas muttered sleepily as he snuggled under the covers. The younger stared at him, seemingly expecting something, but Aed had no idea.

“What?” he finally said.

“...Strange human,” the selkie let out a snort of laughter and rolled to face away. Aed huffed.

“Rest well, because we’re staying in and studying all day tomorrow.” He slid onto his own side of the bed and waited for sleep to come.

---

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[justanotherdumpingground]

Chapter Reviews: May 28-June 1, 2019

Wishful Thinking Chapter 8:

Emus! I'm so glad they finally appear! And the entire scene with them is simply funny and worth it. Pete's an uttee nutcase, though an entertaining one as well. The premium scene with Emi is so adorable that I want to see the emus again in future chapters.

Glad I get to show Alec who's boss. This guy should just stop treating his employees like crap. If only I could have him replaced by someone better (not Ellen, though), that would be better.

I'm glad I finally get to hang out with Anna outside of work. Most of her appearances have her and the MC doing their jobs, so a casual chat about the emu incident feels refreshing. And Charlie's office getting trashed means something fishy is going on, probably someone opposed to him like Ellen, though I could be wrong. Since the summary for Chapter 10 sounds like Anna has some secrets to share, it seems that something is up with Charlie. He's really fishy.

A Courtesan of Rome Chapter 19:

Another exciting chapter that kept me hooked like the previous one. I was worried what Cingerix might do to the MC, so I picked the premium option to talk him out of serving Caesar. I think doing so results in the MC and Victus having a positive opinion on Cingerix, who helped his sister escape as a result.

It was fun to watch MC train under her dad and Euthymios in preparation for the gladiator match, and Cingerix developing feelings for Euthymios. If only I can get my hands on Flavius for killing Locusta and poisoning the MC, my life would've been complete. At least there was Delphinia to pray for her daughter's safety, though the MC should really be more defiant towards Flavius.

Anyway, with my anger gone from me, it was satisfying to watch my MC deliver a speech gearing public opinion against Caesar. Even more so with Sabina chanting with the crows.

Man, I can't wait for the final chapters. Especially now that the MC has told the news about Cingerix's change of heart to Delphinia.

Passport to Romance Chapter 12:

I'm just sick of Elliot and William bickering that I want to shove them inside a room to sort out their own messes. On to the regatta.

As expected, the folks there are so snotty that I can just roll my eyes. I get that Sumire has to develop as an artist, and taking criticism is an important part of it (hence me telling her that it's a learning experience), but the impression Bronwyn gave did nothing to endear me to her. Same goes to Carlisle, whom I dislike more for talking like money's the only thing that matters. Either way, who cares about these two? I didn't spend diamonds to steal Carlisle's champagne, though. :P

So Elliot just got his entire friends in trouble by placing a huge bet on a losing boat? Well, thanks a lot, loser! I swear, Elliot keeps blowing his chances to make meaningful contributions to the group that it pisses me off to no end. The only times he did that were to provide the group a place to stay in Lucerne and a private plane to fly them to Monaco. However, their stay in Lucerne doesn't make sense when they could directly go to Germany from France, and Elliot just waited until they missed the second flight to reveal that his family owns the airline of the missed flights. I seriously question his usefulness. As for Marisa, she better not lose all that money from betting Carlisle.

Nightbound Chapter 7:

Why are there options to be mean to Vera for no reason while ignoring the fact that she saved MC from a zombie? I get that her power is deadly, but she used it for good, and had no intention to harm others. Let's hope others will warm up to her.

Heh, no surprise Lady Smoke is Vera's mom. I stumbled upon a theory @a-whore-of-rome came up with, though much of the information involves Vera's first premium scene, followed by the mention of Lady Smoke as a mobster. And wow! Vera and her mom are complete opposites. I think Lady Smoke kinda has a point that they shouldn't live in fear because of their powers. After all, their power to kill others with their bare hands isn't necessarily a curse, but can come in handy depending on the user and their intents. I think Lady Smoke lets this power get in her head that she largely uses it for her benefit. A pity I didn't get her monster tear, but I certainly have plans to get it.

A premium scene to talk to Priya Lacroix. Pass, at least for now. I make no secret why I hate Priya, even though spending time with a love interest sounds like something I'd do once I know who my LI will be. For the time being, none of the love interests capture my attention.

Platinum Chapters 1-2:

First impressions-wise, the story seems OK. I don't like the clichéd bits (small town girl gets picked up by a star), but there's still hope for something else. Super glad that my MC gets to wear glasses as a regular accessory, rather than as part of another outfit. After all, I also wear glasses. And not to mention that the fanbase meter and that certain actions can cause the MC to lose fans looks like a good mechanism that prevents an immediate rise to fame cliché.

Interesting that both Avery and Raleigh can be either male or female, depending on player choices. For Avery, I picked the female one because she's so pretty. The male one's eyes look dopey, but that's just personal impression. Raleigh's harder because both choices look good, though I ended up picking the female one. It's probably not final, though.

Heh, I know Ryder from AME would make a cameo appearance in this story, and it seems that he's in his element. Also, Shane is a good friend to have so far. It's a blessing.

What is it with PB and its affinity with the rival girl cliché? I get that Jaylen isn't a saint, but this cliché discourages players to view characters with proper nuance and understand their roles in the story. After all, an important part of evaluating characters is to not let biases on certain "types" hinder one's thinking.

Anyway, let's see how this story developes.

Open Heart Chapter 16:

Honestly, I really don't like the fact that the MC acts friendly towards Landry even though the way he sabotaged the MC involved disrupting patient care. Because of this, I continued picking options that don't give him credit. Not once did he feel remorse over sabotaging the MC and putting patients at risk. It's like the situation with Sebastian in The Sophomore all over again. Forced to forgive someone who not only expressed no remorse for their wrongdoing but also forgetting that what he did are illegal, dangerous, and degrading. It doesn't help that his sabotage of the boiler is enough to erase sympathy for him.

That aside, I finally get to work with Ethan on Naveen, and it seems that Ethan is more open on his respect for MC. That seems reassuring, especially since I giggled at him saying that his middle name's Jonah after the MC saying Ethan "Freaking" Ramsey.

Seeing Aurora wish the MC luck was nice and calming. I'm proud of her taking the initiative of being nice towards the person who consoled her. It doesn't erase her flaws, such as her overconfidence when she downplayed a case as "not interesting", but I'm ready to see her slowly warming up to others and learn that all patients are interesting in their own way.

Man, I can't believe the next chapter is the finale. I won't be surprised the MC will win and keep their medical license, followed by a little celebration that involves premium options to spend time with a love interest.

Bloodbound Chapter 3:

Too bad that it costs diamonds to actually have fun in Vegas in order to blow off some steam in preparation for meeting with Landgon. Well, I'm not super tempted to buy them because my LI is neither Adrian nor Lily, though I like them both.

Anyway, on to meeting Langdon. I knew this guy's shady, but to see him keeping various supernatural beings alive sickens me. Even more so when he planned to keep MC and co. as part of his collection.

So the cameo comes from Cal. Well, not surprising, and I'm just scared at what might happen to him.

And Lily saying "to defeat the Huns" is what I need to cheer me up and lighten my mood. Despite being a vampire, she always stays true to herself and helps in any way she can. I have great confidence she'll be a great assistant to Jax.

Regarding the second flashback, I feel bad at Adrian killing the Confederate soldiers, though I wonder if that scene has changes depending on his appearance. And Gaius just reminds me how ruthless and creepy he is despite having another side to him in the previous chapter. He's shaping up to be a villain I like.

[super8motel]

Gillian didn’t say it as ”thankfully I’m not intersex” she was joking she wasn’t a fish and half human because the character is half fish and half human. Human upper part of the body and lower body is a fish. Ya’ll be reaching for something she didn’t even say! It was a direct joke connected to a dumb show that isn’t funny and it’s not ignorant because intersex people are not half fucking fish! They are only 100% human!! And GA’s 2017 book is dedicated to anyone who identify as a woman.

Ok look, first of all, you don't need to come at me with this energy. Calm down. This interaction you're referring to was very inconsequential to me, I was making a brief attempt at an explanation. I was not 'reaching', I literally love Gillian Anderson. Which is why when some random Tumblr user said she is transphobic, I searched for whatever they could possibly be interpreting as such. I Googled the words 'Gillian Anderson transphobic' and was linked to this tweet:

For anyone who doesn't understand, Old Gregg is a half fish, half man creature from an Adult Swim show called The Mighty Boosh (which isn't a 'dumb show that isn't funny'....Like wow, how dare you...it's dumb as hell but it's funny). One of the most notable bits Old Gregg does is offer to show people his 'mangina' under his skirt. It's honestly a pretty stupid bit and I always found it kinda juvenile, but it's a dumb weird show that came on at like 2am, so you can't expect much.

However, your logic about what she actually meant isn't lining up. First of all, Old Gregg is not a mermaid. He doesn't have a 'human upper half' and a fish lower half. He has legs. He's basically a normal human man with fish scales and big lips. His fishiness isn't at all connected to his 'downstairs', whatever you interpret that to mean. It's a loose joke so you can see it however you want, but I really don't think Gillian was like "I look like Old Gregg in this picture, but thankfully I'm not half-fish" but chose to say that as "no mixed-up downstairs" like that makes no fucking sense! She is almost definitely saying "Thankfully I don't have a mangina" because it's one of Old Gregg's main jokes.

That being said! I'm not personally offended by this joke. It's not the funniest joke in the world, I probably wouldn't have said it like that, but it's not like Gillian hates anyone with non-standard genitals. She was just messing around. All I was doing was explaining to someone WHY people are calling her transphobic, I was not taking part in that accusation. I'm sure she doesn't give 2 fucks what's between someone's legs.

The reason I used the word 'ignorant' (which is to LACK knowledge/awareness) is simply because I don't think she considered how an intersex/trans person would perceive this joke. I don't think she realized how many times ambiguous genitalia are made the butt of a joke, and supposed to be funny inherently because they're 'weird'. In a world where intersex people are accurately represented, I don't think she would make this joke, because there wouldn't be any negative connotation to having a 'mixed-up downstairs'. But it's not like I'm saying she actively hates or disrespects non-cis people. I'm just saying it was a little off-color. If you wanna continue to believe she was merely referencing his "fish downstairs" then I cannot stop you. But I think it's a weird take for sure.

Anyways, I feel like you really misinterpreted my feelings towards this woman. Like, you can't even begin to understand the adoration I hold for Gillian Anderson. She's smart, funny, takes no shit, she played one of the most influential women in 90s television, she helped me realize I'm attracted to women, not to mention she's aged like a fine wine. She seems to have done much more good than harm. If I could choose to have dinner with any 5 people, she'd be one of them.

And honestly, I've made much worse jokes in high school than her Old Gregg tweet. I don't expect her to be morally perfect, God knows we live in a confusing world where you can't live without offending somebody. It's always been that way. People live different lives and sometimes don't see how their actions/words look from someone else's perspective. We can help each other be more sensitive without being assholes about it. I think it's kinda stupid to label her as a complete transphobe rather than someone who made a joke in poor taste, but people are obsessed with labels and categorizing people as good and bad.

You don't have to defend her to me. Neither of us actually know her, so all of this is speculation. I just try to keep updated on what my fav celebs are willing to say publicly because it gives me an idea of who they are personally. But we don't know about her life. I'm not one of the people making broad assumptions about her and trying to smear her reputation, I'm a neutral party, so IDK why you came to me with this... I hope this reply offers you some resolution.

[cocoarosalia]

All He Wants (KatsuDeku)

Katsuki was a simple man of simple needs.

All he wants is to wake up, live out his lifelong dream of being a hero, and come home to his dorky husband, cook dinner and relax. He didn’t think he was asking for the world, honestly.

So why the donkey fuck is Deku making this request so goddamn difficult.

Worst part was that it had been all day. Izuku started irritating him early by whining and complaining for him to stay in bed with him as long as possible. When he finally managed to break free and start making breakfast, Izuku insisted on making it himself, completely forgetting the fact that he was total dog shit at cooking. Three band-aids and a small kitchen fire later they’re out the door and while Katsuki is in the middle of punching a dude into the brick for taking upskirt pics, what does he get? Innocuous, goofy and cutesy selfies of Izuku parading around the city like he ain’t got shit to do! Taking pictures with fans, commenting on random all might merch, VIDEOS OF HIM PETTING DOGS WHEN HE KNOWS THAT’S KATSUKI’S FAVORITE THING TO DO, Katsuki was so irate he couldn’t see straight. After a long shit day, he trudges hisself home, battered, bruised, and completely exhausted.

And all he wanted was to walk into his house, have his husband welcome him home with a kiss and pretty much deflate on the bed until he eventually blacks out.

But Izuku is apparently feeling cuddly tonight….

Because of course he is

Which brings us all the way to now with a clingy Izuku, a pissed off but slightly too tired to really fight katsuki, and an order of take out between them.

‘Well at least he didn’t try to cook this time’ he thought, more bitter than a black coffee laced with vodka.

“Kaaacchan” Izuku cooed sweetly in his ear. He lifted up a bite of his food to katsuki’s mouth and in return he took it graciously. He was starting to think how nice the situation was until his shoulder began to ache from the strain he put on it pummeling loser villains all day.

“Deku, as disgustingly cute as you are, I’m fucking beat. I’ll play with you tomorrow, i’m going to bed”

He could feel Izuku jolt slightly in his lap “Uhhh you can’t yet!”

Katsuki quirked an eyebrow at him suspiciously “And why not?”

It was funny, if Izuku had rabbit’s ears he could clearly see them hanging low on his head “Well I mean, this is a once in blue moon occasion you know? The both of us somehow being here together, it’s nice.”

As if he had finally heard what he had said, Izuku’s ears started to flush red “A-also becaaaaauuse I wanna watch that new spy movie with you and it comes on in a few minutes!”

At first he wanted to push more on his statement from before but without missing a beat Katsuki plucked the remote off the coffee table, turned to the TV guide and hit record on the upcoming program. Izuku cursed, damn this new technology!

“Now that that’s taken care of,” Izuku was suddenly and unceremoniously dumped on the seat next to him with a chaste kiss to ease his worries “Goodnight Deku”

He made his way for the stairs but Izuku was insistent on spending time together. Or, at the very least, keep him from going upstairs.

“You can’t go into the bedroom!” He protested. Izuku was clingy sometimes, downright insufferable on occasion but this was way too pushy for a bit of attention. Something fishy was going on in his house but he couldn’t truly be too bothered to care.

“Whatever it is you broke, burned, or trashed I will be sure to yell at you in the morning”

Katsuki shoved his way past Izuku and had just made it to his weirdly closed bedroom door when he was tackled to the floor by his husband’s rock solid body.

“Kacchan!” He said a little too loudly to be natural “Let’s take a bath together!”

That completely threw him for a loop “You want to what?”

“W-well I mean you just got home from a long day of sweating out in the sun and you hadn’t taken a bath yet so I figured why wait for the invitation!”

“Ok deku this is ridiculous, what are you-”

Katsuki really hated Izuku’s quirk sometimes, especially when it allowed him to toss Katsuki over his shoulder like a limp bag of rice (even though he was pretty sure the nerd didn’t need it given how stacked he was)

So now he’s somehow managed to find himself sitting on the bathroom stool staring confusedly at the tile in front of him while Izuku diligently washed the day’s work from his body.

He just wants to sleep. WHY was that so goddamn hard!?

As he moved around to Katsuki’s front to wash his chest and his arms, Izuku’s fingers slowed to grip softly to his palms. He ran his thumbs over the burn scars that littered his skin and muttered softly to himself “It’s, not too long ago I feared these hands more than death itself.”

Katsuki’s breath hitched unconsciously. He knew of his...past transgressions but he’d hoped that they had moved beyond that to a place of trust.

Without thinking he had to ask.

“What do you think of them now?”

Izuku blinked up at him in unexpected confusion then cast his eyes down in thought. Katsuki didn’t know if he was making him sweat on purpose or not but the long stretch of silence felt like it couldn’t be anything but deliberate.

Eventually a small smile cracked along Izuku’s face as he brought his husband’s hand to his cheek. He nuzzled into it softly and spoke with joy and resolve.

“I love them more than anything in the world!”

Katsuki released a breath he didn’t even know he was holding.

“The most jacked hero in the world is a fuckin sap. The tabloids would have a field day”

Izuku laughs wholeheartedly and Katsuki quietly smiles to himself. Fuckin’ Nerd.

And that should be it right? They wash off the grime of the day, they soak and play in the tub for a while, dry each other’s hair like when they were little, a textbook example of a lovey-dovey way to end the day.

“Kaaaachaaaan, don’t go to beeeeed!!!”

But clearly Izuku wants him to be an insomniac

Katsuki lugged his feet forward as Izuku clung desperately to his ankle. He was just about to turn the knob when Izuku wailed even louder.

“Jesus Christ,” Katsuki turned to his sobbing mate and groaned in exhaustion “Deku, I’m tired, i’ve been out all day and all I ask is to lay in my bed until consciousness finally escapes me”

He bent down to take Izuku’s soft face into his hands “I have indulged you, entertained you and have given up precious sweet moments of sleep just to make you happy. So for once I am actually begging you...let me go to bed”

Katsuki left him a stuttering mess and it wasn’t until he heard the door finally begin to creak open that Izuku made one final lunge to stop him in his tracks.

But it was too late. Katsuki could finally drown himself in the sweet embrace of sleep with the help of his bed! Which is littered with sakura petals….and lit with scented candles….and has soft jazz music playing in the background….

D-did he fall asleep already, what’s happening here?

He felt a soft thud on his back as Izuku’s voice came out muffled through his shirt.

“You ruined the surprise” he said with a pouty huff

A grim thought blanketed his mind. “Deku” he said, straining to keep his building anxiety in check “What’s today?”

Izuku wrapped his arms around Katski’s waist “It’s not our wedding anniversary, don’t worry”

He puffed out a small laugh when he felt all of Katsuki’s muscles relax at once

“Although it’s not…..NOT one of our anniversaries.”

“Deku...” He was losing his patience; what little there was anyway.

“Today’s still a kind of anniversary, just not the one you’re thinking of”

Izuku fished his phone out his pocket and brought it around to Katsuki’s chest. With tired filled, bleary eyes he looked down to see a screenshot of text messages between them staring back.

Deku @ 11:30PM: Uh, Thanks again for the All Might Plush Kacchan. I never knew you were such a sharp shooter!

Kacchan @ 11:32: You better believe it nerd! All those shooting range lessons with my mom had to paid off somehow

Deku @ 11:33: Yea but to get each one on your first shot! no misses or anything! You’re really amazing!

Katsuki @ 11:34: Of course! My name isn’t fuckin Bakugou for nothin!

Deku @ 11:36: And it’s not just for the plush either...you’re amazing for other reasons too

Katsuki @ 11:37: What do you mean?

Deku @ 11:40: Kacchan you didn’t have to take me out tonight...I know how much your image means to you….and I know i’m not the toughest guy you know so just the fact that you were willing to even be seen with me is amazing you know?

Katsuki @ 11:41: No I don’t and that’s the stupidest fucking thing your pathetic ass has ever said

Deku @ 11:41: …i know I should be used to that by now but it doesn’t get any easier

Katsuki @ 11:43: Look Deku, UNLIKE you I couldn’t give less of a shit what others think of me. I’m a motherfucking badass and that means I can date whoever the hell I want. And if that means I’m dating a weakling like you then so be it, GOT IT?

Deku @ 11:44: G-GOT IT!

Katsuki @ 11:44: Good, and one more thing.

Katsuki @ 11:45: you are as soft as a melted marshmallow, you cry at the sad scene of every movie, and you let little kids climb you like a fucking monkey gym. Put simply you’re a total fucking pushover.

Katsuki @ 11:46: But I guess those things can also be like, amazing too or whatever. And it’s why I, like, love you and shit so at least be grateful for that nerd.

Deku @ 11:46:.......

Katsuki @ 11:46: Nerd?

Deku @ 11:50: you said you love me

Katsuki @ 11:55: yea what about it?

Deku @ 12:00: you SAID that you LOVE ME! LIKE ACTUALLY SAID IT! Well except that it was over text and not by voice so I don’t if this counts or if you genuinely meant it--

“I had to actually get outta bed and go to your house to verbally say it to your face 10 times in a row before you actually shut the hell up about it.”

“I didn’t sleep a wink that whole night”

Deku squeezed him a little tighter and shuffled his feet in thought “We’ve become international heroes, received countless medals and awards, have our own joint merchandise line and i’m pretty sure our fanclub is so big that it can be labeled as a religion now.” Katsuki snorted at the thought “But there is no award on this earth that can compare to hearing you say that you love weak, pushover, crybaby me”

Katsuki felt the hands that folded across his stomach, ran the tips of his fingers over the scars and ridges that littered the same palms that fed him dinner and washed his back. All he had ever wanted in life was to be recognized, to have it be known to the whole world that he was amazing and should be seen as such. But then here was Deku, the man who could rip the city to ruin but chose instead to spend his days saving cats out of trees, singing his praises since they were four. He thought he wanted the world’s attention. Turns out he really just wanted Izuku’s.

Katsuki was starting to get the itching suspicion that maybe HE was starting to turn into the pushover

“Wait a minute” Katsuki said after a moment “So you mean to tell me that after you knew that I had a shit day at work you dragged me to all corners of this house, purposefully keeping me from our bedroom and sleep, deliberately pissing me off more and more to then surprise me…..WITH OUR BEDROOM?”

“But I had to!” Izuku whined “You were just gonna ruin the surprise and go to bed anyway! Plus your present wasn’t finished drying yet so I had to stall for time!”

“Present?”

Suddenly Izuku became very acquainted with a knick in the wall from when they finally got their first bed that wasn’t a pair of oversized futons.

A wickedly evil grin cracked along Katsuki’s usual prickly cowl. He stalked himself just behind Izuku’s back and put his lips just behind his ear, his favorite weak spot to torture.

“How exactly did my present get so dirty Izuku?” As tired as he was nothing could top the visible shiver that ran down his husband’s spine.

“I may or may not have uhhh tried it on before you got home. I liked the way it looked and um...couldn’t help myself.”

Katsuki was a simple man of simple needs; and tonight, all he wants is to watch his favorite present squirm.

[themelancholyhill]

"Maybe there aren't any such things as good friends or bad friends -- maybe there are just friends, people who stand by you when you're hurt and who help you feel not so lonely. Maybe they're always worth being scared for, and hoping for, and living for. Maybe worth dying for too, if that's what has to be. No good friends. No bad friends. Only people you want, need to be with; people who build their houses in your heart." - Stephen King

Not reading the news is not selfish at all! There is a lot of triggering news as of late and to be a savvy news consumer, it is important to know when it is starting to affect you in a negative way. I can tell you that you're not missing out on much lol. It's the same and it's actually getting worse.

I really, really detest any sort of ghosting or distancing. I much rather be told when someone doesn't want me around. I think of ghosting/distancing without an explanation is the worst thing a friend can do to another friend. We can all say things in the heat of the moment, hurtful things, things you don't really mean, but ghosting/distancing takes intent. You purposely decide to end a friendship by ghosting, especially when it's one like yours, where you know the person irl. I am so sorry this is happening to you. It isn't fair and I hope time works its magic soon for you to put this all behind.

YES!!!!! I totally agree with you on the trope thing!!!! Why can't friends just stay friends? Especially when it's a friendship between people of the opposite sex?? I think it's demeaning to turn a friendship into something it isn't meant to be. Half of the world's population identifies as male, you're telling me that every interaction I have with a man will turn into something sexual/romantic? That doesn't make sense! Actually, this is one of the reasons for our most recent argument with me and my friend. But it's a long story...i'll tell you another time if you want to know. But yes, friendships carry their own weight as a type of relationship, it isn't lesser than a romantic relationship, it's a different type of fondness and affection. I get very frustrated when people make friendships out to be something less or not as important as a romantic relationship. Friends stay with you (the right ones do anyway), when all of your exes are gone with the wind, you're left with life-long friends who will show you the kind of love and meaning deep connections can bring. ✖️

S King was able to describe friendship as this neutral and accessible concept that is open to anyone, which makes me rather hopeful! Thank you so much for sending the quote.

The thing with ghosting is that it's useful at times and with specific people. I've met people, both online and irl, whom I don't talk to anymore because life I guess. But it's OK cause I didn't have a meaningful connection with them in the first place. I might see them again at some point, but I'd still talk to them and they'd respond and that's it (it's not the case with online people but this is besides the point). The issue is when this happens with someone who've been talking to for a really long time and you've built this connection that feels like your friendship will persist, but then when it just stops, this is where I draw the line. I distance myself from people who seem fishy from the get go, but I don't do it with the ones that I feel are very special. Anyway, I hope it'll all clear out, either by him showing up (at least before his birthday) or me just moving on.

Not to sound nosy, but if you want to talk about your experience with your friend, be my guest.

As for the portrayal of friendship on TV, there's still some work to do. I'm not up-to-date with new movies/shows and I'm sure that this trope is slowly dying out. I might lookup some video essays on the topic and see how it is truly portrayed nowadays.