#but for the lit stuff I want to take quotes from a range of stuff

[youreyeslookliketheocean]

I have such a cool idea for my grad cap and if I can pull it off I’m gonna be so excited

[moralesmilesanhourlibrary]

pass a good time (pt. 1, 2, + 3)

summary: a new girl moves in from louisiana and has her eyes on a special someone. originally posted: oct. 19, 26, 2019 and june 16, 2023 (yikes) a/n: I may re-write this one day but that day is not today <3 as much fun as this was to write at the time i'm not super proud of it but whatever

pt. 1:

Adélaïde moved to Brooklyn from New Orleans about a week ago, and started school at Visions Academy. To be quite honest, she was only impressed with the building for about a day. The polished walls, colorful quotes, and escalators were cute, but it was all for show, anyways. Most of her friends weren’t there to “give the place some seasoning”, as they used to say. Maya was the only friend Addie had at Visions.

The eight classes she had every day were a blur, except one: physics. Addie’s mom was a physicist, and taught her everything she knew. Addie wanted to decipher how the world moved; how time flowed, and how people got pulled around. That’s the best she could describe it. There was one other thing that made physics special, though: the boy that sat in the third row, three seats from the left.

For the life of her, Addie couldn’t catch his name. Teacher spoke it too fast. The boy’s hand confidently shot up every class, loaded up with a smile and a right answer. She wanted to talk with him for hours about the multiverse and relativity so he could flash that little smile at her, just once. But alas, Addie only had that one class with him, and his locker was nowhere near here, that was for sure.

“Girl, go talk to him!”

“How? I don’t even know where he be at!”

Addie was doing her usual monologue on how fine “the boy in my physics class” was, and Maya had had enough. “I have like, most of my classes with him. Name’s Morales, or something like that.” The brown-skinned girl shook her head. “He always be sleepin’ in class, but somehow he got all As. I feel like he cheats.” Addie gasped.

“But that boy seems so nice! Can you talk to him for me, please?” The girl pouted at her friend. “Nope,” Maya stood firm. “You can talk to him yourself”. She glanced behind her, and sure enough, there was Morales. Addie tensed as Maya’s eyes sparkled mischievously.

“Aye Morales!”

Addie’s eyes widened as the Morales in question approached the table. He practically slid into a seat at the table. Right next to Addie.

Her heart was suddenly in her throat as Maya introduced him.

“My friend thinks you cute”-

“She’s lying,” Addie interrupted. “I’m Adelaide.” Taking a deep breath, she mustered a grin, trying her best to look the boy in his face. “Um, I-I saw how much you knew about, you know, physics and stuff. I’m just tryna talk.” Real smooth. Addie winced internally at her awkwardness.

To her surprise and delight, the boy’s face lit up. “It’s all good, I’m Miles. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Finally. So he’d been waiting…? A little more comfortable now, Addie continued, “I’m kinda new here. From New Orleans, actually.” Miles noted the way she pronounced ‘New Orleans’ like 'Nawlins’ and grinned.

Chuckling, he asked, “So, how you like Brooklyn?” Addie’s cheeks heated up, and she thanked the Lord her gingerbread skin kept Miles from noticing. “It’s real fast out here. Beautiful buildings, but it’s a lil’ noisy, y'know?” Miles nodded thoughtfully. “Alotta people from the South say the city’s too fast. It’s interesting. Maybe time moves different down there. Time is relative.” He winked after making the physics joke, making Addie feel like she wouldn’t be able to get up from her seat after the lunch period ended.

Like clockwork, the bell rang, and students began packing their things to go. Maya grinned at her friend knowingly, having watched the conversation unfold. As Addie zipped up her bag, Miles stopped behind her.

“Hey,” he began, “It was nice talking to you. I never hear you speak in physics.” At a loss for words, Addie could only nod her head. Miles inched a little closer. “I like your accent,” he almost-whispered. Cheekily mimicking the girl’s cadence, Miles called out, “see ya 'round, N'awlins!” as he left.

pt. 2:

Addie had been staring at her phone for five minutes now at the notification.

'Adelaide has an updated grade of a B (89%) in Spanish I'.

Addie sucked in a breath. A 'B'? That was the best she could do? The girl had an A or higher in every other class and that 'B' was really fucking up her vibe. Addie had to do something. There was a quiz in exactly 3 days; that was her chance. She found Maya the next day at breakfast.

"Maya, how you feel about Spanish?"

Flippantly, Addie's friend replied, "I got a C in that class. Not too fond of Spanish." Addie groaned and slumped in her seat. Failed quizzes were no joke. She could barely stomach a B, let alone a C. "I can't fail this class, Maya. Help ya girl out?"

Sighing, Maya thought for a second. A smirk appeared on the girl's face.

"Miles speaks Spani--"

"Now you stop right there!" Addie sharply interrupted. Exasperated, Maya retorted, "What is it with you and avoiding this boy? You want good grades, don't you? That 4.0 GPA?" Addie knew she was right. Why'd she have to be right...?

Still, Addie refused. Instead, the girl opted for flashcards on Quizlet, and they helped. A little. The night before the quiz, it'd slipped Addie's mind to look at Quizlet a second time, though. Big mistake.

Addie sat stiffly at her desk, brows furrowed at the piece of paper in front of her. '¿Que día es ante miércoles?' Addie had all but forgotten the days of the week.

At some point, the teacher announced, "Treinta segundos!" Thirty seconds. Shit. Addie started randomly filling in the answer sheet and hoped for the best. Sooner or later, time was up. She sighed in resignation.

The next day, Addie almost fainted at her updated Spanish grade. Yup, she had a C. For fear of getting an 'I told you so' speech from Maya, Addie said nothing.

"I dunno, I think Mr. Edwards would be more of a scammer," Addie was explaining. "What about Coach Morris?"

"Yeah, he definitely killed somebody." The two girls burst into a fit of laughter at the lunch table. A voice called out from behind, "What's all this about killing people?" Maya and Adelaide looked up to see Miles, having just walked in and approaching a seat next to Maya.

"We was talking about which teachers got a criminal record," Maya answered. "Whatchu think?" Miles thought about it. "I think Ms. Morreira kinda"-- Miles makes a hand motion as if smoking a cigarette--"if you know what I mean?" Maya snickered, but Addie straight up cackled, earning her a few weird glances from passersby, at which she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. Real awkward. Thankfully, no one really noticed, and kept the jokes going.

Maya chimed in again, "I really do think she be coming to class high sometimes, though!" Imitating the woman's drawl, Maya and Miles said in unison, "Vien-te se-gun-dos!"

While the other two had their fun, Addie stayed relatively quiet, gaze drifting toward Miles and his boisterous laugh. What if she told a bad joke? Actually speaking was too much of a risk, in her mind.

"Oh yeah, speaking of Spanish," Maya starts, "Did you do good on that quiz?" Miles boasts, "I got a 100. Nothin' new." Addie saw her chance. "Could you help me study? My grades look ugly right now and I was told you speak a lil Spanish." The boy grinned and nodded, to Addie's relief.

Miles reached into his pocket for a pen and scratched out something on a napkin, handing it to Addie. She had to keep her eyes from becoming saucers as she realized the digits hastily written on the napkin were a phone number. His phone number! "Thanks," Addie squeaked, as the bell rang. She'd never entered a new contact into her phone so fast.

pt. 3:

Addy’s thumb hovered over Miles’ contact as she sat in front of her chromebook, bleary-eyed. She’d gotten Miles’ number (or rather, Maya had gotten it for her) after Addy had gotten a ‘C’ on her last Spanish quiz and nearly fainted.

 The empty PowerPoint presentation woefully would not complete itself. The assignment should’ve been simple: discuss three dishes from your Spanish-speaking country of choice. She had chosen Puerto Rico, easy, right?

‘Easy’, until it was 11:55 pm, 24 hours before the shit was due. Desperate times, desperate measures.

Adelaide, 11:56pm: hey, sorry to bother you so late! I’m struggling bad w this Spanish assignment and I was wondering if you could help?

Miles, 12am: hey addy 

I gotchu right now gimme a second

Addy nearly jumped as a FaceTime call from Miles lit up her screen not moments later, ripping off her bonnet with a speed that could cause whiplash. She sat up in her bed as straight as she could, fumbling for her glasses as she accepted the call.

[no-where-new-hero]

⭐ I"M READY

Thank you for asking @batrachised!!!

This was actually kind of hard because my lovely readers have been very good at noticing all the shiny parts I particularly want them to notice (in terms of lines and stuff), so there isn’t exactly any area that makes me want to point and yell “Look! See how clever I was there!” It’s also a bit hard because so much of what I do is just canon rewrite, so the kicks I get out of my stories are just me wallowing about happily in the color of my prose (to quote a professor’s critique of my work) rather than any great plot movements or choices that need explaining.

That being said, there’s one part of The One Who Takes I want to mention:

But there were nights when neither a new game nor an old book could hold him, and he would go out alone, coming back with the scent of other people’s fear and other people’s blood under his cologne. And there were nights when he merely lay on the sofa and drank glass after glass of that throaty, bubbly drink from the airplane, which made his eyes go dark and slack as though he were falling down from the brightly lit apartment to somewhere deep and empty inside himself. As she poured out cascades of golden liquid on his command, she wondered if everyone else in this city carried caverns in their chests that they never showed to anyone. She knew she didn’t, not anymore. When she finally decided to run away from home, the first thing she did was implode the most important ones, to bring down the roofs and fill the cavities with rubble, and she no longer cared to look at what lay buried in the wreckage.

When I wrote this, I immediately sent excited screenshots of it to @blackcatwalking (my treasured first reader) because I knew I found the soul of the story. It was a moment of framing both of the characters at a distance, half Yu-ri’s POV and half-omniscience. We learn something about Rang (he has bad coping mechanisms) and it suggests a very characteristic attitude for the girlies to imagine. We learn something about Yu-ri (she has a superior attitude scorn and thinks she was smart enough to avoid this human way of being hurt) that will inevitably change. And the image of the internal caverns was an unintended homage to Virginia Woolf and her advice for building well-rounded characters. Though accidental, it worked both within the world and in a metanarrative way: Yu-ri was killing her old self by collapsing the cavern of her past. But I was also killing the cavern of Yu-ri as written in canon by making her my own. Every fanfic writer’s first act of creation is destruction.

I know there are objectively better and more interesting moments in the story, but this passage was when I had the aha moment that I was doing the thing, the thing was happening, the Frankenstein monster was beginning to breathe. I get that infrequently enough, but when it does come, it reminds me that yeah actually this writing thing is pretty cool after all.

Fanfic Writers: Director's Cut Ask

[johnsamericano]

“Darling.” l.t.y

Pairing: mafia!Taeyong x journalist!reader

Genre: fluff (Taeyong’s a really soft boi), angst, (not kinky) smut

Warnings: Graphic descriptions of violence, minor character death, sex, I think that’s it.

Summary: Your boss asks you to write an insight on the mafia gang that’s been causing so many deaths recently. But you don’t expect the leader to be so...different.

Word count: idk but it’s ✨long✨

A/n: I hope you like it 😌

“Yes, boss?” You peeked through the door of your boss’s office.

“Sit down, please.” He removed his glasses, gently massaging his nose bridge afterwards. “How long have you been working with us, y/n?”

“Five months, sir.”

“Do you like working here?” It suddenly sounded like he was about to fire you.

“Yes, very much.” You squeezed your hands nervously. “Have I done something wrong, sir?”

“Not at all, your work is pretty good for a rookie.” His gaze on you was intense. “That’s why I have a special job for you.” Your eyes lit up. You weren’t getting fired and that was a relief.

“I’m sure you’re aware about the recent murders around this area.” You nodded. “After exhaustive research, we’ve found the culprit.” That was good news, yet he seemed so serious.

“Have you told the police?”

“Oh I’m sure they know.” He smirked sarcastically, his mustache making contact with his wide nose. “But they won’t do anything, we’re dealing with a mafia gang after all.”

“Wait, what?” You lived in a small town were everyone knew each other. It was shocking enough to find out that a killer was in town, but mafia? That wasn’t possible. “Are you sure about this?”

“Of course I am.” He said as cocky as ever. “I’ve worked in this industry for more than thirty years, I have my ways of getting information.”

“So what are you gonna do about it?”

“I’m not gonna do shit. You are.” You furrowed your eyebrows. “I want you to find a way into the gang, get me as much information as you can and return.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“You don’t have a say in this, y/n. Either you get information or you can pack your things, it won’t be hard to find a replacement for you.” He knew you wouldn’t risk losing your job, being a journalist meant everything to you.

“Is there a deadline?”

“We’ll discuss about that as soon as you find a way in. I’ll make sure all your personal information is well protected.” He smiled, satisfied with your answer. “You may leave now, miss y/n.” You bowed before exiting the office, kicking the plant pot by the door on your way out. One of your superiors approached you as you sat down at your small cubicle.

“What did he want?” He sat down on your desk as usual. The first few times you were afraid it’d break, but it turned out to be pretty resistant.

“He wants me to go on a suicidal mission.” You hid your face behind the palms of your hands. “And I had to say yes to keep my job.”

“The whole office turned him down, I guess he knew you wouldn’t.” He rubbed your back affectionately. “I’m sorry, I should’ve done it myself.”

“Don’t worry Jaemin, let’s just hope I don’t get myself killed.”

(...)

Three weeks. Three weeks you’d been visiting the same coffee shop in an attempt to meet the leader. But he never came, maybe your boss had the wrong information. Nevertheless, you didn’t give up. Sitting at the same spot from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., waiting for something to happen. There was usually no one there since the recent murders had happened nearby.

One day you stayed for a couple more hours, completely immersed in your work. That’s when you saw him. A man surrounded by at least ten men in suits. He was wearing sunglasses even though the sun had hidden a long time ago. His hair was silver, carefully slicked back, revealing his multiple ear piercings. You wrote exactly what he looked like as you peeked through the window, too afraid to take a picture of him. He soon dissapeared through an alley with his bodyguards following closely. You closed your laptop and packed it into your yellow backpack, calling a cab to take you back to your office. Your boss was still there, checking some of the notes your coworkers had written.

“I found him!” You bursted into his office, your journal wide open in front of his face.

“Did you get in?” He remained unfazed.

“No, but-”

“Then you shouldn’t be celebrating.” You internally screamed before going back home. You stayed up all night trying to come up with a plan to approach him without getting beaten up by his bodyguards. But nothing seemed like a good excuse to talk to the leader. You ended up going back to the coffee shop with no ideas and three hours of sleep.

After three cups of espresso, you were finally awake and ready to go back to working on one of your notes. The lady who ran the shop was always nice to you, bringing you some free cupcakes from time to time.

“I’m just grateful to have a client, that’s all.” You almost felt bad for her. The leader was nowhere to be seen, and you honestly wanted to go home as soon as possible. So you packed your stuff and waved goodbye the old lady as usual. You received a call from Jaemin on your way to the bus stop.

“Any good news?”

“Well, I saw him yesterday. But apart from that, nothing.” You bumped into someone. “Sorry.” You looked up, only to find yourself in front of the man you’d wanted to meet for the past few weeks.

He was smirking the slightest, looking down at you while his bodyguards slightly pushed you away from him, using their arms to keep you at a safe distance.

“It’s okay, boys.”

“I’ll call you later Jaemin.” You hung up, your hands shaking.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing at such a dangerous place?” He pushed his bodyguards to the side.

“I-I like the coffee shop back there.” You tried to sound as confident as possible.

“I see.” He smiled before removing his dark sunglasses, revealing a pair of cute doe eyes. Definitely not what you were expecting. “What’s your name, darling?”

‘Should I give him a fake name? No, he’d probably find out. But what if he does a background check on me and finds out I’m a journalist?’ You stared at him with wide eyes while you sorted out your options.

“I’m y/n.” You extended your hand, earning a collective gasp from the men surrounding you. “What’s your name?”

“There’s no need for you to know it.” He shook your hand with a wide smile. “Do you need a ride home?”

It’d be a terrific opportunity to get some information, but then again, he was a stranger. An extremely dangerous stranger. What if he kidnapped you and sold your organs in the black market? Your mom didn’t raise an idiot.

“I appreciate the offer, sir. But I rather take the bus. Good night.”

‘What an interesting little thing.’ Taeyong thought as you walked away.

He spent the next few days trying to gather information about you, but he couldn’t find anything, not even your age or last name. It was frustrating.

You, on the other side, decided not to tell anything to your boss until you had some solid information. That meant going back to the coffee shop.

The lady greeted you cheerfully as always. Your legs found their way to your usual spot by the window.

The day went by slowly, nothing new happened except for the fact that the lady gave you cookies instead of a cupcake this time.

The little bell on the door rang, announcing a new client. Out of pure curiosity, you lifted your gaze from the laptop. A gasp escaped your mouth as you saw the gang leader greet the lady and approach you with a wide smile.

He was wearing his usual sunglasses, but instead of his formal clothing, he was wearing a grey sweatshirt with jeans. He almost looked normal.

“Good evening, darling.”

“Hi.” Was the only answer that came out from your mouth. He never entered the shop, was it because of you?

“Can I take a seat?” You nodded.

He removed his glasses as soon as he was sitting comfortably on the wooden chair. It was amazing how fast he could go from looking like an intimidating man to a fluff ball. ‘Maybe he wears the glasses to look less cute. Yeah, I should probably write that down on my journal later.’ Conversations with yourself were now a habit since you didn’t have any coworker to talk with.

“So, y/n. How old are you?” The atmosphere seemed somehow more intimate now that he’d said your name.

“There’s no need for you to know it.” You replied, quoting his words from last night.

“Witty, I like it.” He laced his fingers, supporting his chin on them as he spoke. “No one has ever talked to me like that.”

He didn’t seem upset, which encouraged you to keep talking.

“I’ll make you an offer.” You closed your laptop, putting any distractions aside. “I’ll answer your questions as long as you answer mine. Deal?”

Taeyong was once again impressed with your boldness.

“Alright, deal.” He softly smiled, waiting for you to talk first.

“What’s your name?”

“Taeyong.” You nodded, repeating it inside your head so you wouldn’t forget it. “How old are you?”

“I’m 23. And you?”

“25. Where were you born?”

You answered to each other’s questions, careful not to give away to much information.

“What’s your job?”

“Let’s say I’m a businessman.” Well that was specific. “What about you?”

“Let’s say I’m a writer.” The screen of your phone lit up as you received a message from Jaemin.

‘How’s your mission going?’ You quickly grabbed the device, afraid that Taeyong would ask you about it. But he was busy looking at your face, appreciating every little detail. From the mole under your right eye to the tiniest pores in your skin.

You quickly typed ‘ttyl’ and turned off the phone, preventing any future messages from your coworker.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?” Your breath hitched.

“We met yesterday.”

“But I like you.”

“Uhm, it’s getting late, I better get going.” You smiled awkwardly before exiting the small building.

(...)

“Are you stupid?” Your boss spat out with a seemingly calm voice. “This could’ve been our chance.”

“I’m sorry, sir. But my safety comes first.”

“If he wanted to harm you he would’ve done it from the moment he met you.” He had a point. “You better find him again or you can bid goodbye your precious job.”

After your little “meeting” with your boss, you threw up at the nearest bathroom, pushing aside everyone who got on your way.

It happened every time you were under stress, and frankly, you hated it. You just wanted to quit your job, but it’d be hard for a rookie journalist like you to get a nice job.

“Maybe you should take a self defense course or something.” Jaemin mentioned while trying to cheer you up, sitting outside of the convenience store near your office.

“Maybe I should buy a weapon. A taser for example.” You sipped on your strawberry milk, the sweet flavor filling your mouth. Your head found it’s way to Jaemin’s shoulder, using it as a pillow.

A loud ‘bing’ interrupted your peaceful moment. You prayed it wasn’t your boss again.

‘I didn’t know you had a boyfriend, darling.’ Your first instinct was to look around, searching for Taeyong. But he was nowhere to be found.

‘Where are you?’

‘I’m right in front of you, darling.’ Indeed, he was looking at you from the back seat of his armored car, smiling cockily while pushing his sunglasses further down his nose bridge. ‘Why don’t you come join me?’

“You look like you’ve just seen your grandmother’s ghost.” Jaemin muttered while looking at you.

“He’s here, Jaems. I need to go.” He nodded comprehensively before you got up from the rusty metal bench you were sitting on. You walked towards his van with both of your hands inside your pockets, regretting not having worn a pair of gloves in the morning.

“Hop in.”

“How did you get my number?” You asked, facing him from the other side of the door.

“Get in and I’ll answer all of your questions. Deal?” That cocky smile of his was starting to annoy the shit out of you.

“Fine.” You walked around the vehicle to reach for the opposite door, smoothly sliding into it. The scent of his cologne filled the wide space. “How did you get my number?”

“Take us to the coffee shop on the 5th Avenue.” You moved uncomfortably on the cold leather seat. “Do you want me to turn the heater on?”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

“I have my ways of getting information, darling. But I must admit, it was hard for me to find anything about you.” He spoke as he pressed a button to turn your seat’s heater on. “Better?”

“Thank you.” You were worried he might have discovered about your job, but judging by the fact that he was smiling so sincerely to you, he probably hadn’t. “Why are we going to the coffee shop?”

“I just want to spend some time with you, that’s all.”

“But I didn’t agree to it.” The smile on his lips dropped, discouraged by the possibility of you not wanting to be with him.

“Sorry, we can stop the car if you’re uncomfortable.”

“I’ll go. But just so you know, I always carry pepper spray with me.” He laughed. It was such a unique and contagious laugh that you couldn’t help but to smile. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, it’s just that no one had ever talked to me like that.” You nodded while tucking your hands under your legs, attempting to defrost your fingers. “Give me your hands.” You reluctantly extended them. He removed his own gloves to put them on you.

“But your hands are gonna be cold.”

“Don’t worry, we’re almost there.”

You would’ve never expected for a gang leader to be so...kind. He helped you down the car, pulling one of your hands into his pocket.

“Is this okay?” How could you say no to such an adorable face? You nodded, feeling his long fingers tracing patterns over the wool glove. “Is it weird that I’ve fallen for you in such a short amount of time?” He’d never had such feelings before, it felt like the butterflies in his stomach would come flying out of his mouth at any moment.

“Yes, it is a bit odd.” You let him hold your hand, somehow comforted by his warmth. “But everything about you seems to be odd, so it’s okay I guess.”

“So I guess you wouldn’t mind if I asked you on a date again?” You suddenly recalled the conversation with your boss. You had to accept this time.

“I suppose we can have a date.”

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t feel attracted to Taeyong. Maybe it was his laugh, or the way his doe eyes would sparkle every time he’d look at you. But your work came first, and you were close to getting useful information from him.

“So, where are you from?” He asked, his chin resting on his palm. You’d noticed it was a habit of his to adopt said position when questioning you.

“That’s a secret.” A secret you had to protect with your life if you didn’t want him to know your identity.

“Fair enough.”

(...)

It had been a month since you started “officially” dating Taeyong. He seemed like a normal guy, which often made you question if your boss hadn’t mistaken his identity. But it was on your month anniversary that you discovered your boss was damn right.

“Welcome to my house.” ‘Welcome to my house? More like welcome to my palace.’

“This looks like the palace of Versailles.” You whispered, mesmerized with the ethereal paintings on the ceilings. “Your house looks familiar.” You hummed.

“You like it?” He hugged your waist with one arm, taking your chin between his fingers and forcing you to look at him.

“I mean, sure. It’s amazing.” He chuckled, leaning in to kiss your lips before you abruptly escaped his embrace. Taeyong couldn’t help but to sigh, he wanted to taste your pretty lips so bad, but you’d always find an excuse to avoid him. You walked down the hallway, admiring the paintings hung up on his wall, until you saw a picture of him. An elegant, blonde woman standing at one of his sides, while at the opposite side, a well known man stood.

“Mr. Lee?” You asked to yourself. You’d once written a note on him and his empire, he was one of your boss’s acquaintances.

“Oh, you know my dad?” You felt like fainting due to the excitement, you finally had valuable information.

“The whole city knows your dad.”

“I guess so.” He shrugged before pulling your arm. “Let’s continue with my house tour.” The mansion had at least twenty bedrooms, all of them the size of you apartment to say the least. But the most impressive room, by far, was Taeyong’s room.

“It used to be my parents’ room, but since they moved out I’ve taken it for myself.” He laid down on the bed, tapping his extended arm for you to lay on. “Don’t be shy.” You reluctantly let your body sink into the softness of the matress, Taeyong’s arms cuddling you while he whispers ‘I love you’, hoping you’ll say it back. But you don’t.

“It’s okay, darling. I’m a patient man.” He’d always say.

“Boss, we’ve got an-” A tall man entered the room, cutting himself of as he saw your figures.

“What did I say about knocking the door, John?” His harsh voice tone caused your eyebrows to furrow.

“I’m sorry, boss. But this is urgent.” You tried to remember every single word they said, hoping you’d be able to write them in your journal later.

“Fine.” He scoffed, turning his head to you and pecking your nose. “I’ll be back soon, baby. Don’t leave the room, just call the butler through that phone if you need anything.” The man in front of you seemed extremely confused with the situation, not being used to see his boss in a soft mood. “Let’s go.”

As soon as the door was closed, Taeyong spoke.

“She’s my girlfriend, I don’t want any of you around her. Am I clear?”

“Yes, boss. But if you allow me, how can we assure she isn’t trying to get information?” Taeyong grabbed him by the collar, his true personality making an appearance.

“If you ever bath mouth my girlfriend again I’ll cut your tongue.” Johnny knew he was damn capable of doing it, so he decided to keep his thoughts to himself. “What’s the emergency you were talking about?” The grip on his shirt loosened, resuming their walk to the stairs.

“We found one of Nakamoto’s rats snooping around. He’s in the basement.” Taeyong nodded. “What should we do with him?”

“Maybe we should send his boss a little gift.” That little smirk was one of Johnny’s worst nightmares, it meant something extremely bloody was about to happen. They reached the ground floor, walked towards the kitchen where the fridge had been moved, revealing a hidden metallic door. You, on the other side, used your time to text Jaemin. ‘I’m in. Meet me tomorrow morning at our secret spot.’ To which he responded with a smiley face. By secret spot you meant the convenience store in front of your office.

You placed your head close to the wooden door, patiently waiting to hear footsteps or any sound at all. But even after ten minutes, there was nothing. So you carefully opened the door, pepper spray on your right hand while you peeked through a small opening. After making sure no one was close, you fully exited the bedroom, ready to explore your surroundings. That was until you heard a loud thud coming from the ground floor.

“Huh?” You feet moved by themselves, going down the stairs careful not to make any sound. You walked towards the sound, which became louder with every step you took. It wasn’t long till you found yourself in front of the big metallic door, the weird noises coming from inside giving you goosebumps. The door creaked under your palm as you pushed it open, the sounds of muffled screams now getting clearer. Your opposite hand gripped the small pepper spray, your thumb ready to press the button in case of emergency.

“What should we send to Mr. Nakamoto? Maybe one of your fingers? An ear? Oh, I know. Your head will be the perfect gift, don’t you think?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” A hand grabbed your shoulder, making you jolt and fall down the remaining steps.

“A-ah.” You winced, your eyes shut tightly due to the pain.

“Y/n.” He dropped the knife he was holding, immediately running up to your curled up body. “I’m gonna kill you if something happens to her, Johnny.”

“How is this my fault? You told her to stay in the bedroom!” Taeyong gave him a warning look before he lifted your body. Carrying it all the way upstairs before you could catch a glimpse of the situation downstairs.

“Why did you come out? Something bad could’ve happened.” He wasn’t angry, more like extremely concerned.

“What was going on there? Why do you have a secret door?”

“Let’s take care of your wounds first. I promise to tell you everything later.”

Taeyong kept his promise, applying antiseptic on your open wounds while he told you every detail about his job.

“My father used to run this business, his real estate company was just an easy way to cover it. He retired a few years ago, that’s when I took over. But it wasn’t until five months ago he gave me complete freedom to do whatever I pleased.” He placed a band aid over one of your small scratches, kissing the wound gently afterwards. “We deliver packages mainly on the alley near that coffee shop you like.” You faked surprise.

“So all those dead bodies...that was you?” You were uncapable of hiding the fear you felt. You knew the truth all along, but hearing it from his own mouth was a different story.

“Yes. Most of them were part of rival gangs, trying to get information from our business.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously. “Will you still like me after this?” You wanted to say it was because of your job that you wanted to stay with him. But part of you knew that wasn’t the only reason.

“Yes.” You reached for his hand. Taeyong was taken aback, you were never one to start physical contact. “But you can’t keep secrets from me anymore. You need to be honest with me.” Said the woman who’d been lying to him since you met.

“I will be. Just promise you’ll never leave me.” He pulled you into a hug, smelling the lavender scent from your shampoo. That scent that made him feel so calm.

“I promise.” For now, at least. You still didn’t have enough information to go back to you boss. You let yourself get caught in the moment, sliding your hands up his back and hugging him as well.

“I love you.” He said again, hoping this time you’d say it back.

“I know.”

Taeyong sighed before loosening his embrace.

“I need to go downstairs to check up on some stuff.” He tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear, admiring your beautiful doll-like face. “Please, stay in the room.”

“Are you gonna...kill him?”

“He saw your face. If we let him go you’ll be in danger, and I can’t let that happen, darling.” He pecked your forehead. “I’ll be back, soon.”

A man was about to lose his life because of you. The thought kept haunting you even after Taeyong went downstairs, making sure to send some of his men to guard the bedroom door. You cuddled into the bedsheets, trying to get rid of your concerns. But nothing worked, your mind creating all sorts of wicked scenarios of that man getting killed.

‘Why did the boss have to choose me?’

“Y/n.” A hand rubbed on your shoulder. “It’s getting late. Come on, I’ll take you home.” You shook your head, not wanting to be alone at the moment. “What’s wrong babe?”

“Can I stay for the night?” Taeyong frowned at first, but then proceeded to kiss your cheek while combing your hair with his fingers.

“You can stay as long as you want, darling.” He went straight to his wardrobe, retrieving a pair of sweats and a hoodie. “It gets a little chilly in here after midnight. I’ll be in the room across the hall in case you need anything.” You held onto his hand tightly, stopping him from taking anymore steps away from you.

“W-wait.” The whole purpose of staying at his house was because you didn’t want to be alone. “Aren’t you gonna stay with me?”

“Do you want me to?” First, a hug from you, and now this. Taeyong’s day was definitely getting better and better.

“Yes.”

You both changed into more comfortable clothes. His baby blue hoodie smelled just like him, like a weird mixture of lavender and lemon. You laid down facing him, his arms wrapped around your waist as he waited for the right moment to speak. Your eyes examines every single part of his face. The scar beside his right eye caught your attention.

“How did you get this?” You fingers gently touched the damaged skin. “A fight with one of your rivals?”

“Actually.” He smiled. “I used to have atopy as a kid.” You’d expected a more dramatic answer.

“Oh.” You nodded, coming closer to his face to take a better look at the scar. “I think it’s cute.” Unconsciously, you pecked it.

“I think you’re cute.” He hugged your waist tighter, pulling you closer to his body. “Can I kiss you?” You nodded, gaze fixated on the way his soft lips would move every time he speaked. He was slow at first, making sure the kiss was something you wanted as well. But the moment your lips started moving against his, all his self control dissapeared.

“I love you.” He repeated for what seemed the hundredth time in the day. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” Maybe you were just to caught up in the moment, that’s what you so desperately wanted to believe.

Taeyong smiled against your lips, sliding his hand down to grab a handful of your ass.

“Can you show me how much?” He grinded against your core, stealing a gasp from you.

“Taeyong.” How heavenly his name sounded in your lips. “I want you.”

“I know baby.” He slid your his sweats down as well as your underwear, sneaking a hand between your bodies to caress your lower lips. “I’ve been waiting for so long to show you just how much I love you.” You moaned as two of his long fingers entered you, curling them to reach for your sweet spot.

“I feel l-like I’m the only one receiving something here.” You held onto his silver locks.

“Shhh.” He peppered kisses all over your face as his pace increased. “Let me make you feel good, okay?” Your high came faster and more intense than usual. Taeyong cooed at you, retrieving his fingers to pull down his own sweats

“I’m on the pill, you don’t have to wear a condom.” He nodded, pushing his member through your tight hole as carefully as he could. He helped you to lay on your back, thrusting slowly into you while lacing your fingers together. Taeyong was ashamed to confess he was about to come after a few seconds of being inside you, but your hole clenched around him so deliciously that he couldn’t help it.

“I’m close.” He whispered as his lips made their way to your neck, sucking a mark on the soft skin.

“Me too.” You hugged his bare hips with your legs, feeling another huge wave of pleasure wash over your whole body. “Tae.” He shot his seed deep inside of you. He was about to pull out, but your embrace forced him to stay inside of you, his weight crushing you as he completely laid down on your small body.

“Do you want to stay like this?”

“You said it get’s chilly after midnight, and you’re pretty warm.” He couldn’t help but to smile, skillfully turning your bodies around so you were laying on top of him.

“Good night, sweetheart. I love you.”

“Good night, Tae. I love you too.” His heart swelled with affection as he drifted to sleep with you between his arms.

(...)

“You look so dumb right now.” Jaemin said as he looked at your pink, strawberry sweater. You sat in front of the convenience store you’d usually meet in.

“Shut up, Taeyong bought it for me on our five month anniversary, it was yesterday.” You smiled fondly at the fabric protecting you from the cold weather. “He’s really sweet.”

“The boss has been asking for you.” You felt like vomiting. “I think it’s time for you to come back to the office, we both know you have more than enough information.”

“I can’t do that to Taeyong, Jaemin.” You shook your head, tapping your shoes against the ground. “I’m gonna give the boss my letter of resignation today.”

“But you love your job.” He shook his head before you could even speak. “If you say something cheesy like ‘I love him more’ I’ll punch you.”

“I’m sorry.” You grabbed his hand. “I hope we can still be friends.”

“Of course we can.” He hugged your shoulders. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the building.”

Your boss wasn’t at his office, some of your coworkers said he went out for lunch. It was easier for you to just leave the letter without having to deal with his scolding. You said one last goodbye to everyone before exiting the building. You didn’t expect to find Taeyong outside of the building, waiting for you with a small frown.

“What are you doing here?” He said with a small hint of anger in his voice. “Isn’t this the place where that local newspaper is printed?”

“T-tae, I was just-”

“Fucking liar.” He clenched his jaw. “Get in the car, now.” Tears streamed down your face as you entered the vehicle. “Crying won’t save you from anything, darling. You know what we do to traitors like you?” You shook your head, trying to get him to make eye contact with you. “You’ll find out.”

“Let me explain, please.” You sobbed. “I didn’t tell them anything, I just quit my job.”

“I don’t believe you.” He looked at you, your eyes getting red from crying and your small hands gripping the soft fabric of your sweater.

Despite knowing the truth about you, all he wanted to do was to hug you, to tell you everything was fine. But he couldn’t. The trip to his house was filled with your pleads, begging him to believe you. Taeyong felt like his heart was getting stabbed everytime he’d hear you sob.

“Shut your fucking mouth before I cut your tongue off.” Your breath hitched. You sat still, afraid to make any move. It wasn’t until you felt a tug on your sweater you realized you’d arrived to your destination.

“Miss, you need to come down.” You nodded, taking a deep breath before exiting the vehicle.

The driver guided you all the way to the hidden basement, which you’d only seen once. Taeyong wasn’t there, but Johnny was. He had a pair of black latex gloves and stood in front of a large wooden chair. It looked like the ones used to execute people.

“Take a sit, y/n.” His usual grin was gone as he talked. You had no other option but to do as he said, tensing up as he restrained your wrists and legs.

“Johnny?” He hummed. “Is Taeyong alright?” He laughed bitterly.

“You’re worried about him right now? I’m impressed.” The blade of his sharp knife traced the skin of your jawline. “You should worry about yourself.” He pressed the cold metal harder against you, making you whince. He removed the blade from your neck, letting the thick, red liquid roll down from your wound to stain your pretty sweater.

“Taeyong didn’t give me any instructions on what to do with you.” He took a few steps back, leaving the knife in a metal table. He picked up a metal rod instead. “But I’m guessing he doesn’t want you dead.” He played nervously with the object. “I’m sorry, y/n.” He said before beating your ribs with it. The scream that came out from your lips didn’t even sound like yours.

He kept hitting you with the rod at least ten more times before stopping. His features were filled with regret, but his job wasn’t done yet. His new target was your right hand, you begged for him to stop, but he didn’t.

Before the object could touch your hand, a loud gunshot interrupted him, followed by steps coming down to your location.

“We need your help John, it’s Nakamoto.” He dropped the rod. “They’re too many.”

“I’m coming.” He kneeled down in front of you. “I need you to stay quiet if you don’t want to get killed.” But you couldn’t help the small whines coming out of your mouth, even breathing hurt at this point. “I’m really sorry.”

You were left alone in the room, trying your best to keep quiet, but the pain in your ribs was piercing. All you wanted to do was to curl up and cry.

“There’s someone inside.” You heard a manly voice whisper, immediately followed by more gunshots and steps.

“Oh my god, you’re fine.” Taeyong found you, still tied up to the chair and quietly crying. He released you, pulling your arm to help you stand up, earning a loud whine from you. “What is it?”

“M-my ribs.” You hugged yourself slightly, attempting to ease the piercing pain.

“Let me see.” He removed your arms, lifting your sweater to reveal the purple skin. You weren’t able to see your injuries, but Taeyong assured you it was fine. “You’re alright, I need you to stand up for me, okay?”

“Taeyong, I’m sorry.” You kept muttering. “I’m so sorry.”

“If you’re really sorry then come with me.” You summoned all of your remaining strength to get your legs to work, walking as fast as you could.

You found yourself in front of a man on your way out. He didn’t look like one of Taeyong’s gang members. He pulled out a gun, pointing it directly at Taeyong, but you were faster than him, embracing him as you felt something impact on your back. Taeyong pulled out his own gun, quickly shooting the other male.

“Y/n.” He held you between his arms as he tried to stop the bleeding in your right shoulder, relieved the bullet hadn’t reached any of your vital organs. “I know it hurts, baby, but you need to keep walking for me, okay?”

“I can’t.” Your knees gave in and Taeyong had no other option but to carry you. He successfully walked across the battlefield and reached for his car, only to be pulled down by someone else. You rolled out of his arms, your ribs making contact with the hard concrete and making you scream in pain.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Taeyong and his sweet little girlfriend.” A man with weird accent said before grabbing your boyfriend by the collar. “I wanted to say that I personally disliked your gift. But I thought, maybe I could return the favor by sending your head to your father. I bet he’d really love that.”

“Run, y/n.”

“Awww, how sweet of you.” The man grabbed a handful of his hair, forcing his head back. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her after I finish with you. The boys have been really stressed this past few weeks. I bet she’d be a really nice fuck doll.”

“Don’t you dare, Yuta.” He tried to pull out his gun, but his rival easily snatched it away from him, carelessly throwing it near you. He pulled out a knife from his pocket, placing it directly over Taeyong’s neck. You dragged yourself to reach for the weapon, still completely unnoticed by Yuta.

“You should say goodbye to your-” A bullet pierced through his chest, blood splattering all over Taeyong’s face. The man’s limp body fell backwards, revealing Johnny holding a gun right behind him. Taeyong turned to you, an arm extended while your fingers grazed at the weapon. Blood was still leaking from your wound.

“Darling.” He quickly got up, taking you between his arms once again. “I need to take her to the hospital.”

“Don’t worry, we got the situation under control.” Taeyong nodded before laying you down over the backseats of his car.

He drove as fast as he could, exceeding the speed limits and earning a few honks from nearby cars. But it was all worth it when he saw the nurses taking you into the operation room to heal your wounds.

(...)

“She’s waking up.” Someone whispered while your eyes fluttered open, the bright sunlight forcing you to close them again.

“Darling?” Taeyong held onto your hand tightly. “Are you okay?”

You hummed, attempting to open your eyes again, this time catching a glimpse of a red eyed Taeyong right beside your bed.

“Tae?” He let out a relieved sigh, cupping your cheeks and pulling you into a kiss right afterwards.

“You’re alright now baby, you’re safe with me.”

[heck-in-a-handbasket]

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹���🌹. Your move. :p

😆 OKAY SO I got enough roses from enough people that I’m going to completely ignore the “one sentence” thing and I’m going to post a few paragraphs from multiple WIPs all in this post.

Thank you to everyone who sent a rose, you’re all lovely ☺️

WIP quotes under the cut:

From a college cheerleading ABO AU I haven’t posted yet:

He smelled amazing.

Like spring mornings after a rain. Like the sweet meringue on top of a lemon pie. Like a feeling that Billy couldn’t place, that lodged itself between his ribs like a switchblade knife.

The lockers rang with a dull metallic thud as Steve’s pretty head rested back against them, half-lidded doe eyes watching Billy.

So trusting.

The switchblade twisted as it slid deeper inside.

...

Billy kissed him like it was a demonstration, like he needed to show Steve just how good he would take care of him, fill him up and leave him breathless.

Steve whimpered and bucked his hips and Billy lost his cool.

He wrapped one desperate hand around the thigh lifted to his hip.

Then, he let it slide. Higher and higher, pausing when Steve gasped as Billy nipped at his lips.

The stiff material of his skirt caught on Billy’s knuckles as he crept underneath.

Steve was so warm, here. Burning hot.

Billy had put his hand on the stovetop once, burns aching for days afterward.

He never learned.

From Til I See The Light:

Steve watched in silence as Billy started shoving his things into a garbage bag. Fucking quality, hefty shit, too. Thick black plastic with motherfucking drawstrings. Billy hadn’t even known that trash bags could be luxurious before Steve.

Steve turned around and walked to the closet, trying to give Billy some room to breathe, maybe. Funny thing was, the further he went away, the harder it was for Billy to get some fucking air. Yeah, that shit was hilarious.

...

He’ll take whatever scraps of affection he can claw out of this mess, hold them tight to his chest, turning them over and over in his hands in the cold nights ahead.

From HIGA:

Robin looked up at Heather leading her calisthenics class and promptly dropped the cooler, spilling ice and Capri sun pouches everywhere.

Steve leaned in, keeping his voice down even though the screaming kids splashing all around them was enough to keep from being overheard. “Do you want me to, like, introduce you?”

Robin slapped him on the arm with a scandalized gasp, Steve would have laughed at the look on her face if his arm wasn’t so sore. “Oh my god, Steve! No! No way. She would probably think I’m a total dweeb or something.”

Steve bit his lip as he took in her oversized Hawaiian shirt and zinc streaked nose.

“Well, yeah. But Heather thinks everyone is a dweeb.”

From the next installment in my Little Red Corvette series:

Jim pushed off the couch with a grunt at the sound of the doorbell, yanking the door open to glare at whoever was on the other side.

It was Steve Harrington, with a fucking bouquet of flowers held behind his back, shiny clean face as nervous as it was hopeful.

“Hey, chief. Is Billy around?”

Just, full of as much youthful optimism as you could stuff into a striped polo shirt.

Jesus.

From the Christmas special for TMHT:

Billy hated Christmas.

It was a stupid, smarmy, commercialized shitfest for annoying families with ugly children to pretend that their pathetic lives were a-okay for one shitty, horrible day of the year.

But Steve.

Steve loved Christmas.

And Billy loved Steve.

So it looked like Santa’s workshop had thrown up all over the apartment.

Because every time Billy hung so much as a single piece of tinsel, Steve’s face lit up like the sun.

And Billy was as helpless before him as all those poor suckers who used to worship the damn thing.

So that was how Billy Hargrove, Christmas hater, ended up wrestling an eight foot tree three times his width into a fucking elevator.

“Goddamn motherfucking piece of pine-scented shit! Get. In. There.”

The doorman of their apartment building, Johnny, leaned up against one of the ostentatious columns in the lobby with his arms crossed, laughing at Billy as the doors tried to shut on him and his tree for the third time.

Johnny had offered to help at first, but Billy had snapped at him, and now he was enjoying the show like an asshole.

From Let’s Get Physical:

Steve was tall and hairy and had broad shoulders and he really didn’t care what Alphas thought about it.

Bunch of knot-heads.

He was going to the gym to get strong, even broader if possible.

No one was gonna fuck with him again.

He was tired of it.

The leering customers trying to get a look down his shirt, the ones that asked to buy an ice cream cone only to hand it back to Steve with a sleazy wink and a “why don’t you eat it for me, and I’ll just watch?”

That’s it for now!

I have several more WIPs for both harringrove and other fandoms but I thought this was a decent sized sampling. Thanks for playing with me!!!

[beclynn-herondale]

In Another Universe Chapter: 3

(tsc and the characters belong to Cassandra Clare and some of the quotes)

Jayce had to carry Clar the rest of the way to the Institute, he's lucky she is strong, though Jayce has become aware that he is taller than her.

When she got back to the Institute, Alec made a big deal about it and totally flipped, Jayce had put a rune on Clar and knew she would get stuff for it later but the thing is Clar took the rune just fine.

——————

When Clar woke, he looked around and saw he was in an infirmary type room

"Ah, he's alive," said a voice from another bed

Clar looked over to where the voice came from and saw it was the dark haired boy that was with Jayce and the dark haired girl, Isidore was his name Clar was sure.

"Where am I?"

"At the Institute, Jayce brought you here, we thought you might die," he said

"How long was asleep for?"

"A day, that's normal though with demon poison," Isidore said

Clar wanted to doubt the demon poison thing but after last night he didn't know what to think anymore, his mom and sister are gone, probably kidnapped and he's alone with strangers he doesn't even know.

"Hodge said for you to drink that there once you woke up," said Isidore. "After you drink that, there are clothes of mine there you can change into, I am gonna get Hodge."

Clar drank the drink which wasn't terrible, and got up to change

"Oh, and wash up you don't smell so great," Isidore told him as he was walking out of the room

He rolled his eyes, cleaned up a little and got changed, after he changed instead of waiting for Isidore to come back he decided to go off on his own

He walked down the halls, and heard music from a room, he went toward the room and saw Jayce sitting on the bench playing the piano, she was actually good

"Alec? Is that you?" Called Jayce

He walked more into view and said "No it's me."

"Oh, sleeping beauty is awake," she said. "I should have told Isidore about your habit of never staying put."

"Really?"

"Really what?" She said. "I'll take you to Hodge come on."

They walked out of the room and down another hall, this place had so many halls, it kinda looked like an old church though.

They made a turn and Jayce walked up to a door and opened it, she gestured for him to come in, when Clar walked in haw let his jaw drop a little, it was a library and there were so many books.

"A fellow reader," said the voice of a man sitting at the desk in the library.

"Yes," was all he said, still shocked at all the books and how old some of them looked.

"This Clar Fray," Jayce said.

"Nice to meet you," said Hodge and gave a smile

"Nice to meet you as well," he said.

*I heard you fought off a demon," Hodge said

"Not exactly," he replied

"Please, you don't actually believe he fought off a demon, he's just a mundane," said the raven haired girl called Alec from one of the chairs in the library. "He's just a kid from new jersey."

He didn't even notice her till now

"I'm from Brooklyn and I am not a kid!" Clar said. "And are you so stuck up and spoiled that you act like you are better than everyone else."

Alec looked shocked, Jayce let out a laugh

"It's not funny Jayce!" Alec hissed

"It's a little funny, besides it'll do you some good," she said.

"Enough," said Hodge, he seemed like a teacher scolding his class. "So, Jayce says you aren't a Mundane but you aren't a Downworlder either."

He looked to be thinking.

"She's a Shadowhunter," Jayce said.

And everyone looked at her, even Clar was surprised at that.

"How can you be sure?" Asked Hodge

"Because last night he got hurt by a demon and I put a rune on him," she said

Alec looked appalled

"Jayce Wayland! You know the law and what putting on rune on those who can't bear them will do, they'll go mad!" Said Hodge.

"yeah, I know but here's the thing, look," Jayce shower them where the bandage on Clar's arm was and took it off, to here was indeed and rune there but it was faded. "See he took it and it healed him."

Hodge looked shocked now and Alec slightly less shocked and more annoyed.

"Clar was your mother a Shadowhunter?" Asked Hodge

"What! No! My mother would never be someone like that, she doesn't even like books and shows with magic in them," he said

"Your father?" Asked Jayce

"He died before I was born," Clar answers

Jayce flinched

"Well it's possible he could have been a Shadowhunter," Alec added

Clar didn't know what to think and he felt lost, he should call Luke tell him what happened.

"Can I call someone I know?" He asked

"Of course," Hodge said

He showed him to a phone on the desk and he dialed Luke's number, it rang a few times and he picked up

"Hello," he said from the other end

"Luke, it's Clar."

"Clar! Are you okay?" He asked

"Yeah, do you know what happened to mom? She's gone Luke and so is Joan and—"

"Listen Clar, I am glad you are alright but whatever your mother has gotten herself into doesn't concern me," he said and hung up

Clar stood there in shock, Luke was never like that, why would he be so cold?

Clar felt his emotions getting to him and felt like crying, though he knew he would be judged for that, honestly why is he like this

"Jayce and Alec, leave, I want to talk to Clar alone," said Hodge

"Come on Jayce," said Alec grabbing Jayce's arm on the way out

"But I found him," Jayce was protesting

"It's not finders keepers Jayce," Alec said

And they were gone, Clar was alone with Hodge

"I don't usually get this emotional," Clar said

"It's alright, you've had a stressful couple of days," Hodge said

They talked over some things and Clar asked, "Can I go back home and get a few things?"

Hodge looked hesitant for a moment and said "Only if Jayce agrees to go with you."

He nodded

——————

Jayce so happened to agree to go with him, Clar thought she may have been a cat in another lifetime, she was so strange at times.

Now they were heading to Clar's apartment and Jayce was in all gear and had many weapons, Clar wondered if she had some hidden somewhere as well, she seems like the type to have them hidden in many places.

They were walking down the sidewalk and ar noticed some boys staring at Jayce and obviously making comments about her looks, she was glamoured now, and she obviously knew too which only made it more irritating

"Those boys are staring at you," he said

He noticed the girl in their group was also staring at Jayce similarly

"Of course they are, I am stunningly attractive," she said

"God, you're impossible," he said

She just laughed

He wondered what it was like to be that confident in yourself, and that arrogant, did she ever have any doubts? Or was she simply just like this and always sure?

Clar realized he was now analyzing her and wondered why she interested him so much, he had never be interested in people like her before usually her and Simone just avoided people like her, but somehow Clar felt at moments maybe there was more to her, and she did save his life.

"So you have a lot of weapons," he said

"Yes, yes I do," she replied

"I bet they are worth a lot, could probably fetch a good price on ebay," he said

"I don't know what or who this ebay is but do not go anywhere near my weapons or I will exact vengeance," she said

"Geez it was a joke, you act like they are you kids or something."

"I have a close relationship with my weapons, they make good friends," she said with that sarcasm

They talked and argued some more before they got to the apartment, honestly Clar doesn't know how he put up with her, he reminded himself he technically owed her

Before they went in Jayce pulled out her sensor and scanned the area, it was odd, all this Shadowhunter stuff

They went in and looked around, Clar went to his bedroom, the orange walls that were familiar, it's funny he thought that that one day can totally flip your world around

Jayce wasn't far behind him, they both heard something, and then there was a big guy weird zombie kinda looking guy, he was huge and Jayce yelled run

They got to the stairs but the thing was just as fast if not maybe a bit faster

"What is that!" Yelled Clar

"A forsaken!," Jayce replied

The forsaken caught up and Jayce swore under her breath, she pulled out one of her blades and called "Jophiel!."

The blade lit up and it was beautiful, Clar had to admit, and she was beautiful in that moment he thought, until she stumbled down the stairs with the thing and Clar may have let out a slight scream.

Clar ran over to Jayce, she was still alive

"Are you ok?" He asked

"Yeah, I broke my arm though."

"What do I do?"

"Watch," said Jayce, she pulled out her stele and drew on her arm, and Clar watched Jayce's arm heal. "We heal ourselves this way."

"Whoa," was all Clar said

She laughed and he glared at her

"I hope you are planning to clean that up, Shadowhunter," said a woman's voice

They both turned their heads in the direction of the voice

"Uhh..." Clar said

Jayce was just staring suspiciously

"How do you know about Shadowhunters?" Jayce asked.

"Jayce this is Madame Dorothea, She's the older lady that lives here as well," Clar told her.

"Oh, I know who you are Jayce Wayland," said Dorothea.

"She knows your name..." Clar said

"Yeah, can't say I like that," Jayce admitted

"Come in, we can talk," Dorothea said.

"There may be more forsaken," Jayce said. "So might as well go inside."

They went in.

——————

Jayce didn't trust this Dorothea at all, she claimed to be a witch but almost all who did were fake and liars, and there was something about her that didn't settle right with Jayce.

"I'll make some tea and bring some snacks," said Dorothea

Jayce was looking around, looking for anything unusual

"Why are you suspicious of everyone?" Asked Clar

"Not everyone just people that seem to be suspicious," she said. "Like say people who happen to know my name, who I didn't tell it to."

He sighed, he was good at that Jayce thought to herself

There was a bird hanging on a string from the ceiling, it made Jayce think back to when she was a child for a minute.

Dorothea came back into the room, Jayce sat down next to Clar, she noticed that it was early gray tea and cucumber sandwiches, she hated both, Bergamot was something she disliked so

"Earl gray tea, hmm, I dislike Bergamot very much," she said. "And cucumber I also dislike."

Clar looked at her weirdly

"What?" She asked

"Nothing it's just I didn'tt think 17 year old girls like you knew what Bergamot was," he said

There he went again "girls like you" like he knew her, like he knew anything about her

"You'd be surprised at all I know," she said

"So why did you come back child?" Dorothea asked Clar

"Do you know what happened to my mom? You were here that night right?" Clar sounded desperate

Jayce felt sympathy for him, she never felt like this for people really and it made her angry for some reason, at least she thinks it's anger.

Dorothea had Clar play with Cards and what not, Jayce wasn't really interested in that, but she listened in when she asked Clar to remember something and he couldn't and Dorothea said something about a memory block.

"I knew what Jocelyn was and she knew what I was, and I don't exactly know who took her," she said. "There was a name she told me to keep am ear out for, Valentine."

Jayce snapped back to full attention

Clar looked like he didn't know what she was talking about exactly

"What? Why would she want you to keep an ear out for his name?" Clar said

"Jocelyn was one of you in her past," said Dorothea. "She fled the Shadowhunter world after the uprising and disappeared trying to live life as a Mundane, trying to give her children a mundane life."

"Why didn't she tell me?" Clar asked

"She wanted to protect you and your sister, we had a deal, I keep an ear out for the name Valentine and she didn't say anything about my business and she did the occasional favors fore," Dorothea said

"So you're saying you do illegal stuff?" Jayce asked her

"And if I do Shadowhunter," she hissed

"Jayce stop," Clar said

"There's something you aren't telling us," Jayce said. "You let Downworlder criminals get away."

"You and kind would call them criminals, but maybe you should think out of the box a bit more, and see that your law is too harsh," said Dorothea.

"Sed lex dura lex," said Jayce. "The law is hard, but it is the law."

"The law is too hard Shadowhunter."

They argued more and Jayce went over to the strange curtain she saw earlier, and pulled it open "So than this is a portal," she said.

Dorothea looked angry she had figured it out

"This is how Downworlders escaped," Jayce said. "Through this portal."

"It's a five dimensional door," said Dorothea.

Clar got up and walked to it, he looked at it for a few moments, and

"That's why you mother wanted to live here so she could always escape if she needed to," said Jayce.

"Then why didn't she—" Clar broke off. "Cause of me, she wasn't going Without me."

Clar walked towards the portal

"I want to see where she would have gone," Clar said

Jayce had barely anytime to react

"Clar no!," She called

She grabbed his arm and they were falling through a portal, Usually there are the moments Jayce asks herself why she doesn't just leave people to their own doom?, but it was different with Clar.

Tag list: @khaleesiofalicante @chibi-tsukiko @replayfootsteps @spotsandclawsthings @magnus-the-maqnificent @megs-readstoomuch @bookfast-at-tiffanys @simply-ellas-stuff

[thefanficmonster]

Our Sunrise

Vince x Tanya (The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope)

Warnings: None

Genre: Romance

Summary: Homes - to some a place of safety, security, warmth and love; to others they pose as the source of their dread. They are suffocating with each day spent within the house’s walls, surrounded by family they can barely stand. In those cases, there’s really only one option to turn to.

Requested: No

It was her idea. She wanted this. He saw the tears in her eyes though, something in her couldn’t bare the thought of leaving her family behind after all. Blood is thicker than water, as they say. But the thought is troubling him, refusing to leave his mind.

“If you could just agree...we wouldn’t still be here, Vince“

Her words rang throughout his head, refusing to let him get any shuteye. 

“There will never be a right moment if you keep thinking about it. Just decide a moment and it will be the right one.“

She’s always had a way of getting under his skin - a look, a smile and he would be hooked. What she does to him can only be described as witchcraft. She’s got him under her spell, and he’s not too keen on breaking free from it.

“Every couple has its sunrise and sunset“ She told him once “The joy of the first big step and the joy of its aftermath.“

He didn’t think much of it - he has become to her mind being overtaken by the books of poetry she reads, it’s nothing new - but for some reason that one quote stuck with him. It bugged him later that night, a part of him refusing to let it go. A small flame of wanting lit inside him - the wanting of that first bid step, the sunrise. He knew what she had meant by that...

If he’s being honest with himself, staying in Little Hope isn’t an appealing future for him. Never was. It’s the last and least desired outcome. He has been making plans to leave and make something of himself since he was in his early teenage years. He never saw how he could become something more here, in this small, suffocating town.

He never thought he’d leave before saving up a good amount of money yet here he is now, behind the wheel of his car, his belongings stuffed in suitcases in the trunk on his way to pick up the love of his life from her home so they could count the last seconds of being in this town together. Meanwhile, neither of them have much to rely on - not money, not connections. They’ll only have each other.

That is, of course, if she goes through with the plan she initiated. She planted the seed of the intrusive thought in his mind.

Running away.

It wasn’t even an option prior to her mentioning it. He wasn’t that desperate to leave. Not that he’d be running away from anything or anyone - he doesn’t have anything or anyone. To him it will be rather simple, consider it moving. All he has is going with him anyway. He’s not leaving anything behind, no real family, no memories - the ones that matter are coming along. Such as the first time he met her. Their first official date. The day he met her family. He still chuckles recalling how nervous she had been when it came to him finally meeting her siblings and parents. All those memories are not tied to the place, they are tied to the person - to Tanya, the only element of importance in his life.

                                                              *  *  *

 A knock sounds from her window, a faint one, not one that’d be caused by a human’s hand tapping the glass. That’d be impossible anyway, her room is on the second floor of the Clarke house. A sound so faint, it would’ve gone by unnoticed by her if she wasn’t so focused on trying to clear her head. She had spent a long enough period of the late hours swimming in the depths of her troubling thoughts, questioning if any of them were concrete or if they belonged to her at all.

Another knock. Now she can decipher it to be a pebble hitting the glass probably as an attempt to attract her attention. She bites the bait and kicks the covers off, exposing herself to the cold - the pajamas not providing her any warmth whatsoever. She makes her way to the window, hesitantly peering outside without moving the curtains that are thin enough to allow her a peek while conserving her privacy. A wave of relief washes over her at the sight of a familiar car parked by the sidewalk and the figure of her boyfriend standing below her window. Her face lights up with a smile as she pushes the curtains aside and opens the window.

“Good evening.“ He greets her formally, taking a small bow

“A lot better now.“ She replies, resting her elbows on the windowsill, “It’s 2 AM you know?“

His eyes widen with fake shock, “Wait, what? Really? No way!“ Despite their voice being hushed whispers, due to the deafening silence around them, the words are transmitted easily and understandably.

Tanya rolls her eyes playfully, “To the point, please.”

Vince chuckles, motioning to his car that’s parked a further ways down the road from where he usually parks. “You said there’d never be a right moment until I chose one and made it right. So, I did. And don’t tell me I packed my stuff for nothing.”

She is stunned, unable to speak or do anything except look at him for a few moments, contemplating how to react. She’s torn between believing him and the thought of it being a ruse. She doesn’t want to fall for it if it’s the latter.

“Quit messing with me, Vince. Why are you really here?“ She finally settles on saying something along the annoyed lines, hiding the pang of adrenalin that has hit her at the thought of him being serious.

He stands his ground, the smirk still playing at his lips, “I know better thank to joke about something so serious, Tanya. Question is...” he raises an eyebrow at her, “...are you still serious about it?”

Holy shit, he means it. He’s serious.

We’re leaving this hellhole. We’re never coming back. There’ll be a sunrise for us after all.

A sunrise - she never realized how much she wanted one until now that she’s so close to having it. The first big decision: leaving Little Hope.

“Are you gonna pack or are you gonna give me a return ticket?“ Vince’s voice snaps her out of her spiraling thoughts of joy and excitement, reminding her that her future depends on what she’s about to say next. She can go through with it or chicken out. She can’t even see the second as an option.

“Give me fifteen minutes.“ She says, for a moment forgetting to keep her voice down, “Don’t change your mind in the meantime!“ she warns him with a serious frown.

He raises his hands in the air as if surrendering and nods, giving her the closure she needs to step away from the window and get to the task of sweeping all her belongings of importance in a suitcase.  Clothes, money, toiletries, etc. She moves around the room, going from the wardrobe to the dresser than to the desks where she stops when her hand automatically reaches for a picture of her and Megan she has next to her reading lamp. She mentally scolds herself for wanting to take all the photos she has with her family - A picture of her, Anthony and Dennis when they were in their pre-teen ages of eight, ten and twelve. A picture of Meghan when she was three, taken soon after she was brought in the family. A picture with Anne on her graduation. And a picture of all of them together - all genuinely happy. She remembers that day well, it sticks out in her memory because of how well behaved everyone was. James was sober. Dennis wasn’t trying to pick fights with her. She was nice to him for a change. This picture was Anthony’s idea of a gift for Anne’s birthday, an idea all siblings happily agreed to.

All these pictures are meaningful to her. She can say whatever she’d like about her family but she knows damn well that they matter to her no matter what they do. But she also knows she’ll love them more at a distance, sticking by them would inevitably make her despise them and she would much rather leave than start hating her own family.

Ignoring the scolding voice telling her not to bring any memories with her, she grabs all the pictures and carefully places them between the clothes in her suitcase to avoid damaging them. She zips it up with a heavy sigh. 

It feels insignificant, like she didn’t just back the majority of her life and identity in a suitcase as if she’s not about to leave the rest of it behind, heading into the unknown. She tries not to dwell on that though, forcing herself to stand up and lift the suitcase and get it over with before she talks herself out of it.

Going down the stairs, she repeats to herself she’s doing the right thing for herself. The best thing she could do at the moment. It’s only now that she realizes how hard it is for her to be convinced, but she shakes that thought away.

“Hey.“ She nearly trips on the second to last step when she hears a voice. Tanya stops dead in her tracks, looking down the dark hallway, straining her eyes to see the most they can with no light source other than the little light seeping in from the outside. She finally manages to catch glimpse of the outline of a head peering at her from the doorway to the living room. Once spotted, the body the head’s attached to emerges from the doorway, stepping out in the hall. It’s Megan.

“Megan, what are you doing up so late?“ She narrows her eyes to see her little sister better in the dark, all the while making hopeless attempts to hide the suitcase behind her.

“Where are you going?“ The eleven-year-old girl ignores Tanya’s question, tilting her head to the side while asking one of her own.

“Nowhere. Now go back to bed.“ She says with the strictest tone she can muster though it sounds more like a plea than an order.

Another silhouette comes through the living room doorway, taking a stand next to Megan. “Then what’s that suitcase for?” It’s Anthony. “Be honest, Tanya.”

Even if she could’ve fooled Megan, there’s no way she could lie to Anthony. She’s the closest with him, after all. And she doesn’t know this, but he always had a sneaking suspicion she’d leave. He always knew he’d be helping her pack her bags too. He wants her to be happy and he’s certain she’d do the same for him, knowing it’s what would bring him joy in life.

“I saw Vince outside.“ Anthony takes a step forward, encouraging her to take one as well, “Well, Megan did and she woke me up.”

“I’m sorry...” Tanya mumbles automatically, not really sure what she’s apologizing for.

“Don’t be.” Anthony tells her reassuringly, “It’s what’s best for you. Just....call often, ok?”

Her heart sinks a tiny bit under the weight of his words, tears pricking her eyes. She blinks them away though. “Ok, yeah. I will, I promise.“ She puts the suitcase down pulling her brother in a tight embrace which he returns. Pulling away, she feels arms wrapping around her hips. A look down confirms that it’s Megan. She’s not the hugger type, so this is quite odd, but sweet nonetheless.

Tanya kneels down, giving Megan a proper hug. “Do you have to go?” She hears the little girl whisper hesitantly.

Anthony opens his mouth to say something but the older sister gives him a dismissive wave, “Yes, I’m sorry but I do. But I’ll come back.” She pulls away, holding her little sister gently by the shoulders.

“When?“ the girl persists, her gaze unmoving from Tanya’s eyes. She desperately want to look at Anthony for help but she’s aware this is a battle she needs to carry out on her own.

“Soon.“ She settles on saying indecisively, “And when I do I’ll take you with me. Sounds good?“

To Tanya’s relief Megan nods with a small smile, giving her another hug.

“This is a bizarre-ass family gathering.“ The voice comes from behind them, on the staircase, pulling all their gazes in that direction, “And that’s a large-ass suitcase, Tanya.“

The three siblings are left staring at Dennis speechless. None of them dares speak up, uncertain of what they could even say.

Dennis saves them the trouble, “I saw Vince’s car. He hasn’t parked it as subtly as he thinks he has.“ He chuckles, “You’re going somewhere, huh?“ Tanya nods hesitantly, staying wary of his reaction. “For how long?”

Silence again. Luckily for them, that’s all the answer Dennis needs, “I get it. Ok. Um...” He ponders what to say next, going down the two remaining steps, “I’ll miss having someone to argue with...”

Tanya almost sighs in relief, “You have the four other people, you won’t even notice I’m gone.“

“Yeah. I guess you’re right. Um....“ He seems torn, confused and downright baffled with himself. He doesn’t know why he feels so down to see Tanya leave, he just does. So, for once, he acts on instinct and does something really out of character. He opens his arms for a hug. “Come here.“

Although surprised, Tanya’s more than happy to oblige. It’s the first time they’ve hugged. Her heart aches a tiny bit at the thought of it being their last too.

It doesn’t take long for Dennis to go back to being Dennis, “Now get out of my fucking house.”

She pulls away from him, returning his smile before picking up the suitcase and taking bold steps to close the distance between her and the front door. She stops with her hand on the doorknob, debating weather to turn around and say ‘goodbye’. She decides against it, deeming it too...final? Too much like an ending for her liking. This is a chapter left unfinished but not closed. She just needs to open a new one before finishing this one. So no, a ‘goodbye’ isn’t fitting.

She steps out in the chill of the air, feeling it caress her face as her eyes meet Vince’s. With a brisk pace she crosses the space separating them, dropping the suitcase to give him a hug while on the brink of tearing up.

“Goodbyes are tough. I get it.“ He reassures her in a soft voice, his hand gently smoothing her hair.

“There were no goodbyes.“ She sniffs, “Didn’t make it any less tough though.“

Placing the suitcase in the car’s trunk and settling in the passenger seat, next to Vince, feels so natural yet so new at the same time. Like a breath of fresh air, a breath of hope promising something better ahead. A brighter future. Vince’s firm hold on her hand just strengthens her eagerness to see what that future looks like.

To see what kind of sunset this sunrise will lead them to.

@artlovingbre  @sparrow-gg  @megandaisy9  @chairtiger

[theassthatquits]

Blupjeans Week Day 3 - Crush

The banners seemed to appear overnight, crowding the hallways and bathrooms and doors: “The dance is this Saturday! Ask your crush! It is the Valentine’s Day Dance after all.” Well, maybe they didn’t say all of that, but that was certainly the implication.

Barry was paralyzed with fear.

He had a crush on Lup since they were kids, pretty much starting the day on the playground when she and Taako approached him and declared that they were now Best Friends Forever and he had no choice in the matter. It was the best day of his life.

Lup and Taako had seamlessly folded into his life since then. His mother had taken an immediate liking to them and would make sure they were cared for and had everything they needed as they were moved around from place to place. The twins became a staple at the Bluejeans household, frequently staying days at a time. Barry, Lup, and Taako had become inseparable.

If he told her how he felt it could ruin everything.

--

“What the fuck is this?” Lup asked, picking up the flyer for the dance that just happened to be on her textbook sitting on the desk.

“What are you talking about now, Lulu?” Taako lazily asked, lounging on his bed filing his nails.

“This flyer for the dance. You put this here, didn’t you?”

Taako sounded bored. “I assure you, I had nothing to do with it.”

Lup groaned in exasperation. “I don’t want to think about Valentine’s Day and romantic dances. I just want to get through this year, graduate, and get the fuck out.”

“You sure you don’t want to ask a particular jeansed man out to the dance?”

Her glare would have struck fear into the heart of any other person but Taako. “I’m not asking Barry. There’s no way he would say yes and then our friendship would be ruined and I’d have to find a new best friend.”

Taako rolled his eyes. The two of them had been doing this for years and it might actually kill him. “So when are you planning on telling him, then?”

“When the time is right, I don’t know. Probably never.”

“Lulu, I love you to death and I mean this with all the kindness in my heart. I am so bored of this conversation. We’ve been having it for years. We’re graduating soon, there’s no guarantee we’re all going to the same spot, your time is running out.”

Lup crushed the flyer against her face, screaming into the void. “I know! Ugh. I’ll think about it.”

“Good. Now be a dear and pass me that polish. My nails have to look perfect for when I ask Kravitz to the dance.”

---

“You should ask her, Lucrecia. She’s a pretty cool girl and anyone would be lucky to take you to the dance.” Magnus, Lucrecia, and Barry were standing in front of Barry’s locker while Magnus was trying to convince her to ask out her crush.

“Ughhh, I don’t know, Magnus. We’ve, like barely talked.”

“That’s not true! I saw you two talking the other day.”

“Yeah, but I asked her for notes. That’s different, that’s school stuff.”

“I think I agree with Magnus, Creesh.” Barry shut his locker door and started shoving his textbook in his backpack. “She laughs at all your jokes in class, which is a great sign. I mean, we’re seniors. This is our last chance.”

Lucrecia gave him the biggest side eye. “Oh, yeah, Bluejeans? Are we talking about final chances and asking out crushes now? If you say it’s so easy, why don’t you go ask Lup?”

Barry’s face went pale. “Uhh, uhh. That’s different! Lup’s my best friend.”

“Mhmmm, okay. I’ll make you a deal, you ask Lup, I’ll ask Melora.”

“Ask Lup what?” Out of seemingly nowhere, Lup appeared in between Lucrecia and Barry. His eyes went wide and he began stammering.

“Uhh, nothing! Just one of the questions from last night’s reading.”

“Ahh, yes. Last night’s reading...which I totally did...because I definitely remembered to do it…”

Lucrecia laughed and passed Lup her notes. “Here, read through these before our class discussion.”

“Thank you thank you thank you!! You’re a life-saver.” Lup leaned in and planted a nice big kiss on Lucrecia’s cheek. Lucrecia winked at Lup as the bell rang and took off after Magnus, leaving Lup and Barry alone.

The two of them walked in uncomfortable silence, both of them wanting to say what they swore they never would. They passed by one of the many posters about the dance and Barry cleared his throat. “So the dance next week...are you going?”

“Oh, that thing? I hadn’t given it much thought at all,” Lup lied through her teeth. “I mean, it sounds like it could be fun, especially since we haven’t really gone to a dance at all.”

“Yeah! Do you...uh, do you want, um…” Barry kept stammering, his face fully red. Lup’s face lit up, hoping he was attempting to ask her to the dance.

“Do I what?”

Barry let out a deep breath to steady himself and began again. “Do you want to go -“

The bell rang loudly, cutting off the rest of his sentence. Barry swore under his breath.

“Shit, it’s like a four minute walk to calculus, I’ll catch you later?”

Lup swallowed a lump in her throat she hadn’t realized was there. “Yeah, sounds good.”

Once Barry was out of sight, she turned and rammed her body against the lockers with a little too much force.

“Lulu, that was...incredibly painful to watch.” Taako’s voice appeared behind her.

“Imagine how it felt to live it.”

“I don’t think I can, considering I walked right up to Kravitz, looked him in the eyes and said ‘you, me, dance?’”

“What did he say?”

“Yes, natch.”

“Congratulations, I’m so happy for you,” she said, not sounding happy for him at all.

He chuckled at that and grabbed her hand. “C’mon, we’re going to be late.”

—

Lup stood outside the school under the tree she always did waiting for Barry so they could walk back to his place together to do homework like they did every day. He was taking a little more time than usual but he occasionally got stopped after class to talk about nerd stuff with Lucas Miller.

“Hey, Lup.” A smarmy voice came from behind her and she turned around to see gorgeous jock Greg Grimaldis leaning against the tree, a smirk on his face.

“What’s up, my dude?”

“I don’t know if you heard, but I’m getting inducted into the school hall of fame for football this weekend.”

“Congrats?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me to the ceremony this Saturday. As my date.”

She was taken aback. Sure, Greg Grimaldis had flirted with her a lot the last four years but she was incredibly attractive, a lot of people hit on her. “Uh, Saturday is the dance.”

“Oh, that lame soirée? Yeah, I’ve been to a thousand like it, no thank you. Trust me, this is going to be a lot cooler.”

“Uhh..” Lup hesitated and then was interrupted by Barry appearing next to her.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Greg Grimaldis ignored him, like he always did, and turned to Lup. “You know, I’ll give you until tomorrow to think about it. See you then.” He winked and then ran his tongue over his teeth, sending shivers of disgust over her.

“Woah, what was that about?” Barry asked, watching Greg walk away, stereotypically throwing a football up into the air.

“He asked me to go to this stupid ceremony with him on Saturday as his date.”

“...oh.” His voice was scratchy and squeaky and he turned away from her. “Are you going to go?”

“I don’t know...Is there a reason I shouldn’t?” Please give me a reason, please tell me I shouldn’t go.

Barry’s mouth was dry as he replied: “I mean, if you want to go you should go.”

Her heart dropped. “Uh, maybe I will go. It could be kind of fun, maybe ruin Greg’s big night.”

That got a slight, but fake, chuckle. “Sounds fun.”

They stood there in tense silence, not looking at one another before she finally broke it. “Guess we should get going, we have all that homework to work on.”

“Actually, Lup I’m not feeling too great. I kind of have a headache and my mom wants me to help out with some stuff at home, so if it’s okay with you I’ll just walk you to your place.”

Okay, that hurt. She faked a smile. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

Usually their walks home are full of laughter, Lup reenacting some wild shit that had happened that day, Barry stopping to inspect weird flowers or trees, the two of them going out of their way to step on leaves and dance through the streets pretending that when they bump into one another it’s an accident.

Today, they didn’t say a word to one another.

—-

“Woah, what the fuck happened to you?”

Lup didn’t even register what Taako had said when she burst into their room, sobbing. He stood up quickly. “Okay, who the hell do I have to beat up?”

She didn’t say a word, just tackled him to his bed and buried her face in his chest. Normally, he would have complained about her ruining his shirt but he thought it best to not mention it. Until later, at least.

They sat there, Taako rubbing soothing circles on her back like he had done a thousand times until she had calmed down enough to talk. “He doesn’t like me, Ko.”

“What? This is about Barold? Oh my god.” He rolled his eyes and pushed her off of him. “How many times do we have to go through this? The two of you are ridiculous.”

“No, Ko, he really doesn’t like me. Greg Grimaldis asked me to go to this stupid ceremony with him on Saturday instead of the dance -“

“And you said no, right Lulu? Please tell me you said no.”

“- well, not exactly.”

“Oh my god.” Taako removed his arms from around her and covered his face. “I’m going to have to do so much fucking damage control.”

“I asked Barry! I asked him if he thinks I should say yes and Barry said, and I quote: ‘If you want to go, you should go.’ End quote.”

“Yeah, because he respects your autonomy as a human being. He’s not going to tell you to not go on a date because he is hopelessly in love with you. Gods, Lulu I thought you were smarter than this.”

“If he didn’t want me to go with Greg he should have said something!”

“Have you met the kid? He’s got the worst self-esteem of any of us. Lulu, please, I’m begging you as your brother: do not go out with Greg Grimaldis. Go call Barry, talk this out, please. I’m not doing this for either of you anymore, this is purely selfish. I am so tired of hearing about this.”

“I don’t want to call him! He’s made his choice, he doesn’t like me and I am going to die alone.” She flopped dramatically on the bed, covering her face with a pillow.

“You’re not going to die alone. Greg Grimaldis is going to be there.”

A pillow came flying at him. “Get out!”

“This is my room too, Lu.”

“I don’t care. I need some time. Go make googly eyes at Kravitz or something.”

Taako stood up and started walking towards the door.

“Fine, I’ll leave you to your moping. But when I get back you had better at least texted poor Barold.”

“Poor Barold???” Taako heard her voice loud and clear through the door even though he was halfway down the hall.

---

Lup spent an hour with her head under the pillow, an unrequited love playlist from fantasy Spotify playing on her phone, trying to fill the hole in her heart when all of a sudden her door burst open and Barry flew in, panting heavily like he had just run all the way here from his house.

“Lup!! Are you okay? Taako said you had a science emergency and you needed help right away or you were going to fail all your classes and die and now that I’m saying this out loud it sounds completely and totally fake.”

Lup took the pillow off of her head and turned to face him. “Barry, what the fuck is going on?”

“I could ask you two the same thing.” Taako’s voice boomed ominously from behind Barry who moved into the room to let him in. “I am done, finished, with the two of you. Neither of you are allowed to leave this room until I am satisfied with the results. Here’s some granola bars.” He purposefully aimed for Lup’s head and a couple of them bounced off. “Ciao.”

Taako left and shut the door behind him before either of them could say another word. Barry’s face was flushed red and he was still sweating from his run. “What is he talking about, Lup?”

She sighed and her voice got quiet. “Barry, I don’t want to go to the awards ceremony with Greg Grimaldis.”

If Lup had been paying any less attention she wouldn’t have noticed the light in his eyes return and the smile dance across his lips. “Yeah?” He cleared his throat, trying to cover up his happiness at that statement, then he sighed deeply. “I don’t want you to go to the awards ceremony with Greg Grimaldis.”

She smiled. “Yeah?”

“Of course not, Lup.” He moved to the bed, sitting down next to her. “I want you to come to the dance with us. We’ve gone through our whole lives together, I don’t want the first dance I go to to be without you. Who else am I going to make fun of people with?”

“Taako.”

“You know he’s going to be hanging on Kravitz all night.”

“True.” There was a brief silence. “Barry, is the only reason you want me to come is so you have someone to make fun of people with?”

Several knocks came from the closed door, making both Barry and Lup jump. “Barry I swear if you fuck this up I will cut up all of your jeans.”

Lup threw a pillow against the door. “Go away, you prick!” She turned back to Barry, his face bright red. “What does he mean by that?”

Sighing again, Barry takes out his phone and opens it. “Lup, I don’t know how to say it. But I have something that hopefully will get the meaning across. I was going to show this to you but then I saw you with Greg Grimaldis and I -” Lup put a finger up to his lips silencing him.

“What is it?”

“It’s, uh, a song. I wrote it. It’s called ‘Endless Lup’.”

He pressed play on the song and Lup was immediately transfixed. Barry could only play the piano and definitely couldn’t sing so there weren't any lyrics to follow but she could feel his affection for her nonetheless. She sat there, mouth slightly agape with tears in her eyes until the song ended. Neither of them spoke for several moments.

“Barry, that’s -”

“It’s too much, I’m sorry.” He turned away from her, running his hand through his hair.

Wordlessly, she touched his shoulder and turned him back towards her. “That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”

He flushed. “Good, because I wrote it for you.”

“Lup if you don’t fucking kiss this poor man, I will!!”

“Is that a promise?” Barry yelled back before Lup tackled him, bridging the distance between them.

@blupjeansweek2021

[sleepdeprivedheretic]

Those Shoes (Ch.4)

Song Inspired: Talk Too Much by Coin, and another song in that I listed in the fic.

Tags: @youtubequeens, who brainstormed with me, helping create the story and the cute fluff n’ stuff within it :3

Notes: I know that Thanksgiving is over, but let my over-procrastinating self have this

You couldn’t help but mimic his grin as the two of you stared at the other two’s messy faces. Eijirou’s face was a little messier than Tamaki’s small chocolate mustache.

“Ya’ve got somethin’ on yer face, Bud.” Taishiro grinned at Tamaki’s mock glare, and you couldn’t help but reach over and wipe an oblivious Eijirou’s face with a napkin.

“They’re both so cute.” You couldn’t help but admit out loud.

“Ya should meet their dad.” Taishiro couldn’t help but grin wickedly at Tamaki and your combined unimpressed looks.

“Alright, alright. Soooo, Princess, sorry I didn’t introduce my boys, earlier.” He started, and you quirked and eyebrow.

“How do you even forget to introduce your kids?” You snarked, and he subtly shrunk a little, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin as he glanced at the boys, both of their attention were now focused on coloring the free pages that the waitress gave them.  

“There’s not an excuse. I guess I was too caught up in the moment of impressin’ ya an’ dancing. I knew that they’re safe with their babysitter, so my mind went to focusing on both earnin’ a living and…ya know.” His words jumbled out in a rush as he looked embarrassed. You decided that at least he did bring you to see them, not keeping you in the dark.  

“I think I understand.” You tried, and he let out a breath of relief. Smiling, he took a crayon and started helping Eijirou color in the happy cartoon sun outlined on the coloring page.

“So, are ya good at cookin’? Seein’ that you’re the lunch lady.” He changed the subject, and you indulged him as you didn’t hesitate to grab a blue crayon, finishing up Tamaki’s half-colored sky.  

“I’ve learned a few things in dietary. Not just cooking, but sanitizing everything, making sure that each utensil goes in it’s exact spot, and so on.”

“Mmmh. Must be hectic.”

“Not really, I learned some new things to old recipes, such as adding mayo, instead of butter, to make grilled cheese sandwiches.”

It was small talk between the two of you, but you felt calm and warm, the atmosphere being a stark contrast of emotions compared to your night life.  

“So, what’s your plans for Thanksgiving?” You asked suddenly as the waitress handed the check to you. He blinked owlishly, caught off guard by the question, but then his eyes lowered to the floor as he put on a faux grin, scratching the back of his head.

“Um…it’s just us.”

“Same here…well, kinda. Usually I don’t celebrate with my mom. She can’t really cook, and she hires dancers to “bring life to the party”.” You rolled your eyes, motioning the quoting with your fingers, and he laughed.

“Every year?”

“With me? Yes.”

“She’s pretty persistent, ain’t she?”

“Annoying, and wanting to retire. Surprised that she didn’t forge a marriage contract with somebody since birth.” You huffed, and he then grinned wickedly.

“Find out eighteen years later, you’re opening up the door to get the newspaper, an’ outta nowhere, Harry Styles is standin’ on your front step.” His body shook with laughter as you choked on your cooling coffee in laughter.

Eijirou and Tamaki stopped their coloring to look at you with worry, but their father winked at them, patting your back as you huffed out the coughing laughter.

“Ya alright?” He offered, and you nodded, cooling down with little huffs of giggles.

“Really?” You stared at him, and he just gave a cocky little smirk, eyes twinkling with a gleeful victory.

“Made ya laugh.” He admitted, his tone a bit softer this time, and your ears couldn’t help but redden, a bit.

“Anyways! I better go. On my days off, I’ve been trying to search for other jobs.” You admitted sheepishly.

He looked reluctant to leave, and you honestly could relate. He nodded. The two of you split the bill, gathering the boys as your little group of four chatted idly, walking outside to part ways.

“I hadda great time, Princess. We should do this more often.” He admitted almost shyly, and you couldn’t help but feel a spark of hope as your stomach fluttered excitedly.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” You found yourself admitting, and once again, he looked at you with an expression of surprise and satisfaction.

“Alright then.” He breathed out, and you felt a smile pull at your lips. A gentle tugging on your pants leg had caught your attention. Eijirou’s hand gripped at your pants leg, Tamaki standing right next to him with a shy expression as the two of them held pieces of paper.

“Please take this.” Tamaki blurted out, shoving his artwork in your direction, Eijirou happily handing his to you. Your eyes widened with surprise at the gestures as a burst of warmth flooded through you at the boy’s gifts. You couldn’t help but lower down, sitting on one knee as you met them eye-level, taking the papers.

“Are these pretty pictures for me?” You asked, already knowing the answer as both boys nodded. You couldn’t help but smile, taking the papers gently.

“Thank you, I’ll put them on my fridge, alright?” You ruffled each boy’s hair gently. A cough broke you out of your spell, and your eyes darted to Taishiro, who in return fed you such a soft look in which contrasted his usual behavior. You couldn’t help but feel the blood rush into your face, neck, and ears as you realized that he was staring. You stood straight up, holding the papers close as you chuckled nervously.

“A-anyways! I gotta go! I’ll see you boys later! Thank you for the lovely pictures!” You stuttered a little at first, embarrassment creeping in on you as you took a short bow before turning to walk away.

“Would ya like to spend Thanksgiving at my place, tomorrow?” You heard him blurt out suddenly in desperation. You stilled, turning to look at him with surprise as he held a hopeful look. Time seemed to still as you calmed down from your expressive state.

“Alright.” You agreed quietly. He rose an eyebrow, face flushed as a smile formed on his lips, his expression silently, yet ironically, seemed to say ‘you adorable flustered thing’.

“Ah. Good. I’ll send ya directions, an’ ya don’t have to bring a dish. Er, ya wanna invite anybody?” He spoke clearly, scratching the back of his head, and you bit your bottom lip in thought, processing that this was indeed happening.

“Alright. I’ll just bring myself, the girls usually come by, but they’d be happy to know that I won’t really be alone.” You rambled out, wincing on how you were just embarrassing yourself, even further. He only smiled, instead.

“’M glad that you’re hangin’ out with me an’ the boys, Chickadee. Food’ll be done, early, so ya can come in anytime ya wanna.” He offered, and you felt your shoulders relax, feeling calm once again.

“Alright.”

……………………..

It wasn’t technically a date, but hell would have to freeze over if he admitted that it wasn’t. He felt an odd mix of calm, yet excited, as if he was in the eye of the storm roaring all around him. He admitted to himself that he might be overthinking things the night before, then again, it’s a very normal human thing to do. He was glad he had reached out, however. You squashed his doubts like an annoying, pesky little bug, and so he was a bit more chipper than usual.

It was four-thirty in the morning, the turkey was roasting, the sweet potatoes simmering into a boil, and he was chewing at the end of a match stick, trying to keep the aroma of the onions from getting into his eyes as he peeled and sliced them. Yesterday, he sent you a quick text where he lived, doing that so he wouldn’t forget, later, as he was busy preparing the meal. Truthfully, he didn’t often make holiday feasts such as this, opting to make smaller dinners for he and the boys, and so his skills were a bit rusty when it came to foods such as a whole turkey in the oven.

He vaguely remembered to stick a syringe full of broth into the thing once every thirty minutes while it was baking, and had to look up the rest of the instructions in fear of wasting a twelve pound turkey. His blood froze when the doorbell rang.

Putting the knife down, he wiped his hands on the towel as he sauntered towards the door, not thinking twice as he unlocked it, swinging it open. No way could it be you, could it?

Although he had his suspicions, he didn’t think that you’d actually arrive this early, neatly dressed in a cotton t-shirt underneath an apron, hair pulled up and out of the way, and you were holding some plastic bags within your grasp.  

“No way in hell are you cooking all of that, alone.” Were the first words out of your mouth, and the corner of his twitched upwards.

“Apron looks cute on ya. I did say come in anytime, didn’t I?” He mused, opening the door wider, shuffling out of the way to let you in, despite his surprise. You briefly looked around, noticing the darkened living room, was lit up by the light from the kitchen. It gave you a little glimpse at the many photos of him and his boys, and you couldn’t help but feel as if his home brought a very warm atmosphere to it.  

“You have a pretty house.” You didn’t hesitate to speak your mind.

“Thank ya, Darlin’.” He answered as you made your way into the dining room, placing your two plastic bags on top of the kitchen counter. He watched curiously as you emptied them.

You placed a home-made pie on the counter, a can of cool whip sitting next to it from one bag, and in the other, you brought out an assortment of children’s toys. He couldn’t help but smile as you thought about his boys, seeing the soft glint in your eyes as you placed the bubble set, Play-Doh, and other assessments on the living room table.

“They’re spoiled enough, already, ya know.” He chuckled, and you shrugged.

“They can be spoiled, more, then. Alright, where are you at, and what are we making?” You turned your focus on the food, and he obliged you.

Time seemed to drawl on as the two of you were focused on cooking and baking, you giving more helpful directions and tips to prepare the food, and he listening closely, intrigued on the many ways of how to fix the turkey. You pulled the bird out from the oven, opting to doctor it with pineapples and cherries, sticking little toothpicks that held the fruit, into it as he watched in wonder. With a little bit of dressing the baked fowl in small amounts of vanilla extract and brown sugar, he helped you place the heavy meal back into the oven.

To your own amazement, he had his own family recipe of making the sweet potatoes, mashing and stirring the now boiled root vegetables with a dash of garlic, salt, and the tiniest bit of coconut milk. The two of you had the freedom for more personal talk, now that his boys were sound asleep.

“-as ya know, it helps to be a therapist with the job.” The two of you sat at his kitchen table, taking a small break as you wiped the sweat away from your brow, sipping the iced sweet tea slowly as you hummed.

“Nemuri and Yu talk a lot about how some of their customers in the private rooms, only want to talk to somebody.” You relayed the information in your head aloud, and he nodded, popping the sliced pineapple into his mouth.

“Sometimes, it’s easy to open up to somebody who’s seen and knows things. They talk about their secret kinks, pasts, dirty little secrets, an’ ya don’t even have to dance for them, all ya have to do is listen and respond. Some of the “prettier” dancers, could earn twice as less, all because they don’t know how to simply just talk to people.” He said slowly, and you couldn’t help but cover your mouth as a yawn slipped out, he chuckled.

“Ya can sleep on the couch. All’s left is the green bean casserole, an’ the boys will wake up in about in three hours.” He offered. Much to your surprise, you trusted him as you sluggishly moved your body to the plush sofa, not caring if you were still in your apron as you buried your face into one of the couch pillows, humming softly to yourself as sleepiness washed over you.

……………..

He looked at you in amazement, on how fast you seemed to just crash. How long were you up before you had visited, he wondered. He quietly left from the living room, into the bedroom, fetching one of his blankets from the closet, humming as he returned to you, draping it over your now slumbering form. He admit, he was tired, too, but he was fueled by coffee and the sheer happiness that you willingly came over to help and spend time with him and his boys.

He was giddy, now quiet with his thoughts. He smiled to himself, seeing your face pressed into a pillow with a devil-may-care attitude as you slept on your side.

……………………

 “Happy Thanksgiving!” His voice rang out cheerfully, and you jolted awake from your slumber. Sunlight filtered through the windows, giving you more of a clear view of his home, yet your attention wasn’t focused on that, right now.  

“Happy Thanksgiving!” The two boy’s voices echoed back, and you hazily rubbed your eyes as the delicious aroma of food soaked into the air.

“Ah, you’re awake, huh?” His attention was onto you as you sat up, and immediately, the boy’s attention were onto you, as well.

“You came back!” Eji’s excited voice rang out, first, and Tamaki’s “Ah.” floated towards you. The hyper, black-haired younger brother climbed onto the couch as you rested your feet onto the floor, now noticing the blanket. You eyed Taishiro in question, and he chuckled, almost shyly looking away.

“Couldn’t leave a lady without a blanket. Anyways! Let’s see the parade!” He hastily changed the subject, grabbing the remote and turning on the television. You felt yourself smile a little as he hummed a little too quickly.

“Food’s done, Hon, make yerself at home.” He offered, dragging his attention away from you, to the kitchen. At the thought of food, your stomach rumbled, and you could hear him laugh quietly in the short distance.

“Look! Legos!” Eiji piped up, staring at the parade float, as you fumbled the blanket off of you. After making a short beeline to the bathroom and washing your hands afterwords, you didn’t think twice before making yourself a plate of food, joining the boys and Tai on the couch.

He looked absolutely tired, you couldn’t help but think, looking at the dark circles underneath his eyes. Yet, he kept the friendly atmosphere going, joining in on his son’s awe and joy at the parade, and you couldn’t help but feel warm and joy in the safe environment. You yourself ate quietly, throwing in some facts and opinions as the four of you finished your plates.

“Thank her for the food, as well, Boys. An’ comin’ here ‘round four in the morning, bringin’ ya some gifts.” He changed the subject, earning you a look of awe and respect from the children. Your face felt hot at the attention, and you smiled nervously as they did so, scrambling off to the bag of toys that you’ve brought them, leaving you and Taishiro alone on the couch.

“Thank ya, really. It’s been the most fun holiday we’ve ever really had.” He admitted, wrapping himself up in the blanket as he turned off the television. It felt as if your face never really cooled down, and you looked at him shyly through your lashes.

“It’s not a problem. I had a lot of fun. It’s unfortunate that these holidays seem to end so soon.” You admitted, and he could only nod.

“Ya’ve really been a great help, ya know? It doesn’t seem like much, but their holidays aren’t as long or excitin’, usually. There’s only the three of us, an’ we don’t really have other family to really visit. So, I really hafta thank ya, Sweetheart.” He yawned, letting the information sink in. You bit your lip as you felt your stomach and heart flutter with softness.

“It’s not a problem. Anytime if you want to make plans like this, I’d be more than happy, too.” You rambled out, and then it was his turn to bite his lip.

“I don’t think I can stay up, for long, Darlin’. I work tomorrow night, so I’ll probably see ya then, alright?” He changed the subject, and you could only nod.

“Don’t mean to rush ya off, but I’ll gladly make it up to ya in a show.” He winked, and you rolled your eyes, yet felt yourself smiling.

“Alright, I’ll see you, then.”

……………………..

After she left, he couldn’t help but doze off, waking up now and then to cater to his sons, and then let the feeling of surprise, giddiness, and sheer contentment flood through him. She willingly came to his home, helped him make his and his son’s day more brighter, and left him feeling warm and fuzzy.

At first it was a mere curiosity to dip his toes in the water, and now he was in too deep, and he hoped that the water wasn’t over his head.

………………………..

It was a simple night, you thought. You briefly acknowledged the dancers, your fellow hostesses, and your mother as you stood in the small circle that your mother had gathered.

“We’re doing something a little different, tonight, Babes. Since it’s nearing December, we’re hitting November off with some Dances. Here’s the ground rules.” She started, and your ears picked up at the sudden change. Your mother only did this a few times within a span of five years or so, to kick things up, she said. Although a rare occurrence, you knew the rules well.

 The dancers would make their own set of rules, and choose their partners to dance with for the night. It didn’t matter what the dance was, or if it was simple grinding, all in all, the partners of the dancer were usually of course the audience. The dances, touching, and anything that bent the rules, depended on how much money the audience member threw at their host, who wanted the rules broken.

When you were younger, you thought that it was stupid, wondering why couldn’t these people just hire  your mother’s employees with no bouncers in sight, but now you understood.

It was for the thrill, to basically get by with certain things that weren’t “normally” allowed within a club. Such as grinding, groping, and basically waving the finger in the security’s face. Of course, if anything had gotten out of hand, the one initiating the dance, had a call light to light the stage red, alerting security.

 Only the ones who really wanted to be touched like that, offered the dances, you knew. Some wouldn’t participate, and it was more than fine. It was a mouse trap, to lure the falsehood of “getting by” with things, or “getting lucky”, the mindset of a player in a casino, your mother told you. It was smart, although very shady, you thought to yourself. Of course, your mother had everybody gathered, telling them the rules, what’s safe and what’s not, and basically, saying that if a person feels as if it’s non-consent, then don’t ever hesitate to press the call light.

“It’s shady, but my employees come first.” She winked. You sighed, getting your food tray ready for the night, eager to see which costume that Taishiro had picked, this time. Of course the dancers were the first ones to know, getting certain costumes ready if they ever wanted to participate in the “lure” game. You couldn’t help but hope that he didn’t want to dance with anybody. The thought was rather selfish, and you knew that he could earn a lot, but it still lurked in your mind.

The night crawled on, the announcer speaking loudly, saying each dancer’s name who wanted to join in on the fun. You didn’t pay much mind to it. All in all, it was just an awkward dancing audience member, grinding their hips against the dancer as the crowd roared, feeling as if they’re watching an off-brand porno.

“-our next Dancer is! Fatigue!!! I wonder who he’ll be swooning in, for the night?” The announcer’s voice cut to you, and in an instant, you felt your blood run a bit cold. Although a little dense, you had to admit the possibility of him revving up a sucker’s money, made you feel a little sick. You beat down those thoughts. He could do what he wanted to do, he was his own person, it didn’t make him any less worth of one.

He had his sons to take care of, and a life to live, you told yourself. The little speck of thought of him calling you, egged you, and you had to stomp that down, as well. Not even the unwanted, flirtatious dancers even dared to call your name in fear of your mother’s playful, sadistic wrath. He couldn’t-

“-the Sugar who’s holdin’ the drink tray.” His voice rang out, and you stopped dead in your tracks, turning to take a good look at him.

His grin was wild, yet his costume was far from it. An echo of oohs and curious mumbling rang throughout the crowd.

True to his nature, he was wearing the orange and black heels that you’ve first seen him in, yet, he was also wearing a ruffled dress shirt, slacks, and although what would seem to be an odd combination of clothing that didn’t fit the club, he wore it very well, and looked very good in it. You jumped a little as you heard cackling, and didn’t really calm down as you knew that it was your mother.

“Alright, this man’s got balls, and although I approved then, I certainly do now. I’ll hold your tray! Enjoy your dance~!” She rambled quickly, not giving you time as she grabbed your tray, and winked before sauntering off. You remained your focus back onto him, your feet moving on their own accord as his look of worry was replaced with relief.

Not as much as you. Although a little surprised, you were very, very relieved that he picked you. Plus, who were you to refuse a gesture from somebody who you were pining for?

“The rules are…” The announcer looked at his paper. “None? Huh, guess he’s changing the ‘no touch’ policy.” She shrugged as she waited for you to walk onto the stage. You felt a lot of curious stares, but it didn’t bother you as you held in a yelp, him tugging you towards him. His hand was holding yours, and the other on your waist.

“Sorry fer embarrassin’ ya like that, Sweetlin’. After everything that’s been goin’ on, I hadda do this. If ya feel uncomfortable, or wanna change your mind, feel free to say so, now. I don’t care if I get boo’d. I just wanna see if ya’d dance with me.” He whispered slowly, and you sighed softly.

“It’s…one way to ask somebody, I guess. Besides, I think the audience can handle a change of atmosphere.” You murmured gently, and he chuckled, squeezing your hand rather gently.

“Plus, it’ll show yer creepy suitors that ya can make yer own decisions. An’ also…” He paused, letting the announcer press play to the song that he’d chose. He ate up the adorable, delectable look on your face, seeing how wide-eyed and cute you were.

It was as if your life had became one of those silly rom-coms that you were one-hundred percent certain would absolutely never happen to you. Somehow, you were wrong. Very wrong. He led you, staring softly down at you as you tried to keep eye contact, face flushing furiously as to much of your sheer disbelief, the audience started whispering, singing, and chanting to the Seagull’s “I Ran So Far Away”.

“-I wanna ask you something important.”

“This is a dream and I have to wake up.” You told him, and he laughed, taking time to pinch your cheek a little.

“This song’s a little ironic, ain’t it?” He grinned, and despite your wild fluttering stomach and increased heartbeat, you nodded, acknowledging the lyrics as your face heated up.

“A little…at first.”

“Must be hard keepin’ yer hands off of me, despite wantin’ to scramble.” He bit out a joke, and you couldn’t help but huff out a bit of laughter, the two of you ignoring the oddly supporting crowd as you gave into the weird, fever dose of reality that life had hit you with, dancing with him to the sway of the classic song. He held you close to him, letting you seep in his warmth as you buried your flushed face into his shirt, feeling his body shake lightly with laughter despite the atmosphere.

Although a little lengthy, the song was beginning to end way too quickly. Breaking away, you looked at him with curiosity as he looked at you with a mix of soft determination.

“What would I like to ask ya, Darlin’, is, would you consider being my partner? Like, uh, a romantic partner?” He stumbled out the words, and your breath caught in your throat.

“Ya don’t have to answer right away! I just wanted to…show ya that I was serious, ya know?” He murmured gently, and you swallowed thickly.

“Yes.” Came out of your lips faster than you’d thought, but you didn’t regret it. He looked down at you with surprise.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Ya know what it entails? Dating a single dad?” He prodded, and you knew.

“I know. I…can’t help but cherish the three of you.” Your ears burned with embarrassment, but it was nothing but the truth. You couldn’t help but like the adorable, flirtatious single dad who did everything in his power to keep his sons safe and loved. Admittedly, you knew that they will be your priority, as well, if you planned on being there in the long run, and you had.

 Warm hands cupped your face, as he stared at you with a look of sheer amazement and want.

“Let’s seal it, shall we?” He whispered, and you closed your eyes as he leaned down, pressing his mouth firmly and yet gently against yours, letting the crowd shrill with adoration.

…………….

Not the end! But it took a while. Although I was rather busy, I did want to post this chapter at the end of November <3.

[mermaidcashton]

all the pretty girls

author: claire (@mermaidcashton) ship/AU: calum hood/luke hemmings, genderswap!AU prompt: “Kissing you is all I’ve thought about since the moment we met.”  wordcount: 1519 warnings: swearing, hint of sexual content  dedication: this one is for gay!sos group chat, and all the other wlw 5sos fans 💘 a/n: • so, i wanted wlw!5sos and established relationship, self-indulgent, domestic cuteness and i...think i have achieved that? lol • written for @maluminspace & @h0tsos​ ‘s 5sos fic writers collab (in which we all chose from a list of AU’s and had the above prompt quote to include - i will share the masterlist for you to see everyone elses when it’s finished!) • i do not give permission for this (or any of my writing) to be reposted, by anyone, on this or any other website. please don’t do it! • title from ‘honey’ by kehlani 

all the pretty girls ***

all the pretty girls in the world but i'm in this space with you 

***

“Kissing you is all I’ve thought about since the moment we met.” “Oh!” Luke gasped, burying her head further into Calum’s shoulder. Calum was bemused. “Haven’t you seen this movie like ten times?” “Fuck,I think I’ve seen this movie ten times.” Calum would be seriously questioning her life choices if she hadn’t taken into account that every time she’d ever watched it, she’d had the hottest woman she’d ever met pressed against her. That seriously balanced the scales of shitty cinema, in Calum’s opinion. 

“It’s just so cute.” Luke sniffed. Calum pretended not to notice her wiping her nose on Calum’s sleeve; she looked cute enough in it to get away with almost anything.

Right now Luke was wearing avocado print pyjama shorts and Calum’s Santa Cruz sweatshirt (despite owning at least 300 separate items of clothing, in Calum’s most conservative estimations), with her blonde hair in a messy bun and the beginnings of a snotty nose. Her eyelashes were glossy with the tears she’d brushed away, and Calum thought she’d still be willing to watch every straight-to-video 00’s rom com ever made as long as it was what Luke wanted. 

“Does this seriously not make you emotional? He gave up Paris for her! Paris, Calum!” Luke whined, craning her neck to look up at Calum from her position under her arm, her lithe body laid across the sofa.  

Calum smirked. “Come on, babe; you know ‘Wall-E’ is the only movie that makes me feel anything.”

Luke rolled her eyes, but giggled all the same before pressing on insistently.  “It’s so romantic, though. Isn’t this the most romantic thing you’ve ever heard?” “No?” Calum scoffed, settling back against the mountain of cushions that seemed to grow every time they went to Ikea. Then it struck her. “Hang on, are you saying that’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever heard?!” 

“Yeah…” Luke let out another dreamy sigh before stilling almost imperceptibly. Oh, shit.

“What?!” Calum said, already looking more indignant than the time Luke had accidentally cheered for Arsenal insead of Liverpool (“Your Liverpool shirt is red, Calum! What the hell is an away kit?! I hate football!”). “Obviously I wasn’t includi-” Luke tried to recover, but Calum was too far gone. “I write the sickest anniversary cards! My last Valentine’s Day card to you? Fuckin’ poetry, Luke! I mean, not literally because that’s lame as fuck, but I am romantic as shit!”

Calum knew that generally speaking, people would consider Luke to be the more romantic in the relationship. Everyone who lived within 5 miles of their apartment had probably heard Luke tell Calum she loved her, or seen her entwine their hands, or pout her lips for a kiss she had to have right that second, at least twice. She was more prone to posting photos of Calum on Instagram with captions that ranged from sweet to thirsty as hell. Every time she attempted to bake for Calum, it would almost always be using a heart-shaped mould or cutter she’d found at the pound shop down the street. And at Calum’s gigs, everyone always knew exactly where she was in the crowd because Luke was yelling about the incredibly sexy bassist with the best basslines in the history of bass at every possible moment. 

However, Calum thought her own brand of romance of just as valid, and Luke seemed to like it. Calum was a fan of surprising Luke with flowers, albeit wild bouquets of sunflowers and daisies rather than roses or peonies (“Wildflowers for my Wildflower.”), and of playing records on vinyl that she thought Luke would like - or that reminded her of her girlfriend - while they ate a dinner Calum had made from scratch because she’d seen a recipe online that she knew Luke would love. Calum also trusted Luke in a way that was rare for her, and lying in the dark of the their bedroom, speaking out loud things she’d never told anyone - childhood memories of her parents messy divorce, her deepest fears, greatest dreams, biggest secrets - whilst her girlfriend rubbed comforting circles over her hip and placed gentle kisses on her shoulder, felt intimate and special in a way Calum hoped Luke felt was romantic. And like she said - her card writing skills were sick.     

Luke sat up on the sofa, freeing herself from underneath Calum’s arm. She clicked the pause button on the remote, dropping it onto the rug as she threw her hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry, I take it back; you are the most romantic I only meant in, like, movies and stuff! Obviously you are the most romantic and beautiful and I love you!”

Calum sniffed, trying to keep her sad face on without breaking. “Obviously not, as I don’t have a European city to not go to for you…”  Luke saw her girlfriend’s mouth twitch at the corner. Right. She tucked her long legs underneath herself, settling back on the sofa as she spoke. “Like I said, I take it back - I was wrong.” 

Calum could count on one hand the amount of time she had heard Luke say those three words during their relationship, and was ready to celebrate a substantial victory, until she clocked the smile spreading across Luke’s face that spelled trouble.

Luke continued in a purposely casual voice. “The actual most romantic thing I’ve ever heard was on our third date, when you drank all those daiquiris and told me that one day you were gonna ‘fucking wife me’.” Calum groaned and tried to sink back into the sofa so it could swallow her whole; this plan was thwarted by all the Ikea cushions.

“Shut up, that wasn’t me. You must have me confused with your other girlfriend. I don’t even drink daiquiris.” Luke’s distinctive laugh filled Calum’s ears; she loved that sound (it was in her top 3 sounds that Luke made), but right now she felt so embarrassed at the memory of her nerves getting the better of her in a Tapas restaurant that she couldn’t really enjoy it.

“Maybe not anymore! But Ashton told me how much of the morning after you spent with your head in the toilet, so I guess it makes sense you gave them up.” Luke teased, her blue eyes bright with mischief.

“I hate Ashton.” Calum mumbled, with nowhere near as much heat as was currently in her cheeks.

Luke’s giggles had taken on a unmistakable air of victory; Calum could not let this stand.

“Right, that’s it; we’re watching ‘Pulp Fiction’!” Calum declared, leaning down to feel around on the floor in the dimly lit living room for the remote where Luke had abandoned it. “Noooo!” Luke whined, reaching out to grab Calum’s wrists as she rose in triumph. “Cal!” She pouted as she missed entirely. It had always made Calum laugh when Luke tried to overpower her in any way; she was clumsy, and she wasn’t quick or strong enough to get the jump on Calum, unless she cheated (which she often did). In the past, Calum had hoped Luke wouldn’t notice the way she clenched her thighs together when the blonde would wiggle against her, bite her lip, whine or pant. Inevitably, as their relationship had continued, Luke had become fully aware of the effect she had on Calum, and now employed her sexuality as a weapon against Calum whenever she deemed it necessary. Nowadays, she tended to cut to the chase, as she was now. Calum barely registered the remote being extracted from her slackening grip as Luke held the grey sweatshirt and her cropped pyjama top up above her chin with one hand. She did register Luke’s small but perfectly formed tits, and wondered briefly what they had been talking about. Luke didn’t let her clothes drop back down to cover her breasts until she’d already unpaused the movie and stashed the remote underneath the armrest on her side of the sofa. 

“That...was savage.” Calum deadpanned, shaking her head as she clambered to her feet. Luke put on her most innocent smile (which was not that innocent if you knew her as well as Calum did). “Do you want another drink?” “Yes please, gorgeous.” Luke replied with her eyes still fixed to the screen, her lips moving in the time with the actress on screen with the dodgy bangs. Calum rolled her eyes fondly before making her way to their small kitchen in search of rosé.

She didn’t notice it until she closed the fridge again, but Luke had responded. 

Earlier in the day, Luke had used their alphabet fridge magnets to spell out ‘BUY MORE MILK’. Upon seeing this just after lunch, Calum had immediately checked she had the right letters to arrange the obvious reply; ‘NO FUCK U’, giggling to herself the whole time she’d been doing it. She let out a snort, picking up the personalised wine glasses Michael had gifted them when they moved in together. She set off back towards the living room, idly thinking about what movie she was going to demand they put on when this torture was over.

‘NO U’.

***

my masterlist   • please let me know what you think of wlw!cake and if you would like to see more of them here!

[ambivalent-anarchy]

Star Wars 101 (Ch. 2) Episode IV - A New Hope

Masterlist

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Wow, I didn't realize how much I'd written until I hit the tumblr limit. Hope you like it! Comment your thoughts!

Chapter Summary: Steve just wants to do his job, the avengers are the best wingmen, Scott doesn't like porn, and [y/n] thinks all nerds are freaky

~~~

sci-fi boi: okay which cartoon rivalry was better?? Popeye the sailor man and Bluto or Tom and Jerry?

crackhead [y/n]: dude.

crackhead [y/n]: how is that even a question??? Obviously Tom and Jerry lol

sci-fi boi: explanation pls

crackhead [y/n]: popeye and bluto were always fighting over that girl olive and some other stupid crap but with my two furry buddies it was no talk pete no discussions just murder attempts ON SIGHT. Tell me they don't go harder than any other rivalry

sci-fi boi: haha truuuu

~~~

"Are we boring you, Queens?"

Peter's head snapped up quickly, discreetly turning his phone off underneath the meeting table. "Um-huh? No no no, Mr. Rogers I'm listening. Sorry."

Steve shook his head and continued to speak as he pointed to the pictures on the screen at the end of the room. All of the Avengers of Earth were there, some half asleep, while the others either joked or listened intently.

In two short days, they were going to be taking back powerful tech that Martin Li(aka: Mr. Negative)'s "demons" had stolen from Stark Industries. A simple "get in and get out".

They'd known this plan for some days now, yet Steve insisted on calling meetings to go over it again and again.

Feeling a quick vibration go off in his hand, Peter instinctively looked back down at his phone to see a snapchat text notification from you.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible🐝...

~~~

Peter shook his head slightly as he chuckled, a smile shamelessly creeping onto his face.

~~~

sci-fi boi: did you really just quote the bee movie at me???😂😂

~~~

"Hey spidey-boy, would you mind sharing to the class what's so hilarious?" Rhodey's voice rang out loud and clear from across the table.

Quick as lightning, Peter turned his phone off and buried it in between his thighs, realizing that he hadn't been as quiet as he'd thought. To his luck, everyone’s eyes were trained on him now.

“It's n-nothing!” Peter squeaked, his voice breaking embarassingly. He shoved his phone into his pocket in fear of someone snatching it from him.

Natasha rolled her eyes and smirked. "So what're you looking at down there?"

"I-i, uh, I was just um, w-watching a funny- very funny video actually-"

"C'mon guys!," Sam laughed, clapping his hands together. "Don't tease the kid. We all know what he was smiling at down there!"

At that, Peter practically choked. "WHAT?!"

Tony snickered. "Personally, I don't think two inches is something to be proud of, but alright."

Peter's eyes widen, nearly falling out of his skull by the looks of it. "I-it's not two inches a-and I wasn't looking at-!"

"Jesus christ, guys..." Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He was obviously just doing something on his phone. Leave the poor guy alone."

Peter coughed as he saw Steve glare at him with that infamous 'Im Captain America and Im judging you' glare. Phones weren't allowed in the meeting room. Well, they weren't supposed to be. No one ever really followed that rule except Peter. But he'd already been so deep in his conversation with you that he just couldn't put his phone down. "No no, um, I wasn't.. I was just zoning out, y'know, and I just happened to be looking-"

"-at your phone?," Steve cut in to ask.

"-at your dick," Rhodey stated at the same time.

"-at porn," Tony said with an all-knowing smile, causing everyone at the table to turn towards either him or Peter, whose face was beet red with embarrassment.

"Peter please tell us you weren't watching porn," Scott begged, his jaw completely dropped. "I mean, no judgment but-"

"Full judgement, actually," Clint corrected, an extremely disturbed look on his face. "Seriously, what were you doing, kid? You gotta tell us now with all these assumptions being thrown around."

"Curious," Thor stated, leaning back in his chair. "What is porn?"

"Something that I definitely WAS NOT watching!," Peter responded as he practically slammed his face into the table and slapped his hands over his eyes. "Does it even matter what I was doing anyway?," he mumbled into the table.

Natasha raised an eyebrow, blowing the smoke off of her coffee. "People usually aren't this defensive when they're telling the truth, Peter."

Peter shrunk into his seat with a loud groan. Can I die. Can I please just die. Like why am I seriously even alive right now??? Some bad guy please just burst through the door and maim me please.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. pull up Parker's phone," Tony commanded once the commotion in the room died down.

Peter quickly lifted his head. "Wait, what?!"

"Accessing Peter Parker's mobile device, sir," F.R.I.D.A.Y. responded. "Would you like for me to transfer the screen to the meeting board?"

Tony looked back with a laugh to see a frozen, slack-jawed Peter. He turned back around. "Yeah sure, F.R.I.D.A.Y., what the heck let's have fun."

"No wait- are you seriously hacking into my phone right now?!"

"Well why're you so tense, Parker?," Sam asked teasingly. "Thought you had nothing to hide?"

"I-i don't!," he stammered. "I-it's just..." he trailed off, looking for the right words to say. "..that's my private property," he said lamely while staring at the wall.

Tony stared back at him. "Well that's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard." He pointed towards the board. "Alright it's coming up."

Scott closed his eyes. "Oh God, please don't be porn.."

Peter rolled his eyes. Everyone else looked to the large board, fully expecting to see either porn or just some stupid game the boy had been playing.

But none of them expected him to be texting a girl.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: hey u still there?

~~~

"Who's crackhead [Y/N]?," Natasha asked.

Scott turned to Rhodes who was sitting on the side of him. "Is that some trashy porn star?," he whispered.

"Why're you asking me like I know?"

"It's this girl from school.." Peter answered, blushing profusely.

"And you like her," Natasha noted, watching his body language intently.

The boy's eyes widened. "N-no I don't!"

"Why crackhead though?," Rhodey asked, crinkling his nose.

Peter shrugged. "That's what she wanted her name to be," here responded. "Thought it was funny."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Just like you thought 'sci-fi boi' was funny?" Shaking his head, he changed focused. "Guys, are we gonna get back to work or not?"

"Not," Tony answered as he scrolled up all the way to the beginning of the messages from early that morning. "So, you've been texting this girl today off and on since..." He checked the time. "Five in the morning?"

Clint chuckled. "Oh yeah, huge crush."

“No!” Peter protested, his voice an octave too high. Realizing that it isn’t working, he decided to try a different technique. Clearing his throat, he tried to sound and act as nonchalant as possible. “She’s just a friend from school.”

"She's first on your best friends list, even over that computer kid you practically live with. And you and her practically snap each other nonstop."

Peter scratched his nose. "W-well that's only cuz Ned doesn't like to text much."

Bruce took his glasses off and sighed, realizing there was no way this meeting was getting back on topic. "Look Pete," he said. "Friends don't do that. I've seen it all before. If you and this girl are talking on a daily basis all throughout the day starting at five in the morning?" He titled his head in a suggestive way, though Peter stared back at him blankly.

"What?," Peter asked.

"Oh my God, kid," Bruce sighed.

Tony held his head back and laughed. "It means either she likes you and your just too dense, you like her but won't admit it and she's just concerningly nice, or you both like each other and just won't make your moves!"

Sam, who hadn't lifted his eyes from the board the entire time, spoke up. "And judging by these texts, you already got her, it's just not official yet."

Tony kept scrolling. "You two went to winter formal together?"

"Yeah... but as friends," Peter said with a shrug.

Steve cleared his throat loudly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room at once. He looked at Peter who was doing everything here could not to look him in the eye. "Look, as much as I would love to talk about Peter's sad love life, we have a mission-"

"-that will still be there tomorrow, Cap," Bucky finished for him. "C'mon we've been going over this stuff for hours. Let us have this distraction."

Everyone looked to him, Tony feigning a puppy dog expression. Crossing his arms, he left the room. "Fine, but when someone gets hurt because they didn't know where they were supposed to go, don't blame me."

"...literally no one's ever blaming you, man," Sam said.

Suddenly, the screen lit up and F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke. "Sir, Peter Parker has a new message."

Everyone looked to the board. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Scroll down, Mr. Stark. Scroll down!," Peter yelled frantically. "What's she saying?"

Natasha smirked. "And you're sure you don't like her, Peter?"

His face flushed. "Okay fine...I might have a tiny crush-"

"I'm sorry I can't hear you," Tony cut in. "Can you say that agai-"

"-I SAID YEAH I REALLY LIKE THIS GIRL!," Peter finally yelled with his eyes squeezed shut. He kept them closed for about twenty seconds afterwards, afraid of the judging faces he would see if he opened them.

He carefully opened his eyes to see all of the avengers (minus Cap) staring back at him with stupid smiles and smirks on their faces.

"Well, that's all I needed to hear," Tony said. He clapped his hands together. "Okay everybody, first order of business, checking the text. Sam, you're our reader."

"Got it."

"What?," Peter yelled, reaching for his phone. Tony dodged him and gave it to Sam. "Mr. Stark, I can text a girl on my own. I don't need help."

"Nat, you're our timer. Make sure none of the responses take longer than a minute. We don't want the girl to get bored and go on to something else."

"Check."

"Mr. Stark, c'mon-"

"Sam, you explain stuff to lightning head over here if he doesn't understand it. This could be learning moment for ole Shakespeare. Thor, you listen to Sam."

"Right."

"On it."

"Everyone else, you're with me. We gotta find the perfect thing to say to this girl. I've got a feeling this is probably the only chance he's gonna have to get a girl in a long time."

Rhodes, Scott, Clint, Bruce, and Wanda looked to each other and nodded.

"And Pete?"

Peter raised his head. "Yes sir?"

"You know this girl more than anybody here does, so you tell us if what we say is appropriate for her or not."

Peter rolled his eyes and nodded. After all, what's the worst that can happen?

Tony pointed to Sam. "Okay, read it."

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: u going to flash's party on saturday??

~~~

"She wants to know if the kid's going to some party Saturday."

Tony turned to the boy. "You're going," her demanded.

Flash was the most popular douchebag in school. Totally rich and totally rude and totally determined to use his every breath to spite Peter. "I wasn't even invited," Peter mumbled, shooting a glare towards Sam when he heard him laughing.

"Well get invited," Tony ordered. "A party is the perfect place to make a move. Send yes."

~~~

sci-fi boi: yes

~~~

"Mr. Stark, how am I supposed to get into this party? Flash hates me! And if I crash it and Flash sees me, he's gonna make sure everyone thinks I'm a loser!"

Tony rolled his eyes and sighed. "Peter we're trying to help you here. Figure that part out on your own."

Peter sighed, leaning forward in his chair. The last thing he wanted was another assignment, even if it wasn't actually an assignment. On the plus side, he'd get to see you, and maybe have some fun if he actually tried to enjoy himself.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: cool so i guess ill go too

~~~

Rhodey chuckled while shaking his head. "Kid, if you don't ask this chick out the second you see her again, I'm gonna bodyslam you."

Peter frowned. "What do you mean?"

Bruce smiled. "Whether or not she went to the party was depending on if you were going," he pointed out.

"This girl used to be like that with me back in college," Scott said with a shrug. "Thought she liked me. Turned out she just had social anxiety..."

"Yeah you're really not helping this, bugman," Tony said.

"Wait, you guys think [Y/N] actually likes me back?," Peter asked, getting groans and laughs in return.

"Where have you been the last few minutes?," Natasha said.

"We've literally been saying that this entire time," Sam deadpanned.

Peter stared at his feet below the table. If the team was right, and you did actually like him back, then the movie marathon he was planning was the perfect excuse to hang out with you. "I-i think I might have a plan!," he rushed out, his head flying up. He pointed to Sam. "Ask her if she's free tonight!"

"Yes!," Thor yelled, his fists pumped into the air. "The spider child has grown his man balls!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Sam nodded approvingly as he texted.

~~~

sci-fi: r u free tonight??😉

~~~

"Wait hold on," Peter said, suddenly rushing towards the phone in a frantic manner. "Why is there a winking emoji?! I didn't say anything about a winking emoji!"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were flirti-"

Peter groaned. "Delete it, man. Delete it before her bitmoji pops up!"

"Okay okay, dang kid," Sam chuckled, quickly deleting the text and replacing it with one without a winking emoji. "There. And ya girl didn't even see it."

"Hey guys," Scott said. "I know we're all freaking out and stuff. But honestly, I'm just glad he wasn't watching porn." He shrugged. "So no matter what happens with this girl, today's still an absolute win."

It went on like this for a solid thirty minutes.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: yeah wassup

sci-fi boi: wanna come over and watch movies?

crackhead [y/n]: sure what're we watching

sci-fi boi: we can decide that when u get here. how about 4??

crackhead [y/n]: alright sure

~~~

"Okay, last thing," Tony said. "We need a sly compliment. Something not that special about her, but enough to show her that you're tuned in. Gets them every time, trust me."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Wow, lady-killer."

Tony pointed towards her and shrugged. "She said it, not me."

Thor looked to Peter. "So, young spider. What have you observed about your darling love?"

Peter blushed, almost wanting to comment on the Thor's word choice but ultimately deciding not to. "Well, um, her eyes light up a lot when she gets excited and it's really dorky in a cute kind of way I guess," he mumbled, scratching his head.

"Alright I got it," Sam said, typing the words in. He lifted his shoulders into a shrug. "Who knows, kid? There be some hope for you."

~~~

sci-fi boi: btw how do you get ur eyes to sparkle so bright when u get happy about stuff? Just thinking about it lol its cute

~~~

-

Peter blew out a shaky breath as he looked back over the set-up he'd made in the living room.

He'd cleared out space to build a super huge homemade blanket fort and inside it at the end was his tv. Towards the middle were all of pillows he could find inside the house and at the other end were snacks. All around the inside were fairy lights because he knew you liked them, though personally he found them cliche.

He spent about an hour on the whole set and an additional thirty minutes stressing over and making sure everything was safe (with all three fairy lights and tv cords). The last thing he needed was for the both of you to catch on fire while watching the movie.

The two of you were going to be watching Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (or as normal 'not-nerds' like to call it, "the first one"). Of course, he hadn't told the team that. If they'd known what movie he'd planned on showing her, high chances are they wouldn't have even let him out of Avengers tower. But if Peter was gonna be forced to hang out with someone (not that he was really complaining), he would at least pick the film.

Finally checking all the boxes in his head for the night, Peter went to go check the DVD before he heard your knock at the door.

"Coming!," he yelled, quickly chucking the disc into the DVD player. He ran to the door and opened it with an awkward smile. "Uh, hey [Y/N]."

"Hey," you said back, already sort of blushing. "How's it going?"

Peter stared. Are your eyebrows done or are they just naturally that nice? He found his voice after abruptly noticing that he was staring. "Uh-well. It's been going great! How's it going for y-you also as well?" He frowned. "I-i mean, what's been going on with your life lately? No, that's dumb. I meant-"

"Peter, Peter! Calm down, dude," you giggled. "I've been fine."

"Oh," he chuckled. "That's good... d-do you wanna come in?"

"Question. What're we watching, Peter?," you asked, a smile playing on your face. Considering what you remembered from the last time you were at his house, and the fort you could get a peek of from the doorframe, you figured it was special for the nerdy boy. Plus his shirt had Yoda on it.

Freakin' Star Wars.

Immediately, a wide grin spread across his face. "Remember what you promised me we'd watch?"

You rolled your eyes, stepping past him into his living room. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Time to get nerdy I guess."

"Come on, you'll love it,"Peter said, quickly closing the door behind them and then briskly running towards the fort to hold up the side blankets for you. "So, snacks and drinks are beside us. We'll chill on these blankets here. And...um, yeah. That's about it." After stepping outside for a bit to go turn off the lights(for the full "movie theater" experience), Peter laid down on his belly, reaching for the DVD player to press play.

You watched as he fumbled with the wires, making sure the DVD player was plugged in before turning it on. Has your jawline always been that sharp?

You couldn't quite place it, but his texts from before seemed.. weird. But not a bad weird at all. A good, intriguing weird.

And that compliment was pretty nice, but odd for Peter. Sure, he complimented you often, but it just felt different this time. Usually it'd be something like, "new dress?" or "nice shoes". But never "you're eyes sparkle when you get excited." Heck, you didn't even know that about you. Was he paying attention? Did that mean he-

You remember how he acted about Liz Allen and Michelle Jones. Always staring. Never able to even say a full sentence in front of them without stuttering up a storm.

But he was so comfortable about you for the most part. You were just a friend.

"Okay got it," Peter said, laughing excitedly as the screen in front of him lit up. He scooted back to where you were sat. "Prepare to have your mind blown."

The Fort quickly became dark as the Lucasfilm logo shined on the screen.

"I seriously dou-"

"Shhh!," he cut you off. "Wait for it..."

You gave him a look but joined him in his silence to see what he was waiting for.

BUMMMMM buh buh bummmm

Practically jumping on top of him, you flinched at the loud and sudden music. "Crap dude! Turn it down!"

Peter shook his head, reaching for a soda. "You have to get the full effect, [Y/N]!," he laughed. "Just embrace it." He began to sing with the music and mime crazy gestures as if he were directing an orchestra.

Duh duh duh DUH DUHHHHHHHH

Halfway through he stopped and recited the opening crawl, his eyes glued to the screen with a sort of focus that made you sure that not only was this not foreign to him, he probably did this every other week.

"It is a period of civil war," he mumbled, throwing some popcorn into his mouth. "Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic- [Y/N] you have to watch the words, I swear it'll make the whole experience better." It went on for a little while longer until he paused the movie and looked over at you, cowering a bit. "D-do I have something on my face?"

"Huh? Nah you're good," you said, realizing he'd noticed you staring. "It's just-" you remembered his text from earlier. "-you got really excited... It-um..it was cute."

Because of the darkness(the only lighting being from the tv), you couldn't see if Peter blushed or not, but you could clearly see the stupid grin plastered on his face that he was trying to hide from you with his hand. Repeatedly licking his lips as a desperate attempt to stop smiling as he pressed play on the remote control. "A-ah, um, thanks [Y/N]."

The opening crawl was over and soon the movie actually began, showing a huge spaceship.

"That's the imperial star destroyer," Peter whispered, never taking his eyes off the screen. "They belong to the empire." He saw your blank expression, wide eyes as he realized that meant nothing to you. "Uh, the bad guys."

You squinted your eyes at the screen, silently judging the graphics of the energy blasts- space bullets?- or whatever they were supposed to be. "Pete, when was this movie made?"

"1977."

"Oh okay," you said, deciding to give it some leeway for the trash designs.

You scooted a little closer to your friend, figuring you'd get a little bit more comfortable.

Oh how he wished you hadn't done that.

Nothing like actual, physical contact with a girl that you like and you think she might like you back to actually manage to distract you from one of your favorite movies ever.

He froze, not wanting to pull away and offend you, but definitely not wanting to stay because just being this close to you was making his mind run wild.

Does she actually like me back? What if Mr. Stark and the team only said that to get me to make a fool of myself? She's too comfortable with me. She just sees me as a friend. Or maybe she likes me and she's just really chill about it? Ooh my gosh and she's leaning on me right now. What am I 'sposed to do?? I don't know I don't know I don't know!!!!!!!!!

Deciding for a quick compromise, he got up completely to reach for another soda, though his sprite was still half finished. When he sat back down, he wasn't as close. Hopefully, you'd just see it as natural human behaviour and not him wanting to be away from you.

Course you would see it that way, wouldn't you?

"Oh my gosh I recognize someone! That's R2D2, right?!" You pointed wildly, glad to not be completely clueless for once with this nerd crap.

"Yeah that's R2," Peter responded, letting out a secret sigh of relief, thankful for the distraction.

"A-and that's that gold dude!"

"Yeah, C-3PO."

"And oh crap that's Princess Leia!," you shouted. "Fucking feminist icon!"

Peter tilted his head. "Wait, how would you know that if you've never watched this?"

You laughed. "I still have access to the internet, doofus! Scroll down the nerdy feminist side of tumblr and Leia is literally everywhere."

Peter chuckled as he finally finished his sprite. "Okay. Valid."

Since that, you stopped talking for a bit. Part of you actually did figure that since you're here, you might as well actually try to enjoy the movie and maybe find out what the fans actually see in it that makes them like it so much. The other part just really didn't want to annoy Peter while he was watching his favorite movie series.

But sometimes you just have to say something.

"Hold up, wait. Isn't that his sister? Oh my God, Pete I swear somebody told me before that Leia was Luke's twin!"

Peter shrugged while nodding. "Well, that's a bit of a spoiler, but yeah. What about it?"

"Oh my gosh, Pete- what about it?! Dude, he's literally making 'fuck me' eyes at his own sister! He's all like, 'ooh you're so sexy I'm gonna bone you all over the galaxy'. That's freaky!"

You grabbed the remote and began to rewind it.

"C'mon now [Y/N]," he explained. "He didn't call her sexy. He said she was beautiful. Sexy is wayyy different from beautiful. You can think your family members are beautiful can't you?"

You paused it once you got to where you wanted.

"Okay Parker, look at that. Look at that and tell me Lukes's not totally undressing her with his eyes!" You pointed at Peter's face with a goofy smile on yours. "Oh wow, I've finally figured you people out now."

Peter's head cocked to the side. "Figured out what?"

"Star Wars nerds are a bunch of horny kids that like that step-sibling porn stuff but can't watch that in front of their parents so they have to use an alternative!"

Peter fell on his back with laughter, practically rolling around like a pig. "[Y/N], what?!"

You gave him an incredulous look. "Who else likes to see two siblings bang each other, Peter?!"

At that he pointed back at you while picking up his other soda. "To be fair, they never do that with each other. They only kiss, like twice and that's it. And one of them is only to make Han Solo mad."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about the Han Solo guy. Where is he anyway?"

Peter smiled. "Well, we're only twenty mintues in. He'll come soon."

To tell the truth, Peter really didn't even know what part you were at. His eyes were watching the screen but nothing was being comprehended. The only thing he could manage to think about was all the tiny things that were going on over on your side of the fort. Did you notice him staring? Was Tony right and you were just concerningly nice?

"I love how everybody at this bar is so chill south everything that's happening. It's like oh wow this guy just shot this green dude at table 8 and nope we totally don't care," you joked, pulling Peter out of his trance. He reminded himself that he should probably try to pay more attention. He didn't want to ruin the movie for you in case you had any questions.

But eventually, like all things do, the movie came to an end.

"So, how'd you like it?," Peter said while neither one of you made a move to leave the dark fort. You were laid out in practically a starfish-type position while he was sitting Indian-style.

You smirked. "I'll admit, it was pretty nice for a movie made in 1977. Still a bit lame though," you teased, pinching your fingers together with a giggle. Suddenly, you gasped. "Ooh, Vader was pretty lit though! Just straight force-choking people who disagree with you is such a power move."

Peter rolled his eyes and scoffed lightly. "Typical..."

"Excuse me?"

He bit back a quick smile. "Look, I'm not saying that Darth Vader isn't awesome. Because he is! Totally and completely but [Y/N], you do realize that in literally every movie we watch you like the villains?," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Because the villains are awesome!," you defended.

"Just saying. I'm sensing a bit of a pattern...," he teased.

You scoffed. "This coming from the guy who actually feels bad about some the people crashing into things when we're watching Ridiculousness," you said, reminding in how Peter was forever the relentless sap. "Well, while you're so busy judging me, whose your favorite character?"

At that, he gave a small sincere smile. "Ben. He's really cool."

"Ben Kenobi? The old guy that literally let himself die? But why?"

He shrugged, the small grin still present on his face. "Eh, sentimental reasons..."

He watched you return his sweet smile and it was then and there when Peter really felt content with the night. Though, you hadn't even known the weight his words carried, he did. Ned was the only other person who knew about it. But Peter knew right then and there that if you had asked, he'd tell you. And he knew you'd understand. Maybe you were just nice. Or maybe you did like him back. But in that moment, Peter didn't care. He just wanted to be here with you. Lost in the warm smell of popcorn and your vanilla perfume, watching a Star Wars movie with Uncle Ben surely smiling down from Heaven. And it gave Peter hope that maybe, just maybe, this was a step in the right direction.

2 hours (and five minutes) down. 22 hours (and forty seven mintues) to go...

---------------------------------------

Taglist: @underoosjae @spn-assemble-seven @of-your-eyes-begonia-skies @parkerpeter24 , @audreylovespidey706

[stillebesat]

The Interview (5/5)

Sanders Sides: Logan, Patton, Virgil, Roman Blurb: A normal day at StoryTime! Inc. takes an unexpected turn when Logan goes to investigate why his coworkers have made a bet using Crofters as the prize. Fic Type: General, Human!AU Warnings: None

To Catch Up: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 

Logan hadn’t meant to stay for the entire negotiations on Roman’s commission. He could have easily excused himself from the room as soon as he’d pulled up the proper forms for Virgil to read through, negotiate, and then sign.

After all, he had his own pile of work that needed to be seen to before the day was over and Roman was quite capable of hiring his own employees. 

And yet.

He couldn’t help but be intrigued by what Virgil requested in exchange for each character piece that his brother wanted.

Virgil hadn’t been kidding when he said he’d followed Thomas from the beginning, and Logan should have realized when their new hire admitted to having theories on there being Two Princes at StoryTime! that he would be familiar with their work and placement within the company as well.

For Virgil had set to bartering with his brother like they were traders arguing over goods in the market. 

And those goods...were their respective skill sets. For every artwork Roman wanted, Virgil had ended up negotiating what had amounted to practically a month’s worth of various lessons from The Prince himself. That didn’t mean just learning more drawing or animating techniques. Their new hire had also convinced Roman to give him a handful of acting lessons, one singing lesson, a sneak peak at a couple of scripts his brother was working on, and a copy of Roman’s Broadway performances Logan had secretly recorded before they’d been hired onto StoryTime!.

How Virgil knew about those recordings Logan had no idea. He’d kept those tapes under wraps...so he’d thought. 

But not once did a monetary value cross Virgil’s lips as the price for his work as he carefully took notes on his beat up phone of every detail his brother wanted.

Logan was sure their new hire could have used the cash, but to have him seeking to improve his skills was admirable. Plus, the amount of questions he asked showed that Virgil was willing to put in the work to make Roman happy, though it was very apparent that his brother, from the ragged state of his usually perfectly styled hair, hadn’t expected him to go into quite so much detail about what he wanted in each artwork. 

Virgil pulled at the tie around his neck, loosening it to the point where it looked more like a shiny ribbon than a tie. “But Princey.” He argued, his eyes sparking with the fire Logan had seen down below as he leaned forward, pushing the sleeves of his suit up. “You have to pick one face of the Mayor.”

Roman buried his head in his hands. “I knoooooow, Stormcloud! Stop badgering me. I didn’t expect that I would need to!” 

Virgil scoffed, tapping his phone screen. “You didn’t expe--have you ever done commissions before, Romanji? You’re basically the driving force of StoryTime! and you can’t decide on a face? Where is this ‘You push on! No matter the hardship! No matter the voice that tells you you can’t!” 

His brother pointed a finger at Virgil without looking up. “Don’t you DARE quote Psycho Godfather Wars at me! GAH!” 

Logan fought back a laugh as he shook his head, pulling the portfolio closer to him. “Honestly Roman, the solution to which face of the Mayor should wear is simple.” 

“Simple!” Roman scoffed, twisting in his chair to him, throwing his arms out. “How can such a choice be considered simple!”

He raised an eyebrow. Well, it would have been a simple solution if he hadn’t distracted Roman from looking through Virgil’s entire portfolio. A pity. He would need to ensure his brother properly looked through it later tonight. “Virgil’s portfolio already contains the answer to your problem.”

“My artwork? Sure it’s--” Virgil ran a hand through his hair, flushing. “ah...g-good and all, but I don’t see how--”

Artists. Logan flipped open the page to the green basilisk from earlier, sliding it to them with a faint smile. 

Virgil stared at it wide eyed before face palming. “OF COURSE!” 

“Of course?” Roman leaned forward. “How does--” 

Virgil shook his head. “It will probably take a bit of trial and error.” He said leaning forward. “But” He shifted the paper, so Roman could see the basilisk’s scales switch from green to white. “If I can get it to work on the head--”

“We can have the Mayor wear both faces at once! Virgil you genius!” Roman clapped him on the back before eagerly pulling the artwork to him. “How in the world did you do this? You gotta teach me!”

“Te--Teach you?” Virgil managed, going pale as he rubbed the spot Roman had touched.

Logan sat back, adjusting his glasses as his brother nodded, his eyes racing over the page while he shifted the paper back and forth. “It’s an ink right? But almost like paint--this is like ah!” Roman snapped his fingers. “Specs! Do you remember in school--with the gel pens?”

How could he forget? Logan pulled the pages of Virgil’s contract from the printer, ensuring they were all there and in order before he tapped them into a neat pile. “You mean the markers you filled with glitter that--”

“Caused Miss Mary Lee to sparkle for a month straight when one exploded? YES!” Roman chuckled. “She banned me from markers for the rest of the school year.” 

Which was unfortunate because she couldn’t tell him and Roman apart so Logan too had been banned from them that year. He quirked an eyebrow. “Not that it stopped you from ruining the crayons, the colored pencils, the regular pencils, every pen you touched, the chalk, the--”

“Seriously?” Virgil’s brought a fist to his lips, but not before a soft laugh broke free. “Princey, are you sure you’re not a Demon? A Destroyer of Creativity?”

Roman shot to his feet with an offended gasp. “HOW DARE YOU! I AM--”

“Definitely all those and more.” Logan interceded as Virgil jerked back, wide eyed. “At least, he was as a child.” He allowed. “He’s improved slightly since then.” He smirked, raising an eyebrow to Roman. “Slightly.” 

His brother jerked a hand to his heart as if he’d been stabbed. “Traitor! I haven’t broken a pen in-” 

“He’s not dead, Reese.” Patton’s tiny voice piped up from Logan’s watch. 

“Wanna bet your famous pasta on that?” Her voice asked into the silence. “He’s totally been taken by a Vampire.” 

“Vampire?” Virgil asked, glancing around for the source of the voices.

Roman’s lowered his hands, a smirk playing on his lips. “Oooh? You didn’t tell me the others are interested in our new hire.” 

Virgil paled. “Others?” 

Logan exhaled, silencing his watch. He had stayed too long. He should have realized his team would get suspicious with his long absence. “And if I say yes?”

Roman’s smile grew, humor dancing in his eyes as he leaned in. “Then I would ask why exactly did you go find my new hire, Lo?”

Logan shrugged a shoulder, moving to stand so he was on the same eye level as Roman. He would need to tread carefully here. But it wasn’t like Virgil wouldn’t find out eventually. “As I told Virgil earlier, it was noted that he’d been outside for quite some time.” 

“And you went to investigate?” His brother raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “You don’t go outside Specs.”

Logan rolled his eyes, fiddling with his glasses. “You know for a fact that I do.”

“Not before dusk. Maybe you’re a vampire after all.” 

Of course his brother would make them go through such a silly conversation. He turned away, breaking eye contact as he slipped Virgil’s contract into a folder and handed it to Roman “Make sure Virgl reads, negotiates the proper terms and signs this before he leaves as I regrettably-” and it was regrettable as watching Virgil interact with Roman was far more fascinating than crunching numbers and managing budgets. “-have to return to my own department.” 

“Right right, but don’t ignore the fact that you’re avoiding my accusation brother dear.” Roman grinned, taking the contract with a nod. “Did you actually become a vampire and not tell me? Rude!”

Hardly. Though with everyone’s apparent obsession with the creatures Logan could foresee their MC being a vampire in StoryTime!’s next movie. “As Virgil can attest, I was fine standing in the sun. So obviously, I am not a vampire.” 

 “I dunno…” Virgil licked his lips, a careful humor all too similar to Roman’s sparking in his mismatched eyes as he pushed down his sleeves. “The forums did circle that particular rumor around for a while a couple years ago about you, Specs. But what is this...uh...bet? Why did you come outside to..well...see me…” He tilted his head, rubbing his arm as he studied Logan. “If you don’t usually leave?” 

Roman suddenly smirked, laying the contract on the desk near his commission notes. “Ooooh. If I didn’t know better I would say this probably involves….” He paused for dramatic effect. “Cofters.”

Despite himself, Logan flinched. “No!” He denied, though from the way Roman’s eyes lit up, he’d negated the accusation too quickly for it to be believable. 

Virgil frowned, looking between the two. “Crofters? The Movie?”

“The jam.” Roman clarified. “Lo here’s obsessed with the stuff. Come on.” He advanced around the desk as Logan took two short steps backwards towards the door to stay out of range. “Tell us brother mine. Why did Crofters make you go outside for my interviewee?”

 Logan cleared his throat. “For the record I didn’t know who Virgil was or his purpose for being here when I ventured outside.”

“But you had your suspicions.” Their new hire said, shifting in his seat. “You asked if I was here for an interview.”

Logan nodded. “Yes, your portfolio was enough of an indication of that and Roman has lost people in his department recently, so it was a simple enough conjecture to assume you were here to interview with him.” 

“Even so, dozens upon dozens of people holding portfolios have passed beneath our windows.” Roman stated, gesturing out his own windows. “Why then would you choose to interfere with my interview when you told, nay, you promised me you wouldn--”

“Alright!” Logan shook his head, spreading his arms in surrender. “I admit Crofters was the motivator for why I went outside but it had nothing, and I repeat, nothing.” He met Virgil’s mismatched eyes. “To do with me hiring you. You earned your spot at StoryTime!, Virgil. You have the talent and skill of one who’s worked with us for years. There’s no doubt there. Crofters had nothing to do with it.” He gestured to his watch. “While there are friendly bets that take place among the people who work here; policy, as is more fully outlined in your contract, dictates that said bets never involve work related matters. Since you are our new hire, no bets can be made about you or your work from here on out.”

Virgil let out an unsteady breath, giving a shallow nod. “Okay...good..yah...good to know…” He pulled the tie from around his neck, twisting it among his fingers. “So you...so this...bet?” 

“Was between Patton and Reese on whether or not you would come inside the building, nothing more.” Logan said simply.

Roman blinked. “Come inside? Why wouldn’t he come inside?”

“Because the forums made you out to be freaking terrifying, Princey.” Virgil muttered.

His brother inhaled...hesitated then sheepishly shrugged. “Okay, That I can’t deny. I have a vision after all! I can’t settle for second rate!”  

That was accurate on both accounts. Hence Roman’s intense pre-interview requirements for each application. Logan shifted a step closer to the door. “Regardless, your loitering outside drew their attention and so the bet was made.” 

“Right on me...coming inside.” Virgil ran his fingers through his hair, the careful humor coming back into his eyes. “So who won?” 

Roman snapped his fingers. “Patton.” 

Logan nodded, not at all surprised he had guessed correctly. “Yes. He was quite adamant that Virgil would come inside. Offering up six jars of Crofters and his triple death by chocolate brownies before I was made aware of the situation.” 

His brother whistled, clapping Virgil on the shoulder. “SIX. EmoKnightmare you already have Patton’s heart! He never goes above three.” 

Virgil flushed, fidgeting in his chair. “So...Reese?” 

“Bet that you would not come in, yes, but do not take that to heart.” Logan said. “She enjoys being contrary as you’ll find out soon enough.” Once Virgil signed the paperwork and finished the basic training, he would be given a full tour around StoryTime! and introduced to the various teams. After all, Virgil couldn’t become part of the FamILY if he didn’t meet everyone. 

“Ten more minutes and I’m calling it. R.I.P to Specs. He had a good run.” Reese piped up from the watch. 

Logan exhaled, straightening his tie. “That, I believe, is my cue to go assure the others that I am not dead and not a vampire.” 

Virgil smirked, shoulders relaxing. “Being a vampire technically means you’re dead, well undead, but go off I guess.” 

Logan rolled his eyes. “Finish your commission talk you two, and Roman.” He pointed a finger at his brother. “I expect Virgil’s signed contract on my desk before I leave.”

“Easy enough.” Roman winked returning to his chair. “Considering you never leave.” 

He wasn’t going to live that down anytime soon was he? Logan gave them a nod. “Virgil, it’s been a pleasure. I look forward to seeing your work here at StoryTime!.”

“Ah..yah..thanks…” Virgil rubbed the back of his head, giving him a half smile. “Cya around Specs.”

With the niceties over, Logan slipped outside, heading back to his own office. Of how he had expected his day to go, this momentary distraction with Virgil had been-

“HE LIVES!!” Callie cheered as he entered the room.

“I do indeed...why would you assume I did not?” Logan asked, briefly meeting Patton’s worried gaze and offered him a small smile. 

Patton straightened, giving him a blindingly wide grin in return as he laid his sketchpad on the nearest desk.

“Because you were gone for forever that’s why!” Reese stated swiveling to him. “Soooo?” 

“So?” Logan rolled down his sleeves as she threw her hands out with a scoff. 

“Weeeeelllll, what happened Specs? Is the kid any good at all or did you just want Patton to win the bet?” 

“Virgil has been hired on as StoryTime!’s newest member of the FamILY.” He said matter of factly, glancing to Patton and Callie as they cheered.

“YES!” Patton pumped his fist. “I knew you could do it, kiddo!” He stood, looking around. “Where is he? Can I meet him?”

Like he would be able to stop Patton from darting off to find him even if he said no. “He’s finishing filling out the forms with Roman now, so I wouldn’t interrupt them just yet. BUT.” Logan adjusted his glasses, looking to each of them in turn. “Virgil was hired based on his skills, not because I wanted Patton to win the bet. It could have easily been you, Reese, if he had been found lacking.” 

Reese groaned, dropping her head to her desk with a thud. “That doesn’t make me feel better, Specs. I had could have had six. SIX. Jars of Crofters and the triple death by chocolate brownies on my desk tomorrow morning. But Noooooo. You’ve deprived me of the simple joys in life.” 

Dramatic as always. “You didn’t lose everything, Reese.” He said, waiting until she lifted her head before he continued. “Virgil didn’t enter the building until I invited him in.” 

“What?!” Callie gasped, eyes going wide. “No!”

Reese cackled, grinning like a demon. “YES! That means candy for me!” She spun to Callie, holding out her hand. “A handful of your-” Her lips twisted. “Christmas candy, Cals. As agreed.” 

“I can’t believe he’s a vampire! He was out in the sun.” She whispered, unknowingly echoing Logan’s earlier point as she pulled open a drawer in her desk. 

“Well maybe he’s a hybrid.” Reese threw out. “Times have changed since the world went from black and white to color and ARE THOSE FREAKING CANDY CANES?” 

Callie blinked, holding up a dozen multicolored candy canes towards Reese. “Yes?”

“Why in the world do you have those HERE already?!” She practically screeched. “EW!! Cal! That’s an affront to all things Thanksgiving!”

Laughter danced in Callie’s eyes as she shook her head. “No it’s not. I thought it was rather festiv--”

Logan turned to Patton and tilted his head towards the door in a silent question. 

Patton nodded and the two of them slipped out of the room while the girls were distracted with their argument over when holidays should be celebrated. 

“So? How did it go really?” Patton asked as soon as they entered Logan’s office, eagerly taking a seat. “You took quite a while to look through the kid--ah Virgil’s work before you both came inside and then you well.” He made a small poofing noise. “Vanished.” 

“It went…” Logan ran his fingers along his tie as he sat down. “Well. Virgil was nervous to face my brother and so I offered to look through his portfolio for him and after what I saw….” He looked up. “I hired him on the spot.” He confided quietly.  

Patton gasped, nearly falling off his chair as he leaned forward to grab Logan’s hands, eyes wide with concern. “You?!--but after last time, you knew Roman--” 

“Would be upset and he was as expected.” Logan twisted his wrists so his fingers twined with Patton’s. “But the risk I took was calculated and you know how good I am at math.” He said. “Roman was quick to change his tune when he realized that Virgil was none other than his beloved EmoKnightmare478.” 

”WHAT?!” Patton shrieked, bouncing in his chair, squeezing Logan’s hands. “That--How COOL! Was Roman excited?”

Logan didn’t hold back his smile. Really the odds of Virgil being the interview had been beyond extraordinary. He was sure Roman would be gushing about this for weeks. “Beyond excited. He’s commissioning Virgil to draw the entire Nightmare Before Christmas cast in the Sallyized Jack style.”

Patton’s eyes went wide behind his glasses. “Whoa.” He breathed. 

“Exactly. Which is why I didn’t return right away, I was overseeing their negotiations…the kid--” Logan let out a breath, squeezing Patton’s hands. “He’s got quite the unique outlook. He has amazing, innovative designs of his own make and an active eye to StoryTime!’s future that could help us continue to reach out to more audiences and I just--” 

“You just?” Patton encouraged, softly, eyes shimmering as he glanced to the door, more than likely itching to go meet Virgil in person though his hands remained steady in Logan’s.

He shrugged. “I think he’ll fit in quite well here. Plus, he and Roman are actually getting along and that’s...big.” His brother didn’t always warm up quickly to the new hires and he and Virgil already had quite the dynamic going. 

“If Roman likes him, then I’m sure he’ll fit in just fine here with the rest of us, Lo.” Patton said, giving him a sly wink as he gestured to the three jars of Crofters sitting on his desk. “We’ll make the kiddo feel like he’s part of the FamILY in no time. I promise.”

End

Taglist in Reblog

[sociallyawkward--fics]

52 and/or 61

Oh! And let’s do a Thomas Sanders Analogical. (I’m a sucker for analogical.)

———————–

[ao3 link]

Yup yup yup! Coming right up! The only idea for a while to occur to me was one VERY similar that I’d already written for Prinxiety so hopefully I managed to get far enough away from that one lol (I think I did at least)

(Also now I meet a conundrum because I want to title this the quote from 61, but I already have the Prinxiety fic titled that lol)

Also also, Punk Logan, except I don’t really know how to write Punk Logan but it’s whatever lol. And if this seems choppy it’s because I wrote it in segments at weird times lol

52. “Are you going to talk to me?”

61. “I told you not to fall in love with me.”

Word Count: 2779 (I was trying to keep it short but this is where we ended up lol)

——————————–

This was Virgil’s own personal hell. He was well and truly fucked. He should’ve never gone to school ever a day in his life just to avoid this moment.

He had to adapt a scene from a play, probably Shakespeare, he zoned out in terror before the teacher finished explaining, into modern-day language and then perform it in front of the entire class. And to top it all off, it was a partner project. He had to work with another person.

At least he wouldn’t have to perform alone.

But, just his luck, Virgil couldn’t just flock to Roman for the partner project like he always did. The teacher just had to assign partners. And Roman, with all his good luck, got that super nice new kid. Patton, Virgil thought his name was?

And Virgil got stuck with Logan Berry. The most intimidating kid in the class, maybe the school, notorious for getting into trouble on a regular basis.

“You have the rest of the class period to work with your partner,” Mrs. Mitchell said. “Pair up. And I better see working! No goofing around!”

Virgil hesitantly looked over at Logan, seeing him already packing his stuff up and and standing from his desk. Virgil took a deep breath and curled in on himself.

Roman clapped his shoulder as he left his desk next to Virgil, heading over to Patton. “Good luck, Virge. Tame the beast.”

“Yeah, right,” Virgil hissed back, glaring at Roman’s retreating back.

He jumped as Logan plopped down in Roman’s seat. Barely holding back another jump when Logan’s backpack was tossed to the ground between them.

“So we got some scene between Benedick and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing,” Logan said, sounding bored.

Virgil nodded.

“So I guess we’ll have to adapt it so that Beatrice is a dude, unless one of us wants to dress in drag.”

Virgil nodded.

“And then I suppose we’ll do the hula and get chased down by hyenas.”

Virgil started to nod, then jerked slightly and shot Logan a weird look as best as he could without meeting his eyes.

Logan rolled his eyes, Virgil could tell by the head movement, and tugged at one of the studs in his ears. “Just checking if you were actually listening.”

Virgil nodded again.

Logan buried his head in his hands. He looked up, exasperation rolling off of him in waves. “Look, we need to do this project. Are you going to talk to me? Or not?”

Virgil opened and shut his mouth a few times.

Logan ran a hand through his hair, wincing when his fingers caught in a knot and carelessly dropping the blue strands that came loose to the floor. Virgil scowled a little. That was kind of gross.

“Look, I get it, I’m scary, whatever. Everyone’s freaked out by me. Can we just do the project?”

Virgil nodded and tried to take a deep breath. “Making Beatrice a guy would be okay,” Virgil got out in a choked whisper.

Logan raised his hands to the sky, as if in praise. “He speaks!”

Virgil looked back down at his desk and scowled.

By the time they got to actually discussing their plans for switching Beatrice’s gender, the period was almost over. Virgil winced apologetically when the bell rang in the middle of one of Logan’s comments.

“You won’t have any more class time for this,” the teacher called. “You have a month and a half to finish this project, make sure you get together with your partner to finish and rehearse!”

Virgil wanted to growl at their teacher’s words. Logan actually did.

“Of course she doesn’t give us any more class time for this, she can’t even fucking teach.”

Virgil’s eyes widened and snapped to Logan’s face.

Logan turned his glare on him. “What?”

Virgil averted his eyes again and raised his hand in surrender, speedily packing his stuff. Logan ripped his notebook out of his hands, scribbled something in the margins, and shoved it back at Virgil, standing to leave.

“Let me know when you’re free to work on the project,” he said as he left.

Virgil looked down at the notebook. Messily scrawled in blue ink was a phone number.

Ugh, Virgil hated texting first.

Roman had to talk him into at lunch, Patton joining them for the meal and providing his own support. 

Eventually, Virgil did text, right before the bell to signal the end of lunch rang. Logan texted back nearly immediately and they (unfortunately) made plan’s to walk to Logan’s after school (because Virgil absolutely refused to do this at his house, even if Logan also absolutely did not want to do it at his) to make more progress on their project.

Virgil worried about it throughout the rest of his classes. He’d worked himself well up by the time he was walking out the front doors with Roman and Patton.

“He can’t be that bad,” Patton chirped, bouncing next to Roman. “Lots of people can seem scary, even if they’re super nice.”

Roman laughed. “Not sure about that, but he definitely won’t murder you if he has to do a project with you. I’ve heard others who have worked with him say that he’s secretly a nerd. Could even be in the running for valedictorian.”

“Great,” Virgil muttered. “Now I have him insulting my poor intelligence on the list of things to dread.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “You’re plenty smart.”

Virgil turned when he heard a new set of footsteps speedily coming up on them. Logan speedwalked right past their group, brushing Virgil’s shoulder as he went.

“Let’s go, then,” Logan said.

Virgil shot a panicked look at Roman and Patton before rushing to catch up.

The two of them walked in silence for the full fifteen minutes it took to get to Logan’s house. Logan unlocked the door a much smoother motion than Virgil had ever accomplished in his life and slipped his shoes off in the entryway, motioning for Virgil to do the same.

“I’m home,” Logan called into the house. “I have a classmate with me.”

A frail looking woman poked her head out from what Virgil assumed to be the kitchen. “Blueberry, dear, just in time. Can you come help me with something?”

Logan slipped his backpack off, tossing it over onto the couch, and followed what Virgil assumed to be his grandmother into the kitchen. Uncertain of what to do, Virgil followed suit.

Logan reached up and handed his grandmother a dish from the cabinet before turning back to face Virgil, still standing awkwardly in the entrance to the kitchen.

“Nan, this is Virgil. We’re working on an English project together.”

Logan’s grandmother’s face lit up. “Oh, it’s so lovely to meet you! Logan never brings home friends!” She walked forward and pulled him into a hug.

Virgil shot Logan a panicked look over her shoulder, but Logan wasn’t paying attention. Instead he had his face buried in his hands in what seemed to be mortification, his ears pink.

“Nan, we really should get to work–”

Logan’s grandmother pulled back. “Oh, of course! Virgil, will you be staying for dinner?”

He shot a look at Logan, who shrugged. “I–I guess I can?”

“Wonderful! Alright, now you boys go on and get to work. I’ll come get you when it’s time to eat.”

“Thanks, Nan.”

Logan grabbed his backpack off the couch and led Virgil to his bedroom. Which was a lot more plan than Virgil had expected.

There was a bed with navy blue sheets. A desk with a laptop. A few astronomy posters. The walls were a typical beige. Nothing at all like Virgil expected. He glanced back over at Logan to find him wiping makeup off his face.

“Not what you expected?” Logan asked.

“Not really,” Virgil mumbled, finally setting his backpack down off to the side, where it wouldn’t get in the way.

Logan sighed. “There’s a reason I didn’t want to do this here. Get set up, I’m taking my contacts out, they’ve been bugging me since fifth period.”

Virgil furrowed his brow. This was not the same guy that told the (frankly, pretty shitty) principal to suck his dick. Maybe this wouldn’t be as terrible as he had feared?

Virgil got out his English stuff and waited for Logan to come back.

They made good progress on updating their characters that night. Virgil was able to relax and finally stop whispering and mumbling. Logan’s grandmother’s cooking was delicious.

By the time Roman had arrived to pick him up and take him home, Virgil had decided that Patton was right and that Logan was a pretty chill guy. Roman still didn’t believe him, but Virgil knew it wouldn’t be that easy to convince him.

The days and weeks that followed went similarly. Logan started joining Virgil and Roman (and now Patton, as well) at lunch. At least three days of the week after school, Virgil and Logan would go to Logan’s house to work on the project. Sometimes they would meet up on weekends, too.

There was one night when Virgil had accidentally stayed too late to leave and the two had an impromptu sleepover, deciding to work further on the project as long as they were awake. At least, they were pretending to work further on the project while goofing off.

“Mrs. Mitchell is absolutely going to kill us,” Virgil snickered.

Logan let out his own laugh. “Not our fault she thinks Shakespeare is the height of literature, “nothing” literally meant “dick” back then and she gave us Much Ado About Nothing.”

Virgil buried his face in the borrowed pillow to cackle without having to worry about waking Nan.

“Not to mention,” Virgil said as he lifted his face back up, “we’re turning it into two gay guys. She’s going to hate that, I don’t think she thinks her lesson plans through.”

Logan threw his head back, lost in snorting laughter and sending his glasses flying. “Just don’t fall in love with me and we’ll be golden.”

Virgil made some sound between a scoff and a snort. “No problem, I’m just here to piss of the student body, be gay, and do crime.”

They continued their routine after that. Roman and Patton started hanging out with them on weekends, and for some reason Roman kept sending him sly looks whenever the four of them were together. Every one was met with a confused look from Virgil, but Roman would simply shrug and not say anything.

It took another three weeks, to the point where Virgil and Logan were finally getting into the rehearsal stage, for Virgil to finally realize what those sly looks meant.

Virgil tripped over his unfinished costume and Logan darted forward to catch him before he could hit the ground. Virgil laughed it off and they reset, but his cheeks were warm and his heart was beating far too quickly.

But how did Roman realize it before he did? Had he been obvious before he’d even realized he liked Logan? Did Logan know?

This was Virgil’s own personal hell. He was well and truly fucked. He should’ve never gone to school ever a day in his life just to avoid this moment.

He could not be in love with Logan Berry. There was just no way he’d like him back! 

They were only hanging out together because they were working on a project together. Another week and a half and Logan would move on, probably not even give him the time of day.

No, he couldn’t act on these feelings, and he just had to pray that Logan hadn’t noticed. He would get through this project, they would stop talking, and Virgil would get over it.

Even if Roman nagged him from that day forward.

Even if Patton started giving him sad looks when he thought none of them were looking.

Even if Logan asked him why he started being so weird.

At least Logan questioning him he was able to play off as anxiety over having to perform. And Logan bought it, thankfully, not questioning him further.

They finished their project and performed it for the class (thought not without numerous anxiety attacks on Virgil’s end, as well as him nearly throwing up the moment they stood in front of the class in their costumes and all their makeup), but even so, Logan didn’t leave.

He ate lunch with them everyday. He invited Virgil over at least one day every week, if not more. At least every other weekend they would end up having a sleepover.

And Virgil’s feelings, unfortunately, only grew.

Luckily, it seemed he had gotten rather good at keeping a cap on them. Roman and Patton stopped nagging and teasing and giving him looks. If fact, they stopped bringing it up at all. Virgil would be suspicious if he wasn’t so relieved.

It was another Friday night that turned into an impromptu sleepover. Really, it was more Saturday morning by that point, but Virgil certainly wasn’t paying attention.

Somehow in their sleepy states, Virgil had let his guard down. The two of them laid on the floor of Logan’s room, laptop at an angle they could both see and playing Star Trek episodes in the background. Virgil’s head rested on Logan’s stomach as they laid perpendicular to each other, Logan’s hand combing absent-mindedly through his hair.

“You know,” Logan sleepily mumbled, scratching a bit more against Virgil’s scalp.

Virgil hummed, both in pleasure and to show that he was listening.

“I told you not to fall in love with me. Back when we were working on that English project, remember?”

Virgil tensed, eyes shooting wide open. He was suddenly very awake, but he didn’t dare move and startle Logan out of his sleepy state. There was a chance he could pass out any minute and forget all of this, Virgil just had to keep it cool.

“I was joking, of course. But I didn’t plan on one thing. You know what that was?”

Virgil hummed again, not trusting his voice. His hands had started shaking and he twisted them into the blanket that had been haphazardly thrown over him at some point.

“I didn’t plan on me falling in love with you. And yet, here we are, aren’t we?”

Virgil gasped, shooting up into a sitting position and twisting around to look down at Logan. Logan looked startled and sat up as well.

“I-I’m sorry. The late hour must be getting to me, just ignore me, I–”

Virgil shot forward, grabbing one of Logan’s hands and using his free hand to cup Logan’s jaw. He leaned forward until their noses were touching.

“Do you mean it,” he said lowly.

“I–Yes, I mean it.”

“Well thank fuck,” Virgil said.

He leaned forward to capture Logan’s lips, feeling Logan draw in a quick breath through his nose. For a moment, Logan didn’t kiss back, and Virgil panicked. 

Then Logan pushed forward to kiss back with so much force that Virgil fell toppled backwards onto his back, landing in a pile of pillows that they’d been smacking each other with earlier. Virgil laughed and Logan leaned over him, chuckling.

“Guess I got a little overexcited,” Logan said sheepishly.

“Hey,” Virgil said flirtatiously, “I’m not complaining.”

Logan rolled his eyes. “Roman teach you that?”

Virgil laughed. “Just shut up and kiss me, nerd.”

Logan complied, moving in and pinning Virgil down to the pillow pile with his body. They continued on like that for a few long minutes, completely lost in each other, the Star Trek marathon completely forgotten.

Then there was a loud knocking at the door and the two of them pulled their lips apart to look at it in a panic.

“You boys best be behaving in there,” Nan called through the door. “I don’t want to be hearing any suspicious sounds.”

Virgil threw his head back and cackled. Logan flushed from his collarbones to his hairline.

“Nan!” He yelled back. “It’s three in the morning, why are you up?!”

“I could ask the same of you boys,” she answered. “Keep it PG in there!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Virgil called through his snickers.

Logan shoved at his shoulder, which was rather ineffective considering the fact that he was the one laying down against a solid surface.

“You’re cute when you blush,” Virgil laughed.

Logan cocked his head, as if listening, then moved forward into Virgil’s space again. “Stop flirting and kiss me some more.”

Virgil grabbed Logan and rolled them over, pinning Logan down instead, grinning when his blush returned.

“Whatever you say,” he said.

Needless to say, they did not separate for some time after that.

[therainroguefanfiction]

⁂ Beta (Kunimitsu Tezuka)

Genre: Friendship, Crack ☁

Word Count: 2,240 ☁

Pairing: None ☁

World: Prince of Tennis ☁

Author’s Note: I wrote this fic a long time ago as a present to myself for my 18th birthday. I actually did get that fish in real life and named him that!

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You were strong, brave, out-spoken, reckless, stubborn, impatient, easily annoyed, ru – Well, you get the picture. If you had to be compared to someone, it’d be Kaoru Kaidoh of Seigaku. You show nothing but this annoyed, loner facade, but on the inside, you’re actually pretty nice. It’s hard to get close to you and get past your impenetrable fortress, but for those who have succeeded, they are rewarded with a loyal and caring friend. But, that’s nearly an impossible thing to do. It’s rare for you to attach yourself to someone, but when you do, you never let go.

One thing you hated more than anything was shopping, and that wasn’t limited to just clothes shopping, either. Shoes, books, movies, groceries. It didn’t matter. 

You hated it all.

Which is why you couldn’t come up with a suitable excuse as to why you, Fuji, Momo, and Eiji were currently in Mal*Wart, looking through their pet section.

You could claim that you did it out of boredom. You could claim that you wanted to do something different for a change. You could claim that you secretly liked shopping.

Or hell, you could even claim that you just loved Mal*Wart, but those were all lies. The truth, however, was too damaging to both your pride and nerves. You would never, never, ever ever ever, admit that you had caved to Kikumaru’s Kiku-Cat Pout, which was about twenty times more powerful than the ever-popular puppy pout. No, you intended to take that fact to your grave.

You didn’t know why the three wanted you to come along, but you did know why they were at Mal*Wart. Momo had found a small kitten on the street the day before and after some serious begging, his mother agreed to let him keep the orange tabby. Being excited as he was, he had invited the whole of Seigaku to go pet shopping with him so he could get food and all the other supplies he would need.

Echizen was first, of course. He blatantly refused and hung up on his senpai. Eiji was next. He agreed before the words left Momo’s lips. Oishi was busy helping out his uncle at the clinic and apologized before getting off the line. Kaoru was completely skipped over. Kawamura was busy helping his dad out around the sushi restaurant. Apparently, they were pretty busy today. Inui was angry because Momo interrupted ‘important research’ on his new drink. He even threatened to make Momo his guinea pig. Momo abruptly hung up the phone. Fuji had nothing to do and agreed. Momo didn’t even get to finish his sentence before his buchou hung up the phone.

You acted a lot like Ryoma, hanging up the phone after giving him an abrupt and firm ‘no’, but that didn’t stop them from showing up at your door and, well, you know the rest.

Momo stood in front of the vast selection of cat food, stressing over which food would be the best for the small animal. It was still just a kitten and he knew he had to be careful about what he bought for it. “Which am I supposed to get? Eiji-senpai? Fuji-senpai? Y/N-senpai?”

Eiji hummed, placing his hand on his chin in thought, the other arm across his chest. His blue eyes scanned the shelves of food before reaching forward and grabbing the first bag that caught his interest. He held the medium-sized bag up and grinned.

Shusuke chuckled. You deadpanned.

Momo sweatdropped, rubbing the back of his head. “E-Eiji-senpai… that’s dog food…”

“Eh?” Eiji blinked, turning the bag around in his outstretched hands so he could read the front. DOG FOOD was written in bold white letters on the front. “Eh?! I thought this was the cat aisle!”

“Mal*Wart is a multi-purpose store. They have too many items to give cats and dogs their own isle,” Shusuke stated with a smile.

Eiji pouted at the bag, setting it back on the shelf half-heartedly.

Shusuke cocked his head to the side. “Saa, let’s see. This,” he picked up a colorful bag claiming to be for kittens and handed it to Momo. “That should be the correct food,”

“‘Should be’? Are you sure, Fuji-senpai?”

“Well,” his smile dropped and he held a hand to his chin. “That’s the only kitten food they have here…”

“Shouldn’t you go to Smartpets or Animalco for this?” you asked boredly, rubbing the back of your head. Mal*Wart was not the place to go when you just got a new pet.

“Maybe Y/N-chan is right,” Eiji rested his arm on your shoulder.

“But Smartpets is expensive!” Momo complained. “I’m on a budget here!”

“Animalco?”

“Animalco is even more expensive!”

While the three boys pondered their situation, you headed over to the aisle behind them where the fish tanks were. You were getting both bored and annoyed and decided to walk around looking at whatever crossed your path to calm your ever raging temper. It always did the trick for some reason.

You passed the tanks and was about to pass the sink when you froze. It was like some invisible force whispering in your ear, telling you to look over. Being someone who strongly believed in following your gut, you looked over. Above the sink was a small shelf, lined with several small round containers. Each container held a Beta fish, each varying in color, but were all about the same size.

You knew from experience that Betas had to be kept separate from other fish, including their own kind. They were loner fish and hated to be together with other fish. It was very rare to find one that got along with others. Other than the loner trait, they were truly beautiful. They came in ranges of colors, some were blues and reds with touches of purple, some were orange and gold. They shimmered like glitter, with tails and fins that looked like silk. They were probably the most beautiful type of fish out there.

When you were younger, you used to have many Betas and they were your favorite type of fish, easy to take care of. Best of all, they didn’t give you headaches or make messes or destroy anything like cats and dogs tended to do. They only bad thing about these fish was that they didn’t have long lives. Even if you take care of them properly, their life is just naturally short. ‘Fate dictates that they be taken away from us early,’ you thought, remember the quote from the anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

You walked over, fingers brushing the containers. It felt like someone had a hold on your wrist, guiding it towards one of the containers in the front. Inside was a male Beta, shimmering with blues, reds, and purples, a small white streak standing out among them. It may very well be the most beautiful Beta you’d ever seen.

You gently grabbed the container, so as not to scare the little one, and brought it up to examine him closer. You didn’t understand why, but something was telling you to get this fish and you knew if you didn’t listen to your gut, you’d end up regretting it later. You always did.

Setting the fish down in a safe place, you examined the fish tanks and ornaments that they had. You wanted a big one, but not a huge one meant for many fish. You also wanted it to have a light and a filter. Once you found the perfect one, you proceeded to grab a couple bags of blue and white stones, a sign that said BEWARE OF JAWS!!, and a pirate skull cave complete with a black electric eel swimming from the eye.

Most people would question how you managed to carry all of that stuff without dropping anything or jostling the skittish fish.

Once Momo returned with a buggy – which you had ordered him to go get -, you set the items down. Shusuke raised an eyebrow in question but didn’t voice it. What felt like two hours later, the group paid for the items and left the store.

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You stared at the multi-colored fish as he swam around in his new tank. It was obvious that he was in a state of shock. For one, Betas are never too happy with being moved around. Secondly, the bowl he had been in was small, confined, and safe. The tank he was currently in was much larger in size, with rocks and other small ornaments that he wasn’t used to having. You always found it annoying the way people bought teeny tiny little tanks for Betas to live in, without any decoration. What’s the point of having the damn thing?

You wanted to feed him but knew better; he was too shaken up at the moment, and probably wouldn’t touch the food. Since Betas vary, you bought both the pellets and the flakes. From your experience, every Beta you’ve ever had preferred the flakes, but the professionals always say they prefer the pellets. But, what do professionals really know? Or maybe you just always got the weird of the litter. Whatever, it didn’t really matter.

As you stared at the fish, you started to wonder what you should name him. You may not be able to take him out and pet him or perform tricks with him, but he was still a pet, even if you could only look at him and he deserved a name. But, with so many names floating around out there, you had no clue what to call him. It had to be something with meaning, but nothing stupid like ‘Spot’ or ‘Sam’. Seriously, what kind of name is Sam for a freakin’ fish?

“Ah!”

It was like a light bulb lit up over your head. You had thought of the perfect name!

Your lips curled up into a smirk and you gently set your finger on the side of the tank so that you didn’t scare him. You couldn’t wait to introduce the little guy to the team tomorrow.

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Since you didn’t want to move the fish around while he was adjusting, you invited the gang over to your house – something which both excited and scared them since you rarely ever did that. With a single hand, you beckoned them upstairs to your bedroom where the fish tank lay on your desk away from the window.

“Is that the fish you bought the other day?” Shusuke smiled, cocking his head to the side as he admired it.

“Yeah. It’s an early birthday present for myself,”

Shusuke nodded without looking at you, leaning down to inspect the tank. He seemed genuinely interested.

“Have you named it yet?” Shuichiro asked softly, leaning down beside Shusuke to get a better look. The shimmering scales and graceful dance brought a smile to his face, just as it had done with Shusuke.

“It’s male,” you paused. “And yeah. The name came to me last night.”

Everyone turned to look at you, thinking you were going to continue and mention the name, but you stayed silent, staring stoically at the tank. The silence and stares continued until, finally, Momo and Eiji exploded.

“Well?!”

“Well what?” you blinked, looking over at the pair. You looked as if you had just snapped out of a trance.

Shusuke bit back a chuckle at the suspense and impatience hanging over his two teammates. “What name did you decide to go with?”

“Oh!” you returned your attention to the fish, shrugging. “Tezubeta,”

“…” Silence.

Everyone stared at you, curiously, wondering if you were going to say that you were joking, but you had returned to your trance, face and eyes showing no hint of a joke or a lie. You had truly named your fish Tezubeta.

“Is that… named after Tezuka?” Oishi glanced at the captain before looking back to you.

“Yep,”

“Not questioning you or anything, senpai, but… why’d you name it after the buchou?” Momo asked, glancing at the stoic male, who had not changed his expression.

“I figure, if you’re gonna name something you care about, it should be after something or someone that means a lot to you. Tezuka would be that person. He’s always been like family to me. So, yeah.”

The team didn’t know how to react. After all, you had never actually confessed to caring about someone before, and here you were, showing your house and your bedroom to the team, all the while confessing that you viewed Kunimitsu Tezuka as family. They had to wonder if you were sick. Or drunk. Or maybe even high. Was it opposite day?

Tezuka pushed his glasses up and walked towards you, resting his hand on your shoulder. Still, his expression did not change.

At first, he didn’t say anything; he just looked at you. The team leaned closer, wondering what their buchou was going to say or do. They inched closer with every passing minute, the suspense and tension growing in the small room. Why the hell did he feel the need to put them through this? They were only kids, for god’s sake! They couldn’t handle this kind of suspense!

Finally, Tezuka spoke. “Don’t let your guard down,”

The whole room, minus Kunimitsu and yourself, fell to the ground, sweatdrops appearing on the back of their heads. Even Tezubeta fell.

Ah, if only his fins were long enough he probably would have facepalmed, as well.

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📜 Read more by checking out my masterlist 📜

[moralesmilesanhour]

Pass A Good Time pt. 1

Description : Miles x Black! OC

A new girl moves in from Louisiana and has her eyes on a special someone.

Adélaïde moved to Brooklyn from New Orleans about a week ago, and started school at Visions Academy. To be quite honest, she was only impressed with the building for about a day. The polished walls, colorful quotes, and escalators were cute, but it was all for show, anyways. Most of her friends weren't there to "give the place some seasoning", as they used to say. Maya was the only friend Addie had at Visions.

The eight classes she had every day were a blur, except one: physics. Addie's mom was a physicist, and taught her everything she knew. Addie wanted to decipher how the world moved; how time flowed, and how people got pulled around. That's the best she could describe it. There was one other thing that made physics special, though: the boy that sat in the third row, three seats from the left.

For the life of her, Addie couldn't catch his name. Teacher spoke it too fast. The boy's hand confidently shot up every class, loaded up with a smile and a right answer. She wanted to talk with him for hours about the multiverse and relativity so he could flash that little smile at her, just once. But alas, Addie only had that one class with him, and his locker was nowhere near here, that was for sure.

"Girl, go talk to him!"

"How? I don't even know where he be at!"

Addie was doing her usual monologue on how fine "the boy that be in my physics class" was, and Maya had had enough. "I have like, most of my classes with him. Name's Morales, or something like that." The brown-skinned girl shook her head. "He always be sleepin' in class, but somehow he got all As. I feel like he cheats." Addie gasped.

"But that boy seems so nice! Can you talk to him for me, please?" The girl pouted at her friend. "Nope," Maya stood firm. "You can talk to him yourself". She glanced behind her, and sure enough, there was Morales. Addie tensed as Maya's eyes sparkled mischievously.

"Aye Morales!"

Addie's eyes widened as the Morales in question approached the table. He practically slid into a seat at the table. Right next to Addie.

Her heart was suddenly in her throat as Maya introduced him.

"My friend thinks you cute"-

"She's lying," Addie interrupted. "I'm Adelaide." Taking a deep breath, she mustered a grin, trying her best to look the boy in his face. "Um, I-I saw how much you knew about, you know, physics and stuff. I'm just tryna talk." Real smooth. Addie winced internally at her awkwardness.

To her surprise and delight, the boy's face lit up. "It's all good, I'm Miles. It's nice to finally meet you." Finally. So he'd been waiting...? A little more comfortable now, Addie continued, "I'm kinda new here. From New Orleans, actually." Miles noted the way she pronounced 'New Orleans' like 'Nawlins' and grinned.

Chuckling, he asked, "So, how you like Brooklyn?" Addie's cheeks heated up, and she thanked the Lord her gingerbread skin kept Miles from noticing. "It's real fast out here. Beautiful buildings, but it's a lil' noisy, y'know?" Miles nodded thoughtfully. "Alotta people from the South say the city's too fast. It's interesting. Maybe time moves different down there. Time is relative." He winked after making the physics joke, making Addie feel like she wouldn't be able to get up from her seat after the lunch period ended.

Like clockwork, the bell rang, and students began packing their things to go. Maya grinned at her friend knowingly, having watched the conversation unfold. As Addie zipped up her bag, Miles stopped behind her.

"Hey," he began, "It was nice talking to you. I never hear you speak in physics." At a loss for words, Addie could only nod her head. Miles inched a little closer. "I like your accent," he almost-whispered. Cheekily mimicking the girl's cadence, Miles called out, "see ya 'round, N'awlins!" as he left.

[end of part 1]

Yes, I'm starting a new series, and there's nothing you can do about it. If y'all like it feel free to reblog!

[kaffeinic]

Caffeinic | Bang Chan

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Epilogue

Pairing: Reader x Barista!Bang Chan

Genre: Fluff // Romance

Warnings: Fem!Reader

Preamble: You’ve been going to the same coffee shop for the past four years. You’ve ordered the same thing almost every single day, and you never, ever skip on that part of your morning. So, when Mrs. Park hired a new barista and the once serene café was suddenly flooded with people every second of the day, you were less than thrilled.

As you both left, Junseok told you that Seoyeon would probably be at the gym for the next two hours. She had been trying to convince him to bring Chan over. After saying your goodbyes, you and Chan piled yourselves into his car.

“I know that it isn’t a necessity, but I’ve really missed my phone.” You said, laughing. He subtly rolled his eyes.

“Kids these days...” He said.

“We are in the same generation!” You playfully yelled. He giggled, turning his key. The car roared to life, and he wasted no time in pulling out of the café’s parking lot.

“So, how are we thinking of going about this?” He asked.

“Just walk up to her and ask for the phone back?” You answered hesitantly. He glanced at you and chuckled.

“Yeah, that’ll definitely work.” He said. You watched the road, sifting through your options.

“Do we have a way to prove it?” You asked. Chan sat in thought before nodding.

“If you give me your number, I’ll call it.” He said. “I’m sure it’s still on. With any luck, it’s with her.” He added. You smiled nervously. You were never one to outwardly confront someone about something like this in public, preferring to remain passive and avoid fights.

“Is this just your way of getting my number?” You asked. He laughed.

“If I can kiss you in the back of a café and not be allowed to have your number, I’d be genuinely surprised.” He retorted. You smiled at him.

“Yes, you can have my number, you dork.” You said. Chan pulled up at the curb of the gym, looking at you with his phone open to the phoning application. You recited your number, watching as he dialed. You heard ringing, but no answer.

“At least we know it’s on.” He said. “Let’s go, love.” You blushed at the nickname, which was funny, because he called you a few other pet names earlier and you didn’t have any form of reaction. Maybe it’s because you know you’re both an ‘item’ now?

Before you could manage to, Chan had moved to your side of the car, opening the door for you. Once you stepped out, you felt his hand catch yours. He stopped you for a moment to intertwine your fingers, smiling. With that, you were off.

The gym was definitely for the higher class portion of society. When you walked in, it became very apparent. You noted the high ceilings and intricate lighting. From the outside, you knew the building was huge, but it felt even larger once you entered. You felt Chan lightly tug your arm to bring you to the concierge who was manning the front desk.

“Oh, hey there, Chan!” The boy said. He seemed to be in his late teens, and very familiar with the Aussie. You were surprised to see that he wasn’t Asian. You had gotten so used to the trademark features of people from Korea that when you saw a foreigner, it threw you for a loop.

“Hey, mate. Can I visit someone really quickly?” He asked. The boy nodded and handed him a visitor’s pass.

“One for your friend, too?” He asked. Chan nodded.

“Of course.”

The boy handed you a visitor’s pass, which was a clip nametag on a lanyard. Once you put it on, you smiled.

“Thank you.” The boy nodded and waved.

“I’ll see you later, bro.” He said to Chan. Chan grinned and waved as well.

“See you!”

You followed Chan as he expertly navigated the building.

“Do you have a second job that I don’t know about?” You asked. Chan stopped and raised a brow at you inquisitively.

“No..?” He said. “Why do you ask?”

“You walk around like you’ve been coming here for a while, and this place is definitely not your average gym.” You said. He laughed.

“I’m sure you noticed my friend at the counter. I was acting as his personal trainer for a few months. He wanted to learn how to use the kind of equipment that they have here. I already knew from the gym that I go to, so... Yeah.” He said. You laughed.

“I’m not grilling you. I was just curious.” You said, grabbing his hand. “Let’s go.” He grinned, continuing the journey to find Seoyeon. He stopped at a door near the end of a hallway somewhere in the building. ‘Somewhere,’ because you don’t actually know where in the gym you are. He released your hand, opening the door.

Seoyeon was listening to music through her headphones, running on a treadmill. The rest of the room - which was filled with various types of athletic equipment - was vacant otherwise. You watched as Chan whipped out his phone, calling your number. You could hear the faint sound of your ringtone coming from one of Seoyeon’s bags. She unplugged her ears and walked over to the phone, switching it off.

“So you do have it.” You said. She turned to face you, noticing Chan and immediately standing straighter with a plastic smile.

“Have what?” She asked.

“Her phone. Are you really going to try to deny it?” Chan said. The boy from the front desk walked into the room, standing next to you.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“We’re resolving an issue. She took my phone.” You said. Both of you had spoken quietly to avoid interrupting the conversation.

“I don’t have her phone.” Seoyeon said, placing her hands on her hips. Chan grimaced.

“Well, I have her number. I just called it, and it rang from your bags. Explain that.” He said. Her smile faltered for only a moment.

“Coincidence.”

“If it was a coincidence, then I guess if I call it again, we won’t hear another phone ringing from your stuff?” Chan asked. Seoyeon remained silent. He dialed your number, raising a brow when the resounding ringtone echoed in the room.

“Gym members can be subject to unscheduled bag checks if the attending employee wdeems it necessary.” The boy next to you said. It was obvious he took the quote right out of the rule book.

“You can’t look at my stuff!” Seoyeon yelled.

“Yes, I can - and I will.” He made his way across the room to the bench where her belongings laid, sifting through until he found a cell phone. Even from the distance, you were sure it was yours. “Ma’am?” He asked. You nodded.

“It’s mine.” You confirmed. Chan rang your number once more for the extra bit of proof. Seoyeon’s face was mortified when it rang in the boy’s hand. He walked over and handed you your phone, to which you thanked him. Chan placed his arm around you, and the boy made an audible ‘oh’ sound.

“So, you’re the girl he was telling me about last week?” He asked. “I’m Sam.”

“I’m Y/n.” You replied, shaking his hand. He smiled.

“It’s very nice to meet you.” He turned to Seoyeon. “This incident is going on your record. This is your second strike.” He said. Seoyeon’s face puffed when she pouted at him.

“But Sammy~!” She whined. He held up his hand.

“Nope.” He turned to you and Chan, who were both giggling at his blatant little ‘nope.’ “I hope I’ll get to know you better in the future. In the meantime, I’ll be teasing Channie here for a while.” Chan visibly grimaced, squeezing your shoulder. You chuckled at the two boys and their comments. Seoyeon pushed through the three of you with her bags to exit the gym, stomping loudly with every step. Sam rolled his eyes.

“I think we’ll be off. Thanks for everything, bro.” Chan said to Sam. They said their goodbyes, and you and Chan exited the room. Once you made it to the front doors of the gym, you stopped him.

“Thank you, Channie.” You said. He grasped both of your hands in his, smiling at you.

“Don’t thank me. I’ll be blowing up your phone for days.” He said. You laughed, moving closer. You gave him a soft hug, to which he reciprocated with a firm squeeze. “You know, at some point, I’ll take you on a successful date.” He said.

“I have time now.” You replied. His face lit up with a smile as he jumped around in his spot.

“Coffee time!” He said. You threw your fists into the air enthusiastically.

“Coffee time!”

~

Fanart for this chapter:

This lovely collage is by @punk-pan-bih-yeets-thru-life. Please send her your love! If you want to make some fanart, send it in~! You’ll get credit.

Is-

Is Caffeinic finished?

Have I finally completed one full-length fanfiction?

Yes, yes I have.

I really hope you all enjoyed this story! I’ve worked for a while on it and always found inspiration from you guys! The feedback you’ve given has truly brought me a lot of happiness. I have a bit of an epilogue in the works for this story. If you want to read it, let’s get the total number of notes for Caffeinic to 2000! At the time of posting this, the total was at 1004. We can do it! I may or may not crack before we get there, but I urge you to hit this goal with me. As always, if you enjoyed, please drop a like, comment, and/or reblog to show your friends this story! Thank you all so much for reading!

* DISCLAIMER: I do not own any gifs/photos used in this post. I do own the written content. Do NOT repost/edit. *

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