#i was Like ok ya I’ll agree to this in 2 sentences. help

[mashallah]

Please can you make a rant post about the haram police or just share in my rage about them. Literally the definition of Allah (SWT) a woman do anything 🙄. These people would have a full-on meltdown so much as a Muslim woman glacing at a man or wearing something that acknowledges her waist existing........"astaghfirullah sister-" shutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutup

ive complained about this a teeeeny bit before it’s so embarrassing to see this new wave of haram police on social media w the sole intention of judging others and being misogynistic under the guise of religion or whatever. literally insane that u cannot wear a hijab and have an online (or social in general but let me not get into that) presence unless ur face is blocked out and preaching some religious shit (most of which is shaming ones hijabi siblings for not being “religious enough”). like it’s never truly about how covered up one is because they’re never satisfied. there was this little thing that went around once that was like posting TikTok’s/reels with music is a major sin. or that one that was like posting ur face as a hijabi & expression of the hijab through fashion is “just as bad as not wearing it at all”. CRAZXYZYYY like for One who the fuck asked you. two all that rhetoric does is push people away from the religion. or towards the belief that muslims must be perfect or theyre not muslim. and then suddenly it’s shocking when they abandon the religion. that they’ve been cast out from regardless. the Islamic community holds its people to this impossible impossible standard of perfection and then acts like it’s the western world that’s corrupted them when they try to express themselves in any way. your women are not being brainwashed by the western world, they’re utilizing the bare minimum right of expression that you convinced them doesn’t exist for centuries.

it makes me hate the practice and want to do shit just to spite it. like i could so easily just be like fuck it yes i love shaytan i am so evil and would you blame me? why practice at all when it’s never enough right? but I dont becuase ik that journey is between me and whoever I’m following alone. or maybe I might be doing that right now. who knows and why should they care.

I’m very biased to be writing abt this just because my current outlook on islam is not too great and that’s just bc i was raised and sheltered around it (ask me about this ill write an essay) but ya it’s stupid as hell. what are brainwashed 16 year old boys doing shaming a hijabi for wearing eyeliner online. what are their misogynistic parents doing encouraging it.

[yoichichi]

Phone Sex

18+ MINORS DNI

jean, armin, & eren (sep) x reader

warning(s): slight dom reader, male masturbation, humiliation, degradation, edging, phone sex, crying ig?, self-masturbation mentioned in Jeans but I tried to make it gender neutral, eren calls reader mommy in his but it’s like slightly a joke ,, at first🧍‍♀️

a/n: ANON YOU.... you have a mind of gold. This was a request for reading guiding the boys while they masturbate so this is that! I hope this was what you were looking for anon! :) <3 and as always I love to hear your thoughts so pls send them in 😭 i also did my best to keep the reader neutral when it mentions the reader masturbating !

Jean

When you were woke up at 2 in the morning by a call from Jean, you definitely thought you’d be racing over to his place for some kind of emergency. But when you slid your thumb across the screen and held your phone up to ear, grumbling out a ,“hello?”, instead you were met with whiny, breathy moans, pleading for a different kind of help.

“Baby? You up?” You could barely hear him over his heavy panting.

“Well, I am now.”

It was silent for a few moments while you heard him shuffling around in his bed.

“Do ya need something babe? What’d you call me so late for?” You took an innocent tone to your voice, but you knew exactly what he needed from you.

“Hnng- ah- um, yeah. I - are you - ah - busy?”

You sighed and grumbled for him to give you a second as you moved to lay on your back and put your headphones on,

“You’re sitting there with that pretty cock of yours in your hands, aren’t you? So needy and desperate to cum that you had to wake me up at 2 in the morning just to hear my voice? Aw, I never knew you were such a little slut, Jean.”

Your hands reached down between your legs to slide your bottoms off at the sound of a hoarse whimper from the other end of the phone call, clearly he was caught off guard by your sudden crude words.

“You like that? Being reminded how much of a slut you are for me?”

“Ah - mhm.” You could hear the speed of his hand increasing, and judging by his moans you could tell he was getting close.

“Look at you, all worked up and already about to make a mess of yourself. Wanna cum baby? Tell me how bad you want it.” You hummed as you brought your fingers down to play with yourself, now throbbing with need from the sound of Jeans moans; which were filled with the obvious longing to be fucking you or your dirty mouth instead of his fist.

“Oh god, I want it so bad, only you - fuck - only - oh god, baby please lemme cum.” You could see him now, a panting sweaty mess with his large hand wrapped around his cock. He was probably bucking up into his hand, the other one fisting the sheet while he tried to ground himself and wait for your permission, wanting so bad to be good for you. The head of his cock slightly swollen with need and his pretty face all scrunched up with focus.

“Yeah? You wanna cum?”

“Fuck, yes. Please?”

“Awww, what a good boy. Go on and lemme hear you cum then.”

His pretty groan filled your ears before it came out strangled and separated with gasps.

You let him ride out his high a bit longer until he spoke.

“Thank you, babe. Sorry to wake you up.” He had a sense of bashfulness to his voice - not matching the confidence he had earlier to dial you in the first place.

“Mmm, don’t worry about it. You can make it up to me by staying on the line until I cum this time.”

Armin

You’d be lying if you said Armins sniffling coming through the phone didn’t make you smile. You love when he listens to you, even when it’s killing him to do so.

“C-can I, can I keep going?” His voice was so soft and meek you could barely hear him.

He sat with his hand resting at the base of his cock, not squeezing or moving an inch. Every so often he’d run his hand through his hair or let it slide down his chest, brushing past his nipples, desperate for some kind of stimulation.

Every twitch of his cock made the tears resting on his lash line spill and stream down his red cheeks, god you could just imagine it. What you wouldn’t give to be in front of him now and see it for yourself.

“Mhm, but I want you to go nice ‘n slow. You think you can do that for me?” You did your best to keep your tone calm and unwavering, luring him into doing what you wanted, knowing he’s a sucker for receiving your praise.

“Of course I can.” He said it matter of factly, almost appalled that you’d assume he couldn’t do anything you ask of him.

“Well, go on then.”

He hissed at the sensation of his cold, tough hands dragging slowly up his cock, squeezing slightly at the head just to tease himself further - making sure to let an erotic moan slip past his lips to let you know he was going above and beyond for you. Even fondling his balls just to make the desire to cum all that more excruciating, and showing you just how much he could take if it meant being good for you.

“You sound so pretty baby, think you can hold out just a little bit longer for me? You know how much I love listening to you touch yourself, such an angel.”

“Y-yes.” He swallowed thickly - loud enough that you could hear it - knowing how proud of him you were gonna be.

“Good boy.”

Eren

Eren rarely enjoyed phone sex, too needy and demanding to think it was worth it; especially when he could pick you up or come over at any time. So why the hell would he choose to be separated and touch himself while he listened to you over the phone?

But I guess it’s different when he’s at work and only has 30 minutes to ease the strain in his pants and get you off his mind. Which is exactly why he’s calling your contact with a shaky hand as he sits in his car, making sure to park where no one would come to bother him, with the other hand busy pulling out his fat cock previously stuffed and feeling claustrophobic in his jeans - he’s lucky his work apron kept his appearance decent.

He hissed at the way it sprang up against his abdomen, his cock head already angry and swollen. God he hated you, getting him all worked up at work just because he couldn’t stop thinking about bending you over and slamming you so hard you couldn’t do anything but whine and whimper, not even able to get out a coherent sentence about how good he filled you up.

But the moment he heard the ringing falter and your sweet voice greet him , “Hey babe what’s up? Aren’t you at work right now?”, all animosity left his body. A low whimper leaving his lips instead, so desperately wanting your lips wrapped around his cock it was almost agonizing.

“Fuck babe, I need you - oh fuck - I need you to make me cum quick, ah hnngh god -“ he spoke so fast and quiet you almost thought he was in trouble, but judging by the way his voice was getting raspy, and the way it cracked at the end of his sentence, you knew he was perfectly fine.

You sighed and set your highlighter down, knowing you wouldn’t be getting back to your studying any time soon.

“Babe? You there? I -“

“Mhmm, ‘m right here.” You cut him off quickly, gnawing at your bottom lip to the sounds of his quiet pants, knowing he was quickly fisting his cock and probably on his lunch break, needing to finish fast, doing his best to cum as quick as he could, and yet he still needed to call you to help him do that? God what an ego boost.

But, you were busy studying. And rarely do you have him in such a powerless position, why not have some fun with him?

“Okay, I’ll help.” You smiled coyly at his sigh of relief.

“Really babe? Oh my g-“

“But promise you’ll do what I say?”

He was silent for a moment, but he knew he didn’t have much time to protest and really, he was putty in your hands right now. He agreed before he could change his mind, and that’s what led him to the position he was in now.

His cock sensitive to the touch and his hair falling out of his bun, his face flushed and looking slightly a mess with the sweat that was beginning to collect on his forehead.

He probably had but two minutes left on his break and he needed to come, bad.

“Please, Jesus fuck I’ve been listening but god I need to cum. I’m -“

“Okay Eren I hear you,” you giggled for a moment and he felt his stomach drop, you were up to something, “why don’t you ask mommy for permission?”

“What?”

You giggled again at his exclamation and knew he was getting frustrated by the groan he let out, but you were having too much fun, and you wanted to see how far you could push him.

“You heard me, you wanna cum so bad? Call me mommy and beg for it.” You sighed and sat back in your chair. He should’ve expected you to do something to get back at him for bothering you while you were busy, what either of you weren’t expecting though was how quickly he caved.

“Mommy, please.” His voice cracked from the dryness of his throat as he whimpered out his plea, not expecting it to send your stomach into a frenzy.

“God please let me cum, please mommy, please.”

“Y-yeah okay, go on and finish.” You sat in shock as you heard his sweet moans come through the phone, an octave higher than they’d usually be.

“I-, fuck, I gotta go back to work. You really cut it close babe. See you when I get home.” He hung up quickly, hoping it didn’t come off as rude - he just had little to no time to clean himself up before he had to clock back in.

But it didn’t matter cause you were still reeling from the way he so freely whimpered out mommy, and how enticing it sounded coming from him.

Hmm, you had a lot to think about.

———————

THIS IS MY FIRST KINDA DOM READER THING SO PLS GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS YOU KNOW I LOVE THEM and ily it’s been a while since I posted :) <3

taglist: @plutowrites @armins-futon @peachysimp @semisgroupie (I hope it’s ok to tag you it’s kinda subby boys so I thought you might be interested 🧍‍♀️)

[fan-girling-101]

Switched

Request by Anonymous: Hello can I please request a imagine where the ready has a twin sister and they decided to switch and see how long it takes everyone to notice. The reader is also dating JJ!! Thank you!!

JJ Maybank X Reader

Summary: Request^

Warnings: Swearing, underage drinking, slight rape just a little bit sorta

Word count: 2880

The twin Sadie, her nickname by Rafe is Die I hope someone gets the reference. Also thank you so so so much for my first request I was so happy. Please continue sending them in. And I’m very slow at updating so sorry in advance if I take a long time to respond. 

Part two

Not edited sorry for mistakes 

When me and my twin sister Sadie where younger we’d switch places all the time. I was amusing being someone else for the short time we’d do it. As we got older it stopped happening as much until the last time we did it was grade 6. The two of us have lived on the rich side of the Outerbanks our whole life The rich people were never my scene though, so I made friends with the pogues. I was closest to JJ out of everyone in the group and slowly I found myself falling for the blond headed idiot. And somehow that’s how I ended up here, two months into dating JJ but scheming with my sister.

“Come on Sadie just for a little bit.” I pleaded with her, between the two of us Sadie was always the level headed and calm sister. It was my idea in the first place to switch places back in kindergarten.

“I am NOT kissing JJ.” Was the main argument to why she didn’t want to do it.

“I don’t want you to kiss him. He’s my boyfriend, it’s not like I’m going to kiss Rafe the lo-” I got cut off with a hand over my mouth. The love of your life was the ending to that sentence. Sadie doesn’t like talking about it but she’s in love with Rafe Cameron.

“If we do this you need ground rules.” She states looking around my room for the notebook we would write the rules in everytime. She finds the dark read notebook on the bottom of my bookshelf and grabs a random pen from my desk. “1. No kissing anyone. I won’t kiss JJ and you don’t kiss you know who.” she says gesturing with her hand.

“I’m never going to kiss Voldemort.” I joke as she starts in her effortlessly perfect handwriting.

“Your so funny I might die of laughter.” Her bitch face on as she glares at me. “2. Don’t make and life altering decisions.” I nod along thinking of what else to add.

“4.” “What about 3 stupid.” “3 is a stupid number I don’t like it. 4. I pick what you wear and vice versa.” She starts writing it down writing three instead of four. “I think that’s it. There’s a bonfire tonight at John B’s tonight wanna start then?”

“Yea that’s good I’m supposed to go over to Sarah’s. And take a picture of it because if you do anything wrong I’m going to kill you and throw you in the marsh.”

“And remember no kissing ya know.”

Day one

Y/N’s Pov

Sadie dressed me in a white summer dress and I took her car over to the Camerons. When I park outside of the huge house I text Sarah to let me in. I pull down the sun visor and open the mirror looking at my appearance with the light make up and my Y/H/C slightly curled. 

“Your name is Sadie Y/L/N, your 16 and in love with Rafe Cameron.” I take a breath getting in the mindset of my twin. “I can totally do this.” I hop out the car making it to the first step when Sarah opens the door. “Hey.”

“Hi you know you don’t have to tell me you’re here. You just walk in.” She opens the door wider so I can slip through. I awkwardly laugh nodding my head unsure what to do. “Go up to my room I’ll get snacks.” 

I walk up the stairs trying to remember where her room is. I’ve only been here a few times before Midsummers so we could all get ready together. I look both ways before deciding on going right. I get to the door I think is Sarah’s opening it praying to God I was right. But God decided on taking a vacation, instead of the light purple walls I was hoping for I got grey ones instead. 

“Fuck!” I hear, the person in the room faces me calming down once he sees who opened the door. “God Die what the hell. Next time knock, and what are you even doing here.” 

“Umm.... I’m lost. I think my brain stopped working I thought this was Sarah’s room.” I say looking around the room my eyes landing on a white substance on the desk he stood up from. “What’s that.” I ask hoping it’s not what I think it is and Sadie’s crush is a druggie.

“Nothing, two four doors down.” I slowly nob. closing the door trying to forget what I ‘didn’t’ just see. “And Die you didn’t see anything ok.” I nod again opening the right door this time sitting waiting for Sarah.

Sadie’s POV

“Hey princess.” JJ greats me as I get out of Putt Putt Y/N’s car. His hand finds its way to my denim clad hip from the shorts Y/N put me in. I really just want to push his hand off me, this is my sister boyfriend for God sake. He leans down to press him lips to mine but i turn my head his lips landing on my cheek instead. 

“Hi.” I wave to the rest of them pulling away from JJ. I try to ignore the stare coming from the blond as I sit in one of the lawn chairs. The sun was going down as I got here Y/N telling me what time to leave and what to wear before heading out way earlier to the Camerons. 

“Late as always Y/N/N.” John B shakes his head sipping the beer in his hand. Never once has my sister been early for anything and it stresses me out so much I don’t know how she does it. 

“It’s called being fashionably late Booker. But you wouldn’t get that would you?” I laugh knowing that was something she would say to her best friends. JJ sits beside me still staring so I turn to face him giving him a smile, he relaxes a little bit wrapping an arm around my shoulders. My or Y/N’s phone rings in her backpack I grab it out seeing the text from ‘My Person’, it was what we agreed on for our contact names after we repeatedly binged Grey’s.

                                                   My person

Bro what do you and S talk about????

                                                                       The latest drama at school

Sooo....                                                                                                        What is the latest drama

                                                  God do we even go to the same school                                                                           Immanuel P. kissed Madison B.

Seriously!! 

In a few hours it hits midnight and I was freezing. The cropped AC/DC shirt and shorts doing nothing against the cold autumn air. The night of Autumn in the Outerbanks were always so cold for a place that’s supposed to be hot. The fire was helping but I wanted something more. I got up to check Putt Putt for one of Y/N’s hoodies but I was pulled back landing on JJ’s lap a small shriek leaving my lips. 

“Were you going Princess.” His arms tightly around my waist while my arms go around his neck. His eyes staring into mine with nothing but adoration. I was happy that Y/N had someone in her life that loved her, but the way he looked at me thinking I was my sister makes me want to tell them a little . But I have to admit this is so fun.

“I’m cold and just going to find a hoodie.” He still doesn’t let go, instead one hand moves off my waist to grab something beside him. In his hand is know a black hoodie that would be way too big for me but as he hands it to me I slip it over my head. “Thanks.”

“You ok, you seem, I don’t know... off.” 

“I’m fine.” I give him a reassuring smile but I can she he doesn’t buy it.

“Are you sure you know you can tell anything right.” His thumb starts rubbing circles on the exposed skin under my shirt. I am so taking a long bath when I get home. I like JJ, it’s not like I hate Pogues or anything it just weird though.

“I 100 percent fine J, if something was wrong I’d tell you, you know that”

“Yea I do.”

Day 2

Sadie’s POV

Nothing was happening with the pogues today so I got an off day, but then I had to go and say something I wish I didn’t. 

                                              🥰My Surfer Boy🥺

You doing anything                                                                                      Can I come over 

                                                    Sadie is dragging me to a kook party

Well then I’ll just have to score an invite

Now JJ wasn’t going to stop till he could come which wouldn’t be hard as Sarah was inviting John B.

Y/N POV 

We pick out each others clothes before going to the party at Topper’s. I go to find Sarah lookinaroundud for the blonde. But instead of finding that blond I see Sade and JJ, his arm wrapped around my sister making me jealous. 

“Hey Die.” A voice says right behind me making me jump not at all expecting Rafe. He chuckles at me reaction before handing me a drink.

“What’s in it.” I ask, Sadie doesn't normally drink so I don’t know if I should take a sip of the dark liquor. “Trust me.” Is all he says back. I take whiff smelling how strong it is. Me personally would never trust Rafe, but this is Sadie not Y/N. I take a cautious sip. The second I take a sip I almost gag at how strong it is. I could handle alcohol but that is to much. Rafe starts laughing so I grab the front of his shirt and pour the rest down his chest.

“Hey Hey.” he pushes me back but it’s to late his shirt now had a dark stain on the front. “Okay maybe I deserved that.” He shakes his head at mumbling something about changing his shirt. There was a tug on my arm and I was faced with myself, well my sister. JJ behind her laughing putting his hand up for me to high five. Which I did.

“What are you doing. I would never do that.” She scolds me in a whisper so JJ won’t hear. When we switched Sadie was very serious about staying discreet. 

“Well I can’t kiss him as you what do you want me to do?” I laugh as she scoffs walking away JJ following behind her still laughing.

Day 4

Sadie’s POV

Four days nobody really suspected anything, well other than JJ he keeps asking if I ok. And I’ve had to dodge every kiss he tried to give me, and when I tell you JJ loves kiss Y/N it’s an understatement. It was the night of a boneyard kegger hosted by the pogues. 

I was chatting with Kie about turtles when a very drunk Kelce came over. He slung his arm around my shoulder, his drink spilling out of his cup and onto Y/N’s favorite shirt. I never really liked Kelce he just made me uncomfortable. Any time I saw Rafe, Topper and him out I’d always say hi, bothe Rafe and Topper would respond with a hi while Kelce would look me up and down before saying anything.

“Hey babygirl. God you don’t know how many times I’ve dreamed of fucking you are you sister, to have the two of you under me screaming my name. Why don’t we make it reality.” He drops his mostly full cup silling it on the converse I was wearing. His hand going to my waist and his lips attaching to my neck.

“Get off me! Stop!” Suddenly he was ripped off me. JJ’s fist colliding with his face. Kie grabs my hand asking if I was okay. I nod hopping into the van. Soon enough John B, Pope and JJ came to the van, JJ sitting right beside me wrapping me in his arms hugging me as no one said anything. 

“I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to punch him in the face for him to stop.” JJ said as we park at John B’s. I grab my phone leaving the van before it’s fully stopped I ran inside Dialing my number. 

“Yo Sade how’s life on the cut.”

“Were you ever going to tell me about Kelce.” I ask angrly pacing around the small bathroom.

“About that.” She nervously laughs not continuing. “Maybe should've warned you Kelce is in love with us before you went to the party.”

In Love with us! Y/N he tried to have sex with me!.”

“I know.”

“I hate you sometimes.”

Day 5

Y/N’s POV

I was at a small party just some friends over and some games at Sarah’s. We were all sitting in the living room talking about all the drama at school which I knew nothing about. A hour in Rafe and some of his guys friends walked in. Just as Sarah was going to tell them to leave Carmella asked them to stay, while practically eye fucking the kook king himself. Instead of walking over to the girl begging for his attention he sat beside me on the couch. I put Sadie’s phone I was currently texting her on so she could keep up with everything down.

“Nice to see you here Die.” 

“Hi Rafey.” I replied back using the nickname I usually call him. He rolls his eye as Carmella sits basically on top of him and starts a conversation about some boring kook thing. I felt bad for Sadie if this is what she has to deal with. “Come on. We’re out of snacks.” I grab his hand pulling him with me to the kitchen.

“Why do I have to come.” He whines like a baby as we get into the hallway, but follows even when I let go of his hand.

“Because I need help getting snacks.” JJ please forgive me for what I’m about to do. I grab the front of his expensive polo shirt putting my lips to his. He starts to kiss back but I pull away grabbing Oreos and walking back to the living room. Soon Rafe walks in clearly shocked of what just happened in the kitchen. Rule one and two broken. Oops.

Sadie’s POV

After hours of sitting in the sun on the boat I’m practically dying. I mean sure living in Obx you get used to the heat but someone turn the heat down. JJ has been asking me nonstop questions about things which I find weird but I answer.

What star sign are you? Virgo

Who’s the president? Trump

How many states are there? 50

9x7? 63

Our favorite thing to do together? Surf

What does www mean? World wide web

What university are you going to? UNC

Dream job? Not sure

I was confused what was happening the Pogues all asked what JJ was doing but he just said nothing.

“Sadie.”

“Yea-shit.”

“HA I knew it.” JJ jumped up startling everyone. I sighed, everytime it was always me that messes up if people find out. 

“How did you find out. Was it that I knew was www meant?” I question texting Y/N to get to John B’s. As we pulled up to the dock Kie got out laughing that I should be an actress. 

“No it’s that you answered 9x7 so fast. Also next time dream job is opening a surf shop together.”

Y/N’s POV

When I show up I knock on the door fiddling with my fingers. The door opens with the blond headed, blue eyed boy kissing me. He wraps his arms tightly around my back like he hasn’t kissed my in forever. I giggled kissing his nose wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Took you long enough. Five days surfer boy, gotta do better next time.” I push past him into the Chateau. “Hey guys miss me.” They shake the heads at me calling us crazy.

“I just thought it was that time of the month or something.” JJ said wrapping his arms around my torso resting his head on my head. I hit the back of his head causing him to playfully bite my ear. “Don’t ever do that again I was worried you were mad at me.” He looks between me and Sadie and I turn to face him giving his a salute.

I sit beside Sadie whispering in her ear that I kissed Rafe earlier tonight. “WHAT!” She jumps up. “You broke rule one and two!!! I have to go fix what you messes up now!”

“I didn’t break rule four though.”

“I hate you!” She runs out of the house starting up her car and driving off to the Camerons.

Later that night I’m curled into JJ on the bed in the room he claimed as our. The shirt he was wearing now over my shoulders enclosing me in the smell and heat that is JJ Maybank. My head on his chest listening to the rhythmic heartbeat. In the five days without JJ this is one of the things I missed most. His smell was just intoxicating and his arms tightly around me felt safe.

“Oh JJ I may have kissed Rafe.”

______________________________________________________________

Part two

[kazuichis-whore]

Gundham x male!reader

Warnings: Death

Summary: Ya trying to get a date with Gundham <3

Sunflower Seeds

This takes place after the second class trial

You have had your eye on Gundham since you've all arrived at the island. Ever since the free times you've had, you always spent them with Gundham. If not Gunham, then Kazuichi, which made Kazuichi a bit upset since all I did was talk about Gundham, and Kazuichi wasn't really fond of him. Since the killings have started to happen, you've only grown closer to him and his 'Dark Devas of Destruction'. This wasn't the best for your heart, many times you thought it would explode when you were close to Gundham.

You see, you'd love to confess to Gundham, but you weren't entirely sure if he was into guys even in the slightest. You could just walk up to him and ask "Hey are you gay? Bi maybe?", but that is too straightforward and weird. So you settled on just keeping these feelings to yourself and just being a close friend of his. That is until Chiaki caught on to me.

It was a cool morning and everyone was either waking up or already heading to the restaurant. You had barely got out of your cottage before Chiaki got in your face.

"Hey, (Y/N). Can I ask you something? In private...", you hated that term, 'in private'. It usually meant that something bad was going to happen, but you trusted that Chiaki wouldn't say or do anything weird.

"Uhm... Sure. Come in" I moved aside so Chiaki could enter. She immediately cornered me. "Do you like Gundham?" She seemed so confident in the question. I was shocked and frozen, I studdered before I even got out a comprehensive sentence. "Whawhawahaa?! How... How did you know? Am I that obvious..?" She backed off with a soft smile. "No, it took me a while to figure it out. Your really good at hiding your romantic feelings. Anyway, Akane and I want to help you and Gundham get together."

"Thanks, Chiaki, but how are you two gonna do that??" There's no way that they could set us up, right? Dumb question. "Akane already found out Gundham is bisexual, but he only likes people he's known for a while and is close to, so you definitely have a chance with him. All I need to do now is convince him to go to the beach with you." What "Wait wait wait, how did you find out he's bi?" "Akane just asked and he was fine with answering" Of course they just asked.

"We can have you and Gundham meeting up at night and Akane and I could set up some lights in the sand and a picnic" Chiaki looked up as she was thinking out loud. "But what about Monomuka? We aren't allowed to be out of the hotel resort after 10 pm." She just smiled, "I'll appeal. He enjoys teen romance so there's a good chance that he'll let us all be out after the curfew", "How do you know he likes teen rom-", "That's not important right now, meet with Gundham at the beach around 10:30 pm." She seemed so determined. I agreed and we both made our way to the restaurant together

Of course, we were a little late. Gundham was the first to notice us, I think he was staring at the door... "The rest of the mortals are here." God his voice was hot. Kazuichi looked over at us "Finally! Gundham and Akane were about to go looking for you guys!" Man, did we take that long? oh. my. god. What the FUCK is that? I was about to say something before I saw this hideous tribute to our recently deceased friend, Mahiru. I was going to say something rude about it before Hajime grabbed my attention. He was signaling for me to be nice about it and that Hiyoko made it. I spoke with an unsure voice "Wooww that looks so coolll. Whoever made that is verryyy talented.". Hiyoko seemed to be satisfied with it. Good because that's all I got in me.

I made my way over to a table so I can eat. Gundham glanced over at me and continued to eat at his own table. It was a quiet morning, everyone must have still been tired. After we had all finished and left, I went to the supermarket to get some sunflower seeds for Gundham. Yesterday he helped me with a cow attack at the barn, so I wanna try to pay him back. It was a good thing he was looking for me anyway.

I still had some free time after I came back from getting the sunflower seeds. I decided to look for Gundham since I knew he was free most of the time. When I finally found him he was talking with Chiaki and Akane at Jaberwok Park, they must be talking to him about going to the beach with me. That also means I need to find someone else to talk to, I get really bored if I'm by myself for too long. I could either look for Kazuichi and look for things he can take apart or just go annoy Fuyuhiko. I'll look for Kazu, I don't feel like hearing boss baby yell at me.

I walked to the 3rd island and was on my way to Electric Ave. since that's become Kazu's new hangout. When I got there he was already digging around looking for anything to fidget with. Kazu is a nervous guy, so I understand if he wants something to with his hands constantly.

"Hey, Kazo! What 'cha lookin for today?" I asked as I leaned over his shoulder to see what he's grabbing. "Anything really. Although it would be nice to find something to corrode the cameras that Monokuma put everywhere. Hey, have you seen some yellow wires anywhere?" He stopped whatever he was doing to look at me. "No, but I think I saw some orange ones by the old game consoles", I pointed to the pile not too far away from me. "No no no, It has to be yellow, orange won't work with my current project." He went back to rummaging. "What are you working on?" I turned my head to the side, it's a bad habit. "I'm trying to make a phone, so we can call someone or something. At least be able to play some mobile games so I'm not so bored all the time." He was still digging around.

"Ok then, see ya! I'm gonna go find Chiaki or Akane, whoever comes first." I said turning away. All I heard was a very faint 'bye' from Kazuichi, he probably wasn't listening. Oh well, at least he said bye. I walked back to the resort where our cottages are. I must have lost at least 30 pounds from all the walking between islands. As I was walking past the farm, I saw Akane. I walked up to her to ask about Gundham and if he was going to the beach. "Heyyyy Akaneeee!" I tried to strike up a conversation since I'm not very good at it. "Oh, what's up (Y/N)?" She definitely knows how to match someones energy. "Sooo what did Gundham say?" I asked, slightly bouncing from excitement. Akane just deadpans "What?". "About the beach! What did Gundham say about going to the beach with me?". "OOOHHH, he said he'll go with ya, but you have to not force him to swim with you. Something about him poisoning the water from his skin? I don't really know, I wasn't really listening". "Oh, that's fine! I won't force him!" I beamed.

"By the way, he said he wants to talk to you about something. He's at his cottage if you wanna talk to him right now." Akane seemed to not be interested in anything she's saying. She probably agreed to help Chiaki only because she was bored. "OK! Thank you, byeee!" I turned around and hightailed out of the barn.

As I was making my way towards the resort gate, I heard Sonia scream at the supermarket. I left the gates and started booking towards the market. When I finally got there, I didn't see her anywhere. I started calling out to her and poking around every crevice of the store. When I finally found her, she was just standing in the back, perfectly fine from what I could see. "Sonia oh my god! What happened? I heard you scream, are you ok?" I was panting from the running and looking. She looked at me with a pang of guilt in her eyes. "I am sorry for scaring you (Y/N), but thank you for taking the time to find me." She looked down at her shoes. "Well yea of course, but why did you scream?" I tilted my head to the side again. "I am terribly sorry (Y/N), but I have a kingdom to lead and I need to get back, I'm sure you understand. Right?" She slowly started walking towards me. I saw a screwdriver in her hand, It looks like....Kazuichi's! How did she even get his screwdriver? Oh what am I thinking, she probably just asked for it while batting her lashes and Kazuichi just gave it to her.

I started to walk backward until I was fully against the door. I quickly started to feel for a handle and scrambled out, back to the isles. As I was running towards the door, I felt a stabbing pain at the back of my head. After, my body felt numb, as if I couldn't control it. I fell. The last thing I heard was the door opening, it was Gundham. "Hello? I heard a scream so- (Y/N)!!" I really hope he finds the sunflower seeds in my pocket. At least the last thing I saw was Gundham.

Mod Jax: HAH, yall probably thought you were gonna have a nice beach date with Gundham. Foolish. You don't get to have a happy ending. Anyway, this took a while ahaha. MAYbe I'll make a version where ya survive and get yer beach date, maybe I won't, idk yet. BUUUUT there is a 90% that I make a part 2 where it's the trial for your murder.

Todays message that ya probably need to hear

You're not responsible for someone else's mental health, fuck with yourself before you fuck with someone else

[yulight]

Just one date

Description: You’re friends set you up on a blind date, swearing he your type but he younger than you. WARNINGS: Noona/older reader, a glass of wine, that's kind of it  SOFT SAN, cute san, fluffy. Gentle. shy cute , wow much soft. i want to give kisses wow  

Genre : Fluff, Non idol au Word Count:1714 Pairing: Choi San x Female Reader

You sat in your room, with your friend who helped you with your hair. She was straightening your hair, since naturally your hair had some slight curls and waves, they always annoyed so she happily agreed to straighten your hair as she told you about your date for the night. ”Y/N I’m telling you, he is everything you said you wanted in a guy. listen he is a barista, he is well built but not a big buff man. I was told he has a great sense of human and not a trashy one like your ex Mark” You let out a small laugh at your friends ramble of the random man who your meeting tonight “if he so perfect leave Chan for him” 

Your friend let out a playful gasp “as I could ever, leave Chan please if he even thinks about breaking up with me I’ll just be like Sike so what do you want for dinner” you both let out a laugh as you hummed softly “okay, so how old is he?” your friend made a weird sound as you looked at her through the mirror “.. How old is he Sana” She let out a small sigh as she muttered softly under her breath “he a 99 liner but listen okay, he is not that much younger than you please give him a chance okay?”

if it wasn't for the hot straighter in Sana’s hand you would have turned around and hit her with the pillow that laid in your lap. You hated yourself because he sounded so perfect yet one single flaw, being his age you never liked dating a male younger than you. You groan “Just one date that all he gets, I can't deal with someone younger they are always so clingy in the wrong ways” 

Sana couldn't help but to laugh as she Turn the hair straightener off placing it onto the table to cool off “of please if you aren't the clingiest girlfriends to exist, Please stop worrying about his age okay? he really not that much younger than you by all plus he a Cancer so be gentle with him” You rolled your eyes as Sana lay back onto your bed. “Y/N, please don’t make choices before the date okay? have fun with him tonight, I swear on everything minus him being just a little younger than you he perfect for you”

“How did you even find him?” you tilted your head to look at Sana who was on her phone now.

“through Chan’s friend Hyunjin, they dance together. oh yeah he dances as well, i forgot to add that'' Sana looked away from her phone giving you a goofy smile. “just remember his Name is Choi San and,”  before Sana finished her sentence she got the text from Chan saying they were on their way to the restaurant, Sana threw herself up in a panic as she grabbed your arm. “okay! let's go the boys are heading out now”

 The Restaurant was a quick drive.. at least with Sana driving it was. you swore whenever she drives your whole life flashes before your eyes at least ten times. Stepping out of the car, she would shove you into the restaurant, as Chan stood outside. You thought Sana and Chan would be Joining you on the date, however they seem to change their minds and let you and San get to know each other.

as you slowly peeked around the corner you saw exactly what Sana meant, He was charming- no, he was beautiful he looked like something out of a fairytale he true life prince. you would take a deep breath as you step forward. “San?” The Blonde hair male would turn around giving a bright smile, his eyes  forming into cute crescents.

“Ah yes, so that makes you Y/N” You gave a faint nod as you looked up at him smiling. “yeah -” 

“Table for 2 for San” the Host called out, cutting you off before you could finish what you were saying, honestly you were really thankful for the waiter saving you from embarrassment. San Would nudge his head forward as he held his hand out. You smiled softly before grabbing his arm, he gave a small shrug as you both followed the host to your table. 

This was obviously chan and sana doing, the table was pretty far away from other tables with a view out the window to the city that lit up so beautifully at night.

“The View is nice, but honestly the one in front of me is a lot better than the one out of the window” Your hand would cover your mouth as you looked over at San who Sat in front of you calming playing with his empty wine glass. You had no idea how to reply to such a blunt and straightforward comment, his voice sounded sincere and genuine rather than cocky and taunting like most. 

“I.. thank you, i mean you look good yourself i..” you let out a small groan mentally hitting your head against the table. And this is why when you're single Y/N you have no idea how to speak. San let out a soft chuckle making you look up at him. “Please you’re so adorable” Your face would turn a light shade of pink. 

“Could I interest you both in a glass of wine? Today we have a fine red wine” The waiter looked down at the both of you . San would look over at you before looking at the waiter. 

“Could I actually get a white wine please? Preferably a Moscato” you spoke up as you looked at the waiter

the waiter looked over at San “Do you have Bartenura Moscato?” You mentally cursed under your breath there was no way possible that San just so happened to like the same exact Moscato wine, it had to be something Sana said . “Yes of course we do, would it be the same for the both of you”

San gave a small nod as the waiter walked off to grab the ordered wine .You looked at him as if you were scanning him for something “It was a tip from Sana”.

“I knew it, there's no way you just so happen to know the wine Sana and I Drink” You let out a small laugh before looking back at the waiter who was pouring you both a cup of wine.  With that he simply walked away giving you both time to figure out what to order. You grabbed your sipping from it. The soft fruity taste of the wine danced on your taste buds, it had to be your favorite beverage outside of tea. You felt a bit awkward since Sana already explained so much about him you didn't know what to ask or to say. 

“So, outside of you being a barista and dancing Hyunjin what else do you do?” you question a bit as you picked up the menu looking through it. 

“Well, um I play some video games every once in a while, i mostly take care of my dog Shiber that's kind of it, i don’t have the most interesting life to say the least'' his voice was soft and honest it really annoyed you how he was younger than you. Why couldn't he be the same age or older, you always liked dating someone older, however looking at sana and chan she was a year older than him and they were happy. So maybe it won't that be? Maybe you could give San a chance outside of this date. 

“Y/N” san called out a few times actually but only the last one you heard as you shook your head lightly before looking away from the menu looking at him “Huh sorry, i ..think i know what i want, sorry.. Ah what did you say” you let out a nervous chuckle as he titled his head to look at you. “I asked what about you, Chan really didn't tell me much he kinda told me that sana really thought the both of us would like each other “ 

“Oh, well I’m a florist with Sana, I spend most of my extra time reading books and relaxing. Sometimes I go out for runs.. to be honest so I guess I don't have an interesting life as well” you gave a small nod as you spoke. You and san carried on with a good amount of small talk making jokes and laughing. 

The waiter had appeared refilling both of your glasses, getting your orders leaving You and San talking about the random things that came to mind, compliments leaving his lips every once in a while saying how your laugh is cute or just saying how you look great. The mixture of the wine and his compliments made sure your face was bright red by now. 

Just as your desert had arrived your phone buzzed on the table from a text, as you looked over at San who seemed to also just get a text message. You both shrugged lightly guessing it was Chan and Sana. picking up your phones you would look at the text, rolling your eyes you would read the text from Sana.

“Hey ok, so do you like him? Yall going on a second date? Anyways we are outside um, get ya asses out here” San would let out a small laugh as he read his text 

“what does your say” you lean over curious

“Chan said, to kiss the princess goodbye her ride is outside, what about yours”

You couldn't help but to laugh rolling your eyes. “Ah mine says that they are outside and that she just asked me if i .. i like you and if were going on a second date”

San would take a fork full of the lava cake as he raised it to your lips “i would like to know the answer to that as well? Well”

You taking the bite of the lava cake you couldn't help but you smile, you couldn’t believe what you were gonna say “Sure, i mean, tonight was great so another date would be amazing” 

“So i’ll take that as you like me, good because i kinda like you “

[jjpogueprincess]

Thing Don’t always go to Plan

Hello Guys!!! So i know it’s been a minute but I’m back. I have 2 fics finished and am working on 2 more. These are all requested so one of the reason’s it’s taking me a minute is because I really want to try and do it Justice. So I hope It’s good!! 

Requested: Yes

I was thinking something about the reader being Bobby's sister and part of the band. She died with them and gets pissed off about Bobby not giving credit. Reggie comforts her in that scene and she helps them haunt him. She also comforts him when he finds out about his house. (It would be gold if she says something about "if I was alive I would never allow my niece to be like that") At the end, when they're getting shocked and almost disappearing, Reggie gets really worried about her because she's having it harder than them. When they get stronger after that last scene, Reggie just kisses her and everyone is shocked.   

OK. So I changed it a bit. Hope that's OK and I hope this is good! I've been working on it for what feels like forever! Just with 2 jobs and everything else going on its been hard.

There are some Time Skips. You have been warned!!

*Hollywood 1995*

*after rehearsals* 

Luke was talking about how the place will be packed tonight. You walk up to the stage while Alex is being modest 

"you know, Reggie's right. Embrace your awesomeness for once!" You say as they all look at you and smile. Alex finally agrees that he was awesome! 

"Hey y/n, were gonna go get street dogs, wanna come?" Reggie asks you. You can't say no to Reggie. You may have had a bit of a crush on him for the past 3 years, no big deal. 

"Yeah I'll go! Bobby you coming?" You ask your twin brother. You see him not paying attention and staring at the gorgeous bartender, rose.

"Bobby! Leave her alone!" He ignores me as they all walk up to her. Bobby says something about being a vegetarian. you laugh.

 "He had a hamburger for lunch, Rose. Don't let my brother fool you." You say as Bobby gives you a glare. You and the boys leave Bobby to go get street dogs. 

 *time skip 25 years later*

 *After Julie meets the band and y/n*

“Where is Luke? He should be back..” you didn’t even get to finish your sentence when Luke popped 

“Hey guys…..Julie!!” Luke says surprised. Julie looks at him and smiles. 

“Grab your guitar. We're working on that song for the dance.” as they were about to rehearse You got an idea. 

"Hey Luke. Why don't you, when done rehearsing, show Julie some sunset curve songs!! Im sure she would like that!" You said and Julie got excited 

"oh. Show me now!" She said and Luke started playing the opening riff to one of their songs and Julie didn't look impressed. 

"So you want to sample?" Julie said. We all looked at her confused. 

"What do you mean sample? These are original sunset curve songs." Luke said. Getting anxious.

 "No. Its a original Trevor Wilson song. Here. I can show you." She says, pulling up the site. You almost pass out. 

"That's Bobby. Guys. It's bobby." You said. Getting mad. You read through a list of the songs and just continued to get mad. You were fuming. How could he! How dare he!! Luke was telling Julie that these were his songs. 

"Crooked teeth?" Julie asked.

 "Luke wrote that about Reggie." Alex said 

"hey. I thought it was about you! I don't like that song any more." Reggie says pouting. You go over to him and rub his back. 

"His actual name is Bobby. And he was my brother. Im so pissed!!! Where does he live Julie." You ask. She shows you guys and next thing you know, you and the boys are in Bobby's place. You look around and Luke sees a platinum album with his song title. 

"My name is Luke? MY NAME IS LUKE!" he says. Fuming. 

"We need to do something guys. He can't continue to get away with this!!" You say as you see Bobby walking up the stairs. You follow. You guys start to prank him. As you go to turn on the shower, the mirror steams up.

 “Hello, Brother?” you write on the bathroom mirror. He gets scared and runs back into the bedroom trying to open the door. Where he sees a piece of paper hanging there. "How could you steal those songs! You had no right!" It read. He got even more freaked out and tried to open the door. But it wasn't budging. 

"Let me out!" Bobby screamed. So Alex let the door go and we all laughed. 

"Honey. I'm going to see my therapist." He says to his daughter. 

"I have a niece?" You say. Walking into the living room to see Flynn sitting with a boy and a girl. I look at her. "Wait. Carrie is my niece? She's so mean! If I was alive, I would never let her act like that!" You say to no one In particular. You shake your head and notice Julie out back with the guys who are mooning Bobby. 

"Guys. Cut it out. He can't see you. And I don't want to see your butts. Pretty sure Julie doesn't either!" You say to them. "Guys. We have music now. You guys and me! The best way to get back at Trevor is to make this band happen. Please. Don't do anything stupid." Julie says. "We won't. We promise we will be there at 9." They say. 

"I'm gonna stay with Julie. But remember, 9pm. Seriously guys. This is important!" 

 *time skip to when they arrive at the dance* 

 "Julie. We're here! Let's rock…" Reggie says. Before he has a chance to say anymore he's looking around. They realized they were too late. 

"Julie. We are so sorry!" Luke says.

 "Yeah. We just… lost track of time!" Alex says 

"and the twins." Reggie says. You give him this look. And shake your head. 

"You guys knew how important this was for her. And yet you blow it off by going to some club where there are twins and what for? All so you can try and get revenge on bobby? How did that work out for you?" You say to them. Sure you were mad but you were more disappointed. 

"Give Julie time. This was so embarrassing for her. You know that right? The only thing worse than getting stood up, is having your heart broken." You say. They look at you as you look at Reggie 

"you promised. All of you. And you, Reggie, promised that you wouldn't get distracted by other women! What about me? Do I mean nothing to you? Was i just conveniently there?" You say to Reggie. Tears streaming down your face. 

"Ya know. Just forget it. You guys have a lot of apologizing to do to Julie if you want her back. You really hurt her!" You say, poofing away. 

*time skip to the Orpheum after the performance*

 You go to find Julie backstage and congratulate her when you see her. Your heart shatters.

 "Are they...gone?" You say to her. Sure your relationship with Reggie has been rocky but you didn't even have enough time to fix it. And now they were gone. And you were alone. You didn't have your boys anymore. 

"I think so. I think…..they crossed over." She says. But you're just confused. 

"Then why didn't I go with them? I came with them, I should have left with them. Right?" You said. Julie just shrugged. When we got back to her place. We went to the garage. 

"Its weird. To think they're gone. And I'm still here! I never got to tell Reggie how I felt. I'll never see any of them again. I'm alone." You say to Julie. She looks at you. You look like you needed a hug. 

" you still have me. I love the guys to. But I hope they found peace. Now I'm gonna help you. We will get through this. You are not alone. Im here!" She says to you. All of a sudden you both hear a groan.

 "We love you guys t0o." You hear Luke say. You both gasp and turn on the lights. There they lay. Your boys. In pain on the floor. They get shocked again.

 "Please guys. Just go. Join Caleb so you aren't in pain anymore. Please! Save yourselves. For me." Julie says crying. I nod. 

"I'll go with you guys! We can all 4 go! Please." You say. Reggie just stands up and shakes his head. 

"No. We can't go back there." Reggie says. Alex nods. 

"No music is worth making, if it isn't with you Julie." Luke says crying. Julie runs up to him and hugs him. You all look shocked. Then a white light starts glowing from both of them. 

"How can I feel you?" Julie says to Luke as they both just hold each other.

 "I don't know. But I don't feel so weak anymore." Luke says. Julie pulls the rest of us in for the hug. White light surrounds us. Then we look down and the marks on the guys arms disappear. "What do you think this means?" Julie says. "I don’t know. But can we try that hug thing one more time?" Alex says. You step out of it and just let them hug it out. You smile watching them. You had your boys. And now Julie. You were happy. As you were lost in thought. Reggie came up to you and pulled you out of your thoughts by kissing you. You're surprised and he pulls back. Thinking he did something wrong. You pull him back in for another kiss. This time you both respond. After what felt like forever, you pull away with a blush. 

"What was that for?" Reggie asked. "I could ask the same thing. You kissed me first, remember." You say to him. He just smiles. 

"I thought i lost you. And thinking that almost made me lose my mind. I don't know what I would do without you or the guys! You're my family. You're all I have! I..I love you Reggie. I have been since before we met." You say to him. He blushes and pulls you in for another kiss. 

"I love you too. And don't you ever doubt that. Ok?" Reggie says, keeping you close. "Ok." You say. Whatever the future holds, we will go through it. Together. 

[diyunho]

The Joker x Reader - “Trapped” Part 2

Almost one year ago, someone tried to kill The Joker in a speeding car and Y/N pushed him out of the way, getting hit instead. With a fractured skull and broken bones, she was out of business for 6 months; when she finally recovered, The Queen of Gotham wasn’t the same anymore. Trapped inside her own mind and exhibiting severe cognitive impairment, Y/N’s life switched upside down without any hope of ever returning to normal.

Part 1      Part 3     Part 4    Part 5

The Joker feels your hand searching around and he knows what you’re looking for: the yellow teddy bear.

“Here Pumpkin,” J gives you the toy that landed on the other side of the bed during the night; a couple minutes pass and his cheek is covered in soft kisses. He opens one eye and you instantly pretend to be asleep.

“I’m onto you, Y/N!” The King of Gotham sneers while you giggle at his affirmation. But as soon as he pecks the scar on your collarbone, your attitude changes.

“No…”, you whimper and cover your face with the sheets.

“I told you before I don’t care about scars,” The Joker tries to reason with you because it happens each time he touches the numerous stitch marks scattered all over your frame: some are deeper lacerations perfectly normal after the surgeries you sustained, others are cuts that might diminish in a few months. “Princess, are you listening?” J traces the lesion on your wrist.

Y/N is so stiff though he has to fight in order to pull the covers away from her.

“Hey…hey… See? I have scars too,” The Clown attempts to distract you. “Are you having a panic attack? No need to!”

You try to keep up with what he’s saying and it’s pretty difficult giving the circumstances; at least you do understand J is making you relax.

His cell phone starts vibrating on the nightstand and he reaches for it.

“Perfect timing, Frost!” The Joker takes his frustration on Jonny. “What do you want?!!”

The short conversation ends fast with The King yelling a bunch of angry stuff, including an interesting grand finale: “Next time you interrupt when I’m on a roll struggling to get laid, maybe you’d like to intervene and convince Y/N her scars don’t bother me!!!”

Why is he mad?...

You watch him toss the phone on the floor and crawl by him, intrigued.

“Upset?” you begin caressing his hair with the teddy bear’s paw.

“My throne won’t be ready until June, Princess! I requested that fancy chair for a reason and paid a fortune to have it customized! What am I supposed to use at the club?! I don’t like the old furniture anymore!!”

You already lost track of what he’s saying: something about not having a throne???… … …

Oh, there’s one really close by!

You grab The Joker’s arm and drag him out of bed towards the bathroom.

“Where are we going?” he inquires, confused.

You quickly guide him to the toilet, making J sit on the closed lid.

“Throne,” you point at the porcelain bowl and The King of Gotham frowns, immediately bursting into laughter afterwards.

“You’re brilliant, Pumpkin! Brilliant!” he praises your interpretation as you are pulled on his knees.

“Hm?”

“You’re a clever Kitten and whoever says otherwise is an idiot! Turns out I do have a throne,” he admits and gropes you.

Too much for your brain to decipher all his sentences, yet Mister J seems content and that’s enough for you.

“The plan for this morning is simple,” he continues. “We’ll have sex, then take a shower and whatnot, then eat breakfast. Later I have a meeting; you just stay here and wait for me, alright?”

“Mmm…” you hesitantly process the words coming out of his mouth, opting to agree for his sake. “Ok?”

“You naughty girl,” he pulls down on your tank top spaghetti strap. ”I know you hate me sometimes, but in the end can’t resist my charm.”

“No hate… Love,” you snuggle to J while he walks back into the bedroom carrying the sweet burden of his existence; of course he ignored your statement because why would he pay attention to nonsense?

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

You’re outside the car and sulk when Alice sneaks on the passenger’s seat that literally belongs to The Queen.

“Stay here, Princess. I won’t be too long,” The Joker mutters.

“W-why?” you ask since you are not a fan of the idea of having your boyfriend’s ex riding alone with him.

“You get bored at meetings,” he explains. “Circle the property and let the boys know if you need anything,” J emphasizes and drives down the path leading to the gates, leaving a puzzled Y/N behind: you never liked Alice and that didn’t vanish after the accident.

“Bye, Y/N!” she shouts and you can’t make a lot of sense of what you’re feeling, still one detail is certain: it hurts.

How come you couldn’t go?! Why didn’t he give you a choice?! He always does.

If The Joker thinks you can’t put two and two together these days, he’s very wrong.

“Y/N recovered quite nicely,” Alice smirks.

The King of Gotham sighs and she fixes a rebel strand of green hair rebelliously flying over his ear.

“I was wondering if you’ll call me at one point. I missed you, babe.”

“Did ya’?” he scoffs at her bold confession; but she’s a direct person, one of the qualities J admired when they were an item.

“I can’t image how you two function; I mean… her unfortunate transformation, it must be hard for you to put up with someone fighting to comprehend the easiest tasks.”

“It’s not easy,” The Clown admits and gazes at her: Alice dolled up for their rendezvous. Everything he considers attractive is there: beautiful pair of legs popping from under the short skirt, his favorite perfume discretely lingering on her flawless skin, the tip of the purple lace bra she’s wearing casually showing each time the woman leans forward.

“I bet,” Alice pretends to sympathize with his problems. “A man like you has needs that I’m positive Y/N can’t even remember how to satisfy,” she pats his thigh, slowly working her way to his crotch.

The Joker chuckles, accomplice with her insinuations, also super annoyed when his phone rings.

“Yes?” he promptly answers.

“Sir,” Frost reports, ”we have a situation; Y/N is increasingly agitated and…”

“Deal with it!” he hangs up and strives to cruise straight despite the sexy distraction urging him to do otherwise.

“Why did we split?” she scoots closer to him, pouting.

“Beats me,” J purrs as she squeezes her fingers in his pants’ pocket.

“What’s this?” Alice rattles the small plastic pouch.

“Y/N’s anti-inflammatory drug; there’s not much that can be done now and this is helping with the blood clot pressing on her frontal lobe. The doctors say it will reabsorb; granted it won’t matter regarding her cognitive impairment.”

“Awww,” The Joker’s past flame pretends to be affected by his briefing. “That’s too bad, babe; probably the future is not too bright…” she shoves your pills in the glove compartment. “Why don’t we reconcile? You know I’d do anything for you,” the flirtatious tone makes J reply:

“Would you jump in front of a speeding car like Y/N did to save me?”

“Ha! I would,” she elbows him, snickering at his antiques.

“Prove it then,” J growls. “Get out of the vehicle and don’t flinch if I run you over. If you survive, I’ll take you back!”

Alice opens her mouth in amazement and the SUV halts before The King reprises driving.

“Got cha’!” he cracks up at her baffled reaction.

“For God’s sake, babe! You scared me!” she playfully pinches him and teases: “Are we going to our spot?”

“I was wondering when you’ll notice,” The Joker navigates the unpaved road guiding the automobile towards Clear Sky Summit.

“Pull over,” Alice urges him and he complies at once. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” she moans climbing on his lap. “I can tell you missed me too,” the woman grins at his body’s response.

“That’s my gun,” J buries his face in the revealing cleavage, firmly holding her waist.

“I bet it is, babe,” she winks while unbuttoning his silver shirt. “I love you!” she tries to bite him and he violently yanks her long hair, snarling.

“Is that why you tried to kill me?”

Alice cautiously exhales, a bit nervous at the switch in his demeanor.

“What are you talking about?!”

“Who was driving the car meant to hit me, huh? Tinted windows, no license plate.”

“Babe, you’re hurting me,” she winces in pain at his strong grip. “I swear I don’t know anything!”

“Are you sure?” J sniffs her scent.

“Yes I’m sure! I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our…”

“Our what? What exactly our means in this context? We separated more than two years ago!” The Joker crushes her spine against the wheel.

“Babe, let go!” Alice wiggles in his tight embrace.

“Why did you do it? Were you jealous I found a new fling? Took me months to track the culprit!!!” J restricts her movement when she stretches to open the door. “You fucked up my girl!” his hands forcefully twist her neck and the snapping noise of fractured bone halts the argument.

The Joker pushes the corpse off him, numb to the murder he committed out of pure rage: what’s another name added to the list?

Yet… this was personal.

He keeps staring at the trees surrounding the trail without discerning their shape. 30 minutes pass and the phone’s alarm alerts him it’s time for your remedy: The Clown Prince of Crime is so out of it he doesn’t stop it until he’s on the main road.

He speeds up to ensure a timely arrival at the mansion where Y/N will definitely confront him after being abandoned in such fashion: the truth is he doesn’t mind.

What he does mind though is that no matter what happens, Y/N will never be her former self.

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

The Joker parks in front of the villa and hops out of the car, barking instructions at the goons patrolling the area:

“I want this gone!” he gestures at the cadaver crammed under the front seat. “Where’s Y/N?”

“In the garage, boss” Frost indicates. “You should know that…”

“I got it! I got it!” J waves and sprints towards your destination.

Nothing prepared him for the carnage.

“Holy… … shit!!!” he inhales at the shocking landscape depicting all five of his most beloved vehicles mauled to pieces: broken windows, scraped paint, karoseri indents…a whole mess!

Bam!!! You smash the rearview mirror of his favorite Ferrari with the baseball bat.

“What are you doing, Pumpkin????!!!!” J screams, aggravated.

Oh, he’s back!

“Y-you like her??!!” The Queen redirects her wrath. “B-because she’s smart??!!”

“Who? Alice?” he quizzes for no reason whatsoever: The Joker’s aware of the reply.

“Wh-where did you go, hm?” you point the wood weapon at the man taking you for a fool; you try not to stutter but it’s impossible with the strained neurons firing up a storm inside an already troubled brain.

“Nowhere, I killed her.”

“Hm?”

“I killed Alice!” The Joker raises his voice and watches you squint your eyes, a clear hint you’re analyzing his disclosure. “Look what you did, Princess! Are you happy now??” he finds the perfect opportunity to divert the outcome of the mayhem he actually created: J repeatedly learned this is the best strategy.

“U-hum,” you serenely admit since you’re indeed pleased with the results of your rampage.

The two parties glare at each other in silence and The Joker grabs the yellow teddy bear resting on a nearby hood, proposing truce before you bash something else:

“I’ll trade you the fur ball for your bat.”

Yikes, you’re reluctant to his treaty: further distraction is required.

“My collection is destroyed, Pumpkin!” The Joker approaches with the toy he stole for you on your first date. “Who we’re gonna call on such short notice to fix all this crap?!!”

Oh, you know this one! You and Mister J watch the movie on a regular basis.

“Mmm… Ghost Busters?” Y/N innocently suggests.

He puckers his lips at the astonishing proposal and it takes a lot of effort not to laugh.

“That’s brilliant, Y/N! Best idea I heard all week!” The Joker proudly compliments your intuition. “You’re a clever Kitten and whoever says otherwise is a moron!” he swiftly snatches the baseball from your grasp and replaces it with the teddy bear.

He rolls the weapon by the closest tire, signaling you to follow.

“Come on, Pumpkin, it’s time for your med. Why are you limping? Is your knee hurting again?”

“U-hum.”

“Serves you right for going rogue!” he scolds. “Com’ere,” J lifts you up, placing your legs around his midsection. “I expect apologies by the way!”

“No,” you sniffle while dangling the toy with one arm.

“Pain in the ass!” he huffs and you kiss him. “This is not an apology!” The Joker spanks you butt.

“Mine,” you cuddle to his shoulder, totally blocking his grouchiness.

“Yeah, yeah, yours,” J grumbles heading for the elevator. “So this is how the rest of today will unfold, Y/N: I’ll be mad until evening time, then we’ll have makeup sex and dinner, the last two not necessarily in the same order. And you’re not going to freak out when I touch your scars, OK?”

“Mmm…OK?”

“Why is that a question?” The Joker continues bickering. “You have other prospects? Boyfriends I should know about? Are you even listening?”

“U-hum,” you poke J’s star tattoo. “No… freaking out.”

“Fair enough,” he compromises and lifts you higher on his hips when you cling to him: selective perception is infinitely better than none. “Is this Pink Blossoms?”

“Yes,” you nod at the familiar brand you use all the time.

The King of Gotham smells his favorite perfume in the air, reckoning he wouldn’t enjoy it if another woman wears it for him.

Also read: MASTERLIST

You can also follow me on Wattpad and Ao3 under the same blog name: DiYunho.

[slaxl-rose]

Double date (roger x reader)

season 1, episode 5 of friends which i rewrote. I obviously don't own f.r.i.e.n.d.s

words: 1.5k

-

You walked into the small cafe where your friends were currently waiting for you. You looked all around until you spotted Freddie waving you over. You smiled and made your way towards the table.

"Hey guys." You grinned as you sat in between Freddie and Deaky, with Brian and Roger sitting opposite. They all greeted you and you started to scan through the menu.

"It all looks so good." You leaned over and spoke to Freddie. He nodded in agreement without taking his eyes off the menu.

Once you decided that you would have the waffles with cinnamon (since it was still morning), you placed your menu down and heard a voice speak up from behind you.

"Hi, Roger." A woman, dressed in a red body-con dress spoke in a flirtatious manner. You felt yourself becoming a bit jealous when you saw Roger smirk while looking her up and down.

She walked away, towards the counter and Freddie leaned across the table. "Isn't that your ex? Amelia or something?" He asked as he tried to remember.

"Yeah, and it's Angela." Roger corrected before glancing at her again. You rolled your eyes and looked away.

"Wow, being dumped by you obviously agrees with her." Brian spoke up.

Deaky laughed. "Are you gonna go over there?"

"No...yeah..no. Ok, but not yet, I don't want to seem too eager." Roger said while leaning back in his seat. He then began to count. "One-mississippi, two-mississippi, three-mississippi, that seems pretty cool." He smiled before standing up and walking towards her.

You huffed as you saw the two beginning to talk, too far away for you to be able to hear what they were saying.

Freddie squeezed your hand as he was the only one to know about your feelings for Roger.

-

"Hey Angela." Roger spoke as he reached her.

"Roger." She nodded before turning back around.

"You look good." Roger smirked.

"That's 'cause i'm wearing a dress that accents my boobs." She winked while taking a sip of her drink.

"You don't say." Roger grinned while folding his arms.

-

You rolled your eyes again when you glanced over and saw Roger leaning closer to her. Your attention was brought back to the table when your plate of food was placed in front of you. "Thanks." You smiled at the waitress.

-

"Forget it Rog, I'm with Bob now." Angela shook her head.

"Bob?" Roger cringed. "Who the hell's Bob?"

"Bob is great." She smirked. "He's smart, he's sophisticated, and he has a real job. You- you play the drums in a band for the same pub every Friday and call yourself a musician." Angela spoke as she pointed a finger towards Roger.

Roger rolled his eyes. "C'mon." He whined. "We were great together. And not just at the fun stuff, but like, talking too."

"Yeah, well sorry Roger, you said 'let's just be friends' so guess what."

"What?"

"We're just friends." Angela stood up and began to walk out of the cafe.

"Fine, fine! So why don't the four of us go out and have dinner together tonight?" Roger called out to Angela.

"What four of us?" She turned around.

"Well y'know, you and Bob and.. me and my girlfriend... uh.." Roger stopped talking as he glanced back over at the table you were sitting at. He saw you laughing at something Freddie had said. "Y/n!"

-

"Y/n, I'm telling you, this guy is perfect for you." Roger spoke as he followed you all around your apartment. He was trying to convince you to tag along to the double date tonight.

"Forget it, not after your cousin who could belch the alphabet." You said in disgust, remembering the night Roger had set you up with his cousin.

"Oh c'mon, this guy's great! His name is Bob, he's Angela's..... brother! He's smart, he's sophisticated, and he has a real job. Me? I play drums in a band for the same pub every Friday night and call myself a musician."  

You rolled your eyes and walked away but Roger continued following you. "Look, i'm asking a favour here! You know, i'm thinking if i do this thing for her brother, maybe Angela will come back to me."

You sighed as you looked at his pleading eyes.

"I made a huge mistake, I never should of broken up with her! Will you help me? Please?"

You looked at him sadly, "Alright." You said quietly.

-

You were currently sitting at the restaurant with Roger while waiting for Bob and Angela to arrive.

"So what does this Bob guy look like? Is he tall? Short?" You asked.

"Yup." Roger answered while taking a sip of his drink and not looking you in the eye.

You raised your eyebrows. "Which?"

"Which what?"

You squinted your eyes as you looked at him. "You've never met Bob, have you?"

"No, but he's-"

"Roger! For all we know this guy could be horribly!-" You stopped your sentence as you heard Angela call out to Roger. You looked at the guy standing beside her and your eyes widened.

"-horribly attractive. I'll be shutting up now." You smiled as the two began to make their way towards you.

-

"So where did you guys grow up?" You smiled as you looked at both Angela and Bob.

"Brooklyn Heights."

"Cleveland."

You chuckled confused, "how did that happen?" Confused, because you thought they were brother and sister.

"Oh my goodness!" Roger suddenly called from behind you.

You all turned around to face him. "What?"

"I, uh, suddenly had the feeling i was falling." Roger chuckled nervously. "But i'm not."

-

"So, you and Angela, huh?" Roger asked Bob as they were now standing at the bar alone.

"Yep, pretty much."

"You're a lucky man." Roger smiled, trying to hide his jealousy.

"Yeah."

"You know what I miss the most about her? That cute nibbly noise she makes when she eats." Roger said truthfully. "Like a happy squirrel, or- or a weasel."

Bob stood there and gave Roger an odd look. "I- never really noticed."

"Oh, yeah, listen for it."

"Y/n" Bob started, "Y/n is great."

"Yeah, yeah she is." Roger smiled. "But- uh, it's not gonna last." Roger leaned in a little closer to Bob. "She's too much for me in bed."

Bob nodded his head with a surprised look on his face.

"Sexually." Roger clarified.

-

"I've gotta tell ya. Bob is terrific." You smiled as you stood in the bathroom with Angela. You were both fixing your makeup in the mirrors.

"Yeah, isn't he?" Angela smiled.

"It's so great to meet a guy who's smart and funny and has a emotional age beyond like, 8."

"You know what else?" Angela spoke. "He's unbelievable in bed."

You stopped re-applying your lipstick as you looked at her, confused. You chuckled nervously. "Wow, my brother never even told me when he lost his virginity."

"Oh, that's nice." She smiled with a concerned look on her face. You shrugged it off though.

-

You all sat around the table eating quietly. The only noise was coming from Angela who was nibbling loudly on her chicken wings.

"Something went wrong with underdog and they couldn't get his head to inflate so, anyway.." You began to talk but started laughing nervously when you saw Angela rub her hands across Bob's chest, lovingly.

"So, his head is like, flopping down Broadway, right? And i'm just thinking...." You trail off "...how inappropriate this is."  You began to blink your eye as if something were in it. "Um, I've got something in my eye, Roger could we check it in the light, please?" You say quickly while standing up.

Roger gets up and follows you while you stand there with your eyes wide.

"What?" He asks.

"Helloo? Were we at the same table?! You say sarcastically, trying to keep your voice down. "It's like cocktails in Appalachia!"

You glance over and see Angela beginning to kiss down Bob's neck. You screw your face up in disgust.

"C'mon, they're close." Roger says.

"Close? She's got her tongue in his ear!" You whisper-shout.

Roger turns around then looks back at you. "Oh, like you've never gotten a little rambunctious with your brother?"

"Ugh, Roger this is sick! It's disgusting, i-it's....not really true is it?"

"Who says whats true?"

"Oh my-! What were you thinking?" You questioned, annoyed.

"Alright, look i'm not proud of this.....well maybe i am a little."

You slap Rogers shoulder and give him a look. "I'm out of here." You began to walk away but Roger grabs your arm.

"Wait, wait, wait. C'mon! You like him, i want her." Roger says while holding onto your arm.

"No, i don't like him, i like somebody else." You say while pulling your arm out of his grasp and walking out. "I'll see you later, Rog."

Roger gives you a sad look as you walk away.

a/n - part 2?

[deputyrhiannonhale]

Nodus Tollens Chap 3

(ooc) here is the third installment of my story! Same general tags apply, especially canon-game violence and strong language.

chapter 1 chapter 2

tagging: @ja-crispea @dieguzguz @f0xyboxes @shelliechen @returnofthepd3 @deputy-janai @deputyjessicaquinn @xbaebsae @veinereastath @sharky-broshaw @shallow-gravy @ec-10 @hopecountygazette @ramadiiiisme

~~

Rhi was on an ATV flying down the road putting as much distance as she could between herself and the Holland Valley. She was well aware that if John wants her there, he’s definitely got a way to get her there. Tom was nice enough to tell her the way off Dutch’s island, but said he would rather stay back and make sure Dutch stays covered. Rhi thanked him for his help and made her departure.

Her hazel eyes were now searching the sides of the road for any dangers, animal or otherwise when she spotted another person on their knees in front of a cult member. She pulled out her gun, firing a warning shot before skidding to a stop nearby. Gunshots whizzed by near her head and she cursed as she tumbled off the ATV and she hid behind the tree, taking deep breaths. A warning shot was the wrong method to use, she realized now, it’s becoming glaringly obvious that she is going to have to shoot to kill everytime and that epiphany caused Rhi to sigh heavily. 

Rhi peeked around the trunk in time to see the woman she was trying to save sweep the legs of the cult woman out from under her and she crashed to the ground hard. Rhi took the moment to run over and finish her off with a single shot to her head. Rhi then doubled over, she really hadn’t been prepared for this kind of buffoonery when she transferred here from Billings. She hadn’t even had to use a weapon until she got here.

“I can see you’re working through an existential thing, but could you give me a hand here?” The lady on the ground inquired, rolling onto her side to reveal her hands were bound. Rhi let out a surprised noise, brushing her brown hair from her face.

“Fuck, I am so sorry!” She exclaimed while moving to kneel beside her and deftly untie her wrists, the woman laughed good naturedly.

“It’s ok...it’s an odd situation here.” She conceded while rubbing her wrists and standing up and taking the rifle off of the cult woman. “She ain’t gonna need this anymore.” 

“Odd is an fucking understatment.” Rhi agreed, searching the body for handgun ammo, and cursing when she found none, and the woman laughed again, nodding.

“Oh, if you’re needing any assistance, that Boshaw fellow is close by. When he found out what was going on he started laughing like a crazy man.” Rhi looked up from her knelt place on the ground, hazel eyes wide and her heart rate sped up when she heard Boshaw. As in Sharky Boshaw? Rhi knew she would probably have to face him again eventually, but she was caught off guard that it would be so soon. “Grabbed a propane tank and ran towards the Moonflower Trailer Park...what? You ok? Looks like you just saw a ghost.” The woman asked, and Rhi half nodded, waving her hand dismissively.

“I’m great...just...stunned.” She partially lied, standing to her full height and brushing off her knees, and gave the lady a weary smile. “The trailer park you say. Right up that road there?” Rhi asked, thumbing over her shoulder at the dirt road off to the left, and she nodded affirmation. Rhi groaned inwardly, how would seeing Sharky again after all these years be?

Rhi sighed, as she dismounted her ATV, looking at the trailer park in front of her, placing her hands on her hips. She was not ready to go in here, meeting Sharky again after so many years was sure to be...eventful, to say the least.

After their first and only interaction when she was 16, Sharky actually helped mold her future, not that he knows that. But little rebellious Rhi meeting someone who actually was a badass and witnessed what kind of trouble it gets, made her realize that not all attention is great.

It's when she really started looking up to Earl and the profession he is in, and guided her to be on this side of the law.

Dust came up in little puffs as she walked deeper into the abandoned park, hearing Sharky up on top of one of the trailers, she came to a stop near it, looking him over, her hands still resting on her hips. She chewed on her bottom lip, before making an exasperated noise, looking up at the sky in an aggravated manner and climbing up the nearby ladder.

"Hey, get the fuck outta here, Johnny-law. I know my fuckin’ rights." Is what Sharky greeted Rhi with once she stood to her full height on the trailers roof. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, before stepping towards him, he still sounded the same. Maybe a little more gruffness in his voice from what she guessed was years of smoking.

"Oh, so you know that setting fire to things with a flamethrower is still technically illegal?" Rhi asked, sarcastically, shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, shifting her weight to her right leg, tilting her head back to look at Sharky in the eyes. She was surprised to see that there was no recognition in his blue eyes for her, she was just another cop to him at this point.

She shouldn't be surprised, though, as she didn't have that much of an impact on his life as a whole as he had hers.

"Hey, I come out here and I'm not botherin' nobody." He swept his arm in a gesture over the trailer park grounds, pointing at different speakers set up. "I play some of the best music and just let loose here. In a pants free, consequence free environment." Rhi blinked at the speakers as he spoke, before her eyes travelled back to him and trailed down to see he was definitely still wearing pants and she couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"Uh, Sharky-" He gave her a confused look, and she tilted her head in question and then it dawned on her. He wants to know how she knows his name already. 

"I know, ya wanna know why I'm still wearin' pants. No one knows what the next few minutes hold." He stated, moving over to some pedals he has mounted on the roof. Ok, so maybe he didn't catch that she called him Sharky. "By the way, my name is Charlemagne Victor Boshaw but if you require a little brevity in your day to day life you can just call me-"

"Sharky, I know." Rhi finished for him and this time he gave her a more suspicious look and she folded her arms over her chest. Why does the fact he doesn't remember her nettle her so much?

"How in the fuck do ya know that? Don't think I've ever seen ya around here, little girl." Rhi's nostrils flared slightly at the way he said "little girl" it sounded so much like when they were all in the police station all those years ago. So condescending, almost like he could never take her seriously.

Rhi made a "tch" sound, clucking her tongue, her jaw setting in her rising anger and she looked at him out of the corner of her eye and in a deadpan voice, responded:

"Man, fuck you." And with that, it was as if a light bulb lit up blindingly in a dark room. Sharky's blue eyes widened and his mouth fell slightly agape as she watched it slowly come to him who she was.

"No fuckin' way. Bitty Rhi?" It was Rhi's turn to give him a confused look, only Hurk Jr ever called her that. Does that mean he talked to Sharky about her off and on throughout the years? "Should have fuckin' known, of course you'd become a cop. You've been a snitch from the beginning." Rhi's anger exploded at that accusation, she never got over that he always thought she was spying on him and Hurk that day.

"Silencio fucker. I never ratted on you two that day. I had just rolled into town. Besides, who do you think convinced Earl to let you go?" They were both snarling at each either, but Sharky was the one to back down, his anger reducing to surprise. 

"That was you?" His voice was a lot softer than she had ever heard, and she nodded, her eyes looking away from him and back to him quickly as if to say "uh, yeah". The two stared at each other in silence, sizing each other up, before Sharky finally scoffed and folded his arms over his chest. “Doesn’t change the fact that you’re a cop now.” It was Rhi’s turn to scoff and she turned her face to the sky, shaking her tiny fists in frustration.

“Of fucking course a hillbilly ass like yourself wouldn’t fucking change. Outsiders are the devil.” She ended her sentence mimicking his accent, while simultaneously walking back to the ladder to gingerly climb down, still mouthing. “I was gonna ask if you wanted to help me kick this cults ass, but you know what...nevermind.” She called, walking backwards away from the trailers, throwing her hands up in the air before looking back up to where he had been to point at him. Rhi became surprised when she saw that he was following her down the ladder, and her arm dropped back to her side. “Why are you following me?” Her anger had deflated to confusion.

“I can’t have ya runnin’ around like a crazy woman, Dep. Ya might hurt someone...or yourself.” Sharky teased, and Rhi’s eyes narrowed at him, before her index finger came up to poke him in the chest.

“I’ll have you know I can take care of myself.” She promised and he chuckled, holding up his hands in a defeated manner.

“No doubt, Munchkin, but still you’ll need someone to show ya around.” Sharky pointed out and Rhi considered it. He did have a point, sure she had spent a few summers here, but she hadn’t gone everywhere during that time. Her hazel eyes looked him up and down before she scoffed again, giving him a small but sardonic smirk.

“Fine. But I’m driving, Charlemagne.” She mocked, causing him to grimace as she turned and walked back to where she parked the ATV.

“Hey!” Rhi shouted over her shoulder as she and Sharky were taking a break and stretching, they had saved numerous people along the road, and Rhi needed a breather. Sharky made a noise as he dropped a cigarette butt and snuffed it out with the toe of his shoe. “Hurk Jr around, I haven’t seen him in ages.” Sharky turned to face her, about to answer when he saw the orange glow of the sunset catching Rhi’s face just right as she ran her fingers through her hair trying to brush out tangles, and his mouth fell agape instead.

“Uh…” Was all Sharky managed to get out and Rhi looked over at him, her right eyebrow raised, and then she turned to look behind her to see what had Sharky so enraptured, but there was nothing. She had begun to get nervous, thinking it was a bear, but it was literally just a drop off to the Henbane River below. She shrugged and looked back at him.

“Sharkster...ya alright?” Rhi stepped towards him, snapping her fingers in his face, and it broke the trance and he shook his head to clear it.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m great. Hurk is stayin’ at his dad’s up in the Whitetail Mountains.” He answered, motioning in the direction of the mountains and Rhi gave him a quizzical look before nodding, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

“Right…” She turned to go back to the ATV, but turned back to Sharky after a couple of steps. “You sure you’re ok. You looked weird-” Her words were cut off when he walked into her, she stumbled back but his hand shot, grabbing her elbow to steady her, pulling her against him, and she blushed. “Didn’t realize you were right up my ass, Charlemagne.” She tried to sound teasing, but it came out rather defensively, and she broke free from his hold, taking a few steps back from him, her tone catching him off guard.

"Didn't think ya were gonna turn on me either." His tone however did come out his intended way of just being playful. He wasn't sure how to take Rhi, sometimes she seemed rather friendly, but then it was like she realized she was being open and a wall slammed down behind her eyes, blocking everyone from her innermost thoughts. They had spent nearly a whole day together now, and everytime he thinks they are getting friendly, Rhi pushes him back an arms length away again.

Rhi’s eyes studied him suspiciously, had what he said been a tease or was it being passive aggressive about their past again? Sharky then gave her a soft almost puppy innocent smile and Rhi’s eyes widened, a slight blush tinted her pale cheeks, and her defenses melted away. She wanted to slap herself, because, sure, when she was 16 she had found him attractive enough on their first sighting, but that was the rebellious part of her...right? That part of her that was like ‘oh, Step-Ass would absolutely hate you bringing someone like him home’.

Rhi shook her head slightly to clear it before giving Sharky a smile small in return. “Sorry, I guess I’m embarrassed I nearly fell down…” She lied, laughing nervously, before climbing back onto the quad, and patting the area behind her, and Sharky quickly joined her.

“Hey, Dep, ya know who I’d bet would be happy to see ya?” Sharky asked, leaning down to speak into Rhi’s ear as she sped down the road, and a small shiver ran down her spine as his facial hair tickled her earlobe.

“Who’s that Sharky?” She replied, turning her head towards him slightly to make sure he heard her. She was just hoping her talking while driving this fast didn’t have her eating bugs.

“My auntie.” Of course! Addie! Rhi had missed her so much and hadn’t really visited much two years ago while she had been recovering, she just talked to her on the phone more than anything...having been so preoccupied with John. Feeling her anger rising again, she cleared her throat.

“Abso-fucking-lutely! Let’s go see Addie!”

Slowing to a stop close to the Drubman Marina, Rhi vacated the quad after she was sure Sharky was off, she sighed. Of course the cult was here too, she thought to herself as she ran her fingers through her hair in a very frustrated manner. She was just beginning to walk up the slight incline to gain the higher ground when her radio beeped. She froze, it was nighttime now, so the noise seemed like it resounded loudly. She grabbed it quickly, nearly dropping it in her hurry, she juggled it for a couple of beats before finally getting a good grasp on it.

“Deputy...I hope I didn’t wake you.” John again, and Rhi cursed lowly, rolling her eyes, and giving Sharky a motion of hanging herself and he chuckled.

“Not at all, asshole, Sharky here has been keeping me company.” Rhi knew that would ruffle John’s peacock feathers. “The hell do you want? Y’know, since this is Faith’s region afterall…” Rhi pointed out, smirking to herself, and she heard John scoff bitterly.

“Ah yes, Charlemagne. Not sure he is going to be the best fit for you my dear.” Rhi blinked, confused by that answer and she shot Sharky a quick look, but he seemed to not be paying full attention to the conversation at hand, his face cast upwards looking at the stars.

“Oh? And you are?” She asked, turning her back to Sharky and walking back towards the quad, not wanting him to overhear anymore.

“Do you remember that night before you left for Billings?” Rhi’s jaw muscles bunched and flexed, her free hand clenching into a tight fist. Of course she did.

“The night that it was clear you were hiding something from me but I was too stupid to acknowledge it?” She hissed through her teeth, and John was quiet for a few beats.

“Yes, that night.” John agreed and Rhi stared down at the radio as if she couldn’t believe he just brushed off what she said. 

What she didn’t realize was, on John’s end, he had placed the radio on his forehead. He hated that he had to lie to her back then, it had been at Joseph’s request that John reach out to her, being certain Rhi needed to be brought into their loving family. He had gotten close to her during the handful of months she was there, and before he knew it, Rhi was leaving Hope County altogether.

“We watched the stars that night.” He continued, standing out on one of his balconies, looking up at the stars, he couldn’t help but think about that night. Rhi’s mind flashed back to her and John sitting on the waters edge, as she pointed out the different constellations, John leaned close to her, one arm draped around her shoulders. How could this be the same person, he acted so different back then. She sighed, looking up at the stars too. 

“We did…” Her tone was soft as she remembered it all. “What happened to you…?” It was a bitter question, rhetorical because she was sure he wouldn’t answer such a question, to him, he was probably always the same him. To her, he was two faced.

“You thought I was a perfect fit back then.” His voice was back to being cocky and she growled, she hated that he could switch on a dime like that. “I’m at my home, if you want me to prove how perfect of a fit I am.” The sultry tone of his suggestion caused a hot feeling to run to her core, and Rhi’s face turned blood red at her body’s reaction. Unsure of how to even respond to such a statement, she let out a shaky laugh.

“Oh, John.” Came the weakest comeback she’s ever done in her life, and she knew she had to do better. “I’m not that easy, you’ll have to work for it.” She tried to sound as seductive as she could, not being used to flirting, especially like this, before replacing the radio onto her belt.

“Watch your back then, Deputy.” It was a warning that should have scared her, yet it had sent an inexplicable thrill through her entire body, and she smirked, she was ready for him and whatever he sent her way.

[fanartfunart]

Miraculous Au part 1.

So, this is the miraculous Au, and I want to do a second part, so here’s the first. Hope you like it!

Virgil Lahiffe regretted going out. Everyone was loud, and it was really crowded. Why did he agree to come to the Jagged Stone concert anyway? Patton. That’s why.

He was busy minding his own business the other day when none other than Patton Agreste, one of his friends (would friends be the right word? They just kind of adopted him.) ran up to him and started to hyper talk. Once Patton was finished he took a breath and sighed. “You understood none of that, didn’t you?” Virgil chuckled and played with his purple headphones around his neck, they were a gift from his friend Roman, and they matched his purple sweatshirt, that Roman made, perfectly. Chuckling, Virgil gave Patton his reply. “I’m sorry, Pat. You were talking too fast. What were you saying?” Patton took a deep breath and slowed down this time. “There’s a Jagged Stone concert coming up and Father is finally allowing me to go! I wanted to bring all of you guys with me!” “What’s this I hear about Jagged Stone?” Virgil heard a laugh that came from the other direction as they both spun their heads around to see, Roman Dupain-Cheng and Logan Césaire running and walking towards them respectively. “Ya! Fathers letting me go out to the concert! And you guys are coming with me!” Patton had looked so happy, how could he have said no? Well now he regret not saying no. The concert hasn’t even started yet, and still, it was crowded and loud. Virgil could feel his hands shaking from anxiety or the cold he wasn’t sure, but he gave some half put together excuse and ran away from the crowd. While running he tried to put his headphones on. Big. Mistake. Some dude wasn’t looking where he was going and rammed into him, causing his headphones to fall, and crack. The worst part was that people kept walking, over it, kickin it, and stomping on it. Running, he fell to the ground and tried to grab the headphones crying for people to stop, to help, but nobody did. They all ignored him. He finally grabbed his headphones, but they were beyond repair. They were split in half, and were cracked and damaged. He let a tear roll down his face, but soon one turned into three, and soon he was full blown sobbing in the middle of the crowd. . . . “A little boy whose prized Possession is crushed, along with his heart? A perfect victim for my Akuma. Fly away, and Evilize that boy!” . . . “Hey, I would hate to worry someone, but Virgil has been gone for a few minutes too long and I can hear sobbing coming from-“ “V!!” “Or we can just run in that direction and hope for the better.” The trio ran toward the sobbing and saw Virgil on the ground, clutching the headphones. But little did they know, a tiny purple butterfly was heading in the same direction. “Oh Kiddo, what happened? Patton ran the rest of the way to his Dark Strange Son and they collapsed in a hug, Virgil still sobbing. Soon, the other two had heard the sobbing stop, but all too soon. Even Pat was confused. “Hey V? Are you ok-VIRGIL!” But Virgil couldn’t hear him. All he could hear was the soothing voice of HawkMoth in his ear.

“Tempest Terror, I will give you the power to make sure you get heard. That nobody will be able to ignore you. You just need to get me a few things in return. Do we have a deal?” Virgil smirked and it unsettled everyone. “Everyone will be in my control.” Patton, Logan, and Roman each gasped in unison when they saw purple and black mist engulf their friend, and in his place was not Virgil anymore.

There stood a tall boy, who resembled Virgil, but instead of his normal clothes, was a purple skin tight Jumpsuit, with a big thunder cloud in the middle, lightning and rain coming down from it. Instead of his usual black eyeshadow underneath his eyes, the black was smudged all over his face, like a mask. His headphones were on his head, covering his ears, while matting down his dark purple hair that resembled a storm cloud. When he talked, it sounded like he was talking through a microphone. The Villain chuckled. In front of him a storm cloud appeared and he jumped on top of it and flew to the front of the crowd, where Jagged had decided to come out. “People are so ignorant these days! Now, you have no choice but to hear!” He turned to the rock star and pointed to his face. “Jagged Stone! You will do what I say!” After the words were uttered, Mr. Stone’s eyes had black eyeshadow, and he nodded, like a Zombie. “Yes, Tempest Terror.” “Good! Now, go find Patton Agreste! He’s the one to blame! If he hadn’t come, I wouldn’t be here in the first place!” Jagged Stone jumped from the stage and ran through the crowd, right for Patton. “EVERYONE RUN!” Everyone ran away as Tempest Terror started to control everyone. . . . Patton found himself inside an alleyway, away from all the crowds. He sighed in relief and fear. His kwami, Plagg, came out from his cardigan. “Wow. Virgil isn’t so happy is he?” “No, Plagg. But now, we have an Akuma to worry about. PLAGG! CLAWS OUT!” . . . Roman had ran in the opposite direction as Patton, knowing that Mr.Bug was needed. Unfortunately, shaking off Logan was hard. “Roman, we need to find cover!” “Yes, Lo. Go! There’s the school! Go in and hide in a locker. I need to go find Pat!” “I can’t do that Roman! I’m staying with you.” “Please Lo. I’ll be back. Just go hide!” Logan sighed nodded. “Fine. But I’ll have you know I don’t like this at all.” Roman didn’t hear the end of the sentence as he has run off the moment Logan had agreed. He slipped behind a tree as his Kwami, Tikki, came out from his pocket. “I hope Virgil’s going to be ok.” She said. “Me too Tikki. But we need to go find him. TIKKI! SPOTS ON!”

- (Part 2)

GASP! Amazingg! Casting Roman as Ladybug and Patton as Chat is Actually Perfect I love it. Poor Virgilllll, kiddo needs somebody to give him some hugs! Love thisss! Thank you for sharing & I’m excited for the next part!! <3

[rainstormfes]

Attack on Titan S4 Ep5

THIS IS MY BIGGEST SPOILER WARNING LIKE PLS DO NOT LOOK UNDER THE CUT IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED OR READ UP TO THIS POINT IN THIS STORY. P L E A S E. Attack on Titan is such an amazing story and I HIGHLY recommend picking it up. It could seem overrated cause literally everyone is talking about it but there are HUGE reasons why it’s being talked about right now, especially since the anime has caught up to some really cool parts in the story. So this is kind of a psa for it as well. PLEASE GIVE THIS MANGA/ANIME A CHANCE. IT’S REALLY AMAZING. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED IN THE SLIGHTEST, TRUST ME. ISAYAMA HAJIME IS AN AMAZING MANGAKA FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF WORK AND WIT STDUIO AND MAPPA HAVE ANIMATED IT SO SO SO WELL. Anyway. On to my big big rant under the cut :3

Ok so after literally bingeing through the whole anime for the last three days ever since ep5 was released imma just talk about the season and ep5 especially and the absolute BEAUTY that everything is.

With the beginning of s4, we get to see outside the walls, yeah? We see that there’s a war going on between marley and the mid-east allied forces over control of paradis and who gets the resources from it. And then we see the main gang: falco, gabi, zofia, and udo. Ya know, at first i absolutely hated seeing them. Like come on where’s the people that we CAME HERE to see?? That we saw on the teaser images?? But as the eps kept getting released and we started to get more of the story pieced together, we’re forced to see the other side’s beliefs. What the other side is fighting for. Like despite the eldians on the main land sharing the same ‘blood’ as the paradis people within the walls, they have grown up to believe that the people within the paradis walls are pure evil and devil’s spawn and part of the reason they’re oppressed in the first place. That was the whole purpose of those first 4 episodes. And to be honest, I kinda got attached to falco at least cause he was just an honest kid wanting to protect a girl he likes from becoming an actual warrior.

Rewatching the previous seasons and refreshing my memory on everything that has happened to everyone in the walls made me realize that they just made us get very attached to everyone on paradis, especially the main gang. For years, and I mean literal years, we have all grown up and grown attached to these people in the walls that only want their freedom from the titans. They just want to live peaceful lives and there are people that are brave enough to fight for that peace. No matter what it takes.

And ep5 brings everything full circle. It was absolutely mind blowing with every sentence that eren spoke to reiner. How they were both the same. How what they were doing was to save the world, their world. How they had no choice but to go through so many harsh experiences like killing other people and losing people they cared about and making difficult sacrifices for the sake of the humanity they knew.

It is absolutely beautiful how there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ side. Like, despite my bias toward the paradis people bc i’ve literally grown up learning about their story, you can’t say that there is an actual objective enemy that the viewers should side with. Everyone involved is just fighting for their own beliefs. And it’s just the cruel world that they live in that forces them to fight because again they have no choice.

Also just a quick reminder... AT THE END OF SEASON 3 PART 2 THE 104TH CADET KIDS ARE ALL 15. FIFTEEN YEARS OLD. MEANING THEY, INCLUDING REINER AND EREN OFC, ARE NINETEEN NOW. I swear they look like adults. And if THATS 19 then what does that make levi and hanji ??? In the teaser images, they look like they havent aged a DAY.

Anyway, in an article that i’ll link here that unpacks ep5, the author said, “[it] feels like everything in this season up until this point has been prologue and that Attack on Titan’s conflict is about to finally begin” and honestly i could not agree more. The previous seasons were dedicated to detailed world building and slow intake of knowledge about the titans and the actual world, leaving the viewer none the wiser than the characters that had grown up in the walls and to also give them time to get to know everyone in the walls. To become attached to them. And then completely blow their minds by saying that of course there’s more people outside the walls. In fact those people outside the walls despise the people inside the walls and wanted to kill them off and the titans are the least of their worries. 

So imma leave my absolute FAVORITE part of s4 ep5 (not my video but bless their soul for posting it)

And ofc imma still talk just a little bit abt this. GOSH THE TENSIONS. THE REALIZATIONS.

When reiner reveals to eren that it was all his fault that any of seasons 1-3 happened bc he forced the rest of his team to continue with the mission after marcel was killed. THE CUT TO EREN’S IRISES SHRINKING JUST A TINY BIT AT THAT REALIZATION. In another world, all of his loved ones might still be alive. He would’ve never had to experience the hell of the colossal titan breaking down Wall Maria.

AND THEN when willy says ‘more than anyone i wanted the eradication of eldians. but i dont want to die because i was born into this world’ and it’s a call back to WAYYYY back when the gang is talking with shadis and he tells eren what his mother said long ago “[my son is] already special. because he was born into this world” which eren indicates he remembers by the small reaction of his eyes widening at those words. He’s reminded that everyone is special... it’s just that they had the misfortune of being born into this world.

oh and one last thing:

the way they animated this was perfectly done. tho they could only fit willy into one frame and had the camera pan up to eren it still worked SO well

anywayyyyy if you reached this point thanks ig? 😅 gosh i love this story so much. it’s an amazing piece of work and will definitely go down in history. the whole story was woven together so well and rewatching everything after seeing ep 5 helped me connect parallels and realize each character’s motives and just why some characters did what they did. Can’t wait for ep 6 :))

[txladyj-blog]

Chapter 3 - This Time Around

a Daryl Dixon x OFC collaboration written by @xmistressmistrustx​

Rating: Explicit

Relationship: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character

Tags: Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Awkwardness, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Crush, Fluff and Humor, Angst and Humor, Mild Smut, Strong Language, Eventual Sex, Eventual Romance, Slow Burn, Canon Divergence, Some Canon Scenes and Dialogue

Chapters 15/?

On her way down to the water, Jess blinked the sun from her eyes and slapped her baseball cap on. They still had many more weeks left of the relentless sun and heat, the only let up being the late afternoons and early evenings when there was a little respite from the heat. Only then, when night crept in did the temperature change drastically, becoming colder but not enough for Jess to wear a jacket or sweater. She never really seemed to feel the cold all that much, she put it down to having lived in so many different places with such differing weather. Sarah had quite loudly blamed the fact that she had more layers of fat than most. Jess grit her teeth and shoved the comment away, hoping that not too many people from the group had heard her.

Her sneakers flapped against the dusty surface of the slope as she neared the bottom. Carol was in the corner by the shore, Ed watching her closely as she washed his shirt. Sophia sat on a rock nearby playing with her doll. Her soft chatter like a delightful tune to Jess’s ears. On the opposite side, was Daryl, knee deep in the water and holding up a sopping wet shirt with a huge bloodstain right in the middle. She scuffed towards him and stopped by the waters edge.

“How you doing, Stinky?” She chirped.

Daryl glanced over his shoulder at her. He was wearing a simple, off-white vest that was turning transparent from the water.

“Fine.” He called back.

She tilted her head to one side as she observed him trying to remove the stubborn stain from the garment. Her knowledge of history and attendance at many, authentic renaissance fairs had led to a vast knowledge of life without washer dryers and laundromats. She kicked off her sneakers, rolled her jeans up and waded into the water.

“Give it here, you’re making a pigs ear of that.” She chuckled.

“Been washin’ my stuff in rivers all my life, you can’t teach me shit, girl” he shot back, although he didn’t sound angry, more intrigued than anything else. She stopped beside him, the water lapping at her thighs. In the blistering heat, it was a welcome respite. Her body temperate cooled and she really wanted to just dive in and submerge herself in the tantalizing freshness of the water.

“You’re so stubborn. Just humor me, c’mon.” She said, reaching out for the shirt.

He reluctantly dragged it up from the water. Once again, she couldn’t help but notice his strong arms and dragged her lower lip under her front teeth. When her eyes lifted to his face, she was alarmed to find him staring right at her.

“Jess?” He asked with one eyebrow raised.

“Um. Sorry. I wasn’t looking- I mean...” She pointed a finger at him “…give me the damn shirt” and snatched it from his grasp. “Uh…” She shook the image from her head and waded a couple of steps to her left, meeting a large rock protruding from the water. “You need to use a rock. Like this.”

Swirling the shirt around in the water, she kept her eyes firmly on what she was doing, knowing that if she risked a peek, he would be able to see straight through her and her inability to ignore his two best features. Gathering the shirt up, she began massaging it into the smooth rock. He silently looked on from behind her, craning his neck to see what she was doing. Then, she took hold of one end of the shirt and beat it against the surface with a loud slap that echoed across the quarry each time. Daryl thought it looked like she was taking some serious anger out on his one and only shirt and hoped it would still be in one piece when she was done. When she stepped back, dipped it in the water and held it up, the stain had visibly diminished

“That was a lot of blood.” She remarked with a small pant. The last thing she wanted was for him to know how out of breath she was from battering a rock with a large piece of fabric.

“Yeah” He agreed. “Aint mine.”

“I know.” She said quickly, meaning he was now staring at her again. “That’s what I-I was looking for” She stammered, motioning to his arm. “Injuries.”

He nodded, feigning agreement. “Yeah, sure.”

“Damn right. That’s me. Always checking folks for injuries.” She babbled as she wrung the shirt out and attempted to slosh past him.

“No ya aint.” He argued with a small smile.

She sighed and turned to him “Alright. No, I don’t. But I really was with you. Honestly.”

“Right” He grinned.  

“Here.” She said, tossing the twisted ball of fabric at him “I’m going before I embarrass myself even more.”

“Sure” He grunted. “Oh, don’t forget to check Merle for injuries.”

She stopped and slowly looked over her shoulder, her lips pushed into a thin line before she released a bashful laugh and flapped her hands at her sides, tilting her head back and sighing at the sky.

“That’s for callin’ me Stinky.” He confirmed while wading back to the shore and passing her.

“OK. We’re even. I’ll leave checking Merle over to twisted sister number 2” she mentioned, her hands coming up and dramatically shielding her mouth as she gasped and giggled loudly, the sound bouncing from the cliffs around the water. Daryl let himself go and laughed along with her as they both paddled through the water and back to dry land.

Gives as good as she gets, this girl.

Carol looked up when she heard Daryl and Jess laughing with one another as she walked out of the water, her lips curled into a smile when she saw Daryl beaming from ear to ear, a sight she had never seen since she’d met him for the first time. She’d assumed he never displayed such an expression, but it was now clear that he just didn’t have anything to smile about before.

“I say you could stop?” Ed snapped from behind her. “I need that damn shirt.”

She resumed her task without argument, the happy scene she’d witnessed making it all a little easier.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

That night, Jess was taken off guard when she passed the RV. She held an empty, metal bowl after eating alone in her tent and was distracted by a whistle from the top of the vehicle. She looked up to see Daryl reclined in his seat, in his usual spot but a lot earlier than usual. He nudged his head up, beckoning for her to join him. It had been weeks since they’d first met and she felt a sense of pride when she thought of how far they’d come and how they'd managed to at least partially break down each others barriers. She wasn’t yet sure about saying they were friends, but she was certain they enjoyed each other’s company.

Returning her plastic cutlery and her camping bowl to the bucket in the food prep area, she passed Sarah and Jodie who were immersed in hushed whispers as usual. Also, around the campfire, was Glenn, Andrea, her sister Amy, Merle, Dale and T-dog. She offered them all a polite smile, receiving the same back. Carol and Rick retreated into their tents with their families and Shane was out checking the fences. Having never really seen Daryl and Jess on their regular perch, everyone exchanged glances when she climbed the ladder to the RV, their nightly routine now revealed to the group.

Appearing beside him, she sat down and caught his eye. Saying nothing, they sat side by side for a while until the chatter resumed below and both of them were certain the topic of conversation was not directed at them. Jess slumped down in her seat, rested her head on the backrest and closed her eyes while Daryl lit a cigarette. After a while, Jess found she’d drifted off into a light sleep and woke only when she heard Sarah wish Daryl a good night in her typical, flirtatious high school cheerleader voice. Daryl ignored her.

Jess sat up and rubbed at her face, clearing her throat and raising her eyebrows at the distance Daryl was able to flick his cigarette end out into the distance.

“What were you doing when the word ended?” She wanted to know. The sound of her voice seemed to slice through the atmosphere like a knife and she smarted at the sound. “Wow, never thought I’d say that sentence.” She added more quietly.

He flicked his lighter on and off over and over again as he struggled to decide if he should tell her the truth or not. Concluding that he had previously snapped at her and offended her and she was still sat with him, he guessed she would be able to handle it.

“Was workin’ my way through four lines of coke when I looked up and saw the TV had that national guard alert thing on it.” He disclosed.

“Yeah, we saw that on our phones. My friend and I. We were at a renaissance fair.” She said casually.

He briefly wondered why she didn’t seem bothered that he confessed so openly to being a cocaine user when it occurred to him that she simply took people as they were, flaws or not.

“A what?” He questioned.  

“A Renaissance fair. It’s a recreation of a historical setting with costumes and role play and stuff, for a whole weekend.”

His expression was one of pure bafflement as he stared at her.  

“So, you like… get all dressed up and run around in a field pretending to’ to fight or some shit?”

“Well, that’s the battle reenactment part. But it happens, Yeah.” She affirmed.

His brow furrowed. “You’re kinda weird, y’know that?”

“I think that’s what you like about me.” She grinned as she leaned towards him and nudged his elbow with hers. It was the first time she’d actually physically touched him aside from letting him help her up from the ground in the woods. He didn’t react which she could only take as a good sign.

“I don’t like nobody.” He scoffed.  

Jess huffed and rolled her eyes, a bright smile on her face that he could see clearly enough due to light from a lantern between them.

“Yes, you do. Just accept that you’re as weird as me and that’s why we get along.” She grinned.

Part of him hated that she was able to draw smiles out of him like no one else he had ever known, but the other part of him liked the fact that when he was with her, things seemed that little bit easier.

“Whatever.” He dismissed.

She laughed to herself and got up, reaching her arms high above her head and stretching her muscles.  

“Where ya goin?” He questioned.  

“Back to my tent.” She yawned. “Tired”

“Ya ain’t got no more weird hobbies to tell me about?” He continued.

Jess was mildly shocked by the question, he wanted her to tell him about her hobbies? He wanted to talk to her at all? It no longer felt like she was forcing him to converse with her, he’d taken the lead this time and she was more than happy to let him have it.  

“Wasn’t aware you were that interested.” She admitted.

“I ain’t. Just nothin better to do.” He shrugged.

Jess plonked herself back in the rickety chair again and shifted her body to face him, throwing one leg over the other.

“OK, so if my hobbies are weird, what are yours?” She challenged.

At the prospect of being asked more about himself and his life, his desire to talk lessened considerably in seconds.

“Ain’t talkin’ ‘bout me” He mumbled.

“I am.” She glared at him with a bold and entertained look.  

Accepting that he wasn’t going to get out of answering her probing and he was partly to blame for encouraging her to stay, he nibbled his bottom lip and answered her question.

“Fine. Huntin’, drinkin’, gettin’ high”

"And spittin' chaw in a bucket?" She joked.

"Asshole" He grumbled as she covered her mouth with her hand and stifled a giggle.

Birds flew overhead, a now rare sight that meant there were still some species out there somewhere, flourishing away from all the decay. Jess swayed back and forth in her seat with her arms wrapped around herself.

“Maybe you can teach me how to hunt, drink and get high one day.” She suggested breezily.

“Nah, I ain’t wastin’ time with no lightweight.” He declined.

“Just makes me a cheap date.” She realized instantly that she’d just come out with something unintentionally flirtatious and panicked. “I mean, yeah…uh… probably a lightweight.” She laughed awkwardly as she played with the hem of her T-shirt.

“Ya ever been huntin’?” He wanted to know, ignoring her outward discomfort and wondering what it was that made her so fidgety sometimes.

“No. I’d like to.” She said.

He nodded, leaning forward and picking up a leaf from the roof of the RV. He fiddled with it, folded it in half and then in half again.

“Too dangerous to be out there without knowin’ whatcha doin’.” He expressed.

“Yeah. Guess you’re right. And I wouldn’t.” She agreed.

Believing she’d murdered the conversation with her careless chit chat, she stopped talking and resigned herself to sitting quietly and tapping her sneaker on the edge of the roof again. More time passed and Jess couldn’t think of a way to get up and leave without seeming embarrassed or strange. She knew she was overthinking everything but being in the presence of someone she was actually starting to find highly attractive was unsettling and she wasn’t used to it.

“So, what’s the difference?” She heard him utter out of nowhere.

“What?”

“Said ya ain’t shy, ya introverted. What’s the difference?”

Two enquiries into her personality and interests in one night meant that she may have been all over the place and afraid to do something wrong, but the night had still been a small triumph in itself.

“Shy means you’re anxious about talking to people. Nervous and timid. Introverts aren’t always like that; we just need to re-charge sometimes. We’re confident with people we’re comfortable around. I’ll talk to people but I usually find most folks just drain me. I guess I’m just quiet by nature, but I’m not shy.” She explained.

“Hm.” He grunted. “Some kind of head shrinker tell you that?”

“No. It’s kind of common knowledge. Or at least I thought it was.” She disclosed “I think maybe your introverted too, it’s something we have in common.”

“Nah. I just think most folks are assholes.” He countered quickly

Jess giggled at his stubborn streak and for the second time Daryl realized that he liked the fact that she thought him funny. His mouth quirked up into a half smile.

“I’ll leave you alone to recharge your introvert batteries.” She winked at him. “Goodnight.”

She didn’t hear him protest or call her back as she descended the ladder so when her feet hit the ground, she made straight for her tent, longing for her sleeping bag and wishing she had a pen so she could record the events of her time spent sat with someone she really would have liked to have called her friend.

“Hey.” A voice called out. She turned back and saw him smoking yet another cigarette and leaning forward in his seat. “Ya wanna learn how to track animals?” A thin line of smoke rose from where he sat, high up into the air before it vanished.

A rush of excitement thundered through her and she wrestled with the urge not to grin too widely.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” She squeaked, her voice emerging in higher pitch than she’d expected.

“Sunrise. Meet me at the tree line over there” he lifted his arm, pointing across the camp. “Make sure ya have somethin to eat first. Ya pass out on me i’ma leave ya ass out there.”

Jess knew it was a playful dig at her making him eat a bowl of berries before going hunting and liked the fact that he’d remembered and used it on her. Turning the tables and proving that their jibing at one another was enjoyed as much by him as it was by her.

“OK. I will.” She beamed. “See you at sunrise”

“One more thing” He rasped, standing up and driving a hand into his jeans pocket. Her eyes grew larger when she saw the plastic box clasped in his fingers as he tugged them out of his pocket. He threw it down to her, the box clattering in the dust at her feet. She looked down at it and wanted nothing more than to run back to the ladder and hug him. Five precious, black, ballpoint pens.

“Yours stopped workin’, right?” He checked.

“Yeah.” She responded as she gingerly bent down to pick them up.

“Saw ‘em when I was out on a run with Rick the other day.”

He thought of me when he was out on a run?

She opened her mouth to speak, but what was a simple gesture from Daryl was a huge deal to Jess. He had just given her back the ability to express her emotions and keep her sanity in check. Now, she would need no more dangerous walks in the woods alone and she could write until she fell asleep.

“This is um…you don’t know how grateful I am for this. Thank you, Daryl.” She said, swallowing hard and looking right at him.

“No problem.” He grunted, raising a hand at her in a small wave “Night.”

Before she succumbed to sleep, Jess sat cross legged on her sleeping bag with her torch in her mouth, shining down on the page and began to write.

It’s funny, I never thought someone throwing a box of pens at me would mean so much. Daryl knew I couldn’t write because my one and only pen stopped working, so he brought me back a box from a supply run. I must have looked at him like he had grown an extra head. I just couldn’t believe he thought of me while he was out there. I can write again, my mind feels clearer already and I’m happier. All because he got me some stupid pens.

OK, maybe it isn’t just the pens. He seems to be coming around to the idea of us being friends. Tonight, he didn’t actually say it but he wanted me to go sit with him on the RV and then tried to act as though he wasn’t interested in me at all while asking me questions about myself. He’s actually got a sense of humor and a personality that he’s slowly but surely letting me see and it’s awesome. He’s pretty awesome.  

But he caught me looking at him today. It was mortifying and I’m so angry at myself. Yeah, the guy is hot. But I thought I was stronger than to get caught practically drooling at him. He knew too. He knew exactly what was going on and I feel like my life is officially over.

Hopefully, I’ll get eaten by a walker or he’ll get a bout of amnesia.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Her T-shirt was sticking to her back with sweat. She really wanted to know how Daryl did this every day in such heat and sometimes even with his leather vest on. She was sure she’d pass out and had consumed most of the water she brought with her before they’d even been out for an hour. Daryl crept along in front of her, examining the ground and snapped branches of foliage In the woods. Try as she might, she kept falling behind and her legs felt like they were made of cement.

I really should have used that gym membership.

“C’mon, keep up. Stay close to me.” Daryl instructed from in front of her. She could see that the back of his shirt was also dampened with sweat, but unlike her, he showed little to no signs of fatigue.

“It’s so damn hot out here” she complained “am I in hell?!”

“Purgatory at best.” He mumbled

She dragged the back of her hand through the perspiration on her top lip.

Great. A sweat moustache. Sexy.

“Looooord. I’m MEEELTING!” She cried.

“Shh!” He whirled around, bundling her against a tree with his fingers wrapped around the top of one of her arms. The movement was so quick and unexpected and her flesh stung but she didn’t flinch, his temper too short for her to react. She couldn’t deny that fear tickled her veins and she was rooted to the spot. “You stupid or somethin?! Ain’t just animals out here. Place is full of Walkers and ya gonna get us both bit if ya don’t keep ya god damn voice down.” He hissed at her through gritted teeth.

“OK. I’m sorry.” She whispered. “You’re hurting me”

In a split second, he was full of guilt for losing his temper at her as he examined her alarmed expression. He looked down at his hand clamped tightly around her arm. He quickly let go as if her skin was made from lava, seeing the red mark he’d left behind. An angry handprint. He shrank back and she noticed his eyes kept dropping and coming back to the burning patch around her bicep.

“I-I didn’t mean to-“ he mumbled.

“-It’s OK.” She interrupted “really, it’s OK.”

He dragged a hand over his face, his crossbow rattling against his legs as he held it loosely in his grasp with his other hand.

“Come on, let’s keep going.” She suggested, stepping away from the tree and motioning with her hand for him to pass her.

“Wait” he grunted. She stopped and stood still, witnessing what she could only describe as pure, genuine regret in the angry, aggressive redneck.

“I wouldn’t hurt ya. Not on purpose.” He told her

“Daryl, I know” Jess tried

“Naw, Naw” He dismissed, waving a hand at her. “I saw it. in your eyes. Ya scared of me.”

Jess exhaled slowly and tried to ground herself. This was a conversation she had definitely not anticipated and one with which she knew she needed to exercise extreme caution with.

“You just surprised me. I’m not scared of you. I wouldn’t spend half as much time with you if I was. I understand why you got mad at me, I’m kind of annoying and I don’t know how to handle this new world like you do.”

He paced about in the small space between the trees in front of her. Back to front, side to side, before he finally stopped and began to bite his thumbnail.

“Sorry.” He muttered from behind his hand.

Jess smiled at him. In that moment, she knew that Daryl was not good at apologies and had very likely, hardly ever, genuinely apologized for anything in his life.

“I told you. It’s OK”

He nodded once, raised his crossbow again and charged past her.

“Ya gotta keep up so I can keep an eye on ya.” He grumbled

She took a quick swig of water from the bottle that was fastened to a plastic strap on her belt and carried on after him, wishing that it was raining, or snowing, or that she was standing in the water of the quarry washing clothes. But the view made up for it and she couldn’t lie to herself, watching Daryl stalk about between the trees, concentration etched on his face, his crossbow at the ready and his strong physique shining in the light of the sun as he moved was almost enough to make her forget what she was doing there altogether.  But while she thought Daryl nice to look at, she remained platonically interested in him and what he had to teach her there and then, knowing that someday, she might need to use the information presented to her.

“See this right here.” He stopped and pointed with his boot to a nibbled patch of grass “deer.”

Jess finally caught up, standing next to him and regarding the slightly disturbed area on the ground.

“How do you know that?!” She asked with surprise.

“They’re messy eaters. They press it against their top palette and yank it right outta the ground.”

Her face changed and she thought for a moment as her lips rose into a smile.

“Like a really cute lawn mower.” She commented.

He just looked at her as if she was crazy.

“What about Walkers? Can you track them?” She wanted to know as she peered down at the missing grass, noting the disturbed earth under it.

“Walkers and live humans are easiest to track. We leave footprints, stamped down grass, broken twigs and messed up foliage. That kinda shit.” He explained.

She began to back away with a glint in her eye that he didn’t like the look of.

“So if I ran off, you’d be able to track me?” She asked.

He followed her, walking with her as she stepped backwards. She was challenging him and he didn’t like it one bit. Not out there in the open. Not where she could get killed.

“I could, but runnin’ off would be a real dumb thing to do.” He warned.

“Look at me, it’s not like I’m going to get far.” She gestured to her torso with her hands.

“Stop.” He ordered firmly

“Maybe I should try, could use the exercise” she shrugged lightheartedly, aware she was once again prodding at his temper but caring very little. Angry Daryl wasn’t all that bad to look at either.

He was glaring at her, his blue eyes intense. For such a mysterious, introverted and antisocial person, she couldn’t figure out why it was that he seemed to manage and maintain eye contact with her on a number of occasions. Not that she was complaining.

“Ya stay with me, so I can keep ya safe.” He affirmed.

His switch in tone from relaxed to stern and protective stirred something in Jess. She liked the way his eyes locked with hers as he talked about keeping her safe. She hadn’t expected this level of care from him and could only hazard a guess that it was because he actually did like her enough to want her around. She nodded and gestured with her hand for him to continue leading the way.

“How did you learn this?” She queried.

“My ol’ man used to take me out into the woods. Blindfold me and bail. Had to track him.”

“Well, it worked.”

“Yeah. He’d tan my hide every time I got it wrong.”

Jess smiled at the ground as she walked but it soon dawned on her that he could be serious and that there was the possibility that Daryl didn’t have the best upbringing in the world.

“You taught anyone else how to do this?” She continued in her quest to find out more about him.

“Naw.”

“Don’t you and Merle usually hunt together?”

“Not no more. We split up. He’s more interested in getting’ laid. Stop askin’ questions, every animal in Georgia can hear ya.” He scolded.

“Sorry.” She muttered as she scanned the area around them. A darkened, bumpy patch around a tree stump caught her eye and she skirted away from Daryl, approaching it with some hesitation.

“Are those edible?” She questioned while leaning forwards over the gathering of mushrooms.

“Again with the damn questions” he complained as he stomped over to where she stood and followed her gaze.

“I have to ask questions to learn” she corrected, straightening up and raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, can eat those” He answered, ignoring her last statement.. “But don’t eat nothin’ like that without askin’ me or Merle or someone that knows what the hell they’re talkin’ ‘bout. The wrong ones could kill ya.”

“Or get me real high.” She suggested with a wink.

“You ever done shrooms?” His face was unimpressed, not taken in by her playful line of questioning.

She placed both hands on her hips and let out a small laugh “Do I look like I’ve done shrooms?”

“Right. No. Don’t touch any unless ya desperate.” He told her before resuming her lesson about different types of tracks. He explained how animals have certain ways of moving which leave footprints that signal what they are. Along with how to identify bird tracks and how to cover her own path if she ever need to escape Into the woods.

“Why would I run away from another live human?” She asked.

“Can’t trust people no more. Some of ‘em are worse than the Walkers.” He replied. “Ya see another person, keep ya distance and ya weapon ready. They could steal your shit or wanna eat ya with the way things are goin’.”

That’s food for thought.

“I’m a catch. I’d keep them fed for at least a fortnight.” She chirped.

He suddenly stopped and glared back at her. She couldn’t read his expression, somewhere between irritation and confusion. He said nothing and carried on walking.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The majority of the day was highly educational for Jess and she took a vested interest in being able to hunt her own food and escape without trace into the trees. She’d even been able to practice a few things. Daryl let her use his crossbow to shoot a squirrel and she shocked herself when she celebrated the animals demise instead of crying about it. That was her squirrel, he had told her. She was going to skin it and eat it because it was her first ever successful hunt. She felt a swelling sense of pride in her chest when he handed it to her and made sure she carried it back to camp.

As they neared the tree line that separated them from the clearing in which the fire was being started for the evening, Jess and Daryl slowly wandered along, neither of them really wanting to go back and sit among the others. Their time alone in the woods had been mutually enjoyable and peaceful and Daryl considered asking her if she wanted to do the same again the next day. Before he could speak, she beat him to it.

“I enjoyed today.” She confessed. “It was very educational.”

“Me too.” He replied quietly, keeping his vision on his path and hoisting the string of squirrels and various other small, dead animals further up his shoulder.

“Where’s your vest?” She enquired, using it as an excuse to catch a glimpse of his arms.

Screw it. I’ve earned this.

He looked up at her briefly, catching her eyes sweeping his upper arm and chose to ignore it as as he prepared for her reaction to what he was about to tell her.

“Washed it this mornin’. Was dryin’ when I left.” She began to giggle to herself and felt him shove her in the arm in jest. “Shut up.”  He grunted.

“He actually listened to me. Oh my god.” She said to herself with a wide grin.

“It’s a one off. Don’t act so smug.” He grumbled as they both stepped out of the trees into the open area of the camp. Activity was at a minimum. Shane and Lori were talking in the corner, Carol sat with Sophia by the fire as Glenn fanned the initial flames. Andrea was atop of the RV while Dale was at the food station. Jess turned to Daryl with her squirrel gripped in her hand by its tail.

“Thank you. For taking me out.” She said sincerely.

“You’re welcome.” He said with a nod.

It was a clear and sincere acceptance and strangely polite for him. But she appreciated it all the same. He intended to follow it up with an invitation to do the same the next day, but something shattered his plan.

“Thank you for taking me out Daryl I love youuuuu!” A high-pitched voice mocked from behind them.

Daryl whirled around and locked his sights on Sarah.

“What’s up? You jealous or somethin?! Huh?” He raged as he stormed towards them. Jess managed to grab one of his arms to stop him but she shrugged her off and told her in no uncertain terms that she was going to let him say his piece.

”I should ram this squirrel down her throat” Jess said under her breath.

Daryl’s rage was evidently scaring Sarah into submission to an extent. When he stopped in front of her and loomed over as she perched on a tree stump, his eyes narrowed and Jodie, who was sat beside Sarah, instinctively moved away and stood nearby like the true coward she was.

“You deaf as well as stupid?” He seethed.

“N-no.” She said with an air of fake confidence..

“You wouldn’t wanna go out there anyways, I’d feed ya skinny ass to the Walkers before the heat melts that plastic shit in ya face.” He hissed. “You got a thing for Rednecks? That why ya jealous?”

“No”

“Funny. Ain’t what I’ve seen.”

“Don’t you dare.” Sarah warned

“C’mere. I gotta tell ya somethin.” He leaned closer, curling his index finger at her and gesturing for her to move forwards. She refused, so he defiantly positioned his face by her ear. “Threatenin’ me ain’t wise, bitch. Not with what I saw ya doin with my brother in the woods.”

“You didn’t see anything. I wasn’t doing anything.” She protested through gritted teeth.

He moved back slightly, looking right at her. His lip curling in disgust. He hated girls like Sarah and Jodie as much as Jess seemed to. He too had endured their persecution at high school.

“Harder, Merle. Harder.” He mocked quietly adapting his voice and making it higher-pitched.

Sarah’s face twisted into pure panic.

“Oh my god. Shut your mouth. You some kind of pervert?” She fumed, quickly looking over her shoulder at a petrified Jodie, stood hugging herself and biting her nails.

“Nah, that’s Merle. But ya know that already, don’t ya?” He leaned close to her again, hearing her draw in a jagged breath. “Maybe next time he’s balls deep in ya, you should keep it down. Just a suggestion.”

Jess was impressed at his ability to render them both silent and reasonably terrified in seconds and she only wished she could do the same. His comment regarding Sarah’s badly executed lip fillers had almost made her bellow with laughter. But she exercised some restraint and watched on with dignity. Then came his graphic ridicule of her sexual activity with Merle in the woods. She hadn’t seen this side to him. Spiteful and savage and she had felt a twinge of discomfort at his brash and crude references. However, she struggled to find a reason why it wasn’t justified and decided that it all boiled down to the fact that Sarah shouldn’t be dishing it out if she couldn't take it.

It was some time before Daryl finally backed down after an intense stare off between then, but when he did, Sarah sat motionless and humiliated in her spot, her hands clasped in her lap and her jaw pulled tight.

“C’mon” Daryl said to Jess as he passed “let’s cook this shit up.”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I think I have a crush on him. I’m so pissed at myself. Why do I always like guys that wouldn’t look at me twice?! Who am I trying to kid? No one looks at me twice anyway. Suppose I’ll just have to window shop, as usual. The world ended. Only a few survived and my brain thinks it’s an appropriate time to develop a crush on someone. It seems it’s been noticed by the twisted sisters too. No doubt I’ll have to endure more mockery at their hands. Or maybe What Daryl said to Sarah will make her think twice in the future. I don’t know. It was kind of…hot. Watching him shut her up like that. I can only hope it’s stays with her and she leaves us alone. Us. That’s strange. Me. Leave me alone.

Sometimes, I feel like they’re how I’m supposed to be. Maybe if I were more like them, things would be easier. Are they roses and I’m just a Dandelion? Roses may have thorns but if you breathe in instead of out at a Dandelion, it’ll choke you.

Choosing to sit with Rick and Carl after everyone had eaten, Jess jotted down words in her journal, tilting it to avoid Carl’s curious gaze. After weeks at the camp, Jess concluded that the cop next to her and his young son were actually quite nice company and decent conversation in the late evening hours when the sun would set and she’d start to look forward to retreating to the top of the RV with someone who had become her favorite individual to be around. Daryl.

Glenn and T-dog sat on the other side of Jess, with Andrea beside them, Dale on the RV and Merle next to Daryl, who was positioned square in her sightline when she looked up. He carved bolts and sharpened his hunting knife while Carl, Rick and Jess conversed quietly between themselves.

Merle nudged his brothers arm and Daryl’s hands stilled, his knife poised and still over a rock in case he sliced his hand off as a result of Merle’s careless action.

“Hey, Darlina. What ya say we head into the city at some point? Pick us up a little whiskey for these cold nights.”

“City’s full of walkers. Ain’t worth it.” Daryl replied with a shake of his head.

“Ahh, don’t be no sissy! Be in and out faster’n a bat outta hell.” Merle reasoned.

It was the worst idea Daryl had heard in a long time. In fact, the last bad idea he’d heard had also come from Merle and all the bad ideas before that. A pattern had formed and Daryl was no longer interested in being involved in any of his big brothers hairbrained and dangerous schemes.

“Yeah, maybe.” He mumbled in an attempt to quieten him.

Rick, who had overheard what was said, lifted his head from watching his son sitting on the floor next to Jess.

“It’s wise to keep a clear head right now. you both know Walkers are working their way up the mountains” He offered.

Merle stood up. A lit cigarette hung from his lips, the ash from the end flittering down from the orange end like confetti.

“Yo, Sherriff good boy? This don’t concern you” Merle snapped with a point of his finger. In a second, he was gone, vanished into the approaching darkness and not a single soul sat around the fire cared where.  

Rick sighed and looked sideways at Jess, who was offering him a sympathetic smile as she turned a page in her journal and carried on scribbling.

“What are you writing?” He asked.

“Nothing exciting. Haikus.” She muttered. Making a mistake on the page, she scribbled it out, her tongue emerging from the corner of her mouth in concentration.

“Haikus” Rick repeated.

“Dad, a Haiku is a short, Japanese poem that has a 5-7-5 syllable rule.” Carl interrupted. Rick was more than aware of what a Haiku was, but decided to humor his son anyway and presented his best, faked surprised look.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Jess grinned at Carl.

“I see. Can we hear one?” Rick asked.

Jess never shared any of the fruits of her labor when she was writing, always finding it too personal and revealing to read out to anyone, let alone people she hadn’t known all that long. She was no Haiku expert, nor was she all that into them, but the short, direct nature of them was both an appealing hurdle for her to overcome and something that keep her mind sharp.

“Oh, I don’t know…” She mused.

“Yeah! Please?” Carl begged, shifting around so he could peer at her with inquisitive eyes.

Daryl looked up from across the fire and paused his task. He slid his knife back into its holster and leaned against the wooden box behind him, bending one leg and draping an arm over it.  

“Uh… OK. sure.” Jess reluctantly agreed. She cleared her throat and tried to speak without her voice shaking. Suddenly feeling like she was stood up at the front of class at high school with a room full of judgement staring right back at her. But she wasn’t at high school, this was different and the young boy on tenterhooks in front of her was so enthusiastic, she felt too bad to decline.

“I stand taller to

Overcome the shadows

Of those who doubt me.”

Her cheeks reddened and she stared at her handwriting on the page, noticing one letter ‘a’ that wasn’t quite joined up enough. The silence around her was deafening.

“That’s… personal.” Rick remarked “but good. I mean, I don’t know what I’m talking about but-”

“-it is good. I think it’s good.” Carl affirms. “You should write more of those.”

His encouragement was endearing and she could only hope that his happy demeanor would continue, despite their dire situation.

“Thanks.” She muttered bashfully as she drew a star in the corner of the page.

“Should write a Haiku for everyone.” Glenn suggested from her other side. “Merle’s would be interesting, that’s for sure”

He was right. What could she say about Merle? With an out of the blue surge of confidence, she wrote down what was in her head, smirking at the words on the page and giving Glenn a quick wink. Before sharing her Haiku, she checked that Merle was well out of earshot or she would have some serious explaining to do.

“Bug zapper becomes

Merle’s entertainment after

TV repossessed.”

Nervous giggles filtered through the group around the fire as most of them also checked over their shoulders to make sure Merle wasn’t present. Jess scanned the laughing faces to see Daryl dip his head and smile into his lap. A rush of pride and self-satisfaction surged through her at the thought that she’d managed to make at least five people laugh, including the brother of the man she was making fun of and the person she had developed a crush on.

As the chuckling subsided, Daryl tilted his head back and rested a cigarette between his lips. Lighting it, his eyes never left hers and she began to wonder what he was doing and how strange it must have looked to everyone else. Luckily, no one was paying them any mind. Crickets chirped in the surrounding long grass in the tree line and the chilled, nightly breeze arrived, Andrea pulled her jacket closer around her and shivered.

“Bout me?” Daryl rasped.

The group fell silent, all exchanging intrigued glances. Jess stifled a huge grin, knowing it was quite something for him to pipe up in a social situation like this and put himself in the spotlight.

“OK.” She giggled “Daryl…. Lets see.” She began to write on the page again as the others grinned and waited for the most anticipated Haiku of what had become the nights entertainment. When Jess was ready, she flashed him a wide, perfectly white smile and the brightness and life in her eyes seemed to hit him like a lightning bolt.

“Daryl. Person who

Lacks class but enjoys a life

Without rich folks rules”

Rick couldn’t help but snort with laughter along with Carl. Jess joined them and had to build up the bravery to look back at Daryl. When she did, she saw him pick up a smell pebble and throw it at her. It bounced off her sneaker and skittered across the dirt. But his smile was missed with a blink, wanting to hide how amused he really was from those around him.

“Dunno whatcha talkin’ ‘bout. I got class”, He muttered.

“I have more class in my little finger” Andrea commented.

Instead of acknowledging Andrea, he continued to focus on the Haiku writing girl in the vintage Batgirl T-shirt that was able to make him feel more like himself than he ever did before. She was self-aware, able to make fun of herself, different and smart and she was as much of a mystery to him as he was to her. Neither one of them had experienced such an unconventional friendship with a person that under normal circumstances, they never would have crossed paths with anyway. But as she watched him with her unassuming, innocent and dark features, it dawned on him. Something he never thought about anyone. Ever. She was pretty.

For the first time in as far back as he could remember, he’d had a decent and enjoyable day. Not only was he able to do what he loved most and did most days, he was able to share it with someone that genuinely wanted to learn something from him and respected his ways of doing things. She wasn’t Merle, inpatient and arrogant. She was receptive, fascinated and soaked up information quicker than he’d expected. He was looking forward to sitting with her on the RV after dark.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5

[cavillkingdom]

‘One in a million.’

Part 2

Note: I decided to write the Platinum's events happening from Raleigh's point of view, so it'll definetly have dialogues from the original story. I hope you like it.

Part 1

M!Raleigh x MC (Juliet Evans/Angel)

Rate: G

Words count: 2252 words.

Tag list: @valtorian-duchess @perriewinklenerdie @lovedrakewalker @heauxplesslydevoted @ironsmaug @choicesgirl94 @furiouscloddonutpeanut @teamdrake27 @umiumichan @blackwidow2721 @companion-mala @emceesynonymroll @madaboutchoices @sparesomediamonds @sophrosinn @nikkisha16 @mile9213 @livedinawomansworld @emomoustache @rosaquesalz @dearlavenderwitch @ccolz88-blog @makitokito @lumielikesbooks @grumpyramsey @paidamarceline @thequeenchoices

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Another day at the backstage of One in a Million, Raleigh would never admit it, but he was enjoying himself as he watched the team trying to catch any moment of intimacy between the mentors and their contestants. While he tuned his guitar against a wall, far of prying eyes, he saw Juliet and Avery hugging, kissing as they waved bye-bye to the cameras.

“That's enough mugging for the camera. Juliet and I have got some work to do.” Avery stopped the camera man in the middle of his sentence, in a sweet way that only Avery Wilshere could do.

Raleigh put down his guitar and approached the duo.

“Back in the ring, huh?” He smiled.

“Nothing more than she can handle. Isn't this right, Juliet?” Avery smiled big to Juliet.

“If I can tackle these cameras, I can tackle this mentorship session.” She answered excited.

“That's the spirit. It's all about making the press work for you.” Raleigh said smiling as he greeted some fans who were nearby as the cameras tried to keep up with him. He had fun with that, had fun watching as they ran after him like crazy. He couldn't help to look back at Juliet, who watched his every move and laughed nonchalantly.

He approached again as Juliet and Avery talked to Fiona Syed, Avery's publicist. He got involved into that chatter and Juliet managed to push Avery and Raleigh to a possible collab.

“You barely know me and there you are, giving me a hard time.” Raleigh laughed shaking his head.

“First of all, you were the one who decided to joke about it. I just gave my opinion.” She said as she smiled slyly to Raleigh. “Second, a collab between the two of you? Oh, come on, Raleigh, I can practically see it at the top of the charts right now.” She said as she laughed. “It'll be the best of both worlds.”

“There's one hell of a chance that mothers stop loving you, Avery.” Raleigh considered and Avery laughed in surprise.

“Don't worry about it. That's very much impossible.” Juliet assured. “They'd probably choose to believe that his good manners and golden boy's ways would just be a good influence on you.”

“Oh, geez... If that's the case, I'm already sorry for them.” Raleigh said immediately.

“Keep tellin' yourself that, Carrera. You may fool all those people out there, but I'm getting to know you better than that.” She smirked at him and he laughed.

“You wish, Evans.” Raleigh shrugged and Juliet laughed.

“Well, we have to go now." Avery spoke as he laughed at the conversation. “We'll see you later, Raleigh.”

They both said goodbye and left Raleigh behind. He continued to socialize with some fans and then he found a spot where he could stay hidden from absolutely anyone trying to find him. Juliet was a constant thought, much to his own dissatisfaction.

Sometimes he found himself thinking about the way she interacted with everyone, always smiling, always making positive comments, but at the same time, she was a little bit snarky and sassy. She was fun and, not to mention, hot as hell. She was always seeing the best on everything, he tried, but he couldn't ignore the fact that she got to see beyond his barriers so easily that could be annoying.

And there were only two days since the day they've met.

“She barely knows me. It won't take long until she's just another one in the infinity list of people who have been disappointed on Raleigh Carrera.” He thought sighing as he strummed the strings on his guitar.

“Oh, damn!” She said as she stopped halfway. “Sorry, I've thought that there was nobody in here.” She apologized as she turned around facing the way she came from.

“No, wait!” Raleigh called her making her turn to face him again. He realized something was wrong. Every time they bumped into each other, Juliet was always positive, but at that moment, it was as if a dark cloud hung over her head. “What’s wrong?”

“There's nothing wrong.” She answered quickly and he laughed.

“Ok, kitten, you're gonna have to do better than that to get me convinced.” He arched an eyebrow and she stared at him for a few seconds before she sighed loudly. “So are you going to tell me what's wrong or I'll have to guess?” He asked and she gave him a tired smile.

“Why do you care?” She asked, the smile still playing on her lips. Not even he knew why, but it was strange to see her that way.

“Well, you're always butterflies and rainbows at all times. It's so weird to see you in this full ‘doom and gloom' mode. I just got curious.” He responded with a shrug and she let out a laugh.

“Oh, Carrera... You do care.” She smiled mockingly.

“That's why I don't ever deal with people.” He rolled his eyes and she laughed out loud.

“Yeah, right.” She mocked.

“Ok, kitten, you're going to lunch with me.” He informed before she could deny or accept anything. “And get ready to taste the best deep-dish pizza you'll ever have.” He guaranteed.

“Isn't this a Chicago thing?” She asked with a frown.

“You can trust me to found any food at any place.” He laughed smugly. “Don't ask too much, Juliet. The best things in life aren't explainable. You just have to enjoy.” He said and she laughed nodding.

“Fine.” She agreed. “But lunch is on you.” She said receiving a frown from him. “What? You're rich and I just quit my job. Suck it up, Carrera. You're paying for it.”

“Where did I get myself into?” He sighed dramatically, receiving a wry look from Juliet.

They went to a nearby restaurant, Raleigh ordered and asked to wrap up for taking. Raleigh and Juliet walked together to the city park, it was so desert at that time of day. It was mostly visited for teenagers before and after school time and mothers with their babies for their morning walks. They found a great spot under a tree's shadow. They sat there and started to dig into their food.

“That was a great deep-dish pizza.” She admitted and he smiled with his mouth stuffed, making her laugh at him. “Oh, God... You're such a child!”

He swallowed his mouth's content and smiled back at her “Told ya. You should have a little bit more of faith in me, kitten.”

“Why the hell you keep calling me that?” She asked as she looked at him.

“Don’t you know?” He asked her teasingly. She rolled her eyes but smiled after a few seconds.

“Oh, it's ‘cause you think I'm so cute?” She asked blinking her green eyes at him with a sly smile.

“What?” He laughed at her and she smiled bigger.

“Don't deny it!” She commanded and he laughed again.

“Actually, it's because there was a lot of tigers so ready to swallow you alive yesterday and you looked like a tiny little kitten around them.” He said expecting her to bark out a laugh, but her face has fallen apart. “What's wrong?”

She lowered her head shrugring. “It doesn't matter.” She said sighing.

“Oh, come on, Juliet.” He said annoyed. “You know you can tell me.” He didn't even know why he cared about that. He just met her, it's not like they were close enough for him to care.

But he cared, for some reason.

“It's exactly what you said.” She said sadly. “I'm a little fish in the ocean, surrounded by big sharks who are ready to eat me alive.” She looked at him seeming so weak, so insecure. “And right before I saw you, I've founded Fiona and she basically said to me that was very much likely that America wouldn't vote for me. That I needed to have a story to feed them.”

Raleigh sighed as he thought about how Juliet had crossed paths with someone as calculating as Fiona Syed before she was even famous. On the one hand, it was bad. She wasn't used to this fake world of the celebrities, so the truth could be brutal, but on the other hand... He was relieved to know that Juliet would have someone who would not bother to embellish the truth, no matter how bad it was. She would go straight to the point and probably guide her into a, ever-so-practical, path. That would probably make Juliet grow a thick skin.

“See? Kitten.” He said and she glared at him, making him laugh at her. “Come on, Juliet. Look how far you've come! You were at a big ocean yesterday, with tons of sharks ready to devour each other and here you are. You are at the top three. You see yourself as a little fish, but the biggest of the sharks, according to you, went home. Face it, kitten, you are one of the big sharks, deal with it. So, you’ll go back there and you'll ask Fiona what will you do to turn this table. Trust me, if there's someone that can make it happen, this one is Fiona Syed.”

“Are you serious?” She was looking almost offended but he laughed again.

“Dead serious.” He said. “And don't think that I'll make it easier for you. You'll have to earn it.”

“Raleigh Carrera!” She was almost smiling.

“What? I've paid for lunch. Now you'll do whatever you have to do to win this thing.” He said. “Don't let me down, kitten.”

“Will you ever stop calling me that?” She looked at him with an eyebrow arched and he smiled.

“Hell no, kitten.” He laughed and she threw one of the empty pots at him, laughing.

They went back to the building. Juliet went after Fiona and Raleigh went back to avoid all of those people. He believed he had done enough, he just stayed there “just in case". He already talked to the contestants and already flirted for the cameras with, basically, everyone he had to. He was so ready to head home, but before he could dream about it, Juliet busted into the auditorium with a big smile on her face, asking for everyone to follow her.

“What the hell?” He whispered when he got close to her.

“Shush. You'll see in a minute.” She waved a hand dismissively at him.

Everyone followed her to another auditorium nearby. The space had been decorated, there was a dance floor, lots of food and a DJ. Juliet smiled big at Avery and to the cameras.

“That's enough of work. It's time for us to party!” She said receiving excited screams of every one of the crew. Raleigh waited until Juliet talked to everyone and interacted with the cameras before he went to her.

“What's your game?” He asked smiling at her.

“I'm here to win.” She said smiling with such confidence that made Raleigh smile with her once again.

“Aw, shucks... You're growing up!” He mocked as she punched his arm. “But, if you ask me, it's not a great party if the dance floor is so empty.”

“You should be the first to hit it.” She said with a defiant look that made him laugh.

“You are so right, kitten.” He walked from her going into the dance floor. He started to dance the choreography of one of his music videos.

“That's a low blow, Carrera.” She said as he smiled at her.

“What? Think you can't handle?” He asked teasingly and she smiled.

“Well, I don't think we need to keep score.” She said softly, dancing close to him as he smiled big.

“It's like you were reading my mind.” He gave her a sexy smile as he wrapped his arm around her waist. He could see the cameras around as they caught every little movement of Raleigh and Juliet on the dance floor, but for the first time, the cameras weren't making him pissed. He was actually enjoying that. Having her so close, smiling so beautifully at him, totally relaxed as she danced in his arms. He could deal with that. If that's all that he had to do, then he was just fine.

Avery and the rest of the crew joined Raleigh and Juliet on the dance floor. They all danced together and had the best time after the day they had.

“How are you feelin’?” Raleigh asked as he approached Juliet by the buffet.

“So much better!” She said relieved. “And so grateful that Fiona and I could work something that wouldn't make me feel like a complete fraud.”

“Don't worry about it, kitten. You get used to it.” He said with a smirk. “No one in the industry is who they say they are.” Raleigh laughed.

“So, are you telling me that you're not that rebellious, selfish and irresponsible heart breaker everybody knows?” She raised an eyebrow at him. He opened his mouth to answer her, but instead, his mouth was hanged open as he figured out what to say. “Oh, my sweet Lord. Have I made you speechless?” She said with a playful smile on her face.

“Oh, shut up!” He said pushing her arm playfully as she laughed at him. “You’re better dancing than saying that senseless stuff.”

He liked her and he was happy that she had found her pace. He wasn't ready to see her go and he was hoping that this time, where they’ll need to say goodbye, never really comes.

[howrry]

forbidden fruit

a/n: i made something new! self indulgent high school enemies with benefits ok! i was high writing a lot of this so.. hope it doesn't show. tiny bit of 5sos sue me. this will probably have a pt 2 eventually

warnings: smut, and harry’s a jerk

w/c: 4.3k

You pushed the front door to your school open and the A/C of the building blew your hair back a little. You adjusted your bag on your shoulder and let the door slam behind you. The halls were loud with student chatting and lockers slamming and feet scuffling before first period began.

"I love your skirt, Y/N," one of the school aristocrats complimented, beaming a bright white smile.

"Thanks babe! From the boutique off 2nd street," you said with a wink.

"Hey Y/N!" some girls with wet hair called from the lockers. The volleyball team practiced before school and had to shower before going to class, and most girls couldn't be bothered to dry their hair.

"Hey guys! See you in history," you waved, tucking your textbook closer to your body.

You finally reached your locker and popped the door open. You switched out your books for your first class and checked your face in the mirror you'd taped to your locker door.

"You look great, no need to even look," a voice said from behind the door. You shut the door to reveal Luke, the school's star baseball player and one of your academic rivals.

He stood a bit taller than you, with his hands shoved into his bomber jacket pockets. The corners of your mouths curled up bashfully. "Aren't you sweet? What's going on, L?"

His head lulled over and rested on the locker. "Just wanted to say hi. And thanks for the help in trig-- you could've left me in the dust with that one to be valedictorian, and for that I'm very grateful."

You giggled. "It's no big, Luke. Let me know if you need help on other stuff, like your times tables," you teased, readjusting your bag again.

It was Luke's turn to laugh, but his was more hearty. "Ah, your banter is the highlight of my day." The bell rang, indicating it was time to go to class. "Saved by the bell. I was out of stuff to talk about. I'll catch you later?" It was a statement, but him walking away gave it a bit of in inflection. You were still smiling by the time you got to your first class.

Life was so good. You never understood where the stereotype about hating your high school years came from, because you were having quite a good time. You never found the curriculum too difficult and thus were near the top of your class, you were overall liked by your teachers, and you got along with everyone at your school.

"Good morning, babe," you heard a new voice call, making your insides shrivel and your face pinch.

Well, almost everyone.

"What do you want, Harry?" you groaned, intentionally pushing past him to get to your desk.

He feigned being hurt, clutching a ringed hand to his broad chest. "And I thought Bradley Cooper over there would have put you in a good mood this morning. Why so sour?"

"Being within even a hundred feet of you can kill flowers, no wonder it kills my mood."

Simply put, you couldn't stand Harry. He was arrogant, selfish, condescending, and for the past couple of years the two of you had been at each other's throats. Neither of you were quiet sure who started this feud (though, knowing Harry's behavior, it was probably his fault) but neither of you could even look at each other without making a biting remark or glaring at the other.

"Styles, get your feet off the desk," your teacher reprimanded. You looked at the desk next to you and saw Harry had kicked his boots up onto his table and laced his fingers behind his head.

He sighed heavily and slid his legs over lazily until they drop off the edge of the desk, choosing instead to lean his chin on the heel of his hand, one lone dark curl dropping into the center of his forehead.

As much as you couldn't stand his personality, you hated how attractive he was. He had such an aura of power that on some rare occasions rendered you speechless. Not only was he was gorgeous, but sometimes the two of you would make eye contact during an argument in class that would make your knees go a little weak. You were pretty good at keeping your composure, but it still bothered you from time to time. He was like forbidden fruit; so beautiful, yet so hate-able.

Today he was in a black jacket and dark jeans with a white t-shirt. Across his chest laid a simple cross necklace and his fingers were adorned with rings. His hair always looked like he just pushed it back with his hands and left it as is, but there's always one curl on his forehead giving him a Clark Kent kind of look. His head was cocked to the side, showing off his jaw. Son of a bitch probably didn't even realize how hot he was being-- that's just Harry in his natural state.

Then you were suddenly reminded that you were totally staring down Harry, and your eyes tore from him to the board in the front of the class. You made a note to yourself to get your thoughts and your life in general together.

Fortunately, you only had one class with Harry. For the rest of your day you could go about being yourself, without having to deal with his attitude and desire to annoy you in addition to your weird thoughts about how hot he is.

The next day, your car wouldn't start in the morning because of the cold front that swept over your area. Your parents had already left for work, and you were left with the only option of walking to school. You didn't live too far away, but the freezing weather made the walk miserable.

Perhaps Harry had sensed your already bad mood and decided not to make it worse, but he was actually quite tolerable during the school day. The rest of your school day went without incident, and you thanked the universe for being so kind to you after your rough morning.The walk home was slightly better, as the temp had warmed up a little bit, but the small remedy quickly ended when Harry rode up next to you walking down the sidewalk on a blue bicycle.

"Hey, Y/N," he chirped, immediately irking you. He pedaled slowly to match your walking pace.

"Should I call Harvard and let them know there's a strange kind of ape who learned to use a human tool?" you bit, shoving your hands in your jacket pockets.

"Mm. Seems like you've put on a little weight in these winter months," Harry noted.

You whipped your head and glared viciously at him. He was smirking a little but kept his eyes on the sidewalk. "So how am I supposed to respond to that other than punching you in the face?" you growled. Frankly, it wasn't even true-- your heavy coat just added a lot of volume to you. And even if it was true, how dare he?

He pretended to think. "You could start by taking off some of those clothes and proving me wrong."

"Ugh!" You grabbed a stick next to the sidewalk and jammed it into the spokes of Harry's slow moving bicycle, effectively snapping the branch and making him tumble off the bike.

He lied on the ground in a daze, blinking a couple of times before jumping up and catching up to you. "Alright. I deserved tha' one."

"Glad we agree about something," you muttered, then turn back to look at the abandoned bike. "What about your bike?"

He shrugged. "Wasn' mine anyways."

At this point you should expect this of him, or at least not be surprised when you hear about it, but you can't help but sigh. "Ah, right. Always forget you're a criminal."

He threw an arm around you, pulling you into his chest. It was awkward to walk like that, but you were just sure-footed enough to make it work. "'M a fun person to be around, though, aren' I?"

"On the contrary," you groaned, jerking your way out of his grip on you. "Actually, for someone who claims to hate me, you sure do bother me a lot. What's up with that?" you hissed.

He stopped in front of you and towered above you, staring down. This... was one of those times where your stomach flipped when his green eyes locked onto yours. "Well, am I annoying you?"

Your eyes rolled back almost involuntarily. "Yes!"

"That's why."

All you could do was glare. "Go find someone else to annoy, I have to go study for a midterm tomorrow. Ya know, that thing you've never heard of because you don't care about school or anything, for that matter." At this point you were just unleashing random things you didn't like about him, but it still felt good to vent.

"I care about some things," he said bluntly, raising and dropping his shoulders.

You scoffed a bit, but then sighed in defeat. "Glad you took something important from that. Now please, fuck off for the rest of the week." Before Harry could counter that, you'd already slipped past him and went back home.

That Thursday, after school had ended and you were getting things out of your locker as the halls quickly emptied of the eager-to-leave students. You'd nailed the exam you'd taken that day and were ready to go home and enjoy the rest of your day. A friendly voice said your name, and you glanced up to see Luke.

You smiled at his presence. "Hey L!"

"So, Y/N," Luke began. "Some of my friends and I were wondering if you like to party." He flattened his hands against each other and pointed them at you.

A little laugh escaped from your lips. "Uh, yeah, I do. Why, are you offering one?" One of your eyebrows shot up in curiosity.

The corners of his mouth lifted a bit and he leaned his shoulder against the locker next to yours. "Actually, yeah. We throw this cool rager every year after midterms. Josh's parents always go skiing in the Poconos and leave us the house, and his older brother buys us so much alcohol. It's a good way to kick off winter break, and you should totally co--" Luke was cut off by none other than fucking Harry marching up.

"Luke. Coach Bass needs you," he spat, eyeing the athlete up and down.

"What for?" Luke asked, irritated.

"Fuck do I look like? Your secretary? He didn't tell me, just saw me and asked to find you. Which, mind you, was generous enough on my part." Harry punctuated his sentence with his big arms crossing over his chest.

"Can it wait like 5 minutes? I'm trying to have a conversation here," Luke gritted, gesturing at you.

Harry's eyes drifted over, as if he hadn't even realized you were standing there until then. Without looking back to Luke, he muttered, "Nope. Think yeh should leave now."

The blonde boy groaned and stood up off the wall. "Fine. See you around, Y/N, I'll text you about the party!" he called, waving goodbye and headed off to the coach's office.

"The hell are you doing talking to 'im?" Harry questioned the second Luke was out of ear range. He replaced his spot leaning on the lockers.

"Not really any of your business, is it?" you snapped back. You couldn't even look at him, so you grabbed all your books out of your locker.

Harry caught on quickly. "Oh... I see. Yeh don't wanna be messin' with him, love," he advised with a small smirk on his lips.

"What are you talking about?" you asked, exasperated.

"Heard he's been seeing Sierra lately." Harry rolled from leaning against his shoulder to leaning on his back, staring across the hallway.

You stopped your movements. "What does that have to do with me? That's her business."

His head lulled back to look at you. "Jeez, Y/N. Didn't think you'd be fine dating a two-timer."

"Who said anything about dating?" It was your turn to smirk, giving Harry a little glint in your eyes before slamming your locker shut and walking away from him.

Harry's eyes widened as he chased after you. "Yeh little minx. Perfect little Y/N doesn't mind being the other woman. Or any woman at all. Who woulda thought?"

You rolled your eyes. "See. You don't know shit about me. And you definitely don't know shit about Luke. What were you even doing near Coach Bass's office in the first place for him to have asked you?"

He snickered. "Oh, I lied. I think Bass already went home."

Your jaw dropped a little as the two of you reached the door at the end of the hallway. "You little scoundrel. Why did you do that?"

He shrugged, following you outside. "I lie to get things I want. I wanted him gone. This isn't uncommon for my behavior, Y/N," he explained without emotion. "Anyways, 've got to meet up with someone soon. Great talking to you," he concluded sarcastically, before simply turning and walking away.

"Hey Harry!" you called after him, making him stop and do a 180. "Is Luke even really seeing Sierra?"

He smiled. "Nope." Harry turned again leaving you with a swirl of emotions.

The party had been on Friday, the night after Luke invited you. Your parents were glad you were finally getting to relax after your obsessive studying for the past week or so. You excitedly got ready to go while listening to Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored, and made plans for a DD to drop you off and pick you up at the end of the night.

You were just tugging on your short boots and fluffing your hair when you got the text that it was time to go. One jacket, a quick wave to your parents drinking wine on the couch, and you were off.

By the time you finally arrived to the party it was late in the evening and the house was bumping. The lights inside had been replaced like blacklights, turning everyone's white clothes into ultra bright purple and some girls' bad bleach jobs appeared green.

You showed up just in time; and by just in time, you mean when Mo Bamba started playing and all the people dancing and screaming the lyrics provided a good cover for you to sneak around the house to find someone you knew. You fought your way through the hot living room, back to the kitchen where freshman sorority girls from the local university were trying to steal alcohol from kids, to the backyard.

You opened the door to the back porch to find a group of seniors passing around a bent joint. Your nose instinctively wrinkled at the smell and you bounce back inside, slamming the door behind you.

"Y/N!" you heard Luke call. You whirled around to see him holding a cup in one hand and a Juul in the other, arms extended to hug you. He engulfed you and you breathed in the cologne clinging to his jersey. You couldn't lie... he smelled good. "Glad you made it. Can I make you something to drink?"

"Vodka soda, please," you requested, and Luke poured out a drink for you. Meanwhile, you scanned the room to see who else had come to the party.

Hmm. There was Andrea from trig, the host, Josh, Hannah from chemistry, Lucy, Sam, Harry, Claudia from English. You cocked your head a little, surprised that Claudia partied, and Luke handed you your drink.

Wait. Your head whipped back to see Harry talking to one of his friends, and his attention drifted towards you with a devious smile. When he realized who you were with his smile was replaced with a grimace.

You immediately start drinking from your cup, trying to forget who you just saw. Nearly half the drink was gone before Luke stopped you. "Slow down, there, cowgirl," he laughed, taking the red cup from you. "You drinking away your problems or what?" he teased.

You rolled your eyes flirtatiously, and intentionally avoided his question. "Give me my drink back! Or we will have a problem."

"Feisty," Luke noted, handing you your cup back. "Redirect that energy to dancing," he suggested, gesturing over to where everyone was bouncing to the music. He grabbed your free hand and pulled you into the middle of the crowd where the two of you started dancing... pretty close. The music was well selected so that there were no awkward pauses in between songs, and you and Luke danced until your drinks were empty and you were too sweaty to keep dancing.

He led you to a corner of the living room, where not as many people were. "Damn, it's dead," he declared after pulling his Juul out of his pocket and tapping it twice. "My charger's upstairs, I'm gonna go plug this in."

"I'll go with you," you offered, trying to get out of the party area and away from Harry. God knows how he'd try to bug you if you were alone.

Something in Luke's eyes glinted, but he nodded and the two of you trudged up the stairs and the noise quickly died down. He casually walked into a room and you guessed it was the host's room. Luke plugged in his Juul and plopped down on the bed.

"So, do you wanna go back downstairs?" you guessed, though Luke appeared too comfortable to be getting up any time soon.

"Nope," he responded casually, affirming your suspicions. "Can you do me a favor? Hand me that guitar." He pointed to the corner of the room, where a shiny guitar was nestled in a stand.

You passed the instrument to him and he began plucking out the song Twin Sized Mattress. He hummed some of the lyrics and dropped off just after the first guitar solo. You were amazed while watching him.

"Luke! You're so talented, I had no idea!" you fawned, making the blonde boy blush a little.

"Thanks, that means a lot. I've always loved playing but never told anyone so I wouldn't look like a hipster or anything. But honestly, I wanna be a musician." His eyes gazed over the strings, then up to yours.

"Sounds like a glamorous lifestyle. Think you could handle it?" you cooed, leaning in slightly.

He matched your movements. "I think I could," he practically purred. You and Luke were inches from kissing, and all you wanted to do was close the gap, but you were unfortunately interrupted by the door swinging open, making you jump back from Luke, frightened.

None other than fucking Harry, stood in the doorway. You groaned and Luke blurted annoyedly, "You again?!"

"Yep, s'me. I'd love to verbally have it out with you some other time, but I'd like to talk to Y/N right now, so find somewhere else to be, Wonderwall," Harry announced, filling your veins with anger.

"Seriously, Harry? You can't leave me alone for five fucking minutes?" you jumped up to face him, but any attempt at being menacing was futile as his sheer height dwarfed you.

Luke placed the guitar on the ground leaning on the wall and awkwardly creeped out of the room. "I'll, uh, I'll just go," he noted before slipping out.

But you weren't distracted by Luke ambling around, and still had a bone to pick with Harry. "You follow me around, you go to parties you know I'll be at, you interrupt my attempts to get laid. Why won't you just go away!"

The corners of his mouth curled up. "Because you're so cute when you're angry." He reached up to pinch your cheek but you smacked his hand away.

"You make me so mad I wanna slap you sometimes," you huffed, shrugging your shoulders.

Harry's green eyes rolled dramatically. "Yeh won't." Several heavily silent seconds passed, and the palm of your hand collided with his cheek.

His hand drifted up and cupped his red face. "Did yeh just fuckin' slap me?" he asked, in awe.

"Yeah," you deadpanned. "You stupid or something?"

Harry stared at you, his eyes not showing much emotion other than shock. Without even saying anything, he lunged forward, grabbed your face with both of his large hands, and pressed your lips together. Your knees immediately buckled, Harry's scent infinitely better than Luke's. His mouth was so soft and he easily kissed into your mouth, licking and biting at you.

You came to your senses, trying to pull away, but Harry had his arms wrapped around you. You made a move to escape his grasp, only making him tighten around you. "Stop being so scared of what yeh really want, Y/N," Harry huffed, eyes scanning all over your confused face.

"What?" was all you could say.

"Tell me yeh don' want this, n'I'll stop." His eyebrows lifted slightly, in almost an amused manner. You really, really, really hated yourself to say it, but you didn't want this to stop. So you closed the gap between you two yourself.

When Harry kissed, there was no option of being gentle. He wanted to devour you, kissing so deeply your back was starting to tilt backwards a little and you could feel the electricity on your lips.

"Yeh're a real minx, yeh know tha'?" he huffed over your lips in between kisses. "Actin' so cute and innocent when yeh're really a good time and a half. Trailin' around school and parties with that other guy. Then, when I kiss the life out of yeh and make y'weak in the knees, you've got the audacity to act like you 'aven't wanted this all along. Hmm," he tsked, staring down at you, making you feel tiny. "I truly believe the only way I can get yeh to behave is to fuck yeh into bein' good," Harry hypothesized, staring up and down your body until settling for staring at your heaving chest (and you were glad you picked a good bra to wear to this party).

His words sent sparks to your core and a whimper left your lips when he pressed his against your neck, licking and sucking at the soft flesh. One hand gripped your waist, bunching up your shirt with his fingers.

"S'that what you want? To be silenced with m'cock?" he mused, breath fanning across your skin. All you could do was nod and you felt his mouth curl into a smile. "Fine. But keep quiet, pet, we don' wanna disturb the other party goers. Do we, now?" he purred, making you shake your head no.

Harry's hips bucked into your thigh involuntarily, and you dropped down to your knees to be eye level with his crotch. Your nimble fingers ghosted over the zipper of his pants, making him exhale shakily, but when you lifted your gaze to his, his face was extremely focused on your actions.

You decided not to beat around the bush and popped open the button on his trousers, and the zipper practically undid itself. You licked him through his black boxers, making him groan a little and thread his ringed fingers through the hair on the back of your head. It was easy to read what he needed, so you pulled down the elastic of his underwear to free his cock.

It was big. You weren't a stranger to seeing big dicks, so you knew one when you saw one. The last thing you wanted to do was feed into his ego, so you dove into sucking it before he could read any surprise in your face.

You went about as far down as his head resting on the middle of your tongue. You sucked around his cock and fluttered your tongue, stimulating the super sensitive spot on the bottom just below the head. Harry was nothing if not responsive, and groaned while trying to push you down further using his big hand. Normally you would refuse and take it at your own pace, but something about him fucking your mouth sent even more sparks to your center.

You relaxed your throat and let him slide down your throat. It burned, you had to admit, and breathing through your nose with a huge cock in your mouth is no picnic. Just before you were about to gag, he pulled you off his member and let you breathe for a second. A thin strand of spit connected your now red and puffy bottom lip to the tip of his cock.

"Fuck, pet, tha' feels way better than I'd like to admit," he huffed as you took him back in your mouth again. You swirled your tongue around him with your cheeks hollowed out, your comparatively small hand gripped the base while you paced yourself. When your jaw got tired from accommodating to his size, you stroked him from base to tip.

Harry was starting to lose his composure; you could see it in his eyes. You decided to play all your cards and made the most innocent look you could muster with his cock buried between your lips. "'f yeh keep lookin' at me like tha', no chance I'll last."

So you went wild, licking, sucking, stroking his cock with your hand, pushing it all the way down your throat until your nose was buried in the coarse dark curls at the base. This sent him fully over the edge, and his grip in your hair was tighter than ever as he came.

He emptied himself down your throat, pulled his cock out, and wiped the head on your lips before pushing himself back into his boxers.

"Wait, wha--" you stammered, shocked at his sudden motions to leave as you were still on your knees with glassy eyes.

Harry rebuttoned his pants and straightened himself out. "'m going to go home. Thank you for helping me out, love, I'd love to reciprocate another time. Let me know." He nodded at you scrambling to stand back up and left you in Josh's room with pink cheeks, puffy lips, and a racing mind.

[tiny-opal-essence]

Pocket Paladin Chpt 2

Downtime

“What’s cooking good looking?” Lance said as he walked into the kitchen.

“Just making some cookies for everyone.  How many times are you going to use that line?” Hunk chuckled.

“As many times as you let me.”  He started walking towards where Hunk was working.  “Need any help?”

“Don’t think so.”  A timer went off.  “Oh!  That’s the next batch.”  Hunk ran over to the oven and grabbed the tray and placed it on the hot-pads on the counter.

“Aww, look how tiny these ones are!”  Lance said as he grabbed one of the smaller cookies on the cooling rack, pinching it between his fingers.

“Those are for the space mice and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the space mice are tiny.”  Hunk playfully said.  “I’m not about to give them a full-sized cookie each.  Can you imagine Allura’s reaction to the space mice getting sugar rushes?  She’s terrifying when she wants to be.”

“No arguments here.  I’ve been on the receiving end enough times.” A sad look flickered across Lance's face before he flashed a smile and continued.  “I just love how you’re able to make these mini-meals, big guy.  You’re truly a gentle giant.”

“Haha, thanks, but really, it’s not too difficult.”  Hunk sheepishly said.  “All I had to do was recalibrate all of the kitchen systems to accommodate for the smaller food and not burn it to a crisp.  Then it’s just a matter of having a steady hand to get things to be the right size.”

“That’s still impressive.  I don’t think I could do all of that.  Maybe the steady hand part, but that’s about it.  Engineering’s not my strong suit.”

“Don’t I know it.  Remember that project at the Garrison?”

“Hunk!  I thought we agreed never to talk about that again.  I had to pencil in my eyebrows for weeks!”

“Sorry.”  Hunk chuckled.

“Speaking of projects, how is the mouse shower coming along?”

“It’s coming.  There’s just a lot of small parts to figure out how to use.  They don’t exactly have a build-it-yourself one.  I’ve broken so many mini pipes trying to cut them to the right size and fit them together.”  Hunk sighed.

“Pidge could probably help there.  She’s got the smallest hands out of all of us.”  Lance suggested.  “You could even get the space mice to help you.  They’re the ones who are going to be using it.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to build it as a gift for them.  They do a lot to help around here, I don’t want to make them build their own present.  Pidge is busy with her own projects and I don’t want to bother her.  Oh, speaking of Pidge, would you be able to bring this wrench back to her?  I’ve still got a few batches to make.”

“No problem.  Do you want me to bring some cookies around for everyone?”

“If you aren’t busy”

“No worries.” Lance grabbed a plate from a cupboard and loading the cookies on it, including some of the mini ones for the space mice.  “See ya later.  Happy baking!”

———————————————————————————————————–

As Lance approached Green’s hanger, he heard a string of colorful language.

Pidge is definitely in there.

Lance opened the door and walked in.  He didn’t see Pidge at first.  Then he heard the clang of something metal falling near Green.

“Quiznak!”

“Hey Pidge.”

“Aaagh!”  Pidge yelped as she fell from her hiding place.  Luckily, she didn’t have far to fall.

“Sorry.” Lance winced.  “Didn’t mean to scare you.  Are you ok?”

“I’m fine.” Pidge dusted herself off.  “Why are you always like that?”

“Like what?”

“So loud.”

“What can I say, I’m a loud and proud kind of guy.”

“And modest too.”

“Aww.  Thanks, Pidge.”

“Did you need something?” Pidge started walking towards Lance wondering why he would be coming to Green’s hanger.

“Hunk made some cookies for everyone and wanted to return this wrench to you.  Where should I put them?”

“You can just put them on the workbench over there.  I’ll put the wrench away later.”  

Pidge made her way to the workbench and grabbed one of the cookies.  She raised one to her mouth but paused.  

“Hunk didn’t put any skultrite in these, right?”  she questioned the blue color.

“Nope.  No skultrite in these bad boys thanks to you labeling everything in the kitchen.  Hunk appreciates it.”

“I think we all appreciate it.” Pidge snickered before taking a bite of her cookie.

“True.  Hey, are you ok?” Lance looked over and asked seeing Pidge’s eyes tearing up.

“I’m ok.” Pidge rubbed her eyes.  “These just taste exactly like the ones my mom always made.  How is Hunk able to do that?”

“Don’t know.  It’s his gift.  Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yeah.”

“You said that they reminded you of your mom’s.”

“My mom would always make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies whenever we had something to celebrate.  Birthdays, anniversaries, when Matt got in the Garrison, when we got Bae Bae.  I think I get my peanut butter addiction from her.  Also my love of computers.” Pidge smiled a bit at that.  “She made a lot of cookies for the Kerberos mission.  So they could have a taste of home.”

“That’s really nice.”

“Yeah, it is.” She sniffed.  “It’s just, she’s all alone back on earth.  Well, alone except for Bae Bae.”

“Bae Bae?”

“Our dog.  He’s a sweetheart.  I don’t think he ever understood where my dad was when he went on missions.  When Matt and Dad went to Kerberos, he waited by the door all day for them to come back.  When they said that the Kerberos mission had crashed, he still waited there.  My mom was heartbroken, but she refused to believe what the Garrison was telling us.  With two of the greatest minds and one of the greatest pilots from the Garrison on board, how could they crash?  That’s when I decided to sneak into the Garrison to find answers.  Iverson caught me and banned me from the premises, but not before I saw enough to know that they didn’t crash and the Garrison was hiding that fact.  I wasn’t able to download anything before I was caught, so I knew that I would have to find another way in to get concrete evidence.  Seeing as I was banned, I decided to register as a boy.”

“You literally pulled a Mulan,” Lance commented.

“Yeah, I guess I did.” She snickered.  “I even used Matt’s nickname for me from when we were little.”

“Wait, Pidge isn’t your name?”

“You thought it was?”

“You never said anything.”

“I didn’t think I had to.  Anyways, I tried to hide what I was planning to do from my mom, but she found out when she saw my first attempt at giving myself a boy haircut.  Nothing gets past her.  I can still hear her saying ‘Kathleen Marie Holt, if you think for one second that I’m going to let you sneak into a government facility on your own, you must be crazy.’  She helped me get everything ready.  Together, we forged all the documents I would need to pass for someone else.  I used her maiden name as my last name.  ‘Pidge Gunderson’ was declared a cousin of the Holts, hence the similar looks.  We called my Aunt Jennifer to let her know about her sudden new child in case the Garrison ever decided to call her to verify anything.  I called her maybe every other week from the payphones at the Garrison to help keep up the façade.  I called my mom every week to give her updates on what progress I was making, but I used my cell phone for that so the Garrison wouldn’t be spying on our conversations.”

“Wait, the Garrison did that?” Lance thought back on all of his conversations with his family when he would start crying from being homesick.

“They’re a government facility working to improve technology for our country.  Of course they’re going to spy on the phones on their grounds.  They don’t want anyone leaking any information.  That’s why I had to call my aunt from their payphones, so the Garrison would see that ‘Pidge’ was talking to her family about completely normal stuff.  That’s also why my mom and I made sure my phone wouldn’t be able to be spied on.  I gave her updates every week.  The last thing I sent her was a picture of all of us with Shiro when we were all in Keith’s shack.  I gave her all of your names in case the Garrison tried to cover this up like they did Kerberos.  I wonder what they did say.  I mean, three cadets all just disappear overnight when there was a code red going on?  What could they possibly say to that?”

“Do you think our families think we’re dead?” Lance asked.

“No.  If any students at the Garrison died, it would launch an investigation into what happened.  That would be the last thing they would want.  Most likely, they’d say we ran away because we couldn’t handle the pressure and didn’t want to face our families.  Remember how our last simulator went?”

“Yep.  We were not a great team back then.  And then Iverson just ripping us apart in front of everyone.  Not fun.”  Lance said remembering what Iverson had said that day.

“Thanks for taking the brunt of what he said.  I get pretty defensive when my family is involved.”

“No problem Pidge, err, Kathleen?”

“I go by Katie, but don’t tell Hunk.  If he doesn’t guess my real name in one movement, this girl’s going to be 20 GAC richer.”

“Got it.  My lips are sealed.” Lance said while doing zip it, lock it, put it in your pocket.

“What are you, 5?”

“On a scale from 1 to 5, yes.”

“You sound like Matt.”

“Is he charming and suave?” he held a finger gun under his chin to emphasize what he was saying.

“No.  He was a big dork, but he was always able to cheer me up.  He’s a great brother.  The best brother a girl could have.”  Pidge wistfully said.

“I’m sure we’ll find him and your dad soon.  Shiro too.”

 “I know.  It’s just… what if they’re…”

“Nope.  Don’t you finish that sentence.  They’re alive and trying to get back home.  Just wait until they find out you’re a paladin!  They’re going to be so proud of you!”

Pidge suddenly latched onto Lance in a hug which he quickly returned.  “Thanks, Lance.”

“What for?”

“For listening.”

“No problem, Pidge.”

A screen over the workbench suddenly turned on and they saw Coran’s face on it.

“Hey, Coran.” Lance and Pidge said.

“Hello, Pidge and Lance.  Wouldn’t have expected both of you to be here.  Anyhoo…Pidge, you wouldn’t happen to have borrowed my impact driver, did you?”

“Oh yeah.  Where did I put that?” Pidge started scanning the workbench for the tool, but Lance beat her to it.

“Is this one yours, Coran?” Lance held up the impact driver to the screen.

“Yes!  Would you be able to bring it to me?  I’m in the med bay by the healing pods right now.”

“No problem.”

“Excellent!  Out and over!”

“Guess that’s my cue,” Lance said as he grabbed the plate of cookies and started for the door.

“Wait.  How did you know what an impact driver is?” Pidge asked.

“I did theatre for years.  The whole cast and crew worked together to build the sets.  Impact drivers are lifesavers.  Anyways, see you later Pidge.”

———————————————————————————————————–

“I got your impact driver, Coran.  Also some of Hunk’s cookies.”  Lance said as he entered the med bay area.

Coran emerged from behind one of the healing pods.

“Thank you, my boy.  Now I can finish this up.”

“What are you working on?”

“Just updating a few things here and there.  This should help speed up the healing process in this healing pod.  Slav has quite a few ideas for upgrading things,” Coran begrudgingly admitted, “but I’d rather not have him be too involved in it, even if he did send over some plans.”

“Same here.”

“Could you give me a hand here for a tic?”

“Sure.  What do you need me to do?”

“Just hold this piece here.  Slav seems to forget that in this reality Alteans only have 2 arms.”  Coran used the impact driver on the part.  “I’m just glad we don’t have to listen to him blabber on about how outdated he believes the castleship is.  Altean technology is second to none.”

“Yeah, I mean, the Galra had 10,000 years to improve their technology and they still aren’t better than your tech.  Though, there is always room for improvement.”

“I know,” Coran lowered the impact driver “but it almost feels wrong to alter things about the castleship.  My grandfather worked so hard to build this.  I would hate to ruin what he created.”

“Coran, you know basically everything about this ship.  There’s no way you could quiznak it up.”

“Oh, you used quiznak correctly.”  Coran wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.  “I feel like a proud father gren.”

“Well, I learned from the best.”

“Haha.  My mother used to say that to my grandfather, and I used to say it to her, and…” Coran’s voice dropped off as he got a distant look in his eyes.

“Are you ok, Coran?”

“Ah, yes.  Just reminiscing a bit.”

“You lost a lot of people on Altea.  I can only imagine what you and Allura are going through.”

“It’s something I hope no one else will ever have to experience.”

“Well, that’s why Voltron’s here to save the day!  Pow pow pow!” Lance said as he did his laser gun impression.

“Haha.  Right you are my boy.” Coran said as he tightened the last screw into place.  “That should do it.  Let’s start it up.”

Coran powered up the healing pod that he was working on.  The light in it sputtered before turning off.

“Oh.”

Suddenly, the lights lit up to full brightness.

“It’s working!  You did it, Coran!” Lance exclaimed.

“No, we did it, my boy.  Now we just need to wait for someone to be injured enough to need it so we can check for sure.  Any volunteers?” Coran joked as he grabbed a cookie from the plate.

“Not today, sorry.  I’ve still got cookies to deliver.  Do you know where Allura is?  I know Keith’s training, cause what else does he do, but I don’t know where Allura is and I don’t want to wander the whole ship looking for her.”

"I believe she’s in the library.”

“Do you need any more help before I go?”

“No, I should be ok.  They don’t call me the Coranic for nothing.” He struck a heroic pose.

“Haha.  Alright.  See ya later, Coran.”

———————————————————————————————————–

When Lance walked into the library he almost tripped on a pile of books and tablets.

“Whoa!” He yelled as he somehow managed to keep the tray from spilling while he regained his balance.

“Lance?  Is that you?”

“Sure is, Princess.  I come bearing cookies.” Lance said as he carefully made his way through the maze of books scattered on the floor.  He found Allura and the space mice at one of the tables with a mountain of knowledge in front of them.  

The space mice were looking at the pages of one of the open books and *squeaking* instructions and encouragement to Allura who was looking determinedly at a pencil in front of her.  She held her hand out and there was a pink aura around her and the pencil.  It started to twitch slightly, but you wouldn’t have noticed if you weren’t looking for it.  The pencil started to float off the table before the aura grew brighter and it shattered into pieces.  Luckily, the space mice had run behind one of the stacks of books, so they weren’t harmed.

Allura sank in her chair with a sigh.  “I feel like I’m never going to get this right.”  She said putting her head in her hands.

“Don’t say that.  So you have a bit of trouble controlling your powers, big deal.  You still have these amazing powers.  You can definitely teach the Galra and Hagger a few things.”

“I just wish I had someone that could teach me how to control these powers.  Everyone who could is either dead or working with the Galra.  Being able to hit a target with a strong attack is good in a fight, but I want to be able to do more with these powers.  All I have to learn from is books and tablets that are over 10,000 years old.  The druids have years of training on me and it feels like I’ll never catch up.”

Kind of like me with Keith.

“Hey, I know what can turn that frown upside-down.  Cookies a la Hunk.” he placed the tray down on the table.

“What kind are they?”

“Peanut butter chocolate chip, or as close as Hunk can get them to taste like that.  Hunk even made some mini ones for you guys.” Lance told the space mice who quickly scurried over to the plate to grab their mini cookies.

“I always wondered what Pidge meant by peanut butter.  Let me try something.”  Allura put her hand out again, this time with her palm facing the tray of cookies.  The cookie on top got a pink aura as well as Allura.  It began floating and slowly started floating towards Allura.  When it was just a foot away from her, the pink grew brighter as the cookie blasted into pieces that flew around the room with one of the larger pieces hitting Allura right on the nose.

“I guess that’s how the cookies crumbles.”  Lance tried to hold in his laughter but eventually couldn’t help it.  “I’m sorry princess.  Your shocked face was just so perfect.” He said between laughs with Allura joining in.

“It’s alright.  It’s good to laugh at one’s self from time to time.  In truth, it’s been quite some time since I’ve had a good laugh, what with Shiro missing and everything else.” Allura said as she reached over and grabbed a cookie from the tray

“Yeah, it’s a lot on all of our shoulders, yours especially.  But your magic is getting better.  The cookie floated longer than the pencil before it broke.  If you ever need any encouragement, you know where to find me.”  Lance picked up the tray once more.  “I’ve got to get these to Keith.  See you, princess.”

———————————————————————————————————–

Lance could hear the clang of metal on metal before he opened the door to the training deck.  

Where else would Keith be?

He opened the door and saw Keith facing off against one of the gladiator bots on the other side of the room.  

Probably should wait until he’s done to let him know I’m here.  I don’t want to be the reason he got a black eye.  Again.

He remembered the last time he burst in and yelled to Keith who had looked over at him and got decked in the face by the gladiator.  Keith had been upset at first but brushed it off as nothing after Lance quickly apologized.

Lance stayed close to the wall and found a ledge to put the plate of cookies on while waiting for Keith to finish.  He leaned against the wall and watched Keith fight the gladiator.  

How is he able to make it look so effortless?

Keith managed to block a strike and slide behind the robot.  With a quick slash of his sword, the gladiator was down for the count.  Keith continued to slash at the robot, yelling in frustration.

“I think you got ‘im,” Lance called out.

Keith looked up at Lance in surprise and brought his sword down.  With the clashing of swords no longer ringing in the air, Lance could hear Keith’s heavy breathing.  Clearly, he’d been at this awhile.

“Oh.  Didn’t see you come in.” Keith said in shock.

“You seemed pretty occupied.  But dude, that was awesome!  You were all like” Lance imitated Keith swinging his sword “and he was all like, and then you…You’ve got to teach me how to do that!”

“Umm.  I don’t really know how to teach.”

“Oh.  Well, that’s ok.”

“Did you come here to train?  I can leave if you want the deck to yourself.”

“Nah.  Hunk made some more cookies, so I volunteered to bring them to everyone.”

“What kind are they this time?”

“Peanut butter chocolate chip.  I feel like I’ve said that too many times today.  Next time, I’m making a sign.”

“It’s probably time I took a break anyway,” Keith said as he came over to where Lance was and sat down, back against the wall.  Lance went and grabbed the plate of cookies from the shelf and sat down next to Keith, placing the plate between them.

“I also wanted to apologize for what I said on the mission yesterday.  I shouldn’t have said that you aren’t as good of a leader as Shiro.” Lance said with his head hanging low.

“It’s ok, Lance.  You were right.  I’m not a great leader like Shiro.  I try to do what I think he would do, but it just seems to go wrong every time.” Keith said as he grabbed a cookie off of the plate.

“Well yeah, you’re not like Shiro.  You’re Keith.  You run in guns blazing, or I guess sword swinging.  You have your own way of leading.  That doesn’t make you any better or worse a leader than Shiro.  There’s nothing wrong with having a different style than him.  You just have to ask yourself ‘What would Keith do?’ instead of worrying about what Shiro would do.”

“What would Keith do?” Keith snickered as he said it out loud.

“Exactly!  Wait, did you just smile?”

“You have no proof.”

“Next time, Kogane.  I can’t believe you’re still training.  I mean, I can, because it’s you, but we had extra training today.  How are you still going?”

Keith shrugged.  “It relaxes me.”

“Oh yeah, cause hitting one of the training bots repeatedly when it isn’t fighting back is so relaxing.”

“Think you could do better?” Keith smirked slightly.

“You know it!” Lance said as he went over to grab the staff from the downed training bot.  “Let’s dance.”

“I’m not going to go easy on you.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to.”

(A few minutes later)

“Oof,” Lance said as Keith pinned him again.

“Had enough?”

“I haven’t even gotten started yet.”

“Could have fooled me.”

Lance tried to fight against Keith, but he wasn’t able to break his hold.  

Maybe a distraction of sorts could work.

“Is that a knife in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

“It’s a knife.  What else would it be?” Keith responded confused, his grip not letting up.

“I waste my best material on you.”

Suddenly, the PA system in the castle turned on.

“Guys,” Pidge said over the speakers.  “I think I found where they’re keeping Shiro.  Meet me on the bridge.”

“She did it!” Lance exclaimed.

“Last one to the bridge has to clean the healing pods for a week,” Keith said as he got off of Lance and started running.

“No fair.  You got a head start.”

———————————————————————————————————–

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[jessiewre]

Day 52

Tues 25th Feb

#prawnsforBarry 🍤🍤🍤

We sat at breakfast excited to have our, sorry Phil’s, new mustard accompaniment. We even managed to convince Wendy the waitress to try it. She said she liked it, but it was hard to tell if she was just being polite or not!

As had become a daily occurrence, we began to discuss when we should leave Watamu and move on. When we would actually start travelling again. Whenever we had this conversation, we seemed to add on a day - and so far we’d done this at least 4 times. We had somehow ended up on holiday while on holiday.

With Phil’s run on the Sunday, we knew we had to move and agreed we should arrive in Moshi (Tanzania) by Friday at the latest. So when Philly Tours discovered there was a daily direct bus from Mombasa to Moshi, it was decided - we would go to Mombasa on the Weds to get the 7am bus the next day. Or the Thurs. Ok probably the Thursday.

Ok well with that plan in place, we went to see my little tailor mate to order more clothes didn’t we! They were so nice and cheap, it made sense to use this opportunity to replace the pair I lost while flailing about in the Nile. So Phil ordered an extra pair of shorts and I asked for two pairs, plus a pair of culottes style trousers. I personally wanted to get the same sizing Phil had for his birthday shorts, as they were soooo comfy, but Phil said they were a little too baggy and ill fitting. He had a point to be fair, so the man measured me up but I tried hard to make it clear that I didn’t want the clothes to be too tight and uncomfortable. Watch this space.

After that, we went to the pool and as we approached, I could see that Barry was lay on the far side. He had his shades on and hadn’t noticed us yet.

‘Barry’s over there Phil’ I whispered.

‘I know’ he said ‘But I can’t be arsed right now, I’ll chat with him later’.

But the attraction of Phil was too much for Barry and he could smell him for sure. Within 30 seconds, Barry was out of his lounger and on his way over. Oh we could see that he wasn’t happy from his walk. And he didn’t need to be asked why, so he saved us a job and launched right into it.

‘I was meant to go on that boat trip today weren’t I.’

We nodded along.

‘They pissed me off so I sacked it off’.

Oh shitt. There’d been some drama in Barrytown. Well we were in by this point, so we couldn’t help but dig for more. Not that we needed to ask, we would have definitely found out either way.

‘Oh dear, what happened??’

‘Well...’

Barry took a deep breath.

‘Some bloke met me at the front of the hotel, but there was no tuc tuc, so I said Where’s my tuc tuc? And he pointed to the beach and said Boat here. So we walked to the beach and there was no boat so I said Where’s the boat mate?? and THEN he pointed to the end of the bay. He was saying I had to walk to the other bay! So that pissed me off. That pissed me right off. I told him, I said, I don’t like walkin’. Ya know?So we eventually got to the other bay and there was a load of Italians sat about waiting for the boats and I’m looking at these boats thinkin’...I don’t fancy that. They were not even that big these boats and I thought Ya know what, I can’t be arsed with this. So I got up and walked back. Fuk it. Only lost $20, I don’t even care’

And that was Barry’s boat trip.

Being the great friend that he is, Phil got into the pool with angry Barry to cool him down and comfort him with kind words and a quick head rub.

Kiddddinnnnnnggg

They just chilled in the pool and actually had a lovely chat about food, Barry telling Phil about the food available at his local in Cyprus.

‘You’ve got your Pork chops, Lamb, Olive oil, Salt, pepper - its gotta be dun’ mate’

Yes Barry, quite.

Despite the inspiring meat chat, we had a cheap and simple VEGETARIAN lunch at our hotel consisting of rice, lentil Dahl, spinach and chapati and actually got ourselves organised enough to do an activity. Unheard of! I swear, the longer we had stayed in Watamu, the lazier we’d become, and an excursion out was a much needed rarity. We arrived to the Turtle Ocean Conservation and everywhere you looked were recycled items lovingly used to ingeniously build and decorate. The gardens were lined with glass bottles as flower bed edging and there were sculptures of animals & big displays made from plastic waste. It was one of those places that had a special feel about it, like it was made out of pure love and good vibes. Real wholesome like 🤓

Ruth, a passionate & knowledgeable environmentalist, showed us around the small centre and explained the many problems they (the turtles & sea life) were facing on a daily basis - pollution, lack of education, plastic waste, over-fishing, poaching - to name but a few. They had one resident turtle in at that moment. She’d been found in a fisherman’s net and was struggling with various health problems. They hoped to nurse her back to health and eventually release her back into the ocean. Luckily turtles never formed bonds or any attachement with their human carers, so once they were healthy, the release was easy - they swam straight off without looking back. It was even more important to get them better if they were a female turtle as they had the potential to reproduce. It could take months or even years before she was better - one turtle was in for 6 years before its release!

Female turtles can have over 2000 eggs in a lifetime, but due to all the obstacles they now face, it’s likely that only 1 or 2 of those eggs will go on to have their own eggs. People often think that turtles are doing really well as they see lots of pictures of them and they have so many eggs in their lives, but its a misconception. The population is rapidly decreasing.

We ended the tour passing past an entrance to a garden area and I asked Ruth if we could go in. She said yes, but she didn’t seem to think it was really worth a look. I don’t know why, as there were some amazing art sculptures in there. There was a huge jellyfish made from plastic bags and a massive turtle made of bottle tops, plus there was a sort of turtle graveyard with all the shells they’d collected from the poaching. The whole area was like a sort of secret garden, with winding paths and hidden corners and it was clear to me that this garden could be utilised and made more of a feature for the centre. It would be far more engaging by adding a challenge or treasure hunt type activity. I discussed it with Ruth and explained my idea, saying they could have a simple paper sheet with tasks & questions to answer. They could sell for like $1, and then kids could go round the garden finding the answers by using fact boards placed around the garden. SICK IDEA RIGHT!?
Well she thought so too, and said she was definitely going to make it happen when the next volunteers arrived! WOOP WOOP 🙌. Shame we were leaving Watamu and couldn’t stay to help. I would have smashed that. I decided I’d drop her an email afterwards to check up on the idea and see if she needed any help with it. And get a cut of the profits obvs.

The whole centre runs purely from donations and running their tours, so if you would like to donate to help the turtles, every little helps. I will post a link up after this post.

Phil had already planned to use our trip out as an opportunity to do a run and so donned on all his gear and headed off while I waited for a tuc tuc. The driver and I then overtook Phil halfway back and even the driver said Phil was ‘very fast’. I smiled proudly and agreed with him. I waited for him to finish that sentence with. ‘...for a muzungu’ but he didn’t. Wow it was a proper compliment.

We went for another late afternoon dip in the sea accompanied by a beach bar beer, and Barry the stalker appeared in the bar next to ours - it was the same bar he went to every evening to be fair. A man of habit was our Barry.

No point sitting on different tables though Barry eh...so he followed his hearts desire and came over to sit with Phil. I was there obviously, but we all know by now Barry only has eyes for Phil.

‘Someone’s sat in my seat tonight’ he said, nodding towards ‘his’ bar as he arrived.

Nightmare. Barry had rocked up to his bar and someone had sat in his favourite seat. What an absolute joke.

Phil and Barry discussed many things, one being Barry’s marriage and subsequent divorce. Why didn’t it work out I wondered? No doubt there were various reasons, but maybe Barry going to the pub 3 or 4 nights a week didn’t help. Just a thought. But for Barry it was ‘necessary’ to have his pub time. Essential. I asked whether his wife (sorry, ex-wife) ever went out, or was she just at home with their child, while he was at the pub and he said ‘I gave her every opportunity to go out with her friends’. I choked on my drink laughing as it reminded me of something Phil says sarcastically on a regular basis - ‘Thank you for the opportunity Jess’.

But my favourite topic of the evening was Barry’s ‘banter’ chat.

‘Phil, do you have banter with your mates?’

He didn’t wait for a reply

‘Cos I do.’

I interjected at this point to mention that we both enjoyed dabbling in a spot of banter from time to time, but Barry was a mans man and I’m not sure he heard me. Boys will be boys right.

‘Me and my mates used to go to this one pub a couple of nights a week and bloody hell the banter was ‘ilarious. One time, my mate went to the loo and we barricaded the door. Completely blocked it, he couldn’t get out! Oh we had sucha laugh. Another time, this guy started a fight with my mate, over nuffing, and we all jumped on, then the barman - he was a big lad - he just picked the fella up and THREW him out the door! Honestly it was HILARIOUS. Oh ha and once, we got a painting that was on the wall, took it off, and we screwed it to the ceiling. Oh god, the landlord didn’t find it for weeks! Honestly Phil, so funny mate....’

 

Listening to Barry’s bountiful banter tales of mischief and man fun was thoroughly entertaining (gosh imagine the thrills of it. I can’t wait to get home and do the painting on the ceiling trick at my, sorry, Mum and Dads house) but I decided to leave them to it and walk up to my tailor bloke to collect the items before he closed.

My plan was to try the new items on and give feedback if necessary. But by the time I walked down the beach and then the pitch black beach road at high speed, I was sweating so profusely that I wasn’t thinking straight. I lost approximately 3 litres of sweat trying on the various shorts and trousers only to discover they were FAR too tight for me - but the boss guy wasn’t even there and I was SO hot that I just paid up and ran out of the shack. As I walked back along the beach, I already decided I would have to go back the next morning to get the trousers changed at the very least.

By the time I got back to the lads, Barry and Phil had settled in for the night and had even got themselves double stacked chairs to sit on for additional support (Barry was not a small chap). My plan to eat at a nice restaurant I’d spotted was rapidly fading away and in a desperate attempt to entice me to warm to the idea of a romantic meal for 3 on the beach, Phil announced he wanted prawns for dinner.

Now let me tell you - Phil has never, EVER, in his life ordered prawns. He has occasionally eaten prawns off my plate, and ONLY when I have thoroughly de-shelled and prepped them as though he was a baby (or Roy McCusker). So I could hardly say No could I, and to be honest, I was impressed by his boldness and also intrigued to see how the hell he was going to handle de-shelling prawns for the first time in his life. All with an audience (ok, just Barry). This was going to be a sight to see.

After we ordered the food though, Phil decided to announce he was going for a quick shower, so Barry and I finally got some time to ourselves. Great. It’s what we’d both been craving.

I stuck with what I know and chatted about different countries etc and ended up showing Barry some pictures of Mexico on my phone. Easy win. But suddenly a WhatsApp message popped up on the screen and it was a video of Phil singing as he got into the shower. I VERY quickly swiped it away and thought PHEW, I’ve just about got away with that one. I continued to show pictures of Mexican cenotes when another message appeared. This one was something like this

🤪🥰😍

Ok well this one was also cringe, so I quickly shifted the phone away to turn it onto airplane mode.

And thank god I did, as the next message Phil sent me popped up on the screen just as I moved it from Barry’s view:

#prawnsforBarry

Ok so at this point, I told Barry the phone was no longer working.

Phil returned (THANK GOD FOR THAT) wearing the newly altered mustard shirt, but Barry pointed that the pocket was still on the wonk. Dammit he was right as well. During the hour wait for these prawns, the topic I’d of how we met was bought up. I happily told Barry we met in a gay club and that we both had best friends who were gay. That’s right Barry. GAY. Oooh how was this going to go down I wondered...

We started off ok. Barry said he used to know a guy at work and he invited him to some of his dinner parties a few times. How nice of you Barry.

Lovely. But where’s the ‘but’...?

Ah ha, here it is

‘I don’t have a problem with it...’

Yes Barry, go on...

‘I don’t have a problem with it...but...’ (there it was) ‘...but when it comes up on TV and there’s two blokes kissing, I mean, ya know I don’t wana see that’. Barry pulled a face of disgust.

It was my turn to jump in

‘But I suppose two girls kissing is ok to see?’

Barry raised his eyebrows and avoided eye contact.

‘Well...you don’t see so much of that do you, its always blokes’

‘Apart from in porn right? Lots of men don’t mind gay kissing when its women doing it and its for their gratification. Kind of ironic really isn’t it!’ I said.

What I also wanted to say was:

I hate to break it to you Barry but you DO have a problem with it.

People are allowed to be uncomfortable with it, that is their right, but they need to understand that therefore they DO have a problem with it. And if that’s the case, then it would be better for everyone if those people kept their prejudice and judgement on the matter completely to themselves. It is homophobic to say ‘I don’t wana see that’ and talking like that is not helpful to anyone.

But what I actually explained to Barry was that of course he was not alone in his discomfort and many men and some women of his generation, and other generations too, would feel uncomfortable. This was likely due to the fact they had not been bought up to see gay culture and had been surrounded by homophobic language, media and culture in their life. If they were conscious and aware about why they felt the way they did, they might feel more comfortable with being uncomfortable.

I’m not sure how much of it he took in. Things went rapidly downhill after this when I mentioned the plastic straw issue to the waiter and Barry forgot he’d already told Phil about his Greta Thunberg joke meme (he definitely didn’t know it was a meme, but it was a meme). I managed to hear properly this time. Are you ready? Apologies in advance for this.

He described it as a picture of Greta Thunberg and at the top of it, it said ‘F**k the climate’ and at the bottom it said ‘I’ve discovered c**k’..

Not only was it a bizarre and offensive, it was not funny.

What IS funny is how a 70 year old man was so uncomfortable with two men kissing, but completely comfortable making a gross sexual joke about an autistic child.

Phil spoke up in response this time and said ‘Wow I mean, its pretty rude and its not really very funny. Anything she does for the climate is fantastic really’, while I said something like ‘Wow, isn’t she like 15 years old??’. To which Barry awkwardly said he thought she was 16. COOL WELL THAT MAKES IT OK THEN MATE.

So anyway - #prawnsforBarry - Phil somehow dealt with the prawns completely independent of my help which was actually unbelievable and I glowed with pride. The pace at which he was able to consume his dinner was far slower than he would have liked due to the amount of prep work required, but he got on with it like a trooper. His achievements of combating prawns alongside not being a sexist homophobe really shone that night and we went back to the hotel agreeing that we’d have dinner just us two the next day.