#forgot to ever mention this. I plan on drawing a couple of the winners just for funsies and posting here.

[let-them-fight]

autistic anime girl who has suffered more than jesus and you will reblog her!

[hobeymakar]

Touch | C. Makar

Words: 2,218

A/N: Title for this one is from the song Touch by Little Mix. This one takes place during the current COVID-19 crisis and the current uncertainty of next season.

Warnings: Explicit language, sexual content, mentions of alcohol use

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You're in the living room of the Denver apartment, trying to remain as quiet as possible as Cale is setting up his video for the NHL Awards. Being a finalist for the Calder is huge and you're beyond proud of him. Whether he wins or loses, you know this won't define his career and he's gonna achieve bigger and better things in his career.

He's set up right in front of the balcony door and sitting down and waiting to be invited to the video call by the league.

"Good luck baby and no matter what you're always a winner in my book," you inform him, blowing him a kiss.

"Thanks baby," he smiles, blowing a kiss back.

You turn your attention back to your phone and try to calm down your own nerves. It's possible you might be more nervous than he is about this award presentation.

The time eventually comes for the award presentation and Cale's name gets called and he gets brought into the video call. You internally scream in excitement and can't help but message your friends and family that your boyfriend is a Calder Trophy winner.

He gives his acceptance speech, managing to be cuter and more humble than he's ever been. He answers the questions Gretzky has for him and then gets off the video call as they have to move on to the next award.

As soon as he ends the call and moves the stuff out of the way, you jump on him.

"I'm so proud of you baby! You worked so hard for this and you deserve it!" you cry out, kissing his cheeks to watch them become even more red.

"Thank you, baby. I couldn't do it without you supporting me every step of the way," he smiles, kissing your forehead.

"Alright, go call your family while I make dinner," you say, letting him go.

You walk to the kitchen and start working on something special for him. It's the offseason so he's allowed a little more leeway on what he can eat, as long as he doesn't go overboard and eat too much food that interferes with his nutrition plan. You hear him on facetime with his family and you honestly couldn't be prouder of your fiance.

You start playing your music softly on your phone as you prepare the meal for the two of you. After a while, he comes out of the room and smells the food being made.

"Smells great in here babe," he smiles, sneaking up from behind you and snaking his arms around your waist. "What are you making?"

"It's a surprise. So why don't you go play some warzone or something and I'll call you out when the food is ready," you suggest, wanting him to be surprised.

"But I wanna stay out here with you," he protests with a pouty face.

"Alright you big baby, you can stay here," you giggle.

He sits down on the stool on the kitchen island and decides to recount his entire conversation with his parents and his brother.

"Is Taylor back on the ice yet?" you ask, referring to his little brother who's entering his final year of junior with the Brooks Bandits.

"I mean he's been skating but they still haven't announced when the season is gonna start and you know that he won't be playing at UMass until next year," he explains.

"Tell him I said to keep his chin up and that he's gonna have his season eventually," you reply.

The conversation switches to your family and how they're doing. The song Best Part by H.E.R. & Daniel Caesar comes on.

"That's our song," he smiles, recognizing the intro.

"You remember that?" you ask, cringing internally.

"As if I could ever forget you drunkenly telling me this is gonna be our wedding song and how I'm gonna need to know all the words," he teases, getting up from the seat.

"Oh my god, I thought you forgot about that! I didn't actually mean that!" you groan in embarrassment, as he takes your hand in his.

"Drunken words are sober thoughts, baby," he teases, swaying you to the beat of the song.

He starts singing along to the song, shocking you.

"You actually learned the song?" you ask in shock.

"You told me I had to and it's an easy song to learn anyway," he adds sheepishly.

There's no way you can love him more than you do, and yet he finds ways to make you love him more every day. Honestly, how the hell did you end up so lucky to have him in your life?

The song eventually ends and he walks back to the stool while you turn your attention back to the food.

The song Touch by Little Mix comes on and you dance along to the song, while he laughs at your moves.

"Hey, why are you laughing?!? I'm a phenomenal dancer!" you defend yourself.

"Babe, it's just funny to see you dancing while cooking," he replies, letting out a couple chuckles.

"Like your moves are better!" you scoff, shooting him a look.

"I never said mine were better," he argues back, a small smirk on his lips.

"You're lucky I love you," you reply, shaking your head.

He can be a little shit sometimes, but he's your little shit and you wouldn't change it for the world.

After 20 minutes, dinner is ready and you set up the dining table nicely.

"Thanks babe for all of this," he smiles, taking in the dinner setup.

"You're welcome. It's the least I could do for you. I know we normally would've been in Vegas with your family celebrating, but I figured this is the least I could do. 2020 is all about rolling with the punches," you explain.

"I don't know how I would've made it through everything this year without you," he confesses.

"I know. I'm pretty amazing," you tease, a lil smirk on your face.

You settle into small talk as you eat and after a while, you both finish eating. You both clean up the table and put away the leftovers. You load the dishwasher as Cale sets up to play warzone with Taylor in the living room.

"Babe, I'm gonna take a shower," you inform him.

You go to the room and grab your things to shower. You get into the bathroom and put your music  on shuffle. You get undressed and into the shower, washing your body and hair thoroughly. You dry yourself off thoroughly and go through your self-care routine. You then go into the room and change into a new set of underwear, an Avs Cale jersey, and UMass Minutemen sweatpants. You go to the bathroom and blowdry your hair. You then come out to see Cale still playing warzone with a headset on.

You walk over to the couch and sit beside him and he barely even notices, hyper focused on the game. You take out your phone and take a video of the game and caption it with "ready to be ignored all night" and send it to your friends, who laugh at you and tell you to just leave him alone.

You try to entertain yourself by scrolling through your social media feeds, but even that gets boring after 20 minutes. You snuggle into his side and see he doesn't even move, still focused on playing.

You decide to just let him have his fun, since it's his night anyway and go to the kitchen to bake, since it always manages to put a smile on your face. You decide making a cake will be the best thing for you and it'll kill a couple hours. So you get all the ingredients out and get to work. You put your music back on and get focused on the baking. You put the cake in the oven and start working on putting the frosting in the pipers to be able to write on the cake. Once the cake comes out of the oven, Cale comes out to the kitchen.

"You finished playing?" you ask him, as he walks up to you.

"You're wearing my jersey," he points out, kissing you.

"Yeah you would've noticed it earlier if you weren't so busy playing with Taylor," you tease, getting the pipers ready.

"Well I already finished playing for the night," he assures you.

"Good. I like Taylor, but not when he's stealing my boyfriend away from me," you tease.

"Are you seriously making a cake for me?" he asks.

"Yes! Like I said, I feel bad that this wasn't the celebration we would've normally had. So I wanna make it up to you as much as possible," you inform him.

"I know but you don't have to do all this," he assures you.

"I know, but I want to," you smile back. "Now if you excuse me, I have a cake to decorate and I can't have any distractions."

You carefully frost the cake in Avs colors. You also carefully write "Congrats on the Calder Trophy Cale" on the cake, as well as "#8" and "Let's go Avs!" You draw little hockey sticks on the sides. All your frosting decorations are also in Avs colors, continuing the theme. You also get ice cream out and scoop them into bowls. You then set the dining table up and take pictures of Cale with the cake in front of it. You post it on your social media with the caption "Congrats on your Calder Trophy baby! Wish we could've been in Vegas to celebrate it with loved ones, but celebrating at home alone is pretty special too!" You also send it to his family with the caption "tried to make his night as special as possible for him, but we both wish you guys were here!"

You cut the cake and you two start eating it with the ice cream, trying to make the most out of the situation.

"Thank you baby for all of this! I'm so glad I get to have you by my side every step of the way. I love you," he smiles, kissing the ice cream off your lips.

"I love you more baby and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than by your side," you smile back.

You clean up the table and put the leftover cake away before adding the baking stuff to the dishwasher. Once the dishwasher is filled, you turn it on and let it wash everything. You head to the room and hear the shower running, letting you know that he's in the shower. You turn the TV on for background noise and change into one of Cale's old UMass Minutemen shirts with nothing but your underwear underneath. You get back into bed and go on your phone, checking your social media and responding to texts from your friends and family. You get comfortable as you get sucked into watching some trashy reality TV show that you've never seen or heard of before.

Before you know it, Cale walks back to the room still a little wet from the shower and with his towel hanging loosely off his hips. He quickly finishes drying himself off and changes into nothing but boxers. He turns off the ceiling light and turns on the lamp instead.

"What are you watching?" he asks, not recognizing the show.

"I don't know, some trashy ass reality tv show. I just turned on the TV and this was on," you explain.

"Wanna watch a movie?" he asks.

"Sure as long as it isn't something boring or terrible," you reply.

You switch over to Netflix and you let him choose the movie. He makes his selection and you're pleased to see it's not something you would hate. The two of you watch the movie until you fall asleep. 

The next morning, you wake up to Cale's morning wood poking your butt, which isn't necessarily unwelcomed. You turn over and wake him up by pinching his nipple.

"Ow what the fuck?" he groans, opening his eyes.

"Good morning," you kiss him sweetly, like you didn't just pinch his nipple super hard.

"You're a menace," he groans, as you straddle his waist.

"Yeah yeah yeah, you still love me though," you tease.

He kisses you to shut you up and you definitely do shut up. The kisses become more intense and desperate and he starts lifting up your shirt, noticing the Avs colored underwear you have on.

He groans like he just blocked a shot on the PK and he doesn't know if he wants to keep the shirt on or off of you.

"Are you trying to kill me?" he groans.

"Maybe," you giggle, loving the reaction you've gotten out of him.

He eventually makes up his mind and fucks you with the UMass shirt on because he's secretly into seeing his name on you. Afterwards, you two lay in bed and bask in the afterglow. You then get up and put on the UMass shirt again and head off to make him breakfast, as he quickly follows behind you.

Yeah, it wasn't the celebration you planned on having, but you managed to make the most of it, just you two in your own little world, in your Denver apartment.

[thegeneralsnotebook]

March Feature: History of Colours Part 2 -- White

Welcome back to Part 2 of this series investigating the histories of the six main colours of the MLPCCG, from their inception and original development in Premier, all of the way forward to the present day. This month’s topic is White, a colour that seems to be in something of a rough spot right now. It’s gone quite a long while since it last had a great Mane to its name, too. The last person to enjoy major success with it was Bugle at the 2018 Continentals, with a rather unorthodox list the likes of which probably won’t be seen again. We’ll get to that. By the way, it also bears to mention that as with the last article, I owe Bugle a depth of gratitude for walking me through the early stages of the game and pointing out the notable decks that were before my time.

Going in, I was expecting a story broadly similar to Yellow, as I knew the colour had been great once upon a time in the past, then faded somewhat, and hasn’t really surfaced again yet (outside of that one exception mentioned above). It turned out though, that I was wrong. It turned out that White had never totally yielded the stage, though it did quite generously yield the spotlight. There was something going on with White in nearly every set, though it was almost never the main colour in the decks that used it, and a fair amount of the time it was doing somewhat questionable things for its decks. Things that generally involved either scoring infinite points, or pairing up with an old Friend in Purple to play many Events over and over again. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Suffice it to say for now that White is a colour with a lot of notoriety built up over the years, even if it’s lacked success as a primary colour. To see that, we’ll first have to step back, to a time when Rarity was indeed Truly Outrageous.

I mean, to put any other card up there would be pretty disingenuous

The Most Aptly Named Card in History

We already covered RTO just a little bit in last month’s article, during the discussion of the Yellow/White deck Ballroom Blitz. There, she was serving in the traditional role of a card capable of scoring lots of points very quickly, and thus capable of sealing games about as quickly as she could be played. And while RTO did end up seeing a lot of play in this mode, her first claim to fame actually did something a little different. Sure, the equally aptly named Taxes still let RTO do her thing of scoring points quickly, but it wasn’t going fast. It was an early form of tempo, stacking movement and play penalties on a Problem until it was virtually impossible for the opponent to confront it, and then sealing the game with RTO after the fact. It was quite the thing in the Premier era, but died out in Canterlot Nights as the meta sped up substantially.

Bugle had mentioned to me that a version of Taxes with 13 URs was floating out there somewhere, which is a pretty impressive number when you’ve only got one set to draw from. Alas, though in searching Reddit I managed to find solid evidence that it was probably out there somewhere, the list itself eluded me. I was, however, able to find a delightfully unexpected little piece of history. The Taxes list linked above actually came from none other than Grand Pause, and it was his first deck submission on the subreddit. Even a bright diamond starts from a humble beginning.

And oh, speaking of diamonds, that brings us to the third major moment for RTO in the early era of competitive play. That being Diamonds In The Sky, a deck that holds a special place in my heart as the winner of the first competitive tournament that I ever entered (not played by me, of course). Similarly to Ballroom above, the plan was simple: move fast, strike hard, and score lots of points. In this case, Blue was a perfect match for White due to its unparalleled AT efficiency, and it could get rolling real fast off the start of the game. As today, back then it was also an excellent anti-Troublemaker colour, with good options like Fears Must Be Faced for getting back the tempo against a control-oriented opponent. Being well-rounded while also being very fast and slightly more consistent than Ballroom Blitz cemented this deck’s status for a long time, at least until the meta slowed down somewhat. That was about when things started getting weird.

Oh, wait! Before we leave this era behind there is something else that bears mention. And I doubt that Bugle would let me hear the end of it if I forgot. Tiny inclusion though it may be, White played a pretty important part in good ol’ One Pace, as the provider of that primordial combo’s source of points. (No surprises there. This theme is one that will repeat a fair amount in later eras.)

Yeah, RTO gets two pictures! Listen, things were a little strange about here, okay?

A Very Messy Time

As we transition into the later era of Premier Block, things get somewhat confused with respect to what White was up to. From a macro perspective, sure, we all know where this story goes. DJ and Maud end up on top, waging an endless war while everyone else could only lurk in their shadows. Yes, we’re not going to see another White Mane in this history for a long time. But that doesn’t mean that the colour was done for good. It still saw play, albeit for mostly just the one reason.

The slate of decks from this era is about as varied as they come. Most notable of them all I think would be Cosmic Bowling, the first deck to abuse the Pinny Lane/Dr. Hooves combo for massive bursts of AT generation. The game plan was pretty simple, as with the ability to suddenly generate large amounts of AT, the deck could rapidly and unexpectedly confront Problems, raking in the first-confront bonuses and sometimes dropping RTOs for even more. The deck could generate lots of Power thanks to Action Shot and Savoir Faire, plus had the usual AT-savings from Cloudchaser, point-scoring cards in White, and a nice new Mane in DJ to make everything that much more consistent. This wasn’t the deck that got Pinny banned, but it absolutely was the first step down that road.

Of less significant notoriety we had a couple of decks that I hadn’t even heard of until Bugle brought them to my attention. Maud Games was a deck with brief notability, coming and going in the early phase of RR as things were slowing down and the meta was largely grappling with One Pace. It used White (who’d guess?) for the points from RTO and for some of its still good control tools like Stand Still! Likewise, from a much later point in this era, Outrageous Theft got more mileage out of RTO by copying her with Queen Chrysalis, Identity Theft, and thus allowed itself to do even more of the normal White things.

See, what did I say? Things were weird. The colour was used quite extensively, but you see the same three or four cards popping up pretty much everywhere. The only places where the other White cards saw play was, well…

I told you that things were going to get weird

Let’s Just Get This Out Of The Way

Of all the archetypes, the one where White has seen the most consistent usage basically since the start of the game has been combo. There were a few reasons for this, but largely over history it’s been due to the fact that White was the colour for scoring points in weird ways. Historically, whether it was Fashion Week, or RTO, or as we travel into modern times, even Mistmane, White was the go-to colour for decks that wanted to score their points in unconventional ways. And again, as above, White was usually not the primary colour in any of these decks. Usually, it was just the win condition. But well, the win condition is a pretty important part so I can hardly get away without mentioning it. Thus, in this section, I’m going to be lumping the combos together, and boy there were a lot of them.

I already mentioned One Pace up above, but here we find its later evolution, One Shot, which at least was nice enough to include a little more White, even if it was still just performing the role of a win con. I would heartily recommend the linked article for reading, though, as it is one of the more complex combos out there.

And they keep on coming! One of, if not the most infamous combo deck ever was of course Dragon Express, and in the pattern established herein, there wasn’t a whole lot of White, but Breezy Rarity was the reason that the deck was able to win games.

Adding on to the tradition of fiendishly complicated combos, from the time of Absolute Discord there was Screw Shot, which… honestly I’m not even going to get into that one. I’m linking to the primers on these for a reason, here. Suffice it to say that once again White is here purely to score some points, though admittedly here there are at least multiple winning cycles through a White endpoint.

And no, we’re not stopping there! I’m going to get through all of the silly combos in this section, even though the next one on the list, Pie-Eating Contest, actually breaks the above pattern by not using White just to score points. For once, it’s a crucial part of the combo, abusing Teamwork Trenderhoof as part of a loop to destroy everything on the opponent’s side of the board in a single faceoff. Before the flips, even.

Finally, to bring the train home, let’s wrap it up with 104.3 FM, The Cheese, fittingly ending off this section by combining some of White’s point-scoring with some of White’s playing fast-and-loose with the rules. This one took advantage of UR Trenderhoof and Uniqueness to repeatedly play cards from the discard pile, though a later rules change invalidated the concept.

Whew, that was a lot of nonsense. Yet you know what I find to be the craziest thing? We’re more than 1700 words in and I still haven’t mentioned Eff Stop yet.

No history of White could possibly be complete without this guy

The Shutter-Click Heard ‘Round The World

Now, Eff Stop had been doing his thing pretty much since the start of the game. He is, after all, a Premier card. Through most of the early sets, he was a reasonably well-recognized tool, but enjoyed nowhere near the success of the other ones mentioned above. Yet, as time went on, the card infamous for “always getting better with every new set” kept getting better. The story of Eff Stop’s journey to getting banned starts in Absolute Discord, with another little piece of history. A Control Deck With Bad Draws was the first claim to fame for a now well-known tinkerer with the Seattle group named Skitter. This was the first notable deck that did the things Eff Stop would later be most famous for: enabling control decks to replay their important Events again, and again, and again. A later deck named Stopping Corn from around the same era did something largely similar, getting its namesake from replaying Popping Corn every turn to devastating effect.

By the time of the modern era, Eff Stop had settled down into what by now is by far his most recognizable role: partnering up with Gyro to deliver unmatched efficiency for control decks that could now minimize the deck space allotted to Events, while still getting maximum value out of them. Especially once Photo Finish showed up in High Magic, Purple/White control decks were everywhere, and the standard toolbox formulation showed up again and again. I’m going to select one representative example in the form of Cruel Mistress, a toolbox of 27 distinct cards that got particular value from wiping the opponent’s board with the combo of Spoiled Rich and Cruel Taskmistress.

But we shouldn’t forget that Eff Stop wasn’t just doing the usual toolbox thing around now. He was also playing what was admittedly a tangential role in another infamous deck: Tantabuse, where he and Interdimensional Portal served as a measure of backup when the usual tool of Minuette wasn’t available.

Finally, no discussion of Eff Stop and toolboxes could be complete without Vinyl’s Bag of Tricks, what many may consider the ultimate incarnation of the concept. With 11 distinct Events spread out over only 16 card slots, this deck captured the versatility of being able to answer almost anything the opponent could do, with the inevitability of being able to provide that same answer every turn for the rest of the game. After Bugle’s success with this deck, it was no surprise that Eff Stop ultimately got banned, bringing the era of toolbox control to an end with it.

Notably, this era wasn’t one of total control darkness. A consistent bright spot for aggro in the colour was of course the Octavia Mane from EO. Even though she hasn’t yet quite cracked the big time, there was and indeed continues to be experimentation with her. And, before Bluna fell in with the Pink crowd and Hot Wings became the only deck for miles around, she was often paired up with White, and did reasonably well too. Here’s a list that T8’d at 2016 BABSCon, something of a comforting refresher of the glory days of RTO that got this article started.

White’s still playing second fiddle, but it’s a pretty darn good orchestra

A Modern Era Just As Messy

The modern era, which I take to start at the introduction of the Core format, has been in all its complexity a continuation on the various themes that held sway over the course of this colour’s existence. Even without Eff Stop, Photo Finish still saw play as a backstop of control, especially as the new Chaos variant rose to prominence. In more recent times, naturally Mistmane has been added in as well. New potent tools like Bodyguard gave it a new lease on life heading into SB, though once again not taking too much of the spotlight for itself. And there were even new combos, of a sort, if you think of banking up AT until Mistmane wins the game on her own to be much of a combo. Still, it was potent for a time.

Indeed, White has spent nearly all of its history playing the secondary role, when it even got that. As Bugle pointed out to me, only 2 White Manes have ever made T16 at NA Continentals. Once for Octavia, and once for the deck that will be ending off the article this time. Because while the colour has so generously yielded the spotlight in almost of all of the lists above, there is one glaring exception of such unparalleled primacy that it simply must stand on its own. Naturally, I’m referring to Meanie Belle’s Big Sister, the 2018 NA Continental Champion.

Perhaps most fittingly for a colour that expressed itself in the past by providing useful tools to other colours, this deck is nothing but tools. It’s all useful Events, Troublemakers and Resources, put together to facilitate something that Rarity and her colour had been seemingly unable to do over the whole course of the meta’s history: hog the spotlight. While it was a bright flash, Friends Forever came next, Yellow sprang back to prominence (as we covered in January), and Meadowbrook served as the ultimate answer to this smorgasboard of Resources.

Conclusion

That was a wild ride of an article. I can safely say that before I started out on this I had no idea of the breadth of different archetypes and eras that I was going to be covering as I went through the history on this one. Indeed, even though White took a long time to find itself a starring role, it was a force behind many of the major movements in the game’s history. From the combo decks that each had their moment in the Sun, to the dynasty of control that held sway in the early pre-modern era, White was always there, always helping. It’s got a little something for everyone.

Part 1 of A History of Colour covered Yellow. Next up will be Purple.

[theresnoturningback]

After the Dare [RUSIM One Shot]

A/N: This took me forever to write. Same as usual; work and life love getting in the way. I wanted to write a second one shot of Ruby and Aasim for so long and it’s finally finished. Thanks to my dearest friend Jasper who helped me review and edit and make this piece of my heart a little more enjoyable for you. I love you son, you make everything better!For the future I have in mind writing a piece for AJ and Louis, because I love their dynamics, but I’m not sure how it will turn out, because episode 3 will have come out by then and I’ll be crying on the floor for the most part. I’ll try to keep writing, regardless. Thanks for liking, reading, commenting and reblogging, all that makes my heart full of love and pushes me to keep pursuing writing, studying and finding ways to improve my skills!

Word Count: 5832

“We haven’t played a game in weeks, since that night with Marlon’ Violet sighed, remembering the dreadful incident that took place two weeks ago.

Louis pretended he didn’t hear her grim words as he shuffled his deck of cards. His eyes moved from his own hands to Aasim, who seemed to be lost in thought while staring at the horizon. He followed his friends’ stare and he noticed the redhead who was helping Omar carrying boxes from one place to another.

‘I mean’ Louis’ Aasim woke up from his unintended daydreaming. He turned his head to redirect his attention to Louis ‘If you wanna go ask Ruby to come play, I don’t mind waiting’

Aasim felt the urge to punch Louis in the face, but refrained.

‘Shut up dude!’ He exclaimed instead, shaking his head regretfully ‘I swear to God...’

With the years, Louis had proved to be a good and supportive friend to Aasim, but sometimes he’d wonder just how much he could confide in him.

Of course, Louis meant no harm with his little teasing, but ever since he found out about his crush, he had not been able to catch a break.  Louis took every chance to bring it up, he’d ask questions and sometimes, he would like to imagine scenarios and was very vocal about it..

However, this was the first time he mentioned Ruby in front of others. While Clementine tried not to show much interest in the topic, Violet couldn’t hide her curiosity.

‘You have a crush on Ruby?’ She inquired, her voice as calm as usual. He looked away, searching for the right words in his head. Luckily for him, AJ and Tenn joined the group, saving him from a potential awkward moment.

‘What are we playing?’ AJ asked

‘Truth or Dare’ Louis announced and Violet immediately looked at him to correct him

‘You don’t use cards in truth or dare…’

‘You do in this version’ He explained as Tenn sat next to Violet on the couch and AJ took a seat on the floor, near Clementine ‘Everyone draws, highest card gets to ask. Lowest card has to answer’

Right after the rules were set, the game started and during the first round, Violet drew the highest card, while Clementine had the bad luck to be her victim.

‘This should be good’ She snickered maliciously ‘Let’s see...truth: Marry, Fuck Kill...’ ‘Vi…’ Tenn reminded her that her foul language wasn’t approved in casual situations like that one.

‘Fine… Marry, Flip, Kill; Ruby, Aasim or...’ She turned her attention to Clementine once more ‘James, that guy who saved you’

‘Oh, my God..’ Clementine huffed

‘You gotta answer. Them’s the rules’ Louis reminded her, as interested in her answer as Violet.

She considered her options for some seconds.

‘Let’s see...I would marry...Aasim’ Her response caught everyone’s attention

‘I uh... thanks?’ Aasim answered with a rather unsure smile. Louis saw Clementine smiling back

‘I don’t think you’re his type’ He reminded her.’He’s into redheads’

‘Dude! Shut up’

Violet couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Aasim being flustered like a little boy. That was all the confirmation she needed.

Clementine kept on talking to get out of the spotlight.

‘I would, um...flip’

‘Flip, flip, flip. Flip...’ Louis chanted, immediately followed by AJ.

‘Ruby’

Louis threw his head back, laughing gleefully.The rest stared at him in silence.

‘Wh-I’m sorry! I was just imagining her glare while Clem propositions her!’ He immediately began imitating the redhead in a very poor southern accent ‘What? You’re sure that’s a good idea? What’s wrong with you?’

‘She picked’ Violet sentenced ‘Ruby gets a flip’

Louis smiled at her friend and turned to Clementine

‘So that means you’re killing…’

‘This is amazing’ Tenn said, excited

‘Boy from the woods!’ Violet cheered. Her and Louis seemed strangely enjoying this very last bit

‘I’ll try to shed a tear for the poor boy none of us met, who’s probably just a figment of Clem’s imagination’ He added with fake sympathy

‘No he’s not’ AJ defended Clementine ‘I’ve met him’

‘Well, now he’s dead...poor dude’ Clementine rolled her eyes at him, trying to hide her amusement as Louis continued his little speech ‘This is great; we’re laughing, we’re bonding. It’s a nice break from thinking about homicidal assholes sneaking into our homes to kidnap us’

‘Not if you bring it up’ Violet warned.

‘Onto round two!’ Louis announced with a wink, to avoid an argument with the blonde.

The card deck was passed from player to player. This time, Clementine’s luck changed for the better, turning her into the winner of the second round, while Aasim realized he probably had to do or say something against his will by her command.

‘Definitely a dare’ Clem stated, looking at him with malice.

‘Okay. Do your worst’ He said with a smile that denoted fake confidence after hesitating for a second.

After considering her options for a couple of seconds, Clementine finally resolved what Aasim’s fate would be during round two.

‘You have to ask Ruby...for a kiss’

He did not see that coming.

‘Seriously?’ He questioned, hoping she’d change her mind on the spot.

‘The most legitimate of dares’ Louis added, letting him know that was happening and there was no way of stopping or avoiding it.

‘Maybe there is one thing I could do to avoid the dare’ He thought while looking over at Ruby, still working in the distance, too busy to notice anyone staring at her. ‘Maybe she won’t talk to me in weeks, maybe months...but God knows I can’t kiss her’

His idea was even more risky than actually asking her for a kiss and he was willing to take it, with some apprehensions.

‘There has to be a way around it’ He thought to himself while standing up, his heart pounding inside his chest ‘I can’t do it, I have to do it...but I can’t’ His brain repeated with each approaching step ‘Come on, you dumbass, think of something, quick!’

Everyone else was waiting with expectation. Louis was actually waiting to see them kiss. Violet was just impressed Aasim would accept the dare and, Clementine didn’t know what to expect, but whatever the outcome was, she knew it was going to pay off.

And did it pay off.

They were too far to hear a thing, but their body language said it all. Ruby was beyond offended and punched Aasim in the chest. A general guffaw was sparked by the violent display.

Aasim walked back, silently wearing Ruby’s punch like a medal of honor, while the group was still laughing. He earned a ‘damn’ from Violet and a ‘I can’t breathe’ from Louis.

‘I hate...everyone’ He sat down, grumpily crossing his arms in front of him and looking at the rest of the group with the most honest indignation

‘That was amazing’ Violet smiled at him, to remind him it was all in good fun.

‘Well, I think we all learned something about our good friend Aasim today’ Louis went at it again, looking at his friend with an annoying smile before continuing ‘Mainly, that he has no romantic charm whatsoever’

It was harder and harder to refrain the growing urge to strangle him.

‘Shut up’ He muttered.

The game went on for a couple of rounds more, but Aasim was too lost in thought to be invested in it anymore. With all that happened he even forgot about his little fight with Willy for a moment. Louis’ plans always ended up working somehow.

‘Another annoying thing about him’ He thought.

When the game ended, he went on to make peace with Willy and work on the traps together.

It was a productive evening that lead to an uneventful night; There was no sign of the raiders coming that night, so he turned to his books and chronicles to distract himself from the awful things he had to say to save Ruby the embarrassment of being part of a stupid dare.

But he couldn’t

All he could think about was her.

She needed to know he didn’t mean to be nasty with her. He knew that was her biggest pet peeve and he used it against her to break free from a dare. But how could he explain that to her without admitting he was actually in love. It was not a small crush by now. Maybe it was in the beginning, but a crush would never last as long as the vexing sensation he got every time he’d look at her for the past two years. It was clear to him this wasn’t just some childish infatuation.

-----

‘AASIM, AASIM WAKE UP’ Louis sang loudly as he kicked the door to Aasim’s room open, jolting the boy awake between several sheets of paper, scribbled all over.

‘Jesus, Louis, why do you have to be extra loud this time in the morning?’

‘You will not believe what happened to me last night’

‘Did you have an epiphany about how dumb you are?’ Aasim grumbled, groggily rubbing his face with one hand ‘Because if it’s not it, don’t even bother’

Louis stood in front of him, unable to stay still while trying to contain his giddiness.

Aasim realized he wasn’t going to leave him alone until he listened to him, as it was usually the case.

‘Okay...what happened last night?’ He said sitting up and giving him all the attention.

‘Clem kissed me’ The small sentence woke Aasim up entirely.

‘What ,who, when?’

‘Clementine. Last night...she kissed me? Dude, I just told you this, try to keep up!’

‘I mean, did she really? Maybe you just dreamed it’

Louis sat in another chair opposite to him and leaned in to keep explaining with the same excited tone.

‘It was definitely not a dream, I checked, we were sitting at the piano, I showed her a song I wrote for her, I carved my initial and she did too, then she carved a heart around the letters and I wasn’t expecting that, and then everything got serious so quickly, she said she like-liked me and then she kissed me’

His rushed words were evidence enough this was a real thing.

‘So, you two are...dating now?’

‘I mean, I guess? I mean, I think so...I never got this far’ He shrugged, still consumed by pure joy

‘Hey, that’s great, dude’ Aasim smiled along.

‘I know, thanks!’

‘I’m happy for you, it’s nice to finally see you with a sincere smile again... but can I ask you something?’

‘Go ahead’

‘How did you do it? How did everything lead to that one moment?’

‘I’m not sure, everything happened naturally. I mean, if this answers your question, I tried to show myself as I really was, I tried to be as honest as I could with her, I wanted her to know I care but I also let her know how grateful I was that she cares about me, too. Sometimes, showing a little vulnerability is not as bad as you’d think’

‘That makes sense’ He mumbled, still taking in his friends’ words

Louis noticed Aasim was more pensive than usual

‘Is there anything you’d like to get out of your chest, buddy?’

‘No’ Aasim answered without hesitation while standing to pick up books and paper sheets ‘After you teased me with Ruby in front of everyone, I don’t think I’ll be telling you anything else’

‘Come on, we were having fun, remember?’

‘You guys were having fun’ He corrected

‘I thought you were, too’ The faint smile on his face faded slowly

‘I was embarrassed and you guys wanted to drag her into it too, that pissed me off’ He confessed.

‘Dude, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize…’

‘Yeah, you never do’

His remark shut Louis up abruptly and suddenly a tense silence arose

Aasim finished stacking his belongings, closed his eyes to remember the reason Louis was there. When he turned around, his friend was already walking towards the door. He walked closer to apologize.

‘Wait, I didn’t mean to come off so rude’

‘I understand, Aasim. I’m sorry, too. I was outta line’

‘I really am happy for you and Clem’

‘Thanks’ Louis smiled at Aasim before turning around and leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He was fully aware he had to apologize to Ruby for using her just so he could get out of the spotlight. He thought about doing it in the best way he knew. He sat back down at his desk and starting scribbling on a blank piece of paper. He skipped breakfast and spent all morning writing and rewriting, trying to phrase his apology in the sincerest way possible.

From time to time, he’d stare blankly at what he had just written and angrily scratch over it, frustrated that he couldn’t word his feelings.

‘If Louis, being the dumbass he was, could do it, then I can too’ He mumbled after a tired sigh directed at the roof.

Then, a sudden realization came to him. Louis never hid behind a piece of paper. His honesty was directly shown through his attitude and his words. If there was a correct way to do it, that must be it.

He looked down at his letter once more before crumpling it into a ball and throwing it away.

He stood up and walked out of his room with decisive steps. He had nothing rehearsed, he had no idea what would happen after, but he knew he had to say something that day, giving the uncertainty of their fates.

Out in the courtyard, he found Willy and Mitch talking to each other at one of the tables

‘Hey, have you guys seen Ruby?’ Aasim asked, trying to sound casual about it.

‘Yeah, she’s working in the greenhouse’ Mitch said, smiling ‘I’m pretty sure she’s all by herself right now’

‘Thanks’

Mitch whispered something in Willy’s ear when Aasim turned around.

‘Go get her, tiger!’ Willy yelled, putting Mitch in a state of cachinnation. Aasim didn’t turn around. He simply flipped them off while walking away.

‘News really do travel fast among small groups’ He thought, embracing his embarrassment in silence.

Walking closer to the greenhouse felt just like the previous night; an overwhelming anxiety that came out of nowhere.

‘She’s still mad at you’ His brain began ‘You should give her one day more to cool off, you really shouldn’t do this right now’

He shook these thoughts off with the sole argument that there might not be another day for them to talk.

The door to the greenhouse was open. He peeked inside. It wasn’t as clear as the exterior, but he could still see Ruby sweeping the floor, too immersed in her task to notice him standing awkwardly by the door.

He wanted to say something to call her attention, but it was as if he had forgotten how to speak for a couple of seconds.

He didn’t know what was it about her that made him feel so dumb. He could be the stupidest boy in the world when they were alone in the same space. It had been like that since they were younger and he was sure it would be the same if they made it into adulthood.

He cleared his throat to call Ruby’s attention. She turned around and saw him offering her a half smile. She pressed her lips together, containing her contempt and let him speak.

‘Do you need some help? He said timidly. Ruby looked around. There was still a lot to do and she was visibly overworked, but her pride was bigger than the mess around them.

‘Well, aren’t you precious’ She exclaimed bitterly almost under her breath, resuming her chores.

‘Come on, give me something to do...I don’t want to keep overthinking about the raiders and I thought...I could help you clean the greenhouse’

Ruby glanced at him over her shoulder and saw him fidgeting nervously.

‘Are you done bein’ ugly?’ She asked. Aasim looked up at her with puppy eyes.

‘Yes, I’m sorry about last night...I know those were crappy memories and I overstepped my boundaries by bringing them up’ He mumbled

‘You shouldn’t have said it, if you really knew how bad it made me feel. I spent last night thinking about it over and over. I couldn’t stop reliving it; how much I hated Mitch that night, the rage I felt as I hit him for his stupid prank, how badly beaten he looked afterwards, how guilty I still feel, no matter how many times he tells me it’s alright and he had it coming for bein' insensitive and immature... and how much I wish Ms. Martin was alive to take care of us like she used to’

‘I remember that night. Mitch told me what he had done minutes before you found him. He looked so proud of what he had done’

‘You were there?’ Aasim nodded ‘I honestly can’t remember. I was seein’ red the whole time

‘I helped Ms. Martin take care of Mitch while she was trying to calm you’

‘I remember she givin’ me some kind of herbal tea and lettin’ me stay in her room because I was too afraid to go back to my own bed’ She smiled at the memory ‘She really was so kind to all of us, even Mitch and me, and we were terrible children’

‘You weren’t terrible, you just lost it because Mitch put roaches in your bed knowing you were afraid of them’

‘And you had to go and bring it up last night, didn’t you?’ She frowned and started sweeping again.

‘But…’

‘My mother used to say’ She turned around to face him once more ‘ “Ruby, darlin’; if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, it would be Christmas everyday” and she was always right’

‘Would you listen if I just...explained the whole situation to you?’

She pursed her lips, torn between not wanting to hear excuses and her desire to relieve her friend from his notorious guilt.

‘Oh, alright...’ She conceded ‘Spit, what made you say those awful things?’ Aasim hesitated. His silence brought nothing but a tense atmosphere inside the greenhouse ‘Are you….gonna say something or…’ Aasim nodded, but couldn’t found himself unable to speak out of fear ‘I reckon you need to sit, you’re gettin’ pale’

‘I’ll be fine’ He finally said after shaking his head.

‘Now, will you tell me what happened last night, because I don’t understand anything and were wastin’ daylight standin’ here’

‘It was a dare!’ he exclaimed, only to make his friend even more confused.

‘They dared you to ...get punched?’

‘No, not really’ Aasim shook his head once more, unsure if it was worth it to keep trying to justify himself

‘Then what?’ She insisted.

He looked at her and gathered enough courage to end that frustrating conversation once and for all

‘They dared me to ask you for a kiss’

Ruby blinked in surprise. She wanted to know more, but there were so many questions in her mind demanding to be answered that she didn’t even know where to start.

‘Oh…’ It’s all that came out her mouth.

‘Would you have done it?’ He asked without thinking, feeling instant regret at the sight of her negative response.

‘No, I wouldn’t have kissed you, Aasim’

The look of disappointment in his eyes hinted there were some hidden feelings  that she was never aware of until then.

‘It’s not like that’ She hurried to justify her rejection with a soft voice, afraid she might have hurt his feelings ‘You’re a very sweet fella, and very smart too, but ...it would have been my very first kiss and I don’t want it to be somethin’ people laugh about. I don’t think I could stand bein' a joke to everybody all over again’

‘Now you see why I chose to get punched instead?’ She smiled at him and his heart almost stopped beating. He looked for something to do around the greenhouse to avoid her eye contact ‘It’s starting to look like a functional place again’ He quickly changed the subject as he grabbed a rag and started dusting some dirt-covered shelves with it.

‘It’s like a dream come true’ She sighed, smiling proudly at the place ‘I’m going to put some tomatoes there, someday...and we’ll have the potatoes at the back so we can use this space for spices and other kinds of herbs, just like where Ms. Martin used to have them’

‘You’re not tired of cleaning up all by yourself?’

‘Oh, absolutely not’ She stated her half-lie with a wider smile. She was visibly fatigued, but she didn’t feel it due to the rewarding feeling of doing something she loved after so many years ‘I’ve been hopin’ someone helped me get this place up and runnin’ again, but Marlon  never let me come and see how overrun it really was, until Clementine showed up, that is...I know I wanted them gone after the little man killed Marlon, but without her we wouldn’t be in here today. She’s tough as a pine knot, that girl...I have lots to thank her’

‘I guess we all have something to thank her about, she saved my life on her very first day here’ He said casually, but immediately felt his friend’s silence and eyes behind him.

‘You never told me…’ He turned around and the hurt look in her eyes made him feel guilty again ‘What happened…?

‘A walker appeared out of nowhere and grabbed me while I was cleaning up the place. Clem saved me just in time’

Ruby took some seconds to let his words sink in her mind. She could have lost one of his closest friends that day and she had been oblivious of it until that moment. She felt a fear she hadn’t felt in a long time while she realized she couldn’t bear to picture Aasim being devoured by one or two walkers.

‘I’m glad you’re okay’ She muttered while trying to push the vivid mental pictures to the back of her mind.

‘It was weeks ago…’

‘And still you never told me’ She interrupted, unavoidingly frustrated.

‘I didn’t think it was something that required medical assistance, I’m sorry’

‘You could have been bitten!’

‘I wasn’t’ He quickly answered in the same tone she spoke to him.

Ruby tried to leave behind the anger that came from her unsaid worries by walking closer to the few plants she could save, and watered them carefully. Aasim went back to dusting the empty shelves.

‘Sorry I flew off the handle at you’ She said minutes later, unable to stand the silence between them ‘ I didn’t mean to raise my voice like that’

‘I know, it wasn’t your intention’ He offered her a comprehensive smile ‘ You take care of us, and I should have come to you to check for scratches or bites. I was dumb and it won’t happen again’

‘You’ve been feelin’ healthy since?’ She asked quietly

‘I’ve had no health problems whatsoever’ He assured her.

‘That’s good to hear’ She returned his smile as she carried trays with small sprouts in them into the sunlight. She admired them like a proud mother ‘Soon, we’ll have this place as green as it was. No more worries about food for us, you’ll see’

‘You have worked so hard to bring this place back to life. I’m impressed’

‘Mitch helped a lot moving heavy stuff during the first day, but I worked alone the following days’

‘You know, if you needed help, you could have just asked’

‘I never needed the help. I actually like bein' alone with my greens. It helps me clean my head and lets me think better, but I also like some company from time to time. A good conversation should never be taken for granted’

‘I bet Mitch is great for good conversations’ Aasim joked, reminiscing the times when Mitch and Ruby didn’t get along and the hundred of arguments and fights they had and now are clear evidence of their stormy past ‘Remember the Maggie Incident?’

The very first one of their altercations happened when Ruby first arrived to Ericson’s, two years before the outbreak started. She was short, but intimidating for her age. She always kept a serious look in her face and even Marlon admitted he was sort of afraid of her while they were talking about her at lunch. Mitch quickly said he wasn’t intimidated by her, to sound tougher than everyone at the table. Marlon and Louis immediately dared him to prove Mitch’s bravery by going to Ruby’s room and bringing them one of their belongings.

Mitch accepted, so he didn’t look like a complete coward in front of his friends. He sneaked in her room one afternoon the girls were out in a nature walk and stole a framed picture of her and some other kids, all dressed for Halloween. She was dressed as Maggie, from “Maggie and the Ferocious Beast”. Aasim had never seen Ruby smile until Mitch showed him that picture in their room late at night.

Eventually, Ruby found out and, as she was a kid who couldn’t control her emotions, she ran to Mitch to bite him and pull his hair until he finally confessed he had stolen her picture.

Aasim never told Mitch it was him who told Ruby about it.

‘We’ve changed a lot since then’ She laughed at the memory ‘I mean, he’s still immature and impulsive, I keep tellin’ him that’s gonna come back to bite him in the ass someday, but he just doesn’t listen. He’s too stubborn for his own good, bless his heart’

‘I believe he stopped being mean after Willy came along. A little responsibility can change a person so much’ He observed.

‘Well no matter how much he’s changed, everytime we talk, the boy always ends up blabberin’ about bombs and knives…’

‘Hey, we all have our passions. It’s hard not to talk about what we love, like you and the greenhouse…’

Ruby stopped what she was doing and looked at Aasim with a confused expression.

‘If I’m botherin’ you, you have to tell me…’ He walked closer and stood beside her.

‘No, that’s what I meant at all… when people talk about what they truly love, their whole face changes; their eyes, the tone of their voice, it’s something very interesting to see’

‘It looks like you have studied this very well’

‘That’s a word for it’ He shrugged

‘So, what do I do when I talk about greenhouse’ She let her curiosity take over, leaving Aasim wondering how he would describe her when she was at her greatest state of joy.

‘When you talk about it’ He paused, an involuntary smile adorned his mouth while still trying to choose the correct words ‘When you do that, your eyes shine, your cheeks turn red when you get excited about the plans you have for it and you talk faster because you can’t contain your happiness. It makes me think you are actually hopeful for the future’

Ruby was surprised at first.

‘You could have been a detective’ She laughed ‘That’s very impressive. I really feel hopeful, now that I’ve had a second chance at the greenhouse, that is’

‘Joy isn’t something easy to hide and all this clearly brings you joy and honestly, I admire that you can bring life with your own two hands. I mean, like...with both plants and people. You nurse us back to health and you do this…and it makes you happy’

They looked at the tiny green sprouts catching sunlight in the tray.

‘You bet it makes me happy’ She smiled before looking at him straight in the eye ‘It’s like you and your books’

Aasim raised a brow.

‘What about...my books?’

‘Aw, it’s cute how you act like it’s a big secret, when in fact, everyone knows that losing yourself in whatever you write makes you happy. It makes sense, too. You’re sharper than a mother-in-law’s tongue!’ The boy tilted his head, trying to understand her last comment somehow ‘...It’s a plant with sharp leaves’ Ruby explained.

‘Oh, yeah, that-that makes more sense’

‘Anyhow, you have that to keep you up at night, but is that all?’ Don’t you have other stuff in your mind  when you can’t read or write?’

‘You’

There’s no way he could say that.

‘Lately, all I can think of is you’

‘Writing is all I have’ He shrugged while trying to forget about his intrusive thoughts

‘That ain’t true! What about your skills with the bow and arrow? I’ve seen you bein' all proud after a good day of hunting’

‘Being proud for providing is much different than having a passion. I hunt out of necessity, not fun’

‘That’s because killing is never fun, even in a world like this’ She agreed ‘I remember my old man taking me and my brothers on hunting trips. He only allowed them to use guns while I had to learn to fish, because I was little. It was dull, but those were the only times we’d spend actual time as a family, you know, right before they dumped me here, but in retrospective, I wouldn't have had it any other way’

‘Ericson was never a five star hotel’ He reminded her

‘I’m well aware, but if it wasn’t for all the things that had to go wrong, I wouldn’t have met you -none of you’

‘Life likes to work in mysterious ways like that’

‘She sure does’  Ruby rolled her eyes at him, laughing

‘If you’d like, I could teach you to shoot a bow. Who knows? It could save your life someday’

‘I don’t enjoy hunting as much as my brothers once did, but I know it’s a useful skill to have. I reckon I’ll take your offer’

‘After we get rid of the raiders, we start your lessons, then’

Ruby appreciated her friend’s optimism towards the possible outcome of their upcoming battle.

‘You better not leave me hanging on this’ She rolled down her sleeves and put on her jacket.

‘You’re leaving?’

‘Yeah, Omar might need some help with supper. He never says it, but he gets cranky when people don’t help while he cooks’

She walked away letting her hair down while trying to fix it into a fresher updo. Aasim forgot how to breathe for a moment right after his stomach jumped inside of him.

Unwillingly, her name escaped his lips in the form of a breathless whisper that almost sounded like he was asking for help.

She looked over and found him standing almost like a ghost.

‘You look like ten miles of bad road’ She hurried back beside him to make sure he wasn’t seriously ill.

Aasim felt the cold back of her hand press against his forehead and under his right ear.

‘You feel a little hot, but I can’t say it’s a fever’ How are you feelin’?’

He managed to shake his head slowly, unable to focus his eyes on anything.

‘...Dizzy…’ He muttered, shutting his eyes close

‘You poor thing, come sit…’ She lead him to the wooden bench by the door.

‘Have you eaten well? Have you slept at all?’

Regaining the consciousness he had lost for a moment, he silenced her line of questioning by taking her hands in his. She looked down, then back at him. Her worry only grew with the silence around them. She thought of every single gruesome scenario possible in the span of three seconds, but none of them were remotely near to what was really happening.

‘Ruby, I think I like you’ Aasim spat nervously ‘Actually, I don’t think...I know I really like you, and I can’t keep lying to myself or hiding this from you any longer…’

‘Aasim, I…’ The boy gently squeezed her hands in his, shutting her up immediately

‘I’ve liked you for years now...Louis found out recently and he has been teasing me about it. So, last night more people found out and that’s why they dared me to kiss you in front of them, but I didn’t want to put you through that kind of pressure because it wouldn’t have been fair if you didn’t like me back and if you don’t- If you don’t, that’s okay, I just wanted you to know the whole truth from me before someone else tells you something they shouldn’t’

She was astonished as he blurted out his confession to her with his eyes fixed on their hands.

She intertwined her fingers with his, anxiously biting her lower lip before speaking.

‘I like you too, Aasim’ She tried to hide her flushed cheeks with a timid grin

He looked up at her with round eyes that denoted a mixture of disbelief, adoration and a small hint of the fear that once overcame him. Her smile widened once she realized his face regained some color, too.

‘Feelin’ better?’ She asked softly. Aasim chuckled

‘So much better’ He assured her. She hesitantly leaned closer to his face, sending a shudder-like sensation up his spine. Just as he was about to meet her halfway, the door opened violently

‘The raiders are he-’ Mitch found them sitting close and looking flustered ‘Shit, sorry, I didn’t know you guys were...busy’ He smiled as he looked down at his friends’ hands.

Ruby followed his gaze and let go of Aasim’s hands almost as if she could make Mitch unsee what he just saw.

‘Did you just say the raiders are here?’ Aasim stood up, alarmed, making Mitch go back to the more urging situation.

‘Uh, yeah, Clem just saw them. They’ll be here in a couple of minutes. I have to tell the others’

‘We’ll see you there’ Ruby nodded at the boy before he ran off

‘Well…’ Aasim turned around and held her hands once again ‘It’s time…’

‘It’s time’ She repeated, anxiously.

A bell ringing in the courtyard demanded everyone’s presence.

Aasim tried to look outside, but Ruby brought him back to their personal buble with a small peck on his cheek.

‘Don’t be stupid and die on me, okay?’ He looked at her blushing as she uttered her timid plea and couldn’t resist it anymore.

He recovered the kiss she had stolen from him, making the time around them stop as their lips met in a short, tender encounter. It almost felt like their lives weren’t in grave impending danger. As much as they would have liked to stay a little longer in the greenhouse, there were much more pressing matters happening outside.

‘Don’t get kidnapped’ He reminded her

‘We’ll continue this conversation after it’s all over’ She embraced him as a way to give him and herself the strength they needed to fight and win.

(But you know what happened next)

[lia-nikiforov]

Revised edition

Quick report on Kubo and Yamamoto’s attendance to Concomics Guadalajara. I was in line for 9 hours plus two more for their short Q&A and am objectively dying, sorry for typos 

ETA: When I wrote this it didn’t occur to me that it would get hundreds of reblogs before I ever got to fix it, now my half-deceased incompetent typing will live on forever *sobs*

I arrived at 6:30 am and there were already people in line jeeesus (lots were coming to see a youtuber though)

Gonna spare you the deets on the awful people in my surroundings thank @yuurinikiforov cos I screamed at her for hours

ETA: I just realized this sounds like it was Ally making me scream but in fact i tumblr-screamed at her to prevent from unleashing my frustrations on the gross fujos that surrounded me. Thank Ally because she got to read all that nervous-wreck garbage and y’all get to be spared

I had a two-day ticket so I was allowed in half an hour earlier and if not for that, I probably would’ve missed on the autograph line. They had space for 50 people (plus 200ish that had bought the express pass which was super expensive). I was #45. It took less than three minutes since getting inside for all 50 spots to be taken

(this was the line after three minutes. I was too lazy to take pics of it later, but it got to be around 5 times this at some point.)

ETA: According to Con staff, since the lines were very well organized, they actually got to sign quite a bit more people than the originally allotted 50. The Queens are so kind. 

No photos, video or sound recording of The Queens allowed, except for this one taken by Con staff. They were giving away those postcards for the filthy casuals people who didn’t bring any official merch for the sign

i’m mostly kidding about the filthy casual thing bc I hate fandom elitism but there were a lot of people bringing FANART PRINTS and I wanted to gut them

Kubo would quick sketch a character of your choice. I chose Victor bc I love how she draws his huge heart mouth

I was able to tell Sayokan how grateful I am from the bottom of my heart and that I’m looking forward to the movie and she said thank you and that they’re workinng hard. I died. ETA: I wanted to say so much more but I was so nervous my Japanese came out really garbled and we didn’t have much time. And I didn’t get to say anything to Kubo because I didn’t want to distract her from drawing ;---;

Sayokan has a beautiful smile and I love her

ETA: She also had an aura like Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada, twenty years younger: A STRONG woman who takes no prisoners and is fabulous af. I love her with all my soul.

After the autographs, The Queens had a short stage appearance

There was a cosplay contest and the winners would get to sit in the front row for The Queens’ presentation. I didn’t take any pics but the standout for me apart from a flood of gorgeous girls doing Eros Yuuri, was a pair of girls doing Lilia and Yakov. The announcer clearly didn’t watch the show and botched Lilia’s last name, but the cosplayer had the attitude 100% on point.

Something I hate is people who say Yurio stressing the u, it sounds so wrong and a lot of people today were doing it and driving me mad

The stage was packed af

Kubo drew quick sketch of Victor while she and Sayo answered a couple of questions. They will post the video later today

ETA: Here’s the video

Audience Questions logistics wasn’t very well prepared and even Kubo asked how it was gonna work. I was embarrassed for the lack of planning. In the end those that were lucky to be close to the stage got to ask the questions. Lia was praying for no stupid questions pls.

Q&A (translation partially mine partially from the interpreter)

1. What were your expectations about Mexico and have those expectations changed now

Kubo: I haven’t gone sightseeing yet but it’s my first time in Mexico and I didn’t expect so many people. [The people/audience] feels four or five times warmer than japan (make of that what you may, Japanese people say that about us a lot) Sayokan didn’t answer

2. Dumb question that has already been answerred in interviews about whether Yurio was planned to win from the start. As we know, yes, pretty sure both of them have said it before. Sayokan added that his character development wasn’t completely planned though, and he evolved a lot during writing.

3. Which word do you think of when you thibk of Yuuri and Victor 

Sayokan: Love (愛) 

Kubo: She didn’t talk to the mic and people were still screaming about 愛  so Ididn’t hear what she said but the interpreter said she said Friendship. My queens get your story sraight pls

HUGELY IMPORTANT ETA: Other people that were there have confirmed that Kubo gave a long answer that included 断ち切れない絆 “an unbreakable bond” and didn’t say anything about friendship. There was a telephone game going on because there was a JP-ENG interpreter and then an ENG-SPA interpreter and I don’t know how or why the latter got “friendship” but please take this into account, I don’t want people to hate on Kubo because I wasn’t close enough to hear her answer and the Spanish interpreter botched it.

Not important ETA: A girl close to me was yelling “Victuri” like she hoped they’d answer that and I was facepalming hard

Kubo also asked (in Japanese) if anyone understood Japanese, it wasn’t translated and a good dozen of hands shot up. She was surprised. Some folks screamed abd she said 落ち着け. One or two continued screaming so obviously they didn’t understand Japanese lol

4. Stupid question about whether they plan to develop Otabek and Yurio’s relationship. 

Sayokan said they hadn’t fully decided on how everything’s gonna end in the movie so can’t say yet but look forward to the bonus on V6 (the interpreter said V3 and I wanted to gut him). Hoes I like Otayuri but stop trying to shove it on The queens’ faces pls

5. Do you have plans for a special chapter about the Lady skaters? 

Sayokan said it’s definitely something they’d love to do but right now their focus is on the boys abnd finishing their story. Best answer for me tbh besides Sayokan’s 愛 cos I wanna see Mila skate soooo bad.

ETA: Forgot to mention this but a lot of people were chanting “Boda! Boda!” (wedding). Kubo asked what it was that people were chanting and the interpreter told them. Someoene else is reporting that Sayokan chuckled. There were two tall dudes in front of me so my vision was very obstructed and can’t confirm, but neither said anything out loud in response to it

Sayokan threw some gifts at the audience but My Queen is no pitcher and I was too far back so didn’t get anything *sobs*. Some were prints or maybe postcards but no idea of what exactly.

And that’s it! Theyll be signing more autographs and have another stage appearancw tomorrow but I can’t stay so someone else will have to report it whilst I die.

TL;DR I love them and my calebdar looks even more beautiful and I never thought that was possible and I’ll cry about this day for the rest of my life.

PS I’ll fix those typos when I’m not utterly destroyed PPs: I have no shame so I wanna plug my cute Victuri Tangled AU it’s really cute and it doesnt have typos promise, please read it  http://archiveofourown.org/works/10529547/chapters/23245557