#i accidentally picked advanced maths for next year

[bubblefina]

King of Hearts chapter 6

Masterlist

Summary: Reader and Tom meet during their years at Hogwarts, but as the years pass a rivalry grows between the two of them, which leads from soft beginnings to tragic endings.

“What could have caused it?” his face turned to yours, his eyes weren’t the same as the ones he used to glare at you, they looked vulnerable. “There are things about my family that just don’t make sense, I found out things that I didn’t want to find out. I found things…”

Pairings: Tom x f!reader

Warning: mentions of suicide(very briefly)

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩

Chapter 6-  King of hearts

  The halls were silent, only the slight sound of footprints made by prefects could be heard walking down the halls.

It was 11:45, five minutes before you had to pick up Tom from the dungeons. You stood against the wall patiently, listening carefully so if someone were to walk nearby you could hide yourself.

The dungeons were cold, cold and dark. A few dimly lighted lanterns helped to see better, but they didn’t do much. If you weren’t careful, you could trip over your own robes, but luckily you weren’t wearing your house robes tonight. 

While waiting, you hear footsteps coming closer. Hiding behind a column that was nearby, you tried staying as still as possible.

The footsteps got closer until they couldn’t be heard anymore. Your heart felt as if it would beat outside your rib cage, if you were to get caught in the Slytherin dungeon as a student from another house, who knows what the punishment would be.

The footsteps were long gone, that or the person making them was as still as you. Taking a small chance, you turned your head slightly, so you could see if anyone was there, fortunately there wasn’t. 

On the other hand, while you were looking away, a presence had made itself present in front of you.

“Oh my god-” your sudden outburst was cut off by the person putting their hands over your mouth.

“Seeing how this whole this was your idea, your carelessness of standing out in the open shows how stupid you really are.” It was Tom. 

He removed his hand from your math and wiped it on his trousers.

“Apologies, I wasn’t expecting you to poof right in front of me. How’d you do that anyway, I didn’t hear you walk up to me.” It was more of a rhetorical question, but Tom took the time to answer it anyway.

“You can do many things if you're clever enough. For a Ravenclaw, you’re rather daft, aren’t you.” He followed you as you walked out of the dungeon and onto the main floor of the castle.

“For a Slytherin, you’re really annoying, you know that Riddle?” 

Your ears perked up as you heard another set of footsteps coming from down the hall. You ushered Riddle into a nearby room and closed the door behind you.

“Nice going, are we going to spend the whole night in a broom closet?” You could hear the annoyance in his voice, at this point it might as well be his normal tone of voice.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, Riddle,” you took out your wand and pointed it in front of you, “Lumos.” 

You then started to rummage through some supplies in the closet.

“What are you doing now?” Tom asks.

“I’ve gotten stuck here before when I was running away from my house's head boy. He chased me down the halls because lost a few house points.” 

“How did you lose house points?”

“I may have accidentally jinxed someone.”

Tom found your playful tone amusing, he continued to ask you more questions about your experience.

“How do you accidentally jinx someone? And why?”

“Long story short, a girl from Gryffindor was gossiping about me, I overheard and put an Oppugno jinx on her, and she went and told the head of Gryffindor on me, and then 50 house points were taken from Ravenclaw, and the head boy was furious.”

“Oppugno? That seems a bit advanced for you, l/n.”

You turned from shuffling the supplies and smiled in Riddle's face, “You can do many things if you’re clever enough.”

After shuffling some more, you found a small door that was hidden behind a curtain in the corner.

“If we go through this door, it’ll lead to a trap door above this floor, then we can take the nearby corridor to the Astronomy tower.” Opening the door, you crouched down and started to crawl into the door, Riddle reluctantly followed you.

After crawling for a few minutes, you were able to stand in a small space, it was lined with stones and a few of them stuck out of the wall to act as a leverage for climbing.

Riddle had appeared next to you, waiting for the next move.

You started to climb the wall until you got to the top, and pushed the trap door open, climbing out of the small space.

“Hurry and climb up, I don’t know how long these halls will be empty for.” You reached out your hand for Tom to grab as he climbed up, but he turned away from it and pushed himself out of the door.

“Where to now?” he asks as he closes the trap door.

“If we go left, the nearby hallway should lead to the Astronomy tower,” you take a second to look at Tom before asking, “Want to run for it?”

He looks at you as if you just asked him to commit murder.

“Run? Why would we run?”

“Just in case a prefect is nearby.”

“If we run, we’d be more likely to get caught. The perfect would hear the noise.”

“You’re such a wet towel, Riddle.” You say, walking away from him and heading to another hallway.

୨୧┈┈┈୨୧୨୧┈┈┈୨୧୨୧┈┈┈୨୧

You entered the Astronomy tower by using an unlocking spell on the door. The telescopes were still there, along with the desks and stools.

Sitting down, you adjusted your telescope and looked to the place where you had seen the nebula.

“It’s still here.” you gushed.

“Did you expect it to run away?” Tom took a seat next to you.

You took the book you had gotten from the library out of the small bag that was slung over your shoulder, flipping the pages until the passage about the nebula was visible to you again.

“What do you think the rest of the paragraph was supposed to say?” you ask him.

“How am I supposed to know? I never took interest in this in the first place?” He pushes the book away from him and turns to his telescope.

“You’re such a negative Nancy you know that?”

“First I’m a goody two shoes, then a wet towel, and now I’m a negative Nancy, is there anything else you want to call me?”

“Tempered Tommy seems like it might fight you.”

Tom sent a glare your way that caused you to laugh. His serious eyes just never managed to fit in with the rest of his features, they were too innocent looking to be threatening.

Time passed as the both of you looked into your telescopes, talking about what could fit the rest of the prophecy, and writing down anything that made sense.

A few laughs were passed between the two of you here and there, but things got a bit dull after a while.

You were laying down on your back, staring at the stars. The noise of Tom scribbling stuff down on a notebook you had given him made a question pop up into your head.

“Why were you in the restricted section?” you asked, trying to break the ongoing silence that had been going on between you two.

“Why should I tell you?”

“I’m just curious. What could interest you in the restricted section that you can’t find in the open sections of the library.”

Tom stopped writing, putting the quill down. He didn’t talk or look at you, but he was debating on whether he should tell you.

“My family.”

“Your family?”

Tom nodded his head. You sat up from your position on the floor and looked at him.

“What about your family? Why would they be in the restricted section?”

Tom still didn’t turn around to look at you, which made his response that much detached.

“I was born and raised in an orphanage. I have no real family, and even if I do, I doubt they’d want me. Since I could do magic, I figured at least one of my parents could do magic. I thought it had been my father, so I looked up his name using the records, but found nothing. Then I looked up my middle name, ‘Marvolo’, and found my mother's family. The Gaunt's.”

You shifted your position, so you were sitting closer to him. He never seemed like the type to open up to just any person, what made you so special. He could have just told you ‘no’, to your question.

“My mother, I didn’t believe she could be the magic one. She died while she gave birth to me, if she was a witch, if she had magic, she couldn’t have died, she couldn’t, could she?”

Tom sounded like he was asking you that question, like he wanted reassurance. Reassurance from the fact that his mom was the magic one, and she had died.

“There could have been other reasons that your mother died.” You weren’t sure if he wanted an answer, but not saying something made it feel so much more awkward. 

“What could have caused it?” his face turned to yours, his eyes weren’t the same as the ones he used to glare at you, they looked vulnerable. “There are things about my family that just don’t make sense, I found out things that I didn’t want to find out. I found things…”

You patiently waited for him to finish what he was going to say, he looked like he was struggling to form another sentence. 

Before he could speak, you heard a voice coming from beyond the tower door.

“Is someone up there?” the voice asked.

Looking at the door, then quickly at tom, you whispered with fear, “A prefect.”

You grabbed the book that was on the floor next to you and stood up. Tom pointed to the back of the tower and whispered that the both of you should hide behind it. You stumbled with your feet, running to the back of the tower. The both of you managed to hide before the prefect opened the door. The darkness of the tower managed to keep the both of you covered from the perfect view, who only looked around the tower for a few seconds before leaving through the door.

You exhaled a breath you didn’t even know you were holding, thanking Merlin that the both of you were able to stay hidden.

You turned to Tom, who was as still as a statue, not moving even after you started to.

“C'mon scaredy-cat, the prefect is gone, but let's go before he decides to come back for a follow-up search.” You placed the book and notebook back into your bag, moving completely out of the shaded area.

Looking back at Tom, he was still standing in the shadows, and it was creeping you out.

“Stop standing in the dark like a lunatic, let’s go before the prefect comes back.” you grabbed his wrist once more and moved him out of the shadows, heading towards the tower door.

Hopefully the both of you could make it back to your dorm rooms with no problems.

୨୧┈┈┈୨୧୨୧┈┈┈୨୧୨୧┈┈┈୨୧

Another week had passed since that night at the Astronomy tower. Not wanting to risk getting caught, you decided to wait before you could return to the tower again.

You had devised another plan and told Tom that you would meet him at the Astronomy tower that Friday night, same as the last time.

However, you couldn’t come and get him like the last time. There was a Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin earlier that day. Since Gryffindor lost the match, Slytherin was expecting petty pranks. Prefects would be patrolling the dungeons at all times.

‘Why should I run off alone? If the prefects are going to be patrolling all night, then I would be caught easily.’ Tom asked you as the both of you were walking down the hall together.

‘Because, even if you are caught you’re a Slytherin, they’ll probably just tell you to go back to your dorm. If you manage to evade them, then you can meet me at the tower.’

‘What about you? You’ll be on the tower alone.’

“What's that now, Riddle? Are you worried about me?’

Tom stopped walking, and so did you.

‘Don’t look at me like that. I’ll meet you at the tower tonight, see you later.’

That conversation took place hours ago, it was around 30 minutes before you had to leave for the Astronomy tower.

Pretending to be asleep, you were tucked under your blanket. Keeping an eye out for your friends, who seemed to be fast asleep.

That croaking frog finally managed to quiet up during the nights, which allowed you to sleep carefully for the past few days.

With 15 minutes to spare, you slipped out of your dorm and sneakily exited the Ravenclaw common room.

There were prefects all around the halls that night, more than usual. It was expected, so you took the necessary precaution to head to the Astronomy tower.

Using an opening charm, you entered the tower with ease.

Tom wasn’t there, which was expected. Why would he lock the door if he knew you were coming?

You had waited in your seat and kept yourself occupied by looking through the telescope. The nebula was still shining brightly.

How weird was it that you and Tom were the ones to see the nebula, out of everyone that was looking into the sky that night.

Waiting had felt like a chore. Usually Tom was very punctual with his time, seemed to be the first in every class, first everywhere, actually.

Perhaps he was caught by a prefect and was sent back to his dorm?

‘I hope not, it’s no fun being up here alone.’ you let go of your telescope and just stared into the sky. Being entrapped in your thoughts and fantasies, you didn’t hear the door open behind you.

“You’re truly insufferable, you know that?” 

Startled, you looked behind you and saw Tom. He was breathing hard, his hair a bit messy, and face a bit flushed.

“Riddle! What took you so long, and why do you look like you ran here?” your eyes followed him as he sat on his seat next to you.

“I don't know, maybe because I did run. A prefect caught sight of me leaving the dungeons, I sprinted all the way here. I hated it.” 

“You sprinted away, just to have the chance to meet with me?” you touched your chest, you were being sarcastic, and he rolled his eyes.

“Don’t flatter yourself. If it weren’t for you blackmailing me, I would have left a while ago.”

Riddle looked into his telescope and ignored all the dramatics you were doing.

“You know, I have a story that goes well with us looking at the nebula.” Your dramatics were over and done with, but you still wanted to talk to him.

“What story would that be?” Tom still sounded uninterested, but he knew you wouldn’t stop bothering him if he didn’t answer.

“The story about the King of Hearts.”

Tom looked at you with one of his brows raised, “There’s a story about a card figure?”

“There’s a story behind everything, Riddle.” You moved your seat closer to him, which made him scoot backwards.

Ignoring his weirded expression, you continued with your story.

“My mom used to tell me stories about how each figure on the deck of cards represented a European monarch. I took interest in the king of hearts, mainly because the story of his card is weird.”

“Hm, alright then. Indulge me.” Tom, who seemed a little interested, turned his attention away from his telescope and focused it on you.

“The king of hearts was represented by a king named ‘Charlemagne’, who ruled over France. He was a good king and ruler overall. The part that interested me about the King of Hearts was that he was nicknamed ‘the suicide king’.”

“I didn’t know you were into stuff like that.”

“I’m not into it, I just found it interesting that he was called that.”

Tom rolled his eyes and told you to continue with your story before he stopped taking interest.

“He’s called the suicide king because in the picture, he is seen stabbing himself in the head. Apparently it was a printing mistake of some sort, but that’s not what I’ve been told.”

“What were you told?”

“I was told that it was someone else that was stabbing him.”

“Why would you stab a king?”

“You know how sometimes kings turn into tyrants, instead of guiding their followers they control them with fear. Someone needs to stop them. I was told that kings are usually killed by the person they trust most. Maybe someone in the king of hearts court, you know.” you made a stabbing motion with your hands, making Riddle laugh.

“I doubt someone as powerful as a king would let someone lower than them have the opportunity to kill him.”

“You never know, when you really trust someone, you wouldn’t think they’d do anything bad to you.”

Riddle stopped smiling, his lips forming into a straight line.

“Would you do that? Kill the person you’re closest with?” he asks.

“Under what circumstance? I wouldn’t kill someone randomly, or at all for that matter.”

“If they turned into a tyrant, and were hurting people. Would you do it, if you had the chance to?”

“If they were out hurting people, killing people. Doing immoral things...if I had the chance, I guess I would.”

The both of you just stared at each other after you gave your response. The silence, ironically, was loud, you didn’t know how you should continue the conversation.

“It’s getting late, I think we should get back before the prefects check here,” Tom stood up from his seat and headed towards the door, “Goodnight.” He says before he exits through the door.

You sat there, confused. He left out of the blue, with a lame excuse for that matter. Did the story bore him? Make him uncomfortable? Who knows. It’s so hard to read him sometimes, he’s like a different type of human being.

Picking up your bag, you opened the tower door and walked down the stairs.

Tom wasn’t anywhere to be found. That was weird, you had left mere moments after he did, how was he able to get back to his common room so quickly?

Heading back to your dorm room as quietly as you could, you shut the door gently behind you and step towards your bed. Before you could make another movement, the lights flashed on and there stood your friends, who all had curious looks on their faces.

“Where have you been, young lady?” asks Melissa.

You stood still, unsure of what to do or say. How could you explain to them what was going on without having them misunderstand?

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Bonus: I found this gif of the heart nebula, and it fit so I thought I’d just put it in here for fun (っ＾▿＾)۶🍸🌟🍺٩(˘◡˘ )

credit to the gif owner ^^

[soyeahitsmiddleearth]

Multi-Dimensional Pt. 5

 In which you have a genius idea to take these suckers out, you accidentally do something you’re not supposed to, and you take the taller bit of your friends out. 

----

And then, you realize, that it's getting deeper into October.

As it got deeper into October, the dwarves and hobbit remain in your house. It's been a total of 2 1/2 weeks, now, and you can tell they're getting antsy from staying in one place for so long.

Like, around halloween time.

An idea strikes you in the head like a bag of bricks, and right away you realize that you're a genius.

You're sitting on the couch with Bilbo, Oin, and Bofur when the lightbulb goes off in your head suddenly, and once it does you hop to your feet and run upstairs at top speed, successfully baffling everyone idly watching the nature documentary you put on.

You pass Dwalin and Balin while you zoom to your bedroom, and when they see you run past them like freaking Speedy Gonzales they're both super confused.

Right away you grab your laptop off your bed and pull up a window.

The keys of your compute clack softly while you type in your town as well as 'Halloween Festival' and the first few results as well as images on the Google engine prove your theory.

Every year here people dress up in advance and celebrate throughout the duration of the week leading up to it. Of course, the trick-or-treating only happens on the day of, but there are a plethora of other things for people to do during that week.

People dress up, children go on field trips, there's a festival, and even the grocery stores have little events they put on to promote their business.

You've never really gone before since crowded places aren't the most comfortable for you, but you actually feel a little giddy about taking them all to see the town with you.

Right away you know you're going to have to buy them all costumes, but for the last week you've been pet sitting this rich couples Rag-doll cat, Princess, and your going rate is $18/hr for a week... Do the math ;).

You're going to get paid later in the day today after you drop her back off at their house, and that's not even accounting for the other animals you've been watching for varying amounts as well.

So, essentially, you're gonna be perfectly fine financially.

Anyways, as soon as you're done doing your little bit of research there on your computer you close it and leave your room again, hopping down the stairs with a big bright smile on your face.

When you reenter the living room, everyone is gathered there and looking at you expectantly.

At first, you don't do or say anything since you're super confused, but when the silence begins to drag on for too long you ask hesitantly, "Uh... Is everything alright? What's going on?"

"Well, you left to your room very quickly." Bilbo comments, standing up from his spot on the couch, "But from the smile on your face, I'm assuming it wasn't because of anything bad?"

You nod your head and sigh, leaning down to pet Mittens who is rubbing herself against your legs, "Yeah, everything's fine. It's great, actually." You pause for dramatic effect, then add, "I just figured out a way to take all of you out! Like, to see the town and stuff!"

"You have?" Thorin asks, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Mmhm!" You stand up straight and nod your head quickly, bouncing on the balls of your feet, "See, I figured I'd probably be able to take you and maybe Kili, Bofur, and Dwalin out at some point... like, if some of you were to groom yourselves different or wear hats...," once more you stop your speech and realize that may be offensive, "N-Not that I think there's anything wrong with how you look-"

"Nobody is offended, I'm sure. Go on." Thorin urges, amusement present on their faces from your sudden frantic backtracking so you don't offend them.

"R-Right, uh... anyways, you guys are taller so I knew I could probably bring you along sometime, but I wasn't sure how to get everyone else to come along, and then I realized that this next week is the week leading up to halloween!" You say it like it will answer all their questions, forgetting that they probably don't know what halloween is.

Silence passes by for a few seconds as they wait for you to go on, and when you don't Kili asks, "What's 'halloween'?"

"Oh, yeah, it's like, a holiday where children dress up and go to peoples houses to get candy. And when I say dress up, I mean in costumes." You rub the back of your neck while you explain and add, "In my city, the place we are now, we celebrate throughout the whole week. There are games, festivals, and lots of events... and there are people running around in masks all of the time. So I can get some of you costumes and then I can bring you all along!" Your smile returns as you pick apart the details, and it seems your excitement is contagious.

"Wait, so we will get to walk around the town and see other things?" Nori questions, looking over at his brothers with a smile.

"Yeah, but I gotta get you costumes first. Like, ghosts and some masks of different things. But if we wanna make the most of our time then I should probably go now."

You turn after that and go to the counter to grab your purse, pausing when Balin asks, "So it's a holiday where people run around in disguises, getting candy, and playing games as a community?"

Once again you nod your head, turning around to look at him with the same bright smile on your face.

"So, anyone can be anyone?" The older dwarf asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah, pretty much." You look down and go through your purse, making sure everything you need is in there before walking over to put on your tennis shoes.

"Even the man who was here the week before?"

Now that certainly gives you a pause.

Before you were never worried about it, but now with what's happened with him, you aren't so sure that it's so safe anymore.

"Um... yeah, I guess." You'd rather not think about it, so you start to tie your laces up. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Well, you already said that you can bring some of us, so why not do that now? Just to make sure?" Balin asks, though it's more of a 'you should really do it cause we're gonna freak out if you don't'.

You don't respond and instead finish tying your shoes first, thinking over his request.

When you're done doing up your shoes you turn and see that they're all looking at you with similar expressions of worry, and it makes you sigh, "Okay, fine. But whoever goes can't wear their normal clothes cause people will be weirded out. The halloween thing doesn't start for another day."

There's a moment of silence while some of them exchange looks before Thorin speaks, "You mentioned Kili and myself first. Surely that should be fine."

"Um..." You look between the two and tilt your head to the side thoughtfully, arms crossed over your chest. "Sure. But your hair is definitely going to stick out, Thorin."

He nods his head in understanding.

"And what about me?" Kili asks eagerly. It seems he's really excited about finally being able to leave your property.

"You're fine, I think. Am I taking both of you?" You inquire with furrowed eyebrows, walking a few steps forward.

"You might as well." Kili says with a big silly smile.

Well, you can't argue with that logic.

You shrug your shoulders and head up the stairs again, "Alright, go get changed into some of the clothes I gave you."

---

Once they're dressed in t-shirts and sweatpants (you didn't know their sizes so you got whatever would fit at the time) you observe them both with narrowed eyes while rubbing your chin.

"Hm... On a scale of 1 to 10, I give Kili a 9 and Thorin a 6." You say after a moment, turning to look at everyone else and get their opinions.

"What is the scale referring to?" Fili pipes up suddenly, looking up at you.

"How convincing they are."

"Why do I get a 6?" Thorin grumbles, looking at you pointedly.

"Your hair." You reply simply, walking over with a hair tie stretched between your fingers, "Hold still."

You gather his hair over his shoulders and pull it back, putting his hair through it and wrapping it around until it's nice and tight.

As soon as you're finished, you step around him and look to see if it's made a difference, and when you've determined that it's good, you smile, "Okay, now it's at least an 8." You turn towards Kili and ask, "Your hair is fine, right? Or do you want me to put it up?"

He doesn't say anything and neither does anyone else, and when the silence persists you raise an eyebrow, "Hello? Earth to Kili, I just asked you a question."

"Uh, no, you don't have to, thank you." He shakes his head and seems to come to some sort of realization since he starts to smile at his uncle in that big teasing grin you've, unfortunately, become accustomed to.

You nod your head and skip back over to the counter, swiping your keys off of it before heading to the front door.

"Come out whenever, I'm gonna get my car started."

Once you're out of the house some of the dwarves begin to laugh, and Kili pokes fun at his uncle, "Thorin, you have quite a red face, are you sure you can go?"

Thorin glares at his nephew and replies coldly, "She meant nothing by it."

"Right, but is that disappointment I hear?"

The glare he throws his nephew is so withering it could suck the life right out of a flower, but Kili is no flower, so he only laughs more.

"She offered to do yours too, you know." Fili adds when he begins to feel bad for his uncle.

Kili pauses his laughter and glares at his brother, "But she didn't do it."

"She would've."

"Oh hush, you're just upset that she didn't ask to do your hair." Kili shoots back, glaring at his brother.

"I am not, because unlike everyone else, I knew she meant naught by asking." He shoots back with a smirk.

Kili huffs indignantly and glares at his brother, saying no more as he heads out the door after you.

Thorin turns to everyone before following and states, "Try not to destroy anything while we are gone." His voice is firm and he waits until he gets nods from them all before leaving after you.

---

Once you're all in the car you put it into drive and go, turning up the radio so the car won't be completely filled with silence while you drive.

Occasionally, you'll glance at Thorin in the passenger seat or Kili in the back, and each time you do they're looking out the window at the passing scenery with awe.

"If you're impressed now, wait until we get into the big city." You comment suddenly, smiling to yourself while you watch the road ahead.

And when you do arrive in the city, they are impressed indeed.

The gasp that leaves Kili when you drive through the first big street draws a giggle from you, and when he presses his face against the window as you pull into the parking lot of the seasonal halloween store, your smile grows even bigger.

Even Thorin is impressed by all the wonderful things around, and when you turn off the car after parking you turn to look at them, "Thoughts so far?"

"It's wonderful." Kili breathes, looking at the bright, moving signs and huge stores all around.

"Yes, I don't believe I've ever seen anything so grand before." Thorin agrees, looking over at you with a smile of his own.

"Well if this impresses you, wait until we get inside the store. Try not to get scared."

---

The three of you eventually make it inside, and when you do they are in awe once more.

The seasonal store is dark with black painted walls and bright white florescent lights, and there are various halloween and horror things everywhere.

When you walk in there is one of those electronic jump-scare things, and while you were expecting it, the poor dears behind you weren't.

The witch thing pops out and cackles loudly, saying one of her many phrases, and as soon as she does both Kili and Thorin freak out. And when I say freak out, I mean 'pulled out some small weapons they decided to bring and screaming' freak out.

Luckily there is no one around at the moment, so you step between them and the witch and laugh nervously, "Put those away please. We're gonna get kicked out if anyone sees you with those."

They look between you and the electronic woman a few times before slowly putting their knives away and relaxing their stances.

"Thank you..."

"What is that?" Kili asks, glaring at the ugly jump-scare machine while you walk past it.

"It's a halloween decoration designed to scare people. And it seems like it worked too." You reply easily, looking back at them with a more mischievous smile.

Kili looks around slightly nervously and grumbles defensively, "I wasn't that scared... Uncles screams are what startled me."

"My screams? Kili, let's not lie now, clearly you were horrified." Thorin says disapprovingly, shaking his head.

"Aw, you guys are cute." You purr jokingly, waltzing up to the kids costumes isle.

They stop arguing after that.

You browse through the messy shelves quietly for a little while, trying to find the best ones, when you see a doggie in the cutest ghost costume.

A squeal leaves your lips when you see the cutie pie and you cup your cheeks as an adoring expression comes onto your face.

Without hesitation you hop over to the owner and ask excitedly, "Where did you get that?"

The man with the dog looked up quickly upon hearing your excited yelp and when he saw your exuberant form he smiled too, "I bought it a week ago here. They're near the back."

His answer fills you with joy, and you continue to stare at his pupper for a moment before he says, "You can pet her if you want, she doesn't bite."

He doesn't need to tell you twice.

You kneel down right away and scratch behind her ears, and her tail begins to wag wildly at the attention.

It seems that she likes you just as much, because she takes a seat and leans into you when you scratch her all over like you do with your dogs. It's at that moment when you begin to wonder if she'll fit in your purse.

Before you can finish your calculations and plans on stealing this mans dog you hear someone clear their throat and you realize then that you forgot all about Thorin and Kili.

You turn your head and see the two of them standing there with amused expressions on their faces.

Upon realization that they're watching you, and have been for a little while now, you jump to your feet and feel your face heat up. "I-If you make fun of me I'll leave both of you here." You threaten very unconvincingly, crossing your arms over your chest.

Kili starts to laugh but he doesn't say anything about it, looking at his uncle who also releases a few chuckles of his own.

You glance back at the man and see that he's looking at them, and you realize he probably thinks Kili's short stature is a little odd.

"U-Uh, thanks for letting me pet your dog!" You say quickly, heading back over to the two of them with a blush on your cheeks.

You turn back to the shelves of costumes and the man and his dog walk away, and once their gone you glare at the two of them half heartedly. "You guys are total meanies." There is faux bitterness in your voice when you speak as well, and it only brings more laughter from them.

"I only find it cute." Kili states, smiling good naturedly before continuing, "Every time you see an animal you get very excited."

"Cause I love animals."

"Yes, we can tell." Thorin muses, stepping up next to you to look at the spiderman mask in your hand.

You tap your foot against the ground a few times before putting the mask back.

A ghost costume for Bilbo; check.

That is all.

You literally don't have anything for anyone else, and honestly you're beginning to think that it's impo-

And then another idea hits you.

Class of middle/high-schoolers in a fantasy club. It's farfetched and barely believable, but most people won't say anything about it out of fear of being offensive, so it's perfect!

You don't have to buy them costumes at all (minus Bilbo), all you need is stuff to make them look less like dwarves and more like children pretending to be dwarves.

It sounds easier than it actually is, but you think you can pull it off. All you need is some netting, makeup, wigs, and nose and scar wav and you'll be set.

Once you get this idea you run away from the kids section with the ghost section and head toward the halloween makeup isle, seeking out the items mentioned previously without hesitation.

You find what you're looking for in minutes, and once you've got everything you zoom to the checkout since you're going to need to look up some tips on how to pull this off.

You're so excited you nearly forget to make sure Kili and Thorin are still with you, but once you see them you smile in relief and pay for everything.

Once you're all back in your car, Thorin asks, "I thought we were going to get masks?"

"Well, we were. But then I had an amazing idea consisting of pretending you're all students or something who invested in really expensive dwarf costumes. It's perfect, 'cause no one will ask and we'll get lots of compliments."

Thorin nods his head slowly and puts his belt on like you showed him, but before you go you turn and look at Kili expectantly.

The young dwarf doesn't say anything at first, but when your staring consists he asks slowly, "What...?"

"Put on your seatbelt."

There's more silence until he puts it on, raising an expectant eyebrow at you, "Is that better?"

"Much."

[alreadyblondenow]

Because, I love you

Jaehyun x reader // FLUFF, SMUT, angst? rich kids! au Summary: You’re back and you’re completely a different person. From being rich and spoiled, now you see yourself as someone cheap. Even so, Jaehyun chase you as he tries to win you back even though you’ve been pushing him away over and over again.  Word Count: 4k Warnings: Mentions of poverty, ‘poor’, swearing, unprotected sex, mentions of alcohol, mentions of bullying, inferiority complex Note:  -inspired by my current situation. So I hope no one steals this. haha -I’m not mocking the poor -see end for few notes. 

After two years, you’re finally back in town and the word spreads fast. The moment you step down from the train until you arrive at your best friend Aisha’s birthday party you feel every pair of eyes look at you. Everyone is completely shocked and dying to talk to you but they can’t. Because in their eyes, you’re still rich daddy’s favorite daughter. In their eyes, you’re still the same girl who left before you could even graduate high school.

You left without saying anything to your neighbours, friends or even your boyfriend, Jaehyun. The only one who knew about your situation is Aisha, and she swore she will never reveal the true reason why you left.

As you walk to the party, Aisha gave you a big hug giving you a glass of your favorite alcoholic beverage. “You’re back for good, right?” she asked trying to fight the loud music. “Yes! I’ll start school on Monday” you answer as one of her visitor took her away from you.

Everyone looks familiar but you don’t dare talk them. Not because you think they’re losers, but you feel small in this party. It feels like you don’t belong here. You made your way to the familiar pool side where you and Aisha used to hang out. There you enjoy the silence and the sound of the bubbles from the pool.

“You left, me without saying goodbye and now that you’re back I don’t get a simple ‘hi’”

Jaehyun sat beside you with all his bravery with a drink on his hand. Still handsome as the last day you spend with him. Out of all the people you left in this town, you feel sorry for Jaehyun. He didn’t deserve to be left alone just like that. You’ve been together for four amazing years and you were crazy in love with each other. For sure he got hurt when you left, and maybe he got mad? To be honest you want him to get mad to you, that way it’s easier to fully let go.

“Hi. I’m sorry about that” you try to ignore him and leave but he grabs your arm. “You left me without a word. Aren’t we going to talk about it?”

“No. Stay away from me, people might get the wrong idea” you said, stern and hard.

He brushed his hair using his fingers and pressed his lower and upper lip together. “Fuck until now you make me so frustrated” he scoffed, “Let’s get back together” he blurted out without even thinking.

“What makes you think I want you now?” Jaehyun is really impossible to reason with, he has this ‘I want it, I got it’ attitude that you hate but you’re not letting him win this time.

“Nothing. But I’m certain I still love you. And trying to win you back would be worth it”

“I’m not the same person, Jaehyun” you try to walk away but he accidentally pushed you straight to the pool. Next thing you know you’re both soaked and he offered you a ride home because clearly it’s his fault and you can’t ride the bus with wet clothes.

He was about to drive you to your house. Your old house, the biggest house for the richest family in town. “I don’t live there anymore. I live in a small apartment now” it’s embarrassing but you didn’t have a choice but to tell him the truth.

The drive was quiet, just the way you like it. “Sorry about your car seat, It’s drenched” he gave you his jacket before you get out of the car. “It’s okay, we’ve done a lot of other filthy things here” you rolled your eyes and left him.

He was happy you’re back. He never let himself forget everything about you and now that you’re back he will try to bring back what was taken away from the two of you. That’s how much he loves you.

Now that you live alone, adaptation is important. This town knew you as the rich and spoiled daughter who knows nothing but to shop and go to the coolest parties. Little did they know those two years definitely changed you as a person. Who knew even poverty would look good in you. Kidding aside, now you know how to wash and iron your own clothes, wash dishes, clean the house, cook your own meal. Everything that involves surviving alone.

Today is your first day in college and you’re looking forward to it mainly because of one reason. It’s the start to build a new life. But you saw Jaehyun waiting for you outside your apartment and your day is ruined already.

“Were not doing this Jae” you said as you show him how completely annoyed you were.

“Come on, I’ll take you to school” he offered with a big smile, showing off his dimples.

“We don’t go to the same college, idiot”

“I know, I just want to spend time with you. Please get in the car or I’ll scream how much I love you” you can’t believe he threatened you and you can’t believe you got in his car. You told him what happened last night is a mistake, and you were never planning to be friends with him just because you’re back. But of course he just shrugged it off and gave you a grande coffee from Starbucks.

It’s sweet how Jaehyun still remembers old habits, but it’s not you anymore. As he drive you to your school, you can’t stop being embarrassed again because it’s a public university but of course you don’t tell him that. “Thanks for dropping me off, uhm please stop this. Whatever you’re planning it’s-“ he cut you off, “I’ll pick you up at 5” he said with a mocking smile that makes your blood boil.

First day is first day. Classes from 7am to 5pm, new friends, a list of expensive books to buy, a quick tour around the university, and annoying Jaehyun waiting for you. “You’re unbelievable Jaehyun” you said a little angrier than ever, “Ugh- I need to go to the public library. Go home!” you don’t know what’s gotten into his head but he continues to pry. “I’ll study with you” he said as he runs off behind you, following you until you’re both sited at the library.

Focused and busy, you can’t believe he’s actually studying with you. You found of that he pursued engineering, and he’s already in his Junior year and actually doing really good. Deep down you’re proud of him.

As you continue studying in advance for a few subjects, you can’t figure out Math and it’s giving you a headache already. Jaehyun noticed that you’re kind of stuck to what you’re solving. So he offered help, he left a note in front of you that say’s, ‘I can help you with that’ You mouthed the word, ‘how’ and he made his own way to teach how to solve the problem, which actually really helped you.

‘Thank you’ you forced a smile. He winked back. Fucking Jung Jaehyun.

After studying, he drove you home and the ride was still quiet like the last time. He was incredibly a big help today, and you wanted to be nice just so you can return the favor. “I don’t have a choice but to be nice to you today. Do you want to eat something before you leave?”

He let out a small laugh, something that made you think he’s thinking about something dirty. And it’s clear as the night sky that he was thinking about eating you. “Forget I asked, you may leave and never come back again” you got out of his car and he quickly did the same thing, apologising over and over again as he follow you to your apartment.

The moment you invite him in, he was surprised to see your place to be so small. There’s no other room other than the bathroom, the kitchen is small, and there’s no furnitures. He knew better than to judge and ask about what happened to you. Instead, he made himself comfortable while you prepare the ramen in your kitchen. He’s not used to seeing you like this but he thinks you’re still amazing. You used to buy him expensive food when you were still rich and spoiled, but now you make cheap ramen for him.

You caught him smile as you place two bowls on the table, “Why are you smiling?” you brought him back to reality and shake his head, “oh nothing. I was just thinking about taking you for a long shopping tomorrow after school” that’s not you anymore, you down a glass of water and took a deep breath.

“The truth is Jaehyun, I’m broke. I left two years ago because my dad’s business crashed and burned. The bank took everything from us, the house, the cars, mom’s jewelries, everything. We needed to start a new life somewhere no one knows us because my parents can’t handle the humiliation and embarrassment. I have to take care of them both because they don’t know shit” and your story went on and on as he listens attentively on how you needed to be responsible for your parents, you told him how you learned doing house chores and being independent which made him fall in love with you even more.

“I know why you’re here Jaehyun. I don’t need your help-“

“I’m here for the reason, because I love you. Now eat your ramen before it gets cold” surprisingly he reached for your forehead and kissed it.

You won’t admit but the following days were bearable because of Jaehyun. He let’s you be your independent self as he takes care of you in his own ways. Spending time with you at the library made him study even harder and ace all of his big exams. When you were in high school studying with Jaehyun would end up having sex with him but now, studying is studying and he loved how he sees you accomplish all your school works just in time before the library closes.

The changes in his life with you in it is visible, and he loves it. Secretly he learned how to clean the dishes at home so he can offer to clean the dishes the next time you invite him in and eat ramen. Jaehyun loves spending time with you whenever and however but his favorite thing to do with you is going to the market. Picking fresh fruits and vegetables, buying fish and meat. It’s all fascinating for him which amuses you.

“Hey, I’m just wondering if you could go to this party I’m throwing this Saturday”

Going to the party means seeing a lot of people you already forgot about, of course you don’t want to. But you didn’t want to disappoint Jaehyun, “I can drop by” is the only answer you can think of. “That’s fine with me, as long as I get to see you that night” he said as he continues to drive.

That night you wished you didn’t say yes to Jaehyun. You don’t know how the rumors spread but everyone knew about the reason why you left. You can hear people making fun of you, telling you it’s probably karma because you were such a bitch back in the day. All you can do is cry at the bathroom and pray that Jaehyun won’t see you like this.

“Hey, I’ve been looking all over for you” Jaehyun found you as soon as you got out from the bathroom, faking a smile as someone bumped you on purpose and spill their drink on your shirt.

“Hey asshole you did that on purpose!” he shouts, clearly Jaehyun was not having a great time from his own party. “Everybody get out! All you do is gossip tonight you fucking ungrateful people, out!” seeing Jaehyun like this scared you, he never gets mad in front of you. When the house is already clear, he apologised to you for giving you a hard time tonight.

“I didn’t know they’ll gossip like hell tonight-“

“It’s not your fault Jae, it’s my dad’s fault” you sigh and sat on his couch, “Maybe they’re right, it’s karma. You know how I used to bully the students at school whenever I see someone bring packed lunch. I was a bitch, Jae”

He told you that y/n was long gone, “You’re like a completely different person now” he pulled you close to him as he tell you stories about him trying to wash his own clothes yesterday. The thought of it made you laugh like crazy, your voice echoes around his big house. He comforted you and made you laugh the whole evening, and you remember why you fell in love with Jaehyun in the first place.

On his birthday, it was a weekend and you had the whole day to celebrate. Nothing too fancy for this year, all he wanted to do is be with you. Spend the day like how a normal couple would spend Valentines day. Even though it’s clear to him that you’re not yet back together.

“I don’t have enough money saved up to buy you something you would actually like, so you can ask me to do anything today. I’m the gift” you present yourself playfully to him which made him laugh like loud, his ears are turning red.

“You know you’re the one that I want, be with me again” of course he’ll say that, and he’s serious.

“Don’t ruin your day you know my answer. Ask about something else” you said with a frown.

“Okay sorry you’re right. But I’m not changing what I said. Be with me today, pretend that we’re together again”

He held out his hand, waiting for you to grab it like how you used to do back when you were still together. Granting his wish you intertwine your fingers with his and you swear you felt something in your stomach. Butterflies, excitement, happiness.  

The day went on beautifully which was nothing as you expected. You held hands around the park, swinging it like little kids while giggling and talking about anything that comes out from your mouths. Kissing your hand whenever he feels like doing it, and you can’t complain about it because it’s part of the deal. “What? Be thankful it’s not your lips” he winked and kissed your hand again.

While watching movies, his arms are wrapped around you as you shiver because of the cold movie house. Kissing your forehead whenever it’s near his lips. And to end the celebration properly and avoid the crowded dine-in restaurants, you ate takeout in his car while you watch the city lights. He was holding your hand right after you both eat your meals and continue telling stories and laughing the whole time.

You wanted to admit to yourself that you fell in love with Jaehyun for the second time in your life. But given your life situation, you still have nothing to offer to him.

“Why did you leave without saying goodbye?” he asked as if he just heard your thoughts. While waiting for your answer, his eyes were looking straight to you, head resting on his seat, hands still intertwined.

“We have big dreams that time. I mean studying in New York. Together? I can’t have those dreams with you while I’m… poor”

“What about now? Still not convinced we can be together even if you’re ‘poor’” he kissed your hand again, “I don’t know if I can let go when the clock strikes 12” the atmosphere suddenly became serious.

“Then don’t”

He’s sure as hell shocked by what you said. He lean forward and you did the same thing, and he kissed you. Sweet and slowly at first but no one is stopping so the both of you got carried away. The kiss became wet and hungrier, you noticed he was pulling you to sit on his lap but you didn’t want to. So you stopped the kiss and catch your breath. Letting go of his hand and put it on your forehead as you massage it, pretending you had a headache.

“Did you just kissed me because you feel sorry for me? Or is it because you feel same way?” He asked politely.

“I never stopped loving you, Jaehyun” you keep your hand relaxed on your lap. “I’m sorry if I ruined your day last minute-“

“What? No you didn’t” he reached for your face so you could look him in the eye, “I only have five minutes left. Kiss me again? Please?”

And you did. This time it was wet, but not because of spit but because of your tears. You continue kissing him until 12:01, hands wrapped around his head as you ruffle his soft hair. “I don’t want to rush you or force you. And I know were still not together again even though we shared that kiss. But at least now I have hope. Take all the time that you want. Just don’t leave me again. Or else I’ll find you this time.” He kissed your hand too many times before kissing your whole face, peck after peck.  

Finally letting Jaehyun in your life again without boundaries, the following days were sweeter. He still studies with you at the library without distracting you but this time you two make out like crazy in his car at the library’s parking lot before he takes you home.

He still have dinner with you whenever you invite him in but this time he can finally hug you from behind and watch you cook from your shoulder. You even taught him how to cook and turns out he’s a fast learner. “Not bad Jung Jaehyun “

And because you taught him how to cook, he cooked for you in his big kitchen at home. You helped a bit but he did most of the work. “This is delicious” you praised his Spaghetti aglio e olio, ate almost half of the pan which made him happy because you loved his cooking. After dinner, you both clean up the kitchen washing everything on the sink, cleaning the table and finally snuggled up on his big couch with a glass of red wine.

“I think I deserve a good kiss” he said as he pretends to be tired. The next thing you know you’re making out on their couch before he drives you home. Which was sweet, he reach in for a kiss whenever the stop light goes red and continues to drive when it turns green.

“I didn’t want to feed your pride but, I hate going home after spending a great time with you” his smile was from ear to ear but you see tears and you started to panic.

“Did I say something wrong?” he shook his head and cupped your face with both hands and kissed you sincerely.

“I love you so fucking much” he barely said it clearly because of his sobbing, his tears are falling down on his face.

“I don’t get it Jaehyun why are you crying?”

“Hearing that makes me so fucking happy. It means you wont push me away ever again.”

you suddenly remember the time you push him away. You hugged him and saw the time, 3am. “I think you should stay. I cant let you drive at such a late hour. Come on I’ll make you coffee” you kiss him on the lips one last time, “stop crying.” You finished the day with bodies tangled on your cheap floor mattress as you talked and talked until you both fall asleep.

Time passed by so fast, you can’t believe it’s been two years already since you went back. Your relationship with Jaehyun has been the same, peaceful, happy and simple. Jaehyun is in his senior year and he became busier than ever. Guess what? Being a graduating student didn’t stopped him from seeing you. He sleeps more in your small apartment than his big house, “I can sleep better when you’re beside me” he said as he falls asleep beside you while you still study for a big test.

With no labels or whatsoever, Jaehyun couldn’t care less about it. As long as he could be with you and kiss you, you’re his girl. Labels or not.

“I have a big question to ask” he said while he’s driving. “I need to bring you as my date on this family gathering this weekend. I know you hate parties-“

“Yes. I’ll go with you” you said with a sly smile. Deep down you’re hesitating of course. Jaehyun’s family became the richest family after your father’s business crashed. Truth be told, you forgot how to be elegant. Now you’re just cheap.

As the most awaited weekend took place, you’re thankful Jaehyun bought you a nice dress fit for the party. Parties like this is full of business matters, yes it’s a party but everything they talk about in the four corners of this room is plain business. You know because your family used to throw tons of parties like this back in the day.

Hearing the continuous playing of piano made you remember how Jaehyun played nonstop at the piano you used to own… how you missed everything. Suddenly you don’t feel well. You wanted to get out of this place.

You tap Jaehyun’s shoulder as you excuse him from a visitor, “I think I should go home. I’ll take a cab, don’t worry about me” you kissed him on the cheek.

“Y/n your’e scaring me whats wrong?” he whispers, completely worried. You told him the problem and he told you he’s sorry, “It’s my fault. I’ll take you home”

A week passed and you told Jaehyun you need to bury yourself on thick books and you need to study for three big tests. Which does not exist. You just want to get away from him. But the space made you realise your new found love for Jaehyun. It’s not that you depend your happiness to Jaehyun, he just makes you look forward to living a simple life. Imagine having a delicious wine and perfect cheese on the side. Jaehyun is the cheese that made everything even more better.  

After having a 7-5 class, you found Jaehyun waiting for you at the school’s parking lot. Gloomy and not his normal cheery self.

“Are we back to square one?” he blurted out before you can even greet him. “Because I don’t mind doing it again” he said a little too aggressive.

You panic, you thought he’s mad “no no were not. Im sorry. The dinner was too much. I just needed to forget it. Im sorry, I missed you” he hugged you tight back.

“I thought I lost you again” you shook your head. “Take me somewhere today I’m on school break for two weeks”

And just like that, you two were back to being your cheery self again. He took you to his house, cooked dinner for you and enjoyed his home theater with you. You watched a tear jerker romantic movie and he was whispering ‘i love yous’ whenever the lead actor do something sweet in the movie. You do the same but not as bold as he is. You never actually said those three words to him properly, but you do love him unconditionally.

“Your room is still the same.” You’re fresh from the shower wearing a black shirt from Jaehyun with just your panties. Roaming around his room as you dry your hair using a towel. You saw a picture of you that he took, just beside his LP player and vinyl collections. His room is always this cozy, you remember doing your homework here when you were in high school and having sex whenever you want, because no one dares to disturb you two in his room.

And speaking of sex, you suddenly remember the last time you had sex with Jaehyun. That was a week before you leave. It happened in this room, he didn’t know but you were completely heartbroken that time.

“Hey stop snooping around and come to bed with me” he said as he pat his bed, telling you to lay beside him. You jumped right in and went on top of him. “What if I never went back?” he hugged you and switched positions, now you’re beneath him. “But you’re here.” you feel his lips on your exposed neck, “in my bed” you kissed him on the mouth as you both sit up and remove your shirts. He skilfully unclasps your bra and threw it somewhere, pulling down your panties and throwing it to the floor.

As he was busy getting you naked, you take your time admiring his perfect body. Pushing him down on the mattress and getting on top of him again “Remember when I do this?” you tease as you kiss him on his abs, “and this” down to his lower abdomen, removing his boxer briefs slowly as you keep on kissing him all the way to his hard cock. You threw away his boxer briefs just like he did with your underwear.

Brushing his soft hair as you kiss him softly, Jaehyun is slowly making his way in between your legs. “Be gentle okay?” you whisper before he plays with your folds, gently playing with your cunt while looking at you. Slightly rolling your hips, Jaehyun’s fingers feels nice inside. All you can do is moan and grab his shoulders.

Wet enough for his cock, he slowly lined his cock on you cunt. Pushing in slowly, feeling your tight walls that he missed so much. “I love you Jung Jaehyun” you whisper before he move. Happy that you finally said it clearly. He thrust in slowly just how you like it, kissing your mouth as you moan on every thrust he gives. Gasping whenever he gives you a sharp one.  

“Don’t leave me again” he whispers as he continue you to fuck you on a steady pace.  

“I wont” you whimper and reach for him to keep him close to you as he thrust. “I’ll make you happy everyday” no doubt about that, you nod completely out of words as he bring you to the edge.

“Jaehyun right there” you moan as you spread your legs wider.

“Right here, hmm? Feels good?” he grabbed your waist with both hands and kept going with a faster pace. You nod weakly, mouth open and eyebrows furrow as you let go. Whispering sweet nothings to you while still hitting your good spot.

You shiver and curl beneath him as he chase his own orgasm and cum inside you. Cum dripping from your cunt, he slowly pull out and replaced in with his finger. Kissing you softly, while you still spread your legs for him and let him finger you as you both ride your high.

He kept you warm and calm after cleaning you, kissing you on your temple just a little too long but quick enough to ask for more.

“As much as I miss having sex with you, I think we should sleep already. I know you, you will ask for round two in ten minutes after you stretch your body- Look you’re doing it now” he shook his head playfully with a smile.

“Jaehyunie” you pout as you stretch and whine. “No” he playfully refuse. “We’ll have round two tomorrow” you nod as you accept defeat and snuggle beside him. Eyes closed and really comfortable he suddenly whispers, “I love you, y/n” you don’t say it back but he knows you love him too.

Jaehyun’s graduation finally came and you couldn’t be more proud. His parents flew from America and you finally meet them, again. “We knew it. We always knew you’re the right one for our Jaehyun” his mom told you, as you help her around the kitchen. The dinner was just Jaehyun, his parents and you.

“I have everyone that I love in this table, the people who helped me graduate and made me a better person. Cheers!” he kissed you in front of his parents, for the first time. “And you, thank you for giving me a second chance” he clinks your glass, took a sip on his wine, and kissed you again.

Soon, Jaehyun bought himself a decent apartment and asked you to move in with him. From there on, you sleep and wake up beside Jaehyun. No need to pick you up from your apartment, or watch you study at the library. Jaehyun is your home now.

[five-hxrgreeves]

I Won’t Back Down - Five Hargreeves x OC

Word Count: 3,467

Oh, we've got to hold on, ready or not You live for the fight when it's all that you've got Woah, we're half way there Woah, livin' on a prayer Take my hand, we'll make it I swear

1  | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Pt. 5- The Road to Hell... 

Five Hargreeves has never claimed to be a people person. Even growing up surrounded by six other kids, he preferred to lock himself in his room and work on equations than actually interact with them aside from what was mandatory. That didn’t mean he didn’t care for them- because he did, at least where Six and Seven were concerned- he just liked his space and it was in this space that he discovered his potential for time travel.

When he’d first broached the subject with his father he’d been promptly shut down leading to one of their many quarrels and another punishment. That was not enough- never enough- to deter him from pursuing something on his own, though. He was smart enough to figure it out without help. The boy also made sure word of it never got out to his siblings; most wouldn’t care and think that he was just rubbing it in like the cocky way he usually did but Six would give him worried, warning glances and Seven would try to talk him out of it in her own shy, quiet way.

It was best to keep this to himself.

He’d been practicing his special jumps for years now and had advanced in leaps and bounds- literally. While he was still limited to short distances he could do more at once than he ever had before and they were pin-point accurate (he could actually land on the head of a pin if he felt like doing something so ridiculous. He didn’t.) Time travel was just another aspect of his powers, as linear as his jumps were and as straight forward as any equation usually was for him. He’d done the math and it was ninety-nine-point-nine-nine percent possible that he would be successful; the point-oh-one was an unnecessary margin of error that he allowed himself just in case. Every mathematician had their occasional inaccuracies.

Five had made sure to repeat the equations over and over, too, to double and triple check his work. Now, he felt ready to present the subject again and have evidence that it could be done. Distantly, he heard the robotic woman they called mother ring the bell, a tradition that signaled their meal was ready. Setting down his chalk, the boy left the room and met his siblings at the stairs, completely silent apart from their footsteps approaching the table. The recording their father liked to listen to, Herr Carlson, was already playing as they stood by their seats waiting for the man himself to arrive.

They sat in number order beginning with Reginald’s seat, with Number One being on the left, Two on the right and so on until the last three; Five was on the left, Six was across from him and Seven at the head.

“Sit!” their father barked and the children followed the command without delay, pulling out their chairs almost in sync as they sat down.

Now that the speaking part of the meal was over, they turned their attention to the various tasks that they did at the table while eating, the recording continuously playing over the sounds of their activities. Five clenched his teeth slightly at the irritating repetitiveness of it all and stared down the table at the man he called his father, watching him take a drink from his cup.

Knowing he wouldn’t get the man’s attention if he tried talking, the boy gripped the handle of his knife and stabbed it directly into the table.

“Number Five?”

“I have a question,” he said coolly.

“Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules. No talking during meal times,” Reginald answered, not even sparing a glance up from his plate, “you are interrupting Herr Carlson.”

Irritation prickled along his spine and the boy dropped the utensil roughly against his plate, “I want to time travel.”

“No.”

“But I’m ready,” he responded flatly, “I’ve been practicing my special jumps, just like you said,” he stood and demonstrated, feeling a flicker of pride when he landed right by the man’s elbow.

“See?”

“A special jump is trivial compared to the unknowns of time travel,” he answered, not deigning to look at him, “one is like sliding along the ice, the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn.”

Five forced himself not to snarl at his father’s terrible explanation. He really hated riddles. Instead, he let out a sharp breath, “well, I don’t get it.”

“Hence the reason you’re not ready,” the man said, as if that was all the answer that was needed. He took another sip from his glass.

Five accidentally looked down the table to where Six and Seven sat, knowing that this would be a surprise to them. He rolled his eyes internally at Seven’s predictable reaction as she shook her head at him, looking slightly fearful. He turned back to his father, “I’m not afraid.”

“Fear isn’t the issue. The effects it might have on your body, even on your mind are far too unpredictable,” he threw his own utensils down and finally looked at the boy, “now, I forbid you to talk about this anymore.”

The boy’s lips curled into a sneer at the thought of someone trying to control his powers when who knew them better than him? Reginald may be their mentor but what did he know about the extent of their abilities?  He turned on his heel and stalked away, ignoring his father’s shouts. He picked up speed as he left the dining room, running, running, running out the door, on to the street.

The fresh air hit his face, spurring him on after the drafty, stale air of the place he called home. Preparing himself for the first jump, he mentally checked his calculations and tore a hole through time.

Around him, the scene changed. The darkness of the evening was replaced by bright sunlight showing a warm, sunny spring. He scoffed, “not ready my ass.”

Fueled by his success, he jumped again, his heart leaping as the scene changed to winter, the previously open buildings changing as they lost business. Adrenaline pumped through him and he wondered exactly how far into the future he could go. What would he see? Predictions from Six’s science fiction books were unlikely but he could still come back and tell his brother all about the future.

He leapt again, blue light shining around him as he created his third portal. The boy suddenly stilled, watching as the familiar sights around him turned to ash and dust, rubble and burning fires stretching as far as the eye could see.

Something akin to terror rose within him. This wasn’t right. How could it be when the world had been so vibrant around him seconds before?

He forced his legs to move, running along the dirt path that stretched on for miles. The sky was a dark, ashy gray that gave away neither time nor date and the falling particles burned his lungs when he breathed causing his breath to shorten rapidly and gasp in his chest.

Five froze outside the familiar building, all grandeur now rubble and fire as he stared up at what was once his home. No. What about his siblings? His family?

“Vanya!” he cried out, forcing himself to be heard over the crackling fire, “Ben! Dad! Anyone!”

No answer came in the nearly silent world despite him looking around wildly for someone, anyone living. He could go back. The answer came to him suddenly on its own accord and hope surged in his chest as he forced his hands into fists, blue shining around them. He pushed against the fabric of time, trying to calculate a way out. Nothing.

“Come on!” he pleaded, he didn’t want to be stuck in this burning hell.

“Shit,” was his next word as his powers failed, sucking away the sudden hope.

His hands dropped and he stared around at the landscape, as desolate as he felt. How was he going to get back? He dropped to his knees in front of the remains of his home- a home that had been whole and filled with life minutes before.

--

Five wasn’t sure how long it had been when he forced himself to pull away. Night would be coming soon and there were other survival things that needed to be done. How had their father known how to prepare them for this?

The thought crossed his mind as he stood, eyes catching sight of a still-standing newspaper holder. He ran over to it and opened the broken glass front, pulling out one of the papers. April 1, 2019 read the date, the headline was one that would be burned into his memory even after years of living in the apocalypse.

Then, he saw the first bodies lying in the rubble. The hand of a man was sticking out of a pile, clearly clutching at something. Five ran over to it and pried the glass orb out of the stiff, cold fingers. He wiped off the red, wet residue on the face of it, revealing a dark brown iris. It was a glass eye.

Still holding it, he followed the arm to a blonde-haired man with a cut next to his eye. Something niggled at the back of his head but he pushed it away. No, it couldn’t be. His siblings were still alive. Of course they were.

He ran to the next pile where a dark-haired man and dark-skinned woman were covered in rubble- both with their eyes closed and covered thickly in the falling ash. His feet skittered in the loose blocks but he made his way towards them, placing his hands on their shoulders and shaking them roughly. Please, he thought desperately, please be alive. Just be asleep.

It was a foolish, naïve thought but he couldn’t push it away.

Farther on, another man with a fur-trimmed coat was lying facedown in the rubble, eyes closed just like the others. Five’s breath caught in his throat as he stared at the damning tattoo on the man’s arm: an umbrella inscribed in a circle. The same one all of the Hargreeves children had, except Seven.

There was too much evidence to deny the terrible conclusion that formed in his mind.

--

Five forced the prickling tears at the back of his eyes away. He’d never been a crier; Reginald had beat that out of them at an early age. Still, he hadn’t even recognized his siblings until he’d seen the tattoos that bound them together. Then, he’d added rocks on top of their partially-buried bodies as a makeshift grave. That had been when he’d almost cried, when the last possible sighting of his siblings’ faces had finally been covered. They weren’t really his siblings, though, because he didn’t know them in this timeline. He knew their fifteen-year-old versions, back in 2004. This shouldn’t matter to him.

(It did.)

The boy tilted his head up and stared into the dark sky until his eyes burned for a different reason. Water was going to become a precious commodity; he shouldn’t waste what hydration he had on crying.

Again, he pulled himself away, telling himself it was useless to linger over the dead. He couldn’t help those siblings. (But oh, how he wanted to.) They were somebody else’s family. His were still alive in 2004, blissfully unaware of the fate that awaited them. There was still something he could do about that.

Five turned and walked away, steeling himself to face this strange, new hell.

--

He wasn’t sure what was worse. The dusty, dark days or darker nights. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. There was no sound except for howling wind, the crackling of fire and the creak of the wagon which was piled with necessary items like food cans and a supply of water that he’d found, his best prize.

By now, he’d covered himself entirely to keep the ash from burning his skin, a mask over his face to help his breathing and goggles to protect his eyes. These items were all found by scavenging around the city. He’d left the familiar block of the Academy behind and had begun searching in other buildings. These were more family-styled homes and he occasionally came across the bodies of little kids or parents which caused him to quickly turn away before the little food he’d eaten made its reappearance.

There was still no one who seemed to have escaped whatever disaster had ended the world. He’d been on his own for seemingly days now, not another living soul in sight, just stinking, dead bodies partially or fully covered by rubble. The boy tried not to think about them too much. It wasn’t that they disgusted him- well, the adults didn’t- but living in the world of the dead while he was still living was not a thought that sat comfortably in his mind.

Rubble shifted haphazardly under his hands as he searched for food, the cleared space revealing the short, dark hair of a woman. He moved to another spot immediately, continuing his search. Then, he froze.

Unless his ears were tricking him, there was a tinny bang, bang, bang coming from somewhere. The hits were too evenly spaced to be anything but purposeful. The hope that he’d thought had died suddenly resurged full force and he scrabbled over to the sound, “hello?”

His voice was hoarse and uncomfortably loud. The banging continued, “hello? Is anyone there?” he tried again.

There was no answer except for the continuous hitting sound. He shifted the rubble around on top of where he thought it was coming from until a dark crack appeared between the broken pieces, “hello? Can you hear me?”

The sound was definitely louder now and he made an effort to make the hole bigger, muscles tensing as he prepared for a maybe not-so-friendly encounter.  Then, it was large enough to see inside. The pale, dirty face of a girl looked up at him, her eyes squeezed tightly shut against the apparent brightness. How long had she been trapped under there? Days? Weeks? It was clearly awhile from how thin her face looked.

Five wasn’t even sure if she was real and he was just imagining the whole thing. He couldn’t help the disbelief that entered his tone as he asked, “what the hell?”

That wasn’t the best response to seeing the first human- alive- that he’d seen in however much time it had been, but like he’d said, he wasn’t a people-person. The girl didn’t respond, eyes still screwed up in a way that made her face look scrunched.

“Here, grab my hand, I’ll help you up,” that was better, he decided, and extended said hand to the girl.

After realizing she couldn’t see it, he grasped her hand himself and startled at how small and bony it seemed. He pulled her out easily and wasn’t surprised to see that the rest of her matched the gaunt face and frail hand.

“Open your eyes,” he tried, “slowly. How long have you been down there?”

The girl shook her head, most likely answering both questions. He sighed and turned, “hold on a second, I’ll get something to help.”

Five returned to his wagon before she could protest and shifted around in his items, pleased when he found another pair of goggles. Stumbling slightly back to her, he placed them in her hand, “here, they’re not sunglasses but they should be better than nothing.”

He watched as she put them on, struggling slightly with the strap until it was secure. Her face relaxed and her eyes opened cautiously. Five tried not to suck in a startled breath. Her pupils were so large only a thin, blue line could be seen around them. It was kind of creepy if he was being honest. Immediately, she shut her eyes again. He didn’t blame her.

“What’s your name?” the boy tried, never one for small talk but knowing it was important.

The girl opened her mouth to answer but no sound came out. She shook her head.

He let out an irritated huff, “fine, then is this your house?”

She nodded, confirming that yes, it was.

“Are there any supplies in your basement?”

Another nod.

“Is there anything I need to know before going down there?”

Again, she nodded, then paused, seemingly trying to get her words to work. When they didn’t, she made an open-close motion.

“Now isn’t the time for charades.” He wanted to tack on moron or some similar insult but he forced himself not to. She wasn’t one of his siblings.

The girl did the motion again and held her cupped hands up to her face, as if she were reading.

“A book, you want me to get a book,” the disbelief was back.

When she nodded vigorously, he sighed, “fine. Where is it?”

The question made her still, uncertain of how to act out the location. Then, she drew a flat, rectangular shape in the air and two smaller ones on top of it. He really hated riddles.

“I don’t get it,” he grumbled, frustrated, “just tell me they’re easy to find.”

The girl nodded again, “fine,” the boy decided, “I’ll get your stupid books. Wait here.”

The darkness didn’t bother him as he descended into the basement. Reginald would never let his adoptive experiments be afraid of something so silly as pitch-blackness. Then, Five’s foot hit something on the bottom step that almost made him loose his balance, “shit!” he cursed, righting himself.

The boy bent down and felt for the obstacle, startling at the waxy feel of a candle. Well, maybe she’s not a complete moron, he allowed. He felt around for matches and soon a small, golden glow lit up the dark space. He was surprised to find the basement completely intact. Then he immediately wrinkled his nose. It stank like hell.

After several minutes of searching, he found the partitioned food in the back storeroom, the paint cans with broken lids and the tools, which he rooted through to find the most useful ones. He was especially pleased when he found a rope. Then, he turned to make his way back to the surface only to pause at the bottom of the staircase. Her stupid books.

Five remembered seeing a desk at the edge of the circle of light so that’s what he went to find. On the surface sat three books: a used notebook and two published authors. He added those to the steadily-growing pile and clambered out messily, fighting to keep his balance as things spilled out of his hands.

Irritation pricked at him when he saw the girl was still standing, unmoving and eyes closed, right where he’d left her. Scratch that earlier thought, he grumbled, she is a complete moron.

After placing the things in the wagon, he made his way back over to her.

“Here,” he said, stuffing the requested items into her arms.

Her facial muscles twitched into what was probably her first smile in days, a sign of gratitude, he knew. He brushed it off, “you better open your eyes, we’re moving.”

She shook her head and his annoyance grew, “well, I’m not guiding you the whole way. There’s too much searching to be done and night will be here soon. You either open your eyes or I’m leaving you here.”

He wouldn’t, he knew. If she was the last human left alive he didn’t want to lose his only source of humanity.

Luckily, that caused her to open her eyes even as her face screwed up in pain. He pursed his lips in displeasure and studied her outfit, “the mask will help but you have to cover up. The ash burns and I don’t have any way of healing you if you get hurt.”

She seemed to be understanding about that and after some difficult maneuvering- and several close calls where he’d had to catch her- they made it to the wagon where he began handing her the extra clothing he’d found.

Once she was set up appropriately, he picked up the handle of the almost-full wagon. The girl tapped him on the shoulder.

“What?” he asked shortly.

She handed him the spiral-bound notebook, opened to the first page. On it, in slightly loopy, readable handwriting was the opening sentence: My name is Lola Gimbel and I was born August 1, 2004.

[fangirlauthor]

A Rip in Time Chapter 2

Hello again! Like I said, there’s a link to this work on ao3 if you’d like to read it on there. Check the masterpost to find it. 

Assuming, that is, that future Matt Holt ever stopped eating. It didn’t seem like he would - he was currently shovelling an insane number of donuts into his mouth at high speeds; he was clearly one of two things: extremely hungry, or excited about donuts. The reality was both. Not only was (future) Matt Holt hungry, it had also been a long time since he’d seen a donut, much less had one. 

“Are ye done yet, kid? We’ve got questions.” Commander Iverson glared at the kid - well, at Matt; kid didn’t really fit anymore. 

“Almost,” said future Matt Holt through a mouthful of donuts. “And I’m sure I’ve got answers, Commander.” Swallowing, Matt added, “There’s a lot to go through, so I’m going to need the devices I brought with me.”

“You aren’t getting those until we figure out what they are.”

“They’re databases that I’ve stored visual aids on, Commander. Nothing dangerous, basically the alien equivalent of a stored powerpoint.” 

Iverson shook his head. “Still need to get them cleared first.”

“Then I guess I’ll be eating donuts until you do.”

Iverson practically growled at that. Other Matt, Sam, and Shiro - watching from behind a two-way mirror - glanced at each other and did their best to hold in their laughter. It wasn’t a joke, and if it had been it wouldn’t’ve been a funny one, but confusion has an interesting effect on one’s sense of humor. 

Two hours later, someone managed to stop by with the devices future Matt Holt had brought with him. At that point, Iverson escorted future Matt to the debriefing room where several people - including the members of the Kerberos mission (and Adam, Katie, and Colleen Holt) were already waiting. 

“Alright, kid. What’s this all about?” asked Iverson. “We’d like the short version, please.”

“Of course, Commander. That’s why I needed my trusty visual aids to keep me on track.”

Taking a deep breath, Matt tapped the Altean device, triggering a holographic image of Kerberos to appear. “Everything you think you know is about to change. There’s an entire universe out there - and there’s more to it than we could ever have imagined. Years ago - for me, anyway - Kerberos was the farthest a human had ever traveled. The mission was supposed to be an embodiment of everything we had achieved, of how far humanity had advanced. Instead, it turned into a showing of how little we really knew.” A breath as everyone in the room waited for him to continue. “The Kerberos mission was successful up until a single point - and it was a big one.” 

Matt tapped the device projecting an image of Kerberos, and a video feed began to play. It was the video recorded during the Kerberos mission, the one that had proved to Katie Holt that the Galaxy Garrison was lying to everyone about what had really happened on Kerberos. After it played, Matt had the transmission the Galaxy Garrison had picked up play as well. 

The room was full of shocked faces, Sam, Matt and Shiro most of all - Adam, standing slightly behind and away from Shiro, reached out as if to touch Shiro on the shoulder, stopping at the last moment. 

“What-” Iverson began, but (future) Matt cut him off with a wave of his hand. 

“I’m not quite finished yet, Commander.” He smiled, but it was thin and very clearly fake. Old memories are painful to remember at the best of times, and this most certainly could not be considered the best of times. 

“Once the Galaxy Garrison caught that video and transmission, they told the public a lie - they claimed the Kerberos mission had crashed due to pilot error, and left it at that. A military funeral - closed casket because there weren’t any bodies - was held, during which the,” - here his voice broke slightly - “family members and loved ones were allowed to say goodbye. For the next few years, the world believed that Takashi Shirogane, Matt Holt, and Sam Holt were dead. Some people had suspicions that the Galaxy Garrison wasn’t telling the truth, but most of them kept quiet. My sister was not one of them - in a sense, anyway. She illegally hacked into the Galaxy Garrison’s computers and managed to see that footage before she was caught and banned from the premises. An amount of time later, she ran away and - also illegally - enrolled in the Galaxy Garrison as Pidge Gunderson, and cut her hair to add to the illusion. 

“Another amount of time later - sorry for not knowing the specifics, I was busy trying not to die on an alien ship - Shiro escaped from the aliens that had captured us, the ones known as the Galra. He crashed on Earth, near the Galaxy Garrison. The Garrison wanted him sedated and quarantined, but he had an urgent message and begged them to listen to him. They didn’t but before they could completely sedate him, former Garrison cadet Keith Kogane broke into the Galaxy Garrison and, with help from a few other cadets - including my sister - got him out and safely away from pursuing Garrison forces. 

“There they discovered a secret cavern and an alien ship - the Blue Lion. Shiro, Pidge, Lance, Hunk, and Keith ended up leaving the planet on the ship once it activated for Lance. At that point, they accidentally traveled through a wormhole and discovered what Voltron was. I’m not going to go into specifics of how, exactly, they managed to get there, but know that they did. And the universe is in a much better place because of it. 

“Voltron is a superweapon, and the universe’s only hope. It is made of five mechanical lions, piloted by the five paladins. Because of some strange - we’ll call it magic - known as Altean Alchemy, the lions are practically sentient beings; they choose their paladins, and they activate only for those they choose to. Working as a team, the five paladins - and the lions they are in - can fight separately or form Voltron. The current paladins are as follows: in the black lion, Keith, in the red lion, Lance, in the green lion, Pidge, in the yellow lion, Hunk, and in the blue lion, Allura, who is an alien and not someone you’d know.” Here (future) Matt paused for another breath, ignoring the stunned faces around him. “Don’t worry, Commander, I’ll make this last part quick. 

“Together, the paladins have worked together to save the universe an impressive number of times. They’ve faced robeasts, fleets of starships, and have adapted at an incredible speed for people who were thrown into this world without warning. I’m not going to go into detail about each battle they’ve fought because there’s not enough time, but know this; each of the paladins has proven time and time again that they are willing to do whatever it takes - and I mean whatever it takes - to save the universe. They are heroes, and they are a symbol of hope to the entire universe. 

“Right now, a time slip is occurring - people from my time are going to start appearing here, where you are. This includes some less-than-friendly aliens, but also allies as well. Some chaotically accurate math informed us that I’d be the first here - so, as I have done, I was to inform you generally of what has occurred in the future. I’m also supposed to - and plan on - helping bolster the defenses on this planet so we’ll be a little more prepared when the bad guys start arriving. I’m going to need your full cooperation for this, though - can I expect that, or am I going to have to go rogue again?”

Everyone stared at him, shock coating their features. “I’ll, uh, give you a moment,” (future) Matt said awkwardly, deactivating the device still projecting photos of the five paladins (and Shiro). 

Several moments later, Sam said, “So the first time we encountered alien lifeforms, they were hostile?”

(Future) Matt nodded. “The Galra Empire goes through the universe and colonizes - or destroys - plants and their inhabitants are usually forced to work for the empire. There is a small group of galra known as the Blade of Marmora that the Voltron Coalition works closely with. They’re on our side. Heck, one of their members is a paladin.”

Iverson asked a more pragmatic question. “And there are hostile aliens coming here? Because of this time slip?”

(Future) Matt nodded. “They’re coming, but so are the paladins and the Atlas. There’s not a lot we’ll be able to do to prepare before they get here - assuming Slav’s math is correct - but we’ll do what we can. I’ll do what we can.”

“Alright,” said Iverson. “What do we need to do?”

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #333

“imaginary chain  /  the one you never break  /  seething all alone”

Do you have any fears you would rarely admit to anyone? Nah, I'm pretty open about what I'm afraid of. What website do you spend most of your time on? YouTube. What class in high school did you struggle with the most? I honestly don't remember with certainty, but it was probably math or economics. At least, I think econ was my senior year. What could you talk about for hours? Mark, meerkats, a few game franchises... maybe a couple more topics. Who is your favorite character from Harry Potter? I wouldn't know. Do you salt your popcorn? Yes. Do you have a Steam account? Yeah, but I don't have many games on there and rarely touch the ones I do. Do you like gaming? I do, but not as much as I did for most of my life. I mostly just play WoW now, and even that I'm not that into anymore. Part of it though comes from not buying any new games that I'm interested in because 1.) no money and 2.) no proper console, and you can only replay games so many times before you're just... yeah, done. Do you like reading books? Some days. Do you like religion? All things considered? No. Do you like Grand Theft Auto V? Y'know, growing up, I actually liked watching my younger neighbor play one of those games, but I don't remember which. Though he never actually "played" it... just ran around wreaking havoc, lol. I do however think GTAV was the one that Jason and Jacob started playing together when we moved into the apartment, and I thought the story was okay; I don't think they ever got far into it, though. Definitely wasn't Jason's sort of game, and I don't think it was too much up Jacob's alley, either. Can you twerk? I haven't tried and you will never see me try either, lmao. Do you have a Spotify account? Yes, but I almost never use it. If the last person you kissed tried to kiss you again, would you start kissing them back? Yes. If your best friend of the opposite sex tried to kiss you, would you start kissing them back? No. Have you ever kissed someone who has previously kissed someone you hated? Yes, because of how badly she hurt him. I don't have any negative feelings towards her now, though. We're actually friends, haha. The irony. Are you an easy lay? What weird wording. But whatever, quite the polar opposite actually. When’s the last time you said you were sorry? A few days ago. Are there any songs you listen to everyday? No. Would you like living on the coast? As someone who lives in a state hit by hurricanes usually every year and has seen the incredible damage they usually bring to the coast, no. I don't like the smell or gritty feel of salty air, either. When’s the last time you were really late to something? No idea. That's usually not a problem with me. Why did you stop liking the last person you liked? The last person I actually stopped like-liking would be Girt, and that would be because I just came to the realization I saw him too much as my brother instead of boyfriend. It just always felt awkward. Do you still talk to that person? Yeah, we're good. No hard feelings or anything between us. Are you keeping a secret from someone who needs to know the truth? No. Do you trust easily? Fuck no. I'll be cautious, at least to some degree, about new people for a while. What is the last song to make you cry? Since I've actually behaved and not listened to any trigger songs, it's been a long while, but it was probably "Another Life" by Motionless In White. Last person you hung up on? I'm sure some automated message. I barely ever answer the phone to numbers I don't recognize, though. Where was your last car ride to and from? To Wal-Mart w/ Mom to pick up our order and then back home. Next big outing? *shrug* Do you find it difficult to stay invested in online relationships? Not really, no. Considering I'm by far my most authentic self online, I actually tend to appreciate virtual friends more, if I'm being honest. I try to keep up with those people. Are you the type of person who pays close attention to the release dates of movies, music, etc., and will, for example, go see a movie or buy an album on the date it is released? If so, when is the last time you did so? Not really, no. I think I saw Warcraft the day it came into theaters, though. Do movies often make you cry? What kind of films/scenes make you tear up most? Yep. Tragic romance tends to do it the most, I think. Do you use any apps to track your health or medications? I have one to track my menstrual cycle as well as another that tracks my daily caloric intake, but I'm bad at using it because it's tedious if I actually have to measure something. Whose opinions/recommendations do you value most? Ummm if you mean like, in general, probably my mom's. But this most certainly depends on the subject I'm taking feedback on. What is something society "expects" you to do that you don't want to do and/or don't plan on doing? Shaving my legs came to mind first. Granted, I will if there is almost any chance of someone seeing them, but otherwise, I just don't care. We respect women with body hair on this account and see them as no less feminine. Are you interested in architecture? Is there any particular style that you're drawn to? I think it's cool, yeah. I should have an answer for this, given architecture was a massive focus in Art History the last time I was in school... Roman architecture comes to my head first, if that says anything. What was one of your favorite things from the nineties? BOY OH BOY, SO MUCH!! I'm probably gonna say the toys. There was some dope shit, man. Do you collect things pertaining to an animal? ANYTHING and EVERYTHING featuring a meerkat!!!!! :''') Do you wish that people were kinder to spiders? Well, yes. I hope everyone in their heart wishes this, even if they're afraid of them. They're very important to our ecosystem, and none are out there to harm us; their existence does us a favor. Where do you normally order pizza from? Domino's (my favorite) or LIttle Caesar's for the price. Did your parents keep anything of yours from when you were a baby? Oh yes, loads of stuff that's stored away somewhere. Do you own one of those "____ For Dummies" books? No, but I feel like we had one at some point? What was the last VHS tape that you watched? Yikes, who knows. Did you watch Boy Meets World back in the day? I actually didn't, no. Our old neighbor though loved it so much that she named her daughter Tapanga (deliberately spelled that way). Who is your favorite Scooby Doo character? I never really had one. Maybe Thelma. If I were to give you a coloring book, what would you want its theme to be? Animals. Have you ever won a stuffed animal at a carnival? Possibly a small one. I can tell you I did however accidentally stab the guy who ran the dart-throwing booth though, lmfao. He was obviously fine, and it wasn't a bad wound. I felt SOOOOOO bad. Are you a fan of narwhals? I'm a fan of any animal. Narwhals are definitely fascinating creatures. Grape or orange soda? Orange. Grape-flavored soda ain't my thing. Have you ever wanted to vlog? Noooo. My life is so painstakingly boring and repetitive. Did you have a favorite Disney movie as a child? It was and still is The Lion King. Do you or have you ever owned a portable gaming console? Yeah, a GameBoy Advance and Nintendo DS. Is shyness cute? It definitely can be. Have you ever had alcohol poisoning before? No. Do you like to gossip, or do you prefer to keep your mouth shut? I'm not a gossip fan. Have you ever vandalized someone else’s property before? Most definitely not. Are your parents divorced? Yes. Have you ever been under suicide watch for 72 hours in a psychiatric ward? Yes; at least here, that's protocol when you're admitted for suicidal thoughts/tendencies. Have you ever gone through your significant other’s phone or social media accounts, or do you respect their privacy? Absolutely not. That shit pisses me off so badly. Do you wear any sort of clothing for religious reasons? No. What's something you worked extremely hard to get? My sanity back. Sounds so dramatic, but I'm literally not kidding. Have you ever been labeled negatively or otherwise been called something extremely derogatory? Not that I remember. How many kids do you want to have? I don't want kids, but to entertain the question, when I did, I wanted three. It's fuckin wild to imagine for even a second that I once wanted that. Do you believe that being gay is a sin? *eye roll* Are you any good at photography? If so, what’s your specialty? I mean it with modesty, but I think I'm pretty good. My favorite thing to photograph are animals, but I generally take most pictures of people by request or pay. Judging by my deviantART account, my nature pics definitely get the most attention. Have you ever been a member of a gang before? Fuckin yikes, no. An infamous gang tried breaking into my childhood home once, so you can probably gather that I would never take part in their "big bad guys" bullshit. Have you ever felt like you were neither male nor female? No, I'm comfortable as a cisgender female. Do you like oatmeal raisin cookies? NO. Anything with raisins = NO. Do you think you’re attractive? No. Has a teacher ever caught and read a note you were passing in class? No, not that I really passed notes to begin with. I'd be mortified, regardless of what it was about. Would you rather live in a tropical or arctic climate? Arctic. Do you have an older brother? Yes. He's technically my half-brother, but I don't see "half"s. Have either of your parents ever been to jail? No. Are your collarbones prominent? Bitch I wish so I could get the damn dermal piercings I've wanted for years. Have you ever in your life worn overalls? As a kid, yeah. So ugly. Do you love yourself? It's... weird. Therapy is making me realize that a part of me, maybe even the bigger one, doesn't, but at the exact same time, I know I have worth just like every other human. I just don't treat myself like I do. What TV shows do you keep up with? None, until Meerkat Manor returns this summer. :') When’s the last time it snowed where you live? A couple months ago we got a little bit of it. Is your belly button pierced? No, but it would be if I was actually skinny. Just in my personal opinion, I don't at all think that that piercing would look nice on someone as overweight as me. Even if my damn dreams come true and I lose all the weight I want, my stomach will never look "normal," even after I get the excess skin removal surgery that will be very high on my priority list for my own self-image that's been nothing but loathsome since 2016. What is your favourite dinosaur? Spinosaurus is the obvious answer. What do you remember the most about your childhood? Lots of imagination. Parents arguing. Playing with my little sister. What age did you get your first hair cut? I have no idea. Do you have a favourite toy from childhood still? No. I wish I hadn't gotten rid of it. Have you ever made bread? No. Would you ever consider shaving your head? Nah. Would you like to live in a realm where the zombie apocalypse is possible? Who says we don't now? Zombifying parasites already exist among insects and such, so like... it's not unimaginable to one day see one developed enough to infect humans. I sure as fuck hope not, but. What do you use to dry your clothes? (Tumble dryer, radiator, etc) We have a dryer. Do you ever play the built-in games on your computer? Which ones? Nah. What was the last spontaneous thing you did? I did this many, many months ago, but I guess watch an episode of The Witcher by my own volition. I don't really do spontaneous things with how routine I am, but I had a random urge to check it out one morning. How loud can you whistle? Not very loud at all. Does anything on your body hurt or itch right now? My knees really hurt. They're getting worse. When was the last time you built a sandcastle? There's noooo telling, it's been many years. Have you ever ridden a mechanical bull? No. Well, not a *real* one, anyway. Just the little ones for kids. If you had to appear on a game show, which one would you choose? Family Feud. What is your favorite hot beverage? Hot chocolate. Do you have an alter ego? Describe them: No. Food: Are you adventurous or do you stick to what you know? I absolutely stick to what I know. I am SO picky. Is there anything (out of the obvious) that makes you feel really ill? I'm not immediately sure, but there's probably something. Do you bump into things often? Yes. I've always had this weird habit of like... drifting when I walk, so I do this easily. I just kinda wander to the sides a bit without realizing it. What design is on your calendar this year? I don't have a current one. Did you enjoy playing Hop Scotch when you were younger? I did. Do you feel uncomfortable going to the movies by yourself? Nah, not really. I did that with Warcraft and it was actually pretty chill. When thinking about your dream home, what do you think would be your favorite thing to shop for? The ~g o t h i c~ decor. Do you ever listen to those lo-fi hip hop/study music playlists on YouTube/Spotify? No. Are you likelier to work harder if you’re being paid? If not, what drives you to give your best effort? I mean, yeah. I'd assume that's pretty normal. Does the fashion sense of a potential partner matter to you? No. Is there anything that you prefer to write down rather than type? I'm unsure. If you download/torrent things, do you remember the first thing you ever torrented? Oh, the Limewire days of music pirating... but no, I don't remember. What was the last thing you posted on Instagram? Something photography-related, but I don't feel like checking. What do you wish your hair looked like? I wish I could pull off pastel pink hair rn. It also desperately needs a trim. Do you still feel anything for the first person you fell in love with? I'm sure I always will, at least a little. Do you get any magazines in the mail? No. Have you ever paid for any kind of online membership? Uhhhhh have I? I don't think so. Who’d you last see in a tux? Probably the groom of the last wedding I shot. Do you record any TV shows and watch them later? No, but I used to do that big time because I loved "rewatching" stuff when I was on the computer. Out of everyone you know, who was the most heart? My mother, big time. Who’s the bravest person you know? Also my mother. Or Sara. What profession do you admire the most? Teachers might just win. The patience that must take, among so many other things. Have you ever made a fake profile, for any reason? No.

[curlybookwriter0294]

A Conversation with a Known Stranger

SasuNaru(OneShot)

Summary: There’s this dance club that Naruto love to go to after work on Fridays. Why? Because Fridays are (men night) meaning there’s nothing but gorgeous men in the club. Naruto was shocked to see a known stranger there at the bar. It was Sasuke Uchiha. His long time crush. Wait, what?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot

“Care for a dance?”

Naruto turned around to see a guy standing in front of him. They were about the same height. The guy had long brown hair, the end of it tied with a ponytail with purple like eyes. He had his hand out with a small smile on his face.

Naruto chuckled. “Uh, no thank you. Thanks for asking.”

The guy shrugged his shoulders and dance his back towards a group of other men on the dance floor. Naruto cocked his head to the side as he tried to make out what song was currently playing at the club and smirked. It was a Lady Gaga song. Of course.

Naruto wasn’t in the dancing mood as of yet because he had just gotten off from his shift at the hospital he worked at with his best friend Sakura Haruno who was the lead nurse. He knew that he couldn’t break his tradition of going to his favorite club that he has been going since he came out publicly at the age of twenty-one. Sakura wanted to come with him but had a date night with her girlfriend Ino and couldn’t make it.

He tried to slip by the group of sweaty, shirtless men that was dancing around him as he made his way to the bar area. Don’t get him wrong, he loves sweaty and shirtless men around him, however, he needs a couple of drinks in his system before dancing along with them.

He sighed in relief when he finally spotted the bar at the far end coroner of the club. He could see his favorite bar tender Kakashi Hatake, pouring a drink into a glass for someone.

As he had gotten closer to the bar, he could easily see that the customer had shoulder length raven hair and wore a three piece black suit. His mouth dropped opened when the customer turned his head slightly to look at the dance floor. It was his long time crush, Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke turned back around to look at Kakashi. Kakashi doesn’t show his face due to personal reasons, so he hides his face using a cloth from his nose to his chin to conceal it. Naruto and Kakashi locked eyes for a few seconds and quickly looked away. When Naruto first started to come here, he would confide to him about his crush he had on Sasuke since he was in elementary school and that’s how he knew that he liked the same gender rather than the opposite. He could’ve swore that Sasuke left Japan to work at the family business overseas. So why was he here? At the gay club? For gay people?

Naruto took a deep breath, trying to hide his nerves as he made it to the bar to sit next to him. He tried to act smooth and cool as he slip into the bar stool and accidentally almost trip on the metal that was on the bottom of the stool. Both Kakashi and Sasuke looked him. Naruto laughed. “Don’t mind me. I meant to do that. Really.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes at him as he picked up his glass of his drink. Naruto waved his friend Kakashi over with his hand. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him as he placed a hand onto his hip. “The usual?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto smirked at him and nodded at him. “You should know my drink by now.” He said with a laugh.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders when he placed a glass in front of Naruto. He grabbed a can of Coke and rum that was underneath the bar. Naruto watched him as he poured the coke in first and then the rum and then mixed it together nicely with a stirring stick. “Enjoy.” He told Naruto with a wink as he moved down the bar to take care of other people, leaving him and Sasuke completely alone.

Naruto gripped his glass hard as he took a sip of his drink. “Bastard.” He muttered. Kakashi knew what he was doing, leaving them alone.

“Tt. Wouldn’t peg you to be a rum and coke type.”

Naruto turned to see Sasuke staring at him. Was he actually talking to him right now? Was he dreaming? He bit his lower lip. “How so?” He asked him, taking another sip of drink as he tried not to freak out.

Sasuke hummed as he took a drink of how own drink. Once finished, he flipped over the cup face down on the napkin that he had. “I just know.”

Naruto looked back over at his brown drink. It’s true, rum and coke wouldn’t be first drink he would choose but he would only drink it if it’s at the club because Kakashi makes it just right. He scoffed at him. “Kakashi makes the best rum and coke. Which is why I always drink it here.”

Sasuke didn’t respond to him. Instead, he turned his stool around to face the dancers on the dance floor as a Post Malone sang came on from the speakers. Naruto eyed him sideways, still wondering why he was here. He wants to talk to him, but he’s scared shitless. He would always watch Sasuke from afar. Naruto would remember times when he would leaned against his locker as his best friend Kiba Inuzuka chatted about some girl he wanted to talk to, but Naruto would always block him out each time he would see Sasuke walking down the hallways of the high school they went together. He would have girls swarming around him as he walked straight ahead, ignoring advances each girl tried to give him. Naruto could’ve swore Sasuke glanced at him as he walked passed him, his eyes narrowing at him before looking away and disappeared around the corner for his advanced math class. Yes, Naruto had memorized his class schedule.

Would Sasuke remember him? Naruto wasn’t popular like Sasuke, though he was still noticeable due to famous pranks he would place around the school before summer break. He wants to know if Sasuke remembers him. However, again, he’s scared shitless. He gulped down the last bit of his drink, trying to find the courage to talk to him once more. He opened his mouth about to speak when his voice stopped him.

“Naruto Uzumaki.”

He blinked a few times and shook his head. Did, did Sasuke just said his name? Naruto bit his lower lip when Sasuke turned to look at him. “You’re Naruto Uzumaki are you not?”

Naruto nodded fast in his response. He knows his name! He actually knows his name! But how? That’s what Naruto wants to know. He cleared his throat as he place a hand into his jean pocket. “Y-you remember me?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, waving at Kakashi over to bring him another drink. Naruto and Kakashi eyed at each other briefly before the silver haired bartender walked his way back over towards a group older guys at the bar.

“Who could forget about the one who had released the cicada bugs into the hallways of the school junior year.”

Naruto laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. Junior year, Naruto had a brilliant idea about gathering up the cicada bugs that had recently came out of hibernation and released them throughout the school. It was his best prank yet to start his summer break. Though Principal Tsunande wasn’t quite as happy with him. She made him sit through detention all summer every Saturday. “Yeaaaa, that was me! Best prank ever I’ll say.” He said with another laugh.

Sasuke chuckled quietly. He had to admit it was quite a scene when he had walked down the halls seeing dead bugs everywhere. Girls would scream at the sight of them, freaking out and wanting to know who had committed this prank. Turns out, it was some blonde kid named Naruto Uzumaki, notoriously known as some idiot who pulls pranks at the end of each year before summer break. He didn’t know that the guy in front of him even existed until his friend Suigetsu talked about him. Interesting.

“What brings you here Sasuke? You, you do know what kind of club this is don’t you?”

Sasuke turned his stool around so he could face the blonde in front of him and scoffed. “I’m not an idiot, dope. I know what kind of club this is.”

Naruto cocked his head to the side at his answer. That didn’t answer his question. He wants to push further but knew it’s not his place, but he was just curious after all. “I thought you moved overseas.”

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. “I did. Moved back a couple of days ago.” He sighed as he balled up his fists. “For good.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow. “Can I ask why?”

“No.”

Naruto hummed to the latest BTS song that was now playing overhead. Damnit, now he’s pissed at him. Crap. “S-sorry for prying.” He muttered, turning around to look at the dancers on the dance floor.

Sasuke grunted when he ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean it to come out like that. It’s just,” he rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. “Family issues. That’s why I’m back.”

Naruto glanced back at him and nod his head with understanding and smirked at him. “Welcome back.”

Sasuke smirked back him. “I guess.”

Naruto thought for a few seconds after the BTS song had ended and now the DJ started to play a Coldplay song. He pointed towards the dance floor. “Do you, um,” he stuttered, getting nervous. Again. “Wanna dance?”

Sasuke shook his head. “I don’t dance. Sorry.”

Naruto sighed in disappointment. Well, at least he tried. Naruto bit his lower lip as he tapped his shoe against the chair with the beat of the Coldplay song that was still playing. They didn’t talk for a while after that. They sat in a comfortable silence staring at the half naked guys on the dance floor to the beat of the song, yelling and having a blast.

“I didn’t know that you were gay.”

Naruto glanced at him when Sasuke said that. Sasuke wasn’t looking at him, his eyes were still glued to the guys on the dance floor. “I came out at twenty-one.”

Sasuke huffed at his answer. “Congrats.” He told him, raising his glass towards him.

Naruto gave him a small smile. “Thanks. I-I didn’t know that you were gay too.” To be honest, he always hoped that Sasuke was gay. He always dreamed that Sasuke liked guys too. However, his dream was shuttered in high school when he started dating a red head named Amaya Sora, a fellow senior in his year. Could he really be gay after all?

“Tt, I’m bisexual.”

Naruto’s ears perked up with interest. Well, at least he still like guys. “That’s really neat! Are you out to everyone too then?”

Naruto gulped when he saw Sasuke frowned at his question. Crap, did he make him mad again? “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I understand! It’s highly personal and you don’t have to come out right away! It happens all the time. It—“

“That’s why I’m back. My family,” he growled lowly, biting the inside of his cheek. “Is not very accepting. Which is why I am back. My brother is taking over the company overseas to replace me.” He balled his fists up in anger, not even wincing when his fingernails digged into his palm.

Naruto eyed at his fist, mentally punching himself in the face. He reached up slowly to place a hand over Sasuke’s closed fist. Sasuke’s head snapped over at him at the touch. “Fuck them. You are very brave to come out. Not a lot of people have that courage. You can finally be your true self Sasuke. Without hiding anymore.”

Sasuke took a deep breath as he released his fist and looked down at Naruto’s hand on top of his. He smirked when he saw that they practically matched. “Thank you, Naruto. For saying that.”

Naruto smiled him, trying not to freaking out that his hand was still on Sasuke’s.

Sasuke sighed when he pulled his hand out from under Naruto and stood up from the bar stool. He reached into his pocket to place a couple of bills on the counter to pay for his drink. “I should be heading back. It’s late.”

Naruto nodded when he looked up at the clock that was over at the bar. The clock read 3AM. Have they really been talking since he got here at 9:30? Wow, time sure did move fast. “R-right, me too.” He said, yawning as he stood up from the stool and place the same amount of bills on the counter for his drink. “Had a long ass shift today at Konoha Hospital.”

Sasuke chuckled. “Interesting. What do you do? Sakura Haruno also works there correct?”

“Yes she does! She’s a lead nurse now and I’m a nurse. Who would’ve thought I would survive nursing school.”

Sasuke pursed his lips. “That’s interesting. Listen,” he said with a sigh. “Thank you, for tonight. Again.”

Naruto blushed. “Y-you’re welcome, Sasuke anytime!”

Sasuke walked passed him and placed a hand onto his shoulder. “Maybe next Friday I’ll see you here?”

Naruto’s insides were doing jumping jacks. “I’m always here on Fridays.”

Sasuke smirked as he gave his shoulder a squeeze. “Good. See you then.” He waved at him as he walked away, leaving Naruto speechless.

“Holy fuck. Did that just happened?” Naruto asked himself once Sasuke disappeared outside. Naruto pinched himself and yelped at the pain. “It did!”

A/N: so I always liked this pairing so I thought I should give it a shot at it lol. I know they didn’t kiss or anything like that but I just thought it was a nice idea lol. Tell me what you guys think!

[dominicvail]

in another world, ncis:la feeds us with actual Au episodes every now and again, but our world is imperfect and we just have to imagine this stuff here, but like, if this did happen i would Require these au’s;

A Bowling Au. Everything is played with exactly the same tone as the actual show, so it’s usually laughable but Sometimes super dramatic except instead of like, a terrorist attack, a rival team bowled a strike. Sam used to be on a super militant and well respected team and hasn’t gotten over that half the time people don’t know the name of this new one. He believes bowling balls should be polished before repacking, Every time, that Deeks just shoves his in the same reusable plastic bag he’s had for 8 years Pains him. G’s back story is Identical to the show except this isn’t a spy genre anymore so ppl just think he’s like, the super above it all edge lord because of it all. 

Teacher AU. Sam teaches all kinds of advanced math, G is a gym teacher who acts really stupid all the time to stop people giving him responsibilities he doesn’t want. Despite this, he is often dragged in to cover for language classes because somebody figured out he’s a language like, genius or something. He covered a drama class one time, too, and was scarily good at it. Deeks actually Is the drama teacher, the kids all Love him. Kensi teaches all kinds of physical design classes, like, anything to do with engines, she does woodwork, things like that, she’s not As liked among the student body (i mean, the boys and gays love her, but her jokes are Weird) but she isn’t classed as one of the asshole teachers. Eric teaches IT or whatever u call computing, he’s friendly, won’t put up with crap, but like, next to nobody understands him because he’s not good at dumbing things down. Nell doesn’t teach at first, was just an administrator dealing with all the complicated things, but sometimes substitutes, she’s tiny and Scary and is not a substitute u can walk all over, the ones who tried can’t figure out How she got them to behave??? but it happened. Mr Deeks and Ms Blye are the ‘will they or won’t they’ teacher couple of the school only for deeks to accidentally let slip that his wife is better at long distance running than he is and they all work it out that they’ve been married the whole time. Mr Beale and Miss Jones become the next will they won’t they couple except it embarrasses them so much all they do is blush at each other now. Hetty is the principal/head teacher. She is rarely seen, to be feared, but always watching. 

Star Trek AU; Hetty is the captain of the ship they’re on, but the show is more about the main away team. Is the team’s reputation as bad as section 31 (the shady(tm) part of starfleet), No! Is their reputation necessarily good? No. In fact, they frequently butt heads with section 31 (we’re calling them the equivalent of the cia in the show, they can be friends but... yeah), however their results are rarely questionable and they save many, many lives. It is highly unlikely anyone will ever be promoted. Sam is a Vulcan, calm waters... except if you make him snap, Vulcans have deep running emotions. Deeks is just. The Most Obnoxious Human to him Ever. G is half betazed, it’s why he’s so good at reading people.  Eric is a member of a species that is super social but have few social graces similar to humans so is always super awkward. Kensi has a tragic backstory where she thinks the borg got her dad when she was a kid but it was a Cover Up. I would make Nell non human also, but i will be honest, i am running out of trek aliens i can make her (klingon nell is a Hilarious concept tho). Hetty is Bajoran. 

James Bond AU. Everything is the same except they all use bad english accents the whole way through the episode. 

I am a massive fan of alternate takes on soulmate au’s, i don’t like romantic soulmate au’s, but unusual takes on them are my Jam. In this one, people have soul marks from people who will have the most profound effects on them in their lives on their bodies. This doesn’t necessarily mean the effects will be good, just profound and altering. The team realise they all have marks from each other on their bodies, and are elated to find out all those marks are Positive effects. 

Though i will admit the ‘see in colour when you meet your soulmate’ one would be hilarious with legitimately Any of the partners on the show. Kensi: See’s deeks, learns what blue is. Kensi: spirals into deep denial and yells at him a lot. 

Queer Eye AU where the Fab 5 are called in when Hetty nominates her team for a makeover! Bobby redecorates the boat shed, is asked by hetty to keep what is already bulletproof, bulletproof. And to keep the trap door. And not to worry about any bloodstains and how they got there. Tan’s discovers how hard it is to style around Sam’s muscles. Tries very hard to stop Nell from mixing prints. Experiences horror at Eric’s wardrobe, Nell is shown in BG laughing. Every single man exhibits true, actual horror at the idea of JVN changing their hair and pack into Sam’s car and run away to hide in the woods. Nell and Kensi enjoy the salon appointment in their absence. Karamo manages to negotiate getting paid literally twice his previous rate by just having to try to fix these idiots’ lives and deserves every penny. Antoni trying to teach them to make fun and not disgusting food doesn’t end well. Deeks can cook but likes to Experiment and 97% of his food is awful. Sam can cook, but it’s all bland muscle building/health food. The rest of them are incompetent, set the kitchen on fire, are caught ordering chinese on the sly, ruin 5 pots and pans with burn marks. They open the new boatshed design by interrogating a criminal they just picked up on a case, he points out how fabulous the decor is as he’s led to the interrogation room. Everybody cheers. The team provided snacks in said interrogation Could be considered a torture technique, tho. 

The team go on jeopardy. I have never seen this game show and have no idea how it works, but i bet it would be funny so it is a bullet point. 

Buffy the vampire slayer au, Kensi is a vampire slayer who Happens to just be an ncis agent. She does her normal job but also tries to keep the vampire world a secret from her team mates. Callen: uh, kensi... why do you spend so much of your free time hanging around cemeteries? Kensi: uh... Bat watching???

Superhero AU but they all have really dumb powers. Sam can raise the temperature of any body of water from a lake to a puddle by ten degrees in temperature whenever he wants. G can spontaneously grow and un-grow his hair, if he gets drunk and makes it super long he has ringlets. Deeks can hover exactly one foot in the air, no higher, is designated ‘grab that off the high shelf’ guy. Kensi can sense sugar. This helps in no ways but essentially makes her a human version of one of the medical alert dogs for diabetics. Eric can make anybody around him mildly sleepy if he wants to. He never wants this. It doesn’t even send them to sleep, they just yawn more often and that makes Him yawn more. Nell can speak to cows, since she lives in the middle of Los Angeles, this is not helpful. Plus, cows mostly just talk about grass and are really very boring. Granger could create rainbows out of thin air which was obviously in perfect sync with his personality. Hetty can detach her toes at will. This is only useful in the case of uncomfortable shoes, but can be awkward if somebody routinely searches your bag and finds them in there and arrests you for being a creepy toe cutting off serial killer. 

i would watch it, s’all i’m saying.

[thecomicsnexus]

Men of Shadow

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #29 MARCH 1990 BY A. C. FARLEY

SYNOPSIS (FROM TURTLEPEDIA)

In this issue's prologue, we see a man seated in what appears to be a space craft, musing about his desire to be a hero... as his computer accesses files regarding the Necronomicon.

Meanwhile, the TMNT are apparently skirmishing with a gigantic turtle robot in the woods of Northampton as Master Splinter looks on. Suddenly the bot ceases its operations and comes crashing to the ground. The Turtles scramble to open the machine up, and Donatello pops out, explaining how he accidentally overloaded the onboard computer and with a few tweaks he'll have it ready to roll again.

In Arkham, Massachusetts we're introduced to two boys, named Max and Pervis. Max has just purchased an expensive back issue of a comic book and Pervis is warning him about his parents' reaction... which is sure to be very negative. Max explains that he's already in trouble and headed for summer school because he flunked math. The bad news only gets worse as the two lads are assailed by a group of bullies, led by a big fat kid named Barry. Barry grabs Max in a head lock and then tears up his comic before walking off, warning the comic fans that he'll be back later.

Cut to scene at the University of Massachusetts, where we learn that a group of armed men have taken control of the UMass library annex, called the Whately House. Swarms of police surround the building and the situation is dire and tense. Apparently the house had just been moved to the Amherst site from its original location of Arkham. Almost everyone managed to escape the criminals thanks to two heroic people inside, but those people are now being held captive... the heroic duo being April and Casey! The gunmen have sworn to destroy the museum and kill all inside rather than surrender.

In the Whatley House, April and Casey are tied up and are being held at gunpoint by three pointy eared men who are accompanied by a small horde of what appear to be zombies... zombies that have telltale bite marks on their necks, as if they'd been bitten by vampires. The three malefactors vow to blow up the museum rather than let the humans find physical evidence of their existence. The leader hands a detonator device to a zombie and tells him to hold the button down - if commanded, the underling is to release the button, which will detonate a huge stockpile of TNT and decimate the structure, including all inside.

As April and Casey discuss their predicament, the leader of the criminals, Mallet, snarls at them (revealing vampire teeth) and tells them that they're waiting for their Master Traquer to arrive. Mallet then radios a henchmen who is outside in a truck, surrounded by numerous police vehicles, and alerts him to the plan. Apparently the "brainless ones" will be used as a diversion that will allow the vampires to escape with some sort of mystic artifact that they've come here to retrieve.

Just then we see the TMNT crawling through an attic window located at the rear of the house. The Turtles walk downstairs and tell Mallet that they've only come for Casey and April, and if they're allowed to leave, there will be no trouble. This amuses Mallet and he tells the Turtles that they will die with their friends. Suddenly, the man from the prologue appears out of thin air and grabs Mallet. The Turtles leap into action. The mystery man informs our heroes that to rid themselves of their undead foes, they must pierce their hearts with wood or separate their head from their body. The Turtles are a bit freaked about the news that they're fighting zombies and vampires, but they waste no time in breaking up the furniture to make crude stakes. The zombies are dispatched easily, but the vampires turn into bats and fly out of a window. The mystery man has subdued the "neo-dead" slave holding the detonator, and he leaps from the window with the zombie and bomb in tow. As the man and monster fall, the dynamite explodes.

The vampire in the truck below takes this as a sign to flee, and so puts the peddle to the metal, scattering the police as he tears away. The TMNT spot him and Don throws a special tracking shuriken that imbeds itself into the back door of the vehicle, so the Turtles will be able to locate the vehicle later. The guys then untie Casey and April and everyone escapes while the police are distracted by the fleeing truck.

Meanwhile, Max and Pervis are out in a field. Max is standing with his arms spread wide, explaining to Pervis that his home is light years away, that he's a prince brought to Earth to escape assassination threats. As Max tells his tale (which Pervis isn't buying for a minute), he screams for his "family" to pick him up and return him to his home planet... and just then something crashes into the ground a few meters away!

Max rushes to investigate, and the mystery man crawls from the wreckage, a real mess his own self. Pervis takes off to get help for the injured fellow while Max helps him to a hidden underground chamber filled with incredibly advanced technological devices (and strange beasties, creatures with one giant eye and bat wings). The man climbs into a pod, telling the lad to stay put and not to touch anything.

As soon as the man is sealed in his pod, Max ignores the instructions and accesses the main computer. He finds the log files and we learn that the man is named Clark Ashton Allard, and he's being spied upon by the strange bug-eyed creatures that are locked up in the cages. Apparently the beasts are being sent by Master Traquer in effort to keep Allard out of Tracquer's affairs - which involve something in the Whatley House. Clark notes that the house should never have been removed from its original site, as it was protected by many powerful spells that were broken once it was moved... protective spells that kept the artifacts within the building safe from harming humanity. The Whatley family had safeguarded these artifiacts for generations, and Tracquer had spent that time deciphering what they were and how to utilize them. Allard writes that he has no idea what the vampire is up to, but he's sure it means great suffering for the world... so Clark vows to stop Tracquer and continue to fight for good, as he's done for aeons.

Meanwhile, the Turtles, Casey and Splinter have tracked the vampire truck to Arkham, Massachusetts, but right outside of city limits their jeep has broken down. Fortunately they've brought the giant Turtlebot with them, so everyone climbs on board and Don pilots the mechanical terrapin.

Back in Allard's secret underground chamber, Max is rudely interrupted from his reading as Master Traquer and three of his vampiric underlings arrive. Unfortunately Clark is still in his healing mechanism, so the monsters grab the boy and smash the glass on the pod to unceremoniously remove Allard, who is out cold.

Pervis hears noise back where he'd left his friends and returns to investigate. The boy sees Traquer dragging Max out of the chamber by his neck. Pervis tries to ride off to seek help, but he hits a rock and breaks the front wheel on his bicycle. As he laments his situation, he sees a loud and looming form emerging from the darkness... it's the Turtlebot!

"Hey, kid," Casey calls out, "We're kinda lost! Can ya give us some directions?!"

Innsmouth, Massachusetts - The vampires are in a hideout on the wharf, inside Allard and Max are tied. Fortunately, Clark has almost healed fully at this point. Traquer announces that they are going to summon a hideous monster called Dagon to destroy mankind. As the convocation begins, the TMNT crash through a wall and a huge battle ensues. Unfortunately, the ceremony was completed and Dagon arrives - a huge tentacled beast that immediately begins grabbing vampires and eating them. Don's robot is captured in tentacles but he blasts out of the machine before its swallowed. Casey is fighting Traquer but not doing very well... as the vampire master prepares to dine on Jones' neck, Max stabs the monster in the back with one of Casey's broken baseball bats and kills it.

Meanwhile, Allard is struggling with an artifact in the attempt to close the gateway that has allowed Dagon to enter our dimension. As he makes adjustments to the device, the beast grabs him. Clark tosses the artifact into the gaping maw, hoping to close the gateway from the other side. Suddenly a huge explosion rocks the building to its foundation and our heroes run for cover as the structure collapses. Once the dust has settled, Splinter sends his students to find Allard and the artifact, but there's no sign of either.

The next day we see Max and Pervis walking down the street. Once again Barry and his cronies show up. Barry states that they've got unfinished business from yesterday. Pervis tells Max to apologize, but Max refuses.

"No way!" Max shouts in defiance, "After last night, these guys are nothin'!"

So Barry punches Max in the eye, knocking him to the ground and giving him quite a shiner.

"Some thanks for saving the world!" Max bemoans.

Meanwhile, we see Casey phoning April and telling her that they'll be home as soon as they fix the truck.

Finally, we see Clark Ashton Allard in his healing pod.

REVIEW

I appreciate A. C. Farley’s intentions, and I did get his Lovecraft references... but... I cannot say it worked for me. There is just too much going on. Robots, vampires, extra-dimensional entities, an android... I know this is TMNT and anything can happen, but I don’t feel like any of these things worked in the end.

The art is also a bit weird, the Turtles look a bit like the Jim Henson version of them, but a little bit more lifeless (then in the other hand, they do look like Turtles).

I give this story a score of 5.

[jessicasland]

The One That Fits Right In Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Rocky Beginnings Reagan stared at the large white school building in front of her. It was her first day at the public high school and since she moved with her family, she already felt nervous. Reagan’s face went pale, she felt like she was going to be sick, there were butterflies in her stomach. It was big, bigger than the palace she used to live in back in Southern France. Was she really going to go in there? Well, she had no other choice. She took a big deep breath and walked up the stairs to the main hall. Reagan look at all the students bustling, talking, and laughing in the hallways. It was completely crowded! She couldn’t even walk without being squished in between one or two of the students. She checked her schedule. The first thing she needed to do was find her locker. It was locker 239. Reagan adjusted her glasses once she managed to get out of the tsunami of students to find her locker. There were endless rows of tall dark green lockers. But which one was her’s? As she passed by the students, she always remembered to say her “excuse me’s” or “pardon me’s” when she was trying to get through, and remembered to say her “sorry’s” when she accidentally bumped into people. Reagan was about to check the next row of lockers to find hers until- BUMP! The next thing Reagan knew, she was on the ground. Her backpack, books, and lunchbox were scattered on the ground. In front of her was another girl. She had short brown hair and sap colored eyes. Her skin was the color of a what someone would look like if they had gotten a sun tan. She also wore very expensive clothing, tall high heal like boots, and had layers and layers of foundation and make up on her face. Reagan gasped and said, “Oh geez. I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.” She pulled the other girl into her feet and picked up all her books and makeup. “Here. These belong to you don’t they?” “Don’t you dare touch those!” said the girl, snatching the belongings out of Reagan’s hands. “Don’t you know how much money all this makeup costs?!” “...No.” Regan replied. “I-I don’t think we’ve officially met before during the orientation. I’m Reagan!” Reagan smiled and held out her hand for the other girl to shake. The girl looked at Reagan and looked at her hand and sneered in disgust. Using a pencil, the girl moved Reagan’s hand away, “Oh yes. The new girl from, what was i? Larodon? Southern France?” “That’s right! Future Heir to the throne to!” replied Reagan. “So, what’s your name?” The girl scoffed and replied, “You don’t know who I am?” Reagan said, “No not really. That’s what I was trying to ask you.” “My name is Harper. Harper Jane Cadigan Scott.” said the girl. “And these four girls make up my group. The one with the black hair is Marissa, the one with the gross looking flying pig thing on her shirt is Elle, the one who’s the brace face is Lorraine,” Reagan mouthed to Lorraine, “You’re braces look nice.” and Loraine mouthed back “Thanks.” Harper continued, “and the one in the yellow which is a really disgusting color BTW, is known as Krystal.” Reagan stared at them before saying, “Nice to meet ya.” “So, now that you know this little group here, get outta my way.” said Harper, turning up her nose. “What are you even doing anyway?” “Oh, um. I’m looking for my locker.” said Reagan, showing Harper her schedule. “It’s locker 239.” “What?! You can’t have that locker!” said Harper. “Why not? The school staff gave it to me so that means it’s mine for this year.” said Reagan. “But that’s my locker!” said Harper. “Everyone knows that locker 239 is the biggest locker in the school! Well, everyone except you Four Eyes.” “I know. That’s why they gave it to me.” said Reagan. Harper growled and was ready to strangle Reagan but Marissa stopped her and said, “Harper. We gotta go. Besides, I heard Kaiden was in our economics class.” Harper gasped in delight, “Why didn’t you say so?! Let’s go!” The other girls followed Harper down the hall, except for Loraine, who stayed behind to help Reagan find her locker and just like Harper had said, locker 239 was the biggest locker in the entire school. Reagan waisted no time to get started organizing her brand new locker. “Shame.” Reagan said to herself. “This locker looks so dull. It would be nice to spice it up a bit.” Then, Reagan had a wonderful, spectacular idea! Tomorrow before school started, she would bring in the beautiful acrylic paints that she had gotten for her birthday back in the summer and paint her locker till her her hearts desire. Reagan checked her schedule as she finished placing the new lock on the front. Reagan’s Schedule - A Day: Mon, Wed, Fri 1st Period-Art 3rd Period-US History 5th Period-Biology 7th Period-Office Aid B Day: Tues, Thurs 2nd Period-Spanish 1 4th Period-Culinary Arts 6th Period-English 2 8th Period-Algebra 2 Lunch: First Lunch Reagan was happy when she saw her first class. Art was one of her favorite things to do! She would spend hours a day just drawing and doodling in her sketchbook. It even helped her when she was stressed or upset. So this class would really help improve her art a bit more, especially when it came to drawing hands. History. Oh brother. History was super long and super boring and History wasn’t one of her strengths. Biology. Mmm, not so bad. But then Reagan remembered she didn’t really like it as much when she was homeschooled because she never got to do any labs at all. Office Aid? What was that? Spanish. Perfect! She more or less knew some words in Spanish thanks to homeschool. And one of her aunts spoke Spanish to so this would help expand her vocabulary. Culinary Arts? Wow! She loved to help the family’s personal chef in the kitchen back home and bake things on her own from time to time to! She could learn to cook and expand from making a simple PB and J sandwich. English. Interesting. Would she be learning the language English? Algebra. It was neither her weakness or her strength. But she was well advanced in math seeing how good at it she was. Reagan checked the time on her watch. 7:55AM “Uh oh.” thought Reagan, “I should already be at art class!” She didn’t wanna miss her first real class. She stuffed her schedule in her pocket, picked up her art supplies and sketchbook, and dashed down the hall to the art room. The minute Reagan stepped foot into the room, she was already greeted with large tables, pictures and paintings from years past, easels, light tables, tables with five chairs for five students to sit at, and a closet filled with tons of art supplies. But the professor was missing. Where was she...or he? Reagan dropped her things at the nearest table and walked around the room while the students chatted amongst themselves. She looked around the large room but then stopped at the closet. She saw a short figure who looked shorter than her, fumbling about where the paints were. Reagan asked in a shy tone, “U-Uh. E-Excuse me? I-I don’t mean to be a bother b-but uh. Where did the professor run off to?” The women bumped her head before turning to Reagan. She looked and dressed like a gypsy women. Beads and all. Reagan’s eyes widened as she saw her. The women hopped down from the ladder and walked up to Reagan. “You’re lookin’ right at her.” she replied. She had a thick Russian accent. “Oh. It’s uh, nice to meet you.” said Reagan. “I-I’m-“ “New student. I know.” she replied. “Davay! Davay! out out out!” She pushed Reagan out of the closet and said, “Take your seat. I don’t have all day.” Reagan said nothing and took her seat. This art professor seemed pretty rude. The women clapped her hands to get the students attention. “Dobroye UUUUtro class.” said the lady, holding the U. “Dobroye Utro Ms. Preobrazhensky.” said the rest of the class. “Welcome welcome! I would love to welcome you all to my Art class.” said Ms. Preobrazhensky. “Now, vhile I take the roll. I would like you to complete your first sketchbook assignment. Vou must draw your name and draw all de things you kiddies like. Uh, for instance uh de Fortnite game or de annoying song vith the colorful sharks or vhat ever you kiddies like now a-days. Da! Begin.” Regan opened her big, black sketchbook and got to work. She wrote her name in big bubbly letters and colored it red. Then she got to work on surrounding her name with many things she liked like. Her drawing consisted of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a lamb, a paint pallet with a paintbrush, a drawing of Iron Man, the symbol for Taurus, a stack of comic books, a steam engine train, Patch from 101 Dalmatians, and some puzzle pieces representing the fact that she has Autism. She didn’t notice that any time passed by until Ms. Preobrazhensky shouted, “Gold Girl!” Reagan jumped in her seat in surprise. Most kids snickered at her. “Come on, let me see your vork.” she barked. Reagan showed Ms. Preobrazhensky her sketchbook. Ms. Preobrazhensky stared at it for a while before she took it to her desk. Reagan sat in her seat for the longest time while the gypsy looking art teacher was staring at her sketchbook. She felt nervous and started twirling a loose strand of her hair (which she often does when she’s nervous). “REAGAN!” Ms. Preobrazhensky screeched. Regan’s eyes widened as the teacher called her. She stood up and walked to the desk. “Niet! Niet! In my office.” said Ms. Preobrazhensky, pointing a long bony finger to a small office. Reagan gulped and stepped into her office. Was she going to get in trouble on her very first day? Ms. Preobrazhensky closed the door and started.....hugging Reagan. Reagan was confused. “Vou brilliant child! Look at this!” said Ms. Preobrazhensky, showing her the assignment. “I had no idea you’s could draw so well! How long have you’s been drawing?” “..Since I was 3.” said Reagan, still twirling her hair. “I’ve never seen dis type of talent in my class before.” said Ms. Preobrazhensky. “My dear! There is not much I can teach you! You have very good talent!” “Really?” asked Reagan excitedly. “...but I wish I could draw hands better. My hands look like potatoes.” “Tell you what.” said Ms. Preobrazhensky. “How about I gives you some pointers on how to draw hands. During the lunch break. You’s can have your lunch here and then we can start.” “You mean it?” asked Reagan with a gleam in her eyes. “Of course of course!” said Ms. Preobrazhensky. “After all, talent like this does not show up everyday. Although. I am curious about de puzzle pieces you drew here. Wvat do they mean?” Reagan fumbled with her words. If she told the teacher, let alone the whole school that she had Aspergers, she’d be the laughing stock of the entire 10th grade! “U-Uh....I-I love to do puzzles.” Reagan lied. “Ahh.” said Ms. Preobrazhensky, “interesting hobby for a girl your age.” “Uh yep.” said Reagan with a nervous laugh. Ms. Preobrazhensky handed back her sketchbook. “So, I wvill see you during lunch on Wednesday?” asked Ms. Preobrazhensky. “Sure!” said Reagan, “Thank you. Thank you Ms. Preoba...uh, can I call you Ms. P?” “Of course you may.” said Ms. Preobrazhensky. “Cool. Thank you Ms. P!” said Reagan as she walked back to her seat. She sighed with relief. .... The rest of the morning went by in a blur and before Reagan knew it, it was lunchtime. She took her orange metal lunchbox and headed for the cafeteria. Reagan walked slowly as she tried to find a seat but most of the students already called dibs on each table. Then, Reagan saw Harper and her group of friends (minus Loraine) sitting at half-empty table eating and gossiping. “Harper!” said Reagan. “Harper! It’s Reagan from this morning!” Harper stopped her, “Hold it Four Eyes!” Reagan stopped dead in her tracks. “This table is for popular girls only.” said Harper. “Yeah, we don’t take in newbies!” added Marissa. “B-But I don’t have anywhere else to sit.” said Reagan. “Tough!” said Krystal. “Let me show you where the newbies sit.” said Harper. She lead Reagan to the garbage cans in the corner of the cafeteria. “B-But that’s the garbage can.” Reagan said. “Exactly. That’s where all the newbies go. Because every single newbie that comes to this school is nothing but a lowlife piece of trash!” explained Harper. “Ask the freshmen! Trust me, this seating arrangement is WAY up you’re alley.” With that, Harper walked away, leaving Reagan alone. Well, Reagan had no other choice. She sat on the floor and ate her lunch. It was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some apple slices, a little white milk carton, some celery sticks, and a chocolate chip cookie. Loraine noticed that Reagan was sitting on the floor by herself. “You got sent to the trash to?” she asked. “Yep.” said Reagan, not paying attention. “I know how that feels.” Loraine replied. “I got sent here to. But you wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t sit with you.” Loraine sat next to Reagan. “S-So. You’re Reagan?” asked Loraine. “Uh-huh.” Reagan replied. “And you’re........Marissa?” “Close. It’s Loraine.” said Loraine. “Ohhh! Brace Face!” said Reagan. Loraine stared at her and started to eat her food. Reagan realized that she wasn’t supposed to say that. “Oh geez. U-Uh, Loraine I didn’t mean to uh-“ “No, it’s Ok. I get that a lot. Even Harper calls me Brace Face.” said Loraine reassuring her. “Then, if Harpers your friend, why does she cal you brace face?” asked Reagan. Loraine looked at Harper and then back at Reagan. “Harper’s cool and all but she’s...she’s a real jerk sometimes.” replied Loraine, “and besides, she’s never complimented on my braces before. I just got them a week ago and they hurt like crazy.” “Oh, here.” said Reagan handing her an Advil cup. “Take an Advil pill, it will help with the pain.” Loraine took a tablet and swallowed it with some milk to wash it down before handing back the Advil cup back to Reagan. “Thank you.” said Loraine. “Hey, since we’re here, wanna tell secrets? If that’s what you royalty folks like doing.” “Sure!” said Reagan. “Uh, you go first.” “OK.” said Loraine. She whispered, “I have had this weird habit of biting my nails. I still have it and nobody else knows this.” “M-My turn.” said Reagan. “The thing is that I...I............IhaveAspergersSyndrome.” “What?” asked Loraine, “You we’re speaking to fast Reagan.” “Sorry.” she replied, “I…I have Asperger’s Syndrome…its a case of mild Autism. I’ve had it since I was two and it-it effects me socially and mentally. I have some weird obsessions. I still watch Blues Clues for pete’s sake and-“ “Reagan.” said Loraine, “I’ve heard enough. But why don’t you wanna tell anyone this information?” “I-I don’t wanna tell anyone because I-I didn’t wanna get bullied again.” said Reagan. Loraine held out her pinky and said, “I won’t tell a soul that you have Autism. It’s a promise. A pinky promise.” Reagan looked at her pinky and joined hers in with Loraine’s. “Thank you.” said Reagan as she hugged Loraine. Loraine was shocked but hugged her back.

[neshabeingchildish]

The Danger Force Family

Four years into the job and Ray still felt like everyday was his first. Charlotte was still feeding him information that he “should know.” Simone was still mumbling under her breath whenever he asked an “obvious” question, before just answering it. He was still wondering why the heck he let Charlotte talk him into this. Of course, it was just mornings. He found his footing after a couple of hours and from that moment throughout the day, he remembered who he was and why he was here. Captain President, the President of all Presidents… At least that’s what he’d put on his campaign posters and van. Everybody else called him “President Man.” 

Charlotte was rarely ever on site, considering that she had multibillion dollar apps - SoulDates, FaceMask, and SymBIOsis - her youngest, but most fruitful app which brought supers and non-supes together for social and networking purposes, educated one on the history and cultures of the other, and made public record of the Symbiosis policy and legal decisions regarding it. She had launched a brand of technological baby, toddler, and small child products under the company My Lil’ Ham, which specialized in all baby types, and was voted #1 source for supers babies products, as well. 

Hamilton, of course was the face of that company. She’d originally began working on products to make his life easier while she and his father rushed around, trying to do all of the things necessary for society to function. As he got older, she expanded the brand. He was now 5 and looking more like his father all of the time… but being more like his mother. 

He didn’t talk much, even though he could do so and do it well. The best way to get him speaking was to mention science or math. Then, getting him to stop talking was your issue. Unless of course, he realized that he was smarter than you. Then, he lost interest. He wanted to passionately discuss science and math with his mental peers. They hadn’t really determined who that was, yet. It certainly wasn’t the kids (or the teachers) at his first school, the kids at the institute that they sent him to after every teacher in the building tried to teach him and insisted that he was simply too advanced for their classroom, and it wasn’t his father. Charlotte had to reign him in multiple times for speaking down to Henry (though she’d wait until Henry was out of earshot), because fortunately, since Hammy was so young and not as expressive as a lot of children, Henry never could tell that he was being condescending. They tried to enter him into several programs, before Max suggested that he go to a prodigy academy in Metroburg. 

“More than half of those students become supervillains!” Charlotte complained.

“Yeah, but all of them get the education that they deserve. Besides, you don’t become a supervillain on education alone. Your family background, upbringing, societal treatment and personal response to trauma are usually key ingredients. You and Henry raise him with love, support and comfort. He should be fine.” 

Charlotte looked at her son for a while, seeing the excitement and anticipation on his face as she pondered her lab partner’s advice. She sighed and said, “Okay, we’ll check it out.”

“Yes! Thank you, Maxi!” Hammy cheered and rushed to his junior lab - a lab sized for him to work in while his mother worked on her things in the adjacent room.

“I think it’ll be good for him to be schooled around other kids like him, anyway,” Max added. “No way that any kid of Henry’s just naturally has that level of intelligence. Kid’s a super, Charls.”

“His power is what superintelligence?” She asked.

“That’s a legitimate power. I mean… He’s seemed very interested in your work since he was an infant and he began conducting his own experiments soon after he began walking. You thought that was typical?”

“You obviously don’t know my family history. We’re filled with geniuses, on both sides… well, not Uncle Roscoe, but he’s an artistic genius and maybe that counts.”

“Did you get him tested?”

“Uncle Roscoe? No! His art is that good!” She said. Max rolled his eyes and Charlotte smiled. “I don’t need to get him tested. When he’s old enough and knows what supers and non-supes are, I trust that he’ll ask to be tested when he’s ready…” They heard a huge thud from the next room and she gasped. “Charlie!” Max and Charlotte ran into the next room to see that Henry and Charlotte’s younger child, Charlotte II, aka “Charlie,” had knocked over a bookshelf to try to get her toy that rolled under it. “Charlie…” Charlotte said, relieved that the crawling infant hadn’t hurt herself. She picked her up with one hand and fixed the bookshelf with the other.

“You get her tested?” Max joked.

They knew from the first week that they brought Charlie home that she was a super. Though, at that time, she seemed to have hypermotility. Henry was definitely proud and gleaming about it. Char? Not so much. The kid’s metabolism was high and she sucked every drop from her mom’s mammary glands within a few moments, then cried loudly for more. She seemed to be starving, even though Charlotte didn’t have anything else to give her. The baby even went through the excess breast milk that Charlotte had pumped and frozen whenever she had Hammy, which he was still drinking from and it was used for beauty care, too.

But, she also wasn’t a fan of formula, so she’d eat it only when she was too hungry to function and Charlotte hadn’t produced more milk. They were terrified that the kid was gonna starve herself to death! Charlotte got a sample of her breastmilk and worked on synthesizing it in her lab. It took her a few weeks to get it just right, but she wound up having to mass produce it for her hungry little one and began to toy around with it, too.

She’d have different levels of proteins, fats, sugars, and hormones, depending on how the sensory baby bundle blankets read Charlie’s vitals, be able to select custom breastmilk for her current needs. After a while, Charlie didn’t want the naturally created milk, so that was fine - Charlotte simply rebuilt her stash for her and Hammy’s needs.

Now, months later, and crawling around, Charlie was becoming a moving disaster. She was tiny and cute, like her mom… and apparently took after her physically, too. She definitely was moving things that even an adult would struggle with. Hammy suggested locking her up when she accidentally crumbled one of his movie spaceship models within moments of putting her little hands on it. Charlotte had not yet perfected products for babies with superstrength. It was tricky.

They had super strength, but their bodies weren’t super strong. Meaning, yes, they would wreck things in their path easily, but you could still seriously hurt them with any of the tools that were usually used to subdue those with super strength. The body was still forming. They were able to withstand more than a regular baby, but they weren’t indestructible! 

Charlie had once broken Henry’s hand by squeezing it too hard. It hurt like the dickens, but he was able to repair it quickly. It was on his enhanced arm, so he was good. Hammy was a little bit jealous. It seemed that his baby sister had two powers and he didn’t even have one. No matter how many “We love you both equally” chats he was given, he could see that Charlie’s situation required more time, effort and energy. When you’re five, that could be read as more love, even if you were a genius who could deduce better. The manifestation of Charlie’s superstrength also signaled the disdain that Hammy had towards Henry. He didn’t hate him or dislike him, but he didn’t like that Charlie was able to break his bones and still get more one on one time with him!

Hammy began working on something in his little lab, which he presented to Charlie on her first birthday. It was a cute little bracelet that had “Baby Sis” in beads and was red, blue, and yellow. After he put it on her wrist, she didn’t have any more super strength accidents and she didn’t appear to have any hypermotility issues, either. 

So, the Page family presumed that she must have selected a power that they hadn’t yet seen come into fruition. It was so relaxing to have her be a normal little girl that they didn’t put huge emphasis on it. Charlotte checked her vitals and tested her for diseases. Everything was clear, so she was satisfied.

.

Hammy was a protective older brother, but he also was often away at the academy. Academy life was okay. He loved his classes and the work that he was allowed to do. He hated his classmates. “Supervillains-in-Training” he liked to think of them as, or to be clever, “Pieces of S.I.T.” He was very adverse to villainy. His parents were known heroes. His aunt was Lady Danger. He grew up in the Hero League Headquarters Nursery and the few normal people that he knew were family and super supporters. He knew that whenever he grew up, he’d most likely work in the world of supers, even though he was a non-supe. The kids around him in the academy weren’t particularly happy about it. Why was he able to get into this school? Why wasn’t he at a school for subpers? Didn’t they have EVERY access outside of this place? He agreed, to a certain extent. He didn’t think that non-pows should just take up space in areas made for supers, but he also knew that he didn’t belong in one of those non-pow schools. He’d tried already. 

He was somewhere in the middle. Both of his parents were average born and transformed into supers during adolescence. He had more non-pow in him than super, but he obviously had enough to where he couldn’t quite fit in to the non-pow fold. Even at the academy, the kids that he had classes with were supers that were several years older than him. He was one of the smartest children in the place and this was just how it was. It wasn’t his fault. He hated that he had to remind himself of that. It was as much his fault that he wasn’t a super as it was his baby sister’s fault that she was.

.

Every year, Hammy worked on Charlie’s bracelet. He didn’t want to take it off of her, just in case, so he’d work on it while she sat on his lap, babbling about her cartoons or whatever. 

Charlotte and he were best friends, though he felt (even at his young age) that he needed to protect her from knowing some of the stuff that happened in his life. The worst he would say was “I’m still having a hard time relating to the kids at the academy.” She often thought the worst, so he’d tag on, “But, it’s fine. Who needs people that you have to try to convince of your worth?”

Henry always brought him back to school at the end of the weekend, checking to make sure that his clothes and stuff were plentiful and double and triple checking the food account. It was embarrassing! “Dad, I can take care of myself. I assure you that everything is as it should be!” he said, noticing the older boys pointing and laughing as Henry counted his clean pairs of underwear.

“I know, Bud. I just gotta make sure that…” Hammy snatched the underwear from him and stuffed them back into the drawer. Henry smiled, gently and said, “You know I only do these things because it’s my job to make sure that everything is okay for you.”

“Yes,” Hammy said, annoyed. “I get it. But, I have a hard enough time fitting in with my subper genes!” Henry winced at this and shut the dorm door to speak with his son in private. “I have more to prove than most of these kids and I can’t do that if nobody takes me seriously.”

“Hammy, you don’t have anything to prove, Son…”

“Let’s start there. Stop calling me that. I’m seven years old working on an advanced degree in engineering technology. I can’t keep answering to “Hammy,” and expect someone to call me Doctor in a couple of years.”

“Well, what would you like for us to call you instead?”

“My name is Hamilton. That’s fine. Some of the professors call me Hank, because of my middle name being Henry.”

“I like Hank,” Henry said. “What else can I do to make you feel better?”

“Don’t treat me like a kid. I can take care of myself. I have patent pending products that I made in my junior lab. I don’t need you to do a panty check for me!”

Henry nodded his head and offered, “Well… My parents raised me to look after myself and my sister. Sometimes, I even had to look after them. Whenever your Gigi Siren would have a long sleep after a huge party, or skip off to some frivolous retreat on Dad’s bonus checks. Whenever your Grandpa Jake was in between job assignments and out trying to find work or doing things around the house that I definitely would have to go in behind him and repair… I’ve been being a parent most of my life and I always promised myself and I promised your mom when we got married that my kids, our kids would never have to wonder why I wasn’t around or why I wasn’t helping. I never want my children to feel like they have to do anything a moment before they have to do it. I know that you can do all this stuff, Buddy…” Hammy made a face, “Hank,” Henry corrected himself. “I was just hoping to get to be a real dad to you for longer than mine was to me. I guess that’s out of  the question. I’m sorry if I embarrass you.”

Hammy sighed and opened the door back. “It’s okay. You do your best. Grandpa Jake and Gigi Siren are train wrecks. I think that for growing up under them, you’ve done pretty good. Probably because you raised yourself, and you’re a wonderful dad. Just… Hands off my underwear, for the love of God.”

Henry laughed and nodded, “Noted.”

“How is Charlotte?” Hammy wondered. He was the only person who called his sister Charlotte, and they always knew who he meant, because of course, Big Charlotte was “Mom.”

“She’s good. Whenever you come back to school, she asks for you for the first couple of days. By Wednesday, she gets used to you being gone, then when she sees you on Friday evening, it’s her partytime.” 

“I have to tell you something, Dad.” Hammy sat on the bed and Henry joined him. “Charlotte’s bracelet isn’t just a bracelet. It’s to keep her superpowers down.”

“What?”

“She was destroying stuff and Mom couldn’t figure out what to do to keep her from doing it. So, I made something for her.”

“Hamilton! What if it would have been dangerous? You can’t just try experiments on your little sister!”

“I know. But, in my defense, I was 5.” They sat there, making the same face - somewhere between a smolder and confusion. “You’re wondering how to present this admission to Mom, aren’t you?”

“Any pointers?” Henry wondered.

“She’s very accommodating when you put food into her. Seafood, especially. Maybe some floral tea and a nice, rich slice of cheesecake?” Hammy was wringing his hands together. “Just… be sure to tell her that I meant no ill will.”

“I’m sure she’ll know that, Hank.” He gave him a pat on the back.

.

Charlotte knew. She always knew that the bracelet did the job that it did. At first, she thought that Hammy had accidentally tampered the powers, but after paying close attention to Charlie and the bracelet, she realized that he was consistently working on it. As long as she was monitoring how it went, she saw no need to interfere or to make him feel bad about it. Henry was a little bit upset that she never let him in on it, though. While food was a good way to smooth Charlotte over, Charlotte had ways of making Henry agreeable too. 

It smelled good in there. “Hey, Diffuschar? What is this blend?” He asked, putting his hand onto the air panel on his side of the bed.

“Henry, are you addressing me?” the Charlotte voice in the air system asked. 

“Yes! You are the Diffuschar.”

“I am an essential oil diffusing air conditioning system, Henry. EODACS is the acronym and can be used to address me.”

“Just tell me this blend!”

“This is Mistress Charlotte’s ‘I’m Sorry’ Sexual Seduction Mix.”

“Mis what’s who now?”

“Mistress Charlotte’s ‘I’m Sorry’ Sexual Seduction Mix. It includes Patchouli, Sweet Orange, Lavender, Sandalwood, Jasmine, and Ylang Ylang.”

“I… When did she?” He furrowed his eyebrows. “It does smell good, but honestly, she smells better. She could have Mistress Charlotte sexually seduced me by coming in here smelling like a tropical sundae.”

“Would you like me to switch to Tropical Sundae Seduction Mix, Henry?”

“No. Let whatever Charlotte has going on go on.” When she came into the room, with her hair in Bantu knots and a silk chemise on, he was alert. “Hey. Diffuschar said that she’s airing out some sexual seduction…” She climbed into the bed and crawled to him. “Do you want me to do something?”

“Not be mad at me for not telling you about Charlie’s bracelet?” She said with her lips in a pout.

“I don’t know. I told you right away when I found out.” She raised an eyebrow and he quickly reminded himself, “But, I’ve tried to keep stuff from you before too, so…” He smiled awkwardly. “I really wish that he didn’t have to be at that place. It wears down on him. He’s capable of handling himself, but he’s still just a kid. My kid… and he doesn’t even want to let me treat him like a kid.”

“Well… It’s his decision. If my parents let me go somewhere to school instead of Swellview, I’d have been elated.”

“Yeah, but then you wouldn’t have me,” Henry said.

“Yeah, but…” She didn’t have a reply. Instead, she traced down the middle of his belly, “The universe would have made sure that everything was what it needed to be for us. There’s no way that I exist and you aren’t somehow in my life.” 

He smiled and pulled her closer. “You’re trying to have another baby.”

“I 100% am not. Charlie rearranged my insides. I would never want another one of them. The two we have are perfect enough.” He laughed. 

.

The Page-Hart-Thunderman Family was a superfamily of the highest esteem, usually referred to as the “Danger Force Family,” considering that most of their missions were assigned under Henry’s command as Mr. Danger. People even began giving the other heroes Danger alternatives like Charlotte as “Danger Master” or Billy as “Quick Danger.” None of them minded the aliases. It kept them as characters in the minds of the world and that meant that less people bothered them in their everyday lives. Besides, governments had set protective laws in place such as not being authorized to approach any super or hero out of uniform for any purpose but alerting them to a present, real, and nearby criminal emergency.

That law had taken a while to perfect. Because when it first was introduced as to not approach supers outside of uniform unless it was an emergency - people determined what THEY thought was an emergency (and it usually was not). They also would bother people that they knew to be superhuman, even if they weren’t superheroes… which… those persons were not authorized nor obligated to deal with an emergency situation any more than a non-pow citizen was! Then, there was the issue of pulling someone from their child’s program at school for an emergency on the other side of town that they couldn’t even get to in time and also that there were already heroes dispatched to! It took some work before the current system was in place and people were getting used to it. They could be charged with supers abuse if they decided not to work within the stated parameters. That law was Piper’s favorite one ever written, especially with Starlette in tow. The number of people she had reflexively punched right in the face for getting too close to her daughter too fast had become a meme.

Page-Hart-Thunderman Family Reunion was a time that Charlotte, Piper, and Simone started to celebrate the merging of their families. After dating for a couple of years, Piper got married and bridged the Page and Thunderman families together officially. Five years after Ray became President, Gwen’s touched began to look normal again. It was like the effects faded over the years and by that time, nobody had a green hint left in their presentation. Simone was tired of everyone telling her that it was weird to see her normal again, but she was relieved that all of the people who had to walk around that way over the past five years would be able to fit in again. That was the year that the reunions began. She felt like herself again. She felt normal again. She got her tubes untied and began working on making more children and resigned from working for the Hero League.

The festivities began with a feast at the Page-Hart condo, with Henry and Charlotte’s parents hosting. They had it catered, usually and everyone showed up to eat and catch up. 

Siren, Jake, Esmerelda, and Antony would welcome Hank Thunderman and Barb, and Evelyn to the “grown ups table” while Henry, Charlotte, Max, Simone, Jasper, Piper, Billy, and Nora usually preferred to take their business to the rooftop. Chloe tended to want to see what was up with the kiddos. The first couple of years, it was only Maxine and Monalise, Hammy and Charlie, Piper’s one little girl, Starlette. But, of course, the family grew and transformed and eventually, they couldn’t even have the opening night dinner at the Page-Hart condo.

Charlotte’s home was the most appropriate place, considering that they added on to the estate all of the time and her inventions made for everyone’s quarters adjusting for the comfort of the individuals within its walls. She, too, had taken a step back from the Hero League, when things got smoother for Ray, and while he sometimes seemed like he had no idea what was happening, he seemed to be handling everything well. He would stop by the reunion with presents for the kids and to talk to “his kids” (Henry, Charlotte, Jasper and Piper), and to eat cake. But, he would never stay for the whole thing. Dinner and playtime with the little ones was enough to fuel his joy for a while and being around all the parents for too long might counter that for him. But, each time that he was headed out, the moms would always offer in sweet voices with kind smiles, “You’re always welcome to stay, Ray!” That was nice. He liked to see that.

.

Charlotte had been interested in politics for a while. From her work as the Tactical Chief of the Hero League, Her own Campaign Manager for her election, and Advisor to the President; she leaned towards a political career. She remembered that future Ray claiming that she would be president. For years, she thought that he meant President of the United States and to be frank, they NEEDED somebody like her, but in more recent years, she began to think that maybe he meant President of the Hero League. They always just called that position “The President” and every super always knew that they weren’t talking about whatever rubbish was chilling in the White House. 

So, whenever Hank was 10 and Charlie was 5, she made dinner one night, of fish, greens, noodles, and cornbread with large bowls of grapes and decorations of assorted lilies and daffodils, with crystals set around the vases. Charlie immediately rushed to the table and stuffed cornbread into her mouth, while Hank looked confused and asked, “What kind of changes are we about to have to go through?”

Henry had just come from a mission and showered. Whenever he came in on Hank asking Charlotte that question, he, like his daughter, grabbed cornbread and stuffed it into his mouth. Yeah… She took after him.

“Everyone sit down, so we can have dinner,” Charlotte said.

Hank looked worried, but Henry and Charlie were ready to eat. Charlotte went around the table, preparing plates and talking, “As Hank as already noticed, I have charged and put out the green aventurine, amazonite, tourmalinated Quartz, and labradorite.” Those sounded familiar to Henry. He was certain that the Charlotte Interface had probably told him about at least a couple of those to get him to go to sleep. “And as Hank knows, with his eidetic memory and studying geology a few summers ago, those are crystals associated with good luck and new beginnings.” That was the easiest way to say it for everyone, including Charlie. “Mommy wants to have a good luck dinner with her family to usher in a new goal.”

Henry raised an eyebrow. This was his first time hearing about a new goal. “Oh yeah? What’s Mommy’s new goal?” He wondered.

She took her seat at the table and said, “Present.” The room went dark and the interface pulled up a powerpoint presentation of a campaign promo for her. Whenever it ended, the lights came back on and she waited for their reactions. 

“Mommy, you’re gonna be President of the Whole World?” Charlie asked, excited. 

Charlotte smiled and said, “Well, if all goes well, of the Hero League.”

“What about Uncle Ray?” Hank asked.

“He’s comfortable, but he’s also stagnant. It’s given him gray hair. I’m sure he’ll love to be able to go and do something else. I got him an early 50th birthday present - an RV with pet friendly doggie quarters and PageMasterTech state of the art personalization program for both man and pet.”

“So, you’re gonna bribe him into resigning,” Henry said, disappointed. 

“I’m going to make sure that when and if he does resign, he knows that there’s a peaceful retirement awaiting him!” She corrected. 

Henry forced a smile and continued eating. She could tell that he didn’t like it. Hank was staring at her in disbelief. She could tell that he didn’t like it either. Charlie cheered, “You’re gonna be the best President in the world, Mommy!” 

She smiled at her, “Thank you.. But please don’t chew with your mouth wide open… or talk when your mouth is full…”  Charlie spit her food onto her plate and repeated herself. Charlotte gagged, “Okay…” She just nodded her head and stared at Henry. He was quiet for the rest of dinner, but before they left the table, Hank had more to say.

“Mom, do you think that Dad can handle being in the field without your backup? This isn’t Swellview. He works on a global level with extremely dangerous threats. There’s no way that you can assist him and be President. You would have to spread yourself entirely too thin. I’ve spent this entire dinner trying to rationalize this decision. You’ll have to help me understand it.”

“It’s something that I want to do, just like The Danger is something that your dad wants to do and I have supported him in doing it most of my life. SO, now it’s time for us to try to support me doing something that I want to do. Does that make sense to you?”

“No!” Hank snapped. “Mom, he’s an idiot! He’ll die without you on his tactical team!”

Charlotte: Hank…

Henry: Hey, now..

Charlie: DADDY’S GONNA DIE???

They spoke at the same time. “No. He’s not going to die and he’s not an idiot.” She thought for a moment, especially from Hank’s viewpoint, then made it more palatable for him, “Well, he’s not defenseless without me. He’s got the suit and gadgets that he needs. He’ll have technical from the interface, and if he needs me, I’ll drop anything for him.”

Hank rubbed his face and said, “I’m leaving the academy to resume your duties on his tactical team.”

“You’re 10, so no you’re not.”

“You think I’ll be able to focus on course material with him out there without you?”

Charlie banged on the table and asked, “Hey! Is Daddy gonna die?” 

“No, Daddy’s not gonna die,” Charlotte said. “Henry, some help?” She held her hands out and looked at him. His plate was pretty much empty and his eyebrows were still furrowed, but he nodded his head.

“Hank, Buddy - we don’t want you to quit school. You’re one of the children, and the adults are gonna handle the things that you’re worried about. I’ll touch base with you every single day so that you don’t have to worry. Charlie, Champ - I’m definitely not gonna die. Your dad was born for danger and he’ll be a fighter for many years to come, okay?” Charlie nodded. If her Daddy said it, it was true.

Charlotte and Hank went to go talk on the patio and Henry cleared the table while Charlie went to wash up for the night.

“I’m scared, Mom. The last time you wanted to be president, someone tried to kill you. I’ve read every single report that there was about that election.”

“That was a different time, Honey.” She wrapped her arms around him from behind and they looked up at the stars together, “The stars were different, then. You know, Mommy thinks that the stars line up for perfect things to be done in our lives and I believe that right now, they’re lining up to make your mom a president.”

“Grandfather, a specialist, a leader in his field, has told me to my face that your thoughts on this matter are unwarranted. But, if what you’re saying to me is that you have the confidence that things will be fine, then I choose to try to accept that, too.”

“That’s all I ask,” she said and kissed the top of his blond head. “My Little Ham.”

“Please, do not.”

She laughed and squeezed him to herself.

Henry had gone to bed after tucking Charlie in. Whenever Hank went to wash up, Charlotte went to find him. “Hey… You asleep?” she asked as quietly as possible, in case he was.

“How could I be asleep after that bomb you just dropped at dinner?” He asked back. He didn’t sound mad, but she knew that he wasn’t happy. She sighed and sat on the bed next to him. “I support you. You know I do, I just… I guess I thought that after that last time, this wouldn’t be an option. I’m scared shitless of you being in that kind of position again.”

“Me too, but like I did whenever you were unconscious and most of the world was giving up on ever seeing your eyes again, I’ve got faith. I can do it. Please, tell me that you believe in me?”

“I believe in you more than anything I’ve ever known. It’s the world around us that frightens me.”

“Well, that’s why I’ve got you, though. You and me against the world? They don’t stand a chance. Hashtag Henlotte.”

“Hashtag Henlotte,” he repeated and pulled her to himself.

[newbyimagines]

Moonstruck Part 2: Spilled Secrets

Brett Talbot x Mermaid!reader

Summary: After a magical experience on Mako Island the reader moves to Beacon Hills and enrolls at Devenford Preparatory where they meet Brett Talbot. Afraid of showing her true colors she tries to avoid people as best she can until she runs head first into a surprising situation.

Warnings: none 

Master List

Part 1

Your classes went by relatively fast you had spoke to a few people after every teacher at this school decided to introduce you in front of the class when you came in. Personally you hated that because this was high school nobody really cared. At least that’s what you thought. You managed to find your way into the math room and took a seat near the back hoping to go unnoticed if that was even possible at this school. You looked at your phone and started to look into the moon cycle to make sure you knew when the next full moon was to avoid any, interesting experiences.

You jumped when a bag hit the table next to you as someone sat down.

“Hey it’s Y/N right?” Turns out Brett had noticed you trying to hide in the back of the classroom.

“Yeah.” You fidgeted with your ring before tucking your phone into your bag.

“Advanced Calculus? What grade are you because you don’t look like a senior?” He had pulled out his textbook and a notebook.

“Why does it bother you?” You had picked up on his cocky behavior before getting out your own notebook to take notes.

“Why so sassy? I was just trying to be nice to our new student.” you saw him smirking from the corner of your eye.

“I’m just here because this is the class they placed me in, and to answer your first question I am a junior I just look young.”

“Okay short stack I see you come with a side of sarcasm, bet the teachers are gonna love that.”

“Look Brett, I’m just here because I have to be, I’m probably gonna have to move soon enough, hopefully far away from you, so I wouldn’t get attached.”

You grabbed your stuff before moving to another seat to get away from him.  You didn’t notice the slight change in his expression as you moved, something about you was different and it intrigued him from the second he saw you with Lori. You wanted to make friends but something about Brett threw you off and you needed to avoid issues.

Once class ended you went to your car to grab the lunch you packed which was a tuna salad and some crackers. You ate your food sitting in a courtyard that was less packed than the ones closer to the cafeteria.

You sat on your phone and found a notification from your friend Jenna in Australia.

-J- How's it going? Do you like your new school?

-Y/N- Okay I’m just really worried about you know…

-J- You’ll be fine your not right next to the Ocean, unless you are going to swim in the school pool in front of everyone.

-Y/N- Not funny, it’s just scary that you won’t be here to watch my back I’m all alone in this.

-J- What are the chances that you’re gonna run into more mermaids there? Most of them either live in the sea or on the coast.

-Y/N- We also said what are the chances that I was gonna have to move again for this year. Our prediction rate isn’t great.

-J- How about I’ll do some statistics and we’ll figure out that you are more likely to struck by lightning than meeting other mermaids.

-Y/N- How is everybody? I miss all of you guys.

-J- Well everyone says Hi and they agree that you are overly concerned. There are no mermaid pods near Beacon Hills.

You started to type a reply when she messaged you again.

-J- It’s really early and I have to work tomorrow. I’ll talk to you when I can.

You put your phone away and went to go find somewhere to study until your last class of the day.

You roamed around campus exploring a bit, you found the locker rooms and decided to check them out incase you had a gym class next semester.

There was lots of lockers and some showers off the far wall, nothing special it was your typical locker room.  

You were about to leave when you heard voices outside the door, male voices. You ran and hid behind the shower wall before cloaking yourself. You had accidentally gone into the male locker room, good thing you had picked up a few tricks before you left Australia or you would have to make up a really good excuse as to how you were here.

You peered from behind the divider wall as you heard most of them leaving You spotted Brett he was looking around and then he was basically looking right at you. You knew he couldn’t see you but you still hid behind the wall again. You stayed there and could overhear them talking about the team and upcoming games.

“Brett are you coming?” You heard someone shout.

“I’m gonna shower I worked up a sweat running those freshmen on the field.” Your mind connected what was going happen and you got up and started to sneak out of the locker room as quietly as possible. The door shut behind the other team mates and you were left alone with Brett. You could hear him sniffing the air as you tried to be quiet enough he wouldn’t hear.

You were almost to the door and you couldn’t see Brett so you assumed  he had walked over to the showers so you turned quickly to open the door and ended up running right into his chest. Your cloaking failed as you fell to the ground. You must of hit your head because you swore his eyes were glowing yellow instead of their usual green.

Part 3 

Master List 

[peppusae]

[kth] lavender honey ch. 3

note: this fanfic has more than one part, so pls look forward for more!

lavender honey: kim taehyung x reader

genre: fluff, crack, college au, smut(?)

word count: 3k

💫

lavender honey

ch 3: in which taehyung despises knowing the sexual orientation of dead ‘literists’

"Hey, Taehyung, do you think Shakespeare is gay?" You ask, slipping into the seat beside him at the counter the next week.

Honestly, you're ready to change your dissertation topic from 'Kim Taehyung's various facial features' to 'William Shakespeare's sexuality' now, and you feel a surge of pride as you lean against the swivel chair and exhale in content at your new discovery.

It's a warm Tuesday evening, and the library is lined with dozens of students, most of them having their laptops turned on and typing like crazy. Perhaps they were those students who had an assignment due midnight, and you smile, glad that you had actually handed your work in a little earlier this time. Good job, you're actually patting yourself for a job well done as you take your seat.

Taehyung, however, does not smile.

In fact, his face scrunches up a bit as he stares at you with a questioning look.

"What sort of black magic are you doing again to twist my otherwise perfectly normal life, [Name]?"

Black magic. Apparently, Taehyung watches way too many movies.

"No, I'm serious. Am I the only one who thinks this way?" You wonder out loud, reaching for the thick paperback inside your backpack. "Look at this."

Taehyung moves a little closer to you in his chair, the rolling of the wheels making a few heads look up from their laptops and stare at him. The male hurries to give a sheepish smile, waving it off before he turns back to look at the book on your lap.

Look, this is what double standards are like. If you'd done the same, you swear the girls who are seated at the desks would have glared daggers at your fragile being, but it's Taehyung, and Taehyung's a hot dude.

Hot dudes always have it easy aka girls giggling like they've just discovered the kind of boxer briefs Jungkook wears.

Not that you've ever considered this before.

Anyways, back to the issue in hand-

"'Shakespeare's sonnets'? What's a sonnet, and what about it?" Taehyung wants to know, taking it in his hands and flipping through a couple of pages.

You kinda wanna punch him for being uncultured enough to not know what a sonnet is, but the fact that he asked what it is makes you forgive him (it's not his confused expression that looks so cute that forgives him, nope).

"A sonnet is a form of poetry which has fourteen lines," you explain, "It usually has like ten syllables per line, but I don't think that matters to you-"

"I'm surprised that you're actually using that brain of yours, for once." Taehyung muses, and you poke him in the waist, which in turn makes him chuckle and turn back to the whitish-yellow pages of the poem book. "Because you're right, it doesn't matter to me."

"Rude." You hiss. "So you see. Good ol' Shakeypakey here wrote 154 sonnets, okay? So, it was split into two parts based on-"

"Wait, did you just call a dead literist 'Shakeypakey'?" He asks, horrified.

"There is no word in the dictionary called literist. You can, instead, use-"

"That is beyond the point here, [Name]!"

"Listen," you hiss, snatching the book back from his clutches, "He has written 126 sonnets about a young man - a very fucking attractive man - and the other 28 sonnets are about a woman. Literally, he wrote at least 5 times more sonnets about the pretty dude."

"...So?"

Oh my god, there's a limit to beings freaking clueless but Taehyung likes climbing higher pedestals. Even The Himalayas would be ashamed. You shake your head in frustration.

"So! Why else would he be so obsessed with writing like 82 percent of his sonnet book about the man if he's not gay?"

Taehyung blinks at you in shock for a long moment, not moving a single muscle. You wonder if he was actually contemplating your reasoning, but then again... Taehyung was Taehyung, after all.

"Did you... do that math... just to..."

"Yes I did the math, so what? It makes so much sense. Maybe he's not gay, maybe he's like bisexual? Because even the sonnets about the Dark Lady was kinda kinky too so I think he has a lot of heterosexual shades too. Who knows."

"This is information I could live without, [Name]." Taehyung finally sighs, moving away from you and sighing. You watch as he begins to clear up his desk space, appalled that he wouldn't understand your very detailed reasoning.

If this is his reaction to your newfound discovery of Shakespeare's sexuality, then you sincerely hope Taehyung will never see your browser history with multiple search tabs of 'kinky Shakespeare'.

Plus that one meme you found of the poet's face cropped out and stuck to the ass of-

"I'm going to go put the books away." Taehyung announces, interrupting your fraying thoughts by picking up the handful of books that have been returned earlier.

Oh no you don't-

"Shakespeare was probably from a Victorian-ish era, you know? Those times when ladies wore metal frills on their skirts to make them more poofy and shit." You hurry to say. "His mama might have stabbed one of the metal frill shit into his ear if he said he was gay. Maybe he was in a polyamorous relationship, maybe he was the one who invented the idea-"

"Oh my fuck, shut the hell up." Taehyung hisses, standing up and stomping away. You blink at him as he takes the trolley of books, quickly making his way to the shelves and starting to put the books away.

Talk about being narrow-minded.

>

"So, your brother is Namjoon, right?" Taehyung asks the next day, slipping by your seat during lunch.

The cafeteria is excessively crowded, the jet line filled with students seeking a second helping of the ice-cream sandwiches they're handing out for free. According to Jimin, it's on occasion of Ice-cream Day, which you think is the stupidest invention that ever exists.

"Yes, but," you warn between gritted teeth, "Stop talking about it. I'd rather most people don't know. I'm not gonna be that one sister that the girls suck up to so that I'd help them get brownie points with Joon, like back in high school."

"You have a good point... It must have been hard for you, right?"

This makes you soften up a little, nodding back at the male who frowns sadly at you. So, even if Taehyung enjoys annoying you, he can be nice if he wants to.

"Oh, there's Jungkookie! Yah, Kook-ah, come here and sit with your Noona!" Taehyung yells from beside you, and the said brown-haired male's eyes widen as he pauses in his tracks, blinking at you two in surprise and his face going very pink.

You can't blame him, you must be at least two shades redder than he is.

You take it back, Taehyung is not nice at all.

"Over here, Kookie!" Jimin greets, patting the seat beside him. Yoongi lets out a small grunt beside you, and you sigh, giving your best smile to the freshman and motioning for him to join you lot.

Jungkook looks hesitant, quietly nodding and taking a seat right in front of you. Taehyung is paying for this later. Wait till you hide his library card. He's gonna suffer. And you're gonna be the one ugly giggling inside.

"So, Kookie, we were talking about how we can help Joon-hyung and Jin-hyung get together. Do you have any ideas?"

"Ah, so they do like each other. I always thought that too." Jungkook blinks in surprise.

"Even the kid knows. Why is it that those two little shits are the only ones who don't know how they feel about each other?" Yoongi lets out an exasperated sigh. "If they got together, Namjoon might stop writing depressing songs and start working on more brighter songs."

"Maybe they can go to a carnival. Seokjin-hyung has a thing for alpacas, right?" Jimin asks.

"That's a weird animal to have a kink for, but I'm not judging-"

"Shut up." You hiss, elbowing Taehyung, and the male doubles over, laughing and being proud enough to have elicited out a reaction from you. Jungkook watches the exchange in silence, and when you meet eyes with him, he looks away, turning to Jimin instantly and saying 'So? What about alpacas?'

Weird.

"Well, they can go to a carnival, Namjoon-hyung can play one of those dart games, or those ball-throwing games. He wins an alpaca plushie, and he gives it to Seokjin-hyung and tells him how he feels."

"That's like an unarmed battle with a bunch of sirens. Joon can't win no matter what he tries, he's not the most athletic nut in the world." You state.

"Si... Sirens?" Taehyung chokes, an eyebrow raises in confusion.

"Yeah? You know, those pretty fucked-looking female sea creatures that try to seduce idiots like you to get you into the sea and st-"

"I know what a siren is, you dolt," Taehyung sighs, "I took five weeks of Greek Mythology in my freshman year. I remember writing 'Sirens' in Google search and having nightmares."

"Then, why are you looking at me with that face?"

"... What face?"

"It looks like a fuck face minus the innuendo-inducing expression that you use. It's that face you make when you're confused to the level where you don't even know what speaking is, and you look like you accidentally ate ruined kimchi from a ripoff Korean-wannabe shop."

"I do not. And that's really specific, has that ever happened to you?"

"Down at Lindsay's Korean Meals stand a few blocks from the library. I had food poisoning for days."

"That's kinda sad. Was it recent?"

"Nah. I missed like four classes of Advanced Psychology classes near the start of the semester, remember?"

"Oh, then?"

"Yeah. Food poisoning is sad."

"Yeah. Please take care when you eat out, okay, [Name]?" Taehyung smiles at you, and the gesture is so soft that it makes you smile back like an idiot until you hear the sound of throat clearing.

And that's when you remember that Jungkook is staring at you two, and his expression is hard to read, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed a little as if... as if...

Wow, you really shouldn't be a language major after all, if you can't describe something as basic as an expression.

Another, more defensive side of you pipes in, claiming that it's fine, reading expressions are the tasks of psychology majors, which you clearly aren't.

It's while you have this debate, that Taehyung - who seems to have noticed the way Jungkook is playing around with the bowl of grapes in his tray - coos 'Kookieeeee, what's wrong?' in a sing-song voice.

Jungkook does not respond, eyes hard and now looking at you, and both the angel and devil on your shoulder that's having the language vs psychology war together stops, making you gulp.

"The heck is this tension here? Let me do some mood-making here with my funny humour that no one can get enough of." A loud voice has to say, and all three of you look up and see Seokjin holding his tray proudly, a smiling Namjoon beside him.

"No thanks, Hyung." Yoongi speaks, picking up his almost-empty tray of food and standing up. Jimin, seeing this action, scarfs down the rest of his kimchi and rice, following the older male a couple steps behind after saying a hard-to-decipher 'bye guys!'

"Well, it's okay. Jimin might get offended if he was here to witness this amazing question that I have for all you earthlings."

"But Hyung, you're an earthling too. Or, are you an alien?" Taehyung has to butt in, and you hush him, glancing at Seokjin so that he would say whatever he has to say and get it over with. Namjoon takes the now-free seat beside you, and all eyes are on Seokjin who plops his tray beside Jungkook's, hands on his hips and puffs his chest out with a big smile.

"If Jiminie eats a mochi, does that count as cannibalism?"

"Oh my god, please stop, Hyung." Taehyung mumbles, while, beside you, Namjoon is cracking up like the loser that he is.

You think you hear Hani and Hyojin giggling, while Jungkook just stares at Seokjin as if he couldn't believe what the male had said.

"This story won't be fun without my jokes-"

"YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THAT OUT LOUD."

>

You're in charge of putting away the books for today, and the trolly is lugged to the side while you look up barcode numbers and do your job in peace.

But there's a being that taps your shoulder, and no one should really blame you for being scared and starting to scream. The light above the philosophy aisle is dimmer than the other isles, so it makes you wary of beings other than human.

But there's a hand that covers your mouth, muffling your scream. God. What a sucky way to die. It's kinda kinky if you think about it, but why is a stranger making you die at the philosophy aisle, at least let you move over to the language aisle, it's literally only three rows away for crying out loud-

"Noona, it's only me." The voice says, and you turn around, seeing Jungkook smiling at you with a fond expression, looking highly amused when you hide your face in embarrassment.

"Kookie, what are you doing?!" You hiss, punching his arm and taking a couple steps back - the kid was standing way too close for comfort.

"I wanted to say hello." He shrugs, watching as you pick up a book and place it back on the shelf. "Extra-credit, right?"

You give him a nod, waving the cardholder you have around your neck. The picture of yours had come out good, you had every right to show it off to the hot freshman, okay?

Jungkook takes hold of the card, smiling down at your beaming picture, and - wait a second, his finger just touched your left boob, rip virginity - he comes so close to you that it makes you slightly intimidated as you nervously look up at the male.

And wow, this must be what interactions with angels feel like; you can see the scar on his left cheek, his pretty doe eyes, and the slightly chapped lips of his from this close, and he-

"Noona, do you want to go out with me sometime?"

"Sure, I- Wait..."

"To see a movie and eat and stuff. You're majoring in language, right? I'm sure we can have a lot of discussions about the movie after it's over."

Wait wait wait pause rewind-

Hey, now that you think about it, dissecting a movie and over-analysing it sounds like fun...

"I mean, well, of course I wouldn't mind going with you, Kookie, but do you mean..."

A platonic going out, or-

"Definitely not a platonic going out."

Shit, did you say that out loud?

"Yes you did, Noona."

"Oh."

"This is probably selfish of me to ask, but, remember that really boxy white shirt you wore once with that blue skinny jeans? Do you think you can wear it for our first date? I really liked it, but for some reason, you didn't wear it after that one day."

Yes, because Namjoon accidentally splashed ketchup all over it when you both had gone to KFC for chicken and fries later that day.

But you aren't going to tell Jungkook that, of course.

"Um. Sure, okay, I'm good to go." You tell him, and you can feel your cheeks flushing in embarrassment while you aggressively take a stack of books and stuff them back on the shelf.

"I'll message you, then?"

You give him a thumbs up, too flustered to look at his face, and Jungkook responds with a small laugh, hands clutching on the hanging straps of his backpack before he quickly runs away. And only after he does so, are you able to let out a huge breath you weren't aware you were holding.

Dragging the now empty trolly, you make your way to the reception desk. Taehyung's laptop's lid is closed now, and he has his chin rested on his hand as he watches you make your way back to the desk and take a seat.

Wordlessly, he reaches a hand out and presses his hand on your cheek. You are about to protest, when he moves his hand back and raises an eyebrow at you.

"You're quite obvious, Ms. Kim."

"Shut up. I just accidentally bumped into Kookie when I was putting the books away, that's all."

"I know."

You expect him to tease you, but he doesn't. Even when you finish up work and Namjoon is waiting to pick you both up and drive you home, he says nothing to your brother.

"Hey, Joonie?"

"Yes, my dearest little sister to whom I will share half my food, half my world, half my milky way, and half of everything I have to offer?"

"You're buying me the same exact white shirt you poured ketchup over. I have a date and I need it."

"Oooh, did the freshman kid finally make a move on you?"

"Shut up. We're driving to the mall and spending half of your allowance. You'll do that for your dearest little sister for whom you said you would give half of everything to offer, right?"

Namjoon has nothing to say while he digs in to see how much cash he has on himself.

Serves him right.

And you find it oddly uncharacteristic, the way Taehyung wordlessly waves goodbye to the two of you and leaves, when Namjoon stops by the younger male's apartment.

read next: ch 4

[spitestudies]

hello everyone!! as a high school junior taking 4 aps, 3 other classes, preparing for the act, trying to do college research, stage managing a musical, and trying not to lose my mind, here are some fun n handy tips for not Dying when ur schedule is hell!  

if you found this post helpful maybe give it a like/reblog and check out my other posts here!

01 | PLANNING AND PREPARING

so much of getting and staying organized has to do with organizing your time in advance.  there are a million ways to do this--google calendar, a bullet journal, a planner, some post-it notes.  my system involves three parts: a google calendar, a planner, and an online to-do list app.  

google calendar: this is mostly for events.  i can see when i have rehearsals, classes, doctor’s appointments, etc.  this helps me see how much available time i have and budgeting it properly.  

planner: i take this with me to school, and i use it to right down when i have assignments and tests.  i use the ban.do planner, but these are a bit pricey, and really anything will do.  just somewhere to put down tasks so you can keep track of them

getplan.co: this app is, honest to god, the only reason i am still alive and breathing.  it plugs into your google calendar and then allows you to create and schedule tasks around events.  @studycxlture has an amazing post about plan here that i def recommend checking out!

general tips about planning: 

plan out the events of your month at least two days before it starts

set aside a night (i like sunday evenings) to set up a system for the upcoming week and go over what you have planned so you don’t forget anything

you are NOT gonna remember that assignment that teacher told you about.  write it down.  

you do not need a fancy system.  it’s okay to try lots of different things until you find what works 

never spend more time planning out tasks than completing them.  unless you have that much free time, don’t dedicate two hours to making a lovely weekly bullet journal spread.  

color codes!!! are a life saver.  i have one with a color for each class (red for english, orange for spanish, yellow for history, green for science, blue for math, etc) as well as some for my extracurriculars (pink for the musical, teal for model un, etc).  

always have ur planner open when ur working, so that you can make sure u r actually completing all the tasks u said u were gonna complete

02 | STAYING ORGANIZED 

oh my god oh my god oh my god staying on top of your work is SO important when you’re busy.  being able to find your worksheets and keep track of your homework and your million responsibilities is essential to being successful.  to stay organized, i have an expandable file folder with tabs for each class.  because i take most of my notes in notebooks instead of binders, this is a good way to keep all of my handouts, worksheets, and syllabi centralized.  

also, make sure you have a way to keep your online materials organized.  create a folder for each school year, and within that folder, create more folders for each class.  from there, it’s up to you about how you’ll organize files. you can create even MORE folders (yeet) for things like homework, notes, study guides, etc, or folders for each unit you study.  the possibilities are endless!!!! isn’t technology exciting

here r some pieces of advice for staying organized: 

have a series of folders/binder/expandable file folder to hold your worksheets.  or one for each class, though i prefer to keep all my papers in one a) to save money and b) to save space.

label your notebooks/binders so that you know which ones to bring home with you

never just shove something into your backpack.  never.  i’m gonna manifest into ur classroom and FIGHT you if u do that.  it’s not good, it’ll end up getting lost or crushed under the weight of all ur textbooks, and you’ll end up panicking when u can’t find it 

have ur planner on u at all times

keep a good filing system of ur stuff at home.  u don’t need to carry around every single bio assignment you’ve gotten back, but by the time ur final rolls around ur gonna want 2 b able to look at all the materials you’ve gotten during the semester

that being said, throw stuff away when the year is over!  i, for one, know i’m never gonna think about calculus after this class is done, so i will be recycling all of my papers (save the earth) and moving tf on 

keep a recycling bin in your room!  even if it’s just a paper bag, it’ll make throwing paper in the trash way less tempting (save the earth)

u don’t need a ton of pens.  i’m being a giant hypocrite saying this but you really don’t need all that stuff.  if you want it and you can manage it, great, but if it’s just another thing to keep track of, leave ur staedtlers and ur mujis and ur fineliners and ur calligraphy pens at home, and just take the essentials with u to school

03 | MAKING THE MOST OF UR TIME

in order to succeed, it’s v important to make every second count.  this doesn’t mean studying 48 hours straight (pls don’t), but try not to waste time. whether this means you spend fifteen minutes napping, doing some reading for english, or having a quick snack, make sure u are being productive and healthy!  i, for one, sometimes have 1-2 hour breaks between school and rehearsal, and i like to use these to walk to the grocery store by my school and get some food and then study in the deli.  

some ideas for being productive! 

carry a clipboard around everywhere.  this way, u don’t need to spend as much time transitioning in and out of tasks, u can just put ur work onto the clipboard, and put it in ur backpack at the end of a break, and then the next chance u have to work on it, just take it back out.  easy peasy

work during commutes! nOT if ur the one driving the car though that’s VERY dangerous and distracted driving = bad.  but if ur on the bus, or ur mom is driving u to school, that might be a good time to go over some notes you took last night, or some reading you need to catch up on.  nothing too insane, please don’t do ur chem labs on the public bus but.  u know.  

read over the notes you took that day on the ride home.  this will help reinforce the information in ur brain, and it’s not super difficult. i go over my apush notes during the 40 minute drive home and sometimes talk about them w my mom, which gives me a much better grasp of the material

don’t waste time on social media.  either delete instagram altogether, or log off/mute notifications before u start work.  same with tumblr.  don’t start scrolling obsessively if u have three tests to study for. 

power naps!!!! napping for about 10-20 minutes, maybe on the way home or to practice/rehearsal/whatever u gotta do, can help u feel refreshed!  anything longer will make u more tired tho, so be sure to get up when u say ur gonna get up.  

study smarter: when ur going over material, u don’t need to handwrite 60 beautiful flashcards.  use quizlet instead.  don’t revise if it’s not gonna help u.  prioritize which assignments r gonna be most impactful over the little ones u can easily make up

take good breaks!! breaks r VERY important and should be utilized properly.  here r some good suggestions for things to do: 

throw in a load of laundry

empty the dishwasher

stretch/do some jumping jacks

drink some water!

go for a walk

talk to a family member 

get a snack!

read some fun novels n such

scream?

!! in case of emergency !! the following tips should only be employed when ur short on time.  don’t use these just bc u can, this is just when it’s about getting close enough to grasping material, not actually grasping it

do every other math problem assigned, and either star the ones u didn’t do, or get the answers from the back of the book.  this way, u get some practice but u also save time

sparknotes ur reading beforehand.  this way, u can recognize what’s going on.  it’s not v good for developing ur reading comprehension, but assignments will go by quicker

NEVER google translate ur language homework, but u can use word reference for helping u find the right word and proper conjugations

flagpole it: didn’t study enough for a test?  are u guessing on like 10 of the questions?  if it’s multiple choice, but the same answer for all the ones u have no clue about, unless that answer choice seems highly unlikely.  then pick a different one.  this way, ur statistically more likely to get some of the ones you guessed correct. 

when u have an online assignment due at midnight and it’s 11:53 and u haven’t started, find another assignment you’ve already completed that has a similar document name.  for example, “scarlet letter chapters 9-11″ instead of ur actual assignment “scarlet letter chapters 12-14″.  submit the other one, and then when u finish the other assignment (either that night or the next morning) email ur teacher and apologize, say u accidentally submitted the wrong document

if ur parents will let u (if ur in high school) or u can let urself (if ur in uni), it’s okay to skip a day to catch up.  just make sure u actually work, get the notes u missed, and talk to ur teachers/professors abt the material u missed.

04 | STAYING HEALTHY 

ur health comes before any assignment, test, or extracurricular.  i know lots of ppl r probably telling u that and it doesn’t seem like they mean it, but i mean it.  no exam is worth sacrificing ur mental, physical, or emotional health for.  yeet!  so here r some things to keep in mind

eat!  ur fuckin!  breakfast!  whether it’s a smoothie or oatmeal or a cup of orange juice or an apple or an elaborate french toast dish, u need some food in ur stomach so that u have the energy to start ur day

remember to take ur meds if u need to!

drink water!  drink! water!  have a glass when u wake up, and then at least one with every meal, and one before u go to bed.  hydration is v important.  if u can, invest in a water bottle and take it with u to class.  

pack a lunch!  and if ur staying later after school, pack snacks!  tech week for me is always hell because i get to school at 7:30 am and don’t usually leave until 11 that night.  it’s v important to stay nourished and hydrated so that u don’t get dizzy or faint.  

remember!  that u are beautiful, and ur body is beautiful, and it deserves 2 b loved! especially by u.  

get 6 hours of sleep.  aim for 8, but six at the very least.  if ur done with ur work, go to bed early!  don’t just stay up for no reason.  

shower everyday, or every other day at least.  give yourself those 15 minutes as a break from work or school or anything else that’s keeping you busy

write down ur thoughts in a journal?  

talk to a friend if ur feeling sad, or just feeling things very intensely.  share ur joy with other people!  vent ur sadness and anger so u aren’t carrying it around everywhere. 

make some time to have fun.  see a movie w ur friends or ur bf/gf/datefriend or ur family over the weekend.  go to a museum.  hang out at the mall.  sleepover at someone’s house.  taking breaks is healthy.  

make an effort to have dinner with ur family if u can (also if u like ur family.  i know some ppl have bad relationships w them so skip this step if that’s u).  it can be nice to reconnect w everyone, even when ur stressed or they’re annoying u, it can be nice.  

remember that it’s okay to be imperfect!  u don’t need to be good at a lot of things.  i got a b for the first time last semester, i just got a c on an apush test, i failed my driver’s test again yesterday.  but i also aced my math quiz, i celebrated six months of knowing my best friend, i walked my dog, i helped put a production together.  it’s okay to have rough days and bad days and bleh days, as long as you keep pushing through them and working for the days to get better.  

i love u!!! stay hydrated and nourished and get enough sleep.  put on some lotion if u have it available.  brush ur hair.  if u ever wanna ask a question, my ask box is always open!  <3

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

no i never get used to silence

Fandom: Supergirl Rating: T (To be safe. There’s like. One ‘bad word.’) Summary: Kara does not do well with change. A/N: raise your hand if you’re a little disheartened at the lack of genfic coming out of a certain sister focused fandom week  

…

Kara loves the first day of school.

Has always loved the first day of school—or, whatever the Kryptonian equivalent would be. (Kara supposes the closest thing would have been the season following the Trials, when students were advanced to the next tier of lessons, and Guild Assessments were updated.)

It’s a little different on Earth (…okay maybe a lot different) but Kara loves it all the same.

Alex?

Not so much.

Not at first, anyway. Not at six thirty in the morning.

Kara knows this because she…maaaaybe gets a little excited, and maaaaaybe sets the alarm a little bit earlier than strictly necessary, and maaaaaybe has a hard time keeping quiet as she gets ready, and maaaaaaybe wakes Alex up accidentally-on-purpose.

And Alex grumbles into her pillow and blindly shoves Kara’s grinning face out of her personal space and tells her that it is way too early for this and human teenagers do not get this excited over high school, Kara. But Kara can hear the amusement, buried beneath the mild annoyance.

Today, though.

Today, her alarm goes off early, and she doesn’t want to get up.

Beep, beep, beep. She lets the alarm chirp for several long minutes, hunching further into her blankets.

Beep, beep, beep.

She reluctantly rolls over, reaching out to silence the clock. Her fingers brush the snooze button, and her gaze drifts towards the empty bed across the room.

The sight makes her throat burn. She quickly turns back to face the wall, twisting the fabric of her comforter in her fists.

She’s fine, she’s just…

Not great with change.

Eliza’s already up, making breakfast in the kitchen by the time Kara’s showered and dressed for school. She takes a seat at the table, working on a slouch that would make Alex very proud.

“Morning, sweetie,” Eliza says with a smile, walking over to drop a kiss on Kara’s temple. Kara hums a greeting, and wonders if she’s too depressed to make pancakes.

After some deliberation, the answer is, no, no she is not.

She gets up and starts poking through the cupboards, looking for the necessary ingredients. Eliza watches her, and then turns her attention to the digital clock on the microwave.

“Better put on a little super speed,” she teases Kara. “Someone’s running a bit late today.”

Kara forces a smile, but keeps her pace at a decidedly ‘normal human being’ level.

This does not go unnoticed by Eliza, who, after a few seconds, crosses the distance between them and wraps Kara in a tight, one-armed hug, rubbing her shoulder, soothing and slow.

“Kind of quiet around here, with just the two of us, huh?” she says, because if she says anything else, Kara will deny, deny, deny, and put on that unaffected smile, and pretend like everything’s fine.

Kara shrugs. “Kind of,” she says in a small voice.

“It’ll take some getting used to.”

“…Yeah.”

“So it’s okay, to be a little sad.”

Kara’s onto her by now, so she rolls her eyes, and insists that she’s fine, really. Eliza doesn’t press the matter. Instead, she opens the fridge, and pulls out a brown paper bag with Kara’s name scribbled on the side in black Sharpie.

“So you won’t be needing this lunch I made special for you? Because I made it specifically for ‘cheering up’ purposes, but if you’re fine—”

Kara tilts her glasses down and checks the contents of the bag, and then beams as she wraps Eliza in a (two-armed but tempered) hug.

“Thank you,” she says it a few times, interspersed with admissions of okay I do kind of miss Alex so I will definitely be needing those potstickers, yes, and Eliza just nods sagely.

“Mmm, thought so.”

Kara’s outlook brightens considerably as she gets back to measuring the Bisquick, her earlier sadness fading. She smiles to herself.

Maybe…she’s not so bad at change after all.

No, she’s definitely bad at change.

She realizes this right around fourth period. The entire morning has been spent going through the (admittedly tedious) motions of the first day—introductions, expectations, more introductions.

Which, normally, Kara doesn’t mind. Except that each class has gone more or less the same:

“Kara Danvers?” a teacher will say.

“Here,” Kara will answer.

“Danvers…do you have a sister?”

“Yeah, Alex.”

“I had Alex in (insert grade level and class here)! She graduated last year, right? How’s she doing?”

And of course, Kara would very proudly tell them that out of all of the Big Deal colleges that wanted her sister, Alex picked The Biggest Deal and is doing great, thanks.

And that was fine—Kara had no problem, telling her teachers how awesome her sister was.

But it did get her thinking about Alex, and how she was hundreds of miles away, as opposed to three classrooms over, and how she wouldn’t be waiting for Kara at lunch time, wouldn’t be at home after school…

Her throat burns again.

Her new math teacher has them playing 'two truths and a lie.’ Kara’s not paying attention—she’s staring out through the murky glass of the classroom windows, idly entertaining the thought of testing the limits of her super hearing, her telescopic vision.

If she listened hard enough, could she pick up Alex’s heartbeat, all those long miles away?

It’s dumb; she probably can’t.

(This does not stop her from trying.)

Not exactly her best idea—it’s a lot of stimuli to take in and filter past. It requires all of her concentration, her focus, her control.

She’s pretty sure she gets as far as the neighboring middle school, when suddenly—

“—ARA.”

Mr. Pang doesn’t shout it, but he might as well have, because it’s loud and close in Kara’s ear. She startles, jerking back in her chair, crushing the laminate particle board of her desk in the process.

Her teacher blinks in surprise, stepping back, staring at the destruction as Kara’s classmates laugh and guffaw in disbelief.

Kara stares back, terrified, because Rao, Alex hasn’t even been gone two weeks, and I’ve already blown my cover, and people are gonna find out I’m an alien, and, and—!

“…That’s…” her teacher starts to say, and then closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, muttering about how it’s going to be a long year, dear God. “Great, just great, we’re short desks as it is.”

She isn’t detained and/or shuffled off to some Black Ops site for experimentation and dissection. Instead, she’s told that her parents might have to pay to replace the desk, but that probably won’t be the case. “These desks are literally falling apart,” Mr. Pang says, as he directs her to the spare, rolling desk chair at the TA desk up front. “But hey, don’t worry about it folks, we got nice new turf for the football field, isn’t that great?”

The rest of the class laughs at the sarcastic comment, and attention is shifted away from Kara, and back to…whatever it is they were covering while Kara spaced out. Kara does her best to stay on task after that, not wanting a repeat slip up. One ruined desk is a fluke. Two…is cause for questioning.

The day goes on, but that annoying burn lingers in the back of her throat. Because she’s embarrassed and missing Alex and just really wants to go home.

Three o'clock can’t come fast enough.

Kara walks home, after school. Eliza told her she could drive the Jetta, if she wanted, but Kara’s not a big fan of driving.

Besides, the late August sun feels nice, and there’s a bit of a breeze, coming off the ocean. It makes her feel a little less…awful. She briefly considers testing her super hearing again, but instead decides to train her ears on the dull roar of the waves, losing herself in the crash and hiss of the spray.

She kicks at some loose gravel, and accidentally sends a larger rock whizzing down the street and out of sight. Distantly, a cat yowls, and something large and metallic falls over. She sighs in frustration.

She misses Alex.

She misses Alex, and she’s bad at change, and she imagines coming home to a big, quiet house with just her and Eliza every day (and maybe not even Eliza, depending on how late she’s working) and the thought of being alone is enough to exacerbate that troublesome burn in the back of her throat; now, it’s a full-blown ache.

Eliza’s still at work by the time she gets home. She drops her backpack by the front door (which is Very Much Frowned Upon) and she kicks her shoes off, not caring where they land. She drags herself upstairs and falls into bed, face down, where she plans on staying for the rest of the school year.

She doesn’t know how many hours pass before she hears the car pull into the driveway, Eliza’s Notting Hill soundtrack skipping on track seven, like it always does. Eliza huffs a little as she gets out of the car (a relatively new development; Alex insisted it was arthritis, which led to an entirely too-long debate about the nuances of joint swelling.)

Kara manages a weak smile; Alex’s and Eliza’s numerous arguments over medical science always reminded her of when her dad and Uncle Jor would get into it at family dinners, bickering over anything and everything, from inefficient rocket propulsion to the outcome of the most recent Garata match.

Shockingly, this trip down memory lane does not make her feel any better. She curls onto her side and hugs her extra pillow close, so wrapped up in feeling miserable that she doesn’t notice Eliza’s presence until the mattress dips beside her, and Eliza’s hand is on her shoulder, once again rubbing soothing, slow circles.

“You should give Alex a call,” she suggests gently.

“Already tried,” Kara grumbles miserably, flopping an arm backwards, pointing towards her cell phone on the nightstand. “Voicemail.”

Eliza laughs lightly. “Maybe…try again a little later. You know how she is…she’s probably still busy settling in, adjusting to her classes, a new routine…”

“The new routine’s dumb,” Kara tells her, sniffling. She rubs at her eyes with the back of her hand, knocking her glasses to one side.

Eliza’s voice is soft and sympathetic. “It’ll get better, sweetie.” Kara grunts. “Well, alright, it’ll get easier. I promise.”

Eliza rubs her shoulder for a little bit, and eventually, Kara tells her about the desk incident at school. Eliza doesn’t get mad—she never gets mad…not at Kara, at least—but she does let out an exasperated sigh.

“No one suspected anything,” Kara makes sure to emphasize. Eliza nods.

“Having seen my fair share of classrooms…stranger things have happened.”

Kara’s curiosity is piqued. “Really?” she asks, wondering what on Earth could be weirder than her.

Thus, the evening is spent listening to Eliza recount various insane tales of her time in lecture halls and labs. Normally, she saves these sorts of stories for Alex—which Kara doesn’t mind. It’s…kind of their thing, and Kara tries not to intrude.

But she likes hearing about the annoying TAs and the centrifuge from Hell and the early, earnest efforts of Eliza and Jeremiah’s research that, more often than not, involved a lot of jury-rigging and therefore, a lot of duct tape. Clark sometimes makes an appearance, and Eliza makes sure to include all of the embarrassing details.

Kara’s feeling a lot better, when she tries calling Alex a second time, later that night.

She gets the voicemail again.

Kara’s good mood is gone. Seconds later, though, she gets a text. Sorry! Saw that you called just busy w/ class stuff. I’ll call you tomorrow! Try not to set anything on fire in the meantime lol

The prospect of having to wait almost a whole day to talk to Alex doesn’t exactly fill her with much enthusiasm, but it’s still better than nothing. She texts back a smiley face, along with a haha no fire yet did destroy school property tho in the hopes of prolonging the conversation, but Alex just sends back a XD, probably assuming that Kara’s joking, and that’s that.

So…she doesn’t feel as awful, but she doesn’t necessarily feel great, either.

She finds herself wandering downstairs late at night, long after Eliza’s gone to bed, unable to sleep in a room that feels a little more 'half empty’ than 'half full.’

Eliza finds her the next morning, sprawled out gracelessly on the couch, the Hello, Dolly! DVD menu music looping endlessly.

“Alright, up, up,” Eliza says, nudging her awake. Kara lets out an uncharacteristic growl. “None of that. We have places to be, come on.”

Kara pushes herself up, and blinks at the wall clock.

“…I’m late for school,” she says, a little bit shocked.

“You’re sick, so you’re not going,” Eliza tells her.

Kara opens her mouth to state the obvious: I don’t get sick, but Eliza holds up a hand. “All part of maintaining appearances. Also, I need help with something. Two birds, one stone.”

“What do you need help with?” Kara asks, still (pleasantly?) surprised that she gets to skip school. She’s…never done that before. (Sure, she and Alex talked about skipping school, but. Those plans never got much farther than the 'hypothetical’ stage.)

“Carrying some boxes,” Eliza says offhandedly, heading for the kitchen. “But mostly, keeping me company. I have a long drive, and all of my CDs skip. Conversation would be a vast improvement.”

Kara sits up straighter. “How…how long of a drive?”

“Mmm, six hours, give or take? Depending on traffic.” Slowly, Kara feels a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.  “So the sooner we get ourselves going, the bet—” Kara’s dressed and ready before she can finish the sentence, “—ter.”

“How many boxes? Should we pack anything else? Alex is gonna hate us.” Kara can barely stand still, she’s so excited.

“Mmm,” Eliza inclines her head towards the care package that she was going to mail, but. An in-person delivery might be better. “Not if we bring pie.”

Alex is horrified for maybe, like, five seconds.

“Oh my God, Mom, seriously? It’s barely been a week,” she says, groaning. But Kara barrels into her, hugging her tight, apologizing profusely. “Wait, why are you sorry? Did you break my CD player again?”

“I just…missed you a lot? It wasn’t Eliza’s idea. Well, I mean, it was her idea, but only because I was being a wimp…”

She also makes sure to mention the pie which, just as Eliza predicted, smooths everything over considerably.

“Not chocolate pecan,” Alex feigns surprise. Kara looks moderately offended.

“Of course not,” she says. “It’s for you, it should be your favorite.”

“Mmm. Mom made you a separate pie, didn’t she.”

“…Maybe.”

Alex rummages through the rest of the contents of the care package, recoiling slightly as she stumbles across Kara’s homemade card.

“Ugh. So much glitter,” she says, handling it gingerly. “This stuff never goes away.”

“That…is true.” Kara glances at her fingertips, some of which still bear the sparkly mark of glitter glue.

But Alex tacks it up on her bulletin board regardless, and thanks Kara for the thoughtful gifts. And for not eating any of the pie on the drive up.

(“It was a struggle,” Kara admits, and Eliza nods. “It was.”)

Once that’s done, the trio makes something of a show of hauling the remaining boxes upstairs—Alex had apparently forgotten a few remaining items for her dorm room, so the impromptu reunion can be passed off as something a little less damaging to Alex’s reputation.

They spend the rest of the afternoon simply catching up. At one point, Eliza excuses herself, mentioning a colleague she’d like to say hi to before they go.

So Alex decides to show Kara around—later, when she’s inevitably teased about her family showing up not even two weeks into classes, she can tell them that Kara’s interested in attending, possibly. The campus tour will help sell the story.

Really, though, she’s happy to see them—classes have been crazy enough to keep her from feeling too homesick, but once in a while, she’ll catch herself planning to tell Kara or her mom something at dinner, only to remember that’s…not exactly how it works, now.

And that realization is always a little…it’s a bit of a downer, sure. But, she reminds herself, looking over at her sister—she’s the older one. She has to be…something. Brave, strong? Set a good example, maybe? For Kara.

“I’m glad you came up to visit,” she says, throwing an arm around Kara’s shoulders. “But. Are you gonna come up here every time you get lonely? Because I do have classes to attend, you know.”

“You should try skipping,” Kara says with a smirk. “It’s pretty fun.”

“I’m gone one week and you’re playing hookie, destroying school property…what next? Grand theft auto?”

Kara wrinkles her nose.

“What would I do with a car?”

“Uh, drive it?”

“Mmm, pass.”

“Weirdo.” Alex laughs. “I know several people who would kill for a car. Public transit here sucks.”

“Good thing you don’t have to go far, I guess?” Kara says. Alex shrugs.

“I’d like to explore a bit,” she tells her. “But. I guess I’m with you. Not really in love with the idea of making car payments.” She shoves her hands in her pockets. “…Maybe a motorcycle.”

Kara stares.

“Eliza would kill you.”

“I’m joking,” Alex says. Kara doesn’t believe her, and her suspicion must show on her face, because Alex continues. “Really, I am. Mostly, anyway. …Whatever. It’s not gonna happen anyway, I’ve now joined the ranks of poor, pitiful, destitute college students.”

“I’ve read they mostly survive on Ramen,” Kara says with a completely straight face. Alex snorts.

“Yeah, Ramen and Red Bull. That’s what you should’ve put in the care package.”

Kara shakes her head.

“Pie is way better,” she declares passionately.

Alex laughs. “No argument there.”

They stay through dinner, but not for much longer after that. It’s not ideal, having to drive back the same day, but unfortunately necessary, as Eliza has to be back in Midvale for a meeting tomorrow morning.

“Thanks for bringing the lamp and stuff,” Alex gestures back towards the dorms. “Saved me a trip back home.”

“You should still come. Back home. Sometime,” Kara blurts. “Eventually, I mean.”

“Well, duh.”

“Like, before Thanksgiving Break,” Kara amends, stepping forward and hugging Alex goodbye. She drops her head onto her sister’s shoulder—they’re about the same height now, so it’s not so much a drop as a lean, but either way it works.

“I will,” Alex promises. “But…I do…have to be here. And go to classes. And be on my own a bit,” she reminds her sister gently. “That’s…kinda why I picked this school. I wanted a change, you know?”

Kara thinks change is highly overrated. And, though she knows going away to college is A Thing Young People Do, the idea of being sent off, far from home, far from the people you love, with the weighty burden of adult responsibility?

She’s already done that once. Wasn’t great.

But she’s not Alex, and Alex isn’t her; she knows that her sister was indeed ready for a change by the time her Senior year rolled around. Ready for someplace besides Midvale. And she knows that Alex is going to do amazing things here.

So she’s going to be…brave? Strong? Not be such a wimp, maybe? For Alex.

“Yeah,” she says, nodding. “Yeah. I get it.”

“You’ll be fine, alright?” Alex grins. “Just. Don’t be late for Mr. Nelson’s class. And Ms. Harris isn’t tolerable until she’s had coffee so like, keep a low profile until you’re certain she has caffeine on board.”

“Okay,” Kara says, making a mental list. She’s feeling better, about the days ahead. Alex says she can do this.

And so, she can.

“I’ll be better about calling, though,” Alex adds, hugging her back. “And, seriously. Quit breaking shit.”

“Alex,” Eliza says, and Kara hides her giggles.

“'Kay,” she says. “I’ll quit breaking…stuff.”

“Thank goodness one of my children is polite,” Eliza gives Alex a pointed look as she hugs her. Kara steps back, and does her best not to listen in as Eliza murmurs something to Alex. (Though, she hears something that sounds a lot like 'proud’ and, judging by the way Alex’s  mouth involuntarily pulls into a bashful grin, Kara’s certain that whatever it was? Was good.)

“Stay out of trouble,” Eliza calls from the car as they pull out. “No visible tattoos or tongue piercings, alright?”

Alex waves. “How about a motorcycle?”

“Alex Danvers, no,” Eliza says firmly. “Love you, sweetie.”

“Love you too, Mom, Kara. Bye!”

“Bye!”

They wave and holler until the campus parking lot fades from view.

They’re not even on the freeway yet, when Kara’s phone goes off. She looks down. A text from Alex that simply reads,

Love you, sis.

P.S. Alex YES.

NOTES:

- I have kept Alex’s college deliberately vague, because I’ve honestly forgotten what the show has established re: her education, but. One can probably guess whereabouts I put her, based on the travel time. - Upon further reflection, I’m 96% certain the care package bit is the result of a/inspired by a discussion w/ @thatsjustsupergirl so. Credit where credit is due. - Clint Barton is great at boats; Kara Danvers is not great at cars.

[mythomagically-delicious]

Back in Time

Dipper ‘accidentally’ turns Stan into his 30 year old self. He was aiming to fully turn his Grunkle back into a kid, just for a few days, so his Grunkle would remember what it was like and maybe cut Dipper some slack one in a while. But instead the thing he’d given Stan turned back the clock on him, making Stan wake up in his 30 year old body, with only memories up until that point in his life, and nothing past it.

Thirty year old Stan still feels the fresh wound of losing Ford.

When Stan wakes up the first thing he feels is hunger. Followed by pain from his shoulder he can’t place. And then emptiness and a deeper sorrow—remembering what he’d done to Ford.

Stan yells, fighting his way out of the covers, crashing to the floor. He looked around, confused. It looked like he was still in the Hut, but everything was slightly…off. Before he could figure out why, he heard a series of thumps from the stairs and reached under the bed for his baseball bat and rushed to listen at the door.

He heard indistinct shouting and prepared himself for a fight. He opened the door and yelled, raising the bat up, preparing to strike. On the other side of the door were two small faces, kids, yelling back in surprise. Stan dropped his bat immediately, but glanced behind them, still checking for threats.

(He’d only had to deal with a couple of old ‘pals’ sniffing around since he faked his death. It’d been a while, sure, but that’s no reason to get cocky).

“Grunkle Stan?” came the girl’s voice, confused.

Stan was shocked—how do they know me?

“I’m not sure what a ‘grunkle’ is, but you got the name right, kiddo.” Stan thought quickly and asked “Are you guys here for a tour? You’re not supposed to be back here. And we don’t open yet.”

It was the only explanation he could come up with that didn’t freak him out too much. Because if he looked at the boy too long, he started seeing Ford in his features. And that was crazier than any of the weird shi—er, stuff, he’d seen around the forest so far.

Suddenly the boy turned to his sister—they had to be related, they could even be twins—(Stan shut that thought down quick as it came) and started explaining something quickly, waving his arms and clicking a pen that seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

“Mabel! It was the plant—the one we put in his cola—it had to be! It turned him young, just not young enough. But I guess he doesn’t remember being old, so that’s a problem too…” he trailed off and looked thoughtfully at Stan.

Stan, who’d only caught every third word or so, was trying to work out if he’d been poisoned by these kids when the girl spoke.

“Right! Okay, here’s the deal Mr. Stan. My name’s Mabel, and this is my twin brother, Dipper.” Stan felt himself choke on his breath when she confirmed they were twins, but she plowed on, hardly noticing. “Our parents sent us to Gravity Falls, Oregon to live with our great uncle for the summer. That’s you.” She pointed finger guns at him and continued, her braces glinting in the hall light.

“Most of the time you’re a grumpy old man, like a million or sixty or something, but you’ve got a gooey marshmallow heart and you love taking care of Dip-Dop and me! We’ve had some crazy adventures this summer, and you’ve probably had fun too, running this place and ordering Soos and Wendy around. We’re all family here and it’s great! You gave us the creepy attic room and make Stancakes every morning and don’t pay for a lot and you use your smoke bombs to avoid people, and smell like old man cream, but we love you!” She finished her speech, smiling sweetly.

Stan felt like his head was gonna explode. He asked the one question that burned through the haze, though. “Whose kids are ya?”

Dipper—yeesh, that isn’t really his name, right?—answered. “We’re your great niece and great nephew.” At Stan’s lost look Dipper explained further. “You know, Grandpa Shermie.”

Stan took that info and sighed. So the kids don’t know about me, he thought with relief. That’ll make this bit easier.

“Wait a second—you’re Sam’s kids?” Stan asked, blown away at what these kids were saying. “No way, he’s twelve, almost thirteen. I just talked to him at the—er, a few weeks ago.”

The boy narrowed his eyes at Stan’s almost slip-up (I still don’t know if they know about their other uncle yet) but the girl just laughed.

“Wow! Dad at twelve, just like us, Dipper! Did he look like a nerd?”

“What does a ‘nerd’ look like?”

“Like Dipper, but with glasses.”

“Hey!”

Mabel laughed again and booped her brother on the nose. “’Beep-boop, I am a nerd!’ That’s you, Dipper.”

The two argued and laughed for a moment but Stan’s head spun. Yeah, this is the best proof we’re related, he thought. I can’t believe I’m in the future. It still feels like 1984 to me.

“What year is it?” Stan interrupted.

The twins shared a long look. They had what looked like a quick mental conversation before Dipper answered, “2012.”

Stan did the math. Nearly 30 years. Have I got him back yet?

“So, thirty years, huh? How big has the family got since I was this old?”

Mabel took the lead. “Well, there’s us and mom and dad, Grandpa Shermie and Grandma Reb, mom’s relatives, and you!”

Stan felt his heart sink. I still haven’t got him back. It’s been thirty years—I’m the worst brother in the world. Stan felt his eyes overload with tears. He tried pushing them back but it was no use. He turned away from the kids and towards his room, trying to hide. But then he heard both kids gasp and he turned back, confused.

“Grunkle Stan,” Mabel whispered, horror lining her face, tears already falling. “What’s on your shoulder?”

At the reminder Stan felt the wound flair with pain. Stan sighed. “Nothing, kid. Look, I need a few moments to take this all in. Why dontcha go downstairs and pour some cereal or something—get breakfast started?”

Dipper and Mabel were both stuck, just staring.

“Now, ya little gremlins!” Stan yelled, voice a bit hoarse, and that got the kids moving.

Stan closed his door and looked around, trying to take stock of what was different between 58 year old Stan Pines and 28 year old Stan Pines.

The room was dark and messy. He saw some of the old man cream Mabel was talking about. He read the label—it was for joint pain. Makes sense, especially if that business from ’78 is what’s causing it, Stan thought. He picked his way around the room, trying to figure out what his next move should be. He spotted some advanced physics and math books sitting beneath a dirty pair of pants on the dresser. He saw an old “Employee of the Month” placard and an unfamiliar picture of a young man in the frame.

Why is that in here, not in the store? I put myself in the frame for a boost. Why’d old me keep it if it’s someone new?

Stan found the picture right where he hoped he would, glad it was still safe. Ford and him when they were kids. The photo he’d found when he’d actually been able to go through the entire house a couple months in. Stan checked the time—he should find some clothes and head downstairs—no telling what those kids would do—and figure out how close he is to bringing Ford back.

Nothing in his closet currently fit in the slightest. He sighed, resigning himself to underwear and a dirty tank top when he saw the box beside his bed. It looked ancient and dusty, except for the top, which looked like it had been brushed off recently. On top in wobbly marker it read “FOR HIS RETURN” and nothing else.

Carefully Stan opened the box and there he found the clothes he’d carefully packed away for Ford not six months ago. He remembered placing all the boxes in the attic space, unable to bear letting Ford’s things be eaten by the passage of time. Stan looked through the box and realized these are the only clothes that would work.

Stan attended to the burn first. It was still glowing orange, despite having been burned into him two years ago. Apparently that grate was just as sci-fi weird as the portal itself, and left the injury much longer than a normal burn would.

Then he picked out a button up and a pair of pants from his brother’s box. It was tripping Stan out that these clothes were over thirty years old and yet perfectly for him. He tried not to think about it. Stan checked himself in the mirror. He felt more like a fraud than ever.

He went downstairs to face the kids again. When he heard them whispering in the kitchen, however, he paused at the stairway to listen.

“No, Dipper! I don’t think telling him stuff will change the past. He just looks super young now. We didn’t bring him through time with us.”

“Mabel, still! He probably thinks like he’s thirty. He’s gonna get overloaded if we just keep telling him about the future! I mean present, ugh. Time travel mechanics are ridiculous!”

“Cheer up, Dip-Dop! At least this time no Time Cops are gonna be after us or challenge us to Globnar to the death or anything! It was just something he ate.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Stan came into the kitchen, shutting down the conversation between Mabel and Dipper as he did so. They ate a quiet breakfast of sneaky sideways glances and cereal. Stan tried organizing his thoughts, but it all came back to the same thing.

Stan needed to get into the basement ASAP. Above all else. He needed to know how close he was to bringing Ford back. To know if he ever just…gave up. He decided to believe the kids based off the weird conversation about paradoxes and time travel in the kitchen. Only two years here, and even Stan could see that anything was possible in Gravity Falls. These kids had apparently been here for almost two months and they already knew that. These kids were quick. And, from the little bit Stan had seen of them, just like he and Ford used to be. Close as can be, best friends, a great team.

“Alright, kids, give me the grand tour,” Stan said once the dishes were stacked haphazardly by the sink, wanting to know exactly what had changed in 28-some years. The first answer came as Mabel yelled the new apparent name of his tourist trap.

“Right! Everyone line up! Mystery Shack Tours are starting now!” Mabel yelled, getting Dipper to stand behind him to point out anything she missed. Together they pointed out areas of interest with a few truly disturbing stories to go along with it. Like the living room where their Grunkle Stan saved them from a zombie attack a few weeks ago. Or the spot in the roof that they had to fix because Lil’ Gideon bulldozed it when he stole the deed to the Shack.

“Some twerpy kid stole the house from me?” Stan practically screamed at Dipper and Mabel. He began to panic, imagining what would’ve happened to Ford if no one knew he was there. It took a long time to calm him down—Mabel ran to the kitchen to make him hot chocolate. Dipper led him to his yellow chair (still there, nice) and helped him sit and breathe. Turns out Stan does get panic attacks, but only since living in Ford’s old house.

When he calmed down, the kids assured him that everything was right where they’d left it. Stan was too embarrassed to comment.

“Look kids, can I have a few minutes to look around, get my bearings? A lot’s changed in the Hut since I remember it. Maybe you kids can go out and play for a little while. I promise I’ll be fine.”

Dipper and Mabel agreed. They went out, arguing about ways to use the same plant to age him back up. Stan ran to the gift shop as soon as they were out of sight.

Spying the vending machine, he crossed his fingers and put in what he hoped the code still was.

A-1-2-B-C-3

It opened. Stan breathed a sigh of relief and rushed downstairs, heaving the vending machine closed behind him. He ran down the steps to the elevator and finally out into the secret basement.

Stan was amazed. He’d done so much in all that time. Looking around he felt his legs give out, and he sat heavily in a nearby desk chair. The other two journals. They are right there. Stan felt like crying. That’s when he realized something was different—there was a hum in the air, like, like—

The portal was turned on.

Not only that, but it was counting down to operation. If all of this was correct, Stan was about 16 hours away from finally getting Ford back.

He cried. Tears of joy and anticipation. He held each copy of the Journals with reverence and awe.

Then he saw the photo on the desk. It was of Dipper and Mabel. Obviously taken this summer—on a boat? Did Stan have a boat—was it called…?

He finally got to see what he looked like as the old man the kids had been talking about all day. He shuddered at how much he looked like his own old man. Then he noticed his expression. He could see how much love Old Stan had for the kids. Even for the short time he’d known them, this Stan already loved them too.

He couldn’t lie to them about the machine. He wouldn’t know where to start.

Stan left everything as is, but took the framed photograph with him. He called for the kids to come on inside.

So Stan told them a story. A story of two brothers growing up by the beach. Twins who always had each other…until they didn’t. One with five fingers on each hand, one with six fingers on each hand. Dipper yelled, “Like the author!” at that and pulled out Journal 3 to show him.

Stan told them about the fight, the brother getting kicked out, the hard ten years alone; briefly, that is, it was still painful to think about. Then getting a post card for Gravity Falls, Oregon one day after ten years of silence. The brother went to his twin’s side.

“He wanted to help, you see,” Stan told them. “But just like before, the younger twin, Lee, was a screw-up and disappointment. He’d threatened to burn his brother’s Journal to get rid of the dangerous information it contained. Sixer attacked Lee, and they fought viciously. Sixer pushed Lee into a burning grate of the machine he’d built in the basement, burning him. Branding him.” Stan flexed his shoulder blade and felt the ache spread across his back once more.

“Then Lee did the worst thing he’d done yet. He picked up the journal and punched his brother, who’d stopped fighting when he’d pushed him into the fiery grate, back towards the machine they’d accidentally turned on in the fight. Lee told him ‘You care more about your dumb mysteries than your family. If you love them so much, then you can have them!’ and pushed Sixer and the book over the safety line. Sixer floated up towards the machine, pulled into a new center of gravity. Lee realized they’d gone too far too late (again). Sixer called out for help, throwing the book back down screaming in terror, “Save me, Lee, help me! Do something, Lee—“and was pulled into the machine—a portal to another world. Lee did all he could to bring Sixer back, but it was no use. The machine refused to become active again. Lee worked until the pain from his branded wound made him pass out from the pain.”

“Lee had pushed his own brother into exile and almost certain death. He couldn’t let his brother stay there. So he started to search. Search for the other two Journals, learning his brother’s levels of science, math, physics, calculus, space, technology, machines, and more. Lee faked his death and took Sixer’s name as his own so no one would know what happened. This meant he could stay in his twin’s house and work every day and night to save his brother’s life.”

“The brothers’ names were Stanley and Stanford Pines. Stanford was older, and born with six functional fingers on each hand. And a genius. Stanley was younger and had five fingers on each hand. Only good for holding his brother back, a worthless, brainless screw-up.” Stan shifted uncomfortably as he made his final confession, no more story to hide behind.

“I am Stanley Pines. I pushed my brother Stanford into the portal two years ago, and I have worked every day of the last two years to get him back.”

“Your Stan has been working for thirty years. Now he is fourteen hours away. He has all three Journals, finally, and the machine is counting down to be activated as we speak. I—I’m finally going to see my brother again.”

Stan’s eyes filled with tears and he let them fall. The kids were staring open-mouthed at him. Dipper had been anxiously clicking a pen all throughout Stan’s story, but at Stan’s final confession, it had fallen from his hand. Mabel had her grip tightened around the edge of her sweater, bunching it in her fingers and letting it go, as if the motion would help her process everything her Grunkle had just said.

Dipper and Mabel had a bajillion questions and didn’t quite believe what they were told until Stan showed them the newspaper clippings and photos and fake IDs and other proof of what he’d said. Including showing them his burn again. Intentionally, this time.

 Dipper said the effect of the plant they put in his coffee would run out on its own over the course of the next couple days. Stan knows he’ll have to greet Ford tonight as is. Mabel said they’ll both be right by his side, tonight, to help explain and smooth things over.

Stan could see so much of Sam in the pair of them. He’d kept calling the kid just like he’d promised since the ‘funeral’. Stan could tell he was a real smart kid, with a bright future ahead of him. Looking at Sam’s kids, his twins, Stan could practically cry with how proud of the kid he was. He remembered that Sam had been the most decent one at the service, despite only being nearly a teen. It felt good to know he’d been right about Sam.

It boggled his mind to realize that now Sam was older than him. Even worse, in his current state, Ford was 28 years older than Stan.

But it didn’t matter. All that mattered was Stanford being back, Stan thought. Everything else will figure itself out afterwards. Now they wait, and Stan gets to know his family again.