#i need to like. figure out a new oc to have a weird gay thing going on with my existing one

[just-spacetrash]

🛸

[courfeyracs-swordcane]

Teddy... after being mutuals w you for who knows how long I NEED to ask... what does robobs mean? I've been paying attention to the tags on my notifs for a bit and I think that's the one thing I still have no clue about ahdkshfjshfjd

OH BOY! You’ve activated my trap card!

Short version: tag for me and the gang ( @nosongunsung11 @coyotefang1987 @wildfandom @lemonade-comet @dogliker73 )’s transformers ocs. When I first made the spreadsheet I titled it ‘Robobs’ and it stuck. In March we made a 120 slide power point explaining the lore and we’ve made like 20 new guys since then

LONG VERSION: (and I’m only getting into blorbos from MY brain bc there’s like 85 of these mfers collectively)(Guys who come in several separate-but-linked subsets)

(edit: now with images! picrews linked here, here, here, and here and art by @orange-artist/@nosongunsung11)

THE OGS:

Packet and Pinch: (turn into biplanes) little guys who came after the war, them and their dad sometimes moonlight on a research vessel called Forte Spes where theoretically they’re archival assistants but mostly what that means is that Pinch holds the microphone during interviews because when Packet was allowed to do that he kept eating it. When they’re a little older Pinch gets a proper job on Forte Spes helping out and Packet joins the mafia/eventually winds up inheriting an organized crime unit and accidentally taking over a small city (think like JVJ’s Madeleine era except not on purpose)

Hot Shot: (turns into a diy dragrace car) himbo. former Autobot soldier turned drifter (technically looking for one of his war buddies who disappeared but he keeps getting sidetracked) turned preschool teaching assistant on the moon. Frontman of a very small emo band. Meter’s twin brother, Aileron’s best friend, (Sweets isn’t mine, but) Sweets’s self-invited roommate (weird gay thing)

Meter: (used to turn into a regular car, now functions as a speedometer)(also his name is actually Gauge, Aileron just started calling him Metermaid to make fun of him and it stuck) wildly normal little guy for being so fucked up. Got his face and hands and altmode taken by the government for being an anarchist in cop college. Spent the war on the world’s most legally questionable enemies to lovers roadtrip looking for his brother. Hot Shot’s twin, Aileron’s husband.

Aileron: (turns into a massive fucking jet) pointedly neutral freelance journalist. Extremely chill and wildly pessimistic. Can and will befriend anyone with an unfortunate heaping side of terminal Everyone He Really Cares About Keeps Fucking Disappearing Into Thin Air disease. Spent the road-trip causing problems on purpose bc it was funny and also bc he was pretty sure Hot Shot was dead and he didn’t know how to tell Meter so he was stalling. Meter’s husband, Hot Shot’s best friend.

THE ANCIENTS:

Catalyzer (Cat): (left)(turns into a shield except no he doesn’t anymore because he has daddy issues) fucked up old knight. Kind of a dick except with his knight partner and her spouse (the three of them come as a set do not separate <3) and with his little sister (150ft tall). Memory issues wildly exacerbated by the fact that he spent ten million years on the euthanasia planet. There’s a very good au in which he co-parents his nephew w his ex’s ex-wife.

Firefight (FF): (turns into a flamethrower except no he doesn’t bc what if he fucks up his paint) Bitchass little twink. Catalyzer’s shitty ex who lobotomized him. The god of transformation’s special little boy and he’s gonna make it everyone’s problem. After the god war (during which he helped work on a large-scale lobotomy project that made everyone forget the gods) he realized that if there’s not gods to hang around he can’t get special treatment for being god’s special little boy anymore so he fucked off to live in a cave for ten million years and only came out for Cat’s little sister’s funeral bc he figured everyone who would have known him would be dead by now except spoiler alert no they’re not and he immediately gets his ass beat. We don’t have time to get into his wife.

Moonshadow (Shades): (turns into a shuttle)(uses that to cause problems) Catalyzer’s nephew (she/her), troublemaking Weird Little Art Girl TM who’s constantly tagging along on any mission she can get herself into. Unfortunately that includes the mission that lands everyone on the euthanasia planet :(

Equalizer (EQ): (turns into. Maybe a grenade. I haven’t decided yet) Firefight’s ‘apprentice’/weird intense son he didn’t ask for and doesn’t want and also is lowkey terrified of. Functions entirely on looney toons logic. Theoretically xey’re supposed to be helping FF w his lobotomies but he’s scared xey’ll be better than him and take his job so mostly xyr job is knocking people out with the blunt end of xyr Massive Fucking Scythe for their nonconsensual government-assigned brain surgeries and being generally unsettling. Spends FF cave arc waiting outside where he told xem to which xey're not fucked up about but it does make xem very much more fucked up.

Legion: (turns into I don’t know yet probably an anvil or a lever): Little knight guy under the god of wisdom. Dumb as a box of rocks. Trying so fuxking hard all the time and not really getting anywhere with it but that’s okay. Loves his friends so goddamn much. Really fuckin stupid for a guy who kind of functions as the voice of reason in the polycule. Died on the euthanasia planet. :(

Endymion: (turns into a unicorn)(but like the goat kind) goldenboy blacksmith, built to help the main god make guys, conscientious objector to the god war so now he helps out in the armory. Haunted as hell (just kind of vibing with it). Missed the mission that landed everyone on the euthanasia planet and got locked out of the armory :(

DECEPTICON HR OFFICE/EXTENDED CONSTRUCTION UNIT:

Zephyr aka Dreadnought: (used to turn into a flashdrive, tried to do some sketchy ass back alley surgery to turn into something better and fucked it up so now he can’t turn into anything) edgy little goth twink lying wildly about almost everything abt himself. Former spy, current guy who sits in the corner of the office chainsmoking and giving off absolutely rancid vibes. He’s writing a memoir. (it’s bad.) Gets Fixed by the power of Carburetor going “wow, do you have any other slogans from like. Hot topic?” and is really confusingly normal at the postwar HR reunion/Hadron and his boyfriend’s impromptu wedding

Carburetor (CB): (used to turn into a pickup truck, got exploded) readymade soldier who wound up taking over as mostly-untrained medic when the actual medic was killed bc he had spent a lot of time in the medbay recently (due to the getting exploded incident) and kind of osmosed hopefully enough to go off of. Takes no shit but has terminal “I Can Fix Him” Disease (both romantically and medically) but really he’s the one getting fixed—he has a hobby now! 😊 (it’s Zephyr)

Hadron: (serial number ending in 0104)(turns into a crane) starry-eyed little science guy with a secondhand soul. Part of the construction unit and also working part time (illegally) in HR. Defected to the Autobots towards the end of the war and is now doing a goddamn lot of finding out for very little fucking around. Very easy to manipulate. Both has a missing boyfriend and is the missing boyfriend. Main character disease (affectionate but oh dear god at what cost)

Reefer: (0100)(take a wild guess) de-facto leader/union rep of the construction unit by virtue of being built first. Doing his goddamn best but he’s fundamentally just a sillyguy. Also has a secondhand soul but he doesn’t know about it. Would do anything for his little guys. Sneaks Hadron his science magazines. Hazard’s qpp, Hadron’s bestie, other side of Rico’s coin. Died during the great latewar Construction Unit Defection.

Hazard: (0101)(turns into a dump truck) absolutely fuckin massive very nice and kind SIC & emotional support of the construction unit. Also has a secondhand soul but it’s never really relevant. Guy who’s usually the one to talk to outsiders for the gang. Has never held a gun but almost got sent to the front lines of the war bc they’re Fucking Huge and hella shit was pulled to Stop That Happening (without them even knowing in the first place). Reefer’s qpp, Dyker (0102) isn’t mine and there’s a lot of lore but Dyker is their best friend (I think?). Dead. (Meter pushed them off one of the spires of Decepticon HQ bc they asked if he was okay and were a little too concerned)

Ricochet (Rico): (0103)(turns into a backhoe) oh she’s so fucked up. She’s so fucked up. Also has a secondhand soul and she’s not really aware of that but she’s not normal about it either. Hadron’s older sister figure (derogatory), other side of Reefer’s coin (Threefer), imprinted hard on Dyker and took the Shit That Got Pulled really REALLY badly. Blames Hadron for Reefer’s death to avoid blaming herself. Was briefly a neutral medic but went back to the Decepticons real quick and took the ending of the war also incredibly badly. (And by incredibly badly I mean she got a group to try and restart the war and recruited a bunch of guys to try and replace her family and it’s Not Working)

Chainlink: (turns into a tank)(attempt at replacing Hazard) Rico’s Fucking Massive SIC/de-facto bodyguard who’s really not jazzed about following someone else’s orders. Does it anyway out of… respect that she got there first (or something.) but makes it very very clear that Ze Would Kill Her (in a weird gay way) If Ze Got the Chance. (Ze is in fact given the chance and Doesn’t Take It. Neither of them are really sure how to cope with that). Died one time during the war but got better and is kind of an asshole about that. Mean sense of humor.

Sprocket: (turns into a handheld cannon)(Hadron but Rico likes him) literally just a little guy. Built on Earth approximately three days before the war ended and doesn’t actually know what that means for anything. Definitely getting a little bit gaslighted here. Finds out abt that and is so betrayed/hurt/doesn’t know what else to do that he turns them all in and fucks off to actually see the universe and the planet outside the war and also go to robot law school. Does tech/support/recon for the squad’s endeavors and missions from a secret third location

Roughhouse: (turns into a lifted ass Ford F150)(Reefer 2 smarter boogaloo) Sprocket’s bestie and everyone’s emotional support himbo and by emotional support himbo I mean this guy is treating this revolution like a kindergarten teacher. Guy who 100% tried to set up a sticker system to try and get Rico and Chainlink to be normal. He’s not even that invested in it he just thinks it’s funny to get Rico overly invested in things she’s Going to lose. Yes she’s his boss technically yes she forgets that sometimes (younger sister instinct). The fanciest and only prewar member of the gang. Former bouncer, early Decepticon recruit, current pacifist and backup guy.

THE SECRET OTHER OPTION:

Rudder: of Rudder and Oar fame. They don’t give a shit they’re just out there fishing. A lot of the time they wind up picking up body parts/people but that’s not what they’re fishing for so they just toss them in the back to sell to the mafia. Together they turn into a bigger boat.

[m0srael]

A series in which I ask my mutuals for fanwork recs, and then come back and tell you why I loved them. Any chance you have something to rec (the criteria are virtually non-existent)? Please, please send it on. Here is my original ask with more info.

I Was Recced:

As The Lights Lift Around Us by @zeziliazink [Drarry | M | 25.6k]

“What?” Draco said, finally looking Potter in the eye. Potter’s eyes were wide and green below his raised eyebrows. It must have been the lenses of his glasses sharpening the flecks of color in his irises, because they were almost shimmering in the light of the hundred-year old sconce on the brick wall behind Draco’s head, and oh fuck, he was still looking Potter in the eye, what the fuck, how was he supposed to get out of this, now?  In which our heroes become reacquainted in a pub, spend a whole day together that turns into night, and then...? Featuring a minor freakout (Draco), a brand new song (Harry), and affectionate exasperation (all of their friends). Will Draco figure his shit out before Harry gives up? Will Harry survive the Venomous Tentacula? Will Draco ever decide which tea he wants? Will Harry's HooTube commenters ever forgive him for falling in love?

As the Lights is a stark departure from last week's read: Open Fire by Slytherco. With tags like "musician!Harry", "flying teapots", "lots of blushing", and "lots of grinning", you might expect this fic to be super cute and fluffy--and you would be absolutely right! Zezilia gives us just enough angst in this Enemies-to-Friends-to-Lovers story to make the getting together feel genuine and believable without making us doubt for one second that these boys we love so much will end up happily together. Reading this story made me feel so warm and fuzzy that I inhaled it in a day, and I highly recommend you do so as well! In addition to the classic, very gay trope of the "24 hour date" and musician!Harry's smoldering good looks and endearing friendship with Luna (who fronts a band called Luna Lovegood and the Good Loves !!!!!), there are a couple of specific things I want to shout out about this story:

🐣 Draco Malfoy's Journey to Healing His Inner Child Is there another person, real or fictional, who needs to heal their inner child as much as Draco Malfoy?? Arguably Harry James Potter, but when we meet him in this fic he's well on his way. I love how Zezilia skillfully peppers in all these little but significant ways that Draco is trying--consciously and subconsciously--to re-parent himself and to replace all the vicious, unkind voices that have populated his head for so long. His mirror has the voice and personality of someone's doting grandmum, for goodness' sake! But beyond that, we get to witness Draco learning how to allow himself to be earnest, to openly enjoy the things he likes, and to be a little weird! It helps that he has two of the world's best friends, Sophie and Ravi (Zezilia's OCs), to encourage and support him. Honestly, I desperately want a Sophie. It's so gratifying to watch Draco not only love himself for who he really is, but learn that other people will love his true self, too.

🧙🏻‍♂️ The Wonder of the Wizarding World I adore the ways that Zezilia has woven the most magical parts of the wizarding world through this story. The way that they use magic to embellish scenes and complicate the characters lives is so delightful. Whether it's a particularly bawdy painting of a shepherd tending his flock (and other things), the most magical sounding café with Cheering Charm-infused pastries, or a magical park full of animated (and also bawdy!) statues, Zezilia doesn't hold back on the whimsy!

And a bonus: this fic is pro-Hot!Neville, and so am I. So very much.

If you read this (or have read it), let me know what you think!!

*

I Was Recced As The Lights Lift Around Us by @softlystarstruck, so I read:

morning light [victuuri | G | 1.8k]

A cozy winter morning, and a new term of endearment.

Okay, so technically speaking I have read everything Bee has ever written--much of it several times--which means this was a (blissful) re-read for me. I've gushed about my favorite stories Bee has written before (starlight (the unsuccessful return of a runaway prince), to be a bit of warmth (for you), you bring me home, their kinktober 2021 collection, for starters) but I have yet to really rec this one. Since most of my mutuals will be familiar with the way Bee writes our favorite boys, Draco and Harry, I am here to implore you to dig into their Yuri!!! on Ice fics on AO3, even if you aren't familiar with the source material!

Bee takes all the tenderness, care, and intimacy which which they write their Drarry stories and carefully molds it to fit these two lovely, anxious men. What I love most about Bee's writing is that they are able to gently pick up two characters, see right to the heart of them, and then translate all their deepest desires and fears right onto the page in beautiful prose (and sometimes verse!). This means that while morning light feels undeniably "Bee" in its tone, pacing, and use of endearments, the relationship between Viktor and Yuuri is unique and so true to their characters. Viktor (off-screen) is bold and confident and commanding, while Yuuri (everywhere, all the time) is anxious, self-effacing, and unsure. In this close, intimate moment Bee manages to capture all of their facets, allows them to let their guards down, and helps them to grow even closer to one another. This fic is warm, quiet, blushy, and so, so lovely!

Thanks for sending me a recommendation!

[lady-of-the-spirit]

Fandom + Joan for the meta ask game!

JOAN!!!! ❤❤❤ thank you for asking! I love talking about her.

For the sake of not conflicting timelines or universes, I stuck with my oc canon where Booker doesn't betray the Guard and things happen normally up until the point where Merrick's men ruin everything and kidnap Joe and Nicky. None of that shit happens. Just some weird new team dynamics forming since they've got TWO new immortals hanging out with them. (I also feel the need to share this ask about Copley for info on that situation and my oc canon.)

Put this whole thing under a read more because it got LONG.

What do you think the fandom for your character would be like? Are they a fan favorite, a love to hate villain, derided for whatever reason, or something else?

Honestly I don't know! I think Joan is a pretty harmless character, she's just chilling and doing her own thing, so she wouldn't be hated. The Old Guard fandom is pretty good about loving all the characters, so she's gonna be fine. I think she'll be especially loved by the people who like characters who just want to do their own thing without getting dragged into plot shenanigans lmao. Hopefully Joan would be to the aroace fans what Nicky and Joe and Andy and Quynh are to the gay fans - the rep they're looking for in action movies. But more critically, because this fandom gives unequal attention to the women vs the guys, I think Joan would unfortunately fall into a similar category as Niles, which is often "the side character who's there to be the best friend supporting the main ship/the newbie to the experienced older ones" if not ignored completely. But for the ones who don't do this, I think she'd be the cool character who just does her own thing, who has a journey of her own that's fun to analyze and talk about! And a long, kinda sad history that would have a lot of potential for fics!

What feelings does your character most often instill in their fans? Affection? A desire to protect? Open lust? A love/hate dynamic? Why do you think their fans feel this way?

Definitely a desire to protect! Girl has been on her own FOREVER! she has anxiety! But also I can see people wanting to be her lmao she lives on her own, pretty securely I might add, she's got a cat, she's best friends with the crows, she's living that Ursula from Kiki's Delivery Service life. Joan's just a normal person, living her life, she just has had a long time to figure out what she wants her life to look like and make it happen, and I can see fans finding wish fulfillment in her.

By contrast, what would their haters dislike about your character? Is it a petty complaint? A mischaracterization of the character or their intentions? Are they just a woman in a largely male-centric series?

I can see common complaints being that she's "boring". Which honestly is fair. She's meant to be boring - or at least have a boring life. She's not an action hero, she's not a warrior, she's a civilian. She wants a normal life, or as normal a life as she can have.

Joan also has issues with how she deals with her frustration over the whole "I wasn't alone but I thought I was" situation. She tries really hard not to take it out on the old guard, but sometimes it slips out without her meaning to even though she knows it wasn't anyone's fault and it was just shitty luck. When it does slip out, it ends up directed at Andy as the leader of the group. I can see some fans having issues with that, since people have similar issues with how Booker felt alone in his grief despite having his friends.

What controversies/drama would your character incite in fandom?

She's pretty low-drama, but since fandoms can be pretty casually or not so casually aphobic, her being aroace could be an issue. I feel like the old guard fandom is better than other fandoms, but I haven't seen all corners of the fandom and ngl I don't want to.

Joan's attitude towards her immortality and how she lives her life is in conflict with Andy's attitude, and that causes some conflict between them, so I can see the fandom getting into discourse over their respective philosophies. But since the movie takes the philosophy that nihilism isn't the answer, or at least that trying to make things better isn't meaningless, I can't see this being a huge controversial topic. maybe in smaller corners of the fandom.

What fan-material would exist for your character in fandom?

There'd probably be angsty artwork of her being alone and feeling lonely lmao. I can see a lot of fics analyzing her loneliness and anxiety through the centuries. Fics that explore how she navigated the centuries alone, as well as lots of fics where she almost meets the guard but just misses them, or aus where she did find them. Fics where she and the guard are just hanging out and being a found family together. I can see some angsty aus where she ends up captured before canon and Nile dreams of her and they're like "Wait there's another one of us out there BEING TORTURED???" and they go save her.

Is your character the subject of ‘imagines’ or ‘x reader’ style blogs?

Well, I haven't seen many imagines for The Old Guard in the first place, but since Joan's aroace, I sure hope not!

Are there any tropes fandom would put upon your character, for better or for worse?

"Hates romance." She hates it in regards to herself, but otherwise she just doesn't care about it. (You react with digust at the idea of dating your friend one time and you get labelled for life...)

I think people would also try to make her a woobie but like, even though she has had a rough time of it she's not miserable. She's learned to live her life as it comes, and yeah, she's lonely, she has her traumas, but she's still enjoying her life.

People might also assign her as a character who simply has the worst luck or the worst timing and. Honestly I think that would be kinda funny so I don't mind it.

What would be the ‘incorrect but wildly popular’ interpretation of your character in fandom?

The fandom would try and make Joan and Andy have conflict all the time and that's simply not true. Their philosophies clash. They have some beef, but that's mostly to do with their own issues and how it connects to the other. They themselves actually get along and respect each other a lot. They do have some conflict, but they still get along outside of that.

also I feel like people would make Joan a little "too anxious"? She does have anxiety but I feel like they would overdo it somehow, I don't know.

What corners of fandom would consider your character blorbo material?

I feel like The Old Guard fandom blorbo-fies all of the characters pretty well. But I really hope that the aroace members of the fandom would like her and make her their blorbo! Like that's the dream for me.

oc meta ask list!

[isas-oc-asylum]

d k i rn. tell rhem about my dad and boyfriends . rn.

BET. Jokes on you, you're getting your V, J, C, and S blorbos too.

D - Desmond Sage

Desmond is a recent-ish OC who hit me like a brick when usually OCs I make for the sole purpose of romancing a friend's OC don't stick well. He's a witch who's soulbound to his boyfriend Simon Partridge, meaning they share their pain (and pleasure) like weird voodoo dolls. They were cursed by Desmond's grandmother at birth, not to their knowledge, and only figured out they're soulbound after discovering they were born on and died on the same days. They spent that time as ghosts until ✨ rp plot ✨ happened and they were resurrected by a "mystery person."

K - Kaito Starstra

Desmond's bestie and comically the boyfriend of Simon's twin brother Leon Partridge. He's newer than Desmond and doesn't have a ton to him yet, but he's a bartender at one of Ghost Town, Autumn Hallow's most popular bars. And he has some secret spicy plot related to his estranged mother cooking up. :D

I - Isaac Partridge

Adoptive father and guardian angel of Simon and Leon Partridge. Obligatory mention that he's c!Philza Minecraft inspired. And I'm going to purposely follow that up with the fact that he is irrefutably breedable. He's a dilf, he's scruffy, he's traumatized (Simon died & became a ghost and Leon was bitten & turned by a vampire, and he's lost two other people he was guardian for before them), he's got hot tattoos on his chest & back, he's got them muscly man tiddies, he's a lil fucked up against his will, an excellent dad, and an I Love My Wife guy. Scratch me calling Wilfre the best dad in Arboresia, Isaac is.

V - Varynox DeLuna

Varynox is yet another one of many of Satan's children. He's built a bit different, having four brothers from the same mother unlike most DeLunas. He and his brothers work for one of their half-sisters at her super boujee nightclub in Jazswing. A couple of them, Varyn included, are sex workers, but for the most part the five boys are more like hosts that professionally flirt and sing. Oh, also, Varyn is Vox Akuma inspired! :D

J - Jonas Martin

Son of Dr. Allen Martin, Jonas is a bit of a ??? doctor. He bounces constantly between specializing in the supernatural & eldritch or just good ol marine biology. He's got a special interest in sharks that's ruled his life since he was like seven and he can't make up his mind. He's also got a secret third thing coming for his knees in the form of chronic illness he inherited from his late mother, it's making him want to study immunity and genetics instead. He really can't make up his mind but he really loves science and life.

C - Charlie Lane

Charlie needs more depth to him desperately and my lack of ideas for him drives me insane. At his core, he's a gay lil father of Many (I think 6 or 7) and a very passionate sorcerer. He and his husband work with Morwyn and Vesyroma at the Autumn Hallow Library & Archives and witnessed the horror of Morwyn's Pseudo Spawn transformation.

S - "Space" Pearson

Space is one of many founders of the Cavalier Cove Manor. He handles illusions to keep other founders and their private living space hidden, as well as adding or getting rid of new rooms. He's a very powerful and smart sorcerer full of the eternal mood of I Need Caffeine And A Fucking Nap, But I Won't Do Either Because I'm Stubborn

[fangirlandiknowit101]

Here's the sad pining sasuke i wrote last night... it's not finished and who knows when/if i'll finish it. university AU, not edited and there's some naru//hina and sasuke//OC bc i couldn't think of a canon character that fit. The texting part is also weird bc i wrote it all very fast lol. i'm sharing bc why not *shrugs*

xxx

It hurts, to look at them.

Sasuke can’t help himself. Naruto is his best friend, after all, and he’s not yet so desperate that he’ll avoid him. It’s worse, somehow, that he can’t even dislike her.

She’s good for him, he thinks, when he’s feeling particularly self-deprecating. Her hair is dark and her skin pale as porcelain, and that’s where the similarities end between him and Hinata.

Sweet, and so patient with Naruto. Soft-spoken, but not a pushover. Impeccably dressed, always, no make-up needed to outshine any girl beside her. A picture perfect couple, that’s what they are. It wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t have to watch it unfold from the front row.

How her shyness turned to surety, how her eyes would catch on Naruto and look away before, but now – now she looks at him like he belongs to her, soft smile on her plump lips.

Sasuke can’t even hate her, and he wishes he could.

It’s not her fault that Sasuke is the way he is. She doesn’t know, isn’t doing it on purpose. And yet, there’s a stab to Sasuke’s chest every time she takes his hand, every time Naruto tucks her silky hair behind her perfect ear.

Naruto will kiss her cheek and Sasuke will be looking, always looking. His face devoid of emotion, his voice carefully neutral. He can’t be mean to Naruto’s girlfriend, though he wishes he could. Maybe if Naruto got mad at him and pushed him away, Sasuke would be free to move on.

It’s more likely that Sasuke would apologize and do better, and he’d rather spare himself the embarrassment.

Sometimes he imagines that Hinata will find out, that she’ll start treating him with suspicion, watch his every move with her wide eyes. Feel threatened by him. But Sasuke is no threat. He’s tired and hurting, but he’s not a homewrecker. It would be a lot easier if Naruto didn’t keep nudging him in Sakura’s direction.

It’s not Sakura’s fault, either. She’s dreaming of something she can’t have, and the similarities make him sick to his stomach.

Sometimes he thinks he’ll date her, live the lie to the fullest. Give her what she wants, since he’s doomed anyway. He doubts he’d last long, though. If he had even the slightest bit of interest in women – but when he looks at her, there’s just no attraction. He’s not sure how no one’s noticed yet. It’s not like he’s that good of an actor. He thinks the only reason no one’s figured it out is because he’s so deep in the closet, and they’re all so heterosexual. Why would they suspect he’s gay? It suits them better if he isn’t.

“Oh, I didn’t realize it was that late already,” Sakura says beside him, breaking him out of his thoughts.

The bar is lively around them, but the music is at a bearable noise level. She’s looking at her phone, frowning. On the other side of the small table, Naruto pouts.

“It’s not late!” he objects, the beer in his glass sloshing around as he waves his hands around. “We just got here!”

“We’ve been here for three hours, I think,” Hinata says, leaning her cheek on his shoulder.

Sasuke wonders how she manages, the way he moves around so much. Perhaps her body is as soft as her voice, easily following him.

“I told you I have to get up early tomorrow.” Sakura sighs, irritated. She fishes her bag up from the floor, putting her phone inside it. “I really have to get going.”

“I’ll walk you to the station,” Sasuke offers. Not because he particularly wants to, but he’s not in the mood to subject himself to third-wheeling Naruto and Hinata. “I should get going, anyway.”

“What?” Naruto looks disappointed, more disappointed than when Sakura announced her departure. “I thought you were free tomorrow.”

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke swallows down the last of his drink.

“Doesn’t mean I want to stay up all night,” he counters with, easing out of the booth. “I still have to study.”

“You study too much,” Naruto mutters, giving Hinata a smile like an afterthought when she squeezes his arm.

“Maybe if you studied at all you wouldn’t need to panic before every exam,” Sakura nags at him, coming around the table to wait next to Sasuke. “Some of us care about our grades.”

“Nerds.” At least Naruto looks a little happier, and Sasuke hates to think that it’s because he thinks anything’s going to happen between him and Sakura. “Don’t get lost, you two!”

They say their goodbyes, and Sasuke tries to pretend he doesn’t notice how Sakura’s cheeks fill with color when they step outside the bar. She’s put a jacket on, but Sasuke’s fine in his sweater. It’s not cold enough that her blush can be blamed on the weather.

“Thanks for walking me,” she says, hefting her bag higher up her shoulder. She’d joined them straight from the library, researching her latest paper. “You didn’t have to.”

“It’s fine,” he tells her, hands tucked into his sleeves.

He doesn’t want to run the risk of her attempting to reach for his hand. As much as he dislikes her attention, it’s safer if she thinks he’s just playing hard to get. He won’t have to explain, then, why he hasn’t outright told her to give up. He should, he knows. But Naruto would just nudge him towards some other girl, would bother him about it until Sasuke started going on actual dates. It’s touching, how worried he is over Sasuke potentially being lonely.

Too bad Naruto himself is the cause of it.

“You’re not doing anything tomorrow, then?” Sakura asks, stepping aside as they meet a group of half-drunk businessmen. “I’m working until five…”

It would be so easy to invite her out. To suggest a movie, or trying out that new café near campus. To watch her eyes light up with hope, watch her mouth stretch into an excited smile.

“I really do need to study,” he says. “And I’m almost out of clean clothes.”

None of it is a lie, technically. He’s just not sure he’ll actually do either of those things tomorrow.

“Oh.”

She tries to hide her disappointment, and Sasuke is an expert by now at pretending he doesn’t notice. They walk the rest of the way in silence, waving a quick goodbye at the ticket gates as Sakura’s train is due to arrive in just two minutes. Sasuke buys a drink from a vending machine and takes small sips as he waits for his own, mindlessly scrolling through social media. He almost ignores the text Naruto sends.

> Wanna hang out tomorrow?

He contemplates it. On the one hand, yes, of course he wants to. On the other, having an entire day to himself has its appeal.

> I’ll be busy

> Ooh, with sakura?

The train arrives, and Sasuke snags a seat next to a couple too caught up with each other to pay attention to him.

> No

> Got studying and laundry to do

The reply is instant.

> That’s too boring!!! I’m coming over for lunch

> Whatever

He pockets his phone, and stares down at the bottle in his hands for the rest of the trip. It doesn’t help against the warmth rising in his chest. At least he doesn’t do this to Sakura – doesn’t invite himself into her space, ignorant of her feelings. It doesn’t make him feel better.

xxx

Sasuke doesn’t have a lot of friends. He’s got Naruto, and then there’s his small group of friends from high school. Naruto is the only one who still lives nearby. Rather, Sasuke had ended up staying in Konoha like him. It’s a big enough city that most of his classmates are strangers, although slightly less so in their second year. He stayed with his parents for his first year, but when one of his cousins moved abroad for work he took the opportunity to stay at her apartment instead. It’s closer to his university, and if he, potentially, wanted to bring a guy home then no one would know.

He doesn’t think his parents would mind, but there wouldn’t be any privacy. He relishes in it, and Naruto does, too.

“I should just move in with you,” Naruto groans, spread out on his couch. “You wouldn’t believe how annoying my mom was this morning.”

“I think I can believe it,” Sasuke tells him, cleaning up after their lunch. “And just to be clear, I’ve never said you’d be welcome to live here.”

“Stingy,” Naruto grumbles. “How long is your cousin gone, anyway?”

Shrugging, Sasuke dries off the counter just for something to do with his hands.

“A year at least. We’ll see. So it’s not like I’ll be living here forever.”

“But still!”

“Where would you even sleep?”

Naruto happily pats the couch. When Sasuke scowls at him, he simply grins.

“Come on,” Naruto says. “I want to watch a movie.”

“I wasn’t lying when I said I need to study.”

Still, he gives in too easily. Naruto lifts his legs to give him room, dumping them all over Sasuke’s lap once he sits down. It’s things like this that makes Sasuke’s heart refuse to give up. He leans his elbow on the back of the couch, cheekbone pressed to his closed fist. He doesn’t say anything when Naruto picks a drama at random, letting him comment on the plot as much as he wants. Watching movies with Naruto is certainly never quiet, and he winces as Naruto kicks his legs as he shouts his anger at the main character.

When the movie ends, Naruto doesn’t start a new one. Instead he chews on his bottom lip, playing with the remote. Sasuke considers getting up to use the toilet, maybe suggesting going to the corner store for snacks, but then Naruto clears his throat suspiciously.

“What?” he asks, irritated when Naruto takes his time.

“So, how are things going with Sakura?”

He resists the urge to pinch his nose. He still lets out a heavy breath, not quite a sigh but close enough that Naruto frowns.

“I mean,” Naruto continues, “you could just ask her out. She’s definitely going to say yes.”

Sasuke shifts, uncomfortable. Naruto’s legs are still on top of his. His socks have little frogs on them.

“I’ve told you I’m not really into the idea of a relationship right now.”

“Uh-huh.” Naruto rolls his eyes, pushing himself up and finally removing his legs, crossing them at the ankles instead. “Sounds like excuses to me.”

“Just drop it, Naruto.”

“But if you get together things will be so much easier,” Naruto insists, poking at his arm. “We can go on double dates, and stuff.”

Sending him a glare, Sasuke pulls a leg up to his chest. It won’t prevent Naruto if he decides to get comfy on his lap again, but it might make him think twice at least. Naruto’s only wearing shorts, and all that naked skin isn’t good for his heart. It’s definitely too cold for it, but Naruto’s never been one to care about the weather.

“We already go places together.”

“Yeah, but it’s not the same!”

Sasuke pinches his lips, looking away. If he’s not careful, those large blue eyes will convince him to cave in, and then he’ll find himself with a girlfriend. He does a lot for Naruto, but there are limits.

“I’m not going to ask her out,” he mutters, knowing it will only lead to more questioning.

Sure enough, Naruto makes a noise of protest.

“But you haven’t rejected her either!”

“She hasn’t asked me out either.”

“It’s obvious she likes you.”

“That’s her problem.”

Naruto kicks at his thigh, using his heel. He looks properly annoyed now, as if Sasuke is a petulant child, refusing to do what’s best for him.

“If you got over yourself for a minute, you’d realize what a catch she is!”

He doesn’t reply. Let Naruto think he’s just stubborn, or an asshole, or whatever. Let him think Sasuke’s just stringing her along, keeping her attention while refusing to commit. It’s better than the alternative.

“Leave it, Naruto,” he warns, getting up and moving to the kitchen. “We’re not talking about this.”

At least Naruto doesn’t follow him, though it doesn’t make much of a difference. The apartment is small, no wall separating the kitchen from the living room. He searches through his cabinets, locating a forgotten bag of wasabi peas. He throws them at Naruto’s head.

“Eat these and shut up,” he says.

To his relief, Naruto does as told.

xxx

He picks up the call from Karin half-distracted, mind still stuck on a question for tomorrow’s seminar. As usual, she doesn’t wait for him to say hi, making her wince with the volume of her voice.

“Do you have any idea how tiring it is to listen to Naruto whine about you?” she starts with, the background noise suggesting she’s outdoors. “Can’t you just tell him you’re gay and put me out of my misery.”

“No thanks.” He drops his pen on his desk, rubbing at his eyes. He regrets not going to the university library, at least then he wouldn’t have been able to pick up the call. “Was that all? I’m kind of busy.”

“You know, this is exactly why I moved away,” she continues, ignoring him. “I thought I could get away from all the high school-level drama. Just get yourself a boyfriend, and go on those stupid double dates my cousin is so desperately yearning for. How hard can it be?!”

He can feel a headache incoming, and he rubs his fingertips between his brows. Naruto had sulked for hours the day before, until Sasuke got sick of it and threw him out. It was definitely backhanded of him to call Karin and complain.

“If you really wanted to be left out of it, why are you calling me? That’s the opposite of not getting involved.”

“Because it’s really painful and I’m morally obligated as the only person with functional brain cells to tell you to move on. Juugo’s too nice to say it and Suigetsu would give you terrible advice and sit back and watch. I’m being nicer to you than you deserve.”

“By telling me to move on,” Sasuke deadpans, wondering why his parents couldn’t have settled down somewhere else.

“Well, someone has to do it! Clearly I’m the gay cousin in the family, so you’re screwed. Might as well get over it and get laid.”

“I really hate you sometimes, you know that?”

She huffs at him, traffic and broken conversations filtering through the phone. There’s the jingle of a shop’s door, and the noise cuts off.

“Your pining is just getting sad,” she eventually replies, distractedly. “Trust me, I know my cousin. He’s not worth it.”

Something unpleasant churns in Sasuke’s stomach. He wants to argue with her that he is worth it, but he doesn’t want to land himself in an hour-long lecture if he can help it. He rolls his neck, making a face. She’s got a point, but he doesn’t enjoy hearing it. His life would be a lot simpler if he could find someone who made him forget about Naruto. He’s just not sure it’s fair to expect someone to instantly replace a lifetime of friendship.

“I don’t think I should have to come out just because Naruto irritates you,” is what he says instead, leaning back in his chair. “What if my parents find out and disown me? You want to be responsible for that?”

“Sasuke,” she sighs, “your brother is literally gay and your parents love his boyfriend.”

“So?”

“Stop. Making. Excuses.”

He bites his cheek, holding back a denial. He’s not worried about his parents, he’s worried about Naruto’s reaction. That things will change between them. That he’ll think Sasuke has feelings for him, which would be correct but would also ruin absolutely everything.

“I’ll… consider it,” he concedes, after a long silence, during which Karin has finished buying whatever it was she needed.

“Really? Because I’m going to hold you to that.”

He sighs.

“Next time I’m not picking up when you call me.”

xxx

A few weeks pass, and not much changes. Naruto still takes up too much space in his head and life, Sakura continues to drop hints but refuses to make the first move, and Hinata is still as lovely as ever. She doesn’t seem to have much of a personality other than being Naruto’s girlfriend, but to be fair Sasuke hasn’t precisely paid attention or tried to get to know her. Naruto’s birthday is drawing closer, and he can’t bring himself to do anything to break the status quo before then.

He’s been considering it, though. It would be a relief to stop pretending. He can’t imagine himself finding a boyfriend, though, because where would he even meet someone? It’s too awkward to use a dating app, and he’s not precisely social. He doesn’t have any experience, either, if you don’t count those childish games they played sometimes when they were younger. And that one time Naruto kissed him by accident when they were twelve.

Because of this, he’s really not expecting it when one day in class, just as the lecture ends, his eyes fall on the messenger bag that the guy next to him has just finished packing. There’s a rainbow pin on it, and Sasuke blurts out his question before he can stop to think about it.

“Are you gay?”

He only lifts his eyes from the pin when the surprised silence stretches out a bit too long. Their eyes meet, and the other boy is staring at him like he’s not sure how to react.

“Uh,” he says eventually, fingers clenching around the bag’s strap. “I mean, yes? But if you’re thinking about the pin it’s just a regular rainbow…”

He trails off, and Sasuke feels his cheeks heat up a bit. He can’t believe he just asked, when he himself has gone to such lengths to make sure no one made such assumptions about him.

“Sorry,” he apologizes. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine.”

Maybe he should know the guy’s name, but he doesn’t. He’s pretty short, hair dyed a light brown and glasses perched on his nose. Cute, but Sasuke’s not sure he’s his type. He’s not sure he has a type, other than Naruto.

“Are you gay?” the guy asks him, eyebrows rising above the frame of his glasses.

Sasuke licks his lips. He could say no, but to what end?

“I am,” he forces out, breathing in a deep breath.

“Oh.” There’s red color blooming on the other boy’s face, his eyes flickering to the side for a moment. “I was kind of hoping, but, um… I mean, hoping sounds weird! Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting you to ask outright.”

When Sasuke stands up, he realizes he’s almost a head taller than him.

“I’m Sasuke,” he offers, clicking his laptop shut and slowly sliding it into his bag.

“I know. I mean! I’m Hiroshi. Nice to meet you.”

Sasuke nods, and awkwardly turns to leave. Hiroshi stops him with a hand to his arm, though, and Sasuke swallows nervously as the turns back. He’s not interested in Hiroshi, not really, but he’s never been asked out by a boy before and the novelty of the situation is getting to him.

“Do you, um, are you busy right now? We could have lunch?”

He weighs the pros and cons in his mind. As nervous as Hiroshi looks, there’s a determined glint in his eyes that sways Sasuke over.

“Okay,” he says, and just like that he’s doing what Karin told him to do.

He’s trying, at least.

xxx

Over the course of a week, including having coffee together and a visit to the aquarium, Sasuke learns a lot about Hiroshi. Or Hiro, as he likes his friends to call him. They don’t have too much in common, but they’re both gay and studying agricultural economics. Once Hiro gets over his initial shyness, Sasuke finds he’s got a great sense of humor and won’t hesitate to poke fun at him.

It’s a breath of relief, to spend time with someone who doesn’t know him from before. He didn’t realize how much he needed it – just being able to be himself, without constantly keeping himself in check.

He can’t fool himself to think it’s enough to replace Naruto, but maybe he doesn’t need to replace him. Maybe it’s enough that Hiro seems to like him. He doesn’t really think about it, when he invites Hiro over on a Saturday night, after they’d had dinner at a nice udon place.

“Oh, wow,” Hiro says as he steps into Sasuke’s apartment, making an impressed face. “Nice place.”

“It’s my cousin’s, so no need to sound so impressed.”

Hiro rolls his eyes, taking off his shoes and jacket and following Sasuke inside.

“Alright, I’ll try to keep it in,” he teases, sitting on the couch when Sasuke motions him towards it. “But it must be nice, to have your own place like this. The dorms are fine, but I can’t exactly bring guys there.”

Humming his agreement, Sasuke grabs two cans of soda from the fridge, handing one of them to Hiro when he sinks down on the couch next to him.

“Want to watch something?”

Hiro nods, and Sasuke brings the TV to life. He’s not expecting anything to happen – they’ve only known each other a week. He’s still coming to terms with having a friend other than Karin he can talk to like this, and she doesn’t really count since there was never the potential for anything to happen between them. Hiro is… potentially someone Sasuke could date. At least there’s nothing wrong with him, not yet, and Sasuke’s easing himself into the idea of getting to know him better.

He finds a movie at random, some sci-fi that doesn’t look terrible. The movie turns into background noise as they talk, Hiro’s eyes watching his face more than the screen. It’s nice, in a new, exhilarating way, to have a guy’s attention on him like this. He’s not sure what to do with it. When Hiro moves closer, knee touching Sasuke’s thigh, hand resting on the back of the couch and occasionally touching his neck, Sasuke can’t find it in him to move away.

It feels like a secret, shared between the two of them. He thinks of Naruto for a long moment, allows himself the pain lacing through his chest as he imagines light brown hair replaced with blond, dark eyes replaced with blue. Then, he pushes it away, tells himself he can have this. The emotions are only his own.

It’s all happening too fast when Hiro grows bold, leaning in to press their mouths together, but he doesn’t care. It’s no one’s business if he spends the evening on his couch with a boy in his lap, a boy who isn’t his best friend.

The pain is easier to swallow if he tells himself that he’s the only one hurt.

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Parallels | Chapter 4

Add yourself to my taglist! | Here’s my masterlist! | Parallels Masterlist

Characters: OC! Violet Grace Dawson, Luke Patterson, Julie Molina, Carrie Wilson, Bobby Wilson, Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer, Flynn nolastname, Willie nolastname, Nick Danforth-Evans, Dirty Candy 

Guideline: Sunset Universe is the universe in which Sunset Curve is famous and Violet is friends with Carrie, Julie and Flynn. Candy Universe is the universe in which Dirty Candy is more famous and Sunset Curve has broken up. 

Song(s) used: Clued Up - Little Mix 

Warnings: none

Words:  2,845

It was almost midnight when the two girls collapsed on the floor of the dance studio after having rehearsed every single Dirty Candy song at least twice. Violet had almost gotten everything down. 

“Will you tell me more about the other universe?” Carrie asked as she stared at the off-white ceiling overhead. 

Violet turned her head a little to look at her best friend before facing the ceiling too. “Where should I start?” 

“Are we friends?” Carrie questioned without missing a beat. 

“Yeah, we’re best friends with Julie and Flynn. We spend most days in Julie’s garage, making music. We wrote at least a dozen songs together, I believe.” Violet smiled at the memory of them writing their first song together just a few years ago. It was one of their proudest moments together. 

Carrie then sat up straight, the movement capturing Violet’s attention. “Will you show me one?” she asked, and Violet shot up into the seating position too. “Please?” 

Violet’s eyes darted across the room where she found a bunch of instruments stalled. With a smile, she got up and made a beeline for the acoustic guitar in the corner before returning and sitting down opposite of Carrie. 

After having tuned the guitar to her liking, Violet placed her fingers on the correct strings and started playing. An upbeat melody chimed through the room seconds before Violet’s voice followed. 

“Hey, yeah, no, oh, oh, yeah, mmm” Listen, I used to dress like everybody else I wanted to just blend in They told me no, keep my dreams on the low Told me I'd never win, yeah I love to be different Guard up to opinions then let 'em in Tear me down, wanna see me drown Like being happy is such a sin, uh-huh”

Violet looked up for a second to find Carrie watching her with the softest smile on her face, the way Carrie always looked at her. It made her feel at home. 

“And now I'm older, it's never over It don't stop affecting me, the world keeps testing me I'm getting on track with every knock back On a bad day, I just gotta stay, stay, stay, stay”

Violet’s voice grew stronger as she lapsed into the chorus with Carrie watching her intently. 

“I stay clued up and I'm ready To love the good and live the bad C-c-clued up and now I get it Just make the best of what you have 'Cause sometimes it's beauty, sometimes it's pain Sometimes it's sunshine and sometimes it's rain I'm c-c-clued up and now I get it Just make the best of what you have”

“Woah-oh-oh, woah-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh, woah C-c-clued up and now I get it Just make the best of what you have”

She slowed it down again, her voice mellowing out during the second verse. 

“Invisible, I feel like I'm forgotten Do you even notice me? Yeah Work myself up, let the nerves take over How I feel isn't what you see I need control, don't know how to let it go I need to learn to let it be, yeah Gotta remember nothing lasts forever So I'm just happy being me, oh-oh”

“And when I'm older, it's never over It don't stop affecting me, the world keeps testing me I'm staying on track with every knock back On a bad day, I just gotta stay, stay, stay, stay”

“I stay clued up and I'm ready To love the good and live the bad C-c-clued up and now I get it Just make the best of what you have 'Cause sometimes it's beauty, sometimes it's pain Sometimes it's sunshine and sometimes it's rain I'm c-c-clued up and now I get it Just make the best of what you have”

To Violet’s surprise, Carrie joined in during the post-chorus, which caused a wide, genuine smile to fall on Violet’s lips as the two voices blended together. For a moment, it was like nothing had changed and she was still in her own universe. 

“Woah-oh-oh, woah-oh-oh Woah-oh-oh, woah C-c-clued up and now I get it Just make the best of what you have”

“I will never run, never run from a lesson I will never hide, never hide from the present All the ups and the downs All the heres and the nows, oh Everything I face, no, it's never forgotten 'Cause every single day is a chance I can blossom All the ups and the downs Yeah, I'm living right now, hey”

“Mmm, I'm living right now, yeah Aah, one, two, three!”

A giggle escaped Carrie’s lips before she tried her hardest to sing along with Violet. It ended up with her just echoing some of the words, but it added a certain quality to the song that Violet really digged. 

“I'm c-c-clued up and I'm ready To love the good and live the bad C-c-clued up and now I get it Just make the best of what you have 'Cause sometimes it's beauty (beauty, no), sometimes it's pain (pain) Sometimes it's sunshine and sometimes it's rain (oh, sometimes it's rain) I'm c-c-clued up (up) and now I'm ready Just make the best of what you have”

“Woah-oh-oh, woah-oh-oh, oh, oh I'm c-c-clued up and now I get it Just make the best of what you have Beauty, but sometimes it's pain, mmh Sometimes it's sunshine, sometimes it's rain”

The last notes echoed through the space as the song came to an end, and made room for Carrie’s clapping and giggling. 

“That sounded great! Did you write this one?” she asked, intrigued to hear more about this universe of Violet’s. 

Violet smiled and placed the guitar next to her before answering. “Actually, you did…” 

Carrie’s eyes widened. “I did? Y-you mean your Carrie doesn’t sing about being popular and being the best at everything like I do?!” The girl was baffled at the idea that there were other subjects to write about than just popularity. 

“You should try it sometime,” Violet told her with a smile. “I’m sure you got something great in you. If Carrie from my universe can do it, then so can you.” 

“Sounds like a pretty good universe you lived in,” it sounded from the other side of the room and it didn’t sound like Carrie’s voice, whatsoever. Violet and Carrie turned their heads to find Bobby in the doorway. 

Violet smiled. “Actually, it was just okay. I don’t see you that often…” Bobby tilted his head a little before walking closer towards the girls. “What happened to Sunset Curve here? In my universe, they’re pretty big and touring the country at this very moment…” 

“We, uhm, we split up…” Bobby replied with a tinge of sadness in his voice. 

“What happened?” 

Bobby heaved in a deep breath before joining the girls on the floor. “Creative differences. I wanted to be famous, Luke was in it to prove to his parents he could make a career out of it, Alex just wanted to work out his frustrations and Reggie was just in it because his friends were…” 

“Oh, that sounds pretty terrible. Where are they now?” 

The boy shrugged. “Luke plays football, Reggie is focusing on his studies and Alex only has time for Willie.” 

“Who’s Willie?” Violet wanted to know, having never heard of the boy before. 

“Alex’s boyfriend,” Carrie replied, “And they’re the cutest couple on earth, I swear to God!” 

Violet’s eyes widened. “I knew Alex was gay. I swear the whole dating-a-different-girl-every-night was just a publicity stunt!” The Wilson siblings shot the girl a questioning look. “It’s a long story… But Alex is gay! Yay!” She excitedly clapped her hands, making the two teenagers in front of her chuckle. 

“So, any clue how we’re gonna get you back?” Carrie asked then. 

Violet smirked, “You already sick of me, Wilson?” Carrie’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. “I’m kidding. But no, I’ve got no clue whatsoever… There must be a reason why I’ve been brought here, right?” 

“I mean, you did tell me you wished someone would believe in me,” Bobby muttered, his voice laced with hurt and betrayal. 

Violet’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m sorry about that, Bobby… I’m sure I didn’t mean it…” 

The three kids let the words settle in their brain before the three of them burst out into laughter. That sounded weird, even considering the situation. 

For the rest of the night, the three of them brainstorm together, trying to figure out what reason could be behind the switch. There had to be a reason for her to suddenly show up here. It had to mean something. 

Determinedly, Violet stormed through the hallway towards where she last saw Julie, Flynn and Carrie. They were still at Julie’s locker and, like they had many times before, immediately shut up. This time, Violet ignored it and instead came straight to the point. 

“What’s this?” she asked and showed the girls the picture she had made of the news article in the trophy case. “This isn’t right! Sunset Curve broke up a year ago!” 

Just as the words left her mouth, a girl Violet could recognize from miles away walked her way. She had a strut in her step and her long, black hair swooshed behind her with every swaying step she took. 

“Kayla!” Violet called out and when her friend turned around, her face screamed disgust. 

“What do you want?” she asked, her tone laced with annoyance. 

Violet’s eyes flicked from Kayla to Carrie and back. Kayla and Carrie weren’t friends here. And neither were Violet and Kayla. Dirty Candy wasn’t a thing in this universe. Though the logo on Kayla’s badge that was pinned to her jean jacket said differently. 

“Nothing – N-nevermind.” Violet turned back to the girls she was previously talking to. “Does Dirty Candy exist?” she asked in a hushed voice. 

“Yeah,” Carrie replied, the volume of her voice matching Violet’s. “It’s Kayla’s. She created the band with Dana, Cynthia and Sophia.” 

Violet blinked a few times, trying to process all the information. “Dana’s in the band?” she whispered, and neither of the girls were sure if she was talking to them or not. “Dana got kicked out of Dirty Candy… Our Dirty Candy.” She said that last part to Carrie. 

“Vi, we were never in Dirty Candy…” Carrie told her with furrowed eyebrows. 

Julie lifted her hand to Violet’s arm. “Are you certain about that universe thing?” 

“Yes!” Violet groaned. “This isn’t the world I’m used to living in. In my world, Carrie and I are in Dirty Candy and we haven’t spoken in over a year since your mother died.” She pointed at Carrie first, then gestured to the two other girls before her gaze landed on Julie. 

Julie’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Her mother really did know more, she was certain of it. There was something she was hiding and Julie had to find out what it was. But first, she wanted to know more about this universe Violet seemed to come from. 

She grabbed Violet’s hand and dragged her towards the empty music room at the back of the school where no one ever came. This used to be Sunset Curve’s rehearsal space during their free periods and  now, Julie used it to work on her music when the girls couldn’t help. 

“Tell us more about that universe of yours,” Julie demanded as she hopped onto a desk in the corner. Her eyes flicked to the other two girls, searching for their approval before adding, “We wanna know everything.” 

“So, in my universe, your mother passed away. She got ill, really ill and after she passed, you lost your love for music. You didn’t sing a note for a year and we kinda lost each other. Carrie and I started to spend more time together afterwards and eventually created Dirty Candy. We grew our band with Cynthia, Sophia and Kayla, and became more and more popular the more we performed at school and at Chubbie’s pizzeria.” 

Carrie’s eyes twinkled at the idea of forming a band with her best friends, though she couldn’t quite see how she could start a band without Flynn and Julie. There was no Carrie and Violet without Flynn and Julie, or any other way around. 

“You have a Chubbie’s too?” Flynn questioned, earning a glare from Carrie and Julie. 

“That’s your question?” Julie shot back, shaking her head. She then turned back to Violet. “Continue, please.” 

Violet chuckled a little. “Besides rehearsals for Dirty Candy, I mostly hang out at Carrie’s where Bobby mostly mopes around because he doesn’t have any friends since Sunset Curve split up.” 

“Why’d they split?” Carrie wanted to know. 

“I don’t know, some drama, I guess? I don’t really pay much attention to him, to be honest.” A soft laugh escaped Violet’s mouth at the thought of teasing Bobby to the fullest with all her stupid pranks and witty comebacks during rehearsals. 

“Why’d you switch places with our Violet?” Julie then queried. 

Violet shrugged. “If only I knew that… The blogpost I found doesn’t really give a theory about why people switch places with their parallel self. It just – happened, I guess?” 

Julie mulled the answer over in her head whilst her teeth dug into her bottom lip in thought. She knew she could ask her mother about all of this. She had to know something about it. There had to be more that she could tell them. 

“I think there’s someone who can help us,” she muttered and jumped back on her feet. Her three friends followed behind her until they reached the street and they were on their way to Julie’s house. Their last period was a free period, so it wouldn’t really matter that they left school early. It was something they did quite often to go and jam in Julie’s garage. 

“Mom?” Julie called out as the girls entered the house. “Mom! You home?” 

Rose entered the hallway from the living room with a wide smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes that Violet hadn’t seen in years. The girl’s eyes widened upon seeing the curly-headed woman. She was alive. Alive and well and right in front of her. 

“You– you’re alive… Miss Molina… You’re alive. You’re actually–” Violet let out a surprised chuckle whilst tears pooled in her eyes. “You’re actually alive…” she breathed. 

Rose’s eyes darted from Violet to her daughter and the other girls before landing back on Violet. A light behind her eyes flicked on, signalling at the resemblance of the situation she had found herself in years ago. 

“I know what’s going on here,” Rose mumbled before heading into the kitchen. The girls exchanged glances before following the Latina woman. Violet and Julie took a seat at the table, opposite where Rose had taken a seat, while Carrie leaned against the counter where Flynn hoisted herself onto. 

With the girls’ expectant eyes on her, Rose heaved in a deep breath. “You’ve switched universes, haven’t you?” was the first question she asked. “You fainted and woke up in a world where you know the people but they lead completely different lives?” 

Violet’s mouth dropped, her eyes flicking to the other girls before focusing back on Rose. “Y-yes, that’s… That’s exactly what happened.” 

Rose smiled faintly. “I got myself in the same situation…” she admitted. “I was eighteen at the time and I had told my boyfriend at the time that I wished I lived in a world where he wasn’t such a jerk. Next thing I knew, I fainted and woke up in a world where my boyfriend was gay and my friends led completely different lives from mine. I was in a band, Rose and The Petal Pushers, and we were pretty famous there. All my other friends either didn’t talk to me anymore or were in my band.” 

Carrie and Violet exchanged a quick glance. That sounded an awful lot like them. 

“How did you get back here?” Flynn questioned from her spot on the counter. 

Fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist, Rose continued. “There’s this unfinished business I had to complete in that world and the Rose I knew had to do the same in mine. My unfinished business was getting Rose and The Petal Pushers in a band while the other Rose had to help find my boyfriend’s way out of the closet…” she smiled at the memory that floated back to the surface. “Aside from marriage and having two beautiful children–” she tucked a strand of Julie’s hair behind her ear with a smile, “The switch was the biggest adventure of my entire life.” 

“Wow, mom,” breathed Julie. 

Violet nodded her head, “That’s a crazy story, miss Molina.” 

Rose scoffed and reached for Violet’s hand. “Please, you call me Rose in this universe.” 

A smile landed on Violet’s cheeks. “Thanks for the reassuring story, Rose.” 

“I hope it calms your nerves and worries about all of this.” 

“It definitely does.”  

Rose smiled before patting the girl’s hand. “So,” she said, “What’s your unfinished business?” 

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[rubysunnday]

hi, hope this question is okay with you, if not, you can 100% ignore it and going on with your life.

first of all, i wanna say that i love your imagines and your blog is one of my favorite, that’s why i’m coming to you to ask this.

it’s gonna sound extremely weird but how did you realize that you were bisex? i’m having an existential crisis and i don’t know who i am anymore, i have so many questions and i’m scared that i’m trying to be someone else.

thank you <3

Hi, anon!

I'm so happy that you trust me with this question! It's such an honour!

So, I officially came out in September 2019 but I'd suspected I was bisexual for around eight months (ish) beforehand.

And, honestly, when Tessa Thompson came out as bisexual, I was suddenly like 'hmm, I wonder'. That woman was a major factor in my questioning, lol.

And then along came Bill Potts in doctor who, aka my space gay, and I was like, 'ooo she's cute, I'm liking her'.

Then I watched Thor Ragnarok again and realised I was crushing on Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett and Chris Hemsworth.

At the time I was writing a marvel fan fic and suddenly wondered what would happen if I made my oc bisexual. Subsequently every character I have made since then hasn't been straight...

Anyone seeing a theme, here?

I then went to see a musical in spring 2019 (Six: the musical is definitely one of the things that made me realise, lol) and shortly after I saw it one of the actresses came out as pansexual and I messaged her, much like you've done with me, anon, and she explained how she still doesn't truly know what sexuality she is and she sort of floats in between them all. She said that it doesn't matter if you decide to choose a sexuality or not. Sometimes it helps you mentally to go, yes I identify as bisexual, because it gives you a sense of purpose - that's what it did for me.

But if you decide that actually I don't identify as bisexual or gay or anything, then that's fine too!

But, yes, I didn't really realise at first. I was curious, certainly. My friendship group up until early 2019 had been very straight and mainly girls and I often felt like I was lying to myself. I wasn't very happy and I didn't feel comfortable in how I looked, acted, anything.

But then I made some new friends (half of whom were not, under any circumstances, straight, lol) and I felt comfortable and began wondering if I was, perhaps, bisexual.

I mentioned it to a few friends before I moved to Scotland and they all said 'yeah, I kinda guessed as much' which at the time I was a bit like, oh, but now I find it hilarious. My simping was really not subtle.

Moving to Scotland (which is a whole story) really helped me get comfortable with my identity and gain a whole lotta self confidence. I became friends, and still am friends, with all sorts of people. I felt like myself for the first time in a while and whilst I had good days and bad days, they didn't judge me for anything.

When I came out they all sent me lovely messages about it and one friend also came out to me (he's also bisexual) and we bonded over our shared experiences.

I have been so incredibly lucky with my parents. My mum grew up in a lesbian household so was kinda 'yeah, cool, alright' about it all and was not surprised in the least. She knew before me, haha.

Coming out definitely helped me figure out who I am. And, ironically, this whole pandemic has definitely helped me too. Spending so much time alone with myself has given me a chance to think about myself and what I want to do and has given me a chance to experiment with a lot of things.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter if you put a label on yourself or not. We've got a label maker, if the first one doesn't fit, make a new one. It's perfectly natural to be scared and confused about all of this because it is scary.

But be kind to yourself, anon. Take your time, don't rush it and if you find yourself going 'this is the one for me' fantastic. If not, then don't panic. Peel your label off, make a new one, and try it out.

It took me changing my name from Charlotte to Lottie, moving to Scotland and back, making new friends, starting this blog and dying my hair for me to go, yup, i'm bisexual.

And even now I have days where I feel uncomfortable in my body and how I look and whether I am bisexual or if i'm lying to myself. I dyed my hair pink and purple yesterday because I needed a pick me up and a confidence boost.

But then I watch Thor Ragnarok or Shadow and Bone, realise I fancy the entire cast and go, oh yeah, i am definitely bi.

But, anon, please do keep asking me questions and talking to me if you need to. I'll do my best to answer your questions.

Lottie the Agony Aunt is open for business!

But, anyway, anon, if you find a label that fits you, stick it on. If after a while it peels off and doesn't stick, make a new one. Our label maker is well stocked and ready to print. x x

[olivemac]

1300 miles | chapter two | b.b.

Summary | Bucky Barnes is adjusting to civilian life, living in Brooklyn, visiting Sam in Delacroix when he can, and trying to figure out what he wants. When he meets Jo Landry, the tattooed lead singer of a New Orleans-based band, he thinks he might have found the answer. Too bad they live 1300 miles apart.

Time Frame | post-TFATWS

Pairing | Bucky Barnes x fem!oc

Rating | explicit

Warnings | mentions of combat-related injuries, alcohol use, tattoos/body piercings, coarse language, gay male character, bisexual female character, recreational/medicinal drug use (weed), pet names (doll, Sarge), smut (f/m, mutual masturbation, fingering, very very slight dom!Bucky, praise kink), angst if you squint but not really, and all the romance tropes/fluff because I'm a sucker for it; more warnings to come; 18+ ONLY, minors DNI

A/N | Likes and comments always appreciated. :)

series master list | AO3 link | full master list

1300 miles playlist

Tag | @mrs--barnes

_____

previous chapter

_____

Jo wakes the next morning to a text from Danny: Did you fuck the Winter Soldier?

She rolls her eyes and responds: Fuck off. He’s not the Winter Soldier anymore.

Danny replies with a leaf emoji and the words: Come upstairs.

Jo slides her glasses on and climbs out of bed. She pads into the living room as quietly as she can to find Bucky snoring on her couch with Toulouse perched on his chest. She can’t stop herself from snapping a picture with her phone.

Upstairs, she lets herself into Danny’s apartment. She’s met at the door by Greta, Danny’s PTSD service dog, a medium-sized German Shepherd who waits patiently for Jo to kneel down and scratch her behind her ears.

“Morning, pup,” Jo whispers.

“I’m out here,” Danny calls from his third-floor balcony.

“Coffee?” Jo asks.

“Cold-brew in the fridge,” Danny responds.

She detours to the kitchen before joining Danny at the small table on his balcony.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Jo asks. Danny always smokes the morning after a nightmare.

“They’re called flashbacks, and yes,” he responds, taking a deep drag of the joint.

“But they’re getting better, right?”

"Since you came back, yeah, they're getting better."

“Give me that,” Jo says, reaching for the joint. She takes a drag then exhales slowly. “You can always wake me up when you have a flashback, you know.”

Danny snorts. “I was afraid I’d wander into your bedroom to find you getting dicked down by an Avenger.”

“Please stop,” Jo groans. "You get that you're my brother, right? And this is weird."

Danny laughs, "It's only weird if you make it weird." Then he says, “Seriously, though, what’s the deal with Mister Tall-Dark-and-Handsome? I mean, if Sam trusts him, then he must be a good guy, but he’s literally a hundred years old, Jo.”

“He’s…” she pauses, “really sweet and charming underneath the brooding exterior. I really like him, Danny.”

“But?”

“But he lives in New York,” she whines.

“Yeah,” Danny says, taking another drag on the joint.

“‘Yeah?’ That’s all you’re going to say?”

Danny shrugs. “Some things are worth working for.”

Jo laughs, “Okay, why don’t you get back to me when you’re not high. I’m heading back downstairs.”

“Love you, Josiebean,” Danny says, using the nickname he gave Jo when they were kids.

“Love you, too, Daniel-San,” Jo replies. Danny laughs at the Karate Kid reference like he always does, and Jo kisses his forehead and pats his shoulder before leaving.

_____

Bucky wakes to the smell of coffee and bacon, his stomach rumbling at the scent. There's a warm weight on his chest, and when he opens his eyes he's greeted with the yellow stare of Toulouse.

He looks at his watch. It's a little after eleven. He usually wakes earlier, but he also doesn't usually sleep as soundly as he did last night.

He wanders into the kitchen in his borrowed sweats to find Jo standing at the stove in an oversized t-shirt, shorts, and out-of-season Halloween socks, her hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun. Her back is to him, and he takes the opportunity to study her naked legs. More ink peaks out from the hem of her shorts and covers most of her thighs. Bucky has the urge to drop to his knees before her and run his tongue over every intricate design.

Instead, he clears his throat, so he doesn't startle her, and she turns to face him. Her face is bare, and she’s wearing large, gold-rimmed glasses. Bucky can’t decide if she looks prettier like this or like she did last night, with her hair flowing down her back and her guitar in her hands.

"Morning," Jo says. “Sorry to shatter the illusion,” she continues, gesturing to her glasses and outfit.

Bucky smiles. He isn’t sure what the protocol is for greeting the woman you made out with and whose couch you slept on last night, but he decides he wants to kiss her again. He takes the few steps toward her and pulls her into his arms. This close, she has to crane her neck up to look him in the eyes.

“Morning,” he says. They’re so close and his voice is pitched so low that Jo can feel the word rumble in his chest. Butterflies erupt in her stomach.

Bucky leans down slowly and presses his lips against Jo’s. This kiss is softer and slower than the kisses they shared last night, and the heat that explodes in Jo’s lower stomach burns the butterflies away. Her fingers dig into his triceps, one arm yielding to her touch, the other firm against her digits. She sighs and opens her mouth to his tongue, letting him deepen the kiss.

He licks into her mouth, and Jo moans, her hands coming up to cup his stubble-covered cheeks. Bucky’s own hands slide down Jo’s back to her buttocks, pulling her hips flush against his so she can feel the effect she’s having on him. Jo gasps, and Bucky’s lips leave hers to trail wet kisses against her jaw.

When he pulls away, Bucky’s smile is almost smug. He likes all the sounds he’s able to pull from her, and he wants to hear more.

Jo turns back to the stove, catching her breath and trying to hide the flush she knows is rising from her chest to her cheeks.

“Breakfast — well," she looks at the clock on the oven, "brunch — is ready. Have a seat.”

Bucky places a final kiss against the back of Jo’s neck before sitting.

Toulouse rubs against Bucky's legs beneath the kitchen table. He reaches down to scratch Louie between the ears, and the cat lets out a contented chirp.

"He's usually not that nice to strangers," Jo says, watching the two of them from across the room.

"My sister had a cat growing up — big, fat orange thing that was missing half an ear. His name was Marmalade."

Jo smiles brightly and sets a plate of food in front of him. “Coffee?” she asks.

“Please,” Bucky says. “But I can get it.”

“No need,” she says, handing him a mug of fresh coffee. “You want oat milk? Sugar, maybe?”

“Black is good,” Bucky says, taking his first sip.

Jo sits across from him with her own plate and coffee cup. They spend breakfast talking quietly. Bucky likes the domesticity of it. He's gotten used to having breakfast at the Wilson's with Sarah, Sam, and the boys, but this meal with Jo feels more intimate. He has a brief flash of spending every morning like this, but he pushes it away as quickly as it comes. He's trying not to overthink whatever’s happening between himself and Jo. He’s not used to having good things in his life, but he wants to lean into this, take the risk.

"You said last night that you know who I am," Bucky says as they clear their plates from the table.

Jo is quiet for a moment, neatly stacking plates and coffee cups in the dishwasher.

“I may have seen a documentary or two featuring the Howling Commandos,” she says, closing the dishwasher and turning to Bucky. “And Sam and Steve may have crashed in Danny’s apartment for a couple of months when they were on the run following the Accords.”

Bucky is silent. He's staring at Jo with the same brooding intensity as last night, but there's something more in his eyes — a sadness she hadn't noticed earlier. She's seen that look before on Danny when he first came back from Afghanistan. It's the look of someone who's lost everything. But as quickly as it's there, it's gone.

Bucky clears his throat. “You knew Steve?” he asks.

“Yeah. I mean, briefly,” she whispers. “Let me show you something.”

He follows her into the living room where she pulls a box from one of the bookshelves. She empties the contents onto the coffee table; it's a handful of polaroids featuring varied combinations of Jo and Sam and Steve and Danny. Bucky sits on the couch and picks up one of the photos. It's of Steve with a German Shepherd; in the photo Steve is smiling brightly, and Bucky's heart aches at the sight.

"That's Greta," Jo says, sitting next to Bucky, "Danny's dog. She was just a puppy then. She adored Steve."

Bucky laughs through his nose and picks up another photo. This one features Sam and Jo sitting at a table in a kitchen that looks like Jo's but slightly different — Bucky assumes it's Danny's; Sam is clearly in the middle of a story, and Jo's head is thrown back in laughter. A stab of jealousy hits him in the chest — Bucky wants to make her laugh like that. He skims through the rest of the polaroids, finally landing on one of Jo and Steve sitting side by side at a piano, Steve's large frame dwarfing the woman next to him.

"He found out I can play a few '30s and '40s standards on piano," Jo says, smiling at the memory. "There wasn't a lot for him and Sam to do cooped up here for three months, so I taught him some basics."

Bucky stares at the photo for a while before he speaks. "You play piano?" he asks.

"I started on piano, took up guitar when I was ten, then bass when I was thirteen. I can also play drums, organ, banjo, mandolin, and a little violin," she says. "And I have a Bachelors of Music with a concentration in voice."

Bucky stares at her for a moment, then tosses the photo back onto the coffee table and reaches for Jo, pulling her onto his lap. She settles with her legs on either side of his hips and her hands on his shoulders.

"So, you have very talented fingers, then?" Bucky asks with a flirty grin.

Jo rolls her eyes and laughs, but she's secretly pleased with where this interaction seems to be headed. She was worried Bucky would feel like she had kept something from him by not telling him about Steve last night, but he seems to be taking it in stride.

"Thanks for showing me those photographs," Bucky says, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "He gave up everything for me back then, so it's nice to see that maybe he had a little bit of happiness during that time."

"He wanted the same for you," she whispers, nudging her nose against Bucky's.

Bucky kisses her softly, then pulls away, staring into her green eyes. Jo slides her glasses off and sets them on the coffee table behind her.

She drags a finger down his vibranium arm and asks, “Can you feel that?”

Bucky licks his lips. “Yeah. It’s—it’s different from the real one, but yeah.”

Jo hums in acknowledgment but doesn’t say anything else. Their lips meet again, and this time the kiss is longer, needier. Bucky sweeps his tongue into her mouth, and Jo is certain she's going to have beard burn across her face tomorrow. But she doesn't really care.

Jo slides her hands into Bucky's hair, and he sighs into her mouth when she angles her hips against his just right, pressing against him slowly. His grip on her waist tightens before he slips his vibranium hand down across her backside to gently guide her movements. His flesh hand covers her right breast, palming her through her shirt.

Jo's hands leave his hair to slide beneath Bucky's t-shirt. He pulls back from her slightly and puts his hand over hers.

“I have scars,” Bucky warns.

“Okay,” Jo mumbles against his lips, trying for another kiss.

Bucky pulls back again. “They’re not pretty.”

Jo looks at him. “Bucky, do you really think I care about that? Do I look like someone who’s worried about conventional beauty standards?” she jokes. She smiles softly and brings a hand up to cradle his jaw. “You don’t have to show me. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” she whispers, leaning in to kiss him again.

He pulls away from her mouth to tug the shirt over his head before he can overthink it. He’s gorgeous like this, and Jo wants to touch every inch of him. She starts with his chest, and her fingers dance lightly across the scars on Bucky’s left shoulder before she presses a quick kiss to the spot where flesh meets metal. Bucky smiles at the gesture, then his lips are on Jo's neck. As he sucks a mark into the place where her neck meets her shoulder, Bucky slips his flesh hand beneath the fabric of Jo's shirt.

Bucky's thumb slides across her nipple, and he pauses, warm metal against his digit stopping him. Jo can feel Bucky's fingers against her breast, trying to work out what exactly he's touching. She leans back, her hands on Bucky's chest to keep him from following her and pulls her t-shirt over her head.

Bucky's fairly certain his heart stops at the sight before him. He’s not sure what to look at first: the small gold balls that adorn either side of Jo’s erect nipples or the intricate floral design inked on her sternum between and below her breasts, framing them perfectly.

“So…I have my nipples pierced,” Jo says, taking Bucky’s staring for hesitation or confusion.

Bucky licks his lips. “Fuck,” he mutters before running his thumb across her right nipple and taking the left one between his teeth.

Jo hisses and bucks her hips harder against his cock. He's hot and hard beneath her as she grinds against him. The feeling he had last night – of being on fire – has returned, but it's tenfold now. Every thought of taking things slow, every bit of doubt has evaporated in wake of his need to please Jo.

Bucky grips Jo's waist and flips her onto her back on the couch, coming to rest between her open legs.

“Is this okay?” he asks, pressing his bare chest against hers. His dog tags are cool against her skin.

“Very," she breathes.

Bucky's lips find Jo's again before trailing across her jaw, down her neck, and over her breasts. He lets his tongue explore one of her pierced nipples before taking the bud between his teeth and pulling slightly. Jo gasps, and her own hands slide from Bucky's shoulders down his chest and across his stomach, her blunt fingernails scratching against his abs as she goes. She palms his cock through his sweats, and Bucky's hips stutter. His eyes clench shut like he’s in pain, and he pulls away to catch his breath.

"Sorry," Jo says quickly, removing her hand. "We can slow down."

"No," Bucky all but growls, then takes another deep breath and opens his eyes. "No. It's just been," he pauses, "it's been a while since I've done this, and you're kind of driving me crazy, Jo." He lets out a breathy laugh, then seems to sober. "I just—I, uh, need to be in control of some things. If that's okay."

She smiles her understanding before kissing him, softer this time. Bucky leans into the kiss and sweeps his tongue into her mouth, tasting her. He props himself up with his vibranium hand, and his right hand moves back to Jo's breasts, teasing each nipple in turn.

"Tell me what you want," Jo says as Bucky's teeth bite gently at her pulse point.

Bucky presses his lips against Jo's ear and whispers, "Touch yourself. Please. I want to watch you fall apart."

Jo whimpers. She catches the look on Bucky's face as her hand travels down her body and into her shorts. His pupils are blown wide, barely a hint of blue visible around black. She knows her own eyes look much the same.

She hisses when her fingers meet the bundle of nerves between her legs, then slide lower. Bucky can't decide if he wants to watch her hand beneath her shorts or her face. He settles for moving his eyes between her face and breasts, watching them rise and fall with each breath she takes. Finally, he lowers his head back between her breasts and traces the outline of the tattoo there with his tongue. Jo moans and bucks her hips.

Bucky presses his own hips against the couch, trying to find the smallest bit of relief. He's not going to last. It's been too long since he's been with someone this way, and his body feels like a live wire. He reaches up to push the fabric of her shorts aside, moaning when he realizes she's not wearing anything beneath them.

He feels Jo's fingers pull away, and he growls, "Keep touching yourself." She does, her fingers rubbing hard circles into her clit. "Good girl," Bucky praises, and Jo keens, Bucky's name falling from her lips.

He slips his own fingers inside of her. She's so wet and warm, Bucky is afraid he'll finish just from this. Or maybe it will be the sound of her moans that do me in, he thinks. Because she sounds lovely, better than she did on stage last night. And she feels perfect wrapped around his two digits. He adds a third, and Jo's whole body tenses. Bucky can feel her warm heat tighten around his fingers as her legs bend and draw in closer to her body. The sight of Jo coming pushes him over the edge. He's spilling into his sweatpants like a teenager, and he doesn't even care. All he can think of is the sound of Jo, the feel of Jo, the look on Jo's face.

Bucky collapses onto Jo's body, his full weight resting on her for a second before he props himself up again and looks at her. She's smiling sleepily, a slightly dazed look in her eyes, and he can't help but admit that it makes his ego swell to know he can make her smile like that.

"That was..." he starts.

Jo hesitates, then runs her fingers through his hair softly. "Good? Great? Amazing?" she says.

Bucky breathes out a laugh and rests his head on her chest for a moment. "All of the above," he replies. Jo hums, and Bucky continues, lifting his head again to look at her, "You're fucking perfect, doll."

Jo laughs, and replies, "You probably say that to all the girls, Sarge."

Bucky sobers. "No, Jo, I don't. Really." He brushes a strand of hair from her face. "When I said I haven't done this in a while, that was an understatement," he says. Dr. Raynor told him he needed to open up, nurture friendships (or whatever this is turning into), so here he goes. "I wasn't really planning on this happening — not that I'm not glad that it did..." He pauses.

"But you live in New York, and I live here. And we just met,” Jo finishes.

"I don't know how things like this work these days," he says. He's looking at her with such sincerity that Jo thinks her heart might burst. "I told you I wanted to do this right. Dinner, flowers, the whole nine yards.”

Jo cocks her head to the side and smiles. "Let's start with dinner."

_____

They lay in silence for a while, Bucky's head resting on Jo's naked breasts, her fingers running through his hair. Jo's starting to think he's fallen asleep when Bucky speaks again.

“I should probably go,” Bucky says reluctantly. "Sam was expecting my help with the boat today."

"I'll drive you," Jo says. "Just let me get dressed."

"You don't have to do that. I can call a cab."

"Delacroix's, like, an hour outside the city. It'll cost a fortune. Let me drive you."

Bucky hesitates, but Jo nudges at his right shoulder gently until he agrees. He presses a soft kiss to her lips before he stands and offers her a hand. While Bucky moves into the bathroom to change back into his own boxers and jeans, Jo slips into her room. She comes back out wearing jeans and a vintage Lilith Fair t-shirt; she's traded her glasses for contacts. Jo shoves her feet into her combat boots at the door and turns back to kiss Bucky quickly before they leave the apartment.

_____

The drive to Delacroix is quiet except for Jo's Paul Simon playlist thrumming from the car speakers. Bucky thinks he might actually like the music. Or maybe he just likes listening to Jo sing every word.

When Jo pulls up outside Sarah's house, Bucky turns to her from the passenger seat. “I don’t have your number,” he says.

“Give me your phone," she responds, smiling and holding her hand out.

Bucky unlocks his phone and hands it over. Jo saves her number before texting herself so she has his, as well. She deletes the text conversation and hands his phone back.

"There you go, Sarge," she says with a wink.

Bucky leans across the car's console and wraps his vibranium hand around the back of Jo's neck. He pulls her close and presses his lips against hers gently. Jo responds by running her fingers across the stubble on Bucky's jaw and sweeping her tongue into his mouth. A moan rumbles through Bucky's chest, and he tries to move closer to Jo's body, but he knocks his knees roughly against the center divider.

"Shit," he curses, pulling away. "It was easier to kiss a dame in the front seat of a car in the '40s," Bucky complains.

Jo laughs. "Kissing a lot of dames in cars, were you?"

"I got around," Bucky says, a grin on his face.

He feels like himself around Jo – not exactly the person he was before the war, but close. He almost feels like he could be a better version of that man; he wants to be that for Jo. For now, though, it's easy to flirt and laugh with her, watch her eyes light up and her smile brighten.

"I believe it, Sarge," Jo teases. Over Bucky's shoulder, she notices Sam standing on the front porch of the house. "I think I've stolen you away from Sam long enough," she says.

"Please, doll, steal me away anytime," Bucky flirts. He kisses her once more. "I'll see you Tuesday," he whispers, his hand lingering on her cheek before he climbs out of the car.

“Looks like someone had a good night,” Sam laughs as Bucky ascends the front porch steps.

“We are not talking about this,” Bucky grumbles.

“Oh, we’re definitely talking about this,” Sam says, clapping Bucky on the back.

______

next chapter

[kotikala]

FAM!!! LONG TIME NO SEE!!!! :D <3!!!

:D

Yeah, I’ve been away doing other stuff, mostly trying to focus on school since I got meds to tame my feral ADHD [and eliminate nearly all of my severe depression and anxiety too]. Adding a Linguistics major to my Finnish/Scandinavian Studies, and contemplating adding another language in the fall. [Oooo but what, so many options.]

I also wanted to take a step back from fandom since it was new to me, I just dove the fuck in, and then felt overwhelmed trying to navigate, participate, and balance with my other life things. Nothing bad really, I just needed to figure out a better rhythm and equilibrium.

I also had a birthday at the end of February [32 feels frickin weird] and got a new laptop from it that is super awesome and runs games. So I got Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition on a whim since I knew next to nothing about Dragon Age but it met my base criterion of ‘is it gay though’ and

HUUUUWEEEEE

I am in love with this series. Also exhilaratingly terrified of where some stories currently are in the lead-up to the fourth game and the possibilities of what could happen...

why is everyone in The Bad Place

Also hoping that EA doesn’t fuck it up royally. They seem to have a hard time learning lessons, from what I’ve gathered.

[These games also introduced me to mods which are so god damn cool. When they work. No post-Trespasser Dorian for me, apparently.]

Anyhoo, erm. Been following Tales of Xadia stuff [ *E L J A A L* ] and general Dragon Prince things, but there hasn’t been much new going on, and I think I kind of exhausted my analysing and theorising. I’ll have to check my modest mountain of drafts to see if anything’s in there I’ve forgotten.

So yeah, I’ll pop in from time to time, like now. I may even go through drafts and things today since I have some free time, and post some art I’ve had sitting in a folder since...Christmas? I redesigned my OC, though they are still nameless. But the timing worked out for Tales of Xadia, and I’ll probably use them when I get a chance to play.

Hope you and the other mutuals have been doing well!

Happy Bisexual Health Month and Trans Day of Visibility!

[wovenstarlight]

YWBK update: chapter 25 + liner notes

yesterday will be kinder has updated! you can read chapter 25 here, or start from the beginning here

okay, on to notes and commentary! first time i’m doing these, let’s hope this works out. commentary under the cut to save people’s dashes

Hamin laughs. “Given how bad you are at not being suspicious, that’s understandable.” “Oh, come on, I’m not that bad.” Hamin screws up his whole face in a squint. “Okay, so maybe I’m a little bad.”

this part was really funny to me when i wrote it because i was like “hmm reasons for DHM to understand why HHJ wouldn’t work in the guild” and then i was like Wait. Their Whole First Meeting, Dude. DHM was lowkey convinced for the longest time that HHJ was like, on the run from the KR version of the mafia, and got plastic surgery to look like his little brothers, and is possibly in some sort of witness protection program??? or something??? how else does he not have cops on his ass this man is so suspicious all the time

“I don’t think… They said the dungeons were, like, different worlds? Did they find people there?”

mafia theory second place. dungeon theory first place

“Like, humans? Um. No, no humans.” “So then you can’t be from there. Okay.”

dungeon theory shot down. mafia theory back in the running

“Hey,” he says cautiously. “I’m— I’m gonna go get us some water, okay? Why don’t you… take a minute.” “Okay.” “The bathroom is over there, if you need it.” “Okay. Thank you.”

after four years working alongside a guy you start to notice when he’s feeling a little out of it and needs a bit of a break... but as JHW mentions later you also learn to be a little subtle about giving him one

jung heewon What’s with your typing? It reads like Jihye’s [HYJ]’s fine. Very energetic Too energetic? He’s going to burn out. How do I make him calm down

Epic Burnout Man makes a reappearance! when translating sclass one of the things that makes me want to shake HYJ most is his habit of constantly adding things to his to-do list while he already has 1 billion things on his plate. and all the time he’s whining about “UGH there’s SO MUCH WORK to do” No One Asked You To Do It

Anyway. the point is. HYJ isn’t about to be beat by HHJ at Developing Issues 😔

jung heewon I haven’t spoken to him directly about this because if he’s anything like you he’ll take it as an insult You wtf whts tht supposed 2 mean quit typing jung heewon Better not say shit, mr “No, I can’t take days off and cater to my interests or go out with friends or on a date, I’m too busy taking care of the kids and making sure their needs are met, no I don’t care that there are thousands of people out there balancing personal enjoyment and romance and work AND kids at the same time, are you suggesting I be a BAD GUARDIAN to MY KIDS?”

see above re: not being too direct with pointing out when HHJ’s having Issues because he doesn’t react well

You wht but our eyes r fine jung heewon Even if having glasses doesn’t run in the family, you should still get him checked, just in case

top 10 funny time travel moments: referring to you and your past self as “us” (our = my eyes are fine), but other people think you mean “our family” (our eyes are fine = no family history of long/shortsightedness)

Also. Sooyoung-ie says hi [Attachment: 20XX1213_144516.jpg] 

ok no lie this was one of the parts that pissed me off the most, even though it’s Literally One Line, because. i love chat exchanges. i really do. when done right they’re a lot of fun to read. But Do You Know How Long It Took Me To Figure Out A Calendar For The Events In This Fic. now everything’s TIMED i have to count HOW MANY DAYS IT’S BEEN since XY event so i can CORRECTLY NUMBER the FILE ATTACHMENTS!!! this sucks!!! it took me fucking forever to pin down a timeline just so i could write this chapter plus the few before and after it!!!!

anyway i gave up when i reached year. i just put 20XX. fuck it. we are running on fairy tail time now. (actually i think that’s XXnumber number? XX76? or was it X796. something like that. Who cares i stopped watching fairy tail forever ago)

Fuck it! Hamin will understand!! “If you Awaken you should come work with me,” Han Hyunjae says all in a rush. 

“HAMIN WILL UNDERSTAND” => he literally was cool with me giving zero context for half a dozen absolute balls to the wall nonsense bullshit things i’ve done before. he’ll be fine with this too. dog_in_burning_house_this_is_fine.png

“You already know about the guilds, those are going to be for dungeon Hunters, but I was thinking of forming something like an independent group of contractors. Awakened people with skills that aren’t useful for combat, but that might… that will be generally useful. It’d be you and me, and maybe one other guy I met recently. Probably more in the future.”

given that HHJ has no idea currently that peace exists (i’m so sorry baby i’ll find a way to shoehorn you in soon i miss you so much) he’s got no intentions to start a kiseungsu business yet! he mostly wants to live quietly while just acting as a manager for other Awakening-related services, like YMW’s forge and DHM’s tracking service, along with the information exchange/lowkey spy ring that he’s planning on setting up with JHW and the bar. since HYH is fine associating with him in this timeline, HHJ’s thinking he can get a foot in the door that way, then eventually spread out into dealings with most major guild leaders

RIP to this plan. you were well-made but you will not last long.

“Please, I can’t tell you how I know that, I really can’t, it’d put me and my brothers in danger if it got out. But—” “No need.” Hamin looks slightly alarmed, and Han Hyunjae feels himself settle at the obvious concern in his eyes.

MAFIA THEORY RAPIDLY RISING TO PROMINENCE??? THIS IS NOT HOW DO HAMIN WANTED HIS GUESS CONFIRMED

“I spoke to the Task Force Head and she said that there’s been discussion about hosting a meeting for the nearby high-rankers, where they’ll announce the guild proposal and see who else is interested in trying it out.”

“they’ll announce” i’m sorry king 💔 you deserved a nap

(OH ALSO FUN FACT choi eunyoung is a canon character, not an OC of mine! she appears in uhhh i think late 140s? 150s? something like that)

“I think there’s… probably only one other S-rank who’s Awakened right now?”

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehhehe

Hamin beams. “No, they’re doing great! Spookie’s taken really well to the new housing situation, but I think Spots might miss the store…”

shoutout to @daemonic-dawn​ for letting me borrow a pet name, love u king. i had a much longer ramble about pet names here but i finished typing and realized it was all entirely off topic so i removed it for convenience

Hyunjae makes an annoyed noise in the back of his throat. “Don’t— I mean.” He huffs, visibly taking a deep breath, and Yoojin frowns reflexively. [...] “Is everything alright?” Yoojin kind of wants to be annoyed at his tone on principle, but he forces his shoulders to relax, matching Hyunjae’s posture. Though he can’t stop himself from being a little short when he answers.

things the brothers have learned in four years living together: getting confrontational often leads to arguments that just fizzle out anyway, so it’s way fucking easier to consciously tone down their combativeness in advance when talking to each other about things they have problems with, instead of screaming their heads off and then having to calm yoohyun down afterwards to boot

“I guess. Whatever.” Yoojin slumps. “Can I…” “Hm?” Hyunjae blinks at Yoojin as he gestures to the spot on the bed beside him, then jolts. “Oh! Yeah, sure, c’mere.” He opens his arms, and Yoojin goes over and flumps on the bed, head in Hyunjae’s lap. Almost immediately, Hyunjae starts stroking fingers through his hair, and Yoojin relaxes into the touch, listening as Hyunjae continues speaking.

cuddles 🥺🥺🥺 sorry i don’t have any other commentary here just. cuddles. extremely and overwhelmingly comforting for a man who spent the better part of 8 years(?) with no major positive relationships, and a kid who spent 12 years of early life basically abandoned by his parents. you had best bet they gave up on not hugging each other 1 year into this whole mess

Yoojin hums in acknowledgement. It’s not like he’d ever let himself get hurt; he has too many responsibilities to his family and friends. If he wants to be good enough to keep up, he can’t afford to fuck up like that. But… hyung will worry if he keeps working so hard. He can slow down a little for him. 

Problems disorder man when will you stop. the way he sees “getting hurt” as an inconvenience and an obstacle to his duties rather than a danger to himself. the way he doesn’t really care if he himself gets hurt, but if it’ll worry his family, then it’s a no-no. it’s just. wow. i know i wrote this but i hate him

“Not really. I talk to Myeongwoo about it sometimes.” “Ah, right, Myeongwoo.”

haha gays

“Don’t be weird about him,” Yoojin warns[...]. “I won’t, promise.”

if the “i won’t” line had a dialogue tag it’d be “Han Hyunjae lied”

“Is Eunwoo still in his relationship?” “Mhm, happy as ever. Apparently they’re trying long-distance, now that Eunwoo’s gone off to university abroad.”

three guesses for who eunwoo’s dating and you won’t need the first two

Hyunjae raises his hands like he’s going to deny the accusations levelled against him, so Yoojin seizes him by the collar and shakes him until he cries for mercy

oh my o/rv ass struggled so bad with not writing “shakes him like a man betrayed” here. it killed me not to. but in the end i prevailed (against, uh, myself. don’t think about it too hard.)

“Jeez, okay, he’s an F-rank!” “Eh?! Then why—” “He’s also got an SS-rank potential skill,” Hyunjae admits[...].

play-by-play of this scene because god if i draw any scene in this fic it would be this one just for the sheer hysterical nature of HYJ’s reaction:

YOOJIN: I HATE YOU WHAT THE FUCK WHY. TELL ME HIS RANK

HYUNJAE: HE’S AN F

YOOJIN: WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK?

HYUNJAE: he’s also got an SS-rank skill,

YOOJIN:

[thatsamericano]

Magnus and the Football Team in this Fic

So, I am thinking of beefing up the presence of Magnus (human Denmark) in this fic, because I picture him as Alfred’s closest friend on the football team, so he’d eat lunch with Alfred and his other friends and do things with him occasionally the way his other friends do. In my head, Magnus was this huge, tall freshman playing another sport in the spring of his freshman year, and the football coach saw him and was like “okay, this kid could make an amazing defensive tackler.” He starts trying to recruit him, and Magnus is like “That’s very flattering, dude, but I just moved here from Denmark and don’t know anything about American football.” He plays on the JV level the next fall after doing a lot of intensive training, likes it, and is good enough to make it onto the varsity squad in his junior year. Right now, he’s a senior and one year older than Alfred.

The reason Alfred and Magnus became friends is that they’re both outsiders on the team. Magnus is from another country and really likes American football now that he’s started playing it, but he wasn’t into it his entire life the way most of the guys on the team are. Alfred was into football his whole life and is a very good player (he’s the head quarterback in his junior year after the previous guy graduated), but he’s also a huge frickin’ math and science nerd. I might not get into Magnus’s sexuality in the story, because it doesn’t really matter, but Alfred is clearly not interested in the cheerleaders or popular girls most of the guys on the team are, so it’s generally assumed he’s gay and just not out yet. Some guys on the team might be a little homophobic, but they don’t actively say anything to Magnus (if he is into guys) or Alfred, and only a couple would ever get weird about stuff like showering or changing in front of them. For most of the team, they don’t have an issue with their sexuality, but it’s another way Alfred (and/or Magnus) might not fit in with them. Most of the team are friendly to Alfred and Magnus during practices and games, respect their skills on the football field, and will invite them along to all team hangouts like the one some guy named Bryan was talking about in the story before the asshole OC revealed he was going on a date with Savino that night. But Alfred and Magnus are not someone these guys would choose to hang out with socially or have lunch with.

About the asshole OC: Dylan is openly gay, and that might gross out some of the guys on the team, but he’s also the coach’s son, so he’ll get suckups trying to be his friend just because of that and get more leeway from the guys who are kind of homophobic because of who he is. He’s basically a stereotypical asshole football player from a high school movie, except that he’s gay. He treats the guys he hooks up with like shit (and is predatory in that he generally goes after naive freshman when he’s a senior and makes it seem like he’s super into them but then ghosts them and hooks up with someone new within a week), bullies less popular students for the hell of it, and tries to con “nerds” like Kiku (who he might have tried to do this with because he is smart, quiet, and Japanese, and this dude might be low-key racist too) into doing his schoolwork and cheats when he takes tests so he won’t get scholastic probation. He also takes credit for whenever the football team does well like he “won the game” all by himself and is quick to blame other people when they lose. A lot of people on the team, including Alfred and Magnus, don’t like him because he’s a jerk to them and an all-around asshole to other people. They also resent how the coach, teachers, and the principal let Dylan get away his BS because of who he is and don’t like the way he’s presenting a bad, stereotypical image of a football player to the entire school (especially the nicer guys, like Alfred and Magnus, who are actually friends with the so-called nerds and losers he bullies).

How I see Magnus factoring into the Romerica plot: Right at the beginning of December in his sophomore year, just before Alfred started to figure out he was into Savino in a non-friendship way, Savino showed up in the stands at a football game wearing some replica jersey with Alfred’s number that the school sells. Alfred got so distracted by seeing Vinny in “his jersey” that he just stood there with the football like a dumbass and let himself get tackled instead of completing the play he was supposed to. The coach called a timeout and yelled at Alfred to “get his head in the game,” and he was really ticked off because this was their last game of the season and Alfred was filling in for the first-string quarterback who had gotten injured. Magnus was on the sidelines because he’s a defensive player, so he got a pretty good view of why Alfred was distracted. At this point, he’s known Alfred since the first football practice of the year, when Alfred was like, “I saw you on JV last year and you were really good. I’m glad you made it onto varsity this year.” They chatted a little, Magnus may have mentioned something about being from Denmark and not fitting in super well with people on the JV football team because of that, and Alfred is like “Come hang out with me and my friends at lunch then, ‘cause you’ll fit right in. There’s a couple Europeans there and a guy from Japan.” They start eating lunch together and hanging out outside of school occasionally, and then Savino starts eating lunch with them shortly afterwards (because Alfred had to pester him into it since he met Savino by accidentally hitting him with his locker, so Savino really didn’t like Alfred based on that first meeting). Magnus just assumed Alfred was being friendly to Savino like he’d been friendly to him, because apparently Al is just super nice and welcoming to people from other countries. But then after the jersey incident, he thinks Alfred has a crush, and his suspicion is confirmed once Alfred starts acting weird around Savino as he’s figuring out his feelings. He doesn’t say anything to him about it, because Alfred and Magnus have a more casual “bro” friendship than he does with Tolys and Kiku, and they wouldn’t talk about their deeper emotions with each other like Alfred might with Kiku or Tolys since he’s known them for much longer. Magnus also doesn’t say anything when he sees Alfred pining while Savino is dating Emma, but he does feel bad for him. When Alfred tells him Savino is his new stepbrother, he might be complaining about something else related to this (like his dads shacking up with this other dude all of a sudden). Magnus is like, “Damn, bro, that sucks,” but he’s thinking what really sucks is that Alfred is now stepbrothers with a guy he’s been super into for at least seven months.

Magnus might say something to Alfred about his feelings prior to where I am now, and it will be in October when Alfred is acting crazy jealous over Savino going on a date with the asshole OC. He was there in the locker room when Alfred referred to Savino as “my Vinny” and silently trying to console him/keep him from attacking Dylan when he was talking about Savino in a crude, very sexualized way and taunting Alfred for being jealous. (Dylan didn’t know for sure, but he may have picked up on something, and Dylan is such a jerk that he wants to antagonize Alfred any way he can, and this would clearly work even if Savino is just his very close friend.) Magnus had to pull Alfred off Dylan when Dylan made him snap and break Magnus’s hold by using the word “Fredo” on him mockingly, which is Savino’s and his family’s nickname for Alfred that always makes Alfred happy when he hears it. Magnus tells him to let it go and that Dylan’s not worth it, because he doesn’t want his friend to get in trouble for beating the crap out of the coach’s son, which is what Alfred clearly wanted to do. Alfred waits until Dylan’s gone to finish changing and wants to immediately confront Vinny at home about going out with this guy Alfred and Magnus have both complained about occasionally at lunch because he’s such an asshole and they hate having to deal with him all the time and play nice with him because he’s the coach’s son. Before he leaves, Magnus catches up to Alfred and is like, “Bro, I’m sympathetic to the fact you’re in love with Vinny and he’s going out on a date with a total shithead, but try not to go nuts on him when you get home.” (He might want to ride to Alfred’s house with him to help reiterate the point that Dylan is bad news to Savino and keep him calm, but it would change things too much if Magnus heard the “at least he wants me” line, so I’ll say that he has some thing he needs to do after football practice and can’t go with Alfred.) Alfred is shocked he knows and starts to panic like he always does, and Magnus explains how he knows and reassures Alfred that he doesn’t care about the stepbrother thing because Alfred is his friend and because he knows that Alfred liked Savino for months before he found out that Savino and his family were going to move into Alfred’s house. The conversation is pretty short, since Magnus has some urgent thing to get to, but he warns Alfred one last time to not go nuts on Vinny. (Which he does, just like he did in what I’ve already written.)

Magnus will have a presence during the lunch scenes, and his most important role in those scenes will be during the lunch right before Savino goes out with the asshole OC and Alfred and Savino are sniping at each other over it. He’ll look at Alfred like “dude, I told you not to go nuts on him” and help reiterate how Dylan is an asshole and Savino shouldn’t go out with him (maybe stealing some dialogue that was originally Alfred’s). I also picture him maybe looking concerned after Savino storms out of the cafeteria but letting Tolys console Alfred since Tolys obviously knows what’s going on. He might skip the football team party to hang out with Alfred the night Savino goes out with Dylan, because he knows his friend has got to be feeling like shit, and he’ll be in the room trying to console Alfred before Savino gets home and explains that he didn’t have sex with Dylan and that Dylan was such a jerk he won’t be going out with him again. When Savino explains what happens on the date, he’ll be like, “Vinny, why were you going out with that dude anyway? You knew he was a piece of shit who would want to fuck you as soon as he was done seeing a movie.” Savino says some BS about not wanting to be a single loser, but Magnus didn’t have much of an idea of his feelings prior to this because he was closer to Alfred through football. He starts to think that maybe Savino likes Alfred too, because something is not adding up about the fact that Savino randomly went out with this asshole both he and Alfred have complained about yet is acting disappointed with the fact that Dylan acted in a very predictable way. He doesn’t say anything to Alfred about his suspicion because he doesn’t want to get his friend’s hopes up if he’s wrong. He does tease Alfred when Savino wears his bomber jacket to a game in November and he’s looking up at the stands all starry-eyed, and it’s a short comment because they have to go out and play a game. After Romerica get together, Magnus can sense that something happened between them because they act goofier around each other than they were before, and he’s glad Savino liked Alfred too and that they’re together now. But he doesn’t say anything to them, because they haven’t publicly announced it yet and seem to be under the delusion that their friends who eat lunch with them have no clue what’s going on.

The day after Christmas, Alfred calls up his friends from school to chat with them and so he can thank them for the small presents they’ve exchanged with each other near the end of the school year but agreed not to open until Christmas Day. (I’ll be adding this in as a small mention before they go on the trip.) Alfred has been busier than usual with his Roman holiday, so he hasn’t kept in touch with his school friends like he normally would, and since he’s not dating them he didn’t make an effort to regularly Skype with them the way Matthew does with Katya. Since Santa Stefano in Italy is traditionally a day for people to go visit their friends after a huge family holiday, Alfred might be at Nonno Vargas’s house (to have a conversation with him about Romerica that I’d planned for a long time to occur right after Christmas), and people are just going in and out and doing whatever they feel like. (Some people might stop by a church to give a charitable donation, which is also a tradition on this day.) Alfred calls up Magnus to thank him for his present, which was a Lego space-related model kit (because I think it’s funny if Magnus likes Legos since they’re from Denmark, and he knows how Alfred likes space-related model kits a ton and won’t think he’s too “mature” for a simpler one that may technically be designed for younger people but Magnus could afford to get for a friend from school.) They chat a little, Magnus asks if he got any other space related stuff for Christmas, and Alfred starts rhapsodizing about the telescope from Savino and going into details Magnus may not be able to get (because I’m thinking he has a scientific interest too, because of the famous Danish scientist Niels Bohr, but it’s not space specifically). Magnus interrupts his friend to go, “Hey, Al? I didn’t want to say anything in front of other people since you were trying to keep it a secret, but I’m really happy for you that you got with Vinny sometime after Thanksgiving.” Alfred is surprised Magnus knew, but it’s not angsty since he knows Magnus would be okay with it (like Tolys, who also mentioned Alfred’s feelings before Romerica got together). Magnus explains how they were acting really sappy with each other at lunch in late November/early December to the point he thinks Feliciano’s boyfriend Ludwig might know what’s going on even though he knows Alfred and Savino peripherally through his boyfriend and isn’t close to either of them. But nobody cares, and it’s all cool. Alfred might tell him some vague things about his dads getting suspicious and freaking out over a hickey Savino had during Christmas Eve dinner, but he doesn’t get emotional or go into the level of detail he would with Katya, Kiku, or Tolys since he and Magnus are friends, but not the kind of friends who get into deep, emotional conversations with each other. Magnus is like, “It sucks you had to deal with that. If you guys ever need a break from your parents, you can always come chill at my place. You know how huge my house is.” I’m thinking one of Magnus’s parents is a Danish architect, and he lives in a nice, very large contemporary Scandinavian home and maybe some/all of the Nordics Magnus knows from somewhere other than school (because I don’t want to worry about adding them to Alfred’s friendship group) are there when Romerica runs away and goes to his house on New Year’s Day. If the other Nordics find out about Romerica being stepbrothers in a romantic relationship who had to run away from home when their parents found out, they might think it’s a little weird but not say anything because Romerica are Magnus’s friends and they don’t want to piss him off (and the other Nordics are just not confrontational like this). Eduard might show up after Romerica start to get comfortable because he’s going to visit his best friend/possible boyfriend Timo, and when they see him Romerica are very tense around him because his initial reaction to them is the reason why they didn’t even consider going to Tolys’s house. If he’s there, Eduard gets to explain that he’ll probably always be uncomfortable with the idea of them because of his family situation, but that he didn’t say anything to anyone after Tolys told him not to and gets that it’s not creepy the way Tolys and him hooking up would be. He won’t give them crap about it anymore if he sees them around school or if they’re at Tolys’s house visiting their friend, and he was never so much of a dick that he would be mean to people who just ran away from home. Because Eduard is uncomfortable around them, he might go hang out with Timo somewhere else while Romerica is around.

[sierraraeck]

Some Things Do Change

BAU x OC Aundreya

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Summary: Aundreya loops the rest of the team in on DeLeon’s most recent threat, and receives a phone call with unexpected news. Story twenty-three.

Category: Just a normal case. I guess a little angst and a little fluff if you look for it.

Warnings: Cussing. Mentions of hate crimes as their case. Mentions of death and murder.

Word Count: 5.6k

A/N: I still know nothing about prison protocols.

I had a plan.

But this time, I was sure that it actually accounted for everything. Now that I knew DeLeon’s main motivations were to get back at me, to destroy my connection with everyone I care about, and above all take an eye for an eye, I felt better prepared.

I called and told Mateo that he needed to be on the lookout in case DeLeon came after him, and I told Deen to put some of our best people on him without him knowing. If Mateo knew I had our own people watching him, ready to step in and help protect him, he’d get mad and make sure to lose them, talking some shit about being able to take care of himself. I couldn’t have that, because as much as I trusted Mateo, I equally didn’t trust DeLeon. He could have anything in store for us.

On the other hand, I talked to Hotch about getting a protective detail for Spencer, without Spencer knowing, but he told me we would have to tell him. I really didn’t want that, having Spencer worrying about me and also about himself, so I offered to put more of my people on him, but he said no. Hotch insisted that we get the team involved this time.

Which I heavily opposed.

He didn’t care, and gracefully reminded me that it was no longer my call considering a fellow agent was in danger.

We filed into the round table room where a detail was waiting, and instead of Garcia, it was Hotch standing by the screen, ready to present everything to the group.

“What’s going on?” Spencer asked, gesturing between Aaron and the detail.

“Sit down,” Aaron commanded. We did as he said, waiting for him to continue. A couple of side eyes were passed my way, but I did my best to ignore them and appear neutral. “As you know, a man by the name of Jamar DeLeon has recently crossed the BAU desk, and it has been brought to my attention that things have been getting more serious.”

It was getting harder to ignore the fiery glances thrown my way. “Knowing his motives with Chambers, and how things nearly ended last time, we’ve hired protective detail Clyde to-”

“What does Chambers need a detail for? Wouldn’t she just use her own people?” JJ jumped in, as if I wasn’t even there.

“Detail’s not for me,” I smoothly answered. Confusion flashed across her face before Hotch answered her unasked question.

“He’s here for Reid.”

“What?” Reid asked.

“Last time, DeLeon’s endgame was an eye for an eye,” Hotch stated. “He had his sights set on you, and we are sure that you are still the target.”

“An eye for an eye?” Derek confirmed. “Because she killed Xena, right?”

“Correct.”

“What about that other guy?” Emily stepped in, “Mateo?”

“It’s handled,” I assured. She gave me a look, but relented.

“What about Garcia?” Derek asked. “I mean, she actually got shot last time.”

“That’s true, but I don’t think he’s going to take the same approach as last time,” I said. “He already tried that and failed, so I think he’s going to go with a more personal touch this time, and as much as I love you, Penelope, you’re not his target.”

She let out an audible sigh.

“But I am?” Spencer confirmed.

“Yes.”

“How’d you get him off the first time?” JJ asked. “Couldn’t you do that again?”

Aaron and I exchanged a look, which everyone caught, before he answered for me, “That option will no longer work.”

“And why’s that?” JJ pressed.

“It was a one time offer, and is off the table,” Hotch sternly continued, giving JJ a pointed look.

“What are you not telling us?” Derek probed.

Hotch was about to say something more when I cut him off, “It’s okay.” I looked at him, and I could tell he was silently asking me if it really was okay, and I just nodded. “My one time offer was with Agent Howard Archer.”

“So you killed him to save Spencer?” Emily quickly concluded.

I shook my head, “Not exactly. Before I joined your team, I was hiding out within my own ring. I’d just escaped from prison and was trying to stay as under the radar as I could. Somehow, Archer found me, and he wasn’t there to arrest me. He hired me to infiltrate the BAU, get rid of the vice president, and pin it on Hotch. So, I-”

“Hold on. You were working with Archer and you killed him?” Emily interjected.

“Yes, I’m getting there,” I confirmed. Hotch was staring holes into me, because while he had figured out it was me who killed Archer, he didn’t know about all of this, specifically the part where I was supposed to get him charged with murder. “After getting to know you guys, I did everything I could to stall, and Archer was about to expose me when I got put in prison, which was actually a small blessing, giving me a legitimate excuse not to follow through. He visited me in prison and slipped up, letting me know that he was in contact with, and most likely hired, Xena and DeLeon to do what I couldn’t. I wasn’t about to let that happen, so when I was given the perfect opportunity to run, I took it. I was hopeful that I could keep them off your backs long enough for me to figure out what to do. The ring and I had a plan to get Xena on our side and then take down DeLeon, but when that didn’t work-”

“You killed her,” Rossi finished. “Without a single trace.”

“Right,” I nodded.

I was about to keep going when he asked, “How did you pull that off anyway?”

“I didn’t,” I smirked slightly, not answering his question. “I was pretty beat up though, so I went to Madden’s place, the doctor. DeLeon grabbed me from there and took me to wherever it was and started live streaming. I was able to get Reid out of that because I offered him more than what he wanted.”

“Which was..?” Rossi prompted.

“He could get an eye for an eye by killing Spencer or Mateo, but what he really wanted was for me to feel as hurt as he did. I told him that I’d carry out my deal with Archer, wrecking my relationships with all of you and most likely the ring along with it.”

“That was actually pretty clever,” Emily admitted.

I shrugged, “Not clever enough. The last loose end in all of this besides DeLeon himself was Archer. He was panicking because he’d hired three of the biggest criminals in the nation to do his dirty work, and we weren’t exactly playing nice with one another. I had people following him and they told me that he was on edge and having weird phone conversations. Plus, I thought he hired people to come after me and was worried that he was in contact with DeLeon to carry out the deal and get me caught in the process. He was unreliable, so…” I didn’t need to continue. “But now, DeLeon is going to be extra pissed that I played him and I’m sure he’ll be taking a more direct course of action, hence Clyde.” I gestured toward him. They were all silent, shifting their eyes between me, Hotch, and the protective detail.

“Holy shit, Chambers,” Tara spoke up first. “What’s your plan now?”

“That’s what we brought you in to talk about,” Hotch said, gaining back control of the conversation. “We will have Clyde with Reid and will then have to wait.”

“Wait for what?” Derek asked, the discomfort apparent in his voice.

“Wait for DeLeon to make a move. We may know that he’s one of the biggest criminals, but we don’t have any proof that will hold up in court, so yes. We wait.”

“You’re just gonna let him take Reid and kill him for evidence?” Derek raised his voice.

I shook my head, “He won’t kill him. At least, not when he first grabs him. He’ll want me watching, and preferably in person.”

“We’ll give him that,” Hotch assured. “Once Chambers is in with him, we can track her and arrest him.”

“And I can handle him until you guys show up,” I said.

“I, for one, do not think this is a good plan,” JJ chimed in. “It’s super unpredictable, and-”

“I’ll do it,” Spencer casually said.

“Spencer, come on, it’s-” JJ tried again, brows knit together.

“I said I’ll do it.” His voice was strong and exuded more confidence than I’d heard in a while. I was surprised he was so willing to do it, trusting that we’d get there in time.

“Good,” Hotch said, leaving no more room for argument, “Until then, we continue with business as usual. To not raise suspicion, Clyde will be acting as a NAT who is shadowing us. Garcia, you may present the case.”

“Yes, sir,” Garcia said, making her way up to the screen. “Five men within the last two months have gone missing, their last known locations being a gay bar in downtown New Orleans.”

“So we’re thinking hate crime?” Tara asked.

“That’s what it looks like,” Rossi agreed, “Do they all match the same description?”

“Do they ever,” Garcia said, pressing buttons to bring up all five men’s faces. “Mid-thirties, white, blonde hair, and around six feet tall.”

“Wow,” Emily commented, “That screams surrogate.”

“Now we have to figure out who for. Wheels up in 30.”

The team dispersed, but I hung back to talk to Penelope. She tried to force a smile and walk past me, but I called, “Penelope?” She stopped and slowly turned around to face me. “I-I wanted to apologize. On that video, I know I said some pretty terrible things and I just-”

“No need,” she quietly stopped me. “I know you were just doing what you needed to.” She then rushed out of the room, leaving me alone. I threw my head back, and sighed as I looked up at the ceiling. That went well.

“She’s just hurting.” His voice brought my eyes to his in an instant. Spencer quirked his mouth to one side. “It’ll just take some time.”

“I hate that I was the one who did that to her,” I confided, “And on top of that, I couldn’t even prevent her from getting shot. Looks like she got the best of both worlds.”

“Yes, but she knows you were trying to save her life. It’s a twisted sort of compliment that you almost couldn’t.”

“If you wanna look at it that way,” I shrugged. He was about to respond to me when my phone started buzzing.

“I’ll let you take that. Meet you by the jet in ten?”

“Sure,” I agreed, answering my phone. “Hello?”

A man’s voice came over the line. “Ms. Spade?”

I paused for a moment. Who is calling and why did they refer to me by my given last name? I contemplated answering when the man asked again, “Is this Ms. Spade?”

“Um, yes, this is she,” I replied.

“Hello, this is Todd Joseph with the DC correctional facility in Washington DC. I regret to inform you that your father, Joe Spade, has died as of 3:13 am this morning. I am very sorry for your loss. We recommend that you come down to the facility to make a decision on-”

“Any decisions can be made over the phone,” I interrupted. Under no circumstances did I want to visit a prison when I did not have to, and definitely not for my father.

“Of course, Ms. Spade. I guess my first question should be if you plan on holding a ceremony?”

Did I plan on holding a ceremony? I didn’t even think I was the right person to be asking. But there was no one else in his life, which made me the sole decision maker. “I do not.”

“Is there anything specific you would like us to do with his body? Any belongings you may want to search through?” His voice sounded calm, like this was the only thing he had to do all day, like nothing else was more important than calling Joe Spade’s estranged daughter that was the one who put him in prison in the first place to ask what she wanted to do with his dead body.

“No. Do whatever you need, but I will not be taking part in anything regarding Joe Spade,” I replied, a bit too harshly. I then hung up the phone, and hoped that he got the message and wouldn’t call me back. I leaned back against the table, feeling empty. I wasn’t sad that he was gone. He’d done nothing for me except try to kill some of the only people I care about and ruin my childhood. As messed up as it sounds, I always imagined what it would be like, the day he died. I knew that I wouldn’t care, but somewhere in my head I had the image of me feeling happy. Relieved. But he’d been so far out of my mind, that I really didn’t feel anything. It would be like if some random person called you up and told you that a complete stranger across the city died and you were supposed to make a decision about what to do next.

I felt nothing. The only thought swimming through my head was that I was officially the last Spade standing. I was it. My grandparents had died of old age, not like I knew them well, my mother was an only child and my father had a younger sister who had taken another last name and I’d never met her anyways. I am it. I officially have no family left. And I wouldn’t even consider myself a Spade.

I was drawn from my thoughts by the sound of footsteps running toward me. “Aundreya!” Spencer called. “We have to go. I thought you were going to meet me in ten?”

Have I really just been standing here for over ten minutes? “Yeah, sorry, I got distracted.”

“By that phone call?”

“I guess,” I tried to play it off, “Let’s go.” I brushed past him, grabbed my go-bag, and started jogging toward the jet.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

The case was actually pretty standard. We’d found the perp in under four days, and just had to interrogate him before we could officially arrest him.

Spencer had been eyeing me for the past couple days, and just recently, so had Emily. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but neither said anything to me, and no one else was acting off, so I let it go. Spencer and I were assigned to go in and interrogate a man by the name of Chase Terry who fit the profile to a T.

We casually walked into the room, Spencer taking the seat across from him, me standing in the corner with my back against the wall, hands in my pockets.

“Chase Terry?” Spencer started in a conversational tone. No response. “What were you doing two nights ago when Liam Parish went missing?”

“I don’t have to talk to you,” Chase stated, crossing his arms.

“You probably should,” Spencer sympathetically said, “We’re just trying to cross you off our suspect list so we can find the guy who did this.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that?” Chase asked. “You put me in handcuffs and dragged me here. You think I did it.”

“You’re right. Some of my colleagues do,” he admitted, voice still soft, “But I don’t. See, I don’t think you match the profile of an out of control, spiteful, bipolar man with daddy issues and internalized homophobia. I think you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Chase shifted in his chair and locked his jaw, “I’m not gay.”

“I didn’t say you were. So just tell me where you were two nights ago, and I’ll let you go,” Spencer offered. Chase just sat there. Then, Spencer decided to turn up the heat, voice getting a bit more frustrated, enunciating each word carefully. “Where were you two nights ago?”

Still nothing, so Spencer pushed harder. “Where were you? At home with your boyfriend?”

“I’m not gay!”

“Then why was your phone pinging off of three cell towers around the same gay bar that Liam Parish was last seen at?” Spencer had leaned in on the table, getting very close to Chase. “You were there, we know you were. What were you doing at a gay bar if you’re not gay? Answer me!” There was fire in Spencer’s eyes as Chase still had nothing to give us.

I decided to cool things down a bit, my voice skating across like ice, “Careful, because if you piss him off so much he decides to leave,” I clicked my tongue, “I’ll be the one in charge.”

“Who are you?” Chase asked, finally acknowledging my presence.

I nodded my head toward Spencer, “He asked you a question first. What were you doing at that bar?”

Right as Chase leaned back in his chair, clearly closed off to answering any questions, Spencer stood up and walked out of the room, but not before giving me a small eyebrow raise and a smirk.

My turn. I stayed leaning against the wall in the darkest corner, waiting for Chase to speak first. With the help of a perfect set up from Spencer, he did. “What’s his problem?”

“I’ve been asking myself that for years,” I feigned annoyance. “But tell me about you. Raised by a single mom, no siblings, absent father. Me too, actually.” I slowly sauntered toward the table, resting my hands on the back of the chair Spencer had just been sitting in. “He used to yell at us a lot, when he was home, which he wasn’t often. My mom finally divorced him after finding out that he was cheating on her.”

It was close enough to the truth that I could be convincing, but close enough to his truth to get his wheels turning and hopefully lips flapping.

“Your father cheated on your mother?” Chase asked, a bit skeptical.

“Yeah, and for some pretty young bitch like half his age,” I lied, allowing my voice to sound a bit more angry. “He’d been lying to us for essentially my entire life and then left us for her. God, I just wanted to tell him how much I hated him for that.”

“What a dick. Mine left us for some guy he claimed to be in love with. Can you believe that there are so many men that do that?” Chase asked, leaning back in from his seat.

“The percentages are ridiculous,” I sat down as I continued talking, “Apparently 70 percent of all marriages see at least one incident of cheating. It’s unbelievable how these people, especially men, are willing to just throw their family away for some fun one night.”

“Yeah that, or like for you and I, an entire secret life,” Chase agreed.

“I know! It just makes you so angry, doesn’t it?”

“Absolutely.”

“I wanted to become an FBI agent so that I could track down my father and tell him to his face how much I hated him,” I gave a single laugh, “The look he gave me…” I pretended to revel in the feeling.

“It must’ve been nice. I haven’t been able to track down my father and do the same.” He looked like he was zoning out a little, probably imagining what he’d imagined doing a thousand times to his father, what he’d already done to men like Liam.

“I hope you get to one day. It’s an amazing feeling. But for now I guess you’ll just have to keep using men at bars instead,” I casually added, then held my breath.

He sighed. “I guess. It’ll never be as good as the real thing, though.”

“No, hurting them will never be as satisfying as digging your nails into your own father’s throat,” I snarled.

He flashed a wicked smile at the thought, clenching his fists, “Not even close,” and I knew we had him for sure. There wasn’t a single jury that wouldn’t convict him after seeing that smile and that essential confession.

“Come on, I’ll take you to our tech guru and she can help you find your father.”

“Really?” he asked, standing up. I nodded and we made our way to the exit. I motioned for him to go ahead of me, but before he could grab the handle, I shoved him up against the door. I already had the cuffs halfway around his wrists by the time he yelled, “Hey! What the hell!”

“We don’t make it a habit of helping people going to prison find their final target. Sorry.” I led him out the door while he struggled against me, practically throwing him in the precinct holding cell until he could be transferred to a more permanent one.

“Nice job,” Emily complimented. “Way to connect with his anger towards his father.”

“Thanks,” was all I offered as I walked away, barely catching the shared look between her and Spencer.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

By the time we boarded the jet, it was the middle of the afternoon and we were on schedule to get home before dinner. I was about to pull out a book in hopes that it would make me tired enough for a plane ride cat nap, but I was stopped shy by the tapping sound of wood on wood.

Spencer sat down happily across from me, setting the folded, portable chess set in the middle of us. “Want to play a game of chess?”

I looked at him with a blank face. “Why?”

“Because you enjoy playing,” Spencer answered, a bit of a question in his voice. He must’ve assumed that I would immediately say yes.

“You always beat me,” I slightly pouted.

“But you never back down from a challenge,” he reminded me.

I quickly glanced around at everyone else on the jet, and the seat Spencer used to be occupying at the opposite end. I cocked an eyebrow, “Everyone else said no, didn’t they?”

“Well, I, I uh … No? No. That’s not what-” he floundered.

I smiled. “Just set up the board.”

He happily obliged. We went through three games, and before we started our fourth, Rossi called over, “You just don’t know when to quit, do you?”

“Well, someone’s got to keep his genius brain occupied, and we all know it’s not gonna be you,” I joked, eyebrows raised.

“Okay, I see how it is,” Rossi smugly said, tossing his hands up in surrender, “Either way, I’m just glad I’m not you.” I rolled my eyes, and we set up for our fourth game.

And then the unthinkable happened.

I beat him. For real. I really, truely, beat him.

I couldn’t believe it, and clearly neither could Spencer because he hadn’t moved from his position, hands under his chin, elbows on the table, eyes staring at the board, so I confirmed, “Did I do it?” He slowly looked up at me, lips pressed together, confusion in his eyes and I knew. “Oh my god, I did it!”

My mouth fell open and I clapped my hands together. I reached my hand over the board, and he reluctantly took it. “Good game.”

“It really was, wasn’t it?” I rhetorically asked, staring at the board with wonder. Reid started laughing, and I had to laugh with him. We’d played so many games of chess over the years we’d known each other, and I started to give up on my promise that one day I’d beat him. “What game number is this?”

“203.”

“Holy shit,” I said. “No wonder everyone on this plane thinks I’m fucking insane.”

“That’s because you are,” Rossi called over again.

“True,” I agreed, “But it paid off. Bet now you wish you were me.”

He just playfully shook his head.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

When we landed, it was almost 4pm and we decided we’d spend the next hour getting a jump start on our paperwork. We decided to go and eat together (which I somehow got invited to?), but right as we were about to leave, Spencer and Emily awkwardly stood in front of me. They didn’t make a move to get out of the way, so I just stared at them knowing damn well they were about to address the awkwardness I’d been sensing.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Emily asked.

I furrowed my brow, “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

“I don’t know you just seem … not yourself,” Emily observed.

“I’m okay,” I told her with certainty.

“You’ve just been acting … I don’t know actually, you’ve been acting pretty normal,” Emily struggled, sounding a bit frustrated.

I gave her a look. “I’m confused.”

“Dull?” Spencer intervened, “Like you’re you, and you’re acting like you, but something about you seems duller than usual.”

I cocked my head to the side. There was only one thing that made this week different from all of the other weeks, which was, “My dad died.” My voice was very steady and neutral, which there was no reason for it to sound otherwise.

“What, really?” Emily was shocked, eyes going wide.

I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess it happened Tuesday night, well I mean Wednesday morning.”

She looked over at Spencer who was trying to hide the fact that he was gawking at me, and she cautiously asked, “Should we be doing anything?”

“I don’t think so.”

“No celebration?”

“Emily!” Spencer turned on her.

“What? He was a terrible guy,” Emily defended, shrugging with her palms up.

As Derek walked out of the bullpen to join the party, he added, “I’d toast to that.”

“Derek!” Spencer screeched, wide eyes trained on him.

“She’s right, though,” he replied, “Dude sucked.”

“He was still her father,” Spencer hissed.

I decided to step in, “Not really. He was more like a stranger, I didn’t know him. You know I always thought I’d be happy when this day came, but I really just don’t feel anything one way or the other about it.”

“That makes sense,” Emily nodded, “So if you’re feeling normal, does that mean we can go out for normal drinks?”

Spencer elbowed Emily, and she glared right back at him. “Yeah. Just normal, after-case drinks.”

“Fantastic, first round is on me,” Emily smiled.

“Ooh, first round of what?” Penelope asked, as she joined us in the hallway outside the elevator.

“Ask Chambers, she gets to choose,” Emily declared.

“Ugh, not fair,” Penelope whined.

“Well, her dad died, so…” Derek explained.

“Oh, seriously?” JJ asked with a little pep in her voice, joining the rest of us with Tara, Hotch, and Rossi on her trail. “Uh, congratulations?”

“Not you too, JJ,” Spencer complained. I pressed my lips together to hold back a smile. It was kind of endearing that he thought the team should be more sensitive about my feelings or whatever.

“What? I thought you hated your dad,” JJ looked to me for confirmation.

“I did,” I told her, “But I don’t really feel anything about it.”

“That must be nice,” Tara added. I nodded and couldn’t contain the small smile that pulled on my lips.

I leaned over to where Spencer was still tensely standing next to me. I whispered, “It’s okay, they’re just trying to lighten the mood. Plus, they’re kinda right.”

“I just want to make sure they’re not being insensitive,” he softened his eyes as he looked at me.

“They’re not,” I assured.

When we got to the bar and diner, Emily followed through and bought us all a round of tequila shots. Four rounds later and a few other drinks in, she announced, “I know you said normal, but I think we should go around and share our favorite memory of Joe Spade.”

I laughed in her face, “You met the man once!”

“Exactly. I’ll start,” she smiled. “My favorite moment was when we found out he’d been stalking you for months because he just wanted you to talk to him.”

“Wait, what the hell?” Tara asked.

No one answered her because JJ’s turn was next. “My favorite moment was when she calmly stared him down while he was holding on to Spencer.”

“What the actual hell?” Tara intervened again, “How am I just now hearing about this?”

She was ignored yet again when Derek said, “My favorite moment was when Aundreya kicked his ass and told him off!”

There was some hooting and hollering at that, and I just shook my head with amusement. Hey, at least they know me well enough to know I can joke about anything, especially the weird and bad things that happen to me, and feel comfortable enough to actually do it. Granted, they are kinda tipsy. “You people are truely demented.”

“Especially when you’re drunk,” Tara added.

“Like you’re so much better,” Penelope slurred, sticking her tongue out.

“Maybe not,” Tara said with a smirk, “But I bet I could still kick all of your asses on the dance floor.” Quickly, all five of them scurried in that direction, leaving Spencer talking with Hotch, like they had since the beginning, and me with Rossi. I rested my chin on my fist as I looked down the bar toward Spencer, who was gesturing with his hands and smiling at something Hotch was telling him, probably about Jack.

I’d been trying to control myself, but ever since he kissed me, and I knew that things weren’t perfect with Maeve, I found my mind wandering to him. Especially knowing everything Hotch told me about him when I was gone, and how I needed to stop running from emotionally difficult things, I just couldn’t suppress the urges to look and think about him anymore. I gave in. I gave myself hope. Which was one of the most dangerous things I’d ever done.

“So what’s with you and the kid?” Rossi said, sitting down in between me and my staring. I gave him a look and he asked, “What, you said act normal.”

“I did say that,” I grudgingly admitted.

“So… what’s with you and Reid these days?”

“Who said there was anything with me and Reid these days?” I fired back.

“Oh Chambers,” he faked disappointment, “You know you can’t lie to profilers.”

I sighed, “I’m not going to be a homewrecker.”

“I have news for you. You can’t be a homewrecker if there is no home to wreck,” he pointed out.

“Does everyone forget about Maeve?” I asked.

“He doesn’t talk about her,” Rossi waved it off.

“He’s a private person,” I acknowledged.

“Yeah, but you don’t understand,” he said, “He used to talk about her. Then you came back, and he stopped talking about her.”

We sat in silence for a while longer before I felt the need to voice a fear of mine since this all started again. “Do you think he’s only showing interest in me because he’s been to prison?”

“What gave you that impression?” Rossi’s voice was a mixture of confusion and what sounded like it could be boredom. Fed up, maybe?

“Come on we all know he can’t accept the good things that happen to him, so what if he's just accepting the bad ones instead? I mean he thinks Maeve deserves better, so what if settling for second place is some weird form of self punishment?” The moment I said it, Rossi narrowed his eyes at me and shook his head.

He sighed, “You’re crazy, I don’t know how you got there.”

“Exactly!” I pointed out, “I am crazy, that’s why I can’t figure out why, under any circumstance, he’d be interested in me.”

“Does it matter?” he asked, dragging the words out as he shook his head slightly. I just looked at him. “Seriously, does it matter why he’s interested in you? The reasons don’t change anything. You care about each other, so just go for it, there’s really nothing standing in your way.” I was about to protest when he repeated, “Nothing. At least, there’s nothing from his end. Is there something from yours?”

“I mean-” I struggled to voice my thoughts.

“Look, I don’t know how you act around that Mateo character,” he said and I sighed. Of course he knows that’s something I’m thinking about. “But I know how you act around him, and I know how he acts around you. Think about what you really want, Aundreya, and then just go for it, but don’t keep putting yourself, and Spencer, through this.” With that, he got up, leaving me alone with a perfect view of Spencer’s glowing face.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

When the night came to a close, we all had to get back to our places. Hotch, Rossi, and Spencer left early, Derek and Penelope got a cab, Will came to get JJ, and I drove Emily and Tara home. They said they could get a ride home like Derek and Penelope, but I insisted. Plus, I really didn’t want to go home already. It’d become a place I dreaded being at.

I opened my door to the usual sight of red on the opposite wall, and had to do a double take to actually notice.

Underneath “This isn’t over” was another three word phrase in brilliant red:

I have Spencer.

I dialed Aaron at lightning speed, “DeLeon has Spencer.”

“Get to the office now. I’ll call everyone else.” That was all he said before hanging up. I turned around to head right back out the door, and saw that someone was blocking my way. I bitterly smiled to myself as I set down my phone and started taking off my jacket.

“Haven’t you people given up yet?” I patronized. “You lose every single time.”

“It’ll work eventually,” a low, booming voice responded.

“Maybe, but,” I narrowed my eyes. He took a step toward me as I delivered a single spin kick to the side of his head, locating two more guys in my peripheral vision, “Not this time.”

Series Taglist

@justanothetfangirl @kris-stuff @blameitonthenight21 @wooya1224 @unded-bride @swiftingday @dezzxmx

[potrix-the-queerschlaeger]

Hi just so you know, just guy things is amazing and fr I would read follow up fics about guy and leo

[You can read the original version of ‘Just Guy Things’ on tumblr, or the polished version over on AO3.]

Thank you so much, anon! ❤

And you’re not the only one, apparently. I’m honestly surprised by how much people liked my take on a character that’s in, like, five panels and says about zero words, hahaha. And his OC husband.

But I’m super happy about it, of course, so. Since I can’t promise that I’ll actually write more about them (any time soon), here are some of my personal Guy headcanons/ideas about his background.

Guy’s parents are Swiss. His dad used to be a hockey coach. He started out coaching in Switzerland, and the whole family eventually moved all over Europe/Russia, the US, and Canada for his job before finally settling down in the States.

They’re a big family; Guy’s the middle one of five brothers. All of them play, too, spread out across the NHL, AHL, KHL, and the Swiss NL. And all of them are bigger than Guy. No one ever believes him until they see them all together.

During his coaching career, Guy’s dad has seen a lot of bad stuff go down, and he was initially not a fan of his sons all deciding to pursue hockey careers. He’s always supported them nonetheless, but he’s made sure to imprint on them that the leagues do not always have the players’ best interests in mind, and that they need to take care of themselves and their (especially mental) health, no matter what.

Guy’s always kind of known that he’s gay. He never had any doubts, or a sudden “gay epiphany”, or anything like that. He told his family when he was 13, and they all reacted positively. (His parents and older brothers weren’t really surprised, because 13-year-olds are not subtle or sneaky. At all.)

Guy was drafted 209th when he was 19. He spent his first couple of seasons bouncing between the AHL and the NHL for a bunch of teams, before getting nearly a full season in the NHL after someone else got injured. That was finally enough time for people to notice him, and after that season, he stayed up in the NHL.

He was traded to the Falcs during the expansion draft, five years before Jack joined the team, when he was 31. (Do we know how long the Falcs have actually been around in the @omgcheckplease universe?)

Somehow, even though he’s stopped being actively careful after getting his latest, 6-year contract with the Falcs, not many people have figured out that Guy’s gay. Granted, he’s not a very open, sharing kind of person, and he still sometimes pretends to not speak proper English to get out of doing interviews, but there are pictures of him and his husband out there that are, if you ask him, pretty telling. Heteronormative thinking is a weird, weird thing.

Guy met Leo shortly after the expansion draft, before the season, when the new team and various family members who’d all moved to town got together for a Get To Know Each Other BBQ.

Leo’s pretty much Guy’s opposite; outgoing, chatty, smiley, a real people person. Which is why it surprises everyone, when they tell the story of how they got together, that Guy was the one to approach Leo, at that very BBQ. Granted, his mumbled, “Get you ‘nother beer?” hadn’t been smooth or anything, but Leo’d been charmed, anyway. For some reason. (Guy’d also been shirtless, only wearing a borrowed pair of Thirdy’s swim trunks, so that might’ve helped a little, too.)

Guy proposed on their one-year anniversary, and they were married before the start of the next season.

[sinnohqueen]

looking for one on one pokemon rp

(possibly other fandoms but mostly pokemon lol)

hi folks! i figured i'd try this again after a few months. i'm trying to get back into roleplaying for writing purposes and making friends! im 24 (they/she) and looking for ppl age 21+ to rp with over discord. i have really been craving pokemon lesbians bc i love them....

some basic things u should know i guess:

please be 21+ (cannot stress this enough im sorry)

possibly interested in a group rp, but mostly looking for onexone in a discord server i can create

nsfw welcome but not a requirement. characters must be of age i am not doing anything nasty thank u

OCs welcome! i prefer to play canon characters and i will try ocxcanon cus im personally ocxcanon trash. or heck if you wanna play a canon and i'll play an oc, we can discuss that too!

mostly interested in playing f/f ships (im gay irl lmao), probably m/m too. there are maybe like a whole Three m/f ships i like im sorry

i want to branch out with the characters i can play but i am most comfortable with Cynthia, Diantha, Elesa, Skyla, and newly Melony!! also my OCs bc i need to develop them lol

i have some plot ideas u can see under cut

also writing samples can be found at my old rp blog @cynthiacelestic

if any of this interests you, please feel free to add me on discord!!! i dont mind strangers adding me just pls let me know who you are lol

juliana#0099

plots & ships under cut :^)

ships i rlly love:

Cynthia/Diantha Skyla/Elesa Shelly/Tabitha (RSE verse and mostly pokeani verse bc those two are hilarious also i latched onto them as a kid and idk why) Melony/OC (mine) Roxanne/OC (mine)

we definitely are NOT limited to just these ships, just wanted to throw them out there for ideas i guess?? i really love cynthia/any female character i feel she'd get along with (nothing weird please and definitely not dawn)

and lastly here are some basic plots i feel would be fun idk

zombie au because i am basic. are the humans zombies??? are the pokemon??? I GUESS WE'LL FIND OUT

post-plot villains i am honestly just a sucker for villains

Diantha/Cynthia timeline where they meet because of Professor Sycamore. in this au diantha is sycamore's adopted sister, sycamore works under rowan and cynthia also interns for him while she prepares for the next League conference. diantha and lysandre come to visit for the summer and shenanigans ensue. i can elaborate ofc lmao

harry potter au bc im absolute trash im sorry-

faller au involving rse shelly & tabitha i dont have this one planned out too much unfortunately but i REALLY like the idea of mixing rse and oras together and fucking shit up

wallace & winona the gay ex-lovers lmao just kind of dated and realized oops! im gay! so am i! and here we are, no bitter breakup needed!! they are best friends. i figured we could do a lot with this but i like the idea of roxanne being the new League Baby and everyone has to take care of her but steven basically assigns these two to be Mom and Dad bc roxanne has a hard home life

shelly and tabitha post-rse aftermath au i have a whole elaborate thing planned out where they run away together bc they have no choice after the groudon/kyogre battle and are on the run......enemies to lovers im basic as fuck-

clair & cynthia working together with lance to take down Team Rocket but clair has a huge crush on a certain blonde oops

thats it for now!!! these dont make much sense except in my head but maybe they will spark some ideas idk

[nastyatticman]

2 4 7 for the OC ask thing?

Thanks for the ask! I’m gonna answer for Sidney Jade Leong (new slasher OC) & Chance (dude in the pic with Billy, a certified slasher fucker) 

2. Is your oc picky about food? What kinds of foods do they like and dislike? What do they consider a comfort or “safe” food?

Sidney - Not picky in the sense of he won’t eat it (he’s too polite to refuse unless he’s like allergic to it or something), but he’ll probably bitch about it later if he thinks it was inauthentic or that he could make it better. He usually prefers savory foods but appreciates anything. His comfort / safe foods include mac n cheese and cocktail buns (Chinese coconut buns, 10/10 recommend).

Chance - Not picky at all. He used to put foods together in weird combinations and eat it to gross the other kids out. Chance likes “junk” food a lot, but wants to cut down on eating it so much. Loves sweet and sour stuff, like lemon flavored everything. His comfort meal would be a cheap milk tea and fried chicken from the shop by his college. Yes he could get more “authentic” milk tea somewhere else and it’s obviously frozen chicken blah blah but it’s good when he’s kinda freaking out about midterms or trying to calm down after nearly getting murdered again.

4. Is your oc good at keeping secrets?

Sidney - It depends - whose secrets? He’s very good at keeping the secret of his family being serial killers who sometimes kidnap people. And anything else they do. But he’s really only loyal to them, so if they ever needed dirt on someone or just wanted to be nosy, he’d tell them anything. Maybe don’t confide much in him unless you’re totally certain you’re not a potential target, lol.

Chance - Yes, he has no one to tell them to lol. But also he lives a double life and has to balance that, so he understands why some things need to be kept under wraps. 

7. What song reminds you of this oc? Does this match up with the type of music your oc likes to listen to?

I just made playlists today lmao perfect timing

Sidney - Thankless Job by Anthony Stewart Head from Repo! the Genetic Opera (warning, the video shows the disembowelment scene) - YES. Musicals are his guilty pleasure - he still thinks people will judge him, even after years of studying theatre and being an obnoxious theatre kidTM in high school. He relates to Nathan’s sense of duty in doing the dirty work for his family, and the power trip from being an anonymous killer. You won’t get a full song and dance number if you end up in his clutches, but he may hum this song as he drags your unconscious body to the basement to figure out who to call for your ransom...

Chance - My Kind of Guy - by Kaiser Chiefs - I think he’d listen to indie rock, but it’s also just a really good song about being gay and fucked up with a rival. Honestly I found it through shipping, so even if he didn’t listen to Kaiser Chiefs specifically he could still find it :P 

I’ll explain more soon but specifically that song works for him and killers like Billy. In universe, slashers having almost supernatural powers (super strong, high endurance, always popping up at the last minute when you thought they were dead) is explained by the fact they’re not quite human. If you kill enough people in a certain way there’s a chance you may start transforming into something different, something more than human. 

Chance was started on the transformation when he was younger, by his uncle. Not through murder but through similar means. Good thing Chance isn’t a picky eater, or he may have questioned what that meat was... Anyway, this song appeals to the darkness inside him and his search for more information, and a slasher boyfriend (or two) who’ll satiate his curiosity.