#didn’t even help my damn allergies

[sillygoofygoobersstuff]

i love spring but i hate allergy season and i hate hot weather 🤬

[randomchaosyay]

Good evening, random. I saw your Blue Lock requests are open, so I came running. After breaking off with your fiancé after exposing his affair with your cousin, Chigiri finds out you are the new sports therapist of Manshine City and he steps up his attempts to woo you.

Chigiri Hyoma ~ Random Encounter

oooooooooh~

I enjoy the way your mind works :) this was really fun to write

This got a lot longer than I planned, oh well~

Warnings: Cheating, confrontations, swearing, mentions of ex fiancé being an asshole, Ryosuke Kira being your fiancé because I’m bad at making new characters/ naming things. Mild implied stalking.

My apologies to the people with cat allergies 😅

~~~~~~~~~

It’d been a long day at work and your boss was a mysogynistic prick. Luckily, you had found a new job a few days ago and you were able to turn in your two week notice. You and your team were able to finish up early this today and had no appointments left, so you were let off an hour and a half early. On your way home, you couldn’t help but think about your fiancé, Ryosuke Kira.

You hadn’t exactly ever felt a spark between the two of you, sure it wasn’t the fairy tale love everyone else talked about, and sure sometimes he’d ignore you, but he treated you well and that’s what counts. Lately you had thought the two of you had been drifting apart more than usual and you figured that the extra time you could spend with him today could help fix that. You thought of him for the rest of the way home, the fond smile on your face not quite reaching your eyes.

Once you reached home, you quietly shut and locked the front door behind you, to surprise him. As you gently took off your shoes, you heard voices coming from your bedroom. Maybe he was playing a video game? No, they sounded too real for that. As you edged closer to the room your gut churned in anticipation, you didn’t have a good feeling about this.

You opened the door in one fluid motion, shocked at what you saw inside. Your fiancé and your cousin, lying together in bed. You cousin saw you first, giving you a little smirk as she got up from your bed. Ryosuke looked at her confused before noticing you at the door, standing there dumbfounded, as if your world had shattered. Because it had. All those years, all that time, for what?

“I’ll see you later babe,” your cousin said to Ryosuke, giving him a seductive smile, as she gathered her clothes and things and walked out the door. You both just stared at each other for a minute before he looked away, not in shame, not in guilt, but in disinterest. He didn’t care. Your fiancé didn’t care. And that was the final straw

“Get out.” You said, voice steady and calm despite the whirlwind of emotions in your voice.

“This is our apartment, you can’t make me leave.” He responded. Rage bubbled up in your throat.

“Our? Nothing here is ours! I have paid for every damn thing in this apartment and the apartment itself! You never bothered to get another job and I still bought you everything you wanted. Get out, take your things, and don’t come back. Needless to say, we’re over.” You watched as he stared you down before getting up to gather his things.

You kept an eye on him as he packed everything up, making sure he didn’t grab anything that wasn’t his, and didn’t try to steal anything. When he finally walked out with his stuff, you made sure to keep his key so he couldn’t get back in, locked your door, and cried. You put your engagement ring away in a ring box, shoving it into the back of your nightstand, unable to get rid of it just yet.

It took you nearly the entirety of your two weeks notice to get over the betrayal your, now ex, fiancé had broken your heart with. It had passed faster than you thought, though maybe that’s because you knew the relationship had fell apart months ago. Yet why neither of you ended it was beyond you. But now it was time to put Ryosuke Kira and the bad things to rest, as today you would be starting as Manshine City’s new sports therapist.

You had moved out of your apartment and into a place closer to Manshine’s base so the commute to work would be less and you could skip the morning traffic. Without Kira mooching off your income, you had actually been able to buy a small house for yourself which you would be able to pay off in no time. Luckily your job payed pretty well.

Once you arrive at Manshine’s compound. You made your way down the halls with the receptionist as she showed you to your new office. You’re the only sports therapist working there so you’ll have your hands pretty full with all the work you assumed. Just as you were finishing setting up your workspace, you were met with a head popping in through the door. Chris Prince. He had come to ask if you were ready to meet the players.

As you and Chris walked down the halls, you made some small talk about the players and and the job requirements. One of the cool things about this job was that you’d have to travel with the team to there matches, all expenses paid for. You’d get to see the world.

“This is the door”. Chris said as the two of you stopped in front of the door to one of their training rooms. “Everyone’s gathered in here, we’ll go in when you’re ready.”

Taking a few breaths to calm your nerves, you opened the door. Everyone stopped talking as you walked in and looked over at you. Chris cut in and introduced you to everyone, telling them that you were the new sports therapist and that everyone would need to stop by your office this week to make sure you had the proper information.

After his little speech, a few people left, seemingly uninterested in you, while most stayed behind to introduce themselves. As they did you cataloged the information in your brain till the last person came up to you.

He was probably the most beautiful person you’d ever seen. His luscious locks of red hair framed his hair perfectly, eyes almost as red as his hair. Though as beautiful as he was, he looked almost scary. Well, at least until he started talking to you.

“Chigiri Hyoma, nice to meet you” he said to you, holding his hand out.

“Y/n L/n” you replied, shaking his hand, “and likewise.”

“I was wondering if you were free right now? My leg could use some help.”

You agreed instantly, and the two of you walked back to your office, you let him guide you slightly as he explained that he had torn his ACL a while back and it still need some therapy and help from time to time.

From then on, Chigiri would come to your office a lot because of “his leg”. Though with the frequency he showed up you were 90% sure that wasn’t true. Well it’s not like you were complaining after all, whenever he’d show up you’d talk about the most random things, being with him was always really fun.

______

Over the almost year you had gotten to know him, you had developed a big fat crush on Chigiri Hyoma. He was sweet and kind, yet fun and exciting at the same time. Every moment with him was comforting yet gave you butterflies. You couldn’t help but think about him, always looking forward to his visits to your office, and to the times you’d go hang out with him outside of work as well, which was getting ever more frequent as time went on.

Currently, you were on the sidelines, watching Chigiri the team completely decimate their opponents as they played. Once they were done and showered, you treated whatever needed to be treated and took some preventative measures for any aches and soreness they would develop in a day or two.

As soon as you were off duty and ready to go home, you turned around and instead, you were met with the sight of Chigiri Hyoma, leaning against the doorframe. Your eyes widened as you saw him. Was he waiting for you?

“Hey.” He said, voice soft.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” You answered, unable to keep the curiosity out of your voice, he had just had a match, shouldn’t he be resting?

“There’s a new cat cafe a little bit away from here, and you’re coming with me.” It was said with such finality you had no room to refuse. Though, you wouldn’t refuse even if you could.

“Last one there is paying!” You yelled, cackling as you ran out the door to the parking lot as fast as you could. Rest assured, there was no way you would win a race against Chigiri. As soon as you got into your car, you had to call Chigiri and ask for the address, something you had forgotten to do in your excitement.

Once you got there, you met Chigiri at the door, he making it there a few minutes before you had. He took your hand in his as you walked in and were given a booth to yourselves. Your was mind spinning at the contact.

The rest of the night was filled with mindless chatter, harmless little touches that you both savored, as much as possible. As well as, unbeknownst to you, secret pictures taken as you played with the cats, you just looked so cute, he couldn’t help himself! All was going lovely until an all too familiar voice called out to you.

“Y/n! Where have you been my love.” Ryosuke Kira, your ex, had the audacity to talk to you and call you his love

“Fuck off Kira,” This was met with a very slightly alarmed look from Chigiri, “and I’m not your love anymore, I haven’t seen you in a year and I’m all the better for it.” You had decided to cut his bullshit off before he started spouting more nonsense than he already had.

“Fuck you, Y/n. How bout you just come back to me huh? You know you need me. Just admit it now and I’ll forget all of this ever happened. And if you don’t? Well who knows what could happen.” Kira was starting to sound deranged now, a slight tinge of fear slipped through your mind, you lived alone, and there was nothing to protect you had he found out where you lived.

“Leave my girlfriend alone,” A dangerous undertone to Chigiri’s words as he moved to stand up and block you with his body, “I think she’s made it pretty clear that she want nothing to do with you, so lock off.”

Just as you worried things were about to get physical and considered between fighting or getting help, a few of the stronger employees entered and forcefully removed Kira, and apologized sincerely for letting that happen, saying your visit was on the house this time. Once they left, you and Chigiri were left alone, as the two of you stewed in the silence.

“So,” you started, breaking the silence between the two of you, “girlfriend huh?”

“Oh, about that,” he replied, face dusted with pink, “this isn’t how I wanted to do it, but now that we’re here, would you consider dating me?”

“I’d love to.” You replied happily, the universe had most definitely made up for what just happened a few minutes ago.

“Thank you, Chi-” you started as you were cut off by your new boyfriend.

“Hyoma. Call me Hyoma.”

“Thank you Hyoma.” You said, quickly giving him a kiss on the cheek before you lost your newfound confidence.

He didn’t just let it go though. Before you had a chance to pull away completely, his hands found your face as he pulled you in again for another kiss. Your lips locked as he deepenedthe kiss, soft and slow, yet still burning with passion and unspoken love.

The two of you enjoyed the rest of your time at the cat cafe, and go home smiling, just waiting for the happy times to come.

Maybe the random encounter wasn’t that bad at all, if it led to something this good.

[glowinthedarkmouse]

sick nights w/ azriel

(A/N: i wanted to try my hand at a sickfic bc hurt/comfort >>>>> buttt if you like it, lmk! im still very new at this and i’ll accept any and all creative criticism :))

You could tell something was off before he even walked through the doors.

He looked like shit, more than usual after a long mission. He didn’t seem to want anything to do with you, his mate. He trekked past you, murmuring something softly while rubbing his face, seemingly in a trance. You tried not to think too much of it, that he was probably just exhausted and going to bed. You tried to relax back into your armchair with your book, but you couldn’t help but notice something was definitely wrong. You didn’t want to push him after a mission, knowing he'd be quicker to argue than anything. 

After you settled back in your chair, you heard what could only be described as a thunderous BOOM.

You shot up out of your chair and flew up the stairs as fast as your little legs would go. You flung the door open to see Azriel in a heap on the floor. You rushed over to him to check for injuries, before noticing he was putting off a lot more heat than normal. He didn’t say anything as you felt his forehead, swearing at the heat. 

“I’m okay, I swear. I just want to go to bed and sleep off whatever this illness is,” he whispered, so softly you could barely hear him. 

“Az, what’s wrong? You feel like you’re on fire,” you said, stroking his arm in a comforting manner. He sat in silence for a moment, looking lost in thought. You gave him a soft nudge with your hip, wanting him to tell you so you could help. 

“...if I tell you, will you promise not to tell Feyre or Nesta? I don’t want my brothers to know and tease me for it,” he finally said minutes later. You nodded, and urged him to continue. 

“I think I’m allergic to one of the plants from the Day court,” he murmured, as if others could hear. You couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh, telling him “You don’t get a fever from allergies, love. What actually happened?”

“It’s one of those damned plants, I’m telling you! Helion had them everywhere,” he insisted, eyes watering as he sneezed into his wing, sniffling as he turned back towards you. You thought for a minute, before standing up. 

“Come on, get up. You need to get in bed and rest. You probably have the flu or a sinus infection, love. I’ll go get some warm tea and run a cold bath to bring down your temperature,” you stated, before turning around and whisking through the house to find everything you needed, not wanting to leave him alone too long. When you returned to the room, he hadn’t gotten up from the floor, opting to just lay down and stretch his wings out. You let out a giggle, moving towards him. You looked down at him, giving him a soft smile. 

“Az, you need to get off the floor.”

He said nothing, just laying there with a smug grin on his face.

“Love, you’re double my size but trust that I will find a way to haul you into the bathtub. C’mon, Az.”

With a loud, loud sigh, he sat up and slowly stood up, not wanting to get dizzy and fall back down. He slowly followed you to the bathroom, where he stripped his boxers and slid into the tub. You swore you could see steam coming off of his body. You went to leave, wanting to go get some medications from the healer’s room, but he grabbed your arm before you could go far.

“Don’t leave me in here alone,” he said, giving you the sweetest puppy eyes he could, “please,” he added. You pretended to contemplate it, but you and him knew damn well that those puppy eyes would work on you, no matter the circumstances. You walked up and sat down next to the tub, holding his hand.

“I’ll stay if you want me to, love.”

“Then stay forever.”

You felt the bond almost pulse, similar to a heartbeat. You shoot a soft smile at him, laying your head on your arm while he soaked in the cold water, hoping it was doing something to help. 

After sitting with him for so long, you got up to get a towel for him. He didn’t seem like he wanted to get out, but you could tell the exhaustion was catching up. He let you dry him off, and he unwillingly put on a pair of boxers before collapsing into a heap on the bed. You were finally able to go get some medications, forcing him to take them before he knocked out. You were content with sleeping in a guest bedroom, to let him properly rest, but he reached out and pulled you into the bed, firmly planted his head on your chest, and refused to let you go. A flick of your wrist turned the faelights off and shut the curtains. You gave him a soft kiss on the crown of his head, before wondering.

“Hey, Az?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you mean it? When you said you wanted me to stay forever?” he leaned his head back to look at you. 

“I meant every word.”

He was snoring before you could tell him you loved him. You sent the feeling down the bond, hoping he’d be able to feel it. He just held you tighter as he snoozed, never wanting to let you go.

[going-dead]

Horses not Unicorns

Prompt by @eyesofcrows : in some hospitals, CPR is done to a patient despite them being declared dead on arrival. This is a courtesy to the family. The doctor doesn't expect the scream when they lay down the defibrillator paddles on the boy's chest.

Dr. Cecelia Martinez had worked as an ED doctor for longer than some of the nurses under her had even been alive. She saw more gruesome scenes in one week than most people would in their entire lives if they were lucky. She would even say she’d seen it all if she wanted to be stupid and jinx herself.

She took one of the coffees out of the cup carrier in her hands and placed it in front of Lily, the nurse on shift with her. “Your cream with a dash of coffee.” 

“Thanks Martinez. And stop ragging on me about how much cream I put in my coffee, it tastes good.” Lily nodded her head not taking her eyes off of the computer screen in front of her. She was finishing up the chart notes for the last patient who’d came in and reviewing the work of their med student.. 

“Anything for you. Lord knows I wouldn’t last a week without you here. But never, it’s an affront to caffeine. I didn’t consume gallons of the stuff back in school, or on these night shifts just for you blaspheming it like you do. Look at it, it’s lighter than a person dying of blood loss.” Dr. Martinez took the other cup out of the holder and handed it to the medical student shadowing her for the next few weeks, Brian. 

Or well he was supposed to. Not many of the students just starting their rotations make it long in the emergency department, especially if it was one of their first rotations, even less come back to work there when they graduate. The kid only started the night before so she hadn’t had much of a time to get a grasp on what he was made of. 

“Thank you Dr. Martinez.” Brian gave her a small smile as she took a seat. “Can I ask a question?”

“That’s why you’re here isn’t it? And drop the title stuff, if you won’t call me Cecelia you can at least call me Martinez.” She looked Brian up and down, he was either restless or nervous, or perhaps both , with how he tapped his finger and his leg hadn’t stopped moving up and down.

“Uh okay. It’s just I was wondering, we’ve hardly seen any patients come in. Is it always this slow?” Brian asked.

“God damn it Brian!” Lily shouted, startling the poor med student.

“What? Did I do something wrong when charting?” His eyes widened. 

Dr. Martinez wouldn’t deny it had been…less than busy. It was already four in the morning and the most interesting thing they had seen that night was someone coming in for back pain because they pulled a muscle. A quick lidocaine patch and he was on his way. Of course now that Brian had challenged fate, there was very little chance the night would continue on with such ease. “You spoke words never to be spoken in a hospital setting. The forbidden ‘s’ word.”

Brian rolled his eyes. “I didn’t think medical professionals would be so superstitious.”

“Not superstition if it’s true.” Lily huffed, she had already downed her coffee in preparation. Dr. Martinez quickly followed suit. 

Almost on cue one of the triage nurses burst through the doors as the intercom spoke out overhead. “Code blue, pediatric male, ED waiting room.”

Dr. Martinez swore jumping up from her seat. “Lily get the crash room prepared and get peds down here. Brian with me.” She followed the triage nurse into the waiting room not giving the student time to catch up with her. 

Who the patient was, was obvious. Even if there wasn’t a nurse actively transferring him into a gurney. He was the only person under the age of thirty in the waiting room. 

Dr. Martinez turned to the man hovering near the child. “You dad?”

The man shook his head. “Teacher, William Lancer, we’re on a school trip one of the students noticed he wasn’t breathing in his sleep, and well-can you help him.” 

“We’ll do the best we can. Do you know of any health conditions, allergies, medications?” She questioned.

William Lancer shook his head. “No. Danny’s perfectly healthy for a kid his age, despite being on the smaller side.”

He was correct about him being on the smaller side of his age group, looking at him, she would’ve said he was fifteen at most, not seventeen. Dr. Martinez followed the nurses to the crash room. They had already started to put the leads of the AED onto the patient when she walked in. 

The likelihood of the kid making it was slim to none. Even if he did the effect of his brain not having oxygen for so long. She was aware of that. If he hadn’t been breathing since he was found and then the whole trip to the hospital…Well it was her job to at least try. 

Brian was just standing and staring at the body infront of them as Dr. Martinez started an IV line letting the nurses start to bag the patient and the others finished up with the AED preparations. “Brian get moving or get out of the way.”

“He’s just a kid.” He stared.

“No pulse, Starting compressions!” A nurse called out.

Brian flinched at the sound of ribs breaking under the strain of chest compressions. “Someone get the student out of here.” She yelled.

That snapped him out of his stupor. “No I can do this, what do you want me to do?”

“Take over the bagging.” She instructed, it was probably one of the simpler tasks she could give him, as long as he didn’t pop the patients' lung. 

She heard the AED speak up, still no pulse, still no, shockable rhythm. “Administering epinephrine.” 

They continued like that for five more minutes, staff switching out doing compressions or bagging. Passing medications. But they all knew the chances.

Or they thought they did.

“We got a new reading!” Lily shouted.

Dr. Martinez looked over at the EKG reading. “He’s in V-fib, get the AED ready to shock.” 

The staff waited on bated breath as they let the AED examine the patient’s heart rhythm. “Shock advised. Charging. Stand clear. Press the flashing button to deliver shock.”

“Clear?” Dr. Martinez made eye contact with each person standing around the patient. A chorus of clears rang out in response. 

“Clear!” Dr. Martinez did a final call before she pressed the button to deliver the shock.

Cardiac arrests were not an uncommon sight in the emergency department. She’d see plenty more by the time she hit retirement. But it was usually older people, people who’d lived at least a somewhat long life. No matter how many times a child or even a young adult came into the ED like this it was hard on everyone involved. She always tried longer on kids. Despite knowing the very slim chance of them being revived. The chances were practically zero here. She mourned the fact that this was Brian’s first cardiac arrest with them. There was no chance any reasonable person would stay after this.

It wasn’t her first to wouldn’t be her last, but just like the others and the ones to come Cecelia Martinez knew she would never forget his face.

Especially since he did something frankly impossible for someone who had just received CPR and an electric shock. He sat up and screamed.

It was only years of experience that Dr. Martinez was able to dodge the kick sent her way. Brian was not so lucky getting clocked in the face with a fist. 

“Hey, hey, hey. You need to lay down. You’re in the hospital, your teacher says you stopped breathing and you went into cardiac arrest. Can you tell me your name, do you remember where you were last? Or the date?” Dr. Martinez asked placing herself directly into the teenager's line of sight. 

He placed a hand on his chest and took a slow deep breath. Something that had to be incredibly painful with broken ribs. “Huh, I-yeah. Danny Fenton. I was in my hotel room. It’s March 27th. Did you electrocute me?”

No obvious damage to neurological function. He got the date wrong but only by four hours, it was the 28th now. “Yes Danny, we did have to shock you. We’re going to have to run quite a few tests to make sure everything is working okay now.” And to see how he was even talking.

“Oh, no I’m okay.” Danny looked back where Brian was holding his shoulder where he was punched, and winced. “Shit, sorry dude are you alright?”

“How about you all go chart, or help Brian get ice or something for his shoulder. Lily let his teacher know he’s joined us back in the land of the living.” Dr. Martinez not so kindly giving them all the hint to get out.

Danny tried to hide a laugh in a cough. An interesting reaction for someone who had briefly died. “Young man I don’t think you realize what you just went through. I understand you are most likely in shock but you need to understand the gravity of the situation. Healthy kids do not just suddenly stop breathing, and we need to understand why.”

“It’s not a big deal, I promise. I just have sleep apnea.” Danny explained.

“Your heart stopped.” Dr. Martinez deadpanned. 

“It’s a very serious condition.” Danny nodded his head like he was agreeing with her. 

There was a knock on the door, opening just a moment after. Lily brining in Danny’s teacher. “War and Peace, Danny are you alright?”

“Yeah I’m fine.”

“No he is not” Dr. Martinez said at the same time. “We had to perform CPR. We’ll have to do tests to make sure everything has resumed functioning as normal as they can, as well as an x-ray to assess the damage to his ribs.” 

“Of course. I have gotten in contact with his older sister and she is on the way, she should be here in a few hours. His parents are currently unavailable.” William Lancer explained.

“Jazz is coming?” Danny groaned. The most negative emotion he had displayed since he’d gotten here. “And hours? As in multiple? I don’t want to be here that long.”

“You’ll be here a few days minimum for observation.” Dr. Martinez said.

The boy flopped back onto the gurney with much more aggressiveness than he should have with what he just went through. “I don’t like hospitals.”

Dr. Martinez sighed. “Not may people do, doctors can be intimidating sometimes. White coat syndrome isn’t abnormal.”

Danny wrinkled his nose. “I don’t care about doctors. It’s too loud here, there’s too much death.” 

It was quiet in the room, she wasn’t sure what he was talking about. 

“I can leave the sooner I get those tests done right?” He asked.

“As long as everything is normal.” Dr. Martinez nodded. They wouldn’t be, they couldn’t be. 

“As long as it’s all normal.” Danny repeated “Alright let’s get started.”

Dr. Martinez was reading the x-ray and other test results when Danny’s older sister arrived. She double-checked the results and viewed the images dozens of times. 

Barring the traces of epinephrine still in his system, all the tests were completely normal. His ribs weren’t even broken. 

But that wasn’t possible. She heard the bones break. 

The best course of action she supposed was to talk to Danny and his sister. She made her way to the room they moved him to. She seemed to enter the middle of a conversation. 

“I swear when I get my hands on him. He traps me in the middle of a dream and then I’m waking up thinking I’m dying again. And now they’re trying to keep me here for no reason!” 

“I mean, technically in their eyes you did die. It’s a valid concern.”

“Still don’t see why it’s such a big deal though, I’m fine.”

“Normal people don’t recover that fast Danny. It of course would raise some questions.”

“How was I supposed to know how quick people recover from dying?”

“Common sense, I’d assume.” “Ugh. When do mom and dad get back?”

“Few days, you’re still stuck with me until then. Lucky for you in this situation. They’d have a lot more questions.”

Dr. Martinez opened the door fully making her presence known. “You must be Jazz. I’m Danny’s doctor, Dr. Martinez.” 

“Nice to meet you Dr. Martinez. Thank you for taking care of my brother.” Jazz smiled shaking her hand.

“Well he certainly gave us quite the fright. It’s not often people come back from a cardiac arrest punching.” More like they never did.

“Well he’s always liked to exceed expectations.” Jazz nodded..“Do you have the discharge paperwork?”

“Discharge?” Danny’s teacher had said Jazz was one of the most responsible people he knew despite her younger age. And she wanted to discharge her brother? “Miss Fenton discharging him so soon-”

“Is well within my rights as his temporary legal guardian while our parents are unavailable.”

Dr. Martinez refrained from sighing. “And where exactly are your parents?”

“Out of the country at the moment.” Danny supplied. “Work trip.”

“I see. Regardless I can’t just let you leave just hours after you went into cardiac arrest.”

“Did my tests come back wrong?” He asked.

‘No, your tests came back completely normal.” 

“Then I don’t see why I can't leave?”

“That is exactly why you can’t leave. We don’t even know what caused this.” She would rather have him stay voluntarily than try to chance getting a court order.

“I do know though.”

“You know?” Dr. Martinez found that hard to believe. “Why would that be?”

“Ghosts.”

“Ghosts?”

“That’s what I said.” Danny nodded.

Court order it was. “I’m going to step out and talk to your teacher. Please remain here.”

She stepped out the door. Finding William Lancer was not difficult, he was in the chair right outside the door. “Sir, may I ask you a question?”

He stood up. “Yes of course. Is everything alright?”

“Unusually enough, yes. But it has more to do with something Danny mentioned about the reason for his episode.” She rubbed at her temple. “He said it was because of and I quote ‘ghosts’.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. So you see why it wouldn’t be a good idea to let him leave.”

 “I thought they wouldn’t be a problem so far from Amity Park.”

“What?”

“We didn’t bring any anti-ghost equipment for that reason. Obviously that was a major oversight on me and the rest of the schools staff on this trip.”

She was starting to think perhaps school was a code word for cult. Or maybe wherever they were from had some serious chemical leaks going on. “Could you please just talk to the two of them and try to convince them not to leave? I do not think it would be a good idea to let him go so soon.”

“Oh definitely. Even if it is ghosts that’s not something we can let go without making sure he is okay.” He nodded and went to open the door.

“Great Gatsby, not again.” William Lancer sighed as he entered the room.

“What? What is it?” Dr. Martinez asked pushing past him. Had Danny collapsed? 

Danny had not collapsed, in fact Danny was no longer in the room. No one was. 

But she had been standing next to the door the entire time. There was no way they could have left without her noticing. “Where did they go?”

“Back home, probably. Or well on their way there, I’d assume.” 

“But how did they leave, we were standing infront of the door.”

He just gave a tired shrug. “It’s not the first time he’s disappeared with no feasible way to. Happens more and more by the year I swear. He wasn’t nearly this bad at fourteen. Still a handful, just a different way. But if he’s feeling well enough to sneak out there's not much I can do.” 

“Do you think that their behavior is possibly linked to their parents?” They had mentioned that their parents were out of the country on a business trip. Perhaps they were taught to mistrust hospital staff by their parents out of fear of social workers.

“The whole family is strange, their parents are scientists to put simply. But not in the way you’re thinking. They’re just strange in a city full of strange people and strange things. If that is all, I do need to return to the rest of my students. Have a good night, or well a good morning I suppose.” He gave her a smile before walking off.

Dr. Martinez walked back towards her office thoughts cluttered. Ghosts, a perfectly healthy teenage boy’s heart stopping. The way he acted it was less that the shock reset his heart rhythm and more like it simply surprised him enough that his functions resumed their normal activities. His ribs broke, then they weren’t. He had no side effects from being shocked, let alone from going so long with no oxygen going to his brain. No one who knew him seemed to think the things going on were weird. Simply another day. 

Brian was sitting in the extra chair in her office. He looked up at the sound of her entering. “How’s the patient?”

“Gone.” 

“Gone? How?”

“Not sure, actually.” Dr. Martinez had seen almost everything as an ED doctor. Whatever just happened was a brand-new experience. “And it seems like I’m not paid nearly enough to figure it out. After today, I don’t blame you if you want to end your rotation early.”

“No! I want to stay.” Brian stood up.

“Really? Why?” Cardiac arrests weren’t easy on new students, kids were even worse.

“I’ve never seen or even heard about someone being this healthy and aware after CPR. It’s fascinating.  I want to see more things like that that challenges our understanding of medicine.” Brian said as he pointed the notes he was writing down in her face.

 Cecilia laughed. “You remember the phrase horses not zebras?”

Brian nodded his head. “Yeah of course. This was a zebra, right?”

Dr. Martinez shook her head. Once she finished charting she was going to forget about all of this, preferably with a strong drink when she got home. Too many unanswered questions and unexplainable events. Hell maybe it was ghosts.  “You’re never going to see something like this again. This was a god-damn unicorn.”

[iamvegorott]

Magicians Don't Need Superheros Pt2

I am weak and I wrote more...

Part 1: Link Next: Link

----------

It wasn’t until the next day that they got another lead for the newest Septiceye and Jackie was now more determined to bring him back to the House. Jackie knew how scary and chaotic it was when you first arrived, especially on your own. It took the others months to find him, despite the path of destruction he left behind. He was always on the move and was much faster than they expected. He was thankful this man seemed to be sticking to the city and hadn’t run across the country like he did…a few times…but that was a different story. 

Jackie jogged his way through the park, feeling the breeze of fall air on the parts of his face that weren’t covered by his mask. It was that weird shift of the season, sometimes it was really hot, sometimes it was really cold, and it was annoying for anyone with allergies.  

“There he is!” Jackie perked up when he saw the back of the man he was looking for. The man seemed to just be standing around, arms crossed, tapping his foot, and waiting. 

Jackie didn’t put too much thought into why he was waiting and scrambled over to the nearby tree. He jumped and climbed up the low-hanging branch, confident that it was thick enough to hold his weight. Jackie sat on the branch, making sure he looked as cool as possible on it, puffing his chest and putting on his signature grin. Heroes always had the best entrances and his was going to be so-

“Where’d he go?” Jackie’s moment dropped as he noticed that the new Septiceye was no longer in the spot he had been just seconds ago. Did he really take that long to get set up? Maybe Chase did have a point about him getting distracted too easily and-

Jackie yelped when something suddenly yanked on his back. He tightened his legs so he didn’t fall out of the tree but found himself hanging upside down and looking at the new Septiceye. 

“You’re not as quiet as you think you are.” The man stated. 

“I snuck up on you last time,” Jackie said with a proud grin which looked odd considering his arms were dangling beside his head, a few inches from the grassy ground. 

“I was in shock. An overly-active howling puppy could have snuck up on me and he did.” 

“Are you ready to go to the House with me?” 

“No.” The man rolled down the sleeves of his shirt as a new cool breeze swept through.

“Why not?”

“Firstly, I’m still not going anywhere with you and secondly, I am suddenly unable to do certain things with my magic that I could easily do before and I need to figure out why that’s happening.” 

“We have magic people! They can help!” Jackie waved his arms a bit with excitement. “Well, not really within the Septiceyes. I mean, does he…no that’s telepathy, not magic. It’s like Professor X but if he had hair and a really cool mustache.” He gasped in realization of something. “That would make me like Spider-Man! Or Deadpool. Probably more like Spider-Man cause I don’t really like guns and I’ve got like that strength and the building hoping and-”

“Do you have a mute button?” The man asked, bending over a bit so he was at eye-level and Jackie noticed the light smile on his face, showing that he was teasing and not being mean. Baby steps, right? He even told him about his magic problems. 

“I mean, I’m a lot quieter at the House.” Jackie knew that was a flat-out lie with how the others talk about him but he was still trying to convince Marvin to leave with him and he could apologize for that lie later.

“Now why is it that I don’t believe you?” The man hummed. 

Well damn, he’s been called out already. 

“I-uh-I could be quieter if it would convince you to come with me.” Jackie’s grin was a lot less confident this time. 

“Hm.” The man hummed and then chuckled. “You know, this little moment reminds me of a Spider-Man scene. You know which one I’m thinking of?” 

Of course, Jackie knew, it was only the most iconic kiss of all time and that had the red on his face from being upside down for so long turned into a blush. 

“It-uh-it does?” Jackie blamed the warmth he felt on the blood rushing to his head. 

“It does. Have you ever recreated that scene? With how much you climb up on things, you must find yourself like this often.” The man’s smile turned into a smirk and Jackie swore he could hear a purr in his voice. 

“N-No. I-I have-I haven’t.” Jackie was having a very difficult time speaking, finding himself how he had been before and forgetting his mission as the man got closer. 

“Would you want to?” The man’s hands were no longer in view. Jackie opened his mouth to speak but all that would come out was pure flustered gibberish. Thankfully, he didn’t suffer like that for long but he did find himself no longer able to see anything when the bottom of his hoodie was yanked down and over his head, leaving him trapped in his own clothing. 

“Hey!” Jackie tried to free himself and after the loud snapping of the branch breaking, he was on the ground. He found himself landing on a pile of leaves that he was pretty sure wasn’t there when he got up on the tree. 

After awkwardly rolling in the leaves for a bit, he eventually freed himself from his hoodie and was kneeling in the leaves, hoodie on his arms, shirt halfway up his back, hair fluffed up, and mask askew, making him look like a whole mess. Jackie glanced around in hope that the new Septiceye was still nearby and he cursed under his breath. He got away again. 

Jackie finished freeing his arms from his hoodie and reached into his pocket for his phone, freezing when he made another discovery. 

The man had stolen his phone.

“Ah, shit.” 

[ohgodimafraud]

Streaming t//diapt - Uru//shihara

Hi. Idek what to say about this one

summary: ur//ushihara makes a discover about his strteaming audience and his roommates demand that he capitalizes immediately.

---

The summer heat continued baking down on Sasazuka, and it was the perfect excuse for Urushihara to stay put in his closet, the one sad fan whirring and blowing warm air against his damp skin. The laptop continued generating its excessive heat which was decidedly preferable to the resident NEET to the fresh summer air. As Urushihara scrolled through the bountiful sea of videos, he recognized a familiar screen name: his own.

Darklord666 Clip 1

So he’d gotten popular enough to have fans clip his best hits. A smirk spread across his face. So much for his streaming hobby being a “fruitless endeavor.” 

3.k views. One week ago.

Damn, that’s more than ten times the amount of followers he had last time he checked, and this video had gotten this many views in the span of a week. He clicked the video and adjusted the volume and leaned in to watch which one of his builds or jokes had taken off.

📹

“Oh this sucks. The hair colors are so limited.” Urushihara pinched the bridge of his nose and sniffled. “Guess you guys will have to point me towards some…cuhh-uh…hKSHhh’ieh! tssch! Ugh. wait” 

He adjusted his headset before reaching around offscreen until he produced a tissue. “HehkShhhieh! Ihhshhh’ihh!”

“Rec me sombe custumb condtedt,” he amended. “Oh…yeah, it’s ndot a—hYSHhh’ieh! ndot a cold, just allergies.” He blew his nose.

“Wait, I can get it through the game? Is it free?” He sniffled. “Oh and thanks.”

📹

Comments:

dandelion222: what is he allergic to

S.finder: @dandelion222 He said later in the stream that it’s dust

snzgirl: bless him <3 

sneezy123: god hes so sexy

supersnzr: the video quality is so bad but the content def makes up for it ;)))

Okay that was odd. He can’t see what was particularly sexy about that clip. He’d been sneezing for half of it. He frowned and clicked the next recommended clip.  

Darklord666 Clip 2

📹

“hyhSHhh’yyu! Tschh’iu! hpt’chhhu!” 

Urushihara fixed his headset that’d been displaced during the sneezing fit and gripped it as another sneeze shook him forward. “hh…hehhh….wa-waihht…ihhgKSHhh’ieh!” 

He wiped the screen with the hem of his raglan shirt. “Ugh,” he sniffled, “fail. You didn’t see that.” 

📹

Urushihara’s frown deepened. What the fuck? Why did this one have even more views. He skipped over the comments in favor of clicking the next video.

Darklord666 Clip 3

📹

“Yeah I wanted to do hh- rags t-to…wait…hehh…” Urushihara abandoned his sentence and squinted his eyes, nose scrunching in the lowlight. “HehhkSHhhihh!” This time the spray was visible and he hadn’t bothered to turn away from the laptop this time. “IhhSHhhiehh!”

“Oh hey thanks for the gift sakurablossom7.”

📹

Comments:

asters_in_bloom: heyy good find but maybe you shouldn’t put their screen names on these clips…

S.finder: @asters_in_bloom Others have commented the same thing. Going forward I’ll be sure to fix this.

asters_in_bloom: @S.finder ok but you didnt????

Dustyboi: i need him. im subscribing immediately. id pay him sm to sneeze all over my—

Urushihara stopped reading. Immediately. That didn’t stop autoplay from playing the fourth clip. The closet door abruptly flung open and he nearly tumbled out again, but managed to catch himself this time. He let out a groan of disdain before the inevitable scream fest began. 

“Urushihara!” Ashiya pointed at him as if he’d finally tracked him down. “Please stop talking to your friend “Chat” and come help me fold the laundry for once! Or if you’re going to sneeze nonstop, perhaps you should dust this time.”

“You’re just gonna complain that I’m doing it wrong,” Urushiahara complained, removing his headset. The sound of the clip did not stop, and it was then that he realized his headphones weren’t even plugged in. He blushed and paused the video.

“Why are you sitting here watching video tapes of yourself?”

“I’m not.” Urushihara shuddered and closed the computer. “Just figured out why I got so many gifts last stream.” 

Oh he’d fucked up. Royally. He could feel the way the atmosphere in the room had shifted, the way Ashiya’s mind had shifted into budget mode. “Gifts?”

“Money.”

“And why is that? How much money did you make?” 

This was humiliating, and yet something about the situation warranted sharing. He should want this to die a secret, but there’s a certain catharsis in discussing it. Without moving his eyes to meet Ashiya’s, he finally answered, “Apparently people like seeing me sneeze.”

“There are people who enjoy—”

“Like, dude, you don’t understand. They really really like it.’

Ashiya furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth as if he was going to ask him to get off his ass again.

“I don't even understand,” Urushihara added. “Like I made 1,500 yen last stream.”

“What do you mean they really like your—”

“You know how Sasaki Chiho looks at Maou when he does literally anything? Or how Sariel looks at—”

“Please speak no further.” Ashiya sighed and tilted his head. He raised an incredulous eyebrow. “To summarize, people are giving you money because of your incessant sneezing?”

Urushihara nodded.

“And you’re sure Chat is not paying you to cease and desist?” Urushihara opened his laptop and showed Ashiya the comment bold enough to make not just one but two demon generals blush. “No…further evidence requested. Excuse me.” 

Ashiya left the apartment. Perhaps it was all too much for him. Though Urushihara had at least eight thousand years on the guy, Ashiya had always been more old fashioned. Explaining that there in fact other people out there who would spend their free time watching other people play a game rather than playing it themselves had been a headache in itself. It was much easier to let him think he’d been video calling some guy named Chat. 

Urushihara quietly decided he was done streaming for the foreseeable future and ordered another delivery of a few bags of chips and a bottle of iced tea he could easily hide in the closet. He would’ve completely erased all memories of today were it not for what happened when Ashiya returned. 

***

“Dude, what the hell?” Urushihara cried when Ashiya yanked the closet door open once again. He was holding a bouquet of flowers with a sticker with a brightly marked down price. “What the fuck.”

“Do you remember the incident when Miss Sasaki brought his highness lilies?” Ashiya asked. A dark aura spread across the devil’s castle as his eyes zeroed in on the fresh chip bag in his hands. “I see you ordered delivery while I was out.”

“You’re a demon! Why are you trying to pimp me out to the sneeze fetish community?” he whined, fighting against Ashiya’s grasp on the door. 

“You call Chat this instant! It’s time you started contributing financially!” 

This was a mistake. All of it. Urushihara’s eyes were already starting to water from the putrid scent of the flowers Ashiya was continuing to wave in his face. 

“It’s time you learned the value of money. His majesty slaves over a hot grill all day, serving the people of Sasazuka, and he does not do it so you can waste all his—”

Speak of the devil. Maou entered the apartment. Surely he’d stop this human rights violation. 

“Dude, help!” Urushihara called out. 

Maou looked between his two demon generals, one holding lilies up to the other one's face as he shrunk back into the closet.

“Did Chi send those?” he asked obliviously.

“Ashiya is trying to pimp me out to strangers online!”

“He is exaggerating!”

Maou’s posture sagged. “What’s really happening?”

“Welcome home. As it happens, my liege, though his phrasing is crude, it is not far from the truth.” Ashiya moved a step back from the closet and faced Maou. He briefly explained the situation to Maou while Urushihara tried not to sneeze. It was becoming more difficult by the second. He brushed a few bright yellow flecks off of his shirt as Ashiya explained Chat’s sadistic tendencies.

“Okay, that…” Maou sighed and shot Urushihara a sympathetic glance. Hail Satan. “I get that we need the money, but—”

“He spent a day’s wages on Sims expansion packs.” Ashiya handed him a folded receipt from his pocket. 

Fuck.

“You’d better fuckin call Chat!” Maou hissed, pointing at him. “You think I’m made of yen?? I was saving to take Alas Ramus to the movies damnit!”

Urushihara sighed and opened the streaming app. He had indeed acquired another fifty followers since his last stream. 

“Dude, pleaseeee—”

“Let’s go, tech squad. How much yen can you make in one stream?”

“My record is uh…”

“2,000 yen, sire. I’ll bet with these he can double it.’

“Don’t come out until you’ve made at least 2,000,” Maou sighed. 

“Hi and welcome back to my channel. How are we doin’, chat?” He glanced up at the two demons standing over him and accepted the bouquet from Ashiya. He didn’t even have to take a whiff for the onslaught to continue. The scent alone was enough to drive his nose crazy. He couldn’t keep from scrunching it and sniffling, though each sniffle would bring in more of the sickly sweet odor. “So I got some of the expansion packs y’all rec…recommended. How about I make the, uh…cat—wait, I’mgonnasnNDSChhh’iuhh! H’KSChh’ieeh!”

Maou handed him a tissue pack, glare still intact. 

“We had a cat once. I was really allergic to it.” Urushihara blew his nose into a one-ply tissue before continuing. “No, that’s not why I’mb sneezing now. ‘Mb allergic to a lotta stuff apparently. Anyway…hahhhkSHhh’iew! Anyway, thangks for the gift, uh, Dustyboi…”

Save me, Dustyboi.

“Mby roombate can really stretch out 500 yen, y’kndow. Thanks, s-sakurabl-...hehYSHhh’iehh! Ihhpshh! Tschh! heh’ESCHhh’yew!”

Ashiya had moved on and went on to make dinner in the background. Maou sat in front of the TV with the volume on zero but with the captions on, though he seemed far more interested in Urushihara’s performance. 

Urushihara blew his nose again, knowing he’d have about a minute before he’d have to blow his nose again.. “Sorry guys, I’mb ndot gonnda be…able to…hh…st-stop sneezi’gg. Hehh’KSHhh’iehh! Mby roombate got flowers that I’mb allergic to. Yeah it’s that…it’s that bad. Anyway, here’s Silverfish the cat. We’re gonnda—H’ESCHhh’iew!—add himb ind…”  

Urushihara finalized the Devil’s Castle on the Sims and sniffled and wiped the tears from his eyes. “Yeah, Ashiya’s throwi’d himbself at Maou again. Just like in real life…”

“What did you say, you creatin?” Ashiya yelled from the kitchen which was, of course, part of the same room they were all in.

“Yeah they’re both hombe,” Urushihara said into the mic casually before losing control of the sneeze he’d managed to keep back for almost a full minute. “h’ESHhhu! Fugk…Ugh, thank you for the gifts. Mbaybe I cand afford better tissues now.” 

“Oh no, he has to pay off his debt first. Otherwise he’ll have to sell some of this streaming equipment,” Maou called from the living room portion of the room.

That did it. If Maou understood one thing about this world, it was appealing to the consumer. 

“Thangks for all the gifts, guys. Wow. Three-thousand yen!” Urushihara coughed and sniffled again. “Btw guys, I’m gudda be uploadi’gg a recordi’gg of this streab to mby chandel and all future streams. I’mb gudda…sndeeze…ah-agaid…Ehhshhh!-KShhh’ih! H’KSHhh’iew!”

He muddled through another twenty minutes of gameplay before people started expressing genuine concern in the comments. Suddenly there were about ten people regularly writing “bless you,” and “are you okay?” in the chat along with others calling him “poor thing.”

“H’KShhhieh! It’s okay, I’mb used to it. This is—hah…ieSCHhh’iew! KSHhhh! dothi’gg cobbared to whed we had the cadt I swear.”

In the background, Ashiya began setting the kotatsu for dinner. Somehow between the horny viewers and the sympathetic ones, he’d made five-thousand yen. 

“Okay…sorry guys. I godtta go. I’ll…I’ll be back tomborrow.” He gave a peace sign which he knew was ironic coming from him, but nobody needed to know that. 

“Five-k yen is gonna drop tonight, okay?” He then walked the bouquet to the trash can. Ashiya got up and stood in his way. 

“Save this one for tomorrow. He pulled a single lily out and left it on the table.” 

“Doesn't it suck busting your ass to make money only for someone else to spend it?” Maou asked with a smirk, crumbs sticking to the inner corners of his lips. 

Urushihara shrugged and went to wash his swollen face in the bathroom knowing that eventually the video of the stream would surely gain some income and exposure too. Next he’d report the accounts stealing his clips and make his own video compilations. And then nothing will come between him and owning his very own Switch. 

[chaoticarson16]

main six - 🟡🔴🏡 🧵 🗣

um i didn’t know if you wanted us to pick one for your character headcanon ask game, so i chose multiple just in case. also didn’t know who to choose lol

Multiple is perfectly fine cause it lets me rant about more than one of my blorbos :D (Also sorry I forgot to check my inbox!!)

🟡 - Happy

California: When he’s happy he bounces on the balls of his feet while flapping his hands and even though he won’t admit it New York finds this adorable (Me? Projecting? Nooooo)

New York: He barely shows it but he really enjoys having the rest of the northeast + California around and he likes making them little gifts and anonymously leaving them in front of their door

Louisiana: He both enjoys and gives the best hugs. He knows what kind of hugs the rest of the states like and loves just randomly appearing and hugging them

Florida: He can actually bake really well and loves to make snacks for the South. He has everyone’s favorite desserts, snacks, and allergies memorized.

Texas: Even though he’d deny it, he really likes cuddling. Whether it be cause someone was cold, sad, or just wanted to. He’s also like the perfect pillow cause he’s one of the biggest states and there’s enough room for quite a few people.

Gov: He really loves snakes so any time he sees one his eyes do the cat thing and he has to keep himself from ranting about that specific species

🔴 - Angsty/Sad

California: He genuinely doesn’t know why most states hate him. He understands some is politics but he doesn’t know why the others do. It affects him so much he’s changed himself so much to get them to like him that very few know what he’s actually like

New York: He keeps up his rude demeanor because he doesn’t wanna get too close to people in fear they’ll leave. He’s terrified of losing people he loves so he chooses to stay away from people. But it eats him up inside that he doesn’t really have anyone so he’s stuck in this cycle of wanting friends but not wanting to lose them

Louisiana: During the Civil War he was so torn between doing what his government wanted and doing what his people wanted. In the end he was forced to help his government through threat of harm. He still has heavy survivors guilt and is tormented by the spirits of his lost people. (I headcanon him as African American and that he can see spirits)

Florida: He puts on a mask that he’s happy all the time but it makes him sad knowing that most of the states are scared of him or hate him. He likes causing chaos cause it’s how his people are but he hates how the other states pull away from him when he does it.

Texas: He likes to act like he’s big and tough and that nothing affects him but it does. Every event in his state, big or small, affects him. The insults some states will throw out. He takes those to heart and truly believes them. He acts like he’s confident but he’s insecure and severely doubts he’ll ever be good enough (Damn that was rougher than I expected it to sound)

Gov: When he first came around as Continental Congress, he had so much work that most nights he didn’t sleep. PA tried to help him but it was just too much. He did that so often that it’s now become a habit. He will work until his body physically can not move anymore, sometimes skipping meals to get it all done

🏡 - Home

California: (I saw this from someone else and I stole it because it was such a good headcanon) When not at the statehouse he lives in a hobbit type house that connects into the surrounding mountain. It’s pretty roomy and he somehow has wifi in there.

New York: Usually at the statehouse cause his room there is bigger than the room in his apartment. He has a small apartment with enough space just for him.

Louisiana: He shares a house with Florida when not at the statehouse (literally married) it’s a decent sized one story house. They share one room and the others are used for shenanigans. They live away from most people so their yard is until they get to another house.

Florida: Usually the statehouse or the house he shares with Loui

Texas: He’s usually not at the statehouse. He has a ranch and a lot of land with it. He’s usually gone taking care of his horse Janie and his dog Buck. The ranch consists of his main house, a shed, and a barn with a stable. Think of a stereotypical barn then make it a light brown

Gov: This man almost never leaves his office. When he does he lives at the statehouse. He can not afford to leave them alone in the same house

🧵 - Hobbies

California: Surfing, skateboarding, hiking, basically most out door activities plus drawing, cooking, playing drums or guitar, and singing

New York: This man absolutely loves fashion. He also likes drawing, cooking and “gardening”

Louisiana: Cooking, (literally all of them can cook I’m so sorry) singing, playing instruments, dancing, and writing

Florida: Baking, dancing, singing, playing guitar and drums, causing chaos, swimming, and scaring the states with how much he actually knows

Texas: Baking, actual gardening, crochet, trick riding, shooting targets, and playing with his dog

Gov: Writing, drawing, hiking or going on walks, biking

🗣️ - Social

California: He’s pretty friendly with most people he meets and likes talking with people on social media platforms (he definitely has tumblr)

New York: He rarely talks to other people and actively avoids it

Louisiana: He treats everyone he meets like family and everyone loves him

Florida: He likes talking to random strangers about the things that interest them but when it comes to the states he actively tries to find a way to make it into a joke

Texas: He has a bit of social anxiety but it’s mostly in crowds where it’s a lot harder to escape. He enjoys talking to the other states about sports and stuff but he also likes talking to New Jersey about gardening

Gov: This man is so awkward, it’s great. The only social interaction he’s had is with politicians and the states. He can be professional no problem but the moment it comes to casual conversation he blanks. He mainly lets the person he’s talking to rant to him about things. The states actually go to him and rant about any and everything cause they know he won’t tell them to shut up

[doulayogimama]

Therapy is magical when you find a good therapist. Damn. Only two marriage sessions and we are on a different plane.

I’ve never felt baby fever at this point in my cycle (about to get my period) since before I had S. I’m actually excited at the idea of TTC after my allergy appointment. That’s in April. I could technically be pregnant by the late Spring / early summer. Sky could be a big sister soon.

Kevin has wanted a second baby for a long time and hasn’t pressured me because he gets it. I didn’t have a good time being pregnant or the 2 years that followed. But I have to remember: I was pregnant and gave birth during a worldwide pandemic for crying out loud.

I had no visitors in the hospital. My mom didn’t meet her grandchild until she was 6 weeks old. If I have terrible “morning sickness” again and I have to go under GA again for the birth, it will still be so different. The C-section would be planned. My family will be in the waiting room, they will change the diapers while I recover and sleep. They will come to my house every day to help us.

I told Kevin that if he promises we move to Miami in Oct / Nov, we can start TTC right after my allergist appt and he was like SOLD!!!! 😂

He hates the idea of renting and this will put off our meditation center plans for a couple years, but he really wants another baby more than anything. And I won’t do pregnancy and birth without my family again, I just won’t. I love my in laws but it’s simply not the same. I need my mom, my Mimi. Even my dad and stepmom. I need them all during this period. I learned that the hard way.

I’m really excited. I’ve traveled enough to know that I don’t think we will ever find the “perfect” place to live. I’m from Miami. Kevin is from NY. We are very attached to our families, so it is what it is. We will always travel and enjoy the world, but the East coast is it.

I can’t believe it: I’m excited about having another baby. I wasn’t sure if this day would ever come.

[idontplaytrack]

Big girls don’t cry

Lilette Suarez x fem! reader

Warnings: coarse language, angst?, fluff

In which a sick reader thinks it isn’t that serious and works herself exhausted until Lilette sees her walk through the door and nearly passes out

What the hell was this? A cold? Allergies? It’s better just be allergies. You couldn’t possibly be sick, you never get sick. And if you did, well…no one really took you seriously. Especially your family. They all think you were being dramatic. When was the last time anyway? High school? You had no idea how you got by so many years without falling sick ever since the stomach bug of ‘18. Goddamn, that was a terrible time.

You woke up that morning to a couple of sneezes. At first you didn’t think too much of it, but then it kept happening. Even on your way to work. You told yourself it was just allergies, but really, you were just lying to yourself and hoping that the headache you were beginning to feel, wasn’t really there.

The worst part of all, however wasn’t the sneezing or the ache in your head, but the fact that when you stepped into your office and felt like you’d walked into a damn freezer.

Focusing on your work became increasingly difficult as the minutes went by, you’ve not felt like this in years and hated every bit of it. You wanted to go home, did you need to? No. You weren’t a child, you were a grown woman perfectly capable of dealing with a cold.

You were wrong. You were so wrong.

By lunch time you were so close to tears that you felt like a crazy person sitting at your desk watching the time on the clock hoping it’d go by faster. All while working on a report that your boss had been asking for since the morning. Well, you had till the end of the day to complete it and hand it in, and even though your hands seemed to be working on autopilot, your mind and eyes couldn’t focus to help you see if any of it even made sense.

Some way or other, you made it to 5pm. Placing the folder on your boss’ desk, you left the building on the dot and actually made it home. Once you had entered the apartment, that’s when your world went to shit, pretty much. Every little bit of fatigue and aches and your symptoms hit you like a ton of bricks. As the front door shut, your eyes frantically searched for Lilette through their blurred vision. Your head was starting to spin and you could no longer stay standing without feeling like you’d collapse onto the floor. You hear footsteps coming from your left side, you turn your head and saw an unclear figure approaching you. Suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of nausea, you heard Lilette’s voice greeting you, asking you how you were and her hands holding onto you.

You weren’t sure if it was your giddiness or the lack of food you had that day which caused your nausea, but you knew you hated it so much. You desperately wanted it to go away. Lilette quickly helped you over to the couch to sit down, cupping your cheeks in her hands, “What’s the matter, love? Why didn’t you call me?”

You shook your head and somehow it was like switch flipped within you and the waterworks just began. You fell limp in her arms, “I’m sorry. I’m sick, I don’t feel good.”

She held you close, stroking your hair. Lilette looked at you, worried. Why the hell were you apologising for something out of your control? It wasn’t your fault.

“It’s okay, baby, I’ll be right here to take care of you.” She hushed, “What do you need?”

You couldn’t exactly talk clearly or at all from the crying you were doing. So she just quietly held you in her arms and let you release your emotions.

After awhile, “I’m hungry.” You swallowed thickly, “But I’m nauseous. And my head’s pounding and spinning and I feel hot and cold at the same time, Lil. I’ve never felt this way in years.”

She carefully let go of you. “I’ll make you some ginger tea to help settle your stomach, and some toast, okay? Try and have some of that and meds. Then once your stomach feels better, and after some rest I’ll see what we can do depending on how you’re feeling. But don’t worry, I got you.”

You took some deep breaths to calm yourself down. You knew you sounded ridiculous now that your emotions weren’t running high. She felt your forehead with the back of her hand and scurried away to retrieve a thermometer and medication. Before you knew it, the necessary meds were consumed and you’d already had some food in your system. Right now, you were in the shower. Lilette was with you. She still was, right there. Caring about you, making sure that you didn’t pass out. To you, that was not normal. That was never the norm for you growing up. You always had to tough it out, ‘be brave’, because your parents would always tell you ‘big girls don’t cry’. It was shit like that that stuck with you, instead of majority of the good things that came once you left that environment. You hated that they did that you your young, impressionable mind.

Lilette did all of these things for you without being asked, without making you feel bad, or like a burden. It made you feel better already not having to keep up with the facade of being okay when you so clearly were not. You did not have to pretend when you were with Lilette— she knew you better than anyone else. She knew what you went through better than anyone else. Too well, in fact. You were both still healing from things that have been shared with each other and some that hadn’t been. But, healing. It was a slow, sometimes difficult and painful process but you two were healing and getting better and stronger.

There were days like these though, where you felt absolutely beaten down. You hated it, but it had to run its course. You were sick, and you had to face it. You could face it better now, since you had someone who did not make you feel bad about yourself. Someone who cared about you, someone who didn’t mind doing things for you and loved you for you.

She watched you closely as you did everything from showering to drying yourself off and getting dressed. Once all that was done, she headed back out to the living room with you to cuddle on the couch. “Meds should have kicked in by now.” She muttered to herself, feeling your forehead again, “Do you still feel nauseous?”

“No.” You mumbled, “I think it was the giddiness. And the fact that I didn’t eat much today.”

“That’s good.” She presses a kiss to your temple. “Do you want anything else?”

“Nope.” You shook your head no, snuggling closer against her. She gladly wrapped her arms around you once again. “I’m guessing you’re not gonna just go to sleep if I ask you to.” Lilette laughs.

“No.” You admit.

“Alright then, I’ll just hold you till you fall asleep.” She smooches you on the cheek, “How about some TV in the meantime?”

“Uh-uh.” You disagreed, “Can you give me head scratches? Or massage my head or something. I think I’ll be able to feel asleep pretty easy like that.”

“Sure, my love.” Lilette immediately ran her hand through your hair, the motion of her fingertips relaxed you and was coaxing you to sleep after some minutes. “You wanna lay on me? Or put your head in my lap?”

You nuzzled against her chest, shaking your head, “I want cuddles.”

“Okay, baby.” Lilette agrees with a laugh, “Just relax, I got you. You’ll be okay in no time. I promise.”

“Thanks, Lil.” You smiled drowsily.

She mirrors your smile, “I love you.”

🏷️ Tag list:

@ashecampos @auliisflower @cheesysoup-arlo @frogs00 @ludoesartandstuff @pda128

💭A/N:

Didn’t feel like finishing this one but I’m no quitter so here it is after 10 days of it sitting in my drafts😗

[sliceofcake-cupoftea]

Allergies, Allergies, Allergies

Headcanons: What if High and Low characters had allergies? And who?

Character(s): S.W.O.R.D

Warning(s): Mature Content (for White Rascals and Sannoh)

Note: Due to the fact I have been unexpectationally swarmed with assignments for finals that have stopped me from finishing my oneshots and requests as well as the fact my pollen allergy has been acting up as the weather grows warmer, I decided to strew together a funny Headcanon for everyone to enjoy until I am back. Enjoy!

Takeshi – Rude Boys

If anyone in the rude boys had an allergy, it would be Takeshi.

I’m not sure what it is that makes me feel this way but it's just that face of his.

Anyways, I imagine it just happened one day when he was with the boys. They were likely passing around food that they found and were sharing it.

A bit of the usual fish, seafood, and jerky scraps but also some lucky finds like rice, dried fruits and–

Peanut butter. 

“H’y Tak’shi,” P says, his mouth sticky from a scoop of peanut butter Shion just fed him; watching as his friend attempts to wrestle the bag of jerky out of Yu’s greedy hands, “Y’u nee’ to try th’s stuff.”

“In… One– Sec–” Takeshi grunts as he reaches over Yu’s shoulder, some of the other boys helping Takeshi by pinning Yu’s legs down. However, ever the so slippery snake he was, Yu quickly escapes their grasps and attempts to flee again, “Come back here, Fatass!”

With one last huff as some of the other boys quickly chase after the youngest member, Takeshi takes a seat down on the ground next to P and Smokey. Getting handed the spoon with the sticky substance, he pops it into his mouth, “He needs to learn to share. It’s not fair for the rest of us.”

“True,” Shion comments as he scoops a giant glob of the peanut butter with an extra spoon and gestures to their leader to take another bite. And even though Smokey shakes his head in refusal, the other male didn’t seem to be giving up anytime soon. Fully intent on getting their leader to take a bite of the protein and vitamin filled peanut substance, “But he’s new and young. We were all like this when we first started out.” 

“Even you, Takeshi–” As P goes to slap a hand on his friend’s shoulder in a joking manner, he suddenly freezes. P just staring at him with this shocked looked on his face

“Wha–” 

However, Takeshi stops in his words as he suddenly feels how heavy his tongue feels as he speaks. Bringing up a hand to his mouth, he jumps in surprised as he feels his swollen lips, “Wha’ goin’--”

“Takeshi,” Smokey and Shion are instantly by his side as Takeshi feels his words fade away. Suddenly, it feels as if he is looking at the world around him through a tunnel. His vision on the sides slowly fading away as his ears begin to ring. Smokey, P and Shion are yelling something but he can’t hear them. 

What was happening? What was going on?

Then, all of a sudden, the world returns back to normal and Takeshi takes a deep inhale he didn’t know he needed. His vision and hearing return as if nothing had happened and he can feel the swelling in his mouth go down. 

“Hol– Holy crap Takeshi!” P suddenly yells, shaking his friend. Making Takeshi realize he was laying down, his head resting on Shion’s lap. When did he end up here? Actually as Takeshi looks around he sees that Yu and the others had returned, staring at the older member worried, “Did you know you were allergic to peanuts?”

At his friend’s words, Takeshi blinks.

Allergic?

Him?

However as Takeshi’s mind races, going over what he experienced and comparing it to the information he knows, he knows what P said was likely true. Damn, he was allergic to something. That’s a pain.

“You're lucky Yu had an Epipen,” Shion adds, patting his friend on the shoulder as Smokey and P help him into a sitting position. Surprised, Takeshi glances at the youngest member who scratches the back of his head nervously.

“I–” Yu starts, stammering at his words under the gaze of the boys, “I just collected them just in case, you know? I guess you can never be too sure.”

Fishing in his pocket, Yu sticks out a plastic grocery sized bag filled with Epipens, adding under his breath, “You can have them, Takeshi. I don’t actually need them.”

Before Takeshi can say anything, Yu has already dropped the bag in his lap and has run off. Mumbling about it being his time to patrol even though it wasn’t.

“Well,” Smokey chuckles, making Takeshi turn his head in surprise at his leader, “I guess you finally got Yu to share something, Takeshi.”

It was true. Yu had never shared anything up until this point.

Unable to help himself, Takeshi breaks out into a laugh, joining Smokey. All it took was him in a life or death situation to have the youngster to share something. What an idiot.

Dan – Sannoh Rengokai

I’m going to be completely honest. I did this because I thought it would be absolutely hilarious.

Listen

Latex Allergy.

If you know, you know.

Anyways I think compared to Takeshi, Dan definitely knew he had this allergy. He just didn’t want the rest of Sannoh to know. Because, obvious reasons. 

“Are you going home with her?” Tettsu whispers, nudging his friend who for the first time that night was free and that was only because he was grabbing another set of drinks for them. This whole night Tettsu and Chiharu could only watch in shock as Dan was getting flirted with by a girl. That’s right, a girl interested in Dan.

Dan quickly looks behind him, likely to make sure the girl wasn’t watching him, before slapping the back of Tettsu’s head, “Maybe. I’m not forcing anything though.”

“Well,” Chiharu says, sliding in on the other side of Dan as Tettsu rubs the spot Dan hit in pain. Looking around, Chiharu smirks before stuffing something into his pocket and it doesn’t take Dan much to guess exactly what it was, “You’ll probably be needing those.”

“No. No, I won’t.” Dan says back under his breath before pulling out the offending item from his jeans and shoving it in Chiharu’s chest. Not wanting it anywhere near him even though it was wrapped safely in plastic. Swearing he could already feel hives breaking out on his skin even though he probably wasn’t.

“What's your deal, man?” Tettsu murmurs, confused on what got Dan so irritated all of a sudden, “You allergic to wrapping up or something?”

Even though it was supposed to just be a joke, making both Chiharu and Tettsu laugh, they quickly fall silent when they see Dan not joining them.

“No way. Are you actually–” 

“Shut up.” Dan cuts them off as he finally gets handed his drinks, grabbing them quickly as he begins to walk away. Already feeling his ears burn a bright red from the embarrassment dripping from him.

“Wait,” Tettsu quickly stops him, getting in his way from walking forward back to his table. Making Dan’s scowl in annoyance grow larger. Chiharu joins them, seeming to watch in interest as Tettsu pulls out his wallet from his back pocket and fishes something out. Quickly sticking it in Dan’s jacket pocket.

This asshole.

Dan feels his hands shake in anger as once again knew what was put in his pocket, “Do you want to get your face punched–”

“Latex-free, bro.” Tettsu says, slapping Dan on the shoulder with a grin and thumbs up. Silencing Dan in his threat as he stares confused and bewildered at his friend. However, Chiharu quickly filled in that silence. More than enough questions for Tettsu.

“Wait, are you also…?” Chiharu asks, seeming caught off guard as he looks back and forth between his two closest friends. For some reason suddenly feeling the one left out from the group.

“No, I got them from SMG,” Tettsu says with a grin, seeming suddenly quite proud of himself as he references the White Rascal subgroup. Though, it only confuses Chiharu and Dan more, “In their words, you can never be too careful. It's not just men allergic to latex.” 

Ah.

At Tettsu’s words, it suddenly clicks for them. Of course, it was the White Rascals. If Dan remembered correctly from his one and only visit, the club had multiple bowls of the items around. Just in case a couple was stuck without a source of protection. Always thinking of the women guests' interests; Always. 

“You got this, Dan.” Chiharu suddenly says, snapping Dan out of his thoughts as his friends slap him on the shoulder before returning back to the bar. All the while Tettsu tells Chiharu how he has been learning from SMG on how to woo a woman correctly. 

Idiots. 

Though Dan can only smile as returns back to his seat.

Agyo – Daruma

Agyo and Ungyo, twins(?) of the Daruma Ikka subgroup: Daruma Babies.

Even though we hardly know anything about these two (as well as a lot of characters of Daruma), I thought it would be interesting if someone in Daruma was allergic to Soy. 

Mostly because Soy can often be found in a lot of traditional Japanese foods.

Ex: Tofu, Edamame, Natto, miso, (occasionally) soy sauce, etc.

While we hardly have any lines or scenes of the two of them, we can infer three facts about them. (1) they are quick to anger and fight like the rest of Daruma, (2) they seem very close as they are hardly ever seen apart (even in fights) and (3) their names are based on two opposite Japanese gods (likely inferring that their personalities are opposites as well). 

Just guessing but because Agyo means one with an open mouth (aka one to speak first or birth), I’m guessing Agyo is more of a talker and the smarter one of the twins (Also because he has glasses and we’ve seen so far in High and Low, anyone with glasses is typically smarter than the others). Then, Ungyo, one with an closed mouth (aka last to speak or death), is likely less of a talker and more likely to use his fists first (Also, even though both of them seem hotheaded, he seems to be the one more interested in picking the fight with Ranmaru than the others when he bumped into the group). 

But once again, this is just me making an educated guess and inferring as we hardly know anything about any of these Daruma boys except Hyuga.

Anyways, back to the Allergy headcanon. I think Agyo would have a soy allergy but wouldn’t tell anyone as he might be prideful and didn’t want to get laughed at. And Ungyo would eat any Soy products that anyone tried to give his brother, to hide Agyo’s secret. 

Of course, this would work out for a while. That is until Ungyo was absent during a hang out and left Agyo by himself.

“Oi, Agyo,” Ukyo calls, taking an inhale of his cigarette before pulling it out of his lips and gesturing to the waiter that was taking their table's order, “What you want?” 

“Ah, I’ll just have some Mori Soba,” Agyo says, handing his menu forward to join the others that had already ordered. Some of them make noises of agreement with his choice, murmuring how it was pretty hot outside and debating if they should get something cold now, “Is it okay if I order something for Ungyo as well?” 

“Sure, just pile it in. Poor asshole probably sick as a dog at home anyways.”

“Alright cool. Can I get a Miso soup to go as well? Thanks.”

As the others in the gang proceed to order, Agyo returns his attention back to his phone; Typing a quick message to his brother to check in. Though as a response quickly comes back, he can only snort. Of course, Ungyo sent an unflattering selfie of himself crouched over the toilet bowl. Only his brother would do something like that. 

Continuing to text his brother, ignoring the occasional yell from Ukyo and Sakyo to get off his phone, the food eventually arrived. Some of the guys cheering as the waiters and waitresses place the plethora of food down. 

Agyo is one of the few that stayed quiet. Breaking open a pair of chopsticks as he chats with Futa. Finally, for the first time that night, relaxing as he knows Ungyo took some Advil and went to bed for the night. 

That is until his bowl was placed down in front of him.

“Oh, Agyo, is something wrong?” Futa asks as he sees his friend freeze when he glances down at his bowl. The other member of the Daruma Babies, Raita, glances from across the table to see what’s up. 

“Aish,” Raita says, as he groans once he sees what’s in the bowl, “So lucky. They gave you extra toppings.”

And extra toppings they did. While Agyo didn’t mind the carrots nor mushrooms in his bowl, it was the offending plethora of aburaage that sent his stomach through a loop. Already imagining the nausea and hives he gets from eating the tofu product, sending his heart pounding with anxiety. Blinking once, twice and finally a third time, Agyo realizes the dish they gave him. Not Mori Soba but Kitsune Soba. Shit, they switched up his order.

Wait.

Agyo’s eyebrows quickly furrowed in confusion as he notices the soup wasn’t steaming. An usual trait in a Kitsune Soba was for it to be hot. Dipping his pointer finger in, he realizes the soup was in fact cold and that it has the Tsuyu dipping sauce on the side. Two characteristics that are usually only found in Mori Soba.

So, they just gave him extra toppings? But why? 

“Oi,” However before Agyo can even attempt to figure out the answer, his bowl is suddenly picked up. He doesn’t even need to turn around to guess who it was as he catches a whiff of cigarettes and weed; Hyuga. 

“His order is wrong,” Hyuga barks as he takes an inhale of his Kiseru. Blowing out a puff of smoke in the waiter’s face before shoving the bowl in his shaking hands. “Redo it.” 

“B-but Sir.” The waiter stutters, some of the soup staining his shirt as it overspills from being handed to him, “The young lady gave the extra toppings as a—“

“I don’t give two shits.” Hyuga spits out, shutting the man up as he takes a step forward. Getting in his face, “Re. Do. It.” 

“Of— of course, Sir. Right- away.” 

As the waiter scampers off, Agyo can only stare in shock. For once in his life, his mouth shut and not a single word planning on leaving his lips. However, the rest of the members had more than enough to say. 

“Ah, Hyuga. Wasn’t that too harsh?” 

“Come on, it’s free stuff. I doubt Agyo was complaining.”

“Oh man, Mad dog Hyuga is off his leash.” 

Though all it takes is Ukyo slamming his fist down on the table and a glare from Sakyo for everyone to quickly shut up. Agyo, one of the few silent ones from the start, can only watch in uneasy silence as Hyuga grabs his plate and takes a seat next to him. 

Sighing and taking another inhale from his Kiseru, Hyuga only raises an eyebrow at Agyo’s stares. 

“Wha’,” Hyuga mumbles, seeming interested in his dumbfounded expression. Slowly, the other members of the group around them go back to their own conversations and meals. Though, Agyo can only keep his eyes trained on his boss as a small smirk makes its way to the male’s lips, “Go ahead try a bite.”

“Oh,” is all Agyo can let out as Hyuga pushes the plate of Sashimi closer in front of him. Although delicious, with the adrenaline still rushing through his body, Agyo had lost his sense of appetite for the time being, “I’m good. Thanks, Boss.”

However, the mischievous dark eyes that stare into his own doesn’t seem to take no for an answer as Hyuga takes another inhale before muttering words that stun Agyo even more silent than before, 

“Eat the fish, Soy boy.” 

Agyo had never reached for a pair of chopsticks faster in his life.

Kizzy – White Rascals

Lovely wonderful Kizzy.

Poor girl is allergic to pollen :(

Of course, Kaito would know about this. He would likely find out when they first started dating.

Though it would take a couple of tries for the rest of the White Rascals to figure it out. 

Especially as Kizzy doesn’t seem like the type to tell them when she isn’t feeling well.

But, when they do. They going to make sure they take Kizzy’s allergy seriously. Like super serious. 

“Hah?” Kizzy shouts, her loud voice causing Kaito to turn away from the pan he was cooking on to look at the direction of the hallway. The young girl, fresh from out of the shower with a towel still wrapped around her body, walks into the kitchen and it doesn’t take another second for Kaito to realize Kizzy was on the phone, “What do you mean I’m not working tomorrow? It’s not my day off! I’m scheduled!”

Confused, his eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly, Kaito takes the pan off the burner and walks over to Kizzy. Placing his hands carefully around her waist so as to not surprise her, he leans carefully against his girlfriend. Placing a soft kiss on the back of her shoulder; her skin still slightly damp under his chapped lips.

“Well, I want to work. You can’t just call me off at the last minute!” Kizzy says aggressively once more on the other end, turning herself around so as to face Kaito. Her nose scrunched up in annoyance; a trait that instantly makes Kaito think of how adorable she was. Wanting to smother her in a kiss right then. 

Though, knowing his girlfriend was busy on the phone, Kaito settles for wrapping his arms around her waist and placing soft pecks on Kizzy’s long neck. 

“Do I need to kill someone?” Kaito murmurs as there seems to be a pause in the conversation on the other line. An action that causes Kizzy to snort even though she knows her boyfriend is serious. 

“No.” Kizzy responds, pulling the phone away from her mouth for a moment, “And it's Rocky.”

Of course it is. No wonder she hadn’t already run out the door to kick the person’s ass.

With a humm in acknowledgment as Kizzy returns to arguing with Rocky once more, Kaito resumes placing kisses along his girlfriend’s shoulder blades, chest and neck. Enjoy the brief moment of intimacy between the two. Especially as one of Kizzy’s hands comes up to weave into Kaito’s hair. An action that lets him know Kizzy was paying attention to him and his affections.

“Hey! Oi! You better not– That fucking bastard.” Kaito watches from his spot with his head rested on her shoulder as Kizzy pulls the phone away from her ear and glares at it, “He just fucking hung up on me.”

Kaito raises an eyebrow but doesn’t respond. Especially as Kizzy curses some more and begins to walk away. A signal for Kaito to let go of his girlfriend as she was thoroughly pissed off. 

And while he usually would follow after her, waiting for her to cool down once more, the slight vibration in his back left pocket distracts him. Pulling out his phone and seeing a text on his lock screen that just came through, Kaito can’t help the grin that spreads to his lips. 

Although as quickly as the smile came it left. Placing his phone on the counter and shrugging off his jacket, Kaito slowly walks over to Kizzy. The young woman still fuming as she attempts to call their leader back; the young man not answering any of her calls.

“Kizzy…” Kaito mumbles, this time his hands a little less carefully in not surprising his girlfriend as he places one right on the curve of her ass, the other skimming on the top edge of her towel. Placing a kiss to the back of her shoulder, he waits for his girlfriend to respond before proceeding. 

And respond did Kizzy do. In a little less than a couple seconds, Kizzy had already captured her boyfriend’s lips in a searing kiss; shrugging off her towel as she was pushing Kaito down to the couch. Likely unable to wait to get all the anger and frustration out of her system.

All the while, Kaito can only grin as he hears his phone buzz once more. The unanswered message from Koo likely still on his lockscreen.

Today, the neighbors planted sunflowers and refused to take them out when we asked. Rocky does not want Kizzy to be coming to work until we get the situation settled. Please keep her occupied until then so she doesn’t show up to the club.

He just hoped Kizzy wouldn’t see the text afterwards or he would be a dead man.

Murayama – Oya High

Lots of people say Murayama is a dog person.

Though I can honestly see him as just a straight animal lover.

Like I feel like he and Smokey would be the most likely to take in strays. Whether that be cats, dogs, etc.

Except, unlike Smokey, I feel like Murayama would be the type to be allergic to cats. Like the sniffly sneezing, runny red eyes, and stuffy nose type of allergy. 

Murayama also seems like the type of guy that would be like, “The more I’m exposed to my allergies, the more likely I can be immune!”

No, no idiot. That's not how it works. 

So, I feel like a lot of the part timers (especially Furuya and Seki) have to step in to keep him from getting near or taking in stray cats.

“Oi! Murayama!” Furuya shouts once more, using the toe of his boot to kick at the door. Not caring about the strange looks he and the group of part-timers got from Murayama’s neighbors as they poked their heads out from their apartments, “Open the door! We know you are in there!”

“Maybe he really is not home?” Seki asks as he passes the broom in between his hands, the student holding the animal carrier just shrugging at him. Meanwhile, some of the students holding nets and containers of their own go over to the window next to the door to see if they could peek past the curtain to look inside.

“No he is. The fucker definitely is.” 

Just as Furuya goes to kick at the door once more, it suddenly swings open revealing their boss. Of course, just as Furuya had guessed, Muruyama had bloodshot glossy eyes and a red nose. Fucking idiot.

“Oi! Hey!” Not giving Murayama even a second to ask them what they are doing here, Furuya has already placed him in a headlock and shoved his way into the apartment. The other students immediately stampeding in as well, splitting up to search the premises. Looking for the fluffy devil-like creature inside, “What the hell–”

Though, Furuya has already kneed Murayama in the stomach as the male attempts to get out of the lock. Likely this would end up in a fight between the two but Furuya knew it was good for the idiot. He can’t just take in the thing he was allergic to.

“What the FUCK–” 

As a large crash and girlish scream resounds throughout the apartment, Furuya and the other students can only watch in shock and horror as an offending creature comes barling out of the room. With brown and black fur, a fluffy thick coat, sharp claws, black noses and whiskers, it scampers onto the coffee table…holding a peanut butter jar?

“Is that a motherfucking Racoon?”

While Furuya doesn’t know who said it, he honestly didn’t care. Especially as he just continued to stare straight at the Tanuki on his leader’s coffee table. Said Tanuki was not only eating out of a peanut butter jar but had a matching blue bandana across its forehead.

“Tanushiki!”

Furuya doesn’t even bother cursing Murayama out as the young male elbows him in the stomach, releasing Furuya’s hold on him. Especially as their leader, their leader for crying out loud, proceeds to scold the Tanuki called Tanushiki about standing on the table. 

He thinks about saying something. Maybe a comment or even a question if the raccoon was named after a combination of Murayama first name–Yoshiki–and Tanuki. Or perhaps ask how long their leader had the animal. Likely a while based on how calm the thing was with Murayama. 

But all of that goes out the window as the sound of hissing and banging is once again heard in the other room, some of the part-timers cheering as one of them comes out with a container; a stray cat clearly inside. 

“I–” Furuya already felt a headache coming on as he took in the scene around him, “Let’s just wrap this up.”

Defeated, and clearly needing a beer, Furuya takes the rest of the part-timers and leaves. Ignoring the fact Murayama and Tanushiki had gotten into a brawl over the peanut butter jar as he left. Not even bothering to mention or even glance at the claw marks that were scattered on the leader's face when he showed up at school the next morning. 

[virtualcarrot]

[KKIR] Modern AU -Teaching Pains Pt2

Part 1

Prompt 2: Love Potion/TLC

.

Konoha Middle-High School isn’t too shabby overall, but not enough that Kakashi doesn’t miss his office at Konoha University, which is cozy and remote and most of all private . Being a part-time presence at the school didn’t warrant assigning him a designated classroom, and he can’t help the unnerving feeling of being a sitting duck as he takes possession of a desk in a corner of the teachers’ lounge.

The feeling only intensifies when he hears the door open shortly after, followed by a sharp intake of breath.

He doesn’t need to look up to figure who it is. Nor can he keep pretending he didn't notice the presence when the newcomer comes to a stop by his desk, clearing his throat.

He greets the other man with his laziest, most heavy-lidded gaze. “Can I help you?”

Umino Iruka, for of course it’s him, wriggles in discomfort. To his credit, he also meets Kakashi’s single eye without faltering.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot last Friday,” Iruka says, holding out a takeout cup.

Kakashi eyes it briefly and doesn’t take it. He lifts an eyebrow, pointed and expectant.

Iruka’s quick to catch on.

“I got off on the wrong foot,” he utters through gritted teeth.

Kakashi greets the admission with a patronizing little nod that Iruka looks to be struggling with himself not to strangle him for. Notably though, he doesn’t retract the cup.

Kakashi decides to throw him a bone.

“And this is…?” he asks.

Apparently, that’s enough to fluster Iruka anew.

“Ah, uh, it’s for you. It’s… coffee. Just coffee,” Iruka replies.

Cute. And unnecessary.

“There’s a coffee maker right over there,” Kakashi notes, cocking his head towards the kitchenette on the other side of the room.

Somehow, his rudeness mollifies Iruka’s growing frown. The teacher bites his lip and winces, ending the whole sequence with an amused, albeit pained, smile.

“Yeah…” he says, drawing out the word. “You do not want to start your day with that sludge, trust me.”

“Trust you? Hmm, not a given.”

The annoyance flares right up. Iruka, it’d appear, is very skilled at scowling. Too bad for him that Kakashi doesn’t care nearly enough for it to affect him.

He props his chin in his hand and stares, as thankful as he often is that his customary surgical mask hides his features. It wouldn’t do to be seen smiling.

It doesn’t stop Iruka from narrowing his eyes.

“Listen here--Do you drink coffee?”

Kakashi rolls his head in a so-so moue. “Aaah. Sometimes.”

He’s very glad that he doesn’t startle when Iruka slams the cup down.

“Then take the damn coffee!” Iruka snaps, throwing a few sugar packets after it. His anger appears short-lived; when he speaks again, his voice is even once more, like he just needed to relieve the pressure to carry on. Interesting. “I didn’t know if you have any allergies, so it’s just plain black coffee.”

Kakashi glances at both packets before drawing his eye back to Iruka. He doesn’t say anything.

Iruka shuffles his feet irritably. “I’m trying to apologize here!”

“Are you?”

For a brief second, it’s like Kakashi’s witness to the swelling of a volcano. He could swear he feels the molten heat rising to the surface, the plumes of smoke and ash hissing as they gather in the air.

Then it all dies down and all that’s left is Iruka sheepishly rubbing the aged scar across his nose.

“Ah, no, you’re right,” he says with a self-conscious wince.

He marks a pause then folds into a bow, ponytail bouncing over his head. Frankly, it’s far more than Kakashi was expecting.

“I deeply apologize for my behavior last Friday, Kakashi-sensei,” Iruka declares all too formally.

And, well. Kakashi isn’t completely unreasonable. When Iruka straightens up, Kakashi meets his eyes and takes the cup for himself.

“It’s fine,” he admits with no little humor, “I’ve been told I can be… difficult.”

Iruka’s lips go pinched with the struggle not to pile onto the confession this early in their acquaintanceship.

He’s a funny one, this teacher.

Kakashi pops the lid off the cup and pulls down his mask, even though it reveals the lower end of his own scar and the half-sided smirk he’s been keeping to himself for most of this conversation.

The taste is a pleasant surprise.

He pulls back with a smile. “I’ll admit, this is good coffee.”

Iruka watches him a bit warily.

“So we’re good?” he asks.

“We’re good,” Kakashi says, and watches Iruka’s shoulders slump in relief.

“Good,” Iruka repeats, rubbing the back of his neck with a small smile. “I’ll leave you to it, then. Gotta get the classroom ready.”

And, just like that, the issue’s closed, no hint of lingering resentment anywhere.

“Sure,” Kakashi murmurs, somewhat bemusedly.

Taking a new sip of coffee, he watches Iruka stock his lunch in the communal fridge and pick a couple of pencils from the supply closet right by the entrance. After which he hesitates, does a quick count with his fingers. He notes down something on the ledger pinned by a magnet to the inside of the closet door and hefts a whole box for himself. Burdened as he is, he has to hip check the closet door to shut it, but doesn’t seem particularly bothered to be seen being quite so graceless.

It’s kind of refreshing.

“I don’t, by the way...” Kakashi calls out just as Iruka’s leaving.

Fumbling to adjust the box while holding up the door with his foot before it shuts on him, Iruka blinks back. “What?!”

“I don’t. Have any allergies,” Kakashi clarifies, raising the cup for emphasis from the safety of his isolated desk. “But unsweetened is fine. Just so you know. Next time you feel like blowing up, and then guilty over it.”

The storm is quick as ever to gather in Iruka’s eyes, and just as quick to abate with the light of understanding.

He pulls a face.

“You’re teasing,” he says at last, sounding resigned but also, dare Kakashi note, amused.

Kakashi grins at him.

“I think we’ll get along.”

-

Part 3

[my-castles-crumbling]

My opinion of you? Hmmmm. Well honestly, my opinion of you… really fucking good.

I dunno how comfortable you are with compliments so i’m putting a little warning here; compliments incoming :)

Firstly, you are an awesome writer. Like genuinely. Plus it’s so impressive that you write/post those microfics everyday, it’s serious (sirius haha) dedication, and most ppl wouldn’t have it in them to keep a routine like that. 

Two, you have legit saved people. People here felt safe enough to ask you for help, and from all i’ve seen, you’re damn good at giving advice. 

Plus I saw that one anon you answered where you told the person not to admit they cheated if it’d get them in more trouble than they deserve, and I salut you for that. (I remember you also told them that cheating is wrong and mostly don’t do it- don’t worry I got the right message). 

Anyway, my point is, there aren��t many places people feel safe enough to talk about their problems or insecurities or even dangers. Especially on the internet. So you’ve made a really good community here. You should be proud. 

But we’re doing full honesty right? So honestly, I think that it seems like sometimes you don’t have enough faith in yourself. 

I mean your fics are amazing, but also, they’re fucking free and a gift to the fandom. So you shouldn’t feel the need to meet anyone’s demands or be good enough for anyone but yourself. 

And here, you have helped so many people, I understand insecurity is a part of living, but maybe you don’t get how helpful your blog is. Whenever I come on here, you’ve posted a microfic or made a marauders joke or truly helped someone (with annoyingly good advice btw, i’m an adult and yet NO WHERE NEAR as mature, so good on u), and it’s soothing. You’re soothing.

Give yourself credit, is what i’m saying. 

You’re allowed to feel proud that you help people, proud that people love your writing, and ignore anyone who’s an asshole cause they’re dumb anyway.

And don’t forget that you don’t owe anyone anything. You don’t owe anyone a fic, or a tumblr post or an anon answer or even (within reason) kindness. You’re being generous with your time and your kindness by helping people. And while obviously that’s a good thing, you shouldn’t feel pressured to do so. 

Wait let me rephrase that- anyone who pressures you to do so is a bad person and should be strongly ignored. 

You don’t have to apologise for not wanting to post or be on social media. And anyone who cares should value that you’re taking time for yourself. 

Plus, and sorry if it’s weird to bring up your like, real life, but I think you’re probably a really great teacher. I didn’t have many people who believed in me growing up and you seem like someone who believes in people. And that’s what matters most. 

(Plus all teachers are criminally underpaid so like- good for you sticking with a half shitty job- though then again all jobs are half shitty) 

Also, and in this day and age this is a truly high compliment, you don’t seem like you’ve ever sent hate. 

You just have that vibe. You know… nice :)

So yes, that is my opinion of you.

Also, random question, how much gory stuff in films can you take? Usually i’m pretty alright, but I watched a pretty gross film earlier and it reminded I can’t watch everything gory. 

So yeah… that’s all ❤️

Hi, um...I am SO sorry, my my allergies are terrible and I seem to be sweating from my eyes....nothing to see here...😭😭😭😭

Thank you. Genuinely. I have honestly been struggling a fair amount lately, so notes like this make a much bigger difference than you would think <3

As far as films, I'm alright with gore. I actually LOVE horror films, but I prefer psychological horror and horror based on East Asian legends.

Thank you again <3 <3 <3

[shion-yu]

Gave myself almost-pneumonia and my couch looks like a damn stock photo.

Since the whole time I’ve been like, “Am I living one of my shitty fanfictions? Coz this sucks.” Let me tell y’all a story.

Cold weather sucks as a severe asthmatic. I moved to the South so I didn’t have to deal with the frigid winters of upstate NY. I’m basically on and off sick until Spring comes (and then there’s allergy season but I digress). I think it’s helped some, but my lungs are just fucked up ok?

Anyways I went to a concert last Saturday and it was freezing. Then I went to the zoo on Sunday with a friend and it was also cold and swarming with kids who don’t know how to cover their mouths when they cough. It was a great weekend but by Tuesday I was sick - great. I had some warning bc my friend I went to the zoo with said they got sick yesterday. But it just seemed like a minor cold and I’ve been through this a million times, I truly did not think it was gonna get too much worse. My asthma was mostly under control and I rested a lot all week.

Thursday I’m more tired, but I start nebulizer treatments and even skip ice skating class and reschedule it for Saturday bc hey, I’m responsible. But Friday I start to feel worse. Like to the point where everybody at work is like wtf go home and one of them told me she’s gonna get me holy water. But it’s okay, it’s still been SO much worse and I’m really fine.

Saturday morning I wake up and I feel like I’m cured. So I go to ice skating class. And maybe I take a little walk in the rain. Bad fuckin idea. By the end of the day I’m having full blown asthma attacks one after the other and sweating like crazy. My abdomen is aching from coughing so much that it hurts to sit up. But I really don’t want to go to the ER. Not again. So I message my pulmonologist and hope I can just say never mind I’m good now by the time he answers on Monday.

That brings us to today, Sunday. I woke up at 6am after only 4 hours of sleep because I can’t stop choking. I’m sneezing and coughing up fluorescent green stuff, my throat tastes like blood and I have a fever. I really, really didn’t want to go to the doctor but it’s time. I drag my sorry ass to urgent care where the entire hour I sit in waiting, everybody who walks by gives me a ‘goddamn’ look because I’m coughing loud enough to alert the entire damn office. I’m so embarrassed bc what if they think I’m being dramatic and wasting time - again? I awkwardly explain my situation and the doctor sends me for CXR. When it comes back he says “Well, you don’t have pneumonia yet but see alllll this stuff here? That’s inflammation. I’m gonna prescribe antibiotics and (way heavier) steroids and you might have bronchitis already but your asthma is so bad that it’s indistinguishable by now. Also with your lungs you probably won’t be able to tell you have pneumonia until it’s pretty bad.”

So anyways, that’s my week. At least I got a lot of writing done for Whumptober - didn’t have to dig very deep to find enough misery to go around to all my fav OCs lol.

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

@allvalley100

Prompt: Superstition

Pairing: Hawkmetri

The rest of this AV100 prompt that I didn't have time to finish before the prompt closed XD This one is a 7-parter--700 words total! Only fitting they should get a happy ending for the last AV100 post I write for them <3

***

Day 38

Talked to Eli about his…interesting new lady friends. They’re making me miss when he was hung up on Moon, honestly.

Anyways, turns out they’re just some exiled lesbians he took pity on. Families disowned them for kissing women, growing fangs, etc etc. Last I heard, Yas is single—maybe she’d want their numbers?

Woke up with a couple (bite?) sores on my neck, so I asked Eli about his pest control situation. He says everything’s fine, but I have my doubts.

Side note: Are metal allergies possible? Had to toss that silver crucifix—damn thing gave me hives.

*

Day 40

Confession: I’m worried about Eli.

There was an…incident a few days ago, and I hoped if I mulled it over enough times, it’d start making sense. Wishful thinking.

Was shaving the other morning when Eli barged in. Funny, I didn’t see him coming in my shaving mirror—can those things glitch? Thought that was only Smart Mirrors™️.

He started ranting about how “mirrors are for pussies,” and threw mine out the window??? Incredibly inconsiderate.

He insisted I didn’t need to shave because I’d look hot with a beard. How do you tell if someone’s joke-flirting or actual flirting?

*

Day 45

Have I mentioned Eli’s weird about blood now? Unsure I like it.

Cut myself on some loose board (this castle needs renovation), and he freaked out. Wouldn’t even look at it! Wailed about “blood being too precious to waste” and ran away. Huh.

Townsperson banged on the door today, telling Eli to stop eating people. I opened to tell him that was nonsense, but I noticed he smelled...appetizing? Like a gyro wrap.

He made himself scarce before I could say anything, but…kind of hurtful, honestly. I know I’m a bit gangly, but I’m not that ugly, am I?

*

Day 47

Finally got a wifi signal in here! Only took 4 hours of fiddling to make Eli’s TV work.

We binged Castlevania today. Eli’s favorite character is Dracula, supposedly because he’s “such a badass and is gonna kick the asses of every one of those lame humans.” I think it has more to do with Dracula having a soft spot for a smart, good-hearted human who he goes absolutely batshit avenging, but Eli’d never admit to this.

Side note: Is it hypothetically possible for one’s reflection to gradually grow more and more translucent and dead-looking? Asking for a friend.

*

Day 50

Bad news: Eli ate the mailman today, and I…may have helped.

Walked in on him draining the guy’s blood, and naturally demanded an explanation. Eli said to settle down because “there’s plenty to share!” What an insane suggestion.

But since the mailman was already dead...

In my defense…best AB positive I’ve ever had. Not that I’ve had much. I’ve dabbled a couple times, but who hasn’t?

In better news: Wearing the “amnesia” down! We’ve been reading through the library together, and Eli’s instinctively remembering what kinds of fantasy and sci-fi I like. He remembers me—I FEEL it.

*

Day 60

Okay! Know what’s going on now.

We were reading Buffy comics when Eli clutched his head and started shrieking. Everything came back at once.

After I calmed him down, he spilled everything. Getting involved with a Kung-Fu-practicing vampiric “organization” promising nigh-unlimited badassery. Being taken to Europe, undeadified, and given a blood-only diet…none of which sharpened his memory.

Admitted I’m not inheriting a Greek estate, and I only came to find him. He tearfully told me that’s a shame. He imagined us building a life there. Maybe raising some goats?

Fuck it—if he wants, I’ll make that happen.

*

Day 140

Been a while! Busy, busy!

Surprisingly easy talking “distant family members” into giving us a land plot. Maybe it’s superstition. Maybe it’s healthy fear. Regardless, people don’t like saying no to weird, sharp-toothed out-of-towners.

Made Eli promise he’ll discuss with me before joining any new martial arts-related cults (especially ones that strand him in isolated castles as soon as he “isn’t evil enough”). Now he only feeds every so often! We’ve gone through some neighbors, but it’s an improvement over Transylvania.

Also, our eldest nannygoat gave birth! Eli named the kids Hellraiser, Slayer, and Wrathchild. I love them.

[noses-in-winter]

Innoportune for Solara?

Thanks so much for my first prompt ask, yay! Okay so this is about my angry fairy princess OC Solara who has the SUPER rockin hot body of the fairy goddess. She wears an outfit made of ceremonial daisy petals, buuuuut she is very allergic to it. She's also a very petite individual but has a loud, violent sneeze that is very un-princesslike, so there really is no opportune time for her to sneeze.

It's in the POV of Callum, her sweet servant who's mute but loves her very much and would do anything for her! I wouldn't label this nsfw but it DOES have descriptions of her, um, overactive chest with her overactive sneezing.

2.4k words, f sneezes, tiddy descriptions, PLEASE DON'T REBLOG TO NON-KINK BLOGS PLEEEASE

(also HEY so I change OC names for fics when I post them to tumblr and sometimes I miss a name or two, so pls forgive me calling the painter by two different names in here lmao)

There was always a very limited window of time for Princess Solara to sport the ceremonial daisy bralette. Even when overloading herself with antihistamines, the chokehold that daisy pollen had on her was ultimately unstoppable. That’s why Kien the royal painter had been told to work fast to paint Solara in the bralette before she could wind up sneezing every last petal off. If yet another portrait had to be restarted due to the interruption of Solara’s allergic sneezing fits…Well. Callum knew that the Queen would be having a very different kind of fit in response. 

He sat patiently on the window seat, silently observing the portrait at hand. Callum would occasionally peek at Kien’s canvas as he painted the visage of Solara, but the majority of his attention was on the princess herself. She was…not faring well. Root-based allergy potions always got her sleepy and a touch disoriented, a stark difference from her typical fiery personality. Solara’s nose had evidently missed the memorandum that said potion was meant to last several hours. It had only been two since Kien began painting, and Solara was already beginning to scrunch her nose with persistent sniffles. That’s how it always started, with harmless, delicate sniffling that steadily grew damper and heavier as time went on. He supposed that was rather how Solara was as an individual; Seemingly the proper, fragile princess that grew increasingly difficult to deal with as one got to know her. 

“Hold still, Princess,” Kien urged, using a small brush to paint the hundreds of tiny petals of the bralette. 

Even as the antihistamines took away most of her typical awareness, Solara scowled with pink eyes flashing in irritation. “And just whaddoyou think I’m--sdff, trying to do here, Kien?” she asked, words beginning to run together slightly. 

“I just--”

“No, I’d like knowing wha’ you’ve thought m’goal has been this--snf--entire--snff! Damned time. Enlighten me.”

Callen looked over to Callum, silently asking for help. Callum pursed his lips into a flat line and simply offered the painter a shrug. Kien sighed and nodded, leaning back behind his canvas to avoid Solara’s glower. “Nothing, Princess.” 

Solara’s frown softened, though she was still evidently unhappy. She simply focused back on her posing with a sniffle. Callum had to admit that it was…difficult not to stare. Princess Solara was considered to be the end all, be all of Aurorian beauty, and for good reason. The bralette didn’t cover much, allowing her full chest to rest mostly exposed in the sunshine filtering through the grand windows. One strap hung loose on one shoulder, simply allowing the daisy petal garment to slip lower down her chest. Her nipples weren’t quite exposed yet, but Callum kept an eye out in case more of her areolas became visible. He knew she would very much not want the bra to get that low. Solara didn’t seem to notice amidst her concentrated sniffling, and Kien evidently wasn’t interested in adjusting it. Callum supposed it made sense for the Aurorian princess to show off as much of her body as possible for a portrait, but he wondered if Kien knew or cared how sick of the public sexualization Solara got. 

Kien leaned back on his stool, examining his work with a slight tilt to his head. He nodded over to Callum. “Would you go tuck the hair on her right side over her shoulder? I’d like an unobscured look at the cups of the bralette.” 

Callum obeyed without question, rising from his seat to go to Solara’s side. He offered her a soft smile as he took her curls in hand. He tucked the hair behind her shoulder, fingers inadvertently brushing along her bare skin as he did so. A warm blush spread over Callum’s face as he flashed her an apologetic wince, but Solara was oblivious. She was currently sniffling at a much faster pace than before, freckled nose scrunching to the left and right. She let out a shaky, whining little breath as her running nose escaped the confines of her nostrils to slide down onto her upper lip.

“Fuck…” she swore, shoulders shuddering as she crossed her eyes to look at her nose. She made a valiant effort to sniffle the beads of mess back into her nostrils, but Solara’s attempts proved useless. While she didn’t move her head, her eyes flickered up to the painter. “Kien, I need---”

“Not yet,” he said, motions speeding up as he captured the visage of the royal before him. “Don’t move.”

“I--”

“Just a few more minutes.”

Princess Solara looked to Callum next with an expression of pleading that only he ever saw. Solara was an…angry individual, to put it kindly, but she knew that she could turn to her lad-in-waiting in times of crisis. “C-Callum…?”

He knelt to her side immediately, collecting the handkerchief from his breast pocket. A Solara in her right mind would have sooner screamed than allow Callum, or anyone, near her nose. This Solara, however, was only a fraction of her regular self at the moment. She hardly seemed to react at all initially, eyes crossing once again to look at the center of her face. Callum gingerly folded the handkerchief over her freckled nose, using all the care in the world as he wiped the underside. Solara’s cheeks began to visibly darken. Instead of shoving his hand away or barking at him, she simply looked away from Callum’s eyes with a sniffle. “Th-....Thank you, Callum,” she murmured. 

Despite Solara being unable to see him, Callum gave her a nod and a reassuring smile. After all he did for Solara on a daily basis, cleaning up her nose was hardly notable for him. Solara, of course, would be apoplectic once her antihistamines (and allergy attack) wore off, but Callum could handle it. He could handle anything about her.

“Stay close,” Kien requested of Callum, nothing but focus on his face as he painted. “In case she needs you again.” 

Warmth bloomed in Callum’s chest. In case she needed him again. Callum was quite vocally disliked throughout the entirety capitol, and yet he was somehow good enough for Princess Solara to need. He nodded, remaining seated at her side. 

Solara continued to sniffle, though her nose didn’t run as it had a moment ago. She inhaled and exhaled through parted lips in some attempt to keep her nose as unbothered as possible, but Callum was very aware that this wouldn’t last long. He wasn’t sure if Solara was capable of that realization at the moment, though.

As he expected, it didn’t take long for Solara’s nostrils to flare into perfect little circles with a hitch of her breath. Her lashes fluttered shut as she drew one hand up to fan beneath her nose. 

“Nonono!” Kien pleaded, gesticulating to Solara. “Stay as you were! Just a minute longer!” 

A low whine rumbled in Solara’s throat as she set her hand back in its previous position on the fainting couch. She sniffled sharply, nose starting to scrunch irritably to the side. “I need to s-sneeze,” she said pointedly to Kien, words beginning to snag. 

Kien nodded, dipping his brush into a brilliant daisy cream shade of paint. “I understand. We’re nearly there. I’ve just got to finish getting all the petals, so you won’t have to wear the bralette for our next session. Okay, Princess?”

Solara was evidently debating how much she wanted to avoid wearing the daisy bralette in the future. Without waiting for her to ask him, Callum cautiously extended the hand still holding his handkerchief. She stared at his hand for a beat before her eyes flickered up to Callum’s. Solara opened her mouth to speak before she instead trembled with a heady hitch of her breath. Her chest shuddered with the itchy little gasp. Callum pretended not to notice. “Hh--! I-I can’t help it. O-Okay--hehh--!”

He didn’t hesitate. Callum reached behind Solara, placing one steadying hand between her shoulder blades. With the other, he folded his handkerchief back over her nose. There wasn’t a moment to spare before Solara convulsed with a sneeze, doing her best to stay as still as possible. A massive feat, Callum thought, given how very…indelicate her sneeze was. 

“HiYYshiyUHH!” she sneezed, just as voluminous and violent as usual. She very nearly forced the handkerchief from his hand with the strength of it. Warmth immediately flooded into the handkerchief with the productive release. Callum found himself glad that he’d made it in time. Daisy-induced sneezes were always terribly messy for Solara, and he knew she would have been horrified to sneeze openly at the moment. She wobbled in the aftermath, momentarily disoriented from that big sneeze. 

Callum couldn’t blame his Princess for avoiding sneezing whenever possible. He supposed he would avoid it, too, if his sneeze was as aggressive as hers. It suited her loud personality, though, in a way he found painfully endearing. 

Kien jumped in response, just as everyone did when hearing Princess Solara sneeze for the first time. “Fuck--ahem. Goodness. Bless, Prince--”

“Shut up,” Solara snarled at him, flashing Kien a pointed glare over the handkerchief. Just after, her eyes snapped shut all over again. Callum tightened his hold on the handkerchief over her nose to ensure it wasn’t at risk of being sneezed away. He wasn’t the strongest individual, so there wasn’t much he could do about the way she rocked back into the hand he held between her shoulder blades. Once again, Callum tried to avoid staring at the way her chest heaved with every sneeze. “Hh’shYYUH! Woah--!” she gasped when she rocked back. 

Callum gave her a quiet look in the eye that he hoped communicated: I’ve got you.

Kien gasped. Callum was about to shoot the painter an unhappy look of his own before seeing exactly what Kien did: Half a dozen daisy petals shuddering off of the bralette’s wire frame with that last sneeze. “No--keep the petals intact!”

Callum didn’t need explanation for the importance of this. Solara’s breath was already seesawing in preparation for another sneeze. Callum rapidly looked between her face and the shuddering bralette. Her hitches were so strong that it began to shake a few petals off of it without even needing to sneeze yet. 

He had seen this happen on many an occasion. One or two heavy, hard sneezes, and the bralette would begin falling apart. And Princess Solara was only full of heavy, hard sneezes. 

“Hah--!”

He had two options, neither of them ideal. As Solara’s chest rose with a final hitch, Callum decided on the lesser of two evils to keep his Princess’ pride as intact as possible. He dropped the damp handkerchief in his lap and used both hands to hold her chest.

“HihHYYSHuh!”

Attempting to keep Solara’s chest from wobbling with a sneeze was as effective as trying to keep a shattered vase from crumbling. Callum tried, certainly, and he did succeed in cutting down on the amount of petals that could have been shaken free, but it did require holding both cups of the bralette with splayed fingers. Solara’s chest was so…much, that he couldn’t have held them otherwise. 

This also involved Solara needing to sneeze without a handkerchief. She seemed to realize at the very last moment that her protective cover was now gone and managed to sneeze downward rather than straight ahead. Even with this precaution, a fine mist still settled on her chest as well as Callum’s forearms and hands. 

He wasn’t perturbed. Callum simply hoped this wouldn’t be getting him slapped later. Even if it did, he would have rathered Solara be temporarily enraged with him than permanently humiliated by sneezing her bra to pieces in front of Kien. Callum didn’t distrust the painter, necessarily, but he didn’t think there were many people in the capitol who wouldn’t go bragging about getting to see the Princess completely topless. After an out of control sneezing fit, no less. 

After her first love’s abandonment last year, Callum didn’t think Princess Solara could handle much more whispering about her. 

Solara sniffled, blinking at Callum through teary lashes. She looked exhausted and embarrassed and--

“Good save! Just a few more---”

No. No few more minutes. Callum was a patient individual (he had to be to work for Solara) that anger didn’t come naturally to, but the sight of Solara’s discomfort mixed with Kien’s calloused response was enough to push him over that edge. Callum shot Kien a pointed frown and shook his head, beginning to discard his jacket. A few petals fell loose from the bralette once his hands were away, but not enough to send it falling apart yet. Solara was already getting a new sneezy expression on her face, so Callum worked quickly.

He wrapped his jacket around her shoulders, doing his best to close it over her ample chest. It didn’t cover them completely, but enough for the moment. He wrapped an arm around Solara and helped her to stand. She looked confused for a moment before that look crumbled with a wobbling chin. “Hh! HyYYshuHH!” she sneezed openly in front of her, another burst of mist dampening her chest. Callum gave her a squeeze in lieu of a blessing and had to resist the urge to use his handkerchief to dab at her chest to dry it. 

“‘M sorry…” Solara murmured with a nose-crinkling snuffle. 

Kien, of course, was less than thrilled. “No!” he exclaimed, jumping to his feet and nearly knocking the easel over in the process. “Where are you--? No, no, we were nearly--”

“Kien.” Solara’s voice was unsteady as she let her head fall against Cananver’s shoulder. He smiled softly and squeezed her again. “Fucking deal w--hih! With it.”

He was still protesting as the princess and her lad-in-waiting left the room, Callum holding Solara protectively. 

She was out of it. Her head lolled sleepily against him. She blinked up at Callum with a sniffle, raising one hand to rub under her nose. “I…I wanna take a nap,” she said just before she hitched with flared little nostrils again. This time, she was able to smother a sneeze into the arm of his jacket. “Ughh. I’b sorry…”

Callum shook his head, reaching up to smooth unruly locks from her forehead. He couldn’t tell her with words, so he could only hope that Solara felt how he would do anything for his Princess. 

Always anything for his Princess.

[timetravesty]

(Queen B Book 3) Say You Love Me Pt. 13

✨Pt.1300018 is here!✨ Please Enjoy!

Context: I'M BACK (at least for this new fic in the new year). Couple of things to note:

I have no writing schedule, everything is in the air

Peep the name change, much cleaner imo, thank you @yslrs 😽If it wasn't clear, this was originally "I'll Forget You Too" and will be "Say You Love Me" from now on.

Hope everyone is having a good new year so far, January felt too long...

Please enjoy! (and ignore any grammar mistakes, it's late 🫠)

Masterlist

General Content Warnings: Mature, Angst, NSFW, Cursing, Internalized Homophobia, Homophobia, Semi-Violence, Cheating, Slow Burn, Don Sterling 🥴(mentioned)

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“Usually the drink doesn’t end up on my shirt, I swear.” Bea commented, leaning against the counter as Lana walked over to the paper towel dispenser. The small click of her heels against the tile seemed fairly loud as she sighed to herself. 

That also sounded pretty damn loud. 

 The two had walked quickly to the nearest bathroom, ducking away from the large groups of people until they were both completely alone. She grabbed a few towels, pointedly looking at the floor as she returned to where Bea was standing.

Okay, so this was not the time for jokes. 

A few seconds of silence passed, some off tune beat vibrating from the club as Bea’s hands gripped the counter, knuckles turning white. In the silence, Bea hadn’t gotten a good look at Lana, who was wearing a striking silver dress with small pearl earrings. Bea guessed she was attending some kind of company event, but she coudln’t be sure. A nightclub was a weird place for an event. 

It also didn’t help the fact that, if they were having a company event, Bea was wildly underdressed. A black tee now well-covered in two types of alcoholic drinks. 

Bea tapped a finger against the counter. 

“Lana-”

“Bea-” 

They spoke at the same time, Lana finally looking up at Bea and smiling sheepishly. Not a typical look for her. 

“Sorry, you can go first.” She murmured, gently dabbing the towels against Bea’s soaked shirt. Alcohol stains were definitely not going to be cleaned out by a dab of a brown paper towel. 

“Thanks. I wanted to say I’m… glad I ran into you.” 

“Really? How come?” 

Bea swallowed hard. It felt like a giant jawbreaker was stuck in her throat and obviously, now was not the time to be a chicken. 

“Cause I’ve made a mistake.” Bea admitted, heart thumping in her ear as Lana stopped dabbing her towel. “What I told you last week, I was a huge jerk…”

“More like a massive jackass.” 

Bea grimaced. “...I was being a massive jackass. What I told you-” 

Quickly, Lana placed her finger against Bea’s lips, shushing the girl. “Bea. I don’t want to hear a million excuses. Please be honest with me.” Lana took a deep breath. It seemed like she wanted that out of her system for a while. 

The overhead light in the bathroom gleamed above, lightly displaying the red rims under Lana’s eyes as she looked at Bea silently. A little too puffy to be claimed as simple allergies. She had obviously been upset for the past few days which led to Bea pushing the dread in her stomach down. Lana dropped her arm, resuming dabbing at Bea’s shirt as Bea thought of the best way to word her thoughts. 

Being honest shouldn't be so hard. 

“I said I don’t date, which is kinda a half-lie. What I really meant was…while we both work under Poppy, she would make both of our lives a living hell if anything….” Bea gestured between the two of them. Lana’s eyes widened in curiosity, probably turning over this new info in that gorgeous head of hers. 

 Bea waited patiently, feeling a slight pressure lifted off her shoulders. It felt good to admit something honest to Lana. It felt weird though, to even reference Poppy by name when all Bea had done lately is avoid the very thought of her. 

“But why would she even care?”

Cause she was bent on making Bea move back to SweetCreek and stay a nobody in that small town and possibly make her pick up pig goop for the rest of her life, all because of what happened at Belvoire. But she couldn't admit that to Lana without a whole sob story to follow. A pathetic sob story. 

So she worked with what she could. 

“Okay, honest truth, Poppy and I… we’ve got history. As in, she hated my guts in college.” 

Lana barked a laugh, smiling to herself as Bea raised a sharp brow. “That’s funny to you?” 

“I mean… I can see why. You seem like the complete opposite of Poppy. Though, you two went to the same college?”

“Yea, Belvoire… Can we back up for a second? You’re not pissed at me?” Lana laughed again. 

“Of course I am, but you’re just so adorable.” She mumbled, finally tossing away the paper towels and returning her gaze to Bea. Her emerald green eyes sparkled just a little, as she reached out her palm, letting it rest on top of Bea’s knuckles, which were still white from gripping the counter. “I’m glad you’re finally willing to be honest with me at least. Though when you say you’ve got history…” 

“We were just college rivals!” Bea answered quickly, hopefully not too quickly. “There’s like a whole history on Belvoire that is way too detailed to tell in a nightclub bathroom but-“

Lana broke into laughter, cutting Bea off as she gripped her stomach. Bea watched her before breaking into a few chuckles of her own. Lana’s laugh was infectious. A couple of seconds later, Lana wiped a few stray tears from her eyes as she smiled brightly at Bea. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just this whole thing… What’re we doing Bea?” 

“Trying to get the alcohol stains out of my shirt?” Bea tried, causing Lana to break into a small grin. 

“Okay that, but also… Why are we acting like we’re in high school? Poppy hated your guts in college, but we’re all adults now.”

Poppy probably didn’t have the same mindset, but Bea wasn’t going to argue with Lana. Especially because she was standing so close and smelled so good. 

“Think we can just put this all behind us? Start over?” 

Bea grinned brightly. No way would she be able to make herself look cool after thinking about Lana constantly for the past week. Mornings, afternoons, and evenings. 

“I’d like that, I’d hate to continue being a massive jerk in your eyes for longer than a week.” 

“You‘ll still be a massive jerk until you take me out on a date next Friday.” Lana said casually, never breaking eye contact with Bea who felt a chill run down her spine. 

“Wait, really?”

Lana nodded confidently. “My contract with Pulse was terminated. You’re looking at the new junior model for Belle.” 

“Which means that-“ 

“It means that I will also be working under Poppy, and since she apparently has ‘beef’ with you, we have two options.” Lana held up two fingers. Perfectly manicured nails that she waved slightly in the air to keep Bea’s attention. 

“We can tell HR and deal with the madness that follows or we can wait until your contract with her is up.” 

“…Seriously? You’d go to HR?” Bea asked as Lana nodded with resolve. She had moved herself a bit closer to Bea, smiling fondly as she kept her hand over Bea’s knuckles. 

“I would because like I said, you owe me a date.”

Bea bit her lip, running through the options in her head. HR would be a mess. Not only would it be a problem for Kat, Poppy would probably be even more nit picky and bossy due to reasons Bea refused to name. 

Yet her job under Poppy should only last until the early months of next year. Bea had been kept as a secret for much longer before. 

“It’s only a year. I don’t think telling HR would be necessary. Especially since I’m just an external party.” 

“Then it’s settled.” Lana smiled, the first genuine smile that Bea hadn’t seen in awhile. She wanted to possibly lean in, finally know what Lana tasted like, but a first kiss in a club bathroom would not only be embarrassing but possibly the most un-smooth thing Bea could do.

Also, Lana deserved more than a messy bathroom kiss. She deserved more than being a random hookup or a secret too, but the last one was out of Bea’s hands at the moment. 

“Earth to Bea.” Lana said, snapping her fingers as Bea shook her head gently. That thought would have to wait. She didn’t screw it up, Lana was still here. Still standing with a slight lean towards Bea who was fighting the urge to reach out. 

“Sorry, just lost in thought.” 

“About?”

“…About where I get to take you on Friday.” 

—————————————————————————

“Holy shit…” Bea mumbled, clicking the light on in Poppy’s bathroom and closing the door with her foot. 

Bea had assumed she would need to beg hard to even get into this section of Poppy’s room, but it was safe to say the blonde was a little worn out after several rounds. 

Bea glanced around the bathroom. It was average, gold lining, large walk-in shower and of course the biggest mirror Bea had ever seen in her life. 

There was a scatter of makeup products as well. All surprisingly organized to perfection. 

Bea rubbed the back of her neck, stretching slightly before pulling her hand away. Small traces of blood lined her fingertips as Bea turned her back towards the mirror. 

“HOLY SHIT!” She hissed out when she finally saw the mess that Poppy had made of her back. Bea was right to comment on her claws as they had probably made a permanent indent on the skin of bea’s back. 

She couldn’t lie and say she wasn’t a bit proud of that. Poppy seemed to have a good time, even though she would probably deny it to the grave. 

Smirking to herself, Bea tidied herself up, walking out of the pristine bathroom a few minutes later to find Poppy sitting upright in the bed. 

Her covers were loosely draped around her waist as she was currently holding a silver compact mirror. Her head was angled to expose her neck, rubbing slender fingers over the skin as she didn’t bother to acknowledge Bea’s presence. 

Jumping on the bed was a big no. She could already tell as Poppy snapped the mirror shut just as Bea crossed her line of vision. 

“God, you’re still here? I thought I told you to leave already?” 

“Was that before or after you were-“ Poppy held up a hand, rolling her eyes as Bea leaned down to pick up her discarded jeans. Poppy was not kind to the denim. 

“Leave SweetCreek. Don’t make me repeat myself.” 

Bea smiled, licking her lips as she casually threw on her pants, humming to herself as Poppy glared at Bea. She took her time slipping on her jacket too, wondering how impatient she could make Poppy. 

“Alright, alright… I just wanted to say goodnight.” Bea smiled, facing Poppy who looked a little less irritated when Bea caught her staring. 

That quickly changed back into her sour demeanor as Bea walked a step closer. That probably wasn’t wise as Poppy subtly straightened herself upright from her previously casual slant. 

“Thanks for a good time, Poptart. I’ve got a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other soon.” 

“You so wish.” Poppy bit back, narrowing her eyes as Bea laughed to herself. 

She really shouldn’t admit it… but she really was wishing for it. 

“Have a good night.” Bea smiled, turning towards the door, before a brilliant idea popped in her head. Bea walked up to Poppy’s bay window, undoing the lock as she heard a mutter of confusion behind her. 

The storm had finally settled down, allowing Bea to open the window to a cool breeze with only hints of mist. IIt was a nice night, especially after such an active storm. 

“What do you think you’re-“ 

Bea peered down the bay window, blocking Poppy out while she was probably shouting profanities at Bea’s turned back. Oh yea, she could climb that. 

“Try not to think of me too much while I’m gone.” Bea said with a confident lilt, winking at Poppy as she ducked herself down, climbing down the vine that grew against the Zeta House. 

The last thing Bea heard was a couple of curse words from Poppy’s window before finally hitting the ground, luckily not tumbling into the rose bushes below. 

She obviously needed to make a cool getaway entrance which was achieved. As stupid as it could have looked…

Securing on her shoes, Bea walked off, humming to herself as she made her way to her dorm. What a night…

Bea could hardly believe it either. A girl’s night turning into sleeping with her mortal enemy? A week ago, it was a foreign concept to even think of fooling around with Poppy. 

But of course, she had to admit that she had thought of it before. It was Poppy after all. She wasn’t the Queen B for nothing. Besides being a conniving bitch, she was possibly the hottest person at Belvoire. 

Bea could admit it, especially after….

Shaking her head, Bea slapped herself mentally. What she wouldn't do is romanticize the whole thing. Poppy was bad news. Even though she had said all those cocky and confident phrases, Zoey would have her head for even messing around with Poppy for a night. Which is probably why Bea would be keeping this info to herself for the time being. 

She ran home, memories of only a few hours running through her mind all the way to her doorstop. Sliding her shoes against the doormat, Bea slowly turned her key into the handle, creaking the door open softly, before breathing a sigh of relief.

Her dorm was pitch black, Zoey’s door completely closed as Otis slept in his small doggy bed next to the couch. Bea tip-toed inside, setting her shoes near the door as she passed Otis and made her way into her room, only for her light to be turned on and Zoey to spin around in her desk chair like some evil super villain. 

“Well well well.” She said, uncrossing her legs as Bea caved her shoulders in. Busted. 

“Look what the cat dragged in. Do you know what time it is?” 

“...one…” 

Zoey glared. 

“...two…” 

“Four in the morning Bea. I send you out looking like a snack to go meet Poppy in some swanky nightclub and you come back home at four in the morning.” Zoey stood from her chair, wearing a set of green silk pajamas as she tapped her foot against Bea’s carpet. 

“Care to explain?” 

It would likely be easier to tell Zoey that she had fallen prey to the wiles of Poppy MIn-Sinclair. But easier did not mean smarter. 

“Hey, you know the story. Good looking bartender and a really good drink pun.” Bea shrugged, shrugging out of her jacket before, pausing as she heard an audible gasp from Zoey. 

“Shit dude, was the bartender part werewolf?? Your back looks horrifying.” Bea blushed, taking the jacket off completely as she grinned as best as she could. 

“Guess my puns weren’t all she liked.” Zoey gave her a deadpan stare, probably contemplating whether she was telling the truth as she tapped her slipper impatiently. 

“Uhuh, and what happened to Poppy during the night?” 

“She disappeared early, probably off to suck tongues with her new boyfriend.” Bea stated. This lying thing was coming out a little too smoothly. 

A moment of silence passed as Bea stood awkwardly in her room, before nodding. “Fine, it’s believable. Just don’t give me a heart attack like that again. I called like five times and I was ready to accuse Poppy of first degree murder.” 

“Sorry babe, won’t happen again.” Zoey smiled, walking past Bea and out of her room. 

“You owe me dinner.” She called out as Bea yelled back in agreement before hearing Zoey’s door close and the sound of her whale noises resume. 

Closing her own door, Bea mumbled out a groan, throwing her coat on her bed and walking towards the bathroom. 

A cold shower was a necessity after the night she had. 

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“Four missed calls from your father and three calls from Don Sterling.” Tevon said, reading off of his ipad as Poppy nursed a headache. 

After that…fiasco of a party, she had returned to her penthouse and broke out the good wine…and brandy and some scotch as well. That was what her weekend included. Work, sleep, wine, brandy, scotch, and sushi. She had forgotten weekends were not as long as they felt. 

Come Monday, she had woken up late and was in the office at lunch time, forcing Tevon to wolf down his tuna sandwich and read her the new list of tasks she needed to complete minus four hours. 

“A meeting with a new journalist, a meeting with Paula Husk for an interview as well as the New York Pressed, and a tailoring at four.” He said, peering over his ipad as Poppy hadn’t lifted her head once. 

“Ms. Min-Sinclair? I don’t mean to be blunt, but you look like you’re dying at your desk.” He said as Poppy looked up, not even bothering to hide the fact she had dark circles under her eyes. 

“Tevon, I asked for an update, not an opinion.” She said, waving him off as she tapped her nail against her desk.

“Push the tailoring to tomorrow, and move the interview to next week. As for Don… what does he want now?” 

“He said he wants to reschedule dinner on Thursday. Something about being interrupted previously.” 

“...tell him Thursday doesn’t work for me.”

“He also said Friday would be better for him.” 

Poppy scoffed. Of course he did. “Fine, Friday is fine.” 

“And your father?”

“Ignore him.” Poppy mumbled, turning on her monitor and clicking it to life. “Also, call Rensler and schedule a meeting with Bea Hughes.” She said as she typed in her password. “But tell her to come to my office. I have a few comments on the latest layout changes.” 

Tevon nodded, leaving Poppy’s office a second later, right as she left her head hit the table again. 

She shouldn’t have had so much to drink last night. She wasn’t entirely sure what made her drink so much in the first place. Sure, she was a little… miffed about the whole Bea situation, but that was hardly a reason to drink herself into a stupor. 

Bea had pissed her off plenty of times during their Belvoire days. It was the same thing everytime. Even two years couldn't change the way Bea made her skin boil. 

Right as Poppy lifted her head, probably to reposition her head, the phone connected to Tevon’s rang, causing her to jump. Poppy cleared her throat, straightening her jacket as she clicked accept.

“Poppy Min-Sinclair speaking.” 

“Good afternoon Ms. Min-Sinclair. I’m a reporter for the New York Pressed and wanted to confirm our meeting for tomorrow?” 

Poppy raised a sharp brow, looking over at her door where Tevon was likely sitting. “Yes, I’m sorry, didn’t my assistant already confirm your appointment?”

“Yes ma’am, but here at the Press, we like to have direct confirmation with our interviewee.” 

“I see… well in that case, yes, I look forward to meeting with you Ms… I don’t think I caught your name?” 

“Oh right, Burnett. Carol Burnette. I look forward to our meeting Ms. Min-Sinclair.” 

The line went dead as Poppy hung up the phone, lips pursed at the reporter's name. Carol Burnette… that name was oddly familiar. Before she could think any longer, Poppy felt a sharp pang hit her head, causing her to wince. 

“Tevon! Could you please bring some Advil and some water?” She asked through the speaker of her office phone, allowing her head to drop once more.

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“Bea Hughes.” Bea said, tapping her foot restlessly as Tevon clicked away on his computer. The man was quiet, focused on his work as he smiled up at her. It was a well-practiced secretary smile.

“I’ll tell Ms. Min-Sinclair you’re here. Please take a seat.”

“Thanks.” Bea moved towards the waiting chairs, setting her bag down as Tevon left the room, walking into Poppy’s large solo office as she breathed out a sigh of release.

In reality, Bea hadn’t expected to see Poppy as soon as a few days later. 

After the sudden bump in the club, the reconnection with Lana, and a very tired Bea looking up great date spots over the weekend, she wasn’t sure if she could handle the Min-Sinclair wrath. 

But here she was. 

Dressed in casual black jeans and a button down top, ready to attend to her client’s every need. Which was a lot. The majority of her weekend consisted of checking over designs and emails from Poppy about the layout and timing. 

She was adamant about finishing this project at lightning speed it seemed. 

“Ms. Hughes? Ms. Min-Sinclair will see you now.” Tevon called, snapping Bea out of her thoughts as she nodded. Standing up, Bea approached the large double doors, opening one as the light hit her straight in the eye. 

While they hadn’t discussed what Poppy’s personal office would look like in the new building, Bea had assumed it would be as big and bright as her current space. A better view as well considering her current layout only overlooked other buildings. 

Poppy was currently sitting in her large leather chair, spinning on the wheels slightly as she typed away on her fancy keyboard. Her hair was perfectly framed around her face, not a strand out of place, but oddly enough she was wearing a pair of dark rimmed glasses. 

Bea pursed her lips, walking into the office as Poppy’s hands stopped their movement. 

“Good afternoon, Ms. Min-Sinclair.” Bea said, watching Poppy push herself away from the keyboard to look at Bea in the eyes. Or at least she assumed considering how dark her shades were. 

“I’m not sure how good of an afternoon it is, Hughes.” She mumbled back, reaching into one of her desk drawers as Bea took a seat from across her desk. 

Poppy was... noticeably clumsier today. Bea could see the mess of papers across her desk, the pens scattered across, and a bottle Advil almost tipped over. There was also the fact that Poppy's coat was just draped over her desk and not hung up neatly in the closet near the corner.

Poppy shuffled around in her drawer, pulling out a stack of papers as she sighed heavily. “Look, I called you in today to briefly go over some of the new design choices. I’m not really in the mood for a full blown session, but my secretary can-” 

“Are you feeling alright?” Bea blurted out, stalling her hand from slapping over her mouth as Poppy looked up. 

“Excuse me?” She asked, scrunching her brows from what Bea could tell. 

“Sorry, you’re just… wearing sunglasses inside.” 

“What I wear inside my own building is none of your concern, you-.” Poppy snapped, before drawing back, clearing her throat and tapping a sharp nail to her desk. 

“I’m fine.” She ended, taking off her glasses a moment later as Bea nodded in compliance. She was definitely not fine if the bags under her eyes were any indication. It looked like she was auditioning for a local punk band. 

“Now, can we carry on with business?” 

“Yes, of course….” Bea paused, reaching for her bag as Poppy resumed shuffling through her papers. “...you know whenever I’m hungover, I always drink some powerade.” Bea said as she pulled out her laptop. 

Poppy sighed, casting a blank stare over at Bea who was humming to herself. “I’m not hungover.” She stated, feeling the thought of a fight rather draining. She was extremely hungover. 

“I didn’t say you were. I said when I’m hungover, I drink powerade.” Bea stated, placing her laptop on the desk as she looked up at Poppy. 

Call her crazy, but with everything working out with Lana, her job, heck, even being in Poppy’s company, something seemed a little brighter. 

Poppy scoffed. “That never worked for me. You know-” She paused. 

You know I tried it at Belvoire. 

“Energy drinks are unhealthy.” She said, flipping the idea away as she cleared her throat and pointed at her monitor. “Now, back to business.”

Bea could have figured how that sentence would have ended, but they had promised they wouldn't pry. They wouldn't discuss the past and would only focus on the future, besides, she had at least tried to do her good deed for the day.

“Right, I was looking over these designs…”

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Poppy spun in her chair, tapping her nails against the arm as her phone rang for the sixth time. She knew who it was, but she still wouldn’t feel inclined to answer. 

Bea had left over an hour ago. It seemed she was in a better mood than she had been for the past few days. Poppy wasn’t sure why. 

Stopping her chair mid spin, Poppy reached for the powerade she had asked Tevon to bring her. She had forgotten about this home remedy that…Bea had once told her about. 

It felt like years ago and it was, but saying it was only two years made Poppy feel a million times older. The last time she saw Bea, in her mind, was at least a decade long. 

She took a tentative sip, recoiling at the sudden burst of taste. When Bea said it worked for her hangovers, Poppy assumed that was because she probably recoiled from the taste versus the electrolytes helping. 

Though, she distinctly remembered a certain cup that Bea would always carry around, filled with red liquid. She was always the hyper type. 

The phone paused its ringing, allowing Poppy to take another sip of her drink before the ringing resumed. She set the drink down, finally pulling out her phone and accepting the call. 

“Poppy, I’ve called several times.” Piers shouted through the line as Poppy stood up from her chair, walking over to her floor length window as she took a deep breath. 

“I apologize, I was just in a company call.” 

Piers grumbled through the line, something about ungratefulness and pride, before her cleared his throat. “I’m assuming you received a calling card from Don recently?”

Of course her father was interested in Don Sterling's pursuits and nothing else. Certainly not the fact that Poppy’s newest issue was a few weeks from release. 

“I have, we’re having dinner this Friday.” Poppy commented, hearing her father huff in pride. 

“Good! Good! I’m calling because I want you to invite Don to the Leighton-Sinclair Golf Club Tournament next month.” 

Poppy crossed her arms over her chest, walking over to the phone and picking it up. “The golf tournament you wouldn’t even invite mother or I too?” 

“Yes, that’s the one.” 

“You want me to invite Don?” 

“Poppy, is the reception at your office bad? You heard what I said.” 

“I don’t think that’s the best idea…” Poppy stated as Piers let out a hearty evil chuckle. 

“Nonsense. I think it’s a marvelous idea! Your mother is looking forward to it. You know how much she loves Don.” 

“It’s almost as if she should be wooing him instead.” Poppy snapped back, scrolling through her computers calendar as her father released an awkward mumble. 

“Now Poppy, you know Don is a highly respectable man. Handsome too, wouldn’t you say?” 

She didn’t exactly know how to answer that. Don Sterling was handsome in the sense that most modern movie stars were. Conventionally attractive, but nothing else. 

“He’s a good man and he’s certainly brilliant.” 

Living off of his father’s fortune took a lot of brain power according to Piers. 

Poppy didn’t bother to answer, scrolling her calendar to next month only to see a large strip of purple over the weekend of the tournament. 

“I already asked Tevon to clear your schedule for that weekend. So that you’ll have time to fly out to Colorado and spend a relaxing weekend with your family.” Piers stated as Poppy mentally calculated how much to take out of Tevon’s bonus for this betrayal. 

“Dad, I don’t-” 

“Poppy, it’s settled. Invite Don when you see him this Friday.” Her father stated with an air of authority felt even through the phone line. 

Poppy kept a fist glued to her desk, nodding as she closed her eyes. “Of course, dad.” 

“Perfect, goodbye Poppy.” He hung up before she could even muster a fake reply. 

Setting down her phone, she took a seat in her chair, slumping a little low as her forehead hit the desk with a rather loud thump. 

A date with Don, more meetings with Bea Hughes, a magazine release week, and now a doomed and inevitable mini-vacation with her parents. 

Reaching for the powerade, Poppy took a swing, similar to how she had taken down shots only a night before. Maybe it wouldn’t cure the hangover, but it certainly could drown out something. 

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

“Red? Black? Purple?” Bea asked, shifting between hangers as Zoey casually scrolled through her phone. 

“Red is hot, blue brings out your eyes, and black is a no-go.” Zoey commented as Bea gave her a pleading look. 

“Zo, c’mon. You gotta help me here, I’m not sure what to wear.” 

“Bea.” Zoey said in her most dead-pan voice. “It’s one date, not marriage.” 

“It’s not just one date!” Bea smiled, thinking of how many ways she could attempt to woo Lana in less than 120 hours. “It’s Lana, and she’s-”

“Gorgeous, kind, unbelievably sexy? You told me and I stalked her picta. You definitely have a type.” 

Bea shrugged, casting a glance over at Zoey who was still browsing on her phone. “Even though I said I wouldn't talk about she who won’t be named, Lana is nothing like Poppy.” 

“Except they’re drop dead gorgeous, both fairly smart as much as I hate to compliment the devil, and weirdly attracted to you.” 

Bea scoffed, pulling away with a beige checkered blazer. “Rude, you know I’m hot.” 

“I think you think you’re hot. You’re attractive, sure, but it’s a little unheard of for two drop-dead girls going after your gay ass.” 

“I guess I’m just living the gay dream. And not even a comment about my stellar personality?” Bea remarked as Zoey rolled her eyes. 

Zoey laughed, swaying to her feet and taking the beige jacket from Bea. “Tell you what, I help you with this outfit, and then you tell me about your new boss.” 

“Zo…” 

“No Bea, I’ve been on tour for months. I deserve a touch of drama, I mean for heaven’s sake, the most drama I got these past months was someone constantly stealing Peter’s sandwich.” 

“That was probably you.” 

“Maybe, but not the point. The point is, I wanna hear what our old rival has been up to for these past few years.” 

“You’re out of luck then. She’s as dry as a well.” 

“That can't be true. Poppy always had a flair for dramatics.” 

Bea moved to sit where Zoey had been, stretching her leg as other customers bustled around the store. “It’s the truth. Sometimes, she’ll be completely chill and then she’ll just…snap.” 

“Snap like, hot snap or bitchy snap?”

“Second one.” 

“Ouch.” 

Rubbing her palms over her jeans, Bea thought back onto recent conversations with Poppy. As much as she might want to find some common ground, the way everything had ended was a complete mess. Bea wasn't sure if there was even a ground to reach. 

It felt a little too much like falling without end. 

“Point is, I probably only have to work with her till the end of this year and maybe a little longer, but after that, we’re done.” 

Zoey paused her shuffling through the racks, tapping her heel to the beat of some upbeat pop song, which was coincidentally her own. “...In a way, it’s a little depressing huh?” 

“What? What’s depressing?” 

“Poppy I guess. Like, she made this whole empire with Belle and stuff, all for her to have a stick wedged up her-” A mother walked by, covering her child’s ears as Zoey corrected herself. “Handbag.” 

Turning with a gray plaid fitting blazer, Zoey smiled sheepishly as she set the blazer down on a nearby automann. “Like, in Belvoire, she was a mess too, and even out of Belvoire? She’s still the same Poppy.” 

“What am I supposed to do about that?” Bea snapped a little too quickly as Zoey raised a sharp brow, returning to the clothing rack. 

“I’m not saying you’re supposed to do anything. I’m saying that Poppy was a bitch in college and she’s a bitch now. Seems like nothing has changed.” 

Bea kept quiet, staring at the marble floor as Zoey cooed at various outfits. Zoey had never… know the full extent of Poppy and her relationship. She knew it happened, she knew Bea was a mess for awhile, but she didn’t know much else. 

Mostly because of all the shit that went down during Belvoire, but also the fact that Bea kept most of it private. While she didn’t have to worry about Poppy spewing anything, Bea didn’t think she needed to say anything either. 

In the simplest way she could put it, Poppy and Bea’s relationship was their own. It was hers as much as it was Poppy’s. It was private because they kept it that way and even though it was never an official thing, it was still theirs. 

“See why I don’t want to talk about it now?” Bea asked as Zoey smirked. 

“I mean, a small sliver in me was hoping you’d come back with more interesting news than just Poppy hasn’t changed one bit, but yes, I get it.” 

Zoey walked back over to Bea, patting her firmly on the head as Bea squirmed away. “Now come on Casanova, it’s time to actually start getting ready for your date, and in your eyes, the rest of your life.”

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