#i gave myself a break on backgrounds this update... the next few are gonna have EXTENSIVE backgrounds... so im like oough...

[bigfatbreak]

Birds of a Feather previous / next

[imagine-docx]

dirty images.

Summary: “I sent a selfie of myself in the bathtub to the wrong number and you responded back with another selfie - holy you are gorgeous.”

Warnings: sexting, notions to smut.

A/N: thought we would switch it up and invite wanda to the imagine-docx crew. so please enjoy my first wanda fic. hope everyone is signing petitions and are changing the system! - amanda 💛

⳾*⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*⳾

As a frat boy once said, Saturdays are for the boys. But in this case it is you, Carol and Val going to The Toolbox, New York’s notorious gay bar.

You examined your outfit in the mirror one last time, a black bralette, wide legged tan pants, a black leather jacket and black strappy heels. You ruffled your hair before looking at your phone, Carol and Val were going to pick you up.

Getting the ‘COME DOWN BITCH’ text from Carol, you grabbed your purse and keys before heading down. Getting in the Lyft, “Wow someone’s getting laid,” Carol commented.

“And you aren’t gonna share the goods,” Val responded.

“Need it, it’s been ages.” You said.

“I need to get hammered. Thor has been up my ass all week,” Val said groaning.

“Loki hasn’t saved you?” You asked.

“Loki has his man crush on Bruce going,” Val responded.

The three of you continued your little week updates before the Lyft came to a stop, notioning that it is time for you to get out. You guys thanked your Lyft before heading in.

⳾*⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*⳾

Two and a half hours in, you lost Carol and Val. Val was talking to a blonde named Alexa, and Carol was hitting it off with a brunette named Cassandra.

Sighing, you headed to the bar to get something in you. “Can I get a Pink Whitney?”

“Make that two,” you heard a voice from behind you, which then proceeded to sit next to you.

The bartender nodded, you turned around and were greeted by a tall blonde, “What’s a cute thing like you doing by yourself?”

“Abandoned by my friends,” the bartender came back and placed the drinks in front of you, “Thanks.”

“I’m Ashley,” she said, you told her yours and drove deep into a conversation.

⳾*⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*⳾

It was safe to say that you and Ashley hit it off really well. What gave it away? Was it the numerous drinks you had together? Was it that you came from similar backgrounds? Or was it that you spent time groping each other and making out in the washroom? Who knows.

Ashley ended up being dragged home by her friends, but she typed her number into your phone, and you typed your number into her phone before she left.

You were slightly buzzed and grinning from ear to ear about the events that happened that night. In the back of the Lyft, you were debating on texting Ashley to make sure she got home safe.

You got home and decided against it and were going to wash off your makeup before you fell asleep.

⳾*⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*⳾

You woke up the next morning and looked at your phone and saw that Ashley didn’t text you. She’s probably still asleep, you concluded before getting ready to go to the bakery next door.

As you were leaving your complex you noticed the moving truck unloading. Ignoring it, you made the beeline for the bakery before heading back home.

While you were eating your bagel, your phone buzzed signalling an email from your workplace.

Looking through your schedule, you feel yourself tense up. Meeting after meeting, document after document due. You knew you wouldn’t be able to breathe this week, you would be coming home super late and you knew takeout would be your only source of food this week.

You got up and ran yourself a bath, as these were your last moments of freedom. Digging around in the cabinet, you were looking for a bath bomb. Finally deciding on the ‘sex bomb’. You gently placed it in the water, watching it fizz out.

Getting undressed, you let yourself submerge into the light pink and purple bath, and let the scent of jasmine engulf your senses.

As you were scrolling through your instagram, it dawned on you that you should tease Ashley a little bit. You used your arm to cover your boobs and you slightly crossed your legs to cover your pussy.

Snapping the picture, you scrolled through your contacts to find Ashley. Clicking on the message button, you sent the message.

You leaned back and waited for Ashley to respond.

‘Wrong number?’ You scoffed. Did she really not remember what we did in the bathroom last night? You thought to yourself.

‘Haha good joke Ash’

You then received a photo of a gorgeous girl with auburn hair. ‘No Ash here, I’m Wanda’

You were absolutely mortified. You sent a semi nude to a stranger. A hot stranger, but that’s not the point right now.

‘I am so sorry!!’

‘Don’t worry about it!! You’re really cute tho’

And that started the ‘friendship’ between you and Wanda. Friendship in quotations because the two of you were constantly flirting with each other, and sending risky photos to each other.

⳾*⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*⳾

It was Friday and you were returning home from work. Your long week of long hours and barely any breaks were over. But you had so much energy, courtesy of Wanda and her flirty texts.

You were messaging Wanda ever since you got out of your car. And on your way up to your apartment.

‘What are you wearing?’

You chuckled at her text message before sending a, ‘Black top, black pants, and heels’

‘I meant underneath :( you’re no fun’ you got before she sent you a picture of her. Wanda was absolutely gorgeous. She was laying on her back, hair sprawled out around her, and she was sporting a black lace bra that did not hide anything and a pair of baby pink silk shorts.

‘Wait till I get home, then you’ll see’

‘Hurry upppp’

You chuckled, and were unlocking your door. The moment you got in, you kicked off your heels and made a beeline to your mirror, stripping on your way there. You stood in the mirror, and tousled your hair before snapping and sending a pic of you in a lacy hot pink bra and panty set.

You threw your hair into a bun, and headed to the washroom to get rid of your makeup. As you were wiping off the eyeliner that was around your eyes, your phone buzzed.

It was another photo of Wanda, but this time, she was biting her lip and her right hand was buried in her pants. ‘God, you’re such a tease’

You had to take a minute, because there she was, somewhere in New York, a hottie like her was pleasuring herself to a photo of you in lingerie. ‘I aim to please’

You received another image of her this time, her pants were off, legs spread and her hand was cupping her pussy. ‘The things I want you to do to me’

You tugged at your panties, lowering them and showing off your hips, and snapped another photo and sent it to her. ‘No makeup? Hair tied? God I am whipped for you’

You chuckled, ‘I’m going to take a shower. Wanna get rid of the work on me’

‘A shower? Without me? I am hurt. Send pics of you in the shower and maybe our relationship would be okay’

You chuckled before snapping a picture of you, hands covering your boobs and your crotch covered by the sink. ‘I need more of you to reconsider our relationship’

‘Someone’s horny’

‘Only for you baby’

⳾*⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*⳾

You and Wanda continued your entire sexting expedition, even through your little snack. Eventually the conversation about sex died down, and you moved to how your days went, and your other hobbies.

She was still settling down in her new apartment and was adjusting to the city life and she needed to do laundry. Which then made you realize that you were running low on work clothes and should probably go down and do laundry.

Looking at the clock, you realized there would be no one down there because it was super late. Gathering the detergents and clothes, you headed down to the laundry room.

You were bending over putting the clothes into the washing machine and saw the yellow panties being taken out. You stood up ready to fight whoever was harassing you.

You were then greeted by the familiar auburn beauty that has ruined so many pairs of your panties. “So this is the set that I keep thinking about, and the owner,” she smirked.

You were in shock, “Wanda?”

“And you look way better in real life,” she said checking you out.

“How?” You asked, still shocked.

“I was sitting over there, and I noticed you walk in. Thought it was a coincidence, but then I saw a few familiar pairs of panties that I knew, and knew it was you.” She responded, helping you put your clothes into the washing machine.

⳾*⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*❀⑅*⳾

The two of you sat in the laundry room, innocently flirting, and helping each other fold one another's laundry.

By time the two of you were done, you were heading to the elevators. “Did you have dinner yet?” You asked, to which Wanda shook her head no, “Do you want to come over? We can order a pizza.”

“Trying to get me over?” Wanda smirked.

“Can’t blame a girl for trying now, can we?” You asked.

“Will I get to see a little more skin?” She asked.

“Play your cards right, and you might be able to.” You responded.

[justniaaa]

Unravel Me (4)

Gif by: @blackisblackisblack​

Rating 18+NSFW

Work Count: 3.4k

Pairing: Christopher “Rio” Martinez xblack!oc

Warning: Swearing, mentions of a gun

A/N: Hey my loves! I’ve missed you guys so much, so sorry for the late update. I’m not going to lie and say it wont happen again because it most likely will but I wasn’t expecting to be gone for so long. Anxiety/ Depression is a fucking bitch bro and like I said before even if my posting isn’t constant, I always want to make sure to give you guys content. Thanks for you for rocking with me and Enjoy chapter 4! Happy reading and please dont forget to like, comment and reblog <3

Summary: Toni forms an unsuspecting friendship with Christopher that turns into something more. As her feelings towards him continue to grow she starts to  unravel the secrets that surround him and in return, he unravels her completely.

Chapter 4: Let the games begin

After the eventful night between Toni and Chris, it was like the days went by rather quickly and before she knew it, Friday was here and Toni’s nerves were coming along for the ride. When she came home that night and told her girls about what transpired with her and the mysterious business mogul they gave out beaming smiles and all three of them jumped around, excited that Toni was going out on a date. And of course, don’t even get her started on Aaliyah, the woman was more than elated, and every chance she got she made sure to bother Toni about her new “boyfriend.”

Toni was walking in from work at Print Monthly and let out a yawn. Working two jobs, and writing a new article was slowly catching up with her, but with enough caffeine, she thinks she could make it through. She took off her heels and placed her keys on the entrance table trying to stifle yet another yawn, that was on its way out of her mouth. As she went further into the apartment she didn’t hear any movement from either of the girl’s rooms so she figured she was home alone. Toni went into her room not caring to turn on the light since she had a small night light in the corner and shut the door. She dropped her purse on the floor and took off her clothes, only leaving on her bra and panties. Toni sighed and shuffled to her bed, face planting into it as she wrapped her sherpa throw around her body. Since the AC was fixed the day before her place was nice and cool and all she wanted to do was take a small nap.

But before she could float away to unconsciousness her door was rushed open and the light flicked on, “Oh no bitch, get up!”

Toni groaned hearing Rocky’s voice and covered her face with the blanket, wishing for  a couple of minutes of sleep, “Antonia Kelis Thompson, up now!”

The blanket was ripped away from Toni, and she put her face into the pillow, “Just five minutes,” she groaned.  

“No, get up! Sage made you a smoothie to help with your energy before she left for the grocery store and you need to drink it so we can get you together for tonight.”

Toni turned her head and looked at Rocky, she was standing next to her bed with her eyebrow raised and a hand on her hip and the other was outstretched with said green smoothie in her grasp.

“It’s only six Rocky, we meet up at nine.”

True to his word, Chris hit her up and they set up a time and place to meet up, the place being an escape room to which Toni was particularly thrilled about. She had always wanted to go to one and she vaguely remembered mentioning it to him on one of their morning talks at the cafe. After they arranged their night out they continued texting each other throughout the day and it felt good to have that feeling of giddiness whenever she heard her phone ding and it possibly being him.

Toni huffed and sat up, sitting cross-legged on her bed and took the drink from Rocky’s hand. Taking a few sips she scrunched up her face from the taste but soldiered on when she saw the look Racquel gave her. When she finally finished the last bits of the smoothie, she put the glass on her nightstand and turned back to her friend.  

“All finished, what’s next on the list warden?”

Racquel rolled her eyes, “So damn dramatic, go take a shower and I’ll dive into that mess  you call a closet to find you something to wear.”

Toni stretched her limbs as she stood up from the bed while Rocky shooed her to the bathroom grabbing her towel from the back of the door in the process.

“And don’t forget to shave bitch!” Rocky yelled out.

“I shaved my legs yesterday, why the hell am I going to do them again?” Toni said poking her head out from the doorway, her confusion was evident.

“I’m not talking about your legs, girl,” Raquel said, winking. Toni didn’t plan on sleeping with Chris tonight but with how crazy the attraction was between them anything was possible. So with understanding and gratitude, Toni simply nodded and backed into the bathroom, closing the door and getting to work.

After the long half-hour of exfoliation, shaving, and showering, Toni came out of the bathroom feeling fresh and squeaky clean and walked into the sight of her bed strewn with clothes. She took in the sight of her best friends arguing with a piece of clothing in their hands about which outfit would work best. She chose to ignore them knowing that whatever they picked would be applicable and tightened the towel on her form, going to her vanity to do her makeup and hair. The girls interrupted her a few times showing her what they chose and Sage helped Toni curl her hair in the back. Music and bouts of laughter were heard throughout the home and the minutes ticked by getting closer to when Toni was deemed to leave. She was just putting on her light blue jeans when her phone went off, interrupting the song that was playing on her Bluetooth. Rocky and Sage continued talking about whether she should wear heels or sneakers, and Toni finished buttoning her pants walking over to her device. The name Chris was on her screen, and before the voicemail picked up she answered.

“Hello,” she said.

“There she is, thought you weren’t gonna answer,” Chris’s smooth voice came through the phone, making Toni’s stomach flutter with butterflies. She could vaguely hear noises of machinery in the background but she didn’t think anything of it because as quickly as the noise came it was gone, like he went into a separate room.

“I mean I didn’t have to pick up, especially since you're interrupting me getting ready for my date,” Toni sat down on the bench at the end of her bed.

“Oh, word? Who’s the lucky man?”

Toni looked down at her nails, “Some guy I met a couple of weeks ago, he ain’t all that but I decided to have mercy and give him a chance.”

Chris laughed into the receiver, “I bet he’s hype as fuck to take your pretty ass out.”

Toni shrugged like he could see her, “I mean, I am kind of great.”  

“That you are Antonia, that you are.”

Toni covered her mouth with her fingers, trying to control the megawatt smile that was threatening to break out. They knew each other barely a month and already the way Chris made Toni feel was slightly alarming. “Is everything okay though, because if you need to change the time or something that’s fine.”

“Nah we good, just wanted to check up on you. And make sure I wasn’t gonna do an escape room by myself.”

“No worries, I’ll be there,” Toni said grinning.

“Aiight, so I’ll see you soon yeah?”

“Yes, sir nine o’clock.”

Chris chuckled, “Aight mama, later.”

Toni hung up and put her phone back on the charger, “I’m guessing from all the flirting we just heard, that was him,” Sage asked.

She shook her head, “Yeah, he was calling to make sure we were still on tonight.” Toni went and looked at the shoe options they picked out, thankful that her friends lended out a helping hand.  

“We think the all-white Nike’s would look great with your outfit. Plus it will give your feet a break from the heels and you can run around as you play the game with your boyfriend,” Rocky smirked when Toni gave her a dirty look at her use of the “B” word.

“I agree,” she told them. After bending down to put her sneakers on, Toni stood up and examined her outfit in the mirror, liking how it looked. The white bodysuit accentuated her curves and the light blue jeans and sneakers really brought everything together, making her feel comfortable but be cute at the same time. Toni sprayed her perfume and got her crossbody bag and phone, listening to her friends give her a pep talk as she walked to the front door.

“We put some wipes in your bag and some mints as well just in case your breath gets hot,” Sage said, following behind Toni.

“Oh yes and some pepper spray if he decides to get handsy,” Raquel continued, bringing up the rear, “You never know he can turn into an asshole when the clock strikes twelve.”

Sage gave Rocky a glare and nudged her, “I doubt it will come to that, Racquel but it is always good to be safe.”

“Yes, it is,” Rocky grumbled, rubbing her sore side. Sage may be small but her elbow had some power behind it.

Toni turned to them when they reached the door, “Thanks guys for all the help.”

“We got your back girl, you know that.”

“And have fun tonight please, you deserve it and it will do you good to get some dick. It might help you stop being so damn uptight.”

“Sage!” Toni gasped, hitting the girl’s arm while Rocky stood next to her nodding in agreeance.

“I can’t stand you guys.” Toni picked up the keys she left on the small table by the door and opened her arms, “Alright give me some loving.”

They all came in for a group hug, just like they always did back in college, “Love you hoes,” Toni murmured.

“We love you too,” Sage and Rocky said together.

*****************************************************************************************************

Pulling into the parking lot Toni texted Chris letting him know she had arrived and while she waited on his reply she stared down at her phone and went through her social media. Suddenly a knock on her window made her jolt in the seat and look up with a hand to her chest. She let out a breath when she saw it was Chris at her window, his eyebrow raised and his mouth curved into a smirk.

“Geez Chris, you scared the shit out of me,” Toni exclaimed through the closed window.

She reached next to her, to get her purse and took her keys out of the ignition, placing them and her phone into her bag. She unlocked the door and he opened it for her, a smile still residing on his lips, “My bad ma, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Toni side-eyed him as she got out, “Liar, you know damn well it’s too dark for your ass to be playing games.”

“Oh shit, don’t tell me big bad Antonia is scared of the dark.” Chris closed her car door behind her and Toni hit her key fob locking the vehicle. They began walking through the sparsely lit up parking lot, heading towards the building that had MadeYa Look Escape Room in bright lights at the front.

“Listen, frightening things live in the night, so don’t shame me.”

Chris chuckled as they walked side by side, his hands behind his back, “Nah, no shaming here baby. I used to be the same way, years ago.”

Toni felt a jolt at this new nickname, she hadn’t been called baby from the opposite sex in years and it made her feel warm inside to be hearing it from him. Toni decided to play it cool and not show how much the term of endearment affected her, but she secretly promised herself she would gush about it later in the privacy of her home.

“What made you stop being scared?” Toni asked as they finally reached the entrance.

She went to open the door but his ring covered hand was suddenly on top of hers, making her palm sweat on the cool metal of the handle, “When I became the scary thing to the monsters.”

Toni noticed the sudden shift between them as she gazed into his dark brown orbs. You would think after a statement like that she would be afraid but she felt perfectly fine, safe even. She didn’t know what to think about that, so she intended to not think about it at all.

“I forgot to tell you earlier but you look beautiful,” Chris said, his eyes not leaving hers, he was close enough that he could hear her breath stutter but didn’t comment. Toni bit her lip and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

“You got your nose pierced,” she said, surprised. Toni saw the faint glint of the piercing from the glare of the lights and even though she never dated a guy with one it was different and it fit him perfectly.

Chris took note of the change of subject but he nodded anyway and ran his tongue across his bottom lip, making it shine, “You like it?”  

“It’s cute,” She said with faux disinterest. Just like last time, with the close proximity they were in Toni could smell his cologne that was dark and subtle. They would kiss if she stood on her tiptoes.

“You ready for me to whoop your ass in this game?” Chris teased, and just like that the spell was broken and the light-hearted flirting came back into play.

Toni scoffed, grateful for the break from the tension “Please, the question is are you ready?”

With her hands still encompassed in his, they both opened the door and went to the front desk to pay and get instructions. The brunette clerk who they later learned was named Debbie was none the wiser to the something that transpired moments before, as she explained rules and questioned which room they wanted to play. While the middle-aged woman was talking, he had his hand rested on the small of Toni’s back and tried as she might she couldn’t focus on anything else but the heat of his palm. Luckily, another couple came in after them and they were able to play against the pair in the zombie apocalypse escape room. Before the game started Toni and Chris set up a bet for whoever solved the most clues even though they were on the same team. Toni ran her hand through her loose curls to put her hair up in a ponytail waiting for the countdown and noticed Chris’s outfit, “You don’t think you’ll get hot running around in your jacket?”

As per usual Chris was clad in all black but he had on a jean jacket over a black shirt this time rather than a regular button-up.  

“I’m straight,” Chris said nonchalantly. Before she could interrogate him further, Debbie’s voice came onto the intercom letting them know she was starting the countdown. Quickly, ten seconds turned to one, and the game began.

*****************************************************************************************************

The couple walked out of the room breathless and delighted with how well the game turned out. They beat the newlyweds by a landslide with one minute to spare, and unfortunately to Chris’s exasperation, Toni solved most of the clues and now she had full reign over tonight.

“Congrats guys!” The clerk complimented as she handed them two free t-shirts for winning and even offered to snap a picture of them to put on their winner board. Chris declined grumbling about how he hated taking pictures but of course, when Toni gave him puppy dog eyes and reminded him she was the captain of tonight he grudgingly relented. Only on the grounds of them taking the photo on their personal phones and that Toni promised not to rag on him the rest of the date.  

Toni gave the woman her phone already opened to the camera app and they both took their place in front of the winner’s board. She didn’t know where to position herself, not wanting to be too much in Chris’s personal space if he wasn’t comfortable with it, but he made the decision for her when he put his arm on her shoulders and brought her in close, making Toni’s palms sweat. She quickly decided to wrap her arms around his waist praying he couldn’t feel her heart practically beat out her chest when she leaned against his side. They both looked at the camera with big smiles earning an “Awww you two are adorable!” from Debbie.

As Toni went to pull away, she brushed against something solid and what felt oddly like steel under his jacket. Stepping back Toni pondered over the fact that the object that she touched was most likely a gun and that was probably the reason why he didn’t want to take off his jacket before the game.

“Here you go hun,” Debbie said, passing Toni her phone.  

Toni graciously thanked her while she took the device and tried to school her features. She knew people had guns, even her father had some locked away at his house but something about him hiding it made her stomach roll.

They went out into the cool night and Toni walked next to Chris quietly still thinking, “So where to boss, since you running shit now.”  

A beat passed and she could see Chris in her peripheral take a look at her, wondering why she wasn’t responding.

“You good mama?” He inquired.

 She was acting like such a dumb ass, it wasn’t like he was her boyfriend he didn’t have to necessarily tell her why he had a gun and she was fine when he told her the monsters were afraid of him. So why did the gun affect her so much?

Toni looked over at him seeing his brows knitted in worry and decided to push the issue aside for a second. “Yep, but the real question is are you good after that ass whooping I gave you? Mr. I’m gonna win just watch.”

Chris groaned, “I thought you promised you wasn’t gonna flame me.”

“Obviously I lied, I just wanted you to stop whining and take the damn picture.”

“Nah, I just think you wanted a pic so you could look at it and fantasize about me all the time.”

Toni snickered and pushed him, “Please, don’t flatter yourself.”  

They were still talking when they finally reached her car. Toni leaned against her door, she could see his Range a couple of spaces from hers. “So what now Antonia?”

He asked while he stood in front of her, his hands in his pockets.

“Not sick of me yet?” Toni wondered, tilting her head.

“Never that darlin’.’”

Toni cleared her throat feeling her cheeks burn, damn him, he knew exactly what the hell he was doing. Not wanting to put it off any longer she made the choice to just ask him about the gun, not wanting to proceed with the night without being in the know.  “Can I...ugh this is probably so stupid but can I ask you a question first before we leave here?”

He straightened when he heard the way she stuttered like she was worried about questioning him, “Go ahead.”

Toni crossed her arms, “You can tell me it's none of my business and honestly it’s not that big of a deal but is there a reason why you didn’t want to tell me you were carrying a gun? I felt it while we were taking the picture.”

She was expecting him to get upset about her interrogation  but his posture went lax, seeming happy that that was what she wanted to ask.

“I didn’t say anything ‘cause I wasn’t sure if it was gonna freak you out. I use it for protection only and I should have told you instead of assuming.”  

Toni sighed and rubbed her forehead, “No, I apologize it just took me by surprise is all. I knew someone that carried and it always seemed like he used it more to showcase how much of a dick he was rather than use it as a safety precaution.”

“Hey,” Chris raised Toni’s chin, making her focus on him. “Don’t ever be scared to ask me somethin’.  Even if I don’t like the question, imma always try and give you as much of the truth that I can, aight?”

“Okay,” Toni said.

“Okay,” Chris dropped his hand and grabbed Toni’s holding it in his grasp, still looking at her, “So we gonna chill in this parking lot all night or we gonna go to the next spot?”

Toni lightly squeezed his hand with a mischievous glint in her eye, “I know the perfect place.”

“Aiight then,” Chris walked to the passenger side of her car waiting, “Let’s go.”

“You’re not gonna drive your car?” Toni wrinkled her nose, puzzled whilst unlocking the car.

Chris opened the door and simply said, “Nope I trust you,” before getting into the vehicle leaving Toni speechless.

Toni let out a harsh breath and whispered “This man is too fine,” getting into the car as well. It seemed like their night had only begun.

Tag list: @aria725 @kikilovesdankmemes​ @briannab1234​

[sunny-flower-girl-01]

Ohana- A Hawaii Five-0 Fanfic Chapter Six

First, I just have to say I'm SO SO SO SO SORRY for how long it took to get this chapter up. I had work, Halloween, 3 birthdays (including my own) and I had to move classrooms, which I am just now settling into. I've always had time to write at work and at home, but this past month just hasn't been cooperating with me. I know this one is short, but I've been dying to make an update, so you guys don't think I've completely abandoned you, because I didn't!

I know this chapter is short a maybe a little boring, but the next chapter is underway, and I hope to have it up by next weekend before I go on my trip.

Thank you guys so much again!

Following Day

Steve McGarrett's House

Steve’s POV:

I dropped my keys on the table as I walked through the front door. Shutting and locking the door behind me, I went into the kitchen to see Danny drinking coffee and making pancakes. I saw his car in the driveway when I pulled in, so I knew he was here.

“Whatcha doin’ here, Danno? I thought you and Kari would be having breakfast this morning. Not that I’m complaining, pancakes look good.” I said as I poured myself a cup of coffee and pulled the butter out of the fridge.

“Yeah well you aren’t going to get any if you keep putting butter in your damn coffee.” He said. I could tell he was pissed off. I stayed silent for a moment to see if he’d continue.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

He sighed and flipped a pancake. “I broke up with Kari.”

“Oh... I’m sorry man.” I leaned back against the counter and watched him work. “Again, not that I’m complaining, but why are you here and not at your place?”

“Better question, why weren’t you here when I got here?” He shot me a look. I rolled my eyes. Truth was, after Thea got off the phone with Nora, she and I fell asleep on her couch. We stayed up for a while and talked about nothing in particular. She told me some stories from her childhood, and I told her about my time in the Navy, whatever I was able to tell her. We agreed last night that we need to take this thing between us at a slow pace. We’re about to become parents so we need to be careful with how we do this. I shrugged my shoulders.

“I was with Thea last night.” I said simply and took a drink of my coffee. I moved to grab some pancakes when Danny lifted the plate and moved it out of arm's reach for me.

“You were where?”

“I was with Thea, okay? She got some bad news and needed someone to talk to so I went over and we fell asleep on the couch. Now give me a damn pancake.”

“All you did was sleep?” He asked.

“Yes, dammit. Give me the plate.” I said, leaning over the kitchen island to grab the plate from him.

He shook his head and set the plate down. He turned back to the stove to put more batter in the pan. “Don’t eat all of them. Rachel is dropping Grace off here in a bit when they get done looking at apartments with Thea.”

I nodded and made myself a plate. “Rachel’s been pretty generous with your time with Grace recently. Anything up with that?”

He shrugged and flipped the pancakes. “I don’t know. She hasn’t been fighting with me at all recently. I’m starting to think her and Stan are planning on moving again. They acted just like this before she told me she was moving my daughter across a whole country.”

“She can’t move her again. This is Grace’s home and your home, no matter how much you hate it here.” I said. Despite Danny’s feelings about the state of Hawaii, I knew he could never leave the family that he has found here with Five-0. It would never be the same without Danny or Grace.

Danny turned around and opened his mouth to say something. I knew exactly what he was about to say, so I beat him to it.

“I know, Danno. You don’t have to explain it to me.”

About an hour later, after I had gone on my swim and my run, Grace was dropped off and was trying to convince me and Danny we needed to go to Kamekona’s.

“Monkey, you just had breakfast an hour ago, let’s wait a little bit.” Danny explained. He and I were sitting on the couch watching a football game. Mostly it was me trying to pay attention to the game while Danny made comments and yelled at the tv the whole time. Grace was up at the table coloring. This was a normal Saturday routine for us. Sometimes Grace was here, sometimes she wasn’t. Other times the rest of the team joined us. After the crazy week we’ve had a work with the murder case we’re been on for a while, it’s nice to be able to sit down and relax.

“Thea asked me about Ty’s case. I feel bad not being able to tell her anything.” I said, taking a swig of my beer.

“Well you’ve got to know something to be able to tell her.” Danny said, glancing up at Grace who was in her own little world coloring. “This is the 3rd drowning victim found at that dock. All showing the same signs of a struggle, once we’re able to pinpoint where the bodies came before they washed up, it’ll narrow down the search. We’ll find them Steve.”

I nodded, turning back to the TV. “Yeah, yeah I know. I just don’t want there to be another body before we're able to get a lead.”

Danny’s phone started to ring from the kitchen. Grace got up and dashed to the other room. “I got it, I got it!”

Danny rolled his eyes. We both knew it wasn’t going to be work, they would have called me first. “I swear if it’s Rachel telling me she’s gonna pick her up soon, I might actually throw myself into the ocean.”

“You realize most people would actually enjoy that right?”

“Shut up.”

“Danno, it’s Auntie Thea.” Grace said, coming into the living room and holding the phone out to Danny. Danny and I gave each other a weird look. Why would she be calling Danny?

“Any arguments I need to know about?” Danny asked as he took the phone from Grace. I rolled my eyes and swatted his arm, trying to leave a mark.

“Answer the damn phone.” I said.

Thea’s POV:

“Why do we have to move?” Nora asked me for the 10th time this morning. I’ve had this conversation with her about 5 times in the last week. She doesn’t want to move from our little apartment, the only home she’s ever had. I’ve lived there since I left my mother’s house when I was 18. When Nora was born, she lived with my mother for about 3 weeks, then I moved her in with me. Since I was the only one taking care of her, it made more sense to have her with me instead of me traveling back and forth every day. Julia, my mother, never objected to it. She had Nora’s things packed up and waiting for me when I told her I was coming to get her. The next time I saw her was at her funeral a few months later.

“Because sweetie, our place is too small for two more babies, so we need to find a bigger place to fit everyone.” I said, glancing back at her in the rearview mirror. She was leaning back in her booster seat, staring out the window. She turned her head and looked at me in the mirror.

“Is Steve going to live with us?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but quickly closed it when I didn’t have anything to say. Steve and I had never really talked about what was going to happen after I had the twins. He would want to be close to them, right? Where would they stay? You couldn’t move newborn's back and forth like that could you? Why did it take my 7-year-old to make me realize these things?

“Uhm, I don’t know babe. I’ll have to talk to Steve about it.” I left it at that. I really did need to have a conversation with Steve about it. After last night, I feel better about sitting down and having this conversation with him. It was obvious that we both wanted to spend more time together, so finding a schedule that worked for all of us wouldn’t be too difficult.

“Since he’s going to be the new baby's daddy, does that mean he’s going to be-” She was cut off by my cell phone ringing. I quickly answered it, knowing full well what Nora’s question was about to be, but I didn’t have it in me to answer it right now.

I glanced down quickly to see it was Rachel before I held it up to my ear.

“Hey Rach, what’s up?” There was no response on the other end of the line, just some shuffling around and a loud banging sound. “Hello, Rachel? Can you hear me?” I asked again. This time, I heard what sounded like Stan off in the distance on the other end of the line.

“Open the fucking door Rachel, before I break it down?”

My eyes widened and I quickly tried to get Rachel’s attention. “Rachel! Hello! Can you hear me? Rachel, answer the phone!”

I heard Rachel call out and scream before the line went dead. Thankfully, I was at a red light and quickly calledDanny.

“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Nora asked. Me yelling at the phone probably scared her.

I looked back at her. “It’s fine baby, I just got to call Danny okay?” I turned down another street when I finally heard him answer.

“Hey Thea, what’s up? You know I think you hurt Steve’s feelings calling me instead of him.” He joked.

“Danny, something’s wrong over at Rachel’s house. I think Stan hurt her.”

Danny was silent for a moment. “What do you mean?” The joking tone in his voice was gone.

“She called me, I don’t know if it was on accident or on purpose. I could hear a lot of noise and Stan telling her he was going to break a door down. She was screaming but the phone hung up before I could get her to hear me.” I remembered suddenly that Rachel hadn’t told him about the divorce or the reason she was divorcing him. I knew Stan was angry, but I never thought that he would act like this towards her.

“Thea, where are you?” He asked. I could hear Steve asking him in the background what was going on. “Nora and I were on our way to Kamekona’s.” I was trying to pay attention to the road and talk on the phone.

“How close are you to Steve’s place? I have Grace over here and I don’t want to bring her.” I pulled up to the next light and made a U-turn.

“I’m just a few blocks away.” I said. He hung up and I put my phone down on the passenger seat.

“Nora, we’re going to go hang out with Grace at Steve’s for a while. Maybe I can call Kamekona and have him bring us some food. How about that?” I asked her. The nervous look on her face broke my heart.

“But is Auntie Rachel going to be okay?”

I tried my best to give her a small smile in the rear-view mirror.

“I hope so sweet pea, I hope so.”

[goldenncherrybombb]

Falling

This is gonna be a double update!! TBSL should be posted soon so keep any eye out ;) This chapter is different kinda. But you’ll see what I mean maybe. Anyways, you get to know more about y/n in this because I wanted to add more about her so sorry if it doesn’t fit you at times. Anywayssss, enjoy :)

need to catch up?

masterlist

WARNINGS: none ;)

Word count: 3k

this isn’t edited so if there is any mistakes, my bad

The one where Harry is falling again 

The London air whips around Harry harshly, the cold bitter wind nipping at his skin. He picks up his pace when rain starts to fall, getting into his mum’s house just in time.

 “Harry!” She cheers, coming out from the kitchen with a cuppa in her hand. She sets it down on the coffee table before hugging him. As soon as her scent engulfs him Harry feels his eyes tear up. He sniffles and his mum hugs him tighter, not saying anything and letting him get it out first.

 “Who am I, mum? I feel so lost, an’ empty an’ I don’t want to feel that way. I just-I just don’t know wha’ t’do anymo’.” Her hand rubs up and down his back and she coos at him. 

“‘S alright, love. Sometimes you gotta get worse before you get better. ‘S just a hurdle you can get over. Ya are my baby boy. Yeh can do anything you put yeh mind too. Look at what yeh’ve accomplished. I know it sucks now, but trust me H, she isn’t doing much better either. You just needed a break. That’s all this is.” He listens to his mum and takes in her advice.“I know this feeling won’t last forever, but it hurts.” He whispers and Anne puts her hands on his cheek to make him look at her. “I know it hurts love, but pain is temporary.” She smiles at him and he cracks a smile at the saying. She always told him and Gemma that. “Now, I just made some biscuits so let’s go stuff our faces.” He chuckles at her and follows her into the kitchen.

 They have tea as well and he catches her up on everything that’s been going on. She listens and gives motherly advice here and there. “How do you know she isn’t doing that well?” Harry questions, not being able to forget what she said earlier. 

“She’s called me a few times, asking if I’ve heard anything about you, how your doing, and asking for some advice. It wasn’t easy for her to make that decision, H. She still loves you, and I know it’s hard to hear right now and maybe hard to believe. But it’s the truth. And I know you still love her. Just give it time, love. I know she is end game for you.” He cracks a smile at her words and nods. 

This is exactly why he came to London before he went to Japan. His mum always makes him feel better. When he comes back home it’s like all worries are washed away from him. 

Gemma joined them for dinner. Her and Harry joked around with each other as they helped Anne make dinner. After dinner they played a few rounds of scrabble before Harry went back to his house, tired from his long flight.

 He hadn’t been back to his London house in almost six months. It felt weird walking in and seeing all the photos of him and y/n, but he did his best to ignore them, not having the heart to take them down. It felt wrong.

 He took a shower and got ready for bed, finding a bag full of y/n’s stuff in the closet that he shoved in the back. But as he was trying to sleep he couldn’t stay still and kept tossing and turning. He had a melody in his hand and he couldn’t rest till he figured out what it was. So he got up and walked downstairs to his grand piano. He sat down then pulled his phone out and went to voice memos before he started trying different keys. Once he found the one’s he was looking for he tried new things and added on to it. Lyrics starting popping up in his head and he started to sing softly, stopping sometimes and trying new keys or a different lyric. His journal was open so he started to write what he doing down before playing again. 

I’m in my bed

And your not here

And there’s no one to blame but the drinks and my wondering hands 

Forget what I said

It’s not what I meant

 And I can’t take it back-

“Fuck. Now ‘m stuck.” He train of thought disappeared and he started to look around. 

His eyes were glued to a certain photo of his ex-lover smiling widely with  flowers in her hair as she puts some in Harry’s and he looks up at her curiously. It was one of his favorites from the Jamaica trip for his first album. It was before they got together but to everyone besides them it was so obvious they liked each other and Mitch always made sure to let Harry know.

***

She swims up next to Harry who is swimming in his underwear and has his arms on his surfboard. He smiles widely at something Mitch is saying, laying a kiss on her temple before laughing at him. Mitches words replay in Harry’s head.

“You guys just need to get together already. It’s obvious how much you guys like each other, H.” And all Harry did was bashfully smile and tell him she doesn’t feel the same as he watches her swim around them, her snorkeling goggles on.

It goes quiet and the only thing heard is the waves crashing on shore and the birds above. She climbs onto Harry’s board with his help and lays back, stretching her arms above her head. 

“It’s pretty here innit?” He questions, turning his head to look at her and watch as she looks around with curious eyes.

 “It’s beautiful. Feel like I could stay here forever.” She replies with a dreamy sigh. Mitch and Harry chuckle and Mitch agrees. 

When they get back to shore and have showered and redressed they all meet in the back patio. Harry and Mitch have a guitar, Jeff is on his laptop next to Mitch, and the rest or Harry’s crew sit around on the patio furniture. Harry is sitting under a Ixora Ixora Coccinea. A tree that has beautiful red/orange flowers. 

When the wind blows the flowers fall and y/n has been sticking them in her braid she has. Then when she was happy with her hair she started putting them in Harry’s. Hélène laughed when she noticed and snuck a photo.

 A wide smile is on her face as she is happy with her work so far, and Harry is looking up at her curiously and lovingly. Both of their eyes shine and the colors of y/n’s dress stick out with the colorful tree in the background. 

The sessions finishes before dinner time, everyone content with their progress. Y/n helped and gave her pointers, Mitch showing Harry new ideas he came up with, and Harry giving his input and showing everyone what he has so far.

 After dinner Harry and y/n went to Harry’s room to watch a rom-com. Harry had a matching red button up and shorts on, and y/n couldn’t wait to steal the shirt one day. When they shut the lamps off Harry pulled y/n into his front so he could spoon her.  He pressed a soothing kiss to her head and her eyes fluttered shut. 

“Goodnight.” They both whispered at the same time making them laugh lightly. Their legs were tangled together and his arm was firmly wrapped around her as they slept, a content smile on his face. 

***

I can’t run pack the bag that you left 

The conversation he had with his mom earlier in the night replays in his head as he thinks of new lyrics. 

What am I now

What am I now

What if I’m I don’t want around

What if I’m down 

What if I’m out 

What if I’m someone you won’t talk about

His eyes travel back to the picture as the words flow out of his mouth easily.

I’m falling again

 I’m falling again

 I’m falling 

When he finishes and is happy abotut his prgress he sends the file to Mitch and Harpoon, wanting to know what they think. He fills a glass of water and replies to some emails before heading back up the stairs and going to bed.

The next morning when he wakes up and looks at his phone seeing he sees he has a text from Gemma asking him to go out to breakfast with her. He replies and gets up to get ready for the day. 

He meets Gemma at a newer restaurant with modern decor. Gemma is at a booth in the back scrolling on her phone when he sees her. She looks up and smiles at him, waving him over. 

Once Harry sits she puts her phone down reaches over to mess up his hair, knowing it would make him mad. “Gem, stop it.” He chuckles, fixing his hair as she laughed lightly.

 “Sooo, we didn’t get to catch up much yesterday. What have yeh been up too?” She questions, sipping on her water.

 “The usual, writing, and recording, then more writing, and maybe an event here and there.” He shrugs and grabs the black coffee she got him. 

“How about you, how have you and Michael been?” She perks up at the mention of Michael, her boyfriend of a few years. 

“Good. Really good actually. He accompanied me to an event a few days ago actually, it was really fun, and also insightful.” The waitress sets their food down in front for them, pancakes for Harry and french toast for Gemma. “Knew yeh would want some pancakes .” 

“‘S my favorite breakfast food as you know. You and I used to make a mess trying to make pancakes cuz we ended up throwing the batter at each other.”  They both laugh at the memory. 

“Mum was so mad at us.” Harry nods in his head in agreement as she reminsces on another memory.

“The rest of the breakfast they catch up more and enjoy their food. “I heard about what happened, h.” She talks quietly, and with a small frown on her face. “‘M sorry that happened, thought she was the one for ya.” Harry wipes his mouth with his napkin and clears his throat at the painful reminder because he thought she was too. “Probably shouldn’t of said that.” She mumbles to herself, the mask Harry’s putting on not fooling her. 

“How about I pay for this and then we go shopping?” Harry shakes his head at her. 

“Yer not paying, I am.” She shakes her head and they both go for the checkbook at the same time, Gemma winning. “Gem, I can pay for it myself, ‘s no big deal.” Gemma pays no mind to him as she counts her money out. 

“‘S like you said, no big deal.” She smiles at him and sets the check down. “Now let’s go shopping.” She cheers, sliding out of the booth.

***

 Back in the states Y/N went back to her hometown and is staying there for a few days before she has to go to New York and do interviews. She missed her parents and needed the comfort and distraction they give her. 

When she arrived home her mom opened the door with open arms, seeing how tired and sound her daughter looked. She pulled her into her arms and hugged her tightly as she sniffled into her shoulder.

“Oh honey,” Her mom, Angela, cooes, rocking her back and forth slowly to calm her down. Her dad, Ben, comes to the front door thinking his wife was calling for him but when he sees y/n he joins the hug.

 “It’ll be ok baby bop. It takes time, and in the mean your mom made our favorite cookies and I got some Malibu and pineapple juice calling our name.” Y/n chuckles at her dad while wiping her tears.

Her dad carries her luggage into the house as her mom pulls her to the kitchen. When her dad joins he starts making their drinks and y/n munches on a cookie.

 “Benjamin! That’s a lot of Malibu.” Her mom laughs and shakes her head. “‘S like he’s trying to give us alcohol poisoning!” Y/n laughs and shakes her head. 

Her mom and dad were the main reason she is a hopeless romantic. After thirty two years together there is still so much love. If you were to meet them for the first time you would think they had just got married with how much love the show and how they are constantly joking around and messing with each other. Her mom was the one who got her into music. There was always music playing when she was growing up, her mom always singing around the house off key as Ben looked at her like she was the biggest pop star and had the loveliest voice. So when y/n started to sing and didn’t get her mom genes with the singing abilities they were all blown away because neither of her parents could sing.

They were all sat in the living room watching old home videos. Their cups in hand as they laugh at the videos and share stories. The video playing was one of y/n when she was around two. She had only a diaper on and some boots, she was playing the piano and singing to her mom. Obviously it wasn’t good and she laughs at her horrible rendition of ‘Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds” by The Beatles. Her mom laughs when she sings “wucy” instead of “Lucy.” 

The next video is one of her around eight years old. She got her second guitar and wrote a song for her parents. She was in their living room singing shyly for them and at the end her mom claps loudly, saying “My babies gonna be a rock star someday.’ As she cheers for her.

“Who would've guessed that would come true?”  Her dad questions, his eyes glossy. She looks at her mom and sees tears trailing down her cheek.

“No don’t cry!” Y/n says, getting up to squish in between them.“Their happy tears, baby bop.” Her mom says, messing her hair up making her laugh. “We’re just so proud of you. You worked so hard and now look at you! Touring all over the world and you have two number ones with only one album out!”

 “It is crazy. But you both know I wouldn’t be here without my fans and I want to thank you guys for being my first and helping me get to where I am today.” She smiles at her parents and her mom yells ‘group hug’ making y/n laugh as her parents crush her into a hug.She wakes up at around three am in need of a drink. 

When she walks into the kitchen she sees her dad and she accidentally scares him. He drops the doughnuts he was eating on the floor, thankfully none of them fall out of the box.

“Jesus you scared me!” He tells her and she apologizes before opening the fridge. “What’s on your mind, y/n?” He questions, not missing his daughters sadness in her eyes.

“Just miss him is all.” She replies, laying her head on her dad's shoulder. “I just feel terrible because I left him and I still love him so I feel guilty because I want to be with him more than anything right now but how can you love someone that doesn’t love them self? But I feel guilty because what if I finally tell him how I feel and he doesn’t feel the same anymore or he hates me now? I just lost a best friend and the person I thought was my forever.” Her dad takes a minute to reply, letting her words sink in and thinking of the best advice he could give her.

“Love takes time, y/n. You think me and your mom never had our rough patches? We took a break once too, for a similar reason. We both needed to work on ourselves before we could be together, we wanted to be the best person we could be for each other because we know both of us don't deserve any less. He still loves you y/n, trust me. I know you guys aren’t talking but you know how much your mom adores him so when he called her she talked to him for hours about you. That was only a few days ago actually.” She smiles because she did the same thing with Anne. Since her and Harry were friends for so long both of our families are close and he is as close to my parents as I am his, especially Anne.

“I don’t even know where he is right now. I know he left Malibu but he never told me where he was going. I just miss how it was. Wish I could go back and relive it. Or I at least wish I could tell him how I feel.” 

“You gotta shoot your shot before you miss it, kid.” She huffs and sets her mug in the sink next to his

.“If it was only that easy.” She whispers before saying goodnight to her dad.

She thinks it’s safe to say she’s fallen again

[sopeyb23-blog]

Coming Home

Part 1, Part 2

Summary: Spencer’s girlfriend, Sophie worries from afar as the stress starts to take its toll on Spencer. (switching between POV’s

Warnings: Mention of injury, swearing, criminal minds style issues

Pairings: Spencer Reid x OC (romantic), Spencer Reid x JJ (bffs), Spencer Reid x team members (platonic)

Words: 1k +

A/N: second part! i’m still super new at this so if anyone has suggestions feel free to let me know! I also update this story on my Wattpad account.

*i do not own any criminal minds characters

~~~~~~~

Sophie~

“I’m fine Soph I promise, look I have to go okay? But i’ll call you whenever I try to get a break. Try not to worry. Love you”

Before I could ask him anything else or even say ‘love you’ back the line cut off and he was gone. Try not to worry. I have loved this boy for a very long time but if there is one thing that I'm sure he knows about me, it’s that I Always worry. Besides the obvious fact that Spence has a fairly dangerous job, I have had an anxiety disorder from the time I was 12. Worrying is practically in my blood. I pulled my legs close to me on the couch and grabbed the blanket that Spencer gave to me for my birthday. It was large enough so that it could always cover all of him and all of me. It had colorful ladybugs on it with all of their spots being little hearts. I sighed, took another deep breath and tried not to worry.

Spencer~

That poor kid. His parents must never have thought that they would live to see their child’s funeral. They should never have had to. I lifted my head from my hands when Emily walked into the room holding out an extra large cup of coffee out to me.

“And for Reid, an extra large with a quart of sugar”

I thanked her and took a long sip before standing to go back to my board. It made no sense. Why would he have dumped the body when the entire reason he abducted the boy was to have a new body to visit. 

“Spencer? You gonna share your thoughts with the class?” JJ stood behind me with the rest of the group waiting for what they assumed would be a great reveal. 

“Nothing groundbreaking i’m afraid, I was just thinking, why would he dump James’ body in a place he knew we would find it if the reason he took him was to have a body to visit?”

“Well he’s devolving, he's going off in anger because we took away his dumping ground, right?”  

I thought about Morgan’s theory for a moment but that still didn’t add up. His anger resulting in a new kidnapping I could see, but killing his victims so early was unlike his MO as well.

“I think I have it. We know that this unsub is driven by need, and the only reason that he would sacrifice that need is if he was sure that there was another boy waiting for him. One that he views as more fitting for his personal desires. He must already have another boy, maybe one he had even abducted before James, one that he needed to show loyalty to for some reason”

I finally looked away from the board to find myself staring into a sea of confused faces. I took out my phone and dialed the one person who I knew could make something of this.

“You've reached the center for all things great and magical. What can I do for you?”

“Garcia I need you to find a list of any boys between 4 and 8 that have gone missing from here or the surrounding states.”

“Well that's great but it's a long list i'm gonna need something a bit more specific.”

“Okay take that list, eliminate anyone without siblings and focus specifically on any boys with an older brother.”

“Okay, getting better”

“Okay now take them and eliminate any whose brother would be outside of our unsubs age range.”

“Okay I have five left and only two of which have a record of petty crimes, Lucas Charles, 32, younger brother Jeffery Charles went missing when he was six, and Matthew Darner, 40, his brother max went missing when he was 8. Both addresses have been sent to your phones.”

Finally when I looked up at my teammates I saw a look of awe and understanding. We all rushed out to the cars and I hopped in the back with JJ and Morgan.

Sophie ~

I tried hard not to call him. I really did. At first I thought it was no big deal, I would wake up a little, have some coffee, and Spencer would call me back whenever he had a break. I was used to waiting a long time for his calls, when he's working his “breaks' ' are few and far between and usually I advise him to spend them sleeping anyways. But as soon as I saw the news of the boy's body being found I texted him. I knew Spence would find some way to blame himself for this as he always does. I texted him just once a simple message. - saw the news, i'm sorry - I waited for almost an hour before texting him again- you okay? Call me when you get a chance.- this time I didn't wait as long before texting a third time- Spencer I’m worried, please call me - thirty minutes from that and still, nothing. So I picked up my phone and dialed his number, a little heart next to his name as I put the phone to my ear.

“This is Reid” I sighed when I heard his voice but he sounded tense.

“Spence? It’s Sophie, are you okay? I texted but you didn't respond.”

“Sorry i'm in the car right now heading to pick up a suspect i'll have to call you back”

“O-oh okay that fine just, are you okay?”

“Yeah im-” I could hear tires squeal in the background and a loud bang before rattling like his phone had been dropped and then nothing but a dial tone.

This was not fucking happening.

Spencer~

“Spencer, who are you talking to?” I sighed into the phone.

“I’ll have to call you back” 

“Oh my god. Spencer is that your girlfriend? No way! I knew it!”

The tires squealed as Morgan parked and I got ready to hop out of the car. There was a quick gunshot before I could exit and I dropped my phone with Sophie still on the other side to jump out and grab my gun.

“Morgan who's shooting?” There were repeated gunshots from different angles and I searched with my eyes and gun trying desperately to see who was shooting.

“I can’t tell it's coming from all around me, JJ?”

“Negative it's everywhere”

Bullets flew past me from what felt like every possible angle and I felt one hit me square in the back of my vest, knocking me to the ground.

“Morgan behind!” I shouted to him and tried to rise and turn around, but I felt more bullets, one in my shoulder and one just barely hitting my vest, knocking me down again.

“Uh, guys, I think i've been hit” I started to get groggy as I spoke and fell back to the ground, my head hitting a rock on the way. JJ rushed over to me with Morgan somewhere off in the distance trying to cover her. 

“Spence stay with me okay?”

“That's a lot of blood”

“Spencer you are going to be fine, okay? Try to stay awake!”

“I think i’m not going to do that”

“Do what? Spence?”

I could still hear her talking as she hovered over me with her hands trying to find a source of the bleeding. I couldn’t speak anymore and my eyes tried to close

Stay awake. Do not pass out right now. 

The only thing I could feel was the warm blood leaving my body and as I slipped away JJ’s voice became as quiet as a whisper.

[ghost-chance]

Fanfiction Recommendation: “Fat. Beautiful. Tasty. Ravenous” by MoofyKitten

Title: Fat. Beautiful. Tasty. Ravenous Author: MoofyKitten on AO3/FFN/Wattpad Fandom: BNHA/My Hero Academia Rating: M/MA for a reason. (Detailed sex in over half the posted chapters. Perv away only if you’re of age!) Pairing(s): Fat Gum [Toyomitsu Taishirou] / OFC Found on: AO3

Deets Expect some light spoilers and a mini-rant.

I am an unrepentant fanfiction addict; this is no secret. There are fics I read to wind down after a rough day, fics I read to put myself to sleep in hopes of pleasant dreams, and fics I read to tear my hear into teeny tiny fragments then build it back again better than before. THEN there are fics that don’t fit the mold – the kind that I become so invested in that I physically cannot put off reading that update. THIS, my lovelies, is one of THOSE fics, and it’s earned that place from the early chapters. This story has almost everything I need from a fanfiction, and I have a feeling the rest is just around the corner.

Let’s get the basics out of the way.

The Spelling, grammar, and punctuation are all excellent – I have yet to notice a single error, so either the author and her betas are a force to be reckoned with or I’m just getting so sucked into the story an elephant could sit on me and I’d never notice. The formatting is effective and easy to follow, and the chapters have all been of a nice meaty length, perfect for plowing through in a single sitting only to realize you missed a meal and it’s time for bed and your brain is hopelessly lost in ship-land daydreaming about what’s up next. ...wait, that’s just me? My bad.

Syntax – This one requires an entire section of its own. The fact that I’m having to actually think about how well the author’s varying their syntax says they’re effing nailing it. If a story’s syntax is at all static or the sentence even the slightest bit predictable, it’s easy enough for me to recall it because I’m mentally rearranging the bits that irk or don’t impress me as I read. I can’t even get through a bleepin’ news article or an online recipe without itching to push what I’m reading up to the standards my professors held. It sounds harsh, I know, but please take  my word for it when I say I’m not criticizing anyone. Suffice it to say, if my classes did anything, they made editing so instinctive I can’t turn it off. Confession: I have never found myself rearranging a single phrase in this masterpiece. Arguing with the characters? Encouraging the characters? Begging, pleading, and berating the characters for breaking my heart time and time again by stopping just short of the sugary fluff I can just smell right around the corner? Oh, Hell yes. I’ve done all of that and more, but I’ve never found myself with the urge to grab my red pen and strike out or scooch even a single word.

Something that strikes me about this story above others I’ve given the same rating (Spoiler: there are VERY FEW!) is the sheer variety of the scenes and environments. Sounds silly? Probably, but romances often develop a certain amount of location stagnation, and I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to bust through those patterns. (I mean, the majority of “A New Lease on Life” takes place in the Lair in some room, most commonly a bedroom, the lab, or the kitchen.) This story takes the couple off of familiar and ‘safe’ turf like homes and offices and drags them through countless other places without regard for their sense of comfort. Each scene feels real and multi-dimensional and directly or indirectly influences the characters’ behavior and reactions. It’s awesome. That’s a sign the author has done her people-watching!

Now, about that OC. I’ll readily admit, in the first chapter, I had my reservations. At first glance she seemed shallow, obsessed with appearances and her own view of the world, and – strange as it may sound – too skinny and too attractive. Yes, there’s some personal bias involved there, but the majority was practical rather than emotional. BUT! Because the writer of this story is the same who unleashed the beautiful Kacchako torment Hot-Headed upon me without a single breath of remorse, I gave Aiko a chance. Sure enough, my first impressions were entirely incorrect. The things that bothered me about Aiko? They all had explanation or purpose, and she’s turned out to be a pretty well-fleshed out character...pun intended. As the story progresses we’re seeing sides of her that I hoped for but didn’t expect and each chapter leaves me wondering what we’ll learn next.

Romantic connection. First word: “OOFTA.” The second word, I’d spell out, but it’s a shrill, wordless, begging whine that I cannot translate into English for the life of me. This pairing starts without any sort of romantic connection; it skips straight to the shenanigans and leaves hope that the snugglebunnies will follow eventually. Friends…if you’ve read any of my writing before, you’ll know that I. LIVE. For. The. FLUFF. The awkward mush, the sweaty palms, the am-I-gonna-barf-or-do-I-have-a-crush, the absolutely tooth-rotting sweetness capable of sending a reader headlong into diabetes with a dopey grin and heart eyes - they’re my crack and I love them. This story started with no fluff but it’s been slowly developing in the background. It’s an entirely new situation for me! I feel like I’ve gotten used to eating my dessert first then digging into an equally sweet dinner without a moment to cleanse my palate. This story? It’s like gorging on smoky, meaty St. Louie barbecue for weeks on end with literally just a smear of something sweet as an afterthought. Mind. Frackin’. BLOWN. It turns out I’m more masochistic as a reader than I ever suspected.

Another relationship I want to cover is the building friendship between Aiko and Fat Gum – because nope, she has not managed to mentally connect the half-starved Taishiro she’s climbing like a tree with the big-and-beautiful Fat Gum who owns the agency. Yep. She thinks she’s boning Fat’s beefy little brother. It’d be funny if my heart wasn’t whining for fluff. While frustrating to fluff-starved readers, Aiko not knowing the beefcake and the brother are one and the same provides an intriguing and natural way for her to build an actual relationship with him. This means none of the fetishistic bullarkey rampant in other stories pairing plus-sized male characters with OCs.

What sort of fetishistic bullarkey am I talking about? To name a handful: I love you so lose weight. I love you because you’re big. I’m fat too so it’s okay if we’re together. Blatant fat-fetish disguised as romance. Fat character’s life absolutely revolves around food and it’s gross/nvm it’s okay. Lastly, OC’s only chance at being loved by fat character is feeding them. Maybe to thin folks those don’t sound negative but to those of us who fit the description? NOPE. These don’t make healthy relationships. Using these can turn a well-meaning pairing toxic and frankly, it tends to piss off those of us who – GASP! - accept ourselves no matter our size. These...tropes, let’s call them, have made me hesitant to even try fiction involving plus sized male characters because I’ve been let down so many times. Finding plus sized female characters is easy, especially OCs, but appreciation for the chonky bois isn’t nearly as common. They need love too, dammit!

Ahem. Rant over.

As mentioned before, I ain’t seen any of that crap in this story. This author is treating Fat Gum like she would any other character instead of focusing on the fat. I wish with all my heart that more authors were capable of (and willing to) do the same with Fat Gum, and with other plus sized male characters. I can’t even put into words how much it means to me that she’s doing such a fantastic job portraying a character type that so many writers bungle without ever realizing it. I’ve needed this story my entire life and never realized it wasn’t there; I shudder to think of how long I might have been waiting for it if this author never found the inspiration to do so.

If I don’t shut up now, I fear I never will. I love this story that much. Moving on.

Warnings

Explicit sexual content – do NOT read this around your family unless you have a stronger will than I and can do so without creeping them out. (According to my husband, when I read smut I “look like a demented vulture staring down at a half-flattened ‘possum waiting for it to take its last breath,” complete with hunched shoulders and heavy breathing. Flattering, I know.) The smut scenes, while not my usual cuppa tea, wreck. My brain? Broke. Chapter four’s budding romance? It’s goin’ on my headstone ‘cuz I’m dead.

There are mentions of human trafficking and the future may include more about it. Slut-shaming comes up a few times because men are assholes and asshole exes are the ultimate assholes. Situational fat-shaming and lack of body confidence come up as Aiko comes to recognize Fat Gum for who he is instead of what he is; on the other end of the tag, Fat is also doing a lot of it to himself even when it isn’t spelled out. You can see it behind some of his reasoning in his POV chapters and since the writer is kickass at portraying thoughts and feelings without ever breaking out of restricted POV, you can also see hints in other chapters. That said, if the shaming was really bad without any redeeming purpose, I’d have noped my way right out’a that fic and never looked back. It has a purpose, and it’s not that bad. Give it a chance.

Recommendation level

This story lacks purple prose and excessive fluff, and I haven’t seen any signs of the pop culture, literary, and music references I love so dearly, but the rating remains the same:

Ten. Out. of. Farking. TEN!

YES! I’ve finally found another 10/10!!! A quick reminder for anyone who’s managed to not see my other reading recc posts, I don’t even need both hands to count off all the 10/10s I’ve read. Congratulations, Ms. MoofyKitten – your story rocks my world and I have an addiction I do not care to shake!

[molloaf]

Teach Me to be Brave Ch. 5

Read on AO3

The day whizzed by Manon in a blur of assignments and overheard excited chatter about Paris’ new dynamic duo. She moved from class to class without a thought, but the narrative of the students around her remained the same buzz of excitement and wonder. Before she knew it, the final bell was ringing, and it was time for her to take her leave and head home.

Emotionally, Manon was exhausted. Her body, of course, was largely unaffected by her gymnastic endeavors the night prior as a result of the magic in the suit. She found, however, that keeping up appearances and watching her every word very carefully to avoid any and all suspicion from her classmates was more weight than she was used to carrying on a daily basis.

“What’s for dinner tonight, then, Manon?” Remy elbowed Manon in the ribs to pull her from the mental fog she appeared to be lost in. The spunky brunette jolted and shook out her jumbled thoughts before turning to her best friend who was watching her pack up her things with a quirked eyebrow.

“Tonight’s menu features a Taleggio, Ham, and Cornichon baked croissant with a summer berry tossed salad accompaniment,” Manon declared in a fake fancy accent, putting on airs about her culinary creation-to-be. A strange, high-pitched, muffled whining noise was suddenly heard from the back corner of the room, and Manon turned to see Chris gripping something in the pocket of his black hoodie with all his might before he loudly coughed.

“What are you looking at, Chamack?” he bit, though the tips of his ears were tinging red with clear embarrassment. Manon rolled her eyes and turned back to her conversation without acknowledging the obnoxious boy.

“Chris, would you mind hanging back after class for a minute?” M. Agreste called out to him.

“Again?” Chris groaned. Manon couldn’t help herself, and she twisted around to stick her tongue out at him, hopeful that maybe their teacher had caught wind of his actions that day.

“God, my stomach is yowling. That’s either going to be really gross, or it’ll star in my hungry daydreams for weeks to come…” Remy grabbed the attention of his experimental chef bff again as he rubbed his stomach performatively.

“Who says you get any?” Manon scoffed, acting offended. Elise laughed her bright, sunshiney laugh as she hung off her boyfriend beside Manon.

“Your mom is lucky that she gets to try it! It’s definitely gonna be better than those bacon onion tempura lollipop abominations you brought for lunch yesterday.”

“When she bit into it, it brought a tear to my eye,” observed Remy. He dramatically brushed a finger across his bottom eyelid as if he were crying right then.

“Sometimes they’re hits, sometimes they’re misses! You still gotta take the shot,” Manon winked. All laughed as they slid their respective backpacks onto their shoulders and made to leave the room.

“Have a good evening, M. Agreste!” Manon called as they exited. Their spirited homeroom teacher looked up from his computer to smile warmly and wave to the trio.

“Goodnight, guys! Good luck on problem #6,” M. Agreste flashed a devilish grin at them, and Remy groaned in response. “Ready, Chris?”

The bully nodded reluctantly and headed for the front of the room as the teacher stood to close the door. Manon was silently disappointed that she didn’t get to hear the beginning of her rival being chewed out by an authority figure. She decided to try to watch his behavior tomorrow to see if he’d really given it to him.

The group of friends chatted casually on the stroll towards home, as they did every day after school. They all lived within the same neighborhood, so they were able to walk together most of the way before diverting onto their respective streets. Manon expounded on her recent trip to the produce market across town in search of the perfect, crisp cornichons she needed for her sandwiches. Elise updated the gang on her latest modern dance routine that she was cooking up for competition, flip-flopping on which moves were too complex for her to pull off in a fast-paced sequence like that. Remy filled them in on how his twin pet frogs were currently in a fight, refusing to occupy the same half of their tank at the same time. Manon suggested couples counseling.

“They’re not a couple, they’re brothers!” Remy shouted, his voice reverberating off the tall buildings surrounding the group of friends.

“That doesn’t always stop a relationship in the animal kingdom….” observed Elise.

“You are not allowed near Erlân and Ramón ever again.”

“Aw, come on! They love me!”

“Nuh uh. You’re a bad influence with those utterly impure frog thoughts you just aired.”

Manon rolled her eyes at her lovestruck besties as they bickered good-naturedly beside her. She loved them so, but thinking of that fact reminded her that, since last night, she was keeping a very large secret from them. Guilt quickly soured her mood.

“H-have a good night, guys. I’ll let you know how the croissants turn out! Maybe there will be enough leftovers for me to bring them for lunch tomorrow.” Manon tried to keep her voice even and cheerful as she turned rapidly down her street, breaking off from the group to hide her conflicted face.

“Oh, uh, bye, Manon!” Elise called at her rapidly retreating pal with a confused wave. She shrugged to Remy, and they continued walking and discussing frog technicalities.

“Are you feeling okay, Manon?” Tikki poked her little bulbous head out of Manon’s backpack to speak into her charge’s ear. A look of concern was plastered on her adorable face.

“Huh?” Manon startled, almost forgetting she had Tikki in there. “Sorry, Tikki. I just don’t like lying to people. It makes me feel… dirty.” The girl frowned.

“I’m sorry to hear that you’re upset, Manon. It’s a tough job to be a superhero, and it’s a lot of responsibility to have foisted on you all in an instant. However, Ladybug chose you because she knew that you could overcome the obstacles and thrive.” The kwami patted Manon’s shoulder with her tiny paw.

“That’s right! Ladybug chose me.” Manon looked confused, struck by the thought. “How does she assume these things about me? Do I know Ladybug?”

Tikki shook her head dismissively, “I am not allowed to speak the name of my previous owners to those who don’t already know it. It’s a magical spell placed on the Miraculous to protect secret identities if a kwami is captured, so don’t even ask,” she chuckled. “And anyway, I think maybe you should just get inside and look in your physics book.”

“I promise I’ll get the homework done, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Manon replied, twisting her head to look at the little bug creature over her shoulder with a curious quirked brow. “Science is usually my worst subject, but M. Agreste is a good teacher.”

Tikki shrugged and nodded. As they came upon Manon’s building, the girl keyed her code into the pad next to the front door and took the elevator to her floor. Once inside her apartment, she flopped her bag down on the couch and set about getting her dinner ingredients out of the fridge.

Tikki watched her new Chosen as she worked, a look of determination and excitement on the teen’s face like a great artist struck with inspiration. Manon turned the TV on for background noise, pulled out a cutting board, and began slicing up deli meat, cheese, and tiny pickles while the oven preheated. The brunette danced gracefully about the kitchen, pulling armfuls of sauces and liquids from the refrigerator, several spice jars from a tall cabinet, bowls from the dishwasher. Tikki caught the sparkle in Manon’s eye as she made various concoctions from citrus juices, vinegars, creams, seasonings, and oils in little bowls.

Twenty minutes later, the sandwiches were in the oven, roasting the croissants to a golden brown while the cheese melted. Manon wiped sweat from her thick brows and took down her hair from the ponytail she had tied it back into, shaking it out to her shoulder blades with a sigh.

“Phew. I hope this one works!”

“You look so alive while cooking! Is this a hobby of yours?” Tikki questioned, hovering over to the tired girl.

“Yeah!” Manon perked up instantly at the mention of her special interest. “I’ve been cooking things by myself since I was little, because my mom was always gone at night working. Over the years, I think my tastes have strayed from the norm, though…” she trailed off with a light giggle, reminiscing about the strange dishes she had come up with just in the last month.

“I think you have great taste,” Tikki beamed, “and I can’t wait to try a tiny bite of that sandwich when it’s done.” The hungry kwami rubbed her hands together and licked her lips, looking at the oven.

Manon laughed and felt herself relax slightly. She had really come to love cooking. Someday, she thought maybe she could open a restaurant, or maybe a bistro, to showcase her unique recipes. That is, if enough people actually liked them. She made a mental note to pinch off a tidbit of her sandwich to slip to Tikki during dinner later without her mother noticing.

Right on cue, Manon heard her mother’s key unlock the apartment door as the oven timer was about to ring out. Quickly telling Tikki to hide, Manon slipped on an oven mitt and pulled the tray out of the hot oven just as Nadja entered.

“Hey, Mom!” greeted Manon.

“Hi, Sweetie. How was school?” The pixie-haired talk show host replied to her daughter.

“Ah, nothing to write home about.” Manon shrugged, deciding not to vent about Chris and his goons today. She wanted to keep her spirits up to enjoy dinner.

“No new drama with that boy today?” Nadja asked anyway, like she had read Manon’s mind and decided to pry.

“Ahhh,” chuckled the girl, “He gave some trouble to Odette, the girl who got akumatized last night? She’s in my class.” With her face turned away from her mother, Manon frowned briefly as she glossed over the detail that she had been targeted by them as well, and may have even made herself an enemy of the group with just a few sentences.

“That’s a shame. I hope she didn’t let him get in her head. He seems too stupid for her to trouble herself with.” Nadja shook her head and looked up at the ceiling. She had heard plenty of earfuls about Chris Lahiffe and his jerky jock pals over the years, ramping up now that he and her daughter were in high school. Nadja had even had some talks with various teachers and Principal Mendeliev regarding the rambunctious behavior, but the problems always returned in time.

“Exactly, Mama. Plus, M. Agreste held him after school when we were leaving. Here’s hoping he got expelled!” Manon’s optimism was a bit misplaced in vengeance, but Nadja decided to let the girl have her fantasy. “And he seemed kinda jealous when he heard me talking about these sandwiches,” Manon grinned with pride as she plated the croissants and poured homemade dressing on the salad she had crafted. Nadja lit up, hunger in her eyes.

“You’re too good to me, Manon.”

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The croissants were a success in Manon’s book. She may sometimes find out that not every idea was as delicious in execution as it sounded in her head, but lately she had been right more often than wrong. Even Tikki agreed, having eagerly gobbled up the bite Manon offered to her when Nadja’s back was turned during dinner.

After the dishes were cleared, Manon packed the remaining few croissants into a container and slid it into her lunch bag for the next day. It was time to start her homework, she realized with a groan. The teen slung her backpack over her shoulder and marched into her bedroom to begin.

Flicking on the light, Manon was greeted with the comfy, familiar sight of her room. Three of the walls were an ashen grey color, accented by the fourth wall which was almost neon teal. Leaning against the accent wall was her dresser, tall and white with several keepsakes and curios on top such as Ladybug merchandise and little Japanese keychains made to look like miniature foods. A bookshelf stood proudly next to her queen-size bed, full of fiction novels about girls who go on adventures and participation trophies from various sports Manon had played as a child, but never exactly excelled at.

Her desk was triangular in shape, placed in the corner with a large, plush rolling chair at it. The great window beside it gave her a view of the streets below and the buildings surrounding, as the apartment was on the 7th floor. Manon placed herself elegantly in the chair as she tossed her bookbag onto the ground beside her before slumping and groaning at the idea of homework once more. She flicked on her lamp, which was clipped to the bookshelf between the desk and her bed in order to provide light to both.

As Manon flipped open the heavy textbook to read her first homework question, a yellow piece of paper stuck to the page caught her eye. Lifting it to catch the light, Manon read the mysterious note curiously. It seemed to be an address, though Manon didn’t recognize it, and a time, 8 p.m. Her heart leapt into her throat when she saw the initials in the bottom right corner:

“-L.B.”

Her eyes snapped to the clock on her bookshelf instantly. 7:36, it read. Manon’s golden eyes blew wide as she glanced rapidly between the note and the clock, urging her brain to form thoughts. Once she managed to push through her shock, she flipped open her personal laptop on the desk and speedily hopped on a navigation website. The walk time to the address was almost half an hour.

Manon stood before she even finished thinking, twisting her long hair into a braid lightning fast, two strands of cowlicked hair hanging loosely over her forehead as they always did when her hair was pulled back. The frantic girl grabbed her backpack and tore through the apartment to the front door.

“Are you going out, Manon?” Nadja turned around from where she sat on the couch to look at her fleeing daughter.

“Oh! Mom! Ah, yeah! Remy is having…” her mind blanked briefly, “relationship issues? With his frogs! Not Elise. We’re gonna help him! But I gotta go right now so bye!” Manon blew a kiss to her confused mother as she tugged on a light jacket to face the brisk evening ahead, and then she was gone.

Tikki floated along behind Manon down the hallway of the large building as the girl decided the stairs would be faster than the elevator. The kwami looked sheepish.

“Oh, right. I did tell you to check your physics book, didn’t I? Sorry, I got a little distracted by the food.”

[lovemychoices]

Playing with Fire - RoD AU [Colt x MC] - Ch.2 2/2

Book: Ride or Die

Once upon a time, an angel fell for a devil and they called it true love. -J.P.D

Kaela Matsuo didn’t think she would fall in love with someone during her senior year of highschool it was the last thing on her mind but then she met Colt while hanging out with Logan and everything changed. After taking down Jason and saying their heartbreaking goodbyes will Kaela and Colt ever find a way back to each other again? And if they do are they ready to face new obstacles together?

Characters except my OCs belong to Pixelberry, I am just borrowing them.

Word count : 5000+++

Chapter Summary: Kaela tries to forget Colt the only way she knows how.

A/N : Sorry it’s been months since this series has been updated and to be honest IDK when the next chapter will be up. Sorry for any grammatical error I didn’t have the time to do edits.

Warning/Triggers : Alcohol and Drug abuse. [Make sure you’re 18 years old and above if you read this]

catch up with the series here

Song Inspiration: Signals in Smoke - Coming up for air

How long can you wait

To breathe deep

How long can you stay

Underneath

It's hard to believe

But I know your heart still beats

Rise on up baby

Don't need eyes to see

Later that night, Kaela followed the direction of the address that Riya texted her which lead to a gated mansion somewhere in the hills but she couldn’t hear or see any signs of a party.

Confused she double checks the address on her GPS System. “This should be the right place?” She murmured to herself. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

A loud knock on her window causes her to jolt in her seat. She looks the drivers window and sees a man with strong build body wearing a crisp black suit. She cautiously rolls down her window a little.

“You lost or something miss?” The man asked eyeing her curiously.

“Um.. I’m here for a party at Mike’s place?” She answered showing the digital invite on her phone. The man takes a look at the screen taking his own phone from his pocket and started scanning the barcode on Kaela’s invite.

INVITE VALID

He gives her an approving nod and the gates in front of her open. She lets out a sigh of relief then nods back at him and quickly puts her gear into drive.

As she drives through the estate she sees a few dimly lit lamp posts and perfectly trimmed hedges. A little while after she could hear the faint sound of music playing in the background. In the driveway a bunch of expensive sports cars parked next to a two storey modern mansion.

Wow! This is where Mike lives? She checks herself in the rear-view mirror then heaves a sigh. You can do this it’s just one night out. Kaela felt like she needed something to calm her nerves so she reaches out to open her dashboard taking out an orange prescription bottle labeled Xanax on it which she had bought from one of her classmates a month ago. “Fuck! I’m all out.” She muttered throwing her head back on the headrest then glance towards mansion.

Maybe they’ll have something in there. Rich people always have the best prescription pills.

As she approaches the top step, a housekeeper opens the front door. Loud party noise and music blasted out as she enters, she felt like she was in some sort of fraternity party. People were dancing around consumed by the music around them, to the right a group of people cheering on a few guys doing a keg stand challenged.

I need to find the master bath, it must be somewhere upstairs.

“Kaela! Kaela over here!” Riya calls out with her hands waved in the air, quickly walking over to where Kaela was standing. “Omg, I’m so glad you decide to come!” She beamed excitedly giving Kaela a hug. “Come on, let's head outside by the pool, I have a few friends I want to introduce you to.”

Before Kaela can protest Riya takes her hand and guides her along the crowd to the middle of the living area and through the back door where a large swimming pool was located next to the house.

“Everyone, Kaela. Kaela, everyone.” Riya introduces her to a few people sitting by the pool.

“Hey Kaela!” Everyone greets in unison. “Hi…” Kaela smiles giving a sheepish wave. One of the girls stood up and hugged her excitedly taking Kaela by surprise. She pulls back a few moments later. “So nice to finally meet you, we always wondered when we were going to meet this mysterious Kaela, Riya’s always talking about. I’m Jane by the way.”

“Really Riya talks about me a lot?” She asked cocking and eyebrow at Riya.

Riya chuckles. “Only the good stuff I promise!” Kaela shakes her head and grabs a beer from the chiller next to her and twisting the cap open and has a sip before taking a seat next to Riya

“So does Mike have these parties all the time? Where is he anyway? I didn’t see him on the way in.”

Will snorts. “Probably inside entertaining the ladies, lucky bastard.”

The DJ starts to play a song Riya excitedly jump from her seat. “Oh I love this song!” She exclaims taking Kaela’s hand. “Common Kaela time to let loose and dance all your troubles away.”

Riya and the others danced moving their body as the music plays not missing a beat. Kaela watches stiff at first, she can’t remember the last time she danced like that. “Kaela don’t just stand there!” Riya said as she swayed from side to side.

“I’m gonna need more alcohol if I’m going to get through this.” She mutterd under her breath.

She quickly grabs a few glasses of neon shots from people nearby downing them in one go. Soon enough the alcohol starts to kick in, her body loosens, she starts swaying her hips to the sound of the music. For that brief moment she felt all her pain and sorrow being suppressed. She continues to dance letting the hours pass by, not stopping until suddenly the DJ plays a familiar song.

***

Flash back here…

Kaela takes in the electric colours, blacklight illuminated the ravers neon clothing. Drinks glow blue, pink and purple against the darkness. It was her first time going to a rave and it wasn’t like she had expected. She glanced down to see the colours on her clothes she borrowed from Mona how they brilliantly under the luminous lighting. Her eyes go wide opened and beamed. “Wow it’s like I’m radioactive!”

“You’re welcome.” Mona gave her a playful wink.

The group stood at the back as they watched other people dance around. “So what do we do?” Kaela asked.

“What do we do? We dance!” Mona answered with a smirk.

“Yeah. But like… how?”

Ximena chuckles. “However you want Hun. do what feels good, don’t overthink it.”

Mona sways sensually to the music, Toby jumps up and down. Salazar moves to an open spot at the dance floor and breaks into an energetically sequence of sliding and foot pumping. “And that’s called the Melbourne shuffle.” He beamed. The crew applauds and laugh. Even Logan shakes his head for smiles. He can feel his phone vibrate and excuses himself for a bit leaving Kaela and Colt alone while the others were off busy dancing.

Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while

Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies

Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst

Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?

Let us die young or let us live forever

We don't have the power, but we never say never

Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip

The music's for the sad man

“Oh! I love this song!” She beamed excitedly. “Come on, Colt!”

Colt hesitated looking at the rest of the crew doing their thing. “I.. don’t really dance.”

Kaela chuckles. “Me neither. Now come on!” She quickly took Colt’s hand before he could protest. Lacing their fingers together she leads him away out of sight from the rest of the crew.

Colt pulled her body close to his and tilted her chin face up to look at him, his lips curled up into a grin. “I would be lying if I said I haven’t been waiting to get you to myself today. Just follow my lead.” He turned her around so her back is facing his then lightly touches her waist, they both swayed effortlessly to the beat. In time with the pulsating beat he pushes her away then pulled her back closer this time with her face inches away from his. “Is Logan watching?”

“Why do you care if he does?” She quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Is it bad that a part of me wants him to?” He grinned.

“I’m not some possession for you two to fight over, Colt. I’m an actual person.”

“You’re not.. you’re more than that Kaela. At least to me you are.”

“What am I to you Colt?” Colt paused for a moment, they both stopped for a moment in the middle of the crowd of people dancing. He tucks a strand of Kaela’s loose hair to the back of her ear, she can see passion in his eyes as he looks at her. Colt leans in until his lips are just a breath away from hers, “You’re my driver forever, Kaela.”

She pushed her hands through Colt’s hair, bringing his mouth to hers.In that moment they both forget about everything and everyone in the room, even the loud music starts to fade into the background as they drown in each others kiss.

***

Present day..

Can you imagine when this race is won?

Turn our golden the faces into the sun

Praising our leaders, we're getting in tune

The music's played by the, the madman.

Forever young

I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever, and ever.

That song, it was the song that she and Colt danced to at Hyrieus a year ago. Kaela could feel her heart beating fast and loudly as all the memories of that night with Colt replayed in her head. Suddenly the pain and sorrow comes crashing back at her, she felt like she was suffocating. “I need to get out of here.” Kaela pants and quickly pushed her way through the crowd walking up a flight of stairs leading to the first floor corridor.

She tries to open every door she comes across but each one she found was always locked until eventually one opens. She enters to what seems like the master bedroom and without a second thought saunters directly towards the bathroom.

Kaela stands in front of the mirror, hands pressed on the sink leaning with her head down. She closes her eyes and began reciting the same words repeatedly in her head. Breathe in one two three, breathe out three two one. ”Fuck this isn’t working.” She muttered under her breath, her eyes moves towards the Medicine cabinet in front of her.

Maybe there’s something in here that will.

She opens it and starts rummaging through. Lets see few dental flosses, vitamins, health supplements. Urgh where’s the good stuff?

She finally got her hands an orange prescription bottle, she took a look at the description labeled OXYCODONE one time daily or when needed. BINGO! Without even hesitating she popped the bottle open taking one pill and quickly putting it in her mouth swallowing it, later filling up a glass of water and drinking it all in one go. Kaela that the perception bottle from the sink counter top and shoves it in her purse, adjusting her messy hair before heading out.

She slowly closes the door behind her, failing to notice someone standing right outside she bumps right into them.

“Woah, careful!” Someone said catching her by the arm as she stammers back surprised, she looks up and sees a familiar face. “Mike, when did you get here?”

“Um.. I live here, it’s my party remember? What are you doing all the way up here?” He answers cocking an eyebrow.

“I um… needed to find the bathroom but got lost. Big house you got here.” She replied nervously. “But you know I succeeded in finding one so all good.”

“Good to know.” He chuckles then folds his arms scanning Kaela head to toe. “Listen, I’m heading up to the rooftop garden to get some air. You could join me if you want?”

“You have a rooftop garden?” Kaela thought for a moment before giving a half shrug.“Sure why not? I need to get some air anyway.”

Mike took her up another flight of stairs, he opened the door which lead to a beautiful rooftop garden.It had a miniature garden with pebble stones lining the pathway on one side and on the other side an outside bar with a hot tub overlooking the view of the neighborhood. Kaela’s eyes go wide open. “Wow! This is your rooftop? It’s amazing!”q

“You can thank my interior designer for that it was her vision. So have a seat anywhere you want.”

Kaela climbs on top edge of the roof and takes a seat at the edge, her legs dangling from above. She could see the pool right below her and the view of the landscape in front of her.

“This view is amazing. No offense but how’d you end up with a place like this? I thought you only owned a gym.”

Mike runs his hands through his hair. “Well not just a gym, I have few others all over California. Most of my clients big shot politics and A list celebrities. Plus my family is rich.”

Kaela snorts. “No kidding.”

“I’m serious..My last name is actually West.”

Kaela chokes a little when she hears the name. “As in West industries? They’re like multimillionaires?” Mike silently nods then looks away. “So... Why run a gym instead of being some big hot shot CEO?”

Mike shrugged at her question. “I didn’t really want to go into the family business. I’ve spent my whole life having my father tell me what I’m supposed to be and I’ve always felt so suffocated, you know? It wasn’t until I lost everything I ever cared about that I decided enough is enough.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice. I definitely know what it’s like to have a parent expect you to be someone you’re not.”

“Strike one of something we have in common.” He smirked. “I’m keeping score to see how compatible we are. You know for future reference.” He explains and gives a playful wink.

Kaela chuckles. “That’s a really interesting way of keeping score. Does it always work?”

“Most of the time.”

There was an awkward silence between them for a few seconds. Shit is he thinking of kissing me? Please don’t You’re going to ruin the moment. Mike starts to lean in, trying to close the gap between them, he was obviously going to kiss her. Kaela tilts her head down a look of regret written on her face. “I’m sorry, I can’t do this. You’re a really nice guy Mike, but I just got out of a serious relationship and I’m just not ready.”

Mike leans back, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, I didn’t know. How long have the two of you been broken up?”

“We didn’t Break up. He—. He—.” She fumbled trying to form the words. Take deep breaths and exhale slowly Kaela. ”He was involved in an accident about 3 months, he didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry to hear about that, believe me I know what it’s like losing someone you love. To have them suddenly ripped from you.” He seethes, Kaela noticed his jaw clenched and his hands ball into a fist.

“Who was she?” She asked, Mike turns to look at her, his expression a mixture between sad and confused. “When you said you lost everything you cared about earlier. I’m assuming it has to do with someone you cared about.”

“She was.. Someone I met in college sophomore year. She was the most kind and beautiful person I have ever met. We started dating a few months after knowing each other then it went from that to being in a relationship for the next 5 years.” Mike paused for a moment he fidget with a silver ring on his finger. Kaela could barely make out the words engraved on the ring but it has the initials M&K.

“You know the night of the accident we were supposed to spend the weekend at one of my family's estates in the mountains. I had this whole plan to propose to her.” He paused again with regret written on his face. “But I got held back at work, so I told her I’d have someone pick her up she could head up there first and I would catch up later. A few hours later I got a call from the police…..”

As Mike told Kaela about the night his girlfriend got into a car accident, voices of that night she got the call from Ximena regarding Colt’s accident starts replaying in her head.

“Kaela honey, I wish I was calling you under different circumstances and I’m sorry to be the one telling you this but—.”

“But what X? You need to tell me.”

“It’s about Colt. He’s.. He’s been in an accident and he didn’t make it.”

“Kaela. Hey Kaela you alright?”

She is slowly pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of Mike’s voice.

“Are you alright?”

“I uh… yeah. I’m fine.” She mentions, tucking strand of loose hair to the back of her ear.

“Anyway the trick is to focus on something that will make you forget. For me it was martial arts, I got to channel all my anger into someplace else. Who knows, it might be for you too. Whenever you ready just give me a call.”

He handed her his business card and she takes it, giving him a weak smile.

“We should probably head back to the party. Riya might be worried and looking for you.”

Mike slowly got up and steps away from the edge, he stretched out his hand to Kaela.

“You coming?”

“Uh… Yeah. Hey you go ahead I’ll be right behind you.”

When Mike wasn’t looking she quickly popped another piece of pill into her mouth, closing her eyes and taking deeps breaths she could feel the pill start to kick in.

Maybe this is just what I need.

*****

In the weeks to come Kaela’s night were filled with parties endless drinking and getting high, anything to make her forget. She was sick of feeling miserable, she was sick of crying herself to sleep at night. This felt like the easiest way out to her. She did a pretty good job at hiding it from her friends and family though. Since she only hung out with Riya a few times a month and visit her dad once a month, nobody took notice in her sudden change of lifestyle choices. Everyone just assumed she had finally accepted what happened to Colt and moved on.

“No.. We are not watching that Ri.”

“Please K?” Riya pouts her lips.

“Omg… We are not going to watch TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE for the 5th time.”

“But.. But.. Peter Kavinsky.” She pouted again throwing her puppy dog eyes at Kaela.

Kaela rolled her eyes at Riya. “Okay find, but I’m picking the next one.”

“Deal!” Riya grinned and hit the play button on the remote.

“I need to use the bathroom for a bit, the pizza delivery guy will be here soon. Take care of it will you?”

A few seconds later there is a buzz on the door, Riya opens and is greeted by the delivery guy. “That will be twenty four fifty.” He says hold the pizza box out.

Riya takes it and shuffles through her purse for cash but is a little short. “Um.. I’m a little short on cash. Could you hand on a sec?” She hurries to the island and grabs Kaela’s purse to get some cash but she ends up finding more. Oxycodone? She quickly stuffs the bottle in her jeans and pays the pizza guy. “Here you go, keep the change.”

A few minutes later Kaela came out of the bathroom and saunters over to the living area, Riya was seated on the couch glaring at her. “Is something wrong?”

“Mind telling me what’s this?” Riya asked holding up an orange pill bottle. “What do you even need Oxycodone for?”

“Omg.. Did you just go through my stuff without my permission?!” She retorted, her hands balling into a fist. “You have no right to do that Riya.”

“I was short on cash and looked through you purse to borrow some. Maybe it’s a good thing I did or who knows how long your drug addiction was going to continue.” She gives Kaela a pointed look. “Is that why you’ve been so chill the past few months? Because you’ve been using? What else have you been using? Heroin? Cocaine?”

“I’m not a drug addict if that’s what you’re implying, I only use them when I go to parties or when I’m feeling stressed out.” She folds her arms her with her eyes downcast. “And for the record I don’t do heroin or cocaine. I’m mostly on prescription pill and occasionally Molly.”

“Kaela how could you be so stupid?! Grieving is one thing but this?!”

“Don’t talk to me like you know what it’s like to feel grief. I tried to grieve him, Riya. Trust me I've got grieving down to a science at this point. But every time I let it sink in that I'm never gonna see you again, I feel like I'm gonna die.” She whimpered. “I— I want to die!

“You can’t say things like that Kaela.”

“And why not? It’s the truth! I can’t do this anymore.. I’m sorry.. I need to go somewhere.” She said taking her purse from the counter and storms out of the apartment, Riya chasing her shortly after into the parking lot “Kaela where are you going, you can’t do this you need help. Just talk to me please!” She pleaded reaching to take her hand but Kaela

“Omg! Riya can you like not!” She belts swatting Riya’s hand away as she tries to take her. “Just leave me alone!” She quickly gets into her car and drives away while Riya watches her from behind.

*****

Kaela drives aimlessly through the streets of LA, she didn’t know where she was going, she just needed to get away from Riya. She needed to get away from everything, to clear her head and a long drive usually does the trick.

Soon she found herself off the highway and on to the freeway which soon lead to a winding road. She could feel her heart pounding as she picks up speed, tears starting to fog her eyes. I can’t do this anymore.. I just can’t. Her phone starts ringing and she looks down at the passenger seat where it was lying, it was Riya calling. She hits the reject button and turns back to the road when she did suddenly out of no where a stray dog was standing in the middle of the winding road and only a few meters from her car, she turned the steering wheel to avoid hitting the pup but at the speed she was going in it made her quickly loose control. Her car swivels on the winding road and rammed onto a divider before flipping over.

Kaela remained strapped to her seat hanging upside down.. The smell of something burning nearby, blood was dripping from her forehead to the ground and her vision was starting to get blurry, she could barely make out what looks like a figure, maybe a passerby who saw the accident dashing over to where she was. “Help me...” She murmurs in a weak voice but before the person manages to get her out she passes out and everything turns to black.

*************************************************

@liamzigmichael4ever @client-327 @brightpinkpeppercorn @lovehugsandcandy @lilyofchoices @justdani14 @zaffrenotes @queenkaneko @mskaneko @pintsizedelle @flowerpowell @desiree-0816 @emceesynonymroll @kinkykingliam @jlpplays1 @annekebbphotography @thecordoniandiaries @cora-nova @rainbowsinthestorm @princess-geek @leelee10898 @emichelle @pixelberrytrash

[sleepy-giggles]

UPDATE! A World Without You: Chapter 4 - In Your Presence

Click here to read on FanFiction.Net!

Summary: Two years had passed since Juvia’s death. During a solo quest, Gray caught sight of a beautiful woman with blue hair; her resemblance to the water mage was uncanny. Who is this mysterious girl, and why is she living in seclusion at an abandoned church?

Gray woke up with a pounding headache. Needless to say, the events that had unfolded the previous day resulted in him getting little to no sleep.

As soon as he checked into the inn last night, he had called Levy.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Flashback *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hello?”

“Levy!” The ice mage threw his bag on the bed and paced the length of his room. “Sorry to call so late, but I need you to check something for me.”

He heard a faint, grumpy voice in the background muttering “Is it the stripper again?”, probably belonging to Gajeel.

“Sure, Gray!” Levy then carefully popped the question. “Is this… regarding Juvia-chan perhaps?”

“Yea.” Gray heaved a deep sigh. “Listen, I know you guys are all gonna think I’m fucking crazy for bringing this up again, but I need you to believe me.”

“Of course, just tell me what happened.” Her voice was laced with concern now.

“I think I saw Juvia today. No— I know I saw her. At the market place in Freesia Town. She looked exactly like her; same voice, height… everything! But for some reason, she doesn’t recognize me at all.”

He could faintly hear his friend discussing something with the iron dragon slayer on the other line.

“Are you sure about this Gray? You’re certain that it’s not just another girl who happens to have blue hair and—”

“You have to trust me, Levy. I’m not delusional. I know that doesn’t say much considering the way I’ve acted in the past, but I know what I saw.” He ran a shaky hand through his hair. “I even talked to her and walked her home to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.”

“Alright Gray, I promise I’ll look into this. Just get some rest oka—”

The phone was snatched by Gajeel.

“Oi, stripper. Do you need me to go over there? If it really is Juvia, I’d wanna check for myself.”

“No,” the ice mage said quickly. “There’s still something that doesn’t add up with this whole situation. I want to find out what’s going on first before we act rashly. I can’t risk scaring her away. Just stand-by for now, and keep this under wraps.”

The man on the other line grunted. “Fine. But you call me as soon as you find something, you got that? You better not be getting my hopes up again ya bastard.”

After reassuring the couple again that he wasn’t having another one of his “episodes”, Gray ended the call. He knew of Gajeel and Juvia’s friendship, and it wasn’t surprising that the iron dragon slayer would be skeptical.

Out of all their friends, Gajeel was among those who took the news of Juvia’s death especially hard. He had wanted nothing more than to grieve properly and move on, but every time Gray came up with yet another theory as to why he thought Juvia was still alive, Gajeel couldn’t help but hold onto a sliver of hope as well. But of course, it’s always ended in nothing but disappointment for everyone.

Sleep did not come to him that night. It took all his willpower to not jump out the window, run back to that old church and take Juvia back to Fairy Tail with him. He could care less if the old hag puts a bounty on his head and an angry mob comes after him.

The events of the day truly felt like a dream. Perhaps he really was going mad, and there was no cure for it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* End Flashback *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gray made a quick stop at the mayor’s office first thing in the morning, filled out some paperwork, and proceeded to do his job of cooling down the little town. All he had to do was cover the village in a thin flurry of icy mist. He also created a couple of ice boulders in various locations throughout the city; they should be big enough to last several days. Easy peasy.

His commitment to the job lasted about 20 minutes; he made sure to finish his duties in the shortest amount of time imaginable. Seeing Juvia was his priority, so as soon as it was over, he made his way to the old church around the block. He needed to get close to the village girl he met yesterday and find out as much about her as possible.

When he neared the familiar intersection, he spotted Meiko in the front yard hanging bed sheets on a laundry string. Even though the late morning sun shined brightly, she was covered from head to toe in a black, thick-clothed cloak. The hood hid the top half of her face, but he was able to tell it was her by the sky blue hair that poked out around her right shoulder.

She turned when she noticed his presence nearby.

“Gray-san?”

“Um… I was just checking out the neighborhood,” Gray said defensively. He didn’t know why he felt the need to offer an explanation as to why he was there. Couldn’t he have just said he wanted to see her?

The bluenette smiled as she hung the last piece of garment onto the string. “I see. Well, I hope you enjoyed your first night here.”

He most certainly didn’t. He was sleep-deprived and a disoriented, bumbling mess thanks to her.

“It was okay I guess.”

Meiko tilted her head slightly in response. Her large, ocean blue eyes observed him questioningly, and he couldn’t help but look away. What the hell, why was he acting like some shy schoolgirl with a crush? He’s just going to blame it on how agonizingly cute she looked right now as she innocently stared up at him through those long, sooty eyelashes.

Feeling a few sweat drops roll down his face, he wracked his brain to try and think of something interesting to say. He had been in such a rush to see her this morning that he really didn’t come prepared. Gray had to remind himself again that he was the only one with memories of her. In Meiko’s point of view, he was nothing but a stranger. As far as she’s concerned, they had only met yesterday, and he was already paying her a visit the next day. What if she thought he was a stalker?

The ice mage’s eyes searched his surroundings desperately until finally, he saw a worthy distraction. The entrance to the old church was wide open, and he was able to catch a glimpse inside.

“Is that the lobby area?” He indicated to the doors, glad that he was able to break the uncomfortable silence. “Even the interior looks exactly like a church instead of a living room.”

“Ah, Mother Margaret kept the majority of the church hall the same so that villagers can still come in for worship whenever they wanted.” She gave him a bright smile. “Gray-san is welcome too.”

His heart did a weird flip, but before he could reply a sharp voice rang out.

“Meiko! What’s taking you so long to do the laundry?”

The girl jumped and quickly wiped her damp hands on her long skirt. “M-Mother!”

The elderly woman noticed the dark-haired stranger standing beside Meiko and narrowed her eyes. “And who might this young man be?”

Gray tensed up.

“This is the ice mage our town hired to help ease the heat waves, Gray Fullbuster-san.”

“Hmph.” The Reverend looked him up and down, her expression judging and cynical. “Then may I ask what business a magic user has here at our humble home?”

Gray took a step forward, his gaze hard as if challenging the stout woman in front of him. “I’m here for morning worship,” he indicated to the entrance of the church with a sharp turn of his chin. “Got a problem with that?”

The older woman’s lips twitched ever so slightly at his curt words. “As a respected leader of the convent, I won’t turn away anyone who wishes to have a word with the Lord. But with that said, I’ll leave you with a warning, child. Don’t you even think of courting Meiko. She’s a nun-in-training and has pledged to serve the Lord for the rest of her life. You’re not the first man to frequent this place to try and get close to my daughter.”

She turned her back to them and began walking away. “I won’t allow some pretty boy to distract her from her responsibilities.”

Seeing the scowl on Gray’s face, Meiko panicked. What is she going to do? He must feel insulted, and how embarrassing that it was her mother who had given him such a terse welcome!

“Mother, you’ve misunderstood!” The girl quickly called out. “Gray-san has no such intentions. He’s from Fairy Tail after all, the most renowned and respected guild in all of Fiore.”

“Fairy…Tail?” The Reverend looked back with a disturbed look, and for just a split second, Meiko thought she saw fear in her eyes. Meiko shrugged off her uneasiness. ‘It must be because she’s not familiar with the world of magic and mages. Mother’s probably just confused,” she reasoned.

“Yes, Fairy Tail. So he would never—”

“I must go,” Margaret said hurriedly, her once calm demeanor breaking as her quick feet took her back towards the building steps, but not before yelling one last warning to her daughter. “Don’t even think about going anywhere with him and straying from your duties!”

Her harsh words lingered in the air uncomfortably. The doors slammed closed behind the nun, and Gray’s eyes visibly darkened. ‘There’s definitely something suspicious about that woman,’ he mulled.

“I’m so sorry about that, Gray-san!” A flustered Meiko ran up to him. “Please don’t mind her. She can be a little overprotective sometimes, but she means well.”

He grunted. “It’s fine.”

Meiko looked worried until suddenly, she sprang up to her feet as if remembering something important. “Oh no, it’s almost noon! I have to collect medicinal herbs before the sun goes down.”

“I’ll join you.”

Her head whipped back in surprise. “But you said you came here for morning worship…?”

He flinched; he didn’t think he’d get caught in his lie already. “Uh… yea, I’ll do that later. Besides, it doesn’t sound like a good idea for me to be in the same room as your mother right now. Since you’re the only one I know from this town, I thought I’d use this opportunity to become more familiar with the area….”

That was an excuse of course, and all Gray could do was hope that she would take his word for it.

“S-sure,” she stuttered before donning a playful smile. “I guess it doesn’t count as straying from my duties if you’re the one who wants to tag along on my errand. It would be nice to have company for once, I suppose.”

And with that, the two walked along the dirt path that led to a mountainous area. Since the trees were sparsely located, the sun bore down on them stubbornly when noon rolled around.

At one point, Gray looked back at her in concern.

“Oi, aren’t you hot wearing all that? It looks uncomfortable.”

The bluenette was panting as they climbed the steep trail, visibly struggling to keep up. A subtle layer of perspiration was evident on her flawless, porcelain skin.

“I’m fine.”

He scoffed. “Clearly, you’re not. Why don’t you take that annoying cloak off? It’s like 100 degrees out, you’re gonna pass out at this point.”

“I-I can’t,” she rasped out. “I’ll get in trouble if I take it off.”

Suddenly, her foot slipped on a loose pebble and, with a gasp, she fell forward until a strong hand went under her arm and held her up.

The conversation that he overheard last night played through Gray’s mind. His jaw clenched as he remembered how angry the old nun had been at her for failing to wear the cloak.

“Who the hell cares?! Why do you have to wear that stupid thing anyway?”

She leaned on his arm slightly for balance and muttered a quick thanks. Luckily, Gray wrapped another arm around her shoulder to keep her steady because Meiko was starting to feel lightheaded. “Mother hates it when I bring unwanted attention, especially from men,” she sighed. “She also said that… my body was cursed.”

The ice mage raised an eyebrow. “Cursed?”

“Yes. She said that… my body was the personification of sexual desire. This cloak is so that I won’t tempt those who are weak-willed.”

“That’s some bullshit—” Gray spat out before catching his tongue. Crap, he had forgotten that ‘this’ Juvia was a member of the church. He looked away guiltily and mumbled an apology for using profane language.

He didn’t catch the tiny smile that made its way to her lips as she regained her footing and started walking away. “You’re forgiven. I’ll be sure to pray for your soul later.”

“…Gee thanks,” he said sarcastically.

Although the mood had lightened, Gray was still simmering with anger from what he heard. How could Meiko stand to live with this prudish old lady who controlled what she wore? Would the Juvia he knew put up with that? He wasn’t sure. It was true that a body like hers would no doubt attract all sorts of men, and Gray wouldn’t want her walking around in skimpy clothes either, but the Reverend Mother was going too far. Wearing a heavy cloak in this weather was akin to suicide.

He let out a frustrated sigh when she made no attempts to remove the darned piece of cloth, and instead clutched the fabric closer to her body.

“You’re one stubborn woman. Guess it can’t be helped.…”

Almost instantly, the temperature around them dropped. A cool and refreshing breeze blew past Meiko and sent her cloak fluttering. It was enough to take the heat from her body and dry the sweat on her skin instantly. Her eyes widened in shock.

“Did you do that, Gray-san?!”

He didn’t answer, and instead took her hand in his and led her down the steep path. Her whole face lit up with excitement. To feel the effects of someone’s magic and to walk alongside a mage through the forest made her feel as if they were going on an adventure. She’s never felt so alive.

The two of them spent the next few hours scoping out the mountain for herbs. Although few words were exchanged, they enjoyed each other’s presence and relaxed under the comfortable silence. In between searching and collecting rare plants, Meiko would occasionally point out an important landmark or city off in the distance to Gray. The girl still thought that the reason he tagged along was so that she could show him around. She had no idea that the ice mage’s motives extended beyond simply making her his tour guide.

“If you go further north from here, you’ll see a beautiful river. And not surprisingly, the town nearby is also known as River Village.”

Gray paused. “A river huh? Do you uh… like rivers?” He thought it’d be best to approach the subject of magic cautiously. Partly because he doesn’t want to sound pushy, and partly because he was afraid of her answer.

The girl stood up slowly, confusion lining her youthful face. “Rivers? I suppose I don’t mind them? They’re quite pretty.”

Okay, that was definitely not the response he was expecting. He was hoping that she’d say something along the lines of how she’d always been drawn to huge bodies of water, considering how Juvia was a water mage. Meiko was proving to be more mysterious than he thought. It felt like the more he tried to know her, he just ends up with more questions than answers.

“What about water? Do you like water?!” As soon as the words left his mouth, Gray mentally smacked himself at how stupid he sounded.

A pure, melodic laugh rang throughout the peaceful forest. Meiko was doubled over, her shoulders shaking with amusement. “Gray-san,” she gasped for breath in between laughs, and Gray could only watch with a horrified expression on his face. “You didn’t come across as someone who told jokes! Do I like water? Yes I do, seeing as how I need it to survive.”

Her sarcastic comeback took him off-guard. He immediately looked away before she could see the blush spreading across his face.

“W-whatever… forget I asked!”

He trudged away, trying to hide his embarrassment and failing miserably. The bluenette didn’t hesitate to chase after him, all flustered as she apologized profusely while giggling. The ice mage eventually gave in; her laughter was contagious, and he couldn’t help but appreciate Meiko’s lighthearted spirit. Her presence had a calming effect on him, which was not surprising because Juvia had always made him feel that way. Even their elements behaved similarly when combined; ice, no matter how stiff and unyielding, would naturally melt when embraced by water.

They spent the rest of the day together. The topic of magic seemed to fascinate her, and Gray had been happy to explain some of his ice-making and devil-slaying powers to her. Meanwhile, he marveled at the expanse of Meiko’s knowledge of medicinal herbs and plant ecology as he tried his best to help her complete her errand before sundown.

For the first time in years, his heart felt light and happiness swelled within him as if his body was too small a vessel to contain it. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to not have a care in the world. Being in her presence was enough to turn his brain to mush, and for a short while, the fact that the girl beside him didn’t have any recollection of their relationship had escaped his mind. He was simply content that he was given another chance to see Juvia’s smile again. To hear her melodic voice.

If this was a dream, then he never wanted to wake up.

Gray came to see her again the following day. And the day after that as well. At first, he would use morning worship as an excuse. He would walk into the church, hang his head and sit silently until the blue-haired nun-in-training spots him. There was no doubt in his mind that Meiko had seen through his flippant acting, but he did it all in the hopes of fooling the Reverend Mother.

He kept up the act until Meiko finally told him that Mother Margaret had been away the entire time; she had packed her bags citing an important trip on the day she had her first encounter with Gray.

After spending a decent amount of time together, Gray had suggested that she drop the honorific. But staying true to Juvia’s character, the girl had refused, saying that she was simply more comfortable with formalities.

On another beautiful, breezy sunny day, the ice mage came to the church again. His legs seemed to carry him here without his knowing.

Before he could go up the steps leading to the entrance, he was stopped by a soft tap on his shoulder.

He turned to see a cloaked figure with braided blue hair poking out on one side. Gray relaxed upon seeing her.

“Here for morning worship again?” A teasing smile tugged on her lips. “Should I leave you alone and come back in a few hours?”

Crap. Yup, she definitely caught on.

“Um… no, please don’t,” he sweat-dropped. “To be honest, I’ve been using that as an excuse—”

Meiko giggled. “There’s no need to explain yourself, Gray-san. I’m just happy that you’re here to see me. I rarely get any visitors because mother tends to scare everyone off.”

Gray scoffed. “I don’t blame them.”

They went to their usual place; a gentle hill that overlooks the green, rolling plains. This was often their resting station after spending hours picking herbs in the forest. The enormous tree on the hill provided them with shade and a cool breeze, so it was their favorite spot.

“Gray-san, can you show me a bit more of your ice-making magic?”

The raven-haired mage nodded. He was glad that she was the one asking questions this time and seemed to gain some sort of interest in him.

Gray brought his palms together, a cold frosty aura emanated from his hands. An idea came to him suddenly that he could use this as an opportunity to try and jolt her memories.

With newfound determination, he slammed his fist into the palm of his hand, “Ice-Make: Umbrella!”

Meiko’s eyes grew wide when a frilly and girly looking umbrella made entirely of ice appeared before her. It glistened under the sun like a jewel.

“It’s… so cute!” Upon close inspection, it was definitely a fine piece of craftsmanship. The attention to detail on Gray’s part was evident as her fingers softly traced the hearts engraved around the brim of the umbrella.

“Do you like it?”

“Gray-san, this is amazing! How did you come up with such an adorable looking umbrella?”

She looked over at him and was startled to find the look of disappointment on his face. Was this not the response he was looking for?

“Ah… I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Must’ve been the last umbrella I saw on the street or something…”

“Well I love it. If there’s ever a downpour, I think this pretty umbrella would definitely help me forget about the rain!”

Gray wondered if that was why Juvia used to carry her pink, over-the-top umbrella all the time too. Either way, he hoped that seeing one of her treasured possessions helped to jog her memories even a little bit.

“Here’s another one,” the ice mage brought his hands together once again. “Ice-Make: Crown!”

The girl sitting in front of him gasped. “How gorgeous!”

In one swift move, Gray pulled down the hood of her cloak and plopped the intricate headpiece on her head.

“There.” He felt the blush that was making its way across his face, so he looked away and did his best to scowl. “Now you can be queen for a day.”

When there was no response from her, he slowly turned around and peeked. Meiko’s eyes were cloudy and her lips trembled comedically, as if doing her best to suppress the tears that were threatening to spill out.

“Why do I feel so happy?” She sniffled and her eyebrows furrowed even more.

“Oi!” She’d better not cry. Gray sweat-dropped before letting out a sigh. Well, it can’t be helped. She was probably just happy because the last time he made a crown using ice-make magic, he had given it to Wendy. Juvia had been so upset at the time that she demanded that he make her one too. He had refused of course, which only served to make her pout even more. He chuckled at the memory. The woman in front of him now was making that same adorable face over a stupid crown.

Meiko frowned. “I want to keep this.”

“As you wish,” he snickered. “It’s yours this time.”

Not knowing what he meant by ‘this time’, she dismissed his comment and continued to admire the crown that was now in her hands.

“If you liked that, then you’ll like this even more. Ice-Make: Doll!”

The bluenette looked on curiously at the small and plump statue that appeared to be a chibi version of the handsome man before her. Its beady doe eyes stared back at her, and almost instantly, she felt a strong urge to squeal and hug the damn thing to her chest.

“It’s… It’s mini Gray-san!” Meiko took the doll from Gray’s hands and rubbed her cheek against the ice block adoringly.

The devil slayer suddenly couldn’t move. The scene that unfolded in front of him was all too familiar. That expression on Meiko’s face, with hearts in her eyes and hugging that creepy doll-like statue that looked like him… there’s was no doubt in his mind now. This can only be Juvia. His Juvia.

“Ice-Make: Heart.”

“Hm?” Pausing from her fangirling session, Meiko’s turned her attention to Gray.

She peered down as he slowly revealed a small, shiny crystal sitting delicately between the palms of his hands. The jewel was in the shape of a heart, but this creation was visibly different from the ones that came before it. It was much more polished and clear. The ice itself had a purple tint to it, instead of blue. In fact, if she hadn’t known any better, she would’ve believed that it was the world’s most precious amethyst.

“This was made with eternal ice,” Gray said softly. He reached over and placed the heart in the palm of her hand.

Puzzled, Meiko studied the gleaming object and noted its faint coolness under her touch.

“Eternal…ice?”

His piercing eyes found hers, and she had momentarily forgotten how to breathe. His gaze held a whirlwind of emotions: determination, hope, love… and so much pain.

Even so, her stomach somersaulted and her insides felt as if it was on fire. She was scared, but at the same time intrigued by such sensations that felt so new to her. She was suddenly extremely aware of how close Gray was sitting and how fast her heart was beating. Is this what people call love? Was she falling for this dark-haired stranger who had also somehow become her best friend in a matter of weeks?

“I’ve wanted to give this to you a long time ago, Juvia.”

Eh? Juvia?

Suddenly, Meiko remembered her first encounter with Gray Fullbuster. He had cried upon seeing her, even though it was the first time they’d met. She had never seen a man cry so grievously; it had frightened her. And he had called her ‘Juvia’ then, too.

The excitement she felt just moments ago quickly dissipated as she gradually pieced everything together. The reason why he came to see her everyday. The reason why he wanted to befriend a nun even after experiencing Mother Margaret’s wrath. The reason why he spent so much time with her despite being a powerful mage who would obviously have way more important things to do.

“Gray-san…” her voice was barely above a whisper. “If you’ll excuse my rudeness… but who is this ‘Juvia’? And… who is she to you?”

His eyes softened as he gave her a sad smile. “She’s someone very special to me. A fellow guildmate… but more than that.”

“Oh,” was all Meiko managed to say. So he wasn’t confessing his love to her, per se.

“But, I never got to tell her that,” he paused as his lips formed a thin line. “Because she died.”

Meiko’s breath hitched in her throat. She… died?! Her heart squeezed as she thought about how traumatic such an experience would’ve been for Gray. For anyone. She instantly felt guilty for having overlooked their bizarre first encounter and for brushing it off as just him being weird.

Gray reached a hand inside his jacket and pulled out a small 3”x3” paper. When she saw it, a chill ran up her spine, and she couldn’t stop the shiver that reverberated through her entire being.

It was a photo of herself in unfamiliar clothes.

“She… She—” A shaky finger pointed at the girl with long, wavy blue locks.

The ice mage nodded knowingly as if he expected her reaction. “She looks just like you, doesn’t she?”

“But how? Are you saying that’s the girl you’ve been referring to as ‘Juvia’?”

“Yea,” Gray said. “Juvia was a member of Fairy Tail too… a water mage. In the war we had against Alvarez two years ago, we were up against a formidable enemy, and she sacrificed herself while trying to buy me time. I wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for her.”

Meiko could only gape in shock. To think that a woman had loved Gray so much that she died for him. How could she even begin to compare to someone like that?

Meiko shook her head in an attempt to get back on track. “But how can this be… How is it possible that the girl in this photo looks exactly like me? What’s going on?”

She jumped when he suddenly reached out and grasped her shoulders. “It’s possible! What if your memories were erased somehow? Please, think hard. Have you ever thought about the fact that you might not belong here, that your life was more than just training to be a nun?”

“If this isn’t a prank… if Gray-san is really speaking the truth, then that means Juvia-san and I have been living completely different lives,” she said, clearly distressed. “I don’t have any magic, and I’ve never once stepped foot outside of Freesia Town, much less fight in a war. So how can I be her? Are you saying that the memories I have of my life are invalid?”

Gray’s shoulders slumped as he looked at her with a defeated expression, and finally, he released his hold on her.

“But to me… you are Juvia. Everything about you reminds me of her.”

For the first time since they met, she couldn’t read his eyes as they were hidden behind his bangs. At that moment, her heart ached for him. His voice was hoarse and unsure, sounding almost like a lost child.

Meiko took a deep breath and stood up, pulling Gray to his feet as well.

“Gray-san, let’s go,” she said with determination in her eyes. “Mother should be back from her trip today, maybe she’ll know what’s going on. We’ll get to the bottom of this, I’m sure of it!”

Dazed, Gray mumbled a weak agreement under his breath and allowed Meiko to drag him back to the old church.

—————————————————————————

When the old Reverend saw the pair barge into the entrance of the lobby, holding hands at that, her fury sprang to life. It looked like she arrived not too long ago, with luggage still in hand.

Her eyes sharpening menacingly, the stout woman bellowed, “What is the meaning of this, Meiko!”

The bluenette instinctively let go of the hand she was holding. Although her heart was about to jump out of her throat, she tried to gather her courage.

“Mother, I must ask you something.”

“Oh? And what might that be?” Margaret said between her teeth and closed the distance between them. “Don’t tell me that you’ve broken your promise already, Meiko. Have you been in the company of this philanderer the entire time that I was away?!”

“No, that’s not it!” Meiko forced down the surge of irritation at hearing her friend being referred to as a philanderer. She took out Juvia’s photo and thrust it in front of the old woman. “We just wanted to ask if you knew of Fairy Tail’s Juvia Lockser… and, why we look so alike?

A deafening silence engulfed the spacious room, and the Reverend did not move an inch. Her eyes, which only a moment ago was filled with rage, now carried an expression that was frighteningly unreadable.

It felt as if an eternity had passed, but just before Gray had finally had enough and was about to snap, Mother Margaret opened her mouth.

“Why of course you two look alike, dear.” The corner of her lips curved up. “Juvia Lockser was your twin.”

—————————————————————————————

A/N: For anyone curious about the "crown" scene, just google Fairy Tail manga cover 390. ;) Now enjoy this little "behind-the-scenes" excerpt:

Juvia: What is the meaning of this, Gray-sama?! Why is Juvia dead, and why is Gray-sama cheating on Juvia with this Meiko girl?!

Gray: HUH? How is it cheating if she’s literally you?!

Meiko: I am not! Stop saying that I’m Juvia!

Juvia: *eyes glowing* LOVE RIVAL!!!

Gray: This is getting weird… I just want to be happy…

Scarf-san: *pets Gray* Nope, can’t let you be happy yet. Ya gotta suffer first, cinnamon roll.

[bel0vedmendes]

An Angel Among the Angels: Part 2

Shawn Mendes X Reader

*Part one*

Word Count: 3,066

Warnings: Language, mentions of Anxiety and Panic Attacks.

Description: Y/N is working behind the scenes at the VS Fashion Show, and Shawn has his sights set on her. She can’t believe he would even look her way, considering they're literally surrounded by Angels. 

A/N: Helllllllo lovelies. I appreciate all the love I got on part 1, I hope part 2 is everything you hoped. Let me know what you think and if you want a part 3! The first part is posted on my original page ( @bel0vedbanshee). I will be posting from this account going forward. Thanks! xx

**NOT MY GIF**

We skipped over all of the awkward post first date stuff. He wasn’t one to let that happen. He was easy to talk to, and I think he felt the same about me. So that’s what we did, we talked.

Shawn was a busy boy, and I was extremely busy myself. That didn’t keep us from communicating regularly. If he wasn’t texting me, he was snapping me. If he wasn’t snapping me, he was face timing me.

“Let me see, I’m sure its not that bad.” I soothe, picking my phone up from its propped position to get a better look. Shawn takes his phone and turns the flash on, flipping the camera screen. He opens his mouth wide showing me his tonsils that he swears are swollen. I bite my bottom lip once I see that he isn’t kidding.

“See, I told you.” He rasps, flipping the camera around to selfie mode. His face being swallowed by his hoodie. I take the phone and walk to bed so that I could really pay attention to the boy through the screen. 

“Im sorry you feel like shit.” I say with a baby voice, giving him a weak smile.

“Its okay, just keep me company.” He turns in bed so that he’s laying on his side. I so desperately wish I was in the bed laying next to him. I take a deep breath and glance away from the bundle of cuteness.

“So, what are you going to do about your shows?” I ask toying with the strings on my hoodie.

“I have a doctors appointment tomorrow to see just how bad it is. Hopefully I don’t have to cancel.” He mumbles, sighing once he’s done. His face is flushed and his hair is a beautiful mess.

“I… I really hate seeing you like this.” I say quietly, mimicking the way he is laying in bed.

He smiles softly, staring at me through the phone.

“I really wish you were here, Y/N.” He whispered, his face dropping the façade he had been holding up.

I just nodded, and we laid like that for almost an hour until he fell asleep. I wasn’t used to seeing him that way. Every time we had talked or face timed before he was a completely different person. He was upbeat, and flirty. Sometimes I couldn’t tell if he was putting on an act for me, or if it was really him. Tonight though, that was 100 percent Shawn. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he felt comfortable enough with me to be that vulnerable. It made me wonder if there was more to our relationship than flirty phone calls, and a one night rendezvous. I really hoped it was more.

_______________________________________________________________

 The next morning, I headed into work early at the request of my boss. He needed to talk to me about something important. This was the same morning Shawn was going to see the doctor. We texted each other on our way to calm the nerves. I knew he didn’t want to hear that he needed a break, but deep down everyone knew he did. In the few weeks since we had seen each other it was flight after flight, show after show. He would never in a million years say that it was too much, so his body decided to make the decision for him.

Y/N: It’ll be fine, Shawn. If you’re sick and need to take a break the fans will understand okay?

Shawn: Nope, I’m not sick. I’m not even gonna think it.

Y/N: You couldn’t even talk on the phone. But… okay.

Shawn: Don’t sass me.

Y/N: Just saying, don’t stress okay?

Shawn: I wont if you don’t. Deal?

Y/N: I don’t know about that but okay. Ill text you when I’m out.

Shawn: Okay, Ill let you know when I hear something.

Y/N: good luck <3

Shawn: good luck Honey xx

Honey. I couldn’t help but melt when he used pet names. I got out of my car and walked into the building. Passing the receptionist, waving as she greeted me. Finally arriving to my Bosses office and tapping on the door before I stepped inside. He pulled himself away from his computer and hugged me as I walked inside closing the door behind him. I took a deep breath, that meant business. He ushered me to have a seat.

“So, Y/N, I just wanted to talk to you about the Victoria Secret Fashion Show, how did it go?” He asked

“I feel like it went great! I was pretty nervous but everything went incredibly smooth!” I sung. I couldn’t help but sweat. I knew I did my job well, and I really couldn’t think of a reason I would be in trouble.

“I only heard amazing things about you!” He praised, pulling out a manila envelope from his desk.

“Good! I really enjoyed it!” I said, finally able to breathe again.

“We had so many people gushing about how amazing you were! Everyone from staff to models, even some of the performers!” He raves raising his eyebrows. My eyes instantly widen, wondering what Shawn could have said about me.

“That being said, I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to work our next show in Paris?” He asks, taking a plane ticket out of the envelope and sliding it across the table. I pick it up noticing that it’s for tomorrow and I would be gone for a week.

“Oh.. my god. Paris?! Are you serious!” I hold the ticket in shock

“You would leave tomorrow, that wont be a problem will it?” He smiles

“No! No, of course not. Thank you so much, this is incredible!” I take the ticket, and he gives me the entire envelope that includes all of the details I may need about the trip. He talks me through my roll, and what I can expect.

“Y/N, keep up the amazing work, I only expect great things from you.” He praises as he pulls me into a hug. I thank him a million more times before walking to my car in a complete daze. I feel my pocket vibrating and I gasp realizing Shawn had probably finished at the doctor. I sit down in my front seat, pressing the green button on my phone. A curly headed, rosy cheeked boy shows up through my screen. He was visibly upset.

“Hi.” He whispered, laying his head back on the seat.

“Bad news?” I question, picking up on his body language.

“Yep, I have to take a break for a while. She gave me some antibiotics though.”

“Im really sorry, Shawn.” I murmured.

“It’ll be fine, like you said, the fans will understand.” He said, forcing himself to smile. I smiled back and nodded at him.

“So uhm, since  I have some free time, I was wondering if maybe I could come see you?” he asks nervously. My mind went blank. All I wanted was to see him, but I also just told my boss I would fly to Paris for a once in a lifetime opportunity. Fuck. I was apparently quiet for too long, because Shawn instantly started to freak out and explain himself… typical.

“I just thought… you know… if you wanted to.” He stutters, his hand rubbing the back of his neck making me smile.

“I want to see you Shawn.” I smile, laughing quietly as I watch him viably relax.

“But, I'm leaving for Paris tomorrow. My boss loved how I did at the VS show and is sending me to work a show in Paris for a week.” I frowned into the phone.

“Are you kidding?! That’s awesome Y/N!” He smiled a genuine smile, making me melt into my seat.

“You’re not mad?” I ask tugging my lip between my teeth.

“Of course not, how could I be mad at you. I’m a little sad though.” He tilts his head, watching me as I put my keys into the car.

“Honestly, I'm pretty upset about it too,” I sigh, “I would really like to see you.”

Shawn just nods, with a pathetic smile on his face. I hate that I couldn’t make it work.

We finished up our updates and ended our face time. I drove back to my place and immediately started to pack. Incredibly overwhelmed with anxiety, which lead to me over packing by a long shot. I fell asleep after talking to an incredibly bored Shawn for about an hour. Shooting up in bed 4 hours later, realizing I had hit snooze a few too many times. I gathered my bags as fast as I possibly could, knowing I was inevitably forgetting something. I checked for the important stuff and rushed down to my Uber that was taking me to the Airport. Next thing I knew I was sitting in my seat, as the plane took off into the sky. I took my medicine to help me relax, and I slowly drifted to sleep. Thoughts of a curly headed boy entertaining my brain as I did.

After a long day of work, and being incredibly overwhelmed, I finally got back into my hotel room. Tossing my purse onto the ottoman in the corner of the room and collapsing onto the bed. I deep sigh escaping my body, mixed with an annoyed moan. When I was asked to work in Paris, I knew that it would be a challenge. No one does fashion like Paris does. I had confidence in myself though. After today, I was slowly starting to doubt that. My chest instantly started to tighten. I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that maybe I wasn’t cut out for this. I sat up in my bed and went to get my phone from my purse. Usually when I felt this way I called my dad for reassurance, he was pretty good at knowing what to say. Yet this time, I didn’t call my dad. I didn’t realize I was face timing Shawn until he his face appeared through  the screen. He picked up and held a finger up, signaling me to hold on. I could hear the sound of a movie and a few people talking in the background. He closes the door to what I assume is his bedroom, and gets comfortable on his bed. He stacks some pillows behind him and leans back against his headboard. Smirking into the phone.

“I was hoping you would call.” He rasps

“Are you okay to talk to me for a little bit?” I smile back, wondering if his throat felt any better.

“Yeah, Im a lot better.” He clears his throat. “Is everything okay, you seem off?” his eyebrows squishing together.

I attempt to smile, but another sigh escapes my mouth.

“What’s up, Honey?” he soothes.

“Nothing… I just. I don’t know. Today was insane. I don’t know if I can do this.” I stutter, as tears start to fill in my eyes. The look on his face becoming more serious. Sure, Shawn and I had many conversations. Up until now the conversations had been light and flirty. Or me talking to him about slowing down, and making sure we was taking care of himself. I was never the one to be vulnerable when we talked though, which is why he knew this was serious. He nodded his head as I ranted about how defeated I was after today. I told him that I was completely out of my element and the people around me were so seasoned.

“Listen Y/n, you’re amazing at your job. You know you are. Just breath and believe that.” He smiled into the phone speaking with conviction. I listened intently, hanging onto ever word he said.  

He talked about when he feels that way and what he does to overcome it. He was the perfect person to talk to about this.

“You’re right. I can do this. Its different and different can be scary, but Ill be fine.” I smiled into the phone. Glancing at the timer, realizing we had been talking for a little over an hour. I yawn into the phone, rubbing my eyes.

“Wow, its late.” I mutter

“Do you want to go to sleep?” He asks turning in bed, so that he was laying on his side. I mimic his actions.

“I mean, I should.” I giggle. “But I would rather talk to you.” I say, not quite ready to give up talking to him.

“Good. I’ve waited to talk to you all day.” He whines adorably. I silently laugh, rolling my eyes at his neediness.

“Wait, do you have people over? Do you need to go?” I asked concerned, last thing I wanted was for his friends or family to be mad at me for stealing their precious Shawn time.

“No, its just a few friends. Believe me their glad you called, I’ve been bugging them all day about whether or not I should call you.” He admits, a rosy tint instantly coating his cheeks.

“You know… you can call me whenever you want. I always wanna talk to you.” I reassure him.

“You’ll regret saying that, Im gonna annoy the shit out of you now.” He teases, with a hint of seriousness lacing his voice. I laugh at him, scoffing, telling him that I could never get annoyed by him. I laugh at him for a few minutes, as he tells me all the ways he’s going to annoy me. Our laughing starts to die down, and he folds his arm, resting his head on his hand.

“I really love hearing you laugh.” He said quietly, but confidently.

“I love that you can make me laugh, thank you for talking me down.”

He nods, “So when do you get some time off to explore?” he asks, as he gets up from his bed and walks out into his hallway.

“The day after tomorrow, I get two days off.” I say watching him move through his condo, the voices from his living room becoming louder.

“I had a really great tour guide when I was there, maybe I could get his information for you?” He asks as his friends start to appear behind him to see the girl on the other side of the screen. He shoo’s them away, and I start to laugh as they start to comment on the conversation. ‘Damnnn Shawn’, ‘I’ll be her tour guide’ , and other boyish comments being made in the background clearly being said to irritate Shawn. He shakes his head at his friends trying not to smirk, I start to laugh. I tell him that I would love to have a tour guide and he promises to send me the information.

“Okay, I’m going to bed, go hang with your boys.” I say pulling my cover up around me, smiling tiredly into the phone. He chuckles at me.

“Goodnight, Honey. You’re going to kill it tomorrow.”

“Night Shawn.” 

_______________________________________________________________

The next morning I woke up with an adorable message from Shawn once again reassuring me of my own awesomeness. I couldn’t believe I was getting attention from a boy like this, he was too perfect sometimes. He also asked me for all of my hotel information so that the tour guide could meet up with me. I told him I could figure all the details out if he gave me his number, but he insisted on sorting everything out so that I could focus on work. If I had learned anything from my few months talking to Shawn, I knew that when he insisted on something there was really no point to argue. I just agreed and told him to let me know if I needed to do anything. After that we really hadn’t talked all day, a few text here and there but he was definitely not as annoying as he had planned to be. I got to the event building and did some deep breathing before walking in and starting my task for the day.

Lunch time came around in no time, I called Shawn to tell him how much better my day was going but he didn’t answer. I figured he was probably spending time with his family and I would hopefully get to talk to him later. I finished my work for the day, and my driver came to pick me up and take me back to my hotel. On the way there I attempted to call Shawn again but it went straight to voicemail once again. I tried my hardest not to be upset, but I really only wanted to talk to him. Which got me to think about how I felt about him. Was it appropriate to feel that way about someone you’ve only met one time?  Shawn was so caring, supportive, smart, and funny. I found myself smiling at all the things that I loved about this boy’s personality. I instantly decided that even if I wasn’t sure about my feelings, I was sure that he came into my life for a reason. Whatever that reason may be, I guess we would find out.

I finally arrived back at the hotel, grabbing my purse and walking up to my room. I get inside and start to flip through the hotel’s menu for room service. Ultimately deciding that I would change into some warmer clothes and find something to eat outside the hotel, I was in Paris after all. As I was getting dressed, the hotel room phone started to ring. I walked over to it curiously and picked it up. The woman on the other end with a thick accent telling me that my tour guide was here to meet me. My eyebrows scrunched together, wondering why this tour guide was here on the wrong day. Thinking maybe the details were messed up, I told the woman to send him up. I hung up the phone, if anything maybe this guys could help me find somewhere to eat. I walked over to the door after hearing a light knock, opening it quickly.

My eyes instantly meet a pair of familiar light brown ones. His smile wide and beaming. I felt like I was hallucinating.

“Hi, I’m your tour guide. Is it okay if I’m a little early?” He says with a cheesy French accent, smiling down at me before pulling me into his arms.

_____________________________________________________________

A/n: Please let me know what you think! Part 3? Follow my new account :)

[yougottalovebuckybarnes]

Angry (Bucky x Reader)

A/N: Okay, so I’ve done my research on Bruce Banner, and I KNOW that technically he doesn’t have a medical degree, but here’s what’s on the marvel wiki page:  “ Dr. Bruce Banner is a genius in nuclear physics, possessing a mind so brilliant that it cannot be measured on any known intelligence test.” So.... we’re just gonna do some ‘imagining’ and just say that he is also somewhat experienced in the medical field.  Bear with me. I’m just a girl who wants to write about Bucky Barnes. :)

WARNINGS: Angst, injuries, angry Bucky, slightly irritating but humorous Tony Stark

Y/N’s POV

It was no one’s fault.

 I did not go on the mission to be babied the whole time. I knew the risks that came with being on a team with the Avengers. I was willing to put my life at risk to save others.

And that’s exactly what I did. 

The mission was going well, a successful infiltration of a secret HYDRA base in the States, when I was shot. One moment I was standing, my gun aimed to fire at the leader of this particular base who was about to end Steve’s life and the next I was laying on the floor, blood soaking through my suit at an alarming rate. 

I lay there, gasping for air as more bullets flew through the room. I heard the soft thuds of bodies hitting the cold concrete floor, and I struggled to hold onto my consciousness.  A figure entered my vision,  and I squinted to see Steve hovering over me. 

“The bullet hit just above her left collarbone.  She’s bleeding pretty heavily. “ He picked me up in his arms and I let out a small groan in pain as he began to run. 

“Get her back to the jet.” I heard Banner’s voice reply, and I stared up at the sky, wanting to just close my eyes and forget about the pain.

“Don’t close your eyes, doll.” Steve muttered as we got closer to the jet. “Hold on for just a little while longer.”

“It fucking hurts, Rogers.” I mumbled, wincing as more blood continued to steadily flow from where the bullet had pierced my skin. 

“I know. But we’re going to get you some help. You just need to stay awake. Bucky’s waiting back at the Tower for you.”

I let out a small sigh as I thought of my boyfriend of two years. Boy, was he going to be angry. 

Not that he wouldn’t be already. 

Bucky had tried his hardest to convince me to stay, insisting that Steve, Tony, and Bruce could take this mission on their own. I knew that I had a job to do, that I had signed up for this on my own free will. But I also knew that he wouldn’t let me leave. So, after much discussion with the others, I waited until Bucky had fallen asleep and left with them early in the morning three days earlier. Natasha and Wanda kept him busy, and swore not to say where we were going. To our knowledge... he never found out.

“H-He’s going to break up with me.” I murmured as Steve gently placed me on a cot that was set up in the jet, and Bruce immediately started to inspect my gun shot. 

“I don’t think he’s going to do that, Y/N.” Steve shut the door to the plane, and immediately went to the cockpit to start to fly us home. “He loves you too much.”

“He might break up with Steve, though.” Tony commented from his seat, and Steve turned to give him a nasty look. “Oh, is Stucky not actually a thing?”

“You know wh-”

“Shut up!” Bruce snapped, and the plane fell silent as it began it’s way towards home. “I need you two idiots to stay quiet while I try to stop the bleeding. I don’t have enough supplies to take out the bullet right now. Just get us home as fast as you can, Cap.”

“Got it.” Steve muttered, and I felt myself becoming more dizzy as time went by. 

“You gotta stay awake, Y/N.” Bruce said, as he applied more bandages to my wound, trying to stall the bleeding that continued to soak through bandages seconds after they were applied. “We’ll be home soon.” “To Bucky?” I smiled drowsily.

“To Stucky.” Tony chuckle from up next to Steve, and a moment later, I heard a loud smack in the background. “OW!”

“How much time till we get back to base?” Banner called, choosing to ignore the episode that was occurring between Steve and Tony.

“Ten minutes.”

“It needs to be less than that. Go faster.” 

“Ugh...” I groaned, as my head began to pound and my consciousness began to fade away faster. “It hurts, Bruce.”

“I know...” He muttered, and continued to rush to try to stop the bleeding. “We’re almost there, Y/N. We’re almost home.”

“Home.” I mused, and my mind drifted to Bucky.

He was going to be beyond mad. Cross, furious... explosive. It was going to be a mess the moment the plane landed. 

“Bruce, don’t let Bucky kill either of those two idiots.” I gave a small giggle. 

“Hey!” 

“The two idiots who I love!” I added, and I could almost here Tony roll his eyes. “I don’t want to create any more trouble.”

“I won’t let him do anything stupid.” Bruce almost smiled, and I let out a small sigh, as my eyelids began to feel much more heavy than they had moments before. “How much more time?”

“We’re almost there!”

“That’s not an answer! How much more time?”

Their words became muffled, and my vision blurry as my eyelids slowly fluttered shut. The last thing on my mind before darkness took over was Bucky. My Bucky. God.... please don’t let him be angry.

---

Steve’s POV

The jet landed, and I immediately jumped out of my seat as Bruce took her out and to the medical wing. Upon exiting the jet, I came face to face with Bucky Barnes. His eyes were filled with anger, but upon seeing Y/N’s broken body in Bruce’s arms, they were livid with fury. His hand connected with my jaw before I could say a word, and he grabbed my collar before pulling me close to him. 

“Why didn’t you fucking tell me she was going to pull shit like this?” He growled, as a dribble of blood trickled from my nose. “I thought you were my friend.”

“I am! But she’s an adult woman.” I shoved away from him. “She can make her own choices.”

“I knew something like this was going to happen!” Bucky yelled, as he stumbled backwards a few steps. “I knew she was going to get hurt! And you wonder why I’m so protective of her!”

“Bucky...”

“Look, Metal Arm, Y/N signed up to be on this team.” Tony walked out of the jet, his eyes narrowed as he looked at Bucky. “She signed up for all of the risks that came with it too. But she also got a family out of it. So we helped her, yes. But we saved her life, and got her here. Now, it’s up to the doctors to save her. But maybe instead of trying to kill Rogers here, you go and stay by your girlfriends side for awhile.”

Bucky moved towards him, and I tensed as he stopped right in front of him. 

“Stay out of my way, Stark.” He growled, before turning and walking away, following where Bruce went. I sighed and rubbed my temple gently.

“Thanks, Tony.” “No problem, Capsicle. Just get some rest. I’ll make sure to give you updates if anything happens over night.”

---

Y/N’s POV

I let out a small groan as my eyes opened to a bright light, which resulted me in closing them again. After a few moments, I opened them again, and they adjusted quickly. I was alive.

I was laying in a bed, an IV in my arm, and a bandage wrapped around my body. I winced slightly at the pain that wracked my body as I shifted slightly in bed. I guess that bullet really did some damage. 

“You’re awake.” My head turned to see Bucky sitting in a chair in a corner. His eyes had dark circles under them, and they were slightly red with exhaustion. They were not the beautiful blue color that were filled with excitement each time he saw me. They were dull and filled with pain. 

“How long was I out?” I asked, my voice slightly raspy. 

“Two days.” He replied with no emotion. “If we’re counting... that’s 5 days in total that I thought I had lost you.”

“Buck...” my eyes began to fill up with tears. 

“Don’t.” Bucky shook his head as he stood up and sat down on the edge of my bed. “Don't do that. I can’t believe you left and went even when I asked you not to.”

“It’s my job.” I said quietly, not wanting to start an argument, but not ready to back down either. “And it was only because I wasn’t being careful.”

“Will you be ready the next time?” Bucky asked, irritation leaking into his tone. “Or will I be attending your funeral?”

“Stop.” I snapped. “I know the risks that come with this job. I’m willing to die for the safety of everyone else.”

“Your life is worth just as much as everyone else’s, Y/N.” He gave me a cold look.

“What do you want me to say, Bucky?” I laughed humorlessly, feeling the tears slowly start to fall from my eyes. “That I’ll quit my job only because you want me to be safe? That I’ll always be safe for the rest of my life? That I’ll never die?” 

He flinched at my words, but I didn’t stop.

“Do you even want to be with me anymore?” I asked brokenly, my voice falling to a quiet whisper.  His eyes reflected more pain at my words.

“Of course I do.”

“Then why do you act like this?” I sniffled. “Why don’t you want me going on missions?” “I want to keep you safe.” Bucky grabbed my hand gently. “That’s all I want. And I want you safe, because I love you.”

“You love me?” I asked quietly, not sure if I heard him correctly.

“I. Love. You.” He gave a small smile. “And all I want is to be with you, safe and sound. I don’t want you to get hurt. I know that there will always be that risk when going out on missions, and I’ve been trying so hard to keep you away from that. But, clearly, that’s not the right approach. “

“No.” I squeezed his hand gently. “But we’ll find the right one. Together.”

“Good.” Bucky smiled.

“And Buck?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you too.” I smiled, and he let out a chuckle.

“Good.” He leaned in and kissed me softly. 

Outside of the room, Tony and Steve stood watching quietly. Tony looked over at Steve. “They’re cute.”

“Sickly cute.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s true.”  He mused for a moment, before commenting, “So... there’s no Stucky then?”

“Tony... just shut up already!” 

----

TAG LIST

@strangenerdsstuff

[newworldofsports]

Back in the Booth

The Covid-19 pandemic put a sudden halt to the sports world, which affected athletes of all ages across the world. But it was more than just the athletes themselves who got affected. For Cody Chalifoux, a junior broadcaster at Endicott College in March of 2020, he was preparing to put on the headset for the Endicott Gulls baseball season – the season he looks forward to the most. As schools and sports were shut down for months, Chalifoux was left with no sports to call. Instead of setting up shop behind the plate, he returned to his home in Martha’s Vineyard. An outgoing Chalifoux – who is a communication major - struggled without being in the booth, but made sure to use the time off to his advantage. Not only did he stay sharp and up to date with the Gulls’ players and updates, but he put a different headset on, creating the “Ultimate Gull” podcast with his fellow classmate and broadcaster. Back for his senior year in September, Chalifoux still was not able to return to the booth as Endicott did not participate in the Fall athletic season. However, for the first time in 361 days, Chalifoux was finally able to call a game in February, as Endicott retook the playing field. Besides calling almost any Endicott game he can make, Chalifoux has also began calling Beverly High School’s sports as well. It was a long, unwanted break, but Chalifoux is now back where he belongs.

What’s your background in sports in general?

I've been playing basically three sports a year for my entire life. From when I was about five or six years old until the end of high school, I was always playing baseball, basketball, football, track, volleyball, anything I could really do. I was really focused in on baseball, football, basketball in my later years, so I really have been playing sports, basically, my entire life watching sports. Playing sports, playing sports video games, everything sports I was basically doing since I could walk.

So how did that transition into broadcasting?

Well, once I figured out ‘Well, hey, maybe, you know, this five foot 11 white kid wasn't gonna make the pros,’ I decided, well, maybe I can talk about them. I'm pretty good at talking, I like sports, so that seems like a good fit. And ever since I was little, I always thought that was gonna be my backup plan - I was going to go the pros and then become a commentator afterwards. So, I really always had an interest in commentating sports, I always had an interest in being around sports. If couldn't play, I would want to talk about it. So, coming to Endicott they gave me the opportunity to do that for four years and I've loved it.

Was that your first experience as a broadcaster?

Yeah, so I didn't have any opportunities, mostly because I was playing the sports and all my other high schools didn't really have that, you know, broadcaster availability. We were just playing in the gym, no one knew unless they saw in the paper the next day, or they went to the actual games. So, Endicott was really my first try and my first stab at broadcasting.

How'd you get into that at Endicott?

Well, actually, originally, I don't even know the program existed. There wasn't anything about it in like the Endicott brochures I was reading about. I knew they had a really good communications program and I knew that kind of aligned with broadcasting so that’s why I decided to come here, but I kind of lucked into it. I was in one of those, like, career fairs and I was talking to somebody and they asked me what I wanted to do, and they happen to be a broadcaster. So, I said I wanted to become a sports broadcaster and they set me up with Shawn Mederois, our sports information director here at Endicott, and I've been doing games ever since.

And how has the experience been as a whole as a broadcaster?

The experience been great, obviously, you know, you don't come out of the box good but we've been we've had up to six men at a time you know doing games – nice little crew we've had. So, we've been calling games and then going back watching them, just trying to improve year in year out, we get to know some of the athletes, some of the coaches, some of the people around the teams, the team as a whole so it's just been a super fun thing. You know, I get paid to watch sports, which is what I want to do with the rest of my life. So, I'm glad I can at least do it for these four years.

What do you think the biggest challenge has been?

Biggest challenge definitely for me, personally, I talk really fast, my brain works little faster than my mouth can go so I sometimes can stumble just little things. It's fun, but it's not as easy as people think it is. There's a lot of work that goes into it, a lot of prep work to know what you want to talk about. Make sure you speak and annunciate and don't sound like a complete fool up there, just speaking gibberish. And then also like learning new sports, like I had no interest in like really volleyball or field hockey or soccer, and I've called those sports for the last three years. So just learning and pushing myself to do as much as I possibly can and be as good as everything that I possibly can. That's really been probably the biggest challenge.

What’s your prep work for a game?

So, prep for the game. Usually, I look at what the both of the two teams that are playing and look at how they've performed the last couple games they've played. I might decide, well, I know this player is playing really, really well so I'll kind of like do an interview with them or I'll be like ‘Hey, I noticed you're doing well, like I want to know a little bit more about you’ or I'll go digging online to see if they have any high school stories that were written and just try to get that more in depth story. Like also look at like who's leading a conference in points or who has the most home runs and things like that. So just really anything that I kind of want to bring, you know, it's kind of like a script almost, like I know what I want to so I find the things that helped me and kind of map out my game I'm gonna call. So prep. varies, but it's mostly just how the team's been playing, kind of getting to know the other team, especially if you haven’t seen them, and trying to deliver the fans some interesting tidbits on both sides.

Did you have a favorite broadcaster growing up, or still now, that you modeled your calls off of or just looked up too?

My work has been influenced by many broadcasters along the way, but mostly Don Orsillo. His ability to deliver a big moment as well as be himself and have fun has always resonated with me.

Do you have a favorite sport to call?

Definitely baseball. I've always been a big baseball guy. But baseball and basketball I'd say my, my two. I think I know the most about baseball and basketball so they're the easiest ones. And I really enjoyed baseball and basketball more than any other sport. But basically, if I were to pick baseball definitely would be the one I would want to call the rest of my life. Yeah.

So the COVID break hit right before baseball season last year, correct?

Like right after they played like a few games.

What was your reaction when we first got shut down and sent home with COVID?

Obviously, we just had played St. Joe's man, I believe. And we got shut out. So, we had a couple a couple of games at home I think called two, three, I think. And then the shutdown happened and obviously at first it was we're just gonna have an extra week of spring break, whatever. And the baseball team was about to go to Florida so by the time we got back, it would have been whatever and then they were like, ‘Yeah, no, you're not coming back at all.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, shoot, like, that was the last game I called’ and we didn't know how long it's gonna last so I was thinking what if that was the last game I ever called at Endicott. But it was definitely a little surreal. Like oh shoot like that ended a lot quicker than I thought it was going to be because usually we would probably call another month and a half of baseball and softball. So, it was kind of just a little frustrating a little upsetting that, not only for me but for like the players that I knew on the team that they their season got cut short, so just a little frustrating all around.

When you went home, did you do anything to kind of stay in, I don't know, is there broadcasting shape?

When I was younger, when I was playing sports video games, like you know, Madden, 2k or The Show I would actually commentate while I was doing the game. So, I kind of went back to that and try that out. But it was just whatever I could do to watch sports and NBA TV played a lot of like old school games like Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Kobe games, I would go watch back from like 2010 or 1980s. Just to watch the sports, maybe like in my head to be a little more conscious of what the broadcasters are saying, or kind of introduce that to my repertoire as well and just you know, just try to stay out with sports as much as possible just to like kind of keep my brain thinking that way.

So how long was it in between of you calling games?

It was 361 days.

What was the first game you called?

It was basically a full one year layoff, it was March, 10 2020 was the last day we called, and then March 6, 2021 was the first official game back on campus. That was women's basketball. They got to play against Suffolk and that was the first like official sporting event on campus.

Did you feel rusty at all calling that game?

A little bit, obviously. Some things like talking fast a little bit more. I think basketball is one of my strongest sports so it wasn't as rusty, but you know still you know probably mispronounce the name here or there but, it was actually pretty good for the first time back.

How happy just for you in general to be back?

I was super happy, I mean like I said this is what I want to for rest of my life. I’ve never had a bad day in the booth. I've never walked out of the game upset or mad or like I've always thoroughly enjoy, even the sports I don't really care for too much as a soccer, even in those games I'm always excited to do those games. I'm always happy when I leave those games. It actually fell on my birthday so that was like one of the best birthday presents I've got.

What’s the outlook here for the last two months? What are you calling?

The last two months’ baseball for me and volleyball as well. It's a little bit different normally have two men booths. much like this you see in my professional broadcasts, but with COVID regulations it's one mostly. I've done a two-man booth once so far, this year. I'm also working for Beverly High School. In between, when the first semester when Endicott didn't have any sports, Beverly was playing so I worked for them for a little bit before I had to go home with mono, unfortunately. But it's basically basketball, or excuse me, baseball, and volleyball and then with some other sports sprinkled in here and there. It's a fluid schedule. They have the schedule mapped out but you never know if a team is going to get a game canceled or maybe even the season canceled. We’re just hoping every weekend we get to call a game.

[orbyssarchives]

A Brief tl;dr

This is probably a lot to say for 20 unfinished webcomic pages and I know I can be fairly long-winded so if you just wanna skip ahead and click through the pictures I’ve put up, I understand.

The TL;DR is

Hello and welcome to Mage Punk Archives! My name is Tables and this is some of the work that I’ve done over the last few years and what I’ve been up to in my little corner of the world. This is the third and last of a series of posts, outlining a number of updates that I completed on the site.

Included are some of my inspirations and a little of what I’ve learned so far about myself as an ever growing artist up to this point.

After this, I want to keep the content more focused on the actual art and story.

  I’ll post to this site as often as I am able.

    Thanks for reading!

  ***

Long Ago, Before the miracle of handheld internet searches and Instagram

When I was but a young, internet webling, I was heavily into shitty online flash games and looking for anything even remotely related to my interests at the time. From Mario and Sonic to various comics, videos games, anime and things never to be said aloud (pornpornporn). My love of the likes of Super Mario Bros and Sonic the Hedgehog (big fandoms for me at the time) would later lead me to sprite comics. Today, my feelings for the little hodge podge collage strips of old video game sprite sheets and backgrounds are a little mixed.

(They were beautiful and I’m gonna make one someday)

Then, in Highschool, I took a basic Web Design class. It was a VVoid World Web of Notepad and Internet Explorer where a kindly old crone passed on to those of us there, some knowledge of the ancient runic language which forms the foundations of the World Wide Web: HTML. Tables, frames, css, oh my! This knowledge would eventually prove invaluable.

Throughout our studies we were occasionally allowed to venture out into the Wider World Web. It was during these little adventures and travels across the Web that I happened upon the magical land of Webcomics. It was also during this time that I began break free of the enchantment of sprites. Even though I would probably never return to them, they would always hold a special place in my heart.

  The Internet is for [Comics]

    Webcomics – Synonymous with “Masochism”

At first, I had no idea just how grueling webcomics could be. Most webcomic artists pump out pages one to three times a week. At the time I got into them, MegaTokyo, then still partially a video game webcomic, was just releasing its third printed book; 2-3 updates a week with a loosely set schedule. Evan Dahm was wrapping up his surreal fantasy epic, Rice Boy; with updates consistently going up Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The various sprite and drawn webcomics that I was following at the time were updating all the time. Seeing all the great work going up, I felt encouraged to try it myself.

I drew these closer to the end of my junior year of high school.

Desu

Taking major inspiration from a lot of the manga and anime that I was enjoying then, I used pen and ink to make my comic pages. I liked working in black and white because it felt direct and skipping on color made it easier to finish faster. I figured I could work faster if I didn’t have to worry about the extra step. When I did want to use color, as is typical for the early pages of a new manga, I used markers.

At the time, I had no idea that mangakas used assistants. That’s messed up.

Not to say that it was completely unrealistic, but back in the real world I could only average one black and white page a week. If even. The spider webs I was drawing all over were so that I wouldn’t have to use a ruler to draw my panel proper borders. I thought it gave the comic an “old archive”. In the end, I concluded that the spider webs should have their place and not be all over.

This time, I decided to work a little more carefully and deliberately.

  Moving Forward

It was going pretty well but by the time page 7 rolled around, it was time for midterms and I had become too self-conscious and uncomfortable with the way I was drawing my comic pages then. Then, it was time to take finishing high school seriously and before I knew it, I was a freshman at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. I did a lot of growing in the next four years that I attended there. Unfortunately, I never revisited those pages. Instead, near the end of my sophomore year, I took a Sequential Art class where the Final was a full-color, 5-page comic.

These are the ink-wash versions of the 7-page Final that I submitted. I’d originally colored them digitally to meet project requirements but I don’t want to post those just yet..

  In the End

I wasn’t satisfied. The truth was that I waited until the last minute, rushed it, and over-reached on a re-draw that wasn’t much fun for me to work on. During the course of that Sequential Art class my professor turned my attention to artists like Moebius and Mike Mignola. I also came across Katsuya Terada’s stuff around this time.

  And school went on…

    I worked on Mage Punk when I could between assignments.

    Between thinking I could possibly work on a for-print comic…

    …and a webcomic at the same time.

  The End was Near

Most of these were actually made towards the end of my four years at Ai. Those of us graduating were tasked with compiling our work from the years past in accordance with the requirements for obtaining our degrees. I believe that we were given two semesters to gather our pieces and do any revisions to previous works to get them up to date with the rest of the portfolio piece. Illustration Graduates at AiFL were typically required to gather a required selection of their work into an on-demand printed book. The year that I graduated, my department decided to change things around a little. Specifically, we were given the option to collect the requirement work into a plain black binder portfolio and make the printed book more geared towards our pursuits. I opted to make a Mage Punk/Orbyss Archives “Zine” as my main portfolio piece.

  And Then College was Over

I drew a few more pages of the comic until I became employed full-time. These days, there aren’t enough free hours in my days for me to keep up with any typical webcomic’s update schedule so for a long while I stopped working on the comic altogether. I’m squeezing as much work out of every second that I’m not there; with whatever energy I can muster. This includes planning, writing, sketching and drawing. Before I got back to work on the site, I was posting fairly regularly to my Twitter and Instagram; those posts took time to do as well.

  Most of this post was written in separate sessions on my commutes to work.

“Shortcuts”

Even though I always wanted to present Mage Punk as a webcomic, I always worked on it like it would go to print eventually. This created a confusing mindset for me when working on the comic, where I had to work on a whole book, but I have to rush to finish every page. If I wanted to put out pages more frequently I took shortcuts at any point I could to be done with them. Even if I created a good buffer of finished pages, I’d still run into that same pitfall eventually. I wasn’t enjoying my project because of a pressure I applied on myself to finish it in a way I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with. I didn’t even get that much done in the end.

It’s important that I work on it at a pace that lets me show the best of my ability. I would love it if I could be properly finished with the pages before I post them but if I wait before it’s all good and done I’ll just never get around to posting anything, forever floating, aimlessly, throughout creative internet limbo.

Instead, if I have to work on my comic in piecemeal, I’ll just post it up in piecemeal. Mage Punk will still be presented as a webcomic but, until the end of the book is done, certain changes are still a possibility. Editing is an important part of producing any book and I’m going to make its presentation reflect that.

  Cue Rhidiculous shouting “I told you so!” from some nearby bushes.

  A Webcomic in Presentation Only?

Those Two Images are the Same Page

Instead of trying to finish things at breakneck speeds, I’m going to work on the comics at a more reasonable pace. I’ll try to work on it mainly Chapter to chapter instead of page to page like how a webcomic normally is done (buffers aside) This gives me the opportunity to take a step back and get a broader look at the story while still putting out content in enjoyable chunks.

It’s difficult for me to wrap my head around drawing a comic on a start-to-finish, page-by-page basis. While I was working on the later pages in the chapter I kept finding myself jumping around and making changes to previous pages to make some things more consistent with later parts of the story. Instead of working page-by-page, I was editing the chapter as a whole to try to strengthen the narrative I’m trying to tell.

To that end, I still want to present it on this site as a webcomic; if only in name and archive.

The Process

At the VERY longtime behest of my editor, I’ll be presenting the comic as a work in progress at various points in the following production stages.

Writing

I’ll post dialog excerpts here and there. Nothing that can spoil the story too much.

This step will be kept largely behind the scenes.

Thumbnails

I do these on index cards in ballpoint pen to figure out the sequence of events that I most prefer.

This is the step where I’m prone to overloading a page with information.

First Drafts

Full size roughs of the earlier thumbnails. This step helps me get a better sense of how crowded or unbalanced a page might be early on.

This step also helps to prune out any strenuous scenes or dialog that could otherwise have their own pages.

If it isn’t working visually at this point, it’s not going to work in the next step.

Pencils

This is where the real drawing happens. Drawings in this step are made by either digital or traditional means depending on when or where I’m working.

Inking

This step is exactly like the drawing step but in pen and ink. Despite my affinity for real pen and ink, I’ll mainly be working this step digitally.

Color

This step is wrought with indecision but it also one of the faster, more fun steps to do.

Lettering

I’ve removed the dialog from all the pages currently up, opting to keep that out until a chapter is completed; it’s the thing I’m likeliest to change the most frequently until the end.

All lettering is currently done digitally but I’m considering the possibility of hand lettering.

Drawing dialog can be quite fulfilling but it takes a lot of practice.

Editing

This part will be happening all throughout. Page re-orders, panel redraws, changes in dialog.

Until the book is done.

  Here We Are

I’ve already made some revisions to a handful of the pages that are already up; if you browse through the comics you can see the revisions noted in the comic descriptions. I’ll make blog posts for any major revisions or series of revisions that I do. I have a few ideas for some smaller projects that I can work on while I work on Mage Punk. Whether they be illustrations, stories, or even mini-comics like this silly thing down here.

      Moving on

I might have also mentioned before that I have a few other drawings that I wanted to make for the site. In particular I have a neat idea for some social media icon illustrations. I wanna make something that takes advantage of what I’ve learned with using CSS. It’s nothing too fancy.

All that said, future posts will be a bit more brief than these last three were. I’d much rather write and post about the work itself, but I feel like I’ve hit a personal milestone and felt the need to ramble on about it a little.

    Until next time,

  Thanks for reading!

    The Big Site Update (Part 3) A Brief tl;dr This is probably a lot to say for 20 unfinished webcomic pages and 

[ayuok]

Here’s my life update

So a few weeks ago I get this message from a girl in the wind ensemble, and it’s just a sticker of a waving cat. I’d never talked to her aside form seeing her between our lessons or in the wind ensemble, and we have a weird conversation because it sent in her purse. Fast forward a few days, and there’s a wind ensemble party that I most likely wasn’t going to go to especially since before was my first LTMC meeting. I get message from her making sure I knew that the location moved, and I was kinda touched that even after all these years of not going to these things, someone still wanted to make sure I could make it. So I ended up going, and it was at Andrew’s house, so I knew we could talk about LTMC after if we felt like it. (I’ll note this would have been the second party I’d ever go to, and the first one was the day before for Cinco de Mayo). It was a super laid back party. The only spot to sit down was by a guy sitting next to Kaitlyn, and it turns out to be her roommate Challen, and we all pretty much talked the whole time. The next day was a Zumba master class that Andrew told me about, so I was super hyped. I show up, and Andrew, Ashley, and Kaitlyn were there. And between all the songs Kaitlyn and I kept glancing at each other like “You okay?” “That song was crazy” yadayada. During one of the songs, there was a partner section, and we just kinda danced together for a bit, and it was fun. So that happens, whatever good time. Not a few minutes after I get home,  I get a message from her talking about the Zumba class, and since then we have talked everyday for a majority of the day, she even talks to me on her lunch breaks, and through all this talking we both discovered that we have a LOT in common, and it’s kinda weird? I’m not gonna lie, I’ve kinda neglected to tell her a few things, because I didn’t want it to seem like “Oh yea, that’s also my favorite thing!” to try and force a connection because I fucking hate that. And the reason I fucking hate it is because I used to do it in elementary school and I felt like such a poser. So the next week we’re talking pretty casually, and then there was a day where Ollis and I were both home playing games, and we just sat on the couch all day. I’m playing games and talking to Kaitlyn the whole time, and around 5pm he just goes “Who the fuck are you talking to?” And I tell him, and it dawns on me that ‘wow we have been talking a lot... this is kinda weird...’ I knew she had a boyfriend because she changed he profile picture on facebook one day during the semester. So at this point I check it out, and she’s no longer in a relationship, and, again because of the kind of person I am, and Ollis hyping me up I start kind of freaking out.  Like this girl just started talking to me pretty much out of nowhere isn’t that weird? I really haven’t had anyone express interest in me because I was in a long-term relationship for the past four years, and everyone I knew in college knew me as being in a relationship.  Then I start getting into a philosophical life talk with myself like am I ready for a relationship, maybe there’s just a mistake on facebook, who could I talk to about this, that sort of thing. I catch myself thinking all this stuff, and I go  Hold the fuck on. You sound like a fucboi right now! Someone’s talking to you, and you just go to the idea that their interested in you. Grow the fuck up, and just take it as it is.  So I chill out. While all of this is happening I have two things on my mind: 1. I need a job for the summer. 2. I need to go see my dad in Asia before getting that job. So because I need to see my dad first before getting a job, I try to deal with that issue. Turns out I lost my passport, and had to get a new one. Now of course I only found this out the day summer started and he asked when I want to come down, so I start freaking out like I’ll have to push getting a job now, and it costs $200+ to get a passport with expedited shipping. So whatever I go immediately to get a passport, and kinda realize, yea I don’t think I’ll be able to go because... I had applied for JCPenney where Ollis works, and he told me he had given me a good referral, and I had a really good shot at getting hired. I’m not able to make the first group interview because I had a final that day, and they were gonna get back to me on another date. This is why I couldn’t go to Asia. I didn’t know when the other interview would be, and I didn’t know how fast they would hire me. Fast forward to where I was with the Kaitlyn story, and Ollis told me I probably won’t get the job because they put up blackout days for inventory for the week I would be gone at LTMC. At this point I kinda gave up hope for working there. I needed those days, and if they weren’t allowing employees to take time off then, then I was screwed. This is when I started vague blogging about life being really stressful.  Hopping back into the Kaitlyn story, all the time we’ve been talking we also went to Zumba together. So then the weekend is coming and somehow Beauty and the Beast comes up as we’re talking, and I told her how I’d never seen it, and she says that it’s playing at the Joe near the end of June, and that “we” should go. Now I took this “we” as just about anyone does. You know when you’re talking with an acquaintance, and they bring up the idea that “we” should do that thing. No one is really committing to it, and you both just say ‘Totally! We are so doing it.’ Anyways, we keep talking and she’s kinda hyping it up, and I say that I probably can’t wait to see it till the end of June, I’ll note I think this is all happening around the second/third week of May, and will probably need to see it sooner. She say’s to tell her when so she can come with. Again I took this as a the earlier “we”, and was like ‘okay yea sure, how does this Thursday after Zumba sound?’ and she says it sounds great. So now I’m thinking “... okay...that’s not what I was expecting at all” Fast forward through the week that we’re talking the whole time, and sure enough we go to Beauty and the Beast Thursday, and it was stupendous, and we both had a great time.( For brevity’s sake just know we talk every day because I’m getting tired of typing it and know how many times I will) Fast forward through the week, and one day after Zumba she says she wants to get froyo, and I ask if I could accompany her because that sounds good. The store in the Joe isn’t open, and she asks if I wanna go to the one on Mae Anne, and I agree. We “race” there, and we both have an amazing time over foryo. This is where I find out that this girl is allergic to dairy. Not lactose intolerant, but allergic. However, she loves dairy and cheese, and will portion herself just a little bit every now and then to eat it. (Truly a woman after my own heart). Later on in the week, I end up going over to her house to play magic and board games with her roommate Challen. We have an awesome time. We went Chili’s after a while, and played Life on the little tablets they have there, and somehow Challen and I started talking like old people for the rest of the evening, and Kaitlyn was laughing the entire time. We went for froyo after dinner still old people voices, still a great time. Hung out the rest of the evening, and it was all so much fun. We continue talking and zumba-ing and somehow through our conversations we make a list of movies that we want to see together, and the next day, I go over to watch LOTR, and hang out like the previous venture.  It’s around this time I have my interview with JCPenney, and they hired me on the spot, even with me needing the time off. However, I need to wait for the background check to clear. Spoiler alert! It takes two weeks. After getting hired I immediately tell my Dad, “Hey I can’t come to Asia to see you”. Had I known it was going to take two weeks for my background check, I could have, but no.  Back to Kaitlyn, I need to say this because it’s one of the main reasons I feel like we have a connection. She wants to hang out with me. She actively asks me, “Hey do you wanna do this? Yo, we should do this.” First off, I’m not used to people wanting to hang out with me, second off, I’m really not used to a single person wanting to continually hang out with me (Aside from my main clique of friends of course) so many times.  As so many of my friends know, they’re my purpose for everything and my greatest joy, and my favorite thing to spend my money on is them. I love hanging out with my friends. I’m not really used to that the other way around??? Anyways, so we’re watching LotR with Challen because he’s never seen it top to bottom, and the whole time Kaitlyn and I are freaking out over the music, making jokes, doing fan theories, all sorts of stuff, and just having a great time. Challen ends up just taking selfies the whole movie. After this we make more plans to watch movies, and hang out and go to the gym  OH MY GOSH THE GYM So like the second week, I think this was even before Beauty and the Beast, we both decided to hit up the gym together. And we were there for like two hours doing an All Body workout, and it was really enjoyable. We looked at food on the cycling machines for like a half hour talking about what we liked. (This is actually when I found out she was allergic to dairy) So the next day after LotR, Nathan and I go to the gym together, and because I’ve been trying to take more pictures this summer, I’ve been taking a few with Kaitlyn, and he asks me what’s up, and I tell him the majority of what’s been going on, and he’s weirded out because he knew she had a boyfriend because this semester they played a duet together for the clarinet recital, and I believe he was interested in her. I tell him that she doesn’t anymore according to FB, and he gets this twinkle in his eye, and says “Really~?”  I don’t know why I am the way I am, but it was at this moment that I thought to myself, “Oh no... he’s gonna go after Kaitlyn... I don’t want that to happen” Like, when Nathan first told me he was kind of looking to hang out with Kaitlyn I was cheering him on because I had no idea who she was. But now that I remembered all of that, I felt terrible. Not because I was also interested, but because I flat out gave my support to him not two months ago, and now didn’t want to hear anything about it. This is when I realized I had developed feelings for her, and when the vaguing began. She didn’t have a boyfriend, but Nathan told me she was really into him when they talked about it, and now I realized that she probably needed some time to heal and figure out life. I had already been trying not to just put myself out there, and just let our friendship grow, but now I became very self aware of my behavior and actions around her. All the while we hung out from then on I was 100% myself, as I usually am, but the last thing I wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable or that I was looking at a possible relationship between us. All the while I was doing this though, we just really naturally came together? We talk about it a lot of how easy it is to talk to one another, and that it’s so easy to just hang out and we don’t feel like we have to hide a part of ourselves when we hang out.  I’m gonna skip more of the “we hang out and it’s great” because there’s a lot of it, except for one time in particular It was the day Beauty and the Beast came out, and it was around 11. She messages me asking if I wanted to go on an adventure to Chic-fill A and pick up Beauty and the Beast with her, and watch it after. I told her I could do all the adventuring, but needed to be home for a few hours, but that we could hang out afterwards. She picks me up from house, and we’re out for like three hours, and, like always, It’s a great time. And again, this whole thing of people wanting to hang out with me. Who does that??? So I get back home, go to lunch again with Ollis and Zack for our summer of fun new restaurant of the week, and after that I go hang out with Kaitlyn again.  Skipping all the specifics, we hung out 5/7 days last week. We didn’t plan to, we just ended up making the plans each day as they came. I started working this past Thursday, and again we hung out quite a few times since then. All weekend I’m pretty sure. She’s off on Sunday, so Saturday after work, we hung out, played magic, watched a few movies, and then after the movie it was about midnight, and that’s usually when I’d go home if we hung out that late, and I was making my normal body movement to leave, and she asks if I wanted to play more magic. I didn’t really want to stop hanging out, so I agreed and we played for a half hour. After the games were done there was a weird air, like, neither of us wanted the night to end, so we started rolling dice and flipping a ton of coins just adding up numbers, and having competitions. After that was kind of said and done, the air returned, and I ask if she was hungry, and immediately she jumps on her phone looking for places that are open.  We end up going to Denny’s and that was probably the best Denny’s trip of my life. Not the food... never the food, but hanging out with her. Another thing I forgot to mention that’s been really building this bond is that whenever we finish hanging out, she’ll message me right when I get home strangely enough and thank me for coming over and how good a time it was. So after getting home at 4am that night, I decided that I wanted to talk to her about what was going on between us. I didn’t know if we were hanging out, if we were going on dates even though neither of us specifically said so. Most importantly, and this was the part that was stressing me out so much those few weeks ago when I started vagueing about it, if there was something between us. We have such an amazing friendship that blossomed out of nowhere within a month and a half, and I didn’t want to risk it by making it seem like I was only interested if there was a possibility for a romantic relationship. So Monday night, we hung out, went out for dinner, watched Moulin Rouge with Challen, watched some youtube. Then Challen went to bed, and we listened/sang along/ reenacted the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack together. When it finished that weird air came about, and she just said “Hey we need more movies for our list” we went through 700 hits of a movie website adding certain ones to our list, and when we finished I knew it was the only time I had left to talk about it because she was gonna go to bed. So I asked her. I asked her if we were just hanging out, or if she was interested in something more.  Please don’t ever have an important talk like this for the first time at 2 in the morning. Because then the next day you’re never sure if you just caught them off guard or if they were tired or what. In this case it might have made things a little ‘smoother’? She got pretty frazzled and asked what I said, and I just said  “Are... are we a thing?” And in this conversation she completely laid to rest everything I had been stressing about. She told me that she wasn’t sure if we had been just hanging out or if we were going on dates the whole time, but that she definitely liked me, but she still needed time to get her life together, and decide. I told her how that was the most important thing for me was that she was doing what she needed, and that I was trying my best not to make her feel uncomfortable by giving out signs that she didn’t want to or wasn’t ready to reciprocate.  The whole month I had been trying to maneuver my way into talking with people about what was going on. I wanted to talk to Andrew, I wanted to talk with her roommate, but in the end I just needed Tiffany to tell me to just talk to her about it, and I’m so happy I did.  Kaitlyn and I have talked about that conversation once since then, and it was a very healthy and open conversation, and we’ve still been talking every day, and hanging out a lot. I missed a lot of the bonding stuff like how she’s a dancer and I really love to dance, and she wants to take me to a swing dance class, and how she really wants to meet Rango, and that she thinks it’s cute that I’ve told him all about her, or that she thinks the universe sets has a few things that are meant to be, but let people live their lives, and other stuff like that, but yea.  So there’s my life update. I’m sorry it took so long to update. I’m sure you were all annoyed by me vaguing for a week that I wanted to talk to people, and then fell off the face of the Earth, but instead of having time to vague blog, I ended up just hanging out with her, so I think it worked out pretty well. In the end if we decide we should just stay friends, that will still be phenomenal, but I’d really like to see how we can build each other. Thank you all for your support, and talking to me.

[teimywimey]

My first fic posted to AO3 (or anywhere)!

Summary:

Every person is born with their soulmate's name written somewhere on their body. Symmetra’s used to be on her left wrist.

Or

Sombra has no real connections. The person she used to be did, but it’s better this way. Soulmates complicate things.

Chapter under the cut

As hard as Satya tries, she can’t forget the strange golden letters that had once glinted on her left wrist. No one in her family had been able to read the foreign alphabet. She had hoped, when Vishkar had plucked her from her home and enrolled her in their academy, that someone would have been able to read her soulmate’s name for her. But they had told her to put it out of her mind and focus on her studies. Then the gleam was gone, replaced by flat white and a soft, glowing blue.

---

A dingy gay bar somewhere on Route 66 isn’t where Sombra expects to meet a world-famous pop star, especially on Christmas Eve, but here she is. Even more convenient was the overlap between this and another job she had been given. The place is a comfortable kind of quiet. Most of the patrons seem to know each other, even though all but a few sit alone. Some curiously eye Sombra - a couple women with obvious desire in their expressions.

Sombra loves the attention, of course, but there are more important matters at hand. She sends a last flirtatious look to the woman in the corner with full sleeves and turns back to the young man who has just sat down across from her.

“Lúcio Correia dos Santos,” she says, grinning. “A pleasure to finally meet you.”

He smiles back at her. “It’s about time, isn’t it?”

“I suppose it is. So, what have you got for me? And why did you want to meet in person?”

Lúcio shrugs. “This place is on the way from Vegas to Phoenix, and I figured I may as well have some fun before the next show.”

“So you snuck out to go to a gay bar,” Sombra teases.

“Hey now, this can’t be the first time either of us have done this.” They laugh, then Lúcio sobers. “To answer your other question, stuff has been up in Rio. We haven’t seen the architechs in months. The security forces are still around, of course.” His expression hardens at the thought of the private police force Vishkar employs to keep the citizens of his city ‘in order.’ “I’ve heard they’re talking to Lumérico about redeveloping Dorado.”

Sombra nods, hiding the concern that sweeps through her. “They are. It’s been in the cards for a while. You gotta give me more than that, man.”

“ I know.” Lúcio sighs. “Listen, about the architechs? I dug into their backgrounds when you gave me the info on Vishkar, and there’s some stuff that just doesn’t make sense.”

“How do you mean?”

He digs into his pocket and pulls out a data cache. “Take a look.”

Sombra takes the cache - one she had given Lúcio over a year ago when they had first started working together - and connects to it, her enhancements glowing slightly brighter for a moment in the dim light of the bar. There is information from the last forty years, mostly from India: birth and death records, news articles, school transcripts, police reports, bank statements, and on and on and on. The data seems almost mundane until Sombra pauses to consider it more carefully. Transcripts that end with a note that the student withdrew or transferred are followed by missing persons reports. Others are followed by bank transfers out of the blue - many to previously empty accounts. The few police reports that any progress had been made on are followed by articles about unidentifiable bodies being pulled out of rivers. Her eyebrows raise as she notes that many of the records have been marked as deleted in the databases they originated from. She looks at the profiles of the architechs. Names, approximate ages, and even academic records all seem to match up. It takes her less than a minute to analyze all of it, and when she finishes, she looks back to Lúcio.

“So Vishkar has been kidnapping kids and/or coercing parents into giving their children up for decades.” She runs her hand through her hair and lets out a long, slow breath. “That’s low, even for them.”

Lúcio nods grimly. “And some of my people have come to me - teachers talking about missing students, kids who haven’t seen their siblings in days, parents who can’t find their children - Vishkar is doing the exact same thing in Rio, I know they are.”

“Most of this data is from India.”

“Which is where Vishkar was founded, forty-three years ago. It’s also where their academy is. But there are similar reports from everywhere they’ve expanded since then.” Lúcio takes a breath. “I was gonna pursue this myself, but I’m not as good at this stuff as you. You get the information, I empower the people. I’m way out of my league here.”

Sombra nods. “Alright, then. I’ll look into it and keep you updated.” She extracts the information from the data cache and replaces it with new files. “Here’s what I’ve got for you.”

He accepts it immediately and looks through the first few documents. “Helix owns Vishkar’s security force?”

“They contracted them through a shell company.”

“I see,” he says, frowning. “It’s good to finally meet you, Sombra. I should get going. I’ll keep you posted if I find out anything else.”

“Likewise. Have a good show in Phoenix, man.”

“Thanks,” he smiles and slips out of the booth, then leaves the bar.

Sombra leans back into the cushions for a moment, then stands and goes to the bar for a drink. The vodka tastes cheap and disgusting. She looks at it dubiously for a moment, trying to figure out if it has been poisoned or is just that bad. The bartender shoots her a dirty look.

She checks her Talon communicator. There was only one message, from Gabe: ‘Status report.’

‘The cowboy is fine,’ Sombra responds, looking down the bar to the strangely dressed man Gabe had asked her to tail over the holidays. ‘Drunk, but fine.’

The little check mark appears at the bottom of the screen. Sombra waits for a few moments, then sends off another message.

‘You know, you can text people back.’ The check mark appears again.

Rustling cloth and a warm body settling on a stool beside her distract Sombra from Gabe’s poor texting etiquette. The tattooed woman looks her up and down before tapping on the counter. As the bartender pulls a bottle down from the shelf behind him, she speaks.

“Haven’t seen you around here before. New in town?”

“Just passing through.” Sombra rests her elbow on the bar and looks over the woman’s arms, watching the muscles flex as she reaches out to take the drink the bartender sets in front of her.

The woman nods and takes a sip of her drink. She notices the way Sombra looks at her muscles, so she grins and flexes. Sombra holds up a hand and looks at the woman, asking for permission through eye contact. The woman nods again. Sombra pointedly retracts her nails, making the woman snicker, and squeezes her bicep. The muscle is thick and hard, but Sombra feels something even more intriguing under her palm - the slightly raised lines of the woman’s soul mark.

“You covered it up?” Sombra asks, curious, and not at all invested in losing or maintaining the woman’s interest in her.

The woman rolls her eyes. “Don’t tell me you actually believe in that shit. You waiting for your ‘one and only’ or something?” She snarks.

Sombra knows what the woman wants to hear. “No way. I make my own choices.”

The woman gives her a wry smile. “To free will,” she says, holding up her drink.

“To free will,” Sombra responds, clinking their glasses together.

---

Hours later, Sombra sits in her hotel room, going over the reports Lúcio had given her. The tattooed woman had been entertaining for a while, but Sombra had left as soon as she had fallen asleep. She had never been particularly concerned with finding her soulmate, though she knew that the woman was out there. Just because we’re soulmates it doesn’t mean everything is going to magically be perfect.

When she has compiled the data in a way she likes, she turns her attention to Vishkar itself. Their firewalls are easy enough to surpass, the advanced security simple to override. It would almost be fun if it wasn’t so easy. She picks out files pertaining to the architech academy. The intense academic rigor and draconian rules make her roll her eyes. Control freaks. Curious, she looks through the top students in each year from the past few decades, and finds one name consistently at the top.

Satya Vaswani.

Sombra pauses for a moment, then shakes her head. Satya is a common name, isn’t it? But she can’t help herself. She goes to the woman’s file and starts meticulously digging.

She isn’t quite sure what she’s looking for, why she feels a strange need to understand the person represented by the data on her holoscreens. She discovers Satya’s codename is Symmetra, that she had been ‘discovered’ in Hyderabad twenty-two years ago, and that she is probably the best architech on Vishkar’s payroll. Recent notes indicate that someone called ‘SK’ - presumably Satya’s boss or handler - is concerned about the architech’s dedication to Vishkar. ‘Response to events in while on assignment in Rio’ are cited as SK’s reason for doubt. Sombra narrows her eyes and remembers to look over the events surrounding Vishkar’s contract with the Brazilian government again soon. Satya’s academic records testify to her incredible skill with hard-light. Intrigued, she watches recordings of practical exams. Unlike her fellow students, Satya manipulates her tech with a fluid grace, reminding Sombra of a dancer. Her non-traditional method had been the subject of debate among the higher-ups of Vishkar, but they had ultimately agreed that the minor rule-breaking could be tolerated due to its effectiveness. Sombra scoffs. Of course.

As she looks through the architech’s medical files, she finds another video that piques her interest. She selects it. Based on the date displayed in the top right corner, it would have been filmed about a year and a half after Vishkar had ‘found’ Satya.

It is a psychological evaluation.

Sombra watches curiously as the doctors put ten-year-old Satya through a series of tests. She does quite well on the intellectual challenges, but is frequently stumped by emotional tasks. At one point, something overwhelms her, and she claps her hands over her ears to deafen herself. It is then that Sombra sees the flash of gold on Satya’s left wrist.

She pauses and rewinds the video, trying to get a closer look. The letters seem eerily familiar in their pattern of lines and angles, but the camera is too far away to make them out clearly. Sombra exits out of the video and flicks through all the other images of Satya like a woman possessed. Eventually she finds one where the mark is clear, and she has to compare it to a current photo, because this cannot be happening, there is no way, no, it can’t be. But the girl in the photo and the video had unmistakably grown up into the woman that was Vishkar’s top architech. It can’t be her. It’s not true.

But it is.

Sombra sits back, letting out a shaky breath. She looks down at the mark on her wrist, which she had been subconsciously rubbing with her thumb - the flowing golden script in a strange alphabet, which her processors now automatically translate for her.

Satya.