#i actually didnt sleep yesterday and almost played the whole time

[anagalis]

wow can't believe red dead redemption 2 only consists of 3 chapters with an open ending who would have thought

[joysmercer]

okay I’m so curious about the short fic you posted yesterday

can I ask how in this universe nina dies? And does eddie too?

(it’s mask of anubis on main btw)

ooh fun questions!! i was hoping someone would ask cuz i couldn't figure out how to work it in. also i added way too much info that you didnt ask for so now it's under the cut :D

first of all, this au is a much darker take on how i think nina's life "actually" played out – I think she'll always have random spirits coming up to her etc, but in this au, it's pretty constant and can get very dangerous very quickly. on the flip side, she sees a lot more fame for her "irl" work than she does "in canon" (see below).

somewhat ironically (given how guarded nina becomes from the constant barrage of gods forcing her to do things), she makes her living off of writing movies about her experiences. i think she does this in canon too, but here she really throws herself into it, almost like a form of therapy since there isn't really any professional she can process things with, you know? she eats, sleeps, breathes her craft – whenever she has downtime, she's writing, editing, networking to get her words out there. she's so fast and so talented with it that she graduates university in three years with honors, by which time the chosen one (season 1) has already been picked up by a major company and has started filming; she wins her first oscar two years later, and the next two each year after that.

(actually, all four scripts got picked up at the same time, which is why the turnaround was so quick – but they didn't announce the sequels until after the oscars because at that point she was a relatively unknown person)

(also i know this isn't how these things work irl but just work with me here. maybe she called in a favor from a random god and had things sped along idk)

anyway, the point im trying to make is that she spends her whole life balancing what she wants to do (her work) with what she has to do (paragon shit) and has a weird sense of self-worth as a result (she knows she's good at what she does, but wants to hide it from the world at the same time (out of fear). she hates that she needs others to keep her safe and refuses to believe they're doing it out of kindness, even though she also knows that they genuinely love her. it's weird) (also she and fabian make up sometime during their uni years so all is good there)

anyway, they (amber + KT) set up a rota of all ex-sibuna members (+ willow as she learns about it pretty quickly post-grad) to spend time in the states for a couple months out of the year each. this essentially made sure there was always 1 other person on the mission with her and 2 people nearby who knew where they were going, should things go wrong and they need rescuing or something. but for small/random tasks, nina would just do those alone.

her last mission (that fabian alludes to) had taken months to complete: three formerly-benign ghosts had been "turned" by a magician up in canada, released from the underworld, and, driven mad by the magic (and confusion of being back in the real world), had started a series of freak thunderstorms across the american midwest. together with jerome, she had to figure out how they got released, stop the magician, construct the device necessary to trap the spirits and send them back, and use said device to stop the storms. the effort had completely exhausted her (so much so that she – making headlines – decided to take a step back on touchstone production, instead of hanging out on set like she did for the other three)

(that's why tor is the way it is. with her dropping off of the face of the earth, someone decided – while she couldn't argue against it – to absolutely slash the budget, which lead to a mess of a story (screenplay is the only oscar it wins)

nina's death (as alluded to in the article) really seemed out-of-the-blue. basically, she was on a mission – alone – that suddenly and very unexpectedly turned dangerous. but when she was found (by KT and amber together) it looked like she just collapsed at home – there was no indication of any foul play or anything, really, of how she died.

also alluded to in the article, but a lot (but not all) of KT's "investigative journaling" was her covering up the consequences of nina's missions with theories that would make sense to the general public. nina's last request of her was to halt any investigation into her death prematurely as she knew things would unravel pretty quickly otherwise

joy's role in nina's life was mainly to book her for enough public-facing events/etc so that people wouldn't question where she was when she "disappeared" for a month or two, as well as act as her social media manager/"source close to her" to tabloids during extended absences so people continue to think she's okay. this was especially important given nina's monumental rise to fame (and as a screenplay writer, at that! usually it's the actors/directors who get most of it!) and her relatively young age, which meant she got herself a fandom very quickly…and we all know what the rumor-spreading capabilities of stan twitter are like. there were quite a few times nina came back from a mission to find several "new" pics on her instagram or that shes going viral for something she doesn't "remember" saying lskdjf

amber's role was to media-train the hell out of nina so she never gives any indication that a) there's an element of truth in her work; b) she lives a double life; and c) weird things keep happening in the cities she happens to frequent (eg random buildings falling, artifacts disappearing, etc). we all know this girl can't lie to save her life…amber is nothing but a miracle-worker in that regard lol

as for eddie – his death is basically the reason things are so awful, now. he actually dies at the end of tor, and not only does osiris himself blame nina for it (using "logic" that can rival senkhara's in s2), but it also leaves nina terrified since she no longer has a protector – something all the other gods/spirits quickly take advantage of (threats/blackmail/etc) for the first few years, by which time word of her willingness to do anything spreads and she can't get rid of the constant requests. it doesn't help that his death also proved to them that nina (like her counterpart) can, and will, sacrifice herself to save the world, if it came down to it, making her the perfect pawn in a lot of schemes.

[kittydcoxx]

Stay with Me.

KAEYA X READER.

Warnings: light angst/heartbreak but nothing bad (happy ending)

The tavern was as crowded as usual, and by that meaning almost completely baren for a rainy Wednesday afternoon. As you order a apple cider from Charles, the tavern door bell rings and you instinctively turn to check.

"Ah~ it is pouring out, I need a drink to combat the dissapointment of getting my fur cape wet."

Kaeya. Of course he wasnt the last person you'd expect to see open the tavern doors, he just wasnt much of a "afternoon delight" type drinker. Still, you stare as he tries to cooly swipe off the wet rain from his uniform as he walks towards the counter and takes a seat next to you.

"Well, well! Good afternoon y/n! What a suprise to see a beauty such as yourself here at this hour."

He raises an eyebrow and smirks as he turns to look straight ahead and run his fingers through his hair, not allowing time for you to respond before he has a drink in his hand.

"Afternoon Captain,"

You face him and smirk with the same intensity of flirty-ness as he just had.

"Of course you would be surprised to see me at this hour, you usually drink yourself to sleep before i order a evening drink."

You chuckle and look straight ahead and take a swig of your beverage, the confidence of your little witty come back replays as the cider burns your throat.

"Oh ho, well thats quite the attitude! I must ask, whats the purpose of this?"

"Hmm?"

"The occasion? I've never seen you drink three days in a row, I've been sober enough to pay attention to that."

The truth is, the last few days you've been at a bit of a crossroads. You know you and the Cavalry Captain share feelings, but you have a job offer in Natlan. This job is a dream to you, ever since you were a child. You could never dream of passing this opportunity, but you question if this possible romance could be the first significant one. You've been meaning to bring it up to him, but recently you just havent seen enough of him to bring up the subject. As a result, you turned to the more than occassional drink at the tavern to brighten your mood from the decision that faces you.

"Well then if you're interested, it actually... might concern you."

Your face is flushed red due to nerves, of course it doesnt directly concern him since nothing astronomical has occured in order to absolutely weigh your decision based on a man, but you didnt want to leave without warning.

"I see, well, we haven't..." His cheeks grow the slightest bit red as his eyes skip to look around then back at you.

"we haven't progressed to that yet, have we? I mean, you're not pregnant are you?"

"What?!" You're taken aback by the direct-ness of his statement, about the fact that he thought it could even have been a possibility. Was it confirming your suspicions of him returning feelings? "No, i- its not that! That is out of the question completely!" You yelp as you shake your hands as a frantic meaning of saying "Absolutely no way".

"Of course! of course.. i just figured i'd ask in case, but i guess drinking for a few days regularly isnt particularly healthy for a baby."

You roll your eyes and take another swig. Oh boy.

"It's actually more of an advice thing, i suppose."

"Ah~ well! lets discuss then, hm!" He happily takes a sip of his wine, his face surprisingly relieved.

"So? What do you need the great Master Kaeya's guidance on?" He smiles and giggles slightly.

"Actually, I'd like to take this outside."

"But its raining cats and-"

"Outside. please."

Your tone picks up more aggresively and he gets the memo. He takes one more sip of his beverage and you do the same with yours. You pay Charles and meet Kaeya right at the door.

"Get ready for the rain, sweetheart"

Your heart jumps as he grabs your wrist and swings open the door, pulling you with him down the street, stopping at a small archway behind a building, big enough to comfortably converse without being cramped or drenched.

"Now, where were we?"

"right.. well.." You look down and fidget with your thumbs, only to look back up at him and see him gazing into your eyes, examining your soul and what felt like your heart. Did he already know? It sure felt like it.

"I have a big decision to make, but i want to ask you before i come to a concrete decision."

He nods as a sign to continue talking, acknkowledging his position in helping you decide.

"I might have to move away. To natlan more specifically. I've recieved a dream~ job offer that i simply cant refuse, unless i was faced with new circumstances here in Mondstadt."

"Hm, And how do i play a role in this?" He asks as he folds his arms and leans back against the stone wall.

You explain to him his part, and he lets you talk until you are completely finished. you tell him your feelings, your worries, your doubts, and your hopes. Every single one that included him in the package. He looks at you sternly the whole time, but he looks hurt at the same time and you wonder why.

"Well, i honestly dont know what to say to this y/n. You know i cant leave Mondstadt if we were to persue eachother."

"I know."

"Then why bother telling me? Why not just leave, hm? Before damage could be done? before you told me all this, confirmed my hopes in our relationship but crushed it with the fact that you 'might' leave? You should have just spared me and left!"

He looks emotional and teary eyed, much more that you're used to seeing from a man who held such a cool composure 24/7. Have you hurt him that much? Does he hate you?

"I can always stay if you wan-"

"No. Its your dream job, and you shouldnt pass it off. I just cant promise that i'll wait for you."

He steps closer to you, inches from your face. His breath is warm and it contrasts with the cold rainy air. He slowly takes your hand and hold it in his, then lands a soft passionate kiss onto your lips. A few seconds of the kiss pass and he breaks for air and looks at you, making strong magnetic eye contact with you.

"Y/n, I can't wait for you."

"You dont have to. I can stay."

He runs his hands up your arms and grips firmly onto your shoulders and kisses you again, and when he pulls back he lets out a heavy sigh.

"There's no staying, just be safe. Please."

Your throat swells like a rock is stuck and your eyes burn hot along with your ears. You cant muster any words, you just stand there maintaining a sorrow eye contact for a few seconds.

As you both stare in silence, he slowly lets go of you, and as soon as his hands depart from yours, he turns and walks out and into the road. The further he walks and fades from your vision, the further you slide down the wall until your behind hits the wet floor as you curl up to your knees. Hard, Hot tears stream steadily down your cheeks as you hide your head in your knees, sobbing hard yet silently. Your heart aches and your stomach churns.

You want to run and look for him, grab him by the waist and embrace him in a hug from behind as you cry against his back, but he has already erased you from his plethora of memories as he sulks in his room with a drink. The night is weary and so are you. You walk home, replaying the scene in your mind over and over, and the instant you step into your home, you fall to your knees and sob once more.

You dont even close the door behind you. You cant do anything but cry, you had no idea you felt so strongly for Kaeya, but you had to put it all behind you.

He probably had.

What feels like an hour or two goes by and you barely made it to the couch, where you lay sprawled out, half on the couch and half not as you stare into empty space, thinking of nothing but everything at once. Why did his mood snap so quickly? Why did he cut you off? Was it self defense? What could he gain by pushing you away? You had no clue, but you didn't want to dwell on it and start crying again, so you just lay there trying to fall asleep.

Suddenly, a warm, slender hand grazes your back and rubs up and down softly.

"I'm sorry."

You jolt a little, but you dont get up immediately.

"How long have you been like this? Its almost night again y/n. Have you gotten up at all!? Your door was wide open, I was worried."

No response from you as you try to analyze the voice. It sounds like Kaeya, but you had remind yourself that he wanted nothing to do with you.

The man sighs and walks away. A hallucination for sure, you thought. The male comes back and lifts you by the shoulders. He sits on the couch and then lays your head onto his lap.

You look up and are met with blue eyes, one scarred and one as normal as you're used to seeing on him, though both glossy as if about to cry.

"Kaeya?"

"Mhm. Sit up Darling, you need to drink water."

You obey and sit close beside him, sipping the water he hands you with both hands on the glass like a child. He puts his arm around you and his hand on your head and gives you a soft yet quite long kiss on the head as you finish your water.

"Im sorry. We can work something out. I know that i shouldn't.. I can't push you away."

You dont fight his embrace as it gets firmer, and his body trembles slightly as if he is crying.

"Do you want me to stay?" you ask sheepishly.

"My dear, its up to you what you want. I'll follow you in whatever you decide. Im choosing to persue you, the rest is yours to seal."

"I want to stay." you state calmly.

"As you wish." He eyes your empty glass of water and gets up to pour you some more. When he comes back you sit against him again, and drink the glass empty, then put the glass on the coffee table and lay your head on his lap.  

"Sleepy?"

"Mhm.."

He chuckles and holds you as you fall asleep, giving you tender kisses all over your face. When you fall asleep, he carries you bridal style upstairs to your room and tucks you into your bed. For a moment he stands there and ponders leaving you to rest, but the guilt of the words he said yesterday and seeing your state today convinced him to stay at your side. He walks to the other side of the bed and crawls in beside you, wrapping his arms around your waist and gives you one more peck before falling asleep.

You wake up once in the middle of the night to use the restroom, and when you come back to your room you're awake enough to process the fact that Kaeya was indeed in your bed. You crawl up into where you were in the bed before but this time facing him. You run your fingers along his face, feeling every bone and inch of his smooth skin, his tan beauty enhanced by the glow of the moonlight that peeked in through the window across the room from the bed. Your run your fingers down his hair and admire how his hair falls down his body. You've only been this close to him once, but never had you touched him like this. Your face was red and your smile was definitely pronounced, and as you stroke his cheek his eyes slowly open to see your expression.

"Good morning y/n~" he smiles and wraps his arms around you softly.

"How did you sleep?"

"Actually, its midnight."

"Oh, i see. Well, lets fall back asleep shall we? Or are you wide awake?"

You don't respond immediately but instead wrap your arms around him and hide your face in the crook of his neck.

"Back to sleep.."

He chuckles and brings you closer to his body, rubbing your back and stroking your hair until you both are hazy and about to fall asleep.

"I love you..." you whisper, half aware of what you just said and half not.

He pauses for a second, then gently squeezes your body as if to be his response back.

"I love you too.." he whispers back, his words echo in your mind as you drift to sleep, your dreams filled with nothing but happiness and him. 

You would stay in Mondstadt, but occasionally take trips to Natlan for a few weeks, and would try to take Kaeya with you if he wasn't too busy. The two of you became inseperable, and quite the item for some time, the story of your romance left most who heard it in tears.

After every time you tell the story, he grips your hand and grabs your face softly making you look into his eye.

"I'm glad you stayed."

He says as he pulls you in for a tender kiss, which is usually embarrassing in public but you dont mind in this case, because it was of genuine emotion and not of his flirtatious teasing.

You really do love him.

NOTES!!!!!!!!!!!

This was my first fanfic LMAO

[thechangeling]

Out of our heads Out of our minds

So evil writer brain decided to cook up and incredibly toxic kitty fic because apparently I'm a terrible person lol. Blame @ilikebooks8 for letting this see the light of day.

The title is based on the song Out of this world by Bush.

Cw: slightly nsfw, violence, cheating, incredibly toxic behavior, beloved characters making bad choices, and implied sex.

Kit returns.

He returns to Ty with the same dazzling smile and charming witt, only now he seems to have grown even more impossibly beautiful as time has passed.

Now he's all hard lines and defined muscles and piercing sinful blue eyes that make Ty so angry he could scream.

Kit laughs and Ty wants to tear his insides out. Wants to rip Kit's heart right out if his chest just like he did to Ty. The painful gnawing rage of a betrayal that still stings after all this time. And yet still, Ty heard Kit was in danger and he came running like a man obsessed.

Ty knows deep down now matter how angry he is, he could never let anything happen to Kit. Nothing permanent anyways. Sometimes when the ache becomes to difficult to bare, Ty imagines punching that stupid smirk right off of his face. Or choking him hard enough to leave bruises. Of course Ty would never actually do such a thing. The sight of Kit in pain, any sort of pain is just too unbearable.

And that's the worst part. No matter how angry Ty gets he knows it can't last. And no matter how painful it is to be near Kit again, he still feels this unexplainable pull. This whispering in his ear to get closer and closer. To reach out and touch.

But it's stupid, and it's wrong anyways because Ty already has someone. Anush who was by his side the whole time at the scholomance and has never betrayed him. Anush who is sweet and thoughtful and gorgeous. Ty should be happy. After all, wasn't this what he always wanted? Someone to be there for him?

So he tried to distract himself from Kit by throwing himself into spending time with Anush and working the case. That's all Kit was now, just the latest problem to solve. A supernatural disaster. They would save him and stop the oncoming war and everything would be fine.

And then Kit would be gone. Blind panic teared at Ty's insides at the thought. There were these moments with Kit where they would make eye contact, or they would bump into each other in the kitchen and their fingers would brush and Ty would just desperately want to wrap Kit in his arms again.

He wanted to ask if Kit had really meant what he said that day on the beach. Sometimes when Kit stared at him with that soft sad smile on his face Ty wondered if they were going through similar things. Sometimes Ty wanted to tell him that he wished he had never met Kit either.

Kit Herondale was dangerous and unpredictable and loving him was like holding a live wire. But funnily enough the same could probably be said about Ty. Especially lately.

He felt like he was constantly in pain. Like his body ached with invisible wounds that made it impossible to breathe. The world was brutal and unforgiving, berating him with constant noise and blinding lights jabbing hot pokers into his brain. And the people with their sickly sweet smiles as they demanded he bare his soul.

But what if there was nothing left anymore? What if his soul had died with Livvy? Ty tried to cling onto the things that made him feel better. He hid away in his favorite spot, listening to his favorite music and pouring over Sherlock. Repeating the words to himself over and over again like they could pull him out of this tailspin. Ty distracted himself with Anush's sweet kisses and wandering hands as he tried to turn his brain off for once in his life.

But his soul was screaming out for another person to be the one touching him. He wanted Kit and that was infuriating. It made no logical sense. Not only was Kit responsible for breaking his heart but he also was notorious for playing fast and loose with his own life. Ty couldn't spend all his time constantly feeling like his heart was living outside of his body. Constantly in danger of being ripped open by some dark and evil thing.

Ty had everything he thought he wanted. But it still wasnt enough.

During another sleepless night, Ty found himself wandering the institutes halls. At this point he was simply just overtired. Too many nights spent worrying or studying or reading instead of sleeping. Now his body doesn't remember how to rest. Ty was far too exhausted to operate on logic or reason so he found himself standing outside of Kit's door, wondering absentmindedly how he got there.

Ty placed his hand against the door, fighting the urge to open it and walk through. He can remember the first time he waited outside of Kit's door, just like it was yesterday. He had no idea at the time why he was so drawn to the mysterious boy who had shown up at the institute after Ty had threatened him with a knife. The boy who turned out to be a lost Herondale. And honestly after all of this time Ty still couldn't explain it.

This is a bad idea, He thought to himself as he slowly turned the doorknob. This is a terrible idea. Ty, driven by pure need like fire under his skin, pushed the door open.

Kit was awake as Ty suspected he would be, sitting by the window and staring out into the night sky. Under the moonlight he was glowing. He turned around to stare at Ty, first with a look of shock, and then that same hallow desperation Ty had been seeing on Kit's face lately.

He also looked angry.

"What the hell are you doing in here Ty?" He sounded exhausted. Ty almost felt guilty in a sense. He stared at Kit for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"I don't know," he whispered, staring at the ground. "I suppose I was compelled." Ty let his gaze slowly rise up Kit's body, drinking it in.

Kit scoffed harshly. "Compelled? By what exactly, Tiberius?"

Ty looked up at Kit's face in surprise. He rarely called Ty by his full name. Ty really didn't like how it felt. Cold and distant. Ty sighed, pushing his fingertips against his collarbone and tracing it slightly.

"I don't know. I guess I just needed to know. I need to know why you left me." Ty tried not to let himself sound desperate or weak, but he had become worn down by this point. He couldn't keep up his defenses much longer.

"Why didn't you want me?" He muttered. "Why wasn't I good enough?"

And there it was. The painful truth that Ty had been avoiding. The fact that Kit had tossed him aside just like so many had before. Like Paige. Like his father. He had always tried so hard to make people happy. To live up to their expectations. But in the end it didn't matter how hard he tried, sometimes there was just no pleasing certain people.

Sometimes it seemed like there was no point in being good and following the rules if nothing ever changed. If Ty always ended up in the same place. If people always saw him as a problem or an inconvenience or worse, then he could just live up to their expectations. Be selfish and cold and cruel because no amount of begging and smiling was going to earn him respect.

Kit glared at him in shock. "Who the hell do you think you are? Coming in here to play mind games with me?" Before Ty could register what was happening, Kit was storming towards him and shoving him up against the wall with a loud thunk.

The feeling of Kit touching him again after all this time was dizzying. Kit was shorter then him so he needed to crane his neck a little to look up at Ty, which meant that his throat was completely exposed for Ty to stare at.

"I told you how I felt and you did nothing! You ignored me!" Kit cried. "I wanted you more then I've ever wanted anything Ty! I still do!" Tears were streaming down his face. Ty stared at Kit, completely frozen. His wrists were pinned to the wall by Kit's hands and their faces were inches apart.

Ty struggled to collect himself. "I didn't know what was going on," he gasped out shakily. "I was a mess Kit. I just had to get her back. But-." He cut himself off. It was all for nothing. Ty had lost Livvy in the end and he had lost Kit as well.

Ty shook his head. "Does this mean that you love me?" His voice sounded so far away. Like the words were being pulled from some unexpected place within him. Kit let out a soft gasp and squeezed his eyes shut before fixing his expression into a blank slate. He leaned forward slightly so that their lips were just barely touching, then gently trailed his mouth across Ty's cheek to his ear.

Ty felt him smirk slightly before Kit whispered in his ear. "Go to sleep Ty. Go back to your boyfriend."

And before Ty had time to think, he was lashing out. He shoved Kit backwards as hard as he could with a snarl. Kit went flying across the room and slammed into the opposite wall. If Kit had been human it probably would have knocked him out. Ty stared in horror at what he had done as Kit clutched his ribs and groaned.

"You seriously have some anger management issues!" Kit snapped at him, glaring pointedly. Ty knew that. When he was younger he used to have fits of uncontrollable rage all the time. Words didnt come easily to him so he would hit, scratch, bite or throw whatever was closest to make people realize he was in pain. When he wanted to say "don't touch me" or "you hurt my feelings" but he just could make the words form properly, he would get angry. And then he would lash out.

Ty thought he had been getting better at managing his emotions and communicating. But there was something about Kit Herondale that just evaporated every last bit of logic and reason he had until all that was left was the urge to scream.

Ty gaped in shock, searching for the right thing to say. "By the angel Kit, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that I swear!" He pleaded. His fingers were beginning to shake and flutter at his sides. He tapped desperately against his thigh, scratching at the material of his sweatpants to try and calm himself down.

Kit just shook his head and laughed humourlessly. "Honestly Ty, we should just tell the Seelie Queen not to worry. And Janus, and all the other people who want the first heir dead. You'll destroy me just fine on your own." He gaze was piercing and ruthless.

Ty's breathing was frantic and erratic as he shook in agony. He could feel he was on the urge of a meltdown.

Kit pulled himself to his feet. He stared at Ty longingly and then smiled slightly. A genuine smile. "But honestly what a way to go. Does that answer your question sweetheart?"

Ty gasped soundlessly, his hands shaking at his sides. He fought to get a hold of himself. Kit studied Ty for a moment, then slowly began to approach him.

"Why are you here Ty? Why did you come here exactly?" Kit was speaking in a soft lulling voice as if he was trying to hypnotize Ty.

"I'm here because I miss you," Ty admitted. "It's confusing. Because I'm still mad at you. But I can't stop thinking about you." Ty felt as though he was close to crying, which was concerning because he rarely ever cried.

Only for Kit.

Kit scowled at him slightly. "You're with someone else, remember?"

Guilt instantly pierced through Ty's chest. "Yeah I know, I'm a terrible person," he said bitterly. He didn't want to admit to himself that he had been trying this whole time to distract himself from Kit. That he was using Anush. But that was technically true. Ty saw the opportunity to lose himself in a pretty boy with an honest smile who loved him wholeheartedly.

Ty thought he could forget but then here he was. All roads led to Kit Herondale.

Kit sighed and reached for Ty, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close. "You arent terrible. You're spiraling. And you come to me like I can save you from yourself? Please," Kit chuckled. "I can barely save myself."

"I don't need you to save me."

Kit stared at him with an expression that was hard to place. Then he smiled, but it wasnt a kind smile. It was a satisfied, knowing smirk. Kit traced his thumb under Ty's chin then back up to his lips, forcing them to part slightly.

"You think I don't know why you're here love?" He cooed in a voice that was both soothing and alluring. You think I don't know what you're after?" Kit sighed, sounding a little worn down. "If I was a better person, a stronger person. I would tell you to leave." He dipped his hands down underneath Ty's shirt.

Ty shivered at the cold feeling against his skin. He dropped his forhead down to lean against Kit's, revealing in the contact. "Lucky for you," Kit whispered against his lips, "I'm not."

Ty felt the last string of his self control snap as he kissed Kit roughly, grabbing onto his torso and pulling him closer. Kit responded to the kiss eagerly, parting his lips for Ty and laughing deliriously as their lips met again and again.

Kit was tearing off Ty's shirt as he walked him backwards, closer to the bed. As soon as he had slid it off if Ty's body, Kit tossed the shirt aside and went back to kissing him. Ty felt his knees hit the bed frame and he fell backwards onto the soft welcoming mattress, pulling Kit down with him.

Kit kissed a line down Ty's neck to his pulse point and Ty groaned, burying his fingers in Kit's curls. He was lost in a sea of pure desperation.

"Tell me to stop," Kit whispered between kisses. Ty froze for a moment. Then he understood.

Kit was giving him an out.

Ty responded by pulling Kit even closer and letting his head fall back against the pillows.

He closed his eyes and let Kit Herondale ruin him.

The morning after was the hardest. Ty pulled himself from Kit's arms and forced himself not to look back.

And that was when he finally cried.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

WHAT THE HELL FAE! WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS OMG 😭

[spookypotato]

I’d love to read something involving Sirius’ ankle :) maybe his physio isn’t going well, idk anything :D

Thank you so much for requesting something!

I hope you like it.

I don't know if that's kind of what you meant? If you meant something else feel free to request something again💙

The characters are by the talented @lumosinlove! Thank you so much🖤

One hour after the 'accident':

This couldnt be happening. Sirius had just gotten the diagnosis of having broken his ankle. This could not be happening. It was only the start of the season. His team needed him. He couldn't just leave them alone. But off course it happend to him. The first big hit of the season couldnt have been on someone else. No it had to be Captain Sirius Black. He was furious. It wasnt even his fault. He thought he couldn't hate that git, Snape any more than he had. He was proven wrong, over and over again for the next weeks.

One Day after the 'accident':

"It takes 6-10 weeks to heal. It takes about 3 months for me to walk again. I'll be able to play in about...4?", Sirius mumbled repeatedly as he was sitting nervously alone on his couch. He hadn't been able to sleep since yesterday. What's the point anyway? Normally he would sleep- as much as he could- to get enough energy to give his all in practice. But he wasnt going to practice. He couldnt go for a while now. So what else was there to do, than sit and wait.

One week after the 'accident':

It didnt feel better. Why didnt it feel better? He wasnt doing anything. Sirius wasnt even touching the ground when he walked. He ordered food most of the time. Slept where he ate and only walked the short distance to the bathroom from his bed. It couldnt continue like this. It wasnt working. He needed to be ready sooner.

One month after the 'accident':

He was feeling change. Not nearly enough for how strictly he followed all the rules he had been given. He was supposed to walk the smallest amount each day to ease his foot back to normal. So he decided to walk the distance from his door to Dumos car and from the parking space to the rink. There was no way, he would just leave his team midseason. "Take all the time you need", Coach had told him. He didnt want time, he wanted to get back on the ice, this second. But he couldn't. So instead he sat silently- more or less- next to Lupin on the bench, watching his team practice. Still without him.

3 months after the 'accident':

Lupins plan for him to walk normally again had worked. At least something was working right now. Sirius had just started his light stretches. They hurt. He wasnt nearly as flexible as the day he got hit. He did them every day. Ten times. He was told to do them five times, but more helped more, right? All the streches Lupin had shown him were quite simple and he could do them all on his own. He only went to Remus once a day, for the more precise ones, that were for the muscles directly connected to the ankle. Not that Sirius minded those minutes.

6 months after the 'accident':

He got to skate again. It wasnt like he was missing the whole season. But he wasnt complaining. Well, he tried to focus on just being able to skate now. The first time setting foot on the ice, the team cheered. He felt completely ridiculous. He couldnt feel the ice as he used to. People said skating is like riding a bike. But he felt like he was 2 again. Only he could walk now. How long would it take to regain all his abilities? To skate like he did before? Would he even be able to skate like that ever again? He got off the ice quite quickly and waited for the team to finish practice and leave before he started again. The adjustments Remus provided from the boards actually helped. In the end he would skate rounds looking like someone who at least stepped on the ice before.

8 months after the 'accident':

It was going good. Well, Sirius was still favouring his good ankle, but he could play and practice with the others again. The season was over but he would get there for the next one. He was sure. Remus was helping a lot. The only one telling him honestly-maybe also the only one noticing- that he was still preferring his good foot. It was completely healed now. It was exactly like before. The thing was, it wasnt. It felt diffrent. After 8 months. He had waited long enough. He had done all the streches he had been told to do. He had done everything. And yet he still preferred the other ankle. He knew it. Everytime he went around the same side to try to score. Everytime he knew and cursed himself for not changing anything. He would. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

10 months after the 'accident':

He got to play again. It was his first game in almost a year. It was amazing to be back out there. It felt- the same. The happiness, the excitement, the pressure, the determination. He would show Snape that he'd only made him angry, not weak or scared. And anger was, what fulled determination. It was going to be a good season.

[bakugous-abs]

Day 5 of Halloween 2020

~Brought to you today by Admin Bomb!

~~~

October First

Halloween. God, Bakugou couldn't tell if it was his favorite or least favorite time of the year. 

No, he definitely wasn't one to wear a costume and go out trick or treating. That time was way past him and he couldn't remember why and how the hell he was able to trust getting candy from strangers. Frankly that whole aspect of Halloween seemed so hypocritical!

Every other time of the year we’re told to not take candy from strangers. Never ever once were we allowed to take candy from them. But on this specific day? Sure! Go right ahead. Infact, take candy from MULTIPLE strangers!! Nothing could go wrong with that.

The countless reports of needles being stuck in licorice and suckers already being sucked in told a different story.

And the fucking  k i d s. They were so annoying. Screaming and running after each other. Throwing a fit when they didn't get the kind of candy they want or when their siblings got one extra piece. The snot and tears. It was so gross.

That part of Halloween, Bakugou said fuck off to.

However the scaring? And the terrified faces? That's something he could look forward to. 

Seeing the look of horror Pikachu got when he prayed on one of his fears was so exciting. The heightened anxiety in the Yuuei hallways made for some easy targets to make scream and run away.

That, is why Bakugou liked Halloween. 

“Yo Bakubro, we’re gonna head out and get our costumes. You wanna come with?” Kirishima barged into his room, flicking on the light.

“Fuck no.” Bakugou cursed. The sudden brightness was stinging his eyes, the red irises struggling to adjust to sudden change. “I already told you last week you dumbass, I don’t do trick or treating.”

Kirishima's shoulders visibly went limp, a pout occupying his lips. “Come on man, it’ll be fun. You even get to scare some little kids.”

“I can do that without the help of a costume. Now get out.”

He huffed. “If you say so, man. We’ll be back later! See ya.” And with that Bakugou's door shut with a click, the lights left on.

The blond cursed the redhead under his breath. Why was it so hard to shut off the light when they leave! He has it off every single time they open the door, so why not shut it off again when they leave!?

Bakugou got up to shut the light off, but stopped in his tracks when he noticed a letter on his neat floor. When did that get there? Did shitty-hair leave it there when he left?

It was a pretty white envelope with a splotch of red to the left of the center. As he got closer he read his name in very intricate cursive. Had it not been for the date in a nice fine print, and the fact that he didn't like anyone and fully expected no one to like him back, in the upper corner he would have assumed this was an old valentines letter.

He picked it up. What the fuck was this doing here? The handwriting was very obviously not Shittyhairs. His was too rough and sharp to ever resemble something like this. 

“10-1-xxxx <3 Bakugou”

Hesitantly, he turned it around and found a wax seal on the back. A simple circle, nothing more.

The letter was ripped open, the wax seal completely forgotten. If the letter inside got ripped, that wasn’t his problem. Unfortunately, the letter went completely unscathed.

He took it out and unfolded it, careful to hold it horizontally in case this was a prank gift from one of the dunces that called him his friend, but there was no such thing. Infact, the letter seemed virtually empty except for right smack dab in the middle. A small word written in what seemed to be a font designed to replicate human writing.

“Hi”

Bakugou's eyebrows crinkled. That's it? He turned the paper over, flipped it back, then turned it over once more. Nothing.

“Such a waste of fucking paper.” He muttered, crushing the note within his palm and lit off his explosions, a caramel scent wafting through the air and black smoke trailing along with it.

He threw what was left of it into his trash, dusted it off his hands, and flicked the lights back off.

Whoever wrote that letter had a pretty terrible sense of humor

~~~~~

October Second

Bakugou woke up the next morning like usual. Stretch, pop his joints and spark a few explosions, then sit up and get ready for school. The letter from yesterday lingered in the back of his mind, still annoyed that someone thought something like that would even be considered funny.

How the hell just writes a tiny Hi on a whole sheet of paper. Its such a fucking waste! It was irritating him more than anything.

That's why when he got a second letter this morning, also slid underneath his door, he just threw it on his bed to be dealt with later. He didn’t need to get any more pissed off about something before going to school and getting pissed off even more. No, that can wait till after he got his homework done.

And it did wait. During the day he completely forgot about the existence of the letter. Going to classes, almost blowing Dekus face off in training, shouting at the group that seemed to be stuck to his thighs, going to more classes. Completely normal.

But when he got home and locked himself in his room to do homework and calm down, he saw the letter on his bed and immediately became pissed again.

He marched on over to it and picked it, opening it in the same fashion he did yesterday and again, the letter managed to come out unscathed.

He opened the paper, preparing to see another waste of paper. Unfortunately the universe was granting his wishes, but not to the extent he was thinking.

This time, there was a sentence, a sentence that made his heart stop for a second. 

“You have lovely skin.”

What. The actual. Fuck.

Who the hell is this? Why are they talking about his skin? How do they know anything about his skin?

Subconsciously his eyes darted around him. Everything looked the exact same. He looked behind him, no one was there. But there was a nagging feeling in the middle of his back, like someone was staring there no matter where he turned.

Fuck this.

His eyes glided toward the balcony. The curtain were wide open. But they were facing the 1-B building. No one could be watching him…

The curtains were closed in a matter of seconds.

~~~~~

October Seventh

The letters kept coming. Every day they got creepier. Complimenting a feature about him and details this person would only know if they got close to him.

He was losing sleep. His eight hour nights shortening rapidly to only around four hours and it wasn't consecutive. 

Yesterday he became so sick of it he grabbed the five letters he had received, first still burnt in his trash can, and stomped down to the lounge room, confronting them of the letters asking whoever it was that was sending them to step the fuck up.

No one had any idea what he was talking about. 

He attacked all the girls first, not physically no, but yelling at them to confess who done it. No dude in their class would have this good of handwriting other than that belly button laser guy.

But he had no idea later, saying Bakugou was not exactly his type, which he got a yelling for as well.

Todays letter… wasnt any better than the last.

"This is almost as much fun as watching you sleep."

He held the latter in his hand, not noticing the grip slowly getting tighter and tighter, and suddenly the ends were crinkled and charred, the only thing left was a single word.

Fun.

~~~~~

October Fifteenth

Bakugou finally cracked and told the teachers about the letters. To say they overreacted was,,, actually just about right.

There were now teachers stationed on top of the buildings, around the perimeter, and on Bakugous floor.

He hated to admit it but having a few pro heroes there eased his edge a little. A felt safer. Safer than he had in the last two weeks.

But unfortunately, that wasnt enough.

For in the middle of the night, to his absolute horror, the rustling of paper was heard across his room.

His body went cold. Eyes wide as all hell. He used his feet to curl all his blanket away from the edges of his bed and under his legs and over his body. 

'Please,' his mind pleaded. 'Please fucking tell me thats not another letter.'

And to his absolute horror, when he sat up, just a little bit… there, visible in the light shining under the crack of his door, was a letter, with the same red heart and perfect cursive handwriting that spelled out his name.

"Please dont scream, they'll hear you"

~~~~~

October Twenty-sixth

Its been a few days since hes gone out of his room. The pros thought hed feel safer in his room where they could keep an eye on him but in reality.

Bakugou didnt feel safe at all.

Everywhere he went his anxiety told him someone was there. With beady eyes that went unblinking just… staring at him. Like he was a slab of meat for a hungry starving lion.

But he wasnt allowed to complain, even though he did, and was expected to remain still. 

He was expected to wait.

Wait.

And wait.

He didn't want to wait. He didn't want to be here anymore.

He was behind on his classes, but he couldn't focus long enough on the work to get it done anyway.

He had nothing else to distract him. Hes read through all his books, played all his games, watched all his movies. There was nothing else to do other than wait like a sitting duck.

So what the hell was he supposed to do?

And while he had his door shut, he finally broke down, tears streaming down his face and fear coursing through his veins as he knew, by the sound of paper sliding under his door, that he wasnt safe anywhere anymore.

"Dont struggle, I hate when they struggle"

~~~~~

October 31st. Halloween Night

Halloween...

Halloween. Bakugou hated Halloween.

He hated Halloween. He hated being scared. Scared all the time. 

He couldnt handle the sound of paper anymore. Not the sound of it wrinkling, folding, unfolding, ripping, he hated paper.

All kinds of paper.

Wrappers, notebook, printer.

It was all terrible.

And now… he can't even handle unwrapping his own candy.

Bakugou hated Halloween.

And has another letter slid under his door, now in direct daylight, and got up and looked at it.

The cursive was now just scratches. The heart too dark to be artificial. 

He opened it, slipping the paper out and reading the note. One word. Tiny in the middle of the paper, resembling the first ever note he got. One word.

'Bye…'

However, this time, when he turned the note over, he found something else. Another word- no, a sentence.

'Till next year… Bakugou Katsuki.'

And just like that, his body ran cold, and his vision went dark.

[nissakii]

Scent. a Haikyu!! Fanfiction pt.29

[want to read all chapters right now? Our fanfictions get updated every monday on our blog, click here to continue reading!]

I sighed out for maybe the third time in the last couple of minutes.

Okay, maybe it’s been more than three sighs.

“Bokuto, ya can do this come one now”, I patted his back but he flinched away from me.

What is wrong with this guy?

I know what eccentric means, but come on!

A quick glance at our coach told me enough, practice was almost over but he was definitely checking out how I reacted in this situation.

I contorted my face into a smile and approached the spiker slowly again.

“Come on Bo, yer such a good player you’ll get that cross shot next time!”

To my utmost delight, he turned farther from me and just left the court to get a stray ball from the floor and walk towards the other end of the net.

I don’t have time for this.

When people told me Bokuto was good, I didn’t think that he was a maintenance job. Spikers should get my sets, end of story.

I could basically hear my brother’s voice ring in my head.

“Not everyone is always in top shape like ya!”

It’s normal I guess to feel emotional sometimes, heck I am often affected by my own emotions in game.

But that’s just annoying.

Would it have been the same with those other players? I guess Oikawa would have played setter on this team, but  I’m pretty sure that guy could throw a mean spike in.

Would be tragic if he couldn’t.

Iwaizumi was perfect to set to.

This is the first time I have hoped to have Samu back in volleyball since highschool.

I ignored the pang in my chest and started to walk in Bokuto’s direction, but before I could do anything a high pitcher whistle tore through the hall and practice was over.

Everything after that kind of felt like a blur.

I did notice a couple of small things my way though.

The coach’s disappointed look.

The setter that I threw out as I entered the stadium.

What was his name?

Hiro?

A black stain on my shoes.

Forgetting fresh socks so I had to keep my sweat drenched ones on.

Great second day of practice.

The weight of my gym bag on my left shoulder felt very grounding, the dull resonance of my feet on the carpeted hallway felt foreign but comfortable at the same time, and I almost walked past my brother and our dorm room if I hadn’t come to that realization that he stood there before.

I stood, and as I looked at that idiot the whole events of the last 24 hours played back again.

Dizziness spread in my head.

“Was lookin for ya”

His voice sounded distant.

Not as in distant emotionally on his side, but actually distant. As I’d there were cotton balls in my ears not letting his voice through.

“Yer listenin?”

Now his voice was crystal clear, and the ringing in my ears screamed at me to tell him to quiet down.

But he’s talking normally right?

“I heard ya scrub”, as much as I hoped for my voice to sound normal, there was definitely a crack in it.

Ah.

There it was.

In my brother’s eyes swam something so disgusting, I could feel it reverberating in my bones.

Concern.

And with concern came something else.

Pity.

“Where did ya sleep?”

“None of yer business”, I shot back and tried to pry myself between him and the door, but he grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back.

“No I mean it Tsumu, where were ya? I tried finding ya yesterday after Asami was here. You left and didn’t come back at night. I had to lie to Ma that ya was sleeping”.

Shoot.

“M’fine, just didnt wanna see ya stupid butt after that dip moment”.

He relaxed, Samu relaxed and that was good.

That means he’s letting me off the hook.

“When I didn’t find ya, Asami asked about yer”, he waved around in the air, “mental state”.

Another emotion crept up and sat next to the others.

Humiliation.

“For fu-“, I caught my insult as it almost left my mouth, “M’fine Samu. Tell the jittery beta I was havin’ pre rut symptoms or whatever”.

Who cares anyway.

Things like that happen. I just had a small meltdown.

Happens.

The dreadful thought that this could be anything else that my cycle or a mild panic attack was making my stomach turn, but what else would it be?

“Stop with the names. She was actually worried for ya”.

Right.

“Cool, tell her to send me ‘get well’ card”, I retorted sarcastically.

“Gave her ya number”.

Everything skidded to a halt.

“What?”

“Ya heard me. She’s in the beta committee, knows all the nurses and counselors. She was worried and kept askin, and yer a pain so”, he threw his hands up, “Ya smelled like shit, ya puked and went away and didnt tell me. I have no time right now, I have classes, so reply to her texts”.

And with that he left, still a bit of pity dancing in his gaze.

I didn’t know what was worse.

The fact that I got to pry away that jittery beta now, or that he actually assumed I might be wrong in the head, or the icing on top of it all:

That he just left for a class.

What is wrong with him?!

After getting to my senses I kicked open the door and waltzed to my bed.

My cellphone stayed where I left it for practice, and as I picked it up I actually had a notification from an unknown number.

Really?

“Hi, sorry for texting you like this. You’re brother gave me your number. Can I ask you some questions? I’m worried even though I may not know you all that well”, her message was a tad too robotic, as if she tried to write and rewrite it again and again.

I sighed.

Quickly my fingers typed in a quick reply and I threw the phone back on the bed.

Okay that settle-

Another notification.

No way.

“Are you sure you’re fine?”, I read aloud to myself and flopped down onto the bed.

How quick was that?

“Yes I’m fine you little”, I groaned but typed in a kinder message.

A second later another reply came in.

She didn’t believe me huh?

This was gonna be harder than I thought.

Something in me asked a question that I had to squash as quickly as it came up.

‘What if she’s right?’

Oh no.

Hell naw.

I’m fine.

Totally fine.

Right?

A flash of burning sugar rippled through my nostrils and I gasped in shock.

What in the actual?

My phone buzzed again.

Maybe it was better to take care of it now than never?

For the sake of playing.

Yeah.

I sighed again, nausea bubbling up in my stomach before I hit the green call button.

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[inkbloodpaperandbone]

A Proper Apology

(I am honestly really happy that Abby gets her happy ending but she should have actually apologized properly. I hope it doesn't come across as Abby being a horrible person because she's not. But sometimes nice people whether they mean to or not do shitty things that hurt people. So I wrote this instead of sleeping. lol. If you like this please reblog.)

Tagging @datleggy

After leaving Buck at the park Abby felt out of sorts.

It had gone well, she'd thanked him for rescuing her fiancé, Sam, she'd explained why she'd let her and Buck's relationship and he'd told Abby that he was happy for her. So why did she feel so off?

Maybe it was because despite being back in L.A she hadn't considered to contact Carla.

Yes that was it. It would be nice to see her old friend, Abby couldn't remember the last time they'd actually spoken.

Mind made up, Abby scrolled down the contact list on her phone in search of Carla's number and physically blanched at the date of the last message.

Abby hadn't realised it had been so long.

Abby quickly sent of a text, asking if Carla was busy and if not would she like to meet up at that cafe they used to go to before Abby had left.

Fifteen minutes later Carla replied, saying she was surprised to hear Abby was in LA and yes it would be nice to meet up today but that the café Abby had suggested had shut down ages ago but that there was a nice enough one that Carla now visited and the instructions to get there.

Abby smiled and quickly phoned Sam to tell him she'd be a little while longer and that she loved him.

The café turned out not to be to far from where Abby and Sam where staying so she decided to walk. After all Abby had lived in LA for years, surely it had changed all that much on the time she was aboard.

Seeing Carla face to face for the first time in nearly three years was almost strange. But at least it was nowhere near as shocking as seeing Buck at the train wreckage a couple of days prior.

Carla was sitting at a table outside and waved Abby over when she spotted her long absentee friend.

Reaching the table Abby smiled brightly and readily accepted the hug Carla offered.

"I've missed you."

Carla pulled away, "I missed you too."

They sat and a waiter scurried over to take their orders.

Carla ordered a mocha capachino, Abby a white coffee.

"So, what are you doing back in LA. I have to say it was a surprise."

Carla smiled but her words sounded kinda, Abby wasn't sure, sad maybe.

"Well my fiance and I where -"

"Wait you're engaged? Since when?"

Abby frowned, she'd posted about the engagement on her Facebook page months ago.

She told Carla as much.

"Abby sweetie we're not friends on have Facebook anymore."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize. I guess I should have called."

Carla waves a hand dismissively.

"So you where telling me about being back in LA."

Abby nodded and began explaining about the train derailment and how she and Sam where staying at a hotel for the moment.

Oh honey I'm so glad you're okay. I can't believe it, I heard about it on the news. That must have been terrifying."

"It was so scary. And I lost Sam for awhile and I had no way of knowing if he was alive and then Buck showed up and that was so strange but he helped save Sam and we're good.

"You're good, you and Buck? After everything?" Carla sounded surprised.

"Well I spoke to him earlier today."

"And how was that?"

Abby sighed she hadn't really wanted to talk about Buck.

"Well I told him about Sam and his kids and how while I was traveling I realized that if I came back to LA I was just going to go back to being the Abby that was always looking after everyone else but me and that I didn't want to lose myself again to that. So I decided not to come back."

Carla leaned back on her chair, her usually bright and friendly faced closed off.

"That's it?"

"What do you mean?" Abby recoiled at Carla's tone.

"Abby that boy waited for you for months, he looked after your apartment, all your things, even your mail and you just stopped talking to him. Honey, he came to me near tears wondering if he should give up on you or not."

Carla took a large sip of her drink.

"Please tell me you at least apologized."

"I, I explained. I -" Abby stutters.

"Explained what? That you didn't want to face up to the fact you didnt want a relationship with him anymore."

Carla shook her head in disbelief. She stood up and motions for a waiter to come to take her bill.

"Abby you ghosted him and it broke his heart. He deserves a proper apology. I'm happy for you Abby I am but I love that boy too and he's been through far to much this past year not to get the closure he needs from you."

Carla quickly pays for her drink, tells Abby to try and stay in touch and gives her another tight hug before leaving.

A lump settles in Abby's throat that doesn't go away even when she gets back to the hotel.

Sam smiles up at her from where he's sitting on the bed. The girls are in the room attached to theirs, the TV playing loudly.

Sam's face is bruised and scratched but he's alive and whole and Abby is grateful to Buck for once again being there when she needed him.

Sitting down next to her fiancé Sam asks how her afternoon went and Abby tells him about meeting Buck and then Carla. And how uneasy it had made her feel.

Sam smile drops and he take her hand between his own.

"I think your friend Carla is right. I didn't realize that was how you'd broken up with you last boyfriend. To be honest that's a pretty shitty thing to do."

He wiped away the tears that spill from Abby's eyes at his admission.

Hey, I'm not mad. And from what you've told me this Buck guy has been very understanding. But Abby I don't want you to regret never making things right between you." Sam wraps his arms around her and Abby cries into his shoulder.

That night Abby lies awake and goes over the memories of her and Buck's relationship of the conversation and how hurt Buck had been over the way she'd spoken to him. She thought over and over about what she had said and after talking with Carla Abby's excuse of being worried about losing herself to Buck sounded hollow and almost cruel.

Buck was the one who hadn't run away when he'd found out about Abby's mom, unlike Tommy. He'd been patient and understanding whenever Abby had to cancel or cut dates short. He had shied away from offering help when Abby's mom had a bad day.

She'd even told him the night she decided to leave to Ireland that Buck was the person who had helped her to start to find herself when she'd been drowing in her life as a first responder and carer to a dying mother.

He'd made her feel special and important and Abby had just thrown it all back in his face.

The realisation of this sits like lead in her stomach. Abby turns to look at Sam and watches the man she loves sleep. A man who would most likely be dead if Buck hadn't risked his life to save.

Abby knows that Sam and Carla were right, she needed to truly make amends with Buck.

Early the next morning Abby walks to the 118 firehouse and uses the time to thing over what she needs to say. The station doesn't look any different from the last time she'd been here, but so much has changed.

As she waits several cars pull up and when she looks up she sees Buck walking towards the station entrance bumping shoulders with another man. As they get close Abby recognises him as the firefighter she'd first spoken to the night of the accident.

"Abby?"

She shuffles her feet, " Hi buck."

The other firefighter claps Buck on the shoulder

"I'll tell cap you'll be a minute."

Bucks smiles after him as he walks away "Thanks Eddie."

Abby watches Eddie leave before turning back to Buck, she tries to smile but it comes out as an awkward grimace.

"Buck I," she paused, "I'm so sorry. Yesterday I should have apologized for how I treated you instead of making excuses I see that now. And I apologize for ghosting you, for leading you on when I knew I was never going to come back to you. It was wrong and I'm so sorry that I hurt you. I truly am. And maybe one day we could be friends again."

Buck sighs deeply, he curls into himself slightly and the change in posture makes him look oddly small.

"Abby I told you that I'm happy for you. And I meant it, I'm happy you've found a family and someone to love. And part of me I would like to be your friend." Buck tells her, voice quiet but sincere.

He shakes his head and straightens up. Standing tall Buck smiles that brilliant smile that still makes Abby swoon a little inside.

"But you know what Abby? You took me for granted and yesterday made me realize just how much. I loved you and I waited for you. But eventually I was done being your ghost and I've moved on too. And I'm happy without you. I've got a job that I love and I have a family full of amazing people who love me and I'm happy."

Buck's eyes a red and wet with tears and Abby can feel herself crying as well.

For a moment they stand face to face like they had done before Abby walked into the airport for her flight to Dublin so long ago.

Then Buck looks over his shoulder into the station and back again. He wiped a hand over his face and shrugs.

"I better go, my shift's already started."

It's a pretty clear dismissal and one Abby takes without complaint.

"Goodbye Abby Clark."

"Goodbye Evan Buckley."

And with that he heads inside without a backwards glance.

Several months later a week before Christmas Abby gets a card in the mail.

On the front is a picture of Buck and his friend Eddie, between them is a little boy with curly hair and bright blue glasses. Buck has a hand on the boys shoulder, a ring on his finger.

Inside (with large wobbly letters that have clearly written by a child) the card reads, 'Merry Christmas from the Buckley-Diaz family!'

And underneath in much smaller writing,is a mobile number that despite everything Abby never deleted and a single worded question, 'friends?'

[insidetheacademy]

Say You Love Me || iv

pairings: peter parker x reader (both peter and reader are 18+!)

summary: Peter found out that reader is moving away

warnings: angst, explicit language

gif credits: tomholandd

part i part ii part iii part iv part v 

-

you were sitting on a stool just painting on your perfectly laid out easel. envisioning the scenery that you had in your mind. frank ocean was playing in the background, basically you were just vibing to the whole scene that you’re in right now. brushes were gently dragged across the canvas while you sing along to frank ocean.

as you were about to drag your brush that was covered in purple paint, someone had rang your doorbell. it was odd as you dont usually get visitors ever. you think it wasnt appropriate to bring guests over since your place looks like it belongs in a dumpster– you dipped your brush in your jar that’s filled with water and walked over to your door. you opened it slightly to take a peek at who it was

and there he was in all of his glory; Peter Parker. you opened the door wide and greeted him, “Parker, hey. didnt know you were coming over,” you said nervously, his lips curved into a smile “yeah! thought i would surprise you,” it was shocking, yes, you hadnt even told him whats your apartment number. he must have stalked you when he’s being Spider-Man.

you invited him in and turned the volume of the radio down so it wouldnt be noisy. you walked over to your small kitchen to make some tea for the two of you. “so, what brings you here, Peter?” you curiously asked him, “i was just about to ask you out for lunch. i didnt know you were busy,” he said while looking around your cozy apartment.

you took out the teabags from their container and dunked it in the teapot. you then took out two cups and pour the tea out. “i wouldn’t say i’m busy. plus you should’ve called me before coming over,” you handed him his tea. he took a sip and shrugs his shoulder

the next few hours, he hung out at your place, you ordered pizza for the two of you while he was sitting on your couch watching a movie that you had put on. “so, what are you up to nowadays?” you asked Peter, he swallowed his pizza and said “well, i’m just doing superhero stuffs, you know?” you raised your eyebrows and laughed at his statement “as in what?” he crossed his arms and said “i’m actually working with Happy now. believe it or not, he gets on my nerves,” the both of you laughed

“ ‘kay, I’m gonna go to the bathroom” you put down your tea cup and your phone on the coffee table and headed to your bathroom. your phone dings and Peter couldnt help it but to take a small look on who it was, it read “congratulations y/n, on getting a job in Paris!! your father and i are so proud.” Peter heart drops as he read the first few lines. he felt as if he had been betrayed.

you walked into the living room “hey, so what do you wanna do for dinner? i can make mac and cheese,” you stopped in your tracks when you saw Peter holding your phone, “what are you doing with my phone, Pete?” you asked calmly trying not to burst, “y-you’re moving?” he asks almost heartbroken like, you nodded to his question which lead to him being furious. Peter asked yet again “when are you leaving?” , y/n looks down on her feet and said “tomorrow,”. he kept bombarding with questions not planning to stop until he’s got all the answers that he needs, “were you not planning to tell me?” he said you walked to him and snatched your phone away, “it’s not a big deal, Parker! what the hell were you doing looking at my phone anyways?!” you shouted at him

“its not a big deal? this could change your life, y/n! where am i gonna fit in after that?!” Peter scoffed, you were offended at his words, “where are YOU gonna fit in? let me remind you, Parker, you are not my boyfriend so stop acting like one!” you spit at him. as if he wasnt satisfied he shoot back “so you dont even think of me as a friend anymore?!” you rolled your eyes, “for God’s sake, Parker, you stopped calling and texting me when you fucked Jane! you were the one stopped being there! so, no! i dont even think you are a friend. what kind of friend ditches their OWN friend for a girl?” you tried swallowing it but tears just rolls down your cheeks,

the world then fell into this huge awkward silence. what you said to him really went through his head. you were right, he was the one who left you to fend on your own. he could’ve just rejected you and still be friends, but why did he had to ignore you altogether? you sobbed into your hands and said “I think you should leave,” Peter tried to hug you and say sorry “leave.” you said at him with anger and sadness in your voice.

he took his jacket and said “thanks for the tea,” and left. you were shocked, what kind of human being just say that after they had a fight?! you took one of the cups and throw it at the front door wishing that it would hit him. on the otherside, he didnt walk away easily, he stopped to think about his actions in front of your door and was startled to hear a shattering noise. he punched a wall to let out his frustrations only to realise that this isnt his apartment. he ran out as fast as possible before he got caught.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

what the hell were you thinking?! Peter thought to himself. he continues to make you distant from him without even trying! he wanted to be happy for you but everything seems impossible only because of his stupid actions. he lies on his bed in the dark just hugging the life out of his pillow, getting everything out of his system.

the next morning, Peter woke up with swollen eyes and dry throat. he heads into his bathroom and splashed a bit of water on his face. words from yesterday creeping on his mind, replaying like a broken record. he walked to the kitchen to get something to eat. maybe a pop tarts for breakfast? he sat down and thinks to himself, what the hell am i gonna do? should i apologise? suddenly there was a knocking on his door, he gets up to open it, “May!” he exclaims with surprised in his eyes, “hey! did you forget that i was supposed to come over today?” May asked raising her eyebrows,

May walked inside and took a good look around Peter’s apartment, “I thought you were planning to decorate it?” she asked, Peter crosses his arms and said “I-I’ve been busy, May” May gave Peter a weird look as he moved out two months ago and he’s still sleeping on the floor. May walked to Peter and cusped his face, “have you been crying?” Peter nodded only to break down infront of her, “shhh.... shhh... tell me what happened,” May said trying to calm Peter down

Peter told May the whole story, “what do you think I should do, Aunt May?” he asks desperately for an advice, May took Peter’s hands into hers, “she’s leaving today right? go and send y/n off. don’t let her go knowing that she ended things badly with you.” May smiles. Peter stood up from the couch to get ready.

May was right. Peter cant let you go to Paris without apologising to you. this was his fault for acting out and he’s going to make things right. he kissed Aunt May on her cheeks and made his way to your apartment.

Peter is now at your front door just fidgeting with his fingers. he went ahead and ring the doorbell. he waited for a few seconds hoping that you were still sleeping in. he pressed the doorbell yet again but there was no answer. suddenly he heard a voice, “are you looking for Y/n, dear?” she asks in a most loving voice, Peter nodded “I’m afraid she’s already gone to the airport,” Peter’s face drops even more knowing that you had left. “Oh, thank you then,” he walks by her.

“though, you might still can catch her at the airport,” Peter stopped and turned around to face her, “I talked to her this morning and she said she doesnt get on the plane until its 1:50pm,” the old lady smiles at Peter. Peter swore he could feel his own spirits lifted, he thanked her with the hugest grin on his face. He drove right down to the airport. not trying to waste any moment more.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

You had just arrived at the airport, the cab driver was kind enough to lend you a helping hand. You smiled and bid thank you. Suddenly there was a big commotion, people were honking their cars and screaming “hey!”, you turned back to see that it was Peter. You tried walking away from him damn it he’s too fast,

“Y/n, wait!” He shouted, “what do you want, Parker?” You asked in an uninterested voice, he took a deep breath and said “I cant let you go. Not like this. I am so sorry for what happened between the two of us. The truth is, I missed you. At nights, I think about the words you said to me when you confessed. I have been a dick and I am so sorry. I know nothing can erase my actions but let’s start this over again?” You were shocked to say the least, you couldnt believe he came all the way to the airport to say that.

You pulled Peter in for a hug. “I forgive you,” you mumbled against his neck, you let go of him and said “I’m sorry too.. for not telling you any sooner,” he wiped the tears on your cheeks, “hey, its okay. I was the one who had no rights to get mad at you,” you smiled at him and he smiled back.

For the next 40 minutes, he had helped you checked in your plane and carried your baggages around. You were both now sitting in Starbucks just trying to forget about what happened. “I have something for you,” you spoke, Peter was excited to see what it was, you took it out from your backpack and showed him. It was a painting. A painting of him as Spider-man. Peter took it in his hands and admired the painting, “this is awesome, y/n!” Peter blushed knowing that you had spent your time making a potrait of him on top of a building.

“Don’t think I had never saw you looking at me when you’re on the building thats infront of my apartment window,” You sipped your coffee, Peter was embarassed to know that he was caught stalking her. “How long have you had this?” Peter asked, “A month ago when we met again. I knew immediately that you were gonna, quote on quote, keep me safe, like you used to,” you winked at him. You were right, Peter sometimes do that to people he loves. Just lingering near their houses to keep them safe.

40 minutes has gone by so fast and now it was time for you to go. “So this is it!” You said with nervous laced in your voice, “I’m gonna miss you,” Peter smiles at you. You leaned it and gave Peter a kiss on the cheek, you then took your bag from him, “I’m gonna miss you too, Spider-boy,” you smirked at him and went to the gate.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

a/n;; hii i am so sorry for the late update, my phone is fucked ;w; and i cant do anything about it since the whole world is in lockdown but here’s an angsty part 4 to make it all up! thank you all for waiting patiently!

say you love me taglist

@imawkwardandhereweare @canyonmoonspidey @thebadassbitchqueen @thequeenreaders @averyfosterthoughts @a--1--1--3

[pbandjesse]

Im getting to writing this a little later then normal. Not wildly later. But I felt like I lost a lot of energy after work and am just feeling a little better right now. Thankfully sleeping last night after James brought me home juice and a donut knocked out my headache. And I slept pretty well for the most part. Waking up is still hard but it wasnt so bad today. 

I got up and washed and dressed. I felt a little off but not to bad. Dasia let me know she wasnt going to be in and that was alright. We had someone else coming today anyway so it just worked out. James drove me to work and I was happy about that. 

I was a little upset though because I had seen a dead cat on the road yesterday and I didnt want to see it squished today. So when we got near there I told James I was going to close my eyes because it had upset me so bad yesterday. And he let me know we had passed it but then was about to tell me what it looked like!! I literally just closed my eyes to not see!! He didnt tell me but it threw me off that he would do that. 

But soon I was at work and I had to focus on the kids. And they were a little tougher today. The two newer girls lied to me a lot today. First about classwork, then about their actual classes. And they figured out a work around to get on youtube (which is supposed to be blocked on their chromebooks) and we caught them on them multiple times today. To say I was stress about this would be an understatement. I dont like talking to the kids so sternly but I was not happy. And after having such a nice day yesterday. Ugh. 

Then I went to have a snack and discovered that my bunny grahams tasted like tomatoes sauce because of the container they were in and the actual lunch of leftovers was spoiled and I just sort of spiraled in upset.  Texting James and being upset and frustrated and so to try to help me feel less grossed out he promised to clean out the fridge and he did and that made me feel a little better. But it didnt help my food situation much. Thankfully I still had grapes and cashews but it was just a weird food day. 

We had some fun though. Sewing. Working on things. Skateboarding at lunch. It was a beautiful day and that helped my weird feelings. We only got outside once though because the kids had a lot of afternoon stuff. Though the sisters told me they didnt have anything for almost 2 hours and when I insisted on looking at their schedule I discovered they both had a whole class that they may have never gone to?? Like ever?? I think their parent, or the people at the other daycare they had been going to,  dont know how to use the schoology site and so they had gotten used to being able to show them a page and be like "See! I did everything Im supposed to do!" but I opened up like two things and found they havent actually completed anything. So I made them complete a few of them at least. I hope mom comes in tomorrow morning so we can talk about it. I know she knows the one was behind but I dont think she is aware by how much they both are. Im trying my best for sure but man. Frustrating. 

Soon the day was wrapping up. And James was on his way to come get me. I finished cleaning up my area and was about to leave when I remebered I left the ipad in the class so I went back in and found that the two girls who I know had class for another half hour were on youtube again!! I told Mr Burns, who takes over after me, and so he went in to watch them closer. So frustrating. 

But James was here and off we went. We stopped at tacobell since I had no lunch. And then we drove out to Timonium so I could meet up with an guy I bought James a christmas gift from. He was having shipping issues and because we were so close I was like. Its all good Ill come to you and he was really nice. The building was the Pay Pal office and it was really pretty inside, all marble. Plants. And the guy was really nice and I think James will really like the gifts. The guy gave me another free thing for driving out there. 

We headed home after that. But made a pitstop for a milkshake. Which was good but I think zapped my energy. 

We got home and James went to play video games and I went to pack up some orders. Be proud, I surpassed $800 in sales today. In my first month!! Im pretty proud of that. But I packed those up and took them down for drop off. And then I felt weird and tired so I went and laid in bed and watched a video until James got off the switch so I could play for a little. I just did some clean up and some christmas decorating. But then I got off and got back to laying in bed. Being mopey. 

Eventually James came and laid with me. But he had been cutting peppers and touched my face and them my face was burning from the peppers!! Rude. So we had to run to the bathroom to wash my face and his hands. 

I did mope around a little more but then we got to work on decorating our tree and that was fun. James had dried an orange and I strung those slices with cinnamon and anise stars. We might add cranberries but I am really happy with how it looks and it smells like black licorice but its so cute. It was a fun activity for sure. 

Once that was done I got to work and made some more bears that Im really proud of. Im going to have to get more fluffy fabric even though it sucks to sew because the results are just to good. Just entirely to cute. So I worked on those until almost 930 and finally called it a day. 

I went and showered and washed my hair. I found sweetP sleeping in the towel basket in the closet. So cute. And now I am in bed. I have to dry my hair still. But I feel a lot better. Just sleepy. 

I hope tomorrow is a good day with less lying and more just hanging out and enjoying the day. I hope you all have a nice night and a great day. Goodnight everyone!

[dadzawa-adopt-dabi]

everybody knows ch3 (meet cute au)

( so we start getting a little more serious here as we explore what is happening on Shigaraki end and next chapter what Natsou deals with. its important for later promise.)

Shigaraki opens the heavy door to the bar and base. The old building is many things at once for him.None of it feels quite right without Kuroguri there to look after them all.

The old man's presence is missed and not just because he did the house work, SAhigaraki feels the drain of being a leader most days. Spending time with Natsou at the library had become something of a getaway from the stress for him.

Immediately he is greeted with the welcome sound of Twice and Spinner playing a racing game. Screaming at each other and cackling.

“ Don't wreck our friendship! I'm going to do it! Eat blue shell! ” Jin argued with himself as he tried to overtake Shuichi.

“Haha, I'm in first! Wha-Peach no! That bitch just pushed me off the edge and smiled while she did it!” Spinner wails in distress as he’s kicked out of 3rd place.

Shigaraki smiles and toes off his shoes, glad to be home.

“Morning Sako, can you do me a favor? I have an address I would like you to watch for trouble makers hanging around. The owner of the Cafe did us all a favor today.” Sako sleepily takes the piece of paper as he drinks his morning coffee. He walks into what pass’s as their dining room and sets his plant down amongst the normalcy of yesterday’s dirty dishes and Toga’s schoolbooks.

“First person to kill my plant gets decayed.” Shigaraki calls out above the chaos, no one takes the threat seriously,he almost never actually means it. He checks the fridge next and counts the blood bags he has left for Toga. Mentally counting to see when he needs to get more and if she has already had one this morning. He might need to bring one to her room again, if she’s not up yet she’ll probably spend the whole day in there. 

“I had my blood today Shiggy! no worries, do you really check everyday? Dabi said you did but i didn't believe him.” Toga came around the corner and saw him looking into the fridge.

“Dabi needs to keep his mouth shut, how are you feeling?”  He looks her over. Satisfied with the clear look in her eyes that's been there lately, since she started getting blood regularly, and the fact that her hair was up in her signature buns. Unlike when they first tried having her drink blood regularly, to see if it helped out her blood lust, and couldn't even bring herself to brush the tangles out or wash it.Much less put it up into the complicated looking process of putting into twin messy buns. Magne had offered to cut it short to make the caretaking of it easier but Toga had refused. Shigaraki had learned this theory of quirk therapy through one of the books. It was helping, even if there were some unexpected bumps in the road. There just wasn’t enough research done for people like Toga.

“Im feeling better, it's still weird to me to be able to drink blood whenever I want. It’s, I don't know why but it helps alot. Makes me not as hungry?” Toga tugged on the end of her sweater sleeves. She’s just in jeans and a cat themed sweater for now. One day when it wasn’t dangerous to Toga’s progress or the cats he would take her to the kurama’s cat cafe, she would probably love it. It could be a goal for her to work towards, and if this therapy helped as much as it was supposed too they could even bring one home, he’d figure it.

“Well it looks like you're slowing down on them and I just want to make sure that you're still drinking them when you feel the urge, heat them up if you need to okay? We don't want any baby vampires trying to suck us dry again.” He gently ruffles her hair and goes to wake up Magne.

Him coming home meant it’s time for Magne to get up and have her take over watching the rest of the LoV.  Shigaraki usually had errands for Sako to run so it fell to Magne or Dabi. Not errands like robbing a bank. God did Shig wish he just needed a bank robbed and not medicine and groceries bought. Robbing a bank would probably require less planning some weeks.

“Fuck off unless youve got a dam good reson to wake me up.” Magne grouched from inside her room. 

“I've got coffee getting started, and Sako has shopping to do.” he patiently waits for her to throw a pillow at the door.

“Cmon Magne, if you get up i'll tell you about my date with the hot library guy.” there was a thump and some banging around as Magne tried to get ready as fast as she could.

“Wait, wait where did you guys even go? I swear to god if me and Sako have to tell kuroguri that you went to some gyys apartment for the whole night and we didnt shadow you i fucking swear Shigaraki.” The rest of her sentence devolved into swearing and items being thrown around.

“We just went to a cafe,calm down, I’ll tell Kuroguri when he comes home.” Shigaraki leaned against the wall, he wasn’t actually going to tell her about natsou. He hadn’t actually told anyone about him yet, Magne just suspected there was someone he was seeing.

“Nice hat Shig.” Dabi had come out of his room and was leaning on the wall beside his door,watching the process of waking Magne up. It was entertaining to him because one or twice Magne had stayed up too late was extra crabby, and used her quirk to throw Shigaraki down the hall. Then went right back into her room to sleep as Dabi cackled and watched.

“Dabi, maybe tease me about my hat when there aren't bright red feathers in your hair and your door is open?” Shigaraki snickered at how fast Dabi spun around and checked to make sure his door was closed while checking his hair for feathers. Being serious though he was worried about the hero in Dabi’s bed more often than not. He was very obviously a spy.

As good as he was to Dabi, to the whole league actually, he was still a spy. A struggling one who hated who he was spying for and took refuge within the base more often than not but still a spy.

“So he spent the night again?” He looked Dabi over, noticing how much more relaxed he seemed and adding ground sausage to his mental grocery list. Hawks didn't eat enough when he wasn't with them, some bullshit about it being weird. Dabi worried over the stress his boyfriend was under a lot. Distracting him from it by antagonizing him was something Shig did often enough.

 He hadn't expected to like a hero of all people or feel as protective of him as he did his team. Much less one in the top ten but Keigo made a terrible spy and was just as much of a mess as they were.He had crap sleeping and eating patterns. Dealt with emotions as well as any of them did, he fit right in. So it hadn't been long after meeting that shigaraki had ‘adopted’ him, as toga liked to tease him. 

“Is he okay this time?” There had been a couple times where keigo had come in a mess or injured mess.

“He’s fine, get some sleep boss.” Dabi smacks his shoulder and goes to get coffee.

“Evil doesn't sleep, I've got schemes to think up.”Shigaraki smirks and continues down the hallway to his room. It also doubles as his office space.

“You better be sleeping by the time Sako gets back or I'm going to make him give his signature ‘im a single dad of too many kids’ look. And we both know you don’t want that.” Dabi’s voice follows him and Shigaraki flips him off without turning around. He honestly was tired and should get some sleep, but he needed to plan out chores for next week and meal plans and groceries and where to get more blood for Toga. He sighed and added a mental note to ask if her favorite blood type had changed again or it was still the same as last week.

He was tired but he agreed to take care of these people when he agreed to become a leader. Not to mention the whole destroy society thing he still has on the back burner.

@night-owl-1234

[kaibacxrps]

The boarding school

Discord thread with @kaibacorpbros !

Where was he? What happened overnight? What kind of place is this? It looked nothing like the mansion he had woke up in months ago.

So many thoughts ran through the mind of the spirit, as he dared to have a peek at what might be happening to their surrounding. If his timing wasn’t wrong, they should have already been dragged by one of Gozaburo’s servants so he could punish them. However, he was shocked and surprised to find himself in an entirely different setting.

What did he miss out on while he hid away in his soul room?

It appeared his vessel turned 14 a few days ago, the same age he began his training - magic practice allthose years ago. At long last, he could feel his magic flowing within him once again. It is slowly returning to him, finally he will be able to get his revenge on Gozaburo.

Now if only the man was there, to begin with.

The spirit kept looking around, but all he saw were just a handful of other boys- all seemed to be about the same age as them on top of being dressed up in a similar outfit as them as well.How odd. It was all that Set could think of, while scanning the surrounding.

While looking around, he took notice of two children sitting together not too far from them with what appeared to be cards from the same game Seto enjoyed playing. 

"Hey, you even listening? Don't walk away from me." There's a shove that comes from behind Seto's body, from one of the kids that was closing in in him.

"I'm sick of you getting all the damn credit just because of who your father is."

The leader comes closer. He was bigger than Seto, and most certainly more fit. There weren't any adults around. And the exits were blocked by other groups of boys, not even paying attention to any of this happening.

"Little teacher's pet. No amount of talking will weasel you out of this." This time, the boy goes to grab Seto instead. He manages to dodge, only to be pushed down by one of the others.

Never show weakness. Echos in his mind. Seto pops right back up with a glare to drive a tackle into the second boy, sending them tussling on the ground and into the two who had been playing duel monsters. Cards fly everywhere as Seto tries to throw the bigger boy off, but he's too outmatched by weight.

They couldn't kill him...right? People would find out. The teachers would. "Get off!" he snarls trying to land a hit, but only managing to catch they bully slightly with one. 

’These voices... What are they saying?’

The spirit’s attention was immediately drawn to the source of it. Was he even still in the land called Japan? The boy didn’t look anything remotely similar to what he had seen in the past, and those words... He could understand them, but he could tell it wasn’t the same dialect he and his vessel had been using.

Where are they? What is this place?

Unfortunately, his train of thought was lost when the fight began. He could see Seto trying to withstand the much larger boys, while causing a major havoc in the space they were in.

This could be the perfect opportunity for him to put his powers to the test. If it weren’t for the sheer number of peers, that would go against all his work to remain hidden in the boy’s mind.

But at the same time, he knows he can’t just watch the whole thing either... It’s pretty obvious how Seto has a huge disadvantage here.

The spirit’s eyes remain fixated on the pack’s leader, if he takes out that brat then the others should leave them be.

He just needs to wait the perfect time, for him to take over the vessel’s body. 

The end result wasn't pretty. The boys didn't kill him. Little victories, Seto supposed. But there had been too many of them, and he was too small in comparison.

They took their turns having their fun leaving him flecked with blood with purple bruises left all over.

No one would ever come to save him.

The lesson didnt need to be said, but it was clear what Gozaburo socially wanted Seto to learn.

He managed to hide most of the marks. Clean himself up and explain away the ones on his face as a clumsy trip to the staff.

And he was more than grateful to flop into his bunk in exhaustion in the evening. He'd figure out a way to get them back tomorrow. Most of the boys were already asleep. Some, including some of his aggressors were still up. Chatting about who knows what. Seto just wished they would shut up. What was the point of lights out if you couldn't actually sleep?

Could there be any other side-effects to sharing the body and mind with a child? He seems to be lacking his maturity. As a dark- grim wish to give those kids a payback, grew in his mind while he watched the fight unfold. Wouldn’t it be great to teach them a lesson? Scare them away for good?

Those would definetely leave a mark. The spirit came to that conclusion by the end of it all, as he now watched his vessel try to recover from the whole thing. His magic is back, he can feel it. He is more than ready to finally, use everything he has got under his sleeve on that pathetic man.

Yet, Gozaburo doesn’t even cross his mind in that moment as his vessel tried to force himself to sleep.

Those boys have sealed their fate... Perhaps, it wouldn’t hurt for him to have some fun. After all, he has had no joy ever since he was brought back.

So, he waited for the perfect opportunity to swap places with the child’s mind. Which, given his situation it didn’t take long at all. The spirit quickly changed his clothes, and headed out after those that dared to wrong him.

Finding them was incredibly easy, he only had to follow their loud and obnoxious voices. Firstly, he made his presence known by purposely making noises with his footsteps, as he approached them with a smirk on his face.

It almost seemed like he wasn’t the same kid, who was beaten up just a few hours ago.

His walk eventually came to a sudden halt, when he got to a relatively safe distance from his preys and had a clear vision of them. Seto remained in silence, as he simply stared at them while holding onto the golden trinket. 

To Seto, he just fell asleep easily for once despite the noise and the nightmares. A rare occurrence.

In reality he couldn't have a clue his body was still walking around.

Another muffled fit of laughter from the group of boys erupted, and only cut off with the sound of footsteps. Instantly all their flashlights went out, thinking it was a teacher coming to scold them for being up.

It wasn't.

"Eh? What the hell--" remarked one. Sure, they had seen that staff of Seto's before, but...

"What, come for trouble again?" spat another, flicking his flashlight on again to see their classmate.

He looked... different.

The last, and biggest one got up, approaching Seto. "Really, Kaiba? You wanna act tough? Did you hit your head when you hit the floor?"

The thing boy didn’t flinch at all when the flashlights shined light at him, there was something very different in the way he looked at them. Seto had a wide grin on his face, in fact he still had on himself all the wounds those bastards had inflicted upon his body a few hours ago. A low chuckle left him, as he flashed his preys his teeth.

He didn’t respond to them, rather he began chanting something - a spell a tune of sorts. It was almost inaudible, and an ancient dialect was being used. Quickly their surroundings became increasingly dark, and it only got worse as the seconds passed.

By the time the biggest thug made it to him, Kaiba’s chanting came to a close “Yami no game start!”. When he exclaimed it, the golden eye of Wdjat appeared on his forehead and it flashed brightly, his rod shined in response to it as well.

A game of shadows has begun, it an ancient kind of magic that had long since been lost to time. Egyptians used it, to punish prisoners and anyone who dared to threaten the royalty.

All three boys were subjected to this punishment, for threatening the body and soul of a pharaoh. It is the biggest offense, any mortal could possibly commit in their lives.

The shadow game didn’t take long to come to a close, but it most certainly affected and claimed three lives. They weren’t dead, but it didn’t seem like they could even tell where they were, the punishment had shattered their minds and consumed their souls.

Kaiba stood there for a moment, admiring his work quietly as he held onto his rod. There is still a lot he has to regain access to... But his powers were finally back. Eventually he returned to the dorm where his vessel was meant to sleep in, before he returned the body to the kid's soul.

Why was he so exhausted? Even more so than it seemed to make sense. But Seto was quickly knocked out of his daze by loud chattering, and even some screams in the wing of where his quarters were. The boy drags himself out of bed to see what the all the commotion was.

As he follows the crowd of kids, he's greeted by the sight of the boys from yesterday being carried out by some of the teachers. What had.... had they all gotten sick? It was improbable, not impossible. People kept muttering about what happened around him.

They were found this morning, they haven't reacted at all, even when the teachers came over. How long are they going to be like that?

Looks like he didn't even have to sneak in some time to sabotage their schoolwork. But something still wasn't adding up...

Who was the last person to talk to them? Not me, I went right to bed. Not me. Not me. Not me.

Wasn't it Kaiba?

And with that, he'd already disappeared. Seto didn't believe in karma or anything like that. But this had nothing to do with him. And if he were lucky, Gozaburo would never hear about it. 

The spirit of the rod was very pleased to have returned to where he had left them the previous night, the others reactions only stroked his ego even more. Those three fools were simply the beginning... This place will be the perfect playground, for the spirit to practice and prepare himself until that man returns.

He will have his fun in the meantime, until that happens.

The following days would be marked with similar accidents and tragedies that the three first victims experienced, yet no one had any explanation for what could be happening. There was no comfort, for the families of the boys that fell victims of this mysterious comatose state. There were no witnesses, no leads, clues... Nothing at all that could possibly shine a light at what might be happening in the famous boarding school. The police had even showed up a few times, but to no avail.

Many rumors spread around amongst the students, and the staff would attempt to try and dissuade the children from spreading them even more. An effortless attempt, at trying to salvage the establishment's reputation.

No one in this realm, could possibly suspect that the real cause of all those awful incidents hid within one of their students mind. The spirit was way too thrilled, with the whole situation he had created and the things he has done. But alas, it seemed like their stay was coming to an end. It appeared they would be returning home, sooner than anticipated. What a bummer.

The spirit thought to himself, as he rested within his soul room and watched from there their surrounding. A familiar scene caught his attention from the corner of his eyes, there were two kids playing that same cards game his vessel enjoyed so much.

And by the looks of it, he wasn't the only one. 

Things just got odder from that day forward. The other boys left Seto alone for a while after the first three, but eventually new ones took their place. And yet each time before Seto could enact his plans to sabotage their work or belongings, some similar type of phenomenon would happen.

It didn't have to do with him. It didn't.

But at least that vermin was out of the way. The little stint was almost over though. At least Seto would be able to see Mokuba again soon.

But something caught  his attention about the kids playing duel monsters, and before he knew it Kaiba had closed the distance to get a better look. No way. It had to be a replica something the kid threw in for a casual duel.

"Is that card real?" he demanded.

When the boy looked up at him, Seto recognized him. Anthony, son of parents with quite the powerful company, at the very least Gozaburo knew of them.

"Ha! 'Course it is!" The boy proudly waves the card between two fingers. "My father managed to collect it and he let me bring it. Awesome, isn't it? 3000 whopping attack. Nothing can beat that!"

Kaiba didn't bother pointing out that what the boy said wasn't true. But of course it would be difficult to get over such a monster in a duel. But Seto's eyes never left the card.

What a waste.

This kid using it for free time at a boarding school. That dragon deserved better than that. It should be bringing victory and glory in tournaments, not in the hands of a spoiled kid who didn't know the dragon's true worth.

Seto wanted it. That dragon was meant to be his, he knew it. It was just a matter of getting it. Already several questionable moral plans were coming to mind. He'd made up his mind. Seto wasn't going to leave this place until that dragon was his. No matter what it took.

"Sorry Kaiba, my father would never give it over for money. You might as well forget whatever you're thinking of."

No way... This couldn’t be real...

’Kisara!’

The name immediately jumped into his mind, as soon as the card was showed to them. His eyes shot widely open, and his entire disposition changed drastically in the split of a second. The spirit felt like he was so close to just swapping places with Seto, and try to steal the card from the kid on the spot.

Thankfully, he gave up on it as soon as he reached his door.

No, no he can’t ruin everything he has been worked on like this... He has a bigger goal, something far greater waiting for him...

Even if it meant he had to give his back to someone- something so crucial, and special to him.

He stood there, motionless as he had to fight against all of his wishes and need to intervene.

How dare a simpleton vermin like Anthony, handle the legendary blue-eyes white dragon like that? It was obvious, how a normal kid just would never be able to even grasp that beast’s full potential...

‘Of course, right. This is another world... It’s all just a game of cards...’

The spirit thought, that information had to be clear to him. Even if the idea in that moment, hurt him. But he refused to believe, there was nothing that they couldn’t possibly try to get it from the kid.

Amidst his silence, he picked up on a sensation that came from his vessel. It felt similar and very familiar, then it hit him. Of course, Seto wants it just as much as him.

‘You have to get it... You need it... No, we both need it.’ The spirit thought to himself, as his attention returned to the outside world from Seto’s perspective.

Kaiba was already angry at this kid. An yet something spurred it on further, igniting from one spark into a fire.

No. That dragon was leaving with him.

He turned his head to Anthony's opponent. "The math teacher was looking for you, by the way. That's the whole reason why I came over...she said it was about the test."

Nothing more needed to be said, as the boy bolted as soon as the words left Seto's mouth.

Now they were alone.

"Everything has a price," Kaiba said.

"Wow, how lame--okay it's a cool card but I think my dad said it was worth millions? Seems a bit ridiculous to me," the boy said as he lazily spun the card in his fingers.

His words only added to the fire. And Seto didn't know what prompted it, it was like he was barely thinking beyond his rage, like autopilot. He grabbed the boy by the shirt.

"I'm not taking no for an answer. Give that to me." 

‘Lame?! Watch your mouth, vermin!’

The spirit thought to himself, as he still only watched ovr Seto’s exchanges with the kid. The way the card was being handled, and referred to got under his skin.

Kisara, how dare they insult you and your power like this?

Up until this point, all the kids he had punished were bullies- people who had harrassed and tried to attack Seto. The spirit should only use his powers upon evil souls, otherwise he might end up following the same steps of his former master.

This is the only thing that held him back, in that moment. A furious huff left him, as he took out his anger on a wall by punching it.

He can’t... He shouldn’t... He needs to control himself.

The wonders of being in the body of a child, and assimilating their lack of self-control and maturity.

He won’t let this one pass, he didn’t even care if his vessel would witness it all.

Seto’s bangs began moving aside, in order to reveal the shining symbol from the eye of wdjat. Then his hair became noticeably longer, on top of getting a lot stronger as well (he held the poor kid up a whole lot easier). While the body went through changes, the surrounding also became shroudded in darkness.

“We shall play a game for the Blue-eyes white dragon then, a game to decide the fate of this card... It will be a game of the shadows.”

“Yami no, game start.”

Anthony was no different from all of his past victims, he easily and quickly failed at the game. Which led to him having his soul punished, by none other than the white dragon itself. The game and punishment ended without any major fanfare, other than the kid’s cards collection fly all over the room they were in.

Slowly things began returning to normal, and once he retrieved the card from the floor he swapped places with Seto’s soul. 

It was a all in a blur of anger for Seto. He knew he was willing to fight this boy for that card, he just needed to be smart enough to not be caught, or Gozaburo would would reprimand him.

Of couse, a this age he was a bit temperamental, and knew defending your respect was necessary in places like these.

Which is why they flying cards seemed to make sense. They got into a fight, obviously. And the boy was unconscious on the floor. Seto must have knocked him out.

Right?

But then he looked down at what was in his had. The beautiful legendary dragon, raw engine of destruction, Blue Eyes.

It was his, and that's all that mattered now. Seto fills with pride, this is his power, his freedom.

He's always wanted this dragon since he knew of its existence. No one would take it from him now.

Not even Gozaburo. Not giving any of the damage second thought, Seto moved on. The last thing he would want to be stuck with was cleaning up a mess.

[dayasbun]

Fame - Angus Cloud (3)

Summary- a luckily timed audition leads to you falling for your new and unexpected co-star.

Warnings- okay HI welcome to my first multi chapter series woah?! this is actually so exciting for me like wow especially since angus doesn’t have any fics yet im just really really excited- so warnings! smut for sure, bad words, lotsa fluff, angst- everything in one basically. here comes a ride and I hope you enjoy :)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 {reading now}

-

Well, needless to say you got the role.

The final run through with Drake was successful, he started spewing off about how talented you were. You did your usual which was smile and nod, and Angus told you to "Stop being so shy mamas. You gotta get used to this."

Time flew as you turned in forms, focused on moving closer to set, and grew your social media audience. It was all exciting but also overwhelming, however you already loved it.

You and Angus seemed to be getting more comfortable with each other, the tension was wearing off and a simple friendship was forming. The luxury apartment you were moving into for when filming ceased was conveniently just a few doors down from his apartment, you two were going to be in the same complex. You talked quite often and filming hadn't even started yet, and you almost felt silly for feeling intimidated, if that was even the word, by him before. He'd offered to come over to help you move in- and even though the tension had faded, your {sometimes} inappropriate thoughts of him hadn't.

But today was the day everything kicked into gear, because today was the first day of filming.

You and Angus decided to meet up at a small, locally owned coffee shop before heading to set. You could both go together, and since he offered to drive, you could save some gas.

You got there early, you two were to meet at 7:30 am, you were there at 7:25 due to leaving time to dodge the traffic. Angus came through the door yawning at 8:17- due to oversleeping.

"Do you always do this?" you laughed sliding a donut over to him as he sat down across from you in the booth.

"Do what?" he asked, eating half of the donut in one big bite.

"Are you always late- like on set? Because most of my scenes are with you and I-"

"You think ahead a lot, I just like sleeping, you should like it too you feel what I mean? Sleep is just that bitch...if there was a girl like sleep then I would have a girl."

Half of the time the things Angus came up with made zero sense to you, but you always just agreed and moved along. For example, yesterday night he called you at 12:32 am just to let you know that the Frosted Flakes box had 'of corn' in small writing under the bold logo. You said you'd never noticed that- which was the truth, and then that led to him telling you the complete history of Mandela effects. You didn't get back to bed until 1:54.

"And to be fair Y/N, you kept me up last night with that Mandela effect shit." he said with a smirk as he finished off the donut.

Your mouth fell open as you rolled your eyes "Boy as if! You wish I-"

"So you quoting 90s movies now? That's new, don't really know how I feel ab-"

"Lets go," you shook your head standing up and tossing your coffee cup into the garbage.

You two walked out and into the warm LA air. "You read the scripts at all?" He asked you as you headed to his car.

"I did! We have a lot of scenes...some are quite different."

"What you mean? Not boutta lie I didn't read anything past the first episode cuz them other shits too far away."

"Well, sex is always a given in Euphoria."

"Yeah them nude scenes finna make me feel a bit violated if you know what I mean."

"You'll be fine, all you show is your ass but I have to-"

"Oh shit I gotta show my cheeks? For real? On television- aw nah I gotta talk to somebody about tha-"

"I have to show everything except my baby maker so...who really has it worse?"

"Yo' baby maker? Is that them gorgeous eyes cuz it sure does make me want to make a baby wit' you."

Was that a joke-

He did this alot. You never knew if he was actually flirting or if it was just him joking around, but you always assumed it was the latter.

"Was that a...was that a joke from you Angus? How rare!"

He flipped you off with a goofy grin at the next red light and you laughed. "No all jokes aside though Gus, I gotta show my whole body, titties and all. Like my parents are going to watch this how do I? Explain?"

“Well we can fuck wit’ all that when we get to it.”

“Oh baby...” You said sarcastically. “You didn't actually read the first episodes script did you?”

“What you mean?”

You pulled the script from out of your tote, clearing your throat before you started to read. “Jess looks at Fez with a gleam of interest in her eyes. ‘Its been awhile tiger’ she says in a certain way, a way that makes Fez adjust his- yeah I’m not reading that- ‘It has’ Fez says biting his lip. He wants her, but he doesn't know if she wants him too...he thinks she doe-”

“We gotta have sex the first episode? Nah you lying.”

“Episode 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8.”

“Holy shit what?! Aint nobody have that much sex last season...”

“Yeah but its because of our storyline. Jess and Fez constantly want each other and they think the only way to let it out is through sex- they are both terrible with commitment and Jess is afraid of Fez’s dealing; even if she wants to be with him that's keeping her away.”

“Damn, my manz Fez gettin’ the short end of the stick.”

“Jess is the only one getting a short stick Angus.”

It took him a minute to understand what you said, but as soon as he comprehended it his eyes widened. “Girl no you didnt- you know I’m packing- how you gon’ do me like that?!” he said defensively as he parked. You couldn't help but to laugh as you hurried out of the car. “Imma get you back for that!” He yelled after you. You shook your head and walked to the main trailer where everyone was to gp.

Walking in you saw only Z and Storm, Queen Bey played softly in the background showing the girls in front of you were in their element. “Hey girl!” Z said giving you a quick side hug. “Dont worry about being late, its all good. You came with Angus didn't you?”

You nodded whilst rolling your eyes and took the key she was holding out, walking back out and to your trailer.

The trailer was cozy, comfortable and not too small. It had quite a modern look to it, and the look on the outside didn't match the inside at all. You smiled as you sat on the sofa, seeing a white envelope on the glass table. On it was scribbled ‘Angus and Y/N’. Before you could get up to go over to his trailer, he walked in- no invitation, no knock, no anything. “Gee!!!! Good thing I wasn’t naked!” You said sarcastically as you glared at him.

“Yeah whateva. We gotta read this letter together I guess.” He said plopping down beside you.

“Yeah yeah okay, I can read it out loud.” You said cracking open the envelope and pulling out the bright white printer paper. “Okay here we go...it's from...Drake?”

“Ah shit.”

“Don’t worry yet, it's probably just- let me just read.”

Angus nodded and got more comfortable on the sofa as you started to read. “Angus and Y/N. On behalf of your upcoming roles I wanted to tell you guys to loosen up. Theres alot of sexy time to film, and I don't want the viewers to feel the sexual tension from Angus and Y/N, I want them to feel it radiating from Jess and Fez. Make kissing casual, make being naked around each other casual too. Don't make that shit weird. And Angus, make sure you can get it up. If it takes...oh-” you stopped for a moment.

“What?” Angus looked at you and you cocked your head to one side still inspecting the letter.

“Okay- here, he said: If it takes walking around each other unclothed then do it, take care of that tension between you two. I could feel it in the final run through, meaning that the viewers would be able to sense it as well. I'm only saying all this cuz its your first time filming together. I need art, not high school production shit. You guys have the passion, and you click. But there's something missing. Make the fuck out and get this show on the road. I'm always a call away if its not working out-- Drake.”

“Well damn. What he tryna say?”

“Angus it's clear what he's saying- I mean come on I feel the tension between us too, and I don't know what it is but hes right, whatever it is we need to get over it, and move on from that. This is business- an art form we have to work through. Ight?”

“Ight. So what I’m hearing is we gotta make out and get naked.”

“We aren't doing anything until ya girl takes a nap.”

“How you sleepy we just got here and you woke up 3 hours ago?”

“Listen man it is not my fault I only got 4 and a half hours of sleep-”

“SO you tryna say it’s mine?!” “It is! With your mandela effecr loving ass.”

He chuckled under his breath. “Okay okay, fair. But lemme sleep wit’ you.” “What? Why?”

“You the one that read the letter, we gotta drop this tension lil mama. And if we legit just sleeping, ion see nun wrong wit’ it, do you?”

You thought it over, and he had a point. There was nothing wrong with it, sleeping is sleeping...and besides, you two would have to do much worse.

“Whatever, come on.”

“Let’s go to my trailer though.”

“What? Why? Ion wanna walk come on Angu-”

“I can carry you then. But my place more homey, you just got here and your bed ain’t even got sheets.”

Damn, why is he always right? “Okay fine but carry me.”

He hunched down in front of the sofa “Get on my back and we can go.”

You grabbed your phone getting onto his back and holding on tight, your arms around his neck and your thighs squishing his sides. “Go go go!” You giggled, feeling safe as you rested your chin on the top of his head.

He ran to the trailer, causing you to laugh and hold on even tighter. Dropping you onto the bed, he looked around the small trailer-bedroom for more covers.

“You know girl,” he said looking into the closet “You kinda cute. How you was laughing out there had my heart beating fast and shit.” He found a throw and turned back around to ask you if it was good, but you were already out, completely sound asleep, and cuddled into a pillow. “Damn so you ain't hear none o’ that huh?” He sighed. “Probably better on my end. Can’t be catching feelings and shit.” He covered you over and lay beside you.

In your sleep your body detected the body heat, so you unknowingly turned over, cuddling into his chest. A smile formed on your lips as you moved closer, practically wrapping yourself around him.

The man sighed placing his lips to your forehead and leaving a light kiss. “Yeah. No catching feelings.”

-

taglist:

@nikkixostan @melaninmarvel @celiajrs @siriuslycollins

[swampgallows]

..

man i fucking hate drugs because none of them are accurate. like i cannot imagine i would ever have an ideal experience out of any of them, and there’s nothing that they offer that i ever want. i dont want the turbo-ego of cocaine or the touchy feely of ecstasy or the trip of acid or shrooms or whatever else. at least i dont think i do. the only drug id ever wanna do would be something to make dreams real, or at least feel real, and i think that would be something id see myself getting addicted to. if VR gets to a point where it’s almost deepfake shit i know im going to jack in and die in a corner with it fused to my face. 

but i dont know. ive never done any drugs to know. ive been sleeping really poorly the last few days and eating pretty poorly even though ive been hungry. im eating basically one meal a day which is so awful but i feel like i cant stomach (literally) the experience. im so sick of eating and everything tastes empty or bad to me or is difficult to eat. probably just because everything ive been eating is really bland. yesterday my mom cooked because family came over and i hadnt eaten all day (and didnt eat afterward) and both of my parents made comments about how much i ate, which made me really self-conscious. and my dad spat the word like “well you’re not FAT...” and im like thanks, okay. 

i was talking to my uncle who is my dad’s brother and the fact that he was actually like... tech savvy and talking to me about like “yes ive been using duckduckgo” etc, that he had an actual empathetic understanding of the puzzle box zine because his son is autistic... it was almost like i couldnt imagine actually being able to be understood by an older person, and it made me kind of... i dunno. it made me wish my dad would understand even a single sliver of my world. but i guess because he doesn’t, it’s better than he doesn’t. like i wouldnt want him to 180 and suddenly have an interest and understanding in where i spend “my whole world” as he kept putting it because he’s never cared before, but it made me see this like alternate reality where my dad could have possibly not been a trump thumper who treats the internet like witchcraft. my dad was a scout leader to a troop of mostly autistic boy scouts and he was calling it “stemming”. it’s stimming, dad.

losing ginny and losing access to the morris troupe made me realize i dont have any older people to look up to or even confide in. i’m the oldest person among my friends, and the few friends i have that are older i’m not very close with. it sucks to not have any vision of the future or positive representation of what it could be, let alone having a mentor.

im writing all this just because i want to sleep and i thought about taking benadryl but benadryl fucking obliterates me. it leaves me groggy and robs me of lucidity for days on end. but at the same time i feel like i need to induce a coma just to make myself sleep and stay asleep. yet i think about how fucking on edge i am in this house all the time, how often i fawn, how i am constantly guarded, constantly monitoring myself to make sure im not too loud or too visible. when my uncle started talking about environmentalist issues and climate change i felt the palpable shift of my guard being let down and not having to fucking argue for the existence of what is happening or dealing with my parents’ generational guilt about shouldering the burden or something. any time it comes up my parents always play fucking devil’s advocate andit’s exhausting. like that’s exactly how we’re in this fucking mess, because bullshit shithead morons form the previous generations are more focused on preserving their ego than preserving the planet. 

i just want to sleep. i want to be able to be active. i want to be able to feel free to express myself and not get completely shut down by the people who say they love me. i dont really know how im going to be free of this shit and how ill get a real job and move out but jesus christ the moment i do i think i will never speak with my family ever again. 

[vaguelygeiszlerian]

1 to 40 please OwO

rhhgjtghenrhg avery is that you (im chucking these under a readmore, i just did some so im not doing them again, there WILL be context so prepare to read)

your favorite song everyone who knows me even a little bit knows my favorite song is take on me by aha! https://open.spotify.com/track/2WfaOiMkCvy7F5fcp2zZ8L?si=Y-PQBNsYSFe30n4l-XILsw

the first song you remember loving the very first? well if i can’t do take on me again, you get... hm. well there’s two, so i’ll give you the not embarrassing one. bohemian like you, dandy warhols, a song 2 year old [redacted] went wailing round the house singing. https://open.spotify.com/track/0yEhNqCwEfy8LHUmnZoHpP?si=UDGKtdX-Qwiy2mUP88Xlbg

a song that reminds you of summer done!

a song you haven’t heard in years behind blue eyes, limp bizkit, before you say anything, and i know you will, this song is a depression song and i stand by my love for it  https://open.spotify.com/track/1MTQHCpraD4S8g5PAFKzoj?si=vD8m_yjlRoq3bRd1hvQU1A

a song you can relate to right now? well, i’m mostly plucking songs from my ‘real ass bops’ playlist, if you want the one that reflects today’s jordan, you’re in for a grim treat! despicable by grandson https://open.spotify.com/track/5IPT4Noqvo7bsfbWUOHcG4?si=Cp4O-5WdS0-ZqfxxWVR01A

a song that reminds you of your favorite book ooh, i think i have a good one for this, my favorite book of all time is the taking by dean koontz, ask me why sometime, it’s a good read! it’s the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine), r.e.m https://open.spotify.com/track/2oSpQ7QtIKTNFfA08Cy0ku?si=nfVjPGY7QaGH26uAz-88_A

a song that makes you want to dance right now? two trucks, lemon demon, don’t ask https://open.spotify.com/track/1s5A0u1dnAeVNur5nPkCpD?si=HLZERdMDQnqBxGnj31Lx3g

the best song from your favorite album heart’s a mess, from gotye’s ‘like drawing blood’, his second studio album, which is my absolute fave of all three proper ones he did, even if his first had some really amazing tracks, and making mirrors had some good ones, there’s nothing like learnalilgivinanlovin, or a distinctive sound, or, as i said, heart’s a mess! https://open.spotify.com/track/4tFkgfdi8b3aNcKNthPqIF?si=nDJafKn8QYmEgdqmlN4y4A

a song that makes you want to cry all songs make me wanna cry, but first that comes to mind is black friday (from the black friday musical soundtrack), because as an older sibling with a younger sister that the world doesn’t understand (that i don’t understand sometimes) the little aside about hannah makes me cry every single time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAZgYL0p2zk

a song that makes you feel young the distance, cake, it’s a song i listened to pretty much from my formative years til about... well, yesterday actually! never ceases to make me feel like im a good 15 years younger haha https://open.spotify.com/track/0fsz7tJ7UKXT9hliLfO7aE?si=caOsrX_fT4u9qARZKWSqfQ

a song that means a lot to you la vie en rose, edith piaf. i was (still am) a romantic sucker, and used to make all sorts of idealistic romantic playlists growing up, and i never knew the french (and i still dont (youre welcome em <3)) but the way she sang always made my heart tremble. and then bioshock infinite burial at sea came out, and i listened to that version of la vie en rose a million times, cried at a good half of them. anyway i love this song. https://open.spotify.com/track/3lAun9V0YdTlCSIEXPvfsY?si=zSRwBZ0AQnuyGGkjh2XmZw

the last song you listened to i’m in love with an e-girl, wilbur soot, the chorus of this song FUCKS my friends, honestly the whole song (and internet has ruined me, the sort of sequel) fucks https://open.spotify.com/track/44wBlg3Y1KSAEmaze5BXe7?si=u9mapV8STz6sqR3jg4XMiw

the last song you heard on the radio we don’t really do the radio in the car, and i dont recognise the songs on there these days anyway

the last cd/album you bought the black friday album actually! support starkid 

a song to listen to on rainy days done!

a chill song no surprises, radiohead https://open.spotify.com/track/1bSpwPhAxZwlR2enJJsv7U?si=oVXsE5JiTxulLkevqL4hjA

an upbeat song push up, freestylers, ok so maybe we do listen to the radio sometimes, and i heard a snippet of this like two months ago and immediately added it to my playlist https://open.spotify.com/track/2PJq8Fr5i2S0OkcmFsTC1P?si=3K7q37zNRuCQIduRdApjWQ

a song that gets stuck in your head nobody by mitski, everyone knows that one though https://open.spotify.com/track/6bTn1ovliI0OkjUNkiMBJq?si=Vc-DUCl-RpyhRc6lcbpKgg

your favorite song from a movie somewhere only we know, keane, from my favorite scene in ‘he’s just not that into you’ which is one of my fave romcoms, ok you probably didnt need all that context, dont laugh https://open.spotify.com/track/0ll8uFnc0nANY35E0Lfxvg?si=Lov6MdiOTNGrxCiX6UdDZg

your favorite song from a musical inevitable, the guy who didn’t like musicals. i know the choreo, i know every part almost down to the pitch now, i spent hours practicing the kickline with my sister. jon matteson if you have a spare moment please teach me how to kick your legs that high https://open.spotify.com/track/2lQkaEvJa69QCzk3x6HgaA?si=QMRBYXPwRruOSU4_xBPdMA

a song that reminds you of the moon night, the altogether, no real reason here, its just got a lonesome ethereality to it https://open.spotify.com/track/3MKF7HCn6uD03jWcUB8k1R?si=gm8JKR1jQbS6Dh59WUuEwA

a song by your favorite artist/band i really can’t pick between radiohead and newton faulkner, so you get the best of both, 15 step and teardrop https://open.spotify.com/track/6dsq7Nt5mIFzvm5kIYNORy?si=9dEYby1PRKm8zozrCTGcjA https://open.spotify.com/track/7JpgJ7b5sjvo3fUfPcRlq1?si=pVfzoWtuTdO5OsbDgUnabQ

a song from the year you were born closing time, semisonic, one of the fucking best songs ever https://open.spotify.com/track/4EnkwZd0UJAuHpNMMemQaA?si=ASYNfnThR_m9kqFrloI9nw

the number one song on your birthday my heart will go on, celine dion, i guess titanic had just come out that year, but in my country, on my birthday, this was the number one, god help us https://open.spotify.com/track/33LC84JgLvK2KuW43MfaNq?si=HswubDCkQJ-x7-LM06PQUQ

your favorite love song i do adore, mindy gledhill, cliche at this point, i know, but my sister introduced it to me, played it on her ukelele, and i love her, more than i love most things, and it makes me smile even on a day where ive not done very much smiling at all https://open.spotify.com/track/6JNEDSev5Tp5VQR04SEBfV?si=BxnrZafFT3m4QkXNUN5GcA

your favorite christmas song baby it’s cold outside, lydia liza and josiah lemanski, it’s the funniest fucking song https://open.spotify.com/track/3xvFTqHmlMqKjHgczCGn2C?si=lgDMvUQZR-2lPXHINo2POQ

one song that starts with each letter of your name j: JT by jon bellion (https://open.spotify.com/track/1eftOUoeMO1JkSQQmS6jXF?si=h4yYMpXnTAiZPxJJUPv0DA) o: one more shot, spies are forever ost (https://open.spotify.com/track/0EgLq4ORQ6TMPN6rjWp3d6?si=mC3eDbJJRyCGN4fNAcbdlA) r: red signal, the mechanisms (https://open.spotify.com/track/2TWDxsjHx2rqtH197URbE8?si=XB8D-1N-SkKgmlTZOFbcfQ) d: dont judge me, janelle monae (https://open.spotify.com/track/6UQDIIEPzeduwXlZE86SOF?si=1bONXfj-SQiq79ibrXjC-A) a: as your father i expressly forbid it, lemon demon (https://open.spotify.com/track/29L9B2aDs2NhrQGbs8pf9M?si=CvVTbLtNTgGeL3iemrLVHg) n: night drive, gotye (https://open.spotify.com/track/3fuRfxHpC56uNFMOaOlMCm?si=PDAbEsi_SjK-EYDmTvjT6A)

two songs with the same/similar titles that you like i don’t care (fall out boy) / idfc (blackbear) https://open.spotify.com/track/13mM4hWNMH5KwMcwl81tXS?si=YOqg8tVXRQKXB3ANmDFjHQ https://open.spotify.com/track/6y6jbcPG4Yn3Du4moXaenr?si=CzyYs4b5QQ23azTqgv0iXw

a cover that you like better than the original song done!

a song with really good lyrics kick it up a notch, starship  https://open.spotify.com/track/1r223IXiRxObMBNh3mcyWR?si=-RX3obwISfS_jk3JjzvaJg

a song with an amazing beat couple’s retreat, jon bellion https://open.spotify.com/track/7pMS0byKI7V1Mpl0SlWEDq?si=Xytu_HBrStq_zjKdia2oig

a song that you associate with the color yellow boys, lizzo https://open.spotify.com/track/1ITsmuChPVC05ogvorAyVu?si=hkoCz7ouQsyLKn8Q7KO92g

your favorite song with an action in the title (jump, dance, etc.) bite back, all american rejects https://open.spotify.com/track/4zJv4aXOIAepvhApOFoQeQ?si=qRtthyDlQvKGRErmkI8lDg

your favorite acoustic song heart is full, jon bellion https://open.spotify.com/track/6DvsjPkNcB4QoezDPtxsAB?si=vD18h70qSFG5xtrjpuy4XA

a song that motivates you take me home, country roads, john denver https://open.spotify.com/track/39q7xibBdRboeMKUbZEB6g?si=STNgdvZSQNSfqX9pENggSg

your favorite song you’ve heard live camisado, panic at the disco https://open.spotify.com/track/1LF5HQ32hztQWzADGH8ys4?si=VDjKcAo9TX-JA0kF6csqQA

a song that reminds you of your best friend ok so this one needs context (and an attached apology), when i think of best friends as a concept i think of tianna, and when i think of tianna, i think of sitting at the junior campus, huddled around my phone, tittering like twits over this stupid fucking song. (but honestly avery this applies to you too, you’re my best friend that isn’t emmy, i love you) enormous penis, da vinci’s notebook https://open.spotify.com/track/7dUCFnaGSWLH6SdDP08NLP?si=dH00DTxqTR2y3mAIEia9Lw

your favorite song from childhood radio/video, system of a down, the song my sister used to babble incomprehensibly loudly to whenever we played it in the car, the one i grew so used to i can literally hear it in my head as i type https://open.spotify.com/track/41pOIT2t1rvr2Trg1HQChZ?si=-Kyg8JSET2uDq0XGMICsMg

a song you always sing along to can’t sleep love, pentatonix, my sister and i’s favorite song to duet together, even if we haven’t quite worked out the proper parts for a two person acapella cover haha https://open.spotify.com/track/1klGbW5a9qTBFUjFfddbmU?si=Lm0FMpz5TVKddr82vUyf2w

your favorite song in a language different from your native one since i’m determined not to reuse songs, you get papaoutai, stromae (sorry about all the french, they bop babe) https://open.spotify.com/track/09TcIuH1ZO7i4vicWKoaN2?si=YTuHkj1DTgicqo7ZnqYJ0Q

[bittysvalentines]

Love in the Morning

From: @ivecarvedawoodenheart

To: @amessnamedwidogast

Rating: Teen & Up

Word Count: 2461

I hope you like it!! I had a really good time with this :) Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Summary:

“Don’t you dare, you had better not, I’ll call your dad and the press, I’ll tell ‘em—” “I think ‘Jack Zimmermann helps out teammate with checking drills’ would be a good headline, actually. I give you my blessing.” “Not when you’re threatening to pour water all over me you big ole—” “‘Big ole’ what, exactly?” ___________________________

Zimbits, from Bitty’s POV. Focusing primarily on waking up in the morning.

(AO3)

Someone throws a pillow at his face. Bitty jolts upright, looking around wildly, almost falling out of bed. It better not be — oh Lord, he’s gonna murder him —

“Bon matin, Bittle.”

Bitty check his watch and screams internally.

“Jack, were you dropped as a child? Is that why you feel the need to force me out of bed at four in the morning?”

He thinks Jack raises his eyebrows. It’s hard to be sure when it’s so dark in here, but the vaguely Jack-sized blob in the doorway gives off a distinctly amused vibe.

“My uncle Wayne did, actually,” Jack says. “My parents forbade him from holding me until I could do backwards crossovers.”

“Mmph.” Bitty closes his eyes and pulls his blankets up under his chin. “Go bother Shitty, Mr. I’m-Friends-With-NHL-All-Stars. I have a test today.”

Jack says, “That was yesterday, Bittle.”

“I could have another one today, Zimmermann.”

“You, having a test and not tweeting about it? Impossible.”

Bitty cracks open an eye at that. “It’s too early for you to be chirpin’ this much,” he says, but he swings his legs out of bed and lets Jack bundle him off to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wake up somewhat. They’re on their way to the rink, Bitty in an oversized Pens sweatshirt because he couldn’t find one of his in the dark, before he realizes that means Jack reads his tweets.

____________

“I’m asleep, my eyes are closed, go away Jack, can’t you see I’m sleeping—”

“You’d be much more convincing if you weren’t talking, Bittle. You’ll have time after to take a nap, let’s get at it—”

“Oh my god . ‘Let’s get at it’? Are you actually eighty years old—”

“Yes, okay, Old Man Zimmermann, ha ha, that hasn’t been played out. If you really want to make fun of me you’ll get your butt to the rink, that’ll really show me.”

Bitty scowls at him when they get to the locker room. Jack laughs, just once, and it’s so surprised and quick a sound that Bitty almost misses it. He wants to hear it again.

____________

Midnight, and there’s a knock at his door. Bitty presses Señor Bun tighter to his chest and wipes his eyes hastily, catching his French book before it slides to the floor. “Yeah?”

“Can I … can I come in?”

The door makes it difficult to hear, but he thinks it’s Jack. He squeezes his eyes shut, biting his lip. Then he forces himself to perk up as best he can.

“Of course! Why’re you up? It’s so late.”

Jack eases the door open and shut behind him. Bitty watches him scan the room, taking in the flashcards strewn across his bedspread and his laptop. He wishes he hadn’t left it open on Google Translate.

Jack rubs the back of his neck. A little sliver of his shirt rides up, and Bitty knows this shouldn’t be anything — they’ve all seen too much of each other in the locker room — but it’s almost too much on top of everything. His hair sticks up in all directions. Bitty holds Señor Bun tighter to keep from crossing the room and making his hair even wilder.

“Your light’s still on,” Jack says. He looks so unsure of himself here. Bitty’s not sure he’s ever been in his room outside of waking him at godforsaken times in the morning. “I wanted to, euh. Make sure everything’s okay.”

“I’m fine,” Bitty says quickly. Jack shoots him an unimpressed look, first nodding to Bitty’s flashcards, then raising his eyebrows at the clock. “Well. Not quite okay, but. I will be fine, which is what matters.”

Jack still doesn’t look like he believes him, but when he crosses the room to sit on the bed, his face softens. He picks up a flashcard with le fromage written on it. “You’re learning food words?”

“Oui,” Bitty says. Even that has such a pronounced twang to it. He sighs. “I’ll be honest, it’s not going great.”

He’s fiddling with the card now, flipping it back and forth, playing with the corners. Bitty watches him gather the rest of the flashcards in a neat stack and shuffle them.

Jack says, “I can quiz you,” and Bitty’s about to cry again.

He wipes his eyes. “You don’t have to.”

It must catch in his voice, because Jack looks up then. His eyebrows crease. “I mean — I don’t want to overstep, but. I do speak French, so.”

“Oh do you?” Bitty asks, and Jack rolls his eyes. He tosses a card at him and le jus hits him in the Adam’s apple. Bitty swallows reflexively.

He doesn’t think he imagines how Jack watches him.

Jack bumps their knees together. “If you want,” Jack says softly. “I don’t mind.”

“Okay,” Bitty whispers. He clears his throat. “If you’re fine with how badly I’m going to pronounce these words, that is.”

“I’ll live,” Jack says.

Bitty smacks him with his pillow, and he laughs quietly. A little thrill runs through Bitty at the sound.

“Okay, Bittle,” Jack says. “Let’s do this.”

____________

In the morning, Jack yawns loudly in the faint morning light and says, “Up and at ‘em, let’s go—”

“You can’t be serious,” Bitty says, grumpy. “We were up the whole night doing flashcards and you took up the whole bed, I didn’t get to sleep for a second.”

“That’s a lie, you snored the whole time, I didn’t—”

“You and your big ass stole all the blankets, I couldn’t’ve snored because I have to be asleep for that—”

“Couldn’t’ve? Are you joking—”

Jack goes on a rant about how difficult it is to understand him, and then how hard it must be to understand either of them, and then segues into a scheme to confuse everyone next time they come back from a break and their accents are stronger. Bitty chimes in now and then. Mostly, though, he drinks in how this feels: Jack in his bed, flashcards still everywhere — there’s one stuck to Jack’s cheek now, he thinks it’s les fraises — and his eyes still sleep heavy.

Bitty wants this so badly he outright gasps in the middle of Jack’s sentence.

“You okay, Bitty?”

“Fine,” he says, trying to push the feeling aside. “You’re kidding though, right? About checking practice today?”

Jack holds out a hand in a may I? gesture that Bitty doesn’t understand until he pouts, glancing at Señor Bun. Bitty hands him over tentatively. Jack tucks Señor Bun neatly under his chin, cuddling him with his eyes closed, and this all but knocks the air out of Bitty.

“‘M joking,” Jack says. Beneath the covers, Bitty feels him gently nudge his side with an elbow. “‘M tired. Bonne nuit.”

“No French when I’m trying to sleep, Mr. Zimmermann,” he says softly. Jack nudges him again.

He drifts off. In his dreams, he sees Jack holding Señor Bun like he’s something precious.

____________

Bitty has Canadian bacon on the stove when Jack stumbles downstairs. He quietly pours himself some orange juice, then Bitty feels rather than sees him join him at the stove.

“There’re some eggs in the fridge,” Bitty says, “if you wanna do somethin’ with them.”

He bumps his shoulder against Jack’s chest just to touch him and prove to himself that they’re standing here, together. Jack’s golden in the dewy morning sun.

“Your checks are getting better,” he says then, and Bitty says, “Oh, shush, you.”

Jack scrambles some eggs and fries some, and it’s peaceful between them.

____________

“Don’t you dare, you had better not, I’ll call your dad and the press, I’ll tell ‘em—”

“I think ‘Jack Zimmermann helps out teammate with checking drills’ would be a good headline, actually. I give you my blessing.”

“Not when you’re threatening to pour water all over me you big ole—”

“‘Big ole’ what, exactly?”

“I — it’s early, okay? My mouth hasn’t woken up yet.”

“Seems like it has to me.”

Bitty crawls out of his blankets at that, cheeks burning. “You tryin’ to tell me I talk too much?”

Jack takes a sip of water. “No, I’m trying to tell you to get your ass out of bed so we can go to Faber before the early skate. Do you think I enjoy being up at four?”

“Yes.”

“Well.” He tilts his head to the side. “Look, it’s prime running time—”

Bitty narrows his eyes. “Jack Laurent Zimmermann, you could get mugged—”

“—not if I’m running faster than my mugger, which is what I was about to say when I was so rudely interrupted, and how else am I to outrun a mugger than to practice running?”

He looks so pleased with his logic. Bitty says, “People like you are what’s wrong with this country,” and he grins broadly.

“I’m Canadian, remember?”

Bitty beats him for the first time in their end of practice race.

____________

Bitty’s alarm wakes him for the first time in ages, which of course means Jack died or something because no way in hell would he miss an opportunity to push him into the boards for an hour and a half.

Lord. He wouldn’t mind being pushed against the boards.

He’s had enough dreams that end up against the boards, for various reasons, and … he shouldn’t be thinking this, now, but.

He checks the weather and his school email and then, shivering, pads across the hall.

“Jack?” An answering mmph gives him the okay to open the door, so he does. He blinks to adjust to the darkness. Jack peeks blearily out from his blankets. “They’ve called classes for the day, it’s too cold out.”

Jack says, “Mmph,” and Bitty connects the dots. “You knew that already, I’m sorry! I’ll just—”

“Bittle.”

Bitty stops midway to the door.

“Yeah?”

Jack jerks his head toward the bed, peeling back his blankets. “It’s cold,” he mumbles, “c’mon.”

Bitty’s heart about stops. His mouth moves wordlessly for a few seconds before his mind catches up from where it stopped on Jack’s asking me to get in bed with him .

“Are you sure?” he asks, and Jack nods.

“No point losing more body heat,” he says sleepily. “Besides. My bed’s bigger than yours, we’ll fit fine.”

“Chirp chirp.”

So Bitty does. He climbs into his bed carefully, trying not to jostle Jack too much. Jack clumsily tucks the blankets around them and when Bitty tugs on the covers himself, their hands brush. Jack squeezes his briefly, then lets go. Bitty shivers again, but not from the cold.

“Oh — here —” Jack shifts his pillow and then presses a balled up sweatshirt into Bitty’s hands. “If you want.”

It’s the Pens sweatshirt he’d borrowed months ago. It still smells like him. The fact of Jack, sleeping with this so close to his face, breaks so sweetly in Bitty’s chest. He pulls it on.

“Thanks,” he whispers.

Jack says, “Mmph,” but Bitty can see him smiling slightly.

____________

Bitty wakes up after graduation to two texts. They’re timestamped 4:02 AM.

They say,

I’m sorry if it’s too early to say this , but I’ve been wanting to tell you for awhile now

I think I fell in love with you in the morning

He touches his lips with his fingertips and wonders when it was he got so stupid lucky.

________________________

A pillow lands on his face, yanking him out of a stress dream about playoffs.

Something in their bedroom smells delicious. He opens his eyes and blinks to be sure he isn’t dreaming.

Jack’s filled their nightstands with plates and plates of food. There’s a heap of pancakes stacked high and half buried under blueberries and strawberries and what smells like 100% Canadian syrup on one of them, and toast shining beautifully with butter stacked next to eggs cooked every which way of the other. Jack himself is sitting at Bitty’s feet, wearing the Schooners shirt Bitty had gotten as a signing perk two years back. It still looks so, so good on him. Bitty’s never gotten over the thrill at seeing Jack in a shirt with his last name on it.

“Oh sweetheart,” Bitty says, yawning. “How did you—”

“I have my ways,” Jack says, handing him a plate and Bitty smiles.

“It all smells so good.”

“That’s only because you missed about an hour of me burning everything on the stove.”

Bitty throws up his hands in mock exasperation. “This boy.”

Jack crawls next to him and leans against the headboard. He rests his arm around Bitty, pulling him gently against his side, and presses a kiss to the side of his head. “Your boy, you mean,” he says, and Bitty about melts.

“For half a second there I thought you were wakin’ me up for checking practice again,” Bitty tells him, after they’ve kissed a little.

Jack says, “I still could,” and Bitty kisses him some more to distract him. From the way he huffs a laugh, he knows Jack knows what he’s doing. “Though you don’t really need it now.”

“Yeah, I had a really good, really strict captain for that.”

They’re quiet a moment while they eat. Bitty sneaks peeks at Jack now and then, liking the way the sun still loves him. Jack catches him a few times and chirps him softly.

“I don’t think I ever told you,” Bitty says, when they’ve stacked all their dishes out of the way. “It was when you said you read my tweets, for me. Or with Señor Bun that first night in my bed, when you looked at him like he was a new bucket of pucks.”

“When…” Jack starts, frowning a little. Bitty waits for him to puzzle it out, leaning fully against him now. He sees the realization before Jack says it. “Oh,” Jack says. “When you…”

“When I fell in love with you,” Bitty says simply. “That was when.”

Jack tips his chin up with two fingers and Bitty savors this kiss more than any other they’ve had, except for the one after that one, and the one after that.

“I love you,” Jack says afterward. He presses their foreheads together.

Bitty says, “I love you no matter how many eggs you burn,” and Jack laughs another quick, surprised laugh. Hearing now is even better than the first time.

Jack helps him out of bed and they wash the dishes together, stopping now and then to bump into each other and kiss softly and be at home here, together in their kitchen with the sun just coming up. Even after all this time, this feels like the start of something.

Bitty takes Jack’s hand as the radio plays. They stay like this, dancing their way through cleaning up, well past when the sun rises fully in the sky.

________________________