#i might also ball out and get a hotel room when i go see thursday in like a month

[stabbingandorbeingstabbed]

my first full paycheck from new job cleared last night and i feel so fucking crazy like i know in the grand scheme of things people with email jobs they had to get a degree to acquire make way more than me but to be able to pay rent and utilities with half of one paycheck when i get two paychecks a month. like for the first time in my life i might have enough money to afford groceries rent AND things i want AND still have a little left over to maybe start saving like this is fucking NUTS ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[whatisthiswritingthing]

Away Game - Emily Sonnett x Hockey!Reader

Prompt: Can you do an imagine where the Y/N is with Emily Sonnett and Y/N play hockey as well and she is still in college l. Like where Emily surprise Y/N at one of her games because she could tell that Y/N is super stressed out and just a bunch of fluff and cuteness? But also a little bit of feeling as well?

“Hey babe,” Emily greeted Y/N as she connected the FaceTime call before going back to reading her textbook.

Y/N was hunched over her desk in her apartment, textbook propped up next to laptop. Emily’s face sharing half the screen while Y/N typed notes out at the same time.

“Hey Em,” Y/N mumbled out, glancing up to shoot a quick smile to her girlfriend before going back to reading her textbook.

“Y/N, take a break for a couple minutes, then you can go back to studying,” Sonnett tried to encourage. She could see the bags under girlfriend’s eyes and the coffee cup next to her.

“I can talk and study,” Y/N glanced back to the screen, beginning to type, not even looking to Emilys side of the screen.

“I know you can Y/N, but I wanted to talk to you for a second, then we can just hangout on screen together while you study,” Emily tried to suggest again.

Y/N continued to type, periodically glancing at her textbook, not even acknowledging that Sonnett had said anything.

“Y/N,” Emily attempted again with no response. “Y/N!” She finally raised her voice, frustration evident.

Y/N’s head shot up, looking at Emily.

“What? I really need to study; I don’t have time right now,” Y/N snapped back.

“Don’t have time or won’t make time?” Emily snapped as well this time.

“You know I don’t have time Emily,” Y/N growled, the use of her full name showing how frustrated she was. They hadn’t been on the call for two minutes and were snapping at each other. Y/N knew it was her fault, that she could make time and her snapping was perpetuated by the stress of midterms and what felt like a thousand other things.

“I get you’re stressed, but don’t take it out on me,” Emily did her best to soften her tone, understanding the anger was misdirected to her.

Y/N immediately deflated, crossing her on the desk and resting her forehead on them. Letting a sigh, she looked back to the screen.

“Fuck, I’m sorry Em, I’ve just got so much going on right now,” Y/N shoulders were hunched in. Now facing the computer, Emily could see the exhaustion clearly, the way her brow furrowed when she had a headache. All fight had left the younger woman.

“I understand babe, just take a minute and breath, alright?” Emily tried to sooth the student. “What’s all going on that’s got you like this?”

Y/N groaned, dropping head  to the desk against.

“What don’t I have? I have two midterms to write on Thursday before we leave for our away game, an essay due Monday, a lab I need to write up on the bus, plus practice and weights, and I should probably sleep at some point. But I can’t because I still need to study,” Y/N rambled. “Fuck.” She groaned, slammed her forehead on the desk, her hands roughly tugging her hair.

“Babe,” Emily tried to get her her attention, YN’s head remained down. “Y/N/N.”

Y/N rolled her head over, looking at the screen, keeping her head down.

“Hey hot shot, I know you have lots going on. Couple more weeks and the semester is done, then you get a break,” Emily encouraged, she wanted to reach through the screen and tuck the stray hair behind Y/N’s ear. She wanted to pull her stressed girlfriend into her arms, massage the tension out of her shoulders, sooth the crease out of her furrowed brow.

Y/N sat up, running the back of her neck, attempting to work out the knots.

“I’m exhausted Em,” Y/N whispered, lowly like Emily wasn’t supposed to hear it. “We need to win this weekend, and I need to do do well on my midterms, and this essay is kicking my ass.” The hockey player continued to ramble, Emily just nodded along, understanding she just needed to be heard.

“I know babe, but you can do this. You are so smart, you are going to do so well on those midterms, and make that essay your bitch,” that earned a small smile from the younger woman. “Plus, I’ll hand deliver coffee to your hotel this weekend.”

“Hand deliver to my hotel?” Y/N looked confused.

“Yea, our camp is in the same city as your game this weekend. I was thinking I could drop some coffee off in the morning before your game. Maybe sneak a hug in there too,” Sonnett finished with a wink.

“Fuck Em, I totally forgot you are in camp right now,” Y/N sat up completely straight, regret on her face when she realized she forgot about Emily being in camp.

“Don’t you dare apologize,” Sonnett said firmly, cutting Y/N off before she could ramble out an apology. “You don’t have to apologize for anything, you have more than enough going on right now. So do not feel bad for forgetting, alright?”

“But that’s something I should remember,” Y/N sounded frustrated, rubbing a palm harshly down her face. “You remembered my game; I should remember your games.”

“No, Y/N, you don’t. You have so much going on already, my camp should be the last thing you need to remember,” Emily watched as her girlfriend chewed her lower lip, contemplating what she said. “Now, I love you and want to keep talking to you, but you need to sleep.”

“I still have this chapter to finish at least before I can go to sleep,” Y/N motioned to the mess of books on her desk, “so I’m definitely not getting to bed anytime soon,” her hand made its way to her face to pinch the bridge of her nose.

“Alright smarty pants, why don’t I hang out for a little until you finish up. We don’t have to talk, we can be together, apart,” the defender suggested with a little giggle at her attempt at a pun.

Y/N just nodded and went back to studying. Typing and the turning of pages the only sounds for the next hour while to just enjoyed the minimal company they could have with each other. Emily finally needed to call it a night when Mal made her way into the room to go to bed.

“Hey hot shot,” Emily softly said, Y/N just grunted in response. “I’m heading to bed, try not to stay up too late.”

Y/N looked at the screen, giving Emily a tired smile.

“Night you goof, no promises though. Have a good sleep.”

Emily rolled her eyes, “goodnight babe.”

The two disconnected the call and Emily got up to start getting ready for bed.

For the rest of the week, Emily and Y/N had hardly had a chance to text, both women so busy. Emily still finding time to send her girlfriend reminders to eat and sleep enough, or just sending her funny memes though out the day to make her smile.

Y/N had spent the team bus trip to Chicago finishing her homework. By the time they arrived at the hotel, she was ready to crawl into her bed and sleep for a week it felt like. Unfortunately, all she could get was a quick nap before evening skate around and team meeting before the game the following day.

The hockey team all made their way through the lobby towards their rooms. Y/N had her headphones in from the bus still, making it clear to everyone she wasn’t in the mood to socialize with anyone, keeping her head down, watching the feet of her teammate to know where to go.

Suddenly Y/N felt a hand firmly push her to the left, she whipped her head to the right, looking for the culprit. Y/N saw a teammate grinning and motioning to her left where she had been pushed to.

Y/N looked to the left to see Emily standing there with a large smile on her face, bouncing on the balls of her feet, doing her best not to pounce on the hockey player.

“Looks like you have a stalker, Y/N/N,” her teammates chuckled, Y/N’s sleep deprived brain slowly caught up with her. She dropped her bag and took the few steps to close the distance between her and her girlfriend, crashing her body in the smaller soccer player.

“What are you doing here?” Y/N mumbled into Sonnetts chest.

“Rumor has is some stud hockey player is staying here the next couple nights; I was hoping to get an autograph,” Emily said casually, lightly pulling away to jokingly glance around the hotel; Y/N tightened her grip on the defenders shirt, tugging her back in.

Emily leaned down and placed a soft kiss to the hockey players head.

“I’m kidding hot shot. I got a room here. I know neither of us can spend the night together, but I figured it would be perfect a nap before your practice, maybe one tomorrow before your game.”

“You rented us a room just to nap?” Y/N looked up incredulously.

“I mean, we could do other things than nap,” Emily said suggestively with a waggle of her eyebrows. “But why don’t we start with taking your bags to your actual room, then go from there.”

Emily stepped away, picking up the discarded bags and making her way to the elevator. Leaving no room for argument that she would be carrying them. Y/N just followed behind, amazed at the consideration her girlfriend had for her.

The two quickly dropped her stuff in the room, before making their way to the room Emily rented a couple floors up.

Y/N had Emily pinned against the wall of the room before the door even closed. Gripping the back of her neck, hand pulling up her shirt. Emily pushed back, taking her own shirt off before reaching for Y/N’s. Both now shirtless, they battled to press the other into the wall. Y/N being stronger, gripped Emily’s hips and guided her to bed, pushing her to sit. Emily immediately slid up the bed, Y/N following with her knees on either side of Emilys hips.

They continued to make out, hips rolling into each other, hands roaming exposed skin. Emily suddenly pulled Y/N flush against, then rolled them so she was on top. She glided her lips down Y/N’s neck and across her collar bones, slowly making her way down when Y/n let out a loud yawn.

Emily paused, glancing up to make eye contact with the younger woman, giggling.

“I know it’s been a while and I might be a little rusty, but I can’t be that bad.”

“I’m sorry Em, you’re amazing,” Y/N started, only to be cut off by another yawn. It seemed now that she was in a bed her body was done fighting the exhaustion she felt, her eyes already beginning to droop.

Emily made her way back up, running her thumb along Y/N’s cheek, leaning down to place a soft kiss on her lips. “Get some sleep babe, I’ll make sure you’re up for practice.”

The soccer player rolled onto her back, pulling Y/N to lay on her chest. The younger woman gave a small nod, already drifting to sleep while she nuzzled her face into Emily’s neck.

Several hours and a refreshing nap later, both athletes made their way to the lobby. They exchanged a quick kiss goodbye before parting, each to their respective practices. Emily promising to be around the next morning with coffee before the team would depart for the rink.

Sitting on the bus, Y/N leaned her had back, feeling better than she had in months. The three hour nap with her girlfriend doing wonders, it had quieted all her anxieties and stresses.

Emily made her way to the hotel the next morning again, coffee in hand as the team left the banquet room after practice. Y/N walked over quickly, ignoring the snickers and joked coming from her teammates, eyes only on the blonde in front of her.

“Hey gorgeous,” Y/N greeted with a kiss. “I only have a minute before I need to get my stuff and be on the bus.”

“Hmm, that’s alright,” Emily hummed with a smile, “I just wanted to see you before the game, maybe get that stud hockey player to sign my shirt.” She winked, motioning to the shirt she was wearing. Y/N rolled her eyes realizing it was her own team shirt. 

Y/N laughed when Emily took the coffee back and replaced it with a sharpie.

“Who should I make it out to?” Y/N played along.

“Oh easy, ‘Emily Sonnett, the most amazing girlfriend’!” the blonde enunciated each word with her hands, like she was spelling them out in the air.

Y/N just shook her head, stepping close to her girlfriend before neatly signing her name on the shirt. Right on her chest, just over her heart.

“There you go you goof, now give me my coffee.”

The two made the exchange, both leaning in for a brief kiss before Y/N rushed off to the get her equipment for the game.

After a quick steal by Y/N and a fast break down the ice, leading to an early goal, loud cheers for the away team scoring drew the attention of the entire team. Y/N glanced up from the ice to see a majority of Emily’s teammates in the stands cheering the team on.

Y/N played the rest of the game with a new focus, she always wanted to win, but there was something different about playing in front of her girlfriend, a strong desire to show off and impress her.

Emily and the few players that knew Y/N personally met her outside the change rooms after the game. Each taking turns to pull her into a celebratory hug after the victory, all talking over each other about what part they liked the most. Mal and Rose pretending to recreate a body check against the boards.

Y/N had pulled Sonnett into her side while they all talked, both only half listening, just enjoying being with each other again.

“Feel better?” Emily asked when her friends were distracted. She could feel how much softer her girlfriend felt now that most of the tension left her body.

“A million times better,” Y/N leaned down and caught Emily’s lips in a kiss.

“Glad to hear it hot shot,” Sonnett whispered when they pulled away, both oblivious to their friends gagging at the cheesy interaction.

[ffwriterbts]

Lunar- BTS Werewolf AU Part 6

AN: As I’ve said before, if slowburn BTS werewolf AUs that have springlings of angst, smut, and fluff, this is the story for you! Other than that, please leave a like or comment so I know you’re enjoying the story!! The sections should start getting longer as I keep updating :)

Also! Let me know if you want to be on a tag list for this story!

Word Count: 8.1k

Warnings: PARENTAL ABUSE; BEATINGS; mentions of gang activity;  general angst; mental health issues; soulmate themes if you squint: seriously if you aren’t into angst don’t read this bc :)))) it’s angsty 

Posted: 17 Jan 2021

Tag List: @happynightmareprincess

Masterlist

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But as always, things don’t last forever. Good things rarely last for long enough to really savor them, especially around all of them.

It was during one of the lovely movie nights that YN’s phone started ringing. At first, YN tried to ignore it, not wanting to be rude during the movie, but when it just wouldn’t stop ringing, she made way too many embarrassed apologies as she went to the other room to answer it.

“Hello?”

“YN! My darling daughter! I’ve been calling and calling, don’t you ever pick up for your mother anymore?” YN blood ran cold as she heard the voice she hadn’t heard since she had fully moved into her uncles home.

“I- I’ve just been unloading groceries mom, I couldn’t get to the phone.” The lie falls far too easily from her lips, just like so many others had before.

“Well at least you’re eating, dear.” The sickly sweet tone made YN want to puke, even as she listened more to the woman she had the displeasure of calling her mother on the other end of the line.

“You need to come back to the house, your dear great aunt has passed and you need to come for the funeral.”

YN takes a deep breath before she responds, not wanting to sound too eager.

“Oh, Mother! Of course, I’ll come in! I can stay at the hotel do-” YN starts,

“Nonsense! I’ll be damned if my daughter stays outside of the home when she’s in my city! Your father will be absolutely tickled that you’re here again.” YN’s mother spoke with such assuredness that YN almost agreed without a second thought, not wanting to anger the woman.

“Of course Mom, I’ll stay at home.” Her voice is barely above a whisper, all the fight that is normally in her tone gone from it in an instant, even slipping into the same vernacular she had when she was younger.

“There you go dear, isn’t that much nicer? It’ll be a joy to have all you kids under one roof again, even if it is because of something so nasty.” YN could feel a headache coming on as she listened to her mother drone on about what the dress code was, and how she was so heartbroken, and on and on.

“Are you going to be bringing anyone with you? Huh? It’s been such a worry that you’re all alone up in those woods.” YN is snapped back to attention at the words, and she quickly says that yes, she will be bringing someone with her to the funeral.

Secretly, she has no idea if any of the boys will even want to go with her, but the prospect of going back to that house without one of them to protect her made her feel even worse than the clearly fake worry laced in her mother’s voice.

“Wonderful dear, I’ll be sure to make up your room so it’s nice for the two of you. I’m very progressive, you know.” YN can feel the hot tears making tracks on her face even as she says a quick yes to her mother, listening to the woman drone on as she tries to find a way out of talking to her mother for any longer than she has to.

“Listen Mom, I’ve got to get these groceries put away, when should I be at the house?” YN’s voice is shaking, timid. She’s forgotten completely about the boys in the other room, consumed with the fear of what was to come.

“The funeral is on Saturday, so you should come down Thursday afternoon, to make sure you’ve got time to talk to everyone before you head back out to nowhere. I expect you before noon.” YN’s mother hangs up the phone after she speaks, and YN lets the phone clatter to the floor.

YN is quick to follow, her legs giving out from underneath of her. She is expecting the jolt of hitting the floor, but instead is drawn quickly into the arms of one of the boys. She clenches her jaw, feeling like she’s just overreacting. It's not really that bad, right?

“YN, hey, it’s okay.” YN realizes when he speaks that it was Namjoon who had stopped her from falling to the ground. She could feel the words riverbreate in his chest as he told the others to go back into the living room and fully picked her up, taking her into the other room as well.

“We’re here for you YN, it’s okay. You can’t get hurt here, remember?” Jimin is off to one side, rubbing her back as YN curls up on Namjoon’s lap, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

She’s embarrassed. She feels like she’s overreacting, like the memories of what it was like living in that house aren’t really real and she’s just made the whole thing up. YN really wanted to believe the simple lies she told people of what her home life was like, but she couldn’t hide anymore. Not from them.

“I- I’m sorry.” YN’s voice is soft, all of the parts of her personality that made her who she was were completely gone as she balled her hands into fists. Absently, she noted how it hurt when her nails dug into her palms, but she didn’t make any moves to unclench her fists. She needed the jolt of pain just as much as she needed oxygen.

Hoseok ended up on the other side of her, and he moved to grab her hands, putting his fingers between her nails and her palms, making her unclench the firsts.

“You don’t have any reason to be sorry Mini, you can’t control the way you react to things like that.” YN barely registers what Taehyung says, smiling absently at the familiar nickname he had given her.

“Tell us what’s wrong, sweetie, let us help you.” It’s Hoseok who speaks this time, wiggling his fingers in her hands, trying to make her smile at least a little bit.

“Someone died.” YN’s voice is devoid of any sort of emotion now, and the boys share glances out of worry.

“I have to go back to that house. To those people. They hate me, because I’m not really theirs. Can-” YN cuts herself off, tears welling up in her eyes despite the fact her voice had a sort of trained evenness to it.

“Can one of you come with me? I- I told my mother that I’d bring my boyfriend but that isn’t exactly what we are and I can’t make the choice myself and I don’t want to go alone and I- I- I’m just- I just” YN chokes on her words, speaking too fast as fear swells up in her chest again.

She shouldn’t have told her mother someone would come with her, it was stupid of her to assume one of them would be willing to go into that situation. She could handle it by herself, after all. How many years did she deal with everything that came from that house completely on her own?

Without more than a couple seconds to pause, there are seven voices saying “I’ll do it.”

YN can’t help but smile to herself, internally cringing at the fact her mother is going to expect a certain level of intimacy. The thought of making any one of them uncomfortable... YN can't even bear to finish the thought.

“Um be-before you say yes, Mother is going to expect us to be, well, t-touchy. And we’ll have to share a bed and I’m sure she will make us kiss to prove that it isn’t fake and- and-” YN starts speaking too fast again, and the seven men look among each other again.

“I’ll still do it.” Again, all seven of them respond without any hesitation and this time, YN lets out half a giggle. With a few final sniffles, YN moves off of Namjoon’s lap and into one of the big, comfy chairs.

“I can’t take all of you!” YN gives a soft smile that is bordering on sad as she looks between the boys that have stolen every piece of her heart. She really didn’t know what she would ever do without them.

“You know what this calls for, don’t you?” Jin is the one to speak up, looking steadily between the other boys.

“Clearly, we need to compete to see who’s most worthy of being with YN during this time, hm?” Yoongi this time, also eyeing everyone up.

“Oh, you all can withdraw now, I’m sure I’ll win.” Jungkook speaks up, a hint of laughter in his voice.

“Shouldn’t you be the one to withdraw, as the youngest?” Jin is being sassy to the younger boy.

“Why are you so confident, huh? Who says I won’t win?” Jimin speaks up this time, raising an eyebrow.

YN just giggled as she watched them go back and forth, feeling much more at ease, and like the whole thing was just some weird fever dream.

With a sudden shout of “rock, paper, scissors!” from Namjoon, the boys were off, engaging in the battle of the century to see who would accompany YN to the funeral.

After three intense rounds, Jungkook let out a yell, having been deemed the victor. Taehyung pouts, but the game stands, and Jungkook is officially the one that is going with YN.

Once the group calms down and everything settles back into a more normal state, the boys start asking questions.

“Um, YN, I hate to ask things that might be painful, but I thought you were close to your mom?” Namjoon speaks up again, looking at YN with a curious glint in his eye.

“Oh, yeah, well, um, basically, er-” YN is tripping over her words, her ears feeling hot as she tries to figure out how to explain what in the hell her home life was like.

“You don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to Mini.” It’s Taehyung again, shooting a look at Namjoon.

“No, no, it’s okay I just- I don’t know how to tell you that it’s, well, weird.” YN turns to look at her hands, playing with the blanket she was wrapped up in. “My parents and I didn’t have a great relationship for most of my life, because I was supposed to be their child when they couldn’t have their own. But then they did. My younger brother and sisters are the light of their lives, and I’m just…” YN trails off, trying to find the words to describe what it was like in that house.

“Well, I was there to make fun of. The bad example. The one to take the anger out on.” YN shrugged in a way that made it seem like the words she was speaking were nonchalant, normal conversation, though they were anything but.

“Dad used to hit me when I didn’t do what he wanted. And then make it up to me by buying me whatever I wanted. Nobody cared about the yelling, the screaming, the beatings. All they could see were the things . And Mother was on board with it all, until Dad started to find his pleasures in other women. Then she was suddenly on my side, picking fights with Dad that I always had to take the brunt of.” YN shivers, eyes wide as she grips the blanket tightly. She wills herself not to cry in the silence of the room.

“Mother tried to make things better between us once my uncle died. At first, I believed it too- I needed to, I think.” YN gives a little frown, licking her lips quickly as she unclenches her hands. The boys share looks with each other, the discomfort palpable.

“I believed that she really cared, you know. That she had really changed and things were different. And then I met all of you. I saw the way you cared for each other, the way you speak to each other. Even when you’re angry or upset or mad, you’re kind to each other. It was strange at first, seeing you all be so nice even when you’re clearly big enough and strong enough and skilled enough to hurt each other, if you really wanted to.”

YN’s words this time are punctuated by soft gasps, though she isn’t sure who exactly was reacting.

“Seeing all of you with each other, seeing how you interact with each other. Then seeing and feeling that you treat me the same way? I realized as soon as we became friends that my mother’s concerns weren’t real. You all have shown me more love and kindness in the past few months that I have ever felt in my whole life, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that.” YN’s voice was soft again, though not because she was feeling anything overly negative. In fact, she was almost overwhelmed by the amount of love that she felt for the boys that had helped her realize how gentle people could be.

After a few solid beats of silence, Jimin goes and walks over and pulls YN out of her chair and into a hug.

“I love you too.” He says as he squeezes her, being careful not to be too rough. Before YN can really process anything, she’s in the middle of a group hug, with confessions of love being thrown her way from all sides.

YN can’t help but laugh and tell them that she loves them just as much as they love her, feeling more happiness in that moment than she thought possible.

~~~~~~

Thursday had come much sooner than YN had wanted it to. Sure, it had only been a couple days, but YN was still nervously twisting her hands in her lap during the entire car ride. She was thankful that Jungkook had offered to drive, seeing as her nerves were a wreck.

“Do you want to talk more about what is and isn’t okay?” Jungkook’s sweet voice brings YN out of her reprieve.

“Yeah, um, what sort of things are you okay with?” YN can feel the heat in her ears as she asks the question, silently hoping he will just tell her so she doesn’t have to think about it.

“I’m okay doing whatever needs to be done to keep you safe.” Jungkook’s voice takes on a bit of an edge as he speaks, and YN swallows hard.

“Um okay, well, you already know we will have to share a bed, which we did yesterday so it wouldn’t be so weird. And, well, um, you’ll have to hold my hand and stuff like that.” YN glanced out of the corner of her eye at Jungkook to see if he was reacting badly, but she found him sitting there with an adorable smile on his face, eyes focused on the traffic around them.  

“And if she thinks we aren’t real and asks us to kiss?” He asks, turning to look both ways before he crosses over a road and seeming not to pay too much attention to YN or her reactions.

“Um well I-” YN starts, pausing to take a deep breath and steady herself. “I’m okay with it if you are.” Her words are shaky, unsure.

“We don’t have to, YN. It’s okay.” Jungkook’s brow furrows slightly as he makes a turn, sensing YN’s discomfort but misreading it as a sign she doesn’t want that kind of intimacy.

“No- I-” YN sighs deeply, twisting the material of the sweater she was wearing between her fingers nervously. Jungkook takes notice of her nervous habit, and he grabs one of her hands in his own as he continues to drive. YN swallows again, feeling her ears burn hotter as she turns to face him a little more. To deny that it was an attractive move would have been akin to some sort of basal, universal mistruth.

“I’m not uncomfortable with it you know, but I don’t want to get used to something that won’t continue.” Her words are soft, the usual bite of her tone is gone, but they are the most sure sounding words he had heard her speak since the whole ordeal had begun.

“YN, baby, if you want physical affection in that way from any of us, all you had to do was let us know.” Jungkook lets out a soft little laugh, giving YN’s hand a small squeeze. Her heart flips at the pet name, so familiar as it falls from his lips.

“But it’s not my place to ask for something I don’t deserve.” The words are out of YN’s mouth before she can tell herself not to say them, that the appropriate response would be to tell the boy that yes, she would love to get more-than-platonic physical affection from them (though it could be easily argued their affection was never platonic in the first place).

“I- I mean that I would absolutely love that sort of affection if you’re willing to give it, um-” YN can feel her face growing hot as she withdraws her hand from Jungkook’s, lacing her fingers together and setting her hands on her lap.

“You deserve everything YN. And you most definitely deserve that kind of affection, we just didn’t want to overstep your boundaries. Any one of us would give you the world if you asked.” Jungkook’s words are simple, and YN can’t help the tears that well up in her eyes. She can feel plainly the love behind his words, and the entire situation is completely overwhelming for her.

She reaches over and grabs his hand again, smiling softly to herself as the car falls into a comfortable silence for the remainder of the ride. YN is grateful, in those moments, that Jungkook isn’t half as loud or crazy as he seems when he’s around Tae or Jimin.

Once they finally pull into the driveway of YN’s family home, YN lets out a shaky breath.

“Promise me you won’t let them hurt me Kookie, please.” It’s a half whisper and it comes out like a whimpering plea. Jungkook can feel the fear that has settled into YN’s bones, and it makes him want to rip the heads off of every single person who’s ever hurt her.

“YN-ah, look at me.” He pauses until she turns to face him, at which point he carefully traces her jawbone. “You’re safe with me. The boys aren’t far away, and nothing will ever hurt you again. You’re ours now, and we don’t let anything happen to our people.”

He looks her dead in the eyes as he speaks, seeming to search for something. YN is looking at him with those big, innocent eyes she always does. Her trust in him, in them, is greater than any fear she had, and he can sense that. And suddenly, their lips connect, soft and sweet. It seems to take all the breath from YN’s lungs and give them more oxygen than ever before all at once, and it’s cut off all too soon for her liking.

Jungkook softly rests his forehead against hers, breathing in sync with her. Absently, he thinks of how both Taehyung and Yoongi will be pouty when they find out he got to be the first one to kiss her, and that just makes him want to do it again and again.

So he does, and YN couldn’t have been happier about it. She wanted to slip into a world where it was just the two of them, nothing else going on, nobody else to worry about.

What she got instead was a very disgruntled looking mother knocking at the window of Jungkook’s car, calling for her to come out. Taking a steadying breath, YN plasters a smile on her face and hops out of the vehicle, to face her mother.

“YN, my dear daughter! It’s so nice to have you back in the home! And who is this handsome devil? Hm? You must really be something special to go for someone like my daughter with your looks.” YN’s mother moves from speaking warmly to YN, to snidely about her to Jungkook.

“I’m Jeon Jungkook, it’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. YLN.” Jungkook gives a bow, and YN almost scoffs. She doesn’t like the way he’s being so respectful, though she never would have expected anything else. “And I assure you, it’s your daughter who is settling for me.”

YN gives a smirk at her mother’s slight frown at that comment. Of course he would have noticed the crude remark.

They make their way into YN’s family home, taking their bags up to YN’s bedroom before returning to the living area. YN is pleased to find that her brother had also brought someone, and that there were all sorts of family members milling about the house.

Jungkook stuck close to YN for the entire afternoon and evening, rolling up his sleeves to show off his tattoos at every chance he got. He also tended to stand between YN and either of her parents whenever the opportunity was given to him, which YN appreciated more than anything.

Jungkook also found that YN had purposefully let down the last bit of the barrier that was still in her mind so he had complete access to her thoughts and feelings. This meant that, as soon as YN felt threatened or like something wasn’t quite right, he was there to save the day. He had to admit that YN opening herself up to him like that made the Alpha part of him feel absolutely wonderful.

YN, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to curl up into Jungkook’s arms and have him take her away from there. She was dreading what would happen once everyone else left, seeing as her brother was staying with his girlfriend and neither of her sisters would arrive from college until the next afternoon.

As the people cleared out of the house, YN anxiety levels rose exponentially. The snide remarks were much less hidden as the people left, none of which are missed by either YN or Jungkook. Despite YN trying to field the situation and talk her parents into being a little nicer, they do nothing to mask their ill intent.

YN feels sick to her stomach at the thought of how she once believed that this was the pinnacle of what love felt like, seeking out Jungkook’s soft touches to ease her discomfort. Jungkook, on the other hand, felt more and more like pulverizing both of YN’s parents with each passing second. The anger radiated off of him like heat waves, and honestly, it gave YN more courage to stay calm and not pay attention to what her parents were trying to do. She knew, at the first sight of real danger, she would have Jungkook there in an instant to protect her, and three of the others outside within five minutes.

And so, things went as smoothly as was to be expected the entirety of those first few hours. YN and Jungkook even went up to go to bed without any real issues, which YN was more than grateful for.

The two decompressed in YN’s room for a long while, with Jungkook laying his head on YN’s chest so he could listen to her heartbeat as they both processed the events of the day. YN ran her fingers through Jungkook’s beautiful mane as she tried to figure out what her next moves were. She felt oddly safe, which she completely attributed to Jungkook and the rest of the pack.

It was nearing midnight when YN stirred under Jungkook, carefully moving his half-asleep from to the side so she could sneak downstairs for a glass of water. She hadn’t realized just how thirsty she was until she tried to swallow and her mouth was just completely dry, so down the stairs she went.

Jungkook, being the big baby he is, insisted on her giving him a kiss before she left, asking her if she needed him to come with. She just giggled, telling him not to be silly and to go back to resting.

YN was as quiet as she could be going down the stairs, not wanting to wake anyone up. She had gotten all the way to the kitchen and grabbed a glass for water when the deep voice of her father startled her.

“What in the world are you doing down here?” His voice is gruff and slurred. Turning around to face him, YN can smell the alcohol from across the room.

“Nothing sir, I’m just getting water.” YN’s voice is small and she can’t bear to look at her father as he stalks closer to her.

“I know what you’re doing with that boy upstairs. The only way some thing like you could have landed that boy was by opening your whorish legs for him. Did you even last a whole week before you were on your knees, huh?” His words bring tears to YN’s eyes even as she wills herself not to cry.  

Upstairs, Jungkook’s eyes snap open as he realizes what is going on, feeling the distress coming from YN.

“N-No sir.” YN’s voice is so unsure, she even sounded like she was lying to herself.

“Yeah right” He spits at her feet, grunting as his grimy hand reaches out to grip her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “A bitch like you? If you didn’t open your legs, you must be running drugs for him. Is that it? Uh?”

YN struggles to break away, to deny the claims even as her father’s grip gets tighter on her jawbone. He takes another swig from the bottle he had been drinking, grunting and throwing it across the room when he finds it empty.

Harshly, he tosses her head from his grip, another crude grunt falling from his lips as he watches his daughter fall to the ground.

“I never understood why your uncle liked a worthless bitch like you so much. That house was supposed to go to us, and here you are, living in it like you deserve to live there! Like you took care of them! Like you wanted it!” His words get more and more harsh as his face turns blotchy, anger and disgust lacing his words.

As he raises his hand to strike the girl that is cowering before him, making claims about how this is all she will ever be good for, YN squeezes her eyes shut and prepares for the pain that is to come. She waits for the familiar sting, her heart seeming to beat out of her chest as one beat passes. Then another.

She hears a sickening crunch, but doesn’t feel... anything. Then there comes another, and another, and the various sounds of flesh hitting flesh. YN still doesn’t feel anything, so she slowly cracks open her eyes.

What she finds when she opens them is one seething Jeon Jungkook absolutely destroying the man who had tormented her her entire life. She can both see and hear bones snap under his sharp blows. She can see the blood pour from his split skin. She can hear the too-loud cries of her father as he tries to harm Jungkook in vain.

Despite the carnage in front of her, YN can’t help but let out a happy sort of smile as she rushes forward, not wanting Jungkook to kill the man. There isn't a doubt in her mind that murder is the only thing on Jungkook's mind.

“Kook, Kookie! Stop!” YN yells, dodging his elbows as she tries to get into his line of sight. “Don’t kill him!”

YN finally manages to grab onto one of Jungkook’s arms and tug him backwards slightly. He looks quickly at YN before turning and spitting on her father, growling out a quick “Don’t you dare touch our YN ever again ” before turning fully to YN and drawing her into his arms.

He was covered in blood, but in this moment, YN really couldn’t have cared any less because it all felt like it was over. She pulled away from him slightly, not caring at all that he had gotten blood on her clothes, and tugged him down to her level for a kiss. She could feel his muscles still flexing even as his arms fully wrap around her frame, though she knows she isn't in any sort of danger.

“Thank you” she breathed, tears slipping down her face even as she felt nothing but a wild sort of happiness.

“Come on baby, let’s get our things. The boys will be here soon, we can go home.” Jungkook presses another kiss onto her lips as he brushes the spot on her jaw where her father had gripped it, wanting to wipe away all traces of the disgusting man off of his precious Omega.

YN holds onto his hand tightly as they make their way upstairs, gathering the few things they had gotten out hastily. It dawned on YN that it looked almost as if they never really planned to stay there at all, with how little they had unpacked, and she was perfectly okay with that.

It wasn’t until they stepped outside of YN’s bedroom that they met their next challenger. YN’s mother was absolutely fuming as she ran up the stairs, screeching in that horrible high pitch of hers that they were going to pay for what they did.

“YN! You filthy bitch! You ugly whore! You scheming cunt!” The screeches come as YN’s heart drops into her stomach. She feels the way Jungkook tenses beside her, ready and willing to hurt the woman if she deserves it.

“What the fuck did you do to my husband? What the fuck is wrong with you! We took you in, we cared for you, we loved you! We fed you and clothed you! And this is how you repay us? Huh?” YN’s mother is too close to them now, though a sharp growl from Jungkook sends the furious woman back a couple steps. She may have been completely irrational, but she wasn't actually stupid.

“No I-” YN starts, at least trying to talk some sense into the woman.

“NO! NO!? You ugly little whore! You and that freak need to get out of this house, right now!” YN swears her mother is going to pop a blood vessel, and honestly, she’s not sure she would really care.

“Mom please-” Again, YN is cut off by her mother’s devilish voice.

“No! We never should have taken you into our home! We never should have signed the papers to make you our responsibility! You and that oaf you call a boyfriend are just a pair of worthless bastards!” At this point, even Jungkook’s warning growls and glares do nothing to make the woman back away, but it isn’t until she reaches out her hand to push YN that he really steps in. He captures the woman’s wrist in his hand with a practiced sort of ease, stepping between YN and her mother before he speaks to the enraged woman.

“Listen here you worthless hag, you are going to step aside and let our darling girl pass. You are going to attend to your dipshit husband before he bleeds to death, and you are never going to speak to YN again. Do you understand me?” Jungkook’s voice holds an edge that YN had never heard before. She can almost hear the way her mother’s wrist muscles strain, threatening to tear as Jungkook’s unrelenting grip tightens.

“I said, do you understand?” His voice drops into a lower register as he motions for YN to grab the bags and move past him. As much as he is sure she wouldn’t mind her mother getting hurt, he doesn’t want to do anything more in front of his sweet girl.

YN brushes past him with the bags, oddly calm for everything she had witnessed. She is sure that her lovely Kookie will take care of everything, and that there will be three other boys waiting for her outside, ready to whisk her away.  

When she opens the door, she is immediately swept up by someone, the bags dropping to the ground as she is spun around. It had only been a few hours, but the events of the day had left the entire pack on edge.

“Thank the heavens you’re okay.” It isn’t until he speaks that YN realizes that it’s Yoongi who has hold of her. YN doesn’t say anything, instead clinging onto the boy like he was her world. Yoongi carries her to the car, going to put her in one of the seats until she looks at him with those beautiful eyes of hers and asks him not to go, and suddenly she is lovingly curled up in his lap.

Meanwhile, Jungkook is only just coming out of the house as YN is settled into the car. He spots Hoseok and Jin putting the bags in the back of one of the cars. The two rush up to him and ask if anything else needs done, to which Jungkook shakes his head. He silently hands his keys to Hoseok as he heads over to the passengers side of his own vehicle.

“I had to break the woman’s wrist. I don’t know if the man will live or not. We should leave.” Jungkook hops into the vehicle, collapsing down into the seat in exhaustion.

Hoseok and Jin share a sideways glance before they quickly switch keys. Out of the two people that had been in that house, Jungkook was the more likely to need medical attention, so Jin would drive him back to the mansion. Hobi would follow in the other vehicle, keeping an extra eye on YN and making sure Jin got updates as needed.

They all knew that there would be plenty of questions to be asked and answered in the morning, but for the time being, they were focused on getting YN and Jungkook home and rested up.

~~~~~~

Once they pull into their driveway, Jungkook and Jin go straight into the house, knowing that it would be their job to brief the others about what had happened. Yoongi refuses to let YN down, carrying her into the house as Hoseok opens the doors for the two of them.

“I’ll keep her in my room tonight, to make sure she’s okay. You go make sure Kookie's alright.” Yoongi speaks softly to Hobi when they reach the living room, giving the man a soft smile.

“You know what to do if you need anything.”  Hoseok says simply, returning Yoongi’s soft smile as he gently rubs YN’s back. She hadn’t put the remaining barriers back up in her mind, so both boys knew that YN was absolutely exhausted and just trying to figure out what in the world the jumble of her thoughts were.

Honestly, her brain was a mess but it was clear that YN really didn’t want to be alone right now, which the boys respected.

Yoongi didn’t set YN down until he very carefully placed her on his bed, looking at her in the light properly for the first time. She had a very visible bruise on her jaw from where her father had gripped it and blood all over her clothes from Jungkook.

“Go take a shower princess, I’ll get you something to sleep in.” Yoongi’s voice is soft as he gently moves her head to get a better look at the bruise. He couldn’t deny that it made him angry that someone had marked his Omega. “It’ll make you feel better, I promise.”

YN just looks at him with those big eyes of hers, sadness in her gaze even as she felt comfort in his gentleness. With a little more gentle prodding, she makes her way into the bathroom, Yoongi getting her a fresh towel for when she finishes.

She spends quite a while in the shower, the warm water relaxing her as she tries her best to scrub every trace of her family from her skin. It took YN a lot of thinking to decide whether the entire ordeal had been worth it or not, but in the end she decided that it had been. If they wouldn’t have gone, YN didn’t know if she ever would have gotten the guts to admit that she wanted more intimate affection from the boys she loved so much.

As she stepped out of the shower and wrapped up in the towel, YN secretly hoped that Yoongi would kiss her too. She would be lying to herself if she said that she wasn’t incredibly attracted to everything about the man, but she couldn’t see herself taking that step on her own.

Securing the towel around her, YN stepped out of the ensuite and into Yoongi’s room. She found a pile of clothes on the end of the bed and Yoongi scrolling through his phone.

“I got you one of my hoodies to sleep in, baby. I know how much you like them.” Yoongi speaks without looking up from his phone, smiling to himself as YN grabs the clothes he had left for her. She changes quickly, a smile breaking onto her face when she realizes that Yoongi had gotten her her favorite pair of sleep shorts.

When she came back out of the bathroom, Yoongi had put his phone up on the nightstand and turned out the overhead light. He had the light on the nightstand on it’s lowest setting, which made her feel oddly safe in the already dark-themed room.

“I got your bunny, so you can stay here. I don’t want you out of my sight just yet.” Yoongi’s voice is deeper than usual as he stands and heads over to where YN had stopped. He could tell that she was unsure of what to do, and he was perfectly alright taking the lead.

Yoongi hands the small girl her stuffed animal, a smile gracing his face as she squeezes the thing to her chest. They had all noticed right away that she really liked to cuddle a stuffed animal when she slept, which they found to be completely adorable. Secretly, they had each made sure they had a small stuffed animal of some sort in their room for her, just in case.

“Thank you Yoongs. I-” She paused as she looked up at him with those same wide, innocent eyes. Damn, was he a sucker for those eyes of hers. “I really don’t want to sleep alone tonight.” Her voice is only just above a whisper, love and trust filling her eyes as she looks up at Yoongi.

“Kook is right, you know.” Yoongi says the words absently as he draws her into his embrace. “We would give you anything you ever wanted. You’re our darling girl, our princess, our baby, our Omega. You should have let us know you wanted more intimate affection.” He planted a soft kiss on the top of her head.

YN pulled back slightly, brow furrowed slightly in confusion as she looked up at Yoongi’s face.

“Why?” Her voice was still ever so soft, ever so innocent.

“Oh darling, you know exactly what I mean.” Yoongi moves one of his hands up to trace her jaw, ever so careful of the bruise that had formed. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since that first day when you found me in the woods.”

YN can feel her ears heat up as her lips part slightly at Yoongi’s confession, wanting nothing more than to close the distance between the two of them but being far too chicken to actually do it.

Luckily, Yoongi really could read her mind, and he took it upon himself to bring their lips together. YN felt the world around her spin and fade away as the breath was stolen from her lungs. The only thing she could think about, the only thing she could feel , was the soft pressure of Yoongi’s lips against her own.

It seems like hours before they disconnect, drawing a soft gasp from YN as Yoongi lovingly strokes the side of her face with his thumb, watching her as those eyes he loves so much flutter open. In that moment, it feels like it’s just the two of them, suspended in time and space. Yoongi feels complete as he smiles down at the girl, the love and trust so clear in her eyes it’s almost painful for him to look at.

And just like that, the silent moment is gone as YN lets out an adorable little yawn, rubbing at one of her eyes absently.

“Come on princess, let’s get you to bed. Things have been rough for you today, hm?” Yoongi moves to the side and gets into his bed, frowning when YN doesn’t really move. With a quick assessment of her thoughts, he realizes that she’s unsure because she doesn’t want to assume anything or overstep her boundaries or- well, she’s completely overthinking the entire situation.

“YN, come ‘ere. I’m not going to make you sleep alone tonight.” Yoongi makes a motion with one hand as he draws the covers back for her with the other, a soft smile gracing his face. YN runs a hand through her hair, taking short, quick steps to get to where Yoongi was.

If she was really being honest with herself, she craved nothing more than the complete, devout protection that the pack gave to her. That Yoongi gave to her. It made her feel like she was really worth something, like she was cared for in the exact same way she cared for them.

Absently, as she curled up next to Yoongi and laid her head on his chest, she thought of how most other people would have thought what Jungkook did was too much, too violent. YN couldn’t have explained to anyone why she felt the way she did, but she honestly trusted him, trusted them , more now.

They had all told her many times that they would protect her, that they would keep her safe, that nothing would ever hurt her again, but she didn’t really believe them. How could she? Sure, she knew that they had done some unsavory things in the past, but that didn’t mean that they would actually do anything for her. Why would they? She was riddled with self doubt, even if she did her best to hide it away.

As YN lay on Yoongi’s chest, listening to the slow beating of his heart in time with his deep breaths and thinking about how she felt about everything that had happened, she slipped closer and closer to sleep. By the second, her eyes were more and more heavy, the calming scent of Yoongi enveloping her completely and calming her to the point it was practically impossible for others to tell if she was asleep or awake.

Yoongi is wide awake, on the other hand, breathing softly and mulling over the day as he plays with YN’s hair. For whatever reason, it calmed him greatly to have the girl there, on his chest. He felt like he was doing what he was meant to by having the Omega so close to him. He sighed to himself, wholly unable to tell if his intense liking for the girl was due to his Alpha nature or if it was because of who she was. He wanted it to be because of her, because of who she was instead of just because of their natures, but he couldn’t be sure . After all, he had felt very similarly when Jimin and Taehyung had first come into the pack, and while he loved them both dearly, part of that affection was because they were younger Betas and he felt he needed to protect them.

Later, Yoongi would blame his thinking of the two boys on them showing up in the room, but honestly, he wasn’t mad about it. Taehyung and Jimin burst into the room like a pack of wild animals, both of them wanting to see YN for themselves.

“Yah! No! Calm down!” Yoongi hissed out as soon as he realized what was going on, anger lacing his words as he accosted the younger men “YN is resting, can’t you see that?”

The two boys stop in their tracks and sheepishly actually look at the scene before them, both of them finding the way that YN had curled up to be adorable. Jimin was the first to apologize, rocking back and forth on his feet as he put his hands behind his back, blush tinting his cheeks. Taehyung sighed as he repeated Jimin’s apology, pouting as he looked at the scene before him.

YN had one hand curled up, gripping onto Yoongi’s shirt right next to her face, the other clutched her stuffed bunny to her side. Her lips were slightly parted and her eyes were softly fluttering open. They didn’t even have to read each other’s minds to know that it was difficult for all of them not to coo at the adorable girl.

“It’s okay YN, you can sleep. It’s okay.” Yoongi ran his fingers through her hair as he spoke softly, wanting to calm her.

“Taehunie? Minie?” Her voice was laced with sleep as she mumbled out the words, barely lifting her head even as she turned it to the door. Her eyes were glassy as she looked towards where the two other boys stood.

They were in sync with each other as they both moved towards the bed, kneeling down to look YN in the face once they were to the side of the bed.

“YN-ah, baby, are you okay?” Taehyung is the one to speak first this time, one hand reaching out to touch the side of her face softly. “We wanted to see you.”

YN looks at Taehyung with those same beautifully innocent eyes, a smile creeping onto her face at his words. “I’m okay Tae. Safe.” Her words were much more clear, though she didn’t speak in a full sentence. It took them looking into her mind to realize that she meant that she felt safe with them, not some other random thing.

“It’s good you feel safe! We love you, we always want you to feel safe with us.” It’s Jimin who speaks this time, reaching a hand out and laying it on her arm as he spoke.

“Safe. Mine.” Her words are back to being half mumbles as she snuggles back into Yoongi’s chest, feeling safe. Because of their mind link, they understood that she meant that she felt safe with them and that she was glad she was with them.

The two boys at the side of the bed shift their focus to Yoongi at the same time, matching pouts on their faces.

“Hyung, can we stay?”

“Please?”

“I don’t wanna leave her.”

“Yeah Hyung, me neither.”

Yoongi puts up one of his hands to silence them, sighing deeply. He knows he’s gonna regret it, but he looks down at YN and tells them that it’s her decision if she wants them to stay or not.

“YN~” They whine at the same time, doing their best to give her perfect puppy dog eyes. “Can we stay with you, please?” YN giggles at their antics, and nods into Yoongi’s chest.

“Yeah, you can stay.” Her words were muffled because of the position of her head, but the two boys had no problems hearing her.

Jimin is the first one to climb back into the bed, quickly shimmying under the covers and wrapping his arms around YN. Taehyung climbs in directly after him, doing the same thing to Jimin that he had done to YN.

Yoongi just sighs as he looks at the three other people that had gotten into his bed, a smile on his face despite his outward annoyance. He really did love them, and if he was being completely honest with himself, having the three seek him out for comfort made his Alpha feel absolutely wonderful .

YN felt incredibly safe and happy like that, wrapped up between the three. She felt loved, cared for, wanted. Within a minute of the two boys clambering into the bed, she was completely out, sleeping peacefully.

[debbiechanclub]

Best Two Out of Three, Part 20

Holy Toledo how is this Part 20? Wanna hear something dumb? I have all the parts in a Word doc on my laptop and that m’fer is 80,356 words long and 149 pages. In 11-point font. This thing is a whole ass novel, wtf is wrong with us XD

Wanna hear something even dumber? @what-does-mine-say was deadass consoling me like this shit is real life while I was writing this part. And I think that’s all the intro it needs.

*cries*

Best Two Out of Three

Part: 20/26

Pairing: ...recalculating...

Word count: 5.9k

Warnings: Language; angst. So much angst.

My tiny tag list: @freshlysqueezedmox @gabbynorth98 

Catch up on previous parts here.

“So I kind of want to try something new tonight.”

Callie bounced on the balls of her feet as she and Britt stood in the middle of the ring at Daily’s Place. She had a match that night—a Dark match against Penelope Ford—and she was both excited and a little bit nervous. It was the first match she’d had in two-and-a-half months, since her match against Alex that she’d lost by disqualification. Knowing that, she felt like showing off a little.

“Oh yeah?” Britt asked. “What were you thinking?”

“Well, I’ve been wanting to show that I can be more technical than just throwing hard punches and kicks, and I don’t really have a submission move in my arsenal… so I was thinking of trying out the octopus hold?”

“Oh yeah!” Britt proclaimed. “That’s a good one. Have you worked on it at all? Because I honestly haven’t tried it.”

She nodded. “A little. But it’s been a while.” She stared at the mat, her thoughts growing distant. It had actually been Alex who’d shown her how to do the octopus hold, back when they’d first started becoming friends. Callie wasn’t sure how Alex would take it if she used it tonight. But she also didn’t really care.

“Well, I’m down to try it if you’re comfortable,” Britt said. “Just tell me what to do.”  

Callie shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. “Okay, cool. It’s actually pretty simple for you. All you need to do is pick me up like I’m going for a tilt-a-whirl. But instead of swinging through for the takedown, I’ll keep one leg behind your head and lock the other around your leg.”

Britt nodded. “Alright. Sounds easy enough. You want me to just stand here?”

“Yeah, I’ll run at you.”

“Okay.”

Callie took a breath to ready herself, and then she rebounded off the ropes and ran at Britt. Britt picked her up just like she was supposed to, and Callie locked her legs around her head; but when she swung around and tried to hook her left foot behind Britt’s left leg, the momentum caused Britt to lose her balance and they both went tumbling ungracefully to the mat.

“Whoa!” someone suddenly shouted. “What the hell was that?”

Callie looked toward the entrance ramp as she and Britt untangled from each other. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment when she saw who it was. Matt Jackson.

“It was supposed to be an octopus hold,” Britt said as she pushed herself to her feet.

“Ah,” he returned. “Well, that’s a relief. I thought it was a terrible attempt at a hurricanrana.”

He leaned against the ropes and sent Callie a teasing smirk. She narrowed her eyes at him. “If I wanted to learn how to do a hurricanrana I’d ask Nick, not you.”

Matt clutched dramatically at his chest. “Ouch, Callie. That hurts. But, lucky for you, I’m feeling generous today.” He ducked through the ropes and walked toward her. “Plus, I know you know I’m a better teacher than Nick.”

He offered her his hand, that cocky smirk of his still in place. She pursed her lips; but she slid her palm into his and let him pull her to her feet.

“Well then what did we do wrong, Professor Jackson?” Britt asked.

“Finally, some respect,” Matt commented. Britt and Callie both ignored it. “Well, if that was supposed to be an octopus hold, you need to catch her as she’s coming around,” he explained. “It looked like you didn’t do that, which is why she pulled you down to the mat.”

“Oh.” Callie’s cheeks tinged pink again. “Yeah, that’s on me. I might have forgotten to mention that part.”

She expected another snarky remark. But Matt just grinned. “Well, now you won’t forget again. Here—try it on me.”

Britt stepped out of the way; but Callie froze, suddenly nervous. What if she screwed up again? When it came to wrestling, Matt was the last person she wanted to look like an idiot in front of, even more so than Adam. But she trusted him, and she wanted to get this right.

He looked at her, waiting. She bounced off the ropes and ran toward him. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his head just as she had Britt; but when she swung around, he caught her with his left arm and squatted down, cradling her against him. The added support allowed her to bring down her left leg and hook her foot behind his calf; her right knee remained hinged over his neck. She caught his right arm and pulled.

“Ah, okay,” he grimaced and tapped out—on her butt. Callie untangled her limbs from around him and fell to the mat. “That was good,” he complimented. “It actually hurt.”

“Thanks.” She arched a sly brow at him. “And is it normal for the opponent to tap out on your butt?”

Matt’s eyes widened. “Oh. Did I do that? Sorry, I couldn’t tell.”

Callie playfully rolled her eyes at his grin. He’d known damn well what he’d done, and he wasn’t sorry at all. “Uh huh,” she returned as she got to her feet. “I’ll let it slide this time, Professor Jackson.”

He gave her a wink. It happened so fast that Callie almost missed it. “Alright, try it on Britt now.”

They ran through the move a few more times, and once they were confident executing the hold from a run, Matt showed them how to do it from a standing position. Twenty minutes later, Callie felt more than ready to use it in her match that night. And she’d even admit that Matt was a good teacher—but maybe not better than Nick.

“Well, thanks for the lesson Professor Jackson,” Britt said. “But I’m starving now.”

“No problem,” Matt said. He gave her a wave as she ducked through the ropes; but even though Callie was hungry too, she didn’t follow her. She and Matt both watched as Britt walked away. As soon as she disappeared down one of the entrance tunnels, Matt asked, “So are you still staying at her place?”

Callie glanced sheepishly down at the canvas. She and Matt had texted back and forth throughout the week, but they hadn’t talked about Adam or their “separation.” They’d talked about anything but: what they were up to on any given day, memories from their time together on the indies, funny things they saw online. And Callie had enjoyed it; it had been a nice distraction. But, now that they were face-to-face, she wasn’t surprised that he wanted an update on the situation.

“No,” she revealed. “But not because Adam and I worked it out. I felt like I was starting to overstay my welcome with Britt and Cole, so I’m staying at the hotel here between now and Thursday’s episode. But after that... I don’t know.”

Callie frowned to herself, realizing just how pathetic that sounded. After tonight, everyone else on the roster would go home to their families and houses; and she’d still be in Jacksonville, living alone in a hotel room for the next five days. She knew she could probably just go back to Virginia; no matter their issues, she doubted Adam would put her out. But her pride kept her away. She didn’t want to go crawling back to someone who she wasn’t sure even wanted her anymore.

“So you and Adam still haven’t talked at all?” Matt asked.

She shook her head. “Not since last week’s Dynamite. And that wasn’t a productive conversation.” She fidgeted, hoping he wouldn’t ask her to elaborate; she really didn’t want to get into her late-night confrontation with Adam and Alex. Thankfully, he seemed to get the hint and left it alone.

“Well, did you have any plans for tonight?”

She looked back at him, a deer in headlights. “Not really. Why?”

He shrugged, casual. “We’re going out to dinner like usual after the show, and I thought I’d see if you wanted to come with.”

Callie’s eyebrows arched at the invitation. Those dinners were sacred. At least, they seemed to be. “With you and Nick and Kenny?”

“Yeah,” he returned, visibly amused by her shock. “Why not? We’re friends.”

“I’m friends with you and Nick,” she corrected. “Kenny… not so much.”

“It’ll be fine,” he breathed. “Besides, I won’t be surprised if Kenny bails. He’s too busy chasing after Alex.”

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Him and Adam both, it seems.

“So… you wanna come?” Matt asked.

Callie chewed the inside of her mouth, considering. She knew she couldn’t avoid Adam forever. But dinner with the Bucks—and even Kenny—was more appealing than any conversation she and her estranged boyfriend could have.

“Sure, why not?”

* * * * * * * * * *

“So, we’re totally going out tonight, right?” Chuck asked.

“Affirmative,” James said. Trent nodded, his mouth full of food. Alex, however, didn’t say anything. She was too engrossed with her phone.

“Alex.”

She looked up. All three of them stared expectantly at her from across the table. “Oh, yeah,” she reflexively agreed. “I’m down.”

Chuck smiled. “Cool.”

The three of them started talking about where they should go, but Alex tuned them out, her thoughts turning inward as she looked back down at her phone. Her conversation with Cash last Saturday hadn’t just ended because Kenny had sent her one of the most adorable pictures she’d ever seen. She looked over their texts now, ruminating.

You should have texted me, she’d sent him back. I should have texted you.

I know, he’d replied. We’ve both made emotional mistakes. But I want to move forward, Alex. With you.

I’m worried we can’t. Everything is so fucked.

Let’s talk at Dynamite next week. I don’t want to do it over the phone.

Okay.

After that, they’d texted here and there throughout the week—he’d sent her screenshots of stupid things fans said to him on Twitter and more pictures and videos of his dog, she’d sent him silly little updates about how she was filling her time being stuck at the house. It was almost like things were normal between them. But Alex knew they were far from normal. And, depending how their conversation went today, she might need a few drinks with the boys.

“Hey, guys.”

Alex looked back up as Adam suddenly joined them. She locked her phone and put it face down on the table as she exchanged a glance with Chuck. Word had gotten around about what was going on with Adam and Callie; Alex had heard their names whispered more than once since she’d arrived at Daily’s Place. Adam must have picked up on it. He looked tired. She could only imagine how he felt.

“Hey, man,” Trent greeted. “How’s it going?”

“Wondering what the hell I’m doing here,” Adam returned. “I don’t have a match at all, on Dynamite or Dark. Kenny does. He’s wrestling Dark Order with Matt and Nick.”

Alex’s frown deepened. Kenny had mentioned that to her. She hadn’t known what to make of it then and still didn’t know what to make of it now.

“Well, come out with us tonight,” Chuck offered. “It’ll be better than sitting around doing nothing.”

Adam paused to look back at him. “What?”

“We’re going out for drinks after the show. You should come with.” He snapped his fingers, suddenly thinking of something. “It’ll be like that thing I’ve seen on Twitter. What was it?”

“Cowpals,” James provided.

“Yes!” Chuck proclaimed, an excited smile on his face. “It’ll be like Cowpals.”

Adam went back to his food. “That’s not a thing.”

“Oh, we’ll make it a thing,” Trent said.

A corner of Adam’s mouth quirked up. But the smirk was gone as soon as it appeared. “Well, let me know when and where, I guess. I’m probably gonna drink anyway, so might as well do it with y’all.”

“Will do,” Chuck said—just as Alex’s phone let out a chirp. She tried not to seem too eager as she picked it up off the table and looked at the screen.

Hey, if you’re free I’m in our locker room.

Alex stared at the text. Now or never.

Alright, I’ll be there in a minute. She hit “send” and grabbed her plate of half-eaten food as she stood from the table. “I’ll see you guys later,” she said, and she walked off before they could ask any questions, threw her plate in the trash, and went out the door in the direction of FTR’s locker room.

She tried to keep her mind blank as she walked, tried not to anticipate what Cash might say to her, but it didn’t stop her body from overheating with anxiety. By the time she reached his locker room, her heart was beating so hard that she worried it would burst from her chest. Her palm was clammy as she knocked.

“Come in,” he called from inside. She opened the door. He stood when he saw her. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she returned, and she crossed the room and hugged him.

Cash wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. The familiar scent of his cologne filled Alex’s nose, and she was transported back to that night at Adam’s house, as they’d hugged in the hall in the dark. She remembered how she’d felt then, like she’d known exactly what she wanted. She wished she felt that way now.

“I’ve missed this,” Cash said. He rubbed his hand over her back in slow circles. Alex relished in the feel of it.

“I have, too.” She pulled back and looked at him in question. “Is Dax…?”

“He knows what’s going on. He won’t interrupt us or anything.”

She nodded. He took her by the hand and led her over to the couch. He didn’t let go after they sat down, their knees touching.

“Thank you for coming,” he said.

Alex looked down at their hands, watched and felt as he rubbed his thumb over her skin. “I’m surprised you wanted to talk,” she said, her voice small. “I haven’t exactly given you reason to want to.”

Cash squeezed her hand. “I shouldn’t have told you choose that night, Alex.”

She flicked her eyes up to meet his, stunned. Of all the things he could have said, she’d expected that the least.

“I shouldn’t have told you to sleep somewhere else,” he went on. “I was hurt, and it was a knee-jerk reaction. I’m sorry. We should have talked it through right then and there. We should have slept in the same bed.”

Alex’s eyes stung. It tugged on her heartstrings to hear him say that; she’d been aching to hear him say those exact words, and now that he had it was like a weight had been lifted from her chest. But it didn’t make the situation any easier. “I’m sorry that I hurt you,” she said. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I know you didn’t, sweetheart. I know.”

She frowned. But you don’t know what I’ve done since.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said.

Alex glanced away again. She wrestled with herself, debating whether she really should tell him what she was thinking. But, in the end, her conscience won out—no matter how badly she knew the truth would hurt.

“Um, when I saw you walk into the hotel with Callie last week, it stung. And I know you just went out as friends; I believe you. Callie said the same thing. But, in that moment, I didn’t know what to think. I just saw what I saw, and I got jealous. I felt like I was the furthest thing from your mind. And on top of the shit with Dark Order it was just too much and I… I stayed with Kenny that night.”

She had to tell him. For the sake of honesty, she had to. He let go of her hand and ran his palm over his face. Her heart pounded in her ears.

“Did you sleep with him?” he asked.

“No,” she said.

He went quiet. Contemplative. When he spoke again, there was an edge to his voice that hadn’t been there before. “So what are you saying? That you want to be with him?”

Alex’s brow furrowed. “No. I’m saying exactly what I said. I was hurt and jealous when I saw you walk in with Callie, so I went running to Kenny. It was an emotional decision. But it felt like you’d already moved on.”

Cash cut his eyes at her. “Are you serious? Do you really think I’d do that to Adam? To you?”

“I don’t mean moved on with Callie,” she clarified with a breath. “I mean in general. I mean, you went from saying you wanted to talk to me to fleeing the arena without so much as a word. And then on top of it you went out drinking with my friend instead of trying to talk to me.”

“You could have just as easily texted me, Alex. And I would have told you that it was nothing.”

“I know I could have,” she admitted. “I’m not saying I’m blameless in this; I know I’m not. This whole thing has been a clusterfuck of jealousy, and mistakes, and miscommunication.”

Cash shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. Maybe everything is just too fucked now.”

Alex’s heart dropped into her stomach. With those seven words, just like that, the mood in the room suddenly shifted. There wasn’t hope or forgiveness between them anymore. There was a wall. A dead end of her own construction.

A tear rolled down Alex’s cheek and she wiped it away. A thought lingered on the tip of her tongue, and she couldn’t swallow it down. “Do you think things would be different right now if we’d talked it through that night?”

Cash didn’t look at her as he answered. “I did. But now I’m not sure.”

Alex’s chest constricted. There was nothing left to say; more words would be the casket that put her six feet under. She stood from the couch and walked to the door on shaky legs. As she gripped the doorknob, she looked remorsefully back at him. There was one last thing she had to say.

“For what it’s worth, I do think things would be different if we’d talked that night. But I don’t blame you for thinking otherwise.”

Cash looked up. Their eyes met one last time—his full of hurt, hers regret—and then Alex forced herself out the door.

* * * * * * * * * *

She went through the rest of the afternoon in a daze. She was there but not fully present. Trapped in her thoughts. Listless. Apathetic. And it damn near got her injured again.

A third of the way through the show, Alex, Trent, and Chuck had accompanied Orange to the ring for his interview with Tony Schiavone about his win over Chris Jericho the week before. But Jericho had interrupted. After Jericho had challenged Orange to a ridiculous Mimosa Mayhem match at All Out—which Orange had accepted—the rest of the Inner Circle had surrounded the ring and attacked them. Alex hadn’t reacted quickly enough, and Trent had literally pushed her to safety. It had been a shock to her system, and she’d watched helplessly from the floor as Inner Circle laid waste to her friends and drowned Orange in champagne. Now, as she followed Chuck and Trent through the entrance tunnel to the back, carrying a defeated and embarrassed Orange between them, all Alex wanted was to go back to the hotel, take a hot shower, and go to sleep. She didn’t want to go out anymore. She just wanted to crawl into bed and forget this day had ever happened.

“Alex.”

Someone caught her arm as she crossed through Gorilla. She looked up. Kenny stared down at her, concern etched into his blue eyes. Alex blinked; she’d walked right by him, completely unaware. He was in his gear. His match with the Bucks against Dark Order must be next.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she returned. “They waterboarded Orange with champagne, not me.”

Kenny pursed his lips. “I don’t mean that. You seemed a little… out of it out there. What’s going on?”

She glanced after Chuck, Trent, and Orange as they disappeared backstage. Alex didn’t want to do this with Kenny. Not right now, in the middle of Gorilla, in front of Matt and Nick and a ton of other prying eyes. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to do it at all.

“I said I’m fine, Kenny. Alright?”

She pulled away from him and tried to go after her friends; but he caught her again. She bit down on her jaw in frustration as he stepped in front of her.

“I know that means you’re not,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

Alex let out an agitated breath. “It’s just been a shitty day, alright? But you’ll be happy to know that it’s officially over between Cash and me.”

She looked away, feeling that tightness in her chest again. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out, much less so sarcastically. But maybe it was good that she had. It was her raw emotion. Kenny should feel it.

He moved his hands to her shoulders, gently gripping, his fingers pressing into her skin. “Alex, I’m confused. You spent the night in my bed last week. The way things have been between us… I thought that was what you wanted?”

“It was,” she breathed. “When I woke up with you that morning… it was what I wanted. And when I hugged Cash ten minutes ago, before everything fell apart, that was what I wanted. My heart has been in two places for weeks, and there’s nothing fucking left, Kenny.”

She stared up at him, weary and broken, the truth laid bare at her feet. Kenny searched her eyes, just wanting to understand—

“Hey, Ken, we’re up.”

He closed his eyes at the sound of Nick’s voice. “Alright,” he breathed. He looked back at Alex. “I’m sorry. I promise we’ll talk about this later, okay?”

Alex drew in a steadying breath. She wasn’t sure she would want to talk about it later, but she nodded anyway. “Yeah, okay.”

He gave her a squeeze, and Alex watched as he turned and disappeared down the entrance tunnel, a hollow feeling in her gut.

* * * * * * * * * *

Callie had told Matt she’d meet them at the restaurant. She’d taken more time than she’d expected getting ready before she’d left, carefully applying her makeup and styling her hair. Even Britt had commented on how much care she was paying to her appearance just for dinner with Matt, Nick, and Kenny. Callie had brushed her off, claiming that she just felt good after winning her match against Penelope. But even she hadn’t fully believed herself as she’d said it.

Unsurprisingly, they’d chosen T.G.I. Friday’s. Callie spotted them through the window as she walked toward the building; Nick saw her and waved. When she got inside, she slid into the free spot in the booth next to Matt, across from Nick. Kenny was typing away on his phone, oblivious.

“Hey,” she greeted. “Sorry I’m a little late.”

“No worries,” Nick said. “We’ve only been here like five minutes.”

Matt smiled at her. “I’m glad you came.”

She smiled back. “Thanks for inviting me.”

She opened her menu and started looking—she was starving—when Nick cleared his throat. Callie glanced up. He was staring expectantly at Kenny, still engrossed with his phone. He nudged him with his elbow.

“What?” Kenny looked up, startled. “Oh, hey, Callie,” he said, and went right back to typing.

“Are you writing a novel there, bud?” Matt asked.

Kenny glanced up just long enough to shoot him a sarcastic glare. Matt looked apologetically back at Callie. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, as if to say it was fine.

“Congrats on winning your match tonight, by the way,” Nick said.

“Oh, thanks,” Callie smiled. “It felt good. Congrats on winning yours, too. I’m sure Alex appreciated your extra effort after the bell, Kenny.”

The air seemed to thicken as Kenny looked up at her snide comment. She didn’t need to elaborate—they all knew exactly what she meant. After Kenny had put away Dark Order’s Five with a One-Winged Angel, he’d grabbed a steel chair and nearly powerbombed him on it; Matt had pulled the chair out of the way just in time. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that he’d tried the stunt to avenge Alex for last week. In fact, he’d seemed to wrestle that whole match angry. He definitely looked angry now.

“I don’t know; we haven’t talked about it,” he evenly returned. “Actually, I think Alex is out drinking with your boyfriend right now.”

He set his phone down and opened his menu. Callie’s eyes narrowed. This was going to be a long dinner.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Okay. You, me, darts. If I win, you show me your boobs.”

Adam watched as Alex playfully rolled her eyes at Trent’s suggestion. She was a shot of Jose and a beer-and-a-half deep and feeling it; he could tell by the lazy smile on her lips. She always got that smile when she drank.

“And if I win?” she asked.

Trent looked up, deep in thought. “If you win… I’ll pay for your next set of gear.”

“Deal,” Alex immediately accepted, and she grabbed Trent’s wrist and pulled him over to the dart boards, a satisfied grin on his face. Adam shook his head as they went.

“Y’all are weird,” he said with a drink of his nearly empty beer.

“Oh come on,” Chuck returned. “You’ve known Alex longer than us. You were probably acquainted with Mariposa years before we ever gave her a name.”

He shook his head. “No comment.”

“That’s guilty,” James quipped.

“Yeah, it is,” Chuck smirked in agreement.

Adam drained the rest of his beer to hide his grin. He almost hadn’t come out with them tonight—he was surprised they’d still wanted to at all, after what the Inner Circle had done to Orange—but he was glad he had. If he hadn’t, he’d just be sitting in his hotel room, ruminating. About how his relationships with his girlfriend and his tag team partner were falling apart at the seams, about how he wasn’t sure who his real friends were anymore. Buzzing on whiskey and with nothing better to do, he’d confronted FTR back at the arena about what they’d done to Ricky Morton last week, about how Dax had faked a leg injury the week before that—and they’d completely turned it around on him. Something about how it wasn’t personal; how they’d needed to know if they could trust him after all the nasty things Matt, Nick, and Kenny had said about them; something about how he’d always been stuck in their shadow. They weren’t wrong. And with a tag team gauntlet match next week to determine who would get a shot at Adam and Kenny’s championships at All Out, Adam wasn’t sure he wanted to give Matt and Nick yet another opportunity to eclipse him.

“You guys want another?” James asked.

“Yeah,” Chuck said while Adam nodded. “Put it on Trent’s tab.”

James pointed at him as he stood from the table. “Was already planning on it.”

He walked off, and Adam’s eyes drifted to where Alex played darts with Trent. She stood close to him, her fingers laced behind her back, and just as he was about to throw his dart, she tilted her chin up, pursed her lips, and blew into his ear. He flinched, and she let out a loud laugh as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to say something in her ear. Alex pushed him away, a flirtatious grin on her face, and Trent turned back to the board and threw his dart.

“Trent certainly seems to like Mariposa,” Adam remarked.

Chuck scoffed as he glanced over his shoulder. “Are you kidding? He loves her.” He turned back around. “It annoyed me when I had feelings for Alex, too.”

Adam went stiff. He reflexively reached for his beer only to remember he’d finished it. He gripped his empty glass anyway, just to have something to do. “Too?” he shot.

Chuck met his question with skeptical eyes. “Come on, man. I recognize that look.”

Adam shifted in his seat. “I don’t know what look you’re talking about,” he said—but Chuck didn’t buy that, either.

“Sure, you don’t,” he dismissed.

Adam bit down on his jaw and glanced toward the bar. James needed to get back with the beer, already.

“Look, I get it,” Chuck went on. “Alex is your friend, and your relationship status is complicated right now. And so is Alex’s,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Plus, there was that time Callie hit her with a chair because she thought you two were screwing around. I don’t think I’d want to prove her right, either.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Is there a point you’re trying to make?”

He shook his head. “Not really. I’m just saying; I recognize that look.”

James returned with a beer pitcher in hand, and not a moment too soon. “Trent was feeling generous,” he smirked as he set it on the table.

Adam grabbed it and refilled his glass. The way this night was going, he might need a whole pitcher to himself before it was over.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex almost hadn’t come out tonight, but she was glad she had. If she hadn’t, she’d just be laying in her and Chuck’s hotel room, replaying her conversation with Cash and all of the decisions that had led up to it. The boys had no idea what had happened; she didn’t want to tell them, didn’t want to talk about it. Thankfully, they’d been too preoccupied with what had happened to Orange and the upcoming tag team gauntlet match to ask her why she’d been so spacey all day. She hoped it stayed that way. She just wanted to forget about it.

“You do realize you’re about to lose, right?”

She pursed her lips at Trent. “We haven’t been scoring properly.”

“But I’ve gotten more closer to the bullseye than you.”

Alex just took another sip of her beer. Trent squared up and tossed his final dart. It stuck in the single bullseye.  

He gave her a cocky smirk. “I’d say that’s a pretty definitive victory.”

“Congratulations,” she slyly returned.

He rubbed his hands together, basking in his win. “So, where do you want to do this? The bathroom? Actually, no—I can wait until we get back to the hotel. I want you to be as comfortable as possible.”

Alex stepped close and put her hand on his shoulder; he reflexively put his on her hip. She frowned apologetically up at him. “Oh, Trent. Mariposa made the bet, but it’s Alex’s body.”

His head fell back. “Goddammit,” he breathed.

A wide grin broke out over her face. “Come on, I need a refill.”

They walked back to the table. Adam sat alone with a nearly empty pitcher of beer, his phone in his hand. Alex gave him curious look as she sat down across from him.

“Where’re Chuck and James?”

He glanced up at her. “Oh, they went to buy shots and a round of pool on Trent’s tab.”

“What?” With that Trent hurried off to the other side of the bar, leaving Alex alone with Adam. She reached for the beer pitcher.

“Want more?” she offered.

He shook his head. “No,” he said, and so she emptied it into her glass. “So, did you lose?” he asked her.

“Yeah,” she answered. “But he’s not seeing anything.”

Adam shook his head again, a smirk on his lips. “You’re a tease, you know that?”

“I take that as a compliment, thank you very much.” She grinned at him as she reached for her purse and pulled out her phone. She’d put it on silent and thrown it in her bag as soon as they’d arrived, keeping it out of sight and out of mind; but she couldn’t avoid the temptation any longer. She was expecting to see a whole lot of nothing—but she had a text, unsurprisingly, from Kenny. Her pulse started to race as she read it.

I’m sorry that you’ve felt torn in two the last few weeks, Alex. It kills me to know that I’ve been a cause of it. All I want is for you to be happy, no matter what that means. I understand if you need some time and space. I’ll be here. You have my whole heart.

He ended it with a red heart emoji. A chaotic mix of emotions battled within Alex as she stared at it—anger, frustration, love. She couldn’t tell which one of them would win out in the end.

“Is everything alright?”

She looked up at Adam’s question. “Yeah,” she noncommittally answered as she slipped her phone back in her purse. “It was just a text from Kenny.”

He arched a brow. “You’re not gonna answer it?”

“No,” she returned. “Not right now.”  

The atmosphere grew awkward and she took a sip of her beer. Alex didn’t think he would ask; he couldn’t ask without opening up the floor for questions about his personal life, too, and she knew he didn’t want to talk about his any more than she wanted to talk about hers.

But she thought wrong.

“Do you want to be with him?”

Alex glanced across the bar. It didn’t look like the boys would be coming back anytime soon, so she obliged him. “The answer to that question seems to change every day.”

He nodded. “I guess it’s the same for Cash?”

She looked down at her drink. “Well, Cash pretty much closed the door on us today so. No.”

If Adam was surprised to hear that, Alex couldn’t tell. He had a quiet, introspective look on his face, like he wasn’t sure what to say. No—like he had something to say but wasn’t sure he should. She turned the tables on him before he had the chance to spit it out.

“What about Callie? Is that how you feel about her?”

He nodded. “Yeah,” he admitted.

Alex let out a frustrated huff. She propped her elbow on the table and leaned her head in her hand, tired. “Why?” she asked. “What happened? Did you fall out of love, or something?”

He stared at a spot on the table. “I don’t know if I fell out of love so much as her insecurities just became a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Alex froze. She gripped her drink harder, pressing her fingertips against the glass. Her voice came out nervous as she asked, “A self-fulfilling prophecy about what?”

Adam’s eyes met hers, vulnerable and blue. Obvious. “You know what, Alex.”

Alex’s heart leapt into her throat. This wasn’t happening. Not here, not now, not after all the other shit she’d already gone through. What was he thinking? She couldn’t deal with it. She couldn’t.

“I’m gonna go make sure Trent doesn’t kill them,” she said, and she grabbed her purse and hurried away in panic, pretending that her oldest friend hadn’t just admitted that to her.

[joshslater]

Escape from Al Moazaz

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Another bunch of disgusting old Arabs, drinking sweet tea, eating dates, smoking hookah, pointing finger, and chatting excitedly. It doesn’t look like they talk about me, but ever so often I think their chatter circles back to me somehow, and they point and wave and chatter in that cackle they call language. They never talk to me, never ask me to do anything. I’m free to do as I please, go where I want, but I’m sure they are lying to me. I have to leave tonight, or it will just be more of this. It’s already been over a week, several days after he said this would all be over. I think so at least. I wouldn’t be surprised if the old geezer lied about the days as well.

I arrived on a Thursday at least. I checked out from Sheraton in central Dubai Thursday morning. There are no taxes and the workforce is underpaid African or Indian guest workers on rotation, so hotel rooms are cheap. The rental car was cheap too, and gas is practically free. It literally comes out of the ground here after all. I had severely overestimated how long it would take to drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. It was just a straight highway and I had padded the time table way too much. I was getting close after just one hour, too early to check-in, so I decided to drive around a bit in the outskirts. Free gas, as I said. That’s when I saw the fucker.

The buildings were spaced enough that by the time you saw one, the last one was gone from view, so it qualified as a rural area. Mostly rocks in between though, so I don’t know why anyone would like to live out here. But there he was, the old man, dressed in his white dishdasha robe and picnic table cloth around his head, smiling and waving towards the car to stop. I pull up in front of the house and exit the car. It’s a decent house, none of the luxury on display inside of Dubai. I’ve never been inside anything but hotels, mega-malls and skyscrapers here, so I have no idea what the interior layout would be, but the size is roughly what a suburban family house for four would be back home.

He bows and asks me to join him for tea, in really bad English. I realize this is a bit off the beaten track for tourists, and perhaps this is a good learning experience for both. I’d love to see some authentic middle eastern hospitality, and I’d be happy to talk about whatever the reason for him to invite me. I accept his invitation and follow him through the portal. Although only one story it is quite high up to the ceiling. Interestingly we only pass through a sparsely furnished room and back out again into some sort of shaded stone garden in the middle of the building. It looks very lived in, much more so than the room we just passed through. Tables, chairs, potted plants, and hookah things. There he beckons me to sit down on one of the most decidedly western garden chairs.

He disappears back into the building and I have a look around. I guess all rooms in the building have a window into this central garden. That explains why the house had so few windows on the walls facing out, and makes total sense with all the sun they get here. The man is back with a small tray with two small glasses with amber liquid. He places one glass in front of me and takes one for himself, and without saying anything invites me to take a sip. It’s sweet and tastes of apple. I’ve had this kind of tea before, and don’t really like it. It’s not tea in my opinion, but it's drinkable and it would have had to be something far worse to offend this old man in his home. That’s when I blacked out.

I’m not sure how long I was out, but it was evening when I came to. I was lying on a thin mattress on the floor in one of the almost unfurnished, completely white rooms. It wasn’t cold, it never is here this time of year, but I could feel air touching my body. The sun is setting fast here, but the light made an orange square on the wall opposite to the high window. Murmurs and sounds of people having a pleasant time filter in. I still am not completely awake, going through different scenarios like fainting of dehydration, when I realize that not only am I completely naked, but I look very different.

Instead of my lanky, pasty body, I have a much bulkier frame covered in deeply tanned skin, in turn covered in thick, black body hair. I slowly sit up, mesmerized by what I see. The tan is perhaps a trick of light, but the bulk and the hair is not. As if there is any doubt left, the dick and balls make it clear this is a different body. As with the body both are thicker and heavier. Unlike my familiar dick this one is also longer, circumcised, and weird looking.

I ought to freak out, flail and scream, but it is all so surreal and unexpected that I either am in disbelief or shock. Slowly I get to my feet. My much heavier body compensated for and more with extra muscles. There are no mirrors in the room, or really anything but me and the mattress, so I have no idea what I look like. Very different of course, that much I can tell. I feel my head and my face. I have no idea what my face should feel like, but I have a beard now. I have a nose and a mouth and ears. The hair feels the same as always.

As I move my hands down I feel a small chain around my neck. A thin necklace with no pendant and no clasp or mechanism I can find with my fingers. It sits loose, but tight enough that I probably wouldn’t get my head through it should I try.

I don’t know what to do next. It is like the first room in an adventure game and I’ve just figured out the controllers. Just as I am about to exit I see a piece of white cloth on the white floor in front of the door. A pair of tight shorts that I put on right away. It looks obscene, almost worse than being naked. The white fabric stands out against the dark skin, drawing attention to the big dick and balls wrapped in tight cloth.

The house on the other side of the door is mostly deserted. Some furniture, but I suspect he lives alone and only uses a few rooms. It doesn’t take long to follow the sound and find a different exit into the courtyard than the one I entered through the first time. It looks the same as when I entered, but with a completely different feeling. Instead of the harsh sun everything is bathed in the orange glow of dusk. A few lamps are lit around the courtyard, and around a table sits the old man together with a few similar looking old men.

One of them sees me and utters a few Arabic words, and they all turn towards me. There is a short beat of silence and then they all burst into chatter. One of them is laughing, one of them continues staring at me, but they all appear happy. The focus shifts to the old man. They treat him like it’s his birthday or he just won a bet. One of them jumps up, spry for his age, and walks up to me. He inspects me, giving remarks back to the seated group. It’s when he prods me with his finger it feels like a spell breaks. Suddenly I’m not walking through a dream, but this is actually happening. I’m actually in this place, with these men, looking like this.

I tell him to stop. He just laughs. The old man waves at the table, inviting me to dates, harees, and flatbread. That for some reason angers me. Hunger is the least of my concerns right now. I demand to know what he has done to me. The men go from smiles to laughter. The angrier I get, the funnier they think it is. It’s only a joke, the old man tells me. It only lasts for a few days, he says. I storm back into the house and out the other side only to find my rental is gone. I quickly realize that standing in just underwear outside is not going to go down well with the police, or anyone, so I return back into the house to look for my clothes.

I don’t know what the rational thing to do is. None of this follows any reason. Perhaps I can squeeze into my old clothes, run away and then figure out who to contact. I freeze. The local police would probably be useless. The embassy would laugh me out. I might be able to convince someone back home, but I don’t even have a way to call them. All of that is true if I stay here as well.

I search the entire building, room by room. Despite the large house, it doesn’t look like the old man has much. The rooms are sparsely furnished, if not right out empty. A few rooms, like the kitchen and his bedroom, looks more normal. Nowhere do I find my stuff though, or any other clothes that would fit for that matter. We only share the same size in sandals and head scarfs.

I’m stuck, I realize, in a soft prison. Even if I could leave the house, I couldn’t leave the country. Even if I could leave the country, where would I go? Dejected I walk into the courtyard again. Some of the old men look my way, but largely ignore me as they talk about something. I sit down on a remote chair and watch them. I could kill them all. They are all really old, but probably not that frail. It would probably be a drawn-out fight with leathery, hard to kill old Arabs, but I’m sure I could do it. But that wouldn’t do me any good. I would still be here, stuck, and wanted by the police. A hard prison is worse than a soft prison.

[busterkeatonfanfic]

Chapter 9

Buster hooked his thumbs in his suspenders and stared up with admiration at the 120-foot crane. Having been delivered to the set in multiple pieces by a fleet of huge trucks, the workmen had just finished putting it together. “Beautiful, ain’t she?”

At his side, Joe grimaced. “Did you have to?”

“ ‘Course I did,” said Buster. “How else are we going to lift the hospital off me in the cyclone sequence?”

“I just didn’t expect it … it’s so big, you know?”

“Damn right it is.”

“How much did it cost?” “How much did it cost? Really?” Buster said, feeling like Joe had just stuck a pin in his mood and popped it. “It cost what it cost.”

Joe rubbed the back of his neck as he looked up at the crane. “I just wish you’d said something first. Harry’s worried about going over budget.”

“Tell him he can blow it out his ass,” said Buster. “I’m getting damn sick of Harry. Didn’t we all sit down and agree a cyclone was just fine?” He bit his tongue and didn’t say ‘I told you so,’ because if they’d stuck to the original plan, there wouldn’t have been a crane. He wasn’t sure how much the cyclone had run them so far, but it was already over $20,000.

“Yeah, I guess we did. Just try to—” said Joe. “Well don’t go overboard, is what I’m getting at.”

Buster, who had already handsomely paid to go overboard, kept his silence again. “Sure.”

They took a street car to K Street. The sidewalks were still busy when they arrived at the Senator theater around 6:30, everyone parading around in their Saturday night finery. She felt good about the ensemble she’d chosen, a short-sleeved dusty peach cotton dress with a mauve straw cloche hat and silk stockings. Inside, the Senator was cool. She’d been to a picture there only once before, but it was enough to make her fall in love with the place, which had been built just two years prior and was new like everything on the West coast was new. It was adorned in velvet drapes and jardinières heaped with fresh chrysanthemums, plush wall-to-wall carpeting, and fringed lamps, but her favorite feature was the painted dome and the enormous multi-tiered chandelier hanging from its center.

As she and the Kimbles took their seats in the balcony, she looked to the box seats on either side of the theater, half-expecting to see Buster in one, but she didn’t. Maybe he was in the crowd, but there was only so much gawking she could do before attracting attention. She saw him in person nearly every day now, but always at a distance and always when he was busy in front of or behind the camera. River Junction had been a bustle of workmen and noise in the mornings as they rebuilt sets for the cyclone and put together the biggest crane she’d seen in her life. Bert allowed her to take breaks a couple times a day to watch the filming. Even though she was behind the scenes now and could see everything, from the cluster of noisy cameras to the even noisier rain machines, the sight of Buster falling into a puddle up to his waist or being blown off his feet by a gust of wind was still a laugh. On Thursday, she’d been called upon to place an order for five large loaves of bread from a bakery, but they were spirited off to an unknown part of the set and their purpose remained a mystery. 

Her brief acquaintance with Buster seemed to have come to an end and she wasn’t inclined to press it any further, having made an ass of herself the first day in his dressing room and then later after the party at the blind tiger. It was enough that he knew her name. She’d begun hoping that the company would keep her on when they wrapped filming and packed up for Hollywood in a few weeks. The more she stuck around, the more people would know her face, and the more people knew her face, the greater her chances were of being recognized by a studio.

She shared Joe and Maggie’s jumbo box of Junior Mints as the lights went down and the opening short started. An organ in an arched box with pillars provided accompaniment. 

When the opening credits of Buster’s feature began, Nelly’s pulse quickened a little bit. It was surreal when he finally appeared on the screen, walking beneath an umbrella with his mother in the pouring rain, soaked to the skin; she’d gotten used to him as a flesh-and-blood person. She now knew how his production company made that rain and that there were cameras in front of him tracking his every step. She also knew that the person inside the truck driving down the street in the background was an extra. Nevertheless, the scene still looked believable, and pretty soon she was sucked into the story like the rest of the audience.

Buster played a brainy college freshman without a lick of athletic ability, which happened to be the only thing his girl cared about. He spent most of the picture trying out for sports to impress her and failing miserably. Buster often took two or three-hour lunches to play baseball with his production team, so Nelly couldn’t quite buy that he didn’t understand the rules of the game and couldn’t hit a ball to save his life.

As the movie wore on, she became aware—and it gave her an unpleasant sensation, like an itch—that he was better-looking than she remembered. It embarrassed her somewhat to see him in his skimpy track outfit. In one scene where he sat on the sidelines, the shorts rode up so high she could see where his tan ended and his natural skin tone, considerably paler, began. She was almost glad when the movie ended. The last few seconds had been queer, besides. The scene of Buster and his girl walking out of the chapel after being married had melted into a scene of them sitting at home while their children played in the background, then one of them in old age, before concluding with a shot of two headstones.

The organ died away and the lights went up. 

“What on earth did that ending mean?” said Maggie, with a look on her face.

“I don’t know,” said Nelly, but it had given her a bad taste. Judging by the expressions on their neighbors’ faces, they weren’t alone in their confusion. Even in Shakespeare’s time, everyone knew that you ended a comedy with a marriage. To do otherwise was to let your audience down. The abrupt, morbid ending brought her back to reality and reminded her that the real Buster was not to be confused with his handsome, whimsical on-screen counterpart.

Joe was the only one who seemed to find the ending funny and tried explaining it as they made their way up the balcony and down the stairs. Nelly was busy searching the exiting crowd for Buster’s face and only half listened. They made it out onto the sidewalk before she accepted she wasn’t going to see him that night. 

Maggie proposed getting hamburgers before they went home and Joe and Nelly agreed. They found a diner on L Street and sat in a booth with a checkered red-and-white tablecloth.

“So what’s he really like?” Maggie said, after their food arrived and they were tucking into burgers and coleslaw. She was a heavier girl, pretty, with auburn hair and freckles on her nose. Her claim to fame was that her maternal grandfather had been one of the original inhabitants of Sacramento when it was first incorporated. She’d asked Nelly the question before, but Nelly didn’t mind answering it again. Buster had rubbed off some fifteen minutes of fame onto her and there was no sense in not using them. Of course, she hadn’t told them that he was her savior the night of the party; in her untruthful retelling, Bert had played that role. They did know, however, that he had invited her to be an extra and that she’d baked him cookies after his accident with the baseball.

“Not much like that,” said Nelly. She looked up and scanned the faces in the other booths as if one might belong to Buster, but they didn’t. “He smiles in real life, but you know that, I’ve said that before. He can be very solemn. He’s not boyish like he is in pictures. I think he’s a kind person, mostly.” She was almost surprised to hear herself say it, but it was a conclusion she’d come to in spite of how he’d appalled her at their first meeting. He’d been a gentleman through and through when he rescued her at the party and took her back to his hotel room, and she couldn’t help but alter her opinion because of it. “He keeps a lot to himself and sticks to his own pals. And he’s very funny, just as funny as his movies.”

“He’s a real athlete too,” Joe said. “He can’t hide that.”

Nelly agreed. “Yes, he plays a lot of baseball with his team.”

“I liked the picture anyway. The gags were funny,” said Joe.

“It was alright,” Nelly said.  

Maggie added, “I’m still not keen on that ending.”

“No,” said Nelly. 

They ate their burgers and the conversation moved to the Senators game (everything was called Senator here since Sacramento was the capital) and how, according to Joe at least, the team hadn’t been the same since Brick Eldred (whoever he was) left. It was getting late by the time they left the diner, and they took a taxi back to 22nd Street, Nelly and Maggie deciding that they’d forgo the dance hall for the evening. 

Nelly had almost forgotten about Buster by the time she crawled into bed around eleven. She tried to drift off by boring herself with thoughts of baseball. Her father and uncle liked the White Sox, but she’d never really understood or cared for the game. Her only memory of the game she’d been taken to as a little girl was of eating hot dogs and popcorn and wandering the stands with Ruthie. Although she couldn’t say why, fantasies of men had not been satisfying since the incident with Tommy, not even her go-to of John Barrymore. The idea that a man might take up baseball or another sport he was abysmal at in order to win the love of a girl seemed laughable now that she thought about it, but Buster had done it—and more—in College. He’d even rescued the girl from his rival who was trying to ruin her reputation.

Her eyes shot open. She hadn’t thought of it until now, but Buster had rescued her that night at the blind tiger. Of course, he hadn’t done it out of a sense of love and there was no reading into the coincidence since the picture had been shot long before she’d met Tommy or Buster, but it struck her regardless. Maybe Buster’s pictures did reveal something of his character. As she puzzled over it, her thoughts got hazier and hazier, until finally she dropped off to sleep.

Note: Bonus update this week. I think you all deserve it after current events! Also, do admire this screengrab where Buster’s tan ends and his normal skin color begins. 

[a-simple-complexity]

Things about the creepypasta improv thing my close friend and I have been doing since 4th or 5th grade (maybe longer):

- My character doesn't really have a cp name yet but has been around for 401 years

- My character, when not at the mansion, is roomies with JTK (and he steals cheese its)

- Vivian's (the close friend) character is close to Slenderman and has a older sister bond with Sally

- Aside from the Jeff The Cheeze Itz Snatcher gag we have more running gags

- Such as Masky locking Toby in the closet when he's annoying only to turn around and see Toby standing there.... MENACINGLY (lol)

- LJ punts Mr Widemouth across the mansion weekly

- EJ is no longer allowed to cook for others after the barbeque of 2017. We miss you, Butler Bill

- Tuesdays and Thursdays Viv's character takes pets and children out the mansion for a playdate while everyone else has some fun

- Viv's Hidden Stash of Tuna TM

- My Hidden Stash of Vodka and Rum TM

- My character might have a problem but then again immortals aren't really affected by alcohol like most mortals are

- Speaking about my character: Holy. Pets.

- They have a bunch of guard dogs (despite them all being guard dogs they are pampered like you wouldn't believe)

- Pastas respect COVID stuff. Slender ordered everyone to scatter until it's mellowed out alot. Slender caught it at some point. They say get the vaccine and wear ya damn mask.

- There's a "Community Garden". It's just a few pitcher plants, some Butterworts, a killer cow plant (courtesy of Ben pulling some strings), a small patch of wither roses (courtesy of Herobrine), and a oran berry plant (courtesy of a few poke-pastas), rose bushes, etc

- Holidays are fun too

- Christmas time is filled with my character and Viv's taking Sally, Jane, Clockwork, and Nina out for a "girls" night

- Granted Nina only gets taken along bc despite the love-hate relationship between my character and Jeff, Jeff deserves time away from Nina during the holidays at least

- Also despite Jeff hating Nina he appreciates the knives she gives him (and return he gives her some sort of card)

- Due to staying in the vents constantly and stalking everyone my character gets everyone what they think they like would like

- Christmas lights everywhere. Splendor always gets Offender to put the star on top the comically large tree just bc

- Despite it not being Christmas music, everyone listens to Hotel California by The Eagles

- and watches Christmas movies (what was that Christmas movie with Tim Allen?)

- Everyone plays in the snow. Jeff decides to start a snowball fight and Sally makes a snow man.

- Everyone wears something festive and it's normally an ugly sweater thanks to Trender

- Spiked nog anyone?

- Thanksgiving includes everyone gathering together and having fun

- A small hunting trip is planned instead of a football game (the hunt takes place the day prior bc no one wanna miss the parade)

- Sally's favorite float is the Charlie brown float

- You know how the president pardons a turkey? Slender pardons a victim (and has been doing it since meeting Viv's character bc of a joke Viv made)

- My character makes mashed potatoes or some sort of really outdated dish from the 1700's

- The Slender Bros, Viv's character, Sally, Toby, Smile Dog, Jeff, and Nina all watch the dog show after the parade

- Nina is kinda allergic to dogs and doesn't really like them but bc of her lingering obsession with Jeff she puts up with it

- Offender and Trender argue over what dog they think should have won (funny to watch to grown immortal-ass men argue over this)

- Slender carves the turkey

- The pardoned victim is allowed to stay for dinner granted a majority of memories get changed (not really erased, just changed)

- My character, Jeff, and Ben all walk through the woods before dinner and get fucking plastered (and think no one notices....everyone notices)

- the week of Thanksgiving the tree gets put up (acceptable if it's the week of Thanksgiving, any other time then it's just weird)

- My characters mom, (considered the co-founder of Hell) pops in, steals a couple slices of pie, and leaves

- Halloween is celebrated kind of like Thanksgiving and Christmas

- My character decorates the mansion with various bones

- 31 Days of Horror Movies (at some point it's decided to watch Earnest Scared Stupid and some of the serious dog lovers opt out)

- The Slender Brothers dress up as the three musketeers. Splendor is Porthos, Offender is Athos, Slender is D'artagnan and, Trender is Aramis

- Jeff and my character do a duel costume by dressing of as Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer from Cats (musical not movie, duh) alternatively they dress as Rum Tum Tugger and Mr. Mistoffelees.

- Sally dresses as Carrie or a fairy princess

- Jane, Clockwork, Nina, Viv's Character dress up as four of the five muses from Hercules (Viv changes last minute to a cat due to her character having cat ears and a cat tail)

- Toby, Masky, and Hoodie originally wanted to dress as the three musketeers but after slender took that idea they decide to dress up as separate things. Toby dresses as Masky. Masky dresses as the phantom of the opera and Hoodie is a ghost.

- Smile dog dresses as a hot dog :P

- A small hunting trip is planned and Jane and Clockwork take Sally trick or treating

- Everyone finishes the month with A Night are Before Christmas (a classic)

- Not many celebrate Valentine's day

- It's really only the Slender Bros, Viv's character, My character, Nina, Toby, Masky & Hoodie, and Sally

- and by Sally I mean she just leaves candy from the candy bowl everywhere

- Masky and Hoodie make a day of it since Slender gives them holidays off. They eat cheesecake in the woods and just spend the day together.

- Toby spends the day alone but still celebrates in his own way. Eating waffles.

- Offender (in our improv thing he's not....yeah....he's just a hopeless romantic that does consensual hook ups) and my character spend his their leaving roses out at restaurants and going to bars for hookups. They have a bunch of stuff worked out.

- Viv and Slender spend the day in bed or lounging in the living room watching some cheesy comedy.

- Trender spends the day as a self care day seeing as he's alone at the moment. Every day is self care for him but it's even more on Valentine's Day. He goes all out and even treats himself to a fancy restaurant.

- Splendor likes going to neighborhoods and leaving cute little poems on people's doors then heading to the zoo for personal time.

- Nina harasses Jeff who, in return, leaves the mansion and heads to the apartment him and my character share.

- New Years is something everyone celebrates. While some have resolutions others have new quotas they're trying to meet.

- Sally tries to stay up and watch the ball drop (she's only seen it drop twice before falling asleep)

- My character and Viv's character get shit faced

- Jeff normally sits there with a beer in one hand and Smile Dog beside him

- that's really all that consists of New Years

More about our two characters:

My character:

- a 401 year old demon thing

- in our universe hell is ran by the 7 devil's as well as my characters mother. Hells more of a city than a pit.

- Has lived with Jeff as a roommate since late 2018

- Use to be with Herobrine but broke it off with him for unknown reasons.....they're civil and still good friends. He's one of those people that could make a good boyfriend but is best as a close friend

- On their 400th birthday a crackening happened in Hell that enhanced their powers and they were hunted by Zalgo. Luckily a truce was established.

- Has been by Viv's character side since her characters soul was first created. More in Viv's Character's section

- Y'know those dogs that were talked about in the beginning? They primarily stay at their mothers mansion in Hell.

- Also all cats go to hell but they don't get hurt. They like to watch. Sometimes if you're lucky you might get a celebrity's cat. That's how my character got their lovely (and kinda douchy cat) Delilah. She likes to pee all over people's suits just bc she's like that.

- They were born in 1620 but are progressive

- Still liked fashion through the ages

- Maybe not the health damaging ones

- Is able to fly and teleport but due to back pain and migraines prefers to stay grounded and rarely use teleportation

- Doesn't actually kill much but has had souls sold to them (job as a demon....doesn't really need one though....is Crossroads Demon)

- Had a one night stand with Trender about 240ish years ago

- Does have proxies....it's those souls they take and barter around for

- Souls in hell can be used for currency depending on whether or not they sold their soul

- Anyways, was at some point known for having an obsession with chainsaws and hoodies...still has a bunch of hoodies and a chainsaw but doesn't really use them much (is more of a flannel and gun person now)

Viv's Character:

- her character managed to get everyone's favorite dwarfed rag doll cat from the internet

- Her character use to be with Entity 303 and ended up Slenderman

- that makes two of us who were with a Minecraft pasta and ended up with a slender brother lol

- I think her character is called Kat or KC so for now imma call her character Kat

- Kat has an addiction to tuna and milk

- Also has cat ears and a cat tail which are both very sensitive

- when Kat's soul was created my character was created. Even though Kat has been through many many reincarnations my character has always been alongside her. Even though my character doesn't die they act as a guardian towards Kat.

- Has a tendency to sit up in the cat walks and within the walls of the mansion alongside my character

- Gets lost in the forest from time to time and needs help getting out

- Despite being with Slender she has her own room to store her weapons and stash her plans.

- If I'm not mistaken Kat also was with Toby for a short while but doesn't talk about it much. Imagine dating your ex-lovers boss lol

- Disappears for up to a week sometimes without saying where she's going and when she comes back she acts as if nothing happened

- When both Kat and my character started living in the mansion they shared a room for about a year.

- Kat had a personal garden that was completely wiped out by Zalgo before a treaty was established and she still hasn't forgave him

- The garden mostly had marigolds and a few small plants. The only one that really mattered was Audrey the Venus fly trap.

[petri808]

@kyoruweekofficial One Bed prompt

What do you do when you have two co-workers who obviously have crushes on each other, but neither have the guts to make a move? Well, according to Arisa Uotani, you make it for them. So, with the help of co-conspirator Saki Hanajima, the pair decide to play Cupid and stage a romantic intervention. For you see, Saki is the project manager at their company, and it was her job to schedule conference attendances for the employees. How lucky for them that the perfect opportunity presented itself. Oh, this was going to be good! They just wished they could have been there to see it.

The longer the hotel receptionist talked, the more Tohru could feel her ears burning and her cheeks turning a cherry tomato color. “W-Wait a minute, are you telling me we were booked into the same hotel room?!”

“Yes, ma’am, that’s what your company booked for you and Mr. Sohma. Four days in our honeymoon suite while you attend the conference. Is there a problem?”

“Yeah, there’s a problem!” Kyo Sohma, Tohru’s co-worker grits back. “Our company must have made a mistake, so change the booking to two separate rooms.”

“I’m really sorry sir, but the hotel is at full capacity because of the conference, so I can’t do that. If there’s a cancellation later, I could put in a request, but that’s all I can offer.”

“It’s okay, Kyo,” Tohru’s meek voice cuts in before the man has a chance to respond. “There’s nothing this lady can do and it’s just three days, so w-we can figure something out.”

He turns and realizes just how embarrassed his co-worker looked. Though her eyes were averted to the ground, her rosy cheeks, and the glow in her face, stops him cold. Fuck, she looked so cute like that! “Fine,” he feels the heat in his face increasing, “then just give us our keys please, so we can be on our way.”

Kyo takes hold of both their luggage handles, “grab it from the woman,” he tells Tohru and walks toward the elevator to wait.

“I’m really sorry,” Tohru apologizes to the receptionist. “This was a surprise for us.”

“Don’t worry, mistakes happen ma’am.” She placed the items on the counter. “Here are your card keys that includes the WiFi password on the sleeve along with instructions. If you require any extra amenities, do not hesitate to call the front desk for assistance. You’re scheduled to be here for three nights and four days, with check out at 11am on Thursday. Again, I’m very sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Not your fault.” Tohru politely thanks the woman and grabs the items, then joins Kyo to head towards their room.

While he waited, Kyo fumed over the whole situation. Being sent to the same conference as Tohru was the first red flag, but not completely out of the norm since they were working on the same project, so he’d chalked it up to coincidence. But now the receptionist said it was a honeymoon suite. Why would Saki book them a honeymoon suite! Rhetorical question, he had a pretty damn good suspicion on the answer. ‘Those two meddlers!’

“Kyo, I have the keys. The room is on the top floor.”

He’d been so focused on his mental dialogue, Tohru’s voice suddenly right beside him, catches him off guard. His body stiffens for a second as if caught in the act of a crime. “Great.” He acts like nothing’s wrong and hits the up button for the elevator. ‘Just... great...’

As soon as they walk in, the pair deadpan at the interior of the room. What did they expect when they’d heard the worlds ‘honeymoon suite,’ a normal hotel room? ‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me?!’ Kyo let’s go of the luggage handles and makes a visual sweep, before landing on the single bed near the window. Not only were they sharing a room, but sharing a bed, and a bathroom for four days! ‘They’re dead. Saki and Arisa are so dead when we get home!’ What the hell were they thinking by sticking us in this kind of a room! ‘If they’re so hell bent on hooking us up, have they ever heard of a blind date?!’

Tohru at this point was faring no better, but instead of frustration her emotions ran more along the lines of simple embarrassment. She was starting to realize that this whole situation was set up by their friends, and she didn’t know if she should thank them or never speak to them again. Because deep down, she was a little excited for this opportunity to be closer to him, and also terrified if Kyo happened to feel the same way. Saki and Arisa were adamant that the man liked her too, a lot, and maybe he, they just needed a push to get things moving. But this was a pretty big push!

“I could just sleep on the floor?”

“What?! No,” what kind of man does she take him for? “I’m not gonna let you sleep on a floor, that’s crazy Tohru. I-it’ll— it’ll be fine,” Adam’s apple bobbing hard, “it’s a big bed, w-we can make it work.” ‘Have to make it work.’

“O-Okay,” she smiles and pretends that everything really is so. If they were going to be stuck in this situation, they might as well make the best of it. “It’s a really pretty room.”

For that Kyo had to agree, and he wondered just how Saki was able to justify its rental in company records. The color ambiance screamed love and romance. Come on, a velvet red bed frame, matching love seat and contrasting white bedding. Red walls, red curtains, and dark cherry oak furnishings really heightened the overall affect. The full bar was definitely getting tapped tonight!

They go about their business pretending everything was fine, hanging up clothes and putting away their things, setting up the bathroom with their items in a ‘his and hers’ manner. If they were going to be stuck together, they needed to be civil and not let things get too awkward. Or so they hoped. At least they had things to prepare for the conference to keep busy, information to go over including a booklet that was sent ahead of time to familiarize themselves with the schedule. The organizers planned on break-out sessions for participants to meet with others working on similar ideas so they could bounce ideas off of each other. It was interesting add on considering these are competitors, but because green initiatives has been a focus for the government, they’ve pushed for more collaborative efforts.

When dinner time rolls around, the pair go to the hotel’s restaurant for convenience, since it was on the property. It had fairly decent reviews on its food offerings, and Kyo was more than ready to have a few beers to settle his nerves. They put the meal on a company credit card. Tohru orders a simple meal, but Kyo spares no opportunity to take full advantage of the most expensive offerings. ‘Saki can kiss my ass on the bill!’

He was quite surprised when Tohru ordered a glass of wine cause he’d heard she wasn’t much of a drinker. Kyo chuckles in his head, she probably needed a relaxer just like him. It irritated him a bit to know other guests probably assumed they were a couple. They sure did look like one, on a date, a romantic one at that, and he swore the server had almost asked, then changed their question at the last second.

By Kyo’s third beer, Tohru’s rosy complexion was really making it hard to stay professional. He knew it was just the alcohol working, but it made her look nervous and embarrassed in a first date kind of way. So innocently adorable, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. They managed to keep the conversation casual, but it was slowly becoming evident, they’d had other thoughts going through their minds.

When the server returns with their credit card slip, the man asks them if they were there for the conference to which they reply yes. “So, you’re co-workers, not a couple?”

“Yeah, why,” Kyo responds to the man.

But instead of answering Kyo, the server brazenly turns to Tohru instead. “I think you’re really pretty, and since I’m about to finish my shift, I was wondering if you’d like to go to a club with me?”

“Eh?” Tohru freezes, “I-I...”

Kyo stands up quick as a flash, getting right into the servers face. He jabs a finger into the man’s chest. “Fuck off guy, or I’ll report you to management!” He then grabs Tohru’s hand and pulls her away from the table, “let’s go!” Oh, he was so pissed! Co-workers or not, the balls on this guy to pull such a stunt right in front of him, what the hell was he thinking?! ‘He’s lucky I didn’t knock him on his ass!’

She knew better than to say a word and simply let Kyo pull her away towards the elevators. It was a little weird, wonderful, surprising, and frankly endearing for him to have defended her like that. Her cheeks were now heating up for other reasons, and the warmth of his hand in hers made her feel special. Did he realize he was still gripping tightly to her hand? Even as they stood there waiting for the elevator and the threat now over, he held on. As she watches his face carefully through her periphery, his serious expression wasn’t wavering. So, hoping not to startle him, and to avoid further embarrassment when he realized what he was doing, Tohru gently squeezes his hand back.

“Yeah?” Kyo’s eyes flare wide. “Oh!” Shit! He lets go. “My apologies.”

“It’s okay,” she smiles softly and keeps her voice low. “Thank you for defending me back there.”

“It was nothing,” he turns his head to hide his blush, mumbling a response. “That guy had some nerve interrupting us like that.”

Safely inside their hotel room, the pair preps for a quiet evening. Tohru changes into a comfortable set of pajamas, while Kyo sticks with a t-shirt and cotton shorts. Nothing racy at all. He offers her another drink as he grabs a beer and again is surprised when she takes another glass of red wine. “You know,” he questions as he pours the glass for her, “everyone said you’re not a drinker.”

She sits down on the bed and takes the offered glass, placing the rim to her lips as if to muffle her words. “I’m usually not,” Tohru answers honestly, but leaves out more details like she needed a bit of courage juice to make it through the evening.

Leaving about a foot of space between them, Kyo sits down on the bed as well. He takes a deep swig of the bottle. “Me neither.” Which was true, he only drank on occasion when he’d go out with friends. But tonight, it was keeping his nerves in check.

They sit there quietly in a companionable silence, sipping their drinks and lost in thoughts of what to say or do next. Kyo would never try to take advantage of Tohru, but the desire to make a move ate away at him, practically screamed to do something to break the stalemate. He’s had such a major crush on the sweet woman for so long, but he always thought he wasn’t good enough for her. As far as Kyo was concerned, Tohru was a perfect complement to his more outgoing nature, and yet deserved someone better. Their co-workers teased him so much about the crush too. Ugh, his cousin Hatsuharu kept telling him if he didn’t make a move soon, he’d steal Tohru. It was a hollow threat considering the man was already seeing another woman, but it still got under his skin.

He could still remember the day Tohru was hired to his family’s company. She was friends with Saki and Arisa, and they’d given the woman glowing reviews so the Co-CEO Shigure Sohma decided to give her a chance. Tohru walked into his office confused trying to figure out where she was supposed to go, and it was love at first sight. That was two years ago.

Tohru could feel the effects of the second glass of wine coming on stronger than the first one had hit her. Which is what she wanted to happen. It made her feel much more relaxed, but not quite drunk, and warmed up in the cooler air conditioning of the room. It wasn’t however, helping with the courage department. She wanted to ask him so badly, just to finally know where she stood, if Kyo had any romantic interests in her. What if he said no? But what if he said yes?!

“That guy was right...” Kyo suddenly breaks the stalemate. “You are very pretty.”

Eh?! “I, um, thank you,” Tohru sputters but goes for the gold. “You’re very handsome too.”

When he looks at Tohru, Kyo finds her staring at the floor with her adorable red cheeks on fire. He chuckles inwardly and places his beer on the nightstand, then reaches over and takes the glass from her, placing it on the table as well. It was now or never. He tips her chin up and forces her eyes onto him. “May I?” His eyes zero in on her lips, communicating his desire. She nods sheepishly with her approval, eyes closing as he leans in and places a soft kiss on her lips.

This wasn’t her first kiss, but it was the best one by far. His lips were so soft and pressured, his fingers gently keeping her from pulling away. They move from her chin to cradles her cheek, his thumb sweeping lightly against her skin as their heads change in angle. Oh, it was such a sweet move! It’d been worth the wait! As he pulls away, Kyo places one final kiss on her forehead.

“We probably shouldn’t rush things but,” he takes her hand and kisses the back of it, “is it too forward to ask if we could cuddle tonight?”

Fuck no! Tohru squeals giddily in her head, but on the outside kept her cool. She smiles and squeezes his hand back. “I’d really like that.” And reminder to self to thank Saki and Arisa when we get home...

[ferretshark]

Meet Me In St Louis

By: @ferretshark

For: @wonkystank​

Rating:General

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Happy Hogan, May Parker 

Summary:

Peter really wasn’t looking forward to Friday, May was working and he already knew that Tony was going out of town because Lab and movie night were cancelled. He should just take the time to stay in and catch up on sleep. The problem was he couldn’t sleep because he couldn’t stop thinking, but he couldn’t think effectively because he needed sleep. The cycle was vicious and he wasn’t seeing a way out.

He looks up to find Tony watching him.“You know I’m going to St Louis. Why don’t you come with?”

“Go with you? I thought it was a business trip.”

Ao3 link 

Peter stares into space, unfocused. He’s tired and everything he needs to do stretches out in front of him. Lately sleep has been hard to come by and the days are blurring together, even Spider-manning has lost some of its charm. He sighs.

“I’m sorry. Am I boring you?” Tony’s voice is teasing.

Peter blinks, eyes snapping back into focus. “Um, no. I'm not bored.” It was lab day, not that they’d accomplished much. The lethargy that had been plaguing Peter all week iswas still there sapping his creativity. He starts to offer up an excuse but settles for honesty. “I’m just... tired.”

Tony’s eyes darken with concern. “Yeah, May and I have been worried about that. Maybe it’s time for a break, Bud.”

Peter narrows his eyes a bit. He’s not sure how he feels about this new development where Tony and May consult on the regular about his welfare.

“So no school on Friday.” Tony ventures. “Happy said you’re o-ff.”

“Yeah, it’s a teacher work day.” He slumps forward, resting his cheek on his hand.

Peter really wasn’t looking forward to Friday, May was working and he already knew that Tony was going out of town because Lab and movie night were cancelled. He should just take the time to stay in and catch up on sleep. The problem was he couldn’t sleep because he couldn’t stop thinking, but he couldn’t think effectively because he needed sleep. The cycle was vicious and he wasn’t seeing a way out.

He looks up to find Tony watching him.“You know I’m going to St Louis. Why don’t you come with?”

“Go with you? I thought it was a business trip.”

“It is. All the more reason you should come along.”

Peter considers. Seeing the in and outs of running SI could be cool, but the  travel sounds exhausting. “I’ll have to see what May thinks,” he mumbles out.

“She thinks it’s a good idea. “ Tony crosses his arms at Peter’s unimpressed look. “Might be fun to do a little light interning?” Tony’s phone chimes and he glances down. “Happy’s here.”

Peter stands, stretches and starts gathering his jacket and backpack. He’s not really sure where the afternoon’s gone.

Tony walks with him out to the garage, it’s something that’s started to become a bit of a tradition lately. “ See you bright and early on Friday. And, Pete, leave the suit at home.”

—-

Peter tries to go to bed early on Thursday, he really does. He only patrols to nine thirty , comes home, showers and packs his duffle.

He’s in bed by eleven but sleep won’t come. Tossing and turning well past midnight, he checks his phone again, up in three hours. He flips the screen down and passes out close to dawn.

By some miracle he’s awake at five thirty, grabs a quick breakfast and is downstairs ready when  the black Bently pulls up to the curb. The door and trunk locks disengage.

“Quick! Get in.” Happy yells through the windows.

Peter barely has time to throw his bag in the open trunk and get the door shut before Happy’s veering back out into traffic. He peers at Peter in the rear view mirror. “Buckle up!”

“Ok, ok I‘m working on it.” Peter pulls the belt and snaps the buckle into place. “Where’s Mr. Stark?”

“He’s meeting us there.”  Happy answers, accelerating through a yellow light.

Sometime later, they pull up in front of the private jet hanger. Peter hops out and waits while Happy grabs their bags. The jet sits on the tarmac, and it gives Peter flashbacks of another trip not so long ago. The steps to the passenger cabin lower and Happy hurries inside with the luggage only to poke his head out again.

“Can you tell Tony we’re ready to go? His stuff’s already here but I think he’s in the hanger.”

Peter looks over to the tan building waiting off.  “Uh, sure.”  He steps inside the open building and sure enough Tony is there, tapping away on his mobile.

“I thought you said no suits.” Peter gestures to the Iron Man suit standing in sentry mode over in the corner of the hanger.

“Do as I say not as I do.” Tony says flippantly, not looking up from his phone. “Anyway, he’s staying here.”

The fact that Tony always talked about each of his suits as if they were wayward children but also proclaimed them synonymous with himself privately amuses Peter. He looks fondly at the suit.

“So still not sleeping?” Peter looks up to find Tony’s gaze sweeping over his face.

“Not really.” He shrugs, he doesn’t want to get into it right now. “Happy says it’s time to go.”

Tony looks out at the jet. “Yeah, probably. Come on.”

______

The flight time stretches out as Peter stares out the window. Mr. Stark mouths an apology but ends up spending most of the time on his phone. He can see Happy hunched over in the back, sending emails.

At least the WiFi is plentiful. Peter spends his time wisely watching tik toks and scrolling through tumblr. He wishes he could rest a little, but even as tired as he is, actual sleepiness seemed out of reach. The tiredness he carries lately is settled down deep in his bones and leaves him feeling like he’s taking tiny sips of rest when he really needs to drink deep. The  resulting exhaustion sits heavy in his mind, weighing down his shoulders. Trying to ignore the feeling he  stretches out, putting his feet on the seat across from him.

Slipping his earphones in affords him some semblance of privacy,  He starts up his Spidey playlist and dives back into the wonders of the internet. He’s not really aware when he starts singing, until he launches into an energetic chorus and suddenly he remembers. He bolts upright to find the other two airplane occupants regarding him with everything from amusement to irritation. In fact, it was exactly those two reactions, amusement and irritation.

“Oh, um sorry.”

Tony laughs and goes back to his work, still smiling.

Happy is playing a mean eyebrow game as he finishes his phone call.

Peter clears his throat and settles back into his seat <i>quietly.</i> He also studiously avoids looking around the passenger cabin. Fortunately, within thirty minutes, they're on the ground at the airport.

He stands and stretches while Happy and Tony disembark. He’s learned by now that the most important thing to do in these situations is stay out of Happy Hogan’s way. The man is a ball of energy as he secures their ride and gets the luggage put away.

Tony slides into the back seat and Peter slips in beside him. “Let’s go, Hap.”

Peter marvels at the views of an unfamiliar city through the car window, far off he catches a glimpse of the Gateway Arch, the city’s most famous landmark. There’s factories and abandoned houses, museums and concrete, but it’s also beautiful and green in a way that parts of Queens aren't. Maybe it’s not a fair comparison but, hey, Peter hasn’t been too many places.

They pull up at the Four Seasons Hotel because, of course, Tony always goes first class. Peter takes a quick panoramic shot and sends it out in a text to his best friend. Ned was going to die.

The lobby is all light and glass and Peter tries hard not to be intimidated. He’d stayed in some reasonably nice places back when he was in band, but really nothing close to this.

Tony goes to the front desk and comes back with keycards. He passes them out to Peter and Happy.

“We have early check in so go make yourselves at home. Same floor.”

Happy looks a little surprised, “They didn’t have your suite-”

He’s cut off by Tony. “It’s good, we’re good,” he calls over his shoulder, heading to the elevator. “Let’s go.”

They get to the right floor and exit the elevator and Tony hovers while Peter finds his room number easily enough. Tony lingers behind him in the hallway until his door swings open, making sure his keycard works.

Peter pushes inside to reveal a tasteful decor in green, gray and olive. The room opens up at the end with an enormous picture window, framing  the far off bridge and graceful sloping Arch. His first thought is that he’d love to swing from it. His second is that he must be in the wrong room.

He leans back out in the hallway. “Mr. Stark?” He can see Tony down and across the hall balancing his phone while he tries to work his key card from its little paper sleeve.

“Yeah, Pete?”

“I think I have the wrong room. There’s the view um..the Arch?” He gestures back toward the room.

Tony’s smile is soft with understanding, “I know kid, I’ve seen it.” He disappears into his own room. “Try a nap, if you can.”

Peter turns back, his eyes riveted to the skyline.  Slipping into the room, he drops his bag on the floor. “Holy shit.” He whispers and then executes a pivot and falls backward onto the incredibly soft bed.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls his phone out, thumb sliding across the cracked screen. The plan is to send a few quick texts to May, but the muse strikes him and he steps over to take a few pictures from the window.

There’s a sharp rap at the door and Peter surges to his feet. Outside in the hall he finds Happy, looking not very happy at all. The man was all business.

“Ok, at midday we’ll be heading over to Switchpoint Services. We’ll do lunch there. The meeting’s at one.” Happy hands him a packet. “Here’s your security badge.” He slaps a laminated piece of plastic into Peter’s hand,  “Wear it,” he stresses. “Do not lose it.” He gives Peter stern look, bulging out his eyes to make his point.

“That was, like, one time.” Peter tries to defend himself.

“If you don’t have the badge, they won’t let you in.” Happy doubles down on the dire warnings. “And don’t think you can sweet-talk your way upstairs like you do with that lobby guy at SI.”

“Ok, ok Happy, I got it.”

“Meet us in the lobby at 11 and we’ll head over.”

Happy turns and heads off down the hall. Peter shuts the door and sets his packet out. He should probably familiarize himself with the company they were going to.

There’s an olive chaise and he sits down on it. He spends a lazy half hour reading over the history of one Switchpoint Services, a poly-global tech company. Their latest innovations were extremely noteworthy. No wonder Mr. Stark wanted to partner with them.

He flips listlessly through the pages again. Maybe he should take a nap, like Mr Stark suggested. He glances over at the bed, but the thought of laying there, wanting to sleep but being unable. His new unwelcome normal. No, Peter turns his head back towards the window, then leans his head against it. He watches the flow of people and traffic below him.

A brief pattern of soft knocks sound at the door, and Peter’s head jerks up.

“Come in,” Peter calls.

Tony sticks his head around the door. “You busy?”

“Oh, it’s you.”

Tony just gives him a look before stepping into the room. He walks over to where Peter is.

“You just standing here?” Tony’s brows draw together.

Peter shrugs, “Yeah.” He wants to confide in Tony and tell him about the lack of sleep, the inability to rest. He feels like if anyone would understand, it would be Ironman. The words won’t come though, but in the end he doesn’t need them.  

Tony hooks the edge of the olive green lounger and pulls it in front of the window. He pats the seat beside him. Peter joins him and they sit together, staring out at the mid-morning crush. Everyone outside was hurrying, trying to get somewhere but in this moment, in this space, Peter found he could finally just breathe.

There’s something in the shared silence that does more than any amount of talking could have.

Eventually, Tony’s phone beeps and he leaves, telling Peter it’s almost time to get ready.

Peter changes into his “work” clothes. His standard blue-gray sweater over a collared shirt and khaki pants. Not snazzy, like whatever Mr Stark will wear, but it works. He picks up the packet Happy gave him, slips his keycard in his pocket, and goes down in the elevator.

Downstairs Happy and Mr. Stark are chatting quietly. Happy is in his standard gray suit. Mr Stark is wearing a fitted black suit with a white dress shirt and red tie. His eyes are somewhat masked by the fashion shades he’s wearing. Peter fidgets, feeling underdressed.

Ton smiles when he catches sight of Peter, “There he is. Right on time.” He claps Peter on the back and they head to the parking lot.

Happy ushers them to the car and they drive through the busy city to a square building with blue mirrored windows.

Peter steps out, looking up at the office and swallows, tugging a bit at his cuffs.

Tony catches his eye, “Nerves?”

“Nah, I’m good.” Peter says with a little more confidence than he actually feels. He checks to make sure he has his security badge and that it’s visible.

There’s nothing quite like stepping into a business with Tony Stark. He’s instantly recognizable and between Stark Industries and the Avengers, his celebrity has launched into the stratosphere.

Happy takes immediate charge or coordinating with the personnel on site. Peter follows close behind Mr. Stark as they are ushered into a brightly lit, but currently empty, conference room. It’s bigger than Peter had expected and he wonders for the first time just how many people would be joining them.

After quiet discussion with their guid, Tony settles in at the head of the table and directs Peter to the seat on his right. The chairs themselves are a dove gray with a surprisingly comfortable seat. Peter leans back and stretches his legs out in front of him.

“You hungry?” Mr Stark asks.

“Mm, yeah. I could eat,” Peter answers politely.

“Yeah me too,” Mr. Stark steps out and has a word with Happy. When he comes back, he has food.

“The finest box lunch ten bucks can buy. Complete with mystery cookie.” Tony tosses down a  box lunch in front of Peter. Tony leaves and comes back with bottled waters.

They open their boxes and Peter pulls out his ham and cheese. This was one of those fancier lunches with the really good bread. He takes a bite and sighs. Hunger well on its way to being sated, he roots around to find his chips and a wrapped dill pickle slice.

“Chocolate, white chocolate chunk.” Tony comments, unwrapping his baked good. “What did you get?”

“Looks like white chocolate macadamia.” Peter keeps his expression neutral because, sure, he’d eat it. He generally wasn’t in the position to be picky.

He looks up to find Tony holding the chocolate cookie out,  “Trade?”

“Um sure.” He knows he sound less enthusiastic than he feels but he is grateful - chocolate cookies were the best.

“ Macadamia nuts. You know,” Tony muses. “Back in the day, they used to serve pouches of these on flights to Hawaii.” He takes a bite of the cookie, chews and swallows. “For the greater good and all, but I still kinda miss ‘em.”

They clean up their lunches and Tony reads over his notes again. As the meeting time grows closer, the room starts to fill with people. There’s polite murmuring among the group and Peter does his best not to eavesdrop. It’s full to capacity by the time, a woman greets them both warmly and then calls everyone to attention.

“I want to turn you over to our esteemed guest, Mr. Tony Stark.” Applause from around the conference table and Peter wonders awkwardly if he should be clapping too. As he’s puzzling over the implications of clapping versus not clapping, the group moves on, their attention completely focused on Tony, at the head of the table.  

“You know who I am so we won’t waste anymore time on that.” A confident smile curls at Tony’s lips. “I do want to introduce you to my intern Peter.” He gestures to Peter, who in lieu of saying anything, settles for a quick wave. He hopes he wasn’t supposed to say anything.

Tony continues talking, “I have a lot of proposals come across my desk, but this one was exceptional, the possibilities of application are endless…”

Peter zones out a bit as the meeting winds on. There’s a back and forth, then question time before the meeting ends around lunch time.

Tony drops back in his seat after the last person, a chatty man in a silver tie, files out.

“That went well.”

Peter is watching him and playing with a pen between his fingers, “Yeah, it seemed to. These guys are really smart.”

“Did you get a copy of the prospectus?” Tony asks, glancing over at him.

“Oh, no I didn’t get one.” Peter glances around his spot at the table, just in case he’s overlooked it.

“Here,” Tony slides the thick packet over, “read it.”

And Peter does, it doesn’t take him long to get to the particulars.

He pores over the details. It’s for a mobile robot that could source its own energy needs. It consumed metal by breaking down its chemical bonds and converted it to stored energy, like a battery.

“This is so cool.” Peter marvels. He could think of several applications just off the top of his head.

Tony smiles, “I knew you’d appreciate it.”

“Are you buying the patent?”

“I’m buying the company.” Mr. Stark smirks but then he holds up a finger. “That’s confidential, it’s not official. Gotta convince Pep first.” Tony had a leather satchel and he slips his documents inside. “Ready to head out?”

“Yeah sure.” Peter gathers his own papers. “Where’s Happy?”

“I have him running point on a few things.” Mr. Stark doesn’t elaborate and Peter follows him out. They drop their badges off and head out into the late afternoon sunshine.

There’s a silver Audi parked in a reserved spot and Peter doesn’t waste time wondering how it got there. As with most things involving Tony, it just was. They get in and buckle up.

“Any idea what you want for dinner?”

“I’m good with whatever. “

“Any thoughts? Now’s your chance.” Tony merges into the flow of traffic and accelerates, the engine purrs as it picks up speed.

Peter shrugs, he doesn’t really know any places up here aside from fast food restaurants and he doesn’t think that’s what Mr. Stark would want.

Tony drums his thumbs on the steering wheel, thinking. “You ever been to The Cheesecake Factory?”

Pete blinks. There was one in Queens but it was more for tourists and proms. Plus it was kind of pricey. He and May frequented the quieter, family owned restaurants around their apartment.

“Maybe once with Ned?” He really wasn’t sure.

“So it’s been a while?” Tony shoots him a look from the corner of his eye. “Sound ok to you?”

“Sure, sounds good. I’m totally good with whatever, Mr Stark.”

They park near the restaurant and Tony sheds his jacket and tie, tossing them in the back. They’re seated right away and the waitress drops off bread.

Peter is happy to find that the portions are huge and the bread basket bottomless. By the time they finish their cheesecake, he’s actually comfortably full.

“I didn't know Tony Stark ate anywhere like the Cheesecake Factory.” Peter teases

“Jokes on you, Tony Stark once ate a two day old cheese burger off the floor. Not one of my finer moments and also one I’d encourage you not to repeat.” Tony’s self deprecating smile almost masked the flash of emotion behind his eyes but not quite.

Peter falls back on a joke to head off any awkwardness,  “You only do that with gummy bears, Mr Stark.”

Tony gives him a long look and then narrows his eyes.

“I was eight!” Peter says defensively.

Tony’s tone is pure skepticism. “Sure you were.”

The waitress comes back with the bill. . “ Here’s this whenever you're ready. Your to-go order and cheesecakes are coming. We’re just getting them bagged up now.”

“Piece to go?” Peter wonders.

Tony’s mouth quirks, “A piece? I got a whole cake. Pep would kill me if I didn’t bring her some.”

He flips open the card holder and signs the top copy with typical flourish. Peter notices in spite of himself that the tip line has a couple of extra zeros for their waitress. Tony slips his card back into his wallet.

“I don’t know why they don’t take Starkpay.” He mutters to himself as much as Peter. “We gotta make that more of a thing.”

it makes Peter feel funny to have Tony pay for him. He’s aware that Tony foots lots of bills but he doesn’t want the man to feel like it’s expected.

The drive back to the hotel is in comfortable silence. Peter doesn’t feel like he needs to fill the space with words, he feels valued and  understood. He can count on one hand the places in his life that fill him with this kind of contentment.

“The Midwest isn’t a bad place to live.” Tony ruminates. “I’ve blown through here a couple of times, used to stay at the Omni. There’s a great little curry shop downtown, only open for two hours a day, but that is some great pakora.”

“What’s it called?” Peter’s curiosity gets the better of him.

“Mr. Curry.” Tony answers and then grins.

Peter’s laugh surprises him. There’s nothing really funny about it but everything seems light and easy right now.

“Next time, remind me to take you up to the bakery in Kirkwood.’” Tony says thoughtfully,  “The cookies? You’ll love ‘em. He’s a fully trained chef with a little hole in the wall shop. It’s pretty cool.”

The sun had set when they were in the restaurant and the world was muted and dark. The lights from the stores and other cars blur together and Peter is overcome with a feeling somnolence. He can suddenly barely keep his eyes open.

Tony pulls the Audi into the hotel lot and parks it in a smooth motion.

“Hey, Pete,” He calls, his voice low. “We’re here, bud.”

Peter blinks slowly and wipes at his eyes with his palms. “Ok.” He picks up his things and they head inside. The lights of the lobby are a little blinding after being outside, causing Peter to squint under the glare.

Tony hands off his cheesecake to the front desk and they take the elevator upstairs. Peter slumps against the wall. He notices that Tony still has a bag in his hand and when Peter looks at it, he lifts it up and smiles.

“Happy. He’s a late eater,” He explains.

Peter nods, but doesn't speak, words are just a bridge too far right now, which is very unlike him.

He gets his ley in the reader and the door opens. Tony lingers for a moment.“You need anything? Glass of water? Pillow menu?”

“P- There’s a pillow menu?” Peter’s not quite sure if Tony’s teasing or not, but he considers, “Nah, I'm good, Mr. Stark. Thanks for dinner.” Thanks for everything.

“Sleep tight, kid. You did good today.” Tony’s smile is warm and fond. “See you in the morning, he heads off to find Happy.

Buoyed by the praise Peter shuts his door, showers and brushes his teeth. He nearly forgets to set his alarm, but catches it before collapsing into bed and falling into a deep and dreamless sleep.

When Peter wakes up, he feels well-rested for the first time in a long time. He has to admit that this has been a nice vacation from New York. He showers, dresses and packs up his clothes and phone charger. He pushes the curtains back and takes in the view one more time. He’s kind of going to miss it here.

Gathering up his bag, he looks out the window one, more time before texting Mr. Stark and Happy that he was on his way down stairs. When he steps off the elevator, he finds Tony in the seating area and he’s just sitting down when Happy shows up.

“You’re looking better.” Happy comments, setting down a coffee carrier and handing him a cup. “Got your usual.”

“Oh thanks!” Peter takes his. It’s sweet and hot and he sighs into it happily. Only to look up and see Tony watching him with gentle amusement.

“Coffee, Am I right?” Tony smiles and reaches for his own cup.

“Yeah.” Peter takes another drink. “So the beds here are amazing. It was like being eaten by a marshmallow. Or maybe a cloud.”

Happy snorts and Tony grins at his phone, “There might be a future for you in advertising.”

They take their coffee and drive over to what amounts to an elaborate networking session with brunch being served. Of course, everyone wanted to talk to Mr. Stark so Peter kept close to Happy and munched his way through all four flavors of bagel. Not quite up to New York standards, but passable.

A few people do talk to him and ask about his internship. Fortunately, they’d worked the particulars of that cover story out long ago. He sticks mostly to the script, but tells one woman that he’s also into web design, only to be interrupted by Happy choking on his orange juice.

It takes a while to extricate themselves. Mr. Stark seems intent on making himself accessible. Although he’s not big on shaking hands, he does listen carefully when people talk to him. It strikes Peter that Tony Stark the businessman is a very different animal from Tony Stark, the Avenger, who shows up late for briefings just to troll Captain America. He’s glad he’s in a position to witness both.

They make it out mid afternoon, just beating rush hour.

“Pepper wants you to sign these.” Happy hurries up the steps and thrusts a leather portfolio at Tony.

Peter falls back in his seat, he’d slept last night but drowsiness persists.

The jet is dimmer than he remembers and warm. He can hear the scratch of Tony’s fountain pen against paper as he goes over the contracts. It relaxes him

He finds his eyes slipping closed. At some point he wakes up to find a blanket tucked around his shoulders and Tony watching him with a warm expression full of fondness.

“Go back to sleep, bud.”

And he does, easily.

He wakes to Tony gently shaking his knee. Peter stretches,

Happy’s head was rolled back against the seat, snoring solidly, but as soon as he realizes where they are, he springs into action.

It takes a while but they finally make it into Queens and Happy sits idling in the street while cars weave around them, honking

“This is for May.” Tony casually hands Peter a Cheesecake Factory bag.

“Oh wow.” Peter sniffs the bag, its definitely chocolate.

Tony regards him through the rolled down window, “Ok, take care. Stay out of trouble.”

Peter scoffs, “Of course.” They both know that’s a lie, Tony laughs.

“Bye Peter.” Happy calls impatiently, but Peter doesn’t take offense.

“Goodbye, drive safe!” He calls after the Departing Bentley.

Peter turns and bounds up the steps with the bag.

“May?”He calls when he opens the apartment door.

“Hey Baby.” May lights up when she sees him and he closes in on her for a quick hug.

He pulls back and shows her the bag, “Tony sent you a cheesecake.”

“That was thoughtful. Put it in the fridge.” She tucks her hair up. “You’re gonna help me eat it, right? Right?” When he doesn't answer her immediately she nudges him with her elbow.

“Depends on what flavor it is.”

“Thai tonight?”

“Sure, you know how I love a good larb.”

“And the larb loves you.” She quips pulling a plate from the drying rack and putting it up in the cabinet. “So how was your trip?”

“Good!” Peter washes his hands and grabs a handful of silverware to toss in the drawer.

“It worked.” He makes short work of tossing everything into the various slots and turns to look at her.

“What worked?” Her face is the picture of innocence.

“Come on.” Peter gives her a look.“You guys think I wouldn’t figure it out?

May’s eyes take on a serious tone and she reaches up and shifts a couple of his curls back into place. “He was worried. We both were. And for the record, you look less like the walking dead and a lot more like Peter.”

“Yeah, I feel more like him too,” He smiles.

“Ok, I’m going to go get ready for dinner.” She sweeps out of the kitchen, “be ready in ten!”

Peter grabs his bag and heads to his room, his phone starts ringing and he accepts the Facetime call.

“Hey!”

“ Just wanted to make sure you got home ok.”

“Yeah, Mr. Stark. You just saw me like an hour ago,”  Peter teases.

“Well you never know, it’s a fast paced world, Mr. Parker.” Tony is leaning back with a washcloth covering his eyes.

Peter frowns, “Are you ok?”

“Just winding down after a hard couple day's work.”

Peter hears the soft sloshing of water, “Wait, are you in the bathtub?” He demands incredulously, squinting at the screen, were those <i>bubbles?</i>

“Yep, creature comforts and all, don’t knock it til you- oop, oh shit.”

The view shifts as the phone falls sideways, then a distinct ‘bloop’ and the viewscreen goes a blurry iridescent to blue then black.

“Mr. Stark?”

Friday’s voice comes over the blackened screen. “Mr. Stark is no longer connected.”

Peter blows out a laugh and then he chortles, he so cannot wait for the next lab day.

[moderndaybard]

2020 Weekly Ficlet 49/52(? We’ll see?)

Get Creative (Magnus Chase ficlet)

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

If there was anything that Magnus Chase had learned after he died, it was that appearances were usually deceiving—especially when it came to things like threat-levels. And no place in all the worlds embodied that truth quite like Hotel Valhalla.

As crowded a place as it was, there was no way one could get to know more than a handful of the other einherjar that weren’t on one’s hall, at least in the first few decades. Still, one could and did come to recognize some prominent figures on sight, at least and stories did spread…

“Am I going crazy—”

“Probably,” Alex chirped without even looking up from the lunch table as Magnus entered the room—revived from that morning’s battle just in time to eat.

Ignoring the interruption, Magnus took the seat next to Alex and stole a piece of bacon before continuing. “—or did I get killed by a crochet hook?”

It wasn’t the first time that he’d noted an odd choice of weapon on the mass battlefield, but it was a little hard to forget being stabbed in the throat by a normally-blunt crafting implement.

“Antonia Marshstead,” Halfborn supplied without showing much in the way of surprise or concern. “Crazy Crafter of Hall 77.”

It wasn’t hard to picture how that name had come about. Still: “A crochet hook?”

TJ frowned. “Yeah, I thought that’s what she used on Thursdays. Today is Monday, right?”

“Crochet is twice a week,” Mallory jumped in. “Tuesday and Wednesday are the sewing scissors and the seam ripper. I think she’s picked up knitting, too….”

“Sundays,” Halfborn supplied.

“Right, but she doesn’t lead that one—just the crocheting, sewing, and embroidery groups.”

Magnus blinked once, twice, as his brain tried to catch up. “So, she uses a different crafting tool as a weapon depending on what hobby group she has later that day?”

“Gotta admit, that’s one way of keeping the schedule straight,” Alex pointed out. “And I personally, can’t fault the theme, given my weapon of choice…”

Okay, that was a good point. But still… “At least yours is a sharp wire—and magic.”

TJ smirked. “I think hers might be magic, too. Either way, Antonia’s always been one for creative repurposing. Story goes she died when some monsters attacked her at a yarn shop and she killed one of them by stuffing a ball of yarn down its throat and choking it.”

“She got the one that finally killed her in the eye with one of those giant straight pins before it took her down,” Mallory added, the vaguest tone of…approval in her voice. “We were a little surprised to find out that Freya was her mom, but then we weren’t.”

“Freya does like beautiful things and brave fighters, plus her domain does overlap somewhat with weaving, so other thread craft isn’t too great a stretch,” Halfborn explained helpfully.

Alex snorted, apparently unable to resist a lighthearted jab: “Magnus, I swear: all of your cousins are more bad-ass than you.”

“You’ve met two: Blitz and Annabeth. Three if you’re counting Antonia now.”

“You didn’t refute my point.”

“Hey, Blitz and Annabeth have saved my life more times than I can count. And given that the latest ‘family reunion’ just ended with a G Hook in my windpipe, that’s not looking so good either.”

(Eh, he didn’t really mind. But he did wonder…was her crochet group accepting any new members? He’d been meaning to pick up a hobby for a while, now…)

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

 (Also on AO3, with my other fics)

[fluffyunicornofdanger]

Troublemakers

A/N: I planned on having a couple of fics done by today, but I’m just lucky to have this one done. I’ll try to get a couple more out before Thursday because that’s when I leave for Seattle and probably won’t have time to write. I’m also close to 300 followers, which isn’t a lot, but still is compared to so many other blogs and I just want to let you guys know how much I appreciate and love every single one of you.

*~~*~~*

Masterlist

Axl Rose x Reader

Requested By: Anonymous

Request: Axl imagine where your kid runs out on stage while he’s performing? And it’s just cute!

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Fluff, Language???, not that great cause I finished editing after a long day and with a headache

Y/n stifled a yawn and tried to rub the exhaustion from her eyes. She wasn’t sure what was draining her energy so quickly, she’d gotten more than enough sleep and it wasn’t like she had to pack everything up again to travel to a new city. But being on tour was exhausting, even if she wasn’t the one performing. It drained the energy out of everyone for one reason or another. She would have thought with the constant motion, it would keep her eyes wide open, but she was wrong.

She swayed in time with the music, watching Axl jump around the stage. She wasn’t sure how he did it, give it his all every day and still wake up with a smile on his face in the morning. It was clear the man had endless energy, something Y/n was jealous of as she often had to chase after two small children. 

Everyone had told Axl and Y/n that bring children, no matter the age, on tour would be a mistake. They would spend more time keeping them busy and out of trouble than enjoying their time as a family. Y/n couldn’t help but laugh at that. Children always needed to be kept busy and out of trouble, no matter where they were, that wouldn’t change. And taking them on tour wasn’t all that bad. They played hard and often passed out way before their bedtime and stayed in bed until the sun was up. A long enough period for Y/n and Axl to enjoy each others company uninterrupted.

“He’s good,” one of the band's assistants, Meghan, commented as she watched Axl, coming to stand next to Y/n.

Y/n couldn’t help but agree. Her opinion was probably biased considering the fact that she had been with Axl for years and loved him for more than his music. But she knew, that even if she’d never met him, she’d still be a fan of the art he created. 

“The boys asleep?”

“Yeah, Kami is watching them in Axl’s dressing room,” she said with a sigh, wrapping her arms around herself. “They’ll be pretty disappointed they missed the show.”

Meghan laughed, “I’m sure they get their own private shows all the time.”

Y/n smiled and shook her head. “It’s not the same, though.”

“Oh.”

The boys, two and four, were both balls of energy, and just like their father, they weren’t easily satisfied. Axl sang to them all the time, day and night. Hell, the whole band sang to them all the time. There was never a night when everyone was over that they didn’t break out in song because of the small children. But their private concerts weren’t the same as the ones on tour. Oh no, the boys wanted to watch their father perform for people like they’d seen on tv. They wanted a taste of something bigger.

Since being on tour, the children had wanted to watch at least one show and Y/n promised that they would. With all the show dates, there would at least be one show they would watch. But that day hadn’t come as they were always out cold before the shows even started. At the rate things were going, they would likely sleep through all the shows. And there was no way in hell she was going to wake them up as Axl had suggested. She’d rather deal with a ball of energy than a grumpy little thing.

Y/n tapped her foot in time with the beat, watching the crowd react to the band. It amazed her how people could be swept up simply by the atmosphere of one person. They cheered and sang along with the band like they were apart of it and she guessed they were. Without the crowds that filled the bars, concert halls, and stadiums, the band performed at there would be no band at all. Without the support of their fans, the boys would be nothing more than wannabes, making money any way they could.

Slash had just started playing the tune of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” when a childish screech could be heard from the dressing rooms. Y/n and Meghan turned in time to see two small children run down the hall, their auburn hair flying wildly behind them, Kami hot on their trails. Y/n knew that she should have run after them, as a parent that was in the job description, but she couldn’t help but laugh. They looked like they were having the time of their life, smiles plastered on their faces. Try as she might, there was no chance Kami was going to catch up with the two, no matter how short their legs were, as they ran around behind the stage, making Y/n laugh even harder. 

Ethan, the younger of the two, ran over to his mother, grabbing on to her pant leg and leaned against her. Y/n peered down at the child, running her hand over his hair that needed to be cut. He looked so innocent for someone who was giving everyone hell.

“What are you doing?” she asked as James ran over, Kami behind him.

When Ethan didn’t answer, she turned to Kami, who stretched her arms above her head in an attempt to catch her breath.

Kami shook her head. “They got a sudden burst of energy,” she panted.

Y/n gave her an apologetic smile, so much for being asleep. If she’d known they’d give her a run for her money, she would have taken them back to the hotel room. “At least, they’re keeping you on your toes.”

Kami rolled her eyes before she left to go find a bottle of water.

Y/n looked down at where Ethan had been to find that both him and James were out of sight. Wide-eyed, she turned to Meghan, “Did you see where the boys ran off to?”

Losing her children was never something she wanted to do, it was probably every parent's worse nightmare. But she most certainly didn’t want to lose them while on tour. The list of trouble they could get into was about as long as the Nile river. Panic set in when Meghan shook her head. They were just there a minute ago, how could they wander off so quickly?

Y/n turned to go look for them when Meghan grabbed her arm and pointed toward the stage. Two red-headed little devils rushed ahead of the security guards chasing them, evading capture by a hair and ran up onto the stage over to where their father was singing. 

Axl abruptly stopped singing, scooping both boys up into his arms once they were at his side. “Looks like I got two little helpers,” he spoke into the microphone, a smile plastered on his face.

The crowd was swooning at the sight in front of them, but all Y/n could do was shake her head and laugh. She would never hear the end of it from the band’s manager, but hey, at least they ran on stage and not into the crowd. And now her children wouldn’t complain to her about how they’d missed the show, they’d been a part of it.

“You boys wanna help me finish the song?” Axl asked the two children in his arms, who nodded vigorously. With that, he started back where he had left off, the boys trying to keep up.

Y/n couldn’t help but smile, her heart warmed by the sight that met her eyes. She loved watching Axl interact with their kids. He may have come off as a badass with a cold heart, but she knew that wasn’t true. He melted at the sight of their kids probably more than she did.

When the song was wrapped up and the boys took their bows, Axl carried the boys over to their mother, giving her a quick kiss before setting them down. “You should have come out with them, babe.”

“Maybe next time,” she smiled. “But they wouldn’t have been up there in the first place if it hadn’t been for you.”

The man raised a brow, waiting for an explanation. He was sure he played in part in any of the chaos the small children had caused.

Y/n laughed, picking Ethan up before he could run off again. “Now, don’t think you’re all innocent in this, Axl. They’re your children just as much as mine, but they like trouble just as much as you do.”

“Trouble? What trouble?” he asked innocently, brushing a piece of hair behind his shoulder. His children would never get in trouble, never, just like he would never get in trouble. They were saints, all of them.

Y/n rolled her eyes, walking towards the dressing room the children had run out of minutes before. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe running away from their babysitter, wandering off, getting chased by security and running on stage in the middle of a performance. I mean, that’s trouble in my book.”

Axl shrugged, there wasn’t much he could say about any of that. They were his kids, after all, trouble was in their blood. He lifted James up, following close behind. “At least they didn’t get caught.”

Y/n sent him a dirty look, “You’re just lucky that their shenanigans have worn them out,” she stated, gesturing to Ethan, who was rubbing his eyes, trying to fight sleep.

He couldn’t help but smile as they entered his dressing room. He sure as hell was lucky. Not that his music career was taking off or that he was making more money than he ever dreamed about. He was lucky to have a small child in his arms, the other one falling asleep in the arms of the woman he loved. He was lucky to finally have the family he only ever dreamed about. 

Y/n laid Ethan down on the small couch, covering him up with a blanket as he closed his eyes. Axl handed James over to her so he could change into a pair of clean clothes and brush his sweaty hair. He stripped off his shirt, discarding in the corner and grabbed a brush to run through his hair.

Through the vanity mirror, Axl watch Y/n lay James down, giving him a kiss before draping a blanket over him. He smiled when she stood up and caught his eyes in the mirror. 

“What are you smiling about?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his back.

He hummed, feeling the warmth of her body against his. “How much I love you and our two demon children.”

“I love you, too. And we do have trouble makers for children, don’t we?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Permanent Taglist: @rexorangecounty @jennyggggrrr @zestygingergirl

[tinysupervicki]

It’s hard to stay away, huh? I did turn off my notifications on twitter but I still peeked. Why are y’all so amazing to me? What did I do to deserve this love? This community?

Since y’all have been there for me ever since my mom passed three years ago, I’d do anything for y’all. I felt I did let y’all down because I’m a content creator and haven’t done anything in so long. It sucks because I’m yearning to do so but lack the time due to now being an adult, working a grueling adult job and living with family.

I believe I will be able to get a place of my own later in the year, I’m really hoping for that. As for my full time job, I’m actively looking for another one. The one I’m at, I feel I work so hard but I’m not appreciated enough. It’s a healthcare industry and I work hard to help people with their needs while management focuses on metrics and numbers. I wanna get out of there.

I haven’t had time to myself and just be selfish for once? So I’m glad I was able to take time off to have a pretty long weekend to enjoy Sizecon 2020 and spend time with friends.

Let’s get started on the recap, shall we? Bare with me, I talk a lot (and not well might I add).

Day 1: Thursday 2/13/20

I woke up at 4 am to catch my flight that leaves at 6:45 am. I thankfully had all my bags packed, I just needed to shower and be ready. My dad took me to the airport and wished me off. At this point, I had plenty of time, even seeing the long TSA line at the Houston airport. I had internally groaned a lot but managed through. After having some minutes to spare, I grabbed a quick bite to eat at one of the dining places, a lovely breakfast bowl that I can have (those of you who don’t know me, I have celiac disease and I have to eat gluten free). Jumped on my flight and comfortably slept in my seat on the plane. The plan was to have a connecting flight to Charlotte, NC and then to Newark, NJ.

Two hours later, I woke up to not at my destination but at Colombia, SC. Apparently, while I was asleep, they had to divert us to the next airport because the weather was really bad in NC. We had two options: stay on the plane and wait it out until we’re back in the air to NC, or get off the plane and figure out another alternative. I stayed, I had plenty of time until my connecting flight was scheduled (which I actually got alerts that it ending up delaying a lot) so I stayed in my seat and watched greys anatomy. About almost an hour passed and we’re finally back up in the air, with more space to breathe since there were people that did leave the plane. Landed safely in NC and I ventured off to find snacks and wait at my gate. It kept delaying but I finally was able to get on my flight to NJ, making my total time at the airport and in the air...all day, I can’t do math lol. I safely landed in NJ at 5:30 pm, I had been awake since 4 am. It was a day.

Yo, I’m gonna get him and his wife a gift, I swear to god, but DJ (aka Giantgripper) saved me by picking me up from the airport and letting me stay the night at his place. When he’s the host, he does one heck of a job as a host. Since I hadn’t eaten a proper meal since 5 in the morning or so, DJ took me to a Mediterranean little mom and pop restaurant that I fell in love with. Had a stuffed pepper and practically cleaned everything off my plate. After we ate, I accompanied DJ while he did some errands for extra things he needed for the con (which did include articles of clothing for the giant cafe lol). I was happy to help as much as I could. After that, we made it back to his place. Once his wife Adri (chibiana) came home from work, we watched a documentary while trying (and failing with me because I’m a turd) to make different mixed drinks to taste. I ended up going with hot chocolate, I’m a simpleton when it comes to alcohol. A little bit afterwards, I had to pass out, it was a long ass day.

Day 2: Friday 2/14/20

Valentine’s was just another day for me. Woke up, got dressed, and DJ surprised me with a fresh homemade breakfast. It was magnificent, I scrapped the plate then too. Plans for the day was to get allllllll the stuff we need and travel to the hotel, which apparently was an hour and a half away from DJ’s house I believe. Adri had to go do another thing for work and was gonna meet up later. DJ and I traveled to the hotel first. I passed out again in the car, I was so exhausted from before I guess it had hit me again.

We made it to the hotel and unpacked the car with my stuff, his and Adri’s bags, and things for the con. I got to say quick hellos to people I knew that were already there (gave a big ass hug to Miss Kaneda, she’s so precious and a big hug to IamFilledwithStatic). I was going to be sharing a room with shortmarcy, Morgana (Moe), and Guiri. So since I had arrived first, I will check in first; Morgana and Guiri were still flying from Spain and shortmarcy didn’t come until the next morning. Since it was under shortmarcy’s name and the deposit was paid under her, She had to call to have the hotel let me check in for her. In turn, I had to put my card on file. I thought I was being a responsible adult and I thought it was gonna charge like half of the charge or something but...they charged the full price of the hotel. Which was $503...which was basically everything in my bank account. I didn’t know that was gonna happen, I panicked and just sat on the couch outside of the con area while Robyn (goddess-rei) comforted me. I had to come to terms that shit happens and I had no money for the weekend. But I graciously had the best of friends this weekend, I’ll get to that in a sec.

After my bumming out, I changed to put on my blouse for the valentines banquet (one of my guaranteed dinners that night lol). I met up with Morgana and Guiri and also sillylilbug (she’s so adorably sweet). We had our own table along with my friend Joe (CaptainRandGTS, who is a phenomenal photographer btw). We ate some good food and they took account of my gluten free (however I think the chimichurri steak may have upset my stomach). I said goodnight and went to my room to basically turn the bathroom up XD I had changed into my pajamas to head downstairs to get water and pain medicine when I turned the corner and saw a group of people walking down the hall. Guys, I’m still getting used to this, but the group was like, “Is that Vicki?!” “That is her!” And I was like WHAT. It was my lovely friends sviolet, mansquishers, mister finch, Joseph moestar, and Strongshadow2018. I was so surprised and honored, I was gushing. I got to hang out with them in their hotel room for a bit, played cards against humanity (I WON!) and ate ridiculously delicious gluten free cookies misterfinch made.

Day 3: Saturday 2/15/20

Con day. This day was a bit of a blur honestly (my mind is not the same people) but I know I took this day to “try” and relax. I was still bummed about my money problem but I had enough to buy the breakfast buffet meal ticket. My idea was to chow down a lot of food (since it was a buffet) so I won’t ask for food but that did not happen because I have wonderful friends?? Towards noon, I went to ihop with my crew (we called each other the sizecon crew lol) with sviolet, mansquishers, mister finch, Joseph moestar, and strongshadow2018. We had a nice time and I was so grateful for the lunch! Once we headed back to the hotel, we split up to do more con shenanigans. I met so many people, it was amazing. People I already knew and new people as well. It was awesome to match names to faces, it was so cool. I’m telling you though, my mind is not the same so I can’t list out the whole list of everyone I’ve seen. Then I got to see my good friend Steve (Miles Striker). I’m so fucking proud of this dude. He showed me a film he wrote, recorded, and edited all by himself, it was mindblowing. We had to go back downstairs after that because I forgot I had a social to lead and he had panels to go to. I stopped by the giant cafe, that was fucking wild. I ran the Fluffy Feels Social and I did my best because I’ve never ran something like that. But I’m glad we all liked the same thing and we just kept talking! It was getting late to when the Playroom was gonna start, so I headed back upstairs. Chilled a bit more with my crew and then headed back downstairs. I don’t know what got over me, but I gathered enough courage and joined the nude swimming party. I cannot believe I did that, that was a big step for me. Kinda sucked getting out though because I didn’t have extra clothes and it was fucking cold.

Day 4: Sunday 2/16/20

Technically last day of the con but it was the busiest. I spent all morning practicing my skit for the Tiny Cafe. I was nervous and pacing around in my hotel room, making sure I get it right. Around 12:30, I headed down to meet up with the rest of the cafe to get ready when we start at 1 pm. I could not describe how nervous I was. I wanted to make sure I didn’t mess up and I know I was lip syncing (graciously provided by Anoka’s vocals) I was still nervous as fuck. This was a performance and I’m now more confident talking to others about my kink/aesthetics but performing? Oh lawd. We had a big crowd apparently, I was surprised. We had to get more chairs and apparently turn people away? THAT MADE MY NERVES SKYROCKET. The cafe starts with a wonderful performance by Adri (Chibiana) then followed by cute transitions from our servers mini-moo and shortmarcy. Then it’s time for our skit: Veronica (Jitensha), me, and Aim were shrunk and sung songs about our giants. I was first (omg) and mine was in the style of “Maria” from west side story (Veronica called it Shrunken side story). I was shaking like a leaf and tried my best to get through the whole song while doing silly quirks of mine. Once that was done, I rushed back from my spot XD it was Veronica’s turn to sing about a giant dick lol and Aim serenading a giant lady. After our skit, it was the grand finale of Morgana performing a dance in a giant hamster ball. It was incredible. Despite my anxiety, I’m glad I did this and we did so amazing (we made tips!!!!).

Right after that was done, I had to rush to lead a social of Giant men and Tiny women. It was a small turnout but we still got people and we talked a lot. When that was done, I rushed to be on my first panel of the day: Owning what you love. After that was the Macrophile panel and then after that was the Diversity panel. I was on all of them and they were back to back, I was a busy lady lol. After that panel, I was free! Since I made tips from the cafe and I was broke from the hotel, I got to buy a few things in the vendor hall. Was able to say hi to some people I knew like scridam, the reducer, miss kaneda, iamfilledwithstatic, robclassact, and aborigen. It was also mister finch’s birthday so since I was free for the night, I went with the crew to go celebrate at a restaurant. That was such a nice time, I swear everything I did this weekend I wanted to experience again. When we came back to the hotel after dinner (after a quick stop to the liquor store lol), I was able to make it in time for the closing ceremony. Hearing everyone’s words touched my heart and reminded me why I love this community. So I was able to give a speech to say that; this is my second home when I lost my only home when my mom passed. God, that room was filled with so much love. I went back upstairs and hung out more with the crew and watched Promare (pretty sick movie). I was gonna head to bed but I hung out more with Steve and we watched a movie before passing out.

Day 5: Monday 2/17/20

It was time to say all of my goodbyes to everyone that had to leave. I gave so many hugs and love, I just miss them all. Most of the crew had to head out, except for sviolet, she had her flight in the afternoon. So we went out to breakfast at a Mexican restaurant, reminiscing this whole weekend. We came back to the hotel to chill in my hotel room. Morgana and Guiri were leaving to the airport back to Spain and shortmarcy wanted to venture to NYC before she went home the next day. So sviolet and I chilled in my room before she had to head out.

Then for the rest of the evening, I had the room to myself. I watched law and order svu whole packing and double checked I had everything. I waited up for shortmarcy to come back (I was so worried) but she made it back after 10 pm safe and sound. At that point, I had to go to bed because my flight in the morning was at 5:45 am.

Day 6: Tuesday 2/18/20

I woke up at 3 am to get to the airport on time and my Lyft driver I got...I had a feeling he was having a bit of fun by himself before he picked me up. Because it stunk in the car of cum. Whatever, I held in my breath and made it to the airport safely. My flights were on time and I slept on each one. I did not want to go back home.

Back to reality and I hate the after con blues! Especially with how much this con and community means to me.

Hoping there’s a next year and I’m ready to help as usual.

Y’all have a goodnight ❤️

[lyz-fics]

Kageyama X FEM! Reader | CH1

CHAPTER 1

Hey Guys! Lyz Here!

Okay so no one asked for this but I’ve been writing this for a long time and I think I’ll post it now. 

Word Count:  3,143 Words

things to know:

(P/N) = Pet Name

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

—===✨🎇🎆💀🎆🎇✨===—

The ball came straight to him. Kageyama was standing at the front of the net when the ball was dug to him.

“Tobio!” you called out.

Kageyama took a deep breath, closed his eyes and set the ball behind him. When he opened his eyes he saw you, mid-air ready to slam the ball over the net right where he had planned. Your hand made a giant ‘slap’ as it hit the ball and it was sent flying to the other side of the court. The opposition’s libero dived for the ball but fell only a few centimeters short from stopping it from plummeting just inside the court line.

The referee blew his whistle and announced that the West State Warriors had won yet another preliminary final, thus sending them all to the semi-finals to enter what they hoped would be their third year at the Interstate Nationals. The team ran up to you for a hug and they all cheered as you hugged them back. The referee blew his whistle and signaled for the two teams to shake hands. Kageyama lined up at the front as he was the team’s captain and you next in line as the rest of the team insisted because you won the winning point.

“You did great today,” Kageyama complimented you as he walked past.

“We almost didn’t win,” you sighed “if I had missed that shot the point would have gone to the other team and we wouldn’t be going to Interstate.”

“It’s not about winning,” he started.

“It’s about having the most fun!” You finished. “You really are the same Kageyama from the first time I saw you.”

‘Say it! Say it, idiot!’ You thought to yourself.

“K-Kageyama I-“ you tried to say.

“Hey, (N/N),” Nishinoya interrupted “can you and Kageyama come over to the gym tomorrow morning to train for a bit? I want Kageyama to help me with my quick attacks and see if you can help me with my jump height.”

“Of course!” Kageyama said with his usual cheery smile. “Do you need a ride (N/N)?”

You started to turn red and stutter “Yeah, I- ummm I booked a hotel room but if you could give me a ride then-“

“Wait?” Kageyama stopped you “Did you book a hotel room all by yourself?”

“Yeah?” You were confused by why he was asking.

“Just come stay in my room. Daichi was meant to be here for support but bailed on me last minute so I didn’t have time to change the room bookings.” he exclaimed, “My room is right across from Nishinoya and Hinata’s because we booked at the same time so it’s going to be easier to train tomorrow.”

“Plus Yamaguchi and Tsukishima just booked their room in the same hotel so we all might be in the same flat,” Nishinoya said as he turned his attention back to you.

“Cool!” You said trying not to stutter “That means I’ll only need a lift to the hotel.”

“Awesome!” Nishinoya smiled as he ran off to join Hinata who was practicing with the others.

‘Phew,’ You thought ‘wait a minute!!! I’m staying in the same room as my little raven? Will we be in the same bed?’

“(Y/N)?” Kageyama asks looking concerned “Did you want to tell me something?”

“Ohh!” You exclaimed, ”Don’t worry, it was nothing important.”

“I’ll see you tonight then,” he said as he walked off.

‘Heh! So cute!’ Kageyama giggled to himself ‘My (P/N) stutters. God, what did I do to deserve this beautiful girl?’

The rest of the team were passing the ball around in a circle and you were about to join them when you heard your stomach rumble. You reached into the bag that you had with you and pulled out $20. You caught Yamaguchi’s eye as you were walking out and raised the money to ask if you wanted to come to have lunch. Yamaguchi shook his head politely so you took your phone as well so you had someone to talk to while you ate. You went into the reception where the diner was and ordered a salad and an energy drink and took it outside and sat against a wall as you ate.

As you ate you sets up a three-way call with (B/F/N1) and (B/F/N2). You caught them up on where they are on the ladder and who they’ll be versing tomorrow. As the chat continues it gets onto the topic of relationships.

“Any big news from either of you guys?” You asked eagerly.

“When are you guys coming back for a break?” (B/F/N2) whined, ”I miss my Nishinoya!”

(B/F/N2) and Nishinoya had been dating for the past 2 years and more often than not (B/F/N2) made it to every important game that Nishinoya played. Or even the games where Nishinoya just asked her to show up for emotional support. They both loved each other very much but this time (B/F/N2) wasn’t able to come. The Interstate Nationals were held by the schools at the end of the year and for (B/F/N2), this was during a hard time because she was trying to finish school with a good grade so she might make it into a better college. Nishinoya completely understood and was willing to put their relationship on hold for the time being so things don’t get so stressful but (B/F/N2) persisted that she would be fine as long as they came back for a visit whenever they had a free day.

“I think we have a free day tomorrow,” You said confused “they need to play the next two games of preliminary finals to see who we will verse in the semis.”

“Yay!” (B/F/N2) beamed.

“Anything happening with you, (B/F/N1)?” You asked.

“I do have some very exciting news that you might like.” (B/F/N1) teased.

“No way!” You gasped.

“Spill the tea!” (B/F/N2) screamed with excitement.

“Daichi and I are officially dating,” she said proudly.

“Yay!” (B/F/N2) cheered.

“Holy Shiz!! (B/F/N1) that’s amazing!” You encouraged “I’m so happy for you two!”

“That’s why he wasn’t able to come and be there for Kageyama.” she informed you “He chose to stay for me.”

“Awww” You cried.

“That’s so cute,” (B/F/N2) chimed in “shoot guys I have to go to dinner with my family tonight. I’ve got to go but fill me in over text when you’re done with the call.”

You hung up and now it was only (B/F/N1) and You talking. You were so interested in (B/F/N1) and Daichi now you asked all the questions you wanted answers to in one go and (B/F/N1) tried your best to answer every one of them.

“We actually started dating a few weeks back but only made it official now.” (B/F/N1) explained “He said that he likes me and of course you know that I liked him back so I said I liked him too. The next day he asked if I would like to ‘meet up’ after classes and maybe go do something. It started out a one-day thing but then we started seeing each other over the weekends. By the second week, it became Monday, Thursday and the weekends and we just made it official this week.” she told you.

“That is so amazing (B/F/N1).” You told her. “I wish Kageyama was like that”

“No way!” (B/F/N1) interrupted “Kageyama was made special for you! Whenever you play volleyball with him he brings out your confident side. He makes you the player that you want to be and you make him proud every single day. Daichi told me he talks a lot about how much he sees  Kageyama strive to be the person you want him to be.”

“(B/F/N1),” You sighed. Tears welled in your eyes as you realized that (B/F/N1) was right. Asking someone to change because you want them to be someone else is selfish. Especially if that person has already changed enough for you.

“You guys are meant for each other.” she said once again “some people find love instantly and others find it but they’re so afraid of ruining something they already have that they don’t say anything and lose everything that they have.”

“Thanks, (B/F/N1),” You said, “you’re completely right.”

“I have to go now hon but I expect to see you in person tomorrow.” You joked.

“Okay,” You giggled “baii!”

You spent the next few minutes leaning against the wall and chewing the food in your mouth. You closed your eyes and imaged Kageyama. You couldn’t help yourself, his natural body shape made him so tall and incredibly thin but he had toned muscles at the same time. He pictured his face and how his hair fell just over his eyes and his signature smile where he would face his head down and look up at the top of his eyes and give you a small grin. You heard the soft footsteps of someone walking past and thought it would just be another player from a different team or one of the referees. You opened your eyes and saw Kageyama leaning against the wall next to you. You swallowed your food and just stared down at your feet for a few minutes.

“Do you want to watch the next game with me?” Kageyama asked softly “just to see who we might be versing in the semis.”

“Sure,” You said with a smile “it would be nice to analyze the teams for strengths and weaknesses to get the advantage tomorrow.”

‘Why are you so strategical?’ Kageyama thought to himself. As much as he said just have fun he also enjoyed the times where he would just sit with You and strategize to get the upper hand. ‘You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now’

“That would be nice.” He sighed just imagining sitting next to you and just enjoying each other’s presence.

“Hey, (N/N)?” Kageyama said softly “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course,” You chirped back

‘I love you’ He screamed inside his mind ‘I have ever since we started playing volleyball together. I love how kind and encouraging you are and you don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to just pull you close to me. I want to keep you safe and I want you all to myself. I love you!’

“I...” as hard as he tried Kageyama just couldn’t get the words out of his mind. “I want to try and practice more often together.”

“Sure,” You said, “I mean we’ll be practicing with Nishinoya tomorrow so we can-“

“No!” He said a little louder. “I mean-“ he choked on his words.

‘Just say it!’ Kageyama screamed ‘it’s not that hard. You’re such an idiot!’

“Tobio?” You asked with concern “What’s wrong?”

You turned to face him and leaned in close to him. Kageyama wanted to close the distance between them so badly. He leaned forward but realized what he was doing and pulled back really fast. He pulled back so fast he knocked his head on the wall that was behind him. “Crap!” He yelled.

“Ahh! Kageyama!” you yelled. “Are you okay?”

Kageyama winced at the pain and he felt soft small hands wrap around the back of his head and face. He opened his eyes and saw you inches from his face with your arms wrapped around his head.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” He said flustered “just, hurting”

“Here put this on it,” you said as you grabbed your energy drink and gently placed it on the back of his head “it will help because it’s cold.”

Kageyama reached back and placed his hand over the can of soda and his other hand over yours. He pried the hand from his face and brought it close to his mouth. He almost kissed it but you pulled your hand out of his as you heard someone walking towards them.

“There you guys are,” Hinata exclaimed,  “Nishinoya, they’re over here!”

“Where were you guys?” Nishinoya asked “The next game has already started. (N/N), we need your help analyzing the players”

“Ohh,” You stuttered “yeah sure. I-I’m going now.”

You quickly grabbed your phone and what was left from the $20 and jumped up and quickly walked off. Kageyama just sat there stunned for a minute then he gave an angry glare at Nishinoya and Hinata.

“Did you guys kiss?”Nishinoya asked blatantly.

“Yes!” Kageyama said sarcastically

“Really?” Hinata and Nishinoya exclaimed at the same time.

“No!” He yelled at them.

Kageyama walked back into the complex giving Nishinoya a salty look as he passed him. He went into where the courts were located and went to stand next to you.

“Where are we at?” Kageyama asked with a serious tone.

“It’s the second set, Eagles won the first set and are up by a few points now.” You said as you started delving into all the strategical stuff. “Their frontcourt is strong and they play a lot of tips instead of spikes. They’ll run parallel to the net when they are going to tip it so that’s a dead giveaway. Their backcourt is a bit weaker as they tend to shuffle forwards but number 5 is really fast and she can get it most of the time. They tend to spike towards the middle of the court but numbers 4 and 6 are backcourt spikers.”

“Looks like they’re going to be tough,” Kageyama said worriedly.

“If we organize the team as usual with you and Tsukishima as the rotating setters them me and Nishinoya can play back and frontcourt spiking and Yamaguchi and Hinata can help with the receiving.” You said softly so the teams wouldn’t hear.

‘God, I love you!’ Kageyama sighed ‘why is my (P/N) always so adorable?’

“If you want to continue watching I’ll go tell the team what the plan is for the semis” Kageyama replied.

“No,” You said, “I already know who’s  going to win anyway.”

They walked past to the rest of the team and Kageyama explained how they would set everything up according to your analysis. After tossing the ball around a couple of times they heard the siren buzz to signal the end of the preliminary finals for the day. They all started gathering their stuff and heading outside so the managers could close the complex.

“I was looking at bus schedules and I found a bus that we can take to get to the hotel,” Hinata said. ”The stop is two blocks down from here and then it’s an hours ride to the hotels. Inclusive of stopping for passengers.”

The team all walked together to the bus stop and got on the bus like planned. They rode the bus all the way to the hotel and all checked in at the same time. As they all rode up the elevator they all beamed when they realized that they were on the same floor as each other. Nishinoya and Hinata ran halfway down the hall and stopped when they saw their door. Hinata practically shoved the key into the door and burst into his room. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi shared a room at the end of the hall and as Kageyama and You were walking to their room they stopped diagonally across from Nishinoya and Hinata.

“I guess this is us,” Kageyama said with a smile.

He pushed the keys to the lock and opened the door to reveal a medium-sized hotel room with a lounge room with a table surrounded by a circle of couches and an island of kitchen benches off in the background. You walked past the couches and into the next room. Inside there was a double bed and a bathroom connected to the bedroom off to the side.

You turn around and blushed as you looked at Kageyama. “Guess we'll just have to share a bed.” Kageyama blushed and turned his attention down towards his feet and just smiles.

‘Perfect’ he thought.

Kageyama looked at the clock next to the wall and saw that it was already 9:00 so he placed his backpack and small suitcase next to his side of the bed.

“It’s late,” he said “I’m going to get an early night,”

You nodded in agreement and placed your bag and suitcase on the other side of the bed and opened it to get out some clothes and go into the bathroom to change. You went into the bathroom and changed into a spaghetti strap top and some comfy short shorts. When you walked out of the bathroom you caught the last glimpses of Kageyama pulling his shirt over his head. He was wearing a white tank top and a pair of boxer-briefs. He looked up from his chest and met eyes with You. He blushed and he stared at your shorts and your thighs and hips as they come out and then dip back in to give your a slim thick figure. You blushed back as you stared at his chest and broad shoulders that give him fine, strong appearance.

Your mind screamed ‘Yes please!!’

Kageyama’s mind screamed back. ‘I want you and only you. I wish I could just play this moment on repeat forever!’

As if trying not to trip over, You walked from the bathroom to your side of the bed and climbed in. Kageyama was at a loss for words but simply just joined you in bed. Neither of them dared to turn around or even move because they knew that they wouldn’t be able to hold themselves back. As Kageyama heard your breath start to even out he gently turned himself around to face you. He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on the back of your shoulder and another one on the side of your neck. You let out a small moan his soft lips pressed against your smooth skin

“Goodnight Beautiful,” Kageyama whispered in your ear “I love you.”

You never ended up hearing what Kageyama said but he didn’t care. He moved closer to you and wrapped a hand around your waist to cuddle you. Letting out a little sigh You turned around in your sleep and nuzzled into Kageyama’s chest. Kageyama slipped a little bit of his hand up your shirt and held your back. You lifted your hands to hold the hem of his top and Kageyama heard you breathe in.

‘What the heck!! Is she smelling me??!’ Kageyama thought.

At that moment Kageyama got a whiff of your hair. The smell of boiling water and berries filled his nose and he couldn’t help but let out a muffled moan.

‘Oh shoot! You smell good too? I swear I’m going to marry this woman someday.’ He said within his mind.

He laid his head down above yours and all through the night he was dreaming of just walking through a field of flowers and berries with you. He loved every minute of it. 

<Previous Chapter  | Next Chapter>

[jessiewre]

Day 54

Thurs 27th Feb

🏖Watamu to Mombasa 🕌

The day had finally arrived and we were leaving Watamu. We'd been totally sucked in and it was easy to see why - beautiful beaches, cheap but decent hotel with AC, tasty Italian food, super nice and helpful hotel staff that greeted us like old friends, and lets not forget the absolute jewel in the crown, Barry. 

We'd planned on 4 days, which had somehow turned into 10, and although the draw of more time with Barry was overwhelming (maybe for Phil), we couldn't delay it any longer. Phil's marathon was looming.

So we went down for breakfast, hiding the mustard from view incase Wendy was around, and chatted to Edwin our waiter while watching the Man City vs Real Madrid highlights. The food selection that morning was a little different - what I thought was a chickpea curry turned out to be a maize stew. Phil was not keen. But we got our Spanish omelettes to order so PANIC OVER. 

Check out was mildly emotional as the staff waved goodbye to their favourite ever guests (probably) with tears in their eyes (maybe) and pain in their hearts (definitely). They told us to keep in touch and to make sure we came back - yeah, it was intense. They must have some really dull guests normally...that reminds me, Barry rocked up to say bye and made sure he got Phil's number no doubt so he could share his hilarious memes and top lad BANTER.

Our tuc tuc driver took us to Gede and helped us find a bus going to Mombasa. Phil's height got him the Vip front seat and I squashed in the back like the peasant that I am. The ticket man was a full on hustler, getting the bus to collect people on the street who didn't even seem to want to go to Mombasa. But despite this, the journey was quick and the best bit was I realised we were going to drive past our hostel area 20 minutes before we got to Mombasa centre - so we got off the bus at Bob's bar corner and only had a 5 minute walk to get there. 

And what did we pass on the way? A JAVA CAFE. A symbol of reliability and AC. Once we'd got through the super high tech security of a plastic table in a car park, Phil ordered his favourite tomato soup with masala fries and I ordered a Greek salad, safe in the knowledge that I would be tucking into Phil's masala fries whether he liked it or not. 

The hostel Tuliahouse showed us two rooms - one large room near the pool, with high ceilings and an amazing mosquito net, plus an ensuite, for $35 and then one small room tucked awkwardly upstairs with NO bathroom and a pathetic mozi net for $31. Umm let me think, which one to have...

Ok so some people might think we went for the cheap one to save ourselves 4 whole dollars and it does sound like something we might do. But not this time guys. We splashed out. Not that this big room was perfect by any means. The shower head flew off as soon as the water was turned on and then I realised there was no bath mat or toilet roll. Sweet. God knows what would have been wrong in the other room.

We went straight to the pool for a chill out (it had been a tough day already) and Phil read some blog. He's just reached the night bus journey where he ate old Mexican food and it made us laugh a lot. Hope you're enjoying this moment reading a blog about reading a blog that you’ve already read. 

Phil suggested we go to explore the Old Town of Mombasa before sunset, so we jumped into an Uber with a slightly depressed driver and got out at Fort Jesus, a big old fort by the coast. There was a load of young teens playing a game of football right near it and in the evening light with the fort in the background, it looked pretty epic.

The Old Town was mildly interesting to walk round but had a weird vibe. One person told Phil to be careful with his phone then another told us to walk a different way as it was dodgy. The best bit was coming across a small tea shop by the waters edge where a man had three pots going with different hot drinks and loads of cups, plus a large group of customers sat around enjoying the view. I was about to go into the order area when I suddenly noticed there were only men there. As it was a Muslim area, I checked with the guy if I could come in. He looked at me like I was mental and said Yes of course. Phil also looked at me like I was mental. I was just trying to make sure I didn't offend anyone! And by doing so, I may have offended someone. FFS.

A small cup of ginger coffee was handed to me while Phil walked off to watch the kids who were fishing off the rocks. The tea was extremely sweet and extremely gingery, stinging the throat with ginger spice, but not actually bad. I had some small talk with the men sat around and then called over to Phil to get change to pay

15ksh for my tea. I looked back at the men and said 'He carries the wallet, but the money inside is mine'.

Oh my God these men HOWLED with laughter like it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard. Maybe it actually was poor things.  

The rest of the walk was pretty forgettable and we got in another Uber (with another extremely depressed driver) to get to a restaurant. It was still early but I'd found a place called Bollywood Bites (thats right people) that said it opened ‪at 6pm. We definitely didn’t expect to be eating so much Indian food on this trip but we are certainly not unhappy about it‬. Got dropped off to a mall complex and found this bizarre Bollywood themed place with no one in it and blasting cold AC. Perfect! Cool air and fast service is a Philly Tours Thursday special.

The cheapest rice on the menu was $4.90 - which is mental of course - so we decided to go rogue and try to have our first ever curry with no rice (!). It's funny the things we refuse to pay for - but it worked out great. Paneer Tikka masala, aloo tiki Chaat and garlic naan with some potato ball starters was yummmmmy. Phil was like 'Ya know what, I'm not gonna have a beer I'm just gonna have a coke and take it easy'.

At which point I let me know that I was fully aware that the restaurant didn't even sell beer and he wasn't fooling anyone.

We got a small doggy bag and got another Uber, crossing our fingers for someone a little more joyful. Francis was a young guy who actually let us have the AC on and stopped off for us to buy water too (I bought him a lemon drink to say thanks). So we booked him for our morning pick up and went straight to watch the Crown in our boiling hot room.  

[allelitelady]

Brother Feud

I could never decide which Buck i found more attractive. It often changed day by day. You have Matt, tough as hell, the older one, but also so sweet and giving to people he came across. And then you have Nick.. cocky, cool, his calm, collected attitude was so drawing to me.

When they recruited me from ROH when they started AEW it was an easy yes. I had a huge role in production at ROH, but the thought of doing something on a bigger scale national level was so exciting i could never pass that up. Being on the production team with AEW meant a lot of time spent with not only Nick and Matt, but Cody, Brandi, and Kenny too. I felt like I had great rapore with all of them but with Nick and Matt there was always some type of back and fourth, inside jokes, and a lot of flirting. But never when both of them were present, it was only when I was alone with one of them.

The jokes with Nick were borderline dirty flirting. Talking about sex, how we were both in dry spells, and how he could do wonders for me. Where with Matt it was more like how beautiful i looked that day, and how great I am. Either way both of them have stolen a little piece of me and I'm not sure they even realized it.

____

"Wow, who are you trying to pick up tonight?" Nick asked as I got into the Uber he was already sitting in. "What are you talking about?" I said as I got into the car carefully not to expose too much. The low cut black bodycon dress was perfect for being in Vegas and going out. After all it was Double or Nothing weekend, the crew arrived Thursday and we decided to go out that night, obviously we couldnt do it Friday with the show the following day. The whole roster rented out a space at Palms casino right off of the strip to celebrate the first pay-per-view under the AEW name. "A little revealing don't you think?" "Are you getting possesive Nick Jackson?" you say sarcastically shocked. "What if I am?" he asked. You laugh and shrug him off, although it made you feel really good. "I'm being serious" he says, and his tone changes. You turn your body to face him a bit, "Well then maybe I'm trying to pick up you tonight" He smirked at you as the car stopped and we arrived at our destination. I could see Matt waiting for us. "Thank you" we both say to the uber driver and get out.

"Whoa!" Matt says, "Better not bend over" he adds and starts pulling at the bottom of my dress. His hands being so close to certain areas makes me nervous. "Stop!" I say flicking his hand away. "You two are way overprotective of me! How did I get so lucky" you say rolling your eyes. Nick walks close to me as well as Matt. "Let's go get you a drink" Nick whispers into my ear. I smile and almost laugh, typical way of him flirting with me.

You stand at the bar chatting it up with Joey Janela, maybe getting a little flirty putting your hands on his arm. After chatting with him for less than 5 minute I feel a hand on my arm "Excuse us a minute brother" Matt says.

He pulls you a couple feet away, "What the hell was that?" he asked. "What are you talking about?" As you get defensive. "You were all over him" "Like hell I was Matt" you say even more annoyed. "You're being a fucking tease" he says as you try to walk away. He cursed. He just cursed towards you, sweet, gentle Matt cursed at you. You're still in defensive mode, you scan the room and see Nick already staring at the two of you. You lock eyes with him and he immediately gets up knowing that you probably need him. "Fuck off Matt, it's not like i'm your girlfriend or anything" you say, and your words stung him a little and he didnt even realize they would. You leave and make a b-line to Nick who is already approaching you.

"What the hell is going on?" he tries to shout over the loud music. "Matt is being all possessive and shit, telling me i'm a fucking a tease!" you shout near his ear. He backs out and looks at you confused. "Come on let's go outside" he says, He takes your hand and you follow him where you don't have to shout.

"He's probably just had too much to drink." he says in a normal tone. "I've had a lot to drink I'm not making any judgements" you say, "I was literally talking to Janela for 5 minutes and he comes over pulling me away." "It's alright y/n" Nick says pulling your hips over towards him and then wrapping his arms around you. "I'm still pissed at him" you say into Nick's chest. "I know a way you can take your anger out" Nick whispers into your ear, his hands moving down towards your ass and soon enough he cups it and you start to get excited. You know what he's suggesting, but you play along "I might need your help" you whisper back and you can feel his erection growing against you. He backs out so he can see your face, he can see you're being serious and at this point the dirty flirting, he's been wanting you for months now. He had a feeling his brother might be into you also, but he just blew that. "I'm gonna call an uber" he says with a smirk. "That's a really good idea" you say.

Are you really about to do this? All the nights you moaned both their names while pleasuring yourself. Thinking of all the possibilties of sleeping with either of them. Nick didn't really leave a lot to the imagination with the way you two talked. As you're riding in the uber back to your hotel with Nick your phone goes off and it's from Matt. Nick puts his hand on your bare thighs, "don't even look at your phone" he says moving his hand further up, you look over at him and smirk as the look in his eyes is so intense.

We get back to the hotel room as soon as the door closes, he jerks your hips towards him puts his hand behind your neck and kisses you. Finally the kiss you've been yearning for all these months. You feel your body hit the bed and suddenly Nick is on top of you. You pause for a moment, "If we do this Matt can't know, at least not right away" "Okay, fine." he continues to kiss you and then you feel his hand hiking up your dress, tossing your wet panties that have been like that ever since you were outside the Palms. “Damn, you got this excited for me? Nick says, that cocky attitude of his really showing. “Not the first time.” You say with a smirk. He raises his eyebrows curious, he starts to wonder how many times you’ve masturbated thinking of him, because he knows he’s done that several time with your image in his mind. He slides his body down, his mouth so close to your clit, the heat from his breath makes you squirm. “Now you’re the tease” you say wanting to push his head against you. He smirks at you know you’re not really ready for him. Once he starts using his tongue you’re blown away, when he starts to use his fingers you lose it. “I’m going to cum Nick” you say grasping the sheets beside you. “Cum for me then” he says. Within seconds you climax and let out a loud moan, not caring who the hell could hear you. That release you’ve needed for months has finally come. He gives you a second to catch your breath before you know it he’s turned you over so you’re on your hands and knees and he’s putting his thick cock into you. “Fuck Nick” you pant. He talks dirty to you, making you beg him for his cock, making you say his name, etc. “Baby I’m gonna cum” he whispers in your ear because at this point your basically flat on your stomach while he goes at you. You both climax at the same time, he rolls off of you onto his back on the bed. Your roll over and look at him, his chest rising as he’s out of breath himself. He looks over at you and smiles while breathing heavily then turns his head back to stare at the ceiling. “Wow.” He says. I hope that is a good wow is all you can think of in your head. He looks at you again and you look back at him, "I've been waiting for this for a long time." he admits, he rolls over and strokes your face then softly kisses your lips. "I should've done something about it sooner, but I really was afraid you were into Matt and not me..." You pull his lips back down to kiss him, "I've had some serious feelings for you too..." you admit. "But ..I have this weird relationship with Matt, there's attraction but it's nothing like how I feel about you." you tell him to reassure him. "Well at least you're being honest." he says still looking into your eyes. "that's why you don't want Matt to know right now?" You shake your head yes, "Like a week tops, just to figure out what I'm going to say." "You know it doesn't have to be you, I can straight up tell him." "I just want to take care of you." Nick says. "Oh you've taken care of me" you say and you both smile and let out a little laugh.

You both end up falling asleep that night in your hotel room, Nick's arm draped across your body. And then suddenly a pounding on the door startles the both of you. "Ugh what the fuck" you say. "I'll take care of it" Nick says groggily getting up out of bed, he puts on the jeans he had last night, still shirtless and goes to the door. "Calm down" he shouts as the person on the other side keeps pounding on the door. Nick opened the door and on the other side was Matt. "Oh hey man, whats up?" "What are you doing in y/n's room?" "Uhhh, i just ended up crashing in here last night. After i brought her back to the hotel after you busted her balls, she was pretty upset man." Nick says still standing in the door way. "So you brought her back and fucked her then right?"

You quickly get up out of bed, really glad you put on some clothes to go to bed last night. "What the fuck Matt" you say. "I got this, just go back to bed" Nick says. "No I'll take care of it, you say going under Nick's arm to talk to Matt outside of the door.

Nick closed the door, of course still listening from the other side. "So you flirt with Janela, and then fuck my brother? Great y/n, just great" "First of all, my love life is my own personal business. When did you start caring so fucking much?" He looks at you disappointed and shakes his head. How are you supposed to know that he has feelings for you?? He just acted like a platonic friend most of the time. "I guess I should've spoke up" he says.. "I just wanted to come and apologize for last night, that's all I guess" he says.

But you get the feeling that he wanted to apologize and share his actual feelings.

[jvc-yearofservice]

9/30/19 - 10/7/19

           Aaaaand I'm back, baby! (better late than never, I suppose) We started the week by celebrating Rosh Hashanah which was super fun. Our Jewish housemate spoke Hebrew as she blessed our meal, and we all dipped apples in honey in order to start out the new Jewish year on a sweet note. We ate brisket, mashed potatoes, matzo ball soup, noodle casserole, challah bread, pomegranates, and we toasted with apple cider and champagne. Traditionally, you can also dip your bread into water or run water over your hands in the sink to symbolize a cleansing of the person as the new year begins.

           Someone in my house had a birthday on Friday, and since I was away for my cousin's wedding, I baked them a cake and painted a watercolor horse for her on Wednesday. I told her that I could bake her a cake from scratch since I am the descendent of German bakers, but she specifically insisted on having Confetti Cake Mix from a box. While I was getting the cake mix from a Rite Aid, someone stole my bike from the bike rack outside (even though it was locked), so I had to walk at least an hour on foot to get home which was a bummer. When I realized that it was stolen and had not just disappeared into thin air, I became upset and started asking people if they saw my bike. Some scary-ass looking bikers were really upset for me and offered to look for it, which I thought was sweet of them. I went back into the Rite Aid and asked if I could see their footage from the video camera outside, and they simply answered, "No. Sorry about your bike, though." I wasn't in trouble with anyone even though the bike belonged to the house/the Jesuits, but I'm just mad that someone got the jump on me, so I might still put up signs that say something like, "Hi, I know you stole my bike. This is not a warning to bring it back. No, I am telling you instead that I know who you are and will find you. I know where you went, and I am coming to get my bike back. When I find you, you will wish you had never even looked at my bike in the first place. Good luck." This doesn't really seem in the spirit of the JVC, though, so I might pass on that idea. If anyone is in the Sacramento area and sees a cute little teal-colored bike, it's mine!

            Anyways, here are a couple of random things that need to be noted. Firstly, I have decided to return to St. Louis for Thanksgiving, and I will be there from November 27 until December 1st, so if you want to hang out, text me and we can make plans! Secondly, I keep calling the organization for whom I work by the wrong name which everyone thinks is hilarious. I keep saying "Fishes and Loaves" instead of "Loaves and Fishes". Thirdly, I am now able to make coffee in a pot all by myself (so watch out world).

           Work has been too strange and funny to believe. On Monday, a woman waiting in line for the free lunch, at the organization Friendship Park, attempted to come into the playground area while the kids were at recess. She made eye-contact with a couple kids and tried to beckon them over to her and pointed to a bag, shaking it like she had something for them. While I was walking over to the fence to confront her, she snaked a hand around to the inside of the fence and started to try to unlock it from the outside. I grabbed the lock and held it closed and told her very icily, "We're not interested. No thank you," until she gave up. She tried arguing with me, saying she wanted to give the children treats and that we were mistreating them, but I just kept telling her we were not interested, so she left but not before calling me a "bitch". All I can say is that she is lucky that she was on the other side of the fence from me. I also led PE classes for the volunteer who went home over the weekend, which was exhausting because I had to do all my work responsibilities and hers too so I was running around all day without a break.

           One of the girls who I drive to and from school is an absolute hoot. One morning, she told me in all seriousness that I need to brush my hair more. Another favorite thing of hers to do is to roll down the window of our car and try to talk to people in other cars. Today, she called out to some little boys at a red light, "Hello! Do you want to be my friend?" One day, she said, "I have a secret to tell you," and I replied, "Do you know what a secret means?" (a joke she didn't get/appreciate, haha) Unfortunately, despite her super sunny demeanor, her living situation is a tragedy. One morning, I went to pick her up, and I saw her and her mom sitting outside on the sidewalk with all their stuff around them. The mom said that she had just been kicked out from their friend's apartment and had nowhere to go. On the way to school, the little girl told me about how she was worried about where she would stay tonight. Also today, I found out that a family of seven kids was taken into CPS custody and nobody knows where they could be.

           Last Friday, I was having my one-on-one with my supervisor, and a homeless man asked for some adult diapers because he had IBS and was wearing the same thing all week. We eventually walked with him to another building and got some, and he was very grateful. It felt good to be able to actually do something because sometimes I feel like I die a little bit any time I have to turn someone away or tell someone 'no' when people ask for money.

           Thursday through Sunday, I was at my cousin Caitlin's wedding, which was amazing. I basically traveled all of Thursday and got in at night. On Friday, we rehearsed walking in and standing in line for the wedding. Afterwards, we went to lunch together outside, and I made the very unwise decision to wear a romper in Michigan in October. That night, we had the rehearsal dinner at a brewery. On Saturday, I met up with the rest of the bridal party in the hotel lobby at 9am and went to the salon to get our hair and makeup done. We drank mimosas and coffee as we got ready for the wedding. We all got dressed together in Caitlin's hotel room and ended up walking a couple blocks to the venue which was really fun because people kept cheering us on and commenting on Caitlin's wedding dress. The ceremony was so sweet, and I loved the part where Caitlin and Kyle washed each other's feet as an act of service to each other as a married couple. Afterwards, we took group pictures and went to the reception in a building nearby. I'm so happy for them, and I'm still so grateful for being included as a bridesmaid.

Sincerely,

MK