#i cant get this kind of customization anywhere else

[party-pixie]

i JUST changed all of my blogs' themes and you're telling me we might ACTUALLY have to jump ship soon?????????

[hcneymooners]

hi. i was thinking about the times you have spoken about being from the south and also that you currently live in london. i cant find any of your posts about the south but i vaguely remember some of the things you said. would you be able to talk a little about your time in the south in comparison to london? the stark differences but also the quieter every day parts of life that stand apart between the two. i have lived my whole life in london and the english countryside, and i am travelling to the states for my very first time, starting in louisiana. any knowledge i do have on the states is mostly reserved for new england and i suppose also washington/oregon a little. any impression i have for louisiana is reserved for new orleans. i don’t consume much content on the south and what i do see is sort of rooted in the impression of the south being maga crazy (i don’t know how accurate this is). i think you paint a picture of the south that is far more delicate and beautifully raw than anywhere else i would be seeing. i love london so much and i was interested in what it is that you love about the south and what you love about london. and also i suppose hate too, if there is anything. 🤍

hi angel 🤍 i feel really honoured by the way you phrased this. it’s a really kind thing, to ask about where someone comes from without assuming what they carry. so thank you for that.

i think this is one of my favorite asks i have ever received. as odd as it sounds, this is one of the reasons i started writing. my debut novel (in the middle of editing/querying) and my novels coming after are almost always based in the south because i realize how we're seen vs how i grew up. so, i will take any chance to talk about my beautiful stretch of america. i think the main problem with people's perception of the south (and yes, a large portion of it is maga-crazy which directly correlates to the education quality and bible thumping) is that they forget that a large demographic of it is made up out of people of color, esp black people and furthermore queer people of color as well. the south can be hard, so hard, but i also think if you grow up there and leave it you find that you miss it a lot more than you thought you would.

more beneath the cut!

my version of the south included being a debutante. from fifth grade to eighth, i attended cotillion courses which are etiquette classes that were filled with fellow small-town girls who didn’t look like me. we learned to foxtrot and to waltz; spent hours learning how to cut cinnamon rolls, slimy and sticky with sugar, into delicate, precise bites several times over.

at the end of eighth grade, before diving into the shark-infested waters of high school, i debuted. my dad drove me to a huge, gluttonous country club so far out back that my scrap of a phone had no signal. i was in one of my best dresses, my hair braided down and my skin gleaming under the high beam lights that shone out from the customized pick-ups on the highway.

i think of this lot when i come home now at twenty-one. the dichotomy of the south is that returning home is always a paradox: within three weeks, it gives me a headache, but i look and feel irrevocably healthier.

my body molds itself to the rhythm of home: taking the pets out late into the night for a final bathroom round-up, slipping into a cotton nightgown made translucent from the rain, sleeping deeply with the quiet reassurance that somewhere in the basement, there’s a .45 waiting.

home fills me out. i gain weight; my body settles properly onto my bones. i look less like a grave, more like a girl come home. my face deepens into its truest shade of brown, and i smile more, my teeth gleaming in the light as i croak out a laugh. i get my nails shaped like perfect almonds, choose fairy tale pink as the color, and then darken them to carnation.

i feel less staged, less awkward, less like the world’s best-trying pageant queen.

i linger in my mother’s bathtub, staring into the porcelain and attempting to coax visions of what she must feel since she never tells me, watching her hand-sown garden from the window. my father cuts wood, a thwuck noise instead of a thwack.

i think what i love most about the south is the sense of community. coming home i'm smiling at people on the street, i know the vendors at the farmer's market, everybody calls you a term of an endearment even when you go to the grocery store, its steady dreaming and slow time, being in a bikini in your best friends pick-up truck (bc only women look good driving them!), singing along to the thirty country songs allowed in our house, getting accosted by deer and foxes and squirrels, the nature is up close and personal and so is God and family is all around. its a hug, endless and tight.

the small shit like the backroads, the milions of churches you don't go into , the shack looking houses that have families in them. you know everyone even if you don't. getting ready at a friend's house is like: dark pink lip gloss, denim cutoffs, hairspray galore, long braids, someone is definitely a bottle blonde, hard lemonades/cocktails/wine, legs all over each other as you talk shit. it's so fucking worth it and its mine, you know?

in london, i think its a bit jarring to not have that same culture. i smile at people and i'm like omg they can tell i'm american lol. but i do love london's sense of individuality. i can't fully explain it. there's not a pressure here to be anything but yourself. its gorgeous, exploding with life and beautiful restaurants (i love going out to eat) and nothing feels better than dancing till my feet hurt and knowing that i can take a train home past midnight.

london makes me feel so secured in my tastes and my adulthood. there's a rich diaspora of people here, especially in the heart of the city. everything is so much chicer, so much more forward. i feel leagues ahead of the world and then i go back home and it's like i'm in 2006 again! london teaches me that i'm alright, that i can take care of myself when the time comes. that when it’s 2 a.m. and my feet hurt from work, and my heart's a little raw, i’ll still get home. i always get home.

i don't think i hate anything about where i've lived. i love it when i leave it and i love it when i'm there. with the south, maybe i could say that i don't like the conservatism that gnaws at everything. it can feel like a trad-wife trap. a lot of bigots, but we keep pushing. i refuse to be lassoed in to such a dull, hateful life.

god, i can't wait to be home soon. the sun will sink. the dogs are going to bark into the night, and the sounds will bleed into howls, so slurred and eerie i think we’ve contracted wolves. owls will ask their endless, haunted question: who? who? who?

me, baby. i’ll be the strong man in this house now.

it’s how it goes.

p.s. have fun in la! i love it there, too!

[jackieandwilsonbyhozier]

hi hello is anyone out there ? i need real life adult advice or maybe i just need ppl to pretend to listen to me so would anyone mind pretending for a moment. ok thank u

ill make it quick for the poll but put my actual thoughts under a readmore bc i have a lot to say sry....anyway vote in the poll reply reblog send me asks whatever just somebody help me for the love of god.

basically i hate my job and its killing my soul but im making pretty good money ($20/hour) but now they want to promote me to a manager which will kill my soul even more, but ill be making $27/hour. i kind of just want to quit but now theres that, plus if i stay for 2.5 more years i can sell my company stocks and get another big bonus. but again its fucking killing me working here

so i have been at my retail job for 2.5 years im a department manager and im very comfortable and confident in my position also im making $20 an hour which is great. i just got like a semi promotion i guess so now on days when they dont have a manager to close (usually 2 days a week) im the manager on duty and those days i make $22 an hour

however now they rly want to promote me to a manager full time. like the store manager and assistant manager r both telling me how great i would be and even the fcking district manager apparently agrees and wants me. i would be making ! $27 ! an hour which tbh is the only thing actually tempting me

i honestly kind of hate being a manager. i mean i like working with like the product and planning and paperwork and that stuff im confident in that but i hate hate hate actually having to manage PEOPLE. coworkers AND customers. im an extremely sensitive timid pushover-y person i just am and that is where i face the most difficulty. angry customers make me panic and i cant make myself be assertive enough for any of my coworkers to listen to anything i say

and most of all i hate the like manager culture/attitude. if uve worked in retail or probably anywhere else maybe ull know what i mean. like laughing at ur workers bc they asked for accommodations, making fun of them bc theyre all stupid and useless, chasing homeless ppl out of the store and shouting insults at them, basically just being a bully bc u know u can cuz ur in charge. and i rly rly dont want to participate in that and wont but then the other managers wont respect me lol

and actually bottom line is im sick to death of retail. this job is already draining me and if i become a manager im afraid itll be worse. obviously customers kill me and i would be happy if the rest of my life i never had to serve another customer. but even besides them. it takes me over an hour to bus to work and that wasted time adds up. i kind of put my all into work so when i get home i dont have the energy to do literally anything else. i dont know how to have a work/life balance i only know how to work. im a little bit living in filth it feels like bc i cant make myself do chores or take care of myself it feels like my life is just work, and then being at home waiting to have to go back to work

i havent gotten new piercings or tattoos in a couple years, and i havent cut or dyed my hair in over a year, its back to plain brown which i havent seen since i was like 17. its kind of killing my spirit not to be dramatic but thats the truth. art and creativity are the most important things to me and i feel like im losing myself bc i dont have the energy to keep up with stuff like that anymore the stuff i rly care about like my self expression, i feel like im killing myself in order to turn myself into a normie ass-kissing servant. i dont even draw anymore i dont do shit. im honestly kind of depressed as fuck. i mean i also havent been on my meds for over a year now which im sure isnt helping

but.........if i keep this up i could be making $27 an hour :-) the position is more than just being handed to me theyre practically begging me to take it. also another thing about my job is that u somehow accumulate/earn (?) stocks in the company, and after uve been here for 5 years u can sell them. but only if uve been working for 5 years. if u leave before that u lose them all. so if i stay another 2.5 years ill get another big bonus when i leave. but the thought of staying here that long kind of makes me wanna die😭

because thats the thing too and my final point, i honestly dont need the money. im 100% fine financially where i am rn. i have enough that i can pay my bills and put a lot in savings and buy my fun treats and whatever and i literally never ever worry about money this is the most money ive had in my life ive saved up quite a bit too. even if i just quit my job rn i would be good for like at least six months probably more. but i rly love being in this position financially lol. like im literally just like i love money yes i want more money thats the only thing making me want to stay

so i guess after typing all that out i can confidently say i dont like this job at all i just love money. im earning a lot already but i could be earning even more if i take the promotion but i AM losing my mind and kind of dont even want to work here at all anymore. i honestly dont know whats worth it i know all work is soul sucking and miserable so like should i just be grateful for what i have?? and what im being offered??

what i rly actually want to do is become a tattoo artist. i think i would be a lot happier and freer but my income would be a lot more uncertain as well which im very scared of like idk i havent been like tight on money and struggling in so long i dont want to give it up like ive been running like this so long idk how to stop. i rly dont know what to do

[vadimustravelsouthamerica]

Discount airlines...and the best flight i have ever had, really

for the second time i flew an airline that was dramatically less expensive than other name-brand options. think Spirit or Frontier in the U.S. the first (the dreaded flight) was one of these airlines SKy. the second from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia was on Flybondi. reading the reviews on both went as follows. "they cancelled my flight at the last minute", "the staff was rude, even offensive", "customer service would not pick up", "they left me stranded", "i was unable to make a connecting because of their delay". finally, the best one "they stole from me". this one went to say obviously someone had rifled through their luggage and stole valuables. now these reviews are scary. well maybe not scary. but, they give pause. will i get there on time? will my luggage even arrive? now i have time on this trip to deal with delays. if my luggage is lost. i simply cant wait around to get things figured and out and resolved. especially in countries (Peru and Argentina) where very few people speak English. i mean, i would have been at loss, completely.

as i have already stated the SKy flight. covering 4 cities and 3 countries. went without issue and all flights left and arrived on schedule. my baggage arrived as well. and was even one of the first on the conveyor belt. relieving even an instant of concern. for me, this is even slight proof that only pissed off people write reviews.

so, discount airlines don't feed you. well, not without cost. and every, every, every flight i have ever taken on one of these airlines, has a crying baby. as if one was not scheduled to be on board. there is a pool of ill-tempered toddlers way in the back of these airlines offices, that provide the mandatory and mood setting screeches.

the flight on Flyboundi, held the same concerns as above. the same terrible reviews. but this, seriously, turned out to be the best i flight i have ever had. it is difficult to pinpoint exactly why. but, i do think in part was where we were. where we were going.

for concerts i have i attended, and well really, for all concerts whether i am there or not, i feel they become a focal point of energies. imagine it this was way. your favorite band is playing, somewhere, anywhere. you decide to go. buy tickets. make plans to get there. maybe get hotel rooms. maybe even conjure up friends who are thinking the same thing. and have the same desires. now multiply this by thousands and thousands. add in the promoter that is putting the show on. the band co-ordinating a tour. and all of this goes on over months. from so many different angles. all focused on one night. one moment when the stage lights flash to on and the first chord is struck. all that energy, all those thoughts, all the anticipation focused on that very instant. it is is intoxicating and hopefully. transcendent.

now i believe this flight carried the same kind of concert vortex energy. though these may have been built up over years and years and years. a child wondering about Antarctica, like Machu Picchu. "what would that be like?". "what would i see there that i can't see anywhere else?". and all those childhood dreams and fantasies were now on this flight, heading south, the last leg of a very long journey.

[slashingdisneypasta]

I found this https://youtube.com/shorts/bx4Sojsq76E?si=OtSI-8tA9ylVnGVY and now, especially after the video stated that Vegas mobsters used to come here, I'm just imagining the Roo's coming here (and causing so much trouble XD)

(Also, this did get me thinking; judging by the flirt ask I sent Kingston, it sounds like he'd be the kind of guy who'd still take a one night stand out to dinner (because he knows how to treat them r i g h t). I know he may not be a big fuckboy and there's no doubt hundreds of places he can take his gal, but I'm just imagining the staff at some place he always goes to noticing that he sometimes has a lady with him. When they see his S/O with him (*cough* Poppy XD), they expect it to be the same thing. But then he keeps coming back with her, and they think he's finally settling down XD ^^)

AHHHHH now I'm hungry XD

Oh I love this idea!! I'm thinking because they cant regularly hang out at Kingston's parents house and be fed anymore they find a new watering hole to plague XDD And thats THIS PLACE XD The owners and the servers know them.

Ryan tries to cook for himself, and he can but not g r e a t, but eventually he just gives up bothering and goes there every night for dinner. The servers love him because he's quiet, keeps to himself, is polite and tips really well (More if he notices other customers giving them jip- even if he stepped in, which he does, especially with the younger servers.). Kingston brings all his dates here (Including Rena 😂😂 Yeah, to the place she already knows like the back of her hand. Super creative, isn't he? XD Don't worry, she prefers it that way anyway; thats their favourite place!) and the older servers who have been there a while and know him sometimes tease him in front of them XD ('You don't drink beer on a date, I'm bringing you wine' 'but-' 'no. and you're not having garlic bread. jesus christ, you wanna kiss this girl or not??') He introduces his date to them all-polite, and when they start to notice Poppy coming over and over they'll start greeting her like another friend! (LETS JUST GIVE POPPY SOME HALF WAY NORMAL FRIENDS, PLEASE XD) When Rena gets insanely drunk there she's always safe and they'll keep an eye on her- which is why she prefers to get drunk anywhere else 😅 She never eats more then when she's there because she's not there to impress. Its like home! Hand her a lobster and watch her wolf it down like a master, sauce all over her face.

Imagine all 3 Roo's having dinner there together! 🌼🌼🌼🌼 Just the three of them!! No dates, no business. Kingston telling jokes that make Rena laugh like a little girl (No one makes her laugh like he does. There's no one he likes to make laugh more then her.), Ryan sitting there grinning wider then he has since Maya and trying to hide it in a glass of coke, Rena challenging King to do stupid embarrassing things that he definitely does, the 3 of them with their heads bowed together talking quietly about business things (How dumb some shareholders are, what they're gonna do about a little traitor, etc)-

... I- 🥺

[lorestory0]

finally feeling somewhat well rested after sleeping during the day instead of night.

had a realllly fun dream

shadow and a bunch of the ladies from shadowgarden got some time travel thing happen. they far into the future. in many parts of the world the cult of diablos has turned society into some kind of terrible. with shadow and some of the ladies are also shadow as a child, and some big muscular old man who for some reason becomes shadow's therapist.

in this future, shadowgarden is just a old legend because being sent to the future means no defeat the cult in the whatever time they might eventually defeat the cult.

shadow finds out that the cult is definitely real. hmm someone must have started something after the time warp took him into the future.

shadow, shadow, and the old man somehow become fast friends and in a little thing somewhere, the dream doesnt directly tell me but definitely implies that the old man is old shadow and hes just curious to see how long it takes the younger ones to figure it out because that would be more fun than telling them.

they find out the cult has found some technology that makes them invincible unless 3 ancient magical birds are united.

after having a rather adorable looking moment where shadow comforts child version of himself telling him he will be ok, he goes off to find zapdos. yes the pokemon.

the old man drives a truck to get to the one of the other bird, which is a big owl with a cool metal mask. old man intentionally crashes his truck into the mountain because it would be fun, but he angers the locals who challenge him to a fight. this was revealed to be some anti cult guys just hiding in a mountain somewhere.

unfortunately the dream ended and i have no idea what the third bird is and will be forever curious

but i did also see this really cool place somewhere else that was big hollow mountain. cool rock formations and plants on top and with random holes to let a bit of sunlight through to the big openings underneath. and there was massive tree roots from a tree that was nowhere to be found in a lake under the mountain and the tree roots created natural tunnels that were fun to swim through

the thing with shadow comforting the younger version of himself tho. think that part of the dream where those are cute together is because i keep wanting younger shadow in the sims 4 because i want to have a familiy that looks like this

cant find the model for lowercase shadow anywhere. just cid. and thats way less fun. i wanna be responsible for someones confusion when they see enable seeing custom content in the sims 4 gallery and just happen to see that and also know who that is but its shadow and shadow as a married couple with their 3 sons shadow, shadow, and idk maybe cid dsjbfhjhfgk

and heres a bonus minecraft image i dont remember if i shared

[lilyvines]

hi so im like Obsessed with the mundane tommy au i have so many Thoughts so id like to propose my ideas:

- jack manifold and niki nihachu originally teaming up because jack has “a dangerous target that needs to be eliminated” and niki being like “oh you seem very serious of course ill help this must be urgent” and then they get to where tommy and wilbur are hanging out and theyre like in an alleyway or something and then before jack can explain nikis like “OH!! there’s wilbur and his brother im gonna go say hello :D” and then she gets attached to tommy and never actually figures out he’s the one jack is trying to kill (and subsequently never actually helps jack even though she thinks she is) (so basically a b plot in which niki and jack are a “team”, working behind the scenes on this “secret” project that never actually gets anywhere)

- niki controls plants or something. shes always the healer in supernatural aus and im sick of it i want her to have some sick plant powers

- either that or shes straight up just super overpowered and can control energy or the weather or some shit like that i am a Don’t Underestimate Niki Nihachu enthusiast

- i also like the concept of ranboo not having any superpowers, just being RIDICULOUSLY rich and no one can really figure out how (including him, he can’t remember)

- at one point, tommy starts to question the reality of his situation and determines that HE is special and must have some sort of powers. how ELSE could you explain why animals always love him, and why he constantly finds himself conveniently out of harm’s way? cue the montage of him running around town recklessly doing shit that would DEFINITELY get him killed if he didn’t have magic friends

- purpled is an alien. EXCEPT, it goes exactly like every other extraterrestrial story goes: everyone just assumes hes a bit odd, NONE of them suspect anything of him. one night phil wakes up to see a ufo outside his window and brushes it off as a crazy dream. tubbo walks in on him communicating with his home planet and assumes it was just his brain not processing words properly again. wilbur patiently teaches him about everyday objects, assuming his parents just sheltered him like crazy.

i have many more thoughts but i dont want this ask to be a whole essay so i will bid you adieu for now ! o/

ok yes

im going to combine jack + niki team up and alien purpled bc the funny so its just

jack, after learning that niki and tommy are friends: hmm i cant ask niki to kill her friend or tell her im trying to, so the logical thing to do here is just distract her until-

niki, trying to figure out who they're trying to kill: ok he has blonde hair and is a teenager....wait is it purpled

jack: yes! yes it's purpled. he's um. he's...an alien?

niki: huh never knew aliens were real, ok then

later:

jack, talking to purpled: man i am so sorry, but me and niki are trying to kill you now. it's 100 percent my fault and i'll make sure you don't get hurt

purpled, internally: huh this is an odd human custom

jack: and one more thing to admit...she thinks you're an alien. Of course you aren't! but once again, my fault

purpled, an alien: ....

also to keep going with alien purpled imagine him thinking tommy is also an alien just a different kind (because no human can be that oblivious)

purpled, coming up to tommy: ↸𝙹 ||𝙹⚍ ∷ᒷᒲᒷᒲʖᒷ∷ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᔑ⍊ᒷ∷ᔑ⊣ᒷ ⍑⚍ᒲᔑリ ꖎ╎⎓ᒷᓭ!¡ᔑリ? ᓵᔑリℸ ̣ ∷ᒷᒲᒷᒲʖᒷ∷ ∴⍑ᒷリ ╎ᒲ ᓭ⚍!¡!¡𝙹ᓭᒷ↸ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ↸╎ᒷ

tommy: oh wow you're learning greek!! that's so cool :D

also after tommy realizes that maybe there are some suspicious things after all he goes home to like tell wilbur

tommy: wilbur, i think i've realized something

wilbur, who wants tommy to realize so he can win money: ...yes?

tommy: wil there's some odd things around town

wilbur, getting excited: yeah! yeah!

tommy: and i've come to a conclusion

wilbur: which is!!

tommy: ...wilbur i'm magical

[piratadelamor]

sometimes i wish i could move to somewhere far away from here and start a new life only to run away from the decisions i've made and the path i've chosen and to not have to deal with everyone else's disappointment

sometimes i wish i didnt have an intelectual job bc i just cant put myself to study and i hate university i hate graduating i cant stand it anymore and i feel like the dumbest person in the world and i feel like such a huge failure

all my friends are so smart and they are building big careers and they've always had this path paved for them bc they were born into intelectual families but i dont come from the same place as them and sometimes i wish i could just do a part time job on something like customer service and enjoy the rest of my life doing things i actually like for pleasure

this is so unrealistic and i hate this so much i wish i was smart i wish i could focus on studying i wish i wasnt living like im constantly trying to escape from my responsibilities all the time

i love being a teacher but im so fucking frustrated bc i will never become the teacher i wish to be if i dont study properly

i still have so many shit to do this year in order to graduate and i feel like im gonna break down so hard bc im so late to do everything i need and i dont have the energy for it i just dont have ANY motivation im tired of my life im tired of graduation i just wanna rest

i even chose the easiest way to get this degree and i cant even do shit with it like how much of a useless piece of shit can i be. im such a loser im such a big fucking loser i hate myself i really wish i could move somewhere else and get a customer service job and not have to deal with everyone else looking down on me. im tired of only having friends so much richer than me im tired of only listening to stories about things i cant accomplish im tired of seeing them and never becoming like them im tired of their success and of my failures im tired of having dreams and goals that dont belong to my own reality bc i only received an education for people who already had everything so i was only taught to dream so high and what if i dont fucking care about any of this shit? what if my happiness doesnt fit their idea of happiness? there are people i admire there are professionals that inspire me there is a kind of life i imagine i'd be happy to live but everything seems just. so so so far away from me. sometimes i wish i went to a public school as i should've gone, sometimes i wish i didnt had got that scholarship, i wish i didnt have to spend ALL MY ENTIRE LIFE feeling left out and behind and feeling like i was so much less than everyone else, i wish i didnt have to grow up thinking so poor of my own family bc it didnt have the money the stability the houses that my friend's families had, i wish i didnt have to study at a place that humiliated me daily for not being like them, i wish i had found friends that were more like me people i could identify with, i live my life always feeling like i dont belong anywhere i go and im so fucking tired of it, im never enough for these places im never enough for these people

i'll never be the person they taught me i should be they taught me i should dream of becoming

it would be great to be like that but maybe that's not my life maybe that's not something i can actually accomplish maybe that's not who i am

i really wanted to be a teacher but maybe this big elite school and maybe this big elitist city are too much for me. i'll just never be good enough

i cant work myself to be good enough

i cant pick up a fucking book and read bc im too busy trying to find sources of pleasure that cover up all the holes i have on me, bc im always so exhausted i just wanna rest and sleep, bc i fucked up my brain and i cant concentrate on anything anymore, and i fucked up my brain so bad bc i was SO. FUCKING. SAD. AND. ALONE. and i spent all my fucking time on a fucking screen

while my friends were going to theatre classes and dance classes and art classes and studying other languages and going to their beach houses and practicing sports and traveling abroad and having healthy and happy family meetings and learning the piano the guitar the violin

i love my friends but i cant fucking stand this bc all my entire life i wanted to be like them and now im 26 and well im starting to think that maybe this will never ever fucking happen

and maybe if i didnt grow up like this maybe if i didnt have such high expectations maybe if i hadnt lived with all this pressure maybe i'd be ok with working harder. bc i'd be doing it from my own standards. bc i wouldnt be constantly comparing myself to people who live in a completely different reality than mine.

i feel like i dont even have anyone i cant talk about this bc i feel like this is about everyone i could talk to and none of them would understand

im just so sad man im really really sad here. im tired of telling myself i should be grateful for that scholarship and ignore all the shit it made me feel and the way it cursed my whole fucking life but i just cant fucking escape from it

[oh-for-fic-sake]

The Final Wayne's

Masterlist

Warnings:mentions of sex?, swearing mostly fluffy

A/n:Im really happy with this one wasn’t sure how to go about it but i think its pretty sweet. Hope you enjoy xx

You meet the final two wanye’s when they all storm the cafe. 

The Final Wayne's

You hummed along with the radio as you when out the front of the cafe closing a bit earlier as you hadn't had any customers in for nearly 2 hours. You spun the sign round and locked the door you were going to use the extra time to tidy the cafe properly instead of the rushed quick sweep that's normally done. Turning to volume up louder you danced around clearing the last few cups popping them in the sink coming back out with a mop bucket and broom and began to stack the chairs against one wall getting ready for a proper sweep. you nearly jumped out of your skin when someone tried to come bounding threw the door bouncing off it with a loud bang. you ran across the cafe hearing laughter.

"Why the fuck is it closed?!" Ah. Damien, you heard him before you saw him which made sense as he was currently sprawled out on the floor as Jack and Tim laughed at him joined by two older boys , well boys, one looked a few years younger then you... so technically he was an adult . you stuttered clicking who these other two probably were. Unlocking the door you squatted down to Damien.

"Shit are you ok? you didn't hit your head? did you?" you said reaching for him grabbing his face tilting it down trying to see the back of his head. He growled slapping you away

"I'm fine... does your boss know you've shut early? could have been a customer that'd have been a lawsuit ..stupid woman" you stood up crossing your arms at him.

"well I'm lucky it was just your skinny little ass then aren't I?" you deadpanned causing the another wave of laughter as Damien pulled him self up

"come on in" you lead them all in the older boys pulled themselves chairs around a table directly in front of the counter. turned looking for the others as jack wandered out of the kitchen with a fresh brownie Damien following with a blueberry marzipan muffin.

"Oo are those fresh?" Tim said walking past you into the kitchen to get himself one. you raised your hands exasperated.

"By all means help yourselves" you said shaking your head as they gave you cheeky grins before sitting down next to the others.

"Did you make these?" Damien asked you nodded

"Yep made em all today" he gave you a contemplating look

"You are forgiven for the door....if you give this recipe to Alfred" you rolled you eyes

"Oh yippee here I thought I'd have to beg for the young masters forgiveness" Jack snorted into his brownie.

"Y/n this is Dick and Jason our older brothers" Tim finally introduced with half a mouthful of muffin.

"Tim don't speak with your mouthful" you scolded before turning to Dick and Jason, you were nervous about meeting them, you knew that Dick was 20 and Jason was 17 not that much younger than you. Dick smiled brightly Jason followed

"Its nice to meet you both, but I thought Bruce wanted to introduce us at dinner next Monday?" Dick opened his mouth to reply but Damien beat him to it

"They were sulking cos me and Tim have already met you, and they couldn't wait so me Tim and Jack found them wandering about looking for the cafe completely lost." Dick looked embarrassed and Jason looked just about ready to beat Damien to a pulp.

"W-we did not we just decided to explore this part of Gotham.. we haven't been down this way before and heard good things." you giggled a little. feeling a little better now that they were talking.

"Can I have a go on the coffee machine?" Tim asked having finished his muffin you thought about it for a second then nodded, he jumped up following you round to it

"Anyone else want one?" Dick and Jason nodded Damien and Jack pulled a face. No.

You showed Tim how to load the espresso and turn it on trying to hold back laughter as he jumped back when he activated the steamer wand you caught the jug of milk just in time leaning over him you showed him the easiest way to froth the milk putting his hand on the knob controlling the steamer telling him when to turn it ,pointing out on the thermometer where he should let it go to he did it. Managing not to burn the milk then you demonstrated how to pour for certain coffees. He beamed when he got it right proud of himself then quickly controlled his face putting on a smug 'yeah of course I did it' face handing his brothers their coffees before going to sit down

"Oi! get back here you haven't cleaned up, you gotta wipe the wand and let some steam through to clear it." he come back hesitantly taking the folded cloth from you

"Wont it burn me?" you shook your head

"Just wipe it quick, then use the rubber bit to push it to the tray and give it a quick blast" he did as instructed and smiled bright going back to his coffee. Dick and Jason had been watching quietly as you taught their younger brother how to use the machine, yanking Tim away tilting your self in front of him when you though he could get hurt as the steam spat the milk when he hadn't held it high enough. Feeling more relaxed with you they saw how you patiently taught Tim how to do it. They had their doubts ,they had been a bit worried about their father dating someone so young. Imagining a typical younger woman trying to worm her way into their house for money or fame. They were caught off guard when their dad had first told them about you. Normally he didn't bother the women were never serious and gobsmacked when Damien threatened them to be kind, it was then they then decided they would catch you off guard, worried about how you could have possibly influenced Tim and Damien. But watching you interact with them they saw that you were very genuine. When it had come out earlier that day that you were Jacks sister, they felt slightly better knowing a bit of the story. How instead of abandoning him to the system to continue your studies, you'd pulled out that same day, moving back home planning and arranging your parents funeral and staying, giving up on your own prospects to become his guardian and raise him finding a job to support you both and pushing him to apply for the scholarship helping him get in. Thank god you did since Jack had become Damien's saving grace, he had calmed down and was almost a completely normal 13 year old boy...until he put on his suit then all bets were off. They found it fascinating seeing you swing from the playful sister to patient parent and back as you had grabbed Jack in a head lock poking at him tickling him for teasing you. They shared a look. Yes you would fit in fine.

"hahahah no-nooo st-stop it hahaa!fuck off y/n" he cried between laughs squirming then the fun and games stopped as ha accidentally headbutted your nose

"OH FUCK!" you shouted grabbing your nose eyes watering he gasped apologizing as damien panicked grabbing napkins in case of a nose bleed. He tried pulling your hand away.

"ssshhiit oh im fine- im good its ok-- fuck sake why is your head so hard?" he looked sheepish asking if you were ok you nodded to him waving a hand.

"I was going to get so much done here tonight but now I cant be asked" rubbing your nose again sniffing checking your hands for blood. None good. Huffing you leaning forward onto the table you looked across that table to Dick and Jason. You'd felt there eyes on you all this time.

"You know your both just like Bruce. He just sat there staring when he met me to." you offered chuckling nervously trying to break what you thought was tension not knowing that they had already approved of you.

"They are trying to suss you out. They are worried about you being after money or something." Tim added sipping the last of his coffee leaning back as everyone shouted at him.

"TIM!" You swallowed collecting yourself taking a deep breath, here it comes then. You looked at them smileing sadly nodding pulling back into yourself. You knew it they didn't like you. Obviously they wouldn't, fuck sake you were 5 years older than one and 8 years older then the other. You knew it.

"I-I don't want anything like that..I know its weird because we are about the same age.. if you feel uncomfortable with your dad and I just say the word and it will end I'm not going to be a home wrecker- fuck I new this would happen" you looked away trying to hide your tears. That was that then. Already planing to phone Bruce. Jason jumped interrupting your thoughts rushing forward grabbing your hands that rested on the table in front of you making you look at him as he saw you start breaking down, ready to run again. They'd heard bits and pieces about what happened for Tim. Jack growled angrily going to push Jason off of you before he started speaking.

"NO! no its not like that- we did- I mean at first, when dad first mentioned you and then when Tim and Damien gushed about you. We were worried I mean he's our dad but we didn't know who you were then,no one told us that you were Jacks y/n and we see now that's not the case. Your genuine and we don't have a problem with your age."

Dick continued for him as Jason looked panicked and lost for words.

"Yes we saw today your miles of years ahead of us in maturity we- well we just wanted to meet you without dad there. And like Jason said he is our dad we just don't want to see him hurt again." he added you looked between them still unconvinced fears you had still taunting you.

"I.. I'd never hurt him I love him." you admitted quietly.

"You- You love him?" Jack questioned you nodded smiling Dick smiled softly at you seeing the honesty in your words. He knew then that you weren't going anywhere he'd make sure of it.

"Then Don't leave him... We haven't seen him like this in...Ever really we just wanted to meet the woman who had made him happy that's all. Were sorry about the way we went about it. And want you to know that not just for dad, but we want to get to know you. Maybe not treat you like a mum but more like an older sister?" Dick said trying to pull you away form your dark thoughts. Feeling bad that they might have just fucked up the best thing to happen to their dad. Your eyes twinkled as you looked at the hopefully

"You-you really mean that?" they nodded you smiled wide at them wiping your eyes.

"Yeah then that way you can let loose a little you know act your age a bit?" he added laughing you scoffed clearing the last tears that had gathered away with a napkin handed to you from Damien.

"As if I remember how to do that, thank you both of you I was terrified of meeting you both , if you ever have a problem with me please come and talk to me about it"

"If they ever have a problem with you they can fuck off and take it with them" Damien growled kicking the table leg, knocking it with a force the boy should not posses thoroughly pissed off at his oldest brothers a cold shiver ran down your spin as you saw the terrifying glare he had on his face. If looks could kill... well your rather not tempt fate as in that moment Damien looked like he was defiantly considering it. you didnt notice the three wayne boys sharing a look holding their breath waiting for him to continue. if you only knew.

"Damien enough, you were worse when i met you and you know it" he snapped out of what ever was going on in his head smirking at you

"I was wasnt I?"

the others relaxed and you were all caught of guard as a presence in the corner made them selves known.

"See Master Wayne I told you if you left them to it they d all sort it out." Alferd stated standing up form the table in the front corner before chiding you.

"Miss y/n you really should pay more attention you left the door wide open after you let the boys in." You all gaped at the men Dick and Jason froze feeling Bruce's piercing gaze on their backs. Looking like a couple of boys who'd been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"yes Alfred I suppose your right but I do remember telling them to leave her alone until Monday so I could explain exactly how we met." he said disaproval echoing through his words. you stood up huffing.

"Bruce stop it.. they were just trying to look out for their family which I can appriciate.. leave them be it all sorted now and I didnt have to put on stupid heals for it"

"but i what if i wanted to see you in heels?"

"then you could have asked, anyway how the bloody hell did you to sneak in so quietly are you some sort of ninja or something? Jesus" you asked the group who laughed .if only you knew.

"Any way I don't know about you lot but I spend to much time in this bloody cafe as it is and would like to leave." You finished collecting the crumpled cake papers and cups leaving them in the kitchen before ditching your apron and turning everything off grabbing your bag and coat on the way out.

"What about the cleaning?" Jack asked you shrugged.

"That's Hugh's problem now, he can do some work for a change." you snickered ushering them all out arming the alarm and locking the door.

"He still fucking around?" jack asked you nodded

"Yep boneing his girlfriend is more important then doing his shift's"

"I can fully understand that" Bruce said smirking as the group groaned you rolled your eyes ignoring him

"The others got pissed off so he gets to be here bright and early opening tomorrow cos the rest of us are 'busy'" you chuckled. Bruce slid up beside you pulling you into him

"well you will be." he muttered kissing your lips you blushed as a chorus of ewws and gagging noises carried across the small crowd you stuck out your tongue at them.

"Oh will I now?"

"Yes a very important appointment with me that may run into the afternoon" he said seductivly running his hands across your waist pulling you closer you linked your hands behind his neck.

"Hmm I don't remember arranging that Mr Wayne I might have other plans"

"well I'm sure you could squeeze me in" Jason as grossed out as he was, couldn't help but laugh at that one even Tim snorted you blushed.

"And what makes you say that?" he pulled away slightly

"Because you love me" you froze in his arms shyly looking down he pulled you back up to face him.

"And I love you to" he pulled you towards him kissing you passionately taking your breath away you moaned as the boys created a big fuss.

"OH MY GOD STOP!" Jack cried covering his eyes as Bruce grabbed handfuls of your rear making you squeal and begin laughing.

"Come on Jack you were the one who set us up to have sex remember? take it like a man"

"NOO! SHUT UP EWW I DIDN'T NEED THAT IMAGE!!" you laugh loudly walking past them all ,wrapped up in Bruce's arms leading you towards the Rolls Royce that he had arrived in with Alfred.

"H-hey how are we getting home?"

"The way you came, you don't want to ride with us." Bruce called over his shoulder kissing your neck.

"Bruce not in the car"

"Why not?"

"THAT IS MY SISTER!" Dick laughed out loud watching his little brothers yell about 'being scar'd for life' and 'never getting in the Rolls Royce ever again' yes you were both going to fit right into this mad house. He ushered them all the other way to his car there wasn't enough room really but he'd make them fit.

"Who want to go get Chinese?" he asked distracting them still chuckling to him self. You had turned his dad into a teenager again.

[squeiky]

What if there was a mall based episode of pokemon adventures?

Ps: im on limited juice on what exactly happened after the episode of "practically pikachu" so if anything seemed off, thats why. I can only have so much spoilers.

This is a really REALLY long post, i did my best and added some wholesome satogou moments cause why not. I hope you enjoy ^.^

!!!!!SPOILER WARNING BTW!!!!!!! If that wasn't obvious.

.....(I can't do the read more thing on mobile, so stick with me here.)

So the Professor finds out about some mysterious instances of this shopping district being haunted or constantly full of mischief. So of course he sends Gou and Ash to check it out. Of course Koharu/chloe ends up tagging along with her pokemon, out of curiostiy. Of course something is seemingly following them from behind, and you hear a cute little giggle.

At first, its all nice and fun. They go sight seeing, getting a bit distracted here and there. Gou and koharu do a bit of dress up, and Ash is stuck having to be refferee on who dressed up better. You get some cute satogou moments, and some wholesome koharu and gou rivalry. Before....

The lights start to flicker..

And things go south.

See, before they got to the mall, there was a warning the Professor gave them before the went on their journey. The mall had been abandoned not to long ago, as Pokemon have been infesting it and taking over. Poison types, gost types, what ever dangers you could think of. It used to be very popular, attracting all kinds of mons and trainers from across the globe. Sadly, it had to shut down.

He told them to be careful, and stay on their guard. They did the complete opposite of that, and got distracted.

The light shuts down, and their in complete darkness. Bit of twist, but Koharu brings out a flashlight, then makes a sly remark on how reckless the two are getting. Followed by a slightly agitated gou, though ash doesn't seem to mind. Instead he focuses on another thing.

Wheres.. Pikachu?

Actually... Where is all of their pokemon?

Ash makes a slightly panicked remark about this... Slightly... PanicKEd.. ReSpoNse.. Then everyone starts to freak out. Then the lights suddenly turn on and everywhere around them seems like a battle field. Clothing racks are rolled over, there's some string from some bug pokemon, lying around and some other attack residues from not only their pokemon, but possibly other poison, or dark types. if the situation couldn't get bad enough.

They call out their pokemon names to no evail. The mall is big, even with the 3 of them, they cant possibly cover all the ground. They've only explored basically half of the entire mall.. Or atleast half of what they thought was the entire mall.

Gou gets a bit pessimistic, worrying if they where taken by some baddies like team rocket, or hurt, mabye even kidnapped!! While ash is a bit optimistic, saying they probably got away, or are off fighting them now, and winning!

Koharu though.. Shes not focused on any of that. The patterns of pokemon attack residue.. Shows a winding trail leading off into the bigger part of the mall. Making her even more curious than before..

She turns around to she ash and gou sending out their pokemon from their pokeball, luckily, who ever this was didn't think to take those. Gou explains that the mall is big, and they need as much help as they can get.

So for awhile, we see interactions with their pokemon, looking around, in union or in chaos. Slowly exploring the rest of the mall.

But.. Never once, do we stop seeing all these things happen, in someone elses pov....

We see things from the ground floor, behind clothes, in the ceiling... Anywhere.

Every now and then, we get a faint giggle.. Usually when gou is on screen.

At this point they scaled almost the entire mall. Every now and then finding little things. Nothing to eventful. But no matter what, it all keeps leading then to the same point.

Some random door that says "Antiques" on it, in this freakishly terrifying place. The area is the most rusted, old, and overall creepy place. Inside theres smashed pots and this place has alot of scratch marks and decay. The mall may be abandoned, but not for a very long time. This place looks like it has been there for decades, as if it didn't belong there. You could see a lot of struggle, with some old scratch marks and some strangely.. Fresh ones.

Everyone's tired, and worried, and a bit frightened. Though koharu.. She seems more than excited, it wss her own little adventure. It was nice. Of course, she still worried for her poor yamper.. But she couldn't help but be a bit excited too.

During the whole montage, they'd find some fur from pickachu, yamper or eevee. Sometimes left over pokefood or some old remains of what looks to be pokemon battles. Sometimes they saw some old pokeball, abandoned or even smashed. And even noticed some of the Pokemon that had been watching them through cracks or corners, or under floorboards.

Ash and gou finally catch up to koharu, who has been waiting for them in this creepy antique store. Aimlessly wandering about, searching the place. With the whole gang reunited, they discuss what they found, with koharu piecing it togther.

It seems this antique store looked to be the meeting place for who ever stole their pokemon. They show koharu some of the pokeballs they found lying about, some customized, broken and old. None of them have no strange brandings like "R" on it. Meaning people had their pokemon taken, but not by our common baddies. They found some evidence of pokemon battles, some of the tracks still fresh. Meaning they just left recently, probably during when they got here. That would explain why they kept feeling like they where being followed. They're probably all hiding.

But that doesn't explain why they'd take their pokemon or why it lead them in the antique store of all places. Ash suggests that they should look around here too, find some secret lever or something. Goh agrees, but dismisses the thought that someone would have a secret lever in a antique portion of the mall, then again.. Who has an antique store in a mall??

While they're searching for hidden compartments,

They hear a quick "PIKAA!!" Following a loud bang noise. Sending them all to a panic. Ash locates the sound, and moves one of the shelves. Surprise, Surprise, its a secret compartment. Its pitch black and you can't see a thing. Before ash can jump head first into whatever is happening down there, gou catches him. Followed by koharu, taking out that trusty flashlight, and beaming the light on the creepy old stairs. Seemingly going no where but down.

They quickly and carefully descend the stairs, though their all trying to act brave to lift up on another, you can tell everyone is absolutely terrified.

Then they find a light, like an entrance to some room. The hallway was dim and you could see pipes and some garbage, puddles, e.c.t. Gou runs towards the persumed, but ash catches him. He almost fell into a hole, without Realizing it. Koharu goes infront of gou, with the flashlight beaming infront of her.

Cut to a scene of pikachu. He's charging up a weak electric attack, and looks pretty beaten up. So does the rest of the Pokemon. Though, he is doing his best. The basement is pretty big, but its old. Theres some steel pipes that are broken and bent, scratches and marks everywhere on the wall. Its dark, with only a few lights, struggling to illuminate the room.

You can't tell how many pokemon are there, but there are many glowing eyes all around. There are many different kinds of pokemon. Seemingly coming from all different regions too. They don't seem freindly.

Eevee starts to yell out, angered and fustreated. To their suprising, a quick "umberon~" came rom the darkness.

You can see its shiny yellow rings, glowing in the darkness. It yells back at eevee, hitting the ground over and over with its tiny paws. As if it was trying to prove a point, trying to get eevee to fight like their pikachu did. Taunting them.

The umberon wears some kingly robe it got from a costume part of the mall, presumably the halloween section. Category: medieval.

Yamper could see eevee's eagerness to fight, so he lets out a bark of concern. He's huddled next to pikachu, who still wants to keep going. Determined, to stop them.

Whenever eevee hesitates to attack, umberon lets out a disappointed purr, and attacks them with a weak attack, but it stings either way. It wants a fair fight afterrall.

This was an insult to them. A fellow umberon., using smaller pokemon to rank them up, forcing them to train with them, untill they tire out. All these pokemon henchmons had some kind of scar, or evidence of training. Even the umberon had one. Most of them evolved, seemingly living in the mall, as some are wearing human items like sunglasses, or badazzled items too look cooler.

Then they hear a quick "EEVEE! WHERE'D YOU GO?!" And "PIKACHU! ARE YOU GUYS ALRIGHT?!"

They look back to see its their trainers! And gou, all rushing towards them. Immediately going into the room to protect them. Along with their summoned pokemon charging up their attacks as well.

Seeing this, umberon is pissed. You can see an onslaught of pokemon, who look just as mad. They where crossing their turf, they had to get out.

Umberon curls into the darkness.. Slowly back away from them, in silence.

Untill a tiny, soft. "Umberon" comes out of its mouth and..

They all start to attack, left, right and center. The whole team is surronded. All the pokemon are uncoordinated, but tankish, so they're pretty easy to take down, but leaves you pretty damaged in the long run.

Eventually, they get rid of most of them. Leaving 5 remaining pokemon left. These five being the strongest out of every pokemon and the biggest. Seemingly been in charge for a long time. Basically, its the boss fight.

The pokemon tired them out, and theres not much they can do at this point. Of course they fight, but get taken down, one by one, with ease.

Leading to the grand finale. Everyones on their knees, but still staying strong.

Umberon and its team start to charge this giant attack, thats going blast them into bits and peices.

They charge the attack, for longer and longer and longer. Getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger untill it basically becomes a giant wall. Then they release it. Going full blast at not only the entire team, but the Pokemon behind them that attacked them as well.

The was no where to go.

Pokemon where behind them, and infront.

What do you do then?

Just take it?

Like that?

...

Everyone throws their hand infront of their faces. Away from this giant charge attack, heading towards them in what seems to be slow motion. Some pokemon are running away, others are just watching this happen.

Its a pretty big basement.

Pretty dangerous basement too.

....

Gou looks back for a split second.

And a familiar sound plays out.

A tiny..

little..

giggle.

And then it just stops.

The attack was stuck in place..

...

Then suddenly, behind them in the darkness...

From the entrance of where they came..

Glowing eyes emerge, with a silent.. "Mew!"

And the whole attack backfires onto the 5 pokemon with one, full, swoop.

The place collapses onto them. Knocking 4 pokemon unconscious, except for that..

That..

Umberon.

With the only expression on its face being absolute RAGE.

Everyone starts running out, a bunch of pokemon try to help move the 4 unconscious ones, and umberon runs in the opposite direction, into what might be their secret escape route. They look back, at the commotion.

The 3 little humans and their pokemon are running out, even picking up some of the pokemon, who attacked them, and helping them run away from the collapsing area.

Umberon sees this. But looks away. Muttering a "umber.." Before leaving. This wasn't the last of them.

Everyone safely makes it out of the mall, alive.

Everyone is tired, exhausted and hurt.

They look up to see the many battle scars of all the pokemon, who are just lying around, not knowing what to do anymore without a leader.

Some a bickering and arguing, some are confused and tired, others are just watching from afar.

Eeveee jumps out of koharu's hands, and onto some tall boxes and rocks lying about near he store. They yell out a "EEVEE!!" Which everyone quiets down immediately. They even stiffen up, as if they where trained to do that by the umberon. Which startles eevee and makes them feel uncomfortable.

Ash stands up, looking at his poor pikachu, for a bit. Its smiling, with its eyes closed. Ash gives them a concerned, but soft smile. He tells everyone that they should all go to a pokecenter, and get some rest. The pokemon try to argue, not wanting to go and to wait for their umberon, but they see eevee is following ash, and they end up following along.

Gou runs up to ash and softly pats ash's shoulder, and gives him a soft, but concerned look. Only followed by a smile. Then everyone starts following them to pokemon center.

It cuts to scene, where they show the pokemon center for a sky view. Its night time and everyone is tired. a bunch of the nurses and doctors are taking care of the many pokemon without question.

Ash is sitting there, next to his pikachu, with gou is standing right beside him, and koharu is somewhere off with her pokemon as well. They all have some bandages here and there, on their knees or hands, just watching as nurse joy takes care of pikachu.

She asks what the three of them had done to get not only so many injured pokemon, but get this pikachu in the state its in now.

They explained to the nurse about the whole incident, with this umberon and a giant battle in a basement, and a this abandoned pokemon infested mall. How the umberon acted and all the Pokemon who teamed up agasint them.

Nurse joy recognizes the umberon, to their suprise.

She explains its not the first time shes heard of this umberon. Apparently, its trainer had abandoned it when it was a little eevee. She said that they'd capture pokemon who they saw great potential and power in. One day, the eevee's win streak went away, losing many battles every single day. Thats when they abandoned them, or atleast, thats what they say.

Ash mutters a quick and angered response of why someone would do such a thing.

Nurse joy looks at ash and gou sadly, then returns back to what she was doing. She doesn't know why someone would do that. Though, she tells them she always used to see that same eevee in the pokecenter constantly. For some reason, the pokemon really loved their trainer, to the point of exhaustion. When it got abandoned, it probably took it personally. Who knows though, that umberon is quite the mystery. Some people even tried to catch it seeing how strong it was, but they'd never succeed.

She pauses what shes doing to ask if ash doesn't mind leaving his pikachu here for the night. Its pretty injured, and needs some rest. She wants to be able to take care of it, in case it needs extra care. She says he can see them tomorrow, as it might feel better by then.

He sadly agrees, and they go home for the night.

Here, we get a nice scene, just to calm things doen a bit. The 2 boys put on their cozy pajamas, and get ready to go to bed.

We see koharu in her bedroom, with her pjammas on, petting her yamper who has a cute little "get well soon!!" Sticker, stuck on his forehead, and he has his younger sticking out, as he sleeps. She doing one of those lo-fi girl poses, as she writes in her journal about her day, as a moonlight shines on her, through her window.

We see gou sleeping on the bottom bunk this time, since he's too tired to try to climb to the top. Ash isn't in bed though. He's looking out through the window of the room. With the moonlight coming through. He's tired and exhausted, but still worried for pikachu. Gou notices he's not in bed yet, asking if he's alright. Ash doesn't give a response, he just continues staring.

So gou walks up to him, and ash speaks a bit low. He wonders if pikachu is alright, and the umberon too. The umberon was hurt too, they could've helped it.

Gou looks at him, then out the window. "Sometimes you cant save everyone, and you cant help those that don't want to be helped."

He smiles brightly at ash. "Like catching pokemon!" Ash is confused, but he tries his best to understand. "Sometimes pokemon want to be caught, and some don't. All that matters is that you tried, right?"

Ash looks at gou, and smiles back. Then looks at the window, still smiling "Yeah, you're right.. Do you think pikachu will be okay though?"

Gou softly pats him on the back. He tries his best to comfort ash. "Yeah, i think so."

It goes quiet for a bit. And it zooms out as they both look out at the window.8

With that, it ends here.

[snow-wind-and-all-we-will-find]

Hi! My names arthur and im working on improving my word and building my story, which currently has no name haha! I have a myriad of characters who ill try to list out and give brief descriptions of, aether is technically my main character and some of the characters who are up for question are dead in canon. But you can still ask them stuff, itll just be set before death.

When asking characters questions, rememeber to include the name, their age if theres diffrent ages, i dont mind repeated questions, but if you see the question try not to ask it again lol. If you cant find it with a quick scroll just ask it, although i dont know if this blog will even get that big.

Aether

He comes in three evolutions lol, technically, theres four but idk if i would count 7 year old aether.

Ages: 13 yo - colder, hasnt gotten used to emotions, there are two to this as well, pre-rev and then post-rev 13 yo aether, remember to specify lol.

16 yo- a bit more out there, still kinda disconnected and figuring things out, a bit more defensive

22 yo- lax, hes sorta figured shit out, hes not going to go grazy, hes just gonna be chill lol.

!The gaggle Ghosts!

Yurei

Her personality is very, ehhh, becuase i havnt done work with her, and i havnt completly figured out who she is fully yet, shes 18 yo when aether is 22 yo

18 yo- pretty oblivious, somehow still a bit cynical, very nice and sometimes motherly

Kakoku

Few thousand- mean, likes to bully yurei as he huants her, lowkey a simp for yurei but he wont admit that. Kinda cynical and likes to bring others down, generally a bully

Tamashi

19- emotionless, has to be a really strong emotion to make her emote, tends to stray away from other people, likes to be alone, blunt

Gunnar

A few thousand- sweet, warm and welcoming, tries to be very fatherly and a trusted figure, is very busy most of the tiime unfortunatly though.

!The greek gang!

Argus agapov

16- unstable, pretty baby, protective over friends and family

Mythos agapov

23- whore. He also loves his family, lowkey, hes a trad wife

Perceus

15/16- timid, intrested in posiosn and acids, generally quiet, likes to eat leaves, scaredy cat

Diogenes

14- germ of phobe, kind of a brat, more just a bitch, will yell at you if he sees your hands were dirty from gardening or something while you’re walking to the sink, other than that hes fine, picky eater

Herodotus

15- disorginized, trys his best, likes to write stuff down, helps plato with his writing and grammar in general, gullible, likes record data, has a nice typewriter with tha good clicky clack

Plato

8- sweet baby boi, loves his older brother (socrates), idolizes him even, not a good idea though. He writes down everything socrates does, sometimes he imitates his brother as well.

Socrates

17- dumb of ass, also just dumb, held back a grade, feral child, bites alot of people, soft aestechic but hed stab as a warning

Heracles

30- also dumb of ass, loves cars in that ‘mah babeh’ kinda way. Hates motorcycles, he thinks they’re ugly. Chaotic but he utilizes it to be the weird and cool uncle/cousin thing

Zeus

46- too tired for this shit, is a dad, went out to get milk, jk jk, dissapeared for a hot few years, probably got captured by some gang dunno, it happens. Very serious, would make the dumbest jokes with his brothers with a straight face

Hades

50- lowkey the neglected middle child, soft goth lookin ass, loves his kid, tries his best to raise his kid, sometimes gets help from esme

Poseidon

57- proud stay at home dad, buff but does the typically wifely duties, makes sure his children get enough love, nutrience and care

Lillith

54- very active, the money maker, kinda soft, both her and her husband poseidon are so just in love with their kids, dote on them constantly, very extroverted, always makes time for her kids

Esme

51- tired of zeus’ shit, does her best to make sure no one dies, still treats mythos as her ‘little baby boy, tired mom vibes.

!the Eden gang!

Eden is a fictional country that i slapped onto the globe. It is where aether is from, technically aether is apart of the eden gang as well. Everyone here, if they have an age option, the first age option is the age they are when aether is 13, and the second will be when aether is 16 unless stated otherwise

General kyelli

49- fatherly, thinks of most of the gang as his children, calls everyone ‘son’, as a general rule. If you ask for another nickname, he will do his best. Has a bad knee, and is kinda of bad at existing physically

52+- fatherly still, loves almonds, always has a bag of almonds, dont test him. Enjoys travel, might adopt people he meets along the way, still has pains but now he sees doctors, wants to stay active

Indigo

13- sweet, optimistic, always looks on the brightside and tries to see the good in others. Little heater, understands that sometimes fighting is the only option

Akrano

16- lively, very loose and relax, can get serious when needed though, always making jokes and trying to lighten up the mood

19- a bit more, mellow. Still quite lively and childish, but with two signifigant-others you have to settle down sometimes

Ekrano

16- lively, more stern than akrano and kinda worried, but ultimatly also very loose and bright

Lilliana

16- serious, seemingly colder towards everyone, gets along great with psycho-lops, makes him new eye-patches to pass time, actually just very monotone and blank most of the time, although she does care

19- she doesnt change much, she got a bit more expressive, likes babysitting howl

Psycho-lops

16 1/2- always looks determined, actually kinda scared of conflict, likes to help out with healing though, very proficient in it as well, sounds intimidating while talking about how cute puppies and kittens are

19/20- still the same, is considering studying medicine and medical practices to become a doctor.

Bark

17- bright, incredibly lively, loves to joke around and tease and sometimes bully the others, targets aether primarily, hangs out with his brother most of the time, he can fight for himself but he likes the backup, especcially since he is kinda glass-jawed, being that hes a twig

Bite

17- quiet, intense eyes, always sounds vaugly confused when he speaks, deep voice lol, likes to train, doesnt understand barks need to tease others, likes to read to the children

20- quiet, intense eyes still, more so nervous sounding, slightly paranoid, cluastrophobic and cant stand dusty places, usually in his house or at the docks, doesnt really go anywhere else

Hanelle

17- loud, headstrong, adamant about her opinions, gets along well with bark, she tries alot to be intimidating, not a twig, but not very big, pretty friendly and sociable

!the band of pirates!

Aklea

A few hundreds of years- kinda bored seeming, loves blood, technically cannibal, but not really since he isnt human, to an extent. Despite being fine on the ocean, he gets very car sick very easily. Actually quite nice, very easily triggerd into violence, especcially by something that could be used as a good murder weapon, blood makes him jittery and more lively

Nerone

21- calm, too calm, deals with akleas bullshit wonerfully, he just stands there, blank smile on his face as aklea beats the shit outta someone, unintrested in most anything, likes to draw, but hes a much better pastry chef.

!the shakespears!

Midem(pink boi)

33- lively, loves to work with kids, very creative, likes to make things, mainly art, mainly carvings. Often make little minitures of scenes from midens writing, loves his twin, does anything it takes to fund midens intrests. Very loving to those hes close to

Miden

33- calmer by alot lmao, pretty introverted but he can hold a long conversation without becoming too drained, enjoys writing and making stories, also makes plays for fun, runs off little sleep cuase he stays up so late to write, and gets up early to write.

!gods!

Gideon

9 billion- confused boomer, loves his ‘children’, hates to be hated, always tries to help in anyway he can, despite making them, always curious into what mortals are doing, loves the universe he created and does anything he can to protect it

Merik

7 million- sore loser, does get a little salty, ultimatly bounces back and becomes a very good sport, always will adopt tactics, whatever it takes to win within the rules, keeps most all of his trophies from random feats hes done

Ventus

5 billion - calm, straightforward, tends to disregard others and do things himself, likes to sit on cliffs and watch the ocean

Kyle

Hes been around since 776 bc- very loud, lively, bright, tries his best to educate people on proper form, workout regime i intesne, doesnt allow others to take it, makes custom workout regimes for free, owns a gym, dude bro but hes nice, baby

Horo-sha

Her age technicaly is not accurate, shes like, 2 billion? Since dima was made right after her death. But since her history still lives, ima count it

5 billion but older than ventus- bitter, violent, former god of justice, fucking dead haha, hates mortals, primarily humans

Dima

Also not super accurate, hed only be a few centuries of being an active god before being sealed, but since hes technically, concious and has cognitive function hes counted

3 billion- mean lol, likes blood and gets even more violent when it starts getting messy, ‘new’ god of justice, uh, pretty bad at it like the last one, but worse, will kill over slight misdeameanors, everythings a crime smh

!misc!

Ivan

24- softspoken, from imperial russia, died young, he no longer feels his face is his own, has a mask that he likes better, has the sickness, but since he was human it killed him, can control it post mortem, is strong enough to be seen, but weak enough he can go invisible and go through solid objects.

More ocs will be added when i remember them, or create new ones, characters i dont really have built at all are not included

[the19thduckpotato]

In the Shadow of a Smile (Pt 2)

Part 1

"...right, then.  Popcorn?"

“—a... uh....” Izuku’s fingers twitched tensely, his mind spinning as he tried to figure out what to do or say next. Popcorn didn’t seem right... but what else was left? Surely talking about it would only make All Might feel worse.... “S....sure.” His hands pulled Toshi’s closer, hugging it to his chest in absence of any clumsy words that seemed available.

"Ya sure?"  Toshi looked genuinely concerned at Izuku's sudden drop in boisterous energy. you did that His hand twitched in Izuku's ...until he understood it was being held against the kid's chest, almost protectively. Now Toshi felt confused. He knelt in front of Izuku, head cocked to one side.  "I mean, we don’t have to... but I know a great place that makes flavors of popcorn you cant find anywhere else." His heart ached--look, you dragged him down with you--as he struggled to find something that would light Izuku's face up again.

Izuku took advantage of an accessible pair of shoulders, dropping Toshi’s hand and hugging them instead. “That sounds nice,” he murmured from the spot his head was nestled into. “Are you sure... you really want to though?”

Toshi closed his eyes at the closeness, the warmth, and almost cracked then and there. Almost. Don't ruin his day.  Backpedal.  Fix this.  Go on, "Great Hero". "Of course," he croaked.  He cleared his throat and tried again.  "Seriously though... pickle popcorn.  Ever tried it?"  He offered a warm smile to his student-- please say you want to please please I need to fix this if you want to talk that's ok if you don’t that is too just please ...please don't leave me... --and got to his feet, casually lifting Izuku off the ground till the boy's feet dangled.

"Eeeeww, pickle--? yeEEK!" Izuku laughed, clinging onto Toshi's shoulders and burying his face closer as his feet dangled in the air.

Toshi barked pleased laughter.  "Ok ok, not pickle then.  What about pizza flavored?  Or pineapple.  I'm telling you," he went on, his eyes sparkling in delight, "any flavor." His inner thoughts, for the moment, fell silent and he mentally clutched at the conversation desperately.  Anything to keep those thoughts away.

"What, really?" Izuku's arms were slowly slipping off, his feet reaching closer to the floor. "Like... hmmm...." He tried to think of a weird popcorn flavor. "Like watermelon!"

"Tried that just the other week, in fact."  Toshi held out an arm to help support Izuku.

"Wow!" Izuku's round eyes looked up at Toshi like they were having a normal conversation, all the while slipping like a noodle pulled by the inexorable force of gravity to the floor despite Toshi's supporting arm.

A snort of laughter escaped.  Toshi couldn't help it--it was just too funny.

Izuku grinned widely, heart swelling at the genuine laugh. The smile got a little squished on the way down to the floor, but it was happy all the same.

Toshi smiled his softest, most relieved, happiest smile yet. A faint dark thought tried to nibble st him and he brushed it away.  You don’t get to take my kid from me. No.  You'll do that soon enough.  You always do. And yet the smile remained, determined.

Izuku finally reached the floor, though he kept hugging. "What kind d'you wanna get?"

"Ah, they have specially made stuff tucked away for me.  I really can't do much more than sample.  Buuuut--" His eyes took on an impish twinkle.  "it's always fun bringing a new guinea pig--i mean, customer--over to them."

Izuku smothered a giggle against Toshi's coat. "I mean... I don't. Really. Have money... I'm not really much of a customer...."

Toshi gave him a nonplussed look.  "K-kid," he stammered.  "No, it--i meant--" Good going, genius. shut it "Listen, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret.  You might not believe this, but I'm a foodie.  Or, well.  Was."  He gestured to himself with a worn grimace, then held up one finger.   "But there are so many delicious flavors out there in the world and I feel I'd be remiss in my duty not to share those with someone.  Honoring them by introducing them to others.  So please," he murmured.  "let's not worry about anything but the flavors.  Deal?"

Izuku gave a genuine, crinkly smile, hugging closer. "Thank you," he said softly and gratefully. I hope I appreciate it properly... I'd hate for him to think I'm not enjoying it right.... "I'd really love it." Especially if it's with you. I'd rather be with you no matter where we were.

"Excellent!  We'll start you on the pizza flavor and work our way out from there." but Toshi ignored that thought, letting himself be lost in the goodness of the moment. but And now he had to work to ignore it.  He didn't want those thoughts, didn't want them polluting this good moment.  He began to stride down the hallway quickly, as if hoping to outrun his mental train of thoughts. Pulling Izuku along with him, one arm clutched about the boy in a clumsy hug.

Izuku had to jog to keep up with Toshi, hanging onto his coat. He grinned brightly, laughing a bit more. "Where are we going?" Wait, I know that, that's not what I meant "Like, where is it?"

"Y'know that open air mall by the river?  In fact, there might be a few other shops I'd like to take you to."  The thought cheered him immensely.

“Oh! No, I don’t actually.” Wait can he really want to do that I know he has money but can he really just want to??buy me stuff?? Oh no wait he probably wants to go for HIM, don’t be expecting things Izuku, how rude! —but what if he DOES, he’s always so generous, what if my reaction seems underwhelming, what if— Or... you could just go and have fun? That’s probably all he wants to do, spend time with you. He likes that. It’s why he brought you here, no other reason. Yyyeah... I still don’t get why that’s fun? But it’s nice that he does, and I’ll do my best to be good company! Attaboy....

"There's a great comic book shop, too.  I can show you some of the ones I used to collect when I was your age!" Kids still do comic books, right?  Even though they see heroes every day?  I hope I'm not too out of touch. Toshi glanced to Izuku, gauging his reaction, ready to suggest another shop at a moment's notice.

Izuku's eyes and mouth grew round as quarters. "OhhhhhHHHHH!!" He grinned huge. "That's so cool!!"

Toshi's eyes popped open.  "Yeah?" he replied excitedly.

"Yeah!!" Izuku hopped as he walked. "Which ones did you like? Tell me!"

"All of them, really."  The blond smiled as they strolled toward the river district.  "I always liked to imagine being a hero with a Quirk and what mine would be when I got one.  As I got more toward your age, I especially enjoyed the comics about the underdog heroes that kept fighting, even when the odds were stacked against them.  Even when it seemed impossible.  Because that's about the time I realized I wasn't getting a Quirk." He'd never admit to Izuku how, that same day he had his fateful meeting with Master, he had been ready to hurl his backpack (stuffed to the brim with all his favorite comics) into the river.  He had felt betrayed by a future he thought he'd never achieve.  He wanted to destroy the reminders.  And then she had arrived and his comics survived. Toshi shook himself out of his reverie.  "But yeah, I'm a fan of just about anything.  Especially the creative stuff."

"...Yeah." Izuku was quiet and contemplative, leaning his head against Toshi's arm. "Me too."

Toshi smiled down at his son, then tilted his head.  "Whatcha thinking about, kiddo?"

“—Huh?” Izuku balked a bit, not really wanting to turn the topic to Quirklessness and his childhood musings. “Uh. Not much, really.” Liar. Why did you say that?? Too late to take it back now, though.... “Why, what’re you thinkin’ about?”

A broad grin.  "About which shop I'll take you to after the popcorn place and the comic store.  Hrhhhhmmmm--!!" Easy, don't overdo it. what?  I'm honestly enjoying myself yeah, well, you're also avoiding the rest of yourself Toshi wrinkled his nose and hid it by pretending to stroke his chin.  "Now where to start...."

((Part 3))

[everyone-just-calls-me-jeri]

Sew It Goes

“By Elune’s Blessed Beasts,” Ellnara swore in a whisper, accompanied by a swift fist pounding the counter, “where are those scissors?!” 

The sewing needle in Jerimoth’s hand paused as he looked up from his ladder stitching. Truthfully, he was only pretending to work, given he didn’t really know what a ladder stitch was. “Haven’t seen them anywhere, sorry,” he said as he rose from his plush chair. “Need me to run and get you a new pair?” 

“I swear I just had them. A few moments ago. I was using them for Ismuth’s new order of cloaks, they’ve got to be somewhere. They’re in...” she paused, frowning. “Jerimoth.”

The warlock canted his head in confusion, and ran a hand over his belly. “Don’t think so, Miss Ellnara.”

Ellnara’s violet hair-loops jostled as she rolled her eyes to the heavens. “No, Jeri, I didn’t mean like that.” She placed two delicate hands, each adorned with decorative Highborne jewelry, on her hips and jerked her chin towards him. “They’re in your front pocket.”

He let out a sound somewhere between indignance and disbelief before he looked down at his standard Sagelight Tailoring Emporium apron. Ah. Indeed they were. 

“Oh! Why, yes they are. I was using them for...” he trailed off, just as curious as to what he planned on doing with them. Maybe he was cutting something? They did look pretty sharp. He remembered something sharp. Then the blood. The howls of the Ash Ghouls in the distance. The— No. No more thoughts of that. We will not think about that.

Jerimoth promptly returned the scissors.

The seamstress took them in hand, a coy smile on her painted lips. “Thank you, Jeri.”

He gave a sheepish smile in return. “You’re welcome, Miss Ellnara,” he said as he began drawing up the strings of his apron. “No more mistakes, I promise. I’ll need to stay on my toes for today’s round of customers, anyway. It’s the busiest day of the week, you know. They’ll start pouring through the door for those leyweave handkerchiefs any minute now!” 

Jerimoth knew he’d said something stupid when Ellnara stared at him as though he’d just sprouted two elekk tusks and a trunk.

“What? Do we... not make handkerchiefs anymore?” he asked.

“Jerimoth... the day’s over.”

He blinked. “How do you mean?”

“Our last customer just left. We’ve been here all day.” The arcane lights behind her pupils flickered as her violet brows furrowed. “Don’t you remember?”

It took him a moment to tear his gaze away and look to the shop’s front window. Not a soul was in sight. Moonlight seeped in from above, and the flickering flames of torches were the only sounds coming from the usually busy street. Even the clothing racks in the display window consisted of more empty hangers than they did clothing. How had it gotten so late already?

[ It was getting late. When did they say they were coming back for him? They hadn’t forgotten about him, had they? ]

No. Everything was fine.

He would be fine.

“Oh, of course! I was merely...” Jerimoth felt his mouth gape open, the seconds ticking away to find a suitable excuse. “I was acting the part of customer! As a test. Someone’s got to keep you on your toes, too, right?”

Ellnara stared at him, her features set in stone. “A test,” she said flatly, no hint of a question in her tone.

“Yes! That’s the way. You sure do catch on quickly, Miss Ellnara. No wonder they call you the smartest seamstress in town.” A strand of white hair fell in his eyes as he babbled on, and he batted it away. “They do call you that, don’t they? If they don’t, they should really start.”

Ellnara’s white summer dress swayed softly as that terrible, uncomfortable silence loomed in the air. Her hands clasped around each other, fidgeting nervously with her many rings. He really hated when she did that. It always managed to make him feel guilty somehow.

Rather than choosing the clearly easier choice of humoring the ruse, the Highborne click clacked her way over to him in her far-too-fancy shoes. She put a purple-skinned hand on his shoulder. “Jeri.”

All at once, he felt rather impressed with Ellnara’s miraculous ability to make him feel about two feet tall. He might as well have been, given how her slender form towered over his own, requiring her to crane her neck downwards to meet his gaze.

“I think Sellandus and I can handle it from here,” she continued. She gave a short nod towards the sewing assistant in question behind the wooden counter. Her silver earrings jostled as she turned her gaze back to him. “Maybe it’s best if you go get some rest upstairs.”

“I don’t- No, Ellnara, I’m fine-”

“I insist,” she commanded. And that was that.

His shoulders sagged. No amount of bargaining or witty quips would get her to change her mind, and he knew it. Jerimoth kept his head low, rather in the same way he used to when he was in hot water with Mother, and turned away. He caught the tail-end of a stifled chuckle from the Kaldorei sewing assistant from behind the counter, and scowled as he made his way to the door on the far wall. Maybe all he needed was a short rest to —

“Jeri.”

He paused in the doorway. Then he pivoted, and swiveled his gaze to the seamstress.

“Your room’s that way. On the lefthand side...” she said, raising a cerulean polished fingernail in the opposite direction he was facing. “Do you need help finding—?”

“I’ve got it,” he said curtly, fingernails digging into the wooden doorframe. 

Whatever else she might have had to say was lost on him as he marched forward. Of course he knew where his room was... he’d been staying there for months. What kind of fool would forget his own room? Not him. He was fine.

Perfectly fine.

[frncs]

⌠ ERIC OSBORNE, 21, NON-BINARY, HE/THEY ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, FRANCES ‘FRANK’ LAVOIE! according to their records, they’re a FIRST year, specializing in MACGYVER SURVIVAL SKILLS AND NAVIGATION & COVERT OPS; and they DID go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of oversized clothing stitched with thick yarn and littered with cat hair, the snap of stretched balloons before they’re blown and a post-nap dazed gaze. when it’s the (virgo)’s birthday on 09/01/1999, they always request CORN DOGS from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation. ⌿ tasha, 22, she/her, est ⍀ 

well well well .. id meant to bring another kid ages ago .. n then jus didn’t because the personality part was/is givin me grief FGJH so pls 🐻  w me n replies as i figure out his voice . also .. haven’t even written out my intro yet . . bt ik it’s gna be long apologies , pls feel free to just read the tldr 

tw: death, accidental murder, grief.

TLDR: grew up fairly well off to spy parents who didn’t want him to be part of that world but apart from that didn’t care what he did with his life otherwise. he often questioned whether they really cared for him at all (tht quote thts like .. if u love me u love me in a way i cant understand). luna’s his best friend, and he’s obsessed with his aunt and uncle’s circus that stops into town every year. life is pretty great until luna ‘dies’ at 16. he joins the circus and becomes a clown, he loves performing with all his heart. at 18, his aunt and uncle arm him with a credit card and tell him to go travel, he assumes it’s because they just want him to explore the world. visits europe for six months and asia for six months, enjoys it but misses the circus terribly, busks a lot. they actually send him away to distance him from the shady happenings that are starting to boil within the company. he comes back in time for the halloween switch-a-roo, where everyone rotates their act (so he does the magic show as a clown). he’s part of a set-up that results in him accidentally killing a person and sawing them in half. his aunt and uncle call his parents, who reluctantly send him to prep school for a little less than a year to heighten his chances of getting into a spy school for protection, which he does. dedicated to working hard and getting a high paying job to pay for reparations for the circus and do a massive overhaul of the way it runs, because it’s like his second home.

grew up in waterford ct, to one retired spy parent ( his mom ) and his dad who works with the government and is aware of espionage. his mom straight up didn’t have a good time, no one really talks about it, he has no idea what happened, doesn’t know if his dad knows either but it’s clear that they don’t want him going into the spy world. 

he feels like he’s always been treated like an adult for as long as he remembers, not in the sense that they burdened him with responsibility, but that they didn’t seem to care what he did one way or another. the best way i can describe it is that his parents had the same energy as a character in a yorgos lanthimos film, very dry and lifeless, like they’re on autopilot. he’d try and cuddle his mom and she’d just pat him on the head. he couldn’t really rebel against them and as long as he went to school and got good grades they appeared un-phased about what he got up to, a very mind your own business dynamic shared between family. 

he didn’t get up to a whole lot, he was a bit of an outsider. didn’t make friends very easily because he didn’t know how to let himself go around people, even though he’d sometimes be excited but wouldn’t know how to show it. definitely had that reserved temperament ingrained into him from his parents. 

he did have one friend who knew him inside and out, luna <3 who was also his neighbour. their demeanours were a perfect match but also he’d find himself getting so excited and wanting to tell her about his day or listen to hers, or read with her or play hopscotch or send her secret notes with his flashlight at her window. 

there was one other thing that got him terribly excited and it’s when his aunt and uncle’s traveling circus would stop in. he’d go every single day for the week and a half it was there. his parents would arrange one dinner with them and consider their familial duty done, other than that they remain out of contact with them. his aunt and uncle tell him that he’s always welcome to join, and he holds them to it. his parents say do whatever you want, just graduate high school first. 

his whole world kinda crumbles when luna ‘dies’ at sixteen. he feels immense guilt over it thinking he should’ve done something about that skeevy bf of hers...this also coincides with one of his mom’s friends dying (harlowe’s mom) which makes his mom act even weirder so he fast tracks his plans to join the circus and joins at sixteen, doesn’t graduate high school. i envision the convo btw him and his dad went like: 

“dad, i’m joining the circus.”

“graduate high school first.”

“no.”

“okay son, i can’t control you.”

the company welcomed him with open arms and he tried out everything, acrobatics, sharpshooting, but wasn’t particularly talented at anything. except, clownery. because messing up is commended, noting how all the kids would laugh at him trying basic magic tricks. so his aunt and uncle got him into a clown costume lickety-split. performing brought him a lot of joy through the grief like he’s an entirely different person when performing, insert that one cursed joker picture: put on a happy face. 

because the owners were his aunt and uncle he was treated exceptionally well and he was very oblivious to the malpractice that went on behind the scenes. the circus had a whole sector dedicated to pickpocketing (other kids who he just saw as friends were often runaways from broken homes who didn’t have anywhere else to go and earned their wages by stealing from customers), and serious kerfuffle with pay, probably some extortion going on, just general yuckery. he vaguely knew it was happening but was kind of like it is what it is kinda standpoint. heavily inspired by the circus barney and clint barton grew up in reffed in the 2015 run of all-new hawkeye.

a couple years later his aunt and uncle give him a credit card and tell him to go travel for a bit. he does because why not but misses the circus terribly. he spends six months in europe and six months in asia, busks as a clown a lot and but his on-the-road/home sickness never really fades.

he returns super excited, ready to clown around but it’s evident tensions are just really high between the workers but they’re still all super sweet to him because he’s very sweet even if he’s oblivious. halloween comes around which is his favourite time of year because they do this thing called the switch-a-roo, where everyone switches what act they’re doing, bicycle acts do contortionist acts, lion tamers do rope walkers, magicians do animal taming and clowns do magic acts. it’s just one big laugh because obviously most of them are cross-trained, but it’s meant to be more of a comedy thing and their mess-ups are to an extent choreographed but also capitalizes on the scariness because they hype up the fact that they have no idea what they’re doing.

he’s doing his magic act, messing up all the magic tricks showing all his cards, and his last act is the sawing someone in half, so the assistant comes out in the box, really selling it like omg a clown !!! being like stop !!! you don’t know what you’re doing !!! and frances is like playing along with the act, as he was told that the gag would be when they split the boxes they’ll have some practical effects to make it look like he’d accidentally actually cut the assistant in half. fumbling with a very real chainsaw, he does the choppity-chop which takes a bit more muscle than he thought it would and the assistant screams a lot then pretends to pass out. anyways it wasn’t an act he accidentally cut someone in half, and they die.

EXTRA CLOWN LORE THAT’S NOT IMPORTANT FEEL FREE TO SKIP!

i envisioned that worker negotiations had been going on for a while and had kinda reached a stalemate where nothing was happening, and there were rumblings about frances being off travelling and spending a shit ton of money where it could’ve been put towards the workers and the circus and his aunt and uncle would hear threats thrown towards frances which is why they wanted him to stay away/go travelling for a while. the girl who was killed did so knowingly, and died a martyr (and also left frances a note explaining things and how she was sorry that he was the one that had to kill her). the whole thing was executed with a lot of thought: how it would affect frances and how it would be seen as a personal attack against his aunt and uncle - and that while the act seemingly went off without a hitch and the public didn’t suspect a thing, the workers have leverage to make it public (which ideally they don’t want b/c a lot of the workers are pretty disenfranchised or have criminal records and truthfully don’t want the end all being the circus closing b/c they do love their job just not the conditions). his aunt an uncle are in a bit of a jam because they need an investor but can’t get that because of shady hiring practices in the first place, and their greed definitely exacerbated the problem.

after that happens his aunt and uncle immediately call his parents, who despite never wanting him to go into the spy industry believe that it would be the safest option for him, and enrol him in prep school (which he attends for less than a year) so that he has more of a chance getting into gallagher the following year, which, with the right strings pulled happens. 

now he’s dedicated to giving it his all so he can get a really high paying job and do a complete overhaul of the company and make a lot of reparations that should’ve been made years and years ago. 

personality

- very patient, a slow talker and more of a listener.  - idealistic, in the sense that he’s always been surrounded by people either in poverty of vulnerable, and despite being a caring guy, adopted that kind of mind your own business mentality his parents had. even his desire to get rich in order to save the circus is a very unrealistic plan or at the very least would take a very long time to achieve.  - tired, i know it’s not a personality trait but i’m making it one, he’s a little bit dazed, not gloomy per se but like he’s woken up from a nap and needs to warm up a bit before being a functioning part of society. but that’s like all his interactions. has the gait of like a drunken kung fu master, very limber.  

headcanons

has slight imposter syndrome about clowning, knows he’s great and always got a standing ovation but can’t help but wonder how much nepotism played a role in her being the main clown in the company.

planning on hiding out in her room during halloween, but is very bittersweet about it, because he thinks that halloween is one of the only times that people are happy because they get to be anyone they want and has found that most people don’t want to be themselves.

has an overweight, old cat which he’s had since he joined the circus and has been everywhere with him. it’s name is cat. he also has an album on his phone of all the strays he’s ever met, which is a lot being on the road. he named all of them but they never got to come with him.

sleeps a lot, probably has some sort of chronic sleep disorder, but enjoys the sweet release from life so he doesn’t question it. has no shame and will sleep anywhere and does.

loves making balloon animals, was his favourite thing to do at the circus. keeps a jewelry dish full of unpumped balloons on his bedside table. also a big reader, and hoarder of anything that can fit in a small travel notebook (leaves, ticket stubs, pictures, anything). 

wanted connections: i’ll update my actual google docs in the coming days but people he met while traveling for a year, anyone with pets wanting to have a pet playdate (cat’s not too active but he could use some company), someone who catches him crying (he cries a lot haven’t peeped his full chart but i can sense the water energy from miles away), people who wake him up when he falls asleep in class, in the common rooms, outside, flirty flirts, someone who’s been to the circus, someone who clowns him about being a clown and he gets super angry, really anything, i’m terrible at coming up with connections i get such a thrill from mundane relations i’m boring <3

[neocityarchive]

dear dream (ldh) | part 1

word count: 2.8k

warnings: language

chapter summary: Horrible as it may sound, but it seemed as if you were starting to forget what it was like to love him.

a/n: so there’s a lot of narration in the beginning but pls be patient :> ajdaskl also please let me know what you think. thank u, love u.

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You were starting to forget. It’s been eight months after Donghyuck left for training and you were starting to forget everything.

You were starting to forget how his voice sounded on the phone at night, tired and hoarse after a long day but still managing to say sweet things subtly hidden under his teases and cheeky remarks. You were starting to forget how his lips felt on yours, on your cheeks, on your temples, at the top of you head… on your neck. You were starting to forget how his slim fingers fit in the spaces between yours and how his thumb rubs against the back of your hand out of habit. Horrible as it may sound, but it seemed as if you were starting to forget what it was like to love him.

It’s ironic, though. It seemed too soon considering how you were like the first few weeks. Even when he left, he was everywhere. The two of you didn’t break up, with the promise of seeing each other again, the promise of him coming back to you. But it still felt like that… maybe worse. He was gone but you could see him in every store you used to drag him to. You could hear him in every song, even the shitty ones with repetitive riffs and lyrics. He loves random dancing to those. Almost every night, he would appear in your dreams, either as flashbacks or as random scenes.

That is until it started to fade. Your mind that was once filled with Donghyuck has slowly been filled with a lot of something elses.

Things changed faster than you expected them to. You were still on the same job at the bookstore with Taeil who has been promoted to manager. But you went to college where you met a senior who also happened to be your upstairs neighbor. His name is Doyoung. You endorsed him to a job at the bookstore and now you’re colleagues. Both he and Taeil are the closest friends you have at the moment.

Your parents were now retired after securing your future. They sold the house, moved to a smaller place in Busan, and started a barbecue business there.  You found a nice starter apartment and started drafting your book once again, but getting nowhere.

And in all those changes, the one person who you’ve always imagined would walk every step of the way with you weren't there.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” he said that day. You never understood that statement. It didn’t really make sense no matter how much you thought about it, but it’s the one thing that repetitively plays on your mind. For some reason, it always gave you hope and a weird longing for tomorrow. But as days passed, you realized it really wasn’t enough.

Three months after Hyuck left and the dreams became lesser. You have already opened nine out of twelve of his letters, most of it was because you just wanted to experience his thoughts again. You miss him, but the new environment made it easier to get him off your mind every once in a while.

Six months, the dreams were rare. You missed him more than ever. There was one night when you were alone in your apartment, feeling shitty because you’re not making any progress on a report that was due the next day. You knew if he was there, he’d motivate you to work harder. You knew if he was there, it would all be different. But he wasn’t. So you opened the last letter.

“Read… when you’re mad or upset that I’m not there,” you read out loud. “As if this is going to change anything.”

It didn’t. He still wasn’t there. You drafted a reply, just wanting to let it out of your system. After reading what you wrote, you hated yourself for it. You crumpled the paper and threw it in your drawer, not having the heart to toss it into the garbage itself.

And by the eighth month… the dreams were reduced to none. You almost didn’t notice it, until one night your neighbor was watching the TV too loud. You knew it was his voice that was singing even through the thin walls. You’d recognize it anywhere. You realized you haven’t thought about your boyfriend much lately. It has gotten to the point where you begin to wonder whether it is still right to call him your boyfriend anymore.

You cried that night, feeling guilty. The aching in your chest forced you to open that letter again, the one you’ve read the most: read… when you miss me.

Your eyes scanned the words but you’ve already memorized it by heart.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” you read, muttering to yourself, and before you could stop your tongue, you said, “Bullshit.”

You scribbled on a notepad on your desk: It’s been 8 months since the last time… I’m getting tired. Are we still… us?

Seeing as you thought you’ve forgotten, you were surprised to dream about him again for the first time in a while. It was about the day he told you he was leaving. You still remember the barrage of emotions you felt right then. Those same emotions mirrored themselves in your chest that night, leading to tearstained pillow cases.

“Just… don’t forget about me while you’re there.” You choked down a sob. “Promise me.”

“I promise. I’ll be back before you know it.”

You tossed and turned in your sheets. Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt!

You groaned, your hands desperately looking for your phone somewhere on your bed to turn off the goddamn alarm.

You sighed to yourself, frowning at the sensation of the wet pillow on your cheek. “Fuck my life. It’s too early to be sad.”

You forced your eyes open to check for any notifs on your phone. It was just a bunch of emails from your professors and a few texts from your mom. But at the bottom of the list, received at 2:01 AM today… followed by 9 other tabs.

You blinked and then pinched yourself, trying to see if you were still dreaming. But you weren’t. It’s really there. With a deep breath and a fluttering heart, you tapped on the notification, watching it expand.

hyuckie: y/n!!!

hyuckie: i cant believe im saying this but..

hyuckie: i hope your habits are as bad as i remember :(

hyuckie: please be awake?

hyuckie: i really wanna talk to you, i miss you so much!!  ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

hyuckie: but i guess you’re asleep now

hyuckie: which is good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hyuckie: so i’ll talk to you in the morning?

hyuckie: goodnight :>>

You sat up, reading and re-reading the texts. It didn’t seem real. Was it...? Is this some kind of joke fate was playing on you? After almost a month of barely thinking about him, Donghyuck once again let his existence known.

You gulped, the guilt almost eating you inside as your fingers found their way to your keypad.

You: hyuck…?

You: is this real???? are you back??

You waited five minutes. There was no reply. The small hope that bubbled in your chest when you saw his texts dissipated almost immediately. Maybe you just didn’t want to be fooled that easily or maybe you were getting tired of holding onto something that hasn’t really been sitting fully within your reach for so long.

Still, throughout the day, you checked your phone more than you usually do. Even while crossing the pedestrian. Even when you were in a lecture. Even while walking in the hallway. Even when you were manning the cashier at work. You checked your phone too much that it annoyed those who were watching.

“Y/N, stop it. You’re being stupid,” Doyoung said after he returned from a round of stacking books. He has a habit of saying things straight to people’s faces. Usually, it’s a good thing, but it’s also very annoying.

You looked up, consciously putting your phone back in your pocket with a sigh.

“He’s still probably busy. I’m sure he just had, like, a night off and decided to text you.” He shrugged. “His agency don’t really give their artists breaks that much, especially since he just debuted.”

Doyoung sometimes works in the same agency as Hyuck. He’s always getting hired by people here and there to sing demos or background vocals. Even when you’ve only really heard him sing under his breath, it’s not hard for you to say he’s talented. Also, he gives you scoop on what’s happening inside Hyuck’s agency. They’ve met a lot. But as a favor, you made Doyoung promise not to tell Hyuck that you know each other.

Maybe it sounds wrong, but you weren’t really spying on your boyfriend. Besides, Doyoung is almost useless when it comes to updating you about Hyuck. All he ever tells you are his schedules, but that’s not what you wanted to know. Whenever you talk about him, it always goes something like

“How’s he doing?”

“He seemed okay.”

“Does he talk about me sometimes?”

“No, but we didn’t really talk much. He and his friends scare me.”

You ran a hand through your hair in frustration. Your mind was a mess. You don’t know what to feel about Hyuck finally reaching out to you, and for some reason, you wanted to explain what made him do it even if the explanation sounded ridiculous.

“He decided to text me at 2 in the morning, after eight months of nothing,” you said, glaring at him. “It doesn’t make sense. Somebody probably just played a prank on him.”

“By texting you?” Doyoung snorted.

You shrugged. “Why not?”

“That’s what won’t make sense,” he muttered.

“Nothing makes sense.” You sighed.

“And yet you check your phone every two minutes just in case he replied.” He shook his head. “Again, you’re being stupid.”

You were just thinking of a retort when a customer came up to the counter and asked if you had anything available on astrology. Doyoung only smiled at her politely but offered no answer.

“Yes, ma’am. You’ll find them on the last aisle.” You smiled at the lady. When she was gone, you turned back to your friend who was busy scanning some magazine he picked up. “I’m not being stupid.”

Doyoung snorted. “First of all, lame comeback. Second, yes, you are. You’re going back and forth between ‘oh I miss my boyfriend’ and ‘I don’t even know if I care anymore.’ And you’ve been going at it for months, Y/N! Make up your mind. You have to realize this whole situation is unfair to you. Third, you worry too much. Has he even seen your text yet?”

You frowned. You hate it when Doyoung is right, which is most of the time. It’s unfair that he’s always the one who makes sense. It’s worse because he tells you things you don’t want to hear but definitely should. You almost wish Taeil was here. Doyoung seems to be more reserved around him, though you’re not really sure why.

“He hasn’t,” you replied weakly. “But just to be sure…” You whipped your phone out again.

Doyoung groaned loudly, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. “And here we have an idiot,” he grumbled. “God, Y/N. Give yourself a break.”

You just rolled your eyes, continuing to navigate your phone until you’ve reached your message thread with Hyuck. Your eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Read 8:41 PM

“He’s seen it,” you muttered, mostly to yourself. But Doyoung heard it, too. Even he couldn’t hide his surprise.

“He has?” He leaned over to look. “Why isn’t he replying then? It’s been a minute.”

“Baby steps. Doyoungie,” you said kindly.

“Oh, so now you're back to being a hopeless romantic?” He sighed. “God, you’re gonna’ give me whiplash. Whatever. Just tidy up the counter. We have to close soon.”

You nodded.

Doyoung went to walk around the store again leaving you alone by yourself. You left your phone unlocked, the screen still displaying Hyuck’s messages as you moved around and did your routine of fixing the counter and the displays in front of it.

You’ve arranged everything and checked the store’s valuables twice, yet there were still no changes on your phone except your battery has gone down 2%.

“He really left me on read,” you muttered to yourself. “Unbelievable.”

With a sigh, you locked your phone, giving up. Maybe Doyoung was right (again). Hyuck probably just finally had a night to himself and decided to talk to you, but you couldn’t reply. Fuck timing. It always ruins everything.

The lady from earlier came to you once again to purchase an astrology book. She smiled and said thanks after you handed the book back in a paper bag. You returned her smile, but inside you were questioning why people even believe in stars. You shrugged. Who am I to talk though? Why do I even believe in a relationship that doesn’t feel like one anymore? you thought to yourself.

As if the universe was determined to prove you wrong, your phone started ringing, vibrating against the wooden surface of the counter. When your eyes landed on the caller ID, you felt your heart drop to your stomach.

“hyuckie”

It took you a moment to react. Before you started dating, Donghyuck changed the setting of his ringtone on your phone to Stay With Me by Chanyeol & Punch. He did it as a joke to tease you, but after getting used to it, you didn’t bother to change it. You regret that decision now. The song played as if you were in some sort of romantic drama, awaiting for the male lead. It seems ridiculous to imagine, but it was enough to build the tension.

You answered the call before the vocals came in.

“...hello?” you said, your voice smaller than usual.

“Y/N?” Hyuck’s voice came through the speakers. You felt your heart clench just by the sound of it. “Hi.”

“Hyuck?” you asked, feeling stupid right after. There was no doubt it was him. But it felt surreal that he’s calling you right now that you just had to make sure.

“Who else, silly?” He laughed. “How’s my baby?”

Your face scrunched as you suppressed a scream. Why am I being like this? It’s just Hyuck, you thought to yourself, trying to calm down. But it’s Hyuck!!! You wanted to cry but you were still in public. A customer might come in at the last minute and see you bawling your eyes out. Even the thought of it makes you want to punch yourself.

“Wait, is it really you?!” You could barely hide the emotions in your voice. It was too much, a heavy mixture of excitement and nostalgia and happiness and for a reason… also sadness.

“Yes, idiot. Where are you?” He sounded a bit breathless. His voice mixed with the faint sound of traffic in the background. He was out, alright, but is he on a break? How long is this phone call going to last?

You looked around, suddenly confused, mind hazy. “I’m… where am I… um, I’m at work. Why? Where are you?”

“You’re still at work? But it’s 9,” he said.

“Yeah, we’re closing soon. Where are you? Are you on a break? Why are you calling now?” You wanted to ask so many questions but they’re all getting jammed in your mind at the moment. It doesn’t even matter since Hyuck isn’t answering any of them.

“Close it now,” he said.

“What?”

“Close the store now.”

“Why? My friend is still arranging the shelves.” You looked around for Doyoung.

“Tell your friend you have to go home,” he said before letting out a breath.

“What? But the keys are with me. Taeil would be mad if it gets lost,” you reasoned. “What are you even—”

“Just tell your friend something important came up.”

“There’s literally nothing going on in my life right now. What important thing would ‘come up?’” You snorted. “Just—”

You heard the bell hanging above the door ring, making you jump on your feet. “Shit. I have to go. We have a customer. I’ll call you, please pick up later. Imissyou,Iloveyou,byebye,” you said as fast as you could, crouching down lower with every word, hoping to hide from the eyes of whoever just came in.

You ended the call, putting the phone back in your pocket, before standing up straight, ready to greet the guest.

“Hi, how may I help…”

“Hi.” The guy smiled, chest heaving slightly, trying to catch his breath.

He was wearing a black jacket over a plain white shirt that was tucked in his jeans. The look was so simple, yet he still looked amazing. Better than your remember. Better than he appears on TV. Something about him was different, you could feel it. He looked different. He was taller and his cheeks were somehow smaller than you remembered. His hair was a different shade of brown than when you last saw. He was still slightly slouched but something about his stance is more powerful. He held himself with more pride now. And rightfully so. But underneath all of those, you could still feel it. That familiarity. That sense of security that no matter how many things have changed, he still is the same Lee Donghyuck. And somehow, despite your doubts and overthinking, you just knew he still is your Lee Donghyuck.

“Hyuck,” you said, voice faltering. You didn’t think it was this easy to have tears pooling in your eyes, but it was. Fuck, you thought. “Hi.”

He let out a chuckle upon seeing your reaction. “To answer your question, I’m your important thing that came up.”

[notveryglittery]

home for the holidays (& home is where the heart is)

summary: declan and patton spend the first night of winter break vacation together.  words: 3,300 / ships: romantic moceit  warnings: sympathetic deceit, slight panic, very brief alcohol mention, accidental burn injury. let me know if there’s anything else! author’s notes: ok this is the first thing i’ve managed to write in a month and i’m kinda proud of it?? it’s a human/college au in which the sides + thomas are on winter break, visiting and staying at a cute cabin in a small town near school. this is the snowed in prompt from @sanderssidescelebrations!! check the end for a few more author’s notes :) i hope you enjoy!!

read on ao3 / @fandersfic-patceit 

This was all going exactly according to plan.

Scowling out the window and at the storm outside, Declan huffed in frustration. His breath fogged the glass and he rolled his eyes. What was he supposed to do now? Not only was the snow supposed to have waited until tomorrow to come through, he wasn’t supposed to have been trapped in this cabin when it did. It wasn’t like they were at a loss for heat or supplies; everything was in working order and the kitchen was well stocked. It was that it was “they” to begin with.

Quite suddenly, the cheerful notes of a Christmas song he was only vaguely familiar with began to play from the entertainment center. Declan turned to face the sound to find Patton beaming at him, hands fidgeting with the hem of his sweater.

“I thought it was a bit quiet!” Patton chirped, gesturing to the speakers. “It was a little eerie with just the wind and well, uh, you know how I am with… uhm. Silence.” Patton’s voice trailed off as he looked away and the air in the room grew thick with tension.

Declan, despite his slightly foul mood and the unfortunate circumstance they were in, found himself gazing at Patton with an expression that Roman would call “twitterpated.” Shaking his head to snap himself out of it, Declan closed the distance between them, and threw an arm around Patton’s shoulders. He tugged Patton along towards the kitchen, gesturing with his free hand as he did so.

“If we’re going to be stuck here alone for the night,” and Declan prayed it would be just the one night and that the others would make it back by tomorrow afternoon because he was so sure he could handle any more than that, “we might as well make it worth it, right?”

Patton brightened instantly, nodding with fervor. “I was going through the pantry! There’s all the fixings to make cookies! Oh! There’s pizza in the freezer, too!”

Declan watched fondly as Patton slipped from his hold and hurried around the room, throwing open various cupboards to retrieve everything they’d need. Sure enough, the counters were soon covered in various containers of flour, sugar, and chocolate chips as well as enough mixing bowls to make four different kinds of cookies. Declan wouldn’t be surprised if it came to that.

While Patton got together the baking station, Declan prepared a frozen pizza (Hawaiian and Declan supposed he’d allow pineapple on pizza this time around since it happened to be Patton’s favorite) for when the oven finished preheating. Patton was going on about what a bummer it was for just the two of them to end up stuck at the cabin. This had been a winter break getaway for their group of six but the tragedies struck one after the other.

Roman forgot an entire suitcase worth of clothes at school and so he’d had to go back for it, insisting that Logan join him because his phone was low battery and what if it died while he was on the road, and he couldn’t find his way back without GPS? Logan knew the quaint little town like the back of his hand, having grown up in it. He hadn’t complained, claiming that he’d like to grab a few textbooks, anyway, so that he might get some studying in during their down time. Patton had, of course, insisted that there would be no school work during vacation and made Roman pinky promise he wouldn’t let Logan go anywhere near his own dorm.

Virgil and Thomas, on the other hand, went out to buy a few bottles of various cream liqueurs to mix in with their hot chocolate and coffee. None of them were heavy drinkers but just the right amount of alcohol in a warm drink sometimes made the difference, especially after finishing finals. Every time they’d nearly been ready to leave the store, a message would be sent to their group chat, asking for them to get this or that as well, which prolonged their trip just enough.

The storm hit so suddenly, the entire town seemed to go on lockdown in minutes.

Virgil was rapid fire texting them, panicking on whether or not Logan and Roman had made it back to campus in time, and asking if the cabin still had power. The pair weren’t finished with their drive just yet but they’d cleared the inclement weather by quite a few miles. Patton and Declan still had electricity but the snow was coming down far too fast and heavy for them to do much. Besides, there were only two cars and it wasn’t like they could get anywhere better.

For the next half hour, Thomas kept them updated on the fact that it seemed they would be stuck at the grocery store until morning, when the streets could be cleared. Virgil had argued with the store owners that they couldn’t just stay there but when a police officer arrived and deemed it too dangerous to be on the road, Virgil had finally relented. Besides, their car didn’t have snow chains on the tires, and after some coaxing from Thomas, it was decided. Thankfully, the proprietors were ridiculously prepared for such a dilemma, and had blankets to go around and keep their customers warm.

“Dee. Sugar?” Patton spoke, pulling Declan from his wandering thoughts.

Warmth spread along his cheeks as he gaped at Patton. “Pardon?”

Patton looked up from where he was pouring flour into a bowl. “The sugar?” He asked, tilting his head. “Or am I making these cookies on my own?” His tone was light and teasing and Declan wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take and it had barely been two hours.

“You’d burn them without my help,” Declan said, eyebrows raising in what was sometimes a pretty good tell that he was fibbing. Not that it would have mattered since Patton seemed to have a sixth sense in knowing whether or not Declan was telling the truth. This was obviously a blatant lie to anyone who would have heard, anyway, because Patton was literally majoring in culinary (pastry) arts.

Declan assisted where he could, even if that just meant cleaning up the dishes and workspace as they went. The pizza went in the oven while Patton was mixing in the chocolate chips. Declan leaned against the counter, arms folded loosely over his chest, and watched. The playlist Patton had turned on earlier was blaring Mariah Carey, because of course it was, and Declan let the sappy song wash over him. Patton hummed along, tapping his feet and bobbing his head.

Before Declan could tear his gaze away, Patton spun to face him, holding the wooden spoon to his mouth like a microphone.

“Make my wish come true,” he sang, throwing one arm into the air. “Baby, all I want for Christmas is you~”

Declan couldn’t believe this was how he died.

Patton sashayed and shimmied around the kitchen. He certainly wasn’t coordinated when it came to singing and dancing but he was having so much fun and Declan felt very much so like he needed to stab something to earn back his cool and aloof exterior. His phone, thankfully, chose that moment to start ringing.

Patton looked to him curiously but Declan waved dismissively as he headed to a quieter part of the house to answer the call. The moment he was out of view, Patton returned the wooden spoon to the bowl and grabbed his own phone so quickly he nearly dropped it into the cookie dough. Opening Facebook messenger, he found his direct messages with Virgil, and started typing.

snow angel: ajskdfkjlhsf snow angel: viRGIL HELP snow angel: he’s so CUTE i dont know whAT TO DO snow angel: please can you mAKE IT BACK TONIGHT

For thirty agonizing seconds, the texts went unread.

Until they suddenly weren’t and a bouncing ellipses appeared as Virgil began to reply.

ghost of xmas present: oh my god ghost of xmas present: pat, seriously?????? ghost of xmas present: we have talked abt this. like… a LOT

Patton worried his bottom lip between his teeth and glanced in the direction Declan had left. Who knew how much more time he had??

ghost of xmas present: PLEASE just tell him already snow angel: WHAT snow angel: i canT DO THAT snow angel: i dont even know if he likes me back!!!!!!!

(Thomas watched, half amused and half intrigued, as Virgil slapped a palm against his forehead.)

ghost of xmas present: ok patton. listen. are you listening. snow angel: linda, listen ghost of xmas present: … ghost of xmas present: if you confess and declan doesn’t like you, then i will literally buy you all the ingredients to make your own cookies for the rest of our lives.

Patton was going to open his own bakery. This was a pretty big offer. He paced back and forth a bit, debating. Even if he told Declan how he felt and the feelings weren’t returned, Patton knew they could continue to be friends. Their group was too tight knit to let something like that tear them apart. Sure, it’d hurt for a little bit, but Patton could handle that. … Right?

ghost of xmas present: oh, speak of the devil

Patton jolted, rereading the message three more times just in case.

snow angel: virgil???? what do you mean?????

It remained unread.

ho ho homicide: this had better be good dec the halls: he’s jusT AWFUL what do i DO ho ho homicide: you goddamn disaster gay dec the halls: i absolutely hate him dec the halls: i can definitely handle this ho ho homicide: ok slow down dec the halls: everything is great dec the halls: the building is on fire and this is fine ho ho homicide: DUDE ho ho homicide: shuT THE HELL UP ho ho homicide: lisTEN TO ME dec the halls: linda ho ho homicide: wow you two are made for each other

Declan tripped over the rug in the bedroom he was currently pacing and nearly slammed face first into the corner of a dresser. He hated when Virgil said things like that, it wasn’t fair. He threw himself onto the bed and buried his face into a pillow until his phone buzzed, alerting him to another message.

ho ho homicide: i will let you have one of my most prized records if you confess to patton and he ends up not liking you back.

Declan thought about the Fall Out Boy vinyl Virgil had scored during Black Friday, the last of its kind without spending money (that no college student had) on shipping.

dec the halls: deal

He pocketed his phone and returned to the kitchen. Patton was rolling the cookie dough into balls, all perfectly sized and placed evenly on the baking sheet. His hair looked a little messier than it had when Declan left; there was flour in it that had not been there before. Patton paused and smiled at him. It was the soft smile they all knew he had reserved for things he was especially partial to, like cats and dogs and… Declan realized suddenly that he caught Patton very often looking at him with that grin.

“The pizza is done,” Patton said, gesturing towards the oven with a nod of his head.

Declan blinked out of his daze and pulled on a pair of oven mitts before turning the oven off momentarily, taking their dinner out from it, and setting it aside to cool.

“Important call?” Patton asked as he adjusted the oven’s temperature.

“Just Roman,” Declan answered, “he’s very excited about being back at school already.”

Patton giggled. “Poor thing. I think he was the most excited about this trip.”

“I don’t know,” Declan countered, dipping a finger into the bowl and scooping a bit of cookie dough out. He popped it into his mouth and let his eyelids flutter shut at the taste. When he opened his eyes, Patton was staring rather unabashedly at his lips. Declan smirked. “All this quality time together sounded terribly unappealing, if I’m being honest.”

Patton’s gaze snapped up to meet Declan’s. “Are you ever?” He asked quietly, shifting closer.

Declan hummed, brushing a hand against Patton’s forearm. “When it matters most.”

The oven beeped, re-preheated, and the two leapt apart as if electrocuted.

“These cookies aren’t going to bake themselves!” Patton exclaimed, grabbing the tray and, with movements far more uncoordinated than usual, went to open the oven door. Declan was no stranger to disaster (as Virgil had just so kindly reminded him) and so while he anticipated what would happen next, he wasn’t quick enough to prevent it.

The tray clattered to the tile as Patton yelped in pain, lurching away and shoving his thumb into his mouth. The balls of dough went rolling across the floor and the oven door slammed shut as Patton recoiled from it. Declan had an arm around him in seconds, guiding him towards the sink.

“Hurts,” Patton whined from around the digit, tears gathering in his eyes.

“I know,” Declan reassured, “I’m sorry. Here.”

He turned the faucet on, testing the water before tugging Patton’s hand down towards the stream. Patton hissed as the liquid first came in contact with the burn but only a moment later, he was half slumped against the counter and half into Declan as the pain lessened.

“You don’t need to apologize,” Patton said, looking up at Declan, who had him wrapped still in one arm. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I could’ve been paying less attention,” he disagreed. 

“We were pretty distracted,” Patton offered, hesitantly.

For a moment, nothing followed but the sound of running water and Perry Como singing about how there was no place like home for the holidays. Declan thought that home is where the heart is a silly notion but Patton was notoriously referred to as the heart of their friend group and he actually liked the sound of that quite a bit—

Patton had looked away. He turned the faucet off and pulled from Declan’s embrace.

“I’m going to check the medicine cabinet in the bathroom for something to put on this,” he murmured, leaving before Declan could say anything else.

The playlist came to an end and silence fell once more over the cabin. Declan, almost mechanically, used the remaining dough to make another batch before carefully putting them into the oven. He set the timer for less time than probably necessary (better safe than sorry). He cleaned up the mess off the floor and set the dishes in the sink to soak.

Wandering out of the kitchen, Declan found the outlet in the living room that Patton seemed to have planned to plug the fairy lights into. He’d brought them from his dorm, hoping to make their stay feel cozier, and had strung them up when they first arrived. It hadn’t taken long with Roman’s help. Declan turned them on and they bathed the room in warm yellow.

“Oh,” came a gasp from behind him.

Declan looked to find Patton, hands clasped beneath his chin. His thumb was bandaged.

“It looks beautiful.”

“Not nearly as lovely as you.”

Patton, eyes wide in awe and mouth parted slightly in surprise, truly did make quite the vision. His curls were messy still with flour and his cheeks glowing just rosily enough. The purples and blues of his sweater complemented him nicely and Declan couldn’t take it anymore. If anything, he’d get that Fall Out Boy record out of this.

“I like you.”

“I like you!”

Spoken within the same breath, Declan and Patton stared at one other in disbelief.

“Wait.”

“What??”

Another moment of stunned silence before Patton began laughing.

“So much for never having to buy my own stock,” he said between giggles.

Declan would ask later.

“You…”

“Yeah!” Patton answered earnestly, swooping so quickly into Declan’s space, it made him dizzy. “Yes! I do. I have! For… oh, it feels like ages. Do you remember sophomore year when they set up that event in the quad with just, like, all the dogs in the world? And they were letting any student that wanted to play for as long as they needed? To relax?”

Declan nodded.

“I saw you there with the smallest little yorkie and even as I made sure to meet every pooch I could, you still gave the most attention to her, and I was just… drawn to you, I guess.” Patton paused, before adding jokingly, “or maybe it was that she was the last one I needed to pet.” 

Declan nodded.

“You were kind of closed off and even when I did manage to get something out of you, I couldn’t make heads or tails of what you were saying. I remember thinking that you had the prettiest eyes…”

Declan blinked. He’d grown up with kids thinking his mismatched irises were weird and while that certainly wasn’t the case any longer, it tended still to be a sore subject for him.

“Eventually, you just handed me that pupper and walked off. I thought I’d never see you again.” Patton frowned. “Until… well, you know the rest!! Roman invited us to an after party for that year’s show and… there you were.”

“Here I am,” Declan whispered, feeling a bit like he couldn’t breathe.

Patton chuckled, glancing down long enough to find one of Declan’s hands and take it in his own. When he looked back up, he kept his gaze somewhere just over Declan’s left shoulder.

“I guess I sort of wanted something to happen on this trip but I didn’t wanna get my hopes up…”

A particularly strong gust of wind rattled the window panes and Patton flinched at the noise. Declan fully snapped out of his reverie. He pressed his free hand against the small of Patton’s back and pulled him closer, tucking Patton’s head underneath his chin.

“We were juniors and we had the same free time on our Tuesday-Thursdays,” Declan said, shifting so that it wouldn’t be as awkward to talk given their position. “Logan joined you sometimes in the library to study but… usually you found the sunniest spot and every time I walked by, you just…” Declan paused long enough for Patton to pull back in concern and look up at him.

Declan floundered. “You were just hideous, all radiant in the light and so relaxed and focused, it was the worst, my stomach flipped at the sight… Because I was just so. Nauseous.”

Patton snickered, using their still connected hands to lead the way to the couch. They settled into it comfortably, sitting closely. It took some time but they talked about their feelings and what they’d do next and how soon they’d tell the others. It was a bit of up and down, what with Declan’s penchant for lying, and Patton’s tangents, but they got there. Were it not for the oven reminding them of the cookies, they might have stayed curled up together forever.

Eventually, however, they were settled again with a plate of cookies and pizza, some Netflix original holiday movie on in the background while they flirted and teased. A selfie was sent to the group chat towards the end of the night from Patton and followed with a few winking emojis from Declan. Had they not silenced their phones and returned to their movie, they would’ve seen just how many messages came through afterwards.

(merry bitchmas ⛄️: aksjdfhlkdsjfhksjdfh jingle hells 🔔: FINALLY merry bitchmas ⛄️: i’m sCREAMING oh chemistree 🎄: He really is. thomistle toe 💋: !!!! congrats guys!!! merry bitchmas ⛄️: i thi nK I’m go nNA FAINT oh chemistree 🎄: Please do not. oh chemistree 🎄: Oh, and congratulations, you two. It is about time. jingle hells 🔔: this is absolutely thanks to me btw. yw.)

shout out to @purelyanxious, @nopartyuntilanxiety, and @moon-of-the-stars for the words “stab, gay, beautiful, lovely, fairy lights, yellow” and picking deceit and patton as characters for this fic ;) 

virgil’s nickname in his chat with patton is “ghost of xmas present.” patton gave it to him because he considers virgil and their friendship a gift. 

group chat in order of appearance goes: roman, virgil, logan, thomas. thank you to @moon-of-the-stars for logan’s nickname! 

this was intended to be background romantic logince and you’re free to see background romantic thvi as well, if you like! i’m also kind of imagining logan and virgil are brothers. 

“ho ho homicide” snatched from this art by @poppiesss

and finally, this moceit fluff is for @do-your-socks-have-holes-in-them <3