#i’m finally doing that trip to the stanley hotel i was going to do like 2 years ago | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bike42 · 2 years

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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 5 July 2022

At the beginning of the holiday weekend, there were news reports of cancelled flights and people stranded at the airports. I dismissed that as news hysteria. We’ve still had great travel experiences, but have noticed that flights are overbooked lately. Just the same, I felt good that I’d arranged to have us arrive a day early just in case we had travel delays.

On Saturday, we were hiking the Ice Ace Trail and got a call from Matt, our Dawson City adventure guide. We’d signed up for an 8 day adventure with a group from Sockeye Cycle, 4 days canoeing and camping on the Yukon River to Eagle, Alaska and then 4 days cycling (and camping) back to Dawson City. Matt said the river was really high and they were just checking in with the participants to gauge our comfort level with faster water. Jeff and I both said we have a good healthy respect for fast, cold water - but we do feel comfortable. We continued our 17 mile hike and spent a lot of the evening organizing stuff for our epic trip!

Unfortunately, just after noon on Sunday, Matt called again to let us know they decided to cancel the trip. We were devastatingly disappointed, but I was already searching what else we could do before I hung up the phone. We’d already planned to spend two nights in Vancouver before heading up to the Yukon, so I searched hiking / biking / paddling adventures in Canada and Alaska. Found lots of cool trips for 2023, but no guided trips available on this short notice. We’ve always wanted to go to the Banff area, and I was able to book a room there for a week, so we extended our Vancouver trip by one more night, and then we’ll fly from there to Calgary via Air Canada on Friday.

We spent the rainy afternoon of Monday (the 4th of July) packing away our camping and cycling gear, and then we packed our hiking gear and some fancier clothes than what we were planning to take to Dawson City. The Waunakee festival (Waunaboom) was canceled due to the weather so after we finished packing, we had an early dinner of leftovers from the fridge, watched a few episodes of 1883 and headed to bed early to rest for Tuesday’s early morning travel.

I’d pre-booked an Uber pickup for 4:45am Tuesday morning for our 5:50am flight to Minneapolis. We had a delightful driver and he was actually early. We cleared security by 5am - easy peasy!

We had a several hour layover in Minneapolis. We had breakfast, read the Madison paper online, and walked our normal MSP loop. I realized that even though I’m happy to be traveling, I’m still carrying a disappointment over the Yukon portion of this trip being cancelled. I know we’ll have a fabulous time, but I’m missing that feeling of adventure and the unknown, of being outside our comfort zones!

Our flight to Vancouver departed at 10am. What I first noticed on that flight was a lot of older passengers, and we figured they’re headed to Vancouver to start their cruises - many of them were large, including the woman next to Jeff (like brought her own seatbelt extender large). Just over a 3 hour flight to Vancouver - only time for one movie and several Sudoku!

We cleared customs with no issues other than a long line, claimed our checked bags and found our way to the train downtown. It’s so easy when you speak the language! It was a less than 30 minute ride, and we exited the station about a block and a half from our hotel. We settled in and rested before heading out to explore the town.

From our hotel, it was just three blocks to the waterfront. It initially felt cool, in the 60s - sunny but a cool breeze off the water. We walked all along the water, past a cruise dock, conference center, several hotels, yacht harbors, and finally to Stanley Park, which is an amazing peninsula that juts out into the bay. There was so much to take in - ships, boats, seaplanes, bikes, skateboards, and people from all walks of life. At Stanley Park, we picked up two bikes from the bike share program which allowed us to travel a bit faster. We were glad they offered helmets, because we had a lot of close calls dodging tourists on bikes!

It was a fantastic way to explore the tip of Vancouver on a gorgeous day: the scenery of the bay and the sea, the smell of the sea and the cedar trees. As we were completing our loop, there was a trailer doing a promotion handing out canned vodka seltzer drinks. We stopped and each got a can, and opened them and started drinking it. The young woman rushed over and said “it’s illegal to consume alcohol in public in Canada!” Whoops. We didn’t want to cause trouble for them, so we walked over to a bench and illegally consumed our beverages there. As I was walking the empties to a trash can, I walked by a pair of cyclists smoking weed (which is legal in Canada). Hmmm.

We finished the park loop, turned in our bikes, and headed back along the waterfront. We’d seen several good looking places on our earlier walk, and settled upon Cordero’s. There we had yummy bourbon drinks and cedar plank salmon with fresh veggies - out of this world! After dinner we strolled back through town, past high rise condos with lots of activity on the beautiful night.

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troubatrain · 3 years

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sober - m. barzal (pt. six)

a/n: so after the hell week we all survived in the good ol’ USA my brain finally decided to let me actually write. tbh i wrote this about four times before i forced myself to just finish it and stop tweaking it.

Five

Mat’s kitchen looked like a tornado had run through it. The usually pristine, absolutely untouched kitchen of the young bachelor was getting more use in the twenty minutes Mat had been awake than it ever had. Truthfully, Mat wasn’t a morning person. Mat slept like a rock, and he thought there was nothing besides the fear of his coach that could get him up earlier than noon, but he was wrong. You had him up before eight, hoping if he could beat you to waking up you wouldn’t have a chance to sneak out on him. He did, opening his eyes to catch you snoring softly beside him. He laid there for a moment, his eyes on you because he almost in disbelief you actually stayed. It was a moment of peace, the complete opposite of the mess you’d both gotten yourselves into. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t debating how he was going to get someone to leave, he was figuring out how he was going to get you to stay.

Mat was an absolute whore, and he didn’t care one bit. Why should he? He was young, he was at the top of his game, and his ego got a little bigger everyday. He was just as guilty as you were when it came to his lack of commitment. Mat had never been able to be a good boyfriend, no matter how hard he tried - so he just stopped trying. His schedule wasn’t made for dating, and he never wanted to put the work in. You were different. Something clicked in Mat when he realized how enraged his body felt hearing DeAngelo talk about you the way he did. He was going to let it go, and in hindsight maybe he should have, but he didn’t want to. That protective feeling took over his body because it was too strong for him to shove back down before it got out.

Mat would have told you he loved you after that game, because he does, but he knew he was playing a dangerous game. The reality of what would happen if this was real scared him, but not nearly as much as he knew it had to scare you. You had something to lose, a life that Mat just wouldn’t be apart of. Mat wasn’t in a position to ask you to give that up, especially for someone who you weren’t even dating. Mat knew if he moved too quickly you’d get spooked and run away without giving Mat a second thought. He’d disappear from your memory like everyone before him.

Mat’s thoughts were broken by the sound of your feet padding into his kitchen, your arms wrapping around his waist while you pressed a kiss to his back, “Hi pretty girl.”

This was uncharted territory, the morning after. You’d always been an expert, leaving yourself enough time to sneak out and leave before anyone would notice you were gone. That kept your heart safe, free from the feelings that were present in this very moment. You couldn’t have left last night, slipping out of Mat’s bed and into a cab in the middle of the night, but something stopped you, “Do you actually know what you’re doing?”

“I thought I’d try to make you breakfast,” Mat admits, a smile on his face while he turned off the stove, eggs forgotten to look at you, “I’ll get better at it, I promise, breakfast can be my thing.”

“Your thing?” You muse, letting Mat gently push you onto the island, standing between your legs.

“Yeah, when we fall in love or whatever, I’ll make breakfast,” Mat chuckles, pressing a quick kiss to your lips.

“You’ve lost your damn mind Barz,” You sigh, leaning your head on Mat’s shoulder while you savored the last few moments of peace you were feeling. You were going to have leave his place, off to a four game road trip where Mat was free to fuck whoever he wanted.

Mat’s finger was gently gliding over your face, “If I’m crazy it’s because you made me crazy.”

“You were insane before I met you,” You defend not daring to open your eyes and meet Mat’s gaze, “And now you’re just annoying.”

“I don’t remember being annoying when you were begging me to fuck you last night,” Mat counters back, hands moving to your bare thighs, the warmth from his hands was a stark contrast from the cool counter, “If I’m correct it sounded something like Mat please.”

“Don’t push your luck Mat,” You threaten, his impersonation of you from the night before stopping almost immediately.

“Would I push it if I asked you to stay until my flight later?” Mat asks, eyes full of hope while he tries to hang onto the moment just a little bit longer.

“If you never talk about it again,” You nod, deciding that the damage was already done. You were so far gone a few more hours couldn’t hurt you anymore.

“We can talk about how fucking good you look in orange and blue though,” Mat teases, a grin on his face. You furrow your eyebrows, looking down and realizing just what shirt he had given you the night before. A bright white number thirteen in the corner, with an Islanders logo present on the front.

“Mat if you don’t take this off of me right this second.”

“You never have to ask me twice to take off your shirt babe.”

***

You leaned your head against the window of the private jet that definitely cost more for one flight than your entire salary, taking a deep breath and a break from the laundry list of emails you were due to answer. You were flying to St. Louis for the All Star Game, your plans of a week long vacation somewhere warm with some of the team and their significant others thrown out the door the second Chris stepped in for Panarin last minute. Not even two minutes later, Charlotte strutted over to your desk to tell you that without a need for someone to translate for Artemi, you were the new kid and that meant you had to suffer through the weekend while everyone else took their vacations.

“At least pretend to be excited,” Chris mutters next to you, taking a break from his own reading and elbowing you in the side.

“It’s hard to be excited when everyone’s on a beach and we’re flying to Missouri in January,” You snark back, pulling your glasses off your face and rubbing your eyes.

“You either need to start sleeping or stop hanging out with that secret boyfriend of yours,” Chris jokes, but it struck a nerve with you.

Mat wasn’t your boyfriend. Mat. Wasn’t. Your. Boyfriend. He didn’t get to have all of you, because he didn’t deserve it - no man does. Nothing about the very small amount of vulnerability that he got to see after that game meant anything. You left that morning and he went on a four game road trip and the world spun on. You could stop whenever you wanted to, move on with some other dumb boy who didn’t care more about you in clothes than without. But did you want to? That was a debate you’d been having with yourself for days.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” You grumble, gritting through your teeth. Technically, it wasn’t a total lie.

“So you are seeing someone!” Chris points out, as if your deliberate words were going to make it past him. Chris held most of the intelligence on the entire Rangers roster, and there was nothing that he didn’t pick up, “So, What's the deal? He doesn’t want anyone to know about you or you don’t want anyone to know about him.”

“It’s mutual,” You hum, sipping the coffee that had gone cold.

“Are you a sugar baby?” Chris questions, a cautious tone to his voice, “Not that I think there’s anything wrong with it or anything-”

“No I haven’t found a sugar daddy,” You roll your eyes, waiving Chris and sparing him the lecture that there’s nothing wrong with the idea at all, “We’re just in a limbo.”

“For what it’s worth,” Chris says, taking a deep breath before he finished his thought, “You seem happy, you haven’t snapped on Tony in almost a week.”

“Thanks Chris,” You laugh softly, popping a headphone back into your ear so you could finish up some work.

***

Mat was in absolute disbelief the moment he saw you step into the hotel lobby. You weren’t supposed to be in St. Louis, you were supposed to be on some island in a bikini making him wish he wasn’t good enough to be selected for the All Star game at all. Mat scratched his head for an answer as to why you didn’t mention the change of plans, but then the thing that he spent his entire roadie before he left for St. Louis entered his brain at full speed.

You’re not her boyfriend.

Mat owed you nothing, and you didn’t have to tell him anything you didn’t want to. Mat honestly knew about four things about you and all of them related to your job. He was dying to know everything, even the stuff that didn’t matter that much. Hell, Mat would’ve killed to see the inside of your apartment at this point. He just needed one thing, one thing that he could hold onto that you showed him that no one else got to see. He was sure he’d find it, especially after he finally got you to stay at his place, but now he was starting to think maybe he’d never crack you.

You were going to just avoid Mat like the plague. The hotel was swamped with players, their families, and any staff that had tagged along for the weekend. The city was still buzzing from last season’s Stanley Cup win and there was not a chance Mat wasn’t going to be busy all weekend, because Mat Barzal was an amazing hockey player. You hated to be reminded of it, because if you could have Mat feed you stupid compliments and never remind you of his job you’d be happy forever.

hotel sex is on the table

and you look fucking hot today

You roll your eyes, checking your phone while you were standing in line to check in. You look around the room, trying not to draw any attention to Mat who was giving you a shit eating grin from across the lobby. He looked good, a white button up tucked into suit pants that were doing his ass justice. You look at Chris, who was too engrossed in his own phone to even look back at you.

pretend like i don’t exist right now and we’ll talk

wanna play a game?

that didn’t go well for you last time Barzy

if i beat your buddy kreids tomorrow night you give me one night

you won’t

is that a yes?

fine

You turn around, giving Mat one last death stare to remind him you weren’t kidding on your plea to pretend you didn’t exist. Your job was important to you because you weren’t Mat. You weren’t going to get paid millions of dollars to play and then retire with a pretty penny in your pocket. You worked, and the stress of losing your job would definitely break you. Charlotte instilled fear in you like no other boss you ever had could, and if you got caught messing around with someone who played for another team while you were working she’d probably just fire you on the spot. Not to mention the heartbroken faces of your chosen family. Mat somehow existed in both a different and the same world as you. He understood your work life because it was so close to his, but he had his own work family and you had yours. No matter what, there would always be some sort of weird divide caused by that stupid rivalry. For now, it was just going to have to be something you’d worry about later.

***

You turned in the mirror of your hotel room, the lacy black lingerie set fit your body like a glove, and you were impressed with Mat’s taste given all he ever wore was sweatpants. You look in the corner of the room, the last piece of his little gift sitting in the box. Mat dropped it off earlier, a note on top telling you that when he inevitably smokes Chris in the faster skater competition he had something in mind. You weren’t surprised by his confidence, but you were surprised by the gift itself. Folded neatly in the box wasn’t just the lingerie, a bright blue and orange jersey was right underneath it, a shiny white number thirteen stitched into the back. You knew you didn’t have to wear it, because Mat wasn’t going to force you to do anything, but you were wet at just the thought of how animalistic Mat would probably get. You tossed on the jersey, throwing an even bigger sweatshirt and sweats over it before you snuck up to Mat’s floor- hoping Chris wouldn’t catch you leaving from the room across the hall.

You pull out the room key Mat gave you, sneaking into the door and locking it shut behind you. You slipped off your sweats, leaving you in nothing but the jersey and your panties.

“Fuck,” Mat dropped his phone from his hand the second you came into his view, “I didn’t think you’d wear it.”

“I wasn’t going to,” You muse, your confidence boosting while you strutted over to Mat. He had that effect on you, the ability to always make you feel like the sexiest woman in the world - even if you didn’t feel like were, “But then you beat McDavid.”

Mat pulled you between his legs while he sat on the edge of the bed, his hands toying with the jersey while he let the fabric slip through his fingers, “You look so fucking good in my jersey baby.”

“I’m proud of you Mat,” You purr into his ear, playing into Mat’s ego just a little bit. You were proud of him, and for the first time you wanted him to know. You pressed a kiss against his jaw, feeling his own breath hitch in his throat, “Can I show you?”

“Keep that jersey on and you can do whatever you want to me,” Mat admits, slipping his hand under the jersey and tapping your ass lightly.

“I’ll keep it on,” You giggle, pushing Mat on his back and getting to work. Your lips kissed down his chest with every button of his dress shirt you got undone, tossing it in the corner to be forgotten about until later. You unhooked his belt, leaving open mouth kisses just above his pants. You slid off his dress pants slowly, taking his boxers with them to let his cock spring free. Mat groaned at the sight, gathering your hair to pull it back for you.

“Wait,” Mat stops you, holding your hair back to stop you from putting your mouth on him. His finger traced your cheek, a look on his face you couldn’t quite read, “I just want to remember this, you look so beautiful right now.”

You could feel the heat rush your cheeks, Mat had called you to dozens of things but never once did the word beautiful ever slip through his lips, “You’re just saying that because I’m about to blow you.”

“No, baby, I mean it- fuck,” Mat groans, this thoughts halted by your mouth on his cock. His hips snapped up, hitting the back of your throat, “You’re so fucking good princess.”

You moan, hollowing your cheeks and gripping Mat’s thighs a little tighter, giving him the show you so desperately wanted. You head bobbed in a perfect rhythm, taking as much of Mat as your body could handle. Mat pushes your head back, taking a look at the line of spit that was still connected to his dick, your eyes were glassy and your throat was sore but Mat would keep you like that forever if he could, “Let me finish.”

“I’m in charge tonight,” Mat reminds you, the tone in his voice sent a chill up your spine. You knew Mat was rough, and a little demanding but he never crossed that line with you, “On your knees.”

“Like this?” You tease, sitting up on your knees to rile him up just a little bit more.

“More like this princess,” Mat stands behind you, gently pushing you down so your ass was in the air. He was quiet, bunching up his jersey so he could get a full view of the lingerie he went out and bought just for you, “Be good or I won’t let you cum pretty girl.”

Mat’s threat with a light smack to your ass, a moan escaping your lips. He slipped the black lace panties to the side, gliding one of his fingers against your folds while he pressed a kiss to your skin, “So wet for me already.”

“Only for you Mat,” The words tumbled out of your mouth, your eyes widening at your own confession.

Mat was thankful he was behind you, because if you saw the way his gaze changed from your words he’d never live it down. You looked so perfect, spread just for him. His jersey. His number. And in his own fantasy: his girl. He snapped himself back into reality, sliding into your pussy that was practically dripping in anticipation.

“Faster, fuck Mat please,” You whimpered out, trying to move yourself to get Mat to pick up the pace. He chuckled darkly, hips snapping back and forth until the only sound in the room was the string of curses leaving your mouth, “I’m close-”

Mat flipped you over before you could finish, his hand grabbing your chin and forcing you to look at him, “Tell me this pussy is mine.”

“Fuck I’m yours Mat,” You breath out, locking your eyes with his while it felt like time froze around you, “I’m yours.”

“Look at me when you cum baby,” Mat urges, his hand still gripping your chin. He picked up his place, making use of his other hand around your clit, “C’mon princess just for me.”

Your pussy fluttered around him, Mat letting out a groan while he tried to hold onto this moment for just a bit longer. He looked down at you, catching your breath from your own high. You hand snuck down to his cock, pumping it slowly, “Cum on me.”

Mat nods, letting you work on his dick with your hands while he nibbled at your neck. He was going to mark you up, make you remember who you belonged to because he so desperately wanted it to be him. He spilled onto your pussy, head pressed into your neck while he came down from his own high. You both laid there for a moment, your hand gently stroking Mat’s back while you both took a moment to think about what just happened. Mat was possessive in a way he’d never been before, and you ate it up without a second thought - that had to mean something right?

“I need to get back to my room,” you whisper, afraid to break the comfortable silence.

“I know,” Mat nods, finally picking his head up, “Keep the jersey, you might need it one day.”

“Your stupidity is honestly astounding,” You joke, brushing his hair out of his face while Mat’s face turned into a pout.

“Can I take you on a date?” Mat breathes out, hoping he wasn’t reading this the wrong way, “No games, no funny business, let me take you out.”

Say no. Say no and never call him again.

“One date,” You agree against your better judgement, pushing Mat away and looking around the room to find your sweats that you snuck into his room in, “Better make it a good one.”

Mat smiles, teeth on full display while he watched you slide your pants back on, “I’m the best at everything Y/N don’t forget that.”

“Goodnight Barz,” You tease, giving him one more look before you left his room.

The elevator ride down was quiet, most of the hotel’s occupants already asleep or still out partying the weekend away. For your sake, you hoped Chris would be fast asleep like the grandpa he was. You rushed down the hallway, Mat’s jersey still hanging loosely off your frame while you looked in your hand for your room key. Your search was stopped by a throat clearing behind you. You jump, turning around to see Chris’s eyes boring into you.

“You’ve got some explaining to do.”

#My writing #mat barzal #mat barzal imagine #nhl imagine

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hockey-fics · 4 years

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Two Too Many ~ Jamie Oleksiak

Summary: Secrets come to the surface after Jamie gets home from two months in the bubble.

Word Count: ~2,000

Warnings: None

A/N: Unedited and written while I was tipsy so read with caution.

You didn’t expect it. You didn’t expect the way it would feel to be away from Jamie for so long. The dull ache lodged in your chest every time you thought about how he wasn’t there. You couldn’t call him and ask him to come over and watch a movie, couldn’t ask if he wanted to go on an impromptu road trip, you couldn’t invite him to go for brunch with you, hungover after a girl’s night watching reality tv and drinking wine.

And it wasn’t like you weren’t used to not having your best friend around 24/7. You had gotten used to the fact that travelling was part of his job. That some nights, even when you wanted to be with him, you simply could’t. But it had been two months this time and everyday seemed harder than the last.

You called, you texted, you FaceTimed. But nothing replaced the way it felt to be wrapped in Jamie’s arms after a hard day at work. To hear him chuckle at a dumb joke in the movie you were watching on the couch in your living room. To see his smile as you climbed into his car late at night after you texted him telling him that you couldn’t sleep so instead you would go for ice cream and sit in his car listening to music and talking about anything and everything instead of trying to sleep.

You had watched every single game of his. Plus many of the other games during the playoffs as well. Because you had loved hockey even before you met Jamie. But of course with one of your best friends playing in the NHL your love of the sport had only grown.

You were devastated after game five. You didn’t even want to watch the last few minutes. But you forced yourself to do it, because you knew you had to. You had to support Jamie even when things weren’t going well. You knew how badly Jamie wanted this, how hard the whole team was working, how close they were to the one thing they were fighting for. Once the television switched from Stanley Cup coverage to the late night news you turned the TV off, sitting in your living room waiting for a text from Jamie. Normally it would have been you to send the first text, win or lose. Because you knew he wouldn’t be able to get back to right away and you wanted there to be something on his phone when he finally got to it after a game. But that night, you couldn’t. Because you couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Nothing felt right. So you waited and you waited and you waited. And you didn’t get a text. Instead the first thing you received from him was a FaceTime call, late that night when he was back in his hotel room, showered and tired and tucked into his bed. And you talked for hours in soft and hushed voices till you both drifted to sleep. You awoke the next morning to your phone completely dead and laying beside your pillow, leaving you late for work that day. But you didn’t mind, because truthfully, you would do anything for Jamie.

The next night you awaken to a racing heart, your eyes open but receiving nothing except the streetlights shining through the edge of your closed curtains. Laying in silence you try to piece together what had happened. You hadn’t had a nightmare, not that you could remember. But just as you roll over, your eyes closing again to try and fall back asleep you receive your answer. A knock at your door.

Pushing your blankets back you grasp your phone, unlocking it and ready to call for help as you slowly and quietly creep through your apartment. But when you peer through the peephole on your front door every ounce of panic you had vanished. Your fingers are shaking slightly as you fumble with your deadbolt and then the chain, a whole array of emotions and feelings swirling inside of you. It had been a couple days since the Stanley Cup final. With the circumstance you weren’t sure when you would see him, when he would get back.

“Jamie,” you whisper, staring up at him, your hand on the edge of the door as you stare up at him, like you weren’t sure he was really there. It had been two months and it was the same Jamie but he looked tired, looked deflated. And your heart had broken watching Dallas lose game five but this was a whole different type of pain. Seeing him like this and knowing there was nothing you could do.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s late. I should have just gone home but-.”

“Jamie,” you say again, this time with intention. “Don’t apologize, you can come here anytime you want.” Stepping forward you lean up, wrapping your arms around his large body, warm and comfortable.

“I love you,” Jamie whispers into your neck, leaning down to wrap you in a tight hug.

“I love you too,” you whisper back. It was the truth, in every sense of the words. But you could only assume he was saying it in the way you had said the words to plenty of your other friends before. That he loved you like a family member, like a friend he had grown up with, like a person who you would do anything for, who you trusted with your life.

Jamie straightens his back, lifting you off the ground as he steps into your apartment, the weighted door falling shut behind you two. “Can you stay here tonight?” you whisper, feeling your eyes fill with tears. And you feel a wave of guilt. Because you shouldn’t be crying, you shouldn’t be upset. You needed to be the rock for Jamie, to be there for him through whatever he was feeling.

“Of course,” Jamie tells you, gently placing you back onto the ground. “Of course I’ll stay if you want me to,” he adds, looking down at you. “Are you…?”

Giggling you shake your head, quickly reaching up and wiping your eyes. “No,” you lie, sniffling quietly. “I’m fine.”

“What’s wrong?” Jamie asks, his arms around you again, his chin on top of your head as he holds you tight against his chest.

“Nothing is wrong,” you tell him honestly. “I just don’t ever want to be away from you for that long again.”

Jamie pulls back a little, looking down at you with a soft gaze. “Never,” he says quietly.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

Your eyes narrow slightly as you stare up at him, hands still clamped on his arms. “The...cup,” you mumble hesitantly, wondering if perhaps you shouldn’t have brought it back up. But what you hadn’t realized was that Jamie wasn’t burying the loss deep inside, to never have to process it. He was simply so caught up in you that every single other thing and person in his life had faded away for the time being.. That he was so focused on you, on how much he missed you over the last two months, on how much he loved you, that nothing else seemed to matter.

“Oh,” Jamie whispers, nodding slowly as it all hits him again. How much he wanted it, like nothing he had ever wanted before. To be able to come home as a winner, to be a cup winner. To have something to show after nine weeks away. “Yeah, I…” Jamie trails off and you know it’s because he doesn’t know what to say, how to express how he’s feeling.

“Are you tired?” you ask even though you know the answer. You know from more than the time of day. You know based on the bags under his eyes, the way his voice doesn’t carry any inflection, how his shoulders are slumped just slightly.

“Yes,” Jamie tells you without a moment of hesitation.

Reaching over you turn the deadbolt on the door, reaching over and grabbing his hand as you gently tug him towards your bedroom. “I...the couch,” Jamie mutters.

Jamie had spent many nights in your apartment and you had spent many nights in his. But one of you was always on the couch. Because you were just friends, and that’s what friends did. “Jamie,” you say quietly, turning around in your dim bedroom, looking up at him. “You’re not going to sleep on the couch, I’m not letting you. You deserve a good night’s sleep...at the very least. We’re both adults, you don’t think we can share a bed?”

Jamie inhales sharply and even though you can barely see him in the dark room you do notice the way every muscle in his body seems to stiffen. “Yeah...yeah,” he finally mutters after a couple seconds of silence. Hesitating you nod, stepping away from him to walk to the other side of your bed. “No,” Jamie suddenly exclaims the second you rest one knee on the edge of your bed.

Pausing you straighten up, leaving your one leg on the bed as you stare at his silhouette standing five feet away from you. “No...what?”

“No, I can’t share a bed with you,” Jamie explains and you watch him run a hand through his hair. “It’s not okay...not when I love you like this. You think I just see you as a friend and I can’t share a bed with you pretending that’s the truth.”

You slowly pull your other leg onto the bed, crawling across it.

“Y/N,” Jamie whispers as you stop in front of him, still on your knees on his side of the bed now.

Reaching up you bring one hand to the back of his neck, pulling him down to your level as you press your lips to his. And he doesn’t hesitate, not even for a second, before he’s kissing you back. It’s gentle and soft as he pushes himself forwards, your own body falling back with his. Slipping an arm around your back Jamie holds you up as you slide your legs from underneath you, lowering you down till your back hits the mattress and he’s hovering over you. “Jamie...Jamie,” you mutter against his lips.

“Yes?” Jamie asks, pulling back immediately. “Are you okay? Is this...okay?”

Nodding you keep one hand on the back of his neck, the other propped beneath you to support yourself. “Yes, I just...earlier, when you said you loved me…?”

“I love you,” Jamie repeats. “As more than just your friend.”

Pushing your hand harder into the bed you lean up to bring your lips back closer to his. “I love you too, Jamie,” you whisper before pressing your lips to his again.

And you felt like a teenager again, your stomach alive with butterflies as you let Jamie lay you back onto your bed, kissing you slowly and passionately. His hands remained above your waist the entire time you were making out, till you finally pulled away, your breath heavy as you looked up at him. “You said you were tired.”

“Not for you,” Jamie mutters and you can’t help but giggle. At how cheesy it was. But you couldn’t deny how much you loved it. “What’s so funny?” Jamie inquires and through the soft light streaming in through the window you can see the smirk on his lips.

“You,” you whisper, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. “So, are you going to sleep on the couch...or?” you joke.

Jamie chuckles and slides one arm underneath your body, easily moving you over to make room for himself. Laughing you scoot to the other side, slipping back under the blankets as you roll onto your side, your eyes suddenly heavy with sleep as you watch him peeling off his shirt and jeans. When Jamie climbs into the bed you shuffle closer, feeling the warmth of his body radiating from him even before your skin touches his.

“Thank you,” Jamie whispers after you settle against him, your chest on his shoulder.

“For what?” you whisper, your fingers slowly running along his bare chest as you fight against the pull of sleep. For the first night in two months you felt completely content, happier than you had in a long time. With Jamie at your side. With the truth that you had been hiding for so long finally out in the open, to find those hidden feelings reciprocated.

“Just...being you. Your texts and calls through this whole thing...it just made things so much easier. You...you just make things easier...and better,,.in every way,” Jamie tells you, stumbling slightly through the serious topic.

Lifting your head slightly you place a gentle kiss against the front of his shoulder. “You make everything better for me too, Jamie. Two months without you was two too many,” you whisper, settling back into him as you quickly fall asleep beside Jamie, for the first time in a future filled with many nights just like this one.

#jamie oleksiak #jamie oleksiak imagine #jamie oleksiak fic #jamie oleksiak fanfic #jamie oleksiak one shot #nhl imagines #nhl fanfic #nhl fic #nhl one shot #nhl fanfiction #hockey fic #hockey fanfic #hockey writing #dallas stars fic #dallas stars #dallas stars imagine

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aliveandfullofjoy · 3 years

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It’s the first day of 2021, which calls (yet again!) for my ten favorite new-to-me movies I watched in 2020!

The rules are the same as always: no movies from this past year (2020) or the year before (2019). Every other year is free game.

All ten of these movies are fascinating and beautiful and well worth your time, so consider this a strong endorsement for all of them. I’ve also included ways to watch all of the films (as of this writing, Jan. 1, 2021).

01. Two for the Road (dir. Stanley Donen, 1967; USA) Donen takes the ideas of romantic cinema and celebrates it while injecting a healthy dose of painful reality. He chooses two of the English language's most attractive movie stars, Albert Finney (in full himbo mode!) and Audrey Hepburn, and follows their ten-year marriage as seen on their various road trips across Europe. It's a memory piece more than anything else, but the arc of their relationship is clear and their palpable connection burns through the screen. These are two beautiful, intelligent adults who love each other deeply, who are still physically attracted to each other, who are able to hurl verbal jabs and insults at each other with the best of them. Finney is magnificent, but Hepburn sort of steals the show. In what is probably her finest onscreen performance, she gets to grow from a virginal bride to a fully fleshed out adult, living beautifully in different shades of sexy and goofy and bitter. They make a screen couple for the ages. The script is funny without losing its honesty, it's tragic without leaning too far into artifice, it's romantic without being treacly. It's a remarkable balancing act and makes for a masterpiece. (Two for the Road is available to rent online or viewed at this link.)

02. Stop Making Sense (dir. Jonathan Demme, 1984; USA) Stop Making Sense feels like a miracle. It hints at a narrative arc, but that part is unimportant. It’s a live performance recorded and packaged specifically for consumption as a film. In its brief runtime, it becomes a living, breathing, sweating testament to David Byrne’s skill as a performer, as a songwriter, as a storyteller, and to the remarkable talents of everyone in Talking Heads. It’s a breathtakingly joyous experience. I can’t remember the last time I watched a recording of a live performance that captured the same brand of energy, of buoyancy, that you feel as you’re leaving a great communal experience. This is a masterpiece that proclaims as loudly as possible that there is no joy greater than making art with people you love. (Stop Making Sense is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.)

03. Scattered Clouds (dir. Mikio Naruse, 1967; Japan) Filled to the brim with unspoken turmoil and emotional devastation, Naruse's final film chronicles the rough terrain of a relationship between a widow and the man responsible for her husband's death. Spanning years and exploring just how deeply these wounds can go, much of the Scattered Cloud’s success rests on the performances from Yuzo Kayama and Yoko Tsukasa. Kayama is a handsome, likable screen presence who beautifully lives in his own cloud of grief. Tsukasa gets a bit more to chew on, as this really is her story: her arc and her inability to move forward, despite the best intentions, is one of the film's most lasting ideas. Brutally sad but incredibly beautiful. The work of a master filmmaker. (Scattered Clouds is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.)

04. L’Atalante (dir. Jean Vigo, 1934; France) My only regret with L’Atalante is that I didn’t see it sooner. The final (and only feature-length) film from Jean Vigo before his untimely death at 29, this film is a technical marvel and a humanist miracle. Featuring spirited performances from Dita Parlo, Jean Dasté, and the great character actor Michel Simon, and intoxicating dreamlike imagery, as well as a relentlessly romantic score from Maurice Jaubert, this film looks and feels like no other film from its era. (L’Atalante is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.)

05. Daisies (dir. Věra Chytilová, 1966; Czechoslovakia) Věra Chytilová's iconic masterpiece of anarchic cinema more than lives up to its reputation. Operating on its own chaotic wavelength, Daisies follows the exploits of Marie I (Jitka Cerhová) and Marie II (Ivana Karbanová) who seek to spoil themselves after realizing how spoiled the world is. They begin to live extravagantly and rip off older men and cause general mischief. Over less than 80 minutes, Daisies upends a whole slew of cultural norms. Beautiful, ambiguous, funny, cynical, and truly visionary. (Daisies is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel and HBO Max.)

06. The Hero (dir. Satyajit Ray, 1966; India) The Hero sort of feels like Satyajit Ray's answer to 8½ in its meditation of fame and regret. Uttam Kumar is fantastic as Arindam Mukherjee, a superstar actor who works through his career and his loss of values in an interview with a reporter played by Sharmila Tagore, who is also fantastic. Under Ray's sleek direction, gracefully opening up the world of the train, and with his intelligent and human script, the cast uniformly sinks their teeth into this film. Kumar is the MVP out of necessity -- without him, the whole film would fall apart -- but the whole ensemble is remarkable, peppering the background of the train scenes and in Arindam's flashbacks. This also has one of the all-time great nightmare sequences. Easily one of the master director’s best films. (The Hero is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.)

07. Malcolm X (dir. Spike Lee, 1992; USA) Malcolm X is a truly massive film housing an even bigger performance from the great Denzel Washington. Tracing Malcolm X’s life and career while juggling numerous tones and visual styles and spanning across decades and continents, this is surely Spike Lee’s most ambitious film up to this point in his career. Washington is onscreen for virtually all of its long runtime, from the early exuberant days before his imprisonment all the way up to that fateful day in the Audubon Ballroom, and he is, of course, tremendous. All that classic Denzel charisma and magnetism is on full display, whether in his impassioned speeches or in his more intimate scenes. Lee’s direction is top notch, making this full story about a life with an incalculably profound impact feel richly and deeply intimate. This is one of the essential American epics. (Malcolm X is available to rent online.)

08. Beau Travail (dir. Claire Denis, 1999; France) Beau Travail’s place in the modern canon of world cinema is assured, and Denis is rightfully seen as a master, but it really can’t be overstated just how much of a gem this film is. Pepper with sparse dialogue (though always packed with meaning), the film lives in one of two modes: muscular, suntanned men doing slow, precise choreographed exercises in the heat of the day and those same muscular men dancing and gyrating with attractive young women in some ethereal nightclub. Between these poles lies Denis’ almost cosmic meditation on masculine ego, homoerotic obsession, and regret. A fascinating, enigmatic, devastating beauty. (Beau Travail is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.)

09. Only Angels Have Wings (dir. Howard Hawks, 1939; USA) Only Angels Have Wings might be Howard Hawks' crowning directorial achievement. The aerial work, the rainy nights, the beautiful atmosphere of the bars, the palpable camaraderie of the characters, the tragic loss of life and yet the persistence to move forward. Cary Grant leads a terrific cast, including a quietly moving Richard Barthelmess and a rarely-more-likable Thomas Mitchell, and his chemistry with both Jean Arthur (the most charming) and Rita Hayworth is a joy to watch. This film seems to dabble in multiple genres at once, subverting the cliches of the Hollywood formula while still embracing the melodrama and the artifice within. In that way, the film feels very strange, but if the viewer lets themselves be carried along with Hawks' unique rhythm, the reward is one of the most fascinating and exciting films in Hollywood's fabled 1939 output. (Only Angels Have Wings is available to rent online or viewed at this link.)

10. Closely Watched Trains (dir. Jiří Menzel, 1966; Czechoslovakia) Between the precise composition of the shots and the young narrator-protagonist, Closely Watched Trains feels like a spiritual predecessor to Wes Anderson's work. This comparison extends to the thematic content of the film as well, as the story of a young man coming-of-age against the backdrop of the Nazi regime is definitely cut from the same cloth as The Grand Budapest Hotel. Lucky for me, I love Anderson's work, and Grand Budapest is my favorite of his, so Menzel's stylistic flourishes immediately endeared me to the film.Menzel maintains a skillful tonal balancing act throughout Closely Watched Trains. Even under the wry, almost self-deprecating humor, the film never loses track of preciousness of life and the horrific tragedy of war. Beautiful cinematography, strong performances across the board, a memorable score, and a clever script make this a gem of the Czech New Wave and a moving, delightful, and accessible coming-of-age tale. (Closely Watched Trains is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.)

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order): Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder, 1951), The Band’s Visit (Eran Kolirin, 2007), But I’m a Cheerleader (Jamie Babbit, 1999), Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey, 1962), A Cottage on Dartmoor (Anthony Asquith, 1929), Crossing Delancey (Joan Micklin Silver, 1988), Divorce Italian Style (Pietro Germi, 1961); Eat Drink Man Woman (Ang Lee, 1994), Fireworks (Kenneth Anger, 1947), The Freshman (Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1925), The Hitch-Hiker (Ida Lupino, 1953), Kuroneko (Kaneto Shindo, 1968), Le Bonheur (Agnès Varda, 1965), Le Notti Bianche (Luchino Visconti, 1957), Like Father, Like Son (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2013), Local Hero (Bill Forsyth, 1983), Love & Basketball (Gina Prince-Bythewood, 2000), Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981), Monsoon Wedding (Mira Nair, 2001), One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (Agnès Varda, 1977), Pennies from Heaven (Herbert Ross, 1981), Pickup on South Street (Samuel Fuller, 1953), Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998), Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954), Sleepless in Seattle (Nora Ephron, 1993), Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (William Greaves, 1968), Tea and Sympathy (Vincente Minnelli, 1956), They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (Sydney Pollack, 1969), Tomboy (Céline Sciamma, 2011), Wendy & Lucy (Kelly Reichardt, 2008), Within Our Gates (Oscar Micheaux, 1920), Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondo, 1995), and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Robert Zemeckis, 1988).

And some miscellaneous viewing stats:

First movie watched in 2020: A Fantastic Woman (Sebastián Lelio, 2017)

Final movie watched in 2020: Holiday (George Cukor, 1938)

Worst movie watched: The Notebook (Nick Cassavetes, 2004)

Oldest movie watched: Ten films by the Lumière Brothers (Louis Lumière, 1895)

Longest movie watched: Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954; 207 minutes)

Month with most amount of movies watched: December (58 movies, including shorts)

Month with least amount of movies watched: February (11 movies) (pre-COVID, naturally)

First movie from 2020 seen: Birds of Prey (Cathy Yan, 2020)

Total movies watched: 455

#sometimes elliott watches movies #year in review #two for the road #stop making sense #scattered clouds #l'atalante #daisies #the hero #malcolm x #beau travail #only angels have wings #closely watched trains

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puckngrind · 4 years

Text

What’s In a Name: 5 - J. Toews

Chapter 5

Where we left off: Jon and the Blackhawks won the 2015 Stanley Cup and he elects to celebrate with Bekah at home vs. going out on the town.

Warnings: smut, language

Word Count: 3,405 (felt way longer when I wrote it)

Series Masterlist ) Puck ‘n Grind’s masterlist

Titles.

It’s hard to title something when you just don’t know what to call it or admit to it honestly. Bekah loved watching Jon and his team regain the title of champions. It gave him this energy as they enjoyed the time they spent together. Bekah was nervous when Jon told her his family was going to come over. They decided having dinner in was better than out since the entire city was electrified after the win. With that his family came over for dinner the night after the win but everyone kept the conversation more to the week’s plans of celebrating and not Jon and Bekah’s connection. Bekah wondered if Jon asked them not to discuss it or was it just not an issue for them? She observed the Toews family more than anything.

A phone call changed all that was planned when Bekah had to leave before the city celebrations for the cup. Jon knew he couldn’t beg her to stay when her boss called needing her back early and gave her the vacation days back times two. Bekah promised to use them all on him as she kissed him hard before heading into Midway and back to Ohio. Her presence was missed as he hoisted the cup for the thousands of fans who lined the streets and packed into Soldier Field. With so many eyes on him he really only wanted hers right there next to him. Then just like that he was back home in Winnipeg and their text and phone conversations continued like normal.

By the end of the summer, Jon and Bekah were laying in bed in his Chicago home when they decided just not to label it. The months between her leaving after the cup and his training camp starting they found a few times to see each other. He made a couple trips to Columbus on the way to or from vacations and work requirements. Bekah found herself on a plane a few times for a weekend in Chicago when he was there. He mentioned his days with the cup but then dropped it after she started talking about a major project. He also wondered if the spotlight of his career was part of it. He never spoke the words to her but it was almost constantly in the back of his mind. They enjoyed the time together but their lives didn’t quite mesh once the season started and they both knew it.

What the two couldn’t deny was that the sex was amazing and the friendship they built was different than any relationship they had with anyone else. Bekah was a complete open book with Jon. He knew the completely unfiltered Bekah even more than her own family or even Brynn. Jon confided in her in ways even he was shocked by sometimes. She wasn’t caught up in the fame of his world and venting about all of it seemed easier with her. Yet, at the end of the day, being in a defined relationship just wasn’t realistic so they decided friendship was perfectly fine.

Finding time throughout the season was rough. It added to the fact that a friendship would be the only thing that would work. Bekah had a big project for Christmas and Jon had the flu during All-star break. The timing just didn’t work and the tension was felt by both once the end of the season rolled in.

Jon: are you coming to the game tonight?

The Blue Jackets were playing the Blackhawks and Bekah was already at Brynn’s waiting for her to go.

Bekah: Maybe...

Jon: are you wearing your CBJ sweater or mine?

Bekah: I said maybe, Tae.

Jon: I know you are coming. I just need to know if I need to look for that stupid thirds sweater or the far superior one you own.

Bekah pulls her lip into her teeth to contain the smile.

Jon: that’s mine. I think you know what I’m hoping to see 😉

“That’s Jon isn’t it?” Brynn emerged from her bedroom with her self-deemed lucky Blue Jackets sweatshirt on. “Are you telling him you are betraying our friendship and wearing that?” Brynn’s face contorts looking at her best friend in a Blackhawks jersey curled up on her couch.

“Rin!” Bekah huffs out.

“What? Our team....excuse me, my team needs as much cheering as possible. It’s been a rough season and today is our last game and Chicago already made the playoffs,” she gives her bestie a sly smile, “but I get it.” Brynn flutters around her home before finally getting in Bekah’s car.

Bekah’s phone buzzes as her and Brynn enter Nationwide Arena.

Jon: I’m skating during warmups but I’m a healthy scratch. Just don’t want you to worry.

Bekah cusses and Brynn looks over and mouths what?

“Well, maybe I should have worn something else?” Bekah flashes the text to Brynn as they walk.

“Greeeeaaattt. They are resting him because this game doesn’t matter. He will be in the press box then.” Brynn points up as they stand at the top of their section.

Warmups start and Bekah crosses her legs tight when Jon’s eyes meet hers. It had been months since the two saw each other in person and while she thought the desire to be under him was gone, by the look on both of their faces you could tell that just wasn’t true.

“You two are eye fucking each other with an audience.” Brynn whispers into Bekah’s ear.

“What? No. Rin. We are friends.” Bekah feels the flush coming to her cheeks.

“Friendship my ass...” Brynn says under her breath as the teams skate off.

Jon: I can see you, Beks

Bekah: what? When you were on the ice?

Jon: Now. I might be in the rafters but you are in a sea of blue with my jersey on. Still looks smokin’ hot on you.

Jon: from every angle 😉

Jon sends a picture of Bekah and Brynn from his seat. Bekah turns around and looks up. She can see the top of his head leaning out the box.

Bekah: I see you too.

Jon: Can I see you tonight please?

Bekah: I guess.

Jon: I’ll meet you in the lobby after the game.

“I’m guessing I’m riding home with Derek?” Brynn leans into Bekah at the end of the game.

“Yeah.” Bekah feels the warmth return to her cheeks.

The game ended and Bekah found herself standing in the Blackhawks team hotel’s lobby waiting for Jon. Pacing and attempting to take in the surroundings. She was glad she had a decent t-shirt on under her jersey because looking like a fan girl waiting for the team was not a look she was going for. Especially after how long it had been since she was face to face with Jon without plexiglass between them.

“Hey Beks.” Jon’s voice whispers from behind her. She jumps and turns.

“Tae! Long time, no see.” She goes to hug him and he catches her lips in his with his hands on her face. Releasing her face he slides one of his hands into hers and leads Bekah up to his room.

Jon pinned her to the door as he locked it in place. “Sorry I didn’t play tonight.” Jon sucks on the spot behind Bekah’s ear.

“Sorry your team didn’t win.” Bekah laughs as she runs her hands up the inside of his suit coat. Pulling at his shirt.

“Well it looked like your team lost from your outfit choice. Speaking of, where is it?” Jon pulls his finger along the collar of Bekah’s shirt.

“In my car. Didn’t want to seem like a fan girl waiting for you in the lobby or...what do they call the girls who just want to sleep with the players?”

“Bunnies. And damnit Beks, you are not any of those things that’s for sure.” Jon lifts Bekah up by her thighs and she whimpers.

“It’s been awhile Jon...” Bekah whispers in his ear her voice unsteady.

“I know. I’ve missed you and this.” He doesn’t let up pressing her against the door.

“I mean you are the last man I’ve slept with.” Bekah admits biting at her lip. Jon leans back to look her in the eyes. Her hazel green eyes looking for something.

“You think you aren’t the last woman I’ve been with?” Jon kisses her lips then pulls back making sure she’s hearing the words he’s saying. “Beks. I’ve only slept with you since the All-Star game in 15.”

“Seriously? But we aren’t...” Jon kisses her lips in desperation.

“Beks. Yes.” He kisses her again and she moans in his mouth. “Can we please get undressed? I’ve been fantasizing about this moment for way too long.” Jon carries Bekah to the bed and undresses her slowly. Taking time to praise her body and kiss every inch of exposed skin. Bekah does the same as he hovers above her. Loving the way that Jon’s muscles tighten under her touch. The connection between them is undeniable. Words no longer needed to find the perfect spot. The night is long and slow taking their time and enjoying each climax together.

“When does your playoff games start?” Bekah whispered as Jon spooned her.

“Uh...in a few days.” Jon kisses the shell of her ear. “Can we talk about this?” Jon’s fingers graze the left side of Bekah’s rib cage where the words Always yours were tattooed in a half cursive half print text. “This is definitely new.”

“Oh, um....yeah. I got a tattoo. Do you hate it?” Bekah’s fingers find Jon’s and interlaces hers with his as he continues to rub over the words.

“I like it. What’s it mean? If you want to share.” Jon pulls Bekah’s body further into his.

“I found an old birthday card from my grandpa around Christmas. He use to always sign my cards always yours, Gramps. That’s his handwriting.” Bekah spoke softly.

“That’s really special Beks. I’m just surprised you didn’t tell me.” Jon kisses her temple.

“You were thinking you were dying of the flu then pissed you sat out a game because of said flu. And then I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Oh hey. If we ever have sex again I have a tat.” Bekah winces bringing back her thoughts that have plagued her brain for most of the beginning of 2016.

“Well I’ve been thinking the same thing about if we’d be here again honestly. Minus the new ink part of course.” Jon admitted.

Their conversation continued until both fell asleep with their bodies intertwined. The next morning Jon was sitting on the bed when Bekah woke up.

“Babe, we gotta get going. I have a bus then plane to catch.” His lips graze hers.

“Sorry. Someone kept me up all night.” She stretches out her arms and wraps them around his neck.

“Yeah, wasn’t as tired just watching the game.” Jon chuckles. “Let’s get ya to your car and I’ll see you in a few weeks?”

The Blackhawks playoff run was short lived. They lost in seven. Bekah picks up her phone at the end of game 7.

Bekah: Text when you want to talk.

A few hours later she got a response.

Jon: Thanks Beks.

She didn’t hear from him all week and she didn’t text him again trying to give him space. Brynn tried to get her to go out for drinks after work but all Bekah wanted to do was curl up and watch mindless television. Pulling into her parking spot she noticed a man in the car next to her. Not really looking she got her bag and headed towards her door.

“Beks?” Jon’s voice echoed off the wall. She slowly turned around to see Jon standing with a bag slung over his shoulder about 10 yards from her.

“Holy shit! What are you doing here?” Bekah clutched her chest realizing how startled he made her.

“Uh...I went to the airport to head home and changed my ticket.” Jon closes the distance.

“And you didn’t think to tell me?” She smacks at his chest and he captures her hand in place. “I haven’t heard from you since Monday.” Her eyes meet his and they were soft but intense.

“Sorry.” Was all he said but his face said there was more.

“Come in. If I knew you were coming I would have stocked my fridge for ya.” Bekah turns the key and they both kick off their shoes. Jon removes his bag and places it on the bench next to the entryway.

“It’s okay. We can order in or go out or whatever.”

“How long are you staying?” Bekah heads back to her room and Jon trails behind her sitting on her bed as she heads to the closet.

“Monday morning flight. I have some things to take care of at home. Plus Mom wants to celebrate my birthday.”

“Oh when is your birthday? I don’t think you’ve ever told me.” Bekah leans out of her closet pulling on one of Jon’s old shirts she kept.

“Um...today.” Jon admits.

“Jonathan Bryan Toews...TODAY is your birthday! Well we are going out for dinner. Hold on.” Bekah returns to her closest and finds a dress that is flirty but not too fancy and re-emerges.

“Damn Beks. I don’t think I’ve seen you in a dress before.” Jon stands and wraps her up in his arms.

“Well, we don’t exactly see each other with clothes on frequently.” Bekah smirks up at him.

“True. So where are you taking me?” Jon kisses her lightly.

“Hmmmm. Oh! The Guild House! It’s newer and I’ve never been. Plus I’m sure your face can get us in if there is a wait.” Bekah rubs Jon’s freshly shaved face and pats. “28 looks good on ya Tae.”

“Thanks Babe, I’m starving. Let’s go.” Jon pulls Bekah under his arm and the two make their way to the Short North.

Dinner was easy and they easily slipped back into their comfortable rhythm. Bekah got annoyed when Jon refused to let her see or pay for the bill. He just laughed it off.

“I know why you love this city.” Jon looks around as the they made their way back to his rental. “It’s a big city but feels very small town too.”

“Best of both worlds really.” Bekah smiles watching Jon explore a part of the city he’s never been. “Chicago is amazing but you know that.”

“Yeah.” Jon breathes out as they reach the car.

By the time they hit Bekah’s door their need for each other was felt. Jon presses his body against Bekah and wraps his arm around her abdomen holding her it him as she struggles to get the key in the door. His breath hot on her neck. “Tae, you are getting birthday sex just let me get the door open please!” She looked up at him as his eyes danced.

“Birthday sex eh?” He let his hand go from her stomach and backs up a little.

“Go ahead and head to my room. I need some water. Need anything?” Bekah kisses him.

“Only you.” Jon smirks and kisses her forehead as he retreats to her room. Bekah felt the blush in her cheeks as she got a glass of ice water and walked into her room. Jon was comfortably laying in his boxer briefs and carefully moved her larger colorful pillows off the bed. “Those are new yes?” He eyes the pile and back to Bekah who was placing the water on her nightstand.

“Yes. They usually take of up that side of the bed.” She points where Jon is laying. And his eyebrow shoots up but he doesn’t say anything as Bekah pulls her dress over her head and climbs in next to Jon. He kisses her with his hand holding her in place. She breaks for air. “Do you trust me?”

“With everything Beks.” He whispers and she wiggles out of his grip, toes over to her dresser and opens her top dresser drawer pulling out one of his ties. “How do you have that?” His eyebrow raises.

“It’s yours. You left it at one point.” She smirks climbing in and straddling Jon. She leans down and kisses him hard. His breath hitches. “Ready birthday boy? No touching.” He nods and she ties the tie around his eyes. Kissing down his chest she eyes her water and reaches for a piece of ice. Lightly touching it to Jon’s chest.

“Woah. Fuck. That’s cold Babe.” He jumps and she laughs.

“My hockey man doesn’t like the cold? Odd...” she moves the ice down the center of his chest and his muscles retract in it’s wake. Jon mumbles something above her head. “You good there Tae?” He nods his head and Bekah takes in his clenched jaw and hands tightly gripped on pillow. Tracing his abs with the ice she licks and kisses the trail. Jon panting and his hips jolt up. Bekah hums as she works her way to his waistband and she slowly pulls down his briefs settles her self between his legs. Placing the remaining ice in her mouth she starts kissing up his thigh then kisses his tip. Jon jolts and swears as she slides her mouth over him.

“Damn that’s so hot but also very fucking cold Beks.” Jon huffs out. “Can I touch you yet?” He’s breathless with his request.

“Is that what the birthday boy wants?” She licks up his length and takes in how unglued he has become under her.

“Yes. Very much so.” She slides up his body and loosens the tie. Jon grabs her hand and removes it while leaning up to kiss her. “My turn!” He grunts and flips Bekah onto the mattress. Removing her bra and panties with ease, Jon eyes Bekah’s glass. He pulls an ice cube from it and places the cube in his mouth. Starting at her nipples, Bekah’s body jolts with the sensation. Jon hums in the satisfying way she moves under him. He drops the ice cube between her breast and follows with his tongue as it slides down her body then keeps going down to her core. Sucking hard eliciting moans with every move he makes. Forgetting the ice on her navel, Jon moves his body back up and kisses Bekah passionately as he slides deep inside her. Finally letting go of their built up highs and praising each other as they come down from the overstimulation.

“Happy birthday Captain.” Bekah breathes out trying to catch her breath.

“Maybe I would call you Captain after that Beks.” Jon laughs as he kisses her temple.

“Funny Tae.” She buries her face in his chest. “I’m gonna need to change the sheet. You melted an ice cube on my stomach.” Bekah giggles as she feels the wet below her hip.

“Or just roll over.” Jon moves her body with ease and kisses the top of her head as she’s on his chest. “Come to Sedona with me this summer.” Jon whispers.

“What?” She says in his chest.

“We’ve both talked about how we love hiking and well...I have a trip planned before Worlds...and you should come with me.”

“Uh...Jon.” Bekah sits up and slides off him.

“Yes Beks.” His voices is soft as he brushes her hair out of her face.

“Jon, what are we?” Bekah leans further away from him to look deep into his brown eyes.

“What kind of question is that?” Jon’s nose scrunches up.

“Well we clearly are friends.” Bekah starts.

“Yes, the best of.” Jon finds her hand and intertwines his fingers wiggling them.

“And the sex is amazing...” Bekah closes her eyes with that unfinished statement.

“I fully concur.” Jon moans to verify his agreement.

“But what do you call this? What’s it’s title?” She motions between them.

“Does it need a name Babe?” Jon kisses her lips.

“I mean...We just...I don’t know Tae. I guess no.” Bekah huffs out.

“So back to my original question. Sedona....end of June? Yes?” Jon nudges her.

“Sounds doable.” Bekah laughs

“Doable huh? You know what’s doable?” Jon moves on top of her with a look that tells her she’s in for it.

“Poor choice of words I guess.” Jon laughs and dips down below the sheets. “Or not.”

#what’s in a name fic #WIAN #tazer me 19 #jonathan toews fic #toews tuesdays #j toews fic #jonathan toews #love a damn blackhawk 🤦🏻‍♀️

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thebluenoteblog · 4 years

Text

Hoodie

Summary: You’ve always had trouble sleeping when Colton is away on road trips. You finally find a solution.

Player: Colton Parayko

Words: 1.3k

You shivered under the covers, burying your head further into the pillow and pulling the comforter up tighter under your chin. It did nothing to quell the chill of the room. Nights that Colt was away on a road trip were always like this, cold and lonely. Especially mid-December on Missouri’s winter nights.

Sleep was hopeless but the thought of getting up and walking around the dark, empty house wasn’t appealing either, so you stayed curled in the bed you usually shared with your boyfriend. You hadn’t had as much trouble sleeping at night when he was away before you moved in together. When you’d lived in your own apartment you were more easily distracted from him when you were determined to be. Here though, living in his house, everything was him.

His clothes in the closet, his laundry in the hamper, his soap in the shower, the food he liked in the pantry and his video games in the entertainment center. He was everywhere you looked. He had been in your apartment too, your sheets had smelled like him but nowhere near as strongly as they did now and he’d kept a few changes of clothes in your dresser, but they didn’t surround you everywhere you looked.

Thinking about all of his clothes in the closet and the goosebumps covering your skin, you popped your eyes open and slid out from under the covers. Making your way across the room you opened the closet and walked to Colt’s side. You riffled through the clothes, then pulled out his favorite, most worn hoodie.

You pulled it over your head and the scent of his body wash and cologne surrounded you. The sweatshirt was huge, going down to your knees and the sleeves completely enveloped your hands with inches of extra fabric at the end. You pulled the hood up over your head and made your way back to the bed with a small smile on your face. He might not be here with you, but they had won tonight, they had played a good game, a great one actually and he’d even scored a goal.

He’d been so happy when you talked to him before you went to bed, how could you be upset about him being gone when what he was doing made him so happy? You pulled the covers over yourself and closed your eyes, falling asleep surrounded by Colt even though he was hundreds of miles and a few states away.

******

He had been gone for a week, he’d played three games on the road and as much as he had enjoyed winning their entire road trip, he was happy to be home. He missed his girlfriend. He missed his bed. He felt like he spent more time away from her than he spent with her, so the week and a half that he was home he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could.

Unfortunately, that still wasn’t much.

For the night and all of tomorrow, however, he was all hers.

He closed the front door behind him as quietly as he could, it was after one in the morning. He knew (Y/N) always laid awake, too anxious to sleep on nights that he was scheduled to arrive home. On the off chance that she was sleeping, he wanted to make as little noise as possible.

Colton made his way through the house and up the stairs as quietly as he could manage, stopping at the master bedrooms closed door and pushing it open slowly. He fully expected her to be laying on her side, with her eyes locked on the door just waiting for him to walk through, drop his bag on the floor and crawl into bed with her.

As much as he hated the sinking suspicion he had that she never really slept while he was gone, he lived for that look on her face when he pushed the door open. That huge smile and the way her eyes lit up so bright. It gave him the same feeling he got when he scored a goal or was awarded first star of a game. It was the best feeling he could think of. Second only to the day he’d lifted the Stanley Cup.

That look on her face, being able to see it every single time he walked in the door, every day, that was why he’d asked her to move in with him.

If he was being honest with himself, he would trade that one day with the cup for a lifetime of seeing her face light up like that every time he walked into a room. There would be more chances to win a cup, there was only one (Y/N).

But when he pushed the door open, his eyes landed on something he had never seen upon returning home from a trip before.

He slipped his bag off his shoulder and placed it quietly in the chair in the corner of the room, then turned to stare at her. Laying with just the bottom half of her legs under the blanket, hair fanned out across his pillow and her face buried in the fabric. The first thing Colton noticed though was what she was wearing. His favorite hoodie. She had the sleeved pulled over her hands and pressed up against her face, the hood pulled over her head. She looked like she wanted it to swallow her up.

It made him smile. She looked so small in his clothes.

He made his way over to the bed, sat down beside her and pushed the hood off of her head, then brushed her hair back. Her eyes fluttered but she didn’t wake up. He ran a hand down her side stopping on her hip and squeezing lightly, “(Y/N)?” He said quietly.

Her eyes opened and before they even focused on him, there was that smile. Her eyes lit up like Main Street at Christmas time. “Colt?” She said, her voice scratchy from sleep, “You’re home.”

“I am,” he nodded, “And you’re wearing my hoodie.”

She tugged at the sleeves, never taking her eyes off of him. “It smells like you. It helps me sleep.”

He frowned, “I knew you were lying when you told me you slept just fine while I was gone. You’re always awake when I get home.”

“But it doesn’t matter now,” She argued, “Because I figured it out. I just need to wear something that smells like you and then I can sleep.”

His frown slowly disappeared as he studied her face, “You promise?” He asked, “You aren’t sleep deprived half the time?”

“I won’t be anymore,” She said, then laughed at his troubled expression, “It’s okay Colt.” She placed a hand on his forearm. “I only have trouble sleeping because I love you so much. It’s a good thing. You’re just so tired from work that it doesn’t matter to you.”

“You think I don’t have trouble sleeping without you?” He asked, and she shook her head, already opening her mouth to cut him off, “I don’t lay awake all night because yeah, I’m exhausted. But I sleep so much better when I’m with you. On the road, I’m always tossing around in the bed, it takes me so much longer to fall asleep.” He placed a hand on her cheek, “I would always rather be with you than in some hotel no matter what city I’m in.”

“Even if it’s Edmonton?” She whispered.

He nodded, “Even if it’s Edmonton.”

She scooted over to her side of the bed and patted his spot, “Come hold me so I can sleep for real.”

He gave her a genuine smile as he stood up and began stripping out of his clothes, “Gladly.”

#colton parayko #colton parayko imagine #Colton Parayko imagines #hockey imagines #nhl imagines

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liilaac · 4 years

Text

“Familiar face”

Richie Tozier x Stanley Uris (bromance)

Richie Tozier x Eddie Kaspbrak (Reddie)

Triggers : mentions of death, suicide, grief and internalized homophobia.

Notes : Richie and Stanley’s friendship is underrated in my opinion so I decided to write this little piece to fill the void. ✨

Amazing gif by @stanzier ! 💖

Richie tripped on his undone shoelaces and fell to the ground. Fuck. He didn’t bother getting back up ; his bed was close enough for him to just crawl to it. The whiskey he’d chugged was clouding his vision and he wondered if he was going to puke. He lazily took his shoes off and threw them across the room. One of the ugly painting of his hotel room got knocked down by one of them. He hoped the noise of the frame breaking hadn’t woken any of the other losers up. He slithered under the bed covers and tried to ignore the room turning around him.

Suddenly, he felt a presence in the corner of the room. Someone, something, watching him. He sat up straight, almost puked, and analyzed his surroundings. Someone was there.

“Fuck, Stan ? Stan, is that you ?”

“Hey Richie.”

A blurred figure came closer, sat on the edge of his bed. Richie took his glasses off, rubbed them with his shirt and put them back on. Next to him, a familiar face was staring at him. He was almost sure it was Stanley Uris, his childhood best friend... But he had changed, aged. It seemed logical, but Richie wondered how it was possible since he knew his friend had killed himself, just a few days before.

“Fuck Stanley, aren’t you dead ?”

“Good to see you too, Trashmouth.”

Richie snorted loudly. He arranged the pillows behind him so he could sit up more comfortably. He was speechless.

“Yeah, no, it’s- um- It’s good to see you. I just... What the fuck man ? Why didn’t you show up ?”

Richie felt surprisingly sober all of the sudden. He was confused, hurt.

“I was too afraid, Rich. I’m sorry I let you down, but I just couldn’t do it, couldn’t come back.”

When Stanley talked, Richie almost felt like he was thirteen again, listening to him and Bill fight about what to do about It.

“It’s okay, man. We would’ve- We could’ve figured it out together, right ? You didn’t have to... Shit, I don’t know.” Richie got out of the bed and stood up, paced around the room with his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Stanley was still there when he looked back, which surprised him.

“I’m sorry Richie, it was the only way. I had to do it for you losers to succeed.” Stan seemed so confident, Richie thought. But they hadn’t succeeded yet. Far from it. Richie didn’t know if they would, to be honest. He felt like now that he was back in Derry, he’d never get out of it alive. The first time he’d left was his only shot at another life and now it was too late. Stanley continued, “Don’t be afraid, Richie. Don’t be like me, alright Trashmouth ? You need to be brave. You need to face it.”

“Yeah sure, Stan.” Richie was starting to get angry. He felt betrayed and abandoned and humiliated. “Easy to say, but you’re not the one who has to fight a fucking killer clown for the second time, alright ? I was perfectly-“

“I’m not talking about that, Rich.”

Richie stopped in his tracks, tried to understand what Stanley meant. What could he be talking about if it wasn’t for the fucking clown that had been terrorizing them since they were kids ? Richie gave him a confused look and stopped pacing around the room.

“You won’t defeat It if you keep on hiding your secret, Richie.” A knot appeared in Richie’s throat and he wondered if it was the alcohol or something else. Stan continued, “It knows, Rich. It knows and It’ll use it against you. You need to accept who you are if you don’t want to loose everything.”

“Loose everything ?” Richie repeated, a bit absentmindedly. He was trying to piece it all together, but his mind was too clouded by the whiskey for it to make sense.

“Loose him.”

Richie felt his heartbeat in his ears. He ran to the bathroom, puked in the sink. When he came back, Stanley was standing up, looking his way to make sure he was alright. Richie’s eyes got watery. A flood of memories came rushing through his brain ; Stan and him as kids, having fun and being stupid together. Stanley rolling his eyes at half of Richie’s jokes, laughing so much he was crying at the other half... Richie missed it, missed him.

“Fuck, Stan. I miss you.”

Stanley’s lips pressed into a thin line and he shrugged as if he was saying “sorry but I can’t do anything about that, man.” Richie bolted towards his friend. He didn’t care if it didn’t work, he had to try. He hugged Stanley as tightly as he could, like he was about to vanish ; and maybe he was, Richie thought. Surprisingly, Stanley didn’t disappear into thin air. He hugged him back, patted his back like he used to every time someone hugged him. Richie cried a little, rubbed his nose on Stanley’s shoulder and laughed when he complained that it was kind of gross.

“Just so you know, if you tell anyone I cried I’ll hit you in the balls, dude.” They both laughed and Richie stepped back. He kept hold of Stanley’s elbow, though, just in case...

“Alright Trashmouth, I won’t tell anyone.”

They both sat down on the bed, silent. Richie’s thoughts were running wild despite the alcohol slowing them down.

“What now ?” he asked, turning to look at his friend’s face. He got confused. Stanley didn’t look as old as he had a minute before. He wasn’t exactly a kid either ; it was like Richie’s memories of his friend were all flashing in front of him, mixing to create a timeless person. He grabbed Stanley’s arm because he got scared, realized he might really disappear this time.

“You know what you have to do, Trashmouth. You’ve always known. Go, be brave.”

Richie’s vision blurred and he wondered if he was crying. Maybe he was, but it wasn’t just that. His grip on Stanley’s arm got tighter, he felt like he was getting away. He saw his friend smile despite the blur and he smiled back.

“Stan I-“

And, before he could finish his sentence, Richie woke up in a jump. He realized he hadn’t even made it to the bed. He was laying at the entrance of his room, in a mix of his own tears and puke. He slowly stood up, walked to the bathroom to clean himself up. As he did, he couldn’t help but to look around... He was all alone in the room.

“Fucking hell,” he muttered when he saw his disheveled face in the mirror. He decided to take a shower. It was past 2am, but he didn’t care, he needed it.

When he got out, he felt better. The blur clouding his mind was gone, and he thought back on his dream, hallucination, or whatever that was. Stanley had been right. Stanley was always right.

Richie changed and left his room. He didn’t remember who was sleeping in which room so he unfortunately woke Bill up while looking for Eddie. As the good friend he was, Bill realized how distressed Richie looked and asked him what was wrong.

“Just... Do you ever think about Stanley ?”

“Of c-course I do, Richie. We all do.”

“I miss him.”

Bill put his hand on Richie’s shoulder, gave him a solemn look which meant that he did too. Richie wished him a good night, apologized for waking him up. Bill said that he was there if he needed anything, which made him smile sincerely.

When he finally found Eddie’s room, he froze. Was he really about to do that ? Was he really going to let out something he’d been pushing down for so long ? It felt suicidal. Then, he heard Stanley’s voice in his head, telling him to go be brave. He knocked on the door once, twice, heard movement in the room.

“What the fuck Richie ?” Eddie greeted him with tired eyes, which widened when he realized how clean Richie look. Well this was a first !

“Eds, I- Can we talk ?”

Eddie didn’t comment on the nickname and simply nodded, curious, “Sure Rich.” And he let Richie in his room.

~~~~~~

Notes : I hope you enjoyed reading !! I might write a part two ? Let me know if you’d be interested. I just wanted to focus on Richie and Stan for this one. 💖

#it #it 2017 #it movie #stanley uris #richie tozier #richie and stanley #stozier #eddie kaspbrak #reddie #richie and eddie #bill denbrough #losers club #fanfiction #fix it #bromance #stephen king

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blissfulalchemist · 3 years

Text

30 Questions Tag Game

Rules: Answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better.

I was tagged by: @faithchel @strafethesesinners @nightwingshero and @archetypesinthefog/ @iammortis

This made the rounds and I am late so I will not tag. However! If you see this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged!

Name/Nickname: Alicia, Lici

Gender: cis female

Star sign: Virgo!

Height: 5′ 3″ (160.02 cm)

Time: As of writing this 11:35pm Mountain Standard Time

Birthday: September 19th aka Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Favorite Bands: The Lumineers, Black Veil Brides, Linkin Park, Fall Out Boy, Breaking Benjamin, Letters from the Fire(no longer together :’( sad), Skillet, Paramore, Queen, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Bastille, Green Day, Halestorm....there are so many and these are the ones I can think of at the top of my head.

Favorite Solo artists: Owl City, Hozier(God I almost forgot him), Andy Black, Adam Lambert, George Ezra, Avril Lavigne, Lindsey Stirling, Sammi Doll, Kina Grannis, Michael Bublé, and Oscar Issac(I know the look you’re all giving me and you can stop cause I know what I’m about)

Song stuck in my head: Well I am listening to music so that which is at the moment “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen

Last movie: The Last Jedi (Again! I know what I’m about! I need that man in my life!)

Last Show: I think it was Superstore....but it could have also been Legends of Tomorrow cause I’m absolute trash for that show.

When did I create this blog: This one? March/April of 2020. My personal @1love1hope will be 9 on January 1st.

What do I post: This is my Far Cry 5 blog so it’s mostly that but other video game stuff on occasion. My writing, my OCs, and my friends OCs. There are also posts that aren’t that because they fit character stuff or they relate to fandom and writing in general.

Last thing googled: The Stanley Hotel (Jo and I were planning a Wedding in an AU)

Other blogs: @1love1hope (This one is a mess and just whatever I feel like) and I’m pretty sure there’s a few rp blogs out there that I forgot the emails too.....

Do I get asks: Yes

Why I chose my url: I love Boomer and animal companions in games and Far Cry was no exception. I was also uncreative in having faith incorporated and/or my fanfiction stuff. The fc5 was added so no one thought I was talking about the boomer generation.

Following: 339 (This is a side blog)

Followers: 148! (personal is 393)

Average hours of sleep: 6-8 normally. It can go up and down with moods and stress. There was a time I was running on like 2 hours of sleep at a time but some days it’s more like 10+ hours

Lucky number: Anything even. Smarties, as much as I love them, make me a little uncomfortable because there’s an odd number of candies in the package.

Instruments: Violin!

What am I wearing: PJs

Dream job: Personal assistant to my favorite star I want to work with teens to young adults in helping them transition and cope with that time in their lives. I don’t have anything specific in mind really but I just really want to work with that age group and be the adult I wanted and needed at that age.

Dream trip: Japan, Greece, Europe, Russia, Pacific Northwest, just anywhere really! I want to experience the world!

Favorite food: Mexican, Kraft Mac and Cheese, burgers, Chicken Fried Rice, Uh...god Ice Cream....FroYo, smoothies, just so much okay.

Nationality: US Citizen not true Colorado Native

Favorite song: “Those Nights” by Skillet or “Almost (Sweet Music)” by Hozier

Last book read: Uh....fanfiction my friends write? I think maybe Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi (I do want to reread bloodlines and succubus series by Richelle Mead)

Top three fictional universes I’d like to live in: Legends of Tomorrow! (I honestly have been contemplating creating an OC to insert into the team cause I’m basic and cringe) Star Wars(Its honestly really cool okay I want to be there for more than just the pilot okay) and finally....ALL THE VERSES OF MY AND MY FRIENDS OCS!!!!! I want to just hang out with them all.

#tag game #about me #you're just learning that I'm a basic bitch okay

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stellar-alley · 4 years

Text

Everfalls

•Chapter 21•

This is based off of the artwork by oceanteeeth on Instagram!

<<Previous Chapter

(Summary: The Finale.)

The Final Chapter

The sun rose on that Saturday morning to find two Ancestors that had shifted back to their human forms.

They ended the night with the Losers in the forest during an intense game of hide and seek. They woke up the next morning cuddled on the beach together. Eddie laid on Richie's chest, their legs tangled up. Both of their ears out. Eddie had his hand placed over Richie’s heart as he listened to it beat inside of his chest. He felt the calming sensation of his boyfriends chest rising and falling. Richie laid nude on the beach with his boyfriend cuddled up on top of him. His wolf tail was half buried in the sand. The dark sand felt cool and moist on his bare back. He had both of his arms wrapped around the fully clothed Ancestor on his chest. The smaller boy was warm, his body gave off enough heat for the both of them.

(Richie needed to undress for his transformation as his was messier. When Eddie’s is more magical. Which allowed him to keep his clothes)

“G’morning” Richie whispered in his deep morning voice when Eddie’s eyes fluttered open.

“Hey” Eddie’s face had been emotionless and peaceful while he slept, now it softened at the sight of his boyfriend. He smiled softly, “How are you feeling? Any aches?” His voice came out low, almost a whisper.

“No I-I’m actually okay… More than okay” Richie’s face broke out into a smile, leaning up, lightly kissing Eddie’s lips. One of his hands wandered up to play with Eddie’s messy hair.

“Good, that’s good. We should go back to the hotel before they realize we’re gone” Eddie hesitated before he rolled off of Richie. “Oh- shit you’re naked” Eddie groaned.

Richie snorted, “What it’s not anything you haven’t seen before” he chuckled.

Eddie’s brow creased, he began to take his sweater off, the pullover one he had brought on the trip since he knew that the temperature dropped the closer you were to big bodies of water. “Take this asshole” Eddie tossed the sweater at Richie who made over dramatic kissing sounds in return.

Nonetheless Richie accepted the sweater, grateful to not be 100% nude on the beach now. He sat up and pulled the sweater over his head. Eddie had a thing for larger sweaters which was fortunate because it fit Richie almost perfectly. He cuddled it closer for a moment, inhaling a scent he was all too familiar with. Rain, evergreen, lilacs, Eddie.

“Let’s get going. I wanna be the first one on that bus, and off this fucking island before they find that damn body-“ Eddie cut himself off, knowing that he’d work himself up if he were to continue.

Richie got to his feet, dusted the sand off of his ass and legs. “Which they won’t. That bitch is swimming with the fishes” Richie made a wave motion with his arm, pointed out towards the ocean.

“Whatever” Eddie shut his eyes and shook his head. His soft curls shook from side to side with him, his bunny ears bopping with the motion. The humidity in the air had made Eddie’s normally straight (ish) hair curl into soft little waves that made Richie’s heart skip a beat.

Richie stepped up towards Eddie and wrapped him in a warm hug. Eddie buried his head into Richie’s chest. The taller boy laid his check on top of the others head.

“Seriously though we should go back-“ Eddie said, mufflered by the sweater.

“Oh god!” Richie barked out a laugh, “You really know how to ruin a moment don’t you?” He smiled down at Eddie once they pulled apart.

Eddie rolled his eyes. He stood up on his tippy toes to kiss Richie’s lips before he intertwined their fingers. “Come on sour wolf!” Eddie called out as he began leading Richie back towards town.

They snuck Richie in through the back entrance and hid Richie in the bathroom since he was only wearing a hoodie and literally nothing else. So they had to shove his tail into the back of Eddie’s sweater and pull the hoodie on to hide his wolf ears. Which meant Eddie had to run up to their room without being seen by any of the adults and grab Richie’s clothes. But since Eddie gave RIchie his sweater, he had nothing to hide his bunny ears with, so he ended up sneaking around the hotel with his shirt pulled up over the back of his head like a nun.

After Eddie got Richie to dress down the night prior, he had left them in a neat pile in the grass, along with his hat and glasses and Stanley had taken them back to the room so they wouldn’t get lost.

After about the fifth knock he finally heard the distant sounds of footsteps approaching the door. The door creaked as it opened. Stanley only stuck his head out, which gave Eddie more than enough context on what he and Bill were up to previously. The messy hair, the raw lips, and that little dark patch on Stan’s neck that kinda looked like a hickey.

“Oh” Stanley said, shocked to see him. “Morning” He said, eyes wide.

“You guys having fun in there?” Eddie smirked with raised eyebrows.

Stan sighed and rolled his eyes, his head disappeared for a moment before he shoved the pile of clothes at Eddie. “Go” He growled light heartedly as he leaned out just enough to show some bare chest.

Eddie tried to lean in to see more, “Wait are you naked-“.

“Begone!” Stan declared before closing the door in Eddie’s face.

Eddie had to hold a hand over his mouth to refrain from laughing. He took a moment to collect himself before he went back down to that main bathroom in the lobby where he found Richie aimlessly playing with the agalets of his sweater.

“Here” Eddie tossed them at Richie whoo hastily caught most of it.

“Merci Monsieur” Richie said in his best (Worst) french accent. He closed the stall door and began getting dressed.

Eddie leaned his back up against the door and waited a beat before “Stan and Big Bill finally got together” Eddie giggled.

“Shut. Up. Really?” Richie suddenly opened the stall door, causing Eddie to stumble as that’s what he was leaning on. Richie still was not wearing anything aside from the sweater so Eddie’s eyes immediately shot up to meet his boyfriend’s which were wide and in shock.

“Yes really! Now put some pants on” Eddie laughed and pushed Richie back into the stall before he closed the door once again. He could hear Richie giggling from inside the stall. “Hurry up we need to make it so no one finds out we left” Eddie tried to keep a straight tone.

Richie finished changing and gave Eddie his sweater back so he could hide his own ears. He followed Eddie out of the bathroom and back to their room. But just as they rounded the corner in the main hallway leading to their room, they saw Mr Brock talking to Mrs Stuart in the dead center of the hallway.

“Shit!'' Eddie yelped. He quickly shut his mouth and yanked Richie back to the other side of the corner with him. “How the hell are we gonna get passed him?” He wondered.

“Uhh- Here let me try something…” Richie’s voice drifted off as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and started sending out a text.

“What are you-“

“Wait” Richie held up a hand as if to silence Eddie.

“-What?”

Richie raised his eyebrows but kept his eyes on his phone, “Keep waiting!”.

They both stopped at the sudden sound of a door creaking open. The boys peaked around the corner and witnessed Beverly Marsh come out of her room with a blanket around her waist. They used their other ears to tune in.

“-I don’t have any! And none of the other girls have any” Beverly complained.

“Are you sure you have uh- it?” Mr Brock asked, he uncomfortably shifted from one foot to another.

“Yes of course I’m fucking sure! Do you honestly think I wouldn’t know when I got my damn period” Bev gritted her teeth.

“Ms Marsh please keep your voice down” Mr Brock tried to smile but failed.

Beverly glanced over her shoulder and sent a glare towards the boys, telling them ‘go now’.

“Beverly I must have some on me” Mrs Stuart began rifling through her purse.

Richie took Eddie’s hand and slowly began creeping behind the teachers backs towards their room.

Beverly kept them distracted long enough until they made it to the door. Then just as they slid into their room, Beverly clutched her stomach and nodded to whatever they had been saying. Mrs Stuart got something out of her purse and discreetly handed it towards Beverly, she took it gratefully and shuffled back into her room.

the moment the door closed to the boys room, they were met with a burst of gasps. Richie and Eddie looked to see who was the source of said gasps and found Bill and Stan, making out on the bed, shirtless.

“OH DEAR GOD!” RIchie exclaimed. He fanned his face as if he were an old victorian woman.

“Get a room!” Eddie groaned.

Stanley rolled off of Bill, nearly falling off of the bed while doing so.

Bill cracked a grin, “We-well we did have one-“

“Yeah before you came!” Stan shot back from where he was on the edge of the bed, obviously a little pissed by the interruption.

Bill waved him off, “H-How was the fuh-fuh-full moon?” Bill asked curiously.

Eddie’s face went blank, as did his head.

Neither of them had time to respond because their door opened seconds after. “Hello- Oh! Good to see you boys are already ready! The tide rises in 20 so let’s get going” He motioned for them to get a move on.

Stanley and Bill quickly pulled their shirts on and packed the little things they had out. Since they only had their school supplies because they hadn't planned to stay the night. Everyone was ready and they left the room to meet up with the rest of the group down in the main lobby.

The rest of The Losers greeted them excitedly, happy to see they made it out in one piece. But no one directly asked about it, everyone complained about their shitty sleep and how excited they were to get off of this island. Eddie momentality zoned out and tuned into the conversation that the main bellhop was having with Janet the tour guide.

“Have you seen Elizah this morning?” He asked quietly, but nothing was ever quiet enough for Eddie to hear.

“No… Last night she left in a hurry, said she had some unfinished business to get to” Janet shrugged, not given any further information.

The hair on the back of Eddie’s neck stood tall as his body froze. Apparently Richie was listening too, he slung his arm around Eddie’s shoulders and pulled him a little closer. Just then the teachers began leading the group to the exit, towards the busses. “Let’s get on this bus and out of here” He whispered down to Eddie.

The bus ride home was quiet. The Losers talked about the first 20 minutes, but not about the full moon, they knew that this was certainly not the place to do it. Ben and Mike were the only ones who stayed awake out of the seven Losers. On the way back Beverly opted to sit alone because she and the girls in her room stayed up until 4 binging the newest season of Turtle Creek on TV. During that time Ben introduced Mike to The Jonas Brothers, he explained the enteried of their TV show, Jonas and the storyline to both Camp Rock movies. They also listened to some of their first albums with Ben’s dual headphone adapter. Mike was happily surprised at how much he enjoyed their music.

When they finally reached Derry High, it was noon. All of the students rushed off of the bus, nearly trampling over Mr Brock in the process.

Maggie and Wentworth Tozier had taken the day off work (as they usually do the day after the full moon) to go see their son. They had found a spot near the back of the parking lot and waited anxiously with the rest of the parents in the loading area. When the bus pulled up the two parents’ nerves only escalated the longer they watched students pile off of the bus and split up in little groups.

Finally, they saw the all too familiar sight of their lanky son in his oversized hat and baggy sweater.

“Richie!” Maggie nearly gasped as she pulled Went with her towards him.

Richie sped up once he saw his parents,“Hey” his voice wavered as he was slightly overwhelmed by his emotions. That was when he realized how exhausted he was. A full moon, little to no sleep, and an encounter with an evil witch? That can really drain someone.

Maggie ran to her son and pulled him into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay” She whispered, almost in tears.

Richie felt another pair of arms wrap around him, recognizing them almost immediately as his father’s long, strong arms.

Eddie had let Richie run ahead of him when he spotted his parents. He felt a feeling of longing wash over him when Richie pulled his arm away from him. He watched as Richie was enveloped in a massive hug by his two, loving, parents. His heart ached as he could almost see the love radiate off of their little group hug.

After a moment, Went loosened up, tilted his head upwards and glanced up at Eddie. “Come on in here, son” He requested as he opened an arm up, making room for Eddie.

He looked up at them, his heart swelling, “Oh No, I don’t mean to intrude” Eddie slowly shook his head.

Maggie turned her head and her gaze landed on Eddie, “Come here Eddie” She smiled warmly, something he never got from his mother. “You’re a part of the family now”.

And with that, Eddie couldn’t hold in the tears any longer. His eyesight blurred as the tears welled in his eyes. He didn’t respond, only nodded quickly and with a wobbly smile he rushed into their big hug. Family. Finally.

“... So I had to leave, unless I wanted to die. I came here, like my dad did. And I found Richie” He glanced down at their intertwined fingers. “And all you guys” Eddie looked around at all of The Losers who surrounded him, his real family.

It was now Sunday. The day after The Losers returned home from their very eventful field trip to the small island of Balmoral. As the group had lots to talk about, Eddie agreed that it was best that they all meet up at the entrance of the forest so he’d be able to show them the way to his house. Now they sat on the couch in the late Frank Kaspbrak’s house.

“But you guys can’t tell anyone. Seriously, we’d be in deep shit if anyone ever found out about this” Richie informed them, gesturing to his wolf tail that swayed freely behind him.

Bill nodded approvingly, “O-Of course! Right guys?” He looked at the others who all nodded with him.

“Yeah- oh my god, Eddie that’s terrible” Beverly’s eyes looked sad. She had been through her fair share of family troubles so she (almost) understood what Eddie was going through.

Ben nodded and gave her a solemn smile, carefully placing his hand on top of hers on the couch. He gave her hand a small squeeze that caused the corner of her lips to curl up a little. “Your secret is safe with us” He told them.

“Yeah of course! Losers stick together, right?” Mike’s tone changed a little. It was a little happier than the others which was a nice change.

“Right” Bill smiled.

“I’ve kept the secret this long, and I can’t really stop now” Stan stated as he sat up to put his elbows on his knees.

“Oh yeah- How did Stan find out before the rest of us?” Beverly piped up. Her hand turned over to lace her and Ben’s fingers together. The tips of Ben’s ears burned as he glanced down at them.

Richie had opened his mouth, ready to start talking but Stan spoke instead. “He lost his temper after I whooped his ass at checkers” Stan grinned proudly as he sat up tall. He got some good chuckels for that.

“Hey! You were so cheating” Richie protested as Eddie rolled his eyes from beside him.

“Whatever,” Stan waved his hand, “Your eyes still changed and your fangs came out” he reminded the wolf.

“Yeah we’re gonna have to practise that Chee” Eddie chimed in as he also recalled the various times Richie has wolfed out on him. Of course things would be easier now that Richie has now gone through his first full transformation but now he has to learn to control the shift. If not, that can lead to some very bad situations.

“Chee? Oh yeah forgot you guys are dating” Beverly smirked, “When did that start?” She wondered.

“It hasn't been that long” Richie blushed. He lovingly looked at his boyfriend and smiled.

A beat passed where the Losers just sat in comfortable silence. Bill was the first one to speak up and break the silence “Wuh-What about the Council?” He asked.

Eddie almost froze. After everything, he’s getting better at discussing the council, also seeing Elizah Brightmoon fall off a fucking cliff helped calm his nerves. “We took out Elizah… So I think we should be okay” He shrugged.

“But what about the rest of the council? They wouldn’t be called a council if it was just one person” Stanley pointed out.

“No, there are others. But what was she saying about a force to keep everyone in? And all that stuff about your dad” Richie didn’t dig too deep on the subject of Frank Kaspbrak as he knew it was still a sensitive topic for Eddie.

Eddie glanced away as he recalled an old memory, “The Council always wanted to keep The Ancestors safe. And once they had this crazy plan to make a forcefield so strong and powerful that it would basically forever separate the two worlds” He shivered at the thought. “My dad though… He fought it. It was a weak idea to begin with, they didn’t have the means to make something so powerful so it was an easy idea to dismantle. But what she said about my dad- I knew he had power, but a high priest? That’s a totally different level of power. And to think that I might be able to obtain some of that…” Eddie let his voice drift off as he looked down at his hands. Hoping that maybe they had the answers written there the whole time.

“What if they cuh-cuh-come after us?” Bill’s stutter intensified at the thought.

Richie shook his head, “They have no way of tying us to her death. Even if they do find that body it’ll be all raw and mangled” He smirked at the thought.

Eddie straightened up and looked around at his boyfriend and his closest friends, “But if they do- We’re The Losers, we’ll figure it out… We always do.”

The End

Word Count: 3266

Total word Count: 62623

Holly.Shit. Wow, I really can’t believe Everfalls is done, it’s over… This story was my first big fan fic for the IT fandom, and the funny thing is, this started off as a one shot. Literally! I found Shark Teeth on instagram and said I’d write a one shot about their art (with their permission ofc) and I got 44 pages in when my buddie, Reagan, pointed out that one shots are almost never that long. So I made it into a fan fic. And that fan fic was a truly amazing adventure and I’m oh so very happy with the final product and how everything turned out. I planned each chapter so carefully and made sure everyone was in character so I hope you guys liked it!

Thank you to my two amazing betas, Rose and Richie! You guys gave me feedback and your true opinions on each chapter and I truly appreciate both of you!

At the end of the day, I think it’s pretty fitting that I wrote this final chapter on the night of a full moon, it really added to the atmosphere.

Let me know if you’d like a sequel! I’ve got some ideas in mind but I’ve gotta make sure people want it before I start anything. So comment! IF over 15 people want more, then more they shall receive!

As this is the final chapter I’ve gotta remind you guys to go check out my other social medias, Instagram (Stellar.Cosplays), Tumblr, (stellar-cosplays), even my youtube (Alley’s World). Also don’t forget to check out my other fan fictions! Here’s my master list, or go check out my account and you’ll find them all there.

THis story means so much to me and I’m so happy I got to share it with you guys. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Once again, thank you all so much for everything.

For the final time, that’s all from me, catch you on the flip side.

So Long and Goodnight.

[Taglist]

@richietoaster @s-onora @that-weird-girl-blog @beproudtozier @ghostnebula @bellarosewrites @s-s-georgie @lermanslogan @iamcupcakefrosting @madidraw @gazebobullshit @thoughtfullyyoungduck @aangzukos @ambitiousskychild @reddieonwheels @breadheadscorpius

Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list!

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kingofthecon · 3 years

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@flynnfletchr Stanford was doing that thing where he tried to pace a hole into the floor of their hotel room and it had become aggravating thirty minutes ago. "Ford." The slightly older twin didn't seem to hear his younger brother and continued pacing in the same spot - arms behind his back as he mumbled about whether or not he still had time to come up with a different project for the science fair. The answer? No. Not unless he could come up with something in less than twelve hours. "Ford. Please. I don't wanna knock you unconscious but so help me I will if it means we both get some sleep. It'll be fine." Stanford Pines looked towards his twin who was laying flat on his stomach at the edge of the bed with his arms beneath his head. The scowl he wore read as 'try me', and caused Stanford to slow to a stop. He looked bent out of shape, almost miserable and Stanley Pines didn't understand why. They went to several science fairs and Ford was always a shoe-in for first or second place. Maybe that was the reason why? The teenagers from Danville were competing in this particular contest of dorks and though Ford appreciated the friendly competition and the challenge that came with trying to one up the boys each year, it was clear that Ford didn't like it when he lost to them. He wasn't exactly a sore loser, but he wasn't a gracious loser either. He would put on a front, accept whatever place he'd taken, and then go back to the drawing board to hopefully come up with something even better to showcase his intelligence all while grumbling under his breath and talking like an actual super villain. Who uses the words RUE THE DAY in a legitimate conversation? "For one, you literally don't have time to come up with something else for this thing unless you decide to make a Mentos and Cola volcano using a Styrofoam cup cause that's what I have on me, and I don't think that'll even win a first grade science fair project. Secondly, you're a genius in a room full of geniuses. If you're that desperate then I can probably steal or sabotage someone's project for you which--don't look at me like that, I just wanted to make sure you weren't too far gone which brings me to bulletin three. Everyone knows that you have a high IQ. The highest IQs. The tallest mountain in the world of IQs. You don't really have to prove yourself so just relax." "Stanley, you don't understand. Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher have an extensive history with their creations. I'm just a kid from Jersey who came out of nowhere." "Sixer, everyone loves the underdog. Besides, you three practically share the limelight at these things. You guys are top brass. Nothin' wrong with a little friendly competition to keep the blood flowin'." "Stanley, you're supposed to be on my side!" "I am on your side. One hundred percent. Otherwise I would have shoved you into the hallway so I could get some semblance of sleep. Instead I'm trying to talk you out of coming up with a list of junk you could make in the next like, eleven hours. You created a functioning robot girl complete with artificial intelligence and everything. You've skipped like, a hundred of these fairs to perfect Stannabelle." "She's an android and that is not her name." "The point is that you'll probably have even Tony friggin' Stark or Bruce Wayne lookin' your way. I mean, that's part of the reason why you chose this particular science fair, right? Who knows. Maybe once you're outta West Coast Tech you'll get picked up by Stark Industries or Wayne Enterprises? Oh, what about Star Labs?" "That's why this has to be perfect!" With a whine, Stanley rolled over and allowed himself to fall out of the bed. He wasn't on the floor long; rising to his feet he made his way towards the closet where the robot girl was sitting in her charging station. If anyone looked at the bot they would believe it to be a human with Stan and Ford as her big brothers. Stanley crossed his arms and presented to Ford his own creation. "Earth to nerd. The kid's perfect." "She sounds like I installed a Speak & Spell as her voice modulator." "Okay, so you missed something when you programmed her. Just, I dunno, take apart the TV if ya gotta do somethin'. Just...you need to relax. It'll be fine." He pat the android on top of her head and closed the closet door before flopping back down on the bed. "Just...you know, do it quietly? Some of us wanna walk around the Expo and sneak into places they shouldn't." "You're going to get us kicked out." "Probably yeah, so make the most of it. I'm goin' ta bed. Try not to stay up too late. Night, nerd." "Night, pain in my side brother who occasionally makes sense when it's convenient for him." "Too long. Try again." With that Stanley pulled back the covers and spread out for sleep leaving Ford to figure out what to do. He'd brought extra parts and equipment in case something went wrong so...like Stanley had suggested, he began to work on fixing the voice modulator with parts around their hotel room. ____________________________

Morning arrived way too fast and was thus slept through meaning that Stanley woke around noon. His awakening was accompanied by a terrified scream as a face way too close to his for comfort came into focus as he opened his eyes. He rolled off the bed in his attempt to get away and orient himself with his surroundings. His fall came with a one man laugh track which caused Stanley to zero in on the culprit. "Are you alright, Uncle Stan?" a little girl with the too expressive for what should have been a robot's face asked him. Stanley, a little unnerved with the realistically human sounding voice looked passed her and towards his twin who was far too proud of himself. "Peachy," he answered as his twin tried to hide his laughter behind a six fingered hand. Stanley pulled himself up so that he was kneeling against the side of the bed. More awake and aware now he realized what this meant. He turned to Ford and he grinned at him while patting his "niece" on top of her head. "This is great! So ya managed to fix the voice issue. Good job, and nice to finally meet you, kiddo." "My designation is not "Kiddo". I am Alpha 001 - SP." Stanford had such a proud look on his face while Stanley just slow blinked at the two of them before he began moving around the room to change into his clothes for the day. "Okay, but I'm calling you Allie for short. "But my designation--" "--Is a mouthful. No one is gonna call ya that except for the uppity geeks who want to sound professional and use big words all the time. 'sides, when someone has a long name like that people usually give'em nicknames. For example, Stanford over there tends to go by Ford while I, Stanley, go by Stan or Lee." The little android was silent for a moment, most likely computing the information she'd received or something before she finally nodded her head in understanding. "Very well. I will accept this as a secondary form of address. "Excellent! You've really outdone yourself, Sixer. Allie's perfect! Though I hope you slept. Anyway, I'mma go walk around the place and get breakfast." A look to the clock had him groaning. "Or brunch, apparently. You two should get ready for later this afternoon. I'll meet you at your booth or whatever." Once completely dressed with his hair and teeth brushed, the younger twin made his way from the hotel room and sighed as he headed towards his destination. Though he was happy to be here to support his brother, he didn't really feel as though he belonged. There'd been a few times in the past where he'd gotten mistaken for his brother, but once they realized the mix-up and asked him questions pertaining to his brother's project Stanley had only succeeded in making a fool of himself. He wasn't smart. He was barely above average and in a turn of crazy events he ended up being made fun of. It reminded him of the bullies back home in Glass Shard Beach, specifically Crampelter and his cronies, but back then it was never this...bad? This humiliating? Though it didn't happen often, it did happen enough that he hated coming to these things. He'd never tell his brother though. Stanford had been teased all his life for his Polydactyly and for being the smartest person in any room. Stanley could bite the bullet of being the odd one out for a change, especially when it only happened once every year or every other year. Stanley hummed to himself as he entered the elevator which went from hotel to convention center. He rocked back and forth on the heels of his feet the balls of his toes as he mentally counted the floors as they lit up. Once the doors opened and he stepped out he found himself tripping over something. He blinked as he stumbled out of the elevator. A part of him wondered if he'd tripped over some nerds project garnering the reaction of, 'oh shit!' and 'at least that'll knock out one of Ford's competitors. When he actually looked at what he'd tripped over, however... "What the heck are you s'posed to be?" He crouched in front of the teal duck bill beaver tailed...thing, and poked at it to make sure that he hadn't hurt it. "You lost and tryin' to catch the elevator, little guy? Or are you a girl? whatevenareyou?" He moved to pick up the creature just to make sure with no regards for safety (the creature could absolutely bite him after all), but his love of animals outweighed his need to be careful.

#flynnfletchr #—Swindler's Folly #► Mystery Hack #Science Fair/College AU #Maybe?#—X-0vers #Loooooooong Post #In My Head He Trips Over Perry and Perry Makes the Sound #x'D #Stan Is Just Like #Whazzat?!

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raspberryfanfics · 4 years

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adventures of wandering nowhere (Vignettes)—nejiweek day 4

Day 4 Prompt— Fate | Freedom

It’s Canada day:) Also I’m not that happy with these but here they are anyway.

nulla. (prologue)

There’s a lot of things money can’t buy you.

It’s cliche, but Neji Hyuga knows that it’s true in very many ways. Yet he also knows that money can buy you a lot of things to help with what it cannot. He always knew that the digits piling up in his bank account would be worth nothing if he didn’t save them for something good and he lets his uncle see what he wants to see until mid June before his nineteenth birthday.

Neji packs everything he needs, including his credit card, and goes to an airport. He doesn’t even know where he's going. Despite all the places he has been, the screen with way too many possible locations makes it extremely clear on how huge the world is and all the places worth going too expensive even for him.

He wonders if he should throw a dart to a map or ask the first person he sees, following them. But he has been nearly everywhere, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, London, Beijing, Barcelona, Cairo, Berlin, Dubai...and he realizes that what the only thing they have in common, even with Tokyo, is the size. Oh, he also realizes that he really doesn’t want to go to another huge city.

So he scans the chart again and several choices are knocked away so he considers the next question: what does he want to do?

Neji has been caged practically his whole life, doing everything his uncle wanted until now, and he was most definitely not going to stop yet. He wants to be able to run around and breathe fresh air and feel the breeze rather than the race of cars or drink from rivers so clean you could see the bottom. He wants space.

He stares at his map and thinks of space. Canada seems pretty nice. The country is huge, the population...not so much. There’s a variety of landscapes and people are said to be nice there. Honestly, he doesn’t really think much about kindness but the flight to Vancouver seems to speak to him so he books a flight as cheap as he can.

On the airplane, he sat on the side of two friends, one with a ridiculous black bowl cut and another with two buns on the sides of her head. He hears them talking about what they’re gonna do and the places they will see. He hasn’t heard of half of them, he hasn’t studied at all and has no plan. The guy screams that he loves Canada, catching the attention of several other passengers and the girl smacks him in a playful sort of way.

But they are friendly, ask him questions, and tell them of their experience in the country and being outdoors. They offer to let him wander with them, an offer he can’t refuse. He tells them that he has money and will pay for any expenses they can’t, but they smile at him with a glint in their eyes. Because to Tenten and Lee, money can buy them more time to travel, more time to live, and that’s when Neji knows that though he won’t have any of the familiar luxuries, his adventures are going to last a whole lot longer.

i. smaller big cities

Upon arriving in Vancouver, one thing is made very obviously clear to Neji: he will not be going to any tourist attractions. Vancouver is one of the biggest cities in Canada yet there is nothing more exhilarating about it than any other city he has been to.

Tenten rolls her eyes at the sound of Stanley Park and Lee exclaims how unyouthful it is to keep the orca whales. He’s prepared to buy a hotel room for the three of them but instead, they go to a consignment store and sell all of the clothes in his suitcase. After that, they shop for a new set of clothes that cater more to being outdoors than going to business meetings and now his wardrobe is mostly hiking pants, cheap t-shirts, and hoodies. The purchase of a sleeping bag and a blow-up sleeping pad more than makes up for the price of a hotel room.

Tenten and Lee then help his money again and they purchase a large second-hand pickup truck. They drive it to a nearby campsite and he’s absolutely shocked at how beautiful the mountains are. The lake is bluer than the sky and the area is filled with wildlife. He is taught how to set up their tent, sticking poles into tent gaps and held into the ground by metal pegs. A waterproof layer is thrown over. They then teach him to start a fire, which is a lot harder than it seems.

The two have been in Canada so many times that in optimal conditions, they can start one without a lighter, or even flint and steel. He has to use several bits of crumbled newspaper. He learns that they burn more if they are in smaller bits and that some branches won’t catch as well.

His sleep is not great, he is either too hot or too cold and when he wakes up to go to the bathroom it is pitch-black. He hears a rustling in the woods and screams. Neji never screams but the sound was terrifying and his two friends come rushing out with headlamps, blinding him.

He learns that headlamps are stored in the tent pockets and the next time he goes to the woods to do his business, it is a very good idea to rely on those instead of the stars.

ii. wildlife

Neji very much likes the birds and squirrels in the multiple camping trips he has now been on. He never thought that he’d like bathing in rivers and a swimsuit, but he does. He still isn’t sick of campfire-made spaghetti or smores.

He is in northern British columbia when he first sees a bear on the road. Bears are beautiful creatures. They are large and fluffy and the one he sees looks like a terrifying stuffed animal. Neji takes way too many pictures while Lee and Tenten laugh at him as they wonder when they can pull the truck away from the side of the road.

When he sees a bear when he’s camping, however, though his companions have kept all the smelly items in bear-proof containers, he is about to scream. Tenten clasps a hand over his mouth and waves her hands around. Lee lowers his voice several notches and tells the bear youthful things much slower. They talk to the bear for a few minutes, though it seems like several hours, and Neji swears he has never been as terrified in his life. In the end, the bear goes, as do they, and that’s when they realize how wrong they were not to give him the bear safety lesson.

He thinks that a bear is the most terrifying thing to happen to him though being relatively harmless if unprovoked, but one day they are just finishing packing the truck when he sees a moose. Neji is about to take a picture of the moose but it glares at him and suddenly has red blazing in his eyes. Lee is in the driver’s seat and Tenten is in the back of the pickup. Two of the four doors are still open. He is waiting for her to approach the moose in the way they did with the bear, but fear glazes in both their eyes and she screams run.

Neji is running for his life towards the truck and he jumps into the passenger seat and Lee drives off twice the speed limit, escaping a moose charging furiously towards them. All three of them are screaming for their lives and when they finally get to the highway, they look at each other and start laughing. The matter isn’t funny in the least, as Neji learns that there is no way to escape an angry moose rather than a bear, but they have just faced death in the form of a moose, right in the eye, but they survived.

iii. canoe trip

The first time the three of them actually rent instead of buy something, it happens to be a canoe, lifejackets, and drybags. They teach him how to canoe, every stroke he needs to know, and what to do if he flips. He tosses throwbags, ties knots, and packs bags. When they deep him good on the lake, they are ready to go onto a river.

They ask an old friend to park their truck at their end destination, and they load the canoes with the waterproof bags, their tents and sleeping bags, and four days of food supplies. They camp along the sides of the riverbank, making campfires, roasting marshmallows and hot dogs. When they’re lucky, they find berries and collect them for an extra source of food. When the sun finally sets, he can see all the stars glimmering above him and time seems to stop. He no longer cares about the pressures in the world on the disappointment he was to his uncle.

There are no problems in the middle of nowhere.

iv. talent

In the middle of nowhere, their truck breaks down.

Neji nearly has a mental breakdown because they haven’t seen a single car on that road for an hour. However, Tenten and Lee decide to sleep in the back of their truck and camp on the side of the road. Three other vehicles pass but they don’t stop. He wants to scream.

He’s going to be stuck here, he has no battery on his phone, there isn’t any cell connection, and they were supposed to stock up on food supplies that day. Coming here suddenly seems like a very bad idea. The whole night he is awake, tossing and turning, while Tenten and Lee are fast asleep, comfortable, content.

He realizes that it was all a cruel joke because Tenten was a skilled mechanic and she fixes their truck in a matter of twenty-six minutes. It appears that their sense of humour is not as great as her ability to fix a damaged engine.

v. canada day

Neji sees freedom like the red and white fireworks in the sky.

He isn’t scared anymore.

The world looks down at him instead of down on him. Because there’s this feeling of relief. He can’t think of hours or dates, only knows what today is because otherwise, there wouldn’t have been fireworks. He wants this to last forever, or at least as long as he can.

When Tenten and Lee told him that his money was time, not luxury, he completely understands it now. He doesn’t need the luxury of a roof anymore, good food, or clothes. Because in the end, the only thing they need to make this go on forever is gas and basic necessities.

He likes freedom, much more than he ever thought he would.

#nejiweek2020 #team gai #neji #neji hyuga #au #raspberryfanfics

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linskywords · 4 years

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Hi! Do you know of any guides on how to write hockey? I know the best way is to just settle in and watch a few games and read a few fics, but I'm sort of on crunch time because of a holiday exchange and this'll be the first time I write about ANY sort of sports. XD;; Dunno if this is useful info, but it's an AU with non-RPF characters. (saw your recent meta post on RPF fiction, very well-thought out!)

What a fun question! Though I suppose less fun under a deadline (good luck!!). Unfortunately, I don’t know of any guides already in existence -- though if anyone reading this does, please pass them along. In the absence of that, here are some thoughts off the top of my head. (This is about hockey; I’m not sure what you mean by an AU with non-RPF characters, so if you’re not writing in a hockey setting, this will probably not be helpful to you. But if you’re not writing in a hockey setting, you’re in luck, because you don’t need to know any of this!)

Preliminary warning: I am not a hockey expert! I don’t watch a ton of games or read all the stats, and there are people out there who know way more than me. As recently as this year I’ve made some pretty major errors in stuff I should already have known about. So take my advice with a grain of salt, but also know that people are there to enjoy the story and won’t mind too much if you screw things up. 😄

The schedule:

The hockey season starts in early October. It goes until early April. Training camp is mid-September, and then there are a few weeks of preseason games before the season starts, where everyone doesn’t play every game; the teams are trying to get a look at prospects and see how players gel, and longtime vets may not play. Prospect camp or development camp is July-ish, but you don’t go to that if you’re a returning player.

Players don’t really get a break during the year except for the All-Star or Olympic breaks, if they happen. In the last year or two (I think?) each team has started getting one bye week of five days off per year. This year it looks like they’re all overlapping with the All-Star break, which sucks for the players chosen for that game. Other than that they might get a day off at a time but not usually much more than that -- maybe a few days at Christmas, depending on the game schedule.

There’s a game roughly every other day, but it’s not quite as regular as that. I usually write with the Wikipedia or hockey-reference.com page open for that team’s season. I tend to assume the team has practice or some kind of skate pretty much every day, which may or may not be accurate for any given team. There’s also media stuff and team events, so true days off are rare.

Players take naps in the afternoon before a game. It's an important sports performance thing.

Half the games will be at home and half will be on the road. I believe (someone correct me if I’m wrong) teams are required by their CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) with the NHLPA (Players Association) to return the players as quickly as possible, so at the end of a road trip they’ll usually fly home that night right after the game.

Sometimes road trips are pretty long, like if they’re going to play a bunch of teams far away. Some teams have an annual long road trip when some other group is using their home arena (e.g. the Blackhawks usually have a circus trip in November). They fly on private flights and will take a bus to and from the hotel and the rink.

Playoffs start a few days after the regular season wraps up. 16 teams qualify, based on their number of wins (2 points per win, 1 point per overtime loss, 0 points per loss in regulation). Non-qualifying teams are usually mathematically eliminated in late March or early April, depending on how badly they’ve done that year. There are four rounds of playoffs: two rounds within their conference, then conference finals, then Stanley Cup finals. Each round is the best of seven games and stops after one team has won four.

Teams play other teams in their division most often, then teams within the other division in their conference, then teams in the other conference. Divisions and conferences are organized geographically, so this makes sense for ease of travel.

In the off-season, players rest up, train, see the people they don’t get to during the year, and play a lot of golf (they’re jocks, but they’re prohibited from playing dangerous sports by the terms of their contracts, so golf is one of their few refuges). Sometimes they’ll try to bulk up because it’s hard to keep weight on during the season. They usually take at least something of a break from training right when the season ends, and they won’t start skating again until partway through the summer. A lot of them go to special training camps or work with professional trainers.

Worlds happens during the Stanley Cup playoffs, so players who aren’t in the playoffs, or who get knocked out early, will go represent their countries. Junior Worlds is around Christmastime. There’s sometimes a World Cup of Hockey, which is in theory every four years but has been irregular. It happened in 2016, but the 2020 tournament was cancelled. When it does happen, it’s in September, just prior to the start of the season.

The game:

If a player earns a point, that means they’ve gotten a goal or an assist. An assist is when they passed to someone who scored (a primary assist) or passed to someone who passed to someone who scored (a secondary assist). Goals are better than assists but both are good, and both are worth a point in terms of player stats.

A point per game average is very good. If a player’s at a point per game, he’ll be very happy. Your top players probably do a little better than that. Of course, this is an average; it’s very rare to score in every game, and players have point streaks and also stretches where they’re held scoreless. There’s a LOT of randomness in hockey.

Shots on goal is another good stat: how many times did a player have a scoring opportunity where the goalie denied him?

You get three forwards, two D-men (defensemen), and one goalie on the ice at a given time. The forwards are organized into four lines of three: one winger on each side and a forward. The D-men are organized into three D-pairings. Defensemen will usually play for more minutes per game than forwards because of this. Your top line (of forwards) will play close to or just over 20 minutes per game. Your bottom line might play more like 10. The top D-pairing might be more like 25 minutes or even higher.

Play starts with a faceoff, where one forward, usually the center, faces off against a forward from the opposing team. The ref drops the puck, and the two players in the faceoff both try to knock it back toward their own players. The one who succeeds wins the faceoff. Sometimes a player will move toward the puck before it's legal to do so, and the ref will throw them out of the playoff circle and one of the other forwards will have to take the faceoff.

There are a bunch of penalties you can get for stuff like illegal checks, high sticking, holding, tripping, hooking, delay of game (e.g. if the ref thinks you deliberately knocked the puck out of play). If you commit a penalty, you go into the penalty box and your team is on the penalty kill for two minutes, meaning they’re down a player. The other team is on the power play. If the team on the power play scores, the power play is over and the offending player is released from the penalty box early. If the team on the penalty kill scores, it’s called a shorthanded goal, and the power play continues. How often a team scores on the power play is a stat people talk about -- sometimes teams have stretches where their power play is terrible, and they never manage to convert (score).

The two-minute penalties mentioned above are called minor penalties. You can get a five-minute major for fighting, or you can get thrown out of the game or suspended for multiple games for really bad stuff.

There are three main parts of a hockey rink (there are probably technically more, but eh): each team's offensive zone, where the opposing goal is located, and the neutral zone between them. You can't take the puck into the offensive zone if there's another player from your team already there; if you do, it's offsides, and there's a stoppage of play and a faceoff in the neutral zone. That means you can't pass to someone deep in the offensive zone. Because of that, sometimes when players enter they dump the puck, meaning they shoot it deep into the offensive zone even though there’s no one there to receive it. They might do this if they need to buy a little bit of time for a shift change.

They might also try to buy time for a shift change by shooting the puck deep into the offensive zone from behind the center line, but it will not work, because this is called icing, and results in a stoppage of play. The team responsible is NOT allowed to have a shift change, and there's a faceoff in their own defensive zone. You can get some really long shifts from this. (The exception is when you're on the penalty kill, when you are allowed to ice the puck.)

Shifts are usually about a minute long. When players aren't playing, they're on the bench. When it's their turn to play, they go over the boards.

If a player gets the puck and has no members of the opposing team between him and the goal, it's called a breakaway.

If two players have the puck and are facing one opposie in the offensive zone, it's called a two-on-one.

There are three twenty-minute periods divided by two fifteen-minute intermissions. If at the end of the game, play is tied, they go directly to one five-minute overtime period, which for the past few years has been three-on-three (three players plus a goalie, usually two forwards and a D-man) and is very exciting. If no one scores in overtime they go to a shootout, where the players take turns shooting on the opposing goalies. Overtime rules are different in playoffs, where I believe they keep playing regular twenty-minute periods until someone scores.

If one team is down by a lot at the end of the third period, they'll often pull the goalie so they can have another forward on the ice without going over their six-player limit. If the other team scores while there's no goalie, it's called an empty-netter.

Players wear a ton of pads but still get a lot of bruising. Which can be fun for writers. 😆

The team and the players:

There are up to twenty-three players on a team at a time. Twenty can dress for a given game, which includes the goalie and the backup goalie.

There's usually a captain and two or three assistant captains (A's). They have general leadership responsibilities among the players. The captain wears a C on his jersey and the A's wear an A.

If a player gets injured, he might be put on IR and someone would get called up in his place from the minors (the AHL, or American Hockey League). There's been a particular focus on concussions in recent years, since a lot of players have had major problems with them. There's a concussion protocol players have to go through if one is suspected. Players still, unfortunately, lie about their symptoms to try to play through concussions sometimes.

There's a cap to how much salary a team can pay out to its players in a year. This can get very complicated so I'm not even going to try.

When players are first signed, they go on a three-year ELC (entry-level contract) which is capped at I want to say $895K per year, but I don't think that includes bonuses. Again, this is complicated stuff and I'm not even going to attempt the details. Players on ELCs aren't guaranteed their own hotel rooms, so you get road roommates. Good times for us fic writers! After their ELC runs out, they’ll negotiate a more lucrative contract with their team; there are also some limited ways in which they can choose to go to a different team. Later in their career they’ll become free agents and can choose which team to sign with.

Players get drafted at 18 or so, or older in rare circumstances. Draft picks are determined by a lottery that's weighted by how badly your team did this year. Again, you can look up the math on this -- it's a limited number of teams that have a shot at a first overall pick. The draft happens in a bunch of rounds where each team gets a pick, but sometimes teams trade their picks in advance as part of complicated trade deals. The first round of the draft is televised and the players go up onstage and shake their new GM's hand and get a jersey.

Players often come up through Major Juniors, which is the CHL (Canadian Hockey League, though a lot of the teams are in the U.S.). The CHL has different divisions: the OHL, the WHL, and the QMJHL. Players get paid and are considered professional, so they become ineligible for top-tier college hockey in the U.S. There are scholarships offered to CHL players at Canadian universities; I don't know the details of that. While they're playing Juniors they often live far away from their families with billet (host) families. Junior teams are limited in how many players they can have who are over 18.

Other places players might come from: American colleges; private prep schools or even public school systems; the U.S. NTDP (National Team Development Program); or many places overseas.

Most draftees don’t start playing for their NHL team right away, if they ever do. They might stay in Juniors for a year or two, or play for the A (the AHL) once they’re old enough, or go to college first.

NHL players in their rookie year often billet with an older player or sometimes even front office staff. Partly this is because they don’t want to invest in long-term housing until they get their housing letter, which is the team saying that they plan to keep them around. Partly it’s because they’re only technically not children anymore.

Players will each have an agent who negotiates contracts and does other stuff for them.

The teams each have a head coach and a bunch of other coaches, a lot of them specialized. I don't have a lot of detail about this. There's also a front-office staff, headed by a General Manager, who reports to the owner(s). The GM makes staffing decisions as well as draft and trade decisions.

Teams usually have an official arena where they play home games and their front office has their actual offices, and they’ll also have a practice facility which may be theirs or may be something local that they rent.

There are a bunch of awards players can get: the Art Ross for the most points in a season; the Hart for MVP; the Conn-Smythe for MVP of the playoffs; the Calder for best rookie. (There are a bunch more that you can look up.) These are given out at the NHL Awards in June. And of course what everyone wants to win is the Stanley Cup. If your team wins, you get a specially designed cup ring with your name and number on it (possibly everyone in the front office does, too??), and you get to spend a day with the Cup during that off-season. Players usually throw a big party for all their family and friends.

Other general stuff:

These boys are kind of dumb in general and specifically about emotions. It’s one of my favorite things about writing them, honestly. It also means you can go as bro-y as you want with the language.

The NHL is pretty deeply homophobic. Its official position is not homophobic, and there's an organization called You Can Play that's fighting to eradicate homophobia, but there are no out players, which speaks for itself. It's pretty much like all major male American sports in that way. The homophobia is something I really enjoy exploring in some of my stories and in other stories just elide entirely if I feel like imagining a better world. You definitely have flexibility there.

Watching is definitely helpful but also I didn’t watch a hockey game until at least two stories in, soooo you can get away with a lot by just reading fic. :)

Reading fic is especially helpful because honestly the stuff I've laid out here doesn't even touch on the details of a particular player's life or a team's traditions and history and dynamics. You can Google some of that, but the prior research done by other fans is going to be so helpful. (Maybe you don’t need to worry about this if you’re not writing RPF characters?)

On the plus side, if you don't know much about how something works, you don't have to go into a lot of detail about it. I've had some stories where I've gone into a bunch of game details and others where you wouldn't even know they played hockey if it weren't for their spending a lot of time changing next to other men. Feel free to stick to the parts you know.

Another thing you'll get from fic, which I'm not even going to go into here, is the plethora of tropes that are popular in hockey fandom. Or fandom in general, of course -- you can always import new tropes, or make them up from whole cloth. AO3 is your oyster.

So that's some info to start with. I'm sure I've forgotten a million useful things that I'll think of as soon as I hit post, and also I'd be shocked if I haven't gotten at least some of this wrong. Please send me corrections and additions, everyone! If I get enough of them, I'll post a new version later in the week.

Also, good luck with your story! I'm sure it will be awesome. 🥰 Like I said, you can fudge SO MUCH OF THIS. Most of us are here for the dumb hockey boys kissing, and we won’t care if they do it after a slightly implausible hockey game.

#hockey #hockey rpf #hockey primer #falsechaos

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mychemicalimagines · 4 years

Text

Happens Like That-Jim Halpert-Chapter 6

Summary: Jim Halpert and Melissa Ford have been best friends since he started at Dunder Mifflin in 1999. Now that a camera crew is following the employees around so they can film a documentary, do they finally tell each other their feelings? Or do they just let them go? Either way, what will become of these two best friends?

Warnings: Cussing and Smut in later chapters.

Words: 2721

Tag List: @you-a-southpaw-doll @elskinner45 @imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl @goddessathenaofwar @simonsbluee @oopsiedoopsie23 @thinemineours

A/N: Here you go guys!! I hope you like it!!

Mel’s POV: (Flashback)

I look up from my book as Jim walks outta the ocean, the water rolling down his chest. He grins and wipes some of the wet sand from his face. I giggle to myself. He’d just faceplacted in the water after stepping in a small hole on the water’s edge as the water washed away, going out with the tide. I set my book down as he gets closer.

“You ok, babe?” I ask.

He chuckles. “Yea...that sand was slipperier than I was expecting.”

I laugh. “It’s sand...that goes with the water...what else did you expect?”

He laughs. “Hush. You’re lucky you’re my girlfriend,”

I giggle and blush, nodding. “You’re right. I am lucky. I still can’t believe it. I came to Hawaii, single and ready to mingle. Now, I’m the luckiest girl ever. All ‘cause you asked me out with a turtle and an ice cream cone.”

He grins. “I’m the lucky one, sweetheart.”

He leans over and kisses my cheek, making me blush even more than I already was, which just has him chuckling and wrapping his arms around me. I snuggle up to him, forgetting about my book as I look out at the sunsetting on the ocean and think back to how Jim finally asked me to be his girlfriend three days ago.

It was our second afternoon in Hawaii. We’d just gotten back to shore after a scuba diving trip in one of the coves. While we were walking to the fancy hotel we’d been put up in for this trip, my tummy growled, and Jim made the decision to take us on a detour to get food. I wasn’t about to complain. Food is good.

We stopped at a little seafood shack, one we’d found the day before and fell in love with. Since we’d already hung out so much prior to this trip, Jim already knew what I loved to eat and what I couldn’t stand. He ordered our food while I looked around in my bag for my sunglasses. When he came back to me a few minutes later, food in hand, I had my sunglasses on my face.

We ate as we walked along the beach. By the time we’d finished eating, Jim spotted this boat about to head out. He noticed it because there was a giant “Free Ice Cream” banner hanging on the side of it. We hurried over to it; both Jim and I love ice cream, and it being free made it ten times better. It was after we got onboard that we saw it was the kind with the glass bottom in the middle of it so tourists could see into the water.

Jim got us some ice cream cones and I sat down on one of the benches, looking through the glass and see some of the marine life move about below the boat. Within a few minutes, the local captain had the boat leaving the dock, and we were heading out for a tour of the island from the water. I watched the fish swim below, and squealed excitedly when I saw a giant sea turtle swim by.

Jim looked and he chuckled, knowing how happy turtles made me. I was so enthralled with the turtle that I nearly forgot about my ice cream cone till he gently reminded me it was there by wiping some of the melted cream off my hand. I giggled and thanked him and went back to watching the turtle swimming, absentmindedly finishing my ice cream too.

It didn’t take long before the turtle swam outta sight. I got sad since I wanted to keep watching the turtle. Jim gently ushered me to the bow of the boat, and pointed into the water. I looked down and squealed happily again when I saw that same turtle. I felt Jim’s hand on my lower back and smiled as I watched the turtle just swimming, peacefully.

I was so into watching the turtle that it took me a few minutes to realize Jim was talking to me. I looked up at him.

“Sorry. What?” I asked.

He chuckled softly and smiled at me. “I was saying you look so happy and beautiful, watching that lone turtle.”

I blushed. “Thank you.”

I looked back down at the water. He took a deep, somewhat shaky breath and whispered my name. I looked up at him, and could tell he was nervous about something. What it was, I didn’t know. He gently took both my hands in his, and smiled.

“Mel. You know I like you, and I’m fairly sure you like me too. Since the moment I met you at work, I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to do this, and if I should even do it. This trip...that turtle...it’s made me realize that I should. I…” He took another deep breath and rubbed his thumb over my knuckles. “Will...will you be my girlfriend, Mel?”

My breath caught in my throat and my eyes watered. I could tell he got a little more nervous the longer it took me to answer. I couldn’t find my voice to answer him, so I pulled my hands from his in order to wrap my arms ‘round his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. He hesitated for a brief second before his arms made their way around my waist and held me close as he kissed me back.

After a long moment, I pulled from the kiss to take a deep breath in. I cupped his cheeks and smiled.

“James Halpert. Yes. I’ll be your girlfriend.” I whispered.

He smiled wider than the Mississippi River after a major flood and whispered. “Yeah?”

I grinned and nodded. “Yeah.”

He kissed me again, smiling against my lips. I giggled into the kiss. He pulled back first and just held me close. After a few minutes, we turned to look out at the water. He kept his right arm around my waist as I laid my head on his shoulder. We stayed like that as the boat continued along its path and the sun slowly set over the island’s mountains to the left of us.

Mel’s POV: (Two Weeks Later)

For the last two weeks, Jim and I have been hiding our relationship from the rest of the staff. Mainly because we didn’t want any interference. We know that Michael would do something to embarrass us or even announce our relationship to the whole company. We wanted to tell everyone on our own terms, which so far no one but our families know.

Since we were best friends ever since he started the company, no one ever questioned when we left together or rode in the same car. Tonight is the companies Dundie Awards.

Well it’s more like Michael’s Dundie Awards. Every year he puts together an award ceremony to talk about us to our faces, it seems.

Every year I receive the same award: “Employee Everyone wants to Screw” Award. Needless to say, I don’t really look forward to this event. I step out of Jim’s car when we get to Chili’s. I look over at him, as I walk around the front of the car to him.

“Do we have to go in? We can stay we stopped by, but it was too full?” I whine slightly.

He chuckles. “I still haven’t went grocery shopping, and there’s no food at my house. So we have to stay. Plus, we get to see Michael make an ass out of himself like we do every year.”

I think to myself for a minute. “Deal.”

I look around the parking lot and see no one we work with. I lean up and press my lips to his in a soft kiss. He doesn’t hesitate to kiss back. We pull away after a second and smile. He winks at me and smiles a little more.

“Let’s go inside, baby.”

I nod at his words. He puts his hand on my lower back as we walk toward the building. We instantly know where to go by the music that is playing and Michael on some kind of microphone.

“You down with the Dundies? You down with the Dundie-”

Michael tries to sing into the mic when the music is cut off. He looks around and then at Dwight.

“The waitress tripped over the cord.” Dwight bends down to plug it back in.

Jim and I walk over to our seats which are next to, Ryan, Pam and Roy. I take off my jacket and lays it across my lap.

“So we are here, thank you all for coming to the 2005 Dundie awards.” Michael says, taking off his sweater to reveal a tuxedo.

I roll my eyes and looks at Jim. He glances at me and shrugs before turning back to Michael.

“I am your host, Michael Scott. And I just want to tell you please, please, do not drink and drive. Because you may hit a bump and spill the drink.”

Before Michael can say anymore, we all hear Kevin say to the waitress. “Just put these on the group tab.”

“Nope, actually this year, uhh, no group tab. We’re going to be doing separate checks.” Michael says into the mic.

Stanley starts a little fight with Michael and I look at Jim.

“I didn’t bring my debit card. Just my ID..”

“Don’t worry, Mel. I got your check.” He smiles and pats his pocket where his wallet is.

“No Jim. It’s fine-”

“No, Mel.” He leans over and whispers. “Date night. I’ll pay.”

I giggle quietly. “Alright if you say so. But I’m not drinking.”

“Deal.” He smirks

We hear Roy lean over and whisper to Pam. “Hey. Let’s go to Poor Richard’s.”

Pam just nods and stands up grabbing her jacket. Michael looks up.

“Guys, where you going? Pam, show’s just started.” Michael says.

“Sorry.” Roy takes her hand and they walk out of Chili’s.

I sigh and looks at Jim. “Great. Now my best friend left.”

Jim glances at me and smiles. I stopped calling him my best friend when he’s around since he is now my boyfriend. Ryan looks at Jim.

“You guys staying?”

“Yeah, gotta eat somewhere.” Jim smiles.

Michael raises one of the Dundie awards. “And now…To someone who quietly goes about their job, but always seems to land the biggest accounts...the ‘Busiest Beaver’ award goes to Phyllis Lapin!”

Everyone starts clapping and Phyllis gets out of her booth. She walks up toward Michael but making sure to high five Jim and I on the way. Every year she stops and high fives us since we do the same to her. I giggle when she walks to the ‘stage area.’

“Yeah! Way to go Phyllis! Nice work, per usual.” Michael says.

“This say ‘Bushiest Beaver.’” She says looking at the award.

My eyes widen and I look right at Michael.

“What! I told them Busiest! Idiots.” Michael tries to say.

“It-It’s fine” Phyllis says, turning around and walking past us again.

She squeezes my shoulder and goes to her booth.

“Well, we’ll fix that up! You don’t have to display that one.” Michael says, trying to make up for it.

An hour goes by and I receive my plate of food. I got their Fettuccine Alfredo and right before I dig in, Michael starts talking into the mic.

“This next award goes to someone who is really good at sports. We had our first Basketball game and this person won the whole game for us. Even though they almost broke their nose! The ‘Best Basketball Player’ award goes to...Melissa Ford.”

I look up as every starts cheering and clapping. I made it so no one in the office had to work that Saturday. I stand up and run over to Phyllis. I give her a quick high five before walking up to Michael. I take the award, but he holds my arm for a second before waving to Jim to come onto the stage. Jim puts down one of his Soft Shell Crab Legs and walks up to us.

Michael leans over to him and whispers. “You have to give this next award. Last year she hit me.”

Jim looks confused but nods. Michael points to the cue cards Ryan is holding.

Jim starts reading. “This next award goes to somebody who really lights up the office. Someone, who I think a lot of us, cannot keep from checking out.” He pauses then glances at Michael. “The ‘Employee Everyone Wants to Screw’ award also goes to Melissa!” I start laughing as Jim shakes his head and continues to read. “This is the 7th time Melissa has won this award. Meaning she’s won it every year since she started.”

I take the award as Michael starts singing. “Hidy ho, you sexy thang. You sexy thang you!”

I snap my head to him then he stops singing. I walk back down to my seat. Jim follows me down and sits down.

“That was not weird or anything,” Jim whispers.

I giggle and put my awards on the table and start to eat. As we eat our food, Michael continues to give out awards. Angela got the ‘Tight Ass’ award for being everyone’s favorite stickler and for having a great ‘caboose’. The new girl Kelly got the ‘Spicy Curry’ awards, which none of us knows what that means.

Ryan won the ‘Hottest Temp’ award, because apparently, besides me, he’s the hottest in the office. Kevin got the ‘Don’t Go in There After Me’ award for always stinking up the bathroom. That was going to be the last award because some drunk customers in the area next to ours were trying to get Michael to stop.

This is usually Michael’s favorite party we have so I decided to make him happy.

“Yay Kevin! Woooo for Kevin, for stinking up the bathroom!” I start clapping to cheer up Michael.

Jim catches on to what I’m doing and starts clapping. “Yeah! Alright Kev!”

More people start clapping and Michael smiles a little.

“More Awards! Not everyone got one!” I shout to Michael.

“Yeah! I haven’t gotten one either! Keep going!”

“More Dundies!” I start chanting.

Jim and I start clapping and chanting. “Dundies! Dundies! Dundies!”

Everyone starts chanting along with us and Michael smiles widely, getting his Dundies Spirit back.

“Alright, alright!” He laughs, “We’ll keep rolling. This is the ‘Fine Work’ award. This goes to Stanley for all the fine work he did this year.”

Stanley goes up and gets his award. I cheer a little.

“Go Stan! Yeah man! Good job!” I giggle slightly as Stanley smiles a little at me.

“Now, Pam left but the award she would have one would have been the ‘Whitest Sneakers.’ She usually would have one the ‘Longest Engagement’ award but they are actually getting married next week.” I cheer for Pam even though she isn’t there.

The night comes to a close when Michael holds up the last Dundie.

“This award goes to the prankiest employee we have. It’s the ‘Jim Halpert’ award. It of course goes to Jim Halpert because there is only one of him and we can never get enough of those pranks.”

I start laughing as Jim stands up. He walks up to Michael taking the award.

“Thanks Michael. Umm...this isn’t going to be an every year award is it?” Jim asks quietly.

“Probably not. I just didn’t know what to give you,” Michael answers.

Jim nods and walks back down to me. He sits down.

“So we got to see Ping. We learned of Michael’s true feelings for Ryan. Very touching. Um.. We heard Michael change the lyrics to a number of classic songs. Which for me ruined them all for life.” Jim says listing everything that’s happened tonight.

“I won two awards.” I giggle. “Which has never happened.”

“You deserve all the awards.” Jim says, looking into my eyes.

“Wait...Even the ‘Don’t Go in After Me’ award?” I tease.

“Well that one night after pizza last week, yeah you deserve it.” He says, with a semi-straight face.

“James!” I shout.

He starts laughing and clapping his hands. He then grabs his coat, running out of the Chili’s. I chase after him laughing. This has been a wonderful evening. Successful Dundies this year.

#jim halpert #jim halpert the office #jim halpert imagine #jim halpert x reader #jim halpert x oc #jim Halpert x reader oc #James Halpert #james halpert the office #james halpert x reader #james halpert imagine #james halpert x oc #james Halpert x reader oc #james Halpert x oc reader #jim Halpert x oc reader

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