#if it is poppies I’ll be shocked actually

[matchavellichor]

I don't know if you're still taking requests, but if you are, I have this request that would make for some good angst C: Fem MC proclaiming that she'll only date a man who can best her in a duel. And Ominis ends up winning, shocking everyone including MC but she's happy about it. Up to you if smut follows after <3

A/N: I loved this idea, ty for the request! I didn't really make it angsty sorrryyy :c but I hope I compensated with the dominis smut at the end and that you enjoy nonetheless <3

How to Win the Girl

Ominis Gaunt x f!MC - NSFW - Friends to Lovers - 4.9k words - ao3

Part 2

Tags: Pining, Unrequited Love, Jealous Ominis, Dominis, Rough Sex, Classroom Sex

Summary: After hearing her proclaim that she'll only date someone who can beat her in a duel, Ominis grows determined to win her affections by any means necessary.

“I’m a simple man. I’ll snog anything with a decent enough behind.” Sebastian proclaimed matter-of-factly.

She didn’t know how this became the topic of discussion over breakfast at the Great Hall, but she indulged him nonetheless. Ominis seemed completely uninterested in the subject matter, engrossed in a Potions textbook he was currently tracing over diligently with his wand in a last bid attempt to pass the final practical exam.

She cast him a sidelong glance as she cut into her eggs. “I’ll make sure to tell Poppy to keep her mooncalves away from you.” 

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Okay, anything decent and human.” He paused for a moment, contemplating, before he amended. “Actually, no, I did have a little tango with a Centaur some blue moon ago…”

She blinked at him. “You genuinely concern me, you know that?”

“She was cute!” He scoffed defensively. “Excuuuse me for embracing diversity. Pray tell, what are your shining standards, hm?”

She paused for a moment, considering, before she shrugged and took a swig of her pumpkin juice. “He has to beat me in a duel.”

She didn’t notice the way Ominis immediately perked up beside her, unburying his nose from the pages of his book and narrowing his attention on the conversation he had been only half-listening to.

Sebastian snorted. “Ha! Good one. You’ll die alone at that rate. Better start collecting kneazles to keep you company.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just because you’re incompetent with a wand, doesn’t mean every man is, Sebastian.”

“Hey! Incompetent is harsh. I prefer the term mildly handicapped.” He protested. “And just a duel? Like one time?”

“Yup. One duel.”

Sebastian rose resolutely from his seat, slipping from the bench hastily and nearly knocking over several goblets in the process.

“Where on earth are you going?”

“I have to go practice. If I knew a roundabout with the Hero of Hogwarts was on the line I would’ve tried much harder at Crossed Wands.” He gave her a wink.

She grimaced and called out to him as he quickly made his way down the rows of tables towards the exit. “You are excluded from the list of contending bachelors, Sebastian!”

“Square is fair!” He called back and she bit back a laugh at his butchering of the Muggle saying.

Beside her, Ominis looked very much enthralled in the textbook he was only pretending to read, his thoughts instead drifting to other matters. He had spent far too long hopelessly pining for her to not consider the opportunity he was just presented with.

It was no unknown fact that she was notoriously hard to get, and that reality had only served to make him want her even more. It was utter torture.

He was so unused to not getting what he wanted, and the stubborn little witch sitting beside him just so happened to be what he wanted most.

He rose from his seat with much more patience than Sebastian did, though arguably fueled by an even greater determination to finally win her affections.

“Where are you going? I thought we were going to study for Potions together.” She frowned as she watched him slip past her down the Great Hall.

“I’ll make it up to you.”

He made his way to the exit and rushed to the Undercroft in Sebastian’s footsteps, his magic thrumming in his veins with a vibrant, newfound energy.

//

Sebastian crashed into a groaning heap on the stone floor of the Undercroft after the leviosa Ominis had casted wore off after a few seconds.

“Fuck’s sake, Ominis,” he sat up, rubbing his throbbing head. “I thought you said you’d go easy.”

“That was easy.” Ominis crossed his arms, thrumming his fingers impatiently on his forearm as he waited for Sebastian to collect himself and get up again.

He admittedly had been a bit harsher than usual, using this “practice” as an excuse to take out his displeasure and poorly-concealed jealousy in Sebastian trying to win her affections in a duel himself. The mere thought of him anywhere near her had his magic coursing through his wand with an added bite and ferocity that usually wasn’t there.

Sebastian shook the woozy feeling from behind his eyes as he positioned himself in an offensive stance again. The first hex had barely slipped off his tongue before Ominis had a protego up and was veering a counteroffensive stinging jinx towards him.

No matter how fast he cast, the blonde always seemed to be one step ahead, moving lithely around the stone pillars in the Undercroft while Sebastian lept and rolled out of the way of his spells.

It didn’t take long for Sebastian to inevitably cry forfeit, after a barreling confringo missed his head by a few centimeters, singing the tips of his brown locks.

Ominis made his way over and outstretched a hand to help his friend off the ground. The brunette instead took this as an opportunity to tug him to the floor along with him.

He rolled his eyes. “Very mature, Sebastian.”

“Maturity is one of my many attractive qualities, you should know this by now, Ominis.”

“Yes, right there alongside your dueling abilities.” He jeered. “So…where do these duels take place, anyways?”

//

Ominis warily dodged the sounds of hexes and charms as he made his way through the dueling club towards Lucan Brattleby. Approaching the Gryffindor, he placed the few galleons for the entrance fee on the counter in front of him. 

“I’d like to duel, please.”

Lucan eyed him up and down with poorly-concealed disbelief. “You’d like to duel?” 

Ominis’ jaw set. “Did I stutter?” He nodded his head towards where he had heard her engrossed in a duel with a trio of upper-years when he walked in. “And I’d like to duel her.”

Lucan laughed as if the blonde had told a terrific joke, and then when he noticed Ominis had remained completely stoic and unamused, quieted. “Oh, you’re serious?” 

Ominis’ fists tensed at his sides. He was used to being underestimated due to his condition, but it didn’t make the blatant disrespect any less infuriating. “Are you going to let me fight or not?”

“Well, we have a hierarchy here, mate.” Lucan scoffed. “You can’t just walk in and duel someone. Especially not someone her level. You start at the bottom rank and win your way up.”

Ominis was mentally restraining himself from engaging in his own duel with the annoying little prat in front of him when Sebastian made his way over and clapped a hand over the blonde’s shoulders with a grin.

“Come to watch me fight, old pal?” 

Ominis turned and raised an eyebrow and Sebastian winced. “Er…poor choice of words, sorry.”

“I’ve come to participate, actually.” 

Sebastian raised his brows. “Against me? You haven’t battered me to your satisfaction already?” 

“No, not against you, although I’ll admit I’ll never be satisfied with any level of battering I’m allowed to inflict on you.” He nodded his head towards where she was still battling on the mats. “Against her.”

Sebastian’s brows reached his hairline now. “Ominis Gaunt, you little minx.” He butted the blonde’s shoulder playfully. “Trying to conquer her for yourself, eh? How come this is the first I’m hearing about this?”

Ominis rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so crass, Sebastian. I don’t want to conquer her, how antiquated.” He muttered admonishingly. “I want to prove myself to her. But, someone here won’t let me.” He narrowed his eyes at Lucan who had been listening curiously to their conversation. 

Lucan steepled his fingers over his chin contemplatively. “Hold on. You said Ominis Gaunt, right? As in…heir-of-Slytherin, dark-magic, rich-up-the-wazoo, Gaunt?” 

Ominis’s mouth set into a line at his family’s notoriety before giving a reluctant nod.

“I’ll tell you what. Pay triple the entrance fee and I’ll let you jump ahead and get your ass kicked by your little girlfriend.”

Ominis fished out the hefty sum of galleons from his pocket and slammed it on the counter, not pleased, but certainly in no position of loss by the demand. He’d be willing to pay a hundred times the amount if it meant a chance at winning her hand. 

“Pleasure doing business with you.” Lucan greedily pocketed the money before handing the blonde his entrance slip, indicating his place for the duel. “Also, hope you’re aware that no Unforgivables are allow—”

Ominis scowled before yanking the ticket from his hand. “Sod off.”

He cut past the crowd of onlookers and found his place in line by the mats where she was dueling, that same ardent determination making his magic hum in his core as he listened to her cast spell after spell. 

He couldn’t deny he felt a bit nervous about actually being in a battle with her. He had thrown around Sebastian in the Undercroft enough times, but never had he faced an opponent as formidable as her. Every incantation rolled off her tongue with a practiced amount of ease, short and concise, and he didn’t have to see her to know she was barely breaking a sweat as she fought off three foes on her own. 

He would have to be creative if he were going to come out victorious.

When the match was declared a definitive win for her, she made her way off the dueling mats and broke into a smile when she caught sight of Ominis on the outskirts of the crowd.

“Ominis! What’re you doing here?”

He held up his queue slip. “Whatever one normally does at a dueling club.”

The corner of her mouth quirked in subtle amusement. “I’ll be eager to see your skills in the arena.”

“You’ll see them, alright.” He smirked. “We’re up next.”

She was certainly surprised by this revelation, but to his satisfaction, made no doubtful comments about his sparring abilities. Instead, she stretched her shoulders and promptly got back onto the dueling mat, beckoning for him to follow.

“Come on, then. I’ll make this quick for you.”

//

She in fact did not make this quick for him.

She was soon greatly impressed by the realization that Ominis was actually an incredibly talented duelist. 

Sharp and agile, every swish of his wand calculated and precise. She was half-convinced his lack of sight actually led him to have even quicker reflexes than her average opponent, deflecting every single one of her spells with ease. 

Her pleasant curiosity quickly turned into begrudging frustration, though, when they’d been throwing hexes back and forth with no considerable gain made on either of their parts.

Never one to accept a draw, she cast the next spell with a little bit of extra ferocity, determined to at least knock the blonde off his feet and pull this duel that had stretched on for far too long now closer to its end. 

Unfortunately, she underestimated her own strength, and had caught Ominis in an unfortunate blind-spot —pun unintended— flinging him backwards across the arena. He landed with a sickening thud on the floor after colliding with one of the arched pillars in the room.

She winced as she knew that must’ve hurt. Badly. 

Which is why to her concern, and increasing horror, Ominis hadn’t let out even a single whimper of pain. Instead, lying completely motionless and cold, sprawled out on the flagstone floor. 

Her stomach sank.

Immediately, she ran over to him, her wand slipping from her fingers and clattering to the floor as she fought the nauseating dread inside of her at the thought of having seriously hurt him.

Sinking to her knees before him, she immediately took his face in her hands, scouring over him for any signs of serious injuries. 

She had only briefly noticed the slightest quirk of his lips, before she was flipped over onto her back with his wand pressed under her chin, his hips bracketing hers to the floor as he held her down with his weight.

Several emotions passed through her at once. First, the terrified dread dissipated from her system, quickly replaced by molten-hot anger at being so cruelly tricked, which then morphed into something almost akin to admiration for someone actually having gotten the best of her for once.

Strangest of all though, was the budding feeling of something else pulling just below her navel, as she realized just how close they were in this position. His hips pressed flush against hers, his breath ghosting her lips almost imperceptibly. Her entire body warmed.

Ominis held the most self-satisfied smirk she’d ever seen hovering above her, levels of smugness to rival even that of Sebastian’s, as he kept his wand pressed firmly under her chin with one hand and her wrists pinned tightly to the ground in his other.

Finally, she mustered the ability to speak, though her voice regrettably came out a lot more unsteady than intended with the feel of his body on hers making her thoughts hazy. 

“Get—get off me!”

Ominis tsked, shaking his head. “Make me.” He tilted his head and his lips curled at the corners, infuriatingly sly. “Use your wand, go on.”

She struggled against his hand futilely, but quickly realized that even if she was strong enough to free her wrists, she had recklessly abandoned her wand about ten feet away on the floor in her panic. She whined in frustration. 

“Forfeit?”

“No!” She protested, her pride getting the better of her. Though she quickly realized that wandless and pinned underneath a wizard nearly twice her size, she had little leeway in turning around the outcome of this duel.

He raised an eyebrow expectantly as he waited patiently for the little gears in her head to turn and click and realize that she had actually lost.

She had never lost a duel before. 

She expected to feel devastated. To have suffered an agonizing blow to her ego, to feel mortified, something. But instead she could feel nothing but mesmerization as she stared up at Ominis above her, features cool and nonplussed.

He had won. Square is fair.

Finally, she relented and muttered through gritted teeth, “Fine. I lost. Now get off me.”

He grinned as he finally slipped off her, her cheeks proceeding to heat even more at the brief brush of the front of his trousers against hers. As she sat up from the floor, she noticed with even greater embarrassment that the entire club had stopped what they were doing to gawk at them. 

She wanted to sink into the floor and disappear.

Quickly picking up her wand from where it had been discarded on the floor, she cleared her throat and with as much practiced sportsmanship as she could muster, directed a tight, “Good game.” towards Ominis before promptly departing from the hall. 

It wasn’t long before she heard the tell-tale sounds of footsteps tailing her down the corridor. She glanced back to see Ominis jogging to catch up. 

“Where are you going?”

She sighed. “Ominis, if you plan on rubbing it in my face how much of a better duelist you are, I’m really not in the mood.”

“What? I’m by no means better. Honestly, I don’t even come anywhere close.” He settled into pace beside her, his tone sympathetic and understanding. “I just had…stronger motivations.”

She looked up at him curiously and reluctantly decided to indulge him. She crossed her arms and stilled in her tracks, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. “Stronger motivations?”

He nodded. “That’s what it’s really all about, isn’t it?” He stepped closer to her as he continued, “It doesn’t really matter how powerful you are, only what you’re willing to do to win. Willpower supersedes strength by brute force.”

“How ambitious, spoken like a true Slytherin.” She teased with an eye roll. “Tell me, then, what strong motivations are behind Ominis Gaunt’s willpower?”

His lips curled into something almost predatory, and she had never seen him look the way he did now in the dim light of the secluded hallway. Usually so soft-spoken and unimposing, Ominis looked as if he had just won some grand prize she was unaware of. He crowded her against a woven tapestry adorning the wall and her breath caught in her throat.

A sticky-hot warmth seeped through her as she found herself once again pinned under the compelling presence of the blonde in front of her. Her eyes instinctively flitted to his lips, and for some reason she expected him to kiss her then. 

For some reason she wanted him to. 

Instead, he pulled away, slipping his hand into hers and interlacing their fingers. 

“Come on. I’ll show you.”

She found she could do little more but mindlessly obey at the moment. 

//

Ominis couldn’t wipe the smile from his face as he pulled her along down long corridors, leading her to the secluded stretch of empty classrooms in the northern wing of the castle. 

He had never witnessed the hard-headed little witch so incredibly flustered before. It was a terribly addicting feeling. 

And although he usually prided himself on being so decorous and patient, he couldn’t help but throw all caution to the wind as he strode hastily down the halls in an urgent bid to finally get her alone.

His heart thrummed in his chest at the very thought. 

Clicking open the door to an empty classroom with a wordless alohomora, he dragged her inside and pushed her against the door immediately, body pressed flushed to hers.

He half-expected her to hex his bollocks off at his imprudence, but when she did little more than let out a soft squeak of surprise, he leaned into her even further.

“Where’s your wand?”

His lips were so close, she could barely even think straight.

“In — In my pocket.” 

He smiled in satisfaction at the dazedness in her voice, her breath coming out in short little pants against his lips. He slipped his arm down to feel for her pocket and she gasped when she felt his hand grope at her thigh.

“Good,” He murmured when he felt the familiar wood poking through the pocket of her skirt. “If you’d like me to stop, use it. We both know you have no trouble defending yourself.”

Before she could ask stop what, his lips were capturing hers in a suffocating kiss, her words dying on a gasp. 

Even if she did possess the current mental capacities to slip a hand into her pocket and fling him off her, she had no idea why she would ever want to. He felt heavenly.

He groaned into her mouth when she sank into the kiss, slipping a hand to hold her jaw, pressing himself further against her to keep her pinned and still just where he wanted her.

She had never felt so utterly listless and weak. 

Stripped of all reason, a melting puddle of warm sensations as his tongue met hers and explored her mouth in earnest. Her legs had gone limp the moment he had pressed his lips to hers, and she was more than grateful for the way his hips were currently supporting her against the door.

The kiss was far from anything she would’ve expected from the ever-composed and austere Ominis Gaunt. It was messy and lewd, too starved for any sense of decorum, leaving her spit-sticky and aching until she could barely even recall her own name. 

“Fuck,” He whispered, breathless, as he came up for a brief moment of air. He was seemingly just as wrecked as she was, his voice hoarse. “I’ve wanted to taste this pretty little mouth for so, so—”

The whimper she let out as she instinctively pressed her lips back against his was nothing short of pathetic, but Ominis seemed to have adored it if the twitch she felt against her hips was any indicator.

The way he rutted softly against her as he took her lips in kiss after bruising kiss made her head dizzy. Seemingly brought to his limit, he pulled her away from the door in favor of pinning her against one of the empty desks instead, slotting himself in between her legs. 

She gasped when she felt him then, throbbing and strained against his trousers. 

He huffed an amused breath of a laugh. “Feel that?” He nosed at her jaw, inhaling the intoxicating scent of lavender that made him throb even more in his pants. “That’s what you do to me.” 

Her head fell back when his tongue connected with the soft, sensitive skin of her neck, licking a greedy stripe down her throat as if he wanted to sink his teeth into her. 

He felt like a man starved. He was so tired of being patient, of hopelessly longing for her from a distance.

Actually having her there, in his hands, soft and pliable and mewling his name as he peppered her skin in kisses, licks, and love bites, was enough to almost make him lose all sense of self-restraint.

Hell, it was almost enough to make him finish in his trousers he quickly noticed as he drew his hips back with a hiss. He flipped her onto her stomach on the wooden surface before he got ahead of himself.

She gasped from his assertiveness, at just how out of control he seemed, usually so reserved and cautious. That flicker of desire inside of her roared into tumultuous, consuming flames. 

He slipped a hand into her pocket and grabbed her wand, placing it on the desk right above her head in eyesight. 

“What did I say?”

She panted, thoughts hazy, but tried to construct some semblance of a coherent sentence anyway. “If I — I want you to stop, use it.”

“Mhm,” He hummed in approval before pressing a kiss to her temple. “Good girl.”

She preened at the praise, arching back into him, feeling him pressed stiffly against her arse, thick and so incredibly stiff through the fabric of his trousers.

She wanted to burn all her pride and beg him to fuck her, touch her, anything to satiate the unbearable yearning inside.

“Needy little witch,” He grunted as he felt her rub herself back against him. He brought a hand to her hips to still her. “Be patient, hm? I’ve been patient for you, haven’t I?” 

She nodded, forehead falling to lay against the desk as she let his hands explore her, groping the soft flesh in his strong fingers. He leaned over her, his breath warm against the shell of her ear. 

“So fucking patient.” He murmured as he ran his hands down her sides in admiration. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited? How many times I’ve come into my own hand thinking of you bent over for me just like this?” He nipped at her ear, scraping a biting kiss down her jaw until she whined from the sting. His cock ached in his trousers with every little noise she made. 

Unable to bear it any longer, he fisted her skirt in his hands and tugged the fabric over her hips in a single, succinct motion. Her breath hitched in her throat but she made no move for her wand, sitting idly by where her hand was palm down on the surface of the table.

“Gorgeous,” He breathed against her skin, tugging her blouse down one shoulder so his lips could find contact with the sensitive patch of skin there. “So perfect for me.”

His fingers trailed up her thighs and quickly found their way between her legs, rubbing soft, slow swirls over her knickers. The way he had been talking to her, touching her almost reverently, had already left an embarrassingly sticky mess between her thighs.

Ominis groaned as soon as he felt it seeping through the sheer fabric. “I need to be inside of you.” 

He hooked a finger into the hem of her knickers and tugged it down her legs, helping her step out of it before tucking it into his pocket. He pressed against her again and she squirmed from the feeling of the bulk of him against her bare cunt. 

“Look at you. Making such a mess on my trousers.” He ground his hips into her even more as he felt her wetness sully the fabric.

She keened. “Please, Ominis…”

“Please what?” She heard the metal clink of his belt as he began to divest himself behind her and she clenched around nothing in anticipation. 

She tucked her face into her hands, desire sending blood to her cheeks as she finally reduced herself to begging. “Please, please, please fuck me,”

His forehead fell to her shoulder at the sound of her pleading, his grip turning vice-like on her hip. She felt him then, the blunt tip of his cock pressed right against her entrance. 

“This is what you want?”

She nodded fervently, her head fallen lax against the table. He tangled his fingers into her hair and tugged her up until her back was pressed to his chest not letting her hide from him.

“Say it.” He gritted through clenched teeth. “Tell me this is what you want.”

“Please, please, oh Gods, I— I want this, I want this so—”

Her words died on a strangled gasp as he sheathed himself completely inside of her. Her legs went limp, and she would’ve fallen forward if he didn’t snake a hand around her waist to keep her flush to him, her head falling back against his shoulder.

“Always knew you’d have the tightest little cunt.” He pressed a kiss against her warm cheek, his breathing heavy against her skin as he hummed in approval at the feeling of her squeezing him. “Alright? Hurts?”

She shook her head, grinding her hips back against his in a show of just how good it felt. 

He huffed a laugh at her eagerness before easing his own hips back and bringing them back to meet hers again. This time, he let her fall forward onto the desk, her nails digging into the wood as she moaned from the intrusion. He felt so big inside of her, stretching her out so deliciously until she felt full to the brim. 

Her hip bones bit into the desk as his thrusts slowly became more forceful, jolting her and pressing into that sensitive little spot on her walls that made her toes curl. When her wand clattered to the floor following a particularly hard thrust, her lips parted in awe at the wandless bit of magic he used to bring it to his hand and back into her eyesight.

She had never been more attracted to the wizard currently fucking her senseless.

She couldn’t contain the sounds spilling from her mouth as he fucked into the desk, pathetic and utterly depraved noises that seemed to only spur him on even more. His pace grew punishing, pulling similarly debased noises from the back of his throat as he slid in and out of her. 

“Kiss me. Gods, fucking kiss me.” He groaned, taking her jaw in hand and tilting her chin back so he could capture her lips. She moaned into his mouth and he responded in kind, nipping at her bottom lip until she squeaked. He’d never get enough of these noises.

“Perfect. Fucking. Witch.” He grunted, and his voice was low and rough, a wrecked, gravelly mess as he continued to rut harshly inside of her. “Mine now, aren’t you? All mine. Fuck.”

She nodded fervently, feeling inclined to agree to just about anything coming from his mouth when he was pushing her so close to release, building up that aching knot behind her navel and winding it tighter and tighter.

He could feel her walls fluttering around him, feel just how close to the edge she was. Reaching a hand in front of them to rub tight little circles between her legs, he pressed his lips to her ear. 

“That’s it, you’re so close, aren’t you,? I can feel you tightening around me. Be a good girl and come on my cock.” 

The combined feeling of his hand between her thighs, him thrusting so perfectly inside of her, and the filthy things he was whispering in her ears, was enough to push her over the edge.

She came with a sharp cry, her entire body trembling while he continued to fuck her through her climax, falling over the edge along with her. She felt a warmth coat her insides as he pumped inside of her, his face tucked into her neck while he murmured incoherent praises into her skin.

He kissed all over any exposed patch of skin he could find as he tried to regain some semblance of composure, his chest heaving. He mouthed softly at her jaw as he finally pulled out, and she winced at the slight soreness from the abrasion. His brows knit together. 

“Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head, giggling at his sudden concern. “I’m okay.”

He looked unconvinced as he collected her in his arms. “Do you promise?” 

She smiled and leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips. “I’m fine, I promise. Probably won’t be able to walk properly for a few days, but…”

He chuckled. “Well, that won’t do, I have a date planned for us. Will I have to carry you through the castle in my arms? A bit of a forward way to announce our relationship, but I’ll oblige I suppose…”

He made to wrap her legs around his waist and she bat at his arms. “Awfully presumptuous of you to assume we’re in a relationship already, Ominis.” She raised an eyebrow.

He returned the inquisitive look. “I’ve met your terms, haven’t I?”

She sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck, tucking her head against his chest. She couldn’t help the warm, fuzzy feeling she felt deep in her stomach, possibly a side-effect of all the post-orgasm endorphins making her head buzz. Nonetheless, she felt inclined to peck his cheek and concede with a smile.

“Yes. I suppose you have.” 

[lulu101]

I’ve had multiple JD AUs in mind but the one I’m most fixated on writing rn is:

- “Hook”

Some info in this AU, trolls can reproduce an egg by asexual reproduction or two trolls have strong feelings for each other that it can manifest through an egg

Another thing to add, the trolls had managed to escape from Bergen Town before Brozone split up, and the Family Harmony was meant to be their first concert in the new Troll village as a way to celebrate

What changes is that once their Grandma’s taken by the Chef and Branch turns grey, King Peppy decides they need to relocate once again, which none of the brother were aware of (I’ll get in detail with Viva and Clay’s situation later)

While exploring the Neverglade Forest and having an egg, he also finds baby Rhonda

The egg reminds him of his brothers, especially Bitty B, and wanting his egg to grow up with his family, he decides to head back

Something goes wrong though and while severely injured, stumbles near the Rock Trolls, where King Thrash and toddler Barb were on a stroll of sorts

Despite clearly being a pop troll, King Thrash does wish to see egg orphaned so he does his best to save JD

Unfortunately, his injuries were too severe and the doctors note that him being able to get close to the Rock Volcano from the Neverglades was a miracle

The egg does hatch and JD gets to hold him before his death but isn’t able to slip out the name he wanted for him (Branch actually knows as JD had once told him as a baby what he would name his children if he had any but his memory won’t be jogged until the end of the fic)

Barb is the one who names him, which is Hook

Hook is then raised by the Rock Trolls, who don’t treat him any differently as he was basically one of them

Rhonda is raised by them as well, her being Hook’s and Barb’s “secret” hideout

Hook helps Barb in World Tour and meets Poppy when she’s captured, who is shocked to meet him as he’s nearly identical to JD from Brozone

He briefly explains that he had been raised by the Rock Trolls, he has no loyalty to the Pop Trolls and is doing it because he feels it’s the least he can do for Barb

Branch doesn’t meet him until after the strings are ripped and every genre gets their color back

Think of it like the scene from Secret of the Wings where Tinker Bell meets Periwinkle, with Branch seeing a familiar silhouette and calling out “John Dory?”

King Thrash has a strong reaction to that name (he had forgotten his name, only knowing he was named after a fish), which prompts Barb and Hook to turn around, Branch going through a mix of emotions at seeing someone who looks identical to JD standing right before him

Cue Branch starting to tear up and growling in frustration/hurt when Hook gets defensive over King Thrash while asking who John Dory is

I already have ideas for Band Together but I feel like I should save them until I’m done with this first part first (there’s define a lot of angst)

Part 2

[walli3darl1ng]

Hello can I ask for something? Please… How would Wally and his friends react to the human and albino reader?

(the reader is as white as snow, and he always has to go out with an umbrella so he doesn't get burned/hurt in the sun)

I did some research before writing I wasn’t ignoring you 😭

Also love this! I think it’s good. I didn’t kinda rush it I’m running off like two hours of sleep so🧍🏻also I know you referred to reader as ‘he’ but I wanted it to be gender neutral just so everyone is welcome. But you can change it if you want.

Also I think I’m going to draw this albino reader! I have an image in my head and you look adorable!!

But enjoy I hope it’s your to your expectations!

＼＼\\٩( 'ω' )و //／／

Wally was the first to notice a new house in his neighborhood and he just had to introduce himself, maybe ask you to have a picnic with him and his friends this afternoon.

“Okay, Home! I’m off to meet our new neighbor.” Wally gets creaks and taps are a response from Home as he slips on his cardigan. “That’s nice. What do you think they look like?”

Home opened its door, responding to his questions to go find out for himself and he was off after a short goodbye.

Walking along the colorful and cheerful neighborhood he makes it to the new house. It’s beautiful but—

It’s huge! The doorknob was far from his reach, Wally wasn’t intimidated, he thought this was the coolest house he’s ever seen besides Home.

Knocking on the tall and large door he waits patiently. All of a sudden he started to feel nervous? What if their new neighbor is as tall or more taller than his best friend Barnaby? Maybe Poppy?

The click of the door gained his attention and he looked up to be blinded by breaking heavenly light.

In actuality it was only you in your comfy, flow-y clothes looking confused at the air.

Wally was mesmerized. He didn’t think a human would ever come to this neighborhood let alone someone who wasn’t colored in. You are as pale as snow. Hair pale as well. The only color he could see were your eyes and was a pink-red reflection from the slight sun that was peeking through.

Snapping out of it for a second time he greets you. “Hello, neighbor! Nice to meet you!”

You jump at the voice and look down while holding your hand to your heart in shock. You see a short puppet smiling up at you with sleepy, low lidded eyes. “Oh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you. It’s really nice to meet you..”

“How rude of me! I’m Wally. Wally Darling.” He smiles.

You give a smile back and hold your hand out to shake his, being careful of the light. “It’s nice to meet you, Wally. I’m Y/n.”

What a lovely name. Fits perfectly. He looks at your hand then back at you before looking back at your hand. You had five fingers, not four. How interesting.

“Um…Wally? Is everything okay?” You're getting nervous, was it something you said?

“Oh no, not at all! It’s just that,” he gets a hold of your hand gently and feels it with his other hand, feeling the smoothness and tracing the lines. “I’ve—well not to sound rude but I’ve never seen a human before, let alone one that’s white as snow. Do all of you look like this?”

You shake your head and let out a chuckle. “No. We all come in different shapes and sizes as well as different colors. The world would be boring otherwise, don’t you think?”

Wally nods, still staring at your hand before remembering something. He lets go of your hand and looks up at you. “Oh right! I came here to invite you to a picnic my friends and I are having this afternoon, care to join us?”

You frown and immediately Wally mimics it. He doesn’t like your frown, it doesn’t suit you at all. “Afternoon? While the sun is out?”

“Is that a problem? Do you not like it?”

“It’s not that-“

“Please? Everyone would love to meet you!” He insisted, giving you a pleading face that no one can resist.

And you fall victim to this adorable pleading and sigh. “Oh alright. I’ll go, just don’t look at me like that.”

“Perfect! Meet us at the hill over there, okay? We’ll be waiting for you.”

And just like that gone. Well, might as well get ready.

Back with Wally he runs back to home, calls everyone for a neighborhood meeting at Poppy’s ASAP then runs out to his little electric toy car and races off to Poppy’s.

When he got there everyone was accounted for so he didn't waste time. “Okay I have an idea to make our new neighbor feel welcome!”

“Oh! Is it a party?” A blonde puppet cheers. “Wait! You’ve met them already? No fair!”

“Oh what do they look like?” A star puppet, Sally adds in.

“You’re not gonna believe me but they're white! Like a blank canvas.” Wally reveals his eyes wide in admiration.

“White as in the color? There’s no such thing.” A gray puppet, Frank shakes his head.

Wally tilts his head. “Well, why not? You’re gray, I’m yellow, we’re all different.”

“Yes but white is translucent-“

“Well I think that’s cool!” Sally cuts in with a smile, her rays spinning with excitement.

“Sally’s right. We shouldn’t be judgmental.” The big feathered puppet, Poppy also known as the mother of the neighborhood, scolded. This gets Frank mumbling and apologizing and getting pats on the shoulder from Eddie, the neighborhood’s postman.

“Well what's your idea, Wally?”

“Oh right!”

~~~skip to later that afternoon~~~

After getting ready to put on some sunscreen, you take a hold of your big sun hat. Which is a normal sun hat but it’s just a bit wider in diameter and has a full body length mesh cover. It’s thin enough to be lightweight and wind to pass through but thick enough to block you from the sun. With a condition like yours it can be pretty painful to get sunburn.

As well as your condition, your eyesight is not the greatest but that doesn’t scare you from walking confidently around a new place. It’s more fun that way. However looking at something for too long can cause your eyes to hurt a bit so you keep them busy by looking at literally everything.

On the way to the hill you see an archway and once walking through it you find a basket on the ground. Curious, you pick it up and look around. Unbeknown to you that the group was spying on you behind the bushes.

“Oh what if they don’t like it? It will all be ruined.”

“Relax, Poppy. The cookies were delicious!”

You open the basket to find cookies and a small note. Reading ‘I hope you like the cookies I baked. Welcome to the neighborhood! —Poppy.’ That’s so sweet! But why not send them to your home? Ignoring it, you keep it and continue forward.

“They look so cool!”

“I know right and look at their hat! They look like flow-y jellyfish.”

You pass another archway and see a bag of fruits, in it, another note. ‘Welcome to the neighborhood! Let’s be friends— Howdy.’

“Should I’ve gone with snacks?”

“No, it's perfect.”

“And healthy. Ha. Ha.”

You giggle at the note, now seeing a pattern and take the bag of fruits and on the bag was a logo called ‘howdy’s place.’ You place the bag inside the basket being careful with the cookies.

Next was a headband with horns, a drawing and a sheet of colorful stickers. Another note, this one was filled with stickers. ‘Welcome to your new home! Let’s have a sleepover okay?—Julie’

“The horns are a cute touch. You guys will be matching!”

“Awe thank you Sally! Do you want one too?”

“Yes!”

“Can I have one?”

“Sure, Wally!”

Moving on after securing the crafts inside the basket you find a letter this time, with some cute mail stamps and colorful envelopes. ‘Welcome home! Hope you feel welcomed— Eddie.’

“You have more of the envelopes?”

“Sure! I’ll send some over.”

Next, there was a small whale plush, really soft! ‘Whale-come home!—Barnaby.’ You laugh at the pun and give the plushie a squeeze, now holding it in your arms.

“Nailed it!”

“Good one, bud.”

“Thank you!”

You were almost to the hill. How many more gifts are there? You don’t think you can carry all this.

As you walk the rest follow, quietly of course. Other than Wally none of them have fully seen you and your jay covering you head to toe is making them curious by the second. You then find a small box with stars all over it, opening it you find a beaded bracelet and a note. ‘Hope you like it! Welcome to the neighborhood!!—Sally.’

You’re starting to get emotional, no one has ever done this for you. With your condition, your genetics, other people didn’t like it. For whatever reason you got teased about it, you never really know why.

Wally and the gang make it to the hill before you since you crouch down to re-arrange the item to fit in the basket as well as put on the bracelet Sally gifted you. The last two surprises they needed to be at the hill.

Frank leans down to Wally and whispers his concern. “Are you sure this will work?”

Wally hums and looks up at him before looking forward, waiting on you. “I’m sure of it.”

“Hey Barnaby! Help me with the sign?” Julie asks, her and Sally holding up the welcome home sign that Wally painted as well as all their small notes and signatures. It’s a gift for you, so you could hang it and remember this moment.

Back to you, you walk up the slope as a butterfly flaps around you. Timidly, you hold your hand out and the butterfly lands on your hand. Your hat becomes visible and that was Frank's cue to send the swarm of butterflies. He’s not a butterfly whisperer but he does know a lot about them.

In awe of the thousands of butterflies a cheerful bunch of voices ring in your ears. “Welcome home!!”

Once the butterflies flap away you get a clear view of the sign and everyone under it. To say the least you were speechless, they all did this for you?

“Is this all for me? Gee, I don’t know what to say, thank you!”

“Y/n, come join us. Don’t be shy.” Wally gestures you over and into the shade. “Why are you wearing that? We can’t see you.”

“Oh, sorry! I wear this to protect myself.” You explain, walking over and sitting down next to Wally all the rest are now fully interested in you.

“Protect yourself? From what exactly?” Eddie asks.

You are worried they will tease you like the rest and after a short silence, Wally reassures you that it’s okay. Believing him you took a deep breath and took your hat off.

Wally was right. You’re white as snow. Sally and Julie thought you were ice royalty with the flow-y clothes and hat acting as your crown. Or like a jar of white glitter shaking in the sunlight.

Barnaby thinks you’re cool! Really unique and one of a kind. He wants to try on your hat so bad. Eddie, Frank and Howdy think this as well, they see you as one of a kind and they may or may not want to try out your hat as well. What? They say it’s cool looking and they can only imagine what it looks like from the inside. Can you see? Does the wind feel nice? They wanna know.

Poppy was a little more nervous. She thought you were more fragile than you actually are. You looked like a porcelain doll to her and she’s afraid she’ll break you.

What caught their eye was that you are human! They’ve never seen one up close before. Were all like this? Maybe it’s a human thing? Do all five have fingers? You don’t have a tail or floppy ears, no feathers nor horns.

“Questions.”

“Hm?”

“The hat is supposed to protect you, is it to prevent you from breaking?”

You smile at Sally’s question and hand over your hat to Barnaby since the big beagle was making grabby hands at it. “It protects me from the sun, otherwise the sun can hurt me.”

“How? The sun is warm.”

“Well as you can tell I’m really pale,” you show your arm for them to see and you almost lose it when they lean forward to get a better look. “I was born with little to no melanin, which is a pigment the body makes to give the human color, like skin, eye and hair color.”

“So you were born without it, how sad!” Poppy frown.

“The sun is just too hard on my skin and will give me painful sunburns if I’m exposed to it.” You give her a reassuring smile, touched that they care so much.

“Wouldn’t you get hurt if you’re out here?” Howdy questions, taking the hat back from Barnaby and setting it on your head. You move the long mesh back to keep your face exposed and you shake your head, gesturing to the tree you were currently sitting under.

“The tree has enough shade to cover me, although still being out here for too long can still hurt me. This hat helps a lot.”

“That’s cool you can live with us. I don’t think I can, I love the sun.” Barnaby pats your head and plays with Julie and sally. Enjoying the sun. There were enough questions for today and now they were just relaxing under the sunlight.

Wally stays with you, holding an apple with care. “Did you like your welcome gifts?”

You turn to him and hum, nodding and smiling. “I loved them. Thank you.”

[whats-she-gonna-post-next]

If you’re still accepting proof of voting I just want some Snowbugs content man I am unwell

I had far too much fun with this one. I really hope you enjoy your 465 snowbugs words, because I was giggling the whole time I wrote it. Shout out to the random prompt generator I found on Google for giving me this idea

-

“Scott, please, I love you,” Tango pleaded, his poppy red eyes wide and suspiciously wet as fear drips from his words.

Scott responds with an amused chuckle. “You love me? Really?” He questions, his tone dark, a smirk twisted darkly on his lips as he leaned forward, “Pathetic. You’ll have to do better than that.”

“What do you need me to do,” desperation coats his voice, he leans forward across the table that separates them, “Please, I’ll do anything, baby, anything at all.”

The cold edge of Scott’s smirk turns downright menacing, dark amusement sparking in his cerulean blue eyes. He leans forward, head tilted every so slightly as he tongue darts out to wet his lip.

“Anything?” Tango nods and Scott leans closer, close enough that his warm breath fans across his face, close enough that Tango’s eyes flutter closed on instinct, close enough that he can almost feel the far too amused laughter that drips through Scott’s lip as he utters exactly two words; “Then beg.”

Tango’s eyes open, lips parting in shock, watching as Scott leans back languidly in his chair looking every bit the cat that got the cream. He felt his cheeks heat at the unabashed way Scott was staring.

“Go on. You can do it.”

Tango sputters, no single coherent word makes its way past his lips as he tries to get his thoughts in order. Scott’s amusement grows with every moment.

"Would you stop toying with your boyfriend and continue the game already?” Tango flinches at the sudden reminder that they aren’t alone, the stammering worsens with the darkening of his cheeks.

“Oh come on Grian,” Scott replies, cutting an amused glare towards where the man sits, “What’s the fun in that?”

“The fun is getting to play a few more rounds before the rest of us need to leave for the night.” Scar cuts in, and Scott seems to contemplate the words, “ Besides, you can play with him later.”

Tango’s certain his face is going to be perminatly dyed red after this.

“I suppose,” Scott’s smile is apologetic as it turns to Tango, “Sorry about this, Sparks. Uno.”

He places down the green +4 card Tango had known he’d had.

“Nooooooooo!” Tango cried, picking up 4 card to add to his already ridiculously large hand, looking over the 13 cards he had, “How do I still have nothing to play!”

Laughter circles the table, and Tango finds he can’t actually be upset at the outcome.

“Maybe next time, baby,” Scott leans over the table and drops a kiss on his cheek, “I mean, surely the 6th time will be different.”

Tango smiled at him for a moment before the words registered and he is filled with incugelity.

“Hey,” he cries, setting off another round of laughter.

[dreamquest]

DREAMQUEST EPISODE TWO! “Hello, and welcome back to dreamquest! I am your host Jennie and I’ll continue to be here this whole time.” She laughs and continues to talk, “So if you haven’t saw already, a few days ago dreamquest’s social media manager posted a notice on weverse saying that trainees Lola and Mimi will no longer be joining us this point forward.” “I hope that they are doing well and taking care of themselves.”

“Since two trainees have dropped out and only one trainee was supposed to be eliminated, there will be no eliminations in this episode, instead that will be after episode three, so stay tuned.” Jennie explains as she clears her throat to continue. “Now, let’s hear from our judges and trainers, they will be critiquing the performances of each group. So let’s get started!”

Jennie walks over to the judges panel, and begins talking, “First, let’s hear from the spectacular Judy! Good afternoon, Judy, what did you think of the teams?” She smiles and waits for Judy to pick up the mic.

Team Fancy disappointed Judy somewhat, “They performed beautifully but,” she paused pressing her lips together, “I kind of expected more. However, Zarha and Dulcie really shined, their voices took me off guard.” she said, “I wish I saw more of Miyu, though.” she added before sighing. About Midas Touch, “I was blown away,” she began, “They danced well but their voices were amazing. Yurina and Lo were phenomenal.” she explained, “I would've loved to see more of Rin, if she had more lines I do think she'd've s made a bigger impact on me.”

Similar to Fancy, Pink Venmon didn’t blow her away, “In short, I enjoyed it, they performed confidently and I loved that .” she said, “The line distribution shocked me a little, it made it feel more like a song by Sasha and Yurim featuring Yoon and Mimi instead of a group performance.” she admitted, “Regardless, Sasha caught my eye immediately. She was extremely confident, basically oozing it. Hopefully, we can see more of Yoon next time.” Judy couldn’t help but smile when thinking about Illusion, “By far my favorite performance. The choreography for Illusion is difficult and I think they did extremely well.” she answered, “It was captivating; the choreo, the singing and the dancing. I enjoyed how well their voices melded together, I think it added to an already addictive song.” When asked which team she believed had the best performance, Judy voted for Team Illusion!

“Thank you for your input, Judy!” She smiles and moves to the judge next to Judy, Poppy. “Poppy, my love! Please tell us what you thought of each performance” Poppy clears her throat and begins to talk, “For this being the trainees’ first performances in dreamquest,” Poppy nods slowly, the corners of her lips raising into a genuine smile, “everyone did quite well. I am impressed. It makes looking forward to your future performances even more exciting.”

“But of course, I have something to say.” she says, raising a dainty hand to adjust her glasses. “I understand that this is a survival show, and what matters here is proving yourself worthy of debuting alongside other talented individuals. However, I feel most of you are struggling to find,” she pauses, searching for the right word, “…harmonization within your teams. Remember, you are not debuting solo; you will be debuting in a group. I am not suggesting that you need to be best friends or hold back from showcasing your talents. But if you want your team or yourself to get closer to the final line-up, seek some form of harmonization. Work towards agreement and acquaintanceship to perform at your best together.”

“Of course, it’s up to you whether you maintain this… ‘companionship’ after a performance,” she shrugs. Poppy was once a trainee, after all. She is pretty much aware that it isn’t ideal to wear rose-colored glasses in a survival show. “But if you want your team and yourself to win, act as one. At least during the actual performance.” With perfect posture, Poppy sets her hands on her lap and lets her eyes trail over the trainees. when she finds the ones she is looking for, she smiles, “I have my eye on some of you, not going to lie. Can’t wait to see more of you.” she says, her gaze lingering a little longer on Liz, Sasha, Lo, and Yoon. “Keep working hard.” She gives everyone a little bow of respect. “Good luck to everyone with the voting and your future performances. When asked which group had the best performance, she chose Team Pink Vemon!

“Thank you for that, Poppy! And i totally agree with you, you all are not here to debut as soloists so it’s very important that you and your fellow trainees look cohesive and as a team, otherwise in the future if you do end up debuting it’s not going to look natural.” She quickly explains and moves on to the last judge of the bunch, successful soloist, Vernoika!

Veronika looked at the tablet before her, showing Team Fancy’s performance first. Her eyes sharpened as she looked at the trainees dancing, jumping from left to right like she was trying to find a mistake. The camera would occasionally catch her grimacing at the poorly done note, and as soon as one trainee stepped wrong, her gaze would be stuck on the specific girl. Once in a while, Veronika would write something down in her notebook, all while still keeping her eyes on the tablet.

She patiently waited until the performance ended before taking her earphones out. “Okay,” she trailed the last part, and one staff member behind the camera sighed as if they knew what would happen. “Well… I liked the line distribution!” she says enthusiastically. “But if they had focused on the timing of the dance routine and projected their voices more confidently, this performance would’ve been magnificent! Something is missing here, but overall, it was a nice start for all five trainees.”

Veronika’s quick-to-play the other performance from Team Midas Touch. This time, however, she was watching the routine with more contentment. Once again, she’d randomly write something in her book while the dance went on. Her eyes sparkled once Yurina sang the high note effortlessly, and the trainees did the song's last chorus. Veronika took off the earphones the moment they posed, clapping despite only her and the other staff members being in the room. “Oh, now I can definitely see this team as Kiss Of Life’s younger sisters!” She praised. “This trainee did well; all four of them did. I’m glad. I just wish some of them didn’t look nervous; it was visible in their eyes. Other than that, amazing performance. I’ll keep an eye on you, Team Midas Touch!” She playfully glared at the camera before laughing it off.

While watching Team Pink Venom’s performance, Veronika looked divided between pausing mid-through the video or letting it play. However, she decided to be patient and let the girls show what they’ve got. “Well,” she hesitates after the performance, “the line distribution is… yeah,” Veronika decides on that as her answer. “No, I mean, we all know that this line distribution is generally weird, even when Blackpink originally recorded it. But don’t be discouraged; even with fewer lines, you guys still shined! The rapping was good, despite the trainees looking worried. There's a lot of potential here, and I'm excited to see how you'll grow.”

And lastly, Veronika played Team Illusion’s performance. Right from the get-go, the girl couldn’t help but mouth the intro while dancing haphazardly. She watched every girl individually, trying to see if there were any mistakes. So far, she couldn’t find much. As the girls performing struck a pose at the end, Veronika clapped for them, “Wah~ This was refreshing! I think I enjoyed it almost the same as Team Midas Touch’s performance, which says a lot!” She looked down at her notes, going through them to see what she hadn’t mentioned yet. “Oh! I really liked the girls' vocals, and you know what they say; the show saved the best for last!” Veronika winked, laughing once her staff member playfully cringed, “I think these girls have a lot of potential, and hopefully, they stay in the competition to show what else they can do!” When Veronika was asked which team she believed had the best performance, she chose Team Midas Touch!

“Thank you Veronika, and thank you again, judges! I hope the trainees really take into account and listen to what they were told, after all if you don’t listen to criticism, how will you ever improve? Right?” She laughs and walks off the stage, the episode is transitioned into a room, the confessional and we see the one and only Jangmi, who was under a little bit of fire after a recording of her venting her frustrations with her cousin’s, Rin’s lack of line’s in the trainees first ever performance, Genie.”

“Welcome to the dungeon, Jangmi.” A female voice laughs and then speaks again “No, I’m just kidding, I know you were mad at my bosses for the line distribution, but, hey! It got better, did it not?” Jangmi side eyes her and sits down, “Anyways, you’re here because we want to hear what you thought of the performances essentially.” Jangmi nods and begins to talk, "In all honesty, the girls' vocals as a whole were alright for the most part. A few of them stood out more from the others, such as Yurina, but some of them need to work on their live singing skills some more. They really need to project more and use their diaphragms. I could barely hear them while they were performing sometimes, and that was especially the case for Team Fancy. A lot of the girls on that team are great dancers, but their vocals are lacking and some of them barely have the stage presence to actually catch someone's eye. Only a select few on that team actually impressed me, unfortunately. But in my opinion, Team Midas Touch was incredible. Hana and Yurina are very captivating, while Rin is such a great dancer. She moves like water almost, and she's so expressive. And no, I'm not saying that because she's my cousin, so don't jump to conclusions." The unknown female nods and laughs, agreeing with her. When Jangmi was asked which team she thought had the best performance, she chose Team Midas Touch, too!

The episode does another transition, this time showing Jennie sitting down, drinking some juice while she sits down on the makeup and hair chair. “I know ya’ll are sick of seeing me,” she laughs and sips some of her juice, “but! I just got informed that the team who majority voted for is Team Midas Touch! What this means is that along with the judges and the trainers, the trainees who were apart of that group’s performance are allowed to participate in voting for the next song that they would like to do for the next performance! Isn’t that fun? That also means that Rin, Yurina, Hana, and Lo are safe for the time being!”

“Right now I have to go get Yurim and Yedam because after you guys voted for duo’s you’d like to see and what activities you want tnem to do, they were the ones chosen!” Jennie gets up from the chair and shows off her outfit and begins to walk outsides towards the dorm units, that is where the trainees live! She first heads to dorm two, that’s where Yedam, Jisu, and Hana roommate together, she knocks on the door softly three times and comes face to face with Jisu, who almost fainted after seeing her. “Jisu?!” Yedam yells as she walks over to see what had Jisu so startled and she gasps once she see’s Jennie, “oh my god, come in!” She awkwardly smiles as she lets Jennie into their dorm, Jennie makes little chit chat and tells Yedam to come with her to walk to dorm four. She collects Yurim, who in room four, rooms with Sasha and Rin.

“I know ya’ll are a little confused as to why I’ve just got you from your dorms, but it was decided from votes that you two be the first duo to partake in activities! And since there was no elimination today, you can just relax,” she smiles and continues telling them that they will be going to an arcade and then to a cat cafe, she also tells them they will be filmed.

DREAMQUEST EPISODE CONTINUED Once situated in the car, Yurim and Yedam sit in the back of the car, they talk about each other’s performances and play Dress to Impress while waiting to make it to the arcade. Once making it to the arcade they got their wristband on, showing they had unlimited tickets to play any game that they’d like to play.

Dreamquest’s producers rented out the arcade so that it could only be Yurim and Yedam there. After playing many games they finally stopped at the claw machine. “It’s probably going to be a scam, Yurim” Yedam says as she tucks her hair behind her ear. “I know but pleaseeee, for me?” Yurim gives her the biggest puppy dog eyes as long as possible and Yedam finally cracks after three minutes. “Fine, this better be worth it.” She sighs, “It will! I promise! I’ll put it on my bed and sleep with it, annd you can get the other one so we can match!” She laughs and watches as Yedam puts her wristband by the side of the machine so they can detect that she’s going to play it. What she’s talking about are two sanrio plushies, one being cinnamoroll and the other being hello kitty! Yurim wanted them so that they could have something to remind them of their fun day, the cinnamoroll plushie would be her’s, while the hello kitty plushie would be Yedam’s.

Once she won the plushie’s after many many tries Yurim immediately hugged Yedam, thanking her so much time which caused the editors to add that “Listener Yedam + Yapper Yurim ㅋㅋㅋ” subtitle. It has now been two hours since they’ve been ag the arcade and their staff member whose supposed to be their “chaperone” tells them that they will now be going to a cat cafe so that they can get something to eat, instead of just snacks.

The scene then cuts to them in the car and in traffic, Yurim and Yedam watching Netflix on Yedam’s phone, currently catching up on “My Demon” when Yurim realizes the camera is on again and says “I’m Hong Yurim,” Yedam looks up, smiling and seeing what she’s doing, she decides to join in, “and I’m Do Yedam, and you’re watching Disney Channel” both of them laugh after saying that, causing both their staff member and the driver to laugh too.

Once making it to the cat cafe, Yurim grabbed Yedam’s hand, rushing both of them in there and then you hear gasping “KITYYYY!” I don’t think the viewers ever seen Yedam this happy! Yurim laughs a little at her reaction and walks up to the cashier, she orders for both of them because Yedam was occupied playing with the cats. She ended up ordering a small pizza, two frozen-yogurt and two iced-teas. With the help of the staff she carried it to where Yedam was with the cats.

They talked and ate for a bit, taking pictures of the cats and their meal, once they felt like they were there for a good amount of time, with it already turning dark outside, they walked to the car and was driven back to the dorms. Both satisfied with their day out. For it to be the first duo outing, they really set the standard high! If you want to see your duo as the next ones to go out and do activities vote right after the next episode!

⠀⠀ׂ ⠀ ੯ ◟ 𐙚 υ ⠀ ִ aries notes

it’s a long one ya’ll I’m SORRY 😭

puppiez are so cute 😭 i loved writing them!

idk what else to say except episode three will either be out this week or next week! also my mooties suggested that there should only be eight episodes so that’s what we might do 😁 ALSO we might have to do double eliminations or go rupaul’s drag race style and do a “sing for your life” type thing idk 😭

[wonderingpanda]

Hey You - Pt.2

Clay x Fem!Reader

Part 1

So remember how I said part 2 was coming soon? Well it’s been 3 months I’m so sorry. But I finally found the motivation to write more and thus I’ve completed the second half of this story. I’ve had actually had most of this written for a while now it was just getting through the more boring parts that extended the wait which is why I may have just left out one of the scenes. Fear not, it’s important to the movie but not to this story so really I’m just saving you time by skipping to the good parts. Also the ending may be slightly suggestive, I’m sorry it’s probably the furthest I’ll ever take anything in my writing. Anyway enough of that here is part 2 of Hey You.

“Great, but we need to leave for Mount Rageous like now.”

“You can’t leave now, you just got here!” Viva insisted. “Come on let me show you around.” She smiled, pulling Poppy by the hand.

The two had barely made it a couple meters before Poppy’s hug time bracelet lit up and released a small dinging noise.

“Hug time!” Viva cheered as she pulled Poppy into a hug.

“Eh hehe.” John Dory opened his arms for a hug but was quickly denied by his brothers and Y/n.

“Uhh.” Bruce shook his head.

Branch looked at JD in astonishment at his audacity while Y/n hugged her arm and averted her eyes.

“Yeah no.” Clay spoke for everyone as he crossed his arms to face the energetic, pink duo again.

“Aww so cute. Where’d you get that hug time bracelet?” Viva inspected Poppy’s hug time bracelet while holding her hand.

“My dad gave it to me.” Poppy replied. Her eyes shifted to her bracelet before meeting Viva’s again.

“Ok this is so totally random but I used to have one just like it. Can I see that?” She asked, allowing Poppy to slip the bracelet onto her wrist.

“Wow it fits you perfectly.” Poppy commented.

“Yeah.” Viva stared at the bracelet in thought. She moved her free hand towards the pink flower, brushing her finger across it which, as a result, caused it to sparkle and shine both visually and audibly.

“Woah.” Poppy looked up from the bracelet to Viva.

“I’m sorry, what did you say your name was again?” Viva asked.

“I’m Poppy.” The pink queen stretched out her hand to shake.

“Poppy?” Viva ignored the gesture and instead moved forward, inspecting her face. Poppy moved backwards as Viva in turn followed her till they both came to a stop. Viva used her right hand to brush Poppy’s bangs to the side to get a better look of her face. Bruce looked behind him, Branch and John Dory gave each other a look and Clay and Y/n both glanced at each other before quickly looking away.

“Ok, um another totally random weird question but is your dad King Peppy?” Viva inquired, her carefree demeanour now fully replaced by a serious undertone.

“Uh yeah, heh.” Poppy replied, unsure of how any of this was relevant to their current situation.

“You’re… you’re alive!” Viva cheered, scooping Poppy into a large hug and spinning her around.

“I’m alive!” Poppy repeated still very confused.

“Unbelievable! I never thought I’d see you again!” She finally let Poppy stand properly.

“Again?” Poppy questioned.

“Poppy it’s me Viva.” Viva tried to rejig her memory. After seeing how Poppy was still visibly confused she decided to give an explanation. “I’m your sister!”

“My, my what!?” Poppy almost fell into a daze as she tried to process the new information.

“You’re sister, you’re hermana!” Viva smiled.

“Woah.” Branch let out before turning to John Dory who was giving him an equally shocked expression.

“Hey man, am I the only one without a long lost sibling?” Tiny questioned.

“What do you mean we’re sisters?” Poppy grabbed Viva’s cheeks, yanking her head forward. “How could I have not know about you? I can’t believe dad didn’t tell me I have a sister!”

“That is so dad.” The two spoke in sync, laughing together.

“Uh, I can’t- I can’t believe this! I’ve always dreamt of having a sister. I was just saying this, wasn’t I just saying this!?” Poppy yelled turning towards the brothers, Tiny and Y/n. They all looked completely lost as Poppy quickly went back to Viva.

“This means we can plan each others birthday parties.” Poppy giddily exclaimed.

“Yeah yeah yeah and weddings.” Viva pitched in.

“Yes!” Poppy jumped for joy. “My best friend Bridget just had her wedding and it went off without a hitch cause I was like the best maid of honour.”

“You’d be the best maid of honour!” Viva agreed.

Poppy let out a loud gasp. “You and Bridget are gonna love each other!”

“Oh my gosh, I’m gonna love her I love what you love!”

“YES!”

“Yeah!”

“Wooo!” Poppy screamed as she had Viva held hands, flying up into the air.

VIVA: ♪ Kaleidoscopic ♪

Viva jumped upside down onto the bottom of a statue’s tail.

VIVA: ♪ I’m seeing different when I look at you ♪

POPPY AND VIVA: ♪ Everything’s looking bright. ♪

Poppy happily skipped and got yanked up onto the tail by Viva.

VIVA: ♪ No one can stop it now ♪

♪ I’m getting swept up in a feel good mood ♪

The sisters began dancing together happily.

POPPY AND VIVA: ♪ Feeling I can’t deny ♪

POPPY: ♪ Now that you’re with me I can finally see ♪

♪ Colours that were up in my mind, didn’t know I was blind ♪

The duo continued to jump around the putt-putt course, climbing up a statue of an octopus and jumping onto a green light.

VIVA: ♪ Now that I’m with you sparks are flying loose ♪

♪ Fireworks go off in my brain ♪

They bumped their butts together and kept on dancing, eventually jumping off the light and heading down one of the course’s holes before emerging at the top with fireworks exploding around them.

POPPY AND VIVA: ♪ And I’ll never be the same ♪

♪ I didn’t know until I found you ♪

♪ Having the time of our lives it takes two ♪

They sung and danced together after looking at Poppy’s scrap book. The two then headed down the slide in Viva’s home.

POPPY AND VIVA: ♪ When I look up the stars are brighter ♪

Poppy and Viva then danced around together on the pavement, spinning and ending with their hands clasped together.

POPPY AND VIVA: ♪ Now I know everything’s better with you ooh ooh ooh ♪

Clay and John Dory fist bumped transitioning to where the four BroZone brothers were with Y/n.

JD, BRANCH, BRUCE, CLAY AND Y/N: ♪ Now! Now that, now that we got it all together ♪

Y/n smiled subtly while watching Clay goof off the way he used to, god did she miss those times. Her joy was short lived though as JD pulled Clay into a hug with Bruce joining by pulling Branch in and subsequently pushing Y/n forward into Clay, forcing them into a group hug. She and Clay exchanged nervously glances before they all transitioned to some coins and cups. Bruce sitting on one, Clay leaning against it with Branch and John Dory dancing while Y/n sat in the middle,

JD, BRANCH, BRUCE, CLAY AND Y/N: ♪ Now we’re together we got it on ♪

The group of five then moved on to a small table with Branch using a card to mimic coming up with a plan. Clay, Bruce and Y/n were seemingly on board but John Dory quickly tried to take over causing Clay to pull him away.

JD, BRANCH, BRUCE, CLAY, POPPY, VIVA AND Y/N: ♪ Now! Now that, now that we got it all together ♪

The five then danced together, Clay gave JD a high five, Bruce and Branch pointed at each other and Y/n spun in the middle before posing with the rest of them.

BROZONE, POPPY, VIVA AND Y/N: ♪ Now we’re together we got it on ♪

Poppy and Viva returned to the scene and continued their duet dancing with Y/n and the current BroZone members dancing in the background.

POPPY AND VIVA: ♪ Got me feeling right, feeling right, feeling like ♪

♪ Good vibes are at my door ♪

♪ Everyday, everyday ooh ooh ♪

VIVA: ♪ It takes two ♪

Viva then held Poppy’s hand and the two flew up to the top of another statue where they continued reading through Poppy’s scrapbook.

POPPY AND VIVA: ♪ I didn’t know until I found you ♪

They once again held hands and landed on another part of the putt-putt course, this time taking different selfies together.

POPPY AND VIVA: ♪ Having the time of our lives it takes two ♪

For the final time; the sisters changed locations once more, this time staring the the night sky while cuddling together.

POPPY AND VIVA: ♪ It takes me and you ♪

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After escaping the putt-putt village and leaving Viva, the troll gang came to the realisation that perhaps they needed some food and sleep. After all they had only managed to sneak in a few fries and such before fleeing and they didn’t exactly get the chance to rest so they stopped Rhonda after a while and set up a camp fire to sit around.

Everyone was laughing together. Poppy sat next to Branch with John Dory on his left, then Bruce with Tiny, Clay and finally Y/n on Poppy’s right. Y/n and Clay had seemingly gotten closer, leaning on each other and on the verge of holding hands.

“Haha oh, and then he’s like, ‘if I’m willing to store and drink my own sweat, which I am!’” Poppy burst out laughing with everyone else, recalling the early memories of when she first spoke to Branch.

“If you think that was bad you should’ve seen us as rock trolls.” Branch pitched in.

“Oh that was bad.” Poppy dragged a hand down her face in embarrassment. “That was so bad, ha.” The couple kept laughing together.

“That reminds me of the time that rival boy band showed. They were all like pop rock with this whole bad-boy branding.” JD spoke up.

“Oh yeah I remember those guys and how jealous Clay was.” Bruce mentioned, turning to give Clay the smuggest smile of his life.

“Oh my gosh, you still won’t let that go?”

“Nope.” JD smiled.

“Never.” Branch shook his head.

“It’s been 20 years!” Clay jokingly pointed out.

“Clay I’m sorry to break it to you but we’ll never let it go.” Y/n smiled and leaned further into him. He rolled his eyes smiling and wrapped and arm around her.

“Like you were any better.”

“Oooh!” The group perked up at Clay’s throw-away comment.

“Oh no he didn’t!” Tiny waved his finger sassily.

“We swore to never speak of that.” Y/n whispered.

“Mhm, you know what, you’re right. I’d absolutely hate to tell everyone of the time that you purposefully redirected a fan to the wrong concert!” Clay raised his voice at the end for everyone to hear.

“You what!?” Poppy exclaimed.

“She was insane, she was genuinely going to go onstage and propose I was just doing my job as manager. If anything you should be grateful I did that so you didn’t have to deal with another loopy fan!” Y/n crossed her arms and turned away from Clay in petty defence.

“Ok ok, I’m sure that was your only motive.” Clay nodded his head.

Y/n turned back round and slapped his arm in response.

“Hey!” Clay yelled. The two then burst into laughter and once again fell into each others embrace.

Everyone else quickly collapsed into laughter. As the noise began to die down Y/n sighed and lazily stated.

“I love you.”

The atmosphere fell dead silent and it didn’t take long for Y/n to realise what she said. She sat up stiffly and plastered on a nervous smile.

“In a totally platonic, non-romantic way!” Still, all eyes remained on her as she stood up straight. “I got to go!” Y/n then booked it, running off to who knows where.

The gazes of everyone quickly turned to Clay.

“I should go.”

A chorus of agreement came from around the circle and he quickly headed off in Y/n’s direction.

Meanwhile, in a small clearing, Y/n was beating herself up.

“Ugh come on Y/n, pull yourself together! It’s fine, it was a small comment, it meant nothing. Now I just need to tell them that.” She took a step forward but quickly turned around and went back to pacing. “But what if everyone’s awkward about it, what if I have to sit next to him again. Oh please no! Ok. It’s fine. Just take a deep breath and- oh my gosh!”

She quickly stumbled backwards from Clay appearing behind her after she turned around.

“Y/n, I’m so sorry!” He tried grabbing her hand but she rejected it and composed herself quickly.

“No I’m sorry Clay, that was completely unintentional. I- I swear it meant nothing it just slipped out in the moment you know?” Y/n smiled and tried playing it off as a joke but the awkwardness of the situation remained.

“Do you think maybe we should um talk about it?” Clay suggested.

“There isn’t much to talk about. We were together now we’re not, end of story.”

“No not end of story.” Clay reached forward and grabbed Y/n’s hand. “Y/n I didn’t want to break up with you. I was stressed, my brothers were leaving and I felt like I had to leave too. It wasn’t about trying to seperate from you I wanted to separate myself from the band and I guess you, me, us.” Y/n looked up to meet Clay’s eyes at the mention of ‘them’. “It felt like that wasn’t gonna be possible.”

“That doesn't change the fact that we broke up and it’s been 20 years. You can’t just magic up 20 years of a relationship like that Clay.”

“And I’m not saying I want to.” He quickly kept a grip on Y/n’s hand as she tried to pull it away. “But if you’re feeling what I’m feeling.” He placed his other hand on top of hers. “Then maybe we should at least try to get it back.”

Y/n retracted her hand and took a step back, turning around to maintain the water in her eyes. “Look Clay.” She took a deep breath as she turned back to face him.

Y/N: ♪ Here’s the thing, we started out friends ♪

♪ It was cool, but it was all pretend ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, since you been gone ♪

“Y/n I’m so sorry.” Clay took a step forward which resulted in Y/n stepping away from him.

Y/N: ♪ You dedicated, you took the time ♪

♪ Wasn’t long till I called you mine ♪

Y/n began to smile, reminiscing of when they first got together but slowly started frowning again as her mind went back to the break-up.

Y/N: ♪ Yeah, yeah, since you been gone ♪

She then turned back to give Clay a side glance.

Y/N: ♪ And all you’d ever hear me say ♪

♪ Is how I pictured me with you ♪

She began walking away from him, further to the centre of the clearing.

Y/N: ♪ That’s all you’d ever hear me say ♪

♪ But since you been gone ♪

The lighting in the forest quickly changed as Y/n started broke into dance.

Y/N: ♪ I can breath for the first time ♪

♪ I’m so moving on, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Thanks to you ♪

She pointed at Clay who looked down at himself in confusion.

Y/N: ♪ Now I get ♪

He looked towards her as she held her hands over her chest.

Y/N: ♪ What I want ♪

♪ Since you been gone ♪

Clay took a breath, risking it by taking another step forward.

“Y/n I know what I did was wrong and I should of explained things better but I’m trying to tell you I’m sorry.”

Y/n averted her gaze.

CLAY: ♪ I don’t know why I did the things I did ♪

♪ I don’t know why I said the things I said ♪

♪ Pride’s like a knife it can cut deep inside ♪

Y/n tried walking away again but Clay grabbed her hand, forcing her to turn to him.

CLAY: ♪ Words are like weapons, they wound sometimes ♪

He then pulled her into a few dance moves.

CLAY: ♪ I didn’t really mean to hurt you ♪

♪ I didn’t wanna see you go ♪

Clay finally let go of Y/n on his own accord and stepped back a bit.

CLAY: ♪ I know I made you cry, but baby ♪

The lighting changed again as it did for Y/n as Clay began his own dance routine.

CLAY: ♪ If I could turn back time ♪

♪ If I could find a way ♪

♪ I’d take back those words that’ve hurt you ♪

♪ And you’d stay ♪

♪ If I could reach the stars ♪

Clay pointed to the sky where a shooting star passed by.

CLAY: ♪ I'd give 'em all to you ♪

He gestured to Y/n before going back to his dance.

CLAY: ♪ Then you’d love me, love me ♪

♪ Like you used to do ♪

The atmosphere fell calm and Clay and Y/n got closer to each other. So close into each others embrace their noses were almost touching. It was only when Clay sang out.

CLAY: ♪ If I could turn back time ♪

Y/n found herself caught in contemplation before closing her eyes and pushing Clay away.

Y/N: ♪ You had your chance, you blew it ♪

♪ Out of sight, out of mind ♪

“Y/n.” Clay tried to reason but she stopped him as she walked by.

Y/N: ♪ Shut your mouth, I just can’t take it ♪

♪ Again and again and again and again ♪

“Y/n please. I’m not saying we should just act like nothing happened and pretend we’re 15 again. But back there, for a minute, it felt like things weren’t weird. Can we just be like that, can we at least try?”

“I don’t know Clay. What happens when this is over, what happens when we have to go our seperate ways again?”

“Then we’ll work it out.”

The two faced each other, holding hands.

CLAY: ♪ If I could turn back time ♪

Y/N: ♪ If I could turn back time ♪

CLAY: ♪ If I could turn back time ♪

Y/N: ♪ If I could turn back time ♪

CLAY AND Y/N: ♪ If I could turn back time ♪

The duo started posing and dancing together and for the first time in 20 years it felt like they weren’t separated.

CLAY: ♪ I didn’t really mean to hurt you ♪

Y/N: ♪ I didn’t wanna see you go ♪

CLAY AND Y/N: ♪ I know I made you cry, oh ♪

♪ If I could turn back time ♪

♪ If I could find a way ♪

CLAY: ♪ I’d take back those words that hurt you ♪

CLAY AND Y/N: ♪ If I could reach the stars ♪

♪ I'd give 'em all to you ♪

♪ Then you’d love me, love me ♪

♪ Like you used to do ♪

Once more the two found themselves in a close position. Clay pulled Y/n in close by the waist and she in turn wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Clay, it may take time, but you’re right I do feel something. And if we have a chance of being something again then I don’t want to lose that.”

“Couldn’t of said it better myself.” Clay smiled in response before leaning in and closing the gap.

Back at camp, the other trolls were worried for their friends. John Dory was snacking on a marshmallow when he decided to finally speak up.

“Mm, what’s taking those two so long?”

Poppy was biting down aggressively on her nails, body practically shaking. “I don’t know, but I’m beginning to worry. What if they were captured or eaten or-”

“Or!” Branch cut her off. “What if they’re just taking a while to work through their problems and need us to wait so they can come back when they’re ready?”

A few glances were exchanged until JD slapped his hands down and stood up.

“Yeah I’m going to go look for them.”

“I’m with you there.” Bruce stood up and followed.

“O-ok baby in the carrier, baby in the carrier!” Tiny yelled as he was forced to follow along.

Poppy glanced at Branch and yelled out. “Ahh I can’t do this, I have to see if they’re ok!” Before running after the others.

Branch sighed and follow in suit.

“Anyone else hearing that strange noise?” Tiny questioned as they approached the clearing.

“Kind of, but I’m sure it’s nothing.” Bruce reassured him. Unfortunately his words were cut down quick as they took a turn. All the group could see were love hearts and the sounds of smooches. Their faces filled with horror as Bruce quickly blocked Tiny Diamond’s view and Branch smacked a hand over Poppy’s eyes.

They all slowly backed away, John Dory pulling on the collar of his shirt.

“We’ll, at least they’re getting along again.” He mused only to be met with blank stares. “Yeah we’ll get them in the morning.”

I hope you liked the story. At this point my promises mean nothing so let’s just hope I can post something sooner rather than later and please; feel free to request Trolls related stuff, it’s on my list for a reason. I do also have a request for tmnt that I’m working on so I’ll try to post that when I can. Anyway it’s been great to give you guys something, have an awesome day/night whatever time you’re reading this!✨

TAGLIST: @actuallyspiderwoman

[mackeydoodledoo]

The Florals: Chapter 4

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x (Fem MC)Reader

Summary: You and your best friends are one of the most popular local bands. After a gig you meet the bartender, who has caught your eye and interest.

Chapter Warnings: Performer’s Anxiety, Unwanted Flirting 

A/n: None

Chapter Key: Italics = Thoughts, Bold/Indent = Text Messages, [Bold/Italic] = Singing

Chapter Theme: Froot - MARINA

----------------------------------------------------------

The next two days went by since the abandoned place adventure with Poppy, Lark, and Wanda. You’ve continued to visit Wanda during her lunch breaks to make sure she would be able to feel better as she really had been shaken up and accidentally injuring herself with a piece of debris.

“How does your leg feel?” You ask, sipping your vanilla creme soda

“Better,” She answers, “Thank you.”

“Always hun,” You answer

Wanda smiles, her head looking down at her lap.

Hun’s really growing on her.

“I asked Vision if he was able to come pick me up for the Halloween bash,” Wanda says

“Yeah?” You ask, “ What’d he say?”

Wanda sighs and leans back into her chair, sipping her drink, “Apparently he’s having a release party for his new album that night.”

“I see,” You sigh, “Did he ask if he wanted you there?”

Wanda sadly nods, you give her an apologetic look. You sit there, contemplating on how to comfort her.

“Well, invitation is out there for you,” You say, “How about the one tonight?”

She shakes her head, “Thinks it’s pointless for me to show up to another artist’s show...”

“Tell you what,” You say, “I’ll pick you up.”

Wanda looks at you, shocked, “Didn’t you tell me the other day that you won’t be able to?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out,” You smile, chugging your vanilla creme soda like it’s beer

Wanda scoffs at your remark, however, smiling.

“I have to head back to work, doll,” You smile back, “I’ll see you later.”

Wanda smiles and goes back to eating her meal as she watches you walk back to work.

Work goes like normal; You have people come in and either look at what the store has and leave or they actually buy something. You tap your foot while you sit at the register; awaiting the few minutes you have left of the shift for the day… However, You had to wait for Roy to come back from his break so the both of you can close up.

You rush out the door right after you clock out and rush to the car. As you pull up to the entrance, Oliver is again trying to chat up Wanda, again.

“Hey you,” You wink, “You ready?”

Wanda nods as she gets into the passenger side of the car, you drive off. Leaving Oliver behind. You throw in some music, allowing for background music to fill the silence. You pull up to Banks Theatre and all of your friends are just about to go into rehearsal; except... Pine.

“Where’s Pine?” You ask them

“We don’t know, last time we checked she was at home,” Rose states, “She should be here soon.” 

“Hey Strel,” Lark says, “It’s about time you showed up. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Sorry, had to pick up this one,” You say, “Vision’s working tonight so I decided to pick her up.”

“You invited competition?” Lark jokes

“Lark,” Poppy smacks their shoulder, “Not now.”

“What? Just wanting to be a little bit of a mood lightener,” Lark explains

“Sure,” Poppy sighs

Your bandmates chuckle as they motion for you to come up on stage and rehearse. Wanda follows suit however, sits in the back.

“You sure we can do this without Pine right now?” You ask Poppy

“I’m sure she’ll show up soon,” Poppy says

However, come 30 minutes before curtain call, you were finishing up with your hair as Lark and Poppy sit around, attempting to get the performer’s anxiety out of their systems until Rose comes rushing into the lounge.

“Pine got into a car accident,” Rose frantically exclaims

“Is she okay?!” You stand up

“Only a concussion but she can’t drive,” Rose says, “Maria called me using her phone, she’s bringing her here.”

“We only have 30 minutes until show time,” Lark growls

You sit there in your chair; hair just done. Every instrument that you had to a band was there. But, no lead vocalist.

“What are we gonna do for the show?!” Rose asks 

You, Lark and Poppy look at each other. Rose completely unaware of what the three of you knew. 

“I’ll be right back,” You say

You rush out to the bar where you had left Wanda before going backstage to get yourself ready. You gently tap her arm in hopes of not startling her.

“Emergency meeting,” You only give Wanda such little time to react before you’re tugging Wanda at the sleeve of her shirt

As soon as you burst through the lounge again, Poppy and Lark smile, beginning to walk up to her.

“Pine isn’t gonna be able to perform tonight,” Lark says, “You can sing, sing with us.”

“What?...” Wanda attempts to drink in the little information she was given

Wanda looks to you for context.

“Pine is in a car accident and has a concussion and won’t be able to sing tonight,” You briefly explain, “She’ll be here, but won’t be well enough to sing.”

“For an entire hour?” Wanda asks

You nod.

“But... Vision-” Wanda attempts to make an excuse

"Love, sucks to say, he isn’t here" You say, “It’s one of the suckey parts of performing. The people you want to perform for, aren’t always going to be here to watch you. Besides, he’s the one hesitant about you singing. Now, do you want to throw away your shot or not?”

She smiles weakly as she takes your hand and you smile.

“Now, for your look...” You sigh, observing her closely

“I got this,” Rose comes in, “I can really only do hair though.”

“That’s fine, just make much do with the time we have left,” You say

The five of you begin walking out onto the stage, breaking away from each other. Wanda smiles slightly as she walks up to the microphone stand and tries to hold the mic properly, but falters in her grasp. Before heading to your drum set, you notice how much she was faltering; seeing the reaction of the patrons. You walk over to her and lean down, close to her ear.

"Picture no one here but us," You whisper into her ear, “Once you’re into it, you’ll begin getting used to it. I know you can do it Wanda. We know you can do it.”

You give her a smile and a gentle shoulder squeeze; hoping it reassures her that even if she doesn’t believe in herself, there are people who do believe in her. You walk back to your drum set and catch drumsticks as Rose begins the intro. 

[Froot] [La la la la la la] [Juice] [La la la la la la] [I’ve seen seasons come and go, from winter sun, to summer snow] [This an’t my first time at the rodeo]

Poppy didn’t really have an actual guitar part, so by ear, she makes chords that works with the key signature of the song. From backstage, Pine stands in the wings, watching.

[It’s summer time and I hang on a vine] [They gonna turn me into a sweet red wine] [Hanging around on a fruit on a tree, waiting to be picked] [Come and cut me free]

[Come on fill your cup up] [Looking for some good luck] [Good luck, good luck to you] [Hanging like a fruit] [Ready to be juiced] [Juiced, juiced]

[Living La dolce vide] [Life couldn’t get my sweeter] [Don’t you give me a reason, that it's not the right season] [Babe I love you a lot] [I’ll give you all I’ve got] [Yeah you know that it's true] [I’ve been saving all my summers for you, I’ve been saving all my summers for you] [Like Froot]

As the song climbs down to an end, the lights dim down upon you, Lark, Poppy and Rose as your family and friends, including Pine, give Wanda a round of applause and a standing ovation. Wanda turns around to you, Rose, Lark, Poppy and we clap for her. She looks at you and you alone. You give her a thumbs up. You stand from your drum cart and begin making your way to her, Wanda runs and jumps into your arms, engulfing you into a hug. You almost fall back however, you regain your footing and return the hug to her.

“You were so good!” You smile, “I knew you could do it!”

“Thank you Strelitzia,” She smiles

The gig comes to an end, Wanda filling in for Pine, finally giving her an experience of performing on stage.

“Guess I’m getting replaced,” Pine jokes

“Oh, lord I could never Pine,” Wanda bashfully declines

“You were so good!” Rose engulfs Wanda in a hug, “You should fill in for Pine more often!”

“Rose!” Pine nearly growls, “I think Maria Hill was still around, eyeing you up and down the entire time.”

“Oh- W-was she now?” Rose blushes 

“Hey ladies,” Maria comes up to the six of you, but eyeing Rose in particular

“Hey Sarge, thanks for getting Pine here,” You offer your thanks to the cop

“No worries,” She smiles, “Hey Rose, since you’re one of Pine’s roommates, I would like to discuss some things regarding her accident.”

Although you knew how to read their faces; both were absolutely smitten with each other, both just too scared to make the first move. The both of them exit the theatre and walk off to some form of location to talk. 

“Well anyways, I don’t even know how to play an instrument,” She says, “Well, besides planning to learn ukulele.”  

"And it’s a start," You smile, “Everyone started somewhere.”

"I can help you learn ukulele," Poppy states, “If that’s any help.”

"Actually," Wanda says, "That helps a lot."

"And I can help you out with your stage fright," Pine adds, "Every singer always start out having stage fright. Even me."

"And me," You chuckle, “We’d love to have you on as a special guest singer for our gigs. Pretty much a big plot twist than switching up instruments, oh man their faces when it was Wanda and not Pine walking out on stage.”

As the four of you continue to give Wanda options and to make her feel more welcome into the band, you all again didn't keep track of time.

"Ladies,” The bartender calls, "I’m about to close up for the night."

"Well," You say, chuckling, "Time to get this one home before Vision freaks out."

She smiles as she puts on a jacket and the both of you depart from the rest of the girls and head to your car. As Lark and Poppy make their leave last, Lark turns to Poppy.

"You think Strel will go out with Wanda in the future," Lark whispers

“Maybe,” Poppy answers, “Though, Strel does seem to act all close to Wanda, acting like she is Wanda’s girlfriend.”

“I believe they will,” Lark adds, “It’ll just only be a matter of time.”

You and Wanda don’t really talk initially into the drive, as you don’t want to become distracted on the road.

"Have you done anything else other than music?” Wanda asks, bluntly

You knock myself out of your hyperfixation of the road, you clear my throat.

"I uhhh," You stutter, “I was actually a photography major and Asian studies minor. However, after graduating I felt really critical of my own work. I ended up just forming into a band with all of my friends.”

"Do you have a website or a page where I can see your work?" Wanda asks

You grab your phone and open up Instagram; to your photography page. You hand the phone to Wanda and from the corner of my eye, you see her scrolling through all of your photos.

"You did all of these?" Wanda asks

You nod, but smile into a sigh.

“Why are you so critical on yourself about your works” Wanda asks, “Now I have to get into sessions with you. I love how you made the colors burst, how the color is in the main focus and-”

“Over-saturation,” You correct her, “The ‘color burst’ term you’re looking for is over-saturation. And the reason I’m so critical of myself is because my digital photography professor was always hard on me. They only criticised my work rather than actually giving me tips and pointers to get my work across for projects.”

Wanda places her hand on your knee. 

“Thanks Wands,” You say, trying to reassure Wanda that you feel slightly better, “I’m glad you like my work. I’d be happy to book you into sessions. Besides work, I’m pretty much open. Well, since it’s getting colder now, not sure if you want to do photos in this cold weather.”

"You really think I could sing for a living?” She asks

“Well, I wouldn’t say for a living,” You say, “Maybe as like a side thing until you feel comfortable and well known enough to become an artist. But, I believe you have potential.”

“Thanks Strel,” Wanda says

“I also want you to know that i’ll be with you every step of the way ” You add, “If you need help with instrumentals n such, The Florals are your band. Even a backing band for gigs.”

Wanda stares at you. You weren’t sure if it was in awe or in awkwardness. However, she couldn’t help but creep a small smile on her face. Wanda then again looks through your phone however, going through your spotify playlists.

“You sure have a lot of playlists for different ‘moods’,” Wanda laughs

You jokingly scoff at her, chuckling along with her in the end.

“Yeah,” You say, “It just so if I have a certain mood I am in, I play whichever feels best accurate. But I mostly play ‘Roadtrip Mood’ as that is my in-general playlist. It’s funny though how I kinda skip a whole lot of songs on here.”

Wanda giggles as she goes through the entire playlist; looking for a song to fill the outside noise.

“Hey, you hungry? Maybe we can grab a bite to eat before I take you home.” You suggest

“I’d like that Strel,” Wanda smiles

You smile as you bring Wanda back to the area of your workplace but head to the local Diner you usually buy the lunches from. Wanda walks in behind you as the both of you seat yourselves in a two-person booth. You and Wanda order drinks and look at the menu. You gently brush the side of your leg against Wanda’s and you couldn't help but notice a deep pink blush coming from her cheeks.

“Does Vision like to take you out?” You ask, sipping my creme soda

“Well, when we first began dating," Wanda starts, “He has been taking me out every other week, but the last several weeks he has been too busy because of work.”

"Well," You say, “You happy you get to go out and about now? Even if it’s not with Vision?”

Wanda looks up and smiles at you.

"Of course," she states, "It’s the best I’ve had in months.”

“I’m glad you think so,” You smile, “There’s more where that came from. Picture it; The Florals, opening for some real big band.”

Wanda looks at you but snorts and breaks into a laugh. You smile.

“Okay I’m exaggerating the opening for a real big band part but imagine,” You smile, “Imagine going on tour with a band.”

“You've been on tour before?” Wanda asks

“Twice,” You say, “I was MARINA’s touring drummer for her Love + Fear tour in 2019, then in 2022 for Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land.”

“Who’s Marina?” Wanda asks

“To sum it up,” You say, “A goddess disguised as a mortal woman.”

You put your earbuds into Wanda’s ears and play “Venus Fly Trap” for her. You turn down the music as you usually listen to your music loud.

You tap Wanda’s shoulder as the Waiter comes over to take your order. He notices you and smirks, licking his lips. You felt a boulder drop into your stomach as you try to play it off as if you didn’t notice what he was doing.

“Well, is that all from the firehead?” he asks, his voice dropping low; trying to sound “sexy” for you…

You nod nervously at him as he leans into your table, toward you in particular.  Wanda looks at you as you stare down the guy; nervous and unbeknownst to you on what to do. Wanda clearly sees the guy trying to flirt with you.

“Yes that is it from my girlfriend,” Wanda says, taking your hand in hers then kissing the back palm, “Right sweetie?”

Wanda gives you a subtle wink as you sigh in relief, “Yes that’s it from me honey.”

The waiter scoffs and walks away to bring the order in. You look at her and give her a “thank the gods for you to come in at the right time” smile.

"Why did you do that?” You ask

“I saw the way he was looking at you and I wasn't having it,” She answers, “I also saw how uncomfortable you looked so I had to be the one to save your ass.”

"Thanks Wanda." You chuckle as you sip more of the creme soda

As the same waiter brings your orders, he gives Wanda a death glare however, it didn’t phase Wanda as she chomps down onto her food.

It was an evening full off chatters, stories and laughs before the waiter brought our check; surprisingly it was a different waiter this time.

Guess he didn’t want to continuously be staring at Wanda all the time.

You were just about to place your card onto the check before Wanda put her hand over yours that was holding your card.

"Let me do it. Please?" She asks

"Wanda, it’s on me." You chuckle, “You came out tonight, you filled in for Pine and this is the least I can do.”

She sighs but nods, “Fine, but I’m getting us next time.”

"So, shall we go?" You ask, holding out your hand toward her

She nods and takes your hand as you gently pull her hand to help her up. The both of you hold hands as we make your exit from the diner. Having the waiter watch in disgust and jealousy.

"Thank you Strel," Wanda says, "For today."

"Always," You smile, “And thank you for coming out to our show.”

You drive toward Vision’s residence as Wanda pulls up your playlist once more.

“Are you Bi?” Wanda asks, out of the blue

“I am actually Lesbian, but I normally go with the Rainbow Gay aesthetic” You say, “Lark is Sapphic, Rose is Femme Lesbian, Poppy is Pansexual and Pine is Asexual.”

“What do the other terms mean?” She asks, “Not trying to offend you or anything but I would like to be educated.”

“Well, first you’re not offending anyone here,” You say, smiling, “Second, I would love to educate an ally about these terms.”

Wanda smiles as you begin to explain what the terms: Sapphic, Pansexual and Asexual mean.

“Fun fact by the way Strel,” Wanda smiles, “I’m Bi.”

You smile at Wanda. 

Finally, another person in the LGBTQ+ community.  

"Do you have a flag?" You ask, "Have you ever been to a Pride Festival before?"

"No to both," Wanda says, “What would you do with your flag anyway? And What happens at a Pride festival?”

Before you get the chance to explain, You pull into a familiar curbside.

Damnit...

“I had a lot of fun tonight Strel.” Wanda says

“Me too Wanda,” You chuckle, scratching the back of your head, “You really did great tonight.”

Wanda blushes as she steps out of her car. 

“You want me to wait here until you’re in the building?” You ask from the other side of the window

“I’ll be okay tonight Strel, thanks though,” She smiles

You were reluctant to leave her out in the street. You don’t watch her walk into her apartment complex all stalker-y like; it was for her safety. You always do it for your friends as well.

“Goodnight Wanda,” You say

“Goodnight,” She replies

Chapter 5

[slightlyconceited]

@punzieeeee​ (continued from here)

Rapunzel had only vaguely recognized some of the people who were at the party now from the engagement one she'd gone to with Varian. The boy who had approached her at the punch station was one that she remembered seeing, though she hadn't formally met him before. "Me?" she asked, looking around to be sure that he was talking to her. "Oh, yeah, I'm kind of here as an invite of an invite. Everyone's so nice, though! I'll take any chance to make new friends," she explained, a smile coming to her face. Suddenly, a realization hit her, and her jaw dropped a bit in shock. "Wait--you're the one who was singing with Poppy before, right? Oh, my goodness, I love Poppy! I met her at that engagement party where she sang, and she complimented my dress and I almost fainted."

.

     “Well, any friend of my friends is…my friend,” Slightly stumbled through an idiom that he felt included the word friend one too many times, frowning at himself and then brightening and returning the girl’s smile. Her mention of Poppy made him light up even more and he exclaimed, “I was at that party, too! I literally bumped into her and she told me she had been to my shows. So I invited her here tonight—but I can’t believe she actually came! You don’t expect someone on her level to be so down-to-earth, right? She’s so cool.” He was so caught up in gushing about their shared adoration of the pop superstar that he almost forgot to properly introduce himself. “I’m Slightly, by the way.” Don’t make the Enchanted joke again just because she’s a fellow Poppy fan; it was stupid the first time.  

[georgi-girl]

Babble: Track 19

trigger warning for graphic violence and references to hate crimes.

------------

Most of all, he need the funk.

Help him find the funk

Oh funk me!

@@@@

Tone, Riley, Bridget, Jack Frost, and Mabel Pines were all sitting by Dippers’ bed watching him sleep. Miguel and Species were still gone and Zodiac left to find them.

A crashing sound came from the floor below them. Pitch was back. Tone plucked the Rock string and transformed into the Rock Aspect.

“You stay here,” she instructed the humans. “I’ll handle this.” Then she sped off. Jack Frost followed her.

"I love your manic energy but you gotta be careful with this guy," Jack told her. “He doesn’t control the healthy kind of fear that keeps you from walking into traffic. He controls the kind of fear that leads to paranoia, prejudice and hate.” "I already eat those feelings for breakfast," the Aspect boasted.

@@@@

Bridget peered into what Zodiac called the Mindscape. Aside from Renee, she saw a woman with pink hair and a blue dress. Poppy. And she saw a man with sickly grey skin. Branch. They both looked really worried.

“You can go after them,” Bridget told them. “You don’t have to stay in here.”

Branch floated off immediately, while Poppy stayed behind long enough to thank Bridget and plant an intangible kiss on her cheek.

@@@@

Miguel and Species made their way back to the clinic. It was already dark so the Bergens were awake.

“What do we do if they see us?” Miguel asked.

“The only thing we can do,” Species answered. “Fight like Hell.”

@@@@.

The Rock Aspect confronted Pitch on the ground floor. He stood surrounded by horse-like Nightmares and humanoid Fearlings. Hard rock music played over the speaker system.

“Back off!" The Rock Aspect demanded. "Or I’ll—”

“You’ll what? Insult my taste in music? I’ll be honest, every kind of music sounds exactly the same to me.” Pitch rolled his eyes.

That was so offensive, the Rock Aspect hissed in anger. Jack readied his staff to fight.

“But enough about me. Let’s focus on you…”

Shadows enveloped him, making him look just like Queen Barb of the Rock Trolls. To top it off, he spoke in her voice.

“Hey! I’m Barb! I’ll never have the guts to kiss a girl or use neopronouns or admit I like listening to Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop over and over on a loop!”

“Shut Up!” The Rock Aspect screamed as she formed fireballs in her fists and tried to punch the illusion, only for it to disappear each time.

And each time, she almost punched a pink-haired woman or a grey-skinned man. The illusion kept at it.

“I’d rather attack other trolls than deal with my sick daddy. I’m nothing but a wannabe dictator. I’d rather have suck-ups than actual friends…”

“SHUT UP” her fists were on fire. She dealt a deadly right hook at the damned copy, finally hitting it… only to see she was punching Jack Frost in the chest, her hand still on fire!

“ahh,” he groaned.

“AHH!” she screamed.

Jack fell to his knees, the burn searing through his clothes and burning his skin. Frost covered the wound like a scab, then melted. His body was sweating and freezing at the same time.  He kept gasping like a drowning man and curled up on the floor. The Rock Aspect knelt next to him, not sure how to help.

“Ouch. And he actually liked you.” Pitch stood over them, smiling gleefully.

With an angry cry, the Rock Aspect manifested a guitar in her hands. She swung it at Pitch repeatedly with all her strength. He nimbly dodged once, twice, thrice. taunting her the whole time.

"You were going to conquer all the other troll tribes, and you can’t even take me on."

The Rock Aspect raised the guitar above her head, ready to bring it down like a sword…

Shhiiicccckkkk sliced a shadow blade. And down fell the axe, with her hands ~ Barbs’ hands~ still attached to it.

The speakers backfired.

She stood there in shock, then she lowered her arms and stared at the bleeding stumps. She panted faster and faster, a scream building up inside her. Pitch stood there with his own hands folded behind his back.

“No more guitar. No more drums. No more of that inane hand gesture you love so much. Try taking over the world now.”

That did it. The scream tore its way from her throat, louder than any human scream. On the lyre, the red Rock string lost its glow and became dull.

Then she collapsed. The speakers all went silent. Pitch strode up to take the lyre, but as he reached down to grab it, the Rock Aspect shifted into something else, someone else. The shifting, glowing person stood up, and revealed himself as the Jazz Aspect.

Far away, the sleeping Filipino woman woke up with a start. She had to get to the hiding place now!

The Jazz Aspect glanced at Jack, unconscious on the floor, with nightmares gathering around him. He had to get Pitch away from Jack. So, he blew on his clarinet and created massive illusions.

The world warped and distorted around them. Pitch pursued the Jazz Aspect through a surreal labyrinth of clouds and animal images.

“Very cute,” Pitch said when he finally caught up with him. “But I’ve seen better.”

The Jazz Aspect spat on the floor. “Fine,” he said as he licked his lips. “You asked for it!” Suddenly shadow tendrils whipped around his neck and hands and dragged him into darkness.

“So did you,” Pitch said as a loud whipping went on in the dark.

In the mindscape, Renee shivered with a strange discomfort all over her body. She told Riley something bad was happening. Riley sent her emotions Joy and Anger to investigate.

The womans' feet ran on top of the snow, not making a footprint, as she ran in the direction of the clinic.

The Jazz Aspect lay on the floor groaning, his back covered in lashes. He weakly pluck the Orange Country string. The smooth jazz on the speakers abruptly changed to an intense country song. And the Jazz Aspect changed into the Country Aspect, complete with equine legs.

“Oh, a centaur! I love horses!” Pitch laughed as he released his nightmares. The Country Aspect fought them off with a metal pole.

Meanwhile, Joy and Anger found Jack and alerted Riley through their mental link.

The Country Aspect fought with everything she had. “Your scare tactics won't work on me,” she yelled defiantly. “I’m not afraid to die!”

He suddenly pulled her close, almost like a lover. “And how would you know?” He formed something in his hand. “You’ve never tried it.” He pressed the thing into her belly, and fired six shots point blank. She gasped and gagged and crumbled to the floor. Pitch blew on the barrel of the gun he created.

Her wild hair covered her body. She ran so hard she was practically on all fours.

The Country Aspect weakly plucked her fading string. The sound helped her shift into The Yodel Aspect.

He stood up and faced Pitch, fists raised.

Pitch scoffed, “Yodeling, nothing but a bunch of fancy yelling.”

“Says you!” The Aspect snapped.

The Yodel Aspect punched and kicked every attacker. As they started to overwhelm him he sucked in his breath, but before he could let out a yodel, Pitch formed a black dagger, sped towards him, and slashed his throat. The Yodel Aspect gagged and hacked as his neck bled.

He fell on all fours, staring dumbly at the puddle of blood on the floor.

Pitch smirked. “Not so tough now are you mountain boy?”

She did parkour through the trees, building up speed.

Riley ran to Jack Frost and lifted him up.

The Yodel Aspect shifted into the Classical Aspect. The winged yellow man immediately got up and flew away from Pitch. He barreled through the fearlings and nightmares like a golden bullet. As long as he kept away from Pitch Black, he couldn’t be hurt by him.

He was almost to the door, when Pitch himself blocked it.

“Out of my way! I’m sick of this ugly small world!”

“Ugly and small is it? Pitch smirked. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he extended his fingernails super long. Attacking from the side, he thrust his nails into the Aspects’ left ear, shredding it. The Aspect screamed in pain, too stunned to stop Pitch from doing the same thing to his right ear.

Before Pitch could attack again, the Aspect shifted into someone else…

Her hair parted to reveal the clothes that manifested on her body, a black loose-fitting corset and a black codpiece.

The Reggaeton Aspect fought with breakdancing. But Pitch used his shadows to restrain him.

He took a moment to register the song playing on the speaker.

“Despasito means slowly. So I’ll do this slowly.”

Crack. He had the tendril break the Aspects’ left leg. Then he broke the right leg. Crack. Reggaeton Aspect gasped in pain. Crack. Pitch broke the left arm. Crack. He broke the right arm. The Aspect was in so much pain he passed out.

Black accesseries appeard on her body; black ski goggles, on her forehead, a black seashell necklace around her neck, black wristbands on her wrists, a blck parl earring on her left ear and black toeless compression socks on her feet.

The Techno Aspect used lights to cancel out any darkness. Everyone’s covered in refractions like sunlight through water. “You can’t sneak up on me!” The Aspect announced.

“But I can still beat you,” Pitch smirked and formed a black harpoon in his hand. The Techno Aspect in turn formed a green whip.

Riley brought Jack into the bedroom.

He tore the harpoon out of his hands, but Pitch was too fast for him. He grabbed the aspect and rammed him into the circuit breaker. All the lights flickered and all the music turned to static.

She saw the lights flashing through the trees.

The K-Pop Aspect kept somersaulting away from the fearlings. She rebuffed his shadows with ribbons. Giggling and confident the whole time.

Pitch ended up fighting her hand to hand. In the scuffle, the necklace with the lyre fell to the floor.

Finally, he appeared right behind her, and grabbed her spine! His obsidian fingers dug into her back, making her shudder.

She reached the clinic just in time to see Miguel and Species fighting the Bergens. A cold fury filled her chest.

Joy grabbed the lyre and pluck the purple string. The K-Pop Aspect transformed in a blinding light. Pitch let go of her to cover his eyes. Tone floated there, glowing purple, shifting into the Funk Aspect. They were a purple-skinned person with elaborate hair, dressed in gold and silver and covered in piercings. Pieces of metal floated around them. They landed on the floor and looked at Pitch with a face that was both male and female.

“Let’s boogie!” they grinned at him. They stretched out their hand. The metal and debris transmuted into a futuristic flashlight. They pointed it at a fearling and sliced through it, using the beam of light like a sword.

“Flashlight!” they shouted.

The battle went all through the hallway, the Funk Aspect used different electronic lights to blast Pitch away. As they fought, they danced along to the music from the speakers.

“Spot light!” Their coloring became more bluish, and their features became more feminine. They created a big stage light that they held on their shoulder like a boombox, and pointed at every nightmare that approached them.

Neon light!” They pressed their hands to the wall, and bright red neon lighting piped through it, lighting the whole place up in red.

Eventually, they blasted him out the window. A tendril grabbed their leg and dragged them outside with Pitch.

“No matter, we fight on!” The Funk Aspect summoned more lights, having Pitch on the run.

“Street light!” Their face became more masculine, with a beard and crown. They fused their flashlight and spotlight together to form a giant lamppost that they used as a spear.

Then suddenly, their lights shut out. They were too far from the clinic to access its power. “Oh my,” said Pitch, suddenly smiling. “Looks like you folks depended too much on technology.” His shadows formed giant arms. “And now you’re out of your depth!”

He pinned them down, pressed his knee against their back, and strangled their neck.

“Can’t breathe?” Pitch asked mockingly. Underneath him, the Funk aspect gagged and struggled for air. “There are so many jokes I could make right now,” laughed Pitch. “But you wouldn’t get any of them!”

He tightened his grip. Suddenly, a pink spark shocked him away. He fell backwards, surprised to see pink colored static surround the semi-conscious Tone. His eyes dilated as he saw the astral projections of Branch and Poppy kneeling over Tones’ body. He reached for them, only for a white tendril of hair to wrap around his arm and pull him away.

He was dragged all the way to the midst of the Bergen camp. There, surrounded by knocked-out Bergens, stood the mystery woman, smiling, with her hands on her hips. She greeted him in a beautiful voice.

“Hello. I’m Trollop.”

[i-love-trolls]

(One Wednesday morning)

Me: *makes coffee*

???: *bangs on her door*

Me: if it’s river I already told you no I’m not getting me nails done with you

???: umm should I be concerned

Me: come in

Poppy: *opens door* haaaayyy

Me: oh hi queen poppy is there something you need

Poppy: yes.. but it’s actually something I want

Me: ok?

Poppy: go to my boyfriends concert with me please

Me: no

Poppy: please do it for Branch

Me: ugh fine I’ll go but only for Branch but I’m not dancing or singing

Poppy: deal

( hours after the concert)

Branch: *hugs biscuit* thank you so much for coming

Me: *shocked but hugs back* hehe yeah don’t mention it

Poppy: well bye biscuit

Branch: bye lil sis

Me: bye see you later

(Pod door closes)

Me: *picks up an old album cover*

Me: *looks at myself in the mirror and then at the album cover*

Me: ugh no I’m not ever going back *throws the cover at the wall aggressively*

Me: *drops to her knees and crys* it’s better this way right? *her hands cover her face*

[honeyedlashton]

my god, man… 🤩

[poppy-metal]

omg poppy imagine this:

tagging along with eddie to sell weed to some girls and he only lets you go w him because in this situation, it’s not dangerous. and they are laying it on THICK, like, hardcore FLIRTING and he’s a little oblivious, but you don’t know that, no. you think he’s eating it up and you’re fuming inside. oh, i’m gonna deal with him, you think to yourself.

then later that night you’re riding him HARD, and he’s a breathless, moaning, pussydrunk mess, and so shocked but pleasantly surprised because his shy, innocent baby is never this wild. then when you feel him throbbing inside you and you can tell he’s about to cum, you slow down the pace a little and lean down to whisper in his ear

“you’re mine, eddie. you belong to me and i can have my way with you as i please. those little bitches will never make you feel as good as this pussy does”

and holy shit he’s cums unexpectedly, the hardest he’s ever cum in his life. he almost bends himself like a pretzel, back arching painfully off the bed, toes curling so hard they’re cracking, and he moans so loud you almost feel the urge to stuff his mouth with your fingers and his body shivers violently 🥵 his orgasm hit him so hard he actually blacks out for almost a minute.

when he comes to, he feels you peppering little kisses all over his face and he is still in shock at where the fuck that came from

“wtf, b-baby, shit, i ca-“

“shh eddie, just relax, i’ll take care of you”

and before he can even get this breath back you start riding the fuck out of him again

i’m feral 🫣🫣🫠

-🥂

please he encourages you to use him :(( hair all splayed out on the pillows, pretty face flushed, lips bitten red, his pale skin littered in hickeys you'd left on him. his black chipped nails are digging into your ass, helping you bounce up and down on his dick.

"yours." he chokes, eyes nearly rolling back. "m'all yours baby, shit. fuck me, fuck me, fuck me-" hes a whining mess. you love it, have no doubt in your mind yours is the best pussy hes ever fucked, but. you like to hear it anyway.

dig your hands into his chest, palm spread out flat over his tattoo, right over his heart. "tell me." you gasp, rocking on his lap. his dick is hitting that spot inside you so good. "tell me im the best you've ever had, eddie."

he licks his lips, rolling his head on the pillows as he peers down at where your fleshy little cunt is swallowing his cock with every thrust down of your hips. the shine of your slick on him making his knees come up, his feet dig into the mattress. "you're the best-" he breathes, swallows. "-best I've had. best I'll ever have. mm fuck, baby, you ride it so good. take my- my fucking cock like you own it."

he grits his teeth, clenches his jaw and starts pounding into you from below, making you whine and pitch forward, tits pressed against his chest, whining into his sweaty neck as his cock slams into you over and over. you hear the wet slap of his balls against your ass. his ragged moans in your ear.

you lean down where his guitar pick necklace is bouncing against his chest and take it into your mouth, drooling around the metal and fucking your hips back into him.

you feel one of his hand come to cup the back of your head, "hh, yeah-" he slows down, "-spell your name baby on my dick, baby. show me its yours."

you pant as you do as he says, swirling your hips on his dick in the letters of your name, both of you moaning at the possession of the act.

"m'gonna cum." he presses his lips into your temple, kisses it sweetly. "your pussies gonna make me fucking cum-"

[huggybug]

can you do something when poppy goes on her first date and how the guys react?

happy dilf day!

“Be home by 10” Poppy was on the way out the door on her first date while you and Trevor tried not to laugh at how nervous she was. It was something you had to talk Trevor into letting her do. When she first told you, she begged you to not tell her dad but since he was in town the night of the date, you couldn’t exactly keep it from him.

“Absolutely not” He scoffed before going back to helping Lucas tape his stick.

“Trevor-”

“Dad!” Poppy yelled at the same time as you, pinching her younger brother when he mocked her in a ridiculously high pitched voice.

“You’re not going, end of story” Poppy looked to you, hoping you’d be able to help her out.

“Babe, they want to go to a movie, it’s hardly anything to worry about” Poppy already told you that her date was to the new Marvel movie, it really seemed innocent enough.

“You say that like we didn’t go on movie dates all the time… actually-”

“Trev!” You cut him off abruptly which makes him smirk.

“Gross” Poppy shivers and you roll your eyes. “Mom already said I could go so it doesn’t really matter what you say” Your eyes widen and Trevor looks at you in shock.

“It’s inevitable babe, she’s not going to stay in our house forever”

“I know that… I’m okay with her going on dates… when she’s 18” He thought he was being reasonable but Poppy’s shriek of outraged begged to differ.

It took a long argument discussion to get Trevor on board but eventually you managed to make it happen and now he was cooperating being supportive.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” You call which makes her roll her eyes, something you can’t see since she’s facing away from you.

“You got pregnant at 16” Trevor said under his breath and you smacked him.

“Shut up”

…

Poppy’s date went well but, much to her displeasure, your family was leaving for the summer at the end of the month which meant she would be away from her boy for two whole months.

“Can’t we just stay here for another week?”

“Yeah sure, do you want to tell you father that we’re staying so you can hang out with a boy or do you want me to?” You asked sarcastically.

“If you could, that’d be great” She smiled and you shook your head, making sure she knew that was never going to happen.

“Since I feel a little bad… and I’m a good mom, I’ll cover for you once a day around your uncles” Poppy was already preparing herself to be around the guys again. Knowing her dad who was horrible at keeping secrets, there was no way she’d get through the whole summer without them finding out about her little date.

“Wow thanks”

You didn’t have to cover very much in the end because wishing the first couple days, the secret was out.

“Hey P, who’s Max Parker?” Your head whips to the side to look at Alex and you can tell Poppy’s expression mirrors yours when Jack and Cole look at you weirdly.

“Where- How-” She stutters and your eyes go wide when Trevor and Lucas start laughing.

“Poppy Jane do you have a boyfriend?” Jack asks and you’re honestly surprised at how quickly they put it together.

“He’s not my boyfriend…”

“Yet!” Lucas shouts and Poppy glares at him.

“What?” Cole asks.

“Trevor! How could you allow this? I thought we had an agreement” Jack turns to his best friend and you raise an eyebrow at that.

“An agreement?” You ask, “Jack she’s not your child”

The boys were all arguing now, Trevor was defending himself and claiming that you pressured him into letting Poppy go while Jack yelled at him. Cole and Alex were listening intently, picking their sides and then joining in on the fight.

“I’m out of here” Poppy got up and ran upstairs which only made Cole chase after her, asking if he can say hi to her boyfriend over facetime.

“How did you even find his name? Are you stalking teenagers now Turcs?” Trevor asks, clearly amused with the situation.

Alex laughed, “No the kid followed me on instagram and I saw that she followed him”

“If you guys act like that you’ll never meet her boyfriend, might not even get an invite to her wedding” You shook your head as you turned your attention to your phone.

“WEDDING?”

“Y/n, don’t even joke about that, she is way too young” Jack was appalled which made you laugh.

[livingforthewhump]

“Where do you think you’re going?”

A hand grabbed the back of Whumpee’s jacket, pulling them back, flush with Whumper’s chest. Whumpee clenched their fists as they felt Whumper’s face against the back of their head. They didn’t want to make a scene here, in the back shadows of the bar, packed as it was.

“To hell. Would you like to join me?” Whumpee asked snidely.

Whumper tsked into their hair. “Come on, darling, that’s no way to be. We had a deal, remember?”

“The deal was we meet in public.”

Whumpee tensed as a hand slipped just under the hem of their shirt, just enough to set them on edge.

“This is public,” Whumper purred, tugging them closer.

“Get off me,” Whumpee snarled, jabbing their elbow into Whumper.

Whumper’s arm wrapped around their waist and held on tight. “I do think this freedom has made you forget who you belong to. When you worked for me, you never would have fought me like this.”

“Drop the act, Whumper. What do you want?”

Whumper sighed and drew their arm back, keeping a firm grip on Whumpee’s jacket. “I don’t take well to deserters, remember?”

Whumpee heard the tell-tale sound of a knife being flicked out, and they couldn’t stop their jerking flinch.

Whumper laughed. “So you do remember. Good. Then this won’t take long.” The cold tip of the knife slid under Whumpee’s shirt and they went rigid against it. “I wanted to meet in public for two reasons, Whumpee dear. First, because it was the only way you would actually come. And second, because I don’t want this to kill you.”

The knife jabbed in, all the way to the handle, and no matter how many times Whumpee had felt it before, they would never be prepared. Their knees buckled underneath them. Whumper’s grip was the only thing keeping them upright. All breath seemed to leave their body in a vacuum, the world spinning away from them.

Then the knife was ripped out of them, and a scream was caught in their throat. Whumper chuckled into their hair, bringing the flat end of the knife to Whumpee’s face and wiping their own blood across their cheek.

“Don’t get in my way again, Whumpee,” Whumper murmured, and disappeared from behind them.

Whumpee crumpled to the floor, hands too busy clutching their wound to stop their fall. They let out a soft groan and screwed their eyes shut against the white covering their vision.

It was becoming harder to breathe from shock and adrenaline and probably blood loss. There seemed to be quite a lot puddling around them, and still more seeping out from between their fingers despite their best efforts. They focused on gaining control of their breath, counting in, 2, 3, 4. Hold. Out, 2, 3, 4. Hopefully once they’d calmed down they would be able to bandage their wound, but as it was, their hands were shaking and only getting worse.

It was impossible to tell how long they laid there, trying even their breaths, but eventually the focus on counting fell behind the effort it took to breathe at all. They were only shaken from their slow sink into unconsciousness by a wet splash nearby.

Someone cursed softly, then much louder. Whumpee looked over blearily and saw a pair of shoes turning red from the blood they’d stepped in. Very quickly the shoes became knees as whoever it was dropped into a kneeling position, reaching towards Whumpee but leaving their hands hovering centimeters away.

After releasing another colorful series of curses in a single breath, the person pressed their fingers to Whumpee’s neck, feeling for a pulse. “Hello? Are you alive?”

“Unfortunately,” Whumpee said. Or, meant to say. It came out as more of a pathetic whine.

Another curse. “Okay, hold on. I’ll call an ambulance, and--”

“Nhhh,” Whumpee managed, trying to sit up in protest.

“No no no no no, you stay down. You’ll bleed out faster if you sit up.” A beat of silence. “Do you not want me to call anyone? Any friends, or… if you did, you’re probably too delirious from blood loss,” they finished, more to themselves. “How did this happen? We’re in a bar, for f--”

They cut themselves off as Whumpee’s eyelids drooped again, head falling back down to the floor. “Hey, stay with me. I’m going to get you better.”

In a matter of moments, a thick bundle of cloth was pressed firmly against Whumpee’s wound, and their hands were placed on top of it.

“I need you to press down on that as much as you can. I’m going to carry you, okay?” The voice muttered a reassurance that, once again, seemed aimed at themself, before strong arms scooped up Whumpee’s weak form.

As their head leaned against a bare shoulder, Whumpee realized that the cloth they held was this person’s shirt.

They jolted as the person walked as fast as they dared without hurting Whumpee too much. They tried to hold on to consciousness, but as they caught sight of the cold stars twinkling overhead, their vision receded into darkness.

—

taglist (let me know if you want to be added or removed): @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @twistedcaretaker @lonesome--hunter @poppys-writing @endless-whump @susanshinning @multifandoms-multishipper @shadowylemon @utopian819 @whumpkitty @journey-the-panda @freefallingup13 @shameful-indulgence @1becky1 @temporary-whump-sideblog @chartreusephoenix @thelazywitchphotographer @mylifeisonthebookshelf @badluck990 @lockedupuniverse @luna-rein @broadwaybabe18 @pinescales-whumps @silverwhisperer1

[timetravesty]

(Queen B Book 3) Say You Love Me Pt. 6

✨Pt.6 is here!✨ Please Enjoy!

Context: I might try to make this a once every week update, starting on Thursdays, 10:55 PM CST, but that's only a working idea. It will really only work so long as I can keep a chapter ahead of every other one, but we'll see. 🤷‍♀️

Masterlist

General Content Warnings: Mature, Angst, Possible NSFW, Cursing, Internalized Homophobia, Homophobia, Semi-Violence, Cheating, and Slow Burn

--------------------------------------------------

“Mrs. Rensler, I look forward to working with your company.” Poppy said, holding out a contract for Kath as she took it with a cool expression.

“Thank you Ms. Min-Sinclair. I look forward to working with you as well.” Standing up, Kath shook Poppy’s hand as Poppy did the same.

“Please, call me Poppy. We’ll be working together for quite some time.” Poppy turned, looking at Mr. Hicks and Chuck as she smiled softly.

“Thank you for your bid Mr. Hicks, I’ll see you both out.” Poppy gestured for the men to stand as they did, both looking at the floor like scolded children as Poppy walked to the side, brushing past Bea as she walked both men to the door.

Kath gave Bea a proud smile as Bea gave her one right back. Her pitch, though improvised heavily, had worked, but something in Bea made her stomach sink slightly, thinking back to Poppy’s words at the Sterling party as she gulped.

“If you didn’t hate me at Belvoire, I’m going to do everything I can to make you absolutely despise me now.”

Poppy returned to her desk a minute later, sitting down as Kath did the same.

“Now, I’ve already looked over a few of the designs you have sent over, but I want this project to be a hands on operation.”

“Of course.” Kath said, looking over at Bea who fiddled with the cufflinks on her jacket. “Bea will handle any concerns you have with the building's progress. Even though we will have a team assisting in smaller workings, you’ll be working the closest with her.”

“Yes…about that. Would it be possible to switch the lead architect on the project?” Poppy asked, leaning back in her chair as Bea darted her head up, staring in confusion at Poppy who didn’t pay attention to Bea.

“I’ve looked over Ms. Hughes’ files and… this would be her first big project, correct?” Poppy asked as Kath looked at Poppy in subtle shock.

Was Poppy serious? Was she actually going to try to get Bea kicked off of her first big assignment?

Before Kath could reply with who knows what, Bea spoke up, looking directly at Poppy.

“Not to interrupt Ms. Min-Sinclair.” Gosh, Bea despised saying that.

“But even though this will be my first time leading such a large scale project, I personally designed all of the sketches we sent over, determining your decision to hire us. I’ve also been an aid to other large scale projects, even though I was not the lead myself.” Bea stated, looking at Poppy who gave her a slow once over. She didn’t look like she was going to budge as Bea’s heart beat loudly in her chest.

She wondered if they could all hear how loud her heart was as Kath cleared her throat. “While I respect your concerns Poppy, Bea is one of the most promising architects at my firm. I fully believe you will be satisfied with all of her designs.”

Bea’s heart quickened just a little as she shot Kath a grateful smile. Poppy only sighed, picking up a pencil and twirling it between her fingers. “Alright, I’ll trust your judgment Mrs. Rensler.”

Poppy spun in her chair, looking at Bea who took a breath of relief. “Ms. Hughes, I expect great results.” Bea nodded, looking at Poppy before she spun back to look at Kath.

“I’ll give you some time to go over the contract and I’ll be stopping by your office in a few days to begin discussing designs.” Poppy stated, standing to escort them out as Kath nodded.

“Again, thank you for the opportunity Poppy.” Kath said as Poppy nodded, standing next to her large door as she smiled kindly.

“Of course, I look forward to our work together.” She waved goodbye as Kath walked outside, followed by Bea who lingered just a little, looking Poppy over as the woman ignored her. Bea left with a sigh, catching Lana’s eye as the girl stood from her seat on the couch.

She waved to Bea and Bea waved subtly back, stepping into the elevator with Kath as she hit the ground button.

“Well, I think that went wonderfully.” Kath smiled, looking down at the pristine contract in front of her.

Maybe it went “pristine” for Kath, but Bea was still reeling with the knowledge that Lana was working for Poppy now, or at least for some time until her gig ended. It probably shouldn’t be as much of a shock as it was. Lana was an excellent model and Poppy always seemed to know what she was doing.

Still, the knowledge made her sick, all the way to the office.

Spinning her desk chair, Bea brought her pen to her forehead, tapping it against her skin as she looked down at her work in front of her. After returning to the office, Kath left Bea for a meeting and Bea had retreated into her own space.

She hadn’t completed much, but considering this project was now her biggest, Bea was brainstorming ideas of what Poppy may want in her giant new location.

Lana had been right, Bea literally didn’t know much about fashion besides what Zoey had taught her years ago. This also meant that Bea had a limited idea of what to include in any of the designs.

It wasn’t like there was much research to do either. Most places didn’t disclose those kinds of secrets, so Bea had stuck with what she did know. Where to include better elevators, possible conference rooms, and bathrooms.

She was currently scribbling on thin white grid paper, the largest she could find as she gently traced some definite lines with her pen. Fifty-six floors was going to be something else to design. Probably at least a whole year to plan and then another two years to finish with construction. So, Poppy was correct, the two would be working together for quite some time.

But, if Bea could pull away with a promotion from Kath? It would all be worth it.

“Knock , knock.” Mei said, holding up a bottle of doctor pepper as she walked into the office. Bea set down her pen, thanking the girl as she handed her the drink before looking at Bea’s desk.

“Wow, gorgeous plot.” Mei said, picking up one of the photos Bea had printed as she turned it over in her hands. “This is for your big client?”

“Yep, finalized today, so expect to see Kath in a fantastic mood.”

“Of course, hey, a group of us are going to head out to dinner next Friday to celebrate Gina’s new baby. She wanted me to invite you.” Mei said as Bea leaned against her desk.

“Gina already had her kid? It feels like yesterday she went on maternity leave…”

“Yea, but she’s coming back in a few more weeks so we wanted to meet up before then.” Mei smiled, setting down the photo and turning away from Bea’s desk.

“Think it over and send me a text with your answer. You can bring a date too…” Bea perked, smiling to herself as she opened up her soda.

Technically, hanging out with multiple people wouldn’t be a date, meaning she could definitely invite a certain copper-haired goddess to this dinner gathering. She wrote it down in her mental checklist, turning back to her work as Bea continued to map out multiple floors against her papers. This was a hefty project indeed.

An hour of work later, Bea had completed plotting around five stories of the massive building. She still had no idea what would compose some of the other floors, but she would have to listen to whatever complaints Poppy had about it.

That was something to wonder about. How difficult would Poppy make this job?

Considering she already tried to have Bea fired, Bea suspected it was going to be pretty damn difficult.

She had always been a perfectionist, ever since their time at Belvoire. That one commercial they filmed was only one instance among thousands.

���Bea,” Mei’s voice called out from the hall, causing Bea to look outside and into the long wood hallway. “Kath wants to see you on floor 32.” She finished as Bea pushed herself away from her desk, grabbing her phone and walking out of her office.

She walked by her colleagues' spaces, waving to some as they continued to work. It was a rather slow day in the office, but still filled with people all working on designs and other parts of the business.

“Bea, are you coming to the welcoming party for Gina?” Taylor asked from his office as Bea stopped in front of the frame, looking inside. He stood by a large wood model of a building as he held up a sharp pencil.

“I’m still deciding.” Bea told the man who pushed ginger locks out of his face.

“You should totally come. She’s bringing her new baby!” He smiled as Bea nodded, waving goodbye and heading towards the front.

It was strange to think that only a year ago, Gina wasn’t a mother, but now she had a new baby girl. Bea wondered what that kind of change did to a person. Heaven knows she didn’t have the best experience with parental authorities.

Reaching the elevator, Bea stepped in, whipping out her phone and shooting Lana a text.

Bea: So, I know it was crazy seeing you at the Belle building today and I wished you had told me about your new gig, but I’m going to put that aside and ask if you’re free next Friday?

A few seconds later, Bea’s phone dinged in her hands.

Lana: Maybe you should have told me about your new job too. What’s happening next Friday?

Bea grinned happily, just as the elevator dinged and opened up to the one floor with a large balcony taking up half of the space.

Bea: My work mates are having a welcome back party for Gina, one of the senior architects. I wanted to ask if you’ll be my “date.”

Lana: We can’t go on dates…yet

She typed a quick response.

Bea: We’ll be with other people so it’s technically not a “date” date.

Her phone stopped buzzing, causing Bea to frown in disappointment before she pocketed it and walked onto the floor. A large set of double doors sat in front as Bea knocked on them, before hearing Kath’s voice.

“Come in.” She said as Bea pushed inside of the room, immediately blown away at the dazzling view of New York.

The floor was almost as nice as Kath’s office, just a couple of floors above this one as Bea looked around. To the side was a wide coffee bar with a tiny refrigerator, a sitting area with stark white couches and a huge table in the middle. There was also a large desk off near the side with an Apple computer.

Bea whistled under her breath, stepping into the large room as Kath leaned against the desk.

“Wow, are you relocating Kath?” Bea asked, pocketing her hands as her boss held out a single key to her.

“Not quite, but you are.” Bea stared at the silver key, dumbfounded as Kath approached her.

“Temporarily, well, unless you can satisfy your new client.” She placed the key in Bea’s outstretched palm. “You can move some of your things in here and make the place feel more like yours. I decided you needed an upgrade from your typical office.”

Considering her “typical” office was about five times smaller than the one Bea was currently in, she was at a loss for words.

“Th-Thank you Kath.” Bea said as the woman smiled kindly.

“You’re welcome Hughes, but remember, it’s temporary until you can prove to me that you completely satisfied Ms. Min-Sinclair.”

“Of course, yes.” Bea smiled, giddily looking at the key in her palm as Kath patted her on the shoulder.

“I’ll let you have a look around, there’s also a working T.V on that wall over there.” She said as Bea stared, starstruck at her new office as Kath walked up the set of small stairs leading into the place.

“Oh, make sure you have your meetings with Ms. Min-Sinclair here, just to show her that Rensler is quite serious about this job.” She waved goodbye, leaving Bea alone in the massive space as Bea glanced around.

She had…literally no idea what to do with all of this.

Walking over to the desk, Bea clicked the monitor to life, typing in her credentials and taking a seat. Even the chair was comfy.

She spun on the wheels just a little, looking around her cool new office as she looked through empty drawers and opened cabinets. A set of buttons rested under the desk, one controlling the lighting, another made the window blinds drop, concealing the office from the outside world and the other turned on the T.V across the room.

The T.V switched on, displaying some random news channel as Bea watched, jittering with excitement like a little kid on Christmas as the station played.

“Now, introducing…the queen of pop…Jaylen Riaz!!!” The T.V announcer screamed as the woman walked onto the stage, smiling brightly as Bea perked.

Jaylen Riaz… It felt like forever since Bea had last heard that name. In fact, it probably was forever, considering it was her first ever football match at Belvoire University and also…

--------------------------------------------

“Bea, what the hell are you wearing?” Zoey asked, looking at the girl who had just entered the stadium with her backpack swung over her shoulder.

It was a hot Belvoire day and the constant cheers from students didn’t help with the noise as Bea glanced around. It was the first football game of the season and Bea…really wasn’t interested, but Zoey had told her she needed to show. Due to queenly duties and the Alphas apparently begging for Bea to come.

“Um…” Bea looked down, wearing a simple white tank top and black jean shorts with a flannel shirt wrapped around her middle. “My…clothes?”

“You look like every other student here. What did I tell you about fashion?” Zoey asked as she tapped her foot against one of the bleacher benches. Zoey actually looked very cute. She had styled her hair into a cascading ponytail while she wore an obviously custom-made jersey with some bling on the shoulders. She topped it off with light blue shorts and sandals as a pair of orange sunglasses rested on her head.

“I’m sorry Zo, but I am not wearing a new outfit every single day for the next two years.” Bea complained, setting her bag on the seat next to Zoey's as she sat next to the girl.

“Bea, I swear you’re making this more difficult than it should be. If you want to beat Poppy, you’re going to have to make some sacrifices.” Zoey commented, bumping her shoulder against Beas as she pointed down at where the Zeta dancing queens were putting the finishing touches to their dances.

Standing in the middle of it all, with a gold/purple cheer outfit that dipped in the front, was Poppy with her hair tied back and a few thick strands falling in front of her eyes. She wore thigh high white thin stockings as she yelled commands at the dancing Zeta girls who all wore similar attire.

Bea tried to keep her eyes from lingering too long as she looked at Poppy, before feeling Zoey bump Bea hard against her shoulder.

“What are you doing? You don’t stare at the competition.” Zoey said as Bea rolled her eyes playfully, subtly casting glances at Poppy who continued to practice her routine.

It had only been a couple of days since their run in at the mall and it probably wasn’t a good sign that Bea continuously thought about it. Though, it was purely due to curiosity

She couldn’t wrap her finger around it.

Bea had never felt like this. She had hooked up with plenty of people. She liked having fun with them with no strings attached. She liked not dating them.

When she made it to Belvoire, Bea wasn’t going to date people. She would have fun, casual flings and then she would go back to her regular routine. Her promise to herself was part of larger problems, but it was still a promise she was going to keep.

But Poppy made it difficult. Even if she absolutely despised Bea, Bea couldn’t help but feel curious about the girl. She was gorgeous, obviously, but her personality was something to gawk at. She was probably the cruelest girl Bea had ever met, to strangers and to her own friends.

Yet Bea couldn’t help but want to bump into Poppy. She also kinda wanted to learn more about her, against the protests of Zoey, but Bea was keeping that thought to herself.

So instead, she chalked it up to something else. She wanted Poppy, physical reasons only. Just for a night if the girl would allow it. Maybe that would satisfy Bea’s curiosity about her.

Though, from the looks of it, Poppy wanted nothing to do with Bea. There was also the long-term jock boyfriend issue. Bea was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a cheater and she didn’t hang out with girls who had boyfriends. Especially boyfriends with a short leash.

Bea hummed at the thought, returning her attention to the dancers.

From the looks of it, Poppy definitely wasn’t the strongest on the team, but she was somewhat better than most of the girls. Though Chloe seemed like she was practicing with absolute ease.

“So, are you ready for your segment with the Alphas during halftime?” Zoey asked as Bea shrugged.

“I guess, but it’s kinda stupid, right? I mean, Jaylen Riaz? Isn’t she kinda…washed up?”

Zoey smacked Bea on the shoulder, glaring at the brunette as Zoey whipped out her phone like a true professional.

“Washed up? The girl is blowing it up on Twitter every week! Everyone at Belvoire knows her, loves her, and wants to see her perform live.” Zoey scrolled through photos of Jaylen as Bea watched, before her eyes trailed back to Poppy’s form who was no longer alone, but instead was yelling frantically at a figure in front of her.

“...Cool Zo, I’m going to go change into that outfit you bought me…” Bea mumbled as Zoey gave her a satisfactory nod as Bea took off, subtly walking off in the direction of where Poppy stood, with Carter standing near her.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Poppy seethed from the sides as Bea listened in. “You’re apologizing for leaving me at the strip and now you’re breaking up with me?! You are aware that I’m currently preparing for the halftime show, correct?” Poppy asked, as if Carter was the stupidest human on earth. He rubbed his neck awkwardly, holding his helmet to his chest as he looked at Poppy.

“We’ve been growing apart for awhile and I think-”

“Carter, save your sob story for someone who cares. I’m busy and you have a game to win. We can discuss this later.” She said, brushing past the boy who looked at her retreating form with a heavy sigh. Bea hummed to herself, leaning casually against the bleachers and knocking on the bench.

Carter glanced up, looking at Bea with confusion as Bea smiled. “Hey Carter, sorry, I was just passing by and I heard that…”

“Oh, it’s just…. I’m really confused Bea.” Carter said, glancing down at his football helmet as Bea nodded sympathetically. That definitely was a sentence he said a lot.

“To tell you the truth Carter, if you’re not happy in your relationship, why should you stay in it?” Bea stated, pushing down her evil consciousness and speaking like a friend consoling another friend.

“But I love Poppy, it’s just- She’s not the same girl I started dating. She’s different now.”

“I would agree, but I’ve only known the devil-spawn. New girl and all.” Bea said, gesturing to herself as she pulled herself a little higher, lightly tapping the wood as she stood. “It’s your choice Carter, but you should be happy too. Not some glorified boy toy.” Bea waved goodbye to the boy, heading towards the back of the stadium to change into the outfit Zoey had given her the other day.

That… was an interesting discussion.

She shook her head, pocketing her hands as she walked further into the back. So what if her conscience was eating at her for “helpfully” hinting for Carter to break up with Poppy? She was being a good friend cause no one should have to suffer through the pain of dating Poppy Min-Sinclair. That was the kind of torture that even Bea wouldn’t endure.

Stopping in front of the vending machine, Bea grabbed her card, swiping it through the scanner and clicking on some buttons. Slowly, a snickers bar dropped from the machine as Bea went to pick it up, before feeling a presence walk behind her. A short presence, but still a presence.

Turning around, Bea looked down at Poppy who shot her a death glare. “Move it Hughes.” Poppy said as Bea stepped to the side, letting Poppy swipe her black card against the machine and click on an electrolyte water.

“None of your minions would get that for you?” Bea asked, unwrapping her candy as Poppy pointedly ignored her. The water dropped and Poppy leaned to pick it up, as Bea silently looked up.

She still had a boyfriend and Bea was being respectful…kinda.

Poppy stood back up, glancing at Bea who was staring at the ceiling before she rolled her eyes. She pushed past Bea, pointedly ramming her shoulder into Bea who silently winced.

“Good luck.” Bea mumbled as she walked off, grabbing the outfit Zoey had bought and heading into the ladies room.

Two hours later, Bea was standing on the sides of the game, watching the Zetas perform as they did flips and cheers in front of the whole school who cheered happily. Standing smack dab in the middle, with a satisfied grin on her face, Poppy performed flawlessly as all of her Zeta girls followed her lead.

It was…rather impressive, but nothing too spectacular.

“Give it up for the Zeta Dancing Queens!!!” The announcer shouted as the girls walked off field, Poppy walking straight past Bea who was only smirking.

“Now, introducing the one…the only…Jaylen Riaz!!!” The announcer screamed as the crowd went wild. Driving up in a sleek ride, Jaylen stood in the back waving at the crowds of Belvoire as she yelled into her mic.

“Thank you Belvoire!!! Please, help me introduce my new friend and your future queen, Bea Hughes!!” She yelled as Bea walked onto the field, waving at all of the Belvoire students who yelled Bea’s name. Some screamed while others looked like they were crying as Bea walked up, wearing a matching Belvoire jersey like the one Zoey had as Bea pointed at the back of the shirt with “Queen B'' stitched on in fancy letters.

Glancing at the side, Bea saw Poppy who was absolutely fuming, watching Bea approach Jaylen who smirked.

“I’m going to sing you guys something off of my new album, I hope you all love it as much as I do!” The woman began to sing and… granted, it wasn’t that great to Bea, but she was more focused on her own dance performance with the Alphas than anything else.

All of the boys, after hours of grueling practice, performed their dances perfectly as Bea led them all with stride. Some did backflips, others did simple moves as Bea grabbed her mic and looked across the sea of students all mesmerized by Jaylen.

“Give it up for Jaylen Belvoire!” Bea yelled into her mic as one of the Alphas threw her a football, all part of the routine. Bea caught it easily, tossing it in the air and throwing it into the crowd as they all screamed in joy. From the side, Poppy was chugging her electrolyte water and yelling at her girls to stop dancing.

“But Poppy!!! It’s so good!” Ohio yelled, dancing wildly as others joined. Poppy looked like she was going to pass out from how red she was turning.

Jaylen’s song had almost reached its end, dozens of students singing along as Bea joined in, smiling wide and shooting Zoey a thumbs up just as the announcer came back through the speaker phones.

“An absolutely stunning performance from Bea Hughes and the Alphas! Now, Belvoire, it’s time for the kiss cam!!!” The announcer yelled, spinning the camera towards Bea who smiled wide. Her eyes darted to Poppy who was still fuming on the sidelines, before Bea walked up to Jaylen’s car, knocking on the metal and winking up at the girl who leaned down.

“Why not?” She smirked, kneeling down and pressing a kiss to Bea’s lips as she kissed the girl back. The crowd exploded into cheers and then a devilish shriek erupted from the side, causing Bea to break away from Jaylen just as Poppy stomped back onto the field.

She had lost the ponytail as she looked wide eyed at all of the people on the field. “No No NO!!” She shrieked as she gestured angrily towards the crowds. “Halftime is mine!!! How could any of you like this trashy performance?!” Poppy yelled as she gave Bea a murderous glare. The cameraman who was on the field swung the camera over to Poppy who was seconds away from a mental breakdown.

That might have sent a shiver up Bea’s arms as she backed away from Jaylen, glancing at Poppy who hadn’t stopped glaring. She took a step towards Bea who wanted to take one step back before Bea saw Carter step through the crowded Alphas with a worried expression.

“Babe, calm down, it’s-” She turned on Carter with an even angrier glare as she pointed a sharp nail at the man’s chest.

“You- How dare you help her?!” She screamed as Carter took a set back. “You stupid, ugly, useless idiot!! We’re over!!!” She yelled as Carter reeled back in horror.

The crowd gasped as Poppy looked out towards them, fury in her eyes as she yelled again. “Bea Hughes is a fucking joke! You think SHE could be a better queen than me?!” She snapped, turning sharply on her heel and lunging at Bea who yelped before a few Alphas wrangled her away and kept her from murdering Bea on the football field.

The crowd began to boo, Poppy wrestled out of the Alpha’s grip before she flipped off the crowd and stalked off, heat radiating with every step. She pushed some of the Zeta girls out of her way as everyone watched her retreating form, Bea included.

“...And that concludes the performances for halftime! Thanks for tuning in Belvoire!” The announcer said, before the mic went dead and the mumbling of the crowds resumed.

Taking a deep breath, Bea cleared her throat, just as Zoey ran down from the bleachers and approached the group that began heading off field.

“Well, that went fantastic.” Zoey smiled as Bea gave her a dumbfounded look.

“I’ll explain it to you later babes. For now, celebratory pizza?” She asked, holding out her fist for Bea to bump it.

She wouldn’t describe this as fantastic, but Bea would never deny pizza. She bumped Zoey’s fist, before pulling the girl closer and giving her a side hug.

“Celebratory pizza, definitely.” The two thanked Jaylen before walking off into the quad. Conveniently, Bea heard the scream before she could even see the banshee.

Standing next to the fountain, Bea finally stopped, finding Poppy seething as her “friends” crowded around her.

“I don’t know why I even bother with any of you stupid cows! You don’t think I saw you all cheering along to SweetCreek’s performance?!” Poppy yelled as the Alphas and Zetas in front of her shrinked.

“It was just-” Ohio tried before Poppy pushed her away as she landed in Michael’s arms.

“Save it, one more word and I could have you all expelled from this school.” Poppy warned as her group stayed quiet. Bea tentatively walked up, just as Poppy’s eyes snapped over to her.

“Oh great, Saint Bea and friends have arrived. What? Here to ruin something else?” Poppy spat as Bea shrugged.

“You’re doing pretty well ruining things yourself. Tell me Poppy, when was the last time someone actually liked being around you?” Bea asked, swinging an arm around Zoey who smirked.

“From the looks of it, your so-called friends can’t stand you.” Bea smiled as the group around Poppy chimed in small complaints.

“Yea, Poppy, I’m…I’m tired of you always calling me an idiot! And saying my relationship with Michael is as fake as Stacy’s boob job!” Ohio yelped as Poppy shot her a glare, just as Michael added his two cents.

“Woah, Stacy has a fake boob job? They feel so real…”

“Michael?!” Ohio exclaimed as more people approached, specifically a downtrodden Carter who glanced at Poppy.

“Yea Poppy, and breaking up with Carter like that? Not cool.” Ford said, crossing his arms over his chest as the rest of Poppy’s friends began to berate her.

“You think I need any of you? Just watch, once this nobody goes back to Whoville, you’ll all come back begging for my forgiveness. Without me, none of you would even know how to function, better yet, actually get somewhere in life.” Poppy hissed like a cornered cat as Bea and Zoey watched from the sides. “SweetCreek doesn’t give a crap about any of you.”

“Hey, Bea hasn’t done anything wrong since she got here.” Carter spoke, still looking sad as he cleared his throat.

“Yeah Poppy, you’ve had it out for Bea since the beginning. Consider yourself off the Alpha’s list.” Michael added as the rest of the Alphas nodded in agreement.

“Boo effing hoo, Michael. Like I would even want to step foot into that vermin infested household.”

“Wait, you guys have pet rats?” Chloe asked, the dumb idiot she was. Poppy friends continued to sling insults as the girl continued to quip back, until Bea took a small step forward, dropping her hold around Zoey’s shoulders.

“Guys, guys, let’s not beat a dead horse. I think she gets it.” Poppy finally returned her gaze to Bea and it was even more terrifying than Bea had previously thought. She took a step forward, coming face to face with her before grabbing the collar of Bea’s jersey and pulling her down roughly. Gasps escaped around the crowd as Bea held back a gulp or even a wince.

They were face to face, heat and anger radiating off of Poppy who starred literal daggers into Bea’s eyes. Bea had stopped breathing as the crowd around stopped talking, the only sound was Poppy’s angry breaths.

This girl really hated her.

“You think you can brainwash my friends and overthrow me? You’re even more stupid than I thought.” Poppy spat as she tightened her grip around Bea’s collar. Bea was surprised the fabric hadn’t ripped.

“Listen closely bitch.” Poppy hissed, almost smashing her forehead against Bea’s as Bea winced slightly. Shit.

“I’m done playing nice. Your little game is over. Your taste of power? Gone.” She pushed Bea roughly, causing her to tumble just a little as she gulped. Zoey pressed a hand to Bea’s back, glaring at Poppy who flicked her hair off of her shoulder.

“I’m going to make you wish you never even stepped foot at Belvoire.”

-------------------------------------------------

“Send her up.”’ Bea spoke through the telecom as she walked back over to her desk.

After a couple of days of redecorating, Bea felt more at home in her new office. She had grabbed some spare furniture from some of the other floors, bought some art pieces to display and even stocked some things in the mini fridge. If it was only temporary, she was going to use it to its maximum potential.

What Bea really liked was the huge table in the center that allowed Bea to spread all of her documents across the surface. She liked having all of her ideas spread out in front of her.

Pulling up some files on her computer, Bea scrolled through them, just as she heard the elevator ding.

Kath had finalized the documents only yesterday and, true to her word, Poppy had decided to stop by the next day to begin design discussion. Since most of Bea’s clients let her work how she liked, Bea had expected the same from Poppy, but was soon proved wrong.

Apparently, Poppy really did have a distinct vision for this building. It was all outlined in the contract about a hands on job and nothing being finalized without Poppy’s okay. That made the job more complicated, but she would have to power through if she had any hopes of actually being promoted.

Slipping on a dark blue vest over her white dress shirt, Bea opened the door, just as Poppy’s hand was poised to knock.

She dropped it, looking Bea up and down before returning her eyes to the front. “Your receptionist told me to come up here.” Poppy spoke, no hint of emotion in her tone as Bea held the door a little wider. She cleared her throat, fighting the awkwardness in her bones as she gestured inside her office.

“Yes, we’ll be working in my office for most of the designing process.” Bea said as Poppy shrugged off the coat on her shoulders, a beautiful tanned velvet piece that covered her lavender silk top and white pencil skirt with a light brown belt tied around her waist.

It was a stylish outfit, paired with sleek black heels as Poppy suddenly pushed her coat into Bea’s arms. She took it in surprise, smelling the rose perfume Poppy wore as she coughed slightly. It was the same from Belvoire and Bea suddenly became very aware that she would have to spend the next three hours with Poppy. When she could barely stand three minutes.

“Please, come in.”

------------------------------------------

세계의 끝까지

[sparring-hyena]

the duality of one Poppy Min-Sinclair.

in which there is an abundance of duality in words and their meaning.

OR, my own imagining of post-chapter 6.

-

-

she says i hate you a lot. her therapist explains that it’s all secondary stuff—the rage and anger that simmers behind her eyes—that she’s only trying to protect herself.

“well, that’s bullshit,” Poppy had said the first time her therapist had tried explaining it to her.

her therapist had only hummed and scribbled something on her notepad.

in later sessions, when the i hate yous had been mentioned, Poppy had been met with more scribbled notes and a few questions that toed a very fine line.

and then—then—she lets a name slip.

“sometimes i think she does it on purpose,” Poppy says, itching to just get everything out of her head after the messy day she’s had.

“who?”

“AJ.”

“and who’s AJ?” a note is made. something is circled.

the question gets Poppy to stop, because in the entire time she’s been coming to Dr Limm, she hasn’t mentioned AJ. has made a very conscious effort to not mention her.

“Poppy?” Dr Limm studies Poppy, waits for her in a way that grants her too much patience. “you haven’t mentioned AJ before. is she someone significant?”

her brain laughs and mocks. shouts yes yes yes as she tries to form a no in her mouth.

“Poppy—”

“she’s irrelevant.”

another note is made. fuck.

“why do you feel she tries to deliberately sabotage you then?”

“i don’t,” is Poppy’s clipped response.

another note. another circle. double fuck.

“i’m sorry, i actually—” Poppy gets out of the chair and grabs her purse. her legs feel shaky. “i just remembered i need to leave early today. some compulsory sorority thing. you understand. i’ll see you next week.”

she stumbles out of Dr Limm’s office and claws at the scarf around her neck when she’s finally on the busy street. and before Poppy can think about it, she’s got her phone in her hand and sends a simple you free? text to AJ.

the response is almost immediate.

i can be at your place in twenty.

Poppy answers with a good and immediately hails a cab.

-

they don’t talk. they bite and moan and fuck, and Poppy can feel an i hate you zapping across her veins, sending delicious jolts out to her fingers and toes.

she comes down from her high, realises that AJ’s got her pressed up against the door, and that they never even made it to her bed.

AJ grins in a way that’s much too knowing and carries the heavy promise of a comment that Poppy will pretend to hate. so she kisses her again; swallows whatever words AJ had been about to breathe.

their hands begin to wander again, and Poppy makes quick work of pushing AJ back until they both tumble onto the bed.

-

she texts AJ every night that week.

-

“have you given any thought to what we started discussing last week?” it’s the first question out of Dr Limm’s mouth.

Poppy raises an eyebrow and cocks her head to one side, pretends she has no idea what Dr Limm is talking about, pretends she hasn’t spent the last week being consumed by AJ and the knowledge that come four o’clock on Friday afternoon, she’ll be sitting on a too-soft couch as she’s forced to confront everything she’s pushed into the deep crevices of her brain.

“about how you feel this AJ is deliberately sabotaging you?”

“no.”

“that’s okay. would you like to discuss it this week?”

“no.”

Dr Limm nods; makes a note and circles something. Poppy has no doubt that that little titbit is going to hit her out of nowhere like a freight train.

“that’s okay too. we can come back to it when you’re ready. what about, this week, we follow up on your parents?”

and that’s a whole separate mess that Poppy really doesn’t want to get into, but she’d rather talk about them and maybe make some progress with that, than talk about AJ. so she dumps all the recent developments with her parents onto Dr Limm, and if any of it shocks Dr Limm, she doesn’t let it show.

it’s in the final few minutes of their session that Dr Limm says, “seeking parental approval is a very normal thing that most of us don’t really give a second thought to. but just be careful that you don’t sacrifice your own hopes for life in the pursuit of that approval.”

“that’s not what i’m doing.”

“i didn’t say you were,” Dr Limm says, firm and understanding. “sometimes we just need to be reminded of it every now and then.”

-

Poppy skips the family dinner her parents are now doing every week—an attempt to piece everything back together. she sends a thinly veiled lie in the form of a text to her mother. the response takes a while, but when it does arrive, all it reads is okay. we’ll see you next week.

she goes, instead, to the library. an unusual choice, she knows. but it’s almost six o’clock on a Friday—the library will be the only quiet place on campus.

she wanders the stacks and then, by some strange bout of luck or fate or whatever-the-fuck, finds AJ sitting on the dusty floor with her head buried in her phone.

“what are you doing here, Hughes?”

“huh?” AJ’s head snaps up, her face shifts from confusion to shock to something that almost dares to be fond. “oh, hey.”

“why are you in the library on a Friday night?”

“why are you in the library on a Friday night?” AJ scoots to the side and pats the floor beside her. “figured you’d have a party or something better to do.”

“hardly.” Poppy shrugs and joins AJ on the floor. “in case you haven’t noticed, i’m not the most popular person right now.”

“you’re not wrong there.”

Poppy smacks AJ’s shoulder.

“hey now, you’re the one who said it. i was just agreeing with you. isn’t that a good thing?”

“god i hate you sometimes,” Poppy says, even as she settles against AJ’s side and drops her head on her shoulder.

“i hate you too.” AJ absently plays with Poppy’s fingers. “whatcha been up to today?”

“therapy,” Poppy says in what she decides must be a moment of weakness, because there’s no other way to explain why she admits that.

“i didn’t know you went to therapy.”

Poppy shrugs, tries to play it off and force the moment of vulnerability away. “it was my parents’ idea after everything that happened last year.”

“is it helping?”

Poppy scoffs. “no.”

“then why go if you don’t think it’s helping?”

Poppy doesn’t know how to answer. because, she thinks and maybe feels in some small cluster of cells, that she wants it to help. wants so badly to understand and heal and do better. but she doubts that’s a very good reason, so she shrugs and says, “parents, remember.”

“right.”

a moment of silences passes between them, a beat where nothing happens, and Poppy silently enjoys the way AJ’s tracing lazy patterns on her palm.

“what now?” AJ asks.

“wanna fuck?”

AJ laughs and leans in to kiss Poppy.

-

Poppy continues to unpack the mess with her parents in therapy in the weeks that follow, and is quietly disappointed when Dr Limm doesn’t once ask about AJ.

-

“i saw AJ slip out early this morning,” Veronica says as she pokes through the fridge.

Poppy looks up from her phone, places it facedown on the countertop, and feels her heart pound against her chest—ba dum, ba dum. “oh?”

Veronica hums and spares a glance over her shoulder at Poppy who’s suddenly more alert. she smiles and plucks a fruity drink from the fridge. “since when were you two fucking?”

Poppy schools her expression and it takes a lot to not choke on the air. from the smirk Veronica sends her, Poppy knows she knows it too.

“well?” Veronica has a sip of her drink.

“we aren’t. i hate her.”

“oh?”

“she was just helping me with... a thing.”

“you hate her.”

Poppy shrugs.

“a thing, at six o’clock in the morning?”

“yes.”

Poppy’s phone buzzes on the counter. they both look at it and then at each other like they both know who it is.

“well, the next time AJ helps you with a thing that early in the morning, don’t make her climb through the window when she’s coming and going.” Veronica smirks. “it’s not very subtle.”

when Veronica leaves, Poppy flips her phone over and finds a text from AJ.

you going to the party tonight?

she rolls her eyes but smiles nevertheless and types out a yes.

AJ responds with a winking face emoji and Poppy heart reacts to it.

-

Poppy comes down from her high with her skirt rucked up around her waist and AJ’s fingers inside her. she takes a moment to catch her breath, and once she does, she smacks AJ’s shoulder.

“ow! what the fuck?”

“i hate you.”

“oh, that’s rich—”

“Veronica saw you leaving this morning.”

“oh.” AJ pulls away from Poppy in what little space the tight bathroom affords them. “sorry.” she looks sheepish and genuinely apologetic, and Poppy can’t tell if she appreciates or hates that.

fuck.

Poppy slips off the sink and away from AJ, and for the first time in the whole time they’ve been doing this, it’s awkward between them. the air around them is thick, oppressive, and Poppy wants—wants so badly—to cut right through it with something because she hates this stale stiffness.

they fix their clothes and hair silently, and just before Poppy leaves, AJ speaks.

“hey, um, i am sorry. about this morning, i mean. i was just...”

“i know.”

AJ smiles softly. “i’ll be more careful.”

the next time goes unsaid but the quiet smile they offer each other says just as much.

“thank you.”

-

“why haven’t you asked me about her?” she doesn’t mean to ask it as soon as she sits down in front of Dr Limm. doesn’t mean to show so much vulnerability and openness with the utterance of seven little words.

“who?” Dr Limm asks, calm and patient.

Poppy hates that she has to say it out loud. can’t she just know?

“AJ.”

“ah.” Dr Limm takes her glasses off and folds them neatly on her notepad. “are you ready to talk about her?”

“no, i just— why haven’t you asked me about her?”

“you weren’t ready, you just said so.”

“right, but...” she stops, plays with the ring on her right forefinger, and watches a bird fly past the window. “i hate her,” she says and then she doesn’t stop. everything that’s been quietly building for months comes tumbling out—all the pain and hate and painful wanting longing. it sits between them, and then, as if to prove something to Dr Limm or herself or the fucking universe, Poppy says, “i hate her. so much.”

Dr Limm makes a note and circles something. “remember what i said about hate and anger being secondary emotions?”

Poppy hums.

“so all that frustration you have for AJ, do you think that’s what you show to the world because you’re trying to protect what you actually feel for her?”

Poppy folds her arms over her chest and sits up straight in the too-soft couch. “and what do i actually feel for her?”

“that’s something you need to figure out for yourself. i’m just here to help getting to that point a little easier.” Dr Limm checks her watch. “we are out of time for today, but before next week, i want you to do some homework.”

“homework?”

“next time you think you hate AJ, instead of saying it, stop and think about why you think you hate her.”

“why?”

Dr Limm offers her this odd smile that almost comes across as sad, like she wishes Poppy didn’t have to ask why? “because from everything you’ve told me, i don’t think you hate her, and careful thought might help you realise that.”

“that’s ridiculous.”

“then what’s the harm in giving it a go?”

-

she does give it a go the next time AJ sneaks up to her room for a midnight rendezvous.

they throw their sharp words and kiss and fuck and pretend that it’s hate driving them together. and then they lay together, staring up at the ceiling and quietly enjoying each other’s company. it’s all very strange and Poppy— she wants to understand why she doesn’t hate this time spent with AJ. why she probably, maybe, actually, doesn’t hate AJ at all.

fuck.

“what are you thinking?” AJ asks into the quiet bubble they’ve made.

“do you want to come to dinner with my parents next week?” Poppy doesn’t look at AJ as she asks the question—makes a point not to—but she does feel her move beside her. she doesn’t have to look to know that AJ’s looking at her.

when AJ doesn’t answer, Poppy turns to look at her.

“why?” AJ asks.

“why what?”

“why do you want me to come to dinner with your parents?”

“because...” and she doesn’t know what to say. she thinks i hate you mostly because it’s a reflex at this point, but she holds off on saying it and uses all those things Dr Limm has taught her to figure out what the i hate yous really mean.

“because...?” AJ’s searching for the rest of her answer and looking at her like she knows exactly what it is, like she’s always known what it is. and Poppy’s almost certain she hates that.

“you know what? fuck you.” she gets out of bed and pulls a shirt over her head and realises too late that it’s AJ shirt. she huffs and pulls it off and searches the floor for something that’s not AJ’s.

argh! why are her clothes in my room?

“wait, wait— what?” AJ clambers out of bed and pulls her shirt on when Poppy throws it in her general direction. “thirty seconds ago you asked me to come to dinner with your parents.”

“that’s because— because—” i like you and i love you and i want you and i need you, she thinks and burns to say. she yanks AJ in for a kiss then, hard and desperate and she hopes it speaks the words she just can’t say.

she feels AJ’s hand flail in the air, no doubt trying to understand the last forty-five seconds. but eventually, finally, AJ’s hands settle on Poppy’s waist, and the kiss slows down.

“come to dinner with my parents next week?” Poppy asks again, her mind finally calm and collected and ready.

“why?”

“because it’s about time i introduce you to my parents as my girlfriend.”

“girlfriend, huh?”

“well i’m not introducing you as my fuck buddy.”

“i said that one time!”

Poppy shrugs, amused and suddenly confident in what she feels. “so dinner?”

AJ furrows her brow and purses and lips, like she’s considering something. “i dunno, i’ll have to check if i’m free—”

Poppy smacks her arm, light and teasing.

“ow!”

“just say yes.”

AJ smiles, something soft and sweet that says a lot more than words ever could. “of course i’ll go to dinner with you and your parents.”

“good.” she pulls AJ in for another kiss and feels an i love you thrumming along her veins.