#idk but

[brokenriverism]

A REVOLUTIONARY OR A CRIMINAL?

[medulllaossium]

[selineram3421]

*lies awake at night and has an idea*

[Its 4 a.m. by the way.]

Other Worldly

Prologue

Alastor X Shy Reader

(Oneshot turned short story)

Warnings? ⚠

⚠ selectively mute reader, mentions of death-drowning, shaking head = no, signing-ASL ⚠

They were an oddity.

How could such a meek and bashful thing like them end up in this fiery inferno.

Alastor watched from the bar as they bumped into the check-in counter and squeaked before getting off balance and falling.

Clumsy, jumpy, barely making a sound other than some odd squeaks.

Yes, they were quite the wonder.

An entertaining one.

❇

You were somewhat new to Hell. At least two weeks in.

There was an accident where you worked in the aquarium and well..you kinda caused a mass drowning? It sounds impossible but it happened.

It was very challenging to get up after your fall, but you managed and wound up at the hotel.

With the help of the Princess, you were able to figure out what kind of demon you are. It came with pros but it also came with cons. One con being that you couldn't speak unless you wanted to hypnotize someone.

It made you a little sad, but also relieved. You didn't do well around others, too shy to speak up or get involved with anything that put you in the spotlight.

Maybe it was for the best.

There would be one thing you wouldn't give up though.

❇

Alastor was in the hotel's library.

There wasn't a whole lot of demons coming into this room, especially after some guests saw him walk in here a few times.

It didn't matter. At least there were multiple things that could entertain him. A small music room with instruments, projectors in another with film reels and other types of tapes, and the most dazzling room of all was the astronomy room.

The Princess made sure to have this room's dome ceiling painted with an accurate mural of the Earth's night sky.

Deciding to mess with the trinkets on the shelves, the demon in red walked towards the back of the room and glanced at the star charts. Tapping at some of the books and measuring tools on the desk nearby before sitting down on a chair.

No one ventured this far into the library. He was probably the only demon who knew of this room's existence.

And then he heard something.

Someone had entered the room.

Turning around and looking between the shelves, Alastor spots the timid demon that he enjoys flustering so much near the armillary sphere in the middle.

A little spook wouldn't be too bad.

He thought with a small grin, starting to summon up a shadow creature. However both dissipated when there was a note sung into the air.

"Let's go in the garden

You'll find something waiting

Right there where you left it lying upside down

When you finally find it, you'll see how its faded

The underside is lighter when you turn it around "

The Radio Demon sat there, mouth agape as they sang.

"Everything stays right where you left it

Everything stays

But it still changes

Ever so slightly, daily and nightly

In little ways, when everything stays "

Like a siren- a water sprite? A nymph? It was hard to pinpoint what he could compare their voice to.

It was other worldly.

Their voice echoed due to the room's acoustics.

He didn't notice that he had gotten out of the chair, didn't notice he was making his way towards them, didn't notice when they stopped singing until they gasped.

Blinking out of his trance, he found them facing him and covering their mouth with their hands. A panicked look in their eyes.

"You stopped.", Alastor spoke up. "Why not finish?"

They shook their head quickly and backed away.

Before he could say something else, they moved their arms down, one made into a fist on their chest and moving in a circle clockwise. Then they ran out. (Sorry)

He stood there for a while, his smile widening. Maybe there was more to them than he thought.

How interesting~

I'm still on break but I couldn't help myself with this one. 🐚 (Old note)

~Seline, the person.

Part 1

.

Alastor ML I🎙 | ChL OW🦀

[tacobellabeanburrito]

OK GUYS. Not. Not to sound tooo crack shippy. BUT.

But.

Ok. But…

Why is Larry x Phoenix kinda… Cute?

[ralvezfanatic]

whats the point of a man wearing a tie other than it being there so i can pull it to bring him close to me preferably to kiss him 🤨?

NONE

its there for that and that only

[phoenixonyx15]

them ^^

credits to @maxcatz for creating this cute cross ship :D!

[jetsetromance]

someone get me to the doctor 🏥🏥🏥 and someone call the nurse 🧑‍⚕️🧑‍⚕️🧑‍⚕️ and someone buy me roses 🌹🌹🌹 and someone burned the church 🔥🔥🔥 we’re hanging out with corpses ☠️☠️☠️ and driving in this hearse 🚗🚗🚗 and someone save my soul tonight 😱😱😱 please save my soul ‼️‼️‼️

[picklejarofpencils]

Hello, welcome to Olive Garden. I’m Alcryst, and to make up for ruining your evening as your waiter, can I get you started with some breadsticks?

[madmutts]

me watching Rayman beg and whine and grovel on the floor:

[darnellthefirestarter]

Anyways uhm

I'm not sure what to post now, so have a Boyfriend. He's doing very well.

[chacha462]

Andrew *leaving the bathroom ready to go to eden's*

Neil (not trying to flirt): oh so this is what hot means

[anouchan-jpg]

#1, #2

[chirpsythismorning]

How the Ending of Stranger Things 3 Subtly (Blatantly) Foreshadowed the Love Triangle in Stranger Things 4

During Mike and Will's last scene together alone (essentially their goodbye), Mike shows visible concern over the fact that Will is probably gonna want to join another party after he moves. In response, Will reassures him that would be impossible, with Mike looking visibly relieved and even happy about this reassurance.

However, in contrast, as Mike is saying his goodbyes to El, only a moment later, Mike doesn't voice any similar concerns about the possibility of her meeting new people (even with the concept fresh in his mind, might I add). Also in contrast to his scene with Will, their goodbye here ends with Mike looking conflicted and confused at El's form of reassurance (love confession/kiss), rather than relieved/happy.

These are honestly such weird narrative choices on the writers part, if I'm supposed to believe that what Mike has with Will is strictly platonic and what Mike has with El is strictly romantic.

In fact, Mike even makes a point of mentioning Will's name in his plans to reunite with El during their goodbye, but he makes no mention of El when he says goodbye to Will...

Now, what should that tell you??

Even just reanalyzing these scenes from s3 in combination with what ends up happening in s4, how can anyone still come to the honest conclusion that m!leven makes more sense as endgame than byler?

El was still very new to basic experiences, let alone high school, and so although things did go horrible for her in Cali, they could've gone well in a better scenario.

She even gives Mike this impression in early ST4, saying that things were going amazing for her, and we saw Mike being fairly open and kind when it came to the topic of her new friends and new life in Lenora.

Though, once again in contrast, Mike was visibly uncomfortable over the topic of Will's life in Lenora, or more specifically, what El mentioned in her most recent letter, which was that she thought Will might be painting something for a girl he likes.

Interestingly, besides the fact that Will is painting more, this small piece of (mis)information about a girl, is the only thing we were shown Mike knowing about Will's new life in Lenora.

After humiliating himself at the airport by asking about the painting, since we the audience (and El) already know Mike knows about it and who it’s probably for, what follows is Mike making absolutely zero effort to find out anything else about Will’s new life, after now assuming El's suspicions were correct.

How very platonic of you, Mike.

We even get these hints via subtext that Mike thought El's new friend Angela could be the girl Will made the painting for.

So we’re seeing this pattern here, and it’s that Mike is actually shown to be more scared about losing Will to new people than he is scared about losing El to new people.

Then, low and behold, it turns out El was lying about having friends. In reality she’s quite miserable in Lenora.

You would think, despite the unfortunate circumstances, if Mike had actually been insecure about El moving on, only for those insecurities to be disproven, wouldn't he have been at least slightly relieved?

But we don't get that. After the truth is revealed, Mike looks even more upset and conflicted about his relationship with El than before.

He can try and say that his behavior is related to his fear that someone new will discover how special El is, followed by her not needing him, but in reality, that possibility was just literally disproven.

El had no one new in her life, and she was literally standing before Mike, begging him to need her. All he had to do was say I love you. Problem solved, right?

But he didn't. He didn't because the truth is so much more complex than he's making it out to be.

Going into the rest of the season, after El has left and it's only Mike and Will, there is absolutely no mention of Will's life in Lenora, with the focus instead being all on Mike.

Mike's trying to reveal to Will that he wants to end things romantically with El, saying their fight was one he didn't think they could come back from (even though he and the audience know all it would've required was three simple words), him even going as far as to say that he doesn't think him and El meeting each other was anything special ("IT WASN'T FATE! IT WASN'T DESTINY!" like, okay! Chill out, Michael!).

Mike is trying as subtly as he possibly can to hint to Will that he is having these insecurities about his relationship, a relationship that he believes is doomed to fail, but that he is scared of ending himself because it might mean losing El altogether.

Tragically, all it probably would've taken was Will voicing even an ounce of agreement in Mike's doubts, for Mike to finally end things with El. Seriously, where is s3 Will when s4 Mike needs him?? Will could've said anything to support his doubts, and Mike would've been throwing in the towel (no, but like literally the only time Will showed Mike any annoyance in s4 over Mike moping about El, and here Mike was, throwing El's letter in the garbage almost instantly... )

Only problem is, Will isn't letting that happen this time.

And what do you think that tells Mike? I mean, if I were Mike, I would assume that Will is definitely not interested. After all, he apparently likes girls now, despite implying he wouldn't move on last time they talked. And now he has someone else to gift his paintings too, not Mike.

Mike's probably realizing rn that he's going crazy all alone, without Will.

Because like, let's be real. If your best friend has feelings for someone, you talk about it with them.

We literally see this happening right now with Mike and Will when it comes to El. All. Season.

So why, after finding out about Will's potential love interest, has Mike made zero effort to learn more about said girl?

WHY not have Will become aware that Mike assumes there is a girl in the first place????

Matter of fact, why didn't we see Mike's reaction to hearing Will talk about his life in Lenora, at all???????

Maybe because it would've been even more obvious than Mike admitting to Will that Hawkins wasn't the same without him?

Maybe because this is a classic case of the misunderstanding/miscommunication trope, where it could all be solved if everyone just knew the truth?

Honestly, I think the moment we do finally get to see Mike's reaction to Will, maybe even just slightly implying life was better for him in Lenora, Mike is going to look... well, devastated.

And that would've been a little too on the nose for ST4, especially if their plan was to keep the general audience second-guessing Mike's feelings, up until the final season.

I do believe it's likely we'll eventually get Mike's true reaction to Will's life in Lenora though, because the lead up has been quite extensive.

In the s3 finale, they could've easily shown us Mike being worried El would find someone else in Cali, but they don’t. Instead they show us that Mike has that insecurity linked to Will.

The main insecurity I saw Mike having in regards to El at the end of s3, standing in front of Will's closet, was that it genuinely looked like he knew that if he was 'normal', he would've tried harder to fight for their romantic relationship. But he just couldn’t do it and so that’s why he looked annoyed with himself as she started walking away.

But suddenly, El's turning around, confronting him, and Mike doesn’t look the least bit relieved. He looks distracted and caught off guard. When she mentions his heart, that's when he starts looking downright panicked. Then, she's walking back up to him and kissing him, all while his eyes are wide open. Afterwards, he's silent and she leaves him in Will's room by himself, looking dumbfounded.

I would argue that if Mike did truly love El (romantically), but just didn’t know how to express it, he would have been relieved that she was making it so easy for him. After all, it didn’t even require any work on his part in that moment.

BOOM. She said she loved him too. BOOM. She kissed him. BOOM. They’re boyfriend and girlfriend again. That was easy, right?

But if them being together again was what Mike truly wanted at this point, 3 months post-breakup, then his reaction here makes no sense when you compare it to his reaction to Will only minutes before.

Which brings me back to the importance of the whole walkie/phone call/letters debacle.

What I think is that, initially, Mike intended to use the walkie to stay in touch with El, and to reserve writing letters for Will ('Love Mike'). Either that, or perhaps he was initially open minded to having equal contact with both of them, via letters and phone calls/Cerebro.

After finding out Will did want the same future as him, even getting confirmation from Will that he wouldn’t be 'joining any other parties', Mike is hopeful. How they talk is basically code for them both hoping their instincts are right about the others feelings; that they equally feel the same way about each other and that maybe, sometime in the future, maybe.

I do think they both had this realization in that moment during their goodbye. And that's what makes everything that follows going into s4 so stupidly tragic for everyone involved.

I think that talk with Will was when Mike realized he wanted to reserve romantic gestures for Will again (like he did in s2) and to go back to the more friendship based gestures with El (arguably also what he did in s2 with the walkie).

That's what was holding him back, this realization that he actually wanted him and El to stay broken up so that he could go back to this bond he had with Will.

But suddenly, El is telling him she loves him too and she’s kissing him and??? How the hell does he take back what he said those few months ago? She lost her only real father figure, she's moving away AND is revealing that she's in love with him? Obviously he’s not thinking about how in the long run, this misunderstanding will only hurt her more than just breaking it off now. He's thinking about how much she's already hurting and that he can't do this to her. And tbh, I don't really blame Mike for not having the courage to do it. I probably wouldn't either.

Quite frankly, I think a lot of the audience can't give up on M!leven because they too have the same mindset as Mike, which is that, because they feel so bad for El and everything she's been through, he's practically indebted to her, as she's saved his life countless times, and pretty much the entire world. How can he not love her? It's the LEAST Mike can do in his mind (and the audiences').

Don't get me wrong. I never wanted El to be heartbroken. I can say with full confidence that 99.99% of bylers want El to be the one to break it off with Mike. It's seriously starting to look like Mike is just going to pull a Ted Wheeler and be miserable forever if she doesn't take the initiative on this and so that's really the only satisfying way they can go about that at this point.

I do believe that El and Mike have a good dynamic, well, when they're not forcing themselves to be someone else just to be with each other. And I think s1 dynamics making a return means we'll hopefully get some of those honest interactions between them, like we did before society kind of forced its expectations on them.

But, if we're being honest with ourselves, season 4 is said and done, which means everything that happened, happened.

Mike has already broken El's heart. He's already done the very thing he didn't want to do, all because he was convinced that his only option was to lie to her, himself and everyone about the truth.

Like, there must be a reason why the writers keep showing us Mike struggling with committing to El, over and over throughout the entire series. The fact that when it's finally caught up to him, he looks downright terrified, like it all adds up, honestly. It all makes sense.

He’s also got internalized homophobia working against him, telling him, 'El is incredible, beautiful, a literal superhero and she loves you…? What’s wrong with you??'

And I think Mike’s visible turmoil at the end of s3 is this realization that he's right back where he started. Repressing his true feelings; reserving romantic gestures for El and as a result having no choice but to reserve platonic gestures for Will.

Then s4 comes around and we find out El and Mike have been keeping in touch via letters, with no mention of the walkies at all.

We can presume that they did not talk over the phone because of government surveillance, which was why Mike initially mentioned the walkies in the first place (again, remember he said this BEFORE they kissed/got back together).

We also know from Will's perspective that Mike only called a couple of times. We can assume maybe more than once, but probably no more than 2-5 times, he successfully got through to the Byers.

But we also now know from Dustin's perspective (and El's because she heard this conversation in the void), is that Mike called so much to the point where Dustin said he was 'always whining' about the line being busy.

And this will never not be the most important piece of the puzzle to me.

First of all, this line was put here for a reason. Second of all, no one outside of bylers in the fandom talk about this much, if at all, and that's probably because those refusing to consider the possibility of byler would rather not acknowledge that there's literally no other way to interpret this.

In present time, Dustin has just said Mike is 'always whining about' the Byers' line being busy, which means that even though it's been 6+ months since the Byers' moved to California, Mike presumably hasn't stoped 'whining about it' (always more so implies still/currently, not so much in the past/previously/'maybe a couple times').

So, why didn't Mike tell Will he called way more than 'a couple of times' when Will confronted him about it?

And why didn't we get anything regarding Mike and El keeping in touch via the walkie, ie, Mike's original plan?

We saw that in her room, El had a shrine dedicated to Mike, with the walkie sitting right in the middle, just waiting for him to call her. Because technically, in order for them to keep in contact via the walkie, Mike would have to be at Dustin's using Cerebro, or having stolen it (like he said he would).

But instead of seeing El being annoyed with Mike calling her constantly, we get Mike reading a letter from El, with shots of the Mike shrine, and El saying "I miss you so much I can hardly breathe, do you miss me too?" WITH NO RESPONSE and this awkward tension, seeing as what follows is nothing that constitutes an El shrine in Mike's space, the scene ending with him crumpling up her letter and moving on entirely.

We even get a scene of Dustin talking to Suzie on Cerebro directly after this scene with Mike.

So... What if this means Mike didn't follow through when it came to actually calling El on the walkie? What if she was already suspicious, not only about the letters all ending with 'from Mike' but also because she remembered Mike saying he would call so much, only for her to find out, directly from Dustin that Mike was always 'whining about' the Byers phone line being busy. Which meant all those times he could've called El, all those times she was waiting for him to annoy her like he said he would, he was busy annoying Dustin over the fact that he couldn't get ahold of Will...

What if Mike went from telling El he would call her so much she would have to turn it off, to in reality, only calling her on the walkie maybe a couple times, only to drop it all-together, which is what lead to the letters being the main source of contact in the first place.

Also WHY even have El be the one to find out that Mike was constantly calling the Byers to talk to Will, before Will himself finds out, with him still currently assuming the opposite...?

Honestly, I think it's kind of obvious, but I'll try to continue spelling it out.

I think Mike made a compromise with himself after both El and Will moved to California.

He couldn't break it off with El, not now and not this way. Maybe if he was straight and only liked girls, he could end things without feeling self conscious about the potential perceived implications behind it. But because he knows the true reason, he feels like it will give him away. Sadly, Mike also has very low self esteem and so he just genuinely believes that he should be honored to be loved by someone like El, because this is probably as good as it's gonna get for someone like him.

This compromise also involves Mike trying to keep things as platonic as possible with Will, and yet the way he goes about it still somehow tragically does exactly the opposite.

By not going through with using the walkie to call El, he's making the phone calls between him and Will 'their' thing, even when Mike tragically can never seem to reach him.

I think the idea of talking to El 'romantically' on Cerebro, only to hear Will in the background, who Mike now may have the urge to talk to after not being able to get ahold of him for weeks.?. I just know Mike cringed at the mere idea of that, like I could totally see something like that being a catalyst for why he made that separation between how he'd allow himself to communicate with them in the first place, post s3.

I also think he knew that if he wrote letters to both Will and El, there was a small chance they could end up comparing letters at some point, and the difference between how he opens up with Will in comparison to how he doesn't as much with El, would have made his true feelings glaringly obvious.

I do honestly believe that the reason they never let us read any of Mike's letters to El (beyond how they all end...) was because of this very fact, that it would have been the biggest giveaway of all.

Like, what the hell would Mike have even talked about anyways? It's literally canon that he was a 'shitty knockoff' of his true self when they reunited at the airport and then all day at rink-o-mania too (just like El), so maybe it isn't a reach to assume he also lied in his letters (just like El). Or even more likely, he probably focused on just asking questions about how she was doing/how the Byers were doing. After all, Mike has no reason to believe El wants to hear about Hellfire, or any of the things he knows aren't exactly perceived as 'cool'.

source

This is also why I'm fairly convinced they're saving showing the audience a letter written by Mike for the final season, because that's when his true feelings will be revealed (and this time, it will be a letter that ends with, ‘love Mike’...)

Though I think it's unlikely we'll get flashbacks about what Mike was thinking between ST3-4 (possibility scene in New Moon... iykyk), I like to believe that he did try to write a letter to Will at least once, maybe right after they moved, but at the very last second he realized it ended with, 'love Mike', in contrast to a letter he wrote to El ending with, 'from Mike', and that's when it really hit him.

He knew he had to set boundaries with himself to be a good boyfriend and a good best friend (in theory of course, because he failed miserably).

The biggest giveaway of all though, is Mike not being able to fully submit to this compromise he's made with himself.

Even though he reserved writing letters to El, to convince himself he was at least trying to be a good, romantic boyfriend, while also trying to convince himself that his feelings for Will were strictly platonic (SHES MY GIRLFRIEND, WILL! /WERE FRIENDS. WERE FRIENDS!), he still couldn't give in entirely; he still couldn’t end the letters to El with, “love Mike’.

It took Will giving Mike constant reassurance and support all of s4, up until the very last second, for him to finally tell El he loves her.

And now here we are! Forced conformity caused the end of the world, so now we just gotta wait for gay love/endgame to save it.

[one-three-six-four]

i was watching a matt rose video and i thought some of the images could fit people from the various life smps, so i did this

[lewmagoo]

he!

[hypertic]

Again - Avatrice training AU [part 4]

[part 3 here]

The knock on the door was so soft, so hesitant, Beatrice thought she imagined it. Still, she stood up and walked to the door, ignoring how painful it was to even sit up on her bed.

“Beatrice?” she heard Ava whisper from the other side, right before she opened the door.

“Ava.” Ava’s smile seemed to falter slightly at the cold, close off Bea that greeted her at the door, but Beatrice was too tired to comment on it.

She walked to her small dressing table, taking her hair out of it’s bun and picking up her hairbrush before turning back around to face Ava.

“Do you need anything?” She asked tentatively, after noticing Ava stood frozen right next to the now closed door, her wide eyes fixed on her.

Ava, on the other hand, momentarily forgot everything she meant to say when Beatrice turned around with her hair down, slightly messy and slicked back from being in a tight bun all day. She would’ve thought her adorable, had it not been for the dark circles under her eyes that reminded her exactly of why she was there.

“I’m- no, actually,” Ava took a step forward, fidgeting with a loose thread of her sleeve. “I came to ask if you needed anything.”

“Me?” Beatrice asked with confusion, and Ava had to clasp her hands together to keep herself from poking the frown between the older girl’s eyebrows.

“Yes, you. You’ve been getting the worst part of our training, so I thought I’d check up on you.” Ava scratched the back of her head anxiously, eyes casted down in embarrassment. “How’s your leg?”

“Oh.“ was all Beatrice could answer at first, taken aback by the sudden question.

She was still processing how, despite how harsh she had been to her during training, Ava still wanted to see her; maybe she even cared for her.

“I’m fine.” She managed to say with a shrug, tearing her eyes away from Ava to stare at her own feet.

“Have you checked it?” Ava questioned, noticing Beatrice was still wearing the same training clothes.

Beatrice felt a blush creep up her cheeks, giving her back to Ava and choosing to sit at the foot of her bed in a poor attempt to hide it.

“Not yet, but it feels alright.” she tried kicking her shoes off to prove her point, but it backfired when she accidentally hit her calf against the bed frame.

As soon as Ava heard her pained gasp, she was standing in front of her, genuine concern so clear in her face Beatrice felt a pang of guilt.

“Here, let me.“

Ava fell to her knees before she could get an answer, making Beatrice feel her heart flutter. Gently, she untied the laces of her shoes, pulling them out with so much care as though Beatrice might break. Next, Ava looked up at Beatrice, wide eyes already fixed on her, and then back to her feet, her hands hovering over the end of her leggings, silently asking for permission to lift it. Beatrice gave her a small, absent nod, stopping herself from shivering when she felt Ava’s fingers lightly graze her bare leg.

“You don’t-“ Beatrice seemed to snap out of her daze, trying to pull herself away from Ava’s touch, but stopped as soon as she saw the smile on Ava’s face fall. When Beatrice didn’t continue, Ava took it as silent resignation and continued to pull up the legging, biting her lip to suppress a gasp when she saw the dark, purple bruise covering the outer side of Beatrice’s leg.

“Ouch.” Was all Ava managed to say, after uncovering the other leg only to find a similar bruise, maybe a little lighter.

“They always look worse than they are.” She wasn’t lying, it really seemed a lot worse, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

“I’ll be right back.” Before Beatrice could get a word out, Ava had bolted out the door.

Beatrice just sat there, staring at the point where Ava’s warm eyes used to be.

She couldn’t understand how, why, Ava was there.

Yes, Ava is naturally kind, and caring, and loving, but Beatrice never imagined herself being the one on the receiving end.

Even if they got along, even if they’d sit together at dinner, exchange smiles in the halls and stupid puns during training, Beatrice considered herself nothing more than an acquaintance to Ava, though she herself considered Ava a lot more than that.

After their long training hours, after all the harsh things she’d said, after getting her ass kicked publicly by Beatrice more than once, she didn’t expect Ava to care about her outside the training room. Hell, she didn’t expect her to like her.

Still, Ava came back a few minutes later, slightly out of breath and holding what Beatrice assumed were two ice packs wrapped in towels. Without saying anything, Ava went back to kneeling in front of Beatrice, seeing that the older girl hadn’t moved a muscle since she’d left her.

As gentle as ever, Ava pressed an ice pack against her left leg and Beatrice shivered, not so much for the cold as for the feeling of Ava’s fingers against her skin.

“I can do that.” Beatrice argued, her voice coming out far too weak for her liking. She tried to make her point clear by placing her hand over Ava’s, but Ava continued with her task, paying no mind to Beatrice’s hand on hers, pressing the second ice pack to the other leg. “Ava, it’s fine.”

Ava’s hands faltered, taken aback by the suddenly stern, closed off Beatrice. She looked up, only to find Beatrice’s dark eyes on her, hiding a turmoil of emotions Ava thinks she could never unravel. Still, she pressed the ice packs back on the bruises after a beat of silence, giving Beatrice a small, sad smile.

“Beatrice.”

Her name sounded different each time Ava said it.

Beatrice wasn’t sure how, but each time they were together Ava seemed to call her name with a new, complex emotion that she couldn’t quite label. Sometimes it was sadness, others a little teasing, and a lot of the times with frustration, but it always had something Beatrice couldn’t quite figure out. This time, Beatrice would dare say she called her with endearment, hurt hidden beneath it.

“I’m sorry.” Beatrice let out, looking out the dark window to avoid Ava’s eyes.

“It’s fine.” Ava reassured, but Beatrice kept her eyes fixed on the window. “I just wish-“ she stopped, suddenly considering the weight of her words. At the sudden silence, Beatrice couldn’t help but look, finding Ava staring right back at her. “Just…take care of yourself?” she chose to say, after the silence had extended for too long. Beatrice kept her eyes fixed on hers, as if she could physically see Ava’s thoughts if she tried hard enough.

The truth is, Ava didn’t want her to just take care of herself.

She wanted Beatrice to let her in, to allow her to care for her and share the burdens she most definitely had, but chose to keep to herself.

She always chose to keep to herself.

She wanted to see Beatrice smile more often, to see her without a cut or a bruise for once and to know what she enjoys to do on her days off.

And maybe, when Ava let her selfish thoughts get the best of her, she wanted to be the one by her side, the one who makes her smile and spends her days with, for Beatrice to consider her a trustworthy friend.

Even if she wasn’t her friend and they never saw each other again, Ava wanted her to be happy, because ever since the day they first met she thought Beatrice to be deserving of it; of smiles and laughs and love and care.

Beatrice settled for giving her a firm nod, half expecting Ava to say something else, but not pushing her to when she didn’t. She allowed her to continue with her task, pressing the ice packs on her legs until the towels were soaking wet.

“You should put some cream on them before going to bed.” Ava stated, standing up from her kneeling position.

Beatrice, as if startled by Ava’s voice, stood up quickly, leaving her inches from Ava, who seemed to loose her balance at the sudden move. Instinctively, Beatrice grabbed her elbows to steady her, leaving Ava’s hands pressed against her own chest.

Her breath caught in her throat, feeling Ava’s cold hands through her shirt because of the ice packs and her deep brown eyes looking at her wide in surprise. Beatrice allowed herself to let her eyes roam around Ava’s face, taking in every little detail she could only ever notice with this little distance. Unwillingly, her eyes finally landed on the girl’s slightly parted lips, looking back up at Ava’s eyes far too quickly, afraid to be caught staring.

“Shower.” Beatrice managed to croak out, her voice shaky and too loud, snapping them both out of their daze. As soon as Beatrice let go of Ava, and the younger girl took a step back, but her eyes remained fixed on Beatrice’s.

“What?”

“I- I should shower before putting anything on.” Beatrice clarified, walking to the other side of the room to gather herself.

“Right.” Ava took that as her to leave and walked towards the door.

“Ava?” Beatrice called before the girl was fully out of the room. “Thank you.” She stated genuinely, offering a small warm smile to Ava, who gave her a wide, bright grin before wishing her goodnight and closing the door.

When Beatrice came out of the shower, she found a small, white tube of cream on her nightstand, along with a glass of water and a couple of painkillers.

criticism and comments and prompts or ideas or anything is always welcomed :D