#i hope ur having a lovely thursday anon!!

[inkykeiji]

hi clari :p i just wanted to ask if flawless tomura is really in love with the reader? he’s my favorite of all your characters because he seems saner and more genuine than bmb tomura but some of the stuff he does/says seems like he doesn’t really love her

hehe hi anon!! <3 this is an interesting question, and it has an equally interesting and complex answer.

tw: discussions of abuse, drug addiction, mental illness, clari overshares, LONG answer

okay SO.

flawless tomura is, just like every other character i write, HEAVILY flawed as a person. he isn’t a ‘good’ person. he has a lot of issues/problematic qualities; he’s extremely entitled, he’s selfish, he is unhealthily possessive which leads to extreme jealousy and obsessiveness, he needs to be the boss at all the times and thus is extremely controlling, etc etc the list goes on. these are all huge red flags, obviously.

he is much more genuine than bmb tomura in the sense that he is extremely, extremely honest. he is so bluntly honest about his thoughts and his feelings, and he rarely lies unless he has a good reason to (and does not consider lying via omission—ie conveniently not telling reader about how he bought the consignment store and stalked her, is a drug addict, is heir to a yakuza empire, etc—to be lying. to him, it’s her fault that she didn’t ask. but he isn’t actively lying to her or hiding things from her; if she asked, he’d be brutally honest with her).

‘love’ can be a very interesting, complicated, complex and convoluted topic, depending on the relationship and the people. my father claims to love my mom, to love his kids, but he put us nearly a million dollars in debt, he stole money from all of us to support his drug addiction, he put me in some seriously dangerous situations when i was under ten fucking years old, all to support his drug addiction. he was and still is extremely abusive towards all of us. mental illness and extreme childhood trauma may be an explanation for his actions, but it isn’t and never will be an excuse. he is still responsible for his own decisions, and it is still his responsibility to get better, to DO better, and to be a decent fucking human being.

do i doubt his love? not necessarily, but he made a lot of very dire mistakes that caused all of us a lot of pain and irreversible scars, and eventually they’re no longer mistakes, they’re decisions, they’re conscious choices, they’re patterns of behaviour. and yet, despite these choices he consciously made, knowing they’d hurt those he loves and values most, i still wouldn’t say he doesn’t love us deeply and dearly, because i know my father, and i know he does.

a lot of people would say that these aren’t things you do to people you truly love, and i get that. i understand that sentiment. they most definitely are not things good and/or mentally healthy people do to those they love. i could never conceive doing any of the shit he did to us to my significant other. but the truth of it all is the people you love WILL hurt you at least once, because they are flawed human beings. and the truth is, no matter how hard you try not to, you WILL hurt the people you love at least once, because you are a flawed human being, too. i think, personally, what it comes down to is intent and reaction. we don’t usually mean to hurt our loved ones. those of us with good hearts don’t consciously make these decisions. and then it’s important to question: does that person take responsibility for their mistakes? do they acknowledge them and learn + grow from them and become better from them? or do they continue to make these choices even after they know they hurt you? etc.

i’m going off on this tangent to demonstrate how complex and complicated love can truly become when it involves a person like this; like tomura, like touya-nii, like my father. as i’m sure is very evident, my own father is a huge source of inspiration for the men i write, for lack of a better word. i am NOT going off on this tangent to excuse anyone’s behaviour or say it’s alright; no one deserves to be treated like this, and if anyone reading this finds themselves in a relationship like this, romantic or otherwise, please leave as soon as it is feasible; it is not healthy and it is not safe.

so does flawless!tomura genuinely love his reader? yes, absolutely. is it true love? i don’t know, what is true love, really? how do you define it? it’s a different answer for everyone. most of us would say no. but to HIM it most definitely is true love; he’d rip your fucking head off if you implied otherwise. this is the only way he personally can conceive love. does his ‘love’ excuse his abuse or make it okay? no, absolutely not, and it never will. but does he love her? yeah, he does.

it isnt always as black and white as people who have never experienced abuse would like you to believe. people are complicated, people are MESSY. conveniently, a lot of these themes and topics are touched upon in part two!

WHEW okay. that was a lot but i hope it helps a lil! art is subjective and i always welcome everyone who consumes my work to interpret it however they want to (death of the author n all that jazz, my own meaning + interpretation is only one of infinite), so this is my answer as the author. but it may also be beneficial (and fun!) to ask yourself what YOU think. how do you interpret his love/feelings and their relationship? what does true/real love mean to YOU? how do you define it? do the aggravating factors (ie who tomura is as a person, the fact that he won’t ever be capable of 100% healthy love) make an impact at all? do you believe this is love, or is it just really intense infatuation and obsession? etc!! you’re welcome to believe whatever you’d like <3 but this is my answer as the author! c:

[inkyclive]

some more thoughts for science and funsies

do you think cid is open to sharing? not to just like anyone, more specifically gav?

gav who always watches over the princess when he’s gone? gav who always has his baby girl’s interests at heart?

surely that’s worth a reward right? at the very least a show. and if cid is feeling super generous maybe gav even earned a few participation points ??? 🥹🐥

YES, 100%!!!! i can see cid sharing with gav, especially since they’re close and he trusts him, he knows gav does everything he possibly can, everything in his power, to keep his lil princess safe when cid’s away, and cid greatly appreciates that. it enables him to leave her with minimal anxiety because he knows she’s going to be well looked after + taken care of, even if gav does spoil her a little too much, and cid comes home to a baby that’s extra bratty, extra entitled, extra clingy <3 (not that he necessarily minds, of course)

honestly, cid doesn’t strike me to be someone who is extremely selfish or possessive. i think he’s extremely protective, so like you said he wouldn’t share with just anyone, but people he believes genuinely have your best interests at heart, and people he himself loves and trusts, are okay in his book. if they’ve earned it, if he thinks they’re deserving of it, then yeah he’s up to sharing! i could also see him sharing with clive!!! lately i have this idea bouncing around in my lil head of reader/you/us being her bratty, slutty, needy self and being extremely playful and teasing with clive, especially when he’s v new to the hideaway c: just flustering him, ‘accidentally’ flashing him her pretty panties or putting a dainty palm a little too high on his thigh to be appropriate, generally seeing how far she can push until he breaks—gets mad or gives in, not knowing is half the fun!—and then getting to make it up to him (or get punished! by him or cid or both <3).

cid thinks it’s pretty cute, thinks it’s pretty amusing, can’t help but chuckle to himself with a fond shake of his head when he sees her bending over in front of clive or touching him or batting pretty lashes at him as she says something borderline indecent and giggles at the way he chokes on his words or sputters and gargles his drink or growls about how she’s being inappropriate and she should stop this instant <3 cid’s pretty curious to see just how far she can push, too, and how clive will react when he finally snaps and loses it. will he take matters into his own hands immediately, grabbing lil princess’s wrists in a single large palm and shoving her against the wall and snarling at her to cut it out already? will he give into all of her teasing because he just can’t take it anymore, bending her over the nearest surface in a thick lust-and-anger induced haze and pounding the life out of her without thinking twice about it? will he come to cid with shame in his eyes and remorse in his voice and express that he doesn’t know what to do or how to handle this, worried cid might get angry at him, or her, or both? it’s a game to them both <3

[imaginespazzi]

Part 1: Don't Be A Stranger

Masterlist - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7

But if (my) world was ending, you'd come over right?

(In which UCLA anon's roman empire became this writer's roman empire and we've finally reached the beginning)

Pairing: Paige Bueckers X Azzi Fudd

Themes: Angst, Pining, Hurt/Comfort and a little bit of Fluff

Words: 8.4 K (other parts will be shorter....maybe)

TW: Swearing, Alcohol, Injuries, Alludes to Sexual Content

A/N: Hello my lovelies <3 Gonna keep this as short and sweet as possible but we've finally, finally gotten to the UCLA fic. A huge shout out to UCLA anon, because this is their master idea. Couple of things, I've never been to LA or UCLA and therefore some things are out of whack. The timeline is also a little out of whack but I swear I will try to keep it as consistent as possible. In the mean time, just ignore some of the inconsistencies pretty please. As always, feel free to let me know what's bad, what's good and what else you'd like to see. I hope y'all enjoy this first part and let's get another W today!

August 2021

where are you 

i literally have to be at the airport in an hour paige where are you 

dude 

are you on your way?

you better be driving and that’s why you’re not answering 

PAIGE

i’m sorry about last night i shouldn’t have said that 

but you said a lot of shit too so call it even?

this isn’t funny where are you?

i have to leave in 15 mins 

are you actually not coming?

wtf????

this is actually bullshit

get over yourself bueckers 

wow 

fuck you

just landed 

thought you might like to know 

sorry my plane didn’t crash i guess 

September 2021

dude enough okay 

can you just call me back??

i just wanna talk 

i know you're mad i get it but i miss you   

November 2021 

hi i’mma be in dc over christmas

nvm 

idk why i’m trying again  

maybe i should block you 

this is kinda pathetic of me what the fuck 

December 2021

i thought i saw you today but idk

couldn’t have been you cause if it was 

would you really not even say hi?

i’m done trying paige 

merry christmas i guess

March 2022 

i misz you 

lyke a wot

love uuuuu pppppp

even if ur a bwtich 

pkese pick up 

ignore that 

people drunk text exes apparently i drunk text you 

wait 

i don’t need to tell you that 

you already ignore it all anyways

 

August 2022 

i heard about the acl 

i’m sorry 

idk if it means anything, but if you wanna talk

nvm 

***

September 2022 

When the doorbell rings, on a quiet Thursday afternoon during a rare moment of alone time, Paige expects it to be a lot of people. One of her parents deciding that they actually weren’t going to leave her alone. Someone else in her family showing up out of the blue to provide comfort. Maybe one of her teammates popping up to keep her entertained. She even thinks it might be some random fan who got too invested and figured out the address for her air BnB. It’s the saddest testament to how broken they are, that the idea of it being Azzi Fudd standing outside her door, never once crosses her mind. But there she is, when Paige opens the door, dressed in ripped jean shorts and a light blue tank top, the girl that had been her best friend, and maybe a little bit more. 

Silence stretches between them as Azzi fidgets with her hands and Paige continues to stoically stare at her. It’s been almost a year since they’ve seen each other, even longer since they’d last shared a happy smile. And you’d have to go back to before she’d told her about her future plans, to find the last time Azzi had properly looked Paige in the eyes.  

“Hi,” Azzi says finally, mustering up a small smile. Paige doesn’t know if hearing that voice, soft and subdued but still so familiar, fixes a crack or breaks her heart even further. She wills herself to be polite in response, to match Azzi’s polite greeting with a greeting of her own. But there’s clear discord between her mouth and her head, because her words are harsh and hollowed. 

“What are you doing here?”

Azzi swallows, smile disappearing as she immediately digs her fingernails into her palms and Paige feels the guilt settle into her stomach. It’s like the night before all over again. If she closes her eyes, Paige can still hear her voice loudly echoing in Azzi’s childhood bedroom. She can hear the angry words that she’d hurled at her best friend, each one like a well-aimed arrow piercing the other’s girl's heart and tearing into Paige’s own soul. Some would call what she’d done self-preservation. She’d call it her biggest mistake. 

“I um-,” Azzi sucks in her bottom lip, “I was in the area and thought, maybe I’d check in.”

“How did you even know where I was?” Paige hates how cold and accusatory her voice sounds. It’s a version of herself she doesn’t quite know how to deal with, one that hasn’t ever appeared for anyone other than the girl in front of her, “I know I didn’t tell you.”

Any semblance of calm is gone from Azzi’s face, as she seems to realise that she’s not going to be getting any cordiality from her old friend. 

 “And we’re off to a great start,” she mutters under her breath before replying to Paige’s exact question, “no you didn’t. Your dad-”

“You talked to my dad?”

“Yeah. I mean you know Drew looks up to Jon and José so much and they still talk and stuff and he came over- Drew I mean- and then your dad was there and we just got to talking and you came up and yeah. He told me and well I live here, kinda, so I thought- well I thought maybe you’d like some company?”

As Azzi’s rambling explanation comes to an end, Paige doesn’t miss the tinge of hopefulness in her voice at the last bit. The younger girl shuffles her feet, as she stares at the blonde expectantly. 

“I don’t-” Paige struggles to draw in a breath as the voices in her head argue, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Her words are met with silence as Azzi stares at her blankly. 

“I- you,” she blinks rapidly, clearly at a loss for what to say at the blatant rejection, “I can’t come in?”

“It’s just- I’ve had a lot of people visit you know,” Paige bullshits, suddenly feeling very exhausted, “and my family were here a couple days and my friends are coming soon and-”

“And I’m neither of those things,” Azzi says, her tone low and breathy. 

“That’s not what-”

“It is,” Azzi closes her eyes for a brief second, when she opens them, the flash of hurt in them feels like a dagger through Paige’s chest, “it is like that and it is what you meant and it’s- it’s fine.”

“Az-” Paige chokes out, feeling her lungs collapse when the other girl moves to leave, “please,” and she’s not even sure she’s asking for, but it’s not this. It’s never been this.

Azzi stops and when she turns back around, there’s a determined look on her face.

“I just-” she rubs her face, composing herself before focusing her eyes on Paige, “you’re the strongest person I know. And you’re going to come back from this, better than ever. I know it. The whole world knows it. Because you’re Paige Bueckers. You’re something else.  You’re the hardest worker, you’re just- you’re the best.”

“You don’t-”

“Just- just let me finish okay and then, then I’ll go or whatever but Paige, you’re all of those things you know? Strong, brave, the best fucking player- but, it’s also okay if sometimes-, if sometimes you aren’t. It’s okay because this- this is hard, I know it is. So if sometimes you’re not strong or-, or brave- or not feeling like working hard- it’s okay. And if there are moments where you- where you want to give up, that’s okay too. It doesn’t make you- it doesn’t make you any less than what you are. It just makes you human, and it’s okay you know- to be human. It’s okay if- if you hurt and it’s okay if you’re not okay. It’s- it’s okay.”

The two girls stare at each other, eyes shining with tears, as Paige let’s Azzi’s words wash over her. She’s been told a lot of platitudes about her injury, from her coaches to her teammates to her family. And she knows she has plenty of people in her corner, who root for her and who genuinely do believe she’ll have the greatest comeback ever. But the motivational speeches get draining after a while and all she’s wanted to do for the last couple of weeks is wallow. Then she felt guilty about wallowing, that little voice in her head yelling at her to be productive and work on getting back to herself because that’s what everybody expected. Paige hadn’t even realised how badly she needed someone to give her permission to not be okay, not until the only person who’d ever known that part of her, had finally said the words she so desperately needed to hear.

The thing is, when she was younger, Paige used to keep everything bottled inside. She’d always been hyper aware of her privilege and her problems had always just seemed so insignificant in front of her parents’ or her friends. So she’d kept them to herself, trapping herself in a web of her own burdens that sometimes threatened to strangle her. And then she’d met a girl at a USA basketball camp when she was 15, a girl who had gently flicked her fingers and Paige’s walls had fallen like dominoes. She hadn’t even known she was drowning, until Azzi had shown up with a lifeboat.

“I just-,” Azzi breaks Paige out of her trance by breaking the eye contact between them, “I didn’t know if anybody had said that to you yet and I just- I wanted you to hear it.”

In the span of a minute, a thousand and one phrases take birth in Paige’s mind and then die on the tip of her tongue. She opens and closes her mouth, trying to express even one of the myriad of emotions that are swirling like a tornado in her brain. But nothing comes out except a litany of incomprehensible noises. And Azzi seems to find the wrong answer in the silence, giving the blonde a timid nod. 

“Take care of yourself P,” her voice catches on the familiar nickname, as she shoots Paige a sad smile, before beginning to walk away. When Azzi chose UCLA, she’d lit Paige's heart on fire. So, Paige had drowned their friendship. And while all this time Azzi has struggled to breathe, Paige has burned but god, is she so fucking tired of it. 

“Fuck, Azzi wait,” Paige curses, hobbling to catch up to the brunette, who stops with a sigh but doesn’t make a move to return. Stubborn as always, Paige thinks, continuing her way over. When she does catch up, she’s not fully sure what to say and so,  “I uh- I’m out of milk.”

Azzi raises her eyebrows in question, crossing her arms protectively around her chest. 

“I can’t drive,” Paige explains slowly, “or walk obviously.”

Realisation dawns on Azzi’s face, “you’re asking me to drive you to the grocery store?”

“I guess,” Paige shrugs, trying to be nonchalant. 

“Seems like the kind of favour someone asks of their family, or their friends,” Azzi emphasises bitterly, never one to let go of an opportunity for sarcasm. 

Paige flinches, “right, I kinda deserved that one.”

She gets a raised eyebrow in response that very much says “ya think?”

“I’m trying here,” she says quietly, and Azzi’s hard demeanour softens, “I’m raising a white flag Az, calling a truce or whatever but it kinda needs to go both ways.” 

“What do you think me coming here was supposed to be?” the younger girl says exasperatedly, but she’s smiling again. It’s the third one Paige has gotten out of her today, and finally, she smiles back. They look a little foolish, standing in the apartment hallway, cheshire-cat-grinning at each other like idiots, but it feels like something has clicked into place again.  

“I’ll go grab my wallet, you go heat up the car.”

“It’s like 110 degrees dude.”

“Bro shut up, you know what I mean,” Paige huffs and when it makes Azzi laugh, she feels like she’s floating. It’s not as if she hasn’t been happy in a year because won’t you look at that, her world did keep turning after that one decision. But this is different. She feels airy and light, like she could jump off a cliff and fly instead of fall. 

“Well hurry up, I have things to do outside of just being your chauffeur.”

“Poor passenger princess, how the roles have reversed,” Paige mocks and it earns her an ever so familiar fond eye roll and for the first time in a year, she feels free. 

***

When she gets downstairs, Azzi’s leaning against her car door, a pair of sunglasses shielding her eyes. The hot California sun shines brightly against her tan skin, and Paige’s heart stutters because fuck, Azzi is golden. She looks every bit reminiscent of the girl Paige still has memorised and yet, every bit the promise of a girl Paige wants to learn by heart. 

“Nice car,” Paige smirks, alerting the younger girl of her presence.  

“It does the job,” Azzi says, looking up with a smile of her own, opening the passenger door for Paige to get in, “not all of us are raking in NIL deals to get the big guns, but we make do.”

“Steph Curry brand ambassador say what now?” the blonde girl teases as she slides into the car. When she looks up, Azzi’s frozen in place, “what?”

“Nothing I just-” she’s wearing sunglasses, but Paige knows Azzi's trying to avert her gaze, “I’m kinda surprised you know that.”

It’s Paige’s turn to look away, their newfound comfort giving away to that old awkwardness, “I keep up with most basketball news.”

To Azzi’s credit she doesn’t push. Instead, she makes her way into the driver seat without another sound. She’s about to connect her phone to the aux but Paige beats her to it. 

“Hey,” Azzi squeals, making grabby hands, “my car, my rules, my music.”

“Nuh-uh injury privileges,” Paige gloats, sticking out her tongue. 

“That’s not a thing.”

“Is too.”

“Fine, we’ll listen to your crap music.”

“I resent that,” Paige retorts, as Drake blasts through the speakers. The sound of it makes Azzi groan, and she dramatically bangs her head against the steering wheel. Paige spends the rest of the car ride singing at the top of her lungs. Azzi spends the rest of the car ride alternating between shaking her head and joining in with the singing. It’s like they’re back in 2020 all over again, back before they found themselves in the whirlwind of life, back when they were just Paige and Azzi.

*** 

Their trip inside the grocery store takes less time than the ride to get there, even if Paige takes her time dilly-dallying in the dairy section, pretending she’s going to get anything other than just regular milk. She’s overly conscious of the fact that their time together might be coming to an end, that this time she might actually have to deal with saying goodbye. But she’s not ready to go back to missing Azzi just yet. 

“Maybe you can show me your dorm,” she says quietly, once they're both back in the car, playing with the hem of her shirt. Beside her, Azzi draws in a sharp intake of breath, clearly not having expected Paige to want that of all things. In all honesty, the idea of stepping into the world that had stolen Azzi from her is not all that appealing to Paige but she wants to hold onto this moment just a little bit longer. 

“You wanna see my dorm?” 

“A chance to see how the non-blue blood peasants live? I’d never pass it up.”

“Non blue blood,” Azzi scoffs, "Ever heard of John Wooden?”

“I was talking about women’s basketball but yeah I have heard of him. I won the award last year. Over you,” Paige smirks, wiggling her eyebrows. 

“Not everyone’s a phenom their freshman year,” Azzi retorts fondly, unable to mask the hint of pride in her voice. 

“Well we’ll see this year-” Paige stops herself, cold seeping into her lungs, as she remembers why she’s in the stupid state of California in the first place. The lighthearted mood in the car goes tumbling out the window as her words hang like a dagger in the air. 

“Paige,” Azzi whispers, trying to wrap that one syllable in comfort. She reaches out to touch the blonde’s shoulder but must think better of it because her hand hovers mid-air for a second, before she pulls it back. Paige is suddenly hyper aware of the fact they haven’t touched yet. It’s a reminder of the fact that whatever progress they’ve made today, there’s still so much they haven’t even begun to unpack. 

“It’s fine,” Paige’s voice is steely, “just drive.”

Azzi opens and closes her mouth a couple of times, before simply nodding and starting the ignition. She’s clearly holding back and Paige doesn’t know how to feel about it. There’s a part of her that wants Azzi to push her to talk like she would before, but there's another part of her that knows this new rope they’re trying to string between them is fragile. 

They ride in silence to Azzi’s apartment, both of them too caught up in their own thoughts to bother with music this time. As the UCLA campus nears, Paige can’t help but hate it just a little bit. She’s aware she’s being petty. Acting like Storrs, Connecticut is some hub of beauty is probably a stretch of the imagination for anyone but she’s determined to dislike this place out of principle.

“Hmm not too shabby but like where’s the fucking cows?” Paige jokes, as the car comes to a stop in front of Azzi’s apartment building. She steps out gingerly, pretending to inspect her surroundings, making tsk-tsk noises at the most random things. 

“I’ve seen your apartment Bueckers, don’t even try,” Azzi retorts. 

It shouldn’t surprise Paige to see one of Azzi’s teammates when they enter her living room. It’s just like UConn really in the sense that there’s always someone there when you walk in but something about seeing Charisma Osborne just chilling in Azzi’s space suddenly makes it more real that the younger girl is definitely a UCLA Bruin. 

“Oh,” Charisma gives Paige a once-over, clearly not having expected to see her, “hi Paige.”

Paige waves, shuffling her weight on her crutches, unsure what to say. It’s not like she doesn’t know Charisma, they’ve literally won a gold medal together for USA basketball. She’s even met the girl a couple of times after and she likes her, she does. But her bitter brain is focused on the fact that this is one of those girls who had gotten Azzi as their teammate, one of the girls who got to see Azzi everyday. All things Paige had not gotten. 

“You didn’t tell me you were bringing company Az,” Charisma says pointedly, looking at Azzi and Paige bristles at the use of the nickname. She’s being all sorts of ridiculous but at least she’s self-aware of it. 

“Last minute decisions,” Azzi replies airily. The two girls lock eyes and Paige can tell they’re having some sort of unspoken conversation and now the green-eyed envy monster is out in full force. 

“I insisted on seeing her dorm,” she says finally, breaking into whatever staring competition the two UCLA guards are having. 

“It’s not a problem,” Charisma reassures, standing up from her position on the couch, and coming over to give Paige a tentative hug, “I just didn’t know you were coming. But it’s good to see you, Paige.”

“Yeah,” Paige tries to muster up a proper smile as she leans in to return the hug but it comes out more like a grimace, “you too.”

“We’re gonna go chill in my room,” Azzi says, beckoning to one of the doors in the hallways and Paige obediently follows her, waving a half-hearted goodbye to Charisma. She’s secretly pleased to have Azzi back to herself. 

The room is nothing out of the ordinary except it has Azzi all over it. She’s in the pink comforter that is thrown haphazardly over a clearly not made bed. She’s in the unicorn plushies laid delicately over a dark blue couch. She’s in the little flower stickers that outline the mirror on the far side of the room. There’s a wall dedicated solely to pictures and fairy lights on one side and Paige is immediately drawn to it. A familiar ache reverberates in her chest as her eyes flicker over the pictures of Azzi’s family. She’s missed them. Then there’s the photographs of Azzi in her UCLA uniform, her teammates surrounding her and Paige has to resist the dangerous urge to rip those off the wall. Be happy for her happiness, the logical part of her brain yells, not seeming to realise she’d left any chance of that in the dirt a year ago. As she tears her eyes away from those offending pictures, they land instead on a whole other set of photographs and she feels her heart catch in her throat. 

It’s a set of three images of her and Azzi, taken at various moments. Paige brushes her thumb against the one of the two of them with their arms around each other at the Minnesota  state fair. Azzi’s beaming at the camera and Paige is beaming at Azzi. They look so young, so naive, so happy. 

“I’m on your wall,” Paige breathes out, turning to face her best friend, “Fuck, I’m on you wall.”

“Of course you are,” Azzi affirms, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world but she shuffles nervously, giving away the reality behind her stable demeanour. 

“I never answered your texts. I didn’t call you back,” Paige lists quietly as the first tear falls from her eyes; she’s been holding them back all day, “and I’m on your fucking wall.”

Azzi looks away, unsure how to deal with the fact that apparently they’re no longer tip-toeing around the past. She doesn’t know how to tell the blonde that there had never really been a second thought about whether or not those photos were going up on the wall.

“Doesn’t matter,” she shrugs finally, “you’re my best friend. You’re always gonna be my best friend. Ride or die right?”

“Ride or die,” Paige repeats in a whisper before she all but throws herself at Azzi, practically moulding herself into the younger girl’s body. Caught off guard, Azzi stiffens for a second, before relaxing into it. It’s late outside and the sun has set, but in this moment, the world shines the brightest it has in a year as two stubborn girls finally find their way home to each other. 

***

That night, Azzi asks her tentatively if she wants to stay over and of course Paige agrees. Lying awake next to a familiar stranger, she lets herself finally remember the day things had first started unravelling.

November 2020

“You’ll probably get one of the upstairs apartments, so we probably won’t actually be living together which is good because can you imagine if I had to see your goofy ass 24/7?” Paige puts a dramatic hand to her forehead, as she leads Azzi into her room.

She’s too caught up in her excitement having Azzi at UConn, and planning what’ll happen next year, to notice that the girl in question isn’t participating at all in her enthusiasm. Paige has been waiting for what feels like a year (in reality it’s only been a few months) to finally have her best friend come visit. The minute the car had pulled up, she’d taken it upon herself to start her sales pitch all over again, missing the sympathetic smiles she’d gotten from the rest of the Fudd family as she pulled Azzi away to show her the glories of the campus. 

“Did you see my assist to Christyn today?” Paige gloats, falling onto her bed with a smirk. 

“It was pretty great,” Azzi concedes. 

“It was fucking perfect thank you very much. I set her up perfectly, exactly how she likes it.”

“Right.”

“And then did you see how excited the team was for her? For everyone? Never gonna find a greater group of girls.”

“They seem wonderful P.”

Paige furrows her eyebrows as she catches Azzi still lingering by the door instead of joining her on the bed. The brunette fidgets with the sleeve of her sweater, chewing on her lips.

“Are you allergic to my bed?” Paige waits for some smartass response. When she doesn’t get one, she frowns, instincts going haywire, “Az, you good?”

“I- '' Azzi looks away, swallowing nervously, “I need to tell you something and I- I’m not sure how you’re gonna react.” 

“You get a boyfriend or a girlfriend or something in the last few months that I don’t know about?” She says it light-heartedly enough, but the thought of it sends a sharp sting through Paige’s heart. In hindsight, she thinks maybe she could have dealt with it having been that. 

“What? No. Just- just don’t- dont take it personally okay. Like you can be upset about it but- but don’t hold it against me yeah? My parents- they said- they said you’d get it. You’d be upset but you’d- you’d get it because you- you get me right?”

Paige’s chest hammers as she watches the younger girl draw in a deep breath, “you’re scaring the shit out of me right now.”

“I’mcommittingtoUCLA” Azzi says all in one breath, the words blending together. 

She’s sure she’s heard it wrong. There’s no way. After all this time, after all their conversations, all the pitches, how hard she had worked, there was no way this was going to be the end to all of Paige’s efforts. 

“What?” she whispers, crossing her fingers that she has in fact misheard. 

When Azzi averts her eyes, she knows she hasn’t, “I’m committing to UCLA.”

The first time Paige and Azzi met was somewhat awkward, what with Azzi’s shyness and Paige being slightly overeager to make a new friend. When they’d become bus buddies, they’d progressed to being casual acquaintances who could small talk and share smiles. And then the flight back to Minnesota happened and everything had changed. Every moment after was filled with conversation or laughs or a comfortable silence. Until this one, where the sudden silence between them foreshadows an ominous future.

“Say something,” Azzi says finally, her voice shaking. 

Paige stares at her for a second before, “you named your dog Stewie.”

“What?”

“You named your dog Stewie. After Breanna Stewart who played at UConn. It’s not-” Paige wracks her brain, hands flying animatedly “it’s not Meyers or something, after someone who played at fucking UCLA. You named your dog after a UConn great. How are you going to take him to UCLA with you?”

Azzi stares at her, clearly not having expected that level of questioning of all things. Who could blame her when Paige herself feels a little insane. 

“This is a joke right? You’re fucking with me? Ha ha ha very funny,” she claps deliriously,  “hilarious prank seriously, like hats off you’ve outdone yourself but enough okay? Say sike right fucking now.”

Azzi makes a strangled noise, “it’s not a joke Paige. That’s- that’s my decision.”

“Then change it,” Paige yells, catapulting off the bed.

“Paige-”

“Have you told UCLA yet?”

“I wanted to tell my family and you first.”

“Oh wow, how kind of you. How fucking generous of you to do that Azzi,” Paige bites back sarcastically and Azzi flinches. 

In a flash, Paige’s expression goes from angry to desperate, “you still have time to change your mind . Please just- just think about it again okay? You still have so much time and you know what, stay here for a couple more days. Spend time with the team, with the coaches, with me and you’ll see-. UCLA just sounds nice you know? California, the sun, I get it, of course it’s tempting. But just- just stay here okay? And you’ll see this is where you belong,” she leaves the, with me, unsaid. 

“Paige,” Azzi’s voice cracks. She takes a step toward her and then pauses. It’s the first time in a long time that Azzi’s hesitated when it comes to Paige. It won’t be the last. And when she looks at Paige through her long eyelashes, tears threatening to fall from her dark brown eyes, Paige knows she’s lost. 

“No,” she’s pacing now, chest heaving up and down in a combination of frustration, anger and misery, “this is not fucking happening. We’re not doing this. I made you a whole recruitment video. Did you watch it? Do you know how long it took me to make it? Has the last year been a fucking joke to you?”

“Of course not-”

“Don’t even. Because clearly- clearly it has. Must’ve been hilarious watching me beg and plead with you when you already fucking knew you were going to committ somewhere else.”

“That’s not fair,”  Azzi’s voice rises at the accusation, “I had no idea where I was going until a couple of weeks ago. You can’t seriously think that low of me.”

“Not fair? You know what’s not fair, Azzi? We’ve been talking about playing together, about finally being on the same team, the same fucking state, for years. What’s not fair is you throwing all of that away on a whim.”

“I’m not committing to UCLA on a whim. This is my whole future we’re talking about. You don’t even know how much thought I’ve put into it. And I’m choosing what’s best for me. You can’t hold that against me Paige. You can’t.”

They stand on opposite sides of the room, taking in harsh staggered breaths and glaring at each other. The tension in the room is electric as the string connecting them frays. Paige and Azzi bicker, they don’t argue. Or at least, that’s how it used to be. 

“Az?” their stare down is broken by a knock on the door as Katie Fudd lets herself in. Immediately, as she stares between her daughter and the girl who’d become just as important, Katie knows what has happened, “we’re going back to the air BnB, are you staying here?”

The answer should be obvious, like it used to be. Of course she would stay here. It was meant to be a no-brainer. But before Azzi can say that, Paige intervenes and the string snaps. 

“She’s going with you,” the blonde says firmly, before turning her back. She won’t let Azzi see the tears, she won’t. For her part, the brunette stares at Paige’s back silently for a couple of seconds, before a mask of determination slips on. 

“Fine. If that’s what you fucking want,” Azzi sneers before brushing past her mom, eager to get away and hide her own tears. 

When Paige turns back around, Katie is already looking at her. The older woman walks the length of the room and pulls the younger girl into a hug that she readily melts into. Paige sniffles as Azzi’s mom soothingly rubs her back. 

“We’re driving back tomorrow morning,” Katie whispers quietly into Paige’s hair, “I know you’re mad sweetheart but come say goodbye okay?”

And she does. She shows up with only half an hour or so remaining before Azzi leaves, but Paige shows up. They hug stiffly, exchanging maybe a sentence or two but in that moment it’s enough. They’ll call later when Azzi gets home and it’ll be awkward for a little bit but they’ll break through. They’ll figure out a way to go on without having to talk about the “big thing”. They’ll hold on as long as they can, until they can’t anymore. 

***

September 2022

After the night Paige stays over at Azzi’s apartment, they're attached at the hip for the next few weeks, just like old times. They’ve fallen into a routine of sorts. Azzi shows up without fail every day after practice to pick Paige up from her rehab, and then the rest of the younger girl’s time is Paige’s. The first time she’d seen the brunette leaning casually against her car, Paige had had to stop herself from jumping into her arms. She’d played it as nonchalant as possible, joking about Azzi being stalker, but inside, she could feel it again, the dangerously familiar tap of this is all I’ll ever need. 

On days Paige doesn’t have rehab, Azzi still shows up right on time on her doorstep with a board game or food or something.  It’s gotten to the point where every time the doorbell rings, Paige opens it expecting Azzi. The couple times it’s not, she tries and fails to hide the disappointment on her face. It earns her an eye roll from the delivery guy but it’s worth it for the laugh it elicits from Azzi when she tells her the story. They fall back together as if they’d never fallen apart. And what’s more terrifying than finding out that she’d never truly gotten over old Azzi, is realising how easy it would be to fall in love with new Azzi. 

When Caroline, Nika and Piath come to visit the weekend after, all three of them can immediately tell that something's changed. Their teammate seems lighter, as if she’s finally found a sense of calm. But their incessant prodding and raised eyebrows are only met with shrugs from a tight-lipped Paige. It isn’t until Azzi calls, and Nika snatches the phone out of Paige’s hands, gasping at the callerID, that they finally figure out why their point guard has a new kick in her step. 

“You should invite her out with us tonight,” Caroline is the first to speak, giving Paige an encouraging smile. 

“Carol,” Nika hisses, “we can’t just invite the enemy.”

“She’s not the enemy,” Paige defends immediately, “we don’t even have a rivalry with UCLA.”

Nika scoffs indignantly, “of course she is. She picked a different school over us. Over UConn! That’s weird. Who even does that?”

“Lots of people do,” Caroline, who occasionally texts Azzi (albeit she’s kept that somewhat of a secret), supplies helpfully, shrugging when the Croatian glares at her. 

Piath nudges Paige when she notices the other girl has gone quiet, “ignore Nika. She doesn’t mean it, you know that. If you wanna invite her, invite her.” 

And she does, she wants to so badly. It’s insane really because it hasn’t even been a full day since they’d last seen each other but Paige swears something inside her has been missing since. There’s something awfully terrifying about letting Azzi back into the UConn version of her world, the world that the younger girl had once rejected. Still, if they’re going to try this again, she supposes sooner or later, it’ll have to happen. 

“Put her on speaker,” Nika orders when Paige grabs her phone back from her. 

“Nika,” Caroline, younger only by age, warns, pulling the other girl away, “we’re supposed to be cheering her up, not making life harder.”

Azzi answers on the third ring, her voice teasing  “miss me already?”

Yes, Paige thinks, sometimes I think I miss you even when you’re right here next to me, sometimes I think I’ll miss you forever. But she doesn’t say any of that. 

“Not a chance,” she scoffs instead, “besides you called me first.”

“Butt dial.”

“Mmmhmm I’m sure.”

“Shut up,” Azzi laughs and Paige is glad her teammates aren’t here to see the goofy grin that appears on her face at the sound of it, “I just wanted to see if we were doing something tonight?”

“Yeah- umm- you remember I told you about the girls coming down this weekend. They- uh- they wanted to go out tonight and uh- you could come along?” 

There’s a pause on the other end and Paige knows Azzi’s going through the same thought process as her. 

“I don’t wanna intrude on your time with your team P-”

“You wouldn’t be intruding,” Paige cuts in immediately and although she figured her teammates were definitely eavesdropping, Nika cursing about her being “pussywhipped” followed by in-sync shushing from Piath and Caroline, gives them away. 

On the other end of the line, Azzi’s quiet again, “it’s okay P, you go have fun with your friends. We don’t have to spend every night together. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

What she doesn’t say is that maybe they need to learn how to live like that again, how to live apart again. Paige is almost done with the LA part of her rehab, something both of them are still in denial about. It’s only a matter of time before they return back to their two separate worlds and neither of them are sure they’ve managed to repair their friendship enough to not slip back into their foolishness again. 

“But I wanna see you tonight,” Paige whines, her tone teetering on the edge of sounding like a desperate girlfriend, “please.”

“Paige-”

“Pleaseeeeeee. I’m literally injured and begging Az, it’d be mean to say no.”

“What does your injury even have to do with any of this?” Azzi sighs exasperatedly, “but yeah okay fine calm down Bueckers. Send me an address, I’ll be there.”

“You don’t wanna come pregame here?” 

“Dude, let's not push it, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah okay see you,” Paige pauses, “hey Az?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m really happy you’re coming tonight.”

“I’m really happy you’re happy P.”

***

Azzi Fudd is a menace. See, people often get fooled by her soft-spoken nature and shy demeanour, but Paige has been around her long enough to know the truth. In the beginning it was the witty quips the younger girl always had ready whenever they were having some ridiculous argument. After that, it was the direct pranks that wreaked havoc on Paige’s life. But tonight, in Paige’s opinion, tonight is Azzi’s worst offence. She had to have done it on purpose, had to have known the sheer effect it would have on Paige to see her dressed like that. The red criss-cross tank top fits her like a mould and the way her ripped jeans shorts cling to her hips leaves little to the imagination. Her diamond belly button piercing shines against her skin, taunting Paige. She wants to touch, she wants to feel, she wants to do all the unspeakable things in her mind but she’s forced to just watch. 

What she hates most though, is that everybody else is watching too. Since Azzi’s walked into the club, Paige has had to fight the urge to strangle every stranger who had given her best friend an appraising once-over. Some of them let their eyes linger long enough to give her time to plot out the perfect murder strategy (it’s the only way she can stop herself from actually committing a crime tonight). And, as Azzi dances with Caroline, hips swaying to the beat and holding the other girl a little closely, Paige has the irrational urge to hit sweet, kind Caroline of all people. 

The thing is, Azzi’s been a little too attached to Caroline since she got here in Paige’s opinion. And she gets it. Piath, bless her soul, is trying but has always been a little awkward around new people. Nika is definitely not trying, loyally holding onto a grudge on behalf of Paige. Which leaves Caroline, who’s already familiar territory and the younger girl has grasped onto her like a lifeline. But enough is enough Paige decides, as she slips out of her seat with a determined look. Smoothly, she cuts right in between Caroline and Azzi.

“Nika’s a little wasted and I don’t want to deal with,” it’s a blatant lie but Paige knows appealing to Caroline’s more motherly instincts will get her what she wants. She gets a raised eyebrow in return, her teammate clearly catching her ruse because Nika looks visibly fine. But it works anyway and Paige gets Azzi to herself. She reaches for the other girl’s hand, twirling her just so she can hear that stupid silly laugh, and then pulling her back so she’s facing Paige. 

“You having fun?” 

“Always have fun with you P,” Azzi replies. She’s clearly tipsy but there’s no hint of insincerity in her voice. It makes Paige’s breath hitch. 

“Yeah?” she whispers, taking a step closer, “more than with Carol?”

Azzi giggles, “more than anyone.”

The song in the club changes and as the crowd adjusts to it, someone jostles Azzi and immediately Paige grabs at her hips to steady her. As she finds her balance, Azzi’s giggles subside, realising just how close she is to the blonde now. They’re stuck in slow motion as the world dances around them. The combination of adrenaline and alcohol pumping through her veins is what convinces Paige to test the limits. One hand still squeezing at Azzi’s bare waist, revelling in finally getting to touch, she brings up her thumb to trace around Azzi’s lips. The younger girl gulps, but when she doesn’t try to move away, confidence pulses through Paige. Her heart is beating frantically out of her chest, years and years of want and need that she’d shoved as far away as possible, desperately fighting to get to the surface. 

Pushing herself closer, so their chests are now pressed to each other and Azzi’s hands have no choice but to latch onto her biceps, Paige places a delicate, teasing kiss to the corner of Azzi’s lips. She wishes she could record the whine it elicits and listen to it on loop for hours. Smirking, she moves to place another one on the other side, this time pressing her lips a little harder, a little longer. Azzi’s eyes are closed shut, hands gripping onto Paige so tightly, she knows there’ll be a mark on her biceps tomorrow. She cups Azzi’s face with both hands now, her own eyes shutting involuntarily, as she finally, finally brushes their lips together. 

This time, the strangled noise that leaves Azzi’s throat, is one Paige wishes she could forget as the younger girl rips herself away from Paige, the force of it creating almost a foot of distance between them. It doesn’t take long for the familiar sting of rejection to make itself home in her heart. Azzi’s eyes are brimming with tears as she manically shakes her head. Without a word, she rushes through the crowd, making a beeline for the exit, leaving Paige confused and craving for another taste. 

***

It takes Paige a second to gather her thoughts before following the brunette. She ignores the confused glances from her teammates, making some bullshit excuse about fresh air as she fights her way outside. When she gets there, Azzi’s leaning against the wall, eyes closed as she takes in long deep breaths. 

“That’s not usually how girls react when I try to kiss them,” Paige says after a second, trying to make light of the situation, even if her heart is heavy with anxiety. 

It’s the wrong thing to say because Azzi scoffs, “you kiss a lot of girls don’t you.”

“Yeah and most of them kiss me back,” Paige bites back. 

She’s taken aback by the fire in the darker-skinned girl’s eyes as Azzi finally opens them, heaving herself off the wall. 

“I won’t be one of your groupies Paige. I won’t be one of your desperate one night stands. I won’t be just some other hookup. I won’t!”

Frankly she’s a little offended Azzi would even think that of her. She’s aware of her reputation. In fact she’d probably fed into it a little bit, exaggerating her escapades to Azzi on the phone her freshman year, when they had been on the verge of combusing and she’d been desperate to get a rise out of the younger girl. Last year though, last year was different. But Azzi doesn’t know that. 

“I don’t want you to be any of that,” she replies feebly. 

“Then what, do you want me to be?” Azzi’s voice rises with each syllable. 

Paige stutters, the words getting stuck in her throat. The truth is she wants Azzi to be everything. The truth is, Azzi already is everything. Except there’s too much between them and she just can’t say it. They stand in silence until Azzi finally breaks it.

“I think these last few weeks of summer might have been the best of my life,” she says miserably, “and that might be the worst thing ever you know? Because it’s not real. You’re gonna go back to your world and you’ll- you’ll stop replying to my texts and you’ll stop- you’ll stop calling me and I- I don’t know if I can do that again.”

“That’s an awful lot of assumptions you’re making about me,” Paige is on defensive mode now, feeling a fight brewing. 

“Because that’s what happened. Go back through your fucking phone Paige. Look at all the times I tried. And all the times you never did. You just- you cut me out Paige.”

“That’s not fair. You chose fucking UCLA. Over me.”

“No,” Azzi corrects immediately, anger seeping into her tone, “I chose UCLA over UConn. You made it about yourself.”

Paige swallows back a bitter response in favour of trying to prevent a full-fledged argument, “okay, okay let’s not- let’s not do this okay. It’ll be better this time- I- I won’t ignore your calls or texts or you okay? Just- can we just go back inside please?”

“That’s the thing,” Azzi’s anger is gone, replaced by a sad wistful smile, “I don’t know if I believe that you will,” a single tear rolls down her cheek, “I- I don’t fully trust you and you haven’t fully forgiven me. So where do we go from here?”

It’s a lie what they say about the truth setting you free, Paige thinks as Azzi’s words squeeze at her heart, because all it’s done is unleash shackles of despair that holds them both hostage. It had been easy the last couple of weeks, to pretend the last year had never happened. It had been easy for Paige to pretend that she was over what happened, to ignore the part of her brain that still felt so utterly betrayed. 

“Azzi, what are you saying? You don’t- you don’t wanna be friends?” Paige feels nauseous even saying it. 

“No I-” Azzi chews at her bottom lip, “I’m saying this- us- we’re too fragile to complicate even more. I barely- fuck- Paige, I barely survived losing my best friend. I don’t think I could survive losing something more.” 

The worst thing about it all, is that it makes sense. And really, Paige doesn’t know what she’d expected to happen if Azzi hadn’t pulled away when she did. They’d kiss, maybe give in and do more and then what? Shake hands and walk away? Or make false promises that would ultimately lead to resentment? No, Years and years of something deserved better than either of those masochistic endings. It makes sense, it does but it doesn’t mean Paige has to like it. 

In front of her, all the fight evaporates from Azzi’s body, as the younger girl leans back against the brick wall of the club, sliding down and pulling her knees to her chest. She looks every bit as miserable as Paige feels and all the blonde wants to do is wipe away the stress lines creasing against the younger girl’s beautiful phase. She moves to sit down next to her best friend, shuffling so their shoulders are pressed together and intertwines their fingers together. A sigh of relief escapes her when Azzi doesn’t immediately pull away. Instead, she squeezes their hands tighter, as if she’s scared that if she lets go, Paige will disappear. 

“You didn’t lose me you know,” Paige says softly after a second, nudging Azzi’s shoulder when the other girl lets out a noise of protest, “I know, I know it feels like you did. It felt like that to me too except- every time something good or bad happened to me, I heard your voice or- or maybe I just really wanted too. We got lost a little bit but I didn’t- I didn’t lose you and you didn’t lose me. There’s a difference. I don’t think we could ever lose each other like that. Not really.”

When Azzi turns to look at her, the golden glow of the street lights illuminate the emotions in her eyes. She gives Paige a soft smile, “well Bueckers, if basketball doesn’t work out, maybe you have a future in poetry.”

“I could do whatever I wanted,” except what I want to do the most. 

It doesn’t take long for the Uber Azzi’s already called to start pulling up and that familiar ache of longing creeps into Paige’s spine. She knows tonight isn’t their final goodbye; they still have a couple more days. But those days will be spent ignoring and pretending, unlike tonight and the firm grip they have on reality. They rise off of the cold pavement together, dusting themselves off. It takes a second of awkward glances before they’re surging into each other’s arms, squeezing each other so tightly that it’s hard to breathe. Paige wills herself not to cry, hiding her face in the crook of Azzi’s neck. 

“We’ll be okay,” she whispers, unsure if it’s more for her benefit or Azzi’s. 

The unwanted beep of a car is the only reason they reluctantly pull away, hurriedly wiping away unshed tears, they pretend the other can’t see. Azzi musters up a brave smile, before slowly moving away and it takes everything in Paige not to crumble and begs her to stay. Azzi’s halfway to the car when she turns back and it feels like Paige can breathe again. The brunette’s face is conflicted for a second before turning determined, as she starts walking back up. 

“Az-”

Paige’s confusion is stifled as Azzi fists her shirt, pulling her into a searing kiss. It’s desperate and needy and it’s only a few seconds before the dark-haired girl is pulling away again, but it sets Paige’s entire world off balance. 

“I just-” Azzi’s breathing is rapid and uneven, “I’ve wanted to do that since I was fifteen and- just- fuck- I just-,” she blinks up at Paige, “I hate- I hate leaving things unfinished and for fucks sake if you don’t call me back this time Bueckers- just- don’t be a stranger.”

Paige doesn’t get time to answer, she doesn’t think she could even if she did, because Azzi scurries away almost immediately. She stops when she gets to the car, turning back to give Paige one final look, a look that will haunt Paige forever, before getting into the backseat. As Paige watches the back of Azzi’s uber gets smaller and smaller, her tongue darts across her lips as she tries to memorise the faintest taste of Azzi’s strawberry-flavoured lipstick. And she knows, she’s so utterly and completely and terribly fucked.

[kusakabesimp]

hey! hope ure having a good day ★

I don't know if everyone had questioned this before, remember that Kusakabe has a younger sister and a nephew? i reread that chapter and it made me wonder.. what kind of brother and uncle he is and how does he act? unckabe lol

— Kusakabe Headcanons : In Gentle Company —

Hi Anon! I hope you're having a great day as well!!

We know that canonically, Atsuya loves his family deeply and will do whatever it takes to make them happy. So it's natural that my headcanons of him as an uncle and an older brother are very tender and sweet.

Takeru's Tie When Kusakabe saw Takeru again, his eyes were immediately drawn to the familiar polka-dot tie around his neck, instantly pulling him back to a tender Thursday morning from a year ago.

Takeru was perched on the bathroom counter, his legs swinging as he watched Kusakabe get ready for work. "Oji-san, why do you have to wear that thing with your suit?" he asked, his tiny voice cutting through the quiet.

Kusakabe gave a low chuckle and continued working on his tie, carefully looping one end over the other. He wished he could tell Takeru everything — where he was going, why he wore the suit, and that he did it all to keep Takeru safe. But for now, he settled for these brief, precious moments. "They say I have to look professional," Kusakabe finally replied with a playful smile. "This is the best I could come up with."

Takeru's eyes lit up, and he hopped off the counter, running down the hallway. Moments later, he came rushing back, clutching a brightly colored tie with small polka dots. "Can I wear one too, Oji-san? Takeru asked eagerly, his eyes shining with excitement.  

Kusakabe's smile softened as he took the tie and knelt down to Takeru's level. "Alright, watch close, ok?" he said gently, guiding his nephew's small hands.

Takeru leaned forward slightly, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth as he focused. His little fingers fumbled at first but gained confidence with his uncle's steady support. Takeru looked up at Kusakabe, his eyes wide with pride. "Do I look professional now, too?" he asked, tilting his head to see himself in the mirror from different angles.

Kusakabe's expression softened. The tie hung crooked, but it was perfect just the way it was. "You look very professional," he agreed, reaching out to ruffle Takeru's hair.

By the Water's Edge Fishing had always been an escape for Kusakabe, a quiet way to unwind and reflect after a noisy, stressful week of dealing with curses. This weekend was a little different — his sister, who wasn't much for the outdoors, had reluctantly agreed to spend the day with him. From the start, it was clear she wasn't thrilled. As they settled on the dock, she crossed her arms and let out a dramatic sigh. "I'm bored, oniichan."

Atsuya took a sip of his beer and lazily cast his line, unfazed by her grumbling. "There's strawberry mochi in the cooler."

She pulled out a mochi and shut the cooler with a playful huff, unable to stay mad at her brother for very long. As the afternoon drifted by, the rhythmic sounds of the water worked its magic. Her initial boredom began to fade, replaced by a quiet contentment. Atsuya, ever patient, took the time to teach her how to cast a line, guiding her hands with the same gentle care he'd always shown her. He listened intently as she talked about everything from how Itsuki had broken her heart yesterday, to the color she'd like to dye her hair—if she ever found the courage.

As the conversation naturally tapered off, they settled into a comfortable silence, casting lines and enjoying the peaceful stillness of the water. They shared a quiet laugh when she brought in her first catch—a small fish, but a victory nonetheless.

As they packed up to leave, Atsuya reached into the cooler and pulled out a cold beer. He handed it to her with a warm smile, and they clinked their bottles together. Sitting side by side, watching the sun set over the water, she realized how special this moment was. Atsuya, usually so reserved and private, had opened up and shared a part of himself with her. It was a rare and meaningful glimpse into a world few ever saw.

"Thanks, oniichan," she said softly.

** 'Takeru's Tie' was inspired by a re-read of the manga, where I noticed that Takeru's doll wears a polka-dot tie. Given that Yaga created Takeru with his memories, the tie must hold special significance. It seemed to me that this tie represents something deeply meaningful to Takeru—a cherished memory or bond that he carried with him into his next life. By creating this moment with Atsuya, I wanted to honor the idea that such simple, tender moments can become lasting, heartfelt symbols of love and connection. **

[umichlvr]

throwback thursday | more than friends au | t. zegras x m. thompson

new au!!! hope u guys enjoy it! also i’m hopefully gonna be more active with my writing now that it’s summer. remember requests are open & so are anons! constructive criticism / positive feedback appreciated! 💗

au masterlist | full hockey masterlist

not my gif, creds to svechnikovvv

warnings: just cussing, all fluff!

a/n: i’ll hopefully be getting an au introduction out soon with like background information and all that

maevethompson

liked by trevorzegras, jamie.drysdale, and others

maevethompson since it’s thursday, how bout a little throwback??

tagged trevorzegras

trevorzegras why do i continue to put up with you

maevethompson because you love me, duhhh🤓🤓

jackhughes thank you maeve for this post, you never get the recognition you deserve

maevethompson wow jack, i’m impressed! i think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me🙌🏼

jackhughes i take it back i don’t like you

user1 wait omg are they dating???🫣

user2 i wish!!! they’ve literally been besties since like birth and they look at each other with so much love in their eyes🥹🥹

maevethompson hi!! me and trev are just besties, all love though! 😚💗

colecaufield i’m enjoying the z slander, keep it coming

maevethompson yes sir mr goal caufield🫡

trevorzegras

liked by maevethompson, jackhughes, and others

trevorzegras since maeve decided we were posting throwbacks (and horrible pictures) here’s my go at it (this was difficult because mae makes me delete all the good bad pics of her😒😒)

tagged maevethompson

maevethompson aw trev, i didn’t think you had it in you to post anything cute but this is adorb 🥹

trevorzegras yeah yeah, whatever, yeah yeah i know i’m awesome and you love me😉😏

maevethompson i am this 🤏🏼 close to blocking you. you’re so annoying please humble yourself or i’ll do it for you 👊🏼

jamie.drysdale please do it for him i’d pay good money to see him get punched

trevorzegras hey man, i thought we were friends??

maevethompson jaym likes me more HA HA

trevorzegras what the hell is “jaym”

maevethompson a nickname, duh🤓, it’s like jamie without the ee pronunciation

jackhughes how come you get to call her cool nicknames but we’re not allowed??

maevethompson hey i never said that!! you guys can call me tommy

jackhughes yeah i know he said it

maevethompson i hate him he’s such a gaslighter gaskeeper and non girlboss

trevorzegras i’m hurt.

maevethompson good.

user3 ARE YOU KIDDING ME🥹THEY WERE THE CUTEST KIDS EVER🥲

maevethompson hehe thank u 🤭🩷

maevethompson

liked by jackhughes, dylanduke25, and others

maevethompson officially an honorary hughes!!!! (i was invited to the lake house as a plus one) p.s. dylan duke i think i love you

tagged trevorzegras, jackhughes, _alexturcotte, _quinnhughes, lhughes_06, dylanduke25

jackhughes absolutely thrilled you could join the family (i am being forced to type this)

maevethompson aw i love you too jack 😇

dylanduke25 i think i love YOU maeve thompson

maevethompson oh STAHAP 🖐🏼 🫳🏼 ur too good to me dyl

lhughes_06 you guys are weird

maevethompson go fuck yourself lucas

lhughes_06 😔😔

_alexturcotte best damn wakeboarder in the nation 🫡 mad respect for my girl maeve 🤍

maevethompson ❤️❤️ love u turcs 🥹

trevorzegras you’re the best plus one a guy could ask for

maevethompson you’re the worst roommate ever. STOP SNORING. please😔 i need my beauty sleep

user4 i can’t decide if her and alex have a thing (cause he got a few pics plus HIS COMMENT??) or her and dylan have a thing cause what???

user1 okay but what about jack?? he got 3 different pictures on here plus they’re always in each others comments

trevorzegras no

user5 jack is taking DOWN that watermelon

maevethompson he’s a munch what can i say 🤷🏼‍♀️

trevorzegras

liked by _quinnhughes, _alexturcotte, and others

trevorzegras “don’t put some stupid ass caption on your post only ‘the boys’ will understand. i hate that shit because i AM one of the boys and i never get them.” - tommy 🌬🚙⏰

tagged jackhughes, _quinnhughes, maevethompson

maevethompson see now what the hell do those emojis mean??? i don’t like you guys you’re so secretive😒🖕🏼

trevorzegras oh but how you love me

jackhughes it’s the way of the world ⏰

maevethompson i’m genuinely convinced you morons spend time together in your rooms discussing these made up sayings like

trevorzegras tick tock🤫

jackhughes maevethompson we just know each other too well i guess

maevethompson are you guys secret lovers or what

user5 LMFAOOOO

colecaufield the way of the jungle🦁

maevethompson yeah cole i don’t know how much i can love you after this

_alexturcotte ET phone home

maevethompson i don’t wanna be ur fav girl anymore

dylanduke25 i would love to participate in the comments but i don’t want maevy trying to shove me off the boat tomorrow 🫡

maevethompson the love i have for you is unmatched dyl i think i’m going to marry you some day

dylanduke25 all love❤️❤️

user3 maeve and dylan are so adorable are you kidding🥹🥹🩷🩷

user2 RIGHT??? i don’t even care if they’re dating or just friends they treat each other so well🥹 i love them💖💖

that’s all for part one! thank u so much for reading <33 reblogs, comments, and follows always very appreciated! requests are open, feel free to lmk your thoughts on this au! huge huge thank you to makayla for all her help on this 💗💗

[soracities]

hii sorry for sliding this in ur asks (u can totally not answer it if u don’t want to) i think i’m madly in love w a girl but we have gone on only two dates and idk if i’m rushing things a bit, but i have a strong feeling that she might be the one. the way i absolutely can’t stop thinking about her in my waking and sleeping hours, this is literally tearing me apart idk what to do about it — do u have any advice? pls help me if u can, really appreciate it <33

sweet anon you are both in the PR stage you're in love with an idea right now, not a person--not saying you do not genuinely like her but you do not know each other enough to have a grasp of her as a person, you only know how she makes you feel and all these feelings are a response to something from within you: they are hopes and projections fuelled by excitement and maybe a dash of novelty which is very common (and normal, we've all been there) but they can create a bit of a smokescreen that makes it harder to look at your situation clearly, if that makes sense.

i think it will be helpful to try and pause for a bit to ask yourself where those feelings are coming from and what they are in response to-- what exactly is it she gives you that you have not had before? what is her presence representing for you? why is this so important to you? when you are thinking about her constantly, what exactly are those thoughts about? are they in the here and now, or an imagined future? are they based on anything solid she has said or done, or are they more your own daydreams and hopes taking centre stage? is there anything in your life that you feel is lacking or empty and that these feelings are a welcome distraction from?

again, absolutely not dismissing your feelings here but i think it's very easy sometimes to let the excitement of finding someone we like (and who likes us back) run away with us sometimes. at this stage, because it is so early, and because you don't know someone enough they are, essentially, kind of a blank slate for you to pin your own feelings and hopes to--as i said, everyone goes through this at some point, but it's important to try and maintain awareness of this so that you are able to be attentive to the other person as a person, and yourself, too, in a way that is fair to the both of you and allows you to express yourselves, and meet each other, openly and honestly. most realisations we have about a person in these scenarios first require us to know that person for themselves--and this takes time.

i think it's important, right now, that you allow yourself to keep busy and remain active in your life outside of your dates and conversations with the girl you're seeing--not saying to ignore her at all, but to make sure you have other lines of focus too and not to neglect whatever you enjoyed doing, or the other relationships, activities etc that you had before her: keep in touch and meet up with your friends often, or set little goals for yourself during the week--eg., "i'll get in an hour at the gym on thursday" "i'll go for a swim" "i'll try this new restaurant with a friend" "i'll go to the cinema to see xyz" "i'm going to try and make this recipe for lunch / dinner / dessert" etc.

forcing yourself not to think about someone is borderline impossible and is only going to make them an even more powerful presence in your mind (trying not to think about something requires, by definition, that you do think about them which makes for a fabulously frustrating circle) so the best thing to do is to limit how much free time you actually have to do that thinking in--this way your brain is occupied enough that it cannot spend as long fantasising and YOU can stay relatively sane.

i hope your interactions with this girl go well, anon, and i hope that as much as you can, you're able to check in with yourself and understand how you're feeling so you can put everything into a more intentional and aware framework for yourself as your feelings evolve. hope this helps even just a little, sending you lots of love (and support!!) 🤍

[rinsuniverse]

I am coming out of anonymity~ I'm the creative woozi + monotone day seokmin anon^^ the seokmin one made me laugh so hard because there was part of it of him like brushing his teeth in ur post and I could just imagine him in don't lie yelling indignantly that he DID brush his teeth during the lie game. (Of course, also the legendary video of him using mingyu's toothbrush)

I have an interview for a job in my desired field on thursday, and I'm so nervous 😖 how about a woozi imagine of him supporting a s/o who's nervous to hell and back (like me)

woozi with a nervous s/o ✧˖°.

omg i've been busy with my other requests, but i'm making sure to answer yours in time for your interview today!

woozi is very logical in his help/support

he is the type to mark your important dates in his own calendar

if you're getting ready in the morning, putting on your makeup, and getting dressed well, he'd check his phone as he wakes up

for this scenario, i'll make it more specific for you!

"oh, you have that job interview today," he says, still laying in bed as he looks on his phone

"yup! i'm so freaking nervous," you say, trying to get the jitters out by shaking your arms around as you check yourself out in the mirror

"hmm, i get that," he hums, turning in bed so he can look at you.

"if i fail this interview, i don't know what i'm going to do-"

"let's not think about that, y/n/n. i seriously doubt you'll fail."

"but what if i screw up on a question? i prepared, but still."

"slow down for a moment. focus on the things you did prepare for and don't overthink the things you didn't. they're going to be asking you questions that you know the answer to deep down. like your schedule and skills and all that stuff. you know yourself best."

"true, but..."

"aish. you'll do great, don't worry about it! come here," he says, opening his arms wide in bed

"in bed?"

"yeah, just for a moment"

you climb into bed and carefully place yourself in his arms where he holds you gently

he plays with your bangs and the sides of your hair, moving them so they are in place

he gives you a quick kiss on the forehead

"i hope you do well. though i seriously doubt you'd not do well," he says quietly

"thanks, ji."

"fighting!"

"fighting."

you get out of his arms and get your things so you can leave

"make sure to eat and take care of yourself at your work when i'm out, okay, jihoon?"

"don't worry about me when you're at your interview, silly."

"okay, okay, i'm going now!"

"good luck, you'll do great," he mutters, barely audible to you, quietly adding on, "i love you, y/n."

"thanks, seriously. love you too, ji."

for more general terms, jihoon isn't the greatest when it comes to comforting you

but he hopes his "thinking rationally" helps you

and that his soft and somewhat awkward head pats will help you feel more at ease

he will check on you throughout the day with some texts

jihoon: hey, you feeling alright?

jihoon: everything going smoothly?

jihoon: remember not to be so hard on yourself and don't worry too much hehe

he's really sweet like that

he makes it seem really casual, though

sometimes he has to remind himself that he's comforting his s/o and not just a good friend

and the way he changes it to be more endearing is by physically comforting you more or adding "babe" or your nickname after his statements

in moments you're feeling nervous, he's all yours

if you need a hug, his arms are wide open

if you feel clingy, you can hold his hand or give him short pecks

if you want to just lean on him, be his guest, go ahead

he's there for you!

if you're nervous for a presentation or something, he's definitely let you practice in front of him and give you honest feedback

if you're feeling nervous because you're naturally anxious (me me me), he'd stay calm and try to give you his calm energy..?

like he'd rub your back and tell you to take deep breaths and check the facts rather than think with anxious thoughts

if you're out with him and you say

"god, i'm feeling so nervous all of a sudden"

instead of asking why, he'll pull out some earbuds for the both of you to share

and he'll play some relaxing music for you

overall, jihoon would have no problem comforting his nervous s/o!

ofc he would do it in his own, logical way

but nonetheless, he hopes to help you

if you tell him the logic doesn't help, he'll listen to you with all of his attention when he asks you what you'd rather him do instead

and he'll try his best to be the best, supportive boyfriend for you specifically

so communicate well with him!

anyway, thank you so much for the request! and OMG HELLO!!! it's so cool you're not an anon anymore (tho there was never anything wrong with that!), and it's so great to kind of meet you! feel free to request many, many more things.

i hope you do super well at your interview!! update me next time if you want! i wholeheartedly support you, just like how you've supported my writings here for awhile now! have a super good day!

(p.s. requests are still open! i specialize in woozi stuff, but i don't mind writing about other svt members! i can also do some nsfw if you want! so request whatever and as much as you want! ς(>‿<.))

[kairithemang0]

this abt ur reblog about an anon opinion lol this isnt unprompted

i dont rly interact with u or ur content that much other than reblogging and screaming in the tags, but i admire u a lot!! ur always interacting w other people in the fandom and constantly creating content (even if its just shitposting on a random thursday night). you like talking about a lot of your ideas and you have a lot of close mutuals and i think that is. SO fucking cool. like u intimidate me w ur sheer coolness. u seem really nice and cool and i feel like you'd be a rly good friend!!

hope u have a good day :D

(also please make a curtwen podcast. and PLEASE invite me on it. id probably sit there in silence petrified bc of the anxiety but do it anyway)

I'm screenshotting this and saving this for a bad day, if you don't mind because the smile this put on my face is insane

I swear y'alls comments make me feel so happy I appreciate them to hell and back. I've had a shit day but this literally has put the biggest smile on my face thank you so much anon

I feel bad you're intimidated, I love interacting with people and everyone in this fandom is just so damn cool but also like I love interacting with everyone so much and I don't want to be intimidating 😭 . I appreciate every single one of you for the amazing posts and content you all make.

Also thank you for enjoying my shit posting I'm sorry if you found the SAF rick roll edit

I hope you have a great day anon, take care of yourself <3

(Also. I will make a curtwen podcast ONLY IF I have someone equally obsessed host with me)

[live-laugh-lenney]

1.) omg i hope ur nan is ok ???? idk why she is in the hospital but praying for her

2.) opinions on the atv italian bach podcast? i've yet to listen to it (podcasts aren't really my thing) but they've been promoting the hell outta it

- 🍓 (i've selected my emoji 😋😋)

hello, strawberry anon! i love that so much.

my nan's all good, yeah. thankfully. she got taken into hospital on the wednesday evening of this week because she wasn't feeling herself and she just felt off. she has copd so she struggles with her breathing and her respiration and she only recently had pneumonia in the last month so i think she's still getting over the effects of that. bless her. it's never easy seeing a loved one in hospital so :((( thank you for the prayers though. that means a lot to me.

don't come for me but... i haven't listened to it yet, either. hahah. i've had a lot going on the last few days so i just haven't had time to listen to/watch the new update but i'll probably wait till their new update on thursday and listen to both of them on the same day. but i'm pretty excited! i have high hopes for it - both are very different people with different humour so it'll be interesting to see how it goes. xx

[hyunsvngs]

hi friends its levitating anon with yet another life update (not really) so as you know i constantly check your blog all the time and i literally have been SOBBING reading the frat series. full out bawling giggling literally anything. how is it that you guys r so good at writing? all your actual fics, the drabbles, literally anything. i drink it all up. every single word. i am Quite Very Much so excited to see the felix portion of the frat series EEEAEAAAEAEAEAEAEAEHAEHHAEUUEAUUAEUAEAEUEA IM GONNA BOUNCE OFF THE WALLS I SWEAR im so excited i love u guys okay take care youll see me again soon <3

AWWW THANK YOU SO MUCH?!! THIS IS ACTUALLY SO SWEET.

we rly do try to characterise the boys well while also writing VERY PERVY SMUT :D

the felix portion of the frat series is a fivesome. idk if i said that yet but it is and it is also out on THURSDAY AT 4PM BST!!!! so it will be only a few days… I HOPE UR EXCITED LEVITATING ANON BBY.

[mikhailoisbaby]

Hiya Harvey! How is life treating you? I missed you cottage folks too. Unfortunately I could not be around much due to my husband and I moving places but now that the worst of it is done with I should be back to buzzing around these parts more often. Maybe I can't promise you all a specific day of the week but I will be more consistent. Here is today's question for you: how do you cope with distance when it comes to romantic relationships? What are the things that hit you and your partner the hardest about it? Would you change anything? My credentials for asking these questions is that me and the aforementioned husband were long distance for quite some time before moving in our first apartment together. This goes without saying, if you don't feel like answering then take this as me greeting you and wishing you a great Thursday. :)

CBA x

Hi cottage bro 🖤🖤🖤

I’m so happy ur back I’ve been missing you! Hope ur happy and moved in tho!

How do I cope with distance? Ha ha cope … I don’t most nights I cry because I can’t cuddle with him and I’m overly affectionate and some days I just want to give him a forehead kiss and can’t, at least once a day I look at plane flights costs, so cope I don’t.

Things that hit the hardest are when anyone of us is having a bad mental health day recently that been me and I just need and wanted to cry into someone's chest and I just can’t.

I would change the distance so quickly I would sell my arms to change the distance.

It’s good to know someone made it out of long distance happy and married , one day I hope that us

I love you cottage bro anon dearly !

[inkykeiji]

FYI if you want more Chuuya content, he's the protagonist of two of the light novels: Dazai, Chuuya, Age Fifteen and Storm Bringer

so i’ve heard!!! i was planning on reading dazai, chuuya, age fifteen for dazai already so!!! thank you anon hehe c: i’ll look into storm bringer and see if i’m interested but i’m most likely going to end up reading all of the light novels anyway eee (*/ω＼*)

[delusional-mishaps]

Hey Jester! It’s been a while since we’ve talked, haha. How is your summer going? I hope ur doing alright, remember to hydrate!!

Also I love the Monty pfp

-♥️ anon

HIIIIII HI HI HI HI HI I HAVENT SEEN U IN SO LONG HOW ARE YOU!!!!!!

my summer is ok :) im mostly working. im only working. i have no life and my friends abandoned me (they have other jobs) (were probably hanging out thursday)

also ty hes my little chihuahua bbg 🫶

[whatthebodygraspsnot]

ray !!!!! hello!!! dragging my beaned bag back to my little nook in the corner of ur blog and plopping down on it to say i hope ur having an amazing weekend n it warms my heart how lovely you are. thank u for the smooches they definitely fuelled me through my thursday shift ^w^ <3

and while im here i guess ill hop back on my brand of being a creeper and a little too truthful for a while and say despite being here entirely for gallavich and inhaling everything u write about them (and never having watched voltron in its entirety), i *may* have recently gone through ur writing to read a couple of ur klance fics. i think the way you write such a candid connection between characters and build engaging narratives with deeply satisfying payoffs scratches my brain in a way thats so unique and i honestly think i could get addicted to. like how??? HOW??!!? idk what drugs ur putting in there but u always manage to have me fucking enraptured in a way i havent been about fiction since i was a nine year old bookworm. im sure u get compliments ab ur writing a lot but i just wanted to say thank u for all ur magic words. and i am far more than the appropriate amount of excited about what u have to come in october

shooting u with my All The Best Vibesification beam, … bean bag anon? i guess? i feel like thats my biggest ip rn but ill take whateva u wanna call me if u can think of something else

*is hit square in the solar plexus by your beam* perfect thank you i need it lmao. bean bag anon that's cute hehe.

anyways bean bag anon im sorry it took me a sec to respond to this - i lost myself in the unrelenting chasm of time and space for a bit but here we are now ✌🏻 and you're so kind to say those things about my writing. the fact that you trudged up voltron stuff is something and i'm impressed with your commitment lol. can't wait to share the kinktober stuff.

i hope your day is being nice to you today. and if not, please have these 🍉🪐🌱🦘🧼 okay bye bye for now

[moonjxsung]

ilyilyilyilyilyil- hai hai Star :3 I am so excited you added me back on discord literally like wiggling n giggling in bed last night when I went to sleep ^w^ todayyyyyyyyy my day went from alright to bad to alright to i have no idea idk it was a long day... 8+ hours on campus *cri** but its okay we survived the horrors (horrors me being sleep deprived from studying, friends bailing last min our weekly lunch (its ok i understand they get busy but i was still sad) and then chem lab) and then i got home and was thouroughly distracted by skz fics and pintrest but I got some studying done and I am feeling ready for my chem midterm tmrw so yay? :D AND THE WEATHER WHERE I LIVE IS LIKE AMAZING NOW??? IM SO HAPPY SPRING IS HERE ITS LIKE SUNNY AND WARM (13C) (i live somewhere thats like known for rain :/) ANYWAYSSS I HOPE YOU HAD THE BESTEST DAY I love reading all the other anon asks and learning more about u and ur day ^v^

🌱

HI MY BABYYYYY I MISSED UUUUU !!

PLSKSKDKDKDRK IM SO HAPPY YOU’RE ON THE DISCORD NOW we’re all one big happy family ily ily

8+ hours on campus ☹️ pain ☹️ BUT AT LEAST YOU MADE IT ‼️‼️ and even if your friends bailed on you just pretend we virtually had lunch together ily we are literally eating pizza together rn your friends are missing out 🥱 ALSO GOOD LUCK ON YOUR CHEM MIDTERM POOKIE I LOVE YOU I BELIEVE IN YOU 💖💘🩷

The weather is so warm here tooooo it feels like early summer which is kinda good kinda bad bc I miss the rain (💔) but the days are longer again and I have so much sunshine to take walks and go be out in the world it’s so healing !! 🫶 ALSO MY DAY WAS SO GOOOOD I’m gonna try for skz tickets for Lolla so it’s going to be a v stressful Thursday and I’ve been SO busy w meetings but at least we’re halfway through the week now YIPPEEEEE

I love you sweet angel take care of yourself !!!!! MWAHHH

[celestie0]

ellie bae i love u so much.

ANYWAY I COME DOWN TO SOCAL ON THURSDAY IM SO EXCITED AAA 😆🤭

- 🦌 anon

hiiii bb omg i love u sm too <33

YAAAAY we’ll be so close 🤭 i will feel ur energy. hope u have safe travels down idk if you’re driving or flying 🫶🏼💕 and also hope you have funn n you eat good food n traffic isn’t too bad lol n that the weather is nice 🧚‍♀️✨ lmk how ur trip goes!! (is it for leisure?)

- ellie 🦢