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heyiwrotesomethings · 4 years

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Fresh Starts

Leah (Stardew) x Selectively Mute She/Her Reader

A/N: Thought I’d try something different with this one. Sorry if I didn’t detail the instances of sign language very well, or if they are a little off, I did try. Also Kel is an asshol in this when they show up so get ready for that. Robin is cool mom and Abigail is the friend who is always ready to fight at the drop of a hat. Also, time is so weird in Stardew? There are four season in a year but each season is like a month so a year is like four months. Time is scary. I hope you like it! Word Count: 8,943

“So, someone has finally taken up that old farmland,” Leah heard Gus say to Harvey as he fixed the good doctor a drink at the bar, “‘Heard Lewis and Robin talking about it outside of Pierre’s yesterday.”

“Is that so?” Harvey was tired from a long day at the clinic, but being ever polite, he humored Gus and rested fully against the bar stool.

“Mhmm, looks like the old man’s kin is finally gonna make something of it. A few years late though I must say, that place is well overgrown. It’s gonna take a lot more than a little elbow grease to spruce up that dump,” Gus chuckled good naturedly and handed Harvey his beer, “I wish them luck, whoever they are.”

“Bah!” Leah jumped in her seat tucked away in the corner. Pam must have been listening in too. “If they’re smart they’ll just sell the heap of trash to Joja. M’sure they’d get a pretty penny for it.” Pam spoke bitterly. Shane, who was also quite drunk at this point in the night, took the opportunity to add his two cents in and yell across the bar.

“Why would they get your daughter for selling out to Joja?”

“That’s not what I meant, dumbass!” Pam roared back, slamming her beer on the table with a loud thump.

Leah decided she’d call it a night then. Without Elliott to crack jokes with, the saloon could get real depressing real fast with Shane and Pam racing each other to see who would get alcohol poisoning first. Even Clint was just sad to watch. The poor man sitting hopefully, waiting for Emily to even just turn in his direction. Leah finished the rest of her beer and paid Gus, giving the man a sympathetic smile as he left to cut Shane off.

Leah shivered in the cool spring breeze as she walked along the river bank to her cottage and her thoughts wandered back to what Gus had been gossiping about.

“A new face around Stardew Valley, hm?” Leah mused, kicking a stray pebble in her path, watching it skip across the cobbled stone. “I guess I won’t be the town newbie anymore.” She smiled and turned to look in the direction of Marnie’s home, knowing that the farm was somewhere just beyond. As Leah turned the key to unlock the door of her small cottage, she wondered what changes this new resident might bring.

***

“Have you met our new resident farmer yet?” Leah heard Caroline ask Jodi as she walked across the town square.

“I suppose you could call it that,” Jodi laughed, “It was a very brief meeting to say the least.”

“I’m glad I wasn’t the only one then,” Caroline sighed, putting a hand to her chest in relief, “I thought I had offended the girl somehow, she never said a word. She just walked into the shop and pointed to a few seeds she wanted to buy, then she handed Abigail, Pierre and I daffodils and went on her way. Not so much as a sound.” Caroline explained, still bewildered by the interaction.

“Sounds about right,” Jodi nodded, “She knocked on the front door and handed me a single clam. Which was nice I suppose, but so very odd. She gave Vincent a daffodil too,” Jodi smiled, “He was very pleased. I’m sure she would have given Sam something as well if he could wake up at a more reasonable time.”

“Oh, Leah! Good morning!” Caroline had caught her. Leah put on her most sociable smile and walked forward, greeting the two women.

“Good morning Caroline, Jodi.”

“Have you been visited by the farm fairy yet?” Jodi asked, chuckling along with Caroline.

“I’m afraid not.” Leah admitted. “Although Elliott says I am a bit difficult to track down at the best of times.” She laughed good naturedly.

“Well, I’m sure she’ll get you sooner or later. She seems to be on a mission to greet the whole town. If you can call it a greeting I suppose. I don’t even know her name.” Caroline realized.

“It’s (Y/n).”

The three women jumped and turned to a grinning Robin, walking up to them with her yoga mat swaddled under her arm.

“Her name is (Y/n). She’s quite the character, huh?”

“Robin, you helped Mayor Lewis move her in didn’t you? What can you tell us?” Jodi asked, looking for any crumb of information she could get on the mysterious girl.

“Not much to tell,” Robin shrugged, “Just a sweet kid wanting to get away from the pressures of the big city,” she sent a knowing look at Leah, “Sounds like someone else I know.”

Leah laughed politely, twisting a finger around the tail end of her braid as blush settled in her cheeks faintly.

“But why is she so... you know, quiet?” Caroline asked.

“Hm, well, she did give me her blessing to explain should it come up.” Robin took a moment to think of how to proceed, absently tapping her fingers against her mat. “(Y/n) is selectively mute. She has the ability to speak, but she’s just not comfortable enough to do so at this time. This move was a big decision for her, and she’s excited, but it’s just gonna take some time before she feels secure enough to communicate orally.”

“And how did you get all this information out of her?” Caroline wondered.

Robin secured her yoga mat between her thighs and presented both hands, pointing her index fingers outward and drew a couple large circles in the air with the tips of her extended fingers. “Sign language!” Robin grinned, before taking a hold of her mat once more.

“Oh how clever!” Jodi praised. “I wish I understood sign language.”

“I’d be happy to show you a few of the basics sometime. If you really need to ask (Y/n) something though she will have no problem writing out answers for you.” Robin informed. “Now, are we working out today or...”

“I completely forgot!” Caroline smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand, “Yes, let’s go. Poor Marnie is probably wondering where we are. Are you going to join us Leah?”

“I’ll pass, thanks. I’m heading to the beach to do some painting,” Leah explained, motioning to her bag.

“Alright, see you around!” Caroline, Jodi and Robin bid Leah goodbye and hurried to the general store.

Leah sighed, as much as she liked the people in this town they were so chatty. She could have been at the beach forever ago! Once she arrived, she saw Haley sunbathing. Not unusual, but as she kept walking closer to shore she saw Elliott splayed out over the sand laying on his stomach.

Leah rolled her eyes and walked over, playfully kicking the man’s arm, causing him to squint up at her.

“Is there some kind of new writing exercise I should know about?” She asked, playfully.

“I wish, this is simply writer’s block at its finest.” Elliott groaned. “That, and I don’t know what I’m going to do with this,” he sat up and produced a wild horseradish from his jacket pocket.

“Why do you have a horseradish in your pocket?”

“A girl I’ve never seen before in my life gave it to me. Then she took off before I could refuse. Didn’t even say a word.”

“She’s totally weird, but she did give me a daffodil so I guess she’s not that bad.” Haley called from her own spot in the sand.

“Has everyone met the new girl except me?” Leah wondered aloud.

“She’s been making rounds. I’m sure she’ll find you eventually.” Elliott said, resting his chin over his arms.

“You make her sound so ominous.” Leah laughed, lowering herself to the sand and taking out a sketch pad.

“A silent specter. A harbinger of-“

“Oh can it, drama queen,” Leah smirked, “so she gave you a horseradish, it’s not the end of the world. She was just trying to be nice.”

Elliott pursed his lips, propping his head up with one hand he turned the horseradish in the other offering it to Leah. “Do you want it? You’re all about foraging.”

“I mean, if you’re not going to use it sure. Put it in my bag.” Leah relented easily. Her eyes only leaving her paper to study the horizon for a moment, then continue to sketch.

Leah stayed on the beach with Elliott for a couple of hours, talking sketching, and painting. Finally she stood and stretched, patting the sand off the back of her jeans. “I should get going. See you around.”

“See you.” Elliott nodded, splitting off from Leah to head over to his shack.

Leah hummed to herself as she walked through town, making her way past Jodi’s house and entered the Cindersnap Forest. As she rounded the corner of her cottage, she paused in her tracks. Observing a young woman staring at her door with dandelions in one hand and her other poised to knock on the weathered wood.

Leah flinched slightly, she had stepped on a twig, snapping it and alerting her visitor of her presence.

Startled eyes met Leah’s own and the farmer straightened from her previous position, stepping back from Leah’s door.

She smiled shyly, giving Leah a short, jaunty wave before gesturing between Leah and the cottage a moment. Then she stood still. An expectant look on her face.

Leah simply stared back, blinking before she registered the silent question. “Oh! Yes, I live here. That’s my house. You’re (Y/n), right? Robin told me about you, I’m Leah.” She smiled kindly, coming forward to offer (Y/n) her hand to shake.

Instead of grasping Leah’s hand, (Y/n) cupped it with her gloved hands, turning Leah’s hand palm up and placing the dandelions inside.

“Ah, thank you.” Leah chuckled, “These will make a great salad.”

(Y/n) nodded vigorously, then moved to make her exit. Leah wasn’t sure what possessed her, but she called out to (Y/n) before she could get too far.

“Wait, I um, it’s not much but I did take an intro to ASL course my freshman year of college so, I’m a bit limited but if you ever want to talk, you know...” Leah wished she could stop talking right now. Why had no one told her that the farmer was cute!? “So, yeah, you know,” Leah fumbled with her free hand, her fingers sat just underneath her chin before she sent them forward, “Thanks again.” She smiled nervously.

(Y/n) stared at her, dumbfounded. Then she released a short, sharp exhalation of air that was reminiscent of stuttered laughter and turned back to stand before Leah. (Y/n) made a timid approach and gingerly took Leah’s wrist, still hovering midair, and guided the hand back to rest on Leah’s chin, just below her lip. Leah stood still as stone as (Y/n) held it there for a second then extended the hand forward. She repeated the motion twice more before backing away and releasing Leah from her gloved grasp. The smell of earth and grass still clung to Leah’s nose even after (Y/n) had stepped back.

“Oh, I did it wrong, didn’t I?” Leah blushed, “Is there a big difference between the two?”

(Y/n) blew out a large breath of air and nodded. One of her gloved hands came up to cover the amused smile fighting against her lips.

“What did I say? Was is embarrassing? Yoba, I need to know,” Leah carefully set the dandelions at her feet and rummaged through her bag. Taking out her sketch pad and a pencil, she flipped to a clean page and presented the materials into the rough fabric of (Y/n)’s gloved hands, “Please, tell me.”

(Y/n) shot Leah a sympathetic smile, then she looked down at the paper and wrote quickly and concisely. She looked over her work, nodded to herself, then she handed the sketch book and pencil back to Leah before jogging of in the direction of her farm.

“Eh- Hey! Wait a minute!” Leah took a few strides after the farmer but quickly gave up, electing to look at the paper in her hand instead. “Maybe I’ll tell you some other time. Nice meeting you Leah, smiley face.” Leah read aloud to herself. She scoffed, but couldn’t stop the smile that had conquered her lips. She couldn’t wait to see (Y/n) again.

***

“Hey, Maru-“

“I think I have a feeling about what this is about, but just in case, please proceed.”

The next morning, Leah had made her way to the clinic to visit Maru and perhaps get the answers she was looking for. She had made the trek to (Y/n)’s farm first, but she wasn’t there. A little note hastily taped to the farmer’s door revealed that she was spending the day fishing in the mountains and wouldn’t be back until late at night.

“Maru, you know sign language like your mom, right?” Leah asked.

“Sure do. Seb and dad do too.” Maru nodded, leaning over the clinic counter. “But I’ve got to tell you that if you’re looking for the meaning of what you accidentally signed to (Y/n) last night, we were sworn to silence earlier this morning before (Y/n) went fishing. Sorry.” Maru smiled.

“Ugh,” Leah sighed, leaning her forehead against the counter. “Can I at least have a hint?”

“Well, it’s really funny. Especially considering how chill you normally are and your kind disposition.”

“Yoba, I really need to know!” Leah groaned against the counter.

“Well my family can’t tell you. You’ll just have to wait to hear it from (Y/n),” Maru grinned and pushed away from the counter, “I have to prepare for Evelyn’s check up now so I’ll see you around Leah.”

“Yeah, bye.” Leah grumbled, watching Maru disappear into the back offices. “Well, there goes that plan.” She mumbled under her breath as she left the clinic.

Leah spent the rest of the day sculpting in her cottage. She spent hours getting lost in the chipping of the wood before finally going to bed.

***

It had been days since Leah last saw (Y/n) and if the farming life wasn’t so demanding, Leah would have been worried that she had deeply offended the farmer to the point that she was purposely avoiding her. Leah decided not to waste the time she had been presented with.

She approached Robin about sign language lessons, enough to get some basic phrases and words. She practiced the motions herself, perfecting them to allow for no mistakes. Although she knew (Y/n) could hear her just fine, she found it easier to retain the lessons this way. Not to mention that it was just a useful language to know.

“I’ve hardly seen you around. I was worried you stabbed yourself with your woodworking tools.” Elliott said as Leah came up to sit next to him in the saloon.

“And you didn’t think to come to check on me?” Leah looked at the writer incredulously.

“Nope.”

Leah punched Elliott’s arm and he laughed. Before long, Emily came by with their food and they ate comfortably.

“Would you look at that.” Elliot spoke, pointing in direction of the door as he swallowed another bite.

Leah turned to look, purple irises sparkling at the sight of (Y/n) lugging a large bag up to the bar. She watched Emily talk (Y/n)’s ear off, the poor farmer smiled uncomfortably while trying to divide her attention between her and Gus who had apparently requested a variety of fish.

“Wow, Robin said you were in trouble but you really are,” Elliott chuckled behind his beer, “You really lit up just now.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Leah scoffed, still watching (Y/n) hand Gus fish after fish. It was almost comical how such an objectively small bag could hold so much.

“You can’t keep your eyes off her. I realize the dating pool in Stardew is small, but the girl just got here.”

“Elliott, stop!” Leah blushed, looking back down at her plate to stab at her salad.

“I’m just saying, you’re already taking sign language lessons for her you might want to dial it back a little bit. You wouldn’t want to come off as the obsessive type.”

“Oh! She’s leaving, should I offer to walk her home? I’m going to offer to walk her home.” Leah dug in her pocket and pulled out some gold, pushing it over to Elliott.

“What did I just say?” Elliott called after Leah, as she eagerly jogged to the exit to catch (Y/n) walking in the direction of the Cindersaps, perfect!

“(Y/n), good evening!” Leah called jogging up to the farmer only to have the farmer gasp and take several steps away from Leah, holding her hands out as a warning to not come any closer. “I’m sorry, I’m didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable!” Leah gasped, maybe Elliott was right.

(Y/n) shook her head, slowly taking a step back towards Leah, presenting her slightly soggy bag and waving her hand in front of her nose, scrunching her face as she did so.

Leah was sure the movement wasn’t an official ASL sign, but it did help get the point across and she giggled.

“What? Do you think you smell?”

Another nod and a look that seemed to say that she didn’t just think so, she knew so. She had been in the mines all morning and fishing at the beach all afternoon. She couldn’t wait to take a shower.

“It’s alright, I won’t judge you,” Leah smiled, “Are you heading home for the night? I’d be happy to walk with you since it’s so dark.”

(Y/n) took a moment to think about it before nodding shyly and motioning Leah closer. Leah happily obliged walking alongside the farmer into the Cindersap Forest. The walk was mostly silent, but that was to be expected nonetheless, Leah was having a great time. They had even found a couple of leeks along the way which (Y/n) had insisted Leah keep. All too soon, they reached the porch of the old farmhouse.

“You’re crops look great,” Leah complimented, looking for an excuse to stay even just a few minutes more, “really healthy. What all have you been growing? Are those potatoes and turnips?”

(Y/n) looked over her shoulder as she unlocked her door. Her eyes focused on where Leah was pointing and nodded affirmingly.

“Yeah, I’m no farmer but I love foraging. I’ve got a few really good books about wild foods and where to find them and when. It’s kind of like a scavenger hunt.” Leah grinned.

“Mhmm.”

It was quiet, a little strained, but the small hum of agreement almost sent Leah into cardiac arrest. She sounded so sweet! Leah’s cheeks were starting to hurt from how widely she was smiling.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it then. So, I’ll see you around?”

(Y/n) looked like she wanted to say something, but settled for a simple nod, fiddling with the gardening gloves she had taken off. Leah smiled softly, watching how the farmer intently eyed the fabric twisting in her hands.

“Feel free to drop by the cottage whenever it suits you. I’ll leave the door open!” Leah added, waving over her shoulder as she turned to walk away. (Y/n) beamed, looking a bit more lively as she waved back.

Leah turned her back on the house and walked back to her cottage in the Cindersaps with a skip in her step and a painfully large smile on her face. Although it was already late, she prepared a new block of wood for sculpting. Her new muse had granted her a vision for a grand project and had the potential to be one of her greatest works yet.

***

“Kel, I told you to stop calling me. I’m not coming back to the city, we are through.” Leah frowned, her hand gripped the phone receiver so tightly that she could hear the plastic giving slightly under the pressure.

She was so focused on combating Kel’s useless bargains that she hadn’t noticed the timid farmer show herself in, looking at Leah’s tense shoulders and back with concern. (Y/n) flinched as Leah cut off Kel to speak again, her voice low and stern.

“There is nothing you could say, nothing you could offer me, that would make me come back. Move on, and please, for the last time, do not call me again.” Leah slammed the phone down on its perch. Pressing her palms into her eyes she let out a frustrated groan, slowly positioning her hands to rub at her temples to combat the headache she felt coming on.

Then she heard the door creak.

Leah quickly turned around just in time to see (Y/n) looking back at her with wide eyes and lips pursed thin as if she had been caught witnessing an event she had no business seeing. Which was partially true, but Leah had told her a week beforehand that she could drop by anytime.

“(Y/n), what a pleasant surprise!” Leah grimaced, watching (Y/n) flinch and look down sheepishly at her feet. One had managed to retreat back out the door before being caught and it was slowly joined by the intruding foot, so (Y/n) was fully outside again. Leah shook her head and calmly approached the farmer.

“Please don’t leave, I’m the one who told you to come let yourself in whenever. I’m sorry you had to hear all of that.” Leah was worried, watching (Y/n) linger in the doorway. Her shoulders relaxed when (Y/n) cautiously came back inside and closed the door behind her.

(Y/n) stood in the entryway and looked over Leah, her eyes filled heavily with concern. She raised a hand, pointing to Leah before signing the letters ‘o’ and ‘k’.

“I’m okay. I’m just,” Leah fumbled for the right words, “mad, sad? Exhausted.”

(Y/n) made another gesture, shaping her fingers into a ‘hang loose’-esque sign. Her curled fingers meeting her chin. She lowered the hand momentarily to give it a controlled shake before bringing it back up into the starting position.

“What’s wrong?” Leah mumbled, making sure she understood. (Y/n) nodded. “I just got a phone call from someone I didn’t want to talk to is all,” Leah sighed, “They’re an ex of mine. The person who called.” Leah disclosed, rubbing the back of her neck, agitated.

(Y/n) signed again, but Leah didn’t quite catch it that time so she motioned (Y/n) over to her dining nook and sat her down with some paper and a pencil. The farmer seemed a bit unwilling to write it out, feeling like it was more insensitive somehow but with a little prodding from Leah, she gave in.

“Was it a bad break up...” Leah read aloud. She sat back in her chair and carefully chose her words. “Sometimes it feels like we’re still breaking up,” Leah chuckled wryly, “Kel, my ex, didn’t like me perusing art. They didn’t think I could make a living out of it and wanted me to waste away at some office job and well, I didn’t want that. They weren’t respectful or supportive of my dreams, so I left. They call me a lot though, to try to convince me to come back to the city... that I won’t make it as an artist. That I can’t be happy without them. It really is exhausting and the worst part is, I worry that they’re right.” Leah released a shuddering breath, “I haven’t sold a single piece. I don’t really even know how to start. I can sustain myself on what I have in my savings account for only so long.”

(Y/n) covered Leah’s hand with her own, squeezing it. Leah marveled at how soft it was in comparison to her own, especially since it was the hand of a farmer. Perhaps the gloves (Y/n) always wore had more practical uses rather than simply being worn for aesthetic’s sake. Leah chanced a look at (Y/n)’s face and was caught off guard by the determined fire blazing in her eyes. Then Leah’s attention was brought back to the table as (Y/n) furiously scratched the pencil against the paper and forcefully pushed her newly composed message in front of the sculptor, her other hand still rooted over Leah’s.

Leah read over the note and felt her heart ache with appreciative warmth. ‘You were brave enough to know what you wanted and even though it wasn’t easy, you went for it. That in itself is an amazing accomplishment that you should not take lightly. Your dream is not unfounded either, I’ve seen some of your sketches and paintings and I think you are very talented. Once you figure out how to put yourself out there you’ll have people begging you to take their money.’

Leah sniffed and smiled at (Y/n) appreciatively, turning her hand to reciprocate (Y/n)’s strong, yet gentle hold on her. “Thank you, (Y/n). I just wish I knew how to start.”

(Y/n) tapped her chin with the pencil as she thought. When she had an idea, she pulled the paper back to herself and wrote a suggestion.

“An art show? Oh, I don’t know (Y/n). It hardly seems possible.”

(Y/n) shook her head in disagreement and wrote more.

“You really think the town would want to help? Are you sure you want to help? You’ve got enough on your plate already with how busy the farm keeps you. I don’t want to impose.”

(Y/n) looked as if she had something to say, her throat bobbed and her lips twitched, but in the end she settled for the paper again, still too anxious to speak. After Leah had read the reply, she felt (Y/n)’s thumb rub against her knuckles and looked up. (Y/n) nodded, her expression serious. She wanted to help Leah with this.

“Thank you, (Y/n)!” Leah sniffled, holding back tears. She launched herself into (Y/n)’s arms and hugged the surprised farmer close. “Thank you so much!”

(Y/n) slowly returned the hug, smoothing one of her hands over Leah’s back in comforting motions. It was a bit of an awkward position with (Y/n) still sitting at the table and Leah hovering over her, but it felt nice.

“Sorry,” Leah chuckled after a moment, leaning back and wiping a stray tear from her eye, “I kind of caught you off guard with that didn’t I?”

(Y/n) shrugged and smiled good naturedly. A look came over her face as if she just remembered something and she stood up to grab her bag from the cottage entryway. She grinned when she found what she was looking for and made her way back to Leah, holding out a brown paper package to her.

“For me?” Leah asked. (Y/n) nodded and gestured for her to take it. Leah carefully unwrapped it and gasped. “(Y/n), is this goat cheese? I love this, how did you know?”

(Y/n) raised her hand, signing the letters ‘E’ ‘L’ ‘L’ ‘I’ ‘O’ ‘T’ ‘T’.

“Elliott hm?” Leah laughed, “I’m glad you two are getting along after the horseradish debacle.”

(Y/n) crossed her arms and stuck her nose up. She wasn’t looking back on the memory fondly.

“Hey, I’m with you on this one. He was being an ass. How could you have known he hated horseradish.”

(Y/n) nodded in agreement, one of her hands reaching out as if to say, ‘exactly’. She then noticed the time on Leah’s clock and signed that she had to go.

“I see.” Leah smiled sadly, trying not to let her disappointment shine through. “Good bye then, and (Y/n),” Leah signed ‘thank you’, very mindful of the position of her hands this time around, “seriously thank you for everything.”

(Y/n) beamed, giving Leah a thumbs up before heading out the door.

***

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Leah kept mumbling to herself while watching her fellow Pelican Townies set up her creations in the town square. There were already some tourists looking around and Leah felt her nerves fraying.

“Hang in there, kid. Everything looks great. Don’t worry so much.” Robin snuck up on Leah, making her jump. “It’s a beautiful summer day, don’t forget to enjoy it.”

“I’m trying, Robin. It’s just so much.” Leah said, nervously playing with her sleeve. Robin noticed Elliott walking up and motioned him to help deal with the artist while she went to help Demetrius move a heavy wooden sculpture.

“Come on now, Leah. Too late to back out now.” Elliott grinned, thumping her back. “(Y/n) seems especially excited by how things are progressing.”

Leah chanced a glance at (Y/n) and Maru putting up paintings between signing each other excitedly. The scene warmed her heart and her shoulders relaxed a bit.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll try.”

“Great, now let’s go woo some tourists.” Elliott said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“What? Elliott, no!” Leah shook her head.

“Not like that,” Elliott laughed, “I know your heart belongs to someone else. I just meant,” he looks around before whispering in Leah’s ear, “woo them out of their money.”

Leah laughed and pushed Elliott away. “Alright, you focus on the wooing and I’ll focus on explaining my thought processes.”

“That doesn’t sound as fun, but okay, this is your day.”

As Elliot and Leah made their way across the square, an unwelcome guest watched them from afar. Their blood boiled as they saw Leah pause at the makeshift painting gallery to give the farmer’s hand an affectionate squeeze.

***

“I can’t believe we sold so many!” Leah spoke in ecstatic disbelief as she waved at the last car she and (Y/n) had just loaded a heavy wooden sculpture into before it drove away. “This is crazy!”

(Y/n) wore a smile that matched Leah’s, happy to watch the sculptor bouncing in place. When Leah finally stilled, still giddy, she took both of (Y/n)’s hands in hers. Once again free of the gloves, the hands were pleasantly soft against her own and she relished in the feeling.

“(Y/n) I know it’s kind of late, but I have something I want to give to you. I left it at my house so I’m going to go get it. I’ll meet you at the farm, is that alright?”

(Y/n) stared at Leah, her curiosity piqued. She nodded, easily giving Leah the answer she was hoping for.

“Great! I’ll be there soon!” With one last squeeze of the farmer’s hands, she was off. (Y/n) heard the crack of a twig, but when she turned to investigate, nothing stood out so she made her way back to her farm to wait for Leah.

When Leah came up to the porch, (Y/n) had to do a double take at the big wooden statue she was lugging along. With one last huff of air, Leah placed the statue at the base of the steps and grinned up at (Y/n), wiping a bit of sweat from her brow.

“Thanks for waiting. It was a little more ah, heavy, than I expected.” Leah laughed sheepishly. “Come take a look.”

(Y/n) stepped off the porch and circled the piece, taking in every detail. Leah felt nervous butterflies fluttering in her stomach while she watched the farmer scrutinize the work and cleared her throat.

“I started working on it in the spring. I also incorporated some of that driftwood you gave me a few weeks ago. Anyway, I made it with you in mind. It’s called, ‘How I Feel about (Y/n)’ and I’d be honored if you would accept it as a gift for everything you’ve done for me.” Leah stared at her feet as she spoke, too embarrassed to keep her eyes on (Y/n) while she spoke. Then a pair of boots joined, hands came up to clasp her own, pulling the conjoined grasp into her line of vision and coaxing her to look up into (Y/n)’s eyes.

“It’s wonderful.”

At that moment, Leah thought her heart must have been beating so hard that it was affecting her hearing.

“Hh... huh?” Leah asked, rather dumbly.

(Y/n) swallowed thickly, took a deep breath, and whispered, “It’s wonderful, Leah. Thank you.”

Leah looked absolutely awestruck, purple irises shone with excitement and she laughed, pulling (Y/n) into a tight embrace.

“I’m glad you like it.” Leah sniffled, resting her face in (Y/n)’s shoulder.

“Leah?” (Y/n) wrapped her arms around the artist, it was only one word, her name, but Leah heard the concern in the farmer’s tone.

“I’m okay. I’m just happy,” Leah sniffled again, “I’m happy you felt comfortable enough with me to speak to me.”

“Me too.” (Y/n) whispered, holding Leah tighter.

The pair found it difficult when they had to part ways for the night, but they were equally excited over how their relationship was developing, looking forward to spending more time together over the summer.

***

“Come on, just a little further...” Leah coached herself. She was reaching for a piece of fruit hanging from a branch just out of her reach.

She had planned a picnic with (Y/n) for this afternoon. She had already set up under the big old tree near the pond and as she waited for (Y/n) to finish up with her crops and animals for the morning, when she spotted the unusual fruit. Now she was jumping and stretching for the fruit just out of reach.

“Almost— Ah!” Leah struggled to balance herself in the air, swiveling her head to peak over her shoulder, she saw (Y/n) looking up at her with a mischievous grin. Leah rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at the side of her lips. She turned back to the task at hand and grabbed the fruit, motioning (Y/n) to put her back down.

“Show off.” Leah scoffed, lightly punching (Y/n)’s shoulder. “You wanna try a bite?”

“Yes, please.” (Y/n)’s cheeks heated when Leah pressed the fruit to her lips. She took a bite of the offering, savoring the taste. “It’s so sweet.” She said, amazed.

“Right?” Leah smiled, “It’s rare to get fruit from this tree. Usually all the animals snap it all up as soon as they’re ripe, but it seems they miss some from time to time. How is everything with the farm this morning?”

“All is well,” (Y/n) nodded as the pair made themselves comfortable on the blanket Leah had set up, “I would have been here sooner but the goats kept standing in front of my cheese and mayo machines, the chicken coup too. Made it a little difficult.” (Y/n) disclosed. “Which reminds me,” she rummaged through her bag, “goat cheese salads.”

“Mmm, this looks heavenly. Thank you for making these.” Leah said, eagerly stirring in some vinaigrette into the generous fresh salad.

“No problem. Selling my harvest is nice, but it feels so much more rewarding enjoying it like this.” (Y/n) informed, mixing her own salad.

“I can imagine,” Leah hummed and leaned her back fully against the trunk of the tree, “Ah, it’s such a lovely day for this.”

“Mhmm.”

They ate the rest of their meal in peaceful silence, listening to the birds sing and the fish leap, the breeze rustling the trees and grass around them. It was tranquil, it was perfect.

“Hey, Leah,” (Y/n) spoke, breaking the silence.

“Yes?” Leah asked, turning her gaze away from the sketch pad she had brought out.

“It’s almost Fall you know, we’ve known each other for nearly two whole seasons. Half a year, it’s crazy, right?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, doesn’t it?” Leah giggled, “What made you think of that?”

“Well, I wanted to ask you something. Don’t feel like you have to answer one way or the other, but...” (Y/n) paused, trying to gather her thoughts.

“Hey, it’s okay (Y/n). You can tell me anything. Sign it out if you want to.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m just nervous,” (Y/n) turned to her bag and pulled out a lovely bouquet of flowers, “Leah, would you maybe consider being my girlfriend?“

“Yes!” Leah enveloped (Y/n) in a tackle like hug that sent them both to fully meet the ground, accidentally crushing the flowers between their bodies, “Oops, sorry,” Leah wiggled the flowers out from under her to look at them more closely, “these are lovely, (Y/n). I didn’t know Pierre had these in yet.”

“He didn’t, I planted them.” (Y/n) clarified, smiling up at Leah who still hovered over her, giggling.

“Of course you did, you’re so sweet.”

“I try.”

“Are you kidding me!”

Leah and (Y/n) quickly turned to face the disturbance, scrambling to sit up from their compromising position. Leah felt her stomach twist with discomfort seeing Kel of all people marching up to them, absolutely fuming.

“Seriously, what the hell, Leah?” Kel yelled, their hands clenched into tight fists as they closed in, making yard after yard disappear between them.

“No, more like what the hell, Kel? I broke up with you seasons ago. What are you even doing in Pelican Town?” Leah retorted angrily, as (Y/n) helped her to her feet. Kel watched the motion and ground their teeth.

They were already dangerously close to crossing the threshold of the blanket and that small display was enough to send them stomping over the edge.

“I came for you, obviously! I’ve been slumming it in that dusty old saloon since your art show, waiting to talk to you! Now I find you sucking face with some country bumpkin nobody!” They seethed, stepping even closer into Leah’s personal space until (Y/n) pulled Leah back behind her, making Kel even more incensed. “You stay out of this. I’m talking to Leah!”

(Y/n) held strong, stuck between the harsh obscenities attacking her from the front and the loving affirmations defending her from behind. She held her arm out, willing Kel to stay back as she slowly started to guide Leah back in the direction of town for help. Kel ignored the warning and followed after them.

“Don’t you have anything to say for yourself? You think you’re being some kind of hero right now?” Kel seethed.

(Y/n) stayed silent, she had gone mute again and who would blame her in the face of such a tense situation? She was so very uncomfortable, scared even, but she continued on passed Marnie’s since she knew the woman wasn’t home at this time and she sure wasn’t going to expose Jas to this. Jodi’s house was their next best bet.

“Hey, you obviously want to start something here. You’ve got something to say to me?” Kel continued forward.

“Kel, leave us alone!” Leah commanded, “It’s over, it’s been over, go home!”

“You think you’re too good to talk to me?” Kel yelled, ignoring Leah. “She’s just a whore. She just latched onto the first warm body she could find after her little meltdown. You’re not special.”

(Y/n) froze stiffly in place, Leah felt the muscles on her shoulders tense so she tried to pull on her arm to keep her moving.

“Ignore them, (Y/n). Let’s focus on getting to town, okay?” Leah pleaded. But (Y/n) gently pushed off Leah’s hands and took a step towards Kel with a cold glare. Leah stepped to stand beside (Y/n)’s side, nervous that a more serious confrontation was about to unfold.

“Well?” Kel spat.

(Y/n) crossed her arms, turning her head to look at Leah. The look on her face was all the communication Leah needed to understand. It was definitely a, ‘they better back off or I’m going to knock them off their block’ face. Leah had never known (Y/n) to be particularly violent, but with all the time she spent in the mines, she had no doubt that she could take care of herself.

Leah gasped when Kel suddenly roared, lunging forward. Apparently they had not liked how (Y/n) and Leah had been paying attention to each other rather than themself. Kel had rocketed forward and aimed to punch (Y/n) hard over her cheek, however, at the last moment, Leah pushed her aside and took the blow for her.

(Y/n) inhaled sharply and caught Leah as she stumbled back, noticing how blood immediately began gushing from Leah’s now broken nose.

“Ow- AH!” Leah cried, her hands muffled her voice since she had covered her nose and mouth.

It only took a second for (Y/n) to return the favor to Kel’s stunned face. She punched them fast and hard over their cheek, but Kel was quick to fight back and now it was a full out brawl.

“What’s going on, we heard yelling— holy shit!”

Leah turned away from the fight to see Sam, Seb, and Abigail running up on the scene.

“(Y/n)’s throwing hands!” Abigail yelled, sounding way more excited than worried.

“Leah are you okay? What’s going on?” Sebastian asked, noting the concerning amount of blood running down Leah’s arms and the front of her shirt.

“Don’t worry about me, stop them!” Leah winced, taking one hand away from her face to motion to her ex and her new girlfriend still going at each other.

“Damn, Abi! Go get your dad and Harvey too by the looks of it!” Sam yelled, he seemed to be looking for an opening to push the fighters apart.

“Are you kidding? You get my dad, I’m getting in on this!” Abigail cheered and ran up to jump on Kel’s back like she was at a rodeo while (Y/n) landed a good hit on Kel’s stomach. “Nice punch, (Y/n)!”

“Oh Yoba, Sam, start running.” Seb suggested, trying to help Leah with her nose. He was no Maru, but even he knew how to set a broken nose. Especially within the first couple weeks of Sam taking up skateboarding.

“Right!” Sam ran off back into town screaming. A few tense minutes later and Pierre, Caroline, Robin, Elliott, Maru and Harvey came running behind Sam to break up the fight.

“Abigail, stop!” Pierre huffed, pulling off his daughter and passing her off to his wife, “I taught you what I did to defend yourself, not to lash out like a wild animal!” He grunted, pulling Kel into his grasp and trapping their arms behind their back with Elliott coming up to assist.

“Come on dad, I was helping a friend! What’s the big deal?” Abi groaned, while her mom fretted over her, looking for injuries.

“Easy there kid, it’s over.” Robin coaxed (Y/n), pulling her back. The farmer slumped over in the carpenter’s hold, breathing heavily.

“Is (Y/n) okay? Ah!” Leah hissed as Harvey touched up her nose, giving her a nasal spray before wedging a couple wads of tissue up her nostrils.

“Sorry, Leah.” Harvey sympathized, “Maru is going to check up on her now.”

“What about me?” Kel hissed. Pierre had them resting on their knees. They looked really roughed up. A black eye was already forming and scratches and bruises littered their skin, they were also holding their stomach rather tightly.

“You’ll just have to wait a minute.” Elliott frowned, staring down at the stranger with contempt.

“Don’t you have any police officers in this backwater town? I’ll sue every one of you for withholding care to someone who is obviously hurt!” Kel threatened, grinding their teeth.

“Oh, the police are coming alright!” Caroline spoke indignantly. “You are in no position to be asking for anything right now, bringing violence to our community, you should be ashamed!”

“(Y/n) can you look up for me, please.” Maru asked, carefully tilting (Y/n)’s chin up. (Y/n) sucked in a breath when Maru touched her bruised jaw a tad to hard. “Sorry, Your jaw is bruised pretty badly. Your bottom lip split too. How is your vision?”

(Y/n) shook her head and winced, cradling her head in her hands.

“Okay, possible concussion. We’ll need to observe her at the clinic.” Maru said.

“Alright, come on bruiser,” Robin grunted, heaving (Y/n) to her feet, “Sebbie, help me walk her into town please.”

“Sure mom.” Seb took (Y/n)’s other side.

(Y/n) patted Robin’s arm, motioning her to wait. She slowly turned to Kel and leaned more heavily against Seb as she freed her other arm from Robin to snap her fingers aggressively, looking for Kel’s attention. Once Kel looked up at her, sneering from their spot in the dirt, (Y/n) turned briefly to make sure Leah was watching. When she saw that she was, she smiled as if to say, ‘watch this,’ and turned back to Kel. (Y/n) brought her flat, angled hand below her chin and sent it forward in the direction of Kel’s confused, but no less, pissed face.

“Oh ho! (Y/n) is such a badass!” Abigail laughed.

“Abi, since when do you know sign language?” Sam asked, clearly confused.

“I don’t, but I’ve spent enough time searching curses in different languages to know that was totally a ‘fuck you’. Personally I think a middle finger approach would have been an appropriate classic myself but whatever.” Abigail shrugged.

“Abigail, language!” Caroline scolded.

“Sorry mom.”

“Alright, you’ve had your fun. Clinic, now.” Robin tried to hold in a laugh as she repositioned (Y/n)’s arm over her shoulder. Then she and Seb began walking (Y/n) back into town.

Leah made to follow, but as they were leaving, the police from the the next town over had arrived and they needed her statements as a witness. Never mind that she was covered in her own blood and her girlfriend was being dragged away to the clinic with a concussion. Once the officers were satisfied, they took Kel away with promises to be back for (Y/n)’s statement and to see if any charges would be made. For now they were just going to take Kel back to a hospital in Zuzu City since they may have broken a rib or two in the fight. After that, they were going to be free to go.

Leah wasn’t too worried. She didn’t think Kel would come back after the beating (Y/n) and Abigail gave them. She watched the police car drive out of Cindersaps, taking her disgruntled ex away.

“Leah, I’m sure you want to get to the clinic but you should really clean up first.” Caroline had said patting the younger woman’s back. “(Y/n) will be fine.”

“Yeah, Harvey and Maru got her. Take some time to process.” Elliott smiled.

Leah could only nod tiredly. She trudged over to her cottage to shower and change. She still couldn’t believe how quickly things got out of hand. She looked at her bandaged nose in the mirror, hissing when she gingerly touched the bridge of it. She was wary of Seb setting it himself, but Harvey said he had gone a great job. Once she was physically put back together, Leah quickly made her way to the clinic.

“Where is she?” She asked immediately upon arriving. She sounded a little congested thanks to her clogged nose, but she was easily understood. Robin was still in the waiting room and filled her in.

“Harvey and Maru are talking her through concussion care. She’s okay, but I don’t think she’ll be allowed to work for awhile.”

“Oh no,” Leah sat down, resting her elbows on her knees and covered her eyes with her hands, “This is all my fault.”

“Aw, don’t say that sweetheart. You know that’s not true.” Robin frowned, taking a seat beside her, “(Y/n) would hate to hear you think like that.”

“(Y/n) loves her farm! If she can’t maintain the upkeep...” Leah continued, teary eyed, only to be silenced by Robin.

“I’m going to stop you right there. Nothing is going to happen to the farm. Abi, Sam, and even Seb already told (Y/n) in no uncertain terms that they were going to pitch in while she recovers. Everything is going to be taken care of.” Robin assured.

“Still none of this would have happened if-“

“If you hadn’t broken up with your ex? Moved to Pelican Town? Got a crush? Leah, you can’t punish yourself for moving on with your life. You’re allowed to be happy.” Robin chided gently. “It was hard for me and Sebastian’s father to see eye to eye at the best of times. Now I have Demetrius and although he can be a bit annoying sometimes with his tomato bullshit, not a day goes by that I’m not grateful I took that first step because I love him.” Robin smiled.

Leah’s nose hurt like hell as she tried to carefully wipe the tears from her eyes and Robin rubbed her back affectionately. Once Leah had calmed down, Robin stood and stretched.

“She’s been wondering where you are. The doc is keeping her for overnight observation, but your welcome to stay with her. I on the other hand, am apparently too old for this much excitement and need to go home.”

“Thank you Robin, for talking to me.”

“Anytime,” Robin grinned, “now go get her.”

Leah made her way into the back area of the clinic and nearly ran up to Harvey, Maru, and (Y/n). (Y/n) was signing to Maru while she relayed the information to Harvey as he examined (Y/n)’s well being.

(Y/n) was relieved to see Leah and eagerly motioned her to come sit on the edge of the bed she was sitting in which Leah did happily.

“Leah, how’s the nose?” Harvey asked while he finished up (Y/n)’s chart.

“It’s fine. Just, really sore and tingly.”

“So not fine.” Maru chuckled. “I’ll get you some pain meds.”

“Ah, thanks Maru.” Leah smiled sheepishly.

“Well, Ms. (Y/n),” Harvey sighed, turning his attention back to the farmer, “you and I are in for a long night. I’ll be waking you up every hour to check your pupils to see if your condition changes at all.” Harvey stood and stretched, “Ms. Leah, feel welcome to stay as long as you like. It can’t hurt to keep an extra pair of eyes on her.”

“I could stay overtime, Harvey.” Maru said as she came back with two pills and a glass of water for Leah.

“I seem to recall you talking about a time sensitive experiment this morning.” Harvey recalled, making Maru smack the side of her head. “You’re right! I got to go now! Good night everyone!” Maru called behind her as she rushed out to the waiting room then out of the building.

“I’m going to take the first of my many naps lined up for tonight. I’ll see you ladies in about an hour. Try to get some rest.” Harvey said before leaving to walk up the stairs to his apartment.

Finally Leah and (Y/n) were alone again. (Y/n) sunk down into the covers and sighed deeply. She turned to face Leah, concerning the sculptor by how small she looked.

“You’re not too upset with me, are you?” (Y/n) asked, surprising Leah.

“I’m not upset with you. Why would I be upset with you?”

“I just beat the crap out a person. Sure they are your ex, but you cared about them at some point so it must have been hard to watch. I can’t imagine what you must think of me now.” (Y/n) whispered, she was so quiet Leah had to lean closer and even then she was straining to hear.

“(Y/n), I like you. Nothing that happened today changed how much I like you. It certainly didn’t make me like you any less,” Leah rested her hand over (Y/n)’s cheek, “Kel made their choice when they decided to come to Pelican Town and confront us. I wish it hadn’t gone down the way it did, but that’s not our fault. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“I’m glad you’re okay too. I was worried.”

“I wish we could start this day all over,” Leah moaned, “First day as official girlfriends and we get into a fist fight.”

(Y/n) laughed lightly, closing her eyes to combat the pain that came from her jostling. “Abigail thought it was a pretty great date activity.”

“She would think that.” Leah rolled her eyes, “she also eats rocks.”

“Well, think about it this way. Until I’m allowed to take up all my farming duties again, you can do whatever you want with me.”

“Whatever I want, hmm?” Leah tapped her lips with her index finger, “would it be to forward if me to ask for a kiss?”

“You may, just be careful with my split lip. I won’t be able to explain what happened to Harvey if you make it worse.” (Y/n) said.

“One gentle kiss, coming right up.” Leah wiggled on the bed’s stiff hospital sheets until she laid face to face with (Y/n). Their lips met in a soft brushing that was almost ghost like, but rather than leaving them with a chill, warmth bloomed between them.

“Wow.” (Y/n) grinned.

“If you thought that was good, wait until I can get more involved with it.”

“So confident. I like it.” (Y/n) squinted, “could you turn the light off? It’s really starting to hurt my eyes.”

“Of course.” Leah got up and switched off the half the lights to keep their side of the room in darkness but allow Harvey to still be able to see when he came back.

“Now come cuddle, please.” (Y/n) asked sleepily reaching her arms out.

“Nothing would make me happier.”

Leah kicked off her boots and shimmied under the sheets to join (Y/n) and wrapped her arms around her. Leah let the exhaustion of the day roll over her and she had nearly let sleep claim her before her eyes shot open and she propped herself up on her elbow to lean over (Y/n).

“Did I really sign a ‘fuck you’ when we first met?!” She asked, appalled.

(Y/n)’s response was to laugh sleepily into Leah’s chest.

#stardew valley x reader #stardew valley oneshots #sv leah #stardew valley leah #leah x reader #sv leah x reader #stardew valley leah x reader #stardew valley

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anjanettexcordonia · 4 years

Text

The Spare Chapter One: Maldives

Book: The Royal Romance A/U

Rating: Mature (18+); NSFW; some language

Characters/Pairings in this part: Liam x MC; mentions of Liam x OC; Leo x Madeleine; Drake; Maxwell

Word count: 3,286(+/-) Future chapters will hopefully not be this long.

A/N: Some characters belong to Pixelberry.

Tags: If you would like to be added or removed please let me know. Only tagging those that specifically asked for permatag.

@yourmajesty09 @gkittylove99

“Are you ready for this Brother? You know if you want to back out now, the jet is ready just in case.”

Leo smirked at his younger brother. “ My brother, the cynic. I love her Li and I know one day you’ll find someone. You have to let what Maria did to you go.” Liam rolled his eyes.

Two hours later they arrived at the cathedral. It was the royal wedding of the century. Leo and Madeleine were the epitome of royalty. The country couldn’t have been more proud for the reigning monarch and his new Queen. The reception followed the ceremony and the happy couple danced the night away without a care in the world.

King Leonardo and Queen Madeline were set for their month long honeymoon while Liam handled the country.

“Listen little brother, if you need anything ask Dad or Regina before you call us. We have a duty to produce an heir and I fully intend on making that happen.” Leo winked at Madeleine. “Liam, don’t hesitate to call.” She rolled her eyes at her husband. “The King here is getting a little ahead of himself, I think.” “Don’t worry about a thing while you're gone.” Liam kissed Madeleine on the cheek and shook Leo’s hand. “Enjoy marital bliss lovebirds, don’t worry about a thing stateside.”

It was smooth sailing running the country while the King and Queen were away. Liam worked with Constantine to secure Cordonia’a place in the UN. He also managed to get Leo an entrance in the International Trade Exchange. After the royal couples homecoming ball Liam and Leo sat in Leo’s study with a tumbler of scotch in each of their hands. “Thanks for everything you have done, Li.” “That’s what I am here for, Your Majesty” Liam said, with a sarcastic grin. “Sometimes I hate this shit but Madeleine loves it and I love her.” Leo shrugged. “Any news on an heir yet?” Liam asked, as he sipped his drink. “No, we decided to wait a while. Adjust to our positions. What about you? You ready to get back out there?” “Where is out there? I’m good where I’m at.” Liam said, smoothly but he knew he wasn’t fooling his older brother. “Oh here Li, Maddie booked you a villa in the Maldives for a week as a thank you. Take it, blow off some steam. Maybe you’ll meet someone.” “I wish you all would get off my damn back. I’m the spare. Who cares if I’m single? Between you, Connie, Regina and Max, I can’t get a minutes of fucking peace. I’m glad you married Maddie. She’s the only on that doesn’t give a fuck. Learn something from her.” Liam snapped, “I’ll take the vacation, but only the get the fuck away from here.” “Stop being so emotional Li, we just worry about you.”

A month later, Liam boarded the royal jet destined for South Asia. He decided to take the trip alone with no security detail. The time away from everyone he felt would give him some perspective over where his life was headed. He was the spare after all. Not much was expected of him except to show up when needed. He wasn’t needed to run a country. He couldn’t choose any job he wanted, he was still a figurehead of the Royal family. He didn’t even have a girlfriend.

“My son, I do hope you find a woman worthy of you soon. You may not be king, but its always beneficial to the stability of the monarchy to establish heirs.” Constantine’s words played on repeat in the back of Liam’s mind.

“Sir, sir, we’ve arrived.” Liam woke to the attendant shaking him awake. Liam departed the jet and headed to his private villa. Good taste Maddie. The Maldives was quiet this time of year. Not many tourists which Liam was excited about. He wanted time alone. His villa was the most secluded. No one would be bothering him, he hoped. The villa was a large one bedroom bungalow with a glass bottom floor. He could see straight to the bottom of the crystal clear water below. Liam got settled in and decided to stay in and relax with a glass of scotch and a book George Orwell’s 1984.

Tap Tap Tap

What the fuck was that? Liam sat up. He was dozing off, the sun outside was setting. He looked down.

Who the fuck is that?

A girl was tapping on the glass floor beneath him. She was in a light blue string bikini with scuba gear strapped to her.

Tap Tap Tap she tapped more frantically.

She pointed to the hatch directing him to open it. He ran over and opened it and she climbed out. She took the regulator out of her mouth and unzipped her vest. “Ugh sorry. I was following a fish and got stuck. I didn’t mean to intrude. I’m Camilla. Most call me Cami.” She stuck out her free hand for a handshake. Liam just stood in place frozen. He couldn’t move or speak.

This is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen! What did she say her name was? Camilla? Say something you idiot!!

“Ummm okay.. I’ll go. I’m only further down the beach. It’s okay if I use the front door?” Liam nodded his head, still unable to speak. Cami started towards the door. “Wait, I’m sorry, I’m Liam. I just didn’t expect to see someone, so beaut… coming through my floor” he ran to open the door for her. “Here I’ll carry that for you.” He reached for her oxygen tank. “No no I got it.” “It’s the least I can do for my rudeness. Are you within walking distance or we can drive?” “Walking is fine, as long as that’s not too heavy for you?” Cami winked and pointed to her vest in his hand. Liam laughed nervously unsure of what to say. “Lead the way, Camilla.” Cami felt a tingle down her spine at the way her name fell off his full lips. “So, Liam? Right?,” he nodded his head, “what brings you to the Maldives, business or pleasure?” “Neither really, relaxation, alone time, what about you? Are you a local?” “Local?,” she laughed, “I wish, no I am here for R&R like you. Alone time? You’re on vacation alone?” “Yep, just me. That weird huh?” They made it to her bungalow. Six bungalows. Liam thought to himself. “Well this is me” Cami said as they stood at the end of the bridge that led to her front door. “Cami, where have you been?” a girl that looked strikingly like the one standing in front Liam. “Sorry that’s my sister,” Cami whispered to Liam, “I’ll be there in a minute Ans.” Ansley didn’t listen. She came striding right next to Cami. “Who is this?” Ansley asked out loud. She looked Liam up and down. “He’s cute, look at this chiseled abs Cam, mhmm..” “You’re engaged stupid. Go inside.” Cami snapped at her sister. “I’m sorry Liam, you’ll have to excuse my overzealous twin sister.” “Oh it’s fine, she likes my abs. Maybe I should be shirtless more often,” Liam winked at Ansley. “Oh my God, Cam if you don’t kiss him I will.” “Go the fuck inside, Ansley.” Cam whispered, her face turning bright red. Ansley laughed and went back inside. “Well, thanks for not letting me drown earlier, I’ll see ya around Liam.” Cami went to grab her stuff and go inside, but without thinking Liam pulled her into a soft kiss. Cami pulled away. “Umm thanks bye.” She ran inside leaving Liam standing at the end of the bridge.

“Shut up Ansley. Do not say a fucking word.” Cami slammed the door to her room. She threw herself down on the bed. Her world felt like it was spinning. She couldn't help but think how soft and sensual the kiss was. She had never felt anything like it.

Liam walked home alone with his thoughts. His hands dug into his pockets as flip flops kicked up the sand behind him. He headed towards the beach to clear his thoughts. He didn’t know what took over his body when he kissed Cami but whatever it was he liked it. The way she tasted, mint mixed with salt of the ocean, and slight smell of coconuts in her hair. He sat on the beach and listened to the waves. It had been nearly 5 years since Maria had broken his heart. He closed himself off after that. He decided being alone was easier than getting hurt. There was an instant connection with Cami. He couldn’t deny the electricity between them. Liam called it a night and headed back to his bungalow. He checked his phone. No new messages. He laid on the bed with a thud, flicked the light off and drifted into a deep sleep.

Bang Bang Bang “Liammmm are youuuu in there?” Bang Bang Bang

Liam rolled over with a groan and checked his phone. 3:17am

Bang Bang “Open Uppp”

“Who is it? It’s three o’clock in the morning!” Liam yelled. He climbed out of bed and stumbled to the door still groggy from sleep. “Cami?” He said, completely alert at the sight of her. “Heyyyy Liiiiaamm.” Cami slurred, “Can I come in?” “Are you drunk Cami?” She pulled a bottle of champagne she was holding behind her back and handed it to him. “Want some?” She asked, leaning against the door frame. “Sure. Come in.” He ushered her inside and to the large sofa. He grabbed a water for Cami and poured himself a glass of the champagne she brought. “Maybe have some water first.” He handed her the bottle. “So what’s bring you over?” “That kiss.. I thought we could.. try it again..?” Liam looked up. She crashed her lips onto his. She forced his lips apart and into his mouth. The electricity radiated from their bodies. Liam fisted her blonde locks with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her on his lap. Liam picked Cami up as she wrapped her toned, sun kissed legs around his waist. He carried her to the bed and laid her down on her back, their kiss never breaking. Cami ran her fingers down the elastic of his boxers. “Wait Cami, we shouldn’t. You’re drunk.” Cami knew he was right. Liam rolled on his side next to her. He kissed her on the forehead and wrapped his arm around her. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Mmm.. moist.. tight.. Liam woke from his dream. He still felt the sensations he was feeling while he was asleep. “Fuck Cami” he moaned. Her tongue swirled around the tip of his growing cock. She licked the beads of precum. Liam pulled the sheet off so he could watch her work his member. She looked him in the eyes as she took him all the way down her throat. Liam had never been so turned on. “Come here. It’s my turn.” Liam pulled her up and kissed her passionately as he rolled her to her back. He kissed and nipped at her already peaked nipples. He nipped her hip bones and sucked leaving his masks behind. He slid a finger through her moist folds. He brought his mouth to her bundle of nerves. Cami almost leaped off the bed at the feel of his tongue swirling her clit. He continued the lashing of her clit and pushed a finger inside. He pumped in and out curling his finger against her most sensitive spot. He could feel her let go at the pleasure of his fingers. He climbed back up hovering above her on his elbows and kissed her until her lips were swollen and bruised. He grabbed a condom out of the night stand drawer. “Let me,” Cami said seductively. She leaned forward and unrolled the condom to the base of his length. “Fuck you make not want to to wear this, I want you so much Camilla.” He lined himself up with her dripping center. He thrust deep and slow and allowed her to adjust. He groaned at how tight she felt around him. She wrapped her legs around and rolled her hips to meet his thrusts. He took a nipple in his mouth and sucked as he thrust inside her. He felt her walls start to flutter the harder he thrust inside her. “Cum for me Camilla” his words were all it took for her to come completely undone. She screamed his name as his thrusts became more frantic. He gripped her hips digging his fingers into her skin as he erupted inside her. He leaned down and kissed her deeply as pulled himself out of her. He laid next to her and pulled her into his arms. Neither one of them could find the words to say.

“I leave in a week.” Cami finally broke the silence. “Me too” Liam whispered, “Spend the week with me.” “Okay. My sister is leaving early. Wedding emergency.”

They spent the next week enjoying each other. They learned everything they could about each other. Liam told her about his family in Cordonia. His brother and his wife. His father's retirement. She told him about Graduate School and the pressures she was facing from her family over choosing a job. When they weren’t talking they were learning everything they could about each other’s bodies. Kisses, licks, bits, moans and screams.

Six days later after spending the night exploring each other, Liam and Camilla laid in on the glass floor completely naked looking down at the fish below. “Stay one more week with me, Cam” Liam whispered. “I already extended my trip, but it’s just one more week and I have to go,” Liam pulled her into his arms,“Every second with you is everything, you are everything, go on a date with me?” “Okay. But our dinner options may be limited due to the isolated island.” She spoke softly. “Leave it to me my love.” Liam felt her body tense at her words. He didn’t know why he said it. Oh my God it’s been a week you idiot! He screamed in his head.

Cami woke the next morning to find Liam’s side of the bed empty and cold. She threw on Liam’s tshirt that was on the floor from the night before and headed to the kitchen. A note was leaned against the coffee pot full of freshly brewed coffee for her.

Hey Baby,

Enjoy your coffee & meet me at the beach.

-L

P.S.

Wear something you can get wet.

Camilla smiled and finished her coffee. She took a quick shower and brushed her teeth. She threw on an all white cheeky string bikini and a pair of Ray Bans and headed down to the beach. As she got closer to the beach she saw a large white tent set up with the the corners tied open. Liam was sitting on a thick blanket with pillows surrounding him and a glass of champagne in his hand.

“Liam?” Camilla whispered. Liam jumped up at the sound of her voice. Her voice was a siren song in his ears. “Hey Baby,” Liam leaned down and kissed Cami on the cheek, “join me?” They drank, ate, and laughed together. Cami felt herself falling. I love you, damn those three words, you leave in two days Cami. Get yourself together. “Liam, we need to talk.” She lowered her head avoiding eye contact. She knew if she looked in his eyes she would get lost, better yet she would drown in those deep pools of mysterious blue. “I leave in two days. I go back to reality on different ends of the Earth.” “I know Cam, we can try can’t we? I can visit New York, you can come to Cordonia.” “No Liam, it’ll never work. We both have obligations.” Liam lifted her head to meet her eyes. “Give me today tonight.” Liam kissed her so deeply it left her dizzy. They spent the rest of the night into the early morning making up for time they didn’t they had lost.

The day came for them to leave their tropical paradise and their love for the moment. Neither had spoken a word to each other. Neither finding the words. Cami sat on the bad after packing her suitcase. Her flight boarded in an hour. Liam’s flight didn’t leave until later that night. “Cami, can we stay in touch?” Liam sat next to Cami and laced his fingers through hers. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea. I just.. It’s time for me to go..” Cami stood up. Liam stood up and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m not saying good-bye Liam,” she whispered as tears welled up in her eyes. “Then don’t say anything at all,” Liam wiped the tears away as they fell down her cheeks, “I”ll drive you the airport.” Liam lifted her into his arms and carried her to his black Range Rover parked in the parking lot near the villa entrance. Cami stared out the passenger window without saying a word. Liam held her hand in his lap tightly as he drove. He dreaded having to watch her board the plane not knowing whether he would ever see her again.

They pulled up to the tarmac and Liam jumped out and ran around the car to open the passenger door for Cami. Cami leaned forward and buried her head in her hands as the sobs took over. “Why is this so hard after only two weeks, Liam?” Liam pulled her hands from her face. “I don’t know. We will see each other again. I can feel it, my love.” She got out of the car and he wrapped her in one last kiss. A kiss filled with love and sadness. A kiss that made their world stop turning and everything around them melted away. Liam pulled away and kissed her forehead, her cheeks, and her nose like he was memorizing every inch of her features. “My love,” Cami interrupted Liam, “Don’t say it. Will you text me?” “Every day.” Liam watched as Cami boarded the plane. She waved before the plane doors shut. He watched as her plane took off and disappeared above the clouds. A familiar feeling he hadn’t felt in two weeks, what was almost a distant memory flooded him. Loneliness. She already felt like a figment of his imagination. Liam drove back to his bungalow to pack. He passed by Cami’s bungalow. An emptiness he didn’t recognize creeped into his heart. He walked into his bungalow and pulled out his phone. He needed someone to talk to. Someone to tell him what to do.

“Drake.. Ya it’s Li. Ya sorry I took off for two weeks without telling you.. Everything’s fine. I’ll be home tomorrow. So I’m calling because I met a girl..”

Liam told Drake everything about Cami. How they met and her sister. How they had an instant unexplainable connection. How he thought he was in love. How he thought she was the one. The One.

“Listen Li, Go after her. Don’t be a fucking idiot. I’ll be on the next flight to New York, ugh apparently Max too. Do you know where she lives?” Drake asked.

“I don’t even know her last name. She has a twin sister named Ansley and she’s graduating from Columbia Law next week. And she’s from Manhattan, New York. That’s kinda all I got. I have her number but I am sure she doesn’t want me chasing her down...”

“I’ll get Bas on it. I’m sure he has plenty of time since Maddie locked Leo down,” Drake laughed, “we’ll find her.”

#choices pixelberry altenateunivers theroyalromace princeliam kingleo trr fluff liamrhys cordonia

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horrorslashergirl · 4 years

Note

Chromeskull blackmailing the reader after he sees her kill her abusive father. Her father use to let Jesse use his funeral parlor and such so now the reader has to as well It's tense at first but Jesse ends up gaining feelings for and readers unsure what she feels about him until he saves her life from home invader. Sorry for the word vomit. 😊

Not exactly what you wanted, but I hope it turned out right at last 50%

Chromeskull x Reader- Farewell Job

There were a few things that Jesse Cromeans disliked, down from having his car scratched to a wrinkled suit, the most were when someone was in debt to him and the fucker had the audacity to play dumb and not answer his texts, especially the threatening ones. Normally, he would let his co-workers deal with such insignificant concerns, but none ignored Jesse Chromeskull Cromeans and got away without at last a broken wrist.

That's why he was driving at midnight full-on speed down the road to the funeral house where the old geezer was doing his business, and where Jesse sometimes decapitated his piggies. He couldn't wait to sink his knife into the man's back, maybe skin his legs off? He will have time to think about it once he has him bound to a chair begging for his life.

After one hour of speeding down and ignoring red lights, he managed to get to the said funeral house, parking the Bentley as the engine's sound died down into the silence of the night. Getting out of the car, he put on the chromed skull mask, smirking at the familiar coldness of it. He took the silver suitcase and waltzed to the front entrance which was surprisingly open.

No wonder...The disgusting bastard had a habit of drinking and always forgot to lock it. Not the first time.

Jesse expected to see the old scumbag passed down on a chair or better yet on the floor, blackout drunk, but imagine the surprised behind the silver mask when he saw the man on the floor with his head bashed in, brains spilling out.

Well, that is surely unexpected.

The old and rusty skin close by with pieces of the brain was probably the primary weapon.

Someone got here first.

Jesse took one step towards the corpse and he heard a door open and felt something sharp slash the black material of his coat along with a slightly deep wound of his biceps.

Brown eye locked on a feral face twisted into a deadly scowl that promised murder. The culprit was a female, young, and was ready to aim another hit, but Jesse was quicker and he knocked what looked like a scalpel from the tiny hand. His hand fisted her shirt and slammed her against the wall, pinning her there.

Despite the position she was in, no fear was in her eyes that were bloodshot, probably from lack of sleep. She was still snarling like she wanted to bite his head off.

"Let me go or I will cut your balls off!" You screamed at him, nails digging into the sleeves of his coat, trying to inflict some type of pain.

Jesse waisted little no time and after some struggling and an almost painful hit to his manhood, he had you bound to a chair, glaring at him with acidic eyes.

For someone so small you sure were a feisty one. He smirked behind the mask at your immobilized form. He couldn't recall the last time he was faced with such a dangerous piggy.

His usual piggies were always begging, pleading for their lives, or just running away, but fighting back was a low occurrence. To say the least, he was impressed, not many had hurt him and you did it so well, the stinging in his biceps hurt like a bitch, but Jesse was used to being stabbed and shot, all the tattoos of covering up his scars were proof to that.

He was looming over you, debating what he should do. He was so tempted to rip your jaw off, but that wasn't the primary reason why he was here. He needed some information because the fucker that was in debt to him was dead.

Jesse pulled out his phone and quickly typed in.

'Who are you, piggy?'

You arched an eyebrow at the tall man.

"Why should I answer you?"

WITTY PIGGY.

'Because I can do worse than what happened to that corpse over there.'

"The fucker had it coming." You found yourself muttering under your breath.

That piqued Jesse's interest. You seemed to speak with venom when mentioned about the old male.

'Related?'

"Father....But why the fuck do you even care?!" Your aggressive demeanor quickly came back and Jesse had to admit the way your brows were furrowing and eyes blazing with fury were kind of cute.

'Because your DEAR father owns me a lot of money.'

"Not my fucking problem." You snarled and in the dim light, Jesse could see the old purple bruises around your left eye, along with deep fingerprints on your neck.

Not done by him. It didn't take a genius to figure out what your father did to you. No wonder you were like a tiger that came out of a circus cage, ready to destroy everything in your path.

'I must admit, you put on a good show. I'm impressed.'

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, jerk." You snorted.

Jesse licked his lips behind the mask, so tempted to use that mouth of yours for other things that cursing him out.

Yes, killing you won't get him any benefice, although he was tempted to cut your tongue off.

'You own me.'

You spat on his silver mask, making his chest rumble like he was ready to pounce you, but Jesse composed himself.

"I don't own you shit." You muttered in a murderous tone and if Jesse could talk he sure would laugh.

'You have no idea in what deepness you are, little girl.'

You internally groaned at the use of his words, always been treated like you were some hopeless child that couldn't stand up for themselves.

Well, tonight you proved everyone wrong by your masterpiece a few feet away from you two.

"Care to enlighten me why?" you asked, curious about what he was implying.

The skull masked man's broad shoulders moved up and down, silently chuckling at your blind eyes of what was happening. He began to type, this time taking a little longer.

'Tell me if I am wrong, but you just killed someone and you will most likely go to jail, despite that you will say that it was in pure defense. Judges these days aren't so merciful, doll. You wouldn't want to rot between four walls of concrete, would you now?'

You swallowed down at the electronic voice, nibbling on your lower lip in thought. As much as you hated it, he was right and by your expression, his body language spoke of satisfaction.

Egocentric jerk.

Here goes the typing again.

'But I am willing to make you a sweet deal that will assure you freedom. Your father owned me cash that you couldn't make even if you sucked on old men cocks all your life.'

You felt disgusted and if your hands were free you would have shown that phone down the man's throat.

"You're saying that...."

'Work for me and you will be safe.'

"Doesn't sound like freedom to me."

'Better than jail, no?'

Winning asshole.

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

Your opinion on Jesse Cromeans was that he was a man which you would love go gauge his remaining brown eye out, that was the first month, but in time you learned to live with him being your 'boss'.

Nothing screamed dream job than cleaning the mess after the killings of your boss.

If you looked that over you could say that your life was at last perfect. He always made sure you had everything you needed and you couldn't be happier; down from expensive clothing to delicious rich food, you were spoiled, so different from your past life.

You were currently scrubbing down the tiles of a bathroom after a 'piggy' as your boss liked to call them had her guts spilled out. You whipped the sweat from your forehead with the back of your hand, then you heard footsteps approach.

When you turned around you were meet with the scarred face of Jesse, the black eyepatch covering the empty socket of his eye, the remaining brown one observing your work.

'You get better and better.' he signed.

The first thing that Jesse did when you agreed to work for him was to take you to ASL lessons because typing over again on his phone was irritating.

"I take that was a compliment." you muttered, throwing the rags into a black bag to be burned.

'Are you free tonight?' he signed.

"Another murder scene that needs to be cleaned?" you asked, disposing of your gloves.

Jesse chuckled silently and stepped to your form, taking your chin between his fingers, your eyes moving from his face to his full inked forearms. His hand left your chin to sign.

'No. Dinner tonight. I've got you a nice dress and shoes.' he signed, making you look at him dumbfounded.

"B-But you're my boss and-" you tried to reason, but a finger pressed to your lips.

You wanted to yell at him that this was forbidden, not to mention the age gap between the two of you.

'Taboo? You know I am notorious for being a nonconformist.' he signed with a smug smirk.

You rolled your eyes and stepped away from him, exiting the warehouse and walking outside.

"You are contemptible." you mused and Jesse followed after you.

'So? Tonight? At 7?' he insisted, ignoring your insults.

You couldn't deny that it was tempting. He wasn't like any other man, always sybaritic, fast-living, and exorbitant luxurious vibes.

You could swear that he was the perfect incarnation of pride, not that you minded, because it was attractive, just like the forbidden fruit. You knew how poisonous he was, but the sweetest taste was mind-blowing.

"Do I have to wear heels?" you asked, making him grin, his arms wrapping around your waist, a squeak leaving your lips at the sudden touch.

His expression spoke more: 'What do you think?'

You groaned, resting your forehead against his chest.

"You own me big time for this."

#Laid to rest 2009 #Chromeskull: Laid to rest 2 #Chromeskull #Jesse Cromeans #chromeskull x reader #jesse cromeans x reader #slasher x reader #horror movies

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pinkbubbles-and-bigtroubles · 5 years

Text

Colour Me In (Part 9)

Maggie fixed her makeup in the mirror for the fifth time knowing Calum must be impatiently waiting for her to finish.

Calum is taking me with him to go pick up Luke. I'm freaking out

You're kidding me… You get to meet his friends before I do?

Apparently his friends aren't worthy of meeting Princess Eliza

Call me princess again and see what happens

I'm not afraid of you.. Luke terrifies me, but not you

You'll be fine, Calum, maybe, not so much

I gotta go, we'll talk later, THANK YOU ILYSM

Maggie finished her retouch and cursed her curly hair for the millionth time in her life. Calum had gone out for a smoke, and she tried not to crinkle her nose a bit at the smell as she walked up.

He noticed her expression, "yeah your sister hates them too." He quickly stubbed it out, "Let's go get Luke."

Luke climbed into the Range Rover and he was much taller than Maggie expected. He was mid sentence complaining about something Ashton said when he caught sight of her in the front passenger seat. His blue eyes went wide, and he started stuttering before whispering to Calum,

"You should've given me a heads up dude, I can't remember any of the signs."

Maggie giggled and Luke whipped his gaze back to her, "wait you could hear me?" She nodded and Luke looked more confused, "ok so if you're not Eliza who are you then?" She was pleasantly surprised at the accusing glance Luke gave Calum, but he just laughed and introduced them.

"Luke this is Maggie, Eliza's sister, and Maggie, this is Luke," Luke's entire face lit up with a smile and Maggie was sure she'd never seen a more beautiful man.

"Maggie, oh my God HI, I'd give you a hug, but that would be awkward in this car. I'm thrilled to meet you. He hasn't let your sister come around yet. Maybe if you come with her this dummy might not be so worried," Luke was clearly excited and bouncing his seat.

"What's he so worried about?" Maggie scoffed at the idea.

"He didn't know how to sign very well and didn't want her to feel left out. He thought about asking Kevin, but Kevin always gives Cal a lot of shit. You're perfect though." Luke stopped, blushing when he realized what he'd said.

"Real smooth Luke," Calum laughed and Maggie felt her face grow warm, glad she was dark enough not to visibly blush.

"Ok we'll drop you off at home or you can come with us to rehearsal, but you might get bored," Calum squeezed her hand. She had cheered up immensely since he'd first picked her up, and he kind of didn't want to leave her alone.

"I'd love to see you guys rehearse, but I know the dogs need let out and fed," Maggie tried not to pout, she hated her day had to end.

"What if we waited for you to take care of the dogs?" Luke asked, "then you can come hang out with us."

Calum thought it was cute to see Luke acting so eager. Maggie nodded and while that say outside in Calum's car waiting for her to finish up with the pets Cal filled Luke in on the internship, Kevin's mom and Eliza being out of town.

Are you really going to take my sister to meet all of your friends before I meet any of them?

It's not like that, please don't be mad. I'll make it up to you I promise.

I'm not happy about this at all, but don't say anything to Maggie. I'll talk to you later

Calum sighed, determined not to let Maggie see how worried he was. Luke was rambling on about how pretty Maggie was and did Calum think he had a chance with her.

"No, not in a million years," Calum told him and Luke pouted.

Michael and Ashton weren't quite as enthusiastic as Luke, but still welcomed Maggie like she was already family. Everyone agreed it was time the guys meet Eliza, and Maggie got a little choked up when she saw all the guys had made an effort to learn basic signs.

Ashton and Calum worked on a song Cal had been writing for a couple months while Luke peppered Maggie with questions.

"How do you know five languages"

"Practice, ASL and Portuguese I've grown up with the same as English. I learned Farsi very young, and Spanish isn't that hard to pick up from Portuguese."

"Why don't you drink?"

"Because I'm Muslim, no booze or pork."

"But you don't wear a headscarf"

"No, that's complicated. I've put serious thought into it, but my mother doesn't want me wearing a hijab. She says it will hurt my career prospects and potentially put me in physical danger."

"I can't believe you have to worry about someone hurting you for that," Luke was troubled at the thought.

Maggie shrugged,"I've taken shit for it most of my life. You get used to looking over your shoulder."

Luke frowned at the casualness of her response, and that her eyes betrayed the pressures she was under everyday just being herself.

Suddenly Calum switched on his bass and he and Ashton had the entire room vibrating so hard Maggie could feel the music through her feet.

It was a catchy groove and she was quickly nodding her head and feeling it. Calum was grinning her when they stopped.

"Is that new?" she asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to write something for my girlfriend, but since she can't hear I thought maybe she could feel it, is that dumb?" He stopped smiling and looked away suddenly shy.

"That's incredibly sweet, maybe she won't kill you after all," Maggie was in awe of everything Calum was doing to win her sister over. Not to mention Luke was giving her all kinds of feelings with his little smiles and winks, he was shamelessly flirting and she didn't mind at all.

"You know about that?" Calum looked surprised.

"Are you kidding she's mad at me too, I'm gonna get the worst of it," Maggie told him.

"How about we finally meet Eliza then," Michael cut in " everybody can come over to my house, we can have a picnic out back and meet the girl Calum is in love with."

Calum busied himself with his phone pretending not to hear Michael, or at least the last part.

He'd been drunk and emotional that night and Mikey just put him on blast in front of Maggie.

Calum looked up to find everyone staring at him, "did you say picnic? Sounds good? I need to make a phone call I'll be right back," Calum stuttered and went outside for a smoke.

"He's gonna kill you for that," Ashton warned Mikey.

"How serious is he? Why is he so nervous about you guys meeting Eliza?" Maggie asked.

"He doesn't want us to embarrass him in front of her, and we will," Michael ignored Ashton shaking his head at him.

"So you do this with all your girlfriends?" Maggie looked at each of them.

"Of course, right now Luke and Ashton are single, but Crystal has seen these knuckleheads at their worst so have their exes. Cal hasn't had a relationship since he was a teenager and now it's his turn," Michael shrugged.

"We're just teasing Cal, we are excited to meet Eliza because she's all he ever talks about. You should come, I know Cal was nervous about not knowing how to sign that well," Ashton tried to smooth things over before Maggie got them to say too much. He switched the topic to arranging Eliza's welcome party.

By the time Eliza came home a day later she'd calmed down quite a bit towards Maggie. It helped that Maggie was just beaming with happiness in the Snapchat she send immediately after Calum dropped her off. Mostly talking about Luke, but telling Eliza how excited the guys were to finally meet her.

When she got home they replayed the entire day, blow by blow with Eliza asking the questions for once. After Maggie had gone over everything Eliza was still annoyed at Calum, but excited about the picnic. First she needed to get things straightened out with her boyfriend.

I'm on my way over

Calum saw her message and his stomach dropped. They'd texted the entire time but Eliza was definitely being a bit chilly towards him, and this would be his first time seeing her since she went to Santa Barbara.

He met her at the door with Duke at his heels. Wrapping her up in a hug inhaling her scent and letting her hair tickle his face before his lips found hers. She'd only been gone a few days but they'd missed each other. The kiss deepened and his fingers dug into her waist as her hands slid up his chest and around his neck. It was only Duke pawing at their legs eager to say hi that broke their embrace, but not before Eliza felt Calum get hard as she pressed her body into his. That would have to wait.

Eliza pulled him onto the couch sitting next to him but facing him.

"I'm sorry…" Calum signed but Eliza stopped him.

"That's not the problem," Eliza made sure he understood before continuing as Calum was trying to get less reliant on phones. "Maggie explained that you were worried about signing, but I've been deaf practically my whole life. I'm used to having to figure my way through situations. You know I lip read so please stop treating me like I'm going to break at any moment." Eliza stopped and Calum looked up from watching her hands.

"I didn't mean it like that," Calum signed back

"I know you didn't,but I'm deaf, not a child. If we're going to be together it's as equals. If I need your help you have to trust that I'll ask for it. I don't need you to protect me or feel sorry for me."

Eliza finished and Calum nodded looking so sad she thought he might cry.

Eliza reached out and stroked his jawline with her fingers tracing over his lips until he smiled at her.

"I'm really very lucky" she signed and he shook his head. Eliza swallowed hard and gathered her courage up to make her move. Her hand was resting on his chin and she made eye contact with him. She mouthed the words "very lucky" before sliding her hand to the back of his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. He reached for her hips and she felt bold enough to lift herself up onto him so she was straddling his lap. Her dress was bunched up around her thighs and Calum's jeans were painfully tight as Eliza was grinding down on him as they were kissing. He trailed soft kisses down her neck as his hands moved from her waist to her breasts. His thumbs finding her nipples through the thin fabric of her bra and dress leaving her dizzy and breathless. Instead of stopping him Eliza pushed down on his neck slightly whole arching her back up towards him. Calum took the cue and eased her dress and bra down her heavy breasts spilling out into his hands. His mouth latched onto her nipple and she moaned loudly her hand gripping his dark curls. She reached down to tug his shirt off of him but Calum stopped her.

"What are we doing sweetheart?" He signed trying to make sure before he got too lost in the moment.

"You don't want to?" Eliza asked.

"I want to, I want you, but I don't think we're ready to have sex yet." Calum concentrated on his hands but Eliza nodded.

"We can do other stuff" She signed back.

Calum gave her a wicked smirk and hooked his arms under her thighs and stood up with her in his arms. He carried her to his bedroom and laid her down on the bed before removing his shirt.

Looking down at her messy hair, kiss swollen lips and exposed breasts slick with his saliva it took every bit of restraint not to take her right then and there. He knew he had to wait and take his time. Calum wasn't going anywhere, Eliza had him hooked completely. He remembered their conversation from San Diego.

"Let me show you something," he signed positioning himself on his knees by her feet.

Her eyes went wide, panicking when she realized what he meant. She'd never had anyone go down on her before. Both her ex boyfriends found the idea repulsive and made her feel ashamed for even asking about it.

"You don't have to do that"she quickly signed

"I want to" he signed back

"I don't think I'll like it"

"Let me try, if you don't like it I'll stop"

"Don't you find it gross"

"Hell no and any guy who says that is a little bitch, let me show you" he raised his eyebrows in a question, his eyes pleading with her.

Eliza nodded and Calum quickly had his lips kissing their way up her thighs. He licked a broad stripe through her panties and Eliza whimpered the sound going straight through Calum. He knew he might cum in his pants just from the sounds she made but he didn't care. He slid her panties to the side and began exploring slowly with his tongue letting her responses guide him.

It wasn't long before Eliza was pushing her panties off to give him better access.

Nothing had prepared her for this. The sensations Calum was sending through every nerve in her body had her feeling electric with need and desire. The way his lips curled around her clit as his strong fingers pushed inside her, the way he could be gentle and rough at the same time had her worried she might pass out from sheer pleasure. Her feet beat against the bed as Calum expertly worked her over. Eliza felt her orgasm building and tried to fight it not wanting it to end yet but Calum wasn't about to let her deny him. It wasn't long before her breathy little moans became shrieks as her hands were tight fists in his hair, her hips bucking against his face as he brought her to back to back orgasms.

Eliza was breathless and dizzy by the time Calum finished. She crawled up next to her and cuddled her as she came down from her high. She laid on Calum's arm and traced circles across his chest and stomach watching his eyes flutter shut for a moment.

Calum dozed off for a second still uncomfortably erect in his jeans when he felt Eliza unzipping his pants and beginning to tug them down. His eyes for open and she shot him a sexy smile and signed "my turn."

@wildhearthood @kiiiimberlyriiiicker1995 @calumh-excess @cal-pal-cuddles @cal-puddies @angelbabylu @sublimehood @5sos-ficssmut @itstheholls

#calum 5sos #calum hood #5sos calum #calum hood imagine #calum hood blurbs #calum hood fanfiction #calum smut #calum hood smut #5sos #5sos luke #luke hemmings #deaf #sign language #asl #colour me in #Eliza

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abrusfanfics · 5 years

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The Society: Season 1, Episode 1 Reactions

Because I am a ginormous sucker for Lord-of-the-Flies / Isolated Society universes (shout out to my one true tacky love, Under the Dome), I have decided to type up my genuine moment-by-moment reacts of my first viewing of The Society.

- Theater nerds!!!! Indeed. I see my people and I salute them.

- “I could never do that,” says the blonde chick who is obviously gonna be the leader of the wayward children a la Clarke Griffon (The 100), Season 1.

- Oh damn okay, I’m all for portrayals of female pleasure. Some love triangle shit. Classic.

- Shitty terrible father or foster father for the kid of color. Also (awfully) classic.

- Eerie fuckwit adults making eerie fuckwit decisions through a window. How much you wanna bet one of them is fucking a high schooler?

- “Business as usual” she says, but she definitely wants to warn these kids that Some Shit is about to go down.

- Ye Old Religious Reference and One Smart Jock tropes all rolled into one. I Stan.

- OH MY GOD IT’S WHAT’S HIS FACE FROM SEPARATED AT BIRTH YESSSS I LOVE HIM HELLO SWEETNESS

- A storm. Foreboding.

- So uh who’s driving the busses if they’re supposed to be alone??

- No cell phone services. A true sign of the Millenial Apocalypse.

- Was I the only teenager that had an extensive Emergency Preparedness Plan in the event my life ever turned into a post-apocalyptic novel? Apparently?

- At least they have electricity for now?

- Oh okay they can at least call and text each other. Excellent.

- OH MY GOD UNDER THE DOME GIRL I TOTALLY CALLED IT talk about typecasting

- Annnddddd the obligatory “we’re really alone” party scene.

- IN THE CHURCH NO LESS, I salute you children.

- I better enjoy everyone being happy and alive while I can.

- HEY! This show lets it’s characters say “fuck.” Thank god.

- DAMN little blonde protagonist is about to get her heart broke. In a church. While drunk. I betchu another dark haired dude is gonna sweep her off her feet.

- Look everyone, at least Cassandra is trying to help.

- I love ASL in shows. Omg. 💕

- TALK ABOUT UNDER THE DOME. They’re completely cut off yo. Why not try just walking through the forest tho?

- Oh hey the boy is smart. “An exact replica.” That’s what I was thinking.

- “I’m just gonna send a text and let everyone know how fucked we are.” LOLOLOLOL. You’re a dumbass, but I admire your style kid.

- And cue the riots.

- Why does no one ever recommend IMMEDIATE work details and rations? Ugh.

- OH DANG I STAN LITTLE BLONDE GIRL WE THINK THE SAME. I LOVE YOU ANGEL. “The one that you are right now? You don’t wanna be that one.”

- Oh GOD does Cassandra have diabetes or something?

- Oh shit heart defect. She’s fucked.

- “If this is our new home, then I’ll learn how to take care of you.” Oh my god. He’s precious. He’s gonna die isn’t he?

- Hiking through the woods. Excellent. It’s not gonna get them anywhere obviously. But at least they’re trying.

- Yeah, fuck you and your money, Harry.

- Really? You didn’t see the snake RIGHT THERE?

- Look at Grizz? Is that his name? The nature boy. Look how calm he is. I want Grizz on my team.

- A HOUSE HAS BEEN SET ON FIRE IN EPISODE ONE, god these kids suck. I would not have been this inept in this situation. Nature abhors a vacuum. Someone fill the leader slot ASAP.

- Please let these two religious girls turn out to be lesbians together.

- Seriously, was not one of these kids a lifeguard that learned CPR as a summer job? Jesus Christ.

- LOL this deaf kid is just like.... “I’m just gonna roll with it, it’s fine.”

- Wow. The coin. So intense.

- I Stan two leader sisters. Yes. Get it girls.

- WHAT THE FUCK SOME PSYCHO KID WITH A GUN ALREADY?!?!!! Ugh.

- SHE JUMPED IN FRONT OF HER SISTER I AM SOBBING.

- Kelly, that was a dumb bitch move. Those dudes are violent. What even.

- Nothing like the first body to make the mood somber.

- THE PSYCHO IS DEAF DUDE’S BROTHER?!? Oh my god someone fucking kill him.

- Wow. Excellent overhead shot. Excellent soundtrack.

As predicted, I’m addicted!!!

#the society #episode #binge watching #grizz

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ikesenlemonadestandstories · 5 years

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Birthday Give A Way winners?

Hi everyone! Thanks for coming to play 4 truths and a lie! Below are the answers for all 5 rounds we played along with the winner of each round. As of right now you have until Wednesday August 14th at 10:00am EST to hit me up/dm me and we can talk logistics!

A few rounds had no winners so I did a random drawing of all the blogs that participated! Those winners are also posted below and you’re held to the same time stipulations :)

Thanks for all the love honeybees!

Round 1: @kthomas325

1. I have poured myself tea, only to realize my mug was upsideown. - it was a bad morning I am not proud that this happened to me... 2. I’ve been shocked my an electrical outlet! - I was a dumb 9 year old, what can I say? 3. I only cook once a week. - I quite enjoy cooking and try to make myself enough for lunch and dinner at least 4 times a week :P food is good! 4. I have internet explorer set as a default on one of my computers. - unfortunately my place of business only operates in Internet Explorer so I have it set as my default on my desktop at work and home to run programs. 5. It takes me over 30 minutes to do my make up. - its an art form, maybe I’ll show you guys some day?

Round 2: @arianne-blackfyre

1. I’ve been to a Disney park by myself. - my family took a disney trip and I was the only one who wanted to go to EPCOT so I took my grown self there for half the day before meeting my family in Animal Kingdom. (they eventually were persuaded to park hop with me tho!) 2. I abhor the smell of fresh cut grass. - super allergic to grass, makes me sneeze and my eyes water. I will audibly groan if I smell someone cutting the grass. 3. The only reason I play drinking games is for the free booze. - free booze is free booze fam! 4. I broke my own finger in an intense ASL debate. - it’s embarrassing and my deaf friends made fun of me for almost a month (they still sort of do) 5. I think beards are sexy. - I’m a microbiologist, beards are their own special brand of gross incubator. Lots of nope for T.

Round 3: @kthomas325

1. I’ve broken my foot twice playing volleyball. - I’m clumsy and want to say I cant help it but maybe I need to be a little less agressive...? 2. I sleep naked. - nope, I live with my brother. That’s a recipe for disaster... 3. I’ve seen a live Sumo match - I saw a few when i was in Japan. It’s crazy. Even got my photo taken with the #2 ranked wrestler in Japan :) 4. I always sing in the shower. - My brother will sometimes harmonize with me. I’m loud. it’s not a problem tho. 5. It took me 3 tries to pass a class in university. - Organic Chemistry, it happens fam. Don’t be discouraged! Eventually you’ll get it!

Round 4: NA

1. I refuse to own or operate and SUV. - All I’ve ever owned are SUV’s. In all honesty I’m a little uncomfy driving sedans. How do people drive that low to the ground? 2. I’ve never seen The Matrix - I haven’t seen a lot of movies actually. I’m sheltered and have no free time. 3. I’m allergic to all raw fruits and veggies. - I’m so allergic to pollen that I have a cross allergy. My body gets super mad when I eat raw fruits and veggies and I have a different reaction depending on what I eat. 4. I’m legally blind. - My vision is no longer able to be corrected to 20/20 with glasses (which is what my state considers legally blind) but it’s close enough that I’m still allowed to do things like drive (as long as I wear contacts). 5. I’ve trained with four different Olympic swimmers. - so hard fam, so hard. I swam for YEARS and did about a billion clinics. Never made my trial cuts, but i got close so it was worth it ;)

Round 5: NA

1. I didn’t discover wine until I was 23. - Like I said before. Sheltered. I’m okay now tho, my brother has ushered me into the wonderful world of wine. 2. I’ll only swim in the ocean drunk. - I sawm for years (15 to be exact), I teach swim lessons and I lifeguard on the side but you WILL NEVER CATCH ME IN THE OCEAN OR ANY BODY OF WATER I CANT SEE THE BOTTOM OF! Oh my gosh am I scared of the ocean fam! 3. I was one certificate away from being an EMT. - Took lots of classes before I decided what I wanted to do with my life. I don’t quite have to nerves or stomach to be an EMT. 4. I’m a twin - I am not, unfortunately. It’d be cool though I think. 5. I avoid escalators like the plague. - Was at the mall once when the power went out and we were being instructed to “just walk up the escalators” The power came back on, i was on the wrong one, totally fell all the way to the bottom of the escalator. It hurt. Again, super clumsy. I’ll just take the stairs.

Drawing Winners:

@jennacat84 and @navonneedsahug

Thanks for playing everyone!

#follower give away #ikesen birthday give away #come get yall juice

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mycngs-blog · 5 years

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it’s ya girl 𝒅𝒓𝒊 (nineteen — twenty next week !, she/her, pst), a soft edgy born with a name that means "dark one of the lord" on friday the 13th ! some fun facts are that i have the incredibly dangerous combo of high ambition and poor time management and i’d Risk It All for a.c.e, ateez, and loona ! so, anyway, here’s my girl olivia ! if you’re interested in plotting connections, feel free to im me or ask for my discord (where i would be Way easier to reach) !

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐎𝐍. 𝐒𝐇𝐄/𝐇𝐄𝐑. 𝐂𝐈𝐒𝐅𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄. ╱ was that 𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀 𝐌𝐘𝐔𝐍𝐆 i just saw in the hideaway lobby ? i hear the 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎 year old spends most of their time 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐔𝐓𝐎𝐑, but i’ve always just seen them 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐇𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐌 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒. they live in 𝐀𝐏𝐓 𝟓𝐂 and i often see them in the halls. they always give me a vibe of 𝐃𝐎𝐆-𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐒, 𝐂𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐃 𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐒, and 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐓.

* ╱ 𝒒 𝒖 𝒊 𝒄 𝒌 𝒔 𝒕 𝒂 𝒕 𝒔

𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗘: olivia clarisse myung

𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦: vi, oli, no one calls her liv tho

𝗔𝗚𝗘: twenty-two

𝗗𝗢𝗕: january 12, 1997

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗢𝗪𝗡: santa clara, california

𝗭𝗢𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗖: capricorn sun, pisces moon

𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡: bisexual

𝗢𝗖𝗖𝗨𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡: tutor

* ╱ 𝒃 𝒂 𝒄 𝒌 𝒈 𝒓 𝒐 𝒖 𝒏 𝒅

originally hailing from santa clara, california, the myung family was nothing short of a series of tech success stories. her father a machine learning engineer and her mother a user experience architect, it was to no surprise when olivia's older siblings (a sister 6 years older and a brother 4 years older) followed suit and found themselves pursuing similar careers. they were coded to be a stereotypical silicon valley family, so growing up, expectations were high for olivia, the last of the bunch.

olivia was that girl in school who knew she was smart and made sure everyone around her knew it as well. in high school, a lot of people didn’t really like her because they perceived her as a show-off, which she totally was, but she’s aight once you get past her insecurity-generated superiority complex. her parents were overprotective and pressured her to do better than her classmates, so she just grew up conditioned to be super competitive because she was kind of scared of her parents and therefore scared of failing them.

she majored in statistics at uc berkeley and ended up finishing in three years with plans to go into data analysis (she’s really good with numbers and doesn’t quite understand how people have trouble with math… Nerd).

a few months out of college she got offered a position with a startup company in seattle that she had interned for remotely in the past, so she made the trip to washington!

however, the company later began to experience major losses and had to let go of employees, which unfortunately included cleo, before dissolving completely. she had only been working there for about half a year.

olivia wasn’t ready to return home, wasn’t ready to break the news to her parents that she — in her mind — had failed, so she remained in seattle and kept up this lie of being a successful data analyst for a rising company, when in reality, she put all of her marbles in the wrong bag. she didn’t want to be the one to fail when everyone else in her family was succeeding, she didn’t want to be the disappointment, so she lied. she wasn’t that close with her family, so the vague information that their daughter was making Big Moves would suffice for them to sprinkle into conversations with their colleagues.

currently, she’s trying to get back on her feet and secure a stable position of a similar caliber, but in the meantime, she’s been back and forth between different jobs and also getting paid to tutor people (mostly over skype, sometimes irl). not being certain of what she’s doing terrifies her and Sucks because she’s not used to the feeling of not being good enough.

* ╱ 𝒑 𝒆 𝒓 𝒔 𝒐 𝒏 𝒂 𝒍 𝒊 𝒕 𝒚

olivia is like... accidentally blunt a lot ?? not even gonna lie, she really does not think before she speaks sometimes (book smart but not street smart Big Time)

i don't think she ever really had a Solid friend group growing up; she was the type to be on the border and never really belong to any specific set of people

she has, like, Zero patience and a low tolerance for stupidity, so how she manages to tutor people is something many people cannot comprehend

olivia's like the gordon ramsay of academia: rude if u act like u know everything, kinder and understanding if u genuinely want to learn something or get better

her demeanor is so deceiving i would say ?? she's the opposite of someone who looks intimidating but is actually really sweet — she's like a siren or some shit, seemingly approachable but once u do approach, u regret

despite the fact that she's quite cold 90% of first encounters, over time, she does warm up to people, which bring the coldness probability to about a 50% depending on how she feels about u

she’s not heartless i promise !! it’s mostly a front bc she was Played a lot growing up and has some trust issues :// when ur smart n want friends sometimes it’s ok to be used right ?? haha ?? :(( ??

her way of caring for people is .. tbh .. kinda awkward ?? she has compassion but she doesn’t really know how to express it without feeling kinda weird about it KSDLHDS she’s the type that wouldn’t be comforting emotionally but she tries .. her Best in her own way

did i say rly guarded ?? superiority complex turned impostor syndrome ?? someone PLEASE validate this girl , living in her siblings’ shadows did Not do her well

secretly a romantic but she thinks love is a privilege she hasn’t quite earned yet

in short, i’d say she could be classified as a Classic Tsundere

i feel like i didn't list that many redeeming traits DSGJSDG but she's got some !! she's dependable and a hard worker !! if ur close to her it's ride or die !!

* ╱ 𝒇 𝒖 𝒏 𝒇 𝒂 𝒄 𝒕 𝒔

can speak english, korean, french, spanish, and knows asl

owns a large collection of books; really into personal essays

has never been in a serious relationship; claims she’s too busy but really just lacks the ability to be vulnerable so she prefers things to be non-committal

when she was 14 she had a crush on this guy but then people found out and it eventually reached him ;/ he asked her out after school with some people around ;/ she accepted ;/ turned out he was joking ;/

can play the viola, clarinet, and piano

really really really good at rhythm games, especially osu !! played local tournaments before but when her parents found out she was investing a fat chunk of time into the activity, they had her stop ;/ now that she doesn’t live with them anymore, she’s taken it up again

surprisingly holds her alcohol well and is an affectionate drunk; perhaps if u met olivia when she's drunk she wouldn't be as intimidating

incredibly bad at responding to text messages !! it's like a roulette, she either replies within seconds or the text is lost forever and suddenly it's been months

#hide.intro #me . unoriginal . recycling my self intro but yk it rly b like tht sometimes #ya girl seein monsta x today so she'll be on and off depending !

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mxrainbowsheep · 5 years

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Music to My Ears

Chapter 1: Patton Herz

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

He rubbed his eyes as he woke up, wiping the grime away, he looked up at the clock and with one hand, and reached out to turn off the clock that was still beeping in the background, with the other.

Getting up, and putting on his thick framed glasses. He stretched and got up to take a shower. He was absolutely ecstatic about today, but he was also getting butterflies in his stomach just thinking about the event going on later in the next several hours.

He turned on the water and took a shower. After cleaning himself up in the shower, he stepped out and patted himself off. His burnished copper colored hair hung over his eyes sopping wet, quickly he took the towel to his head and shook his hair basically dry.

He brushed his teeth, and applied smell goods. Dressing in a teal shirt with some khakis, which made him look like a suburban dad, not that he minded. He put on his glasses, they were black, thickly framed. Behind his glasses were a pair of golden eyes that shined in the light and a face that was littered with freckles.

Walking out of the bathroom he walked to the kitchen getting an apple and a handful of trail mix. Chomping on his breakfast he scrolled through his phone liking cute photos of dogs and cats or other cute animals, and reblogging them.

As his hair dried it became more wispy and more curly. It just looked messy but he didn’t mind.

Patton Herz was a man who enjoyed puns. He also played guitar and he wrote silly and educational songs for kids online, he never really expected to get big, and he was not disappointed when he didn’t. Having been on Youtube for maybe three years he only had 167 subscribers. Which to him, was a whole lot. He didn’t get many hate comments actually it seemed that it was mostly parents and teachers thanking him for making such songs, and those types of comments always made him happy! Because at least some kiddos were being helped learn.

Because if there was one thing that Patton had learned while taking children’s psychology during college, (he minored in music theory) it was that children retained more information and ended up with better hand-eye coordination through song and dance.

But, he didn’t just sing on his channel he also showed kids how to make there own different kinds of slime, and would play with it on camera. Those tended to have more views upwards of 500 views, that had always surprised Patton. He also made challenge videos, doing a bunch of silly and harmless challenges, just in case little kids wanted to copy him.

Patton walked out of his apartment, guitar case in hand, he walked down the stairs, it was an odd process, as usual. Putting the guitar in front of him and stepping off one foot at a time, taking his time, he got down the stairs, it went faster each day as he already knew how to maneuver it. He walked out into the parking lot and got into his car. While he sat in side, he drew in a deep breath, to try and ease his nerves. It was his big day after all! A paid gig that had been planned months in advance!

It was his first paid gig, and his first time having a decently sized audience! He never played in underground bars where most wannabe singers did, mostly because he was sure that most of the drunk bar patrons didn’t want to learn about homophones through song.

He was finally going to play his guitar, on a stage! Well.. it wasn’t really a stage.. more like a mat, in the corner of the room, in the library. But before he got to the library he needed to stop and get some coffee, from his favorite coffee shop down the road.

Patton walked into the Dream Bean Coffee Shop, in this little town he lived in. He went to this shop often to write songs. Over the last three years he had made good friends with the staff, giving them as good of tips as he could. He walked to the door and pushed it open. Or well… he meant to. After wrestling with the door, for a few moments he walked inside.

Inside smelled of coffee beans and candy. He walked up in line and waited until it was his turn.

He examined the different items on the chalkboard menu.

A Flat White, a Caramel Macchiato, Caffe Mocha, a Caffe Latte... and all the stuff he wouldn’t be buying. He moved forward when the line did.

A small wait for the best coffee in the world, Patton thought to himself.

The building was small and made of stone, but it had been accented with a bright orange, and with a bright yellow. It made the place feel like a warm home. He liked that feeling. It made him feel happy and safe.

Soon enough he was standing in front of the register. In front of him stood a short Taino woman, with her hair in a bob, wearing an apron and the store branded headband.

“Hey music man! Let me guess, the usual?” she smirked.

“Aw! You know me too well Valerie!” Patton laughed

“I mean, you do order the same thing every time you’re here.” She smiled and turned around and gave out the order to the barista, Joan, who was behind her mixing the drinks.

“Well, that, that is Gru…” Patton giggled at his own Despicable Me pun.

Everyone in hearing range groaned.

“Thanks Val!” He called out turning away to sit down.

“No problem Pat!” Val smiled.

As Patton turned, he bumped into someone.\

“Oh! Uh super sorry!” He looked down at the man that stood in front of him.

He had black hair with a dyed purple fringe. He wore an oversized hoodie and dark jeans. The other man was looking at the ground, and it seemed like he was shrinking into his hoodie. It didn’t help that Patton was nearly 6’1.

To Patton, he seemed vaguely familiar. But Patton didn’t ask and just moved out of the man's way.

The man only nodded in response. Patton scratched the back of his head as he turned around to sit down, but he just couldn’t get over how familiar that man was, so he spun right back around and walked back towards the man.

“Hey! Aren’t you that singer for..” Patton paused taking a moment to think, “Oh what’s the name.. Pry.. pry something..” he looked away, mumbling to himself trying to figure it out.

“Uhh. Oh! Um! Pryder!” Patton looked back at the stranger, smiling widely because he remembered that name.

The stranger simply shook his head, then moving his hands in the air, he signed.

No, My name is Virgil.

Patton face palmed, “Oh! You’re deaf! I am so sorry!” Patton said and signed the words.

Virgil laughed and shook his head.

I’m not deaf, I’m just mute! He signed back, I’m surprised you know ASL.

“Oh! Yeah! I write music for little kids! So.. I taught myself asl, for the little kiddos that can’t hear!”

Virgil smiled. That is a very kind of you to do.

“It’s the least I could do!” Patton returned the smile.

The barista behind the counter called out an order, Virgil raised his hand and walked over to the barista to get his coffee. Patton stood awkwardly, waiting for his drink to be called.

Virgil walked back to him and waved, and motioned Patton to sit with him. Patton nodded and walked over to the two seater table tucked in between the two large windows.

I should be getting to the tour bus soon, but I haven’t talked to anyone who knew ASL, well besides for my brother, in so long!

“Aw! Well I’m glad we met!”

Yeah! Virgil smiled.

“Cotton Candy Frappe?” one of the barista’s called out, Patton looked up, then rushed up to the counter, and was given his drink.

“Thank you Terrance!”

“No problem, see ya next time Pat” he said as he turned back around and started the next order.

After sitting back down Patton thought over what Virgil had signed.

“Wait.. did you say uh..” He looked around, before deciding to sign, Tour Bus?

Virgil nodded.

So you are the singer for Pryder! Patton didn’t want to alert anyone in the cafe so as not to bother Virgil.

No, I’m his brother. Virgil then took a sip of his coffee.

“You two look so much alike!”

Twin brother.

“Ohhh I gotcha.. So do you..” Patton stopped, “Ah! Uh.. I’m bothering you aren’t I.”

No! No! It’s fine!” He paused looking for something to talk about, So you said you write music? Virgil asked.

“Yeah! This is where I normally come to write songs” Patton rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, “But singing funny songs for little kids doesn’t really get you anywhere! I mean, the library gigs are great and so are the school gigs!! The kiddos really enjoy them! But.. ah, it’s just a dream I’ll never achieve,” he laughed.

Virgil’s face dropped to confusion, and he looked down, in thought. Then his face lit up.

How about I give you the information to contact my manager!? He nodded excitedly.

“Wait really?” Patton was surprised, “I mean, you haven’t even heard me sing my songs, what if I sing terribly, and besides I don’t think your manager would want my childish songs!” he spoke quickly letting his insecurities show, “Oh! I’m sorry..”

“Don’t let him lie to you he’s got a voice of an angel,” Terrance had called out from over the counter.

“I second that,” Valerie called out

“Oh stop it!” Patton was flustered by the comment. “Both of you!”

“It’s true,” Terrance shrugged.

Virgil smiled amused, making a face like he was laughing.

Well, You’d be surprised, I don’t necessarily like my manager but, I mean, everybody has heard the name Pryder at one point and knows what I do because of him.

“You do drive a good point..”

“Do it Pat! Go chase your dreams!” Valerie said.

“Aw heck! Why not!” Patton smiled widely.

Alright! He paused, Do you have your phone on you? So you can write down the number?

Patton nodded before fumbling for his phone and pulling up his notes.

Vigil then signed a long string of letters and numbers.

“Thank you Virgil really!!”

Please call me Verge! Virgil smiled in response.

Patton smiled then looked down at his watch.

“Oh! Shoot! I have to get to the library!” Patton stood up grabbing his frappe, and his papers,

Sorry I kept you so long! Virgil looked alarmed.

“No! Don’t apologize! It’s alright! Uhh.. see you?” Patton spoke quickly, then bolted to his car, got in and started driving.

Terrance walked up to Virgil.

“Don’t worry too much! Patton is just nervous. He’s having his first concert at the nearby library, and he’s really nervous,” he informed Virgil. “Not that he hasn’t done the gig before, but this is the first time he’s getting paid to do it. The library is sponsoring him actually.”

Virgil nodded and grabbed his phone, he quickly wrote out a thank you. Terrance nodded and went back to work.

He debated for a moment what he should do, taking a sip of his coffee, he put down a tip, and got up sending his brother a text.

Chapter 2: Just a little bit Nervous…

Quickly rushing through the old hickory doors of the library, his guitar case beside him, He looked at his watch, and sighed a breath of release, he wasn’t late.

He looked around and took in the smell of books and coffee beans, then he walked up to the lady behind the check in/out counter.

“Um, I’m Patton Herz, I’m here for the musical educational… uhh, concert?”

“Oh! Yes! Please follow me!” she got up from behind her desk and quickly started shuffling towards a smaller room that was walled off as to not disturb the readers in the rest of the library.

He waited patiently for the kids and their parents to come into the library, and sit in the room with their parents. Tuning his guitar, as small groups of two or three wandered in. There was a soft rumble of rambunctious children.

Patton liked performing for children, as they were brutally honest, but that wasn’t just the honesty he appreciated, he also they were easier to entertain, but much more fun, if you could get them involved. It was the adults and teens that got dragged along that he was nervous about. Judgy eyes made him far more upset than a child’s honest opinion.

In due time he would get a teaching license for music and perhaps even special ed, and use his talents there. He was interrupted from his thoughts when he saw a librarian to the left of him he give him a thumbs up, that let him know they were ready for show time.

He strummed a G chord, it rang out, silencing the audience, he tapped the mic a few times. Patton took a deep breath.

“Hiya folks! How are you doing this fine morning?” Patton spoke into the mic

The children and some parents holding onto their littler ones, shouted out their response. It seemed that they were good.

“Seems to be a good morning for some of you doesn’t it! Say, I have a question, why did the scarecrow win an award?” Patton bawled his hands up and placed them on his hips, leaning forward.

A small chorus’s “what’s” came back to answer.

“He was outstanding in his field!”

The kids laughed and their parents groaned, some of the children repeated the joke to their parents.

Patton smiled, then grabbed a pick, and put his hands on his guitar. Patton thought it would be a good idea to play a few songs the little kids knew.

“Let’s start this concert off! Hmm.. what song should we be singing? Does anyone have an idea?”

Once again several shouts, Patton could barely hear one voice from another, but he did hear several shouts

“Did I hear a Head and Shoulders?”

Several shouts to confirm, and off Patton went, singing song after song, joke after joke, and he got to sing a few originals.

He had gone over his whole schtick several times over, he knew what he was doing, and the nervousness he felt was gone.

He finally ended the show with a bow.

“Thank you! Thank you for coming out and supporting your children’s wants to learn!! If you want your children to learn more or if you’d like to support me, and want your children to learn, all my songs are all free online on my Youtube channel! Just look up Patton Herz!”

After the show, several Mom’s came up to Patton thanking him, and complimenting him. Some of the little kids hiding behind their parents. He got on his knees and waved to the kids,

“Hi!” He said cheerfully, “Do you guys want a hug?” He opened his arms wide.

One kid peaked out behind his mother and then he hugged Patton, then a girl and another child ran over and they all gave him a quick hug.

“You dress funny! But you sound really pretty!” One of them said,

“Sarah!” The child’s mother said in a warning tone.

“No it’s fine!” He looked up to the mother, “Thank you Sarah!” He looked back at the girl. “Children are brutally honest it’s fine!” He stood up and patted her head.

He made eye contact with the hooded figure in the back, then the hooded figure started to walk away. Patton quickly made an excuse and walked towards the unknown figure.

Chapter 3: Virgil Pryder

Virgil Pryder was always shy, but as he grew older his anxiety started to become more and more prominent. It seemed the only way he could drown out the world, was through music. When he discovered he could make his own music, he never stopped there, each song he made, he posted on Youtube, some animators found a few of his songs, and made angsty animations from them. Every so often his songs would pop up on a lip syncing app. He got popular, gaining hundreds of subscribers every week.

Virgil's twin Remy found out about him making music and then begged Virgil to let him sing for him. Together they decided to be a band, Remy would sing and speak for Virgil, as he didn’t have a voice for himself. Not that he wanted to sing anyway. He was happy hiding behind the name he had chosen for the two, as if it were his mask.

The origin of the band name simply came from the fact that it was their last names. Well, one day Remy planned on changing his last name, but soon it was agreed upon that Virgil wasn’t going to show much of his face, so that-away he didn’t get a panic attack from any group that decided to swarm him. This meant that it had also been decided that Remy would be the face of the band, he would go to interviews, and talk about the band’s success.

One day, after months of convincing from Remy, he finally went out to get a manager, no sooner had he gotten one, he then ended up with a record label, several songs on the radio, and now he was one of the most well known dubstep/edm artists out there. Everyone had heard his music, and if they hadn’t listened to his it, people had heard of him vaguely.

But here he was. Listening to a stranger he had only met only ten minutes earlier, sing to a bunch of children and their parents.

He had his black hoodie on, and the hood was over his head, when he caught Patton’s eye. He pulled panicked and started turning away.

Patton ran after him. Not ran after in the sense of say running, but fast walking towards a person. Patton was quietly and quickly excusing himself from the different groups of people who approached him.

“Virgil?” Patton called out, walking up to him.

Virgil stopped and turned around slowly, he waved his hand shyly at Patton.

Patton smiled softly at him, “What are you doing here?”

Came to see the show. He paused a minute looking around. You do sound like an angel.

“Oh stop it!” Patton smiled. “I can’t believe you came! I thought you had to catch your bus?”

Yeah we have enough time. Besides the concert isn’t until a lot later, and it’s like 3 pm.

“Oh, I wish you luck for your concert, I’m sure it’s nothing like mine, haha, if you’d even call this a conc-“

“Oh my god, are you the lead singer, Remy, from Pryder??” A woman came up to them and interrupted their conversation. Her voice was annoyingly high pitched and nasally.

Virgil could only shake his head in response. Not only because he couldn’t speak but also because he wasn’t his brother.

“Oh my god you are! You have to be!! The likeness is uncanny! Can we take a picture, please, please!!! Oh my god, I’ve never met a celebrity before,” and she continued on and more people started to crowd around them. Then out of the corner of Virgil's eyes, Patton moved in front of him.

“Leave him alone. He isn’t Remy-dy or whoever. Now back off and go away before I report you all for harassment.” Patton spoke firmly. His arm outstretched in front of Virgil.

With some grunts and groans of disappointment, the crowd dispersed.

Patton turned around and smiled.

“I think they got the point!” As he said point he poked Virgil.

Virgil giggled.

Thank you. He mouthed the words as well.

“Aww shucks, You’re welcome!” Patton rubbed the back of his head.

Hey, take this, it’s a ticket for the show. So we're even. Virgil smiled.

“Aww thank you! I will try to stay as long as I can, I’m just sensitive to loud noises so I might not stay the whole night.

I understand. Virgil nodded. Don’t feel obliged to come if you can’t handle it.

Patton smiled.

“Thank you.”

🗤

But Patton decided to go and see the show anyway. It was later, almost five o’clock. He quickly ran down the stairs to get to his car. The Arena where it was at was almost an hour away and Patton wanted to be there a little bit early. So he got into his car drove himself down to where the concert was at.

He got out of the car and went to go stand in line. After a period of waiting, he finally got into the arena and got to where the concert was at.

Remy was on stage introducing every person who was working in the background. Patton knew it was Remy because he looked exactly like Virgil, except he was talking.

Soon the show started to run and music played Remy sang, and Patton got overwhelmed super quickly. After about an hour Patton had to leave the concert.

Chapter 4: Nervous, Again

Patton came home after the concert, absolutely wiped out because of the energy he had to expend to keep up with the crowd and the music. His head ached. He body ached. He opened his door after a minute of fumbling with keys.

He pushed his guitar in first then himself. Setting down the guitar he turned around closed the door. His feet practically dragged across the carpet. He kicked off his shoes and fell right into the couch landing on his back. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a note, the one Virgil had written him, with the number to his manager on it.

Patton sat up straight, and fumbled around his coat looking for his phone, briefly having a panic attack, before finding his phone in his back pocket. He quickly dialed the number Virgil had given him in.

He was there, sitting in his apartment, it was very small, but so was the couch he had been sitting on, another thing that played into the smallness, was mostly due to the fact that it was not at all bare, it in fact was very crowded with small trinkets.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

The phone began to ring. Patton looked around the room, there were shelves filled with movies (some on VHS, others on dvd, he even had some that were blu-ray not that he had a blu-ray player),

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

There were also all sorts of music on the shelf or at least near it, (the music ranged from 45’s to 33’s, on the vinyl records, some were CD albums, others were cassette tapes),

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

There were some succulent plants on a few shelves, and other miscellaneous items. Such random items included, a guitar stand next to the said shelf, a few guitar picks on the coffee table in front of him, cups that were placed randomly around his room. Not all of them on top of coasters.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

Pattons leg bounced with anticipation, to guess, it had to have been going about 500 bpm.

updownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdo-.

Click.

His leg stopped.

“Hello, thank you for calling MNDScapes this is Quill, how may I place your call?” the voice spoke sweetly over the phone.

Patton was so shocked that he couldn’t respond fast enough.

“Hello?” the voice called out. “This better not be a prank call.”

“No, Yes, Hi! Um, Sorry. I was given this number by Virgil, was told to request an appointment to get a manager? Uh, specifically Dillian Falsa?

“Ah! Virgil and Mr. Falsa! I’ll get you connected. Just a few moments please!” the phone clicked and there was elevator music.

It went on, and it went on, and it went on. It seemed to go on forever. Patton's breath got caust in his throat. He didn’t pay attention to it though, focusing more intently on the music playing in the background.

It clicked.

“Yesss?” a voice hissed over the phone.

Patton let go of a breath, he had forgot he had been holding. It took him no time at all to figure out that this Mr. Falsa.

“Hi!” His voice shone brightly, even through the phone, the man on the other line could tell that not only was he was a bright ball of sunshine, but that he was also another low life wanna-be famous guitarist, or something of the sort.

“Please, tell me what you are doing on the line, before I hang up.” he said coldly.

“Oh, uh, I met Virgil from the band Pryder, he gave me your office number, and he said you could manage me? Get me where I need to be?” Patton’s voice was soft as he questioned. He didn’t realize how tense he was. Had he been standing, people probably would have mistaken him for a plastic mannequin. He tried to relax, but his attempt failed miserably, as wherever he tried to move to get relaxed he just ended up winding back up again, like a wind up toy that a child kept winding up every time it started slowing.

“Ah, Virgil. He told me you might be calling, I assume this is Patton?” Mr. Falsa, said, his voice changing to a lighter tone. Patton could almost hear the soft smirk that landed across this mans face on the other end.

If it hadn’t been for Virgil, Dillian Falsa, would have hung up on this man who had telephoned him, and hadn’t even introduced himself or done anything that was considered “respectful”, well, at least not in the eyes of ethical business concerns. Not that Dillian followed said business ethics. Or any ethics. If Dillian wanted to follow ethics he wouldn’t be where he was now. He used the system the way he had wanted, and got exactly what he wanted.

Dillian was the type of man who had 20 different thousand dollar watches, and solely wore them according to the occasion. He was also a man who saved his money, invested it, and got more money.

He was also the type of man who could walk into a fancy and expensive store, let’s make one up now.. A stupid fancy made up brand like… Gucci.

He could walk into this said make-believe store, and make all of its inhabitants feel poorer as soon as they laid eyes upon him. Which wasn’t hard to do, considering a good chunk of the people who did see him were only and would only ever, window shop. Another small group he made feel poor were the workers, they may have gotten paid more than minimum wage, but where still not paid much more than that.

He had helped make several people famous, and by famous he meant, he got them lots of money. Some of his gems were, well, obviously Pryder, but also Logan and Roman Errege. Knowing his rates of success, he figured he could make Patton a superstar. If not a superstar, at least a one hit wonder.

“Ah! Yes sir! I am indeed Patton!” He smiled knowing that Virgil had put in a good word for him.

“Alright. Find a piece of paper and pen, and write down this address.” Dillian said, well, it was more commanded than it was said.

Patton fumbled along clumsily, grabbing the items requested and got ready to write. He nodded his head to signal Dillian to tell him the address. It Patton took about .5 secs to realise what he’d done, and then, with a sigh, a little piece of his soul died.

“Ready when you are, sir,” Patton said and no sooner had he said it Dillian spouted out the address, and Patton wrote it down like there was no tomorrow.

“Uh, what state would I be traveling too?” Patton asked, his voice was practically shaking.

“California.” he answered, “Can you make it there?” he asked in a deadpan voice.

“In about three days, driving anyway.”

“No, no, no. That isn’t good.” Dillian muttered to himself in response,

“Then I’m sorry I’m wast-”

“Quiet. I am thinking.” Dillian said sternly, abruptly interrupting Patton. “I want to see you succeed. I will personally see to it that you will.” he spoke again after a moment of thinking, one thing that he left off from telling Patton was the reason why, it’s because Virgil has never been wrong about someone having a good shot at being famous, and that he trusted Virgil’s word and didn’t need to hear Patton sing or anything, to know that it had Dillians most successful client’s seal of approval was all he needed.

“Tell you what, as long as you agree to what I say, I will pay for your trip here and your residence, I will probably ask Logan to spare you a room.”

Pattons eyes widen.

“Wai-wait... You’re just.. gonna spend a thousand dollars on me?” Patton was completely blown away by this act of kindness.

“It won’t cost a thousand dollars,”

“Oh, yeah, sorry, but yeah! Sure, I’ll do what I feels right!”

Dillian’s face curled into a crooked smirk.

“Perfect.” He said. “But first I will need an email so you can get the ticket digitally,”

Patton nodded to himself. “Right, yeah! Uh,” he listed off his email address.

“Thank you, now go get ready, and I’ll take care of this ticket.” Dillian took the phone away from his face and hung up.

“Thank you so much sir!” Patton said into phone. He didn’t get a response the line had gone dead. Patton shrugged to himself and grabbed a suitcase, and started piling all sorts of clothes into it. Polo’s, Khaki’s, you name it, he threw it in. He ran all the way around the house gathering smaller things.

Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Shampoo, Mouthwash, Pens, Chargers, Picks for the Guitar, the Guitar.

This took up the whole rest of the night. Grabbing all the things he believed he would need. He looked up lists on line, he watched videos on how to store more stuff into a small suitcase. He folded clothes, he washed and dried the dirty clothes.

Eventually he turned off the lights when it started nearing ten o’clock. He set himself in bed. Believing to have had everything he needed. Knowing he had everything he needed.

Patton laid in bed and thought to himself in awe. The moon peeked through the window in Patton’s room. Shining a window shaped.. shape.. onto his covers. It excited him knowing he was starting to get to where he wanted too. Or was he? Getting a manager is exciting at all, but this might mean, he has to give up teaching little kids stuff like math and science, and that’s all Patton wanted to do. Was help the little kids with learning. He supposed it didn’t matter, as long as he was making music, he figured he’d be happy.

He took a moment and absorbed the last little bit of his surroundings. His room. He had already called his friend Terrance earlier to house-sit his apartment while he was gone. So he didn’t know why he was nervous. Well, he did he just felt foolish about it, maybe he was just scared to leave, or maybe he was scared of flying on an airplane.

He continued on thinking these things until his brain finally decided to shut off for the night, and he fell deep into a slumber.

Chapter 5: Logan Aivot

Once again it seemed, Logan Aivot, was up at late night, writing the lyrics to the music he had made earlier that day.

This was certainly not the first time that he had been up this late writing music.

He banged his head against a wall trying to come up with something. He needed something now. He needed something quick, but he also wanted his next song to be meaningful, he wanted it to impact people no matter what they identified as. Just like the last few. But nothing would come to his mind.

Not a singular, word.

Just the idea of what he wanted to portray. It was an awful feeling. Knowing what he wanted to write, not knowing how he wanted to write it. It kept making him feel incompetent, it made him feel like he couldn’t do anything.

Because to Logan, all music needed meaning, or else it wasn’t really music. Everything needed at story. Everything needed a meaning. If it didn’t have that, if it didn’t have cryptically inspiring messages, then to him, it was a waste of 3 and a half minutes of someone’s time. He didn’t want that. He felt that people weren’t creating good music anymore, and he sought to fix that problem. To fix that gap.

He was just stuck.

Thunk.

His head hit the wall at the same time inspiration struck.

I got it! He thought to himself

“I can just write about being stuck! I know every fanfic writer hates being stuck.” He spoke out loud to nobody in particular.

He also had no idea where that last bit had come from. Probably the delirium of having stayed up way later that was one, necessary and two, healthy.

He was alone in his room. He was days away from getting on a plane to see his manager and discuss the advertisements for a new album, and he needed new songs, or else how would he stay relevant? That was one of the many very pointed questions that his manager had asked him. It was also one of the only questions that had stuck with him. It was his dream and his passion was to share his words with the world.

He had debuted his first album, “Words” last year, and it had been quite a hit with a small group of people, and he did have one of his songs on the radio. He was most proud of it. He just hoped it wasn’t played out.

He started scribbling down words and it flowed out of him.

Once he finished writing, he looked at it and cringed, but that didn’t stop him, because the greatest thing he learned was to not negatively criticize his art and he drew it. He instead focused this energy into writing corrections and making sure the rhyme structure was sound, and that sentences flowed correctly. He spent extra time on the chorus making sure it was perfect.

After the last period had been placed he barely blinked and he immediately fell asleep against his wall, pencil still in hand, snoring softly.

🗤

Later in the morning he awoke to a call from his friend Joan. He cast away the pencil that had managed to stay in his hand the whole night while he had slept, Logan picked up the phone and answered.

“Hey man, how’s your song-writing going?” they spoke over the phone.

“Uhh,” Logan paused, his brain still foggy from sleeping so late. Looking over at the paper in front of him, re-reading the words he wrote.

“Not good?” they asked over the phone.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s not good, objectively it does need some more fine tuning, but I don’t want to cheap out like most modern artists and repeat the chorus to, you know, death.”

“I understand that, do you need any help? Need any ideas? You know I’m always down for helping you out man.”

Logan took a second to assess himself. He couldn’t much assessing right now, because he hadn’t had a cup of coffee, and his brain was still fogged over.

But if there was one thing that Joan was best at, it had to have been that they were an amazing friend. Logan probably would have lost his sanity years ago if it hadn’t have been for Joan helping along the way.

“Yes, I do know, I thank you for the offer, though right now, I just need to fine tune these lyrics that I wrote last night. Wanna hear what I’ve got?” Logan asked,

“Sure! Let’s hear it!”

Logan didn’t bother singing it, even though he was friends with Joan, and even though he had already made one album before, he was still shy singing to just one person, besides he didn’t like to sing, not that he couldn’t. Just that he’d rather say it or perhaps rap it. He continued with the lyrics. Another reason that he said it was because Logan didn’t have a specific tune for these lyrics yet.

“Yeah, definitely sounds like it needs a tune up, but otherwise? I like it, I totally hate feeling that way as well!” Joan gave their criticism.

“Agreed, thank you Joan, you are once again, amazing help!”

“It’s what I’m here for!” Joan laughed “Alright man! I’ll check in next week, text me if you need me pal!”

“I always do.” Logan couldn’t help but smile.

“Alright. Uh, Take care man!”

“You too Joan!” Logan responded, and with that they both hit the “End Call” button. Neither of them say goodbye, because to both of them, there never really was a need to say bye. Bye meant you were leaving for a while.

Ah! He thought, another bit of inspiration filled his head.

He grabbed a spare piece of paper and wrote it down. Logan looked down at the other paper that was in front of him, all wrinkled from it being twisted in the blankets Logan slept under.

He started analyzing it.

That wasn’t grammatically correct. He grabbed a pencil and started erasing. And rewriting. That could be said better. Erase, rewrite. Oh! Alliteration! Nice. he thought to himself. This could rhyme better with this word, and so on and so forth.

Logan looked over to his phone to see just in time that his manager was calling.

“Hello Mr. Falsa, I didn’t expect that you would call today.”

“Neither did I Mr. Aivot, but Virgil found some new talent, his name’s Patton, and I was wondering, if you would give up a room to let him stay awhile, perhaps meet him when he gets here and help him get adjusted to city life?”

“Wait, why do I have to be put on babysitting duty? I have work to be doing!” Logan looked up at the wall, as if he was actually talking to Dillian face to face. his face scrunched up in confusion.

“It’ll only be for a little while, besides you’re both fresh talent, so I also expect you two to do a collab.”

“Collaborations are difficult you know, besides I’ve already done one.” Logan said, he put his phone on his shoulder, holding it down with his head. He continued rereading and rewriting the lyrics.

“Yes, but you’ve never done one with another person singing with you, and it will help him get out there.”

Logan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew there was no winning with Mr. Falsa. Especially if he had already decided on the course of action before ever even thinking about asking any of the people involved.

“Alright. Fine.” Logan let go of the bridge of his nose, and went back to fixing up the lyrics. “I will let him stay, but he’s only staying until he can afford his own apartment and then he’s out. I don’t need someone barging in on my stuff and messing everything up,”

“He won’t. I know he won’t. He doesn’t seem like the type.”Dillian spoke evenly. Dillian knew how to talk to all of his clients, each one had specific tones they responded to better with. Logan was typically not one for drama, so Dillian almost always cut out any drama that was involved with anything.

“Well that certainly is a plus. Is that all you wished to talk about?” Logan erased something again.

“Yes, that was it for today.” Dillian paused, “He should be here later in the day. I’ll give you a call before he arrives.”

“Until then Mr. Falsa.” Logan said flatly. This was only because he was trying to find a rhyme for the word rut, that made sense in the actual context of the song.

“Until then,” With that Dillian hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair.

Logan lifted his head letting the phone drop in front of him. He sighed. Logan wasn’t looking forward to having to make friends with someone new. New people meant problems. New people meant that he had to deal with their naïvness, and teach them everything that they didn’t know. Sure he had only been in the game for two years, but that didn’t mean anything. To Logan at least.

Logan looked at the time. He figured he’d get some coffee and then get back and start writing out that other idea. Maybe he’d make it into a duet with this Patton person.

He got up and walked into the kitchen humming random little tune as he went and made himself some coffee.

Chapter 6: New Faces and New Places

Patton woke up a few minutes before his alarm went off. Quickly he turned off the alarm before it went off, he grabbed his glasses and put them on, moving slowly he put his hand on the wall and it up, soon enough his hand caught the light switch turning it on. He looked around for the clothes he set out and went off to take a shower.

Soon after he got out he checked his phone. Checking the time on the ticket, he thought it to be best if he left at nine, so he could get through TSA and wait a little bit before he had to board the plane, which was at 11:15 am.

Patton sat his phone down and started making himself some breakfast. He made himself a bowl of oatmeal, and filled the bowl with all strawberries, bananas, and some peaches. He also grabbed the last apple in his fridge, biting down, but not all the way through, he held it in his mouth, holding a spoon in one hand and a bowl in the other, he walked into the living room, he sat his bowl down on the coffee table, he set the spoon into the bowl, then grabbed the apple and finished biting it all the way through, set that down and got to eating.

When he was done eating, he checked the time.

Eight twentynine am.

He washed his dirty dishes quickly and put them away. He grabbed his suitcase and headed out the door. He was going to meet Terrance who was going to drive Patton’s car back from the airport. With his suitcase he pulled a similar maneuver that he did with his guitar case.

Once he made it down the stairs he placed the suitcase in the trunk of the car. Running back up the stairs he went back into his apartment looking around making sure he had gotten everything.

After he had decided that he indeed was not leaving anything behind, he went outside, closed the door behind him, and went down the stairs to his car. He opened the front seat car door, and sat inside it.

The inside of Patton’s car smelled like vanilla and cinnamon, with only the faintest of hints of a used car. He looked behind him and backed out of the parking lot, he then shifted gears, and he headed that way, to his friends house.

After driving for ten or so minutes, he arrived at Terrance’s apartment, he called Terrance on his smartphone, and then out his friend ran and jumped in the front seat with him. They talked all the way to the airport, and when they got there, Patton grabbed his suitcase, with the help of Terrance. Then Terrance shut the trunk and escorted Patton to the inside of the airport, while Patton’s suitcase trailed behind them.

“I’m so glad you’re here, I don’t know what I would have done without you, you’re literally the greatest human being on this planet!” Patton smiled weakly, his nerves were getting the best of him.

“No problem! That’s what friends are for Pat!” He smiled, ‘Wow, I still can’t believe it, I’m friends with someone famous.”

“Well, not yet..” Patton said, “Hopefully though!” Patton gave a half smile in return.

“Hopefully, but you better get going, getting through TSA sucks. I’ll see you another time!”

“Alright,” Patton opened his arms for a hug, and Terrance hugged him, gripping him tightly. A bear hug. Patton smiled and hugged back tighter. After a moment they let go and Patton let out a nervous laugh, as he started going forward. He waved a hand at Terrance. Then Patton turned around and started making his way through the airport.

Once Terrance lost sight of Patton he went back outside and drove Patton’s car back to his own apartment.

It took Patton a little longer than he expected to get from TSA to the main boarding area but when he arrived he only had to do a max of 15 minutes. That was, until the plane got delayed an hour and a half, due too, “Technical” issues. Patton didn’t mind the wait. He thought it to be a small price to pay when you didn’t pay for your ticket.

As time passed eventually he got on the plane and there he began his journey to California. It would take four hours of sitting in a plane forty thousand feet in the air. Yay.

🗤

When Patton exited the LAX airport in California, he saw two men wearing all black outfits with security guards. Looking around and waiting. They made eye contact with Patton and started walking towards him.

Patton gulped.

“Are you Patton Herz?” the guard on the right asked.

“Ye, uh, yeah. Yes I am.” He said unsure of what was happening.

“We are here to escort you. Apparently you’re important.” the other one said.

“Hired by Dillian Falsa.” the other one added.

Patton was most certainly not expecting to be escorted by bodyguards hired by Dillian.

“Uh, oh, that’s very kind of him.” Patton said, mostly to himself. “Just let me get my suitcase and then I guess we’ll be on our way..”

“We’ve taken care of that. It’s already being sent directly to the house you will be staying in.”

“Oh. Oh!” Patton exclaimed he was even more surprised and also relieved.

He certainly didn’t expect that his suitcase had already taken care of by these people. It was already in the limo that Patton was going to be riding in.

“Well I guess we better get going then..” Patton said.

The guards nodded and turned around Patton in tow behind them.

If Patton didn’t know any better he almost thought that he was being kidnapped. He followed the bodyguards to the VIP section of the airport. Patton reached for the back door, but quickly, a guard opened the limo door for him instead.

“Oh, alright,” Patton said aloud. “Thank you kindly!” Patton grinned at him, and the guard just nodded in response. He then got into the back of limo, the guards sat up in front and drove off.

Inside the limo was more room than Patton thought there needed to be for any moving vehicle. The interior was a pale butternut color pleather, the handles looked like they were made out of mahogany. There was a TV in front of him, he believed that to be unnecessary. As he continued looking around, he sat in awe.

Best not to touch anything. Patton thought to himself, incase he broke something.

Just one question popped up into Patton’s head. Why couldn't he have just taken a taxi like normal people did? This seemed way too fancy and over the top for Patton and it just didn’t make any sense to him. Was Dillian trying to gloat about his wealth?

🗤

When the limo rolled to a stopping point and the guards had let Patton know they had arrived, he got out of the limo. He turned around and waved the guards goodbye.

When he turned back around he noticed that in front of him were two large spinning doors.

That’s.. Odd… He thought to himself.

He walked into through one of these doors. He made sure that he didn’t get caught in the door frame. He walked right into the main lobby. He looked down at the floor, he saw linoleum flooring it was different shades of grey streaked along the floor. His eyes started to rise up surveying the rest of the room.

A few empty chairs lined the white walls. The walls were a pearlescent white, which made it feel like he was in a larger room than he actually was in. He didn’t like the way it made him feel like he was exposed. Not that he had ever done anything bad in his lifetime.

He walked up to the person at the desk, he assumed they were Quill.

“Uh, hello, Patton Herz here to see Mr. Dillian Falsa?”

“I’ll tell him you’re here.” they clicked a few buttons and spoke over the phone.

“Alright I’ll let him know.”

This was it, Patton thought. Mr. Falsa wasn’t even going to see him, he was just gonna send Patton back. He hadn’t even done anything but Mr. Falsa already knew Patton would amount to n-

“Mr. Falsa wants you up in his office. It’s on the third floor, the second door on your right!” Quill’s voice disrupted the negative thoughts that had erupted in his mind.

Patton nodded and smiled, wishing them a good day, Patton ran off to the elevator. He pressed the third floor button.

Ding

The elevator door closed and after a second, the elevator started going up. Patton’s stomach started doing flips and tricks as the elevator lifted itself up.

Ding.

First floor was already beneath him, and Patton started to take deep breaths. Trying to soothe himself from the big bundle of nerves that wrapped around his stomach.

Ding.

The doors swept open, and Patton stepped out. He felt like an alien stepping out of his spacecraft in a new forgien land. The cream colored carpet spread beneath his feet, down the depths of the hall in front of him. He looked around and noticed that in front of him was a three way.

He could continue forward or he could go left or right. He chose to go right. Going down the hall, not very far at least. There it was, the second door on the right.

That’s the door that would decide his future. Patton wanted to run and flee. But underneath all of the nerves, there was some part of him that was curious. Curious of what would happen once he opened that door. Curious to who he would meet, what they would discuss, and how his career might go from there. He was curious as to whose voices he heard on the other side.

He put his hand up to the door. He took a deep breath and rapped his knuckles against the fake wood door.

“You may enter.” A smooth voice came from the other side. He recognised it as Mr. Falsa’s.

Patton took the hand away from the door, and it fell to the silver door handle. He pushed the handle down and pushed open the door and saw a tall man standing in front of the desk. He held himself with a certain type of dignity. His arms were behind him and his shoulders squared out. Behind a pair of glasses that were so thick they could rival Patton’s, his eyes were a piercing dark blue. Patton could have gotten lost in the waves of an ocean that were his eyes.

The man sitting down behind the desk also held himself with a certain kind of dignity, but it was somehow a different kind of dignity. He sat with a more refined look about him. Where one reminded him of a professor at a college, the other reminded him of a man of power. When Patton got a good look at the man sitting down, something immediately told him that he was Mr. Falsa, and something else made him feel so much more poor than he already felt that he was.

He exhaled.

Dillian was the first to say anything, as an odd crooked smile fell across his face,

“Come sit down,” He lured Patton in, he was almost hypnotising, the way he spoke, Patton found himself walking forward, “We have a few things to discuss between the two of you.” he motioned to the chair.

Patton looked around, the slate colored walls made the few plants that were near the wall stand out. Dillian’s desk was a light honey, that also seemed to stand out from the wall. It seemed like it forced you to look at him. He looked back at the man he presumed was Logan and held out his hand to shake. Logan took it and shook firmly. Then quickly let go.

“Patton, Logan. Logan, Patton.” Dillian introduced them.

Patton turned to Dillian and held out his hand for a handshake. Dillian took it. His hands had gloves on them. Patton couldn’t figure out, for the life of him, why.

“A man of manners…” Dillian drawed out, “That will get you far you know?” He raised an eyebrow at Patton. Patton let go of the shake and shook his head.

“No I didn’t know that.” Patton shook his head and tilted it.

Dillian continued smiling, well you really couldn’t call it a smile. It hardly deserved the title, it really was more of a smirk. On one side of his face there seemed to be a scar, traveling from the corner of his mouth, up to and ending at his cheek. Dillian was dressed head to toe as a businessman.

“Please sit down.” Dillian motioned to the chair that was behind Patton.

Patton nodded again and sat down in it. As he sat in it, he realized it was a lot shorter than the desk. It made an illusion, one easily perceptible to tall people. Because when Patton sat down it appeared that Dillian was taller and bigger than him. As if he had dominion over Patton.

“May I just say that, it was super kind of you to fly me out and let me ride in that limo.”

Dillian didn’t say anything, because to him that wasn’t kindness. To him it was simply a risk to make back all his money and some more, that he spent on him. A risk he was willing to take.

“Tell me, what do you do music wise?” Dillian asked.

“Oh, me? I just sing silly little songs to help some kiddo’s out there learn! Ya know, trying to spread happiness and joy through learning and music!” Patton smiled widely. It had always been his personal goal to help others.

He didn’t know how he’d do it. But it knew he would try to help them. Patton was always squeamish, so doctor, vet, and surgeon were out. But he liked talking and often found himself always being asked for advice on things and how to deal with them. So at one point he just figured naturally he would do psychology.

“Then why didn’t you become a teacher?” Logan asked curiously. Patton was an oddity is Logan's mind.

“Because why would I? That’s not what I went to college for. Besides I would have had to have taken an education course, and I would have had to have gotten a license. There’s a lot of steps that it takes for becoming a teacher, other than getting just one degree.” Patton explained.

Logan nodded, as did Dillian. They were both taking in Patton, in person.

“So you know how to write music and compose lyrics I’m assuming?” Logan asked, this was a very important question to Logan because if he could get Patton to write the music, Logan would only have to focus on the song lyrics, which cut song production down by half. Or at least it did in Logan’s mind.

“Yes sir! I minored in music theory in college and I write pretty much everything on my own, except for covers.” Patton smiled brightly.

Dillian almost moved his hand to shield his eyes from the amount of light this man was beaming.

“Interesting. So you would have no qualms doing a collaboration with Logan here?” His voice was even.

He was clearly sizing Patton up figuring out ways to make him respond the way he wanted him too. Patton took notice of being sized up and didn’t let himself waiver even though his stomach was flipping itself into knots.

“No! None at all!” Patton flashed a smile at Logan.

“So here’s the deal right now, you work on getting an album ready, I’ll work on getting you a contract with a producing company, and I’ll help you start getting money”

“Oh really? That’d be Fantastic!”

Logan groaned at the mere implication of a pun, because of course this great big ball of sunshine also had to love puns.

“Did… Did you just make a Fanta pun?” He asked.

“Yes. Yes I did.” Patton said chuckling to himself.

This is going to be impossible. Thought Logan to himself. He didn’t know why, he just had a hunch that either Patton wouldn’t be cut out for this line of work, or that Patton would end up ending his own career before it even started.

Logan called it right then. Virgil might be good at spotting decent talent. But was he was extremely poor at judging someone’s character. He continued to think to himself.

“It doesn’t matter the jokes he makes in private, it matters that he knows how to work, and how to not rely on songwriters, because that means that he has to pay them.” Dillian said smoothly to Logan mostly, but that last part was most definitely aimed at Patton.

“You do realize that it’s a three percent chance you will amount to anything in this industry, don't you?” Logan asked looking at Patton.

“I am aware of that and I am willing to accept whatever comes my way.” Patton responded quickly.

Logan looked impressed the response, but that didn’t matter to Dillian, what mattered was that Patton knew what he had to be doing.

“You understand your job right now, correct?” Dillian said.

“Yes. Work on putting together an album and work with Logan here to create a song together.” Patton repeated back.

Dillian nodded. “Good, Good. Well. That’s it essentially. You’re both free to leave.” With that Logan got up and went to open the door. “Logan, do be kind to Patton.” Dillian called after.

“Planned on it sir.” he opened the door with one hand and vaguely gestured at Patton to follow him with the other.

So Patton did, he got up gave Dillian a smile, a nod, and a wave, Dililan returned the nod. Then Patton turned to Logan and followed followed him out.

They walked in silence. The air around them felt like a cage. Patton was so nervous he could hardly talk. The back of his throat had gone dry a long time ago. But Patton couldn’t stand the silence. So he spoke up.

“So, what do you do?” he asked, trying to match pace with Logan.

“I make music. Same as you.” His voice was flat and monotoned, he stopped at the elevator, pressing the button on the wall.

“Oh right.” With that Patton knew he that it would be a long and awkward trip to where they were going.

🗤

Logan parked the car and got out, Patton quickly followed suit. He followed Logan through the winding parking lot, then through the lobby, then to the elevator, where they waited till they got to the floor Logan was on, then he followed Logan until they got to a door and Logan and to fish for his keys.

Sticking the key into the lock he said,

“Here we are. It’s no pent-house but it is home.” Logan finally got the door open to his apartment.

Patton walked in first. He looked around. The apartment was so much larger than Pattons. It was also much more barren than his own. He suspected Logan liked it that way. He saw a couch in front of a TV, he also saw a small bookshelves with all sorts of smart people books on them.

“Go ahead. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be in my room.” with that Logan walked off and left Patton alone.

🗤

The sun no longer hung in the sky like the beautiful painting that it had been earlier. Instead the moon glowed over the city. No stars in sight. Patton had been staring out the window when he had finally noticed why the night sky had looked so off to him. He sat in his new room, he had gotten ready for bed ages ago, and yet here he was one am and he couldn’t sleep.

It was dark in his room. Aside from the outside light that lit up different parts of his room. His bed was in the corner of the room, underneath a window which caused a square of light to be cast onto his floor. It was also quiet in his room. Except for the honking, the loud music, and the people shouting that was all going on outside.

He finally sat up, and decided to get something to drink. Water perhaps. He pulled the covers off of him and got out of bed as quietly as possible. He shuffled through the dark, looking for his phone, but instead he felt a pain shoot up from his foot because he had stubbed a toe on the nightstand. He reared his head back and he bit his lip as he was trying not to shout. If he didn’t have a filter he would have said some very colorful phrases that night.

After a moment the pain passed enough to where it was bearable, and he grabbed his phone, turned on the flashlight and made his way out of the room. Slowly he creaked open his door just enough so he could get through, then he walked into the living room and straight into the kitchen, Patton surveyed the cabinets looking for the glasses. But something was off.

Everything seemed a whole lot fuzzier than he remembered it being earlier that evening when he had first arrived there. He continued to look for a cup. For whatever reason Patton’s throat was parched.

Glasses… glasses… Oh! Glasses! Patton rolled his eyes as he thought, Ughhh I left my glasses in the bedroom. No wonder I can’t see anything. Without his glasses Patton couldn’t see anything up close. He had to get thick frames so that they could fit the glass part of the glasses in it. Not that Patton didn’t like thick frames, he actually thought they suited him better.

“The glasses are in the top cabinets, two over from the right.” A familiar voice said from behind him.

Patton basically screamed, and dropped his phone from his hands when they came up to protect his face. His chest rised up and fell back down quickly, he was breathing in deep breathes as a way to try and calm himself, as his heart nearly beat out of his chest. After he had gotten himself in more control of himself he turned around to see a figure that no doubt had to be Logan.

He seemed to be leaning against the wall then with a small chuckle he turned the kitchen lights on making Patton close his eyes and groan.

“Agh!” Patton rubbed his eyes “You scared me!” Patton opened one eye letting it get used to the bright light, then opened the other to do the same thing for it.

“I do apologize, I figured you had heard me exit my room.”

“Nope, sorry, I was too busy in thought.” He said answering back. I can’t believe I left my glasses in my room and instead grabbed my phone.”

“Happens.”

“What are you doing up this early?” Patton asked, then scolded “You should be in bed.”

“Could ask and say the same to you.” Logan responded as he walked to the refrigerator and opened it and looked inside for a few minutes before grabbing a gallon of milk.

“Fair point,” Patton nodded. He watched Logan as he opened a cabinet and pulled out two cups. He filled one with milk and left the other one empty. Patton assumed the other one was for him.

“Are you also an insomniac?”

“No, No I’m not I’m afraid. I think it’s a new place and my body isn’t quite used to here yet.”

Logan nodded.

“That is very possible.” he sipped on his milk, then he gestured vaguely to the other cup. “What’ll it be?”

“Uh.. water please!”

“Ah that’s good at least you drink water. But I wouldn’t suggest drinking the water around here. Tastes nasty compared from home. Bottled water here is the best option. After a while you do get used to it, but, once you visit home again, you’ll start drinking that water by the gallon. Happens every time.” Logan said all this while he walked over to the fridge, and pulled out a water bottle, he then tossed it at Patton, who had very poor reaction time, so by the time Patton’s hands went up to catch it, the bottle had already caught his face, however at least the bottle fell into Patton’s hands.

“Sorry,” Logan simply said

“No, not your fault I’ve always been more of a thrower than a catcher.” Patton giggled out as he opened his bottle and took a sip.

They drank in silence for a little bit. Patton couldn’t help but look out the window and again peer into starless sky once more.

Logan saw this and nodded to himself. He had, had the same reaction when he had moved here.

“It’s a shame isn’t it. Not a single start in the sky. On most nights you can hardly see the moon.”

“Really?” Patton asked still looking out the window, well looking wasn’t the right word. Squinting was, as that’s all he could do.

“Yes. It’s sad really, back where I was from, once a month we’d go out to the mountains and look at the stars. You’d never seen anything more dazzling in your life. You could hardly make out any constellations that’s how many stars were crowded next to each other.” He reminisced, nostalgia flowing out like an open gate. Planned on becoming an astronomer. Didn’t think my music career would have picked up the way it did.”

“Really?” Patton asked wistfully

“Yeah, I know big surprise,” Logan chuckled to himself.

“Where I’m from you could sometimes see some of the bigger constellations. Like Orion.” Patton said he was still squinting.

“You’ll get used to it too, ya know the missing stars. If you stay here that is.” he said

“What do you mean?” Patton looked back at Logan.

Logan looked directly at Patton.

“I’m not trying to be cruel in anyway, but do remember this is a 3% change you will blow up big. Hell, I’ve hardly grown big. I just have a decent following. In a few more years maybe then I’ll make it big.”

“Oh. Well” Patton said. “Thank you for your honesty.”

“I’m one of the few people you’ll get it from.” Logan took the last swig from his glass and set it down in the sink, “Good night Patton..” he paused. “And good luck.” and with that Logan walked off.

“Good night.” Patton called after.

He waited until he heard a door close then he grabbed his phone off the floor, then fumbled his way to the light switch, flipped off the lights, and then he went to bed himself. He knew in the morning they would start working together on the song.

Chapter 7: Roman Errege

“You’re going to be on Broadway,”

Those were the words that Roman Errege had been told a total of five years ago, back when he was only 25 years old. Those words circled again through his mind as he sat on the stage after he had gotten himself out of costume and hung it up for the last time that night. He scanned the empty seats as he sat in front of them. In the distance he saw the custodians cleaning.

That night had been the last time he would play the part that brought him fame all those years ago. He sat and remembered each ending of each show, each time he almost slipped out of character, each mistake, he hardly made any mistakes in the show, but he will admit, even he wasn’t perfect. He thought about how earlier that evening at the finale, they brought flowers for him, and how he bawled like a baby.

Those words were what changed everything for him. They echoed over and over again, ringing in his ears, no matter how hard he tried they wouldn’t leave his mind.

After smashing his first lead role he soon rised as a well known Broadway singer. His hopes and dreams were achieved, but like all good things, things must come to an end. For Roman, that was ending his time as lead role in Sweeney Todd, and he was upset over that. He felt like a lost puppy. He felt like a sad puddle of water. One of those puddles that were too shallow to splash.

He hopped off the stage, He had played on that stage 8 shows a week for the last few years. Sometimes he played different characters in between shows, but he was mainly known for his performance in Sweeney Todd.

He walked out of the theater, and headed home for the night. In the morning he would try and talk to Dillian and see where he would go next.

🗤

Roman walked into the office, Completely drained after his literal, last, performance. He closed the door softly behind him, and made his way to the chair in front of the desk. He sank down into the chair.

“Roman! Good to see you! How’s the show go?” Dillian smiled, but it wasn’t genuine, it’s one of those smiles that fall flat because the eyes aren’t shining brightly behind the smile. One that tells you the person is annoyed or sad, but doesn’t want you to know.

“Hey Dillian. I assume you know why I’m here?”

“To look for plays to audition for?”

“You got it.” Roman said glumly. Roman had always hated this feeling in his chest. Normally he felt it during the summer breaks between school plays. Where something just felt lacking. There was hardly ever anything to do during the summer, and he could never afford to do drama during the summer.

“Well, you’re in luck,” Dillian said, “Because it looks like a nearby theater is doing auditions for Urinetown.”

“Excuse me, what?”

“Urinetown, you know, the one abou-”

“Yes I know what it’s about. I’ve seen it. You..” Roman paused looking for the right words to say. He was appalled to say at the least. “I’m talking about what you’re asking me to do. What you’re asking me to go from.” Roman stood up, his temper began to rise. He could not be seen that way, a man who entered his career doing something very serious, immediately dragged down to do a lesser known, satirical comedy show. Roman was practically offended at the meer implication.

“Roman. Be reasonable. Unless you want to remain jobless for, until, oh I don’t know, a new show pops up, which is rare, by the way, or a different show is available, then I suggest you take you attitude and stick it where it belongs. I helped get you that job, I can make damn sure that you’ll never get another good one again.”

“Be reasonable? Be Reasonable??” Roman scoffed, “You should be reasonable, any self respecting man would rather do something, anything, else than jump down that low!”

“It’sss a job.” Dillian hissed out angrily, trying not to raise his voice as he dealt with the man in front of him. “Something to put food on the table for you.”

‘No! An insult it what it is!” Roman stormed out of the office and slammed the door behind him. He slammed it so hard the door vibrated in the frame.

From behind the door Dillian sighed. He knew he would have gotten that reaction, He just wanted to get it out of the way first off.

Roman walked down to the lobby. He was furious. He was outraged. He stomped his way down the hall and with a huff he sunk down in a random chair.

He hated that he was acting like a child, and that was making him even angrier. He felt like he was about to burst into tears, when he felt a hand on his shoulder, it soft and gentle, barely any weight to it.

If Roman didn’t know any better he almost would have ignored it, thinking that it was nothing, but he didn’t ignore it, he looked up, and he saw a man with the thickest pair of glasses you’d ever seen, and a face that was speckled with freckles. Roman was surprised, he thought that the hand must’ve belonged to a woman, and he had almost started saying that she was barking up the wrong tree.

“You okay?” He asked, his voice was soft and low. A smooth voice that sounded like he had wisdom beyond his years. Which was odd all things considered. The man looked no older that he was.

Roman nodded and smiled. Tears welling up behind his eyes, as if to tell the kind man that he was, in fact, not okay but instead was lying in hopes that he wouldn’t disturb this kind man’s day.

“You sure kiddo?” he tilted his head, he tilted it the way a kind father did, one that listened and understood you. Roman wished his actual dad was like that.

Roman exhaled an empty “ha” and looked away, and then looked back, biting his lip the way you would if you were stressed out, he shook his head, not making eye contact with the man next to him.

“Well, just take some deep breaths, okay?” his voice was calming, Roman was glad he met someone kind.

Roman nodded and did as he was told. He inhaled deeply, then let the air out, already feeling better, he gave the man a weak smile.

“Do you want to talk about what’s troubling you?”

Roman inhaled and let out a slow,

“Hooo boy,” he looked down, “You promise you won’t think it’s stupid?” he quickly glanced up at Patton.

Patton looked at Roman surprised, it almost looked like Roman had asked Patton to be mean.

“Why would I laugh at something that’s bothering you?” he said, his voice was strong, but it was also soft.

Romans eyes shot up to meet Pattons, and quickly fell back to the spot into the floor where it seemed like his eyes were boring a hole into it.

“Well uh, the other day was my last performance as Sweeney Todd, in, well, Sweeney Todd, and my manager wanted to see me about getting into a new show soon, and when he suggested I audition for Urinetown, which is a fantastic show, don’t get me wrong, it’s just..” Roman paused, “and I don’t even know why I got super upset about this, but,” he sighed, “I just, was insulted I guess, heh” he gave an unsure chuckle, “I’m sorry, I, this is really just stupid and I’m wasting your time aren’t I?”

“No! Not at all kiddo,” Patton shook his head, shocked that Roman would imply such a thing, “I don’t exactly understand, but I do empathize with you! Being told to go from something of a serious thriller, to a satirical comedy, it must feel like an insult!”

A tear ran down Roman’s cheek.

“And hey, keep your head up, okay? A prince can’t wear a crown, if it keeps falling off.” The man smiled, and wiped an escaped tear with his thumb.

Roman smiled and grabbed this kind man, and hugged him.

“Thank you for your words of kindness, … um.. sir.”

“Oh! Sorry, uh, I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Patton!” He smiled widely, hugging Roman back.

“Oh! Right, um, I’m Roman!” he sputtered out, pulling away from the hugs!

“I hope you don’t mind if I go Romaning around some puns!” Patton smiled proudly.

Roman rolled his eyes, and chuckled.

“Good one,” he smiled.

Patton seemed to glow, the pride on his face for sticking the landing of the pun.

“Say, you’re not that dashing broadway star are you?” he tilted his head.

Roman smiled widely and posed. His head was lifted upwards and arms flourished with his head, one hand just above his head, the other just below his shoulder. His classic pose.

“Why yes, yes I am!” He smiled proudly.

Patton smiled back.

“Well that’s good, you just remember one thing, it’s okay to feel the way you do. Emotions are human. Take good care of yourself okay?

“Patton Herz, Mr. Falsa is ready to see you.” said a person from behind the counter.

“I’m afraid that’s my que to leave.” Patton said smiling, he gave Roman a pat on the shoulder then got up and made his way to his manager’s office.

Chapter 8: Decisions Decisions

It had been four days since he had landed in California. For the past three of then Patton had been getting songs ready for his first album, and had also been working on the collab with Logan.

Patton assumed the contents of his album was why he was being called in by Dillian that day. He followed along the same path he had followed when he had arrived the first day. He reached the door and knocked, the newly familiar voice rang out from behind the door.

“You may enter,” it said.

Patton opened the door, walked inside and closed the door behind. He then walked over to sit in the chair, just as Dillian gestured.

This had been Patton’s second time in Dillians office. It now reminded him of a principal's office at school. Not that he had been to the principal’s office often at school. Just on the occasion when he talked a little to much.

Just like the first time he had been in there, due to his surroundings he was forced to look at Dillian. Dillian today wore a similar outfit to the one he had worn when Patton had first met him. But this time he wore a bowler hat.

“Patton, I have something to ask of you.” he started.

“What? What’s happening?” Patton started to panic again, thinking he was going to be sent home.

“Nothing, terrible, I just, I need you to try.. Something else,” he said he put a lot of emphasis on the word ‘this’.

“What do you mean? I just want to educate the kiddos!”

“Patton,” Dillian said in a tone that was a mix of soft and stern, it was odd but that was the effect it had. “There are a lot of low talent lowlifes, who want to educate children as well. Let them do that for you. Because I see a star in you. All you have to do, is do something different, something with substance.”

“But..”

“But nothing, Patton do you want to be known as “That-Guy-Who-Sings-Little-Kids-Songs”? Do you? Do you really?”

“I.. I guess not..” Patton looked away, ashamed and confused.

He swore he was sure what he wanted to, was to sing to kids, but, would singing for kids really get him to where he wanted to be?

“So what is it that you want to do? If you stay on the path you’re on, I will make sure that you are still with the record label you have now, but if you don’t, I can get you signed on with a different and better record label. What will it be then?”

“I.. I..” he looked back up at Dillan. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, “I’ll have to think about it.” as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he regretted it instantly.

The words left a bad taste in his mouth. Like he had just swallowed a spoonful of iron. Those words meant he actually had to come up with an answer, he would probably have to produce one by tomorrow.

“Aww you don’t seem to happy, what’s wrong?” he paused and watched as Patton shook his head. “You should be.” Dillan said darkly, but then he continued in a completely different tone, “You know I should give you a, Patt-on the back, most wouldn’t have guts.”

“Heh,” Patton smiled slightly, “That joke was Dillame,”

“See that’s what I like about you Patton, never too far from a smile or cracking a joke. But if you do choose to stay and do something more serious, that’s gonna have to stop.”

“What?” Patton’s smile faded into a confused look.

“You’ll have to stop making jokes. Besides you’re bad at them, once I can get you an important interview, if you make those types of joke, people will think you’re annoying.”

“But, I love dad jokes!”

“Ah, another thing I’m going to have to ask you to drop if you decide to make the right choice. The dad act? Drop it. You’re not a dad.” He paused dramatically. “Do you understand?” he spoke coldly.

Patton nodded.

“Good. Not to say you can’t do that in the privacy in your own home, just not out in public.”

“Okay..”

“Oh Patton, do cheer up. Trust in me, I am only trying to help you.” Dillan his voice wavered up and down, then he continued his voice now leveled out, it was as smooth as concrete, “You will thank me later, for this.”

He examined his nails then looked up at Patton.

“Well.. Alright, I guess, you are trying to help me, so.. I will give it a good thought!” Patton’s spirit lifted and he smiled. “Thank you.”

Dillan didn’t say anything he just smiled, there was something about this smile though, it almost seemed as if there was something malicious behind it, Patton just shook it off as he then stood, and nodded at his manager,

“Oh! Before you go, I want your official answer by tomorrow,” he grabbed a sticky note, and wrote something down, “If you do decide you don’t want this.. Then I want you out of Logan’s before the end of the month.

Patton nodded. “Will do,” He said dryly, he did not like the threat of homelessness on his back. He felt a lump form in his throat, it was in that annoying spot, that spot behind and slightly under the tongue.

Dillan only tipped his hat in response. As quickly as he had entered his manager's office, he left, going out the door he came in. Closing the door, he now understood exactly where Roman had been coming from. But this time was different, his situation was the exact opposite of Patton’s. He walked back to the elevator, and made his way back to the apartments.

When he got there Logan was waiting for him on the couch.

“What’d the boss man want with you?” he called out from the couch.

“He wants me to stop doing what I’m doing, and drop the ‘dad’ act, whatever that means.” Patton shrugged walking over to the couch. Logan shrugged back.

“Did you agree to anything?” he asked looking up at Patton.

“No..” he leaned on the couch looking at the TV that wasn’t on.

“Smart. I assume he threatened you with homelessness?” Logan got up and started his way to fridge.

“Yeah..” Patton turned around and watched Logan.

“He does that, don’t worry, I’ll spot you a ride home if you decide to go.” Logan said opening the door to the fridge.

“Lunch?”

“Sure.”

Chapter 9: Final Decision

Patton walked into MNDScapes, he knew exactly what he was doing and where he was going. He didn’t even bother to say anything to Quill, he just walked over to the elevator and waited.

Ding.

He entered the elevator and waited as the doors closed behind him. He had made up his mind that night. He decided he didn’t like the way California didn’t have any stars in the sky, how it always smelled of distant smog. He didn’t like how loud it was, and he most certainly didn’t like how expensive everything was.

Ding.

He took that time last night to really reflect on what he wanted to do. He realized he never wanted to make an album. Honestly he didn’t even know why had come here. He didn’t even know why he called Mr. Falsa that very first night that all of this had begun.

Ding.

The elevator door slid open once more, and Patton walked through it. Days ago his stomach had been filled with knots. Now those knots had gone away, and were replaced by a gut feeling. A gut feeling that he was doing the right thing.

He marched down the hallway to the second door on the right. Knocked briefly.

“Who’s there?” Mr. Falsa called out from behind the door.

Patton didn’t even bother responding verbally he just opened the door.

“It’s me and I’ve made my decision,” Patton shut the door behind him and stood behind the chair that was in front of Dillians desk.

“Oh, well, very well, then sit.” Dillian said a smile creeping over his face. It was one of his smug smiles. One that often times deserved a punch to the face.

“No, I don’t think will.” Patton said, he remembered how the last few times he sat in that chair he felt powerless beneath Dillian, well this time, he was above Dilian, being tall had its perks.

“Fine then. What’s your decision then?” Dillian eyed down Patton his smirk turning into a sneer, his beady eyes really sold the look. If a rat could look angry, It would probably end up looking like Dillian.

“I don’t want fame.” Patton said, flashed another smile, “Fame is not what I ever even wanted. I’m so sorry I wasted your time and money, however, if you’d like to know I will be recording the song with Logan before I take my leave, so you will get some money off of my talents.”

“Fine. That’s your mistake.” Dillian spat coldly at Patton.

“Or is it?” Patton retaliated, he truly was surprised by how he was acting. It was truly such an odd rush of confidence.

“You’ll come running back to my office in a year.” he paused, “I just know it. He added through barred teeth. “And when you do, just know, I won’t be here to give you a helping hand, or a starting ssspot.” He had hissed out those last two words for dramatic effect.

“Good I won’t need it. I’ve realised my voice isn’t meant to be heard on radio’s, isn’t meant to be sold in mass, and most certainly isn’t to be used as a way for others to get their paycheck off of me.” Patton stated.

“Then get out of my office before I have you forcefully taken out of my office by the hand of my security.” Dillian’s eyes narrowed.

Patton shrugged, and walked to the door, opened it, and closed it. He continued back down the same path he had done several times before.

When Patton got into the lobby he had to stop and take a breather. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were shaking badly.

Oh, he thought to himself, That wasn’t confidence, that was adrenaline.

He took some deep breaths in and some deep breaths out as a way to try and calm his nerves.

“Are you alright Sir?” Quill looked up from behind the counter.

“Yes, just, just the aftermath of running on nothing, you must know how it goes! Have a good life now.” Patton immediately started heading for the door.

“You too sir!” they called after Patton.

He stopped and smiled, then exited the building. He reached the edge of the street and grabbed a taxi ride home. Like normal people did.

🗤

“No way, you actually said that?” Logan asked handing Patton a plate of food.

“Yeah, I know, I was surprised myself. But after it happened I realized my hands were shaking and how I was actually running off of,”

“Adrenaline?” Logan questioned

“Yeah, haha. I still can’t believe it. But at least I met some pretty awesome people!”

“But, you haven’t gone around the city at all, these past few days.” Logan pointed out.

“Well yeah, but, I think Tuesday I met that broadway prince, uh, Roman I believe he said he was and I got to meet you!”

Logan smiled, “You think I’m cool?”

“Yeah! Of course!” Patton smiled stupidly.

“Oh, well.. Well thank you.” Logan smiled back proudly.

Chapter 10: The Finale

It had been a week since he had been home. He had gone right back to how he had been functioning before. Doing different gigs around town, except now he went around the state and now each gig was paid. Just like this library gig.

Today he was performing at the same library that had given him a very interesting vacation just a week before hand.

He drove up to the library, guitar in hand. He made his way to the little room and watched as the parents came in their little ones somewhere near.

He looked out in front of him. The small gather of little kids and their parents. He smiled. He was right back where he always wanted to be.

#ts-storytime 2019 submission #sheepy writes #sanders sides #keep an eye out for the art piece that does with this!!

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ethel--muggs-blog · 5 years

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☆ﾟ*・ﾟ┊shannon purser, she/her + 20, cis female┊❝ isn’t « Ethel Muggs » totally tubular looking? they seriously remind me of a character from « Riverdale ». i started seeing them at « Hawk Cinema » a few « months » ago, humming to the tune of « can't fight this feeling + reo speedwagon » when they think no one’s looking. also, they’re like totally known as the « brains » of town, so i’d keep my eye on them. seriously. ❞ (lila, 21, she/her, EST)

howdy howdy! my name’s lila, and I’ll be playing ethel muggs for y’all! I've always had a soft spot for Ethel - she and I have similar body types and similar interests (justice, staying out of the spotlight , dungeons and dragons). I'm a college student working towards a communications degree with minors in theatre and writing, and I write horror on the side. fun fact about me: it took three tries for me to Ethel a song for my application because all of my ideas for songs were released after 1986 and I’m a stickler for sticking to time periods.

so here she is, a girl who deserves better, ethel muggs!

history (tw: death, suicide attempt)

Ethel isn’t proud of a lot of her history. She’s done a lot she regrets: throwing a milkshake in Veronica Lodge’s face, everything that lead to her being in the playbook. But she regrets Gryffons and Gargoyles the most. She’d been in a fragile place: her father had almost died, so many people around her had died or been close to the edge, and she didn’t feel safe. For a time, G&G gave her safety and camaraderie. Then everything changed. She lost herself, hallucinating and giving herself over fully to the game. Her suicide attempt (as much as she’d deluded herself into thinking it was noble, she knew what drinking the poison truly was now) in the bunker is what forced her to realize how far she’d gotten and how badly she needed help. There’d been an attempt to call Betty, Jughead, Archie, anyone, but then an unfamiliar nurse had come in with a cup of water and she’d drunk from it.

Ethel awoke in the Sisters of Quiet Mercy Hawkins National Laboratory, and spent what felt like years there. She became a puppet for the Sisters scientists there, trying to break Betty Cooper once she’d gotten there, too high on Fizzle Rocks and power to stop herself. But then she’d been locked in with the Gargoyle King Mind Flayer and forced to pass through the gates of withdrawal for the first time in what turned out to be a month and a half.

When Betty unlocked the door to the "throne room" Ethel was shaking and sick, but finally sober, conscious, and willing to help for the first time in a long time. Once they’d gotten the other kids out, Ethel tried her best to help Betty keep them safe. She became their mother hen, shepherding them to safe places across town. She only returned home once that work was done, still deeply scarred from all she’d seen and done.

Now she’s picking up the pieces and trying to rebuild herself; make herself better. She’s got a steady job at the local movie theater, she’s going to therapy and taking classes in Library Science out of town. But most importantly, she’s using what she knows to help others.

Ethel just hopes that it’s enough to make up for what she’s done.

headcanons:

I have a whole about page for canon things about her, but here’s some important stuff.

Ethel is Reform Jewish and goes to a synagogue outside of Hawkins.

She speaks three languages: English, conversational Hebrew, and ASL.

She can play the accordion.

Almost everyone her age in town was invited to her bat mitzvah when it happened.

She has a ragdoll cat named Curie.

When she came home for the final time, she burned all of her G&G stuff.

Her favorite job at the movie theater is running the projector.

#1986:intro #suicide #death

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goingknowherewastaken · 6 years

Photo

Meet Allie Bennet

► Allie Bennet was created for the Polyvore group In Love With A Celebrity. As the name suggests, she was made to be the fictional love interest of a real life celebrity (Who wants to guess who I picked for the celeb? ;) ). This set was created for her personal information which is listed below the cut. At the very end I am including the requirements that I needed to follow while creating the set.

Enjoy!! ♥

| FULL NAME;

☾Allison “Allie” Bennet

| NICKNAMES;

☾Allie – basically everyone calls her that

☾ Allison – if the full name comes out, then she did something wrong

☾ Al – Byron is really the only person who can get away with calling her this

☾ Picks – a random nickname given to Allie by her friends due to her being a Picker

| GENDER;

☾ Cis Female

| FACECLAIM;

☾ Emma Watson

| DATE OF BIRTH;

☾ 5 / March / 1989

| AGE;

☾ 29

| NATIONALITY;

☾ American, British – She was born in America, but she and her family have dual citizenship.

| ORIGIN;

☾ Before Allie was born, her parents moved from England to America for her mom's job. While both her parents grew up in England, her father's side of the family has Greek traces and her mother's side has French traces. When she was growing up, she gained their accents and never really lost it.

| HOMETOWN;

☾ Portland, Oregon

| EDUCATION;

☾ Allie double-majored when she went to college. By the time she graduated, she had a bachelors degree for both History and Business.

| OCCUPATION;

☾ Allie is a picker and she co-owns a small shop with her brother. They drive around the country, stopping at places that have 'junk' on the property and buy some of that 'junk' to restore/sell in their shop. While both will go out to find items to buy and sell, she mainly stays behind and runs the shop since someone needs to be there and she has the business background.

| SEXUAL ORIENTATION;

☾ Demisexual Heterosexual

| FAMILY;

☾ Marylin Bennet – Mother – Marisa Tomei – 52

☾ Paul Bennet – Father – Nathan Fillian – 49

☾ Byron (Moore) Bennet – adopted brother – Tyler Hoechlin - 28

| FRIENDS;

☾ Byron (Moore) Bennet – brother/best friend/roommate/business partner – Tyler Hoechlin – 28

☾ Larissa “Lacy” Hanlin – childhood friend/roommate – Rose Leslie – 27

☾ Carrie “CC” Clark – college friend/roommate – Paulina Singer – 25

☾ Robert “Robbie” Martin – friend/part-time employee – Darren Criss – 26

| HOBBIES & INTERESTS;

☾ reading, traveling, collecting Breyer horses, restoring vintage items, baking, cooking, clothes/fashion, collecting salt & pepper shakers,

| LIKES;

☾ getting a good deal, seeing others get excited about history, cats, “Say Yes to the Dress”, traveling, donuts, meeting new people, “American Pickers”, people who are just pure little cinnamon rolls, french fries/chips, books and reading, “Expedition Unknown”, Breyer horses, restoring old items, shopping, England, road trips, those ridiculous tourist traps, “Mysteries at the Museum”,

| DISLIKES;

☾ when people make Pride & Prejudice references because of her name, customers who don't know how to listen, spiders, making a bad call on a pick, the song 'What's New Pussycat?' by Tom Jones, geese, flying, mushrooms, clowns, thunderstorms, people who take advantage of others,

| BIO;

☾ Allison Bennet was born March 5th, 1989, in Portland, Oregon to Marylin and Paul Bennet. It was a difficult pregnancy for Marylin, one that resulted in a hysterectomy, but she and her husband were blessed with a beautiful and healthy little girl. With being born in America and having a majority of her family living in England, Allie's parents worked to get dual citizenship to go between the two countries. It was no surprise then when she ended up with more of an English accent (that never actually faded). When she was 6, her parents took her to her first flea market. She fell in love with the place, begging her parents to bring her (and, eventually, her friend as well) to the markets as often as possible. The items were so cool to look at and the sellers were just as awesome to listen to.

Despite not having any siblings, Allie found a brother, and best friend, in the neighbor boy. Also an only child, Byron Moore attached himself to Allie and they became like two peas in a pod. Even though Byron was one year older, the two pretty much ignored each others classmates. They played with each other, protected each other, and helped each other out over the years. When she was eight, tragedy struck. While the Moore family was heading back one night from a trip to Seattle, their car was struck by a drunk driver. Byron was the only survivor, leaving the wreckage with several scrapes and bruises, a concussion, and permanent damage to his ears. Since he had no other family that could take him in (his grandmother was in a nursing home), the Bennet family brought him into their family and eventually officially adopted him. Allie and Byron became even closer as she helped him deal with the aftermath of the accident, spending hours learning ASL for when he didn't want to wear his hearing aids.

When Allie was 12, she gained a new friend. Allie had just entered the school with Byron when they were pulled into office and placed face-to-face with a small red-haired girl. From that second on, 12 year old Larissa Hanlin, former resident of Scotland, turned the dynamic duo into a troublesome trio. Even though it wasn't the same, it was comforting to Allie to hear Lacy's accent. It was also wonderful to have another female she could talk to. Byron was great, but there were some topics that were just plain weird to discuss with him. With Lacy, Allie discovered a love of fashion and makeup, as well as some cute boys as school.

At the age of 15, the trio was snooping around at the local flea market when Allie met the person who would forever change her life. The lady was a Picker – someone who travels around the countryside looking for places with a lot of junk - “rusty-gold” is what she called it – outside. With the landowner's permission, they then dig through the items and buy old pieces to then resell, and sometimes restore, to prospective clients. Road trips? Antiques? Meeting new people? It was the best thing that Allie had ever heard of! She immediately started making plans to have this future. She could picture it then, having long days of picking before heading back to a cute little shop to display her finds.

A few years later, with Byron having gone off to study mechanics a year prior, new graduates Allie and Lacy both became roommates for their college experience. As Lacy started acting classes, Allie decided to dual major in History and Business. If she wanted to have her dream of picking and owning a business, this is what she had to focus on. Her first year passed without a hitch and in her second year she met a guy who they've come to call D.B.. Attractive and charming, they had English together and D.B. wasted no time with his flirtatious comments. Allie, having no previous dating experience, was beyond flattered. After a few dates they came out with an official label on their relationship, but, since this was all new to her, she wanted to take it slow so she could get comfortable with the concept of dating. The first month was pure bliss for their budding relationship, but after that D.B. grew a little prickly towards her. It was another month before he finally admitted that he was irritated that their relationship hadn't advanced beyond a certain point. Allie was hurt. She didn't understand why he was so upset. They had agreed on the pace at the start of their relationship, yet, here he was, seemingly on the verge of dumping her. Sure she hadn't exactly told him the 'L' word yet, but Allie did care a lot for him. Since she didn't want to lose him, she thought 'why not?'. Weeeeeell, D.B dumped her two days later. Actually, dumped isn't really the right thing to call it. After two days of silence on his end, she more of saw him flirting and hitting on another girl on the campus quad. While Lacy consoled her with comfort food and Byron threatened to beat the guy to a pulp, Allie decided to swear off relationships for the time-being.

It was in her third year, while she was working at the local library, that Allie met Carrie Clark – a first year history whiz with big plans for teaching the newest generations. The two quickly hit it off with their love of history and soon Carrie joined their little squad. It was Carrie that introduced Allie to the second biggest revelation in her life. C.C. had been going on and on for days about this awesome new website she found called Tumblr. When Allie and Lacy couldn't stand her rambling anymore, they each made their own account. A few weeks later, an intriguing post popped up on Allie's dashboard late one night. It was about different sexual orientations and gender identities. Once section in particular caught her attention and the more research she did, the more Allie realized that she was Demisexual. Suddenly, the idea of dating wasn't so daunting anymore.

When graduation loomed on the horizon, the question of 'What to do after this?' came up more and more. For Allie it was easy – buy a roomy vehicle and hit the backroads of America. The only problem was where she was going to live. That was decided over pizza. Since none of the girls wanted to be separated and with Lacy searching for acting jobs, Los Angeles was perfect. They could find a house to rent together and it would offer each of them a chance for jobs.

It seemed like seconds had passed from the time Allie and Lacy had moved to when C.C. join them down in L.A. two years later. Allie had bought and sold enough items to be able to keep up with the picking lifestyle. Although, she hadn't gotten her storefront yet. An online store, yeah, but not her physical shop. Though that changed after three years in the bustling city. Allie mainly focused on non-machine antiques; things like toys, furniture, signs, and the like, but occasionally a vehicle caught her eye. That's when Byron would be called. When she was in the middle of Kansas, she found and bought an old, decrepit Harley-Davidson, Byron was summoned down to L.A. from Portland to see about it's restoration. Three days of talk ended with him quitting his mechanic job in Portland, moving into the group's little house, and becoming Allie's business partner. Together they bought a small storefront using the money they got from selling the old motorcycle (among other items) and set about stocking it with their finds. Allie, with her business degree, took over the shop and dealt with clients and customers while Byron took on the picking aspect and the mechanical restorations. Bennet-Moore Antiques officially opened for business when Allie was 25.

When she was 26, Robert Martin joined their merry troupe. Robbie, a local L.A. mechanic, had come into the shop to look at a bike they had for sale. After chatting with the siblings about their business, Robbie ended up becoming a part-time employee and full-time friend. When he wasn't working his own job, he helped Byron with restorations and learned the art of picking, a skill that Lacy and C.C. helped him develop as well.

Now 28, with a thriving store, a dream career, and great friends, Allie honestly doesn't know how her life could be any better.

♔ REQUIREMENTS ♔

[+] Include 2+ colored pictures of your OC’s faceclaim.

[+] Include 1+ black&white picture of your OC’s faceclaim.

[+] Include lyrics of a song that captures your OC’s personality and link the youtube link here:

If Then // General Ghost // https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_lEMsBlH5w

[+] Include 1+ speech bubble.

[+] Include a magazine article.

[+] Tag the members in the comments.

♔ BONUS REQUIREMENTS ♔

[+] Include an outfit your OC would wear.

[+] Include a featured item.

[+] Make your set square.

[+] Include a filler of a person.

♔ DESCRIPTION ♔

↳ All of the OC information listed above

Tagging (using my All taglist and a few others): @red-shirts-always-die4444 @captainsbabysitter-blog @loststarlight @southernbellestatues @jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets @doctorginsberg @kjs-s @feelmyroarrrr @yallneedtrek @haveyouseenmymind @reading-in-moonlight @annathewitch

*previously made with Polyvore (account : popularculture) and currently posted on shoplook. I don’t own the images used to make the set and it was made for entertainment purposes

#oc #allie bennet #polyvore #goingknowhere oc #art set #goingknowhere #goingknowherewastaken

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pepperoniwhirlwind · 6 years

Text

~Honesty Hour~

I was asked by @lovelynhiddenkittens to do all 150 questions in the Honesty Hour tag! 😮 Thank you, lovely and curious stranger~! 😆 But since that’s a lot for one post, I’ll break it up into chunks of 50 questions so it’s easier for all my blogging buddies to digest. 😊 Starting... now! 😝

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? That would have to be Alex. He was warming my hand for me because it was ice cold. Though he doesn’t know that’s because I intentionally held my super cold drink for a really long time with that hand, then casually mentioned how cold my hand was so he’d try to warm it... >//> Introverts are sneaky flirts, what can I say? 😆😏

2. Are you outgoing or shy? Shy, definitely. Though there are alters in the system much more outgoing than me.

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? Tyler! 😄 I’ve been staying over at her apartment every weekend this past summer, and always enjoy our movie and gaming marathons. 😝

4. Are you easy to get along with? I think so. I’m not very easily angered, a pacifist at heart, and a people-pleaser at my core. 😂 So it’s pretty hard not to get along with me.

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?

I don’t know, Alex is a sweetheart so he’d probably help, and Tyler cares but she doesn’t do bodily fluids. 😆 So, it depends. And considering I’ve never been drunk, and seem to have too high a tolerance to get drunk without having to rob a bank to fund the sheer volume of alcohol needed, I doubt this problem will ever arise. 👌

6. What kind of people are you attracted to?

Kind and funny people. 😊

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

I have no idea, but I won’t rule it out. Alex has kinda been cute and flirty towards me lately, so maaaybe~? >//>

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?

Uh, well, the subject of the last question was Alex, so, him. 😆

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

A wee bit, yes. 😅 I put up a good facade though, but being asexual, sex is kinda... bleeehhh~ for me. e~e

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

That would have to be Tyler. :3 She’s my bestie from my ASL classes~ 💜 We have a looot in common, so we talk for hours at a time, in between movie and game marathons that is. 😆

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?

Context: I was spamming Tyler gifs of adorable animals earlier today.

The Text: “Aaand now I gotta get ready for therapy, so this shall be the crowning gif of adorable goodness!”

Followed by a gif of two golden retrievers fighting over a tennis ball, with a third retriever (being shoved into the frame by a fourth, offscreen, retriever) resting his head on the two dogs feuding over the aforementioned tennis ball. 💖

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

This is rather hard... so I’ll just list the songs that I listen to on repeat a lot.

1. “The Cure” by Lady Gaga

2. “Insomnia” by IAMX

3. “Middle of the Bed” by Lucy Rose

4. “All the Rage” by Allie X

5. “Wires” by The Neighbourhood

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?

Yes. No. Kinda? It depends... If I’ve just had a shower and my hair is clean, I love it. ^w^ But if it’s been a bit and my hair isn’t all that clean I just feel embarrassed if people touch my hair. e~e

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?

Ehhh... Depends which alter you ask really. Me, personally? Not so much. My family has always told me our family line is cursed to have bad luck, so if I believed in such things, I guess I’m doomed. 😂

15. What good thing happened this summer?

I’ve started working on myself and my social life, strengthening friendships irl and online, or, at least attempting to. 😅 Sometimes I’m just bad at not isolating. But this past summer I’ve been spending basically every weekend at my friend Tyler’s apartment and hanging out with her core group of friends. It’s been a nice break from the chaos of the school semester. 😊

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

Well, considering she’s on the other side of the country back in my home state, probably not. She was a lovely first kiss, but I’ll leave it at that. 🤭

17. Do you think there is life on other planets?

With how many planets there are in the galaxy; the universe? Not to mention how many planets within The Goldilocks Zone that share a similar atmosphere to earth within the observable universe alone... How could I not think other life exists? At the very least, in some kind of bacterial form, though, I dare to dream a little bigger. ✨

18. Do you still talk to your first crush?

Well, I’ve never really had a crush, per se, though plenty of squishes. :3 But my first squish did not turn out well, so, no. :c

19. Do you like bubble baths?

Yes, especially if I go all out and light candles and play music on my phone. 🕯️🎶😌 However, I don’t do that very often. I take showers mostly.

20. Do you like your neighbors?

Yeah, they’re chill people. The neighbors with the overly-territorial pitbull that kept us prisoner in our car for hours and broke into our fenced-in backyard to take massive doggie dumps out of sheer hatred for us moved away because their dog kept terrorizing the neighbourhood and was going to get put down if it didn’t stop breaking out to chase children on trikes and joggers onto rooftops. So, the neighbors we have now are awesome! 😆

21. What are your bad habits?

Sometimes I’m too honest and don’t know when to stop talking, other times I’m so socially anxious I might as well be a feature of the wall at parties. 😂 I also have trichotillomania, a compulsive disorder related to OCD, in which I get really strong urges to pull out my hair sometimes, so definitely a bad habit... Just talking about it kinda... ehhhh... moving on. e~e

22. Where would you like to travel?

A lot of places. Though Scotland is at the top of my list. Scotland is a huge part of my family’s heritage, and some of my family still lives there. So I would love to visit and spend some time in nature there~ 💕

23. Do you have trust issues?

Yes.

24. Favorite part of your daily routine?

Well, anytime I get to de-stress is nice. I know wiping down my face with a face wipe always feels nice and refreshing after a day out running errands and attending classes. It’s the little things that are the most help~ 😊

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?

All of it. If I could edit my body, that would be nice.

26. What do you do when you wake up?

Hit snooze on the alarm a couple times, get up, walk to the bathroom... you can imagine the rest.

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?

Nope, I’m quite happy with my vampire pale skin, and even my dirty blonde, curly lion’s mane of hair, and my blue eyes ain’t so bad either. I’m not completely hideous, just 97% hideous. 👌😂

28. Who are you most comfortable around?

Myself. My alters. Tyler. Alex. My Tumblr fam~ 💞

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up?

No, because I usually cut them out of my life after they break my heart. Some have tried to stay friends with me or become friends with me again years later, but... no. I don’t need backstabbers in my life.

30. Do you ever want to get married?

Maybe, someday. When the time is right, I’ll know, until then, I’ll enjoy my singledom~ :3

31. Is your hair long enough for a ponytail?

Yes, it’s in a ponytail right now actually. 😆

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with?

NONE.

33. Spell your name with your chin.

gtlo nhy (Oh gawd... What a name. 😂)

34. Do you play sports? What sports?

Mi-Suk used to play on tennis and basketball teams, but our spine is a little too deteriorated nowadays to attempt such things.

35. Would you rather live without TV or music?

Without TV, hands down. I’d die without music. I bleed music.

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?

Yep. I had a bit of a squish on this kid named Travis in elementary school and never told him. My frenemy told him I had a crush on him, and he never talked to me after that. 😭

37. What do you say during awkward silences?

I either make a joke or just enjoy the silence. Depends what mood I’m in. Sometimes I’m more introverted and just want to sit in silence or listen to music instead of talk. Other times I just wanna connect with people and I tend to crack a lot of darker, self-deprecating jokes as a way to break the ice, or tension if I feel some.

38. Describe your dream girl/guy?

I want someone who is genuinely kind, patient, and funny. It also helps if they are neurodivergent like me, and have similar enough interests, sense of humor, etc. to my own. c: Overall, I just want to feel comfortable and safe with someone. 😊

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?

I buy food at Fry’s... so... Fry’s?

40. What do you want to do after high school?

I’m already out of high school, bub. Now I’m in college, and I still have no idea. I have dream jobs, dream homes, dream lives. But none of them seem realistic.

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?

Depends on the crime, really. If I hired someone to babysit my hypothetical children, and they forgot to tell the children to clean up their toys, I believe a second chance is in order. If they, however, ditched the job to mack on Paul Puffy Lips next door, leaving my children to starve, I don’t believe I’ll be giving them another call.

42. If you’re being extremely quiet what does it mean?

It means I’m probably really socially anxious at the moment and would prefer to not be made the center of attention. o~o’

43. Do you smile at strangers?

Yes, sometimes to spread cheer and joy, other times because I’m worried they’ll think I’m an up-to-no-good deviant or zombified by depression, which is how I feel at least 80% of the time, and worry everyone notices, even strangers, who probably would not assume such things, but that’s social anxiety for you. 😂

44. A trip to outer space or the bottom of the ocean?

Why not both? However, humans are so preoccupied with space that we’ve only explored 5% of our oceans. I don’t want the oceans to feel lonely, so I’ll visit them first. 💙

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?

Sometimes the looming responsibilities in my life, other times I just don’t get out of bed.

46. What are you paranoid about?

A lot of things, but the most pressing concern of mine is that everyone will inevitably leave me because I’m a terrible, horrible human being who doesn’t deserve friendship. 😅

47. Have you ever been high?

Every day, if I can help it. I have a medical marijuana card and have for a couple years now.

48. Have you ever been drunk?

No.

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?

No, not really. Nothing is coming to mind.

50. What was the color of the last hoodie you wore?

Well, I’m wearing a hoodie now, and it’s gray, with the Nirvana emblem on the front. 😝 It’s my favorite and coziest hoodie of all.

#honesty hour #asks #tony

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the-zodiacs-written-in-the-stars · 6 years

Text

Chapter 6: Mel & Tanya

Tanya was sitting at the bar, enjoying the homemade lemonade – Jamie made such a good lemonade it was insane. Lemons, lime, elderflower and mints. It was probably the most refreshing thing she had ever drunk. Sighing softly, she poked at the mint leafs in her drink with her straw.

“Wanna talk about your day, girlfriend?”, asked Jessie with a smile.

“It was exhausting”, sighed Tanya and looked up at the bartender. “It's just... work. A lot of work.”

“I gotta have a talk with Matt? I will have you know, I will have a talk with him”, warned Jessie.

Tanya smiled fondly and shook her head. Jessie was a wonderful person and one of the reasons Tanya had come to frequent the St. John's Pub. Though to be fair, both St. John siblings gave their regulars this feeling of home. They welcomed everyone and made them feel like they belong.

“Why the hell did you talk to my sister in ASL?”

Both Jessie and Tanya turned toward a frowning Mike. The detective looked very confused. Jessie leaned in, very intrigued in where this was going, casually wiping down the counter.

“Why not?”, countered Tanya, equally confused. “You told me she's mute.”

“...I never... what...?”, grunted Mike, confusion visibly growing.

“You said she can't talk”, disagreed Tanya, one eyebrow raised.

There was a stretch of silence in which Mike just stared at her blankly. “What... No. What. I said she can't talk to pretty girls. I didn't mean that she can't talk at all.”

“That makes no sense”, pointed Tanya out, a frown creasing her eyebrows.

“Mel is what others would call a useless lesbian. Only that she takes it to the extreme”, offered Jessie casually. “She is tongue-tied when a gorgeous woman talks to her. It's amusing.”

“That's ridiculous”, muttered Tanya and shook her head.

“I know”, sighed Mike. “But still. Wait. So... Why do you even speak ASL...?”

“My babushka, she went deaf... fifteen or so years ago? My whole family learned ASL.”

“Your Russian grandma in Russia went deaf so your Russian family in Russia learned American Sign Language...?”, questioned Jessie, both eyebrows raised high.

“Yes, my grandmother who immigrated to Russia fifty years ago to be with my grandfather and never let go of her roots in San Francisco and taught my father and me English, insisted that we learn American Sign Language”, replied Tanya with a neutral look.

“Oh”, hummed Jessie and nodded. “Cool. So, Mike, why does your sister know ASL?”

“I don't know. She was bored one afternoon and decided to learn ASL after binge-watching Switched at Birth because learning a new language is what that geek defines as a hobby”, shrugged Mike with an eye-roll.

“That is very impressive”, stated Tanya, eyebrows raised.

“Not when you consider she's fluent in like nine languages and can't talk to pret...”, started Jessie in a snarky voice before trailing off. “Wait. Wait, you talked to her? Like, had a conversation?”

“Yes?”, confirmed Tanya confused.

“That's it!”, exclaimed Mike excitedly, hitting the bar with his fist and startling the girls. “So, all we have to do is find a nice lesbian who's fluent in ASL for my sister and then it'll all work out.”

“I mean, it narrows down the pool, but...”, drawled Jessie unimpressed.

“Well, it's not like I know a lot of lesbians to begin with”, huffed Mike frustrated.

“I feel summoned. What are we talking about?”, asked Babs as she returned from serving beer.

“See. There she is, the only lesbian I know”, grunted Mike, vaguely motioning at Babs.

Blinking a couple of times, Babs hopped onto the bar, on Mike's other side. Tanya tilted her head and looked at the waitress. Babara was cute, in a dorky way. With the neon-green dyed hair put up into two pig-tails usually, lipstick and nail-polish in matching shades of magenta as always. She had very distracting boobs, if Tanya was being honest.

“And... why exactly isn't the only lesbian you know a match for your lesbian sister?”, asked Tanya curiously. “Does it have anything to do with the fact that lesbians do require more than just shared sexuality to work out as a relationship...?”

“Eh”, huffed Mike with a dismissive hand-gesture. “No. It's that Mel's a college professor and Babs is her student and that's a total no-go for Mel. So, Babs is out of the game. I mean, I had hopes for Jessie, but... straight people exist.”

Babs opened her mouth to answer, but Jessie beat her to the punch. The barkeeper lifted a hand to silence Tanya before leaning forward against the bar, leveling Mike with an unimpressed look.

“Don't tell me you forgot sexuality isn't black and white. Straight and gay. We literally got all the colors of the rainbow to play with, you know?”, chuckled Jessie. “Remember when I told you I'm not interested in women? Let me guess, you concluded I'm straight.”

“Well... something tells me you aren't. And that something is the judgmental look on your face”, offered Mike, sitting up with a frown.

“I'm not interested in women. But I'm also not interested in men”, replied Jessie with a shrug. “I identify as aroace. Aromantic and asexual. I aspire to become an old cat-lady.”

“Right. That's a thing. I saw it on that show Mattie loves watching so much”, muttered Mike embarrassed. “Never heard of it before. So I kinda... didn't... think about it.”

“Why am I not surprised that the gay archer who loves his men tall, dark and handsome watches Shadowhunters?”, mused Babs teasingly, kicking her legs back and forth. “I bet he has a total crush on Alec Lightwood. He does, right?”

“I'm not talking about that with you”, grumbled Mike frustrated.

“What did you girls do to him? He looks miserable.”

Tanya rolled her eyes just a little at how much Mike's face brightened up when Jamie poked his head out of the kitchen. His shoulder-long, light-brown hair was pulled up in a bun, some strands falling into his freckled face. Mike stared at him like he really wanted to brush the hair out of Jamie's face and then trace the freckles. Honestly, Mike and Matt were pretty pathetic. Jamie walked over to Mike and put a container with most likely two burgers and fries down.

“Thank you, Jamie. You're a life-saver”, sighed Mike. “I'm starving and me and Rick are gonna be busy throughout our break too probably...”

“Can't let our police-force starve”, chuckled Jamie, amusement in his dark eyes. “Make sure to take better care of yourself though.”

Mike just nodded, looking after Jamie as the cook disappeared back into his kitchen. “Anyway. I should get back to work. See you around, Tanya?”

“As always”, sighed Tanya, waving dismissively as Mike left the pub.

She raised both eyebrows as Jessie and Babs seemed to be zooming in on her. Jessie cocked her head in a nearly judgmental way and crossed her arms over her chest, while Babs grinned.

“So, why didn't you mention that you're not straight?”, asked Babs teasingly. “Mel not your type?”

“For one, I don't make a habit of flaunting my sexuality in everybody's face”, grunted Tanya unimpressed. “And for another, I will not be used by Mike to be set up with his sister. She seemed nice and all, but this is not the way I will find a partner.”

“Girl”, sighed Jessie, both eyebrows raised. “You're already fishing in both ponds but you're still single. I don't think you have a way to find a partner.”

“I will not be sassed about my lack of love-life by you, of all people”, huffed Tanya.

“Oh come o—on, it's like one of life's joys when you're ace”, pouted Jessie.

~*~

Melanie straightened her glasses as she put another paper down. She was getting good work done today. Maybe she'd even finish grading them all today. That would be nice.

“Hello, Melanie. Your hair looks nice today.”

...That would be it for her papers. Sighing, Melanie looked up at his brother's obsession. “James.”

James St. John was a handsome man, though Melanie attributed that to the fact that he looked a lot like his younger sister Jessica. Pale, freckled skin, lean body, soft, brown hair and dark, green eyes. They also both had that same smirk, filled with mischief and something foreboding. James grinned pleased at Melanie as he got comfortable on the seat opposite of hers.

“I was wondering if maybe you could do me just the smallest, tiniest favor, perhaps.”

“What is it?”, asked Melanie with a heavy sigh.

She liked James alright. He was kind, amusing and a brilliant cook. On top of it all, she knew what a huge crush Mikey and Matt both had on the guy. And there was one thing Mel had always been, supportive of her siblings and accepting of their love-interests.

“You know the kids who always come here for warm meals?”, asked James carefully, a serious look on his face. “Their names are Ally and Andy. They're orphans. Ran away from the same foster-home together. And, well, at first... it was just warm meals. Then a dry place to stay and... they kind of stopped leaving and the guest room kind of turned into an actual bedroom for them and now I'm fighting my way through the process of becoming a foster-parent. And, well, I figured it'd leave a better impression if I'd actually get the kids back into school.”

“That's... very admirable”, nodded Melanie surprised. “And... what kind of help do you need?”

“It's...”, started James before he sighed and rubbed his face. “Ally's fourteen. Andy's nine. They're... behind. They've been living on the streets for over a year now. And honestly, I'm... lost. I dropped out of high school for a reason. I ain't that kinda person. Neither is Jessie. You're a figure of authority, you're a teacher, you're passionate about learning. I've heard you rant to Babs about it. I thought maybe... you could talk to them? From a different perspective.”

Melanie frowned. This was not exactly what an English literature professor did, but she could see the despair in Jamie's eyes. He was clearly frustrated and clearly trying his best. And it wasn't like she didn't understand where he was coming from.

“Okay. How about you introduce me to your young charges and I'll see if I can help?”, offered Mel.

Jamie offered a grateful smile before he got up and left for upstairs, where Jamie, Jessie and Babara were living. Moments later and he returned with two kids. The girl older, with long, tight curls and Polynesian features, skin a light shade of nougat and eyes guarded as she glared around the room. The boy next to her was younger than her, he was black, with short hair and what looked like lightning-bolts shaved into the side of his temples.

“Guys, this is Melanie. She, uh, offered to sit down with you and see if she can help with your school work”, introduced Jamie, one hand on the girl's back.

“Hello, ma'am”, greeted the boy, holding his hand out to shake hers.

“Such a polite young man”, smiled Melanie, biting her lip as she shook his head.

Jamie grinned brightly at that and shrugged. “I'll leave you to it.”

Ally glared wearily as she sat down opposite Melanie. She was wearing a hoodie such a pale shade of red that it matched her coral-necklace, her hands buried deep in the front-pocket of the hoodie. She was it like armor, Melanie was more than familiar with that. Compared to Ally, Andy seemed far more open and also eager, leaning forward curiously.

“So, the two of you don't want to go to school?”, asked Melanie.

Andy opened his mouth to answer, but a side-glance from Ally made him close his mouth. Melanie offered a wry smile and leaned back, pushing her glasses up as she watched them for a long moment. Andy had large, soft-brown eyes, making him look innocent and inquisitive.

“Okay, I have two theories here”, started Melanie slowly after a few minutes of watching the siblings and their body-language. “Wanna hear them?”

“Whatever”, muttered Ally dismissively.

Melanie hummed and tilted her head. “One is the fact that James isn't certified as a foster-parent yet. Going to school means settling it. It means growing comfortable here, to make friends. But if James won't become your foster-father after all, you'll have to run away again. And running away hurts more when you have someone to leave behind. Friends.”

Ally stared at her surprised, then wearily. “It's... not that we don't trust Jamie. But the system's rigged and I don't need to try if it's just gonna be a waste of time.”

“I get that”, replied Melanie and nodded.

“Right”, snorted Ally, slipping down further in her seat.

“I'm an orphan too, you know”, hummed Melanie casually, tilting her head. “But I was already eighteen when my parents died. But my younger brother, he was... he was about your age, Ally. He was thirteen back then. And our younger sister was ten. I had to fight to get to keep my siblings. Social workers didn't think an eighteen year old girl would be able to take care of two children, work and go to school. My younger siblings acted up, because they were afraid too. They were afraid to be taken away and they didn't know how to cope.”

Ally slowly seemed to relax a little bit. “So... how... did they cope?”

Melanie shrugged and tilted her head. “They had to trust me. I... One night, they found me crying in my room, because I really, really didn't know how I could do it. I thought I wouldn't be good enough for them, because they were acting out, that maybe it would be best for them if they got a second chance with someone who could be a parent for them. I was trying my best, but I was all alone and I didn't know how to do this because I had never done this before. That night, they realized that... that they were afraid and hurting, but... so was I. Just because I was older than them didn't know I really knew what I was doing.”

“And what did they do then?”, asked Andy, leaning forward so much on his chair, Melanie feared the boy would just fall off any moment. “Could they help you? Did it work out?”

That made Melanie sigh and shake her head. “Mikey, my brother, he... wanted to actually help. He thought that he had to do something, so he suddenly decided he had to work beside school and help out. But that's not... The way you can help is by listening to James. What he's saying about school is right. School is important and if he can show off that he has you enrolled in a school, integrated into the community, that he's taking care of you, it will make him look better. I understand that unlike me, James isn't alone in this. He has his sister and I believe Babara certainly helps out too, but he'll really rely on you two being cooperative. You want to stay with James, right?”

Both children nodded at that, still looking at her like she held all the answers in the universe. Ally bit her lips and looked at Melanie wearily, like she was trying to sort her thoughts to ask a specific question. Melanie slowly took a drink from her tea, patiently waiting for Ally to be ready to ask whatever it was that was on her mind. They were good kids, both of them.

“What... happened with your siblings?”, asked Ally finally. “Did they get to stay with you?”

“They did”, confirmed Melanie with a small smile. “We... worked hard, together, to make it work.”

“And what do they do now?”, wanted Andy to know eagerly. “Your siblings?”

“Mikey is a cop”, replied Melanie, smile growing with pride. “He's a regular at the bar too. You surely have seen him around before. He looks really grumpy very often and has black hair like me.”

Andy's mouth formed an o as he nodded. “And your little sister?”

Melanie's face fell some as she blinked. “Mack... She's living in New York. Sadly, we don't have a lot of contact anymore, because she lives so far away, but I'm sure she's very happy with her life.”

Ally looked skeptical, like she didn't believe a word Melanie was saying. In the end, the girl allowed Melanie that little lie and just got up from her seat, motioning for her brother to follow.

“Come on, Andy. Let's see what Jamie's doing in the kitchen. I'm hungry”, hummed Ally.

“Oh, yes! Burger!”, demanded Andy excitedly and rushed past his sister.

Melanie smiled fondly but sadly as, for just a moment when she looked at the two children, she felt reminded of Michael and Mackenzie all those years ago. It's been a long journey for them and it was going to be a long journey for Ally and Andy, but considering everything Melanie knew about the Saint John siblings, she knew Ally and Andy would be fine with them.

~*~

Tanya wanted to get a head-start before going over things with Mike and Matt. They needed to meet to discuss what to do. They had superpowers, supposedly so, they had a kind of duty. What to do with it, that was what the three of them had to decide.

Tanya was so tempted. Aquarius had already shown her that this whole deal came with a costume. Only later did Aquarius tell her that she could or should have gone for armor. Instead, Tanya had gone for fashionable. A short, sleeveless dress made out of dragon-skin that actually looked like the scales of Aquarius – a matching shade of turquoise. It was tight and short, giving her more room to move. And it had a cape, because heroes had capes, okay? The high heels on the boots were most likely not the most effective things, but she hadn't walked in flats in at least ten years, so that would be even more impractical for her personally, so there was that. At least the costume was heat-resistant because it was dragon-skin. No dragons had been harmed in the making of it though, since it was all magic. But at least that justified the cape some, because she could use it for hiding from fire and extreme heat. Generally, she loved the costume her subconsciousness had come up with.

The weapon that had come with it though...

A broad-sword with a zig-zagged blade. A vicious thing. Tanya did like how impactful it was, but she wasn't entirely sure about wielding it just yet. She could make it work, because she did know how to use a sword, at least the basics of it, it was just different from any sword she had ever worked with. She had studied the blade, sword-dancing had been a hobby of hers as a teenager.

“Okay. Teach me about my powers”, requested Tanya seriously.

Aquarius tilted her head curiously. “You do want to become a hero.”

“Yeah”, confirmed Tanya hesitantly. “I... suppose so. This power wasn't granted to us for us to stick our heads in the sand... And at the very least, I want to know what I'm capable of.”

Tilting her head into the other direction, Aquarius nodded pleased. That dragon was way too cute.

“There are twelve Zodiacs. They're assigned to the four elements, three Zodiacs hold powers of each element”, started Aquarius and stretched out, resting her chin and her front-paws on Tanya's lap to make her scratch Aquarius' head. “Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are the signs of earth, Sagittarius, Leo and Aries are the signs of fire, Cancer, Pisces and Scorpio are the signs of water and Gemini, Libra and I are the signs of air.”

“Right. So, who was drunk when they decided that the literal water-bearer should be assigned air?”, asked Tanya with a frown, scratching Aquarius behind the ear.

“I'm a water-dragon”, chimed Aquarius. “I spit water, not fire. And I am a dragon. I fly. Air. So, it's a bit mixed. Guess that led to confusions. It's why one of your predecessors had such a weird myth around her birth. With the whole daughter of the sky – air – and the ocean – water. Which, I guess, works as me creating her to be a hero.”

“So, what powers do I have?”, asked Tanya, frown deepening even more.

“Air”, hummed Aquarius, relaxing under Tanya's fingers and making purring sounds.

“What does that even mean?”, sighed Tanya and leaned back on her couch. “Fire, water, even earth, they all seem to have some nice possibilities. What can I do with air?”

“Many of your predecessors could fly”, offered Aquarius casually. “Air is everywhere. You can do so much with it. The only limit is your imagination. You can manipulate the molecules in the air. You can solidify it, or thin it out until it's hard to breath. You can manipulate the temperature of the air, really, there is a lot you can do with it. You just have to... try.”

“Okay. Let's maybe not start with flying”, suggested Tanya concerned. “I feel like it would not end well if I'd jump off a building right now. The rest sounds interesting enough to work with. How?”

“I don't know”, hummed Aquarius with a yawn, closing her eyes. “Concentrate. Just do it.”

“...That's not helpful”, sighed Tanya, the frown returning.

“How would you explain breathing to someone else?”, shrugged Aquarius. “It's that. It's... It's just something you can do. Something I have always been able to do. It's... Just do it.”

It would be easier to be irritated if Aquarius didn't look this adorable when pouting. Sighing, Tanya continued scratching Aquarius behind the ears until the dragon fell asleep in her lap. Okay. Just do it. It couldn't be that hard. She just had to... do it. Somehow.

Maybe if she approached it like a mime? Solidifying air by forming it. Closing her eyes, Tanya focused on visualizing it. Visualizing firm, solid glass beneath her fingers, instead of air. She pressed the flat of her hand against nothing and kept concentrating, until... until it was solid. Her eyes snapped open as she stared stunned at the air. There was nothing visible, but the air still felt like it had turned into solid glass. Removing her hand, Tanya kept staring. Tentatively, she knocked against the air – and it actually worked. It was still solid. Okay. She could work with this.

And fighting supervillains with actual superpowers seemed far more realistic than simply with a sword. Maybe they could do that. She wasn't sure of it just yet, because the thought was scary, but... there were villains, literal villains, hurting innocent people. And the three of them belonged to the twelve only people on the planet who could do something. They had to.

~*~

“Okay. This feels utterly ridiculous, Taurus”, sighed Melanie softly.

“It only feels ridiculous because you had to go to your brother's place to find a big enough plant”, pointed Taurus out.

Melanie grumbled, her cheeks flushing. She wasn't good with plants. Apparently, that was now going to change, thanks to her Zodiac and his powers. Or at least, Taurus said so. Melanie wasn't quite sure – which was why they had gone to Mike and Matt's. Melanie knew the couple weren't home, they would be gone the entire weekend, staying at Matt's parents'. And Melanie had a key to their gorgeous Victorian-style house. She loved that house a lot. Two stories, an attic, a basement, a backyard and winter garden. Sure, Matt was rich, it figured he wouldn't want to live in a shack.

She often came to their house, even when they weren't home. Neither of them had a problem with it, Matt had an actual library and it had proven very useful for work. Also, Melanie just felt happy when she was surrounded by books, so there was that.

There was the master bedroom, the office space and two more bedrooms on the first floor, aside from the library. One of those bedrooms belonged to Matt's little sister. She regularly came to stay for a weekend in Los Angeles with her big brother, or spent the holidays, so Matt and Mike had simply converted one room to be all hers. And she loved it. The other bedroom was a guestroom, where Melanie found herself staying regularly too. Sometimes because she worked too long in their library and forgot about time, other times she would stay over after a movie night or something.

But what Melanie was seeking out was on the first floor. Oh, Melanie really did love this house. A sitting room in the center of the first floor, connected to the guest bathroom, the kitchen, dining room, living room – and the winter garden. Which was exactly why she was there today.

“Okay. Tell me what to do”, prompted Melanie with a frown as they reached the winter garden.

It was a long room, with window-walls all around. Fresh beautiful flowers and plants all over, as well as four deckchairs. The sun perfectly fell into the winter garden. Matt liked laying here to read, Melanie knew that. She had spent hours laying with him, enjoying the sun on her face and the book in her hand. She was getting along really well with her future brother-in-law. Something she was eternally grateful for, because the idea of not getting along with the person her brother loved...? Horrible to imagine. Coming here as she pleased, spending time with them both.

Taurus was standing awkwardly between two small palms, ducking beneath them. He wasn't tall, reaching just above Melanie's hips. His fur was a soft mossy-green and had the soft texture of moss too. His horns were massive and curved, a lush, emerald green just like his eyes and the symbol on his forehead – the symbol of Taurus. He ducked his head further, nudging a potted plant.

“Take the leaves between your hands. Close your eyes and focus”, ordered Taurus.

“Focus on... what?”, asked Melanie with a frown, caressing the plant's leaf.

“The plant. The life inside”, suggested Taurus. “Feel it. Like... another presence. Like another person in here. You can talk to it. Control it. Make it grow.”

Melanie frowned, clearly annoyed and frustrated. How could she make something grow? By... imagining it? She had never been a very visual person, she was better with words.

“The thick, green leaf, a soft color because it was still so young, it was strong. Strong enough to grow”, muttered Melanie beneath her breath, imagining it. “It could grow stronger, bigger. It-”

She startled and opened her eyes to stare at the plant. The thick leaf had grown, was now nearly twice its size. Okay. That was interesting. Tilting her head, Melanie tried to influence the plant – and the leaf turned into the direction Melanie wanted it to. Smiling softly, Melanie caressed the leaf. It felt... happy? Why... How could she feel a plant? Oh, this wasn't good. She was already vegetarian, if she could now communicate with plants, what was left to eat...?

“This is amazing, Taurus”, whispered Melanie. “With this and the suit and the additional strength that you can give me... I... I could actually do something. Be... a hero...?”

“Of course. That is precisely what I have been saying since the beginning”, confirmed Taurus.

The two of them talked animatedly with each other, Melanie being lost in all the possibilities of her powers, until suddenly, she had a steak-knife to the throat. Okay, she definitely needed better reflexes if she wanted to be a hero. With wide, frightened eyes did Melanie slowly turn around to face her attacker. Tanya Tarasova stared at her threateningly until recognition set in. Her eyes widened in surprise before the blonde backed off and essentially dropped the knife.

“Ni figa cebe!”, cussed Tanya as she slowly calmed down. [trans, Russian: holy shit]

Melanie just stared at her in surprise. Tanya took a deep breath, just to freeze and stare wide-eyed... at the large, green bull. Oh. Melanie gulped. This was super not going according to plans.

“That... you are a...”, whispered Tanya in disbelief.

She ran her fingers through her sunny-blonde hair, disheveling it a little. It was so perfect and exactly in place, but some strands falling out of the bun also looked really good. Melanie blushed.

“Taurus!”

Melanie jumped. The sudden high-pitched female voice startled her. So did the bright, turquoise light. It was what happened next that nearly made Melanie faint. A dragon. A real-life dragon. Sitting upright, it reached easily up to her waist. And it was utterly adorable. With dots all over, shades of turquoise and two zigzag lines on her forehead. The dragon yelped happily and jumped on top of Taurus, hugging the green bull. Taurus tilted his head, nudging the dragon.

“Aquarius. What a nice surprise”, hummed Taurus gently.

“Wait. Aquarius. Like. The Zodiac?”, blurted Melanie out, eyes large.

She turned to look at Tanya in surprise, though the blonde was just staring at the bull. “Taurus. Wait. That means... you have a Zodiac companion too? Oh, that explains a to. Mike's been complaining that you've been behaving 'weird'. It's because you have a secret.”

“Well, you have a dragon!”, exclaimed Melanie, pointing at Aquarius. “An adorable dragon, but a dragon! H—How...”

“Oh, I like her. She said I'm adorable”, declared Aquarius pleased.

Tanya just shook her head. “Matt and Mike are not going to believe it...”

“We can't tell them!”, exclaimed Melanie. “I can't drag my baby brother into this!”

“I'm sorry, but it's kind of too late. The snarky, blue crab dragged him into it”, chuckled Tanya, eyes twinkling. “Mike and Matt have companions too.”

“...Is that why Mike has been so distracted lately?”, whispered Melanie in realization.

“Yes”, confirmed Tanya, an amused smile on her lips. “This is going to be good. But wait, what are you doing here...? Matt and Mike are visiting Matt's family.”

“I know. I... uh... I have Earth-powers and... wanted to test them, but I don't own any plants”, admitted Melanie a little embarrassed, cheeks heating up.

“You don't own a single plant?”, asked Tanya, laughing softly.

“Oh, shut up”, grumbled Melanie flustered. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm Matt's assistant. I often come here, to drop off documents from work or get stuff he leaves here for me”, replied Tanya with a shrug. “He called me, told me he signed some important stuff before him and Mike left and that it was in the office.”

Melanie nodded and sat down on one of the chairs. Tanya sat down next to her, looking mainly amused. This was a lot to digest. She just hoped she'd have it digested by the time her brother returned home from his weekend trip. And in all the excitement, she didn't even really register that she had just spoken to a beautiful woman without stumbling over her own words...

Read here on AO3!

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#Story: Written in the Stars #Project: Written in the Stars #Own Story #Superheroes

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