#her desk is going to be a sparkly disaster

[iwannascreameurekaa]

pjo characters favorite Chappell roan looks part 1

guess who found this stupid list again I keep forgetting I do these things. spoiler warning this is ooc and very bad. I did most of this at 3-5 am so get ready for sleep deprived writing. part 2

Leo's is 100% this look from the 2024 VMAs. You tell me he wouldn't absolutely adore the edits of her saying "not me bitch" he would actually say "zoo wee mama" unironically okay

Percy's is this from the album cover for the rise and fall of a Midwest princess photo shoot both because of how it has an intense feeling of being out a place and because it's BLUE! Also he likes the lighting of the photo

Pipers is the marching band outfit from the hot to go music video

Jason fav is the butterfly look from Coachella 2024 

Hazel is absolutely obsessed with the tiny desk concert look and I agree because OH MY GODS. Hazel loves the layering of the hair, and that there's a trash bag in Chappells hair. Her favorite part about the whole outfit is the socks but the little butterfly clip in Chappells hair is so cute to Hazel. 

Annabeths favorite is the Statue of Liberty look from the governors ball yes it might be because she's an architecture nerd but also she's a bi disaster mkay

Franks is the white swan look from Jimmy Fallon. He will scream the bridge to good luck babe even tho he's a man and he will BLAST THAT SHIT TOO. 

Grover's fav look is when she was on the comment section podcast. It's whimsical and cute and he adores it. Also he supports Chappell roan 100% on the boundaries she set bc SHE IS A PERSON BE NICE YALL ☹️ he's a Chappell defender for life 

Drews favorite is the casual mv dress (whoa sapphic drew anyone???) let's just say she had a "situationship" thing and now I wanna write angst anyways FUCKED YOU IN THE BATHROOM WHEN WE WENT TO DINNERRR

Katie loves the giver outfit. The plaid is something that Katie can't NOT love okay. The curls and whole country vibe really get her 

Lit loved the taxi dress. he recognizes cunt when he sees it and he cracks up at the green paint 

Nyssa loves the snl look but specifically with the hat the hats important okay. I think a kid of Hephaestus would really like this outfit bc of the rope things and um idk how to describe it you know what I mean tho okay 

Blitz absolutely adore the pink pony club outfit from chappells performance on snl. The seamless white dress that sparkles and looks like literal heaven is something that can't be hated by someone who loves fashion as much as blitz does. He loves the stripe of white in chappells wig and the bow on the side of her waist. Really the whole outfit is incredibly and he will not hesitate to tell you 

Georgie likes this look from either one of chappells tours or from when she opened for Olivia Rodrigo I cant remember but she loves the tassels (?) and the shininess and everything about it. This is the outfit an 8 year old would adore

Alabasters fav is this magician look from a photo shoot that I can't the remember the name of. Maybe a little cliche but shush

Ethan's favorite is this incredibly look that I have no idea what to call or where it's from. All I know is that Chappell is serving all sorts of things and Ethan agrees with me okay I'm literally Rick himself 

Shels favorite is the snl look but without the hat. She likes the waist pieces she says they look like butterflies and she really likes the slick back look of her hair and then the curls messy in the back. It's a vibe. 

Sams favorite is the look Chappell had on Sabrina carpenters Christmas special A Nonsense Christmas. There's two pics because I absolutely adore this look. She's so elegant wtf.

Lavinias favorite is the dress Chappell had on when she was invited to perform with Olivias Rodrigo at one of her concerts. It's pink it's flowery it's sparkly, what more could you ask for? 

Cecil would've tried to recreate this makeup look and he would've failed miserably. The tights really pull this outfit together. The neck ruffle, the flowers in her hair. Cecil loves everything about it.  

Calypsos favorite look is the Marie ann look with the wig because a) it absolutely eats and even this 6000 year old girl can recognize an icon and b) calypsos a sucker for the flower embroidery on the front 

Gwen would've loved this like I don't know anything about her but she feels like the kinda gal to be obsessed with marriage culture and not in a "I wanna get married and have a big beautiful wedding" way I mean a "I know every aspect of this, good and bad, and am willing to be the backbone of the failing society" way 

Rip Lou Ellen you would've loved kaleidoscope. Rick can you give Lou a book and then make her a tragic lesbian I would love that please and thank you. Also the freaking star clips in this outfit are fiahkajda. Btw this is chappells kaleidoscope outfit and yes it's lous fav and it's beautiful. 

paolos fav is the angel look. Basic? maybe. but stunning? yes

Zoes fav is this blue cowboy look. It's shiny and she likes the color blue. Also the sparkles kinda look like stars... whoa who said that whattt

Bianca's fav is this wonderful look that is glitching and the backgrounds gone my phone is about to explode I apologize. The detail on this is insane. The tassels hanging from every end, the points and curves that really give it that alternative and crazy look. Rip Bianca you wouldve loved the subway.  

Dionysus but Mr D specifically. He's a queer icon and he loves the other queer icons as well. This outfit from the guts would tour film premiere is his favorite  because of many reason. First is the red mesh the entire dress is made off. Chappells whole red aesthetic really does remind me of red wine and shit and also I'm just grasping for ways to connect this to Mr d so bear with me. Also the flowers on the dress are so freaking pretty usgajfjwhwh love those. The black boots contrast great with the rest of the outfit and I know Mr d would like that detail. Also the fact that her tits are almost out. yes Dionysus wouldve love you yes Chappell get it girl I love you

Luke's favorite is this look. I don't know where it's from but I think this reminds Luke of his mom. Maybe his mom liked animal print idk I just like this outfit

Junipers fav is this one and I also don't know where it's from. It's a simpler outfit than others but it's so adorable and juniper would love chappells aesthetic okay like juniper would be the biggest fan of California I just KNOW

and that's all I have. of course there's so many more looks and characters so if I missed anyone or a look you like feel free to request it I am bored out of my mind rn

part 2

[chigiriizz]

Koenma with a Very Feminine S/O Headcanons

Koenma might be the prince of Spirit World, but you're the queen of soft aesthetics, plushie mountains, and perfectly layered skincare. Whether you're dressing him up for fun or flooding his office with pastel charm, Koenma finds himself utterly enchanted by your sweet, girly world — and maybe even becoming part of it.

ೄྀ

At first? Internally panicked. You’re so elegant and adorable, and he’s constantly thinking, How did I get her?!

Loves watching you do your skincare routine — he’s mesmerized by how meticulous and graceful you are.

“What does essence mean in skincare? Wait, there’s a serum and a toner??”

Tries to follow your routine once and ends up with cream in his eye. You have to guide him step-by-step like a confused toddler.

Buys you luxury skincare products from both the Human and Spirit World just to see you smile.

Gets pouty when your plushie collection takes up half the bed. But lowkey? He names them and gives them personalities.

“No, no—don’t move Marshmallow-chan. She likes sleeping on my side now.”

Has a soft spot for your fashion sense. Whether it's pastel, frilly, or elegant, he always compliments you with, “You look breathtaking.”

If anyone mocks your style, he’ll go full-on prince mode and shut them down with scary calmness.

Holds your purse or shopping bags without complaint. “You're the queen. I’m just here to carry your kingdom.”

Buys you cute accessories you didn’t know you needed. “It reminded me of you. Pink. Sparkly. Perfect.”

LOVES when you dress him up — headbands, face masks, hand creams, matching nail polish. He grumbles, but secretly enjoys the attention.

Once let you paint his toenails while he reviewed Spirit World documents. He didn’t even flinch when Jorge walked in.

Always lets you decorate his space — his office has soft lighting, pink sticky notes, a pastel planner, and two plushies sitting on his desk.

Calls you pet names like “Princess,” “Angel,” and occasionally “My divine disaster” when you come home with another Sanrio plushie.

Lowkey loves couple selfies but acts like it’s a royal decree to take them: “As your prince, I must be documented beside your beauty.”

Gets flustered when you call him cute — he’s used to formality and politics, not being the subject of your soft praise.

Brings you flowers constantly, not just roses — but cherry blossoms, peonies, lilies, arranged with perfect care.

Secretly hoards photos of you in different outfits and keeps them stored in a secure Spirit World vault. (It’s backed up. Twice.)

Even in chaos, he pauses just to say, “I’m glad you’re here. The world’s brighter with you in it.”

[nanaarchy]

Hey. So. Reblogging this post again. I may or may not have spent the night doing... research.

Here's a list of every canonical Mr. Lancer fact.

And yes, I did re-watch the show for this. And re-read the comics.

No canonical first name. He's just Mr Lancer. Surname comes from a café near Nickelodeon HQ.

Crossdresses for fun, and then uses a photo on his desk of him crossdressing as emotional blackmail. Wore a red wig and a pink sparkly dress.

Owns a green tuxedo suit with a blue undershirt that he wears for prom events. Honestly pretty cute.

Huge fan of Shakespeare, and organizes the Casper High theater performances. Quotes plays a lot. Thinks Danny is a surprisingly good actor (when given a script. Danny can't improvise for the half-life of him).

Has both striped-pink and Shakespeare-themed underwear.

Super close to Jazz. She trusts him more than any other teacher, and he supported her every step of her education. She comes to him to talk about Danny. 10/10

"Ahh, everybody's mood has lifted, as though some gloomy malevolence has been shooed away. Your disappearing act worked marvelously," is an actual quote from the show. He unironically talks like this.

Despite being bald, he’s so hairy it's concerning. So much back hair. Shaves constantly.

Good friends (and silly rivals) with Tetslaff.

Has a Casper High Ravens coffee mug.

The staff alternates hosting the Halloween Haunted House every year. He thus has a very high tolerance to jumpscare horrors.

Hates pop music.

Literally suspended everyone who skipped class to go to Ember's show.

His license plate is “LNCR.” He drives an old blue car.

His biggest fear is not understanding basic math. Hates the sound of nails on a chalkboard.

Teaches English and History (and occasionally Maths). Also taught Astronomy as an elective. Might be an overall course coordinator? He's also the Vice Principal, right under Ishiyama.

Also, one of Lancer's main staff offices has security cameras, apparently? It's a very pink office with a globe and a few chairs. It shows up every few episodes in season 1 as a surprisingly consistent background. It's where he does his PTA meetings.

Was stuck in a closet for a whole weekend. RIP

Was the one that initiated school-wide ghost drills and actual ghost protection (even if the safety measures started off a little lame).

Collects tiny trains in his basement, and has a blue train conductor outfit to match. Calls the model town “Lancerville.”

The first male cheerleader at Casper High, and possibly the district. Main organizer of Spirit Week, and full of school spirit.

Loves meat, and made a BBQ for the teachers when Sam insisted on the vegan menus. This was, I might note, right before ghosts first showed up.

Handcuffed C.A.T test answers to his wrist.

Was honestly really disrespectful towards minimal wage jobs, especially those that worked at the Nasty Burger. Not cool, Lancer.

In the TUE timeline, was forgotten after he died :(

Swears in book titles. All books are context-relevant, so that the themes, characters, or double meanings of the title apply to the situation.

Buys his own Christmas gifts. Also, he has a fireplace, and his living room is so brown.

Horrible reputation amongst students, mostly because they think he's very lame. Really bad at addressing bullying, somewhat because he also suffers it. He's constantly busy with students calling him for stuff.

Has a metal plate with his name to make his desk look fancy. Also has a framed photo with three rebel students, which might imply he used to be a foster parent or something of sort.

Commits tax fraud! All adults in Amity Park do. I'm led to believe it's to cover up the financial costs of ghost disasters, but the reason is never confirmed. Also openly refuses to cooperate with the feds (GIW) until they threaten him with his tax crimes. Love that he's anti-fed. Good for him.

Canonically a pro gamer. Loves old sci-fi and talks to himself while gaming. Beat the main trio. Goes to the arcade when he can.

Honestly pretty biased at first; especially towards the jocks, because of aforementioned hyper school spirit. He also gave the worst detentions, including physical labor. Behavior improved as the series progressed, thank goodness.

Happiest when he sees his students succeed. He is so proud of them, he wants nothing but the best for them in life. He actively tries to help them study and gives them so many chances. Amazing.

Led the school trip with Tetslaff. She made him wear a bear costume "to keep the kids happy and take their minds off the disappearances." He did it without hesitation. He was SO concerned for students when they started disappearing :(

Reads books on teenage behavior and teen jargon, such as "How to Sound Hip for the Unhip." That's very skibidi rizz, no cap.

Loved dry white toast. Of course he does.

Genuinely concerned Danny wasn't eating enough. Also went out of his way to make sure that Danny got to the safe area during a ghost attack.

Tried to roll a boulder up a hill like Sisyphus and almost succeeded.

Uses a fire extinguisher to protect his students from a monster. Hell yeah.

Also used to be paid per grade, which is in itself a terrible system. Thus sees his students' failures as a measurable reflection of his own.

Has a very nice bathroom at home, actually. It's teal with some checkered patterns and a deconstructed flower painting. Good design.

Helped run Dora's beauty pageant, which went horribly wrong in every way. Has three lines in that episode and he speaks Old English the entire time??

Also tried to start a school radio, which also went horribly wrong.

Used to like the Fenton parents, but not as much now, both for letting Danny "slack off" and repeatedly targeting him with ghost weapons.

Surprisingly, almost as tall as Jack Fenton.

Take this, use it for any blorbo reasons.

I'm so obsessed with canon Mr. Lancer. He's a gamer. He dresses in drag. He's fat with lots of body hair. He has a vanity plate of his own last name. He was Casper High's first male cheerleader. He's committed tax fraud

[sweetchup]

💌Love/Hate💌

Type: Pariston Hill x Reader

Prompts: Soulmate Au (Colorblind) + 7– Innocent/Corruption Kink

Author Note: OMG I am so so so sorry this took so long. I’m not sure what it was but my brain couldn’t write for Pariston. Like it was if the zodiacs took over and put it into a total shut down mode. It was insane. (ALSO Small warning, this is Pariston and, as expected, he’s an abusive dick)

(Valentine’s Day Masterlist)

When you had first accepted the job of being randomly assigned someone’s secretary, you hadn’t expected to be assigned to the CEO of a high end tech company. You mean, who in the world would have known that by just calling a flyer on a street corner would have led to working with someone so prestigious.

It almost sounded too good to be true!

….And, you wished you hadn’t jinxed yourself in that moment. The CEO of that high end tech company actually turned out to be only 21, having inherited the company from his father. He was not only a spoiled brat and a player but, my god, was he lazy. You were sure that if you hadn’t spent hours on the phone discussing ideas with his father and done all the paperwork for him, that the company would be in ruins before someone could say “We’re broke!”.

Though, no matter how hard you worked your ass off these past couple months, nothing could prepare you for this moment.

“Dear god someone help me…”

You and his father had told him many times over this week. On February 14 at noon, you have an important meeting with the Hunter Association. You can’t miss it.

But, of course, that lazy ass was running late. By 45 minutes to be exact.

“Miss (y/n), is Mr Avoli going to be showing up any time soon? It isn’t like him to be late.”

… And it surely didn’t help that you were standing in the meeting room, waiting for him with the Hunters Association's very own Zodiacs.

Shamefully, you turn to the doglike woman who had introduced herself as ‘Cheadle’ earlier and give an apologetic bow, “I-I deeply apologize. You see Mr Avoli's son, Hunter Avoli, recently took over the company. I reminded him constantly this past week about the meeting but I’m afraid he may have forgotten...”

“Oh that guy.” You hear the monkey zodiac ‘Saiyu’ spit out in disgust, “He is almost as bad as that dirt bag, Ging.”

“It’s not a problem Miss (y/n). I’ve met Hunter many times before so I’ve seen first hand how unprofessional he acts. This is clearly not your fault.” Cheadle reassures, giving you enough confidence to lift your head up from bowing to look at her as some of the Zodiacs complain in the background.

As you stare at the grayish colored woman, you can’t help but wonder what color she was wearing. Due to you still not having found your soulmate, you can only see the color of your soulmate’s eye color. Which, in your case, was brown. A chocolate brown to be exact.

And, usually dogs were brownish in color so you kind of wondered what color Miss Chealde chose instea—

“We are still waiting on the chairman and two other zodiacs so why don’t you take the chance to try and give Hunter a call.” Mizaistom, the ox zodiac, suggests suddenly.  

“O-oh of course. Thank you very much Miss Cheadle, Mr Mizaistom. I’ll be very quick— Eep!”

Oh god why me?

Just as you made your way to the door to exit the room, someone on the other side had already swung it open. Making you, in pure surprise and shock, take a step backwards. Though, just like how your day is going so far, Luck truly didn’t seem to be on your side as you end up tripping on your own two feet and begin to fall backwards.

You expected to land hard on the cold tile floor in front of everyone, extremely embarrassing really, but instead you don’t. You still hit something firm and hard but… it was different. Actually, now that you think about it, you felt higher up than you were before…

“Ah, Ging this is why I said you shouldn’t barge into rooms so suddenly! You scared our poor guest!” A voice suddenly calls out from behind you, his breath slightly tickling the shell of your ear. Quickly, in surprise, you whip your head around to—

…Shit.

As your eyes lock with the male’s chocolate brown ones the room suddenly bursts into a flurry of color. Blues, reds, greens, maybe yellows? You honestly didn’t know the proper names for all the colors you were seeing for the first time. However, in all this chaos, you happened to know two things.

One, That you had just met your soulmate and Two,...

… it was none other than the Vice Chairman himself, Pariston Hill.

“Oh my! How unexpected!” Pariston chuckles out, causing what seems to be sparkles to pop out around him, “I never thought our guest here today would end up being my soulmate. Not at all!”

“I—“ “Shut up Rat!”

You freeze as something suddenly comes flying past your head. What the fuck...

“You have a soulmate? Not a Chance! Not a Chance! Not a Chance!”

“Quit joking.”

“I doubt the King Of Kickbacks would have an ordinary soulmate.”

It was as if a bomb had erupted in the room, everyone was in pure disbelief at what Pariston had just said, Suggested, he even had (Well everyone except Ging, of course). Hell, some of them haven’t even found their own soulmates yet. So, why did the heartless ass Rat get to have one?!

“I assure you, I’m speaking the truth. Why would I lie about something like this?”

We can think of many reasons…

“U-uh…” You suddenly speak out, slightly flinching as everyone’s attention turns to you, “He is telling the truth… I saw colors other than brown for the first time when we locked eyes.”

“See!” Pariston says happily, pulling you affectionately closer to him in his hold. As you are flustered by the act from the handsome man, he takes the chance to walk to what you believe is in the direction of an empty seat. However, you soon realize that wasn’t what he was intending as he walked right by it and leaves through the other door located in the room.

“Hey Rat!! Where do you think you are GOING!?!” The tigerlike man screeches out, storming through the door you two just left as well.

��Well, I’m going to spend time with my soulmate of course.” Pariston exclaims, his smile not even flinching as bloodlust from the other zodiacs creeps out from the room.

“As if I—“ Suddenly, a loud chuckle behind you rings out, cutting Kanzai off.

“C-Chairman Netero!” You squeak out in surprise at the older man. Oh god, what a disaster. As someone trying to make a deal to him, this looks bad. So bad.

“My, what a twist!” The Chairman rings out, stroking his beard as he thinks as he walks past you two. “Hmm… You and (y/n) can be excused from today’s meeting, Pariston.”

“B-But, Chairman!” Kanzai rebuts. Soon shutting up however as the chairman grabs onto the collar of his jersey.

“It only makes sense to give them alone time, Kanzai. We will just call Mr Aloisi for the meeting instead of having (y/n) give it to us.” Netero explains, giving you a small wink as he drags Kanzai as if he was some kitty cat back into the meeting room.

What a strange group…

As you sit there stunned at everything that has happened so far, you don’t realize Pariston has already begun walking again. It takes you a while to realize as well, precisely the loud sound of the door of his private office being closed. He must have walked pretty fast…

“A-ah. Umm you can put me down now.” You mumble out to the… Blonde man (unable to tell if that was the correct color).

“Hmm. What was that?” Pariston asks, as if he didn’t quite hear you from before.

“Oh. I was wondering if you could put me down.” You tell him again. Shit, the way you said that came out bad. “I-I mean I’m really appreciative of you saving me but you are likely getting tired of holding me and I can walk on my own.”

“Oh!”

You expected at that exclamation that Pariston would instantly put you down to the floor, but instead he walks over to his deck and places you down in front of that. Odd, but you don’t question the sparkly man.

Speaking of odd, as you looked around the room, you realized it was really cold in here. Much colder than the conference room and hallway. God, what a bad day to wear a skirt but no tights. Especially those insulated ones you recently bought.

“Are you Cold?” Pariston suddenly voices up, causing you to turn behind you to look at him. He still hadn’t moved from his spot right behind you.

“A-ah yes I am. I don’t want to be a bother but could you possibly turn it down a couple of notches?” You ask, taking a step back a little to give a little bit of space between you two.

“I’m afraid I can’t. My thermostat broke this morning.” Pariston exclaims, his smile turning into a bit of a frown. However, that didn’t last long as he soon had a full blown out smile again. “But, I do have my jacket that I wore to work this morning. It should be… Ah! There it is! Right on the seat of my chair if you want to grab it.”

“Oh.. thank you.” You give Pariston a small smile before leaning over the desk to grab the brown coat.

You couldn’t wrap your head around it but for some odd reason you didn’t feel fully comfortable around him. Which was even weirder because you didn’t understand what was causing it. Shouldn’t you naturally feel comfortable around your soulmate?

Perhaps, you just needed to get to know him better. That’s likely it. Your just nervous since he was supposed to be your clien—

“Ah!” You let out a yelp as you feel pressure and sharp pain in your lower regions. At first, you thought it was perhaps a weird cramp or something like that. However, once you fully grasped what you were feeling, you realized you were just trying to make yourself believe that.

“Oh whoops! Tight. Tight. That must have hurt.” Pariston chuckles out, rocking his hips back and forth as his eyes watched his cock disappear and reappear out of your hole. Harshly letting go of the strap of your panties that he had pulled aside to watch as an ever so slight bit of blood comes out in your slick. Delighted to see such results.

“P-Pariston. Please be gentle.” You gasp out, turning yourself by your waist to place a hand on the man’s chest. Ever so slightly fisting the fabric of his suit when he suddenly gave a really hard thrust. “Let’s slow down… too soon…”

“How come? I thought you said you were grateful to me right?” Pariston teased out, pulling your hand off his suit as well as pushing your front down against the desk. Making it so you were trapped underneath him.

“I-I am but—“ “Shh… I’m only taking my reward!”

However, even with your constant pleas for him to be slower, gentler, Pariston continued his actions. Watching you grow more and more wet as that uncomfortable burning sensation suddenly turned into pure ecstasy.

It was perfect…

Pressed down against the desk, unable to move as you were essentially being taken advantage of by him. Your very own soulmate.

It was embarrassing, agonizing and traumatizing.

Surely, you hated him. You despised him.

Having waited long enough, Pariston decided to finally pull out and flip you over so he could see you and the results of his hard work. “Now, Now my dear. It’s not so—“

Pariston feels himself blink a couple of times.

Oh… So, you were one of those types huh?

It was if you were some humanized version of a golden retriever. Your eyes that were supposed filled with terror or hatred were still as sparkly and innocent before you began. You were loyal to him to a fault and he honestly doubted you could bring it in your heart to even hate him.

It was annoying but it wasn’t that big of a problem. He could always break you in other ways.

However, that’s not exactly what was troubling him right now.

Fluttering? Or, Bubbles?

Whatever it was, he didn’t understand why he was feeling this sort of way. Especially seeing you look at him like that. With that love filled look…

“Pariston…” You mumble out, your voice slightly slurred. “Are you okay? Are you done?”

Are you okay?

Those three words ring in Pariston’s head. Eventually, causing him to break his composure and let out a light laugh.

“Aw. Did I leave you high and dry? Here I’ll fix that.” Pariston calls out. A slight shiver going up his spine as he hears you let out a small moan as he slips back into your dripping cunt.

You know what, he didn’t care how strange you were making him feeling.

Whether you looked at him with loved dazed eyes…

Or cried out how much you hated him with those kissable lips of yours.

Either way, he would enjoy every bit of playing with you. You had the rest of your miserable lives to try it out after all.

[utterlyinevitable]

5,30 for Ethan x MC throw in all the angst you can ! Thank u 💖

5. things you didn’t say at all 30. things I wish you’d said

From the things you said prompt list. Send me a pairing and number and I’ll write a mini fic!

this fic has gotten way longer than intended.... 

---

Narcissus Sent a Package

Rebecca Lao walked to the Diagnostics Office ready for her shift. She was overjoyed that things started to become semi-normal between her and Ethan after she called him a diva and spoiled brat outside their patient’s house two days ago. She was thankful the awkward tension dissipated. 

Through the glass door she could see, sitting on the round table, where the team of Baz, Becca, June and Ethan met multiple times a day to deliberate on cases, was a basket. A gift basket of a large bouquet of flowers and a box wrapped prettily with a bow. 

The air around the office became strained almost immediately upon Becca’s arrival. 

June stood at the table and immediately turned to the resident, manicured thin eyebrows raised, as she walked in. Ethan was sat at his desk, attention on whatever lay before him. Baz was in a chair eying the basket with an embossed card addressed to the youngest member of the team. 

“You have an admirer,” he spoke. Baz’s eyes were alight with intrigue - this was the most interesting thing to happen in months. 

Becca’s brows furrowed together. Since when did anyone send gifts to the team? Who did she know that would send such a display? 

She crossed the distance to inspect the gift basket. As she reached for the card she got a waft of sweetness from the fresh flowers - A bouquet of sweet pea and daffodil. The pinks and purples and yellows really complimented one another, and looked so out of place in the minimally modern room. 

To herself, Becca read the words on the thick, definitely expensive, ivory card printed in black calligraphy;  

Dr. R ‘2nd is the best’. But I like to think third time’s the charm. Looking forward to it.  - T

The color drained from her face. 

He wouldn’t. 

The entire drunken escapade from weeks prior came rushing back to her all at once;

She knew she shouldn’t indulge another endeavor with the handsome stranger. It was a disaster waiting to happen. God, she hated the way this man smiled - like he was a python devouring her whole. But in the dim light of Donahue’s, Bryce’s encouraging winks and nods from a few stools down, and the free drinks pouring, maybe a dance with the devil was exactly what she needed. A bit of mind numbing sex never hurt anybody, right?

No; 

This wouldn’t hurt Becca, or him, but in time it would hurt Ethan.

'Caroline’ downed her drink and gave Reggie the signal for another shot. Tobias and she clinked glasses as she weighed her options one final time. 

Then they made their way to the bathroom. 

Her eyes flitted from the card to the purposeful gift and back again. 

He did. 

And the intention behind it washed over her. 

Shit.

“Wow, Becca. I didn’t think you had it in you,” June appraised, pulling the resident back to the room of awaiting bystanders. 

Becca folded the card back up and placed it far away from the others reach. “What?” she responded, slightly dazed by this complete and utter spectacle laid out before her - the brazen flaunt of distrust.   

June’s tight smile was all too telling. “Tobias,” she nodded towards the card and raised her eyebrows, “I’m impressed.” 

Of course she read the card first. 

As much as Becca wanted to smack that smirk off of Dr. Hirata’s face she refrained. It wasn’t worth making a scene. The damage was already done. June pulled the trigger with that transparent remark. 

Of course she purposefully said his name out loud.

A pager cut through the gross tension coating the diagnostics office. It was Baz’s and he wordlessly fled the scene. 

“Excuse me,” June left the room in his wake, leaving the inevitable drama to unfold. 

Body tense, Becca hesitantly moved to the present. It was weighted, much too heavy to be a box of chocolates. Stupidly, she stole a glance at Ethan. He was sitting straight up, body turned from her, face stoic and doing his best to be uninterested.  

She went to pull back the glossy purple paper, revealing the gift. Becca managed to uncover it halfway before everything clicked. 

Staring back at her was a sparkly, aged bottle of amber scotch. 

“I...” she pulled the rest of the paper back to reveal the name. 

Fuck. 

“I don’t think this was meant for me.” 

Her words were loud and clear and ringing off the furniture, vibrating all around him. 

And Ethan’s cover was blown; 

“Wha-” he finally looked over at her, curiosity getting the better of him.  

She turned to him and held up the box, “It’s your favorite.” 

He didn’t miss the regret in her eyes. It was a darker amber than the expensive liquid she held. Her tight lips, pressed together and the light flush on her cheeks told him it was true. 

The woman he fell for was involved with Tobias Carrick. 

Ethan moved across the office quickly and with intention, coming just close enough to Becca to inspect the bottle. He did his best to keep a semblance of space between them.  

He held the box in his hands. Inspecting. Deliberating. Letting his mind draw up as many conclusions has possible. 

Her voice cut through, “I didn’t even tell him my real name.”

It was an decibel above a whisper, and not the consolation she meant it to be.

Ethan’s eyes were trained on the scotch. His features unmoving and frozen in place. The only sign of life was the small rise and fall of his chest as he attempted to swallow the lump in his throat.      

Becca wished she hadn’t said anything. Wished that she just took the bouquet and unopened scotch back to her locker so no one had to know her personal business. More than anything, she wished she didn’t do it. She wished she let Tobias Carrick stay that nameless man in the club and pretended not to remember him at Donahue’s that night. 

“Why on earth would you sleep with my ex-best friend, my rival?” It was more rhetorical than anything.  

“We hooked up that’s all.”   

They didn’t have sex. Thank God. 

They were interrupted by loud rapping on the door and Reggie’s voice calling for them to “get another room”. As they put their shirts back on, and Becca was free from Tobias’ warmth between her legs, realization set in. Her heart wasn’t in it. She couldn’t do it. Becca denied going home with him and hoped to never see him again. 

Unfortunately for her work forced their hands.   

Ethan couldn’t help but let the a few careful emotions seep through as he barked, “What does that even mean? What does this mean?” He pointed between the flowers and the scotch. 

Becca could feel the bottled up anger emanating off of him. And frankly, it pissed her off. 

Ethan chose to sever any romantic ties they could have had in the name of her professional growth and ethics. It was his choice. As much as Becca didn’t agree, she respected his decision. She’s tried so hard to move on. 

“Okay,” She held up her pointer finger ready to unleash the truth. “The first time I had no idea who he was! He was some rando at a club.”

It took everything in Ethan, every morsel of self control, to keep from asking when the first time was. When she first succumbed to his rival and how many times there were after that. How long after they slept together the night of her hearing did she jump into bed with someone else? How long after kissing him his first night back did she invalidate every single thing she ever said about wanting him? 

He’d rather know about her salacious escapes with the scalpel jockey than with the likes of Tobias Carrick.

“And we did fool around in the bathroom at a bar a few weeks,” Becca continued her explanation on how she came to know the olive skinned stranger. “Then at the Bloom’s it clicked.”  

During her entire soliloquy Ethan didn’t falter. He didn’t even acknowledge her person. His mind moved faster than her explanations. He dissected every word falling tastelessly off her tongue. He weighed the truth of each sentence and collected every scenario hiding in the subtext.  

Becca watched as he mulled. At least, she assumed, he was marinating and assessing her words. Ethan was a statue in front of her. Eyes darker than she’s ever seen and hollow. Devoid of emotion as they stayed locked on the offending item in his white-knuckled hands.  

She wished he would say something, anything. Any words, even venomous ones, would be better than the sullen look on his face. 

Becca thought things were getting better between them; she thought they were making progress. All their differences aside, they were getting along. They were becoming better friends. Becca was one of the rare few people Ethan could actually trust. 

And now... 

With a rueful huff he unceremoniously freed the bottle of its confines. 

Ethan’s mind was reeling - racing a mile a minute as their bodies stood frozen in place. As their bodies protected themselves.

First she weasels her way into his life, driving him to distraction and making him fall for her. She frazzled his mind with intrusive thoughts of her, so strong he needed a sabbatical. Then she’s dismantling the fundamentals of his team, everything he and his mentor worked their careers to build. Now, he feels as if he never really knew her at all. 

Tobias Carrick always coveted everything Ethan Ramsey had; even after their medical school years ended, the distain still existed. Ethan could handle it all - every single dig and undermining being thrown his way. He learned to rise above the schemes every time Tobias tried and failed to outdo him. Ethan Ramsey was capable of moving on, forgetting everything without a second thought. 

Everything except for this. 

This was the one thing he could never overcome. She was the one thing Tobias could win at. 

It never even crossed Ethan’s mind that Tobias could have her too. Even worse were the thoughts of how Tobias could have found her. Did the universe bring them together just as he assumed it divinely brought her into his life? Was he always destined to have to fight with Tobias for all he earned? 

Ethan noted how he could never be narcissistic enough to send a one-night stand a gift basket.

Yet what made Ethan stir the most was how unashamed and brash the gesture was. Aside from the subtext, Ethan could never bring himself to send the woman of his affections flowers - their dynamic was far too complicated for Ethan to send Becca a token of appreciation. 

So he grasped the bottle firmly by the neck and pulled it out of the box with an unsatisfying creak. 

With one blind, emotional action Becca had unknowingly ruined everything they had or could ever be. Ethan Ramsey will never come second to Tobias Carrick. Ethan may have had Becca first, but with her dubious action she made her choice. 

It wasn’t him. 

He carried the bottle back to his desk and sat down.  

“What’re you doing?” Becca questioned from the place she’d been stuck standing in for what felt like eons. Her eyes blinked rapidly as if what she’s been experiencing was just a nightmare and at some point she’ll wake up. 

But this wasn’t an illusion. They both knew that. 

This was how it ended. 

How something that barely even began washed away with the stream of regret.  

“Exactly what Tobias intended,” he half-shrugged. Bending down, pulled out a crystal tumbler from the lower drawer of his desk. “I’m drinking it.”

The nonchalance of his tone scared her. It was late afternoon and Ethan Ramsey was about to have a drink. 

She was about to comment when he spoke first; 

“You’re dismissed.” 

It was definitive. 

He cracked open the bottle and poured a hearty serving, spinning around in his chair to look at the x-rays he’s already seen just so that his back was fully to her. 

Becca wanted to speak, to say something to make things better. 

It was a mistake. 

Back in those days she needed something, anything, to help her get over her all consuming feelings for Ethan and thought Tobias could help - that a random stranger could help numb the pain just a bit longer. 

She wanted to tell Ethan everything - every single thing that led her to the moment of weakness. 

But what was the point in telling him how much his disappearance and constant rejections hurt her? How many times can she tell him she’s fallen in love with him and her heart breaks every time they can’t be together? How she regretted the stranger the moment he had his hand up her skirt. How in the middle of Bloom’s living room her heart stopped beating when Tobias came to light and he learned of her true identity. 

How could she apologize for all of that? 

She was sorry, but sorry wouldn’t change the past. 

It couldn’t change anything. 

________________________________________

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[bungeegumsurprise]

(Headcanon) Super Fluff!: Benimaru, Obi, Hinawa, Karim x Reader As a Cat

What your life as a cat would be like if your owner was Benimaru, Obi, Hinawa, or Karim.

Original Request:

A/N: I made this as fluffy as I could XD Reader is a different kitten for each one. :)

Benimaru

How you met:

-He was sitting out on the patio in the backyard of the guardhouse, taking a break from filling out boring paperwork while snacking on some fresh mochi.

-He was about to take another bite when he heard something rustling in the bushes and paused to look over towards the tall wooden fence.

-He could hear something faintly meowing, as he leaned forward and squinted his eyes. 

-You had wandered in from your owner’s yard, which happened to be home to the same grandma that had made him the mochi.

-That’s when he saw a small fluffy ball of half-light grey and half white fur, crawl out from underneath the bushes. 

-When he called her over to take you back home, she said that her son had recently gotten you after getting married, but it turned out his wife was allergic to cats and had no choice but to look for a new owner.

-The grandma said she was simply too old and frail to take care of a cat, and had insisted that Benimaru was somehow destined to be the one to take care of you. 

Random Facts:

-At first, he liked being left alone in peace and quiet when duty wasn’t calling him, and actually wasn’t too keen on keeping something that would keep nagging in his ear for attention.

-But to his surprise, you were actually a good nap buddy.

-Whenever he would lie down to get some shut eye, you would quietly circle around your spot once, before curling into a ball and cuddling up against his side or climbing onto his chest, sometimes letting out the occasional yawn before you closed your eyes and drifted off together.

-He also thinks it’s cute how you stretch out your arms and limbs after waking up, and he’ll actually ask you if you had a good nap.

-If you did: You’d meow, and he’ll pat your fur from the middle of your forehead down to your tail.

-If you didn’t: You’d let out another yawn, and he’ll tell you to go back to sleep with him.

-Both of you like it when he lets you crawl into his haori, riding shotgun to wherever he has to go next (that is kitten safe of course).

-You guys played hide-n-seek once and he got worried when he turned the entire guardhouse upside down and still couldn’t find you.

-You actually fell asleep in the laundry basket when Konro found you.

-That’s how you ended up with a little golden bell dangling from the middle of your light blue collar.

-He thinks that dried cat food is like eating dried rabbit poop (idk how he knows this), and that wet cat food smells like spoiled fish.

-So he has Konro make your daily meals with only the freshest and healthiest ingredients for his, “little princess.” (He named you “princess” but only adds the ‘little,’ when you’re both alone, because everyone else would guarantee not to let him hear the end of it if they did.)

-He likes feeding you the juicy and sweet strawberries from the center of his daifuku, to which you happily oblige.

-He likes staring at you while playing with your ears. 

Obi

How you met:

-Despite how he looked, he was more of a cat person.

-He was at the local pet store to pick up more food for his pet goldfish when he saw you speeding around the other cats in a game of tag, in the little playpen the store’s owner had set up near the entrance.

-He liked how this adorable creamsicle-furred kitten was so carefree and happily playing around with its friends.

-You were like the little ball of energy he needed in his mundane bachelor life. 

Random Facts:

-He likes how your brightly colored fur looks even more orange in the sunlight.

-He got you an orange colored collar to match the color of your fur and the fact that you liked the smell of oranges.

-You like it when he feeds you wedges of sweet tangerines from time to time.

-He named you “mittens” because of your fluffy white paws.

-You like sitting on his stomach or on top of the barbell when he’s working out.

-He got you your very own cat wheel so you work out with him.

-He always buys you the newest cat toys.

-You like riding on top of the Roomba when it’s vacuum day.

-You like it when he takes you to work with him because Shinra and Maki are the only ones besides Obi, that can keep up and play with you until it’s time to go home.

-You like bathing in the sunlight while he’s out on the front yard or at the beach, trying to get his tan on.

-He’s actually pretty good at skateboarding, and you like riding between his feet on the board.

-He’s trying to get you to ride with him on a surfboard, but you don’t see that happening any time soon.

-You earned the nickname “speed racer,” from the time you were running around the office and zoomed across all the desks, sending the paperwork flying all over the place.

-Both of you like it when you’re both at home sitting on the sofa and he puts on a good action movie.

-Both of you agree that the “Rush Hour” movie series, are your favorite movies to watch over and over again.

Hinawa

How you met:

-Your previous owners had turned infernals and sadly died when company seven was the ones to put them to rest.

-Hinawa rescued you from your burning home.

-You were feeling scared, lonely, and sad as Hinawa carried you out; and the way you looked up at him with your big round eyes, he couldn’t bear to give you up to the local animal shelter. 

Random Facts:

-He named you “angel” because of the disaster you miraculously survived, and because of your pure white fur.

-Hinawa lets you pick your collar for the day, between either the white or pink one, both with a small metal heart hanging from the middle.

-He was patient with letting you adjust to him and your new home.

-He actually took a week off from work to spend time with you.

-You loved the smell of the delicious food he would cook both at home and at work, and had your own designated space on the counter so you could watch.

-He would place your homemade cat-friendly food in the pretty dishes he had bought for you.

-He would always say that, “taste is half the battle, the other half is presentation.”

-You like crawling under his hats and walking around with them.

-You like crawling around his paperwork and keyboard when he looks like he could use a break.

-He sighed at first, but found it cute how you walked into the stamp pad filled with black ink, and left your paw prints all over the place.

-He likes uploading photos onto the company website, of just you, or with small random objects on your head.

-Both of you like it when you nap on his lap while he’s reading manga at home or at a manga café that allows pets.

-If they don’t, he’ll try to sneak in with you under his hat, claiming it’s a hat that happens to look like a cat is sleeping under it.

Karim

How you met:

-His neighbor’s cat had given birth, and he went there with the intention of only dropping off some blankets he no longer needed.

-He kneeled down to spread them out onto the ground, when a new born kitten with fur that looked like a caramel mocha latte, shakily crawled towards him with its eyes still closed.

-“Aww, I think she likes you.” Karim wasn’t the best with animals, completely disagreeing with the owner’s statement; when you decided to crawl onto his lap, and meowed so preciously.

-He sat like an ice sculpture not knowing what to do, when the owner scooped you up in her hands and showed Karim how to hold you.

-When you licked his face and purred as he held you, he was in kitty love. 

Random Facts:

-He took FOREVER trying to come up with your name.

-The old man that was in charge of engraving a pet’s name on their collar at the pet store, said it was confusing if Karim kept repeating the same name on the collar, and because 20 letters would no way fit.

-He finally settled on “brownie,” because of the color of your furred patches.

-He bought you a grayish-blue collar because it matched the color of his hair, and added a little sparkly star accessory to your collar.

-He asked the veterinarian almost a 100 questions because he had no idea of how to take care of a cat.

-He isn’t as nervous as a wreck as he was before with taking care of you.

-After a few years, you were just the right size to crawl from one of his shoulders to the other, and settled on sitting on his head.

-He could watch you run around his room all day.

-Both of you like it when he lets you lie down on his pillow, as you curl into the crook of his neck, and he turns on some soft music for you.

-Though he can’t feed you chocolate like your namesake, he’ll feed you frozen berries and thinks it’s cute how some of the juice from the berries got on parts of your white fur; making you look like a “berried kitty berry.”

-Captain Burns has a big soft spot for you, and likes to play with you when he should be working.

[silver--storms]

Portland

Okay Sammy Anon here it is, sorry it took me so long I just wasn’t happy with my original draft so I started over. I hope you like where I went with it.

Shoutout to my babe @sparrowof-thedawn​ for being my Bae-ta. ;)

Warnings: None, it’s so fluffy it’ll rot your teeth.

WC: 3.8k

It was a Saturday afternoon, you were in your apartment lounging on the couch, waiting for a new video to upload to your YouTube channel, when you receive a message on your instagram.

Hello y/n, I am writing you on behalf of Greta Van Fleet. Jake Kiszka recently listened to your debut EP, which he shared with the band, and they really liked what they heard. The band is playing a ten show run across the West Coast in a month and their opening act had to cancel. We wanted to extend the opportunity to you to join them. Please get back to us as soon as possible to make arrangements, if you are interested in accepting this invitation. Thank you.

You sat there, heart pounding out of your chest, in shock at the thought of Greta Van Fleet even knowing you existed, let alone liking your music.

Without hesitation, or even taking a moment to process what you just read, you accepted the offer. 

Grinning ear to ear, you called your mom telling her the news.

 “I’m so for you happy y/n, but are you ready for what comes with this? At most the largest crowd you’ve played for has been 200 tops.” 

You felt the air leave your body “Oh my god, you’re right. What did I just say yes to?”

You spent the next few weeks practicing five hours every day to nail down a small setlist and different elements you could incorporate into some sort of stage presence. Going as far as recording yourself for hours on end, mercilessly criticizing yourself, trying for perfection. 

You went shopping with your best friend Alix to find some outfits that were easily interchangeable to add variety to your stage clothes without having to travel with multiple bags. You picked things like a colorful sparkly blazer, some see through button up blouses and, of course, the staple ripped black skinny jean that Jake Kiszka himself would approve of. 

The day came to fly out to Portland to meet the band before your first show the next day. You were relieved when you found out you had a day before jumping right into the shows to be able to get to know them. 

When you arrived at Portland International Airport everything was going to plan, you even made it there a few minutes early. However things took a turn when you arrived at the baggage claim to find out the airline had lost your luggage. You were mortified, as this only left you with your guitar and carry on bag containing just the essentials. 

Panicked and filled with anxiety,  you left your contact information with the airline in case your bags turned up in the next day or so that you’d be in the area. But you knew it was unlikely they’d find the luggage in time for your first show tomorrow night. 

You exited the airport and searched for the description the band’s management gave you of your driver and the license plate number. There was no driver fitting the description, no one holding a sign and no matching plate. 

You tried to calm yourself down “Maybe he is running late, I am a couple minutes early, wait it out.” 

You waited for another thirty minutes before you broke down and called the manager, with no success. You spiraled into full blown panic as you hailed a cab and gave them the address of the hotel you and the band were staying at. 

When you arrived at the hotel you were over an hour late. Heart racing, you hustled into the lobby heading for the front desk. 

As you checked in with the clerk, you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror off to the side of the desk. You looked rough, hair disheveled and makeup smeared from tears of frustration you had tried to suppress in the back of the cab on the way here. 

All checked in you grabbed the key to your room and stepped over to the mirror to quickly try to freshen up your appearance. Fussing with your hair and reapplying some lipstick in an attempt to salvage any chance of a good first impression. 

“This is as good as it’s going to get” you mutter to yourself. 

Just then you heard familiar voices as you glanced over your shoulder. You saw the twins, Josh and Jake sitting at the hotel bar laughing about something between themselves. 

Your hands began to shake as you grabbed your guitar and carry on, quickly walking towards the bar, when you collided with a boy. 

You watched as your guitar slid out of your hands, flying into the air, when the boy lurched forward, almost diving, to catch the guitar inches from the ground. 

“Holy shit!” you let out a sigh of relief as you practically snatched your guitar back, holding it close to your chest. 

You looked up at the boy “Thank yo-” you stopped mid-sentence when you realized who he was, Sam Kiszka, the youngest of the band. 

You were starstruck and at a loss of words. You never really gave Sam much thought. But being inches from him, you finally took him in. 

You found yourself in a daze, staring into his bedroom eyes. You were completely mesmerized.

 You felt your face growing warm and palms become sweaty “Oh my god, hi, I’m so sorry I ran into you like that, I really need to pay more attenti-” 

Sam interrupted you “It’s okay, no worries.” he laughed. “I’m Sam, I’m assuming you’re y/n?” 

You smiled at the fact he knew your name “Yes, it’s nice to meet you. I was just heading over to introduce myself to your brothers at the bar.” 

Sam waved his arm motioning towards the bar “After you”.

Sam introduced you to his brothers, Jake and Josh, who were everything you thought they’d be. Jake, who was more timid, but very sweet. Where Josh was very vocal and had this passion behind each word. The four of you made polite small talk, Jake complimenting your EP and you expressing how excited you were to be here. 

“Wait, where are the rest of your bags?” said Josh. 

You let out a defeated sigh “Well you see…” you explained the trials and tribulations of the baggage claim disaster and the no-show driver to which the boys all apologized for the mix up with the transportation. “Yeah it just sucks because I’m not sure what I’m going to wear now for tomorrow’s show.” 

Jake said he’d talk to management and see if there was anything they could do for you. 

Josh stood up from the bar “Well let’s go up to the rooms, we have to wake up Danny anyways, he’s only been napping for over two hours.” He rolled his eyes.

As you entered the elevator, Sam offered to take your carry on, swinging it over his shoulder “You know, we have a couple interviews lined up for this afternoon, but after that I think we’re free?” 

You looked at Sam with a confused expression. 

“Portland has some of the best thrift shops, we could always hit a couple to find you some new stage clothes.”

You noticed Josh crossed his arms and exchanged looks with Jake smiling at each other. Before you dissect what they were thinking the elevator arrived at your floor, turning your attention back to Sam “Yeah, that sounds great!” Sam smiled at you as the elevator came to a stop. 

 As soon as the door opened Josh bolted and ran down the hall to their room to bust through the door, screaming at Danny to wake up. 

Within seconds Josh retreated back into the hall, with his arms up in defense as Danny appeared running at him into the hallway with a pillow raised in his hand, screaming  “WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!”

Before Danny could land his blow to Josh’s head, Sam loudly cleared his throat, “Guys!” in a strained deep tone.

Danny turned to look behind him and laughed, dropping the pillow, walking over to introduce himself to you “Sorry, sometimes I just want to kill him. Trust me at the end of this tour, you will too.”

You laughed looking at Josh rolling his eyes behind Danny’s back. 

The band had to get ready for their interviews and said their goodbyes. You entered your room, surprised by how big it was, but mostly taken aback by the view of the city. Stepping onto the balcony you breathed in deep, feeling like you should pinch yourself that this is actually happening. 

Later that evening you were drying your hair after taking a quick shower when you heard a knock on your door. Peering out the peephole it was Sam, you felt your stomach flutter, opening the door slowly. 

“Hey” Sam said smiling at you.

“Oh, hey, come in” giving him a half smile as you felt a little self conscious being makeup free with damp messy hair.

Sam stepped into the room “Are you ready to go?” 

You looked down at yourself in your sweats, “Uhh…” 

Sam chuckled “Need a few minutes?” 

You felt your face get hot again “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t expect you guys to get back so quickly. Meet you downstairs in ten minutes?”

Stepping off of the elevator you spotted Sam sitting in a chair across the lobby, he waved at you, which made your heart skip. 

“Hey, sorry, hopefully I didn’t take too long.” 

He smiled, “You’re fine. Ready?”

 You nodded but suddenly noticed he was alone  “Wait, where’s everyone else?” 

Sam started walking towards the door casually said “Oh, Josh and Jake already had plans to check out a local brewery and Danny’s girlfriend flew in a couple hours ago.” 

Suddenly you felt very nervous, not in a bad way, just having the whole band with you was far less intimidating than just you and Sam alone together exploring different shops across the city. Nethertheless you felt an unfamiliar excitement grow within you. 

Sam said he was taking you to downtown Portland to a couple of his favorite shops.

“You’re bound to find something that will work for tomorrow and we can figure out the rest later.” he said, but you were too lost to really pay attention to what he was saying. 

You tried to play it cool, not wanting him to notice you studying him in the taxi. The way he held himself, the way his skin seemed to glow, his high cheekbones and perfectly arched eyebrows. 

You always thought you were more into Jake, considering your mutual love for guitar, but there was something about Sam that lingered in your mind. Maybe it was how calm and collected he seemed, but not in a cold or intimidating way. He was warm and welcoming, like you’d have known each other for years versus the couple hours you’d spent together looking through racks of clothes. 

“Ohh, this is it y/n!” Sam yelled across the store as he held up a bright purple polka dot fur vest with tassels hanging off the sides “This will really make a statement” he said sarcastically 

“Oh yeah, that will definitely make a lasting impression, a real show stopper” you quipped back at him. You both laughed and smiled at each other. 

You were starting to get frustrated not being able to find anything when Sam walked over to you holding a deep maroon dress. 

“How about this” he held it up in front of you. 

The dress had a subtle sparkle to it with bell sleeves and lace on top, something straight out of Stevie Nicks wardrobe. 

Your face lit up “Oh Sam, it’s perfect. I love it!” 

Sam smiled brightly “Why don’t you try it on, make sure it works”  

 You headed to the dressing room and slipped the dress on, it fit perfectly, like a glove. You admired your cleavage and the way it hugged your hips just right. Your worries about losing your luggage started to fade away, but you weren’t sure if it’s because Sam had found you the perfect dress or if this meant you got to have these little thrift store adventures with Sam throughout the tour. 

As you were lost in thought Sam tapped on the door “Did it work?” 

“Yes, it’s absolutely perfect”, you laughed in reply. 

There was a moment of silence “Well…can I see?” 

You felt your face get flushed as you slowly opened the door. Sam was standing directly outside, his eyes got wide and his mouth slightly dropped open as he stuttered.

 “uh…Wow, yeah it looks great. I think it’s a keeper.” 

You smiled coyly “Thanks, I’ll get changed and we can head out.” 

Sam and you couldn’t stop talking the entire way back to the hotel. Everything from food, to different countries he’s visited, his favorite bands and of course you had to ask about the no shoe policy.

 As you pull up to the hotel Sam quickly got out of the cab and ran over to your side opening your door for you. 

You laughed loudly at him “Oh, Samuel, you’re such a gentleman. Thank you.”

He beamed at you, looking rather pleased with himself “So I’ve been told.”

As you were walking together to your room things suddenly shifted, an unspoken tension between the two of you, you started to feel nervous. The conversation between the two of you sort of died out and were mostly quiet the whole way up until you got in front of your rooms 

“So this is it, I’ll see you bright and early?” 

You nodded “Yeah, sounds good. I’ll try to not let the nerves get me and actually get some rest.” 

Sam chuckled “You’ll be okay, promise” as he started to walk away you lightly grabbed his arm 

“Thank you, by the way, you really didn’t have to do that tonight.”

Sam’s face scrunched up with confusion “Do what?” 

Your hand remained on his arm “Helping me find new stage clothes, I really appreciate you taking the time out.” 

Sam smirked and took a step towards you, your heart feeling like it was about to explode inside of your chest. Sam started to say something when Jake opened the door of the boys room and peaked out at the two of you standing inches from each other.  

“I thought I heard voices.” You smiled at Jake and back up at Sam as he started to back up and walk towards Jake.

“Sweet dreams” he said joining Jake in their room. 

You entered your room and collapsed on your bed replaying the night in your head trying to dissect every moment. You sighed as you rationalized that Sam was probably just being nice and you were getting ahead of yourself. You decided to head to bed to be well rested for the long day ahead of your tomorrow. 

The next morning you all headed to the venue and started to run through your sets. Soundcheck went well and you were feeling okay about the show, however when it was an hour before you took the stage your nerves really started to get the best of you. 

The band was finishing up with a pre-show meet and greet with some fans who had VIP passes so they weren’t available to talk you down. You felt hot and like you might vomit as the time inched closer. 

With only twenty minutes left, you decided to peak out at the crowd from the side of the stage, instantly you knew that was a terrible idea. Looking out you couldn’t tell where the crowd started and came to an end. 

Feeling like you might pass out, hot and sweaty, you needed to do something to cool yourself down. You headed to the refreshment table and grabbed some ice, dabbing it over your face and chest. The whole while taking deep breaths to center yourself.

 After a few minutes, you felt yourself starting to calm down when you heard footsteps behind you.

“You okay?” turning around it was Sam with a warm smile, embarrassed you chucked the ice in the garbage next to you.

“Yeah, I guess” you said sheepishly “I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed, how do you do this every night?”  

Sam laughed “Well, to be fair it’s not every night, but it does get easier” 

You smirked “I hope so.”

Sam motioned for you to follow him over to a set of chairs “Look, I used to feel the same way when we first started doing live shows. Honestly, sometimes I’d get sick right before going on stage.”

You were shocked he admitted that “Wow, really?” 

Sam nodded looking a little embarrassed “Yeah, really, it was awful.” Sam moved his knees in closer to you, lightly brushing them agaisnt yours “The thing you have to remember is that if you fuck up, the crowd will have no idea, only you will. You choose how you react to it, so just play it off. That’s one of the best things about being an up and coming artist, they have no idea what to expect from you more than you from them, so use it.” 

You instantly felt the tension release from your body but before you could respond to his sweet words the stage manager yelled your name and waved you over, you got up.

Sam followed you to the side of the stage, handed you your guitar and said “Good luck and try to have fun.” as he gave you a light shove onto the stage. 

You walked out on stage stopping halfway to turn back and smile at him as he gave you a thumbs up. You laughed at him mouthing the words “Thank you” and he nodded.

 You strummed the first few notes of your opening song and after that it was all a blur. You felt electrified to play in front of that many people and you lost yourself in the energy of the night. 

Catching glances here and there from Sam, who watched from the sidelines your whole set. You knew this tour was going to be the best few weeks of your life, especially with someone like Sam cheering you on.

[chicgeekgirl89]

Valentine’s Day 2020: A Squid and Dagger Story

A/N: I couldn’t let the day pass without throwing together a little something for our fave couple inspired by my recent experience with trivia night.

                                        XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Oh my god. Oh. My. God.” Deeks sat at his desk in the tiny back office of the Squid and Dagger, head in his hands as he stared at the computer in front of him.

“Babe? You back here?” Kensi’s voice floated toward him but all he could do was continue to look blankly at the screen until she finally came and found him. “Hey, what’s going on?”

He turned to look at her, his hair mussed from frantically running his hands through it, eyes slightly wide with panic. “It’s over.”

“What’s over?” she asked.

“Valentine’s Day. It’s done. It’s caput. Finito.”

“Deeks, what are you talking about?” Kensi asked in the calm tone she reserved especially for her husband when he was spinning out over unreasonable things.

“I’ve ruined Valentine’s Day,” he said it in a pained whisper. “It’s a mess. The whole thing.”

“Deeks. Martin. Babe. Calm down,” Kensi said. “It can’t possibly be as bad as all that.”

“Oh it is. It is as bad as all that. It’s worse.” He shook his head.

“Well why don’t you tell me about it and we’ll see what we can come up with. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s fixable.”

“Fixable? Fixable. Right. You know the wine order? The one with all the special, sparkly wines with the fancy French names? It’s not here. I asked Derek to check the other night when the rest of the inventory came in. And apparently he didn’t. So I didn’t find out until I got here tonight.”

“Okay, that’s not great, but it’s not a Valentine’s deal breaker.”

Deeks shook his head. “The computer updated itself and dropped half the reservations. Two of the bartenders quit and the last one called in sick. And the woman who was coming to run the RomCom trivia got a corpse gig on CSI so she’s not coming.” He slumped in the chair. “We’ve got eighty people coming here in two hours and the whole thing is a disaster. We’re done. This will ruin us. The Facebook comments alone will shut us down within two weeks.”

“Honey, nobody goes on Facebook anymore.”

“Maybe we can still cancel. It’ll be bad, but not as bad as having everyone show up with no wine, no service, and no entertainment.”

“We’re not cancelling.”

“Kensi, I don’t think you really understand the situation we’re in here!”

“Yes, as a Federal Agent I have no idea what it’s like to be in a high pressure environment when everything is going down the toilet,” she said dryly.

“We only have,” he looked at his watch, “one hour and fifty-seven minutes to fix things. That’s not enough time to hire another bartender. Or get the wine or new entertainment. And the reservation list is gone forever.”

“Deeks. Love of my life,” Kensi put her hands on his shoulders. “Would you please listen to me? I think I know something that might help.”

Deeks firmly grasped her wrists and pushed her away, his eyes serious. “Baby, I love you so much, and you look sexy as hell in that red dress, and I really, really want to take it off you but now is NOT. THE. TIME.”

“Oh my god,” Kensi rolled her eyes. “As delightful as having sexy time with you in this teeny, tiny, smelly bar office sounds, that is not what I meant. I can help. With all of this.”

“Seriously?” He looked skeptical, something she would remind him of later when they finally did get to some Valentine sexy time.

“Yeah. Seriously. Call Nell. She worked as a bartender in college. She and Eric were planning on coming anyway, I’m sure they won’t mind helping out. He can take a look at the computer and try to fix the reservation issue. If you stay behind the bar with Nell and have Bertie run service we’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Deeks said slowly. 

“Then call Hetty. She can get you the wine.”

“But we’ll owe her a favor.” It was a mark of how well they both knew Hetty that he didn’t question how their boss could procure said wine on such short notice.

“No you will owe her a favor. Do you want the special sparkly wine or not?”

“Point taken. Call Hetty, sign over first born child. Got it. But what about trivia? The people coming are all diehards. Only true romcom devotees choose to go to trivia night on Valentine’s Day.”

“Well,” she slid onto his lap, looping an arm around his neck, “that is a tricky one. If only you knew someone who has watched ‘Love Actually’ every Christmas since 2003. Someone who can quote the entirety of ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and paid a lot of money to go on a tour of famous romcom movie sites in New York the last time she was there.”

He blinked at her. “You?”

“I’m honestly a little offended you didn’t ask me in the first place.”

“Are you sure? That’s not going to be a very romantic evening for you.”

“It’ll be fun. Besides,” she leaned close to whisper in his ear as she trailed a hand up his thigh, “I think we can find a way to make up for it later.”

His sharp intake of breath told her she’d accomplished exactly what she’d wanted to. She’d drop a few hints later about the lacy underwear she was wearing to give him some incentive to close up quickly at the end of the night. Or maybe just leave the cleanup until tomorrow altogether. 

She gave him a peck on the lips and then sashayed to the door. “Call Nell. Then Hetty. I’ll go check and make sure the kitchen is ready for all these hungry lovebirds then start setting up the sound system.”

“You’re my favorite Valentine. You know that right?” Deeks called as she walked away.

She turned back and gave him a saucy smile. “Oh, I know.”

[sailorportia]

Femslash February 2020, Day 4

Fandom: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Pairing: Glimmer/Catra Prompt: Punk/Pastel

approx. 2,100 words, rated T

also available on AO3

Summary:  Catra and Glimmer are forced to work together on a group assignment, and it's almost a competition to see who's more annoyed by this arrangement.

Tags: University AU, Swearing, Alcohol, Drunken Kissing

Catra was holding court in her corner of the student union building's cafeteria. "I can't believe Professor Prime stuck me with Sparkles for a group project!" She slammed her fist on the table, rattling everyone's lunch trays. "Anyone else would've been better than Sparkles!"

"I'm confused," Entrapta said, picking up tiny sandwiches from her lunchbox. "Who's Sparkles? Oh, do we have a new friend!?"

"Oh, um, that's what she calls Glimmer," Scorpia said. "Because, well, y'know," she leaned in and whispered, "Catra doesn't like her very much."

"Oooooooh!"

Catra ignored the exchange, lost in her own petty misery. "That girl is the worst. Total control freak. She never shuts up in class, always arguing with the profs and making everything a debate. She's not even that smart. I bet she only got in because her mother's got tenure." Her hatred toward Glimmer in no way stemmed from the fact that princess was now closer to Adora than Catra was. They were even roommates now. Not that it bothered Catra at all.

"Um, just out curiosity," Scorpia said, "this might not be important, but have you ever really talked to her? Like, other than insulting each other?"

Catra gave her a blank look. "Why would I need to do that? I don't need to learn her favourite colour to know I hate her." Knowing Sparkles, it was probably pink. Or worse, hot pink.

Entrapta frowned. "That's not a very scientific approach."

"I'm a political science major. Everyone knows that's a fake science."

"Okay," Scorpia said. "But she's one of Adora's friends. Isn't that enough reason to try to get along with her?"

"I don't want to get along with Adora's friends." Catra uttered the words as if they were a rule. If Scorpia and Entrapta had been feeling sassy, they could've pointed out that Catra was also one of Adora's friends, and that would explain why she didn't get along with herself.

"I'm just saying," Scorpia said with a shrug. "Maybe if you give her a chance, you'll find something you like about her. Or, uh, something you don't hate at least. Who knows? You might have more in common than you think."

"As if!" Catra and Glimmer couldn't have been less alike. First off, their appearances were complete opposites. Catra's punk style had attitude, conveyed through dark colours, unruly hair, spiked accessories, the patches on her jacket and other modifications to her clothing, such as stylish, strategically placed holes she tore with her own claws. Glimmer, in contrast, was a pastel disaster whose brightly-coloured outfits hurt to look at. Her hair was literally pink, like she was made of bubblegum or something. Secondly, Glimmer was a sanctimonious goody two-shoes, whereas Catra just didn't give a fuck. No way in hell were they going to get along.

"Well, you better figure out how you're going to talk to Glimmer," Entrapta said, "because she's headed this way."

A group of three approached their table: Adora and Bow, led by a pissed off Glimmer. Catra might have found it intimidating if she weren't wearing the softest possible shade of lavender. Her new haircut was something of an improvement. She was almost hot—but Catra wasn't into bossy girls.

"Hey, Catra," Adora said nervously as the group reached the table.

Glimmer cut Catra off before she could say her customary greeting. "If you screw up this assignment for me, I'm going ruin you."

Bow grimaced. "Glimmer! We literally just went over this!"

"You could at least pretend to be nice," Adora said.

"Why do I have to be nice?" Glimmer pointed at Catra accusingly. "If you heard the way she talks in class you'd get it. She's a war criminal waiting to happen."

Catra snorted. "Says the girl who's a shill for the monarchy."

Bow stepped between them. "Guys, guys, cool it. We don't want another fist fight on our hands."

"It was one time!" Glimmer protested. "And it was hardly my fault. Nyan Cat over here was being a belligerent drunk."

"Don't blame me for that incident," Catra said. "You threw the first punch after like six Shirley Temples."

"Who wouldn't punch you when you're so obnoxious?" Glimmer let out an agonized groan. "Just get your ass to me and Adora's dorm room tonight by six o'clock, or I'll come looking for you."

"Whatever." Catra stuck her tongue out as Glimmer stalked off, her friends running off after her. She didn't need any more proof that the two of them were incompatible at every level. Maybe she'd fail this assignment on purpose just to piss her off.

Glimmer was already regretting her decision to work on the group project in her dorm room. Her reasoning had been that she didn't want to be seen in public with Catra, but she hadn't anticipated how much having Catra in her living space made her skin crawl.

They were sitting on Glimmer's side of the room. Catra had attempted to make herself at home on Adora's bed, but Glimmer put that to a stop immediately.

"You don't shed, do you?" Glimmer asked, eyeing Catra's wild mane of fur. "I don't want to be picking your hairs off my clothes for the next month."

"That's an anti-cat microaggression," Catra said. "Not very politically correct of you. Besides, it can't be as bad as all the glitter you leave behind, Sparkles."

"That's not my name! And I do not wear that much glitter." Sure, Glimmer preferred sparkly eye shadow some days, and some of her clothes did have glittery details on them, but glitter wasn't her thing. "You're in no place to criticize how I look." She sneered at Catra's outfit, specifically the tears in her pants. "Nice jeans, were they 50% off?"

"Haha. Very funny. I'm sure you bought your clothes at 200% the price just to show off how bougie you are."

"Listen you—" Glimmer groaned through her teeth. She knew Catra was just trying to get under her skin. All she had to do was be the bigger person and let this go. "The sooner we start this assignment, the sooner we'll be done and out of each other's hair."

"Finally something we can agree on," Catra said. "What's the topic again?"

"We're supposed to pick one from this list." Glimmer retrieved the relevant paper from her desk and read them off. "There's one about arguments for and against raising the minimum wage."

"Eh? That sounds dangerously like math. Economics sucks."

"Fair. Next is one about the role of money in politics."

"Still too much math."

"Suggestions for electoral reform?

Catra laughed. "Maybe get rid of elections altogether? Then everyone's equally unhappy with the result."

Glimmer could've sworn she had some patience, but it was running out faster than she'd anticipated. "There's one about the ethics of torture."

"That one's easy. Whatever gets the job done is fine with me."

Never mind writing an assignment together, they were never going to find a topic they could agree on due to Catra having the moral centre of a Saturday morning cartoon villain. "Torture doesn't even work! The premise is flawed."

"Really? It's working on me right now."

Glimmer groaned. "Is this a joke to you? This assignment is for 10% of our mark! You might not care about your own future, but I do."

Catra smirked. "What's wrong? Afraid that Professor Mommy will be disappointed if her little princess flunks a class?"

"You don't have any idea what it's like studying at a college where your mother is one of the professors. Having to measure up to those expectations all the time."

"Hey, at least people expect something from you. You can't imagine what it's like to grow up in Adora's perfect shadow."

"Yeah, well now she's my perfect roommate, and I'm going to lose it if I have to hear one more time that Adora got on the dean's list last year and I didn't."

"Oh yeah? Well I would've gotten on the list too if I didn't have to deal with Professor Hordak's inferiority complex."

The conversation carried on way longer than it should've. It turned out the only way they could avoid bitching at each other was by bitching to each other instead. Before long they ordered a pizza and cracked open a couple of cold ones, the assignment lying forgotten on Glimmer's desk.

By the time they ran out of things to complain about, they were both a little beyond tipsy. They had moved to sitting on Glimmer's bed, leaning against each other. Glimmer was very aware of the fact that she had never been this close to Catra before, physically or emotionally. Not wanting to linger on those thoughts, she said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey, is it true that you wore a tux to your high school prom?"

Catra smirked. She put her empty beer can down and got out her phone. "Feast your eyes."

Feast, Glimmer did. She was tempted to ask Catra to send her the pictures. "Daaaaaaaaaaamn," Glimmer said. "Adora's so lucky. I went to mine with Bow as a friend-date, but she got to dance with the hottest girl at the prom."

If they were any farther apart, she wouldn't have picked up on the other girl's reaction: a low, rumbling sound in her chest.

"Oh my god." Glimmer couldn't believe her ears. "Are you purring?"

"No!" Catra stuffed her phone back in her pocket and crossed her arms over her chest, as if that would cover up the sound she'd already made. "You're imagining things. All that glitter must've gone to your head."

"Oh, looks like someone isn't used to hearing people say nice things about her." This was too good. "So that's how I get under your skin."

Catra's face looked like it couldn't decide if she were furious or embarrassed. "Screw off, Sparkles."

"Aw, you can dish it out but you can't take it? That's so cute." Glimmer honestly didn't know why she was winding Catra up. Maybe she wanted to see what would happen when she finally sprung.

Catra stood up, but didn't step away from the bed. "Isn't Adora going to be coming back soon? I should probably go..."

Glimmer grabbed Catra's arm and pulled her back down. "We've talked enough about Adora. Let's talk about you."

"I don't want to talk," Catra said. "I don't want Adora to walk in and see me getting along with you!"

"You care too much about what Adora thinks. Are you that hung up on your old prom date?"

"I am not! Screw you! I'm always getting the girls. I don't need to chase after Adora. I've got pull!"

Glimmer smirked. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Catra had hit her limit. The cat finally pounced. "You asked for it."

In one swift motion, Catra pushed Glimmer down and pinned her to the bed. There was a moment's pause before their lips crashed together.

Oh my god, Glimmer thought as she tasted the alcohol on Catra's breath, is Catra kissing me? Am I kissing her back? Even being tipsy wasn't enough to excuse this. But Glimmer didn't really care. She needed to blow off steam, and making out with a bitchy catgirl serviced that need.

The kissing kept getting messier and messier, which was a nice analogue to their interpersonal relationship. Glimmer vaguely acknowledged that she'd never live it down if anyone found out about this, but it wasn't like Catra was going to brag about it either. They were in the clear—

"Oh my god. I didn't expect you guys to get along this well."

Glimmer and Catra sobered up instantly. They broke apart, Catra springing away as if she'd suffered an electric shock. In absolute horror they turned in unison to see Adora standing in the doorway, barely containing her amusement.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Glimmer said.

"It's actually exactly what it looks like," Catra said. "Kill me."

Adora laughed so hard she snorted. "Looks like you guys had a party," she said, looking at the empty pizza box and beer cans. "You guys must've finished up that assignment pretty quickly." She raised an eyebrow at the sight of the pair's blank looks. "You did work on the assignment, right?"

As if a switch had been thrown, Glimmer and Catra were back at each other's throats as if nothing had happened. "This is all your fault!"

[hellas-himself]

Crack Ship Holidays

Halloween Pt. 1- Cassian x Feyre 

.

.

.

My cellphone falls to the floor and I groan, blindly reaching for it in the dark. Was it really five-thirty already? I tap the screen until the cursed alarm goes silent. I slide out of bed, taking the pillow and blanket with me and once my bare legs hit the cold floor, I shoot to my feet and toss my phone on the bed.

It was only October and the damned apartment was a freezer. But I have to shower; I have mascara and eye liner smeared on my face, my hair looks like a rat’s nest after all the hairspray I’d used and this dress- god this stupid dress. It belongs to Mor, but I haven’t done laundry in over a week and I needed something decent to meet them all in at the bar. It was beautiful, but it was so snug that it left marks all over my skin. And that wasn’t even counting what the strapless bra did to me.

Cursing, I shower quickly, washing my hair under cold water until it turns hot enough that I stop shivering. I blow dry my hair and pass the flat iron over it quickly before hurrying to get dressed. Mindful of where I will be today, I slide into skinny jeans and a black t-shirt. No one is going to see my Halloween socks, which is a tragedy, but at least I have my sweater. I know Mor and Nesta would look at me with disgust if they knew I hadn’t washed this sweater since the last time I’d worn it but it still had Cassian’s cologne. As did his leather jacket that he so conveniently left here after everyone had come over to play cards. 

My car takes way too long to start but luckily, I still have enough time to stop for coffee and a bagel before driving to the school. One of Cassian’s friends, another tattoo artist, has a girlfriend that teaches music there. He had mentioned to Cas that they needed an art teacher and my best friend gave them my number. I had been so nervous when he’d told me, to the point that I almost puked. But he had talked me back down to earth and drove me to meet the principal last week.  And for now, it’s just volunteering, and I can live with that.

I mentally go down the list of all I have to do when I get there. I have to find and park in the visitor’s section. Go to the front office and hand in my ID and get signed in. Scope out the supplies readily available and set up shop before 9am.

The security guard eyes my bag of art supplies with amusement.

“Carrying a body in there?” he asks in a pathetic attempt at teasing. I force a laugh. If I say what I really want to say, I will ruin this and I cannot fuck this up.  

“Good morning, you must be Ms. Archeron,” the secretary says cheerfully. She wasn’t here when I came in last week.

“Is it that obvious?” I ask, reaching into my back pocket for my wallet.

She stands and leans over, as though sharing a secret. “You’ve got a bit of paint on your jeans.”

I look down. “Oh… That happens a lot.”

I set the bag down, taking my license out and sliding it towards her.

“Perfect,” she says. “I’m Briar, by the way.”

I nod, doing my best not to shove my hands into my pockets- a habit I developed thanks to Rhys.

“So, I know we asked for an hour,” Briar says, typing away at the computer. “But some parents handed their forms in late. Do you think you could stay until… eleven?”

“Uh… Yeah. Definitely.”

Briar hands me back my license and then holds out a name badge.

“I’m trying to convince the principal to do something like lanyards but for now, this is what we have.”

I put the sticker on my sweater, mindful of the sparkly bats on my chest. Then, she guides me out of the office and through several hallways until she unlocks the door to a room bigger than my apartment.

“The previous art teacher left it just like this… We’d hoped so much for her to come back, but her husband got deployed and she needed help with her kids. She moved out of state over the summer.”

I set my bag down on a table and start walking around. There was the teacher’s desk with the projector beside it. A shelf that housed various kinds of paints and two enormous paint-stained sinks. The brushes were stored in cups of all kinds, ceramic mugs and plastic cups, glass mason jars. This was heaven.

“So… I’ll leave you to it. The first class begins at 9.”

“Is there an attendance sheet or something?” I ask, suddenly remembering that there was more to this than painting.

Briar giggles, her cheeks flushing pink.

“There’s a book. But don’t worry about that today. I’ll send someone up with a sign in sheet for the kids.”

I nod, taking the leather jacket off.

“Thank you,” I say and she smiles, leaving me to my own devices.

*

The smell of barbecue is doing nothing to help how hungry I am. I step into the diner and go to my usual seat, waving at the owner who is already telling the cook that I’m here. I sit down with a long sigh, pulling my phone out and checking my messages. Two missed calls from Nesta. A text from Elain in our group chat. 57 messages in the group chat with Rhys, Lucien, Az and Cassian. I roll my eyes and ignore that. Then, there are the calls from unknown numbers, all of them within minutes of each other. I lock my phone and set it down, looking up when the bell at the door rang. My heart does leaps in my chest as Cassian looks my way, breaking into a smile as he walks over.

“Well, if it isn’t the new art teacher,” he says by way of greeting, pulling me in for a bear hug when I get to my feet.

“It was just today,” I remind him, “And hello to you, too.”

He flicks my nose before sitting down across from me. He smirks when he notices that I’m wearing his jacket. He takes off his own and rolls up the sleeves to his shirt.  

“How did it go?” he asks, adjusting his watch.

“It was… terrifying.” He raises a brow but I smile. “Kids are fucking scary, Cas… And being responsible for 20 of them at once is just…”

“A nightmare?”

“A dream.”

Cas snorts.

“It’s been too long, Cas. I feel out of practice… But I started them with color theory and having them paint their own wheels… The second class was even bigger and it was just so much fun.”

Cassian is still smiling and I blush, grateful that our food is being placed before us.

“I haven’t seen you smile this much in a while, bunny.”

“I was smiling last night,” I quip, and happily reach for my strawberry milkshake.

“You were drunk.”

“All the same.”

Cassian would normally push the subject, I know, but he only has an hour and a half before he has to go back to the shop. And between proving a point and eating lunch, food will win every time.  

“This isn’t over,” he says, stuffing fries into his mouth.

*

I toss my keys on the little table in the entrance hallway, kicking off my boots as I walk into the apartment. I set my bag down on the floor before I walk across the carpet to open the blinds. I look around the living room and internally kick myself for forgetting that my sisters are coming over today. Last weekend’s beer cans and empty boxes of pizza are still littering the floor and coffee table. Someone’s bra is hanging over the arm rest. Rhys managed to leave his socks under my couch, and as I pick them up, I make a mental note to bring up a ‘strip poker laundry basket’ for them to deposit their clothes when we play. I grab the bra and realize that it’s mine.

I start a load of laundry and wash all the dishes in the sink and around the apartment. Once I finish with that, I take out the trash which required two trips. When I get back to my apartment, I wash my hand and burn incense- dragon’s blood, Cassian’s favorite. I vacuum the carpet and sweep the entrance hall and kitchen but don’t bother mopping. The bathroom is miraculously clean, but my bed is a disaster. The fitted sheet is beginning to come off but I hear the doorbell and leave it alone, tying up my hair as I go to answer it.

“I thought you stopped smoking,” Nesta says as I kiss her cheek.

“I did.”

“Then what’s with the incense.”

“The neighbor was cooking fish again,” I lie, but it’s happened enough that Nesta easily believes me.

“Elain is stopping to bring dinner after she leaves work.”

“Are you thirsty?”

Nesta sets her purse and keys on the counter, shrugging off her trench coat. She looks as flawless as always.

“Feyre, we know that you haven’t gone for groceries in weeks.”

“But I have water.” I sound pathetic, but I am not going to tell her that I went food shopping and brought everything to Cassian’s house. He’s the better cook and I would rather drive to see him every night than burn dinner at home. I was never here as it was.

“We had a luncheon meeting, I’m alright for now.”

She sits down on the barstool and looks me up and down. I have paint on my jeans and shirt, and I’m still wearing my purple sweater with the bats tied around my waist. When I see her eye my socks, I start walking.

“I taught at the school this morning,” I say as I grab my bag off the floor. I bring it to the kitchen and start pulling out the palettes and brushes I want to thoroughly clean.

“Did you like it?”

“I did, honestly.”

For once, she doesn’t roll her eyes when I set the palettes in the sink. I turn on the water, grabbing the sponge set aside for my art supplies and the soap.

“And what did the school think?”

I blush at this. Nesta doesn’t do well with unknowns.

“Briar, the secretary, she says she’ll call me once she hears something,” I say, and before she can scowl, I add, “But the principal seemed really happy with what we did. They asked me to stay an extra hour… It was a lot of fun.”

“And if they ask you to come back, will you take the job?”

“It’s not a job, Nes… But I mean, if it came to that, of course.”

“You turned down teaching jobs to work at that bar and look how that turned out.”

“I was depressed, Nesta. Cut me some fucking slack.”

“You can’t expect Cassian to keep saving your ass, Feyre.”

“I don’t expect anything from anyone. Least of all Cassian.”

“It’s almost been a year –”

I set the palette in the drying rack a little harder than I mean to.

“Did you write that down in your calendar so you can remind me that Tamlin left? I know how long it’s been Nesta.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. You can’t depend on Cassian forever.”

“Why do you hate him so much? He is always there for me- something you can’t say. Honestly, sometimes I have no idea what he saw in you.”

“I told him I was sorry.”

“You broke his heart and have the nerve to bitch about what he does for me. I love you, Nesta, but give me a fucking break.”

*

I am almost glad that Elain cancelled dinner. Nesta had left once I refused to listen to her empty apologies. But now, I’m hungry. And alone. You can’t expect Cassian to keep saving your ass, Feyre. I laugh at myself; my thumb is hovering over the voice call button under Cassian’s name. My eyes burn with tears and my throat feels like it is closing up. Did Nesta not understand how much I hated the fact that I’ve had to ask any of them for help?

I toss my phone across the sofa, hating that I am crying. Hating that almost a year has passed and my life is no better than it was when Tamlin left. Hating that Nesta seems to forget that she was able to finish college because I was the one working my ass off to keep us afloat. Hating that I’d let Tamlin convince me to leave my job- my career- just to leave me.

I breathe in deeply, letting it out as I press my fingers against my eyes. I know that I can’t drive like this. With a sniffle, I get my jacket and boots on. The more I move, the less I cry, and by the time I make it down the stairs, I only have a stuffy nose.

The owner of the corner store gives me a sympathetic smile when they see me walk in. I can’t return it, but I wave, going right to the fridge. I grab a beer, ignoring Nesta’s voice in my head, telling me how irresponsible this was. I grab another one just to shut her up.

“Your usual?” he asks as I near the counter.

“Uh… No. Surprise me.”

Tamlin and I would come here every few nights, always getting the same thing. I’m not sure what’s for dinner tonight, but I see him throw a soda and bag of chips in the bag and decide that I’m perfectly fine with that. I pay in cash and wish him a good night, hurrying back to my apartment.

I put on a game show and sit down on the sofa, taking everything out of the bag. Before I open the Styrofoam container, someone starts knocking on my door. I don’t have to ask who it is, but I am still caught off guard to find Cassian standing outside, holding a bag of take out.

“Cas… Hey.”

“Your phone dead?” he asks as I give him a quick kiss on the cheek and let him in.

“No… I went up the street.”

He sets his bag next to my food and sits down, taking off his jacket and tossing it.

“Az told me Ellie had to cancel dinner with you,” he says as he starts to take his food out of the bag. He grabs one of my beers and opens it. “Iliana got sent home sick from school.”

“Oh… What about Val?”

“I dropped him off at Rhysand’s before coming here.”

I make a face. “Stupid apartment and its stupid dog rules.”

“What’s for dinner?” he asks as I sit beside him.

“I don’t really know,” I reply. “I told him to surprise me.”

Cassian takes a drink of his beer and chuckles.

“Well. I’ve got Chinese.”

It’s a sandwich, that much I know. A sandwich Cassian tries to take the moment I hold it out to him.

“Bunny, please.”

“What is it?” I ask again, holding the sandwich up and away from him.

“It’s a tripleta. Chicken, beef, and pork with cheese and those potato chip fries. And the mayo-ketchup. I haven’t had one in forever! I’ll give you anything!”

I start laughing, as if I would ever say no to him.

“We’ll split it,” I say, laughing some more when he hugs me tight.

Cassian changes the channel to watch one of our favorite crime shows. I take my boots off and sit cross legged. He smiles when he sees the little ghosts on my socks and reaches down to pull his jeans up to show me that he’s wearing the exact same ones.

After we eat, I bring the empty containers to the garbage and come back to find Cassian sprawled out on the sofa. When he sees me, he holds out his arms to me and I walk over, letting him pull me into his arms. I rest my head against his chest, closing my eyes.

“Rhys says hello… He misses you.”

I giggle. “As if he didn’t freeze my phone texting us so many times.”

Cassian holds me a little tighter as he chuckles.

“You know how he gets when he thinks he’s being ignored.”

“He’s a brat.”

He laughs. “You’re telling me.”

I stretch out a bit and Cassian places one hand on the small of my back, the other on my arm where he begins to trace his fingers up and down bare skin.

“You alright?” he asks quietly. I don’t say anything at first but then I shake my head.

“I’m stuck,” I whisper. “What is wrong with me, Cas?”

“Nothing is wrong with you.”

The way he says it makes me want to believe him.

“What did Nesta say to you?” he asks and I sigh. “You only ever get like this when you talk to her.”

I cross my arms, resting my head against them to be able to look at him.

“She just… It’s been almost a year. And nothing has changed.”

“You really believe that?”

When I don’t answer, Cassian sighs.  

“Last November, you couldn’t leave your bed. You didn’t eat. You didn’t even talk. You taught classes today, Feyre- you would have never let yourself even think of such a thing before.”

He’s right- I know that he’s right, but it doesn’t stop me from crying again. When I get up, Cassian follows suit and simply pulls me into his lap, cradling me against him.

“Things like this take time,” he says. “And I’m going to be there, for as long as it takes. You know that, right?”

“I can’t expect that of you,” I say before I can stop myself and Cas goes still.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I’m sorry… She just really got to me.”

“What did she say?”

Once I repeat her words, I feel completely ashamed of myself. I want the earth to swallow me whole when Cassian curls a finger under my chin and makes me look up at him.

“I love you, Feyre Archeron. And I don’t give a fuck what your sister thinks. You are my best friend, just because she refuses to lend you a hand, doesn’t mean that everyone else has to.” He brushes the tears away and tucks an errant lock of hair behind my ear.

“I love you, too.”

He presses a kiss to my forehead and I close my eyes, letting out a sigh.  

“I’m always gonna be here for you, bunny.”

When he kisses me, I practically melt in his arms, but I still pull away.

“Cassian, you know I’m no good for you,” I say.

“If you weren’t good for me,” he says as his hands slide to my waist. “I wouldn’t be here.”

It’s a lie, we both know. So I kiss him, adjusting myself to straddle his lap.  

“If we’re going to hurt… might as well be with each other, right?” I say, and he chuckles.

“Don’t use my own words against me.”

I kiss him, reaching back to untie his hair.

“Just this once,” I say in a terrible imitation of his voice. I run my fingers through his hair and he closes his eyes. He sighs, and the smile that blossoms on his face gives me butterflies.

When he opens his eyes, he smirks; he’s caught me staring.

“Hey, the second time was your doing,” he quips, tugging on the hem of my shirt and pulling up. I lift my arms and laugh as he tries to mimic me. “This time and no more.”

“What can I say? You make me feel alive,” I declare, blushing suddenly. I did not mean to say that out loud. Cassian pauses his attempt at undoing the hooks of my bra. I have no idea how to turn my words into a joke.  

“Alive, huh?” he says softly. “That makes two of us.”

I don’t believe either of us are ready to unpack any of that. So I put my hands on his face and kiss him, and Cassian abandons my bra to slide his hands down to grab my ass. I shriek when he stands up, taking me with him.

“Asshole!” I shout, Cassian laughing as he walks towards my bedroom. He tosses me on the bed, walking over to turn a light on. When he turns to come back to me, I toss a pillow at him.

“Don’t start,” he warns, trying not to smile.

“Make me.”

Cassian chuckles at that and climbs on the bed, grabbing my ankle and pulling to him. He starts tickling me, and I have no strength to grab the other pillow and hit him with it.

“Stop it!” I managed to say through laughter.

“Make me,” Cassian says, mimicking me. But he still stops, grabbing me by the waist as he moves to lay on his back. My heart tightens in my chest at how light his eyes are. I reach out to brush his hair away from his eyes, then to trace the contours of his face.

“Plan on painting me?” he asks, smiling.

“Do you want me to?” I am out of breath.

Cassian traces his fingers up my spine and unhooks my bra.

“Not yet,” he replies and I laugh, leaning down to kiss him.

.

.

.

I had meant to put this out on like... Tuesday so by yesterday (actual Halloween) the fic would line up but fuck it. 

Cassian and Feyre are my #1 crack ship (that isn’t Sesshomaru and Kagome). I might try to do the next few holidays as well. But for now, it’s based around Halloween. It was supposed to be a one off based off a song BUT it turned into this fluff fest. Also, the “bunny” nickname came from another thing I wrote and never posted in which when they were like fresh out of highschool, Feyre went on a trip with Cassian and the guys, their dad. She wanted to try out hunting and shot a rabbit and cried so much about it Cassian started calling her bunny cuz it made her mad. Then it stuck. 

And then I couldn’t stop using it. I mean... he COULD call her Fey but no. Bunny. Also, remember how in my Elriel fic our Illyrians were basically like me and my family? Puerto Ricans from the mountains? We’re sticking with that. 

I do have to separate it into like 4 parts because it’s like 30 Word pages long and I can’t imagine how terrible that would translate on Tumblr. <3 

also, if you have a pairing request or whatever, I got you. 

[cloudshapedpatch]

Well, I’m 3 days behind but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to participate in Marichat May. Here is the start of a continuous fic, following the prompts on the Marichat May 2020 calendar. Thanks @marichatmay ~!

The Unusual Connection We Share

Day 1 - Witch AU

Chapter 1/31 - The Witchy Debate

💚 💚 💚 💚

“Obviously you’ve got your head screwed on wrong. Chat Noir is a walking disaster.”

Marinette looked up from her sketchbook, turning her full attention on Chloe. The offending party had flicked the artificial hair of her blue wig, one of the pigtails swinging slightly.

Mlle. Bustier had ended class early and stepped out of the room, leaving the children to do as they please. Not a good idea when they were already hyped up on sugary treats and anxiety for that night. For it was Halloween, and the excitement of the annual All Hallow’s Eve party at the Grand Paris Hotel was enough to rustle everyone’s nerves.

“He is not a disaster! He may not be as important as Ladybug, but he’s not incompetent.” Came Alya’s snarky response.

Marinette dreaded conversations like these. She knew they were inevitable, but she never would know how people could be so ignorant.

“Ladybug would be much better off without him.”

“As if! He’s a great helper.”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

Finally Nino came in and pulled his girlfriend back a few paces, successfully stopping the two girls from continuing. Unfortunately, due to Alya’s slick bodysuit, Nino was unable to get a good grip on her. Alya lunged forward and criticized Chloe’s Ladybug costume, saying she looked like a frog in her wig.

“And what are you supposed to be? Superhero wannabe? You don’t need a costume for that.”

“I’m Majestia.” Alya said plainly, crossing her arms.

Marinette could only slam her head into her desk. It was so infuriating. She wanted to tell everyone off, inform them of the black cat and ladybug’s unique connection. But she couldn’t, not unless she wanted her identity revealed.

Her only solace was that Adrien looked just as uncomfortable as she was, though it was a double-edged sword. If she could help it, Adrien would never feel sub-par.

Speaking of which, when she looked up to steal a glance at him, she found him already staring at her.

“Marinette, are you okay?”

My, how gorgeous his eyes were! They were so concerned for her, and so sweet! They looked almost glossy, but maybe that was the light. Marinette noted how they looked even more green with the black hooded cloak he wore. Black was definitely his color.

It took her a few seconds to realize that she hadn’t responded.

“Oh! Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.” She gave her best smile and hoped it was enough.

“Marinette, back me up,” Alya interrupted their moment (if you could even call it that), “Chloe won’t listen to reason.”

“Well, your reasoning is ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.”

Marinette sighed and scooted out from her chair, careful not to step on her long black dress. “What now?” She muttered, mostly to Alya, as she descended the stairs.

“Tell Chloe that Chat Noir is necessary.”

“Um, he is necessary?” She sheepishly told Chloe.

“Like I’d believe that. Ladybug could do so much better. Like moi.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, wanting to go sit down again. Everyone was watching the argument go down, and she was wishing she had stayed out of it. Chloe kept on talking, much to everyone’s chagrin.

“Honestly, if I have to see that stupid cat boy on TV again, I’m gonna hurl.”

Don’t say anything. She just wants attention.

“Paris would be better off without him. She should just take his miraculous and find someone better.”

Her opinion is just one of many. Deep breath.

“Even a homeless bozo would be better than him.”

Marinette snapped like a rubber band pulled too tight. Grabbing Chloe’s shoulders, Marinette stared her down. Everyone was mortified at her sudden outburst. Marinette was never one for violence, but everyone had a limit. And apparently, the small bluenette drew the line for a certain black clad hero.

“Chat Noir is just as important as Ladybug. Just because he can’t de-evilize an akuma doesn’t mean he doesn’t have value. He is a person just like you or I, with feelings and complex life experiences.”

Chloe could only stare in shock as Marinette continued.

“Ladybug needs him. He’s there for her when she’s down, he encourages her. Ladybug gets insecure just like the rest of us. Chat Noir is always there to be her shoulder to lean on when she doubts herself, and he is the greatest thing that ever happened to this city!”

You could have heard a pin drop as the tension in the air weighed on everyone’s shoulders. Taking in a shocked breath, Marinette released her hold on Chloe and took a few steps back.

The silence lasted only a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity. Had she comprised her identity? Had she lost her friends’ trust once again? Her mind ran wild until Alix laughed.

“Come on Marinette, be real. Ladybug doesn’t get insecure; she’s a hero. And a perfect one at that.”

Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement.

Cheeks red and heart racing, Marinette walked up the few steps and sat at her desk. She could feel eyes on her as she deflated. Her pointy witch’s hat fell off as she laid her head on her desk once again, bringing her cloaked arms to shield herself from the world and from Alya and Chloe continuing their argument.

Unbeknownst to her, Adrien was fighting back tears. His heart was getting shredded to pieces not only by Chloe, but by the rest of his classmates as well. They all seemed to think that Chat was more of a bother than a help to Ladybug.

Except Marinette. She had stood up for him, taken the embarrassment of having a different opinion. But the kind words she spoke about his alter-ego weren't the only thing that caught his attention. Her comments about Ladybug stood out to him like a sore thumb. Nobody else seemed to realize that Ladybug doubted herself. Apparently, Marinette did her research.

Well, she did confess her love for Chat Noir at one time and claimed to have followed him around. Perhaps she was just more observant than everyone gave her credit for.

No matter how she knew these things, he was grateful that she said them aloud. More grateful than anyone would know.

* * * *

“Marinette, can you watch the register for a moment? I need to take this phone call.”

“Sure mama, no problem.”

Marinette had just walked in the door when her mother answered the call. Marinette straightened her witch’s hat and plopped her backpack behind the counter. It was not uncommon for Marinette to finish her homework in-between helping customers. Today was sure to be busier than usual, for people would need treats for their parties. Occasionally a small child and their parents would come in to trick-or-treat, preferring the daylight hours so their young child would get to bed on time. Though celebrating Halloween was still quite new (and mostly an English thing), the traditions were picking up popularity.

After a few hours, Alya came by (still in her Majestia costume) to pick Marinette up for the party. She bade her parents goodbye, then left with Alya.

The girls talked of random things to pass the time as they walked to the hotel. Mostly the evening was quite uneventful. No akuma attacks disrupted the party, the snacks were good and Nino played the newest songs at the disk-jockey table.

Things were quite normal for a Bourgeois party. Well, until it was time to go home.

Alya had gotten a ride home from Nino, leaving Marinette to walk home alone. The hotel wasn’t too far from home, and she could always use her Ladybug speed to zip home.

After looking around, the coast was clear. Just before ducking into the alley to transform, a voice called out from the street.

“What are you doing alone out here, little lady? Don’t you know it’s not safe to be out alone after dark?”

Marinette yelped in surprise. So much for being alone. “Huh?”

A quiet thud reached her ears as Chat Noir jumped down from atop a lamppost.

“I thought you were smarter than this, Marinette. Why are you alone, anyway?”

Marinette crossed her arms over her chest. “I was just walking home. Not that it’s any of your business, anyhow.”

“But it is! It’s my job to protect damsels in distress.”

“Then go find one. The only distress around here is caused by you.” Marinette smirked at him, though she wasn’t sure whether she was annoyed or amused.

“Meowch, little lady has some claws.”

Marinette just rolled her eyes and started walking down the road. Unfortunately, Chat just bounded up next to her.

“Anyway, I wanted to thank you. For your kind words.”

This caused her to stop walking. The surprise was evident on her face. “I don’t recall speaking to you earlier.”

“Not to me, you spoke about me.”

Finally, the recollection of the school debate came to the front of her mind. Groaning, she threw her face into her hands.

“You heard that?”

“Oh course; I hear everything. Perks of being a superhero.”

Marinette knew for a fact that was not how the Miraculous worked, but of course Chat couldn’t know that. She was so caught up in keeping her own identity a secret, she did not think about how he may have heard.

“Well don’t let it go to your head. I was just defending you.”

She looked over to find him flexing and being a general show-off. “Don’t worry too much about it. Your words will forever be in my heart.”

A snort escaped her lips before she could stop it. “Sure, whatever.” She started walking again, only for Chat to run in front of her, successfully cutting her off.

“Let me take you home. To return the favor.”

“I got it, thanks though.”

“You’re going to turn down a ride with your favorite hero?”

“Who said you were my favorite?”

“You did, at one time. Did you change your mind and fail to tell me?”

His face turned down into a little pout. Damn, he looked just like a kitten, and unfortunately Marinette was a sucker for the big, sparkly eyes.

After a long sigh, she gave in. “You better not drop me.”

Marinette would not admit it, but feeling the wind whipping around her dress was exhilarating. It was truly different than swinging around Paris with her own yo-yo. And something about not being in control made her shiver in fear and delight. She wondered idly if she had ever swung around the city with Civilian Chat in her arms (she had, after the battle of Style Queen, but she was blissfully unaware of this occurrence).

Almost as quickly as Chat had scooped her up, he was setting her down by the side entrance of her home.

“Well, until we meet again, little lady.”

Expecting his signature two-finger salute, she was surprised when his hand came to his chest and he bowed, using his other hand to grab her own and give it a chaste kiss.

Even after he left, she could still feel the warmth across her knuckles, keeping her frozen in place. It took a few calls from Tikki and a poke on her nose to snap Marinette out of her shocked daze.

That dumb cat.

[queensparklekitten]

Okay, so for some reason any time I decide to ask somecreature questions from an ask meme I simply have to ask lots and lots of questions from it at once so, sorry about this, buuut... 12, 14, 22, 25, 29, 36, 37, 39, 54, 57, 74, 75, 79, and 99. ... :-] ... sorry again :P

You better be, I’m gonna fail geography if i keep putting off the homework assignment due tomorrow in order to answer ask memes! 

anyways. 

12: I can’t remember 

14: Well, what’s your definition? I may have a psychic connection with my cat, because i can have mean intrusive thoughts and she’ll instantly walk away as if i insulted her, and then when i think (but NOT say aloud) an explanation that i wasn’t saying anything mean to her, she’ll go back to curling up next to me purring. 

I have also, several times previously, gotten a song in my head at random, and felt like putting on the radio, and lo and behold, that song was playing on the radio station i put on. 

22: Once I ran away from school (like actually just left the building and began heading home in the middle of the day) and next thing i knew there was a police car following me. 

I have also done several other illegal things, but harmless ones, like sneaking around the back of the public transit station so I could board the streetcar without paying, vandalizing a couple public advertising posters, or using pirated websites for movies and anime. I have never gotten in trouble for those, however. 

25: No socks right now

29: No, I have not, but it’s on my bucket list 

36: I don’t have one

37: I have never thought about this and i am surprised that i haven’t given how often I swear both online and irl. 

39: Emotional, yes. Physical, no. 

54: MESSY. My desks at my last school always looked like a tornado AND a hurricane had happened in them simultaneously, and I sometimes used the empty desk next to me to store extra stuff because my main desk is too cluttered (I’m 99.999% sure i had the messiest desk in the whole school). My backpack right now is extremely disorganized and has things just stuffed into it wherever it fits, as well as some old writing utensils, tupperwares of Cheerios, crumpled up drawings and homework sheets that i never handed in, a hat, and the smell of old milk from a lunch box spill. 

But those have NOTHING on my room. The armchair always has so much stuff piled on it that I sometimes can’t actually sit on it, the books have no organization, more than half of the floor is covered with stuff, the desk and dresser top and shelves and corner junk pile are such a disaster that no one but me can find anything effectively, absolutely nothing that i have been using recently is put away (my mom sometimes puts things away and i scream at her for it), there’s enough dust to make my moms sneeze (which i use as a defense mechanism to keep them out of my room), i never throw things away which leads to junk from years ago mixed in with the stuff i actually need and/or use, and there’s makeup and nail polish smudges on the wall and desk from past screw-ups. Clothes, books, blankets, drawings, Christmas gifts not yet used, notebooks, a random white glove (i don’t even know why i own it), old tags and the like, coat hangers, cat toys, pillows, birthday cards, and so much more, all on the floor. 

Mess is my natural habitat. Cleaning my room would be like invading an ecosystem with buildings. 

57: On a regular day, it’s proportionate to the amount of fucks I give and how much I want to be asleep. It can be anywhere from a 3-4 minutes to 20. 

For the kind of event I dress up for (aka anything slightly out of the ordinary), I take half an hour at minimum picking out the best sparkly outfits and accessories, styling my hair, doing my makeup, picking out shoes and jewelry, and singing to myself about how fabulous I am while doing so. Sometimes I plan out my event outfits days or even weeks in advance. Expect a tiara. 

74: Oh, like I’m gonna tell you that and potentially give you ideas to torture me into doing your bidding! 

75: Not that I am aware of

79: [DATA EXPUNGED] 

99: Rainbow 

[rosesisupposes]

What I’ve Been Looking For

Part 4 of Breakin’ Free, a High School Musical Sanders Sides AU

Chapter Pairings: Prinxiety

Chapter Warnings: Roman Is A Disaster Gay (If Only He Was Out Enough to Know That)

Reader tags: @residentanchor @royally-anxious @bewarethegrammarpolice   @jemthebookworm @arandompasserby  @sparkly-rainbow-salt @astral-eclipse​ @thelowlysatsuma

<<3. Get’cha Head In The Game | 5. The Status Quo>>

read on ao3

SCENE: Homeroom and Hallways of East High

A particular air was flowing in the Ms. Darbus’ classroom the next morning. There was a humming undercurrent of excitement that didn’t quite spread to every occupant, but filled those it touched.

Dee Evans was in full form, glowing in gold accents, from the line on his sneakers to his eyeshadow and lip liner. His head was out of his phone for once as he smiled at every student he walked past on his way to homeroom. Cee was in an equally good mood, in complementary shades of silvery blue with a matching hat in navy. He carried a small gift bag with artfully arranged tissue paper. Cee handed the bag to Dee, who placed it on Ms. Darbus’ desk with a flourish. “Just a little something for you in honor of today!” he said with another bright smile.

As he returned to his desk, the rest of the class filtered in. Virgil and Roman made eye contact as they found their desks, sharing a small smile before Remy called Roman’s attention away. Patton Baylor chatted happily from his spot at the center of a small crowd of students, all of whom looked up at him with slightly starry eyes. Logan McKessie brushed past the crowd, his face buried in a book on theoretical physics. Murmurs of chatter slowly quieted as Ms. Darbus stepped on the stage at the front of the room.

“I expect we all learned our homeroom manners yesterday, correct? If not, we have some dressing rooms that need painting,” she said imperiously. Remy rolled his eyes at Roman as he leaned on his basketball as a pillow.

“Now, a few announcements,” she continued, brightening. “This morning during free period will be your chance for the musicale auditions, both singles and pairs.” Dee sat up even straighter in his seat, clapping in excitement. “I will be in the theater until noon for those of you bold enough to extend the wingspan of your creative spirit.”

Remy snorted. “When you’ve got auditions at 11 but have to be back on the mothership by noon,” he snarked under his breath. Roman had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from catching the teacher’s attention with his laughter.

Unaware of her students’ commentary, Ms. Darbus began to instruct. “Today, we are going to discuss the importance of William Shakespeare and his works. Can anyone tell me of a phrase or word we use in everyday language that was originally coined by the Bard?”

Behind him, Roman could hear Remy sliding dark glasses over his eyes as he settled in to nap.

~~~

Later that day, Roman was sorting through the books in his locker when Remy came up, spinning his basketball on a finger.

“Sup, gurl.”

“Hey, what’s up?”

“So the whole team's hitting the gym during free period. What do you want to have us run?”

Roman looked directly at the books and binders in his locker as he answered. “Uh, my dude, you know what, I can't make it. I gotta catch up on some homework.”

Remy snorted. “Bitch, it's only the second day back. I'm not even behind on homework yet. And you know I've been behind on homework since preschool.”

Roman forced a laugh. “Oh, Rem, you’re so funny! I’ll catch up with you later, okay?” He closed his locker and walked off before his friend could offer another objection.

Remy pulled his sunglasses down his nose to stare at his friend’s retreating back. “Homework? Girl, nah.”

He followed Roman down the hallway as the team captain turned into a classroom to chat with another student. Remy slid up to the door as he tried to see where he was going, listening to their idle chatter. Then someone bumped him. He turned to see Patton and a small handful of admirers.

“Remy! How are you today?”

“Hi Pat - I’m good, thanks, just busy…”

“Not too busy to miss the GSA meeting this afternoon, right?”

“Never too busy for my little minions, you know that,” Remy said with a fond smile.

“Oh good,” Patton said, his bright teeth a contrast to his brown face and browner freckles. “See you later, gay-ter!”

He turned and walked off with his friends as they giggled and Remy rolled his eyes. Turning back to the classroom, he realized it was empty. Roman has escaped him. “Boo, you whore,” he muttered to himself. “What could possibly be more important than basketball?”

Roman slipped down the southern stairwell of the school, checking behind him to make sure Remy was off his tail. He wasn’t sure he say why he felt so compelled to at least watch the auditions, but he knew that for some reason, he needed to be there. That need wasn’t quite enough to admit to even his best friend in the whole world what he was doing, though. He strolled through one of the lower courtyards, alert for any team members who might see him and ask why he wasn’t heading to the gym. He turned a corner and immediately turned back. Here he’d been worried about teammates when Coach himself was in the next courtyard, clearly looking for him. Had he seen him? Were those his footsteps walking in his direction?

Crapcrapcrap gottahide gottahide

Roman ducked into the closest door, the auto body and mechanics shop. He put on an air of nonchalance as he leaned behind a car, seeing his dad glance into the shop from the corner of his eye. Coach didn’t spot him, though, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He turned his head to see the shop teacher staring at him oddly.

“Uhh, shortcut,” he said lamely. “I’m… late for class. Gotta go, thanks, bye!”

He walked quickly out, from the auto shop to the woodshop. He could hear snatches of a tune played on the piano from here, where the woodshop connected to the backstage and green room areas of the auditorium. He took a deep breath. This was it - the auditions. He could as least get up the courage to watch, right? He walked into the backstage, trying to summon more confidence. Then he heard another person walking towards him and immediately ducked behind a janitor’s cart, hunching over to hide his face behind the mop.

SCENE: Auditorium

The auditorium and backstage were buzzing with chatter as multiple auditioners filed into the audience seats. Ms. Darbus strode to the stage to welcome them all, a small person in her wake. They seemed to be trying to hide from the crowd behind their bright orange beanie and also behind Ms. Darbus herself. The drama teacher took center stage and addresses the crowd.

“This is where the true expression of the artist is realized. Where inner truth is revealed through the actor's journey…”

She was interrupted by a loud ringing, and immediately glared at the crowd in front of her. “Was that a cell phone?”

“That was the warning bell, Ms. Darbus,” the student at her elbow whispered.

“Ah, I see,” she said, clearing her throat. “Those wishing to audition must understand that time is of the essence. We have many roles to cast and final callbacks will be next week.”

Roman slowly made his way to the back of the auditorium, still hiding behind the janitor’s cart as he listened. Callbacks, next week? In the same week as the big game? Luckily, even if he somehow got the nerve to audition, there’s no way he’d get called back. That was a thing that only happened to real actors, right?

Ms. Darbus was still reviewing the audition process. “Please come to the stage on your turn. Once you’ve introduced yourself, you will sing a few bars and I will give you a sense of whether or not the theater is your calling. Better to hear it from me now than from your friends later.” From his hiding spot, Roman gulped. Maybe this whole ‘audition’ thing was a mistake. “Our composer, Joan Stokes, will accompany you and be available for rehearsals prior to callbacks. Shall we?”

Joan took their seat at the piano bench as the first singer came to the stage.

“Hi, I’m Derionna!” she said with enthusiasm. She dove into singing, with plenty of energy but perhaps not a lot of rhythm.

“It’s hard to believe that I couldn’t see that you were always right beside me. Thought I was alone, with no one to hold, but you were always right beside me”

Joan played well, trying to get her to match their beat, but she was snapping to her own beat and seemed unaware.

“Thing feeling’s like no other, I want you to know…” she paused, seeming to have forgotten the rest of the song. Ms. Darbus took the opportunity to jump in.

“Uh-huh, thank you, next!”

A nervous-looking, gangly boy came to the stage. He seemed to be speaking rhythmically more than singing, and kept checking his hand for the words he’d written there.

“It’s hard to believe that I couldn’t sneeze - see! That you were always right there next to beside me!”

“Camden, I admire your pluck. As to your singing... That's a wonderful tie you're wearing. Next!” Camden smiled and smoothed his tie as Ms. Darbus’ words sank in. His face fell as he shuffled off the stage.

Roman winced through the next singer. Even he could tell she was badly off-key and trying to conceal it by winking frequently, directly at Ms. Darbus. Joan mouthed the words along with her, trying to get her back on rhythm, but it was to no avail.

“Please, stop,” Ms. Darbus finally interjected. “Thank you, Brittney. Next!”

Another auditioner. She was clearly talented, but was also singing as if in an opera, not a musical.

“So lonely befooorrrre I finally fooooo-hooounnddd what I’d been lookiiiiing fooooooooooooooooooor!” She held her last ear-piercing note as Joan stopped playing in shock and audience members tried to subtly cover their ears.

“Ah... Valerie,” Ms. Darbus said with forced cheer. “What... courage to pursue a note that has not been accessed in the natural world. Bravo! Brava! Perhaps the... spring musicale?”

Valerie frowned and looked over at Joan. They forced a smile as Valerie hmphed in affront and left the stage. She was almost knocked over by the next auditioner, a tall, graceful man who leaped onto the stage to the opening bars of the audition song. Joan stopped playing once again, confused. The auditorium was silent as the dancer pirouetted and jetéd before elegantly leaving the stage. The effect might have been perfect, had not he crashed into an unseen obstacle backstage that was audible to everyone. Joan looked over in concern as Ms. Darbus coughed politely. “Thank you, Leo. Next!”

Up came a pair of auditioners, one very short student with brightly-colored hair, the other a man with a headband and bangs swept to one side. The shorter of the two started delivering a dramatic reading of the song as the other whispered echoes of their words.

“It’s hard to believe that I could not see”

“See”

“That you were always right beside me”

“Beside me”

The pair accompanied their words with strange motions that appeared to be attempting interpretive dance

“Thought I was alone!”

“Alone”

“With no one to hold!”

“Hold”

“But you were right beside me”

“Beside me”

They both began to roll and crawl on the floor as Joan backed up their piano bench as far away as possible.

Ms. Darbus had been stunned into silence, but finally found her voice again.

“Talyn, Dominic, that was… that was just... very disturbing, go see a counselor. Next!”

A hand suddenly tapped Roman on the shoulder, and he jumped so high he almost hit his head on the doorway. Virgil had come up behind him, smiling wryly.

“Hey there - did you decide to sign up for something?”

Roman ducked his head. “Uh, no. I was just… watching. Did you?”

Virgil shook his head, his purple bangs falling into his face. “So, uh, do you often hide behind mops, or do your friends just not know you’re here?”

Roman flushed lightly and shook his head in response as another auditioner came to the stage. She stood tall and adjusted her glasses as Joan began the opening bars. She took a breath to sing as she looked out at the audience, and froze.

“Thank you, Dahlia. NEXT!”

Roman winced. “Ms. Darbus seems a little… harsh,” he observed quietly to Virgil.

Virgil smirked. “Roman Bolton, Wildcat superstar, afraid?”

“Not afraid,” he protested. “Just… a little, uh… scared.”

“Me too, usually,” Virgil said, rubbing his neck. “But, um. I was thinking of actually auditioning, if someone could sing onstage next to me?”

Roman blanched with fright. “Um, uh, I could--  I mean, possibly, uh--”

“And for the lead roles of Arnold and Minnie we only have one couple signed up,” Ms. Darbus said happily. Virgil pushed Roman slightly as he hurried to hide behind the janitor’s cart with him. “Diego and Cedric, I think it might be useful for you to give us a sense of why we gather in this hallowed hall.”

Cee and Dee walked from the audience to the stage, flashing smiles at the remaining audience. As Cee started up the stairs, Dee stopped him so that he could go first.

Joan caught Cee as the twins picked up their microphones. “What key did you want?”

“Don’t worry about it, we had our rehearsal pianist do an arrangement,” Cee said with a smile.

Joan deflated. “Oh. Okay.”

The curtain closed as Dee & Cee prepared to sing. Virgil tugged on Roman’s arm to follow him as he found a seat in the last row of the auditorium.

The music started, jazzy and far more upbeat than the previous auditions. Two pairs of hands stuck through the curtain and snapped to the beat, before the curtain opened to reveal Cee & Dee with matching bedazzled microphones in silver and gold, respectively.

“It’s hard to believe that I couldn’t see,” Cee sang. He had an unarguably nice voice, and his perpetual smile matched the bouncy drumbeat the accompanied them.

“That you were always there beside me” Dee joined in, singing in harmony with his twin. Virgil wrinkled his nose as he watched. The pair were both excellent singers, but they kept adding in a lot of over acting, pretending to be surprised by each other on “beside me.” Even for a musical, this felt corny. But Ms. Darbus was clearly enjoying it, bopping along from her spot in the audience.

Roman physically recoiled as Dee handed off his mic to perform a peppy tapdance solo in the middle. “Is this normal?” he whispered to Virgil, who grimaced.

“I don’t think so,” he responded, nodding a head at Joan. The pianist watched from their bench, looking vaguely horrified at the spectacle in front of him.

The pair continued on through the song, adding full choreography. Cee even broke in the middle to do a highly energetic jazz square with accompanying jazz hands before accidentally bumping into Dee. His twin scowled and pushed him, but both recovered and smiled as they continued to sing.

They finally came to a close, Ms. Darbus and the sprinkling of audience members applauding enthusiastically. Dee shot Joan a glare until they clapped too.

Holding their final pose, Dee hissed in Cee’s ear. “I told you not to do the jazz squares.”

“It's a crowd favorite. Everybody loves a good jazz square,” his twin shot back, grinning hugely.

As the applause quieted, Ms. Darbus stood. “Are there any last minute sign-ups?”

Roman stood and tried to edge out of the theater without being spotted as Cee appealed to the dispersing crowd. “Don't be discouraged. The theater club needs more than just singers. It needs fans, too! Buy tickets!”

Joan caught Dee’s attention as he strode backstage. “Oh, actually, if you do the part with that particular song, I imagined it much slower…”

“If we do the part? Joan, Joan, my sawed-off Sondheim, I have been in 17 school productions. And how many times have your compositions been selected?”

“This would be the first,” Joan admitted.

“Which tells us what?” Dee asked with a tight smile.

Joan flinched and offered, “That I need to write you more solos?”

“No,” Dee snapped, his smile dropping. “It tells us that you do not offer direction, suggestion, or commentary.” He advanced on Joan, who backed up nervously into their piano. “And you should be thankful that Cee and I are here to lift your music out of its current obscurity. Are we clear?”

“Yessir! I mean, Diego.”

Dee backed down, then smiled brightly, lifting his mic closer to his mouth again. “Nice talking to you!” He followed his twin backstage with a tiny wave.

“Any last minute sign-ups?” Ms. Darbus called again.

“We should go,” Roman whispered at Virgil, reaching out to grab his hand.

“No?” The theater teacher said, looking around. “Good. Done.”

Suddenly, Virgil was pulling away from Roman’s hold and speaking up. “I'd like to audition, Ms. Darbus!”

Roman’s mind went into overdrive. What is he doing? What? How!? Why?! He gestured wildly at the smaller man, willing him to somehow take back his words and for them both to disappear.

Ms. Darbus looked up, surprised, but her surprise quickly morphed to disapproval. “Timeliness means something in the world of theater, Mr. Montez. The individual auditions are long, long over and there are simply no other pairs.”

Roman stuffed his fear into a tiny corner and emerged from his hiding place behind the theater door. “I’ll sing with him.”

The drama teacher pursed her lips. “Mr. Bolton? Where is your sports posse or whatever it's called?”

Roman stared. “Team”

“Ah.”

“But I’m, uh. I’m here alone,” Roman stuttered out. He felt as nervous as he ever did right before a game. “I’m actually here to sing with him.”

Ms. Darbus was unimpressed. “Yes, well, we take these shows very seriously here at East High. I called for the pairs audition, and you didn't respond. Free period is now over.”

“He has an amazing voice,” Roman protested, gesturing towards Virgil. Virgil looked vaguely queasy over the confrontation, and appeared to be attempting to will himself out of sight or out of existence, whichever came first.

“Perhaps the next musicale, then,” Ms. Darbus said, and left the auditorium.

Just then, Joan tripped as they turned away from the piano, spilling sheet music in every direction. Roman and Virgil hurried to the stage to help them.

“So, you’re a composer?” Roman asked, smiling at the piano player. “You wrote the song Dee and Cee just sang? And the entire show?”

Joan seemed unable to speak, but nodded weakly, staring at Roman like an alien had just landed in the middle of theater.

“Well, that's really cool. I, uh, can't wait to hear the rest of the show,” he offered, helping them up. “So, uh, why are you so afraid of Cee and Dee? Or, Dee, at least. It’s your show, isn’t it?”

“Um, it is?” Joan asked, confused.

“Isn't the composer of a show kinda like the playmaker in basketball?” Roman asked with a smile. Both Virgil and Joan stared at him in incomprehension.

“Playmaker?”

“You know, the one who makes everyone else look good. I mean, without you there is no show. You're the playmaker here, Joan.”

“I am?” they responded, smiling tentatively. “Do… do you want to hear how the duet’s supposed to sound?”

Virgil nodded, and tossed a small grin Roman’s way. The taller man covered his face with a hand to hide what felt like another blush and followed the composer back to the piano, standing behind them to read the sheet music over their shoulder.

Joan tapped a foot to the proper timing, a much slower, sweeter tune than the one the twins had performed, and prompted Roman to begin at the right moment.

It was like New Year’s Eve all over again, and yet nothing like it. The fluttery nervousness was still there, but without the surprise or fear of the crowd. And this time, he wasn’t standing with a mysterious stranger who might run away. It was Virgil, smiling up at him as he came in for the second line. He no longer felt the same electrifying urge to grab the other boy’s attention at any cost - he just wanted that smile to keep being directed his way.

“I've never had someone that knows me like you do,” they sang in harmony, eyes meeting. Was Virgil blushing? Roman couldn’t be sure, especially as the shorter man turned back to the sheet music.

They finished in harmony and paused, all three appreciating the sweetness of the tune.

“Wow,” Roman finally said. “That’s really nice, Joan.”

Suddenly, a voice sounded from the rear of the theater. “Bolton, Montez,  you have a callback.” Ms. Darbus stood at the entrance, looking less severe with her glasses removed. “Joan, give them the duet from the second act. Work on it with them.”

Joan gasped in delight, then started bubbling over with plans. “All right. If you guys wanna rehearse, I'm usually here during free period and after school, and even sometimes during biology class. You can come and rehearse anytime. Or you can come to my house for breakfast. I have a piano, we can rehearse there. After school, before school - whatever works. After basketball class… do you have basketball class? Is that a thing?”

Virgil listened to the pianist, smiling a bit bemusedly, as Roman stared after Ms. Darbus’ retreating back in shock.

“We- she- what?”

a/n: Look who's able to write fluff again! Trust me, no one's as surprised as I am

(I know all of Thomas' friends are incredibly talented and would never be awkward/bad auditioners, but I feel like they'd have fun acting it out anyway :])

[uarcana]

Bad Reputation Pt. III Mother Midnight

“I see”, Nezu’s softly replied after Aoi’s explanation. “So, your alcoholism hasn’t gotten better?”

Aoi shuddered at the principal’s harsh cheery realization, followed by a stifled chuckle from Silver.

“Mrs. Tamahagane, you never got the chance to truly prove yourself to become a hero”, the mongoose continued. “And until you are able to do so, you are meant to be a model citizen and pupil of Mr. Aizawa. With this incident, I fear you may have only thinned your thread to redemption”.

Although Aoi’s nerves couldn’t easily be stirred, it was obvious Nezu had pinched one.

“Now, wait, hold on, sir...”.

“And Mrs. Heiwa”, the principal cut off the mystic, “you are a teacher and a mentor of one of our most promising first years. Your reputation with the press and the public is already rocky. I know you are a magnificent hero, but how are you going to when the trust of those you are meant to save with incidences like these dropping from the sky?”

Nezu knew he was playing with fire with Silver, but he believed a level of self control was needed to be developed.

Once he saw the nerve on her temple tighten and anticipated her risking from her seat, he feared of what he’d have to say next until...

...a sharp and solid slam on the desk abruptly broke everyone’s attention averting it to the otherwise silent woman in the center of all of this.

“Sir”, Midnight finally spoke up. Her voice collective, yet stern.

It wasn’t until then that Silver noticed her friend’s hand was planted firmly against her wrist keeping her in her seat.

“...if I may interject”, she continued. “Though I understand the concerns of the circumstances at hand. Based off what you’ve said, you don’t have all the facts”.

"Whatever do you mean?" 

Nezu's serious features made Nemuri's friends stare at her even harder.

Midnight was about to spill everything that really happened after the girls' stories and that made them nervous; all on its own. 

Nezu was definitely going to "rip them a new one" if she didn't have a plan.

"Well..." 

Back at the bar...

Nemuri got most of what was happening between her uneasy stomach and spinning room. 

"You're destroying mine." 

She kept thinking this was a mistake from the start. 

Why did they have to listen to Silver when she proposed going to a villain bar? Who, in their right mind, does that? 

A loud crash, "she broke the table with his head." 

That was definitely Aoi. Who the hell would dare get in between her and her drink? 

"Alright guys..." Nemuri tried getting her friends' attention; knowing her words were in vain. 

Aoi and Silver kept an eye on their trio but they were so focused on the villains and throwing them out every window, they didn't notice Nemuri trying to get their attention until she got up from her seat and tore the sleeves of her shirt.

Her quirk making its presence known with the sparkly stardust flowing and feeling the air all around her.

Aoi was quick to catch on her friend's intentions, using her quirk to enhance hers and make the hypnotic cloud bigger, making sure it would be able to include every villain in the bar. 

Silver, on the other hand, wasn't. 

Being the one to actually start the fight she was quickly consumed by her need to punch someone. 

So much so she didn't pay attention to her surroundings. Not paying attention to what her co-heroes had created and thus... not thinking of what a spark of fire would have done. A snap of her fingers and... 

"Wait, Silver no-" 

BAAM!!!

“So, what you’re saying...”, Nezu pondered the X-Rated hero’s words, “it was all Mrs. Heiwa’s fault?”

The mongoose’s cheery voice stabbing the mystic like a knife to the chest.

“Sounds about right to me”, Aoi suddenly cut in nonchalantly, “case closed. Can we go home?”

“SERIOUSLY?! WHAT THE HECK, AOI!!! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON MY SIDE!!!”, Silver shouted toward her pouty friend on the other side of Midnight.

“Tell that to my sake”, the bitter metamorph mumbled.

“OH, SHUT UP, YA DAMN SIDEKICK!!! IT’S NOT MY FAULT YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO HOLD A CUP!!!”, Silver continued to shout completely unaware of a well-manicured hand beginning to rise from underneath the desk.

“Not my fault that you can’t hold what’s IN your cup”.

“YOU CALLIN’ ME A LIGHTWEIGHT?!”

“Don’t remember you holding silver hair away from the toilet”.

Two sharp deafening whips silenced the two bickering women. 

Nezu was left in a light sweat upon the two bright red prints left upon the cheeks of the metamorph and the mystic as Midnight lowered her flogger from sight.

“What I’m saying, sir”, the agitated woman began as she suddenly slammed a ridiculously thick binder upon the mongoose’s desk, “you haven’t been informed of the entire situation”.

The woman’s confidence, of course peaked the principal’s interest, as well as the anxious curiosity of the two women beside her.

NEMURI KAYAMA. AKA: MIDNIGHT. LEADER OF HERO TRIO ARCANA AND DESIGNATED MOM OF THE GROUP. AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY GET PLENTY OF DISCIPLINE.

“You see, sir, some people believe that due to the presence of heroes, it is not necessary for our city to be spending money on police forces. When the truth is police patrols are just as important is not more. It is how heroes are able to maintain an ability to do their jobs properly and without situations arising where drastic actions must be taken”, she began to explain.

“A hero’s job is to combat the conflict of the world, but what most don’t know is that patterns in crime must be identified for heroes to develop the safest and surest strategy to assess the situation and at the wrong place at the wrong time, could end in disaster”.

“Fortunately”, the woman lightly grinned, “we were here at the perfect time”.

“Of course the media is only going to exploit the property damage which in turn would cause civilians to lose trust in the safety of heroes patrolling the city, as well as our competence in teaching”, she admitted before a planting a solid finger upon the binder, “but, I have something much more valuable than a petty story to ruin UA’s reputation”.

“My my, what is this?”, Nezu cheerfully asked as he took the binder in hand.

“That, sir, is all unsolved crime reports of certain sections of the city”.

As the principal opened the binder, Aoi and Silver could’ve sworn they felt his soul plummet to the floor.

“As you can see, sir, over 57% of our city is lacking in surveillance and police patrol. Though there have been many complaints of activity, there is clear negligence in keeping these areas under watch. Resulting in multiple properties being used for criminal activity”, Midnight continued, “One of these properties being…”.

“The bar you girls destroyed…”.

“Precisely”, the x-rated hero shouted in triumph.

How did she even find this so quickly?, the women thought to themselves, slightly unnerved by their friend’s investigative talents.

“My goodness”, Nezu lightly stuttered as he continued to look into this disturbing news. 

“There are, however, multiple reports of criminal activity at this property”, the principal stated. “AllMight has even been documented to have investigated this property before”.

“True as that may be, pay close attention to the dates of which these investigations occurred”, Midnight countered. “Months almost years apart from each other and over time these villain gangs can easily adapt. Imagine how many times these gangs possibly sensed suspicious activity and fled to other hideouts in other to avoid detection and every report indicates that these groups have been growing more and more in size. This particular bar was a fair size and was packed to the brim. There’s no telling how much they could’ve multiplied. At this point, it would’ve been far too risky to alert the authorities. Any extra suspicion could’ve caused them to flee or worse, also, how long until the city ignored this property again? The risk was too great. Action needed to be taken”.

As much as Nezu wanted to believe there was a better way, he could not help, but agree with Midnight’s observations.

“So, tell me, sir? Is property damages to a known criminal hideout more important than the number of rapists, thieves and murderers brought to justice and the negligence of city officials that could’ve ended their reign over such a large portion of our beloved city sooner?”

The fury in the woman’s eyes sent a chill throughout the room, leaving the principal with only one possible answer.

“And that is how we seized a notorious criminal hideout”, Nemuri proudly, news cameras focused on the three heroes.

“WOW, SIMPLY INCREDIBLE!!! THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS”, the cheery reporter chirped toward the camera into her microphone, “HEROICS AT IT’S FINEST!!”

“It is our job to protect and serve and we do so proudly”, Midnight commented as she smiled and waved toward her fans, signing numerous autographs. The other two women watching on from afar.

“Why is SHE getting all the credit?”, Silver mumbled in annoyance, “I’M THE ONE THAT BLEW UP THE PLACE, Y’KNOW!!!”

“Yeah, you deserve a medal”, Aoi rolled her eyes at her friend with a smirk.

Somewhere in the dormitories…

“…we’re gonna hear about this tomorrow, aren’t we?”, Toshinori Yagi asked as he stood next to an exasperated Aizawa in the teacher’s lounge of UA. The channel currently turned to the news.

“…more like until we retire”.

Tagging: @digitalkanvas @glacian-apocalypse @nykamito @aquathemermaidstripper

If you would like to be tagged, let us know!

[hazbinextgeneration]

Safe Haven’s Angel Book1 Ch54

Saturday. That one day she was dreading this entire week and for good reason. This was the dreaded day that'd she was going to have to go on that date. With Helsing. And a couple of his friends that she had never met. Great. She'd been debating all week on what to do about this whole situation. Maybe she could've tried talking to Prince Damian or someone else in order to get Helsing to back off or tried to find some loophole in his deal right? Maybe she could've even pretended to be sick. You can't possibly go on a date if you were sick right? She was sure Raven and Indigo would've backed her up if she decided to take that route...But like Indigo pointed out, Helsing would've just saw through her ruse or even just rescheduled the 'date'. Plus..he DID promise he'd leave her alone if she went on one date. That was too tempting to pass up. From what she's seen he always kept his end of the deals he made anyways, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Go out. Pay for her own food. And then afterwards turn him down in the politest way possible. Win win. The only thing she was dreading was the fact that ....well...She hadn't exactly possibly maybe....Never have went on a date before. So she didn't exactly know what to do on one. It couldn't be too different from the movies right? Just go out and just talk and eat food. Should be easy!....R-Right? Well the anxiety of a date and the fact that (despite it just being Helsing) it was with a Hell Royal of things got to her and she ended up asking the one person that could've even known about what to do. Her boss of course! Ms. Tenta would absolutely know what to do with her experience in love and romance!

"This night is going to be a disaster." One make over and dress up game later and she was staring uncomfortably at herself all dolled up, hair done up, and a sparkly black sweater (forced-) thrown over her head by her boss. Was this too much? Surely looking like a super model for a first date was too much...right? Or would Helsing even care or notice? "RRRRR!!!" She growled in frustration and ended up gripping the strands of hair that wasn't in whatever do Tenta decided to adorn her with and groaned out. And she inhaled. "No. No no. It's ok. It's gonna be alright." She assured herself holding up her hands. She just had to remind herself. It was just one date. "It's just for one night. It doesn't matter if it's good or bad it's just one time. You can put up with him for just one night. You've dealt with his stupid antics for years. You can put up with him for just a couple hours. It'll be fine.".....Right? Groaning she stood up from her desk and sighed. "I need a walk!"

And out her bedroom door she left. Walking out into the hallway and going down towards the corridor past permanent residence, a.k.a live in workers' rooms, and down away from the residency areas. Sure she wasn't allowed outside the palace like the rest of the live in workers, but if she was lucky then the walk around the halls would clear her head before Helsing seeked her out for the 'date' or before she had to go look for him unfortunately. The very thought made her stomach churn and her mind whirled as he mindlessly walked around. Passing a few other workers and guards who some gave her a glance probably because she was dolled up like she was going to the greed ring to spend the night at one of those fancy casinos for the night out. She was spending so much time rethinking the terrible what ifs and worst case scenarios that she didn't notice that she had ended up walking out of the servant wing and into one of the larger areas of the palace. Towards the giant library if she bothered to look up and check her surroundings. But she didn't and ended up wondering through the giant library doors and into the quiet giant room on instinct to be somewhere quiet to hopefully sort out her thoughts and clear out her head. The place was almost dark in the dim lights. Giant shelves the size of trees were lined up everywhere stacked to the brim with books of all kinds from your normal surface world books like romance novels and manga to more hellish subjects like 'How To Cook Using Hellfire' and how to potion books. As wells as one or two tables and chairs around. It was a pretty big place being the head ruler of hell's palace. Barely anyone came in here or used it other than when one of the palace's children needed to research a subject or whenever the servants came in here to deep clean the place twice a month or so. She only ignored everything still and walked between two random shelves before groaning a sigh of some kind of relief and would've rubbed her face if it didn't mean ruining her rouge and blush and whatever Ms. Tenta had slapped onto her in that make over session. What was she going to do!? She didn't want to go on a date with anyone!? Let alone Helsing of all people!! The guy was smug and cocky and didn't let up and is known for throwing hands at demons who decided it'd be a good idea to push around the ruler's grandson! And on top of this date she was already roped into being his 'date' for the next time there was a gala! Was he just hoping to show her off or something!? She wasn't a trophy girlfriend! What if she got fired!?

"Tell me another verse, Helsing," a small girl's voice asked. And Margo froze.

"Haha! Another one? Isn't the point of your homework to make you come up with your own poems?," a very, very, VERY familiar voice asked back making her eyes widen even more and her heart sink into her gut. "You know if Pops or Dad finds out I'm giving you the answers to your homework again they're not gonna be happy."

......Well screw her luck. Right universe? It was unmistakable. Those were the voices of Lacey, who was nothing but a sweet little angel......And the bane of her existence. The one who she was anxious to even see. The one who was the cause of her entire freaking problem here....The prince Helsing. With her. In the library. Where she was hoping to try and avoid anyone else right now ESPECIALLY HELSING OF ALL PEOPLE!! All calm feelings shot out of her head at that point and she shot back up. Pressing her back again the shelf with a feeling of dread in her stomach. Dangit! If he saw her then she might as well be ready to be bugged and smothered in compliments and praise she definitely did NOT WANT from ANYONE!!! She had to get out of there-

"Ok. Then lemme try and think of something real quick."

She slowly started scooting along the shelf towards the aisle between the shelves where it was just a straight pathway towards the door. If she was quick and quiet enough maybe they wouldn't notice her or realize who she was looking a little more different than normal.

"I've changed as much as I can. There's only so much change in one man. I'm still trying to find who I am. But it's easier said than done." She paused. "Then there's you to color my black and white days. I can count on you to color my black and white days. When you're here I come to life. But I wonder who colors your black and white days?"

......Did Helsing just..recite poetry? Ever so slowly she peeked over the side of the shelf and didn't see anyone. Thank goodness. But they sounded close. REALLY close. Maybe one or two shelves away. If she left now she might make it. She slowly and quietly stepped out from behind the shelf.

"Wow! That's so pretty! No wonder you always got As in writing class."

"Hey. Don't give me so much credit. You're better at math than I am."

"True," Lacey's voice came in a bragging tone. "Give me some more to write!"

"More? You sure?"

"Uh huh! We're supposed to turn this in by next Friday but if you help me now I can just turn it in Monday and not worry about it anymore."

"Hehe. Alright. Fair enough."

Margo slowly started walking towards the exit within sight.

"Forget this life. We're leaving here tonight. Haven't you longed to be free? I have dreamt of a place. No one knows who we are there. I've dreamt so long I can not dream anymore. So drop your guard." She slowed the closer she got to the voices. "There's no need to tell anyone. They'd only hold us down. So by the morning light we'll be half way to anywhere. Where no one needs a reason. Let's run away. I'll take you there."

Her interest peeked as she got closer and closer. Now they sounded only a shelf away.

"That's great! A couple more verses should be everything I need! Tell me more, please."

"Hmmm. Alright. But this is the last time." There was a brief pause as she got close enough to hear their voices as if she was standing just a yard away from each other. "I'd lie if I say your beauty wasn't breathtaking. Same would be if I said didn't immediately stole my heart. My criteria are different from those of your race. The lightning in your eyes in that moment was enough."

She finally peeked around two other shelves she had to pass and her eyes widened seeing what she did. It was Lacey and Helsing alright. The two royals sat there at one of the few tables and chairs. Their backs towards them thankfully with Lacey looking like she was writing down something as Helsing watched. Neither noticed her thankfully so maybe she could still sneak past. She took two quiet steps going forward looking ahead towards the door. Her freedom. When all of a sudden purple ears flicked and Lacey turned around to her trying to sneak past and gained a wide smile.

"Margo!" She froze. Body suddenly feeling like ice was injected into her veins as Helsing looked over as well and surprise riddled his face as Lacey smiled seeing her. And giving her away to him. "What are you doing here?....Wow! You look so pretty! Why are you dressed up like a super model?"

For a minute silence over took them. No one spoke. No one moved. No one did anything but sat there in silence to see who would respond first. Eventually Margo did. As much as her instincts told her to run she didn't. Instead her ears pressed against her head as she ever. So. Slowly. Turned. Around. Slowly her eyes met the other two who still stared at her and if it was even possible Helsing's pink eyes widened even more seeing her all dolled up like this. The two still stared at each other before she nervously forced a smile.

"Uh....Hey y-you." She forced a smile and chuckled nervously. "I was uh...Just g-going for a walk and didn't know you were here. S-Surprise! Ahaha!.....Uh..W-What are you doing here?"

Lacey in response held up the piece of paper she'd been writing on with the poem stanzas on it. "Helsing was helping me with my poetry work! He's really good at spewing that stuff out."

She blinked. "He what?''

"Uh huh. He really likes that kinda stuff. He likes to show grandma all the time." She innocently looked back to Helsing in question. "Hey. Why didn't you ever try to woo her using that mushy stuff? I bet she would've liked it-"

"AND would you look at the time! Wow!'' Lacey blinked as she was picked up from the chair by Helsing before being turned around and placed down on the floor and lightly shoved. "Ok, Squirt. You got what you need. Get going now."

Lacey did do as Helsing suggested waving goodbye to the two of them before scurrying her way out the door Margo had tried to seek freedom from the situation. Leaving the two of them there. Alone. Margo still stared off towards where Lacey left and wondered if Helsing would notice if she also left.

"So....How much did you hear exactly?" Or maybe not. She slowly looked back to him finding him looking at her but he looked...more embarrassed than mad.

She shuffled nervously for a second but knowing Helsing was a prince and he wouldn't stop bugging her about it anyways ..she sighed and answered truthfully. "Most of it I guess. I didn't know you guys were in here honestly..." She tilted her head. "I also didn't know you knew a lot of poetry."

"Oh. Uh...Yeah." His hand reached up to rub his face as he looked down. "My grandma actually got me into it. I like making them a lot....Hehe. Sounds crazy right. The third heir to the hell throne likes to recite poetry like a lovestruck succubus."

"....No. Not really."

He paused..before looking back to her surprised. "Wait..Really?"

"Yeah. I mean..We live in literal hell and your grandpa is the ruler of hell himself. That seems a bit more out there than someone simply liking poetry. Don't you think? Lots of people can say they like poems. How many people do you know that can say they're the prince of hell?"

After a moment Helsing chuckled and gave a smile. "Yeah I guess you got a point."...He looked back to her for a moment before gesturing to her. "You look ..good. Like really nice. Did Tenta do your hair?"

"Hm? Oh Thanks. uh..Yeah." She reached a paw up to pat ger hairdo lightly. "H-How did you know?"

"Because she's the only one who can do that hairstyle you've got there."

"Oh. Y-Yeah I guess that makes sense." More silence passed between them again as they looked around awkwardly....Hey. Since when did feel awkward with Helsing of all people? "...Uh. So. I didn't know you liked poetry so much. I don't think I've ever heard you mention it."

"Y-Yeah. I uh....Didn't think you'd be interested to be interested to be honest."

"....Can I hear some?"

He paused looking at her. "......What?"

"What I heard you tell Lacey was really lovely." She tilted her head at him. "Can I hear some more?"

He still stared at her as if she suddenly disappeared. "Wait...You're really interested?" She nodded. And he paused a minute before sighing. "....My peace. Another beauty loved by a beast. Another tale of infinite dreams." Margo paused tilting her head more at him. "An angel you struggles toward the future and an angel who lights up the dark. Come with me. Because you need to escape as much as I do. And you can't deny it any longer." When he finished he timidly looked back up to Margo and seemed genuinely surprised she was smiling at him.

"Wow. That was really pretty. You're really good at coming up with beautiful poetry, Helsing."

At that moment his pink skin became a shade darker if that was even possible before stuttering. "UH...Y-Yeah! Thanks! Um...Oh wow look at the time!" He stood up suddenly making her blink. "I didn't realize how late it was. W-We should get going!"

She blinked. Her worries coming back just as fast as she had forgetten. "Wait. NOW NOW!?"

With a chuckle that sounded more like Helsing he looked at her and smiled. "Yep! Now now." He held his arm to her like some night but seemed a bit more nervous again. "So uh....Shall we?"

She still stared between him and his arm for a moment before she slowly reached over and grabbed his offered hand.

-elsewhere-

He didn't know how Helsing talked him into this mess! He tried calling him multiple times when he first arrived in front of this building plaza restaurant place when his mother had dropped him off. But he guessed reception couldn't reach all the way down in hell. Which made him end up having to wait in front of the front doors as other people went in and out no doubt either coming here for the giant arcade, or the joined movie theater, or eating at the cheap (but honestly the greasy fast food served there was delicious-) fast food place inside. Looks like he'd have to stand there and literally wait for Helsing and his date and whoever this 'friend' of his was exactly. Which left him leaning by the doors as to not bump into anyone's way and just scrolling through his phone. Oh he swore Helsing had better keep his half of the promise! He was only doing this so the guy didn't get cold feet around this gal. He failed to see the figure looking around before their eyes landed on him and he also didn't notice the guy walking up to him until he felt someone stop right in front of him. Forcing Dimitri to look up and jump a bit seeing a confused face and pale eyes staring back at him.

"HOLY HELL- W-Who are you!?," he ended up stammering out startled from the sudden appearance of the pale guy.

Instead of answering he held up his hand and pointed at him in Question. "Dimitri...right?"

he felt his fluffy deer ears bristle hearing his own name and in an instant his face scowled and he became defensive. "....Who's asking!?"

To his surprise the pale kid smiled showing off a pair of long fangs and a comical tooth gap between them. "You can say I'm a friend of a friend. The name's Thomas. I'm goin' to take a wild guess and assume Helsing didn't tell you about me yet."

Dimitri paused. The word Helsing catching his attention before he pointed. "Wait. You're this 'friend' of his he roped into tagging along?"

"And you must be the blind date he set me up with too. But it looks like he's fashionably late as usual." He held out his hand. "Nice to meet you though."

Dimitri looked at him and his hand for a moment suspiciously...before reaching his hand out to shake it- Before both jumped as a flash of red appeared right next to them and as both looked over a portal appeared within that red light. The round entrance way gave way to a certain pink and red demon as he stepped right out through it casually with some girl right behind him. Oh it was about time! As soon as the two of them stepped out the portal closed and the girl blinked looking around the place.

"You're LATE!" The girl made a yelp sound and snapped her head towards them as both guys looked towards Helsing. Dimitri annoyed crossed his arms as the demon chuckled.

"Sorry. Lil sis needed help with her homework and I kinda lost track of time. Hey! You know M-Margo right!?" he quickly looked back to Margo and gestured a hand over to her nervously. "Margo these are the guys! Dimitri. Thomas. Margo. Margo. Thomas and Dimitri. I assume you two met each other too now....Hey." His brow rose as his head turned around as if looking for someone. "Where the hell's Julian?"

"He couldn't make it." Helsing looked back to Dimitri. "One of his mother's potions exploded again and he had to rush her to the doctor's. Camelia's didn't want to third wheel our 'dates' so she's not coming either. I tried to call you but you didn't answer your dam phone." His brow rose more as he looked to Margo. "But yeah. I've heard of you before. Helsing won't stop talking about you."

Margo blinked. "Oh?"

"Yeah. He's always saying how nice you are, and how creative you are, and how your cooking is delicious-"

"HEY!! I think the movies are about to start!," Helsing yelled as he pointed towards the entrance way towards the theater as Margo looked at him. And to prevent Dimitri from saying anything else. "It's gonna get packed soon! W-We better get our food and get in before all the good seats are taken!"

Dimitri felt smug seeing Helsing flustered but agreed that it would be best to get in before it became too crowded. There was a few movies to chose from but only one or two looked good so they chose one called Monster Spiders Panic. Thomas for whatever reason tried to insist on another but it was three against one so that's where they all went there after grabbing some snacks and getting situated. The movie was ok. Cheap looking cgi spiders and the screams could've been more realistic but it was a nice movie. None had noticed but Thomas had been shifting uncomfortably in his seat the entire time and flinching at some scenes in the movie, more specifically ones with the obviously fake spiders but it wasn't until near the end of the movie that the real event started. It was near the end until a lot of people in the audience jumped at a admittedly good jump scare of one of the spiders that suddenly jumped in the middle of the screen-

"A H!!"

Popcorn flew all over the floor and the people in the row in front of them making them yell being showered by buttered popcorn. And others turned their heads to the one responsible as Thomas yelled and clutched onto Dimitri who froze up with the ending scene jump scare. The last of the movie wasn't too exciting and when the credits rolled everyone filed out along with them. Thomas rushing out faster than the others and the three of them found him by the food stand leaning against it. Dimitri made the first move to speak.

"Hey. Are you alright there?"

Helsing chuckled. "He'll be fine. The big bad vampire-incubus is afraid of spiders."

Thomas shot him a look. ".....You're afraid of spiders? But they're harmless small creatures."

"H-Hey! T-Those things are c-creepy with their fangs and beady little eyes!!" The demon shuttered wide eyed. "Next time I'll just wait for you guys out here!"

....Dimitri offered a few pats on his back. Spiders? Honestly? This vampire-demon guy could strike fear into anyone yet he was scared of a few usually harmless animals that you could just put outside? That was like Helsing being afraid of a puppy. But he chose not to comment and instead patted his back in an attempt to comfort the guy.

"Hey. Why don't we play a few games?," Margo offered in order to get rid of the awkward air by gesturing away from the movie theater and over towards the entrance to the connected arcade. "It's still too early for dinner and that looks like fun!"

"Y-Yeah. Good idea. Hopefully nothing with spiders." Thomas mumbled that last part to himself.

With some reluctance the four of them exited the lobby and went into the arcade room that well...operated like a regular arcade. Plenty of game cabinets that needed quarters that you could convert from the machine up front with the tokens you'd get depending on how many wins you got and you could exchange those tokens for small prizes up front. Etc. Etc. It went..pleasantly well. Of course she wasn't as good as the games as much as Helsing or his friends were. In fact she'd say she was terrible at most of them with the exceptions being the wack-a-mole one. And she didn't feel.....Bothered at all. In fact it didn't even feel like a date at this point. I mean was it supposed to be at this point? She saw a movie, and played a couple games which could be just an everyday thing. Helsing hadn't said a thing during the movie and had barely said a word to her now beyond the typical polite talk. Asking how she was liking the game she was playing, congratulating her if she won, giving her a couple pointers, or asking if he could have a turn after her as the other two did a similar thing collecting more of those prize tickets. The only difference was that Helsing seemed nervous in his tone and body language. Stuttering his words making her look at him as he nervously laughed it off and offered her another turn or turned his attention to a different game to get himself out of that awkward scenario. Once and a while he'd look to Thomas or Dimitri for help but it seemed the both of them were hitting it off. Thomas smiling and Dimitri chuckling at something he said. Helsing was, not on purpose but, on his own for this one.

"Helsing!"

"GAH!?" he whipped around and Margo happily pointed towards a game. "That one's probably one I can do but it requires two players. Do you wanna play with me?"

...He sighed letting his body relax before his usual smirk appeared on his face. "Anything for a beautiful lady.~ Which one are you talking about? Doomsday? Resident dEvil? It's Maria Kart isn't it?"

Margo pointed over towards one game cabinet, and his smile vanished upon seeing it. "Dance Dance Evolution! I play it all the time with Lacey at home so it should be fun!.......Helsing?" When he didn't say anything to her, she turned around and was surprised to see his smile vanished and he had taken a couple steps back from her. "....Hey. What's wrong with you?"

"I uh-...." Pink eyes looked from her to the game again before he shook his head. ''I can't play that game."

"Why not?"

"I.....can't dance."

She blinked. "What?"

"I said I can't dance! Ok?" he semi shouted at her and she blinked at the embarrassed look flashing across his face as he slumped. "I just....I can do a lot of things but...dancing isn't one of them, Margo. *sigh* I'm down right terrible at it. I have two left feet and I trip over thin air every time I try and lessons do nothing and ....and.....I just..CAN'T!"

"hey, hey, hey." She held up her hands in an assuring motion making him look up surprised at her as she gently grabbed her arms. "Hey. That's fine. We don't have to play that one if you don't want to. I didn't want to play it anyways. C'mon. Let's go play something else."

He stared at her and didn't move even when she tugged him to move and just....stared at her. "wait...What did you say?"

"Let's go play another game."

"N-No. Before that. What did you say?"

"Uh...Y-You don't have to dance if you don't want to?" He stared at her. "Why?"

"T-That's....That's the first time someone ever said that to me."

Margo blinked. "What?"

"That's the first time someone that wasn't my parents said that to me." he reached his free hand up to rub his face as he looked up. "Look...Being a prince isn't all it's cracked up to be alright. There's a constant amount of expectations from everyone, even from my grandparents and...It's not really every day I hear something like that from everyone."

She blinked after a moment of awkward silence before she asked. "Wait. You've been on dates before me! Surely I can't be the only one who's said that."

"Outside my parents and Dimmy other there...not really. Heh. You'd be surprised at how many girls were expecting to be swept off their feet by this big fancy edgy prince and be disappointed by my wreck of a mess."

"....I don't think you're a wreck." He looked back at her as she rose a brow. "So you can't dance. There's nothing wrong with that. You've seen me play tonight. I can't play a video game to save my life. That's perfectly fine." She tugged him again. "Come on. Let's just go find something else we can play alright?"

This time his numb body was able to be pulled by her as his face lit up. "Uh...Y-Yeah. O-Ok."

The rest of the night actually went pleasantly well. They did end up winning enough token ticket things to win a few prizes and Helsing gave Margo one of those giant stuffed bears that were way too soft and squishy for their own good which she hugged to herself making him smile. Until Thomas suggested they grab some food before Dimitri's mother comes back to pick him up and off they went to the fast food area. Like Dimitri expected before it was really greasy but delicious tasting and not too expensive. He did end up smiling when Helsing blushed the hardest in his life when a small joke he made made Margo snort and laughed genuinely. Poor guy really was smitten with her. Sunset approached and it ended up with the four of them walking outside and standing around for a bit talking until Helsing looked over and noticed that Dimitri and Thomas with their phones out doing something.

"Hey. Whatcha two doing?"

"Exchanging numbers so we can hang out at next week at the art convention."

"Art convention??"

Thomas nodded. "Yeah. My uncle taught me how to sew something so I sometimes go. Never know what you'll find." He turned back to Dimitri. "And I'm honestly looking forward to seeing your paintings. If they're as good as you told me I just might buy one to put on my wall. That way I can say I got to meet a cute artist.~"

Dimitri flushed a light pink but didn't get a chance to respond before a couple honks behind him made everyone turned their head. "Oh! T-That's my mom." He turned back to everyone. "I uh...Gotta go. I-I'll see you later. I-It was really nice to meet you Margo."

they waved a bit before Thomas too looked at them. "I better head out too. Aunt Kenzie's gonna throw a fit if I don't come home."

"Ok pal. You want a lift there?"

"Nah. I can get there fine on my own. 'Sides I still have a few loose ends to tie up before the night's over. But I'll see you around dude."

Which left them as Thomas walked away and Dimitri left in the car that came to pick him up. After a silent moment or two Helsing suggested they also head back and she agreed watching again as he easily just tore a portal back to hell through thin air and helped her step through it before it closed behind them. Leaving them to stand back in front of the library where they had originally left off. And after another silent moment Margo looked over to Helsing.

"T-Thanks for that. Um....I-I had a nice time out."

"Uh...Y-Yeah!" He smiled rubbing his neck. "M-Me too! O-One of the best dates I ever had. Ahehe he."

She smiled. "Well it's getting late. I uh...b-better head back to bed now." She hugged the stuffed animal to her tighter. "I really had fun. Can't wait to see what we do for that second date you made me promise you." She turned. "Good night, Your Highness."

Helsing stood there paused as she walked away..and away. And away until her flustered form disappeared around the corner and the realization of reality hit him with the weight and force of a truck.

"Second d-date......SHIT!! I NEED TO PLAN!!"

[angelavengedinspo-blog]

Any of the Shadowhunters he knew back in New York would have dealt with the situation without blinking an eye. He was sure Isabelle would have cut off the possum’s head with a sword. But now he was surrounded by people who panicked and screamed and stood on stools, flailing disasters of human beings who could not cope with a single rodent, and Simon was one of them. They were all just normal kids. It was such a relief, Simon felt dizzy with it. Or maybe that was because he’d hit his head. 

-----------

But he did think he remembered Isabelle, Jace, and Alec saying some sketchy things about mundanes, now and then. Isabelle, Jace, and Alec weren’t so bad. It was just the way they were brought up: They didn’t mean what it seemed like they meant. Simon was pretty sure. 

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

And he remembered Isabelle, her dark hair flowing over his pillow, her throat bared to him, her toenails scratching his leg, like a sexy vampire movie aside from the bit about the toenails. The other Simon had been not only a hero but a lady-killer. Well, more of a lady-killer than Simon was now. Isabelle. Simon’s mouth moved to form the shape of her name, pressing it into his pillow. He’d told himself he wasn’t going to think about her, not until he was really getting somewhere in the Academy. Not until he was on his way to being better, being the person she wanted him to be.

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

“No!” said Simon. “I can’t stress that enough. I’ve bitten several Shadowhunters. I bit Isabelle Lightwood and Alec Lightwood; biting Jace was not a tender and unique moment!” “You bit Isabelle and Alec Lightwood?!” asked Julie, who was starting to sound freaked-out. “What did the Lightwoods ever do to you?” “Wow,” said George. “I imagined the demon realms were fearsome and terrifying, but seems like it was pretty much nonstop nom nom nom.” “That is not how it was!” Simon said.

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

“—despite her tender years, a Shadowhunter of some renown and noted expertise with less-used weapons such as the whip. May I welcome to Shadowhunter Academy our first guest lecturer: Isabelle Lightwood!” Isabelle turned, sleek black hair flaring around her shoulders and black skirt flaring around her pale legs. She was wearing glittery plum lipstick, so dark it looked almost black. Her eyes did look black, but another small knife of memory pierced Simon, of course at the worst time possible: He remembered the colors of her eyes from close up, very dark brown, like brown velvet, so close to black as to make no difference, but with paler rings of color. . . . He stumbled over to his desk, and folded into his chair with a thump.

...

When the dean left, Isabelle turned and regarded her class with absolute contempt. “I am not actually here to instruct any of you idiots,” she told them, walking up and down the rows of desks. “If you want to use a whip, train with one, and if you lose an ear, don’t be a big whiny baby.” Several of the boys nodded, as if hypnotized. Almost all the boys were watching Isabelle as if they were a nest of snakes intent on being charmed. Some of the girls were watching her that way too. “I am here,” Isabelle announced, finishing her prowl of the perimeter and turning to face them all again with snapping eyes, “to determine my relationship.” Simon goggled. She couldn’t be talking about him. Could she?

“Do you see that man?” Isabelle asked, pointing at Simon. Apparently she was talking about him. “That’s Simon Lewis, and he is my boyfriend. So if any of you think about trying to hurt him because he’s a mundie or—may the Angel have mercy on your soul—pursuing him romantically, I will come after you, I will hunt you down, and I will crush you to powder.”

“We’re just bros,” said George hastily. Beatriz edged her desk away from Simon’s. Isabelle lowered her hand. The flush of excitement was receding from her face as well, as though she had come to say what she had said, and now that she was out of adrenaline she was actually processing what had come out of her mouth. “I am going to go now,” Isabelle announced. “Thank you for your attention. Class dismissed.” She turned and walked out of the room. “I have to—” Simon began, rising from his desk on legs that felt a little unsteady. “I have to go.” “Yeah, you do,” George said. Simon went out the door, and ran down the stone corridors of the Academy. He knew Isabelle was fast, so he ran, faster than he’d ever run on the training grounds, and he caught up to her in the hall. She stopped in the dim light of the stained-glass window as he called her name. “Isabelle!” She stood waiting for him. Her lips parted and gleamed, like plums under a winter frost, ready to be tasted. Simon could see himself running up to her, catching her in his arms, and kissing her mouth, knowing what it had taken for her to do that—his brave, brilliant Isabelle—and carried away in a whirl of love and joy, but he saw it as if through a pane of glass, as if looking into another dimension, one he could see but not quite touch. Simon felt a hot pang of grief through his whole body, not just through his chest, as if he had been struck by lightning. But he had to say it. “I’m not your boyfriend, Isabelle,” he called out. She went white. Simon was horrified by how badly his words had come out. “I mean, I can’t be your boyfriend, Isabelle,” he said. “I’m not him—that guy who was your boyfriend. That guy you want.” He almost said: I wish I could be. He had wished he could be. That was why he had come to the Academy, to learn how to be that guy they all wanted back. He’d wanted to be that way, be an awesome hero like in a game or a movie. He’d been so sure, at first, that was what he wanted. Except wishing he could be that guy was like wishing to obliterate the guy he was now: the normal, happy guy in a band, who could still love his mother, who did not wake up in the coldest, darkest hour of the night weeping for dead friends. And he did not know if he could be that guy she wanted, whether he wished it or not. “You remember everything, and I—I don’t remember enough,” Simon went on. “I hurt you when I don’t mean to, and I thought I could come to the Academy and come back better, but it’s not looking good. The whole game has changed. My skill level has decreased and the difficulty level has been jacked up to impossible—” “Simon,” Isabelle interrupted, “you’re talking like a nerd.” She said it almost fondly, but it freaked Simon out more. “And I don’t know how to be smooth, sexy vampire Simon for you, either!” Isabelle’s perfect mouth curved, like a dark half-moon in her pale face. “You were never that smooth, Simon.” “Oh,” said Simon. “Oh, thank God. I know you’ve had a lot of boyfriends. I remember there was a faerie, and”—another flash of memory, this time most unwelcome—“a . . . Lord Montgomery? You dated a member of the nobility? How am I ever going to compete with that?” Isabelle still looked fond, but it was diluted with a good deal of impatience. “You’re Lord Montgomery, Simon!” “I don’t understand,” said Simon. “When you’re made a vampire, are you also given a title?” Maybe that made sense. Vampires were aristocratic. Isabelle put her fingers up to touch her brow. It was a gesture that seemed like disdainful weariness, like Isabelle was tired of all this, but Simon saw the way her eyes closed, as if she could not look at him when she spoke. “It was just a joke between you and me, Simon.” Simon was tired of all this: of knowing pieces of her so well and others not at all, of knowing he was not what she wanted. “No,” he said. “It was a joke between you and him.” “You are him, Simon!” “I’m not,” Simon told her. “I don’t—I don’t know how to be, that’s what I’ve been realizing all this time. I thought I could learn to be him, but since I got to the Academy I learned that I can’t. I can’t experience everything we did over again. I’m never going to be the guy who did all that. I’m going to do different things. I’m going to be a different guy.” “Once you Ascend, you’ll get all your memories back!” Isabelle shouted at him. “If I Ascend, it will be in two years. I’m not going to be the same guy in two years, even if I do get all the memories back, because there will be so many other memories. You’re not going to be the same girl. I know you believed in me, Isabelle, I know you believed because you—you cared about him. That means more than I can tell you. But, Isabelle, Isabelle, it isn’t fair of me to take advantage of your belief. It isn’t fair to keep you waiting for him, when he isn’t ever coming back.”

Isabelle had her arms crossed, fingers curled into the dark plum velvet of her own jacket as if she was offering herself comfort. “None of this is fair. It isn’t fair that part of your life was ripped from you. It’s not fair that you were ripped away from me. I’m so angry, Simon.”

Simon took a step toward her and took one of her hands, uncurling her fingers from her jacket. He did not take her in his arms but he stood a little distance away from her, their hands linked across the distance. Her trembling mouth sparkled, and so did her eyelashes. He did not know if this was indomitable Isabelle crying, or whether it was sparkly mascara. All he knew was that she shone, like a constellation in the shape of a girl. “Isabelle,” he said. “Isabelle.” She was so much herself, and he had scarcely any idea who he was. “Do you know why you’re here?” she demanded. He just looked at her. There were so many things that question could mean, and so many ways to answer. “I mean at the Academy,” she said. “Do you know why you want to be a Shadowhunter?” He hesitated. “I wanted to be that guy again,” he said. “That hero that you all remember . . . and this seems like a training school for heroes.” “It’s not,” Isabelle said flatly. “It’s a training school for Shadowhunters. And yeah, I think that’s a pretty cool thing, and yeah, I think protecting the world is pretty heroic. But there are cowardly Shadowhunters and evil Shadowhunters and hopeless Shadowhunters. If you’re going to get through the Academy, you have to figure out why you want to be a Shadowhunter and what that means to you, Simon. Not just why you want to be special.” He winced, but it was true. “You’re right. I don’t know. I know that I want to be here. I know I need to be here. Believe me, if you’d seen the bathrooms, you’d know I didn’t make this decision lightly.” She gave him a withering look. “But,” he said, “I don’t know why. I don’t know myself well enough yet. I know what I said to you, at first, and I know what you hoped. That I could turn back into who I was before. I was really wrong and I am really sorry.”

“Sorry?” Isabelle demanded. “Do you know what a big deal it was for me to come here, to make a fool of myself in front of all these people? Do you know—of course you don’t. You don’t want me to believe in you? You don’t want me to choose you?”

Isabelle pulled her hands away from him, turned her face away as she had in the garden of the Institute that was her home. This time Simon knew it was absolutely his fault. She was already leaving as she said: “Have it your way, Simon Lewis. I won’t.”