#it's just weird to me that like. Not even a passing mention? Is your gaydar even calibrated?

[zoobus]

I was looking through the tags of that last post and no one? Is mentioning Otta? Who is literally gnc, even for an elf, literally wears the male variant of the Canary uniform (compare to Fleki's uniform with the boob pouch) and literally dates women? Her friends call her out for only dating young half-foot women and nobody cares about the women part? Who gets the "clothes that make them visibly uncomfortable" treatment, and it's all feminine fits and one dorky fit associated with dorky butches?

What's going on here? You noticed Lycion but not Otta doing gender flips right next to him?

I hate to be like "why is no one talking about this" but why is is Otta rarely mentioned in these oooguh thought that was a beautiful butch conversations? Just because she's a short king?

[senorarelojes]

Fic: If You Want (1/1)

A while back, I put up a post asking for writing prompts, so I'm slowly making my way through them. This is for the very lovely @what-could-have-been!

Summary: This prompt from @what-could-have-been: "Dave and Alan (who don't know each other yet) coincidentally happen to go to the gym at the same time. Throughout their exercise they keep eyeing each other on different machines. Then they end up in the showers also at the same time (surprise!), Dave drops his soap or something else on the floor and Alan comes to "help". Aaaand you can probably guess the rest... I was also thinking they could be in their mid-20's or so?” Rating: Mature Notes: (In my head, this is early Music for the Masses era DM)

.

Alan liked Ultra Fitness because it was ten minutes away from his workplace, plus it was also along the way home. So it gave him less of an excuse to skip his workouts. Besides, he was already starting to see the results from his frequent visits. His arms were getting nicely sculpted and garnering compliments from the women in his office, and he could see the beginnings of a six pack in the mirror if he held in his stomach enough. So he made it a habit to keep going after work, even though it was more crowded at that timing.

Before he had ever stepped foot in a gym, Alan had been a bit apprehensive about the type of clientele that frequented gyms - for example, those beefy blokes with necks thicker than their heads who looked like they ate guys like Alan for breakfast. But to his surprise, most of the people at Ultra Fitness were nice, friendly and tended to mind their own business, which was a big bonus in Alan’s book. There were also all sorts of regulars, from the afore-mentioned beefy types to those who were just starting out and looked just as nervous as Alan initially had been. But overall, most of them looked like regular people, just like Alan himself.

By now, Alan had definitely become familiar with a few other people at the gym. There was Daryl, the manager at the reception who seemed to know everyone, as well as Martin and Fletch, two friends who mostly came to use the swimming pool or join the Zumba classes. “Great way to meet women,” Fletch had told Alan once with a wink, waggling his eyebrows as Martin had laughed in agreement. Alan had only smiled; he didn’t like flirting with women (or men) at the gym, thinking that people probably didn’t want to be hit on when they were breathless or sweaty. He himself didn’t want to be disturbed: he would just come in, say hello to Daryl as he signed in, grab a locker, pop in his noise-cancelling earbuds and do his workout in peace. That was his routine, and it only ever deviated if he stopped for a chat with Martin and Fletch at the water dispenser.

However, one day he came back from his workout to find a strange tattooed bloke trying to open his locker.

“Er, can I help you?” Alan said, as the man fiddled uselessly with the lock.

He jumped in surprise when Alan spoke to him. “Oh, sorry. I can’t seem to open my locker,” the bloke said, holding up his access card. The lockers at the gym were first come, first serve, and Alan had a special liking for Locker 101, which was located in a far corner, nearer to the shower stalls. Half the time, it wasn’t taken and he was able to grab it for himself. Alan often wondered who was the other person who seemed to like it just as much as he did, and sometimes beat him to it.

Alan flashed the man an apologetic smile. “Sorry mate, think you’re mistaken. It’s mine today,” he explained, holding up his own card to the lock as it whirred for a moment, then clicked open.

“Fuck!” The tattooed bloke was laughing now, face a little red with embarrassment. “Sorry-- it’s just that I usually snag 101, I must have forgotten today.”

“So it’s you,” Alan said with a laugh, before realising the tattooed guy was looking at him with curiosity. “I mean-- never mind.”

The bloke was smiling at him now. He had a really nice smile, which made him look rather boyish even though he seemed to be around Alan’s age. “Well, wish me luck in finding my locker, then,” he said, dropping Alan a wink.

“Good luck, mate.” Alan couldn’t resist watching him walk away in his fitting gym shorts - it was quite a view - as he began taking out his belongings for a shower.

***

After that, Alan began to notice the tattooed bloke around the gym more often. Like Alan, he did a fair bit of weight-lifting, but he also joined the group classes with Martin and Fletch, the three of them chatting and laughing with many of the female regulars after class. Alan found himself watching them at times, wondering how weird it would be for him to ask Mart and Fletch for Tattooed Bloke’s name. Sometimes he would catch Tattooed Bloke watching him in the mirror too, but Alan never seemed to be able to catch him, Martin and Fletch at the right time.

Thankfully, Alan finally learned his name when he was late to the gym one day, finding Daryl already in conversation with Tattooed Bloke at the reception. “Oh hey Charlie,” Daryl said when he spotted Alan, nodding at him as he handed him a towel. “Got held up at the office?”

“Something like that,” Alan replied, glancing over at Tattooed Bloke who was regarding Alan with great interest.

“Your name is Charlie?” he asked, a grin slowly growing on his face. “Was wondering what your name was, but I didn’t peg you for a ‘Charlie’.”

You were wondering what my name was? Alan wanted to ask, but instead he said, “I’m actually Alan, but Daryl got a kick out of my middle name when he did my membership card.”

“C’mon Dave, don’t you agree with me? Doesn’t ‘Charlie’ suit him a lot better than ‘Alan’?” Daryl asked the tattooed bloke, who was just grinning as his gaze rove up and down Alan’s body.

“Dunno, mate,” Dave said, his eyes lingering on Alan’s arms. “A rose by any other name, y’know?”

Daryl rolled his eyes. “You’re useless,” he complained, throwing a towel in Dave’s face as Alan chuckled.

Taking the towel away, Dave seemed hesitant, like he had something else to say to Alan. Unfortunately, the announcement for the start of the Zumba class blared through the gym’s speakers at that moment, leaving Dave grimacing in frustration.

“I’ll see you around, Charlie,” Dave told him with a wave, before he ran off to the dance studio.

***

Now that Alan knew Dave’s name and they’d been sort of introduced, he found himself wondering what would be a non-cheesy way to strike up a conversation with Dave on the gym floor. They would run into each other quite often; if Alan was using the squat rack, Dave would appear soon after and wait for his turn, often offering to spot Alan. Alan wanted to do the same when it came to Dave’s turn, but Dave seemed to have no end of friends at the gym who volunteered to spot him as well, so Alan had no reason to hang around unless he wanted to look like a lecher, drooling over Dave lifting weights.

That didn’t stop him from watching, though. Alan was very, very good at being very, very sneaky, and he used his abilities to his advantage, watching Dave doing deadlifts in the ubiquitous mirrors around the gym, Dave’s tattoos darkened by his sweat, his muscles gleaming as he huffed and pulled on the bar, his perfectly coiffed hair tumbling over his forehead as he bent down to re-rack the weights. Men like Dave were the reason Alan decided he might not be entirely straight, and that his experimentation in uni hadn’t been just a phase.

However, he still lacked the ability to tell if other blokes were straight, gay, bi or whatever else. Alan thought Fletch and Daryl were unequivocally straight, while Martin definitely pinged his gaydar - not that Alan was interested. As for Dave, he was still a huge question mark as far as Alan was concerned. Dave seemed to watch him a lot, but Dave also flirted with the ladies in yoga class as easily as breathing. So Alan decided to mind his own business, unless Dave made a move first.

After a particularly gruelling workout one evening - Alan really hated leg days - he pushed himself to the showers, picking his favourite stall at the corner and draping his towel over the door. The warm water felt like a relief on his shoulders, which were still sore from yesterday’s workout, and he groaned a little as he rolled his shoulders under the hot shower, cracking his neck before he went about shampooing his hair.

He was just done rinsing his hair when he heard someone stepping into the cubicle beside his, shutting the door and starting their own shower. Whoever it was had a nice voice, humming something that sounded like Sigur Ros. Alan listened absently as he slicked his hair with conditioner, wondering if he should get a haircut soon. His hair was getting a little too long to style into a quiff, and he wondered if he should ignore Flood’s advice and get an undercut this time.

He was just done rinsing out the conditioner when he heard someone curse, “Fuck!” as something clattered to the floor, sliding under the partition over to Alan’s stall. It was a bottle of Axe body wash, which the bloke beside him must have dropped.

Alan picked it up, holding it under the partition that separated their stalls. “This yours, mate?” he asked, but the bloke had already stepped out of his stall and was knocking on Alan’s door.

“Sorry, could you pass me my soap?” he asked, and Alan sighed before he stood up, opening the door to hand him the bottle.

His eyes widened when he saw it was a very wet and very naked Dave, who seemed just as surprised - and pleased - when he saw it was Alan. “Oh, it’s you, Charlie.”

Alan couldn’t stop his eyes from roaming even if someone had a gun to his head. He took in the clear view of Dave’s few tattoos, his smooth chest, his tight brown nipples, the heavy cock between his legs. “Uh, this is yours,” Alan said dumbly after a billion years had passed, holding out the bottle of body wash to Dave like a moron.

Dave licked his lips, stepping forward and backing Alan right into his shower stall again. “Mmm, thanks for your help, mate.” Dave was staring openly at Alan’s mouth now, his tongue running over his lower lip. “Reckon you could help me with something else?”

Alan was breathing hard, taking in Dave’s nearness and his brazen confidence, his seeming certainty in Alan’s attraction. “Help you with what?”

Dave finally took the body wash from him, tipping some into his hands and lathering them into a foam, smiling wickedly at Alan as he did so. “Help me soap up my back, yeah? It’s so hard to reach.”

Alan was distantly aware that this felt like some kind of porn scenario, but he couldn’t care less as he grabbed the shower gel from Dave, soaping up his own hands before he leaned in and kissed Dave hungrily, his soapy hands roaming all over Dave’s back. Dave moaned softly into his mouth, his hands running all over Alan’s chest before rubbing at his nipples, making Alan gasp into their kiss.

“Fuck, wanted you for ages,” Dave breathed out before nipping at Alan’s lips again, guiding them both under the stream of water. It was all so slick and hot and steamy, frotting against some handsome stranger in the gym shower stalls where anyone could walk past and hear their moans and gasps. As hard as Alan tried to be quiet, it became impossible when Dave wrapped a soap-slick hand around his cock, pumping him in swift efficient strokes that had Alan’s knees weakening in the shower.

“C’mon, Charlie, c’mon,” Dave whispered against the shell of his ear, his own cock pressed against Alan’s hip, hard and hot and insistent. Alan wanted so badly to wrap his hand around it, put it in his mouth, but he lost all train of thought when Dave bit down on his neck, his hand speeding up on Alan’s cock as he came all over Dave’s stomach in a hushed moan.

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” Dave nuzzled against Alan’s cheek with a soft gasp, Alan reaching down for a few clumsy strokes before warm spurts of come landed on his hip, quickly washed away by the stream of water.

They were both panting now, arms loosely wrapped around each other, Dave’s back still covered with soap. Once Alan realised this, he grabbed Dave by the shoulders to angle him towards the water and get it washed off. Dave initially was filled with panic, as though afraid Alan would shove him out of his stall. But once he figured out what Alan was up to, he laughed and pressed a kiss to the side of Alan’s head. His lips felt warm, nice.

“Can I take you out to dinner?” Dave asked quietly, rubbing slow circles over Alan’s shoulder. “I swear I wanted to take you out first before doing this, but-- fuck, you looked so fuckin’ irresistable, mate. All warm and wet, y’know?”

Alan had to chuckle in agreement. “Yeah, I do know.”

Dave pulled away to look at him. His eyes - green? brown? - were serious as they regarded Alan. “So it’s a yes to dinner, then?”

Alan rolled his eyes. “If you haven’t clued in to the fact that I just got you off in the shower, then I don’t know what to say.”

“Idiot.” Dave flashed him a sunny, relieved grin as he ducked out of the shower stall. “I’ll see you outside, then.”

***

Dave was waiting for Alan at the reception counter, chatting animatedly with Martin, Fletch and Daryl. However, he straightened up immediately when he spotted Alan, ignoring all of his friends at a drop of a hat. “Hey Charlie.”

Fletch was frowning deeply in confusion. “Wait, isn’t his name Alan?”

Alan shrugged at Fletch, smiling when Dave came up to him and took his hand in his, making everyone’s eyebrows shoot up to the ceiling. “A rose by any other name, y’know?” Alan quipped, grinning at a stunned Fletch.

“Hey, that’s my line,” Dave said with a laugh, tugging Alan by the hand and out the door. “Don’t wait up, fellas.”

[bechloe-are-acadorable]

Butterflies - Bechloe (Pt3)

Part 3/?

Beca woke up the next morning and blinked a few times before looking down at her waist where an arm was slung across her before glancing over to her chest where ginger hair covered what she knew was Chloe's beautiful face. Beca couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips as she gently moved the hair back to reveal Chloe's content sleeping face.

Beca had never had a best friend, not really anyway and well if this is what it felt like to have a best friend, well then, she really had missed out when she was a kid. She adored Chloe and would do anything for her, things that usually made Beca cringe like hugging or any form of physical contact really, she relished with Chloe.

Beca just couldn't wait to move into the Bella house- shit they were supposed to be getting the keys at 11:30 from the dean, what time was it? She grabbed her phone and saw that it was already 11:05. Shit! "Chlo" Beca called softly to wake her "Mmmm five more minutes" Chloe mumbled sleepily and snuggled even tighter into her best friend "Chlo its gone 11 o'clock" she told her but Chloe only grumbled in return "Remember we need to meet the dean at half 11 to get the keys for the Bella house" Beca had barely finished the sentence as Chloe shot up "Crap!" she mumbled as both of the co-captains got up and frantically started to get ready. "Take whatever clothes you want" Beca said as she quickly brushed her hair.

Ten minutes later and both girls were up and ready, Beca found it quite amusing seeing Chloe in her clothes, the two girls clearly having vastly different styles. She mentioned this to Chloe on their march up to the deans office "Yeah you dress gayer than me!" Chloe laughed "What do you mean?" Beca questioned "I mean come on for a straight girl you sure do dress gay, you confused my gaydar when we first met" Chloe laughed as they walked into the waiting room to see the rest of the Bellas already there.

"Chloe why are you wearing Beca's clothes? Did you two bone?" Fat Amy asked upon seeing the two approach "What no, Chloe slept at mine last night and borrowed some clothes, sorry were late guys we slept in" Beca replied "I sleep-murder sometimes..." Lily whispered as everyone looked over at her "Well I'm not rooming with her then" Cynthia Rose blurted out just as the secretary called the Bellas in.

"Okay here are your keys girls you know the rules, don't destroy the place okay?" The older man said as he passed the keys over to Chloe "Of course, may we say thank you again sir" Chloe said taking the keys off him "You can go now" he said and the Bellas all nodded and made their way out of the room. "Let's go to our new house!" Chloe squealed in excitement as the girls made their way to the Bella house. Once they had all looked at the house the discussion about the room situation came about, there were 5 rooms and currently 8 Bellas, although they were sure to pick up new members soon.

There was one room with a double bed, a room with three single beds, and three rooms with two single beds. "Shotgun the-" Fat Amy began but Beca cut her off quickly "We are not shotgunning rooms we will do it fairly, everyone write your name down and we'll draw someone out for the big room" Beca said before finding a pen, paper and a bowl. "CR you can pick a name out" Beca said as she picked the name out and opened it.

“Fucks sake, it's obviously Chloe" she grumbled as Chloe beamed "As for everyone else, we can pick roomies if you want? Shall we also leave the double for the new recruits?" Beca asked as everyone nodded "Shotgun Shawshank!" Fat Amy yelled as Beca smiled over to her, it felt nice to be wanted. Jessica and Ashley obviously chose each other which left CR, Stacie and Lily in a room together "She better not murder me in my sleep or I'm coming back to haunt you all" CR grumbled referring to Lily as the rest of the girls laughed.

The whole rest of the day was spent packing their stuff from their old rooms, carrying it across campus and unpacking it. Fat Amy went for a nap after she finished so Beca decided to wander downstairs from their attic room to see Chloe in her room. She knocked and was greeted with a bright sing-songy "Come in!" Beca smiled at the sound and entered Chloe's now semi-furnished room "Oh hey Becs!" she said engulfing her in a quick hug which made Beca once again unable to help herself from smiling. "Have you come to help?" She asks "Nah I came to watch you struggle" Beca said flopping onto Chloe's bed with a smirk "Fine, suit yourself" she replied pulling tongues at the younger girl. Beca stood back up and casually wandered around her room looking at the way she had decorated the place, it was all so... Chloe.

She wandered over to her desk to see a framed picture of the Bellas after the ICCA along with a neatly organised pens, highlighter, files books and folders. Beca flopped back onto the gingers bed and saw that she had another framed picture on her bedside table, it was of the two of them. It was a picture with the two of them back to back with matching hoodies and jeans, pulling silly faces, Beca instantly recognised the picture and the memory of the day came flooding back.

The shipment of costumes for the Bellas had arrived and these hoodies were part of it, not something that they had ordered but the girls decided to keep them anyway. They both wore them with jeans and did a mini photo before spending the day together discussing all things Bella related whilst enjoying a host of non- Bella related activities like bowling, eating at Chloe's favourite restaurant and getting ice cream on the beach. It had been a perfect day and both girls had loved it.

Beca grabbed the picture off the table "This is so cute Chlo, plus it was like the best day ever!" Chloe glanced over and her face split into her infamous beaming smile "I know right! If I'm ever feeling down, I look at that picture and it cheers me up" she confessed "You're so soppy" Beca teased but internally thought it was the cutest thing ever.

"Shut it short arse! Now are you going to help or am I going to have to kick you out?" Chloe questioned Beca who laughed in reply. "Help with what?" Beca asked looking around the almost complete room "Oh yeah" Chloe mused, "How about you help me make dinner for the Bellas?" She asked and fluttered her eyelashes at the brunette who couldn't resist it when Chloe did that "Fine but cooking dinner for 8 people is going to take us forever" she complained whilst following Chloe down the stairs. "Not with both of us and its only pasta now come on".

The two girls began to prep dinner like a well-oiled machine, with Chloe giving direction and Beca following them. Chloe instructed Beca to chop the onions whilst she stirred the sauce, soon after Beca began to cry and Chloe took a picture of her "I finally have a picture of Beca 'the badass' Mitchell crying!" the older girl crowed "You'd delete that if you knew what was good for you" Beca warned playfully as she began to chase the ginger around the kitchen who sprinted away giggling "Right that's it!" Beca yelped picking up a tomato "Last chance Beale!" she shrieked who shook her head defiantly, Beca took aim and sent a tomato hurtling at Chloe, it hit her square in the chest.

Chloe's mouth dropped open as she picked up her own tomato and launched it at Beca which hit her in the head. Beca ran at Chloe and playfully wrestled her to the floor grabbing chunks of tomato out of her hair and rubbing them on Chloe's face.

The two girls began laughing uncontrollably when a confused looking Stacey and Cynthia Rose entered the kitchen. "What the fuck is going on?" CR asked to which the girls laughed even more "I... we... tomatoes" was all Chloe could get out through her fit of laughter "Right, I'm leaving now" CR said "Good idea" Stacie agreed as they both turned and exited the room. After another five minutes the laughter finally subsided, both girls wiped tears of laughter away and stood up "That is the most I think I have ever laughed" Chloe choked out "Fuck me that was funny" Beca agreed before the girls finished cooking and called the Bellas down for tea.

The girls served the rest of the Bellas before sitting themselves down "So did you both get into a fistfight with a tomato or is there another reason for this?" Fat Amy said pointing to the two co-captains tomatoey-attire. The girls explained the story giggling throughout "Yeah I think that was one of those you had to be there moments because that wasn't funny" Fat Amy told the girls which just caused them to laugh again.

After the girls had all finished their food, Jessica and Ashley offered to wash up whilst Fat Amy grabbed Beca "Hey short stack, Bumper is coming over till like 9 so if you could make yourself scarce that'd be great" Beca rolled her eyes at her but agreed to see if she could chill with Chloe that night. "Of course you can! You don't need an excuse to hang out with me Becs!" Chloe trilled "Ugh I need to get a shower first, how the hell am I going to get this off?" Beca asked motioning to the tomato stains covering her body "I can come in the shower with you and show you" Chloe suggested, Beca's jaw went slack at the suggestion and she began to blush, Chloe winked "Gotcha!" she smirked "Now I'm going to use my shower first see you later" She giggled as she left for the bathroom. Beca sat on Chloe's bed and groaned, God why did Chloe make her feel like this? Friendships with girls are weird.

[shellsan]

Every number from the wlw ask meme!

soft wlw asks

1. how long have you known you liked girls?

I’ve never counted them out as an option in the first place, so it depends on how you look at it? I labelled myself bisexual in like 2014, and changed that to homosexual by the time 2016 ended.

2. talk about the girl who made you realise you liked girls

None in particular, that I can think of? As mentioned above, I never really counted them out to begin with and I’ve always found them to be cuter and more ‘my type’ I guess?

3. are you in a relationship at the moment?

Nope. I haven’t been in a relationship since like 2014/5?

4. do you have a crush at the moment?

Nope~

6. do you tend to like more masculine, feminine, or androgynous girls?

I don’t mind, but I do lean more towards feminine~

7. do you look/dress more masculine, feminine, or androgynous?

Feminine usually.

8. what’s your gaydar like?

Meh. I try not to try and ‘call’ someone else’s sexuality, and I’ve never been in a situation where its mattered before. 

9. tall girls or short girls?

Short~ (But it really doesn’t matter)

10. intimidating girls or kind girls?

Kind.

11. hugs or kisses?

Either, both? I don’t have much experience so I can’t say for sure.

12. do you have an ideal ‘type’? what would they be like?

I’ve never really thought about it? Is that weird? A girl who can make me laugh, and enjoys physical contact would be perfect though, because I’m a naturally touchy-feely person.

13. what’s your favourite personality trait of yours?

Oh man, nothing? Maybe my self-awareness? I try to recognise my own bad habits even if I don’t ultimately do anything about them.

14. what’s your favourite personality trait for a girl to have?

A sense of self-awareness (knowing their own faults and being able to acknowledge them).

15. what’s the best thing about liking girls?

How freaking good them look? Have you seen girls? They’re QUEEN.

16. do you have any friends who are wlw?

Nope, but a large majority of my female friends are bisexual, and open about it~

17. have you ever been to pride? if so, what was your first pride like?

No, I’ve never been.

18. do you like the lesbian flag?

I have nothing against it.

19. what was your first kiss with a girl like?

Soft, and nerve racking. It was my first kiss ever, and I had no idea what to do, or how to go about anything.

((I still have no idea what to do or how to go about it))

20. who was your celebrity/fictional gay awakening?

Most female kpop stars and Katie McGrath (Aka Morgana from Merlin)

21. what’s your favourite lgbt+ movie?

I don’t have one, since I’m not much of a movie watcher. I adore the anime yuri on ice though~

22. who’s your favourite openly wlw celebrity?

I honestly have none? I’m so bad with traditional celebrities and media, since I’ve never cared much for either, so the only w/w celebrity that I know is Ellen.

I went through the effort to google some and see if I recognised any, and the answer was pretty much a resounding nope.

23. do you wear makeup?

For special occasions, or if I’m really feeling it~

24. who was the first person you came out to (if you have)?

I don’t think of it as ‘coming out’, since the people I surround myself with have never been hetronormative (except my father, but we won’t go there), but I dropped to my mother that I was bisexual in the middle of a random conversation, and she didn’t blink, and we just kept on talking? I was like 11 or 12 at the time.

25. has anyone ever come out to you?

Not dramatically in the way that this sounds, but after people at work found out I was gay, a few of them revealed that they were bisexual to me, and some friends have been the same.

26. have you found a community of lgbt+ people?

I’ve never felt the need to look for one.

27. do you have any older lgbt+ people you look up to?

Not really? I look up to plenty of people, but none of that is due to their orientatio or label.

28. do you identify with butch/femme labels?

Not really. I can definitely fit myself into a femme box, but I try not to use too many labels, since I feel like they’re constricting and over all aren’t too necessary? A lesbian is a woman who loves other women. Why do we need to fit into any other roles and stereotypes, ya feel?

29. who’s your favourite fictional wlw?

Shion and Yayoi from Psycho-pass, is probably my fave, just because they’re the first to come to mind, and I adored their dynamic.

30. what experiences are you looking forward to having in the future (kissing a girl, going to pride, etc)?

Honestly, I’m mostly excited to have an actual relationship, and any of the things that come of having a relationship. The only relationships I’ve ever had have been with men when I was still considering myself as bi (and they helped me to figure out that this was not the case), and since then I’ve had nothing. 

[honestlyconkus]

Part 1

It almost didn’t seem like the movie was an hour and a half long. Then again, one has to remember that androids are basically immortal and time is a concept to them, at least until their parts breakdown and they wither away from neglect. One minute North was seated besides Josh, staring up at a dark screen and throwing popcorn at Simon and the next minute she was at a fancy restaurant she’d remembered was rated a 4.5/5 stars from yelp reviews. Not bad Hank.

It’s some fancy italian place that she didn’t bother remember the name of, but does remember the rustic vibe it attempted to portray. The walls reminds her of villas in italy, pale sandy-colored bricks covered in faux grape vines and soft yellow lighting. Hank is already waiting inside, looking quite nice in a flower patterned suit. His long hair is even brushed back and a small clip pins the hair nearest his face at the top of his head.

“Wow, you guys all look like movie stars!” he compliments, leaning forward to accept the hug from North. He nods to the rest of Jericho in greeting. “If I had known we were doing Hollywood level I would’ve tried a little harder.”

“I like your flowers.” Simon says charmingly, smiling at the Lieutenant. Connor seems pleased.

“I picked it out myself!”

“We’ll have to work out another color palette for Hank. The flowers are wonderful though.” North chuckles. The group goes around and find their respected spots at the table- Connor on the end sitting across from Hank, with Markus on his right side. Josh sits across Markus, and North is on his left. Simon sits across from her.

They find their voices filling the restaurant as Hank told stories from before the android era. He talked about roombas and how humans younger than him used to personify them. (“A lot of the kids gave them googly eyes.”) Hank himself had a roomba and named it Ankle Biter for its constant bumping into things. Connor didn’t think it was that impressive.

“That’s not a very advanced model if it ran into things instead of vacuum like it was supposed to.” Connor frowned as Hank snapped out of his nostalgia. He threatened to throw a bread stick at him.

“Shut up Connor I loved him.”

North decided to share her experiences at the Eden Club, looking pointedly at Simon and Josh to follow her lead. She talks about how experiences with a few humans only managed to get her on, and how pole dancing was actually fun if one knew how to lure people in. Everyone’s faces turned red/blue, and she had to laugh at Simon’s petrified expression in spite of herself.

But it’s to her own surprise that Connor retaliated with his own stories, claiming he now had an extensive knowledge of pole dancing among other things from all the memories he’d probed during the Eden Club investigation. Hank couldn’t decide if he was to look impressed or weirded out.

“You think you can beat me in a pole dancing competition Connor?” North challenged, smirking at Connor from across the table. “Winner gets to give Markus a lap dance for his birthday. I think he’d enjoy it too.”

“I’m sorry what-” Markus’ face grew blue as he glared at North, but bit his tongue from arguing. Connor didn’t look embarrassed at all; he was intrigued. A gleam in his eyes told her he was up to the task.

“I always accomplish my mission.”

Jericho glanced between Markus and Connor but they didn’t seem to be acting any different. Markus just looked as a mix of annoyed and embarrassed that he was the trophy, and Connor acted like he was after taking a joke literally; he’ll take the challenge literally too.

Filler time. Josh had looked between the two in a panic. “Can we please not talk about this in a family restaurant?” Simon laughed at his expression and Hank shrugged, jostling the offended android.

“We’re family enough Josh.”

Simon took up the reigns by mentioning Markus’ painting habits. He figured if he could embarrass Markus enough he’d admit his feelings for the detective easily. “I think Markus mentioned once you had one of the nicest figure he’d ever seen, Connor. He has a sketchbook he showed to me once.”

Markus grew bright blue and nodded, looking shyly at Connor. “You really do Connor. I was honored to have been able to sketch you.”

“Why thank you Markus.” 

There was a lull in the conversation as they waited for a reaction, but nothing. Connor instead moved on and launched another story about a time he walked with Sumo and Hank, but once again, it seemed as if this was normal. Markus sat and listened to Connor’s story, laughing at the appropriate times but didn’t look out of the ordinary. He didn’t exhibit any notion that he would be on his knees admitting his feelings, despite being embarrassed twice already and exposed. Jericho was stumped.

We have after dinner, North reminded them.

Their stories had to come to a stop once the food arrived. Everyone decides to eat meals for Hank’s sake, even turning on their taste sensors in order to enjoy the food entirely. Hank wouldn’t admit this to anyone but he feels gratitude for their consideration. The gruff city cop smiles as the androids clamor over each other for spices, passing around bowls of food and sharing food they think would taste much better than their own. He chuckles as North steals food from Josh, while Simon offers pieces of his food to everyone he could give to. Markus and Connor find themselves preventing Josh and North from shoving salad in each other’s faces. After a while though, things find itself at a peace as each person eat to enjoy their meal, occasionally sharing quiet conversation to each other.

Then suddenly, Markus looks up and nudges Connor. “Could you pass me the olive oil babe?”

Wordlessly Connor reaches for the oil and gives it to Markus. He also leans forward and gives Markus a kiss on the cheek, before picking up his utensils and resuming his meal. On the other end of the table, utensils clatter and everyone looks up.

North’s face is bright blue, and she points an accusatory finger at Connor. Her voice is just above a whisper. “What did you just do?”

Connor is confused and replies carefully, “I gave Markus a kiss?” Unfortunately this only fuels her wrath even more as she turns to a now embarrassed Markus.

“Markus…” Her voice is threatening and grows in volume as she glares with the fires of the sun in her beautiful brown eyes. “What did that kiss mean?” Even Simon and Josh look in shock as they stare at the former android leader as well, mixed faces of confusion and surprise.

Hank is also confused. “What do you mean? You got something against boys dating each other North?” His voice has a dangerous edge to it, as he prepares to defend his son and possible son-in-law. (He also won’t tell anyone he just thought of that.) “It’s 2039 North, and you’re an android-”

“Wait what?!” Now it’s Hank’s turn to cower in her gaze. “You know Connor and Markus are dating?”

Everyone is looking at each other, but mostly between Connor and Markus. Hank seems to realize what the situation is and glares back at Markus, who’s shrinking more and more into his seat. Even Connor isn’t amused.

“Wait you didn’t tell them we were dating?” Connor’s voice sounds hurt, and Markus sits up to explain.

“Babe I didn’t have the time-”

“How long have you guys been dating?” Simon interrupts, trying to disarm the situation and genuinely curious. How had they not known all this time? Were Jericho really that easy to fool? North looks as if she were going to blow up.

Markus looks too hesitant to respond. “A year?”

“YOU WERE DATING FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?!” North nearly screams, but the squeeze from Josh’s hand on her bicep reminds her to keep it to at least a level 8. Family restaurant, all that. “I can’t believe this. Who else knows?”

“Hank,” Connor answers, pointing to the Lieutenant. “And Gavin Reed.”

North rips a napkin in half.

“Gavin Reed knew and your own friends didn’t? Markus what the hell!”

“Okay to be fair, Gavin figured it out the moment Connor walked into the precinct,” Hank comes to the rescue, shaking his head as Connor shrugs guiltily. “Said Connor triggered his ‘gaydar’, whatever the hell that meant. But yeah, I am pretty surprised Markus didn’t tell you guys almost immediately.”

Everyone stares deliberately at Markus until he shrugs, sighing and scratching the back of his head. “I just… didn’t see the point in announcing it. No one had to know our business. Our relationship wasn’t a status people needed to comment on. But I do see the betrayal it led when I didn’t tell my best friends about it.” He turns to Jericho and bows his head in apology. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys sooner. But yes, Connor and I have been dating.” He takes Connor’s hand in his and presses a kiss to the knuckles, smiling in affection. “And it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life.”

They all awe as Connor leans in for a kiss, his LED shining blue. North leans back in her seat, still a little miffed at Markus but satisfied nonetheless. I told you it would work out, She sends to Simon and Josh, as Hank leans forward and ruffles his partner’s hair affectionately. Jericho agrees, the happiness of their leader about the news spreading around the table like wildfire. Laughter passes between the group until everyone is smiling, content. 

Operation Conkus: Successful.

-

I interpreted it slightly different anon, my bad. But yeah this was fun :) Hope yall liked it~

send me moar headcanons/prompts!!!

[woahdeclan-b]

The Day We Met || Zachlan

Takes place on 11/6. Finallyee.

Zach had been crazy excited about starting at Degrassi. First of all his favorite cousin was in some of his classes, but mostly he was excited to finally get to meet Declan. He had gotten to the class a little early as Simpson had been showing him around and wanted to introduce him to Lacey. After talking for a bit she had him sit in a seat in the back corner as it was the only unassigned one. Sliding into the seat, he looked around for a bit before taking out his sketchbook and opening it up to a new page. Biting his lip, he put his hood up, hoping people wouldn't bother him as they started to fill into the classroom, before he started to draw.

Declan walked into English class, already fussing with some of his friends. "That's so stupid! I think Brennan just acts like an asshole because he's an asshole, not because he's gay." Declan rolled his eyes, "He's doing...stuff...with your sister. I mean...he could be bi...but, I totally don't get that kind of rage from him. This is like....typical jock rage...I don't know. Don't ask me. Why am I supposed to have awesome gaydar? I have a girlfriend." He sat his stuff down at his table and sat down, looking up at the board as Lacey wrote "THE GREAT GATSBY" up on the board. He sighed, opening up the book he kept his lyrics and melodies in, staring at lyrics he'd scribbled down after texting Zach the other night. All the line said was "Take a selfie for me..." Why couldn't he get anything else out of that? Why did that line sound so cheesy? The boy closed the book and then let his head come to rest on top of his folded arms on the desk.

Zach glanced up when he heard a slight commotion of people entering the room, his eyes immediately falling on Declan. Unable to keep from grinning, he pushed his sketchbook to the corner of his desk and turned his attention to the boy, unable to look away. He was somehow cuter in person and he didn't think that could be possible. Gavin shook his head at Declan. "First of all don't say that that's gross. Second of all my gaydar is perfect and you need to agree with me because of that..." He was about to continue when his eyes fell on Zach in the back of the room. Who was this kid and why was he staring at his best friend? "Third... there's some kid in the seat that Lacey makes me sit in after I do something awesome she doesn't agree with... and he's staring at you... wait! THERE'S SOMEONE IN MY SEAT SHE CAN'T MOVE ME! But also why is that guy staring at you. Staring at you is my job. Should I fight him?"

Declan looked up at the sound of Gavin yelling. He looked up in just enough time to see Lacey whirl around, the dry erase marker still in her hand. "Do you wanna bet? I'll call another teacher to bring me a desk. Sit down, Gavin." She huffed. Declan chuckled under his breath, about to put his head back down when Gavin mentioned some guy staring at him. What? Why would some guy stare at him...well, other than Gavin. Declan turned all the way around in his seat to face the seat that Chloe had recently dubbed 'Azkaban'. He could've sworn his heart stopped beating in his chest. He took a hard swallow. No way this was real. He had to be seeing things. He blinked a few times, as if this would change anything. Zach was here, in his class, in person. This was very, very real and he couldn't breathe. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he took a long sigh and then smiled at him awkwardly, not sure of what else to do. "Hey..." he finally mouthed. He would've sat there, just staring at the other boy until he heard Lacey call his name. "Dec, turn around for me." she said, "We're about to get started." He whirled around in his seat, "Yeah, uh, I'm sorry." He said. He quickly dug down in his pocket to withdraw his phone, hissing in pain from his hand being shoved into his jeans, grazing the cut on his palm. He pulled his phone out and hid it under the table before quickly texting Zach. "Oh my god, what are you doing here? How? When? Why? I'm sorry I'm so awkward, I'm about two seconds from an asthma attack."

Zach couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle at the boy being told off. He wasn't surprised at all when Lacey eventually called him Gavin. He perfectly fit Declan's stories of him. Gavin huffed, sliding off of his desk and into his chair. "But where are you going to put another desk," He shot back mostly to himself. Zach kept his eyes on Declan, his smile growing when the boy turned around to look at him. The smile quickly faded into a smirk at Declan's reaction, loving how nervous he seemed to have made the boy. "Hey," He mouthed back. He frowned slightly when the boy turned back around and immediately reached for his phone. "I told you I got kicked out of my school... I had to be sent somewhere... surprise!"

Declan looked around to make sure no one was looking before texting back, "I know! I just never imagined here! Wow...you're like...real...here and in person...and not just the homescreen on my phone." He sent it and then typed back quickly, "I'm sorry. That's weird, I guess. I promise, I'm not a stalker. I'm just really nervous and literally saying everything that comes to mind. I'm so sorry." Declan couldn't help himself. He had to keep peering over his shoulder to keep looking at him. He was beautiful...even more so in person, and on top of that...he was here. He was here, and he didn't even have to wait until Christmas.

Declan turned back around just in time for Lacey to stand up from behind her desk. "Okay, guys, we have a new student joining us...his name is Zach James...let

Declan let's make him feel welcome...and not in the way that you guys welcome me into class everyday." She chuckled, "Zach, come up here and tell us a bit about yourself."

Zach 's smile kept growing as he read the texts popping up on his phone. "Lol you're fine don't apologize," he sent back. When Declan looked back at him, he smiled at the boy again. "But yeah I'm here now... permanently." He was waiting for a reply when he heard his name. Head shooting up, he shoved his phone into his pocket and slid his hood off his head, running his fingers through his hair quickly to fix it. "Uhm hey," He said, hoping that would be it. He furrowed his brow as he watched some of Declan's friends clapping obnoxiously and shook his head. Sighing when she asked him to come up, he pushed himself onto his feet and slowly made his way to the front of the classroom. "Uhm, I'm Zach... I'm actually Cassie's cousin so that's why we have the same last name," he pointed to his cousin in the room and gave her a little wave. "I'm from Australia which is why I sound like this... This is my ninth school in the past 3 years. I was kicked out of the other eight so that's a fun fact." He let his eyes fall on Declan for a moment and smiled, making sure not to make it obvious to everyone else, but also making it obvious to him that the next part was directed towards him. "But yeah, I'm excited to be here and don't plan on getting kicked out of this one." He nodded to himself, before turning to Lacey. "Well that was sufficiently awkward, can I go sit down?"

Declan watched as he got up, watching his every move and ignoring the random comments that came from Gavin across the table. As soon as the boy said hey, and he could fully hear his accent, Declan actually swooned. He then caught himself, though. That has never happened before. He looked around, looking to see if anyone else noticed it before turning his attention back to Zach. He listened to his whole speech and then smiled. Lacey looked at him, "That was great, Zach. Totally, you can go sit down now." Declan then watched him walk back to his seat and sit down before pulling his phone out again. "I'm so glad you're here, and I can't wait to actually hang out with you!" he said. He waited a moment before texting again, "I've needed to kiss you for a while now." He blushed at his own words and then sent the text.

Zach put his hood back up before making his way back to his seat. He made a point of passing Cassie's desk, flicking her shoulder with an innocent grin before sitting back down. He didn't waste any time pulling his phone back out. He smirked bigger than he had before at Declan's text, glancing up at him for a moment before replying. "...you should meet me in the bathroom after this class ;)" he sent back.

Declan blushed even harder at Zach's reply. It took him a moment to realize exactly what the boy had said, but when he did, that's when he started internally screaming. Was he really about to go makeout with a boy in the bathroom? This was so unlike him, but he wanted to so badly. All he could think about over the last few days was what it would be like to feel the other boys lips on his. He bit his lip before texting back, "Okay!" with a blushy and smiley face emoji. Suddenly, that's when Declan became fixated on the clock. It seemed to be moving too slowly, and the sound of Chloe and Gavin kicking and nudging each other under the desk was just seeming to make it drag on longer. "I need class to end right now." Declan sent to Zach, ending the message with a laughing emoji.

Zach grinned at Declan's reply. There had been a part of him that was afraid when he got there Declan wouldn't actually want anything to do with him but that proved otherwise. When the boy stopped texting, he put his phone back into his pocket and turned to a new page in his sketchbook, starting on a sketch of Declan, looking up at him often. When his phone vibrated again, he read the text, laughing to himself. "Same. Maybe we could just leave."

Declan read the text with a grin, "That'd look too suspicious...maybe time will just pass quicker. In the mean time, write up an 'Out of Order' sign for the bathroom! lol." He sent the text before before glancing back over his shoulder, taking in the boy's focus as he drew, biting his lip. He then turned and opened up his notebook again. "Can you take a selfie for me? Post it up real sexy for me." He scratched the line out. That was entirely too much...even if it were pretty true.

Zach chuckled and sent him a thumbs up emoji before putting his phone back into his pocket and going back to his drawing. He was so into what he was doing, he didn't even notice Declan looking back at him. When the bell finally rang, he quickly shoved his stuff into his backpack and made a beeline out of the room and to the nearest bathroom. He made sure it was empty, before jumping up onto the sink to wait for Declan. When some random guy came in, he quickly shook his head. "Someone took a nasty poop in there, I would go to another bathroom," He laughed, smirking when the other guy walked out.

Declan watched as Zach ran ahead once the bell rang. He chuckled under his breath before turning back to Gavin and the rest of the group. "Hey, I'm gonna...go pee and then I'll catch up with you guys!" He then calmly walked out until they couldn't see him until he ran into the nearest bathroom. As soon as he got in, he smiled seeing Zach perched up on the sink. "Hey..." he smiled brightly, shifting his bookbag off in a way to avoid it coming in contact with the bandages on his hands. He dropped it into the floor before kicking down the doorstop on the inside of the door. "Oh wait, hang on." He stepped into one of the stalls and grabbed the maintenance sign that was left behind from a previous cleaning and stuck it outside before shutting the door, putting the stopper down to make opening the door that much harder. "Jackpot." he chuckled stepping up closer to Zach. "So..."

Zach looked up when the door opened again, expecting to have to tell some other guy a lame reason he needed to leave. However when he saw it was Declan he grinned and pushed his hood back down. He watched as he put up the sign and laughed. "I was just gonna lean against the door so nobody could come in but that makes more sense," he laughed. He didn't jump down from the sink though, biting his lip when Declan walked towards him. "So..." he repeated, looking at the other boy.

Declan smiled, walking up closer to the boy. He awkwardly fumbled with his hands, wringing them together, unsure of what to do with them. Shit. Why were they stinging so badly? Oh yeah, they were cut open and sweat was now rolling into the wound. He clenched and unclenched his hands a few times before stepping in closer until he was almost completely settled between the other boy's legs. "I kind of think we owe each other a kiss..." he said quietly, nerves getting the best of him. He'd never kissed anyone before...not even Gavin, shockingly. He ran his tongue across his lips, praying they weren't chapped or broken from gnawing on them as much as he frequently did.

Zach kept his eyes on Declan's unable to keep from smiling at his nervous the other boy seemed. When he stepped closer, he let his hands move to rest on the boy's sides. "Well we have been talking about that," he agreed. As cool as he tried to come off, he was pretty nervous as well as he had never kissed anyone either. His eyes flicking downward when Declan licked his lips, he instinctively did the same before moving one of his hands up to cup the side of Declan's face. At the same time as he was doing that, he ducked down and pressed his lips to Declan's, kissing him softly.

Declan took another hard swallow as Zach's hand came up to rest on his face. As soon as his lips were on his, Declan practically melted into his touch, leaning against him more, putting his hand down on his leg. He sighed into the kiss before letting it break, already wanting to reconnect his lips with the other boy's. His heart was pounding in his chest and he felt light, unable to stop smiling. The crush was real and it was solid now, and he was so beyond gone. "Woah...that was...way better than anything I've imagined...you're better than what I imagined. Pictures don't give you enough justice. You're actually perfect." he smiled.

Zach grinned bigger than he ever had when the kiss broke. He let his thumb stroke Declan's cheek for a moment before dropping his hand. "Id say that was a pretty great first kiss," he smiled. Chuckling, he shook his head. "Who are you to call anyone else perfect?"

Declan nodded in agreement, closing his eyes as he felt Zach's thumb caressing his cheek. "Yeah, it was...so good." he smiled, opening his eyes again to look at the boy. At his compliment, he blushed, smiling widely. "I'm not perfect, but thank you." He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before letting his head come to rest on his chest gently, his forehead resting against the spot gently. One kiss, and Declan was totally ready to just cuddle up with him forever,

Zach smiled softly at the reddening of Declan's face. "You are though. Don't fight me on it you'll lose," he laughed. Grinning when the other teen kissed his cheek, he moved his hand back to his waist. "Oh hi," he whispered, letting Declan lean against him before kissing the top of his head. "I know I'm not supposed to skip anymore but can't we just skip the rest of the day?"

Declan smiled as his hand came down to his waist and he pressed a kiss to his head. "I wonder if I'd get in any trouble, because I really want to. I want to find a place and just kiss you and lay around with you." he said, "I actually cannot believe you're here. It should totally be an excused skip for that." He chuckled, sitting up to lean in and steal a kiss.

Zach laughed. "You probably wouldn't but I would. They're like watching me or something because of my record," he sighed. "And I really don't wanna get kicked out of this school too. But I would take the kissing and laying around if I could." He grinned when Declan kissed him again. He went to reach down to take his hand, frowning when he saw the bandages. "You didn't tell me you hurt yourself. What happened?"

Declan nodded understandably. "I don't want you getting kicked out either. I just got you here with me. At another school, you could find a cuter guy." He chuckled, "Well, maybe this weekend we could do the whole kissing and laying around thing. You could come over." He smiled, but his smile faded once Zach went to take his hands. He flipped them upwards, where the bandage was already getting dirty and worn from the wear and tear of the day. "My friends and I made a blood pact Friday night." he said, "Like...we all ended up holding hands in a circle with our hands bleeding into each others. It sounds gross and it sounds like a cult but I swear it's not. Now, we'll all have matching scars too."

Zach shook his head quickly. "There are no cuter guys," he promised. At Declan's suggestion he quickly nodded. "I would say you could come to my place but my cousins are all there and I'm not sure how well that would keep it a secret," he said before frowning. "Wait the weekend is so far away..." looking at The boys hands, he raised his eyebrow at the story. "It does sound gross," he laughed. "And very cult like." Despite his words he carefully lifted Declan's hands one by one and kissed each, being careful not to actually hurt him.

Declan smiled when he accepted the invitation to hang out. "Oh, true...we'd be way safer as far as that goes at my place." he said. When the boy frowned, his whole face fell as well, instantly feeling bad for the boy's face falling so fast. He stood up on his tip toes again and leaned in, pressing a comforting kiss to his cheek. "I know. It sucks. My mom probably wouldn't care if you came over earlier. You can come over tonight or tomorrow, if you want. I was just thinking of the weekend, because we wouldn't have to get up and go to school the next morning." He said. "But either...or better yet, both...work for me." He smiled. Declan smiled at the boy's comments, but his heart practically melted and a sigh escaped him audibly as he brought both hands up and kissed the spots on his palms. "You're....amazing....I don't know what I did to deserve this honestly, but I'm not complaining." He chuckled, leaning in to steal another kiss.

Zach pretended to think about it for a moment before laughing. "Both. Definitely both," he finally said with a grin. "But I'll keep being sad if it means more kisses." Smiling softly, he shook his head. "I'm nothing special," he whispered back, smiling into the kiss. "I don't mean for this to come off rude because I love it. But you're so tiny," he laughed. "It's cute."

Declan smiled, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, both sounds good. Both sounds really good.” He laughed softly. When he mentioned being sad to get kisses, Declan frowned, “I’d rather see you smile, though. You have a really great smile. I kinda hope I can keep it on your face more often.” The boy scrunched his face up at the compliment, blushing bright red before hiding his face in Zach’s chest again. “Ahhh, stop. Being tiny isn’t cute. I get picked on for being small.” He sat back up, “plus, it’s because I was premature. My mom did drugs while she was pregnant. Now, I’m super tiny.” He smiled, “I’m glad you think it’s cute, though.”

Zach let his finger absently trace over Declan's side, looking down at the boy as he spoke. Without second thought at the mention of his smile he pulled a goofy grin before laughing. "You can't tell me that's nice," he teased. He couldn't help but frown as Declan spoke, wishing he didn't have to deal with a mom like that. "Its cute because it's you. Plus I can put you in my pocket and that sounds nice," he smirked. "I'm kind of tall though for our age so it makes you smaller."

Declan chuckled at the boys response before reaching up to poke him in the cheek. “You’re a dork.” He smiled, leaning in again to kiss his cheek right where he poked it. He sighed as Zach spoke, feeling completely at ease for the first time in a while. “As long as you don’t use me as an arm rest like Gavin.” He grinned, “I like height difference. It’s cute. Chloe and Gavin’s is cute and so is Regina and Corbin’s. Ours is too.” He smiled before leaning in to kiss the other boy again. The kiss was slow and soft and it made the shaky feelings in his hands go away. He then reached up and cupped the boys face in his hands to bring him closer.

Zach grinned at the comment, the grin growing when Declan kissed his cheek. "No armrest you're just gonna go into my pocket," he said again with a laugh. He wanted to make another comment but he was silenced by Declan's lips. Kissing back just as softly, he somehow pulled the boy closer, his hands moving to the small of his back.

Declan sighed against Zach’s lips as he was pulled in closer. He wrapped his arms around his neck and let his chest gently collide with Zach’s. Declan kept kissing him until he felt like he needed to finally take a breath. He pulled back, breathing a little harder than before, but with a soft blush on his cheeks and a shy smile on his face. “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to go to class. I just want to stay here kissing you.” He smiled. Immediately after speaking, the bell rang, and Declan let out a disappointed sigh.

Zach smiled when Declan pulled back, resisting the urge to just pull him in for another kiss. "Class is stupid," He said even though he knew he couldn't skip any of them. "Kissing you should be a class..." When the bell rang, he frowned, reaching over to run his fingers through Declan's hair. "...we can just meet back here during lunch?" He offered with an innocent smile.

Declan chuckled, “um, you’d get an A, so...” He smiled contently as the boy ran his fingers through his hair and then nodded. “Yeah, id like that a lot.” He then scooted back and grabbed his backpack, putting it on his back before turning back to Zach. “Bye...” he smiled and then leaned in and kissed his cheek gently.

Zach chuckled. "My first A," He hummed, sliding off the sink and putting his bag on his shoulders. "Bye," He repeated, grinning when Declan kissed his cheek. He was about to let the boy walk out first before shaking his head. "Wait!" He said, grabbing Declan's wrist. In one motion, he slid the leather braided cord bracelet he was wearing off his wrist and onto Declan's, being careful of the bandage on his hand. "There."

Declan had started walking to the door when Zach stopped him. “Huh?” He questioned before turning around. Zach had grabbed his wrist and Declan watched closesly as he slid the cord bracelet onto his wrist. His whole face lit up and he tried to keep from looking too weirdly smiley, but he couldn’t help it. It was impossible for him not to smile in his presence. “Thanks...” He grinned, “So...after school at my place, right?”

Zach looked at the bracelet and smiled. "It looks better on you than me," He said simply. He let his fingers linger a moment longer than they had to before dropping his hand. "Yeah," He smiled. "Just text me your address."

[idekwidcfo]

chapter four

this is the longest chapter so far

apologies for any formatting weirdness caused by copy/pasting it onto tumblr 

Mar was true to her word and did not call me to come help with her groceries, so I decided to be true to mine. I lounged around watching TV until it was time to get ready for the party. Even then, I ended up ready way too soon-- I started at 6 and it simply did not take 40 minutes to shower and get dressed. I turned the TV back on for a bit so I didn’t seem like a crazy person pulling up to Mar’s a fully forty minutes early. 

Finally, finally it was time that I could leave and show up at a somewhat normal time. Since we weren’t going to a show I figured it was my turn to choose the music. After a rather long moment of indecision, I put on This Is a Long Drive For Someone With Nothing to Think About. I had recently fallen in love with Modest Mouse, and I really hoped she would like it. 

When I pulled up to her place, it was 6:56, which made me technically early but I was worried she actually had expected me at 6:52. I felt bad about the possibility that she was waiting anxiously, like she had said yesterday. It didn’t help that she was at my door the second I put my car in park. 

“Took you long enough,” she said, but her tone made it obvious that she was teasing. She hopped in the passenger seat. “Only four minutes early! Where’s the exactly-eight-minutes-early Vaughn I was expecting?” 

“That asshole took four minutes to choose what CD to play on the drive up there. You said it was somewhere in Cleveland, right?” 

We lived in Akron, which meant that Cleveland was about a 45 minute drive away. Having a good album playing was, in fact, essential. 

“Oh, I don’t get to choose this time?” she pouted playfully. 

“We can take turns. Are you up for navigating? I’m pretty sure I figured out how to get there but I wrote down the directions to be sure,” I said, handing her the peice of paper I had copied the Mapquest instructions onto. 

“Sure!” she said. “I’m glad to be useful.” 

I started driving again and she examined the directions. “This seems unnecessarily complicated. I thought it was just Route 8 up to uh, one of those big freeways that lead to Cleveland.” 

“I’m a normal person who does normal things like avoiding freeways when I drive. Although, to be fair to my totally normal self, my car is a little old and junky and it likes the back roads better.” 

She shrugged. “Sounds fun.” 

It was fun, at least more fun than driving by myself. I liked driving, so that was actually saying a lot. We stopped for gas and energy drinks but mostly we drove without speaking. I let the music of Modest Mouse wash over me as I drove. She seemed to have fun giving me directions-- it made our journey a sort of act of teamwork and I couldn’t help but feel we were bonding over it even with minimal talking. 

And then we were there. I didn’t even need her to confirm for me. It was noticeably a house party. Cars were parked on both sides of the street despite the lack of sidewalk or curb and people were pouring out of the porch onto the front yard. And this was us showing up only fifteen minutes late! I couldn’t even begin to wrap my head around what this would look like two hours from now. 

“Uh, wow, I wasn’t expecting so many people,” I said. 

“I guess I didn’t actually explain in detail how awesome Derek’s parties are,” Mar said. “Did I mention there’s a pool? And a hot tub? Although good luck getting in the hot tub, it’s usually too crowded. This is pretty much the real deal as far as house parties are concerned.” 

“This is my first time going to any party that wasn’t, at best, my friend’s parents letting us have a few Bud Lights in the other room and checking in every couple of hours,” I told her. 

“Ew, Bud Light? I’m sorry your friend’s parents did that to you,” she said. “Anyway, you’re in for a fun night if this is your first real party.” 

We approached the house and Derek greeted us. “You made it!” he said, looking at me with a big, genuine smile. 

“I did,” I said, feeling awkward about how happy he was to see me. It was nice! I appreciated it! But it was also weird. We had barely gotten to know each other, unless shoving each other in the small mosh pit last night counted. 

“Oh, so he gets a warm welcome and what do I get?” Mar asked with a smirk. 

“Nothing because I know your ass would have found a way here one way or the other!” Derek said. Shouted, really. It occured to me that Derek was possibly-- probably-- at least a little bit buzzed. 

“Where’s the beers?” Mar asked.

“In the kitchen, duh,” Derek responded. 

As Mar dragged me into the house, it sunk in that this was quite possibly the first time that I could get away with getting trashed. Not that I wanted to. Or maybe I did. I wasn’t sure. I had seen my dad trashed and it just seemed bad and embarrassing, but I was also curious about what it was like. 

I noticed that nearly everyone we passed was happy to see Mar and interested in meeting me, but Mar steered me past them. “Booze now, make friends later,” she said. “Do a shot with me.” 

“Uh, I’ve never really drank hard liquor, I’ve only ever had a few be--” 

“Shot. With me. Now,” she said, handing me a mostly-full shot glass. I watched as she gulped it down like a kid with nasty medicine and tried to do the same. It burned, and I coughed a bit, but I didn’t splutter or spit it out or anything, which I was proud of for some stupid reason. 

“Okay,” Mar said. “Cool. Now beer. Any preferences?” 

“Um. PBR?” 

She rolled her eyes at me. “Well you’ll fit right in. Let’s see if Derek has anything better than that though,” she said, opening the fridge and digging around. “Oh! Commodore Perry!” 

She handed me a can of PBR and opened her own bottle of beer, which did look a lot fancier and higher quality than my own. 

“Mmmm, let’s do one more shot before we go mingle,” Mar said, handing me the shot glass again. I held it out while she filled it up. It was a little easier with the PBR as a chaser. 

I was definitely already buzzed-- not trashed, but buzzed. I was glad. I didn’t want to be one of those people who couldn’t have more than one drink without getting embarrassingly drunk. 

She led me back into the living room, where the biggest group of people who had greeted her happily were hanging out. She introduced me as her boyfriend, which made me happy. Unfortunately, I forgot pretty much everyone’s names almost as soon as the conversation moved past introductions. 

As Mar talked to people she clearly knew already and was already friends with, I stood awkwardly to the side. A person who was also standing awkwardly to the side near me introduced themself. 

“Xavier, huh? Uh, mind me asking what pronouns you use?” I asked, realizing as I spoke that I was, in fact, drunk already. Was the PBR hitting me hard or was that just my body absorbing the shots? 

Xavier’s face lit up and I knew I had hit on something there. Maybe trans people have a ‘trans’-dar the way gay people have ‘gaydar’. “He/him! Thanks for asking!” 

“Mine are he/him, too. I asked because I’m trans,” I told him. I wasn’t normally that forthcoming about it, but it was so rare to meet someone else who was trans that I wanted him to know he wasn’t the only trans kid at the party. 

“You are? I couldn’t even tell!” 

“Well, I was lucky my dad was… passively accepting, I guess? He’s not going to get ally of the year or anything, but he did let me start hormones last year, and I was on puberty blockers before that. So I look like a man, I guess. Yay me,” I said awkwardly. I thought alcohol was supposed to help you feel less awkward but I guess I was still sober enough to feel awkward. I finished my beer. There weren’t any trash cans that I could see so I held the empty can while Xavier spoke to me. It did not help with the awkward feeling I had. 

“Wow that’s awesome,” he said. “I know a lot of people online who have transitioned or are transitioning but I’ve never met someone else in real life!” 

“You know, me neither,” I said. “Outside of a support group I went to a few times.” 

“Oh, I should probably attend one of those, huh?” Xavier said. 

I shrugged. “It didn’t help me much. I did the same thing I just did to you-- misgendered someone even though I, a transgender guy, should know better. And then I just never went back. Jeez, now you know three things about me and one of them is that I misgendered someone at a trans meeting.” 

“Ha!” he said. “No worries, really, I still slip up and misgender myself sometimes. Also I’m new to this and everything but isn’t a trans person slipping out the wrong pronouns like way different than a cis person intentionally using the wrong ones, anyway? Let’s stop talking about it, seriously. Wanna smoke some weed instead?” 

“Um, yes, I would very much like to smoke weed. I never have before! I was hoping to for the first time here at this party! But I should probably get my girlfriend, because I’m pretty sure she likes weed, too,” I said. 

I tapped Mar’s shoulder. “Damn,” I heard Xavier say under his breath. “She’s pretty, good for you!” 

I tried not to smile too big, but it was hard when I had definitely heard Xavier muttering that, and Mar’s face was so close to mine that I could see perfectly well for myself how pretty she was. “Xavier here just offered me weed, wanna come smoke with us?” 

She looked at him. “Just us three or are you up to sharing with others, too?” 

Xavier grinned. “The more the merrier!” 

Mar turned back to her group of friends and announced, “Xavier here has weed! Who wants to go smoke?” 

“I do! I do!” a few of the people said with ironic enthusiasm. Or maybe not ironic? It was hard to tell. 

“Where’s Derek?” Mar muttered to herself, looking around. She turned back to me and Xavier. “It’s good manners to offer the host of the party any weed you may smoke at the party. Let’s go find him.” 

“I knew that,” Xavier said with a facial expression that was between an eye-roll and a frown. 

“Also, the host frequently knows really well where it’s okay to smoke in his own house,” Mar said. “Just, on a more practical note.” 

“You know I’ve smoked before? This is my weed that we’re going to be smoking?” Xavier asked, quite bewildered by Mar’s helpful tone. 

“Yeah, I’m talking to Vaughn, not you,” Mar said. She actually sounded a little rude and I worried that I was in the middle of a brewing confrontation. 

“So you’re just ignoring me to my face before you smoke my weed?” Xavier asked. 

“Jeez, you’re touchy,” Mar said. “But also you’re right, that was rude of me. I should have included you. You got any tips to share with our little cannabis virgin here?” Just like that, the air of potential confrontation had vanished. 

“Cannabis?” 

“I got that from him. Isn’t it hilarious? He seriously called it cannabis the first time it came up. So nerdy, so cute.”

“That is cute. Next he’ll tell us that the tetracannahydrobanoids are what get you high.” 

“Is that a word? Is that the real word for it?” 

“I have no idea, but it sounds right, right?” 

“Hey, wait a second, now you’re ignoring me,” I said. “Maybe you just suck at focusing on more than one person at a time.” 

Mar turned around and glared at me. For a long moment. I felt bad. I also felt drunk. I was, at this point, definitely feeling the beer and those two shots. After an awfully intense moment of her staring me down, her face broke into a smile. “It’s kinda nice having you tell me I suck at something instead of going on about how pretty and cool and fashionable and funny I am,” she said. “Do it more.” 

She then turned back around leaving me a little shocked about that but also pretty much forced to immediately get over it. She led me and Xavier through the front door to the porch, where it turned out Derek still was and had been the whole time. “Derek, darling,” Mar said, melodramatically draping herself on his lap. “Our new best friend Xavier here has marijuana on offer and I knew it would be absolutely uncouth to smoke it without coming to find you first.” 

I felt that stupid spike of jealousy and being drunk did not help. Neither did Xavier. “Damn they seem real flirty. You’re okay with that?” 

“A, he’s gay, b, she’s known him longer and c, no one likes a jealous asshole, so no thank you to me being a jealous asshole,” I said. I wasn’t that drunk yet, I figured, since I could still enunciate clearly. It took some effort, but I did it. 

“Let’s go!” Derek said. “Follow me, stoner conga line.” 

I turned around and realized he was right. There was a whole damn conga line of people eagerly waiting for the promised weed. 

“I need more beer first though so detour to the kitchen,” Derek amended. 

I got another beer while they were right there, and Derek did a shot with Mar which was very okay because I was definitely not ready for a whole nother shot. We eventually made it into what was very obviously Derek’s room, with posters that looked like they had been ripped from the walls of Electric Avenue haphazardly taped to the wall and the general messiness of a teenaged boy. Or maybe he was in his early twenties. I wasn’t sure how old Derek was, now that I thought about it. He did have a very big bed, probably king sized although I couldn’t tell these types of things just by looking, and he gestured at us to go ahead and sit on it. 

He opened all the windows and turned on a fan. “I’m sure they can tell I smoke in here, but I figure it’s the thought that counts,” he said, pouring a bit of scented oil into a burner. Xavier started getting the pipe ready while I watched. 

When the entire stoner conga line situated itself into a stoner circle on the bed, Xavier spoke up. “Pip?” 

No one said anything. Xavier turned to me. “Say ‘pap’.” 

“Like a pap smear?” I asked, utterly bewildered. 

“No, like pip-pap, a silly name for ‘pipe’,” he explained. 

“Pap?” 

“Good job,” he said, handing me the pipe. “Now you get greens.” 

“What?” Mar demanded from the other side of me. 

“How do you decide who gets greens? My friends and I go ‘pip’ and whoever says ‘pap’ first gets greens. Now you all know!” Xavier explained. 

“I pack a bowl and then pass left because left is law,” Mar said. 

“But right is polite!” Xavier countered, a big cheesy grin on his face. Perhaps it was because I had drank that second beer rather quickly and therefore was already at four drinks, counting those two shots, but suddenly I realized he was really cute. 

I had sort of hoped that someone would tell me what the fuck to do, but Mar and Xavier were too busy comparing notes on their little stoner rituals and no one else was close enough to help me-- both literally and in terms of friendship. So I lit the weed in the bowl and inhaled as hard as I could. 

It hurt. I was suddenly coughing, my throat on fire. On the plus side, it got both Mar and Xavier’s attention. “Oh my god I’m so sorry I forgot it was your first time, let me go get you a drink!” Mar said. The absolute horror on her face was actually hilarious. 

“No, I’ll go, and we’ll pass to the right this time and you can have the next hit,” Xavier said, getting up. 

Mar shrugged. “Okay.” I passed the pipe to her as Xavier got up and she got ready to take the next hit. “There’s a trick to it, and I think it takes a second to learn, but you have to suck really gently like you’re trying to drink a soda out of a straw really slowly or something,” she said, then she did it. “See? Suck gently, no coughing.” 

“I got something you can suck gently,” I whispered at her. 

She had been passing it to whoever the hell it was sitting on her other side, but quickly turned back to me. “What?” she said with what I could only describe as an incredulous grin. She looked absolutely delighted but a little bit confused. It was a lot. I regretted it immediately. It had been the booze talking or something, considering we hadn’t even kissed yet. 

Why hadn’t we, though? Because I hadn’t been brave enough to initiate it yet? Fuck that. 

That was how Mar and I made out for the first time, surrounded by a bunch of people I didn’t know on her friend’s giant bed. It was during this that I felt the weed kick in, and it made the making out feel really good. Eventually Xavier came back with another PBR, which would be my fifth drink since I was still counting the shots as one drink each. It felt like it was important to keep track, but I wasn’t sure why. 

I thought about starting up another make-out session, since I was happy to spend the rest of the party right here kissing Mar, but before I could the pipe made it back to us and she told me to try again to see if I could smoke pot without wrecking my lungs and throat. 

I took the pipe and felt a tiny bit of apprehension. It was all good to joke about it but it really had been terribly painful. But I felt the need to get over it and tried again, sucking very gently. 

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I even got more smoke into my lungs, but that came with the benefit of not having coughed, so I counted it as a success. I opened the beer Xavier had brought me and sat there feeling the alcohol and the weed and trying to take it all in, since it was my first time smoking and my first time drinking to excess. I really wanted to go back to kissing Mar, but it seemed really rude to everyone else on the bed and maybe even Mar herself, since she seemed to want to do things like keep drinking and smoking and talking to her friends. 

“It’s ass,” Mar said after what felt like three hours but, checking my phone, I realized was only about five minutes. I didn’t know what ‘it’s ass’ meant, but Xavier took the pipe and put it away. 

“Anyone feel up to beer pong?” someone said, and next thing I knew Mar was dragging me back outside.