#hello it's 3 am and. i just finished watching spiral

[risaonda]

[ladykailitha]

Can Anybody See Me? Part 16

Hello, darlings! I am back with this wonderful story. I figure there will be about 20 chapters provided more drama doesn’t crop up for our lovely duo.

The Cinderella thing is mostly true. Not the throw up part but the English teacher part. And she did swear off drama.

Also I used real lines from the play 1776 all credit goes to the writer Peter Stone.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15

*

Eddie always got tired of hearing the music by the time the last week before the performance came around. But he never got tired of watching Steve learn the dance moves or say his lines.

What was impressive was the fact that Steve picked up his lines faster then the kids that had been doing this for years. The actor playing John Adams kept stumbling over the line “Does anybody see what I see?” He kept saying “Does anyone see what I see?”

Eddie could tell even from the light booth that Steve was about to leap from the sidelines and strangle him.

Miss Lucy called out the correct line for the tenth time and the kid threw his arms in the air and walked off the stage in frustration.

Miss Lucy sighed. “All right, I guess we take a short break before getting back to it.” Marty patted her shoulder and went to go talk to him.

Steve turned to Janice. “You want to strangle Vince or shall I?”

Janice laughed. “How about we take turns?”

By then Eddie had made his way to them, the boring way. As in he actually used the stairs.

“Now, now, Stevie,” he growled low. “Threatening John Adams is a completely different part of the play!”

Steve and Janice laughed. Eddie loved this laugh. It wasn’t the dark chuckle or sneering smirk from his King Steve years. It was an actual laugh, open mouthed and loud.

“You ready for your first performance in front of a live audience?” Janice asked.

Steve gulped. “No?”

“There’s always someone who throws up,” she said with a grin. “So if you feel like up chucking, just do it in the designated garbage can with the lid to keep the smell from getting to everyone else.”

Eddie winced. “Yeah, we really don’t need a repeat of Cinderella.”

Steve’s face drained of color. “What happened with Cinderella?”

Marty came up from behind Janice and said, “The kid playing the King threw up on the girl playing the fairy godmother. Like all over her dress. And apparently she had a weak stomach, so she threw up too. And then the girl playing one of the step-sisters threw up because of the smell...and it just spiraled from there.”

“They had to cancel that performance,” Janice finished with a grimace.

“That performance?” Eddie said. “Hell they had to push back all of the performances until the following week so that they had time to get all the costumes dry cleaned.”

“It was a mess,” Marty said.

Steve frowned. “When was this?”

“Oh this was in middle school,” Marty said. “Um...our seventh grade I believe if Eddie was there for that.”

Eddie nodded. “The English teacher wanted to direct that year and she was a way better teacher than the actual drama teacher. But after the puking incident she swore off drama forever.”

It was Steve’s turned to wince. “I can’t say I blame her.”

“So yeah,” Janice said. “Please use the designated receptacles if you decide you need to throw up.”

Steve grimaced. “I don’t usually throw up when I’m nervous or scared, so I think I should be fine.”

Eddie frowned at the edition of scared to that statement. When the hell would Steve have been frightened? He supposed he could be referring to his dad, but this felt like it was something else.

“All right, everyone!” Miss Lucy called out. “Places!”

Steve got back out there and stood on his mark. Vince and Martin, the kid who was playing Hancock got to theirs.

“I’m still from Massachusetts, John;” Martin said, “you know where I stand. I’ll do whatever you say.”

“No, you’re the President of Congress,” Vince said. “You’re a fair man, Hancock—stay that way.”  

The messenger boy came in and handed Steve the dispatch.

“Tell me Mr Thomson, out of curiosity, do you stand with Mr Dickinson or do you stand with me?

Steve held up the dispatch. “I stand with the General. Lately–I’ve had the oddest feeling that he’s been–writing to me,” he said.

And this time the scene went off without a hitch.

“Cut!” Miss Lucy called. “Well done everyone!”

“Steve just a little more emotion in the ‘me’ bit, okay?��� she said. “Your voice is supposed to crack with the despair of it all.”

Steve nodded.

“Kenny,” she said, “The way you uttered you line sent chills down my spine. Keep that up.”

Steve privately thought that Kenny should have been Adams instead of Lyman Hall. He was the much better actor. The only thing Steve could figure is that Kenny wanted the Georgia representative role.

It was one Steve had originally thought to try out for, but after reading the script a couple times decided that between Hall and Thomson, Thomson was a better fit for him.

They managed to get through the entire play that day.

Steve met up with Janice, Marty, and Eddie afterwards.

Eddie rubbed his hands together. “I can’t wait for next week.”

Marty laughed. “Yeah, yeah, Mr High School Delinquent wanting a valid reason to skip class...”

Steve frowned. “Why would we get to skip class?”

All three heads turned to him in shock.

“How do you not know?” Janice asked, her eyes wide.

“Know what?” Steve asked even further confused.

Marty smacked his head. “Shit! We’ve never actually said it out loud.”

Janice and Eddie turned to him.

“Wait, seriously?” Eddie asked eyes wide as he tilted his head forward in shock.

“We assumed everyone would know because we do it every year,” Marty explained.

“Steve,” Janice began, “did you not go to the high school productions of the school play in elementary?”

Steve frowned. “I vaguely remember that, I guess. I don’t think I ever went to the assembly. I think me and Tommy would cut out and then show up for the last few minutes.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Of course you did.”

Steve pursed his lips. “So we preform for the elementary kids all next week?”

Marty nodded. “Just the first act. Just enough to whet their appetite for the full thing so they drag their parents to the show so that we get the money.”

Steve nodded. “Okay. Do you guys do it for the middle school as well? Because I vaguely remember watching some musical about pirates my eighth grade year I think it was.”

Marty sighed. “We used to according Miss Lucy, but they stopped that year. The middle school principal hates the arts and discontinued it. Combine that with a drama teacher that didn’t care and you get the mess that is middle school preforming arts.”

Steve’s frown deepened. “I have a friend in the drama club at the middle school, I don’t think he’s every said anything bad about it. And he complains about everything.”

Eddie looked over at him and cocked his head. “Which one?”

Steve hummed. “Oh? Um, Dustin. The curly haired one without the front teeth.”

Eddie chuckled. “Yeah, I can see him being a drama kid.”

Marty chose that moment to cut in. “The problem is because they don’t have anything to compare it to most middle school kids don’t know it’s shit. And by the time they do figure it out, they’re already in high school and have moved on.”

Steve nodded. “Make sense I guess. And with the year almost over it wouldn’t make sense to try and change the system now.”

Janice sighed. “Sad but true.” She looked at her watch. “Look, I’ve got to go, I’m going to be late for work. I’ll see you guys later.”

Marty looked at his own watched and nodded. “That’s my cue as well. I need to talk to Mrs Thompson about one of the wigs. Apparently James is allergic to the power in his Franklin wig and we need to find a replacement that won’t scalp our actor.”

Steve grimaced. “Ouch. Yeah, I hear that. See around, man.”

Marty said goodbye and dashed off.

Eddie turned to Steve. “You coming to my place to study tonight?”

Steve hummed in the positive. “I just have to stop by my place to pick up a couple of things. Do you want me to grab some pizza on my way?”

Eddie grinned. “Sounds great. I love all meat.”

“You would,” Steve said rolling his eyes.

Eddie pushed him playfully. “I eat veggies, dude. Just not on pizza. It makes the dough all soggy.”

Steve frowned. “Huh. I don’t think I ever noticed that. I like a good supreme. But I’ll forgo today and just get a pepperoni and an all meat.”

Eddie smiled softly. “You do that, then. And I’ll see you at seven?”

Steve gave Eddie’s shoulder a squeeze and let his hand linger for a moment. “See you at seven.”

And then he walked away.

Eddie practically skipped backwards before he turned and ran out of the auditorium.

There in the back, shrouded in darkness, Kyle Carver sneered.

*

Steve arrived at the Munson trailer seven o’clock on the dot. His backpack was slung over one shoulder and the hot pizza perfectly balanced in one hand as he knocked on the door.

Eddie threw open the door and smiled. “Right on time.”

Steve grinned back. “I try.”

Eddie stepped back and let Steve in. Wayne smiled at the sight of the pizza.

“I like your boy, Eddie,” he said with a chuckle, rising to his knees. “Anyone who brings pizza from D'Onofrio’s is okay in my book.”

Steve laughed. “Like I’m going to get it from that new chain store that just opened up. My Italian grandmother would haunt me in my sleep.”

“I didn’t know you were Italian,” Eddie said, taking the boxes from him to set on the counter.

“Quarter,” Steve said, tossing his backpack on the floor next to coffee table. “My mom’s half Italian, half French, all American as my dad would say.”

“And your dad is what? All asshole?” Eddie asked getting down three plates from the cupboard.

Steve smirked. “Something like that.”

Wayne grabbed a slice of the pepperoni and set it on his plate. “I’m going to watch the game, you two boys okay with doing your homework on the counter in the kitchen?”

Steve nodded and Eddie said, “Yeah, that’s fine.”

Wayne nodded back and went to go eat his pizza in front of the TV.

The boys bent over their English homework cursing every British author under the sun for foisting their very unamerican style of writing on poor American high school students. In particular William Golding. Eddie still had a soft spot for Tolkien.  

“If this goes on for much longer,” Steve said after they were working on it for an hour, “we might have to call in big guns.”

Eddie sighed. “Why are we being made to care about some bratty teenagers trying to kill each other on an island?” He buried his head in hands and screamed.

“Fuck if I know,” Steve admitted. “Why don’t we take a smoke break? Sit out on the porch for a minute?”

Eddie lifted his head. “Yeah.”

They grabbed their jackets and went out to sit on the porch stairs. Steve pulled out his pack of cigarettes and handed one to Eddie.

“Camels?” Eddie asked, pulling out his Bic lighter.

“Got a problem with Camels?” Steve asked, flicking open his Zippo lighter and lighting Eddie’s cigarette when his Bic refused to strike.

Eddie shrugged. “I would have pegged you for one of those fancier brands. Clove or whatever.”

Steve shook his head. “My dad smokes ‘em and they were my first smoke.” He shrugged. “Can’t imagine smoking anything else.”

Eddie bumped his shoulder into Steve’s. “Yeah, same. Only for me, it’s Wayne’s brand.”

Steve smiled. “Makes it easier to share.”

Eddie smiled back. “Sure does, big boy.”

They finished their cigarettes and went back inside, finally able to finish their assignments.

Steve and Eddie lingered at the door, pressed together, Steve playing with the pins on Eddie’s denim vest.

“I wish there wasn’t school tomorrow so I could stay,” he murmured.

Eddie lifted Steve’s face by his chin. “I know, sweetheart. But we do and I would really like to graduate this year.”

Steve chuckled. “Yeah, me too.”

Eddie pressed his lips to Steve’s. “Good night, Stevie.”

Steve gave him a quick peck. “Night, Eds.” He waved goodbye and drove off.

Eddie watched him go and then slipped back into the trailer where Wayne was cleaning up in the kitchen.

“Eddie what did I tell you about leaving your comic books on the counter?” he asked with a sigh, holding up the comic in question.

He frowned. “That’s not one of mine.”

Wayne looked at it again. “I didn’t figure it was Steve’s. He doesn’t strike me as the type to read comic books.”

Eddie crossed the trailer and took the book from him. The cover showed a young man holding a bat filled with nails in front of a tentacled monster in a dark hallway.

The title read: The Monsters on Maple Street.

“Hey,” Wayne said. “That’s the name of one of my favorite ‘Twilight Zone’ episodes. It’s a real good one.”

Eddie nodded. Wayne was right. Steve didn’t read comic books. But he did write and draw one.

Or rather: two.

Holy shit.

Part 17  Part 18  Part 19  Part 20  Part 21

Tag List: @shrimply-a-menace @strangersteddierthings @throwbackthrowaway @novelnovella @cursedfoxteeth @babyblender @lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaring @swimmingbirdrunningrock @steve-the-hairrington @winterbuckwild @spectrum-spectre @matchingbatbites @garden-of-gay @anaibis @thing-a-ling @fandemonium-takes-its-toll @artiststarme @sundead  @nelotegreitic @gregre369 @butterflysandpeppermint @thedragonsaunt @kodaik97 @messrs-weasley @scarletzgo @deadlydodos @renaissan-vvitch @evix-syne666 @emly03 @justforthedead89 @ashwinmeird @huniibee @phantypurple @stevesbipanic @shucks-yuckyuck @awkwardgravity1 @bookbinderbitch @reportinglivefromsoda @chasinggeese @be-the-spark-bitch @jinxjinn @kohlraedirectioner @cr0w-culture @xjessicafaithx @whimsicalwitchm @jaywhohasthegay @dangdirtydemons @lovelyscot  @howincrediblysapphicofyou @the-redthread @estrellami-1

[prettybillycore]

FOR TOMMY | Prologue

Your sister, Edith Lillian

Pairing(s): Thomas Shelby x Original Character

Universe: Peaky Blinders

Summary: Veela and Seer- a powerful combination of traits for one person to have. Edith Lillian Scamander falls in love with a young Thomas Shelby while working in a nurse's ward during WWI. Will her feelings be requited, or will she be doomed to pine over the man of her dreams for eternity hopelessly?

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 0.5k

Warnings: none

A/N: welcome to my new special interest, Peaky Blinders <3

Read on AO3 or Scroll down to read it right here on Tumblr below the cut!

Dear Brother of Mine,

I hope your travels have been treating you well. I have traveled a bit myself– a genuine surprise, I know. I have found a new spot to call home. At first, it may be hard to understand why I’ve chosen a place like this, a place like Birmingham. But the war changed my life, and this is the start of something new. 

During my time as a nurse, I met a lot of interesting people. You wouldn’t believe how many men threw themselves at me. I know it comes with being a Veela, but my god. It must have been a sight. Of course, in good faith, I turned them down. None of them caught much of my attention. It’s hard to keep me enthralled, but you, of all people, know this. You watched my relationship with Lucretius from start to finish. It takes quite a man to catch my eye, though, much to your dismay (I’m certain), one man I met in the field captured my heart. He’s why I’ve picked up my life and moved to this dark city. 

I know you’re spiraling as you read this, but you worry too much about me, Newt. I am safe with Thomas Shelby and his family. If anything, I can promise safety. Tommy is the only muggle I have ever felt safe with, proving there’s something special about him. He’s worth keeping, brother mine. 

The Shelby family runs the city. They practice magic, a different sort than our kind. Tommy fixes horse races and charms every woman he meets. He keeps everyone at arm’s length and cares deeply for those closest to him. I haven’t felt a spark like this since the Yule Ball with that damn Lucretius. 

I write this letter to quell your worries about my location and protection. I work for the Shelbys now. Tommy will keep me out of harm’s way; I am absolutely sure of it. It’s loud here in Birmingham but tranquil regarding the witch and wizard community. I don’t travel alone, and I stay out of the paths of wondering eyes for the most part. I run the books for those horse races I mentioned before. I like it here, Newt. It feels like I’m a part of something– not just a decoration.

You are welcome to visit anytime. Just don’t tell Albus, Theseus, or anyone else of the sort where I am. I trust you with my location; please don’t break it. I’ve already lost one brother; I can’t bear the thought of something horrible soiling our relationship too. I feel like a song of peace is playing in my life these days. I hope you can hear it in the crinkling sounds of this parchment. 

With Love and Light, 

Your sister, Edith Lillian. 

P.S. Say hello to Picket for me!

______________________________

[a-literal-toaster-wtf]

hello Artemis, i feel like i shouldn't use any name for you as you feel a bit like higher being compared to me. the Point i'm trying to make here is that i'm yber thankful for that Lister animatic you created because it lauched me into a ~spiral~ thankfully a good kind tho. i've just finished watching ALL seasons of red dwarf and i am so fucking thankful to you making something something so emotionally good it hooked me even before i knew the character.

i'm very sorry if this is slopply written but it's in the middle of the night and i just wanna thank you so so much for making art! that video kickstarted some happy times for me i am so glad i saw it i am so glad you made it i am so glad it reached me through some means! thank you thank you thank you

i don't know your position on asks that are not questions so i shall furnace this with one because i don't want you to get mad because i'm just so happy i got to witness your creation. my guestion is: what do you think would be the oddest shape of aviators that young rockstar Lister would wear?

ive just logged back into tumblr to this message and oh my goodness???? anon this actually made my entire day im gonna cryyy this is SO SWEET !!! 😭😭💗💗💗 im so so so glad my art made you feel such a way and convinced you to check out red dwarf!!!! the show is so so very dear to me as is lister and im so happy that it's made you happy too!!!! and for future reference im completrly fine with non-question asks and id never ever ever get mad at such a lovely message anon!!! <33 to answer your question, first idea that came into my head was t-rex-shaped glasses lol!! i think he'd rock those tbh - those or maybe cat shaped ones :3 thank you again for such a lovely lovely message anon!!! 💗 have a wonderful rest of your day/night!!!!

[justfor2am]

(wana start this off by saying no pressure to reply to this esp if ur still feeling like shit!! im just very excited so i wana share it LMAO)

so i!!! have started!!! to crochet again!!!!!! lil context ive been crocheting on n off since i was like? 8 probs but ive never been able to stick w it or even finish a project or anything.. until like?? sometime in the middle of last week i got the random urge to crochet?? so i dug thru all my shit but i couldn't find a single crochet hook HOWEVER my best friend was so very kind and gave me one of its extras :3

this has now kinda .spiraled into smt that might kinda fuck me up LMAO so i started one of those lil cat beanies for the friend that gave me a crochet hook last night n i finished it this morning ..ive never finished a project before howd i do it in less than 24 hours? actually its probs bc i put on mumbos s7 n now i refuse to watch it unless im crocheting

^ heres them in the beanie Btw kinda shit angle but i didn't take a pic of it before i gave them it (also cinnamoroll 4 privacy)

i also started my own beanie?? sometime last week maybe like friday or smt idr but its coming along!! tho bc i didnt look up a tutorial i just did shit by memory n accidentally made it single crochet so its taking SO much longer than my friend's

this obvs isnt the whole thing but im too lazy to take a pic of it all LMAO but!! this is mine

i also have two other yarns i wana make beanies out of for myself n one to make for another friend ANDDDDD the friend im planning to make a beanie for (but have not yet) bought me a new hook + two new skeins today⁉️

i have absolutely no idea what to make w them tbh. thinking of making a scarf + bag out of the thick one but idk ab the other??? anyways im SO excited i haven't had a hobby like this since early 2020 when i spent hours every day making 3d kandi cuffs this is incredible

goddamnit now i wana make kandi .also i started another pokemon game my friend's roommate let me borrow his copy of pokemon sword (MY FRIEND ALSO LET ME BORROW ITS COPY OF ANIMAL CROSSING OHH HOW IVE MISSED IT when ive not been crocheting ive been playing that its been so fun)

HELLO I LIVE KNITTING IS SO FUCKING SWAG

ALSO I AM AWARE KNITTING AND CROCHETING ARE NOT THE SAME; CROCHETING IS ALSO INCREDIBLY FUCKING SWAG

sorry i'm excited i can hear out my left ear again

also hell yeah to hermitcraft + crocheting, it feels like one of those hobbies that if u have adhd you gotta do/watch something along with it in order to focus, like i write to music but i can't write without it

hmmmmmmmmmmm what are things u could make from yarn uhhhhhhhhhhh gloves? fingerless gloves? idk but i like fingerless gloves, i "made" myself a pair by cutting all the finger tips off some shitty old ones (i get cold easy and this keeps my old man joints from shattering lmao)

waough animal crossing, idk how friend codes or any of that works but like if u would like to swap codes that would be swag i think 👉👈

[lowkeyclueless5137]

Rain Code Au :3

Hello!

I am a very impatient bish! :3

Cuz like... Ya know... The creator of Danganronpa released a brand new game... And I told myself 'ah, don't get into that... It's another bandwagon you don't need to mix with twst'...

Welp... Guess who bingie watched gameplay during beach holiday :v

So in between me spinning in the water like that one seal meme and fighting with old ladies for a fucking plate(damn, women, have you ever seen food?!)... I got to refine this Au and make it similar to the Danganronpa au...

I am aiming for more of a psychological horror, just how I originally planned to write the Danganronpa au(like full on messing with your brain and spiking that anxiety) So expect some easter eggs or allusions to that... :3

Also disclaimer! Master Detectives Archives: Rain Code is only recently released... And I did finish chapter 2 at the time I write this...

So I assure you that the biggest spoiler you could possibly get is for the first chapter's gameplay/lore. I will only use lore aspects which means plot is leaved aside so you can go and see for yourselves what happens in there. It's a glaring difference from my Danganronpa au, where I referenced so hard the 3 main games. :v

And yes, our protagonist will be Azul, because do I like to make him a shounen protagonist amnesiac that gets to suffer every single tims? Yes... I like it :3

Also! Big warnings for: blood, murder, gore and everything associated with it. Spike Chunsoft made this game after all... You know what you're in for.

Now with all the disclaimers settled, we are gonna go on with the Au!

We are starting this with a bang! Mainly Azul waking up on a hall, sorrounded by worried people, all looking down at him, asking if he was alright.

It takes a bit for things to be regained to some calm, but it quickly spirals into a problem since apparently, Azul didn't recognise any of the people on this hall. And to top it off, they were all on a boat, heading to what they said it was: Sage Island.

One of them, named Kalim, kindly explained to Azul that they are master Detectives from WDO(world detective organisation) along with a few trainees, on a mission. Kalim added that Master detectives are people with extraordinary powers, called a Forte. Currently, they are 10 of them on the whole boat.

Azul does a count and realises that, counting him too, there were only 7 in here. Kalim says that 2, Lilia and Silver, are steering the boat while the 3rd, Leona, is in his room, sleeping.

Kalim finally introduces everyone and adds that none of them got to properly know Azul, therefore none really had an idea about how he was supposed to act or behave.

And so, the list is made:

Kalim-trainee-Forte: Persuasion(he used it to confirm Azul wasn't lying about amnesia)

Jamil-Master Detective-Forte: Hypnosis

Ace-Master detective-Forte: Video Immitation

Jack-trainee-Forte: Smell

Epel-trainee-Forte: Freeze frame

Rook-master detective-Forte: Target Sight

Lilia-master detective-Forte:???

Silver-trainee-Forte: none

Leona-master detective-Forte: Sand recreation

When asked about how come silver has no forte and Leona's was already known, it is explained that Silver is training to be a normal detective, while Leona is a top master detective, his forte being a very powerful one on top of it. Leona is apparently the leader of the master detectives of this group, while Lilia takes over the trainees as a field teacher.

What was their mission? Sage Island is an independent government in it's own, although a very specific influx of people, generally teens, come in and never leave. People assume they found a more stable lifestyle in there, although the population of the island is never reported to have increased or decreased over the years. Upon a failed investigation and a distress signal from a master detective investigating this, it was discovered that it has to do with people that hold fortes along with the very heavy censorship.

To add more to the mistery: WDO started to receive lately less mistery reports, some being handled by some other detective organisation they never went in contact with.

Azul is a bit taken aback by it, since he is registered as a very fresh trainee, along with that, it seems Like Ace, who is younger than him, is already a master detective. Jamil explains that Ace was a star detective, because he passed all exams with flying colors. Everyone is trained without preferences, it just happened for Ace to get signed in earlier. His forte is able to replicate via video any kind of situation. From theories to reality. The videos last in between 1-2 minutes and can be holded on any device for at least 72 hours weather Ace forgets them or not. He can put up to 4 videos before he collapses, so he has to think really hard about the possibilities he can recreate and annalise.

Being a cocky bastard, Ace decides to demonstrate his forte, using a spare phone he had. He explains that this phone has no service or valid number, it is merely a storage for his videos.

And so, Ace presents a video of what would happen if Kalim threw a bouncy ball around. He explains that his videos happen in natural physical conditions, so you can never see something mid-air without any explanation or sudden trajectory change.

Now their focus was mainly on Azul's amnesia.

Kalim was the first one who found Azul. He was knocked out on the hall. Previous to that, Azul simply got on the boat, made a humble presentation and settled in his room. He came on the roll call and after that he said he would go to the bathroom and that he would be back. Too much time passed, so Kalim offered to look for Azul and that's when he found him unconscious and called the others. From there on, everyone knows what happened already.

Jack notes how he smelled 12 beings on this cruise. 2 of which were apparently Azul's pets. At that, everyone realise that the reason Azul must've taken so long in his room was probably to accommodate his pets. This also surprised Azul, mostly since apparently, he had pets and now the poor little things must be starving or worried for his absence.

So using the room list from Jamil, the group goes to Azul's room and open the door.

From there, a big ass lizard immediately jumps on Azul. On the bed it was also a bird bundled in a blanket. I could stay here for hours describing how cute the bird blanket buritto is, but we aren't here for that :v

Azul rightfully is scared since a bigass lizard the size of a cat, punted him to the floor and right now is having their scaly head with sharp teeth resting on his chest, very close to his neck.

Everyone is chill since 'these are your pets, maybe they might help you cure your amnesia'. Epel is the one who voices it.

And as if it was a switch, both pets perked up and looked at Azul. The lizard got down enough time for Azul to get up before the creature wrapped around his legs.

Nonetheless, Rook suggested for Azul to check a bit around his room

Maybe he could find something which might tell him more about himself other than health and physical information.

So they leave him to some privacy.

Once the door is closed and it was made sure that no one was around, the bird comes out of the buritto. It was, surprisingly, quite a big bird and one to sure faunt with at how pretty it's feathers were.

But the creepy part starts when the bird talks. Like human talking. Full articulated and clear talking. And of course, it asks what's up with the amnesia.

Rightfully, Azul is absolutely horrified. It gets worse when the lizard does the same thing. It doesn't take much for the bird to be the one to realise what exactly went down.

So they introduce themselves. The bird was Idia, a soul keeper. The lizard was Malleus, a demon prince. Azul had a contract which binds all 3 together. Of course, the contract cannot be voluntarily disclosed at all otherwise it will be resulted in Azul's death. Moreover, only Azul, as the one who had a contract with supranatural beings, could hear the 2. For others it would sound like normal animal sounds.

So Azul please, calm tf down. Pointing a hairbrush at them won't help you. :/

Idia is the one who gets whacked with the brush before Azul finally calmed down and looked like he was willing to listen. Malleus re-explained again the basics: he was a demon prince, which Azul made a pact with. To prevent some nasty effects and also to prevent other people from assuming he went loco for talking to seemingly nothing, Idia was also tied into the pact as a mediator.

Idia recovers from the brush wacking, adding to Azul that he beared this contract for years, although he bearly used it, noting in what conditions he used to be. Azul just asks if the 2 could tell him how he used to be.

Unfortunately, when the 2 try to do it, but instead, both are tied up to the mouths by sum invisible force. To try and figure it out, Malleus summons the contract and annalises it. As he traces the problem, he realises that Azul's memories are on the line. Therefore the pact stated that they can only disclose to Azul present information. Nothing related to his past shall ever be brought up if Azul doesn't remember, mostly since the collateral of the contract were previous memories, therefore the more Azul forgets, the more is added to the colateral.

So basically Azul's memory is like a bidding bowl. They can only use and comunicate to Azul things related to him that he remembers. The rest just become collateral that none can tamper with, unless Azul remembers.

Thankfully, Malleus's biscuit making(you know, that thing cats do with their paws) helps with calming down Azul faster and enough so he could process the new information.

Idia adds that this is very bad. Azul holded some very important pieces of information, not just in his mind, but also on him. After a small pocketing, nothing was found. It meant Azul was knocked out not for the amnesia part, but to be robbed.

Which yeah... It is a bad thing. Someone must've stolen Azul's belongings. His room luggage only had some spare clothes and necessities. Idia does cry out that Azul has to find who stole his belongings since they were really important. Malleus does say that everyone has with them identification objects and if Azul's got stolen, then he cannot verify anymore his identity. Luckily he already verified himself to the others before getting the amnesia hit, so at least he has a safety net.

So Azul starts to search around. The only significant things he found was a portable console Idia had in front of his blanket. Also Idia's blanket was a personal one, meaning Azul owned it. On the desk there were some toiletries, 3 hairbrushes and 2 glasses cases. Azul currently wore a pair of glasses, so one was empty. The other glasses pair had tinted lenses, therefore sunglasses.

In the room were also snacks. More specifically a bag of gummy worms and fish crackers. Malleus cleared it out that those were specifically for him and Idia. In Azul's luggage bag, besides his spare clothes, there were also smaller ones, most likely meant for the 2 in question. Also 2 leashes. It was clear that Azul will have to drag those 2 around.

Idia explained that they can't leave Azul for a long distance. But since most people can't see an invisible leash, they have to improvise. The bonus of the invisible leash is that it acts like a circle line, so it can't get longer just by going around a thing like the normal leash.

Then why do these 2 need it? Malleus has a foul habit of getting lost and Idia ran away multiple times from people, ESPECIALLY kids. So a normal leash is very much needed.

With the room investigation done, Azul had to move to the hall, mostly to the place he was attacked.

In there, not much was present. The carpet was a bit wet. Malleus finds tho something shiny: an earring. It was Azul's and it was a small one, not that noticeable.

They also find a glass tossed around. Except that it was wet in the outside, not on the inside. Idia notes that since they are currently moving via the boat, they cannot check outside since it was only sea and if by chance something would be floating around, they would have passed it long ago.

Azul does ask how long was he gone. Idia responds that Azul was gone for 2 hours at least. The roll call couldn't take more than half a hour from Malleus's Intel, since he heard people passing around after 30 minutes since Azul leaved.

Again, nothing more was found around here. The place where Azul passed out was close to the bathroom too, in which there was a small table with a few glasses, with paper towels under them.

Except that one paper towel had no glass on it. That had to be the glass on the floor.

After that, Azul made his way to the lounge room, where everyone else was waiting. Now there were in here only Epel, Ace, Jack, Kalim and Jamil... Rook apparently went off to his room.

Kalim looked very excited by Idia since it was a big and pretty bird. Idia was just perched on Azul's shoulder and it was clear he was not having fun by how tight he was clawing onto that shoulder as Kalim approached him.

Thankfully Azul doesn't like how tight Idia was holding him so he told Kalim to not go near his bird.

Kalim does ask Azul how is he and if he happened to remember something. Azul says that he didn't remember anything, but he didn't find any identification object into his room, which makes him believe they were on him before he got knocked out.

The others caught on what that implied. Someone stole from Azul.

Unfortunately, that was a thing they would have to figure out later, since a voice at the speaker announced that they are approaching the Sage Island port.

At another roll call, this time everyone with their luggage bags at them again, Azul finally 're-meet' Lilia, silver and Leona, who were filled in about his amnesia from Rook. Lilia mentions that by chance Azul was sea-sick, but that got quickly debunked when it was added the new recent info: Azul was robbed by the belongings he had on him then.

Silver is a sleepy guy, but he was very nice, going for petting Malleus first since Idia again was a millisecond away from a meltdown. Malleus seemed to have a Microsoft error moment since he got petted on the head by someone.

Nonetheless, he seemed warmed up by it and actually happy. Idia does explain to Azul that, unfortunately, Malleus is very awkward at interactions with people, so when someone first approaches him, he's over the moon.

That also explains why Malleus was around Azul's legs non-stop.

When getting off the boat, they are greeted by a guy. He introduces himself as Trey Clover, a simple detective from WDO and also the guy that would house the trainees. Apparently the Master detectives had their own place payed by WDO, at a fancy hotel.

Behind Azul, Ace was rubbing it in Epel's face. Jack was just palmfacing.

Lilia does come clean about the short notice regarding Azul's memories, so Trey promises to adapt to it. For now, as to not seem that suspicious, the trainees will go with Trey while the master detectives will follow Leona.

Trey brings them to a bakery. His house is above the bakery, which was a family heirloom, therefore Trey also worked there. He mentioned that it was the most of his income, which begged the question of why?

Trey explains that Sage Island doesn't rely too much on outside detectives, rather, it trains it's own detectives and uses them for cases. Rarely Trey gets a case and most times is about a missing pet or lost objects. So the bakery is his best income source.

Well... At least they get sum food. :v

Trey does say that he isn't sure what Azul's pets would eat. He does say that he doesn't have bird seeds or crickets, to which Azul says that Idia is sum exotic bird species that apparently eats gummy worms. For Malleus... Well... This big silly looking lizard seems to eat  crackers for now, but Azul won't rule out the meat option.

Epel mutters how maybe they could feed Ace to the lizard. He got a grudge for the hotel room, ok? :'3

Trey makes them a small house tour and explains to them that currently, this is an undercover mission. The trainees are written in as normal students, who came here to study. Trey was the kind soul who housed them in for the meantime. They used this cover to carry out the master detectives on the same transportation means, mostly to avoid any attempt from Sage Island of preventing WDO detectives from getting in.

Then, how was Trey here? He was a WDO agent...

Well... Trey says that he didn't use to be a single WDO agent. He had a lot of partners, but right now they either were killed, framed or simply rotting in jail. You could leave and come to this island as you please, unlike Kanai Ward. That's exactly what makes this place more dangerous: if you conspire, they will find a motive to have you wanted by everyone.

The problem was: whoever seems to hold confidential information doesn't have the right to leave.

So Trey begs the trainees to just don't get in trouble. If the Sage Island Government finds out they have ulterior motives or that they discovered something, they will be hunted down immediately.

Malleus seemed a bit restless, rubbing around Azul's leg and rolling on the ground. The others passed it off as just lizard things while trey assigned to them their sleeping rooms. He had a few guest rooms, rooms which once belonged to his partners, so everyone got their own room thankfully.

Malleus still was restless, which he himself confirms as misteries. This island was one huge mistery, Azul's stolen goods were also a mistery and that got Malleus excited.

Idia says that he doesn't like the 'mistery cooties' at all. Azul asks about it, to which Idia responds that when they will stumble upon a good mistery, Malleus will feel all itchy and act as if he had cooties. Worst case scenario: Malleus will make a hole in the wall/floor.

Malleus does beg to explore and find something, but so far they had to listen to Trey.

Trey assigns them a few chores for the day. From cleaning to errands. Azul got broom duty, but he does contemplate on how he could get to do an errand.

At the dinner tho, Trey makes clear more about the mission: tomorrow school starts. They are enrolled in there as new students. For silver, Azul and Kalim, they will say they got late into school. Meanwhile, the master detectives will condone their own separate investigations. Ace would be home schooled tho, so Trey asks for the others to take some notes and borrow them to Ace as well.

Trey also sits down Azul a bit to talk about his pets. The school does allow pets, but Azul will have to put both on leash(he says that as Malleus knocks down a shelf and Idia perches on the TV, crying as Epel and Jack look at him).

Trey also asks if by chance the 2 are related to Azul's forte. Azul would have wanted to say no, but Malleus told him to say yes. With that confirmed, Trey noted it down and gave to Azul a paper, which he will have to present to the faculty office tomorrow.

The next day, it was the big day. Lilia came to visit in the morning, clearing it out that the school they will attend is one out of the only 2 schools on Sage Island: NRC. They choose it because daughters and sons of important government figures also attend there, therefore they have more chances of gathering intel.

And then it came the leash problem. Idia had no problem, he even got the leash on himself, Azul only had to close it. But Malleus? Nah... He wanted to get it on himself as well, but he ended up tangled and there it was a struggling lizard rolling on the floor. :'3

So armed with 0 knowledge about NRC, 2 supranatural beings on leash and a backpack with snacks hidden in it, Azul was ready to start this very long day.

Cue very flamboyant ceremony. It was broadcasted on TV as well, so it was that level of important apparently.

The principal also presents himself as Dire Crowley and makes some very sugar-coated speech about the school and the start of this academic year.

Nonetheless, Azul was assigned to his class. First year class along Kalim and a very loud mf. Upon his homeroom teacher's request, he had to give the slip Trey gave him so it could be taken to the faculty office.

So far, nothing seemed out of order. Very boring day followed by a normal dinner and sleep.

But the next day?

Azul was just walking his way to school. Silver was driven there by Lilia and Kalim was dragged by Jamil with a car.

That's when Azul was passing by the church when a scream was heard amongst the bell rings, something falling down from the tower.

It was a person. A person fell from the bell tower and plummeted into the church fence, which unfortunately had spiked tips.

And Azul was the unfortunate soul who saw that play out in front of him. Even a few droplets of blood touched his face much like the horrified by-standers who screamed in horror and immediately called the police.

Idia was calm tho, while Malleus started to rub his back on the fence. Again, the mistery cooties acted up, so the 2 nudged Azul to investigate.

Malleus reassured that they can spare some time to investigate, they will make sure Azul won't end up late to school.

So until police arrives at least, Azul got to look at the body. It was a nun, a quite young nun. Her hair was damp and her clothes were drenched in blood on the front as she fell belly first into the fence.

Even so, Azul took some courage to get closer and check for the pulse. It was the stomach aera, maybe she could still be saved.

But as he checked the pulse, he noticed how the body was awfully cold. Way too cold for someone who just died. Looking a bit at the face, it was also drenched. It couldn't be sweat, so it was water.

On the forehead it was a wierd mark, but Azul didn't have time to check since he heard the police sirens, so the next best thing was to go retreat through the crowd.

Malleus tho, dragged Azul towards the church insides. In there he is immediately greeted with a bulkier nun, who was glaring daggers at him, asking what is he doing here while a holy ceremony is commencing.

The best thing Azul comes up with is to tell the nun about the commotion outside. Idia is the one who tells Azul what exactly to say, the final story being: Azul was walking towards school when the nun fell and died on the fence, so scared, Azul came to call on the church personal as other bystanders already called the police.

The nun warms up to it very quickly, becoming horrified when she sees the body and realises that this teen just saw a murder play out. So she immediately drags Azul in, with pets and all, while she calls to the other nuns and priests that one of them is dead.

Luckly, the ceremony was just finished and the bulky nun explained how 'this poor child witnessed a person die so violently'. The other nuns sympathised with this and of course Azul was swarmed by them. Only Idia's horrified bird cries got them to give him some space so a more older priest could approach him and sit down to talk. The police came and already it was a chaos while trying to mark the scene and get people to leave.

The priest asked Azul what he saw and again, the same story was shared. The priest got a confirmation from another nun, so he noted that the one who died had an injured leg and couldn't climb stairs. Azul marked it off as a suspicious detail since how is it possible to jump from the bell tower if you can't climb it?

So Azul asks to see the bell tower. The priest is skeptical, but Azul made an excuse that some breeze from up high might help him calm down.

The priest personally gets him up there. He did voice his concern over Azul's pets coming too, but Azul cleared that those are his service pets, trained to help him with some issues. The priest didn't question it.

While climbing the tower, they meet a young boy who carried after him a bag. The priest introduces him as Rollo. Rollo says that he wasn't feeling well and only now woke up from a black out. He did ask if he missed the ceremony, to which the priest tells him which jun died. Rollo seemed absolutely devastated. When asked about it, the priest says that he doesn't have the heart to disclose that.

Malleus was just scratching his butt on the floor from the mistery cooties. :'3

Unfortunately, that's also when police caught up with them and immediately demanded to arrest Rollo. Apparently, from the clergy members's testimonies, Rollo was the only one with a flimsy alibi, so he would be taken into custody. The priest did protest to it, but in the end he gave up and went with Rollo to testify as well and hope Rollo won't get arrested for good.

Azul was told to go up to the bell to take some fresh air without necessarily seeing the body, but not stay much, since a nun will be waiting down for him.

So reaching the tower top, Azul was met with a mess. Malleus seemed to bear better the itching problem, so he did walk around and look for clues. Idia took it upon himself to check the bell tops and surprisingly, there was a catwalk above them. In there, some buckets and cleaning supplies were, most likely to clean up the top of the bell and hinges. The bell also seemed a bit too shiny, so it must've been recently cleaned.

Malleus tho, found a wooden stake which was wet, but it had some blood stains on it.

Azul only got height fear so he couldn't bring himself to go close to the edge, even so, he noticed something: the edge had a quite sturdy metal fence, most likely to prevent falling down. Another notable thing was that from the tower top to the fence it was quite the distance. Unless you were a great jumper, you couldn't land on the fence by simply jumping.

On the other side of the tower, Azul could spot a backyard, where a well, an incinerator, a big washing bowl and stings full of laundry to dry were set in between thick trees.

Deciding that they still had some time, Azul rushed back down(much to his own relief), hid from the nuns and got into the backyard, looking around.

Even more things were there, that weren't hidden by the trees: benches and a long table, some beehives, animal pens, a veggie garden and a shed with tools and feed mills.

On the table tho, a big stain was under the white cloth that covered it. There was a bottle of wine that was also opened and quite a big amount of it was missing. One could assume that it was simply wine.

Malleus tho, jumped onto the table and sniffed it. He couldn't confirm it, since it smelled like detergent so powerfully around from the clean laundry, that he hardly could tell if it was wine or something else.

It also seemed like the little veggie garden was recently watered. Idia perched in there,

But that's when the sprinklers went on, scaring him and thus, attracting a nun.

A very last minute excuse and the nun bought it, explaining that the bird must've been scared by the automatic watering system. It helps everyone with managing things. They just have to fill the tank behind the trees with water once a week and that's it.

Azul was guided outside the church tho, so nothing more was to be done. He just couldn't figure out what went on. So far, Rollo seemed like the most likely suspect, but from his devastated face, Azul could tell that he couldn't have done such thing.

Idia tho, shows what he snatched: a photo. It was the victim and a smaller Rollo. Both were smiling, the picture being taken in the backyard, next to the pig pen. On the back it was written: Rollo and Piggy meet up :).

So Azul leaves the church perimeters, slipping on his head his hoodie, trying to blend into the crowd.

Except that he was very easy to spot from Idia and Malleus's presence. And someone immediately stopped him. That someone was a very handsome man who presented himself as Vil Schonenheit, the one in charge of this case. He just finished interrogating a few nuns when he caught wind of Azul's little exploration around the church.

Vil wanted to take Azul into custody and possibly arrest him for the murder that took place, as an accomplice.

Of course, this scared the shit out of Azul, who wanted to run away, but already police were around the whole perimeter.

That's when Malleus tells him that there is only one way to get out of this thing: call upon his power. Azul wanted to say that he doesn't know how to call for that, but Idia butts in and tells Malleus that he can do it without Azul asking for his help.

So Idia is the one who soars in the air, becoming a big blue flame that quickly descended down. Azul was more horrified by the blue fire than to notice that time froze around them. The blue fire did clear up, revealing a tall guy with quite the gloomy attire and of course, hair made out of the same blue flame. He presents himself as Idia and again, tells Azul to not panic.

Malleus just spits green fire, creating a circle, which he passes through, getting out as a tall guy with horns and quite the princely attire. The circle of course turned into a portal.

Poor Azul, already all of his reason and sanity leaved his body. Apparently his talking supranatural pets are very handsome guys that stop time and open a portal to God knows where.

But there is no kind of time for any calm explanation, because Idia is the one who kicks Azul into the portal, following by himself and Malleus who jumped on his own.

Cue epic free fall, with Azul screaming his ass off.

The next thing he knows was that he was on the ground, completely alive and alright, in front of some kind of temple like thing floating in the middle of some sort of dimension? He didn't know and would rather not question it.

Malleus presents it as the mistery labyrinth. He could summon a portal to this place only when they stumble upon a mistery. By beating this labyrinth, they will find the real culprit behind the murder that just occurred. Malleus would be able to guide Azul and help him out in navigating the labyrinth.

But what did Idia have to do with it? Well, Idia does explain that he is here because, unlike a death God (and because Malleus is a little goofball), the hidden secrets of the labyrinth can only be revealed by Idia's intervention, since Malleus cannot.

So here we go with the very wierd 'would you give your life for the truth' question from our resident demon prince. It is mandatory and Idia just tells Azul to say yes and get over with it. He said and I quote: 'just say it so Malleus can do his silly dance and we can enter'.

And yes. Malleus does his lil tango with Azul, at the end pulling out of Azul's chest something. This also changed Azul's attire as he was handed from Malleus a silver trident, dubbed as the eclipse key. Malleus explains that this weapon can be used in the labyrinth, especially if you have solution keys.

As for the solutions keys, it is time for Idia's turn at the 'silly dance', this time Malleus being the one who is spun around, from his robes falling various keys. Azul finds that on his new attire there is a key ring, using that to hold the 'solution keys'.

Now with everything ready, they get to navigate through the mistery labyrinth.

A few important mechanics:

the reasoning duels, in which Azul learns how to use the trident with the solution keys.

Hidden questions, where Idia uses his scythe on Azul(much to the initial horror of the other), ro reveal The hidden questions and what each path is meaning(a lot of blood is sprayed around and Azul at first thinks he actually was dying)

Malleus's puzzle: where Malleus summons a paralel room with many stairs he uses to jump on and make out an answer pointer.

Finally, the last stand, on which we get big dragon Malleus and an epic castle attack against the last boss: the culprit.

During this, we also find out what actually happened: a crime out of passion had the victim being bashed to the table in the backyard and stabbed in the forehead with the wooden stake. The culprit then washed the victim with water from the well, throwing the bloody one at the veggie garden. Then the victim was thrown onto the bell as it rung, the culprit screaming so to make it seem like the victim committed suicide while the already dead body was thrown off onto the fence and finally getting the scene Azul first saw.

Once the final stand is over, the 3 are faced with the spirit of the culprit: the bulky nun. The reason for the murder was none, rather it was an act of passion, due to the fact that the victim was not a virgin, rather a teen mom, Rollo being her son. Despite the absolute horrible way she gained a baby, she didn't want to abort and raised Rollo with all of her love. Rollo used to have a twin, but that poor boy died at the hands of the same nun for being a 'mistake'.

Now Azul wanted to ask what are they supposed to do. Idia says that if Malleus gets his hands on the soul, the culprit will die in real life, so that's why Idia is here: to collect the soul and therefore gain complete control over it.

The soul itself tries to run away, but Idia is faster and catches it with his scythe, putting it into a small vial he gives to Azul.

Back in the real world, the time continues and Idia with Malleus are back as just pets, while Azul was still sorrounded by police and Vil.

Azul tries to clear it out that he has no ties with this case, but Vil denies it. Idia nudges Azul to check his pockets and there it was: the vial from the mistery labyrinth. Azul doesn't bring it out, as Idia told him to only hold it into his hand.

Guided by Malleus and Idia, Azul is teached how to bluff it up and use secretly the vial to bring forth the true culprit and force them to confess. His best excuse was that he saw the head of the culprit while the victim was thrown from the tower and so he searched the church for them.

Vil seems suspicious, but nonetheless since the police was busy with arresting the nun that kept crying out that she didn't say that or that she didn't do it, Azul was able to escape him and run to school on time.

Kalim does ask Azul what took him so long, Azul replying that unlike him and silver, he wasn't driven to school. Kalim rebuttals tho, saying that Jack and Epel took it by foot too and got here some time before Azul. The next best explanation was that he got lost and had to ask for directions.

Azul decided that it was best to not bring up the church incident at all. It was way too wierd for him.

Kalim also introduces Azul to Sebek, who was their classmate. Sebek was loud, very proud of himself for having a forte. Azul was asked multiple times throughout the day what was his forte, but because of his amnesia, he simply said he didn't have one. Unfortunately, that got people to look down on him.

Kalim still was sticking out with Azul, which made Idia the more agitated. It was clear Idia didn't like cheery persons and Kalim was literally the dictionary definition of friendly.

Although Azul's lie couldn't hold all that much, because later that day, Rollo came to the bakery, happening to meet up with Azul, who was assigned by Trey to manage the cashier for a bit.

And Rollo runs off, returning a few minutes later with a bouquet of flowers from the church garden. It was very lucky that the church was close. Rollo thanked Azul, as he saw him while waiting in the police car with the priest to be taken to interrogation. Rollo wanted to do much more as a thank you, but for now Azul was welcomed any day to come at the church and possibly dine with the rest of the clergy members. For now, these flowers are a thanks from all of them for exposing the truth and bringing justice to the death of his mother.

And you know, Trey happened to hear it, much like the rest of the trainees. After Rollo gets his usual order and leaves, Trey closes the bakery and everyone bombards poor Azul with questions.

Trey is the saviour of the situation, tells them to go and finish their chores. He again sits Azul down to talk, while being absolutely tired because he told them one thing: don't get into trouble. And what did Azul do? Waltz his ass into trouble. (more like trouble fell in front of him)

But the thing got solved in the end, so Azul gets scout free this time. It doesn't mean Trey won't close his eye again if it happens.

Back to his room, Azul prepares for bed when he notices that his coat, the one he wore on the ship, had a tare on the inside pocket.

And in there he found a small ring. It was a bit large, easily falling off Azul's fingers. The ring was slim, with very intricate motifs on it, on the inside of the silver band being engraved a logo.

Whoever knocked out Azul on the ship, most likely had this ring caught in his pocket fabric and fell down inside the coat. Azul probably didn't notice it in his panic.

But now he had a lead for his own mistery. And he will pursue it! Weather he gets in trouble or not.

And that's where I will stop for now. Of course, there are many other miseries laying before Azul. The main one is after all: who was the one who gave to Azul amnesia.

Yes... There will follow more small cases which slowly add to the big picture. But we also ditch the big picture to pursue the thing that started everything.

Also I will try to go more of the Danganronpa route, where you do get attached to the characters involved in the cases. Weather is before, during or after the case involving them.

So imma wait for your speculations, and ideas... I don't really plan on making it a thing like P5 next gen au(I swear I am working at it) or like NRSSAB au(seriously I have a bigass plot in there and no one caught onto the gig) so this au will be a very ask driven one...

Until next time! Bye bye!

[lynsburner]

Hi Lyn! I was wondering… in your ‘Verse, would you say Andrew wrote any of his songs for/about Lovely (reader)? If so, what are they, and what was her reaction to them?

And would you be willing to write any more Hozier fics in the future? There’s a terrible lack of them everywhere and yours are soooo good!!!

Hello. This answer is about to be super long. My bus home from work got stuck in a ridiculous amount of traffic. Plus, you got me ruminating on this all day at work (Outside the millions of phone calls I was supposed to make. People responding to an email you sent them? Revolutionary concept if you asked me!) and think I’ve decided firmly on, and hear me out on this, “No Plan.” 

That song to me is about not worrying where things are going to go (The sun’s going to go out! Who gives a shit!) and to not sweat the small stuff. And I guess in this context, it’s about being a little worried about something new, like a relationship that has a lot of shit going against it. It’s about enjoying the little things that you do have. The “I think you’re worth at least trying,” or describing this love as “shiny and new, like a toy to be played with, nervously discovering all the nooks and crannies as time goes on.” 

(Yes, I am quoting myself. I am a very self-centric person. I am sorry)

Also now I’m head cannoning that he texted her: Did you know the sun’s going out? After watching that talk and that’s when she hit him with the I like you. A lot. Too much, actually. What better time to confess your feelings for a dear friend than also getting him out of a doom spiral? 

Anyway, one day she just gets texted an audio file with just “🖤” (the black heart emoji, which I’m sure is just one big Carly Rae Jepsen reference) out of the blue. It’s a messy, unpolished demo. 

And when she doesn’t respond immediately since she’s taking it all in, he texts again: 

Just wanted to know your thoughts on this… 

Andrew… 

Yes…? 

What is this? 

A song. Not sure if you’ve heard of them before. The proper definition is: “a short poem or other set of words set to music or meant to be sung.” 

I hate you. 

I don’t care what you think about me. I only care what you think about the song. 

I love it.  You? Debatable… 

She calls him after that. They have a “Don’t bother me while I’m working,” on that list of rules, (“I wouldn’t ask you to help me with an Excel formula, would I?”) so it’s sort of rare she hears anything before it’s finished on purpose (not every wall can be reinforced with soundproofing material). It’s a special moment. 

Ok. This was a tangent and then some. Thank you for letting me indulge my fantasies lol 

Also, half of me wanted to answer this with “Sunlight” but only because that’s my favorite. But it also can be read as putting too much into something, especially with the entire 3rd verse comparing the love being had to the Icarus story, it almost sounds like it’s bound to end in tragedy (a lot of his songs do tbh I could write about that for days). 

But, I do love the lyric “know that I would gladly be the Icarus to your certainty” so much. Need me someone like that LMFAO. 

Anyway, as for new stuff? I’m currently 3 chapters deep (of 10! and halfway through the last chapter, ironically) with an idea I’ve had for a while now that I’m really excited about. It’s pretty dialogue heavy and is set around a weekly get-together. I just don’t want to post any chapters until I’m finished because then it would never get done. 

I did almost write a threequel (is that the right word?) to the first two stories, but the dialogue was too similar and they fit better in the chaptered idea. That one was about them revisiting a place they took a trip together as friends and why nothing happened between them that first time around (spoiler: Andrew was too high and too drunk to properly process feelings and his idea for them getting together comes off as more of a joke. The next morning he's got no memory of their argument, so back to square one they were!). They were probably going to get engaged at some point. Good for those crazy kids! I wish them the best!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this way too long of a response, Anon! Have a great night!

[betweenthings2]

hello!!!!

hope you are having a lovely start to your summer!!! it’s winter in australia now (obviously) and it’s so miserable. a core part of my identity is wearing lacy silky tank tops and now i’m forced to wear scarfs and multiple layers under cable knit sweaters. ugh. i also have covid which is fabulous especially since im meant to sit two major practical assessments at tafe this week. i’m studying patisserie and it’s great but the thought of getting yelled at by a chef over this is equal parts exhausting and terrifying. enough about that tho.

i’m rereading Everything and wanted to point out a specific passage that remoulded my whole being, but the more i read the more exerts piled up and it was getting a bit ridiculous, so i’m being good and limiting myself to three

1) “I want to,” Matty promises. “I really do. I, erm, I was trying to figure out how to bring it up without being presumptuous.”

“I’m ok with presumptuous,” George offers. “Really.”

"I just,” a pause. Then, in a quiet voice Matty admits, “He haunts me, George.”

"Matty," George murmurs, resisting the urge to tug Matty into a tight hug.

"I am haunted. He's in the room every time my wrist hurts, every time something slams, every time someone touches me and I'm not prepared for it. There is something in the corner of every room I'm in telling me I'm less, telling me I need to be scared, telling me that the only way I will ever be loved is through violence."

he haunts me. i am haunted. LEAVE ME ALONE😭the whole lead up to this with george saying he’d get married to matty in a heart beat is just so. sweet. your writing is so bittersweet i want to watch it all on a big screen with my friends who don’t care about the 1975 at the independent cinema in my area. like this scene is something that would be edited and talked about the way scenes from Normal People are talked about. paul mescal wishes he had this script.

2) George finishes cooking and Matty’s good mood lasts through the rest of the evening and into the next day.

It ends, though, because of course does and because Matty can never catch a break.

like a bucket of icy cold water crashing over me OH MY GOD. literally felt my heart drop even tho i knew what was coming next.

3) George feels like he can't breathe, like he's been hit in the stomach. He can't do anything but let Matty's words fall heavy in the room, his own guilt following just milliseconds later, because he has Matty naked in bed and it doesn't seem to matter how gentle or careful he was or how many times he stopped to check in and make sure Matty was ok because he was the one who had initiated it and oh, god, what if he's just as bad? What if George just ruined everything? What if he hurt Matty? What if he forced Matty into something he didn't want to do? What if everything is ruined now over something as trivial as sex?

wow. putting aside how tender the previous scene was and how gut wrenching mattys admission is this spiral is so well put. “something ad trivial as sex” is so profound to me. i just want to hug george he is trying so hard and giving himself such little grace. i don’t remember the exact wording but IRL matty once said something about how “we give the people we love the least amount of slack and grace because we love them” and that kinda mirrors how you wrote “One of the many problems with it is that the person Matty usually ends up targeting is himself. The only person who ever ends up suffering because Matty gets scared is himself. Matty is his own harshest critic and his own first victim.” and it’s just like, george please you are trying so hard also and are so good also please give yourself the kindness you are showing matty. they are so young to be dealing with something so heavy it’s breaking my heart.

i went into this thinking it would be a short little message but it never really is is it? so sorry about the rambling let’s blame covid even tho it’s definitely just me😵‍💫 will update you on what i read next🩷🩷🩷🩷 !!!!

🍵

Hell, Matcha Anon!!

I'm sorry it's winter for you! I'd swap seasons with you, if it were possible, because I was not made for temperatures over about 65*F. I also never have any fun during the summer--I just work and think about how much I'd like to not have to have a job. I hope your sweaters are cozy and that you have some good hot tea.

I'm also so very sorry you have Covid. Covid is awful. I had it actual years ago and I still feel a little like I didn't completely recover. I tried to write and watch films while I was sick, but the brain fog was so bad that I literally could not focus long enough to watch anything or write a paragraph, so I literally laid in bed for a week and watched TikToks. I also think it changed the way I taste things and what I like. I hope you feel better soon!

Studying patisserie sounds like fun! I'm on a quest to figure out how to make good croissants because I firmly believe that when you consider all the variations, croissants are the best pastry. I figured out macarons, now it's time for croissants.

You absolutely do not have to limit yourself to three comments. You could go through the fic paragraph by paragraph and I would read every word and have comments on everything.

1) I was reading something a while ago about the notion of hauntings and that inspired this bit of dialogue. It predates the fic and was part of the reason I wanted to write Everything. It didn't fit into The Big Light but I liked it, so I wrote 11k words to use it, which seemed logical at the time.

Fictional!Matty really is haunted, I think, not just by this particular partner, but by everyone who has ever mistreated him and all his own mistakes. Fictional!George doesn't quite grasp it though. He doesn't really understand that fictional!Matty can't just move forward and believe what he says because there's all this everything else. It's also an idea I really wanted to explore--what does it mean to be haunted? what does it mean to haunt? what is the difference between a haunt and a memory?

I'm thrilled this part resonated with you! The idea of a haunt feels so evocative, but I do often watch Ghost Files or Buzzfeed Unsolved while I write, so maybe that influenced things. I don't think ghosts are real, but it's good background noise for me.

My writing as a film??? It's of film quality?? Really?? Thank you so much!!

2) This part only really happened the way it did because I needed to put fictional!Matty and fictional!Adam together in the narrative. I had already written the conversation fictional!M+G have in bed and I needed a reason for fictional!Matty and fictional!Adam to have a private conversation. It's already mostly written for the version of Everything from fictional!Matty's POV.

3) I was kind of on the fence about the last line you highlighted, if I'm being honest. On one hand, sex is kind of trivial, but on the other, it's really important and it is really important to this narrative and this construction of fictional!M+G. I've got some notes for these scenes from fictional!Matty's POV and they're all about him feeling important and loved.

Fictional!George is trying so hard throughout all of these fics. He loves fictional!Matty so much, but fictional!Matty is so hurt and scared. There's a little bit of a lack of communication in some ways, I think where neither of them can say the kind of naked truth, so they go back and forth with a kind of layer between what they say and what they mean. Fictional!Matty can't figure out how to say everything and fictional!George doesn't know if he can ask, let alone how. There's going to be some resolution to this eventually, though, I promise.

They're in their late twenties here because it's before A Brief Inquiry and there's supposed to be this air of love and celebration at the very beginning because fictional!Matty went to rehab! he's doing better! he's sober and alive and he's putting all the bad behind him! they're making another record! and then it's all taken away by all the bad that happens in these fics. It's so hard for them to comprehend how truly awful everything is because things were supposed to be good. It's so big and there's so much and it's so hard. They're going to be happy, though, in the very end. That's my promise.

I look forward to your thoughts on whatever you read next and I hope you feel better soon! Thank you!! 💚💚

[eclairfromleclerc]

Hello guys, it’s been sooo long since I last updated. You can see it’s a very long chapter(10K words to be exact) and it has taken me so long to write because I felt really uninspired. I made a lot of progress in the last few weeks so the chapter is finally ready. It might be a little detailed about the scenes on the paddock but I want you to get the feeling that I have in my mind. So this chapter is about setting a scene but also a way to connect the last chapter with everything that is about to come. Thank you for being here and waiting for the next chapters and thank you for all of your comments. You are welcome to do more if you want to. Please note that English is not my native language and pardon any grammatical mistakes. I hope you will enjoy this extra long chapter and that you will stay tuned for the rest of the story. Enjoy xx.

All’s Fair

(Toto Wolff x Reader) Chapter 6

chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4 chapter 5

You wake up the next morning and get ready for the day. You put on a nice dress for your first day back to the factory and you get downstairs where you usually eat breakfast. Geri sees you and smiles

"Good Morning, welcome back home" she says

"Good Morning to you too." you tell her and you take a seat on the dining table. At the same time Christian comes down the stairs and gets to the kitchen. “Good morning” he says and gives a kiss to Geri. "Good Morning Dad" you say and he comes to your side and gives you a kiss on your head

"I'm sorry about yesterday, I hope you are not mad"

"It's okay dad, you were angry and did what you did, I am not mad. I just want to know about the appeal.” you tell him

“You will. We have scheduled a meeting with Adrian and the rest of the senior engineers as well as our lawyer to build our case for the appeal. At 11.30 in the factory.”

“Thank you.”

“We need you in this case so it is important for us that you are there.”

“I will.” you say and you eat the scrambled eggs that you have on your plate. After a while you finish your breakfast and stand up.

“I will see you in the factory dad. Have a nice day Geri, see you at dinner.” you say and leave the kitchen. You go upstairs back to your room where you get ready and take your bag which you have prepared. You go to your garage and get in the car where you connect your phone and blast on the playlist you had yesterday on Toto’s car. Before you close your phone you see that your playlist had one new like so you navigate through your spotify profile to see if someone followed your account. You see you indeed have one new follower and you tap to find the list. The new follower has a username that reads ‘T7W2” which makes you realize that maybe it was him who followed you. TW his initials. 72 his birth year. Before your mind falls off to a spiral of overthinking you start your Aston Martin and leave the house. You drive mindlessly with the music in the background and after 40 minutes or so you arrive at the factory. You park the car on your spot and get inside the team’s HQ greeting the people there. You enter your office and start looking at the testing data as well as the new essay on the performance that Adrian composed and sent you last night. After some time you take a glance at your watch and see that it is time for your meeting. You go to the meeting room which is currently empty, take a seat there and wait for everyone involved to get there. The door opens and Christian comes in

“Hello, you are early.” he says happily

“Yes I am. I can’t wait to see what you have found.” you reply

After two minutes or so Adrian and the rest of the senior engineers enter the meeting room taking a seat.

“Shall we begin?” you ask and you see Adrian nodding in agreement. “Adrian you may start.”

“Thank you. Hello everyone. As all of us are informed this meeting is about Mercedes and their car, the W13. The new regulations had many loopholes, much bigger than those of the last era. What we are looking at is a new ‘sidepodless’ design that they have on the car. It is not illegal. It is in the gray zone of the loopholes that the FIA have called “Up to interpretation from the teams.”. I believe that this should be protested if it offers a significant advantage. It is essentially a DAS situation all over again. But what they are doing there is much more important. My calculations say that they have gained a lot of time, a significant advantage. This can be our main argument can’t it Jamie?”

“Yes, if you have a case that proves so you can do this.”

“We do have the case, our simulator has shown that and I have here a full report. It is mostly technical and engineering terms, I am sure engineers will understand, Christian you will have an issue getting all of those numbers but I guess the engineer lover here can help you.” he says pointing at you. “You can ask us too.”

“Let me get this straight. We have found out what is sketchy with that car and our main interest right now is to build a case that can go as an appeal to the FIA right?” you ask

“Pretty much yeah.” Christian replies

“When are we planning on Appealing? Before Melbourne or after?”

“During?”

“You want to protest their car while we are on the first race week of the season?”

“Yes, we do.”

“When?”

“Friday between FP1 and FP2” your legal counselor replies

“Peak villain move.”

“That’s what we do.”

“Okay, if no one has to add something we can study those findings and we can build our case. If we have anything to ask we will. Everyone okay with that?”

“Yes” you reply.

“Let’s get back to building that beast for the new season.” your dad says and you storm off to your office to read whatever Adrian handed to you in the meeting. You start reading extremely focused on each and every thing you were doing.

The next days pass by exactly like this. You go to the factory and back home. Studying the case that you've built against Mercedes and meeting your friends, chilling out and going to parties.

Before you can even understand the time to leave for Australia is here. You come back from the factory to pack your suitcase, mostly with team gear but also cute sundresses and other sets as well as your favorite pairs of high heels and you fall asleep since you have to catch a commercial flight with the team to Melbourne. The next morning you wake up early, dress up in your coziest clothes possible and go to the garage where your father is waiting with Geri.

“Good Morning. Are you ready?” Christian asks

“Hello. Yes, I am ready. Shall we go?” you tell him

“Um before you two leave, Me and Christian decided to get you a little something for your first season as a Red Bull Executive and your first official race weekend.” Geri says

“Oh you shouldn’t have, really.”

Geri hands you a blue velvet box and you open it to reveal a necklace with a single diamond in the center and a charm next to it.

“Thank you so much.” you say and you hug them.

Christian puts your bags in the car and gets in the car. You do the same and you leave the garage heading to the Airport where the whole team is gathered. You park your car, meet everyone, pass security and board the plane. Thank god Red Bull booked first class tickets for you Christian and Helmut so you will be as comfortable as possible for the longest flight you will have this year. You take your seat making sure all of your stuff is placed in the right positions to offer you the best flight. The plane takes off and you watch a movie as you wait for your breakfast to be served. You check your schedule that Beth sent you according to which you are supposed to take a melatonin pill to help you with the jet lag some time after the takeoff. You eat your breakfast, finish the movie and take the pill which makes you sleepy for the rest of the flight. You wake up 6 hours before you arrive, watch a second movie and then fall asleep again. You only wake up when a flight attendant asks you to, for the landing. After you pick your baggage you leave for the hotel. Melbourne is so nice in the March sun that reminds of the end of summer in europe. It is in fact autumn in Australia now. You get to the car that Beth arranged for you and you drive to your hotel.

“Hello. How may I help you?” the receptionist asks

“Hello, I have a reservation. I would like to do the check in please.”

“Oh yes, will you please tell me your last name and hand me your passport and visa?”

“Of course. The last name is Horner, you will probably have two reservations under the name Horner. Christian is my father, the other one is mine.” you say and you hand her your papers

“Yes, you have a suite right? Room 374. Level 13.”

“Yes, that should be me.” you say

“Great” she says and hands you your key card. You reach for the card and get it

“Thank you so much, have a nice day.” you say and leave the lobby. You navigate through the hallways of the hotel until you find your room. You open the door and quite literally throw everything you were holding on the floor. You lay on your queen size bed that the suite includes and fall asleep once again trying to minimize the jet lag impact. You wake up the next day with your only duty being the online meeting between you, Christian, Helmut, Adrian and Jamie to finalize the details for the protest. Members of the team go to the paddock to set up the garages and the motorhome for tomorrow. You get the breakfast you ordered and you set up your computer on the desk in your suite. You get dressed and join the meeting where Christian is already waiting.

“G’day” you say mimicking the australian accent

“Hello. How was your sleep?”

“Good. I had the pills and I slept really well. I already have probably like half the jet lag you have.”

“I should try this the next time we fly, it might help I guess.”

“It will.” you say and you reach for the croissant in front of you as Helmut and Adrian join the meeting.

“Hello everyone” Adrian says

“Hello, how are you?”

“Jetlagged” says Helmut a little moody while Adrian nods in agreement

Jamie enters the call and you begin to discuss what is going to happen on Friday.

“So basically what we are going to do is catch them off guard. Since Media day is gone this year we should do our PR game on Friday. After FP1 we will get some interviews so this should be the right time.”

“And what are we supposed to do ?” you ask

“You will do this interview. We need you because they won’t think that you are capable of playing mind games just yet.”

“Okay, you guys know I am happy to help”

“This is your job now.” Helmut says. You keep looking and discussing details that are necessary for the protest until your meeting has covered everything you needed to know.

“Is everything clear for everyone?” Christian asks

“Yes. Thank you” you say

“Have a nice day everyone.” Adrian says

“See you around.” Helmut says and you log out of the meeting.

The rest of the day you are free to do whatever you want to so you stay in your suite a little bit longer and watch an episode of Drive to survive since you will start your interviews with them soon. Later on you decide to go for a walk in the fresh breeze of Melbourne to boost your mood and see the city which you won’t be able to see during the race weekend. You walk around for hours taking pictures which you send to your friends, and stopping for a quick coffee during the afternoon. You also buy some food on your way back to the hotel. Once you get back to your suite you put your pajamas on and check your programme for tomorrow. There’s indeed an interview with F1 shortly after the first free practice of the season, just before lunch time, which you have to do as Christian advised. You text your best friends and then fall asleep so that you will be able to get ready for your first official race weekend.

9 hours of sleep later you hear the usual sound of your alarm ringing. You wake up, turn it off and go to the bathroom to take a shower before starting your day. You dress up and get ready for your first day back to the paddock. You feel excited since there’s that feeling that the new season always brings to the F1 circus and this year the cars are completely different so you can’t wait to see how everything plays out. Also this is the first race in Australia since the pandemic began and the Australian fans are probably buzzing for it. You check your make up and make sure that you have everything you need for the day. You leave your suite and go to the hotel parking where you find your car and leave for the paddock.

Once you arrive there, fans are in the parking lot and at the paddock entrance so naturally they ask you for pictures as soon as they spot you.Thankfully not many people know you yet but those who came are enough to make you realize that you are actually living your dream. You keep walking, check your badge and enter the paddock which you have been visiting at season openers since you were a kid. You find the Red Bull hospitality and you spot Beth just outside so you hand her some of your stuff and get inside. You and your assistant enter your office and you sit on your chair.

"Lots of fans out there huh?" You say

"Wait until later this season when they will actually get to know you and more of them will ask you for pictures and autographs." She laughs "I have your schedule ready if you want to go through it."

"I know Beth, you literally emailed it to me yesterday. I looked at it."

"It is FP1 in half an hour and 20 minutes after the checkered flag you have the interview."

"Where do I go? For the interview?"

"Media Pen, not press conference room" she says

"Okay got it. Thank you Beth" you say and you look around for the stuff that you need to have with you on the pitwall

"Phone, iPad, Water flask and your headphones" Beth tells you

"You are a lifesaver."

You turn and grab everything she told you from your bag "Is Max here?"

"Yes he is. He's getting ready since he's driving in less than 30 minutes. Christian is already in the garage and Sergio is getting ready as well. Max told me to ask you to see him before FP1 but I reckon he wanted it to be privately so you should find him in his room."

"Okay, I have to get going. If there's anything I should know just text me." You say and you leave your office walking to Max's room. You knock maniacally on his door as the two of you usually do.

"Come in, idiot." You hear him yelling from inside the room

"Aren't you supposed to be in the garage?"

"I was waiting for you and if Christian dares to say anything to me I will just tell him that it’s your fault that I am late.”

“You could have waited to say what you wanted to say.”

“No I couldn’t.” Max says “I had to give you this before we officially start the season.” he turns and grabs a little bag which contains a green box. You open it and you see a pandora bracelet with a diamond charm on it.

“Max, you didn’t ha-”

“I had to.” he interrupts “This is an official welcome gift to you. I will get you one charm each season. I promise.”

“You are the best friend ever.” you say

“You are the best executive on this team. Welcome girl. I hope we will have great moments in the future and I am glad you will be here to enjoy them.”

“Thanks Max.” you say wiping a tear that threatened to fall from your freshly painted eyes “Now, you have to go down to the garage Sir.”

“Let’s go kick some ass.”

“It’s only free practice Max.”

“It is about the mentality, not the session.” he says and you push him out of the door, heading to the team garage.

When you get to the garage everyone is in their positions and ready to start the session. You say goodbye to Max and take your seat in the pitwall. The clock shows the starting time and every car rolls out of the garage to go out on track. You turn and watch the cars passing down the pitlane and then you turn to the screens in front of you watching and writing every single detail that pops up while seeing how the other teams perform. Mercedes are hiding a lot of pace and it is obvious since the car seems to be moving a lot slower than usual so you try to calibrate your lap times so that you don’t give away many details. For the next hour or so you do many runs and the final classification finds you in 4th and 6th position, Max under Lewis in 3rd and Sergio under George.

“Are you ready?” Christian shows up out of the blue and asks you

“You scared me dad. Yes, I am ready. The interview is in 10 minutes in the media pen.”

“Just play it cool and don’t give anything away.”

“I won’t. You will see for yourself.”

You stand up and go spot the place where the F1 interviews are done and you wait for Mattia to finish. Once he’s done he stands up, waves at you and shows you the chair he was sitting on.

“Sorry for keeping you. We are done, you can sit.” He tells you

“Thank you very much” you say and he turns to leave

Will grabs a bottle of water in front of him and takes a sip

“Are you ready, shall we start?”

“Of course”

Will does his intro and starts asking his questions which include the usual, the new regulation set, the performance of the car and race pace.

“Now, what do you think about the new cars, do you like how they look?”

“Now that they have their final shape, painting and are generally the cars that we will race on for the rest of the year, I have to say I like them. The majority of them look really great and fast. We are just waiting to see if they are just as fast as they look.”

“This is the time that all the teams start looking at the other cars, trying to see if there’s anything not compliant to the rules and start launching appeals. Is there any case that we will see something like this from Red Bull in the future?” he asks

“Look, it is indeed the time when we are monitoring our rivals’ cars trying to spot anything that seems sketchy”

“And?”

“We are just looking, nothing more nothing less. Those cases and appeals can be built in 2 hours if you have a good team. If someone decides to appeal on something it will probably won’t be public until it is done officially.”

“Understood. Thank you for your time, I hope you will have a great FP2”

“You’re welcome Will, see you around.”

You stand up and leave the Media pen going back to the hospitality and your office once again. You sit on your chair and you hear a soft knock at your door.

“Come in” you say and your dad peeks his head in the room.

“Hey.”

“I came to tell you that you did a great job with the interview.”

“Thank you.”

“No, I want you to know that I am here to make you better. And if I always judge you, you won't be able to do it, so you should learn that I am very proud of what you have achieved.”

“I know and I appreciate it a lot. Now about the appeal, what are we going to do?”

“It will be public by the time FP2 begins. You won’t do any press for the rest of the day. Let me and Helmut handle this. Tomorrow you will say that you were not informed until half an hour before the appeal launch.” he says

“Okay, got it. I hope people aren’t going to slander me” you laugh

“No they won’t, we will help you. And even if they do, you are able to go through it.”

“Thank you.”

Christian stands up and walks towards the door. “I am going to the garage to see if everything is okay. Wanna join?”

“No thanks, I think I am just going to relax here until FP2”

“Okay, see you then” Christian says and he leaves the room

You take your time and sit on the small couch you managed to fit in the office, scrolling in your socials and seeing the team principals’ statements and fan opinions on the first day of the race weekend, managing to kill your boredom without getting tired running around in the paddock. 10 minutes before Free Practice 2 starts you hear a “Max style” knock on your door and you stand up to open it, seeing Max already leaving.

“You are leaving me?” you say pretending to be hurt

“No, I just thought you weren’t inside and I left for the garage. I can’t be late like you are”

“Let’s go idiot”

“The big hour is coming” Max says as you walk down the hospitality stairs.

“In a few minutes. That’s why I have to be in the garage earlier than usual.”

“What do you think will happen?”

“I hope we will get something good out of it.” you say and you push the hospitality door open and you start walking in the paddock, changing the topic of your conversation so that no one will understand what you were talking about.

“Dinner afterwards?” he asks

“Yes please, but I would prefer it to be in the hotel restaurant if that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah absolutely.”

You arrive at the garage and leave Max behind with his mechanics to prepare for the practice which starts in about 5 minutes. You take your seat to the pit wall and Christian comes beside you

“In 2 minutes we will make it public. I’m just going to sit here with you until the time starts.”

Those 2 minutes pass in a blink of an eye and you suddenly hear your phone pinging with notifications.

New Tweet from Red Bull Racing ‘Red Bull Racing team is publicly announcing the appeal against Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team car W13 on the grounds of having non compliant car components. More details on the team statement below.’

All of a sudden you turn around to see everyone looking at your side

“Everyone is looking at us” you say to Christian.

“Well let them stare, they wish they had built this case earlier.”

You turn to your left and see him. Toto is looking calm but you can feel how tense he is. And he looks at you. You look straight into his eyes even though he is far from you and you swear he does the same until Christian calls your name and you turn to him.

“Huh?” you ask

“I’m saying that you should go back to the hotel as soon as you finish and that you won’t do any press tomorrow.”

“Yeah I know, you told me earlier” you reply “Should we see their reaction?”

“No, not yet, they probably won’t say anything until later today. This session should be done, then they will react to the appeal.” he says

“Max is doing good.”

“Sergio is doing good as well.”

“Well pardon me but Max is my friend so I might exaggerate a bit about him and overlook Sergio. It doesn’t mean that I don’t value him.”

“I know, I know.”

For the rest of the session you sit in your spot in the pitwall seeing the live timings, the stints and the runs everyone does, trying to decode the moves of the people in the Mercedes garage. Toto does not appear during the session. You know he is probably in his spot, on the head of the “fantasy island”, as they call it at your neighboring garage. When the checkered flag appears you gather all of your belongings and head to the Motorhome to get your bag and leave from the paddock. Beth is there waiting.

“I will be leaving now so that I won’t get involved in the appeal spiral. Dad doesn’t want me to do any interview until tomorrow and when he told me to go back to the hotel he probably meant that I should not go outside for the rest of the day to avoid any questions.”

“Well, he must know something. I mean he has been here for quite some time.”

“Yeah, I trust him.” you sigh “Well to be honest I told Max we would grab dinner later but only at the hotel restaurant because I am so tired. I hope dad doesn't mind.”

“Technically, you will still be in the hotel so I am betting that he won’t be”

“If you see Max will you tell him to text me for today?”

“Yes boss.” she laughs and you head to the door waving at her.

After what feels like ages-but is only 30 minutes- you arrive at the hotel. People were coming to you asking you about the appeal but you replied that you had no comment and left the track. A while after you get in your room and relax your phone rings with a new notification

Max Emilian Verstappen

Dinner?

You

Yes. At the hotel as I told you. I can’t go out, everyone is asking about the appeal

Max Emilian Verstappen

But they won’t ask at the hotel restaurant?

You

I am hoping not.

Do two hours from now sound good to you?

Max Emilian Verstappen

Yes. You can make a reservation.

You make a reservation for the restaurant and spend the rest of your time taking a bath and watching some Netflix. You get ready and Max comes to get you from your room as he always does. When you arrive at the hotel restaurant you sit at your reserved table, some people come to talk to you and a small number of them ask you about the appeal but you avoid the questions. You and Max enjoy your dinner and once you finish you leave for your room again

“There aren’t any parties today? Not Lando, not even Daniel, who does the season opener party every year?” you ask

“No, you should know parties are thrown on Saturday nights.”

“The night before the race?”

“The night before the race” he confirms

“Thank you so much for your company Max. Let’s get some rest now, it’s a big day tomorrow.”

“My pleasure” he says and he hugs you and you turn back to your hotel room where you spend some time awake reading Mercedes’ statements about the appeal, as well as pundits’ analysis on how your team decided to protest. Then you drift off to sleep.

Your alarm goes off in the Morning of the next day. Saturday, the day of FP3 and qualifying. The stewards are supposed to make a decision by the time qualifying ends so you are waiting patiently for it. You get ready for the day dressing up and packing your usual bag. It almost feels natural this time. Maybe you are getting used to it. You leave for the track and get there just on time for the third period of practice. During the session you perform your usual duties and wait for the checkered flag to be dismissed from the pit wall. When the session ends Christian comes to your side as usual

“Do I have any press duties to do?” you ask

He nods negatively “I mean there are press duties that you would have to do after FP3 but we will just leave it this time. Maybe after quali you will have to do some, since everyone will forget about the appeal.”

“Until the results are published.”

“Indeed.” he says “Let’s stick to this plan. Do SkyF1 and the other big outlets after qualifying.”

“Got it, thanks.” you say and leave for your office again.

You chill out in between the sessions and do some of the work you are meant to do. Reading team principal statements, trying to read into their game and reviewing lap times. Sometime later you text your assistant

You

Hello girl, may I have some lunch in my office?

Beth The Lifesaver

Yeah of course. Need anything else?

You

A Max Verstappen if it is available at the moment

Beth The Lifesaver

On it

You lock your phone and close your eyes but as soon as you do your phone rings with a new notification and before you can even unlock it to see what it is about, the screen shows your dad's name and it rings. You pick up

“Hello” you say

“We got fucking nothing out of it.” he tells you angrily

“What happened?”

“The appeal results are out. Apparently, whatever they are doing is legal, a gray zone but legal. They asked for the FIA’s approval before using it on the car. This is DAS all over again. For fucks shake.”

“Are you absolutely sure about it?”

“There’s an official FIA document, F1 posted about it. Don’t you have a notification on your goddamn phone?”

“I probably do, but you called before I could read it. Please calm down. Also, wasn't it supposed to be announced after qualifying?”

“It was yeah but that bunch of clowns decided to publish it earlier.”

There’s a knock on your door but you feel just as angry as your father. “Not now please.”

“It’s Beth, I got your lunch.”

“Can you come back in 5?”

“Yeah” she says and you can hear her footsteps fading away

“And now what? What should we do?”

“We do nothing, we took a risk, it did not pay off, now we give it all. I will get back to you later.” he says and before you can say a second word he hangs up. You go through your socials and your mentions are full of sarcastic comments from Mercedes and other teams fans. 5 minutes later the door knocks again.

“Yes?”

The door opens and Max carries your food.

“Omg thank you so much for coming.”

“What happened?”

“The appeal result is out and apparently we lost. I was so sure about this Max. Adrian was sure. And instead, we got this.”

“That’s alright, we will give it our absolute best in two hours from now. We will show them that we don’t need the appeals to be good. Sometimes taking a risk does not pay off.”

“You are strangely calm about this”

“No, I just know that we can be the best without whining all the time. We should have the mentality.”

“You are right, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“I am the greatest friend you will ever have.” he says bragging

“Gimme my food idiot friend.” you say and you grab the tray from his hands

For the next hour you eat and Max discusses with you about things that concern you trying to forget racing and everything around it and both of you have a great time relaxing and having fun before the stressful session ahead. An hour before qualifying Max leaves for his driver room to warm up and prepare and you on the other side, videochat with your closest friends that are waiting to see you for the first official time in the f1 paddock. About 15 minutes before quali starts you go back to the garage and your pit wall seat to prepare for one of the most important procedures of the weekend. The stands are full with fans and everyone is hyped about the first qualifying of the season. Cameras are all around the pitlane filming cars, drivers, mechanics and team members. As soon as Q1 starts the cars go out to the track to do their hot laps for a position in Q2. You have seen it a million times on TV and a lot of times live but nothing beats seeing it as an official executive of the team. The backmakers get knocked out of Q1 and you proceed to Q2, 15 cars trying their absolute best to claim a place at the top 10 on the grid. Thankfully both Max and Sergio qualify to Q3 alongside the 2 Ferrari and the 2 Mercedes drivers as well as the McLarens and Seb and Pierre. The 10 cars remaining now go back on track to give their absolute best and fastest laps for the pole position. It looks like the fight for the pole is going to be great. Firstly George sets the fastest time and then Lewis takes his position but Max completes his fastest lap and ends up a tenth faster than Lewis. Still the other drivers try to do their laps as the top team drivers aka Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull come back to the garages to prepare for the last lap. Mercedes lets George out first to give Lewis the slipstream he needs and you follow the exact same tactics, letting Sergio out first and then Max following to get the tow. George starts his lap moving fast around the track showing the real teeth of the beast that is the W13 taking provisional pole but then Lewis takes it back by 1 tenth. Sergio completes his run 5 hundredths slower than George’s time but once Max completes his lap he ends up in 2nd place taking a front row starting position for the first race of the season. The celebrations from the garage on your left get to your ears, even though you are wearing your headphones that usually block out all the noise. By the time you take your headphones out you hear GP’s and Christian’s phones ringing with new notifications and you grab yours.

New tweet from Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team ‘We are announcing our protest against Oracle Red Bull Racing’s car RB18 on the use of their rear wing which we believe is not compliant to the official rules issued by the FIA. Read More.’

You turn to see Christian who is looking at his phone frozen

“What the hell is this about?” you ask him

“That goddamn rear wing. They won’t shut up until they find it illegal, that motherfucker Toto has been trying for a year now”

“Well everything is alright with it isn’t it?”

“I don’t know”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I am not a fucking Mechanic and I don’t fully understand all the technical parts of designing a race car.”

“What does Adrian have to say about it?”

“That it was a solution to a pretty significant problem that we had. I don’t know if it is in the rules spec. It might be in the gray zone.”

“You gave your consent on an illegal car part?”

“It is not illegal.”

“It’s not until it is proven illegal dad.” you tell him and he falls silent

“We also run it on today's car” he says

“Which means that if they manage to prove that it’s illegal we will be disqualified. They are doing exactly what we had planned.”

“They have nothing to lose. It’s only a couple of euros for them.”

“Are we in trouble here?”

“Well I hate to be a pessimist but maybe.” he replies and before you can say anything else he leaves the pit wall calling someone on his phone. At this very time you look over at the Mercedes garage where Toto is standing looking at you with his well known smug face. You two make eye contact and you feel your skin burning until JV comes to his side to talk to him and Toto turns all of his attention to him leaving you standing several meters afar just looking at them. You stand up and head to the paddock and the Sky Media pen where you are supposed to do your interview.

Natalie starts talking doing her usual into to the interview and she asks you the first question

“Starting with the most recent news, can you tell us your opinion on the newest Mercedes appeal on your rear wing?”

“We are not really surprised by it, we did the same yesterday and we were waiting for an answer to our strategy. The results of our appeal happened to be published earlier than we had expected and Mercedes’ appeal is more strategically placed in the race weekend because should this rear wing be deemed illegal, we are obliged to run the right spec wing and we are probably going to be disqualified from qualifying.”

“Is there any scenario where this happens?” she asks

“I can’t really answer that. I understand car designing to a certain level but I am not an engineer. I trust Adrian and his experience but if the FIA believes that the gray zone that our wing falls into is too gray for their tastes we will have to adapt.”

“Now another question, you mentioned the appeal of Mercedes’ W13 that was published yesterday but a while before it was made known you were saying that you did not have any plan to appeal to any team. Can I get your view on that?”

“Well Natalie to be honest, even if I knew what was planned I wouldn’t have said it publically but as Christian explained to his interviews, I was not personally updated on this issue until 30 minutes before it was launched.”

“And now moving from all of the appeal issues, how did the team view the qualifying results today?”

“We are both happy and frustrated. We are really happy that the car is up there challenging for pole position but at the same time frustrated because we should have been able to get this one. We understand that the gap is not big and that some small updates can bring us and Mercedes on equal terms so we have to work through it.”

“Your plans and anticipations for tomorrow's race?”

“Max leads turn 1 and claims the win with the fastest lap.”

“Bold one” she laughs

“No, to be honest I am just joking, we should wait and see what will happen with the appeal and then we can start discussing our options for tomorrow.”

“I could not have said it better than you. Ladies and gentlemen this was Miss Horner for Red Bull Racing. I will see you tomorrow on the grid, love.”

“Of course Nat, I am not missing this.” you say smiling and stand up to go back to your office

Christian ‘Dad’ Horner

Executive and Engineers meeting on Red Bull’s hospitality STAT

Me

omw

You enter the motorhome and go directly to the debrief room where you see all the executives and engineers. Adrian has a face of disappointment and the others look confused and angry.

“I came as fast as I could, what do we have?”

“It is about the appeal” an junior engineer says

“I know dude, I am asking what we think about this.”

“Look, I have seen the rules, it is not mentioned anywhere. Up to interpretation, open to interpretation by engineers and designers.” Adrian says

“So gray zone?” you ask

“Yes, gray zone. They let Mercedes use DAS, this should be minor compared to this”

“Yes but if it is illegal this means we are fucked.”

“What does it mean?” you ask and Christian turns to you holding his hand out

“For starters, we remove the wing. Then we replace it”

“And that’s it!” you say smiling

“You wish this was all. Then we have the disqualification. We used the illegal part, we should disqualify from the sessions it was used. So no quali front row.”

“I understand. I told Natalie about all those.”

“There’s more” Adrian says

“What more?”

“We are not able to change anything. The car was set up around that rear wing. If it leaves, the balance goes away. They are probably going to pass us like sitting ducks.”

“That’s it? We are probably only fucked for a race though so we are not giving up.” you say

“That race is important.”

“Maybe it is dad, maybe it’s not but what I know for sure is that we are not giving this up. First image always matters but if you make a good impression later noone is going to remember your first image. Let’s get out there and face this decision with nothing but pride and will to win those points back.” you say

“I want to hear you say this tomorrow.” GP says to you

“I will, and I will say it in my interviews if I have to.”

“I guess that’s all about it, the decision will be published before the race starts so we will have to deal with whatever comes our way before the lights go out. Thank you for being here, I will be keeping you posted in our group chat.” Christian says and they leave the room, you are still sitting on your chair at the top of the table.

“I will do press tomorrow. Both pre and post race.”

“Are you sure about it? Post race interviews can be a living hell, especially when you have to justify this performance and the illegal rear wing.”

“Can we please stop saying it is illegal when we have no decision at hand? And yes, I am sure. I am done hiding, I will be there to represent my team.”

“I am not optimistic about this and my gut feeling never lies so be prepared for a big one.”

“I am ready for everything.”

“Will you be staying for a little longer or will you go back to the hotel?”

“As much as I want to stay to make sure everything goes according to plan, I also have to get a good night's sleep. It is my first official race, dad, I have to get ready.”

“You are so confusing sometimes you know” he laughs

“No, I am just being a woman. Your little princess has to glow tomorrow. So I am leaving.”

“Good Night” he says feeling a bit emotional thinking how far you’ve come

“Bye Dad, love you” you tell him

Later you arrive at your suite, drop everything on the chair and do your night routine before falling asleep on your queen sized bed. The next day you wake up, switching off your alarm and starting to get ready. Skincare routine, face masks, eye patches, hair, makeup. You also put on a really nice outfit, blue Red Bull shirt, white pants and high heels, matching them with Max’s charm and Christian and Gerri’s diamond necklace. You pack your new Louis Vuitton bag and leave for the paddock. The track’s parking lot is already full with cars of fans as well as fans themselves who try to catch a glimpse of their favorites as they enter the paddock. You get out of the car and walk as quickly as you can in the paddock and then in the Red Bull hospitality. You leave your bag in your office and sit on the chair behind it. Ding, phone notification. You go ahead and open the phone.

BREAKING: Red Bull Racing rear wing has been found illegal after Mercedes’ appeal on RB18

BREAKING: Both Red Bulls have been disqualified from qualifying as an immediate effect of using illegal car components.

“FUCK” you say and at the same time your door opens revealing your dad

“What the fuck happened?” you ask feeling angry

“I told you we would go through this.”

“We have been disqualified so why not change the whole setup of the car already?”

“We can’t”

“Why?”

“The engineers only studied the possible setups with the illegal wings, they can’t change it. Plus, if fans find out we are deep in the mud.”

“Shit. So we will race on the default setup?”

“Yeah, prepare for a hard one.”

After your chat with Christian you left immediately for the media pen where you did your pre race interviews and then walked to the grid to see everyone getting ready for the race. You were pretty angry for the whole time. Once the lights went out and the race started you switched into race mode seeing everything from the pitwall, counting laps, seeing times, discussing strategies. Both Max and Sergio managed to pass some cars in front of them but they only managed to secure 15th and 16th. The race was a catastrophe for the team, one you definitely want to forget.

“What do you want to do now?” Christian asks as soon as Lewis passes the checkered flag finishing 1st and George 2nd and celebrations are heard from the garage next to you. You turn to take a glance and see Toto fist bumping and hugging Mercedes engineers

“I want to drink.” you answer bluntly

“I was talking about the press but it was a nice idea I guess.”

“I will do it”

You go to the media pen and start your interviews. “What went wrong?”, “Is this your real pace?”, “How could you not know that your car was illegal?”, “What’s next for Red Bull?” were the questions you heard the most. Your answers were the same paraphrase of “To be clear, the wing was in the gray zone of the regulations meaning that we could do whatever we thought was okay based on our interpretations. That’s not our real pace, the whole race went so badly because the setup was about the package that included the rear wing. Rear wing gone, means balance is gone. We regroup and we start again.” but you were trying to hide your anger the whole time. Not to mention that you wanted to drink just to forget the whole day.

Half an hour after you are in your office drinking your first glass of your favorite scotch deciding you won’t drink more than 2 glasses to avoid being in the same situation you were in during testing. During your time at your office Christian, Sergio and of course Max come in to check on you and you offer a glass of whiskey to each of them. After two and a half glasses you take a glance at the clock on your desk and decide it’s time to head back to the hotel. As you walk down the paddock you hear some voices from Mercedes’ garage and you realize you did not congratulate them earlier. Feeling a tad more confident due to the scotch you drank before, you decide to go and say congratulations. Your father had always been negative about recognizing the opponent’s success, only congratulating them for the press' eyes but you always thought that a good result should be recognized regardless of who achieved it. You enter Red Bull's garage and walk down the pitlane to Mercedes’ side. You see several mechanics and congratulate them, discussing a bit and in the background you spot him standing up coming your way.

“You guys are done with everything?” Toto asks

“We should get back to work, sorry boss.” one of them says

“No Jim, that’s okay, I was just asking to make sure that you won’t be working till late this afternoon. You can continue your conversation.”

“Thank you Toto but we should really get back” he says and the rest of the mechanics leave with him

“Trying to poach our mechanics now?” Toto laughs

“We need someone to teach us how to build legal cars.” you laugh “I was just talking with them about the race, I hope that’s okay.”

“No worries, I am not going to tell them that they can’t talk to any competitor. How come you are still here?” he asks. Generally his voice and tone is much more comfortable and friendly than it had been in pre-season testing in Barcelona. Definitely the flight and the ride you shared to get back from Bahrain kinda changed the relationship between you two. You think of how you can phrase what you wanted to say.

“I came here to congratulate you. As I was leaving I realized that I did not congratulate you for your win. Great achievement.”

“Thank you very much. I am pretty surprised that you decided to do it.”

“Well my dad does not like to recognize other people’s success, but I believe that your work was remarkable. I plan on doing it for the rest of the time that I am an executive in F1”

“Spreading a bit of positivity can’t be too bad. I am glad you are doing it. You know your team isn’t exactly famous for its respect to others doings but I am happy that you are the one changing it”

“Thank you so much Toto” you say and you make eye contact for a couple of seconds. Him towering over you since he is obviously much taller than you while he looks down at you. You look up at him. Both of you feel the tension between each other but you chose to break it. As much as you find him hot you remind yourself that you are in the middle of the paddock, people, photographers, fans and journalists are still around.

“I should get back to the hotel. It was a huge day for me, my first day so I need some rest”

“Yes, of course” he says and takes a step or two backwards. You turn to leave and you didn’t even manage to walk 5 steps when you hear him calling your name. You turn to look at him

“Regardless of what happened during the race, I just hope your day was just as good as you planned it to be” he says

“Thanks” you say and you turn to leave for real this time.

You get back to the hotel and you decide to go shopping before packing your bags to fly back to Europe. You visit your favorite brand stores and you try on different outfits and you buy some of them, making sure that all of your new purchases do not exceed the free space on your bags. After the great shopping therapy you decide to head back and relax once again. You walk back to the hotel and get inside where you greet the receptionist that you saw on a daily basis and head to the elevator bay where you wait for your ride to your suite’s floor. You get in the elevator and press the floor number you were staying in and as usual the doors start closing just in front of you. Just before the door closes a hand shows in the small gap and it opens again because of the motion detectors.

You are definitely not prepared to see Toto getting in the elevator slightly out of breath looking like he was running. Your surprised pikachu face says it all. The door closes and the elevator starts going up.

“Hello?” you say

“Oh hey, hi” he replies out of breath

“What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for you”

“And you needed to jump running into an elevator with a closing door to find me?”

“Well, I did find you, that is the point.”

“You did.” you say as the elevator comes to a stop to your floor and you move to get out. He stays in the same place trying to catch his breath

“Do you plan to stay here or are you coming with me?” you ask him and he turns and looks at you

“Ah yes thank you.” he replies and he gets out of the elevator following you all the way to your suite. You open the door and get inside, him right behind you closing it as soon as he gets in.

You drop the bags inside your closet with the rest of your still unpacked clothes and go back to find Toto pacing up and down.

“First of all, stop pacing, you are making me nervous” you say and he stops “Secondly, do you actually have something to say or did you just follow me like a random creep to see my room?”

“No, I do have to say something. As I told you earlier, I am really impressed that you decided to come and congratulate us.”

“And?” you ask immediately

“Will you let me finish first?”

“Yes, sorry, go ahead.”

“I thought it was my obligation to tell you how sorry I am about what happened with the appeals. We weren’t planning to do that much damage to you. We just thought why not take the chance and do it.”

“Really, I am not mad about it, it’s just a part of the war Toto, nothing you should apologize for.”

“I just felt that I had to do this.” he says

“Are you sure that you are alright?” you ask surprised by how kind and how different he was to the wide known Toto

“You know, casual post win partying. It involved drinking as well.”

“So you drink during the day?”

“Please don’t get that “You drink during the day” story out to make fun at me”

“I am not doing so. I am not my dad.” you say sitting on the couch and he does the same sitting next to you. He is clearly not drunk, just feeling a bit more confident as you did earlier in the garage

“That difference is really surprising. I hope you won’t get this the wrong way but really your father is messing around with things that don’t even concern him and he believes that he should do anything to crush the opposition.”

“I know.”

“You are nowhere near that behavior. You recognized your opponent's achievement today, said nothing bad in the press and you also spread a lot of positivity.”

“Thank you so much.” you say “I think that this is the reason why our relationship is different than you and my father. There’s a thing called respect.”

“That doesn’t mean you don’t have that Horner attitude sometimes.”

“Well, I have to.”

“Well, you become a brat.” he says

“And people like it.” you reply

“No, they don’t”

“You like it.”

“I don’t”

“Yes you do”

“Do you ever shut up or are you just like your father?”

“Well I do shut up if someone makes me.” you reply and you put on your smug face. As soon as the words get out of your mouth Toto looks at you intensely.

“Please.” he says

“Simply not good enough.” you tell him “So you know being a bitch sometimes makes you likea-” and before you can even finish the sentence he tilts towards you and smashes his lips to yours. You feel the electricity running through your body but before you can even react he breaks the contact still being close to you

“Was this good enough?”

“I didn’t pay attention” you tell him and he does the same thing. This time you are prepared and you immediately react by kissing him back. You put your hand on his shoulder and push him closer as he grabs you by the back of your head doing the same. You keep kissing continuously until both of you are out of breath. You try to catch it back and you regain your voice

“Well that was definitely good.” you say out loud

“I’m never bad at this, just saying.”

Some minutes pass by as both of you are sitting on the couch looking at the ceiling without actually being awkward. Toto breaks the silence

“I should probably get going.”

Why does he have to go now? Is this how it’s going to go? Just going to each other's rooms and hooking up after one of you gets drunk? You need answers to all of the questions on your mind.

“Toto, is this how it’s going now?” you ask him before he can stand up

“How it’s going what?” he asks slightly confused

“Are we just going to visit each other’s hotel rooms while we are drunk, hook up and then pretend that it didn’t even happen?”

“I am not drunk.”

“I know you are not drunk but that’s not the point. The point is this.” you say and you signal between him and you.

“This, is something that our brains tell us to do.”

“And do you want to do it or is it just an impulse?” you ask and you look at him thinking “I am just trying to figure it out Toto.”

“Look, I am the one who’s sober here. Well not exactly sober but at least I have my consciousness and I know what I am doing. If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have done it.”

“So?”

“I think I made myself clear. It is yourself that you should be asking those questions. Not me.”

“Are you saying that I kissed you in Bahrain only because I was drunk?”

“That’s what you said the next morning.”

“Well, whatever the fuck I said wasn’t fucking true.” you reply

“Would you have done it if you were not drunk?”

“I don’t know, maybe. It is our brain as you said. I would have done it another time if not then.”

“Are you sure you are thinking this correctly?”

“Why shouldn’t I be sure? You are the one that should be wondering.”

“I am the one that should be fucking wondering? Are you for real? I am the one who invited you to get on my jet and then drove you back home because from the day you set foot in that paddock as an official I haven’t stopped fucking thinking about how much I fucking want to get to know you. I am the one that let you sleep in my hotel room because you were drunk and I am the one who came to your team’s hotel to apologize for any inconvenience I caused to you. I risked being seen just to be here. So yeah I should be probably wondering.”

“I am sorry.” you say as a tear threatens to fall from your eyes

“Don’t you do that now, please.”

“Okay”

“Listen, we are on the same page in this. I want whatever you want. How it’s going to go, I don’t even know myself. Let’s just decide that we are doing this. If you are in, I am in, if not we will continue being rivals.”

“I am all in Toto.”

“Okay then.”

“Just some rules to get this clear. For starters, no one can know that. Secondly, once we set foot at the paddock we are nothing more than rivals. Third, we will be hiding and we’ll be as careful as possible.”

“Agreed.” he says and he comes towards you planting a kiss on your forehead.

“So you have to go now?” you ask

“Yes, my flight leaves in 2 hours. What about you?”

“I am taking the night flight back. Where are you going?”

“Monaco, you?”

“Oxford” you say with a tone of sadness in your voice

“Next week is a race week, we will be back in Bahrain before you can ever think of it.”

“I hope so.” you say and he stands up and walks to the door.

“I will text you.” he says

“Please do, and be careful now that you are leaving, someone might see you.”

“Of course.”

“Have a nice flight back Toto.”

“Thank you, you too.” he replies as he hugs you and leaves you behind at the suite that now feels more empty than ever.

You pack your bags thinking about the turn that your life has just taken. Later in the evening you go to the airport, board your flight and get back to England. Next thing you know, you are in your dad’s car, him driving you back to Oxfordshire. You get back to your house, laying in your bed that feels so familiar and contemplate about what happened.

And now what?

[v1olentdelights]

She Doesn’t Like Wearing Socks to Bed

George Weasley x Muggleborn!fem!reader & Cedric x Muggleborn!fem!reader & minor Ginny Weasley x Muggleborn!fem!reader Trigger Warnings: It is very sad, um I think just heartbreak Summary: All you wanted was his time. Now all he want’s is you. a/n: This one took a while lol. I want to thank @myalupinblack for beta-ing this fic (is that how you say that?) and for giving amazing feedback! Love you all, I hope you enjoy reading! <3  -  It is also loosely based on ‘When I Was Your Man’ by Bruno Mars

You had never planned to fall for the brave fiery headed Gryffindor. No one expected it, but for some reason you and George just worked. Well you did, recently things had gone astray. And it truly wasn’t anyone’s fault. George had become preoccupied with quidditch and planning for his shop with his brother. You were busy with tutoring alongside Cedric Diggory and studying for your exams. The worst part was that you saw it all happening, you watched yourself drift away from him. And you watched him leave you behind. 

Spotting the red head down the hall you dashed off wrapping your hand around his waiting for him to finish talking. His hand felt almost limp in yours.

“George, can we talk this evening after supper?” “Um I don’t know if I can. I have quidditch practice and then catch up on homework.” he huffed out digging through his bag. “Well can’t you take off quidditch practice today? I mean you attend every single one and then practice even more.” You knew this would happen, that’s all that happens anymore ‘Oh sorry darling, I’m busy.’ “Darling, I can’t and you know that.” he turned to look at you, you saw the dark circles forming under his eyes. “It is important though.” 

“Y/N I said I can’t.”  he began walking off. “GEORGE FABIAN WEASLEY!” spinning around to face you, his eyes were wide and his face was a bit red. “Meet me in the library at 7:00pm tonight.”

“Okay, I will see you then.” getting ready to go again. “Repeat it back to me so I know you remember.” 

“7:00pm tonight in the library.”

You had eaten dinner thinking of what to say. Should you tell George that you love him but just not like you used to? Do you tell him you can feel the strain between yourselves? Does he feel the strain? “Hey Y/N!” Cedric smiled as he sat down across from you. “Are you alright?” “Yeah, I’m actually about to go on a walk. Would you like to join me?” He smiles even brighter and you can feel your stomach clench. Collecting your things, you and him drop your stuff off in your dormitories before heading out on your walk. With it being the autumn season it began to get dark and cold outside very quickly. 

“Here, take my sweater.” Pulling on the sweatshirt you examined how it was well worn. The Hufflepuff patch was tearing off and the inside was slowly wearing away. Yet it still felt like the safest place on earth. George's arms used to feel like that. Simply waving away the thought you trudged on with Cedric. 

As it drew closer to 7:00 you steered yourself and Cedric towards the library. You had felt somewhat guilty for enjoying the presence of Cedric. But at the same time did George even care? Trying to shed the sweater quickly Cedric was quick to pull it back up over your shoulders. “Keep it, you know how cold the library gets. Anyways we have tutoring tomorrow and you can return it then, if you want.” pulling you in for a quick hug. As he walks out the door you begin thinking about if he held you just a little bit longer. Sitting there alone with your thoughts was not beneficial, you began to think about all the time you and George would sneak out to the Black Lake and watch the stars. Or the times he would randomly burst into your classroom in 4th year telling the teacher he needed your help with school work; only to drag to a dark corner of the library and shower you with his love. 

But then you thought about all the times Cedric randomly took you to Hogsmeade “for a break so your mind power doesn’t deteriorate too much.” When he would sit next to you during the quidditch games he wasn’t playing in. And how during those times he would hold onto your hand or had an arm over your shoulder. You and Cedric had both convinced yourselves that it was simply something friends did, and for a while that was all it was. You let your mind wander for a bit before selecting a book to inevitably get stuck on the same line. 

It was 7:30 by now, George was supposed to be here. But he was nowhere in sight, it wasn’t unusual for him to show up late. So you let it slip. Then the time slowly slipped closer to 8 and you were worrying, what if he fell? Or maybe something got a hold of him. In such a place as Hogwarts that wasn’t very uncommon. Then as if he could hear your worried thoughts, there was George Weasley, running towards you. In his quidditch uniform, a sweaty gross mess. “I’m so sorry I am late. I didn’t think-”

“That’s exactly it George. You didn’t think!” you scoffed feeling your heart strings being pulled. “I asked you to do one thing, one simple thing! I asked you to not go to practice and meet me instead! But it seems you cannot even do that! I wanted to talk to you about our relationship, I needed to talk to you and have an actual conversation. Not a simple hello while passing in the hallways! I feel as though I don’t even have a boyfriend anymore George, this is taking a toll on me!” you whisper yelled

George stood there standing dumbfounded as you started crying, what was he supposed to do? It was quidditch season, and he couldn’t just skip practice. Looking over your broken figure, he wanted to hold you in his arms and make it better. But then he saw the emblem on the sweatshirt you were wearing, and a new found anger was incited in him. “Well it looks like you haven’t had any problems finding company.” he says sourly. It takes you a minute to register what he said. Looking down at your sweatshirt you find the famous Hufflepuff badger. “Did you just imply that I was cheating on you?” your voice was calm, almost too calm. It made George take a step back. “I-”

“YOU UTTER, INSUFFERABLE, PIECE OF TRASH GEORGE WEASLEY!!!! You know what SCREW YOU! I WAS GOING TO TRY AND FIX THIS BUT WE ARE OVER, I HOPE IT WAS WORTH IT!!” you all but screamed as you walked out the library door as Madam Pince watched it all go down. 

You run off letting your feet carry wherever, you didn’t care as long as it was away from George. Ending up in the courtyard you sat down with you back to one of the benches looking up at the stars. Zipping up your sweatshirt you pulled on the sleeves, while holding yourself together.  How could he suggest such a thing, you and Cedric were just friends. You had never been anything more, now does that mean you were denying that you felt butterflies around him sometimes. No, of course you did because he is “pretty boy Diggory” he was in the Triwizard tournaments. But George also had made you feel butterflies, though as the days went on it became less. What had you gotten yourself into? “Y/N? Is that you?” of course, Ginny came running out into the courtyard. “Y/N, what are you doing out here this late? Have- have you been crying?” she asks as she plops down next to you. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.” you sniffled scooting closer to her, laying your head on her shoulder. “Well, that’s alright. I’m here if you need me.” she reminds you as she lays her head on yours. “Thanks Gin.” 

.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•

Over the next few days you had taken time to recover, noticing how not once had George tried to talk to you. He didn’t even look your way. But then again what were you expecting? He had barely had enough time for you when you two were dating. You also hadn’t spoken to Cedric since that day either. You hadn’t wanted George to see you two together and go spiraling, but why did you care anymore? You and him were no longer together. 

So what did it matter that you were now walking over to the Hufflepuff table. So what if  you were sneaking up behind Hogwarts “Pretty Boy” to give him a giant hug. Who cared that all of the Weasley family was watching, who cared that now rumors would now be spread.

But George cared, he was trying to figure out how to apologize to you and try to make things right. Then you were walking across the hall, wrapped up in the Hufflepuff sweatshirt you had been wearing that night. You enveloped one of the people he feared would take you away from him. You dragged Cedric along behind you as you left the Great Hall, and with him you took his heart. Molly wouldn’t be happy, Ginny would miss you, who was to indulge Aurther in his various spirals about muggle things? Who would help believe in Fred and himself? You were everything, not just to George but to the whole Weasley family. 

.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•

It was as if the world hated him. Now that you didn’t want to see him, he saw you everywhere. What made it worse was that every time he saw you, you were either with Ginny or Cedric. Just because you and him broke up didn’t mean you couldn’t hang out with Ginny anymore. But he still loved you, and he knew he screwed up. The problem was now winning you back. 

You were sitting in the courtyard while quietly reading and listening to music on your iPod. It was a Saturday meaning no classes, some students had gone to Hogsmeade while others stayed behind. George saw you on his way out, now deciding to instead stay behind and try to reason with you. Though it seems you had caught someone else’s eye as well, right as George worked up the confidence to walk over Cedric did as well. Taking a step back into the corridor he watched as you looked up seeing him. A smile lit up your face. The same smile that had once been reserved for him. You were on your feet slipping your headphones out and running towards Cedric. Within seconds you had jumped on him, wrapping your legs around his torso and giving him a kiss on the cheek.  Had he missed something? 

Hearing the sound of footsteps behind him saw Luna walking with one of the oddest sweatshirts he had ever seen. 

“Luna?” He quickly cleared his throat once he heard how shaky it was. 

“Yes George?” She smiled politely, while he looked between you and Cedric who looked to be talking seriously, and Luna. 

“Um, are Cedric and Y/N a couple? I mean not that I care, but are they?” The end of his sentence was very timid. 

“I believe so, yes. Are you headed to Hogsmeade as well? I can accompany you if you’d like.”

“I think I am just gonna head back to my room. Thank you for the offer though.”

“Of course.” she smiled while skipping off. Looking back he saw you and Cedric sitting down on the bench, pressed close together.

.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•°☆°•.☆.•

You and George had rebuilt your relationship to friendship, but nothing more. You were happy with Cedric, moving into a little cottage together after Hogwarts. George turned down every date in hopes that one day Cedric would do something wrong, or that you would realize you wanted to be with him and not “pretty boy Diggory”. You and Cedric were happy as you were, so much so that Cedric had decided to propose. 

Grabbing the mail from the post box, George threw it on the table to be sorted later. Though something shiny caught his eye. 

Please join us for the wedding celebration of Y/F/N  Y/L/N  and Cedric Diggory

He swore his heart stopped, his breath caught, he had read it over and over again. You were gone and there was really no getting you back anymore. The wedding was in 3 weeks as you and Cedric hadn’t wanted to wait any longer. 

The day before the wedding George had written a letter and sent it, by evening it had reached your small little cottage. Cedric had been locking up the front door when an owl flew by, picking up the dropped letter he began to read.

Cedric,

I wanted to congratulate you and Y/N on the engagement, though I will not be attending. I ask that you don’t tell Y/N about this letter, but simply keep this between us. I know I don’t deserve it, but knowing Y/N this would ruin her. I wanted to let you know a few things before you get married. 

Y/N’s favorite song is Magic Works by The Weird Sisters, though she’ll deny it every time you ask. She loves dancing to it in a very abstract manner, not caring one bit who’s watching.  She loves it when you rub the back of her hand with your thumb. She’ll never ask but she almost always wants to be around you, so maybe when you are able just sit with her. Sometimes she feels lonely but she won’t tell you, but she does this thing with her face where she looks all upset. When you and her get into a fight, don’t say somethin you don’t mean. When it rains, pull her outside to jump in puddles, it makes her feel young again. 

If you ever have a garden, let her help take care of it. She has always wanted a garden, and a cat. If you let her, she will take you on adventures you had never dreamed of. Yet they are better than anything. I hope you understand that if she trusts you, then you are special. She doesn’t like wearing socks to bed, the sound of fireworks, or writing in pencil. She loves random hugs, the sound of a lawn mower, the whistle of a kettle, the way a cat's fur feels against her hand. She loves the way it smells after it rains, and loves the sound the rain makes when it hits the roof. 

Just, don’t forget the simple things mean the most. She is simply unique and lovely in every way. Don’t make her regret choosing you. 

- George Weasley

“Cedric darling, are you alright. You’ve been out here a bit.” You asked, sauntering out into the dining room while looking for him. 

“Hm, oh I’m alright. Sorry I just spaced out.” He tucks the letter into his back pocket. Before coming over and wrapping you in a hug dragging you off to your room. “Let’s head to bed now. It's our last night before we are married! We should be in bed.” he winks at you before slipping the letter into the top drawer of his dresser.

Taglist:  @el-imaskingforyourlefthand @aspensworlds @hufflepuffneville2  @wolfstar_lb @

[merci-bitch]

Happier Than Ever

Angelique Bouchard x fem!reader 

Request : Would you consider writing some jealous or possessive Angelique? It’s okay if not! :) - Anonymous 

Warning(s) : swearing, angst, small nsfw, trauma, claustrophobia, 

Words : 3k

A/N : I do apologize, this probably wasn’t what you wanted but it just came to me. I like this, even if there’s spelling mistakes. I don’t proof read :/. I do hope you all enjoy it! Sorry it’s taken so long! Xx

"Angie, this isn't fair!"

Angie only grinned at you as she finished tightening the chains that were wrapped around you. Standing up straight, she looked down at you. A pouty smile on her lips. Angie placed her hands on her hips.

"You know, we could have avoided this situation of you loved me."

"I do love you! Please just get me out of here." Your tone desperate. Struggling against the chains despite the small amount of space you had in the box. Angie threw her head back in laughter.

"Angelique!" You barked at her. Catching her off guard at the harsh tone. She stopped laughing at the sound of her full name. She leant down slowly again. Letting her slim fingers trace against your cheek. Despite your obvious fear, you couldn't help but lean into her touch. Your eyelids closing as you felt her lips on your forehead. Sniffing softly, looking up at her with glossy eyes. Expecting her to let you out.

"Better keep your head down, goldwing."

"Angie don't do this to me. You know I hate small spaces!" You nearly screamed. Feeling panic arise in you. Angie said nothing as she stood at full height once again. She seemed to think of something to say. It wasn't usual for the elegant Angie Bouchard to not know what to say. Moment cut short as she broke the silence. "So here's the deal."

Angie moved her hands up under her lace dress, watching with pleasure as she saw how your eyes widened in shock. Pulling the lacy panties down her legs, snapping it at her left ankle. "I'm gonna destroy everything you love." She said as she leant down and covered your lower face with her underwear. Tugging it behind your ears. "And you're gonna take some time to think about us."

Angie grinned from ear to ear as she grabbed the lid of the coffin and started to close it. "See you soon my love."  Blowing you a kiss before closing the lid. Leaving you in complete darkness with your lover's underwear as a mask on your face. +

-

"It's not like I don't want her. Sometimes I feel as I'm more honest in my dreams and she's been in quite a few."

"Does she make you happy?"

"The more time goes, I feel as if I was made for her. Angie's comet that comes around more then I do."

"Have you been getting sleep Y/N?"

"I haven't slept since Sunday. Midnight is like 3 AM to me."

Julia leant back in her chair and crossed her legs as she watched you. Something was off. "You never answered my question if she made you happy Y/N."

You sat up and looked at Julia. Feeling your nerves burn. "Was this Liz's idea? Of course it was!"

Your tone caught Julia off guard. Stumbling with her words as you walked your way towards the door, only to watch you come back.

"I hate the way she looks at me. I can't stand the dialogue she can't speak. I know she'll never be satisfied and though I ty to tell myself that I hate her - I can't. It's all I think about when I'm behind the wheel. Is this how I'm going to feel forevermore?"

Your tone cracking at the end of speaking. Sniffing and clearing your throat, drying your eyes; looking back at Julia. Seeing her surprised eyes.

"I could never hate her. She's all I've got left of mother."

With that you left Julia's office. Nearly running down the stairs. You felt your throat tighten. Ears ringing like high keys of a piano being played. A storm forming inside your head. Sounds of loud speaking blasting in your head. Vision black and white, spiralling.

Reaching the front door, using your strength to open the old wooden door open. As if someone hit you in the face with a pillow, the wind hit you. The heavy rain flooding down replacing the blasting sound in your ears. Closing your eyes, feeling everything go away for just a moment. Letting your shoulders fall back down.

"Y/N!"

Turning around you saw Liz standing at the top of the stairs. Her face tense. You turned around again and started walking outside. Hearing her fast steps behind you. Gasping, the raindrops cold against your burning skin. Taking a moment to collect yourself, a moment too long as Liz grabbed your arm, nearly dragging you back inside.

"Are you insane?!"

Ripping your arm from her grip. "What do you mean Liz? Am I not allowed to have my opinions?" Turning so your back was facing her. Looking out again, waiting. You heard Liz groan of frustration. "Your mother wouldn't ha-"

"Don't talk to me about mother! I thought we both agreed to keep her out of this Liz!"

Your mother died when you were a teenager, when Carolyn was little. She wasn't sick. It was a sudden passing. One morning she just collapsed and didn't wake up. Of course, everything changed after that. Except Roger. Roger is Roger. Still an asshole. You and Liz became more distant and cold against each other. You never really understood why. You loved your aunt. Then Angie happened. It ruined your relationship completely. Silly you to fall in love. You'd gone to therapy to help with the trauma of seeing your mother die in front of you but you stopped years ago. You got over it, or at least pretended to. Nothing lasts, you knew the deal.

"Y/N, are you waiting for someone?" Liz asked.

"Maybe."

"She won't come, you know. She never does. She has you as a souvenir, just waiting to sell you off."

"And you think making me talk to Julia will change my mind?!" You turned around to look at her. Daring her to continue, but of course. She didn't. It's so weird that we care so much, until we don't. Things you once enjoyed, just kept you employed now. The things you longed for, will one day be boring to you.

You turned around around again, silently agreeing with Liz. She wasn't coming. You started walking.

"Y/N! You'll catch a cold!"

"So be it! It's not like any of you would care if I actually got sick, or collapsed like mother!" You screamed back at her.

"Y/N stop walking, god dammit!"

You turned around and saw Liz running towards you. Wrapping her jacket around you, the one you loved as a kid. She squeezed your arm. "Be back to dinner." You nodded your head short and flipped up the hood and made your way into town.

The walk was mid long, but cold in the rain. And of course wet. leaving you looking like a wet dog by the time you reached the town. People giving you weird glances as you stepped into Angel Bay. Stepping into the elevator, breathing normally again after walking through stinking fish. Pulling down the hod and scratching your scalp. Brushing through your hair with your fingers, trying to make it look presentable. Ending up with tying it in a ponytail. Opening the jacket, to show that there was some part of you that was dry.

As you stepped out, you bumped into someone. The person nearly knocking you to the ground, had they not held a strong grip around your waist.

"I deeply apologise! I didn't see where I was going." A man said as he helped you stand up straight again.

"No worries! I am as much to blame as you. I'm Y/N." You chuckled and held your hand out.

The guy didn't take your hand, but hugged you instead. Catching you by surprise but sooner or later you hugged him back. "You're a hugger I see."

He pulled back and scratched the back of his neck and looked to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I should have asked."

"No. Not at all. It's alright. I do love a good hug." You smiled at him and softly hit his arm. He gave you a small smile back. "I'm Matt."

"Nice to meet you Matt. I sense you're new here."

Matt nodded his head and collected his papers that'd been on the floor. "Yeah, I had an interview earlier. With Ms. Bouchard?"

You nodded. "Scary thing, isn't she?"

Matt seemed hesitant to answer. As if he was scared people would hear his answer. It made you laugh. "No need to be scared. She can't hurt you, not while I'm around, buddy."

Matt seemed to relax as you said it. Giving you a smile back. "Thanks Y/N."

"You wanna grab coffee tomorrow? At the little cafe by the corner at 11?"

"I'd like that. See you then Y/N!" Matt waved as he stepped inside the elevator. You waved back until the doors closed and then made your way towards Angie's office.

"Hello Miriam, is she in?"

"Good morning Y/N. Yes, I'll le-"

You opened the door to her office to see her on the phone. Closing the door behind you. Angie raised an eyebrow and looked you up and down as she continued to speak with whoever it was on the line. Suddenly, locking eye contact with you.

"Well, I'd be dammed."

She kept the eye contact as she put down the telephone and stood up. Not saying anything, but just looking at you. Taking you in. It almost made you feel uncomfortable. Your gaze turned to her desk, on the left corner. The little cow you'd given her as a present years ago.

"You still have the cow I gave you."

"Don't change subject."

The sharp reply caught you off guard. Nearly making you flinch. Rolling your shoulders back, looking up at her, seeing how tense her shoulders were. She'd clenched her jaw.

"What subject? You didn't even speak."

"Oh, but you certainly did."

"What on earth are you talking about Angie?"

"Coffee? Tomorrow at 11?" She mimicked your voice. That's when it hit you. Of course she'd know.

"You have some secret spy out there?"

"Do not take me for a fool Y/N!" Angie rarely shouted at you. You heard her scream and shout at others but never at you. It made you flinch and want to crawl out of your skin. Slowly, you sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk. Pulling the jacket tighter to you.

"I-I don't think you're a fool Angie."

"Then give me one good reason I shouldn't fire him."

"Fire him? He was just being nice!"

"Nice? Darling girl, he likes you."

Angie's tone got slick. Her lips curling into that familiar wicked smile. She slowly leant over her desk.

"He doesn't like me. He was just being nice since be bumped into me." You shrugged your shoulders.

"I think I know when someone smears themselves over what's mine." Angie crosses her arms and straightened her back.

"Alright, don't start with that. He was just being nice. You scare him." You crossed your legs and leant back in the chair. Trying to get comfortable in an uncomfortable chair was impossible.

"You know when you said you'd get me anything?"

"Yes."

"Get new chairs."

Angie groaned and walked around her desk, stopping behind you. Letting her hands rest on your shoulders. Automatically you tensed up at her touch. Making her tsk.

"So tense, my dear." She gripped your shoulders more firmly and leant down to whisper in your ear, "Do I scare you?"

A small blush crept up your chest. No matter how many times she touched you, it always had the same reaction and you doubted it'd ever change. Clearing your throat. "A little."

Angie's low chuckle sent shivers down your spine. Her hands squeezed your shoulders as she left small little kisses on the back of your neck before standing up again. You heard her do something behind you. "Why do you smell like a wet dog."

You snorted. "Well, someone forgot to pick me up as they promised."

"I had another meeting darling."

You rolled your eyes. "When don't you have one."

You felt Angie stand right behind you. Her front pressing against your back.

"Let me make it up to you." Her hands slid down your shoulders, further down your chest. Slipping under your shirt, cupping your breasts in your bra, giving them a squeeze. Leaning down and brushing her nose against the back of your neck. Her scent filling you up. Leaning your head slightly back, pushing your chest up in her hands. Angie's lips curled into a satisfied smirk.

"No, no stop."

You jerked away from her, standing up and shaking your whole body. Readjusting your shirt and bra. Angie turned around and glared at you. "What's the matter with you?"

"I don't want it."

"Don't want what Y/N."

"Just - can you step away."

For once she did what you asked. It was a first for both of you. You'd never neglected her touch. In one way or another. "Sorry. I had another fight with Liz before I came here. She mentioned my mother, that's all."

Angie watched you with curiosity. "No, don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"I'm not telling you about it."

"I never said you had to, sweetheart." Her tone was smooth like butter. Her posture told a different story. You looked up at Angie. Those piercing blue eyes. You'd get lost in them like an ocean.

"She said you only kept me a souvenir. Planning to sell me off." It was barely a whisper. You saw how Angie's whole aura changed again. Angie scoffed and walked back to her desk. Lightning a cigarette. "Liz and her extraordinary thoughts."

"Am I a souvenir to you Angie?"

"Of course not." Angie said as she sat down and opened her folder again. Setting her brain on work again.

It went quiet and you just stood there. Watching her work. Of course. Work. If she didn't get what she wanted, what was the point?

"I'm not a mirror you know."

She didn't answer.

"Times have changed, haven't they?"

Angie hummed. Clearly not listening. You knew her motto. When she got bored, she got something new. In this case it involved you.

"What a drag to love you like I do."

This caught her attention. "What do you mean Y/N."

"You know, Julia asked if you made me happy. I didn't answer her question."

Angie slowly stood up as you spoke. Her expression hard. Serious. Frightening.

"You're all it takes for me to break a promise. Silly me for falling in love with you."

You turned your back to her and walked towards the door only to jump away as a vase was thrown behind you at the door. Shattering all over the floor around the door. You turned around and looked at Angie with shock written across your face. "Are you insane?!" You looked back to the broken glass laying across the floor. Stepping away from it.

"Everybody dies. Surprise, surprise." Angie said as she walked towards you. Backing you up against the wall. Trapping you.

"You could have hit me!"

"I could never dare lay a finger on you, my dear."

"You almost did!"

"Don't tell, goldwing."

You looked over to the glass again. Angie pulled your chin back and leant in to kiss you. The kiss bruising. Harsh but full of passion. Something she never lacked. Pulling away when she needed air, but not too far. Brushing her nose against yours.

"I'd be dammed before I ever see that man touch you again."

"You're jealous."

"Not in the slightest. I don't share what's rightfully mine."

"Rightfully? Let's get one thing straight, you don't own me Angie."

"Oh, I don't? You have been to clarify that many times, my darling girl."

The statement made you blush. You hit her shoulder. "I'm allowed to have friends."

"Friends who don't touch."

You rolled your eyes at her. Stepping away from her once again. Stepping over the glass. Careful not to step in it. "You know, if you can't handle me having friends. I can't handle you." -

+

You don't remember how you got into the coffin in the first place. You remember walking to the door again and then everything going black. Then waking up with Angie leaning above you, and you tied up in a coffin. You knew she was a witch. Since Barnabas came, everyone knew. Everyone who was a Collins. It didn't really change anything. It made you understand her outstanding beauty. A powerful woman, quite literally.

Struggling once again with the chains that were wrapped tight around you. The underwear making it hard to breathe, the air dampening your face; making it hot. Panic started creeping up inside you. Your eyes started to sting as you continued to struggle. The general air inside the coffin was musty, and bad. Small tears making their way down your cheeks. Sobs bubbling up in your throat, threatening to spill.

"Angelique!"

You screamed the best you could as a sob covered it. Feeling your whole body sake with fear. Your ears were popping the moment you started screaming. You didn't knew what you were screaming, if it was for help or Angie. The more tears, the more screams and the more fear. You knew Angie would do the opposite of what she said she would. If this was her idea of a punishment, you weren't sure if you'd ever recover. Different thoughts went through your head. Was Liz right? Was Angie right? Were you the only bad person here? Were Angie the cause of everything?

"Angelique! Come back! Please!"

You knew she wasn't there. You knew she wasn't coming back. A point of you wanted her to come back and another didn't. People heard you, but listened to her. You were never heard. Happier than ever, and you wished it wasn't true.

You were wasting your breath. You didn't relate to her. You ever told anyone anything bad about her. You loved her. She was your everything but at what cause? She ruined everything good for you.

Nearly choking on your tears, the air getting tighter. Using the last you had, screaming your lungs out. The ringing in your ears getting worse. Was this how you were gonna die? By the hands of the woman you loved? Was this the price you had to pay for loving her? You'd never get over her. She held your heart, even if you didn't want her to.

Happier than ever. A fake story. Nothing lasts, you knew the deal.

[thewitchandtheassassin]

What Would An Angel Say, The Devil Wants to Know Part Three (Lena Luthor x Reader)

(Part One) (Part Two)

Summary: Is honor and training worth it?

Words: 1217

Warnings: Violence, language?

A/N: Part 3 because this is the only thing I had inspiration for lmao.

Taglist: @natasharomanoffswife​ @natasha-danvers​ @aaron-despair​ @username23345​ @xjiasx​ @nowthisisliving27​ @higherfurther-romanova​ @summergeezburr​ @marvels-writings​

-X-

Watching the humans tend to her ward, Lena absently nibbled on her thumb as she stared at the trembling blonde accepting medical treatment. This woman – Kara – was important. Very important, her bosses had stressed, yet she couldn’t help but resent her slightly. If it wasn’t for her, your impending death wouldn’t be hanging over her head like an anvil waiting to drop. If she didn’t die, you would. She was meant to save the world but if you were gone, Lena’s would crumble.

Her training demanded she let you die – to put humanity first – but the nasty feeling twisting about her belly left her questioning everything.

This was all for the greater good…

But could she really sacrifice you?

You, who had apparently let her win? Who had shouldered a punishment no one deserved? Who had warned her in spite of everything?

Tears pricked the corners of Lena’s eyes as your smile overtook her thoughts. How the color of your irises sparkled in the light whenever she told a joke or playfully scolded you for your crass behaviors. The way your laughter echoed in her ears despite having not heard it in so long. How your fingers flexed when you wanted to reach out and touch something desperately, even when you knew you shouldn’t.

Could she go through the rest of eternity without those things? Could she live without you, knowing she could’ve saved you?

She hated the finality of it. Knowing your bosses would have no problems ending your existence, stripping away everything that made you you until you were nothing, merely a soul cast out amongst the others.

Gone. Forever.

“Kara, are you alright?” a collected – albeit slightly concerned – Cat Grant inquired, dragging Lena away from her morbid spiraling.

Nodding, Kara glanced at the metal contraption that had nearly stolen her life, long digits digging into the sleeve of her cardigan. “Y-yes, Ms. Grant, I think so.” She shuddered. “But I think I should probably send my guardian angel a lot of ‘thank you’ thoughts tonight.”

Such heartfelt words would normally strike a chord within Lena but they only earned a broken sigh.

What am I going to do?

-X-

Gaze trained on Lockwood, you warily righted yourself as you studied the slimy demon.

“What? No hello for an old friend?” he mockingly pouted, hand clutching his chest dramatically.

“I’d offer a friend a hello if I saw one,” you replied snidely, eyes narrowing slightly. “But since all I see is you, I think I’ll pass.”

“How hurtful, (Y/N)! My, my, not nearly as friendly, are you? What happened?” His twinkling eyes and seemingly innocuous question left you rearing back, bristling at his sheer audacity.

“I think we both know why,” you hissed, venom dripping from your words. Your glare was deep and threatening but it only served to amuse the smug man.

“Oh.” His eyes flickered over your clothed torso, lingering on the freshest scar healing in the center of your chest like he could see it through your robe. “I guess learning your place must’ve stolen a bit of the spirit, huh?”

A low snarled escaped as you advanced on Lockwood, daring him to keep talking. You weren’t above destroying his wings and tossing him off the building. “What do you want? Besides someone stroking that massively unimpressive ego of yours? I doubt you’re here for fun.”

He shrugged. “Truthfully, I’d prefer you dead but since you’ve given a final chance at redemption, I suppose I’ll have to wait for that.”

“If that’s all, maybe you should get lost but I’m absolutely going to hate disappointing you.” Crossing your arms, you arched a brow expectantly.

Lockwood chuckled humorlessly. “Apologies, but I can’t do that. They’ve sent me here to help you succeed, among other things. I’m your ‘helper’ until this contract is fulfilled.”

“I don’t need your help,” you spat. “I never have and I never will. Anyone stuck with you helping them is doomed to fail.”

“Then it shouldn’t matter that I’m here. If you don’t need me, I’ll simply be a bystander. Watch the ‘master’ in action,” Lockwood sneered, lip curling as he met your dark glare with one of his own. “Even after your “correcting” you’re still a bitch, aren’t you?”

Growling, you shoved Lockwood, sending him stumbling back in surprise. “Keep talking, Lockwood, and I’ll send your soul back to Hell without a fucking body.”

“It’s not my fault you let some angel corrupt your mind. Was she a good lay? Did you at least get a taste before she left you for dead?” he taunted, face inches from yours.

Fury washed over you in waves – at him, at yourself, at her – and your fist met his jaw with a thunderous crack. Another hit met his nose before you tackled him, straddling his waist as you started pounding his head into the rooftop.

“Don’t fucking talk about her like that!” you roared. “You don’t know anything!”

Catching your wrists, he shoved you off and scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain radiating through his face as he stared guardedly at you. You were one of the best fighters and he…was not. If he wasn’t careful, you could easily overpower him and follow through on your promise.

“Even now you still defend her.” Clicking his tongue disapprovingly, he shook his head. “She twisted and warped your thoughts until you became weak. Made you question your training – your calling – yet you stand here ready to fight for her when we both know she’s going to let you die. This contract is your last chance and she’s already messing with your head.”

You swallowed harshly, trying to ignore the sharp feeling piercing your chest. “She…”

“Is going to let us kill you,” Lockwood finished abruptly, his usual smirk missing as he stared at you, silently pleading for you to listen. “She is going to ruin this and keep the human alive. She’s already done it once – and she’s going to do it again.”

Gritting your teeth, you peered down at your clenched hands. Despite your hatred for him, you couldn’t help but wonder if he was right. She was bound to her duties, strict in keeping order. Your life wasn’t going to matter in the scheme of things; she wasn’t going to shirk her responsibilities just because you might not survive.

“That nice face of hers is going to get you killed,” he warned seriously, tilting his head. “Her words might be flowery and pretty but you’re a demon – her enemy – and she’s going to do anything in her power to keep you from succeeding. You might’ve thought you were friends but all she sees is the contracts she’s going to save as long as you’re buying into her angelic bullshit.”

Lockwood cautiously reached out and squeezed your shoulder.

“If she doesn’t care about you, you shouldn’t care about her. Finish this contract.”

Huffing, you rolled your eyes. “I thought you wanted me dead, Lockwood?”

“I do,” he admitted with a nod, “But I’d prefer to be the one doing it instead of letting some angel get you killed. I guess you deserve an honorable death.”

Smacking his hand off your shoulder, you inhaled deeply and glanced out over National City.

“Fine. Let’s get this done. I’m tired of this fucking city.”

[imlovethomassanders]

Eyes are the Windows to the Soul(mates) - Chapter 5 (FINAL)

You can also read on ao3

One last huge thank you to @strongindependentcheesecake​ for beta reading this whole thing. I appreciate it.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4

Summary: The lucky few who have a soulmate are born with heterochromia, with their left eye being the color of their soulmate’s eyes and their right eye being their own color. Not only was Virgil one of the lucky few to have a soulmate, but he was given four. His left eye changed colors every time he blinked, rotating between his four soulmates’ eye colors. His rotating eye colors caused him to be a bit of an outcast growing up, but when he finally leaves for college, things start to fall into place. This is the journey of five strangers finding each other.

Pairings: DLAMP with background Remile

Warnings: None I believe

Words: 4999

Taglist:  @touchstarvedvirgil @lamp-calm-sanders @ninjago2020 @confinesofpersonalknowledge @secret-novelisthost18 @phander-sides @sherlock-lives-on-bakerstreet @bookbingingproblem @viana-dascolli @sharktryingtofly @crofters-n-falsehoods @turnedthefreakingfrogsgay @little-kat07 @romano-hottopic​​

Patton was very, very, very excited. It was finally time. They had all finished school and they were finally moving in together!!

Patton couldn't help but be giddy as he helped bring up boxes into their shared condo. While it was more expensive than getting an apartment, with four of them (hopefully five, soon!), the extra space was very much needed.

Patton was just so happy to finally have his three soulmates together. He couldn't help but constantly be hugging on one of them. While it was a bit inconvenient while they were unpacking boxes, none of them dared complain about it when Patton was pressing such soft kisses all over their faces.

When they had unpacked enough boxes to be considered livable, they all collapsed onto the mattress on the floor, their bed frame coming later that week.

"We need to go grocery shopping tomorrow. We can not live off the snack cakes and cheez-itz Patton brought," Logan said.

"That's how I lived throughout high school," Virgil said.

"I can not and will not let you resume such a diet," Logan responded.

"Well tonight, I'm ordering take-out," Roman said as he pulled out his phone.

Nobody objected. They were all too tired to even think of going to buy things to cook with. And then they'd have to unpack the dishes and dear god Patton was getting exhausted just thinking about it.

Forty minutes and a bunch of Chinese take-out containers later, the four of them were back on the mattress.

"The spare room can be a studio!" Roman mused. "Logan and I can use it for our writings while you two can use it to paint."

"I am quite excited to get the bookshelves up," Logan said. "The new ones we bought are very nice."

"I'll finally have a good place to keep all my records, and- hey, Pat? Are you okay?"

Patton wiped the tears that had quietly fallen down his face.

"It's just... I'm so happy to finally have all of us in a home together."

Virgil gave him a lopsided grin and pulled him against his chest. "I promise, the feeling is mutual."

"Well... almost all of us," Roman said, a hint of sadness in his smile. Patton paused to look at all of them, their beautiful eyes along with the golden one of their unfound soulmate.

"We'll find them soon," Patton whispered. "I'm sure."

"...I wonder what they'll think," Virgil muttered into Patton's hair. "When they find out that the four of us have been together for a while."

"I pray they're not alone," Roman muttered as he moved to spoon Vigil, reaching for Logan over Patton. "We've been so lucky to find each other..."

"It accomplishes nothing to fret over it," Logan said as he turned on his side beside Patton and took Roman's hand. "We will meet them when the time is right."

"I know," Patton huffed as he leaned against Logan. "But I can't help but be impatient."

"I wonder what they're like," Roman mused.

"Lovely. Amazing. Perfect," Patton suggested.

"Let's not set too high expectations," Logan said. "Whoever they are, they will be wonderfully flawed and wonderfully human. Not perfect."

"Hmmm, I don't know about that, Specs," Roman said with his cocky grin. "You all thoroughly and fantastically beat all my expectations."

Logan scoffed, but didn't feel like starting an argument.

Patton yawned, soon followed by Roman, then Virgil, then finally Logan.

"We really should put sheets on the mattress," Logan said, though made no effort to move.

"Yeah, probably," Patton sighed. No one moved.

"Okay," Virgil said after a moment as he pushed himself out of Roman's arms, causing Roman to whine at the loss. "Let's go get ready for bed. We can not afford a dentist's visit for cavities so get up."

Roman groaned as he fell on his back, but eventually pushed himself up alongside Patton and Logan.

Logan did manage to persuade them to put bed sheets on the mattress, and as soon as the four of them had their arms around each other they immediately fell asleep, the busy day finally catching up to them.

*

Virgil huffed as he pulled his hoodie tighter around him. Though he had lived here for a few months now, he still wasn't used to the large crowds and today the crowd seemed worse than usual. People were touching him from all angles and he just wanted to get home.

He stared at his phone, doing his best to text Patton while watching where he was walking. He thought he was doing an okay job when he accidently hit shoulders with another pedestrian.

"Shit, I'm so sorry," Virgil said as he quickly got on his knees to help pick up the things that had fallen out of the stranger's arms: a book on philosophy, a stack of notes titled "Moral and Political Philosophy", a copy of "Lord of the Flies," and a pamphlet called  "How to Care for Your Royal Python."

The stranger said nothing as he pushed up his sunglasses and quickly grabbed the papers on the ground. Virgil glanced up to see sharp cheekbones and scarring on the left side of the stranger's face. He glanced back down before he could observe much closer details, not wanting to be caught staring.

He handed the last of the papers to the stranger, and the stranger walked off with a huff. Virgil, rattled by the whole encounter, now really just wanted to get home.

*

"Hello!" a chorus of calls came from the living room when Virgil opened the front door. Virgil smiled as he slipped off his shoes and he heard the sound of Patton running up to him.

Patton wrapped his arms tightly around Virgil's neck and Virgil held back, grin growing larger.

Patton eventually pulled back to press a quick kiss to Virgil's lips, then leaned back to look at Virgil's face when his smile dropped and his eyes widened.

"What?" Virgil asked anxiously as his grip tightened around Patton.

"Virgil, your eyes!" Patton exclaimed. That got the attention of Logan and Roman, and Virgil heard the couch shift before the two walked around the corner.

"What about them?"

Patton frowned. "You... you don't know?"

Roman gasped and Logan's eyes widened as well, and Virgil ran to the front bathroom.

His face paled when he saw what they were talking about. In the mirror, two gray eyes were staring at him.

It could've been anyone. How many people had he talked to today? The attendant at the subway, the woman he sat next to, the barista, the employees at the art store, the man he bumped into, the woman at the crosswalk-

"Virgil?" Patton asked quietly. Virgil glanced to the doorway to see the three of them looking at him with worried expressions. It was just then that Virgil realized he was struggling to breathe.

He reached for them and immediately Logan took his hands in his, guiding him to sit on the toilet lid as Logan led him through his breathing.

"I- I don't know who," Virgil said. "I never noticed anyone's eyes today. I wasn't paying attention, I-"

Roman shushed him gently as he squatted down to be eye level with Virgil. "It'll be okay, love," he assured. "We'll find them. We know they're here, in the city. I'm sure one of us will run into them soon."

Virgil just nodded as Roman ran his hand up and down Virgil's arm. He let himself lean against Roman, head resting on his shoulder, trying to ignore his running thoughts of what is their soulmate is just a tourist and they leave the city before they get to meet them, or what if it's forever until they meet again because the city's population is so large and-

"Virgil, dear, you're spiraling," Logan said as he squeezed Virgil's hands, causing Virgil to blink back into focus.

"Come to the couch with us, hm?" Roman asked as he placed gentle kisses on Virgil's head.

"We'll watch your favorite movie?" Patton asked. Virgil couldn't help but smile. They were trying to distract him from his own thoughts. It wasn't easy, but a few kisses and cuddles were usually enough to at least quiet them down a bit.

"Yeah, okay."

*

It was only a few days later as Roman was rushing down the subway station steps. Today was an audition he really wanted to make, so of course it was just his luck that he was almost running late. He quickly swiped his card and went through the turnstile, running towards the subway platform.

Panic rushed through him as he saw the doors closing. And in a move that he would call "brave" and Logan and Virgil would call "idiotic", he risked it. He ran towards the door and just barely made it through, though his momentum caused him to run straight into someone standing, causing them to let go of the hand rail and stumble back.

The man glared at him as he pushed Roman off, dusting off his shirt and readjusting his messenger bag.

"Oh, my sincerest apologies. I didn't... mean... to..." Roman trailed off. He saw a man with a large scar down the left side of his face, sharp cheekbones, and some of the prettiest eyes he had even seen. His right eye was golden brown, while his left was Patton's green. The man's eyes widened as he watched Roman's left eye morph from his gold into Roman's own dark brown, and a large grin grew on Roman's face.

The subway started and Roman was jolted forward. His soulmate reached out and steadied him.

"Hi," Roman said breathlessly.

"...Hi."

Neither said anything for a moment when his soulmate realized he was still holding onto Roman and quickly let go.

"I'm Roman."

"I'm-"

"One of the most gorgeous men I've ever had the privilege of seeing?" Roman said, so quietly he was almost worried his soulmate didn't hear it, but the slight blush growing on his cheeks told him that he did.

"I'm Janus."

"You have no idea how wonderful it is to have finally found you."

"I believe I have a better idea than you think."

Roman flushed.

"I see you've met the others," Janus said, just a hint of bitterness in his voice. "Which one did I happen to run into that day?"

"Virgil," Roman smiled. "You met Virgil. He'll be really glad I found you. He was really freaking out about it."

"Virgil," Janus repeated quietly to himself.

"And there's Patton, the green, and Logan, the blue. Oh, you must let me bring you to the apartment, they'll adore you. They'll be so excited when I tell them-"

Roman was interrupted by the subway intercom announcing its arrival to the next station. Alarm shot through Roman when he realized this was his stop, but he had something much more important to attend to now.

"This is your stop?" Janus asked, though it wasn't really a question. "Where are you headed?"

"An audition," Roman said as the subway came to a stop. Roman hadn't grabbed hold of the handrail and had to be yet again saved by Janus to keep from stumbling. "But it's not that important."

Janus raised his eyebrow, clearly not buying it.

"I can skip. Let me take you somewhere. Have you had lunch yet? I-"

"Oh, stop," Janus said as the doors opened. He grabbed a pen from his bag and took Roman's arm, pushing up his coat sleeve to quickly write his number. "I have a job interview to go to. And even if I didn't, I would not let you sacrifice your audition for a date."

Date. Date. It clicked in Roman's mind that he would not be able to take this gorgeous man out on dates and he felt his face grow red again.

"Call me when you're finished," Janus said as he pulled Roman's coat sleeve back down.

He then proceeded to take Roman's hand in his and bend down to kiss it gingerly. "And good luck," he looked up and said with what he knew was a charming smirk. He then proceeded to nearly push Roman off the subway right before the doors closed, Leaving Roman a bit flustered and speechless on the subway platform.

*

Roman walked out of that audition room fucking delighted. Using his newfound excitement and adrenaline, he felt he did really well at the audition, and the director and casting director seemed to like him pretty well. He was feeling good about his chances.

But now he could finally do what he truly wanted to do the whole time. He pulled out his phone and called Janus.

"Janus?" Roman asked as soon as the line was answered.

"Hello, Roman," Janus replied. And though Roman barely knew him, he could already hear the confident grin that accompanied the lilt in his voice. "Doing well?"

"Doing fantastic. I think it went really well. I think I really captured the intricacies of the character, and not to brag but I'm pretty sure the director loved me. She said that I- Oh. Uh. How did your interview go?"

Janus chuckled. "It went well. I'm glad to hear your audition did, as well. Care to tell me about it over tea?"

Roman was already too far gone. "I'd love that."

"I picked a spot a few blocks away from the subway station you got off. I'll text you the address. Shall I order you a drink?"

*

This cafe was not one of the quick and cheap coffee grabs Roman and Virgil would go to each morning. This one was larger, not crammed between two other buildings. It had floor to ceiling windows with hanging plants surrounding the edges. And inside, sitting at a table by the window, was Janus - sipping a cup of tea and reading.

Roman couldn't help the large grin that grew on his face when he saw Janus. The bell above the door dinged and a smile also grew on Janus' face when he looked up and saw Roman.

"Don't screw this up, don't screw this up, don't screw this-"

"I ordered your tea," Janus' smooth voice interrupted Roman's thoughts. "I also asked for honey. I know actors swear by it."

"Thank you," Roman smiled as he sat down, rubbing his sweaty palms on his pants.

"So you're an actor?" Janus asked as he lifted his tea to his lips. Roman flashed a grin he hoped was confident as his hands gripped his pants.

"Indeed I am!" Roman said. "I have a degree in theatre and have been acting my whole life."

Roman's knuckles turned white in his lap. He was unfamiliar with nerves that weren't the exciting rush before going onstage - these nerves made his leg shake and teeth clench, no matter how hard he tried to smile his mouth into relaxation.

"What about you? What do you do?" Roman asked as he made sure his hands weren't shaking before picking up his own cup.

"I'm getting my doctorate in philosophy, but with exams coming up I'd rather not spend a second thinking about it longer than I have to. Please, I'd love to hear more about you."

Roman desperately tried to think of anything he knew about philosophy, but of course his final soulmate would major in the one class Roman had to drop in college.

"What would you like to know?"

"What about me scares you?"

Roman quickly looked up from his teacup to look at Janus' face.

"Wha- Nothing about you scares me! Why would you say that?"

"Honey, your leg has been shaking nonstop and you won't look at me."

Roman gaped as he put his cup down. Janus' face fell just a tad, and Roman wouldn't have been able to tell if he hadn't been only focusing on Janus' expression.

"It's the scar, isn't it? I know it's off putting-"

"No!" Roman exclaimed, a bit louder than he meant to. "No. Trust me, I have been taken by your beauty the moment I saw you. The scar doesn't bother me at all."

Janus blinked in surprise before quickly recovering.

"If not that, then what's got you scared, dear?"

Roman hesitated before sitting back in his chair.

"When I met Logan, I met up with him in a coffee shop. I then proceeded to thoroughly fuck up the entire conversation. It took two weeks before we were able to spend time together like soulmates are supposed to."

"And you didn't want to fuck up this one?" Janus asked. Roman nodded, avoiding Janus' gaze.

Roman was startled when a gloved hand reached over and gently tiled his face up. Janus was looking at him with soft eyes, juxtaposed only by the huge smirk on his face.

"Roman, honey, I don't know the situation with Logan, but when a handsome man literally falls into my arms, what else am I supposed to do but be utterly taken?"

Roman blushed, and his embarrassment only grew when he chased after the hand that Janus took off his face. Janus chuckled and took Roman's hand across the table.

"The man the universe just gave me then proceeds to compliment me then offers to drop everything to spend time with me? How sweet. Naive, and a bit foolish, but so incredibly sweet."

Janus ran his thumb over Roman's knuckles the whole time. He leaned in across the table, and Roman couldn't help but follow.

"Trust me, dear Roman. Beautiful, courteous Roman. You don't have to worry about me."

And Roman was already gone.

*

Virgil was just lounging on the couch, scrolling through Tumblr when Patton got the phone call from Roman. He was going to bring their final soulmate to their home.

The first thing Virgil felt was relief. Relief that he hadn't screwed up, and that he hadn't missed the chance to find their final piece.

The second thing Virgil felt was joy. The three of them were ecstatic as Patton and Logan quickly tried to tidy up the apartment. Finally, after so many years of waiting, they were finally going to see them - they were on their way to their home.

The last thing Virgil felt was, unsurprisingly, anxiety. What if their final soulmate didn't like him? What if he somehow screwed up the introductions and their soulmate decided they didn't want anything to do with him? It didn't matter that Virgil had done this three times prior - meeting new people always stressed Virgil out, especially when the person was so important.

After what felt like an eternity (but was probably only twenty minutes), they heard the lock on the front door click. Patton reached for both Logan and Virgil's hands and squeezed them, and Virgil didn't know if it was to calm him or Patton himself.

Roman walked in with a wide smile on his face, and the man who followed behind him made Virgil's breath hitch.

He was even more gorgeous than Virgil remembered from the day they had run into each other. Here, Virgil could truly appreciate his features. And with no sunglasses to cover his eyes, Virgil got to watch as his eye faded from green, then blue, and finally into his own light brown.

Virgil couldn't help but glance over to Patton and Logan. Their eyes were both now only green and blue respectively, and Virgil felt a wave of fondness tighten in his chest. Their eyes were so perfect, so them. Part of Virgil knew he'd miss seeing his partners' eyes in each other, but most of him now was just in love with how beautiful they were.

Roman closed the door behind them.

"So this is-"

Before Roman could finish speaking, Patton cried out an "Oh!" and launched himself at the unsuspecting man, wrapping his arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

The man was startled, and awkwardly patted Patton's back, but did nothing to push him away.

"I'm so happy to finally meet you!" Patton was crying. Their soulmate's mouth twitched up in a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you, too."

Patton reluctantly let go of their soulmate and gave him a sheepish smile.

"I'm Patton."

"Janus."

"Logan." Logan stepped forward and held out his hand. Janus shook it while Roman bit his lip to keep from laughing. It was an odd time to be so practical, Virgil thought, but another fond wave washed through him because that's just how Logan was.

Janus then looked over at Virgil.

"I've met you."

"Yeah, um. Sorry about that. Running into you I mean," Virgil said and immediately winced. Janus raised an eyebrow.

"Come sit!" Patton said as he ushered the four of them into the living room. "I'll make coffee! Or tea. Or cocoa. Which do you like, Janus?"

*

Virgil watched as Janus placed his now empty tea mug on a coaster. He couldn't help but watch him, even if it made him feel extremely creepy. He was a bit overwhelmed from the suddenness of everything, so he wasn't speaking very much. Janus didn't seem to mind as he conversed with the others.

Virgil could tell the others (and himself, if he was being honest) already adored Janus. With his smooth voice and sharp wit, it was easy to be captivated.

Patton, who was sitting in between Janus and Virgil on the couch, heard Virgil's stomach grumbled once the afternoon started to meld into evening. With all the excitement earlier in the day, Virgil had forgotten to eat lunch and hadn't thought about it until now.

After shoving a granola bar in Virgil's hands, Patton offered to pick up food from a nearby restaurant. Logan went with him, and Virgil graciously let Roman lead the conversation.

"I just prefer the more classic musicals of Broadway," Janus said with a wave of his hand as he reclined into the couch. "Many of the new musicals are too poppy for me."

"Even so, the new ones are so good!" Roman said as he leaned forward in his chair. Virgil himself leaned against the arm of the couch, waiting for a moment he felt comfortable interjecting. "Modern musicals may  not have the same charm as the classics, but that doesn't make the music or script any less enjoyable."

"Don't even get me started on the Hollywood takeover of Broadway," Janus said. "I am so tired of these musical adaptations of movies. We need to stop letting film companies take the theatres and give chances to new playwrights and original stories."

"That... you're mostly right on. But the Mean Girls musical has some bops."

Janus opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by Roman's phone ringing. By the scowl on Roman's face, Virgil knew he was going to decline, but then Roman hesitated.

"I don't mind if you take the call," Janus assured him. Roman gave him a grateful smile and answered it just before the final ring.

As Roman went to take the call in the bedroom, Virgil tried to quell the anxiety rising in him. It must've been important for Roman to have answered it at this time. Virgil hoped it wasn't an emergency. Maybe it was Remus calling him just to propose another crazy scheme of his - Roman could never ignore his brother. But it also could've been a phone call bearing bad news - Something happened to Remus, or Remy, or Emile, or something else terrible that would warrant Roman to interrupt his time with his new soulmate-

"Are you alright?" Janus asked, snapping Virgil from his spiraling thoughts. Virgil grimaced but gave him a smile anyways.

"Yeah, sorry. Just got lost in thought for a moment."

Janus looked Virgil up and down, making Virgil squirm under his gaze.

"Do I frighten you?"

"What? No! Of course not!" Virgil said. He sighed and turned more towards Janus. "I'm sorry. I just get inside my own head and freak out sometimes. You've been nothing but wonderful this whole time. I'm sor-"

"You don't have to apologize if you're anxious, Virgil," Janus said. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Virgil gaped for a moment. While of course the others accepted his anxiety, it took a bit of a learning curve for them to get used to it. No one had immediately told him before that they didn't mind.

"But I shouldn't be," Virgil eventually huffed, sitting up straighter and just a bit closer to Janus. "We're supposedly made for each other - I know we're going to get along so why does my brain tell me I'm going to mess it up?"

"That's what anxiety does, babe."

Virgil barked out a laugh.

"Yeah, you're right."

"So let me ask again now. Are you alright?"

Virgil thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah. For real this time."

Janus opened his arms, and Virgil graciously accepted.

"I'm so happy we found you," Virgil murmured into Janus' chest as Janus wrapped his arms securely around Virgil. "I had been so worried these last few days - worried that we'd never find you again, or that it'd be years-"

"You don't need to worry anymore," Janus said with a smile. "I'm right here where you need me."

The bedroom door opened, and Virgil automatically went to sit up, but Janus gently coaxed him into leaning against his side - not tightly enough to force him, just enough to show him that it's fine, and Virgil reminded himself that neither Janus or Roman would judge him.

Roman smiled when he saw the two of them, but his eyes were heavy and Janus and Virgil frowned.

"Is everything okay?" Virgil asked. "Who called?"

"Yes, everything's fine. Don't worry, my little stormcloud. It was just audition results from the one last week. I didn't make the callback."

"Oh, Roman. I'm so sorry," Virgil said. He sat away from Janus, who moved to encourage him back, but stopped once Virgil waved Roman over. Roman immediately moved to sit between them, laying his head on Virgil's shoulder as Virgil held him and Janus took his hands, running his thumbs over Roman's knuckles.

"You'll make one of them someday. You're so talented." Virgil assured him.

"It's so hard to get started," Roman sighed. "They're more likely to cast people they know, but how are they going to know me if I never get casted?"

"The people that ignore your talents aren't worth your time anyway," Janus said. "If they're more focused on relations rather than talent, that's not a production you want to be associated with."

Roman gave him a weak smile and went to sit up straight.

"Don't let me burden you both with my dilemmas this joyous night," Roman said. "Please, continue telling me about your classes, Janus."

Janus just sighed. "I just told Virgil not to be ashamed of his anxiety. You, Roman, do not need to be ashamed of being disappointed.

"I hate to bother you-"

"You're not bothering me, nor Virgil I'm sure. There's no shame in seeking comfort when you need it," Janus leaned closer to Roman. "I want you to take care of yourself. No bottling up feelings, okay?"

Roman nodded.

"Good."

Janus sat up straight.

"Also, if you'd like, I'd be happy to help you with your monologues and scenes. I myself used to do theatre work."

Roman's face lit up again. "Oh really?"

Janus nodded.

Virgil was almost as happy as Roman to hear it. While of course he and Logan and Patton helped Roman when they could, Virgil knew they weren't exactly the best scene partners to work with.

"I would love that. Is there a chance I could also get you to sing for me, my star?"

It was Janus' turn to blush, and with that Roman seemed to have gained his confidence again as he sat up to tease Janus, who snapped at him in return, but his smile showed it held no real malice.

Virgil rested his chin on Roman's shoulder as the two quipped back and forth. Logan and Patton got back home shortly after. Janus encouraged Roman to tell Logan and Patton what happened over the phone, and two of them took no time to comfort him.

Once dinner was done, Patton was insistent on making Roman's favorite red velvet cupcakes.

"You don't have to put in that trouble for me," Roman had said.

"Your smile is worth it," Patton replied. Roman had gone a deep red and couldn't muster up any further protests.

It was cramped in the kitchen. Virgil was sitting on the counter, mostly just handing utensils to who needed it, while Patton and Janus made batter. Logan had started on frosting while Patton insisted that Roman did need to help - these were for him, after all! So Roman floated from person to person, stealing hugs and kisses where he could get it.

Patton booped some batter onto Janus' nose and kissed it off, which had been too adorable to process.

Virgil watched as Roman made the rounds into Janus' arms. Janus was the only one tall enough to be eye level with Roman. Roman's expression turned from blissed to thoughtful to hesitant. Janus, ever intuitive, knew what he was thinking and leaned in to press a quick, chaste kiss to Roman's lips. Roman's smile grew wide and his cheeks grew red as he rested his forehead on Janus'

Virgil himself could feel his heart swelling with happiness. He watched as Logan and Janus were able to discuss and debate about far more things than the rest of them could understand. Janus and Roman were able to throw clever nicknames at each other, their sharp wits bouncing off the other's. Janus was able to make Patton grow blushy and giggly almost as fast as Roman, using that smooth lilt in his voice to fluster him almost immediately.

Then Janus thought back to their brief time together on the couch - when strong arms held him tightly and grounded him, letting him know that he was safe - and Virgil knew that they were finally complete.

[freddieslater]

OK HELLO, I HAVE SLEPT AND AM SOMEWHAT MORE COHERENT. MANY THOUGHTS BUT THESE ARE MY MOST PERSISTENT 1.) i was gutted, but i think i really like the choice for aunt may's death. the breathtaking moment where all the peters realize they've been told the same thing before witnessing their parent figure DIE in what they're sure is their fault, the grief of these deaths leading to their new life, peter having this 'rebirth' in his final movie since we never get this moment/can maybe assume never had that uncle ben moment, is like. IDK I CAN APPRECIATE THAT. i'd love to know what you thought about it!!

2) THAT BITTERSWEET ENDING. HELLO. IT WAS PERFECT??? LEAVING THE DOOR WIDE OPEN FOR PETER RECONCILING WITH MJ AND NED BUT HE'S GONNA TAKE SOME TIME FIRST AND JUST DO HIS THING ... QUIETLY LOVELY.

3.) tobey and andrew were FANTASTIC, but as someone who 'grew up' w/ andrew, i need like. every minute to bawl over him getting the conclusion to his story that he never got to before, some insight into his life post-gwen's death, his HAIR, and just!!! him!!! the validation of seeing him loved by the theatre and on-screen after a rough treatment was just everything. HE SAVED MJ. HE GOT HER IN TIME. LIKE. I AM AT PEACE.

4.) tobey/andrew were .... like??? their vibes??? maybe??? yes??? 👀

5.) and i just!!! liked this angle of The Final Spidey villain firstly being all of them but the objective of winning being through helping them and giving them another chance. and how that kind of = peter's mistakes with the spell and altering the world in the first place and the second chance he finds himself with at the end of the movie. it was just really refreshing and i love how it tied into aunt may's death and the sentiment of what she stood for never dying was just 😭❣️

I THINK THAT'S IT FOR NOW LMAO THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME RAMBLE IN YOUR INBOX, REMUS!!! and for your glorious no way home tag which i've finished looking through this morning with my tea like i'm reading the newspaper. cheers to a fantastic conclusion and all three spideys getting the love they deserve. 💌

I'M HONESTLY SURPRISED YOU'RE COHERENT AT ALL BECAUSE I CERTANLY WASN'T. From the moment I walked out of the room to the moment I went to sleep, all I could say to my sister was, "oh my god" and "Andrew Garfield" on a loop.

1) I absolutely agree with you. As much as I was heartbroken over Aunt May, it was done so perfectly that it felt... not right, but it felt like it had to happen, you know? And it carried her message on far stronger than it would've had she not died when she said it. It was very painful to watch them all have the realization when the "with great power comes great responsibility" line came up, and it was so incredibly, tragically beautiful.

2) IT WAS SO BITTERSWEET IN ALL THE BEST WAYS. I can't wait to see how it continue but oh my god that was such a perfect ending for the time being, and I really, truly do love that Tom's!Peter is simply taking time for himself to figure out what to do and where his life is going to take him now rather than wallow or spiral down a bad path. This is good for him, to heal and to, as you put it, be reborn in a way.

3) I could not agree more, everything about Andrew being back on screen was so good. His hair definitely deserves a mention. There was not a better feeling though than when the cinema screamed the first time he took his mask off, and then all collectively gasped/cheered/cried when he caught MJ. I am not okay and am not sure I ever will be again. But at the same time, I'm healed and at peace as well. You could just SEE that Andrew felt the redemption and healing of that scene too, like... he really needed this movie as much as we all did.

4) Oh my god the vibes between Tobey and Andrew were off the charts and I'm just still not over them?? What the hell was that?? Guys???

5) Ahhh yes!! "Healing" all of the villains in the end was just fantastic, and I totally agree with you, once again!! Like, Tom's!Peter could absolutely have just turned around and sent them all back, let them die, and forgot about his mistake with the spell but that wouldn't have been fair, because he's the one who messed up, so he had to fix it, and he did. God, he truly did, he even made it so much better by helping them and making sure they didn't die at all and that was just so !!! He really did keep Aunt May's message close to his heart ❤️

You can ALWAYS feel free to ramble in my inbox, Sathana, I love every moment of it always!! I love the idea of you just sitting there scrolling my tag with a cup of tea like it's the morning paper, thank you for that. I will most definitely cheers to that, and to the future of our spideys! 💗

[xeo-kunsatan]

MonsterOlympics One Shot (+13) Part 3.

A new morning have been arrived at Monster Maze High.

Sunday 9:47 AM

Room 69

Betrayus was waking up with Muriel and a white haired human woman?

Betrayus:*Yawns* Morning Sweeties~

Muriel: Good morning Moonlight~

Beryl: Hmm~ Morning~

Betrayus: *takes air* Shit that was a crazy night yesterday... I didn't know that you were that good in this~

Muriel: Yeah dude, you were a beast last night~

Beryl: Tsk what are you talking about? You guys are incredible~

Suddenly that human transformed their body into their original form.

Beryl Marjorie

Boss of Jewels Mafia

Age: 125

Gender: Non Binary

Species: Shapeshifter/Wereleopard (Hybrid)

Beryl: And tell me~ are you agree with this payment method?

Muriel: Ohh~ it's the best and a big honor~

Betrayus: Oh Yeah~ That human disguise was a good idea, as you know i can't give myself this adventures with humans, because you know.. Ka-Boom!

Muriel: i can give myself freely this adventures with humans but i don't want to do it if I'm not next to my Moonlight~

Beryl: Awww~ it was a pleasure to make business with you too, now you have a new monetary support from my part.

Betrayus: and it's a pleasure to have your support, Thank you so much Ms Beryl.

Muriel: Come here Everytime you want it.

Beryl: See ya guys *puts in their clothing and leaves*

Beryl have left the room, to then go to a limousine waiting for them.

Note: Beryl is the Boss of a Mafia but they mostly prefers to use their money to support places which needs monetary help.

At the School Cafeteria.

The students where still feel a little tense after that fight from yesterday, mostly of them were still feeling the hurtful words from Manny, Specially Skeebo.

Sir C and Roxy went to them to give them at least good news for them.

Sir C: *with a speaker* Uhum Uhum, A-Attention Please Students! *Sneezes* I know you have felt stressed since yesterday butbi have good news for you.

Blinky: Good News my Balls!..

Roxy: Silence! C'mon Old man put more emotion in this..

Sir C: You're right Rox, The Hot Springs are Finally open for you, so you will have a better Sunday!.

All:......*Runs off to the Hot Springs*

Sir C: Wow, that worked so well..

Roxy: you see~

The students have run away to test the new hot springs

Note: there were 5 Hot Springs Rooms: Girls Room, Boys Room , Man Staff, Woman Staff and for some reason a secret one connected with both Staff rooms (Roxy's idea).

Boys Room

The boys were enyoing their new hot spring room, Skeebo still upset went to a shower next to a really worried Bradley.

Bradley: Foxy.. are you.. alright?..

Skeebo: *sighs*......

Bradley: C'mon you can tell me..

Skeebo: That stupid.. how he dares to make fun of me!!?? just because i have no family doesn't give him the rights to talk shit to me me! Nor even for the school!

Bradley: Don't let that affect you, you have a family here.

Skeebo: But not a biological!

Bradley: !!!!....

Skeebo: My brother left me, he was supposed to take care of me, we were supposed to be family.. and he still left me... For what!? To start a band and create a new family while I was dying of hungry and Cold!!!..

Bradley: Excuse me.. i know what are you feeling but i should remember you that my dad taked you to avoid that....

Skeebo: But what if he wouldn't taked me? Huh?...

Bradley: that's a Good point... *Sighs*.. Skeebo, please family it's not based by blood lines, it's based in the people who loves you and support you as you are..

Skeebo: *turns off*... You said that because you have your own parents and sister who loves you.

Bradley: Skeebo Please... What if he had a reason to left you?

Skeebo: *Hits Bradley* A Reason to Abandon me!!??

Bradley:!!!!!!..... *Trembling*

Skeebo: *reacts* Oh... No...

Bradley:*steps back*..

Skeebo: I-i-i am s-s-so sorry SugarBun!!.. I-i didn't mean to hurt you....

Bradley:*slaps Skeebo* Don't ever call me SugarBun!..*sightly sobs*... This time you Cross the line.. i thought you already understood about that you already have a family... But im wrong...

Skeebo: No Bradley please.. you are not wrong... I am sorry!...

Bradley: I Know you are really mad and hurted but that doesn't mean you can take avenge of me!

Skeebo: I-i know.. i really so sorry...

Bradley: *sobs* Fuck Off!! *Turns into a Bat and flies off crying*...

Skeebo: Bradley... *Sobs in silence* N-No... What a dumb i am... *Sighs*...

Skeebo was sobbing in the shower while the others would feel his silent lament.

Spiral: Ok Those 2 fighting? That's new

Pacster: Not really, they rarely have fights, and when they have them, they always fix the things and They reconcile with.. you know..

Blinky: I Know but this time it's harder..

Inky: yeah...

Clyde: Are they would be okay?...

Skeebo: Can you please SHUT THE FUCK UP!!?? THIS IS NOT YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!!.

Farley: Ok he is really mad...

Farren: And that's a Mad Fox..

Farid: Oww~ they were such a good couple~...

After the shower, Skeebo left to his dorm which he shares with Bradley, discovering that Bradley wasn't there..

Skeebo: *Sighs and jumps to his bed*... Bradley... If i could... Wait.. *takes his phone to make a important call* Thanks to her i got him.. i hope she can help me to bring him back..

Skeebo called an already known number which helped him as many creatures.

C.A Cupid

Daughter of Eros

Age: ???

Gender: Female

Species: Cherub.

(No, it's not my cupid from Pmatga, she is from from MH/EAH)

C.A Cupid: Greetings, anything your heart wants to share?~

Skeebo: Hello Cupid.. i need your advices one more time but this time to bring my love back..

C.A Cupid: Huh, i think i remember your voice, Long time~ What happened?

Skeebo: You see...My Boyfriend and me had a fight but this time i messed up the things in the really awful way, he surely doesn't want me next to him anymore.. i didn't mean to hurt him..

C.A Cupid: Oh dear.. I'm sorry to hear that.. don't worry i know how i help you.

Skeebo: Please..

C.A Cupid: First give him some time to relax, and then Show him that you feel really bad for hurting him and for it, like give him something really special for you 2 since many years, the reason why you are together.

Skeebo: Something Special for us since many years.. alright I got it, thank you Cupid.

C.A Cupid: Always to help, thanks for calling for my advices.

The Call ended, and Skeebo was looking for an special thing to fix the things with Bradley.

Skeebo: Where is it?..

Betrayus: Where is what?~

Skeebo: Eh!?

Betrayus's stare started to hypnotize Skeebo to make him fall sleep and then take him secretly to a unknown place.

Meanwhile in Monster High.

Miss Bloodgood have asked her students to join a reunion.

Ms Bloodgood: Dear Students, I summoned you in this reunion to discuss about what we will do in the MonsterOlympics Event, the first thing is that all of you most behave and respect your opponents.

Lagoona Blue

Daughter of the Sea Monster.

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Species: Sea monster (Saltwater)

Lagoona: Ohh~ i really felt bad about them...

Ms Bloodgood: Me too Lagoona *sighs* Mostly of The Monster Maze High students have different and difficult situations at mostly of yours, their school is where they live.

Frankie: You mean, their school is their only home

Ms Bloodgood: That's right.

Deuce Gorgon

Son of Medusa

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Species: Gorgon

Deuce: Even Knowing that i can't believe that Manny said that..

Draculaura: Me either...

Holt: Well in certain part he is right

All: Holt!!!

Holt: ok ok.. sorry

Clawd: Just Great.. Now thanks to Manny they already have a bad image of us as the mean ones...

Gillington Webber

Son of the River monster

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Species: Sea Monster (sweet water)

Gil: *Sighs* Things will get so tense during the competency...

Frankie: This can't be like this, we most show them that as we accept us independent of our differences, we accept them too even if they are from other school.

Ms Bloodgood: Frankie is right, the next week the Event will begin, even if we are competing against them we most show them fellowship and support.

Frankie: All agree with you Headless Mistress!

The Reunion finished and everyone was free to leave to their classes.

Toralei and her gang was walking around the school noticing that almost every monster was watching her and whispering to eachother.

Toralei: Pfff, what did I do this time?~

Cleo: Oh My Ra, I didn't know you were like that Toralei?~

Toralei: Mew?~ What are you talking about?.

Cleo: Didn't you check out your phone? *Leaves mocking*

Spectra Vondeirgeist

Daughter of the ghosts

Age: ???

Gender: Female

Species: Ghost.

Spectra: I Hoope you enjoy this unexpected stooory~ *flying around*

Toralei: Huh!?

Toralei Checked out her phone to visit Spectra's Blog finding the surprised of that Spectra made a blog about her meeting with Farley, pointing them as an unexpected couple between a dog and a cat.

Toralei: Meww! No!!

As well her, Farley found out the gossip in the same Blog.

Farley: Woofy Shit!!

<×/////////////////////////////////////////×>

Meanwhile In a dark place, Skeebo waked up to notice that he was tied up.

Skeebo: What The!!??...

Betrayus: You Were a really really bad Fox...

Skeebo: Mr Betrayus!?... I-i didn't mean to hurt your son..

Betrayus: But you did it.. oww~ what a shame I have to do this...

Skeebo: .......*sighs as he sobs In silence*... I'm sorry... I really wanted to fix up the things with him, with effort and heart.. as I promised.. but I guess I most pay for not appreciate what I already had... Go ahead Mr Betrayus..

Betrayus:... Wise decision~

Betrayus hold up a big blade ready to end with the Fox's life to then....

To be Continued.

[my-happy-little-bean]

Do The Cooking By The Book

pairings: LAMP/CALM words: 6013 warnings: swearing, alcohol, implied panic attacks, small burn mention, general angst summary: patton bakes when he’s sad and nowadays, no amount of chewy chocolate chip cookies would be able to cover that up.

or: the five times patton bakes something for the others and the one time he can’t.

a/n- hello! welcome to part 2 of that series i mentioned before called  ‘let’s indulge bean in their slightly low quality, very personal fics’ (maybe i should actually make this an actual series on ao3 lol) :’)

i have been having a bit of writer’s block between this patton/janus one shot and golden slumbers (there's just o n e more scene i need to figure out, trust me it's haunting my every move), so i decided to write a bit of a fresh warm up instead! and by warm up, i mean i started writing it in the beginning of july and it somehow spiralled into a big thing, like they always do :’)

inspired by my declining mental health and my unhealthy obsession with baking focaccia at 2 am :)

p.s – later there's a [1] that's supposed to be a footnote but the formatting just said no so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

read on ao3 ~

enjoy!

----------------------------- 

~ patton’s chewy chocolate chip cookies ~

ingredients: 

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

0 teaspoon club soda

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (or melted, like my heart around my honeybees <3)

1 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (must be working out ;) )

1/4 cup granulated sugar sugar, honey honey (except no honey :P)

2 large eggs, room temp.

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (and not any extra-ct ;) )

2 cups Virgil-esque chocolate chips*

 *semi-sweet! ^v^

 –– 

“Holy shit, Pat.”

Patton smiled, all toothy and wide. He was still standing beside the couch Roman was lounging on, holding up the tray with his pastel blue oven mitts.

“You like it?” he beamed. Roman nodded, scrambling over the armrest to grab another.

“Umfh,  yeah,”  Roman replied, crumbs spilling out of his mouth. “Ovfiously.”

“...What?”

Roman quickly swallowed and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Patton laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “No worries! I think it’s a- dough -able.”

“...If you weren’t holding cookies right now, I'd say that you suck. But you're holding cookies, so..."

There was a pause that Patton quickly filled with laughter, even if it suddenly felt like he was struggling to carry the sound out of his chest and into the air.

Luckily, Logan walked into the room before Patton could say anything that was affected by the spontaneous pang in his chest. His eyes lit up upon seeing him. 

“Logan!” He cheerily dashed over to the other side of the room, holding up the tray to Logan’s face. “A treat for my smart cookie?”

Logan reeled back slightly to avoid getting hit by the edge of the tray. He pushed up his glasses.

“Ah, thank you, dear. But I do believe it is too early for copious amount of sugar consumption–”

“Just try one, cookie-tita,” Roman cut him off, “you and I know that you want one.”

Logan frowned at him over Patton’s shoulder, then looked back at Patton. He gave Logan the widest smile he could muster, which made him sigh. 

“While Roman’s reference was a bit of a stretch–” He eyed the cookies one more time, then looked back at Patton– ”I suppose I will agree to half a cookie.”

“Goody!” Patton said brightly. “Or should I say, gooey?”

“You shouldn’t.”

Logan picked one cookie up and took a small bite. His eyes softened, which made Patton’s heart melt. 

“...Oh sweet Einstein,” he muttered, grabbing one more cookie off the tray before making a beeline to the coffee machine in the kitchen. Patton just smiled to himself, admittedly a bit proud. 

Before he turned around to go see if Logan needed help, he heard shuffling coming up beside him. He looked over and smiled. 

“Virge! You’re awake!” Virgil pulled one side of his headphones up as Patton presented him the tray. “Cookie?”

“Uh, sure.” He took one and nodded when he had a few bites, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Thanks, Pat.”

“No problemo!” he chirped, wandering back to the living room. Virgil trailed behind him, now slipping his headphones around his neck. 

“Did you bake these this morning?” Virgil asked as Patton set the tray on the coffee table in front of Roman, who readily lunged at it. Patton turned and smiled brightly at him. 

“Yeah! I mean...it was technically morning, heh.” 

Virgil blinked in that knowing way Patton was all too familiar with. Patton mentally cursed.  

“What do you mean by technically–”

Before he could say anything else, Patton clapped his hands together. 

“Well, I’m glad you all liked the cookies.” He tried not to think about how loud his own voice suddenly was. “Feel free to finish them!”

Roman frowned, mid-bite of his third cookie.

“Don’t you want any, sweetheart?"

“No no! I chip-ed in so much effort in baking them that I tired myself out, heh!” He faked a yawn. “I’ll just go to my room!”

Roman just laughed, stuffing another cookie in his mouth with a shrug. Logan wandered back from the kitchen, conjuring a book as he walked and nodding at Patton. He grabbed another cookie and sat on the couch beside Roman, leaning against his shoulder.

Virgil just looked at him as he left, eyes narrowed and steely. 

They’re so perfect, Patton thought as he sunk out to go to his room, leaving the three of his boyfriends alone with a wave. Perfect just the way they are.

 Without me.  

----------------------------- 

~ ‘i got ya’ focaccia ~ 

ingredients:

for the garlic-infused mixture

1/2 cup extra-virgin, PG-rated olive oil

2-3 minced garlic cloves

0 garlic gloves (haha i’m hilarious)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

for the bread

1 cup warm water

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)

1/4 teaspoon honey honey, you are my candy girl–

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (maybe it’s wearing some nice clothes!) (sea what i did there? i’m funny, aren’t i?) 

–– 

Virgil heard a soft ‘ shit ’ coming from the kitchen. 

Don’t panic, it’s probably all fine,  he thought, slowly walking towards the entrance to the kitchen.  It’s totally not some burglar, ready to steal all our spices and blow them into my eye, making me blind. It can’t be, we’re not even real so how could there be a burglar–

As he neared the dimmed light coming from the kitchen, however, a quiet sob broke through his thoughts.

A chill ran through him. The sob was muffled, squeaky, and admittedly a bit pathetic in terms of how there was an attempt to cover it up. Almost like the sound a puppy would make when someone accidentally stepped on their paw.

All too familiar.

“Patton?” he murmured, turning on another light in the kitchen. 

Patton was hunched over the counter space beside the oven, next to a saucepan on a burner; which was emitting a strong garlic and herb smell. 

That wasn’t what Virgil was focusing on, though; but rather the way Patton held his hand close to his chest.

Patton spun around on his heel when his name left Virgil’s tongue, his eyes wide and glazed over, like a deer caught in headlights. 

“Sh– Virgil! Hi!” He laughed nervously. “What are you doing here? It’s like, 2 am!”

Virgil dug his hands in his sweater pockets. “I’m always up at 2 am. What are you doing here?”

He watched as Patton’s smile forcefully tugged at the corners of his lips.

“I’m baking focaccia! Wanna join?”

There was a slight crack in his cheeriness. Virgil took a step closer. 

“What happened to your hand?”

Patton looked down at it, then held up his index finger, which was slightly red. 

“Just accidentally brushed up against the pan!” he chuckled. “It was still hot. ”

“How could you brush up against the pan,” Virgil deadpanned, hopping onto the kitchen island. “Roman’s asleep.” 

Patton blushed as he ran his finger under cold water.

“Grab the flour and pour a cup of it in that bowl,” he said, shaking his hand dry and going back to the stove. “I think that the yeast and honey had enough time in the water. I’m just about done with the garlic stuff.”

“Okay, honey,” Virgil hummed, already scooping the flour in the measuring cup.

Patton turned to face him over his shoulder with a smile.  

“Gosh, you get funnier at 2 am, kiddo.”

Virgil shrugged. “It’s easy to cater to your humour, babe. Though no one does it as good as you do.” 

Patton’s blush intensified, and it made Virgil feel a little more at ease that he could still make him flustered like that. 

“So really, Pat,” Virgil asked, stirring in the flour as Patton went over with a smaller cup of the garlic-infused mixture. “Why are you up so late baking focaccia of all things?”

A pause. Patton finished pouring in his cup before turning his back away, his head low. 

“No reason!” he said brightly, though Virgil suddenly felt edges of darkness to each word. “I thought it’d be nice. Plus Roman loves my focaccia. Thought I could surprise him!”

A pause. Virgil wanted to press him more, but there was something about Patton’s cracked smile that advised him against it. He knew a warning when he saw one. 

“He likes anything you bake him, babe,” he said instead, adding salt and the rest of the flour before beginning to knead the dough in the bowl. “You could bake him a frog and he’d be grateful.”

“Now Virge, I think you’re mixing the twins up again,” Patton giggled. Virgil smirked, even if he felt like he shouldn’t. There was such heavy air in the kitchen; a positive emotion wouldn’t last a second. 

“You sure you’re okay, Patton?” 

When Patton finally faced him, it felt like the air was sucked out of him. Now that he was standing under the light, he felt like he saw all of him more clearly. There were dried tear tracks running down his cheeks. Did he always have those? And under his eyes were bags of purple, dark and stormy; clear evidence that maybe Patton had been late-night baking before. 

However, that broken smile was what haunted Virgil the most.

“I’m just peachy, Virge!” he chirped, conjuring up a towel and covering the bowl of dough Virgil probably over-kneaded. Patton’s eyes seemed to drill right into his own. “ Positive.”

Virgil numbly nodded as Patton clapped his hands. 

“Well! Now we wait!” He smiled again at Virgil. “Want some coffee?”

 ----------------------------- 

~ mushy gushy marshmallows ~

ingredients:

marshmallow base

2 cups of sugar 

1/4 cup corn syrup

1 cup water (1/2 for for dissolving gelatin)

7 tsp / 3 packets of gelatin

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

 dusting powder

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/2 cup cornstarch

*note to future patton: don’t make these, actually. they suck.

–– 

“Fuck!” 

Logan heard the curse from the kitchen, lifting his head from his book and immediately smelling for any smoke. 

“Patton?” 

There was no smoke. Instead, just another string of curses. Logan sighed; it was not like the moral side to swear. But reprimanding him didn’t sound like a wise idea. 

Instead, he set his book down on the coffee table in front of him and wandered to the kitchen. 

“Is everything oka–”

He stopped mid-sentence and looked at the sight in front of him. 

Surrounding him was a sugary mess, with many bowls of gelatin and water littering the entire counter. Logan could only assume they were failed attempts at whatever was being made today.

In the middle of this mess was Patton, holding the hand mixer up in the air with tears streaming down his face. 

“...Let’s put the hand mixer down, shall we?”

Logan moved forward before Patton could even respond, slowly lowering his hand that held the mixer. Patton just sobbed, dropping it on the floor in defeat. Logan tried not to panic at the suddenly broken hand mixer. Logically, they could summon a new one. It was extra energy, sure, but it was fixable.

However, he wasn’t quite sure he could fix the sight in front of him.

“Is there something wrong, starlight?” he murmured, ushering Patton toward the kitchen table. Patton just sighed. 

“It’s the stupid marshmallows.” Patton threw his apron onto the floor as he sat down. “I just don’t get what I’m doing wrong. I tried everything.  And they– they just suck.” 

Logan blinked, almost dumbfounded. In all the years he spent together with Patton, he had never seen him so distraught. Not even his arguably-worse decisions elicited a response similar to the frustration he was currently witnessing. Patton always wore a smile and carried on. Any mistake was just a mistake; nothing more to it. 

So what was different here?

“I even tried summoning a candy thermometer,” Patton continued. Logan tried his best to be present, even if his worry was slowly overtaking all of his senses. “Those things are stupid! I thought–”

“Hey,” Logan finally said, cutting Patton off by holding his hands into his. “Let’s slow down for a minute, okay?” 

When Patton looked up at him, his heart broke. 

Patton’s eyes were glassy with tears, some kind of foreign look not too far behind his irises. The absence of his smile was even more unsettling. 

He looked completely different; as if someone took one of the loves of his life and replaced him without even leaving a trace. 

Suddenly, he was filled with what he only assumed was longing. 

“Patton,” he said slowly, looking down at their intertwined hands, “please don’t worry about the marshmallows. They’re just marshmallows. Clearly there is something else that is–”

He cut himself off as he heard Patton’s breath hitch. When he looked up, there was a faraway look in his eyes.

And that was when it clicked. That foreign look…

It was fear. Fear and guilt, all wrapped up in one. 

The face of someone who just got caught.

Patton quickly pulled his hands away from Logan’s, stumbling onto his feet and muttering something about cleaning up later under his breath as he sunk out. 

Logan blinked, taken completely aback. He quickly re-evaluated every word he said that could have led to him leaving. 

“They’re just marshmallows.” 

Logan winced. Shit. Perhaps Patton was still in his ‘in his feelings phase; not his ‘in need of rational solution’ phase. He should have known better and now, Patton was further away from him than he was before. 

Logan then thought about the guilt that struck Patton’s face before he could confront him; the fear in his eyes when Logan dared to dig a little deeper. 

Patton wasn’t far away, actually.

Patton was just gone;   and Logan didn’t know where to look to find him.

----------------------------- 

~drunken    bitter    butter rumcakes~

 ingrdents:

for the cupcakes:

1 cup of choped picans

1/2 cup coconut flake

yellow cake mix, lots of it probs

some vanilla puddin apparently? i dont know why

eggs i dont care how much fuck it

1/2 milk

vegetable oil (optional cuz it sounds gros)

rum

for the bitter rum glaze:

some butter and sugar

more rum

rum 

 for the frosting

confictione confecion confectioniser’s powdered sugar

soft buttter

vanilla extract

rest of the bottl eof rum probably

 ––

It only took a crash from the kitchen for Roman to realize that Logan and Virgil were right: something was wrong with Patton. 

Virgil had been the first one to express his concern, and it was right on the day Patton baked them all cookies. Patton had since baked many more cookies; which for some reason, only intensified his worry. Roman didn’t think much of it at first. Virgil, bless his soul, always held a bit of his paranoia close to his chest. Plus, Patton’s cookies were the best! There wasn’t much to complain about. A few days later, Virgil mentioned something weird about Patton’s focaccia; but even that admittedly didn’t raise any concern from Roman. 

It was when Logan mentioned the marshmallow incident that Roman knew something might be off. 

The two had warned him that going to the kitchen late at night could possibly bring some less than ideal sights, but that only drew Roman closer; like a beautiful moth attracted to light. If Patton was truly upset, Roman had to be there! He knew that the others didn’t know much about navigating the small crises Patton would have every now and then, but Roman did! It was Patton, after all! Roman had experience — and he just had to play it by the book. 

But when he finally walked into the kitchen upon hearing the source of the crash, he was greeted with something he never quite saw before. 

Patton was on the ground, holding a long, glass bottle by its neck and a bowl—with all its contents—was splattered on the floor beside him. 

Roman stood there, almost dumbfounded. Patton didn’t even realize he was there before he looked up and blinked a few times. 

Then, Patton started to cry. 

“Oh, sunshine,” Roman murmured, sitting next to him on the floor. The strong stench of alcohol filled the air beside Patton, and Roman saw a glimpse of a rum label on the bottle. It was half empty. 

“M’sorry,” Patton mumbled under his breath, immediately resting his head on Roman. “Didn’t–” He hiccuped– ”Didn’t mean to make noise.”

“Shh, mi amor, it’s okay.” Roman stroked his hair slowly, going through the familiar motions of comforting his boyfriend. “I understand. Let me help you, okay?”

Another sob wracked through Patton’s body. 

“I– I don’t deserve your help.” The words came out in a slur. Roman had a slight feeling that Patton didn’t use all the rum in his bottle for baking.

“Nonsense! Of course you deserve help,” Roman whispered, twirling a strand of his hair. “I’m here to help you. I always am.”

Patton leaned into the touch, though the weight of his head seemed heavier than usual; like he was unintentionally pressing himself onto Roman, limp against his shoulders.

“S’fine,” he said after a few more teary hiccups, trying to push himself onto his feet. “Gotta– gotta finish cupcakes. Tryna new recipe.” 

Roman frowned. “The cupcakes can wait until tomorrow, Patton; I’m going to bring you to bed and clean up–”

“No!” 

Roman jumped at the sheer volume of Patton’s voice, suddenly nervous that he’d wake the rest of them up.

I can handle this myself,  he thought.  I always have been able to, this isn’t different. 

“No, I don’t– I don’t need your help.” Patton stumbled up to his feet, leaning his arms on the kitchen counter like it was a life raft. He buried his head in his hands.  “I don’t need your help, I don’t need anyone’s help, I just need– I just need to finish this, then–”

“Darling, I don’t think–”

“No thinkin!” He pushed his index finger onto Roman’s lips. “No thinking, that’s for Logan. Tonight, we’re not thinking of anything– not thinking about anything anymore.”

Roman was taken aback. 

“Patton, we can continue,” he said gently, “but only if you sit down first and let me grab you some water, okay?”

Patton lifted his head to face Roman, his eyes red from the tears. 

“Why do you take care of me?” he suddenly asked, his voice a small whimper. Roman froze as he continued. “Why do– why do any of you care?”

“Patton, I–”

“I don’t do my fucking job right anyway,” Patton hissed. “I’m– I’m broken junk in Thomas’ brain! I can’t even do the right and wrong thing, I can’t– I can’t make him happy. I can’t make you guys happy– ‘n I  love you guys! God, I can’t even make stupid cupcakes–”

“None of that is true, Pat,” Roman tried to protest. “You make us extremely happy, you make me– ”

“You’re a liar!” Patton cried, turning on his heel to stare at Roman, whose heart dropped. “You’re– you’re a fucking liar, Roman.”

The air suddenly felt too thick for both of them to be breathing. Patton must have noticed that because as soon as the words left his tongue, he covered his mouth with his hands with teary eyes. 

“...Patton, please sit down. You’re not thinking straight.”

“M’not–”

“I know.” Roman tried to keep his voice levelled as he spoke. “Just...just sit down, okay? We’re going to talk it all through.” 

Patton just stared at him blankly for what seemed like an eternity before finally speaking up. 

“I’m sorry.”

And before Roman could plead for him one last time, Patton sunk out, the bottle of rum still in his hand.

Roman blinked at the spot Patton once stood in, all shaky and teary like he was facing an inky, twisted nightmare. His words echoed in his head and while Roman knew it was best not to take it all to heart, he still felt the sting of each curse. 

What kind of a hero was he?

He then looked at the splattered mixture on the floor and sighed. It looked a lot like cake mix. And if there was rum in that, it probably would’ve been good. A shame, really.

His eyes then spotted a book on the kitchen counter, open to a page that had a bit of rum on it judging by the smell. Roman frowned, going over to grab it. He closed it to look at the cover. 

It seemed to be Patton’s recipe book, judging by the baking-themed stickers littering the blue cover. When he opened it, he was greeted with pages of ingredients and instructions to make some of Patton’s signature baked goods. The first few pages made Roman smile; there were puns besides some of the ingredients and even cheesy references to him, Logan, and Virgil. It seemed very Patton-esque. 

But as he went further through the pages, the tone seemed to shift. There was an absence of puns for one of the recipes, and Roman knew he could’ve at least hit a few. And when he got further than that, he just stopped writing measurements all together. The rum cupcake recipe, which seemed like a recent entry, was barely decipherable. 

He flipped back a few pages and saw words scratched out; sentences that didn’t belong in a typical cookie recipe. And the corners of some of the pages were crisp, as if water dried on them over time. 

Roman’s breath hitched as he closed the book. Something was wrong, and for the first time he didn’t know what to do.

----------------------------- 

~ whats good-berry muffins ~ 

ingredients

who

cares

theyre

just

stupid

muffins

berries, probably

––  

“Roman, he did not mean what he said,” Logan said as Roman paced in front of him. “Perhaps you caught him at a bad time.” 

“A bad time?” Virgil echoed incredulously, turning around on the couch to face Logan. “Dude, he was wasted. That’s not a bad time, that’s a ‘code red’ time.” 

“Besides, shouldn’t you be advocating for intervention,  lo -ve of my life?” Roman asked, still pacing. “You seemed pretty upset about the now-called ‘marshmallow incident’.”

Virgil gave Logan a look and Logan looked down, almost embarrassed. 

“...I have since realized that my actions were not ideal, but that is to no fault of my own. Holding guilt does no good, and neither does intervening when one does not want to be...intervened upon.”

“Okay first off, even Janus lies more subtly than that.” Logan didn’t make eye contact with him, but stiffened at Virgil’s words. “And second of all, Patton  needs support. We’re supposed to be there for him – not just waiting for the most dire sign. The plane is crashing, Logan; you can’t just put your seatbelt on and wait. You have to do something.” 

“Actually, if an airplane is crashing and you are instructed to put your seatbelts on, it is of your best interest that you–”

“For Odin’s sake,” Roman groaned. “I love you, my nerd in shining armour; but you got to learn what a metaphor is.”

Logan fell quiet as Roman continued. 

“We need to do something. This isn't a typical Patton dilemma. And I know he doesn’t want to talk about it just out of the blue so we can’t confront him. We have to figure out a way for him to trust us.”

“He loves us,” Virgil grumbled, though hints of anxiety singed the edges of his words. “Shouldn’t the trust be there already?”

“Virgil, he loves us an infinite amount,” Logan said reassuringly, finally settling back into the chair. He pushed up his glasses. “In fact, he probably loves us too much to want to worry us or cause us any emotional strain.”

“But it wouldn’t cause us– well, whatever you said!” Virgil protested. He slumped over, his elbows pressed into his thighs. He looked defeated. “I just want to help him. I can’t stand seeing him like this.” 

“I know, stormcloud,” Roman murmured, sitting down beside us. “But...but we can do this. Together. We always have and now, we will.”

Logan nodded, tapping his shoulder so Virgil could rest against it. 

“Roman is correct. Besides, we do not even have to confront him. Perhaps confrontation is where part of this issue stems from. The trust is there, we just have to remind him that we are willing to, given that we are his partners. We just need to make a comfortable environment for–”

Suddenly, Virgil felt a small tug in his chest; as if something was pulling him downwards. His eyes widened and his breath hitched at the sensation. He knew where it was coming from. 

“Guys, it’s Patton. Something’s wrong.” 

In a flash, he sunk out, Logan and Roman soon following suit. Roman pulled out his sword just in case.

When they rose, they found themselves in Patton’s room; though it was less bright than usual. The fairy lights were flickering and swaying against the walls and the frames were all askew. It looked as if it was struggling to keep itself together. 

And in the middle of the room was Patton, on the floor and tugging at his hair as he cried, heaving into each sob. Surrounding him were boxes of half-summoned muffin mix, as well as some sugar slowly fading out of existence. In front of him was his recipe book, tearstained and ripped at the edges. 

Virgil immediately went to Patton’s side, scooping him up into his arms. Patton made no effort to protest, his body still clenched up from all the energy he was spending summoning the ingredients into his room. In the corner of his eye, he could even see the beginnings of what would be an oven.

“Patton,” Virgil heard Logan breathe out, still standing in the same spot behind them, almost in shock. “You are spending too much energy summoning all these things, your room nor your form cannot handle it. Why don’t you just go to the kitchen?”

Patton sobbed even more, tugging at his hair and curling up into Virgil’s chest. Virgil looked up at Logan over Patton’s hunched shoulders and just shook his head, his eyes flickering between him and Patton. 

Logan then made a small ‘o’ shape with his mouth, slowly approaching the two on the floor and sitting cross-legged beside him. He made an attempt to lower Patton’s hands from his hair. Eventually, it turned into him rubbing small circles in Patton’s back with the palm of his hand, softly whispering “it’s okay” under his breath as he moved closer to him and Virgil. 

Roman dropped his sword onto the floor and followed suit, grabbing a fluffy blanket from Patton’s bed and going behind his three boyfriends, laying the blanket over their shoulders as if he was shielding them from the unstable room surrounding them. He hovered over their shoulders for a while before kneeling down and hugging all three of them. 

And as the ingredients slowly disappeared around them, the room began to fix itself. Patton could breathe a bit slower now, yet the others curled up into him like the warm blanket they were surrounded by. 

Eventually, Patton realized that he was no longer crying;  yet everyone stayed. 

And then, Patton fell asleep;  and they stayed for that too. 

----------------------------- 

~ Don’t Forget-ti That We Love You Funfetti Cake* ~

 Ingredients:

 For the cake

1 and 2/3 cup (210g) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda (because so-da one for us!) [1]

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick or 115 g) unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar

1/4 cup (50g) packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup (60g) yogurt

3/4 cup (180ml) milk

1 Tablespoon (15ml) pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup (90g) sprinkles (nonpareils not recommended**) 

For the buttercream

1 cup (2 sticks or 230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3–4 cups (360-480g) confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream

2 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

salt, to taste

 *Virgil actually came up with this and thinks its so lame so thats why that’s the name LOL ~ Roman

[1]  Roman wrote this pun but I am making the executive decision to retract this comment from the original script because it is not a necessary part of the recipe.

**can you tell that lo was the one who wrote the recipe ~ v 

–– 

Patton tried his hardest to fight the pull coming from the kitchen. 

It’s been a few days since the others found him in his room after his failed ‘bake muffins in isolation’ mission and Patton hadn’t dared to bake since. After all, if that incident wasn’t a good enough warning, the other times they found him in the kitchen were. He couldn’t let them see him like this again, what ‘this’ was. 

The others thought they knew he was upset about something, but Patton didn’t know how to tell them that he didn't even know what he was feeling. He wasn’t upset, he wasn’t stressed; he was just feeling every feeling, all at once.

And he didn’t know what to do. 

Baking was the only thing he could do when he felt like this. He longed to see a smile on Virgil’s face; to watch Logan actually eat and enjoy it rather than talking about how it didn’t matter that they ate; to laugh as Roman scarfed all of it down and ask for the recipe. The recipe book was actually going to be Roman’s gift for their anniversary. It made his heart ache even more knowing that it wasn’t good enough for him anymore. 

When he felt everything or nothing at all, he would just bake and watch as the people he loved were filled with joy; and Patton, selfish as it is, would bask in the sunlight they radiated. If he kept baking and kept making them happy? Well, their light could never disappear. 

But then, it did.

And Patton couldn’t bear to stand in the darkness of that kitchen anymore. 

Still, the tugging persisted. Patton secretly hoped that him pitying himself would guilt whatever force was summoning him to the kitchen into giving up its pursuit. 

Patton sighed, tugging the strings of his cat hoodie a little tighter so that the hood with wrap around his head. Maybe if he didn’t show his face, no one would see that he had been crying for an hour or so. 

When he sunk out, he was met with a warmly-lit kitchen and a small cake in the middle of the dining table.

Patton frowned, walking towards it curiously. It was a very...rustic cake, if rustic still meant ‘messy’ in baking terms. The icing was a bit rough around the edges and he felt like the writing in icing was supposed to say “WE ❤ U” but the heart looked a bit like...well, Patton didn’t want to say. 

Still, it was rather cute. There was a small plate beside it with a fork and a slice of the cake, dots of sprinkles baked into it. Patton smiled; it seemed to be a funfetti cake! His favourite!

Patton took a bite out of the cake without really thinking about it, his smile only growing at the sweet taste. 

That was when he saw the book. 

It laid neatly beside the plate, open to a page he didn’t quite remember writing. On it were various scribbles of bright red ink mixed with blue ink, along with a note written in pencil at the bottom of the page. He recognized the handwriting immediately as he picked up the book and began to tear up. 

“Virgil, if he does not want to be summoned you cannot–”

Patton looked up from the book and saw Logan and Virgil suddenly at the entrance to the kitchen, stopped in their tracks with their eyes wide. They stared at each other for a brief moment before Virgil huffed, breaking the silence.

“See, Lo?” He kissed Logan's cheek and went on his tip-toes to ruffle his hair, much to Logan’s dismay. “Patton always comes down for cake.” 

Patton dropped the book on the table and went over to sweep the two in a big hug, warm and tight and filled with love. Virgil fell quiet, but hugged back as Logan chuckled, patting Patton’s back. 

“I sincerely hope the cake is to your standards, Patton,” he said as he pulled back. “I know that the aesthetics are not...well, they are not ideal; Roman spent so much time planning that he forgot to take into account the amount of time we’d  actually have–”

“Logan?” Patton said, his voice still scratchy from being close to tears. “I love you. It’s perfect.” 

Logan smiled brightly, the light from it almost blinding Patton. 

“You guys didn’t have to bake for me!” Patton rubbed at his eyes with a small laugh. “I know baking a cake is no easy task, especially a funfetti cake!”

Virgil shrugged. “Logan led most of it. I kinda just made sure the kitchen didn’t explode. You know how those two can get."

Patton giggled. “Of course.”

“Roman should be on his way shortly,” Logan said, pushing up his glasses. “He is acquiring a few blankets and pillows from his room.”

Patton perked up at the thought. Roman’s blankets were made of the softest, most delicate velvet. The idea made his chest warm up.

“You guys did all of this for me?” Patton asked, his voice small. 

“Of course we did, Pat.” Virgil held Patton’s hand and kissed it softly. “We love you. And we want to be here for you; even in the less-than-ideal times. You would do the same for us.”

“But we do not expect you to dwell on your emotions if you do not feel comfortable doing so,” Logan continued as he went over to the dining room to grab the cake. “If you would like, we can watch Disney movies and eat cake and provide a distraction. However, we want to reassure you that we are here to listen to whatever is troubling you, so whenever you feel comfortable, please do not hesitate to reach out.” He paused. "We do not have to find a solution right now. We can metaphorically 'sit in the feelings' for a while."

Patton smiled as Logan arrived at his and Virgil’s side. He kissed Patton’s shoulder softly before making his way to the living room, where Patton could hear Roman rambling about what movie would be the best to watch; and he heard Logan’s rebuttals come after. 

And walking out of the kitchen and into the living room could only be described as a slow-moving blur. Patton watched as Roman spotted him and swept him up into a big hug, startling Virgil who was later brought into the hug as well. He watched as Logan gave them an amused smile, patting the blankets Roman arranged under a pillow fort in front of the TV, the opening to Tangled—Patton’s favourite—playing on the screen. 

“I love you guys,” Patton murmured as he sat in the middle of the pillow fort, a plate with cake in front of him. Logan sat beside him with a nod, kissing his head as he summoned four forks with a smile. Roman and Virgil found their way somehow into the tangled mess of each other, cuddling against Logan and Patton until they were the closest humans, or sides, could ever get.

And no one complained when Patton paused the movie when Eugene got stabbed, crying a bit and telling them about how that scene sort of reminded him about what he felt the night before. No one left when Patton began to spiral a bit from that and sob into his cake, finally admitting to them his thoughts and how he had just been feeling everything. 

And then, everyone stayed; even after that.