#his stuff is so nice to play cause he's actually. you know. a pianist

[stsebastiens]

working on the little women musical rn and as a pianist most of these songs are so tiring…………also im definitely not being paid enough. lol 

[hanoella]

Affettuoso- With Feeling (Part 4)

Pairing: Bucky x Pianist!Reader

Set after the events of TFATWS: In an effort to start over and make a home in Louisiana, Bucky meets a friend of Sam’s who ends up being his landlord. With only a driveway to separate them, he finds that he’s not the only one looking for a fresh start.

Series tags/warnings: Slow Burn, Eventual Bucky x Reader, Mentions of Domestic Abuse, Canon Level Violence

Part 4 Word Count: 2.9k

A/N: Thanks again for all your support! Every heart and comment motivates me and is just so wonderful

Taglist!: @vicmc624

Read Part 1; Masterlist

The icon that marked where you were currently typing in your text blinked as you bit your lip. Looking back from where you were sitting at the kitchen table, you took stock of the open pantry once again. You were low on just about everything. With physical therapy exhausting your shoulder, it was hard to find the energy to lift any heavy bags. You had texted Sam for help, but unfortunately he was out of state.

“Bucky’s home, just ask him to go with you. He won’t mind” He had texted back.

You slouched back into the chair and groaned. You had only seen him in passing since he had helped you with the furniture. What was he, your live-in-caretaker? Was he just there to help you up and down the stairs and help you across the street? Sliding onto the floor, you made a small grunt as you felt your back straighten out and adjust to the floor. Resting a moment, you held your phone up and stared at the blinking bar. You hadn’t texted him before. Should you just call him? Or knock on his door? Ugh, why was this so hard. Whatever.

“Hey Bucky, I’m having trouble carrying stuff right now. Would you mind helping me out with grocery shopping sometime today or tomorrow? If not, no worries.”

Without a second thought, you sent it and set your phone down next to you. It was around 1PM, the only thing you having done up until then was getting dressed while sipping on coffee. Opting for a lazy look, you had worn soft leggings with an oversized sweater and fuzzy socks. Two simple braids and a headband kept your hair out of the way for when you eventually practiced. Only a few more weeks until you practiced with the actual orchestra. You should probably figure out something to wear besides lounge clothes.

The buzz on the floor caught your attention and you took a peak at your home screen

1 New Message:

Bucky Barnes: Sure, is now good?

Shoot. You quickly got up and walked to the bathroom. Your hair wasn’t too messy. Why do you look so tired? Opting for some mascara, you texted Bucky back before digging around in your makeup bag.

Yeah, meet at my car in a minute?

---

Bucky pocketed his phone and took a quick look in the mirror. Should he shave? Scratching his beard, he made a face before deciding against. It would take him more than a minute. Why didn’t he just say thirty minutes from now? Running a hand through his hair, he grabbed a jacket and walked out of the apartment.

As he walked over the freshly fallen leaves in the driveway, he opted for leaning against your car. He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned his head to look out over the water. It had been quiet lately, just chilly enough to silence the summer chorus of buzzing and croaks. Now all that was left was the occasional honking of geese flying overhead.

He had only been there for a couple of minutes when you came out onto the porch. You had hastily thrown on some brown leather boots, the left one still untied. The little bit of mascara and lip gloss you put on made you feel better about not looking like death. It was nice to do a little something, even if it was just the grocery store.

“Hey!” you said, slightly breathless as you bounded down the stairs, keys jingling in your hand.

Bucky echoed your greeting back to you with a small smile and wave.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” You said, clicking the key fob to unlock the car.

“Oh it’s no problem. I didn’t really have much to do anyway.” He said, ducking his head to sit in the passenger side seat. He noticed how as soon as you closed the door, you clicked the locks shut. Then you brought your left heel up on the edge of the seat so that you could tie your shoe.

“Thanks so much. I really appreciate it. Usually, I don’t need too much help, but I need cases of waters and stuff like that. I was gonna get someone to help me at the grocery store but I realized I’d still be left in a lurch once I got home. I figured if you needed, we could just get groceries together this time,” you explained while double knotting the laces.

Starting the car and putting on your seatbelt, you looked behind you out of habit to make sure you weren’t going to hit anything as you backed out of the driveway.

“Huh. It looks like it’s going to rain.” You said, observing the darker clouds and the wind picking up. Putting the car in drive, you started down the driveway.

“Music?” You offered, gesturing towards the radio.

“I don’t really know what’s been playing these days… or for the last sixty years if I’m being honest.” At least it’s nice not to have to lie about it, Bucky thought.

“Well, we have a lot to catch you up on then.” You said, stopping at the end of the driveway and grabbing your phone. Scrolling through your music, you hit the bluetooth button on the console.

“This playlist has all my favorite classics on it. Feel free to skip anything you don’t like.” You said, handing him the phone and turning onto the road. The music started, prompting Bucky looked down at the phone. September- Earth, Wind & Fire.

---

Four songs later you were at the supermarket, grabbing a cart and discussing favorites.

“That last one was good too. Which one was that?” Bucky asked.

“That’s Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd. Dave Matthews Band. Now mind you, some of those are way older than others. The only thing they all have in common is that they’re all at least ten years old.”

“Huh.” He’s really missed out on a lot.

The two of you continued chatting as you went through the various sections. A couple cases of water. A bag of salad. Deli meats and cheeses. Bread. Ground beef. Pasta and pasta sauce. The topic turned to older music from Bucky’s time.

“I’m surprised you have heard of her.” He said, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

“Well, I’m going to be honest, the only reason I have any knowledge of it at all is because I had to take a lot of Music History classes in college. For whatever reason, they thought that to play music, you needed to know every which way that it’s evolved throughout the years. Though, I have to say,” you paused, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “Now, I’m kind of glad I did.” You looked up at him slightly, face just a tad warm as he met your eyes. You both looked away and he coughed awkwardly. Feeling embarrassed, you scan the shelves of snacks before hearing him quietly say behind you-

“… I’m glad you did too. It’s different. And kind of nice to talk to someone about it. Who actually knows what I’m talking about.”

Trying to keep your smile small, you continued to look at the array of cookies on the shelf. A hand passed over your shoulder to take a pack of shortbread cookies.

“Hmm. Shortbreads.” You say, holding your arms behind your back. “Verrry interesting.”

“What?” He replied defensively.

“You can tell a lottttt about a man by his snack preferences.”

“Well, what do shortbreads say?” Bucky asked, leaning his forearms on the handle of the cart so that he was now eye level with you. It was too late this time to hide your smile. You turned back around to grab a pack of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

“If I tell you what they mean, you’ll just pick the kind that you think has the best traits. You’re not fooling me anytime soon.” You said with a laugh before you whisked yourself around the corner.

“Hey, that’s not fair, come back!” He pushed the cart around the corner where he ran into you hugging Sarah. The boys were with her and they went absolutely ballistic.

“Uncle Buck! Uncle Buck!” They shouted as they bombarded him.

“AJ! Cass! Stop acting crazy in the grocery store!” Sarah said, reprimanding them. You chuckled at the sight of Bucky being slowly overwhelmed by the two boys. He pried them off his legs and crouched so that he was eye level with them.

“Hey, I missed you guys. I haven’t seen you guys since the last time Uncle Sam and I came back-”

“-from fighting bad guys, right!” AJ said, getting a little too excited and causing Sarah to give him the look. Bucky tried not to laugh and held a finger up to his mouth to signal that they needed to be quiet.

“Yes, from fighting bad guys.”

You turned towards Sarah with a grin and put your hand on her arm.

“We’ll have to have all of you over, come see the new house. Will you text me a day next week when you, Sam, and the kids are free?”

“That sounds great. I’m so glad you got to move down here. I’ll let you know about next week!” Sarah said. She also walked around the cart and gave Bucky a hug. He returned it but glanced towards you nervously; You were already looking away. When they pulled away from each other, Sarah glanced in your direction and then at Bucky, a knowing smile on her face and eyebrows wiggling. Bucky made a face with wide eyes, letting her know to cut it out. Sarah laughed slightly while saying goodbye:

“It was good to see you, Buck.” Sarah said, laughing as she rolled the cart away, AJ and Cass in tow, who were both shouting goodbyes at Uncle Buck.

“Good to see you too…” He trailed off in her direction.

“Man, those boys really love Uncle Buck.” You said teasingly, making him jump slightly and turn around. You laughed and walked towards the next aisle, leaving Bucky red in the ears.

---

It was just starting to rain when you parked the car in the driveway. You grabbed some of the lighter bags and ran up the steps, hurrying to unlock the door. Bucky was piling on the grocery bags as the rain got heavier. He hauled everything inside as you held the door open for him. He lifted the groceries up onto the kitchen counter and made his way down the stairs again.

“Still have to get the cases of water.” He explained in response to your confused face. The rain was still getting heavier. Hauling the two jumbo cases onto his shoulder and carrying the last one by the plastic in his hand, he made his way up the porch, slower this time. You held the door open, looking incredulously again at how easy it was for him as he passed.

By the time he had set the waters down, you had grabbed a towel for him, extending it to him while looking away at from his drenched shirt.

“Thanks,” he said, toeing off his shoes and drying his hair with the towel before draping it over his shoulders.

“Please, let me make you some tea. You must be freezing.” You said, already digging through the pantry for some.

“Well, if you’re offering, I won’t say no.” He said, taking a seat at the kitchen island.

“Yeah, hold on, it’s kind of dark. Let me turn on the lights…” You trailed off as the light switch did nothing. Flicking it a few times back and forth, you sighed.

“I’m so sorry, the real estate agent told me it’s pretty easy to lose power in this area since there’s so many trees. They usually have it back on pretty quick though I’m told.” You said, now digging through another cabinet.

“It’s completely fine, you can’t control that. I’ll just take a raincheck-”

“Found it!” You said, cutting him off and proudly presenting the gas-powered single burner. You set it down in front of Bucky who watched as you also grabbed a tea light and a lighter from in the drawer.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” You asked while lighting it.

---

Three more tea lights and a kettle of hot water later, Bucky was sitting with the towel draped over his shoulders, sipping on the warm cup of green tea. The flames created flickering shadows as you added the pasta to the pot of boiling water.

“I knew this was going to come in handy. I’m glad I saved it.” You said, setting a timer on your phone as you leaned on the counter across from Bucky.

“Why do you have it in the first place?” He asked curiously.

“I kind of had to hop around for a little bit before I got down here. I would stay in hotels but I didn’t want to eat out every night so this came in handy. Ole reliable.” You said, looking down at one of the tea lights.

There was a moment of silence before you pursed your lips.

“What’s wrong?” Bucky asked, setting the cup down.

“Has Sam told you… how I ended up here?” You asked, now looking straight at him. The look on his face told you the answer before he could respond.

“I see…”

“Hey, I’m sorry, I-”

You held up a hand to cut him off, soft smile on your face.

“No, it’s okay. I told him that if it ever came up, he could talk about it. I’m pretty open about it. How much did he tell you?” you asked, wrapping your hands around the cup to absorb some of the warmth.

“Just the basics. You two were together, then he got… violent. And you trying to leave.” He said, looking down into his cup.

“Yeah, that just about covers it… He kept following me after I got out of the hospital so I had to get a rental car and hotel hop for a while… When I got the house down here, I finally got my actual car and just booked it here. He’s never been to Louisiana before and he doesn’t know that Sam lives here now, instead of DC. I’m hoping he’s frolicking in city traffic, getting run over as he looks for me. Bucky snorted and tried not to laugh, which made you laugh.

“Sorry, it’s not funny.” He said, covering his mouth.

“Oh, it totally is.” You said, talking in a way where he could tell that you were smiling.

You both laughed as you grabbed a strainer out of the pantry. Draining the pasta, you both settled into a comfortable silence.

“Well, I’m glad you can joke about it.” Bucky said, watching as you poured pasta sauce into the pot to warm it up before chucking the rest of the pasta in.

“Some days are better than others. I’m just happy that I can stop running. Still, I do get a bit paranoid sometimes. I feel like I’m going to turn a corner and he’ll be right there.” You said, rubbing your arms as if you were comforting yourself. At that moment, Bucky looked at you and noticed for the first time how truly tired you looked. Dark circles underneath a sleep deprived gaze. Eyes clouded by worry and paranoia. Bucky’s seen that look on himself before. Before Steve found him in Bucharest, before he could trust his own mind. When he had to avoid being recognized, avoid being found, avoid falling back into Hydra’s grasp.

You exhaled as you uncrossed your arms, mixing the pot before sprinkling cheese on top. “Dinner’s all done.” Bucky sat peacefully, enjoying the aroma of the tomato and basil. Taking a deep breath, he slowly exhaled before speaking up again.

“Well. I’m here now.”

“Hmm?” You called back, not quite hearing him over the clanking of the bowls you took out.

“I’m here now,” he repeated, this time with more confidence. “So… you don’t have to worry about it. If you ever get worried about it, just call me. Or text me… Or knock on the door… and I’ll talk to you or I’ll check it out, keep an eye on the house from the apartment, or just be in the house with you. It’s not a bother, if it’ll give you peace of mind. I’ve been through something… similar. With, uh, the whole Hydra… thing…” Bucky trailed off as you stared at him with a neutral face. He was getting ready to backpedal, hand reaching for the back of his neck out of nervous habit, until you spoke.

“You’d do that?” You said, face unchanged, eyes searching his.

“Yeah… Yeah, I would.”

You blinked a few times before looking aside and trying to clear the frog from your throat.

“I don’t even know what to say but thank you. That is such a big relief.” You said, voice wavering slightly, one hand coming up to touch your forehead out of relief. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Nobody should have to go through that alone.” Bucky said softly.

You touched his hand softly, giving it a gentle squeeze before stealing your own back. You turned around to grab a drink when you paused, looking out the window.

“It stopped raining.” You stated, watching as the little bit of sunlight brightened the colors of the changing leaves. Bucky, on the other hand, was watching how the little bit of sunlight brightened you. He rubbed his thumb against where your hand had just been, trying to recreate the feeling of your hand on his.

[thegingerwriter]

The Vegas of Hollywood Chapter 3

CREDIT TO GIF CREATOR. I DO NOT OWN THE GIF.

You can find Chapter 1 here, and my masterlist here.

Words: 3.1k

Warnings: None fam. PG13

Pronouns: She/her

Perspective: First

Note: Fam I’m sorry it’s been like 3 weeks. I’m graduating. 

It was about 35 minutes after Julie told us we had to leave, and Alex and Luke wandered off. I assumed that they went and saw Julie at the house. I’m sure that would have gone down well- considering she was currently the only person who could actually see us.

Reggie and I hung around the studio, looking for some of our old stuff, Reggie soon finding his bass. I found my old guitar, as well as my keyboard. I know I was frequently called our lead pianist, but I only ever got to use the keyboard when we were playing specific gigs. Soon after we had started getting more major gigs, I played the guitar more often, while also singing with Luke.

I walked over to Reggie holding his bass, smiling at his now comfortable stance. “I know it was only a couple hours for us, but you look happy to have her back.” I said.

He smiled, nodding as he played a few chords. “Always.”

“Are Alex and Luke ever coming back?” I asked, and Reggie motioned with his head for me to come closer.

I obliged, stepping closer as he swung the bass strap off his torso. He looped it over me, letting the strap rest against my shoulder to go across my chest.

“Oh, come on, you know I’m terrible at bass.” I complained, but Reggie only laughed slightly, turning me around by putting his hands on my waist.

He pulled me gently against his chest, his arms reaching around to place his hands over mine and guide them to the right places on the bass.

“I got you, it’s fine.” He said gently as he noticed I hadn’t relaxed. I let out a breath and laughed slightly at my nervousness.

“I hate this” I jokingly whinged again, but Reggie continued to ignore me.

“Just place your fingers here,” He moved my hand. “And then this hand here. And then you just…” I strummed it, satisfied with the sound as he guided my fingers to pluck more strings. Soon we were playing a tune together, letting out little laughs every now and then.

I didn’t even notice Luke and Alex poofed into the room until I heard Alex sit down at his drum set.

“Mind if we join you?” Alex asked. When I looked at him, he had this particular smile he always had on whenever he found Reggie and I doing something like this. I stuck my tongue out at him.

“You guys took your time.” Reggie joked, tightening his arms around me, and placing a kiss on my shoulder.

“Get a room.” Luke laughed, picking up his guitar and throwing the strap over his head.

All of us laughed, smiling at each other.

Alex started with his drums, the beat coursing through the floor as so I could feel it in the soles of my shoes.

I wanted to play my guitar, or at least my keyboard, but Reggie was persistent, and refused to let me pull away, causing me to laugh. I soon gave in, the bass joining the beat Alex was playing, and the tune that Luke had started.

I realised that it felt good. I know it wasn’t that long for us, but in truth, it felt like forever since we had played together just because we could. We had been so wrapped up in practicing to play for the Orpheum, that we hadn’t played for fun in ages.

We jammed for a few minutes, before something pulled us away from our music.

“What are you doing?!” A voice shouted over the top of our music. Julie had just stomped into the room, her face telling me she distressed about something. I had a sneaking suspicion it was us.

We stopped playing.

“Oh, hi Julie!” Luke said, a smile on his face as he waved at her. She still didn’t look impressed.

“The entire neighbourhood can hear you! My Dad can hear you.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Julie’s eyes shifted to Reggie and I’s position, raising an eyebrow slightly- and we broke apart before she could say anything else.

“Wait,” Alex stood up. “You’re saying people can hear us play?” As far as I knew, Julie was the only one who could hear or see us.

“Yes! Everyone can! I thought I told you to leave!”

“People can hear us play music!” Reggie yelled beside my excitedly. The four of us couldn’t help getting excited with him. This was the one thing all of us had that we wanted to share with the rest of the world forever. And apparently, we got that.

“So only you can see us, but everyone can hear us?” I asked, unable to contain the slight bounce in my walk as I stepped slightly closer to Julie.

“People can hear us play!” Luke exclaimed, and I turned around just in time to be a part of a four-way fist bump.

Reggie pulled me into his side. “We may be dead, but our music isn’t.”

“Enough, oh my gosh!” Julie looked close to stomping her foot repeatedly on the ground like a child that wasn’t getting her way. To be fair, I would not have reacted calmly to three ghosts showing up in my studio, and then continuing to hang around and play their ghost music.

We looked at her in concern, trying to predict what she was going to say next.

“Why can’t you guys be normal ghosts?” We stared at her and she rolled her eyes. “Hang out in an old mansion! I hear Pasadena’s nice!” She turned towards the door, obviously frustrated with the one-sided conversation, and stormed out. That’s twice in one night.

“Is she… warming up to us?” Alex said hopefully.

Reggie crossed his arms over his chest and stared in thought for a moment. “You know, I’ve always wanted to go to Pasadena.”

Alex and Reggie began to discuss the logistics of the types of castles we could go stay in Pasadena. I turned to Luke, noticing he was unusually quiet for a conversation he’d usually be the leader in. He made eye contact with me and I could tell we just had the same exact thought.

I nodded at him, grabbing his hand before disappearing from the studio together, and reappearing outside, directly in front of Julie as she was making her way up the steps to the main house.

I let go of Luke’s hand, putting my hands out in front of me to tell her stop. She obviously hadn’t seen us yet, because she nearly walked directly through us before she looked up and gasped, nearly falling down the stairs.

“Stop that!” Julie said, clutching her chest and forcing herself to breathe.

“Sorry…” Luke and I said, realising that the whole ‘ghost teleport thing’ must be kind of freaky.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you want?” She almost sounded exhausted, and I found myself wishing that I could hug her.

“Look… I know this all completely insane.” Luke started, doing that thing he always did when he was excited- stepping low while stepping forward in front of Julie. “But do you know cool this is?”

“People- actual people- can hear us play.” I backed Luke up.

Julie crossed her arms tighter. “Yea. I know. It’s just that- I’ve had a really, really, really bad day.” She went to walk around us.

Luke and I turned, stepping up to follow her. “Hey, we’re sorry you had a bad day. Really.” I said empathetically.

“But three guys and a girl just found out they had a bad 25 years. And then they found out that the one thing they lived for- the one thing that they lived for in the first place- they can still do.”

“You’re right.” Julie said, her tone nicer than our last two conversations. “It’s just…”

“Your bad day.” I finished softly, and Julie nodded. “We know what that feels like.”

We were silent for a moment, obviously giving Julie space to think.

“I’m sorry that we just fell into your life. But what I just felt in there- what we felt in there… that actually made us feel alive again. With the opportunity to play again… that’s a feeling no musician would ever turn away. I mean you gotta know that- clearly your Mum is into music!” Luke bounced excitedly.

“Was.” Julie corrected, and we both stopped. I felt my heart sink at her empty expression, trying not to let the emotion show. “She passed away.”

“I am…” I swallowed, not really knowing what to say. Does anyone ever, really? “I am so sorry.”

“We didn’t know.” I heard Alex say softly, and we looked to see him and Reggie leaning on the wall besides the stairs, looking up at Julie with kind eyes.

“It’s okay.” Julie said. We were silent again as we watched her stick her hands in her pockets nervously. “You guys haven’t… You haven’t seen her, anywhere have you?” She asked hopefully. God how I wish I could give her something.

“Um…” Alex said, searching for right words. Reggie came to his rescue.

“You’re…kind of the first person we’ve seen.” Reggie looked down at the ground sadly. All of the boys had such a strong urge to help people- and they became so lost when they couldn’t.

“We’re sorry for your loss.” Alex spoke up.

“I’m… sorry I got mad. You’re all kinda cool.” Julie said, making us all brighten up. She looked at me in particular for a second, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Do you play the piano too?” Reggie asked, probably curious after seeing the grand piano by the window. We had all wondered the same thing, really.

Julie shook her head quickly, dismissing the idea. “No. That’s just my mum’s stuff in there.”

Luke stepped up to her again. “You know there’s a song on the piano? If that’s hers… your Mum was really talented.”

Julie gave him a small smile and a nod. “Yea. She was.” Her voice was sad, and I almost thought she would start sniffling, but she turned and began walking up the rest of the steps again.

Luke let out a sad sigh and turned to us to see we all had the same lost expressions on our faces. It was clear we so desperately wanted to help, but none of us really had a clue about how exactly we could do that.

“I guess-” Julie’s voice made the four of us turn towards her, surprised she had come back. “If you need a place to stay… You could stay in the studio. There’s a bathroom in the back and a couch that turns into a bed… if you still use any of that stuff.”

“Dibs on the shower!” Reggie jumped up excitedly, making us jump a little bit. We looked at him, and he shrugged. “I just really like showers. And the occasional bath.”

“I don’t know why I’m saying this to you, but- don’t let them break anything.” Julie was looking at me. I was surprised she had addressed me directly. “You seem to be the most…careful out of you bunch. And if there’s one thing mum taught me before she passed, it’s that the lady rules the house.” She laughed a little, and so did I.

Not true in my case, but she didn’t need to know that. I gave her my best smile, also relishing in the fact that the boys obviously didn’t look impressed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep Country Boy, Drumstick, and Shorty here out of trouble as best I can.” I said, referring to Reggie, Alex, and Luke, respectively. They all shot me a glare, but I pretended not to notice, continuing to smile up at Julie.

I knew they’d be coming for me as soon as Julie left. First of all, Reggie hated being called ‘country boy’ despite his love of country. However, he never really minded when I called him my country boy. Second, I had jokingly called Alex ‘drumstick’ not only for his love of drumming, but because of that one time on my 17th birthday when we all had a couple of beers (shh) and I dared him to play his drums with an actual chicken drumstick. That was a really fun night, but I don’t think he’d appreciate hearing it again. And lastly, before Luke had a massive growth spurt, he was the shortest of all of us. No other reason. The truth was, really, I had a range of nicknames for the three of them, imprinted permanently in my brain ever since they all collectively started calling me Vegas.

“This…” Julie gestured vaguely at us. “Is just too weird.” She turned up the stairs, and finally walked away.

We waited another moment in silence just in case she came back again. When it had been a couple of seconds and it was clear Julie had actually left, I looked up at the boys, trying so hard to contain my smile as I made eye contact with each of them in turn. We were all thinking the same thing.

Pause.

“Nope.” I said quickly, moving and jumping straight off the steps.

Reggie, Alex, and Luke immediately jumped into motion, starting the chase after me. I heard Alex breathe out a laugh as I sprinted towards the studio- forgetting that I could run through walls and taking the time to go around the large studio door.

“Vegas I swear to god-” Luke started, annoyed when I was able to jump out of the way just in time as he made a grab for me.

“Yes, shorty?” I taunted. Seeing Luke playfully mad was definitely worth the fact that he, Alex, and Reggie were literally all about to tackle me to the floor.

Okay, this was a stupid idea now.

The three of them were on one side of the grand piano, while I was on the other. However, I stupidly chose the side closest to the wall. They had me cornered.

“We just wanna talk,” Alex was trying so hard not to smile. I spotted Reggie and Luke trying to creep around the opposite sides of the piano slowly, hoping I wouldn’t notice.

I made another run for it- jumping over the top of the piano in Alex’s direction, hoping I could just run past him. However, I made the mistake of underestimating Alex’s speed and strength as he wrapped both of his arms around me and I was unable to pull away.

“No!” I half yelled; half laughed. Reggie and Luke followed, but obviously forgot to slow down- crashing into me and Alex and sending all of us to the floor.

First, there were groans. Then, I burst into a fit of giggles as I started being tickled by three sets of hands.

“This is for ‘drumstick’.” Alex said, poking a very particular part of my rib cage that had my laugh echoing loudly throughout the room.

“Oh my gosh I’m-.” I started laughing again, curling in on myself to ease the pain in my stomach from laughing so hard. “I’m sorry! I surrender!”

When I received no response, I turned and grabbed Reggie’s hands, trying my best to ignore Alex and Luke.

“Reg- help me, or I’ll tell them about the birthday incident.”

Reggie stopped, turning red- giving me the exact response I needed.

“‘The birthday incident’?” Luke asked, stopping for a second. I gave Reggie a look, telling him to decide. The look he gave me in return told me I had won.

Reggie gripped my hands, pulling me up and into his arms. I chuckled slightly as the two other boys’ confusion, and Reggie shrugged. “Sorry, boys. Y/n wins today.”

Alex stood up, raising his eyebrow at the both of us. “What birthday thing?”

I looked at Reggie again, a sly mile on my face as I stepped forward and opened my mouth to say something. Reggie immediately pulled me back into him, putting his hand over my mouth. Cue the eyebrow raises from Luke and Alex again.

“Uh…nothing.” Reggie said, his ears still pink, and I couldn’t help but laugh into his hand.

When Alex specifically gave me a look, I sent him a wink that I was sure communicated that I’d tell him later.

…Maybe.

* * * * * * * * * * * 

“We were so close.” Luke said. I wasn’t paying much attention to him at the moment.

We were currently sitting on the top of the Orpheum sign displaying the bands playing tonight, while I had a death grip on Reggie and Alex’s hands.

I had to admit, it was a cool thing to be able to use our ghost abilities and just teleport places, but I wasn’t a fan of Luke’s decision to bring us here- especially with the height.

“Why did you bring us here, again? Just another painful reminder of what we never got to do. Thanks, man.” Alex’s sarcastic tone brought me out of trying not to look down so much and I decided to speak up for the first time since we got up here.

“Can we-.” I swallowed. “Can we get down?”

We all appeared down at the entrance, and I finally let go of Alex and Reggie’s hands. Together, the four of us began to walk down our favourite street of Hollywood, narrowly dodging people so no one had to walk through us.

Luke started talking about this being our second chance and what not, but again, I wasn’t listening. I walked slightly to the left of the footpath, brushing my shoulder against Alex’s causing him to look up at me.

“You doing okay?” I asked. I had been genuinely worried about him since we first arrived back in our studio earlier tonight. Wow, it definitely didn’t feel like only a few hours ago.

“Yea, just thinking about-.” Alex started, but suddenly stopped when someone pushed through the middle of us, bumping both of our shoulders.

“Hey!” I turned back to look at them- a tall guy in a top hat (a top hat). He gave a quick turn, walking backwards for a moment while he tipped his hat at Alex and I.

Then he was gone.

“What the…” I mumbled, looking at Alex to see he had the same look on his face. He opened his mouth to say something else, but we were again interrupted.

“Oi! Slowpokes! Hurry up, will you?” Reggie called from up ahead.

“Later.” I said to Alex before starting a jog to catch up with the other boys. “We’re coming, we’re coming. Hold your horses country boy.”

Tag List:  @bestdressedandstressed​, @emar185744 @sweetdayme4427 @hacker-ghost​ @allmybattleships​@blondie0458 @aberette13​ @oopsiedoopsie23​ @cocastyle​ @blairrrose​ @high-on-shai​ @thoughts-elsewhere​ @kiss-themoongoodbye​ @deni-gonzalez​ @khiaraaa-in-spacee @lovesanimals @epikskool @joshy-obx @deni-gonzalez @gingerxarmy @undecided-xs-world@amazing-socks @miraculousraventumbls @morgandamrose @hereforthejatp​ @emar185744​

(Some of my tags aren’t working and I’m really sorry).

[kaeyas-beloved]

Hey there! Can i request a chubby/thicker mc? But instead of insecure, she’s confident af? People think she’s a bitch at first, but they’re proved wrong when she’s actually really good at giving life advice? If i were to be more specific, then she likes coloring her nails, stuff like that and is a bit of a bitch at first but can be your best friend at the same time? Thanks!(i checked your rules, and you didn’t have any specific numbers, so hcs, anyone but pls choose Arthot) thanks!

Can i add more text? If i can, then the chubby but confident mc is also really proud of her lover? Thank you again!

Hello! You absolutely can (both request and add more text)! Sorry this took so long, headcannons aren’t really my forte, but I still hope you like them! Also, I added Isaac and Mozart since I had some ideas for them :) 

Thank you for requesting!

(It’s under the cut since these are sorta long)

Arthur, Isaac & Mozart w/ a Chubby!Confident!Reader/MC

~

Arthur Conan Doyle

Now don’t get me wrong, Arthur loves all women no matter what they look like or their personality (unless they’re evil like that one Sister from his route - you know the one)

But when a women has the confidence level of a queen?? You’ve got him wrapped around your finger. 

There’s just something about women who aren’t like all the others he’s been with that really gets him.  

Even if you insulted everything that you could about him the first time you both met.

It was the boldness in your words and the way you carried yourself without a care what others said that has him infatuated and wanting to know more.

The first couple interactions with the other residents had him falling on his ass laughing.

Never has he seen someone make Theo and Wolfie shut up so fast.

After that he knows exactly when some kind of verbal brawl between her and another resident, most likely Theo, will occur and he kicks back for the show. 

Kind of gets hurt when she says something particularly harsh but brushes it off like he does.

A week passes and Arthur has figured out that she’s a little like Theo in a sense, bitter on the outside but secretly soft on the inside.

How does he know? Well he’s experienced this secret side of her of course!

It was during one of his self-deprecating moods, his past coming to haunt his thoughts when (y/n) walked in with his dinner, seeing as he skipped out on it.

The writer was so deep in thought that he didn’t even hear her come in until the glass of Rouge was set down beside him, shocking him. 

A flirty line was on the tip of his tongue when a quiet “Hey” came from her, in the softest voice he’s every heard from her, that one word silencing him.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on in that head of yours but... don’t let it consume you. It won’t be easy but you gotta push past it and not let it eat at you, that’s how it wins...” 

Arthur’s breath hitched when the faintest of smiles appeared on her lips, he was sure that he was seeing an actual angel.

After that it was like clock work and the two were hanging out more and more, going out in town a lot (with Vic too).

Her advice hit him in a way and like she said, it wasn’t easy, but it was a start for him.

From the very start of their relationship as a couple (y/n) would constantly give Arthur praises anytime he moved forward to forgiving and just bettering himself in general.

Rewards usually involve kisses and cuddles

Maybe a little more ;)

Like I mentioned earlier he doesn’t care that you may be a little thicker than the other women in town, it’s more for him to love!

He’s honestly so happy that you love your body despite what others may say, he’s a very proud boyfriend.

But even if you do, that won't stop him from loving every inch of you and your body.

All in all, it’s a relationship that includes a lot of love and proud moments for one another :)

Isaac Newton

Poor Apple Boi is a little scared of you, don’t be mean to him please he’s shy and insecure T_T

Like don’t get him wrong confident women are great but... you might be a little too confident sometimes for his heart to keep up.

“(Y/N) yOU cAn’T sAY tHinGS LiKE tHAT!!” is something he thinks a lot when a particularly mean thing might exit your mouth.

Begs to any God that will listen that there’s some passive side to you that will help lower his blood pressure. 

But if there isn’t that’s alright, he guess, cause most of the time you aren’t actually that bad.

That was before the both of you ran into the children he teaches at the fountain, his heart and mind doing literal summer salts cause what if you make one of them cry? What then!? He can't handle crying children! 

Nevertheless Isaac still asks if you could help educate them and you agree without complaint - surprisingly

About half an hour later when his group of kids were working (you split them into two groups, one for him and another for you) he took a glance your way and - HOLY SHIT IS SHE SMILING!? 

Takes a double take on that, splashes a little of the freezing fountain water in his face and when he still sees you smiling down at the young ones Isaac thinks he's done for.

But then he hears what you’re telling the children

“If you’re willing to put the effort into it and continue to push forward then you can do and be anything you want...”

You hear that? It’s the sound of his poor heart malfunctioning

Isaac may have an extended life but even then he didn’t think he’d live to see the day that a genuine smile, with no snide present, wound grace your face and that such encouraging words would come from you.

You weren’t rocket science to him anymore, he saw that there was more to you and unconsciously he started to soften up around you.

When the two of you got into a relationship it was a lot of you taking the lead, trying to help the shy man out of his cocoon.

And when he did take those steps and started to speck more and say what was on his mind? He got smooches, loads of them.

You are very very proud that he’s growing into the man he wants to be.

One time when you guys were out and about some snob women were making some comments about your weight. Baby was furious and was ready to reassure you that you were beautiful no matter what you looked like, even if he isn’t the best at comforting people.

He shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was when all you did was say something equally bad (if not worse) to them, grabbed his hand and left. 

When he asked if you were okay he was very happy to hear that their words didn’t hurt you because their opinion didn’t matter to you. 

He did, however, turn a little red when you said that if anyone’s opinion mattered it was his because you love him and knows that he loves you <3 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Won’t lie, both of you got into the equivalent of a cat fight the first time you ran into each other.

It was so bad Jean and Napoleon had to step in before either of you said something that might actually hurt the other.

After that night it was like an unspoken rule between the two of you that under no circumstances should your paths cross.

Which was incredibly hard since Sebastian assigned you to bring him his meals.

Not one interaction went without some sort of mean jab being sent to the other. 

One time you got some pink nail polish on Mozart’s white piano and he lost it

It seemed absolutely impossible for there to be any chance that the two could get along

All hope was nearly lost, but then came the day that (y/n) said something to him that just turned this mess of a relationship around.

The pianist was having a hard time composing a certain piece and nothing was coming to him no matter what he did. 

About to give up for the day, in came the human with a bottle of Blanc for him. When her eyes spotted the disaster that was crumpled sheet music, many of the notes scratched out, she knew exactly what was going on.

“Put yourself back to a time that you were happy and full of joy... Or, think about what you feel when you eat something really good - like chocolate, I know you love it. If there were colours to accompany the feeling, what would they be? Would they be slow moving like a river or burst like fireworks? Use those as a pace and let your heart do the rest...” 

Before the haughty musical genius could question a single word she just told him, (y/n) was already out of the room, off to finish the rest of her chores

Nevertheless Mozart tries it out and by the end of the night he’s got a masterpiece written out in front of him.

And you have an IOU with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart written on it - and he hates having to owe people.

So here he is, out in town for the first time in forever, showing you 19th century Paris since he remembered overhearing you say how you wanted to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Surprisingly, it went well. Every time you said something that would usually elicit a remark from him was met instead with him holding his tongue, your soft voice from the day before playing in his mind each time.

When you caught on that he was actually trying to be nice you too made the effort, thus resulting in the two of you growing just a little closer.

You also gave him some nail polish remover that you had to help clean his piano cause he was having trouble.

From then on the harsh words became playful more than anything.

Could care less what you look like, though is very happy that you're comfortable in your own skin.

During Mozart's performances (y/n) claps the loudest and he knows it, she's told him that it's because she's very proud that he's started to play his music for others and because he wants to, not because he's force to.

His lips always twitch up when he hears her cheer for him, it fills him with joy every time knowing the meaning behind the action and that it comes with love.

BONUS!

Vincent and her got along instantly when he spotted these beautiful designs that she painted on her nails. He wanted to know how she did it without smudging anything since nails are such a small canvas to work with.

Theo got confused and upset when he saw that she was nice to his brother and not him.

She's totally destroyed Shakespeare cause no one messes with her friends goddammit! 

~ 

Requests are closed right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy my other works while you wait for them to open! You might find something you like, who knows :)

Masterlist

[mcyt-amber-tftsmp]

Hi hi-!!! Sorry for kinda sending another request- (btw i really love the one you did for the axolotl reader and my other request!) Another Headcanon idea-! :D

This time it's about John John and a waitress reader that sometimes plays the piano (ya know the stereotype of how in old western movies there's always a dude that's playing the piano in a bar?) For entertainment and John is sometimes always staring at them lovestruck and it's so painfully obvious that the whole town- even the bandits know that he likes them

And even reader knows! But it's just so endearing-??? Jshsjsjs hehe imagine him almost falling off the counter while he's in swooning mode!

-🌻

Dude!

Trust me I love it when you request stuff!

I always wait for your asks to come in my inbox!

Your ideas are legit the best and I would have had them if I wasn't so busy with school and whatnot!

Anyways Imma get on with this request now!

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

➶ 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 #𝟐 ➴

One thing's for sure is that both you and John work in the same bar in the small town and it's only you two who runs it well mainly John but yeah.

You are basically a waitress who serves and plays the piano for entertainment and people say that you're a really good pianist too.

Then you have John who is always sometimes staring at you feeling very lovestruck by you and your amazing piano skills.

He's a legit hopeless romantic and everyone in this town knows it.

Like seriously it's so painfully obvious just by the look on his face and he's not even aware that whole town talks about you two well mostly John.

"He is seriously in love with that girl." A woman whispered to her husband.

"No kidding. He's legit lovestruck by her." The man replied to his wife.

The fact that he's so lovestruck as he stares at you, it takes a few minutes for a person to bring him back to his senses.

Though one thing is that they aren't annoyed by this and just seem to find it cute and are pretty nice about it honestly.

"S-sorry s-sir! I got distracted..." John said apologizing to the man who just simply smiled.

"It's fine. I understand what you're going through." He said as John blushed at what he meant.

He himself legit gets slightly nervous and flustered whenever you talk to him or compliment him which makes him a huge blushing mess and you just find it adorable at how embarrassed he can get.

Sometimes you would stand on your tippy toes and give him a small kiss on the cheek and it would just make him freeze on the spot as a huge blush forms on his face.

"John? Are you okay?" You asked giggling at his embarrassed and flustered self.

"I-I a-am good." John replied back to you as he tried to calm himself down as you continued to slightly giggle at him.

No joke but he finds your giggles and laugh very adorable along with the bright smile you have everyday.

Though from his mostly flustered and nervous side he also has another side which not is shown much in town.

Like for instance, he once saw a man who making you very uncomfortable and this made him feel annoyed and pretty agitated.

So he legit just came up to them both and told the guy a thing or two while putting his arm in front of you protectively and hit the guy upside down the head and threw him out for being disgusting.

No kidding but you actually found that hot.

The entire town was let's say shocked from the sudden burst of confidence from John cause nobody expected that.

This guy also has a huge swooning mode and like swoons a lot at your very talented piano playing and well you of course.

There are times when he swoons so much by staring that he legit loses balance and just nearly falls or just straight up falls of the counter and yo would legit stop playing the second you see that happen and go over to help him up.

"Are you okay?!" You say in worry as you help him up.

"Y-Yeah don't worry. I was being a little clumsy." He said rubbing his neck nervously.

Many people in the town think that you aren't aware of John who stares at you like a lot and has legit feelings for you at the same time but that's technically where they are wrong.

Unbeknown to John, you technically can tell that he likes you and you blush at this knowing that he feels the same way but both of you are pretty nervous to even confess to the other and you find it pretty endearing to say the least.

You can technically feel him looking or staring at you while you're playing the piano and this makes you blush and flustered at the same time that you fear you're gonna mess up playing the piano but succeed on not doing that.

Heck even the three bandits know about John's crush on you as they always seem to sneak into the bar without his knowledge as they always plan on robbing him but at the end of the day they don't because of what they are seeing.

"I feel like we should leave him be." Flint says looking at the lovestruck bar man looking at you.

"Yeah we should cause we already know what happens when somebody messes with that waitress." Jack says while earning a nod from Mason.

"Yeah..." Mason says sweat dropping at the memory of the poor guy who got hit upside down the head and thrown out of here.

Though John did at some point confess his feelings towards you which you instantly accepted as you tackled him into a hug which left you both giggling and chuckling in happiness.

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

Hope you liked this cause I had fun!

Writing this felt great!

<3

[poppingtoi]

heyyy, i just found your blog so can I request an astro reaction to you being a pianist and writing them a song??

Awww this so cute, I love it (and I personally connected since I write songs)

Of course, you can request as much as you want. I hope you like it!

This took so long, ㅠㅠ, but studying kills my free time, sorry about that.

I'll add the gifts later on (since finals start next week) I just want to upload at least this while I can.

(Why does everything I write end up being so long?? I need help)

ASTRO's reaction to their pianist S/O writing them a song

MJ

One of his favorite things to do was sitting by your side while you played so you could cover a ballad together late at night. It made feel safe, loved and in love as it made him even more, but subtly, aware of your presence.

So he knew you were good. But aside from a great voice and the piano skills you wrote songs? And you wrote him a song? He was amazed already just knowing the song was yours.

You don't even need to tell him you wrote the song, he just can tell from the start. There's so much of you over every single note and he loves it. He know you that well and he know the feeling because he feels the same way.

Smiling like an idiot in love from the moment you sit down on the piano, shocked the exact moment the song starts and bouncing his legs feeling giddy after that. He starts playing with his hands and looking around the room to try to calm down but he's on cloud 9 and you sound so nice. He tries to be sweet and places his hands softly on top of yours to follow your movements.

He's only trying containing his energy for a few seconds, tho. He's probably very soon jumping over you from your right to give you kisses all over your face while cupping your cheeks to bring you closer as you try to keep on singing.

"I wanted to write you a song too but I could never find the right words." "I'll find a way to show you how much you mean to me in my own way."

Jinjin

He constantly bragged about having a talented and hardworking S/O because no one just magically plays the piano and he loves everything you do. He's extremely proud and makes sure to let you know and compliment your results.

He composes rap himself so he would get more involved in that, trying to get to know you better through what inspired you and what you focused on more. Always willing to help and listen.

Whether you were straight forward about it or even if you just handed him the lyrics hidden behind some "can you check something I've been working on?", he would cry.

Like, actually cry. He liked to stand in front of you at the other side of the piano whenever you played so he could look at your face (and sometimes talk about your day) but this time he would regret it and bent over while covering his face for a couple of seconds. Then he would stop being shy since it's just you and ran to hug from behind while whispering "I love you"s into your hair.

He would probably calm down fastly. He was just overwhelmed. You were so cute, the act was so lovely and you looked at him with so much love in your eyes that he genuinely felt he didn't deserve you for a second.

"I love you, I love you. I love you. I love it, you're so good." "You didn't have to, sweetheart. I'll give you something cheesy back, give me time."

Eunwoo

He plays the piano too and since he ain't that confident in his (singing and dancing) skills (he should know he's great TT), playing together and sharing music with you would help him. You would cutely bond over improving and hyping each other while covering your favorite songs.

He definitely was not expecting that. He thought he knew you better than you did, and for the most part it was true, but when you started practicing on your own he couldn't understand why. So he was happy just by the fact that you wanted him to hear you again and when you start singing something you wrote for him he freezes with a soft smile.

You do get to finish the song because no matter how much he wants to just jump over you he can't find it in himself to interrupt you when you look so focused, so cute and so into the music.

He just stares in awe moving his hands nervously to try and let his excitement out before reaching out to pat your back while staring at the floor and blushing.

Once you're done, his first reaction is to tell you he loves you because he just realized he'd love to hear your voice everyday even speaking and he knows he's whipped but then he starts blushing more because he didn't mean it to be that simple right after you sang him a whole bop your heart out so prettily.

"I'm also so in love with you... I didn't want to... No, I mean, I meant it when I said I love you, it's just... I didn't want to say it like that."

Moonbin

He plays the piano since he was really young but he was always amazed at how good you were. He'd help you out if he was better or he'd get you to help him if you were more experienced, he just liked to spend time with you, that close, and to sneakily start hugging you.

He could tell you were hiding something from him and he knew you weren't guiltily nervous but just shy. He wanted to help you in your project but you were so possessive over your notes. He honestly just thought it was cute, how excited and energetic you were about it.

Gets so lost in the fluffy feeling inside his chest because of your voice and the beautiful notes you're playing he kind of completely misses your point. He knows the lyrics are cute and sweet but so are you so it's only natural and he's focusing on trying to remember the moment.

He's swaying his arms to the music while smiling at you, without closing his eyes not to miss anything since he's wanting to never leave your side again even if he knows he'll have to. And then gives you a big warm hug telling you how good it was once you're done.

When you tell him the song was for him he falls back on the chair dramatically holding his chest to look up at you with eyes full of love and ask again, just to make sure. Thinking about the song again makes him realize how lucky he is to have someone who loves him that much but it also makes him shy to think about how much he loves you so he just hugs you even tighter as he plays with your hair.

"First of all, I love your music. Second of all, thank you, for everything, really. Lastly, you're what I cherish the most in this world, you know that, right?"

Rocky

Another one that would probably brag nonstop about any skills you have. Like, constantly, even more in front of the members. He'll make sure everyone knows you're talented and will probably ask you to play for him every time you have to be far from each other.

When you start playing he comfortably lays down on a couch behind you but when he realizes your playing your very own love song as he sees your handwritten sheets he gets up to rest his head on top of yours and hug your shoulders as he tries to stop you from hearing his fast heartbeat.

He knows the song is for him from the start but he doesn't want to seem full of himself in case it was just a normal love song so he tries to simply compliment your masterpiece and (not as subtly as he thinks) ask about the inspiration behind.

Even when he tries to play it cool he's giggling as he pulls you on his lap to look into your eyes and make sure you tell him the truth about what got you suddenly so cheesy.

When you say it's because of him since the song is for him his smile grows wider as he says you should have made it clear, not to him but including both your names on the song for the world to know. But he'll whine and trap you against the floor or something like that if you say yes 'cause he's embarrassed since the boys wouldn't let him live.

"What if someone thought the song was for anyone else? Huh? Wait, no, you don't have to... I just love the song as it is. The same way I love just as you are, mhm?"

Sanha

He gets so energetic every time you offer to play for him. Your company gets him charged so he's not longer sleepy, but you offering to do stuff together makes him want to run a marathon just to be together.

He'd be so excited he'd probably even offer to get something you wrote in their album because he's the most supportive baby and working on something together and showing you off is 12/10.

He is sitting right by your side, his head resting on your shoulder and he's able to clearly see and read the notes and lyrics as you start playing so he blushes. You can feel his grip on your waist getting tighter but that could mean he's getting sleepy.

But stills when you looked down to check on him he's staring at you so he hides his face on the crook of your neck and chuckles at his shy self before getting you on his lap so he'll be out of your sight.

He'd ask you to do it again immediately after you finish, with the excuse that he'll be far when on tour and miss you a lot, saying a recording would help him. But he accidentally didn't hit record so he asks you to repeat it for the third time. Laughing louder and enjoying it more and more shamelessly with each passing second.

"I could listen to you for hours. No, don't push yourself too hard, it's okay to get tired. Come here, let's go to bed, hon."

[incoherentbabblings]

An Endless Hope (1/9)

After a horrendous blizzard falls over Gotham, Tim undergoes a sharp change in character before disappearing. Upon discovering what has become of him, Stephanie sets off on a solo journey in a magic realm to bring him home, meeting some faces which seems awfully familiar along the way.

New fic time! Archive Of Our Own Link Click Click!

“Can’t believe he’s gonna be forty-five.”

“I know, right?”

“Bruce’ll be an old man soon.”

Tim tutted, herding Stephanie down an aisle with the metal cart he was pushing. “Don’t tell him that.”

Stephanie scoffed. “What? Has he got a younger clone of himself in a giant egg somewhere ready to pop when someone utters those words?”

Tim stopped pushing the cart, turned ninety degrees, and gave Steph an indescribable look.

“I was being sarcastic, Tim.”

Tim said nothing, then slowly rotated back to push the empty cart, Stephanie trailing behind.

They’d gone to the garden centre because Stephanie was willing to look everywhere and anywhere for inspiration for Bruce’s upcoming birthday. Tim, ever dutiful, followed along. It was a rubbish time of year to go to a garden centre – late January – as the entire place was filled with on sale Christmas decorations and half dead flowers that would no doubt complete their journey to the grave if buried in the frigid soil. The poor choice of plants was reflected in the number of customers, of which there were maybe three others trailing up and down the greenhouse aisles.

“I guess that’s not fair,” Stephanie continued to voice to the relative silence, only the distant tinny music and the dodgy wheel squeaking as they rolled along filled the lulls in conversation. “That would make Alfred positively decrepit.”

“And that he is not.” Tim said very firmly.

“No…Oooh?” Stephanie became distracted. “Oh, Tim look at these!”

Heaving the cart round the corner after her with an almighty sigh, he found her standing next to small potted flowering plants. Stephanie was pilfering through them, looking for particular colours.

Tim peered at one of the little cards slotted in the soil and chortled.

“Roses? Really? Steph I’m not sure roses are gonna cut it for Bruce’s forty-fifth.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that you big baboon—”

“’Scuse you.”

“– I’m looking at these for us, not him.”

Tim gazed at Stephanie. Stephanie, in her bright blue hand knitted beanie that she had made for herself over the Christmas break to distract from finals. Stephanie, in an oversized fluorescent plastic jacket (the kind that belonged in an early episode of Power Rangers) that somehow managed to make her look twice as wide than she truly was. Stephanie, with her flushed cheeks from the cold and little pearly teeth showing off in a big grin, golden hair bunched up into two pigtails that fell down her back.

Tim couldn’t help it; he melted a little at the sight of her.

“You’re staring.” She murmured, not looking away from her task.

Tim sucked on his teeth. “Maybe I want to. That allowed?”

“Sure. You have my permission.”

“Gracious.”

Tim pecked her on the cheek, causing Stephanie to laugh like a snorting pig. With a little happy noise, she found the two plants she wanted. One lilac and one deep red bunch. They didn’t look like ordinary roses to Tim, not like the kind you would pick up from a convenience store in a small bundle for an anniversary. No, these roses were flatter and broader, and he could see a number of buds on both sets of plants.

“I want these.” Stephanie said. “Help me pick two nice boxes to put them in?”

“Do we have space on the windowsill?”

They didn’t have a garden. Not truly. Though Tim’s apartment did allow roof access, it was not really the place to be growing a little garden. They also didn’t really have a balcony to fill with plant pots. Places for greenery were limited in their home.

“They’ll fit.”

Tim nodded, and she sat them down in the cart. A moments silence passed, and she pouted.

Sighing, Tim breathed, “What is it?”

“Ask me why I want them.”

Nodding with his entire torso, Tim moved off, heading towards glazed plant pots and boxes.

“Why do you want them?”

“’Cause they’re pretty.” She skipped after him and saw as he ran his tongue along his teeth, amused at her glib nature. “Aaaaaand, I wanna do an experiment.”

“Experiment?”

“Yes. I gathered you like those.”

“Steph.” His tone was a gentle warning.

“’Kay, ‘kay. Sorry. I just thought…” She paused, tapping her nails against a terra cotta pot. The sound was nice to listen to. “Well, you know how people say you should live together before you get married? To make sure you can actually stand being around each other twenty-four-seven?”

Tim clenched his jaw and nodded. “Yes?”

Stephanie said nothing, gnawing her lip. Tim tried to comfort her, to reassure her, by smiling, but even he felt it come across more like a grimace. Setting the empty pot back down, Steph leaned over and selected two narrow glazed boxes, ones long and slim enough to slot on their windowsill.

“It’s the same with kids. You gotta do a test run first. A proper test run. And I don’t mean what I did when I was fifteen.” She laughed uncomfortably, then looked very sad. Tim went to grab her hand, but she snatched it back and snorted, bravado back in place. “It’s a challenge. We can’t have a kid until we can keep a pet –”

Tim couldn’t help it, he finally butt in, exclaiming, “Who said we’re having children?”

But Stephanie soldiered on, “—And we can’t keep a pet until we can look after a plant. Both of us.”

“I… I’m nineteen Steph. We can get a plant in ten years or so.”

Weird conversation.

Stephanie sighed, setting the plant pots in the cart. “I feel old. Much older than twenty sometimes.”

“We’ve been through more than what some people experience in a lifetime.”

She patted his cheek. “I guess so.”

“You can still be a kid.” Tim said later as they loaded up his car. No luck with finding anything for Bruce, but at least their living room windowsill would look nice. “There’s no timeline for this kind of stuff. Well, in your own head at least… society may side eye it but honestly –”

Stephanie slapped the trunk down with a loud slap and changed the subject. “I’ll think of something else. Don’t suppose he’d want a scarf or anything?”

“If you made him one Steph, I’d think he’d like that.”

“Huh.” They both got in the car, Tim in the driver’s seat, Stephanie googling nearby craft stores. “There’s a thought. I can pick up some nice wool round campus on Monday.”

Tim paused after he lit the ignition, eyebrows furrowed in thought. A moment passed, then he turned the car back off, and rotated to look Stephanie in the eye. Warily, she watched him.

“You mean it,” He asked, “about the whole plant thing?”

She growled, growing defensive. “I want to look after something and do it well. Sue me that it’s just starting off with a plant.”

“No, no. I get that. I mean do you not feel like a kid anymore?”

The bubbling anger melted away, and she cooed sympathetically. “Do you?”

“Did I ever?” Huffing, he tapped the steering wheel, then he looked distinctly guilt ridden. “No. That’s not fair. I did. Especially compared to you.”

“My childhood was mediocrely bad, Tim, but I did have one.” She tugged his earlobe. Tim frowned at her downplaying her pain, as always. It was impossible to get her to be serious about herself nowadays. Tim’s pain she took seriously. Cassandra’s pain she took seriously. Damian’s pain she took seriously. Her own pain though… “No comparing hurt. How does that help you or me?”

“I know, I know,” He conceded. Then he was silent, musing something still.

Stephanie’s hand moved from his ear to his jaw, cradling it. Lowering her tone, she asked,

“Where’s your head taken you?”

“I’m gonna be twenty this July.”

“Mhhmm! It’s a big one. The end of your teenage years.”

“I just… don’t know if we’ve got to do everything we should have done. I mean, so much of our adolescence was taken up with…” He trailed off. “And what makes an adult an adult anyway? I mean, look at Bruce.”

“I try not to.”

Tim actually giggled. “I just mean, he has the emotional maturity of a ten-year-old.” A sudden idea came to Tim, and he perked up in his usual manner once hit by his clever notions. “Hey, how about we travel over the summer?”

“What?”

Tim started the car back up and began the drive to his apartment on Park Row.

“It’s your final year at college, and you’ll be turning twenty-one in August. I’ve got my twentieth in July. Let’s do one last hurrah. Go to Disneyland.”

As they exited the parking lot Stephanie burst out laughing.

“Is that what childhood is? A trip to Disneyland?”

“No!” He exclaimed, face red. “No, that’s not what I meant… I just mean… I just mean…”

“Be selfish for a while. Forget all those responsibilities for a few weeks?”

“Yeah. You deserve that.” Breathing a sigh of relief, he smiled. Stephanie had a knack for cutting through to the bone of an issue. She understood what he was trying to say.

“So do you.” She smiled and tapped his cheek fondly, then settled in for the drive.

They got stuck for twenty minutes trying to cross from one island to another, but it didn’t bother either of them. Stephanie playfully being bad at singing at whatever nineteen eighties anthem came on over the radio. Tim knew she was just playing. She was as good a singer as she was a pianist – unpractised and a little clumsy – but it caused Tim to stop and watch every time. Her screeching to Take on Me was not her best effort, but it made Tim smile all the same.

She snatched the keys and rushed inside when they got back, leaving Tim to trundle behind her, balancing pots and flowers in his arms.

“I seriously have to look after this plant?” He moaned. With a grunt he got down on the floor by the window, setting everything out in place.

“Yes,” muttered Stephanie, throwing towels on the floor and reading instructions online of how to transfer plants from pot to pot. She had thought ahead – for once – and realised that maybe flinging dirt around would damage the living room rug.

Stephanie had moved into his apartment last August, about four months after they had returned to being a couple. For honest and goodness for real this time.

Dick and Babs had made many a teasing (but fond) comment. Cassandra and Duke had been happy, but largely unaffected by the decision. Damian had not been impressed. Jason really didn’t care.

Bruce had said nothing, which was somehow more worrying than his usual disapproving grunts.

So they had, for the most part, been left to it. Stephanie had swiftly turned the apartment (and the Nest) into as much her space as Tim’s. He didn’t mind, as she had a knack for clutter which made the town house feel less like a base and more like a home. Nothing made him feel more happy than coming home from Wayne Enterprises to see Steph sat on the floor, battered laptop on the coffee table, highlighted pages and mugs scattered everywhere, as she screwed up her face trying to write another essay on John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau’s theories on social contracts. The normality was an anchor, one he had so desperately needed in recent years.

Stephanie, meanwhile, had relished the chance to have her own space. To leave her mother had been hard, harder than she had realised at first, but it wasn’t like she wasn’t on the phone with her twice a week, and still compelled to attend scrabble night every Friday (Tim semi reluctantly in tow occasionally). She just hadn’t realised how difficult it would be to leave again. Even if it was, this time, under totally normal circumstances. Every kid has to move out, right? And it’s not like she’d never see her mother again, right? Stephanie’s mother was an adult, she could take care of herself. Steph wasn’t needed to watch her night and day.

But still, there were days when she craved her mother’s morning waffles, or warm shaky hugs.

Tim was a pretty good substitute though.

Speaking of, Tim crawled over to her, snuggle bug that he was, not so subtly looking for affection. He grabbed one of her pigtails and tugged the elastic off so he could braid her hair. She really had let it grow to a ridiculous length, long enough for Bruce and Babs both to chide her. One day it would get caught, or someone would grab it, or it would catch fire or something. The honest reason for letting it grow was…well it was embarrassing and shallow.

Steph sat quietly, letting Tim very carefully and methodically Dutch braid her hair, as she read. Even now, after several months reunited, she could tell he was still testing boundaries. Not just with what she was comfortable with, but also himself. Casual intimacy. Frightening stuff. Well, maybe for him. Steph adored the attention and giving attention in return. Tim’s affections were not to be tolerated, or even endured. They were something to enjoy and indulge in. They were something to grow obsessively fond over, especially after the dry spell of their late teen years. She had got it back and was not going to let it go again so easily.

So, she let him hold her hand whenever he reached for it. She let him lean against her during long hours of stakeout during patrol. She let him kiss her whenever he wanted. She wanted it too. Constantly. Like she was playing catch up with the last three years.

Tim finished one braid then shuffled around so he could start the second. Stephanie sat still until he finished his task, then signalled for him to pay attention as she moved her lilac roses into their new home. He observed carefully, as Tim never half-assed anything, then he cautiously began to pack fresh soil into his glazed box. Stephanie watched him and his concentrated face. Furrowed brows, chewed lips, unsure but steady fingers. Very slow. Very methodical. Textbook job.

He looked at her when he was done though, expectant of some sort of comment. Still desperate for approval.

“Good.” She said, raising her eyebrows. She sat the two boxes on the windowsill, slotting them into place. “Now don’t let it die.”

*****

“Before you all head out for the night, I believe you have some gifts that require opening Master Bruce.”

Bruce peered over the half-eaten slice of cake Alfred had baked yesterday evening and swallowed dryly.

“Right.”

Tim could tell Bruce was just a little disappointed at the showing for his birthday. He would never admit it, no, no, but still. Dick, Jason, and Babs’ absence was noted. They had been good though and posted their presents ahead of time. Well, Dick and Babs had. Jason had sent a card. Which was both more than he had done some years and less for others, so the family all took a card as a good thing. Babs had wrapped up a large basket of bat memorabilia that would unironically get usage up and downstairs.

Dick had forwarded a photo album. Bruce’s lower lip had wobbled (once) on the first page, then he did not look any further into the album and shut it. Probably would cry over it at four am later this morning bundled up in bed. Or at least that’s what Tim imagined he would do.

Cassandra had made an actual teapot during her day classes. It was very cute, albeit just a little lumpy. Damian had done a painting. Duke had bought a pair of nice cufflinks. Tim had been as subtle as a brick to a glass greenhouse and had bought two vouchers for a fishing trip. Bruce had noted to check his diary tomorrow, hearing the pleading in the present for alone time.

Stephanie rested her present reverently on the table in front of Bruce. He eyed it and her a little suspiciously, which Tim tried not to get offended over on Steph’s behalf. He knew she had worked stinking hard on the present. Harder than anything she had ever made for herself. Not as hard as the gloves she had made Tim late last year though. No, he had seen her cursing up a storm trying to get those black and red fingerless mittens right, but she had – just in time for Christmas.

Point was, Stephanie worked hard when she sewed/knitted/embroidered, and Tim hoped Bruce wouldn’t do anything too callous when he opened the gift.

She had indeed knitted a grey-blue zig zag patterned scarf. It was thick, warm, and long. She had carefully embroidered the edges with golden thread. It was nothing short of a labour of love.

Bruce saw this, did the thing where his lip quivered, and quietly thanked Stephanie.

“Happy Birthday!” She replied, smiling brightly.

“It’s very well made.”

“I tried.” She teased gently. Tim squeezed her hand.

“Can I see?” Duke asked, to which Bruce handed it over. Duke whistled. “Can I get one too?”

“Sure.” Stephanie shrugged, still grinning. “It will cost you though.”

“Aw, no fair.”

The wind picked up then, howling louder than it had all day. The windows of the manor creaked, and even in the dark, everyone could see the sudden blizzard that had begun.

“Snow?” Cass asked. “Since when?”

“The weather does that. It changes.” Duke noted with a shrug. Even so, he seemed to regret speaking the more the wind screamed.

“No. Not like this. Rain sure. Sleet sure. Not a blizzard.” Tim peered out the window. “That doesn’t come from nowhere.”

Tim watched as there was already a solid layer of ice on the floor, the snow less like fluffy crystals and more like hail. The skies above churned rolled up clouds. It was harsh and ugly.

“No way.” Duke murmured, seeing the weather deteriorate.

Stephanie did not miss Bruce silently sigh at his pile of presents, the physical proof of how fortunate his life had become in recent years, despite the sometimes oppressive setbacks. It was just a moment, then the Bat was in place.

“Let’s head out. This doesn’t look natural. Split up and hunt for causes. Manmade or otherwise. Help anyone who seems stranded.”

Damian finally piped up. “Are we splitting into pairs?”

He crept towards Stephanie. Without Dick in Gotham she remained the person he was most keen (if Damian could be such a thing) to work alongside. Bruce notwithstanding.

“Damian go with Duke. Cassandra with me. Stephanie and Tim.”

Well never mind.

Stephanie pinched Damian’s cheek, and he groaned and twitched away, running downstairs.

They all made their way to the cave, Alfred opening up the clock, when Stephanie looked back, seeing Tim was still stood, still as a statue, watching through the glass.

“Tim?” She called.

His right hand twitched, hanging limp next to his thigh, at the sound of her voice. Almost reluctantly, he replied,

“…Yeah?”

“Ready to go?”

She held out her hand for him to take, though he was still looking out the window. Slowly he turned at the hips, head remaining still, staring at the storm. When her hand found his, he shuddered, like the warmth of her fingers and palm shot straight through his arm and up through his chest and head. He finally whipped round to look at her and smiled tightly.

“Ready. Sorry.”

Stephanie said nothing and pulled him away from the window.

[wonjaekook]

Blank Keys

A/N: I started this one right after I finished the last one and worked on it in a couple of large chunks and a few small ones… and it still took forever. This really did not go where I initially expected it to, but I guess these tropes never do ^^

21 Tropes: 6. Bad Boy AU + ivory w/Hendery

Description: A chance encounter with the school “bad boy” sends your life spiraling in a new direction.

Word Count: 7.9k

Genre: fluff, angst

Warnings: swearing

School sucks. Life sucks. Music sucks. But, here you are, walking to the music rooms once again so you can practice and hate it for the ninth time this month. It’s not that you hate music itself - you love music. You’ve loved music for as long as you can remember, it’s your minor for God’s sake, but, right now, you can’t stand to write a single note.

Your steps slow as you hear the sound of someone playing piano drift towards you from down the hall. It’s… it’s kind of bad. Not the worst, but it’s certainly no masterful playing. But, the passion that the person beats on the keys with makes it the most beautiful thing you’ve ever heard. The more you hear it, the more your fingertips itch and the more you feel like your voice is being constricted in your throat. Hurriedly, you sit down outside the door of the practice room where the music is coming from, you dig around in your backpack until you find your music notebook, and you begin to write. Quietly, so the person playing in the room doesn’t hear you and stop, you hum to yourself, seeing music come to life in the air around you. As the person’s piece comes to a halt, your own hand begins to slow, finally stopping. 

Every feeling you’ve ever been able to put into words and every feeling you haven’t been able to put into words sits on the paper in front of you and you find yourself really smiling at your work for the first time in a long while. Putting away your notebook, you get up, intending to just glance into the room as you pass by as to not reveal that you were weirdly listening to them play, but the person who sits at the piano bench shocks you. There, starting a new song, a more familiar tune, is Wong Kunhang or, as most people know him, Hendery. Hendery, who is always causing trouble in class when he isn’t skipping it, Hendery who brings the beer to parties, Hendery who’s always getting into some sort of trouble, just inspired you to write a new song when you’d been in a dry spell for more than a month. You’re so shocked that you find yourself pushing open the door, approaching him on the bench.

“So, the school bad boy plays piano?” The sound of your voice over his shoulder has his fingers skittering to a halt on the ivory and black keys. The noise that results from the incident is a mix of the crashing of several notes that certainly do not belong together and his incoherent stuttering at being caught.

“I-I-!”

You don’t know where your boldness comes from - you would usually be terrified of him - but you plop down next to him on the bench. “Where did you even learn how to play piano?”

“Kun-ge is really good at it…” He refuses to meet your eyes, cheeks flushed and gaze glued to the piano.

“You’re friends with Kun? Qian Kun? Straight-A, Honor-Roll, Mister Perfect Qian Kun?”

“Family friends…” He mumbles before he looks over to glare at you. “What are you even doing here?”

“I have a music minor,” you say, eyeing the keys of the piano, “I was never good at piano though.”

“Well, get out of here, good girl. I’m busy.” He turns back to the piano, trying to play off his embarrassment at having been caught.

“I’m not a good girl!”

“Compared to me, you are.” He turns his nose at you, a completely strange action on him. You break the serious air by laughing at him and he’s taken aback. “What are you-”

“Okay, Mr. Bad Boy, play me something.”

“Why should I play anything for you?” His face is entirely unamused and you smile brightly at him.

“Play something for me and I won’t tell anyone that you sneak in here to play piano.”

“You think people would believe that shit?” He glares at you.

“Well, with this handy little tool,” you muse, pulling out your phone and waving it around, “I could make anyone believe anything.”

His glare sharpens further before he sighs and visibly deflates. “Fine.” He sets his fingers down on the keys before starting the beginning of a very, very familiar piece.

“Hey,” you say, realizing what he’s doing, “are you just playing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star?”

He finishes abruptly. “Yeah, and you got your song. Now, leave me alone.”

“No,” you whine, bumping his shoulder with your own, “I want you to play me a real song.”

He puts a hand to his heart, pretending to be offended. “Are you calling the work of our great lord Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ‘not a real song?’ How could you?”

“Come on,” you insist, “play me something longer.”

While most of him resists your desires, a part of him wants to make you happy. He had never played for anyone but Kun, not even his parents. It’s kind of nice to have a willing audience for once. Silently, he places his fingers back on the keys and begins to play.

As he plays, you watch him and you listen. After he gave you your inspiration back, you desperately want to keep feeling it again - ‘it’ being whatever it was that he made you feel with that first song you heard. You quickly realize that he’s playing Clair De Lune, slowly and a little clumsily, but better than however he had been playing before. You’re disappointed to find that you don’t feel quite the same spark, but his playing is enjoyable nonetheless. Your eyes rake over his features. He’s concentrating hard - you can tell that from his expression - and you notice for the first time that his face is surprisingly well-structured and handsome. He’s not what you would expect out of a bad boy, that’s for sure. You had never seen him up close before, only from a distance in class or on campus as he was messing around with his band of trouble-making friends. When he finishes playing, it almost feels as if no time at all had passed. You blink and feel as though you have to say something. “That was… good.”

He snorts. “You don’t have to lie to me, you know. I’m not a master pianist and I don’t plan to be. I just do it to relieve stress.”

You smile. “That in itself is enough to be good.”

He rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I’m heading out, Y/N. I got stuff to do.”

You nod along, watching as he gets up and shoulders his bag. “Thanks for playing for me.” He gives you a look, his eyebrow raised, and shrugs.

“It’s whatever.”

It takes you a moment to process what he had said before. “Wait, how do you know my name?”

He opens the door. “Freshmen year Chem class.” The door clicks shut behind him.

That class had almost a hundred people in it. You’d only known him because he had become infamous even by that point, but he remembered your name in a crowd of quiet faces that never made any trouble. You smile, looking down at the piano. Wong Kunhang remembered your name.

You find it a lot easier to write and sing again after that. When you return at the same time, a few days later, to practice and test out some of your new songs, you’re not as surprised as you should be to see him there again. As you open the door, he also seems unsurprised to see you. At least, he’s not nearly as startled when you walk in this time.

“Should I be expecting you from now on?” He says, taking his hands off of the keys. You glance at the unlabeled sheet music in front of him.

“What are you practicing?”

He shrugs and reaches forward, flipping the page to Moonlight Sonata. “Not much.”

“Can I listen?” You ask, proceeding to sit yourself down on the end of the piano bench anyways. He sighs and puts his fingers back on the keys.

“I guess I can’t stop you.”

That time, and every time after, you join him and, to your surprise, he becomes more and more receptive to you as an audience member. The way his fingers move across the piano remind you that he’s a person, not just some trouble-maker, not just the bad boy. You also realize that you may have misjudged him. He’s no idiot - not even close. In conversation between his playing, you find out that his final grade in the chemistry class you two had together was actually higher than yours had been. There’s something deeper to crack about him, but you just can’t place it. At least, not yet. What is it about him, what had he done that time to make you feel the way you did that makes him so special?

You think that you’re making progress with figuring him out. Then, you’re walking with your friend Mark on campus one day when you see him with his group, consisting most prominently of some guys you know as Ten, Lucas, and Yangyang. If the same thing had happened last semester, you would have put your head down and walked past as to not draw attention from him, but, now, you look at him head-on. He meets you with a look that lacks the usual calm and hesitant friendliness that you see in it. Mark nudges you, trying to get you to stop staring. “Don’t draw attention!” He whisper-yells to you.

“What?” You break eye contact with Hendery to look at your friend. “I’m not doing anything.”

“They’ll start shit with anyone, so just keep walking and-” You look away from Mark again to turn back at him.

“See something you like?” You hear him say, meeting you with a smirk. You frown at his tone. He would usually never talk to you like that.

“Not particularly,” you say, trying to see if he’ll play along with you like he usually does when he’s in the practice room with you.

“Is there a problem, then?” Hendery raises an eyebrow, keeping the same confrontational tone, and your heart sinks. So, that’s how it’s going to be.

“Yeah, there’s a bunch of idiots being loud and annoying in the middle of campus.”

You regret saying it almost immediately. Mark groans quietly next to you.

“Huh, shy puppy finally has something to say, does she? Don’t think I’ve ever seen you open your mouth before.” Hendery lies through his teeth and he does it easily, dismissing every single thing you’ve said to each other over the last few weeks.

You roll your eyes. “Maybe next time you’ll open your ears and listen.”

The boys around Hendery snicker and you can tell you’re gaining the attention of some of the other students wandering around campus. Mark grabs at your arm, trying to get you moving. “Y/N, let’s just go.” You start to let him move you, but Ten speaks up this time.

“Hey, you think you can start shit and just-”

Hendery stops him, lowering his voice, but you can still hear it. “I’ll deal with her later.”

“Oh my god, you’re dead. You’re so dead.” You let Mark tug you along, absentmindedly hearing him ramble and lecture you as you continue on to the music rooms. You can practically feel Hendery’s eyes on you until you leave his field of vision. In the practice room, you try to do some homework while Mark plays guitar, but your mind keeps wandering back to Hendery. Even with his personality swap, you can’t make yourself hate him. You’re more confused than anything. You’ve never felt so conflicted before, not even after you found him playing piano for the first time. Why is he a completely different person when you’re alone?

Mark eventually leaves, heading to meet someone else for a group project, and you find that your thoughts are even louder when you’re alone and without the relaxing strumming of your friend playing guitar. You shove your chair away from the side table that you had been working at and make your way to the piano. With a huff, you sit down in front of it, realizing that the instrument itself now just reminds you of Hendery. Opening the lid, you set your fingers down.

You had only ever played piano for a class in your first semester of college. You had been atrocious - you had basically only passed with a decent grade because your teacher saw how hard you were trying. With your vocal focus, you always found it more natural to find notes within yourself, unlike piano, where you have to know where notes are and make sure you press down on the right keys. You think that, maybe, this time, you’ll be able to sound at least semi-okay. You try your hand at playing Hot Cross Buns, surprised that you remember the notes. Trying something a little harder, you go for Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and you hit a wrong note not even two measures in. On that first night, when you had demanded Hendery play a song for you, you hate to admit it, but his rendition of the classic was miles beyond yours. Without realizing, you begin to hum along, using your voice to find the notes on the keys. With many wrong presses and lots of backtracking, you finally play the whole song and you sit back, pleased with yourself.

From behind you, someone starts clapping and you whip around to see Hendery himself. You sigh and shake your head. You hadn’t noticed when he had entered. “Why are you here?” You ask. “This isn’t your normal day.”

“I said I would deal with you later. It’s not like you’re that hard to find,” he says, walking over to the bench and standing next to you. “That was pretty bad.”

“You play it, then,” you say, some of your previous irritation leaking into your voice, but you shift over to make room for him anyways. He sits down next to you, sets his fingers on the keys, and begins to play. The song sounds similar to yours at first, in the same key, with the same notes, but, then, it takes a turn. It changes into a different song, but it’s still Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, and you find yourself entranced, watching him play. In those moments, you forget the separate person he had become earlier and just pay attention to the music flowing in the room. Before you know it, the song is back to what the original is and he’s done, looking at you expectantly.

“Have you ever tried writing? I think you’d be good at it.” It’s the first thing you can think to say. You don’t know if he had actually written the strange rendition that you had just heard, but he certainly played it like he owns it.

“No.” As expected, he refuses immediately.

“Well, just consider it! You’ve done it before. I’ve heard you. Plus, you owe me for today.”

“When the hell did you hear me play something original? And, no, I don’t, you’re the one who started shit.” You can tell from the slight red making its way onto his face that you’re right, what you had heard that day was something he made himself.

“Says you, the King of Starting Shit. But, that first day, I came over here because I heard you playing.” His brows furrow at the comment, so you continue. “It was really nice, by the way.”

He rolls his eyes. “You don’t have to lie to me. I know it didn’t sound good.”

“But, it did!” He gives you a look, so you insist further. “It really did.”

He scans your face, looking for a sign that you’re lying to him somehow, and sighs when he finds none. You really had thought it was good. The technique hadn’t been exactly right, but whatever he made up that day had brought your inspiration back so, to you, it was the most precious piece you’d heard in a long time. Finally, he speaks again, his voice quiet. “I’ll give it a try if you show me how.”

You brighten up instantly. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he says, “and if you sing for me.”

“Wait, that’s not part of the-”

“I heard you singing when you were playing earlier, so I assume that’s what your focus is for your minor. Tell me I’m wrong.” Just like how you could tell from his embarrassment earlier that you were right, he can tell from you silence and bashfulness that he’s right. It surprises you that he would ask you to sing - that might be the closest to a compliment that you’ll get from him.

“Fine,” you say bitterly, “but only because you owe me.”

He stands up suddenly, surprisingly you. “Are you free right now?”

“Yeah, I guess, I only really have homework to do, so-”

“Come with me.” You’re more than surprised at his invitation, but you get up and grab your stuff, following him nonetheless. He leads you out of the room, out of the building, off campus, and he keeps walking. It’s getting dark outside now, but he keeps going, glancing back every so often and keeping idle conversation, like he’s making sure that you’re still following him. Finally, he stops, opening the door to a restaurant that you had never been to before. It’s pretty dimly lit and there are one or two customers inside.

“Where are we?” You whisper, not wanting to disturb the air.

“The owners are family friends,” he says, walking towards the back. He calls out something in Cantonese and an older lady pops her out from behind the curtain separating the kitchen and the dining area. When she sees him, she smiles, displaying the laugh lines around her mouth, and greets him. Her eyes shift over to you quickly after and you hurriedly bow to her, trying to be respectful. She seems surprised, saying something to him in Cantonese. He shakes his head, laughing slightly, and says something else to her that you don’t understand. Nodding, she looks back at you and smiles again.

“Hello,” she says in slightly accented Korean, “I’m Mrs. Chan. It’s nice to see Kunhang-ah bring a friend by. If you need anything, I’ll be back here.”

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Y/N. Thank you for having me.” You bow to her again and she smiles once more before disappearing back into what you assume is the kitchen. You look to Hendery, smirking at him. “Kunhang-ah?”

He flushes ever so slightly. “You know Hendery isn’t my real name. And the ‘ah’ is just a Canto thing.” He turns back towards the main restaurant. “Come on.”

You follow him and see, nestled in a small, hidden corner of the restaurant, is a piano. It’s old and painted a chipping yellow, but seems to be in relatively good shape otherwise. The bench is small, but he sits down, leaving just enough room for you to squeeze next to him. “I used to come here all the time as a kid,” he says, running his fingers lightly over the worn-down keys. “While the adults talked, I would just sit here and mess around. It sounded awful, but it was fun. Kun heard me one day and offered to teach me.” He takes his hand away and gestures towards the keys. Tentatively, like you’re afraid to disturb some of his childhood memories, you lift your hand and press down on what you hope is a C. The sound is deep and resonant, the timbre speaking of old wood and comfort. You can’t help but think that you’re sharing a part of Hendery right now, but the part of him that’s more like Kunhang and less like the guy you had a back-and-forth with on campus today.

“It sounds beautiful,” you say quietly, slowly taking your hand back. You can feel him staring at you, but when you look back, he’s looking at the piano again. You feel like you can barely breathe. Suddenly, you hear a call of his name from Mrs. Chan and you both turn to look. She emerges from around the corner and smiles after seeing the two of you at the bench together. She has a plate in her hands with what you recognize as egg tarts.

“These are for you two. No charge, of course.” Instinctually, you bow again and thank her, accepting one of the tarts. Hendery takes one as well, thanking her in Cantonese. With one last smile, she disappears again.

“This smells really good,” you say, observing the treat in your hand.

“She makes them herself. They’re her specialty. Before I started messing around on the piano, the only reason I didn’t throw a fit coming here was for these.” The smile he has on his face as he looks at his is sweet and innocent, almost enough to rival the egg tart you’re holding. The desserts in both of your hands disappear pretty quickly and you find yourself smiling widely after you finish it. It’s not very often that you get real Chinese cuisine.

“I’ll have to thank her again before we leave. That was delicious.” Somewhere at the back of your mind, you recognize that this is the first time that you had eaten with Hendery, but you don’t let the implications sink in too much. The two of you brush the crumbs off of your hands and look at the piano again. “When you write something, do you know where to start?” He shakes his head, so you continue. “Think of something important to you. A memory, a feeling, anything. Something that’s strong enough that you’re inspired by it.” You watch as he thinks, his eyebrows scrunching.

“I… think I know something.” You’ve never heard him so timid.

“Okay,” you say, watching his expression shift again, “I guess for an instrumentalist, you’ll choose a key. And, then, you just kind of… go.”

“You just go?” He says, quirking an eyebrow at you. “I thought you were supposed to be helping me.”

“Music is supposed to come from here,” you say, poking at his chest, right above where his heart should be. “So, just play from there. Take that emotion or memory or whatever and turn it into music.”

When he had previously started to lift his hands to the keys, he stops, setting them down. “Sing for me first.” “What? Here?” Though you’re normally not that shy about your singing and the restaurant is practically empty, you can’t help but be hesitant. He nods, no duh, and waits for you. You sigh, trying to think of something that you know and that he might enjoy. You might as well go basic - You Are My Sunshine. Slowly, the words and notes begin to flow from your lips, filling this corner of the restaurant. He watches you, as you have figured out that he does a lot, and, when the song is over, he turns back to the piano. Without saying anything, he begins to play.

That night, in that dim restaurant in the corner that hardly anybody sees, he plays a new song for you. You sit next to him, your side pressed to his, and you listen. There is no blank space between you anymore, but all you want is to move closer so that you could somehow hear and feel his song even better. You can almost feel his heartbeat in the song and, as he plays, yours begins to sync with it. When his fingers finally stop moving, he doesn’t look at you. His face is warm in a way he hadn’t really felt before and, though he spends so much time just staring at you these days, he feels like he’ll change everything if he looks at you. When he finally looks over, you’re already gazing at him. Without thinking, but having put too much thought into it for so long, he leans down and presses his lips to yours.

His lips are warm with the feelings he had just shared with you and sweet with the egg tart that he had eaten so many times before. This time, somehow, it tasted even sweeter than usual, and now he thinks he knows why.

The two of you leave quietly, thanking Mrs. Chan again. She simply observes the glow that the two you have about yourselves and smiles when she sees you tug on his hand as you’re walking out.

As you walk, you don’t say much, just hold his hand in yours. As the pair of you get closer to campus, he speaks softly, not wanting to disturb the air between you. “Do you want to come back to my apartment with me?” You’re about to accept - though you’re not really talking right now, you don’t quite want to leave him just yet - but then you think of the implications and flush. He sees your reaction and his eyes widen. “No, no, no, not like that!” He pauses and then smirks, squeezing your hand. “Unless you want to.”

With your free hand, you jokingly hit him and he laughs, showing you a full-toothed smile. You can’t help but smile back. “I’ll come, but just so I can do some work.”

“Mhm,” he hums and you smack him lightly again. “Work. That’s what you want.”

With a bit more playful bickering, you walk with him to his apartment, finding that he lives on the second floor of a building right next to campus. As you kick off your shoes, you note that his apartment is surprisingly clean. Peering farther in, you see two closed doors in the hallway. “Do you have a roommate?”

“Yeah, it’s Ten.” Instantly, unpleasant memories of your experience with Ten from earlier come to mind and you grimace, which Hendery notices. “He isn’t here right now, but he’s not that bad. He’s actually pretty smart, he can just be kind of a dick sometimes.”

“Sometimes? All I’ve seen from him is dick dehavior.”

He just shrugs and walks to his room with you following him and, when you get there, you set down your stuff and begin to pull out your work, setting up shop at his desk at his prompting. You don’t know what time it is when you drift off and you only half wake up when you feel him pick you up and move you to his bed. You fall back asleep, nestled in his blankets and pillows. You wake up again, seeing dim lamplight through your eyelids, and open your eyes, turning to see the clock on his nightstand read 4:32 a.m. Next, you look for him, confused, and spot him hunched over his desk, a textbook in front of him, where you were sure you had fallen asleep earlier.

“Hendery?” You say, causing him to turn his head in surprise. “Why are you awake? It’s so late.”

“I can never sleep this early,” he replies, giving you a soft smile. “Go back to sleep, I’ll wake you up in time for class.”

“I have a 9 a.m.,” you say, suddenly realizing where you are and what’s happening. “I’m terrible, I’m taking up your bed.”

You start to get up, but he stops you, putting a hand on the edge of the bed. “It’s fine. I’ll sleep later. I told you I can never sleep this early.”

“It’s not early,” you say, pushing a hand through your hair, “Do you have a test tomorrow or something?”

He shakes his head, glancing back at the textbook. “I just can’t sleep most nights. When I can’t sleep, I just study.”

Your eyes widen as you make the connection. “That’s why you got a better score in chemistry than me…”

He smiles bitterly. “Yup. Now, go back to sleep.”

“I’ll only sleep if you come sleep with me.” You’re too tired to care about the implications of what you just said, instead making grabby-hands at him.

Frowning at you, he shakes his head. “I really-”

“I’m staying awake, then.” You pout at him and he sighs, giving in and shutting his textbook. The lamplight gets flicked off and he slips under the covers, facing towards you. He can’t see the smile on your face in the dark, but he’s sure it’s there. Carefully, he wraps his arms around you and pulls you to his chest.

“Is this okay?” You hum in response and, before you know it, you’re asleep in his arms. He sleeps more soundly that night that he had in a long time.

The next evening, you find yourself in that same practice room, listening to him play again. This time, it’s a piece you’ve heard before but can’t quite name - you’ve never been very well-versed in classical piano pieces, but you can at least recognize the melody. Suddenly, he stops playing and looks at you. You think that his gaze has been softer recently and you think you like it. You hold that eye contact with him as he speaks.

“I’ve been thinking about it and… why did you even come in here that day? Why did you want me to play for you so bad?” His voice is expectant, as if he had been trying to find answers about you just like you had been trying to find answers about him. After everything that happened last night, you figure that it’s time to come clean.

You swallow your feelings, your pride, your everything. “I heard you playing and I just…” You trail off. “I can’t really describe how I felt. You just played beautifully.” To try to explain what made you follow the music you heard, you dig around in your backpack, pulling out a notebook. The cover is beaten up, worn down from many years of usage, with only a few blank pages left towards the end of the notebook. You run a hand over the cover. You don’t know why you trust him so much already, but you suppose that hearing him play just now makes you feel as if he had opened his heart to you as well, in a way. You hand him the notebook. He takes it with gentle hands, his gaze not leaving your face. “This is my music notebook. Every song I’ve ever worked on is in here. For a while, it was hard to make anything. Anything at all. But, when you played that day, it made me feel like writing again. I…” You pause, feeling the confession scratch at your throat and turn your face pink with embarrassment. A moment before, he had opened your notebook, flipping through some of the pages, but he stops and looks back up at you when you stop talking. “...I actually sat outside the door and wrote something for a little while I listened to you play.”

His eyes are wide and curious, another look you don’t really see on him that often, as you talk. “What did you write?”

“It’s… it’s in there somewhere.” You know by heart where that song is, but you don’t want to admit that to him just yet. He gave you your inspiration back, whether he did it on purpose or not, and that means everything to you - how could you not remember where that song is? “Anyway, yesterday you played like you did that day again.”

He nods slowly, his dark hair swaying above his handsome face. “I think I get it.” You think he really means it and you can’t help but smile. “You love music, right?” He asks, keeping his gaze on you as he hands your notebook back to you.

“More than anything.” From somewhere deep down, he feels a flutter of emotion at your genuine, heartwarming smile.

“Why are you just a music minor, then? Why not make it your major?” He almost falters as he sees the look on your face fade into something more mournful, something much sadder. You clutch your notebook to your chest.

“My parents would never let me. I have to do chemistry. I don’t hate it, but… it’s not something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life.” A few weeks ago, you never would have guessed that you’d be confessing your deepest sadness and insecurity to Hendery Wong of all people, but here you are. Your voice lowers as you whisper your previously unspoken thoughts. “I don’t think I’ll be happy doing it.”

“Just quit.” He suggests it so quickly, so easily that you don’t know how to comprehend what he said or how to respond to him.

“Quit? It’s not that easy,” you scoff at him.

“Do what you want with your life. Stop all of that following your parents’ wishes and just quit. Major in music.” You stare at him, dumbfounded.

“I- I can’t-”

“Can’t you?” He says, raising an eyebrow at you. “Who’s paying your tuition?”

“I’m on scholarship, but-”

“Who’s paying your living expenses?” “I mean, I have a job over breaks and I make some side money here when I can…”

“So, just switch majors. Quit doing the thing you hate and living only to satisfy your parents. Live for yourself for once.” Your eyes are wide and you can’t help but continue to stare at him, your mouth agape. Could you really…?

“I… I don’t know if I could have a career in music…” You trail off, stumbling for all of the excuses you gave yourself over the past few years.

He rolls his eyes dramatically. “You know you can find something in the field. Just do your research. You’re smart and hardworking. You can find something.”

For the third time in the short while you’ve known him, he’s opening your eyes. Your heart lifts from where it had been weighed down in your chest for so long and you suddenly feel like soaring. You’d looked into more doable careers in music in the past and you’d found so many opportunities, but you had crossed them off in your head because of everything your parents burned into your head. You throw yourself against him, hugging him tightly. All of your emotions well up at once again and you feel like crying. “Thank you,” you say to him, “thank you.”

He hugs you back and doesn’t say much else.

Y/N: are you home?

Hendery: ya, why?

Y/N: look outside!!

A couple evenings later, you find yourself craving his company outside of your time in the practice rooms, but it’s late enough that you know he’ll probably be home. So, your feet take you outside of his apartment building. For the sake of ease and the little risk that comes with it, you peek up at his window - he’s only on the second floor after all. His shadow soon appears in the window, the light blinding you to his actual appearance because of the darkness outside. He opens the window and peers down at you. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you,” you announce before studying the side of his building. There are quite a few uneven bricks and pipes, so if you just…

He watches as you climb up to his second floor apartment, sticking out a hand to grab yours when you get close enough and smirking as he pulls you the rest of the way in. “If I’m the bad boy, why are you the one climbing in my window at night?”

“Honestly, it was kind of fun,” you say, jokingly dusting your clothes off. “You should try it some- mm.”

He interrupts you by planting a kiss on your lips, to your pleasant surprise. When he pulls away, he seems proud of the blush that you can feel spreading across your face. “The front door would be much easier.”

“I guess…” You respond, still flustered. You’ll really have to get used to that. You also don’t want to tell him that you were avoiding Ten, as his roommate doesn’t know anything about your relationship with Hendery yet and you don’t have the greatest impression of the guy. Shaking your head to clear your inhibitions, you smile at him as he closes the window again. “Anyways, I have good news!” At his hum, affirming that he’s listening to you, you continue. “I talked to my advisor today and she said I’m good to change majors! I just have to wait until next semester for my major-related classes start up. I’ll probably still graduate on time, too, given the way things are going.”

“I’m happy for you, babe.” He brushes your hair back and kisses your forehead, making warmth bubble up in your chest. His arms wrap around you in a hug a moment later.

“Thank you again,” you mumble against his chest as he hugs you, “I really owe you everything.”

“Nah,” he says, “I’m just doing what a good boyfriend would do.”

“Boyfriend?” You say, pulling back ever so slightly to look at him. The two of you hadn’t put your relationship into terms like that yet, so the word surprises you before the feeling of excited butterflies swarms in your chest again.

“You don’t like it?” He says, quirking an eyebrow at you.

“I like it a lot, actually. My boyfriend, Hendery Wong, the bad boy.” The somewhat squeaky laugh he lets out is cute, so different from the persona you had associated him with for so long.

As usual, you find yourself lounging around his room, idly studying and doing the homework that you brought with you. It’s almost midnight when you hear a door slam nearby. There’s a brief pause and some shuffling noises before Hendery’s door flies open, revealing Ten. Hendery rolls his eyes. “Dude, what did I tell you about just coming in here when the door is closed? I could be doing stuff you don’t want to see.”

“Yeah, whatever. I needed to tell you-” He stops suddenly as he sees you sitting in the middle of the room with a textbook in front of you. “What is the puppy doing here?”

“Puppy?” You fire back. “Is that really the nickname you’re giving me?”

“We’re in a class together,” Hendery says, ignoring you and lying as easily as if he was just breathing. “We have a project to work on.”

“Uh-huh. No open space in the library?” Ten questions, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning on the doorframe.

“There’s a huge gen chem test tomorrow,” he says, “all the freshmen are in there. It was easier to just come here.” It’s not a lie - you know from your younger friends that he’s telling the truth, but his refusal to admit that there’s something more between the two of you makes you knit your brows together in displeasure.

“Whatever. I’ll tell you what happened with the boys later.” Ten eyes you once more before turning around, closing the door as he leaves. You nearly laugh out loud. At least he’s polite in that respect.

“We’re just classmates, huh?” You say, turning to the boy who had just proclaimed himself your boyfriend not two hours earlier. You get up from the floor, packing away your things. “I’m heading home.”

“You won’t stay the night?” He says, sitting up straighter.

“It’s getting kinda late for your ‘classmate’ to be here.” He watches helplessly as you finish gathering your things and step towards his bedroom door.

“No window this time?” He jokes, trying to lift your spirits back up.

“Like you said, the front door is much easier. Goodnight, Kunhang.” The coldness with which you say it keeps him frozen in place as you let yourself out. Neither of you sleep particularly well that night.

A few days later, as an apology, he plays a new song for you. When you listen to him, the feeling that his compositions bring you comes back like it always does, but it feels heavier, more melancholy this time. Half of your heart wants to forgive him and half of it wants to never speak to him again. You suppose the split is partially your fault - you shouldn’t have thought a relationship with Hendery, the self-proclaimed bad boy of the school, would be normal in any way. But, now that it has progressed this far, you just want it to work out. You like the honest side he shows you a lot more than you ever liked his troublemaking side. You wish he would just be more honest with everyone else, too.

As he plays, you find yourself moving closer until your head rests against his shoulder. Slowly, his song turns into something softer and sadder, his fingers dancing across the ivory and black keys more slowly. “What song is that?” You ask.

“Dunno.” He shrugs, stopping a few notes later. It seems unfinished somehow. He just stares down at the keys for a long moment. Finally, he takes a deep breath. “Listen… I’m sorry.”

“I want to say it’s okay, but it’s not.” Your response makes him frown more deeply, which makes you frown, too. You reach out, cupping his face in your hands so that he looks you in the eye and stops avoiding your gaze. His eyes, you notice, have a lot of warmth and emotion when he lets himself show it. “Kunhang. I like you. I really, really like you. But, if you want us to be together, you can’t keep treating me like this, like I’m your girlfriend here and you don’t know me at all when your friends are around. Listen.” You drop your hands from his face and place them on the piano. You pray that the chord you’re about to play is right and press down. Pleasant notes resonate through the room, into your bones, intertwining with your heartbeat as you sing. “I want to tell the whole world how I feel. I wish I could sing a song that shows them everything I see in you.” Your voice falls into a low, sad tone and the notes of your song turn into spoken resignation. “But, right now, you won’t let me.”

The silence between you is something that you know will make or break your relationship. You want him to choose you, to choose the good thing that you’ve found together, but, for a moment, you’re afraid he won’t. Then, he meets your eyes and smiles.

“Let’s show them, then.”

You peak out from behind the curtains of the stage. You can see some of your friends, including Mark, sitting in the audience. The house doors shut and you sigh, but a moment later, the doors open again, much to the annoyance of the ushers who had just closed them, and in walk Hendery, Ten, Lucas, and Yangyang. After seeing them, you duck backstage again and wait. Not too long into the start of the recital, Hendery joins you, wearing a slightly different outfit than he had walked in wearing. It’s his usual black, but slightly more formal and matching your own outfit well. A small feeling of pride wells up in your chest at the sight, pushing back the nerves that had begun to rise.

“Couple outfit,” you simply say. He rolls his eyes, but you can see the hint of a smile on his face. You know your performance is coming up soon, so you take his hands in yours. “Are you ready?”

“I should be asking you that,” he says, eyeing you, “you look like you’re about to run away any second.”

“I do not!” You whisper-yell back. “I’m-”

“You guys are up next,” a crew member interrupts, “two minutes.”

You thank her and turn back to your boyfriend. The air becomes more somber between the two of you. “Thank you,” you say, “for doing this with me.”

“Thanks for not giving up on me,” he responds. He leans down, about to plant a quick kiss on your lips, but the light on stage goes out and the crew member from before ushers the two of you forward and on stage. You don’t really hear as the emcees introduce you, but you can imagine the looks on Mark, Ten, Lucas, and Yangyang’s faces as your name and Hendery’s name are announced together.

When the light comes on, the only thing you can see is him sitting on the bench with the piano in front of him. You look at each other one more time before he looks away, taking a breath before he begins to play. The notes from the piano hold the beat in them and, when it’s your turn, you raise your microphone and start to sing along.

“As sweet as honey

Your smile is as sweet as honey…”

As you sing, you forget about all of the eyes on you, all of your friends and his friends watching the two of you in shock. You’re singing to him, so you think only of him. You know this is his first time in front of an audience like this, but he looks entirely at peace, the stage lights illuminating his features well and making him look even more handsome than usual. Then again, maybe it’s not the lights. Maybe the way your heart is soaring is changing the way that you see him yet again. A bright, warm smile makes its way onto your face as you sing. Before you can fully comprehend the situation, the song is ending and you’re singing your final lines.

“Your smile is so familiar to me

But I still can’t remember where

Ah… in my dreams.”

You lower the microphone from its position by your lips, finally looking out into the ground. Everyone’s eyes are round and wide as Hendery plays the last measures of the song. The last note seems to reverberate throughout the theater. As if they were waiting for that note to finally fade away, it takes a moment before the audience bursts into applause. While you stare out at them, microphone still clasped in your hand, Hendery gets up, moving to stand by your side. He takes your free hand, bringing you back to the real world, and leads you in a bow. A smile blossoms on your face again after you rise from your bow and you turn to him, prepared to smile at him, but, to your immense surprise, he takes your face in his hands and kisses you, full and fast in front of everyone. At the back of your mind, you register that people are cheering and gasping and giving you all sorts of reactions, but you just enjoy the feeling of his lips on yours.

After the show, you vaguely recall Mark coming up to you, completely in shock but congratulating you nonetheless, and Ten threatening you, saying, “you’d better not take him completely away from us,” but you can tell from the half-smile on his face that he’s fine with whatever is happening as long as he can see the glow of happiness in Hendery’s face. You suppose that Ten isn’t too bad of a guy.

Ten leaves and you turn to your, now proudly public, boyfriend. “Not so scary, right?” “I guess not.”

One by one, you find that the last blank pages of your notebook are being filled and, as he takes your hand, the very different spaces between the two of you close until all that’s left is the music that you made together.

[softyshibu]

Showdown bandit OC: Ghost Bandit (Long Post)

So I have an SB OC (I have a few actually but we're gonna start with this one) and he goes by the name of Ghost.

Ghost is yet another Bandit roaming around showdown valley but not quite as often as many others.

If there is one thing to know about him it's that there will frequently be days you may not ever see him around but he definitely will always see you. Just like a g h o s t would.

The Ghost bandit may not always be around in showdown valley but when he is it's usually because a terrible threat is on the rise or just because he low-key enjoys watching the Bandit do stupid stuff as an attempt to impress him and than get in trouble for it afterwards.

He is a man of little words but speaks whenever he feels is necessary especially When the faceless bandit is present trying to bring havoc across showdown valley or trying to harm the bandit for whatever reason only he and the puppet master knows.

Despite his intimidating features and straight forwardness he's actually quite friendly and a giant softy when around puppets he's comfortable with and have befriended.

Surprisingly ghost wasn't always the ghost bandit, he actually went by Reid (his real name) and he was your average townfolk with an actual occupation in showdown valley, he was a piano player. He wore a bowler hat to go over his head full of fluffy pulled back hair,a nice little bow-tie to go with his tucked in black vest and Striped red velvet long sleeved banded shirt along with Burgundy pants and boots that came up over the knee, and one gold earring in his left ear (hm not much has changed). He took pride in his profession and was always ready to play a tune for anyone who would listen.

He spent most of his days at the saloon quietly sat in front of a beautiful themola london pianola practically living in his own world as he played a lovely tune. He also had a frequent little visitor who loved to come watch him play and she went by the name of Belle, Belle was a small shy youngin puppet who'd sneak into the saloon just to watch him play. At first she used to hide or run whenever he would finish a song but after many gentle pleads and friendly gestures she eventually warmed up to him. Now all would seem well for Reid at this time he had a wonderful small friend and loved the part he played even if it was rather minor. His life was perfect, well, it would had been anyway until one late night at the saloon would change everything.

It was closing time when a gang of no good ruffians attempted to rob the place . Reid had stayed to finish up cleaning tables for the bartender with Belle not too far behind him when they heard the saloon doors being kicked open.

Three masked Robbers ran in and demanded for everything that was in the cash register. They threaten the two with guns, knives, and molotov bombs. Belle was terrified and clinged tightly to Reid who was not phased at all by their taunts. As a warning he would politely yet sternly ask them to leave and when they refused to he'd escort them out himself.

Though Reid may had been a quiet puppet that keeps to himself, he was no one you would want to be on the bad side of. He did have a particular weapon on him at all times that he never used for any malicious reason but only if it was really necessary and it was a weapon that not one puppet with strings would want to go up against.

Reid had a whip but not just any whip, it was quite a special one. It had a powerful Aura that surrounded it and with just one lash from It the person in its path strings would be stunned and covered in the whips purple ghost-like aura making it were all movement from it's host obsolete immediately giving Reid the ability to take complete control over them or to put it short, it allowed him to be their temporary puppet master. Though only for but so long

(it tends to take a lot of energy out of him. ).

So when the thieves refused to leave when uponed being warned to, reid took out his whip and with little hesitation thrashed at each of their strings. One of them seemed to have put up a bit of a fight after realizing what had taken place. But his squirming was useless.

Though as reid began to forcibly “walk” them out the door one of the goons had just enough strength to throw a molotov bomb towards whatever direction they could which happened to be were little Belle was standing. Her screams would fill reids ears breaking his concentration and causing him to release the thieves, she wasn't hurt but the fire began to rapidly spread around her and then eventually all through out the saloon, the moment the Robbers were let go they began to throw more bombs around the place and stole what they could .

As things turned for the worse Reid refused to panic and tried to focus on getting Belle away from the fire and into safety. Though when he tried to reach out for her he could feel a set of hands on him pulling him back. It was the unwanted guest who were not quite thrilled by the string pulling act he had committed just then and apparently they were feeling pretty brave to show him just how they felt about it .

They dragged him out of the saloon their voices loud as they taunted him with all the things they wanted to do to him.

Unfortunately for them Reid bearly paid them any mind he was currently in hysterics and squirming to get out of their grasp so he could hurry back for Belle who was still trapped behind the flames in the soon to be crumbling saloon. Though no matter how much he struggled he didn't have enough energy to fight them off.

He was weakened by the string hypnosis (controlling three puppets at once took a lot out of him).

Belle continued to cry out for him as the flames risen higher leaving Reid to feel helpless as he sadly watched until he couldn't hear her anymore.

Once they were outside Reid was thrown to the ground and was searched him for the supposed whip, aware of what it could do the crooks wanted to use it for their own needs but it would seemed to have “vanished” leaving them all quite puzzled.

Reid would then begin to try to pick himself up but the ruthless puppets took notice of this chuckling to themselves and began to kick him, landing hard vicious blows to his stomach,back, and face. One of them kicked so hard their foot made a hole on the right side of his face completely shattering his right eye and brow which achieved a weakened yelp out of him.

Finally once they all felt like they've gotten most of their anger out and done enough physical damage, one of them would take out a knife and began to cut his strings

one .

By.

One.

When they had finished their little “fun” they began to tease Reid again by telling him:

“if ya had just given us what we wanted things could have ended differently”

or

“hope your little friends life was worth the risk”

which ate him up but he was so emotionally drained he bearly showed it.

A gust of wind would then blow into the area quickly silencing the three thieves just enough for them to hear the sound of something thumping onto the ground in a slow repetitive pattern along with foot steps coming from out of the darkness.

One of the thieves whipped out their gun and demand to know who was there and when he saw just who it was his eyes widened and he begin to back up slowly.

It was the faceless bandit.

The other two picked up on their friends sudden changed demeanor and also whipped out their guns (shakily) even though by now everyone knows guns have little to no effect on him.

The faceless bandit would get closer and closer though before he could do anything to them the three masked puppets ran off as quickly as they could.

The tall smudged face puppet would watch them then look down when he heard the disheveled puppet the three left behind breathing hitch a little.

He'd kneel down to the now shivering puppets level and tilt his head when the pianist began to softly cry.

Everything was hitting him hard. He realized he had lost everything just in that moment.

The one place he worked and enjoyed to be at everyday was now in a blaze (the bartender will certainly be royally pissed), his one true friend had perished there and he blamed himself harshly for it, He was beaten senselessly and had his strings cut unwillingly and

Now to top it all off he was face to face with the faceless bandit himself who was surely going to kill him and you know what? He was okay with it. He has nothing to go on for so just might as well be dismembered and be used for spare parts right? Sounds like a decent way to let it all end.

But in reality death never really came.

Instead with out a word the Faceless bandit

Would hoist him up and take him some place not to kill em and maybe eat em or something but

to “F i x” him.

In some old room where extra items were stored,

the Faceless bandit would provided Reid a coat,scarf, a new vest, and a hat for his now messy head.

Reid was confused. Why exactly was he of all people doing this?

When he finally built up the courage to ask him why the faceless bandit stayed quiet until they were finished.

When reid was dressed he felt and looked like a whole new person. He was no longer the quiet pianist that sat in the corner of a saloon losing himself in a tune.

He was.

He was someone else.

“you have a new purpose now. ”

He'd hear the faceless bandit finally say. He'd turn to face him his now one eye wide.

“I'm not gonna lie to you.

I've been there by that saloon for a moment, when I heard commotion I just had to see what the bustle was about and I'm glad that I did. I saw what you did back there with your fancy little whip, it's quite special i'll admit. I was impressed.”

Reid blushed and looked away from him. He didn't know what exactly to say to this. Especially that it was coming from the faceless bandit himself.

“I didn't want to get in the middle of anything though so I waited until they brought you out and oh boy, I didn't expect to watch ya get yer ass handed to”

Faceless chuckled which caused Reid to frown and wince, all this time he's been there watching from the shadows but then again he shouldn't be too shocked about it.

It was the faceless bandit after all.

“what do you want from me.”

he'd ask the distorted bandit carefully to not sound blunt. The faceless bandit walked up to him and placed a finger under his chin then lifted his face to meet his own.

“ You have a gift my dear friend, a gift that goes beyond anything that anyone in this damn town can even fathom and you're letting it waste away.”

the faceless bandit stepped back from him.

“So you have a choice. you can stick with me and I can show you what it's like to have great power over those who have wronged you, or.. you can leave from here and I don't know... get lost and probably get eaten by a stringless or some shit. You know. etc, etc,....”

The weary tense pianist was hesitant at the two offers but eventually gave in and agreed to stay by the tattered bandits side.

It's been a long day, he was heart broken and his whole life was taken away from him and the last thing he needed was more trouble.

Days, weeks to months would go by and things in the small town would suffer a massive shift, all around the valley many would be afraid of the faceless bandit and his unknown new acquaintance.

For awhile walking about was almost a death wish, there were so many stringed and stringless victims that never saw the light of day when they walked into the two puppets path. Whether it was an accident or not.

Though most of the victims (that weren't stringless) untimely demise would be in the faceless bandits hands because his red head partner could never bring himself to hurt anyone but he'd control their strings whenever faceless ask-no- demanded him to.

But his unwillingness would eventually be put to the test.

One night the faceless bandit would take Reid to a special “meet and greet”

To his surprise faceless had taken him back to the saloon.

It was charred and abandoned now but had an unkind presence.

The red head puppet could feel memories faintly flooding him as he stood at the porch of the place but would be snapped out of his daze abruptly when he heard a noise and shift his eye to faceless who'd smile and beckon him to follow as he disappeared inside.

Hesitantly, Reid would slowly walk across the old porch receiving creaks as a response before entering the saloon.

When he was inside his eye widen and he froze in place.

Next to faceless a few candles were lit across the old bar and front of the bar sat right next to the scared faced puppet was another puppet who was tied to a chair and had a bag over his head.

The faceless bandit would then yank the bag off the tied down puppets head revealing that it was one of the thieves that was the very reason for the former pianists current state and the loss of the one he held dearly.

He was at a lost for words.

“I couldn't get em all but I got one as you can see here,”

The facelsss bandit would say With a low chuckle as he patted the shakened up puppets shoulder harshly.

“now it's your chance speckles. Show em how you feel about what they did to you that night, show how you feel when they took little belle from ya with no mercy! ”

Reid looked at faceless then turned his gaze to the frighten puppet who would then begin to beg for mercy when Reid slowly pulled out his whip from behind his back and cracked it against the wind, its Aura beginning to loom around it and him.

He walked up to the pleading puppet then leaned in close to them, his eye glowing and flickering a purple hue.

The very puppet that had robbed the saloon in past had started to tremble, not so tough anymore are we?

Without breaking eye contact, Reid rose his free hand above his perpetrators head and took hold of one his strings and proceeded to yank on it.

Then he yanked harder and harder until the tied down puppet yelled out for him to stop.

“stop? Why should I? I asked for you and your friends to leave but did you? ”

The puppet remained quiet.

“I didn't think so. ”

Reid stood up straight and then slowly took hold of all the strings which gained him a pitiful whimper. Faceless, still present and rather quiet watched in amusement and was awfully curious to see where this was going.

“all you and your little “gang” had to do was leave was that all too much to ask? I didn't ask for any of this shit! I could still have a place! and Belle!... Belle would still be safe... ”

He began to pull down on the strings harshly making the so called goon squeeze his eyes shut waiting to hear them come undone.

But they never did.

Reid let go of his strings then began to untie him.

The stringed doll was gravely confused by this action and apparently so was Faceless.

Reid threw the rope to the side then winced at his surprised unharmed victim.

“you listen to me, I want you to get out of here and gather your little “buddies” and when you do I want you all to go far, far away from this place. Because If I see you or any of them around here in showdown valley.

I Won't be as merciful. ”

The puppet quickly nodded then scrambled out of the saloon when Reid stepped aside. Faceless walked up to his freckled partner with his arm crossed and scoffed.

“tell me speckles.. why did you let him go free? After all he and his brainless bunch did you STILL show mercy. Why is that? ”

Reid looked at faceless then back at the saloon door way.

“oh, believe me I wanted to but what good would it have done me? It wouldn't make things go back to the way they were and it certainly wouldn't bring belle back... I'd be no better then them. ”

With that being said Reid began to walk towards the doors but then paused once he was in front of them.

“you know. I don't think this thing we have going is working out, I think it's best we go our separate ways... wouldn't you agree?”

The Faceless bandit was abit stunned but then let out another scoff and nodded slightly.

“I suppose speckles. I won't stop ya. ”

Reid gave a bit of a smirk and tipped has hat to him before vanishing behind the saloon doors.

From that point onward reid was on his own, he decided he would aid those in need whenever they were in potential danger and when all was fine he'd remain hidden.

he'd also eventually pick up a new name. He felt that his own name was off putting and represented something (and someone) he was no longer.

So after years of fighting off araknits, grieves, and stringless without ever being seen he'd officially (and rather quickly when asked upon who he was by the showdown bandit himself)go under the nickname :

The Ghost Bandit.

((Note: whew! This was a long post but you made it to the end so you must feel special. I'm Sorry for the lack of post, lately school has been pretty rough right now due to the semester coming to a close but in the future I promise to post more and answer all your lovely ask!))

[pokefan531]

Miraculous Ladybug Season 3 Scoreboard + Review

Hey guys. I will be discussing Miraculous Ladybug Season 3. I recently saw fans putting up videos about the problems with it. Season 3 is not really up there with Season 2, but overall, it's tolerable. It's still far from being like Danny Phantom Season 3 or much far off from Game of Thrones Season 8. MLB Season 3 is just an okay season. It has a couple of good stuff there, but it does have more problems there. I'll be reviewing each episodes as you see on the scoreboard above. So let's go by each episode by production order. *There will be spoilers on the following statements below.*

1. Chameleon. Lila returned to class finally, and she continues to be annoying, by spreading lies about herself. Lila is really bad. Not sure why everyone in the school believes her, they're so gullible. At least even Adrien knows she's lying, which he told Marinette this at the end of the episode. Lila being Chameleon wasn't as special, but it was reasonable why she got akumatized because Adrien knew she was lying and she sides with Hawkmoth. Also, I like how the class switch back their regular seats because they were too distracted. Not sure how Lila did that at the beginning though. By the way, we knew Marinette won't sit next to Adrien. So, this episode was good, but Lila's lies should've be thought-out more so it would make it seem like her lies are more believable instead of people instantly believing her.

2. Animaestro Well, it was obviously a fanservice to bring Thomas Astruc to the series. It was kinda odd, and he was pretty weak since no one cared about him. He just wanted attention, and even for a kid's show, at least give him some attention. As for Marinette teaming with Chloe against Kagami, yeah, they're pretty much fighting over a boy, and trying to get Kagami away from him. XD. However, a couple of parts are funny, like when Kagami almost sit on the cake and chasing the macaroon for Adrien. Chloe is really blind about Marinette having a crush on Adrien, and many of her classmates knows that already, as seen with Gigantitan and Miracle Queen's ending, but not her? Understands she doesn't like Marinette, but not knowing that already while the entire class knows sounds really odd. XD. This episode was pretty decent for what it has.

3. Bakerix This expands more on Marinette's family, so I was excited to see her grandfather on her dad's side. He seems pretty grumpy, which is typical. He seems to be too old fashioned, and really acts serious to Marinette, so it was his own problem. He seems to take some changes when he was outside of his house and tried Marinette's bread. As for Bakerix, he seems nicely designed. A couple of powers and liked when he took Alya's phone and censors her. Overall, it is nice seeing explorations on Marinette's family, so it's overall good.

4. Backwarder I think Master Fu's love interest was overall nice since we get to see her for the first time. As for Marinette, she screwed up on the letters. Nothing huge, but I wonder how she as Ladybug gives the Lenoir the wrong letter when she has it when going to a pharmacy store. Backwarder seems like an interesting villain since she has powers to make a person go backwards, and restore broken objects. The Cat Noir plan by Ladybug was pretty smart. On Marinette's part, it's all right, and give Adrien a wrong letter, but as for Lenoir, it was more interesting, so I put it as good. By the way, I love how tired Juleka suggest Marinette to Kidnap Kagami, and I made a video about it where they actually take that plan.

5. Reflectdoll Well, this isn't good. It was pretty underwhelming. Juleka was too afraid to do her part for the modeling shoot and she just let herself down. It was pretty much her fault for not talking to Marinette and them about it. I know Juleka is a shy person, but I would like to see her character evolve instead of nearly repeating the first Reflecta. Also, it was interesting to see Marinette and Adrien swap powers and see how they look like. However, I didn't like how Lady Noir knows how to use Cat Noir's powers while Mister Bug is kinda having a hard time using Ladybug's power. It kinda makes the team unbalanced, and Mister Bug gets more harsh moments by Lady Noir. It wasn't as forced as Leia from Galaxy of Adventure (believe me, that is really terrible in comparison of Lady Noir and Mister Bug), at least Mister is trying. I didn't like most of the interactions between Lady Noir and Mister Bug since Lady Noir has an attitude and is a know it all, with her knocking Mister Bug's head with a stick. Overall, this episode didn't do much. It was just mediocre for an episode.

6. Weredad Oh dear. Marinette's Dad. He was too obsessed with Marinette and Cat Noir a thing. It is common to the fandom that Marichat is likable. Marinette's fake cry is pretty funny, and kinda ouch at the same time to Cat Noir and Tom. Tom was pretty weird in this episode and kinda falls in to a cliche of animated parents. Not as bad, but it still falls there. As of Weredad, he's nothing really special because all he does is fight Cat Noir with muscle powers and that's it. As for Marinette, she should've told Cat Noir she lives here so no misunderstanding would be made. It's odd that Cat Noir assumes she's his fan, but he knows she lives there. This episode was okay, but I wished Marinette's Dad would be developed more instead of just being overall silly. At least Marinette's dad likes the fandom's shipping pick. XD

7. Silencer I'm glad SAMG animated this episode since this is really a great episode. Marinette and the band got interesting songs, and Luka is pretty interesting. I kinda didn't like XY or his assistant, but Luka and Silencer takes the cake for me because he can take people's voices, and told Marinette his feelings for her, twice. Luka is a really brave guy to tell Marinette this. Ladybug and Cat Noir's interaction is pretty fine, but as a team inside the studio, their plan was interesting to watch. This episode is awesome and this is pretty much the best episode involving Luka.

8. Oni-Chan Oh dear, what is going on with you Marinette? It was almost a second hand embarrassment, since Marinette is busy spying on Lila since she is going with Adrien to his place, and because of Lila's lies, she got in to Adrien's house. Marinette spying and the firefighter enabled her to spy on them was a pretty bad idea. Thankfully, she didn't get caught, so it wasn't too bad. As for Oni-Chan, Kagami gets akumatized again, and what's interesting is she gives Lila a horn so she is pretty much a Pinocchio. Serves her right. It feels like Kagami was dragged in to this episode and she didn't have any activity with Adrien aside from seeing the picture. An interesting idea they had was Gabriel relying on Lila's lies to cause akumatization on a targeted person. This episode was okay, only things was Lila getting payback for lying all the time and Gabriel making friendship, but overshadowed by Marinette's plan and Kagami being dragged in. (By the way, Marinette chasing the car with Adrien and Lila was done in my parody in my video, Miraculous Ladybug Alterations)

9. Miraculer I think this episode is pretty interesting given that Chole couldn't be Queen Bee since Hawkmoth knows. Of course, Chloe is pretty bratty, but understandable to how she was feeling. We do see a return of Rena Rouge and Carapace. It was the only time so far for anyone to refuse Hawkmoth from becoming akumatized. Sabrina was The Vanisher in the first season, and now we get a full villain battle that is Sabrina as Miraculer. Mayura comes in and she and Miraculer goes against a team of five, which was an interesting fight. Chloe did learn about her danger of why she couldn't get the bee miraculous. This episode is pretty good since we got an interesting battle and perspective on Chloe and Hawkmoth. By the way, this episode won in Disney Channel Latin America Awards recently.

10. Oblivio This episode is an obvious fanservice. Both lost their memories by Oblivio and we get a lot of Adrienette moments. It was pretty much a filler since those moments kinda disappeared when they defeated Oblivio. I wasn't much into Oblivio as a villain. It seems powerful since they can wipe an entire memory of a person, but being Nino and Alya and how they became a merged villain was pretty short. Cat Noir still is trying to hit on Ladybug pretty hard even though she told him from Glacier that she's in love with a boy, so Cat Noir just didn't really learn from that episode. Remember the talk from that episode? He seems to keep ignoring that. Well, this episode was pretty okay. The Adrienette moments seems pretty heartwarming, but generally, it was okay.

11. Desperada. Why? Again, what is wrong with you, Marinette? It was dumb of how she didn't pick Luka to play for Jagged Stone and tried to get Adrien to play by having Luka give his guitar despite him being a pianist, and kinda rude too. Marinette didn't really have character development in this episode, even as Ladybug. Well, her love with Adrien got her to do unforgivable mistakes. One part of the episode where Adrien made a joke to Ladybug about a horse seat and Ladybug thinks it's funny, when when Cat Noir does it, she did not like it and became annoyed by him. Wow, it was just wrong, but we'll save it for few more episodes. Desperada has to be the most powerful villain since she can make people disappear by one shot. Only thing likable in this episode is Adrien as Aspik tells Ladybug that he's Cat Noir before going back to Second Chance. Also, Luka gets to be Viperion, and anything about him is pretty amazing. Despite those two good things, this episode is pretty bad since it was frustrating about Marinette's character in this episode.

12. Chris Master I only saw this episode once, and the fact that since it has Santa, Disney Channel would only air those episode on the Holiday Season only. I know I can see it online, but I'll review it anyway. It was ok. Nino's little brother is all right. Marinette had to lie on him for doing other stuff, and well, don't you realize you're doing the same thing Lila was doing? I know it's not as big, but at least you learned not to lie around Chris. It was animated by SAMG, I feel like this episode wasn't really right for this kind of brilliant animation that isn't really exciting as an episode. Overall, it's all right.

13. Startrain I think Max as Pegasus is a cool superhero. Well, transformation is the coolest one I ever seen throughout the series so far. They are going to London as a class, and it was cute that Adrien let Marinette sleep on his shoulder, and all the girls (and Serena, Calem, and Malva in my video headcanons) see the shine of the two. As for Max's mom, she is pretty weak. She's pretty impatient for her score results and checks them every other time. I think she could've waited until she arrived to London or return to Paris. Startrain as a villain is pretty alright. There isn't much fighting besides trying to go to the cockpit. Also, Alya is smart to take a pic of Marinette sleeping on Adrien's shoulder. This episode is pretty good, and this has couple of heartwarming moments. Oh, and Lila, I'm glad your plan to break Marinette's moment failed.

14. Kwamibuster The episode was pretty much all right. The whole thing about the teacher finding out about the Kwamis is pretty new, but there's a lot of identity crisis going on since Plagg caused trouble. Why?! I feel like it was pushing the identity rule a couple of times, so that didn't play well for some people. The teacher was pretty okay in this episode. It was the first time Marinette used all the miraculouses to get out of the situation, and saving the captured Kwamis from Kwamibuster. As for Marinette using all miraculouses, we never seen much intelligence from her before, so it just seems like it was just given to her instead of seeing her learn from the powers. Although, it was a nice trick for Marinette to use illusion to have Cat Noir believe Ladybug is not her, and that Multi Mouse is. Also, I like how Kim became more childish throughout the episode when watching the TV show with the teacher. The episode was okay overall, nice lore of the Miraculous, but shoehorns the identity rule feels like it's playing with the audience.

15. Feast This episode explores a lot more lore on Master Fu and the Miraculous. It was an interesting story from him. The Museum explore brought more discovery on past Miraculous Holders. Although, Alya taking information feels pretty risky. I get why Master Fu took Marinette and Adrien's Miraculouses away to protect them because of the Feast, but it's funny that Adrien decide to reuse the Banana suit when riding with Marinette in disguise. Also, it is funny when Ladybug wraps herself with Cat Noir to get eaten by the sentimonster since Cat Noir is concerned. This episode was pretty great. Also, nice bunny Miraculous foreshadowing, Alix.

16. Gamer 2.0 I wasn't that happy with that episode. It was mostly Marinette stressing out for doing so many things at once, and even Ladybug got too impatient. Understandably, but it was not really interesting. Marinette's way to reject Max from playing his new game was pretty rude, and even being on Season 3, it feels like her scheduling and patience was crammed and forced. Max is reused and both heroes play his Super Smash Bros. First half was Ladybug being impatient, and the problem with that is there is no lesson on patience and time on this episode. Marinette at the end became more relaxed and patient, and we didn't get to see what she learned. The only message we got is how we play video games where we can do things we can't do in real life, not taking time off from your real life and relax a bit. The concept of Super Smash game is interesting, but the fight is not really the best, since it was just one or two hits, and the final boss wasn't epic. I think if they at least fight normally like most akumatized villain fights do in montage, it would've make the game look more interesting. I think this episode is overall mediocre. It's not too bad, but could've improve upon.

17. Stormy Weather 2 No Spoilers, because it's a RECAP! There's not much going on in this episode. All we got is Marinette sending the letter to Adrien and tried to be brave about her changing from being an unstable talk to actually doing things. Does she really change after this episode? Not yet. Adrien sees the letter, and is happy about it, but he doesn't believe she has a crush on him. That is it. There's barely fight scenes with Stormy Weather. This is just a reminder of Marinette's Life, Adrien's Life, Gabriel/Hawkmoth's life, and Alya and Nino's relationship. This is just a complete filler since it adds nothing as most recaps are, and it counts as an episode. It follows the same logic as Anime shows from 2000s or below where modern anime shows have recaps at episode ##.5 or 0 for a next season. Overall, it's almost a waste of episode with small events and just there to fill up the number of episodes in Season 3. It's not really a good idea. Besides seeing Adrien's perspective at the end, Alya's twin sisters dancing victory was pretty funny. The episode overall is mediocre. Recaps aren't necessary for a show like this. Not all recaps are bad, like Drake and Josh Season 3 Finale because it sets up with all the recaps just fine.

18. Ikari Gozen This is an interesting one. I like how Marinette gets paired with Kagami and tries to lose the game on purpose. A couple of their interactions seems pretty funny. The moment on swapping phones was a big Oops. I feel bad for Kagami to see that Marinette does not like her, but it went away when Marinette defended her from Kagami's mom. Kagami's superhero form looks fine, and her powers seems pretty cool. We know she only can use the Dragon Miraculous once since Hawkmoth clearly knows Ryuko is Kagami. For problems, it has a few. It is animated by SAMG, so the episode looks good. This episode is ranked great. So why was this shown on SDCC 2019 before Feast aired in this world? We'll discuss the broadcast problems after the rest of the episodes.

19. TimeTagger Last Year, I wrote a post about this episode since I really liked Bunnix and the design and concept. Bunnix/Adult Alix is my favorite, next to Viperion. Well, I'll be recapping the post I made. I liked seeing Bunnix and stuff, as mentioned, and her action scenes are really fun. As for Cat Noir, I didn't really like how he's somewhat weak in this one. It wasn't as bad as Reflectdoll, but he's just blamed for accidentally destroying Bunnix's Miraculous on a different timeline, and looks fooled when giving advice to Mr. Pigeon guy, which foreshadows Mr. Rat. He was at least useful, but I wished he was more positive on this episode. As for Mr. Pigeon guy, he gets akumatized 24 times constantly, so he's pretty weak overall. His episode was interesting, but he's just bland on this episode. Also, how can Alya and Nino trust Lila to babysit their siblings? Doesn't Marinette know she hates her? Anyway, I liked seeing future hints of Ladybug and Cat Noir, and how Alix's watch was actually a Miraculous all the time. I remembered that being a theory few years ago. Despite liking the new heroes in this season, it also has a downside when I first see this, since it shows that all of Bustier's class will get Miraculouses, temporarily or permanently. I feel like owning a Miraculouses becomes less special. As this episode, this is good and I think Bunnix is a cool character and really got excited when I saw it, but it does need a bit more work with Cat Noir and Mr. Pigeon. We know Alix will get a watch in Season 4 or 5 permanently.

20. Party Crasher That episode has a couple of problems. Well, it's nice seeing Adrien get a chance to shine more in this episode. However, the whole lie concept was kinda unbearable. The boys who wanted to go visit Adrien was forced to lie to the girls who are doing plants, which leads to a cliche that is not satisfying. It was not a comfortable because I do feel like the girls are gonna find out and yell at them, which thankfully it didn't happen, but I still feel the chills of it. Not only that, but Adrien's party turns out to be a Boys' only party, which I'll explain why I m not a fan of that cliche. Often, whenever there is a boys' night out, girls' night out, b/g only party or anything, there's always a sneaker who decides to sneak in, whether it becomes creepy or just a second hand embarrassment, or just be brutally abused in there. The second one was the case because Marinette disguises as a man (poorly) and sneaks in, and I feel like she's gonna get caught and it would be really embarrassing. She was forced to dance and her disguise fell and they all see it's Marinette. Thankfully, it cut quickly to Party Crasher so the second hand embarrassment was pretty short and Marinette didn't get any big regrets. Besides that, the villain is pretty weak in character. Wilmer has a short time being on screen before he becomes Party Crasher, and the fact that it needed six heroes to go after one villain of the day. Kim being a hero was all right, but I wished the episode was more about him to see more how well he does as a hero. At the end of the episode, Marinette suggest the boys to go help the girls do the plants. I feel like they are gonna yell at the boys and Marinette (excluding Adrien) once they meet them, but I'm relieved they didn't show that. This episode was pretty low mediocre. It's not something I would pick to watch, but it's not really awful, unlike...

21. Puppeteer 2 Oh dear! This episode is really bad! It's so awful! What is wrong with you Marinette! You are the main character! You were supposed to be developed already, not revert back!  Bring balance to the show, not leave it in darkness! Yeah, this episode has no reason to exist like Stormy Weather 2, but even worse! Adrien is treated so badly in this episode. All the characters weren't developed well nor does it pass on to future episodes. Okay, Marinette is got to be the worst character in this episode. She still does the stuttering talk even being in Season 3. It is taken to the bad level. Well, her stuttery talk makes Adrien feel bad for the entire episode until the end. Her words make it seem like she does not like Adrien, and it's painful. Just stop talking for too long. Not only that, but the scene where she makes out with a fake statue of Adrien who is playing tricks on her. Why do you feel like you need Adrien to play that pranks like that? Also, why did you have to make Marinette say weird things and make out with him like that? IT IS A COMPLETE SECOND HAND EMBARASSMENT!! People who watched it with me was not having it! They almost want to stop watching the episode because that scene is very uncomfortable! It is terrible! Her character development never showed in this season because of scenes like this. Also, Marinette was being blindly rude to Adrien when he told her there was a girl he likes. What a shame. Other than that, Manon has no development other than just being childish and gets reused, and she was done better in her first episode. Nino was a complete idiot who is almost like Marinette, who won't stop talking, and Alya, Nino knows she likes him and Marinette clearly sees it, so stop lying. If I were to choose this and Stormy Weather 2 to delete an episode to expand Ladybug Episode, I would choose this one, because it was so bad. This is really terrible.

22. Cat Blanc This episode seems like a fun one. It has an opposite color of Cat Noir, and has more focus on Cat Noir and what would Hawkmoth do if he knows Adrien is Cat Noir. It feels like a must to watch episode, and that would be correct. However, it has some problems. It takes on a different timeline that won't exist. So that future just vanished after Ladybug saved everything. It didn't bring much development to Adrien since it's gone, but it does tell what Hawkmoth would've done. Also, Marinette was being creepy on Adrien's room, as if this was your first time going to his room (starting from Simon Says). Hawkmoth hitting Cat Noir with his stick like a baseball cap was really dark. This episode is pretty great, but Silencer still tops it. It is interesting to see more on Hawkmoth's side and what would've looked like if Marinette and Adrien were together during Hawkmoth's existence (not Gabriel's). Wow, Gabriel. That was insane.

23. Felix I don't know how I feel about this episode. Adrien's cousin who looks like him exists, and so as his mom. It was so weird because that should mean Gabriel should have a twin. I prefer Felix look like Felix from the trailers, not almost looking like Adrien. Same could be said to his mother. Adrien was kinda too nice to him, even though he knows Felix is doing wrong things. His dad not existing idea feels too mirrored with Adrien, and I wanted his mean and frustration to be believable, not doing something straight up bad. Felix was unlikable since he deleted all the videos sent to Adrien. Even after they defeated the Trio, how are they supposed to be fine with Adrien on his actual video at the end? Shouldn't they know that it was Felix? I feel like they would find it unbelievable. Wow. I know it sounds silly to think about techencial stuffs, but shouldn't Alya have all the videos already even after Felix deleted them? As for Alya, Juleka, and Rose becoming akumatized again, they were just okay, at least understand their purpose a bit more than Stormy Weather 2 or Puppeteer 2. This episode was okay. I think they could've made a better concept of Felix and stuff, and they made him just for fanservice.

24. Ladybug This episode was disappointing. It feels way rushed for a potential episode. It's a single episode, and that whole episode has bad pacing. It's a lot like Urban Jungle from Danny Phantom Season 3 where it was meant for a two part episode crammed into one, causing fast paced issues on an episode that has good concepts being done incorrectly. Ladybug episode is like that! Let's start off, Lila's lies are just unbelievable, and they can be caught that quick! Marinette would've found the answer sheet in her bag already, even her clumsiness and rushing things. Also, does the school have cameras to see Lila faking getting her knee hurt? No one would believe Lila that instantly. All of Lila's lies are really weak in this one that nearly everyone in school believes her. Wow, they are so gullible and they defend her. By the way, expelling Marinette for allegedly stealing was too far, Damocles! A week suspension would be believable, and this is much worse than what Alya got in Lady Wifi by Chloe. That episode cuts things too quickly, and clickbaity. We want to see Marinette actually become akumatized, and it would be interesting. This episode was too clickybaity that Marinette would be akumatized, but she actually didn't transform into a villain. Marinette didn't became too trumatized about her getting expelled and no such expected emotions are shown. Not only that, but the episode changes the subject completely with Mayura and fake Ladybug plot, and no connection with Lila or Marinette directly. The whole entire episode is too poorly paced that this would take up a big space to write about. I may make my own post about this episode and Puppeteer 2, but for now, I will say this episode was pretty bad. It feels like it's a big episode, but it felt like it was made for two part episode, and I rather delete Puppeteer 2 just for this episode to expand so it would work correctly.

25 & 26 Heart Hunter & Miracle Queen We are now reviewing The Battle of the Miraculous arc. These two episode are really nice. I like how Marinette started having character development, after all episode of this season! Well, besides that, I like when she lets Adrien and Kagami escape from their bodyguards, and played on a pool of rubber balls. Yeah, Chloe's parents are the worst couples in the hotel scene. Lol! At the ice cream scene, I like how Marinette starts to care about both Adrien and Kagami being together and decides to let them have fun. It was pretty rough for her, but it's a nice thing. Akumatized parents of Chloe are reallly weird, and ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. I do think Marinette should've find a really good hiding spot so Hawkmoth and Mayura wouldn't see her, and catch her to meet Fu. I get the mistakes can be made, and does it job to explain what they could do to solve it, or explains not everything could be solved. Fu's letter and his goodbye was pretty sad. So let's get into actual problems now. Chloe's redemption feels wasted. Since Season 2, we expect Chloe to be at least more nicer and show more of her redemption since Malediktator and Heroes's Day. Chloe, although I don't like her as much for being really rude, she should've showed a couple of changes. Her redemption arc from Season 2 tells us that Chloe would show some changes to not really be that bratty. How they waste it is they revert her to how she was in Season 1, except she betraying Ladybug and wanted her parents to argue. Wow. That seems worse. It shows a fall of her redemption even before this two part episode. Stormy Weather 2, she is pretty much the same. That whole thing in this episode really puts an end to a redemption that we thought we would see it progress. If she's supposed to stay bratty, then why did you make a redemption arc in the first place? I don't expect Chloe to become top nice at the end, but cancelling a redemption was really a bad writing. You didn't need to make a redemption arc if you actually hate her. Although on small part, I do think Ladybug should've give the bee Miraculous to Chloe rather than focus on Kagami kissing Adrien, since she knows she has to prevent others from being in a bad mood to get akumatized. I know Marinette makes mistakes, but I didn't like the fact they wasted her redemption. My second problem is this thing for Miraculous Guardians. Master Fu give his guardian powers to Ladybug because he was attacked by Hawkmoth. He completely forgets about everything related to Miraculouses and stuff. It is pretty sad, but what bothers me is if that's the rule, then Marinette would forget everything that she and Cat Noir did as Superheroes, and possibly Adrien. I hope she doesn't do that in any of the episodes or films in this franchise. Those are the problems that do have with this finale, but it didn't really ruin it. I thought it was good to see Marinette helping out Adrien and Kagami, and Ladybug bonding with Cat Noir. Overall, it's a good finale, but I do prefer Heroes Day one.

Well, Season 3 is overall an okay season. I wish they do more development instead of a lot of repetitive moments, most notably, Marinette. This season has its flaws, a couple of them, but I do like some moments like Silencer, Feast, and Cat Blanc. Even though I don't really like the idea of all the classmates getting all the Miraculouses for being less special, I do like the designs and self concepts of some heroes. I really like Bunnyx and Viperion. The other small problem is some characters introduced like Marc and Ondine from Season 2 are barely seen, and they haven't said a word in this season, despite many fans liking their concepts. The review for this season as "okay" is pretty self explanatory. I can watch an okay episode and at times mediocre ones, but rarely watch bad or terrible episodes. Let me make two more statements below.

The other problem with this season is the scheduling problem. No matter if you want to focus on the world's order of episodes, Netflix, or most of TV channels, they air the episodes out of order, and it makes the whole season really confusing. It seems like ZAG Toons didn't really make it strictly clear that this season should be following the production order, unlike the first season! ZAG decided to show off Ikari Gozen on last year's San Diego Comic Con on screen panel, and we see Master Fu hiding. No one at the time saw Feast so they don't really know why he's hiding or know how Hawkmoth find him out yet. Oh, and Netflix put Party Crasher on their first half of Seasom 3 last summer, way before they add Desperada and Star Train for second half. It's a blame on Zag, most TV channels, and streaming platforms like Netflix for doing this all wrong. Disney Channel US, at least aired the episodes in production order so the story feels smooth (even though they skipped Chrismaster for Christmas, so dumb). The really hard part is Urkaine aired the season finale before they air Cat Blanc and Felix on either their channel or the world, so I decide to wait for those two episodes to air, and it was so HARD to stay away from spoilers or the fandom! I know in Season 1, Gutiar Hero comes first in some places before Pixelator comes out, but Season 2 and 3 has much more stories to the show than the first season! Thomas Astruc was against how many stations air these episodes out of order, so don't blame him on the confusing episode order. He isn't in charge of when these episode should air.

Speaking of Thomas Astruc, another statement is about his twitter. Unlike the episode order, Thomas gets the blame for how he handles twitter. He doesn't know how the internet works. Thomas keeps posting ridiculous things like how he hated Chloe that she doesn't deserve any redemption, which was the thing he did for Season 2. Remember I mentioned why Chloe's redemption was wasted? Thomas keeps making statements to random people and stuff, and why would you think about doing a redemption in the first place! Keep in mind, I know Twitter is really toxic and most out of any social media platforms (heavily politicized), and there are gonna be trolls and people who make rude comments and stuff, but Thomas Astruc doesn't seem to ignore them and keeps responding to them in ridiculous ways. Another thing I want to mention is the way he pretends Ladybug and Cat Noir are being treated fairly. He states that, but we see Cat Noir keeps getting put down. Thomas assumes if you don't like how Cat Noir was treated, then you don't like any girls being the lead, which makes no sense. Remember Reflectdoll? Mister Bug gets treated badly while Lady Noir doesn't need that much help. Look, WE like the show for portraying boys and girls fairly, and that's what I liked about when I started watching Miraculous Ladybug. None of us HAVE A PROBLEM with girls being the lead! I even heard you told a person on twitter that the reason why you focus on Ladybug more than Cat Noir is she's a girl! Look, I have proof below of two youtube videos to proof he says those things, and it's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! I hope they don't make this show go to what one episode of Galaxy of Adventure's route was like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyINM7omt7A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNjHRAFcozw

Even though I think Thomas's twitter is awful (like most big star person's twitter accounts), he shouldn't get any threats. I see people give legit questions and Thomas denies them, like always, and he should stay off of twitter if he keeps not getting along with others there.

Well, I plan to cover the first two seasons later on. I wanted to make this scoreboard and explanation because I saw videos last month about the problems about the show and I want to explain this as good as I can. I really like the show and I want to see it do better.

[cabaretcal]

you’re the one that i want - a.i.

I’m finally continuing the broadway series after 2653578 years! I’ve been having writers block, sorry about the lack of posts! This is based around Grease, y/n is Sandy, Ashton is Danny. Basically y/n is new to showbiz and Ashton shows her the ropes, friends to lovers trope, you know how we do.

2.5k words

You paced around your small apartment anxiously: it was callback day. Callback day was the most stressful time for anyone in the theatre world. Today was the day you find out if you made the cut to be apart of Grease or if you didn’t do good enough to make the director even bat an eye. You did a lot of theatre back when you lived in Chicago, but New York was different. More competitive. Thousands watching rather than a few hundred. Tourists traveling and spending hundreds on a good seat rather than some regular Chicagoans buying a ticket for twenty dollars. New York was showbiz central.

You took pride in your acting. Back in Chicago, you had countless roles you loved playing: Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Elphaba in Wicked, Zoe in Dear Evan Hansen, and more. But Chicago is way less competitive than the big apple. You knew the theatre world back home, but you didn’t know it here at all.

Your phone rang and you scrambled to pick it up and answer. You contain yourself and say a simple hello. A man's voice is on the other line. You’ve been offered another audition to further your audition process for the part of Sandy. You gladly say yes and end the conversation. You were relieved that you had another audition, but it was still terrifying. You could screw it up and lose your chance. Grease is a classic, and it has to be perfect. Callbacks were the next morning, so you went to bed early and waited for what was to come.

—

You arrived with an open mind. Around ten other girls were there. 10 girls who want to be Sandy. 10 girls who want this role just as much as you. Maybe more than you. If you were lucky you’d get a chorus member at this rate.

A tall man with light brown hair and hazel eyes walks around, greeting the girls. He has a kind smile paired with a silk red shirt and tight black pants, iced coffee in hand. You see him start to walk towards you and you’re slightly confused.

“Hey, how are you? I’m apart of the cast and could possibly end up being your Danny, and we’ll be performing some scenes together for your 2nd audition. I wanted to introduce myself, I’m Ashton.” He holds his hand out and you take it, shaking it and smiling.

“I’m y/n, it’s nice to meet you. Is this your first broadway show?”

He ponders for a moment, “This is my 5th, actually. I did stuff back in Sydney though before I came to New York. You?”

You begin to feel embarrassed. You have absolutely no broadway experience whatsoever. “This is my first broadway show… in Chicago I did stuff though. But nothing here in New York yet.”

“Well you got a callback for the lead so I think you’re in good shape, y/n.” He smiled warmly.

He was different from other actors you’ve met. Many were arrogant and were only there to do their part and leave. He cheered you on despite never meeting you. It was a pleasant surprise.

“Perhaps I am, Ashton.” He smiled and walked to a seat, and you did the same. The director handed out excerpts and began calling names. You watched some of the girls perform scenes and they were all quite impressive. You were very unsure of yourself. You kept growing more and more nervous and you didn’t know if you’d compare to everyone else.

“Y/n! Scene 11, the drive in scene.”

You stand up from your seat and take a deep breath, walking up to the stage.

Ashton cleared his throat, looking at the script then into your eyes, “Hey, you’re not with another guy, are you?”

“No, why?” Your eyes glance down at the script and back into his eyes.

Ashton acts nervous and nonchalant, “No reason… I uh wanted to ask you to take my ring.” He holds out his hand as if there’s a ring there and pretends to put it on your finger. The scene continues, and before you even have a chance to read the stage direction he kisses you. Your cheeks burn and you continue the scene, finishing it out. Ashton smiles at you and goes back to his seat as you do your singing portion of the audition to the song Hopelessly Devoted To You. You go back to your seat, wondering if what you did would be enough.

The last few girls perform and everyone is dismissed. As you put your jacket on, Ashton walks towards you with a soft smile.

“You did really good, I told you it’d be fine. You wanna maybe get lunch? There’s this place down the street you need to try if you’re gonna be a true New Yorker!”

“Sure, why not?” You walk with him to the small restaurant, talking as if you have known him your whole life.

—

“Your favorite movie is Kill Bill? I never would’ve guessed that…” Ashton was sat across from you at the sandwich shop, asking you a series of ‘get to know me’ questions.

“Uma Thurman is my girl crush,” You smirk, “what’s your favorite show?”

“Definitely Brooklyn 9-9. It isn’t deep or anything and it’s just a comedy, but it’s my happy place, what about you?”

“I love Gossip Girl… I know it’s such a girly show but I really like it.” You blush out of embarrassment, but he breaks out into a grin.

“I love Gossip Girl! I watched it with my sister all the time back home. It’s a great show.”

Surprised is an understatement. You never knew a guy could be such a softie. You smile out of relief and drink your tea as He rapid fires questions to you for the next hour.

—

You got the call the next morning. You were officially Sandy. In celebration, he’s hanging out at your apartment and he brought cheap boxed wine.

“What if I’m not cut out for broadway, Ash? What if everyone walks all over me? I don’t know anything about showbiz here in New York.” All you had in your mind was doubt.

“I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. People will be jealous. People will talk about you behind your back. Critics will rip you to shreds. But all that matters is your performance. That dumb, bald critic isn’t the one getting that paycheck and that standing ovation. It’s you. You have to give your all every night. But it’s always worth it. I’ll be with you every step of the way for this show. I’ll guide you. I’ll be like the guy in Pretty Woman! Guiding you through life…”

“Oh Ashton, I’m so lucky you’re my friend. I never thought I’d meet anyone here honestly. You really are the Edward Lewis to my Vivian Ward.” He laughs and clinks his glass with yours.

“First rehearsal is gonna be splendid, darling.”

—

The first rehearsal began at 7:30 am sharp. The first priority was choreography of “Summer Nights”. You met the girls playing Frenchy and Rizzo, and they were very welcoming. Now whoever was playing Jan, however, was a bit snarky. She didn’t even give you a simple hello. You decided to think nothing of it and just go on with rehearsal.

The tech crew brought out some makeshift temporary bleachers for the choreography and everyone got to work. The T Birds and Ashton went to the other side of the stage where the women were all to the other side. You held your music in hand and began your first note while also mirroring the choreographers directions. All was going well until you accidentally stepped on Jan’s foot, causing her to glare at you and yell, “Watch it!”.

You were taken aback. Everyone stopped suddenly and the pianist came to an abrupt halt.

“I’m so sorry-“ you started to say, but was interrupted immediately.

“Maybe you should know what you’re doing if you’re going to be the lead, or were you not aware that you should actually have some experience?”

You mumble barely loud enough for anyone to hear, “I won’t do it again…”

Rehearsal continued, and the room was tense for the remainder of the choreography portion.

“Alright everyone take 5!” The director's voice loudly remarked. Before you knew it, Ashton was walking towards you. His hair was a bit of a mess and his sleeves were rolled up.

“So how was your first choreography session, Sandy?” He grinned, taking a long drink from his water bottle.

You weren’t sure if you should tell him you actually were on the brink of tears. It was way too early to already have complaints, but you were sure that that one girl already hated you and you didn’t even know why.

“It was great, amazing.” You forced a smile and he broke out into a grin. You just couldn’t tell him you were already upset.

“I knew you’d be amazing! I told you it wouldn’t be so bad. We’re doing a run through of the song with everyone next. I’ll get to see you rock it.” He smiled and walked back towards the guys. You sighed, walking back to the group of girls. This would be a long 3 months of rehearsal.

—

You opened the door to your studio apartment and collapsed on the bed, burying your face in your pillow. Then the tears came. You couldn’t believe how upset you were. You didn’t think it would bother you as much as it did, but you felt like you already blew the role of your dreams. You decided to call Ashton, hoping he could lift your spirits.

“Hey y/n, what’s up?” He had his usual cheery tone of voice and you already felt better.

“I know I said rehearsal was great, but the girl playing Jan was really terrible and hurt my feelings really bad and maybe she’s right maybe I don’t have what it takes, Ash. What if she’s right?” At that point you were crying even more. You didn’t expect to cry even more, but it was happening.

“Woah woah woah. The real Sandy Olsson would never take anyone else’s shit. Y/n, you’re one of the most talented people I’ve ever met. You’ve forced me to come over now. I’m gonna make you feel better. Leave the door unlocked and just be expecting me.” He hung up before you could even argue. But you were glad you didn’t have a chance to argue.

—

About an hour passed and your door opened. Ashton walked in, closing the door behind him. He had 2 pints of Ben and Jerry’s and two 4 packs of Smirnoff in his arms. He kicked the door closed gently and sat at the foot of your bed.

“There’s my favorite broadway sensation.” You mumble from under your covers, grinning when you lock eyes.

“Here I am!” He smiled, handing you a pint of ice cream and a plastic spoon, “I also have alcohol.”

You smile, opening the ice cream and wrapping your arms around him, “Thank you for coming here… I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”

“Well I was planning world domination but I’ll get back to that.”

You laugh mad shake your head, “Well… let’s watch Gossip Girl and get drunk then, shall we?”

“We shall.”

—

“She’s just jealous that you’re the lead! Did you see her callback performance for Sandy? It was so half assed! You definitely were the best.” Ashton was on his third drink and there was no hiding it. He was slurring all of his words and laughing at every little thing. You found it adorable.

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.” A blush crept across your cheeks and you looked down at your cup.

With his hand, he pushed your head up from your chin, “I’m not blind, i know a good actress when I see one, silly. Also, it’s cute when you blush,” He smirked when you blushed even more, “I mean if you want we can practice scenes together outside of rehearsal. We could now! I have my script in my bag…”

Before you could even begin to say no, he was already reading out one of his lines.

“I really like you, Sandy.”

You sigh and grab your script, opening to the right page and sitting across from him on your bed, “Danny, take it easy! What are you trying to do?” You glance down at the book, seeing what his next line is and look back up.

“Can I try something out?”

“Um, that’s not your line Ash-“

His hand comes up to your cheek and before you know it, his lips are on yours. Taken aback, your eyes widen, but then slowly close. You wrap your arms around his neck and twirl the hair at the nape of his neck around your finger and his hands grip your waist. He pulls away and you catch your breath. He smiles at you, “But you enjoyed it, didn’t you?”

“Shut up.”

“That’s a yes I take it.”

You weren’t sure if it was the alcohol talking, but you were sure that you were falling. Hard.

—

“You’re the one that I want, you are the one I want, ooo ooo ooo honey…”

Everyone had gotten down the choreography to this scene, so everyone was just doing a run through without instruction. Before rehearsal even started, you talked to Ashton as usual. He didn’t even mention the night before. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was for the best. Some friendships need to stay friendships. And that was fine, but a part of you didn’t want that to be true. But what could you do? You never mentioned it again. You decided it was for the best.

-

Countless deli lunches together passed, dozens of coffee runs continued, about 100 more rehearsals occurred, months passed and the day came. Opening night. It was a full house.

You were in your dressing room, finishing up your makeup. A knock took you out of your trance, and you told them to come in.

Ashton came through the door, “Opening night! Are you ready?” He sat on the couch in the dressing room, wearing a tight white shirt and leather jacket, hair slicked back. He looked so good that it physically hurt.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” You weakly smile, “ya know I heard Rizzo has a thing for you.”

“Too bad she’s not my type… I’m into girls named Sandy.”

“Haha very funny, Ash, I mean like in real life.”

“Yeah so do I. A wise man once said, ‘you’re the one that I want, you are the one I want, ooo ooo ooo honey.” You laugh, and look into his eyes.

He’s not drunk right now. He’s sober. He is in your dressing room, telling you he is into you.

“Break a leg, Sandy.” And then he kisses you. And this time you know it isn’t the alcohol talking.

Summer loving. Happened so fast.

[she-is-tim]

Neighbours

Lucas is a young, exhausted musician who just tries to relax, while Eliott is the overexcited, dubstep loving artist who lives next door. 

Aka Lucas confronts his annoying neighbour who turns out to be gorgeous

It was saturday, March 9th, late afternoon. Lucas just got home from work, he had a particularly exhausting day, but he couldn’t just lay down and relax in peace. He had a concert coming up next week, so he had to practice on the piano. His biggest wish was to become a famous pianist who has concerts in gigantic theatres in big cities, not just in the local, small theatre with other exhausted musicians.

He sat down in front of his piano, it wasn’t an expensive one, but it had a nice melody that made Lucas heart sing with it. He was ready to start practicing, stretched his arms and warmed up his fingers, but just before he could hit any of the keys, a loud noise came from the other side of the wall.

Lucas took a deep breath and tried to play again, but the noise got louder. That wasn’t music, it had nothing to do with music, because it sounded like a car crashing right into an instrument shop. 

This was just too much for him, work made him stressed enough already, but now his neighbour did this shit. It was 18:30 on SATURDAY for fucks sake. Not like he didn’t just do the same in random times during the week, but Lucas had enough.

He got up from the piano, his chest filled with anger and frustration ready to burst out. He walked out of his apartment and started banging on the door next to his. He might be a small guy, but was ready to wrestle down a whole football team just to get some peace and quiet. 

It took almost a minute or two for his annoying neighbour to finally open the door after he lowered down the music. Lucas was ready to let out all his frustration on this annoying asshole who has no respect for others. He opened his mouth, but no voice left his throat as he could finally see the guy. Tall, pale, messy, dark hair and beautiful, ocean blue eyes, looking like a fucking model. He was wearing light blue jeans and a black sweather, his cheeks were a little red, probably because he danced to this crazy rythm before he opened the door. 

“Oh, hello.” he said with the brightest smile. Was it possible for him to look even more gorgeous? “Can I help you?” he asked in a soft voice. 

Of course hearing him talk didn’t make it easier for Lucas to collect his thoughts that decided to fall and spread on the floor as soon as his neighbour appeared in the door. He coughed, trying to cover his nervousness. How is that possible that he never saw such a beautiful human being who was living right next to him?!

“Your music...” he started, trying to collect the right words to say.

“Oh, you like dubstep too?” he asked excitedly, and Lucas could swear that his smile was bigger than before, making him look like an actual angel. He was never one to believe in such things, but seeing this guy, he could not think of him as someone out of this world.

“No, I just... I mean... Listen,”

“Eliott” he said with such an annoying confidence that made Lucas’ stomach to do a backflip in his body. He didn’t like this at all. 

“Listen, Eliott, I had a rough day at work, so if you could just... stop listening to that music of yours so loudly, I would be thankful.” he said making sure to basically spit out the word music, since dubstep was anything, but that.

Eliott’s face changed a little, the happiness and excitement in his eyes turned into something else. Those bright blue pupils now looked like the cloudy sky before storm. Lucas swallowed and played with his hands behind his back. What the hell is this? Eliott looked at him like a predator who’s about to jump on his prey.

“What would I get in advance?” he asked on a serious tone, which was much much more arousing than it should have been. 

The disastrous gay guy inside Lucas was screaming and running circles in the living room, trying not to faint in excitement. Was this guy really flirting with him right now? 

“Excuse me?” he mumbled, unable to create longer sentences around this gorgeous man. They were stading there for long minutes now and his cologne just crawled into Lucas’ nose to make him feel dizzy. This wasn’t good at all. 

“You could come in and have a drink with me. You can choose the music.” he smirked with so much confidence, that Lucas wanted to slap him in the face and then kiss those cherry lips. He shook his head to get those inappropriate thoughts out if his head. 

Apparently Eliott thought that was his answer to the invitation, cause his smile disappeared, he now looked like a giant, but lost puppy. 

“Okay, fine.” Lucas said suddenly, surprising Eliott and himself too. “Let’s see what music you got.” he said

Eliott now smiled happily and opened the door wide enough to let the smaller boy inside. His apartment was messy, but still kind of organized. Lucas walked to the living room, there was a shelf full of vinyls, DVDs and other stuff, a couch, a coffee table, an armchair and of course the device that let out those horrible tones: a turntable. He couldn’t believe that this beautiful person used such a unique thing to listen to dubstep on it. Eliott had no manners for sure. 

Just as he tried to study the place a bit more, Eliott walked in with two bottle of beers, giving one to Lucas. He then walked to his turntable and stopped the music, looking at Lucas. 

“What do you wanna listen to?” he asked.

“What do you got?” Lucas said, collecting all the bravery he just had at the moment. It was already hard enough not to faint everytime Eliott looked at him with those mesmerizing eyes of his. 

“We can listen to Queen if you want.” he said with a grin. The cheeky bastard.

“Okay, sure.” Lucas said and took a sip of his beer. This was too much, so as Eliott were looking for the right vinyl, he studied the drawings on the wall, some of them were messy, unfinished, some was very detailed, even beautifully colored. There was a lot of them illustrating a raccoon, a very cute one actually. He saw some papers on the floor too with scribbles and scetches on them. 

“So, since I introduced myself to you back then, I’d like to know your name.” Eliott said softly after he put on the vinyl and started to play some Queen now. 

Lucas looked at him, blushing a little, he got lost in his thoughts and totally forgot that he is basically standing in the living room of a demigod. 

“Lucas.” he said shortly.

“Nice to meet you, Lucas.” he smirked and pointed at his couch. “Sit down, make yourself at home.” 

Lucas nodded nervously and sat down, looking at Eliott, who grabbed something white that was sitting on his ear. Lucas didn’t notice it before, but of course it was a joint. This guy was listening to dubstep, looked like he haven’t slept since days, but still manage to look like no other human being, drawing beautifully and smoking weed. At least he is not perfect. Thought Lucas, but as Eliott lit the blunt, putting in his mouth, he had no words that could describe his hotness.

Eliott lazily sat down on the armchair while Freddie Mercury was singing in the background. He blew out some smoke and looked at Lucas with a gentle smile forming on his face. 

“Isn’t it weird that we live next door and have never met before?” he asked smiling.

“I guess we just leave our places in different times.” Lucas said shrugging, like he didn’t find it weird and somehow annoying that he didn’t see this angelic guy before. Eliott chuckled.

“Must be true, I’m usually going out late and coming home around the morning.” he said and smiled, blowing out some smoke again. 

Lucas had never thought that seeing someone smoking could be arousing, especially cause he was never into smoking. He tried it a couple times in high school and it felt damn good to be high as a kite, but somehow he never really got into all that. He wasn’t much of a party person either.

“You must have a chaotic schedule then.” Lucas pointed out after he managed to fight back the urge to ask Eliott to blow that smoke on his face next time. You stupid idiot. 

“You can say that, I make art designs for short movies and stuff.” he explained, while moving his body slowly to the rythm of the music. 

“You seem like you haven’t slept for days, though.” Lucas is cursing deep inside for letting his stupid mouth talk before thinking, but Eliott seems to like his comment a lot. He gets a kind smile and the tall boy blows out a smoke ring. Lucas’ heart skips a beat. 

“I have a big project going on, so I don’t have much time to sleep.” he shrugged and looked at the scetches on the floor. “I want it to be perfect.” 

“I know that feeling.” Lucas said that made the other one smiling even more brightly. 

“You seem like a genuinely cool person. Such a waste we didn’t hang out before.” he said with so much honesty in his voice that made Lucas melt inside.

“Not like I wanna move out or anything.” he started and smiled at Eliott a little. “I won’t be far away if you need company.” 

Eliott put down the joint, blowing smoke out of his nose, looking into Lucas’ eyes like he could see right into his soul. They were staring at each other for long minutes, forgetting about the world around them or the music that was playing in the background. It didn’t feel uncomfortable or awkward, because they both felt something. After a while Eliott broke the connection, lighting his cigarette again, but now offering it to his guest. 

Lucas was a bit unsure whether it’s good or not to accept it and get high with in the living room of his handsome neighbour, but then he just said Fuck it and accepted, enjoying the warm smoke filling his mouth before giving the joint back to Eliott. They were spending hours together like this, Eliott was talking about some nonsense bullshit he had to do last year for a company, then Lucas told a story of a guy that threw up into a trumpet during their christmas concert. 

Time was flying by and they barely noticed that it’s almost 22:00 now, Lucas got up from the couch and smiled at Eliott, who smiled back. They felt free and happy after spending those hours together. 

“I should go back to my place, I have to practice tomorrow.” he explained.

“Can I come over and listen?” Eliott asked suddenly. “I mean I don’t wanna bother you or anything, but I’d really like to see you play on the piano.” he added quickly just to not seem like a creep.

Lucas smiled softly, his heart filled with happiness and butterflies were flying around in this stomach. Eliott was just so pefect, he couldn’t believe he was real.

“Sure, why not?” he said and walked to the front door, looking back at Eliott before leaving. “Tomorrow at 13:00 then?” he asked. Eliott followed him, having a bright smile on his gorgeous face. 

“Sounds good.” he said and opened the door for Lucas. 

As the small boy left the apartment, he couldn’t resist an urge, so he grabbed his arm gently, pulling him back. Lucas was confused, turning back. Eliott had so many feelings inside him that he felt like his chest is going to explode, he had to do something, so he was acting liek there was something in Lucas’ beautiful and fluffy hair, touching it just a little. He smiled at him. 

“See you then.” he said and gently closed the door. 

Both of them couldn’t move from there for minutes, then Lucas finally walked back to his own apartment, while Eliott laid down on the couch. He grabbed another beer, looking at the wall that separated him from Lucas. Tomorrow... I can see him again. He fell asleep with that thought in his mind.

[leina-reads-homestuck]

Let’s Play - Intermission

I leave the Core for now and decide to go back and visit Undyne. Should I call this “Interfishin” ?

Before I go, I find some actual junk food.

I’m surprised I don’t have much trouble going back to Waterfall, considering my usual difficulties with navigation in space.

This guy sits here. He’s severely disappointed in today’s puzzles and today’s generation.

Here we are ! Papyrus waits for me. He has a present for Undyne.

That’s a nice attention and all, but are you sure she wouldn’t prefer some kind of takoyaki instead ? We hear a very nice piano music that stops after we knock.

*knoc knoc*

She doesn’t seem to recognize me at first, but then...

Papyrus didn’t warn her at all, didn’t he...

We’re still allowed to enter and she puts the bone in a drawer with the others. She has a whole collection by now. How lucky.

Papyrus then crashes through the nearest window and leaves us face to face.

Dang, come back ! Don’t leave me alone !! ( o  o)

She really isn’t pleased with me here. She thinks I came only to rub my victory in her face. Not gonna lie, it’s tempting to remind her how she flopped on the ground right after chasing me and remained here with her tongue stuck out. And that if I didn’t pour water on her face out of pure generosity, she would be a fried fish by now. But eh, let’s try and forget about our old feuds.

Uh.. Uh... Maybe ? Probably ? Hopefully ?

Really ? That was fast.

.

..Yeah, too fast.

She then goes full Vriska on me and says that she never, never will be my friend ! Why would she ever want to be friends with me ?

Snimf...

Luckily for me, Papyrus reappears !

He’s so disappointed in Undyne now. He thought we would become friends, but it seems that “she’s just not up to the challenge.”

Clever guy.

You think I exaggerate when I compare Undyne and Vriska ? You present anything as a challenge to these two, and they’re gonna take it, just to show you that they CAN. Because refusing a challenge is for WIMPS. And they are WINNERS.

I bet that if I tell Undyne she’s not able to wear a frilly ballgown and sing in one of Mettaton’s horrible musical numbers, she’ll become the new star of his show.

Hey >:’(  Who’s rubbing defeat in my face now ?

Not only does she accept to be my friend, but she’s gonna friend me so hard I’m gonna be totally obsessed with her. What’s a better revenge ?!

Befriending Undyne seems just as scary as fighting her.

I visit the house. She doesn’t mention anything about being a pianist when I interact with the piano. But she says stuff about the sword, which is a giant sword Alphys and her have made together. “She’s smart, huh ?” She thinks humans used to fight with swords ten times their height, or something like that. I don’t have the heart to disappoint her, and if I answer that this is bullshit, she doesn’t believe me anyways. She has read our history books. She knows all about our giant mechas and our alien princesses.

Of course. I’m only surprised she bothers with silverware at all and doesn’t just use a spear to impale her food on.

The pink fish pattern on the walls remind me of something. Must be a pure coincidence if Alphys had a lampshade with the same pattern. Probably not a present Undyne made her and that she keeps preciously. They seem to be very good friends, by the way. (°u° )

The house is suspiciously cute. There’s this adorable fish doily on the table (made by herself ?) and a fish-shaped teacup in the sink. Cause yeah, she drinks tea, like the proper refined lady BADASS WINNER she is !!!

Let’s inspect the boner draw bone drawer. I wonder how much there are in there ?!

***wink***

I sit down at the table. 

Wow, that welcoming smile looks so unnatural on her. What’s next ? Will she make some tea for us ?

Actually, yes. She asks me to pick something to drinKHOLY SHIT.

***SHTOCK.....***

...I suspect that “guest” and “hostage” belong to the same concept in Undyne’s mind. She asks me to use the spear to point at what I want. I grab it with trembling hands and point it at the tea boxes. I expected the spear to be shaky but this kid is hella stoic.

Now I wonder what would have happened if I had pointed the spear at her ?! I wouldn’t be here to narrate it probably. She serves me tea and tells me to be careful, cause it’s hot. It’s obvious that she’s forcing herself to appear as nice and hostess-like as she can. I take a careful sip.

--- GLP ---

She tells me I remind her of Asgore.

Actually she doesn’t think he’s that much of a weenie. It’s just that she tried to defy him when she was a kid, and he seemed reluctant to hit her. He even decided to train her to become a member of the Royal Guard and she managed to knock him out in the end. She felt bad.

Everyone is describing Asgore as a huge goofball and the nicest guy ever. We’ll see if that’s true when I have to fight him... ( é _ é)

She then explains why Papyrus really isn’t fit for the Royal Guards. I think she’s gonna talk shit about him, but in her opinion he’s just too nice and pure to be a warrior. She’s not wrong. Papyrus is more like  “skeletal cinnamon bun” than  “fearsome threat”.

I nod.

She wants to teach him to cook, so he can have another goal in life. And precisely he was supposed to have a lesson rigt now. But no problem ! I’m gonna have it for him !

She jumps on the counter and kicks everything on the ground, then grabs me by the hair (...yes) and makes me punch vegetables. Time to show what I’m made of !!

I feel bad.

But that’s not enough violence for her. Now, this is HOW you prepare vegetables !

We make pasta, and she asks me to lit the fire.

 I guess it’s too late to tell her it’s a bad idea ?

KAH-BEWNM.

🚒

Yeah, this or making fish doilies, or CALLING THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.

Nah man, it’s ok. I mean, not really, but if you saw what happened that time I tried to make churros.

B-but ! Tis is fine, really !

Tee hee... Sorry.

Just when I’m ready to give her a reassuring pat, she changes her mind and seems to be ok with the fact we’re not gonna be friends.

FUCKCING..... HECK

Oh noNONONONONO.

Is this the only way you deal with issues, gorl ? Grabbing the nearest spear and thust it into whatever is causing trouble ?

I was just doing what you told me to do !

She lets me attack first... What to do, what to do... Oh wait, there’s a “pretend attack” option. I swing my mighty toy knife in Undyne’s direction. 

Of course, she’s gonna call me a weenie again and be offended because I don’t really want to fight her. 

O ?! Hold on, that’s because.... you want to krill me instead ?

I wonder if Undyne is fish pun sensitive.

She thought I was a wimpy loser, but she was wrong.

Y...Yay ???

I did it ? We’re friends now ?

Woah...

Dang, that was a GORGEOUS opportunity to say SEA YOU LATER and she missed it ! Gh...

As for her poor house...

:’<

I’m a bit bothered because there was a door I didn’t check. I thought I would be able to do it after sitting down, but I did well to explore the house before sitting at all, otherwise I would have seen nothing.

I try to enter again but all I get is a “seems like only fire lives here now.” Bluh.

I can’t call fisherm firemen either, so I guess all I have to do is pursue my quest.

[icequeenjules26]

All I Want (For Christmas) Is You

Summary:  Dan Howell's life as a student of modern piano music is completely turned upside down when he is grouped in an assignment with Phil Lester...

Word Count: 7,2k

Tags: University AU, Fluff, Pianist!Dan, Guitarist!Phil, 

A/n: This is written for @babethepig for the Phandom fic Fests Holiday Exchange. As always the biggest ever thank you goes out to my love @succubusphan, who spent a lot of time beta’ing this. You’re the best. <3 

Read on A03

Dans schedule was a proper mess this semester. His decision to specialize in modern piano music got frowned upon not only by his parents but also by his Uni, so his curses were not nicely fit together anymore. He had a lot of free time in between, but his time gaps were too short to get back to his dorm, so he mostly stayed on campus, spending his free time in one of the multiple coffee shops around or with his friend Louise, who was assigned a dorm room much closer to campus than he was.

 That’s how he caught wind of it first.

 He had always been good at playing the piano, the time at uni had only helped with that, obviously; but that he was supposedly the best in his studies had always sounded like an exaggeration. There were a lot of piano students, so he had tried toning down the people talking about him, directing them to someone else. Aside from his musical ability there wasn’t much interesting about him, though, so he had drifted out of the other students’ eyes - at least aside from the talk about whoever was supposed to be dating this week. His open bisexuality made for a large pool of possible suitors, but there were students much more interesting to talk about.

 Now, though, he was back inside of the rumor mill, and right in the center.

 It started off innocently enough.

 “The instruments students are doing trios this year, did you hear?” The two girls in the booth right next to his were chatting animatedly with each other, obviously unaware of him just sitting half a meter away. “Yeah, I’m so excited! We haven’t seen Dan Howell performing for a while, which is a shame. Him at a Piano is enough to get me going to be honest.”

 Dan was already puffing out his chest like a peacock, debating on whether to go over there or at least make his presence known otherwise, when the other girl’s reply made him halt in his tracks. “I mean same , but have you seen Phil Lester lately? He got rid of his emo fringe and stuff. He’s scolding hot .” She layed extra emphasis on the word hot and in Dan’s head, two mindsets started battling over what to do. The first one expressed some kind of jealousy in a “I wanted to tap that girl”-kind of way, the other one wanted to spring onto facebook to check out the guy they were talking about, whose name sounded kind of familiar.

 Former emo fringe musician that got hot? Sign him the fuck up.

 Chuckling lowly about his screaming bisexuality he continued listening, his interest now peaked.

 “Well, they’re doing trios right? Just imagine both of them on stage together…��

 The other girl actually moaned at the thought and Dan couldn’t contain the smirk creeping on his face. He took a sip from his coffee, his still open laptop on the table in front of him long forgotten. He probably should be working on one of his assignments due this week, but the girls’ conversation was too interesting to ignore.

 Dan had to suppress some swearing when his laptop dinged with an incoming email. He could hear the girls whispering behind him when they looked over because of the sound, realizing who he was - “Oh my god is that Dan Howell?” and “Oh my god, do you think he heard us?” -  and he quickly leaned forward to appear busy.

 The email causing the ‘ding’ was actually about the assignment the girls had just been talking about. He packed up his stuff immediately when he had read through it. The list of assigned groups had just been hung out in front of his professor’s office and she invited all participants to a meeting in about half an hour on the other side of the campus, so he had to rush.

 ~~~

 Even the rushing didn’t help in the end, the unfortunate incident of a broken down bus costed him the time to check the list before the meeting started. When he got there he still had no idea who his partners were, so he didn’t understand the reason behind the quiet whispers that started when he set foot into the lecture hall. He managed to find his friend Louise quite fast and slid into the free spot next to her. “What’s the fuss about?” he asked her quietly but before she could answer, the door opened again and a group of professors walked in.

 Their looks varied about as much as those of the students sitting in the audience, making for a quite colourful group. For this assignment, nearly all rock-centered curses were thrown together, not only piano but also guitar, drums, bass, violin and multiple other instruments. The hall was packed full, but the arrival of the professors assured silence among the students.

 “Good morning everyone! Hopefully you all checked the list and are in the process of contacting your partners. Teamwork is the key for this assignment! Because of the number of students most groups consist of one piano student, one guitar student and one of another instrument, specifically arranged to play into your strengths and make you work on your weaknesses.” The young male professor’s voice rung soundly through the hall and Dan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Prof. Smith, responsible for the guitar department and  specialized on rock music, was so completely different from his own professor and so cliché rock musician that it offended Dan’s believes; he fit the stereotype perfectly, including tattoo covered arms, piercings and wild, green hair, often sporting band shirts.

 Prof. Johnson, on the other hand, was nothing like her profession. She was a middle-aged woman with slim, neon green glasses and grey eyes that always seemed to shine with mischief. Her jet black hair fell in untamable curls onto her shoulders and she seemed to never leave the house without a nerdy T-Shirt, merch for some comic, TV-Show or movie. When she stepped forward, the whispers around the hall got louder and the grin on her face was so wide Dan couldn’t help but grin back. He liked his Professor, even if she tended to overstep her boundaries and was eager to make friends among the students.

 “If you have questions you can always turn to me or Mr. Smith, Mr. Miller or Mrs. Adams, or any of the other Professors involved,” she said, then paused for a second to let the murmures and voices ring out.

 “Now, we know this is a big thing among the student body, but we hope you can keep it as low as possible. Drama and relations, as fun as they are to watch for us, will only make your work harder. If you want to outplay this though, be assured I will be watching with a glass of wine and popcorn.” There were chuckles among the group and Louise next to him went red trying to keep in her laughter. Dan grinned at her and made a mental note to tell her about the girls he had encountered before coming here.

It took some time for the students to calm down, but when she continued speaking, Dan was shocked into silence. “That also goes for other students aside from yourself. The list is out for half an hour and the only duo involving Mr. Howell and Mr. Lester has already caused an uproar throughout the whole university, so please think about what you are causing when you speak about information like this next time.”

 The rest of the meeting went by in a blur. The professors informed them of the nature of the assignment - the whole thing had pretty much the built-up of a generic talent show. They had to cover one song each week in an open, on-campus concert starting in two weeks. Each week two groups would be voted out by the professors until three groups remained for the finale.

 At the end Dan didn’t remember anything the professors had explained to them. He would beg Louise for her notes tomorrow, but that wasn’t the important thing right now.

 The important thing was that he was supposed to perform with the one and only Phil Lester - and after a quick facebook check he realized why the name had sounded so familiar. Dan had had a crush on the cute and amazingly talented guitar player performing every saturday in a close-by coffee shop for weeks until he had disappeared. What made it even harder for Dan was the fact that the girls had been right.

 The guy had gotten hot as fuck.

 Louise’ mumbled keep it in your pants seemed almost impossible to stick to.

 ~~~~

 It took Dan around half a week to stop running from Phil. He kept himself busy with papers not due for at least a few more weeks and working harder for other assignments than he ever had before - he did anything that would make him forget about the short message from Phil awaiting him on whatsapp, where he introduced himself and informed him they were partners. The little dog emoji at the end of the message made him squeal like a schoolgirl, but that was exactly the problem. He had to keep it professional. Which would be difficult considering the increasingly hot pictures Phil posted on his facebook and instagram…

 On thursday Dan finally realized he wouldn’t be able to hide from this forever, as he couldn’t afford to fail this class. So he decided to suck it up and went with a generic confirmation and the question to set a time for their first rehearsal as a reply.

 On friday Dan was about as nervous as he could be. Fidgeting the entire morning, he changed his outfit for at least five times until Louise threatened to rip his whole wardrobe to shreds if he didn't decide soon. Her teasing didn’t make his job any easier though. He was supposed to meet Phil in less than half an hour in one of the practice rooms in the music building half a campus away and he was dying a little.

 “Do you really think I look okay?” he asked Louise, who was seated directly next to him on the bus, anxiously running his fingers through his brown locks. Louise caught his wrist mid-movement and forced his hand back into his lap before she patted it sympathetically. “You look great, Dan. Just don’t behave like the little schoolgirl you’re portraying right now, okay?”

 Dan couldn’t get rid of the blush creeping onto his cheeks for the rest of the bus ride.

 When he arrived at their booked practice room, Phil wasn’t there yet. Sighing in relief, he let his backpack sink to the floor before moving over to the piano, situated on a little pedestal in front of the window. He took a seat on the stool right in front of it and let his fingers run over the keys testingly. A series of notes rang through the air and he realized delightedly that the piano was pitched precisely.

 He let his fingers push the keys purposefully and before he knew it they strung together to one of his favorite songs. He started singing along, just for the fun of it; but he got completely lost in the music. At one point a second voice joined in, harmonizing with him to an unbelievable extend, but he didn’t even realize; it just sounded like it had been there from the start.

 Like it belonged there, ringing alongside his own.

 Only at the end of the song he realized what had happened. When the last note rang loud through the now deafening silence he whipped around, eyes wide - and met the bluest eyes he had ever seen.

 He wanted to avert his eyes, wanted to check who it was, but he couldn’t; for a few moments, he was frozen, lost in time, no connection to reality except for the blue he was drowning in.

 The moment shattered like glass around him when some kind of crashing noise pierced in from outside of the room and Dan was finally able to move his eyes.

 “That was beautiful,” a deep, melodic voice said and he couldn’t help but stare at the black haired figure standing proudly and tall at the other end of the piano, smiling at him reassuringly.

 Dan had to blink a few times and pinch himself covertly, but the picture in front of him stayed the same: Phil Lester, in all his delicious glory, eyes shining so bright Dan was sure he’d need sunglasses.

 “It was,” he agreed with a raspy voice, watching wordlessly as Phil made his way over to him. “I’m Phil,” he said, sticking out his hand in front of him and Dan had to gulp down his fast rising excitement. I’ll get to touch Phil Lester!!

 When it happened, when their hands touched, he almost flinched back. A warm feeling shot up his arm at top speed and for a second, he forgot how to breathe. Holy shit.

 “Dan,” he rasped back, staring up at Phil with wide eyes, not really sure what to do with himself, only one thought ringing through his mind - if touching Phil felt like that , how amazing would kissing him be?

 Obviously, the black haired guitar player was not as shocked as Dan. “So, do you think we found our song for the first show?”

 Just like that they slipped over into work - and working with Phil, Dan learned, was just as easy as breathing.

 ~~~

 The first week with Phil was like walking on clouds. The numerous holes in Dan’s schedule made for good practice times, and the fact that Phil didn’t have many classes this semester meant that he was there for almost every one of them. Work flowed easily and smoothly and on monday they were already done segmenting the song and deciding who would get to sing which parts.

 But not only the work went great, even their voices harmonized like they were meant to be heard together. They didn’t even need transitions between Dan’s singing parts to Phil’s, the changes from line to line went just as smoothly as the ones with longer instrumental intervals between.

 Tuesday evening they were basically ready to perform. Dan had his piano playing recorded as a playback to make him more flexible on stage instead of immobile behind a giant instrument. Phil’s guitar skills maybe didn’t quite match Jimmy Hendrik’s yet, but they were definitely up there, and he had the song down to a T. Neither of them had classes the next morning, so as they were leaving the practice room, Dan felt quite courageous from all the adrenaline still rushing through him after a perfect run - and he boldly asked Phil if he wanted to get a coffee somewhere before retiring to their respective dorms.

 Ten minutes later they were sat in a coffee shop right off campus. Dan chose a cozy little booth in the corner directly next to the window front while Phil went to get their coffees. When Dan took the first sip of his drink he almost spat it right back out, but instead moved to first eye the drink and then Phil suspiciously.

 “How do you know?” he asked, his voice almost high pitched as he narrowed his eyes.

Phil just raised an eyebrow into an almost perfectly shaped curve, looking at Dan questionably as he calmly took a sip of his coffee, not saying a word.

 “How do you know my order?” Dan specified and watched incredulously as Phil’s full, kissable lips spread into a wide grin. He could almost picture it, attaching his own lips onto his as they spread into the exact grin before the kisses started to get more serious, more heated, Phil’s fringe messed up, his cheeks red as clothes were coming off…

 Oh my god, stop betraying me, goddamn heart.

 “I didn’t. I just ordered two of my usual order.”

 Phil’s voice ripped him out of his daydream and for a second he couldn’t do much else than stare in stunned silence. “You drink caramel Macchiato, too?” he asked, blinking. Huh. He really hadn’t expected that from a guy as hot as him…

 Jesus fucking christ, actually shut the fuck up!

 Dan’s attraction to Phil had risen to an unhealthy level by now. Not only was he hot as fuck, no; during their practice time Dan also had had to learn that the guy was smart, funny, lively, and talented as fuck , even more than Dan remembered him to be. Dan was lucky the assignment, and working on the music kept him busy and focused, or else he would have probably jumped the guy by now.

 “It’s my all time favorite,” Phil confirmed, his grin transforming into a cheeky smile, and Dan couldn’t keep a blush from dusting his cheeks pink.

 “Mine too,” he admitted and took another tentative sip from his drink, purposefully avoiding Phil’s eyes. He knew that if he looked into them now, he would drown in them.

 For a few moments it was silent between them, both nursing their coffee, Dan deeply lost in thought about the blueness of Phil’s eyes.

 “So, Muse, huh?”

 It was Phil breaking the silence and Dan looked up, surprised. It took him a second to realize how Phil had even known he liked Muse , until he realized they had met while singing their song Thought Contagion before choosing it for their first performance. This time he was pretty sure he kept the blush at bay.

 “Yeah. I love them.”

 Phil’s mouth stretched into a happy smile, his eyes shining brightly, full of honest excitement as he started chattering about them. Dan had to gulp and pinch his hand unsuspiciously to keep himself from losing his mind .

 They moved from Muse to Panic! to Fallout Boy to Paramore and even further. Albums became scores, which lead the way to games, movies and TV shows. It was almost scary how much they had in common, how much their interests overlapped, and it actually took Dan a while to remember a question he’d had since he’d heard of the assigned groups.

 He used a temporary lull in conversation - one that he could have easily filled with something relatable to the topic they were on, mind you - to finally ask.

 “By the way, do you know why we are the only duo?”

 Phil raised his eyebrow, a cheeky smile back on his face and Dan knew there was a blush creeping up his cheeks yet again. He couldn’t help but feel like he missed something vital here, but he had no idea what exactly.

 “Did you not pay attention at the meeting?”

 Dan felt his eyes widen in surprise and blinked, cheeks even hotter than before. “I might have been… preoccupied ,” he admitted and Phil’s smile grew into a full-blown grin.

 “Prof. Johnson and Prof. Smith spent like ten minutes explaining,” he informed Dan, “Apparently the numbers didn’t match up and they had to have one duo, so they both chose their best student and realized we would be a good match.” He put special emphasis on the word match and for a second, Dan wasn’t sure if he would be able to stay conscious. Was he just making a joke… Or was Phil Lester really flirting with him?

 “We - we are,” he stammered in response and Phil’s chuckling send his heart into overdrive. Oh god. How was he supposed to survive at least 2 more months working with the guy?

 “I think so too,” Phil whispered back with a husky voice, making Dan choke on his long cold coffee.

 Fuck, these next weeks are going to be torture.

 ~~~

 The next monday morning Dan found himself in yet another on-campus coffee shop, putting the finishing touches on an assignment that was due today. Normally it was a break he would spend with Phil, but he had stuff to arrange with one of his professors, so they decided he would join up with Dan as soon as he was able to. They had managed to get a headstart on this week’s performance by starting working on it on saturday, so they weren’t in much of a rush. They had decided on a song and discussed divisioning on sunday already; it was only practicing left.

 Of course the performance on Friday had gone great. They had gotten a lot of applause by the watching students, the little hall on campus used for performances had been packed to the rim, so there had been at least a few hundred watchers. The professors had obviously also been satisfied with their presentation, considering they had informed them they would progress into the next round even before the whole show had been over.

 So Dan and Phil had spent their Friday night celebrating. Even though neither of them were really the party going type, they had agreed to go out for a few drinks with their best friends Louise and PJ - who, coincidentally, were in the same group - and Tyler, a music production student Dan had been friends with for years. He had flirted with Phil quite obviously and had teased Dan for his sour mood afterwards, but had assured him that Phil only has eyes for you, you dumbass, pay attention!, coupled with a playful whack on his head.

 The memory let Dan grumble absently, but the arriving of a group of students in the booth right behind him ripped him away from his trip down memory lane. “I mean, they’re both bisexual, right?” one of the girls stated while taking a seat, making him peek up immediately. He liked to hear stories about his fellow unicorns and regretted only becoming aware of this conversation after it had already started.

 “They are,” a guy’s voice confirmed. Dan was pretty sure he had heard the voice before, but he didn’t have the courage to turn around and check. He was lucky enough to not have been spotted by the group, he really didn’t have to push his luck.

 “Have you seen their sexual tension? I know you want to fuck them both, Caleb, but come on.” The female voice was followed by a male groan and the sound of a head meeting the tabletop. “I knowww,” was the answer, “I’m sexually deprived, not blind .”

 Dan raked his brain, trying to figure out who they were talking about. Being friends with Louise and Tyler meant that he was mostly up to date with recent campus gossip, and he really wanted to tell them about this later.

 “Did you know there’s already a bet going on? About if they’ll be dating by the end of this semester.”

 “Which idiot would even bet against that?”

 The booth erupted into laughter and Dan furrowed his eyebrows, thinking. He leaned forward, trying to appear busy, but in reality the assignment currently open on his laptop was the furthest thing from his mind.

 “Okay, but aside from all that they were the best group, even if it was just the two of them. They’re gonna win this thing, hands down.” 

Dan’s eyes went as wide as saucers as realization seeped into him. They weren’t really talking about -

 “Absolutely. Thought Contagion was brilliant, I’m so excited to see what they’ll come up with for the next round.”

 That was the moment Phil decided to make his appearance, ripping him out of his thoughts almost violently. “Morning!” he said, cheerfully, two cups of steaming coffee in his hands. He pushed one of them over to Dan after he had taken a seat.

 A look of confusion, even concern appeared on his face when Dan didn’t react, just continued staring at his laptop screen with his eyes wide open. “Dan? Are you okay? Have you seen a ghost?”

 The chatter behind him ended immediately. When he slowly turned around a group of seven people was staring at him, wide eyed. All of them scrambled to their feets as fast as they could. “You’re a cute couple!” one of the girls squeaked out, then they were gone, leaving Dan to explain the situation to Phil.

 Needless to say Phil wasn’t fazed at all, instead he used the story to make more flirty remarks, making Dan blush yet again.

 Damn, I’m fucked.

 ~~~~

Almost three months passed by in a rush and by december Dan couldn’t even recognize his life anymore. All the time he had previously spent alone in front of his laptop, browsing tumblr or watching Netflix, converted into Phil-time, slowly but surely. They played games or watched TV-Shows nearly every day after practice. Dan’s roommate had even asked him if he was moving out with all the time he spent away, but Dan couldn’t help himself. Phil lived in a flat near campus all alone. A tiny flat, sure, but it made for the best meetup place, especially for gaming or movie nights or for research about their next song - and it gave them some privacy. Not that much had happened yet aside from the increasingly flirty comments and occasional cuddle sessions, but it still made their friendship easier.

 Especially because they were now something like campus-famous and got recognized wherever they went.

 So far, they had aced most performances and were through to the last show before christmas break. After New Year’s there was only one show left before the big finale. They were pretty sure they had a good grade secured, but they still gave it their all - they had come so far, there was no way they were giving up now.

 In the upcoming show only seven groups were left and it was the first one with two mandatory songs, one optional and one christmas themed, dropping the rock theme just for this once. Since the last week was cut short - Christmas break started on thursday - they had an additional half week to prepare. Dan and Phil had decided on Panic! ’s High Hopes for the first song and Last Christmas for the second and as always, they had been quite fast with their work. They were practiced and basically done on Monday, so they allowed themselves the night off. Phil’s brother was in town and Dan had heartlessly neglected Tyler since the assignment started (his words), basically forcing Dan to spent the night with him.

 Fortunately Tyler had a lecture early the next morning, so he wasn’t trying to get himself or Dan trashed. He did, however, made use of the time by grilling Dan about his relationship to Phil.

 Dan was a bit annoyed, but at the end of the day he was glad to be able to talk about it, even if he would never admit to that. Louise and her group were still in the run for the finals too, which made her so busy they barely were able to talk for longer than a few minutes at a time - and he desperately needed an outsider’s opinion.

 It took him almost an hour to get Tyler up to date on what had happened, all the while getting interrupted by texts from Phil. Right when he was done explaining his phone dinged again, indicating another text.

 ‘the girl two tables over has a cute lil pup on her lap i keep staring she probs thinks i'm a perv help’ it read and he couldn’t help but chuckle. Tyler inspected him warily from across the table, absently playing with the straw in his half-empty cocktail. “Okay, who are you texting?” he asked then, fixing Dan with a steely gaze.

 “Oh, it’s just Phil,” he answered distractedly, typing a quick response before turning his attention back to Tyler. “Why?”

 “Are you shitting me?” he asked back, a fitting expression on his face like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Dan just answered with a surprised “huh?”, shooting him a confused look.

 “Mate, how dense can you be? You are basically dating the guy, only without the good parts!”

 Dan blinked, completely lost now, unable to follow Tyler’s train of thought. “What?”

 “You and Phil are dating, Dan, wake up! The only thing missing is the sex!”  Dan was stunned into silence, staring at Tyler like he had grown a second head. It took the thought a while to register in his brain, but then he blushed, taking a huge gulp of his drink before calling the waiter over to order another one.

 He needed more alcohol for this.

 ~~~~

 The show on wednesday evening went exceptionally well. They had the most fun rocking to High Hopes and got really festive during Last Christmas , with Dan at the Piano and Phil sat on top of it. Their professors called them over and into the next show immediately, making them giddy and high on adrenaline in the process.

 The christmas party thrown by the rock music department started directly afterwards and PJ and Louise, immensely proud of their best friends even though their own group had been voted out, insisted on going. Still in an after show rush they agreed, but soon realized why they normally didn’t like parties. It was loud, the room stuffed with people and the food was average at best, and it took them around twenty minutes to revert back to the snacks table, where they hid from the actual party.

 When Louise, PJ and Tyler of all people found them, sporting a cheeky expression, Dan knew they were fucked. They were leaning against a wall, talking and laughing with each other as much as the music allowed them to, and only a few people were inspecting them from afar.

 “Do you know where you’re standing?” PJ asked when the group was within earshot and Dan raised an eyebrow. “Next to the snacks table where we always are?” he remarked drily, making Phil chuckle next to him.

 “Look up!” Tyler singsonged with a high pitched voice and flattered his eyelashes with faked innocence.

 Dan perked up immediately. He knew that voice.

 He didn’t even need to look up to know what was fixated on the wall over their heads.

 “A Mistletoe!” Louise grinned so widely Dan was sure it had to hurt. He turned his attention to Phil, his heart throbbing in his chest on full speed.

 There was a cheeky smile on the guitarist’s face as he took a step closer, taking a hold of Dan’s head with both hands. “They want a kiss,” he murmured, lowly, “let’s give them a kiss.”

 The second his lips met Phil’s was like a firework going off everywhere inside of his body. For a moment he forgot where he was, hell, even who he was, just continued kissing Phil with passion and lust and love. He didn’t even hesitate opening up his mouth at Phil’s silent request to let him in, too far gone to care - hell, to even realize they had an audience.

 The kiss lasted for minutes and it probably could have gone on much longer if there wouldn’t have been a sudden outburst of applause. The blood took a second to reach Dan’s brain after having rushed somewhere south only seconds ago, but when it did, it immediately spread into his cheeks. They broke apart, Dan’s face still in Phil’s hands, silently contemplating the recent event.

 He had just kissed Phil Lester. In front of basically the whole rock music department.

 Great. Just great.

 The applause and whooping didn’t stop soon and he couldn’t do much more then to exchange a long look with Phil. They had a silent discussion Dan himself didn’t know the content of, until suddenly and with no indication there was panic on Phil’s face as he hastily let go of Dan and scrambled to get his phone out of his pocket. It was vibrating violently in his hands and Dan couldn’t even blink by the time Phil rasped out a “Shit! My brother is waiting for me!” and left in a rush.

 Dan stood there, staring after Phil until most of the students had averted their gazes from him and went back to whatever they had been doing before. When the ice in his veins freezing him into place finally dissipated, he groaned. He knew Phil’s brother Martyn was picking him up for Christmas with their family, and he wouldn’t be back until january.

 Of course. That’s just my fucking luck.

 ~~~

 He spent christmas break in some sort of limbo, like his relationship to Phil was Schrödinger’s cat, platonic and romantic at the same time. He knew the kiss had meant something not only to him but also to Phil, that much had been obvious with the way he had taken the offensive in deepening the kiss and how he had held him afterwards. But that was about the amount of information Dan had, and neither of them mentioned the kiss on any level, so he decided to just ignore the issue for now.

 It did made him jumpy and fidgety and mostly unable to focus, though, and only his frequent skype calls with Phil got him focused and concentrated enough to get some much needed work done.

 There were only two shows left, but they were only one week apart and both required three songs, so they decided to learn all songs over the break. They spent hours on skype, deciding on the songs and how to play and sing them, so they would be done learning their personal parts until they could meet back up in person.

 For a short moment, their reunion was like the sun had risen again. They hugged, soft words of attachment and longing on their lips, but then it was like someone had flipped a switch and they were back in working mode. Phil didn’t mention the kiss and Dan didn’t dare to, so they went back to Status Quo, just like that.

 The first show in the new year went okay-ish. Neither of them poured everything into it, already looking forward to the songs they had chosen for the finale, but they still managed to pull through. Their only truly memorable performance was The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance , which they definitely aced, but the other ones admittedly fell a bit flat. Both their professors urged them to not take it too lightly just because they had done so amazingly until now, so they swore to give everything they had in their last performances together.

 They were the first group performing in the finale. It wasn’t hard for Dan to get in the mood of their songs, considering they were all pining lovesongs and he would have the one he was pining after up on stage with him, so he was glad they got to go first. It made the waiting and anticipation in between easier, and waiting for the results when they were done didn’t mean much to him anyway - he didn’t care too much about winning.

 He just wanted to give his best, pour all his feelings into the songs when he was up there with Phil. He wanted to make it obvious that he meant every word he was singing.

 He wanted to get Phil to understand…

 In short, he just wanted Phil.

 Their first song was a soft piano interpretation of It’s not living (If it’s not with you) by The 1975 , and Dan was so entranced by Phil he forgot to look at his hands while playing. He didn’t make a single mistake, thankfully,  but if he would have made one he probably wouldn’t even have noticed. He benefited from the fact that he had practiced the piano part so often on the tiny piano in his childhood bedroom that his parents had asked him to please, please stop.

 They spent their break with a bottle of coke huddled together on a tiny sofa backstage, making loose conversation and trying to get their mind off of things. Dan basked in the close physical proximity and simply smiled when Phil just casually took his hand while he talked, playing with his fingers. He had a feeling that things would be going well.

 Dan had particularly fun during their next song. The Last Of The Real Ones by Fallout Boy was one of his favorite songs and he connected a lot of the lyrics to Phil. The piano playing was not an issue this time since they had both laid down their playing previously and conjoined it in a track, so he had all the time in the world to focus on Phil, which he took full advantage of. They riled up the crowd so much that Tyler, who had agreed to be the presenter of the night, had trouble getting them back in check for the next group.

 During christmas break, far away from Phil and his feelings, their next song had seemed like a good idea. It was romantic, emotional and full of love and Dan couldn’t think of any other song that would make his feelings for Phil more clear than this.

 Now, though, it seemed entirely too personal to perform in front of what felt like the whole Uni. During practice he had refrained from building too much of a connection, afraid of taking it too far, but now he didn’t have much of a choice and it made him more nervous than any other performance before. His hands were sweaty, his stomach was rumbling and he was ready to cancel the whole thing when Phil noticed the state he was in.

 “Dan,” he whispered, pointedly ignoring the other people lounging around backstage, completely focusing on Dan, “It’ll be okay. You will be okay. And I will be with you, right there by your side the whole time, okay?”

 It was in this moment that something settled in Dan’s chest. He returned Phil’s fond look with courage and determination, grasping his hand in his and squeezing it tightly. “Me too. We’re on the same page.”

 He was sure Phil caught the double meaning when his look got soft. “I think I always knew,” he answered quietly, almost inaudible. “Let’s do this.”

 ~~~

 Their last performance of this assignment was a complete success. They performed The Only Exception by Paramore sitting huddled together on the little Piano stool in front of the huge piano and didn’t take their eyes off of each other the entire time. It was so emotional Tyler had tears in his eyes when he came on stage, hugging first Phil, then Dan tightly, muttering a soft “go get ‘em, tiger” into Dan’s ear and Dan could feel his heart swelling.

 This was it.

 Backstage, thankfully, they were alone. Both of the other groups were nowhere to be seen, and Phil obviously noticed faster than him.

 Before he even had the chance to turn around from closing the door he was already spun around and pressed against the next hard surface, Phil’s lips attacking his own.

 For what felt like ages they were kissing furiously, like they had deprived themselves of this for far too long and now a dam had been broken down, nothing holding them back anymore.

 Once they were out of breath Phil separated their lips, lovingly gazing into his eyes instead. “I have waited for this for far too long,” he whispered quietly, softly, his hands on the sides of Dan’s head, his thumbs gently caressing his cheeks.

 “Me too,” he mumbled back, drowning in Phil’s eyes and feeling himself falling, falling; falling even deeper in love with him. “I meant every word I sang.”

 There was a beat of quiet, then:

 “I love you.”

 The words were muttered completely simultaneously, and for the single bat of an eye both stared at the other, stunned into silence.

 Then they were both dissolving into giggles, holding onto the other to keep from toppling over.

 “That,” Phil gasped out, “was so us.”

 Dan couldn’t help but agree.

 ~~~

 “Do you really think so, Badiha?”

 “I don’t know, Henry, but they did seem smitten during that song, don’t you think?”

 “True!”

 There was a group of at least five people seated in the booth directly behind Dan’s and even though he wasn’t that much of a gossip he couldn’t help but eavesdrop. He was busily procrastinating the work he needed to do until the next day, refreshing tumblr around ten times a minute, so it wasn’t too surprising the conversation distracted him as soon as it got loud enough for him to hear.

 “But they haven’t been seen in public with each other in ages aside from their performances. I just really want them to be happy with each other, is that too much to ask?”

 That was the first voice again. Dan allowed himself a short look at the group out of the corner of his eyes and recognized all faces he was able to pick up on. They had all been to the performance Phil and him did twice a week in a near bar ever since their joint assignment last year, he was sure of it. He mostly recognized them because of the person that had spoken first, a girl with the pride flag drawn on her eyelids. He remembered how she had attracted his attention during their first show because of her truly iconic makeup.

 “I know, right?!” a male voice joined in and this time Dan didn’t need the information practically jumping into his face to realize they were talking about him and Phil.

 After their win in the finale they had decided to keep their relationship at a down low, trying to make themselves comfortable with being boyfriends before they truly made it public. They were still pretty famous throughout the students and the center of the rumor mill, but they had been in a relationship for almost a year now and had only recently realized there was nothing to be afraid of if everybody knew. Most of them would be happy for them, and the rest of them, well -

 They’d just have to suck it up.

 That was the moment his boyfriend decided to show up. He slid into the booth, taking a seat directly next to Dan, pressing their thighs together. “Morning, love,” he greeted Dan gently, planting a kiss on his cheek before grinning happily. “Busy procrastinating?”

 “Yeah,” Dan replied extra loud, grinning right back, “but I’d rather kiss my boyfriend.”

 So they shared a short, cute kiss, making the group behind them gasp loudly. “It’s them,” the girl with the pride flag on her eyelids whispered into the silence stretching between them. Dan grinned.

 “It is,” he confirmed cheekily, turning around to look at her. “Very iconic Make-up by the way, I like it.”

 “Oh my god, thank you,” she answered, a blush becoming apparent on her cheeks and Dan’s grin only got wider before he turned his attention back around to Phil.

 “What was that about?” he asked with a raised eyebrow and his head cutely tilted to the side.

 Dan pecked him on the lips. “Had to make a point.”

 Phil looked back cheekily, a grin on his face so wide Dan was able to see his tongue poking out between his teeth. “A point about what?”

 Dan puffed out his cheeks, feigning huffiness. Phil knew exactly what this was about, and they were both aware of that. “You’re an idiot,” he said, pouting.

 “Yeah, but I’m your idiot.”

 Dan looked at him, eyes full of fondness and adoration and love. “Exactly.”

[houseofgriffons]

Ok, so it was quick to review and comment on all Kdramas I’ve watched because I’ve only fully watched 10. I have hover watched 22 in total, but the remaining 12 I’ve only watched halfway or a 3rd of the way.

This can be explained by my very low attention span and also by the fact that I’m a boring person who only likes romance and uses Kdrama to rub my itch for cheesiness. As such I usually stop after the romance gets resolved and at the first signs of the final Drama™. Or the romance wasn’t interesting enough so I just lost interest.

I will then be reviewing the 10 dramas I’ve watched completely, which are all good and that I like otherwise I wouldn’t have watched ‘til the end. Then I’ll give a quick look on the ones I haven’t watched ‘til the end cause you might like them. I’ll also tell which ones I want to watch, and give you some nimes of popular dramas that look kinda cool but probably won’t retain my interest. Also tell you about the 4 korean movies I’ve actually watched rofl

All of that under the cut !

Part 1 : The good (aka. Things I could watch all the way)

Loosely ranked, but the last 5 are my absolute favourites and I wouldn’t really be able to rank them from 1st to 5th. Chief Kim isn’t in there although I love it because it’s not as deep.

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

About a collegiate weightlifting student (Kim Bok Joo, played by Lee Sung Kyung who is ♥ ♥ ♥) and a collegiate swimmer (I only remember two names in that drama, not his lol. The actor is Nam Joo Hyuk and he’s also bae). It’s kind of a slice-of-life show, but it follows their struggle both as athletes and as people. Deals with eating disorders in a pretty underwhelming manner. There’s also my wife in it, Lee Joo Young who plays Bok Joo’s best friend, Sun Ok (the only other name I remember). While it was funny and heartwarming, and the characters were interesting, it was lot of drama on top of drama, and miscommunication and lies are often used as plot devices (it is VERY often the case in kdramas I’ve noticed) and that’s just annoying to me. I basically sped through the last 4 episodes cause I just wanted to be done with it. It was very popular though, and it’sstill a good watch.

Love in the Moonlight

It starts with my favourite plot: a girl who has to dress up as a man. It also has my least favourite plot point: main guy has a gay scare because he thinks girl he likes is a man. But that’s just me. The heroine dresses up as a guy and finds herself enrolled as a eunuch in the palace, where she starts serving the prince. Shit happens and there’s stuff about rebels and all. I wasn’t really paying attention. I think it’s visually lovely, there lots of beautiful scenes. It also has Kwak Dong Yeon who’s one of my fav. I mean. Get a load of this :

How was he not the protag ? Anyway, it’s a nice watch but like a lot of other dramas I think it suffers from unbalanced pacing. The change of tone from the last arc compared to the beginning of the show is also kind of disturbing. The thing is, when you start watching a sweet romance thing with light themes you’re not really in the mood for a heavy political/action plotline by the end, you know ? I rushed through the last episodes cause I just didn’t give a crap lol

Witch’s Court

We’re getting to the good stuff. I didn’t even have to take a break before watching the end of that one !

Yi-Deum is a prosecutor. She’s a selfish and ambitious woman who would do anything to get ahead. But one day she does like one good moral choice and it leads to her being demoted to a new unit which deals in sex crime. As such the show is pretty heavy, but I thought it handled the themes pretty well. She becomes partnered with a newbie who’s a former psychologist. Her mom also disappeared when she was like 16 so that’s something.

Although there are overarching plots, it’s usually a one cas per episode/2 episodes type of deal, which I think helps to keep a balanced pace, while not undermining character developpment.

Character development is HUGE in this show by the way. Cause Yi Deum is a BITCH. And when I say that I don’t mean “Booohoooo she’s mean to the cute guy :’(” no I mean she’s a heartless money grabber with no morals and no empathy AT ALL. Even when she does something good, she does it in a “bad” way. So it’s really enjoyable to see her slooow progress towards being a worthy protagonist. Love her.

W

You know, Take On Me’s music video ? Yeah.

Oh Yeon Joo is an intern in surgery, and the daughter of the famous author of the webcomic W, which tells the story of Kang Chul, a prodigy olympic shooter who was wrongly accused of the murder of his family and turned a new leaf after being proven innocent. He then became a millionaire by creating a crime solving network channel and he catches bad guys yada yada yada. Anyway, he’s not the real star of the show, Yeon Joo is. One day, the two world start overlapping as the forces of two different creative minds collide.

I have found that Korean Dramas are really good with mind bending concepts, and they make for very smart and thought provoking plot points. I watched this with my best friend who got me into Kdramas (it was the secon drama I watched). My friend and I thought the ending was very disappointing though, but I’d say the journey is worth the mediocre destination, and well, opinions might differ.

Yeon Joo carries the show. She’s one of the greatest heroine I’ve ever seen. She’s smart, brave, resourceful. She’s not a ditz but she still retains a girly charm, and she’s got such a strong spirit. It’s a delight to see her and Kang Chul interact, mainly because they’re on equal grounds most of the time. She doesn’t let herself be intimidated by him at all, and she saves his ass as much (if not more) as he saves hers.

Also her and Lee Jong Suk are so fucking hot like omg what a power couple. The good thing is that they are always honest with each other. Because of the fact that the comic is a thing, there is no reason to lie, and even when it’s not because of the comics they remain truthful with each other and I don’t remember miscommunication ever being used as a plot device.

Chief Kim

This one is not about romance at all, it’s about accounting and frauds. It’s hilarious. Kim Sung Ryung is a small time accountants, expert swindler, who works for small town mafiosos. He manages, somehow, to get hired as the director of the accounting department of a large company after the former attempted suicide and ended up in a coma. At the same time, former prosecutor Seo Yool (played by my ABSOLUTE FAVE OF ALL TIMES LEE JUNHO), specialising in frauds, start working as a director at the company, ready to cover all the dark dealings of the company, despite accountant Yoon Ha-Kyung’s effort to uncover the truth behind the suicide attempt. 

How does something about accounting manages to be so funny and still full of suspence ? This got me on the edge of my seat all the way through, and still managed to make me laugh my ass off. The acting can be a bit over the top sometimes, as it is still a comedy show, but Junho and Namgung Min are incredible as a duo. It’s very rare to see a friendship or rivalry take the center of a show instead of a romantic one but their interactions are always so fun to watch. 

I really liked it, I don’t know... I like office stories. The female lead is super cool. She’s smart, level headed, soft hearted, empathetic, and her friendship with Sung Ryung is the kind you rarely see in dramas. 

Page Turner

The shortest drama on the list. It’s only 3 episodes long and IT SHOULD BE LONGER. 

Yoon Yoo Seul is the daughter of a piano teacher, and attends a musical high school. She’s a prodigy pianist rivaled only by her mother’s former student Seo Jin Mok, a rich spoiled brat who hates Yoo Seul bc she’s just that good. Because of an accident, Yoo Seul may have to give up on her mother’s dream of her becoming a famous pianist. Meanwhile, promising athlete Cha Sik faces the same situation and gives up on ever becoming a professional athlete, but he starts considering the piano instead, although he’s never touched a piano ever in his life.

It’s heartwarming, it’s beautiful, it’s raw and soft and it’s hopeful. It’s short so I can’t say much without spoiling stuff but if you need to watch something, watch this. 

While You Were Sleeping

Lee Jong Suk always has good romances. 

Nam Hong Joo (Suzy the Bae ♥) has always had dreams where she foresaw the future. She lives with her mom, who runs a pork restaurant. One day, they get new neighboors; Jae Chan, a newly appointed prosecutor, and his younger brother. AAND honestly I won’t say much more than that because the first episode alone is such a RIDE that it would be spoiling it.

The three main characters are AMAZING. They are funny, resourceful, quirky in unexpected ways, honest and good. And because premonition is a thing, lying and miscommunication is rarely used as well ! The characters are honest with each other, and their relationships develops naturally and “organically” without stealing the thunder of the main plot.

As I said in W, they use the concept perfectly and intelligently. It keeps you on edge and you’re excited to see what will happen next. Also, Jae Chan being a prosecutor, there’s a bit of that case-by-case element going on that I like which helps balancing the pace. I watched it in one go and did not even take a break at some point !

Goblin

If you have ever looked at the Kdrama scene, you’ve probably heard of Goblin. That show’s been a huge phenomenon. I’ve seen it referenced in other dramas a lot, and it’s basically become a cult. And it deserves the praise.

When General Kim Shin was slain by the king he was serving, he became Dokkaebi, a powerful and immortal entity which can only be killed by the goblin’s bride.

900 years later, Ji Eun-Tak is a high school student (she’s 19-20, the age at which korean usually finish high school !) with the ability to see ghosts. Her mother died when she was 10. On that night, she met the Grim Reaper.

And as you can expect from me presenting this to you in such a way, Eun Tak is the Goblin’s bride, though she does not know of the duty that comes with that role. 

The show is funny, beautiful, heartwrenching. The characters are PHENOMENAL, and not just the main protagonists, but you’ll see what I mean. The concepts presented in the show are so interesting ! Especially their vison of death, reincarnation, redemption... It’s an incredible and emotional journey all the way. It doesn’t shy away from sadness and tragedy when it is needed or expected (unlike W *cough*)  and yet manages to leave you elated and smiling (through the tears). A classic that you NEED to watch. And that I wanna rewatch too.

Scarlet Heart : Ryeo

I’ve just noticed that my top dramas are all super sad. 

It’s based on a chinese Drama. After a terrible break up that left her in a ditch, emotionally and financially, the heroine almost drowns during an eclipse. She wakes up in the Josen period as Hae Soo, a young lady in waiting to the wife of one of the 8 princes of the kingdom. As she gets accustomed to this new and strange setting, she gets to know the princes, the schemings of the court, the rivalries and the dangers of that period.

Lee Ji Eun (aka IU) is phenomenal. I think this was her second or third role ever, and her first big role and holy crap she is incredible. Her character is just perfect and it’s really great to see her evolve, grow and try to keep up against this cruel time.  I don’t want to say much about it because i really don’t want to spoil anything.

The story spans over like 15 years if I remember correctly. And what might seem like a cutesy quirky romance period drama turns into something darker and heavier while never losing its spark. It will make you cry, but like, in a good way. That was the first drama I watched with my best friend and it’s awesome and now I kind wanna rewatch it.

Just Between Lovers/Rain or Shine

Rain or Shine never pretended to be cute or happy. It deals with trauma and survivor’s guilt, and it also involve disabled characters. Lee Gang Doo (JUNHO!!!!!) and Ha Moon Soo were both involved in the collapse of a shopping center as teenagers. Now grown up, the experience still haunts them and those around them. Now the site of the incident is going to get rebuilt again, and they will have to face their past.

 I binge-watched this so hard I barely slept. The characters are incredibly human and vulnerable. They bare their soul to the viewer in a way that leaves you completely shaken. And yet amidst all that, what I remember from it is softness (and tears, lots of tears). I think Gang Doo is the most outstanding male protagonist of all the dramas I’ve seen. He’s vulnerable, like. SO VULNERABLE. He’s a coward, he cries, he runs away from his problems, he keeps everything to himself. Moon Soo seems like she’s just a quirky shy girl but she turns out to be so strong, she’s the exact opposite of Gang Doo in a way, but somehow they work together so well. 

As a sidenote, I’d like to add something that striked me when I watched it, pleasantly so. The disabled characters are mentionned retain their agency. One of them is an autistic man, although he might seem like he’s infantilized during the series, in the end he still retains his agency as a person and as an adult and I thought that was really great to see, especially in a Korean drama. The other is a paraplegic woman, and she’s incredible. Despite her situation, she isn’t completely desexualised, she still retains romantic and sexual agency and she is also completely independant, as a successful webcomic artist.

I had a hard time deciding between that one, Scarlet Heart and Goblin for my favourite, but I think that one is closer to my heart. It really touched me in a way I didn’t expect, and I felt so close to the characters, because they were so well written.

Part 2: The Bad (aka Not really, I probably just got bored bc of the aformentioned reasons)

A Korean Odyssey (AKA discount Goblin): it’s an interesting take on the tale of the Monkey King. woman sees ghosts, woman meets weird magical entity. There’s someone killing someone else involved. It’s a bit cheesy, it’s kinda funny. I stopped because it was just drama atop drama and quiproquos and “I’m not gonna tell him/her because I wanna protect her/him but that’s just gonna make it worse !!!!” and that sort of stuff. In my mind it was kind of cheap plot devices. Interesting concepts though, and you could definitely make a nice mash-up with Goblin.

Radio Romance: It’s a cute romance, the cast is good, the heroine is cool, the male lead is cute. I was watching it weekly and at some point I just lost interest. I don’t know if I’ll ever finish it. Girl wants to be a writer for the radio, famous actor agrees to hos her show. Drama happens. It’s cute you should watch it if you have a longer attention span than me.

Temperature of Love: Woman meets a guy. She wants to be a writer, he wants to be a chef. One day he disappears, she becomes a writer, he becomes a chef. They meet again. It’s very cheesy, BUT it’s super hot. Yang Se Jong is super cute and he’s really popular atm. I just didn’t care enough to watch completely but I don’t have any real complaint.

Hospital Ship : I ALMOST watched til the end, until there was like a ridiculous plot point because we can’t just let the protags be happy, it needs DRAMA. I love medical dramas. My favourite show is actually Grey’s Anatomy. I love when there are different cases every episode and having the characters try to figure things out. Like, the medical is my favourite part of Medical Dramas, the drama not so much. So I bailed when it was TOO MUCH drama for me. The heroine is cool. It’s a bit on the cheap side, but it has a nice feeling to it.

Doctors : The heroine is a kick ass (litterally), but I didn’t like the romance, and it focused more on the drama than the medical imo. Lots of people like it though, and Park Shin Hye is a phenomenal actress.

School 2017: SCHOOL’S OUT FOREVER. Apparently School 20-- are a popular series and each season as nothing to do with the other. This one was great imo, it adressed the pressure in the korean educational system, the corruption, the privilege of rich students, adult indifference, abuse, bullying... And the main protags are great. The heroine is cute and hilarious and strong willed, the male lead is hot, awkward... I didn’t finish it because ... I don’t know, I just interest. Also... Yeah ok spoiler ! So I learned that there wasn’t actually a kiss between the main couple in the show (which has probably to do with the fact that the actress is an idol. Ugh) and so I was like “UHM WHAT’S THE POINT THEN ???” I’m shallow like that

My Secret Romance: Girl has a one night stand on the beach, leaves the guy naked in a car and bails. 3 years later he’s her boss. It’s hot, but SUPER cheesy and SUPER cheap. Like honestly the only reason I watched it was for the romanc but DAMN BANG SUNG HOON IS SUPER HOOOOOT. But hotness can only keep you going for so long and when the plot devices you would expect in a cinderella story happen you’re just like “ugh bye”.

Ms Perfect: I need to finish it. A mom of 2 gets fired, she learns her husband is cheating on her, the mistress dies mysteriously, and also a weird psycho offers to live in her house. I need to finish it but I guess it just got a little too much for me. There’s Sung Joon in it, he’s really cute, i like him a lot. He’s also in the two next dramas.

Madame Antoine: A woman pretends to be a medium channelling the spirit of Marie-Antoinette and teams up with a psychologist (Sung Joon) who’s also conducting an experiment on her. Cheesy. Not that interesting, but the case they study are interesting sometimes. There’s Hwang Seung Eon in it, she’s super hot.

High Society: Basically about the korean Jet Set. Watched for Sung Joon initially. It’s an older one, and I think it’s a bit tacky. It’s also a lot of clichés, and I don’t like the heroine. I love her best friend though, and her relationship with Sung Joon’s best friend in the show, played by Park Hyung Sik. But yeah, it’s not a high IQ show.

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon: this also has Park Hyung Sik in it. I think he’s really cute. Bong Soon was born with super strength and she wants to work in the video game industry. She meets video game company CEO whatshisname (Park Hyung Sik) and he hires her as his bodyguard and huh stuff happens. It’s cheesy, but somehow super creepy as well cause there’s a serial killer who kidnaps women in it and he’s soooooooooooooooo creepy. But it’s also infuriating cause it’s like “Oh no, a young woman got kidnapped for the fourth time in that area ! *cut to another young woman not giving a shit and walking around that area at night also the police doesn’t patrol the area for some reason*”. It was really popular, but I didn’t really like it.

Tomorrow with you : guys can travel in a few years in time by using the metro, and he tries to set things right using this power. It’s a bit of a mindfuck and it’s kidna complicated to follow. I need to finish it !!!

Hwarang : There is no use watching this. Don’t. The cast is great but that’s just not enough. Terrible pacing, terrible romance, the side characters are way more interesting than the main ones but they get easily sidelined. The pacing is terrible. It has the dumbest death I’ve ever seen, and it was used for shock value.

Shopping King Louie: Fashionista and heir Ji Sung/Louis loses his memory in a failed assassination attempts, and ends up living with country bumpkin Bok Sil, come to Seoul to find her missing brother. I stopped watching in the last lap, basically the final obstacle was showing its head and I was like “yeah that’s enough for me”. It’s really cute. 

I almsot forgot

Hit the top: artist from the early 90s travels in time to 2017 and starts living with a young man who dreams of becoming an idol who is actually his son. Didn’t like the way the romance went. Like. I really was against it. The male lead is annoying. Minjae is better.

Hip Hop Teacher: it got cancelled but FUCK IT WAS USPER GAY IT HAD LEE JOO YOUNG IN IT AS A TERRIBLE MUSIC TEACHER WHO RAPS AT NIGHT AND YURA WAS LIKE jdsiughergegreg there’s only 2 parts but watch them if you can cause it makes my wlw soul live

Part 3: The pretties, aka things I wanna watch

My Mister: just because IUs in it. She looks incredible.

Mr Sunshine: it has Kim Tae Ri !!!! Aka the handmaiden from The Handmaiden !!! It takes place in 19th century Joseon ! It adresses japanese ccupation !!!! Rebel princess !!! Korean victorian drama !!! The hot dad from Memories of the Word is there !!!!

The Great Seducer: Minjae just looks super hot in it idk but I bet he doesn’t get the girl and I’m gonna be mad.

Memory and Wok Of Love cause Junho’s in it lol.

The Ghost Detective, Something in The Rain, cause it jas Lee Joo Young in them

Part 4: Things you might want to watch

These are pretty popular, but I’m not that interested myself, you might like them.

Juggles; office romance, looks kinda steamy, the male lead is super hot

The Bride of Habaek; based on the comic Bride of The Water-god. Reallyyyyyy hot. Has Nam Joo Hyuk in it. IDDK I heard it’s good

Fight for my way: i have no idea what it’s about, but the main characters’ relationship looks cute

Legend of the Blue Sea: modern take on the Little Mermaid. The male lead is a swindler who uses hypnosis, the heroine is funny because she looks very mature and hot but she’s a mess of derp

Descendants of the Sun: it’s about a female doctor who gets sent to Afghanistan I think ?????? Everyone always praises it

Part 5: the movie

Royal Tailor: the tailor of the royal family seeks the help of an innovative tailor who usually works for prostitutes. It’s not a happy movie. Beautiful

Pirates: You wanna see kickass women kick asses ? This is for you. Your more typical martial arts movie

Memories of the sword: If you like women kicking ass too, but you also want to cry. It has Kim Go Eun, and also Junho !!!!! And the guy from Mr. Sunshine. Loved it. But super sad. Not a happy movie at all. But very cool and visually pretty.

The Handmaiden: I mean I don’t even need to explain it. If you haven’t watched it, just know that, as Park Chan Wook movies tend to, it is VERY WEIRD and unsettling. 

The Last Train to Busan: ZOMBIE MOVIES !!!! It has the main actor from Goblin in it !!!! It is super cool because it’s not just “UGH zombiiiies ! Smash heads ! Violence ! Scary ooooh !” it is also a critic on greed and selfishness (and not as something stupid like “yeah zombies are actually a metaphor for consumerism”) it makes you think, it keeps you on edge, it’s not overly scary but it’s still manages to give you good scares and has some very tense moments. LOVE IT.

WOOOOOOOOOH I AM DONE. This took me 3 HOURS TO WRITE can you believe it ??? I hope this was helpful. Don’t take some of my critics to heart, I’m harsh when it comes to that sort of stuff, and very particular. If you need to watch somehting. Go for my top 5 ! Thank you for trusting my opinion that much <3

[lonelypond]

AU YEAH AUGUST, Fake Dating

Love Live, NicoMaki NozoEli, 2.5K, @auyeahaugust

Summary: Nico and Eli try fake dating to boost Eli's career.

Fake It ‘Til Maki Breaks It

Donner, big, blonde, muscled, in a relationship with another woman...Eli Ayase wanted the part so badly. The Shadow Cabinet series being developed had put out a call for LGBTQ actresses for the parts of Donner and Blitzen. Eli wanted in on that short list. Her career had been stalled for awhile, a few modelling gigs, nothing like Nico’s career arc, with a starring role in a ground breaking, mostly musical romantic comedy set in an music conservatory. Nico had decided to take a break, develop a project as a director, leverage her star power into something personal.

Eli had talked to Nozomi about ways to raise her profile and as reluctant as she initially was about Nozomi’s suggestion, the more she thought about, on the way to Nico’s condo, the faster her steps got. Nico could only say no. And then laugh at her for years. Might be worth it. And Nozomi was already laughing at her now. Eli smiled, looking forward to when her girlfriend returned from Japan, but that was months away still.

Nico was sitting at her desk, taking selfies. She’d just renovated her spare bedroom as an office and had spent the last two days texting Eli about the best angle for the professional look. Eli had been sending back very unprofessional photos of the cacti on her kitchen windowsill.

“Hey, Eli, Nico figured it out without any help from you.” Nico dropped her phone, sticking out her tongue.

Eli shrugged, then slid behind Nico, hugging the dark haired woman, “I need your help, Nico.”

“Who does Nico need to hurt?” Nico jumped to her feet, hands up in Marquis of Queensbury pose, brow furrowed comically over crimson eyes, like an angry Tex Avery cartoon character.

Eli giggled and stole Nico’s seat, spinning it and stretching out her legs, “You’re adorable, Nico.”

“Nico is tough. And dangerous.”

“Dangerously cute.” Eli blew a kiss.

Nico brushed it off, muttering as she started rearranging various things on her shelf, “Flattery does not work on Nico.” Then she glared at Eli, “What’s up?”

“I need to be gayer.”

“Talk to your girlfriend.”

“She’s in Japan.” Eli sighed, “And this was her idea.”

Now Nico looked suspicious, “What was Nozomi’s idea?”

“Raising my profile by being seen in public doing date like stuff with you.”

“Everyone knows you’re already dating Nozomi.”

Eli frowned, “Turns out not so much. And I want to get on the Shadow Cabinet casting director’s radar.”

Nico scratched her chin, “Donner.”

“Donner.”

“I could make calls?” Nico offered, skipping right over the dating suggestion as if she hadn’t heard it.

“Nicooooo….”

“Eliiiiiiiiii….” Nico pfffed, “Nozomi is crazy.”

“Yes.” Eli grinned happily, unabashed in her admiration of even Nozomi’s trickster qualities.

“Nico is not.”

“Come on, Nico.” Eli scooted the chair over, wrapping her arms around Nico’s waist, forcing the smaller woman to pull her around the room, “You’ll like it. Your pics’ll be all over and you can tell everyone about directing.”

Nico broke Eli’s hold, “Why me?”

Eli chuckled, “Nozomi says I’m not your type.”

“No, generally Nico prefers SINGLE and sexy.” She waggled a finger at Eli, “Not that you’re sexy. Nico is sexy, Eli is….” Nico swept a hand up and down as Eli pouted and Nico spit out the word, “Statuesque.”

Eli leaned over the chair back, “I’ll spring for a suit so you can get your Janelle Monae Noir Town Hitchcock vibe on.”

Nico hesitated, looked at the page of the photoshoot she’d framed on her wall, Janelle Monae suited up and cocking a lighter, then sighed “Perfect cool. Nico already has the fedora. And Nico knows a good vintage shop with a tailor.”

“So?” The big eyes. Nico hated the big eyes. Eli’s blue ones gleamed with good humor and just a bit of sadness. The thing that nearly convinced Nico was that she knew how much Eli would rather be doing this with her actual girlfriend. Eli remembered something and pulled out her phone, “Nozomi said if you didn’t do this, the cards were foreboding.”

“She just likes to use fancy words.”

“Says the person who just called me something so dusty I nearly sneezed.”

Nico, arms crossed over her chest, considered. Things had been slow, papers were being signed, money was being transferred, insurance contracts were being finalized. She had about a week before the crazy started. And Eli had been a good friend since their freshman year at NU. “Three dates. Then Nico starts cinematographer interviews.”

“Agreed.”

“No tongue.”

Eli stuck out hers.

“You wish.” Nico countered.

Date one was a wedding. Nico had picked out the suit, without Eli, and when Eli saw Nico stroll into her apartment, snazzy in a charcoal and gray glen plaid, pressed and gleaming, Eli knew Nico had paid more than she’d told Eli. Boots were polished, Nico’s hand rested jauntily in her pocket, jacket undone enough that the suspender popped a bit. Crimson tie with a small black design scattered over it completed the look. Nico tilted her hat, “Feel gayer yet.”

Eli laughed and flipped her phone around, “Say hi to Nozomi.”

“Why?”

Nozomi’s laugh floated into the room, “Have her back by eleven, Nico-chi.”

Nico grabbed the phone, “Bye Mom.”

Eli had opted for a bright blue pantsuit, lacy, see through ivory camisole underneath, white Chuck Taylors on her feet, orchid in her hair, “Let’s go blow out the gender binary.”

Nico offered her arm, “Nico prefers ‘let’s Bowie.’”

The “on the way to a wedding with my best girl” rising star Eli Ayase photo Nico had posted had blown up and when they actually arrived at the venue, there was a stir at the entrance. Nico knew cameras were out, pictures would be posted, she’d even provided the hashtag: #NicoEli1st. Why not let the universe in on their first ‘date.’ The universe liked snooping. Nico found a few people who were linking to Eli’s modelling campaigns. And Eli was posting about how glad she was people could find relationships that worked for them, with a #thanksNozomi and a winky face. Interest, mild controversy, lots of talk, probably wouldn’t hurt Nico. And this mansion was gorgeous, shadows and corners and patterns and contrasts. Nico might have to consider it for a location if she ever did a murder mystery type of thing, Hitchcocky...Nico had the suit now, although unlike Cary Grant in North By Northwest, she wouldn’t let it steal the movie. Unbuttoning her jacket, while Eli found the family of her friend the bride, Nico pulled out her semi vintage Zippo with a pinup girl on it. Nico wouldn’t smoke just for mood, but as she leaned against the wall, stretching out a leg, she flicked a flame exactly as a redhead came around the corner, tripping over her leg, Nico stumbling forward, loosing her grip on the lighter, which fell on the back of the now prone redhead. Nico snatched it up, closing it, hastily patting down the person for flames.

“Get your hands off me!” The redhead pushed up, she was dressed in jeans and a hoodie. Very unsuited to a wedding.

“Watch where you’re going!” Nico shouted, scared.

“Sorry, Arsonist.” The blade of the redhead’s sarcasm was samurai worthy, her lavender eyes narrowed and daring Nico to say something.

“Nico was trying to save your life.” Nico pocketed the lighter with a flair, her heart fluttering too fast.

“Sorry, don’t need your help. Just stay out of my way.”

Nico stepped aside, sweeping out a hand, “Gladly.”

“Stupid celebrities.” The redhead muttered as she passed, which caused Nico to grin. Recognized, check.

“Nico forgives you.” Too good not to toss off a parting barb.

The responding glare was Klieg level.

Since these were Eli’s friends, as the reception started a few had wondered about Nozomi, and Eli had politely explained they were taking a time out while Nozomi decided if she wanted to stay in Japan. So Eli was just casually going a few dates to stay busy. Nico was an old friend. At this point in the story, Nico would grin and wink. The fifth time through Nico found herself distracted by a spotlight on a piano and red hair she’d seen before, now wearing a stunning purple backless dress with a train, sat at the piano, elegant fingers hovering over the keys. Nico loosened her collar, elbows on the table, staring, as the pianist began “Come Rain or Shine” and the couple took the dance floor. Eli nudged Nico so hard she nearly fell off her chair, “HEY!”

“We were just saying” Eli smiled at the matronly woman next to her, “how nice it is to not to just be trying to find a date online.”

“Nico mostly stays out of the dating pool.” Nico stated, eyes still on the redhead, who had started another song, one that Nico couldn’t quite recognized.

Eli coughed and her foot came down on Nico’s, “Until I told her I didn’t want to come to this wedding alone.”

Nico realized she must have missed a few cues. “You’ll agree, Eli is too nice to come to a wedding alone. Nico is too chivalrous for that.”

Eli smiled, her foot easing up, the matron clucked sympathetically.

“You’re terrible at this.” Eli hissed in Nico’s ear.

Nico flailed a hand toward Eli as she turned around in her chair, facing the pianist, “Leave me alone. I’m trying to figure out the songs.”

“Crazy He Calls Me” The matron offered, “Isn’t she wonderful?”

“Who is she?” Nico’s question was too quick, as she couldn’t take her eyes off the muscles revealed by the sloping back.

“Nishikino Maki. She’s crazy rich, splits her time between photography and music.” Note of pride, “I know her parents, they wanted her to be a doctor.”

“Nico’d be sick all the time.” Nico muttered.

Eli stomped again, Nico glared, Eli tilted her head in the direction of the third person at the table. Nico smiled and decided to save the day and her toes, “Nico is just a big fan of the American standard songbook and you rarely get to hear them played this well, live.”

“I know” a warm smile from the target audience, “It’s a wedding gift to us.”

Nico stood, eyes still on the piano, but a hand held out to Eli, “Shall we dance, Eli.”

“Excuse us, Geri.”

“Of course,” near drunken tittering, “Enjoy yourself, girls.”

Eli let Nico pull her into a hold, “You’re really terrible at this.”

Nico sighed, “You’re really not my type.”

“RIght there with ya.” Eli mocked Nozomi’s accent and Nico snorted.

“Nico is everyone’s type.”

“What’d the redhead do?” Eli followed Nico’s lead, amused by her friend’s antics. Nico was always worth the price of admission.

“Tried to set herself on fire with Nico’s lighter.”

Eli doubled over with laughter, evening out their heights, “You’re terrible at everything.”

Nico rolled her shoulders in a long shrug as she finally caught the pianist’s eye and winked. “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” picked up tempo, “Nico has hidden talents.”

“Charm isn’t one of them.”

Nico let Eli twirl herself out into the middle of the dance floor, pulling her close on the dancer’s return, “You’ll never know.”

“Nope. And I’m perfectly fine with that.”

“This is a dumb way to get people’s attention, you know. Nico will call people.” Nico was confidently leading them through the dancing crowd, when the pianist started to sing, “This Is The End of A Beautiful Friendship,” her voice a breathy, smooth as silk cord twisting through the crowd, Nico stopped, Eli bumping into her. The brides were dancing, foreheads touching, happily absorbed in each other. Nico and Eli shared a glance, both a little envious, both a little lonely.

“Let’s sit down.” Eli pulled Nico off the dance floor.

“Yeah. At the bar.”

“No. We are going to call Nozomi and let her hear this. It’s amazing.” Eli pulled out her phone.

“It is.” Nico settled back backwards in her seat so she could watch the pianist, “You’re hopeless.”

“And you love me.” Eli leaned over to kiss Nico’s cheek, Nico’s smile was wry.

“You’re ruining my mysterious vibe.”

Nozomi's voice cut in, “Oh Nico-chi, you’re too cute to be mysterious. Like a tiny kitten about to pounce on a dust bunny.”

“Go away Nozomi.”

“I am.”

“Well then come home so your girlfriend doesn’t try to date me.”

There was a humming, which Nico barely heard over Maki’s voice wrapping itself around “Orange Colored Sky” while Nico’s foot tapped along, “You know, Nico-chi, I think I will.”

“Nozomi!” Eli cried out, Nico glanced over her shoulder, yep tears as Eli took the phone off speaker and left the table, speaking rapidly.

Then the redhead bowed her way into a break and Nico grabbed a glass of water and a flower out of the centerpiece and angled her way to the corridor Maki had fled down.

The redhead was leaning gracefully in a breeze, a few hairs blowing, head down, hands smoothing her dress. Nico coughed and she looked up, “Oh, you.”

Nico put on her best smile, “That was amazing. And Nico doesn’t even like piano.”

An incredulous look under a sharply raised eyebrow, “Noted. I think I’ll keep playing it though. You know, for the people with taste.”

“I’m sorry about the lighter.” Nico stated, offering the flower and the flute, “It’s water.”

Maki put the flower in the flute, “No thanks.”

“The singing though, WOW…” Nico nodded, trying for sage, “And Nico is a professional.”

The other eyebrow went, although the cheeks flushed slightly. “Really.” Sarcasm stained the ceiling.

“Well, more pop stuff, but yeah.” Nico ignored the disdain. Nico sniffed the flower, then reached into her inside pocket for her card, “Had my own show. Now I’m directing.”

Maki made a big show of having no pockets and tucked the card into the band of Nico’s hat, which, although Nico would never have admitted it, might have deflated her slightly.

“Anyway,” Nico tilted her head at the taller woman, enjoying a moment of silence before saving the situation, although her words came out in a nervous rush, “Alakazam! Nico just wanted to say your voice is as pretty as you are and if Nico can ever help you out, let me know.”

“Thanks, I’m good.” The redhead swept by, flicking a hand up and it took Nico until the redhead looked back winking, settling Nico’s fedora on her head, to realize she’d lifted Nico’s hat.

“Hey!” Nico started to chase after, but then paused at the edge of the dance floor, considering. She searched for a blonde head and found it across the floor. Raising her hands to her mouth, she shouted in that direction, “Hey, Eli.”

Blue eyes locked on hers and Nico continued as Maki began to play “Fly Me To The Moon.” “We’re breaking up.”

A/N: Anonymous dropped "you asked me to your wedding but your cousin's cute" in my ask box, which seemed a fake dating natural, which turned into this, because like Nico and Eli, I am terrible at this ; ) I think the world could use some more Nico Eli friendship.

Shadow Cabinet is a good comic from the Milestone Media days, and then Donner and Blitzen spun off into The World Needs Heroes with a few others.

Take care! New kitten has pushed my to do list back.