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dancingthesambaa · 3 years

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The Smell Of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 5

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black-furred monkey put out a hand towards him.

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 5: By Your Side

“Next is the bag of chips, why he likes pizza flavor I will never know,” Mac muttered as he pushed his cart through the aisles.

The two teenagers in his care, at this point Mei might as well be one of his, had opted out of the grocery trip and decided to do their own thing on the other side of town. Still well perfectly within hearing distance, but he smartly decided not to eavesdrop on their conversations, he would rather not have two very creative, and vengeful, kids out to get him.

After he had grabbed the bag of chips and placed it in with all the many, many items in the cart, some of them were not even for him and the two kids as his friends tend to make themselves at home at times. He feels like he should be charging his friends for the amount of stuff he gets for them no matter how rich he may be.

‘Who even needs this many ghost peppers, 3 bundles of apples, a bag of soft sponges, industrial nail filer, and a goddamn indestructible chew ball,’ he internally ranted in his head as he went through another aisle, ‘What am I, their parent?’ They have their own damn jobs!’ He then looked through some of their teas available and his nose scrunched up as he picked up a box of passion fruit tea. “Who the fuck even likes passion fruit tea? That shit is way too sweet,” he grumbled to himself.

“Well store bought ones usually don’t have that same ‘Oomph’ as homemade ones,” a deep voice said.

“You’re telling me,” Mac agreed as he side glance at the man who was reaching for one of the teas on the top shelf as he couldn’t contain his eye twitch. ‘Okay, been in this city for gods knows how long, and in the span of less than a year I managed to find ones that are descendants or reincarnation of most of the fucking crew. What the actual fuck is this sort of luck?! I know that there are historians willing to sell their soul for even a trace of this, so what kind of fucked up luck am I getting that I just stumbled upon them.’

“Hm,” he, the overgrown beast of a demon that shared too much resemblance to Sha Wujing, titled his head to him. “Is there something the matter?” His eyes widen as he tries to look over his body and pants, “Do I have cat hair on me?! I thought I managed to clean the last of it off before I left.”

“No, no,” he waved him off, “just thought you looked familiar, that’s all.”

“Oh well in that case,” the large man shifted his basket to his other hand and stuck out his right, “my name is Sandy, it’s nice to meet a fellow tea lover.”

Macaque stared at the hand for a bit before giving a small smirk and shaking it, “Name Macaque and right back at ya big lug.”

“Personally I like the Biluochun Tea,” Sandy said as he plucked up a box of Chamomile, “but unfortunately they have yet to fully bloom in my garden so I am making do with a substitute,” he joked.

“Then how about Kuding?” Mac recommended.

“I may like the taste of bitter, but I don’t want that to be my only taste,” he admitted.

“Well I think it’s pretty good.”

“Let me take a wild guess and say that you don’t like sweet things.”

“I only tolerate for my kiddos,” he mumbled as he put the box of Junshan Yinzhen Tea, he already had a batch of Kuding growing out in the garden, so there is little point in grabbing a weak ass store brand tea that held not even the same resemblance to how it truly tastes. He tried a box out of sheer curiosity and immediately chuck that so far away, that thing that called itself Kuding tea is a disgrace to the true masterpiece.

“You have kids,” the demon piped up as he walked alongside the monkey.

“Technically one, but with the number of times she stays over, I might as well claim that hellion,” he grumbled as the two goes out of the aisle and towards the meat.

“Awww, that’s sweet,” he put his hand to his very muscular chest, “the only little ones I have are my adorable cats,” he then proudly showed off his wallet which had an assortment of different kinds of cats.

“Cute,” he admitted as he took in the collection of cats, “was this an all at once thing or more of a gradual.”

“Oh some were gradual, others were in groups, and some was just picked up,” he said as he put up his wallet, “Like one day I come home and find Mimi, one of my older ones, carrying the most adorable blue kitten,” he began to tell his tale of Mo as the two continued their shopping together.

“I’ll be with you in just a moment,” Pigsy yelled out as he served a tray full of steaming hot noodles to his other customers.

“Man, this place is packed today,” Mac said as he took the only seat on the counter, which was by the entrance. The place was brimming with customers, either loitering outside waiting for their order or just chatting amicably inside.

“Yeah, lunch hour kicks my as-butt each time,” he had to suppress a groan and put on a customer service grin as he watched another group stroll in. “Be with you in a minute!”

“I thought you had some staff? I know the last time we came in, we saw a driver leaving with the food,” he asked as he straightened out his lavender dress covered with floral print.

“Well,” Pigsy said after he finished taking orders and began making the food, “I had to fire that lazy bum after he called off so many times, a few I get, but how does 4 out of the five days you work help?! And you still expect me to pay you for a full two weeks of service?” He grumbled harshly as he then took a few of the clean bowls out.

“Yikes,” Mac grimaced, “…want some help?”

The owner paused and sharply looked towards the monkey, “you offering?”

“Yeah, don’t really have anything better to do, besides,” he showed off two more clones, which barely made people bat an eye as they were too engrossed in their meals and phones, “I am basically a one man army.”

Pigsy looked so wistfully at that power and quickly asked, “are you any good at customer service?”

“I volunteer at a theater,” he raised an eyebrow.

“You're hired,” the shorter demon threw an apron at him, “you’ll get paid by the end of the day.”

“Instead of that, how bout next time I drop by, food is on the house?” He bargained as he put on the apron.

“Deal,” he instantly agreed and he could feel a wave of relief wash over him as he now could focus on cooking instead of everything at once. “Next time why don’t you talk to Tang about how free meals work, maybe then his lazy butt can finally start paying me.”

“Why don’t you just not give him free food?” Macaque smirked as he saw a faint blush on the pig’s face.

“Shut up,” he muttered.

The monkey said nothing more as he put the apron on, turned to the group of people that was just seated, took out a notepad, and gave his most theatrical smile “Welcome to Pigsy Noodles, what can I get started for you?”

“So anyway, I have been looking through some of the books that I saw in an antique store, and let me tell you that I scored the motherload!” Tang excitedly said as he talked beside the lake. “Guess what I happened to find.”

“What?” The creature prompted him as he casually floated in the water.

“You have money? You actually have a job,” the other being questioned, “and you still let Pigsy pay for your food?”

“It’s a journal that tells the tale of someone who got trapped in the spiritual world after a failed ritual!” He exclaimed as he steadfastly ignored the previous question.

“Pffftt,” he sputtered out a laugh.

“I don’t know about you but isn’t it usually a bad thing when someone gets trapped somewhere,” Macaque drawled out as he chewed on a plum as he stretched out on the grass with a baby monkey clinging onto him. Ní, who decided to chill in her rabbit form for some reason, also nodded as she laid down on the sunlight grass. “Also, you haven’t answered my question.”

“Well she obviously is alright since she wrote this book and all,” the historian tried to defend himself as he still didn’t answer.

“Surrree.”

“It’s true, you agree with me right Shu,” he turned to the water demon.

“Absolutely,” the Shui Gui cheekily said.

Tang shot a smirk at him.

“He agrees with anything he finds funny,” he rolled his eyes.

“Well anyway,” he took out the book and showed it to them, “this book illustrates how Chi-Chi journey through the treacherous parts of the realm, tricked many dangerous beings, gazed upon the beauty of the uncharted, and met so many spirits and immortals along the way!”

“Is that so,” Mac hummed.

“I would give an arm and a leg to meet an immortal or even a spirit,” he said unblinkingly then he went back to his fanboy mode, “I would have so many questions to ask them!”

The 2 immortal beings shared a look at each other as the monkey then put a hand over the spirit’s mouth to stop him from saying anything.

“Don’t you even think about it Kappa,” he warned him.

The drowned spirit just gave him a cheeky grin as he raised his webbed hands in the air.

“I swear,” Macaque grumbled as he put down his hand, “how the hell did the two of you even become friends?”

“He fed me some beef jerky,” he happily explained, “and that was the start of a beautiful friendship.”

“And he never once comments on why you always hang around the lake and not anywhere else?” He incredulously said.

“Nope!”

“Adrenaline junkie I swear.”

“You say something?” Tang called out as he paused his fanboy mode.

“Just talking about your obvious crush on Pigsy,” Mac facepalmed when the spirit just had to say that of all things.

“It’s not a crush!” Tang marched up to him with his ears redder than an apple, “Can’t someone just appreciate another person's attractive qualities?”

“Yes, yes you can,” he agreed.

“Good,” the fanatic crossed his arms, “then you can safely assume that-.”

“Butttt you have a fancy for the pig,” the spirit ended.

“NO I DO NOT!”

“The sheer irony is actually ridiculous,” Mac said to himself as he slowly petted the infant.

“Ooo oo,” the baby macaque cooed.

“No, you cannot eat my tail.”

“You know, I’m getting real tired of those idiots' constant fighting,” Macaque grumbled as he petted a very fat and very fluffy cat.

“Tell me about it,” Sandy nodded his head as he drank some tea. “They have been at it for almost the second they met each other.”

“I swear I am so close to just shoving them both in a closet alone and letting them deal with it.”

“Yeahhh, that might not work so well,” Sandy drawled out as he set down his cup.

“Why? Cause it won’t be right,” he mocked.

“Well there’s that, but also there’s the fact that it would absolutely do nothing at all and just lead to them bickering more,” he pointed out.

“You, unfortunately, have a point,” he slumped back as another cat crawled on top of him.

“Also, I may have already tried that.”

“Wait? Really?” He sat back up and looked at the blue demon’s sheepish expression.

“Let me just tell you that seeing it on t.v does not really work the same way as real life,” he still remembered how they were both mad at him for locking them in a room together.

“Tell me about it,” Mac already knows the pain as both MK and Mei went through this phase as they tried to do the most ridiculous stunts or experiment with dangerous chemicals. Luckily he managed to stop or save them in time, but there were a few times where he was preoccupied or just missed it. Let it be known that they both learned their lesson after breaking bones and a fierce rash all over their arms. He still doesn't know what they were trying to prove with the lacquer tree. “Oh yeah, how did it go with flicker the other day? Didn’t give you too much trouble?”

“Oh nothing I couldn’t handle,” Sandy smiled at the mention of his newest client, “Can’t tell you much cause of confidentiality and whatnot, but he is open to another session.”

The monkey nodded, “that’s good, Gods know he needs it, now if Raki was more amenable to the idea, but she is the most prideful person I know and that is including her husband.”

The blue demon winced, “yeahhh I can see how that might be a bit difficult.”

“You're telling me.”

“Focus,” Macaque yelled out as he nimbly dodged a flying kick, “remember that when you strike, you make sure that strike will be your last.”

Mei didn’t say a word as she growled at her missed shot and jumped towards him then fainted for an upward cut then quickly proceeded to go into a low roll as MK came up from behind with a high kick.

“Good plan you two,” he praised as he simply jumped above MK’s head and said, “but try going for a grapple next time, it would have been more effective to topple me over rather than try to catch me off guard in the air.”

MK flipped backward and attempted to grab onto his tail, which he quickly realized was a mistake as he felt the tail wrap around his arm and flung him to Mei, who was charging at him.

“If I was an unskilled fighter then that would have been quite an effective weakness to exploit, but it’s too bad I’m not,” he mocked the two as he caught Mei sword with one hand and MK escrima stick with the other and casually tossed them back to the edges of the tree line.

“Oh come on!/We almost had him!” Both teens yelled out as they simultaneously punched a tree in frustration, which left a handprint etched into the wood when they took it out.

Only Macaque noticed this as both of the kids elected to split off from each other and try to attack him from both sides. “Guess they have adapted quite well to my energy,” he mused as he watched them run towards him, “Probably should tell them to take it easy else they’ll break their bones, again.” He then easily began to dodge from both of their attacks as they gave it their all to finally hit the damn monkey.

And this how it continued, with both seventeen year olds working together to finally land a hit on the speedy monkey, only for it to fail every time.

“You're getting better,” he said as he looked down on the two exhausted teenagers trying to catch their breath.

“One day,” Mei took a long deep breath before continuing, “one day, I don’t know when, but one day I will punch that damn smug off your face.”

“Ditto,” MK raised his hand in the air then dropped it then pushed his loose hair out of his eyes.

Mei saw this and gave a faint snort, “you know I can help with your hair-”

“I’m not putting pigtails in my head again,” he deadpanned.

“Come on, I can even get fluffy to join.”

“How about no,” he bluntly said as handed them two cold water bottles, “take a breather breezy, starlight. We can resume in a few minutes.”

“Okayy,” they moaned out.

“Awww, but I bet you would look cute in pigtails,” they all turned to see Minsheng hop in with a few others as well, “I know there will be a lot of demons just willing to pay for a pic, just think of the money.”

“Remember the glitter,” Macaque growled out.

“The bunny paused and crossed their arms as their friends laughed behind him, “ Well I’m just saying.”

“It took them ages to get all that out,” Daiyu stated, it didn’t even come off until a full month has gone by, and yet they still found small patches in their fur.

“Almost killed him when he tried to hug me with that on him,” Bohai huffed as he glowed a bit at the horrible image of him even having a speck of that abomination on him.

“They looked like my gremlin’s arts and crafts masterpiece when they were five,” Yanyu chortled.

“It was indeed horrible,” Ahmed lowly chuckled out as he slowly trailed behind them all, then all demons, and adult human, in the vicinity paused.

“Oh right this,” the bluenette human almost hit herself at how quickly she forgot, “we did come here for a reason.”

“Voices gettin to ya,” the long-furred monkey easily asked the lion demon.

“They have been a bit annoying,” he gave a weak chuckle.

“I feel ya,” he turned to his kids, “go towards the tree line with the rest of them, it seems that class will have to be cut short.”

“Okay?” Both were very confused, but obliged by the demon words as they walked over to the group, only to be pulled back by Bohai. “Hey!/What?”

“Oh trust me,” the jellyfish demon said, “you do not want to be anywhere near Ahmed at the moment. He’s a bit...unhinged.”

“Him? But he’s a total softie,” Mei shot a look to him.

“He let Mei put ribbons in his mane,” MK added.

“Oh there’s no doubt about Med squishy heart, but there are times where he just has to cut loose, ya feel me,” the vulture just received confused looks.

“Just watch,” the bunny demon grinned and took out a bundle of golden carrots, and began to eat.

“What do you mean-,” she was cut off by Macauqe voice.

“Come at me you overgrown cat.”

They saw Ahmed give a grateful nod before he went on all four, not even caring about his messing up his robes, and his body started to spasm as he let out a fierce roar that made everyone in the vicinity cover their ears.

ROAAARRRRR

He then flickered out of view and the monkey quickly had both his arms crossed in front of him as a plume of dirt and dust gathered around him without warning. It was only when it was settled that the demons and humans saw that the once flat field now had a decent crater in the middle with both lion and monkey. Ahmed gave a low snarl as he saw that the monkey was not harmed.

“Aww baby cub claws not working,” he mocked him as he sent a hard kick to his jaw, “how bout I help ya there.”

He growled as he quickly grabbed the monkey’s leg and flung him to the ground, he gave a nasty grin as he saw blood trickle from his head.

“Wouldn’t get too cocky, haven’t you already tasted the blood trickling out of your jaw?”

The lion stilled as he tasted the metallic tang covering his tongue, he let out a low growl in frustration.

“First blood to me,” was all Mac had to say before the lion gave a roar and lunged at him, thus the fight beginning once more.

MK and Mei were stunned silent as they watch the vicious battle as each time Ahmed tried to throw an attack it would either get dodged or redirected, but if he did manage to land one blood was always shed. Macaque was the same way as each time he managed to strike him down they swore that they heard bones loudly breaking.

But neither side gave in.

“Terrifying right,” they were slightly startled by Yanyu’s voice and couldn’t help, but fall over as they saw, not only her, but everyone casually laying down and/or eating.

“Oh don’t give us that look,” Daiyu said as she hummed and watched the lion attempt to claw the monkey's eyes out, “it’s only some bloodshed, nothing major. Though it would be more thrilling if a certain spider bitch was involved, I would love to see her blood splattered out,” she lowly huffed.

“What she means to say is that Macaque has this well in hand, this isn’t his first time dealing with ol Meddy when he’s primal,” Bohai tried to comfort them.

“Primal?” MK questioned.

“Basically it’s when someone instinct takes over,” Minsheng explained as they munched on their carrot while watching Mac throw him harshly to the ground, “sometimes it’s a good thing like you stuck in a corner and you got a colony you need to protect behind you, it’s one hell of a boost let me tell you. Other times not so much.”

Both kids blinked at that lackluster answer.

“What they mean,” Bohai continued as they casually looked away from Ahmed sinking his teeth into Macaque shoulder, “is that other times the bad times, to put it bluntly, it’s when the voices get so loud that it begins to control your entire being until you finally get rid of it. If you're lucky, it can be as easy as sleeping, if not well,” he looked at where the six-eared monkey had ripped his shoulder away from Ahmed red stained fangs and proceeded to knock out a few teeth in retaliation. “That.”

“He becomes bloodthirsty,” Mei quietly says.

“Yeah,” Yanyu softly brought them down next to her as she gave them a bag of popcorn, “it’s not pretty, but he just has to let it out.”

“But why is Dad the one fighting him?! Why not any of you!” He half shouted in nervousness and anger as he looked towards the demons, specifically Daiyu.

“Well I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a death wish,” Bohai bluntly stated.

“Here here,” Sheng raised his hand.

“Tried that once and I was beaten in a minute flat,” the vulture huffed, “if Mackie wasn’t there then my body would have been a nice dinner to the rest of the wake.”

“Thus their first meeting,” the bunny added.

“Wait, Mac Mac first time meeting Ahmed was when he was beating the shit out of Daiyu and then to each other,” Mei asked.

“Yep,” they collectively said.

“And he is literally the only one able to fight against him?” MK questioned.”

“Yep,” they repeated.

Both teens took a glance as the monkey continued his vicious strikes against the lion, who attempted to decapitate his head every time, but each time he missed he instead decimated any boulders in the unfortunate vicinity into dust. The primal lion retaliated with his own thundering roar, but Macaque was fast enough to dodge the attacks that uprooted a grove of trees.

“Well there goes any small lingering doubts on how he was able to go toe to toe with the Monkey King,” Mei deadpanned as she slumped and stuffed her hand into the popcorn.

MK followed suit as he ate some popcorn, “you’re telling me.”

“He is kicking major monkey ass right now.”

“I am so happy that he is going easy on us,” the ponytail boy whispered out.

“Holy shit, no kidding,” she agreed, “just think, we could have been less than paste on the side of the road with a single hit if he actually tried to let loose with us.”

“Nahh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Min waved their worries off, “other than this, the only other time he actually lets loose is around his exes.”

“I’m sorry, his WHAT?!/Wait? WHAT?!” Mei and MK sat up as Mei continued, “what do you mean exes?!”

“Dad dated?!?!?” MK followed suit.

“Oh yeah,” Yanyu grinned, “I even met some of them, and let me tell you that he has horrible taste in partners.”

“I don’t think it’s his fault that most of them fall on the insane scale and not in a good way,” Bohai deadpanned.

“By insane you mean impulsive as shit that tries to fight anything that moves, then yeah,” Daiyu nodded.

“It’s weird hearing those words coming from you,” the adult human teased.

“Hey, I may like fighting, but even I have my own limits. His partners take the entire train and then the second one charging at em.”

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around Dad dating,” the seventeen year old muttered as he gripped his head as he looked towards the blood stained battle. “This I can get, but dating?”

“…I am so never gonna let this go,” a twinkle of mischievous appeared in Mei's eyes as she looked at them, “sooo if you had to guess, which one is his most insane, or worst, partner.”

“I have to say Hui, that scorpion bastard seemed nice enough, but she was a raging alcoholic that always tried to get into the celestial realm for some booze” Sheng started as they stuffed the rest of the carrot in their mouth.

“Ju. He was a fishy one, that turtle was always looking for his next meal, no matter where it came from,” Bohai grumbled.

“Might have something to do with nature,” Yanyu teased.

“Shut up.”

“Both of ya are brain dead if you forgot who really takes the crown,” the winged demon interjected.

“Who then?”

Daiyu and Yanyu just looked at each other before saying, “Lemur bitch.”

“Fair point,” both aquatic and land demons replied.

“Who?” Mei asked, but it was met with grimaced faces.

“Just,” Bohai began, “just pray you never meet him, Shun is-,” he was cut off by a loud yell.

SLAM

“WE DON’T TALK ABOUT HIM!” Macaque screeched while all his ears flared up, his eyes twitch violently with a wild look. “NEVER!” He repeated as he pressed his foot and staff on the lion’s back, who was just growling out and thrashing wildly under him.

“Yeahhh, let’s just say that after him, doc swore off on dating,” Yanyu sighed as she ate a handful of popcorn.

“But what did he do?” MK said as he was careful to avoid the name.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

“But I really do,” Mei leaned in.

“No you don’t.”

“But I-,” she got a mouthful of popcorn stuffed in her mouth.

“You don’t,” Yanyu pulled back her hand, “now let’s watch them beat the shit out of each other. 20 on Mufasa knocking him out this time.”

“I’ll add to that,” Min added.

“Well I bet 25 that Dad will knock him out!” MK shouted, “there’s no way he’ll lose.”

“And I’ll double that,” Mei joined in after she swallowed the popcorn, “no way pops is losing to an overgrown cat!”

“Get ready to eat your words.”

“The only thing I’ll be eating is some delicious double truffle swirl ice cream with your money.”

“Let’s just see about that.”

(Minsheng soon regretted those words as both Mei and MK happily ate their ice cream alongside a bandaged, but still a very conscious monkey, and a bruised up lion who was contently knocked out.)

“And that should be the last of it,” the eighteen year old boy grinned as he then noticed a violet headband hanging next to a stuffed monkey, “whoops, can’t forget that.” He quickly snatched it up and proceeded to put his hair in a ponytail then began to look around his room.

The room, once filled with clothes spread all over the floor, glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, pictures and posters covering the walls, now laid bare with only a few boxes left to the side filled with them all. MK couldn’t stop the sad grin that formed on his face as he took in the sight of his room-old room, he was going to miss this, but he felt that it was time to move out and try living on his own for a while.

Knock Knock

“Sorry I’m not in right now, leave a message,” he jokingly said despite fully knowing who is on the other side.

The door swung open to reveal Macaque fondly rolling his eyes, “Where’d you get that snark from, I’ll never know.”

“Neither shall I.”

The monkey looked around the room, “so it looks like you're about done, you gonna bring it all over to Pigsy?”

“Most of it, yeah, but I have a separate pile I'm donating or giving to Yan munchkins,” he pointed to a few boxes titled ‘Donations’ and ‘Yanyu Gremlins.’

Mac smirked at the name as he gave a little walk around the bare room and noticed that where the bed used to be was a splatter of red paint and a dent in the wall, “huh, so how did this happen?”

MK froze as he saw what he was looking at and gave a nervous grin, “so remember when Mei was over and we had a bunch of paint for that art project.”

“The one about the deities or the one about nature?”

“Nature, and well remember how you found us covered in paint in here.”

“After I told you to keep it in the kitchen or outside so it won't be too hard to clean up, yes.” He deadpanned.

“And we did at first,” he put a finger up, “buttttt I left some of my materials in my room and it was alot, so Mei followed, but we kinda forgot that we still had wet paint all over us and we began to freak out. One thing led to another and Mei may have accidentally used too much force as she was panicking and let to the dent in the wall, which then made us panic even more, so we had the idea of moving the bed to cover the dent, which worked...except now the covers had paint on it and well....”

“Is how I found the both of you freaking out on the bed covered head to toe in paint,” the monkey snorted.

“In hindsight, we probably should have taken off our shoes before walking inside,” he scratched the back of his neck and sat against the wall opposing the window.

“That would have been a smart idea, took us ages to get it all cleaned,” he smirked as he sat beside him.

The teenager sighed as he looked out the window, “I'm gonna miss this.”

“Pfft, who says you can’t come back?” He playfully ruffled his head, “this isn’t a goodbye, but a see you later, you're always welcomed back home anytime.”

“Even if I screw it up time and time again,” he leaned into the touch.

“Even if you managed to wreck the whole country and have a bounty coming from the heavens that could feed nations for lifetimes,” Mac shot back.

MK laughed at the image, “Havoc in Heaven’s sequel, now with more monkeys.”

“And dragons,” the demon added.

“Mei would kick so much ass.”

“She absolutely would,” he chuckled as he continued to thread his fingers through his son's hair.

It was silent and, like so many times before, the two of them took only comfort from it.

“Dad,” MK quietly began.

“Yes comet.”

“… I’m scared,” he curled up into him, “like super duper scared and I have never left you ever since you saved-,”

“You would have-,” Macaque interjected.

“Saved,” he emphasized, “me and I can never thank you enough for just being there but I really want to do this and I really want to try to do things on my own! But I don’t know why I am so scared-wait I do, but it just so stupid and I can’t believe that I feel this way, cause you won’t just up and leave, but I-,” he stopped as he felt his Dad arms encircle him.

“It’s a scary step and I know change is terrifying, but I am so proud that you want to do this. It will be hard, no doubt, and at times it may seem like the whole world is against you, but know that you still have tomorrow waiting for you. So,” he tilted his son's head, “keep your head held high and look towards the stars, cause that right there is your limit starlight.”

MK smiled at his father's words.

“Also I think you may have forgotten something,” he showed off his six ears fluttering. “I have six ears for a reason, so if you ever need help or just need me, just call and-,”

“You’ll come running,” he grinned as he pushed himself further into the monkey's soft fur.

“And don’t you forget it,” he pushed his face into his son's hair and gave a soft kiss on top.

“I won’t,” he whispered out and clutched onto him tightly as both curled up in content.

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #mk #macaque #PlumTreeAU

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morning-might-arrive · 4 years

Text

Apparently the monster high fandom is rising from the grave again, so in celebration I wrote this instead of sleeping. I will be finishing it soon. Feedback is much appreciated! A series of misunderstandings involving a limousine and Spectra’s blog lead Jackson to the realization that he has way more friends than he thought.

Monday

It was 12:06 in the afternoon when Jackson Jekyll ascended the steps of Monster High. If he was quick enough, he could at least be on time for 5th period. He took his seat in Mr. Rotter’s AP contemporary literature class just as the bell rang and pulled out his class copy of 1984. The stoic teacher gave him a nod of recognition. A few minutes into the lecture, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“You were not in creepateria this morning.” Abbey stated in her usual matter-of-fact tone.

“Yeah,” Winona added, “Ghoulia wanted to show you the new Fastpoint comic she got. She seemed really bummed you weren’t there. I can’t wait for you to read it though. It retcons the whole DeathCap Comics universe back to the way it was before the reboot. There was even-”

“Where were you, anyway?” Howleen hastily changed the subject.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. We were at the doctor’s office. Something kinda came up unexpectedly.” Jackson replied, turning to face them. This caught the attention of Rochelle. She looked up from her book.

“Doctor? Is everything alright?” Concern dripped from her voice and Jackson instantly felt guilty.

“Oh, yeah, everything’s fine. We’re in a little bit of pain, but…” Jackson’s eyes both glanced upward towards his helix piercing as he spoke.”It won’t be a problem for much longer.” The four ghouls glanced at each other suspiciously and then back towards Jackson. Abbey opened her mouth to challenge his last statement.

“Ladies! Mr. Jekyll! Do not make me have to separate you!” Mr. Rotter’s stern voice boomed from the front of the room. Jackson muttered a meek apology and turned back to his book, his ghoulfriends quickly following suit. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

40 uneventful minutes went by and then finally the bell rang, signaling the end of the period. “Don’t forget to read the next chapter!” Mr. Rotter yelled to his students, but most of them were too far away to hear. Jackson dashed to his locker and quickly called his human friend Chad.

“Hey! I just got back from the doctor’s office. Yeah, she told me to just take some Advil and just let it run its course.” unbeknownst to him, resident blogger Spectra Vonderguist was perusing the hallways looking for her next story.

“Completely done for, they said. Apparently there’s nothing they can do.”

Spectra perked up at those words. She quickly pulled out her iCoffin and hid a few lockers down from Jackson’s.

“It’s true. We don’t have much time left.”

Spectra gasped and quickly snapped a photo of the scene in front of her. Did he say he was running out of time as in...death? Having always been a ghost, Spectra didn’t know a lot about death other than that it was something that happened to humans and to some breeds of monster. Even so, Jackson seemed a little early in his life to be experiencing it. In moments like these she really regretted snooping around in other people’s business, but she definitely had her blog post.

Tuesday

At 8:35 that morning, every phone in Monster High sounded at once as The Ghostly Gossip was updated. Conversations were halted and hallway traffic came to a standstill as several students stopped to check their phones.

Normie’s days are numbered?

Yesterday, sources caught a phone conversation of one Jackson Jekyll in which he confessed to being told by a doctor that he didn’t have much time left on earth. This story is still developing, and more details will be reported as they come in.

Deuce Gorgon’s eyes scanned the short article again. “Dude.” Was all he could come up with after a couple of minutes. “What?” Asked Clawd Wolf as he approached his best friend. Deuce handed over his phone.

“Dude!” Clawd exclaimed. “If this is someone’s idea of a joke, it isn’t very funny.”

“I know.” Deuce replied in a stern tone that contrasted with his usual jovial one. “Maybe the ghouls know something about this.”

Clawd nodded and quickly scanned the hallway. Frankie, Cleo, Clawdeen, and Draculara were all crowded around Frankie’s locker. They were looking over Cleo’s shoulder at something on her phone and talking to one another in a hushed whisper. The boys headed toward the group.

“Hey, did you ghouls see that weird blog post?’ Deuce asked the group.

“Uh, yeah,” Cleo responded. “Why would Spectra post such a far-fetched tale? And expect anyone to believe it?”

“But why would she post something like this if it wasn’t true?” Clawdeen asked. “You know how seriously that ghoul takes her blog.”

“C’mon guys,” Frankie cut in. “Spectra’s gotten a story twisted around before, remember?”

“But-” Draculara started.

“But nothing.” All eyes turned towards a fast-approaching Heath Burns, flanked by Abbey and Ghoulia. “Look, if my cousins were dying, I would know about it. That ghost writer has lost her spark.”

“Am not so sure.” Abbey responded, giving Heath the side eye. “He was acting very strange yesterday. Said he did go to see doctor.”

Draculara burst suddenly into tears, clinging to Clawd and Clawdeen. “But that means we’re gonna lose Jackson and Holt-” the rest of her sentence was cut off by sobbing.

“There there, sweetie,” Clawdeen whispered, handing her best friend a tissue. “That does it. We have to put this whole thing to rest right now.

“Yes,” Abbey agreed. “We go ask Jackson.”

“Well we can’t just tell him we know,” Cleo insisted. “What are you even going to say? ‘Oh, by the way, Spectra eavesdropped on your private conversation yesterday and now there’s a story posted on the internet about you for the whole school to read, so can you tell us if it’s true?’ He’ll be mortified.”

Frankie stared at her. “That’s actually a pretty good point. Okay, we’ll meet in the library during lunch to find what we can about human death, so we at least know what we’re looking for. Sound like a plan?” The group collectively nodded. “Good. I’ll see you there.”

At 11:30 that morning, the group re-convened in the dusty confines of the Monster High library. Ghoulia moaned as she typed away at the computer in front of her.

“Ghoulia says that when a human dies, they’re put into a box that is measured especially for them. The box is then put into a long black car to a place where it can be buried in the ground. It’s customary for the person’s box to be decorated with flowers, and then their family and friends are invited to a gathering to watch them be buried.” Frankie translated.

“Like some sort of going away party?” Clawdeen asked. “I’m glad i’m not a human. That’s pretty morbid.”

“But that proves it!” Heath exclaimed. “I’m Jackson’s family so if he were dying, I would definitely be invited to the going away party and so would my parents. This whole story is bogus.”

The other students weren't so sure yet, but they all let the subject drop for now.

At 2:56, the music stopped. Jackson blinked, suddenly aware of his surroundings. The sun beamed down and burned his eyes, and he quickly had to side step to avoid being trampled by the massive herd of students walking behind him. He’d apparently stopped in his tracks in the middle of the front walkway of the school. He looked down and discovered the cause of this to be his dead iCoffin. He plugged his phone into his portable charger and it blinked back to life. Underneath the time display was a message from Holt.

“You got any idea why D-low hugged me holding back tears this mornin? Did I miss somethin?” Jackson opened his phone to respond

“Um, no? I don’t think so. Did she say what was wrong?” He left it for Holt to find later and put his phone back in his bag. Not a moment passed before it began buzzing with a call from his dad.

“So anyway, I was all like ‘dude’ and she was all like-” Draculara recounted the events of the day and was suddenly cut off by her best friend Clawdeen, who pushed her back behind the doors to the school, pointing in Jackson’s direction.

“You’re going to pick us up right?” Jackson asked into the phone.

“Okay. Yeah, we spoke to the florist yesterday. We picked out this really cool arrangement of Forget-Me-Nots. Pretty appropriate for the occasion, right?”

The two ghouls in hiding glanced at each other. “Do you remember what Frankie said? About humans getting flowers when they’re-”

“SHH!” the two turned their attention back to the human in question.

“Yeah, I know. Moms will be devastated. They said they won’t be back until 11 or 12 that night, and we’ll definitely be gone by then. But we’ll be sure to take a lot of pictures before we go!” He continued to the person on the other end. “Okay, see you in a few minutes.”

The girls gasped as Jackson put his phone away. Clawdeen pulled out her phone and pulled up the group chat. They had to tell everyone what they had just heard.

#monster high #jackson jekyll #holt hyde #frankie #clawdeen #draculara #duece gorgon #abbey bomidable #Jackson and Holt use We instead of I #this is a hill i will die on

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cloveroctobers · 4 years

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• TALIA NASCIMENTO•

IG info/bio: @/callmetalia333 | 524k followers | Journalist | TALIA. but u may have formerly known me as user: brdf0rdsvasquiff—rip!!!1! so don’t even think about it 😌

(23) 25 going on (26) years of age

I’ve read a canon that her name is just Talia and not short for anything & I agree with that + she’s always quick to correct someone if they get it wrong too

Her hometown is Watford, England

but she was originally born in Maidenhead in the backseat of a car during a severe rainstorm

Nonetheless watford taught her all she needed to know when it came to music

She found her first love when she heard the sound of music soundtrack for the v first time as a young girl but is often nervous to admit that?

her father is Brazilian and is a firefighter

her mother is Bulgarian and works as a secretary in a elementary school

her mother is more traditional than her father when it comes to their cultures

I originally felt like she gave only child vibes but I can deff see her giving off big sis energy since she did mention she has a younger brother

V protective over her little brother

there’s a three year age difference

her parents have separated multiple times before which caused a riff in the family dynamic

The constant coming and going from her dad became quite irritating

And Talia was the most vocal by wanting them to figure it out and NOT get a divorce

Which led to talia’s commitment issues when it came to relationships herself

was born with blue eyes yet they shifted to brown once she grew

“Tom-boy” growing up & still is

netball was her sport and man was it something to see her play?! She was quick on her feet and can definitely shoot far-range with ease

Always down for contact sports too

She lost count how many bruises and scrapes she would come home with much to her mother’s horror but she would always brush it off—it was never that big of a deal to her

yet she takes time in healing her scars with homemade treatments or purchases from beauty stores when she wants to show her legs off

she didn’t get into “girly” wear until recently, she never thought too much of her body or when she started to get curves...she always hid that behind big tee’s, fitted jeans, and kicks—that’s what she was used to

she’s got broad shoulders and toned arms

had thick bushy brows that almost formed a uni brow growing up

her mother used to have her hair always plaited since she is very superstitious, believing that “the devil lives in the woman’s hair”

yet talia’s hair texture was much different than her mother’s, maybe due to the fact that her mother always had her hair up and out of the way? Talia’s hair is much bigger, heavier, and naturally curly

+ her mother used to say some harsh things in Bulgarian about her hair — that says a lot when you’re taught to hate your hair trust!!!

when she got a little older and able to manage her own hair + afford it, She learned how to love it herself and that’s all that mattered. Her hair became v important to her, it was her source of comfort

that’s the only thing she’s high maintenance about tbh

she spends a lot of money on her hair but devacurl can still piss off

diffusing is one of her fav things to do to her hair—besides washing it, and deep conditioning, after a night of letting her hair air-dry

loves rose jam

has a embroidery machine, along with a collection of her work but only one piece is showcased in her flat. She didn’t want her place to look completely like her bába’s (Bulgarian: grandmother)

her closet is filled with many Havaianas, they’re all piled up in a wicker basket and ready to tumble over on her top shelf... if she moves one of the ceramic pots her mother left in her flat for luck, that whole shelf might come crashing down

Swears drinking guaraná the next morning cures any hangover you may have

commonly sleeps in big t-shirts and panties or not or booty shorts depending on her time of the month—it’s freeing to her

Has torn her achilles due to whatever contact sport she decided to join in on during a beach vacation with her mates

has a touch of arthritis in her shoulder

this is where her love for massages came from due to injuries she’s faced

+ It’s always a good sign when you can make someone else feel better ya know?

She’s been told she’s great with her hands ;) it all takes practice

bi mami *cringe* but she likes what she likes, and feels what she feels

she kinda has a type but doesn’t want to admit that

her mother doesn’t understand this but her father easily accepted her preference/orientation

her little brother was the first she came out to, “alright!...you still suck”

always wants to fix situations WHEN it comes to HER friends but is oblivious when it’s come to her own issues whether its in relationships/friendships +

was called out by one of her friends who she often argues/butts heads with from time to time “you’re always sticking your nose in people’s business but can’t solve your own shit!”

maybe it’s the journalist in her? she’s not afraid to ask questions or look at things from a outside perspective

her group of friends are all from different ethnic backgrounds to Indian to Ethiopian

has been in and out of relationships...maybe had one stable relationship? Outside of mc but that relationship failed after a year and she feels it has something to do with her parents and how she watched their relationship unfold but won’t openly admit that

Doesn’t like to argue in relationships and often is a little undermining with how she responses to her partner’s feelings...she’s trying to be better at being understanding and listening, her mother is like this with her father

Aquarius girl + Scorpio moon + Taurus rising

loves the water + watching water sports rather than playing them since she almost drowned once by letting her confidence get the best of her

used to be a directioner and isn’t ashamed to admit that!

take me home album stan 100% bitch there’s no point in arguing!!! Buh bye!!!

She is ashamed however to admit that she used to write for them, mostly ziam fics with a touch of Harry thrown in the mix as well...take that how u will

has a few merch pieces as well, they’re mostly loungewear + that powdery perfume they dropped. YES she still has it, no she won’t sell it to u

still supports them on the low since you know, she’s a music journalist and reviewing songs is what she makes a living for so why the hell not? They will always hold a special place in her heart. She grew with those boys

she’s not in denial like Hannah that they’re get back together

If someone wants her to film a reaction vid to zayn’s new album or release a written review? She WILL. Her top 3? 1. When loves around ft Syd 2. Outside 3. Unfuckwitable

If someone wants to hear her thoughts on Harry’s mv’s + breaking down his lyrics, she’ll tell you what you NEED to know whether U agree or not she don’t give a damn lol

Can throw hands and stomp a bitch out if she needs too. Has gotten kicked out of clubs/bars for defending her friends mainly not because someone chatted shit to her, that’s whatever but once you cross her friends? It’s on

Allegra got lucky 🦶🏼☕️ and Lucy

remained super close with jake and tim as expected...Rohan’s cool too ofc! but she’s not here for their rapping shit sorry. She’ll hit them both with a quick side eye and snarl if they start or if jake wants to recite some poetry. She’s outta here

Talia hardly had issues making friends easily with the boys it was always harder with the girls :/

they hang out all the time!

she actually became close with sammi as well, which was nice to have another girl friend around even tho they weren’t together in the house long like the others. She’s spontaneous, cute, resourceful, and kind so talia had no issue reaching out to her first to see what she was about outside of the show

don’t even ask her about what she thinks of the new seasons, she’s not here to chat shit and have her words twisted like she’s watched many of the cast deal with. If you want to talk about the over kill use of pop as the soundtrack for each season, then yeah she’ll talk to you about that

doesn’t use social media much, she finds it funny how whenever she does pop back in people are begging her to post SOMETHING so that they know that she’s alive

Pretty private

she also can’t grasp why they want her to do the bussit challenge? Lmao like hey don’t get her wrong, some of them were pretty great but she’s barely got a bum to bounce and little booties matter ofc!!! but she can’t see herself doing it unless she’s drunk off her arse!!!

maybe mc can convince her...for the fans duh!!! “Give the ppl what they want! Talia! It’s not like you won’t be around music!” “I’ll think about it...nah.”

she’s been busier since the show, able to tour more and WRITE which is what she loves to do

Her secret pleasure is watching those nurse shows and firefighting shows in her free time and those singing shows you already know that’s a given

Wanted to be some form of a nurse growing up but knew she could help people in another way

*inserts* “music Is The best Medicine” overused but true quote here!!

I feel like she’s a r&b lover

listens to those hour long rain sounds on YouTube to help herself fall asleep

she‘s not the best cook but she’s a foodie and she’s down to try new food always

occasionally her and Tim are jake’s Guinea pigs when he’s whipping something up for his menu

and hates eating the same things all the time unless it’s breakfast! There’s not too much more you can do with that

that’s also her specialty, making breakfast for u in bed

Morning afters with her are intimate but humorous. She’ll poke fun if you’re both looking crazy, always joking and in the best mood whether things got physical or not she’s just happy to have you here 🥲

I think her love language is quality time

if you’re playing her route and Lucy is the ex, and you’ve decided to fully commit to each other I deff see Lucy still trying to pull some shit outside of the show just because she feels like she can but once Talia see’s that it’s really starting to get to you despite how much you try to brush it off or snap at Lucy or even Talia!!! Talia is on Lucy’s ass in seconds! She doesn’t need a ex to ruin her possible future , “you’re not gonna fuck up this good thing I’ve got just cause you’re flimsy at relationships babe, so go be a cunt somewhere else or you’ll be sorry. I promise.”

anthem: Snow Tha Product — Shut up

#litg #litg talia #litg jake #litg Tim #litg Rohan #litg mc #litg oc #litg Hannah #litg3 #litg2 #litg moodboard #litg headcanon #litg headcanons #she’s my fav along with sammi and this is my first time getting to know sammi since I’m in talias route #I’m going to try and reduce these to not making them as lengthy lol #this has also sat in my draft for about a week now #litg sammi #litg Allegra #litg Lucy

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writethehousedown · 4 years

Text

Things Are Really Cool (In Nazareth) (Ninex)- Ortega

a/n: wow hi, welcome to whatever the hell this is? this is a sort of a kind of a n19f verse/masp verse crossover set some years after the originals take place (but you don’t need to have read either to read this), borne out of the semi-autobiographical experience of my last few weeks at work trying to teach five year olds mid-pandemic. basically Nina’s a stressed primary teacher and Monet is her primary teacher girlfriend. this is fulfilling the prompt “Nice” only ten days late and also probably has one million and one typos in my haste to get it out in time for at least Christmas xo regardless, i hope u all enjoy and in the words of boyband JLS, “mewwy cwistmas”.

disclaimer: there are a couple of lines i’ve yoinked out of tv shows here- “lesbian having a panic attack” is adapted from Kimmy Schmidt and the “what are you, forty?” ones are from Always Sunny. leave me alone i’m too tired to be funny at this time of year xo

fic summary: When Nina’s headteacher asks her to pull a Nativity play out of thin air with only a week to organise it, Nina is simply too nice to say no. As a consequence, she is blindly oblivious to what her girlfriend Monet is planning, with useless lesbian results.

Nina knew she was a people pleaser. Always had been, always would be. She was simply too nice to say no to anyone. She had never been one to say no to anything.

She’d never taken the last remaining teabag for herself way back at uni; she’d always elected to leave it for Brooke or Yvie, knowing that Brooke would be grumpy all day if she didn’t have her morning cup of tea and not wanting to deal with the caffeine crash Yvie would experience if she made coffee as a substitute.

It had even started way further back in her life than her twenties. The most rebellious thing she’d ever done in high school was to pull out one of the cables of her German teacher’s computer at the back so she’d spend the whole lesson fixing it instead of teaching their class. In Primary, she was the stereotypical, insufferable goody-two-shoes: didn’t ever lose a minute of Golden Time, finished both her set tasks and the extension work that accompanied them perfectly, and was the worst kind of tell-tale.

(At the time, she thought her teachers loved that- the fact that she acted as their five-year-old corporate spy, ready to report any wrongdoings to headquarters. Contrarily, now that she was a teacher to five year olds, Nina thought that if she heard one more story about who skipped who in the line she would climb very slowly and very carefully into the staffroom microwave and blow herself into fifty million partially-heated bits.)

So when her headteacher ducked her head into her classroom on a cold, wet, rainy Wednesday after all the kids had been dispatched home, Nina panicked. Her eyes darted up to the displays on her walls. Fuck, there were still Halloween pumpkins blu-tacked up there. There was, so far, nothing on her December learning journey wall. And there were still Very Hungry Caterpillars made from bottle tops pushed into dollops of paint stuck to bright green backing paper which had been there since the kids’ first week at school back in August.

Well. Red and green were Christmassy colours. Right?

But Mrs Del Rio didn’t seem all that interested in the state of her wall displays. She’d come to ask Nina if she could film a Nativity play with her class.

“It’s for the parents really,” Bianca had rolled her eyes, folding her arms in her usual no-nonsense way. “Just something they can watch and share with the families since we can’t do a real Nativity. It doesn’t need to be anything big- just a few songs…one, two…say four. And then just have the kids in their costumes with a couple of lines. With a backdrop, y’know, there doesn’t need to be props. Just the baby Jesus…the gifts for the three Kings….maybe a couple of no vacancy signs for the innkeepers…that sort of thing. Just for before we finish up term. Maybe if it could be done by next Friday. That okay?”

And Nina, because she was a people pleaser, had nodded and said yes! and of course! and Bianca had nodded curtly at her in the frostiest thank-you the world had ever seen before leaving.

It had only taken the time in which Bianca’s heels had slowly disappeared from hearing distance for the reality of the situation to sink in for Nina. She’d just agreed to do a whole Nativity play, with songs, and costumes, and props, in the space of eight days.

She was going to be sick like little Jack had done that day he’d come into class and projectile-vomited halfway onto the carpet and halfway into Nina’s outstretched hands.

Nina was so consumed by the all-encompassing panic that she didn’t even flinch when there was a loud, jaunty knock at her classroom door.

“High Court Enforcement,” came a loud, brash voice, Nina finally turning to see who was there with glazed eyes. Willam leant against the doorframe, her messy blonde waves falling over the shoulders of her dark blue jumper like curly vines. She was the only teacher who could match the sass levels of the Year 6s and was a colleague that Nina both loved and feared. Loved because she was straight-talking and blunt and altogether hilarious, but feared because her girlfriend was the deputy head of the school and anything Nina said to her would definitely be reported back as gossip.

Also because she was, for all intents and purposes, a pint-pot riot.

“Nina. Nina. Nina,” Willam said repeatedly, her voice monotone and her persistence irritating. Nina mumbled something out.

“What?”

Nina raked her hands through her shock of frizzy blonde curls and sighed, her stress levels already rising. “I said I’m a lesbian having a panic attack.”

“Oh, that’s a mood. I was sent round to do the collection for the support staff but I’ve already spent forty minutes chatting to Alyssa instead of doing what I was asked. Got a grand total of a fiver so far,” Willam shrugged blithely, coming into Nina’s classroom and perching on one of the tiny munchkin-sized tables. “What’s up?”

The pressure-cooker that her mind was rapidly becoming told Nina to throw caution to the wind and vent, so she told Willam everything in a series of babbles barely comprehensible in the English language.

“So you’ve just agreed to doing a full Nativity video in the space of a week?” Willam cocked her head, pulling a confused face. “Why didn’t you just tell Bianca to fuck off?”

Nina paused, feeling all her panic momentarily leave her body as she fixed Willam with a glare. “Are you expecting me to answer that?”

“No, no. Shit, wouldn’t it have been amazing if you had, though? What d’you think would’ve happened? Maybe she’d’ve shouted so loud at you her lungs would’ve just exploded.”

Nina couldn’t help but blurt out a small laugh. “That’s way too dramatic. She wouldn’t even fire me on the spot because that would mean management having to go in and cover my class tomorrow while they tried to find my replacement.”

Nina regretted the small barb at their management team as soon as it was out, but Willam seemed nonplussed.

“Yeah. Court’s way too impatient to deal with your lil’ rugrats.”

“I’m too impatient to deal with them. I’m too impatient to deal with them on a day to day basis. How I’m going to teach them four Christmas songs in the space of a week, fuck knows.”

Willam cocked her head again, her smile becoming patient. “Well if anyone can do it, it’s you.”

Willam’s words were a small source of comfort to Nina. Suddenly everything seemed doable. She matched her colleague’s smile, glad she’d arrived in that moment. “Thanks, Willam.”

As soon as her words were out, she saw the small, playful twinkle in Willam’s eye. “Because nobody else would’ve been mad enough to agree to the damn thing.”

***

Getting her class sorted and organised for the day couldn’t really be likened to herding cats. No, this process was far more chaotic than that. At half past nine each day what could only be described as a minor tsunami of children hit Nina’s classroom: throwing their jackets into the designated tubs with wild abandon and subsequently knocking anything and everything off her adjacent desk, unloading every possible snack in their lunchboxes into their trays and Nina’s pleas for them to only take one snack out falling on deaf ears, spilling their water bottles and getting the zips on their jackets stuck and wanting to tell Nina a billion and one things that seemed to have happened in the 18 hours they had spent outwith her care.

During the month of December this chaos only intensified. Hats, scarves and gloves littered the classroom floor as they fell off the kids like baubles off a dead Christmas tree, shrieks filled the air as they discovered a new chocolate in the advent calendar, and at least half the class surrounded Nina like festive zombies as they all battled to win the competition of “Who can tell Miss West about what their elf on the shelf had got up to overnight the loudest”.

Nina hammered the little bell she kept on her desk with the palm of her hand, stress levels already rising. “Okay, Reception! Jackets in tubs, snacks in trays and bums on carpet!”

As her class giggled about their teacher’s use of the word “bum”, Nina sat down in her wheely chair and waited for them all to join her on the little strip of carpet in front of her smartboard. It was moments like these where she’d be hit with a sort of out of body experience; she was someone’s teacher, she was this class’ first teacher. She was sitting in front of her class waiting to take the register and start their day. It was slightly overwhelming, even though she’d been doing the job for a number of years now.

Eventually her kids were all organised and she’d taken the register and made sure they all had a lunch to eat that day. Nina made sure to put on her best excited face as she prepared to tell them about the Nativity.

“Right, Reception!” she said, injecting lots of mystery into her voice like a storyteller. “I have got some very exciting news for you all today!”

Their little faces all grew equally excited as they were expectant, and Nina’s heart almost popped. Just then, Harry, a boy with enough gel in his hair to single-handedly keep Brylcreem in business for a year and huge bottle-top glasses’ hand went up.

“Yes, Harry?”

The boy bounced on the carpet, incredibly eager. “Can I tell you what my elf did last night?”

Ten more hands immediately shot up, and Nina’s heart sank. Great.

But she was still teaching four and five year olds and this was truly the most important thing in their little lives, so she fixed a bright smile on her face and tilted her head inquisitively. “What did your elf do?”

Harry was now sitting on his knees, towering over the other children and threatening to knock himself over with every passing second as he swayed in the nonexistent breeze. “He did a poop in my Dad’s shoes!”

The rest of the class shrieked with laughter in response. Internally, Nina was rapidly reaching her wit’s end. Love it. A bit of toilet humour to start off the Nativity rehearsals. Great. Exactly what’s needed. “Oh my goodness! What a cheeky elf!”

“He did three poops! And you know what else? They were cola jellybeans! I ate them!”

Sophie, a girl with long ginger hair in a low ponytail and a gap in her smile where two baby teeth once lived, gasped in horror. “You ate the elf’s poop?!”

The rest of the class fell about laughing. Nina had to get control back of the situation.

“Well thank you very much for sharing, Harry! Okay everyone, let’s pop our hands down.”

There were still ten hands waving proudly in the air like rebellious flags.

“We can do more elf stories at the end of the day if there’s time!” Nina lied. There would not be time. There was never time. But it placated most of her class enough for them to follow the instruction. There was, however, one remaining hand up which belonged to Jason, a boy with hair so platinum blonde it seemed otherworldly.

“It’s not an elf story! I’ve got a question,” he insisted, shouting out despite the fact his hand was already up. Nina relented, just in case he did have something important to ask. Maybe he was about to pee himself. Highly likely with the Reception kids.

Jason, pleased as punch that Nina was allowing him to speak, put his hand down. “Can I tell you a rhyming word I’ve just thought of?”

Nina’s smile grew all the more gritted, and the muscles in her face all the more tense. This was going to be the longest week she had experienced in living memory.

***

Nina would never get tired of living with Monet. The sound of her singing as the shower provided a backing track, the unholy racket she seemed to make when she cooked (a symphony of swearing, the banging of kitchen utensils, and the clattering of saucepans and baking trays). The smell of the Dior Sauvage she used instead of perfume and the Cantu hair custard she combed through her hair after she washed it. The fact that Nina could get a cuddle from her any time she wanted and the soft squash of her arms around her.

But living with Monet was best at Christmastime. The endless arguments they got into about their Christmas decorations and what looked best where, both stemming from a fierce loyalty to their own family traditions. The way they’d write their Christmas cards to their friends with a Christmas film playing in the background, and the way Monet would tease her about having such picture-perfect, font-like, primary-teacher handwriting. The way Monet would get too excited in the supermarket and load party food into Nina’s shopping basket like a child trying to sneak chocolate.

Even though Nina was completely exhausted, she still felt herself smile as she turned her key in the lock and heard her girlfriend loudly singing along with Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, paired with the blast of the extractor fan.

“Hello?” Nina sing-songed as she closed the door shut, shedding her heavy jacket and her scuffed trainers and her backpack full of jotters that had been haphazardly stuffed in as she left work.

“Hello!” Monet chirped back, in what had become their tradition since moving in together all those years ago. “Your timing’s perfect, I just finished dinner.”

“Ooh. What is for dinner?”

Monet gestured to the pile of grated cheese, pan of bubbling baked beans, and loaf of white bread. “Beans on toast.”

Nina snorted and leaned against the counter. “Wow, don’t I have the most perfect domestic housewife! That must’ve taken, what…two hours?”

Monet reached over and squeezed her side, eliciting a yelp that would probably give their downstairs neighbours the wrong idea. “Shady bitch. It’s this or two rice cakes that’ve been in the cupboard for so long I swear they’re turning fossilised.”

“No, I’m kidding. Of course I’m hungry, thanks hun. I’ll make dinner tomorrow,” Nina promised, sliding into one of their second-hand wooden dining chairs as Monet plated up.

“No you won’t,” Monet frowned. “You look dead. What’re your kids doing to you, beating you with their tiny little chairs?”

“The fucking Nativity,” Nina sighed, pausing to thank Monet as she placed two slices of golden toast covered with beans and flakes of grated cheese down in front of her. Admittedly it did look like absolute heaven.

“Have you told Bianca to piss off yet?” Monet scowled, stabbing her toast so hard she threatened to break the plate in two.

“What kind of fantasy-land school do you work at where you can tell your headteacher to piss off and she actually listens?” Nina cocked an eyebrow at her, and Monet shrugged in agreement as she chewed a mouthful. “No, of course not. I’m going to make it happen, though, even if it kills me. We started learning the songs today, which you would think was a simple enough endeavour. Except my class, who usually can’t shut up if their lives depend on it, have all the singing volume and skill of one of Yvie and Scarlet’s cat’s chew toys. They don’t even sound like cats being strangled, that’d probably be louder. It’s like trying to have a sing-song with a room full of laryngitis patients. Except it’s not a room, because apparently we’re not allowed to sing inside because of covid. But I can teach Phonics and the kids can all make the ‘p’ sound at me until their hearts’ content and shower me with their spit like the world’s shittiest production of Singin’ In The Rain? Anyway, we have to rehearse outside. In December. I think my feet actually fell off.”

As Nina finally finished what had unintentionally become a fully-fledged rant, Monet attempted to compose herself as she wiped away a small tear of laughter from her eye and clutched at her belly. Nina watched as her girlfriend took a few deep breaths, then fixed her with a humoured grin. “But apart from all that, how was your day?”

Nina stuck her tongue out at her in response. “Shut up. How was yours?”

Monet rolled her eyes as she speared a bean. “Awful. Tried to assess time with my class today. God I love them, Neens, but they’re so bad, how can they be that bad?”

“If anyone can help them progress, it’s you,” Nina smiled encouragingly, only getting a shaken head in reply.

“No, I can’t. Nobody can. They’re beyond help. Some of the answers I got today wouldn’t even be believable if they were part of some TV comedy show. What month is Christmas in? ‘Santa’. The kid answered Santa. How many months are there in a year? ‘Sixty six’. How many days are there in a week? ‘Two’. TWO!” Monet cried, outraged. Nina couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up in her throat, and Monet pointed warningly at her in response. “Don’t you dare laugh. This is my reality.”

“Hey, you laughed at my Nativity nightmare!” Nina giggled, to which Monet chuckled guiltily. Nina paused to swipe a bit of toast around the plate with her fork, mopping up any stray tomato sauce. When she looked up from her plate, she saw Monet tapping at her phone. Nina frowned disapprovingly. “Hey. No phones at the table.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Monet apologised quickly, though didn’t put her phone down yet. “Monique’s just sent me a screenshot of her friend that’s getting engaged. Look at the damn size of this ring.”

Monet turned her phone to show Nina. Pictured was a diamond the size of a small Pacific nation and a band encrusted with tiny gems on the finger of somebody she’d never met. Nina couldn’t help the way she screwed her face up, which made Monet blurt a laugh in response. “Not a fan, then?”

Nina pulled a face in thought. She was sure that kind of ring made some girls happy, but to her it just seemed tacky and over-the-top, not to mention heavy. “I’m sure she likes it, but I wouldn’t want something that huge. Imagine working in a Reception class with that?! Play-dough stuck in all the little crevices. And Jesus, what if you lost it? Nah, it would stress me out owning that. I would just want one simple little gold band and one singular tiny diamond. Much less of a burden.”

Monet snorted a laugh as she finished her last mouthful of dinner. “You are the only girl I’ve ever met that would consider an engagement ring a burden. Christ on a crucifix.”

“Well!” Nina protested, before realising she didn’t really have anything else to defend herself with. Then, she narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend playfully, kicking her under the table. “Why’re you so interested in my engagement ring opinions, anyway? You asking?”

Monet chuckled as she put her phone face-down on the table. “Bold of you to assume I can afford council tax, never mind a diamond.”

Nina smiled, shrugging in agreement. “Yeah, fair. What should we do tonight? I have Maths jotters to mark but then that’s me done.”

Monet tilted her head, her expression thoughtful. “I would say fucking our shit days out but I don’t even have the energy to operate a vibrator.”

Nina almost choked on her food as she laughed. “Christ, that’s a mood. Finish dinner, pyjamas, rewatch The Office for the ninety billionth time then bed at 7pm?”

“Sounds good, babe,” Monet smiled, lifting her glass of water up to cheers with as if it was sparkling wine.

***

“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh McFun it is to ride in a waffle sofen sleigh, HEY! Jingle bells, Jin-”

“Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah,” Nina cut in, waving her hands frantically and stopping the twenty-three five and four year olds that had previously been singing their little kidney bean-sized lungs out. “What are the words?”

Her class stared back at her as if she’d just asked her what twenty-eight times thirteen was. Although Jeremiah, who was already working at Year 5 level, could probably have worked that out given enough time.

“Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh,” Nina said, rhythmically and clearly. “You try.”

The children all parroted it back to her in their little voices, word-perfect. Thank God, thought Nina. Jingle Bells seemed to be the only song they recognised, so if they turned out to not know it after all then Nina would very probably need an inhaler despite the fact she wasn’t at all asthmatic.

“Let’s try it with the music!” Nina said cheerfully, making sure the bluetooth speaker she’d brought outside was still on.

“Miss West,” a small voice piped up belonging to Amber, the human embodiment of a whine. “I’m cold!”

“We’ll get inside soon!” Nina replied patiently. “Just let’s practise it one more time!”

“I’m cold too,” piped up Joshua, Amber’s male counterpart.

“I’m freezing,” Amber offered again.

“I know, it’s very cold outside!” Nina smiled sympathetically, even though her teeth were gritted. “But we can’t do our singing inside because of the virus!”

“Why not?” Amber pouted.

Nina didn’t really know. The answer was because of the care inspectorate guidelines, but that was incredibly far beyond the realms of a five-year-old’s comprehension. Just then, an idea struck her.

“Well we need to sing our songs outside so that Santa can hear them when he’s taking his sleigh out for a test drive!” she said animatedly. The wide eyes and ohhhh-s she received in reply made her feel like a genius. Move over, Steven Hawking. “Okay, one more time with Jingle Bells. Nice and loud for Santa!”

“Miss West?”

Nina blinked slowly and heavily, taking a small breath before answering the newest child that demanded her attention. “Yes, Sophie?”

“I’m cold.”

“I’m cold!! We’re all cold!!” Nina replied quickly, just that shade away from snapping so that her class knew she meant business. “We’re doing the song one more time and then we’re going inside! So nice big smiles, nice loud voices, and here…we…go!”

Nina pressed play on the song before any more children could regale her with tales of how their body temperatures had dropped to that of a snowman’s.

“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!” they all enthusiastically sang. “Oh McFun it is to ride in a waffle sofen sleigh!”

Nina rubbed so hard at her tired eyes that she thought they might disappear into her skull. She was momentarily glad of the fact that she didn’t have a teaching assistant to help her, as to have any other adult witness this would be embarrassing in the extreme.

Just then she noticed around five parents queued up at the nursery adjacent to the playground, watching with wry smiles on their faces as they waited for their children.

“One more time!” Nina cried, as she stopped the music with freezing cold hands.

***

“So Nina, when you gonna wife your girlfriend?”

Nina very nearly spat out her tea, a horrifying milky brown hurricane only just avoided. She hadn’t been expecting to answer deep, meaningful life questions in the staffroom during a lunch hour, but Willam was the human incarnation of petrol on a campfire and with her around things were always in danger of going from zero to a hundred very quickly. To Nina’s relief Courtney was also in the staffroom, and she whipped around from the countertop and gave her girlfriend daggers.

“Willam!” Courtney chastised her in a hiss that Nina wasn’t quite sure was meant to be audible. Willam only gave her an incredulous glare, affronted that she seemed to be the voice of reason in the conversational chaos.

“What?! Just askin’. I mean you’re what…twenty-nine? Twenty eight?”

“Twenty-six,” Nina replied. She was now at the age where being assumed she was older than she was was a curse, not a blessing. (If she’d told seventeen-year-old Nina that one day she would be disappointed at no longer being ID’d for wine at Sainsburys she’d have laughed in her face.)

“Exactly. That’s wifeing age. Mid to late twenties.”

“Hey, I passed that stage long ago, where the hell’s my ring?“ Courtney asked Willam, stirring the coffee she’d poured into one of the many, many “World’s Best Teacher!” mugs that littered the staffroom cupboards. Willam responded by turning around in her chair and positioning her pencil skirt-clad ass in the air.

“Right here, bitch!”

“Christ Almighty,” Courtney turned away from her, rolling her eyes so hard they looked like little spheric dice. As Willam gave her best impression of a seal on laughing gas, Nina cast her eyes over to Sasha who was sitting at the other end of the staffroom. As they caught each others’ eyes they shared a long-suffering smile that mourned the death of peace and quiet.

Nina was glad the conversation had been diverted from the subject of her perceived lack of marriage plans. Until Sasha opened her mouth, that is.

“I wouldn’t worry, Nina. Me and Shea haven’t had that conversation either. I mean we’d both love to, but there’s more important stuff for us right now, you know? We’re saving for a house and I think we’d rather live in a place we’ve chosen for the foreseeable future than just having one singular big lavish day.”

“It’s all about what you want to do with the person you love the most, isn’t it? Not just doing what society wants you to do,” Courtney chipped in, her voice warm and kind. “Like me and Willam used to be total party girls before we got our shit together. And now, like…there’s nothing I’d rather do of a weekend than curl up with her on the sofa and get all cosy with a film and a blanket and a cup of tea.”

Willam scoffed affectionately. “That’s your ideal weekend plan? What are you, forty?”

“Yes? As are you?” Courtney replied incredulously. Nina heard Sasha snort in her chair. As she turned her gaze back to the other two girls she realised that Willam was still looking at her expectantly. Nina sank back into her seat, a little reserved.

“It’s not really something we’ve spoken about? Well…no, we have spoken about it, obviously,” she babbled, watching as Willam took on the look of someone witnessing a victim of cardiac arrest. “Like we both want to get married. To each other, of course. But teaching is just such a busy job all the time and…you know, we only bought our flat last Summer and…I don’t know, it’s nice not to have everything happen all at once, right?”

Courtney nodded emphatically in agreement. “Of course! And I mean, if she asked, you’d say yes, right?”

Nina had to stop herself from pulling a face. How am I having this conversation with my boss? “Well, yeah. God, I couldn’t imagine life without her at all.”

Willam pretended to gag, which Nina thought was pretty rich from the woman who had begun the entire conversation. Courtney seemed to pick up on her girlfriend’s distaste.

“I don’t think Willam has ever said anything that cute about me!”

Willam turned around to look at her girlfriend, disbelief on her face. “Yeah, I only left my damn husband for you. Fuck me, right?”

Nina’s eyes widened as Sasha gave a yelp from across the staffroom. That was a small piece of workplace gossip she hadn’t expected to learn today. As Courtney’s face turned red and she shot Willam a warning glare, she turned to Nina once more.

“Nina, how’s the Nativity going?” Courtney beamed artificially at her, moving the conversation along with all the grace and decorum of a one-wheeled snow plow.

Considering the question, Nina thought that she’d rather be discussing marriage plans with her boss and colleagues again. “It’s going.”

“That’s a ringing endorsement. I’m sure that was on the poster of Titanic too,” Willam chipped in.

“It wouldn’t be any less disastrous than the actual fate of the Titanic, at least the passengers could’ve probably remembered the words to fucking Jingle Bells,” Nina deadpanned, causing Willam to break into fits of clubbed seal laughter.

Sasha pouted sympathetically from the other side of the room. “It’s those cute bits that the parents love, though, isn’t it? They won’t mind if they get the words wrong.”

“I’m sure there needs to be a foundation of at least an audible tune though, Sash,” Nina smiled resignedly back at her.

“If Bianca wants a Nativity so bad, just tell her to come teach your class,” Willam half-suggested, half-yelled. “Or get Court to teach them! They prolly don’t need to be in tune anyway!”

Courtney’s expression appeared to be the same as Nina’s after her morning’s rehearsal. “Do you ever stop talking shit?”

“You think I’m bad? That bell is going to go for the Comp’s lunch break in five minutes, Bob is gonna arrive, an’ then it’s RIP our eardrums,” Willam said, pointing to the staffroom door for dramatic effect.

“At least Bob has never presented his clothed arsehole to his partner in front of his colleagues,” Courtney cut in at once, her tone deadpan and making Nina splutter a laugh.

“Aw, c’mon Court! That’s just banter. These girls don’t mind.”

“It’s unprofessional!” Courtney clutched her chest. Willam only snorted in response.

“Unprofessional? What are you, forty?”

“We’re the same age!!” Courtney cried in response, her incredulous tone only setting Nina off in a further fit of laughter.

It was only later on that night once she had driven back home, parked, and approached her and Monet’s flat that Nina remembered the staffroom conversation. She cast her gaze up to their first-floor window in their red brick building, almost being able to feel the way her heart gave a swell at the sight of their Christmas tree framed proudly within the glass. And as she got in through the front door, Monet greeted her with a hug and a takeaway leaflet.

“We’ve got nothing in the fridge, so I thought we could get noodles? This came through the door today and I think-” Monet raises her eyebrows, slapped the leaflet into the palm of her hand decisively. “- it’s a sign from God.”

“Well, when you put it like that,” Nina laughed, shrugging off her coat and feeling grateful for not having to cook.

It was only when they were both curled up on the couch, empty pad thai containers in front of them, that Nina turned to Monet and saw the lights on the tree reflected in her eyes. She turned to her girlfriend, threw an arm round her and snuggled in to her side.

“What’s up?” Monet asked, her voice soft and sleepy and a little concerned.

“Nothing,” Nina sighed. It was true. There wasn’t really anything up, and she was the happiest she’d ever been. But she still turned to Monet, tilting her head up inquisitively. “You don’t feel under any pressure at all, do you?”

Monet snorted. “I feel under pressure to get fifteen children who can’t write the word cat on their own to magically be able to write a sentence by the end of the year, yeah.”

Nina rolled her eyes. “No! I mean, like…in life. You didn’t just…buy this flat with me because you felt you had to, right? You wouldn’t do anything because you felt obliged to?”

Monet raised a single eyebrow back at her. “Yeah, I decided to piss my life savings away on a deposit for a flat because I felt I had to. Jesus Christ, Neens.”

“No, no, I know,” Nina chuckled, realising how silly the whole thing now sounded. “But I just mean…in life, like milestones and stuff. You’d never do stuff because you felt you had to keep up, in some way? Reach some goal by a certain age?”

Monet brought an arm around Nina and cuddled her closer, kissing her hair and resting her chin on top of her head. “Everything I do in life, I do because I want to. Especially when it comes to you. Promise.”

Nina gave her girlfriend a squeeze, happy. She took a deep breath, smelt the fabric softener on Monet’s jumper that they both used but just seemed to smell better and feel softer on everything Monet wore.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

***

Nina sat in a child-sized chair with her knees practically up to her chest, a crumpled, printed-out script on her lap that she’d hastily typed up on her work iPad’s notes app the following evening. Her class sat behind her in costumes pulled on over their school uniforms, with books and pens and pieces of paper with botched photocopying on the back under strict instructions not to talk until the whole thing was filmed.

“Okay, Amber!” she smiled breezily at the small girl whose school blouse was sticking out under her angel costume. “You’re kicking off the video. So your line is two thousand years ago, an angel came to a woman called Mary. Practise it for me?”

Amber gripped the hem of her taffeta skirt in two tiny white-knucked fists. “I don’t want to.”

Nina bit her lip. Great start. Fantastic. “We can give it a try together?”

Reluctantly, Amber parroted the words in tandem with her. So far so good.

“Okay. Now do you want to go up against the backdrop and I can film you doing it?”

Amber’s ponytail full of flyaways swung wildly as she shook her head. Nina thought for a moment. Then her eyes came to rest on Hazel- the class’ Mary and, coincidentally, Amber’s best friend.

“What about if Hazel stands with you?”

That seemed to change things and, only slightly hesitantly, both girls got up in front of the hastily staple-gunned silver tinsel.

“Okay Amber. Two thousand years ago, an angel came to a woman called Mary. Ready?”

A nod in reply.

“Go!”

Amber took a deep, shaky breath in. “Two thousand years ago….a woman called Mary.”

Nina stopped filming, fixed the girl with a kind smile. “An angel came to a woman called Mary. Try again?”

The iPad was back in filming mode, and Amber went again. “Two thousand years ago, a…a…a little cute angel came to Mary.”

Nina stopped filming, fixed Amber with two thumbs up. That’ll do.

Things seemed to be going well as Hazel and Oliver (or, Mary and Angel Gabriel) got through their lines without too many bumps in the road. Then, it was time for Amber to take to the stage (or blue curtain with a tinsel border) once more.

“Okay Amber, so your line this time is…Mary told her husband Joseph. Want to practise?”

“Mary told her husband Joseph,” Amber repeated, with all the enthusiasm of a patient about to undergo a colonoscopy. With two days til the deadline, this would have to suffice.

“Perfect! Ready? Three…two…one…go!” Nina smiled encouragingly, as she hit record.

Amber stood beside Mary and Joseph, a little grin on her own face. “Mary told her husband Joyce.”

“…Joseph,” Nina reminded her. Where the fuck had Joyce come from? She hit record again.

“Three…two…one…go!”

“Mary told her husband Joyce.”

Nina couldn’t stop herself from bursting out laughing. “Joseph, Amber!”

The little girl nodded earnestly. “Joseph Amber.”

Nina spluttered. “No…Amber is your name. Joseph is Mary’s husband.”

“Ohhhhhh.”

Nina shook her head, amused. This was what she loved about teaching. None of the other girls working from home could say that they got to spend their day feeling like they were stuck in an episode of You’ve Been Framed.

“Go again. Mary told her husband Joseph. Three…two…one…”

“Mary told…em…um…I can’t remember,” Amber giggled. Nina could feel her own giggles bubbling up inside herself, but she had to stop otherwise it would set her whole class off.

“Mary told her husband Joseph,” Nina repeated, both Amber and Hazel now giggling to each other. “Shh shh! Okay…three…two…one…”

Amber composed herself, took a deep breath. “Mary told her husband Joyce.”

Christ Alive. Nina gasped incredulously, unable to help herself from laughing now. The whole class, Amber herself, and Nina was pretty sure God, were all doing the same. She put her head in her hands, her whole body now shaking with laughter. “Joseph!!”

She already couldn’t wait to tell everybody she knew this story. Not least so she could cement in her mind that it was something that actually happened to her, and not just simply the script of a comedy show she’d dreamed up. Miraculously, mercifully, she managed to get the rest of her class settled down and for Amber to say the correct line on film, even if Nina could be faintly heard frantically mouthing “Joseph!” in the background.

Eventually they reached the innkeepers. Easy enough, in theory.

“Okay, Carter,” Nina smiled encouragingly at the first innkeeper. “When Mary and Joseph ask for a room, you say ‘no, sorry!’. Okay?”

Carter nodded, half a finger stuck up his nose. Nina gestured to him to put his hands down, then began filming. As directed, Mary and Joseph asked if there was any room at the inn.

“YES,” the little boy shouted. The whole class burst out laughing. Nina did not.

Just then, Willam walked past the open door with her class. She gave her a look of inquisition, shooting her a tentative, questioning thumbs up.

Nina put her head in her hands in reply.

***

By some miracle of nature (although it could also have been Nina giving up on work that afternoon) Nina had made it back to the flat before five o’clock. This never happened- five pm was usually the time she left work, but a day full of recording Nativity clips and then putting them together on iMovie while her class played (read; caused havoc) had been tiring and she needed Monet, chocolate, and Merlot.

Only the first thing she heard when she opened the door to her flat wasn’t Monet singing, or the hum of the extractor fan. It was the grainy crackle of a Zoom call and an incredibly distinctive voice.

“So when you doin’ it? Do it tonight. Do it when she gets home from work.”

Monet’s voice- humoured, long-suffering. “I’m not doing it then, Vanj, she’ll be exhausted.”

“That was honestly your best suggestion? When she gets home from work?” Brooke’s voice. “Aren’t you the pinnacle of romance!”

Nina had realised that Monet was on a Zoom call with all the girls, from the way Vanessa had obviously kissed Brooke on camera was being met with half a dozen cries in protest from the others. She excitedly shrugged off her coat and unwrapped herself from her scarf, eager to see her friends again. Part of her was intrigued, though. Why were they all calling each other without her?

“My question is how you’re going to do it,” Akeria’s voice came, as questioning as always. “It needs to be good but it better not be too damn cheesy.”

“An’ you better make sure she got her nails done, she might say no if she ain’t got her nails done!” Silky came shouting through Monet’s Macbook speakers.

“Yeah, you better make it as romantic as you can, Mo,” Scarlet added, making Nina wonder what the hell it was they were all talking about. Before she could wonder any further, she heard Yvie’s distinctive snort of a laugh.

“You are in no position to speak about romance, I mean, need I remind you how you asked me?”

“Shut up,” Scarlet replied, her tone a little bashful as the other girls laughed.

“Monet I could hire you a plane if you really wanted,” Plastique offered, making Nina snort despite the fact she had no idea what the conversation was about.

“Shut up, bitch,” Nina could practically hear the roll of Akeria’s eyes.

Nina toed her shoes off and finally padded through to the kitchen, where Monet’s eyes grew wide when she saw her, her body visibly flinching.

“Hey, babe!” she smiled, looking a little startled. “You’re home earlier than usual!”

“Oh sorry, am I interrupting your Zoom call with all your side chicks?” Nina deadpanned, forcing her way onto Monet’s lap to see her friends on the screen.

“Ninaaa!!!” Vanessa’s face popped up first, her friend waving excitedly as she sat on her sofa in Brooke’s arms. “How are you, girl?”

“Shattered,” Nina sighed, rubbing her eyes harshly. “Just filmed the whole Nativity with the rugrats today. Think it took ten years off my lifespan. How’re you?”

“Good,” Brooke smiled back through the screen. “We ordered our Christmas food today. Trying to convince this one that we don’t need twelve pigs in blankets between two people.”

Vanessa scowled back at her from their position on the sofa. “Uh, yes the hell we do!”

“Twelve pigs in blankets as well as the turkey, stuffing, and all the veg? Y’all are gonna explode,” Akeria said disapprovingly.

“Kiki! How are you?” Nina cried with delight, seeing her friend’s tired but smiling face appear on screen.

“Good. Don’t stop work for a while yet, but it’s fine. Still flat hunting.”

“How’s Pri?” Nina asked, heartened by the way Akeria looked down, trying and failing to suppress a smile.

“Yeah, she’s good. Still batshit crazy. Horny all the time.”

“The ideal girlfriend, really,” Yvie said, a wry smile on her face.

“Nina!” Silky suddenly cut in, yelling. “Did you hear any of what we were talkin’ about before?”

Nina frowned, shook her head. “Something about planes and nails. And cheese. I’m too exhausted to have paid enough attention. Why, were you having a mad bitchfest about me?”

“Trying to ask the girls how best to dump you,” Monet deadpanned. Nina shot Monet a look and squeezed her leg, resulting in her girlfriend yelping and cracking her knee off the table.

Whatever the previous conversation was was soon forgotten about as excited catchups took over. Silky was excited as she was interviewing some singer that Nina had never heard of and wanted the girls to help her work out what questions she was going to ask her. Yvie and Scarlet were lamenting the fact they had to host both of their families for Christmas and had bought a turkey so big Scarlet wasn’t sure it would fit in their oven, and Plastique was telling them the weirdest things she’d been gifted by companies desperate for her to endorse them on Instagram.

“I got a box of sex toys from LoveHoney. That was probably the most random. Me and Naomi had a wild fucking night that night.”

“STOP BEIN’ GROSS,” Silky had yelled down the line, causing Nina to hammer Monet’s volume down button.

Eventually the call came to an end, but not before lots of promises to catch up soon once the situation across the world was better than the shitshow it was currently. As Monet closed her laptop, Nina threw her arms around her neck and nuzzled into her side.

“I miss them,” she sighed, and Monet patter her back comfortingly.

“I know, babe. I miss them too.”

There was a moment of pensive silence, and then Nina spoke again, the Nativity never too far away from her mind.

“I can’t export this video.”

“What?”

“The Nativity video. I can’t export it,” Nina muttered pitifully against her girlfriend’s shoulder.

Monet kissed her hair, making to stand up. “You get a cup of tea. I’ll fix your video.”

“You’re the best,” Nina sighed gratefully, walking over to the kettle.

It was only after she’d sat down with a cup of tea and Monet had promised she’d sorted her video that Nina thought about the conversation she’d walked in on earlier.

She had a strange feeling that it had something to do with her.

***

When Nina arrived at work that morning, she could tell something was…a little different. She couldn’t really tell what it was. It started with the slightly knowing smile Tatianna shot her from across the corridor.

“Congrats, Nina!” she shouted down to her before she ducked into her own classroom.

“Uh…thanks,” she replied a little too late. Okay, the Nativity process had been stressful, but did she really need congratulated?

She supposed she appreciated it. It had been a whirlwind of a process, after all.

Only the odd thing was, it continued. The congratulations came pouring in; Alaska, Ivy from the Nursery school, Alyssa had cooed and gushed for ages about how exciting it was and how happy she was for her.

Nina had only blinked in reply, a little bewildered. “Thanks, Alyssa. It was a stress, but they managed to pull it off in the end.”

Alyssa gave her a funny look, then realisation seemed to dawn on her. “Oh…they’re non-binary! You know I never knew that, sorry sugar. Well congratulations to you both.”

With that, Alyssa hurried away only leaving Nina more confused than ever.

What in the fuck?

When the bell rang and Nina went to collect her class from the line, things only got weirder. Before she could hurry her class inside, Harry’s Mum waved at her from behind the school gate, beckoning her over. Nina’s heart began to sink- she was going to ask her why Harry was only a shepherd, wasn’t she, or why he didn’t get a solo during Little Donkey, or some-other-bullshit-like-that.

To Nina’s surprise, she held up a sparkly gift bag.

“Hi, sorry for bothering you!” she beamed at her. This was already unheard of- a parent apologising for taking up her time? Nina was beginning to question if she had slipped through a crack in the fabric of reality while she’d been sleeping when Harry’s Mum spoke again. “Me and the other parents had a quick whipround and got you a couple of things and a little card to say congratulations! We thought it was the least we could do given your lovely news.”

It was only after Nina had thanked her profusely, taken the bag and led her children into class that her words sank in. What lovely news was she on about?

Nina taught that morning in a daze. Well, ‘taught’ was pushing it; the last few days of term were always movie days or games days, and today was the former. Nina had decided to inject a bit of an educational element to it by showing her class Nativity and then asking them if they thought the film’s play was better than the one they’d put on. Despite it being one of her favourite Christmas films, though, she still wondered why everyone had been congratulating her today. Maybe her Nativity video had really been so amazingly good that people just had to comment on it. Nina decided that this was the only plausible explanation, and so was feeling particularly spirited as it reached breaktime and she sent the kids out to play.

She was sitting in her classroom reading all the messages she’d missed on her group chat when Willam practically crashed through her door.

“Oh my God!” she yelled, practically vibrating with excitement. “Congratulations, you lucky fucker! That’s gotta be the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen. I mean Bianca probably wants your head on a plate for keeping it in, but still! How’re you celebrating? Should we go to the shop at lunchtime and get prosecco? I mean it’s the last few days of term, I’m sure drinking on the job’s allowed. Court wouldn’t tell anyone.”

Willam was talking with such speed that it took a few seconds for Nina to register everything she’d said. “Why…would Bianca want my head on a plate?”

Willam snorted. “I mean it’s kinda obvious. You don’t think she’s gonna be pissed about it? Then again, maybe she won’t. I don’t know, I can’t get inside her head. I’m not on that Honey I Shrunk The Kids kinda bullshit.”

Nina felt her head was so clouded that even if she possessed the brightest fog lights in the world she still couldn’t see what Willam was trying to say.

“Willam,” she asked, slowly and carefully as she rested her head in her hands. “What the hell are you talking about?”

There was a pause as Willam froze, then as her eyes became huge and wide as she slowly raised a finger to point at Nina. “Jesus Harvey Christ. You…you don’t know, do you?”

Nina frowned, bewildered. “Know what?”

“Oh my God. You don’t know. This is the best thing ever. You don’t even know!” Willam howled with laughter, then, before Nina could ask what she was meant to not know, Willam had dashed out of her classroom and had begun yelling into the hall. “Courtney! Court! She doesn’t know!”

Nina began to feel her heart beat in heavy thuds as the bell went to signal the end of playtime. What didn’t she know?

Eventually Nina managed to reach the end of the day. How, she didn’t know. She was so confused by all the different odd events of the day that she felt she didn’t properly make sense at any point to her class, but that probably didn’t matter as they were all so wrapped up in Christmas nonsense that Nina could’ve left the classroom and they wouldn’t have given a shit.

She was just getting ready to leave work for the weekend when Bianca stuck her head into her classroom and made her almost jump fifty feet in the air.

“Nina,” she began, in her own blunt, abrasive way. She didn’t wait for Nina to greet her as she continued. “I know you must be wandering around with your head in the clouds at the moment, but next time do you think you could maybe just run the video by me first? I mean you’re very lucky that the parents took that well. I mean it’s really about the kids, y’know?”

Nina could only blink at her wide-eyed like a deer in the headlights, getting into trouble but not entirely sure what for. Loath to say anything in response, she simply nodded.

“I mean you should’ve really kept it out,” Bianca frowned. She let the awkward, tense silence hang in the air for a few moments before a humoured smile appeared on her face. “But congratulations. I’m very happy for you.”

Without stopping for Nina to reply, Bianca had turned on her heel and left her classroom. Nina could only look at the space she’d previously been standing in. Maybe all of this was a dream. A fever dream. She’d probably contracted some sort of illness and was experiencing some hallucinogenic vision.

She didn’t know how she made it home without causing a crash, but she managed, and as soon as she was through the door she began to vent to the person she loved most.

“Monet!” she called through to the kitchen, hanging her belongings up. “I’ve had the weirdest fucking day in living memory. So first all the teachers were congratulating me…then I got a present from the parents…then Willam was screaming about me not knowing something��and then Bianca gave me a row at the end of the day…but I still don’t know exactly why…but then she said congratulations to me too?”

It was only when Nina stopped and walked through to the kitchen that she saw the kitchen table all done up with candles and laid beautifully, Nina’s favourite meal (slow cooker beef and buttery mash) on two plates, and Monet sitting at the table with her makeup done, dressed in a backless blue bodycon that Nina had once very nearly broke the zip of trying to rip it off her one weekend away.

“Uh…” Nina frowned, more confused than ever. Slowly, as a smile spread across Monet’s face, she began to connect all the dots of weird and the picture it presented illustrated that somehow her girlfriend had to be behind it all. “Okay, what’s going on?”

Monet got up and leant against the kitchen counter. She very gently took both of Nina’s hands in hers. “You didn’t watch the whole video once I exported it, did you?”

Something like dread crossed with excitement began to pool in Nina’s gut. She narrowed her eyes. “Monet…what did you do?”

Wordlessly, Monet reached back across to the table where she picked up her phone and loaded up the Nativity video. Skipping to the end, she got past the end of Jingle Bells and showed the video to Nina. The screen faded to black, and then, Nina watched as another little title card faded into view.

To the teacher that always gives so much of herself to others, I now want to give all of myself to you.

Miss West, will you marry me?

Love, Monet x

And suddenly everything in Nina felt as if it was made of fire, adrenaline and jet fuel. Her eyes flew open, her hand smacked against her shocked, gaping mouth. Her pulse raced and her heart hammered and all of her limbs turned to jelly to the extent she wasn’t sure she was able to stand any more. When she took her eyes off her phone screen and looked at Monet, her girlfriend was down on their kitchen floor, down on one knee like in every princess movie Nina had ever seen, her hair soft and curled and loose on her shoulders and a bright smile on her painted taupe lips. Gemstone tears brimmed in her dark eyes and hung from her lashes like icicles, and there, in her outstretched hands, was an open navy box.

Inside was a ring - gold band, one small diamond - and it was when Nina saw it that she gave a sob, her own tears springing from her eyes like a broken fountain, uncontrollable and erratic.

“Oh, baby, c’mere,” Monet gave a small laugh, shaking her head and immediately rising from the floor to wrap her arms around her in a hug. Nina took a few shaky, shallow breaths, pawing at Monet’s chest to release herself from her grip and look her in the eyes.

“You! You knew…all this time, and you…you put it in the video, oh my GOD, Monet, I could’ve got in so much trouble…I did get in so much trouble, oh my God…and you didn’t even tell me-”

“I thought you’d at least watch the damn thing through before you uploaded it!” Monet burst out laughing through her tears, and Nina joined in in a lightheaded, giddy way.

“I can’t believe this is real. Fuck. My whole body feels like that time we did poppers in Crete. Oh my God. Is this happening? You want to marry me?”

“Well, I would love to marry you, but I’m waiting on an answer,” Monet smiled bashfully, bringing her arm out from around Nina’s waist and holding the ring up so Nina could see it.

The diamond only seemed to glisten more when she saw it through the tears in her own eyes, and the gold shone warm like the brightest star. It was an engagement ring- her engagement ring- and it was real, and it was surreal, but Monet was in front of her waiting for an answer with tears in her eyes and hope in her heart that matched her own.

And Nina had never been one to say no to anything.

#rpdr fanfiction #ninex #background witney #monet x change #nina west #willam belli #courtney act #things are really cool in nazareth #ortega #fluff #kidfic #proposal fic #ficmas 2020 #day 14: nice #tw: coronavirus reference #submission

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lucidpantone · 3 years

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Modified anon: Do you have discord? There is a skam groupchat on there. Check out what -------- is saying about you?

hi anon. I’ave heard but not read but I got the cliff notes version of what people have been saying. You’re the 4th person to flag the chatter to me. Thank you for feeling like you needed to inform me. It’s a bit weird that there is a whole group chat occurring about my personal life and trying to uncover personal details about me or head-canoning those details but I can’t really control others ya know? However this highlights one thing which is I was right not to expose personal details about myself on the blog because the one time I have which was celebrating closing on my apt people weaponized an achievement that I consider a milestone in my life and something that anyone should be rightfully proud of to ridicule me and assume things about my life that aren’t even remotely true.

So all I gotta say to this. Ladies especially those who are woc dragging me or inciting a conversation that seeks to uncover personal details about me (to do what exactly with? Dox me?) or generate presumptions about my life. You have never even had a conversation with me. What are you doing?? Also every time I hear a brown/black sister is buying property, getting promoted in a job, buying herself a pair of boobs, botox or hair extensions, or generally just making boss moves maybe lets not sit there as women and call those women liars, lacking dignity or tearing into them for their age (or making passive comments that imply I did some shady shit on the side to garner things ). I didn’t I worked really hard for the last few years in grueling jobs that almost broke me to be able to save up to buy a place and even then because my generation has been so screwed over by unrealistic housing prices I could only do it because a pandemic collapsed the NY market and my father helped me out greatly. I wouldn't have been able to do it on my own because sadly the game is rigged against us. Especially single women of color who strive to succeed. Also folks I am not 40 years old am in my early 30′s (and damn well proud of it!) but if I was 40 what would be the issue?

Last thing, its a shame this has happened because let me tell you there is some wonderful women in their late 20′s and early 30′s in the tag (not publicly). There is a doctor, an attorney, a teacher, a marketing exec and an array of really funny well educated women who just use tumblr as a form of decompression(oh and they own homes too btw) because in the working adult world women are always expected to be on and you cant really ever just be your fun silly self without getting judged or exploiting a vulnerability. So sadly this occurrences makes me and probably those other women not really want to exchange thoughts in fear of getting Doxed or called a liar or judged. Its a shame because women should all collectively aim at creating spaces in where we can exchange thought. Whether it be: “Hey, you mentioned you get laser whats it like am curious?” or “Am applying into grad school and you went there right? can you read my essay see what you think?” or “Hey am queer and you’re pretty open about having alot of sexual partners from different genders?What kind of protection do you use with different gendered partners to prevent from STI, STDS?”. These are all questions I was always open to answering but now I just feel like I have to close myself off and that really sucks and also I love your guys support too.

For example I was gonna make a whole side blog detailing my whole renovation adventure for my new place(it a complete dump a total fixer upper fyi). A light hearted comical side blog being like “oh so your a single girl who is going to attempt to renovate without past experience and no man!!”. Read my blog detailing everything you should not do because I did it! hahahaha. I thought it would be a cute journey to share with you guys but now its like okay. Well i guess I cant because am paranoid if I show you to much of my building your just gonna dox me. Like this sucks and am honestly really bummed about this because I wanted to share this with you guys. Plus you could help me pick out wall paint or kitchen hardware and it just be a fun light hearted thing. Anyhow..... I know these people talking about me are the few not the many and trust me I know how many wonderful people are on tumblr. They are so many amazing people I would have never met any other way. Anyways lets not end on a bad note and buy the discord posse some shots. God knows they need the alcohol to cleanse their soul!

#a letter to the skam discord groupchat #not everyone in there but those who were part of this chat #trying to head canon or find out details about my private life #also to the woc who was egging peeps on in that chat. Like wtf dude?!?!? I ave always supported your shit and reblogged your stuff.#Egging on these white women to tear me down and talk shit about me call me a liar cuz of course brown girls cant be successful.WTF?!?!?!

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pbandjesse · 3 years

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It sounds like someone is on my roof and it's scaring me a little. But besides that I'm feeling pretty good. It was a sleepy day. In the sense that I was sleepy. But it was still good.

I slept alright last night. But getting up was hard. So I let myself sleep a little longer. And when I did get up I was surprised how cool it was. The wild fires out west really made the temperature drop. So I put on my hoodie and got to work.

I got the extension cord for the office. Collected theme stuff. And got my building set up and ready for art.

I had a little breakfast. But really I just wanted to go back to sleep. So I did. Not for long. Just a half hour. It helped me feel a little better.

I got up and got ready for the kids. And my three groups went pretty well. There were a few kids that were just super bad for some reason. But mostly they were great and I had a blast watching them make and just hanging out with them. It's cool to see what they make and just trying to encourage them made me feel good.

Once the last group left I went to get ready for my interview. I made Mac and cheese. And got my headphones attached. I had a little time to wait so I got some paperwork signed. And then I went to sit in the grass to do my interview.

And it went well! Laura was so nice. And while I had to like deal with people trying to come say hi and me being like go away!! And the kids all saying hello. I think the interviewer thought it was funny. But we had great conversation and and though my internet cut out right at the end I quickly sent an email and apologized. And she was super cool about it and said she would contact me next week with next steps. So I hope that means she likes me for the job! It would be Wednesday/Thursday/Friday. And that would be perfect. And it's doing stuff I really love. So I really have my fingers crossed for this one.

I would spend the next couple hours styling. Putting in my invoice for that. They paid me right away so that was cool. And I worked on the porch until my back hurt to much to do anymore. And then it was up to arts to lay flat for a bit.

I chatted with friends. Bothered people on the field. Apologized for scaring on councilor who thought I was mad at her for telling her to go away on my interview. Oops. I thought she would know I was play bullying but that was my mistake. We aren't close enough for that to read I suppose. But she's okay. All made up.

I went and baked off the kids art. Let one group know they were ready to be picked up. This was apparently a mistake because a child may have destroyed some other kids art?? I'm so worried this is true. I spoke to my bosses and the couciler. And I hope it can be dealt with tomorrow because I'm just so bummed about it.

I was honestly just in my feelings. I was hungry and tired and sad. I wanted chipotle. But I would just suck it up and wait for dinner. I got a shower and that helped. And I turned down James driving all the way up here to bring me a burrito bowl. Which was good honestly. I needed to not be a baby about it.

I talked to some friends.Chloe gifted me this amazing goose pitcher. Made bridal appointments with Jess for next weekend. And it was a nice time.

But I was tired. So I came back here. Charlie would come keep me company for a bit. But then he had to leave for PT. So I just. Chilled until the sun went down.

I painted. And played on my phone. I read. I picked my outfit for tomorrow. I painted some more. And then the sun was down. And I heard a big sound on my roof and was very scared. And then I heard a big sound in my building and I got so scared I made Charlie come over and see if he could find anything. But no luck. No idea what it making the sound. Some creature. But I feel under siege. Also the coucilers are being so loud playing light sabers. They are gonna get in trouble. And it's making my anxiety about nosie worse!!! Rude.

I'm going to try to investigate this sound some more. And then sleep. I hope it gets quieter.

Goodnight everyone.

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thanksjro · 4 years

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MTMTE #21: The Sound of Breaking Glass, a prose story- James Did, in Fact, Put That Baby in That Robot

It’s after the fight with Tyrest and his goons, but before Cyclonus stabs Tailgate with a sword for medical purposes. The portal has stopped working, Skids isn’t making any sense, and Rodimus is about to do one of the scariest things you can do as an adult person.

He’s going to make several business-related phone calls.

Perceptor trying to be funny is the oddest take I’ve seen in a bit. I was completely unaware that he had a sense of humor.

Rodimus is looking pretty rough from that nonsense he pulled in the space-crucifix, but he doesn’t want to bother Ratchet, since Tailgate’s still looking like he’s gonna bite it at this point. Besides he’s still got work to do- he fully intends on getting the space bridge back in working order.

The bridge, unfortunately, isn’t making it easy for him; thing’s falling apart and bursting into flames at random intervals.

Rodimus wants to make the last few days at least somewhat worthwhile, a sentiment that Minimus catches onto, and doesn’t seem to agree with. What would it mean, if they were able to say “well, Tailgate, half a religious order, and the concept of trust in the law are dead, but at least we got to finish off our road trip in record time!”? Food for thought, Minimus, I’ll give you that.

Brainstorm runs through the room like a maniac, over the metaphorical moon about something, as he interrupts the conversation. Once he’s gone, Minimus asks about his outer shell, I guess because he feels naked without it. As he collects his belongings, Rodimus brings up their earlier conversation, and reaffirms that he wants to make up for what’s happened. Minimus acknowledges his words, but doesn’t really offer anything in return.

Back over on the Lost Light, we get subjected to a title drop.

Rung is meeting Fort Max in the hollowed-out remains of Swerve’s, because his office is full of corpses. This is a sort-of continuation of their conversation in the brig, where Rung forgave Fort Max for being a big part of why he got shot. They have a brief discussion about where Max’s head is at, and whether or not he’s ready to get back into the workforce after the nightmare hellscape that was Garrus-9. Rung seems to think that the fact that Fort Max is considering his mental health in the first place is a good sign, and offers his services should he be needed.

Too bad they’re going to have to tele-con, since Fort Max is being sent off the ship for his new job.

Over at Rodimus’ office, Rodimus considers hiring Atomizer to redecorate his pad- even though they seem to have very similar tastes when it comes to paintjobs- because he just isn’t feeling the sick flames and hot pink interior anymore.

I see Rodimus is taking the “no fun allowed” route to personal growth. Wonder how long that’ll last.

He has a think about the last conversation he had with Drift before he threw him off the ship, the memory laced with “Overlord murdered a lot of people because of me” guilt. Drift hadn’t been thrilled about the prospect of Rodimus’ inquiry, and made that much known, then volunteered to be the scapegoat. Rodimus hated this idea, horrified by the idea of letting Drift take the fall for him, after all the work he’d put in to try and be liked by people after the whole “Deadlock” thing.

Then Drift revealed that he’s got another reason for not letting Rodimus get kicked off the ship.

Back at Swerve’s, the man himself has made an appearance, interrupting the meeting between Rung and Fort Max, and proceeding to make a fool of himself by way of slapstick. It’s okay though, because he’s too high on actually feeling good about himself for once in his miserable life to feel physical pain.

Rodimus more or less insinuated this exact idea back in issue #17, and it made him so upset he was about to close his bar completely down over it. Good to see our robot Pagliacci bouncing back so nicely.

Brainstorm enters the scene like a vengeful spirit, and I guess Rung and Fort Max just disappear into the aether as he has a little chat with Swerve. Turns out that someone went and took a peek inside the super-secret, possibly-sun-destroying briefcase Brainstorm keeps on his person at all times, and he wants to know who. It was probably a little easier to swing than usual, given that Brainstorm had given up the springs on the clasps of the thing to help break everyone out of moon jail, and he probably had to take at least a little time to recover from his soul halfway evaporating out of his eyes.

Swerve makes a joke, because he has a lot of trouble handling serious situations, then we get confirmation that Brainstorm kidnapped a fucking zygote from the moon.

Brainstorm has a baby inside him.

James, I’m begging you, we can’t keep doing this.

Later, Ratchet’s checking on Tailgate after his stabbing/stabbing repair/cybercrosis cure injection.

Swerve what the FUCK do you think you’re doing with that medical biowaste?

Minimus comes in, looking very silly, as he’s having a heck of a time putting the Magnus Armor back on.

Minimus would like some help getting dressed, and, because clothes for space robots seem to skew more towards body parts than anything else, he’s come to the best doctor on the Lost Light.

(Nobody tell First Aid I said that. I fear his wrath.)

Ratchet is surprisingly handy with the Armor, and it’s revealed that he’s known about Ultra Magnus actually being a completely different, much smaller guy, since the very start.

As in, when Tyrest first started pulling this nonsense.

He didn’t say anything to anyone because he didn’t see the point, then lets Minimus know that he’s his favorite, which gives him a much-needed ego-boost. Minimus wanders off to go put the rest of his clothes on, leaving Ratchet to pull a body out of the morgue that isn’t dead.

Later, on Luna 1, we get to see Rodimus get bummed out about the baby moon not flaring back up. It’s not for lack of trying- he’s crawling around on the ground, rubbing his face in the dirt, all while Getaway watches- but it doesn’t seem like the babies are coming back. Getaway thinks it’s weird that it just kinda turned off, but then again this wasn’t exactly a typical situation, now was it? He tries igniting the Hot Spot himself, planting the first seed of his primus apotheosis diagnosis years from now, then asks our dear captain what’s next on the agenda.

Rodimus, saddened by the loss of literally a billion lives, shakes out his pocket onto the ground.

Don’t worry, the Matrix was in there, so it was totally respectful of the dead. Fort Max rides up, playfully threatening to arrest Rodimus for littering, and we finally get to know what his new career path is.

Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord.

Also, he brought a friend.

Red Alert, jumping right back into his work, has decided to stay with Fort Max on Luna 1, to chase bad guys and help the Circle of Light recover/prepare for attack. Then he tells Rodimus to turn his phone back on, because Perceptor’s been trying to call him for a while now.

Back at Tyrest’s sweet digs, Perceptor’s gotten the communications system working, and is ready to call Cybertron. Cybertron, who probably thinks they all died back in issue #1, despite Blaster’s best efforts in issue #13 and #15. Blaster did not help with this project, probably because he was busy getting his tiddy compartment fixed.

Perceptor dials, everyone wonders what Bumblebee’s been up to, they get their hopes up, and we get one hell of a reveal for anyone who hasn’t been following along with the sister series up to this point.

Ah, that’s right, I’ve got to do a lightning round for RID, don’t I?

In the Postscript of this prose story, we meet Outrigger, a member of the Circle of Light who will be established as a big honkin’ dork the more we learn about him. He’s just run into Red Alert’s office to tell him about Tyrest having moved. This is a very odd occurrence indeed, as Tyrest was shot in the spine, and should not be able to move.

The two of them head over to where Tyrest is being held, only to find he’s disappeared from a locked room.

Well, shit.

#transformers #jro #jro punches me in the face #mtmte #remain in light #issue 21 #the sound of breaking glass #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #prose writing

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peace-coast-island · 3 years

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Diary of a Junebug

Rock and roll the night away!

What better way to escape than getting lost in music? Headphones on, thoughts off - nothing like some good bops to help get you through the day.

KK Slider's been looking into expanding his musical repertoire so he's been playing around with different genres in hopes of creating a brand new sound. And that's how rock and roll night came to be!

Joining us on this musical adventure are Sonja, with her siblings Robbie and Tiffy, and cousin Bubba. It's been ages since Daisy Jane and I have last hung out with Sonja so it's nice that she and her fam dropped by for a visit. I've hung out with Robbie and Bubba a handful of times while this is the first time I've met Tiffy.

Sonja's been meaning to stop by the camp for a while but life has gotten busy. She also wanted her dad and stepmom to come along too but then something came up so they were unable to make it at the last minute. Same thing for her grandma, though to be honest, camping isn't really her thing so it's probably for the best that she didn't come.

Old Thelma Lou may come across as a cantankerous old lady but she really is a nice person once you get to know her. Underneath that rough exterior is a protective, dedicated, and tough mother figure who wants what's best for you, even if she kinda has a hard time showing how much she cares about you. We video chatted with her before the concert and she's still the same old Thelma Lou, keeping an eye on her children, grandchildren, and their friends in her own unconventional ways.

We also chatted with Buzz and Skeeter, both who are doing well. The reason why they weren't able to join us at the camp is because Skeeter's pregnant again. She and Buzz were going to have a boy last fall but there were complications and the baby was stillborn. So far things are moving along smoothly, but to be safe, Skeeter's on strict bed rest. In about four months, Sonja, Robbie, and Tiffy will have a little sister!

Sonja has been busy working on her graphic novel, which she plans to release in the fall. She's a freelance graphic designer and illustrator, known for posting relatable and funny comics online. I love her art - it's got a sketchy and loose style that's sorta minimal yet super expressive. When I got into digital art, I took some inspiration from Sonja's work by using pencil brushes for line art and the gouache brush for coloring.

After working in the studio for hours on the book over the past several weeks, Sonja felt she could use a change of scenery - which was the main reason why she wanted to come to the camp. She also wants to get back into using traditional mediums like painting so she brought along some canvases and paints. The great outdoors is perfect for finding inspiration when you're in a rut!

Robbie runs a fix-it shop in Elmstown with two of his friends. His specialties are clocks and anything that has a lock thanks to his grandma and dad - Thelma Lou likes collecting clocks and Buzz's a locksmith. He's the reason why the family saves so much on repairs - Robbie and his friends can pretty much fix anything! Elmstown is pretty far but I'm keeping his business card in case I need something fixed like my computer since that'll be more cost effective than sending it to the store where I'll probably get overcharged.

It's a good thing we have Robbie here to help KK Slider with the equipment. He had some old amps and guitars that he'd been meaning to get fixed but since they were custom made, it's hard to find parts that need replacement. Thankfully, Robbie never leaves home without his toolbox and with his magic, we were able to improve the stage setup.

Bubba's still living with Thelma Lou, though he's in the process of moving out to his own place. He's not leaving Rayetown though, just moving to the other side of town so he can be closer to the post office. Along with delivering packages for the citizens of Rayetown, Bubba's also a drummer and occasional lead singer for The Cogwheels, a local band that regularly performs at the Chili Bowl.

Thelma Lou and Bubba have a sweet relationship. He's the oldest of the Harp grandchildren through Thelma Lou's daughter. His parents pretty dumped him on Thelma Lou's doorstep when they moved halfway across the country, which wasn't very nice of them. His mom and grandma have a stormy relationship so that explains why Thelma Lou's kinda overprotective of him, and in return he respects her a lot. Recently though, Bubba and his mom have been keeping in touch sporadically - thanks to Uncle Buzz and Aunt Skeeter. As for his dad though, since he walked out on his mom, he hasn't heard from him in years, which he feels is probably for the best.

And there's Tiffy, the youngest (so far) of the grandchildren. She's seven and a half years old and likes to sing and dance. This is her first time being away from home for a couple days so she's pretty excited about it. Plus, she gets to spend time with her siblings, something she always looks forward to since they live far from home. By the time she was born, Sonja and Robbie had already long moved out of Rayetown. Up until Tiffy came along, Sonja and Robbie rarely visited home, a deliberate choice that they both kinda regretted but at the same time felt it was necessary.

Tiffy's looking forward to the new baby - and she's absolutely certain that things will work out this time. She was really bummed about what happened with her brother, especially since she always wanted a little sibling. Buzz and Skeeter had been trying for years to have another kid - they didn't have Tiffy until about six years into their marriage - and that was after being told many times that they missed the boat. It's a good thing they didn't give up or else Tiffy wouldn't be here today!

While helping KK Slider set up for the concert, we also went sightseeing outside the camp. Now that the weather's warming up and the sun's staying out longer, we can venture further out. The first place we went was the mountains, where Sonja was inspired to pull out her canvases and paints. She's been working on landscapes and backgrounds so it was the perfect opportunity. Since she had a lot of fun doing that, I figured we could do the same in other places outside the camp like the woods or the meadows.

As they were testing out the equipment, KK and Bubba were jamming out while Tiffy danced. She definitely inherited Buzz and Skeeter's dance skills! Tap dancing and ballet are her favorites and she definitely wants to branch out to other forms of dance. Her parents are looking into more dance classes for Tiffy, which she's excited for. One of the reasons why she's looking forward to having another sibling is so she can have a dance partner in the future. Imagine, Tiffy and her little sister, dancing together!

Later, Robbie joined in on the jam session, playing the bass. Apollo, Static, and Cherry joined in as well, and before we knew it, all of them were writing new songs that eventually became the setlist for the concert! Sonja later got into the jam session after Daisy Jane showed her around the cabin and her studio. I sense a collaboration between the two in the near future...

Around 5 we finished setting up for the concert and began preparing for a barbecue dinner. By the time all the food was set up, it was time to rock and roll! I have to say, KK and the campers really outdid themselves with the stage setup. It was a mix of performances by KK Slider and jam sessions by us. The concert was an awesome experience!

In the span of one hour, Bubba and KK wrote Road Ode. KK came up with the intricate melody that's a perfect fusion of his signature sound along with elements of classic rock. Bubba came up with the lyrics, taking inspiration from his relationships with his mother and grandma. Easily one of the highlights of the night.

Apollo sang lead on a number he co-authored with KK Slider titled Old Man Blues. It's a bluesy rock and roll tune with a catchy guitar riff that's stuck in my head as I write this. The light show visuals really add to the vibe of this song, elevating it to another level.

Static and Cherry performed Heavy Metal Ballad as a trio with KK Slider - another song that was just finished today. The song was actually three different compositions that merged into one. Cherry has been playing around with a cool heavy metal beat for a while. She had a good thing going on but had trouble turning it into something, so she put it aside in hopes of finding the right spark to kick it off. Static came up with lyrics for the chorus, originally through a little ditty he called Lightning Muses. And like Cherry, he had something but couldn't figure out what direction he wanted to take it. Then along comes KK Slider, who saw the potential in these two wildly different compositions. Somehow, with his verses and additional melodies, he created an instant hit!

In an unexpected surprise, KK Slider got Daisy Jane and I on to perform a new KK original as well as a couple songs from Lilac and the Cadillacs. The new song, Sky Blue Twilight, is a collaboration between me, Daisy Jane, and KK Slider. It was something we came up with a while back, and I had almost forgotten about it until today. I'm pretty rusty from songwriting but working on this piece was pretty fun! I really should get back into writing music...

Sonja, Robbie, and Tiffy also joined Bubba on stage for another new song, titled All That Rock 'n' Roll. Tiffy sang lead vocals with Sonja on the keys and Robbie on bass. Along with being a fantastic dancer, Tiffy's a great singer! I filmed the whole thing for Bubba so he can send it to Thelma Lou, Buzz, and Skeeter. I have to say, KK Slider and Bubba make a great songwriting team!

Another fun song is Violet Blaze, an upbeat rock and roll tune by KK Slider, Candi, Kabuki, and Spike. KK Slider really outdid himself on that guitar solo! With riffs like that, there's no other song fitting to be titled Violet Blaze. What one can't put into words, music expresses it - one just has to listen and feel.

And of course, in between the new songs were KK Slider classics, but remixed. It's amazing how changing up the genre can give well known songs a fresh makeover! That's what I love about KK Slider's music - the versatility. In terms of reinventing his sound while staying true to himself, I'd say KK Slider succeeded with flying colors!

Aside from Tiffy and the early risers, the rest of us have been rocking and rolling way past midnight. I'm still a bit buzzed from the concert, which just ended less than an hour ago, so I'm gonna unwind for a bit before going to bed.

#animal crossing #animal crossing pocket camp #Diary of a Junebug #headcanon ramble

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r3b3lgrrrrrrrl · 5 years

Text

A LunaTic and her Gunn (Part 99) "Shows in Different Country Codes"

@creatureofthen1ght-v3 @crystalbaby12 @mgkobsessed @backoftheroomandnotbelonging @5sosfam1dlover

Waiting for the Xanax to kick in that Luna had given him in their uber, Colson's leaned back into his seat. A thousand thoughts swirling through his head as he stares out the airplane's window.

"FUCK... I hate leaving them...." He sighs at the thought of Casie and Luna. "I wonder if she got in touch with that planner Emma gave her..." His mind drifting to their weddings. Being more nervous for EstFest, there's a lot to do just festival wise. "I'm glad no one gave me shit about adding the extra day..." He thinks of the vendors. Sighing again, his mind wanders to a place it tries to never go. "Maybe I should call my dad.... He should probably meet Luna...." His heart worries as the Xanax helps his eyes close.

--------------------------------------------------

Luna lands in Mexico City around 5A. She wanders around the gift shop for a moment, buying a new shirt before making her way outside. It's pouring, so she pulls her Yankees hat on backwards before she hops into a taxi.

Once checked in at The Four Seasons, Luna doesn't know what to do with herself. Ashley's sharing a room with Dom, leaving Luna alone. Lighting a joint, she tries on the shirt she bought. Heading into the bathroom, she stands on top of the toilet to Snap Colson.

Finally crawling into bed, Luna flicks on the TV as she lights another joint. Drifting off to the sounds of Parks and Rec once she's put it out.

-------------------------------------------------

The Bus is parked in the back of the venue, Colson's playing The Knitting Factory tonight. In the back of a cab, he catches the Snap from Luna. Laughing out loud at her once he opens it.

"She's so fucking adorable..." His heart aches for her as he pays for and climbs out of his ride.

Opening the door to their bedroom on The Bus, Colson isn't shocked to find Baze and Sam. He's definitely not pleased though.

"Yo. Wake the fuck up and get outta my bed." He states, kicking the bottom of Baze's foot.

Both of them wake with a bit of a startle. Looking at each other, slightly embarrassed. They like to think they're on The Low but everyone knows about them. Silly Wabbits.

"FUCK man... I didn't think you'd be back till later..." Baze says groggily as he collects himself.

"Clearly, Truck." Colson rolls his eyes with a chuckle as he turns around so they can dress.

Not one to cock block but desperately wanting to lay down, he really doesn't care. He knows Luna will though. As they begin to leave his room, Colson calls out a Yo. They both turn but he talks directly to Sam.

"You know she's a cunt.... I'd get these sheets washed before she gets back." He says with a light warning.

Tired, Sam stares at Colson. She hates that he knows Luna well enough to be right.

"I got it." She responds, uncharacteristically trying to hide the annoyance in her voice.

With his door shut, Colson Snaps Luna back before throwing himself down. Hoping to find her smell, he can only find other people in their bed. Pissed, he rips the blankets, sheets and pillow cases off, throwing them out the door.

Grabbing her pillow and tucking his nose inside his hoodie, he catches her faint scent. Images of Luna dancing in his head as he falls asleep.

-------------------------------------------------

Luna wakes up to a hard banging on her door. It's just after 2P. Touching the empty side of her bed, Luna wishes Colson was with her.

Hating The World, she let's them bang. Finding her phone, there's a Snap from Colson.

"He's such a dirty Motherfucker..." Luna thinks with a grin.

The door still pounding.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!! I'M COMING!" She shouts as she climbs out of bed.

Winging the door open, it's Ashley and Dom. Impatient fucking Assholes.

"WHY!?!" Luna demands. "Why the FUCK do you need to bang like that?" Luna complains as she let's them in.

"To wake your bitch ass up." Ashley snarks, pushing her way into the room.

"Mornen' Loons." Dom greets her to her silent nod.

"You really are a DICKFUCK sometimes...." Luna says with annoyance.

"Whatever...." Ashley brushes her off. "Got any bud?" She asks, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah.... But it was shoved up my asshole, so do you really wanna smoke it?" Luna deadpans.

"Shut the fuck up." Ashley laughs as she turns to Dom. "She didn't shove it up her ass." She reassures him.

"Oi... Bum smoke is no problem fo me!" Dom responds, making both Girls laugh.

Dom knowing Them well enough to truly understand the nature of their friendship. Rolling one up as Ashley and Luna climb onto the bed together. Luna's ring catching Ashley's eye for the first time.

"HOLY FUCK! WHAT IS THIS!!!" She exclaims as she grabs for Luna's hand.

Admiring the large, sparkling stone, she moves Luna's hand all around as it catches the light. Shining brighter with every different angle. It's definitely NOT a guitar string.

"He picked this out on his own?" She asks in amazement.

"I think Rook might've helped him a little, but yeah... I had nothing to do with it." Luna answers.

"Good job, Kells." Ashley compliments his choice.

Luna, Ashley and Dom burn and chat. Talking about Colson, the ring, what they've both been up to and the upcoming weddings. It feels like forever since The Girls last saw each other. In reality, it's only been three days since the show at The Roxy.

"Alright... We gotta motor. Go shower, we have rehearsal in less then 2hrs. Come meet us in room 202 when you're ready." Ashley directs Luna.

"Alright......" Luna yawns loudly.

She heads into the bathroom as Ashley and Dom close her door behind them. Lighting another joint, she rails three 30s as she gets ready for the shower. Forgetting to Snap Colson back due to her unexpected visitors.

-------------------------------------------------

"Cool..." Colson thinks when he finally opens his door. His angry linen fit is gone from the floor. "Thanks Sam...." His brain grateful even if his actions are sometimes dickish.

Walking to the front of The Bus, everyone's lounging, burning and waiting for him. Plopping down next to AJ, he asks Rook to throw him a bag of chips. Colson nonchalantly munches on them as they all talk about tonight's show. Working on the setlist, he hates when he has to cut Bad Things as he finishes his snack.

"Dawg... Raise that shit to your face!!" Slim hollers at the picture on the bag.

Looking at it, Colson asks "What like this?" Lifting it up just under his nose.

The entire Bus erupts into laughter. It fits so perfectly. Colson tosses his phone to Slim.

"Here, take a picture.... We'll see if this is wedding acceptable." He laughs.

Tossing it back after he takes one, Slim laughs out a Definitely Not as Colson shoots Luna a Snap asking the same question. Colson shrugs with amusement... You never know with Loons.

"We ready to fuck this day up?" He asks as he begins to lead the rest of them off of The Bus.

-------------------------------------------------

Throwing on jeans, with a band T and flannel, Luna has her hair up. Red bandana securing it. Only having one pair of contacts left, she chooses to wear her glasses. The sun being her eyeballs mortal enemy today.

In the front seat of an uber with Ashley and Dom, her phone goes off. It's another Snap from Colson.

What the SHIT!!" Luna can't contain her thoughts or laughter. "Look at this crazy Asshole!!" She laughs.

Screenshotting the Snap before passing it to the backseat. Both of them erupt into laughter also.

"Oi. E wears it so well!!" Dom laughs.

"No... No, he doesn't. He looks like a fucking pornstar." Luna laughs as she takes back her phone.

"Pornstache!!" Ashley laughs out loudly to Luna's hysterical agreement.

Catching the older driver's amused eyes, Luna shows him. Bursting out laughing, he agrees... Yes, I'm sorry but Your Boyfriend Looks Like a PornStar. Tickling Luna's funny bone to the core.

"FUCKING JOHNNY WADS!!!!" She shouts, turning in her seat to look at Ashley before she Snaps Colson back.

She's referring to one of the pioneering PornStars of the 70s. John Holmes. Huge cock. 15 inches... If not more. A wild and extremely violent true story. The two of them watching the movie dozens of times as teenagers. Amongst many others.

Even with with one's own solid influences, false advertisements are still intriguing. Filling their young, rebellious souls. Recommending the fucked up movie to anyone who loves drugs, violence, Val Kilmer and unhappy endings.

youtube

"Oooh.. Christ!!! You better hope not, Phoebe!!" Ashley laughs.

"Fuck you... I'd be a Smelly Cat BEFORE a fucking SHARON!!!" Luna flicks her off with a laugh and a grin.

Dom chiming in to sing Smelly Cat as they step out of their cab and head into the venue to rehearse for the Awards Show. The Girls singing along with him.

"Wait... What are we doing and why are we in Mexico again?" Luna asks, slightly confused.

"It's the MTV Latin Millennial Awards." Ashley answers as if Luna's supposed to just get it.

"Annnnnd....?" She leads.

"And I'm nominated and performing. They requested Without Me and Nightmare so you HAVE to be here." She teases Luna while draping her arms around her shoulders from behind.

"But we're not Latina....?" Luna's still confused.l

"Dude... I don't know. I just played the Brazil one a few weeks ago. Without Me is a nominee for Global Hit... Maybe that's why." Ashley shrugs. "We've got more important things to worry about. I want us do some choreography with four dancers."

"You fucking what?" Luna asks in bewilderment.

Ashley has her at an Award Show in Mexico and now she wants her to dance like some fucking pop star. She's gotta be out of her God Damn mind.

"Yeah!!! It'll be fun!! Come meet the girls." Ashley says with a grin as she pulls Luna along.

"Fuck my stupid fucking life...." Is all Luna can think.

--------------------------------------------------

Colson is rehearsing with The Boys. Deciding to take a Burn&Board Break, they head out back. Reaching into his pocket, he finds a Snap from Luna.

Laughing at her smart ass response and missing her voice, he calls her. It rings straight through. Colson can't resist leaving her a voicemail.

🎶Off that fat ass//Imma do a line or two//Before we//Have our own private shoot//Where I//PornStar Fuck//The shit outta you//Be ready//When you come back//Boo//Cuz it's//Only Bad Things//That we do🎶

Laughing after he finishes, he shouts "LOVE YOU, KITTEN!! CALL ME!" before hanging up.

-------------------------------------------------

Luna's BackStage as Ashley and Dom sit in the audience. She's trying not to freak out over the performance Ashley wants to pull off. Even with Patti making her take ballet and gymnastics, Luna is not a dancer. She's a musician, a songwriter, a photographer, a painter, a sculptor. An artist. You could even call her an activist, a feminist, a bitch and an outlaw. What you can not call her is a professional dancer.

"This is gonna be a fucking shit show...." She worries as she hears Ashley's name called. "OH FUCK!! SHE WON!!!" Luna's brain bursts. Any other thoughts disappearing with the excitement for her bestfriend.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Catching up in the dressing room they're sharing, Luna congratulates Ashley with a tight hug. Popping into the bathroom while Ashley puts on her first outfit, Luna shoots Colson a Snap. Not paying attention to her voicemail as she comes out of the bathroom. She always has an unchecked voicemail.

"Change. We're on next." Ashley instructs her, pointing to the latex and chain garments sitting on a chair.

Wiggling into the tight pieces, Luna checks herself out in the stand up mirror. Her outfit consisting of a latex crop top, VERY small booty shorts with metal chains dangling securely around the hips, fishnets and a pair of Docs. Ashley has the exact same thing on under what looks like a 1980's prom dress.

"You know I'm keeping these right?" Luna asks as she slides her hand up her smooth ass.

"Yeah, I figured..." Ashley laughs as a tiara is placed on top of her head.

"See you out there, Miss 2019." Luna smiles, referring to the sash Ashley's wearing as she makes her way out the door.

Luna double checking herself before following behind. Thinking about Snapping Colson again, she decides to wait. He loves the feel of latex and she'd rather show him in person.

---------------------------------------------------

Colson's phone goes off just as he's about to silence it. It's Luna.

"Fuck, she's gorgeous...." He thinks staring at her picture. Wanting to put his hands on every inch of the bare skin she's showing. More so on the parts she's not.

"Yo!!! You gotta go!!" Ashleigh hollers at him.

Walking quickly down the hall, Colson Snaps Luna back before heading OnStage. Grabbing his guitar, he shouts to the crowd WHAT UP EST FAM!!!! making the factory explode in excitement.

--------------------------------------------------

Ashley presents Without Me almost as a performance piece. Standing alone OnStage in her pretty dress, sash and tiara initially until black, shadowy figures begin to push and pull at her. By the end of the song, they've ripped the gown off of her. Leaving her on the floor.

The lights go down as the opening chords to Nightmare come on. Ashley running to the MainStage to meet Luna. It's a long runway with a large circular stage at the bottom.

Luna and Ashley bounce in between the four similarly dressed dancers. Ashley kicking her leg out high as she begins.

🎼I!🎶

She shouts the opening chorus as the two of them run, bounce and jump down the straight away towards the camera. Of course it's being televised. Stopping MidStage, the dancers squat down. Surrounding them as Luna hits her mark.

🎶I'm out for blood//And it won't be sweet🎶

She sings, dragging her hands around her body as the dancers and Ashley tilt their heads back and forth to the beat. On que the six of them stalk to the center of the stage, Ashley and Luna in the middle. Back to back the dancers pull at them as Luna bellows.

🎶Society has us//Pinching our skin//With our own fingers//Wishing we could//Cut our parts off//With some scissors🎶

None of their performances together are the same but they do carry similar tones. Luna and Ashley still mocking each other about Giving Each Other A Smile. Instead of jumping wildly, they move in sync with the dancers to their sides. Fire exploding as they drop out and let the audience shout that WE DON'T OWE YOU A GOD DAMN THING!

The six of them sit down on the ground, sat behind the other like a human train. Leaning forwards and backwards as Ashley sings how she's No Sweet Dream But A HELL Of Night. Standing up and collectively circling around Luna and Ashley, the dancers move behind them as Luna comes in again.

🎶No, I won't smile//But I'll show you my teeth//And I might let you breathe//If you just let Us be//We've been polite//But we're done with this trend//Of men thinking//They can tell Us//What we can do in our beds🎶

Rolling their hips and hitting different moves together on certain lyrics, the choreography isn't nearly as awful as Luna had anticipated. Fire bursting around them as they squat and move easily with the dancers. The performance rolling smoothly.

"Thank you, Mexico City!! Thank you for having us. Thank you for the honor of my award..." Ashley shouts to the crowd as the song begins to come to it's end.

Luna comes up to Ashley, putting her arm around her. Looking at each other, Luna turns back to the room.

"Yes!! Thank you!! This woman here is AMAZING!! Can you do one thing for her? On this last verse can you go WILD!?!" Luna asks to their roars. "THEN, HERE WE GO!!!!"

Ashley and Luna sing together strong and fierce. Fire and lights exploding around them. Fuck the choreography, they're fully enjoying losing their minds OnStage together. To their credit, the dancers are completely professional and stay on point. Somehow managing to avoid crashing into the Maniacal Girls

🎶I!//KEEP A RECORD//OF THEIR WRECKAGE//AND THEIR LIES//WE'RE STARTEN' TO WEAPONIZE//OUR POWERFUL MINDS//THEY TALK SHIT//BUT//WE WON'T TAKE IT//THIS TIME//AND//THEY'LL FINALLY REALIZE🎶

Coming together again, arms linked around each other and the dancers waists, The Girls yell in unison with a wave.

"THAT WE'RE NO SWEET DREAM BUT WE'RE A HELL OF A NIGHT!!! THANK YOU AGAIN, MEXICO CIIIIITYYYY!!!"

The two bestfriends laughing and holding hands as they walk OffStage. Thanking and complimenting the dancers along their way.

-------------------------------------------------

"THROW THOSE HORNS UP AND SIIINGIIING!" Colson shouts as he grips the mic, guitar hanging from his body.

🎶Woah, Woah//She said//You need to let me go//Woah, woah//She said I'd die for you//You're like my drug//But I can't get high off you//You're not mine anymore🎶

His Est Family erupting with him as they sing along word for word Let You Go with him. There is NOTHING like thousands of people singing your words along with you.

The Band runs through El Diablo and Rap Devil. Colson climbing onto the top of Rook's kit hitting a guitar solo during Alpha Omega. Bad Motherfucker follows with them finally ending on 27.

It's a great show. The Boys are raw and fearless. Colson jumping and climbing on everything he can find. Shouting THANK YOU, IDAHO! as they exit the stage.

Without Luna there Colson feels a bit lost. Heading straight BackStage, avoiding his dressing room. Grabbing a beer, he slams a shot with The Crew. Random Girls floating in around them. Falling all over themselves to get to Rook, Slim, AJ, Baze and Colson.

Sam is sitting on a couch between Colson and Baze talking about tonight's show, if anyone's heard from Luna and other random stuff. It's when two girls slither over, each perching themselves on the arm rest next to one of the boys. Touching them to get their attention.

Sam looks left. Then Sam looks right. Reaching in her back pocket, she pulls out her blade. Popping it, she looks back and forth between the two females again.

"I'd get the fuck up if you cunts like your tits." She states with a snarl.

The two quickly moving away as Colson laughs. Sam and Luna truly are two peas in a pod. Looking over he catches Baze kiss Sam's cheek. It makes him miss his LunaTic even more.

"Knock it off." He tells them. "If I'm not getting any, neither are you motherfuckers. Now, let's get FUCKED UP!!" Colson declares as he grabs a bottle of Jack.

--------------------------------------------------

Luna's doing the same. Only in Mexico with Corona and Mezcal. Sitting at an After Party with Ashley, Dom, the boys from BTS and a few other artist, they bullshit and talk about the night. Everyone stopping to congratulate Ashley on her win and compliment both Girls on their performances.

"You won't eat the worm..." Ashley dares Luna as she swigs the bottle with the little guy floating inside.

"Nothing happens if you do...." Luna blows her off.

"Yes hunh.... You start trippen'. Isn't that right, Luis?" She asks as she turns to one of the other artist.

"For dayyys, Mami..." He drawls.

Rolling her eyes, Luna takes the last of the fifth to the head. The other's watching with wide eyes as the worm slides down her throat with it.

"We'll see... But I call bullshit." Luna states.

"Aye..." Luis nudges Ashley. "She's no gallina." He says impressed to her nod.

"Nah, mucho perra." Luna counters to his surprise.

"Aye...." He grins with his own nod, amused by the tiny white girl.

The music is loud as smoke and Mezcal continue to flow. Everyone is drunk. Ashley tries to follow with Dom as Luis teaches Luna to salsa. Politely declining his advances as his hand slips from the small of her back down to her ass.

"I'll be back...." She calls over her shoulder as she goes to check her phone.

There's a Snap from Colson hours ago.

Both sets of Luna's cheeks instantly flush when she reads his words. Missing him, she calls instantly.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Hi, Bunny...." Her voice is low and warm when he answers.

"Oooh, Kitten. I miss you." He sighs.

"Me too... I miss your face. And your eyeballs. And your hands on my body. The way they run threw my hair when I suck your cock..."

Colson's dick had perked up at the sound of her voice but her words have him full on hard now. Wanting to fuck her, touch her.... Shit, just seeing her right now would probably make him cum.

"Where are you?" He demands

"I don't know.... Somewhere in Mexico?" She answers.

"Find somewhere alone and FaceTime me right back." He tells her firmly.

"Okay." She simply says as she hangs up.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Luna heads towards the stairwell. Popping in her air pods, she FaceTime's Colson right back.

Colson had made his way into a bathroom while they were off the phone. Answering, he can't help but break out into a smile.

"Hey, Gorgeous... You alone?" He asks after greeting her.

"Mhmm... Just me and your pussy." She coos. "She's lonely without you...."

"Show her to me." Colson taunts as he adjusts his phone on the bathroom sink and unbuckles his pants. Both of them are drunk and horny.

Luna props her phone against the wall across from her. Standing up, she slips off the black jean shorts she has on. Sitting on them, she drops her left leg on the step below and lifts her right to the one above. Spreading her legs for Colson. Only a screen and Luna's black panties separating them.

"I want you to touch her." He requests as he starts to pull on his hard cock.

Luna can see him playing with himself through the phone. Obliging him, she pulls the cotton to the side. Exposing her bare lips. Opening them for him to see her pink insides. Colson tugs harder on himself as Luna slips her fingers inside her sopping cunt. Letting out a low moan as she arches her back.

"That's right, Kitty... Play with my pussy. Rub that clit with your thumb the way I know you like." He directs her.

Following directions, Luna uses her free hand to yank the Japanese Star Wars shirt she has on up. Exposing her full breasts. With her fingers still inside of herself, she grips one tit. Playing with it's piercing between her thumb and index finger. The sight of his ring on her hand makes Colson rage even more.

"Does that feel good?" He pants as he watches her, feeling close to exploding.

"Unh hunh.... She moans with closed eyes as she bucks against her own hand. "Be better if my mouth had your cock in it." She lets out with another moan, she's close too.

"I'm gonna fuck you so hard you can't fucking walk by time I'm done with you." Colson threatens to Luna's delight as he grips the sink.

With Colson's deep voice wrapping around her brain and the memory of his touch hitting all her senses Luna cries out for him as they masturbate for each other.

"AHHHH FUCK! DO IT, LOONS!!" He shouts as his dick shoots his seed everywhere, keeping his eyes glued to the screen.

Luna's spread eagle as she finger fucks herself on the steps. Bucking wildly as her hands please her body. Cumming all over herself as Colson watches in pleasure.

Out of breath, Luna opens her eyes. "Fuck, C....." Is all she can get out as her knees fall together.

"Lemme see her one more time.... Bring her close." He instructs.

Opening her legs back up, Luna pulls her phone up to her box. She can hear Colson telling her pussy that She's A DIRTY Girl. Looking down when she hears him making kissing noises, all she can see is his lips. He's kissing his phone screen.

"Are you trying to kiss my fucking vagina?" Luna asks with a drunken laugh.

"Damn right I am." He grins.

"I fucking love you." She laughs again as she shakes her head.

"Not as much as I love you. Now put your fucking pants back on before I have to kill someone." He smirks.

Doing as she's told, Luna slips her shorts back on over her soaked panties. Staring at each other, both of their heads are dancing in ecstasy.

Luna and Colson sit on the phone for another 45mins just talking. About anything and everything as usual. Luna telling him about the choreographed performance. Colson chuckling, saying He'll Be Finding It On YouTube to Luna's Fuck. Agreeing to meet in Seattle tomorrow, they exchange sweet Love and I Miss Yous before hanging up.

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

"Jesus fucking Christ, that girl can make me cum from ANYWHERE!" Colson thinks as he walks out of the bathroom contently.

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

"Holy cock on a cracker...." Luna sighs to herself. "That fucking voice gets me every time...." She thinks as her heart throbs for her Lover.

--------------------------------------------------

Still on the same continent, they both head back to their respected parties separately. Colson eventually moving his party to The Bus. Luna moving her's back to The Four Seasons.

He'll ride through the night while she'll fly out tomorrow. Bringing Dom and Ashley with her.

Even apart, they're still on each other's minds. Even with shows in different country codes, they still mange to fuck only each other.

Truly showcasing A Day In The Life of a LunaTic and Her Gunn.

---------------------------------------------------

To be continued.....

40 notes · View notes

bendy-dreamland · 6 years

Photo

“Ahoy-hoy.”

“Hey, it’s me! Yer favorite ink de-”

“Nope. Good bye.”

“DON’T YOU DARE HANG UP!”

“Fine, fine! Uhg, da least you can do is call me more than… oh, I dunno, never! What do ya want anyway?”

“I need a favor.”

“As I expected, what is it dis time? You still owe me for da last one, and it was a doozy. We almost got caught.”

“I-I know, don’t remind me. But dis isn’t a bad one. I just need you to meet me an’ a friend of mine at a portal, possibly da one over on main, near da ol’ oak tree? It comes outta da statue.”

“It’s public.”

“I’ll be in human form, an’ I’m bringin’ my friend Henry wit’ me. You’ll be playin’ escort.”

“Hhhh… fine, but you’re buyin’ me dinner!”

“I’ll even buy ya dessert, baby~! See you tomorrow mornin’, nine o’clock sharp! Bye!”

“W-wait, Bendy! Don’t you hang up on m-! Oh, come on!”

Henry wasn’t sure how this happened, but Bendy somehow wormed his way into spending the night at his place tonight. He couldn’t even remember how it happened, damn toon logic. Well, now he’s stuck with a roommate for tonight in his small apartment. Luckily for him, Bendy was fine with taking his old couch.

As Henry worked on stirring a pot of bacon potato soup, he heard Bendy humming a song to himself as he looked around the living room. “Not much here, big guy. Ya live alone?”

“Yes, I do.” Henry replied, keeping his attention on the food.

“Hmm… wait, I thought you were datin’ someone. Or did dat end since we last chatted.” Bendy commented as he looked at some books on a shelf. Uhg, no comics or picture books, how boring.

With a heavy sigh, Henry looked over at him. “We broke up ten years ago, shortly after I left. How did you even know I was datin’ someone beforehand? You don’t like romance.”

“Oh, I don’t, but the office was gossipy.” The imp chuckled as he approached his creator. “You overhear stuff if everyone talks about it. People knew you were sweet on someone! But, uh, sorry about da break up.”

“It’s fine, it was mutual and necessary, something came up. This is done. You’re lucky this stuff is easy to make. Also, learn to peel potatoes better, you’re gonna be tastin’ some skin.”

Bendy blew a raspberry at him. “I ain’t a cook! I’m a dancer!”

“That reminds me.” Henry reached for two bowls, moving to dish up their dinner. “What exactly were you doin’ to get by here in Over World? You weren’t… stealin’, right? Never designed you to be a straight up thief.”

He scoffed, shaking his floating head. “No, no! I did a song an’ dance act at a really nice club, owned by a lovely couple. Sweetest people, took me in, thought I was an orphan, heh. I’d go out, perform stuff from the show as a human, wit’ out da toon stuff, an’ people loved it. Lived with the couple, da Andersons, but they moved to New York, an’ I stayed here, livin’ in da abandoned club fer six months now.”

He took the bowl when it was offered to it, he was already drooling over his favorite dish. “Fed mahself on donations I’d get from dancin’ in da streets. Collected cans an’ metal for da war effort, they’d give me change, it helped. Sometimes… I sneak into Toon World an’ take what I could get, pretendin’ to be some bum toon.” He followed Henry to the small dinner table in the kitchen, taking a seat. “Now, I got a question fer you, one ya didn’t answer earlier.”

Henry sat down, looking up at him. “Ask away.”

“Why do ya only got nine fingers? What happened to yer hand?”

The detective looked at his right hand. He only had four fingers, his pinky was completely missing, there was a huge amount of scar tissue where it was supposed to be, traveling down the front and back of his hand. He glanced over at the toon, seeing the curious look in those big, black eyes. “The war.”

Bendy shuddered visibly, his black outline wiggled as he did this. “I heard nothin’ but bad things about dat mess. Humans an’ toons, sent overseas. Lotta… lotta bad stuff, my contacts in Toon World have told me dat some toons come back pretty messed up.”

He looked at the bowl before looking back up. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, wasn’t there long enough for shellshock to really get me.” Henry replied as he put a spoonful of stew into his mouth. “Sometimes, loud noises get me. Makes me think of the grenade that sent me flyin’ about ten feet in the air. Woke up four days later in a hospital, cute British nurse told me that I had a concussion, damage to my right leg, hip, and… lost my finger.”

A small smile came to his lips. “Some of my buddies from my troop visited me, they gave me my finger. One of them found it. Knew it was mine cause it still had the blistered finger nail from when I closed a jeep door on it a few days before. Nice gift, we put it into a jar of beer we found and threw it into a river. As a little… screw you, I guess.”

Bendy let out a nervous chuckle. “Heh, dat’s funny. Sorry dat ya, ya know, got sent over to fight.”

Henry just waved it off, shaking his head. “Nah, it’s fine. It happened, my dad fought in the previous one, and he came back fine. I’m fine, I lived to tell the tale, I’m here. With a small limp in my step, but I’m alive and kickin’. Gonna take more than an explosive to send me to the pearly gates.”

The demon laughed more, an honest laugh. Yet there was a small sense of dread with those words, what was it that could cut Henry’s life short? He looked at his creator, who returned to eating his soup, his attention on the newspaper he had set on the table earlier.

It’s been ten years since he last saw him, had watched the man leave Joey Drew Studios with a sad good bye, and a promise that they’d meet again. When Henry left, Bendy was banned from seeing him, with a threat from Joey. He had missed the animator, they were great friends, heck, Bendy saw him as his best friend!

And then Henry was fired, banned from the studio, because something happened between him and Joey.

After Henry left… well… Bendy noticed changes in the studio. Things took a strange turn, and he can’t… he can’t really figure out what to make of it all. And it wasn’t just at Joey Drew Studios, there was The Studio, in Toon World.

He had only visited once, and he knew there was something not right about it at all.

Bendy remembered the unsettling, unnatural air of Da Studio, of how everyone seemed to be almost in a trance-like state, that many of them had left the studio in Over World. And ink, it was everywhere, it was constantly flowing in the pipes. He didn’t get far, he just remembered seeing where the Ink Machine was located, and he never wanted to see it again.

It was so much bigger and more powerful than the original one in Joey Drew Studios…

Bendy shook his head and shoved a spoonful of soup into his mouth, deciding to just ignore those thoughts and forget about the Studio for the rest of the evening. He was gonna catch up with his creator, that was a much more enjoyable plan!

As the ate, Bendy asked Henry questions, like what he had gotten up to in the past ten years, how some of his cases went, if he was really as good of a P.I. as some of the humans and toons claimed him to be. Henry answered his questions and tried to ask his own of the demon, but Bendy only answered questions he wanted to answer. He was vague on the stuff that involved him getting into trouble, or how he got Henry back to his office. He also avoided questions about the studios.

Henry was suspicious, but figured that those were sore topics, or things Bendy couldn’t tell him just yet. Yet, that was a word he knew would be common with Bendy. The demon was always a mystery, Henry hadn’t been there when the toon first came into this world, not like the others, but Joey had. Joey said he appeared just like all the others one had and would, something had just… delayed the little guy.

Toons don’t get delayed in coming into creation unless if editing occurs at the same time of the creation, but that is rare. Then again, Bendy went through a lot of rough drafts from Henry’s original designs.

The mouth was a huge change, same with him losing and then gaining a tail, he even use to have a set of wings at one point. And the human appearance… Henry had made notes that he wanted Bendy to take on a human form for pranks, since demons could shape shift, but Joey never liked that idea.

But seeing Bendy with a tail now, and the ability to become a real human, not a toonish one, is mysterious.

Joey, what were you doing these past ten years?

After the meal and talking, Henry set up a makeshift bed on the couch for his unexpected guest. “We gotta get up early, I want to get to work on this case as soon as possible. And didn’t you say we’re meetin’ with your friend at nine?”

“Yep! He an’ his brother better be there, or they’re cruisin’ fer a bruisin’.” Bendy moved to begin removing his vest.

“What are you doin’?” Henry asked as he unfolded an old blanket for Bendy to use.

“Gettin’ undressed! Normally, if I ain’t in Over World, I’m as naked as da day ya created me, but here? Gotta wear clothes, only really got da one set and I don’t like sleepin’ in it. Besides, you’ve seen me in mah normal attire, so don’t make a fuss.”

“Hm. I just thought it was a redesign to spruce you up before the show got cancelled.” That happened sometimes, when series try to continue after having low ratings, they do redesigns of characters to get more attention. It doesn’t always work.

Bendy shrugged. “Nah, it’s my own work. Got some clothes from mah friends, fixed up da left sleeve cause I can’t really use it.” He tossed the shirt aside. “Even gave it mah li’l patch, ol’ dish face thought it was a good idea.”

Henry raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it. “Alright, whatever you say. Time for bed, don’t stay up and get into anythin’. If you need anythin’, I’m in the other room. Good night.”

The imp grinned, giving a nod. “Night Henry!” He waved, watching the human head to a different room before seeing the door clothes. He let out a small sigh, rubbing at the back of his head as he looked around the apartment from where he stood. He hoped they could figure out what’s up with Joey and where he went soon, he didn’t want anything to happen to Henry. Joey would do something to the guy, he just knew it…

“Okay, this is da spot.” Bendy pointed to a small area, where a man stood in dark clothes. He was clearly a toon, though he appeared to look somewhat like a dog. He stood before a fenced off brick wall, watching Bendy and Henry with careful eyes.

“Reason for business?” The dog asked, his voice as stern as his face.

“Detective Henry Ross.” Henry approached, showing his verification to enter Toon World. “I am investigatin’ the disappearance of Joseph Drew. We have permission to enter to continue the investigation to find any clues to his whereabouts.”

The dog looked over the verification, seeing that it was certified between the mayor of this town and the one in Toon Town. “Alright, you can go. But what about this guy?” He pointed at Bendy, who put on a plastic grin.

“I am his assistant in da case!” Bendy continued to smile. “Benjamin Daemon, I knew Joey Drew an’ am a friend of Mr. Ross here. I’m also in contact wit’ da people waitin’ fer us on da other side of da portal.”

He got a hard glare from the dog who turned and approached a phone attached to the brick wall. It was cartoony in nature and after he dialed a number, the mouth piece began to move as a voice came through. “Yeah, what is it?”

“Got a couple of guys wanting to come over, are there people waiting for a Benjamin Daemon and a Henry Ross?”

The phone was quiet for a moment before the mouth piece began to speak again. “Yeah, two guys are waiting on this side. Let ‘em through.”

The dog hung up and opened the gate of the fence with a key from his pocket. “Just walk through the wall. Watch out, it’ll try to pull you back in.”

“Don’t worry, I know mah way around a portal.” Bendy chuckled and grabbed Henry’s hand, making his grab at the back of his vest. “Do not let go of me until we pass through. Dis one is a doozy.”

Henry didn’t like the sound of that, he didn’t usually use this portal, he often used the one near his office. But Bendy insisted on this one and his contacts knew it, so he was stuck with it. He followed after him, holding onto the golden vest tightly as he watched his creation push his hand against the bricks. He watched as Bendy’s hand morphed through the brick, as if he was pushing his hand into gelatin, before his upper body went in.

Soon enough, Henry was being pulled in, the sensation was cold and weird. He never did like traveling through wall portals, they always felt so weird. He closed his eyes, it was always blindingly bright going through these, and he knew that it would be too colorful on the other side.

Bendy had no trouble though, he was so use to this sort of travel that he was immune to the blinding white and then the sudden surge of colors that was right ahead of him. He could hear the corny, upbeat, happy singing of something as he approached before a cartoonish hand shoved through the swirling portal of colors in front of him.

“Here we go!” Bendy grinned, grabbing at the hand as he was tugged forward. He felt the familiar chill of the portal as he was pulled through the colors. It stuck to his body as he was pulled towards a very familiar figure.

“Hey there, short stack.” The figure smirked, seeing Bendy come through with someone. “And you did bring yerself a friend.”

“Yep!” Bendy laughed, stumbling forward after Henry smacked into his back. “Sorry about dat, ol’ man, I forget about da landin’.”

Henry huffed, straightening himself out before he looked at the other toon. He was taller than Bendy, an object head, a cup. He wore red pants with a black shirt, a red and white striped bandana was around his throat, though Henry knew there was nothing under it. Like Bendy, his cup head floated over his shoulders.

“Cuphead!” The imp laughed again as he hugged onto the toon. “Mmmm~! Did ya miss mah sweet face, baby?” He planted a big, wet, cartoony kiss on Cuphead, who shouted and shoved the other off. Bendy just landed on the ground, laughing even harder than before.

“Hehehe, been a while, eh Bendy?” Another toon approached, dressed similar to Cuphead, though in a blue color scheme. He turned his attention to Henry, smiling. “Ah, good morning, Henry!”

Bendy stopped laughing abruptly and looked up at his creator. “You know Mugman?” He asked as he got to his feet.

“Yeah, I know him and his twin brother. We worked a case together last year, and Mugman here helps develop my photos for me when I can get into contact with him.”

Mugman chuckled. “I do it more as a hobby, but I’m happy to be of help.”

Cuphead and Mugman, former stars from Studio MDHR’s biggest hit, Cuphead: Don’t Deal With the Devil. They were two kids who made a deal with the Devil himself at his casino and had many adventures fighting baddies to get their soul contracts in order to save their own skins from the prince of darkness.

It had ran for a while and did well, but after the big fight with the Devil and a bonus set of episodes, the studio lost funding and didn’t do well against other competition. So, the two cup brothers and their cast of colorful characters moved on to Palomino City, a place known for housing lost toons.

When a studio goes under or decides to remove characters from their casts, the Toons move to Palomino City to live. They can find work in Toon World and Over World, but they no longer have studios to return to in order to continue their shows. Sometimes, rarely, do they find work in other studios, but most just get simple work.

They are, however, not treated well.

Many humans, specifically the higher class and those of a certain heritage and standing see them as being on the same level as those of lower classes, the poor, and those of different races and cultures. In other words, toons are a minority group and are treated as such.

It actually surprised Henry that Bendy was able to find stage work in Over World as a performer, most usually work behind the scenes, or as staff members of clubs. It wasn’t often they got to perform unless if the business was owned by toons.

The cup brothers got lucky, they were able to become bounty hunters of sorts. Just like in the show, they tracked down cartoon characters, only this time it wasn’t for their contracts, it was for people skipping out on payments and such. They still worked for the Devil himself sometimes, who lived in Toon World, somewhere.

Henry wasn’t sure where the Devil was, he was a strange toon, one that the animator didn’t understand. He knew people at Studio MDHR and had asked about that character and how he came to be. No one could ever give him a straight answer. How… peculiar. But that isn’t his business of other animator’s work and choices, he wasn’t going to dwell too much on a cartoon demon that isn’t his own.

“Hey.” A voice spoke up, catching the group’s attention. A human stood near the portal, glaring at them. “Alright, you’re all here, now get! No loitering around the portal!”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get yer britches in a knot.” Cuphead snorted, turning away with the others following after him. “So, Henry, what brings you here and how is Bendy involved? Must be pretty big to have him using a public portal like that.”

That last comment caught Henry’s attention, Bendy doesn’t use public portals? Are there hidden ones? Probably, most likely in seedy areas. He probably uses those since he’s on Toon World’s most wanted. “I’m here on a case, Bendy is here to help me. We’re lookin’ for any information on the disappeance of Joey Drew.”

Mugman frowned at this. “Joey Drew? Must be a big deal for you to bother with that, no one here cares that he’s gone. In fact, when people found out, I swear there was cheerin’. Newspaper said a great evil was missin’ and that we don’t have to deal with it.”

“I was hired to find him, I think there is somethin’ big happenin’ behind the scenes. Bendy’s filled me in on what little he knows, and I even went back to Joey Drew Studios to see for myself what happened.”

“And whatcha found wasn’t enough?” Cuphead asked as he put his hands behind his head.

Henry shrugged. “I found a strange machine before the place flooded, called the Ink Machine.”

This got the cup brothers’ attention as the looked at one another, before looking at Bendy. “He knows?” They both asked.

“He knows just as much as I do an’ what I’ve told you two about.” Bendy snipped, glaring. “I don’t want him gettin’ anywhere near dat screamin’, metal death trap! He almost got himself killed in da place cause of da machine.”

“You two know about it?” Henry asked, ignoring Bendy’s shouts.

Mugman waved his hand a little. “As Bendy said, just what he knows. We only really know that Joey Drew created it to speed up production for shorts, but that’s about it. But Bendy doesn’t seem to like it all that much.”

Henry glanced at his creation. “Clearly. Anyway, Mugman, I’m gonna need you to develop the pictures I took. Sorry, it’s got some ink on it, hopefully the film is still good.” He held out the camera he had used in the studio, which Mugman carefully took.

The mug toon looked it over, giving a little nod. “It’ll be a small challenge, but I’m sure I can clean up anythin’ that needs it. Still seems to be in good condition.” He shifted it a bit in his hold, but almost dropped it. Quickly, he caught it, but hit a button, blinding the four with a flash of light.

“Ow! Mugs, what was dat fer?!” Cuphead rubbed his eyes, uhg, he was seeing spots.

“Sorry, butterfingers today, it seems! I think I took a picture, terribly sorry, Henry. I’ll get rid of it when I develop the film.”

“It’s alright.” Henry replied, blinking a few times. “So, we need to sit down and plan things out, figure out how to go about gatherin’ up information here.”

Cuphead nodded, smirking. “Well, we can go to Tizzy’s Diner, since a certain someone owes me dinner like he promised.”

Bendy rolled his eyes. “You said dinner, it’s too early fer dat!”

“Nope, I want breakfast, didn’t get a chance to eat it this mornin’!”

“Cause you woke up late.” Mugman rolled his eyes, ignoring the stammered defense from his twin. “Let’s just go, I’m gonna need a coffee to get through a conversation with those two.”

Henry chuckled, following after the taller twin. “No kiddin’, didn’t realize that those two liked to argue.”

“They’re good friends, but they are always at each other’s throats. Come on, I’ll buy us breakfast, my treat.”

The four arrived to a small diner, called Tizzy’s. Henry had been here once before with someone from his past, they shared coffee and the best peach cobbler he ever had. Tizzy herself was there, a bat toon who always had her curly locks pushed out of her face by a polka dot bandana. She had a stern look on her face when she saw Cuphead, crossing her arms as she tapped her foot.

“You gonna finally pay off that tab, Cuppy?” She narrowed her eyes at him as he sheepishly laughed.

“Y-yeah, don’t worry…! I’ll get da money real soon, just got hired fer a new job, dontcha worry dat pretty head of yours, Tiz!”

“Ha!” She smirked, hands on her hips now. “I’ve heard that song and dance before. Mugs, at least I can trust you. So, you ordering?”

Mugman chuckled a little, saying that they would be as he ushered the other three to a quiet booth off to the side, away from most of the other customers of the greasy spoon. Once they were seated and given menus, along with everyone ordering themselves some drinks, Henry got right down to business.

“I’m gonna need as much information on Joey Drew and Joey Drew Studios as you two can get. Everythin’ from the past ten years.”

Cuphead gave a nod as he leaned forwards, resting his arms on the table. “Gotcha, we’ll ask around, keep it on the downlow. There’s a lotta people here who won’t give up what they know without a price, but Mugs an’ I got our way of gettin’ info.”

“And if it becomes too much trouble, I’m sure our boss will help.”

Bendy shook his head. “No, we ain’t gettin’ dat guy involved, too much trouble wit him, and I already owe him enough as it is… don’t even let him know I’m back here.”

“We’ll keep our mouths shut then.” Mugman frowned, but smiled when Tizzy walked over with a tray, giving them their drinks before taking their orders. Once she was gone, he turned back to the group. “I know a guy, we often use him to find out if a bounty has been seen or if they’re in hidin’. We can probably get a few things out of him, but he’s really stubborn.”

“You mean Mike?” Cuphead asked, getting a nod. “Great, don’t like askin’ him fer information, gets real snippy about it. Won’t even tell us his source! But he’s a man with connections.”

“Mike?” Henry asked, taking out his little notebook and a pen.

“Sarsaparilla Mike, he owns Candy Corners. We know him through Baroness von Bonbon, use to work under her, a background character from our show.” Mugman replied as he took a drink of his coffee, seeing Henry taking notes. “He’s a man who is tight lipped, but can get information from just about anyone, he’s a man who knows what he’s doin’. Really scary how well he is at that.”

“I think he’s got good connections, but like hell he’s gonna tell us who or what they are.” Cuphead huffed.

Henry nodded, making note of this. “Bendy, is there anyone you know who can help?”

“Ehh… not really, tried to keep myself on da downlow these past few years, lost a lotta connections, but I still talk to these two. I told ya, I’ve been in hidin’, can’t have anyone know I’m Bendy da Dancin’ Demon. So call me Benjamin here.” Bendy whispered.

“Right.” Henry frowned. “Well, maybe we can give Mike a visit after we’re done here, could make things a little easier. Or we could check out The Studio, see what we find there.”

“No!” Bendy hissed, slapping his hand down on the table. “We ain’t goin’ there just yet! Only as a last resort!”

“But what if he’s hidin-!” Mugman started but the look he got from the human-toon made him clamp his mouth shut. “R-right, we’ll… leave it for last…”

Cuphead got up from the table and grabbed Bendy by the back of the shirt, much to his protest, and dragged him outside. He pushed the demon into a small alley next to the building and shoved him against the wall. “What the hell, man? You looked ready to jump an’ slaughter my brother!”

“I did not!”

“Your tail is out!”

Bendy glanced, seeing that, yes, his tail was out and looked sharp as a knife. He hissed through his teeth before returning his attention to the cup. “Listen, brat. I don’t want either of you or Henry goin’ to Da Studio. Not until we have a better idea of what happened to Drew. If he’s there, fine, we’ll leave him there to rot in da hell he made, but I don’t want any of you guys goin’ there. Who knows what horrors are inside.”

“Horrors?”

“Believe me when I say dis, but Da Studio is nothin’ like the one in Over World. I only went back once since da show ended, an’ it ended up wit’ me losin’ an arm an’ gainin’ you-know-what. I don’t remember what happened in there, but I’ve got nightmares I never recall later, just phantom sensations of fear an’ pain. Bet you don’t want yer li’l brother bein’ in a similar situation. Or worse.”

Cuphead stepped back, looking about ready to argue, but he bowed his head. “I don’t want anythin’ happenin’ to Mugman.”

“Then trust me, Cups. We stay as far away from Da Studio until its our only option, or things get a lot worse.”

END OF ACT ONE SCENE THREE

#batim #henry batim #bendy the dancing demon #Cuphead #mugman #dreamland story #dreamland art

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floofdjh · 6 years

Text

Better Than Me - Chapter 3

{Summary: Dan Howell is a camboy. At only eighteen, he’s already become popular on many porn websites and has been involved with a magazine. Desiring for someone to trust to create his darkest fantasies with, he downloads Tinder, where he meets the sweetest man alive. But surely this man could find someone better than Dan, couldn’t he? AO3 | Wattpad

Genre: fluff, angst, (eventual) smut, (eventual) romance, (a little bit of) slow burn

Word count: 2,772

Notes: thank you for all the support of this fic :)))

Dan ended up napping until late in the evening, still on Phil’s lap. He woke up a few hours later, sleepily blinking his eyes open and looking at the TV. The movie was way past over and was now playing some crappy late night show.

“You up?” Phil asked, watching him stir.

“Mm?” Dan turned his head to look at him. His fringe was a bit messy and he seemed to have napped too. Phil fetched his phone from the coffee table and checked the time.

“It’s getting dark, love, you want to spend the night?”

As much as Dan wanted to say yes, he shook his head no. “Don’t wanna sit around to bother you.”

He didn’t wanna be a bum, and he also knew he had to film a video early tomorrow before work, so if he stayed, the morning would be a little rushed. Plus, Dan didn’t know how much longer he could be around Phil without speeding up their relationship because he really, really just wanted to make out with those beautiful lips Phil had, with the perfect shade of pink and the perfect angles of his cupid’s bow. But he restricted himself and decided it was far too early.

“I have to work too.”

He hesitantly rose up from Phil’s lap, yawning and stretching. Phil stood up beside him and fixed his hair with his fingers, awkwardly watching Dan collect his things.

“I had a lot of fun, Phil,” Dan assures him.

“So did I,” Phil brightly smiles, and Dan chuckles a little bit at his tongue sticking out from his teeth.

They walk to Phil’s door and Dan doesn’t know what to do. Does he hug Phil, or kiss him, or shake his hand again?

“Goodnight Phil,” he mentions, aiming for a side hug. He supplies him a quick peck on the cheek, making his own cheeks burn and his dimple deepen.

“Goodnight Dan. Make sure you text me when you get home safe,” Phil says, grinning and blushing as well.

Dan found that sweet. He smiled at the ground as he left his flat, making his way to the stairs. He took a quick tube ride home, discovering they didn’t live too far from each other. Once he got home, he set his things on the island of his kitchen and made sure to send the text.

Dan: i’m safe at home you nerd

Phil: <3 Dan felt warm and bubbly. Phil made the date a thousand times better than the anxiety in his head told him it was going to be. They had a lot of fun chatting, walking, and eventually napping on Phil’s couch.

While Dan got ready for bed, he inspected his deemed ‘rosy patch’ in the mirror, and decided it was his new favorite part of his body. He curled up in bed in only boxers, opening his blog and reblogging from his dashboard here and there, supporting some other camboys and promoting the newest magazine issue for the company he’d been working for. His feature in the magazine wasn’t posted, but he hoped his boost would draw attention to his fans and make them want to purchase the magazine.

Once he settled in his covers, he answered some quick messages on his Tumblr blog.

Anonymous asked: where were you all day? :’( camboydan answered: kissing boys Anonymous asked: Your captions are funny. What’s your favorite one you’ve written? camboydan answered: probably the gif of me borderline fisting myself with the caption “me thinking about your dad” Anonymous asked: I will anal you camboydan answered: romance at its finest Anonymous asked: favorite toy? camboydan answered: it’s in the post, some angel just ordered it for me <3 i will make a video once it arrives ^_^ He logged off of Tumblr after a few minutes, then sent Phil a quick text message. Dan: goodnight <3 He placed his phone on his stomach, looking up at the darkness of his ceiling. Phil was so unbelievably sweet. He felt a genuine connection, and honestly could get used to this much affection and care. But he wasn’t so sure about in the bedroom. Dan might feel bad when he admits to all his kinks and fantasies and Phil doesn’t want that. He wouldn’t do anything Phil was uncomfortable with, but knowing himself he’d probably feel like he was missing out if all he could get was vanilla, if that. Dan wanted to hurt, wanted to have someone control him, he wanted to experience so much with someone. But if Phil could help with that, he didn’t know.

He felt his phone buzz against his skin. Phil: I thought you were a night owl, guess I’ll stay up online by myself then Phil: Goodnight though, I loved hanging out with you today xx Dan smiled at his phone, feeling warm and giddy. Dan: i am, i can stay up if you’d like. i’m a little restless at the moment Phil: Okay :) Dan: i have never really paid attention to my “rosy patch” before :P

Phil: No? Phil: I think it’s adorable and you should definitely pay more attention to it Dan: awwr thank uuu :] Dan: what did you think of our date? was i super awkward i’m sry Phil: I’m awkward too so it’s okay Phil: I had fun and I felt happy all day, I enjoy talking/going on walks/watching movies/napping with you Dan: me toooo it made me all gushy :3 Phil: Me too :]

Phil: You’re cute when you snore as well Dan: omg ;__; you’re too sweet to me The two continued to flirt, disgusting and gushy as always. Dan was grinning adorably at his phone late into the night until his eyes stung. He had a feeling this would soon become routine with Phil to text.

Dan: i’m half asleep i’m actually gonna go to sleep now, thanks for telling me about your weird childhood and your cheesy pickup lines ^_^ <3

Phil: You’re welcome, sleep well love x

Dan reached across his bed for his imaginary Phil pillow, nuzzling his face into the side of it like the little spoon he was and falling asleep. It was easy to rest while he was thinking happy thoughts.

When Dan woke up, he discovered he drooled on the pillow a bit. Hopefully he didn’t drool on the real Phil yesterday while they were cuddling. He sighed happily and snuggled into the pillow again, until hearing a loud knock on the door.

He grunts and gets up groggily, pulling on a shirt real quick and answering the door. A delivery man that looked just as tired as him stood in his doorway, dressed in uniform with messy, blonde hair.

“Delivery for...Daniel Howell?”

“Yep,” Dan says sleepily. He accepts the package and tells the delivery person goodbye. Thanks to its discreet packaging, the person had no idea what it was.

*NSFW AHEAD. do not read if under 14. if you regret exposing yourself to explicit content when you’re older, it’s not my fault. i will put asterisks again when it is over*

It was his new vibrating wand, the expensive one. He frantically took the package to his kitchen and opened it with some scissors, then stared and the box inside. Dan took his time removing the cover and finally looked at his new toy.

It was very long, colored white and blue. The wand came with a charging cord, and according to the box, it had multiple vibration settings. He excitedly plugged it in to charge right on his kitchen counter and ran to read the reviews on his laptop.

He pulled up the link as he brought his laptop into the lounge. The reviews were fantastic. The only cons that were mentioned was that it was loud, but Dan knew he’d probably drown it out with his noise. He was loud and whiny; perfect for the type of porn his blog followers craved. He’d discovered it was quite difficult to use certain toys when he was at home with his family home.

Once the vibrator was finished charging, he set up his laptop to film himself on his bed. He stripped of the shirt he’d put on and laid on his back in front of the camera, cutting out his face. The camera only caught his belly, torso and thighs and had the perfect view of him testing the new toy. He clicked record, and turned on the vibrator.

He started at a low setting, gently rubbing it through the outline in his boxers. The vibrations felt wonderful to him. He turned a bit more towards the camera and rubbed the toy up and down his dick through the fabric. It caused him to twitch and mewl as the vibrations teased through the cotton. He was growing very hard, very fast.

With one hand, Dan palmed himself, and the other, he teased himself with the vibrator. He continued this for a few minutes until he couldn’t take any more teasing and had to kick his boxers off his legs. They plummeted to the floor beside his bed as he rose the massager up and down, base to head. He held up his dick against the toy and moaned softly, watching himself in the reflection of the laptop camera.

The reviews were so true. Once he got moaning, it was difficult for him to stop, strings of whimpers and whines escaping his throat for every movement. He slowly stroked himself with every heavy exhale alongside the vibrator. Sweat bunched his hairs up on his forehead and heat pooled in his stomach.

Dan played up his moans a little bit, normally he was loud but on camera he made his gasps even more dramatic. He bucked his hips up against the toy and whined, rotating the toy around the head of his dick. His hips stuttered and shook around, sounds of the rustling sheets filling his ears as well as the loud noise from the vibrations. The video made its way to fifteen minutes slowly as he kept pleasuring himself with the vibrator.

His dramatized moans made it sound like he was crying, his little whimpers and mewls picking up well on the microphone of his laptop. The vibrations felt incredible against his sensitive skin, heat pulsing through his body as his sounds increased. With a guttural string of moans, he finally climaxed, right on his stomach and where his camera could see.

“Oh god,” he moaned, cum spurting onto his tummy. He exhaled heavily a few times and finally clicked off the recording, then got up quickly to his bathroom.

***

He cleaned up with a towel and made his way back into bed, opening up his video editing program and starting to edit his new video. He would schedule it to post sometime when he was at work later today, opening boxes or helping customers or whatever else they had him do.

He heard his phone buzz softly and set his laptop aside, pulling his covers around until he found his phone. Dan saw a new text from Phil, ones from this morning that he received while filming.

Phil: Good morning Dan x

Phil: I have one of my online classes today and I don’t want to do it :(

Dan: get it over with so you can hurry up and talk to me instead xx

Dan set his laptop back in front of him and began trimming the video, cutting it down to only the decent clips, like the ones where he was moaning loud or twitching or whatever else he thought his audience would enjoy.

His audience. Dan hadn’t really thought about all of the accounts that followed him for a while. Was posting this video to probably thousands of people cheating?

No, probably not, since it wasn’t directly sent to them. He would just message the sender of the massager a quick thank you and not send a personalized video this time. They might be upset, but Dan couldn’t film a video for someone with Phil‍’s face in his mind. He would feel so guilty.

Once he had finished editing his video, which took about an hour, he queued it on his blog and YouPorn for while he was at work later, and posted a cheeky text post as a teaser.

camboydan: new video VERY soon (; <3

Dan often did this to draw more attention to his content. His blog was full of teasers in between videos, photos, and gifs of him exposing himself. Thinking about how much content he had posted since June eleventh, on his birthday, was crazy. Recently he posted at least twice a week, juggling his job as well, and it was October.

He could remember his very first photoset, two pictures of him naked in a pile of teddybears. The post hadn’t become popular until he really gained his “fame”. His first video is the one that caught on, one where he was using the first toy he’d ever bought.

Until then, he had admired other camboys and pornstars online, wanting so badly to be like them. It took a while for him to be noticed by Gay UK 18+ as well, but once they reached out to him, he blew up more, hitting the top spot for the tags ‘twink’ or ‘emo’ or ‘teen’ on many porn websites. When that occurred, he knew he had gained a following he had to keep up with, that he wasn’t just posting into the void anymore. Dan had to keep a posting schedule and follow it, which was hard getting used to at first.

Posting content often was difficult with his parents and brother around, thank god he’d moved to London. It was hard to keep himself quiet sometimes, and the stress of how discreet the packaging was, and where he hid his toys and clearing his laptop history and all that. That was the real reason he’d moved here.

Not for law university or a law firm internship or whatever other reasons he managed to convince his parents of. They didn’t even send Dan rent money, since this was Dan’s “careless” decision, he paid for it all himself, with the help of paychecks from Tesco and PayPal transfers from his pornography.

When it was time to get ready for work, he hustled around his apartment to find a clean set of clothes to wear. The dress code was simple; a solid colored polo and nice pants, that could be black, navy blue or khaki. Dan would rather die than be caught wearing ugly beige, so he bought a week’s worth of black skinny jeans.

He adjusted his collar in the mirror and grasped his things for work, then headed off to the tube. When he was seated in an uncomfortable plastic chair, he received a text from Phil.

Phil: Okay I finished my class ^_^

Dan: perfect timing, i’m on my way to work :(

Phil: Aw. Talk to me when you’re done?

Dan: ofc <3

Despite it only being a day, Dan already missed Phil, the way his mouth was in a permanent cheeky smirk, the gorgeous blue of his eyes, the way he had held Dan close on the couch.

He was sure it was definitely a crush, not just someone he was falling in love with simply because they were paying attention to him. He liked Phil for Phil, and could see their future together already.

So what if it was too early for Dan to be thinking about what the theme of their wedding would be? Dan thought he couldn’t be blamed; that Phil was just that lovable and inspirational.

Another thing Dan wondered about was Phil mentioning YouTube. Dan was curious about how different it was compared to his work. They had themselves being filmed in common, but their work was assuredly very, very different - opposite like yellow and violet on a color wheel, contrasting sides of a spectrum, opposite poles of the world. Their videos and lifestyles must be so, so diverse.

Or maybe they were closer to being alike, analogous colors instead of complementary colors. Maybe, with all the nerdy video game talk, geeky movie talk, and other things they had in common, they weren’t so much opposites.

Either way, Dan was in love with it. In love with the concept of them being together. He barely knew Phil, but he his gut told him that he was his missing puzzle piece, the one that was going to be there for him. Maybe even the one who could help him with his parents.

#phan #phanfiction #phan au #phanfic #camboy!dan #fics #my fics #writing

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secret-rendezvous1d · 7 years

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Harry in glasses is super super hot can you imagine him in a loose shorts in his waist shirtless with his hair a little messy skin tanned and a baby in his arms and you are in the kitchen and see him there like oh gosh I want Harry to be my husband and walking shirtless with our baby in his arms such a daddy with his glasses on

And he’s just chatting to his little newborn daughter, about anything and everything that comes to mind as he feeds her her bottle, when she steps into the room.

“Yeh know, mummy doesn’t even get me up this early, little love. Yeh had me up at four this morning. Four,” he gasps playfully, staring down at his daughter, through the lenses of his glasses, as she looks back at him with her similar green eyes, a smile on his dry lips. Feeling the pull and swiping his tongue across his pink flesh. His frames slipping down his nose. “Only did it once but we won’t go into detail because daddy’s stomach can’t quite handle the re-telling. Lots of sick because you didn’t make mummy feel so good when you were in her tummy. But, if she did it again, kicked me awake or summink, I wouldn’t mind. You’re the two of the most important ladies in my life. Nana and Auntie Gem are also up there. Surrounded by the most beautiful women, I am, eh? Little bit of all of them in you. Aren’t I lucky?” He chuckles softly and gently dabs his thumb against the corner of her mouth, collecting the milk that had dribbled down her skin. “Little bit of a messer, aren’t yeh? Not just in your nappy.”

The kitchen falls into a comfortable silence as he listens to his surroundings.

The distant sound of cars starting up and crunching the gravel of the neighbours’ driveways as people left for work. The whirring of the fridge in the far corner that was decorated with sonogram photos and magnets that Harry had brought home from his travels during the second leg of his Live On Tour tour that had happened just a few months prior. The constant dripping of the water coming from the faucet by the sink. The rustle of the wind catching in the leaves of the trees in the garden and the gentle tapping of rain hitting the window as it fit the mood of the dreary London weather outside. But his favourite sound, and one that he had started off feeling panicked by, was the snuffles and the delicious sounds that escaped his little girl. The softest grunts coming from within her, her gentle breathing making him feel much more relaxed.

“Are we finished yet? Been eatin’ for twenty minutes, haven’t yeh? Definitely got yeh mummy’s appetite,” he hums softly, and as if on cue, Persephone pulled away from the teat of the bottle and gave hm a grumpy frown upon her features, “oh, now. Don’t you look at daddy like that, little love. That’s not a good face,” he sets the bottle down upon the counter of the breakfast island in the middle of the room, “promise me, you won’t vomit down my back again? I know you find it funny when you do that, you cheeky little thing, but daddy’s not wearing a shirt this time around,” he drapes the spit-up blanket over his shoulder before he stands to his feet, “but, I will tell you what I wish I put on; some socks. S’alright for you. Yours tuck nicely underneath my arm. But, daddy’s feet, well, they could be ice blocks by the time m’done with yeh.”

His hand comes up to cup the back of daughter’s head. Her hair, smelling of baby shampoo and still giving off the new-baby smell that she’d been graced with from birth, soft beneath his touch as his other cupped her bum. Fingers rubbing and patting at her back as he chose to bob up and down and sway his hips with his steps.

“Are we gon’a have a nice cuddle with mummy when she wakes up?”

“Mummy’s already awake,” he hears from behind him, carefully spinning around on his heels as he sends his wife a smile, “it’s hard to fall asleep when my personal heater leaves the bed so early in the morning.”

He chuckles lightly and watches as she steps across the tiles. Warm socks on her feet and stepping upon his cold toes to warm them up.

“Thank you,” he smiles, bending down to press a kiss to her forehead, “think my toes were about to turn into ice.”

“I keep telling you the kitchen gets cold,” she tuts, cupping his cheek in her palm and running her thumb across his upper lip, his stubble catching the pad, “you’re looking for daddy today, aren’t you? Why’ve you cracked these glasses out? Not that I hate them or have anything bad to say,” she snickers, “just, didn’t think you’d be wearing them often.”

She pushes the frame up his nose and sends him a warm grin.

“Fancied a change today,” his lips brush over his daughter’s ear as he hums softly, swaying his hips and patting her back. His eyes widening when he heard the rather loud burp escape her lips, “bleedin’ hell, little love, where’d that come from, huh? Such a big sound for someone so tiny. That was impressive.” xx

#I THINK I DIED WRITING THIS AND MY HEART HURTS RIGHT NOW OH MY GOD #harry talk #harry styles imagines #harry styles concepts #harry styles blurbs

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aadmelioraa · 7 years

Note

I *just* saw the Bellarke holiday prompt post, and I *just* was chatting with a friend (hi, @pepperf!) who accidentally gave me a good idea for a Bellarke AU. So if I can get it in under the wire... some museums do sleepovers, but they're kind of expensive and always seem rather crowded, so maybe you just need to find someone who works at a museum who'll sneak you in for free, after hours! (Either one can be the museum employee, up to you.) Thanks!

Happy Holidays to you and @pepperf both! Thanks for the awesome prompt, hope you enjoy :)

Bellamy couldn’t believe it. It was two days before Christmas, and his ex girlfriend was really calling in a favor with him.

He and Gina had broken up amicably, and given that they had been friends before they started dating, they remained on good terms. Sure, it might look a little weird from the outside, but they still got along very well, so he frankly didn’t care how it looked. The thing with staying friends with your ex was that the line between what you’d do for your friend and what you’d do for a girl you used to sleep with were somewhat blurred. But Gina was sweet, and had always been much too good for him, so he didn’t mind.

Funny thing was, it wasn’t even a favor for Gina. It was a favor for Gina’s girlfriend’s best friend. Two days before Christmas.

“I don’t understand,” Bellamy ran a hand over his eyes and adjusted the phone between his shoulder and ear. “You need me to keep the museum open late on Christmas Eve just because a friend of Raven’s is a shitty mom and forgot to book a tour in time?”

Gina sighed deeply on the other end of the line. She knew Bellamy got a little testy when he was tired, and in his defense he’d been working overtime lately to get a newly bequeathed collection ready for exhibit by the new year. “You don’t have to stay open late, not to the public anyway. I know in the past you’ve done after hours events for school aged kids. I was hoping you could help Clarke out, as a personal favor to Raven. It’s a hard time of year for Madi, and she missed out on the school field trip earlier in the year because she was sick, and Clarke really wants to make it a fun day for her. You’re really going to like them both, I promise. ”

“Fine,” Bellamy replied, grimacing at his own inability to say no. “But I hope you know that playing the kid card with me is cheating.”

Gina laughed. “I know, I know. But when you meet them you’ll understand, I promise.”

“Whatever you say. How many people is it going to be?”

“Just four, including Clarke. There are a couple other kids in Madi’s class that didn’t make the trip either.”

Bellamy glanced up to see Maya gesturing at him from the other side of his office door. “Sounds fine. I gotta go, Gina. Email me the details, ok?”

“Thanks again, Bellamy. You’re a good guy for doing this.”

“Yeah, ok. You owe me one.”

“Clarke owes you one,” Gina said, and hung up.

Maya had a large stack of holiday cards for him to sign. She had been working as the curatorial assistant since before Bellamy had been hired. Her previous boss had never given her any credit, but when Bellamy replaced him he was happy to discover she was smart, capable, and extremely reliable. They worked well together, and Bellamy gradually gave her more and more responsibility. It was a small museum, containing a few privately owned collections, and often times the curators would be responsible for assisting with docent duties. Maya had been a little reserved at first, less used to talking in front of large groups that Bellamy was, but she became more comfortable as time wore on. This would be a good opportunity for her to take the lead on a full museum tour.

At closing time, Bellamy sent the rest of the staff home, and he got to work on some informational packets for the kids while Maya made paper snowflakes to decorate the entryway.

“You ready to give your first full museum tour?” Bellamy asked, as he checked his watch. “They should be here soon.”

Maya smiled. “Yeah, thanks. Hopefully they don’t die of boredom.”

“You’ll do great,” Bellamy reassured her. “Besides, this is going to help me lobby the board to get you the raise you deserve in January.”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Maya agreed. “They just raised our rent, but Jasper and I can’t really afford to move anywhere else at the moment.”

Bellamy nodded. “I know the feeling. But I’ll make it happen for you, I promise.”

“Thanks. I think that’s them!”

Three middle schoolers and the woman Bellamy presumed was Clarke joined them in the lobby. Everyone’s cheeks were red and their eyes watering from the cold wind. The woman pulled off her gloves and stepped forward to greet them.

“Hi, I’m Clarke Griffin,” she shook hands with both of them, “Thanks so much for doing this, we appreciate it so much. I know it was very late notice. We’re all excited, aren’t we kids?”

The kids nodded, with the exception of the dark haired girl who stuck by Clarke’s side. She was staring at the vaulted lobby ceiling with wide eyes.

Clarke placed a gentle hand on the dark haired girl’s shoulder. “This is Madi, Reese, and Aden.”

“Hi everyone,” Maya’s warm smile seemed to put everyone at ease. “Are you ready to get started?”

Madi’s eyes lit up with fascination as she spied an elaborate tapestry hanging across the way. Bellamy hid a smile. She looked just like Octavia had at that age.

“We’re going to start with the ancient Roman collection since that’s on this floor. Follow me, this way.” Maya led the kids into the next room. Bellamy hung back slightly, just close enough to observe Maya’s technique. Clarke hung back as well.

Clarke Griffin wasn’t exactly what he had expected. Raven had all sorts of cool and interesting friends with all sorts of varied backgrounds, but Clarke seemed different. Most of their friends were still in their early thirties and didn’t have kids yet, but Clarke seemed about that age yet she had a middle schooler. Pretty unusual. He wondered what the story was there. Her eyes were bright blue and her cheeks still flushed from the cold. She was certainly much prettier than he had anticipated as well, but he was sure that had nothing to do with Gina’s assurance they would get along.

“So, you and Gina used to date, huh?” Clarke asked casually, glancing over at him and making him aware that he was sort of staring.

“Yeah, we broke up a while ago, but we stayed friends.” Bellamy shifted on his feet a little awkwardly. Was she fishing, or just making conversation, he wondered?

“Clearly you’re still on good terms if she talked you into doing this,” Clarke said in a teasing tone. “Thanks again, you really have no idea how much this means to me and Madi.”

“It’s no problem. This some sort of special Christmas Eve tradition in your family?” It was his turn to fish.

“Not really.” Clarke shook her head, eyes fixed on Madi from across the room. “We’re sort of a new family, actually. I was fostering Madi for the past year, and I just officially adopted her a few weeks ago. Her birth mom overdosed,” she continued in a low voice, “on Christmas four years ago. It’s always a really hard season for her, and she was really bummed she missed the field trip, so this was kind of a hail Mary attempt to salvage the end of her year.” She bit her lip. “Sorry, that was all kind of personal. I’m just not sure it’s working.”

Bellamy smiled gently. “I think it’s probably working more than you think.” The kids were currently laughing at a joke Maya had just told. “They all seem to be having a good time.”

Clarke sighed with relied. “You really have no idea how good that is to see. Madi’s such a loner. She talks to the doorman in our building and Raven, those are the only people she’s connected with since moving in with me. I��ve really been trying to make sure she has some friends her own age.”

Bellamy chuckled. “Well, in your daughter’s defense, being a doorman always fascinated me as a kid. Plus, Raven is probably the most badass person on the planet.”

Clarke smiled brightly. “She really is. She told me you didn’t have Christmas Eve plans, by the way, or I never would have presumed to have Gina ask. I hope we’re not ruining your evening.”

“No plans, Raven was right. My sister lives in California with her husband and kids, I’ll see them around New Years. We’ve never really had any Christmas traditions, my mom always worked too much this time of year.”

Clarke nodded sympathetically. Her parents, it turned out, had always worked too much around the holidays too. So when she got Madi, she had no idea how to make the holidays special.

Maya led them into the next exhibit, and the kids perked up as she explained with enthisuasm the various types of ancient weaponry and their uses. Clarke and Bellamy continued to get to know each other.

He and Clarke had a lot in common, it turned out. They may have grown up in different parts of the city, but they both suffered the loss of a parent in high school and ended up putting themselves through college (Bellamy because he had to, and Clarke because she felt compelled to make her own way). They’d finished grad school just a year apart, and she’d been teaching fine arts to high school kids ever since. She’d been a foster parent for a few years and with a few kids before Madi, but Madi was special and Clarke adopted her as soon as she could. It hadn’t been easy, but they were slowly make progress. They made a good team, Clarke said.

Madi was a good kid. Understandably a little apprehensive, but she tried hard in school, even though most subjects were difficult for her. She’d been in danger of falling a grade behind, but Clarke had put in the time with her the past year and she was solidly in the middle of the class now. Clarke relayed it with such pride, Bellamy couldn’t help but smile. Gina had been right. He liked Madi and Clarke a lot.

The tour wrapped up just as Bellamy was gearing up to ask Clarke if she was single. Honestly, he never would have gotten up the nerve to actually do it, but he pretended that he would have if the timing had been better. It was for the best, he told himself. Clarke had a lot going on, and it was Christmas, and he didn’t want to impose.

The other kids parents arrived to pick them up, and Maya headed home to show Jasper the concert tickets Bellamy had given them as an end of year gift.

From the lobby door, they could see it had just started snowing. Madi lingered for a minute in front of the tapestry that had caught her eye earlier. “That was fun, right?” Clarke asked, trying to gauge her daughter’s reaction. She’d given Maya a hug goodbye, which by Clarke’s expression seemed like a big step.

Madi nodded, turning back to the adults. “I had fun. Thanks, Bellamy.” She glanced up at Clarke. “Can we go home now?”

Clarke smiled. “Sure thing, kid.” She adjusted Madi’s hat affectionately. “Thanks again, Bellamy.”

“No problem. Merry Christmas. I’m sure I’ll see you both around sometime.”

Clarke smiled. “We’d like that. Merry Christmas.”

Before setting the alarms, Bellamy stopped by his office to find a poster of the tapestry that had caught Madi’s eye. He didn’t know if he’d see them again soon, or at all, but he thought he could get Clarke’s address from Raven and maybe mail it to them. He planned to text Raven later that week.

Raven, of course, preempted that. Her text message woke him up Christmas morning.

R: Merry Christmas. You’re coming over for dinner tonight. Invite Maya and her boyfriend too. We’re going to watch cheesy Christmas movies and make hot chocolate and all that dumb shit.

B: Sounds like you won’t take no for an answer. Need me to bring anything?

R: Just yourself. And maybe dessert, if you can whip something up. Clarke likes chocolate.

B: You’re not as smooth as you think you are, Reyes.

R: Hmmm sounds fake. See you at 6:00.

Bellamy grinned and laid back on his pillows. He had a feeling this would be his most memorable Christmas yet.

#bellarke fanfiction #kat writes #kat writes holiday fills

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