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sweater-daddiesdumbdork · 4 years

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Love and Hate

Summary- 2.7k Mike Weiss x You. Another hotel, another fight, and another making up. Maybe you were just a much an addict as he was. It only seems okay, if you two are fighting with one another. Warnings- Drug Use and Fucking one another. Smut. Messed up and unhealthy relationship. Written for @donutloverxo @optimistic-dinosaur-nacho and @captain-a-rogerss 3rd week challenge- song fics. Choice I used was Eminem (cause I love the bastard) and Rhianna’s, Love The Way You Lie.

A/N- I love the dysfunctional relationships, the ones that just are self destructive toxic messes. I doubt Mike could ever truly be in a healthy one, although maybe some day in fanfics. I can't claim to know accurately what certain drugs will do, so when reading this, its simply my interpretation. Don't expect the highs and lows to be accurate.

“So he never had any intention of fixing those trucks, he sent them with broken pipes, claiming to now know they had busted pumps.” Mike snorted clearing his nasal passage, as the coke flooded his mind with an endorphin rush. It was almost as good as sex with you was for him. Almost. What was better? Was if you were here with him. He missed you, but you didn’t approve of this. This process helped him think. His name might come after - Danziger, but he could see the process almost as it was unfolding before him much clearer than his partner, especially when he was at his peak, right now. The only way to make it better, if you were here. You baby was his ultimate weakness.

The people he wrangled into the room, the dealer neighbors, and crack whores he called to his hotel room, mainly hoping to score those couple grams, willingly share with them. All sitting there with there stick-it notes to there shirts, it finely clicked in there slightly slower minds. There oohs and aahs, the sick fuck statements that filled the room left him nodding in agreement. “Guilty… he’s guilty.”

The fire chief is not the only one guilty, Mike, oh he burned you over and over, that was how you described it every late-night you came searching for him. I’m at friends, working with Paul, got a trial I’m working. That was how he described it. Just like how he described it tonight on the phone to you. And yet, when you pulled in, the upper room door wide open to see Mikes silhouette bent over the table, and then he reared back his head, bouncing like a boxer might, his nose scrunching up.

You’re just gonna stand there and watch me burn.

Mike never heard you slam the car door, or go up the steps, nor did he notice you standing in the doorway till one of the dealers said something. “You looking to join the party sweetheart?”

Mike spun around to take you in, just as you did with him. You could see it, the way his body was thrumming from the drugs. The intense high that left him jittery, with tense muscles, his biceps straining, the veins in his neck standing at attention, and his face, he took in every bit of information, filing it away in case it was necessary for another time. How had he explained it to you? Oh yes, he was hyper fixated on all details, he was smarter, faster, stronger when he was high.

It was the crash though that would leave him half dead, so many times you had found him on the verge, but never quite crashed.

That was just a man playing a dangerous game. It was just a matter of time.

“No, I’m fucking not looking to join.” You snarled as you entered the room, and Mike took a step forward, trying immediately to appease you.

“Baby, It’s just for work.”

“Shut it, Mike, all of you, get the hell out.”

The girls, the ones you could only begin to guess what they were here for, started bitching immediately. “Hey, we don’t know who you are lady, but we brought the goods, and we’re not leaving till were paid.”

Your voice might have got shrill when you grabbed your purse off your shoulder and Mike tried to stop you with “Baby, come on, stop, they don’t know any better.” You ripping your purse open and yanking out all the cash you had, your anger now uncontrolled. Throwing those bills at the girl’s faces. “There! Now your fucking paid!” Mike’s hands grasped your arms to prevent you from throwing anything else, the group behind you started to band together, getting mad. The tension in the air between you and the people behind him leaving Mike the barrier. The drugged high barrier protecting each other from one another.

“Get out! Get out! GET OUT!” You’re now screaming, and Mike looks over his shoulder, his grasp on you so tight it would bruise your forearms. You don’t notice though. Not at this point, You rarely do.

You like the way it hurts.

“Get out guys, I got her.” Your rage turned towards Mike, the anger seething just at him now, He got you… Did he get you?

“Yeah man, she’s killing the vibe.” One of the others said, and Mike pushed you into a corner of the room while your screaming at him, the people passing the two of you, and the door closing with a sharp slam. Leaving the two of you alone.

“Y/N! Stop it! Fuck, calm down!” Mike yelled right back in your face and you wrench your arm from his hold, slapping him in the face.

“Let me go.”

Mikes eyes snap at you, slamming you back into the wall hard enough so your head bounces off the cheap hooker motel, the one you knew he was dipping into the savings to pay for, along with the lines of powder smearing across the nightstand on each side of the bed, and god knows what else was scattered around this room.

Mike, god he tried to make you understand, it was the only way he could work, that he could keep the thoughts straight. He loved you, so much that it was painful in its own messed up way, one that he lived for.

Right now it felt like a steel knife was being held to his windpipe, he couldn’t breathe. The way your anger edged on hate, hate, and love was such a fine line he danced on for you.

Sometimes you were just such a fucking bitch to him, blaming him for all the wrong in your lives. Sometimes you brought him so fucking high, it was a drug all on its own.

High on his life for you, but drunk on his hate at the same time.

Mike twisted you onto the bed, dropping you down, and caged you in as he straddled your, biting kisses on your lips and pining your hands above your head, growling into your mouth. “Why you always give me a hard time Woman? It was nothing, Nothing.”

“Then why you hiding here and not in our home?” His kisses just fueling the hate simmering in your chest, even though your body pressed into him for more. Pulling his head back enough to glare down at you, still, lines of white dust were streaked across his nose, and he bared his teeth at you.

“Cause I know you hate me for this.”

He wasn’t lying, you did. Fuck you loved him and hated him at the same time, and it was a constant war within’ yourself. You shake your head with conviction, no no no. He caught your jaw in a hand, fingers digging into your cheeks, probably leave bruises there to.

“I love the way you lie.”

Then in a flurry of tugging clothes, the quick demands Mike had on you matched his passion he had discussing his case earlier. He needed you, needed to feel you clenching around him as he debated that he deserved it. Taking whatever he wanted.

You couldn’t keep up with Mike, your body just moved where his hands pulled you apart, shoving down of your pants gave him access to your cunt, long fingers making you weak underneath him, as well as him mouth, your wrists released enough to grab onto his suspenders, dragging him back to your mouth.

Maybe you were inhibiting him, catching that coke and whiskey taste lacing his tongue, dirty and filthy, wherever he was through the day filling you to, and his grunts plunged into you just as much as his fingering you was doing. Pulling you apart, he was always pulling you apart and leaving you in pieces. He jerked you in place, hitting against the headboard, making you cuss at him.

“Shut up Y/N, you’re fine,” Mike said through hissing words against your neck, and your fingers scratch at his back, and grab onto his belt, pulling it, working to the front to start unbuckling it while Mike is yanking on your shirt, knocking your hands loose to lose it over your head, falling back over you to keep you scattered, unable to walk that line you followed. The one where you loved and hated him. There was a rolling of both, you loved to hate him.

There was venom in your words you spit at him, even now as he was making you thrust on his fingers, stroking your clenching walls, your arousal slicking you ready for him to break you into the mattress, jerking his fingers from you and bringing them to his mouth, pulling away from breasts he left scattered in bites and sucked on his fingers.

“You always taste best this way.” He groaned and you ran your hands over your face, so fucking on edge from this evening events and him, that your body was still humming to be pushed over the edge. Mike worked his belt open, opening his pants with a yank and the force snapped a suspender lose, giving him enough room now to free himself from his confines. Throbbing and angry to fuck you.

“Mike, just fuck me already, would you?!” He slapped at your ass and grasping it, pulling you onto him and wrapping an arm around you to keep you where he needed you. Pounding into you, just as you predicted, this time he was unhinged. Still high, still wound. What started as pain soon was a pleasure and once more you were lost to Mike.

“Fuck, fuck fuck fuck, right there.” You whined to him, scrambling to match his movements, but there was no way, you just let yourself get railed over and over till you were arching under him, fingers clutching at the hair at the back of his head. “Don’t you dare fucking stop Mike.”

You two punished each other, push and pull at each other’s hair, scratch and claw at each other, bite at one another till teeth sink claiming into flesh. Screaming into his tense shoulder when he hit your sweet spot, over and over again, trying your best not to give him what he wanted. Cause that was all this was, his way of seeking that satisfying high once more, the one that the drugs couldn’t give him.

Maybe this was your high? Fuck if you knew.

Whatever it was destroying you. It destroyed you once more when you came for him. But damn it all to hell if it didn’t give you your own high, in this cheap hooker motel, clutching your destructive man to your body like he was the very air you breath while your eyes rolled back, and your jaw went slack, that look of triumph coming from Mike pissing you off in that second, but then he matched your expression, you both falling, falling into pleasured oblivion.

Fuck you hated him and loved him, you thought as he smothered you, gasping into his neck as his arms circled around you, keeping you in against him. Mike knew he couldn’t loose you, you were probably the only thing keeping him alive still. Better then any upper and downer he could ever divulge in. Better then any bottle of alcohol he could consume. Better then any hooker he could fuck.

You were it for him. All your loathing hate and passionate love were what kept him alive. As long as you come back for him, fought against him, loved him. Only you two could live so destructively together, tearing each other apart, and putting one another back together.

Light streamed through the heavy nicotine stained curtains as Mike’s phone screamed in the early morning, making him push off you where he passed out the night before and roll to the edge of the messed up bed. Running a hand through his hair, he dug into his pants pockets, half held up with a remaining suspender and yanked out his phone.

“Shit, I’m due in court.” He started yanking clothes on, occasionally rubbing at his face in a distracted manner while you groan, and roll in the bed to see his back, head lowered against his hand to try and dispel the pain that came with the after-effects. Pulling up, you take the undone suspender and lope it over his shoulder which he grasped and reattached it to the front of his pants, and looked over his shoulder.

“Yesterday is over Y/N, today is a different day.” Mike stated while moving to a stand, grabbing his brightly colored shirt and snapping it straight, dropping the straps from his shoulders to put the shirt on. “I will change, I promise. Last time.”

You move to a stand to take over buttoning his shirt, his fingers shaking to much. Lack of coffee he would normally tell you. Today he didn’t even bother with that lie. So many were spewing from him already. Yours were steady, one at a time fitting them through the holds as you went up, till you reached the end and flipped his collar.

“Whatever you say, Mike.” You glance around and pick up his tie, fitting that around his neck as well, and looping it around till it sat perfectly against his chest. He grabbed at the back of your neck and tilted your head to look up at him. “I fucking mean it this time Y/N. I’m sorry, okay.” How much truth did he have in those crystal blues? None, none at all. And that was okay. You were just as fucked up as he was cause his chaos kept you alive. Kept you coming back.

“Okay Mike, I believe you. Go… You have court, and I will see you tonight at home.” Leaning up to place a kiss on his lips, your hands lifted to brush through his hair to fix it. “Go.”

Grabbing the last of his things, and shoes, he was out the door, leaving you to gather whatever was left and abandon the night before behind.

In the coming weeks, it seemed to change. His habits became bearable after withdrawals. The first time you experienced them, they scared the hell out of you. Now, now you were familiar with them. Hours to days, days to weeks, Mike woke up with you and went to sleep with you every night, he became an attentive gentle lover, and you two seemed happy.

It was all wrong. Both of you pretending this way, a happy life. It wouldn’t last, it never did. He hated it, the way his eyes wouldn’t look at you anymore, but skating over you, your fake laugh over the dinner table at a joke he made, making him grind his teeth. Maybe just one last time? He loved you and hated you, he couldn’t ever leave you. But maybe it could be more bearable. Bring back your anger to feed off, feel something good again. He picked up his cell phone and made that call.

“Yea, how much? That’s good, that’s fine. You be over in an hour? I will have your cash.”

You wanted him better, healed, himself. But at this point, you didn’t know who was Mike really. You’ve always known him in all his other stages, and this one, he seemed so… fake. Even you were faking your way through the days to show him support. How wrong were you, to miss that destructive piece of shit that made you so mad you wanted to sink into nothingness. Which is what he was able to do for you too. Pulling up to your house, lost in your thoughts and feeling yourself suffocating as you went up the steps, and opening the door, there Mike was, and that pit in your stomach collapsed into the fire, trickling up your spine. Now, this… seeing him humming before you, his words running together to whomever the dealer was, his whole body rigid in excitement.

This was the Mike you knew, had missed, loved, and hated all at once. Maybe you were just as self-destructive as him. But oh baby, were you ever ready to crash and burn with him.

Mike swung around, and cursed, preparing for what was to come.

How fucking much did he miss this? Since the last time.

Both of you destroying each other in the worst of ways.

Just gonna stand there and watch me burn

But that's alright, because I like the way it hurts

Just gonna stand there and hear me cry

But that's alright, because I love the way you lie

I love the way you lie

#captainsweeklychallenge #mike weiss #mike weiss can fuck me up #mike be my mean daddy #amber writes #sweater writes #challenge #mike weiss x reader #mike weiss x you #mike weiss x y/n #tw drug use #bad relationships #unhealthy #mike weiss puncture #mike weiss fan fic #puncture #puncture fan fic

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purplesurveys · 3 years

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1188

Have you ever shared a shower or bath with someone as an adult? I did it a couple of times with a past girlfriend, but I’m honestly not a fan of it unless I’m somewhere with a serious lack of bathrooms and it’s the only choice available. I like my space when I get myself all cleaned up lol.

What kind of pizza toppings do you like? Different kinds of cheeses do it for me, really. If I absolutely have to pick toppings, I do like bacon, bell peppers, barbecue chicken, or onions on my pizza.

When did you first take a shot of alcohol? I have no idea, actually. Maybe 20? 21? I never noted the year down. I don’t even know the first shot I ever took...if I had to guess, it was probably tequila.

Did you babysit for money when you were in middle school? No. I babysat because I was the eldest daughter and granddaughter in an Asian household, haha.

Who is your favorite band? How long have they been? Paramore; 17 years, have loved them for 14.

Has the last person you kissed ever been to your house? Many times. She used to be a welcome guest.

Have you ever been to a spa? I don’t think I’ve ever entered one, no. There’s been no reason to in the past.

When talking on the phone, do you place it against your left or right ear? Right. I don’t remember ever placing it on my left, come to think of it.

What’s your favourite Lunchables meal? Idk, I’ve never had them. American thing, I’m guessing.

Do you like Bob Marley? I don’t hold an opinion on him; I’ve never tried listening to his music.

Have you ever eaten at Golden Corral? Nope, I don’t know what that is, either.

Do you sit and eat dinner at the same table with your family? Yes, we have dinner together every night. We’ve been doing it since the start of the pandemic; and, with that, since my dad has had to stay at home since he can’t report to work anyway considering the situation. I imagine we’d be back to eating separately once he can report back to his job.

Are you listening to any music right now? If so, what are you listening to? Yeah, I’m listening to Map of the Soul: 7 and UGH! just started playing. This is such a good FUCKING album it’s absolutely insane how good it is. Whatever spirit possessed BTS throughout 2019 to produce an album this unbelievable wasn’t playing.

Who was the last person to make you genuinely smile? Hobi, since I rewatched the Run BTS segment where he called Conan O’Brien ‘Curtain.’

Is there something you want to say to someone but can’t/won’t? No.

Do you like men who have a sensitive side? I think it’s nice when anyone has a sensitive side and isn’t ashamed to be in touch and expressive with their emotions. Doesn’t have to apply to just guys.

Have you ever tried to get someone into a certain band/artist? I don’t do that with any of my interests because I don’t want to potentially irritate or bore someone, or to potentially face the disappointment I’d feel when they don’t end up being enthusiastic about what I’m into. I’m totally okay with my interests just being My Thing, no need to drag other people into them.

Have you ever carved you and someone else’s initials into a tree? Nopes.

Do you like Dairy Queen? Just some items, like their Oreo Frappe or whatever it’s called. I’m not a big fan of ice cream cakes and I’ve never really explored their Blizzards.

Is there anyone you know with an amazing personal success story? Andi.

Is there a song in a different language that you can sing? Well Filipino is my first language rather than English, so yes.

How do you feel about bands that use pyrotechnics in live concerts? I’ve never experienced this other than One Direction using fireworks at the end of their concert here (and they weren’t launched from the stage either, but somewhere backstage), so I don’t really know what to feel about this other than they should just make sure they’re following safety protocols and standards to avoid mishaps.

Ever fallen down a hole? I don’t think so.

Do you like bananas? Not so much, but I don’t passionately hate it as much as I do other fruits. I do like some dishes that incorporate banana, like banana bread and banoffee pie. Recently I discovered Korean banana milk and it ended up tasting pretty good!

How long do you normally spend in the shower? Not even 10 minutes, usually. I've never understood how people can take such long showers. < Yeah, pretty much on the same page. The only times I take a while is if I feel like shaving, but otherwise I shower quickly. Maybe around 4–7 minutes at most.

Have you ever been a featured member on any website? I don’t think that ever happened, at least when having featured members was still a thing.

Have you ever had any weird pets? Nope.

Are you currently talking to/texting/instant messaging anyone? I am not. Though I know I have unread messages from Andi...I just don’t feel like checking them right now.

Have you ever experienced insomnia? Only when I was a teenager. It’s been a while since I’ve faced any trouble in trying to fall asleep.

Do you like egg nog? I’ve never had a chance to try it but it sounds delicious, and I would definitely take a sip the first opportunity I get.

Would you ever wear Converse with a prom/formal dress? I don’t see why I would have to but if it’s just for funsies, it sounds pretty harmless so yeah, I would.

Do you prefer hot chocolate with or without marshmallows? Withoooooooooout. I’ve never understood marshmallows.

How many different people of the opposite sex have you cried over? In a romantic sense, none. But I’ve cried for other reasons, like when I mourned over my grandpa and Nacho.

Would you rather be a surgeon or mortician? Surgeon, since there’s a tiny part in me that had always wanted to take up med school.

Would rather be a musician or a painter? Painter, if anything. I’m not creative by any means, but I feel like I’d enjoy a lot more freedom with painting.

Would you rather write your own book or make your own movie? [continued from last night] Write my own book I suppose, but I could only work with non-fiction. I’d embarass myself if I had to write something not based off of real life.

At home, do you have a trampoline? No. But this reminds me of when we’d go to Rita’s place to have meetings whenever we couldn’t hold them in school. She’s the richest one out of all of us, lives in a very old money village, big-ass house, big-ass kitchen, big-ass receiving areas (plural)...and they also have a nice trampoline in their big-ass yard. We always used to horse around in there as soon as we were done with our meetings.

When you are about to go to bed, do you put on some sort of noise? I used to put on a YouTube video that would entertain me enough to feel relaxed and eventually sleepy, but I haven’t done that in the last few weeks. These days I usually look for a fanfic to get absorbed in, then I read until my eyes start feeling heavy.

What is your favorite Christmas movie? Love Actually or It’s A Wonderful Life.

And what about your favorite Christmas song? It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas makes me feel festive and fuzzy.

What is your ultimate favorite stocking stuffer? My family doesn’t really keep up with this tradition. I remember how our grandparents would fix up stockings for us when we were much younger, but they were usually filled with candy.

After Halloween, do you sort out all of your candy into little piles? I never collected candy for Halloween.

When you listen to music with headphones, do you keep the volume low enough to hear surrounding noise faintly, or do you blast it? Depends. The rare times I’m working and do feel like putting headphones on, the volume has to be just decent enough so I can still focus. If I’m not doing anything else or at least doing something that doesn’t involve too much ~brain activity~, I like my music very loud.

What did you have for breakfast this morning? It doesn’t really count as breakfast but I’m currently finishing off the remaining two pieces of McNuggets I got last night. 10 pieces is apparently too many for my appetite, haha.

What’s the largest animal you’ve ever had as a pet? Cooper has probably been the biggest and heaviest so far.

Do you own any kind of helmet? We have a bike helmet here at home, but it’s not exclusively mine.

Out of everything currently in your refrigerator, what food or drink is your favorite? I don’t memorize the fridge so I can’t tell you my favorite food that’s currently in it; as for drink, I just stick to cold water.

What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had? Sprained ankle after I tripped at one of the parking lots in school.

Do you like the taste of cough syrup? I’ve never had it.

What is something you like to have conversations about? People with experiences vastly different from mine, because it lets me explore different perspectives. It’s why I always look forward to family reunions with one of my uncles - who’s a foreigner, from a very different country - since he’s able to share a lot of fun and reflective stories about his life and stuff he did in his youth, stuff I never got to experience and live through.

What all is in the trunk of your car? The trunk used to be my trash can lmao, back when I was still driving everyday. My mom has since cleared it out since the beginning of the pandemic; I believe only a laptop bag is sitting there now.

Do you ever put fruit on your cereal? No. I don’t even eat either.

Is your heat or air conditioning currently on? My electric fan is. I don’t turn on the aircon until the evening.

Have you ever fallen off of a horse? Nopes.

Which do you value more, your appearance or your intelligence? Both are important to me.

When was the last time you drove something other than a car or truck? I don’t remember. I’ve only ever driven cars.

Were your grandparents present when you were born? Neither set wasn’t in any of the photos from my birth, so I don’t think so...? My maternal grandparents definitely wouldn’t have been present, since my parents had been living in Manila then.

If you drink/smoke, how often do you do these things? I vape...pretty much all day. I’m doing it while taking this survey. As for drink, I would say 1-2 times a month. Usually after a particularly grueling shift.

What do you think of fast food? I love it. Unabashedly. I just don’t have them a lot because I don’t find it filling and the quality is obviously lower; but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the way fast food tastes.

What website do you spend the most time on and why? Google Suite, if it counts. I work 5 days a week; it’s pretty much an extension of me at this point.

What’s the most amount of time you’ve spent online? Is this usual for you? All day. I’m always using the internet to do things. I used to be embarrassed of it, but these days I feel like having a connection is virtually an essential.

When it comes to travel, what kinds of places intrigue you most? Museums, historical sites, cultural sites, and spots where they show you how they do practices native to the place. I’ve always been about immersing myself in the cultures of the places I visit.

What is the farthest you’ve walked in one day and what made you do it? I remember having to walk for a very very very VERY long time when we were in Bali - my family wanted to explore more of the city - and the weather wasn’t cooperative at all, so I ended up feeling super cranky. I remember also walking around a lot in Shanghai, but that was a slightly better experience since the city was incredibly lively and there were a lot of things to see and stop at; not to mention the weather was also kinda pleasant. The cold was biting but I would always rather be too cold than walk around with sweat-soaked clothes.

What is something important that’s often on your mind lately? Our financial situation what with Covid affecting both my parents’ jobs. We get by enough for me not to worry too much, but I also hope my dad can get called back to his ship soon just so I can finally exhale with relief.

What about something unimportant, but you can’t stop thinking about it? My workplace recently introduced this workout challenge thingy for the month of May that we’re invited to join to encourage us to get fit and healthy. I get notifications whenever someone’s able to exercise for the day and it makes me feel super pressured hahahaha. Since I don’t wanna be known as a killjoy co-worker I know I’ll have to take part in it, which I will start on later.

Do you like oatmeal? If so, what kinds of things do you like in it? No. Back in elementary my grandma made me eat oatmeal every day for breakfast before heading to school, so I don’t ever want to have another bowl of it.

What was going on the last time you felt nostalgic? My family and I were having a conversation during dinner last night and for some reason it eventually veered towards mine and my sister’s experiences from our first school and how we managed to get up at 5 AM everyday, have classes from 7 AM–4 PM, then get home from anywhere between 5–6 PM for 14 years straight. How tf did we do that and never complain???

How much attention do you pay to the movements of the stars and planets, and do you believe they influence anything? None.

What is the most difficult or involved video game you’ve ever played? While I love watching playthroughs, I am not skilled at video games at all and in most video games I’ve played I never made it past the first mission, unless I was playing a Nintendo game that’s already marketed for kids in the first place lol.

Which accent do you find most sexy, alluring or appealing? There’s a certain British accent I find very pleasant to listen to, but since I know there are a lot of variations I’m just not sure which one it is. I guess an accurate point of reference would be Hugh Grant’s or Florence Pugh’s accent.

Which accent do you find most annoying, disturbing, or bothersome? None of them.

Can you cry on cue? Is it any kind of useful? Nope.

Does it take you a while to actually get jokes? Sometimes.

Can you wear socks to bed or does it annoy you? I don’t really like the feeling of socks, so no. I find them a bit itchy, and too tight.

Have you ever bleached your hair? Never done it before.

Do you like jelly beans? Erm, it would depend on the flavor, I guess. But they aren’t so much my snack of choice. The texture is a bit weird.

Do you have trouble sleeping when it’s storming? Not at all, I feel a lot cozier when it’s raining hard.

Who was the last person you know that graduated? (high school or college) Sofie posted her graduation photo not too long ago, so probably her.

Were you happy or sad when you found out your babysitter was coming? I never had a babysitter because I was the babysitter.

Did you have a boyfriend in kindergarten? No. I went to an all-girls school, so I didn’t even get to interact with a lot of boys until the middle of high school.

Did you ever read the Magic Treehouse series? Nope.

Who was your best friend in elementary school? Angela. I was also friends for a long time with a girl named Jaynie, with whom I actually started to reconnect ever since she found out I was now into BTS. I find it so cool; I don’t think I’ve talked to her since the 2nd grade, 15 years ago.

Did you ever watch The Land Before Time movies? I didn’t.

Did you collect anything when you were a kid? Stickers. I'd put them on my dresser everywhere to the point it was absolutely covered. < Literally this entire answer; I don’t have any clue how my overly neat mom managed to never spank me for destroying her closet. I also liked collecting Pokemon cards and pogs even though I never knew how to use them. It just felt nice having large stacks of them lol.

Did you get an allowance? Not until high school. My grandma (and eventually househelp, when we moved) fixed up packed lunches for me and my siblings. When my mom decided to stop having house helpers at home, that’s when she started giving us an allowance to buy recess and lunch ourselves.

Were you into American Girl dolls? I was never into dolls in general. Since my sister and I were the only girls at home, we were surrounded by toys marketed for boys and that’s what I enjoyed playing with more.

Were you friends with your childhood neighbors? We played with the neighborhood kids every afternoon but I wouldn’t call them friends. I was a very shy kid and I found them too rowdy for my liking, especially the boys.

What was your biggest fear when you were a kid? Flying cockroaches. It’s still one of them.

Did you ever play the "Reader Rabbit" computer games? I don’t think so.

Did your parents let you drink soda growing up? I’m pretty sure they would’ve allowed me to, but I just never liked the feeling of fizzy drinks so I never drank soda anyway.

What was your favorite kind of cake as a kid? I think I liked mocha sponge cakes growing up, but that has changed now.

#survey #surveys

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sweetiepie08 · 4 years

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Rebel Z (Chapter 4)

Invader Zim fanfic

While analyzing Zim’s PAK for weaknesses, Tak discovers strange coding that sends her on a search for answers. The clues lead her to uncover a conspiracy that governs all of Irken society. When the truth sends her on the run, she has no choice but to return to the one place the Tallest would never willingly go: Urth.

Meanwhile, Dib has noticed odd changes in Zim’s behavior. Has the invader simply grown bored of his mission over the last few years, or is there something more interesting going on?

People who asked to be tagged: @incorrect-invader-zim , @messinwitheddie, @reblogstupids, @cate-r-gunn, @agentpinerulesall

If anyone else would like to be added to the tag list feel free to message me. Also, if you’re on the tag list and you changed your name, please just let me know.

Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8. Chapter 9. Chapter 10.

[-]

Dib felt the familiar burning sensation in his eyes as he stared at his monitors. Zim had been relatively quiet for quite some time now, three years to be exact. He didn’t disappear completely, like he had right before the Florpus Hole incident. Dib still caught him moving about his house, talking to strange aliens on his tele-communication device, and building dangerous-looking machinery. Despite Zim’s clear activity, outright plans to take over the Earth seemed to cease. Or at least Zim stopped gloating about them. Dib noticed these changes and decided they were concerning enough to require constant surveillance, but stable enough that he could step away from his screens every now and then.

As his eyes drifted across the screens, they landed on a haphazard stack of college brochures resting on his desk. Top universities from all over the world have been sending him these since preschool. He suspected college recruiters everywhere put his name on their lists the second they heard the world-renowned Professor Membrane had an offspring. They badgered him and Gaz for as long back as he could remember. They typically threw at least one ivy-league brochure in the trash every week. Although now, he had to start keeping them. Those recruiters must have started salivating as soon as his SAT scores were in. Every school wanted to be able to say they educated the children of Professor Membrane.

At least he didn’t have to deal with all the college recruitment events he knew were going on over at the High Skool. He and Gaz left mainstream education behind years ago after convincing their dad to let them homeschool. It wasn’t that hard. All they had to do was sit their dad down and show him their curriculums. His only condition was that they keep their grades up and take the most advanced programs available. It turned out to be a mutually beneficial arrangement. Dib & Gaz were learning the advanced science their father wanted them to, and they never had to set foot in the Skool again. This arrangement ended early for Dib, as he completed his senior year before his former classmates reached midterms. Of course, this only made the college recruiters even more ravenous.

Well, they were going to have to wait. High school may be over for him, but now he was taking a gap year. He told his father he wanted the time to figure out which branch of science he wanted to study. This was only half-true. Really, he just needed to figure out what to do with his life, period.

His child-hood dream of being a paranormal investigator grew less and less appealing as he saw what the field had become. The Swollen Eyeball network had gone down hill since Agent Darkbootie went off the grid to live amongst the sasquatch. Standards dropped to the Marianas Trench. Now, they let in riff-raff like flat-earthers and hollow-mooners. Uncovering the truth didn’t seem important to them anymore. It was all about who could come up with the most convoluted conspiracy, regardless of evidence or even common sense. Dib wanted to uncover the mysteries of the universe, to expand the knowledge of the human race. Knowledge didn’t seem to factor in at all anymore, not so long as the theory was sexy.

As for Dib’s work on Zim, he had to admit, it’d become mundane sometimes. He could only watch Zim binge-watch tv so many times before accepting there was nothing more to it. Hell, sometimes Dib would find himself watching whatever was on the tv more than he watched Zim. He’d sometimes go days without any notable movement. A few weeks ago, however, remarkable activity breathed new life into Dib’s efforts.

Currently, Zim’s ship sat haphazardly parked, or rather crashed, on the front lawn. Dib stared at it, waiting for Zim to notice the state of his space craft.

“Still monitoring Zim?” He heard Gaz say from the door.

“Always,” Dib replied, eyes still glued to the screen.

Gaz rolled her eyes and walked into his room. “You sure you need to? He’s been pretty quiet lately.”

“He knows I’m watching.”

“Okay, TJ Eckleburg,” Gaz said, leaning on his desk and popping open a soda.

“huh?”

“Read a book.”

“Whatever,” he groaned, his eyes flickering from one monitor to another. “The point is, quietness means nothing. Remember the time he disappeared but it turned out he was just hiding in the toilet?”

“You mean the time you let him hijack Membrane Labs, kidnap dad, and almost send the planet through a florpus hole?” She took a long sip of her soda. “Yeah, I remember.”

“And what about the time he left for weeks, then just showed up one day and broke my camera?”

“Oh yeah, that. I wouldn’t call breaking your camera ultimate evil, though, especially if you were shoving it in his face. You never did find out where he went, did you?”

“No, but there’s definitely something going on now,” Dib said as he opened his laptop. “I was going over the surveillance footage from last night and look.”

He brought up a clip he saved from the footage. It showed Tak parking a boxy, gray ship in Zim’s back yard and sneaking into his base. After a few minutes, the rooftop hanger opened. She flew Zim’s ship out, dumped it on the front lawn, and parked her own ship back in the hanger.

“Is that Tak?” Gaz asked, watching the clip.

“Yeah, I saw her on the cameras a few weeks ago. She broke into Zim’s base and left after about an hour, but this time she hasn’t come out.”

“So why aren’t you going over to investigate?” Gaz asked, returning to her casual lean.

“I can’t just rush in without a plan on something this huge!” he retorted. “I have to figure out what they’re doing first.”

Gaz shrugged. “Maybe she killed him and took over his base.”

“It’s not that easy,” Dib explained. “Zim’s computers are programed to only respond to him.”

“I used it once. The Tak hotdog thing, remember?”

“That was different. Zim let us in semi-willingly. Unless Tak found a way to override the security features…”

“Maybe she’s using Zim’s corpse as a meat-puppet to control the computer.”

Dib cringed. “Uh, gross.” Even he wasn’t sure he could stomach that idea. He returned to his monitors and saw a shadow move in Zim’s living room. “Wait! I just saw something!”

They both leaned into the screen as Dib zoomed in the camera on the window. Through it, they could see Zim’s robot servant sitting on the couch, eating snacks.

“That’s just Zim’s dumb robot watching tv,” Gaz said.

Dib threw his hands up. “Oh come on!” The robot again?! He’d watched this thing gobble down nachos on this couch a million times. Why did everything look so normal over there? “There has to be something going on. Is Tak hiding? Did Zim capture her? Are they planning something together? I have to know!”

“My best guess?”

“You’ve got a theory?” Dib asked, eagerly swiveling his chair around to face her. “Let’s hear it!”

“Tak’s playing the trombone and Zim’s slamming the oven door.” Gaz smirked, looking annoyingly proud of herself.

Dib’s face fell into a scowl. “Thanks Gaz, very insightful.” He sharply turned his chair back toward the monitors.

“You’re going to be up here obsessing all day, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Probably.”

“Fine.” Gaz downed the rest of her drink, tossed the can in the trash, and started toward the door. “I was thinking about watching that new Skinwalker Ranch documentary tonight, but I guess you’ll be busy.”

She walked out, leaving Dib alone with his screens. He scanned the feed in front of him, all inactive save for Zim’s snacking robot. He had been wanting to check out that documentary, but keeping an eye on Zim was more important, especially after this recent development. His eyes landed on the robot again, who was now sloppily sucking down a giant slushee. Dib sighed and checked the rest of his cameras.

Still nothing.

[-]

Zim emerged from his labs after another night of testing and research. His latest project was going well so far, despite the recent interference. No doubt, his leaders would be pleased. He went to the kitchen for a well-deserved soda and, whistling, headed to the living room to check on Gir.

As he sipped, he noticed something large and purple out the window. When he went to look, he nearly spit out his drink. His voot sat crashed in the front yard for all the Urth to see.

“Gir!” he shouted, jumping around to face his robot. “What is my ship doing out there?!”

“I dunno,” Gir said, munching away on his snacks.

“Well, if you didn’t do it, who did?”

“Uh, Zim,” the computer interrupted. “It was probably the intruder.”

“What intruder?!” Zim demanded, stomping into the middle of the room. “Why didn’t you alert me?”

“Uh, I did.”

The show Gir was watching snapped off the tv and the screen now showed security footage from the previous evening. Zim and Gir sat on the couch with a bowl of snacks.

“Sir, I have detected a-”

“Not now, computer,” TV Zim said, “Jessica is about to reveal the murderer.”

“But this really is urgent.”

“Of course!” TV Zim shouted, leaning off the couch. “It was the bus driver, seeking revenge for his fallen offspring!”

“Zim, there is an intruder in the-”

TV Zim jumped to his feet. “What? No!”

“Exactly!”

“It’s not the bus driver after all!” TV Zim declared. “I knew it!”

“No you didn’t,” TV Gir chimed in.

“There’s too much time left in the episode. Jessica still has 15 minutes to find the killer. Now, which of these smelly bus-humans is the real culprit?”

“Ugh, fine, whatever.”

The security feed cut out and Gir’s show came back on the tv. Zim growled and pressed his palms into his forehead. Curse that Jessica Fletcher and her engaging small-town mysteries! If that show hadn’t been canceled Urth decades ago, he would have ensured that was the last murder she ever wrote.

“Computer! Is the intruder still in the base?”

“Yes.”

“Locate them.”

After a few seconds of processing sounds, Computer answered. “Irken biosignature located in the storage room.”

Irken, he was pretty sure he knew what that meant. Zim stormed over to the trashcan/elevator. “Computer, take me to the storage room. I’ll show Tak how to sneak into my base.”

“You’re going to show her how to sneak into your base?”

“Or how not to sneak… Or what happens when you sneak… or… Ugh you know what I meant!” Zim jumped into the elevator. “Just take me there!”

[-]

Finding Tak wasn’t as hard as he expected. As soon as he made it down to the storage room, Zim was greeted by the sound of something metal clanging to the floor. From there, all he had to do was follow the trail of crushed cans. At the end, he found Tak sitting on the floor, surrounded by discarded cans and bottles. She barely took notice of him as she downed another drink.

“You!” He shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her. “You have some nerve coming back here after… whatever it is you did! I spent days running diagnostics, trying to figure out what it is you tampered with.”

“Eh, who cares what I did?” Tak slurred, tearing her mouth away from the bottle. “I’m back on Urth. Life is empty and destiny is a cruel joke.”

“What are you going on about? And what is all this?” he said, trudging through her mess. His foot kicked a glass bottle which was larger than the rest. Picking it up, he recognized the fancy Irken label. “This is my gingzor!” he gasped. “I’ve been saving this!”

“You can get more,” Tak said with a burp. “Did you know you can get this stuff on Urth without showing identification? Idiots.”

“Have you been in my storage room, drowning yourself in gingzor all night?”

“Yup, why not? As good a way to waste my meaningless life as any.” She looked down the neck of the bottle in her hand. “Empty, sad,” she pouted as she tossed it over her shoulder.

“What are you talking about?”

“Just my recent discovery that my entire life is a lie,” she sighed. “Hey, wanna watch me laser-shot this whole six pack?”

Tak held up a pack of green cans by their plastic connector. She shot a hole in the bottom of one with a laser pistol, then started chugging the drink out from the bottom.

Zim curled a finger around his chin as he pondered the sight before him. This was very unlike Tak. He’d had enough encounters with her to know what to expect. Proud declarations of her superiority, vows for bloody vengeance, maybe a bit of maniacal cackling… that was Tak. She even had all night to attempt to kill him and, instead, spent it swimming in a pool of gingzor and self-pity. This…this was not Tak. He wondered what could possibly bring her to such a lowly state. Then it hit him.

“Ah, I see what’s happened,” he declared. “You finally realized you were never meant to be an invader and that knowledge has sent you down a spiraling pit of despair. Go on, let it out. Zim can offer his pity.”

Tak’s eyes narrowed. She plucked a can off of the pack, shook it up, and sprayed it in Zim’s face. Zim let out a yelp as he was doused in the drink.

“You know, Zim, I didn’t know you were so sentimental.”

“Sentimental?” he grumbled, rubbing the gingzor out of his eyes

“I found your secret stash.” Tak smirked as she pulled out a box labeled ZIM’S PRIVATE STUFF (GIR DON’T TOUCH). She reached into the box and took out a CD case titled Best of Queen. “Looks like someone’s a fan of Urth royalty,” she said as she tossed it in the air.

Zim scrambled to catch it before it smashed on the ground. “That is a music group, not royalty and-”

“Oh what’s this?” she asked, pulling out his sleeved blanket. “Some sort of backward robe?” She threw that on Zim’s head, then held up his fuzzy boots. “And what are these?”

Zim snatched the blanket off and dropped it on the ground. “It gets very cold on Urth and-”

“Guess I can expect softness from someone who kept their cadet badge.” Tak held up the pink, metal circle with the Irken insignia emblazed on it. His heart beat just a second faster.

“Enough!” he shouted, swiping the badge out of her hands. “You have no business going through my stuff!”

Tak made a dismissive sound and waved her arm. “Pfft, I’ve already seen the inside of your brain. What’s the harm in looking through a few boxes?”

“Eh? My brain? Wha?” His hands flew to his back as he realized what she just admitted. “My PAK! You tampered with my PAK!”

“For the last time, I didn’t tamper, I ANALYZED!” she screamed in his face.

“Uh… this was the first time I mentioned it… Wait! It doesn’t matter! You committed a capital offence!”

“No, tampering is a capitol offence. Analyzing isn’t technically against the law.” She let out a bitter chuckle. “Although, it probably should be if they didn’t want me to see what I saw.”

“Eh? What?”

“I know something you don’t know…” she sing-songed.

“What? What is it?” He demanded, grabbing her by the shirt. “Tell me!”

“Guess who’s defective…” she sing-songed again in that annoying, giddy tone. “You! And me! And Skoodge! And a whole bunch of other people probably! And it doesn't matter at all!” She laughed. “Nothing matters! Nothing is real!” She laughed harder and threw her arm around Zim’s shoulders. “I don't even want to kill you anymore because it be so pointless. Why put in the effort? We're just walking talking food for a giant, horrible, tentacle-y, blob-monster-god-thing”

“What blob-monster-god-thing?” He inquired, pealing Tak’s arm off of himself with a sneer.

“You know it as the control brains.” She smirked. There was something bitter and smug in it.

“Control brains?” He gasped. “You're speaking treason.”

“Eah-yup!” she declared, popping open another drink.

He desperately rubbed his temples as this new information buzzed around in his brain. She couldn’t be serious. She couldn’t be. “This is a trick,” he accused, eyes darting around, looking for hidden cameras. “You're trying to get me to say something treasonous so you can record it and show it to the Tallest.”

“Nope, no trick,” she said. Her voice was unsettlingly casual. “I went all the way to Refierencee to find out Irk is nothing but the plaything of a life sucking horror blob. Don't believe me? Here.” She tapped a spot on her PAK and a cable flew into her hands. “Plug me in and check my memory drive. See if I'm lying.”

She waggled the cable at him, daring him to take it. There had to be a reason she was doing all this. She must have some sort of ulterior motive. Why else would she make up such an outlandish lie? Unless, it wasn’t a lie...

“Fine,” he said, snatching the cable, “but I warn you, I've upgraded my computer security. So if you try to infect my base with a virus, it won't work.”

Tak shrugged and went back to her drink.

Something was wrong here, very wrong. Whether it was the truth or just a nefarious plot, there was only one way to get to the bottom of it.

[-]

Tak sat on a box, her PAK plugged into the computer while Zim reviewed her memory drive on his computer screen. He played the Refirencee memories again. Was this the 3rd or 4th time? He couldn't remember. He scanned each frame with a sharp eye. There had to be something else here, some sort of tell that this was a trick, just another one of Tak’s schemes. There was no way this could be true.

“Watch as many times as you want,” Tak said, opening yet another can. “It's not gonna change.”

“You tampered with your memory drive,” Zim said matter-of-fact. Even if he hadn’t found an inconsistency yet, that had to be the case. It was the only explanation. Well, not the only one…

“Nope,” she answered. The assurance in her voice was grating. “Have your computer check. I dare you.”

Zim glanced up. “Computer…”

“No signs of tampering detected.”

“You see…” She was so smug. He hated it.

“Then this Krislotch person is a liar.”

“And has an amazing amount of free time on his hands,” Tak retorted.

“There must be something else!” Zim slammed his hands on the control panel. “Some other explanation! If it is true that means-”

“That our people are slaves and our entire society is a lie? Why do you think I keep drinking?” She asked, knocking her drink back.

“Enough sass, you talking bottle of gingzor!” He shouted, whirling his chair around to face her. He jumped to his feet and put an accusing finger in her face. “You expect me to believe this? That the Control Brains are actually-”

“A giant parasite feeding off the life force of our entire race? Yes! Exactly! What aren't you getting?” She jumped to her feet as well and advanced toward him, crushing a can in her hands. “It's got its tentacles in everything. It controls every aspect of our lives and it'll continue to grow bigger and bigger until that's all there is. Irk doesn't exist, Zim!” She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in. “In our lifetime it never has! There is only it and everyone: the invaders, the foot soldiers, the janitors, the food service drones, even the tallest! We're all just slaves to the glory of the parasite.”

Tak broke out in a wild cackle as tears began leaking from her eyes. Her fingers slipped from Zim’s clothes and she doubled over, hysterical laughter echoing around the room. Zim could only watch and puzzle over her conduct. This behavior was unbecoming of a proper Irken, especially not an elite as Tak fancied herself. Maniacal laughter was fine, sure, but this? Would she degrade herself so much for an act? He thought not.

“What now?”

“It's just so funny,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye. “I mean, we work all our lives to serve the empire. You and I even remained loyal in exile. And when I learned about this thing, how our people were in danger, my first thought was ‘I have to stop this thing.’ And now,” she let out a burst of cackling, “I'm an enemy of the state! And I have to hide in your base of all places and the first person I can tell about any of this is you.” Her laughter began again in full and it sent her to the floor. “You see how that's funny?”

“Uh, no.”

“Oh.” She calmed down enough to take a few deep breaths. “Am I laughing or crying?”

“Uh, laughing I think?”

“Good, good, 'cause this really is funny,” she said, reaching over and grabbing another can. “Like a great, big joke. My life, my existence… it's all a big, cosmic… what's that human phrase? Fuck you!” Her arms opened to the ceiling. “It's a big, cosmic fuck you!”

Zim watched her, laying on the floor, her pained laughter filling the room. The site was beyond pathetic, but he could feel no victory in it. He couldn't feel anything at all. If this was true, Tak was right… about everything. And in the face of this revelation, he did the only thing he could do. He sat down on the floor, grabbed a can of gingzor from the pack, and poured the contents into his mouth.

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ngame989 · 5 years

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“Drive” - TGG SVTFOE Fanfic Collection Ch. 8

Writing: @ngame989

Art: @toxicpsychox

Editing: @ubercelloczar, @toxicpsychox, @seddm

Alternate fic links - FFnet, AO3

Summary: It's back to school for Marco, and Star is left to face the specter of real world responsibility once more - with a bit of help from the adorable antics of Mariposa.

Comic Page

Masterpost

Finally, a new chapter! This one took a long time to put together in a way I was satisfied with, so sorry as always for the delay. Writing is a bit of a secondary hobby for me, and while I absolutely love Starco and love making this series, the actual act of putting words to a page is rather draining for me. I'd love to promise more or faster updates, and if the right creative inspirations strike that is still what I'd love to happen, but it's gonna come at whatever pace it comes at. If that means I'm here for years to come, so be it. See below for the text, hope you enjoy!

“Alright, next up is Wilhelm… Wund? Want? Wouldn’t? Marco, this name is weird.” Star waved the flash card around in the air.

“Wundt, but the Ws both sound like Vs. It’s German.”

“German… that’s the place where that guy who was basically mustache Mina came from, right?” Marco froze in his tracks as his eyes widened in complete incredulity. Star uncurled from the ball she was in on their bed and sat up, hair and nightgown all astray as she tilted her head to the side in befuddlement. “What, did I say something wrong?”

“No, that’s- it’s just- that’s one way to put it. Don’t worry about it.” No way he was touching that subject with a mile-long pole.

She crossed her arms proudly. “See, I did remember something from school, then! OK, so Wundt, what’d he do?”

“What didn’t he do? He basically invented psychology! Before him, everyone just kind of thought about thinking, but he was the first one to really study it with any sort of scientific method.” The first week of school had been going fairly well, Marco thought, but it was certainly busy. Maybe it was the fact that this was his first classroom education in two whole years, but it was way faster paced than anything he remembered. All the reading he’d done to prepare before the school year started helped, sure, but it was a sizable effort to keep on top of everything.

“Mhmm, I see.” Star tentatively raised her hand, nodding thoughtfully to his every word. “Tell me about his glasses.”

“What?”

“The glasses? For seeing someone’s problems really clearly? Come on, Marco, it wasn’t that hard to figure out. I bet they were ginormous.”

A few giggles escaped his lips and Star puffed her cheeks up in indignation. “No, Star, that’s not how glasses work. They just sorta- they make you look smarter, I guess?”

Star stuck her tongue out and pinched her fingers together to form two circles, aiming her hands carefully to position them over Marco’s eyes. “Nope, you seem just as smart without them. Anyway, let’s see here, next up is Pavlov.”

“Oh, you’ll love him. He studied stuff with his dogs.”

As if on cue, some of the laser puppies scrambled out from under the bed, jumping into Star and Marco’s arms. Star’s shout of “PUPPIES!” sounded like background noise behind the licking and panting invading his personal space, but it was a welcome change. With how big their yard was now, their pets were often gone for so long at a time that Marco felt like he barely saw them anymore, but they had a way of showing up randomly at oddly convenient times. Despite being laserless since magic had been destroyed, whatever dog breed the wand had concocted seemed to stay just as small and cute forever. Barko Diaz stayed in Marco’s arms while Star cuddled the rest and cooed over them one by one. “Anyway, his dogs drooled whenever food was placed in their mouths; that’s just the natural response. But Pavlov noticed that if he just held the food in front of them before feeding it to them, after a while they’d start to drool whenever they saw the food. That’s how he invented the name conditional reflex.”

“I, Star Butterfly, officially vote for puppy guy as the best- Sajak, hahaha, stop it!” The dogs pounced on her face and she fell backwards onto the sheets. “Marco, help! I’m being swallowed by a fur-ocious tidal wave! Get your jammies on and join the fun!”

Marco rolled his eyes as he pulled off his shirt and pants. Top drawer… nothing. Middle? Nope. Still only in his underwear, he quickly rummaged through both their sets of drawers in search of his usual blue pajamas to no avail. A frustrated groan rumbled in his throat as he bent over to check underneath the drawers.

“That’s it, mama like,” he could hear Star murmuring. He quickly glanced behind him to find… Star sitting up, his pajamas in hand. “Staaaaar,” his voice and brain both exasperatedly grumbled. Though he’d figured out that his own sense of sexuality was grounded in emotional intimacy more than anything, they’d still become quite comfortable with each other and themselves physically; normally he wouldn’t complain in the slightest about the attention, but he still had a job to do.

“Ooooone more second,” she drawled out while her half-lidded baby blues roamed his body.

“Alright, Star, let’s just pick one more card, OK? I need to make sure I’m ready for tomorrow.”

“Fiiiiine. The last one is… Freud. I’m probably saying that wrong, too. Wait a second, Janna talked about him once, after I told her about that psychology stuff we did years ago. She said he’d be really good at figuring out my mom issu-”

“Not the same thing. Come on, Janna…” Marco grumbled. Leave it to Janna to give the worst possible introduction to academic psychology. “Alright, that’s enough of that,” he stated decisively and snatched all the index cards out from under paws and tails before crawling onto the edge of the bed.

“Yay! Now scooty that booty, you cutie patootie!” Star gently cleared the space between them and the puppies all left the room except for Marco Jr. It wasn’t the best dog name, but it was at least better than it would’ve been for his sibling.

He propped himself up on his elbow and fluffed his pillow. “I’m honored to do my duty.”

“Hehe, you said doodie.” Before he’d even fully settled into his usual spot, Star had already climbed halfway on top of him and settled her head on his chest, prompting him to embrace her. Marco smiled and planted a soft, lingering kiss on her neck. Sometimes it was too warm, too cramped, and she’d strangle his limbs hard enough that it took him 10 extra minutes to stand up in the morning; despite all that, he couldn’t be happier to snuggle every night away.

“I-I know it’s been crazy this past week, so thanks for helping with this, even though you hate school.”

“Hey, I don’t hate it. I just don’t like classes, tests, homework, and having to ask to use the bathroom...” She paused and blinked a few times. “OK, maybe I do hate school.”

“If it makes you feel any better, in college you can just go whenever you need to.”

“You know, that actually kinda does. Anyway, learning can be fun, and you’re a good teacher. Keep it up and in a few years maybe I’ll have a secondhand degree,” she snickered. Her fingers started to fidget with his hands while her toes tangled themselves up in his pant legs. “Sorry I was so distracted. I guess it’s finally sinking in that you’re gonna be doing this for years and years and now I’m the one with no clue what I want to do. Sucks a little bit to think about.”

“Doesn’t mean we’re not still gonna be a team, but it- yeah, that kinda does suck. Maybe we can try looking through some more options, if you want? I know you didn’t like any programs at the college, but I’m sure there’s all kinds of jobs or volunteer work around town. We could-”

She squirmed in his grasp, tilting her head downwards and away from his. “Marco… I don’t know, I just really don’t think I’m even in a place where I can just point at something and say, ‘yep, that sounds like a great job to sign up for!’ Maybe I’m just not ready for that yet.”

It always saddened him when she had this little faith in herself because he knew firsthand how capable she was of the most amazing things. Whatever he could do to help get her self-confidence back and live up to her potential, he would. He brought his hand closer to her face, stroking her cheek gently - though not before clumsily misjudging distance and poking her in the mouth, which elicited a snort of laughter. “OK, whatever feels right. Besides, it’s not like I know what I want to do with my entire life right now either. We’ll figure it out whenever you’re ready. In the meantime, there’s a new season of Dude’s Food Feuds and a plate of nachos with our names on it this weekend! “Plus, I heard Mom and Dad say they might spend part of this weekend at Eclipsa’s…” he trailed off, nuzzling into her neck and pulling her closer.

She twisted herself to look at him as best as she could. “Oh yeah?” Her eyebrows wiggled suggestively.

“Yeaaaaaaahn.” His attempt to continue being flirty was foiled by a giant yawn, indicating once and for all that it was time to sleep, and her laugh at his expense was stifled by her own yawn indicating she was in the same position. “Let’s get some shuteye, I’ve got another early morning tomorrow. Night, Star.”

“Night, Marco.” After a good-night peck Star turned herself around and they resumed their embrace. Less than a minute later, slumber claimed him.

***

“Dangit, Tom, again? You’ve gotta be free to chill at some point!” Angie folded the corner of the poetry collection she was perusing and looked up at Star who had her phone sprawled across their couch. “But I wouldn’t even mind doing kingdom junk. It’s better than another day on the couch by myself!” With her free hand, Star absentmindedly dangled around a spare doll of Marco in the princess outfit, which a starry-eyed Mariposa was stumbling around on the floor trying to catch. “So I’m not ‘physically capable of sticking my arms into lava tar’, I don’t see what that has to do with-” Even from the other end of the phone, Angie could still pick up on the mounting frustration in the demon prince’s tone. Star suddenly sharply inhaled and took a moment before responding. “Sure, maaaaybe it would have something to do with clearing a toxic hellgae infestation from the depths of the lava tar pits. Ugh, fine, you’re right. Can I at least see you next week, then?” Only a split second went by before Star sat up suddenly. “JANNA? Hello? Dangit,” she groaned while tossing her phone to the other end of the couch.

“Is everything alright, Star?”

Star crossed her arms and huffed. “Tom’s super busy with Underworld stuff, and I guess Janna’s there too for some reason even though humans really shouldn’t be able to handle any of it. Ponyhead has some kinda interview with some production company or something, Eclipsa and my parents are on vacation, and even Ferguson and Alfonzo are too busy to hang out!” She flopped facedown into one of the cushions; her final cry of “stupid school” was barely intelligible.

Mariposa giggled and yanked the doll from Star’s now-limp hand. “Mago! Mago!” Mariposa babbled while waddling around. Her little foot got caught on the fabric of the doll’s dress, and like a tiny giant she slowly toppled to the ground. Angie moved to help her daughter, who let go of the doll to grasp for her mother’s hand. “Mama!” It had been only a few weeks since Mariposa began to put together words with any regularity, and she’d already taken a fierce liking to calling for her parents and brother.

“Mariposa, I’m trying to be grumpy here and that’s really hard when the cutest thing in the universe is talking about the other cutest thing in the universe, and that includes the entire Puppybunny Dimension!”

Suddenly, an idea came to Angie. “Why don’t you come with me to the community college and help watch Mariposa? I’ve missed spending time with her this week but I couldn’t take care of her all day, plus it’d be good to get her out of the house.”

“Marco said he was really busy today, though,” Star pouted.

“Well, then I guess it’ll just have to be a girls’ day. What do you say, Mariposa? Do you want to go with mommy and Star to school?”

She clapped her hands cheerfully. “Gool!”

“Who am I kidding, I can’t say no to you,” Star cooed, pinching the toddler’s cheeks. “So when are we going?”

“I have office hours in an hour, so the sooner the better. Come out to the car whenever you’re ready.”

“Just gotta get my purse!” Star bounded across the living room and up the stairs quickly enough that her voice trailed off even at full volume. Angie smirked as she went about gathering her usual toddler travel supplies. While all the reasons she’d given for their trip today were true, she had an ulterior motive. It was pretty obvious that Star was in a funk from life catching up to them, and a change of pace never hurt. Well, that, and Star drives everyone a bit crazy with nothing to do at home. Seriously, who knew one girl could spill so many gallons of pancake batter all over the counter in a day?

Once she had everything, she headed out to the faithful family minivan and strapped Mariposa into her carseat, tossing in her small satchel for work and the much larger bag of baby supplies. Right as she finished, she heard the front door shut and lock behind her as Star made her way to the car. “Can I take Mariposa around the college today? Marco’s baby carrier fits like a glove.” Star quickly strapped it on, tightened it, and did a little twirl before taking it back off and climbing into the backseat.

While Angie was driving, she barely had any ability to check how the girls were doing in the backseat - there’d been so much construction on the Earthni road system that she could never trust the routes she was used to - but there were little glimpses of Mariposa being enthralled with Star’s playful antics. Star’s classic yellow smiling star purse swung like a pendulum for Mariposa to catch and they both cheered when she finally succeeded. Before she even knew it, they arrived at the Echo Creek Commewnity College, which had expanded dramatically in both size and architectural diversity as a result of the Cleaving. Most places in town (and throughout the world, so she’d heard) had merged in ways that left individual communities intact, but for whatever reason the college campus had become completely intertwined with a Mewman campground. It was certainly more of a spectacle than the once-modest town college and did wonders for getting both halves of the Earthni community involved.

Star marveled at the seamlessly blended hybrid buildings and scenery while Mariposa did much the same with her own thumbs. Nondescript brick buildings mingled with medieval wood and stone and the occasional ornate decorations, which is why the quad had a marble dragon standing proud among the trees. “Woah, is that a cornball and football field at the same time?”

“That’s a good question. Honestly, I’m still not used to all the changes myself,” Angie laughed. “A few months ago I tried to use the swamp water machine for my coffee. I had lily pads in my teeth for days.” While they were walking, Mariposa had become noticeably fixated on Star. Her dress, her hair, her hands, anything that was available to gawk at and grasp was fair game.

“She’s such a wonderful little tot, isn’t she?” Angie asked as they stepped into the cool air of Bonner Hall. She walked slowly towards her office while Star flitted around poking at every plant in the hallway.

“Yeah. So much calmer than Meteora. Remember the birthday incident?” Angie lightly chuckled in response; how could anyone not remember that? It wasn’t every day that a one year old just spontaneously grew a full head of hair and then got her tail hopelessly caught in it at another one year old’s birthday party.

Once they’d arrived at her office, she pulled out her key and opened the door to invite Star in. “Bienvenue! I’m teaching Intro to French Literature this semester, so I’ve got this whole theme going on.” Quotes and pictures of authors hung all around the room alongside some images of major landmarks and a little French flag sat on her desk next to a miniature statue of the Eiffel Tower. Angie helped Star unstrap Mariposa and set her down on the floor where she began waddling and crawling around.

Star sat on the edge of Angie’s desk kicking her feet back and forth, careful to avoid the toddler. “Soooooooo… what’s the plan for today?”

“You’re more than welcome to stick around but if office hours get too hectic it may get pretty cramped in here.” She’d have liked to do more with a larger space, but given how infrequently other community college faculty even got offices to themselves it was a blessing to even have this. “Although I have to teach later so you won’t be able to get back into this room if you leave after that.”

“Marco’s not free until, like, 6, so…” She trailed off dejectedly. The vibrant enthusiasm that Star normally exuded was still lacking. Hmm, this might be more serious than I thought.

Angie gently laid a hand on Star’s shoulder until those big blue eyes finally met her own. “Star, honey, it’ll be fine. I know it can be hard not being able to spend all your time with someone anymore.”

The headband on Star’s head shifted and almost fell off from how hard she was tugging and frazzling her own hair absentmindedly, “It’s not that… well, it’s not just that. Everyone else is starting their big life dreams now, you know? Marco wants to be a psycho therapist or something, Tom’s actually kinda happy about being a prince for once, and even Janna seems like she’s figuring it out in her weird Jannaniganish way! I have no idea what I want to do! Even went through a big ole’ list of ideas with Marco and they all just seemed blegh.” Star threw her hands up in frustration before curling back into herself more than before. “And I want to find something too, you know? Ugh, where’s Mr. Candle when you need him...”

The words resonated very strongly with Angie but it was difficult to put into words. She backed away from Star, her gaze darting around the room until she had a realization. “Have I ever told you the story about my summer in France?”

“Don’t think so.”

“When I was about your age, I wanted to get away for a while, so I packed up all my things and went to France for a whole summer. The food, the music, the history… everything was better there. For months after I came home I tried desperately to hold on to all of that after it was over, and I still cherish that experience, but it was just a fun handful of weeks that I spent someplace else and it was better that I just dealt with the fact that it was over. But,” she forcefully interjected when Star raised an eyebrow in protest at the seemingly antithetical point being made, “I know now that it’s not a universally ideal handling of such events. All the excitement of the last few years made me think about that… people might sort these things out for themselves in very different ways.”

“Like how Jackie literally spent a summer in France too, but she and Chlóe are still together long distance.”

“Mhmm, I could see that.”

“Or how Ponyhead started wearing a prosthetic tail for a while after staying with Seahorse’s family.”

“Hang on, what-”

“Don’t ask.” Never a dull moment.

“Or what about when-”

Alright, I’ll just have to get to the point myself. “I was mainly thinking about Marco, Star. I told him this same story before he left for Mewni, and honestly, I didn’t know how important it was to him. But he grew into such a confident and capable young man there and I couldn’t be prouder.” Angie softly took both of Star’s cheeks into her hands. “Star, you’re a wonderful, caring, smart young woman. So what if you’re not following every step at the same time as your friends? Everyone goes through these sorts of crises at some point or another, but what’s important is that you take the time to make the decision that’s right for you.” Star’s gaze sunk to the ground while the gears in her mind were so obviously turning that they might as well have been visible and Angie gave her some space in turn. “So, with all that said, what are you thinking now?”

Star crossed her arms and furrowed her brow. “Even if I’m not rushing to figure everything out, I don’t want to just do nothing until I magically find my lifelong dream. And I know Marco and I aren’t gonna literally live the same lives; heck, I don’t want to do all his school junk anyway, but… whatever I end up doing, I still want it to be together. That’s why I left for Earth,” she finished with her voice dropping to a solemn whisper.

“Didn’t he do the exact same thing? You don’t need me to tell you that you two are something absolutely special. I may not know what all is going through his head, what mother of a teenage boy does, but I know he’d do anything for you, Star.”

Nodding more to herself than to Angie, Star took a deep breath before speaking. “Thanks, Mrs. Diaz.”

“You can call me Angie, if you’d like. Or Angelica, or maybe ‘The Coolest Mom in Town.’ I’m not picky,” she said with a smirk.

After a short pause, Star hopped off the desk and wrapped Angie in a bear hug so deceptively strong that it knocked the wind out of her, but she still managed to reciprocate. “Thanks… Angie.” A rumbling sound interrupted the moment. “Heh, well, seems like I’m also thinking about lunch.”

“That’s an excellent idea. Why don’t we-” The digital clock on the desk caught her attention. “Dammit, office hours already started a few minutes ago. Don’t think I’ll have time for a while. But there’s plenty of places around here to eat, and a few of them are actually good!” she chuckled. Just as she mentally ran through some places in the student union, a thought struck her. “Say, Star… there’s a lot of clubs and events and such that are open to non-students too. Maybe it’d be worth looking into some of them? It’d be something to do, you and Marco would be closer, and I could even drive you some days if you needed. Why don’t you take Mariposa with you and explore for a while? She seems pretty restless today.”

Taking a few deep breaths to center herself, Star nodded her head. “Yeah, that’s a good idea! Heck, it’d be good just to know my way around for any time I visit Marco anyway.” She bent down and beckoned for Mariposa, who’d been ogling a bronze baguette for some time now. Once the carrier was locked and loaded with a docile toddler and some of her supplies once more, Star skipped out of the office. Angie’s time alone, however, was cut short when a student skidded in and immediately started nervously rambling about homework questions and grading policies and the works of François Villon. Back to teacher mode. Angie afforded herself one last glance through the door at her young daughter gleefully riding along with the girl who might as well be her other daughter. Rafael had mentioned to Angie on more than a few occasions that Star and Marco reminded him of themselves in their youth, and Angie had agreed at the time but now she wasn’t so sure. Her teenage - and even young adult - years with Rafael, while wonderful, had been filled with many bouts of uncertainty and it’d taken them many, many years to get it right once and for all.

But Star and Marco? As far as she was concerned, they already had.

***

Boring classroom… Boring classroom… Boring restroom… Hey, wait a minute, is that a cornshake machine? A few minutes, a few dollars, and one cornshake (plus a sippy kid size) later, Star found herself not much better than she’d been when she set off an hour ago, but the surprisingly high quality of the vended drink did bolster her spirits. She resisted the urge to call Marco because it’d be waaaay more fun to surprise him later. And also because he might still be in class, that too. A tall rock creature walked in front of her, interrupting her thoughts, and she saw a nervous expression on his face as he feebly tried not to disrupt foot traffic too much. Looking around, she was a bit surprised to see just how much the cultures of her own world had been brought to the forefront and blended in despite humans comprising the majority of people she’d seen on campus. Some people who she guessed were Mewmans by their dress glanced back for a bit longer than most but otherwise went about their day without a fuss. Two guys, one human and one Septarian, were laughing and holding hands on a bench. All in all the atmosphere reminded her of high school, but was freer in a way that didn’t discomfort her as much as she’d anticipated.

A few of the passersby looked her way as she wandered, and one or two even said hi to her - not that uncommon, given that it was public knowledge that she and Marco were responsible for the Cleaving, though Eclipsa had tactfully phrased it as a consequence of the two working together to destroy magic - but it was just as likely that Mariposa was the one attracting attention for a multitude of reasons. She knew she shouldn’t have expected it, but part of her was disappointed that after going through four whole bustling buildings she hadn’t run into Marco, or even anyone she knew. Glum and tired, she was about to abandon her pursuits when a huge bulletin board around the corner caught her eye. As she jogged over to it, her hopes came true: it was a giant wall advertising all the clubs and events on campus for the start of the year.

Her eyes roved the board up and down, left and right scanning for anything that seemed interesting or had some sort of meeting today. There were some fliers that Star dismissed right away, including a woodworking workshop series, a community choir, a sketchy-looking “how to date a demon” seminar. The last one might have at least been good for a laugh, but it had a note scribbled on it that attendance was maxed out already. She noted some sort of upcoming school dance for all local teens, but it was months away and the poster was uninspiring since the theme was still listed as TBD. It made sense that most extracurricular activities didn’t happen in the middle of a school day, but she still frowned at how few options seemed available and potentially interesting. Once she’d perused the entire wall and selected those that were, she set out on her mission to find her purpose.

“You ready, Mariposa?”

“Gool!”

Chess Club

“Rook to G3.” Star’s opponent, whose nametag said Fred, positioned the black castle piece ahead of most of his pack.

“King to-” Her tongue stuck out as she concentrated on the board layout instructions, trying to find her place. “King to E3!”

“Um, first of all, the king piece is not allowed to move more than one square at a time. Second, since it is the most important piece, the singular goal of the game is to keep yours alive while defeating the enemy’s. Therefore it is ludicrously ill-advised to position your king into such immediate danger, and in most cases would automatically lose you the match” Star’s opponent responded matter-of-factly.

Star scratched her head in puzzlement, replacing the piece. “Why is the king so slow? My dad was literally a king and he can run at highway speeds.”

“Perhaps the Mewman traditions are different, but the Earthly ways of the monarchy are enshrined in a-

“Alright, whatever. Then I have my Queen ride the horse into combat! No, wait, can it be a warnicorn instead?” She ripped off a corner of the scoring sheet and deftly curled it into a cone before placing it on the top of the plastic figure with a satisfied grin.

“Although an intriguing concept, there is no precedent in the ancient tradition of the sport for-” Mariposa interrupted her tirade by kicking the edge of the table, which knocked over Fred’s black king. See, now this was the sort of thing she could see herself getting into!

“Checkmate!” Star shouted with a wide grin, one decidedly not mirrored by her opponent or any of the onlookers.

Cornball Tryouts

“Well, Mariposa, that was a bust. But cornball is a Mewni thing, so I’m gonna super nail it this time!” Star set Mariposa down and removed her from the baby carrier. “Stay right here, you little angel,” she cooed before jogging over to the group of hopefuls discussing strategy. “Hiya everyone!”

One of the girls who resembled a fox waved in welcome. “Sup, I’m Bleck, I was the Monster Cornball League’s ace stickler for a few years.”

“And I’m Jason, I was Mewni Cornball Alliance’s forward maizeman.”

Star shook both their hands. Did something seem familiar about them? “I’m-”

“Star Butterfly, we know,” Bleck responded. “You set up that integrated game on Mewni. Sorry about that, by the way. We were the captains and it, um, kinda got out of hand.” Ah, so that’s why Star recognized them.

“Yeah, that was our bad.” Jason rubbed the back of his neck shamefully with one hand with his other on Bleck’s shoulder. “I’ll be honest, this whole ‘monsters and Mewmans and Earth Mewmans all together’ thing is still new to me, but don’t wanna let some petty grudges get in the way of some good old fashioned cornball. These Earthers are crazy competitive, we’ll need the best team we can to have a chance of even making regionals.

“Speaking of which,” another Mewman spoke up warily. “Does anyone know anything about that new teenage husker that already made captain? CB Nation says she’s already poised to be hotter than Jispy Jenkins.”

“I heard she’s the reason the Cassidy bros quit moat guarding.”

“Well I heard she averaged 50 shucks per game in her rookie season.”

A hush fell over the group; as much as Star loved the sport she never really followed it, but it was still clear just how good this mystery player was.

“I think that’s her…” one of the monsters said, pointing at a shadow emerging from the clubhouse. “Oh corn, hold me!” He fainted on the spot.

“Star? Star!!!!!!!!” It was hard to make out details against the glaring sunlight, but there was a webbed hand waving at her. Wait, was that-

“KATRINA!” Star dashed as fast as her legs could carry her to meet her friend who was doing the same. Katrina scooped her up in a big slimy hug. “You’re so big now!” The girl was now taller than Star, with a stocky build, but her big sparkly eyes still had every bit of youthful wonder that she remembered. Given how much of a powerhouse Buff Frog was, Star could only imagine the athletic potential his kids could have.

“Yeah, I’m starting ECCC this year! I got a full ride scholarship as team captain! Sorry I haven’t been talking to you as much lately… I’ve been so busy working towards this, it’s a dream come true!” Katrina set her down and glanced over towards the sidelines. “Is that Mariposa over there! Hi, baby! Wow, humans age really slowly. You and Marco better not take too long getting your own kid, Auntie Katrina still wants to still be spry enough to play with ‘em.”

Star’s face heated up. “I- Katrina, you- We aren’t-” She stammered incoherently. This was going to take some getting used to.

“C’mon, Star, I’m kiddiiiiiing. I’m already four, I’m not a kid anymore. Anyway, are you here for the team? That’s so cool! You’re always so great at everything, you’ll definitely make the team.” She finally turned to the rest of the attendees to begin the session. “Alright, welcome to the ECCC cornball tryouts, I’m really happy you’re all here! Let’s go over some logistics. Practice is five days a week in the evenings until the league begins on Dartuk 30. That’s the 26th of September for all the Earth people here. We’ll have two regular matches each week and will be travelling most weekends. If we want to show who the real cornballers are, I’m going to need your complete dedication to this squad! School’s important too, but otherwise this will be your life while you’re on my team, so let’s talk drills-”

With each passing sentence, Star’s anxiously fidgeted more and more. It was… intense, more than she’d ever expected. She was ecstatic that Katrina was finding so much success and joy doing this and felt her heart swell with pride as the crowd hooted and hollered in support, but was this really what she wanted most for herself? While Star was zoned out, Katrina had apparently wrapped up her speech and everyone else had already dispersed. Katrina took Star’s hands and shook them up and down excitedly. “Are you as pumped as I am?”

“Yeeeeeeaaaaaah…” Star hesitantly cheered, casting a nervous glance back at Mariposa who now was booping Star’s purse repeatedly with her nose. “About that…”

Driver’s Ed

Maybe I should just learn to drive so I can visit Marco myself, Star pouted. “I could get us a pair of matching cool car driver sunglasses, so we can be rad Earth style,” Star whispered to Mariposa while Miss Skullnick (who was apparently working at the college now, and was human again) finished going over her slides.

“And that’s the introduction for this seminar series on automobile safety. Any questions?”

Star raised her hand and Skullnick sighed heavily before calling on her. “Is there a way I can start driving next week?”

“Get out!”

***

“Today sucked,” Star gloomily groaned. She was curled up sideways on a bench in one of the open quads while Mariposa was using her stomach as a pillow for her late afternoon nap, tuckered out after a recent diaper change. “I mean, it was so cool to see Katrina again, and in a weird way I almost missed Skullzy too, but I’m still completely stuck. But hey, at least I got to spend a day with you.” Star gently stroked Mariposa’s soft brown hair. Now that she thought about it, getting to spend hours a day with the adorable tot was one of the only consistently rewarding parts of the past week, it seemed. Even Meteora’s shenanigans were heartwarming in their own way, namely one that involved way more property damage. Her eyelids drooped shut, heavy with the weight of everything on her mind.

She couldn’t have been out for more than a minute when a child’s voice startled her. “Hello? Are you sleeping?” Was that Mariposa? No, it couldn’t have been, her mind concluded as she exited her half-conscious delirium. A small monster child, no older than the human equivalent of four or five with some features of an elephant, tugged on the sleeve of her dress with tears in his eyes. “I’m scared.”

Star rubbed her eyes and gathered everything into one corner of the bench so she could make room for the child. “What’s wrong, little guy? I’m Star.”

“My- my name’s Trevor but Mom and Dad call me Trev. I was playing on the slides but then everyone was gone,” Trevor began sobbing pitifully.

“OK, it’s OK. Let’s take a deeeeeeep breath, OK? Like this.” She inhaled as much air as she could, puffing up her cheeks and chest before blowing all of it out with an exaggerated flair. The boy nodded and took a small breath. “Again!” Star repeated, and he followed, back and forth until he had calmed down and was grinning at her absurdly over-the-top routine. “Feeling better?”

“A little.”

“How about we play a game? I’ll say one word, and you say whatever word comes to your mind. Ready?” He sniffled once, but nodded.

“Candy.”

“Tasty.”

“Dancing.”

“Fun.”

“Snuffleupagus.”

He cracked up a bit at that and she grinned back at him. “Silly.”

“School.”

“Sad.”

“Why does that make you sad?”

“My brother’s busy at school here all day now, so he has daycare watch me instead. My group was at the playground and Felipe bet I couldn’t go on the big slide so I did but I got stuck and when I got out, everyone was gone.”

“You poor thing,” Star responded. “I know how you feel. Tell ya what, let’s go try to find them together!”

“Can- can we stay here?” Her heart broke at how obviously terrified he was of the situation and the prospect of any more unfamiliarity wasn’t something he was ready to deal with at all.

“For a little bit, but then we really should get you back to the daycare.”

“OK,” he said somberly. “Who’s that?” He pointed at Mariposa who was crawling in circles around the bench.

“Oh, this is Mariposa! She’s my boyfriend’s sister.”

“What’s a boyfriend?”

Of all the conversations Star thought she might have today, this was far from one of them. “It’s like… boyfriend and girlfriend are like what a mom and dad are before they become a mom and dad.”

“My Uncle Matt is Mom’s brother but Dad calls him brother too. Does that mean she’s your sister too?”

Star met Mariposa’s eyes for a moment. It was weird to think about, but… was Trevor even wrong? She’d been living with the Diazes for almost all of Mariposa’s life, after all. There wasn’t a clear definitive answer in Star’s mind, but she needed one to sate the boy’s unending curiosity. “Yeah, I guess she is.”

“Cool! My big brother’s awesome. I miss when we used to play all the time. You’re really cool, too.”

“Thanks. I know change can be scary, but I’m sure your brother misses you a lot too. Sometimes big kids and grown-ups have to do grown-up things for a while, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still love being your brother.”

A few voices echoed in the distance; once they were close enough for Star to make out the words, she realized they were calling Trevor’s name. “Over here!” she shouted back in their general direction. A large elephant monster with ripped jeans and ear piercings ran as fast as he could and gave Trevor a tight hug. “Hey, Trev, buddy, where’d you go? We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“It’s OK, Star took care of me.” It came out muffled from how his face was still buried in his brother’s arms.

“Woah, wait- Star? Like, the Rebel Princess Star Butterfly?”

“That’s me. Or was me,” she shrugged.

“I was your biggest fan for years! Remember the cave hideout? Don’t think I introduced myself then, I’m Geoff.”

“Oooooh yeah, you were with the ‘alternative monsters’! How have you been?”

“Pretty dope. Once that wicked Cleaving thing happened, we found a bunch of humans just like us! Being alternative is just, like, normal now. They even sell clothes with all the holes in them already so you don’t have to do any work! It’s nice to just get to be myself now, and I don’t think I’d ever get to do that without everything you did. You’re the best, Star. And thanks for taking care of lil’ Trev here. C’mon, buddy, let’s get you home.”

Trevor hopped up on his brother’s shoulders for a piggy back ride and waved. “Bye, Star! Bye Mariposa!”

“You must be a miracle worker with the kids,” the human man who had run up with Geoff finally spoke up. He had a thick beard and glasses and wore a red flannel shirt and jeans. “I’m Antonio, by the way, I run the ECCC Child Care Center. We just call it the Six Cs.”

“Nice to meet you,” Star responded. “I just did what anyone would, really.”

“No, you definitely made Trevor’s week. He just joined on Monday and he cries almost all the time from missing his family. We see that a lot, but it’s definitely hitting him harder than most, going from being at home all the time to being with a bunch of strangers for hours a day.”

Star unconsciously turned away and rubbed her arm. “Yeah, I… I know the feeling.” She shook it off and turned back towards him. “So, what happened with Trevor?”

“One of the girls got a splinter on the playground. Everyone was busy trying to keep her calm when we left the playground that we skipped headcount. I called Geoff right away, he was very understanding. It’s no excuse, but we’re way too short on people right now with all the new students.” His attention suddenly pivoted to Mariposa who was reaching up to grab at the fabric of his shirt. “This is Angie Diaz’s kid, no? May I?”

“Yeah,” Star dumbfoundedly responded after a moment’s hesitation. “You know her?”

Antonio hefted Mariposa up like she weighed nothing and gently rocked Mariposa back and forth in his burly arms. “Her older son, Marco, used to come here every now and then. Heard through the grapevine not too long ago that she had another kid, I asked if she’d be coming to the Six Cs but she said she already had someone at home. I take it I’m talking to her?”

Star’s eyes widened. Angie had said that? She was the only one who didn’t have plans most days, so… it had to be her. “Marco’s my boyfriend. I was their foreign exchange student for a year, then he came to live with me on Mewni for a year, and then… well, you’ve probably heard about how the Cleaving happened.”

“Afraid not, I don’t keep up with the news much these days. I just try to take care of all the kiddos as best I can, doesn’t much matter to me what goes on with the world. So what brings you to this humble campus?”

“Well, Marco’s going to school here now and I don’t have much else to do, so... yeah.”

“Ah.” His deep voice was laden with sympathy, and with that one word Star felt like he immediately understood her turmoil. “Well, if you’re ever looking for something to do, we could use someone like you on the team.”

“Really?”

“You’ve clearly got a big heart and a keen eye for how to take care of the younguns, that’s more than enough in my eyes. This one’s been staring at you almost since we started talking, she clearly trusts you more than you may know.” Huh, he was right; even while being rocked gently into slumber, Mariposa’s warm brown gaze remained firmly on Star’s face. “Well, I should get back to the staff. No rush if you’re unsure, but you can come with me to meet the crew before they leave for the night if you want.” He set Mariposa back down on the bench while Star reassembled the baby carrier and got Mariposa settled back in.

Star couldn’t say she was any clearer now on a life goal, but maybe that wasn’t what she needed right now. Looking back on the day and week thus far, even the most exceptionally crummy day in recent memory could be salvaged by Mariposa alone, so why should she be worried about more of that? Though she hadn’t really thought of herself as Mariposa’s caretaker until just a few minutes ago, her breath hitched with pride at the notion.

When she finally answered Antonio’s question, it was the least unsure she’d felt in a while.

***

Done. Finally. Marco swiftly stuffed his assignments into the binder in his backpack and hustled out the door of the student union. Cramming all his homework into one day had drained him, but it was worth it so he and Star could have the whole weekend to themselves. He liked all the things about school that Star hated, sure, but his life had changed so much and so many times that he worried he wasn’t even cut out for it anymore. ‘B’ on the pop quiz, really Diaz? The rational part of his brain knew it was fine, but the Marco of old was disappointed. He’d aced the questions he’d studied with Star, at least, so maybe the Marco of old wasn’t the one to follow.

Nachos, ever the talented dragoncycle, had founded a part-time rideshare service in the town and was busy tonight, so Marco navigated his way to his mom’s office for a ride home. “Hey Mom, hey Star, h- wait, Star?”

“Marcomarcomarcomarcomarco!” Star excitedly leapt into his arms with a barrage of cheek kisses and a crushing embrace.

“Missed you too, Star,” he chuckled, kissing her on the forehead in return before backing away to take off his backpack and slump into a chair. “What are you doing here?”

She sat sideways in his lap, hooking her arms around his neck. “Surprising you, goofhead!”

He closed his eyes for a moment and drank in her affection, letting it wash away his fatigue. “Well, color me surprised. Really glad you’re here.”

“Long day? Did you defeat the quizzards?”

“Yeah, and for the third time, it was just a regular quiz and not evil mystical quizzards giving me riddles. Besides, don’t they have a game show now?”

“Totally, totally, totally… I knew that.”

“I just kinda miss you, Star. It hasn’t been the same going all day without seeing you. I guess the last few years have made me realize I don’t want to be wherever you aren’t.”

“So cheesy,” Star cooed while pinching his cheek. His mom and Star exchanged excited glances. “But don’t worry about that anymore, Diaz, because I’ll be here now too!”

“Hubbawha?” Marco blurted out.

“Star’s going to volunteer for the Six Cs and take care of Mariposa there.”

She stood up and walked over to Mariposa, poking her nose just as she came out of a nap. “Yep, and they said I can make a schedule around yours so we can dragonpool to school and have lunch together or whatever! Plus I get to spend time with my other favorite person in the whole wide world.”

Mariposa fully opened her eyes and stared vacantly at Star for a second before smiling wide. “Ta.”

Star stopped in her tracks. “Wait, is she saying-”

“Tar. Tar. Tar!” Mariposa bobbed up and down on the desk, clearly as overjoyed about her words as everyone else was. Tears welled up in Star’s sapphire eyes as she leaned down to gently snuggle Mariposa. Marco walked over to join her and caught his mom absolutely beaming with as much pride as he’d ever seen her have. The wholesome moment was interrupted as his little sister, not content to stop, kept rambling on. “Tar! Mago! Tago! Tago!”

“Not you too!” Star sputtered out, still choked with emotion, and Marco couldn’t help but laugh.

And later that evening, after the four had gotten dinner and piled into the Diaz van for the trip home, Marco looked over to see that Star had fallen asleep on the other side of Mariposa’s carseat. He took her hand in his, yawning as he realized a nap wasn’t such a bad idea. Just before succumbing to the day, he swore he heard a soft, squeaky murmuring from the toddler next to him.

“Sihtah.”

#starco #svtfoe #star vs the forces of evil #fanfic #tgg svtfoe

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krokonoko · 4 years

Note

Mike/Nacho! My bae drew mike dressed in a sexy cat costume all prepared for Nacho for my birthday but she said that she doesn't understand this ship at all and it s making me all sad, I need your help man :((

The insolence! Never fear, I am here to explain the beauty that is Vargatraut to the nonbelievers.

When I started shipping them: It was probably one of these ships were I always knew I could ship it, but I was too busy with my gajilion other BrBa/BCS ships to really get into it a lot? Cuz their interactions are just the best, and it’s just the kinda shit I go for. But then I read Stucco and Warm Light, the Taste of Toothpaste by @nerv-s and it just blew me away SO hard that it immediately made Mike/Nacho rise to the top of my shipping list.

My thoughts: Ok wait I made a really good post about it a while ago lemme link it real quick.

What makes me happy about them: Nacho’s extremely bitchy attitude towards Mike even though all Mike does is give him excellent advise, time and time again. I’m not sure whether it’s entitlement that Nacho has towards Mike, or a borderline romantic amount of trust. And the fact that Mike caves in every single time and helps him sort out his messes is just 👌

What makes me sad about them: I fear Nacho might turn into a figurative damsel for Mike to save, and I would. Not like that a lot.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: Can’t think of a single thing that would annoy me about these two in fic.

Things I look for in fanfic: Hot old man dick. Lmao no sorry it’s getting kinda late but yeah uhm just read Nerves’ fic it’s really good! Got all that good angst AND smut you could ask for.

My wishlist: Aaah I’m so torn, on the one hand I really want them to have lots of interaction again, on the other hand I’m so scared Mike will just bail Nacho’s butt out all by himself and effectively take away agency from Nacho againnnn! Can’t I have both, empowered Nacho AND Vargatraut?

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: For Nacho, the dozen goddamn other characters I ship him with. For Mike: Gus, Jimmy, and Jesse~

My happily ever after for them: Jesus my brain has turned into scrambled eggs by now, here I was for a second, honestly thinking there was a possibility for these two to fuck off to Alaska or Canada together lmaoo Ok look. The Vargatraut shipper in me wants Mike to help Nacho escape and for Nacho to live the rest of his life knowing that the only reason he’s still kicking is this old fart from ABQ. The other part is still insisting on Nacho not getting away that easily. But it would still be hella romantic!

#Vargatraut #Nacho Varga #Mike Ehrmantraut #Better Call Saul #BrBa BCS #patrocle #ask

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lostinfantasies38 · 4 years

Text

50 Questions You Have Never Been Asked

Borrowed from @elgar-somniari Tagging @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold @fandomn00blr @schoute @bigfan-fanfic @kittimau @charlatron @darlingrutherford @jacklyn-flynn @sharkapologists and whoever else wants to play!

1. What is the color of your hairbrush?

Black

2. A food you never eat?

Bananas (damn food allergies)

3. Are you typically too warm or too cold?

I’m usually too cold and I steal all the blankets in the house

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?

Brushing my teeth

5. What is your favorite candy bar?

Milky Way

6. Have you ever been to a professional sporting event?

Yes! Hockey and football games are the best. Baseball is ok (I was there for the nachos)

7. What was the last thing you said out loud?

Good morning, sunshine (to the baby when she woke up)

8. What is your favorite ice cream?

Chocolate anything

9. What was the last thing you had to drink?

A cup of coffee

10. Do you like your wallet?

I do - its navy blue and was a Christmas gift from my mom

11. What was the last thing you ate?

Coffee isn’t a food? Oh damn...

12. Did you buy any new clothes last weekend?

No I hate shopping

13. The last sporting event you watched?

Uh...the Super Bowl? Yeah, that sounds right.

14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?

Artery-clogging-butter aka Movie Theater Butter

15. Who was the last person you sent a text message to?

The hubby

16. Ever go camping?

Yes! We used to go 3 times a year, then we had a baby LOL

17. Do you take vitamins?

No, but I should.

18. Do you go to church every Sunday?

Nope

19. Do you have a tan?

….what is a tan? My Irish skin only knows the pain of a burn

20. Do you prefer Chinese food or pizza?

Out of these two - pizza

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw?

Nope

22. What color socks do you usually wear?

Black

23. Ever drive above the speed limit?

I live in Texas - if you’re driving the actual speed limit, you’re going too slow and probably pissing off everyone around you, so yes. Always. LOL

24. What terrifies you?

Rejection.

25. Look to your left what do you see?

End table with my coffee mug

26. What core do you hate?

*Chore I hate - definitely vacuuming

27. What do you think of when you hear an Australian accent?

“Ugh, please stop talking” (it’s the only accent that grates on my nerves)

28. What is your favorite soda?

DR PEPPER

29. Do you go into a fast food place or just hit the drive through?

Drive thru is much easier with a baby

30. Who was the last person you talked to?

The baby

31. Favorite cut of beef?

None…? I’m not really a beef eater, because it makes me sick. We eat poultry and fish a lot and veggie burgers!!

32. Last song you listened to?

Cool Anymore - Jordan Davis ft. Julia Michaels

33. Last book you read?

Ummmm...fanfiction?

34. Favorite day of the week?

Saturday

35. Can you say the alphabet backwards?

Unlikely

36. How do you like your coffee?

With cream and sugar

37. Favorite pair of shoes?

Black ballet flats - they go with everything

38. At what time do you usually go to bed?

Between the ungodly hours of 2 - 5 am; although last night, I went to bed at midnight

39. At what time do you normally get up?

Usually between 7-8 am when the baby gets up

40. What do you prefer - sunrises or sunsets?

Sunset

41. How many blankets are on your bed?

One

42. Describe your kitchen plates?

White with black tree outlines

43. Do you have a favorite alcoholic beverage?

Rum or wine

44. Do you play cards?

I can shuffle cards, and I read tarot cards, but playing card games nopeee (@elgar-somniari SAME!)

45. What color is your car?

It’s called Seafoam, which is a pretty pearlescent green

46. Can you change a tire?

No, that’s what husbands and road side assistance are for. I probably should, but honestly, tire jacks scare the fuck out of me, so it probably wont happen.

47. What is your favorite province?

If we’re talking Canadian province, definitely Nova Scotia

48. Favorite job you ever had?

Veterinary tech

49. How did you get your biggest scar?

When I was 7 I broke my arm on the second-to-last day of school, like a really bad break. Almost hemorrhaged multiple times even after surgery. It scarred so badly that until my mid-twenties it was still super obvious and I would get questions about it almost daily. It’s finally faded enough that no one has asked about it in the last 5 years.

50. What did you do today that made someone happy?

Pretty sure I made the baby happy when I fed her breakfast

#personal #not da #questions about me

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chainofclovers · 4 years

Text

self-care

Was not tagged by @dollsome-does-tumblr, exactly, but she said everyone should do this and I agree!

🌿 Favourite comfort food: In non-pandemic times, my favorite’s got to be that moment on when you finally get home on a Friday night after a long workweek and realize you can just calm down and order a fuckin’ pizza. The pizza will arrive at your house (or you can get carryout because you really do live an embarrassingly short distance from a pizza chain). However it happens, the pizza is there eventually, chilling out in a hot cardboard box. You crack open a beer and enjoy the delicious treat, the weekend stretched out before you, just waiting for you to savor every moment.

Oh hey, didn’t see you there. I was just writing a second-person POV fanfic about the AU of my life in which I go to work in an office and casually drop into pizza chains on the way home. Hilarious! Unrealistic!

Other comfort food, suitable for present times and for anytime: Nachos. Tomato soup and grilled cheese. Roasted vegetables, especially broccoli. Anything spicy and warm, especially Thai curries with tofu. Hot dogs. (I know.) Toast made from homemade bread and a cup of tea. Popcorn. Green salad with homemade lemon garlic dressing. Pie.

🌼 Favourite alcohol (or hot drink!): For alcohol, I love an IPA but I’m very willing to branch out. The only kind of beer I really don’t like is anything super syrupy and heavy-sweet. I love bourbon on the rocks and vodka sodas, too. But my favorite drink out of all drinks ever is just a good cup of coffee with cream, no sugar, first thing in the morning when I sit down to write. Better than any alcohol could be.

🌷 Favourite relaxing activity: Reading, jigsaw puzzles, long walks, writing (sometimes it’s relaxing...in theory?!?!), watching shows in which Mary Berry tells people what she did and did not like about their cooking and baking. Also nearly all of the ways I normally exercise are not available during pandemic times and my brain and body are very stressed out, so I have been trying different videos with keywords like “relaxation” and “stretch” and “bedtime” and “calm” and “yoga” and “Adriene.”

🌸 Favourite fluffy/feel-good fic: @dollsome-does-tumblr‘s in-progress fic “sure as the sea, it’s just you and me” (Grace/Frankie) puts a huge smile on my face.

🌻 Favourite calming scent: Bread baking. Candles burning.

🌺 Favourite relaxing (or uplifting) song: While it’s neither obviously relaxing or uplifting in a traditional sense, the song “Pollinator” by Blondie! It pumps me up. Listening to it reminds me of memories of listening to it during some difficult times in the past that I got through successfully, so in that sense it’s very uplifting.

🌵 Favourite white noise: Probably actual white noise from a white noise machine/app.

🍄 Favourite book to get lost in: Books of short stories, linked or unlinked, that offer immediate access to intriguing characters and settings. I love the ride of being fully plunged into a new world in a story that’s maybe only a few thousand words long. Edith Pearlman and Carmen Maria Machado are two favorites for that kind of reading experience.

💐 Favourite chill-out TV show: I feel like the answer should be Grace and Frankie because it makes me so happy, but I do not feel chill about that show and I feel like it’s too early in stay-at-home for me to break it out. I recently devoured both seasons of Britain’s Best Home Cook, and that felt super chill. <3

🌹 The best advice you’ve ever had: I don’t know if there was a specific moment of receiving this advice in these words, but this is a real guiding principle: No one is going to guess exactly what you need, even yourself, so you need to figure out how to articulate what you’re feeling. We all have a responsibility to listen carefully to each other and respond--within our boundaries and capacity--with as much openness and integrity as we can. Also it’s okay and right and good to be angry about the incredibly unfair things in the world; you can be kind and angry in the same day, hour, even minute. I honestly believe “Life isn’t fair” is a tool to trick people into complacency.

***

Please do this if you want to! I tag everybody who wants to because I would so like to read your answers. :)

#about me #about me at the time of covid-19 #meme #self-care meme

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the--sad--hatter · 4 years

Note

I'm so sorry there are assholes like that. Just know that I read and love not only your fantastic fanfics but also all you post about your life, I'm so happy for you, you go girl slay them hater fuckers. You're doing amazing. I love you and your dog and the view from your house and all of your work. Continue destroying and trying to ignore them suckers and post whatever the amazing fuck you want. I am impressed by how strong you are. You're awesome.❤

And that's why I have the strength to ignore those wankbags. People like you make sure that the good far outweighs the bad on this hell site.

I can be strong and I can fight, but I need something to fight for. You're my something.

He's actually not my dog, he's my little brother. It's my dad's dog, but they live five doors down so I see him every day. He's a dweeb.

When I first got here he wasn't keen on me, growled and barked at me. Only took him a couple of days to get used to me.

Now I'm the only person besides my dad that can go into the house without getting barked at and Im the only person (bar none, not even dad) that's allowed to pick him up.

This is my other little brother, my dad's girlfriends dog. Mr Nacho Noodle Piggytail.

Thank you for your kind words and your support. I hope you liked the pictures of my baby brothers ❤️❤️❤️

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lokifiction · 7 years

Text

Relationship Status

It’s really no secret that the Avengers and Loki aren’t fans of each other, but when a seemingly invincible common enemy looms ahead, it is necessary that they learn to get along. However, it soon becomes quite clear that this will be no simple task.

Category: Fanfic

Rating: Teen

Notes/Warnings: No warnings, but I do have a note about the masterlist. It has been super weird lately, and some of the newer links on there direct you to the most recent chapter of Unsinkable. I’m working on fixing the issue, but it’s slow going. There are links to the next and previous chapter of a fanfic on each individual post of an installment, so you can still use those for navigation, even though it’s a bit of a pain to do so. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused, and I hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

Chapter Sixteen: Breakfast in Bed

The moment I woke up the next morning, I jumped out of bed and dashed to the medical deck to check on Loki. When I reached the door and took a quick glance in the window, however, I discovered that he was still soundly asleep, in a way that foretold his waking not being something that would come soon. With a bittersweet smile, I backed away, not wanting to disturb his rest. Besides, he had told me to sleep in, and if he found me by his bed at that hour of the morning, he would know I hadn’t and blame himself for my tiredness.

As I was forgoing my morning ballet class to watch over Loki, I texted Stellan to ask him to look at my schedule for the day and send it to me. I didn’t want to arrive at the theatre a second before I had to, and leave Loki alone in his state for any longer than was necessary. I still needed to warm up, however, and seeing as I definitely wasn’t going to be getting back to sleep, I had plenty of time to do so. In the hours I had spent in the tower recently, I heard people mention some sort of gym and training area, and I glanced at a directory put up next to the elevator to find out where it was. I felt a bit strange using it, as if I was overextending my welcome, but so far I seemed to be the only person awake in the entirety of the building, so I assumed nobody would even know I did so.

I hadn’t packed any workout clothes other than my leotard and tights, seeing as most of my warmups and athletic wear were already in my dressing room at the theatre. So, resolving myself to exercise in my pajamas, I threw my hair into a ponytail and returned to the room I had stayed in for a pair of tennis shoes before making my way into the gym, but stopping abruptly as I crossed the threshold and turning around to leave the room when the sound of a punching bag revealed that it was not, in fact, unoccupied.

“Hey!” the voice of Steve Rogers called out just as I was about to cross back into the hallway. I turned back around and discovered him jogging over to me, white t-shirt damp and hair sticking to his forehead from sweat.

“Are you lost?” he asked with a friendly smile. “Do you need me to help you find something?”

“No, actually, I wanted to come work out, but, um…” I eyed the highly advanced weaponry, impossibly difficult simulation-infused obstacle courses, weights beyond any normal human capabilities, and the countless other things that made up the training area, which was quite suited for superhumans, but not at all for me. “All of this stuff seems really out of my league, and besides, I’m probably not even supposed to be in here. This seems to be an Avengers only space, so I was just on my way out.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re welcome to use the gym! The normal stuff is just a little hidden.” Steve led me to the back of the expansive room, and to my relief, a long row of treadmills and ellipticals lined the wall.

“I was actually going to get on and run, myself,” Steve said as I chose an elliptical and went about adjusting the settings. “Do you mind if I join you?”

I invited him to go ahead, and he hopped onto the treadmill next to me.

“Yeah, I don’t usually run inside,” he narrated, answering a question I had but never would have uttered. “In the city, though, I can never get a pace up with all the stoplights and people, so this is just easier to get the workout I need without a lot of fuss.”

I nodded in understanding and we both began to move on our machines.

“How’s Loki?” Steve inquired casually, enviously unfazed for the mind-boggling speed his feet were moving at.

“I’m not really sure,” I answered. “He was still asleep when I went to check on him.”

“Well, I’m sure a nice rest will do him a lot of good.”

Steve and I resumed our individual workouts in an only slightly awkward silence, but he called out to me as I stepped off of the machine to go over to the line of mirrors set in front of the weights for a bit of Pilates.

“Loki did really good yesterday,” Steve praised. “The whole city owes their lives to him. The rest of the team would never admit it, but… we’re really grateful.”

“Thank you. I’ll tell him you said so, and he’ll be very happy to hear it, that is, if he even believes me.” I chuckled and blinked back tears. “That’s all he’s ever wanted anyone to say to him, you know. That he did well, and that his efforts were beneficial. Not just come straight out of battle and have someone list all the ways he could’ve been better.”

Steve was clearly unsure of how to reply to something so heavy, so I saved him the trouble by giving him a small smile and continuing on to do what I was going to. However, I couldn’t keep my mind focused on my exercises, because with all that talk about Loki, I was unable to think of anything other than him, wondering if he’d woken up yet. Eventually, I cut my workout short and returned to the medical deck, where Helen had arrived and was just exiting Loki’s room.

“How is he?” I pounced on her without any greeting. Being in her field, Helen was clearly used to this sort of behavior, and responded with a genuine smile.

“He’s doing much better,” she assured. “I think he’s in the clear now. I want to keep him a bit longer for some more fluids, but you should be able to take him home this afternoon.”

I chuckled inwardly at that. So far in our relationship dynamic, Loki had always been the one to take me home, never the other way around. I almost relished in the situation, for I finally felt as if I was taking care of him.

“Well, I should be back here at around 4-ish, would that be a good time?”

“That would be perfect.” Helen glanced back in at Loki’s sleeping form. “He should be waking up soon, and he’ll need food when he does.”

“Would it be alright if I made him something?” Though Loki would never admit it in front of the Avengers, his absolute favorite breakfast food was waffles, particularly the way I made them. I wanted to take full advantage of our caregiver/patient role reversal and surprise him with some comfort food.

“Absolutely. Any food will be perfect, just make sure he drinks a huge glass of water with it.” Helen patted me on the shoulder in passing as she continued on to her other duties of the day. I took one last look at Loki before returning to the directory I located earlier, looking for the way to the kitchen.

When I entered, the atmosphere of the space seemed much more like a family area than a refueling station for the Avengers. A coffee pot growled away in the corner, various cooking tools laid scattered about the counter space and piled in the sink, and the refrigerator bore all sorts of notes and reminders: invitations to events held up with Avengers magnets, a communal shopping list that everyone added to, a few candid photos, and various post-it notes bearing warnings such as “Anyone who eats my leftover nachos dies. -Clint” and “The leftover smoothie is mine- Steve,” which had a reply in a different hand, stating: “You don’t have to worry about us stealing those. They’re horrifically disgusting.”

In the center of all of that, the invitation to Loki’s and my wedding had been tacked up with glitter-covered magnets, which I assumed were chosen to draw attention. Pepper had attached a sticky note to the cardstock, her neat, compact hand reading: “We’re all going to this. No excuses.”

“For God’s sake, does no one around here know how to clean up?”

The frustrated comment startled me, and I whirled around to discover Stark in the doorway, wearing a pair of faded black sweatpants and an old AC/DC tour t-shirt.

“Oh, hi, Camryn,” he greeted, stepping over to the coffeemaker and pouring himself a cup with a warm and silly smile in my direction. “What brings you to the kitchen at this early hour?”

“I was going to make Loki some breakfast.” I scanned the cluttered space. “Do you guys have a waffle iron? I promise I’ll clean it up when I’m finished with it.”

“I will be forever grateful if you do. I’m sick of feeling like I’m living with teenage barbarians. I know it’s not the girls, because Natasha is so secretive in every aspect of her life, even down to her cooking, and would never leave anything out because of that, and Pepper is just a neat kind of person. That leaves the guys, sans me. Thor I sort of understand, seeing as he’s been raised never having to pick anything up because there’s always a servant around the corner to do it for him, but the others, god.” Stark rolled his eyes, bending down and retrieving the tool from a cabinet in front of his knees. “Here you go.”

I thanked him and went about gathering everything else I’d need for my recipe, watching out of the corner of my eye as Stark grabbed the pad of sticky notes and Sharpie from the top of the fridge and scribbled something down, pausing abruptly as he was about to put it up. I turned to find out what was the matter, and saw him staring expressionlessly at the invitation. I caught my bottom lip in my teeth, waiting for his reaction as he pulled it down and held it in his hand.

“Is this an invitation to your wedding, or am I going crazy?” he eventually asked.

“It is,” I replied. “I gave it to Pepper last night when you all were away.”

“Why would you invite us to arguably the most special days of your lives?” Tony furrowed his brow. “I figured that Loki would think that we’d, or more specifically, I’d, ruin the whole thing.”

“We debated back and forth for a long time,” I admitted. “Our ultimate decision was that you guys waved your permanent white flag by offering him the consultant position, so the invitation is us reciprocating.”

“I thought he reciprocated by accepting the position.”

“In a way.” I shrugged and inclined my head towards the invitation. “That’s Loki’s own way of saying he trusts you. Or, as much as Loki can trust anyone.”

“This little thing just got a lot heavier,” Stark chuckled awkwardly, pinning it back up. “I’d...I’d love to come.”

“We’d love to have you.”

Stark and I shared an intimate and meaningful smile before turning back to our individual tasks. Unable to revel in a heavy atmosphere for much longer, Stark lightened it with a comical groan.

“Today is going to be such a long day,” he muttered, gulping from his mug and immediately going to top it off.

“Busy?” I casually asked, whisking my batter.

“Yes.” Stark dragged his hand down the length of his face. “I have to go all the way upstate to oversee some construction of the new Avengers Facility, and then come back here and start drawing up contracts for new additions to the team.”

“New additions?” I raised my eyebrows. “They must be some special people.”

“They are, but I almost wish we’d never found them.” Stark rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “The process and legal matters that go into adding someone to the team are ten times more extensive than those for becoming a consultant, and you know how lengthy that was. We can’t start training them until we have the new facility completed, so you’d figure that would mean that the work to be done in that lapse is minimal, but we have to help their transition into this lifestyle and make arrangements and blah, blah, blah.”

“Who are these people that are so special they got invited to be a part of the Avengers?”

“Can’t tell you. It’s above your clearance level.”

“Oh?” I laughed. “Loki and I have clearance levels?”

“And don’t you forget it.” Stark pointed at me with a playful air of sternness. “There’s even one of our new members living in the Tower, but you’ll never see them.”

“Oh, I bet I will,” I played along.

“I almost guarantee you won’t.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Maybe.” Stark winked and stuck a note reading “Here’s an idea: clean your shit!” to the fridge and exited the kitchen, leaving me in a fit of giggles that, when faded, left me with a strange feeling of closeness and friendship.

***

When the chocolate chip waffle came out of the iron, I topped it with even more chocolate chips, whipped cream, and warmed syrup- the Camryn specialty- and put it on a tray that was already equipped with a bowl of berries and a mug of green tea with lemon. Following Helen’s orders, I picked out the biggest cup I could find and filled it to the brim with ice water, then carefully walked the breakfast to Loki’s room. He was still asleep when I entered, but as I settled down onto a chair beside his bed, his eyes began to flutter open.

“Good morning, love.” I set the tray aside on a nearby countertop and stood up to kiss him gently. I could sense fear at his unfamiliar surroundings, but as he sat up further and remembered the night before, he calmed.

“Morning, darling.” He squeezed my hand, his strength returning little by little. “Did you manage to sleep in?”

“I would say yes, but you know when I’m lying,” I giggled. “It’s fine, though. I made you breakfast.” I placed the tray across his lap, and his eyes widened in veiled excitement.

“Thank you very much.” Picking up his fork, Loki stole a glance at the clock mounted on the wall behind my head. “I know you opted to skip your class this morning, but shouldn’t you be leaving soon to check your schedule for the day?”

“I had Stellan text it to me. I have a while,” I assured. “I only have an hour and a half of the pas de deuxs with all casts, a short run of Act I with my cast, and a private coaching session with Ulyana for the variations. I should be back here at around four.”

“Well, I suppose luck worked in our favor today.” Loki plucked a berry from the bowl and dragged it through the whipped cream before popping it in his mouth. “The less I have to be here alone, the better.”

“How are you feeling, though?” I inquired.

“Still a bit weak and lightheaded, but overall better.” Loki winced. “I just hate being so susceptible like this. It’s just another on a long list of reasons to despise what I really am. I hate being reverted to this state so easily, and the fact that this had to happen in front of them only makes it worse.”

“No one suspects anything,” I assured. “And they have no reason to, because even someone who wasn’t a Jotun would have this sort of reaction, considering where you went. Muspelheim isn’t just hot. It’s pits of fire and temperatures that can blister skin instantly, with no relief to be found. It’s hotter than any other place in the universe. Any being in the Realms, save the ones that are native to that world, would come down with dehydration and heat exhaustion as you did, if not worse ailments, when going there. You’re not weak, and I wish you would believe it. Besides, you’re always the one that has to take care of me, so I’m glad I finally get to take care of you for a change.”

“It was prophesied from the beginning that I was to be your guardian. That’s why I always care for you. The guardian isn’t supposed to be taken care of by the one they guard.”

“You would be surprised.”

Silence blanketed us after that, filled only by the sound of Loki’s utensils.

“I gave the Avengers our wedding invitation,” I announced suddenly.

Loki raised a brow, but didn’t look up from his plate, though his movements stilled. “Oh?”

“Yeah. I didn’t have time to tell you last night.”

“And how did they take it?”

“The ones I spoke to were actually excited.” I drew in a breath. “I think we can expect them to be there.”

Loki picked up his mug and focused his gaze towards the door. “Well, I suppose there’s no turning back now.”

“Do you regret me giving the invitation to them?” I worried aloud.

“No, but I would be lying if I said the prospect of getting this close to them didn’t make me uneasy.”

“Well, never fear. In fifty years they’ll all be dead and we won’t have to worry about them anymore,” I teased, drawing a laugh from Loki.

“Not necessarily,” he added with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Thor will still be here then, and he’s the worst of the bunch!”

***

When I arrived at the theatre, I was surprisingly blessed with a rare day where I was able to focus on dancing and nothing else. In passing, I would worry about Loki, but he kept me updated with regular texts, assuring me that he was just fine. For once, I believed him, and went about my day.

When I returned to my dressing room once everything I was scheduled for was over, however, I remembered an almost halfhearted comment I made to Natasha and Pepper in that very room what seemed like so long ago. I mulled on it as I got in a cab to take me back to Stark Tower, and seeing Loki on a sofa in the lounge when I returned, chatting pleasantly with Steve, Natasha, Thor, and Bruce, I was sold.

“There’s something I want to do,” I announced as Loki and I stood in the elevator on the way down to the lobby, my arms wrapped around him. He was nearly at his full one hundred percent, but nevertheless I wanted to offer my help in case he needed it.

“I won’t if you don’t think it’s a good idea,” I insisted.

Loki looked down at me curiously. “Go on.”

“A while back, I told Pepper that the next time all of the Avengers were in town that I would host a dinner party with them,” I hesitantly continued. “It was a bit of an idle offer, but everyone’s here, and will be for a while, and it might be beneficial to see how our two groups work socially in a playing field that’s not theirs. I figured I’d arrange it, if it was alright with you.”

Loki inhaled sharply. “Well, they are going to be coming to our wedding, so you can go ahead,” he replied. “We’ll consider it a test run.”

Next Chapter

#loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #loki laufeyson

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not-poignant · 7 years

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hi Pia, hope you're having a beautiful day! can I ask how you got into writing? sorry if it's already been asked/answered, but did you start it as a hobby? when did you realise that was something you wanted to dedicate yourself to? did you get swept up in it or did you slowly reach the point where it was like 'huh, this is something that's happening'? Pia/Writing is my fave pairing, please tell us more

I mostly got into writing as a form of childhood escapism - and that started through ‘reading as a form of childhood escapism.’ :D

I had devoured most of the books in our primary school library early, which also left me out of stories until I discovered the public library, so making up stories, and writing them down, seemed a pretty natural step?

I flipped back and forth between wanting to be a writer, an artist, a scientist, etc. I didn’t pursue writing seriously at all though in highschool. I focused on art. In my spare time I sometimes wrote things. I don’t think I thought much of having a 60,000 word science fiction story by the age of about 13 (just as my Mum didn’t think much of throwing it away, which was the only copy I had, lol). I just liked to ramble a lot. As...everyone knows. e.e

I don’t think I really started to get serious about writing until university, where I started taking Creative Writing electives (and was publishing very tame Harry Potter fanfiction on the side, at sites like Schnoogle) at university, and then Scriptwriting electives when I seemed to do well at the Creative Writing stuff. Tbh even at university, I was more serious about poetry and scriptwriting, than I was about creative writing like short story or novels. I didn’t really think it was a future, like ‘oh that’s nice but no one makes any money off that unless you’re a complete outlier.’

Idk why I was being so judgemental given my main degree was Media Studies and Mass Communications and boyo let me tell you that there is SHIT money in that, unless you teach it or go work on a censorship board, lol. Wtf was I thinking, for reals.

Also my first writing group was me, a surfer dude who was unexpectedly ripped and really quite nice to look at, and an ultra-Christian Mormon, and another person who never turned up. We all rocked up at the Brass Monkey (a well-known pub in Northbridge, near our city), we got our respective drinks (back then I used to drink, and so I used to mainly drink Guinness) and nachos or chips, and then we kicked back and read the most pretentious poetry on the planet to each other.

It was kickass.

No, Elliott’s backstory in The Wind that Cuts the Night is not remotely autobiographical I have no idea where you got that idea...

And even then I still didn’t really pay much attention to it. I wrote a novel called Every Day Awake (which I need to edit but may actually publish one day, it’s a queer literature love story and one of the characters is demisexual before I knew that existed as a term, the other character was sex addicted, but my sad gay/bi boys got a happy ending) and I wrote one Misfits fanfic and one Mysterious Skin fanfic, and a bunch of really bad Glee fanfics... (*hangs head*) but I still didn’t really take it seriously until I got majorly burned out on my professional art career, quit unexpectedly, took two months off where I thought ‘my life is stupid what am I going to do,’ and then unexpectedly (really fucking unexpectedly) poured all of that bullshit into a fanfic called From the Darkness We Rise.

After that, I’ve been taking it really seriously. :D Though I didn’t start thinking ‘huh this is something that’s happening’ until people actually really seemed to like my writing, because that was weird. Game Theory was probably the first time I ever thought I could do something with my writing. Before that, I’d won a few short story / poetry awards, but a person cannot live off poetry and short story awards.

(Also, reading and writing are still my two favourite forms of escapism, lol).

#asks and answers #pia on writing #pia on fanfiction #personal #man that first writer's group was so much fun though #tbh that time at that university #was like a golden age for writing and poetry #and we were scooping up a lot of the awards in the state #and our teachers were invariably published #in literature / YA / scifi / poetry etc.#i was very very lucky to be taught by actual writers vs.#people who teach writing because they have given up on writing #administrator Gwyn wants this in the queue #Anonymous

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sarcastic-doodle · 7 years

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11 questions thingy

Rules : Answer the 11 questions given to you ( below my answered questions) then create your own 11 questions and tag 11 people to answer them. Always post the rules.

I got tagged twice by my lovely hufflepuff grandma rae ( @shakespeareandsprinkles ) and my new fanfic obsession T ( @wherestoriescomefrom ) Yay!! I’m doing both of them together because then I don’t have to think up 11 more questions to ask! Also scroll to the end you two, I’ve got questions for you. Here we go :

▪If you could be a mentor to any fictional character what character would it be? Right now, the first name off the top of my mind is Caroline Forbes from TVD. Lordy what a pitfall her character took when the writers at the helm changed. Her especially because she is just soo giving to all those in need, even at the expense of her own hopes and dreams and aspirations, despite them not realising her worth. I’d like to be there to remind her that sweetie it’s okay to take a step back for yourself. Prioritise yourself. ( this has been the main reason for me not watching the show past s4). Or Draco Malfoy.

▪Do you prefer listening to music with headphones or without headphones. With. Once they’re in, I’m dead to the world.

▪What’s your favourite childhood memory? Ooohh. Ok so what I recall right now is me and my sister playing our own version of LARP when we were kids in our apartment. Like nothing extensive or over the top but exciting nonetheless. We would use mum’s old satchels and handbags to use as backpacks and arm ourselves with tiny water pistols, lunch, bandaids, pellet guns and banadanas for the chosen story of the day. A recent memory is of a few years ago with my younger brother(we have a larger age gap between us). He had asked me to teach him how to do a handstand and/or headstand. Younger me didn’t know how either so we looked it up. What then, out came the pillows to secure the area, my brother was 6 or 7yo at that time I think, and both of us trying to stay upright with the help of the wall, with our shirts slipping down our faces. I remember I kept falling sideways on him as he was beside me not on purpose i swear , maybe because I was older and heavier. idk why my body went sideways when I lost balance instead of front, but it was funnier because it irritated him too, and that’s always a plus. We had finally gotten the hang of it and so when our cousins visited in the following weeks, my brother was eager to show off his skills. So there we were 4 of us, in the spare room, a 3×6 spread of pillows along the longest wall (we have lots of pillows) around us, trying to latch ourselves to the wall because we had the stupid idea of competing on who reached the other end of the wall while doing a handstand and failing miserably because we kept laughing so hard. 😂that was a good day.

▪If you were the protagonist of a novel what would your story be about? Lol I dunno. A gothic novel where I’m the ghost with strange predilictions scaring away people who dare tread in my territory without an adequate compensation of salty-chips with unexpected bursts of MUSE soundtracks in the background.

▪Tell me about your favourite thing, without actually saying what your favourite thing is. …zzZZzz… (as an overworked student, this is a treasured entity)

▪Do you think that in the future we’ll have flying cars? With the advances technology has been making since the last century? Most definitely.

▪Would you rather be a mutant than an Inhuman? Mutant. And powers could be like Betsy or Rogue (but w/ control pls) or Gambit

▪What is something you’d like to do in the future? Travel. Cliché I know. But yeah.

▪You can travel between fictional universes. What are your first five stops? Hogwarts. Doctor Whoverse. Not exactly fiction, but a world where I’m a wandering fly on the wall and P&P is taking place. Storybrooke. PJOverse.

▪If you could name an animal, what would you name it? I had fishes named Velma and Daphne and a chicken named Henry. I don’t think you can trust me with nomenclature

▪Say something completely random. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

▪'Murder is the first on your list.’ - first thing you thought when you read that. Jim Moriarty. My current interest in fictional psychopaths.

▪Shakespeare could have totally been a superspy stopping the Gunpowder plot. Yay or Nay. ▪If Shakespeare wasn’t a superspy who do you think is? Historical figures only. Ok so I had to look this up because I only vaguely remembered reading about this. Tbh I dunno..maybe? I feel I haven’t read enough about the whole situation to make an educated guess. Butttt…sure, why not? Uhh if i had toooo…The brontë sisters lol.

▪Preferred methods of torture Ahem. I sense a common subtext here. But speaking from experience….eating nachos with cheese dip or cream-and-onion chips right in front of them relishing every bite but not sharing(on brother), playing JB out loud (on me) and clicking the pen continuously and periodically in a silent room(on sister)

▪Give an out of context quote which you like. “For ducks sake”

Which afterworld myth/legend/belief would you prefer?Oblivion. The idea of suffering even after death seems scary. Though reincarnation sounds cool. But only if you remember your previous lives. I’d like to remember if I had been Medusa once and used to stun people by my appearance;)

▪Part of you that you don’t want touched. Or can’t bear to have touched The sides of my abdomen. You know, the place people target for tickling? I literally cannot bear it, I have trouble breathing if someone pokes me there or tickles it. Other than that, my cheeks. I mean it’s basic knowledge that one doesn’t poke the indentation of the dimples of a grown ass person. RUDE

▪Favourite Book. Pride and Prejudice. The first classic I ever read. Shall always remain my fave.

▪A character that really fucked up big time and you want to hold them by the shoulders, look them in the eye and make sure that they understand they fucked up.That’s….oddly specific. There are countless of them. Randomly choosing…Draco Malfoy? John Watson?

Do you like your reasoned existence of misery or would the animal life be a blessing. Definitely our reasoned existence. An animal’s life seems tempting when the going gets tough, but I’d never trade this state of conscious for blissful ignorance permanently.

▪Childhood food you loved

Panipuri. Though I now eat them on a lower extent, I used to love them when I was younger.

My Questions : 1. What is the weirdest thing you ever believed that wasn’t true? 2.Favourite fictional character? 3. Something popular that you just don’t get. 4.Your favourite song. 5. If you had an unlimited supply of money, what would you do. 6. You have a choice to live in the body of either Sherlock or Jim for a day. No naughty business. Who would you choose? 7. You have the unprecedented power of recolouring the universe. Name atleast 3 items/place/thing that would be your first use of power. 8. Do you like tattoos? If yes, what is/would be you first tattoo. 9. What is the one thing you wish to change (major or minor) in the Harry Potterverse. If you don’t want this fandom, choose one of your picking. 10. The one colour you won’t be found dead wearing. 11. Your best memory. (Childhood or Adult)

I tag @shakespeareandsprinkles @wherestoriescomefrom @simplyshelbs16xoxo @elennemigo @penaltywaltz @jimmoriartyisking @theleftpill @rainmyselfinharmony @mrsfrankensteinwinchester that’s all i can remember do it if you want to guys and if anyone else wants to do it, consider yourselves tagged by me! This was fun😃

#get to know me #11 questions tag #e gets tagged #about me

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infinite-beginnings · 7 years

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Stressed- Bughead fanfic pt 5

Read the first four parts on AO3

“What did you do Elizabeth?” Her mother was staring in horror. Betty looked down to see her hands stained red. She looked around frantically, her friends were all standing in a circle around her, looking at her with terrified faces.

“Looks like she finally snapped” Cheryl said with a sneer

“I should’ve known after what she did to Chuck.” Veronica said

“I guess crazy does run in the family” Archie added

“I didn’t think she had this in her.” Kevin was looking at her with wide eyes. Betty kept spinning in a circle. Each of her friends adding their own comment. She tried to ask what had happened, she tried to scream, but nothing came out of her mouth.

“Betty, how could you?” Polly had tears streaming down her face. Betty tried to get to her sister, but she suddenly couldn’t move. Then Jughead came and stood right in front of her. He was looking at her like he could barely stand the sight of her. The distaste was clear in his face. Jughead didn’t say anything to her. He just shook his head and turned his back on her and started walking away. Betty watched him go, trying to yell after him, every step was like a knife to her heart.

“Jughead!” Betty woke up with a yell. She was breathing heavily and sweating from her nightmare. Betty sat up, it was dark, but she could tell that she wasn’t in her room. Her breathing picked up even more as she tried to figure out why she wasn’t in her bed.

Suddenly, Jughead was there, gathering her into his arms and assuring her that it was okay. Betty held onto him tightly, breathing in the familiar scent of him and allowing it to calm her down.

“Shh, baby, it’s okay. It was just a nightmare. I’m here, you’re okay.” Jughead kept up a soft continuation of reassurances. His hands were smoothing across her hair and rubbing her back.

“Juggie” Betty melted into his embrace, her heart slowly stopped racing and her breathing evened out. “Where I am? What’s going on.”

“You’re at Archie’s” Jughead responded

“Am I still dreaming?” Betty asked, not sure why else she would be at Archie’s with Jughead.

“No” Jughead said with a soft laugh, he pulled away from her slightly to turn on the light. Betty looked around to see that she was indeed in Archie’s room. She looked at Jughead and found him looking at her with concern. His hair was sticking up in all directions and he was missing his usual beanie. Betty looked at the clock and saw it was 2am and realized that Jughead been sleeping.

“Jughead, why am I here?”

“You don’t remember?” Jughead furrowed his brow

“Umm” Betty searched back in her memory, “we went to see my sister and then I didn’t want to go home. So you brought me over to Archie’s to sleep.” Betty breathed a sigh of relief as all of the pieces fell into place. “I must’ve been so tired I don’t even remember falling asleep.” She said with a laugh, but stilled when she saw a dark look pass across Jughead’s face. “Juggie?” She reached up and smoothed his wrinkled brow.

“You don’t remember because you fainted…” Jughead said after a few moments.

“I did?” Betty asked

“Yes, in the middle of a conversation...god you scared me Betts.” Jughead cupped her face with a pained expression on his face.

“I’m sorry” Betty hated the look on his face and hated that she had put it there. She thought about how terrified she would be if Jughead passed out suddenly. She couldn’t even imagine.

“You don’t have to apologize, just promise me you’ll never do that again?” Jughead practically pleaded with her.

“I won’t” Betty promised immediately, she would do anything to make him stop looking at her like that.

“Good, we can talk more in the morning, but for now you should get some more sleep.” Jughead started to get off the bed but Betty frantically grabbed his arm and held tight. Jughead looked at her in concern. “What’s wrong Betty?”

“Please, don’t go.”

“I’m just going over there” He pointed at the air mattress on the floor, but Betty shook her head vehemently,

“Please stay” She asked, suddenly terrified to be alone.

“Okay” Jughead nodded, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

“Your nightmare” Jughead prodded

“No” Betty said firmly. “I just want to cuddle with you and go to sleep”

“I can support that” Jughead gave her a small grin, but his eyes were filled with worry. Jughead laid down on his back and Betty curled up at his side, her head on his chest. Jughead turned the light off and then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Betty sighed in contentment and fell asleep to the sound of his heart.

Betty woke up alone. It took a few seconds to remember where she was and why. She immediately missed Jughead’s presence, but when she looked at the clock, she realized why he was no longer with her. It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Betty was shocked that she had slept for so long. Normally, she wasn’t able to sleep past 10 in the morning. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she stood up, noticing that she was still in her sweater and jeans from yesterday.

Betty walked over and opened the drawer where she knew Jughead kept his clothes. She pulled out one of his “S” t-shirts and sweatpants and changed into them.

Running her hand through her hair, Betty made her way downstairs. She had no idea where her hairband went and she knew her hair was a tangled mess, but there was nothing she could do about it. Betty stopped in surprise at the bottom of the stairs. Jughead, Archie, Veronica, Kevin, and Polly were all sitting in the Andrew’s living room. They stopped talking and looked her as she entered the room. Jughead stood up and came over to her.

“Hey Sleeping Beauty” He said, giving her a small peck on the lips, “Nice clothes” He said in a whisper, giving her a wink. He took her hand and led her over to the couch.

“Hey guys” Betty said, looking around at her friends and her sister, “What’s going on?”

“An intervention, that’s what.” Veronica said

“What?” Betty looked around in confusion

“Betty, we want to make sure that you are taking care of yourself.” Polly said gently, “We want to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.” Betty suddenly had a flash of her nightmare, surrounded by her friends bombarding her. She knew that this time they were offering her support, but she still felt suffocated and overwhelmed.

“Hey” She felt a warm hand squeeze her shoulder. She turned to look into Jughead’s understanding eyes. “We aren’t judging you or criticizing you. We just want to let you know that we are all here for you.”

“We care about you.” Kevin added

“We’d do anything for you Betty, you can lean on us for support anytime.” Archie said.

“Thank you guys.” Betty’s eyes were filled with tears. She was still feeling overwhelmed, but now it was for different reasons. She was overwhelmed at the amount of support and love that she was feeling from her friends.

“But we can’t help you if you don’t ask B.” Veronica pointed out “So we need need you to trust us enough to tell what is going on with you.”

“Okay, I’ll promise if all of you promise to do the same. I’m tired of all of the secrets and lies in this town. The least we can do is keep those things out of group.” There was a chorus of ‘I promise’. Betty nodded her head in satisfaction.

“Okay, well how about I whip up some of Kevin’s famous nachos and we marathon The Office” Kevin suggested.

“Sounds good to me” Veronica replied

“You had me at Nachos” was Jughead’s response.

“Here, I’ll help you” Archie stood up and led Kevin into the kitchen.

“Hey, can I talk to you?” Jughead asked Betty when they had left.

“Sure” Betty followed him back up to Archie’s room. Jughead shut the door behind them and sat down on the bed next to Betty. “What’s going on Juggie?”

“I just…” Jughead let out a heavy breath and looked at her with tormented eyes. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry I didn’t notice what was going on with you. I was so caught up in my own thing that I didn’t see it…”

“Jughead don’t be ridiculous” Betty stared at him in shock. “You have been going through so much recently with your dad and finding a place to live.” “Exactly, I’ve been so focused on my issues that I didn’t notice what was going on with you.”

“Yeah well I was so focused on finding Jason’s killer and what happened with my sister that I didn’t even realize you were homeless.” Betty said slightly bitterly. She hated that he had gone through all of that on his own.

“I didn’t want you to know.” Jughead said looking away from her.

“And I didn’t want you to know that I wasn’t sleeping because I was paranoid.” Betty replied.

“I guess we are both pretty good at hiding things.” Jughead admitted, looking back at her curiously.

“I meant what I said down there, about telling the truth. This isn’t going to work with us if we can’t be honest with each other. I think we have proven that we are strong together. So I need you to promise me that you will trust me enough to always tell the truth, no matter what. And I will promise to do the same.”

“I promise” Jughead said immediately.

“Good, I can’t have a boyfriend who isn’t honest with me.” Betty smiled as she said the word out loud for the first time, enjoying Jughead’s look of surprise and happiness upon hearing her say it.

“Well, then I guess I better start now.” Jughead sighed and took her hand. “Come on, there is something I have to tell everyone.

#bughead #riverdale #jughead jones #betty cooper #jughead x betty

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