#i need some custom artwork anyway to send to a few people as a thank you along with maybe a gift basket… hopefully i can workshop something

[jade-parcels]

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The bunnies’ other jobs!

From my bunny cafe au

((I am so peeved :((( I had this all written out!! And I deleted it by accident!! Darnnnnn!!!))

Anon asked “You mentioned that some of the bunnies have day jobs so do they all have jobs outside the cafe or just a few?” (Something along these lines…again…I deleted it by accident 😔)

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Diluc/‘Angel’

After his father got bored with the wine industry, he passed the whole company off to Diluc on his 18th birthday in order to shift his focus to mining. Diluc found himself swamped with all kinds of business decisions while just barely being an adult. He expanded the company and hired some very trustworthy people to handle things for him so he could finish college

When the business was given to him, Diluc and Kaeya had an explosive fight over it. Kaeya felt like he deserved to have some say in what happens to the business, he’s still a part of the family! But Diluc refused to let him in on any decisions so Kaeya packed his bags and left (not before cussing him out in front of their father, staff and business partners). He was just in a silly, goofy mood. They’re fine now, not on the best terms but they do chat and meet up for lunch on occasion.

He is filthy rich, he couldn’t spend all of his all of his money if he tried, so he doesn’t really need the job at the cafe! Kaeya got him the job because he knew his brother was stuck in a weird, antisocial funk and needed some fun in his life

Diluc loves this job, he has a great time, but it isn’t his main job. His priority will always be the family business!! If he has to quit his job at the cafe, he would in a heartbeat

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Kaeya

Kaeya was going to go into the police academy but was scouted out by a modeling agency. They had seen him at Ragnvindr company events and thought ‘well damn’ so they gave him a pretty generous deal

Kaeya makes a good living off of modeling, the tips and paycheck from the cafe. He rakes in cash pretty quickly just cause he knows how to get it. That, and his dad sends him checks every other month as well. Kaeya thinks of it as ‘I’m sorry’ money. He isn’t wrong

He doesn’t travel much for modeling, which he doesn’t mind, so he kinda just hangs around the city with a lot of free time on his hands between photo shoots. That’s why he got this job at the cafe! It gives him something to do and it’s fun as hell ;)

Albedo

Bedo is one busy bunny. He finished college early and is getting his masters degree online. He works most days at the cafe and on the weekends, he tutors other college students in bio/chem/science related subjects

(He was actually Xiao’s tutor back when he was failing chemistry!! Xiao is very thankful for Albedo’s help!!)

His dream is to become a biochemist, he’s always been interested in cells and what makes up living beings. So having a career in that field would make him the happiest man alive

His mother and sister live outside the city in a more rural area so he spends a lot of time FaceTiming the two of them! Klee is always so excited to hear about Albedo’s experiments or the people he’s met while working in such a bustling, fun city :)

Zhongli

Zhongli is a simple man! He’s a bunny waiter and an artist

He creates intricate pieces based on folklore from different cultures, focusing mostly on dragons. His favorite medium is paint, he loves painting on glass and layering the panes in order to create a 3D piece

He sells his works to galleries, shops and anyone who wants them! As long as they appreciate the story behind the artwork. Sadly…He undersells his work. He could def be making more money but he just does not desire money or material goods the way others may

So he got his job at the cafe in order to help out his dear friend Ningguang, not for money, he only planned on working there for a month or two until she got more bunnies but…he ended up really loving the people he works with :’) he looks forward to working with them now and texts/calls them outside of work to meet up for lunch or bowling (such an old man thing to do omfg)

Dainsleif/‘Sweetie’

Dain was a bouncer at another bar before leaving to come to Celestia’s! He’s good friends with Beidou, they belong to the same motorcycle club so when she was talking to him about the lack of security at the cafe/bar, he stepped in to help out

Little did he know…he’d actually become a bunny…And like it

This is his full time job now, he doesn’t have another for the time being. While he is a bunny at the cafe, he still keeps an eye out for any threats to his coworkers and has access to the offices upstairs (Ningguang’s office and the security office)

When he isn’t waiting tables, he’s upstairs in a tank top and sweatpants keeping an eye on the security cameras and talking to the other security guards through their ear pieces

Ajax

Ajax is a student who doesn’t really have much time on his hands

He mows lawns in the summer and he’s quit his job as a cashier to come work at the cafe! He mostly works night shifts his cause he’s still going to school aaaaaand he’s on his college’s swim team! He’s about to graduate so he works close with his coach to help train the others on the team

He doesn’t really want his family knowing that he skips around in a skimpy bunny outfit and fucking customers most nights but I mean…They’re bound to find out if they see him in pictures people post

Xiao/‘Tofu’

Xiao is an art student!! He wants to be a tattoo artist :)

He’s already got one sleeve of tattoos, it’s unfinished but you can’t really tell just by looking. When he isn’t at the cafe, he’s either in class or shadowing Ganyu, his best friend and tattoo artist. Their art styles greatly differ, she focuses her craft on cutesy, colored tattoos, but she is skilled. And Xiao looks up to her

Xiao admires Zhongli too, they met at the cafe and when Zhongli found out Xiao wants to be a tattoo artist he told him that once he’s licensed, he wants to get a tattoo from him :’)

Baizhu/‘Honey’

Baizhu is a (mostly) full time pharmacist, hence why he isn’t usually at the cafe

He also has a niece, Qiqi, who he babysits often. He loves her very much so he has no problem watching her! Baizhu will even bring her to the pharmacy with him when he’s swamped with work. In the break room, he has a play kitchen, coloring books and a bunch of puzzles to keep Qiqi occupied while he works :)

When he’s not at work, he’s at home resting. He has chronic pain flare ups in his back and shoulders that can make life miserable :( he has plenty of good days that outweigh the bad! And as a pharmacist, he has access to any medicine he needs to make his life easier!

Dottore(Alain)/‘Doc’

Alain’s an oral surgeon who’s a little bit….too into his job

He isn’t phased by blood or gore so he’s easily able to conduct procedures that would make other squeamish. He’ll pull teeth, put in dental implants, remove rotten tissue, any of that without even flinching

Outside of that, he works at the cafe. He wears a mask in order to avoid being recognized even though at his job as a surgeon, he’s usually wearing a medical mask anyways. It’s just a precaution

This has nothing to do with his career but he used to be a tap dancer and actor so he’d join in on local theatre shows! He helped build sets when he wasn’t rehearsing. He doesn’t have time for that anymore (which kinda makes him sadddd) but he has all kinds of theatre playlists on his phone and in his car that he’ll sing along to

Scaramouche/‘Boss’

Scara’s job at the cafe is his main job! His side job is something you may not expect from such a grump

He works at an animal shelter! In fact, he brings cats home to train so they have an increased chance of being adopted. Someone is more likely to adopt a potty trained, socialized cat than a feral cat who doesn’t know what a litter box is. So Scara brings them to his apartment for some one-on-one socializing, training and cuddling

One time he offhandedly mentioned working at an animal shelter while he was working at the cafe and sure enough, three separate customers from the cafe came by to adopt!!! Only one actually took an animal home but he was still surprised that those people had listened to him and cared enough to come by

Scara is a jerk most of the time but when he’s at home…by himself…With a lil kitten sleeping in his lap while he plays games on his PC…Yeah, he softens up a bit

So as you can see, we have a very diverse group working at the cafe! They’ve all learned a lot from each other, come to appreciate each other’s friendship and come to help each other out when one of their coworkers is in need or upset.

[xjoonchildx]

airplane, pt. 2 | jjk x reader chapter four: los angeles

pairing: jungkook/reader

word count: 2.2K rating: 18+

genre: smut | silly smut | nonsensical smut

warnings:  criminal!jungkook, koreanamerican!jungkook, reality has left the chat, plausibility has left the chat

A/N: i’m not a huge blog and don’t have a lot of readers -- but i’m so, so, so grateful to every single one of you who’s reached out to me on AP2. hearing what you think about this story makes my day every time. from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. hope you enjoy this chapter. the story wraps up in the next one!

Chapter 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06

artwork by the shmexy @ppersonna​ who’s smut is even better than her art

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

“You see, as messes go -- there are levels.” 

Seokjin takes a big sip of his draft beer then sets it down to free his hands.

“On the bottom are your run-of-the-mill problems,” he says, putting one hand out flat.  

His other hand comes out to hover over the first.

“Then your regular-level shitshows, then your high-level shitshows and then there’s disasters,” he says, stacking his hands in the air to demonstrate the escalation.  

You smother the urge to roll your eyes.  Like most lawyers, Seokjin loves to hear himself talk.

He’s also an old friend, someone you trust and someone who’s help you desperately need -- so you’re going to have to suck it up and let him have some fun at your expense. 

It’s only fair.

“Then somewhere way up here -- ” he stretches his upper body for effect, “ -- way past disasters is the shit you just told me.  Somewhere way off the charts. Are you with me?”

You nod, taking a sip of your own beer.

“Yup.”

“So what the fuck?” 

You laugh.  You know it’s bad form to call up a buddy you haven’t seen in months, tell him you want to buy him a beer and then dump the world’s most complicated case at his feet.  

It’s just that you haven’t been able to come up with another solution.

You’ve turned this problem over in your mind hundreds of times by this point -- envisioned dozens of ways this could end.  No other scenario makes sense in the long run.  This is the only way to put a stop to this madness without Jungkook behind bars for the rest of his natural life.  

Or worse.

That’s why you’re prepared to pull out all the stops with Seokjin.  You’re not going to let him get away with letting you down easy. 

He hasn’t laughed you out of this bar yet so you’re taking that as a good sign.

“Jin, there isn’t anyone else who could pull this off,” you say, meaning every word.  “I know you can fix this.”

He snorts.

“This guy gave agents the slip in two different countries and ghosted from a federal courthouse,” he takes another sip of his beer.  There’s limits to what even I can do. Not that I don’t appreciate the ego stroke though, you know I do.”

You gnaw at the corner of one fingernail, thinking.

“So who is he?” 

“I already told you, he --”

“Cut the bullshit,” Jin interrupts. “You know what I’m asking.  Who is he to you?”

Well, isn’t that the million-dollar question?

“It’s complicated,” you sigh, and even that is somehow oversimplifying this entire fucked-up situation. “Not sure I know how to explain that.”

“Oh, I’m willing to bet there is quite a story there,” he smirks.  “Some day you’re going to have to fill me in on all the dirty details.”

You glance away for a moment to avoid his knowing look.

“Just promise me you’ll think about it,” you say. “I’ve seen guys way worse than this get deals that kept them out of prison entirely.”

“Well you of all people know how this works, so don’t act brand new,” Jin retorts. “You want the government to play ball with this guy then he’s got to give them something they want.  If they don’t have any use for him, they have no reason to show mercy.”

“I know that,” you admit.  “Still trying to figure that part out.”

“So figure it out,” Jin pushes back. “‘Cause I’m an attorney, not a genie. I’m not in the wish-granting business.  Bring me something I can use and we’ll go from there.”

We’ll go from there. A careful hope stirs in your chest when Seokjin says that.

You promise yourself you’re going to bring him an angle that works.  

Now you’ve just got to find it.

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

“Who is this guy to you?”

Jin’s question echoes in your head the entire way home.

It’s so much easier to focus on the what -- Jungkook on the run and all the problems that come with it -- than it is to focus on the why.  

The why scares you too much to confront head-on. It’s not like you love this man, right? 

He could be a terrible person. He could be as rotten in real life as he is on paper. 

He could be playing you.  It’s certainly not the first time the thought has crossed your mind.

But every time you start to entertain the doubts, something pulls you back. You can’t shake the feeling that Jungkook is none of those things.  You can’t forget the way he looked at you in Puerto Rico.  His face that night is forever burned into your mind.

So he’s either completely real or the world’s most convincing fake.

You pour a glass of water and unlock the burner phone.   The message you’d tried to send back to the number he contacted you from bounced back.  There hasn’t been a single new message since then.  

You take a drink and consider what step to take next.  

There is no way you’re going to push Jin to fight on Jungkook’s behalf until you know without a doubt this is something Jungkook wants for himself.  For all you know, he’s happy with riding this out until the end.  He could be totally at peace with the idea of never being at peace.

You stare at the screen for a moment before making up your mind to dial the number you’d found online.

The voice on the other end answers in Korean.

“Yoongi?” you ask.

The line is completely silent for a few seconds.

“I distinctly remember you promising me I’d never hear from you again,” comes the curt reply. You smile to yourself imagining the scowl he’s probably wearing right now.

“I did,” you admit.  “Thing is --” you pause and choose your next words carefully, “ -- circumstances have changed. So I’m asking for your help one more time.”

Yoongi makes an aggravated noise, something between a growl and a grunt.

“Fine.  What do you want?”

“I might have a way to help him.  Nothing is ironed out and there are no guarantees, but it’s something.  It’s just that -- I haven’t been able to reach him.”

“Yeah well, neither have I.”

Shit.  You hope the situation hasn’t gone completely upside-down in Nicaragua already. Getting him there was supposed to buy you some time.

“Okay, “ you exhale, pacing your kitchen floor.  You tell yourself there could be a million reasons why he hasn't reached out to anyone.  You tell yourself not to panic. You certainly don’t want to panic Yoongi, either.

“I need you to take down this number.  If you reach Jungkook, you need to give it to him.  Tell him if he wants to end this it’s the only way.”

Yoongi blows out a heavy breath.

“Yeah, alright.  Go ahead.”

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

 God, you are really starting to hate this place.

The voice in your head that’s been telling you how deeply unsatisfied you are in this job has slowly gotten louder over these past few months.  Now it’s all you can think about every morning as you swipe your badge and walk into the polished lobby.

This isn’t some labor of love for you.  

It’s something you trained to do, started doing, kept on doing and you’re still doing now.  

On and on and on in an endless string of days.

You’d started this job with the kind of starry-eyed enthusiasm that always annoyed the veterans around here.  Now you can understand why.  It doesn’t take long in this line of work to realize that justice is a concept that’s bought and sold.  He who has the most cash makes the rules.

You grab a cup of coffee and log onto your computer to start in on the mountain of paperwork that awaits.  It’s laborious and annoying and total bullshit but at least it’s a distraction.  At least it keeps you from obsessing over the Jungkook situation non-stop.

So you throw yourself into the work just to make the hours tick by.

Your boss stops by before lunch, asks if you want to join him and some of the others at a local deli.  You cry off, complaining about paperwork and deadlines and he smiles sympathetically as they head out.  It’s a relief when their laughing voices fade away and this part of the office falls silent.

You are half-way through customizing your burrito order online when a shiver of realization walks up your spine.

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

“Seokjin Kim.”

He sounds so formal, answering his phone for a number he doesn’t recognize.  

“Hey, it’s me,” you say, tossing your keys onto your kitchen counter.  

“Oh, I didn’t realize -- wait, wait, wait.  Are you calling me from a burner?” Jin asks incredulously.  “Wow, it’s like we’re on The Wire or some shit.”

“Shut up,” you huff, rolling your eyes. “I’m calling because I think I might have come up with the angle.”

Jin whistles.

“Hope it’s a good one.”

“Yeah me too,” you mutter under your breath.  “I just -- I can’t be involved in any way.  I’m not even going to be able to talk to you until this plays out. No texts, no calls to my cell.  I’m already way out on a limb here.”

“Yeah, I get it,” he says.  “But hey, just for the record? A favor is something like, ‘Hey Jin, can you drop me at the airport on Tuesday? Hey Jin, would you mind picking up my dry cleaning?’ You know, for future reference.”

You laugh. Points were made.

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

You tell yourself -- this is long overdue.

That with or without Jungkook -- with or without the madness on that flight or the night in San Juan -- this was going to happen anyway.  

And for the first time in weeks, you actually smile at the security guards who check bags at the entrance.  You smile at the barista who talks too much at the Starbucks in the lobby.  You smile at the creep from Cybercrimes on the elevator, even though he’s standing too close. He always stands too close.

You feel lighter than you have in ages and that’s fucking bizarre, because this could all still blow up in your face at any moment.  Despite all you’ve done, Jungkook could be arrested at any time -- hauled away, locked away in prison for life.  Hell, you could be joining him at some point, disgraced and discredited and detained.  

But you woke up this morning and had a moment of clarity that knocked the wind out of you.  Today, you’re going to walk out of this building on your own terms.  

Every decision you’ve made along the way -- good or bad -- has been yours.  

If they show up at your door with a warrant, then you’ll handle it.  If they haul you off, then you’ll handle it.  If Jungkook decides he wants Jin’s help and the agency never sniffs out a thing, then you’ll handle it.  

You’ve done everything you can -- so either this works, or it doesn’t.  But there’s a big fucking difference between being cautious and being scared. 

You’ve decided you’re not going to be scared.

You read over the letter you’d typed, printed and signed before walking into your boss’s office. 

His mouth gapes in surprise when you hand him your resignation.

Effective immediately.

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

It’s been three weeks without a word from anyone.  

Yes, you did specifically tell Jin not to reach out, you remind yourself.

The last time you two had spoken, you’d explained that you didn’t give a shit about losing the job, but that you were certain were entirely too prissy to make it in prison, and he’d agreed and you’d both shared a laugh about that.  

But now it’s been over three weeks and he still hasn’t reached out.  

You’ve had no word from him, no word from Jungkook and now you have no job.  

The silence is deafening.

If there’s an upside at this point, at least your house is immaculate.  You’ve gotten your daily run up to three miles.

Tonight the air is unnaturally cool for this time of year, more than welcome when you lace up your running shoes.  You set a good pace, make good time, and drown out the outside world with your earbuds.  

But at the end of your run -- just as you’re getting closer to home -- you notice something odd. 

Your porch light is out.  

Which is weird because you definitely remember replacing that bulb not too long ago.  You cut the music and walk quietly up to your door. 

Your entire body is on high alert as you approach slowly, keys in hand on the off chance you’re going to have to wield them like a weapon. 

But when you step up to the porch you find -- nothing. 

No creep waiting to jump out of the shadows to ambush you.  You shake your head at your own overactive imagination, take a deep breath and tell yourself to relax.

You slide your key in the lock.

The sunlight that had waned at the start of your run is entirely gone at this point, and you open the door into darkness.  You flip on the light, toss your keys on the small table you keep in the entryway.

“Don’t freak out, okay?”

You nearly jump out of your skin at the voice that comes from your living room.  From your couch.  

From inside your goddamned home.

Oh my god.

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

[sprnklersplashes]

work-love balance (rejanis one shot)

There are a number of reasons Regina wishes she didn’t have this job.

For one, the uniform is gross. And yeah the uniform is just an apron but it’s a gross apron. It’s navy, that’s all that needs to be said about it. Second, she’s realised she hates dealing with people. Not all people, there are a few that are okay, but some people are just so, so hard. And since she’s already on her second warning from her manager, she can’t tell someone to shove it whenever they snap their fingers at her, or don’t say thank you, or refuse to tip. She just has to swallow her pride, paint a smile on her face and complain when it’s quiet. Thirdly, it’s coming up to Christmas now which means she has to deal with Mariah Carey being played on a constant loop or six hours straight and not even Jolly St Nick himself could put up with that.

And fourth and most important; it eats into her Janis time.

Senior year is hard for both of them, especially now with finals coming up and work starting on their college applications. Janis is swamped with artwork, her hands constantly covered in paint, and Regina can barely breathe with all the assignments she has to get done. Where weekends were once for movie nights and coffee dates are now booked through with studying and projects and their conversations happening almost completely through the phone. They kept themselves busy enough earlier, with Regina’s lacrosse and Janis’ various extracurriculars, but now it seems that neither one can fit the other into their schedule. And believe it when they say they’re trying.

“Okay,” Janis sighs. They sit at an empty cafeteria table, a soft silence about the room at this early hour. Since the only time they see each other is in school, they agreed to come in early to try to work some sort of plan out. Regina was fine with it because she’d have been up anyway, Janis on the other hand was a little harder to persuade. A little begging, a lot of pleading, and a promise of a coffee on her swung it in the end. “Okay, so Monday is out, you have lacrosse training. Tuesday I have to study for my biology final. What about Wednesday?”

“I can’t,” she sighs. “Group project to work on. And then job-work after that. Thursday?”

“The talent show has their tech rehearsal. And they need the whole team down there.” Janis takes a long drink of her coffee, a scowl etched onto her face. Regina knows Janis loves doing the techy stuff for the school shows, and she outdoes herself every year, but she simply wishes that this year she’d have skipped it. Regardless of how good it looks on the college application. “Friday night?”

“More lacrosse practice,” Regina grumbles. “And I’m working.”

“Saturday and Sunday?”

“Work, work, work. Both in the school and the job.” Her head falls onto her arms, a low groan emitting from her and shaking the table. She feels Janis’ hand on her back making soft, reassuring pats and it makes her feel a little better, especially with her girlfriend mutters “there, there” in a half-joking, half-serious way that only Janis could pull off. A smile curls on her mouth, even if it’s muted by the rest of her frustrations.

“I just miss you,” she says, her head back up. “I miss how things used to be with us. You know…” She grins slyly, her finger tracing across the table until it reaches Janis’. “You and me. My room. Laptop between us.” Her fingers slowly interlink with Janis’ and she watches as the faintest hint of a blush creeps across her girlfriend’s cheeks. “Your head on my shoulder… us sharing the same blanket.”

“Stop,” she says softly, her voice so close to a plea. “You’re making me nostalgic.” She lets out a wistful sigh then, her thumb rubbing the back of Regina’s hand and sending goosebumps up her arms. “I miss you too. I mean who else is going to stop me from going crazy?”

“Thought that was Damian’s job.”

“Damian’s job is to keep me crazy.” She winks then and now it’s Regina’s turn to blush. “Your job is to keep me crazy.”

“My mistake,” she chuckles. Janis lifts her hand and presses a kiss to her fingers, her eyes never leaving hers, telling her she’s forgiven.

There’s a sort of breathless excitement she’s started feeling since dating Janis, and it comes in the small moments like this. Those moments have been so few and far between recently that Regina’s almost forgotten what that felt like, but here it is. The way her heart picks up just slightly, the way her veins seem to hum beneath her skin, the little soft feeling that unfurls in her stomach, all making her feel good-really, truly good-for the first time in a long, long time.

It doesn’t last long though, the bell ringing rudely and cutting into their alone time, and so they head off together, pinkie fingers linked, both hoping that somehow, they’ll find more time this week. She knows that it’s not likely, but if her relationship with Janis has taught Regina anything, it’s that miracles can happen. Sometimes they just need a little push.

Regina spies her opportunity for a ‘little push’ on Friday night. As per usual, the mall is absolutely packed with Christmas shoppers-parents buying for kids, teens getting Secret Santas and young men trying desperately to find a good gift for a girl who probably expects a ring. The mall is utterly flooded with people everywhere you look and that means that the line for Regina’s little milkshake shop is at least a mile long. She’s not been here an hour and both she and her colleague, a little wisp of a thing named Clara, both have headaches from the amount of screaming children and her cheeks sting from the smile plastered on her face. She’s been keeping score since she got here and so far there’s been three assholes telling them to hurry up and two Karens chastising her for her lack of customer service skills.

She wishes so badly she didn’t need this job, otherwise she’d flip each and every one of them off. Or, she would if she could remember their faces, but as she takes orders and turns around they all blend into one, and she doesn’t see them again until she’s shouted “small Skittles shake!” for the third time and the owner finally, finally comes forwards.

So all in all, she’s exhausted.

“Seriously,” she pants when she line dies down. “Who the heck wants milkshakes in December? Or ice cream? Why do we still sell that.”

“The kids,” Clara explains with a vague wave. “You know… kids like ice cream. And parents just want to shut them up.”

“Reminds me why I’m never having kids,” she scoffs and Clara actually laughs at that. She’s not so bad, not at all. She’s good fun and she’s nice, which is all you could want in a work buddy.

They serve the last few customers, and Regina wonders if she’ll actually be able to take a break, run down to the food court and get herself a sandwich, only to look up and find the manager appearing in front of them, carrying two cardboard boxes on his shoulder.

“You said you were running out of cones?” he asks.

“Did we?” She turns and looks and yep, their supply of cones has dwindled to almost nothing at all. Clara must have find a second, if even, to send him a text. “Oh yeah, thanks.”

“How have things been over here?”

“Well we’re alive,” Regina sighs. “Barely, but we’re alive. We made a lot of money if that’s what you’re interested in.”

“Oh, sounds good,” he says. “And Regina… you’re good to close up shop?”

“Yes I am,” she says through gritted teeth. He nods at that and gives her a brief, clipped thank you before asking her for the delivery receipts and heading on his merry way, back to his comfy office and his comfy office chair while they remain on their feet for the next few hours, serving customer after customer until they collapse. And then, with Clara leaving soon (she deserves it after all), Regina’s left to shut down all by herself…

Hang on. Lightbulb moment.

“Clara.” She grabs the other girl by the shoulder, her eyes wide and a smile tugging on the corners of her lips. “Can you hold the fort down while I go on my break?”

The girl hasn’t even finished saying ‘sure’ before Regina is gone, flying down the halls and pushing past people as fast her legs can carry her, her months of lacrosse training finally being useful. She makes a quick pitstop at the foodcourt and grabs herself some dinner before sitting down at an empty table and whipping her phone out, mistyping the number twice in her excitement.

Janis picks up on the second ring and that’s still not fast enough.

“Regina?”

“Hey,” she says through a mouthful of noodles, a small prick of anxiety in her gut. “Okay, so what are you doing tonight?”

“Um, nothing I guess,” she says. “Homework, art, watching Netflix. Why?”

“Because I have an idea,” she begins. “For us.”

“Oh do share.”

“It’s a surprise.” She can practically see Janis’ face falling. She hates surprises, and that’s what makes this fun. “I just need you to trust me on this.”

“Okay… I trust you,” she says in the least-convincing voice Regina has ever heard.

“Perfect,” she says. “Just get here late and hang around until 9 okay?”

“9? The mall closes at 9.”

“9:15 actually.” She wolfs down some more noodles. “Just be subtle when you get in here, okay? Be sneaky.”

“And then you’ll reveal to me your mysterious plan?”

“I promise.” She hears Janis laughing then and oh what that sound does to her heart.

“Okay. I better get some studying done then before I get there.”

“And I need to finish my food. Oh and Janis-” she interjects. “Bring your laptop. And your charger. Just in case, you know?”

And it’s the long, confused ‘okay’ from Janis that makes this all so worthwhile.

The mall is practically deserted when Regina switches off the sign and gets out the brush and pan. Normally the clean-up process is painfully slow, what with the dozens of things that need doing and Regina feeling utterly drained by the end of the night. But tonight she’s found a source of energy she didn’t know she had, one that has everything to do with her girlfriend, and she wipes down surfaces and brushes the floors in double quick time and throws things in the fridge with no rhyme or reason. She sprints out to the dumpster with the trash and back again in less than ten seconds, determined that nothing and no-one cuts into her time with Janis. She’s so focussed on her mental to-do list that she doesn’t even notice a person coming up behind her, not until she hears those dreaded words-

“Hi can I get a large Reese’s milkshake?”

Oh for the love of-

But her rant is stopped entirely when she turns and sees only Janis, chuckling on the opposite side of the counter, hair slightly damp and her backpack on her shoulders, a self-satisfied gleam in her eyes.

“Asshole,” she sighs. “That’s what you are. An absolute asshole.” She waves her hand. “Come on in, asshole.”

“Oh someone’s been busy,” she comments. “You know, I did get a little worried when I didn’t receive one snapchat from you about how much you hate the closing shift.”

“Oh shut up.” She checks that the coast is clear and then pulls down the shutter, with them still inside. Thankfully she had the foresight to slip the stepstool underneath it, preventing them from being shut in completely, but Janis’ eyebrows still shoot up, her mouth hanging half-open in a silent scream of oh my god my girlfriend’s finally lost it.

“Regina…” she begins. “Please look me in the eyes and tell me you are not locking me in a milkshake store with you. Please, tell me that.”

“Don’t worry,” she says. “I’m not locking us in. What I am doing is having an amazing idea for a date night.”

“Which is…” Regina gestures around them.

“Look around,” she says. “We’re alone. We have all the ice cream we can eat. We have sparkly lights. And you have your laptop, so we can whack on something cute. Or something dark if you’re into it.” She shrugs. “I thought if my job interrupts our dates, maybe we could have a date at work.”

For two seconds, maybe less, a cold fear washes over her as she waits for Janis’ reaction. Maybe this is too far, maybe she already had plans, maybe she doesn’t want to sit on a dirty floor with her.

Or maybe, she’s throwing her arms around her and the force of her body is throwing them back. Maybe she’s giggling into her shoulder and rocking the two of them gently, her smile brighter than any of the lights and sweeter than any of the candy around them.

“This is amazing,” she whispers. “You’re amazing. Maddening and possibly crazy, but amazing.”

She kisses her then and Regina wonders how she can still get butterflies in her stomach, even now.

They sit down on the floor, using their jackets as impromptu blankets, and Regina grabs some ice cream from the freezer, settling on Rocky Road after some deliberation, while Janis opens up her laptop. The heat from the computer contrasts with the coldness of the ice cream, both balanced across their legs, and it’s an odd sensation to say the least, but Regina doesn’t care.  They keep the ice cream close by and the toppings even closer; Janis has already covered her servings in chocolate sauce, and of course, rainbow sprinkles. The opening credits of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before play onscreen, which Janis swears she only watches because Regina likes it so much, but she’s heard the muffled squeals behind her hand. She knows how she feels and one day she’ll get her to admit it.

But for now she just leans her head on Janis’ shoulder and snuggles into her. Janis presses a kiss to her head, slow and soft and so precious and Regina concludes that if they get trapped in here overnight, it won’t be so bad. Not if there’s Janis.

[averyscarlet-blog]

Project Clypse

Hello there stranger! If you don’t know who I am, or you’re too lazy to read my name, I’m AveryScarlet! You can simply call me Avery or Av. And if you know me on fanfiction.net, mostly through my works Mercury Alchemist or Final Fantasy Versus XV, welcome! Now, for a while now, I’ve been wanting to write up my own original story. Issue with me, thanks to college in the past, I haven’t properly developed the mindset to write a full-blown novel. I’ve gotten so used to typing up a chapter or two in a month before publishing them that I can’t properly focus as an actual writer should.

As much as I want to focus on writing some of my fanfiction, I can’t because I’m focusing on studying for NCLEX. So if you’re waiting for the next chapter for FF Versus XV... It’s almost done! It’s just gonna take a while. But as you can see below, I’ve been working on something else. I’m sure you’re confused as to who these characters are in the chat and why I’m pushing so many out. Well. I’ll tell you. This is my way of practicing for a story I’ve been... REALLY wanting to write for a long time. It doesn’t have a definite name, so I’m calling it Project Clypse. Which partially comes from the group my main characters are in. 

Now, I thought of writing up their character bio’s but..... I’m not really that good at it as I used to be. I used to for when I was active in RP’s but I’m so rusty that I doubt I can keep up with whomever I’m chatting with. So, I’m just summarizing certain details you need to know about them! Not all of it because that'd be spoiling the story of every character. Now, with all that’s said and done, let me start explaining key points of Project Clypse.

Premise/Background

The story is centered on a world called Avarus, which you can say is sort of like Earth, except it was made with someone else's version of life. Or, it used to be. Avarus is one of the few remaining worlds that has an active patron God, who has chosen to go under the alias Belial. The world was originally created and governed by another, Belial’s younger sister, Soleil. After Avarus’ creation, and the birth of man, she was killed by an unknown assailant. But before she died, she was cursed to experience an endless cycle of death and rebirth into various random worlds. She will live a short mortal life, then die from either natural or unnatural causes.

According to Belial, this curse is bestowed only to Celetials who have performed a dire sin. While there is no definite way to lift the curse, Belial hopes that by locating and retrieving her while she's still alive, or at the very least obtain her soul, then he could find the proper means to spare his sister of her cursed fate and return Avarus's true patron Goddess. Because of her demise, life on the planet started to decay. To prevent its destruction, Belial forced the planet to stop rotating, hoping to delay it long enough for him to find Soleil.

However, there were dire consequences to this act. His actions indirectly causing the world to cease rotating; time became non-existent as a result. This, inevitably, killed off most of the remaining life in the world due to the imbalance of the ecosystem as one half of the planet became stuck in perpetual darkness, and the other being dried up caused prolonged exposure to the sun's light.

The only life that Belial was able to salvage was her sisters creation; humanity. Those that survived after the planet ceased its rotation found themselves unable to age. They can still die, but their bodies will no longer decay. During the first Century since Soleil’s death, the God went through various countermeasures to keep the world and the life still inhabits it safe until he can find his sister.

However, a strange plague began to manifest. Soon, it began to devour most of the remaining populace, creating a dark entity in the process; the Astrals (will explain in a different section). 

While Belial was successful in wiping out the infected, the God realized that he cannot keep the last remnants of humanity safe. Not while there are still Astrals lurking about. So he put them to sleep, sealed them in a place that only he knows. However, because of the sudden absence of time and life, the world began to deconstruct itself each time he departed in search for her in other worlds. Realizing he cannot manage Avarus and search for his sister at the same time, he found an alternative. Since his conception, he had noticed a peculiar type of living being popping up now and then in a variety of sentient species. So he sought them out. 

Eventually, gathered enough to temporarily replace humanity and trick the world itself into thinking life still exists. At first, he gathered adults since he knew nothing can grow in Avarus once they’ve lived in the world for a certain period of time, but because of their attachments to the worlds they originated from, it was difficult to convince them to remain. Then he thought up of another solution, one which he knew his sister would frown upon. Children. With their young minds, they’ll easily forget their place of origin and can be easily trained in the necessary skill in traversing through different worlds. And, after learning that the Astrals have branched out to those said worlds, learn how to handle their sudden enemy. 

Their goal is simple; to locate and, if possible, retrieve Soleil and eradicate the Astrals.

Main Characters

Note: Just in case you did not know... I. Cannot. Draw. As much as it pains me to do this, but I need you guys to have some sort of idea on how they look like. I cannot find the original artists of the artworks; mostly because google imaging is shit and Pinterest tends to... Send you elsewhere. So of you know the artist, please PM me so I can give them credit. If you know they don't want their works republished, I'll remove it and try to figure something out. I take no credit whatsoever on the art! I merely scoured the internet for any references I could use. If you're wondering why I'm not.using actual people... You know how awkward that is?

Anyway, much of these are concepts so expect changes in the future. I tried to discuss as little as possible about each character. And let me tell ya.... That was a lot I had to cut off, so if the explanation is a bit messy, that was from me trying to select what to remove to avoid revealing too much.

. . .

Sound

‘I have to be better. I have to be a better leader. I have to be a better lover. I have to be a better sibling. If I don’t... then I’ll lose everything again. If I must, I’ll sacrifice my identity for a third time if it means protecting them.’

Credits to: T0Q00(?) - Okay, on Pinterest it has the person’s name AND link to their twitter account. The thing is... it’s empty. Their entire page is empty. At least I found the artist’s name?

Also known as the Glutton King, Sound is one of the leaders of his faction, Tunera Clypse and a member of Mythral. He is a first generation Nors. While not as lazy as Noise, he’s not really a fan of getting involved in fights with people. When it comes to killing Astrals; that’s an entirely different story.  

Outwardly, he displays laid back, playful, and very concerning outlandish behavior. And by outlandish, I mean his... eating habits. Sound likes to experiment with his stomach. He’ll do absolutely ANYTHING to eat whatever he deems as edible. He also - absolutely - lacks any sense of shame (ex. walking out of the shower and to his room without a towel, slapping Noise’s butt). Although limited to communicate via writing, he makes sure that every single thing he writes is worth reading. Many are even surprised at just how fast he writes his messages. Then again, after years of practice, it’s expected he’d adapt.

Sound is self-aware of the fact that he’s a fictional character and will randomly break the fourth wall, causing much confusion to his friends several times. While not as dark as his previous self, Fell, he maintains some of his views towards life and tends to be as vocal - via writing - of his previous self's beliefs.

As a Cursed Blood, his curse forces him to conceal his face behind a customized Fox Mask. Depending on the amount of facial skin that was exposed, a person can live up to several minutes to several hours before inflicted with sudden death. If a person were to see the entirety of his face, they will die on the spot from unknown causes. He has a Physical Curse as well, which causes him to inflict a certain degree bad-luck to whoever hears his voice. While it’s rarely anything life-threatening, Sound is forced to become selectively mute. Although he tries his best to remain silent, he tends to accidentally let it a few words or sounds slip. Which usually occurs when he sneezes, and when he does, it is immediately advised by his friends to duck and cover.

After undergoing the Ascension Ceremony, he joined the faction Tunera Clypse and then gave up his original name, becoming the next Sound. Unbeknownst to him, his actions later in life has caused him to unknowingly become the Vessel of Gluttony. It is unknown if his eating habits is the reason he became the vessel or it’s the other way around. Either way, he has shown to be fully capable of controlling the abilities that comes with being a Vessel. Sound merely chooses not to use them.

. . .

Ayane Koronashi

“If my brother had left the orphanage that day without me, I would simply smile. If Ulric presented me his latest girlfriend, I’d smile. Smiling is all I can ever do without being a nuisance. I could never show them my pain. I want to cry but my curse renders me incapable of doing so. But now it’s better. I’m better.”

Also known as the Black Fox. Ayane is the younger twin sister of Sound. Like her twin, she is also a member of Tunera Clypse and Mythral; as well as a first generation Nors. Despite being an active member, unless accompanied by her brother, Ayane is rarely allowed to participate in any scouting or combat-related missions. The main reason for this is her curse. While also a Cursed Blood like her brother and some of their friends, the unnatural causes that led to sudden conversion to a cursed blood caused her condition to be unstable. At the beginning, she was unable to retain her original form and would take the shape of a fox.

After some time and practice, she has learned to maintain most of her former human appearance, leaving only a pair of fox ears to replace her human ears and a tail (not by choice) as an extra ligament. Not only that, some of her internal organs remain similar to that of a fox. Because of this, she is unable to eat certain foods that are potentially poisonous to her (or generally unhealthy). She was told that eventually, if nothing is done, she will permanently take the complete form of a fox. She cannot surgically remove the fox parts as they will simply grow back.

Side-note: No, they did not try or plan to remove her fox ears. The curse replaced her human ears so they cannot remove them without indirectly making her deaf.

Her personality is the somewhat similar to Sound’s, but is far more excitable and outgoing than her brother. Just like a fox, she is clever and witty, which she demonstrates many times during combat. She has a tendencyto steal things without her knowledge. While this isn’t necessarily kleptomania, as objects appear in her hands at random, she still tries get over her childhood habit. She does have a tendency to be reckless, though this is stems from her need to be useful as her curse leaves her unable to perform all of the necessary abilities that is required of a Nors.

Another thing to know is her intense hatred towards cats. Which will be explored at a later time.

As a Cursed Blood, she can take the form of a fox. While the size varies, depending on her emotional state, she is commonly seen to change into the size similar to an elephant. If she performs multiple transformations, she will regress to a regular sized fox and sleep for an extensive period of time. She has been recommended to avoid constantly rely on her full fox form as it will hasten the progression of her curse.

After undergoing the Ascension Ceremony, she followed her brother and joined the same faction as him, but unlike him, did not join as a core member so she did not have to give up her original name. Because of the current state of her body caused by her Cursed Blood, her emotions has unknowingly lead her to become thenext Vessel of Envy.

. . .

Reihana Toelle Ur Kamaria

“Why was I born like this... what did I deserve to be cursed like this!? All I want is to hold someone without fearing I’ll crush them. I can’t be the receiver forever!”

Or Rei for short. Is a member of Mythral and is a second generation Nors. As a floater, Rei rotates between the three factions, but she usually works with Tunera Clypse. Known for her terrifying brute strength, Rei is feared by many and is challenged on a near daily basis. Because of her strength and seemingly indestructible nature, she is (much to her annoyance) sometimes used as a human shield. While she is able to take on an army by herself, Rei tries not to go all out in fear of accidentally killing her allies in the crossfire. In terms of mental maturity, aside from Xavier, she is slightly more competent and is level-headed enough to not participate in childish activities. Most of the time.

Rei prefers to ‘punch first, talk later’ when confronted, though the talking never happens as her opponents is either obliterated or immediately knocked out after one hit. While she can be aggressive at times, she merely acts out on this person's due to the rumors that were spread when word of her curse began to circulate. Those closest to her have witnessed her carefree and adventurous nature. She is also cautious and careful of her surroundings, becoming more thoughtful in the usage of her strength as a result.

As much as she loves the thrill and adrenaline that comes from combat, she prefers not to fight too often. Mostly because it usually leads to unnecessary mass destruction. She craves for proper physical contact, but due to her curse, she forces herself to avoid it as much as possible.

Being the physically oldest, next to Percy, she tends to act like the big sister of the group, which Rei has admitted she finds embarrassing. Still, she works hard in trying to act as moral support for her friends. That doesn’t stop her from losing her temper when a certain line is crossed.

As a Cursed Blood, she is cursed with immeasurable strength. Her strength doubles based on who or whatever is the strongest in a world that she sets foot in. That, of course, excludes Celestial’s as the strength of the divinity is almost non-existent. By default, back in Avarus, her usual strength is enough to crumble an entire building. In other worlds, it depends. To help control and regulate her strength during combat, she uses a large amount of Astral Dust to create form-fitting gauntlets around her lower arm. She was meant to become the Vessel of Wrath but was instead changed to be the candidate for the Vessel of Pride.

. . .

Perseus Vlahos

"I used to believe that being a hero will allow you to cement your place in history. But over time, I learned that the farther in time your name is shared in time, you become nothing more than a mere legend. Or worse, a myth. Stories can be altered, changed. If that’s the case, I’d rather not be remembered at all. I didn’t work this hard just to be written off as a bedtime story.” 

Christened under the name ‘Percy the Naive’ by his best friend, later life-long rival, Wilhelm, he is the current wielder of the legendary sword; Excalibur, and member of Infernum Poncitator. Grandson of Rayner, Percy is one of the few third generation Nors in Avarus. He is a kind young man and is respected amongst his peers (well, most of them) and superiors, so much so that he has been offered the position of leader of the faction. Percy refuses as not only deems himself unworthy, but out of respect for those that have lived in Avarus longer.

He displays many the ideal traits of a knight, eventually becoming viewed as an ideal knight by others. However, deep down, Percy perceives himself as the opposite. He feels he is a dishonorable fraud and is not proud of his status as Excalibur's chosen wielder. If he was given a chance to do it over again, Percy would immediately abandon his decision never search and locate the sword.

After joining Avarus, in a short span of time, Percy was able to easily establish himself as a sort of leader figure within his faction. While serious most of the time, especially during missions, due to his time with other Nors, has displayed a degree of patience and tolerance towards whoever he is assigned. Still, he never forgets their main objective and takes charge if he deems the assigned leader incompetent. Which happens more times than he refuses to count. He tries to maintain a cool head, but will severely reprimand others if the situation calls for it.

Proficient in the ways of the sword, he garnered the attention of (the then Mongrel) Mitchell. He was very reluctant in taking in a squire. But eventually, Percy relented after the younger boy attempted to fight against an Astral and nearly lost his life. He plans to one day pass down Excalibur to Mitchell once he gains the strength to surpass Percy.

At the moment, Percy is the current Vessel of Wrath.

. . .

Noise (***** Rallus)

“I tried all of my life to give my dad a reason why he shouldn't be treating his body the way he did. I tried all of my life to keep my friend in line so I'd never have to be the one to discipline him. And yet... If only I didn't try so hard, they'd still be alive.”

Author’s Note: Yeah I... legit do not know who this belongs to. There’s the artist’s signature so that’s the good thing. Problem is....

After escaping from the confines of his original world, Eingesperrt City, and, with the help Sound, joined Avarus and assumed the title of Noise. Unlike others that were gathered in the past, Noise is a regular human being. Something only Sound knows. Regardless of the danger, he became one of the leaders for Tunera Clypse, later joining Mythral after adapting to his new lifestyle.

He wears one of the Artifacts in order to copy and use only one ability of his choosing. As long as a piece of original user is within the Artifact, Noise can use it for as long as he wants. However, if its been removed and replaced with something else, the previous copied ability cannot be used ever again.

Since his recruitment, Noise adopted an extremely lazy personality. He’s so lazy that somehow even snoring consumes too much energy. To make sure he’s awake most of the time, Sound forced Noise to set up a sleep schedule, so that when he’s ready, he has enough energy to do SOMETHING. However, no matter where he is, he’ll take every opportunity to take a nap. He doesn’t care. As long as he gets to close his eyes, Noise is fine to sleep wherever, even if it involves napping righ at the edge of a volcano.

He’ll get annoyed if anyone that dares try to wake him up and he’ll be in a fowl mood for the rest of the day. The only exception is the fox girl and his lover. Despite this, he displays a certain degree of kindness. It’s just really hard to tell if what he’s doing is truly an act of kindness or he’s just too lazy to do things such as delivering a ‘motivational speech’. He can be blunt when he has to be, and he tends to come off as a jackass rude because of his personality. However, this is his way of showing he cares. Noise will flat out tell you if he dislikes you.

Another thing to know about him is his crude sense of humor. Combined with his blunt and rude nature towards people, mostly acquaintances and strangers, it always leads to various... Misunderstandings. Worst case scenario? A fight. He'd improve if he could, but he won't.

Look, if you haven't figure out that he's lazy after reading all this, gooood luck.

For reasons unknown, despite becoming the next Vessel of Sloth, it remains dormant within him. They thought of extracting it to learn the causes that led up to its current dormant state, but Sound intervened in time as he knew that extracting it by force will kill the the vessel.

. . .

Michael/Raphael/Gabriel/Uriel/Saraqael/Raguel/Remiel/etc

‘Dragons are raised under the false pretense that they are the supreme species above all others. But that merely obscures the truth; the truth that we’re just as vulnerable as anyone else. There are various ways to kill aside from piercing our hearts with a spear.”

Author’s Note: Just so you know, HE’S BLONDE and has green eyes! This was the only option I have that closely resembles how I envisioned him! There was another because he gives off the same atmosphere when you look at him but... he’s from an otome game. And I only learned that recently so, if the same goes for this one? WELP. Oh and he has patches of dark brown scales on part of his skin.

Neither a Quietus Nors nor a resident of Avarus, Michael is a dragon. His version of his race if capable of transformation, but can only change into the form of the last creature they devoured. Whole. Rather than his true form, in order to remain working in Avarus, chose to work in the form of the former Prince of Edrakon, a world where dragons were enslaved and cruelly treated as mere objects. Despite his appearance not being his own, he maintains an intimidating and powerful aura, which is easily distinguishable even within a large crowd.

Due to the high esteem he holds towards his race and his pride as a Dragon, he can come off as domineering, even becoming critical towards other versions of his race if he finds something illogical or nonsensical in their appearance and their abilities. While he does act this way, he finds it absolutely disgusting to find dragons place themselves in a position of power and abuses their power in controlling another species. Another aspect of him is that he looks down on dragons with physical defects, which is mostly directly aimed as himself due to his extremely poor eyesight. Thus, forcing him to rely on his human form to watch glasses. He also has a very confusing naming system; where he changes his name based on the date, time and temperature.

Micheal held the potential required to become a Nors, but because of his age, he was unable to undergo the necessary steps to fully integrate into Avarus. While others are reluctant to have him join their ranks, several others, for different reasons, allowed him to remain. This eventually allowed others to accept his addition to the organization. 

As the one in charge of organizing and handling most of Avarus’ internal affairs, a job the Nors, even the Ex-Anima/Animus, are reluctant in taking up such an important position; he takes his job very seriously. Although he does express some contempt towards humans, this does not extend to the people he works with. He cares about them to a certain degree, which is shown by he constantly reprimands whoever acts risky during a mission.

He is the current Vessel of Pride, something he only learns of later on. Despite the fact Micheal is a vessel, Belial believes this is only temporary. He isn’t particularly close with Belial, but he respects the God enough to follow his orders.

. . .

Ulric Soknawo

'In my tribe, I was considered an outcast. You can thank the unnatural union that birthed me. Now? It hasn’t changed much, but at least I’m no longer considered the runt of the pack.’

Whose other name is Kuckunniwi, is a former member of the Aniwaya Tribe. In their world, his people are Natives who worshipped a guardian Wolf Spirit. According to them, in return for their unyielding loyalty and devoted nature, it granted the people with the power to take the form of the spirit they have worshipped for many generations. So long as they use that power to protect the forest, it shall provide them protection. Ulric is the third, second youngest, illegitamate son of the Tribal chief Tamaska and grandson of Wolfram.

As per tradition, all tribesmen are given two names, one for their human form while the other is for their inner wolf. Despite being allowed to use either name like others of his tribe, he refuses to be use his wolf name due to the meaning behind it. After being discovered by Ayane, she brought and recruited him to Avarus. Ulric is considered to be a Third Generation Nors due the fact his father was (oddly) not born a Nors, or had to potential to be converted into one.

Ulric tends to act like the stereotypical lone-wolf, choosing to remain in solitude and observe from a distance. He likes to spend his quiet time alone, though he does allow others to sit next to him when asked. Many have pointed out that he never smiles, but, as much as he hates to quote Noise, states that if there is no reason to smile, there is no reason to put so much effort in abusing his facial muscles.

As much as he loves being a wolf, he finds certain aspects of his second nature to be... aggravating. Depending on the season and the weather, it deals a the effects his wolf instincts on his human nature. Because of the two separate natures continually clashing, he tends to act irritable and his temper worsens, especially during the night. Ulric holds a strong belief that one’s nature, regardless of your race, should never control a one's personal feelings.

He holds an unyielding loyalty to his loved ones, almost to the point of willing to kill for them if the situation calls for it, but his actions are subtle and tends to be the exact opposite of how he truly feels. Only two people in his life have been able to decipher his behavior, and he cherishes them for it. Ulric has a bit of a temper as well but is able to keep it in check. His temper, however, is what led him to becoming a Cursed Blood. His curse forces him to foresee the deaths of whomever he romantically falls in love (or at least feel an interest) with.

Any attempts at interfering will only hasten their death.

. . .

Xavier Wozwald Hawthorne

'Murderers are dumbasses, always killing because of their unchecked emotions and pented up desires. Hence why most of them clumsily try to hide their crime. Serial killers are more... sofisticated with their craft, but their ego always gets in the way. If they weren’t complete dumbasses, they would have lived a long comfortable life. I should know.’

Note: Yes, this is obviously Vflower. Did I know that before? No. Do I plan to change the art reference? Yes, but only when I find one that’s not a god dang real-life person’s online avatar. XD Seriously, each time I thought I found one... it’s an utaite or vtuber.

Is a member of Mythral and a First Generation Nors. Like Rei, he is a Floater, which allows him to particiate in mission for all three factions. However, he prefers to work with those in Tunera Clypse as, since they mostly handle scouting and recruiting missions. As long as he doesn’t remain in Avarus for too long, he's fine with accepting any mission related to Tunera. Xavier will still accept missions from other factions, but that's merely to fill up his quota.

Despite appearing around the age 12-14; which was not by choice, Xavier is in fact mentally older than most of his fellow Nors. Known for his sharp tongue, Xavier is one of the few known Nors to have been granted permission to travel outworld immediately after undergoing the Ascenscion Ceremony.

Due to the experiences his past life went through, Xavier has a very grim outlook of the world and displays little to no respect towards authority figures. And that includes his current patron God; Belial, which only worsens after being told by the God that he is unable to help Xavier grow into the appropriate intended size. Unlike most Nors, he displays a high degree of critical thinking and intelligent. He is, if not more, level-headed than one of his friends; Percy. Though that doesn’t stop the teasing. While confident in his abilities in terms of combat, Xavier knows the limits of his current smaller body.

In order to compensate, he creates an excessively large scythe as compensation, but he's too proud to admit this.

Because of his level of maturity, he has been labeled as a 'Midget Grandpa'. Which he fails at trying to prove otherwise by collecting certain tthings that are considered out of date by their standards. Eventually, it became a soft of hobby for him to collect such things.

Xavier tends to display a sadistic nature while in combat, choosing to taunt his opponent by constantly pointing our their obvious flaws deficits and toy with them until the last minute. Most times, he will use his child-like appearance to his advantage to further torment his opponent/victim. Comically enough, if his opponent is a cold-blooded criminal, Xavier will compliment and , depending on their actions, congratulate them; much to the annoyance of those involved.

Like Sound, he has both a Physical and Blood-based Curse, but unlike  the latter, Xavier was born with both. His Physical Curse has caused severe permanent scarring on his right arm, making it appear similar to third degree burns. If freed from any type of coverage, such as bandages, his arm will painfully be set a blazed, forcing him to conceal his arm at all times. As a Cursed Blood, Xavier has a similar effect of a Siren, except his hypnotic singing forces someone to commit suicide. Every time he uses this curse, he temporarily falls into a coma.

. . .

Succu(bus) Kilmer

Like her name suggests, Succu is a succubus, but belongs to a different version of her species. Due to being a demon, she is forbidden to reveal her true name. Succu is neither a Nors nor a Cursed Blood. She’s more of an illegal immigrant after sneaking her way into a group of Nors when they were scouting for potential recruits. There have been many attempts in trying to relocate her back to her original world, but she is able to seduce her attackers and slip away. Eventually, Belial declared that she will be allowed to remain as a resident, so long as she contributes in their mission to locate Soleil.

While they do seduce those of the opposite sex, her source of food is not as grotesque as several others. She does seduce her victim, but moves her body in a way that her victims find alluring. Succu will then massage certain parts of their body as a means to relax them. To assure that they will not attempt to escape, she will release pheremones that nulls the victims senses. What she devours isn’t the flesh of her victim nor does she devour their soul, she merely devours the emotions she was able to invoke until her hunger is quenched.

Succu is flirtaceous and very... very.... VERY- Well, you get the point. While she doesn’t flaunt her beauty, she does know how to use it to her advantage. However, despite many approaching her, Succu has only eyes for one, and is willing to wait as long as possible for that person to reciprocate her feelings. Succu, although assertive and open with her feelings, is not the type to force them onto someone.

She does like to express herself by getting physical - very physical. Not the way that you’re thinking, you perverts. She finds it more convenient to allow her actions to talk rather than saying things verbally. Since she’s an outsider, she notices several things that not even Pery or Ulric have noticed, and both are outsiders as well considering the fact they grew up outworld before being recruited. Regardless, she remains silent for the sake of remaining by her beloved’s side.

Succu is often mistaken as the Vessel of Lust due to her nature, and, on her part, finds it’s tiresome to prove that she is not.

Side Characters

Tank Mortem

A former member of Tunera Clypse and Mythral, Tank has been assigned to act as one of the engineers in maintaining the Infernian Generator due to his body’s condition and the issues of his mental state. He seldom participates in missions but, despite being given strict orders not to, joins in anyway. Due to the limits of his mental capacity, Tank has difficulty interacting with others. Quite literally.

Beatrix Staccato

Is a researcher and inventor in charge of the tools and weaponry utilized by most Nors and Ex-Animus. Having taken over most of the unfinished projects since the passing of his master, Beatrix has dedicated all of his time in improving the welfare of the world and its inhabitants. However, most of his experiments tend to be a bit... over the top. If he’s not thinking of new potential products that may benefits the Nors, he’ll make whatever comes at the top of his head, and most of the time it’ll lead him to make the most outrageous and unnecessary items. Beatrix prefers to remain in his lab/home at all times, rendering his social interactions with the three factions to be limited via holographic meetings.

‘Nyx’ Pierrot

Leader of Vanidicus Persona, she is one of the oldest Nors - next to Constantine - making her the default leader of her faction. Much about her is a mystery. Even her behavior can be viewed as... questionable. Not outlandish, that’s Sound’s department. Her behavior is so odd that it’s enough to baffle even Belial. She takes her leadership over her faction very seriously, however, as part of her nature, the requirements in joining and maintaining your membership vastly deviates from the original. However, looks can be deceiving. Aside from her seniority, there is a reason why she was given the position of leader.

Mitchell Pierrot

He prefers to be called as ‘Mitch’ after being told, and proven, by his sister how much of a tongue twister his name is if repeated constantly in a single conversation. While he is the younger brother of Nyx, Mitch opted to become a submember of Tunera Clypse upon undergoing the Ascension Ceremony to be in the same faction as his mentor, Perseus Vlahos. Compared to the Nors in his batch, he is viewed as weak by many as he is unable to perform the abilities that is expected of him to develop after becoming a Nors.

Constantine L. Refrain

Nothing is truly known about him except that he’s a chronic smoker. Nobody truly knows who he is, no one even knows which faction he belongs to. It’s nearly impossible to question these things as he is constantly surrounded by a shroud of - barely tolerable - smoke. All that is known is that he’s been around longer than most of the Ex-Animus. Constantine usually frequints the Silent Siren Bar, staying there for hours until he’s either drunk or needs to receive another pack of cigarretes from Beatrix. He says they’re for medicinal purposes buuuuut...

I’m pretty sure black smoke isn’t normal.

Stefan Mal Sorcier

Is Percy’s second pupil. Although, it was more like Percy was forced into taking in another after his continual refusal to become leader of Infernum Poncitator. Outwardly, he is aloof and always appears smiling, which unsettles Mitchell even when they’re alone. His politeness is found unusual by many and causes others to feel wary around him. Even the dragon finds himself is unable to remain in the same vicinity as the young man. Despite being full of many secrets, Percy accepts him as is and tries his best to teach him all he can, which Stefan appreciates.

Kyline Necro

Considered as the mascot ambassador of Avarus, like the soul that was fused with her upon birth, she mostly lounges around and has little participation in any missions in and out of Avarus. This has caused her to be disliked by many, most especially Ayane. The only person Kyline has gotten close to is Noise; mostly because they share the same favored sleeping spot. On a side, she acts a physician, or surgeon if you like to get technical. She has a strange fondness of picking apart and replacing specific limbs with doll parts.

Yu-Yan Chi Ryou

Was once one of the strongest Nors from Xavier’s batch until he was inflicted by an unknown disease during one of his missions. While there is no name for the disease, it has caused much of his bones to undergo crystallization; rendering him immobile due to the pain that comes from even the smallest of movements. Since he is incapable in participating in any activities, Yu-Yan has since been forced to be confined to a wheel chair for the rest of his life.

Anita Eine Kleine

Is the fighting instructor of the Mongrels and a member of Infernum Poncitator. Anita is a highly-skilled caster, able to conjure and manipulate various elements. She absolutely hates the term ‘witch’, even going as far as to cast a minor curse in making a person temporarily mute if they refer to her as one. Which Sound found rather offensive when he found out about the curse, something she deeply apologized for. She participates in some Scouting Missions but only if personally requested by someone from Tunera Clypse.

Victor Stein

Is Beatrix’s (only living) research assistant. He is the sole survivor of the Night of the Black Moon. Although having physically recovered, the damage to his mental state has left a deep scar on his psyche. He fears yet obsesses over the sensation of pain. There is not one instance where he isn’t found sowing over his own intact skin. While Victor knows his addiction found uncomfortable by others, he finds it extremely difficult to control his urges.

Wolfram

Grandfather of Ulric and most of his siblings, he is an Ex-Anima (or retired Nors) and a former member of the original Mythral. As the more experienced and one of the longest surviving resident of Avarus, he acts as a mentor to those who seek his guidance. However, in terms of combat, his skills are very limited as he has become permanently stuck in his wolf form. The only grandchildren he's ever personally met are Ulric and Seeing, who have both ironically became his favorite. While acting as a mentor, he is rather strict, constantly parting lessons in order to make sure none make the same mistakes he committed when he was younger, many of which he refuses to share.

Diantha Anemone

Despite being still a Liberi, Dia still participates in many activities meant to be done only by Nors. She originally wanted to become a part of Tunera Clypse due to the many adventures imparted by Sound. But after having a first hand experience in one, it traumatized her to the point where she wants to merely work as a Librarian, a position many people avoid.

Echo & Yell

Fellow teammates of Sound and Noise. As part of the four heads leaders that overwatch many of Tunera Clypse's activities, both in and out of Avarus. They mostly take charge of delegating the members while the other two take an active role in leading many scouting missions off-world. Contradicting her name, like Sound and Noise, her personality is the completely opposite. Due to her sociophobia, she is extremely shy and is unable to speak when talked to, only whispering her sentences as she talks. Yell, however, is the only one whose personality fits the mantle she inherited. Due to her curse, she has to raise her voice after every two hours. If not, she will fall into a coma, and she can only be awaken by *************.

Important Figures

Belial

Credits to: @airtrees0507 (Again, another artist who... disappeared from the internet. How do I keep finding refrences where the artist is just gone?)

Is a Celestial and the younger brother of Soleil. However, despite his godly status, he does not have any of the expected gifts. Neither a god of creation, life, or death, he has been given the title God of Void by his peers. Because of this, he is incapable of maintaining Avarus by himself, forcing him to use alternative (and questionable) means in preserving the world his sister created. Like his title, Belial is unable to express emotions, giving blank demeanor. He does, however, hold some semblence of emotions within him. Yet despite this, he has little to no understanding of life, death and emotions. Even after centuries since he over his sister’s role as Patron God, he still has no understanding to all living things, almost to the point of coming off as insensitive and heartless.

Belial has a deep devotion to his sister, having gone through great lengths to make sure to maintain her world and willingly sacrifice the lives of many. Despite knowing her distaste towards such acts, he holds onto the hope of one day finding her.

Soleil

Credits: Um... Lucare Eu??? Sorry, I’m just basing it off the signature. Once again, can’t find the artist themself so...

The true patron goddess of Avarus and the older sister of Belial. Aside from her status as the original creator and caretaker of her world and the life that once flourished within it, not much is known about her. While her exact cause of death is unknown, she was cursed to live an endless cycle of death and rebirth in various worlds. In order to restore the world she created and loved dearly, Belial dedicated his life in searching for her soul and freeing her of her curse. As a Celestial, she was said to have chosen to take the form of her first ever creation and first mortal friend. 

It is said that, despite having blessed with the gift of creation, she was known to be a lonely goddess. Those that new her describe as someone that’s physically there but is spiritually detached.

The Oracle

Is a title given to those with the ability to commune and guide the spirits to the Empyrean Plain, more specifically Avarus’ residences due to the absence of Soleil. The Oracle acts as the divine anchor on the world to aid Belial in prolonging the world’s existence. They are also the main source of Belial’s divine power; both of which are maintained through her prayers. The gender and species of the Oracle is non-specific, but it if preferred by Belial if they are humanoid and have the ability of speech for the sake of communication.

The current Oracle is Aniela Fischl, who, unlike her predecessors, is able to foresee various futures. She does so by carefully peeking through the leylines and selects various possibilities that solely benefit Avarus. No one is allowed to meet her except Belial and her assigned Seekers.

The Seekers

The guardians, caretaker, and acting medians between the Oracle and the residents of Avarus. Their duty is to ensure that the chosen Oracle remains within the Spiral Tower and that he/she fulfills their duty, even going as far as to grant their wish regardless of the consequenses. Each Seeker has only one desire, and that’s to protect the Oracle at all times.

Races

Liberi

Age Range: Birth or 5 to 10 years

Although that is the official term, ‘Mongrel’ is what they are commonly referred as. It is the used for the for the children taken to or born in Avarus. Mongrels spend most of their young lives training within the safe walls of the Aldebaran Academy. They are forbidden from leaving as, according to Belial, they are the extremely fragile during this point of their lives. Regardless of their age, depending on how well they’ve performed in training, they will be given the right of undergoing the Ascension Ceremony. Those who fail are xxxxxxxx xx.

Due to their young age, their behavior is more sporadic than that of a normal child. Their reflexes are enhanced, almost to the point where it becomes difficult to contain them. Mongrels lack common sense so they tend to act out without fully understanding the impact their actions have. While childish and friendly by nature, Travellers are advised to approach with caution. Those who act beyond the expected norm are called Prodigies.

Quietus Nors

Age Range: (Physically) 14-19, (Mentally) 10 or above

Or simply called, Nors. After their graduation, every Nors is immediately sent to work. Depending on the final results of their training prior to undergoing the ceremony/procedure, each is individually assigned into one of the three factions ; Infernum Poncitator, Vanidicus Persona, and lastly, Tunera Clypse (formerly called Tunera). Those that are assigned to neither of the factions are assigned to more menial jobs alongside the Ex-Animus,

Despite their young minds, they have quickly adapted into their new forms. Due to time becoming almost non-existant in Avarus, Nors age at a rapidly slow rate. Though known to be childish by nature due to the gap of their young minds to their bodies, they dangerously lack empathy and display little to no compassion and remorse towards others. In worst cases, some act selfishly on their own accord. On a positive note, they lack any emotions that may hinder their mission in locating Soleil; such as fear.

Only two of the three current generations of Nors differ greatly from the first:

First Generation Nors - Are those converted or directly born within Avarus with the blood of two Nors. Those born in the first generation share two specific physical characteristics; raven black hair and golden eyes. They all share the same abilities upon conversion/birth, but it depends on the individual which ones they should master. Unless they happen to be a Cursed Blood, they are unable to obtain different abilities to call their own. They are required to undergo the Ascension Ceremony.

Second Generation Nors - In terms of personality, they are considered half as bad as those in the first gen. Unlike the previous, second generation Nors are considered slightly weaker, however, they have a better chance of obtaining other abilities outside of Avarus. Their hair is slightly lighter shade of black but their eyes remain the same. They too are required to undergo the Ascension Ceremony.

Third Generation Nors - While rare, they do tend to appear once in a while. It’s not exact how one falls into this category. The closest is being the grandchild or who has an anscestor that was a Nors. Because of their circumstances, these Nors are far weaker as they cannot use any of the standard abilities. Third Generation Nors are far difficult to locate as their potential doesn’t surface until they are of a much later age, rendering them incapable of taking necessary training to hone their abilities and undergoing the Ascension Ceremony. They do not share the common personality or physical traits of a Nors. One thing every Nors in this generation share are sky blue eyes, which emit a faint glow when in the dark.

Ex-Animus (or Anima for singular)

Age Range: (Physically) 30 to 40, rarely appears in their early 20′s

Are individuals who are retired from their duties as a Nors. Although Nors generally age at an excessively slow rate (due to the effects of Avarus), after a number of cycles (which refers to the number of batches that underwent the Ascension Ceremony), they will be given the order to retire. Regardless whether they are willing to or not, there is nothing they can do once the order has been issued. Once one becomes an Ex-Anima, they are completely cut off from their original faction and are unable to leave Avarus for the rest of their life.

Not only that, they are unable to defend themselves like they used to as they can no longer control Astral Dust and use the abilities from their time as a Nors,Basically.  Basically, Ex-Animus’ are left to fend for themselves.

Factions

Every Nors is allowed to join any of the three factions; Infernum Poncitator, Vanidicus Persona , and Tunera Clypse. There is an option to not join any of the factions; they are called ‘Floaters’.

[skzsauce01]

Flowers and Ink

Description: A dainty flower shop opens next to Changbin's tattoo parlor. Its owner, he finds out, is an armful of surprises.

Warning: none

Word Count: 1723

Pairing: fem!reader x Changbin

The flower shop that opened next door was a stark contrast to District 9. It was bright, cheerful, and blocked almost a quarter of the sidewalk with its flower displays and chalkboard sign. Its owner, a pretty girl who introduced herself as Y/N, perfectly matched the exterior with her sweet voice and naturally peaceful expression. Changbin didn't know how to feel about his tattoo parlor's aesthetic being ruined, but even he had to admit that the grand opening last month was pretty amazing: 20% off bouquets and arrangements, hibiscus tea and lavender-vanilla cookies, and free flower crowns.

Free. Flower. Crowns.

He really wanted a flower crown.

(And he most definitely would have lined up for one if Minho had shown up for his appointment on time. Screw you, Minho.)

Even after the commotion of the grand opening, the shop was still bustling with customers. The sidewalk was almost always covered with fallen flower petals, and Changbin only saw you through the giant front window, snipping stems and tying ribbons. He considered stopping by to say hello and to get to know you better, but he could never bring himself to walk inside. He thought he had a decent idea of what you were like anyway.

Keyword being thought.

He certainly hadn't expected you to discuss tattoos with you on an early Friday morning. You had strolled into the parlor with no warning and started up a conversation about getting a hand tattoo. In fact, he was so speechless, he let you walk him through your whole design. He finally snapped out of it when you started pulling up pictures on your phone.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I don't do hand tattoos on people without any other tattoos." He explained, "It's a job stopper, hard to cover up, most people do a bad job maintaining it, it's pretty painful, et cetera. It's just not a good idea, especially for your first one."

There were a lot of things he predicted you to do after. Unzipping your windbreaker and revealing a full sleeve tattoo of flowers, leaves, and birds was not one of them.

He gaped at the sight. You-- your full sleeve, he corrected himself-- were gorgeous.

You were clearly enjoying his expression. You rotated your arm to let him get a better view. There was a slight smirk on your face when you said, "My boss won't care if I get ink on my hands."

Right. You were the freaking owner of the flower shop.

"So how about it?" you asked. You slipped your windbreaker back on and fluffed your hair out, sending the smell of jasmine his way.

He couldn’t think properly. There was a series of ‘um’ and ‘uh’ from him before he managed to get out, "You need to make an appointment first.”

It was then decided that you would come next Sunday evening, and you cheerfully left the parlor. Changbin, however, slowly sunk into his chair and replayed the scene in his mind. The dramatic reveal was his favorite part, and combined with that smirk? Wow, that was hot.

--

The week was long, and every time he heard the bell on his door chime, he hoped it was you. His obsession became so obvious that Jisung started opening and closing the door just for the fun of it.

"Stop that," Changbin growled over the sound of the needle. He normally would have refrained from sounding so gruff around a customer, but Minho was a regular and a friend.

Minho raised his head and an eyebrow. "Stop what?"

"Not you. Jisung." He spat out his name like a curse.

Across the room, Jisung laughed and replied back, "Our boy has a crush on the florist next door! She's coming in on Sunday."

"Ah, I met her during the grand opening. She's a sweetheart," Minho said. "She tried to give me a flower crown when I was in line for cookies."

"Oh, so that's why you were late?" No, he was still not over being screwed out of a flower crown.

"You would have done the same," Minho shrugged. "What's she coming in for anyway?"

Jisung, now standing next to Changbin, answered, "Hand tattoo of a flower. Right?"

Changbin nodded. Jisung was supposed to be doing some paperwork, but Changbin was too busy with the outline to say anything.

"You are so whipped. What happened to your 'no face, neck, or hands policy?'" Minho asked.

"She's got a full sleeve!" Jisung proudly revealed, as if he were the one with the beautiful artwork.

"Really? But she looks so… innocent."

Changbin wiped off the excess ink. "You should have seen her when she took off her jacket to show me." The image was still burned into his mind, and his heart raced every time he thought of it.

Jisung snickered. "You are so into her, it's kind of funny. You've only talked to her once."

"Twice actually. Once when she first opened, and a few days ago."

"Oh, so you're keeping score now?" Minho teased. He chuckled at Changbin's glare. "I understand. She's a cute girl with a tattoo who also has her own business. What's not to like?"

"Exactly," Changbin mumbled under his breath. Louder, he said to Jisung, "Go finish the paperwork."

Jisung grumbled, but he made his way back to the front desk.

With Jisung gone and doing his job, it was quiet again between Minho and Changbin. Minho returned to his phone, and Changbin continued to ink. They could hear Jisung softly cursing across the room. An hour later Changbin ran the needle across Minho's ribcage one last time before wiping the skin clean.

"See you in a couple weeks," Changbin said as Minho stood in front of the mirror and admired his newest ink.

"Yeah. It looks good." He slipped his shirt back on. "Have fun on Sunday. Try not to drool too much."

Changbin only nodded in return. What was he supposed to reply to that?

"And try not to screw up on her tattoo."

The audacity of him. Changbin sharply gestured to the door. "Bye, Minho."

--

Sunday arrived, and so did you. The last client left two hours ago, and Changbin had spent the remaining time sweeping the floor and  pacing. You came right on time with a small floral arrangement in your hands. He looked at questioningly.

You smiled and said, “It’s a thank you gift. I thought it would only be fitting as I own a flower shop, have flower tattoos, and will be getting a new one.”

“It’s… pretty,” was his lame reply. It was the truth, but he couldn’t help feeling like he should have said more. He cleared his throat awkwardly before suggesting you sit down at one of the stations.

You sat down and tugged up your sleeve. The edges of an inked leaf peeked out from your sweatshirt, and Changbin was instantly reminded of glorious piece of artwork on your arm.

The process was painful. He felt you stiffen a few seconds into the tattooing, and he immediately felt sorry for you. The design you wanted trailed up to your index finger, so he knew you weren't even at the worst part.

"How's business going?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

"Pretty well," you replied. You were now tapping your foot. "Goodness, this hurts. And don't you dare say I told you so."

"I won't," he promised.

There was some light conversation between the two of you. Changbin asked about your life to distract you-- no ulterior motives, he swore-- and you gave long, winding answers to distract yourself. That was how he found out that got your first tattoo at nineteen, recently moved to the city, got recommended District 9 by your old tattoo artist, Bang Chan at Miroh Tattoos, who said he knew the owner--

"Chan? I know him!" was probably not the smartest thing to say. He could hear Jisung laughing at him.

You dryly replied, "I would think so.” Then you sharply inhaled as Changbin started to ink your finger. “He said you were good at black and white, so I checked out your Instagram to make sure.”

“Lived up your expectations?”

“Well, I am sitting in your parlor, paying you to stab me with a needle.”

“You’re not as sweet as you look,” he mumbled. Once he realized the implication of his words, he hoped you hadn’t heard them.

You let out a short laugh. “Everyone thinks the flower girl is nice and innocent until they hear her speak. You’re not the first one,” you assured.

He felt his ears burn and pretended to be intensely focused wiping off excess ink from your hand. “What’s the reason for getting a hand tattoo?” he asked to change the subject.

It was a very obvious attempt, but you didn’t say anything about it. “I’ve always wanted one. They look cool, but a lot of artists don’t do hand tattoos without any other tattoos to show for it.”

“So, you got a full sleeve in order to get one?”

“Well, when you say it like that…” you said. At his alarmed face, you laughed. “I’m kidding. I like my sleeve, and I wanted to get it done anyway. It turned out really good.”

“Chan’s great,” he agreed.

“So are you.”

His face heated up, and he saw you smile out of the corner of his eye.

Three hours later, the flower on your hand was complete. You let him take a picture for District 9’s Instagram. He was ready to clean up and lock up, but he noticed you lingering around.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah!” you smiled. You then walked closer and looked straight at him. “Hey, I hope this is okay, but do you want to get lunch sometime?” you asked.

He blinked a few times and replayed the words in his head to make sure he heard them correctly. You mistook his silence as a decline.

“Sorry! I shouldn’t have asked such a question. That would be unprofessional for you to even answer! I’m sorry about that.”

You turned to leave, and he shouted with more volume than necessary, “Wait!”

You faced him, hope in your eyes. “Yes?”

“I’ll... get lunch with you.” He shyly looked away. “If you give me a flower crown.”

A wide grin spread across your face. “Will do.”

~ ad.gray

[sincerelymarinette]

A Recorded Life (39/50) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words: 1502 Chapter Summary: Jagged Stone has an announcement! Marinette has a lot going on soon, and it's the first video of Adrien vs. Jobs where Adrien gets to work in the Dupain-Cheng Bakery! Author's Note: suuuuper late update (it's still Sunday in California!!) oh look another busy week but i love this story I'm determined to update! I wanted to make an edit of how Marinette's end screen would look but I didn't get to it, so maybe next update :) hope everyone is doing well and staying safe!

Prev / Next / Masterlist

Adrien vs. Jobs 1: The Bakery

---

Nine days until the gala.

JAGGED @JaggedStone I'm excited to finally announce the release date of my new album, Greener Grass! We released Lift Up a few weeks ago, and I'll admit it was a little premature of a release, but I was so excited to share new music!

JAGGED @JaggedStone That being said, get ready to rock out next Friday! Since I made you all wait so long since the single, we pushed it as close as I could get it!

JAGGED @JaggedStone Pre-order merch bundles and album cover posters here: jaggedstonestore.com Don't forget to get your favorite @MarinetteDC cover in stores and collect them all in poster and merch form! I can't wait for you all to see them in person, they're AMAZING!

Every time Jagged Stone tweeted about Marinette, her follower count spiked. It was crazy that it happened every time he said something about her, but he does have a lot of fans, so it makes sense. She was also astonished at how fast he wanted to release the album, but ever since Marinette got all the covers finished, he was itching to just drop it all right away. His fans would surely be excited, just as she was.

It just so happened that Jagged's release date was the same day as the Agreste Gala, so that would be a busy day for sure. She sat at the lunch table with her headphones in as she waited for her friends, scrolling through Twitter and retweeting Jagged Stone's tweets. He also said to look out for another single drop at midnight to bring back the hype of the album, and she was excited.

Marinette may have heard the album already, or at least the demos, but she was still excited for the formal release of the songs. She heard her email ding, and switched tabs to see an email from Jagged (and Penny).

Hey Marinette!

I hope you've seen the announcements I made on social media today. If not, the album is set to be out next Friday! We're all excited to show off the music and your artwork, and Penny and I had an idea about how to push marketing over the edge.

You know sometimes artists do an explanation of their songs? I've done one once but it was a while ago, maybe my second album, so I'm not sure if you've heard it. But I think it would be awesome if we could do one for this album! I explain the song process, and you talk about your process for the designs. A lot of fans really love you and your artwork, that I think it would be amazing.

We could record them for both an album and videos you could post on your channel if you'd like. Reminds me of like a podcast, which sounds like a lot of fun. Are you in? I'm thinking we record it Monday or Tuesday next week because it would have to be a pretty quick turn around.

Penny will send you more details if you're interested! Hope to see you soon.

Rock on, Jagged Stone

"Hey, Mari," Adrien smiled wide as he sat across from Marinette at the table. She took her headphones out and smiled back before starting to type as fast as possible to respond.

"You guys see Jagged Stone's tweets?" Nino asked as he took a seat next to Adrien. "I'm sure Marinette has, but I'm so excited! His album comes out in like a week!" Nino said.

Both Marinette and Adrien nodded. "I'm sure it's gonna be amazing. And I can't wait to buy all the Marinette and Jagged merch!"

"What are you so interested in?" Alya asked, sneaking up behind Marinette and unknowingly cutting off Adrien.

Marinette took a break from typing and sat back. "An email from Jagged Stone. He wants to do one of those explaining the album podcasts, which would be so cool," Marinette explained. "So I'm replying. Hey, are you busy Monday or Tuesday after school?"

"Nope, you need me to come with you to run the camera?" Alya winked.

"You know it!" Marinette said and turned to the boys. "Sorry guys, I don't know if you'll be able to come with," She apologized.

Adrien and Nino looked at each other and back to Marinette. "I guess we'll just have to have guy time then," Nino shrugged and took a bite of his food. "But I expect we all get together and listen to it as soon as it comes out!" He smiled wide.

"Maybe the day after," Adrien added. "We have the gala on Friday, so if our investigation comes up dry, we'll listen on Saturday!"

Marinette pressed send on the email and shut her laptop to eat lunch with friends. After a little bit of conversation, she was finally allowed to get into YouTube talk. "So, Adrien, are you excited to run the register at the bakery today?" She winked.

"Oh, it's going to be the best. Your parents are excited, too," Adrien smiled.

"Bleh," Alya chuckled. "You guys have been dating for like four days, tone it down."

Nino didn't say much, only laughed at the situation as the three went back and forth. "Oh yeah!" Marinette said. "I need your opinion on a video idea, you know, to confirm things to the fans."

---

The middle of the week meant that the bakery could be bustling, or only steady, which was perfect for the video. Marinette had introduced the video, and Sabine was teaching Adrien the basics already.

"So, I think we have officially decided to call this Adrien vs. Jobs, and my mother is getting ahead of schedule and already teaching Adrien! Marinette hinted for Sabine to wait, but she didn't listen.

"Oh yeah, disclaimer, most of this will be in French, but I will subtitle it in English," Marinette said, in English, and walked over to the register to show the camera how it looked.

Sabine was explaining the different buttons to Adrien, in French, and how to ring people up. "Most times, customers will tell you exactly what they want because they read the signs, but other times it's a guessing game. So if you need help, don't be afraid to ask."

"But don't forget this is a challenge, and I will be judging you," Marinette winked.

In response, Adrien stuck his tongue out jokingly. "I think I can do this; thank you. At least a little bit."

Luckily, it wasn't too busy in the bakery. There were just enough people to keep Adrien on his toes, but he wasn't overwhelmed, and it gave him a chance to figure out how to do everything. In the beginning, he had to ask Sabine for help, but with more patient and straightforward customers, it was much easier to understand, and he was able to figure it out.

He even made a few tips (which he gave right back to Sabine) and was having a lot of fun. He got to talk to Parisians, which he didn't get to do as a regular person as much, and wear an apron with fun pockets, and smell the delicious baked goods for a few hours. Tom was making the last of the goodies in the back, and it smelled as beautiful as they looked, and they could barely keep the goods on the shelves!

Adrien loved learning all the different names od the food they carried and getting to box or bag it up for the customer, who was always happy with what the Dupain-Cheng bakery delivered.

He was quite surprised by how he was able to pick up on all the different things the bakery did. It probably helped that he was having fun talking to all customers and bantering with Marinette, as well as watching how much Sabine and Tom love their job.

They helped close up the shop, and Adrien got a celebratory macaroon. After heading upstairs, Marinette was able to finish up the video.

"Well, I definitely think that Adrien could get a job at the bakery if he needs it. My mom clearly loved having the extra hands, and she loves Adrien anyways. What do you think, Adrien?" Marinette asked.

"It was a lot of fun! I would say it was a successful beginning to the series. Which is good, because there will probably be some fails," He chuckled. "Do you want a rematch at Mario Kart?"

Marinette nodded, and Adrien ran to the TV to set it up. "Well, I guess that means I should end the video. Leave a comment on what job you think Adrien should try next! And don't forget to follow us on social media and subscribe to never miss a video!" Marinette said. "Thank you so much for watching, and I will see you next time!" And she set the camera down.

"Okay, I'm ready to beat your butt at Mario Kart...again!" Marinette grabbed the controller and sat down next to Adrien.

"That's what you think."

---

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries      

[cammiluna]

Sorry I’ve been mostly gone for the last few months. 2020 particularly has been a wild year for me personally.

My story actually started back in September when I applied for the JET program for the 4th consecutive year, as that in itself took up a significant amount of my time and attention.

I got rejected once again.

About two weeks prior to the rejection, I applied for a new job in Washington state. I got a referral from a close friend of mine. Got accepted for that job in less than 24 hours, but I was still waiting for the JET interview results (and the timeframe between acceptance and the first day of work was undoable to me as a broke New Yorker going to MAGFest on a shoestring budget

I had to take some mad commissions for that. To this day, some of those commissions are incomplete still

Two weeks after my 4th JET program rejection and the wave of depression and anger that followed, I got another call from the Washington job asking to come in 7 weeks later.  I took the offer. Back at this time, people and governments were still slapfighting over whether to take a certain viral situation seriously or not.

Around the time I got that second call, I had a meltdown at work when the server died and more was expected of me handling it than I was able to do.

I had 7 weeks to find an apartment, downsize my belongings and find a way to get me, Kirby (my fish) and a tiny percentage of my belongings on a minimal budget.  In doing so, I had to reach out to friends in private to avoid my former employer snooping around my social media.

I send in my 2-weeks notice and while I’m thankful I wasn’t fired right there for doing that, extra demanding work tasks were piled on me while I was preparing the move. Like having to teach computer-unsavvy people how to do my job and writing instructions on how to do these things; 99.99999% computer-related. I used up my vacation days to take days when i felt another meltdown coming and my former employer used that against me when they wanted me to make business cards with photographs for all staff members- something that would take several weeks when I only had four days left at work.

On top of everything, I’ve gotten a cold four times between November 2019 and March 2020 because the apartment’s heater broke down, the landlord would just keep smacking it to make it work temporarily, and my room wasn’t properly insulated so I froze all winter like I was sleeping out in the street.

So when I finally made it to Washington, I was a mess. Nasty cold, weakness, fatigue, everytime I tried to sleep, I had vertigo.

And $2700 in credit card debt from the move. My plane ticket was $150, but my [oversize/overweight] baggage fees were $400, delivery of my books and artist alley materials was another $150, setting up a new fish tank from scratch was almost $300 (not including parts that my friend had gifted him), and then some.  I basically moved out here with my computers, 1/3rd of my video game collection (the rest were donated/sold), art supplies, Kirby, some rare/recent collecibles, and a week’s worth of clothing. Everything else had to be purchased after the move. Furniture, food, kitchenware, linens, etc. 

A lot of items were donated from friends. I am beyond thankful to them!

And yes, Kirby came with me on a plane. You had to see the eyes bulging out of every TSA officer that saw me yoink a bag of live fish out of my carry-on, but I had a printout from the TSA website that indeed said that live fish are allowed through security checkpoint as long as they are in a sealed container.

yep.

Kirby also got sick. He had anxiety from the move and the new tank settings. We got him a cave to hide him, but it had a really rough surface and he injured himself bumping into it a few times. Cave was since removed.

So then I started my new job a week later.  Four days into the new job, the office decided to close before corona could be a problem. I’ve been working from home ever since. The training was chill physical energy-wise, but very intense and full of information I had to retain. Also, this is my first customer service job, so I was super anxious the whole way. 2.5 months of training it was,

By the end of March, I had all the symptoms that Corona was known for. Nothing was severe, and I had no vehicle to go see a doctor (I made a dumb mistake and moved to a hilly suburb because the rent was cheap). It could have been corona, it could have been a venn diagram of my cold phasing out overlapping with anemia and anxiety, I guess we’ll never know. I found ways to get by while still working from home.

Kirby was also choking on his own air bubbles for March and April. I wasn’t able to get any info on why that would be. He is doing fine now.

Training is over now. I finally started seeking medical help last week because I’m still dealing with chest pain, fatigue, and shortness of breath which I was told could be anemia (worse than I’ve ever had it before).  I’m still anxious because I’m on customer phone service full time now, but while it has a lot of challenges and I do get tired in the end (which could be anemic fatigue still), I’m a LOT less stressed out than I was at my old job.  The pay isn’t much higher, but I’ve been able to live a much better life here. Got usable health benefits now and while the food is more expensive out here, you get a LOT more food for all those dollars spent. Also, since I’ve been too fatigued to cook much of the time (and I have a shitty electric stove that takes 45+ minutes to boil a pot of water), I can have healthy restaurant meals delivered via uber eats. Most of the restaurants in my service area serve REALLY TASTELESS FOOD, but some restaurants serve enough in one order to make for 2-3 meals.

but anyway. That’s what’s been going on now. Financial situation has improved greatly since I started getting paychecks out here. medical investigation is ongoing. I just need my energy back to start making regular art content again.

I have played Animal Crossing since the game came out. I will share the artwork I’ve managed to do soon, including some plague knight and mona/animal crossing crossover stuff such as the pic you see above.

Stay tuned and thanks for your patience.

[awake-not-today]

Namkook The Gifted Hands / Psychometry au:

Detective Kim Namjoon is investigating the case of a child disappearance. When the child's body is found, Namjoon finds himself trailing a murderer.

During his investigation he remembers a run in he'd had with a graffiti artist one night, and the artwork he'd done depicting the scene in which the child's body was found.

The graffiti which had been painted a month before the discovery of the child's body.

Jeon Jungkook is a small time graffiti artist with a secret, the power to see the memories of any living thing he touches. He hides himself away from the world, ashamed of who he is, that is until he's thrown head first into a murder investigation and becomes the prime suspect.

Part 6 of ?

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Namjoon didn’t exactly have a lot to go on.

He couldn’t access the evidence, not while it was still being processed at least, and it’s not like he could ask for any details regarding the case. Gwon wouldn’t tell him shit, and Seokjin was determined Namjoon should let it go and take some time off. Anything that could be of help was off limits. Useless.

But what he did have was a paint can, some less than helpful pictures of the graffiti, and the knowledge that the killer had a gash on the back of his neck from the fight they'd had earlier. It wasn’t much, but at least it was something. Namjoon pondered on it, giving Taehyung a small wave as he left the apartment. What could he possibly gather from what he had?

The paint can seemed to be the most crucial thing he had so far, and the knowledge that the very brief time he'd seen the guy's face, at least partially, was that he was young. A student perhaps? There was an art school not too far from him. It would make sense. But then that posed another problem. How many students used spray paint? How many males? Namjoon groaned, closing his eyes and leaning back in his seat. His head was fucking pounding. The hit he'd taken was pretty hard, but at least the ice had taken down most of the swelling. Small mercies.

Getting to his feet, Namjoon wandered to the bathroom, taking a couple of painkillers from the bathroom cabinet. He moved to the kitchen area, grabbing himself a glass of water to swallow them down. He kept his eyes on the paint can sat on his coffee table as he downed his water, debating the next step. He supposed he could go to the university and ask, but then they’d probably ask for a warrant and Namjoon had no way of getting one of those.

The other option he had was going to the art store the paint came from and hope the had a list of names on record. There was so many art stores in Seoul though, and it could have come from anywhere. He didn’t even know where to start, where do students buy their materials. Namjoon frowned and worried his bottom lip, a habit he had when he was deep in thought. Who would know where to go? Who knew the ins and outs of Seoul? Only one name came to mind.

Hoseok.

That little bastard knew everything about this city, constantly looking for new ways to make money. He lived for the hustle, of course he'd probably have some knowledge of the students in the city. Easy targets, young and dumb. Exactly what Hoseok liked. Namjoon moved quickly, grabbing the first shirt he could find that smelled vaguely clean, and threw it on before grabbing his jacket and the paint can to go find his roommate.

The streets were busy at this time, late afternoon. People leaving their jobs and stopping for food and drinks, exactly the right place for Hoseok to be with his latest venture. He heard Hoseok's laugh before he saw him, bright and cheerful as he joked with the customers at his food van. He stood in line, waiting until the customers dispersed, and approached quietly.

“Welcome to Hobi's food van!” Hoseok hadn’t looked up yet, tucking away the money he'd recieved. “What can I- oh! Namjoon!”

“Hoseok.” Namjoon smiled, leaning against the counter. “I need your help.”

“What’s up?” Hoseok handed Namjoon a fish cake, smiling. Namjoon took a bite and almost groaned, as much as Hobi was a little shit, he sure made some good food. Namjoon swallowed, setting the wooden stick down on the side, and looked at Hoseok again.

“I need you.” Namjoon thought for a moment. “And your van.”

Hoseok didn’t reply, instead laughing. Namjoon didn’t laugh, keeping his face serious. Hoseok blinked, mouth closing. “What? No! This is the busiest time, Joon-ah. I’m making money here!”

“Hoseok. You owe me.” Namjoon smiled now, or more grimaced. Hoseok just looked confused. “I sold my car for and put all of my life savings into that fucking pyramid scheme of yours.”

“Network marketing was a great opportunity, Namjoon.” Hoseok looked affronted. “It’s not my fault.”

“You can trust him, Joon-ah! He's a great guy!” Namjoon mocked Hoseok's voice, making the other swat at him. Namjoon took a step back to avoid it. “Give me your van, Hoseok.”

“No.”

“Fuck. Fine.”

Hoseok rolled his eyes as Namjoon walked away, turning to apologize to the customers who'd lined up behind his friend. He picked up a cloth, wiping down the counter, and opened his mouth to speak when the customers were suddenly moving away. It took him a moment to realize what was happening, the people looking smaller and smaller in the distance. The van was moving. Someone was driving it away. Fucking Namjoon.

Ten minutes and a busted nose later, Hoseok sat in the passenger side of the van, holding a napkin to his face. Namjoon shot him an apologetic glance, and Hoseok huffed.

“You know if you had just let me use the van this wouldn’t have happened.” Hoseok pouted, actually pouted like a petulant child, and slumped in his seat. “I’m sorry about your nose.”

“Yeah?” Hoseok glanced at him, tossing the bloody napkin down by his feet. “At least we match. Where are we going anyway?”

“Uh.” Namjoon chuckled nervously, not wanting to piss Hoseok off anymore than he already had. He suspected giving his friend a punch to the nose was a bad move. “Well. I was sort of hoping you could tell me?”

Namjoon reached into his jacket, pulling out the paint can and handing it to a very unimpressed and impatient Hoseok. Hoseok rolled it in his hands, looking at the label, before giving Namjoon a bewildered look.

“What am I supposed to do here? Paint arrows to direct you?”

“I need to know where it came from.”

“What am I? Fucking psychic? I’m losing profit here, Namjoon. And a friend if you don’t stop fucking around.”

“That paint can belongs to the murderer.” Namjoon mumbled as they stopped at a red light, he turned a little in his seat. “I think they're a student. I need to know where students from the art school get their shit.”

“And you just assume I know that?” Hoseok sighed heavily, passing the paint can back to Namjoon who slipped it back into his jacket pocket.

“I mean I thought you could help.” Namjoon faced front again, waiting for the light to change. “After all there’s a cash reward for the person who helps find him.”

“How much?” Hoseok was interested suddenly. He'd set up the van tomorrow.

“A half a million won.”

“Take a right here. I know the place.”

The store was small, tucked away in an alley. It made sense, it was right by campus and the prices were sufficiently lower than the larger chain stores nearby. Namjoon approached the counter, pushing Hoseok who seemed set on trying a good cop bad cop routine on this innocent store owner. Not happening. The owner was a stout man, late fifties. Thinning hair and round glasses. Friendly. A welcoming smile.

“Good evening, gentlemen. What can I do you for?”

“We need some information regarding a potential customer of yours.” Namjoon showed the man his badge, earning a curt nod. “We believe he's a student at the art school.”

“I’m sorry, detective. Students make up most of my clientele here.” The old man looked almost sad.

“He uses spray paint. He's a graffiti artist.” The old man opened his mouth again to speak when Namjoon handed him the paint can. “Can you tell us anything?”

The old man frowned a little, looking down at the can. His eyes lit up then, moving the can closer to his face to read the name of the shade on the lid. Namjoon looked at Hoseok, sharing the same hopeful expression. The man knew something.

“There’s only one person who uses this shade, I have to order it in.” The old man explained, grabbing a heavy book from under the counter. He opened it, flipping through the pages. “He has it delivered to his house. I sent the wrong shade once and he came by here. Real eerie kid. Made me nervous.”

“Do you have his name? His address?” The old man shook his head as he flipped through the book, squinting. Finally he stopped, running his finger down the page.

“The delivery boy has the address but he's visiting family back in Busan.” Namjoon's shoulders visually slumped, defeated. “What I do have is his name.”

Hoseok was practically vibrating in his seat as they drove away from the store, excitement brimming inside him. In another life Hoseok would have enjoyed being a detective, Namjoon thought to himself. But he chose the other side to get his kicks. Crime pays more. Namjoon held his phone to his ear as he drove, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. The second Taehyung answered he spoke, ignoring Taehyung's greeting.

“Taehyung, are you at the precinct? I need you to run a name for me.”

“What’s the name?” Namjoon could here the clicking of Taehyung’s mouse faintly.

“Jeon Jungkook.”

“Okay, hold on.” A clacking of his keyboard and a few moments of Taehyung’s breathing later he came back on the line. “Alright. Jeon Jungkook, twenty one years old. Pulled in on a misdemeanour a few years back. I’m sending his address to you now.”

“Thanks, Tae.” Namjoon beamed, Hoseok giving him a thumbs up. “When this is all over I'll make Seokjin hyung promote you.”

Namjoon ended the call and handed Hoseok his phone, telling him to pull up the address Taehyung had sent him. Hoseok was bouncing in his seat, thrilled with the turn of events, or more thrilled with the prospect of having a half million won in his wallet. Either way Namjoon was grateful for the enthusiasm. He set the GPS in Namjoon's phone and sat back, settling in for the drive.

“So. Taehyung.”

“No, Hoseok.”

“He’s got a nice voice.”

“He’s a nice guy.” Namjoon shit him a glare. “Too nice for you. And you are going to stay away from him.”

“We’ll see.”

The apartment block they pulled up to was empty. Not a single light on in any of the windows, the whole place vacant. Namjoon huffed in his seat, frustrated, pressing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. Another dead end. Unsurprising. That was just Namjoon's luck. Hoseok stepped out of the van and backed away from the building, squinting. Namjoon watched him for a moment, quirking an eyebrow when Hoseok turned to him, pointing a finger toward the rooftop.

“There’s a light.”

Getting out of the van, Namjoon took a breath to calm his nerves. He hadn’t thought this far ahead, and the kid could be dangerous. He looked to Hoseok and motioned with his head, making his way toward the steps that led up to the roof. “You stay behind me, alright? Don’t do anything until I give the go ahead.”

The look on Hoseok's face let Namjoon know that Hoseok wasn’t about to try anything, he looked terrified. Probably because he was realizing that he was about to come face to face with a child killer. Namjoon was scared too.

The rooftop was empty, a small brick building standing in the centre of it. There was nobody around, and a quick glance through the window revealed the building was empty, lived in, but empty. Pressing a finger to his lips, Namjoon waved to Hoseok, telling him to stay put as Namjoon dared inside.

The place was a shack. A kitchen come living space with a small bedroom and a tiny bathroom. Someone had been there, or was still there, steam still rising from the kettle on the shitty stove. Namjoon kept low, creeping through the place with his hand on his gun, ready to pull it out if needed. There was nobody inside, but the sound of tins clashing together told Namjoon there was someone outside. Namjoon followed the sound, careful not to let his presence be known. Through a doorway, Namjoon could see him, or at least the back of him, messing with paint cans on a wooden shelf. Namjoon mentally prepared himself, reaching out to pull himself up, and knocked over a glass. Shattering it.

For a beat there was nothing. Namjoon stopped breathing, internally berating himself for being such a clumsy asshole. Footsteps headed toward him, getting closer and closer, and Namjoon made a snap decision. He stood upright and charged, gripping the guy's shirt and shoving him back hard. The guy stumbled back, rubbing his chest where Namjoon had slammed his hands against him, curling in on himself.

It was him, Namjoon told himself. Certain. He couldn’t forget those eyes.

“Remember me?” Namjoon dared a step closer, watching as the kid looked up at him curious. Confused.

“Pu-public urination?” Namjoon had forgotten about that, fighting the flush of embarrassment threatening to rush over his cheeks.

“Detective Kim Namjoon. You are Jeon Jungkook.” Namjoon moved closer still, Jungkook backing up. “And I've got some questions for you.”

Tag list: @yoongi-bearr @triheartedhero @doriadoo @rosybabytae @spookidema

[my-one-love-is-music]

Letters From the Heart

This is my contribution to the @sheithbigbang!!

I’m so excited to finally post and there’s some totally awesome and radical artwork that goes with this that you can find here.

This fic is 28k so if you’d rather not sift through all of that on tumblr you can read it on AO3 here!

The first letter had been an accident. Well…finding it had been an accident, anyway. It was written and posted intentionally. Keith had just walked into his favorite diner-the best one in the city in his opinion-when he’d seen it. The envelope wasn’t anything extraordinary, just the simple white envelopes that you can buy in the store. And it wasn’t addressed to anyone specific, just had the words ‘For You’ scratched onto the front. If Keith had seen it anywhere else, he probably would’ve left it alone, but it caught his attention, looking so out of place among the local advertisements and photos that the owners of the diner had taken with customers whenever they felt like it or had someone notable person eat there.

“Hey Joe?” Keith called over his shoulder, still standing in front of the board.

“Yeah? Oh, Keith! What can I do for you?” he asked, grin pulling his mouth wide.

Keith pointed at the envelope with his thumb. “What’s this letter for?”

“Oh, that thing? This customer that we got today, real cool guy, he asked if he could leave a letter on the board for anyone that wanted to read it. It isn’t for anyone specific and he said that he leaves them wherever he goes. He said he was doing some travelling or something. Said his name was Shaun? Shane? Shiloh? Aw, hell, I don’t remember. You can read the letter. I’m sure Betty won’t mind.”

“Okay, thanks,” Keith said, already reaching forward and pulling the letter loose from where it had been taped up. He ran his fingers over the envelope as he walked over to the bar top and took a seat on one of the stools.

“Want the usual?” Joe asked as he settled down and let his bag fall to the floor next to his feet.

“Yeah, that’d be great.” He was hardly paying attention, already flipped the letter over and carefully lifting the flap from where it had been sealed shut mere hours ago. The action felt reckless somehow, like he was trespassing on something he shouldn’t be. Like he was touching something that didn’t belong to him. ‘For You’ the envelope had said, but how could it be for him. Why would someone leave something for him?

Keith held his breath as he pulled out the single sheet of paper that had been folded three times. He almost expected someone to burst through the doors of the diner and snatch the paper from his hands.

‘This isn’t yours!’ they’d say. ‘You’re not special enough to get a letter like this!’

But nothing happened. The only voice was the imaginary one ringing inside of his head and trying to convince him to stop what he was doing. He ignored it. Unfolding the letter and choosing to read instead.

 19 August 2014

Dear Stranger,

I never expected anyone to actually read one of my letters. I’ve been on my journey for more weeks than I can remember at this point and I haven’t had a single response sent to my P.O. Box in all of that time. I’m beginning to think that no one is ever going to read one of my letters. Or if they do, they simply have no interest in writing me back.

Now you may be wondering why exactly I’m leaving letters in seemingly strange places. I don’t find them strange at all. I choose the places where I leave my letters because they’ve brought an unexpected moment of brightness and happiness into my life. I leave one letter in every place that I visit and you’ve found this one.

Would you believe that I almost passed this diner by? And to think it was the place that became where I wrote this letter. The owners, Betty and Joe, welcomed me as soon as I stepped foot inside. I hadn’t felt so appreciated in so long that I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. They seem like the type of people who would have a house full of kids, but when I asked said they had none.

Said they couldn’t have any, which broke my heart. But that was why they opened the restaurant. So they could meet new people and have a family full of customers. It always proved to be a positive aspect of their daily life to have so many people around. Betty didn’t tell me his name, but apparently there’s one particular customer who she’s overly fond of. He comes in at least once a week and always orders the same thing, saying it’s his day to splurge since he has to keep an eye on his finances for school.

Are you this mysterious customer? Was I fortunate that you were the one to pick up my letter? I hope so. I hope that you found it when you came in and chose to open it. Or maybe several weeks have passed by the time you’ve picked up my letter and you’re just now reading my words as they speak to you from the past.

In any case, no matter who you are, I hope that you enjoy your meal at this wonderful diner that I hope to visit again one day. If you’ve never talked to them, say a few words to Betty and Joe or share a conversation with them. I know they’d appreciate it. And if you have anything you’d like to say back, you can send a letter to my P.O. Box.

Shiro

 A plate being set down in front of him startled Keith from what he was reading and he looked up to find Joe smiling down at him.

“Anything interesting in the letter?” he asked.

Keith looked back down at the paper, where this man’s name-Shiro-was scrawled at the bottom of the page. His handwriting was enticing. Could handwriting even be considered enticing? He wasn’t sure, but it captured his attention.

“Yeah, there’s some interesting stuff in here. This guy left an address for a P.O. Box in case anyone wants to write him back.” Reluctantly, he folded the letter and set it next to his plate before picking up a fry and popping it into his mouth.

“Are you?”

“Am I what?” he asked, pulling the tomato from the top of the burger. “Am I going to write him back? Why should I?”

Joe hummed. “You seemed pretty interested in what it said.”

“It was a letter from a stranger that was hanging up on the bulletin board in your diner. Of course I was interested in what it had to say. People don’t just go around leaving letters for other people to find.”

“I think you should write him back.”

“Why’s that?” Keith asked, picking up his burger.

Joe crossed his arms and leaned a hip up against the counter. “The guy seemed lonely. He could use a friend like you.”

He froze, mouth open comically wide as he was about to take a bite. He lowered his hands and leaned back, gaze slowly moving over to Joe.

There’s one particular customer who she’s overly fond of.

“A friend like…me?” Keith mumbled under his breath. “I’ll think about it. I guess.”

“Great!” The bell above the door dinged signalling the entrance of another customer. “Good afternoon! How can I help you today?”

Keith glanced down at the letter before returning his attention to his food. He would have time to think about that later. He said he’d think about it, not that he’d actually write him back. Almost petulantly, he thought that he didn’t owe anyone anything, especially this faceless person who’d left a letter in a small, practically unknown diner.

He thought that Joe’s eyes were going to burn a hole through the back of his head from where he was taking care of the other customers. He thought the letter that he’d stuffed in his backpack was going to burn a hole through his backpack and through the back of his shirt. He couldn’t stop thinking about it as he walked down the sidewalk back to his apartment. He knew that his roommates Hunk and Pidge would be out for the afternoon. He briefly thought that they were doing something with Lance, but couldn’t be bothered to try and remember exactly what that was.

He pushed through the door to his apartment and made his way to his room. Keith kicked off his shoes and set his backpack on his bed, pulling off his signature red jacket and leaving that over the back of his desk chair before sitting cross-legged in the middle of his bed. He pulled the letter out of his backpack and read over it again. His fingers itched. He felt like he needed to do something. Make a difference. Take a step. The first plunge. He hadn’t felt like this in a long time.

Almost reluctantly, he pulled his notebook from his backpack and a black pen. He flipped past all of the notes and work from his classes and settled on a blank page. His eyes darted between the letter and the blank page and he bit his lip. Releasing a heavy breath, he put his pen to the paper and let his scratchy handwriting slowly begin to fill the page.

 19 August 2014

Dear Shiro,

In the years that I’ve known Betty and Joe, I had no idea that they wanted kids so badly and that was their reason for opening their diner. Now that I think about, I feel like I don’t know too much about them, but they’ve always been there for me and listened to what I had to say. They always had an interest in my life which actually took me off guard the first time that I paid them a visit. I really do care for them and enjoy seeing them every week.

Joe was the one who told me to respond to your letter after I picked it up and read through it. I find it hard to believe that you haven’t gotten a response yet. I feel like this is the kind of thing that anyone else would’ve jumped at the chance to do. It’s not every day that you get to communicate with a complete stranger who’d just decided to leave a letter in your local diner.

Why do you leave letters? Why did you start this? Where did you come from and where are you going? You said that you couldn’t remember how long you’ve been on your journey. So is there something that you’re searching for?

There’s probably something that we’re all searching for. For me, I think it would be something along the lines of a steady job after college that will allow me to live comfortably. Life hasn’t been the easiest and I’d like to have some form of security. I’m not even sure why I’m telling you this, but maybe you’ll find interest in it. An interest in me.

And now, I’m rambling. Can you ramble on paper? I suppose you can since I just did.

Keith

 He sat back and stared over the paper that was now filled with his words. He felt ridiculous. Why would this person care to know more about him? Maybe Shiro didn’t even want anyone to respond to his letters, thinking that they would easily just be something that he could leave around and forget about.

Letting his pen fall on top of his notebook, Keith scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed. Was he really so desperate for some sort of change or excitement that he was willing to write a letter to a complete stranger? For all he knew this Shiro guy could be a complete creep! But…there was something about the way he talked about Joe and Betty that spoke to him and the care he obviously took with crafting his letter.

Grumbling to himself, Keith carefully tore the sheet of paper from his notebook and folded it up. He pushed himself from the bed and pulled an envelope from his desk drawer, stuffing the letter inside before carefully copying down the P.O. Box address on the outside of the envelope and leaving his own return address in the corner. He stuck his last stamp on the outside of the envelope and hurriedly stuffed his feet back into his shoes.

He felt ridiculous for writing the thing and still felt ridiculous as he hurried down the steps to the mailbox outside. But he knew that if he waited any longer, he would completely lose his nerve and wouldn’t be able to send it at all. He shoved it through the flap and felt a dawning sense of horror as it disappeared into the dark depths within. He spun on his heel and practically sprinted back to his apartment, looking nothing short of a madman, before falling heavily on his bed and throwing an arm across his face once he got to his room.

“God, I’m so stupid. This is so ridiculous. I can’t believe I’m sending this complete stranger a letter. Like, who does that?!” Keith growled and rolled over so his face was buried into the sheets. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.” This sense of embarrassment was never going to leave him. He was doomed to this forever. He might as well just end himself know to keep from suffering further.

“Keeithhh! We’re back!” Pidge shouted as the front door was pushed open.

“And we brought dinner,” Hunk added happily.

He tilted his head to the side so his voice wouldn’t be muffled by his blanket. “I’m fine thanks. I just got back from the diner.” He heard them murmur something in the kitchen but couldn’t make it out due to the distance they were from his room. He sighed and let his head fall back into the blankets.

“You could at least come out here and hang out with us. We haven’t seen you all day. We haven’t really seen a lot of each other so far this-what are you doing?” Pidge asked, obviously confused.

He tried to send a glare at her over his shoulder. “Can’t I just lie in bed in peace?” he grumbled.

Pidge crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame. “No. What’s up? Things can’t have gotten that bad yet, we just started the semester.”

“You’re not going to leave me alone until I give you the story are you?”

“Nope,” she said and grinned.

Keith sighed and slowly pushed himself up and out of bed. “I might as well come in there with you then since I’m sure you’ll go off and tell Hunk anyway.”

“Sweet. Hey Hunk! Something’s up with Keith and we’re gonna get the details!”

“Cool, cool. Does this mean dinner has to wait or-“

“Nah, he’s coming in here with us.”

Keith followed her back down the hallway and sat down heavily in one of their kitchen chairs. Hunk already had the various Chinese takeout cartons open and spread out on the table. He filled a plate quickly and handed it to Keith who took a bite of the food and watched his friends settle down as well.

“Alright, spill,” Pidge said around a mouthful of food.

“Well I went to the diner this afternoon like I usually do and apparently this guy had come in earlier and left a letter. Joe said that he’d talked to them and just wanted to leave it in case anyone wanted to read it. So Joe told me to take the letter and I thought that there was nothing wrong with at least reading it and apparently this guy has left letters in all of these places that he’s travelled to and says that whoever reads them is welcome to write back and send it to the P.O. Box listed at the end of the letter.”

“You totally wrote a letter to this guy, didn’t you?” Pidge asked, ruefully.

Keith felt himself flush and stared down at the plate in his hands. “I-yeah. I wrote him back and I feel ridiculous and stupid.”

“What’s the worst that could happen? He doesn’t write you back?” Hunk broke in. “Or, I suppose he could come and stalk your return address and be this weird creepy guy and we all get murdered in the middle of the night and all of our things get stolen.”

“Thank you, Hunk. For that wonderful mental image that makes me regret doing this even more.”

Pidge waved away his concern. “I’m sure nothing like that is going to happen. I do agree with the first part of what Hunk said in that the worst thing that could happen is you don’t get a reply. You didn’t even meet this guy in person anyway. He might not even be interested in exchanging letters. He might be under the assumption that no one is ever going to write him back so he leaves these letters as a form of therapy.”

“You could be right,” Keith said hesitantly. The thought of Shiro never writing him back made his heart feel heavy. He didn’t know what he expected from the interaction, but it was sort of thrilling: talking to someone who he’d never met before. The guy seemed nice in any case and Betty and Joe had liked him so that was reassuring.

“Of course I could be. I’m Pidge,” she said, shoving a spoonful of rice into her mouth.

Her voice pulled him back from his thoughts and he looked up at his friends. He didn’t have time to dwell on this now and would just have to put it out of his mind. Maybe he’d get a letter back and maybe he wouldn’t. There was no way of knowing just yet.

~~

As classes and university obligations picked up and Keith found himself bombarded with assignments, he quickly forgot about the letter and about Shiro. His first envelope that he’d picked up in the diner had gotten shoved somewhere in his desk or maybe it had ended up in the trash, but it wasn’t anywhere nearby he knew that.

Then the second letter came.

He’d just walked through the door of the apartment when a blur of green barrelled into him. He stumbled backwards and into the hard wood of the door.

“Ow! Pidge what the hell?!” he exclaimed, looking down at the person that was currently occupying his arms.

“Look! Look!” she said excitedly and shoved a letter into his face.

Keith glared at her, but took the envelope from her hands. The fact that it was addressed to him was obvious but the familiar scrawl had his eyes whipping to the top left-hand corner of the envelope where the address that he’d only written once before had been scratched out again.

“He wrote back?” he asked.

“Open it! Open it!” Pidge said excitedly.

“Why are you so excited about this?” he asked as he unconsciously held the envelope to his chest. It felt private somehow. Like whatever was inside belonged to him.

“Because, I want to know more about your mystery man.”

“You make it sound as though I’m having some sort of indecent affair with him,” Keith commented, pushing past her so he could walk over to the couch and sit.

“For all I know that’s what this could turn into,” she huffed, joining him on the couch.

He rolled his eyes and flipped the letter over, carefully sliding his finger under the flap to pull apart the adhesive. He was surprised that this letter seemed to be longer than the one before it, but he supposed that was to be expected when Shiro was writing to an actual person rather than the void, unsure if someone was even going to pick up his letter, let alone write back.

 31 August 2014

Dear Keith,

I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that I had a letter in my mailbox that wasn’t a bill or something else that I needed to take care of. I think part of the reason why you’re the first person to send me is a response might be that other people just haven’t noticed my letters and they remain where I’ve tacked them up, or people just aren’t interested enough to send me a response.

Why did I start leaving letters? I don’t really know actually… I think part of it was being lonely. It wasn’t too long after I started travelling so I think I might have been missing my friends. I haven’t been the best at keeping in contact with them. They have their own lives and I’m trying to figure out my own. When I started, I was searching for something, too. I was lost in a way, unsure of how to move forward.

I’m not sure if I’m oversharing with what I’m about to tell you. Well, write down and wait for you to read…but it all started five or sixth months ago I believe. My father died. He was in charge of a large corporation that’s been beyond successful. I hadn’t thought much of what I wanted to do after college and had already been out of school for almost a year. I’d been trying out different jobs, trying to find the right fit for me. It might not have been something I was entirely happy with, but as long as it wasn’t something I completely despised, I was okay for the moment.

So, my father died and suddenly, there was this added pressure. Some sort of expectation that I needed to take over the company. Go into the family business and take over where he left off. My mom supported that idea and just started asking me all of these questions. It all freaked me out. For one thing, my father just died and I hadn’t even had time to grieve yet and was already being asked to make a huge life decision that would affect me for the rest of my life. I didn’t even know that much about the business! My father didn’t offer much information when he was at home and I never thought to ask because it always seemed like he would be there to take care of it and I’d be doing something else.

Can you honestly say that if you were just a year out of college and suddenly expected to run a huge million-dollar business on your own, that you wouldn’t freak out a little bit? Sorry…I’m not trying to sound harsh or anything, I just get worked up and anxious whenever I have to think about it. It’s better if I don’t have to think about it. And it’s not like you’re the one who’s here trying to convince me to accept this position. I’d rather just leave it to the other business heads while I get more experience under my belt.

I don’t think that I’m entirely against the possibility of heading this company, I’m just not sure that I’m ready for it yet.

As for rambling on paper, I’m very sure that you can do it, because I don’t think I can call what I wrote anything other than rambling. And I do have an interest in you. You’re the first person to ever write me back, so how could I not be interested in the person behind the pen?

I can’t begin to imagine what circumstances you’ve been through if life hasn’t been that easy and what you’re searching for is a steady job to offer you some security. Do you want to take over a company? That’ll inflate your bank account really quickly. If you’re comfortable sharing, would you mind telling me more? I’d love to get an idea of who you are as a person and what makes you say the things you do. I’d really like to read anything that you have to say, even if it’s just something simple like how your day went or the asshole that cut you off while walking down the street.

Write back soon.

Please.

Shiro

 Keith’s emotions came one after the other as he read through Shiro’s words. He felt sadness at the possibility that this kind man lost his father and then felt so lost himself that he needed to leave letters to strangers who might not even write back. His words were so brutally honest that they seemingly cut straight through his soul, hitting him in the most intimate way possible. And when Shiro had apologized for the tone that his writing took, he couldn’t blame him for being defensive. If anything, it was further proof how much he was hurting and scared of his future and what might happen if he made the wrong choice.

He flushed when he reached Shiro’s statement that he was interested in him and became aware of Pidge’s presence at his side, reading the words with him. He only hoped that she wouldn’t make a huge deal out of it. He didn’t want to have to deal with that kind of wrath, not to mention the fact that she would probably use the statement and information to embarrass him later on.

And then there was the fact that Shiro wanted to know more about him. That he’d so easily seen through Keith’s seemingly meaningless words and the hint of what really lay beneath it all. It was a vulnerable topic, but Shiro had bared his soul for him and given him details of his own situation. This was turning into a peculiar relationship indeed.

“So are you gonna do it?” Pidge asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

“Do what?” he asked.

“Write him back, of course!” she answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Of course I’m going to write him back,” Keith said, rolling his eyes. “I can’t just let his questions go unanswered, especially when he doesn’t have anyone else to talk to.”

Pidge gave him an analytical look and he had to repress a shiver that she was somehow sifting through his thoughts. “He has friends,” she said slowly.

“You read what he wrote. He hasn’t exactly been talking to them,” he huffed. Pidge looked at him again and he pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll be in my room if you need me,” he said without a backward glance.

Keith closed his door behind him and grabbed his notebook and a pen from his desk before settling down in the middle of his bed. He spread Shiro’s letter out in front of him and let his eyes roam over the neat writing. He sighed and flipped to a blank piece of paper. He had so many things that he wanted to put down, but didn’t know how to begin.

 3 September 2014

Dear Shiro,

 He tapped his pen against the paper, looking over those two words. It was just a simple greeting, but it felt like it already meant so much. There was so much of him. So much he could tell. But where should he start? And how much would Shiro really want to know? From what he’d read, Keith could tell that he was a kind-hearted person, or seemed kind-hearted. But how far did that actually extend? What if there were things that he couldn’t find himself accepting about Keith? What if he rejected him for the experiences that he’d gone through or rejected parts of him?

He guessed that’s why he should share. Perhaps it was time to brush off the fear of opening up to someone else and just let it happen. And if it did all go horribly wrong, the chances of Keith meeting Shiro in person were incredibly slim and the only thing he would be missing would be a letter and the possibility of a new acquaintance. Keith wasn’t ready to consider him a friend yet. They’d only exchanged two letters after all.

With a sigh he started writing.

 I’m sorry to hear about your dad. I don’t know what else I can offer, but I think that I can kind of understand the pain that you must be experiencing. Especially since no one really gave you time to grieve properly.

I’m glad that you trusted me enough to share such personal details and I can honestly say that if I was faced with the prospect of taking over a million-dollar company with so little work or business experience, I would be scared shitless. That honestly sounds like a nightmare. The money would be good, but doing that all on your own? Without having any support? I couldn’t imagine anything worse.

Your mom sounds like she’s invested in the company. Is there any way that she could handle the business dealings in your place? Possibly have her run it until you have decent work experience or feel ready to take over?

I do think that you should get in contact with your friends. If you were missing them, then they were probably missing you just as much. And no matter what they’re doing with their lives, I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.

I think that we’ve both already agreed that rambling on paper is possible. And since you were kind enough to answer my questions and give me an idea of who you are, I’ll try and do the same. If I can get my thoughts organized enough to put anything down on paper.

For most of my life, I grew up on my own. I lost my parents when I was pretty young. My mom first, and then my dad. I have more memories of my dad since his death happened when I was a little older. From there I was taken into the system. First, it was the orphanage. I wasn’t at the first one too long before I got in trouble and had to be moved. I didn’t really have any friends in either of those places before I was taken into foster care.

The system was constantly shifting me around because I’d get in trouble at whatever school I was at or the people I was living with didn’t like me. They wanted me to be more involved, but I found it hard to think of them as my family when I already had my family. I wasn’t sure how to adapt after losing both of my parents. My whole world was upended because I didn’t have anything else to orient myself with.

Keith hesitated, wondering if he should really go into detail about all of his experiences. He sighed. He was already this far into his shitty childhood, might as well go all the way and send Shiro screaming for the hills.

 And then there were the homophobic assholes I got placed with. That obviously didn’t become a problem until I was a teenager and realized I was gay, but some people weren’t too happy when they found out. After it happened a couple of times I tried to be discreet. I never brought boys home or anything since I never had a boyfriend, but they somehow always knew I guess.

It wasn’t until I aged out of the system that things changed for the better. I got a job and started working my way through college and thankfully met my current roommates: Hunk and Pidge. I have less of a financial burden and great friends to be around. I’m just waiting to finish my degree this year and then I can get to work and finish paying off school.

That’s really all there is to me, I guess. Hopefully I haven’t scared you off with all of this wonderful and pleasant information about my life.

Keith

 He folded the paper three times and pushed himself out of bed to grab an envelope from his desk. He only had a few left and would need to stock up on more stamps, too. He grabbed Shiro’s letter and scratched out the address to his P.O. Box before stuffing the sheet of paper inside and sealing it shut. He wrote out his return address and stuck a stamp onto the envelope before grabbing his keys and hurrying through his bedroom door and to their apartment door.

“Did you write back?” Pidge asked, perking up from where she’d been moping on the couch.

“Yeah, I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” he said.

“Keith’s got a boyfriend! Keith’s got a boyfriend!” she snickered.

“Shut up, Pidge! He’s not my boyfriend.”

“What is he, then?” she challenged.

“Just someone who I write to, that’s it. We barely know each other, anyway.”

“But you waNT TO GET TO KNOW HIM BETTER!” she shouted as he shut the door on her. If only the wood had been thick enough to block out her voice. Just because he wanted to get to know him better, didn’t mean anything more than that. He had his friends and that was enough for him.

~~

The third letter came with much less ceremony than the last two. It was actually Hunk who handed it over to Keith this time, even though Pidge had done nothing short of practically recount everything surrounding the last letter. She’d even run into Keith’s room and grabbed it from his bed before he could stop her in order to show Hunk. Keith had been a little annoyed at that since it was something close to Shiro and he assumed that he didn’t want everyone to know about his personal struggles or what he was going through. Keith knew that he wouldn’t want Shiro showing his letter to all of his friends.

“This came in the mail for you today. Don’t worry, I haven’t let Pidge anywhere near it since she was gone this morning when it came. I’m sure she’s going to be pretty disappointed when she finds out that you got another letter and didn’t show her. Make sure to keep it in a safe place so she can’t find it. Or keep your door locked. Actually…do both. This is Pidge we’re talking about,” Hunk said with a fond smile.

“Thanks, Hunk. And if Pidge does anything that we expect of her, she’ll probably manage to create a device that can manage to detect letters and find this wherever I hide it,” he said, laughing. He looked down at the envelope, wanting to rip it open and pour over the words that Shiro had written back at him. Delve into what he’d decided to share this time and if it was as heart-breaking as the last.

Or maybe it was him deciding that he didn’t want to write to Keith anymore because of what he’d told him in his last letter. He felt his nerves bubble up again and his old fears re-emerge. They’d been mostly silent once he’d put his letter out of his mind. And even when he had thought about when he might hear back, he hadn’t fixated on the contents of his own letter, simply wondered what Shiro was going to tell him and if he’d share tales of his travels.

“Go and open it,” Hunk said, pulling him from his thoughts. “I know that you want to and I’m sure that whatever he wrote is going to be fine.”

Keith looked up at Hunk who was watching him closely and looking slightly exasperated. He smiled at his friend. “Thanks, Hunk.”

Hunk waved him off and turned back to the kitchen. “Dinner should be ready in about an hour when Pidge gets back from her lab so you might want to be done by then or at least have found a sufficient hiding place for it.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll find somewhere to keep it,” he threw over his shoulder as he headed to his room. He shut hid door behind him softly and toed off his boots, setting his backpack down next to them. As was quickly becoming the norm with Shiro’s letters, he grabbed his notebook and a pen and settled himself down in the middle of his bed, legs crossed, and letter held tightly in his hands.

He took a deep breath and flipped it over, making quick work of where it was sealed. Keith pulled the sheet of paper out and undid the folds, looking over Shiro’s neat handwriting once again, happy that it was long and looked less like a rejection and more a general sharing of information.

 13 September 2014

Dear Keith,

Exactly! I’m glad someone understands how intimidating it can be being offered a huge company to run when I’m still so young. I know that I’ve been pretty good at excelling in school and have high achievements that my parents had no problems boasting about, but even though I’ve done so well in the past, I can’t always be expected to be perfect and take on new challenges without batting an eye. Maybe if I had you here with me it wouldn’t be so bad. I think the two of us could make a pretty good team running the company.

Right now my mom is working on running the company since I’ve been off doing my own thing and trying to work through everything that I need to. The last time that we spoke to each other, which was right after I read your letter, she was fine with taking on the responsibilities at the moment, but she still expects me to come around and take up my father’s position sooner, rather than later.

I also decided to get into contact with my friends after your urging and I’m really glad that I did. They were, unsurprisingly, really mad at me for taking so long to talk to them, but they’re also really happy that I’m actually taking some time for myself after my dad’s death. I hope you don’t mind, but I told them about you and the letters that we’ve been sending back and forth. I don’t know about you, but the short communication that we’ve had so far has been helpful for me in moving forward and taking on the challenges that I’ve needed to face.

My friends-Allura and Coran-think that what you’re doing is good and can tell that it’s helping me even if they are a little suspicious of this stranger that I’m writing to. I managed to put a few of their worries at ease when I told them that you only knew the address to my P.O. Box and no other incriminating information about me so I’m really hoping that you don’t turn out to be a mass-murdering stalker, because I don’t feel like being lectured by those two after I die.

 Keith laughed at Shiro’s easy humor, only then realizing that reading his words had brought a smile to his face. One that quickly disappeared when he moved on to the next topic.

 Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me some of the details of your upbringing. I can’t imagine what it was like being raised in the system and being forced to move between so many families at such different ages. And the fact that people didn’t want you because of who you are, both personality and sexuality-wise.

When is the day going to come when people don’t have to keep that a secret? Why can’t we all just live our lives how we want without worrying about being discriminated against? It’s honestly so unjust and probably why I was unhappy during some of my teen years.

 Keith’s heartrate picked up as he read over Shiro’s words. He didn’t want to let himself believe for one minute that what he was implying was actually true, but you didn’t live the life that Keith did and not learn to read between the lines.

 As you may have guessed, I’m also gay. I was worried about coming out to my family for years because being Asian and being gay is something that’s looked down upon, I guess? It’s a different kind of homophobia that’s rooted in the pressures of marrying a woman and having kids in order to further the family name.

When I finally came out to my family, I could tell that they were hesitant to accept it at first, but did manage to put their prejudices and expectations aside for me. I told them that if they were that concerned about having grandkids that wasn’t entirely out of the question even though I’m not sure I’ll ever really be ready to have a family, especially with how scared the idea of taking over my dad’s company makes me.

Keith, I’m sure there’s more to you than just what you’ve told me. If that was all, I doubt that you would’ve taken the chance to write me back and continued to write to me. Hell, if that was all, you probably wouldn’t even be reading this now. And if you even begin to think that what you’ve told me is going to scare me off, then you’ve got another thing coming. I’ve finally got someone who I feel I can tell anything to and there’s no way I’m just going to give you up that easily.

Plus, I want to know what else is hiding behind your tight-lipped nature. I may have some of the details on what your childhood was like, but I’d like to know more about what you do in your free time. Maybe what your favorite movie or T.V. show is or if you did something fun with your friends (who sound like great people by the way).

Your letters have become the reason that I’ve made regular trips to my P.O. Box and spent shorter periods of time travelling. I’ll be waiting for your reply.

Shiro

 Keith stared at the paper in front of him until the words blurred together because he wasn’t focusing on them anymore. He wasn’t sure if this letter was longer than the last one or not, but it definitely held a certain amount of feeling and importance above the others. Shiro had accepted Keith. He didn’t know everything about him, but his upbringing in the system and his sexuality hadn’t been issues for him. He’d practically taken them in stride, from what Keith could tell from a letter anyway, and had even been honest enough to share his own orientation.

He scrambled to flip his notebook open to a clean page and ripped the pen cap off of his pen, heedless of where it was flung in the process. He wished that he had a quicker way of contacting Shiro, because he really wanted to hear back from him a lot sooner than what it normally took for their communications to go back and forth.

 17 September 2014

Dear Shiro,

I’m glad that things are going good for you right now. And that you got into contact with your friends. I’m sure that my friends would be mad at me too if I just decided to fuck off to who knows where and not let them know where I was going or what I was doing. And I don’t mind that you told them about me, my friends know about you, too. And I can guarantee, although I’m not sure how credible this will be coming from someone who’ve you’ve never met, that I am not a murdering stalker. I am but a lowly college student trying to graduate and get a job.

And if you want to partner up and run your dad’s company together, I’d be more than happy to have a steady source of income as long as I wouldn’t be doing everything myself and could equally share the blame with someone else if things were suddenly to go wrong. Not that I’m saying they would, I think I’m pretty responsible, but unexpected things always have a chance of happening. (I’m not selling myself too well, am I?)

I don’t really have a favorite movie, but I like to watch anything sci-fi and space related and scary movies. I usually can’t convince Pidge or Hunk to watch scary movies with me, but they’re both always up for sci-fi which means that whenever Halloween rolls around, I do my best to hog the T.V. and watch as many movies that are being aired as possible, even if a lot of them are older ones or B-rated films that really aren’t good at all.

Since I didn’t have a lot of money as a kid and the foster families that I was with couldn’t really spend large amounts of money on each of the children they had in their care, I tried finding the least expensive hobbies possible. And that happened to be getting a library card and going through as many books that I could get my hands on as possible. I don’t have a large library of my own, but I still check-out books a lot when I have time that’s not dedicated to my homework assignments.

What about you? What do you like to do? Besides travel and run away from the responsibilities that life and people have forced onto you without your consent.

As much as I enjoy reading your handwritten letters, I can’t help but wonder if you’re just as impatient as I am when it comes to receiving a reply. I know that you said waiting for my letters is what drives you to return home, but would you be against a faster form of communication? Say, email? I know it’s probably not quite as personal, but it would also keep my friend, Pidge, from snooping around what you write to me and trying to take the envelopes from me. (I love her to death, but she can be a bit of a menace sometimes.

Anyway, if you want to communicate faster, I’m going to leave my email at the bottom of this letter and you’re more than welcome to contact me that way after you get this.

Keith

 He sat back and looked over everything that he’d written. True, it may have been a bit forward of him to propose something like that, but he couldn’t help but think that the two of them already knew each other so well. He just hoped that this didn’t play into the murdering, stalker type that Shiro’s friends thought he was.

“Keith you better not be asleep! Hunk says dinner’s just about ready so get your ass out-“

Keith looked up as his door got shoved open, leaving Pidge to stop in mid-sentence with a hand on her hip, looking at him. Her eyes widened slightly before narrowing.

“You got another letter and you didn’t tell me?!”

“Shit.” Keith scrambled to collect his own letter and what Shiro had given him as Pidge made to leap onto his bed and take the papers from his hands. He fell out of his bed and hit the floor with all the grace of a new-born giraffe on roller skates and pushed himself to his feet to run from the room, seconds ahead of Pidge.

“Come on, Keith! Don’t be like that! I only want to see what your boyfriend wrote you back!”

He raced into the kitchen and around the dining table, facing off with Pidge where she stopped across from him. “No way in hell. And he’s not my boyfriend.”

“I told you to hide that before she got back,” Hunk grumbled from where he was pulling a glass casserole dish from the oven.

“Hunk knew?! Why didn’t you tell me??” she whined.

“Because it’s none of your business,” Keith said, quickly folding up the letters and stuffing them down his shirt.

Pidge growled before sprinting around the side of the table. Keith evaded her easily and ran back towards the living room, vaulting over the couch and sprinting down the hallway back to his bedroom. He heard Pidge curse behind him, but was fast enough to lock his door behind him to keep her out.

“You can try and wait me out in there, Keith, but I will read those letters if it’s the last thing that I do,” she said, rattling the door handle.

Keith laughed, a little hysterically if he was being honest, but he was more amused by the whole ridiculousness of this situation. Shiro as his boyfriend, huh? He shook his head. There was no way that was going to happen, regardless of whether the idea appealed to him or not.

“I’m going to eat this casserole whether you’re out here or not so if you want it, sit your asses down at this table,” Hunk called from the kitchen.

Keith grinned and pushed off the door. Now he just needed to find a place where Pidge wouldn’t think to look…

~~

After sending off the previous letters, Keith had been able to forget about them and move on with his life. He’d gotten back to school and his job and life had gone on as it normally did. Even Pidge became more reserved during these periods because she didn’t have something new to pester Keith about. Although after the last letter that he’d gotten, she’d been ruthless in trying to find where he’d stashed them. She’d still been unsuccessful and he was pretty proud of being able to keep her out of them. What was in those letters was between him and Shiro and he didn’t think anyone else should see the words and details that he was trusting Keith with.

This time, he was nervous. He didn’t know if he should expect to get a handwritten letter back or if something was going to pop up in his inbox. More often than not, he’d inadvertently end up staring at his empty inbox, not really seeing it, but sort of waiting for something to appear. Only when he’d resolutely come to the decision that he was going to stop doing that, was he met with a relieved sight.

 Takashi Shirogane

2:33 PM 30 September 2014

Dear Keith,

I was a little surprised by your request to switch over to email because I never thought that someone else could be as invested in these letters as I was, but I was actually really pleased. It would always make me nervous with how long it took me to get around to reading and responding to your letters. I was worried that I would miss one or it would get taken or maybe you would think that I was ignoring you and didn’t actually want to talk to you. And this way, too, I can access my email wherever I go and stay connected with you.

Did that sound creepy? I hope that didn’t sound creepy. I’m really trying not to be right now. And I think that it’s safe for me to assume that you are not, in fact, a murdering stalker, which my friends and I both appreciate very much.

I also wouldn’t mind running my dad’s company if I had a partner with you by my side. I may not know anything about your qualifications or work experience, but you seem like a hard worker in any case and it would make things so much easier to have someone who I trust and could confide in without having to seem like I’m in utter control of anything. Because anyone who say’s they are in control of everything that’s going on in their life at all times is a liar!

I do love sci-fi movies. I’m willing to give a scary movie or horror flick a try, but more often than not I’d just rather not watch them. I guess Halloween is sort of an exception though, because it just seems necessary. How could you go through the month of October and not watch at least one horror movie that was being aired on T.V. when they’re practically on all of the channels? The B-rated films are always good for a laugh anyway if you don’t want to watch something too scary.

What do I like to do? I like to go stargazing or camping. It’s nice to get out of the city and look up at the sky and see all of the little points of light that are just shining down on us. It’s amazing to think about how far that light has had to travel to reach us and the possibility that the stars that it’s come from may not exist anymore.

I also like to read. I had access to a pretty big library at home as a kid, but I liked going to the library, too. It had more of the books that I was actually interested in and not just what my parents thought was suitable to provide the house with. A lot of times I asked for books for Christmas too and started to build up my own personal library that I could go back to whenever I wanted.

Travelling has been such a great experience for me. It’s something that I genuinely think I needed to do with all of the pressure that built up and I know I’m probably just repeating myself at this point. If you’re able, I think that you should go on a trip. Even if it’s just a short one to a different city or state. Give yourself a chance to experience things before you have to start working. Or get a job that will let you travel and gain those experiences even as you make money.

If Pidge does manage to get her hands on my letters, I’m okay with that. Yes, there is some personal information in there about me, but I trust you and she is your friend. I think it would be worse if you were posting everything that I’ve written online or sharing it with the world. You’re not right? I don’t mean to doubt you or your integrity, but you did say that you weren’t a murdering stalker. You didn’t alleviate my worries about anything else that you might do.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Shiro

 Keith smiled as he reached the end of Shiro’s email. He tucked his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling, taking a moment to just appreciate that he got to talk to this man and joke with him and write to him about his life and what was going on with him. And that he got to listen to and read about Shiro’s experiences. He thought about everything that had already happened this semester and that more often than not, the thought of Shiro and hearing from him, helped to keep his stress in check and gave him a point in the future to look forward to and not just the looming thought of graduation in May.

Smiling, Keith leaned forward and began typing out his reply.

 Keith

4:30 PM 30 September 2014

Dear Shiro,

I really didn’t think about the possibility of your letters getting lost or my letters getting lost for that matter. It is reassuring that you don’t need to worry about getting back to your P.O. Box to see if you’ve gotten a response from me now. Although, I’d hate to think that my letters were the only reason that you were going home at all. You shouldn’t feel the need to shut everyone out while you work through your own feelings. Trust me when I say that it won’t get you anywhere good, especially if you push your friends away.

Do I need to reassure you yet again that I’m not a murdering stalker? Because I’m not a murdering stalker. And your letters are safely tucked away in a spot that Pidge has not managed to find over the past two weeks. She’s still looking and is determined to find them, but I’m not about to let her.

I agree that no one could possibly be in control of their life at all times. I am envious of those people who seem to have everything about their life in order. That would be a nice change and feeling secure in life always helps.

Did you just offer me a job? Because I’m not sure how I feel about that. I mean, I wouldn’t mind coming out of college with a job lined up, but immediately stepping into the role at the top of a company with no business experience…isn’t that a little much? You did say yourself that you didn’t feel like you have the necessary experience either so I guess if anything, two people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing is bound to be better than one. We can have mutual freak-outs over the state of affairs together.

Do you really trust me? I know that we’ve shared some deep parts of ourselves that not many people have learned or know about, but beyond that we don’t know much about each other. I suppose these letters are rectifying that situation…

I guess I’m glad. That you feel like you can trust me. I think that I trust you too. As weird as this whole situation is. This weird situation that’s becoming less weird.

Okay, I take it back. We should go back to handwriting things, because my rambling is worse when I can type then when I’m writing things out with a pen and paper. And I can’t bring myself to delete some of the things that I’m typing even though I probably should.

Stargazing sounds like a dream. I’ve never managed to go camping but the few stars that can be seen sometimes during the summer are always great to stare at. I’m sure the sight is absolutely incredible when you’re out in the middle of the forest. Maybe that can be something that I do instead of the whole travelling thing.

Would I be able to travel as co-CEO of your family company? That might be a little extra incentive to get me to accept the job. And then we could put aside the electronic correspondence for good. Mostly. I’m sure we’d still have to send emails in the workplace, but you know what I mean.

What’s your view like? What are you looking at right now? Have you been able to see the stars recently or are you in the middle of a bustling city that keeps everything illuminated even when the Sun goes down?

Keith

 He sat back and hit send, comfortable enough at this point to not even bother reading over it to check for any mistakes that he might’ve made. He felt that Shiro would forgive him in any case and would end up making some of his own at some point in the future. He exited out of his email and pulled his backpack over to himself. It was time that he got started on his homework and with two weeks until mid-terms, he needed to stay on top of everything as much as possible.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

12:30 AM 5 October 2014

Dear Keith,

Sorry that it’s been a few days since I got your email. I didn’t have access to wi-fi unless I wanted to pay for it and I wasn’t about to do that no matter how desperate I was to read over your email and respond to what you had to say.

Right now, I am looking out over a small town. The houses or no bigger than two floors and the road is a narrow, paved lane that small cars are barely big enough to pass each other on. Children were playing in the street under the sunset earlier and kicking a ball back and forth, but they’ve all long gone to bed to get some rest before the next day. The street lamps are dull and have moths flying around their orange glow. Luckily, the beams aren’t powerful enough and I can still get a pretty good view of the stars, although it’s still not as great as what I’ve seen while camping.

I’m doing my best to keep my friends close, so please don’t worry. I call them when I can. I just don’t get to visit and won’t get to go out to eat with them for a while. I hate to think of where you must’ve been in life to push your friends or those around you away. I’m sorry, even though I don’t know what I’m apologizing for.

Now that I’ve seen this side of you, I don’t think that I’d be able to go back to handwriting things. You seemed pretty flustered after your rambling and I can’t help but wonder if that’s a reflection of who you actually are. Maybe one day I’ll be able to find out. Maybe we can both run the company together. It seems less scary and less like a challenge with the thought of you there. And you probably would be able to travel with that kind of job.

We could travel together. I could show you some of my favorite places that I’ve been, too. We could go camping and stargazing and I could teach you all about the constellations. When I was a kid, I used to want to be an astronaut. Have I told you this already? I don’t know, but I’m going to tell you anyway. When I was a little kid, I wanted to be an astronaut.

I thought that I could go out and explore space and it would be wonderful and magical and the best job in the world. I fell in love with that side of science in school and studied it whenever I could. I would read books and look up articles about the latest technology. It was all so cool and I wanted to share it with everyone. But being an astronaut is not always what the parents want and it wasn’t what my parents had in mind for me.

So I’m not an astronaut. I’m a traveller. I’m trying to figure out who I am and I think that I’m coming a little bit closer with each letter that I send to you and each letter that I get back. Well, email now. It’s hard to believe that it’s already October. Halloween is coming up at the end of the month. Have you started watching any of the horror movies that have been shown on T.V.? I haven’t. Haven’t really had much access to T.V.

But it’s been nice. Nice to unplug and get away from it all and just focus on contacting you when I had the chance and got around to finding a computer.

I do trust you. And I look forward to your letters. Even if you were my co-CEO, I think that I would still email. Or maybe I’d go back to handwritten correspondence and leave the letters on your desk. I would know that they would make it to you that way. And then we could grab some coffee. Or share a lunch break.

I can almost visualize the two of us sitting in one of our offices and panicking. No one else would know. They’d probably just think that we’re having a meeting, but we’re really sitting around, crying and eating ice cream. Will you let me hire you now? Because I wouldn’t mind turning this into a reality.

I’ve told you what my view is like, but what’s yours? Have you made it back to the diner recently? I hope that Betty and Joe are doing well. I’d love to come back and visit with them one day and thank them for convincing you to take the letter and write me back.

All the best,

Shiro

 Keith

10:59 PM EST 8 October 2014

Dear Shiro,

It’s been a few days for me since I read your email and you’ll know why when I let you know what my view has been like. I’ve been met with nothing but the inside of textbooks and my handwritten notes that have been scratched into notebooks. I’ve been working to dissect everything and commit it to memory now that mid-terms are coming up. There have been a few times when I’ve manged to pull my head out of the books and from my studies and appreciated the colors that are coming to life now that autumn is in full swing.

I haven’t had as much time to watch horror movies as I would like, but I’m able to squeeze in one every now and then when I’ve got a chance during the weekend or want to take a break from my mid-terms.

I fear that the topic of me becoming one of the CEOs of your family’s company is going to maintain itself as a staple in our emails. I’m not complaining, but just send the paperwork my way and I can have it back to you pretty quickly. The earliest I’ll be able to start is the end of May so if you need to interview me at any time, we have about half a year to have that arranged.

I would need to know your intentions rather soon, however. I’m thinking about getting a second job to make a little more money and ensure that I have the funds to establish myself when I do graduate. It’s not too much work and I’m not as stressed I could be seeing as it is my last year of school. I just want to be able to pay the initial rent and deposit on whatever apartment I decide to get, if I don’t continue living in the same one I have been. I’ll also need money if I have to move and buy furniture and clothes. Those suits don’t exactly come cheap.

I’m glad that you’re staying in contact with your friends. I’d love to meet them some day. And the more you talk about the two of us in the office together, the more I picture myself and some faceless person crying. It’s not the most reassuring picture, but it’s what I’ve got to work with and I’m sure that you have the same dilemma.

You don’t have any reason to apologize for the events that are in the past. They’re locked in time and they don’t have any power over me anymore. I’ve come this far in life and I’m entirely happy with where I’ve gotten.

And I have gone back to the diner. I go there at least once a week and pay them a visit. They’re pleased that I’ve been in contact with you and they would appreciate it if you ever did decide to pay them a visit again, but they understand that you’re busy traveling the world and probably don’t have much time for two small-time restaurant owners. I tried to tell them that they were wrong, but they wouldn’t believe me.

How often do you move from place to place? How often does your view change? Have you been able to look at the stars recently? I wouldn’t mind being educated on the constellations one of these days, but I might not have the chance to swing a camping trip until after I graduate. Which is where you come in Shiro, I need to know if I need to start planning for some big move as a new CEO.

Your friend(?)

Keith

 Keith smiled and hit send before returning to the various books that he’d spread out over his bed. This studying wasn’t going to get done by itself and he needed to maintain his grades even though it was his last year. Especially if he was suddenly going to become a CEO of a company that he knew nothing about.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

12:30 AM EST 19 October 2014

Dear Keith,

I know that the hour that I’m finally able to respond to your email is utterly ridiculous and it’s been far too long since you wrote me. I hope that you didn’t think that I’d forgotten you, because I haven’t. Far from it. I just have not been able to get wi-fi or access to a computer. I had to stay up to a ridiculous hour to use one at the hostel that I’m staying at since so many people needed to use it before me. I don’t know what they were all doing, but I’m sitting alone in a common area right now and enjoying that I can finally write you back.

My view has changed a few times since I last wrote. I moved from the small town that I was in before to a different small town and now I’m back in a large city. It was a little overwhelming to come back to a place that’s so densely populated, but this environment is reminiscent of home so I was able to adapt rather quickly. I have plans to make my way back towards my home and swing through to join my friends for dinner. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them and they’ve been very vocal about how much they miss me. And I miss them just as much.

I have the same image in my head as you described when I think of the two of us as co-CEOs. I can see my face rather quickly, but I’m with a faceless person. I don’t even have any idea of how to picture your clothes and what you might like to wear. So when I imagine it, it’s sort of like I can see myself clearly in a black suit, but I’m with this imageless blob that’s person-shaped. Probably not the most flattering thing for you to hear, but I could probably say worse.

I haven’t been able to do much stargazing, but I’m hoping that after I pass through my own city, I can head out and go camping for a few days. Now that it’s getting colder, I want to spend some time under the stars and next to a fire. I want to eat pre-packaged, dehydrated food and make s’mores. I want to sleep in a sleeping bag on the ground and listen to the sounds of nature around me.

I’ll work on scheduling that job interview for you as well. I hope that your mid-terms went well and that you’re handling your new job well. I’d rather you not experience any more stress than you have to, but that’s not always possible. I’m sure that by the time you graduate and get a new job, you’ll have more than enough money to establish yourself in a new place if you find yourself in that type of situation.

Can you believe that it’s been two months since our first correspondence? I’m amazed that we’ve come this far. Here’s to many more letters to come. I would look forward to visiting your city again and going to that diner. Maybe this time, we’ll end up there at the same time and be able to have a conversation in person. We could share a meal and talk to the owners and I could tell them that I’m glad that I was able to make it back. Maybe I can swing back through in a couple of months, when I’m sure my travels will inevitably come to an end.

I trust the statements that you’ve made that you’re not a murdering stalker so I’m going to go out on a limb here and attach a recent-ish photo of myself so that you have a face to put to the image of the two of us running a company together. Please don’t use it for any illegal activities or get me in trouble. I’m trusting you here, Keith.

Your friend,

Shiro

 Keith’s breath caught as he scrolled down to the bottom of the email. Shiro was nothing how he pictured him to be. He was handsome and young. It was strange, because he knew that Shiro was only a little older than him, but not having a face to put to the words just made everything less concrete. But now that he knew what he looked like, he wouldn’t mind seeing him every day at work or having coffee and lunch breaks together.

And the fact that they’d been emailing for two months already. It didn’t feel like that long, but at the same time, they’d learned so much about each other that it was difficult to process the passage of time that had occurred. The more that the two of them emailed, the more a thought and a desire began to bloom at the back of Keith’s mind. And this picture only cemented it.

He wanted to see the same things that Shiro saw. He wanted to run into him and meet him. He wanted to travel with him and get a lesson about constellations from him. He wanted to go traveling with him and go camping with him. He wouldn’t even mind working with him, especially if he wasn’t thrust into such an important leadership role. He just wanted Shiro. Wanted to spend more time with him. And he had some suspicions about how to make it happen.

He just wished he knew whether or not Shiro actually wanted the same things as him. It was all well and good that he thought they could work together, but when it really came down to it, Keith knew that he was only joking about offering him a position in his family’s company. He shut his computer and pushed it to the side. He’d need a few days to think about things before he emailed him back.

~~

The few days that Keith had been expecting to need, turned into a little over a week. He was conflicted with making Shiro wait so long, but he wanted to make sure that he was coming from a genuine place. It wasn’t often that he formed an attachment with people, and doing so as quickly as he had… It was surprising. And a little terrifying. But he had a great pair of friends who were willing to listen to him as he worked through his thoughts and give their own opinions on what he should do.

And Pidge wasn’t afraid to immediately start teasing him once she learned about the development. Hell, she’d wanted it from the very beginning.

It was why Keith was finally seated in front of his computer again, the email that Shiro had last sent him still there unanswered.

Keith

29 October 2014 7:30 PM EST

Dear Shiro,

Sorry that it took me so long to get back to you. I had some personal things that I had to work through and wanted to be sure of where I stood before focusing my energies on anything else. Don’t worry, it’s not anything bad…I was just surprised by it myself and needed to address it before it got out of my control.

I’m glad that you no longer think of me as a murdering stalker. That’s reassuring. And I appreciate that you decided to send me a picture. I’ve attached mine to the bottom of this email. The best one I had anyway. When Pidge found out we were sharing pictures, she wanted to take a new one for me, but I turned her down. I thought that taking one just for you wouldn’t make it as natural. Which is strange to consider when it’s just a picture.

Things are going well. Mid-terms were a breeze. Surprisingly. My new job hasn’t been getting in the way either. I’ve been able to manage both of them and my school work and have been more than happy with the added pay. So have Hunk and Pidge. I bought us all drinks when I got my first paycheck. I thought that it couldn’t hurt to splurge a little right now and it had been a while since we did something so fun together.

I’m not gonna lie to you, Shiro. Even though I was debating on whether or not I should tell you this, I didn’t want to keep it from you. I know that sounds really ominous and I’m sorry for that, but I didn’t want to be burdened with it either. When you were talking in your last letter about chatting over coffee at work or going camping and making s’mores while stargazing in the woods, it made me realize something.

It made me realize that even though we haven’t known each other for very long, I think that we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well. And I realized that I want to do those things with you. I want to experience the woods and look at the stars and get to know you in person. The letters have been great and they’ve proven to be something more than a little meaningful. They’ve brightened my days and made the world seem a little less terrifying.

I’m sorry if this weirds you out and I understand if you don’t want to exchange emails anymore, but you’ve come to mean a lot to me Shiro and I’d like to keep talking to you.

Your friend (still, I hope),

Keith

He hit send before he could stop himself or risk chickening out. It was done and he could rest easy for the moment. He’d probably just ruined the one new friendship that he’d ever make, but he was fine. It was okay. It was all part of life. He just had to remind himself of that. He sighed and turned back to his homework. Any distractions that he could find would be more than helpful as he waited to never get another email from Shiro again.

~~

Keith thought the first week that passed was forgivable. He’d not only dropped a large bomb on Shiro, but had taken over a week to respond himself. He’d give him just as much time. When that week extended into two, his hope began to dwindle, but he didn’t let himself send another email. He was going to respect Shiro’s decision and if that was to cut ties cold turkey without a word then that was fine. He could deal with it.

Pidge asked after Shiro more than Hunk did, wanting to know what his response was. Each time she asked, Keith would have to tell her that he hadn’t heard back yet. Those moments were the worst because Pidge got this look on her face that was a mixture of sadness and apology. Sometimes he could brush it off easily if he was having a good day. Other times he had to go to his room and just lie down for a bit hoping that the pain would finally go away, but it never seemed to lessen.

The pain of losing someone who he’d become so close to didn’t dwindle, but his hope did. He stopped checking his email. Stopped waiting. It was why he was so surprised when a response actually did come. Keith thought that his heart had stopped in his chest. Thought that he might be dreaming. He pinched the skin on his arm and when he was sure that he wasn’t dreaming, and clicked on the email with shaking hands.

Takashi Shirogane

27 November 2014 6:30 AM EST

Dear Keith,

I’m sorry that it’s been so long. I didn’t mean for so much time to pass, but I didn’t want to respond until I had thought over what you told me extensively. I didn’t think that it was fair to you to continue when I wasn’t certain how I felt about the situation. And now I realize since so much time has passed (29 days if you weren’t aware), I’m probably sending you through another form of emotional turmoil.

I have no idea what you’re thinking. And I don’t mean that in a condescending way or referring to what you told me in your last email. I mean that genuinely. I cannot imagine what you must be thinking in this moment as you read over these words. I have thought over them. I have chosen what I wanted to say and I worried. Before and after I sent this off.

I also realized when I opened my email to start writing this message that you’re receiving this on Thanksgiving. And I want to let you know that I’m thankful that you’ve come into my life. You were the first person to respond to one of my letters and I never expected us to grow so much or get to know each other so well.

The fact that you want to spend time with me and do all those things that I talked about…I didn’t believe it at first. I thought this was some big joke that was being played on me, because there was no way that someone as loyal and kind and steadfast and as cute as you could ever find someone like me interesting. There was just no way. I didn’t want to believe it.

And I guess that’s part of the reason why it took me so long to respond.

Looking back over our emails, I suppose that I kept things light-hearted on purpose. Even though I was extending job offers to you and telling you that it would be great to work together, I knew that I couldn’t let myself be dragged along by those things. I couldn’t let myself be caught up in them because I knew that they would probably never happen. I would be left alone. The things that I put my hope and energy in would crumble to dust before my very eyes.

But…I felt hopeful when I read your email. Strange, right? I felt hopeful and an overwhelming rush of emotion but it took me almost a month to email you back. Probably not the most reassuring reaction and I’m sorry for that, but I hope that you can forgive me for wanting to make sure.

I…want to do those things with you, too. I want to teach you about the constellations and I want us to be able to go out for coffee or maybe even a movie. I want to be able to take a picture with you and for it to be real like you said instead of forced like you were afraid of. I’d really be happy with any kind of picture that you send me. Whether you like it or not because it would be of you and it would give me a chance to get to know you even a little bit better.

This is one of the few Thanksgivings that I haven’t spent with my family and as I watch the sky slowly lighten and turn purple and orange as the Sun peeks over the horizon, I’m okay with that. Because right now, I’m sending you this email which you hopefully won’t hate me for since it’s so delayed. I’m thankful that you’ve come into my life and I’m thankful that I can stay in yours, if you’ll have me.

I hope that you’re able to stay close to your friends today and that you eat good food. I hope that you sleep well and that everything works out with classes and your jobs. And I hope that maybe, just maybe, we can meet some day. Meet without the fear of what may happen between us and that it’s on good terms. We don’t have to work together and it doesn’t have to be anything more than that, but I wouldn’t mind buying you a coffee or a meal.

I’ll be looking forward to your response. I’ll accept any and all yelling you do at me, because I honestly feel like I deserve a little bit after taking so long. And if you decide to let this be it because you’ve already put our relationship to rest…then that’s okay, too.

Thank you for everything you’ve already done for me, Keith.

Your friend,

Shiro

 Keith sat back heavily in his chair and balled his shaking hands into fists. He swallowed several times to try and work through the thickness in his throat. He was relieved and happy and he didn’t even know what else. He couldn’t even be angry that it took so long to get an email, because that’s all he wanted. All he needed was to hear back from Shiro.

A weight had been lifted off of his chest. A weight that he’d come to forget about because it had just been there for the past month. And to think that Shiro wanted some of the same things? That was probably the thing that he was most thankful for on that Thanksgiving morning and why he didn’t wait to start typing out a response. After all, Shiro was waiting to hear back from him, too after they’d both acted like pretty big idiots.

 Keith

27 November 2014 9:35 AM EST

Shiro,

I honestly don’t know what to say right now. I feel like I just dodged a missile with the sense of relief I’m feeling right now. Since you hadn’t responded for so long I’d kind of given up on hearing from you again so this was completely unexpected to say the least. After a couple of weeks had passed I thought that was it and I wouldn’t get anything else. I’d be left with my life how it was before you came into it. And as much as it hurt to have to wait so long to hear back from you, I’m glad that your note came today even after how long I had to wait.

It’s a fitting start to my Thanksgiving. I usually don’t buy into the holiday too much. I always feel pretty grateful to have my friends in my life and don’t struggle too much appreciating what I have, but now that I know what it’s like to not have your letters and be able to talk to you, I realized how much I took advantage of your presence. How much I wasn’t able to really appreciate knowing you until now.

So I think that I can safely say that this is going to be one memorable Thanksgiving. And maybe we’ll get to have a repeat of this next year where we each have messages in our inboxes. I hope that you can have an enjoyable day even though you aren’t with your family. I hope that you get to eat some good food and it sounds like you already had the wonderful experience of watching the sunrise.

You should call your friends, Shiro. I’m sure that they’d be eager to hear from you today if you haven’t talked to them already. If I was in your position, Pidge and Hunk would probably threaten me to get back home so that I wouldn’t be alone. But I’m here with them and I won’t be alone because I’ve got two great friends and roommates and I’ve got you.

I’ll be eagerly waiting for you next reply now that I know for sure it’s coming. I’d rather not have to wait another month for it to come, but as long as I know that it’s coming, I’m okay with that.

Write back soon!

Keith

 After he finished typing he hit send and pushed back from his chair. He already felt emotionally drained from the sheer relief of the whole situation and all he wanted to do for the moment was go back to bed. He landed heavily on top of his blankets that had been pushed to the side when he got up. Keith sighed and closed his eyes, letting himself relax into the blankets and his mattress. His peace was short lived as his door was shoved open.

“Keith! Wake up, dude! If you sleep for much longer you’re going to miss the kick-off meal for this awesome Thanksgiving Day!” Pidge exclaimed and hurried over to the bed to tug at his arm. “Hunk’s already in the kitchen. Come on!”

Keith groaned. “Really? You’re really going to pull me out of bed like it’s Christmas morning?”

“Of course! Now stop moping and come on,” she said, laughing.

“Not moping, just emotionally drained and ready for another few hours of sleep,” he said, rolling over to face his friend.

“Emotionally…” Her eyes widened and she gasped. “Don’t tell me that he finally…”

Keith nodded and bit his lip.

“Oh my god!!! Tell me everything. Actually, come into the kitchen and get some breakfast and tell us everything. Oh my god, oh my god. Hunk! Hunk!!!”

“Calm down and breathe, Pidge. Geez.”

“How do you expect me to be fucking calm?! How are you calm?!” She pulled him into a sitting position. “Come one, come on! You have to tell us what happened.”

“Okay, okay,” he said, getting up and letting himself be pulled from his room, smile tugging at his lips now that his earlier exhaustion was quickly becoming forgotten.

Hunk looked up from where he was cooking when Pidge pushed Keith onto one of the stools at the kitchen island and sat next to him. “Okay, spill.”

“What’s going on?” Hunk asked, obviously amused even as he set full plates of bacon, eggs, and pancakes in front of the two of them.

“Keith got a reply from Shiro,” Pidge supplied.

“Took the guy long enough. Honestly, it was cruel for him to make you wait so long,” Hunk said, waving his spatula around.

“He apologized for that. He said that he didn’t want to email me back until he was sure how he felt about the whole situation and that time got away from him and he hadn’t realized how long he’d left me without an answer.”

“So what did he say? I mean, it’s obviously got to be a good thing since you seem to be in a pretty good mood. I’d be more worried if you’d locked yourself into your room and were refusing to come out,” Pidge said, picking up a piece of bacon to chew on.

“He said that he wants to stay friends and continue messaging each other,” Keith said, blushing as he remembered the rest of what he’d said and how he wanted to do all those things with him.

“Eyyy!!! I think this calls for a celebration!” Hunk said, grinning.

“Hunk, it’s already Thanksgiving,” Keith pointed out.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t make it extra special for you! Too bad Shiro isn’t in town. It’d be great if we could invite him over for dinner since I’m sure he’s still travelling.”

“Yeah, he said that this was his first Thanksgiving away from home.”

“We’ll just have to have him over next year, then!” Pidge broke in.

Keith laughed even as warmth spread through his chest at the thought of sharing the holiday with him. “Yeah. Next year.”

~~

Takashi Shirogane

15 December 2014 5:05 PM EST

Dear Keith,

It feels like just yesterday was Thanksgiving, but here we are with Christmas almost upon us. I’ll actually be returning home to spend the holiday with my mother even though I was gone last month. It’s the first Christmas that we’re going to have without my father so I feel that I should be there for her during this time. It’ll also give me a chance to visit with my friends again since I’ve been gone.

Do you have any fun plans for the holidays? Any traditions like with Thanksgiving? I’m assuming that Hunk is going to cook for all of you again like he did last month. You’re just about finished with finals for the fall semester, too, right? How did those go?

I hope that the stress isn’t getting to you too much now that your last semester is approaching. It might be scary, but I know that you’re going to do great and have an awesome job after you graduate. And if you want to work for my family’s company, the offer still stands, of course.

I wish I could send you a longer note today, but my plane is boarding and I’ve got to go.

Talk to you soon,

Shiro

 Keith groaned and rolled over in his bed. He was thankful that he’d have the night off for once now that he was done with finals because he really didn’t have the energy to do anything else. He remembered Pidge and Hunk saying something about ordering pizza to celebrate and he was looking forward to that probably a little more than necessary.

After their break in communication before Thanksgiving, their letters had been pretty consistent back and forth with only a few lapses on days where Shiro was travelling or had a full schedule of sight-seeing planned or Keith was busy studying for finals and taking exams or working the few shifts that he had scheduled.

He read over Shiro’s email again and he knew that he should reply sooner rather than later, but he wanted a few minutes of not having to worry or think or use his brain even if it was just to send a simple email. But his replies were never simple because even after his realization that he wanted to meet Shiro and spend time with him in person, his traitorous brain wouldn’t let him stop thinking about it.

He wanted to blame it on the holiday season. All of those Hallmark movies that played about true love and finding the love of your life even under the most ridiculous circumstances. Keith knew that nothing like that could ever happen to him. It made him want to bury himself under his blankets until Christmas was over and he could forget about the movies and stories and commercials and just get back to how things were supposed to be.

But of course he wasn’t lucky like that. Because he had no self-control. And he couldn’t help himself. He curled up on his side and pulled his computer over to him, sighing heavily even as he hit the reply button. He could at least give Shiro something to read when he got off of his plane.

 Keith

15 December 2014 6:30 PM EST

Dear Shiro,

I think it’s great that you’ve decided to go home and visit, especially now that the holidays are here. I think it’s always nice to be together with the people you care about during times like these. For the past few years, Pidge, Hunk, and I have just spent the day with each other. Hunk usually cooks. Pidge and I try to help, but he insists on doing it himself. So instead we provide encouragement for him by eating the food that he makes.

Usually he puts together so much that we’re sorted for at least a week after the holiday and don’t have to do any shopping. The food coma just never really stops. I thankfully went shopping for their presents several weeks ago and after going through the stress of the last few weeks I’m glad that I did.

I’m officially done with finals and right now I’m curled up with my computer so I can write back to you. I’ve got the night off, thankfully, since both of my jobs were very understanding and thought that I could use a break. I’m planning on ordering a pizza later tonight so that we don’t have to worry about cooking and we can all just relax and let our exam worries fade away.

Please don’t remind me that I’m going to have to start thinking about jobs in a month or two. I just got done with two very stressful weeks and don’t think having to worry about something else is entirely healthy. I’ll get the whole job situation taken care of when I have to, but for now I’m not going to think about it and you’re going to be nice and let me have some peace for a few weeks at least.

I hope that you had a safe flight and didn’t have to deal with any annoying passengers or little kids. I’ve never been on a plane, but I hear that’s the absolute worst to have to deal with. And while you enjoy the rest of your evening, I’ll be enjoying my pizza and probably sag into the couch never to return.

Keith

 After sending his message off, he pulled up the website for his favorite pizza place and put in the order. It was easier than having to pick up the phone and call and he didn’t really have the energy for that either. It was probably going to be a long wait, but after he got food he was going to let himself sleep off the lingering exhaustion from studying and stressing and there wasn’t anyone who could or would stop him for that matter since his roommates would be doing the same thing.

He grabbed his phone and opened the group chat that he shared with his roommates.

Keith: Ordered pizza for us.

It didn’t take more than a minute for his friends to start replying.

Pidge: God bless!

Hunk: Thanks Keith! I really was not in the mood to cook tonight.

Keith: I know you love cooking Hunk, but it’s not a crime for all of us to share kitchen duties.

Pidge: He’d be too worried about us both ruining his high-end cookware.

Hunk: Wellll….

Pidge: See how he’s not denying it?

Keith chuckled at his friends antics. He was already feeling much better and more relaxed now that exams were over.

Keith: I see, I see.

Keith: Anyway, since I ordered the pizza and paid one of you is going to have to get the door because I’m not moving from my bed until that pizza gets through the door.

Hunk: Pidge can get it after she insulted my cookware.

Pidge: I didn’t insult the cookware!!

Hunk: Lies. You just have it out for my pampered chef.

Pidge: Fine, fine, I’ll get the pizza. It’s probably my turn anyway.

Keith: Perfect. Wake me when it gets here.

Keith ignored any response that was coming in favour of burrowing himself underneath his blankets. If he didn’t catch a quick nap then he would at least be able to relax a little more and let his mind rest. He briefly wondered if Shiro had made it back home yet and when he would get a response when sleep pulled him under.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

25 December 2014 6:45 AM EST

Merry Christmas, Keith!

I know that it’s very early and you’re probably not up yet, but I suspect that my mother is going to keep me occupied all day and I won’t have a chance to email you later. I’m already up earlier than I need to be in order to write this, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget. It’s the first Christmas that we’re spending together after all.

I don’t know if you have snow by you, but there’s not a single flake of it here. I’ve never seen it snow at home, but I have travelled during the winter and seen lots of it. I actually never really understood the appeal since it made everything cold and wet. I guess some people appreciate it though. And the same thing could be said about rain, too.

Anyway, we don’t have snow, but we do have our usual Christmas tree up in the living room that towers over us all and is covered in so many ornaments that I wonder how it’s still standing up straight. There are more presents under the tree than I’ve seen in years and I can’t help but wonder if it’s my mom’s way of trying to make up for some feeling of guilt since I’ve been away for so long.

I’ve tried to tell her that my leaving isn’t because of her, but she won’t listen of course. I guess I’ll just have to keep telling her until she understands. She’s actually been doing really well since I got back, but yesterday I could see the change and I know today’s going to be hard. She’s been with my father for so long and now he’s gone. It’s a new change, but I’m going to do my best to make it a happy memory for her.

I hope that Hunk makes something extra delicious for all of you today and that you enjoy it immensely. Maybe next year I’ll be able to get you a gift that isn’t just me sending good vibes through email.

Merry Christmas again,

Shiro

 Keith sighed and fell back against his blankets and pillows that had gotten bunched up around him during the night. He placed a hand over his heart at the ache he felt deep in his bones for Shiro and his mother. They were going to be having a long day today, but he did hope that Shiro was successful in making it a happy one for them both. He could at least do his part and giving him something positive to read when he was able to check his email again.

He could already smell the food that Hunk was cooking in the kitchen. He’d need to pull down his friends’ presents from where he’d hidden them in his closet and put them under their small tree for when they opened them later. But first he had a reply to send.

 Keith

25 December 2014 9:18 AM EST

Merry Christmas, Shiro.

I’m sorry that this day must be rough for your family. If things aren’t as positive this year then I hope they get better next year.

As for me, Hunk is already cooking in the kitchen and it smells wonderful. I’m worried I might start drooling if I don’t get something to eat soon. Maybe we will be able to spend next Christmas exchanging gifts. Although if I’m being honest, I’m not exactly sure what I would get you. What do you get for a guy who could pretty much buy whatever he wants? I honestly don’t know.

If Hunk would let me in the kitchen to cook I could try making you something, but my baking skills are probably more than a little rusty with how long it’s been.

I do know what to buy Pidge and Hunk each year for Christmas though. Their presents are currently hidden away in my closet since I haven’t had time to put them out under our little tree that we bought for our first Christmas together. It’s not exactly Charlie Brown small, but I don’t think it has it beat by much. Pidge always likes to insist that I’m wrong, but I see it how I see it.

I understand if you don’t see this until later when all of your celebrating has come to an end, but I hope that you have a wonderful day regardless. You’ll have to tell me all about it later.

Merry Christmas, Shiro.

Keith.

 Keith sighed after he hit send and took a minute to close his eyes and just be. Even with the faint sounds of Hunk’s work coming from the kitchen, the morning was peaceful. He already knew that he was going to have a wonderful day with his friends. They usually did when the holidays came around. And they didn’t even need alcohol to have a good time.

He finally pushed himself out of bed when his stomach started to complain that it wasn’t being fed the wonderful food that was being cooked. He pulled the presents from the top of his closet and walked out into the main room to put them under the tree. Hunk smiled at him from the kitchen and waved the spatula that he was holding even as Pidge made a noise from the table where she was stuffing her face with his cooking.

Keith smiled back and walked over to join his friends.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

26 December 2014 1:31 AM EST

Dear Keith,

I’m trying to type this even as my eyes are betraying me and trying to close so that I can get some sleep, but I wanted to reply to you after your message from earlier. Our Christmas went really well. My mom was saddened that it was our first Christmas without my father, but she also made the best of it and I did my best to help her.

We had a wonderful meal that some of our extended family joined us for. I was caught up in conversations with my cousins and more than a few questions from uncles and aunts about what I was going to do with the business and when I would be taking over the company. I tried to explain to them that I wasn’t ready yet and didn’t know when I’d be able to take up the position.

And then was sufficiently chastised by everyone who disagreed with my desire to take some time and that I shouldn’t keep the company waiting. Good thing I didn’t bring up my idea that I want you to help run it with me. They would become appalled at the idea of having someone outside the family in a position of power.

I think they’d change their mind if they ever got to talk to you, though. If they knew you like I know you, they’d embrace you easily and welcome you into the family.

But regardless of that we ate great food and drank tea around the fire. A few gifts were given to the younger members of the family, but other than that it was a day spent with people we all cared about. I’m guessing that you had a similar setup. You keep talking about Hunk’s cooking and I feel as though I’m missing something by not having been able to try it yet. Maybe someday though.

Only a few more days and we’ll be ringing in the New Year. It’s crazy. So much time has passed. We’ve known each other for four months now, but it seems like it’s gone by so fast. Maybe this time next year we’ll have met in person. After all, so much can happen in a year.

Anyway, enjoy your day. Sleep off the food coma from yesterday. Eat more food. Fall into another food coma. Sleep and basically repeat, I guess.

Shiro

 Keith stretched his arms over his head and arched his back off the bed before falling limply back onto his mattress. He looked at Shiro’s email again. He was definitely planning on doing all of those things since it was his last day off of work before he had to get back. Now that he didn’t have classes and studying taking up his time, he’d have more time to spend working and making money.

Shiro’s wish that they meet up at some point in the future stuck with him. He wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not, but he hoped that he was. He’d give a lot for the two of them to meet and wondered if it would be creepy to make that happen. After all, his bank account was already in much better shape with all of the working he was doing and if he managed to get a job lined up after graduation, he was sure that he’d be able to swing a couple of weeks of vacation time before he would have to really start work.

And he had enough funds to plan out a short trip for whatever destination Shiro might be headed to. He could see the two of them running into each other in some sort of restaurant or bar and being surprised to be in the same place. They could sit down for a meal or a drink and just talk. They did enough of that in their letters. He didn’t know why it had to be any different than in person.

Keith sighed and let his eyes slide shut. It was all well and good that he had those kinds of hopes backing himself up, but the reality of things was much different from what he wanted. So many things could end up going wrong or changing and he wasn’t sure he’d be ready for that kind of disappointment if it did come.

He rolled onto his side and pulled his computer back over to him. The least he could do for now was continue his correspondence with Shiro. They’d come this far and he had no desire to stop.

 Keith

26 December 2014 10:29 EST

Dear Shiro,

Keep making those comments about wanting to meet and do things together and I might just take you up on them if you’re not careful.

It sounds like you had a wonderful time with your family. Even if they were bugging you about work and the company. How much longer do you think you’ll be travelling anyway? I know that you said you weren’t ready to go back until you’ve figured it all out, but I’m curious as to how many more places you’re planning to visit. Have you gone very far internationally? Some of your letters have made it sound like you’ve really just kept your travels domestic.

I honestly can’t believe that we’ve been talking for so long. It seems like we’ve known each other forever, but it really hasn’t been that long. It seems like just yesterday Joe was convincing me to take that first letter and respond to you. So much has happened. I finished my last fall semester and I’m getting ready for my last semester. I’m going to have to start applying for jobs soon and figure out my plans for the future.

I’m going to have to figure out if I want to stay here or move away. I’m not sure which is more likely. I think it really depends on where I can get a job at this point. Since I’ve saved up enough money, I might try and go on a short vacation before starting work. You’ve inspired me a little bit, I guess.

As for today, I’m planning on doing all of those things that you’ve suggested. It’s my last day before I have to go back to work and I want to enjoy it by eating good food and lazing around. Maybe Pidge, Hunk, and I will sit down and watch a movie later. We haven’t had a movie marathon in a while. It would be good for us. I think I’ll suggest it.

You seem like you could use some more sleep so take a day. I’m not sure when you’re planning on heading back out, if it’s immediately or if you’re staying with your family a few days, but either way enjoy your time and relax.

Keith

 Keith groaned as he rolled over and climbed out of bed. His stomach was starting to take notice and there was a lot of really good food waiting for him in the fridge from the day before. And he was definitely going to eat his fill of it. If not more. The movie night could wait.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

31 January 2014 11:12 PM EST

Dear Keith,

Happy New Year! Well, not quite yet, but I couldn’t wait. I wanted to send this as soon as I had a moment. I’m spending the evening with my friends back home. I’m leaving to do some more travelling soon and wanted to get one last celebration in with them.

You asked me a while back how much travelling I was still going to do and I’m not entirely sure. I think I might be close to finding an answer to what I want to do, but I still have those doubts in the back of my mind about what it is that I really want. It might just be another week or another several months.

It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone. So much has happened in a year. I lost my father and started travelling. I’ve seen so many wonderful places and things and met a great deal of people along the way.

And then of course there’s you. You who have brought some joy and fun back to my travels. Gave me something to look forward to and helped me dread the future and the responsibilities that people want to shove onto me a little less. You helped me reunite with my friends after I all but disappeared.

So here’s to another year of moving forward. Another year of learning new things and being together, whether that’s in person or through these letters that we’ve sent so many times. Here’s to endings and beginnings and necessary changes.

Happy New Year, Keith. I’ll save you a popper.

Shiro

 Keith smiled down at his phone and glanced out the window of their apartment. Hunk and Pidge were in the kitchen refilling their glasses with the cheap wine from the grocery store, because who wants to drink champagne when you can have something good? He could see the other apartment buildings where the parties were in full swing now that midnight had just passed.

There were even several groups of people on the streets below. Complete strangers coming together to celebrate with everything that they had because there really wasn’t a party quite like a New Year’s party.

He pulled the blanket a little tighter around his shoulders and kept his phone buried inside of the material. He wanted to reply to Shiro. Wanted to tell him what was going on around him, but he also wanted to wait. Wanted to give himself a few minutes to just exist and be now that another year had come to a close.

He glanced back over his shoulder and looked over all of the snack bowls and dirty dishes that they’d accumulated during their little evening together. During the movies that they’d watched to keep them occupied while they waited for the moment when they could turn on the celebrations and watch the ball drop in New York.

His gaze fell on his friends who were steadily drinking wine and snacking on some of the leftover food that Hunk had made. He glanced down at his phone where he was still gripping it with the blankets. He sighed and walked towards his bedroom, setting down his empty glass on the coffee table as he went. He crawled into the middle of his bed and sat cross-legged, draping the blanket around his shoulders carefully so that he still stayed covered but could also use his hands.

Keith pulled up Shiro’s email and hit the reply button. He took a deep breath before steadily beginning to type. It would’ve gone faster on his computer but he didn’t want to take the time to start it up and wait for everything to load.

 Keith

1 January 2015 12:15 AM EST

Happy New Year Shiro.

It’s officially 2015 for me and I can’t help but think that this is both a big deal and very anticlimactic. I always thought that the celebrations and parties for New Year’s made it seem like this big change was supposed to happen when the clock struck midnight. I had the same opinion about birthdays too. That we were supposed to feel different on some level, but that never came. It ends up being just another day on the calendar.

Pidge and Hunk are eating and drinking in the kitchen as I write this and several celebrations are happening outside. I’ve retreated to my room for the moment so I could send this to you. I’m glad that you took the time to be with your friends even though you’ll be leaving in the morning to continue your travels. If you’re not too hungover that is.

Tell me about where you’re going when you get there. I’d like to know what you’re up to and what you’re seeing. I’ll be having to get back to the books soon enough when classes start up again in a week. I’ve already been back to work for several days, but that was easy enough to fall into even with the days off that I had.

I’m sure that my official job search will be getting started soon and I’m more than a little nervous, I’ll admit even though I haven’t even started looking yet. I know that I’ll end up finding a job somewhere, but there’s still that fear in the back of my mind that I won’t. That I’ll be unemployed and burn through my savings and won’t be able to afford an apartment.

It’s a little ridiculous, I know. I’m sure that my friends wouldn’t ever let that happen to me, but I don’t want to be a burden on them when they’re going to have their own jobs and worries and things that need to be taken care of. I just have to believe that I’ll get through it and end up graduating with a job lined up because there’s not much more that I can ask for besides that at this point in my life.

I hope that you enjoy the rest of your celebrations. Enjoy your travels as you head out tomorrow. I’m sure that you’ll be up before I am. I’m only sitting in my bed with a blanket wrapped around me, but I already feel sleep tugging at my consciousness begging for rest.

Goodnight, Shiro.

Keith

 He tiredly hit send, not even caring if he’d given away too much. He could worry about that later, because it was certainly something that didn’t need his concern at the moment and he wasn’t going to waste it when he really just wanted to sleep. He stood slowly and walked over to turn off the lights. Keith carefully navigated his way back to his bed and curled up on it, letting sleep finally take him even as laughter from Pidge and Hunk filtered back to his room from the kitchen.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

7 January 2015 8:03 AM EST

Good morning, Keith!

The sun is already up and shining and so am I! I woke up in a particularly good mood this morning if you couldn’t tell and I’m ready to take on the day for what it is. I’ve managed to get somewhere a little warmer now that winter is getting into its worst stages.

How are things with you? Are classes starting all right? It’s your last semester so I’m sure that a lot of exciting things are going to be happening. Especially when you start your job search. Not that you need a reminder from me of course. Sorry if that made your day go a little downhill.

I’m hoping to stay in some warmer places as other people suffer through the cold. It’s not warm enough to go to swimming in the ocean or anything, but a walk along the sandy beaches is still pleasant when I’m not having to do it in winter clothes. I don’t think my shorts and tees have seen this much sun in a long time.

I fear that this letter may be shorter than my others at the moment. I’ve become so preoccupied with being outside and enjoying the weather that I haven’t spent much time indoors. I wish you could see this though. Have you ever been to the ocean? It think that it’s as incredible and widespread as space is. It holds so many mysteries.

I think you’d like this beach. We can add it to the list of things that we should do together sometime.

Shiro

 Keith sighed and propped his cheek against his fist as he stared at his laptop. He was jealous that Shiro got to spend time on a beach enjoying himself while he had to go back to classes. They hadn’t quite gotten the worst of their winter weather yet, but he knew that it would be coming soon and he wasn’t looking forward to having to trudge through it when he needed to get to class.

He was glad that he didn’t have to worry about having a car or driving on icy roads or worry about traffic. It was one of the blessings of living in a city with such outstanding public transportation and being so close to his university.

But Shiro had been right when he said that Keith wasn’t looking forward to starting a job search. He knew that it was probably early, but he wanted to make sure that he graduated with something under his belt and wasn’t left floundering to find a position. It was another of those times when it made him reconsider Shiro’s offer to work for him.

He switched tabs and looked back at the job search page that he’d pulled open. The cursor was blinking at him. He hadn’t even searched for anything yet. He groaned and buried his face in his hands. He could put if off just a little bit longer and answer Shiro’s email first. He was probably waiting for a response anyway.

 Keith

7 January 2015 4:55 PM EST

Dear Shiro,

I sincerely wish that I could be on a beach right now. It would certainly give me a chance to relax with all this stress. It’s the first day of classes and I’m already stressed. How ironic is that? That’s not exactly the life that I was expecting when I decided to go to college. I mean, I knew there was going to be stress, but this seems a little ridiculous.

I’ve already started thinking about jobs. I’ve gotten as far as the job search page, but haven’t managed to type anything in. Yet. Maybe after I send this off to you I’ll be able to convince myself to start looking. My goal for the semester is to do a little bit of job searching each day and gradually fill out applications. If I’m lucky, that just might mean I’ll be able to graduate with a job.

My first day of classes wasn’t bad. It was all pretty much just introductory stuff and going over the syllabus. I’ve got a little bit of a break right now before I have to head off to work so that I could grab something to eat at least. I think that I’ll graduate with a good chunk of money to help me set up in a new place. Wherever I manage to end up.

I was also thinking that I could take a small break between graduation and whenever I get my job and go on a little vacation. Nothing too elaborate, but maybe a week away. It’ll give me a chance to see a new town and meet some new people. You’ve inspired me, I guess.

Maybe if you ever get back to work, you’ll actually make enough money where you can have a timeshare at a beachfront condo. Then you’ll be able to spend a lot of time there and still travel to other places. Or you could get super rich and buy a private island. I might have to mooch off of you for access to that. Because being on an island that doesn’t have anyone on it except those who need to keep things running? That sounds like paradise to me.

There’s no one to judge you and no one to tell you you shouldn’t be there. You don’t have to deal with idiots and can enjoy the sun and the sand. You can go swimming and read books. Go for hikes and gaze at the stars and sleep under them too. You can have a fire pit and make s’mores and grill out and just do all of these incredible things that some people won’t let you do.

Okay, Shiro. I’m expecting you to get super rich now and get an island. I want that island. I’m depending on you now Shiro. Save me. Help me find paradise.

I’m completely joking with that last part, in case you couldn’t tell. Do whatever it is that you need to do. I know how stressful this whole thing has been for you and how difficult it’s been figuring out what you want to do. It’s a big decision and you should be allowed to take the time to figure out what’s right.

I gotta go, but I’m with you on the beach in spirit.

Keith

 He hit send and sighed. He moved back to the job search page and looked at where his cursor was blinking mockingly at him in the search bar. With another sigh he gripped the top of his laptop and shut it. He could worry about that later. He needed to get to work anyway.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

21 January 2015 5:55 PM EST

Keith,

It’s not even the end of January and the dreaded Valentine’s candies and gifts have started to be put on display in the stores. I’m already seeing advertisements at restaurants for dinner reservations and the whole thing only makes me roll my eyes.

I’m not entirely against the holiday, but it’s hard to not see the ridiculousness of it all when I don’t have anyone to celebrate it with. I’m not exactly complaining, but maybe one day I’ll see what’s so special about this holiday. Although by then, hopefully I’ll care enough about my partner that I won’t need the holiday to want to make romantic gestures.

I see nothing wrong with picking up a bouquet of flowers because I saw them and thought of the person who I care about. I see nothing wrong with surprising them with a romantic dinner and just enjoying a night together whether it’s been a busy week or we’ve been able to see each other every night.

What I do find entirely embarrassing is the people who are tripping all over themselves to try and make this holiday perfect because that’s apparently what matters and if it isn’t perfect then the likelihood that they’ll stay together goes down. I really really don’t understand that.

How do you feel about it? Is there anyone who you have to be your valentine? Is there anything that you’re going to do for the holiday? Is this another one of those cases where Hunk’s going to cook for all of you and you’re just going to celebrate together?

I’m curious. Maybe this year since I’m thinking about it so much I’ll take myself out to dinner. I’ll make reservations at one of those restaurants that boasts about their arrangements and see just how good it really is. It’ll be a treat to myself for once.

How goes the job search? You didn’t seem to have any luck in your last letter. Have things turned around? Have you suddenly found your dream job? I’m rooting for you. I know that you can do it. Just wait until you get called for that interview. Now that’s really a cause for celebration. Not some stupid holiday that people think they need to express their love.

Hopefully school and work aren’t keeping you too too busy.

Write back soon.

Shiro

 Keith had meant to reply to Shiro’s most recent letter sooner, but time and his homework and work and his job search had caused everything to get away from him. He groaned and rubbed at his eyes, trying to force himself to stay awake. He opened up a reply and slowly began typing, hoping that he wouldn’t fall asleep in the middle of writing it.

 Keith

22 January 2015 11:45 PM EST

Dear Shiro,

I agree when it comes to Valentine’s Day. I can understand why people like the holiday and celebrate it, but it’s become such a large holiday that the standards have just increased. It’s become so commercialized that it’s not about just spending time with the people who you care about, it’s about what you can buy for them. It’s about spending the most money on the most expensive dinners and the most expensive gifts.

I feel the same about romantic gestures. I think that people should do something because they want to and not just because a holiday or the world says they should. What’s important is how someone feels. It’s what’s in their heart. I’m not even sure if I’m making sense right now. I know it’s late and I should get to sleep, but if I don’t write back to you now, it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

The job search hasn’t been that successful yet. It’s been in pretty much the same state. I’ve continued looking for jobs and have applied to a few but haven’t heard anything yet. I’m not looking forward to having to go through the interview process as it is. But at this point I’m willing to take anything.

I don’t have any plans for Valentine’s. Hunk, Pidge, and I don’t ever put something together for the holiday. Usually we’re all too busy with schoolwork to really bother. And we’re under the same mind that we don’t need a holiday to do things together. We just do what feels right.

If you need someone to spend the holiday with then I’ll be more than happy to be there. If you’ll be my valentine that is. I still don’t know if I’m making any sense at this point. But I should probably go to sleep. If I don’t want to pass out before sending this that is. And if I want to stay coherent tomorrow during my classes and during my shift at work.

Talk to you later.

Keith

 He hit send and rubbed his eyes again. He figured he’d probably not remember much of it the next morning, but that didn’t really matter at the moment. He just wanted to get some sleep before he’d have to wake up too early. He shut his computer and shoved it away before rolling over and messily pulling the blanket over him. He would probably wake up in the middle of the night and be cold, but he’d deal with that later. He just needed sleep.

Darkness pulled him quickly, finally letting him rest after a long day.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

14 February 2015 9:35 AM EST

Keith,

It seems that the dreaded holiday is finally upon us. Well, less dreaded since you offered to be my valentine. Sadly I won’t be around to take you out to dinner or bring you chocolates or flowers. I’ll just have to put in an IOU for later when I’m actually, you know, around. But I am still hanging around places where there are beaches. The sand is lovely and I am spared having to watch other sappy couples as they get all gross.

I know that you were embarrassed about bringing it up the first time, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the two of us being valentines. It gives this day a little something else even if it’s only between friends. I know that several people do things as friends instead of dealing with all of the romance stuff.

Hopefully you’ll get some good news today when it comes to finding your future job. Didn’t you say that you’d heard back from one place who showed interest? If not, maybe you’ll hear from somewhere else soon. I know that you can do this Keith.

How are classes going? Aren’t you going to have mid-terms show up in a few weeks? I know that it seems sort of early, but I always felt that the Spring term went faster than the Fall term did. I don’t know why that is. Maybe because I wasn’t coming off several months of vacation and having to be faced with school work again. Not that I have to worry about either of those things at the moment. I just have to figure out the rest of my life.

No pressure.

Let me know how things are going. Don’t get too stressed. It’s your last semester so you’re almost done. Although, I’m not sure whether that’s a comfort at the moment or not. I know how much stress you’re under so I might not exactly be helping. Sorry.

Write back as soon as you can.

Oh, and Keith?

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Shiro

 Keith couldn’t keep the smile off his face. And boy was he trying. It wasn’t fair that such a simple letter could make him so ridiculously happy. It wasn’t fair that one man could be so cute and funny and everything that Keith wanted out of life. Everything that he couldn’t have.

He wasn’t even worried about fighting the feelings anymore. They were there and he had to accept them because there was nothing that he could do about it. And he really didn’t want to fight himself on that anymore. He had so many other things to worry about, that a crush on his pen pal was just a normal part of life at this point. Maybe one day he’d work up the courage to ask Shiro how he felt, but that didn’t have to happen yet.

He could just enjoy their correspondence for what it was. He didn’t have to worry about anything else or think about anything else.

 Keith

14 February 2015 3:35 PM EST

Dear Shiro,

Yes, happy Valentine’s Day. Happy overpriced chocolate and flowers and extremely capitalist holiday. I will expect to get that IOU in full one day, so you better not be lying about it. I’m expecting a romantic and cheesy gesture so you best be prepared. I want the cheesiest romcom and stereotypical gesture that you can come up with. Don’t disappoint me, Shiro.

My classes are going fine. I’m not having to worry about stress yet since mid-terms are still a few weeks away and I’m doing my best to not think about those because I know how stressed I’m going to be when they come back around and that’s not something that I’m looking forward to. But yeah, classes are fine. Not too bad. I’ve got an easier load for my last semester, but since I’m working two jobs and looking for a professional job the amount of stress hasn’t really changed, unfortunately.

But that brings me to some news.

I finally have gotten an inquiry from one of the companies that I’ve applied to and they want to do an interview. The company is in a different state so it’s going to have to be a video call, but it’s an interview! I honestly couldn’t believe it when I got the email. I’m excited because this just might mean that I graduate with a job, but I’m also slightly terrified because I’ve never had to do a professional interview like this before.

I mean, you’re the business tycoon, how do you get through interviews? The one thing that I can comfort myself with the fact that I won’t have to be there in person. It’ll be a little more comfortable which I will be more than thankful for.

I know you said to not be stressed, but telling you this is stressing me out a little.

Maybe I’ll go buy a box of chocolates in a mocking sort of celebration of our first Valentine’s Day together. Have fun in a restaurant by yourself. Hopefully you don’t get too many sad looks. Or maybe the staff will take pity and your meal will be free. That actually sounds like a brilliant plan. Try that out and let me know how it goes.

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Keith

 He sent it off and got up from the bench that he’d been sitting on. His little afternoon break had been wonderful and entirely welcome, but he still had one more class and then a shift at work. He could only hope that he wouldn’t be faced with too many desperate people trying to make this the best Valentine’s Day ever. Or if he did, he just hoped they’d prove to be good enough stories to tell Shiro.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

26 February 2015 12:15 PM EST

Keith,

You’re going to do great on your interview. I know that it’s going to be scary, but the best thing that you can do is be yourself and shove all of your qualities that make you a perfect candidate for the position in their faces. Piece of cake. And if you don’t get the job then it’s all because the people who were interviewing you were complete idiots and didn’t realize how much they actually need you to work for them.

Which would be a pity that you didn’t get the job, but if they can’t recognize a great employee when it’s put on their doorstep then they don’t deserve you anyway.

Stay cool and calm and answer their questions. After that, there’s not much you can do. I know that you’re going to do great and you’re going to get the job!

Good luck!

Shiro

P.S. And if they are stupid and don’t hire you on the spot, just remember that there is still the opening in my family’s company that needs to be filled. We’d be more than happy to have you work for us!!!

 Keith took deep breaths and checked the time on the clock again. The minutes were ticking by so slowly and he really just needed to get his interview over with. He smoothed down the dark button-down that he was wearing. He would’ve liked to have had a suit jacket, but was terrified of the thought of having to try and buy one. He wouldn’t even know where to start. Not to mention the fact that he wasn’t even sure how much they cost and if he had enough money to buy one.

He opened up a reply and started typing as he waited. He was nervous, but writing back to Shiro would keep him distracted and that’s what he needed at the moment. He had his skype pulled up and everything and was just left to wait and needed to not think about what kinds of questions they were going to ask or how much he was about to be judged from a piece of paper.

 Keith

26 February 2015 5:15 PM EST

Dear Shiro,

Thanks of the advice I guess. And the well wishes. I need those right now since I feel like my stomach is twisting itself into knots. I’m really glad that I haven’t been so nervous as to get sick because that is not what I need right now. What I need is to have this interview over with and have a job.

I don’t know what I expected exactly since this is my first interview, but I can only hope that it goes well. And if it doesn’t and I can’t ever interview for anything ever again, I just might take you up on that offer to work for your family’s company. Where’s it located again? And how much money am I going to need to settle myself there after college? And how much money am I going to be making in said position?

I’ll either send you another email after I get done with the interview or I will be hiding in shame, never to move again. You’ll know which in an hour or two. Or maybe you won’t. I don’t know what you’re up to and I don’t know what you’re doing so it could go either way.

I should text Pidge and tell her to pick up some comfort food just in case.

Okay, okay, okay, it’s getting closer to the time when the skype call is going to come through. I guess I should get going, as terrifying as this whole thing is about to be. Again, you’ll hear from me later depending on how this goes.

Keith

 He hit send and locked his phone before silencing it and setting it to the side. It wouldn’t do to have any unnecessary interruptions. Especially when this interview was so important and he wanted to make a good impression. He drummed his fingers on the table and waited, waited, waited. He wiped his hands on his pants because of course they were already sweaty. At least he wouldn’t have to shake anyone’s hand. That was one comfort in this whole process. He would at least be able to try and play off his nervousness.

Keith nearly jumped when the sharp ringing of skype came through. He accepted the call quickly and sat back as the video loaded.

“Good afternoon, Keith…”

He took a deep breath. This was nothing. He could do this.

“Good afternoon.”

~~

Takashi Shirogane

10 March 2015 11:33 AM EST

Dear Keith,

Have you heard anything back from that company you interviewed with? I know that you said you were on the fence about how well it went, but it’s been a couple of weeks now. They should have contacted you in one way or another.

Mid-terms are happening too, aren’t they? Not fun having that much stress all at once. It’ll all work out, though. I know that you can do it. You’re smart and a hard worker and you’ve proven yourself this much already.

As for me I think I might only have a few more months of travelling in me. It’s getting close to the time when I left a year ago and I’m closer to an answer than I used to be, that’s for sure. Talking to you has helped over these past few months. I honestly can’t believe we’ve gotten to this point. It seemed like just yesterday I was checking my P.O. Box and found your note inside.

I can remember how that felt. I was so excited. I was ecstatic to actually have a letter for someone and to possibly talk to someone else. And look at what our conversations have evolved into! I certainly don’t want them to stop once you graduate and I decide on my next move. You’ve become such a huge part of my life. You’ve become important to me.

That’s probably enough sappiness from me today. I can’t help it I guess. Blame it on the approach of spring and flowers and gardens that are going to be blooming soon. This time of year always makes me a little bit nostalgic. But it also gives me a chance to look forward to the future and know that it’s not going to be all bad. I can only hope that you’ll be there with me.

Write back when you can!

Shiro

 Keith yawned and slumped down into his desk chair. It was far too late at night and he was wondering why he was still up, but then he remembered all of the homework that he had to do. And work. He sighed and placed his hands on the keys and slowly began to type, fighting the urge to fall asleep.

 Keith

11 March 2015 1:27 AM EST

Dear Shiro,

That’s a big moment now that you think you might know what you want to do. I think you’ve been more successful than I have in dealing with that aspect. Although for me it’s mainly just been figuring out what my next steps are going to be once I graduate and finding a stable job.

The time has passed incredibly fast and I can’t believe how far we’ve come in talking to each other. You’ve been someone who I’ve been able to be honest with. There are obviously many things that we haven’t talked about, but you’re a person who I know I won’t be judged by. You’re someone who I can talk to if Pidge and Hunk are busy and I don’t want to bother them. I never would’ve thought that something like this could ever happen.

I can very much understand the whole sentimental way of thinking. I don’t even know if it’s due solely because spring is coming. I think a lot of it is just since we’re so conditioned to expect new things during this time of year. From our early years in school, it was spring break and almost summer. I don’t know, maybe I’m just reading too much into things.

Mid-terms are coming up once again. I’ve got a little bit of time before my first test, but I’ve already started studying since this is my last round of exams before finals and then I’m done.

And I heard back from the company. They’re passing on me which I understand, but I’m still disappointed. I’ve gotten a few more calls for interviews which has made me feel better. Those are scheduled for next week, so here’s hoping that I still might end up graduating with a job. Your advice really helped me even though I was so nervous. So if you have any more tips for my next round of interviews they would be greatly appreciated.

How do you think you’re going to bring your travels to an end? Is there anywhere that you’re going to end it with? One place that you haven’t been to yet? Or are you going to revisit a place for a second time? Maybe somewhere that left a huge impact and you want to see again?

Hope you enjoy what you’re doing. I’m going to go crawl into bed because I’m about to pass out.

Keith

 Keith tiredly hit send, more relieved to be done with the letter than he usually was. He shut his computer and turned off the lamp that was on his desk before pushing his rolling chair over to the side of the bed so he could fall on top of it. He didn’t even bother getting under the covers, just pulled his pillow underneath his head and fell asleep.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

23 March 2015 7:55 AM EST

Dear Keith,

I was up early today. Not early enough to catch the sunset, but I was setting off to my next destination. I’m not exactly sure how I want to end my travels, but I think that I want to do it somewhere I haven’t been before. Maybe sometime in the future I can come back and visit the places that I’ve enjoyed the most, but I want to have this last chance to enjoy a new place without having to move on or worry about new responsibilities.

I haven’t decided where it’s going to be yet, but I’ll definitely let you know what my plans are once I do decide. I’d love to go back to the diner that started everything between us, but I think I’ll wait on that. I really want to go to one last place I haven’t been to just to keep with the theme that I’ve had going for the past year, if nothing else.

I’m sorry to hear about the company passing on you. I hope that you get this next one. I know you can do it. And this next interview should be a lot easier than the first one now that you have experience. Have you had the interview yet? Have you heard back from them? I know it’s been a while since you sent me your letter. I got caught up in some things and have only had the chance to reply now.

How were mid-terms? I can’t imagine that they haven’t happened yet. Isn’t it about time that you’d get around to having spring break too? Are you going to do anything fun? Any plans with Hunk and Pidge? Or are you just going to enjoy having some time away from classes and work to save up some more money?

I’ve left the states that have beaches in favour of places that are further inland. I didn’t really feel like being overrun by college students who are only there to party and get drunk and have sex. It’s not exactly what I want to be around.

Let me know how things are going.

Shiro

 Keith

24 March 3:18 PM EST

Dear Shiro,

I don’t blame you for wanting to get away from the crazy college students. I’m staying in town and working, but I am enjoying not having to do much homework for a week. I did indeed have mid-terms and did really well. The only thing left now are final exams. It’s weird to think about. I’ve put so much energy into these last four years and it’s almost over. I’m still not entirely sure what’s coming next.

I made it through the first round of interviews for the second company, thank god. Apparently they were really impressed with my qualifications which mainly just confuses me since I haven’t even graduated and the only work experience I have is from my jobs. But the second interview is coming up. I’m hoping that this is the last one and that after I go through it, I’ll know if I have a job or not.

It sounds like you have some big plans for your last hurrah. Maybe you could get some fireworks and light those in celebration. Although…I’m not sure if you’re that happy about having to take over the company and get a real job instead of just traveling and enjoying yourself.

You better not forget about me when you’re wearing suits and drinking coffee in your big, fancy CEO office. After all that talk about wanting to keep writing letters, I’d be pretty disappointed and just might have to track you down and smack some sense into you.

Are you worried about going back? Nervous? Is it going to be a scary change for you? I guess you mostly have a life intact in the city that the company’s located in so you don’t have to go through the process of finding an apartment and furnishing it and all of those things that come with finding a job in a new city right after college.

All of those things that I’m going to have to do if I get this job. But I really do want this job so I think everything is going to work out fine.

Since you’re avoiding all of the college students going down to the beaches for spring break, I guess you’re in some pretty peaceful cities and towns. There’s no one around to bother you or be crazy on the weekends. That must be nice. It’s pretty much what it’s like for me here since a lot of people have left and I’m hanging around to work.

Enjoy your last days of freedom.

Keith

 Keith sent his letter and navigated back to the page he was looking at. He bit his lip when he compared the location of Shirogane Incorporated to the company he was being interviewed for. He hadn’t thought to look into the company before to get an idea of where Shiro was from, but now that he saw they were both located in the same city, he questioned how much of this just happened to be coincidences and how much of it might actually be due to fate.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

7 April 2015 4:45 PM EST

Dear Keith,

Have you heard back from the company that you interviewed for yet? You said that your interview was coming up and I didn’t know if you’d gotten the news yet. How much longer do you have in school anyway? A month or so? I’d think that your classes would be wrapping up soon and finals would be getting started.

And then you have graduation. I’m not envious of that. I certainly wouldn’t want to have to sit through college graduation again. So many boring speakers. Poor air conditioning and stuffy robes. Ugh, no thank you. I guess I’m not painting the best picture of it either. Sorry.

I think that I’ve finally settled on where I want to go for my last trip. It’s nowhere tropical. Just a city up on the east coast. It’s a small town that I think specializes in lobster or something. I’m not too sure, but I’ll find out when I get there. I’m sure they’ll probably have some really good clam chowder. Not that I’ve actually had it before, but considering the popularity of it, I figure that it must be something worth trying at least once in my life.

After my last visit, I’m set to go back to the company at the beginning of June. I am pretty lucky that I don’t have to worry about setting myself up in a new place, but I’m also going to be working with all of the people who worked with my dad. They’ll probably have the same expectations and standards for me that they’re used to. I don’t know if I’m going to measure up to those.

My dad was really successful. I just hope that I have what it takes to keep the company alive if nothing else. I don’t understand why anyone would want to be a CEO. There are so many things to worry about. I’m probably going to go grey. Or die young from all the stress.

For now, I can at least put if off a little bit longer and not have to worry about things. And I’ve still got you. Don’t let me become a sad old businessman, Keith. I would not be able to handle that.

Shiro

 Keith

14 April 2015 8:58 PM EST

Dear Shiro,

I am currently struggling to survive during these weeks. Classes have wrapped up and finals are upon me. I thought that it was going to be a cakewalk since it’s my last round of finals, but I’m not sure how I’m going to make it out alive. If I die, remember me fondly, please. I’m just sad that I won’t be around to see how wildly successful and rich you become. I was really banking on mooching off all of your money so that I could live comfortably. I guess this whole plan to woo you is pointless now.

Enjoy your last couple of months of freedom. I wish I could do the same, but it’s just going to be stressful studying for exams and then taking exams and then making sure everything is in order for graduation. And then I have to wrap up with my jobs and leave those.

And for the news that I know that you’ve been waiting for…I make it past the second interview and they decided to hire me. I just got the phone call yesterday and I’m utterly relieved. There’s really no other way to describe it. I just felt all of this stress leave me and exhaustion take over. I could probably sleep for a couple of days just to recover from it all. But since finals…I don’t exactly have time to do that.

So once I graduate, I’ll be moving out west. I’ve already started looking for apartments and Pidge and Hunk have been helping me out with that. They were so happy for me that we had our own mini celebration. We’re going to have a bigger one once exams are over and we can get properly drunk and not have to worry about the consequences.

I’m also thinking of taking a bit of time for myself before I have to move and after graduation to enjoy myself and maybe do a little bit of travelling. Or maybe I’ll move first. I’ll have a whole city to familiarize myself with.

If I can manage to not screw up my life then you are well on your way to being successful. I know that it might be scary having to work with the people who knew your dad so well and are familiar with the company, but I know that you can do it. From the letters that you’ve sent me, I can tell how amazing you are and these people, regardless of what kinds of expectations they have for you, would be stupid to not see how great you are and how hard-working you are.

And if things get too bad, maybe you could just run away again. If I get my place set up and in good enough shape, you could come crash with me. That way you know you have somewhere to go if things become too much. Now that I think about it, having a place to escape to actually sounds really nice.

This letter got kind of long this time, oops.

Write back soon.

Keith

 Keith turned away from his computer and the apartment searches that he was still doing and back to his books and sighed. He still had so much work to do. It would be a miracle if everything got in order in enough time. Everything was piling up at a crazy rate. He didn’t even think he’d make it this far and now he was having to organize his life.

~~

Takashi Shirogane

20 April 2015 7:35 AM EST

Dear Keith,

I appreciate the offer to have a place to crash if I can’t handle it, but I don’t think that I’m going to be able to run away this time. I should stay. I owe everyone that much so they’re not worried about what I’m doing or what trouble I might be getting myself into. But I think that I’ll be able to handle it.

Have you finished up with finals yet? I hope they haven’t caused too much stress. You’re almost done though! You just need to get across that stage to graduation. And then you’ll be a fully-fledged college graduate and will have to enter the world of adulthood which is not as fun as we always thought it would be. But I’m sure that you know that already considering how much thought you put into your future and the two jobs that you’ve held down for so long.

Are you excited to finally be graduating? Terrified? Ready to get to work? Excited to take some time for a quick vacation before you have to get down to it? Want it all to end before it’s even really begun?

I’ve got a few more places to visit before I get to the last city that I intended on visiting. There’s supposed to be a lot to do there so I’m giving myself more time to enjoy it. I don’t think that I’m going to want to leave my travels behind, but it’s necessary. Or maybe not so necessary if I still have quite a bit of time off and flexibility when it comes to running a company. I really have no idea. But that’s all just part of the adventure, right? That’s what I’m hoping for.

Good luck with everything.

Shiro

 Keith

29 April 2015 2:53 PM EST

Shiro,

Sorry it took me a bit longer to get back to you. But I’m finally free! Finals have finished and I’ve gotten the results which have all been positive which means I’ve successfully finished college! The only thing that I have left to do is walk across the stage and get my diploma. And then once that’s done, I’ll have a few weeks to get everything wrapped up here and get set to move.

I’ve decided that I’m going to get everything to my new apartment, which isn’t much if I’m being honest. A lot has been accumulated in the apartment between me, Hunk, and Pidge, but dividing it up has proved how little each of us has actually brought. I think Hunk has the most stuff, but that’s because he pretty much stocked the entire kitchen with cooking supplies. I’m not envious of him, that’s for sure, but he’s not moving that far. He’s staying in the same city, but getting a smaller place since Pidge and I are both moving.

For the first time in a long time, I don’t have to work for the next few weeks. I had my last day on Friday and I’m glad to have the time off. Sort of. The next week is going to be spent packing and getting ready for the move. Then I have graduation. And then I get to load up everything in a moving van and drive across the country for the week after that. And then I’ll set myself in my new apartment. And then I’ll get a week of vacation before I’m supposed to start work.

I think I’m nervous to start work since it’ll be a new experience, but I’m also more than a little relieved that I actually have a job so that’s a comfort in itself.

What about you? You only have a month left of travel time. Are you counting down the days until it’s over? Are you regretting your decision? Are you thinking of taking it back? I feel like for both of us right now this last month is basically a doomsday clock that is slowly counting down to zero and there’s nothing that we can do to stop it, but we also don’t know what the outcome is going to be.

Enjoy your last few weeks of travels. I’m going to enjoy my short stint of freedom.

Keith

 Keith hit send and pulled up the hotels that he was looking at. He was looking for a cheaper place and already had to buy a plane ticket. He wanted to make this trip happen, but he didn’t want to blow through all of his savings because of it. He was determined to make it work…

~~

Takashi Shirogane

7 May 2015 4:55 PM EST

Keith,

The first week is over. Only three more to go, much to my own dismay. You’re right about it feeling like this is a doomsday clock. Every morning I wake up and think about how that date is slowly creeping forward and I really can’t do anything about it. Except it’s more like I wake up and another day has passed and it won’t slow down and my time is being forcefully taken from me.

How was graduation? Did anyone trip on stage? Someone tripped at my graduation. Luckily it wasn’t me. I probably would’ve died from embarrassment. Like seriously died from embarrassment.

How is the packing going? Overwhelmed by it yet? I always kind of enjoyed packing. It could either prove to be a challenge, but it also helped with the excitement of starting something new. Unpacking I don’t really care for. When that happens I’m kind of like how did I get so much stuff???? You’d think it’d happen the opposite way, but nope. Instead of making everything fit into a smaller case or box, I have to figure out where everything is supposed to go and that is just so unappealing.

Keep in contact with Hunk and Pidge when you go your separate ways. I know that you probably will, but you’ll regret it if you don’t. It’s so easy to fall out of contact when you aren’t living together. That’s kind of what it was like for me this past year. First, I was afraid to contact them since I didn’t know what they were going to say, but after I did, I have to make a conscious effort to text or call because it would be so easy to get wrapped up in whatever it was I was doing and just not think about it.

I’m glad that you haven’t forgotten about me yet. I would’ve missed out on so much if you’d stopped writing to me. It would’ve been very sad.

Enjoy your travel time that’s coming up. Eat lots of pizza and takeout and let yourself splurge on things that you haven’t let yourself have in school or while you were working. You’ve got some extra money to spend so use it.

I’ll be looking forward to your next letter.

Shiro

 Keith

May 14 2015 6:55 PM EST

Dear Shiro,

No one actually tripped at my graduation. I would’ve loved to see that as long as it wasn’t me. It’s a funny thing how everyone wants to watch someone trip, but the thought of being the person to trip is horrifying. I’m glad it’s done. I threw away my gown because I didn’t see any point in keeping it. The tassel from my cap and my diploma got thrown into one of my boxes. I don’t know which one anymore since they’re all mixed up.

I never did get overwhelmed by the packing. Again, I didn’t have that much stuff so it was pretty easy to deal with. And there was a lot of extra things that I’d accumulated over these past four years that I didn’t need any more and could just throw away. That always felt good. There’s something underrated about throwing out stuff. It’s a blessing really.

I’ve finally made it to my new place. It’s weird. I’m so used to having other roommates or having other responsibilities. I mean, I’m going to have those once I start my job, but I’m here by myself. I can do what I want as long as I can afford it financially and it’s relatively legal. It’s so weird to me.

The one thing that is overwhelming me is having to learn the layout of this new city. I definitely have a lot of exploring to do and it’s going to take me a while to actually understand where I’m going and where everything is. I guess I could take a note from your book and just let myself go explore.

I’m going to have to do that soon anyway when I go on vacation.

I promise that I won’t forget about you. It’ll be hard when I have your letters coming to my inbox to bug me. And I’ll make sure to keep in contact with Hunk and Pidge. Aside from you, they’re my only friends. I’d like to keep them close.

Enjoy the last of your travels.

Keith

 Keith hit send and looked away from his phone at all of the boxes that were surrounding him in his empty apartment. The thought of having to start unpacking was already stressing him out and he decided to take some advice from Shiro and order a pizza. That would force him to put off unpacking for a little while. And he didn’t have any groceries or anything to cook with anyway.

~~

Keith took a deep breath and looked over Shiro’s letter one last time. His idea to try and meet Shiro after graduation had been one that he wanted more than anything, but now that he was actually here and Shiro didn’t know he was… It didn’t seem like the smartest things that he could’ve done. He’d told Pidge and Hunk about it and they had thought that it was romantic, but of course they would.

Now that he was here, he was more nervous than anything.

When he’d first arrived, he hadn’t even known where he needed to begin. He figured that Shiro would be going everywhere and anywhere that was off the beaten path. He would be going for the places that the locals would go to instead of what tourists would light upon. Not that there was much in the way of tourism in the city they were in since it was so small.

Keith knew that he needed to write Shiro back, but due to nerves or something else, he just didn’t know what to say. He was worried that everything would come out and he’d confess what he’d been planning for months. And then it wouldn’t really be a surprise anymore and if Shiro thought that he was joking that would probably just end in disaster.

He placed a hand over his stomach as it grumbled. He caught sight of what looked like a freshly painted sign over a local restaurant. That seemed to be as good a place as any. He was fond of locally owned diners. Blame him for being biased, but he couldn’t help it. There was just something about them. The people and the food were usually tough to beat.

The bell over the door jingled as he stepped inside and when he looked up he smiled. Shiro was standing in front of a bulletin board, pinning up a letter. Of all the ways to run into him, this had been the least climactic that he was expecting. Not that he couldn’t make it more so.

“I didn’t know you were still leaving letters,” he said, walking over to him.

Shiro glanced over and froze, pin hovering over the edge of the envelope. His eyes widened and the letter slipped from his grasp. Keith bent down to pick it up and pulled the letter from the envelope.

 25 May 2015

Dear Stranger,

I’m amazed that you’ve picked up this letter and started to read. I’ve been leaving these for the past year in the different cities that I’ve visited. And I find that this is going to be my last one. Not just because my travels are coming to an end, but because in all of the letters that I’ve left, there’s only been one person who has ever written me back.

We’ve been writing letters since August and I don’t know how I was so lucky as to have him pick up one of my letters. He’s amazing. Fantastic. He’s so smart and wonderful and I don’t know what I would ever do without him.

I think that I might actually love him. Or like him a lot. I just wish there wasn’t so much space between us. Because I would really like to meet him some day. I might just have to go back to the town that he lives in and hope for the best. Although he’s moving so that probably wouldn’t work.

I don’t even know where he’s moving to. I guess I’m not the best at trying to do romantic things. I should’ve asked him about possibly meeting before now. He said he was going to be going on vacation and we could’ve easily met up in a city together. But I guess that doesn’t matter now that I’ve sat down in this diner and had lunch. Soon we’ll both be back to our own lives. I just hope that we can both stay connected.

Even though this is my last letter that I’m leaving. You are more than welcome to still write to me. My P.O. Box is listed below and I can promise that I check it regularly and any letter that you send me is going to get a response. And if you don’t find that you want to write me back or keep this letter, please leave it on the bulletin board so that if someone else finds an interest in it, they can read it too.

Thank you,

Shiro

 Keith folded up the letter and slid it back into the envelope. He knew that he was blushing. But he was also smiling. He took the push pin that was still hovering over the bulletin board and pinned up the letter for Shiro.

“Keith? But what-how-I-“ Shiro stammered.

“You know how I was saving up all of that money from my jobs? Well, I wanted to surprise you.”

Shiro stared at him. And then he grinned. It was blinding and wonderful and so happy. And then he started laughing. “This is something out of a romantic comedy or something,” he said, gleefully. “I can’t believe that you’re here!”

Shiro pulled him into a tight hug and Keith hugged him right back, finally feeling like he could relax.

When they pulled apart Shiro looked over him. “Have you eaten yet? Why don’t we sit down and talk. There’s so much that I want to ask you. I can’t believe that you’re actually here!”

“You act like we haven’t been writing letters to each other and sharing so much personal stuff,” Keith said, allowing himself to be led to a secluded booth.

“We have been doing that, but this is the first time that I’ve been able to talk to you in person. I want to spend the afternoon with you.”

So they did. And when that wasn’t enough, one afternoon became the rest of their lives.

[jackalope-farm]

I feel like it would be a sin not to share this.

This goes out to every ARTIST, MUSICIAN, WRITER... Everyone who has passion for anything creative.

Jim approaches it from the viewpoint of a game critic, but I feel like it speaks to anyone who wants to make their passion their work and lifestyle.

YOU ARE WORTH IT

Don’t let people convince you to work for less than minimum wage. I know creatives absolutely LOVE what they do in their spare time, but if you are doing work for someone, you need to be making a living wage.

I’ve worked 2 full 8 hour days doing a custom movie poster illustration for someone I only charged $100 for. That was $6.25 an hour. That’s below the US minimum wage standard.  Heck, I don’t believe $15 dollars is a living wage.  Choose a realistic rate for what YOU need to live (and be relatively comfortable).  Which leads me to my next point:

DON’T SELL YOURSELF SHORT JUST FOR EXPOSURE

Remember that poster I told you about in the first section?  I knew that I was selling myself short, but I did it anyway because the client was a friend of my sister’s.  My sis and I talk each other up a lot to our friends, so lots of my commissions come through her.

My sis and her friend are in the Navy, and I fell for the idea that he was going to talk me up all over the ship and send people “he knew wanted custom art” to me. The idea intrigued me because I would have a small and somewhat captive audience.  Plus, thanks to my sis, I had a few other Navy clients at the time, so I could do some niche artwork (custom tattoos, Navy aesthetic posters and illustrations and the like)

Welp, it’s 2 or 3 years later and I haven’t gotten any references from him.

Basically, the only people I trust for exposure is my family and my very close friends and not one stone’s throw further. I should have charged him 3 or 4 times more than I actually did.

Charge full price.

EXPOSURE IS NOT PAYMENT

We don’t live in a perfect world, and unfortunately the truth is, we all need money.  All of us have rent, bills, debt, etc... You shouldn’t be stressing over weather you are going to have enough for your next meal or rent payment. Guarantee that all the bases you need to have covered are covered.  If that means charging $20 and hour, do it.  If it means you need to charge $50 because you REALLY want to pay off your student loans early, then do that too.

DON’T WORK FOR FREE!!

Don’t sell yourself short to yourself.  If you sell merchandise, price it fairly for you.  Stop trying to be competitive by being the cheapest.  Do some simple math and factor in how much time and resources you spend on something and price accordingly.

If selling 100 exclusive pins at $10 a pin means you pay rent, then do it!