#like what other ship in this silly show has matching rings huh?!

[alicent-archive]

Right right right they gave Alicent and Rhaenyra matching rings but didn't want us to act like they were soulmates right right right that makes sense.

[p1nkwitch]

This one goes for you two for making me ship this! @trustworthy-liar @nonbinaryeye

Some delicious Rosie/Tadeas for the heart, plus lonelyeyes too cause im a simple woman.

Rosie was not paid enough for what she has to deal with on a regular basis. Usually her job is fairly easy, receiving a few calls, answer some emails for her boss.

Simple stuff.

She can even ignore the pressing feeling of being observed as judged all over the institute that she gets! Shame it wasn't a few years earlier when it could have saved her marriage. But well, life moves on.

No, its not that why she was in a bad mood.

Elias and his husband got into a fight again and they were being passive aggressive.

Again.

She has been receiving messages from the captain to tell her boss how annoying and insufferable he is.

It is the worst thing ever.

And it's not the first time that it happens, she wonders why they don't divorce for real, if they hate each other so much why not stay apart for real! Why go the length to do this charade!

Yet she has no answer, no moment that illuminates her tired and coffee deprived mind.

Only agony at having to bring her boss all the left messages from his husband.

She hates her job so much and if she didn't want to know so badly what the hell is wrong with this place for real she would have quitted a long time ago.

Another day, another annoying morning, she was about to start preparing herself to the new wave of messages to deliver when-

“Hello?” A man approaches her with a tired look. A very handsome one mind you.

“Yes sir? Are you lost, do you help?” Despite being good looking, Rosie doesnt let it disturb her, instead she goes directly to her people managing voice.

“Oh! No, well yes, my boss sent me to deliver these messages by hand to his husband… they are having a bit of a strife right now. So is this Elias Bouchard office?”

Hus-?

Oh!

“You must work for Mr Lukas then! Yes, that is his office, I will let him know you are here Mr…?”

“Tadeas Dahl, pleasure to meet you…?”

“Rosie, Rosie Zampano. Just give me a second”

She imagines that would be the end of it, however the fight must be quite the thing, because Tadeas starts to come everyday, sometimes he delivers the messages and waits for Elias to call him in again to give him a note for Peter.

She feels like they were somehow stuck in school dealing with kids delivering their crushes notes.

Albeit these ones are probably curses.

Because of that she gets to talk with the man, he was… quiet, only answered if she asked him something first and it was a bit annoying she will admit. She craved answers from whatever was going on and this man surely must have something if he works for Mr Lukas and he trusts him enough to deliver messages.

Her staring must make him uncomfortable because he starts to ask her things to pass the time. Or maybe stop her from prying, and she hesitates, but there isn't anything bad about the questions, they are innocuous at abest.

So she relents and talks about herself. She doesn't catch on to how softly he kept looking at her and how his questions became more personal. Tadeas was also sharing about himself unprompted and it made her too excited to realize that sometimes he would flirt with her.

Her ex-husband was loud, his tone of voice would sometimes make her flinch a bit, Tadeas always had the same soft spoken tone, he had a little bit of a drawl in some words, it was… kind of charming.

One day Tadeas comes over with a bouquet of roses, she already pities them, Elias hates to recibe flowers, something about Peter mocking him.

She is unsure how he could mock him with such a nice gift. Her ex never bought her something so pretty.

“Shame about those”

“How come?” He gives her a hesitant look.

“Elias doesn't like flowers from Peter” At that Tadeas face relaxes and he smiles down at her and oh-

Oh it was a lovely smile wasn't it?

“Good luck then they aren't for him Miss Rosie” She blinks uncomprehending for a few seconds when it catches up to her.

“Oh!”

“Yes… if you want them…?” And well, she does. Smiling a bit more coquettishly, she nods.

“Why I would love them Mr Dahl” Standing up a bit, she was still definitely shorter than him. Rosie was just a few inches shorter than Elias and Peter and Tadeas were around the same height.

“They are very beautiful”

“Not as much as the person receiving them” Her face burns bright and he chuckles a bit, again she is struck with how lovely it sounds. Not too loud but enough for her to listen and enjoy.

“Well, I feel bad now, I don't have anything to give you back…”

“I wasn't expecting you, i just… wanted to show my appreciation” Appreciation huh?

“Mm, well… Care to give me your hand?” Curiously he offers it, with a smile and an excitement she hasn't felt since her days at college, she grabs a pen and writes her number on a piece of paper, offering it to him.

“I am afraid I can only offer that, if you want it…?” And miracles of miracles, the man's face cracks and she sees a small blush on his cheeks.

“Well- how could i-” Her phone rings and she laughs nervously and picks it up, Elias says he is done and to let Mr Dahl come in to deliver his message of the day. Relying on the message to the man, he nods and leaves the flowers on her desk.

Ten minutes later he comes back and before leaving he asks for paper and a pen. He scribbles something and gives it to her.

“So you know im for real, would hate for you to think i'm… well not being serious” Her cheeks burn a bit and she smiles at him.

“In that case, may you lean down a bit?” He complies and she kisses his cheek.

“For the trip back” His face was priceless and Rosie had a hit of confidence.

Two days later he sends her a text asking if she is free to have dinner and finally talk for real instead of stealing moments between meetings.

Rosie grins and accepts the invitation.

They have a wonderful time.

“Told you I was right!”

“Oh yes of course you are, you are cupid incarnated you silly little man”

“I won the bet so hush” Peter kisses Elias cheek and spins them.

“I am already dancing aren't i?”

“Mm yes you are” Elias is having so much fun, he didn't originally intended for Rosie and Tadeas to get together. He and Peter were having fun just pretending to fight and sending each other little messages that were actually flirting.

Its when he realized that the lonely man was getting a crush on his secretary that he made a bet to get Peter to dance with him.

It ended up well for everyone involved at least.

“Really how did you even figure they would hit it off!!” His husband is so silly.

“The eye chases knowledge and the lonely tries to hide away. Don't you think they match each other perfectly?” Peter dips him without warning and kisses his neck.

“And when we get too out of it you eye types see us into solidity again huh?” He mumbles against his throat making him shiver.

“Exactly”

“Mmm good” And they kiss.

And somewhere else Rosie kisses her own lonely man, who also likes to have a bossy little eye servant tell him what to do.

Everyone gets to enjoy themselves.

[pwarkluv]

❝ you’re the one i want ❞ - yji 

yang jeongin x reader | fluff | 1.8k words

WARNINGS | lowercase is intended, high school au, established relationship au (if that’s a thing lol), non-idol au, just your good old going on a date kinda fanfic where you two realize just how in love y’all are, whipped!jeongin, really fluffy, did i mention fluff?

SUMMARY | when your date ends with a giant promise.

AUTHOR’S NOTE | another fluff fanfic because that’s my forte and i haven’t written any skz things yet :P hehe the pic is my pfp. anyways jeongin is one of my ults and my bias in skz so this is gonna be fun to write! also i’m doing this right, right? it’s yji? yang jeong in? idk why but for some reason it doesn’t look right to me. also the ending’s trash i’m sorry-

“baby please stay still.” your boyfriend softly scolded as he carefully fixed the bunny hat on your head, one hand keeping the hair out of your face and the other placed carefully on the back of your neck to keep you still. 

it was the last couple of days before the start of your guys’s senior year, before things get complicated academically. the august heat burns but you didn’t think twice about it, more excited about the fact that you and jeongin were at seoul land.

your tiny frame bounced up and down, slightly frustrating your boyfriend. he didn’t mind though because you were absolutely adorable in the bunny hat he bought for you. jeongin smiled softly at your excited face reminding him of a kid opening christmas presents. 

his hands then went up to fix the froggy headband you chose for him, making sure he didn’t look completely stupid. when you first pointed out the headband, jeongin had a protest at the tip of his tongue. but dang, the way you looked at him had him nodding his head in approval before he said a word.

“are you done yet innie?” you whined, holding onto his arm as he chuckled. jeongin’s free hand goes up to squeeze the paw of your hat, one of the ears going up. his heart never failed to race whenever you two made eye contact. he wholeheartedly believes you are the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in jeongin’s eighteen years of life.

jeongin smiles at your blushing face before grabbing your hand.

“let’s go loser.” and he drags you to the viking ship on your left.

❝ i like shiny things, but i’d marry you with paper rings ❞

you couldn’t help but smile at your boyfriend’s focused gaze. you guys were taking a little break from rides and instead going around the games and food stands. his tongue poked out as jeongin focused on the target in front of him, fire behind his eyes.

you two were sharing a funnel cake when he noticed your eyes staring at the cute cow stuffed animal. jeongin immediately recognizes it from a kdrama you two watched on your first movie night as a couple. and that’s how you found yourselves standing in front of a water gun stand watching your boyfriend try and win you that stuffed animal. 

the man at the running stand laughed quietly at your dumb and in love expression before the ding rang, indicating jeongin won. your boy jumped a little in victory before turning to you with the biggest smile ever.

and that’s when you felt it. that warm and fuzzy in your tummy, the racing in your heart, the automatic smile you gave him back. you and jeongin have been together since the summer before your second year of high school. you watched as he grew from the shy and timid boy to the (slightly more) confident man he is now. you couldn’t believe how you’re already gonna start your senior year with the love of your life.

love.

in that moment when jeongin stuffed the plushie into your hands and gave you a hug, you knew you were completely in love with him. you wanted to marry him someday.

you didn’t care if you two were in your pajamas or dinosaur suits, you just wanted to be his.

❝ uh huh, that’s right, darling you’re the one i want ❞

jeongin’s palms felt sweaty and clamp as you dragged him towards the carousel. your carefree and euphoric expression made his heart double in size as he blinked at you. suddenly the ring in his pocket felt heavy, weighing him down with every step he took.

the start of summer while jeongin was at the mall with his hyungs, a pretty ring caught his eye. it wasn’t anything too big or expensive (which he was thankful for as a broke high school student), but absolutely stunning. the ring had a thin silver band with one medium sized diamond in the middle, tinier ones surrounding the big one. 

and before he knew it, jeongin was at the shop paying for a promise ring he was hoping to give to you before school started. there was a matching one he bought on a whim, leaving him more broker than before.

jeongin knew he was in love with you in the middle of your third year in high school when you two had a burping contest to see who could burp the loudest. you won (only because he let you) and from then he only had heart eyes for you. 

he’s never felt that comfortable and safe with anyone. being so carefree and home. he was at home with you. so buying you that promise ring was his way of saying he wants to be with you forever. 

❝ i hate accidents except when we went from friends to this ❞

you two met at the start of your freshman year when jeongin spilled milk all over your shirt. he was a shy boy so whenever the lunch bell rang, he ran out of the cafeteria like his life depended on it. but one day he wasn’t aware of where he was going and ran right into your timid frame. 

suddenly you were met with a cold feeling running down your chest.

the poor boy freaked and apologized faster than you could register what had happened. you were a bubbly kid, though not very social so you didn’t mind what had happened. but for some reason you let yourself be dragged by the stuttered stranger, offering you his hoodie he had in his locker. 

his hoodie felt foreign and warm on your body. although he was a stick at fourteen, jeongin was tall. the cloth looked big on your short frame, hands disappeared from the long sleeves. the boy was beyond red looking at you in his clothes. his eyes widened, malfunctioning on why he felt this way. 

“i’m really sorry.” he muttered in embarrassment before turning around to leave. 

“wait!” you called out, tugging on his wrist. if jeongin didn’t resemble a tomato then, he definitely did now. your hand felt warm around his wrist and the sudden source of heat was all his mind could think about. 

“thank you.” you shyly said taking back your hand. you don’t know what has possessed you but suddenly you’re asking what his name was. 

“what’s your name? i’m y/n!” you said with a small smile. jeongin’s heart felt like it was about to explode. 

❝ uh huh, that’s right darling, you’re the one i want ❞

“come one baby it’s almost dawn let’s go~” you whined a bit, pulling his tall frame towards the line. it was almost sunset and you wanted to go on the ferris wheel as the last thing you two would do for the day before studies filled up your date nights. 

well actually, jeongin was the one who suggested going on the ferris wheel to you before you stuck with it in excitement. it was all a part of his master plan to give you that promise ring. he was pretty confident you’d take it, after being together for so long, though of course there’s that small inkling of doubt that you’d reject it and him.

but now that it was almost time, jeongin couldn’t move his legs. he was really about to give you a promise ring.

jeongin laughed to mask his nerves but you knew better.

“awe is my baby afraid of heights?” you joked, no longer pulling his arm but putting your hand in his. “don’t worry, y/nnie is here to protect.” you broke out into a fighting pose which immediately made him laugh at your silliness. 

❝ in paper rings, in picture frames, in dirty dreams ❞

here you guys were at the top on the ride, the sunset warm on your face. jeongin’s leg was bouncing in nervousness causing the box you were in to shake. you were about to reach out to the boy before he spoke up.

“y/n?” he asked in a small yet serious voice. you couldn’t help but worry.

“yes my love?” you responded back, turning your body to face him on the seats you guys were on. “what’s wrong? you’ve been acting weird ever since you got on the ferris wheel.”

your mind was racing with possibilities, the worst one sounding the most obvious with the way jeongin seemed so serious. he wasn’t breaking up with you, right?

jeongin took a deep breath before looking into your eyes, the color more beautiful than the sunset behind you. 

“i love you so much.” he continued before reaching into his pocket, fumbling a bit with the box the ring came in. 

“and i know we’re young and have so much ahead of us. ah you know how much i’m bad with words but, there’s so much we’re unsure of like what’s 25 - 8 or what college we’re going to. but if there’s one thing i’m sure of, it’s that you’re my everything.” the boy said, trying not to stumble over his words. his heart was at an unmeasurable rate, one hand on the ring and the other on your own hand. suddenly he took out the ring, a red velvety box which made you gasp in shock.

at this point you were tearing up. so he wasn’t breaking up with you?

“this isn’t anything too big so don’t freak out.” jeongin joked making you chuckle a bit. “but i know that i want to spend the rest of my life with you.” his grip on your hand tightened before letting go, opening the box. 

“it’s nothing too big but hopefully this could show you how much you mean to me, y/n. here’s a promise ring because i really want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

the ring was beautiful in your eyes. tears fell on onto your cheeks as you looked to your boyfriend. all you could see was genuine love and care. 

you caught him in a hug, causing the box to shake again, sobbing into his chest.

“i love you, i love you, i love you.” you chanted into his chest making him laugh. 

“don’t cry my love. i still need to put it on you.” jeongin chuckled. you wiped off the salty water before holding out your hand. jeongin slowly took your hand as if it was made of glass before slipping on the ring. it fit perfectly. 

❝ oh, you’re the one i want ❞

you put his ring on as well before the box moved indicating that you guys were going back down. before the sight of the pretty sunset escaped your view, you quickly grabbed jeongin’s face to meet yours in a kiss. a kiss to promise that you’d guys would be forever. because yang jeongin is everything you’ve ever wanted.

[cowboyshit]

Only for the Holidays (pt 3)

Ship: Adam “Hangman” Page and Ivy (OFC) Summary: Adam and Ivy cross paths at a mutual friend’s holiday party and hit it off, both admitting they’ve grown tired of constantly being asked about having a partner at the various holiday events they have to attend. They come to an agreement to pretend to date for the holidays to get their friends and family off their backs, but neither of them admit that they’ve had an attraction to each other from the beginning. Will these feelings come to a head? Or will the pair be able to stick to their original plan and only get through the holidays together? Rating: general/fluff Length: 5,484 words part THREE of THREE (part one, part two), the fic can also be read in it’s entirety on ao3 (here)

author’s note: and alas! the final installment of this little fake-dating series I wrote for viv’s @12daysofchristmas​ challenge! I hope you guys enjoy the finale to this sweet little story, it was nice to write something so warm and fluffy for the holidays even if I was writing it all by the seat of my pants and didn’t have anything planned LOL

Ivy’s phone chimed, indicating a new text message had come through. Pausing in wrapping the last of the gifts she had left, she leaned over and grabbed it to look at the screen. There was a new text message from Adam. A smile immediately turned the corners of her mouth and she quickly opened their text conversation.

How’s your voice doing?

She laughed and immediately tapped out a reply. Better. I actually have one today! 

She had lost her voice while screaming at the live Dynamite show his friends invited her to a couple days ago. She’d never been one of the kids who watched wrestling growing up and knew only vaguely what it was about, but she’d had an even better time than she expected. The show they’d put on was fast and full of stunts and surprises Ivy would have never expected. They’d also been absolutely right about it being fun to watch ringside, though she’d had to fight through nerves any time the camera men pointed those large cameras her way. She’d screamed so much by the time she woke up the next morning she’d all but lost her voice.

Watching Adam perform in the ring had been something else entirely. The things he was able to do astonished her. He had to explain what all the moves were called after the match as she excitedly babbled backstage, but he’d seemed like he was glowing when he had. Her favorite had been the “flippy thing he did in the middle” (the shooting star press) and the “flippy thing he did off the pole” (the moonsault off the ring post). She liked the way his blond curls fluffed out and floated, catching the white lights that lit the ring as he maintained control and soared through the air. The athleticism and strength he possessed was amazing. She remembered her delighted surprise when he caught his opponent mid-leap, carried him to the center of the ring, tossed him over and popped up in a smooth kip up that had her eyes gone wide. She’d seen his muscles when she caught herself admiring him, but she hadn’t realized just how strong he was.

Her phone chimed again and distracted her from daydreaming about watching him shirtless and sweaty, getting riled up in the ring. She felt suddenly warm and blushed, looking down at his message.

What are you up to tonight?

They’d been doing this a lot lately. Just texting idly throughout their days, even though her family party wasn’t until tomorrow night. It had started with her asking questions about what to wear to a wrestling show and him giving her details for where she’d need to go, but they always sort of fell into carrying the conversation beyond that. He was just… easy to talk to.

Easy on the eyes, too.

Ivy shook her head at herself and sent him a reply. Wrapping up the last of the gifts to take over tomorrow night. 

Oh shoot, was I supposed to get something for your mom?

Ivy couldn’t help but smile. You’re a brand new “boyfriend” she’s never met before, remember? She doesn’t even know about your existence, you don’t have to get her anything. Besides, the family does a big gift exchange cause there’s too many people to individually buy for, and you and I have a joint gift I already bought.

What did we get for the gift exchange? Another quick reply. The notifications were popping up that he read her message as soon as she sent it, which meant he had their conversation actively open.

Ivy opened her camera app and snapped a picture of the still-to-be-wrapped box set full of all the tools necessary to make delicious hot cocoa, as well as peppermint bark, a little bottle of peppermint schnapps and one of chocolate liqueur. She sent the picture to him and typed: A giftset to make spiked hot cocoa! 

What are the rules on getting your own gift in the gift exchange? That sounds good. Never spiked my cocoa with peppermint before.

Ivy’s fingers jumped quick to type her message: Really? I don’t do it often since I just like cocoa by itself, but it’s pretty tasty! I’ll have to make it for you some time. She clicked send before reading it back over, then looked at the message and felt her eyes go wide. She should make it for him sometime? When? When they were at her family’s big gettogether, pretending to date so her family wouldn’t make her feel bad for being single? Or when they supposedly “broke up” a few weeks later?

His reply didn’t come back as immediately as the others did. Worry twisted in her stomach.

That would be nice, I’d like that. His reply chimed back. He was just being polite, obviously. She sent a little smiling emoji in reply and closed their conversation, setting her phone aside as she decided to distract herself by finishing wrapping up gifts. After, she could pick what she’d be wearing tomorrow night to the party. Of course she’d been silly to think she could avoid catching some sort of feelings, even a passing infatuation for a cute, sweet, blond-haired cowboy. He clearly hadn’t (she remembered his playful promise that they wouldn’t fall for each other) and she wasn’t going to make him uncomfortable by pursuing something he clearly didn’t feel.

When her phone stayed dark and no further messages came through to carry on their conversation, Ivy knew she was right.

**********

He’d already been nervous the whole day leading up to when he was going to pick Ivy up at her place, but seeing her coming out of the house in her pretty red holiday dress made his mouth go dry. He was a step behind climbing out of the cab to go around and pop the door open for her like a gentleman ought to, too caught up with staring at her walk down the steps of her porch. His fingers curled around the handle as she waited by the passenger side of his truck, rocking a little in her heels. Her smile picked up as she thanked him for opening her door. Adam smiled, but still had to look away from her for a moment.

She was so damn pretty… but it wasn’t just physical. Something had changed for him that night she came out to see him wrestle. He’d felt different in the ring. More energized. He hadn’t been able to stop grinning as he watched her excitedly talk about everything she’d liked afterwards. He’d asked her question after question just to keep her talking. Adam made her tell him everything she liked and didn’t like about the entire night and had laughed as he explained what the different lingo meant. They’d ordered late night food to Daily’s Place and stayed up talking with each other and sometimes with the other wrestlers who were still lingering about.

The next morning he woke up and he missed her. None of this was fake, not any more. Not for him, anyways. Her promise to make him spiked hot cocoa sometime had sat on his mind all night, and it popped up again as he climbed back into the cab and pulled away from the curb. Was it a joke he wasn’t supposed to look too far into? Was she just being nice? Or was that her way of telling him she thought they should keep seeing one another?

This night, her family’s party, was meant to be the last time they were technically together. Every minute that ticked by was one more they wouldn’t have… unless she liked him the way he liked her. Adam just needed to find the right time to ask her. Maybe he’d wait until after the party, he thought, glancing over at her and smiling as she checked her lipstick in the visor mirror. Yeah, that sounded fair. They’d have a good time tonight and in a week or so, he’d reach out and see how she was and find some way to bring it up, even if every time he thought about how much he liked her he got butterflies in his stomach and felt like his tongue swelled up.

She gave him the last of the directions and he slowed his truck as they pulled up to a country home set on at least a good acre of land. The large two-story home was glowing warm out its many windows and was strung up in pretty, twinkling lights. When he parked, he noticed just how many cars were around them.

“Your family really doesn’t mess around, huh?” She’d warned him that her family went all out for the holidays, all the generations rotating households for hosting each year. This year just so happened to be the year her parents were hosting.

“They really don’t,” she said with a laugh as they walked side-by-side up the walkway leading to the porch. Automatic, Adam’s hand reached and curled around hers. She slid her eyes toward him and then smiled and looked at all the cars they were passing, starting to mutter to herself who all had already showed up.

“These are all your relatives?” Adam wasn’t unfamiliar with big family gatherings - his entire upbringing had been Sunday lunches at his grandma’s with all the family in attendance - but he hadn’t anticipated this many people.

“Yeah,” she laughed. “Grandma and Grandpa had eleven kids and each of those kids has gotten married and has kids and every one of their kids except for one have had their own kids. Hell, there’s even a new great-grandbaby this year.”

“Wow,” Adam laughed and shook his head, walking up the porch steps and feeling his nerves rise inside. 

“The only one who hasn’t had grandkids?” She asked as they stopped in front of the door, her brow arching. “My mom. Because I haven’t had any, and neither has my brother. So… just be ready in case she decides the first time meeting you is the right moment to start slipping baby name ideas to you.”

Adam chuckled. “Thank you for the warning.”

“Alright, brace yourself.” She smiled and turned the knob to open the large wood door with its pretty glass-front window design. 

Immediately there was warmth and laughter and underneath the mix of chatter was the soft sounds of low-volume classic Christmas music. String lights hung around the home offered lovely soft yellow lighting, with red ribbons and garland all around. It was beautiful enough to be seen on television, or so Adam thought. As he looked around the living area he tried to picture it without the holiday decorations, the home Ivy grew up in. What kind of kid had she been? Was she bold and adventurous or careful and shy? He looked over at her profile and realized their hands were still clasped. 

The nearest people greeted Ivy as she passed and she only took her hand from his to give hugs, catching up with quick questions of how everyone was doing and introducing Adam as they went. By the time he met the sixth or seventh person he realized he was already getting names mixed up. Adam cursed himself and glanced back from where they’d came, squinting as he looked at the faces he’d seen and trying to remember what had been said when they’d been introduced to him not even a minute ago.

“There you are sweetheart! Come here!” A jovial looking woman, short with round hips and waves of gold-blond hair came toward Ivy with open arms. She grabbed her up in a hug and squeezed her tight, even though Ivy groaned.

“Mom! You act like you haven’t seen me in years!” She complained.

“Oh like your mom can’t shower you in love every time you see her.” Her mother shook her head as she pulled away, only then seeming to notice Adam. Her eyes went wide. “Who’s this?” She looked back at Ivy for an explanation.

“My name’s Adam, ma’am.” Adam knew when and how to lay on the charm and he’d promised Ivy he’d be the perfect so-called boyfriend to keep her mother off her back. He extended a hand for a polite shake. 

“Mom, this is my…” Ivy and Adam’s eyes met. Her expression softened. “My boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Her mom echoed, still holding on to Adam’s hand as she looked from her daughter back to him. “Well! Has he met everyone yet? Did you get him something to drink? What do you want sweetheart? We have eggnog, homemade!” And, still holding on to his hand, Ivy’s mom started to drag him away, ignoring Ivy’s protests that she was introducing him slowly to the family and they’d make their way to the kitchen eventually.

Ivy hadn’t been kidding when she said her family - and her mother - could be a little overwhelming. Although rather than leaving him anxious and strung tight, it was that good kind of overwhelming that instead had him dizzy with warmth and love. Adam was dragged around the house, introduced to everyone he hadn’t met yet (and even those he had) as Ivy followed and kept trying to get her mother to relinquish her hold on him in between apologizing for her mother’s behavior. Truthfully, Adam was struggling to hold back a smile. She was cute, concerned and fussing over him like that, putting those big, pleading eyes on his as she begged him to just hold out a little bit longer.

Finally their trip rounded them back in a circle where her mother was beckoned from the kitchen to help set up more snack trays. Adam and Ivy were left alone (relatively, of course, he noticed there were people grouped throughout the living area) and as they met one another’s eyes he widened his and exhaled an exhausted breath.

“Wow.”

“I know!” Her brows dipped inward, creating little wrinkle lines on her forehead. She reached out and put a hand on his forearm and he felt the muscle tense, electricity up his skin from her touch. “I’m so sorry Adam. I told you she’s relentless and was going to want everyone to meet my boyfriend.”

“If I’m bein’ honest, I felt like a well-bred stud being marched around and shown off.”

“Oh my god!” Ivy snickered and then groaned. Her hand slipped off his arm and he wished he could reach out and put a hand on her hip just to keep them touching. “It was exactly like that. Once she knew you were on t.v. it was all over.” She shook her head, sighing. “I’m sorry, your friends weren’t nearly as much as my mom has been. And this is only the first half hour of the night.”

Adam laughed and as cute as she was worried over him, he decided he’d calm those fears of hers. He started to lift his hand, wanting to push his palm against her cheek and gently hold her face, then remembered himself and let it drop to his side. He cleared his throat and shrugged.

“Nah, I honestly don’t mind it at all. It’s done wonders for my confidence.” His grin stretched playfully into his bearded cheeks.

“You’re a saint,” Ivy laughed and he was happy to see she was happy.

“What about you?” He asked, “I know we’ve only been here a little bit but is it helping?” He hoped it was.

“It is!” She said without hesitation. “That whole time my mom was dragging you around to show you off would have been spent with her reliving my exes to me, asking me where they’re at now, or telling me about women she knows who have single sons my age, or this cute young man my age she met at the grocery store and struck up a conversation with and got his number for me.”

Adam blew another breath out of his mouth. “I’m glad I can help.” But a frown worked its way across his brow. Ivy was a smart, successful, capable woman all on her own. It wasn’t fair that her mother only considered her relationship something to discuss and didn’t pay attention to everything else her daughter was. “You okay?” She asked, and he realized she’d been watching him and seen his change in expression.

“Oh, sorry. Yeah.” But she still peered at him and he knew this wasn’t the place to broach a serious topic like that. “When are you going to tell her about the promotion?”

“Honestly I was so busy trying to keep her from smothering you I completely forgot.” She laughed. “I guess I’ll tell her after the gifts are over. Anyways, come on-” she grabbed his hand, tingles again “-let’s go load up our plates with finger foods. It’s the best part of the whole night.”

Adam grinned, following after her as she held his hand, twining his fingers around hers and thinking about how whole he felt.

*********

The entire evening was better than Ivy could have anticipated. She knew it was mostly due to having Adam as her near-constant company, and feeling warmly closer to him than they probably had any right to be. During the gift exchange they’d claimed a spot on one of the couches and like it was natural, Ivy had leaned into him, Adam had lifted his arm and wrapped it snug around her shoulders. They’d shared a little smile then both looked away, staying cuddled up throughout the entirety of the exchange.

It had come to an end as the last gift was opened and she still didn’t move to get up from leaning on Adam’s soft yet somehow firm body. He didn’t try to lift his arm to separate them, either. Their supposedly shared gift sat at their feet in front of the couch, a large fluffy blanket that she’d had to have the moment she felt it and a Starbucks gift card. Absolutely perfect.

Conversation flowed happily around the room. Ivy and Adam were listening as her father retold his favorite Christmas story - the night Ivy was six and they’d had to come to a sudden stop on snowy roads, after the car righted itself there was a little gathering of stags that’d run out of the woods. Ivy had started to cry, worried that they were Santa’s reindeer and had gotten lost, meaning Santa wouldn’t be able to deliver presents that evening.

“I had to sit there and explain all about the differences between reindeer and white-tails and promise her the whole way home that Santa was going to be able to come that night.” Her father was grinning near ear-to-ear as he chuckled.

Ivy rolled her eyes, but smiled. She was tired of hearing the story every year but it was clearly endearing to her father. Adam, hearing it for the first time, had seemed to enjoy listening to it too.

“She was so cute kicking up a fuss like that.” Her father said warmly.

“I’ll bet she was.” Adam said. Ivy glanced quickly up at him only to see his eyes were locked on hers. Her stomach felt as if it erupted in a wild fluttering of butterflies and she swallowed, feeling a little hot in her cheeks. This was more… wasn’t it? They were being more coupley, weren’t they? Even more than they’d been at his company holiday party. Was their being together, their touching and holding hands becoming more natural to him, too? Or was she going crazy, projecting and seeing the things she wanted to see to justify how she felt about him now?

The questions would drive her insane, she needed to change the topic.

Ivy cleared her throat and looked back at her parents. “I’m getting a promotion at work.”

“Are you?” Her mother gasped.

“That’s wonderful sweetheart,” her father praised with a smile. “When did you find out?”

“A few weeks ago,” Ivy smiled, suddenly feeling almost shy with Adam’s proud gaze on her, his hand gently rubbing up and down her arm. The skimming of his fingertips on her skin was almost distracting.

“Why did you wait so long to tell us?!” Her mother admonished. “Sweetheart, that’s amazing! You’ve been working so hard, it’s about time they recognized it.”

“Thank you mom,” Ivy laughed.

“How’s the pay increase?” Her dad asked.

Ivy shook her head. “It’s actually pretty impressive if I’m being honest.” She’d already started to daydream about all the things in her life she was going to invest in and upgrade. “I’ve been working my ass off to get this promotion.”

“Well!” Her mother was beaming and her eyes slid to Adam and back to Ivy, her smile getting a mischievous little twist. Oh no, thought Ivy. “With more money you’d be able to support a child.” She winked as though they shared an inside secret, then gave that same wink to Adam. “I happen to think I’d make the perfect grandmother.”

Ivy’s heart sank, even with Adam at her side, she was still incomplete. She was sure her mother didn’t mean it, but it still stung. Before she could say something wrong and upset her mother or change the subject entirely, Adam was speaking up.

“With all due respect, ma’am, Ivy and I just started dating; we’re a little far off from seeing how compatible we are or if children are even something either of us want.”

“Oh, of course,” her mother looked taken aback. Ivy gaped at Adam and wasn’t sure if she should pinch him or kiss him for speaking up to her mother.

Adam looked at her, seemed to hesitate, then started talking again. “I know you’re proud of your daughter,” he glanced back toward her parents, who were now watching him with slightly guarded expressions, “but when you jump straight to talking about her lack of children or who she’s dating, it makes it seem like that’s all you care about. I know it’s not my place to say, but I also know it bothers her, and she shouldn’t have to feel like she’s anything less than the amazing woman I’ve come to see she is.”

The small group was quiet. Ivy didn’t know what to say or do. Adam had talked calmly, never raising his voice, but he’d effectively checked her mother’s habit to overlook Ivy’s accomplishments. It was a bold move for a real boyfriend, even bolder for a fake one. Or, hell, maybe he figured he wouldn’t be seeing her parents again and was free to stick up for her even under their own house.

The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to grab his face and kiss him. No one had ever stood up for her like that. Still, Ivy worried over her mother’s reaction and looked back at her.

“Do I really do it that often?”

“Mom,” Ivy sighed and glanced down at her hands. She made herself look back up. “Yeah. You do. It’s why I waited so long to tell you about the promotion. I don’t know if you’re doing it on purpose, but it feels like it is. It makes me feel like…” Their voices were low enough the conversation was truly just among the four of them, but Ivy still paused to make sure no family members were listening in that she didn’t want to overhear. “Mom, you just make me feel like I’m not doing enough if I’m not seeing someone or giving you a grandchild.” Emboldened by the honesty coming out, she looked over at Adam and shook her head, realizing how ridiculous the whole thing had been to start with. “I mean, Adam and I aren’t even-”

“Aren’t even that serious yet.” He jumped in, talking over her. Ivy tilted her head, eyes on his. Why didn’t he want her to tell her parents that they weren’t actually dating?

“I’m sorry, baby,” her mother said, and when Ivy looked back saw a sheen of tears in her eyes. “I didn’t realize I’d been so awful about it to you.”

“Mom, no,” Ivy shook her head, shoulders dropping. “Don’t cry. I should have told you how much it bothered me instead of just grinning and bearing it.”

Getting up from the couch, Ivy’s mother stood up too. Immediately Ivy wrapped her arms around her mother and cuddled tight into her as her mother held her, too. “I’m sorry sweetie,” she whispered again in Ivy’s ear, squeezing her a little tighter for a moment before they let go. 

“I really am proud of you, you know that? My little Ivy put herself through college, got her dream job, is living independently, and achieving all her dreams. I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I am of you! I brag about you all the time. I just, well, I’m your mom. I worry about you being all alone. And yes, maybe I am a bit baby crazy and I’ve started pushing that off on you.” She shook her head. “You can have no kids, have ten kids, marry once, marry never, I don’t care sweetie. I’m always going to be proud of you.”

“Thank you, mom.” Ivy said, now feeling her own tears rising. She reached to wipe at her eyes, careful of her make-up.

“Hey! No crying on Christmas!” A cousin shouted, looking over and seeing her and her mother having their close, emotional talk. Ivy shook her head as laughter rippled around the room.

“It’s not Christmas, it’s December 19th!” Her mother scolded back. “We can cry all we want to.”

“I think I’m good on the crying,” Ivy laughed and looked back at her mom, softening. “Thank you, mom.”

“You don’t have to thank me for coming to my senses.”

“Well, I think it was more like you were forced to come to your senses.” Her father spoke up and slapped his thighs as he lifted off the couch to stand up with them. Adam stood up as well. 

Rubbing his hand at the back of his neck, Adam spoke up. “I’m sorry, I know that wasn’t polite of me-”

“You don’t need to apologize.” Her mother hushed him almost immediately. “I was a little shocked at first, but clearly this was something we needed to talk about.” “I think I would have preferred a less crowded house,” Ivy admitted, looking around. Most of the family was still deep in their own conversations, but she had to have imagined some of them had overheard.

“Any man who stands up for my little girl, to her own mother no less, the first time he’s meeting the family… well, that’s a man I definitely approve of for my daughter.” Ivy’s father chuckled and patted Adam on the back. “I like this one, sweetheart. He’s a good one.”

Ivy smiled as their eyes met. “Yeah, he is.”

The party carried on for a couple more hours of happy chatter until one by one the families started to slowly trickle out. Ivy and Adam were the last to leave, helping tidy up around the house despite her mother’s assurance they shouldn’t bother themselves by cleaning. It really wasn’t a bother. Ivy thought of it as a sort of sweet domesticity, picking up plates and putting leftover food away, cleaning up trash and righting the house again side-by-side with Adam. She kept sneaking glances over at him as he smiled back at her; a few times they’d reached for the same things and brushed their hands against each other. Their touches continued to linger a little longer and a little longer each time, her cheeks warm as their eyes held contact. By the end her gaze kept finding its way to his lips; she just couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t stop wondering what’d be like to kiss him.

Adam sucked in a breath as they stepped back, having finished putting the last of the food up. “I guess we should get on home?” He asked.

It was rather late, though Ivy felt hesitation she knew was due to this being their possible last moments together. If she said yes, they would walk out of the door, get in his truck, he would drive her home and drop her off and they supposedly would never see one another again. Or, well, they’d maybe see one another, but nothing like this. Nothing like tonight had been. Nothing like the past few weeks had been.

“Yeah,” she said, trying not to let any regret seep into her tone. “We probably should.”

They went to say their goodbyes to her parents, gathering their gift and the leftovers her mother pushed off on her before they finally stepped out of the house. Ivy exhaled into the cool late-night winter air as Adam closed the front door and they stood on the porch.

“Thank you,” she said, not yet descending the steps to go to his truck.

“For?” He frowned, tilting his head as he looked down at her.

“For... standing up for me? For being...you? I don’t know. I just had such a good time tonight I feel like I need to thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me, darlin’.” He smiled. “I had just as good a time tonight as you, promise. Although, I do still feel like I should apologize. That wasn’t my place to talk to your mom like that.”

“Adam, it’s okay. I was a little taken aback but, honestly like my mom said, that conversation needed to happen.”

“I’m glad you’re not mad at me,” he said, his voice a little hushed. They were still lingering on the porch. Ivy felt like she could stand there all night in spite of the chill, but knew they shouldn’t. She took one last longing glance at his lips and smiled. “I doubt I could ever really be mad at you.” 

Maybe little things, tiny annoyances on nerve-frazzled days or the common day-to-day things you argue and work through and overcome to come back stronger than ever. Nothing that would ever make her really resent him, though. She could tell herself until she was blue in the face they’d only been talking a month and she probably didn’t know him as well as she thought she did, but something was telling her everything with Adam would just make sense.

She honestly never felt like this with anyone before. How could she feel so connected to him when they were still essentially strangers? When they hadn’t even really been dating to begin with?

“Come on,” she turned away, the gift bag and tote bag of leftover goodies in tow. “We should probably get off my parent’s porch.”

“Wait,” he said as she turned to walk away, “we almost forgot...”

“Forgot what?” Ivy looked back at him and saw he’d taken a step to close their distance. She had to tilt her head to look up into his eyes where she saw he was holding a little piece of garland.

“It’s tradition to kiss under mistletoe.” He said.

“Adam…” It was hard to keep herself from giggling. The grin spread and pushed up into her cheeks. “That’s not mistletoe, that’s a piece of fake pine-needle garland I think you stole from my mom’s house.”

“Tomato, tom-ah-to. Maybe I just wanted an excuse to do this...” He leaned down, brushing his lips softly against hers.

Immediately she warmed to his touch, melting against the contact. He took the invitation to sink deeper into their kiss. His hand dropped and found its place on her hip, pulling her tighter against him. The garland had been dropped to the ground, happily forgotten as he ran his tongue between the split of her lips and then sank inside her mouth as she opened with invitation.

The bags fell with a rustle and a thump by her feet and her arms came up quickly around his shoulders, wrapping tightly and pulling him down on her. Their heads moved, matching the shape of their lips better. His fingers squeezed into her hips, the passion mounting further and further the longer their lips touched and tongues stroked.

They broke apart, chests rising and falling quick as they exhaled large, foggy white breaths in the small space between them. All Ivy could taste was him. She felt deliriously dizzy.

“I have been wanting to do that for a long damn time,” he admitted.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“I think I broke our rule,” she confessed. They were still holding each other, going nowhere but lost in one another’s eyes.

“Our rule?”

“We weren’t supposed to fall for each other, remember? I’m afraid I might be falling, cowboy.”

A warm smile melted across his face.

“I think I’ve already beat you there.” He bent and, just before his lips touched hers, exhaled his promise across her mouth, “I’ll be ready to catch you, darlin’.”

[riddlesandqueries]

Somebody Sure As Hell Messed Up (Part 4)

(In which Music Meister, nee Dennis Prowell, and The Toyman, rarely known as Winslow Schott, have a revealing conversation over board games.)

"I like to know as much information as I can. It helps things run smoothly." said the Toyman.

Dennis took a deep breath in, then out. No theatrics this time. "Fine. You want the real story. Here it is.”

“...This was a team effort: I was showing her a night on the town. After that whole 2000 scare I just thought a day to celebrate the New Year was what she needed. What I said about breaking in was true. We were stealing ... miscellaneous goods when your bowl arrived. It wasn't until the building started to crumble apart when she pushed me into the hand though. So there it is. Are you happy?"

"Really? She actually pushed you? That's something I'd expect her to do to me, not you. You two were supposedly pretty chummy." Winslow leaned in.  "Goes to show you, she's a dangerous one."

"Well I would've expected Lyle to be more of the type to do such a thing. But I softened him up. I suppose I just didn't have enough time to get close to Darci. At least not to the point of being as chummy as you'd think." Dennis made a meek attempt to whistle to fill in the silence, but the mic on him kept making the pitch off key and weird. Definitely something he stopped a few seconds in. "I doubt she'll come over for some tea. You got no use keeping me around if that's the case."

"Oh she'll come. I've got my best man on it right now. And you'll be staying for a while. I can't help but be a little suspicious, you know? And we can keep each other company until our little reunion!" said Winslow, failing to hide the excitement in his voice.

"Suspicious? Me? Perish the thought."  Shit. You blew it, Prowell. Dennis bared a smile that was more than a little ingenuine. "So. We're going to 'keep each other company?'"

"Naturally! I haven't had a guest over in a very long time. Tell me, do you like board games?"

A very long time, huh? "Board games are fun." Dennis tried to match Winslow's energy. In truth, Dennis was much more fond of scrapbooking news articles about crime than he had been about board games when he was a child. The only board game he's truly interested in is D&D, but that was neither here nor there.

"I have quite a few, but be warned! I've had a lot of time to practice." One of the doors to the room slid open to reveal a tall shelf full of colorful boxes.

"Ah, well! It looks like you've got a lot of things to keep us occupied. Ha." God. I wish Hartley were here...

"How about Battleship? Or Chutes and Ladders?" Winslow hopped down off of his chair and went to the shelf to peruse the collection. "Or maybe Connect Four?"

Yeah... Hart's just the person I'd want to see right about now. "Now, Battleship's something I know haha!"

"Oh boy! Sounds good to me!" He grabbed the box from the shelf and took his seat again,  pulling the screens out of the box and sliding one down to Dennis. Winslow began setting up his side.

Dennis followed suit. "So you haven't had a friend over in a long time?"

"No, not since Peter. And I can't even remember the time before that. Mostly, it's just me and the friends I make myself. Uh, just say when you are ready."

He gave a thumbs-up in response. "G7. Merkel? Oh! He's been over at Sel's a couple of times. Very fond of Twister I've heard." Dennis then stopped for a moment. "Wait, then how did you meet Darci? Was it a henchgirl for hire gig gone to pot?"

"M-miss; J4" Toyman’s voice stammered as he placed a piece in his water. "You... you don't know do you? That's... kinda funny actually. You haven't noticed anything, well, peculiar about her, have you?"

"Hit. B2. No, nothing that would warrant suspicion. But that's coming from a Gotham resident. Maybe that sort of stuff flies past me." He stopped, just for a moment. "Then she's got something wrong with her, huh?"

"Oh no, she's perfect." He paused.  "Well, correction: she was a little bit more rebellious than I expected. Hit! J5."

"Miss. B3" Rebellious, he says. Rebellious. Sure you can call a student or criminal rebellious. But a lover? Not unless you got something wrong with your own methods... "Is that so?"

"Hmmm, Hit. You sunk my destroyer! J3?" said Toyman, considering his move. "You think you've got someone figured out, and they go and manage to turn your life topsy-turvy. I just don't know how she did it, but oh boy, did she."

"Hit. A1. You could say that about anybody though. Everybody's kinda got layers to them you know. Like tree rings. Or cake."

"Miss. J2. I suppose that's true, but she really isn't just anybody."

"Hit. A5. Then who is she?"

"She is mine." said Toyman, pointedly, before clearing his throat. “Ahem. Miss. H3."

... Noted. "I'll rephrase the question. What was she like to you? Miss. F6."

"At the start, she was my perfect doll. Then a switch was flipped, and she fled. Eventually, that Big Blue Bully got jealous when I tried to get her back, but we fled together. I thought it would be different, or rather back to the way things were, but she was just as manipulative as she was when she left. Hit. J1."

"Hit. The ship has sunk. F5." ... This bitch is lonely. If I connect the pieces together, then he's probably been wallowing in his misery ever since. "That sure sounds rough. I totally get it. Is there anything you've done for yourself since she left?"

"Oh, you know. Just a lot of work around here. Trying to stay busy. I started my blog, but that didn't really pan out...Miss. E7?"

"Hit. C9." Bingo. "Maybe you could benefit from getting out more. I mean more than just a blog. Get some friends with different perspectives. Live a little. You discover more about yourself that way."

"I don't know where to begin with something like that.” replied Toyman plainly. “It's not like someone like me can just go out and try to chat with random people. People would take one look at me and want to run. It might be different over in Gotham, but over here, they would never. Miss. F6."

"You started off with your blog. And that got Peter to talk to you. That was a good starting point.

 Maybe you could do the same thing. But you know. Without any alias or villain names. Then you wouldn't limit the people who share your niche interests to just rogues. Hit. C4"

"Miss, G7, And I don't think I can. I'm not much else but "The Toyman" anymore. I've devoted my entire life to get revenge on one man, and some alien takes him out before I got to try again. I'm not sure I am who I was anymore because I've been me for so very long."

"Hit. You sunk my ship. G1." Maybe that's why Darci ran off. Tch. "Then... Let's start off even smaller. Yeah. Bake the layers of your cake before you make the frosting! We'll just have to find some hobbies that click. Then we can go from there."

"Well, obviously I like toys. Uhhh, mechanical engineering? And movies.” He seemed curious, despite the mask. “Miss. C3"

"I'm sure there's plenty of other people out there who like movies and engineering too. Ever thought about joining a STEM group? Miss. F7."

"Hit. C9? There probably are, but what if they don't like me, or they find out who I am?"

"Hit. F8. If they're really your friends they wouldn't care, would they?" replied Dennis easily, although as his words settled in, he couldn’t help but wonder… I'm sure there's going to be someone to get me out of here. Hopefully not Darci… What if they've already forgotten about me? Or that they wanted me gone this whole time and they're celebrating my death as the minutes pass by? ...But that couldn't be the case. Almost everybody loves me!...Right?

"Hit. C10...I'm... not sure I want to talk about this anymore." murmured Toyman, presumably glancing away. "Do... do you like any movies?"

"Hit. F9." It's your funeral. "Oh, sure I like movies." Dennis smiled.

"Hehehe! Miss! C8? Do you have a favorite movie? O-or maybe a favorite genre?"

"Hit. E9, and… I only ever liked Quentin Tarantino flicks." he replied, with a blissful smile to accompany his lie. "I've always been enamored by the harsh reality of crime. It's just so intoxicating. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Miss. C7? Really? That's quite an interesting revelation about you, Mr. Prowell. I would have pegged you as just a musical fan, but that's what I get for assuming. I must admit it might not completely be my cup of tea, but I did enjoy Pulp Fiction."

"Hit. G9. Oh yeah! Crime's always been a big part of my life. My folks have always been a big inspiration for me when it comes to that."

"Miss. C6. Really? Your parents were criminals, then?"

"Hit. E5. Of course. Fine upstanding people they are. Looong before Big Blue came to town. Their old names were Songbird and Fireball. That ring any bells?"

"Miss. C6. They sound familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"You already played C6. Tch...They were part of an underground gang way back when. But they quit that sort of work before I came along. Never told me why though. Which is strange..."

"Oh, silly me. I meant to say C5. Hmmm... Where were they out of?"

"Hit. You sunk my ship. A8, and...The Intergang, I think. That place used to be big on recruiting metas back in the day. I know that for sure."

"They were INTERGANG? I don't blame them for leaving. Miss. D10."

"Yeah it had something to do with a mix up that led to members getting killed. Least that's what my Pop told me. But my kidnapping was when my folks were especially put off by the business. The first one. Miss. D1"

"'Mix-up?' I wouldn't be surprised if that's just what Mannheim said to cover his tuchus. I still wish I could have been the one to finally stop that bully. Miss. B10"

"Wait, you were after Manheim? Which one?"

"Bruno. That awful devil sent my father to prison and ruined my entire life."

"I was fucked over by Moxie Manheim! Damn old coot must be in his grave by now... Anyways! You know how there's an initiation to join?"

"Ha! Well, it's a small world after all! I think I heard something about it somewhere. Why?"

"Yeah, well... Moxie didn't really enjoy that Songbird and Fireball ditched the Intergang to start a family, so he decided to keep tabs on them. Their weaknesses and all that. Now, Moxie also had some new recruits lined up waiting to be official members." Dennis leaned in, conspiratorial.."He's got a big criminal brain as you know, so he thought it'd be real wise to make me a part of the initiation. Killing two birds with one stone, as they say."

"D-did they do it?" asked Toyman, on the edge of his seat.

"Of course they did it! Stole me away while my folks were vulnerable! Nothing much I could've done, figuring this was back in 1977." Dennis collected himself. "But they weren't having it! This was the last straw, Winslow!" He held up his index finger rather righteously. "And you know what happened?"

Winslow leaned closer in anticipation. "What?"

"They snuck in there and took me back! But not without a musical number first!" said Dennis proudly. Plain as day, he looked up to his parents: it showed in the glow of his smile.

"That must have been an absolute delight to see. So, you inherited your powers from a parent? Songbird, I presume? What could Fireball do?"

"She shoots a flare gun." he grinned. 

"Truly fascinating! Um, also, it's still your turn. B10. Was that the last they heard from Mannheim and company?"

"Miss. B10. Oh no. not at all. A bunch of failed attempts were made afterwards. And well, since Moxie's departure, Bruno was the guy looking out to see if they were any trouble. But now that Bruno's dead and Vito doesn't really care. There's some peace." Something, just then, just clicked into Dennis' mind. And oh how ironic it was. "Until now."

"Miss. B5.” sighed Toyman. "If you are referring to me, please don't be so dramatic. I mean you no harm, unless you mean it to me. I only want a little incentive for Darci to come here. And if she pushed you into my robot's clutches like you said, perhaps her final capture will be something you can relish as well."

"Miss, B5...Hmmmm.” thought Dennis, smiling a bit. "Well... I just find it hilarious that out of all the villains who I fall into the clutches of, it had to be the one that happens to despise the Manheims the most." He started fidgeting with a red piece in his hand. "Call it a hunch, but this seems a lot like destiny."

"It was quite the coincidence! As I said earlier, it's a small world. I might not say destiny, but who knows? Miss, D5?"

"Miss. E2. Well, nothing's impossible, kid."

"Miss. I8...Perhaps." Winslow fell silent, awkward.

"Miss. H1...For someone called the Toyman, you're not much of an optimist are you?"

"Miss. H8. For someone named Music Meister, you're not much of a musical film fan."

"It's not my fault that musicals are better on the stage." He smirked. “Miss. J6. Much more of an experience, you know? To go out and see something like that live and in the present."

"Miss. I9. I... see your point. But you're right, optimism isn't my strong suit anymore..."

"Anymore? Then that means there was a point in time where you were an optimist!" There's still hope!

"When I was a kid, sure. But after my father was sent away, well, it hasn't been very easy."

"Have you been to therapy for that?"

"No, my foster families never wanted to pay for something like that."

"But your foster families don't control you anymore, you're a free man! If you're able to afford it, at least give it a try."

Winslow buries his masked head into his hands. "But can a wanted man like myself just waltz into some therapist's office without a dozen people calling the police on him?"

"People wouldn't recognize you without...the mask, would they?" asked Dennis, curious.

He looks up with a shrug. "I'm 4' 10", and have a rather distinct voice. They might not know my face, but they still might know me. If I'm lucky, then everything would be fine, but if I'm not, then I might be in a lot of trouble.”

"Jeez, Metropolis has got some shit health care, doesn't it? If that's what's keeping you from healing... Hmm." Dennis tried to come up with an appropriate counter argument.

“I9. Being a supervillain isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"...But being an actor is! I've got it! And it's brilliant! Maybe we can't do much about your height, but you can do something about your voice and movement!...Oh. Sorry. Miss. H3."

"C-come again?" Toyman was genuinely surprised. "I don't... I'm not really... um...Miss. G2."

"Yeah, okay. You'd have to practice speaking from your diaphragm, but that's gonna be a sinch cause you got a performer around!" Dennis pondered. "Maybe change the names a bit for this new persona... That'd work so you wouldn't have to lie in therapy per se. We all know that goes nowhere."

Dennis made a square with his index fingers and thumbs to frame Winslow.

"I can totally see your persona now Winn! Hit! I10!"

"I'm not... sure... what you're talking about? I.....?" flustered the Toyman before sighing. "Miss. F2."

"You seem so deadset on people hating you, right?  And the inability to socialize and get proper therapy is what's holding you back from being a healthy and paranoid free individual, right? 

So, we just need to make you a persona so people won't know you're the Toyman! So people won't ‘hate’ you! It's a genius plan! I swear!" smiles Dennis, putting heavy finger quotes on the word hate, as  he genuinely didn't believe that everyone everyone hates him. “Oh! Hit! F10."

"I don't think... Let me just say: I don't want to be anyone else. I am me, no matter how awful my life has been, I can't really change it. If I try to make a new me, that can only take me so far before I just go back to being me. I can't make people stop disliking or fearing me. But I have been trying to change the way I go about what I do. I wanted to stop Mannheim from ruining any more families' lives, and I want to help make sure no more families are robbed of their lives because of some self-centered sneak!" Winslow’s voice slowly rose to a shriek, before he finally settles back down into his chair with another sigh. "Miss. H2."

After a brief pause, Dennis gently pat Winslow in the shoulder. "You're gonna lose your voice if you keep yelling like that." sighed Dennis kindly. "I get that you're trying to be noble and save families and whatnot, but if you keep going about this like a self-deprecating martyr, then soon there won't be much left of you to save any families. Hit. I4."

He shrinks away from the first pat, but eases on the following. "...Yeah, I suppose. But at least I did help, right? Miss. I2."

"Yeah. Yeah you did. Hit. H2."

There was a pause as Winslow looked down at the table. Without looking up, he muttered “Hit. E2...and...thanks."

There's the ticket. Actually, this time… "No! Noo! It's just what friends do." A warm, glowing smile swept across Dennis’ face. "If you really think people won't like you, then I won't push it anymore. But I like you. I like your motives too. So don't stress about it that much."

"Y-you like me? I'm your friend?"  said Winslow, genuinely taken aback.

"Of course!" Dennis said, minimizing the situation.

"I... I've always wanted a... a real friend..."

"If you wanted a friend, then why didn't you just ask?" Dennis gave Winslow that same warm glowing smile as he stood up.

Winslow sat still for a couple seconds before his emotions did finally catch up to him. He sobbed slightly but collected himself quickly. "Thank you so much!" he said, much happier than he'd sounded before. "So...E2?"

[tentwentyninecompositions]

East Chicago Love Letter

12 DAYS PRIOR

“What time did you say she was flying in?” Myles questions as he continued to clip the ends of the floral arrangement. Dutch Hydrangeas and the Peony flower are Kary’s favorite. So as a small token of his love Enzo put together multiple bouquets for his wife. 

“Uh..should be around 8:30 maybe even nine o’clock. You think these look alright?” Enzo put the first bundle of flowers into an expensive, stained glass vase. He stepped back to get a better look at what he had put together. 

Myles finished off his bundle doing the same as his friend. Together in silence they admired the beautiful flowers that smell like a hint of lavender. Another one of Kary’s favorite things in life. 

“This is the nicest thing I’ve ever seen you do for anybody.” Myles spoke up. He went around to the other side of the kitchen to fish around the refrigerator for a drink. 

“Yeah man I know. I just want this night to go well. I’ve been planning this since her last trip. I know Kary inside and out so I know she’ll love this.” Enzo prides himself in knowing the things his wife loves, hates, and anything in between. “How could she not? I picked every one of these flowers myself, cut ‘em, washed ‘em...the whole nine man.” He chuckled. 

“I don’t doubt you on that at all. Kary is a very lucky woman to have you in her life. I’m always praying for y’all and you know my mama is too.” Myles began to clean up the mess he made in Enzo’s kitchen whilst sipping on his most beloved drink combination. Bourbon and apple juice. 

“Thank you brother, I really appreciate that.” The men returned the kitchen to its original clean state and went about their individual business. 

———  ———-

Later That Evening...

Glancing at the time of his watch Enzo blew out a sharp breath as he put the finishing touches on his anniversary dinner. After Myles left, Enzo spent the remainder of his alone time prepping his home for his wife’s arrival. Kary has been traveling non-stop for work for the past month, striking deals, meeting with designers, hosting events etc. Mrs. Warren has been a very busy woman. Being that today is the couples five year wedding anniversary Enzo thought he would prepare his wife’s favorite dish. That being chicken marsala in a Sherry cream sauce and brown butter risotto. He bought her three floral arrangements with each bundle having the stems wrapped in one hundred dollar bills. 

In addition to the flowers, Enzo splurged on several designer fragrance bottles, the finest brands of mascara and lipstick tubes in all of Kary’s favorite shades. The receipts from his shopping spree didn’t put the slightest dent in his bank account. When it boils down to love and showing his appreciation for his woman, Enzo will go above and beyond. 

ENZO 

Fastening the second button from the top on my shirt I picked up my brush to run over my hair for the fifth time. I don’t know why I feel so nervous to see my wife. Maybe it’s because she’s been gone for over four weeks and my anticipation has reached its peak. Coming home after a long day's work to go to bed alone put me in a funk for the first two weeks of Kary’s absence. 

Around the week three day two mark, I shook the chip off my shoulder and went back to my old routine. Five a.m., I go on my three mile run. Afterward, I go through my usual morning hit list before going to work. Step out for lunch around two-thirty and head over to the ring for seventy minutes exactly. By four o’clock I’m back to work and home by seven on the dot. And finally after weeks of forcing myself to get out of my own head I get the love of my life back. 

I’m nervous to see her but it’s a good kind of nervous. The sound of the door opening scared the hell out of me. That’s when I heard the most beautiful sound in the world. 

“Enzo, baby, I’m home.” 

My heart began pounding in my chest as I rushed to finish getting dressed. Cleaning up behind myself I sifted through my mental checklist to ensure part two of my plan runs efficiently. 

Taking a deep breath I cut the lights and left the room. I followed the sound of Kary’s ‘oohs’ and ‘oh my gods’ coming to find her in the kitchen. Her curiosity almost got her into trouble but she managed to keep her hands put. 

“I didn’t expect you until later.” I said. Kary glanced over her shoulder, her eyes lighting up at the sight of me. I told Myles this suit was a great idea. 

“I thought I would surprise you by catching an earlier flight. Clearly you had the same idea with surprises. You set all this up for me?” She shrugged off her coat and closed the distance between us. 

I took a moment to check out all of my efforts, happy with the turn out. With flowers, candles, her gifts displayed nicely, and the scent of the meal I prepared I definitely earned some points for this. Eager to minimize our distance I met her halfway drinking in every inch of her that I could with these barriers in between us. By barriers I do mean our clothes. She must’ve gotten a temporary room to clean up and change in because this scent lingering on her body and clothes is new to me. 

“You took..a shower...without me?” I spoke and exhaled in between kisses. Kary gets a good laugh out of me pretending to be upset with some things she does without me around. I’m never truly bothered but it’s fulfilling to make her laugh at silly shit. 

“This was an exception E, I needed some serious TLC after that long flight.” Backing up to cup my face in the palm of her hands Kary searched both of my eyes in silence. The expanding grin on her face inspired my own. 

“Why are you smiling so much?” I asked of her. 

“I could ask you the same thing but I already know it’s because you’re happy to see me. How much did you miss me?” Kary’s hands busied themselves with my clothes as she examined me from head to toe. 

“Oh I can show you better than I can tell you. Ready to eat? I cooked for you and it’s ready. As am I.” I joked. She and I laughed in richness and ventured to our kitchen together. 

She went back to admiring the layout of our house with me not able to keep my hands off of her. It took me all of five minutes to realize that her skirt is brand new. It’s one of those skirts that come to the knees with buttons going down the center seam. The only difference from this particular style of skirts and others is that this one is fitting. Kary will throw on a dress any time of year but a skirt, she rarely will purchase. 

“I like this new outfit. When did you get this?” Getting a feel for the fabric I expressed the pleasure it brought to me beneath my fingers. 

“I was feeling adventurous and this little number happened to be marked down seventy percent off. I had a feeling you’d like it.” Kary stepped ahead and hustled around the kitchen not waiting for me. My all time favorite thing to watch is Kary fending for herself when she’s hungry. Whenever her craving for food is magnified she gets this look in her eye. In the beginning of our relationship I would place a story behind every little thing that attracted me to her. 

Now I just identify the attraction as attraction. I find it appealing and arousing when she showcases her need for the basics in life. Her will to eat is at the top of that list. 

“Mm..mama’s hungry.” Chucking at her maneuvering swiftly to fix two plates I caught her eye. 

She flipped me the bird and motioned for me to come closer and help her out. “Mama is hungry for many many things. Was Myles here? I’m getting the sense that he was. That lingering trace of Polo is hitting me in the face.” 

“He was for a little while, yeah. He told me to pass on a hello to you. That fool tried so hard to stick around for dinner but you already know how that conversation went.” I took over the ship again ushering her to sit at the table. “You go off to work for a month straight and here you are still putting in time? I don’t believe you. When did you ever sleep?” 

“Fixing a plate is nothing compared to what I was doing over the past four weeks. You spent all this time preparing all of this for me. I think the least I can do is help out a little.” Here goes the bargaining. Typical, overachieving, non-stop working Kary Santos-Warren. 

“Oh come on. Save me the good wife speech baby, I know what you are capable of. What are you drinking tonight? Red..white..water..” Carrying her plate over to her I matched her smirk. 

“I think I’ll switch it up tonight. Do we still have that Brandy?” She questioned me about it. 

Tipping my head to her I walked back into the kitchen to grab a plate for myself and the Brandy. She and I were given this forty five year aged liquor for Christmas. I put it away towards the back of our liquor cabinet saving it for a special occasion. Tonight is the best reason to open this bad boy up. 

Kary volunteered to bless our evening and our meal. Her speech touched me in a few ways due to some things that she spoke on. 

“You’re getting emotional? Wow, this isn’t the Enzo I know and love. What’s changed, lover boy?” Her bare foot tickled my pant leg before she continued on with raising the bottom half with her toes. 

The coolness of her toe pads gave me chills but I embraced them all. I’ve missed this woman terribly so nothing she can do will get on my nerves. 

“I’m not being emotional. Your blessing touched me deeper than usual that’s all. Talk to me about your trip. How was it? I wanna know everything.” Kary spilled every detail of what her work trip was like, not leaving any information out. 

Setting my empty glass aside I folded my hands behind my plate, drinking in her existence. She helped herself to seconds of dinner signifying that I outdid myself. I do have a fourth course for her, which is her absolute favorite. 

Kary licked her knife clean and gently set it down, giving me this intense eye. “I must say babe, that was amazing. I can tell you took your time with the sherry. Myles must have been busting your balls about not screwing up my sauce huh?” 

“God, you are so fucking smart. Yes, Myles was giving me the hardest time about the dinner period to be honest with you. He was practically with me all day until I kicked him out.” Rising from my seat I picked up her plate and mine, taking them both to the kitchen. 

“Is there more? Because quiero mas, por favor..” Kary sang out from the dining room table.

“Give me five minutes and I’ll be right back.” I guaranteed her. Removing my infamous banana bread from the oven I set up a small plate neatly for us to share. Removing the Brandy from the shelf I poured her and I another serving, rejoining her once again. “For you my queen. Open.” Seeing Kary’s mouth open visibly made my erection go from a three to an honest ten.  

Her eyelids closed along with her mouth around the fork. “God, I have missed the satisfying taste of your baking. You are the only person I know that can bring me this type of joy from food alone. Happy anniversary my love. You’ve given me the best escape from reality, the best life, so much joy, peace and happiness. In all of the years we have been together, I have never once felt unhappy or unimportant. You are my everything babe.” 

Although Kary and I have had difficulty in the past trying to get pregnant, maybe tonight is the night. Mashallah.

[elcorhamletlive]

fandom: MCU (post-IW) (post-imaginary “Thanos is already defeated” scenario) (no a4 spoilers) ship: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark tags: Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Smut, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Getting Together, Porn With Feelings summary: Steve and Tony share a moment during a wedding. Things escalate from there. - Alternatively: Four weddings, a funeral, and one very emotionally stunted idiot.

October

“I swear, I don’t know how you do it, man,” Sam whispers. He accepts the handkerchief Steve offers him, though, pressing it to his eyes. “I’d say you’re like a robot, but even the robot is crying.”

Steve smiles, following his line of sight to the end of the aisle, where they can see Vision in a green tux, his eyes glimmering under the light. His smile is full of wonder as he watches Wanda walking in his direction. She looks beautiful, in a simple, white gown. When she reaches Vision, she blinks quickly to stop tears that are already there, and Steve notices his tux matches her eyes.

Just as the priest begins the ceremony, with a prayer in Sokovian, Steve’s enhanced hearing catches the sound of the saloon’s door opening. His head snaps towards it immediately, his hand reaching for his back in a reflexive motion to grab a shield that isn’t there.

There’s no cause for alarm, though. It’s just Tony, hurrying inside with rushed steps, moving through the crowd to reach his seat. He’s wearing a grey suit that’s definitely more expensive than anything Steve's ever owned, but his tie is a little crooked and his breath is uneven. He’s wearing sunglasses, which is about the most Tony thing in the world, so it’s fitting that it fills Steve with both exasperation and fondness.

As he sits down, his eyes find Steve’s, and Steve can’t help but frown, because there is late, and there is walking inside in the middle of the ceremony.

Tony just grins and shrugs in response. Steve feels his mouth curling in a reluctant smile, but he makes a point to shake his head in disapproval anyway.

Nobody but him seems to notice Tony’s late arrival. The ceremony proceeds as is expected. Steve watches, patting Sam’s back when he can’t hold back more tears as Wanda and Vision say their vows. He’s mostly impressed by how much Wanda glows, figuratively and literally at some points, when magic sparks around her in what seems like an involuntary reaction. It probably is – there’s no trace of her usual tense demeanor, just unabashed, unrestrained happiness.

When they exchange rings, Steve takes a look around, taking in all the red eyes, bloated faces. Sam is right; he’s probably the only one who isn’t crying.

Then his eyes land on Tony. He has a knowing smile on his lips, watching the happy couple as if he always knew it would end this way. His sunglasses hang from his collar. He doesn’t look like he’s been crying.

Steve feels strangely comforted. For a moment, he wishes Tony would meet his eyes, but he doesn’t even know what he’d do.

When Vision and Wanda kiss, Wanda’s red sparks turn into spirals around them, and they both float, rising a few feet above the audience. The excitement is contagious. Steve finds himself grinning hard as he claps and listen to Sam and Bucky whistling by his side.

He’s still feeling a little giddy at the reception, as if Vision and Wanda’s happiness is in the air. As he watches Sam and Bucky grow more and more immersed on a trivial discussion that Steve is certain neither of them care much about, he decides to step aside—whatever is this thing going on between his two best friends, it’s a thing they haven’t decided to talk to Steve about yet, so Steve thinks it’s better to give them some privacy to deal with it when it becomes too evident.

He ends up by the desserts table, which is not a bad place to be. He entertains himself with chocolate truffles as he watches the dance floor fill with people. Wanda and Vision spin together as if oblivious to the music; Rhodey and Carol are laughing and having a contest of steps; and Natasha goes by many partners, always swift and graceful. Steve distracts himself a little, watching her. Her movements carry an incredible preciseness he usually only sees when they spar together. She dances with Thor for a while, but his moves seem to be a little too exuberant for her; Bruce steps in, but he’s too tipsy to keep up; and then, finally, Tony appears by her side and enlaces her waist, getting a smirk in response as they quickly fall into a synchronized movement.

Unlike her previous partners, Tony seems to be actually guiding the dance, instead of struggling to keep up with Natasha’s pace. The music isn’t slow but it’s far from a pop song either, so they have space to be playful, Tony spinning Natasha and then catching her and smoothly dipping her almost to the floor. Their movements are just dramatic enough to be impressive without ever verging on the edge of silliness. Steve is far from the only one watching them now.

Steve didn’t know Tony could dance, but now, it seems stupid that it never occurred to him. Of course he can.

The song changes to a slower melody Steve doesn’t recognize. Tony adjusts almost immediately, pulling Natasha closer and turning their small show into a slow, steady sway. His lips curl in a smile, his laugh lines evident in his cheeks. It’s not his wedding, but it could be, from the amount of presence he hands to every step he takes. He makes it seem so easy it could almost be rehearsed, but there’s a natural quality to his every movement, perfectly in tune with the rhythm, almost as if the music was made just for him.

Steve can’t stop staring. They’re close enough to give a wonderful shot to a paparazzi lucky enough to stumble on the scene, but it’s clear from their faces they’re having fun, whispering things to each other and grinning between steps.

As Natasha leans over to whisper something in Tony’s ear, his eyes find Steve’s, over her shoulder. Steve, taken aback, thinks Tony will just look away, but instead he stares for a moment too long, brown eyes intense even from that distance.

Steve feels himself flush, even though he doesn’t really have anything to be embarrassed about, and ends up looking away himself. He feels silly and incredibly awkward, all of a sudden. He wants to loosen his tie, which feels hot and tight around his neck, but that would be inappropriate. His eyes end up darting down, at a forgotten truffle he now remembers he is holding.

It's melted a little on his hand. Steve frowns, turning to the table to get a napkin. He cleans up his palm and takes the tip of his index finger to his mouth, sucking the leftover chocolate.

“I see the catering was a hit with you,” an unmistakable voice startles him from behind.

Steve turns. Tony seems focused on the truffles, however, picking one up and looking at it as if it intrigues him somehow. “Dark chocolate, huh? Who’d know,” he says, almost to himself, before throwing the truffle inside his mouth.

read the rest on ao3!

[fanofawesomethings]

Moving In

Spinel looked outside the window of the ship. The stars were like white flies zipping past with the speed the giant gemship was going in to reach Homeworld. She couldn’t watch for long and she turned away back inside. Inside the spacecraft has nothing entertaining to speak of, and things were dully quiet. 

Yellow Diamond concentrated more on flying her piece of the gigantic ship. Her Pearl was at her side, monitoring the ship’s speed and reading all the data that followed. Both of them were too busy for chitchat. Spinel sat down with her legs crossed and hummed a tune to herself.

Yellow Diamond saw her new passenger alone and bored, and she cleared her throat to get her Pearl’s attention.

“Pearl go...I mean, would you please make sure Pink’s Little Playmate is doing okay,” Yellow Diamond whispered, feeling a bit awkward.

“Right away, my Diamond,” said the ever obedient Yellow Pearl, despite the Diamond matriarch trying to see the Pearl as equal.

“I told you to stop addressing me like that. From now on it’s ‘whatever you’d like’ to call me, as Steven said.”

“Yes, of course, my Dia--I mean, Yellow Diamond,” the Pearl smiled, not realizing she was addressing the Diamond with her arms crossed.

Yellow Pearl jumped off the raised platform and landed with pure delicacy and refinement. She went up to the unfamiliar Gem who was making circles on the ground with her stretched out index finger.

“Hello there, Pink Diamond’s Little Playmate,” Yellow Pearl greeted.

“Huh? Oh, you’re Yellow Diamond’s Pearl. That...that’s not my name. I’m Spinel,” said the pink Gem.

“Rrright. Spinel,” she responded, not sure at all about the new Gem. “My Diamond has instructed me to see how you are doing. How are you doing?” 

“I’m...I’m okay. The bee’s knees!” Spinel stretched her neck and arms until they formed a smiling face inside a circle, a huge grin on her face. The Yellow Pearl was confused by the gesture.

“We’ll be landing shortly,” said Yellow Diamond making herself known. Spinel was staring in wonder at the massive Gem; Yellow Diamond blushed with the attention.

“Can you tell me something, how’s Homeworld been while I was...away?” Spinel asked Yellow Pearl.

“Oh! Why it’s been excellent! Of course we’ve had a shift in ideals as of late but our Homeworld is still the most flawless world in the galaxy!” Yellow Pearl gushed with glee.

Spinel was pleasantly surprised. She had vague memories of the Gem world; most of the time she stayed in the Garden. The Garden. Thinking back to where she had been for thousands of years wasn’t a great subject for the pink Gem. She shook the memory of waiting off. 

“There are a lot more Gems than in Era 1. They will be excited to meet an Era 1 Gem,” said Yellow Pearl.

“New Gems? Well at least I won’t be alone again, right?” Spinel giggled which prompted Yellow Pearl to laugh too, though she didn’t understand why.

A rupture ran across the ship. They are about to land. For the first time in so many years, Spinel glanced at Homeworld, the floating planet split in two. Because she was unfamiliar with the world, the pink Gem was captivated by its mysterious glow and the sparkling rings that surrounded it. She squished her nose against the glass to get a better look as the ship landed.

They and the other Diamonds disembarked. Years ago the countless Gems below the platform would be cheering their return nonstop, but they simply noticed the Diamonds returned and carried on their business.

Spinel saw so many Gems it was impossible for her to count them all. Little Aquamarines floating above them, burly Amethysts stomping about in groups, tall Spodumenes enjoying each other’s company. 

“Spinel,” said Blue Diamond to get her attention. “This is my...excuse me, this is Pearl.”

The soft-spoken Blue Pearl bowed her head. She had been on the other ship so Spinel hadn’t met her when they left Earth.

White Diamond giggled under her breath. She pulled Yellow and Blue Diamond together and whispered, very lightly. Spinel couldn’t help but be curious to what they were saying because White Diamond kept glancing at her. She enlarged her ear a bit to hear the whispers. White Diamond noticed the growth in Spinel’s ear and composed herself.

“Spinel dear, we have important matters to attend to. Please make yourself at home and we’ll find you when we’re finished,” said White Diamond. She turned to the two Pearls. “Pearls, please keep our new friend company. Oh! Show her the new Extraction Chambers, she’ll love that!”

“Yes, White Diamond,” answered Blue Pearl.

White Diamond took her fellow Diamonds’ hands and walked off trying to hide her smiles. As they left they giggled and laughed more. 

Suddenly Spinel was left with the two unfamiliar Pearls. Sure she’d encountered the two before way back but they didn’t so much as hold a conversation together. She even vaguely remembered playing a trick on Yellow Pearl and making her mad.

“Welcome back,” said the Blue Pearl.

“I guess it’s pretty dang good to be back,” said Spinel, straining.

“You haven’t changed a bit. Still silly like the last time,” groaned Yellow Pearl.

“Oh, so you do remember me, huh? Hehe, no hard feelings about that little fun we had.”

“I hardly call that ‘ffuun’! You ruined my dance and made me humiliate myself, in front of my Diamond’s court no less!” Yellow Pearl squawked.

“I thought it was funny,” said Blue Pearl.

“Why didn’t you stay on Earth? Your humor matches Pink Steven’s completely,” said Yellow Pearl.

“Who knows? I sure as sugar don’t. I like the Diamonds and the Diamonds asked me, and so, hey! I’m here!” Spinel stretched her smile ear to ear. Honestly, she wondered why too. “Steven must’ve did a number of this place if it’s getting White Diamond to smile like that.”

“He established peace on Homeworld,” said Blue Pearl.

“But then Pink Steven went back to Earth,” sighed Yellow Pearl, disappointed. She too missed the young boy. She recomposed herself. “I suppose we should be going then. Follow us, Spinel.”

“After you, sugar,” said Spinel.

Just as they were told, the two Pearls showed Spinel around the new rooms. Spinel admired the enormous rooms and their functions with Blue Diamond’s Extraction Chamber being her favorite. She jumped inside in cannonball fashion, splashing her escorts. Blue Pearl didn’t mind being splashed but Yellow Pearl’s hair was messed up by it. 

Spinel made faces to the faces on the walls whom tried to hold their laughter. They whispered about the new Gem behind her back. It was a lot of new things for Spinel too look at. As the Pearl lead her into the palace, in silence, Spinel couldn’t help but think back to Steven and the Earth. And Pink Diamond. Spinel shook her head to get rid of the thought quickly. Blue Pearl noticed and Spinel put on a cheeky grin to distract her. Spinel had high hopes for the new setting, but she couldn’t help also having doubts.

Walking down the hallway of the palace, Spinel could vaguely hear the Diamonds off in the distance, giggling and trying to keep quiet. White Diamond poked her head out of the room they were in and spotted Spinel and the others coming. She signaled her fellow Diamonds to come out. They blocked the doorway.

“Spinel, we’re happy you made it!” White Diamond grinned.

“Really?” Spinel asked.

“Of course, we’ve prepared a special treat for you to commemorate you’re arrival,” said Blue Diamond. “Now, it was a bit rushed.”

“We did have only a moment’s notice. But we put care into it,” said Yellow Diamond. Spinel’s eyes were gleaming with anticipation; Yellow Diamond blushed.

They flourished their hands. “TAADAA!” They cheered.

It was Pink Diamond’s room, Spinel knew it well, but with an added delight. Colorful bits of paper were scattered on the ground. It was confetti but none of the Homeworld Gems knew what it served to humans. The bits were colorful but also sparkling with glitter. Spinel’s eyes widened with delight.

“This will be your new room,” said White Diamond. “It was Pink’s old room. W-We know you’re not Pink Diamond, but this room is pink and so are you!”

“But if you don’t like it we can always make a new room for you,” said Yellow Diamond quickly.

Spinel didn’t say anything yet. The Diamonds were worried.

“Oh, Yellow, White. This wasn’t a good idea. We should’ve waited for a new room to be made,” whimpered Blue Diamond on the edge of tears, again.

“No! It’s not that!” Spinel assured them before they started to panic. She went back to the room, inside, and looked around.

It was pink. It was also Pink’s room. Spinel should’ve had her memories of the Diamond come back but she was surprised to discover that the only thing on her mind was the brightly colors papers on the ground. When she tried to think back to the Garden she became distracted by the glitter. It was strange. Spinel knew where she was, and who the room once belonged too, but she didn’t see Pink inside. Pink wasn’t there. There was an awkwardness to be sure but nothing too painful. 

“I like it,” said Spinel to the Diamonds. Their smiles outshined the glitter on the ground. 

“Oh that makes me so happy! Oh! And just to make sure you won’t feel alone, we picked a room that was not only Pink but also occupied already,” said White Diamond. Her smile faded quickly after. She started out of the room.

“The Pearl whose room this is too has an issue with White. She’ll be back once we leave,” said Yellow Diamond.

“Wait!” Spinel shouted to the leaving Diamond. She put on a sincere smile. “Thank you for the room.”

White Diamond smiled, as did Yellow and Blue. They waved goodbye to Spinel and left with their Pearls. 

For a short time Spinel was indeed by herself. The Pebbles were there watching her from a far, not yet brave enough to introduce themselves. She waited until finally there was a knock on the door. It opened to reveal a pink Pearl with a single eye.

“Hello, you must be Spinel,” said Pink Pearl.

Spinel was stricken into silence.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

Spinel was unable to speak. Her face was flushed with color. The Gem, Spinel’s roommate, was beautiful.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 218

Last time, Videl got destroyed in her first-round match with Spopovitch.    Well, not literally destroyed.  I forgot what kind of show this is.  Spopo just beat her up pretty badly, to the point where Goku headed out to get her a senzu bean.    Backstage, Mr. Satan is so mad at Spopovitch that he takes all the press microphones and crushes them up into a ball.   Make no mistake, Mr. Satan is no one you wanna mess with.   He’s a weakling on this show, but only because the heroes can all fly and blow up whole cities.  

This also underscores just how strong Spopovitch must be, because Videl’s supposed to be even stronger than Mr. Satan, so she could probably crush twice as many microphones, and she still lost.

The thing is, Spopovitch was no match for Mr. Satan at the 24th Tenkaichi Budokai, held several years ago.  

He also looked a lot healthier back then.

So how could Spopovitch have beaten Videl so easily?   Mr. Satan has no idea, so his only guess is that Videl just got extremely careless.   And I guess that’s not entirely untrue, but I don’t think he’d be saying that if he had watched her match.

So what’s holding up that senzu bean?   Well, Goku wants to eat first.  Okay, fine, but did Korin and Yajirobe just happen to have all this food lying around?   Well, Yajirobe’s here, so maybe it makes sense.   Remember when Korin only ate like one fish every five years or whatever it was?    Back then, he had a whole pot full of senzu beans, and nowadays he barely seems to have any.     Blame Yajirobe.

Korin wonders why a dead guy even needs to eat, and Goku explains that he doesn’t, but the food is tastier here in the living world.   That sounds kind of tragic, really.   Anyway, he wants to sample as much cuisine as he can before he leaves Earth for good.

Finally, Goku returns with the beans (they only had three, thanks a lot, Yajirobe), and Gohan asks everyone to hold off on his upcoming match with Kibito until he can give one to Videl.   

While all of this is going on, we check in on Vegeta, who doesn’t really care about Shin, Kibitio, Spopovitch, or that Yamu guy.   He’s got a one-on-one match against Goku, and that’s all that matters to him.  Hold that thought.

So Gohan gives Videl the bean, which is kind of a tense moment, because Videl trusts Gohan, but Mr. Satan thinks he’s giving her candy, and the people taking care of Videl have no idea what this is about.   

So, this right here sums up what makes this ship so romantic.   Everything Gohan does around this girl is mysterious and wonderful, and she’s totally blown away by it every time.   Meanwhile, for Gohan, all of this stuff is no big deal, or things he wants to keep quiet because he’s worried about how she’ll react.   “Um, hey, my dad got some magic healing beans from a cat he knows, nbd.”     For Videl, this is all like that “A Whole New World” number from Aladdin, only Gohan’s worried that she might not like the pattern on the carpet.    

Anyway, he leaves and she swallows the bean, and she’s healed immediately, and it’s adorable.   

So now it’s finally time for the fourth match, Great Saiyaman vs. Kibito, only Gohan lost his head wrapping when he turned Super Saiyan last episode.    So when his friends from high school spot him, he just looks like Gohan in sunglasses, and they realize it’s him.  The funny thing is that they don’t quite figure out that Gohan is really the Great Saiyaman.   He might only be impersonating the real Saiyaman to enter this tournament anonymously.    Come to think of it, Gohan’s whole disguised entry in the tournament here is sort of a callback to his mom’s appearance at the 23rd Budokai.   Huh.

Okay, so Toei didn’t know what to call Great Saiyaman’s head wrapping either.   Good.    I kept wanting to call it a turban but it really doesn’t look like one, and I don’t think “bandana” or “do-rag” works either.    Anyway, Gohan hears his friends cheering for him and realizes his secret has been exposed, so he tosses away his sunglasses.

NO YOU DID NOT WORK “SO HARD” TO DISGUISE YOURSELF.    YOU BLEW IT WITH VIDEL IN LIKE TWO SECONDS, AND YOU SPENT THIS WHOLE DAY HANGING AROUND YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY, WHO ALL CALL YOU “GOHAN” IN FRONT OF EVERYONE, EVEN WHILE YOU’RE IN COSTUME.  THEN YOU TURNED SUPER SAIYAN IN FRONT OF EVERYONE HERE, AND YOU FORGOT TO PUT YOUR DISGUISE BACK ON.    ARGH!

So with that out of the way, Gohan turns his attention to Kibito, who immediately demands that he turn into a Super Saiyan.   Dude, he already did that last time.    Were you not paying attention?

Nearby, Yamu and Spopovitch are scanning the ring with some doohickey of theirs.     It apparently senses energy.    Is it just me, or does it look like they pasted Spopo’s head on after drawing the rest of this cel?     It just looks kind of silly to me somehow.    I bet if you could look at the cels for this episode, there’d be one of just Spopo’s head for this.    I’m not sure why, since they don’t move in this scene.  

Speaking of that, I always wonder about fans who collect animation cels.   Like, where do you go to buy those?    There’s probably thousands of them out there, but it’s weird to me, because I think of it as a very limited supply.   Like if I got into that sort of thing, I guess I’d want some cels of Perfect Cell or Movie 12, but I wouldn’t be surprised if all the really good ones got collected years ago.   But there’s probably a ton of Yamu and Spopovitch cels out there, especially ones that don’t look very cool, like just a picture of Yamu’s left arm or something.    Can you buy those?   Or do they even bother putting them up for sale?    Or have they all been bought up by one devoted Spopovitch fangirl?

Gohan isn’t eager to play along, but Piccolo gives him a telepathic nudge to cooperate, since he’s the only one who knows who Kibito and Shin really are.    He doesn’t know why they want Gohan to transform, but it must be important.    Shin then asks the others to stand by for whatever happens next.

Vegeta demands an exaplanation, and Piccolo informs him that Shin is the Supreme Kai, who stands above all other Kamis and Kais.

This seems to genuinely impress Vegeta, which I find odd, since he’s barely had anything to do with all of these godly types.    It always seemed odd to me that he knew what Piccolo fusing with Kami would mean, since he’d never interacted with Kami up to that point.    And he’s never met any of the Kais.    Maybe someone told him how King Kai trained Goku to defeat him and Nappa, but that would be the only point of reference I could see.

Meanwhile, there’s a match going on, or there’s supposed to be.    The fans had to wait just to get both of these guys in the ring, and now they’re just staring at each other while Gohan decides whether to transform or not.    Chi-Chi scolds the crowd, saying that her son’s about to do something cool, so everyone should just be friggin’ patient.   

Also, Videl is back, just in time to see this.    And she’s wearing the “FIGHT” shirt, which is my favorite Videl look. Well, most of it, anyway.

And... yeah, I can’t get over Spopovitch’s head.    What is the deal with this?

Anyway, Gohan’s like “I guess I’ll have to quit school.”   And he starts gearing up to turn Super Saiyan.    You’re making the right decision, Gohan.    The awesome decision.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S1 Ep 43: Mokuba Simply Has No Survival Instincts

While it surely wasn’t intentional, since the 00′s hadn’t finished their course at the time this show aired, the storyline of Kaiba, the moodiest millennial of them all, the boy who works his ass off, wins every award, studies hard, and then fails at every aspect of his life when he actually goes out to try and get his career on track is just so very millennial. It’s a pretty familiar story--trained to be a shark in a small swimming pool, dreams as big and high as the moon, but occasionally completely disconnected with what’s going on around us because we’re trapped in some MMO videogame. Again.

We’ve already had quite a few episodes that dove into Yugi’s psyche, including one where we literally walked through his labyrinth brain full of traps and real legit problems as he said “nonono this is all really just fine.” But, this is an arc that’s all about Kaiba, who is about to be devoured by the same insane pipe dream ideas he worked so hard to create.

Mai and Joey suddenly realize who the other is and then just decide “youknow lets not duel” and I praised the sun because how pointless would that have been?

The Mokuba orange text is very close to the Joey yellow. Sorry if any of you are colorblind, I never realized that Mokuba would have so many speaking lines when I started this. Maybe I’ll make him a light blue at some point?

I know I titled it as Mokuba has no survival instincts but honestly it’s every single person on this show.

(read more)

I only say I’m too afraid to check the skyrim mod forums because most those mods are a little too kinky for me.

Like...

Why didn’t Bakura use THAT card back on the island? Holy cow. It’s a good thing Joey isn’t cursed with the ring because everyone would be very super dead.

So they trot along across the desert and not much happens. I guess a sand worm or something? It’s just a desert.

And like do I even need to make the obvious joke or is it already--

No, not yet.

Anyways, what’s at the other end of the desert, hm?

We are SO CLOSE to finishing this season how is there ANOTHER MAZE!? There’s only like 6 episodes left we could have been maze free I just...whoever was in charge of maze design for this show worked overtime.

God bless, storyboarder. This is a frame I caught completely by accident--most people would not be able to notice that Joey just takes two hands--one on Yugi’s head, the other on his chest and just pushes him completely over like he’s one of those roly-poly toys.

The hell Mai? She is the age to date Joey’s Dad.

This labyrinth is different than Yugi’s, in that it is crowded by a bunch of huge inconvenient tanks that all want to kill them for some reason. I have no idea how any of these tanks ever turn a corner.

Mazes seem to be the most boodthirsty thing in this universe--can’t pass through a maze without every law of physics/tanks wanting to murder the hell out of you

Imagine the David Attenborough documentary on this family of wild tanks.

And then this weird thing happened--as if we weren’t already seeing the weirdest collection of things that Kaiba chose to focus on in this magical world where he could have made anything else happen.

It’s Marie Antoinette Mokuba. She’s just here. To exist.

Speaking of bad ideas, Kaiba is getting crucified.

Every anime ever made just acting out the Passion for kicks and giggles, it ain’t even Easter yet.

So quick side story about bad ideas and stuff, because sometimes we spend YEARS of our lives trying to make something that is not very good work and it just doesn’t--it just doesn’t happen. I work in freelance so I see that a lot. I see it happen to other people, I’ve seen it happen PLENTY to myself.

I knew this guy, I’ve known him my whole life (and he’s way super old so he won’t read this blog) and for the entirety that I’ve been alive he’s been trying to make an operating system to compete with Windows. Now I’m from the Bay Area, so this isn’t SO weird. There’s this whole crazy world outside of Linux where everyone and their mule is making an OS that will change the Silicon Valley landscape and make them the next Bill Gates. It’s kind of like “here’s my neat app idea” but like 2 steps more ascended.

For about 40 years, this guy has *and still is* making this OS. 40 years. But his OS is now like 40 years behind the times because he never released it in any form because it wasn’t done yet, it wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t ready.

One of the most important things I’ve ever learned is that whatever you may be working on right now will not be your Magnum Opus. It just won’t. So finish whatever you’re on and move on to the next thing. When I was told this, I was working on my first comic and although I wasn’t really aware--it was hella not great. But, it was a story I grew up writing, so I was hella attached to it. So, it could never be perfect. It mattered so much to me to get it right, and I was so worried about what other people would think, that I worked on it for about 4 years before I ran into the OS guy and I realized “I need to just post this and move on or this will be my endless OS”

Like, this is all a silly story of climbing through Kaiba’s bad fiction, but sometimes our simple ideas can turn into parasites, and we become so obsessed with them, that our good efforts are robbed of ever getting a chance to finish something good. Like this is Kaiba’s one big huge sprawling terrible video game idea and all of his friends and his brother are here to basically give him an intervention. Also to save him from the guys who are still heading Kaiba corp for some reason.

Anyways, now these guys are in a generic carriage because they got to the Camelot section of Kaiba’s cyberworld because this boy could not focus on one single genre.

Whatever because inside this castle is DINNER

The vague orange oblong fruit is back! The gravity melons! We still aren’t sure what they are--because they could be mangoes but they’re orange like oranges. huh...

Anyways, it’s about time for this show to get dark.

So this is a game mechanic of playing the card game Yugioh--so like...it actually does make sense why it’s here but like. This is just medieval The Lottery, huh? Is Kaiba getting ritually sacrificed by his own video game? Ritually sacrificed WHILE getting crucified? For a DRAGON? It’s like right in front of him that his Dragon Obsession has maybe gone too far but I assume that once this is over he’ll be right back on ship dragon.

I just like to think that, for the past few years, Kaiba’s just been drawing birds and medieval stuff in class and being all “it’s going in my sweet ass video game, Joey, it’s not a princess, it’s Princess Atena, and she’s gonna get sacrificed to satisfy the Mythic Dragon” but none of his classmates ever remembered any of this lore because their brains kept getting wiped by some Season Zero Pharaoh nonsense.

This color scheme on the walls is just...that’s lime green and lilac all right.

Anyway, how generic 90′s fantasy anime can we make the armor here?

None of them use swords.

Scratch that--Pharaoh would know how to use a sword. For the rest of them the weapon seems kind of moot because they’re all card wizards?

So off they go, Joey in a minidress made for...breastfeeding? I guess? And the rest in matching armor suits. Seems like Kaiba’s game is programmed to recognize and harass Joey just as part of it’s core code.

OH.

So there was a lot of buildup to that happening and I blinked and missed it and had to rewind, it happened so quickly.

Man if they had just stayed indoors none of this would have happened.

So Mokuba is in a 7 layer ballgown for the rest of this show right? I feel like the hoop skirt would make it very difficult to get crucified in. So, at least he has that.

As they bring this ancient bird to life with the time card, we get to see what Tristan and Tea have been up to--mostly just pushing stuff.

So when Tea does ballet she’s on the bottom just tossing everyone else around, right? That girl is jacked.

So, that was a lot of random things in succession--Next week, on Yugioh:

Does Kaiba turn into a dragon, finally, like he’s always wanted? Will the next environment in this randomized video game land them right in the middle of a Fallout Post-Apocalypse? Or will it be in the middle of a Petz kitten-adoption center? Or, will it be the ultimate challenge for these kids--in a Japanese High School visual novel sim where they actually have to attend class?