#like seriously even i could do a thousand times better at a mario voice

[yoshifawful64]

okay but asking seriously, what are the chances we can pull a movie-sonic-redesign thing and force them to kick out That Bastard and hire charles martinet instead

[baeklooming-day]

Meet me at the game arcade | Baekhyun

𓍢 Summary: There is this boy at the game arcade who is determined to win not only the plushie, but you together with it.

Masterlist

𓍢 Mini-playlist 💖 Moodboard by @kjikaila​

𓍢 Genre: 90s!AU, Fluff, Cheeky Baek is back (you know the thing!!)

𓍢 Word Count: 6.6k

𓍢 A/N: Big credit to my beloved Tokyo, because I used to hang out at game arcades after school and often cute boys could be found there. 😇

Purple-ish, violet-ish, even blue-ish looking twinkling beams were soaking through the two lonely, candy floss bearing resemblance to fluffish clouds which appeared to cover the city beneath for a little while.

It wasn’t even summer anymore, but the sun seemed to be in a mood to let the light spill on everything beneath, letting little sparkles of vitamin D play on the walls of buildings, shining through the glass in windows, gleaming on all these colorful advertisements plastered around the district and making it seem as if the city was floating in the glinting sensation, warm light reflecting all possible kinds and shades of beautiful lilac color palettes.

Usually, you wouldn’t be the one to appreciate a similar weather very much, but given that the last two weeks had been nothing but wholly rainy and generally anything but pleasant in terms of weather outside, you found yourself being happy to be able to welcome the prickling sunlight on your skin.

You rested your chin on your knuckles, slowly closing your eyes and letting a lazy smile fall onto your scarlet tinted lips. You considered yourself lucky enough that you usually managed to arrive in class before all of your classmates, given that in that manner you could always pick the best seat without having to rush through the hallways to reach the classroom and dash to your desired desk.

And today, after all those gloomy days soaked in cold raindrops and weighing dust grey clouds, you found your seat to be even more than perfect.

The classroom wasn’t big, it was actually way smaller than you would like it to be, but as if to recompense that it had really large windows. And large windows meant a lot of sunlight to pour into the room through them, an obvious fact of which you couldn’t be more content about as you sat comfortably in the penultimate seat right beside one of those windows.

You had stopped paying attention to the lesson for what already felt like a whole thirty minutes ago, the dancing sunbeams only making you feel lazier and also kind of sleepy, completely switching off your usual concentration. You continued letting your face bathe in the pleasant sun rays which, now playfully peeking through the glass were gracing the monotonous classroom in cheerful gold shimmers. Your thoughts in the back of your mind started to slowly mix together with your teacher’s soft voice speaking about the last pages of your Japanese lecture in the background of which, right in that moment, you couldn’t really bring yourself to care about.

Your classmates were surprisingly quiet today, and in that current state you would probably soon drift away into your own personal dreamland even further, if not the little vibration coming from your phone placed under your hand on your desk.

For a split second you almost got a mini heart attack as the sudden text message made your pastel purple Nokia 3310 let out some rattling sounds as it moved ever so slightly on the wooden surface of your desk. You looked around a little bit startled, hoping that nobody noticed the brief faint noise.

Pulled back into reality, you quickly slid the device behind your equally purple colored pencil case, unblocking the screen with a click of one button and checking the received SMS. You felt a wide smile spreading on your lips as you read the text, it being from your friend announcing to you that her classes ended earlier today, and that she would be waiting for you to join her outside by the school entrance.

As you threw a quick glance at both the clocks on your screen and on the wall above the door, you found yourself seriously envying your friend, because it looked just as if she was always getting the cooler and chiller teachers who were actually able to understand that on the last lesson on Friday the kids weren’t the most likely to sit still and obediently follow the lesson anymore. Also given that today’s schedule, just like every other Friday which was simply laughable in your honest opinion, was absurdly long. Your lessons extended from eight in the morning until past three in the afternoon, which compared to the earlier weekdays you just refused to acknowledge.

You let out a deep sigh as another long minute had passed on the clock, mentally begging the time or whoever or whatever might be in charge of time management in the universe to quicken it up a bit.

Almost fifteen minutes left until the long awaited, two days freedom, also commonly known as the weekend. Just like everybody else, you were always impatiently waiting for the last lesson to be finally over and to let you hang out with some friends, and do other longed for fun activities for which you unfortunately didn’t have any time during the normal school week.

Until just now, you had always been included in the casual hangouts at the mall with your wide group of school friends, in going to the theater to check out the latest movie releases, or meeting up at your, by now beloved, cute small diner to eat some cherry cakes which quickly became popular around the area. But as of recently, the loud ringing sound on Fridays which announced the end of the lessons and beginning of the weekend, totally changed its meaning for you.

You weren’t as thrilled as you saw the large advertisement for the opening of a brand new game arcade for the first time on your way home one day, but as soon as you and your friend Miko decided to quickly see what it was all about and peeked inside on the big opening day, you already knew that you would visit and spend your coins at that place much more often than anyone could even imagine.

It was one of the branches belonging to SEGA group, it wasn’t any super large game arcade but at the same time it also wasn’t the smallest you had ever been in.

It was just ideal, and managed to balance perfectly the two things which you used to be crazy about the most when you were a little younger.

With that being said, the new game arcade was divided into more or less two sections, one being filled with all kinds of games starting with The Legend Of Zelda and ending on Pokémon, Super Mario, and many, many more in between. The second section was a little bit different, but not less interesting, perhaps only overlooking the fact that most of the time it tended to be a lot more nerve-wracking than you could ever expect from its harmless and pretty appearance.

The free space was filled with all kinds of plushie and toy automats, the whole room being so eye-catching and colorful that it was almost impossible to just pass by without giving it a proper look. It had literally everything you could ever dream of, soft and lovely teddy bears in every possible color, dolls, game characters, manga figures, even little charms which you could attach to your keys or your bag.

Truly a magical place flowing with milk and honey, if not the one unnerving fact that very often it was literally impossible to get the doll you wanted out of the automat at first try. Of course, it wasn’t such a big deal given that one turn costed exactly one hundred yen which wasn’t a handful of money after all. But if you calculated all your losses and all your future, probably failed as well, attempts together, you were very likely bound to leave at least around one thousand yen at the game arcade for literally nothing in return.

Sometimes you couldn’t hold yourself back from wondering that maybe that was the secret of the success of game arcades, and that the companies designed the automats like that on purpose to always drop the toy before it could even reach the hole and land safely in your hands.

There were times where you would loose even more than a thousand yen in an attempt to win the plushie you wanted, almost throwing your wallet against the glass as it became always much lighter and lighter with passing of each failed round.

There were times like this at the very beginning of that arcade fever, but after a while you found yourself becoming always better and better at fishing out all those dolls and bears. As the time flew by, you also found your bedroom nearly starting to drown in all those soft joys of every childhood.

But you didn’t really care.

And as soon as you got a notice that there was a new plushie automat to be about to be installed in the game arcade, you just knew that you needed to try it out immediately with the first better opportunity.

Which just came perfectly today.

You almost let out a squeak of joy as the bell finally rang, announcing the long awaited end of the last Friday’s lesson.

You quickly collected all your belongings from your desk and your seat, swinging your lilac bag over your shoulder and rushing out of the classroom in the direction of the stairs.

Luckily enough, you managed to dash through the corridor and down the stairs before the crowds of other students could block you.

As you reached the exit of the school building, you saw Miko standing right in front of it, her back turned at you. She was lightly swinging to the left and to the right, probably listening to some music on her brand new MP3 player she’d been talking about lately.

A little mischievous smile fell on your soft lips as a marvelous idea popped up in your head.

You took a few steps forward, careful to be quiet but, considering the fact that the music in her earphones was probably blasting, you didn’t exactly need to. You slowly pushed the glass door open, sneaking up on her and swiftly throwing your hands before her eyes to cover them.

„Holy freak!” Miko let out a startled scream, gaining a muffled laugh from you. „Who’s this? Y/N?” She started to turn her head to one side and to another, making you chuckle even more at the sight.

„It’s me. Mario.” You said, still covering her eyes and trying not to laugh out loud, seeing that you were visibly in a great mood today.

„And I’m Luigi. Can I get my vision back now, please?” She said, placing her hands on yours and pulling them away.

„Do you have enough ready money for the afternoon?” You asked, moving to stand in front of her.

„No duh, I’ve got exactly ten of one hundred yen coins just for the occasion.” She held up her blue wallet for you to see, the sound of loose coins bumping into each other audible as she gently shook it. „And I’m not going to spend a single yen more today, last weekend was fly but I became poorer of a whole six thousand.”

You sent her a scrutinizing look. „And you really think that it will be enough? You know, I’ve already told you before that they have a new automat and stuff.”

„Yes, you have, but still. If I don’t get the doll I want after two tries, I’m bouncing. And I will play Super Mario for the rest of the evening.”

„As if! I know you Miko, you will get just as addicted as every other time.” You let out a laugh, grabbing your friend’s hand and pulling her forward together with you.

„No, I’m telling you!”

The two of you continued to chatter along as you walked in the direction of the game arcade. It wasn’t that much of a long walk, knowing that it was located just a few streets away from your school.

The sun had yet quite an amount of time to start setting, but as you walked between the buildings decorated with bright and colorful advertisements of all possible kinds, it started to throw even more beams which reflected all those purple, blue, and yellow colors, surrounding you with a fairy like atmosphere in the afternoon hours.

„You know, last time as I was in the arcade I asked which dolls will the new automat have, and they told me that it would be supposed to have teddy bears, and-” You talked, being completely caught up in your own bubbling excitement about the new gain in the game arcade.

„Teddy bears?” Miko interrupted your flowing thoughts. „Y/N, you’ve already got like, a whole room of teddy bears. Not mentioning that last time you won not one, but TWO identical Totoro plushies and a Sailor Moon doll, too.” She rolled her eyes, giving you a questioning look. „You own a whole load of them. A whole storage! I’m actually asking myself if there is anything in the entire arcade what you haven’t got at home yet.”

„Well, I mean, that new automat is supposed to have a panda bear plushie and a plain white teddy bear, so, you know, I need to enrich my collection with these two.” You said, reaching your hand to your bag to pull out your phone.

You failed to notice the small group of boys, more or less around your age, walking past you and directing themselves straight into the game arcade building which finally came into your view.

You were just about to answer a text message from one of your other friends, when you were rapidly pulled back into reality with a not so gentle nudge to your side.

„What-” You turned your head to your left to look at Miko, question marks visible in your eyes as you were met with your friend’s amazed expression. „What? Why did you stop all of a sudden?”

„Y/N, I think you don’t see what I’m seeing. Look.” She pointed her finger at some point in the distance, a little blush coloring her cheeks.

You followed where she was pointing, finally noticing the group of boys from earlier which you failed to see.

There were four of them altogether, standing before the open arcade entrance and talking eagerly. Two of them were really tall, whilst the other two were rather short in their height, but all of them were wearing plain white tees. Your eye caught one of the shorter boys, who as the only one among them was wearing a blue bomber jacket with white prints. He had what you would call a baby face, his features were soft, or at least you could observe that much standing a few meters away from him. His hair was of a chocolate brown color, and as his voice reached your ears, you had to admit that it sounded truly so smooth like velvet.

You felt your own two cheeks warming up a little, a sensation which you didn’t like even a bit, as the boy locked eyes with you, his wide smile immediately disappearing from his lips only to be replaced by an expression of awe.

You stood there completely frozen in your spot, clenching your purple Nokia in your hand and feeling slightly flabbergasted by the whole sudden situation, not really knowing what was going on.

The last thing you saw before you were harshly pulled back into reality once again, was the other three boys looking questioningly at their friend who’s eyes were fixed on you, soon the entire group looking right at you.

And then you heard it, the loud ‘ooooooh’, ‘damn’, and ‘oh my god’ followed by the three of them lightly hitting the shoulders of their friend, starting to shake him and becoming even louder when he didn’t react, instead still looking at you.

When you finally snapped out of the weird trance, you quickly turned to your side to Miko who was now covering her mouth to prevent the invasive giggles from escaping.

„Oh snap.” You only said.

„Y/N, THIS, this is exactly what I’ve been talking about.” She said. „You are always so immersed in the games that you totally fail to notice all those cute boys being around!” She almost exclaimed the last words, stomping her both feet on the ground repeatedly, for some reason visibly excited.

„Well that was hella weird.” You said, still trying to process what had just happened. „Do you know them?”

„Um, well, I mean-” She started, now her being the one to grab your hand and pull you forward. „I keep my eyes always wide open, you know. And I just happened to see them at the game arcade the last time we were there. That hottie in a blue jacket seemed to have taken an instant liking to you back then already, but we bounced out too quickly for them to approach us.” She blabbered, instantly becoming a thousand times more cheerful than before.

The two of you were coming always nearer to the entrance of the arcade, and what followed always nearer to the group of boys who, now noticeably quieter, were still standing in their spot.

With your left hand still being held by Miko and your right hand still holding onto your phone, you tried your best to avoid the gaze of the said boy in a blue jacket as the two of you continued moving closer to the entrance.

What was his deal anyway?

„You know what Miko, did you take a good look at them when you said that you saw them before?” You asked your friend, feeling your cheeks heating up once again as you accidentally locked eyes with the boy one more time. „I mean, maybe from a close up they’ll be total monets.” You added, not even knowing what you were trying to convince yourself about, because as you came always closer you had to admit that the said group were even better looking from up close.

„Awe, Y/N, always the negatory. I’m sure they’re not some scrubs too, though. Besides, just look at them now.” She said, an ounce above a whisper. „They could totally be in a boy group with those looks.”

And unfortunately, you couldn’t deny, as with every following step you were getting a more detailed view, as well as you were feeling more and more being practically eaten by those two dazzling eyes which didn’t leave you even for a brief moment.

You just wanted to get inside the arcade and concentrate yourself on the new plushie automat, not on dealing with some random group of boys who apparently enjoyed staring at girls way too much for your liking.

That was right, as said it was too much for YOUR liking, but Miko didn’t seem to mind at all.

Even the whole opposite, she seemed to be having the time of her life, particularly when the other shorter boy with big cat-like eyes sent her a dazzling smile.

„Oh snap, oh snap, oh snap, did you see that, Y/N, I think I forgot how to breathe.” A scarlet blush spread on her cheeks, whilst she nervously squeezed your hand. „That guy is literally so handsome.”

„Girl, Miko-” You started gently, but as you looked at her frozen in her spot with literal hearts in her eyes, you knew she was already gone to make some lovey-dovey unthinkable scenarios in her head.

You talking wasn’t probably going to do much anyway, but you needed to snap her out of it.

You tried to gently pull her with you and finally enter the arcade. „Miko.”

Nothing.

„Miko-”

Still nothing, and as you threw a quick glance at the boys, you saw that the one with big eyes was continuing to unceremoniously smile at your friend, meanwhile she was returning all those candy smiles.

What was it, a smiling contest?

No, you thought, that was completely stupid.

„Miko, I swear-” You snapped your whole arm into the direction of the entrance to bring her attention back to the arcade a little too harshly, forgetting that you were still holding your phone in that hand.

In the result, your phone was sent flying out of your hand all the way across the sidewalk which separated the two of you from the group of boys, before you could do anything to stop it.

You watched in terror as it ended its small flight right in front of the boy in blue jacket, landing with a loud thud on the ground by his feet.

„MY NOKIAAAA!!” You yelled, not caring at all about the other people around who were now giving you weird or startled looks.

„Y/N-” Miko seemed to finally notice what was going on when you let go of her hand, and started to take large steps closer to the boy to collect your phone.

You could clearly see it as his face immediately lit up and his eyes rapidly fell on your purple Nokia laying on the ground, apparently an idea coming to his mind.

„For the love of-” You mumbled through your teeth, as you watched him bend over to pick up your item. „... all the snaps given.”

You let out a low sigh as you ruffled your silky hair with your hand, starting to finally walk into the direction of the boy, being extra careful not to accidentally lock eyes with him once more.

You had always been that exact type of person who wanted to avoid any unnecessary interaction with other people, in particular if you had other, significantly more important plans ahead of you and didn’t want to lose your time.

That could be an issue right now, you thought to yourself as with every step closer to him his smile grew wider, not even trying to conceal it.

„Um-” You started, as you stood right in front of his frolic face. „That would be mine.” You said, raising your finger up to point at your phone.

Your eyes quickly fell on the purple surface and the screen, trying to thoroughly inspect if any possible damages had been done by the fall.

The boy seemed to notice the visible concern im your eyes, letting out a soft, melodic chuckle whilst handing your Nokia to you. „I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” He said. „This model is practically indestructible. Lasts longer than most relationships.”

His remark made you raise one eyebrow at him, squinting your eyes ever so slightly whilst you retrieved your phone. „What a nice comparison. And you’ll be speaking out of experience, I assume?”

You were absolutely sure that your unpleasant comeback would make him immediately not wanting to continue to talk to you, but to your surprise you couldn’t be more wrong. Instead of a sign of dislike, you could make out a sparkle of fondness shining even brighter in his brown eyes.

Weird, you thought.

“No, I’m not.” The boy replied, smiling contentedly. “I was actually quietly hoping that mine would outlive any model of Nokia 3310.” He added, giving you a smile sweeter than the previous one.

In response, you merely granted him a brief look before taking a step away, intending to finally enter the arcade. “Good luck with that.”

Trying to completely conceal the awareness of his glowing presence still behind you, you quickened your pace, basically dashing through the open doors to the inside of the colorful arcade and not even bothering to wait for Miko anymore.

As soon as you went inside you were met with a lot of frolicsome lights and sparkles, the small alleyways between all sorts of games being flooded with light coming from the screens of game automats, each one of them showing the start menu of a different popular game on the lambent display.

It didn’t take you too long to find the longed for, newest, totally polished and even more so inviting plushie automat which has been continuously on your mind this whole time, basically calling out your name to you as soon as you finally came to a view of it.

It was lovely, appearing even more so enthralling to you in real life than as it did on the mere advertisements plastered around the arcade.

Without losing a single minute, you took your wallet out of your bag and took a large step closer to the automat, your eyes stopping on every plushie trying to decide which one to go for.

Finally, they stopped on a cute small panda bear which instead of being just plainly black and white, was purple and white.

That was the one.

You opened your wallet, taking one shining coin of one hundred yen worth.

Just as you were about to throw it into the automat, you were startled by a sudden familiar voice coming from right behind you.

“Hey home skillet, why did you run off like that?” Miko materialized herself next to your ducked down figure, leaning on the glass of the plushie automat.

You looked up at your friend, feeling a little guilty for doing so. “My bad? But I really didn’t want to talk to that dude in a blue jacket.” You murmured, bringing your attention back to the purple panda.

Miko scrunched her nose, letting out a loud sigh. “Why are you always rejecting all the sweet boys? He even picked up your phone for you, come on.” She said, before startling you again with a sudden squeak. “BUUUUT! Y/N-” She started, covering her mouth to prevent the next invasion of uncontrollable giggles from escaping, jumping up and down in her spot and causing her black soft locks to slide on her forehead. “ That hottie with those big eyes. Oh my god Y/N. I actually talked to him just now, and guess what he told me.” She paused for a brief moment, only to let out another squeak. “His favorite game is also Super Mario! And he asked me if I wanted to play it with him today, oh my god, Y/N.” Miko was breathing so quickly, that as you looked up at her once again, you started to become honestly worried if soon she would start to hyperventilate.

“And I assume you said yes?” You asked, but you already knew the answer anyway.

“Of course! I mean, did you see him? A model!” She answered.

“So you plan on leaving me all alone here?” You asked. “Are his friends still here?” You added, carefully peeking from behind the plushie automat you were still ducked down by.

Your eyes widened in terror as you sneaked a look and spotted the group walking down the aisle.

“I won’t leave you! But just let me have this one? You know how much I would love to get a proper date!” She replied, throwing longing looks in the direction of the boys. “And Y/N, if that blue hottie comes to talk to you, please be nice.” She added quickly.

“Miko, do you perhaps know something that I don’t know?”

“What? Noooooo, not at all, what makes you think that?”

You let out a small sigh, rolling your eyes at your friend. “Whatever.”

You brought your attention back to the display with all the plushies inside, finally inserting the coin into the automat and starting to try to fish out the purple panda bear.

You were still sensing a presence next to you, so thinking it was just Miko who hasn’t left yet, unbothered and completely oblivious, you continued to give all your concentration to the little plush bear you already almost had clasped.

Just as the bear was nearing to fall into the designed hole and right into your hands, the metal claws let it go in a trice, in effect the bear bouncing back, away from the hole.

Unbelievable.

A soft snicker reached your ear, so without even caring to turn your head you just rolled your eyes again. “Very funny Miko, you know that it usually never works at the first try very well yourself.” You said, taking out another one hundred yen coin to insert and try again.

“Sometimes it does.” Said a velvet like voice.

You immediately snapped your head to the left, your eyes widening one more time as you realized that it wasn’t Miko standing next to you, but the boy in a blue jacket.

You involuntarily squinted your eyes at him, looking up. “You again.”

He seemed to be completely immune to you not being the nicest, instead jumping straight into any normal conversation you would usually have with a friend.

Out of all people, and out of all days, why you and why today?

Guess you would never know.

“Your name is Y/N, right?” The boy asked. “Your friend with the black hair told me when we were still outside.” He continued, his melodic voice filling the space between the two of you, for some unexplainable reason making you kind of distracted and causing you to drop the purple panda once again, failing at the second attempt to win it.

You sent the boy a heavy glare. “And your name is...?”

“I’m Baekhyun.” He replied with a sweet smile.

You decided to ignore him, taking the already third coin out of your wallet and inserting it again.

“What are you about to get?” Came yet another soft question.

“The purple panda.” You replied briefly.

Baekhyun’s eyes left your figure for a transient while, to fall on the plushies inside the automat. “Well, guess what I would be about to get?” He said.

“On my nerves.” You murmured quietly, but loudly enough for him to hear.

You weren’t looking at him anymore so you obviously couldn’t have noticed it, but even when he received nothing but snarky replies from you, the boy was all smiles with little dazzles dancing in his brown eyes. “I actually hoped that I would get on your calendar.” He said, giving you a winsome smile as soon as you graced him with your attention again. “On a weekend when you’d be free... Or after school...” The cheekiness audible in his soft voice just seconds ago wasn’t as strong as it was anymore as he said these words.

In the result to his question, you scrunched your nose, looking up at him. “You don’t even know me. You’ve literally seen me one single time.” You said.

The moment you said that, you observed as the cheeky look fell back on his soft features. “Dante wrote forty two chapters of a whole opera for Beatrice after he saw her one time on the street, so I think I would be reasonably justified to ask you out like that.” He smiled at you in the most candy smile anyone could probably ever master.

What in the world?

“You know Dante? Are you into literature?” You asked, a little flabbergasted and surprised, knowing that most of the boys your age weren’t particularly interested in the art of similar old literary works.

That was definitely new.

“I like art in general.” Baekhyun said.

“So, how do you feel about art?” You asked, genuinely curious.

Baekhyun’s eyes seemed to have a whole million of sparkles dancing in them as he replied. “Well, I think you are really cool to talk to.”

Wait-

“What the freak man.” Was the only thing which you managed to say after you connected the dots of what he was really referring to.

This boy surely was having the time of his life right now.

You brought your attention back to the plushies, trying to suppress a muffled quiet scream which threatened to leave your lips because, even at the third try, the purple panda was dropped back into the soft pile of other plushies as if totally mocking you and your efforts to win it.

You aggressively grabbed the ziplock of your wallet, practically snatching a new one hundred yen coin and slamming it into the automat, determined to win it this time.

In that moment, it was a serious matter of life and death for you, and being completely focused on that one thing before you, you were also still completely oblivious to your surroundings.

If only you knew how your small act of chagrin to the automat and throwing the coin inside in a total state of fury made Baekhyun’s heart melt even more for you, thoughts of how cute you were flowing through his mind.

“How many more times are you going to try this?” He asked.

“You know, I’m actually really good at this. Today just doesn’t seem to be my best day.” You replied, without giving him one look.

The claws clasped around the purple panda once again, lifting it up and sliding slowly to the direction of the hole, through which you really hoped it would finally fall out this time.

“I already own a whole room of plushies and dolls I won in the arcade, so this should be no sweat.” You added.

“Well that’s phat.” Baekhyun said, his voice always sounding like a smooth velvet which, for some reason was becoming always more difficult to ignore for you.

“I know.” You said. “But I’m totally buggin’ right now.”

You watched the purple panda hanging just above the destined hole, being completely sure that you would finally win. You threw a content look at Baekhyun next to you, resting your elbows on the automat. “It’s already falling, you see? I’m da bomb. All that and a bag of chips-” You interrupted mid sentence, when to your downright disbelief the panda was let loose into the hole, only to somehow bounce out of it right back into the pile of other plushies, leaving you at the fourth failed attempt of winning. “You sick piece of-” You said through your clenched teeth, clutching your wallet in your hand and trying to stay calm.

You threw a murderous look at the automat, then glanced back at the wallet held in your hand before opening it again and taking out the fifth coin, throwing it into the automat without thinking twice.

You quickly guided the claws to grab the purple panda, but then again, as if to totally make fun of you, it was let dropped back into the pile. “Son of a SCONE.” You said, very lightly hitting your small fist on the glass.

You were brought back to reality by the same velvet voice which was distracting you just moments ago. “Y/N.”

“What.”

“You haven’t given me an answer yet.” Baekhyun said softly. “Will you go on a date with me?”

“No.” You replied.

“You are being so mean today.”

“I’m mean everyday.” You added, standing up from the position you were in this whole time. “You have a really unusual way of approaching, you know?”

“Well, everyone has their own ways. And everyone has their own idea of perfection.” Baekhyun said, looking right into your eyes. “Mine just happens to be you.”

You shot him a tired look. “What the freak.” You said. “Listen, um-”

“Do you know what bees make?” He suddenly interrupted you with this random question.

Without even thinking too much, you simply replied. “Honey?”

You watched as his eyes lit up again. “Yes, dear?”

You were left there completely done with the world as it was and speechless, just standing before him and looking at his smiling, glowing face, visibly happy with his own lines.

Why wouldn’t he just give up?

You didn’t even know anymore what to say to him, seeing that apparently he had a comeback line ready for each and every of your attempts to shove him away.

“You are impossible.” You said.

You observed as Baekhyun’s eyes quickly wandered to the plushie automat and as he bit his lip, another idea visibly coming to his mind. “Will you please say yes if I win that purple panda for you?” He asked, his brown eyes full of glinting hope.

“I would like to see you try. If I couldn’t win this, you won’t be able to either.” You replied.

“If you’re so sure about it, then just agree?” He said, a little smile still visible on his lips.

You crossed your arms on your chest, him instantly mirroring your gesture. “Fine. And if you fail, you will stop asking me out.” You said. “Three attempts.” You held up three fingers.

“Fine.” He said, holding up a shining one hundred yen coin before putting it into the automat.

He ducked down in the spot in which you were previously, laying his left arm on the free surface and lazily resting his chin on it, his right hand managing the little controller on the automat, effortlessly.

In complete and utter terror, you watched as the purple panda bear successfully fell into the hole right away, soon swiftly falling out of the automat straight into Baekhyun’s hands.

You couldn’t help it but let out a gasp of shock.

“No.” You whispered shaking your head, not believing that he just got it at the first try, because how probable could it even be?

“Yes.” Baekhyun held up the purple panda, flashing you the brightest, happiest smile you have seen on him that day. “I told you, sometimes it does work at the first try.”

You just stood there, not able to say a word, still looking at him in a complete disbelief.

Again, how probable could it be?

“I, um-” You really tried to say a full normal sentence, but it seemed like even the language decided to sabotage you today.

Before Baekhyun said anything else, he gently placed the panda in your hands, in the result his fingers softly brushing yours, may it be on purpose or just accidentally. “Please just say yes?”

As much as you despised this whole thing, you were a girl of your word, and you made a deal.

Which you obviously lost, now that you were holding the purple panda bear in your hands.

Even so, looking at Baekhyun’s dazzling brown eyes, you still wanted to give him the benefit of doubt, even though you were perfectly aware that it was pointless at this stage.

You opened your mouth to say something, but he quickly interrupted you before you could say even one word. “You won’t regret it.” He added, a little faint plea visible in his eyes as they looked at you.

You felt one corner of your mouth slightly lifting in a half smile. “What if I will?” You asked, meeting his chocolate gaze.

“You won’t.” He quickly said. “Just give me a chance to win you over.”

He asked you for a chance, but deep down you started to feel that he already was winning you over with his impossible sweetness and persistence.

But that was something which he didn’t need to know right now, was it?

You held the panda plushie closer to yourself, burying your face in it for a brief moment to hide the bubblegum blush which was shamelessly spreading on your dewy cheeks totally against your own will.

“I like onigiri with umeboshi filling.” You said. “And dark mocha.”

A honey-dripping smile fell on Baekhyun’s lips as his chocolate eyes traveled across every feature on your face. “What an unusual pair.” He said, the smile never leaving his lips and eyes.

“If you want to date me, you need to be prepared for weird combos like that.” You said, facing away as you felt the blush becoming stronger, your entire cold barrier finally giving in into the charm of his smile.

“I’m thrilled to know more.” He grinned winsomely.

And who would think that when you left the game arcade, you would have gotten your plushie and a cute boy together with it?

Undisputedly not you.

But sometimes, sometimes the universe put things on your way, things which you would least expect to cherish the most.

Author’s End Note: Thank you for reading! Remember to REBLOG if you liked it! Also, I tried to build in some classic ‘90s phrases into dialogues, so let me know if I did well or not!! 💖 Maybe it won’t be the end of the ‘90s AU. 💜

[tooruluv]

Kozume Kenma x F!Reader x Tetsurou Kuroo ( part 1 )

❝ i’m right here, when are you going to realize that i’m your cure, heartbreak girl? ❞

description: kozume kenma didn’t know the exact day in which he realized that he was in love with you. he knew very well that it was sometime after your first “hello”, but the exact moment got whisked away in the many memories that included you. the problem was, though, that you were in love with and in a serious relationship with the boy he claimed as a best friend.

genre: angst, pining, unrequited love, (characters are aged up as the story continues)

word count: 2,373

warnings/notes: hey all! this one doesn’t really have any warnings, just strong language and lots of angst. i changed up my writing style just a bit for this one, and i’m quite proud of it so please leave me as much feedback as possible!! let’s start another journey, this time with kuroo and kenma ;)

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masterlist

“ i’m right here, when are you going to realize? ”

┏━━━━━⋇⋆⋆⋇❦⋇⋆⋆⋇━━━━━┓

Kozume Kenma couldn’t pinpoint the exact day in which he realized that he was eminently in love with you. He knew very well that it was sometime after your first “hello”, but the exact moment got whisked away in the many memories that included you.

The problem was, though, that you were eminently in love with and in a serious relationship with the boy he claimed as a best friend.

The first day that Kenma met you, he had to take several seconds to process. You were the only person, the only girl, that made him have to catch his breath at the mere sight. You were brighter than the sun, shined blue like the moon. You were stunning. 

And you had your arm wrapped around Tetsurou Kuroo’s.

“Kenma!” Kuroo had called from across the room, waving at his friend. Kenma complied, phone in hand and moving through the crowds without so much as lifting an eye.

Kenma was dragged to a party with the volleyball team. It isn’t that he hated people, nor was he shy. He just didn’t see the point in pretending to enjoy something that wasn’t his thing. He never understood the desire most teens had in wanting to do stupid things and interact all of the time. It sounded exhausting. 

“Kenma, this is my girlfriend.” Kuroo introduced you. And Kenma looked up to meet your eyes.

“Hello!” You greeted with a smile. You had to talk a bit louder than normal over the party’s music. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m glad we finally get to meet!”

“Same.” was Kenma’s reply. Though he wanted to say more. 

As Kuroo continued to talk to the both of you, Kenma couldn’t help but watch you from his peripheral vision. You were, in simple terms, the most beautiful person he had ever met. How you managed to be so utterly taken with Kuroo he would never understand. 

You kept one hand on Kuroo’s arm the entire time. Kenma could only define his feelings as jealousy.

Of course, he pushed those feelings down. Because he couldn’t possibly be in love at first sight. To his best friend’s girlfriend, of all people. No. Absolutely not.

When Kenma retreated to a corner of the house later that night, it was you who found him and sat beside him on the floor. He looked up from his game.

“Don’t stop on my account.” You told him, pulling out your phone. “Not one for parties?”

“Never have been.” He brought his head further down to shield his face with his hair. “I’m always dragged here by the team.”

“Yeah, I’m only here to meet Kuroo’s friends.” You admitted. He didn’t know if it was true or if it was a way to initiate conversation to get on his good side for your boyfriend. Either way, he turned his head to catch your (beautiful) eye. “But he decided that trying to beat Bokuto at the keg is his mission for the night.” 

“Ah.”

With that, the both of you became closer. You met up with them at lunch, called him over discord to play games while both of you were at home. And Kenma felt himself falling harder and harder.

Oh, and he became your shoulder to cry on.

Because Tetsurou Kuroo might’ve been an amazing guy, a great team leader and captain, and an incredible friend; but he was a terrible boyfriend.

You were his first girlfriend, so there was room for learning and growth and improvement. But there were also faults in trying to build something that had no foundation.

A couple of months passed, and the honeymoon stage had come to an end, was the first fight.

The reason behind the fight was long forgotten by now, but it had to do with communication. A joke turned into seriousness that it hadn’t meant to be, and it ended in a heated argument between you both. He had ended up calling you an awful name, so you left. 

Kuroo called after you, instant regret and apologies rushing off of his lips, but you were already gone. 

You ended up at Kenma’s. You knocked on his door with tears in your eyes and on your cheeks. How could he have said no?

With a small voice, you asked, “Can we just play games, please?”

“Of course.” Kenma replied without asking anything else. 

He sat on his bed and you sat in a beanbag as you played a game on his TV. He didn’t say anything when he watched you cry silent tears. Instead, he handed you a juice and bag of chips. 

You accepted, pretending that there weren’t tears streaming down your red face. Because he knew you, and knew that if you didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t pressure you to. 

“Mario Kart?” He offered. 

“Oh, you want to lose?” You quipped. A quirk in the corner of your lips. 

Even a small smile from you made him feel better. And fall harder. 

When you returned home that night, Kuroo stood in the exact spot you had left him in. He immediately sent you a thousand apologies, voice choked. You forgave him before he even spoke 

All relationships are rollercoasters, to say the very least. They have their ups and downs, their fast and slow parts, their beginning and end. Your relationship with Kuroo was definitely one of twists and turns. 

Kenma sat on the sidelines and watched it all with a knot in his stomach. He held it down, further and further with each passing day.

Immediately after one intense game that they inevitably won, Kenma searched for you. You rushed from the crowd and into your boyfriend’s arms, congratulating him and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Kenma wondered if the two of you had kissed at that point, you had been together for a month. He had to stop himself from going down that rabbit hole. 

It was when you turned to him that Kenma’s entire world was put on pause. You were the only thing that could move. 

“Congrats Kenma!” You cheered, bringing him in for a hug. Kuroo chuckled beside you as Kenma just stood with his arms at his sides, completely paralyzed. “You were amazing! What the fuck! That last play…”

Your voice was drowned out. You pulled away to talk more about how great he did during the game. But he couldn’t listen to the praise coming from your tongue. He just couldn’t.

Once you were out of earshot, Kuroo turned to him. With a big dorky smile on his face, Kuroo asked, “She’s the best, isn’t she?”

“Sure.” Kenma replied, but he wanted to go on and on.

Becoming very good friends with Kozume Kenma resulted in a lot of third wheeling. Not that you would ever intentionally exclude him. In fact, you tried to make sure that he was a part of everything the two of you did. Even if it was just something as little as an invite.

The third wheeling mainly consisted of Kenma’s aching heart as he endured the presence of the two of you. Every time that he would catch a glimpse of your hand in Kuroo’s, or Kuroo’s hand on your thigh, or a quick kiss on the cheek, Kenma couldn’t help but wish that it was him instead.

Kuroo caught him staring, once.

He was dragged to a bonfire with the team, and he dreaded every second of it. He never understood why people would enjoy sitting around a fire and being eaten by bugs. He also didn’t like marshmallows.

You were sitting on Kuroo’s lap on a lawn chair, legs draped over his and your body curved into his side. Kenma couldn’t help but watch as he said something into your hair and you laughed, smacking Kuroo’s chest.

Kuroo found Kenma’s gaze. He sent him an oblivious smile and waved him over, thinking that Kenma was feeling awkward about sitting on the sidelines. Oh, how close he had been to the truth.

“Hey, Pudding Head.” Kuroo teased. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” You asked. You looked up from your position on his lap, and Kenma thought of a million things at once.

“Yeah.”

Kuroo offered the seat beside him, and Kenma accepted. Kuroo knew him better than anyone, this was something that he knew for certain. He wondered if his feelings for you had been obvious. Kuroo never brought it up.

The rest of the night consisted of Kenma pretending to not be affected by your whispering and giggling with his best friend.

Kozume Kenma remembers one specific moment of his love more vividly than the rest.

You were at his house, hanging out on a day off. There were no tears, no anger or sadness towards your boyfriend. It was just a good time with just the two of you. Kuroo had something with his family, so he wasn’t present.

He didn’t remember exactly how the two of you ended up in this position, but he would not complain.

Your head laid in Kenma’s lap, hair fanned out along his thighs. You were watching him beat this game he just got, eyes focused on the screen. Kenma sat against the wall on his bed, arms on either side of your head with his controller in his hand in his best attempt to not touch you.

“Why don’t you like to touch me?” you asked him.

The question caught him off guard, and he had to hide the surprise on his face. “Hm?”

“Don’t pretend I haven’t noticed.” You shifted to look up at him. Kenma had to adjust his legs to hide something he didn’t think you wanted to see. “I figured that you might be a germaphobe or something, because you always seem to keep your distance or freeze up when I grab your wrist or hug you. But I don’t think you are one, considering you play volleyball with a bunch of sweaty men.”

“I. Um.” Kenma paused the game and looked down at you. Searching for excuses, racking his brain for any fake plausible answer that he could give you instead of I’m pretty sure that I’m in love with you and every time that the two of us make contact I feel like a firework about to explode (and it goes straight to a different part of me that I do not wish to discuss with literally anyone). Because that would go over well. 

With the little thoughts he could muster, he lied, “I’m not used to girls voluntarily touching me.”

You accepted his answer, nodding with your head still against his thighs. He looked down to see that you were already staring back up at him. “What?”

“I was just wondering why girls weren’t throwing themselves over you.” You sent him a smile. He wanted to die. “You’re a catch. I promise I’ll be more careful if me touching you makes you uncomfortable.”

“It doesn’t.” Kenma quickly added. Maybe a little too quickly. “This,” he gestured to the current position the two of you laid in. “This doesn’t make me uncomfortable. I guess some things just take time.”

You smiled at him again. That stupid, gorgeous smile. “One day you’ll be so comfortable with me that you won’t even notice if I kiss you.”

The world was testing him. The gods were playing a game with him. He returned his attention to the game, hoping he wouldn’t collapse on the spot.

One night, around half a year into your relationship, Kenma received a call at the asscrack of dawn. Groggily, he answered without looking at the caller.

“Hello?” He asked, voice heavy in sleep. Who would call him at this time? On a school night, no less.

“Kenma.” His ears perked up at your voice. He sat up. “Kenma, please give me some advice.”

It was the first time that you had ever wanted to talk about a fight. True, it was only the third time, but it meant the world to him that you wanted to talk about it. Even if the sun wasn’t even up yet and he had several hours left to sleep.

“What happened?”

A sniff. He was going to kick Kuroo’s head, he decided.

“I just… how do you deal with someone who refuses to talk to you?” You paused, as if you were trying to put together your words. Kenma waited. “Kuroo is great most of the time, but he leaves me hanging so much. I can go the entire weekend without so much as a text. And today something had happened, I knew it the second I saw the look on his face. But he just won’t talk to me. And today,” Another sniff. “Today, I brought it up and he was really dismissive and told me that I didn’t need to be so clingy. Clingy.”

Kenma had to stop himself from saying something like, if you were with me I would love it if you were clingy.

“Kuroo’s an idiot.” Kenma told you. “He doesn’t know how to talk about things that he actually needs to talk about. Next time you talk to him, tell him how his actions make you feel rather than what he needs to change. You’ll get into his brain easier, it’ll click with him.”

You paused again. Taking his words in. “Thank you. Thanks for being a friend.”

“Of course.”

Friend. Because that was all he would be, all that he could be.

[98prilla]

I Won’t Say I’m in Love

I had an idea at 2am that Janus sarcastically asks Roman to marry him during arguments, but each time he asks he means it a little more until he realizes he’s completely in love with Roman, until he can’t stand the rejection anymore and runs away because Roman would never believe him if he admitted his feelings, only for Roman to come after him and propose instead. 

This isn’t quite that, though it is in a similar vein. I started with that idea and it evolved into this. That being said, if anyone wants to take the original idea and run with it, feel free, just remember to tag me!

AO3

...

         The first time he asks, he doesn’t mean it in the slightest. They’re in the middle of an argument, him and Logan against Roman and Patton, Virgil staying out of it, either because he didn’t have an opinion or he didn’t want to get involved.

           “Roman, you’re absolutely charming right now. Won’t you marry me already?” He snaps, breath hissing in and out, and everyone freezes at his comment. Roman’s face has gone red, from anger or embarrassment, he can’t tell, but the longer the silence goes on, the more he feels his own shame at his words burning at his throat. “sorry. That was… out of line.” He mumbles, adjusting his capelet.

           “I apologize, also. You are correct, I have not been my most… chivalrous, this afternoon. Perhaps… perhaps we should all take a break, to calm down. Then we can work out a… compromise?” Roman says, face flushing redder at the question in his voice. The moment is broken by Virgil slow clapping from the stairs.

           “Wooow, both of you apologized and Princey suggested a compromise? It’s a miracle!”

           “Yes, thank you, Virgil. Your sarcasm had been duly noted, and disregarded. Now. Don’t come get me when we’re ready to start over.” He comments, popping back to his room before anyone else has time to comment.

…

         The second time, he’s had a bad day. He feels heavy and disjointed, not all there, not all focused. He doesn’t know what’s wrong, he just knows he didn’t sleep well and he can’t seem to get comfortable, so he forces himself out of bed and down the stairs, dragging his blanket behind him, before collapsing on the couch. It’s almost 1pm, far later than his usual first appearance in the commons since the whole wedding debacle, since he was accepted, truly, since he was welcomed.

           He doesn’t remember drifting off, but he shoots awake as he feels a hand on his shoulder, letting out a small groan, having flung his arm over his eyes at some point.

           “What on earth could possibly be important enough to disturb me for, Roman?” he asks, wincing at the pounding that has started near his temple.

           “Are you okay?” He snorts at the question, rolling his eyes as he halfheartedly glares at Roman.

           “Just peachy.” He snarks, and Roman backs away, hands in the air. He can feel Roman’s eyes on him as he left the room, and sinks deeper into the couch. He’s surprised when a moment later, Roman returns from the kitchen, sitting down next to him.

           “Alright. Here you go.” He looks down at the table, a bit confused.

           “What… is this?” Roman looks at him, lip quirked up in a half smile.

           “Well that, is a glass of water. And that is something for the headache you’ve got cooking in your noggin. And those are crackers, since you have not eaten anything all day.” He looks slowly up at Roman, eyes narrowed.

           “I am not sick.” Roman’s eyebrow raises.

           “I did not say that. You, however, just did.” He groans, sinking even further into the blanket, so his eyes are just barely visible.

           “I do not get sick.” He mumbles.

           “Of course not, bananaconda. Now take the medicine.” He sighs, but complies, drinking the rest of the water and nibbling at some crackers as well. He barely notices Roman getting up, coming back a moment later with a Gatorade, and dimming the lights. He breathes a sigh of relief as some of the pain dissipates.

           “God, I could marry you right now.” He mumbles, finding the Gatorade is cold, and he lets Roman rest a cold rag on his forehead.  

           “I think the fever’s getting to your head, Jan.” He doesn’t reply, just hums and closes his eyes, trying to squash down the warm, fuzzy feeling starting to grow in his chest.

…      

         The third time he doesn’t say it. He’s in his room, relaxing in his plush desk chair. He’d been doing a color by number, choosing whatever color he wanted for each number instead of going by the recommended color chart.

           He hears a knock on his door, and gets up, confused when he sees no one there. Then he looks down, and sees a small gift basket, wrapped in a red ribbon with a small card printed with Roman’s logo. He rolls his eyes, and brings it inside, smiling as he unpacks it.

           There’s a collection of lotions, each of which smells deep and heady, just the kind of scent he loves. There’s also a few moisturizing oils, for his scales, which he’s a bit grateful for, he can tell his shed is about to start and making his own was a bit of a hassle. He laughs at the small snake plushie, but drapes it across his bed’s headboard anyway, smiling fondly as he leans against the bed for a moment, before his eyes widen and he nearly slaps himself.

           No. no no no, he cannot do this, he cannot do this to himself, he will not be so stupidly naïve.

           He is not in love with Roman.

…

         The rest come in small moments of delight, of happiness, moments where he forgets to deny himself what he cannot have, when he cannot squash the fondness inside of him, when he forgets to push down the silent, useless emotion he refuses to give credence to.

Playing Mario Kart, and he exploits every loophole and shortcut, strategically laying bananas, somehow always avoiding the blue shell when he is in first, slowing down enough someone passes him and gets hit instead, Roman cursing his skill, every time demanding another round, both of them grinning and sweating by the end of their tournament.

…      

Roman gets up early one morning, makes breakfast. When he comes into the kitchen, Roman slides a plate of waffles, covered in homemade whipped cream and chocolate shavings in front of him, along with a coffee filled with the perfect amount of froth, a heart patterned on it. His own nearly stops, breathless.

            “Morning sleepy serpent.” He mumbles something, heart stopping at how beautiful Roman looks, still in his pajamas, hair sleep mussed, but eyes bright, light from the window shining onto him as he turns back to the stove, flipping pancakes, humming, then singing, belting out showtunes. He catches himself almost sighing at how sweet Roman’s voice is, before he snaps out of his trance, just barely getting his emotions under control as Patton comes barreling down the stairs, summoned by Disney and the smell of pancakes.

…

         It’s a late night, they’ve had a movie marathon and the others all turned in hours ago, giving up one by one, Virgil the latest to leave. He is debating the morals of Disney characters, tearing apart the heroes and defending the villains.

           “How was he to know that toys are alive? He was using his creativity, to combine and make new, original, toys! If he hadn’t been traumatized by Woodie and Co, maybe he would have ended up an engineer instead of a garbage man.”

           “Ugh, fine! You have me on that one. It’s technically Pixar, anyway.” Roman mutters, and he laughs. “Since you concede there, I’ll give you Scar.” Roman looks at him, eyebrows raised in confusion.

           “Seriously? I figured you’d defend him to the death.” He shrugs, yawning.

           “Mostly due to the cut song where he tries to… let’s generously call it ‘woo’, Nala, which is why she leaves to find help in the first place. Plus, he never really wanted change or peace, he just framed his alliance with the hyenas in that manner to gain control. Besides, everyone knows it’s better to be loved than feared. If you really want complete control, make every choice seem like their own, make every action seem benign or like a favor. Get what you want by making it seem like what the people want.” Roman is staring at him, agape, and he flushes.

 He winces, because of course he ruined this, they were having a moment, and he ruined it. “… I’ll give you Ursula, if we’re counting cut scenes. She was technically overthrown and banished by Triton, though she did nothing wrong. Her vengeance is a bit extreme, but she at least had good reason for it, and really only wanted what was always supposed to be hers.” Roman answers after a moment, and he nearly sighs in relief, though he gets the feeling they were both talking about more than just Disney villains.

           He’s absolutely mortified, and not at all the least bit pleased when he’s awoken the next morning by Virgil, smiling smugly at him, having fell asleep, head resting on Roman’s chest, Roman’s arm around his shoulder, a blanket pulled up over the two of them. He certainly strives to make sure it never happens again.

…

He's a mess. A miserable, stupid, mess. He can't stop thinking of Roman, can’t stop striving for his smiles, the soft, fond one he receives in moments of quiet, the bright, mischievous one that brings out his dimples, the small, confused one when he didn’t understand why he was pulling away. His laugh, loud and ringing, the nicknames bestowed upon him at every chance, the small, subtle touches that sent his heart racing and his mind into overdrive and he was burning, aching, from want.

 The desire to run his fingers through Roman's hair, to feel his hands around his waist, to kiss him until they were both silly from it, to say every sweet word and guileless truth about how absolutely perfectly stunning Roman is, to defend him and his ideas, to protect him from his own self doubts and negative thinking, to repair every crack he himself had made in Roman's armor, to apologize a thousand times until the side knew he absolutely truly meant every word of flattery he had ever said.

 He hisses at a knock on his door, drawing back into the shadows. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone, he doesn’t want to see anyone, he just wants to wallow in his misery until this wrenching heartbreak goes away and leaves him alone! It’s no use, wanting something he can’t have. He won’t lie to himself and say otherwise.

 “Kiddo? You okay?” Patton, who can probably feel his emotional distress from miles away.

 “I'm fine.” He forces out, wrangling his voice into some sense of normalcy, wincing at the acrid lie on his tongue. He can feel Patton's hesitation, but the fatherly figure sighs.

 “Alright. But Jan? If you decide that you’re not fine, you know I’m here for you.” Then Patton walks away, and he’s only mildly surprised to feel wetness dripping down his cheeks.

 “I’m fine.” He whispers, curling in on himself, choking on tears. “I’m perfectly fine.”

…

Day three is when it all falls apart. He hasn’t left his room, he hasn’t moved much from his curled up spot on the floor, and it hurts why does it still hurt?

 He thought if he just stayed away, if he put distance between himself and Roman, if… if he detoxed it would go away, these pesky, useless feelings would go away!

 But they haven’t. They’re still pounding away with every beat of his heart, and he’s half convinced it would be better to just rip the stupid thing out than let it make such a fool of him.

 He knows limits. He understands them, he knows how far he can push the others before they start to break, he knows how much to push to make them give, he knows how far he can push before things start well and truly crumbling to ruin, and he knows, better than any of the others, his own limits.

 He knows what he can and cannot have, he knows how to be selfish without taking too much, and he knows this is something he cannot take, something he will never be given. He’s still the serpent, after all, still the liar, still the deceiver, still the snake in the grass, waiting to strike. He’s said I love you a thousand times to Roman, meant it more and more with each iteration, but he knows he doesn’t deserve to be loved. Not by Roman, whom he had broken so badly not so long ago, accidently, yes, and he had apologized, but still. He’d known how fragile the ego was, how tightly he was clinging to the final thread, and he’d still cut the strand without a second thought. He’s not to be trusted, least of all by himself, even his own heart has turned against him.

 “Janus? Can I come in?” He freezes at that voice, it makes his stomach sink and his pulse race and he feels a strange sense of vertigo.

 “No.” He says, as deadpan as possible, as much emphasis as he can, and he can almost see the frown on Roman’s face.

 “You haven’t been out in three days. Are you sick again?”

 “I’m fine, Roman, go bother someone else!” He spits out, anger creeping into his voice, because Roman is the source of this festering wound, even if he doesn’t know it. If he’s angry, he won’t be sad, angry he can do, angry he can fake as well as anyone.

 “no you’re not. I’m coming in.” He curses, lunging to his feet, but the door is already open before he has even a hope of locking it, and he and Roman stare at each other for a silent moment, before he looks away, biting his tongue. “Jesus, Jan. What happened to you?” He winces, knowing he must look a mess, knowing his hair is tangled and wild from running his hands through it so often, his face is a mess of dried tears and dark bags, his clothes are rumpled and wrinkled and his normally immaculate room is a bit dusty.

 “Nothing. Now go away.” He demands, turning to stalk to his desk. He feels a hand on his shoulder, warmth blooms down his arm, and he inhales sharply, turning and actually slapping Roman as he stumbles back, barely aware of the tears streaming down his eyes, because this is so goddamn hard. “Don’t. Don’t touch me, Roman.” He spits, venom in his voice, eyes sharp and fangs sharper. He hates this, hates playing this part again, but he needs Roman to leave.  

 “ok. I’m sorry, I should have asked.” He chokes on his bitter laughter because damn it, Roman is the perfect gentleman, isn’t he? He’s stepped back, hands raised in the air, the only thing on his face concern, not anger, or fear, or pain at the handprint still red across his cheek. “please, Janus. I know you’re hurting. I just want to know why, I just want to help.” He laughs this time, a wild, harsh sound.

 “That’s cute, Roman, but this isn’t one of your fairy tale quests where you rescue a damsel in distress. This is real life, with real problems, and maybe, for once, you should let it get through your thick skull that this ISN’T ONE YOU CAN FIX!” He screams, letting his words be cold, letting them be cruel, as he crumples to the floor, heaving, gasping in air through the shaking sobs squeezing tight his chest. “you can’t fix me.” He whispers, not caring if Roman hears, because what’s the point? He’s a pathetic, mewling lump, and surely after that display Roman will leave, warned off by his extremeness.

 “Janus.” He flinches at his name, whispered so softly, so gently, almost holding the thing he wishes more than anything his name would contain, coming from Roman’s lips, but that hope is a lie, a deceitful, monstrous lie, just like the rest of him. “why do you think you’re broken?” He doesn’t answer. He won’t answer, he won’t say it aloud, not now, not when Roman will see how much he actually means it. He squeezes his hands into fists, forcing his chin up, forcing himself to glare at Roman.

 “You should leave. Before I answer that question honestly.” He bares his fangs in a snarl, gold covering his pupils, racing throughout the room, lighting it up with a thousand pretty little lies that echo in Roman’s ears, telling him exactly how worthless and useless and pathetic he is, and he hisses for good measure, standing and sauntering over to Roman, leering at him.

 “I’m the dragon guarding the tower, I’m the hydra fighting Hercules, I’m the snake here to lead you astray, I’m the villain, I’m the bad guy, I stand against everything you’ve ever believed in, little prince. You’d be so easy to dispose of. Then who could stop me, hmmm? No one. I could kill you right where you stand, and no one would ever know a thing, my greatest performance would be replacing you. Or do you forget what I am, Roman, what I well and truly am?” He stands back, fangs sharp as he grins, letting out a dark, sinister laugh, one that reverberates off the walls, and something is breaking inside him, something is cracking and crumbling and he hates himself, hates every moment, but if Roman hates him, too, then he’ll just go.

 “Janus.” Roman says again, so soft, and his grin falters, his mask slips for a moment before he rights it, scowling as Roman steps forwards, undaunted, something strange in his eyes, something soft and worried. “you don’t have to do this.” He stumbles back at Roman’s words, shaking his head.

 “stop.”

 “I know you’re afraid. That’s why you’re doing this, you’re scared, and that’s ok.” He’s shaking his head, eyes squeezed shut, trying to push back the tears.

 “Stop.”

 “I know you don’t mean it, Jan. And I won’t run away just because of a few threats. I want to help you, I want to be there, I want you to trust me enough to tell me what is hurting you so terribly… please.” He feels Roman’s hand on his, and he jerks back, hitting the wall, eyes snapping open, breath coming in short gasps, and he wraps his arms around himself, shaking.

 “STOP IT!” He shouts, voice breaking into a million pieces, and the gold vanishes, his façade crumbling, only raw emotion left in his voice. “Stop caring, stop asking to help, stop acting like you’re my friend, stop being kind, stop being so fucking nice to me, stop getting inside my head, stop making me feel happy being near you, stop sending butterflies winging through my stomach, stop making me smile, stop making me laugh, stop being so fucking incredible that I can’t help but love you!” He screams, jabbing his finger into Roman’s chest with every word, tears falling down his face as he finally says it, all the fight draining out of him as he collapses, empty, caught by Roman, who lowers them both gently to the floor.

 He doesn’t have the will to pull away from Roman’s all encompassing embrace. He doesn’t have the strength left to silence the tears, to force Roman out, to go back to being alone.

 Shame curdles in his stomach as he breathes in Roman’s scent, lilacs and sweet summer breezes, as he melts against Roman’s chest, as his hands fist the fabric of Roman’s shirt and he sobs, hopelessly sobs, because this is an empty victory. Once he manages to pull away, he’ll see the pity and disgust on Roman’s face, and this, this will be well and truly over.

 “I’m s-orry. I’m so, s-so s-sorry, I didn’t mean f-for this to happen, I h-hoped it would just go away but they won’t, and I’m s-sorry…” he gasps, shaking, exhaustion cresting over him, and despite himself the ache is being soothed, because Roman is holding him, and then he just feels sick at his own selfish want.

 “Oh, my little mocking jay, why didn’t you just say something?” He laughs at that, throat raw and scratched.

 “because then you’d know. And it would all be over, anyway. You don’t love me, you could never love me, I’m not nearly good enough for you, I’m not good at all, really. I’m not… I’m not what you want, Roman. I can never be what you want me to be. And I just… I just keep hurting you.” He whispers, heart shattering a little more as Roman pulls back, and he closes his eyes, taking a huge breath in, trying to control the crushing, plunging depths of his despair.

 “Janus. Who says you aren’t already exactly what I want?” His breath catches at Roman’s words, at the tenderness they hold, at the painful hope blooming in his chest. He trembles as he feels Roman rest a hand on his scaled cheek, gently stroking the scales with his thumb.

 “don’t lie to me, Roman. Please, I can’t… it already hurts so much, I can’t listen to you lie to me.”

 “Does it feel like I’m lying, dearest?” It doesn’t. It really doesn’t. Slowly, he opens his eyes, meeting Roman’s worried, soft… loving… gaze. “I love you, Janus. You’re funny, and smart, and I love your sarcasm, your half awake morning bedhead, how you gesture when you’re passionate, how all your emotion lives in your eyes.” Roman murmurs, a small, warm smile on his lips as he moves his hand, stroking back a stray piece of hair. “I love you for so many miniscule reasons it would take me a thousand thousand years to list them all. I would have told you sooner, darling, but I didn’t want to pressure you, not while you were still settling in.”

 “Roman…” he says weakly, he’s so flat out tired, so worn down and hollow and empty that he doesn’t even know what to say, what to feel, except this warming in his chest slowly spreading to the rest of him, making him feel lighter than he had in ages.

 “come here, dearest.” Roman says, and he can’t help but collapse into Roman’s lap, letting the creative side pull him close, pressing his head against Roman’s chest, more tears slipping out as he feels Roman gently stroking his back, cradling his head, murmuring soft assurances and words of gentle warmth, and repeated, wonderful, ‘I love you’s’ that ring true every time, and all he can do is keep clinging to Roman, praying he doesn’t wake up from this dream.

 Then Roman tilts his chin up, his pulse jumping at the touch, then Roman’s lips are on his and he melts at the explosion of warmth and color and light sparking in his mind, and he’s pressing forwards, desperate, and Roman is soft and warm and perfect and it’s everything, it’s everything he’s wanted for so, so long now.

 When they finally break apart, he’s breathless and flushed and the broken emptiness is almost gone, almost fully replaced with hope and love and light, and he laughs as Roman sweeps him off his feet, holding him bridal style as he showers his face in small kisses, each one making him flush redder and redder, until he yawns, despite himself.

 “Oh, I’m sorry, are my affections boring you, pretty little liar?” Roman teases, and he grins, nuzzling against Roman’s chest, letting out a soft breath that seems to untie the last lingering knot in his chest.

 “Obviously. What a trial.” He mumbles, feeling Roman stroking his hair again, realizing his eyes have slipped closed.

 “When did you last sleep, mi amor?” He shrugs, he doesn’t know, honestly, and now that Roman is holding him, it’s the only thing his body wants, it takes everything in him not to just fall asleep now. “alright. Let’s get you to bed then. We can talk more in the morning.”  

 “stay. Please.” He asks, nearly begs, eyes flying wide with sudden fear, suddenly sure that if Roman walks out the door, he’ll wake to find he was dreaming, because there’s no way this is real, no way Roman loves him.

 “of course, little hisser. I wouldn’t dream of leaving my beloved alone and unprotected from any foul nightmares that may come his way.” Roman soothes, sliding into bed with him still in his arms, immediately spooning gently around him, and he shifts closer, closing the little space there was left between them, until their legs are entangled and his forehead is resting in the crook of Roman’s shoulder, and Roman’s arms are around him, and he’s still holding tight to Roman’s shirt, feeling him exhale against his cheek.

 “I love you, lovely. Now get some rest.” And finally, he does.

[withcolebrock]

The Nights I’m Left Alone - part 2

Summary: Y/N notices Colby not feeling at his best and challenges him to Mario Kart to talk about his feelings

PART ONE

Requested: yes for a part 2 lol

Warnings: swearing, discussion of mental health

Word Count: 2,509

Author’s Note: OKAY HI! I’m back, sorry for being SOO dramatic about whatever was going on. The part was heavily inspired by the song This Side of Paradise by Coyote Theory. It is an amazing song and you guys should totally listen to it!! Anyway, one of my old friends and I would do this whole challenge each other thingy. So I thought it would be a fun idea to write, so I hope you guys like it!! also I may do a part three but it’s probably not likely... This is my Gif!!

It was another day where the friend group was hanging out together. It was mid-day, the weather seemed to be almost unbearably hot. Most of the group was swimming in the pool, while Colby was laying on a lounger chair tanning. Y/N leaned her body against her hands as she continued to kick her legs slowly back and forth in the pool. Every so often her gaze would shift towards the shirtless boy on the other end of the lawn. “Is he alright?” she asked nodding towards Colby’s direction.

He wasn’t doing anything different than he always does. Except today, he didn’t even try to hang out with the group. Normally he swims around and at least talks to everyone before he leaves the group to tan. Instead he walked out, only showing a weak smile as he laid down on his lounger. It was odd to say the least.

Tara shifted her gaze towards him and shrugged her shoulders, “He seems fine,” she mumbled as she turned her attention back towards Xepher who was swimming in the pool. Y/N glanced towards the girls briefly as she brushed a few pieces of hair away from her face. She pressed her lips together as she stared towards him with her eyebrows knitted together.

They weren’t close, they were friends, but they wouldn’t choose to talk to each other if they didn’t have to. Their friendship was mostly based on being friends with the same people. Even though they weren’t close, she saw right through the front he had.

She sighed as she pulled her legs from the water and stood up from the edge of the pool. She saw Sam and Jake walking from the house carrying red solo cups. She smiled weakly towards them as she continued walking to Colby. She stopped beside him, blocking out the sun from above.

His eyes shot open, seeing Y/N, he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He pulled out his earbuds saying, “You’re blocking my sun,” he ran his fingers through his sweaty hair.

“It’s like a thousand degrees,” she laughed lightly, “What are you doing?” he forced out a laugh as he sat up slightly.

“I-uh,” he stuttered, “I wanted a tan,” he said blankly. He wiped his hand across his forehead, cringing at the sweat.

“How about you join the rest of us by the pool?” she asked cautiously. He thought about the question. It wasn’t a serious question at all. But as his gaze shifted towards Sam walking towards Katrina. He watched as he slowly wrapped his arms around her.

A sigh left his lips as he lowered his head, “I’m actually going to cool off in the theatre room,” he said dryly. He stood up quickly from the lounger chair and took a hold of his phone from under the chair.

“Well,” she drew out the word as she took small steps following him, “I’m coming with you,” she forced a smile as she continued walking behind him. He shook his head, muttering a few words she couldn’t make out. “-and we’re playing Mario Kart,” she took quicker steps after him.

He walked towards the kitchen quickly taking a water bottle from the fridge, motioning if she wanted one. She nodded her head as he tossed her the bottle. She caught it gracefully. “So, uh,” he furrowed his eyebrows as he walked towards her slowly, “Did Sam put you up to this or something?” he questioned genuinely, taking a sip of water. Not that he was complaining, he loved her company. Even if their alone time was always rare. Her eyes widened slightly as her lips curled upward.

“No,” she chuckled, “I-uh-noticed you’ve been acting off. I just wanted to see if you’re okay-” she trailed off as she tapped her fingers against the bottle, while rocking slightly back and forth. He nodded quickly while pressing his lips together, he slowly began to walk towards the theatre room.

“I’m fine,” he let out while his eyes widened as his mouth fell open, “I’m fine-I mean thank you for asking, but like I’m fine,” he rambled as he turned on the lights for the theatre room. He turned around and began walking backwards slowly facing her. His eyes trailed her body briefly, admiring how her body looked in the swimsuit she was wearing. She squinted her eyes as she slowly crossed her arms over her chest, completely oblivious to the way he was looking at her.

“Say ‘I’m fine’ one more time and I’ll believe you,” she said sarcastically as she watched him turn on the Switch, taking a hold of the controllers. He laughed dryly as he walked over to her, handing her one of the controllers. His fingers brushed her hand lightly. She sat down onto the red couch, Colby quickly sat down beside her starting up Mario Kart.

“Seriously, I’m fine,” he commented, side eyeing her. She shifted her gaze towards him, a small laugh left her lips as she met his eye. He licked his lips as he fought off a smile. She rolled her eyes as her attention drifted towards the large screen.

They sat in silence while they picked out the map they were going to play on and the characters they were going to play. Colby picked Yoshi while Y/N picked Toad.

She shifted her body lightly, facing him, he did the same. As they met each other's eyes, she stuttered her words, “Okay uh-” she let out a small breathy laugh, “Here’s the deal, If I win you have to tell me why you're sad and if you win I’ll tell you why I’m sad.” she offered. His smile faltered as he heard the last part.

“Alright, let’s go.” he clenched his jaw as he slowly looked back towards the screen. He started the game and he took an early lead. He suddenly felt determined to win, he wanted to hear how she was feeling. He wanted to help her feel better, he didn’t want anyone to feel sad. It was a dramatic game, lots of yelling between each other.

At the last stretch on the last lap, Colby landed himself with a blue shell and Y/N was able to sneak past him and take the win. She cheered dramatically as she boasted about it, while he groaned. She set the controller down beside her as she looked towards him. Colby pouted as he tried to stop laughing. “Okay, talk to me,” she spoke softly. He let a long dramatic sigh.

“It’s going to sound ridiculous when I say it-” he spoke as he ran his fingers through his hair nervously.

“I’m sure it’s not, Colbs,” she offered as she brushed a few pieces of hair away from her face. He smiled softly as he looked away from her.

He avoided her gaze as he continued to talk, “I like being single, I like the lifestyle and I enjoy the whole not being tied down but I loved being in a relationship. I loved having someone you know?” he met her eye briefly, noticing how she hasn’t looked away from him.

She nodded as he continued, “But I forgot what all of that felt like to just always have someone to just be there,” he huffed, “I mean being in a friend group with everyone dating each other, it just made me realize how alone it feels sometimes,” she pushed her bottom lip out into a small pout as she continued to listen. His eyes widened as he sat back slightly, “Oh god-was that too much? Sorry,” he laughed nervously.

“Oh no-no, I just didn’t know you ever felt like that, you always seem so happy,” she spoke quickly.

“I mean, I am happy but I wish I could be happier,” he pressed his lips together as he squinted his eyes slightly, “And I wonder if, like, a girlfriend would help that,” he laughed, feeling ridiculous. “It sounds dumb.”

“It doesn’t sound dumb at all. I feel the same way,” she said, he lifted his gaze towards her furrowing his eyebrows.

“Is that why you said you were sad?” he whispered, his voice broke slightly. He didn’t like to hear his friends sad. She laughed slightly.

“You have to win the next game to get that information,” she smiled a tight lip smile. His eyes widened as his mouth fell open, he laughed as he shook his head.

“Damn, I just poured my heart out to you and I can’t even hear your side of it,” he spoke dramatically as he started the next map. “I guess I better win then,” he teased as he shifted his gaze towards the screen. She giggled as he started the game.

“I guess you better win,” she mumbled teasingly as the game began. It was a quick game, Colby picked the smallest map to have a better chance at winning.

He sat up straighter as he leaned forward thinking it would help him focus better. He bit his bottom lip as he leaned his body with every turn on the screen, hoping it’ll help him win. She was in first place for most of the race.

“Oh come on, how are you so fucking good at this game,” he groaned as he got hit with another red shell, she giggled softly as she glanced towards Colby. She admired how focused he was, he truely wanted to know how she was feeling.

She wouldn’t admit it, but she let him win. She groaned dramatically as she leaned her head back against the couch. Colby stood up from the couch and began to jump up and down excitedly. “Why are you acting like you beat me on rainbow road or something, it was the easiest map,” she said through laughter as she watched him begin to dance.

“Because I’ve never beat you before,” he hummed as he fell down onto the couch, “And now you get to pour your heart out to me,” he teased as he smiled widely. She rolled her eyes playfully as she avoided his eye. She kept her gaze towards her lap, she stared at her hands. Her smile slowly faded as her thoughts clouded with her recent thoughts. His own smile fell as he watched her’s fall. “Tell me what’s going on,” he mumbled.

She sighed, “I miss Logan, I mean I don’t miss him, but I miss the feeling I had when I was with him. I guess I’m just tired of being alone and missing what our relationship was like. Obviously I’m not alone, I have the group, you know,” she motioned slightly towards Colby. He nodded slightly. “Even though we hang out all the time, at the same time I’m never excited to come over anymore.” she continued to avoid his gaze, worried to see what his expression was like. “An’-And I think it’s because, like you said, being surrounded by couples just makes the feeling feel worse?” she said in a questioning tone. A small laugh left her lips as she shook her head.

“Yeah, I completely get it. I miss that feeling too,” he whispered, feeling himself suddenly blush. She finally shifted her gaze towards him, meeting his eye briefly, they were soft and comforting. “-and trust me, I don’t get too excited for the hangouts either. Just makes me sad,” he laughed dryly.

“Me too,” she shifted her body towards him, giving him her full attention, “It’s like we get it you’re a couple and you’re all mushy gushy and happy,” she spoke sarcastically, he chuckled.

“Exactly,” he responded cheekily.

“Exactly!” she sighed. They sat in silence for a while as they avoided eye contact with each other. She was shocked to find out Colby was feeling like this. He was the bachelor of the group, he was the center of attention from random girls at parties. She dind’t realize he didn’t fully enjoy that type of attention.

“Have you tried looking for someone that would want that same stuff as you?” she questioned, meeting his eye. Colby thought about the question for a little longer than he thought he should’ve. He shook his head. “Okay, well, maybe I know someone who would be interested in that. Tell me what you want in a relationship,” her voice suddenly became cheerful.

“Are you trying to play matchmaker with me?” he teased, his mouth dropped slightly. She opened her mouth quickly before she shut it again.

“Maybe a little,” she mumbled, pressing her lips together and she looked away shyly. “I just think that maybe if I can try to set you up with someone, then maybe you won’t be so sad,” she explained, her voice got quieter as she spoke. A small pout formed to her lips as she stared at her fidgeting hands. He pursed his lips forward as his cheeks began to flush red, he saw the pout on her lips and the corner of his lips turned upwards slightly. She really cared for him, so much more than he realized.

“Okay,” he whined dramatically, “I want to be friends first, I think that’s important. I never liked random first date shit. But I think the number one thing that I want in a relationship is someone who can joke with me and then like be all romantic in the next second. Like we can kind of bully each other and then we can just be all cuddly the next. Also they have to get along with my friends, they can’t hate my friends because that’ll be a mess,” he chuckled lightly.

“I think I just want someone who isn’t afraid to flirt with me even after we’ve been dating for a while, I think that keeps things fun you know,” he smirked. “Oh, and a girl who is in it for the long haul. You know, like marriage and stuff like that. I guess that’s the bare minimum but-yeah.” As the words left his lips he slowly moved his body towards her.

He stared towards her expectantly, the more the words left his lips the more her smile formed to her lips. “That’s really sweet Colby,” she whispered, her heart began to race unexpectedly.

“You think so?” he asked, she nodded. “Okay because I thought it was cheesy,”

“Oh it was cheesy, but it was cute,”

“Yeah?” he squinted his eyes slightly as he leaned his head back slightly. She nodded again. “I guess I’m a cheesy guy,” he leaned his body towards her even more, enough for her to notice him coming closer this time.

“I guess you are,” she whispered as she found herself leaning towards him.

She didn’t realize what was going on when suddenly their bodies jumped away from each other as the door behind them was aggressively pushed open. They look towards the door to see Tara and Katrina standing in the doorway. Tara sighed dramatically, “Oh my god we were looking for you guys for forever,” she groaned.

[oscars-wifeyyy]

The Innocent (Oscar Diaz Fanfic)

I just want to see if this is a good start lol I kinda just wrote this cuz it just came up in my mind

In middle school and freshman year of high school, Elizabeth Hernandez was a girl that had braces and acne all over her face. Before summer came she was accepted into the same writing camp that Monse got accepted in and didn’t have to pay a thing except for the transportation. The school year ended and the class of 2018 was having a party to celebrate the end of high school so the crew went to look at the party. The crew went to hide behind the wall to watch the party as it progressed into the night until everyone decided that they wanted to get a beer so Cesar snuck into the party to get everybody beer.

Ruby, Monse, Elizabeth, and Jamal stood watching the scene unfold. The girls were looking for Cesar, Ruby was looking at the girls, while Jamal was freaking out over the football players that stood by the house.

“Do you see him?” Monse asked, crossing her arms. 

“I don’t see him,” Elizabeth went on the tips of her toes to see if she could get a better look.

“Something bad is gonna happen. I can feel it,” Jamal freaked out.

“Take a xanny, J,” Ruby glanced at Jamal, “We just can’t see him, ‘cause he’s being stealth,”

“Yeah,” Monse agreed, “besides, when has Cesar ever let us down?”

“Fourth grade. Kickball tourney,” Jamal looks at the group, “we lost,”

“That’s because I picked the kid with no skills,” the group turned, “and I would do it again. Loyalty trumps victory, compa,”

Elizabeth took the beer being offered to her, “got that right, salad,”

Cesar stood up behind the wall, “take it in, guys. This is about to be us. This is high school,”

The five took a sip of their beer and made a face of disgust, but continued drinking out of the can with the bitter-tasting liquid.

“Ruby,” Monse said, “you think Mario is gonna marry Angelica?”

Ruby shrugged, “No idea. Mario tells me jack,”

“What about that time he said Angelica had a dangler?” Jamal chuckled as Ruby tried to shut Jamal up, “what? He said that,”

“In private!” Ruby exclaimed, “time and place, dude. Oh, guys, check out Huerita at 9 o’clock. Monse, Eli, if you were a girl-”

“We are,” Monse interrupted.

“But if you were a girl like that, would you wear any underwear?” Ruby stared dreamily as Elizabeth turned to look at Ruby in disgust.

“Oh, my God. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die,” Jamal said.

“Why are you gonna die, J?” Elizabeth asked Jamal.

“See those guys over there?” Jamal pointed towards the guys in football jerseys, “they play for the ‘ridge. Did you know that last year alone a quorum of kids-”

“Died playing football?” Monse butt in, “you’re stuck on repeat,”

“So don’t play, sweets,” Elizabeth chuckled.

“No choice,” Jamal said, “Pops was a legend. It’s a family tradition. I’m dead,” Jamal jumped off the platform with Monse and Elizabeth.

“You’re not dead,” Monse said.

“Football spiral?” Cesar asked as he got down to help Jamal calm down, “Jamal, CTE is not in your future,”

“Guys, check out my game,” Ruby turned, “Heurita gave me the nod,”

A bald guy popped up and grabbed Ruby’s shoulder, “Eyeing my girl, cabron?”

“No, God, no. I’m not into blondes,” Ruby tried to get out.

“Easy,” Cesar said, “he does your mother’s taxes. Mrs. Guzamn, right?”

“Three thousand dollar refund. Schedule C, line 30. Home office deduction,” Ruby said.

“Seriously,” Monse looked at him in disbelief.

Another cholo came over the wall to see Cesar so he nudged the bald guy, “Yo, homes. What are you doing, ese? That’s Spooky’s lil bro, dawg,”

The guy let go of Ruby, “I didn’t realize it was you, homie. Hey, listen, man, tell Spooky Sad Eyes sends his respects,” Cesar nodded as the two cholos left the crew.

“Thank God for your brother,” Ruby rubbed his shoulder.

“Nah, thank God for better things,” Cesar shook his head as gunshots rang out and everybody crouched down.

“.357!” the crew yelled out after the 5th shot.

Soon they were in Ruby’s place, Jamal and Ruby were spying on Mario and Angelica arguing outside while Cesar, Monse, and Elizabeth were sitting on the couch. Elizabeth took out her phone to tell her mother she was fine and in Ruby’s house until Ruby and Jamal ran to the couch, “Mario’s coming!”

Elizabeth didn’t bother listening to Mario so she just put on her earbuds and looked at him as if she was listening, but when she thought he was done she took it out. Mario came back and said, “don’t bone Elizabeth and Monse,”

Everybody started laughing as Monse said, “Who would even wanna do that?”

The next day Monse and Elizabeth went to the coach station to catch their bus to the camp. Summer was spent writing in the middle of nowhere with activities and amenities provided for the students so Elizabeth was able to start working out, losing the acne, and lost the braces. A few months later, they were back and on their way to Ruby’s house.

Monse wore simple jeans and a shirt that showed a little cleavage while Elizabeth wore a blue destroyed  with a burgundy bralette and ripped jeans that covered her legs. Smiles were on both faces, happy that they lost the metal prison that held their teeth captive. Both had grown breasts which attracted a lot of unwanted attention from the ice cream man as he was selling. They walked a little faster until a voice was heard that they recognized.

“Angelica, once I’m gone, I’m gone! There’s not gonna be a Christmas break hook-up! You know why? ‘Cause I’m gonna be hooking up with other chicks!” Mario took a pause, “white chicks!” another pause, “I don’t know why I’m saying that. It’s you! Talk to me, boo!”

“Maybe she’s not home!” Monse called out as Mario turned.

“Oh. Hey, guys,” the three met on the street, “how was camp?”

“Terrible. Mildly life-changing,” Monse shrugged.

“I can see that,” Mario looked down at their chests.

“Shut up, Mario,” Elizabeth rolled her eyes as a blush came on and tried to hide her newly found breasts.

“You can? How?” Monse asked confused.

“You just...look, I probably have to go before traffic hits,” Mario changed subjects.

“No prob. Good luck at Cal,” Elizabeth waved.

“Thanks,” Mario sighed, “and you two, keep an eye on Ruby? Don’t know what that kid’s gonna do without me,”

Monse and Elizabeth arrived at Ruby’s house and to his now own room, “we’re back!”

“Can you guys move that side table?” Ruby pointed at the table.

“No, seriously, don’t make such a fuss. We’ve only been gone all summer but really, it’s no big deal,” Monse glared at the boys.

“How was camp?” Ruby reluctantly asked.

“Camp was fine. Notice anything different?” Elizabeth and Monse smiled wide.

“Both of you got boobs,” The boys said.

“You can wait for Cesar to help,” Elizabeth glared.

Jamal stood up, “then we’ll be waiting a long time,”

“Why?” Monse asked.

“Where is Cesar?” Elizabeth asked.

“We’re not talking to him,” Ruby shrugged.

“Y’all in a fight?” Monse asked, crossing her arms.

“Well, it wasn’t really a fight. More like…” Jamal started but Ruby cut him off, “we’re not getting into it. Trust us, Cesar’s not cool,”

“Well, I’m not cool being not cool,” Monse crossed her arms, “and why aren’t you at football?” Monse asked Jamal.

“We should really get to orientation,” Jamal changed subjects as he stood up, “before those lines get too big,”

“Yeah, I don’t want to get too sweaty for my ID. Like Mario said ‘it’s all about the right first impression,’” Ruby said, straightening his clothes.

“And sticking together! You’re definitely deflecting this whole Cesar sitch,” Elizabeth rolled her eyes, “so stop being bitches and tell us,”

“Right!” Monse agreed.

Now they were on their way to school and Monse was continuing to pester the boys while Elizabeth gave up and let Monse deal with that. However, it was kind of a backfire for Monse because the boys’ gave her the silent treatment.

“What happened with Cesar?” Monse threw her hands up, “this silent treatment will only last so long. I will break you,” a pause went by, “come on! There is no way Cesar did anything on purpose to destroy our crew,”

“He’s the glue of our crew!” Elizabeth added.

“That was then, this is now,” Jamal shrugged.

“Yeah. Cesar ain’t shit,” Ruby agreed.

They turned the corner to see the Prophets so Elizabeth alerted the crew, “shit, Prophets!”

Everyone was searching their clothes to see if there were any colors that would set off the gang members. Ruby took off his hoodie but messed his hair up a little.

“Damn it. Did I just jack my do?” Ruby pulled out his phone to see how it looked until he saw Jasmine, “code dread, code dread, code dread. Approaching on your six,”

“Yo! You guys going to orientation?” Jasmine’s voice popped up, “hey, you know my cousin, Berto, the fine one? Hey. His daughter, Letty, said it ain’t nothing unless you can’t spell your name and then you hold up the line and people get mad,” Jasmine ranted, “hey, why you guys walking so fast? You know I got asthma,”

“Sorry, Jasmine! We’re having a private convo,” Monse called out, “real sensitive stuff,”

“That’s what you always say!” Jasmine yelled but took a deep breath from her inhaler and began running after the crew.

They finally lost her after a few minutes and they breathed out a breath of relief not seeing Jasmine behind them anymore.

“Man, she is relentless,” Ruby shook his head.

“Nice save,” Jamal appraised Ruby,

“Oh, you’re not safe,” Monse interrupted.

“You’re threats aren’t penetrating, ok?!” Jamal said, “I’m not telling you what Cesar said,”

“Aha!” Monse turned to them, “so he did say something!”

“Jamal!” Ruby yelled, “do you need a muzzle? Monse, no offense, but you’re a loose cannon. We’re not telling you for your own protection,”

“My protection?” Monse leaned closer to Ruby, “eat a dick,”

“Case in point,” Ruby said, “you don’t even know and you’re at Defcon Solange,”

They continued walking and as they were walking past an alley they saw a guy getting jumped into a gang. Monse and Elizabeth began staring at the actions happening, but Ruby and Jamal took each of their arms.

“Don’t look,” Ruby grunted, “keep walking,”

“Why would anyone wanna get jumped on 19th street?” Jamal asked, “I’d join First Street. Only one second of pain,”

“Agreed,” Ruby said, “besides, who would want a lifetime commitment at our age?”

“Apparently neither of you,” Elizabeth chuckled.

“Lack of commitment seems to be a noticeable trend in this friendship,” Monse shook her head, “as does lack of space,” Monse pushed the boys away.

“We can’t tell you what Cesar said,” Jamal said.

Rap music was being played from down the street from a red Impala, “fine then. I’ll ask myself. Eli, let’s go,”

Monse walked in front of the car as a head stuck out of the window, “Hey, you crazy?!”

Monse and Elizabeth walked over to the driver’s side and leaned down, “we just wanted to let Cesar know that we were back in town,”

“And looking like some fine ass hynas,” the mystery cholo smirked.

“Underaged hynas,” Monse snapped.

“Not for some,” the cholo stared at Elizabeth, “it’s all good. You just look a lil different. What is it?”

“My boobs,” Monse deadpanned.

“Nah, you got your braces off,” he laughed, “and who are you, hermosa?”

“Elizabeth,” she blushed.

“Cool. Spooky,” he drove away as the girls went back to the boys on the sidewalk.

“When did Oscar get out?” Monse looked confused.

“Six weeks ago,” Ruby answered as they covered the girls cleavages with their sweaters.

“Now it makes sense! Whatever Cesar said, he said to impress Oscar. Cesar’s terrified of his brother,” Monse smiled.

“Along with everyone else,” Ruby said.

“Then who cares what he says,” Elizabeth shrugged.

“Oh, just drop it!” Jamal raised his voice.

“Do we look like we can just drop it?” Monse asked.

“Actually you do. You just won’t,” Jamal shrugged then a body jumped out from behind them.

“Tax time, bitches!” Latrelle said, “hands up, money out,”

“How can we take out money out with our hands up?” Elizabeth asked.

“I know you bookheads got that back to school gwop,” Latrelle scowled.

Monse started talking, “actually, it’s orientation day. Technically, we’re neither in school nor out of school. We’re…”

Ruby covered Monse’s mouth, “we don’t have any money,”

Latrelle gave a look to Jamal, “what about that 20?” Ruby groaned and handed Latrelle his 20.

Elizabeth, Monse, and Jamal were walking from orientation and were now in front of Cesar’s place that was filled with Santos. Monse and Jamal were going back and forth on the situation, but Elizabeth was stuck on the sight of “Spooky” working out as his muscles constricted when he lifted the weights. Slowly, she came back to reality and the bickering between Jamal and Monse.

“...but he would never join the gang. He’s an outlier so whatever is going on it isn’t that,” Monse snapped at Jamal.

“He isn’t the same,” Jamal said, “he dumped us,”

“But we weren’t here so it’s not official,” Monse looked across the street.

“If someone breaks up with you over text, is it official?” Jamal asked,

“Yes,”

“Consider me the text,” Jamal clicked his tongue, “Ding! You’ve been dumped,” Elizabeth and Montse rolled their eyes and started going over there, “wait! Please don’t go. Please, you’re not… you’re not safe,”

“Why?” Elizabeth asked.

“Because…” Jamal looked at their newly developed chests, “both of you blossomed,”

“Blossomed?” Monse asked.

“Popped. Busted out. Puffed your party pillows. Whatever you wanna call your new cha-cha-bingos,” Jamla pointed towards the cholos, “these new homies he’s hanging with are thirsty,” Jamal threw his hoodie onto Monse, who tossed it back as Elizabeth and herself walked to the other side of the street, “Ok. don’t worry, girls! I got your back…”

The two approached the exiled friend as the other Santos turned to stare at the two walking up to the younger Diaz. Monse stopped in front of Cesar as Elizabeth, coincidentally, stood in front of Oscar, who was staring at her. The leader’s eyes felt like it was burning holes through Elizabeth’s face, but she didn’t make it look obvious even though there was a blush on her cheeks.

“I need to talk to you,” Monse said firmly.

“I’m listening,” Cesar stayed seated.

“Privately,” Elizabeth whispered as the Santos turned to stare at them longer.

“Yeah. We can go inside,” Cesar’s older brother cleared his throat, “but, uh, if you both wanna sit on my face, y’all gotta put those mouths on pause so I can concentrate,” Laughs were heard from the cholos so Monse quickly bailed and went back to Jamal; however, Elizabeth felt a wave of burning anger in her so she pulled her fist back and punched Cesar on the mouth. He groaned as Elizabeth leaned closer to whisper into his ear.

“Do not try to come back and get along with me until you make things right with Monse. I know what y’all did so I’m only doing this for her now,” Elizabeth said, “come near me and I will punch the shit out of you again,” Elizabeth left as Cesar looked at her with slight fear in his eyes and the cholos stared at her in lust after the action was taken by her. Her cheeks burned red at the attention especially from the certain leader that sat next to Cesar. Oohs were heard from the porch, but Elizabeth paid no mind to it as she went back to walking with Jamal and Monse.

“Cesar is dead to us!” Monse yelled.

“Told ya,” Jamal said as he ran to the back of the bushes.

“He doesn’t get to break up with us,” Elizabeth rolled her eyes, “we’re breaking up with him,”

“Sit on my face? Who says that?” Monse stuck her hands out.

“Chairs who can talk! And buttholes!” Jamal called out from the bushes.

“I wouldn’t put dumb crap like that past Oscar, but Cesar?” Monse asked in disbelief, “what happened to him?” Jamal was rolling around when Monse came into an idea, “Cesar’s gotta be hitting the pipe. Right? right!”

“Could be?” Elizabeth shrugged as Jamal jumped onto the next patch of grass. “That was totally out of character,” Monse shook her head, but realized what Jamal was doing, “what are you doing?”

“I’m getting into character,” Jamal sprayed water onto her armpits and clothes, “hey, pops. Say nothing and go with my flow,”

“Monse! Eli! Welcome back, babies. Ready for the new year?” Dwayne hugged both girls.

“Bound to be a lot of surprises,” Monse shrugged as she reciprocated the gift already.

“How was practice?” Dwayne asked his son.

“Yeah, how was practice?” Elizabeth smiled as Jamal threw his gym bag at her.

“I don’t know. Ask those D1 scouts who were all up on me,” Jamal pulled on his jersey.

Dwayne chuckled, “that’s my boy!” He pulled Jamal into a man hug then walked away with an extra pep to his step and back to his gardening.

“Did you quit the team and not tell your dad?” Monse asked.

“No,” Jamal looked at Monse, “yes. Look I suited up first day, and I just wasn’t feeling it,”

“Wasn’t feeling it?” Elizabeth threw the bag back at Jamal.

“Yeah. Wasn’t feeling like breaking my neck,” Jamal threw the bag down on the ground, “listen, everybody that knows me knows that I suck, except my pops. And he keeps thinking that I’m just gonna wake up one day and be him, and...I’m not him,” Jamal sighed, “I just need the right time to tell him,”

“How ironic that a guy that can’t keep a secret is keeping the biggest secret of his life,” Monse smirked, “I’m gonna rat you out to your dad,” her smirk fell, “unless you drop the 411 about Cesar. What did he say?”

“No!” Jamal denied.

“Yes!” Monse said, “Mr. Turn-”

Jamal covered Monse’s mouth, “Cesar said you let him hit it before you left for camp,” Jamal said in one breath.

The two girls were fuming and decided to do a group call later with Ruby to find out the context and how he said it, but Elizabeth had work that night so she couldn’t participate, settling on telling Monse to keep her updated. A long six hours of working, she got off at 10pm and checked her phone to see a text from Monse telling her to meet at Dwayne’s joint at five to chop it up.

The next day came around and Monse and Elizabeth were at the joint with Jamal as he and Elizabeth worked. Elizabeth sometimes worked for Dwayne to earn a little extra money to prevent herself from asking for money from her mother because her mother was already deep in debt and Elizabeth was doing anything in her power to help her out.

“That’s the eleventh text,” Monse sighed, “Ruby’s almost 2 hours late,”

“He said he’ll be here, so he’ll be here. Trust me,” Jamal gave the customer his order.

“Yeah, Mon. Chill,” Elizabeth smirked.

“Said the guy pretending to play football?” Monse stared at Jamal. 

“Maybe my pops won’t notice,” Jamal hoped.

“I don’t think that’s possible, J,” Elizabeth motioned towards the countless photos of Jamal playing football.

“Where the hell is Ruby?” Jamal put his hand on his head.

After a few minutes, Monse and Elizabeth decided to go to Ruby’s house to see what was going on. The two rushed in through the door to see Ruby standing on top of a table, wearing a pink dress, and Abuelita was hemming it.

“What the hell is going on ?” Monse asked.

“I think it’s pretty obvious,” Ruby rolled his eyes.

“Great,” Monse rolled her eyes, “so, walk me through the moment Cesar said what he said,”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ruby looked at Monse.

“There you go again,” Monse crossed her arms.

“There you go again what?” Ruby looked confused.

“Keeping things from us,” Elizabeth stood by Monse’s side, “stop withholding things from us,”

Monse pulled Ruby outside onto the porch, “Monse, wait! Monse! We need to go back inside,”

Monse faced Ruby, “what did Cesar exactly say? And how did he say it? We need context, tone. We need to know, Ruby.”

“Y’all know what I know,” Ruby insisted, “what I don’t know is why he said it. But he said it. We tried to get him to take it back, but he wouldn’t. So what can we do? Drop it,”

“I can’t,” Monse looked down.

“Why not?” Ruby asked.

“‘Cause I’m still figuring out if I still hate him. You heard what your brother said. How are we gonna survive high school without Cesar?” Monse said.

“Mario’s not some sage. Don’t take his words to heart, it’s just words,” Ruby tried to persuade Monse, but she wouldn’t give up.

“If that’s true then why should we take Cesar’s words to heart?” Monse turned the tables, “they’re just words,”

“Sometimes, it’s not what you say, but how you say it. And Cesar said it like he meant it. But things could be worse,”

“What’s worse than losing a friend?” Elizabeth asked.

“Entering high school with a rep,” Ruby said, “you’re smart enough to know that a rumor could ruin your life,” Monse and Elizabeth nodded, “but it’s contained.”

“You’re right. No one knows,” Monse sighed.

Jasmine rode by Ruby’s house with her scooter, but she stopped to talk to the three, “hi! Damn, Ruby. I see you! I see you! And I’m down with it,” Jasmine winked at Ruby, “I like the freaky, just like Monse,” 

“What are you talking about?” Elizabeth asked.

“Y’all ain’t gotta be shy with me,” Jasmine smiled, “I know Cesar and Monse be getting it in,” Jasmine humped the air.

“No one knows?! Really?” Monse scoffed, “I officially hate the traitor, and now I’m gonna kick his ass,”

“Girl, I’m coming with,” Elizabeth growled.

“Monse! Eli!” Ruby ran back inside to take the dress off as the two girls got closer to the Diaz residence.

The two girls arrived at the Diaz house to see Cesar riding his skateboard and Oscar chilling on the wall. When they saw the suspect, Monse marched her way to Cesar and pushed him off of his skateboard.

“You little bitch!” Monse yelled as she began hitting Cesar.

“Damn, that hyna’s wild. Must be a freak on all fours,” a cholo said.

“Shut the fuck up, cabron. Before you’re gonna be like little homie over there,” Elizabeth snapped at the nearest cholo.

“I fought for you. I had your back. For what? For you to impress your puto friends and humiliate me?” Monse continued hitting Cesar as he tried to shield his face from the enraged girl on top of him.

“Hermanito, you better back up before you get smacked up,” Oscar smirked.

Elizabeth turned to the leader, “Callate, puto. You aboutta be smacked up like tú hermanito,”

“Watch it now, nena,” Oscar winked at the spitfire sophomore.

“Monse! Eli!” Jamal yelled as Ruby and Jamal pulled Monse to the sidewalk.

Elizabeth glared at the leader of the Santos as she walked back to her group of friends to listen to what they had to say.

“This is why we didn’t want to tell you guys!” Ruby yelled.

“Y’all goin’ crazy!” Jamal added.

“Crazy? We’re crazy?!” Monse yelled.

“Calm down. Breath,” Ruby tried to calm Monse down.

“Don’t you patronize me!” Monse pushed Jamal, “I don’t need you! Any of you! I was just trying to keep our crew together, but since Eli and I are the only ones who cares, y’all are dead to me! I’ll survive on my own,” Monse walked off.

The three stood completely dumbfounded by the afrolatina’s rant, but began walking home until a certain voice stopped them.

“Elizabeth,” The three turned to see Oscar standing on the steps of the porch, “come here,”

Jamal and Ruby looked at Elizabeth, asking if they should stay with her, but she knew that they were scared to even stay another minute, “it’s alright. I’ll text y’all when I get home,”

The two boys nodded and rushed to get home and avoid the feared leader so Elizabeth turned to walk towards the now empty porch. Oscar stood on the porch with a strong pose that oozed power and a smirk showed proudly upon his lips.

“Y-y-yeah,” Elizabeth stuttered.

“Let’s go inside so we can talk,” Oscar turned to the door to open it for her.

“No, gracias. Podemos hablar aquí,” Elizabeth blushed.

“Por qué eres tímido ahora? You were just talking real big, bebita,” Oscar smirked at the sudden shy girl in front of him.

“I w-was just heated i-in that moment,” Elizabeth put her arms behind her back and looked down when she felt the leader’s stare on her face.

“Alright. Let me see tu teléfono,” Oscar held out his hand.

“Por qué,” Elizabeth looked at him confused.

“Let me just see it. I’m gonna give you my number,” Elizabeth handed him her phone, “you can text me whenever and call me. If you need anything then hit me up, hermosa,”

“Oh, o-ok. Gracias, Spooky. Call me Eli. I kind of don’t like my name,”

“Oscar. Call me Oscar and no problema, princesa,” Oscar winked, “let me walk you home. Where do you stay at?”

“A few houses that way,” she pointed to her right.

“Alright. Vamos, hermosa,” Oscar walked down the steps, holding his hand out to help Elizabeth down the stairs, “so why haven’t I met you yet?”

“estaba en la prisión when I started hanging out with the crew,” Elizabeth shrugged.

Oscar nodded, “well, I find you muy hermosa. Let me get to know you,”

They were in front of her house as she leaned on the gate with Oscar leaning his hand next to her body and the other hand in his pocket, “we’ll see, Oscar Diaz. Buenas noches,”

“Buenas noches, hermosa,” Oscar smirked at the girl that walked under his arm to go inside the gate.

She had to work the next day so she immediately did her nightly routine then fell asleep in her bed with dreams of the big bad leader that live a few houses down. Her dreams carried her away and into dreamland until 7 am and her alarm blaring and telling her to get up. Elizabeth groaned as she slammed her hand down on the alarm and got up to get ready for the day. Once she was dressed and ready to go, she started cooking breakfast for herself and her mother since her dad was at the hospital still so she settled for eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns so she wouldn’t be late to the bus.

Elizabeth closed the front door and made her way to the bus stop with her earphones pushed into her ears with music blasting to keep her distracted from her surroundings. After a short five minute walk to the bus stop, a red Impala pulled up in front of it, but Elizabeth didn’t pay any mind to it until the driver had honked his horn. She looked up fast and saw the familiar bald head and bicep tattoo.

“H-hey,” Elizabeth smiled.

“Where you headed?” Oscar raised an eyebrow.

“Some of us have to work and can’t lead a gang,” Elizabeth chuckled.

“Where is it at? I can drive you,” Oscar leaned over to open the door.

Elizabeth thought for a second before getting in, “it’s in San Bernardino. Amazon warehouse,”

“Why are you working there?” Oscar began driving the car, “don’t you gotta have your diploma for that?”

“Yup, but I have some connections and they let me work there. They pay well and I got enough saved for the future,” Elizabeth sighed.

“Whatchu savin’ up for in the future?” Oscar glanced at the young girl.

“That’s gotta be at a later time,” Elizabeth shrugged, “if y-you even s-stick around,”

Half an hour passed with small talk between the two until they finally arrived in front of the warehouse building. Elizabeth gathered her stuff and opened the door to get out until a hand touched her forearm, 

“Mamita, what time you getting off?”

Elizabeth turned with her cheeks ablazed, “3. Bye, Oscar. Thanks for the ride,”

TIME SKIP

It was the end of Elizabeth’s shift and she made her way out after clocking out and as she opened the door, she saw the familiar Impala with a familiar body leaning against the front. She walked up to the body with red cheeks that seemed to always come when he was around.

“W-what are you doing here?” Elizabeth cleared her throat.

“What does it look like?” Oscar smirked, “picking you up, bebe,” Oscar opened the passenger door for her so she got inside and fiddled with her fingers as Oscar went around to get into the driver’s side. When he got inside, Elizabeth quietly thanked him for taking her to work and picking her up, 

“Gracias, Oscar, for picking me up and dropping me off,”

“No problema,” Oscar looked straight ahead at the traffic and a comfortable silence followed. “You’re very shy pero you have a fire in your eyes that you won’t let out. Por que?” Oscar questioned her as they got closer to Freeridge.

They were getting closer as Elizabeth thought about her answer until they reached her place, “some things...are meant to be kept inside,” she opened the door and got out, “bye, Oscar,”

The two went separate ways as the days went by and it was the first day of school. Elizabeth’s alarm went off as she groaned and slammed the snooze button to rub her eyes. At that moment, her mother came in and sat on her bed with a small smile at the sight of her daughter waking up, reminding the mother of the past times her daughter woke up.

“Mi amor, time to get up. It’s time for school and I made breakfast before I have to leave for work,” Leticia Hernandez smoothed down Elizabeth’s hair.

“Gracias, ma,” Elizabeth smiled before it dropped, “how is papa?”

“Tu papa es bueno pero still the same,” Leticia teared up, “things will be ok, mija,”

“I know, mama,” Elizabeth kissed her mother’s cheek, “I paid the phone bill and the internet bill so don’t worry about that,”

“Mija, don’t do that,” Leticia slightly frowned, “you should keep that money for you. I got the bills,”

“I know, ma, pero it’s fine. I have enough for myself. I just wanna help relieve some stress from you,” Elizabeth pouted.

Leticia’s eyes began overwhelmed with tears as it began running down her cheeks, “I don’t deserve a daughter like you,”

“Yes you do, ma,” Elizabeth hugged her mom, “you deserve the world with how hard you’re working. Now get to work so you’re not late and so I can get ready for school,”

“Wait, before we do that. I got something for you in the mail,” Leticia pulled out a letter, “read it,”

Elizabeth took the envelope and saw “UCLA” on the corner, when she saw it, her heart pounded in her chest and she began to get nervous, “open it, mija,” her mother softly said, Elizabeth’s hand shook as she opened the envelope and took the paper out. Her eyes skimmed over the letter and stopped at the first few lines of the letter seeing the “congratulations.”

“I-i-i goT IN! MA, I GOT IN! FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIP! I’M GOING TO UCLA WHEN I’M DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL!”

The two cheered and jumped around with tears going down their eyes, but soon embraced each other in a long hug. After a few minutes, they went their separate ways to continue with their day as Leticia left the house to go to the hospital for her shift as a registered nurse. Elizabeth went down to eat her breakfast, but was able to finish half of it so she packed it to put it in the fridge then did her morning routine. Once everything was done, she put on her denim shorts and a black v-neck t-shirt with checkered Vans slip-ons that adorned her feet. When she grabbed her backpack from next to her bed, she left her humble abode and to the Diaz house to meet with the gang.

“‘Sup, guys,” Elizabeth yawned, “we waiting for Diaz?”

The group nodded as the sound of a door opening caught their attention even more when Cesar walked out and to the group. Everyone looked at each other then began walking to school to start off the new year.

“I can’t do this,” Jamal said, “I can’t keep secrets! It’s gonna make me implode! I don’t know why anybody keeps secrets,”

“There is something I need to tell you guys,” Monse said before gunshots rang out.

“.44!” Everyone yelled with a smile for the feel of things going back.

However, that was when a car pulled up next to them, “Cesar,” Oscar called out as he got out and pulled the seat to allow enough space for Cesar to get through.

Cesar looked at the group then went into the car with his older brother and gang before Oscar pushed the seat back and got in himself, sparing a glance towards the crew. He drove away as the group followed to stand in the middle of the road looking at the back of the Impala.

“What were you going to say?” Ruby asked as he turned to Monse.

“Cesar,” Monse turned to the remaining group, “we need to save him,”

[babybottlepop96]

Home Again Chapter 1

Jean x Marco

Summary: Jeana and Marco have been friends since the tender ages of 5 and 7. They grow together and fall in love.... then Jean disappears.

Warnings: This story will contains mentions of past rape and abuse. The violence parts will probably be descriptive, but the rape will not be. There will be eventual smut further along into the story. 

~20 Years Ago~

"Jean, honey, this is mommy's new boss, Mr. Bott. He is the man who is going to help us, so I need you to be on your best behavior, okay?" The small five year old with ash blonde hair, dark brown undercut and honey golden eyes nodded his head as he stared at the tall dark haired man with dark chocolate eyes.

"Nice to meet you Master Jean." The man smiled down at the boy with a warm smile. "This is my son, Marco, he just turned seven a few months ago. Heard you enjoy dinosaurs and superheroes?" Jean nodded as he stared at the boy just two years older than himself with wide eyes, mapping out all the freckles along his tanned skin, milk chocolate eyes staring back into his own with a smile that could make the grumpiest of men relax. "Marco has a boatload of dinosaur and superhero toys, Marco, why don't you show Jean your room?" Marco smiled, grabbing Jean's hand and dragging him up the giant spiral staircase to the second floor.

Once inside the room, Jean's jaw dropped, the size of Marco's bedroom was bigger than his whole house combined. The ceiling was high with detailed trim along the edges, painted in a dark brown and a pale maroon shade of red. The bed was bigger than what any seven year old should have, a giant flat screen tv was mounted onto the wall across from the bed and games, movies and toys filled the rest of the room. "Do you want to play a video game? I have Spyro the dragon, Crash Bandicoot, Mario Kart?" The freckles kid asked, naming off games while setting up one of the many gaming consoles he owned.

"I… ummm.." Jean stood there nervously, rocking on his feet while twiddling his tiny thumbs. "I've never played a video game before." He looked up to see Marco smiling at him.

"That's okay! I'll teach you! We can start with Mario Kart, it's a multiplayer game, so I'll be able to teach you!" He smiled proudly as if he just won first place at the spelling bee.

"Oh, okay! Thank you!" Jean grabbed the controller Marco handed out to him with shaky hands. The two sat down on the squishy blue and purple bean bag chairs and started a game, Marco showing him how to pick his character, how to move and control the kart and how to throw the special abilities gained when hitting the boxes with the question marks.

"So, Jean, what's your favorite color?"

"Purple." Jean spoke as he tried to concentrate on what he was doing on the screen, still having a bit of trouble with the turns.

"Cool! Mines red!" Marco spoke as he gestures to the room around them. 

"Favorite food?" Jean asked, stealing a glance at the older kid next to him, he couldn't help but smile, Marco's smile was infectious.

"Spaghetti! Well, all kinds of pasta! Penne, ravioli, ricotta-"

"I thought ricotta was a cheese?" Jean questioned, he wasn't actually sure himself, he just knew that cheese was a luxury in his home, never having enough money most of the time for really fancy things like cheeses.

"Oh, yeah! It is!" Marco giggled, "I just really like ricotta cheese." Jean giggled too, this kid was alright. "You're my new best friend, Jean."

~8 Years Later~

"Will you just shut up, Yeager?" A thirteen year old Jean Kirstein, as calmly as he could, spoke with his fist balled up at his sides as he walked out of the middle school building.

"Come on, Kirstein, didn't your poor piss excuse for a mother teach you it isn't nice to tell people to shut up?" Eren, the school bully, asshole and dick, in Jean's opinion, insulted. That's when Jean's resolve faded into nothing and landed a swift punch to the tanned, unblemished skin, a crunch was heard throughout the whole parking lot. Eren fell to the ground but quickly regained his strength and landed a kick to Jean's guy. The wind was knocked from Jean's lungs, but his anger was dominant. He lunged for the bastard who insulted his mother, the only parent he ever knew who worked her ass off to make sure he survived, to give the douche-nozzle a good pounding, but warm, strong arms held him back before hos fist could collide with it's intended target.

"Jean." A warm voice whispered in his ear, Marco. He relaxed in the freckles arms but he was still livid. "Let's go." Then, he was dragged off to the black Chevy Impala.

"Is that your boyfriend Horse Face? Man, I knew you were fruity but seriously? You could do better!" Jean almost got out Marco's grip, but the taller, older teen had his grip firm and all but threw the teen into the back seat.

"Jean-" 

"No, don't start Marco! He taunted me about how I have to live my life, insulted my mother, then insulted you! He deserved to get his lights punched out!" Jean yelled, unshed tears forming in the corners of his Carmel eyes, threatening to spill any second. Marco just simply drew the younger into his arms and the driver drove towards Bott Manor. "He… he doesn't have to be so mean! I never did anything to him!" 

When they finally pulled into the Manor, Marco led Jean to his room, the same room they first became friends in eight years ago. The stuffed animals and small toys are now replaced with books, CDs and even more games and movies. Marco sat them down on the bed and neither spoke for a few minutes. "He was right, ya know." Marco finally spoke and Jean looked at him like he had four heads. "You could do better than me, if we were together."

"Marco Bott, you stop right there! No one could ever replace you! You are literally the best person alive! If I had the balls to kiss you I would!" Jean and Marco's eyes widened and Jean turned into a blushing, flustered mess. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I.. I don't know why I said tha-", but Jean couldn't finish, Marco's lips pressed firmly against his in a gentle yet passionate kiss that spoke thousands of words and so many feelings. 

"I love you Jean." Marco whispered as they pulled apart, foreheads still touching as both tried to regain their breath and slow their hearts. Jean cupped Marco's face in his hands and kissed him again.

"I love you too, Marco."

~2 Years Later~

Jean Kirstein, fifteen year old freshman at Trost High, walked through the park on his way home after work. He hates his job, hates working behind the counter at the local Taco Bell, hates that Eren works there too in the kitchen as a prep cook, hates dealing with annoying ass customers with snarky attitudes complaining that their crunch wrap supreme doesn't have enough sour cream. Well sorry, Karen, I don't make the fucking food nor do I determine how much sour cream goes on it. Today was a particularly bad day, Eren called off claiming he was sick when Jean really knew he was out with his "boyfriend" leaving him to prepare food and take orders. Then someone took a dump on the men's bathroom floor, didn't even try to aim for the fucking toilet! Just took a shot right there in the middle of the goddamn floor which he had to clean up himself while his manager bitched about him not doing his job at the counter. All Jean wanted to do was go home, talk to his boyfriend for a little before he eventually went to bed and got up early the next day for school.

It was a simple request that he wished for while the clock ticked by slowly. Jean was so into his own head, he never heard the footsteps coming up behind him until it was too late. A wet cloth covered his nose and mouth, his eyes widened for a second before the world faded to black.

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

"We have to find him!" Marco shouted at his father who was looking at him with a solemn expression. Marco paced back and forth in front of his father's desk, hands taking through his u kept hair. He has barely slept a wink since Jean vanished three days ago, his mind wondering about all the worst scenarios it could think of.

"We are trying, son, but we have no evidence of anything taking place. No struggle, no personal belongings, nothing to suggest anything has even happened."

"But Jean couldn't have just vanished into thin air! He wouldn't run away either! He loved his mom too much to just up and leave her and me…" Marco trailed off, thinking about his and Jean's time together over the last two years. Picnic and arcade dates, eating pizza and hot wings while they binge watched their favorite tv series at that moment, the soft and gentle kisses they shared between one another before they parted ways, always promising to text each other once they got home, letting the other one know they got there safe. That's the single most reason why Marco knew something was wrong. Neither of them forgot to send the 'im home safe and sound' text. Not once, in the ten years that they've known each other, did they miss sending that text. Even as children and Marco's father gave Mrs. Kirstein a cell phone as a gift to keep in contact, did they miss THAT text.

"Son, we are doing everything we can to find Jean. But we also need to think rationally, Jean might not ever be found." Marco froze at those words, Jean may be lost forever? He may never see those honey eyes, beautiful smile, perfect sketches and vibrant paintings painted by those slender pale hands and fingers? May never run his hands through those soft locks of ash and brown ever again? That's when Marco broke, he screamed and fell to the floor in a fetal position on the floor. His father looked at him with hurt in his own dark chocolate eyes, for him, his son and Jean's mother who was currently out looking for her only child as they speak. Don Bott rose from his leather chair and walked around the desk, kneeling in front of his son. He put his hand on his back and whispered a pained, "I'm sorry, Marco."

~10 Years Later (Present Day)~

Here he was, once again, at an underground auction. Mr. Bott hated these things, but he had no other choice, ever since Mrs. Kirstein passed away three years ago from a drunk driving accident, he hasn't been able to find someone who cleaned as well as she had. Every person he hired had an attitude or just didn't speak at all, always forgetting to dust the book shelves or take out the trash. So he relented and took up on Mr. Ackerman's suggestion to go to an auction. Getting there early to get a good seat, Mr. Bott, along with Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Braun and Mr. Hoover, the Dons of their respected parts of New York City, all sat down to converse while the auction for the…. Pleasure portion of the auction slowly came to a close. Mr. Bott cringed as the scum of New York bid money on these poor people just for the gratification of getting their dick in a hole.

"And now for our last and best prize of the night!" The auctioneer spoke as the Dons sighed in relief, none of them liked the idea of people being sold for pleasure as they themselves, tried for years to get it under control but never succeeding. "This one has been in the business for ten years, used and a bit rough looking, but this little beauty will be the best fuck you ever had. Clean and pliant, not a bad body either if I do say so myself. Number 54!" The announcer spoke as someone roughly shoved a young man out into the center of the room. The numbers flying from the crowd started pouring in left and right and it got the Dons wondering whom this "prize" was. "Three-thousand!" "Ten-thousand!" "Twenty Five-thousand!"

"Two hundred-thousand!" The crowd went quiet after hearing the deep booming voice coming from the front row.

"Two hundred-thousand! Going once! Going twice! Sold! To Do Bott!" The young man was then hauled out of the room to be prepped for leaving the facility.

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

"Dad! I'm home! Reiner, Bert, Mikasa, Eren and Armin are here too!" Marco called from the doorway as he and the others walked into the Manor. "Dad?!"

"In the living room son!" He heard his father call and the group walked towards the sound.

"What's up? We heard your voicemail and hauled ass here. What happened?" Marco asked as soon as he saw his father, eyes brimmed with tears and a small smile. The others in the room, specifically Dr. Yeager, looked at them, small sad but slightly happy smiles on their faces. "What's going on here?" The group looked at each other, confused and concern plastered on their faces. Once Mr. Bott moved to the side and gestured to the couch, it was then that the group realized what was happening. On the couch asleep, lay a thin pale man, dark circles under his eyes, bruises and scars and even some fresh wounds, now neatly stitched up thanks to Dr. Yeager, littering his almost naked form. Marco stared at the man laying on the pale green couch and tears flooded down his cheeks. "Jean?"

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #360

“we are the ones that wanna play  /  always wanna go, but you never wanna stay”

"Crawling" or "In The End?" I want to say "Crawling," but I really can't be sure. Both are bomb. Is your window open? No. Monsters Inc. or Shrek? Shrek, my man. What did you last hear that made your jaw drop? Jason's mom died. What is the longest shower or bath you have ever taken? I remember as kids, Nicole and I would sometimes play 'til Mom made us finish because the water was cold by then. As an adult, idk about my longest shower. Do you have a preference of chocolate? Yeah, milk chocolate. Is there anyone you’d like to hug right now? Yeah. Could you ever picture someone writing a biography about you? Definitely not. Do you have a clock in your room? No. Do you shut off the computer when you’re done using it? No, I just close it. Do you usually catch a cold during the winter? No. I just about never get sick. Are you a good multi-tasker? NOOOOOOOOOOO. Do you know any deaf people? If so, is it easy or difficult to have conversations with them? No. Is there a door knocker on your front door? No. Were you ever into Pokémon? Bitch I still am. Do you drink a lot of water? Sigh, no. I'm definitely better than I used to be, though; once upon a time, I literally never drank it unless I was extremely hot and dehydrated. Nowadays, it's usually after I finish my soda for the day that I then only drink water, normally around one full tall cup of it. Do you like fireworks? They're beautiful, but I'm personally against them out of respect for veterans suffering from PTSD as well as animals, because I'm not exactly interested in traumatizing them, either. Is respect given or earned with you? It's given, the way I think it should be. Are you “in the closet” about anything? No. Are you missing any teeth? No. Do you like scrapbooking? I've never gotten into it and am not really interested in doing so. What was or will be your first tattoo? It's a semicolon butterfly on my right wrist. Sometimes I've thought about getting it covered with a cooler design but the same concept; it was literally from Google, and I'm very much not into "sharing" tattoo designs with probably thousands of other people. But, I still think it really is cute, and it's just very special to me as my first, so idk. Do you have any tattoos dedicated to someone special? I have one written in Sara's handwriting inside a heart, and my "ohana" tattoo that I am 100% getting covered was dedicated to my former best friend Colleen. I've talked before about why "ohana" has never really resonated with me, and I just don't like it anymore at all. Thank God it's small. Do you like ghost stories? Oh HELL yeah, lay 'em on me. What was your favorite movie as a kid? The Lion King. Some things never change, ha. Do you own a lot of cookbooks? Mom has looooots, but never uses any. I think her mom gave them to her, so she just keeps 'em. What’s your father’s handwriting like? It looks like every other man's handwriting I've ever seen lol. All the letters are capitalized. Did you wash your hair last time you showered? I wash my hair every time I shower. I have to with it naturally being so oily. What does your shampoo smell like? Coconut. Do you listen to Guns N' Roses? Not a lot, but yeah. They've got some bangers. I actually want "Sweet Child O' Mine" to be the father/daughter dance at my wedding. Have you ever been a bridesmaid? Yeah, at my sister's wedding. What was the last video game that you beat? I replayed Silent Hill 2 a long time ago. Have you ever hyperventilated? Yep. Do you talk in your sleep? I scream in my sleep. Nightmares/terrors are a blast. Whose house did you last sleep over? Sara's. Have you ever been cut by scissors? No. Do you like peaches? It's odd, I like canned sliced peaches, but the actual, full fruit, I don't. I love peach flavored juice, though. Do you enjoy being surrounded by neighbors, or would you be more comfortable someplace secluded? Take me back to the middle of nowhere, please. I'm really not digging being in an actual neighborhood. Is there any sibling rivalry between you and your siblings, if you have any? Not at all. Do you usually root for the good guys or the bad guys? Ha, the baddies... Are you allowed to have pets at your house? We're allowed to have what we currently own and then maybe one dog if Mom finally finds one. Have you ever lived in a trailer park? No. Is there anyone that you know through the internet that you would feel comfortable meeting in person? There's quite a few, actually! Have you ever had a dream involving characters from a game/movie/television show? Yeah. What’s the last thing you wrote down? My signature, I think? Do you remember any phone numbers from years ago that now belong to someone you don’t know? No. Have you ever found something strange in your mailbox? No. Who was the last relative that came to visit you? My half-sister and her husband. Does your bedding all match? Not currently. Are you more comfortable with having short hair or long hair? SHORT. Are you interested in fantasy movies/shows? That's my preference. Have you ever gone whale-watching? No, but that'd be dope. What is something that you have a large amount of? Meerkat plushies. Who is it that you’re in love with? Nobody. Have you ever gotten love and infatuation confused? No. Do you have a steady income? No. Do you take your medications in the morning or at night? Both. Have you ever bought a YouTuber’s merch? No, I wish. :( Do you think oatmeal tastes better when made with water or milk? MILK. I don't eat it with water. When was the last time you ran into someone that you didn’t want to see? Idk. Have you ever tried vlogging, and if yes, did you stick with it? Noooo, I'm completely disinterested in doing that myself. If you go to church, what is your favorite thing about it? I don't go. Even as a kid when Mom made me, I hated it. ^and what is your least favorite thing about it? N/A What do you do for exercise? I don't. .-. I want a pool SO badly to swim and strengthen my legs without having to worry about sweating or collapsing, though. Mom says we don't have space, but we definitely do. Not a lot, but enough. Do you have a birthmark? If yes, what color is it? Yeah, it's just a bit darker than the rest of my skin. Do you need to lose weight? Yes. My sister, Mom, and I very recently started a Weight Watchers subscription and we're all working our asses off to stick to it. Ash has already lost like, 12 pounds (she started before Mom and me), so I'm kinda hopeful. Have you ever had a cat? Growing up, after we took in a stray female, we ended up with a fucking empire of cats, literally around three dozen, I'd say. They were all outdoors, too, and not fixed because we couldn't afford it, so tomcats would come around and, y'know, make matters worse. Eventually, animal control took them all and I was DEVASTATED, but looking back, I understand it was necessary. Anyway, I have one cat now. Indoors and fixed and the prince of my world, haha. Have you ever had a dog? We've had a few. I was born with my dad having a collie named Trigger, but I don't remember her at all; she died of old age I believe when I was very young. Then we briefly had a pup named Angel, but she died due to that disease some puppies just have. We didn't get another dog until Teddy, who was my Christmas present, and he was put to sleep only last year, rest my baby's soul. We also had Dale, Cali, Delilah, and Bentley. Have you ever any other kind of animal? A LOT. I'm probably going to forget some, but we've had hamsters, rats, snakes, fish, a turtle, two lizards, gerbils, guinea pigs... just a lot. Animals have always been very important in my life. Have you ever had a pet rock? HA, yeah. I didn't take it seriously at all, but I had one. When was the last time you painted something? Not since my Painting course in my final college attempt. Do you have any disabilities? Not in the traditional sense, no. My social anxiety though is at such a severity that it majorly infringes upon my ability to do a LOT of things, though. What are five of your favorite stores at the mall? I couldn't name five. Just Hot Topic and Spencer's, really. What season do you want to get married in? AUTUMN. The actual dream situation would be to get married in the snow in a black dress, like can you IMAGINE the pictures, but realistically, it'd be in the fall to avoid the biting cold. Has anyone ever spread lies about you? Yeah. Anything special planned for today? Nope. Blue or green? Blue. How much older/younger than you was the person you lost your virginity to? He's two years older than me. Do you still care for that person? Very much. Can you completely annihilate the first Mario game in less than an hour? I haven't even played the first game. I've never really been into the games to begin with. Did you make it all the way through the Oregon Trail game? Yes! I was OOOOOBSESSEEEEEED as a kid. I would usually play it after school when my mom was an assistant teacher and was finishing up her work for the day. Have you ever contemplated climbing a water tower? Uh, no. Those kind of people got some wanderlust levels that I ain't got, haha. If you have a Facebook, when was the last time you changed your profile picture? It's been a few months. Would you ever marry someone who was lower class? Um, yes? You can deny it all you want, but answering "no" is pretty much the same as saying you'd marry for money. Is there a guy you wish you hadn’t let slip away? ugh Which do you prefer: English or math? English, by light years. Who is a singer that has given you chills? David Draiman's voice in the Disturbed cover of "Sound of Silence" is fucking haunting. Greatest cover of all time. Do you watch America’s Got Talent? I did when Sharon was a judge. Do you think you could win America’s Got Talent? Hell no. What act would you perform in a talent show? uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Have you ever practiced yoga? Yes. I used to be BANGIN at it. What is your favorite thing to buy at the Farmer’s Market? Fruit! Do you get carsickness? No. What color is the rim of your full-length mirror? Black. What is your state’s bird (if you live in the US)? Cardinal. Which style of wedding dress is your favorite? I'm a sucker for ballgown dresses. Do you enjoy editing videos? I used to love it, for many many years. Now, I just don't have the dedication or motivation to. Do you enjoy editing photos? Yes. If you gave birth, do you think you would want it filmed? Um, absolutely not. I would have NO desire to look back on me shrieking my lungs out and essentially dying. I handle abdominal pain very poorly, so I've got a goooood feeling that if I actually wanted to have kids, I'd be that woman screeching like a banshee.

[make-it-mavis]

Fire Flower

Sequel to Sunflower

WiR fic (INTERNET AU) 3904 words Characters: Make-it Mavis, Red (friendly Turbo duplicate) Content warnings: Self-harm mention

Premise: Following their awkward encounter at the dance, Mavis bucks up the nerve to call Red and explain things, but ends up explaining more than she had planned to, and gives the boy just a shred of truth about her past.

_______________________________________

It had been three days since the dance.

Mavis had spent that time restless, looking for any idle distraction that still left enough room in her brain for her to come up with a reasonable excuse for her behavior. She crept around the social media district, wandered aimlessly in the towering Google fortress, and hunkered down in Buzzztube, puzzling over some of the things gamers and admins found entertaining, but sometimes still finding a good chuckle or two.

And the whole time, she did not receive a single call from Red, thankfully. His brothers texted her now and then, asking where she was, if she was okay, and saying how she should contact Red, because he was worried. As bad as that made her feel, she had to take her time until she was ready.

On that third night, she decided that she was about as ready as she was going to get. So she sat down on her hotel bed, sitting next to the lamp on her bedside table, the only light source in the room at the time. Holding her weird little rectangle ‘phone’ against her bent legs, she stared at her contact list, eyes locked on Red’s name (with a little sunflower ‘emoji’ next to it). Heart squirming in her chest, she took a deep breath and tapped the icon for a video call.

It started ringing. At first, all she saw was her own tired face, the yellow light of the lamp casting half her face in shadow. She stared into her own eyes, a warning to not screw this up, until her face shrunk into the corner, and she saw Turbo’s face -- well, a Turbo’s face. Red appeared to be sitting mostly in the dark himself, but she could tell he had a window open somewhere, because just enough sunlight glowed off-screen to illuminate his face. His eyes were bright against the darkness, and they were cautious, concerned, and… guilty, she noted unhappily.

For a minute, neither of them spoke. It seemed that they had frozen up at the sight of each other.

Mavis managed to speak first. “Hey, Red,” she said quietly.

The corner of his mouth twitched. “Mavis,” he muttered. “Hi.”

“Uh…”

“So…”

“I’m…”

They paused.

Mavis sighed, willing to get it over with. “Red, listen. About the other night, I’m… really sorry. And I can explain--”

“No,” Red interrupted gently. “No, don’t do that. Don’t apologize. I’m the one who should be sorry, and I am. I really am. I should have asked you first. I don’t blame you for running off.”

“Well, I don’t blame you for trying,” she objected sadly. “It’s not like I tried to stop you. I should’ve said something, I just, I dunno, I just got--”

He said along with her, “--caught up in the moment.”

That threw her off track, and she stared at him. He was smiling kind of ruefully. “I guess we both oughtta take care not to lose our heads, huh?”

She chuckled, just once. “My head’s been gone for years.”

“Really?” he smiled. “Then whose beautiful face am I looking at?”

That threw her even further off track. Her insides protested at the tiny hint of adrenaline. He was just too sweet. So much so, that he was almost intimidating to talk to. Mavis had never been known for handling sweetness gracefully, but she wanted to try.

At her pause, Red’s smile faded, and he combed a hand back through his hair. “Gnah,” he grunted. “Sorry. You’re not interested. I’ll back off now, I promise.”

Perfect, she thought, this is perfect. You can let him down easy, and then the friendship can turn awkward and fizzle, and that will be the cleanest way out you could possibly ask for. This is perfect.

On impulse, she said, “That’s not it.”

Dammit, Mavis.

Red perked up a bit, his eyes cautiously hopeful. “...Really? So-- so you mean…?”

Ignoring the voice of reason in her head, she avoided his gaze and told him what was technically not a lie.

“It’s just that I… Well, I haven’t told you this before, but… I’ve got some, uh, baggage when it comes to these things.”

Red was silent for a moment, in thought. Just then, he looked horrified. “Oh, no,” he breathed, “Did I trigger something awful?”

“Uh,” she shifted, feeling put on the spot. “I-- I guess you could call it that. Yeah. But it’s not so much that you tried to kiss me, it’s that, um… I kinda… haven’t wanted that kind of thing in a long time. I didn’t think I could anymore, and, um…”

Mavis held her words for just a moment, debating what to reveal. She wanted him to know the truth, but the truth was too much. But if she spoke just right, she did not have to lie to him at all. 

Red just listened, his horrified face slipping slowly into soft sympathy, almost like he knew what he was hearing.

“My… last relationship,” she forced out, “ended… really badly. And I, uh, never wanted to even give myself a chance to go through that again. So, when I almost let you, uh… I just saw this… inevitable pain. And I panicked.”

Red’s glowing eyes fell downcast, and she saw the ghost of a sad smile. “I’m sorry. That’s an awful thing to go through. I’ve been through it myself.”

She tilted her head. 

Seeing her expectant look, he explained, “Uh… well, listen… I used to date a lot. Often casually, nothing too serious. Not that I was exactly afraid of commitment, I just… I’ve always had a lot of love to give, y’know? And everything always seemed to end just fine. ‘Til I met the first person I wanted a serious relationship with. And we had one, for a couple years. I really did love that guy. He was--” he breathed a short laugh, “--he was pretty great. But… then…”

His smile disappeared, and his eyes suddenly seemed so distant, and Mavis thought to herself, there it is. Right in front of her was a glimpse into the pain she knew he had been hiding. She listened intently, motionless.

Until the fog in Red’s eyes cleared, and he smiled at her again. “Well, anyway… Point is, you’re the first person I’ve had any interest in since that relationship. You’re the first in… almost five years, by now.”

Mavis blinked, unsure whether to be flattered or guilty. Probably a bit of both. “...Huh.”

His smile grew, and that adoration showed in his eyes again. “There’s just somethin’ about you. You just-- You… wandered in from another world, and you… got this spark that just-- it makes me feel so…”

“Alive?” she suggested.

Red looked a little surprised for a second, but then he grinned just enough to show his teeth. “Yeah,” he breathed. “Exactly.”

Mavis could not fight a genuine smile. “Yeah, well. Right back at’cha, Sunflower.”

A small glow shone through the hot, black ache in Mavis’ heart, but it was not enough. It was all sweet, and in another life, it could have made her very happy. But for this one, it was just too late.

After a heartfelt pause, Mavis’ smile disappeared, and she spoke mournfully. “But, Red… you know that fire and flowers don’t mix.”

“What…?” he asked. “What about fire flowers? Just ask Mario.”

She might have smiled at that, if she felt better. “Don’t step on my analogies,” she told him.

“Sorry.”

“But seriously, Red,” she insisted, “you shouldn’t like me.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” he said, “and I can’t really help it.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“I like what I know,” he told her. “I’d like to know more.”

“No,” she shook her head, “no, you really wouldn’t. It’s too much. You deserve better than me. That’s not self-loathing, that’s fact.”

“I deserve better than you?” he asked incredulously. “Are you kidding? Y’know what scares me about liking you? The fact that you deserve better than me!”

Mavis froze. “What? Seriously? How could you possibly think that?”

Red turned his gaze away from the screen, looking like he had backed himself into a corner. He was silent for a minute, only managing to utter, “I… just…”

Mavis took a deep breath. She could feel her insides quivering with emotion. Red could not be allowed to think that he was beneath her. He had to understand just what sort of rotting garbage he would be stepping down into if he messed around with her. She could hardly hold it in.

“No,” she began, her voice shaking. “No, you don’t understand. I don’t deserve someone like you -- I’ve never deserved someone like you, and you know why? I hurt people like you. I hurt everybody. That’s what I do. I hurt, and I steal, and I lie. That’s been my entire life. Thirty-seven years of hurting, stealing, and lying. You can’t even begin to imagine what I’ve done. If you get too close to me, I could take your heart in my hands and crush it into mush, do you understand that? I will hurt you, I will take what I want from you, and I will lie to you! And I don’t want--”

A lump in her throat choked her, and she trembled with the effort of suppressing the surprise flood of tears waiting behind her eyes. “I don’t-- want-- to do that!”

Before Red could respond, she threw the phone to the middle of the bed and tossed some of the blanket over it. Frustrated and sort of disgusted by her own emotions, she leaned back against the pillows and turned her face to the ceiling, gritting her teeth and pushing the heels of her palms against her forehead. The whole situation felt even more overwhelming than ever. She had sworn to herself over and over again that she would not let anything romantic take root. It would have been the worst thing she could possibly do. But then he tried to kiss her, and he confessed his feelings, and she sort of, maybe, confessed hers. Like an idiot. 

All this time, she had her guard up. But she had been guarding against the wrong things. She knew that him being a Turbo might have made her weak to developing some level of feelings for him. She never expected to develop feelings for him because he was Red.

That just made things a thousand times more complicated.

From under the blanket, she heard, “Uh… Mavis? Hello? You okay?”

She sighed. “I’m fine.”

He was quiet for a second. “Mavis… you really think you’re a horrible person, huh? I mean, I know we’ve talked about before, but… that really is a problem for you, isn’t it?”

“I am a horrible person,” she corrected him. “By conventional standards. I’m nothing that a sweet ray of sunshine like you oughtta be messing around with.”

There was one small, modest scoff. “I’m no ray of sunshine.”

“You’re the nicest person I’ve ever met,” she told him plainly. “And I’ve lived nearly four times as long as you.”

“Wow, um,” he breathed, “thank you for saying that. It means a lot.”

She shrugged. “It’s just true.”

“But I’m not sunshine,” he told her. “I’d rather be called ‘Sunflower.’ Sunshine is always clean and perfect. I love flowers, but they are dirty. Hell, they grow out of dirt. They’re full of bugs. That’s a bit more like me. I’m not perfect, Mav. You only think I am because you don’t know the dirt yet.”

Mavis was absolutely burning with curiosity, but she left it. It was not the time to press him on it. “Okay, maybe not perfect. But you’re a good person. You oughtta be interested in good people.”

“Mav, I think I’ve told you this before, but it bears repeating. I don’t believe anyone’s innately good or bad. You think I’m good because that’s how I decided I want to be. Anyone can decide to do better. No matter how horrible they think they are. It’s never too late to start.”

That spiel was familiar. It was one she had mulled over several times already, leading to imaginings of what her new life could be like if she changed the set of rules she lived by. But always, it seemed impossible. He said it was never too late, but it sure felt that way. 

Murderers did not suddenly become good people by smiling at strangers more.

“Ain’t enough good deeds in the world to tip my scales,” she said tiredly. “Honestly, it’s never bothered me before, and the only reason it bothers me now is ‘cause I--” she sighed. “‘Cause I know I’m just gonna hurt you. And lie to you. I actually give a shit about you, and I’m not used to that anymore. But I don’t think anyone can change enough to undo decades of bad.”

“Well… you don’t have to.”

“What?”

“Leave the past alone. All that matters is right now, and the future. And right now, and moving on, you can make choices you feel good about. Like, you don’t want to lie to me? Then don’t. Choose to be honest. Only you can make that decision for yourself.”

Mavis hugged her knees tightly. “...You want me to tell you the truth about something?”

“It’s not about me. Is there something you want to tell me?”

“What if I…” she spoke slowly, her heart pounding, “...told you that I’ve lied to you already? To hide ugly things?”

He paused. “Well… it’s not like we’ve known each other that long. It would be fair of you to not feel ready to share with a stranger.”

“We’re not strangers anymore.”

“That’s true.”

There was a pregnant pause as Mavis wrestled with herself. She felt steam swirling in her brain. Honesty was so dangerous. It could ruin absolutely everything, and traumatize the poor boy, and even herself. But the lies were growing heavy, and she was weary. If only she could have shed some weight, even just a bit… She searched and searched inside herself for something she could bear to reveal. Some honesty that still functioned in a carefully cut fragment.

She found it. It was risky, but she found it.

“Okay,” she said to him, feeling her heartbeat in her throat. “Do you want to know the truth about something?”

“Only if you’re ready.”

“I am.”

Mavis reached over the bed to uncover the phone and pick it up. She settled back in by the lamp, and looked at Red’s attentive, but tired face. After a pause, she showed him her left hand, specifically her stump of a ring finger. 

“My finger was not amputated due to an incurable viral infection.”

She began running a finger down her rows of neat scars that ran sparse on her fingers, closer on her hand, and crowded down her forearm. “These were not self-inflicted,” she told him, before pointing to the scar on her cheek. “This one was.”

Red just watched, listening with a growing look of concern. She could see the questions piling up behind his eyes.

“What, uh… actually happened to my arm…” she told him slowly, “was… well, back in my arcade, there was this game called Hero’s Duty.”

“Okay.”

“And this game had-- It’s main enemy was this huge, mechanical bug thing. And there were thousands of them at a time, ‘cause they were constantly laying eggs, and, uh… Well, point being, around seven-ish years ago, someone accidentally brought one of those bugs into my game, and they multiplied, and multiplied, and just-- just ate everything.”

She could feel her heart beating faster and faster as the story went on. It was harder to recount than she thought.

“And-- and just before a beacon was put up to draw them away, well…” she looked at her striped arm. “One of ‘em kinda… bit me.”

Red waited. “Bit you?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Yeah. All this is one bite. Inside their mouths was nothin’ but rows n’ rows of spinning saw blades. So, you see here…” she pointed out a set of thicker, angrier scars just past her elbow. “Teeth.”

She swept her finger down the rest of the scars. “Saw blades.”

And she pointed to her stump finger. “Casualty.”

Red seemed at a loss for words. He just stared at the scars he could see, his eyes far away as he obviously pictured the attack. “God,” he breathed, “I’m so sorry you went through that. That’s horrifying.”

“Yeah, it was pretty wicked,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I lie to everyone who asks. Normally I love a gory story, but, ah, this one’s a bit hard to talk about. That was… not a good day.”

“No kidding,” he said gently. “I don’t blame you for not wanting to tell me. That’s gotta be a tough thing to remember.”

“Yep.”

His expression softened. “But… thank you for telling me. Seriously.”

Mavis scoffed the tiniest bit, her heart beat slowly beginning to calm down. “Ch’yeah. Almost like I trust you, or somethin’. Think a’ that.”

He smiled. “That makes me happy. I trust you, too.”

“Does that mean you’re gonna tell me some painful truth about your dark past, too?” she asked with a smirk.

Red’s brows raised. “Uh-- Well, I--”

She laughed, and it came out easy. “I’m kidding. Whatever. We’ve heard enough tragedy tonight, right?”

“Uh,” he chuckled nervously, “sure. Listen, I… I will tell you, someday. Just not yet. I don’t think I’m ready. Not-- not that I don’t trust you or anything, no, it’s just, um…” his gaze fell for a moment, “it really is tough to talk about.”

“Hey, it’s cool,” Mavis said quietly. “You know I get it. Whenever you’re ready, right?”

He smiled warmly, sighing through his nose. “Exactly.”

For a minute, they just looked at each other. Mavis was admittedly not sure what to say. She had already said a whole damn lot.

“So…” Red said carefully, “how do you feel? After getting all that out?”

Mavis considered that. She was shivering, and her heart still burned behind her ribs, but even though all she wanted to do was pace briskly around the room to burn off the adrenaline, she really did feel like some weight was taken off the massive load on her shoulders. She was not free of the mountains of secrets she had to keep, but she was more free in that moment than she had been ten minutes prior. It was a good feeling. 

And, whether it was a good thing or not, she felt a bit closer to Red.

“I feel… lighter,” she told him.

“Yeah,” he sighed, almost in relief. “Feels good to get stuff off your chest.”

“Feels better when the memory’s less of a bitch to touch upon,” she smiled awkwardly.

His face perked up with concern. “Oh no,” he said sadly, “I’m sorry. You gonna be okay over there?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved him off. “I’m like, a billion years old. I’ve done this song and dance before. I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so,” he relaxed on the outside, but she was not so sure about the inside. “But you’re gonna take care of yourself, right? Order a sundae and watch videos of cars slipping on ice-- or-- what have you been watching lately?”

“No, yeah, I’m still into that.”

Red chuckled.

She added with a smirk, “And I was gonna do all that anyway, for your information.”

“Good. Sounds like a good night.”

They fell quiet. She looked at him there, all alone in the dark, probably super warm, probably smelled really good, as usual-- Ahem, she thought, mentally clearing her throat and getting back on track. She wanted to keep talking, but felt like she ran out of things to say. He seemed to be in the same boat. But neither of them made any move to hang up, either. Eventually, Red was the one to break the silence in a low, sincere voice.

“Wish I was there with you.”

Mavis felt her brain stutter. “Um… yeah, I, uh, kinda do, too.”

“Really?” he asked. “‘Cause I can be there in--”

“Not-- not tonight, though. But we should hang out again soon. I’ve had enough of this weird hiatus we’re on.”

He grinned. “Amen to that.”

“Tomorrow?” she proposed. “We haven’t toured obscure Tumblr tags in a while. Probably new stuff up.”

“That-- Yeah, that sounds great. I can’t wait.”

“Meet outside the site at midnight?”

“Uh,” he squinted. “I dunno if I can make midnight. Our admin’s been putting a lot of notes in Google Docs, so I think we’re in for a history paper tomorrow night. Three in the morning is usually their cut off, but I can give you a call if they turn off the computer sooner. That sound okay?”

“Sure,” she shrugged. “I got nowhere to be.”

“Awesome,” he grinned, and paused. “Okay. Yes. Great.”

Mavis smirked. “You excited?”

“To see you?” he laughed a bit. “Now, why would I be excited about that?”

“I bet I could guess,” Mavis snickered. “Lookin’ forward to seein’ you too.”

“Good!”

“Good.”

“Okay.”

“Okay!”

“Um--” Red stammered through a smile, “So, if you say you’re okay, I’m gonna go, ‘cause, ah, I think the bros wanted to go for a run--”

“S’all good,” Mavis interrupted. “Go, go do your nerdy exercise.”

“Okay, Mav. Um-- look-- thank you for calling me. I was getting kinda worried.”

“Yeah, of course.”

“And, and thank you for being so open and honest with me. I really, really appreciate that.”

Mavis felt a small dart pierce her chest. “And thank you for listening,” she said, smiling uneasily.

“Any time,” he said. “Any time at all.”

She just held her smile as long as she could.

“Okay, I’m gonna go,” he said, sitting all the way up. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “And a bunch of times after that.”

“Can’t wait,” he grinned, combing a hand through his hair. “Okay, I’m gonna let you go. Goodnight, Mav -- take care of yourself, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. G’night, Red,” she paused for just a second. “Oh, and Red?”

He perked up. “Yeah?”

“How ‘bout…” she squinted through a sheepish smile. “Maybe next time… You let me make the first move. Yeah?”

Red’s eyes seemed to cloud over in this eager, love-struck sort of way at that. She had to think he got caught up in the images that request produced. Although he looked almost unbearably cute, her heart was already pounding from what a stupid decision it was to say that.

“‘Next time’, huh?” he asked dreamily. “You got it.”

“Cool,” she breathed. “Okay. Alright. G’night, for real, Sunflower.”

“See you soon, Superstar.”

She hung up.

For a few minutes, she merely stared at the black screen, glaring daggers at her own reflection. Dammit, dammit, dammit Mavis, she thought, thirty-seven years and you’re still the most monumental dumbass that’s ever lived.

“Ugh,” she groaned, tossing the phone into a nearby chair and flopping to mash her face into a pillow. It was definitely time to order that stupid sundae, even if she definitely did not deserve it. That usually made food taste better, anyway, in her experience.

At the very least, the ball was in her court now.

But knowing her luck, she would just fall in love with it.

[luigiblood]

Nintendo Switch Online, 1 year in review...

Well, well, well... Nintendo Switch Online...

You’re cheap, but you’re too cheap in return sometimes. I want to talk about it and some of my frustrations about it (and not necessarily with Nintendo). To do this, I will talk about each feature seperately.

Online Play

The most obvious feature is Online Play. It went from being free to being paid, which is pretty much a problem but then the competitors do the same. Many Nintendo games do not have the most stable netplay, even though I do not have most of the problems that other people get.

I’m not going to do a P2P vs Dedicated, or rather I would like to say that people genuinely don’t understand basic netplay and are all going against P2P without knowing that some of the games that works fine are probably all running on P2P to begin with.

I’m not gonna go into the details, nor do I want to say I’m an expert, each have their own pros and cons, but I think the main issue is ultimately the netcode. Here’s hoping with GGPO being open source and free to use for professionals now, the future could be a lot brighter.

I would want Nintendo to take netcode a little more seriously and test it in homes with slower Internet. Testing it with Wi-Fi and Ethernet and everything.

Save Data Cloud

This feature technically works. You’d think it’s hard to fail, right?

Of course they did when some games just don’t provide the support for it because of fear that people may abuse it for cheating... Meh.

Nintendo uses the exemple of having a broken Switch to where this feature might come in handy. Too bad this also means completely lost saves for some of the most important games like Splatoon 2 or Animal Crossing, the latter being really annoying if you lose hundreds or even thousands of hours...

Smartphone App

This one is tough because potential was there. Truly a waste of time.

All of the main services could have just been a website that works on PC and Mobile. But I think the main issue is that people don’t really want to check stuff about their game all the time because there is simply not enough feedback.

There was actually better execution when SplatNet was a regular website accessible on every device, Super Mario Maker Bookmark website too, instead everything is stuck to an app, limiting uses.

Content should be seen from everywhere when it’s possible. Making it work behind a subscription fee was a terrible idea.

And then let’s not even talk about the voice chat. That is a truly depressing thing. Why making it stuck to mobile? I get that you don’t want the Switch to process that stuff for performance reasons but truly that stuff is supported on it too...

Special Offers

Let me list what extra stuff we got from Nintendo Switch Online:

Exclusive Splatoon 2 Gears

Tetris 99

Game Vouchers

The right to buy NES/SNES Controllers

Game Trials (for only one game)

I did not list another thing that will be its own seperate bullet point.

Tetris 99 was truly the best part of this. It’s actually a pretty darn good game. Game Vouchers could have been nice if you couldn’t get the brand new games for cheaper in physical form.

Game Trials was a thing they tested at one point, but then they just didn’t bother...

We, subscribers, don’t really get a lot of extras, do we?

My Nintendo (Bonus Rant)

Nothing has been more of a waste than My Nintendo. Gold Points finally started to be kind of useful since it became an equivalent to a cent for the Switch eShop, but that’s the only good point I could give to it.

Its execution is terrible, and unlike many people, I do not have a lot of good memories about Club Nintendo (the European one, that said), because most of the cool items we only could get the stars we needed much later and then then the item was gone. That’s literally most of my experience with Club Nintendo.

When I learned that with the North American Club Nintendo you could get virtual console games and other cool shit I was genuinely disappointed how the European one was. And I’m not mentioning how the Japanese Club Nintendo had some of the cooler things than the west ever got.

And then My Nintendo has none of the cool things from any regional Club Nintendo... what’s the plan, Nintendo? Why does this exist?

The day 3DS and Wii U will stop being supported, what will happen to the vouchers that you guys always put up? Will it become even more useless?

NES / SNES Nintendo Switch Online

Now the real meat because that’s the stuff I really would like to talk about.

You guys know how involved I am with retro Nintendo content and I can be very invested about this kind of stuff because I just love Nintendo’s games.

Unlike many people, I don’t mind the subscription aspect and the fact you don’t really own these games anymore compared to Virtual Console games. I think this has ultimately been the better thing to do. However I find many problems with the execution of it, especially in the long run.

Due to its subscription nature, I did expect it to have less games than Virtual Console. Rights have to be renegotiated, and the most I expected were Nintendo games. Turns out we got some third parties, some even high profile, pretty cool.

But there are pretty infuriating stuff, like the slow drip feed we get. I get that you want to keep interest going for these games over time but there’s a lot of problems with that entails, and that’s how most of us are frustrated that Nintendo is not using the Switch to its highest potential, and especially about having all of the Nintendo games possible in a small amount of time.

Its portable nature wants us that Nintendo puts all of the retro games as quickly as possible, we want to dedicate our time to the Switch instead of plugging the Wii and Wii U for VC games that aren’t there. We want N64, GB/C/A, GameCube, and more. We want to have Mario Party 2 netplay in an official capacity, and so on...

I noticed the potential of retro Switch Online offer when I found myself addicted to Balloon Fight. Actually a game I’ve never downloaded off ROM sites before, as I usually dismissed it as being too simple. However the game was just there and I gave it a shot. This is one of the reasons why its subscription nature didn’t mind me, it got me to spend time with some games I usually wouldn’t spend time with, especially for NES.

I want to put a list of things that I want Nintendo to do with their retro offering to bring interest, but also sustain it:

- Bigger Drips of games

This seems trivial, but keep in mind that games have to be tested before going live, we pretty much want at least 3 games per month for each console. But stuff takes time and we at least want more communication about this aspect. We just want more games.

- Localized games

This is a personal pet peeve and only works for people whose native language is not English. I do not expect of Nintendo to localize retro games, but at least to release localized ROMs of games when they exist.

I expected of them to release these:

Kirby’s Adventure, French and German versions (yes, they exist)

Super Metroid, European version (that’s a bit more controversial however...)

Zelda: A Link To The Past, French and German versions (French even has an official 60hz version)

Yoshi’s Island, European version.

I know what you could say, 50hz games suck, music is slower- Stop. My only answer is fuck you.

Also, SNES 50hz games cannot have slower music, aside from a few rare ones. If you remember games having slower music on PAL SNES you have a bad memory and mixed up with NES or Mega Drive or something.

I don’t see how, as a developer myself, a selection menu could not be implemented for selecting the language for a game. That way you let people play whatever they want, it’s less painful, everyone is happy.

I still wish for Nintendo to localize retro games however, or maybe even bring unreleased localizations of games if they approved it back then...

- Random Game of the Day / Moment

This seems like a dumb idea, but when I played Balloon Fight I noticed how Nintendo could bring attention to games that don’t necessarily get it.

When the library gets bigger, some games will be left on the side over others, a system to bring motivation to play those games, even as simple as a random game name at the top, is better than what piracy can even bring you.

Maybe you could even implement a button that selects a random game.

- Game Tweaks / Special Versions

AKA USE LUA SCRIPTS IN GAMES

Now we’re starting to get a bit on the expensive side of things.

Special Versions of games aren’t really good on NES, they’re just save states. Some are useful (Golf Course unlocks), some are amusing (Zelda), but most of them are just a save state at the end of the game.

I want them to go on the next stage of this, actually hack the games, or even scripts on top of them. You see, some emulators have scripting features that can alter the game, in ways that improves them (map on Metroid NES), or outright gameplay altering (Kirby Canvas Curse gameplay on Super Mario Bros. 3).

I gave real exemples of use, these could be used to make games easier, harder, balanced, weirder, just like another concept that Nintendo did... NES REMIX. (What a waste of a concept... This really got people into NES games.)

I wish for Nintendo to use their LUA script system already in place for the menus, for their emulator.

This could also aid in development of localization of games without altering the ROM and without space issues.

And this could aid in making SNES Mouse games to work on a touch screen and more, it’s genuinely easy to figure out I could do it myself in a day... ;)

- Shared Library of games between Japan & International

...Well all I want is that I don’t have to need to download the japanese app or the japanese to download the international app to play other games that are not present in the local library. I thought this would have been solved with Super Puyo Puyo 2 but guess not.

This could have the added bonus of japanese games on top of the american (and european?) ones.

- Game Events

Sort of an extra to game tweaks, bringing events for people to play a specific retro game and give them gold points or something. Events could have objectives, achievements, scoreboards, many things could be done here.

You could even bring in the Nintendo World Championship ROMs, other competition stuff, or even games like soundlink games from the Satellaview like BS Zelda, BS Super Mario All-Stars and so on. These games are made for competition!

This is the ultimate thing to bring people to play retro games, bring the unusual games that most people have possibly never even heard about!

- Others

Some of those bullet points don’t need a big explanation:

More Unreleased Retro Games (Japan only or even anywhere)

Localize Retro Games that were never localized (not just in english!)

Borders

Small Control Scheme Help (to compensate for lack of manuals)

5-player Netplay support for SNES (Super Puyo Puyo 2 supports 4 player)

Netplay with Global Rooms with passwords and not just stuck to friends. (This should be a thing for EVERY GAME. This could even be a Switch OS feature.)

Automatic Matchmaking for certain games?

I have also always said this: I’m interested to work with you, Nintendo, on this kind of stuff...

[mikauzoran]

Adrienette Drabble Twenty-Two: Step

(Sorry I forgot to post this yesterday.)

“You know, I seriously don’t blame Rose,” Elise snickered, setting the bowl of popcorn down on Adrien’s coffee table. “I would totally leave my boyfriend for David Tennant too.”

Adrien cast a sideways glance at his friend. “You’re seeing someone?”

Elise rolled her eyes. “No, Candy Floss. You put me into retirement.”

Adrien winced. “Sorry…about that.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Please. You have since become my dorky little brother, and I love you. It was more…after the string of boyfriends I’d had, you were just the last straw. I’m a big girl capable of making mature decisions. I’m fine.”

“I wish I were a big girl capable of making mature decisions,” he snorted. “I’m still stuck in remedial Emotions 101 courses. I can’t wait until I achieve emotional maturity.”

“You’re getting there, Adrien,” Elise gently encouraged, prodding his calf with her socked foot. “You’ve made leaps and bounds of progress in the past two weeks…. Do you have any Pop-Tarts?”

Adrien rolled his eyes. “Just the box you smuggled in last time. I had to hide it in the back of the cabinet. If my dad found it…” Adrien shuddered. “For my dad, Pop-Tarts might as well be a type of drug. I might as well be hiding boxes of cocaine in my cabinet.”

Elise cocked an eyebrow and chuckled, “‘Boxes’ of cocaine?”

Adrien smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know. What does cocaine usually come in? Bottles? Vials? Jars? I know it’s not a pill—right? It’s…like…a powder?”

Elise didn’t even try to hold back her laughter. “Oh, my pure baby boy. Someone has obviously never done drugs.”

Adrien kicked Elise’s foot. “Oh, like you have?”

Elise shook her head. “No, but I’m a lot less sheltered than you are, Candy Floss. Some of the other models I’ve met have been drug users, and I dated a guy once who did drugs. I’ve been drugged once or twice at parties, but—” Elise stopped abruptly at the look of horror on Adrien’s face. She fluttered her hands ineffectually. “Candy Floss, it was fine. Someone just spiked my drink is all. I was with friends, and they took care of me, so nothing happened, and it wasn’t a big deal, so don’t even worry about it.”

“How can that not be a big deal?” he mumbled, feeling sick.

She reached out and gave his scalp a comforting rub. “Shh. This world is a rough place. It is a big deal, but if I used up mental energy on all the times something was unfair or wrong or someone tried to take advantage of me, I wouldn’t have the time or energy to enjoy the good things in my life. Like Pop-Tarts.” She smiled disarmingly. “Now, be a dear and go fetch them? Pretty please?” She batted her eyes.

Adrien sighed, letting it go. He pushed himself up from the couch. “Pop-Tarts coming right up.”

“Thank you!” Elise trilled in delight. “You are seriously the best.”

Adrien had just opened his mouth to retort when his phone on the coffee table began to ring. “If it’s Nino, could you pick up and tell him we’re busy?”

Elise bit her lip. “It’s not Nino.”

Adrien arched and eyebrow. “Who is it?”

Elise looked anxious. “…Marinette.”

Adrien cursed, hoping over the back of the couch to land on the seat. He looked between his phone and Elise in utter panic. “What do I do?”

“Answer your phone,” Elise snorted in exasperation.

“But what if she called me by mistake?” Adrien squeaked. “What if she didn’t mean to call me and I pick up and it’s really awkward and she doesn’t want to talk to me? I will be crushed, Elise. Crushed. Gutted. Absolutely gutted. Yeah, I’ve been getting a lot better recently, but I’m still insanely in love with her, and I haven’t built up enough resilience to be able to take rejection again.”

“I swear, Adrien,” Elise grumbled, reaching for the phone. “You’re almost as bad as her when it comes to catastrophizing. I’m going to do you a favor.”

Elise picked up the phone and answered the call before Adrien could tackle her and put a stop to it. “Hi there, M&M! It’s Elise. How are you doing, Sweetie?”

Marinette nearly dropped her phone. “E-Elise?” She’d psyched herself up so much to talk to Adrien again that her subverted expectations had her panicking. “I…uh…I called…why are…where is…?”

“I’m actually over at Adrien’s house,” Elise confessed, helping the poor girl out. “I was getting ready to leave,” she lied, “and I asked to borrow this book he was talking about, but it’s in the study or the library or whatever those rich people call it, so he went to go fetch it.”

Adrien frowned and mouthed, “What are you doing?”, anxiety plain and clear on his face.

Elise ignored him. “I’m sorry for answering his phone like this, but he left it sitting on the coffee table, and when I saw it was you, I figured I should pick up because I know how much he misses you.”

Adrien made an x with his arms and shook his head violently.

Marinette made a choking sound on the other end of the line. “M-Misses…me?”

“Of course, Sweetie. You two are best friends, and he hasn’t seen you in weeks. I’m doing my best to fill in, but I’m a poor substitute,” Elise laughed airily.

Adrien frowned, a sad look in his eyes. Elise could almost hear him say, “That’s not true”.

She waved away his concern on her behalf. “I’m sure he’d be delighted to talk to you as soon as he gets back from getting the book and sees me out the door. Did you need something in particular, Marinette, or can I just have him call you back after I leave?”

“Oh…uh…It was nothing in particular. I just…I miss him too. I was just calling to check in and see how he was doing…. Just…you know. Hear his voice,” Marinette explained, face going vermilion.

Elise hummed softly. “Yes. I’ve been there. I know the feeling. I’ll make sure he calls you back, Sweetie. You take care now.”

“Thanks, Elise,” Marinette mumbled.

Elise ended the call with a smirk. “She misses you too,” she snickered. “She was just calling to check in on you and because she wanted to hear the sound of your voice.”

Adrien’s face flushed. “O-Oh?”

“Candy Floss, she is so stuck on you.” Elise gave him a playful shove.

“Yeah?” Adrien chuckled, wearing an embarrassed yet pleased expression as he rubbed at his neck where the bruises were no longer visible.

“Definitely,” Elise giggled. “Okay. Now, let’s get down to business. You need to wait at least four or five minutes before you call her back.”

Adrien blanched. “Call her back?”

Elise nodded solemnly. “I said you were going to call her back. If you don’t, she’ll think I’m a bad person because I forgot to tell you, or she’ll think she’s not important to you because you didn’t care enough to actually return the call. You’re familiar with how ridiculous Marinette can get with worst-case scenarios. Save her the panic attack and call her back.”

“But…I can’t just have a phone conversation in front of you. That’s rude. We’re supposed to be hanging out and spending time together,” Adrien argued.

Elise rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Adrien, I’ll just text with Chloé or something. Don’t even worry about that.”

“But what do I say to her?” Panic ratchetted up the pitch of Adrien’s voice.

“Words. Sentences maybe. Preferably in French. Honestly,” Elise sighed. “Candy Floss, you just need to chillax and talk to her. You’ve talked to her thousands of times; you know how to do this. You talked to her well enough at the photoshoot the other week. You’re fine.”

Adrien pursed his lips, not buying it.

“If you want,” Elise offered, “put the call on speaker, and I’ll sit here with you and help you out if you get stuck on what to say.”

Adrien stared at her incredulously. “Do people do that?”

Elise shook her head slowly. “Girls do that all the time. But you’re not going to need me. You know how to talk to Marinette.”

Adrien gulped. “It feels different somehow now.”

Elise gave Adrien’s head another pat while she kept track of the time.

Once four minutes had passed, Elise picked up Adrien’s phone, unlocked it, and dialed Marinette so that there was no way for Adrien to chicken out.

“H-Hello?” Marinette greeted timidly, picking up on the first ring.

Elise pantomimed taking a deep breath.

Adrien did. “Hi, Marinette. How are you?”

Elise gave him a thumbs up.

“Oh, hi. Hi, Adrien. I’m good. I’m hanging in there,” Marinette chuckled nervously, struggling to find her footing. “How about you?”

“I’m tolerably well, actually,” Adrien replied, heart soaring at the sound of her chuckle. “Elise said you’d called? Did you need something, or…?”

Marinette gave a start. “Oh! Oh, no. I didn’t exactly need anything. I was just…I missed talking to you, and I thought…maybe now, since it’s been a couple weeks, it would be okay to check in.”

“I miss talking to you too,” Adrien confessed, his voice giving a little too much away.

Marinette flushed but did not comment. “So what have you been up to lately?”

Adrien shrugged, drawing up his knees to his chest. “Oh, lots of things. Dad has let up on the extra curriculars, so I have a lot more time now to do things I actually want to do…which, ironically, turned out to be watching dramas in Chinese, fencing with Kagami, and playing arrangements of popular music on the piano, if you can believe it. It’s more fun when I get to choose my activities myself.”

Marinette laughed along with him at this. “Oh, Adrien.”

Adrien melted. “Sometimes I can even get my dad to play four-handed pieces with me now that he’s making a conscientious effort to be a real parent.”

“That’s wonderful!” Marinette congratulated. “What else have you been doing with yourself?”

“Nathalie, Dad, and I are doing family activities. We’re having breakfast together every day and some dinners. Sometimes we watch movies or play board games. Nathalie is a bit of a card sharp, and Dad and I think she cheats at Mario Party too,” Adrien informed eagerly. 

He had so much to tell her, so much to catch her up on. They’d missed a lot the past month.

“Dad and I were talking about me going back to modeling too,” he continued with more reservation.

He wasn’t sure if he should say, “so maybe we’ll be working together” or “I’m looking forward to seeing more of you at work”. He wasn’t sure if this phone call meant he was allowed out of exile yet. Maybe this was his probationary hearing. If so, he shouldn’t sound so excited about being allowed to interact with her. He had to play it cool and prove that he was stable enough to be permitted visiting rights.

“But not as much as I used to,” Adrien added instead. “I was promised no more rigid schedules, but…Dad kind of would like for me to continue to be the face of the brand.”

“And how do you feel about that?” Marinette wondered, biting her lip.

“Ambivalent,” Adrien decided. “I don’t really like modeling much. Sometimes it’s fun, but most days it’s a pain. It pays well, though, and the fame will be useful later…and Dad and I worked out a compromise. If I keep modeling at a reduced rate and go to university for Business, I’m allowed to study Theatre too.”

“What?!” Marinette squealed, jumping to her feet to bounce in glee. “Oh my gosh! Adrien, are you serious?! He’s going to let you act?!”

“Any roles I want to take have to be run by him and the marketing team to ensure compatibility with my public image, but, yes. He’s going to let me act.”

Marinette screamed in delight. “Oh my God! I am so freaking happy for you! This is wonderful! This is really, really wonderful.”

She wanted to hug him. She wanted to bake him a cake and throw him a party to celebrate, but…she wasn’t sure she could do that without crossing lines and setting them both back in their recoveries. And, of course, the matter had recently become even more complicated on her end. She couldn’t risk messing things up for all involved parties.

“Congratulations, Minou,” she whispered, voice full of conflicting emotions.

“Thanks, Princess,” Adrien purred, heart swelling at the token of intimacy he’d been rewarded with. “…So what is Milady up to recently?”

He was tired of listening to the sound of his own voice. He wanted to hear hers.

“Oh, end of high school scramble,” she sighed, collapsing back down onto her chaise. “Helping my parents. The usual blah blah blah. My internship is keeping me pretty busy too. You know, I can’t tell if your father hates me or if he wants me to succeed. I mean, he is constantly setting me up to fail, but then he looks so pleased when I manage to pull it off anyway. I don’t get him.”

“He’s trying to challenge you so you’ll have opportunities to grow,” Adrien explained. “At least, that’s what it sounds like when he talks about you.”

“You think?” Marinette sighed. “Maybe that’s a part of it, but I seriously think he derives a sadistic pleasure from watching me struggle.”

Adrien hummed thoughtfully before admitting, “Yeah. Okay. That may be part of it too, but I’ve specifically told him I will never forgive him if he bullies you because of me, so if he’s being a jerk—you know, outside of the normal parameters of figuratively being a boss from hell—tell me, and I will casually remind him not to mess with you.”

“Thanks,” Marinette chuckled tiredly. “It’s not like that, though. He’s tough, and he makes me work hard, but he’s not cruel. He’s not completely unreasonable. Not unreasonably unreasonable, I mean. He’s definitely unreasonable, but he’s not unreasonable to just me. It’s been a good experience working with him.”

“I think you are the only person on the face of this earth with that opinion,” Adrien chortled. “I don’t even think Nathalie would agree with you, and she’s marrying him.”

“…What?” Marinette sat up, pulled the phone away from her ear, and stared at it.

“…Oh.” Adrien frowned. “God, it has been forever since I last talked to you. My parents are getting married in a couple months. After years of me badgering Nathalie, they’re finally getting married completely out of the blue.”

“Wow,” Marinette mumbled, shocked. “Wow. That’s… Congratulations. You must be really excited.”

“I am,” Adrien chuckled, unable to keep from grinning. “It feels like, after years of being an orphan to my father’s grief over losing my mother, I finally have a family again. It’s really—” Adrien’s voice caught in his throat unexpectedly at the overflow of emotions. “It’s really nice,” he finished. “After watching you guys and your families over the years, it’s nice to finally feel like I have one too. Like…you have no idea what it feels like to finally have something that you’ve wanted so bad while everyone else just took it for granted.”

“Oh, Minou,” Marinette cooed.

He could almost feel her arms around him from the tenderness in her voice.

“Oh, Adrien,” she whispered. “I am so happy that things are finally falling into place for you. You deserve this. You’ve deserved this all along, and it just killed me that there was nothing I could do to give it to you.”

Her hands ached to run through his hair. She wanted to hold him and nuzzle his neck. It almost physically hurt not to be able to touch him.

“Thanks,” Adrien chuckled, recovering his composure. “So…aren’t you working on the new Gabriel bridal line?”

“Oh my gosh!” Marinette sucked in a long breath. “Is this what that’s for?!”

Adrien laughed harder. “Yeah. Dad thought it would be a good publicity stunt. Nathalie is not thrilled. …Have you seen the best man’s suit?”

“Yes?” Marinette cocked her head to the side, wondering what he was getting at.

“That’s me…so you should design yourself a dress to match.”

Elise flicked Adrien’s arm and shook her head.

Adrien looked back at his friend in innocent confusion. “Er…is it too early to ask you to be my date?”

Elise buried her face in her hands, whispering, “‘Plus one’. Not ‘date’.”

“Or we could just go as friends if you’d rather be my plus one,” Adrien attempted to correct. “I just thought that in a few months… Sorry. Um…maybe I should ask you again closer to time?”

Marinette did not respond.

Adrien paled. “Sorry. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to… Look, you’re probably invited anyway. We don’t have to go together. You don’t even have to associate with me if you somehow still need space in a few months. I just assumed…”

Elise grabbed Adrien’s arm and whispered, “Candy Floss, slow down and breathe. Play it cool.”

Adrien nodded, breathing in time with Elise.

“Sorry,” Marinette finally replied. “I’m sorry. I don’t… I was thinking about…” The dress she would design to match his suit. The delicate purples and blues and greys of the wedding’s color palette and the butterfly and peacock theme.

She had been thinking about Adrien. Adrien in that suit…Adrien out of that suit…and the intervening stages between the two.

“I don’t know yet,” Marinette answered honestly. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

“I’m getting better, you know,” Adrien mumbled sullenly. “I wish you could see that.”

“I can,” Marinette assured. “I can tell just from talking to you that you seem happier than you have been since you decided to give up on—” She broke off suddenly as she remembered that it was she who had kicked off this dark time in his life.

“Yeah, but the problem is that you haven’t talked to me in forever,” Adrien pressed. “I know Nino and Alya are probably keeping you in the loop, but how are you going to be able to tell when I’m good enough if you don’t talk to me?”

“Good enough?” Marinette echoed. “What do you mean ‘good enough’?”

For you to want to be with me, was on the tip of his tongue.

Elise squeezed his bicep.

Adrien took a breath. “You know. Well enough,” he explained in an attempt not to look pathetic. “Better.”

Marinette was quiet for a moment.

Adrien could hear her inhale deeply and slowly release the breath before she responded, “Adrien, I know you have no way of knowing this, but I’m kind of a wreck. Not just right now but in general. Sometimes have been better than others, but you’re not the only one who needs to work on yourself. I’ve got a lot that I’m sorting through, and I need some time on my own to get things straight. I know you think I’m wonderful, but I’m telling you right now that I suck, and I don’t have things as together as I might pretend to in public. You’re not the only one with issues. You are not the only reason a relationship isn’t a good idea right now. I am at least half the problem…and I’m sorry I’m not better. I know I’m really letting you down, especially lately.”

She was right. He had been feeling let down by her lack of presence in his life when he most needed her support, but he wasn’t about to tell her that to her face.

“No, Princess,” he whispered. “You’re fine. You’re perfect, so don’t worry about it. I’ll be here when you’re ready for me.”

Guilt drenched Marinette like a tidal wave. Her voice stuck in her throat.

“So…” Adrien sighed when enough time had passed to be able to tell that Marinette was not going to respond. “I’m guessing you wouldn’t be interested in getting coffee together and catching up?”

“No,” Marinette replied in a small voice. “I don’t think that would be a good idea right now.”

She couldn’t see him and not touch him, and she knew that as soon as she touched him, they’d happily fall over into the abyss together. And Marinette wasn’t free to do that.

“Yeah, didn’t think so,” Adrien grumbled, some of his frustration leaking into his voice.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“…And…am I allowed to call you now or text you or…? No?” he tried.

She bit her lip. “Not texting. Maybe…if you want to call me from time to time…I can’t promise that I’ll always pick up, but…”

His heart broke a little. Was she just saying that to placate him? Would he call and call and call and never get a response? That’s kind of what it sounded like, but maybe he was being overly pessimistic.

“Okay,” he agreed because what other choice did he have?

There was silence and pain.

Elise wrapped an arm around him and pulled him in to rest his head on her shoulder.

He snuggled into her neck.

She gave him a squeeze.

“…So…” Marinette spoke tentatively. “Have you done anything fun lately?”

He sighed and accepted her attempt to return the levity to their conversation. “I mean, yeah. I’ve been hanging out with friends a lot, trying to get out of the house. Keeping busy. Actually, on Thursday, I went with Elise, Nino, Chloé, and Kagami to a karaoke bar, and that was a ton of fun.”

“That’s…an unusual assortment of people,” Marinette replied, blinking in amazement.

“Nino’s putting up with Chloé for my sake and vice versa, but I think they’re starting to come to an understanding,” Adrien explained. “Chloé and Kagami might be bonding over a shared dislike of you, though,” he shamefacedly admitted.

“I see.” Marinette grimaced. “I can’t say that I’m surprised. Oh well. So long as you’re all having fun together.”

“We are,” Adrien confirmed. “Thursday was pretty great. We sang a lot of eighties songs. Elise is a fan, so…and Nino and Chloé were a little drunk, so they went with it. Kagami was a surprisingly good sport. She’s actually a karaoke champ…and can really hold her liquor.”

“What did you sing?” Marinette giggled, curling up on her chaise and hugging her throw pillow to her chest.

“Madonna’s Like a Prayer, It’s Raining Men with Elise and Chloé, Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero—You know, after I sang that, some guy in his late twenties came up to me and offered to be my hero,” Adrien snickered.

“Oh my gosh!” Marinette cackled. “No!”

“Yes!” Adrien insisted. “He was all over me. Back at the table, I could see Nino getting ready to march over and fight the guy. Kagami had to hold him back.”

“What happened? What did you say?” Marinette prompted.

“I was kind of stunned. I mean, guys have flirted with me before, but…usually they don’t get so into my space. I sort of just went with it and flirted back a little?” Adrien admitted, blushing anew at the memory of the other man’s hand on his hip, on his butt.

“What?” Marinette choked.

“Apparently I still struggle with saying no to unsolicited affection,” Adrien groaned. “The attention was kind of nice, especially since I’ve been feeling so low lately, but then he told me he was secretly Chat Noir and invited me back to his place to show me all the different tricks he could do with his baton—”

“—You are not serious—”

“—and I told him that I’d slept with Chat Noir before and that Chat actually preferred to be on the receiving end of things.”

Marinette burst out laughing. “You didn’t!!! You didn’t!”

“I totally did,” Adrien snickered proudly.

“And what did he say?!” Marinette demanded.

“He asked if I was serious, and I said yes.” Adrien shrugged. “Then I excused myself and went back to singing.”

“I cannot believe that,” Marinette snorted.

“Why not? I mean, he was cute, but I don’t sleep with guys, so at that point there was no point in talking to him anymore. I didn’t want to lead him on or anything.”

“I can’t believe you got hit on like that,” Marinette rephrased.

“You would if you had seen what I was wearing,” Adrien teased. “The first word out of Nino’s mouth when he saw me was, ‘Meowzzah’.”

Marinette broke into a giggle fit all over again.

“Seriously. Chat Noir isn’t the only guy whose butt looks good in leather pants. And the shirt I was wearing was so tight and so thin, it might as well have been body paint. Chloé dressed me, and Elise did my makeup. The words ‘sex kitten’ might have gotten tossed around a little. Nino started it, but Kagami and Chloé quickly picked it up.”

“And your father let you leave the house like that?” Marinette scoffed.

“Chloé made me change at her house…but I’m sure my dad has seen photos by now, so I’m really wondering why I haven’t been grounded yet. I mean, he’s gotten dramatically more chill this past month, but I know I crossed a line Thursday. Maybe Nathalie interceded on my behalf or something? God forbid he actually let me go out there and make my own choices…I think. I don’t know. The rules seem to have changed lately, but I haven’t received an updated copy of the rulebook yet. Dad’s been reading a lot of parenting guidebooks, so maybe…I don’t know. I had a lot of fun, though, and if he wants to ground me later, that’s fine. At least I got to have fun like a normal eighteen-year-old for a little while.”

Marinette hummed thoughtfully. “I’m glad you got to have fun…. Did you sing anything else?”

“Total Eclipse of the Heart with Nino at Elise’s insistence,” Adrien chuckled, eagerly slipping back into the narrative. “And I actually got some requests from total strangers too, so I ended up singing a lot more than I had intended. The crowd seemed into it, though. I’m sure there are photos and videos on the internet because people definitely recognized me. Like I said, I’m surprised I haven’t gotten in trouble yet.”

“What did you tell your father you were doing?” Marinette had to wonder.

Adrien smirked. “Going to do karaoke with friends. I might have given him the impression that I would be doing so in a private room, but…I was surprised that he said yes in the first place.”

“That…Yeah…” Marinette muttered, trying to wrap her head around a Gabriel Agreste who was not unreasonable, domineering, and controlling.

“Have you done anything fun recently, Princess?” Adrien’s voice brought her back into the conversation. “I know you said you were super busy, but have you managed to squeeze something purely enjoyable into your schedule?”

Marinette blushed, guilt surging up her sternum. “I’m…yeah. Yeah, I have. You know that band that Rose and Ivan are in?”

“Kitty Section? What about it?”

“Well, I’ve been hanging out with them a lot. I’ve been working on promotional posters, new costumes, their album cover…going to get crêpes with the band…going dancing with the band. Jagged sent me tickets for his concert the other night, and I went with…with Luka, the guitarist. You remember Juleka’s older brother Luka?”

Adrien perked up. “Of course I remember Luka. He gave me guitar lessons for a while. He’s super cool!”

“Yeah, well, Luka was the only one able to go, so…so I went to the concert with Luka, and we got dinner and went for a walk afterwards, and…I had a really nice time. It was fun,” Marinette whispered almost plaintively.

Elise shifted uncomfortably, picking up on something that Adrien had missed.

Adrien lifted his head from her shoulder to give her a quirked eyebrow and a questioning look.

Elise smiled reassuringly, shaking her head and pulling him back into her.

Adrien settled against her and easily dismissed the incident.

“That’s good, Marinette,” Adrien replied cheerily. “I’m glad you got to do something fun, even though you’re really busy.”

“Y-Yeah. Thanks,” Marinette responded, an uncertainty to her voice. “Actually, I’ve been hanging out with Luka a lot lately. And the others, of course, but…Luka and I have been friends for a while; I just haven’t been spending a lot of time with him the past few years for one reason or another, but…recently I’ve been thinking it would be good to reconnect with him and a couple of my other old friends, so…Luka and I have been reconnecting.”

“That’s good!” Adrien encouraged. “I’ve been doing the same thing with Chloé and Kagami and Wayem, and I think that’s really helped me, widening my support system…. You know, it’s been a while since I’ve hung out with Luka too. Maybe once you and I are okay again, you, Luka, and I can all do something together.”

Marinette went stock still.

Elise squeezed Adrien a little tighter, sighing quietly as she nuzzled his hair.

“I’d love to see him.” Adrien chattered on obliviously. “I’ve always kind of had a platonic crush on him. He’s super cool.”

“Haha. Yeah,” Marinette laughed through her internal panic. “I’m sure…I’m sure Luka would love to see you too. He thinks you’re really interesting—Listen, it’s been great talking with you, Adrien, but I have to go,” Marinette informed hurriedly.

“Oh,” Adrien replied softly in disappointment. “Well—”

“—Take care, okay?” Marinette cut him off in her rush to escape before she could be found out and end up hurting him even more. “I’m so glad things are going well. I miss you.”

She rang off before he could get a word in edgewise.

Adrien blinked down at the phone for a beat before lifting his head to blink at Elise. “What do you think that was about?”

Elise ruffled Adrien’s hair. “Oh, you know Marinette,” she chuckled nervously. “She’s such a spazz. She probably forgot she was supposed to be helping her parents or she left something in the oven too long or she suddenly remembered she needed to cancel her Netflix subscription or…you know.”

Adrien shrugged, sitting up. “Yeah. I am intimately acquainted with the varied ways Marinette can be a total spazz…but I think that went well, don’t you?” He looked up at his friend cheerfully, eyes sparkling in excitement.

Elise smiled sadly, muttering a subdued, “Yeah. Yeah, that went great, Candy Floss. I’m proud of you.”

Adrien frowned interrogatively. “What?”

Elise shook her head. “Nothing.”

“No. Seriously. What?” Adrien repeated. “What’s that look for? What did I screw up?”

Elise shook her head again. “Nothing. It’s not you. It’s…”

She didn’t have the heart to tell him what she suspected. She hoped she was wrong.

Elise wrapped her arms around him in a boa constrictor squeeze as she assured, “You did great. I can tell what good friends you and Marinette are, how close you are. Your friendship will weather this, Candy Floss. You’re going to get through this,” she whispered, praying she was right.

“Yeah,” Adrien agreed, nuzzling her auburn hair and relishing the easy affection. “I’m a lot better already. I’ll be ready when Marinette is. Thanks for your help, Lise.”

“Anytime.” Elise gave Adrien another squeeze and let him go. “Ready for another episode of Doctor Who?”

Adrien checked his phone for the time. “Aren’t we supposed to be memorizing tendons and ligaments and stuff? For your test on Tuesday?”

Elise frowned. “But…David Tennant.”

“But…your scholarship,” Adrien echoed, trying to keep from smiling. “Don’t make me have to pay for your med school. You know I’ll do it.”

Elise hissed like a cat. “Don’t you dare. I would never let you,” she scolded. “That is not the reason I’m friends with you, Adrien Agreste.”

“I know,” Adrien tittered. “That’s why I’d gladly do it. I don’t have a lot of people like you and Nino in my life. I want to take care of you like you take care of me…and financial backing is one way I can do that.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “Shut your pie hole and go and get me the Pop-Tarts. I need sugar to study for my test.” She grabbed her bag from under the coffee table and pulled out her textbook.

(So, I invited the readers on AO3 to try their hand at writing the “missing” karaoke chapter. I think I have one taker so far. In the alternative, I invite you to take a stab at drawing Adrien’s karaoke outfit. ^.^)

[oddeyecadia]

what if it’s us? (ch. 3)

a/n: two chapters in one day? miracles do happen.

also posted on ao3 | ch.1 ch.2

"Alright. Make yourself at home. But don't touch too much shit." Said Pidge as she and Lance entered her apartment.

He roamed his eyes around. The living room was nice, green pillows took half the space of the sofa, a red blanket covered the seat as if somebody had just slept there. The kitchen was surprisingly neat except for a small mountain of dishes in the sink, the fridge had owl and hippo magnets on it, and there was also a random peanut butter jar on the counter. All in all, the place looked... like a normal college student's apartment. Or college students rather, for he noticed there were two rooms.

Careful not put too much weight on his left foot, he walked towards the sofa and said. "Nice place you got here. You got a roommate?"

"Yeah. He's not here, though." She said as she dropped her bag, sat down on said sofa and removed her shoes, keeping her socks on.

His constant smile faded. "Oh. Is he your–?"

By now, she was already used to people asking about her and Keith's relationship– thanks to the nosy people in high school –that Lance didn't even need to complete his sentence for her to understand. "We're not fucking if that's what you're thinking."

"It still amazes me how innocent looking yet vulgar you are." Was that a sigh of relief she just heard? "But okay."

Weird.

He then spoke again. "So, videogame or movie?"

___

Intense music from the tv filled the living room, along with the sound of Lance's hand dipping in the popcorn bowl between them, trying to find the cheesiest ones and putting it in his mouth. Clacking of keys mixed in with the noise as Pidge worked on google docs to try and finish a script for a group video presentation. The glow of her laptop bounced eerily from her spectacles.

She worked on a group video presentation. Without any of her group mates present or online.

Shutting her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath.

Group projects were Pidge's worst enemies. This one in particular was just terrible. She didn't knew anyone in that class so she just got grouped with two other random girls. The two hadn't even contacted her since the project was announced. Pidge made a group chat but she only received an idk as a response from one of them when she asked what they wanted to do. You want something done? You gotta do it yourself. She thought as she leaned her face closer to her laptop, typing aggressively.

Stress began conquering her mind as she tried her hardest not to think about all her unfinished papers and lessons that she hadn't reviewed yet. She felt like crying but she needed to finish this script at least, so she continued.

So focused on her work, the brunette didn't even heard the movie pause.

Lance's eyes lingered on her with concern. Just by looking at her, he could clearly tell that she was one stressful project away from ripping her hair out. He could also tell that his deep sigh took a bit of her attention for her typing suddenly slowed.

"20 minutes into the movie and you're already on your laptop? Seriously, Pidge?"

"Don't worry, I've already seen it." She said without taking her eyes off the screen.

"Still." He pouted. Another sigh and he moved the bowl of popcorn aside to scooch next to her. He felt her stiffened so he moved away a little to give her space. "You promised not to do any studying or school work."

"I didn't promise anything. Now, shush and just continue watching."

"You know your brain will work faster if you let it rest, trust me I'm a nursing student."

She only let out a lazy hum as a response.

He crossed his arms. "Am I bothering you?"

"Oh, nooo." She answered sarcastically, still not taking her eyes away from her laptop.

"I'll stop bothering you if you beat me at mario kart?"

Her fingers paused. Bingo.

"What? You scared?" Lance said in a smug tone. "I mean I don't blame you. I'm a mario kart pro, no one has ever beaten me."

Shutting her laptop, she gave him an incredibly intense look, a look that could intimidate even the toughest human alive. "Bet."

___

Both Pidge and Lance were competitive as hell. Losing was worst than death for the two.

They were on their seventh round when Lance, out of nowhere, started to ask Pidge random questions. From very simple ones like "So, what's your dream career?" to odd ones like "Would you rather see the future or the past?" She answered all of them without losing her focus on the race.

Pidge had already won four out of six rounds –so much for being a pro, lance– and he was eager to get his revenge. She knew he was trying to distract her. Too bad for him, he was playing against a multitasker, someone who could talk and play at the same time, and someone who wasn't easily distract–

"Anything interesting you can share about your soulmate?"

She almost lost her grip on her controller and accidentally turned the wrong way. "Argh!"

The round ended in favor of Lance. "Aww, yeah!" Said winner proudly pumped his fist in the air. "Another win for Lancey Lance!"

"That's cheating! You were trying to distract me!"

"Nobody said you can't have healthy conversations with your opponent while playing?"

Opening her mouth, nothing came out so she closed it bitterly. She tried once again and finally said "Two can play at that game."

It was clear that when they started a new round, it wasn't only about winning anymore, it was about the one who could ask the most distracting question that would lead the other to their utter defeat. It was a battle for double victory.

Pidge started off easy. "What's your biggest insecurity?" Aiming for the emotions, good strategy. She praised, internally giving herself a pat on the back.

This question didn't seem to bother Lance at all though. "The fact that I'm like, the weakest link in everything." He answered too casually, like it was no big deal, like he had already tried to tell himself that it wasn't true but had been proven wrong a million times.

The atmosphere grew a little tense. "Weakest link in mario kart, I could agree." Her response made him snort at least.

"Don't get too cocky, Katarina." She didn't need to look off the screen to know that he was giving her his signature sweet smile, happy to be able to tease her using her own name once again.

Pidge fought a grin. A month ago, If she heard anyone calling her by her real name, she would've had been extremely uncomfortable for she wasn't really used to being called "Katarina" outside of home anymore.

Katarina "Katie" Holt was that one kid in kindergarten who preferred to read superhero comics than fairytale books, Katie was that one nerd who built her first computer in elementary, Katie was the bullied girl in middle school, Katie was the anti social weirdo that everyone– except for one other particular anti social hothead –avoided in high school.

"Katarina" was a beautiful name, but it carried a lot of ugly memories.

Then, as cheesy as it was, Lance came into her life and slowly replaced those memories with better ones. Lance talked to Katarina, he made efforts just to befriend Katarina, he was still in the process of breaking her walls, and it was obvious that he was trying his best as if she woudl be worth all the hard work. Now, whenever she would hear her name, she wouldn't just remember the harsh voice of her bullies using it to intimidate her. Instead, she'd remember Lance and his ten thousand smiles.

Lance was a great friend.

Perhaps having him as a soulmate wasn't so bad, she realized. Perhaps she needed to tell him about that too.

"Okay. Um..." Her thoughts were interrupted by him speaking as his character threw a blue shell at hers. "What's your biggest fear?

Pidge's character was still on the lead when she responded. "Are you expecting a deep, poetic answer or something like the devil from Fantasia? Cus that shit is scary."

"I know right? That scene gave me nightmares as a child. But hey, a more poetic answer would be nice. Though, you don't have to tell me personal stuff if you're uncomfortable."

"Hmm. My biggest fear..." For a moment, she hesitated. Tiny, callused hands started sweating as the thought that she was about to open up to someone that wasn't Matt or Keith finally sunk in. "Disappointment, probably." She answered anyway for by now she already knew very well that Lance wasn't the type of person that would take advantage or make fun of someone's vulnerability.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I'm scared of disappointing people." She shrugged. "I don't know, I just... I hate letting people down. It sucks so bad to know when I made a person, especially if it's someone I care about, unhappy or unsatisfied because of something that I did, didn't do, failed to do, have, or didn't have. It sucks even more when I can't do anything about it. " Her hands loosen their grip on her controller as the game ended with victory on her side. Nobody seemed to care about that anymore. Lance's eyes and ears were on her, patiently waiting for her to elaborate.

Hugging her knees, careful not to hurt her left foot, she took a deep breath. "Y'know like... Like when I was in elementary during p.e class, we'd play dodgeball and the teacher would split the class into two teams, everyone on my team's mood would always drop when they'd see lil ol weakling me on their group like... like their disappointed that I'm with them. It's both humiliating and frustrating. Same with failing an exam or getting a low grade. It's like trying my best but it's still not enough... Like I'm not enough." Taking a deep breath, she let some of the tension on her chest loose. Pidge gave him a glance and noticed how he was still carefully listening, his eyes urging her to continue. "Maybe I'm just scared of disappointment because I rarely experience being one, or making one feel like that towards me."

There was a pause. A heavy yet comfortable pause. She kept her eyes on the floor, hugging her knees tighter as she felt the boy beside him take a deep breath as well.

"Wow. I asked you one question and it's like you just read to me your whole autobiography." Said Lance in his obvious trying to lighten up the mood tone.

"Should I regret doing that?" She looked at him and wasn't even surprised to see that he was smiling at her so fondly, so genuine that it made her heart race.

"No. You can trust me." He responded, low and serious. She already trusted him but the way he said it just made her trust him even more.

"I know."

Another short pause. Pidge let go of her knees and crossed her legs slowly, injured foot on top of the other, while Lance placed the controller he didn't notice he was still holding beside him on the couch. "That's why you're so eager to finish all your projects on time and review til you drop huh? Afraid to disappoint?"

"My family and myself, yeah. If I was a fictional character, my character description would be just one big 'smartass' in all caps. I can't lose that title."

"You're more than just a genius, Pidge. You don't have to stress yourself out everytime just to get a 'smartass' level grade. It's nice to aim for a perfect score in all of the exams or projects and all that, but pushing yourself too hard won't help you to achieve that. Again, sometimes the brain needs to rest in order to work properly." His hand ruffled her already messy hair as if to emphasize his point. She found the gesture to be really nice. However, it seemed like "personal space" was clearly non-existent in Lance's vocabulary. Minutes ago, he was sitting at the other end of the couch and now their shoulders were touching. "Trust me, I've been there. I wasn't as laid back as I am now when I started college. Now, it's my turn to do an IRL version of a draw my life video so listen."

She couldn't help but let out a light laugh. Lance liked that sound, he thought. "You see, my siblings are actually the ones paying my tuitions, I help of course. Although, we can't afford some of the textbooks, it still means a lot since they worked really hard just for me to be able to go to my dream university. Education is really important in my family and I just got very lucky to be the youngest child and the only child who got the chance to go to college. I don't want to waste all of their hard work, so I really want to graduate, I have to."

"That's... A lot of pressure."

"Yeah. I used to let that pressure get to me like all the time. I studied too much than necessary, never took a break when doing projects, pushed myself too hard, I didn't even had time for myself." A sad smile formed on his lips, memories from his stressful freshmen year of college flashing through his mind. "Then, one time I just passed out in the middle of dance practice because of lack of sleep and nutrients. After that I learned my lesson. I started taking breaks from all the school stuff when I needed to, hanged out with my friends, made time for myself, had fun. Cause having fun is another way to rest, y'know? You don't think too much, you forget all about the stress. It's perfect."

A familiar warmth bloomed in Pidge's chest when hit with a realization. "That's why you wanted to hangout today huh?" She chuckled fondly.

Lance's eyes widened like he was caught kissing a Harry Styles poster. Tints of pink appeared on his face, a compliment to his dark skin. The fact that he was blushing because of her made her face heat up too. Now there were two awkward tomatoes in her living room. "Y-Yeah. I mean you obviously needed a break so..."

It took him by surprise when Pidge gave him a smile. A soft, precious, genuine smile.

Her eyes smiled too, and he wasn't sure if they were just shiny or if there were glossy tears forming in them, but they were beautiful. She was beautiful. "Thanks, Lance." She said and his heart melted.

He returned a smile. "I got you, Pidge."

Lance really was a great friend. She thought.

Having Lance as a soulmate was probably a blessing.

There was silence. Her heart pounded hard on her chest as she touched her injured foot– well, their injured foot technically –that was still covered by her socks. He deserves to know.

"By the way–" He started.

"Can I tell you a secret?" The two said at the same time.

Foot in her mouth, she chuckled. "You go first."

"Yeah, okay." He cleared his throat. "Since our friendship have evolved, I think it's okay for us to have soulmate talks now, right? Also, I just can't keep it in anymore, I need to talk about this."

Her breathing slowed, palms sweating so hard, ready to replace Niagra falls. "Right. Y-You found out who your soulmate is or something?"

"Yes, but don't tell anyone yet, cause I'm still not a hundred percent sure but I think–" He fought a grin like he was trying his best to keep his cool. She fought her heart from beating louder than it should.

"I think Allura's my soulmate."

[theabominableblogger]

My Reaction to “Gotham” S4E3

*slamming my hands on my laptop repeatedly while trying to comfort a sulky dog*  LOOOOOOAAAADDDDD!!

AN:  I managed to record my reactions to this episode and hopefully I can transcribe what I said into this post. 

So Jim’s gonna go see Falcone?  That’s gonna go well.

Wait, we’re gonna see Lee again?  When are we gonna see Lee again?

“I am Ra’s al Ghul.”  Good to know!

We’re gonna see Bruce leap around in this Proto-Batsuit?

The jacket still needs a little work... but it looks nice

Whoa...

What is this battlefield?

What is going on?

[Arabia 125 AD]  *gasps*  OK, this is definitely gonna be a Ra’s al Ghul episode

Whoa!

*claps with each word*  Seriously, what is going on?

Is that Ra’s?

What....

*slips into horrible Cockney accent*....is going oooooon....

Whoa, OK, so the Lazarus Pit was around before Ra’s came around?

...Kaaaaayyyy...

“I [Ra’s] was no more.”  “And now you live.”  Great!  Good to know!

Even Ra’s looks like he has no clue what’s freaking going on...

“[Ra’s] You must find your heir, as I found you.”  The heir to what?

Oh that’s a cool shot [of Ra’s hand grabbing the knife]

Wait, isn’t that the same knife that Bruce and Barbara kill him with in the S4 finale?

AN:  Yes

What’s going on, guys?

GUUUUYYYYSSSSS....

*scats the opening theme*

[Shot of the moon over Gotham City]  *sing songs*  Hello moon!

Not sure how I feel about the mask... you gotta put ears on it!

I really want Bruce to try this dramatic Batman entrance and he just ends up pratfalling in. 

Think like Bruce in “Thor Ragnarok.”  It’s just *makes splat noise with mouth and slaps hand*

Yeah, how did Alfred make Bruce’s mask?  That’s my question.

Whoa...

Mysterious hooded figure in Gotham...

*slaps hand on desk with each word*  That’s not weird at all!  This is Gotham.

Alfred:  Bruce, walk away.

Bruce:  Naaahh!

“Now walk away.”  *starts singing "Walk Away” from High School Musical 3*

Alfred’s like “God dammit, Masta Bruce!”

Oh it’s Selina!

What’s Selina doing at the docks?

*Bruce fights his way through a barrage of machine gun fire*  Whooooooooo.... oooohhh!!!

Yeah, that’s Selina.  Honey, what are you doing?!?

Oooohhh, I don’t know what that city is but it looks nice.

*ends up singing “Despacito” for no god damn reason*

AN:  It’s Miami.  They just did some crazy coloring to make everything look warmer.

Oh that shot of the horse’s eye though!

This show has some really nice cinematography.

Oh hello Sofia!

I thought Sofia in the comics was- well, when I first saw in in “The Long Halloween”- like really tall and broad.  Well that was the way Tim Sale here so...

Hello, Falcone!  How are you enjoying retirement?

“Carmine.”  Bitch!

I cannot believe Jim has the freaking balls to go visit Falcone when he murdered his son last season!

Oh my God, I would want to steal Falcone’s retirement home right now!  It looks so nice!

Wait, doesn’t Sofia get freaking shot in the head later this season?  And she somehow survives?  Like, what’s going on with that?

AN:  Yes.

“Who’s this?”  Oh yeah, this is James Gordon.  He killed your [Sofia’s] brother.

How is this whole scene not seeping in awkward?

She [Sofia] should be livid with rage!  The dude killed her brother!

“I’m [Falcone] dying.  Doctors don’t know why.  Maybe old age.  Karma.  They seem to think the air is better down here for me, give me more time.”  So is Sofia gonna in his place or what?  How does Sofia end up in Gotham?

“I [Bruce] let my guard down, Alfred.  It wouldn’t happen again.”  *coughs in hilarity*  Five minutes later.

“Oh, no, where do you [Bruce] think you’re going?”  “To the docks.”  Oh my freaking God, Bruce.

*Barbara shows off one of her guns to a potential buyer*  Whoa...

Yeah, Barbara, get rid of the haircut.  Now!

Oh my gosh, Oswald, what’s with your hair?  Is that a hair extension?  If so, you’re going a little bit too far, buddy.

Who... is this...

Whaat...

*cracks up when Oswald finds the Ed-sicle missing and starts screaming*

“THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!!!!!”  “I [Victor] don’t know.  Kinda opens up the room.”  HAHAHAhahaha

“I [Oswald] want Ed back here today!”  Attachment issues, much?

Who is that [Ed’s kidnapper/rescuer]?

*Ed finds a bunch of fan clippings on the wall next to him*  Oh oh OOOOHHH...

“I [Myrtle] could say I’m your number one fan.”  That’s just creepy.

Ed just looks so done with Myrtle, oh my God.

“How long was I [Ed] on ice?”  “Five months.”  Whoa!

“With me [Myrtle] as your sidekick, of course.  Doesn’t that sound wonderful, my love?”  That does not sound wonderful.  Stop calling him love!

*Bruce goes in disguise as a street kid on the docks*  Oh my gosh, Bruce...

How does no one recognize that that is Bruce Wayne?!?

Bruce, what are you doing...

Yeah, Bruce needs to voice on the voices a little bit.  He’s getting there!

“It’s clear that this isn’t about profit, but about your [Barbara’s] mysterious benefactor.  He is your client, is he not?”  Yeah, it has to be Ra’s.  She’s working for Ra’s.

Why does Oswald want the knife?  What interest does he have in the knife?

*imitates Bruce’s pronounciation of “Ra’s”*

Here’s my question:  if that is the only weapon that can kill Ra’s, then how did he let it get out of his possession, after all this time?  Seriously.

Likin’ the totally non-conspicous sunglasses Jim has...

Oh my gosh, she’s [Sofia] tall.

“To my dad.”  And to my brother, whom you [Jim] murdered.

*laughing*  How is no one bringing up the fact that Jim killed Mario?

“He [Mario] was infected with the virus.  [Jim] You did what you had to do.”  Oh, so it’s just like that then?  OK.

Here’s my question:  how did Myrtle get access to the lounge?

*Myrtle shows off her homage dress*  Oh it’s a cute dress!

Dude, you [Ed] were stuck in ice for five months.  Yeah, you definitely need time to recover.

What is that?

“What’s black and white and red all over?”  Newspaper.

*gets confused when Ed gets the answer wrong*

“I have a face and two hands, but no arms or legs.”  Clock.

Oh that sky looks awesome!

They’re [Jim and Sofia] walking barefoot on the beach together... and I don’t know how to feel about them as a couple!

Oh... oh...oh...

*Sofia kisses Jim*   Ooooooooooooohhhhh maann...

Oh my gosh, he’s [Bruce] wearing a black bow tie!

“Play the role that you [Bruce] were born to play.”  “You mean behave like a spoiled brat?”  Yes.

“Bruce Wayne, billionaire brat.”  *claps hands*  Let’s go.

This version of Bruce Wayne is awesome.  I’d definitely rank him up there with Kevin Conroy and Ben Affleck.  I think it’s mainly because we see Bruce Wayne in this show become Batman rather than in most stuff, where that transition has already happened.  Here, they focus on him as a kid, and it seems way more natural.

*absolutely loses it when Brat!Bruce tries high fiving Alfred, who almost considers it*

“I’m gonna put it in my... my bathroom!”  HAHAHAHAHAHA

“Technically, you [Bruce] are the richest man in the room, but let's not try and buy absolutely everything, shall we?”  “True, but if I only bid on the knife everyone's been trying to steal from Penguin, it might draw his suspicion. If I go on a spending spree, recklessly throwing my money around, he won't think twice.”  ...Yeah... I mean...

Bruce look so smug that he’s figured out this billionaire brat persona.  Four for you, buddy!

“Barbara Kean.  I [Bruce] thought she died.”  “Unfortunately, nobody stays dead in this town.”  True!

Whoa...

*smiles when Bruce tries outbidding Barbara by one dollar for the knife*

“300 thousand dollars... and one cent!”  OH HO HO HOOOO!!! 

Oh my God!

*cracks up when Bruce smugly thanks Barbara*

You notice that when Oswald started warning him about Barbara, Bruce’s persona just dropped.  He’s like “OK.  Game time.”

“What’s red and green and goes round and round.”  Frog in a blender.

“The answer, obviously, isn’t ‘newspaper.’”  *gives Ed a confused look*

*gasps when Ed knocks out Myrtle with the riddle book*

“Frog in a blender!”  What the heck kind of riddle is that?  Why is that in a kids’ book?

Here’s my question:  why doesn’t Bruce tell Selina about this whole shindig with Ra’s al Ghul?  Seriously.

Wait a minute, doesn’t Ra’s die for this like first time early this season?

Yeah, ‘cause they bring him back in episode 19 but then he dies again in the season finale, so it’s like “Umm.... what?”

Jiiiiiiimmm!

Harper!

Sofia!

Wait, so how old is Sofia?  She said she moved down when she was 13, so she has to be 23 or something right?  Like five years or so younger than Gordon, at least?

“We [Sofia and Jim] can do great things together, you and I.  I’ll be in touch.” That sounds... very bad!

*snorts in hilarity when Victor answers the frog in a blender riddle correctly*

Oh my gosh, I like Oswald’s blue gloves

Where the heck did Ed go?

Eeeeeeeeeeddd, where are you goingggggggg....

[Welcome to the Iceberg Lounge]  *imitating Penguin*  I froze my crush because he did not like me!

Nice.

Whoa...

OK, that has to be Ra’s, right?

He’s gonna be like “Yeah, uh, hey Barbara?  Where’s the knife?“

Barbara:  Ummm, let see, there’s a funny story about that... I didn’t get it...

Awkward...

“That knife is the key to everything.”  It’s the key to killing him!

*makes extremely loud disgusted noise when Barbara proceeds to make out with Ra’s* 

NO!

Ohhh, no, I did not like that at all!  Noo!

[floweryfandomnerd]

@thelazyfanartist look, look, I finally wrote that request (after two months, I can’t believe it took that long! Sorry about that. Thank you for being so patient) but in compensation this is 5k+ so another chapter in the modern school boy au 

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Baking was definitely not a skill of Daryun’s, so when Arslan posed him the question “Do you know how to make a cake?” he was inclined to say no. However, the pleading look on the kid’s face was one that could easily sway him. Daryun shook his head, rocking on his heels he hummed in thought, “We could probably look up a recipe. Although I have no idea why you don’t just buy a cake?”

Arslan shrugged at him “I want cake and something to do, two in one!”

Daryun nodded, tapping his chin “Alright then, can we make it caramel flavour?” Arslan instantly agreed. That settled it then, Daryun wandered into the kitchen as Arslan went typing into Google “How to make a caramel cake” and pulled up a recipe. Haphazardly stacking them on the bench, Daryun pulled random bags of ingredients out of the pantry; he had no idea how to make a cake. Flour, eggs, butter, sugar… that was it right? He set the open bag of flour down with a thump, recoiling as the white powder sprayed up into his face.  

Flour cloud still hanging in the air, Arslan walked into the room with the now printed recipe only to choke on it. Through his coughing fit, he made a face at Daryun - an expression of suffering and confusion. “Are you…” another cough “trying to…” a hefty pat to the chest “to kill me or something?”

Wry smile forming on his lips, Daryun pointed up at his flour-covered, white as a ghost face then at the bag “Yeah, I need someone to haunt this place with me - there’s your makeup”

Chuckling lightly, Arslan placed the recipe on the once sparkling black island. Beginning to read off what they needed, Arslan started to organise what was on the bench whilst Daryun stared at it quizzically. He wasn’t sure whether the vagueness of the instructions he was currently staring down was a good or bad thing; he wasn’t a baker.  “Sieve the flour into the bowl…” An indiscriminate amount went into the sieve which Daryun tapped at furiously to make it fall through faster. “Cream the butter and sugar together, oh, can I do this part?” Arslan carefully weighed the specified amounts then tipped them into the bowl, mashing at it to form a sweet paste. “Alright Daryun, you add the eggs and flour whilst I make the caramel”

Trusting him with this was, in fact, a mistake, he grabbed a random number of eggs to crack into the bowl. He mixed it together with any technique he might have possessed flying straight out the window. When everything had - sort of - come together he scrutinised it dubiously, waiting upon the caramel to finish whatever it was he’d made so far. After five minutes of boiling sugar and butter, Arslan poured the cream into the pan, caramel sputtering at him. Pouring it straight into the bowl, Daryun mixed it until it all seemed to form a batter. It went straight into the cake tin and then the oven.

They watched it intently, as it bubbled but didn’t rise in the slightest - slowly cooking. Caramelising sugar into a golden brown top. When 30 minutes had passed they skewered it with a knife that came back dry to indicate it was done. Taking it out, it was plain to see that the ‘cake’ was a mess. Flat, unrisen, dry. Arslan prodded it tentatively “Are you sure we didn’t make a rock instead?”

Truth be told, he wasn’t. To fully understand the extent of their failure, one of them would have to taste it. Neither wanted that honour. Sly smile curving at the corner of his lips, Daryun mused that they wouldn’t have to taste it at all. “Hey, what time is Narsus coming over? 4pm?”

Arslan nodded at him, looking at the clock “Yeah, and it’s 3:30 now so he should be here in about half an hour with Elam.”

Glancing down at the cake, Daryun grinned “Do you want to decorate it and feed it to him?”

Hesitant though he was, mulling it over Arslan did find that it seemed rather fun. Grabbing a little black wallet off the counter, he pushed it into his pocket and ran out the front door, forgetting to close it as he called “I’m buying marshmallows and sprinkles!”

Pushing it closed, Daryun gently shook his head. Then he wandered back into the kitchen to start on the buttercream. He pulled out a bowl, filled it and stirred furiously. Once it was made he spread it over the cake with a palette knife, grunting in frustration when it didn’t go as even as he wanted. Arslan walked back in to find he’d already given up and was now glaring angrily at the cake. Marshmallows suddenly being ripped from his hand, Arslan watched in amusement as Daryun tore open the bag and dumped the entire contents on top the iced cake. Grabbing the sprinkles next he poured almost half of the shaker on it. Stepping back to look at it, he regarded the cake with a wrathful pride until the doorbell rang.

Arslan answered, moving aside to let Elam and Narsus enter for their weekly games night. It was just the four of them, but even that was more than it used to be. Daryun cut the cake and handed two plates of it to their friends as Arslan set up the wii. Both viewed it with a degree of wariness. Arslan whispered into Elam’s ear not to eat it as Daryun urged Narsus to do the opposite, “Go on, we made it for you so you better damn well eat it.”

Hesitantly, Narsus cut away a piece with the fork handed to him, raising it to his mouth unsurely. Chewing a rock, he mused, might have actually been easier. He spat it back out immediately. Hating it the second it hit his taste buds, Narsus emptied his mouth leaving mush on the plate; he ignored the collective looks of disgust. “Maybe you guys should get cooking lessons… There’s a good place in the shopping centre - I’d offer my hotel’s chef to you but I think he’d cry if he saw your cooking!”

Even losing at Mario Kart didn’t leave such a bitter taste in his mouth…

Busy isn’t a strong enough word to describe the shopping centre, people squeeze past Arslan and Daryun inside of it; their scents of sweat and perfume mingling with chocolates, pastries and coffee from the nearby cafés, outside of one is a table full of samples and a lady brightly offering them to passersby. Arslan’s outstretched hand just misses the pastry he was aiming for as Daryun pulls him away, over the din of conversation, tapping of footsteps on the ground and music blaring on the overhead radio, Daryun’s voice is almost inaudible, “That’s not what we’re here for. Come on, we’ll be late.”

He reaches just a little bit further, snatching one off the table in triumph. He grins at the lady, shoving it in his mouth straight after. Daryun just shakes his head. As his head turns, out of the corner of his eye another shop catches his attention. He’d wanted to be early, that meant there was still twenty minutes to spare (punctuality is an important quality to have) - that means there’s time to go in the shop then. Unsurprisingly, Arslan glares just a little when he steps into the small shop. In contrast to the rest of the centre, inside is near enough empty and nowhere near as brightly lit. Soft lights reflect off glinting metal, jewels sparkling on the hilts of various swords.

The reasons for a (replica - or at least, he hoped they were replicas) weapons shop in the middle of a suburban shopping centre made no sense to Arslan, but the smile on Daryun’s face made him glad nonetheless. Making sure Daryun was still gazing fixedly at the sword first, he turned towards the girl behind the counter; there were lots of finely crafted bows and arrows, pretty swords and daggers to buy, none of them caught his eye. Still, she perked up at the potential customer rather than just someone browsing.

Looking at her face, there was something familiar about it. Arslan drummed his fingertips against his legs, trying to figure out just what it was. It took him a minute before he snapped his fingers together in remembrance. On her face sat an expression somewhere between a smile and a scowl, Arslan just laughed at her, “Dislike the other team that much, do you?”

She shook her head, “It’s not… I don’t dislike you guys that much - I just want to win the season,” Étoile let her chin land in her hand “Anyway, why are you here? You don’t exactly look the type who can use a sword or a bow.”

Arslan pointed over at his bodyguard - although he much preferred to call him a friend - “No, but he is.”

Étoile glanced over at Daryun, still lovingly admiring the sword - she thought he looked about ready to kiss it. “How much for it?”

For a moment she just stared unbelievingly at him, then slowly she blinked, “One hundred and fifty thousand yen.” Was he seriously planning on just buying that sword for the sake of it?

Letting out a low whistle, Arslan pulled out a card and nodded to himself, muttering, “I’m gonna be broke in a minute, but it is his birthday today.”

Étoile only just caught the words falling from his lips, she’d be close enough to broke buying something just a twelfth of the price. In his eyes though, she thought she saw genuine fondness and wondered maybe that would be worth it. “So, do you just get handed this on a silver plate or do you actually have to earn it?”

Arslan considered for a moment, “I guess you could say silver plate,” His father didn’t really care what he did as long as it didn’t cause him any hassle. So not exactly luxury, not so pampered as he could be - not a silver plate but he supposed that was the closer option. It wasn’t like he had a job or anything; his only responsibility was that of keeping up appearances.

“Rich boy,” she muttered underneath her breath.

He flashed her a fake smile in response and drummed his fingers on the counter again as he inserted his card. The transaction beeped in completion, he pulled the card out scanning the desk, eyes resting on a cup full of sharpened pencils and a pad of post-it notes. “Got a pen and paper?”  

She silently handed them over. Scribbling quickly on the paper, he tapped at it when he spoke “Could you get it delivered to this address? Also, if there are any problems just call this number.”

Glancing down at the information he had jotted down, Étoile nodded at him. “Any particular time you want it delivered? We do same day delivery as long as you buy before 5pm.”

“As soon as possible, there’ll be someone in to sign for it.” Spinning on his heel, he waved his thanks at her. Then he began to pull Daryun out of the shop, though he only moved an inch. “Thought you didn’t want to be late, Daryun.”

At that, he started moving again. Outside the shop, he kept heading towards their next disaster. The cooking class Narsus had recommended wasn’t so far away. More that Narsus had booked and paid for it without ever consulting him than recommended it. He was desperate never to be tortured like that again. They rounded the next corner and found themselves outside a fairly average looking building, a sign in a cursive font hung above the door saying “Shapur and Isfan’s Cooking School.”

A bell above the glass door chimed as they walked in, no one sat behind the desk to check comings and goings - it seemed you could just waltz in without paying if you really wanted. Following the directions of an arrow on another sign they found the kitchen easily. They each grabbed a black apron off the pegs at the back of the room. It looked rather simple, white cupboards beneath cream coloured countertops. Each countertop was a work station for two with one gleaming silver sink to share. The walls were a cool baby blue; Daryun thought maybe that was because people cooking get stressed and blue is supposed to be a relaxing colour - he wasn’t sure quite how effective it actually was though.

Aside from the two men wearing unnecessarily puffy hats, there weren’t very many people in the room. At least it meant their workspaces wouldn’t be crowded; despite not being a guarantee of the quality of the classes.

One of them clapped their hands, silencing the room. The man pointed to himself, “I’m Shapur,” then at the other, “this is my brother Isfan.”

“Alright, today we’re going to start off with something easy: chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.”

The class nodded in response, some beginning to reach for their recipe sheets. “So, the first step is making sure you weigh everything out carefully, this is important guys.”

Daryun sheepishly admitted to himself that he was perhaps the reason their cake had gone so wrong. He grabbed the scales, meticulously pouring flour into a bowl until he got to the exact measurement of grams. A duly noted improvement.   

Next to him, Arslan was doing the same; concentration painted clearly on his face. After weighing all their ingredients both looked to the front again. Isfan waited another moment for everyone to finish, “Moving on, put the butter and sugar into the bowl. Cream them together by mashing them with your spoon.”

Carefully following the instructions read to him, Daryun sieved flour and cracked eggs. Mixing and folding it as demonstrated by Shapur, he found that his cake batter didn’t look so bad. Shapur’s still seemed superior though.  

Isfan clapped his hands again, “Okay, now spread the batter in the tin, make sure it’s even!”

“Lastly, place in the oven and cook until risen and dry when poked with a knife. Don’t open the door too much though, if you do all the hot air will escape and they won’t cook. We most certainly don’t want poor quality cupcakes. Whilst you wait you should clean your dishes.”

Arslan and Daryun each slid their cakes into the oven they were sharing, one with a hopeful look directed at their cake; the other’s face held a grimace. Crouching for a moment more, Arslan stood up starting on the dishes, doing them in silence for a fair while.

“Hey. You know that sword earlier?” Daryun absently held up a plate to the light, disappointed that it didn’t shine the same way, “Wasn’t it so cool?”

Arslan nodded in affirmation, fond of Daryun’s excitement.

“I’d love to sword fight with something as finely made as that!” He flung out a hand enthusiastically, flicking suds into Arslan’s hair and eyes, “I mean, did you see how artfully the gems on the hilt were arranged. It was such an elegant sword…” Daryun sighed wistfully.

Wiping the suds from his eyes, Arslan flicked them back at Daryun. “You know how to sword fight?” His mouth curved open in surprise.

“Yep, I’d like to say I’m fairly good at it too,” Daryun grinned proudly at him - still scrubbing dishes.

Arslan’s eyebrows furrowed a little, “Did Vahriz teach you how? He teaches me fencing even though I’m no good at it.” He tossed more bubbles from his hair.

Grabbing a handful of suds in response, Daryun ruffled his hair with them, “Yep, taught me for a few years and the quit when I started beating him. Sore loser said that he had nothing left to teach me if he couldn’t win a fight against me anymore.”

Laughing quietly, Arslan took Daryun’s tea towel to dry his bubble-filled hair with. Daryun snatched it back from him after a moment, “Hey! That’s mine-” He paused for a moment, pouting at the wet, unusable towel in his hands and placing it down “-how am I supposed to dry my dishes now?”

Quickly hiding his own so that it couldn’t be stolen, Arslan shrugged at him, “I don’t know, how will you dry them?”

Daryun narrowed his eyes at him, silently reaching for it again. He jokingly whipped the towel at Arslan, spraying him with water. Hands raised above his head Arslan slowly backed away, mischief sparkling in his blue eyes. Stopping in his tracks, Arslan sniffed at the air, “Do you smell something burning?”

Sniffing as well, Daryun thought that he could, “Definitely, something’s burning. We should check our cupcakes.”

Both turned back towards the oven, eyes widening in concern at the little bit of black smoke wafting up from it. Hesitantly Daryun bent over to open the door, jumping back at the burst of heat from a fire that should not have been there. “Crap, crap, crap there’s a fire!” Panic-stricken he began swatting at it with the tea towel; the flames swelled, growing instead of diminishing in size. Daryun jerked away from it again.

Extra smoke setting them off, the fire alarm and sprinklers sprung to life. Water fell steadily, drenching them and the rest of the class as they all evacuated the room. The ringing was so loud that Daryun couldn’t hear what Isfan was saying, nor Shapur but he could tell that they were unimpressed. He wasn’t exactly impressed to be dripping wet either…

Isfan begun guiding the students out to the front of the building, “The sprinklers should take care of the fire but just in case can those responsible-” his head snapped in the direction of Arslan and Daryun, eyeing them with clear, exasperated annoyance “-please get the fire extinguisher and put it out?”

Reluctantly Daryun pulled the extinguisher off the wall; aiming at his oven he sprayed carbon foam all over without really looking, just trying to cover as large an area as possible. Before following he turned the dial of the oven to off.

Outside everyone was assembled in a line to make accounting for people’s whereabouts easy.  As soon as the stream of people exiting the building came to a halt, Isfan stood in front of them all pulling out a pen and a piece of paper. He began calling out names, ticking them off when people replied in the affirmative - it reminded Daryun of standing out in the cold for 20 minutes during a test when some idiot would set off the alarm. Back when he was in school, that is.

They stood sheepishly at the back of the line, avoiding any glares directed towards them.

“Daryun?”

“Here”

Isfan ticked his name off the list. “And finally, Arslan?”

“Present,” Arslan raised his hand in the air, waving it about a little until his name was ticked off too.

Isfan clicked his pen, folding up the paper “Okay, that’s everyone.”

Heads bowed low, the two of them trudged into the kitchen reluctantly. Whilst people filed back into the room, Arslan pulled the ruined cupcakes out of the oven. He smiled at them - just a little disappointed. The temperature of the oven had somehow ended up too high; he was certain that they’d have come out perfect if it hadn’t been. Maybe if he hadn’t gotten distracted either. He supposed charcoal cupcakes were better than becoming charcoal himself though. The charcoal went straight into the bin.

Isfan pointed towards Arslan and Daryun, “You two clean up your mess. As for everyone else I’m going to show you how to make the frosting.” Plugging in the mixer next to him, he began pouring cream cheese and icing sugar into the bowl along with a few other flavourings too. Then he pressed a button on it.

Simple enough to follow - even while Arslan unenthusiastically cleaned foam from his workbench, the oven, the floor and the cupboards; Daryun really had just sprayed wildly.  It didn’t really matter though, at the end of the day he still didn’t have a birthday cake for Daryun nor would he have time to make him one when they got home. Sighing, Arslan dropped the sponge into his sink. He studied the rest of the class finishing their cupcakes slightly jealously, drying and stacking the remaining dishes as he did.

“I’m done cleaning and drying.” Arslan tugged on Daryun’s sleeve, “Can we go home? It’s not like there’s anything more for us to do here anymore.”

Daryun nodded, everyone else was pretty much done frosting anyway. Taking off their aprons they hung them up as Shapur inspected their work station. He called them over after scrutinizing it for a moment, “Okay you two are fine to go since it’s all clean,” his voice hardened, “and if you plan on making another fire don’t come back next time. If you do you’ll be banned - got it?”

“Understood” they glumly replied in unison to his threat. With one last glance they walked out the door to go home.

Elam almost had the banner up in the window when the doorbell rang, startled he dropped the unpinned side to the ground. Muttering frustratedly, he ignored it in favour of answering the door to a house that wasn’t even his.

“If you’re looking for Arslan or his parents or whoever they’re not ho-” He stopped short at the long slender box labelled with a picture of his sword being offered to him. Looking up at the offeror’s face only added to his confusion. He pulled a face, “Uh, why are you giving me a sword?”

Étoile raised an eyebrow at him, “Delivery for Arslan Parsian, he said someone would be home to get it.” She dumped the sword box in his arms then thrust a touch screen pad and digital pen at him, “Just sign here alright?”

Impatiently tapping her foot, she waited for him to hand them back to her, it annoyed Étoile how he struggled to balance both the pen, pad and the sword. After a moment he’d scribbled his name down then handed it back to her. His brows furrowed a little before he grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving, “Wait, I don’t live here. I’m not sure I can actually sign for it…”

She scowls at him then, “If you don’t live here what the hell did you sign it for? This is my last delivery of the day,” she stomps her foot for emphasis, “I just want to go home.” Étoile snaps her fingers in his face when she notices that Elam is no longer looking at her, rather past her.

Coming through the gates of the house are Arslan and Daryun, he mutters quietly to himself, though Étoile still hears him, “Ohh, I bet he bought this for Daryun… I better go hide it then.”

Her annoyance grows when he walks away without a second thought. He’d made a fuss about not living there then just ignored her. Whatever. She just wanted to go home, and the way to getting there was cycling, because she wasn’t actually old enough to drive a car. If only her job actually had a delivery driver instead of making her deliver packages on a stupid bicycle.

A bicycle, which just happened to have a flat tire by the looks of it. Although she could scream in frustration she resigns herself to sighing miserably instead. How far would it be to just walk home?  Someone taps on her shoulder pulling her concentration away from how to get home. She whips around to face that kid again, Arslan, and he’s looking at her with some look shining in his eyes that she can’t quite place.

He points to her bike, “I can fix that flat tire for you, if you want?”

Étoile thinks she knows what was in his eyes and on his face now, it was just him being kind. She’s not sure why he would be, but he is and that’s all there really is to it.

“We have a spare in the shed so I’ll just change it for you…” He looks at her again, almost scrutinizingly this time then he nods in the direction of his house, “You can sit inside whilst you wait if you’d like to. I promise your bike won’t come to any harm.”

She bites back a small laugh when he crosses his heart like a child. She hesitates just a moment, not quite sure if she should take him up on that but she’s tired and her feet hurt and he’s offering. Pivoting towards it she heads inside the house, following after the guy who had been with Arslan when they first arrived. There’s a glimpse of a fond smile on his face as he watches them, she catches it just as he turns his back to them. Behind her she can hear the squeaking of the bike’s wheels as it’s dragged off towards the shed.

There are a couple things she notices about the hall when she walks inside; firstly it’s rather ornate - easily the fanciest house she’d ever seen - secondly it’s stark inside. A strange kind of coldness to it. That impression changes when she finds the living room, and it’s not that that room is any different - it’s much the same actually - but there’s people in this one. It doesn’t feel quite so lonely. What makes it feel warmer is the birthday banner up by the window and the stack of presents in the corner, it’s all the different birthday foods on the table. She sits down, waiting as suggested, an onlooker of warm scene.

“Hey, would you like to stay for the party? Since you’re here already.”

She’s surprised because she didn’t see him come in, she expected the invitation though, it seems just like him. To herself she quietly admits that joining in wouldn’t be so bad - especially since she at least recognises most of the people there. Arslan points them out for her again just in case, there’s Daryun’s uncle Vahriz, his friend Narsus, that boy called Elam and that’s it - just a small birthday party of five people, six including her.

Elam gestures towards the birthday cake on the the table, “Alright Daryun, I baked you a cake since I didn’t trust Arslan to actually make a decent one. Are you gonna blow out the candles now?”

Daryun steps towards the cake, sucking in a breath of air before he stops for a second, raising an eyebrow at Elam, “Wait, you sent me to those cooking classes too… Were you trying to get me to make my own birthday cake?”

Elam shakes his head, retorting “Nope. Just needed you not here. Now, blow out the candles so we can eat the cake and open the presents!”

Daryun complies, he blows out all twenty six candles in one breath but doesn’t bother making a wish. He doesn’t really need one. He just cuts the cake and hands out slices to everyone there before eating one himself. Étoile gingerly bites into hers, despite what she’d originally thought it would be, the cake is actually delicious. She finishes the rest in 2 minutes flat.

When everyone is finished Elam collects up the plates and takes them to the kitchen. As soon as he’s back they move onto opening presents. Mainly it’s just a bunch of normal presents - actions films and the like - but he grins delightedly at the new riding saddle Narsus buys for him. Jet black and cushioned for comfortable riding, it’s an elegant one for an elegant horse.

“Ah, Shabrang will love this! I can’t wait to ride him with it!”

He opens another one grimacing at the painting that it reveals. Narsus puffs his chest out proudly though, so he plasters on a less-horrified face and thanks him. Daryun sets it aside, taking the last present in his hands. He lifts the lid off the box to reveal the sword. He gazes at it awestruck, almost reverently removing it from the box. Gripping the hefty sword in both hands, Daryun swings it excitedly if a little carelessly.

“Hey! Be a little more careful with that, you’re gonna injure somebody!” Elam chastises him - he’d rather not have to take anyone to the hospital in ambulance.

Daryun looks somewhat apologetic, but ultimately enthusiasm still wins over. The sword arcs through the air again making a whooshing sound, more controlled this time. Running his finger over all the jewels, he grins “Thank you so much! I can’t believe you got this for me. Damn, how I’d love to fight someone with this beauty…”

Vahriz turns to Arslan, “I hope I’m getting a sword like that for my birthday. It might just make me fight him again.”

Arslan laughs quietly, “Only if you keep teaching me how to fence long enough that I become better than him,” he nods towards Daryun who is showing off the sword to Narsus. Like always, they start bickering about something - this time it’s about who the better fencer is - the tip of the sword ends up dangerously close to the painting Narsus painstakingly made. His alarm doesn’t go unnoticed. Daryun edges it closer. In response Narsus throws his hands up placatingly, conceding that Daryun is better. He still grumbles under his breath.

Arslan disappears for a moment, reappearing with his sword from fencing in hand. Challenging Daryun he adopts the en garde stance, “Fight me Daryun!”

Daryun just shakes his head, lightly parrying the clumsy swing thrown at him (of course there’s nothing to worry about, rapiers always have a rubber cap on during practice). “Don’t think you’ll win!” He doesn’t even get to pretend to swordfight with Arslan before Elam steps in sighing. He takes the swords away from each of them, replacing them with wooden swords called bokken; he had found them in one of Arslan’s supply closet a while ago one games night.

Elam sighs exasperated, “If you’re gonna fight for fun don’t use real swords!” He leaves a couple others just in case anyone else wants to join in too.

Narsus picks one up, thinking he can take on both Daryun and Arslan, “Prepare to see the most artistic sword fighting to exist!”

Elam flops down on the couch placing his head in his hand. He blows out another breath of air and just watches them.

In all honesty, Étoile thinks they look like idiots. She bites back another laugh, she’s quite glad that her bike had had a flat tire.

In which Elam is the only responsible character

[undertaleimaginationland]

Hiya! Can you do a scenario where UT Sans and US Papyrus are arguing with their crush (who likes them back) and they (the skeletons) end up confessing their feelings? Thanks! I love your writing btw! It's super good omf

Okay so first off, sorry about being a damn slacker on my inbox. Secondly, these arguments are going to be less than serious because I’m awful at angst XD

And can I just say how mush fun I had with this one? I got a little too carried away with Stretch’s scenario though.

Undertale

Sans-

You and Sans were probably arguing about something completely dumb and obscure.

“You’re wrong and I’m right, loser. Just admit it.”

Sans quickly chides you with a wag of his finger. “that’s where you’re wrong, kiddo.”

You crossed your arms and leaned on the couch. “You really think that the first Shrek was better than the second one? Ha!,” With a soft knock to his skull, you giggle at the hollow sound it makes. “Such a bonehead.”

Sans rolls his eyelights and pushes you away. “ha ha ha, very funny, but seriously though. you prefer shrek 2 over the original? that’s just sacrilege.”

You put your jazz hands up and wiggled them a bit. “Ohohoh! So the magic skeleton wants to talk religion, huh?”

Sans punched your shoulder playfully and laughed. “oh stars, that’s not what i meant and you know that.”

“Oh but of course,” You cooed incredulously. “But back to the subject! There’s no doubt in my mind that Shrek 2 was the best Shrek movie.” You were dead set on proving this bonebag wrong.

“alrighty then, shoot ‘em.”

You blinked. “Shoot what?”

Sans snickered, “your reasons, kiddo. show me the carfax.”

You beamed, propping a victorious leg next to Sans. “Gladly,” You cleared your throat and began your spiel. “Well first off, the soundtrack was undeniably genius; Holding Out For A Hero, Funkytown, I Need Some Sleep. Freaking Livin’ La Vida Loca! Secondly, the plot is much more dynamic and eventful than the first one! But most importantly, h u m a n S h r e k.”

Sans rubbed his face and chuckled. “oh stars, one of your reasons is human shrek?”

“Oh come on!,” You threw your hands up. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t bang human Shrek! You’re a liar if you say otherwise!”

“oh yeah, cause that’s what i think about every night: doin’ the nasty with a humanized version of an ogre, right?”

“Uh yeah? At least, you should be.”

Sans gave you a weary smile. “riiiight… welp, i can’t judge you. ‘sides, when i first saw the movie, i thought fiona was pretty hot.”

You let out a whooping laugh. “What?! No way!!” You were sure if you had water, you would’ve done a spit take.

“yeah, but she’s not as hot as you.”

You laughed. “Pfft yeah… wait what?”

Did…did he just…

Sans quirked a bone brow at your odd expression. “what? all i said was-” Sans replayed what he had previously said and in an instant, he smacked his mouth shut.

“Y-You,” You began with a titter. “You just c-called me hot.” You felt the heat rise to your cheeks. Had your long-term crush finally admit to you his true feelings, or was this some sort of sick fever dream?

Sans gulped as he sank in his hoodie. Oh how he wished he could just fall off the face of the earth right now. He didn’t give you an answer, but his skull was a luminescent blue right now. He feels like absolute crap right now. And from that gaping look on your face, he could tell he was being rejected.

“S-Sans I-”

“you don’t need to say anything.”

“Just give me a second to-”

“there’s no need to explain yourself, y/n. i get it.” He sounded so bitter, yet there was also hurt… disappointment?

You furrowed your brows. You’ve had enough of his negative nancy attitude. “Damn it, Sans! Just listen for once!,” With a tug of his hoodie, you plant a kiss on his teeth, lingering just a bit before pulling away. “I like you too, damn it! And I don’t like it when you close up on me like that! I’m not a mind reader, ya know?” Your face was hot with frustrated love.

Sans just nodded at you, a far out look now resonated in his sockets. “whoa…holy mackerel,” He was unable to wipe that stupid grin off his face. “you like me back, huh? so cool~”

You had to stifle a laugh. This reminded you of those wisdom teeth removal videos where the loopy people said all sorts of weird stuff while they were all hopped up on anesthetics. “Oh Sans. What am I going to do with you?”

Sans shrugged. “i dunno. perhaps we could talk about it over dinner? my treat.”

“O-Oh,” Damn this smooth criminal! “Sure boneboy, though we have to agree on something.”

“and that is..?”

“The third Shrek was the absolute worst,” You reached out your hand to Sans for a handshake. “Agreed?”

He took your hand quickly. “agreed. now about that dinner date…”

Underswap

Stretch-

“Stretch, you tall asshole, don’t do it.”

“i’m gonna do it.”

“Stretch I swear to Toriel, you better not!”

He grinned at you, his cursor hovering over the forbidden course. “nobody can stop me. not even you.”

“If you press that button, I will personally delete your Mii, along with all of your precious work!”

“oh? is that a challenge i hear?” He asked coyly. You gasp as his finger pushes the ‘A’ button twice. “well then. rainbow road, it is.”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA YOU’RE NOT READY!!!1111!!!

“Oh fuck!,” You fumble with your controller, hastily slipping the arm band on and clutching the remote tightly. “You asshole! You really did it this time!”

“aw come on, honey. rainbow road ain’t that bad.”

You shot him an annoyed glance. “That’s because you play this game 24/7!”

Stretch laughed, biting down tightly on the sucker in his mouth. “now that’s just stretchin’ the truth, honeybun.”

“You!” You wanted nothing more but to throttle him, but the countdown had already began.

“hey y/n?”

“What.” You said flatly, getting in the zone. Autozone.

“see you in second place.” And with that, the buzzer sounded.

.

.

.

After plenty of launched koopa shells and banana peels, you were about to conclude your third lap in first place. That is, until you peeked at your skelefriend’s screen. Oh no.

Your eyes widened. “Fuck, don’t do it, Stretch,” Your voice came out as a desperate plea. “Just let me have this one race.”

Stretch jerked his controller to the side and laughed. “sorry hun, but all is fair in love ‘n war.”

“Stretch wait-” You drew in a sharp breath as you heard the blue shell launch. “fuckfuckfuckFUCKFUCKFUCK NOOO!” You cried as the blue shell knocked you up in the air.

“that first place is mine~” Stretch hummed, contently watching the screen as his toadstool passed by you, crossing the finish line with ease.

You sunk your head in defeat, reluctantly crossing the finish line for second place. “Damn it, Stretch. I was almost there…” You whined. Never had you been so close to beating the skillful skeleton in your life.

He ruffled your hair endearingly. “better luck next time, honey. now give me a congratulatory hug.”

You jerked away from him with a huff. “No!”

“no? aw come on. i didn’t mean to put you through shell.”

“That’s it,” You set your remote aside and stand up. “I’m out.”

Stretch can’t stop himself from laughing. “no don’t leave! i’m toadally i love with you!”

“Damn it Stretch- wait…wait a minute…”

Did this dude just whip your behind at Mario Kart, and THEN confess his love to you with a Mario pun?

Holy shit…

Stretch hadn’t realized what he had said. “what’s with that look, honey?”

“You just said you… ‘toadally’ loved me… HOW DID YOU EXPECT ME TO REACT?!” Your face burned with the passion of a thousand fighting Alphyses. Oh stars, you couldn’t stop blushing!

And from the looks of it, Mr. Suaveandtoocoolforautomaticmode was in the same boat, his skull glowing a vibrant orange. “s-shit. i said that outloud, didn’t i?”

“Y-Yep.”

Stretch tittered nervously as he scratched the back of his skull. “m-my bad. so uh…what are your thoughts, h-honeybun?”

You looked down to Stretch’s sitting and blushing form. A smile tugged at your lips as you sat down next to him. He really liked you, didn’t he? Grabbing the remote, you prepare as if you’re about to play another round. “If I win, you take me out to dinner. But if you win, I’ll treat you to Muffets.”

Stretch was at a loss for words, his phalanges fiddling with his remote. “h-heh, i um..,” He cleared his nonexistent throat and smiled. “y-you’ve got yourself a deal, love. just know that i usually order quite a bit from muffets.”