#in his smug stoopid face

[whoopsmorewhump]

It's okay just to say 'I'm not okay' (platonic stobin fic)

Robin and Steve feel each other’s pain more than they’ll admit, even to each other. From Whumptober day 30, “It’s okay just to say I’m not okay” bridal carry; plus, another lovely prompt from pearlravenlapis (not quoted here, as it gives too much plot away!)

Rated T; no warnings; Also on AO3.

***

The day had started more than okay.

This adorable girl rocked up at Scoops, with the latest issue of “UFO Reality” tucked under her arm. Robin blurted: “You read it yet? The story on alien skulls inscribed with teeny, snack-sized messages from Elvis totally slayed me dead.”

Dream-girl’s shy smile turned Robin’s knees to jello.

She introduced herself as Maud, and they chatted UFOs for the next forever. Right until a square-jawed, smug-as-hell knucklehead loped into the store, and Maud announced he was her boyfriend.

Now, Robin watched her latest unrequited crush sharing a Strawberry Sundae Extra with her excruciatingly not-worthy-of-her date.

“Seriously, Robin,” said Steve, levelling at her shoulder. “I’ve seen more electricity between a pair of squashed ants. They’re not even talking.” 

Robin wasn’t in the mood for chirpy delusion: “That’s because they’re mainlining ice-cream, Steve.”

“She’s hardly stuffing her face. She couldn’t stop blabbering with you.”

Unable to endure the sight any longer, Robin swung her attention onto him. He was chewing on… Hmmm, to be fair, that was only his first banana of the day. Unusual. He dumped half of it, uneaten, on the hatch.

“Did she even actually wanna talk to me?” wondered Robin out loud. “I honestly can’t remember if she got a word in edgeways. You know how it is, when I can’t stop talking. It’s a fault, believe me I know—"

“You were fine. You said stuff. Maud said stuff back. And it’s not a fault—your mom spouts nasty bullshit, you should accept that. My point is, that girl you like totally—”

“—hates me.” Robin sighed.

“No. She’s probably confused.” He sniffed, pushed his hair from his brow. “She should dump that moron’s ass. Who hangs out in an ice-cream joint when it's this damn cold? It’s practically snowing out there."

"It's not cold in here, Steve.”

“It’s goddamn freezing! I mean, it’s this stoopid outfit—what fascist dictator makes their staff wear shorts in winter?”

“Stopped caring. I'm too institutionalised into looking like a dweeb.” She peeped back, to where Maud spooned a cherry into that jack-ass jock’s cakehole. Argh! She wanted to scream. Instead, she mumbled: “Shit-birds, do you think Maud thinks I'm a dweeb?”

“Jesus, how many times? Look, she reads dweeby UFO mags. So do you! Beyond that, I’m not an alien mind-probe, so quit bugging me already.” She gawked at him—wtf? He skittered his fingers over his eyes, groaned. “Sorry. This stupid cold is making me cranky. I honestly reckon Maud liked you. It’s just—”

“—horribly, insanely, eternally complicated?” Her fists clenched so tight her fingernails gouged her palms. On top of it all, she’d suddenly gotten this anxious dread, churning in her gut. Huh? Go figure. “I guess I’ll just keep smiling through. See my customer service smile?”

She bared her teeth maniacally.

“Remind me to get a mask of that for Halloween.”

“That bad, huh?”

He smiled, kinda pensively. “Nah. If I was a babe into babes, I’d still be battering down your door.”

She wanted to hug him then—despite his germs, which she was kinda grateful she hadn’t caught. Yet. A bratty little mall rat clanged on the bell, Steve hurried off to serve, and Robin continued feeling really, really shit. Right up until he caught her in the backroom, dabbing runny eyeliner with her knuckles.

She turned her back on him. Habit, really.

“Hey.” His hand landed softly on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

“Nothing new.” It’s her turn to sniffle.

“Look, I’m sorry I chewed your head off."

“You apologised already, Steve.”

“I’m apologising again. For the whole goddamn human race. I mean, I totally get your thing with UFOs, because, honestly, you deserve another planet. A better one. Worse thing is, I used to think like the dumbest dumbass in this world of crazy, till I met you, and now… Look, things will be better for you someday, because nobody deserves it more. Till then, I know it sounds cliché, but I’m here for you, and I guess… I dunno, when you have this much bullshit to put up with, it's okay just to say you’re not okay sometimes.”

She flung his arms around him and sobbed noisily into his shoulder. He patted her back, then rubbed soothing circles, and she sobbed even harder. She didn’t really know why she was crying. Yeah, what he said touched her deeply. But she’d never been a random public crier, today’s flop was nothing out of the ordinary, and she couldn’t even blame her monthly cycle… Uuuurgh.

She lifted her face, sniffed hard, grimaced. “I made your uniform all soggy.”

“No sweat. I dig your snot.” His sarcasm dropped off: “Any better?”

She shrugged. Superficially, yes, she felt less doom-y. Her catastrophic life remained just that, however, and that weird unfocussed dread loomed ever larger. 

He reached into his pocket, brought out a paper napkin. “It’s clean, honest. Although I guess the cost of that hug was probably catching my cold, so who cares, huh?”

“I care.” Ew! “And yeah, that had occurred.” She still couldn’t quite bring herself to regret the hug. However much she hated them with anybody else, she had to admit that it’d released happy chemicals. She blew her nose noisily. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Uh, you’ll probably need another for the eyeliner. There’s black goop, like, everywhere.”

She whipped out a powder compact with a mirror. Oh yeah. She’d gone for the full-on Joker look. Possibly, this was why she averted her despairing attention and started scrutinising Steve.

“Steve, are you okay? You look kinda—”

“—terminally dweeby? Or terminally dweeby and totally wrecked?” Catching his own reflection in the little mirror, he dabbed his slightly-less-buoyant-than-usual hair back into place.

“I was thinking more along the lines of a bit peaky.”

“It’s just this stupid cold. Plus, the crappy lighting in this dump. Seriously, sometimes guys need make-up too.”

She used her mirror to stare at him harder than herself now. Yeah, he looked pale, the shadows around his eyes nearly as shouty as her make-up malfunction. She snapped the mirror closed, spiralled back to face him.

“Steve, something else is wrong, isn’t it?”

“Woah! You’re, like, witchy when you do that, right?”

“Witchy?”

“Okay, maybe a bit psychic.”

“Alien brain-probe-y?”

“Yeah, that too. I mean, I figured I didn’t want to bother you, but…” He threw his hands up in surrender. “Let's just say my father has been extra cranky and disappointed in me lately, even by his short-tempered standards. That means extra shouty, and…” He rubbed his brow wearily. “Makes me feel even shitter about my life, I guess.”

“I’m sorry.” She longed to pay back that hug, though even with Steve, she was too squirmy and inexperienced to initiate one. He left then, anyway, heading back out front.

They were both uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the day. He seemed exhausted, and smothered increasingly regular bouts of coughing. She wanted simply to get home, bypass her mom’s daily character assassination, and then sob and bitch to herself about life in general. 

When she finally sank her face into the soon-to-be disgusting and soggy pillow, that feeling of dread overwhelmed her. She simply couldn’t stop worrying about Steve, to the point she felt ill. Which was ridiculous. After all, he was at the end of a phone line, right?

She snuck out past her mom—who was howling her butt off at some screamingly homophobic sit-com—and dialled Steve’s number. When his dad answered, she gritted her teeth, forced herself to be mega polite. 

“Hi there, Mr Harrington. Sorry to disturb you. Is Steve there, please? It’s Robin.”

“Robin? Are you the latest girlfriend?”

“No,” she managed to grind out. “I’m the… friend-friend.”

“Don’t try to be cute.” Seriously, I wasn’t! “If you see him, tell him he owes me a thousand bucks.”

The line went dead. Robin dropped the phone, stared at it as it swung from its coiled wire. What just happened?

She went back to her room, sat down on the edge of her bed. If Steve wasn’t in, was he on a date? He hadn’t mentioned one. That said, given her eternal back-catalogue of disaster on the dating song-list—and her latest episode of moping—he probably didn’t want to upset her. She switched off her lamp, tried to sleep.

Impossible.

What his Dad said rankled, and made no sense anyhow. Why did Steve owe him a thousand bucks? That was a year's wages! Then again, Steve had mentioned something a while back about his tightwad parents charging him rent. It was probably what they’d been rowing over.

By the early hours of the morning, that sensation of dread had flourished to the point where she could no longer stand it. Sleep wasn’t happening, so she pulled on a warm coat and scarf, headed out, and grabbed her bike.

Once Henderson had gotten over the initial shock of her tapping on his window at four a.m., he considered her theory seriously enough: “You reckon his parents threw him out, and he’s sleeping rough somewhere,” he clarified, while he unlocked the wheel of his bike. “Why didn’t he tell us?”

“He can be kinda proud like that. Plus, I was having a beyond-horrible day.” She clutched her handlebars ever tighter. Steve hadn’t needed to tell her, anyhow. She’d known, and her anxieties flurried toward panic. He’d been getting up sick, right? As her clouding breath confirmed, tonight was bonkers cold.

Dustin jammed his woolly hat down over his ears. “Right. If you were sleeping rough in Hawkins, where would you go?”

They tried the bus station, the shop fronts on Main Street, even the High School outbuildings. They wound up outside the police station, debating about whether to go in. 

“Nobody will take us seriously,” pointed out Dustin. “I mean, he’s not technically missing. We don’t have any evidence that he’s not at home in his bed, comfortably snoring, while we’ve been cycling around freezing our faces off.”

“He’s not,” said Robin, and creepily—witchily? —she’d rarely been more convinced of anything in her life. “He’s in trouble. I know it.”

“Seeing as we’ve looked, basically, everywhere, I’m going to need something a bit more scientific than that.”

“We’ve barely started!” protested Robin, as a police wagon drew up beside. Chief Hopper got out, bleary eyed and with a cigarette hanging from one side of his mouth.

“God, that was a wasted call-out,” he muttered, then, belatedly absorbing who they were, said: “What the heck are you two doing here?”

“Being total idiots!” said Robin, so loudly even the Chief baulked. “It’s so obvious! Why didn’t I think of it before?”

Hopper looked crankier. Dustin gesticulated wildly with his thickly mittened hands: “What!?!”

“His car! His dad said something like, ‘Steve owes me a thousand bucks.’ That’s about the value of his car, right?”

“Steve Harrington?” asked Hopper. “Yeah. Kid’s got a nice set of wheels. Anybody gonna enlighten me what you’re doing here at this godforsaken hour?”

“Steve’s been sleeping rough,” said Robin. “In his car.”

“What? Last night?” Hopper frowned. “Temperatures have been sub-zero.” 

“Yeah, we know,” mumbled Dustin. “We also don’t actually know for sure that Steve isn’t home, and this isn’t all in her he—"

“It’s not in my head, Henderson. He’s out there. Chief, you’ve got to help us find him.���

Hopper wearily stubbed out his cigarette, swung open the passenger door. “Get in.”

***

Shivering hurt. His teeth hurt from chattering. As the night got colder, Steve curled up in the backseat of his car and discovered everything hurt.

He never knew cold could feel like this, like how his gran used to describe it—creeping through his veins and into the marrow of his bones. Whatever the heck that was. He was wearing, literally, all his clothes. What the hell else could he do?

He'd used the heater the previous two nights, since he’d taken off from his parents’, basically homeless. Now he was out of gas, and there was no chance of getting a refill can till next payday so…

He curled even tighter, wrapping his arms around himself. Like a hug. He recalled how he and Robin had hugged earlier, how he’d felt better after that, about… everything. Which was stupid. Because it’d solved nothing for either of them. He faintly hoped he hadn’t given Robin his germs. If they even were germs. Who needed germs, when you were this damn freezing?

At length, his fingers and toes stopped hurting and turned numb. Then, at last, he sensed some warmth. Which was weird, but then again, he felt increasingly weird—his skin kinda prickly as if he sweated, then suddenly, he was way too hot. Which was totally nuts, and confusing, but he’d take it. He shrugged off his blanket, which slid into the footwell. He might have removed his scarf, which was getting suffocating, but he was too damn tired.

He slept, shallowly, and the darkness beneath his eyelids grew pitted with white. It wasn’t like snow. Nothing was that yielding or soft. He hadn't the strength left to rub his eyes. He threw all his effort into his next, shallow, whistling breath, and… Christ! It suddenly made sense. He could see his lungs, right? Which was insane, but his fevered little mind saw it anyhow. They seemed all brittle, lined with scratchy glass, scraping and tearing with every breath, until...

An ice-toothed gale blasted him sidelong. Robin's scared face veered up in front of him. Uh, he’s definitely hallucinating, right? Nobody knew he was here; nobody should know. He needed her, though. Kinda figured he’d die here without her, and then… he was just plain scared.

He closed his eyes. Too much. Waaaay too much. And, shit, maybe that wasn’t Robin. Maybe it was her aliens, and those were lights from a spaceship—a UFO?

Somebody—some thing —slid an arm around his shoulder, another under his knees. He was scooped up, and felt the sensation of being carried. His stomach performed a feeble flip. Am I dying? Am I dead? Or am I zooming to another planet!?!

Then nothing. Until…

His lungs still felt too tight. He was lying somewhere warm and soft, however, and the air didn't burn or freeze, nor make him prickle and sweat. In fact, it was kinda soothing and sweet, though it still proved a struggle to get enough.

Somebody squeezed his hand. Somebody or thing was holding his hand! Aliens? If so, why wasn’t he freaking out? He pried his too-sleepy eyelids open. Robin! 

"Steve!" She smiled and gave him another squeeze.  There was a plastic mask over his mouth and nose, and he lifted a hand to bat it away. She stopped him, settled the mask again. “I’d leave that, it’s the oxygen. You’re okay now. You’re gonna be just fine.”

He tried to talk, though speech wasn’t happening. Just an embarrassing croak. Her make-up was smudged again. He almost forced his dry lips into a smirk. He must look worse, but with Robin, that’s okay.

A nurse turned up, checking his pulse, and the oxygen machine, fluffing the pillows. She talked, but he was too sleepy to listen. Robin bobbed up again, working her face strangely, and he couldn’t read whether she was about to laugh or cry:

"Look, Steve,” she burst out, “yeah, it's okay to not be okay. Next time, can you please be more specific about EXACTLY HOW NOT OKAY YOU ARE."

"Okay," he wheezed, and she started up talking again. Her voice soothed him, even though he was too far gone to listen. 

He isn’t okay. He feels weak and jittery and everything aches.

From this new all-time low, he can’t even start to think about what his future might hold without wanting to yell. Which he can't even do! But her, and their friendship—it’s good. Which was probably why, even now, he’s feeling her pain again, just as strong as his. He hated how she suffered every single day, keeping her hopes and dreams a secret. Jesus, whatever hurt her, hurt him, too. And he was stupidly grateful for that, which made no sense either.

Perhaps he should tell her, when he’d gotten his voice back? Before or after he’d thanked her for having somehow saved his life. Or perhaps that would sound crazy and a bit creepy. Or witchy and physic? Huh, hadn’t he accused her of that earlier?

Listening to her talking, he ebbed and sank into somewhere safer and warm.

****

Part of this fic series (whump, platonic stobin & steddie fic)

[thewheezingwyvern]

Hi there, person I do not know! I would like to match you with Dabi. You are very "fite me" and Dabi could handle that kind of attitude and give it back ten fold. The anger, the tsundere, the sexual tension~!! Would make the perfect enemies to lovers fic. Just saying.

Hello there person I also do not know and who totally isn’t doing this to annoy me with the crust bucket. YOU’RE WRONG HOW DARE.

ALSO HOW DARE YOU BRING ONE OF MY FAVORITE TROPES INTO THIS!

((Send me as ask telling me who you ship me with!))

[preface2adreamplay]

Under Your Spell (Part 11) - Surrender

Summary: A Jared Padalecki/OFC/Oscar Isaac fiction.

Stef is a musician, recently gone solo. Happy with her life as a forever single person until Jared makes it his mission to get close to her.

Her ex, Oscar isn’t sure what to make of her new relationship. Should he step in or leave her be?

(For the purpose of this fiction, I have liberated some lyrics from various artists and their videos. This is fiction, with real people mentioned.)

Chapter WC: 2,510

‘And what was the inspiration for this new album, because it seems a far cry from your previous work.’ The DJ had been kind so far. She had spoken to him a dozen times over the phone but this was the first time she had met him in person. Sitting in the small studio, headphones set on ‘small’ but still too big for her head, digging into her ears uncomfortably. 

‘Yeah, it’s definitely a heavier sound. Lyrically, it’s not all too far from the last album. As you grow a little older you learn so much about yourself. This time around I looked back at everything that has happened. I’m a single woman living alone now.’ ‘Happily,’ she interjected as the DJ tried to exclaim his disbelief. 

‘I’m happily living by myself WITH myself, I suppose. You know the human in you will always have something to pine for from your past.’

‘So you’re saying a happier person wrote these lyrics?’ He held the album up for her to see. 

‘Oddly, yeah. No matter how happy we are in life, there is always a niggle there, something will be tugging on your sleeve you know?’

‘I get you. For those that don’t know, I’m talking to Stefanie James, who's new album dropped this week and it is sha-mazing.’

Stef laughed. ‘Never has anyone described it like that, thank you.’ They laughed together for a moment before he started taking questions sent by text. 

‘We have one here about your next video, it’s coming out today?’

‘Yes, the second part to Walk Into The Fire.’

‘Aptly named Twin Flames,’ he explained for listeners.

Stef reminded herself not just to nod, but agree verbally. 

‘Well, this person is asking if the man/demon in the video is who we think it is?’

Stef groaned, ‘it’s not even out yet and people know who it is.’

‘Jared Padalecki, of Supernatural fame.’ The DJ announced. It was ok at this stage. The label wanted the information out there.

Stef agreed with a simple ‘mmhm.’

‘So how did that come about then? The listeners are dying to know.’

‘He heard I was doing a video through some people I had worked with previously.’

‘Oh so he was a fan?’

‘He was, actually. So he got in touch with my people to see if he could be involved.’

‘How did he hear about it, like how would that come up in a conversation.’

Stef laughed, she loved talking about Jared. ‘We were looking for someone ‘large and imposing’ the idea being that he is a part of me that I’m running away from.

‘He is large and imposing.’ The DJ agreed.

‘But a hell of a nice guy. We have become good friends since, he’s truly a great person. He came out to a show with his friends when we were in Texas.’

‘I can’t wait to see the new video, we are going to play Twin Flames now.’

As the song played on in the background, Stef checked her phone that had been buzzing away in her pocket.

Jared: Hey you’re on the radio, I’m listening

Stef: Stalker.

Jared: Am not…:) You’re talking about ME, I gotta hear how great I am.

P.S. New song is great. 

‘Is that Jared texting you right now?’ The DJ mused when the song finished.

‘Yes, he said he loves hearing about how great he is.’

‘Another listener asks if he’s a good kisser?’

Stef swallowed, ‘wtf?’ she thought, then flushed, realising the new video trailer had a flash of them pretending to make out.

‘Oh God, that wasn’t a kiss.’ She blushed furiously.

‘So you don’t know is the answer.’

‘Yeah I don’t know,’ she lied. ‘Probably, if he looks like that he’s gotta be a great kisser.’

‘That’s your final answer.’

‘Yes.’ 

‘So back to you, coz never mind about that hunk, you are in the hot seat right now. What are your hopes for the new albums. Who would you like to touch with it?’

Stef snorted a laugh, ‘who would I physically touch with it?’

‘Yes, who would you assault with the new album.’ 

‘Ok, if I could, I would give my drummer Evan a paper cut with the booklet because he has been posting awful pictures of me all through this tour on social media.’

‘I saw!’ The DJ exclaimed. ‘You with how many sausages in your mouth?’

‘Oh god, that was a dare, I can’t trust those guys.’

‘And I suppose I would touch Jared nicely with it. Since he was such a good sport with the videos we shot. I can think of lots of people I could touch with the new album, but we don’t have all day.’

‘A text just came in to say ‘your lyrics have saved me.’ What do you think of that?’

Stef raised her eyebrows, ‘uhhhhhh, I would say I’m glad. It’s a wonderful feeling when you put on paper your thoughts and people like it and people FEEL what you feel, you know? Showing vulnerability and emotion is a strength and that’s what I’ve always wanted to tell people with my music.’

‘Preach it sister. We will all be praying at Church Stefanie by the looks of this new artwork. For the people at home who can’t see what I’m holding, it’s the lovely Stef in what looks like a bespoke headdress covering almost half of her face and a wonderful flowing gown, surrounded by what looks like druids? Is that right?’

‘I dunno,’ Stef replied ‘people standing around me summoning the gods of good music, hoping they throw me a bone.’

‘Well it looks great, thanks for coming in.’

‘Thanks for having me.’

Jared: Stop talking about me.

Stef: I will and you won’t like it.

Jared: True. You having fun?

Stef: Lots. 

Jared: Where the fuck are you right now anyway?

Stef: New York. 

Jared: You gonna wear that dress for the show tonight? 

Stef: Nah, I’m wearing something smaller and tighter.

A short video came through from Jared rubbing his nipples through his shirt, pretending to orgasm.

Stef sent one back of her licking her lips. 

Jared: I miss your stoopid face

Stef: I’ll be home before you know it.

Realising that ‘home’ was 2,000 miles away from where he lived with his family gave her pause. She was in New York, where Oscar was currently living. Jared lived closer to her than Oscar did and both were what felt like a million miles away.

Sitting in the hotel lobby by herself, she decided to order a G&T. There wasn’t anyone else in the bar, so she curled up in a comfortable armchair away from the world. It got her thinking about how far away she was from everybody. Her parents had passed and she wasn’t close to any other family. She and Oscar had wanted to live in Canada, living in their own world surrounded by trees and mountains. It seemed perfect when they were younger. Then everything went to shit. Stef found him with another woman just as his acting career was taking off, so she kicked him out. 

Finding the perfect home for her and Darius far enough away from everything she had grown up with, in a different country, leaving Oscar behind. Now Darius was gone too. 

She lay her head back on the chair and sniffed, feeling a little alone. Grateful for everything she had, she was happy. But something was missing. 

Stef never allowed her to think of herself as one part, she never felt like someones ‘other half.’ She was complete as herself. 

Being with Jared was raising a lot of emotions she had kept hidden for a long time. It would be typical of her to rip them out root and stem as soon as they dared peek out of the soil. 

Her phone beeped, making her jump a little. ‘Get a grip, Stef.’ She mumbled.

Jared: I wanna see you soon. Do you think we can be in the same place at the same time in the next few days?

Stef sighed heavily, sending him on a list of all the towns she would be in within the next week.

‘Drinking early?’ 

Stef looked up from her phone to see Oscar standing over her, a smile on his face.

‘Oscar! What the hell are you doing here?’

‘You’re in New York and you don’t want to spend every minute of it with me? I’m upset!’ He pulled her to her feet and wrapped her in the tightest hug he could manage. 

It was exactly what she needed, she clung to him. 

‘You ok? I thought I’d surprise you.’

‘It’s a great surprise.’ Stef assured him, slapping the peak of his cap over his face. 

‘Stop it, woman. Two seconds and already you’re making me regret coming here.’

‘Lies.’

‘Yeah, whatever.’

Oscar came back from the bar with quite a large beer for himself and another G&T for Stef.

‘Cheers to you and your success.’ They clinked glasses and drank, each keeping an eye on the other.

‘What’s new?’ He asked, still eyeing her curiously.

‘Nothing since the last time I saw you.’ She sipped the ice cold drink, shivering slightly.

‘You could say nothing new since the last time we spoke. Everything has changed since the last time we saw each other.’ Oscar leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs in front of him.

Smug bastard, Stef thought, shaking her head at him. Sure, the last time they met, they slept together for the first time in years and they hadn’t mentioned it since. 

‘Well then, I don’t want to talk about it.’

Oscar sniffed. ‘Fine.’

‘I listened to your interview.’ He said softly, chewing his lip.

‘I’ve done so many over the last month, I’m afraid I’m starting to sound like a robot.’

‘Nah, you wouldn’t, you ramble too much.’

‘Do not!’ Stef shot him a look, he grinned in reply.

The following silence was interrupted by her phone notifications.

Jared: None of those work for me, how about I fly out to New York to meet you?

Stef replied frantically ‘Wow when can you come?’

Typing typing

‘Earth to Stef.’

‘Sorry, what?’

‘Jesus, you are completely in love, aren’t you?’ He half sneered, half laughed.

‘No. I’m not.’ Stef felt herself getting angry. ‘I hate it when you smirk at me like that. Stop it.’

Oscar sighed heavily. ‘Sorry. Alright? Can we just have a nice evening. As friends.’

‘Sure.’ Stef said, eyeing her phone to see what Jared replied.

Jared: I come every time you touch my penis.

‘Oh for fuck sakes.’ 

Oscar frowned at her but didn’t say anything

Jared: I’ll be there tomorrow afternoon. 

Stef: Can’t wait.

Her stomach flipped in excitement, feeling her palms getting a little sweaty, she rubbed them down her legs, leaning over and placing her head between her knees. Oscar leaned over the gap between them and placed a hand gently on the back of her head.

‘You ok, Effie? Sorry if I’m talking out of turn. I don’t mean to.’

‘It’s not you.’ Her response muffled.

Toying with the clasp of her necklace, he didn’t say anything else. If she wanted to share, she would. He could never force anything from her. She gave what she wanted to give. 

‘You hungry? I have a nice place booked for dinner later, you’ll love it.’ Oscar settled back in his seat.

‘I’m so hungry.’ 

‘You been eating ok on the road?’ 

She looked up at him, into those big brown eyes she had loved so much, almost a lifetime ago.

‘No. It’s awful. Every time I go on tour I remember why I don’t like it.’

‘Yeah, but every time you do it you get more famous, eventually you’ll be flying in a private jet.’ 

‘Oh I hope not!’ She scoffed, feeling her mood rising again. ‘I’d hate to be as famous as you,’ Reaching up she took the cap off his head in a swift movement, putting it on her own head.

‘You didn’t shave off your hair!’ 

‘Nah, I didn’t want to piss you off. I seem to be walking a fine line lately.’

Stef decided not to let him bait her, she just flicked the cap down over her eyes and continued sipping her drink. 

‘So...Darius sent me a picture earlier.’ Oscar pulled his phone from his pocket, flicking through his gallery, showing her a selfie of a very pretty girl with her son. 

‘Holy shit, is that...’

‘The lovely girl from the party? Yep, she’s his girlfriend now.’

‘That’s so cute,’ Stef started chewing her lip. ‘You did tell him not to make us grandparents, right? I still have a lot of good-boob years to use up before I can be called Grandma.’

Oscar started laughing, seeing the look on her face was priceless. ‘Don’t worry about it, if we are grandparents, so what, it’ll be great.’

‘Would it? You want more children running around? We only got rid of ours.’ 

Oscar nodded, ‘I’d love more kids.’

‘Really? Stef blinked, surprised. 

‘Yeah. But I’m not gonna worry about it. If it happens it happens.’

‘Twenty years after the last one, that’ll be a shock to the system.’ Stef drained her glass, feeling the alcohol going to her head.

‘Are you fit for another?’ He pointed at her empty glass.

‘Go on then, I’ll let you spoil me for an evening.’

Oscar walked to the bar to order the drinks, turning his head to watch her over his shoulder. She was smiling down at her phone, texting Jared. He wondered if she ever smiled like that when she text him. 

He thought back to Darius’s party, after they had danced together. Oscar couldn’t help but look at Stef and wonder what their life would be like now if he hadn’t fallen into the grip of the other woman. Darius clapped him on the back to get his attention. He was taller than Oscar by a few inches, it was strange for him to look up at him rather than look down. His eyes were like his mothers, but the rest of him was Oscar.

‘Dad, did you ever think of asking mom out?’ 

Oscar opened his mouth and closed it again, feeling like a fish trying to gulp water on dry land. 

‘Ask her out? Why?’ He asked, feeling sheepish.

‘If I were looking at a girl like that, I’d ask her out.’ 

‘Yeah but it’s your mom, we aren’t together anymore.’

‘I know, idiot. You two look at each other when you think the other isn’t looking. It’s stupid. Get over it and ask her out. I won’t even be weird about it.’

Oscar nodded, thinking that maybe she would say yes. 

Looking at her now, there wasn’t a chance in hell. Not since Jared had wormed his way into her life. 

He hadn’t seen Stef happy like this in a long time, he made his choice to just be happy for her.

CHAPTER 12

[annashipper]

Megapost Nr. 1 - May 17th, 2018

Nonny Nr. 1:   "Now don't forget to hold hands just like we practiced." Come Onnnnnm. who drags their luggage through the airport holding hands! sooooo stoopid! That and the pretending to be angry at the paps you called - lol! And the nans actually buy this crap. There's no learning curve with them.

Anna:  I don’t think either of them were pretending to be put off by the paps Nonny.  Frowning like that is Ben’s default setting when Weirdo is within 5 feet from him and trying not to look smug is Weirdo’s default setting when paps’ flashes are going off   ;o)

*

Nonny Nr. 2:   So ben and sophie leave the kids w the help back in london? or they make them fly separately?

Anna:  Pilo probably knows how to pilot his own plane by now Nonny.  He’s very advanced for his age  :P

*

Nonny Nr. 3:   whattsamattah ben? couldn't convince any parents of young boys to fly w you to NYC? Aww.

Anna:  FrugalBatch is frugal Nonny.  Just look at the outfit Weirdo is wearing from 2 years ago...  A proper pap walk extravaganza like the one I described this morning (LINK) would not only involve a lot of moving parts, but would also put him out of pocket for tickets and renting fees for the pilows.

*

Nonny Nr. 4:  So what happened to taking the kids everywhere? if anything it would b EASIER to take BOTH kids w BOTH parents there. it would be the first time we ever saw them both w both kids. oh right, they would have to stage blurred photos on one end, then blurred photos on the other, w kids who matched sizes etc. very hard. better to pretend they left the kids home *sob*

Anna:  But ... but ... but ... there is a way Nonny.  Read to the end of this post:  LINK.  I honestly don’t know if I can be any clearer with laying out instructions to PR that would make this whole thing look more realistic.  If only I could draw, I would make storyboards for them, but alas, I’m rubbish with a sketching pad.

*

Nonny Nr. 5:   I don't know why they don't just pay a family to fly with them?? carry the kids on the plane and carry them off, make sure the faces are blurred so they don't have to keep using the same family over and over? i know blurring the face in the US will make it clear they hired the paparazzi to shoot their family for the media, but that ship sailed long ago

Anna:  Because it doesn’t make any sense for children’s faces to be blurred out when the pics go on sale on American pap sites, and the pics are taken on US soil nonny.  They did try that in October of 2016 at JFK, and all that pap walk did was send more people our way...

*

Nonny Nr. 6:   if we do see the kids going through the airport, it WON'T be in a way that shows they were on the plane. it will be just outside the terminal. pay attention. we will NOT see them w two kids getting on to a plane and getting off. IF WE DO the FACES WILL BE BLURRED and they will hand the kids off to the real parents who were pad to fly w them. even tho its the US they will hire a pap agency that blurrs the photos to no one can recognise the kids

Anna:  That’s why I’ve been asking for pics at Heathrow airport (blurred), and then pics at JFK or LAX (unblurred) Nonny.  And then I want pics at JFK or LAX (unblurred) and pics at Heathrow (blurred) on the way back.  Not because it will convince me of anything, but because the least I expect from Ben, who wanted to let everyone and their pets know his family is not a PR stunt 2 years ago, is for him to finally try to be a bit more consistent.  Instead we get silly quotes about always travelling with his pillows one week and then a pap walk at an airport negating his quote...

*

Nonny Nr. 7:   Once again these two are ONLY SEEN WHEN THEY HAVE SOMETHING TO SELL. A product, service, or EVENT is for SALE because they have to MAKE MONEY, so for the first time in ages ben is seen at the airport. Ben can travel unnoticed whenever he wants, but when he needs to make money, he gets his PR STUNT WIFE to show up and calls the paps

Anna:  Hmmmmmm.  *runs the numbers quickly on ticketmaster*

The pap walk didn’t help move many tickets so far.  Only 19 tickets for Friday and 15 for Saturday.  They’ll need to to something more drastic to sell the venue out for both nights.  Perhaps Weirdo could do some juggling on the Great White Way?  That way she can add working on Broadway to her CV!  :D

*

Nonny Nr. 8:   Remember what Enty said about showmance stunt families who are only seen when they are selling something. case and point

Anna:  When did Enty say that?  Are you confusing Enty with JT Nonny?  Or am I forgetting some of the blinds again?

*

Nonny Nr. 9:   Anna, we wil never see the kids travelling with them. if they blur their faces on US soil, then that means they had a deal w the pap taking the pictures, something they have already attempted to deny whilst simultaneously using paps that only work for hire. if they unblur the photos to make it look like a genuine invasion, the people who know the kids in real life may recognise them as not BC and SH kids. hence, ben will forever never travel w his kids

Nonny Nr. 10:   anyone waiting to see the kids at multiple airports w unblurred faces will be waiting a long time. ben may lie and say he has his kids w him ever day he travels, but if he does, he doesn't parent them on the plane. he makes the unwashed help do the parenting on another flight. also, he can't risk the kids faces being exposed. not when C is so old and Hal had his photos taken down for being faked

Anna:  I really really really really really can’t be any clearer with pointers to PR.  If they want to keep this looking as unrealistic as it does, they’ll only be doing the Skeptics’ work for us and sending more people our way with each passing airport pap walk where Weirdo sells shoes and Ben sells his dismalness...  For that matter, with the way this showmance started, where Ben couldn’t for the life of him avoid the paps back when the unsaleable showmance was being shoved down the general public’s and the Academy’s voting members’ throats during his Oscar campaign of 2014-5, it only looks bizarre when people know he’s globetrotting for work constantly but doesn’t get spotted at airports anymore.  He’s damned if he arranges for pap walks and damned if he doesn’t...

[onlybuilt4expensivetaste]

stoopid post lol.exe (fanfic)

Nicki was in the studio, with 6ix9ine, who was currently getting on her last nerve as he kept screaming random things sporadically. “Hahahaha….STOOOOOPID.” He said. Nicki sighed.

“6ix9ine—please shut the fuck up.” She pleaded, with a hint of threat in her voice. Unexpectedly, he did just that (after a slight pout). Nicki straightened herself up a little from her sitting position, surprised that he actually stopped talking. However, she is now bewildered when she noticed he now began to spin in a circle. She sighed and rolled her eyes in annoyance, and went back to her slouching stance.

However, not for long, when she heard a familiar voice that was moving inside the room., who apparently had heard her thought-to-be silent groan. “Is this trifling faggot bothering you, queen.” The voice said, insinuating they would “take care of” 6ix9ine.

Nicki exhaled, now knowing who it was, as she turned her seat around to face her ex-boyfriend Meek Mill.

“Nigga, what is you doin’ here???” She groaned. Meek’s incredibly smug, low-key flirtatious smile suddenly faded after her comment. He groaned.

“Nigga…you clearly NEED me…” he whined, and began to stammer near the end, stopping himself from calling her a certain term of endearment. Nicki laughed/gasped in shock by his utter hubris.

“I need YOU???” She said in disbelief. Meek desperately tried to hide how uncomfortably in-his-feelings he was — and barely succeeded.

Before anyone of them could say anything else, there was a voice behind Meek. “Leave her alone — and move.” The female voice demanded. Meek turned around; Nicki moved her head to face the person. It was Azealia. “…Nigga move!” She said, seeing as he was still in the doorway (probably in shock by her demeanor — not to mention his feelings for Nicki bubbling upon the surface), and slightly pushed him out of her way.

[lonelypond]

Casual Lunacy, Ch. 36

Love Live, NicoMaki, 3K, 36/?

Hunting

The atmosphere had changed, Eli noticed. Rin’s…discontent had infected Nozomi. Nozomi had lost her ease, her head was down and they were hurrying back to the MidQuads. Eli started to say something, to ask if…, but each time she glanced in Nozomi’s direction, it was as though the darker haired woman had a storm swirling around her, mouth tight, all her energy directed into the path straight ahead. Eli picked up her own pace, determined to be at Nozomi’s side should she choose to open her thoughts.

Still silence as they climbed the stairs to Nozomi’s room, where Nozomi took off her coat quickly and turned on the reading light at her table, but not the overhead. She knelt, muttering, and her Tarot Deck appeared in her hand. Eli removed her own coat, flopping on the bed, opening the folder on her phone that held her notes on the history of Cuban dance.

Nozomi dealt out three cards, turned them over and stared. Eli tried to concentrate on the chronology of Ballet Nacional De Cuba, but Nozomi keep drawing more and more into herself, the tension ratcheting to a point where Eli had nearly decided that breaking into it was better than the weight Nozomi was somehow manifesting around herself when Nozomi turned, her turquoise eyes supernaturally aglow in the dim light, “We have to stop it, Eli.”

“We have to stop what, Nozomi?”

Nozomi gestured for Eli to join her, and as soon as Eli knelt beside her, Nozomi pulled the two flanking cards toward them. Both were reversed. The past slot held a Knight, golden and determined, rod over his shoulder; the future slot, the Fool.

“One of these cards would scream impetuous, bad decision making is about to take the stage, but both…” Nozomi’s voice sounded only warning notes.

“Are these about Rin?” Eli wondered.

“Maybe…” Eli had noticed that Nozomi never committed fully to a conclusion if she could help it, always leaving wiggle room somewhere. “Between the bad air at Rin and Hanayo’s and all the glitches at tech today, it feels like something’s building. Or breaking. Probably breaking.”

“There does seem to be a lot of stress between Rin and Hanayo, Rin disagreeing with Hanayo’s decisions.” The relationship strain between the two young women was obvious even to Eli.

Nozomi shrugged, “Rin knows Hanayo cares, they trust each other, they’ll be fine…” Nozomi turned to face Eli, “These cards...Rin might act hastily and upset the plans you’ve been making with Hanayo, especially if she thinks Anju is a threat.”

Eli wondered where Nozomi found such assurance about Rin and Hanayo’s relationship. Eli had been studying Tarot, Nozomi suggesting several books. Eli had chosen the one that had the most practical language. None of the cards on the table had anything to do with a relationship or romance. But only on the surface, Eli reminded herself. Nozomi had brought her own map of worry to the table and the cards had given her this key. “So why do you think they’re okay?” Eli pressed.

“Oh, Eli-chi, I don’t need the cards for that.” Nozomi shook her head at Eli’s earnest worry. “What we do need to be concerned about is how badly Rin might endanger herself doing something…STOOPID.”

Eli had a flash of feral, angry, frightened Rin, left alone to imagine what Anju and company were plotting against Hanayo, and realized the cards had pinpointed the more urgent problem.

“We can talk to them, reinforce the precautions we’ve taken…”

“I don’t think that would be enough.” Nozomi shuffled the cards, a signal she had come to a decision, “Rin won’t listen to us, but Nico-chi will listen to me. Maki will listen to her. And…”

“Maki can talk to Rin.” Eli finished. “You’re not Nico’s favorite person right now, you know.”

Nozomi shrugged, a graceful gesture that drew all of Eli’s attention, “How can you say that, Eli…Nico-chi loves me…” Nozomi giggled, “at least more than she does Kashima.”

Eli threw back her head and laughed, staying half propped against Nozomi’s bed, glad for the lighter mood, “Very low bar, my love, very low bar.”

Nozomi turned, eyes now full of warmth and only focused on the present, “I’ll be sure to be at my most charming.”

“Not too charming.” Eli leaned forward, “Save that for me.”

“As you wish.” Nozomi turned off the desk lamp, a different kind of glow in her eyes, one that sent a thrill down Eli’s spine.

Maki had dragged herself out of bed to watch Nico go through her morning routine and then they could eat breakfast together. Afterwards, Maki was going to go back to bed. Nico ruffled her tangled, red hair with a tender look, “You look so tired, pretty girl.”

Maki would have grumbled, but Nico only spoke the truth, “Where do you get your energy?” Maki had waved off Nico’s offer of coffee, planning to sleep ‘til lunch.

“Nico doesn’t take breaks from sleep to howl at the moon and pace tracks in people’s living rooms.” Nico’s quick breakfast was a fried egg on a piece of toast. Maki had just opted for toast, to give her something to chew on while Nico chattered.

“I think this week, I’ll make scones instead of muffins or cookies. Maybe Nico will try some savory ones, I ordered some interesting cheeses for sandwiches, but give Nico a grater and magic can happen. Plus, Nico’s going to need food to eat on the run this week.”

“Do you have to work a lot this week?” Maki buttered another slice of bread. Nico had chosen a particularly chewy whole grain loaf so it was fun to listen to the crackle as the knife edged the toasted bread, scraping down to melt the butter into the softer center.

“Tuesday morning Nico has no classes so then. And Nico can’t find anyone to cover my Thursday afternoon shift, which is bad because we’re having a preview audience that night. SO Nico will be rushed.” Nico took a sip of coffee, enjoying her morning view, Maki, amethyst eyes half closed with sleep, frowning with intensity as she applied butter to toast more methodically than Nico had ever seen anyone, red hair bouncing forward to screen her eyes, Umi’s shirt not nearly buttoned enough for Umi, but just perfect for a minor thrill that would get Nico through her morning.

Maki looked up from the toast, amethyst awakened by swirling neon, full fanged grin smug, “You’re remembering last night.”

“Pffftttt” Nico stuck out her tongue, “How do you know I’m not planning tonight. You’re really not good with keeping your clothes on,” Nico pointed her mug at Maki’s shoulder as Umi’s shirt slid off it.  Maki blushed, and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Oh, don’t do that, pretty girl. Nico is only teasing.” Nico put down the mug, reaching down to stroke Maki’s thigh.

Maki turned her chair a little to the side, ignoring Nico.

“Anyway,” Nico’s tone turned practical, “Nico has something for the cutest, warmest girlfriend in the world.”

Nico couldn’t help but be amused as Maki scooted her chair marginally closer to Nico, obviously curious. Nico reached into her cardigan pocket and pulled out a key on a cutesy plush heart keychain, “I asked Umi to make you a key to the apartment. Just text her if you’re going to come over.” Nico waited until Maki hastily turned to face her, surprise widening her eyes, mouth open, hand nearly covering it, “Rehearsal will run late all week, Nico will have to stay for notes and it’d be nice to come home to someone to cuddle.”

“Nico…”

Nico leaned in, with a quick, demanding kiss, and while her werewolf girlfriend was still blinking, turned Maki’s hand over and put the key in “Nico doesn’t expect you to cook for her, but if you know any places that make great desserts, Nico always enjoys a midnight snack after rehearsal.”

“I..I…” Maki’s heard herself near tears and paused, to compose herself, “I might know some.”

“Great,” Nico hopped out of her chair, popping another kiss on Maki’s forehead, “I’ll see you later then.”

Maki nodded, watching the key turn in front of her.

“Lock up when you leave, pretty girl.” Nico tossed over her shoulder as she slid an arm into her parka.

“Wait, I’ll walk you.” Maki put the key down.

“You’re not dressed for the weather,” Nico might have sounded complacent.

Maki reached for her buttons, “I can change.”

Nico giggled, “Then you won’t have pockets. Just come kiss Nico goodbye, silly girl.”

Maki, one button barely holding the shirt on, stood over Nico and took a deep breath. After a long moment, Nico’s eyes tilted up to meet hers, ruby depths full of wry humor, “Yeah, that’s cheating.” And Nico’s hands were suddenly under the shirt, on her hips, Nico kissing her way to Maki’s neck, “Try going back to sleep now, pretty girl.” Nico winked and let herself out as Maki managed to make it to the couch on wobbly legs, flopping over the back, breathless again, senses swirling with Nico. Nico had no idea how much of Maki’s day was spent just trying not to notice Nico. But Maki wouldn’t get to that part of the day for awhile yet.

Hanayo was nervous. She had to go over to the sub basement again, to check that everything was running. She let it go long enough that by now all three of her bosses should be at the Wirtz getting ready for another day of Fangs’ tech rehearsal.

Cold, windy afternoon. She hadn’t dressed warmly enough, leaving hastily rather than have another standoff with Rin about the situation. She wrapped her scarf tighter, around her mouth, opening the door with a bare, shivering hand. The sub basement was never the warmest place, but it would be better than this. Two sets of stairs and then opening the door into a room she’d come to dread, numbers constantly running, machinery continually humming, the sense the walls were encroaching on her somehow…

Hanayo pushed her glasses back up her nose as she paused outside the door to the office, opening it, she headed straight to the laptop, flipping it open, typing in her password, focusing only on calling up all the feeds, not letting the atmosphere enclose and oppress her.

And then she felt the arm slide across her shoulders and screamed.

“I’m impressed with you, Koizumi,” Anju’s whispered slithered out of a shadow, “Not only are you cute as a button, here you are, even now, trying to protect your” Anju’s turned Hanayo’s chair, crouching so her narrowed, vengeful eyes were on a level with Hanayo’s “fiancee.”

Hanayo froze, hands gripping the sides of her chair as Anju loomed closer, “So I’m going to offer you a deal.” Anju put her hand over Hanayo’s left one and pushed down, two fingers cutting into the skin, “Are you listening?”

Hanayo nodded, frenetic thoughts crowding out everything but panic.

“Good.” Anju stood, one hand digging into Hanayo’s shoulder, the other resting with deceptive gentleness on her cheek, “You are going to keep helping ME.” There was a pause as Anju measured Hanayo’s reaction and seemed pleased at the amount of terror radiating off her captive audience. Anju leaned in closer as she flicked Hanayo’s cheek hard enough that Hanayo’s glasses tilted, “And I won’t tell Tsubasa where to find her werewolf.”

Hanayo blanked. She had no way to process this, the near violence in the air, the menace, the openly stated threat to Rin.

“Koizumi!” Anju shook the seat.

“Why are you doing this?” Hanayo bleated, eyes wide.

“Ah, that’s my business.” Anju shoved the chair back into the desk, unrelenting in pressing her intimidation.  “And none of yours. Just make sure everything stays on line. And keep your mouth shut.”

Hanayo could feel her teeth grinding. She could brave this for Rin. She pushed her glasses back up and let herself be impressed by the firmness she mustered in her reply, “Leave Rin alone.”

“Gladly.” Anju shrugged, flipping her hair ends, already bored.

“Good.” Hanayo deliberately turned her chair and her back on Anju and began swiping open feeds, pulling out her phone to text Erena that everything was on line. The door closed as the room lightened. Then, shaking, Hanayo let the sobs out.

“Nozoooomi…” Nico wailed as her dark haired friend dragged her from the green room, down the hallway and into an empty room, “Nico still has to do her eyes.”

The door closed behind Nozomi, who didn’t bother with any introductory chit chat, “You have to get Maki to stop Rin.”

Nico chucked her chin forward, lips slightly open in a half frown, surprised by Nozomi, “First, Nico is not the boss of Maki and second, stop Rin from what?”

Nozomi, now that she was certain she’d captured Nico’s attention, toned down the shock value, “When Eli and I got back to room last night, the cards had a warning.”

“So the deck jumped up and yelled ‘STOP RIN’?” Nico crossed her arms, not wanting to think about Rin and Maki in some kind of danger.

“The Knight of Rods reversed is a bad card for the impulsive, the reversed Fool gives an even stronger message.”

Nico kicked at a chair, “I am not texting Maki to tell her friend to unreverse The Fool and disarm The Knight? What the hell, Nozomi.”

“Nico.” Nozomi’s voice crashed down on the second syllable, serious, “The cards tell me someone’s going to do something impulsive and it’s not going to go well.”

“Did something happen?” Nozomi was too serious for Nico to continue deflecting.

“Hanayo thinks her bosses might be sent a picture of her and Rin in wolf form.”

Nico’s fists were clenched, her jaw jutting sideways as she chewed the inside of her lip, “All right, I’ll text Maki.”

N: Hey, Pretty Girl (∩˃o˂∩)♡ Nico is in a rush, but Nozomi’s SUPER worried (~_~;) about Rin doing something stupid so go talk her out of it.

N: Don’t do anything stupid either. Fangs need Nico to rescue it and Nico needs someone to cuddle after (ɔˆ ³(ˆ⌣ˆc)

Hanayo blinked her eyes and looked up. Somehow the room seemed gloomier. She’d been staring at numbers scrolling by so long when she closed her eyes she still saw neon green and red columns. 7:14. Rin would be back from training by now and worried. Then the door burst open, Rin’s eyes all neon green and cool suspicion, no kindness or warmth. Hanayo watched her search the room for anyone else, then move closer, sniffing where Anju had been, lingering on Hanayo's sleeves and shoulders, a low growl as she recognized how steeped in fear Hanayo was.

“What did she do, Kayo-chin?” Rin barked.

“N….nothing. She just w...w...wants my help.” Hanayo stuttered out, heart fluttering, unease impossible to hide from Rin.

“Quit.” Rin demanded, hands on her hips, implacable in the middle of what had become an emotional torture zone for Hanayo, “never come here again.”

Hanayo shook her head, reaching a hand out to Rin, “I can’t. They might hurt someone.”

“They’re hurting you.” Rin said it quietly, then nodded her head. Hanayo knew she’d reached some kind of decision, “I’m stopping them. Go home, Kayo-chin.”

“Rin, wait! Let me call M…”

The door slammed before Hanayo could finish but by the time she got to the corridor, Rin was out of sight. Hanayo took some relief from not finding clothes. Rin wasn’t in wolf form yet.

Nico had a break while Micah had to run the Dracula/Three Sisters gauntlet. So she finally had a chance to pull out her makeup kit and put the heavy on the purples eyeliner/eyeshadow combination she’d settled on to help the audience subconsciously track Mina’s stress levels. She’d skipped applying the base layer thanks to Nozomi so now it was just straight to no letters from Jonathan and Lucy fading mid level shadowing. With a mascara boost for her eyelashes. As she was about to freshen her lipstick, she remembered her pre rehearsal texts to Maki. No reply, according to her phone, which puzzled Nico and then she remembered the no clothes, no pockets daily werewolfing dilemma...no place to carry your phone. Umi should be back at the apartment by now, if Maki were still there, Umi could pass on the message about Rin.

Maki paced Nico’s living room, still only wearing Umi’s shirt, running the various combinations of plus key, sans clothes, and coming up with no good solution to having to leave in werewolf form that also had her leaving with the key. Nico would surely object to fang marks on any of her purses and Maki had already ruined enough of Nico’s favorite things. But the key was important. As was the ability to lock the door behind her. So more pacing, more serious thinking. In werewolf form, if Maki had the key in her mouth and got startled, it could easily get lost. Which wasn’t a responsible girlfriend kind of thing to do. But waiting until whenever Nico got done would just turn this into a tomorrow problem and tomorrow, Maki had an early class, with a quiz. Which she would score better on if she didn’t try to hold a pen with her paws.  Much more pacing. Much more thinking.

Umi opened the apartment door, stepped in, stepped back when she saw what Maki was wearing and ducked into her bedroom, coming out a minute later with sweats, a t-shirt, a pair of flip-flops, and her eyes closed, “Please.”

Maki took the clothes into Nico’s room to change, stopping to sweep the key off the table and make sure it was safe in her pocket. She folded the blue shirt, handing it to Umi, who was making herself an espresso. Umi shook her head, “Keep it.”

“Thanks.”

“Would you like an espresso?” Umi asked.

“No thanks.” Maki would have preferred bare feet to flip flops, but the icy ground temperatures would probably change her mind.

“Nico called me. She thought you might not have your phone because…”

“Werewolf…” Maki finished.

Umi coughed, eyes closing briefly, as she relived the na..no clothes trauma, “Exactly.” Umi chose a floral demitasse cup, “Nozomi thinks Rin might do something rash...because of the cards...and she asked Nico to tell you.”

Maki felt her heart skip faster. Was Rin in trouble? If anyone was going to upset the “let the criminals incriminate themselves” plan, it would be Rin. Maki rushed to the window at the front of the apartment, throwing it open, leaning out and howling a question.

The answer came too soon. Rin was hunting.

A/N: So what's your go to breakfast?