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skyler10fic · 2 years

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that's why i love fall

By Skyler10

Summary: Carol is a park ranger in a growing mountain town. Daisy is a cybersecurity city girl in town for a job interview at the town’s biotech lab. Under the autumn leaves, fate brings them together (aided by Daisy’s parents, Phil and Melinda). As sweet as a PSL and with as much plot as apple pie.

Notes: This one is pretty canon-free. Basically original fic but with the personalities, names, and faces of my ships.

Read on Ao3

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Carol drove fast, maybe a little too fast, around the curve through the forest back home to Mountain Skye Village. She loved the thrill it brought: the freedom, the magic in the air this time of year, the swirl of the changing leaves around her car, the passages between the rock walls and mist between the trees…

She snapped back into reality as a figure and car on the side of the road came into focus. The person was waving as frantically as the blinking of their car’s tail lights. Carol’s tires screeched as she braked on the slick road and pulled off into a shallow bed of leaves on the shoulder. The young woman relaxed in relief against her trunk as Carol approached.

“Hey! Are you okay?” Carol called. As she got closer, her heart lept to her throat. This damsel in distress was exactly her type. Dark sparkling eyes, a quirk of a smile, a little red lipstick to match her beanie and puffer vest. Figure-hugging jeans and practical but stylish boots…

“We’re a match,” the woman remarked with a slight laugh to her voice.

“Sorry, what?” Carol wondered if this was a forest fey reading her thoughts.

The woman pointed to Carol’s flannel shirt, in autumn colors, and her own under the puffer vest.

“Oh!” Carol realized what she meant.

“Sorry,” the woman rushed out. “It’s just I saw a car coming and was terrified what would happen if I flagged down a creeper or weirdo or something. I could be even worse off than lost in a forest with a broken bridge! But it’s you.”

“Carol.” Carol stuck out her hand.

“Daisy,” the young woman replied and shook Carol’s hand with a curious smile. “Actually, this sounds so stalkerish, but I think you’re the guide who led my parents' hike last week? They told me all about you and sent me the picture they took with you to prove to me there were cool young people in this town.”

Carol laughed. “Phil and Melinda, right?”

Daisy closed her eyes, pressed her lips together, and nodded. “Yep, always subtle, those two.”

“Well, it’s good to meet you, Daisy.” Carol noted the Boston Pride Parade sticker on the back of Daisy’s car right next to the MIT alumni one. When Daisy’s parents had seen Carol’s rainbow pin on her guide gear, they had mentioned Daisy volunteered her computer skills for the Pride festival. Not subtle at all, that Johnson couple. “I heard a lot about you as well.”

“I’m sure you did.” Daisy laughed and blushed.

“So what brings you all the way out here?”

Daisy sighed. “My parents think they have found the perfect job for me. There’s a biotech lab in the town with a cybersecurity role they heard about.”

Carol shook her head in amusement and pointed to the trees and their roadside setting. “I meant here on the side of the road, specifically. You never really answered my question. Are you okay?”

“I am now.” Daisy considered Carol for a moment with a charisma that drew Carol in. Daisy broke her own spell and clarified. “I mean, that is, if you can figure out another way back to town. That bridge is washed out and my cell service is zero out here. I’m not even entirely sure where we are. All these trees look the same to me.”

“Yeah.” Carol settled her hands in her pockets. “I can help with that, but I have a favor to ask in return.”

Daisy cocked an eyebrow. “Me waving at you to stop so you didn’t wreck your sports car off a bridge doesn’t count as a favor?”

Carol let her eyes linger down Daisy’s form. God, she was hot when she was sassy. “Oh, so it was really me you were saving here, not the other way around?”

Daisy leaned back on her car again. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m willing to hear what you had in mind.”

A leaf fell in Daisy’s hair and instinctively, Carol moved forward to pluck it out. Daisy didn’t flinch at the gesture, nor did she toss the yellow and orange leaf away when Carol handed it to her. To the contrary, she met Carol’s eyes and thanked her as if it were a gift.

“Follow my car back to town and I’ll take you to the best pie in town?” Carol offered with a shrug of nonchalance. “My treat.”

“Still sounds like you’d be doing me the favor in that case.”

Carol shook her head. “Pleasure’s all mine. You did save my ‘sports car,’ after all. And Betty’s Diner is the first thing you need to know about Mountain Skye.”

“Deal.” Daisy stuck out her hand and they shook again, the touch lingering a longer this time before falling away. Daisy tucked a fallen strand of hair behind her ear as an excuse to look down and back up again, long lashes slowly dipping and rising.

Carol’s head spun at how Daisy captivated her so effortlessly. Carol inhaled the cool mountain autumn air to ground herself and backed away. “Gonna get chilly out here soon. We’d better head back. I know these roads blind but best not to get caught in the dark with wildlife.” She nodded to the woods next to the road.

Daisy shot a nervous glance to the woods and moved to the driver’s side of her car. “I’ll pull around the other shoulder and wait to follow you.”

Carol headed back to her own car. She turned around and Daisy followed. This time, Carol watched her speed and kept checking her rearview mirror to make sure Daisy was right behind her. Even though she was the one leading, an irrational fear rose up in her that this enchanting woman would vanish at the edge of the forest and leave her wanting.

But Daisy was real and pulled into the diner parking lot next to Carol when they reached the town square in the historic district. The town had grown a lot since it was just a village below the mountain, even expanding so large it had the prestigious lab that attracted MIT-level talent like Daisy. It still felt magical too, though, so it wasn’t hard for an overactive imagination to be wary of things or people who seemed too good to be true. Carol couldn’t help her smile of relief when they were face to face again.

Inside, they found a booth next to the window with a picturesque view and slid in. By the time the waitress came with an irresistible offer of seasonal soups and chili, the sun had set behind the tree line. Conversation flowed easily, and the soup warmed them from the inside out as the air outside the window grew brisk with the dark.

“This place really is beautiful,” Daisy remarked as if conceding a point.

“You should see it in winter.” Carol pointed up with her spoon to the alpine peaks. “Skiers mostly stay up there at the resort but a few come down for the antiques.”

An older woman stopped by the table and finished Carol’s sentence for her. “And for my pie.”

Carol laughed. “Daisy, this is Betty, the owner. And she’s right.”

“Ahh, good to meet you, Betty!” Daisy held up a menu with Betty’s name on the logo. “I hear you’re famous around here.”

“And don’t you forget it.” Betty winked, but then grew serious. “We take care of each other here. Carol’s been one of our own since she was little. I trust you’ll treat her right.” The last part sounded vaguely like a veiled threat, especially with Betty’s stern motherly appearance.

“Betty!” Carol blushed and thwapped the owner with a menu.

“Yes, ma’am,” Daisy answered somberly and then winked at Carol. “I have nothing but good intentions with this one.”

Carol’s heart raced. Daisy was the new one in town, now getting a quick briefing from Betty on the major downtown historic sites, but somehow Carol was the one feeling helplessly unmoored. Perhaps she’d been spending too much time with the retired couples and lab nerds and family vacationers living in this town, but Daisy’s glimmering city confidence both inspired her and swept her off her feet.

“Carol!” Betty tapped Carol on the shoulder with her pen. “Pie?”

“Oh!” Carol came back to earth from her thoughts. “The pumpkin is an obvious choice, but the apple cinnamon is to die for.”

Daisy giggled. “I already ordered a slice of apple, a la mode at Betty’s insistence.”

“Good girl.” Betty nodded and gave a thumbs up. Carol realized she’d missed an alliance forming and chuckled.

“Then I’ll have the same.”

Betty shook her head. “You have to get different kinds and share. You know the rules.”

Daisy laughed. “I already love this place.”

“Pumpkin?” Carol asked both to Daisy and Betty.

Betty wrote down the order and added, “Pumpkin pie and decaf. Anything for you to drink, honey?”

Daisy added a tea to her order and thanked Betty, who sent Carol a look that said she approved of Carol’s guest before returning to the kitchen.

Daisy looked out the window at the navy twilight fading to black starry night. “It’s funny. I came out here to see my parents and interview at the lab because they wanted me to.” She turned back to Carol. “I knew they would never let it go until I did. But I never expected to want it.”

Carol’s breath caught. “And now you do?”

Daisy settled back into the booth seat. “I might. I haven’t seen enough of it yet. It certainly seems charming. Like a TV show.”

Carol followed her glance at the diner around them: kids with their parents, teens laughing over dumb jokes in the big corner booth, old men playing their weekly card games, the leading ladies of the town planning a fundraiser, lab scientists grabbing a bite between shifts.

“Yeah. It kinda does now. I left when I was 15 to live with my aunt in D.C.,” Carol confessed. “I was so ready to get out. And I needed a change, new people, a new start.” She could read that Daisy knew what she meant.

Daisy leaned in. “But you came back.”

Carol’s lips turned up with a sad smile. “Almost two years ago now. After I got my degree and wildlife certifications, I got hired by the parks service. This was one of the jobs open and I knew. I just knew it was time. My parents moved away to be with my grandpa, but the people of Mountain Skye welcomed me back with open arms.”

Betty arrived back as if on cue and laid down the pie plates and mugs. “Like I said, you’re part of our family. And if anyone has a problem with that, including your father, they can take it to hell.”

“Dad, on the other hand, is not missed by anyone here,” Carol explained. “And he was not thrilled about me coming back either. Among other things about my life.”

Betty patted her on the shoulder. “My Rita and I went through the same thing in the ’60s. Some things never change.” A crash sounded and she turned. “Oh speak of… CLIVE! I told you not to bus your own table! For the last time! Can’t leave them alone…”

Betty bustled away, but Carol finished the sentiment. “This town was a safe haven for gay skiers for a long time. They could come and stay here instead of the resorts on the mountain, and they could live together and run their businesses in peace. Sort of a safety in numbers thing. My dad never really had a problem with it, at least not that he talked about, until…well.” Carol shrugged and gestured up and down at herself.

“Ohh,” Daisy sighed in empathy and wrapped her hands around her mug. “Yeah. That’s rough.”

They ate their pie slices in silence for a bit before Daisy spoke again.

“I had sort of the opposite situation. My parents were so cool with it, but high school… I graduated and never looked back, you know? The more time goes on, the more it hits how messed up it was, people I thought of as friends.” She shook her head at the tarnished memory and stabbed at an apple piece.

“Sometimes you don’t realize until you get out just how much the people you love are also your bullies?” Carol guessed.

Daisy met her curious gaze and nodded slightly. Then she brightened as she remembered. “Hey, aren’t we supposed to be sharing these? House rules or something?”

Carol brightened too and cut off a significant piece of pumpkin pie. “Here.” Daisy reciprocated and they scooted their plates closer for the exchange.

“I hope you like it,” Carol said. She meant it on the surface about the pie, of course, but her eyes darted to the window where the town square outside was lit up and people rushed by as if blown like leaves on the biting autumn breeze.

“It’s just as wonderful as advertised.” Daisy followed Carol’s attention to the window where two old men held hands as they crossed the parking lot and one helped the other into the car. Staff at a bookstore with a handmade paper rainbow in the window locked up for the night, and a group of gender-nonconforming teens took selfies under the lights in the town square.

“We can be ourselves here.” Carol took a final sip of her coffee. “It’s not perfect, but it’s home.”

Daisy’s phone rang. “Sorry, it’s my parents. I didn’t realize how late it was!”

“It’s okay,” Carol assured. Daisy got up from the booth and went outside to take the call.

Betty came back to collect their plates and deliver the check herself, a sure sign that she had something to say.

“She’s the Johnson kid, right?”

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“News travels fast in a diner, sweetheart,” Betty reminded her. “Besides, the college hiring a new president and that old hanger getting a fresh coat of paint? It was all the old vets talked about for weeks. I heard the stories about the glory days.” She jerked her thumb to a table of retired pilots.

The rusting hanger and torn-up runway the retirees had trained on were briefly resurrected when Carol was a teen, but she left before the airport was open for her to train and get a pilot’s license. It was still a dream of hers. It had sat empty since then, however, until it was purchased by the local community college and vocational school to train pilots, mostly for careers with the resort communities’ private planes, regional rescue services, and agriculture. When they found out their new president’s wife was a flight instructor, a new training program was officially launched.

Betty offered a coffee refill, which Carol declined.

“You know,” Betty added, “you wanna be careful with a girl like that.” She used the coffeepot to gesture to Daisy, who was on the phone in view of the window.

“Because her parents are important?” Carol guessed. She handed Betty cash for the check and plenty for the tip.

“No, because she’s the type of wildfire that burns hard and fast, but you can’t keep her anywhere she doesn’t want to be.” Betty said it so plainly that Carol could only assume she was speaking from experience.

“How can you tell?”

Betty just raised a knowing eyebrow and returned to the diner counter.

Daisy reentered the diner. “Sorry that took so long. My dad had his first round of midterm meetings… I don’t know why I’m telling you this. Anyway, I better head out. But, ah, they were thrilled we met and wanted to hear all about it, so I told them I’d be home soon.” She rolled her eyes affectionately.

“No problem,” Carol said with a laugh of understanding and got up from the table. She searched for an excuse to ask Daisy for her number. Daisy reached for something in her bag and Carol grew hopeful they were on the same page, but she pulled out her wallet, not a pen.

Carol quickly assured her, “I already paid, so no worries there.”

“Oh! You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.” Carol gestured to the door and they walked out but hesitated at their cars. “Your parents said they are on Aspen Ave., right? I’m going right by that neighborhood on my way home.”

“If you want,” Daisy finished, “you could follow me and make sure I don’t get lost on the way.”

“Yeah, exactly!” Carol knew they were just delaying the inevitable parting. “Just in case.”

“Okay, um, see you there!” Daisy got in her car and pulled out of the parking lot, and this time, Carol followed.

Carol pulled in behind her in the Johnsons’ gravel driveway, which was lined with tall pines. The porchlight and a light inside the wood-cabin-style house were on, but there was no other sign of Daisy’s parents. Carol and Daisy both got out and stood awkwardly under the stars, not knowing what to say next to move forward but not wanting to say goodnight just yet.

“Thank you for dinner and pie and everything tonight,” Daisy said, moving in closer than strangers but not as close as Carol’s desire wanted.

“I mean you did keep me from wrecking my car. I never would have seen that bridge in time,” Carol admitted.

“And you rescued me from being lost in the woods,” Daisy countered. “If it weren’t for you, I’d probably still be driving around in circles out there, having to forge for berries or something.”

Carol grinned. There was her opening. “Well, I wouldn’t want you to get lost around town either. I can give you the official tour this weekend, if you’re still going to be around.”

“I have heard you give great tours,” Daisy teased, referring to her parents’ strong hints.

“And if you like my tour of the town, perhaps a hike on Sunday? I’m leading a group from the lab, so you could meet your future coworkers.”

A chilly breeze whipped around them, and they moved closer instinctively. Carol resisted the urge to draw her in closer.

“I don’t have the job just yet,” Daisy cautioned, “but that sounds great. I’m here until Monday.”

“And what then?”

“Then I go back to my apartment in Boston, wait around for a while, and hopefully, give my notice at my current gig. Then, if all goes to plan, move out here. Not with my parents though! I’m… we’re close, but… Not that someone living with their parents is bad or anything! But … space is good.”

“I get it,” Carol assured. Daisy calmed a bit from her verbal fumbling. Trusting her gut about this new crush, Carol went out on a metaphorical limb, “My housemate, Jemma, is moving in with her boyfriend soon and they are looking for a new place, so 1., I have a spot open and 2. if you’re not into the whole housemates thing, she would know all the places to look.”

Daisy blinked in awe. “That’s perfect. Are you like a miracle or an angel or something?”

Carol laughed and barely restrained herself from saying, I was thinking the same thing about you. Instead, she shrugged and offered, “I can give you my number and you can text me when you’re done with the interview and ready for the town tour. And I can let you know the details about the hike. And if everything works out, let me know and we can talk about the house situation.”

Carol pulled her phone out of her pocket and unlocked it, then opened a new contact and handed the phone to Daisy.

Daisy shook her head in disbelief as she added her information and got out her own phone. “You are. You’re a total miracle. I could seriously kiss you right now. I was so stressed and now…”

She trailed off and froze with her hand holding her unlocked phone as she realized what she said. Carol took the phone and kept her eyes focused on adding her information in return, trying to come off calmer than she felt. “If you want to, you can. Just so you know.”

“That’s good,” Daisy whispered as she leaned in. “Maybe I will.”

They jumped apart and squinted as a flashlight shined from the front door. “It’s just Daisy and a friend,” a man called to someone else in the house.

Daisy groaned. “That’s my dad. And this is not how I pictured this night ending so I’m just going to say goodnight.”

“See you soon,” Carol promised.

“See you soon,” Daisy repeated back to her and ran to the front door, but Carol knew Daisy’s attention was now on scolding her dad for his bad timing. Carol returned to her car and drove home with her windows down, blasting a girl in red playlist, warm with hope despite the night air.

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Notes: The other chapters are pretty short so they will be coming soon. This chapter is almost half the total fic, tbh.

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twopoppies · 2 years

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Fan Report – Louis Tomlinson World Tour: Denver (submission)

Hello Gina, it’s me again, the Denver fan. I wanted to share my (small) experience with Louis seeing my signs.

I had two signs with me that I switched between different songs. They were on the same sheet so I had to flip it depending on the song. One was a sign that said “Louis we see your pride and love you for it” with the pride flag and pride rainbow hearts. And the other was a Larry sign that said “We will always be there for you” with pictures of Larry together. I had the Larry sign up for the “Larry songs” and the pride sign for other songs. During Habit I put my Larry sign up the whole song and Louis came up to my section and basically just stared right at me the whole time, looking at my sign. We made eye contact !!!!! He didn’t point or say anything but just made eye contact the whole time. And during Walls when I had the pride sign up he came over to my section and was hyping us up being like “yeah cmon!!” as we screamed and he 100% looked at my sign and smiled. The girls around me noticed that he saw my signs too. And I know they're in some videos and pictures. I also tried to get them up whenever Charlie was filming the crowd. I had them each up for a long time, and I was close enough that Louis could not have missed either of them. During 7 I put my Larry sign up at “larry call a load of smoke in” and it felt very appropriate. I didn’t notice him point directly at my signs, but he was interacting with my area a lot and pointing to different sections where I was, especially when I had the pride sign up.

These were my signs

Signed - a larrie

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Hi sugar. Oh my god I love it so much!! Those are such sweet signs and I love that he saw them. Thank you so much for sharing the story! Hopefully someone caught him on video while he was looking your way!

#lt tour denver #fan reports #fan signs #louis is a larrie #louis and rainbows

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seasurfacefullofclouds1 · 2 years

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Sea how are you alive after seeing that in person???

Reflections on Louis' Detroit show:

1. I bought a ticket from Ticketmaster verified resale at 12 PM for the show that same day, and then packed lightly and took off on a long drive. I got to Detroit around 5:20 PM with plenty of time to spare, and then... took a wrong turn. Let’s just say I might have been an international traveler for 45 minutes. Canadians are nice people.

2. I followed Mssr. Google's directions to the Fillmore, a gorgeous marquee with a loooooooonnnnngggg line out the door. The sunset was gorgeous, skies clear with peachy pastel colors, and fairy lights everywhere. I circled the blocks until I found a shady looking (as in dubious) parking space and paid my $10, next to a rusty utility truck. I sat and tried to stay calm while my chest fluttered at a thousand miles an hour. Louis!! In the same city!! A few blocks away! I ate three bites of my sandwich and gave up. I'll eat when I'm dead. Popped open my can of water because HYDRATION.

3. I saw two lines out the Fillmore and naturally went into the shorter line? Just to be sure, I asked the person in front of me what we were waiting for, and he answered, "Mama Spaghetti." FML, I ran around the corner and walked four blocks down to the longer line. I realize now that going to a Louis Tomlinson concert as a solo Louie and octagenarian is probably a health hazard, but Louis told me YOLO! Take a fucking chonce!! (I kept hearing @silverfoxlou say, “I don’t mind going to concerts by myself,” and strangely this thought comforted me.) Fearless.mp369 played in my head.

4. Behind me in line were a couple who "graduated from college two decades ago," and a few other men were scattered around me. Good signs! Ahead of me, a group of girls took pictures of a H*rry St*les air freshener hanging on a rearview mirror. Then the lady behind me (in her forties) whispered, "Do you hear that?" Music was percolating out of a car window, and we looked at each other and muttered; it was Kill My Mind. Saved by a fellow music-focused Louie! We mentally high-fived and inched ahead in the wintry dusk, a trail of abandoned fleece blankets, empty water bottles, pizza boxes and rainbow flags all along the route. Once I submitted my vax card + ID, I was in, baby. The venue was gorgeous.

5. The merch line was long but moved reasonably fast. I bought merch around 7:40 PM, and the white tour T-shirts only had sizes XL, 2XL, and 3XL left. The demand was astounding. Free bottles of water were available in various places, and I’m sure Louis paid for it all. Then I met @comradelouis! She was SOOO lovely. Hi Julia!

6. When the lights darkened for We Made It, the excitement in the room was THROUGH THE ROOF. I could understand why people pass out— adrenaline is going 30,000 miles per minute. WMI is such a great choice for a tour opener. The drums are so, so hot. When Louis first walks out, there’s a collective gasp of utter disbelief like... holy moly. It’s really him. Louis looks tiny and gigantic at the same time, larger than life, but in a boyish pixie-like way, neat and elegant, and so very, very, very, very pretty. Delicate, commanding, beautiful, happy— a young, immortal god. A star.

7. One song segues into another song, and even though I knew from watching livestreams when Louis would do his little chats, they were nevertheless charming and enchanting. Louis must have a regular work-out routine during tour (he must), because he can talk at high speed, have very good breath control while singing, and basically sprints from one side of the stage to the other side continually for 85 minutes. In between, he engages with fans, reads signs, dodges and catches stuff thrown on stage, all on the spur of the moment. I was trying to capture it on video, and I had to pan fast enough to follow him without blurring everything! He is lively and speedy! Some of the chats are, of course, scripted, but there is a feeling of genuine gratitude in what Louis says and does, because he will back his words with actions. The crowd felt it too. Compared to Poptopia 2019 (where I saw him in San Jose), Louis has almost a more cocky confidence on stage. He’s happier, looser, and having more fun himself. It doesn’t feel as much like work but like a party, a celebration. All the musicians on stage are also looser and more familiar with each other.

8. Musically, the highlights for me are Beautiful War, 7, Always You, Copy, Walls, Only the Brave, and Kill My Mind. Louis was on fire with all the songs at Detroit, and by 7, you could tell that he knew it. He owned those songs. It is so thrilling to see him in the zone, hitting the high notes, improvising note changes, enjoying being on stage. The crowd was feeling it too, and the more we hyped him up, the more he gave it back. This kind of atmosphere is rare on tour. I know we complain about the screaming of certain lyrics, but they don’t last very long, and Louis ignores them, for the most part. The high falsetto in Only the Brave in Detroit is the best one he’s done all tour, spot on on pitch and beautiful in tone. The crowd’s reaction during Only the Brave is hard to adequately describe— there’s both immense joy in sharing a safe place together and happiness for Louis. In front of me, two young women hugged each other tightly. Louis’ warm response to the colors of pride in front of him... while wonderful in livestreams, it feels entirely different in person, much more emotionally charged, personal, and intense. The moment is indelible.

9. Louis’ jumping down to the barricades... f-ing SURREAL. The weird thing is that I kind of suspected he would do it, from the way that Louis was leaning over the barricades at stage right during Through the Dark. If this tour has taught me anything new, it’s that Louis really loves his thrills and has a healthy appetite for risk-taking.... for better or for worse. Louis is the life of the party, the belle of the ball, and he couldn’t be a boring person if he tried. He will ALWAYS be the leader, and you can trust him to give everyone a good time while making sure people are safe. As a concert, Detroit was on a whole other level! Even though there were less than 3000 people (some of the chairs were empty), the screams were some of the loudest I have ever heard in concerts, and in Through the Dark, the mezzanine floor was literally shaking. People were smiling, screaming, and singing until he walked off the stage and the last note was played. His crew are such cool professionals, so good at what they do. The lights and smoke are perfectly timed and amazing to see. It was INSANE in the best way. I never wanted the concert to end 🥲🥲🥲

If you have the opportunity, definitely go see Louis. In spite of being a minority in not being a Larrie, I thought it was super, super fun, and Louis made it worthwhile.

LINKS TO DETROIT HIGHLIGHTS AND MY VIDEOS FROM THE CONCERT

#detroit #ltwt2022detroit #my impressions

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evilovesyou · 2 years

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I HOPE YOU HAD THE BEST TIME EVER MY DARLING !!!!! PLASE TELL US (and me in private please hehe) HOW IT WENT 🥰♥️😘!!

DEER!!! MY LOVE!!!!!! I ALREADY UPDATED YOU KINDA???? But omg. Let me give you a full run down. Buckle up because this is gonna be LONG, probably.

First of all, the rainbow project. Seriously. Thank the heavens and gods for all the lovely people who helped me with that. @loubluestuff, @justiceforfineline, @nothingbutsunflowers and Shlo, @ballerina-harrystyles, @almightyprincess and Madeleine! You guys were incredible!!!!!!!!!!!

Generally, 99% of the people were just fantastic! So kind, so enthusiastic, so happy to help. I'm blown away. We ran out of flags by 4pm. We brought 900 flags and there were many people who had brought their own as well. During the show it was practically impossible to take a single picture without a flag in the frame. People held them up for every. single. song. I noticed it especially with Habit, and of course the main one: Only the Brave. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I went in with a couple friends who arrived late so I didn't use my number, even though I had one (844). We ended up quite far in the back, but from the people I know who were up front, they said it was very intense. There were apparently people who were very pushy and unkind. In the back, I didn't notice any of that. Everyone around us was wonderful and kind.

Only the Poets was amazing! They filmed another part of their music video and they announced that since their show in Vienna in November had already sold out, they're switching to a bigger venue!

I found it incredibly amusing that before they came on people were chanting "OTP" because when we were handing out the papers for the lights downstairs the first two colours that we used up were blue and green and there were just. A lot of larries. Chanting "OTP."

They gave out water before the show. When a girl fainted during Beautiful War, they stopped the show after the song and started giving out water again while Louis and the band left. It seemed that they somehow weren't prepared for this from the venue's side because they ran out of water and cups?? At least that's what I heard. This practice in general is very unusual (as my friend @gaming-fish pointed out), just as the fact that they played a track multiple times that told people to take a step back, not to throw things, and that security had water. It worked out okay and it seemed the people around the girl who fainted helped her as best as they could. I also saw multiple people who were responsible and went to the back during the show when they didn't feel well.

Louis. Fucking Louis. He was radiant even from the very back. The crowd was LOUD and he loved it. There was a moment, I don't remember exactly which song, when he literally skipped from one side of the stage to the other and it was ADORABLE.

The note change in 7 was incredible. Getting to scream PRINCESS PARK at him with all my might was unreal. During Two of Us I almost found it hard to connect to him because the crowd had so much energy, but when I managed to find his voice and focus on it... It was so good. At the very end his voice broke away slightly and my heart shattered. It was beautiful. The other fan project during Walls worked great as well. Screaming "you were my because" with all his encouragement was... yeah. It felt real.

Now the rainbows. The RAINBOWS. ONLY THE BRAVE. FUCK IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. WE WORKED SO HARD FOR A MONTH AND WE DID OUR VERY BEST TO MAKE IT HAPPEN AND THEN IT DID AND JESUS CHRIST ON A BICYCLE I'M GONNA CRY AGAIN.

I was a little bit too far back to see the gallery lights fully, but I'm sure someone will have a better picture or video. Here's my pictures and my video. At the end of the video he sings a note so beautiful that when I listened back to it, I cried. It felt so absolutely unreal to see that same sea of pride flags, now all raised high, and to see all those colourful lights upstairs and pointed at him and... and to know that all of these people were kind and supportive, creating a safe space for him and for us. And the most unbelievable part for me is that.. we did that. I did that. I don't think I will ever get over that.

I think that's it for now. I have a couple more asks <3

Edit: I totally forgot!! Isaac wasn't there????? I kept looking for him but he was replaced by a guy named Scott (??) and we sang happy birthday for him.

Also one of the guys from OTP was wearing their own merch because he lost a game of odds with Louis!

#kisses to you dear deer #ltwt vienna #my show #walls tour #mine #personal #louis rainbow project #louis tomlinson vienna #asks #ddeerr

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mourntheantagonist · 3 years

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I had a cute teacher au idea

so you know those ceiling tiles in schools? the rectangular ones? you know the ones. well anyway, at my school and I know many other schools, students would often paint a ceiling tile either for extra credit or as a gift for their teacher.

so I’m thinking, art teacher steve and new in town english teacher billy.

because steve is both the art teacher and well liked among all his student, his ceiling is completely full of paintings, not a single bare tile. but when billy had arrived to his new classroom, all the tiles were completely white and bare. the teacher before him had taken them all with her when she left so they were replaced. billy didn’t even know it was a thing until he’d entered some of the other teachers classrooms and saw almost every teacher had them and he’d be lying if he didn’t feel a little left out. but hey, maybe he could just offer extra credit to his students if they made one.

except they reach the last day of the semester, and none of his students come in with a painted tile.

and to make matters worse he has an after school meeting that day and their holding it in mr. harrington’s classroom. billy had seen him around school and was undeniably attracted to him. he was cute always walking around in a paint splattered apron and he’d only ever heard good things from other students and the staff.

and all of that was confirmed when he saw his ceiling. most teachers had maybe five or six painted tiles but his was covered in beautiful artwork. he spent the whole meeting staring up at each tile because he was completely mesmerized. steve noticed but chose not to say anything. instead finding his way to billy’s classroom after the meeting had ended and peeking through the window of the door to see the blank ceiling.

he waited for spring break, which was just around the corner, to acquire a spare ceiling tile and take it home with him. propped it up on his easel and pulled out the acrylics and the closest picture he could find resembling the blue camaro that roared into the parking lot everyday.

when he finished the painting, just in the nick of time, he arrived to the school much earlier than he usually did when it was still dark. he bribed a custodian to let him into billy’s classroom where he quickly popped out a center tile and replaced it with the painting of his camaro. sure to lock the door behind him, leaving no trace of him other than the painted tile in his classroom.

when billy got in that day he was stunned to say the least. the painting looked almost like a picture. he probably would have a sore neck the next day from looking up at it for so long. his students kept asking about it. asking who did it and he just had to say he didn’t know. he wasn’t sure who had done it, but he had an idea.

steve had been coming around his room a lot more frequently than he had before. dropping in during his lunch to say hi or borrow markers that he damn well knows steve already had. he was the fucking art teacher for god sake. and just before they were let out for break they had had an innocent conversation about billy’s car. that couldn’t be a coincidence. could it?

somehow his students must have been reading his mind because as they were all discussing who it could be, the girl sitting at the front of the class with her sketch pad on her desk says “looks a lot like mr. harrington’s work”. and suddenly the class breaks out into unorganized chatter. only picking out a couple of phrases from the chaos that make his heart flutter. “that’s adorable!” and “mr. harrington likes mr. hargrove!” and it takes billy everything inside of him not to ask “you think so?” instead of shutting them all up and telling them to open their books.

instead of confronting steve about it, he waited for steve to inevitably show up during his lunch break to ask for some other art supplies that he definitely already has. which he did. colored pencils this time.

all of his suspicions are confirmed when steve walks in and actively avoids looking at the ceiling. like it’s very obvious he’s trying not to look. so billy makes him look. “see the new ceiling tile?” he says.

“yeah it looks great. who made it?”

“I was thinking you could tell me that.”

steve’s eyes get wide and he starts laughing uncomfortably with a hand pressed to the back of his neck. stuttering his words.

“did you paint it mr. harrington?”

“I might’ve. how did you know?”

“apparently my students seem know your art style very well. also our conversation about my car last week tipped me off.”

“oh yeah that. I was hoping you’d forget.”

billy can see he’s nervous, which is odd. he’s never seemed like the person to get nervous about his artwork. maybe his students were right about the other thing too. but that’s wishful thinking.

“thank you. for the tile. It meant a lot to me.”

“you’re welcome.” he can see steve start to relax a bit more.

and billy decides, fuck it, and goes for it.

“my students also have this idea that this means you like me. were they right about that too?”

he doesn’t immediately deny it like billy expects. no. steve blushes. he fucking blushes. and that is all billy needs before making a glance to door to make sure it’s locked and the window is covered before gently holding the tip of steve’s chin in between his thumb and index finger, slowly angling him down, and capturing his lips in a quick but deep kiss. steve doesn’t pull away. just lets his eyes fall shut and kisses him back.

and that’s just the beginning of their relationship. their fist kiss underneath the ceiling tile that started it all.

eventually news travels around school about the two of them after a student found steve on facebook with a picture of the two holding hands at the beach. billy freaks out at first, having previously taught in an environment that was definitely not okay with teachers being out and proud. but the two are met with so much love by their staff and students and they all think that it’s super cool that the “first and second coolest teachers in school” are together. they’re both always arguing about who is first and who is second.

there’s still the occasional student who will say the wrong thing. he’ll sometimes overhear kids whispering about the two of them, using slurs, and billy is always quick to shut that down. and despite billy not taking shit from little high school freshman. it hurts a little bit sometimes. sometimes he doubts his students are actually okay with it or they just think it’s all a joke.

until it’s the last day of school before summer, and the girl who sat at the front of his class who was never anything but sweet, walks into his class after school with a large rectangular object in her hand.

it’s a ceiling tile.

six painted stripes in the order of the rainbow. it’s a pride flag.

she doesn’t say anything before dropping it off. just gives him a shy smile before walking out the door.

and billy could cry.

okay he does cry.

he definitely cries.

#harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #stranger things #mandi writes tresh #fanfic

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1ddotdhq · 4 years

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🌊Fri 23rd Oct ‘20🎸

GOLDEN IS COMING, says Twitter, trending that literally all day. But! This time they had a good reason to do it! HSHQ posted a picture of Harry, looking every bit like the gorgeous rectangle he is! In the picture, he is wearing - get this - a golden fisherman’s hat (hmmmm) and BRILLIANT pleated floral yellow and blue pants (the flowers are roses this time) designed by Steven Daily (one of Harry Lambert’s proteges), with his butterfly tattoo fully on display! I’ll tell y’all what, I was just joking yesterday when I said Harry might jump off this cliff, but maybe he did dust off his copy of Papillion, and took some ideas from it! I guess we’ll all find out together pretty soon! Harry is standing literally on the cliff with his eyes closed and head tilted up, facing the sun (no, not Louis, we’ll get into that in a second). He looks like he’s very content on that cliff on the coast, and I hope that’s the vibe we get from him for years to come.

Well, Harry, I’ll look to the sun with you ANY DAY, especially as he came out from behind whatever cloud he’s been hiding! Earlier today, around the time the picture of Harry dropped, a few unseens of Louis in his rainbow triangle Pink Floyd shirt at six flags in LA last year also saw the light of day. LOUIS IS THE SUN, said twitter in response. Why yes, said Louis, I AM the sun, and promptly posted a selfie on his Instagram story! In true Louis fashion, it’s a close-up selfie, so you can’t tell where he is, nor what he’s wearing, but he’s holding an electric guitar and you CAN see his HAIR! His HAIR GUYS OH MY GOD!!! Deep breath, okay, here we go: he ALSO has taken a time machine back to 2013, with a quiff and almost shoulder length hair, which, um, I cannot tell you how much I LOVE it! He’s also wearing a blue-gray hoodie, and playing a black Fender guitar, which is one of the few things we’ve seen him do since quarantine started! Which, um, LT2??? YES PLEASE! Look, I know that it’s gonna be a while before we hear any new songs from him, but ANY indication that he’s at work (and we’ve had many indications!) is SO EXCITING to me!

Artist!Liam is back and he has a model - well, a reference picture of a model. Well, a reference picture of Maya, who is a model. You get the picture! It is not a picture that he himself took, but rather a professional one that you can easily access through the internet. He’s gridded off the portrait in order to copy it more precisely (old artists’ trick, works like a charm!) and is doing his linework and shading in graphite pencil and has not smudged the portrait ONCE which is SO IMPRESSIVE whenever I draw there are fingerprints all over the page. Eventually, he had to put it up because it was 3 am, but he didn’t want to stop because “drawing is such an escape” for him, so much so that it “often makes him forget time altogether”. We also got to see more of his Hugo eyeglasses campaign, including some cool reflective glasses. I’m in the market for new glasses soooo maybe? If I win the lottery?

Niall continues to do interviews and ads about his show, hitting all the main points: the beautiful Royal Albert Hall, the several showtimes, the reason that he’s doing it - the crew. “I don’t want to take any credit for being the first one to do it,” he said, “but I’m the first one to do it”. He then went on to describe the sizes of the crew and the importance of their role in the industry, and how he is excited to have this opportunity. Also, he played golf! VERY on-brand, Niall!

#harry styles #louis tomlinson #liam payne #niall horan #i did see the picture that daisy posted of Freddie #it's a three year old picture that had already been posted #just like all of the pictures she has of him are #this is a reminder that we don't know whats gonna happen and there's no use worrying about it #let the chips fall as they may #yeah that's me!#anyways!#song of the day!#i wanna get better by bleachers

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delta-roseblr · 3 years

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Ficlet for your reading pleasure

Look at me posting a prompt (that really wasn’t a direct prompt but lets not focus on that) in the first time in a while! I’m proud of me!

Hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where is this place again?" Felix asked as he made what felt like his one-hundredth right turn. They were going in circles, not that Felix was going to admit that. All the streets just looked too similar, and Felix wasn't familiar enough with Nashville to have any idea where he was going.

"It's off Church," Kyle answered as he sat forward in the backseat of Felix's jeep so Felix could see him in his rearview mirror. He and pretty much nothing else. He kept fucking talking about Church Street like Felix knew where the fuck that was. If it was Burlington, Felix could have drawn a map of Church Street from god-damned memory, but he really knew next to fucking nothing about Nashville. He had told Kyle multiple times, but he still just kept talking about fucking Church Street. Kyle held his arm out in the space between the driver and front passenger seat and gestured at the darkened street in front of them as he added, "I think you go two more blocks and then take a left."

"It's three blocks, and you need to take a right if we want to find parking," Dean declared from the passenger's seat as he looked up from his phone. The fact that it had taken this long for Dean to chime in was surprising. Dean had actually pitched a fit when Felix had said he would be the one driving that night. Since Leonard thought Felix was studying at Kyle's and had no idea Dean was home from college yet, and he definitely didn't know they were going to a gay bar, it made the most sense. Also, Felix would never say it to Dean because he loved his car so much, but the old Honda was just filled with the weirdest mix of unpleasant smells, and even after the engine was rebuilt, it still made strange fucking noises like it was ready to fucking die. Felix appreciated Dean's car, especially when it was the only car they had access to, but now Felix had his jeep. His jeep was an old piece of shit, too, but it just wasn't quite as old or quite as shitty as Dean's POS.

From the corner of his eye, Felix saw Dean slip his phone into the pocket of his jeans before bringing his full attention to the road. "And I won't point out how much easier this would have been if you had just let me drive," he commented.

It was dark, but the streetlights lit up the inside of the cab, and Felix could see the little satisfied smirk playing on Dean's lips. He thought he had won something which should have been annoying, but it was just kind of cute. Dean had really been away for too long.

They came to a stop at a streetlight, and Felix took advantage of the moment. He turned to look at his boyfriend. He was all blond hair and warm skin as always. "Dean," he said his name sweetly but also with a warning, "Unless you've figured out how to suck your own dick, you should probably stop fucking talking."

"I retract my previous statement," Dean stated seriously. Of course, it was Dean, and he was just as bold as he always was, so he reached out and brought a hand to rest on Felix's thigh. It wasn't so high, but it was high enough to up Felix's heartbeat a little. "Your driving and understanding of the city of Nashville is amazing, and I really can't complain," he stated with a bright smile.

"You two are so cute," Kyle faked cooed from the backseat before adding (mockingly), "I think I'm going to puke."

Eventually, they found the bar, found a place to park, and then made their way to the bar. It might have just been because Felix was comparing it to Burlington but getting into the place was beyond easy.

Once inside, they found a pretty thin crowd, but Felix didn't expect much more for the time of year. They had managed to hit that sweet spot where most of the younger people that came to the club were probably already tangled up in family holiday stuff, but most of the college kids hadn't returned home yet.

They were just a few feet into the place when they all collectively decided to stop and look around. To be honest, it was pretty much what Felix expected for a gay bar on the outskirts of Nashville, so it was pretty much par for the course, but other people clearly felt differently.

"This isn't….what I had been expecting," Kyle admitted sounding more disappointed with each word.

"What were you expecting?" Felix questioned. He sounded annoyed, which was because absolutely was, and yeah, he knew that made him an asshole, but this had been Kyle's idea. Not only had it been Kyle's idea, but Kyle had asked Dean after Felix had said no. He didn't go as far as to ask Dean behind Felix's back at least and asked Dean about it right in front of Felix. Much to Felix's surprise, his boyfriend that had also expressed a dislike of bars, immediately said yes. Felix was fucking shit at telling Dean no, so he was fucking stuck going, and both he and Kyle knew it. So Felix didn't care if the place was a little on the dingy side. He didn't care that the lighting managed to be both too bright and too dark at the same time. Felix didn't even care that the music playing overhead sounded more like static than anything else. He expected Kyle to be his typically overly excited self. "Pride flags and a rainbow-colored bar?"

"I was expecting to get ID'd at the door," Dean admitted. His voice was carefully neutral, and one look Felix found his expression matched his tone, but his eyes were scanning the room critically. Felix knew Dean well enough to know that this place was dive bar enough to bring up some daddy issues, not that Dean would say anything or suggest they leave. No, Dean would suffer silently.

"This is supposed to be an under 21 bar," Kyle informed quickly and matter-of-factly. Felix was half surprised Kyle didn't start reading the place's description from the website from memory. Felix was sure he could have because Kyle had been internet stalked the place for a while. Apparently, the website painted a different picture than what reality had to provide, and the shock was clear on Kyle's face. "And I don't know what I was expecting really," Kyle offered, and to his credit, he was obviously trying to hide his disappointment, and he mostly succeeded with his neutral tone. It was his face that gave him away. "I at least expected half the people here to be around our age."

"Yeah," Felix agreed with an unnecessary look around the place. "For a bar that is supposed to include people under 21, a lot of the people here look to be over forty," he pointed out. Really, it would have been impossible not to notice even if the place was hopping, but since it was moderately busy at the moment, so it stood out. Felix saw more guys that looked like they might hang out with his dad instead of kids around his age. He guessed divorced middle-aged men embracing the gayness they had been suppressing for years needed to get out too, but it was weird that they were choosing an under-21 bar when Nashville has several more traditional gay bars.

For the briefest of moments, Felix had a little bit of hope that the difference between Kyle's expectations and reality would be enough to make Kyle want to leave. They could get pizza or something. That hope died almost the moment it was born. It was almost like someone snapped their fingers, and Kyle got over his disappointment and shifted back to being excited, even if it was a bit more tempered now.

Kyle turned to him with a fucking smile on his face and asked, "Do we find a table?"

"I guess," Felix conceded with a sigh. He wasn't surprised, but he was disappointed that he wasn't going to get to escape. "Dean?" he questioned and got no reply. "Dean!?"

He looked to Dean just in time to see him looking up from his phone with a confused and bewildered expression. "Sorry, what?"

"We are going to find a table if you can look away from your phone," Felix informed with mostly fake annoyance.

"Yeah, sorry I was trying to translate this text message from Nico," Dean explained, which made sense even before he added, "For a guy that speaks several languages he can't spell in any of them" He shifted his phone so he was holding it in one hand and moved to put it in his back pocket before commenting, "But we should definitely find a table."

Felix would have fucking sworn he felt every ounce of positive drain from Kyle, so it wasn't a fucking surprise that when Felix looked at the guy, he looked tense, and his expression was carefully stony. "So Will is bringing the boyfriend?" he asked in a painfully neutral tone.

"Oh no," Felix exclaimed. He wasn't buying Kyle's attempts at neutrally, mainly because they were shitty attempts. If anyone could understand having an inconvenient, inappropriate crush, Felix liked Kyle too much to watch him continue to do this to himself. Felix had grown to think of Will in a somewhat positive way which was a journey, but he still didn't think of him as much in the way of dating material. Still, that wasn't why he was so bothered by the fact that Kyle couldn't let that crush go. It was never going to fucking happen, which was why it bothered Felix. Will was the most unavailable person on the fucking planet. He and Nico were practically fucking married, for fuck sake. Even if that wasn't the case, Will came with a load of baggage in the way of demigod shit. Kyle, of course, didn't know about that, but Felix fucking did, and he didn't think Kyle needed or would want any of that fucking drama. Fuck had Felix been trying to get Kyle to see the fucking light and shift his interest to someone more appropriate, even if at times it felt like he was banging his head against a wall. Felix didn't have any fucking desire to once again go through all that shit with Kyle, so he just shook his head insistently as he stated, "We're not doing that tonight."

"What!?!" Kyle questioned, but he sounded too outraged for Felix to believe for one second that he didn't know exactly what Felix was talking about, "I asked a question."

"No, you're starting to pine over a self-absorbed ass," Felix summarized indigently. In truth, Felix knew now that Will was pretty far from self-absorbed. Still, he did come with abandonment issues from like a dozen siblings dying in battles and a need for attention that came from having a fuck ton of siblings because Apollo is a fucking whore of a god. Calling Will self-absorbed was just easier, and maybe it was a little be of a reflex still. "Have some self-respect and standards."

Kyle huffed and rolled his eyes dramatically. "A smart, funny, attractive, blond, soccer play," Kyle declared with a heavily sarcastic tone. "No way you could get that attraction," he made a show of looking pointed toward Felix before turning and smiling toward Dean, "Oh, hi Dean! I forgot you were right there."

"That is totally different, and I resent the comparison," Felix growled as he pointed his finger aggressively toward Kyle, "There are plenty of age-appropriate guys around here. We will find you a better one that is available." So plenty might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but the point remained valid. "Now, let's go find a fucking table, so I can see if this bartender won't look too hard at my fake ID."

Surprisingly, the argument or discussion or whatever ended there, at least for the moment. They made their way through the bar's crowd with ease and found a large table that wasn't so far away from the bar that getting drinks would be annoying but not so close that they had to be worried about being overheard by the bartender. They still had the leering older men wondering the place to deal with, but Felix got a general impression that there was no escaping that.

There was some discussion about not wanting to lose their table even though Felix thought the likelihood of that was slim. Kyle suggested waiting until Will arrived (and made no mention of Nico) so there would be someone to watch their table. Felix wasn't exactly sure what Kyle was thinking with that one, but in the end, it didn't matter because Dean reminded him that he didn't have a fake ID so he could stay at the table while Felix bought his drink. Dean suggesting Felix buy anything was a surprise but not a bad one.

"How don't you have a fake ID?" Kyle ended up asking Dean with bewilderment, "You're in college."

Felix had asked the same question the first time Dean mentioned he didn't have a fake ID, although Felix's shock had been he had been in high school without one. The general feel of the question was the same, though. Of course, when Felix had first brought it up, he and Dean weren't dating yet, so he didn't know the details of Dean's home life. Now that he had that knowledge, it all made sense, but at the time, it seemed absurd.

Dean's response to Kyle was almost identical to the reaction Felix had gotten almost two years earlier. He shrugged casually as he replied, "I've never needed one."

Kyle sputtered for a second before reiterating, "But you're in college."

Dean's only reply was to shrug again. Dean wasn't going to explain that he always had unfettered access to alcohol if he wanted it, so something like a fake ID didn't make sense to him. He certainly wasn't going to waste his money on one.

"All the people he hangs out with are older," Felix interjected so they could move on. He patted Dean on the shoulder, ignoring the fact that he had to get up on his toes a little to do it so and gave him a sarcastic smile, "Don't worry, I've got you covered, College Boy."

Dean smirked back at him as he replied dryly, "My hero."

One playful eye roll, and then Felix was off to the bar with Kyle in tow. Considering the place wasn't that crowded, the bar itself was pretty busy. Felix blamed all the old dudes for that. Whatever the reason, he and Kyle ended up standing at the bar waiting for the bartender to notice their existence for a while.

As they waited, Felix pulled on his wallet and dug through the variety of cards and other random shit he had shoved in there to find his fake ID slide behind a stack of used gift cards. It wasn't the most obvious spot to keep it, but it wasn't exactly well hidden either. He was surprised his dad hadn't found it by now. After Leonard had found out about Dean, he had search everything Felix own on more than one occasion.

"Won't the out-of-state ID draw more attention?" Kyle asked as he leaned over Felix's shoulder.

"Don't know," Felix admitted with a shrug as he looked down at the fake Vermont license, "But I guess we'll see." Honestly, if anything was going to be a problem, according to the ID, Felix was almost twenty-six years old. Hopefully, the bartender wasn't too good at mental math because there was no way Felix looked that old.

Felix actually got a little worried when the bartender finally made his way toward them because the guy looked annoyed, but then it became clear that some middle-aged dude was trying to hit on the guy from the other end of the bar. As soon as he was away from that, he cheered right up, took their drink orders, barely looked at their ID's and started on their drinks.

Felix had ordered two beers for himself and Dean while Kyle had ordered some mixed drink, so Felix was handed his beers first and headed back to the table while Kyle remained behind. When he got back to the table, he found that Will and Nico had arrived, and they had apparently brought a third.

"Hey, Cecil," Felix greeted as he deposited one beer in front of Dean before taking a seat. "Wasn't expecting to see you."

Felix liked Cecil, at least for the little he actually interacted with the guy when he was at camp. He was glad he was there if for no other reason then it made it so it wouldn't be two couples and Kyle the whole night. Still, the guy hanging out at a gay bar seemed at least slightly risky if he was still trying to keep quiet about actually being gay thing, not that Felix was going to mention that.

Cecil shrugged, and he might have even had something to say, but Dean interrupted him by tapping Felix's shoulder and catching his attention before Cecil got a chance. "Where's Kyle?" he asked as he looked over Felix's head as if he was still looking.

"Waiting for his drink."

"And you left him!?!" Will questioned with absolute shock.

That was the type of reaction that had made Felix not like Will at first. Okay, it was one of the many things that had made Felix not like Will at first. The guy could just be so dramatic and over the fucking top about small shit. And yeah, Felix now sort of got why but that didn't make it any less annoying at the moment.

"He's a big fucking boy," Felix assured dismissively, "He can take care of himself."

Felix picked up his beer and took a long sip before turning back to Cecil, "What brings you to boring as fuck Tennessee."

"Hey!" Dean protested.

Felix didn't bother to turn to look at Dean, but he did reach out and patted his cheek dismissively. "I love you, but I hate this boring as fuck state, accept it."

Cecil chuckled at their interaction. Felix guessed, even though that was pretty much par for the course for them. "Will and Nico invited me to Thanksgiving," he explained.

"Cool," Felix replied with a nod even though he wasn't sure about that. Camp Half-Blood had pretty good food, and Felix would imagine that they put out an impressive spread for the holidays. Maybe it was depressing to hang out when many campers were away for the school year to spend with their families. Everyone needed a change of scenery every once and a while. At least he wouldn't be missing out on some damn good food because Dean's aunt was a fucking incredible cook.

A surprisingly loud buzzing sound began coming from his pocket, and Felix pulled out his phone, half-convinced it would be a message from his dad saying he had to go home because that would be a very fucking Leonard thing to do. Luckily, it was just a text message from Kyle, even though Felix couldn't think of why Kyle would have to text him when they were literally in the same fucking place.

OMG, come to the bar, NOW!

Felix had no fucking clue what that was about, but he didn't see how he got out of it, so he guessed he was going to have to go back to the bar. "Um, alright," he declared with a heavy sigh as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. "I'll be right back," he informed before hopping off his seat.

He only had to walk about halfway back to the bar to find Kyle standing with his drink in hand, half-hidden behind a wall craning his neck as he stared in the direction of their table. Felix had to admit that wasn't what he had been expecting, and he had no fucking idea what it meant.

"Alright, you got a drink, so now I'm confused," He admitted as he pointed to the drink in Kyle's hand, "Why did I have to come over here?"

Kyle looked at Felix for maybe a second before glancing first at his drink, and then he was back to trying to see their table through the crowd. "Who's the mysterious handsome with Will?" he asked instead of acknowledging Felix's question at all.

Felix looked back toward their table with confusion. He seriously didn't know who the fuck Kyle was talking about. "You've met Nico before," he reminded because that was the only thing that made sense even though it only barely did.

Kyle turned and glared at Felix like he was an absolute idiot. "You are such a fucking ass," he responded with more contempt than Felix had ever heard from Kyle before. "I have zero interest in Will's punk rock underwear model boyfriend, thank you very much."

Every once in and while, Kyle would insist that he wasn't bothered by the fact that Will was dating someone and that he was totally over his crush, and then there were moments like this where it was painfully apparent that neither of those things was true. Felix felt bad for Kyle and was impressed that he managed to make "underwear model" sound like an insult.

Kyle didn't want Felix's sympathy, and he wouldn't appreciate him pointing out that Will and Nico were a great couple either. So Felix just rolled his eyes as he commented sarcastically, "And you're not bitter at all."

Kyle just ignored him and huffed, "The cute guy with the curls."

"Who?" Felix questioned before looking back toward the table again. There was only one person there with curls, but Kyle couldn't have been talking about him, right? "Cecil?"

"That's even a cute name!" Kyle cooed.

What the fuck was happening? Felix thought to himself.

"No, it fucking isn't," Felix replied with absolute bewilderment. Felix liked Cecil but considering the guy wasn't a ninety-year-old man. His name didn't fit him at all. And since when did anyone comment on another person's name being cute?

Kyle glared at him again, which was really starting to feel like a weird turnaround in their friendship. "Who is he?" Kyle questioned. He didn't wait for Felix to answer. Instead, Kyle turned, so he looked back at the table again as he continued to ask questions. "Is he single? Is he gay?" Kyle's eyes lit up, and he turned to look at Felix again, "Please tell me he's gay!"

Of all the things Felix had expected to happen that night, he could honestly say Kyle finding a new crush, at first sight, wasn't one of them. He didn't know how he felt about it either. He was all for Kyle moving on from the idea of Will because that was never going to happen, and Kyle was a cool enough guy and deserved to be happy, but another fucking demigod, really? That was not something Kyle wanted to get dragged into. The guy was fucking attracted to trouble, and he didn't even fucking know it. The worse thing about it, Felix knew exactly why Kyle shouldn't get his hopes up, but he couldn't say shit about it.

"Oh my god," Felix groaned and rolled his eyes, "You are fucking hopeless." Hopefully, Kyle would take that statement to mean that Cecil was straight and would just let it go. "Come on, I'll introduce you," he stated and waved for him to follow.

They walked back to the table. At some point, Kyle ended up a few steps behind him like he was fucking hiding or something, which was especially dumb because Kyle was the same height as Dean, so he was at least a head taller than Felix.

"Hey, what did we miss?" Felix questioned as he went right back to his seat next to Dean. That, of course, was the moment he realized that the only empty chair left was between himself and Cecil. That was inconvenient but not nearly as annoying as Kyle sharply poking him in the back the moment Felix had sat down. The point was taken, so Felix gestured to Kyle to do the whole introduction thing. "Oh yeah, this is Kyle," Felix then gestured around the table without much enthusiasm as he continued, "You've met Nico and know Will, and that's Will's friend Cecil."

"Hey," Kyle greeted with a bit of wave and a smile. Of course, he seemed to look at Will and Cecil and completely ignored Nico's very existence. Baby steps, Felix guessed.

There were waves and a few greetings. Nico might have seemed a little less enthused, which was kind of funny. Felix remembered hearing some vague story about Nico putting a skeleton in some guy's bed because he showed an interest in Will. Maybe that was what Kyle needed.

"Again, sorry we took so long," Will offered, apparently unaware of Nico's subtle disapproval of Kyle's presence. "We had kind of a hard time finding a place to park."

"They were arguing about Will's driving and kept driving past parking spots," Cecil informed with a smirk.

It was an amusing thought. Felix had never really seen the two bicker before. Usually, they were too busy being all over each other to do things like that. Felix didn't get to enjoy his amusement long because Kyle had to chime in. "These two did that too!" he exclaimed with far too much excitement as he pointed at Dean and Felix. The pointing especially seemed unnecessary, considering it was obvious who he was talking about.

Nico smirked slightly in a way Felix guessed was sort of mysterious. He didn't see it personally, but that didn't really matter. "That doesn't surprise me," he commented knowingly.

"We don't bicker…like….at all," Felix defended, and it was the truth. He and Dean could easily break into lively debates over absolutely meaningless shit, and Felix was pretty sure most of the time they both dug down on their side to drag it out, but that wasn't bickering. Hell, at times, that was practically fucking foreplay. Felix couldn't see how it could be mistaken for actual fighting.

"Oh, I know," Nico admitted, "It's just in my limited experience Dean's driving is…interesting."

"Bad," Will interjected, "Dean's driving is bad."

"You didn't complain when I drove you to school every day," Dean commented even though he didn't have the heat behind his words for them to have any real impact.

Nico seemed to ignore Dean and Will's little exchange and focused his attention on Felix as he continued, "And you have a tendency to be….vocal."

Felix really didn't know how to take that. If it were anyone else, he would have probably taken offense, but with Nico, he just couldn't. Nico wasn't the type to sling insults, or at least that Felix was aware. So he was at a complete loss, and if it had been a year earlier, Felix would have covered his bewilderment with some comment that would have come out way more hostile than he meant it to be, but Felix was really fucking trying to be better than that. Instead, he tried to make a joke out of it by turning to Dean with a fake look of outrage and questioning, "Did your cousin just call me a screamer?"

"I don't think so," Dean replied, although he didn't sound as certain as he probably should have, "But I could see how it could sound that way."

"Well, are you?" Kyle questioned with a laugh in his voice and a smirk on his face before Felix could even think of something else to say.

Felix wasn't overly loud in bed. Of that, Felix was sure. Actually, Dean was louder, at least when he bottomed, and even then, Felix wouldn't call Dean a screamer. There was no way Felix was explaining any of that to Kyle, and Kyle knew it. That was probably why he asked, to get a bit of a rise out of him.

Felix responded with a glare that, in reality, didn't have as much heat behind it as it would have it was anyone else that asked.

Dean missed the memo about not answering questions about their sex life because he gave it a moment's thought before answering, "Not normally."

Felix actually wouldn't have cared if he could have been classified as a screamer. All that would mean was he was vocal while enjoying sex. Sex was amazing, so why shouldn't he be vocal about it? Also, he knew he loved it when Dean got loud during sex because it usually meant he was losing his damn mind from the fucking pleasure, and that was sexy as fuck. That didn't stop him from giving Dean a 'What the hell man?' look. If nothing else, it gave Felix something to tease Dean about later, which was always fun.

Nico chuckled, and it was hard to tell if it was from amusement or nerves. It could have been both. "I just meant you don't seem to be shy about giving your opinion," he offered.

It was really fucking hard to take anything Nico said as offensive, but Felix was pretty sure if anyone else said that to him, he would have been bothered. "I guess," he muttered in reluctant agreement.

"Yeah, that's very true," Dean agreed, maybe a little more enthusiastically than was really warranted, at least in Felix's opinion, "Also, irrelevant because I wasn't the one driving."

"Oh," Nico exclaimed with obvious surprise, "I retract my previous statement then. What were you arguing about then?"

"Parking," Felix answered.

Kyle hissed like he had something to say about that, but Felix shot him a look because he really didn't need Kyle offering his opinion on the matter. That was enough for Kyle to think better of it. "Well, parking was definitely part of it."

Dean was smart enough to remain silent on the topic, and Kyle already seemed to be distracted by making eyes at Cecil (and Cecil seemed more into that than Felix would have liked). Felix guessed it was better than Kyle just spending the night openly ogling Will, so he let it go for the moment being.

Nico was quick to offer a change of topic. "Is someone going to come to take our order?" he asked as he looked around expectant.

Considering what Nico looked like and what he did for a living, Felix imagined he usually didn't even have to order a drink at a bar. People probably just brought him drinks in hopes that he would acknowledge their existence. Nico did seem like a down-to-earth guy, so Felix figured he wouldn't expect something like that, but he was probably just used to that sort of thing.

"This isn't Gladiators," Will reminded, "I think we have to go to the bar."

Not entirely surprising, Nico looked confused by the idea, which confirmed what Felix had suspected. He was a smart guy, so Felix was pretty sure he would figure it out. Besides, there was still a chance someone would present him with a drink in the hopes of getting a chance to bang an underwear model before he ever made it to the bar.

"The bartender barely looks at your ID, so it isn't a big deal," Kyle assured.

Good for him, Felix thought. He could tell Kyle was trying to be nice even though he disliked Nico at least a little for the simple fact that Will and Nico were dating.

"Perfect," Cecil declared as he pulled a wallet out of his pocket and dropped it on the table before moving to another pocket and producing another wallet. Cecil made at least half a dozen wallets from various places on his person appear in a matter of thirty seconds. "Let's see what I have to work with."

Cecil started flipping through the wallets in front of them in a way that made it very clear that he had some experience with that sort of thing. That reminded Felix that Cecil was the child of Hermes, and Hermes is the god of thieves. He wasn't sure if he should be horrified or amused by what he was seeing.

The look on Kyle's face was definitely tipping it more into the amusing category. He was clearly fluctuating between absolute shock and confusion, and his expressions were so extremely exaggerated it reminded Felix of a cartoon.

To Kyle's credit, he didn't stay silent, but that wasn't surprising. Kyle usually didn't have a problem speaking his mind. "Um…." Kyle hummed and then pointed toward the pile of wallets on the table, "Are all of those your wallets?"

Kyle continued to flip through the wallets, pulling out IDs and credit cards as he did. "Well, I mean, they are in my possession now," he offered. Pausing briefly after tossing one of the IDs aside, and looked up just a little in Kyle's direction. Felix thought he saw the smallest of flirtatious smiles spread across Cecil's face directed toward Kyle, but that couldn't have the case. "And you know what they say about that," he offered.

So stolen. That was pretty much what Felix had figured. Even if he didn't know Cecil was the demigod child of the god of thieves, it was more than evident. Will apparently wasn't so quick on the uptake because he sounded genuinely outraged when he shouted disapprovingly, "Cecil!"

"You know I can pay for everything, right?" Nico offered without clearly as much shock and outrage in his voice.

"That isn't the point," Cecil returned as he tossed the last of the wallets aside. He looked up and seemed to talk more to Will than anyone else even though he had a captive audience in Kyle from its looks. "It's about the challenge, and the guys around here are not much of a challenge."

"It's a gay bar," Felix reminded as he tried to contain a laugh, "Most guys are expecting a little fucking groping." That wasn't true for Felix, at least not in the sense of a stranger. Now Dean was another fucking story, and hopefully, that was how the night would end. But there were plenty of guys in the bar, and Felix had his money on the vast majority looking to hook up.

Next to him, Felix heard Dean laugh. "He isn't wrong," he admitted.

Cecil just shrugged unapologetically, "That doesn't mean they shouldn't mind their wallets."

Felix was fucking flashing forward to when Will and Nico had kids because the look of disappointment and disapproval on Will's face reminded Felix of disapproving parent. "That isn't a valid excuse for pickpocketing strangers," Will reprimanded.

"Don't worry, no one noticed," Cecil assured like that was the problem, the getting caught part and not the actual pickpocketing part. Felix almost laughed at Cecil's bravado. The thing was, Felix's dad thought he was studying at Kyle's, and if he found out Felix was really at a gay bar with Dean, Felix would be grounded for a fucking eternity. So if Cecil got caught pickpocketing people, that could present some problems. Cecil clearly didn't see the issue as he smiled brightly. "I'm very good," he stated with confidence.

Will's brain had apparently broke at some point because his only response was to stare at Cecil slack-jawed. Felix would think since Will and Cecil had been friends for a while, Will wouldn't have been so surprised. He got the feeling this was pretty standard for Cecil. Nico at least didn't seem overly surprised or worried about it. If anything, he seemed sort of amused by the whole thing, but it could be hard to tell with Nico.

"I'm going to get a drink," Nico declared as he hopped down from his chair. He looked between Will and Cecil briefly before asking, "Do you both just want a beer?"

"Sure," Cecil replied as he started to tuck away the various wallets he had collected into his pockets, "Thanks, Nico."

"Um, I guess," Will muttered uncertainly. Felix was pretty sure Will was just still too distracted by Cecil's kleptomania because it was seriously out of his character for him not to jump up to follow Nico around immediately.

You would think that Will simply refraining from following Nico around like a lovesick puppy would have been enough for Kyle but not. At least some part of his horny teenage brain viewed Nico as competition or at the very least as something close to an advisory which was just incredibly stupid, to say the least. Kyle decided that was the moment to get what seemed like it was meant as a dig. "Do you even have a fake ID?" Kyle asked Nico with almost a disgusting amount of doubt.

"No," Nico replied, "But I don't foresee that being a problem."

No one in their right fucking mind would look at Nico and believe he was twenty-one; of that, Felix was fucking sure. That didn't mean he didn't think Nico was probably right about his lack of an ID not being a problem. Not only was Nico good-looking, which seemed to go a pretty far way, but he also had a 'Don't fuck with me or else' vibe that was pretty fucking hard to argue with. Felix would bet the bartender wouldn't even bother to ask Nico for an ID.

Kyle at least had the common sense not to push the topic further, which satisfied Nico greatly if the glint in his eye and the slight grin that spread across his face was any indication. It wasn't an over-the-top expression by any means because it was fucking Nico. Felix was pretty sure the guy didn't know how to do over the top, or at least that kind of over the top. Even subtle, it was noticeable enough

It probably didn't help that after giving Kyle a few seconds of his victory face, Will decided to jump into the conversation in full lovesick puppy mode. Felix got that Will was oblivious to Kyle's lingering crush on him even though he had been told on multiple occasions, but how he missed the little exchange between Kyle and Nico, Felix didn't fucking understand. He had most definitely missed it never the less.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Will asked Nico.

"I'm sure I can handle it on my own," Nico replied with a shrug, "But if you want to, I could use the extra pair of hands."

That was all Will needed to hear. He hopped out of his chair like a tiger from Winnie the Pooh or some shit. "Be right back," he declared quickly before trotting after Nico as he headed toward the bar.

They watched the two walk-offs for a few seconds before they were lost to the crowd. "Oh, codependence," Felix commented dryly in hopes of cutting off any of Kyle's potential pouting. "I'm so glad that isn't a family trait because I'm pretty sure I would murder you," he added with a humorless smile directed at Dean.

Felix wasn't actually all that worried about that sort of thing. He and Dean were pretty independent, so neither would take on the relationship's lost puppy role. Sure, between texting and phone calls, they probably talked for hours most days, and Dean had been trying to talk Felix into applying to Berkeley so they could be at the same school, but that was just….different.

Next to him, Felix heard Kyle snicker at that comment. He was fucking loud about it, so Felix wouldn't have been surprised if half the fucking bar heard. Felix couldn't help but turn to look at him, and the amused fucking grin on his face was just even more fucking confusion.

What the fuck did I miss?

Felix probably should have just let it go but hated feeling like everyone knew something he didn't. "What?" he asked as he stared at Kyle critically.

"Nothing," Kyle assured, but he sounded far too amused to be even remotely believed. Before Felix could push any further, Kyle had already turned his attention to Cecil and changed the subject. "Um, so Cecil, what brings you to Tennessee?" Kyle asked with a smile. He was clearly trying to be friendly, but it was over the top, so Felix found it awkward. It was also pretty out of character for Kyle. It was an interesting development, to say the least.

"Oh, Will invited me to Thanksgiving," Cecil answered with a bit of a shrug, "And Nico insisted. Saying no to Nico seems kind of …."

"Dangerous?" Felix offered without even thinking about it. Nico was actually really nice, but he was also scary as fuck. Felix wouldn't want to tell him no either.

Dean was less than a second behind with an equally valid suggestion, "Terrifying?"

"Yeah," Cecil agreed with a laugh, "Pretty much."

"So, you had no choice," Felix summed up. He paused to sip at his beer before adding, "Only legitimate reason to come to Tennessee."

"Hey!" Dean immediately protested, "I honestly don't know how to take that."

Felix looked at Dean to find him staring back, looking genuinely outraged. Maybe that should have made Felix feel at least a little guilty because of that, but honestly, he found it a little funny. He didn't actually laugh, but it was a close call. "You should be fine with it," he retorted. "I can hate the state I met you in and still love you," Felix explained matter-of-factly before taking another sip of his beer.

Dean's reaction was precisely what Felix had hoped for. He grinned from ear to ear. "You love me? Really?" Dean leaned over and made a real fucking show of kissing Felix on the cheek, "Because I definitely love you."

It wasn't like Felix wasn't used to Dean being affectionate. He wasn't used to Dean being so openly affectionate in such a large crowd, but around friends was normal enough. He still blushed at it, which officially killed any chance he had to even try to play it cool. That didn't mean he wasn't going to try, but it did mean he knew going in it wouldn't work.

"God, you've had like two sips of beer," Felix grumbled under his breath even as his cheeks continued to burn, "You can't be like this already."

"So," Cecil point at them while looking at Kyle, "They are just as bad as Will and Nico?"

"Um," Kyle hummed, still being a bit awkward about the whole thing, "I'm more used to these two, but yeah, they're pretty cutesy."

Felix swallowed down the urge to argue that by taking a large sip of his drink. Dean got kind of cutesy when he had a few drinks in him, but otherwise, they weren't like that at all. Besides the few affectionate gestures, they acted just like they did when they were just friends. He even got Kyle to admit that he claimed that didn't mean they weren't cutesy a few times. It wasn't worth arguing about, Felix was sure, so once he swallowed his drink, he went to change the topic. "Alright, Cee," Felix declared, "Why did Will drag to this great state for the great food holiday?" The state of Tennessee might have sucked by Will's mom was a fucking fantastic cook. In Felix's opinion, her cooking rivaled the food at Camp Half-Blood, so at least Cecil was in for a treat.

"Sympathy, I guess," Cecil replied with a shrug, "He's making a bigger deal over the breakup than either me or Lou are."

Felix opened his mouth to say without even thinking about the fact that he would be outing Cecil. Luckily Dean saved him from accidentally spilling the beans before Felix got a chance. "You guys broke up?" Dean questioned with great disappointment in his voice, "Sorry to hear that."

"It's cool," Cecil assured a little awkwardly before adding, "We are better friends."

Felix guessed that was one way to put it, considering that Cecil was gay. He guessed Cecil had finally worked up the nerve to end his fake relationship but not enough to tell people he was gay. Felix wasn't judging, but he figured pretending to be upset about a breakup would get old fucking fast.

"That's a positive attitude to have," Kyle chimed in, and suddenly the awkward energy he had just a few moments before was gone, and Kyle seemed way too excited to hear about Cecil's break.

Felix liked Kyle, but the boy was beyond fucking obvious. How anyone thought he was straight, Felix would never fucking understand. He also had horrible taste in guys. First, he spends years drooling over Will, and now he was getting hot and bothered over Cecil. Sure, Cecil was an improvement but still.

Cecil sort of smiled at Kyle, and it struck Felix that this might be a problem. Luckily Nico and Will decided that was the moment to reappear, drinks in hand, and they interrupted the whole thing before either Kyle or Cecil could attempt any awkward flirting that Felix would have to stop.

"We are back," Nico declared as he placed his drink on the table before pushing himself up into his chair.

"And we have drinks," Will declared from half a step behind Nico, holding up the two beers he was carrying as proof. He placed one beer in front of his seat before placing the other squarely in front of Cecil. "There was actually a guy about to send you a drink," Will told Cecil as he took his seat. He waved his hand in what Felix was sure was met to be a reassuring gesture as he added, "Don't worry, I told him you were straight."

Felix had to physically bite his tongue to stop himself from calling Will a cock block which made him wonder if this was going to be a problem. They were in a fucking gay bar, and Cecil wasn't a horrible-looking guy. If Will was going to keep help his friend out by explaining Cecil was straight, Felix didn't know if he would be able to take it. He was going to slip up and say something he shouldn't and outing Cecil like a fucking asshole.

Maybe he just had a lot of practice because he had to lie about all the demigod stuff, but Cecil did an impressive job of hiding any disappointment or frustration he might have been feeling. "Thanks," he replied. He wasn't exactly enthusiastic, but he didn't sound annoyed either.

"Um…..," Kyle hummed, which matched the confused look he was wearing quite well. His one finger in the air to signal he had a question was a bit much but to each their own.

"Lou is short for Lou Ellen," Dean offered quickly.

Kyle, unlike Cecil, did not school his emotions at all. The guy visibly deflated as he tried to cover (poorly) by saying, "Oh, that's an interesting name."

Felix had to admit that he did feel a little bad. Kyle was a cool enough guy, and he really shouldn't have to wait until college to date. But, at the same time, it really was for the best. Kyle did not need all that crazy demigod shit in his life. It was better for him just to think Cecil was straight than for Felix to have to play interference all night.

#Delix #Solangelo #other OCs

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moss-lyman · 3 years

Text

r20ebecca asked for: Can you pleaseee do “god you’re so fucking cute please??? J/D post series ❤️❤️❤️

so that’s exactly what I did :)

pointless J/D fluff. post-series.

Josh is leaning against the kitchen island watching as Donna flits around the living room pulling odds ans ends out of the few smaller boxes still needing to be unpacked. He’s been trying to figure out what she’s doing for the past five minutes, but for the life of him, he still can’t tell. She grabs his small blue Democrat donkey from law school and places it on one shelf, only to think better of it and place it one shelf lower. She goes over to the couch where she’s laid out some other little knick knacks and decides which one to put up next.

She’s clearly organizing, but he can’t see her line of thought, so he continues to watch her as she snags a pressed and framed purple lilac from New Hampshire and place it to the right of the donkey. There’s a small Harvard flag that she places at the top of the shelf next to a big red W from Wisconsin and it isn’t until she puts a picture of them from Hawaii where she’s got a dark green bikini on above the donkey that it clicks.

“God, you’re so fucking cute.”

“What?” she asks, turning to look at him with confusion on her face.

He grins. ”You’re organizing that bookshelf into a rainbow, aren’t you?”

She stops and looks at him innocently. “Well, it was either this or chronological order, but this looks prettier, so...”

He chuckles to himself and walks over to her. “You’re adorable,” he murmurs and kisses her quickly. “A freak. But still adorable.”

She huffs. “This was a dusty eyesore when you were in charge of it. Now it’s nice and neat, so make fun all you want—“

“I’m not making fun of you,” he argues. “I just called you cute and adorable.”

“In a condescending way,” she grumbles and steps away from him to finish her task. “And you called me a freak.”

“Well. You are,” he shrugs. “I called you that from the beginning as soon as I saw your little... what did you call it? The spinny thing you had on your desk?”

“Organization Station.”

“Exactly. Freak.”

She stares at him for a moment. “You know, your chances of getting laid tonight just shot way down,” she states primly and spins away from him again.

He smiles again as she places a more medium sized electoral map from a few weeks ago onto the middle shelf. He knows it’s bothering her that the red and blue filled states don’t match her color coordination, but she makes it work before placing a gold colored candle next to it. The last row is a small stack of books including Abbey Bartlet’s memoir, a Jewish bible that belonged to Josh’s father, and The Art and Artistry of Alpine Skiing.

She places a silver longhorn statue next to the purple lilac frame and throws a Hawaiian leis around the horns before stepping back and looking at her handiwork. The only items remaining are various pictures — a polaroid of the two of them asleep on the bus with their heads together during the first Bartlet campaign. Another of them with CJ, Toby, and Sam at some black tie event he can’t remember, and a third one of just him and Leo on stage together only a few months ago at a rally. His heart lurches at that and he moves to wrap his arm around her waist as they look at the shelf.

Her final touch is to hang the Bartlet for America badge he’d given her so long ago on one of the corners, and he kisses her temple. It’s a bookshelf of them and his smile grows at the thought of getting to add more to it as the years go by.

“It is pretty,” he says and pulls out the dimples. “Like you.”

She purses her lips at his cheeky smile and nudges him in the side with her elbow, but keeps leaning into his hold. “We’ve had a little life already, haven’t we?” she asks, looking over everything.

That familiar wave of affection for her washes over him and makes his heart grow about four sizes. He never thought about it that way before, but she’s right. He always thought they wasted so much time, but he looks at this collection and all he can see is the story of them falling in love. He wouldn’t change that for anything.

“Yeah,” he whispers and squeezes her shoulder. “We have.”

She turns to him. “You wanna make dinner? I think I want tacos.”

His stomach flips at the simple domesticity. They only moved her in officially a couple days ago and he never wants to get used to the feeling he gets when he realizes that this is actually his life now. Their life.

Donna doesnt wait for him to answer, just steps away and goes to the kitchen to start pulling out random cookware and it makes him smile that she already knows where everything is because they’ve done this a thousand times before. Only this time he can come up behind her and grab her hips to press a kiss to her neck as she flicks on a burner.

“You want steak or hamburger?” he asks, still pressed up against her.

“You pick. They’re both already thawed.”

“Okay,” he says, but he doesn’t move.

“Josh.”

“Hm?”

She laughs. “You need to let go of me in order to access the fridge.”

Josh kisses her neck and shoulder again before finally moving away from her to grab the supplies for dinner and they work in tandem together; Donna in charge of the meat and Josh chopping up vegetables.

“What time are you going in tomorrow?” she asks as she stirs the taco seasoning into the hamburger.

“Early. He’s got more UN reps to call.”

“That’ll take a few hours.”

“Yes.” He throws the lettuce and tomatoes into separate bowls and wipes his hands on the towel on his shoulder. “What about you?”

“We’re going to the house in the morning and then schools. She’s still set on public education.”

“Secret Service won’t like that.”

Donna shrugs and drops the spatula into the pan. “I think parents of the other kids will. That’ll be the safest public school in America.”

They bring everything to the table and sit down. Donna helps herself immediately, but Josh just watches her, a small smile on his face. He braces a hand on her thigh so he can lean over and kiss her cheek before grabbing his own tortilla. She gives him an amused look and he shrugs.

“I told you; you’re cute. I can’t help it.”

“But I haven’t been doing anything cute.”

“You can be doing absolutely nothing and still be cute,” he assures. “It’s a special gift you have.” She grins at him and he looks up at her. “You’re doing it right now.”

“Come here,” she says and gives his own cheek a kiss, making his dimples peek through. “You’re pretty cute, too. When you’re not being a pain in my ass.”

“Cute enough to have my sex privileges reinstated for later?”

“I think doing the dishes will serve well enough for punishment about the name calling.”

“Done,” he answers instantly and she shakes her head at him before taking a bite. He keeps looking at her, though. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

She glances up at him smiles softly. “Me too,” she murmurs. “Now eat. Your dreamy little lovestruck face is distracting me and I’m starving.”

He bites his lip to stave off the quip on his tongue and only nods. “Yes, ma’am,” he says and goes back to eating.

He’ll admire her some more later.

#my fic #josh x donna #the west wing #this kind of got away from me

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written-on-the-trees · 3 years

Text

Do You Believe In Love At First, Or Should I Pass By Again? - Machine Gun Kelly Fan Fiction

Word Count: 2675 words

Warnings: None

Summary: Colson meets a woman in a venue bar who doesn't know who he is, and bad pick-up lines ensue.

Where else can you find this: Ao3 | Wattpad

Colson sat at the bar, staring into his drink.

He was feeling...maudlin. It was one of Dom's weird British words, but even without the man beside him, Colson felt it was appropriate, being in London and all.

And because he was fucking miserable.

Maybe it was just because he'd had a bit too much to drink, hadn't smoked, and had now drunk way too much for it to be a good idea to start now, but he felt like shit. He was on his own for once, and even though it was by his own decision, the empty feeling of being alone in a crowded place was starting to creep in. At first it had been fine, when he'd been riding high on the adrenaline of just being on stage, but an hour that adrenaline was starting to fade and he was starting to regret sending everyone on to party without him.

He was debating going to catch up with them versus just going back to the house they were staying at, when a short woman dressed in black sauntered up next to him. Goth chicks weren't usually his type, but she had enough of a figure to grab his attention. He turned in his seat to flirt with her, but to Colson's surprise she ignored him completely, flagging down the bar tender and ordering a drink without giving him a second glance.

Well, clearly she wasn't here to see me tonight.

Normally, he would've let it go...but tonight he needed a distraction, and charming someone who seemed indifferent to him seemed like the perfect diversion.

Obviously, it didn't hurt that the woman was good looking as fuck. Five foot something of curves poured into torn fishnets, a black leather mini-skirt, and a ripped black denim jacket over a white t-shirt with an interesting crying angel in a lightning bolt design on the front. She flicked straight, silky black hair over her shoulder after she ordered, revealing deep purple lips bisected by a shining silver ring that Colson instantly wanted to bite at, and heavily made up eyes that finally looked over at him. Her grey eyes slid over him, taking him in, and obviously finding him wanting if the vague curl of her lip was anything to go by

He probably shouldn't find that hot, but...he did.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her accent making her words seem all the more insulting...and Colson was still into it.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if your name was Google?" he smirked: "Because you're everything I've been searching for."

Grey eyes rolled heavenwards, a sigh escaping purple lips: "Really?"

Colson grinned: "I've got other lines, if you didn't like that one."

"Maybe I just don't like you."

The words were bitchy as fuck, so much so Colson actually winced...but it was still kind of hot, and he laughed even as he was wincing.

He wasn't usually into this mean girl shit, especially not when it was directed at him, but...apparently he really was a bit fucked up tonight. It probably would've been sensible to examine why that might be, but Colson wasn't feeling up to any kind of introspection right now. It seemed like a lot more fun to just try and get her to be mean to him again.

If he got lucky, she might keep it up all night.

"That's okay; I grow on people. I'm like mould."

That, at least, seemed to get an amused snort out of the woman, even if her expression was still a little guarded: "Your words, mate."

"Yeah? Speaking of words: are you a dictionary? 'Cause you’re adding meaning to my life."

Now the woman groaned, but the sound was playful, and there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips, the guarded look melting away: "You need to stop."

"But I'm having so much fun." Colson grinned: "Pick-up lines are great. Try using one back, you'll see."

"I don't know. For some reason, I have been feeling a little off today..." she pulled a thoughtful expression, before suddenly smirking: "...but then you came along, and you definitely turned me on."

Colson burst out laughing, before taking another sip of his drink: "Nice. You got game, English, but I'm not sure you're up to my level yet."

"English? Alright, America." the grey eyed girl half-smirked-half-sneered, the expression mocking but not bitchy: "And I can assure you, if you want to play that game, you're going to end up calling me 'your majesty'. Because I fucking rule."

"That right?"

"Yeah, America. That's right."

Well, if that wasn't a challenge, Colson didn't know what was. And Machine Gun Kelly never backed down from a challenge. He didn't have it in him.

Even if this woman didn't know who he was, that would just make playing this game with her all the more fun.

Colson leaned towards English, a smile curling his lips: "Let's go, then. I’d say God Bless you, but it looks like he already did."

"Didn't need him to; I’m always on top of things. Would you like to be one of them?"

"You sure? You said you weren't feeling yourself today...wanna feel me instead?"

"You wish." she laughed, throwing her head back in a way that made her lip-ring glint in the dim light of the bar and exposed the bare skin on her neck, which Colson suddenly wanted to leave hickies all over...before getting distracted by the grey eyed girl's crooked smirk: "Did you know my lips are like Skittles - if you're good, you might just get to taste the rainbow."

"And here I thought it was the Pepsi that was making you look so-da-licious." Colson winked.

"Oh, America, clearly your brain isn't working properly...maybe it's because you're deficient in vitamin me."

"Speaking of vitamins, did you take your Vitamin D today, or did you need me to give you a hand?"

"How about we play Titanic instead. You’ll be the iceberg, and I’ll go down." English winked, and Colson lost it laughing.

She was overdoing it so much, he knew she wasn't actually flirting with him with that one.

The others might have been questionable in terms of whether she might be interested in him, but that one was just an attempt to knock him off his game - and it had been so unexpected that it worked. From the smug little smile on her face, she knew it too.

Colson didn't mind that he'd lost; it'd been fun going back and forth like he had, and now that she'd warmed up a bit this chick had a good energy; less bitchy, and more sarcastic. He liked it. He liked that she could match him; even if he didn't end up leaving with her tonight, he'd enjoy hanging at the bar with someone who could meet him joke for joke, or pick-up line for pick-up line, than he would fucking someone who was silent through half their interaction for whatever reason. Quiet women were never his type; he liked girls with attitude.

And this woman had it by the fucking boatload.

She was leaning back in her barstool, openly examining him, arms crossed over her chest and one leg thrown over the other. She was the picture of quiet confidence, all relaxed but still sitting tall. Some guys might be put off by her lack of fawning, but not Colson.

He just leant in again with his most charming smirk firmly in place.

"So, since you won, would you let me buy you a drink?"

"I've got one, thanks." she held up her glass of something - vodka and soda, if Colson was guessing by the clear colour - before taking a sip: "Why don't you tell me your name instead, loser?"

"Colson."

"Ah, shit. I was hoping I'd recognise it." she laughed: "You look kind of familiar, but maybe I just saw you in the crowd earlier."

He had walked through the crowd at one point...albeit in a hoodie and tucked between tWo security guards: "Maybe."

"That is literally the least convincing 'maybe' I ever heard." English rolled her eyes playfully: "But okay, Colson. I'm Rosie."

Rosie.

It shouldn't have fit her, a soft name for a woman that was anything but soft, but somehow it suited her. She owned it, wore it well. Just like she wore the blood red rose and black brambles tattooed on the back of her left hand...maybe that was why the name fit her. Beautiful in a prickly kind of way.

That certainly fit her.

Not that he was going to say that to her. Rosie, as bitchy as she had been to begin with, didn't seem like the kind of woman to take dubious accolades like 'prickly' as compliments, no matter how nicely they were meant. Colson got the sense the bitchy remarks at the beginning of their conversation had been attempt to shut him up and leave her alone. He'd gotten past that wall pretty quickly, but he was almost certain he could get pushed back outside it pretty quickly as well.

The more the spoke - about how he was finding London, about whether the UK or US did gigs better, about the band whose t-shirt she was wearing - the more Colson found himself liking Rosie. He'd already thought she had a good feeling about her, but the more he spoke to her the more that good feeling grew. She was a bit like Dom, in a way; less loud and energetic, but just as quick and just as unwilling to put up with anyone's shit, including Colson's. She didn't say anything, but she put out clear signs that she was not see him as someone she'd be interested in fucking tonight, and that if Colson tried to make that happen, he'd find himself alone faster than he could ask her to come back.

Colson respected that. As gorgeous as he still thought Rosie was - and as much as he still wanted to mark up her neck to let everyone know she'd let him do it, and bite at her lip ring while making out with her - he wasn't that kind of guy that pushed for what women didn't want to give him. Usually he was the kind to accept their denial and move on, but honestly he was having a better time just talking with Rosie than he had had in a while.

She just seemed to understand him, even when he was leaving gaps in his stories. He was just starting to tell her about Cassie, showing her his screensaver of him and his daughter together, about how frustrating it was that people didn't seem to trust him to parent his own damn kid, when a girl around Cassie's age appeared at Rosie's elbow.

"Hey Miss Barnes, the show's over. Grace's just queuing to go to the loo but she wanted me to go get our coats?"

Rosie turned and smiled at the kid, already fishing in her pockets for the little ticket stubs they gave out for the cloakroom here, when the kid turned to look at Colson. Her eyes widened, and she went a little pale, but when he smiled - because what the fuck else was he gonna do, glare at a thirteen year old girl who looked like she'd seen a ghost for no good reason? - she just dashed off with the stubs for the cloakroom clutched in her hand.

He was so busted.

Not yet, but as soon as Rosie was taking the kids home, they were going to tell her who she'd been talking to.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to go." Rosie announced, tone apologetic as she shrugged in a 'what can you do?' kind of way: "Downsides of chaperoning your niece and her friends to a gig, you're on their time-table."

"I would try and say something positive, but I struggle not giving in to one kid, let alone a bunch of them." he returned: "Maybe if you get a day that you're not on anyone else's schedule, you could give me a call? I'm in London for a few more days."

Rosie looked surprised, but she nodded: "Sure. You want my number?"

"I'll give you mine." Colson pulled a sharpie from the pocket of his jeans, scrawling his number on the back of one of his bar receipts: "I'd lose my head if it weren't screwed on, but my phones usually just as attached to me as my head is anyway."

And this way, if she didn't want to talk to him again, the decision was hers and hers alone.

Seemed fair, considering she wasn't going to know who he actually was until after he was too far away for her to turn him down to his face. Colson couldn't deny he would be pretty upset if he never heard from her again, but it would be better than him reaching out to her and her ignoring him. He had a fairly thick skin when it came to rejection - he had to, by now - but he was certain Rosie would prove an exception to that rule.

Best to give her his number and just hope she gave him a chance to explain why he had half-lied to her.

"Great. Speak to you soon, Colson." Rosie took the receipt and tucked it into the black purse that was slung over her shoulder.

Colson smiled, but the expression felt a little hollow: "Speak to you soon."

He hoped he hadn't just lied again.

MESSAGE FROM AN UNKNOWN NUMBER

So, I might've seen you in the crowd, huh?

Colson blinked at his phone for a few seconds, still half-asleep but for once not hungover or coming down, last night coming back to him in a sudden flash, cutting through the fog of sleep quicker than the lightning bolt on a certain t-shirt last night.

Rosie.

Unlocking his phone with fumbling fingers - not that he'd ever acknowledge that to anyone if they saw it - Colson rushed to respond to Rosie's text message, worrying his lower lip between his teeth as he did:

If it helps, I did walk through the crowd at one point.

So you might of.

As opposed to recognising you from when you were on stage?

Yeah, seems likely.

I'm sorry?

There were a few minutes of no response, with Colson holding onto his phone and watching the chat screen, trying not to worry about what Rosie might be thinking.

Would she be thinking of the nicest way to let him down gently? Or maybe the harshest way to tell him to fuck off? Was she going to change now she knew he had a degree of wealth and fame? She hadn't seemed like the type...but he'd really only had one conversation with her. And that conversation had been just two people at a bar. Colson didn't think he was being egotistical when he worried him being Machine Gun Kelly could change things.

It's fine.

I probably wouldn't have told you if I was famous, either.

You telling me you're not a model? Damn, pretty sure I thought I recognised you from a magazine.

It must've been a museum.

Because you truly are a work of art.

Really, mate, you wanna lose this game again?

Colson sighed in relief.

She was still calling him 'mate', and she was still challenging him to play dumb games with her, just like last night. Finding out who he was hadn't changed shit.

He hadn't irreparably fucked anything up.

I'm not hearing any comeback, flower power.

Oh, it's fucking on now, America.

You must be a broom, because you just swept me off my feet.

Colson grinned, racking his brain for a good response as he hauled himself out of bed and headed down towards the kitchen to make himself a coffee. He was going to need it, to keep up with Rosie.

And he was almost unreasonably happy about that.

#The Trees Writes #Machine Gun Kelly imagine #Machine Gun Kelly fanfic #Machine Gun Kelly fan fic #Machine Gun Kelly fan fiction #MGK imagine #MGK fanfic #MGK fan fic #MGK fan fiction #Colson Baker imagine #Colson Baker fanfic #Colson Baker fan fic #Colson Baker fan fiction

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sixofreaders · 4 years

Text

yuu and shinoa friendship headcanons

this is set in an alternate universe where the war is over, humans and vampires have established their respective territories, and everyone is slowly rebuilding society. also everyone has a phone and social media exists. ferid is dead.

their apartments are right next to each other

their excuse is because they share the same braincell and people who share the same braincell should live near each other, so they can translate each other’s stupidity to the rest of the world

but really they just don’t want to be apart for long

they barge into each other’s rooms at the most ungodly hours, but always make sure to scream ‘IS ANYONE NAKED’ before entering

this is because one time shinoa walked in and mika was on top of yuu

and one time yuu walked in while shinoa was straddling mitsuba

their snapchat and instagram stories are just full of them trying to embarrass each other

shinoa, recording mikayuu holding hands: ‘oh my god, these bitches gay. good for them! good for them.’

a picture of yuu in his car, ‘i was driving shinoa to mitsuba’s place and she was cutting her nails the whole time i literally hate her’

a picture of a backpack, ‘yuu asked me to help him pack for a sleepover at mika’s and i saw this whore sneak in a bottle of lube’

but there’s also tons of pictures of them together

there’s a video of them trying to climb over their school walls

the next slide is a blurry picture of an adult man chasing after them with the words ‘YUU AND I GOT CAUGHT SKIPPING SCHOOL IM HDSKDFSDKH’

every day there’s a new selfie of them

selfies of them drinking milkshakes

selfies of them stuffing themselves with cheeseburgers

selfies of them visiting caffes and street vendors

selfies of them throwing fries into each other’s mouths

when the first zoo was built after the apocalypse, yuu and shinoa went there with their friends and decided to document the whole thing

shinoa, points to a giraffe, ‘that’s kimizuki-san’

points to a koala, ‘that’s yoichi-san’

points to a white leopard, ‘that’s mika’

points to a peacock, ‘that’s my beautiful girlfriend mii-chan’

points to a monkey, ‘and that’s yuu-san’

they organised the first post-apocalyptic pride event

yuu noticed a lot of people were having a hard time adjusting to a life without war, his friends included, so he decided a day where everyone could let loose and love whoever they want to love would be a good idea

shinoa agreed, and the two of them wanted to surprise their friends

they gave mitsuba a heart-shaped lesbian flag pin

they gave yoichi a t-shirt with the pansexual flag

they gave kimizuki a rainbow cap, since he doesn’t really label himself but he knows he likes guys

for mika, it was kind of hard since he’s never been interested in anyone besides yuu, so even he doesn’t know which way he swings

shinoa’s solution? a banner of an extremely terrible drawing of yuu’s face with rainbows and hearts scattered around

‘this is my masterpiece’

‘you butchered my fucking face that’s what you did’

‘THIS IS MY MASTERPIECE’

and as for yuunoa, they wore matching bisexual flags

they had a lot of fun there, took tons of pictures, kissed their respective s/o’s

maybe happiness is a gift they can get used to enjoying

shinoa has a tiktok and she actually likes doing the dances, she thinks they’re a fun and easy distraction from work

unfortunately yuu is almost always hijacking in the background

either he’s making weird faces or doing his own weird parody of the dance (that consists of an excessive amount of twerking and one middle finger)

yuu: ‘if you wanna see some real ass baby here’s your chance 🤪’

shinoa: ‘i literally hate you so much’

sayuri signs all of the teenagers up for veteran’s therapy

it was hard in the beginning, they have a lot of issues that they never sat down to talk about due to the looming threat of war

but now that the war is over, they actually have to confront all of their repressed trauma

‘hey have you ever thought that maybe the reason we never care about what we want is because we never had an adult figure that genuinely cared about us instead of just wanting to use us for their own personal agenda?’

‘oh definitely. wanna hit the gym and punch our feelings out?’

‘yeah let’s go’

they’re really trying to resolve their own issues and get better, but they still find the idea of opening up and not having their vulnerability used against them is an impossible thing

one day the two of them finally decided to have a long overdue talk about their feelings

they talk about the war, about the people they’ve lost, about the nightmares they still get in the middle of the night

they talk about how shinoa still dreams of crowley pinning her down and suffocating her, how yuu still dreams of dark wings piercing through his back, how shinoa can still see herself on the other end of a raised blade, how yuu can still feel horns sprouting on his head and the insatiable bloodlust that rises within him whenever that happens

they’re crying by the end of it

but they hug each other

and they sit on the balcony

looking at the city that’s slowly rebuilding

looking at the world they helped save

and they realize for the first time in their life, everything is truly, genuinely going to be okay

and if it isn’t, then they’ll always have their best friend here to support them

but no matter what happens, they finally have a chance to build a life together with the people they want

right here, right now,

after the war.

#owari no seraph #seraph of the end #hyakuya yuuichirou #hiiragi shinoa #yuu #shinoa #mikayuu #mitsunoa #hyakuya mikaela #mitsuba sanguu #yoichi saotome #shiho kimizuki #headcanon #yuu and shinoa #friendship #crowley eusford #ferid bathory #sayuri hanayori

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connorandersons-blog · 4 years

Text

The Perfect Interview

Connor is offered an interview with an elusive CEO of an upcoming company. He expected many things but not for the man to be absolutely gorgeous and the company to be perfect for him. Hopefully he can keep himself in check for the interview.

Or: You’re interviewing me for a job at your company, but you’re distractingly attractive and all I can picture is us making out on your desk.

(A RK1K fic!)

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

Connor straightens his tie for the fifth time since he had gotten dressed. Which was an hour and a half ago but he still felt his outfit was a bad decision. It wasn't like he even had that much to pick from, but still. A white button-down, nice slacks, and a tie seemed a bit too plain now.

But he couldn't go back now or he'd be late for his interview. His interview with a very prestigious CEO of a major upcoming company. Connor had heard so many things about the man but never had actually seen him. No one had, it was actually a pretty big mystery.

Connor assumed he'd be an old white man like every other CEO, but he wasn't going to judge. Hell, he was being offered the job interview, no way he was turning this opportunity down. To be head of security and even a possible bodyguard for said CEO was a massive opportunity. He knew he wasn't the only one to have gotten the offer but he had to make a good first impression.

Yet his hands shook as he stared up at the tall building he had arrived at. Connor actually adored the city, he loved having so many places he could go and most within walking distance. He had passed this very building plenty of times but never thought he'd work there.

The skyscraper towered above him as great monoliths of concrete and glass. But there was something rather unique about this one. It has balconies with plants and solar panels, but on the ground held even more green. It had an abundance of flowers meant to attract bees and Connor smiled.

The CEO may be allusive but he certainly cared about the planet, his customers, and his workers. That's what made this so incredible, it was a perfect company to work for. It has gotten threats because of its strong views, hence the need for more (new and improved) security for the company as a whole but also for the CEO.

He took in a slow deep breath before walking into the building. His breath was caught at the enormous tree growing in the middle of the large room. He hasn't expected that, but the tree was definitely real and looked rather healthy too. Comfortable benches with cushions let those sit and relax around the tree. Connor noted a coffee and tea stand that many stopped by. Most also handed over an identical card, while others used cash or something else

Many people roamed around and he was pleasantly shocked at the diversity. He even saw several people with mobility aids moving around as well. He felt his heart stutter at the very visible rainbow flag that said 'Love is Love'. Damn, he really wanted to work here.

Now to meet the CEO, well the receptionist who would send him up to the CEO's secretary who would then let him see the CEO. So, two people, he was guaranteed to meet first.

He walked up to the counter with a confident and friendly smile on his face. Though, his father had said he had a 'derpy smile and should stick with a indifferent face'. "Hello, my name is Connor Anderson and I'm here for an interview." His voice didn't even shake!

The woman looks up and smiles gently at him. That's something odd about her. No, not odd, different, and inquisitive. It's almost like she can see into his soul, it kind of makes him want to turn tail and run.

"Hello, it's wonderful to meet you. You will do well, Markus is on the top floor, you're free to go up now." She nodded towards the elevators and Connor couldn't help but give her an awkward smile.

That was a bit ominous but he shrugs it off as he makes his way to the elevators. There aren't many people in there but none seem too shocked he's going to the top, instead, they seem curious. Not in the cruel way some older adults are, but simply wondering who he was. He was a new face and it seemed plenty of people knew each other as they talked softly.

The elevator ride isn't long but it still feels like an eternity before he reaches the top. The top floor doesn't even have that much in it, not that Connor can see. There is a meeting room, which Connor assumes holds the most crucial meetings. There is the room where assumes the CEO will be behind, and three others that he can see.

There is also the secretary's area which is as large as a room but without a door. He walks up, and the woman sitting there looks up. Her face is fierce and almost stern as she looks him over. If he didn't know any better it would look like he was meat and she was deciding if he was good enough to eat or not. Not in the sexual way, though, he got massive lesbian vibes off her.

Her name tag said North, that was a unique name but oddly fitting and rather pretty too.

She is stunning, frown and all. Her strawberry blonde hair drapes over her shoulder in a loose braid, one perfectly shaped eyebrow raised. "Anderson. Connor Anderson, right?" She asks.

"Yes, that's me. I'm supposed to have an interview at 2?" He didn't lean on the counter, simply stood with his arms by his side, trying to appear open.

She nods and types something on her computer. "Alright, you can go in." She nodded to the door and Connor beamed at her.

"Thank you." She gave a small nod, watching him attentively. Damn, she could be security with the intensity of her stare. He definitely wouldn't fuck with anyone behind that door.

He knocked before entering, closing the door behind him. Oh shit. He would gladly fuck the man sitting there, though. His skin was a beautiful color, making his two-colored eyes stand out even more. He wore a wine red, slim-fit, three-piece suit. He had a black button-down making him look even sharper. He sat there in the aristocratic cutting lines of a great tailor, showing off the best parts of him.

The man had shoulders for days and when he stood up with a smile Connor was ready to melt. Or even drop to his knees. He was most definitely not a white old man.

Hot CEO who cared about people? Yeah, Connor was swooning. He also had a small scar over one of his eyes that had Connor transfixed. "H-hi, my name is Connor. I'm here for an interview." God, he was gay. So very, very gay. He was actually bi, but right now he only had eyes for the man in front of him.

"Markus Manfred, it's wonderful to meet you, Connor." He offered a hand that Connor readily took. It was so warm and a bit thicker than Connor's own. He didn't want to let go, but holding on too long could be a red flag. "Please sit."

Connor nodded and sat down, feeling spectacularly undressed. Though, he'd love for Markus to undress him even more. "Thank you for having me. I must say, I was a bit surprised at the offer and the fact my interview would be with you personally."

He expected a manager or someone for HR at least. Not that he wasn't absolutely thrilled at this, he'd gladly meet Markus again and again.

Markus's laugh was what he assumed angels sounded like. "It is a bit different, but I think that's how most see the whole company. Since we would be working so close, I prefer to get a feel for you myself."

'Please feel me up,' Connor thought, his face flushing at the thought. He needed a cold shower and a slap to the face. "I think what you've done is admirable, it's far more than most would do."

"Far more? You believe there is more I could do?" Markus leaned forward on his desk, a small upturn to his lips. Those lips probably would feel so good on his own, or kissing down his neck.

Right, he needed to focus. Connor wasn't one to stay too quiet about his opinions even in the face of very powerful men. "Yes, you are very secretive, which I can understand. But there aren't nearly enough men of color in power that is shown. I believe you could do a lot of good as a role model for youth of color."

He himself was white, but he tried to stay up to date on the world and attempted to use his voice to amplify those who were silenced.

Markus's eyes widen at Connor's words. "I'm… I have thought of that. Thank you for your honesty, it's definitely refreshing."

Connor smiled and gave a humble nod. "Of course. If anything, I pride myself on my integrity." So being blunt played off, thank god.

Markus gave a deep hum. What would he sound like getting sucked off? Was he the loud type or was he silent? This was so inappropriate, but Connor couldn't seem to stop. "I can see that. Now, I've read over your resume, your qualifications are… impressive. May I ask why you quit your last job?"

And there it was. Luckily he doubted this would actually be too much of a problem. "My boss was manipulative and was known for sexually harassing female workers. I confronted him about it and he denied it, of course. The women are currently in the process of filing reports with the police." He was still in contact with multiple of them. Echo and Ripple were sweet girls and didn't deserve what happened to them.

Markus frowns and leans back into his chair. "I see. I can promise that will not happen here. If it does it will be handled and sent to the police as well. We have a zero-tolerance policy." He smoothed his hands over the desk and Connor followed his hands. They'd feel so excellent holding Connor, maybe even have Connor sit on the desk.

Still, they went through the normal interview questions. Before each question Connor paused, head tilted to one side just a smidge, and then he delivered an articulate answer. He honestly thought it was one of the best interviews he's been in. Other than the whole fantasizing thing. It was almost natural, their back and forth.

Connor ended up learning a lot about Markus, including that he didn't like being called Mr. Manfred, and he really wanted to get a pet at some point. Connor talked about himself, saying how he had a dog he snagged from his father every other week. It was almost like a date, and a really good one too.

Still, the urge to lean across the desk and kiss the man senseless was powerful. So strong he couldn't stop biting and licking his lips. He knew he was being obvious, but Markus hadn't called him out on it.

There were pictures on his desk too. A few caught his eye. The first was a picture of Markus in plain clothes with North and two other people. They were all grinning widely and leaning into each other.

Another was of Markus and one of the men in the pictures, he was pale with blonde hair, he was leaning into Markus and placing a kiss on his cheek. Markus was laughing in the picture and someone with dark skin, Connor assumed the other man from the first picture, held up bunny ears behind both of their heads.

It was oddly adorable, seeing Markus so relaxed with his friends. Connor hoped to see that side of him too one day, even if he didn't get the job.

"I will say," Markus grinned, cocking his head to the side, "you are the best I've spoken to so far." Connor didn't think he was lying either. That bode well for the job, which could lead to a friendship then maybe even more. "It has been absolutely wonderful meeting you," he handed over his card, "I'll give you a call when we've made a decision."

Connor took it as he stood, looking it over. It was a simple card, it wasn't one you'd give out to everyone. If Connor's instincts were right, then the number printed on it would be Markus' personal cell. "Then why are you giving me your number?"

"In case you want to call me." Markus tipped his head, his eyes seemingly sparkling.

"Oh." Connor bit his lip, flushing a deep red. Perhaps Markus was interested too, in more than Connor getting the job. It would be far from professional, but Connor knew how to keep the two separate. Hopefully, Markus did too. "Ok, thank you."

Markus offered his hand again and this time they both lingered, staring at each other. Connor broke away first, chuckling. "I, yeah, ok. I guess I'll hear from you or you'll hear from me." Either way, they would talk again.

He couldn't help the smile that was covered his face as he left the office. He glanced at North who raised an eyebrow at him again before snorting. "Oh thank god, he needs to get laid," North muttered but Connor still heard. He hid his smile before walking back to the elevator. Best interview ever.

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thewolfisapartofmysoul · 4 years

Text

Hey lovelies.

Got you a Dewey x reader fic.

Reader coming out as ace (asexual) while Dewey is playing the guitar and the reader lounging on his lap. Fluff and angst ahead. All aboard! Fair warning... its quite long...

Hope you enjoy. 💜

..................................................................................

Safe

You and Dewey had been friends since kindergarten. You were as thick as thieves. Being able too see your best friend everyday since you two were roommates only made things better.

Dewey was a incredibly bouncy, happy person. That much you guys had in common. You both were as enthausiastic as you were chaotic sometimes. And when you were having one of 'these' days... the ones when you just woke up grumpy, you could find comfort in the small things in each other. He would give you one single look and knew what kind of day it was. It was on these days that Dewey proved himself being the man, the myth and the legend you believed he was. He would make sure your favorite tea was ready in the morning, with just the right amount of honey in it. And he would do anything to crack your mood up during the day. Including some 'sick' dance moves on random moments, and playing requests you had on his guitar always calmed your mind. In return you knew that playing guitar hero cleared his clouded mind, and spontaneous dance parties always made him smile.

Long story short, you'd be there for each other.

.......

The thing was that lately you came to realise that some things were different for you then they were for him.

You always pictured yourself with a partner as loving and caring as Dewey was. You just KNEW he was your favorite person in the world. It was just... difficult. The whole situation had been difficult. There had to be a person in this universe who wanted to know what made you tick. Besides Dewey. Right?

That was a question your head had been occupied with the last couple of months.

Of course you noticed Dewey going out. On dates. With actual girls.

He wasnt the most popular guy you knew, but damn... he had some charm in that authentic and warm personality he had. He also was kinda cute, you had to admit. But you were 101% cool with him dating. Even helping him pick out outfits and scolding him for forgetting garlic on date-night is a no-go. And when he wouldnt come home at night you would smile to yourself, because you was happy for the dude.

So why werent you out there? Dating? Again? You tried. Hell... you tried so SO hard to actually like people.

Liking wasnt the right word. Cause liking people wasnt that difficult. You could love the personalities of people in a heartbeat. Loved the way they laughed, or the freckles on their face, or the way they sat. You'd loved the way they talked about what drove them, what they were passionate about. You loved so many people. Yet you loved no-one.

You came to realise lately that you were kind of different. For instance: Dewey could swoon over a girl he saw for one second. One moment he was chilling with u at your local bar, the next moment you saw that sparkle in his eyes... And with a wink, a pat on your shoulder and a VERY bad attempt to moonwalk away from you, you knew you didnt had to wait up for him.

That was fine. Never bothered you actually. It was a signal you guys had created. Dewey also knew that when u werent in the mood or okay with leaving alone, you would put on a pouty face. That would be his que to get the random-chick's number, promising to call her, before excusing himself to her and drop back on the barstool beside you.

You liked it that way. He was free to go. As were you. He was your buddy. Your parnter in crime. That was the way it was.

You were just frustrated with yourself the last couple of months.

You could look at a man or a woman and be like: jeez, you are pretty. Look at that adorable face!

You would walk up there, talk to them. Now... that wasnt the hard part. The hard part came after that.

When you talked to someone, wether it be a beautifull quirky women or a handsome kind lad... there always came that moment that they would give a 'certain' comment. Or a glance up and down. Or let their hands wander little bit... and the magic would be gone for you.

Totally gone. Your mind would just go: 'nope'. You would find their smile attractive. But when everyone else's knees would give up at their bedroom eyes they gave you, and them saying something like: "you look like i could eat ya, wanna get out of here?" you would just feel nothing. Besides of getting noxious at the idea of them looking at you that way...

.......

Dewey noticed you getting more silent as you internly struggled with this a while. After 'just' men, you started some online research and tried something new. There was a period u had labeled youself as bisexual. But the label just didn't fit right. You tried the word: 'lesbian' for a month or 3.

Dewey had again proven to be an actual legend, after you told him you might not be straight. He was so pumped for you, buzzing with excitement and acceptance when you told him. He bounced up and down on the couch and offered to go to gay-bars together. You even had to keep him from hanging the actual rainbow-flag out of the window, to support you. Dewey suspected you had just been a late bloomer, so he was more then excited when you seemed to make some steps into the date-world, and wanted to make sure he helped you out were he could.

But that wasnt it either. Being bisexual or lesbian was not what made you you as well.

You had been desperately looking for a label to fit you but you couldn't quite put your finger on it.

........

Dewey would notice your online research by accident. He got up from his jamming session at the couch and ruffled a hand tiredly throw his brown locks. You was on a date. With... amy? Agnes? He couldnt quite remember. He chuckled, while opening your computer, hoping you'd been having fun.

He was looking on an article about ACDC he came across a while ago, when the google question popped up in the browser history. He frowed, but clicked anyway. "I dont feel sexual attraction towards people. What's wrong with me?"

A pang of guilt creeped through his chest. Did he totally miss all that? Y/n had fun with people in bars right? She was on a date right this moment... with... Anne, or whats her name again?

Dewey poundered, he would always see you laughing and having fun while chatting to strangers. 'God... you was so likeable it was super-easy for you to make new friends.' But after he put some more thought to it, he couldnt quite remember the last time y/n talked about having a crush. Or kissing someone. She didnt even talked about her date today enough for him to be able to remember her name. He felt a bit sad about it but Dewey had to find out what you were feeling, so he clicked through the rest of the history page.

.......

You actually tried to kiss Alma today, you'd been seeing her for a while... You two had a lot in common and you liked the way she practically buzzed with excitement when she talked about mountainbiking, smiling as she did so.

'it only seemed like the right thing to do' you forced yourself to think that... 'Alma deserved that much, right? She'd been so kind to me...'

After your date Alma reached out to softly grab you by your hip, pulling you towards her. 'Well... here goes nothing...' you thought as she brought her mouth closer to you.

But right when your lips were about to meet, it felt wrong. A panic rose in your chest and before you knew what happened you turned your head slightly and kissed her cheeck. You was infuriated with yourself. 'How could you! After date #3. Were you mad? What was wrong with you?!'

The girl in question seemed just as baffled as you. She smiled a sad smile to you, before giving you a side-hug and catching her train to go home.

You sighed, dropped your shoulders as you slumped home. 'Side-hugs are not good. They're not 'relationship-material', you fool." You wanted so bad to be 'normal...'

.......

By the time you was done walking home you reached a new low-piont in your self-esteem. Thats when you noticed u had a missed call. Dewey. You sighed. He had been SO happy for you to be dating. Enthausiastically helping you with your outfit and even what kind of perfume you should wear. You were not only a dissapiontment for yourself... but for Dewey as well.

You quickly wiped away a tear. Damn this. Damn this shit. Damn this day. You just didnt felt it. Again.

All you wanted to do was to jump into a hot shower, eat some pizza on the couch and lounge on the couch, revel in the safe comfort of Dewey.

You were not dissapionted by the smell of your favorite pizza already stalking towards you on the way to your front door. You smiled a bit at that.

Dewey had seen you crying through the window of your apartment and already planned to do something special for you, since you had such a hard time lately and he had been too oblivious too see it. So he decided to make you your favorite pizza, and just be there for you when your date didnt worked out.

You opened the door and was greeted by a dancing Dewey in his boxershorts and old band t-shirt. He was smiling at you while hopping of the cough while The Pretender of the Foo Fighters blasted through your appartement. He headbanged towards the speakers and you managed to get out a small snort. Your neighbours had to hate you guys.

Wiping your nose you tried to smile at him. But failed miserably. You stood in the middle of the living room feeling small and stupid. Your lip was quivering and you wanted to wipe the tear away that was spilling down your cheeck.

All in that moment Dewey was by your side, wiping away the tear that you inteded to brush away yourself.

You smiled sadly at him, through your tears and sobs. And you heard him mumble your name while pulling you into his arms. "Its okay love. You're okay. Im so proud of you." He started petting your head softly with his calloused fingers and holding you close. He knew this was a big step for you, and didnt asked any questions about your breakdown. Or date. He wanted you to tell him when you were ready. Untill then there were no words needed.

You got out of his loving embrace when you heard something beeping in the distance. "Dew! The pizza!" You smacked his arm and while muttering a "fuck" under his breath, he took a dive towards the oven.

He smiled a lopsided smile to you while striking a ridiculous pose, using the towel in his hands as a cape. He sing song: "i am the pizza heroooooo and i present you your favorite pizza, mylady...." You couldnt help but cackle at that. "Your a weirdo Dew... but thanx pizza-king."

.......

You two ate on the couch after you took a shower and dressed in your favorite sweats.

After Dewey had put away the dishes he dropped on the couch with you and grabbed his guitar. You went to lie with your head on his lap while he was tuning the strings. You listened to him fumbling with some wires and relaxed at the familiar sound and the rise of his chest above you. He played some chords untill there was a rythem in them and you felt your clouded mind become clearer.

You were relaxing against him when you heard him mumble your name... "hey y/n, wanna hear anything particular?" You shaked your head no.

He hummed in response, playing the tune of your favorite song anyway.

Dewey softly started singing:

"And i don't want the world to see me.

Cause i don't think that they'll understand.

When everything is made to be broken.

I just want you to know who i am...."

You felt the tears behind your eyes prickling. With a soft poke in his chest you whispered with all the courage you had left: "...Dew... Dewey..."

"Hmmm...sweetheart, whats up?" He replied softly.

You sighed, rubbing your hand against your forehead, gathering some more courage. You muttered: "I ehm.... I think I need to tell you something Dew..."

He went to put his guitar away. Shifting slightly so you was lying with your head on his lap, and he could look you right in the eye from how he was sitting. He grabbed your hand ,that out of stress had been clutching your own sweater, and placed his hand around yours. Squeezing lightly in encouragement. He smiled at you. It was an understanding smile, full of love and patience. You could cry at that alone. But swallowed your tears away, there had been anough crying today you decided.

Dewey saw you swallow hard and brought your clutched hands to his mouth and kissed them. "You can tell me anyting babe. You know that right?" You hummed in response.

Knowing you could trust him but also feeling incredibly scared and anxious... you stuttered: "Dew... i think... there is a reason i dont... i think i might be..." he squeezed your hand one more time.

You took that as an encouragement and mumbled the words that were nagging you for the past few months, your nerves barely made your voice louder then a whisper: "I think... ehm... I might be asexual Dewey..."

You felt like you could throw up. Or cry. Or both. You actually were about to bolt and do just that, untill you heard a familiar voice bringing u back to the present moment.

"... y/n... love... youknow..."

You coulndnt even hear full scentences of what Dewey was saying. His voice fading away, your nerves making it hard to fucus. He noticed your absence and your shallowing breathing, your breaths becoming faster and shorter with each one you took in. You couldnt even look at him while saying that. You were a pathetic coward... and now he would finally see you for the freak and the outcast you were. He would be disgusted and think you were a robot and leave you... You took another shaking breath...

A feeling brought you out of your shallow breathing. You noticed familliar calloused fingers glide through your hair. Combing through it and massaging your scalp softly. A smile appeared on your face, his movement was slowly getting the darkness outof your head. Finally you dared to look up towards Dewey. He was softly humming to you. His voice always calmed you, definetly right in this moment. His humming grounded you, while he was softly playing with your hair. You felt his other thumb circle softly on your hand he was still holding.

He smiled a soft smile at you, whisperening: "Hey... your back with me princess?" You nodded slowly. Tears spilling on your cheeks once again. "y/n, sweetheart, i love you the way you are. Always did, and always will. You are you. And if that is being asexual, then that's totally okay and i will be here for you. Every step of the way. Im so proud of you..."

He wiped away your tears, and while you choked out a "thank you Dewey", he kissed you on your forehead.

"Im so proud of you coming to terms with yourself. You dont have to do anything you dont want, okay? Dont ever feel obligated to date anyone just to feel 'normal'. You are you, y/n. And you are enough."

You smiled at that and yawned. The emotions of today suddenly making you very tired. "Dew..." you mumbled sleepy.

"Yeah...?"

"You may do the head-massage more often... it feels nice"

He chuckled at that, pinching your nose playfully. "Thats a deal... now off to bed with you, miss platonic."

You chuckled sleepily. Admire-ing his bad jokes even at this time and moment.

"Thanx Dewey..."

"Anytime babe..." he awnsered.

You stood up, your head and body suddenly heavy with sleep. Your mind drifted for a moment, but came back to the presence of Dewey sofly poking your side. You giggled, he knew you were ticklish there, and you swatted his hand away when he tried to do it a second time. He chuckled at that, glad he made you laugh again.

You looked at the floor. Anxiety bubbling in your chest at the nagging question in your head. Could you ask him this? After all that just happened? Would he still take you serious if you did? It wasn't sexual but still as intimate as you could be, and you didn't want to seem like you weren't serious. Since... well... people... sometimes mistook cuddles for sex. You still felt anxcious and conflicted, but didn't want to sleep alone. You took a big breath, looking a bit tired and sleepy up at him. Heart thumping nervously in your chest as your hands started to sweat. You glanced at his face and when you saw a half smile creeping up his face you knew you could ask him anything.

"Dew.... would you..." you had to stop because a yawn was bugging you. You continued after wiping your face sleepily, still anxious: "would you mind sleeping with me tonight? I... just... really dont wanna be alone right now. I need some cuddles." You confessed, biting your lip as you waited for his response. Anxiety slowly spreading in your chest as you waited at his awnser.

Instead of awnsering with words Dewey got up from the couch and pulled you into a big hug, once again petting your hair while holding you tight. You sighed and felt the tension leaving your body as he held you. "Of course..." he mumbled sofly in the crook of your neck. You took a big breath through your nose, nerves calming as you were surrounded by the familiar smell of Dewey. A familiar smell of tea-tree-oil, a bit of sweat and a hint of pizza from your dinner. His body was warm and his stubble tickled your neck as he held you close. You felt safe in his arms, and less troubled. Your mind cleared with every breath you felt him take in as the two stood there together. His hands seemed to wipe every anxious, stressed thought you had away. His calloused fingers still combing trough your hair affectionately. You sighed back at him, relaxed by his caring touch: "Thanx Dew...."

......

When you lay in your bed, later that night you fell asleep quite quickly. You knew you wouldnt be alone. Dewey snored a little in his sleep, and you couldnt help but smile. Feeling safe in his strong arms as he hugged you in his sleep, you felt his calm breath on your neck. The last thing you thought before drifting off was: 'Its gonna be fine. Im gonna be okay. Dewey is with me. Whatever i happen to like or not like, feel or not feel...

Dewey is here. Right by my side.'

Tagging: @paxenera @heknowshisherbs @hoodoo12 @large-unit @little-miss-shy-goth @thats-specific @vicunaburger @ironmansuucks @bugdrinkss @go-commander-kim @stranger-strings

#soft dewey finn #dewey finn imagine #dewey x reader #dewey finn #dewey finn fanfic #dewey finn fanfiction #dewey finn x fem!reader #dewey finn x you #dewey finn x reader #school of rock broadway #school of rock the musical #school of rock fanfiction #school of rock #school of rock musical #alex brightman #bouncy oddball #asexual #lgtbqia+#myownfic

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deetheteadrinkingdragon · 4 years

Text

City Lights and Coffee Nights

Welcome to the City. A wonderful, magical place split into various districts, home to all manor or humans, elves, and dragons alike. Might we interest you in the business adventures of the great Avizandium Industries? Or perhaps you might like to try a coffee at the Katolis Castle café? There's something here for everyone here!

---

A collection of little Modern!AU oneshots by me (Dee) Sugarssaur (Jade) and Piecesofarose (Dani)!

You can read chapter one ‘The Winter Shift’ below the cut, or here on AO3 !

---

‘The Winter Shift is always so cold and dark at the Katolis Café. When Callum gets stranded with no safe way home, he's offered a lift from Rayla.’

Winter shifts at the café were always such a pain.

The hours were still the same, and yet it always felt so much longer, it was barely brightening when Callum got in to open up, and it was pitch black by the time he left. There were few highlights to his day, whether it be the interesting stories of customers, or the regular visits of his new regular friend Rayla, and it was those moments he clung to dearly to help him get through the day.

Rayla was here now.

He was acutely aware of that. She was sitting in her usual spot by the window decked out in the leather she wore when she was out and about on her moped. If it hadn’t been so busy he’d have happily strolled over for a chat, but it was always frenzied at this time of day, with everyone bustling in to get out of the cold.

He was rushing about in circles for almost an hour to keep on top of it, and it wasn’t until he was back behind the counter he allowed himself to sigh and catch his breath.

“Busy day, huh.” It was her standing there, slightly aside so she wasn’t being obstructive. She offered him a sympathetic grin.

“Gods, you have no idea. Do you have the time?”

“It’s 2:30. Don’t worry, you’re past the busiest bit, from what I’ve learnt coming here.”

He smiled weakly at her. “You after a refill?”

“No, I was just heading out. I uh-” She paused, suddenly uncharacteristically unsure of herself. She glanced down nervously, then back up to meet his eye. “Are you gonna be able to get home safely tonight?”

“Huh?” Well that caught him off-guard. “What do you mean?”

“Well it’s just, it’s starting to get really dark now. And I know have to cut through the Skywing district to get here… I dunno.”

“Oh! Rayla that’s so sweet of you to worry, but I have a bus pass, it’s okay!”

“Callum… the buses aren’t running today, remember? They’re doing a bunch of road work for the next couple weeks.”

Callum faltered. “Oh… I… I forgot about that.”

The concern grew on her face now. “Callum… I can give you a lift home on my bike if you want.”

“What? No, no, you don’t have to do that, I live so far out of your way-”

“It’s fine.” She waved him off with a gentle smile. “I’d just… feel better knowing you got home safe. That’s all.”

“O-Oh.” Callum managed, his heart stuttering. “I… Are you absolutely sure?”

“Yeah, your shift ends at 5 today, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Cool. I’ll be here about 4:45, okay?”

“Okay!” He grinned, and she smiled that soft little fond smile she often gave him just lately.

“Alright. See you in a bit then.” As she turned, she gave him a little wink and a casual wave, before heading out the door. Callum’s eyes lingered on the frame with a little sigh, even as he meandered towards a customer flagging him down. He hardly registered himself refilling their glass out of instinct until;

“Um, sir? Sir. Sir! Sir you’re spilling-!”

“Huh? Oh!” Callum squawked in alarm, yanking back the jug of water. The poor customer stared at him concerned, holding the overflowing glass of water as it puddled, creeping outwards over the table. “I’m so sorry! Let me go get something to mop this up-!”

---

4:45 couldn’t come soon enough. The busy day was lulling into a slow sleepy afternoon, the sun not long having disappeared over the city horizon. With little to occupy himself with, his anxiety rattled in his brain.

‘She won’t stand me up, will she?’ He thought as the clock crept to 4:42. ‘Gods, I really hope she doesn’t, I don’t want to have to walk home through Skywing territory in the dark.’

The clock ticked over to 4:46 and his heart did nervous flutters. As he wiped down tables his eyes flicked constantly, desperately to the door, willing her to appear.

4:47.

4:48.

4:49-

Ding.

The bell on the door chimed and his face lit up. “Rayla!” Her name dropped from his lips without thinking, his voice warm and relieved. Her face was hard for a moment as she stared irately at her watch, but the second her eye met his, her face melted and she gave him a sad, apologetic smile.

“Hey! I’m so sorry I’m a little late, the traffic was a nightmare, and then I got a puncture a few minutes away.”

“It’s okay! Oh, a puncture?”

“Yeah,” She sighed. “It’s alright, I have a repair kit with me. It might just take a minute once we’re outside.”

“It’s alright.” He smiled. “I’m in no rush or anything.”

She relaxed, leaning against the counter. “Well that’s a relief since we’ll probably have to take the long way to yours to avoid the roadwork.”

After his shift came to a close and he locked up, Callum scurried off to get changed and grab his belongings from his locker, and he met Rayla around the side of the building where she was already busying herself with repairing the offending tyre.

“Is it bad?” He asked, walking over. She grunted and shrugged.

“Not as bad as it could’ve been.”

“Can I help at all?”

She smiled up at him. “Nah, it’s alright, this’ll only take a moment.”

It wasn’t long before she seemed content and she stood, stretched and smiled back at him. “Alright, sorry for the delay. So where’re we heading? It’s in the Katolis suburbs somewhere right?”

“O-Oh, yeah. Do you know Castle Lane?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s near the top of the hill, number 72.”

“Right then!” She turned to her bike and rummaged around, throwing something rather large over her shoulder. “Catch!”

With Callum’s terrible hand-eye co-ordination it nearly hit him in the head, and by some miracle landed in his panicked arms. It took him a few seconds to register what it was. A helmet. She had slipped her own on, her face now obscured all but her eyes as she hadn’t flipped the visor down yet, and hopped onto the moped, staring at him. Waiting.

“Well?” Her voice came out muffled.

“Oh!” He slipped it on, a rather large fit then joined Rayla on the bike. “U-Um, Rayla?”

“Hm?”

“Where… where do I um…”

“You can hold onto me, it’s fine.” She laughed. “I don’t want you falling off and getting hurt.”

He did so a little sheepishly, suddenly highly aware of what little space was between them. But Rayla seemed unfazed, starting the engine and off they went, speeding down the road.

Rayla didn’t take the same roads as the bus, or the ones he took when he walked to and from work. No, it seemed she really was taking him the long way, avoiding the city centre and taking him way out into the Xadian suburbs.

…She was taking him the scenic route.

Callum would have never dared set foot in these parts of the city at night. Though elves and humans lived in relative peace, tensions were still high, and muggings weren’t uncommon for elves or humans if you stepped into a different residential territory. But he was here with Rayla. And that made him feel… safe. Safe enough to appreciate just how beautiful it was here in the evening. There was a glow to it all, it truly was rich with magic here, he could feel it radiating all around him.

He could just make out her voice shouting over the engine. “You alright back there?”

“Yeah! I’m just taking in the scenery!” He called back. “It’s beautiful.”

“Isn’t it? This is an Earthblood district. I love driving through here at night. Check out the trees, Callum, do you see the lanterns? They’re enchanted.”

Enchanted and enchanting, Callum thought, watching as the lights in the trees glowed warmly in the dark, floating like fireflies of all different colours of the rainbow. He relaxed, and before he knew it his arms had wrapped gingerly around her, his chest flush with her back. He felt a chuckle vibrate through her back, and fought back the giddiness in his heart as he rested his head, or well, at least the helmet, between her shoulders.

“You falling asleep on me or something?” She teased. “If you do you’ll miss the best part.”

“Best part?”

“You’ll see.”

Well now she had piqued his curiosity. They drove silently for a good five minutes, Callum watching the world go by in a colourful blur, before she began to slow to a halt.

“Here.” She kicked out the stand and then turned slightly to look over her shoulder at him, pulling off her helmet. “Look.” She pointed out and Callum gasped, his eyes glistening as they reflected what he saw.

She had stopped them on a ledge overlooking the cityscape. It stretched as far as the eye could see, all of it, Callum could see and make out every district, every residential area, every park, shopping centre…

“Nice, isn’t it?” She smiled softly. “I like to stop here as I drive past sometimes. There’s something about… seeing it all, the bigger picture. Like you can see the divisions where the Xadian districts meet the Pentarchy ones, right? But when you see the whole thing together… it’s just one big city. It makes all the petty little conflicts seem so silly, don’t you think?” She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Ugh, listen to me, I’m getting sentimental. You’re rubbing off on me.”

Callum laughed at that. “Rayla, what you said is beautiful, and very true.” He gazed out over the twinkling city lights. “It’s… sad that not everyone gets along and there’s still so much division and tension everywhere in the districts. But at least in the city centre people get along. …Mostly.”

She softened. “That’s true. It’s better than it used to be. Maybe there’s some hope yet, hm?” She elbowed him gently in the ribs. “C’mon. Let’s get you home.”

---

They drove silently the rest of the way, both quite content and relaxed in each other’s company. Perhaps, Callum thought, winter shifts wouldn’t be so bad if they always ended like this. He was almost a little disappointed when she slowed at his house and he had to let go of her.

“This the place?”

“Yes, thank you so much.” He stumbled slightly, his leg catching on the seat as he hopped over it, and he heard her chuckle fondly as she pulled her helmet back off to walk him a little way up the path. Her fingers wove almost coyly into her hair when she stopped, her eyes glancing back to her bike.

“I uh… better get back. Y’know, before my dads worry.”

“Oh… sure.”

And yet she didn’t go. At least, not right away. Rayla stood there sheepishly, staring at him like she was trying to make sense of something, fingers still twirling her hair. Callum’s own feet felt glued to the floor. Was she waiting for him to leave first? To make sure he got in okay? Well now this felt a bit awkward-

Before he knew it Rayla’s hand had found his shoulder and his breath hitched in surprise, his eyes snapping back to hers. She pulled him, or rather guided him a little closer to her, and he let her with a clumsy little stagger, confused.

“Ray-” It was all he managed before a little surprised squeak left his lips as Rayla leaned in and he felt her lips press to his cheek. It was soft, but fast, barely enough time for him to register what had happened, and she tore back quickly, whirling around before he got a chance to see her own expression.

Her ears were burning. That was the one thing he could see, bright red almost glowing in the dark. His own cheeks felt alight, the sensation of her lips lingering on his cheek like static electricity thrumming over his skin.

“See ya, Callum!” She called out without looking, her voice a little too cheery, forced, as she pulled the helmet back over her head.

His own voice came out small in comparison, barely a breath on the cold winter wind. “Oh… b-bye…”

He watched her hop back onto her bike, and she turned to look at him, her expression hidden behind the visor. What was she thinking, he wanted desperately to know, as she threw him a quick peace sign before driving away. Callum couldn’t see the giddy elation and pride on her face, nor feel her pounding heart as she sped off back towards the inner city. But neither could she see him standing there, stunned and breathless, his fingers at his cheek as though hoping to preserve the feeling, the moment that had just happened, as his other hand waved a weak little farewell.

Callum stood there his eyes lingering on her until she was far out of his sight, his brain stalled, lost in the moment, until his toes and fingers began to go numb. Only then did his lips split into a love-struck grin, his face and chest warm enough to distract him from the stinging cold. He nigh on pranced to the door, barely able to get his key in the door with his shaking hands, and he skipped over the threshold unable to contain the joy in his heart.

A voice snapped him out of his dreamy daze. “So… Who was that?” Ezran was kneeling on a stool by the window, his hands on the windowsill and a sly expression on his face.

“W-What? Oh, that’s Rayla. She’s uh… she’s a friend from work. Well, I mean, she doesn’t work at work, she just… hangs out a lot there and-”

“Does dad know you’ve got a girlfriend?”

“Wh- What?! No! No Ezran she’s not my-!”

It was too late, with a cheeky grin, Ezran had already sprung from the stool and was bound for the living room, shouting, “Daaaad! Callum’s got a girlfriend!”

“What?” Came Harrow’s startled voice.

“No!” Callum’s voice went shrill as he sprinted in after his little brother. “It’s not like that I swear! Ezran!”

#rayllum #tdp #the dragon prince #rayla #callum

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