#like yeah kevin took things a bit far

[apollos-boyfriend]

kevin mcallister gets criticized for his choices so much but like. home alone does such a good job to lay out why he doesn’t do the obvious. the phone lines aren’t working, so he can’t call the police. and even if he could, he wouldn’t, because the movie clearly establishes that he fears the police due to having gotten caught shoplifting and being chased down by a cop (additionally, we as the audience are shown the police’s incompetence and unwillingness to help). he doesn’t get help from his neighbors because none of them are home, and the one neighbor he knows is busy dealing with his own issues. this movie does nothing but lay out chekov’s gun yet every year i see the worst lest media literate takes imaginable. c’mon guys.

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2 Friends, 3 Babies.

Several months prior, two friends are texting: 

Kirsty: *Hey babe* 

Kate: *Yeah?* 

Kirsty: *<Posts picture of a positive pregnancy test>* 

Kate: *EEEEEEE! For real.  Congrats!   We are catching up, tomorrow!* 

Three months later, the following text message discussion occurred: 

Kate: *Oh my god, you’ll never guess what!* 

Kirsty: *What?* 

Kate: *<Posts picture of positive pregnancy test>* 

Kirsty: *OH MY GOD!!!!* 

Kate: *Yep… we do everything together, even babies!* 

Kate:  *But… I’ve got 2 in me!* 

Kirsty: *Twins?  WOWWWW!* 

Kirsty and Kate grew up in a small town, and did everything together, they both grew up together, went to school and college together, even worked at the same job together.   They were more like sisters than friends, and now with their joint pregnancies, they were doing antenatal classes together.  Kate had married Kevin – another childhood friend – and yes, you will notice the prolific number of ‘K’ names between the group – one of the quirks of living in a close-knit community, sometimes things get a bit well… weird.   

In this case, generationally, each family collectively agreed to use the next letter of the alphabet to name their children.   No one knows how far back it started, but their parents’ friends’ group was made up of a Joyce, Joseph, Janice and James.   They had a few friends like John and Jack… and a few from the older generation, Ian and Irene.   Ken was an unfortunate teenage pregnancy incident between one of Kirsty and Kate’s mothers’ friends, born much older than the rest of the generation thanks to a lack of sufficient education about sexual practices in the school system. 

Tom – Kirsty’s husband – was the odd one out – he was an import into the area.  Kirsty met him at university, and he was soon welcomed into the community with open arms as they dated and eventually married. 

Even though the 2 ladies were frequently seen to be almost identical in their style and demeanour, as time progressed in their respective pregnancies, the obviousness of their pregnant condition separated them.   Kirsty managed to keep a very petite bump, it was very small and contained.   Kate on the other hand had surpassed Kirsty’s belly measurement by her 5th month, Kirsty’s 8th – looking as if full term with a single baby before Kirsty had even given birth. 

Kate was thrilled – and to be honest a little apprehensive – when Kirsty asked her to be her birthing partner – she was very aware that whatever happened to Kirsty she would have to do herself in only a matter of weeks afterwards, but the two of them felt that they were well prepared between watching birth videos together, taking birth classes together, and generally being good emotional support to each other through the trials of heartburn, morning sickness and cravings. 

As time progressed, and the inevitable day finally arrived, Kirsty called Kate to tell her that she was certain she was in labour, and she should come over. 

Kate knocked briefly on the door and walked in – she was past needing to wait for her friend to come and let her in, but as she took her time turning around to close the door behind her – always conscious of her bump potentially knocking into things - she shouted her hello into the house. 

“Come on in” shouted Kirsty in response, as Kate turned back around and walked down the small corridor into the room where the sound came from. 

She immediately stopped in her tracks, her hand flying instinctively to her mouth in unexpected shock. 

“Kirsty, you’re naked!” exclaimed Kate. 

Kirsty wasn’t exactly naked.   She was covered by a dressing gown, but it was open rather than tied, her body and hair evidently wet like she had just been in the bath or shower.   She was sat on her birth ball, slowly rotating her hips in a figure eight motion as Kate rounded the corner into the room. 

She looked up and managed a smile, “Yeah and I’ve got a baby wanting to come out of me, so I win this round” 

Kate couldn’t help but giggle, when almost on cue, Kirsty’s face scrunched up as she brushed back the fabric of her robe from the right hand side of her belly and clamped her hand on it, rubbing it with slow circles.    Kate watched enraptured as Kirsty’s belly tensed and for a brief moment, an outline of a part of the baby was seen poking out.   She gasped without realising. 

Kirsty, seeing this happen, blew out her breath as the contraction passed and smiled once again.   “I take it you saw little bub’s butt?”   Kate nodded.   “Yeah its crazy, been watching it all morning as my belly tightens up.   I suppose it’s a downside of a small bump... not much free room in there I guess?” 

Kate asked “So how long have you been in labour for?” 

Kirsty looked up as if she was trying to work something out in her head.  “Well... I was straddled riding Tom last night” 

“Hey, do you not have any secrets!” shouted Tom from the next room. 

“Of course not baby, we are friends!” shouted Kirsty, grinning maniacally. “As I was saying before being rudely interrupted, I was riding my man like a beast, when I felt some contractions.   Not sure if the baby was fed up of being juggled around or some magic happened... when the magic happened, but they didn’t let up, not like any of those Braxton Hicks things I’d been having.” 

Kate nodded, her hand instinctively moving to her belly to feel the movement of the babies inside her at the mention of Braxton Hicks contractions, she was only 6 months along, and she knew she had those to look forward to when the babies had grown a little more – if that was possible – she was bigger than Kirsty right now, and Kirsty was in labour! 

Kirsty continued.  “I managed to get a couple of hours sleep, but at around about... oh... 5 I think I gave up after watching the clock for an hour and feeling the occasional cramp.   I knew they weren’t going away at this point and got excited you know.” 

Kate nodded as Kirsty continued.   “I got up to go to the toilet” - cue knowing nods from Kate - “had a little bite to eat, and just sat and watched TV for a few hours feeling the build-up and progression, having a good moan and groan to myself.   After Tom got up and noticed I wasn’t in bed, it had been several hours, and things had started to get a bit fruity, let me tell you.  Headed for a nice warm bath to try and get comfortable when I got in touch with you.  Had about an hour in there – it helped; I'll admit – but I figure it's about time to go to the birth centre.   So here we are, about an hour later, Tom has – I hope – finished packing, and I need to just get dressed a bit so I can go out in public.” 

Tom poked his head around the door.  “We’re all set – Hi Kate!” 

“Hi Tom” Kate held her hand up in greeting. 

Kirsty stands from the ball, arching her back as she simultaneously holds the underside of her belly and pulls, lifting her round midsection up.  “That feels so much better let me tell you, nothing like it to ease back pain.  Baby’s got no decency to stay well away from nerves.”   She shuffles back towards a chair where a dress is draped over the back of it, shrugging off the dressing gown into a pile on the floor behind her, she grabs the dress and starts to pull it over her head, the fabric gathering above her bump until she's pulled it over her head and able to pull it down. 

“No underwear?” queried Kate, as Kirsty shook a finger at her, dropping her head and grimacing, evident that another contraction had started to ramp up.   Kate moved over to her friend and got in as close as her own bump would let her, rubbing Kirsty’s back.   That seemed to help, and her tight, scowling expression relaxed a little as she felt the muscles of her back being softly massaged. 

Tom walked back into the room with a bag slung over his shoulder with their hospital things in, taking his wife's hands in his own, he slowly rubbed his thumbs over the back of her two hands whilst whispering to her that she was doing well, and she was well on her way to meeting their baby. 

As the contraction reached its peak and finally ebbed away, Kirsty felt she could breathe again, huffing out her breath with a groan.   The contractions were definitely getting worse as time went on... she figured it was going to be as much, but she was secretly hoping that they would reach a peak with their pain and intensity, and eventually just go on longer and longer.   She figured in her own head that was too much to ask for. 

The three made their way to the car – Kirsty and Tom just having upgraded their small hatchback they shared as a couple to something larger with the baby on the way.  Kate settled into the passenger seat as she pushed the seat back as much as she could, Kirsty sat in the back row, on the assumption that it would allow her a bit more freedom of movement should she need it during the ride – she didn’t like the idea of getting trapped in the passenger seat and be surrounded by all the dashboard and centre consoles and not being able to move around, even shuffle from left to right. 

Tom opened the boot, threw in the bag he was carrying, and promised he would be quick as he dashed back into the house.   Two pairs of pregnant women’s eyes followed his movements as he retreated.   He returned a few moments later with the car seat for the baby, and placed that in the back as well, not wanting to set it up in position for now in case Kirsty wanted to move around. 

“Lets go have a baby!” he yelled, the emotions he had bottled up finally releasing into a yell of triumph that he and his wife were on their way.    

As the engine burst into life, another contraction started assaulting Kirsty’s belly.   She groaned, resulting in Tom turning around before pulling away.   “Just drive!” Kirsty growled a little, completely unintentionally.   Noticing Tom’s expression drop, she took a breath and added, in a more reasonable tone “Sooner we get moving, the sooner we get there.   I’m expecting a few more of these on the way, and Kate can help me cope.  Just want you to focus on the road to get us there in one piece.”  Tom nodded and pulled away, glancing back at the rear-view mirror to see Kirsty lying back, rubbing furiously at her belly. 

Tom set a decent pace, keeping to the speed limit, but weaving between lanes to keep moving and not end up in queues.   Kirsty went through several contractions in the car, typically when they ramped up to higher intensities, she leaned her head on the seat in front and pushed her hand forward, allowing Kate to grab it and hold on as she squeezed, often grasping Kirsty’s hand with both of hers.   Tom kept the compliments and encouragement going all the way through the drive - “You’re doing well baby, keep on doing that, breathe nice and deep, pant out the pain.”  Kate chimed in at appropriate times “That’s it Kirst, squeeze my hand nice and tight, just keep on thinking about meeting the baby.” 

Kirsty shuffled from side to side in the seat as she tried to keep comfortable, struggling with the sensations of labour getting more and more pronounced as the drive went on.   Tom was of course driving as quick as he could, which resulted in one rapid stop as a car appeared in front of him unexpectedly.    The stop-start nature of the journey, coupled with her own hormones, and the surprising heat generated by her own pregnant body left her feeling nauseous, so she wound down the window and let the cool air blast into her face for a while.   

At one point, Kirsty had almost gotten to her wits end, tired of sitting in the same position, the pain in her lower back becoming more and more intense as the drive and her labour progressed.    She managed to get her body rotated in the seat, so she had her knees pressed against the seat, her belly sticking out into the area where she was sitting a few moments earlier, and her hands grasping the headrest as she moaned a sorrowful sounding wail, a contraction almost breaking her.   Tom had little he could do to assist, and even Kate couldn’t really get her hand back far enough, only really brushing hers against her friends thigh, so both were left looking through the rear view mirror at the labouring woman and feeling powerless to help other than to keep on telling her that they were getting closer and closer to the birthing centre. 

When the group were almost there, about 2-3 minutes from the hospital, Kirsty let out a growl which suddenly turned into an exclaimation.  “GrrrrrrooooohSHIT!”   Kate turned around as best she could, and Tom, all credit to him, didn’t take his eyes off the road but asked what had happened. 

“Water broke... I think” replied Kirsty speaking in a pained tone, eyes scrunched up in the middle of a contraction, she pulled her hands out from between her legs and brought up fingers that were glistening with fluid. 

Tom gasped, asking “Do I stop, do I go... were almost there?” 

Kate looked at him.  “Get to the birthing centre, I don’t think she's in any risk of pushing the baby out right here.” 

Kirsty answered silently by shaking her head.  Gasping a “go” as best she could, Tom got the message and drove on. 

Kirsty squirmed in the seat, feeling the wetness of her clothes cling to her.   She mumbled a quick “Sorry guys” as she lifted her backside off the seat and pulled at her dress, lifting it up above her bump, exposing her lower half and sitting back down.  “That was uncomfortable.”    Tom could only stare in disbelief as Kate smiled.  “Whatever helps you cope.” 

As the car arrived in the car park, Kate offered to go in and get things ready for the couple, presuming that Kirsty would need a moment to get herself tidied up and out of the car.   Of course, being 6 months pregnant with twins, and sporting a large belly herself didn’t exactly mean she was able to jump out of the car herself and head over quickly either. 

She eventually managed to extract herself from the seat and with a half run-half waddle she pushed the door to the birthing centre open to be greeted by a receptionist. 

“Hi” said Kate.   “We rang ahead, got a baby coming.   Waters just broken on the journey in.” 

The receptionist looked at Kate and got the wrong end of the stick, thinking she was the woman in labour. 

“Please take a seat ma’am and I'll bring the admittance forms over to you... or do you feel that you would need a wheelchair and to go straight to the assessment room?” 

“Wh...wha?” Kate was taken aback momentarily until she put 2 and 2 together.  “Oh... no... my friend is in labour.   I’ve got a fair old while to go, still only 6 months along.”   Kate was not sure if it was the frantic nature of the drive into the area, but this set her off giggling.   Kirsty is going to love hearing this. 

“I think the wheelchair could be useful for our labouring mamma though,” noted Kate as the receptionist nodded.  “You should see the couple in the car park.” 

An orderly took one of the wheelchairs which were stacked to the side and wheeled it out to greet the labouring couple, as the receptionist asked for Kirsty's name, brought up her records on the screen and clicked a few locations on the screen, announcing that she was all set. 

The orderly came in backwards, wheeling Kirsty in front of him in reverse, Tom following with the bag close behind the small group.   As the orderly spun the chair around so Kirsty faced the receptionist, Kirsty let out a slight smile and a nod of greeting. 

The receptionist greeted her with her own beaming smile and wished her good luck, advising the orderly to take the group to assessment room 2.   Tom and Kate followed on behind the wheelchair bound Kirsty as the three of them and the orderly entered a room.    

“I’ll come back and get the chair when you’ve been assessed, just sit tight and our midwife will be here in just a couple of minutes... or if you’d like a hand up, I can help?” 

“Please, help me stand” asked Kirsty.   The orderly and Tom helped her get up whilst Kate wheeled the chair to the side of the room.  “Thanks, I’ve been sitting for a while in the car, I just want to move around.” 

“Not a problem” the orderly smiled.   He pointed over to buzzer on the wall.  “There’s an intercom there if you need to reach reception, but you shouldn’t have much of a wait.” 

As the orderly leaves, Kirsty’s hand goes to her bump again as she waddles over to grasp onto a handrail on the wall.   Her walk is noticeably bow-legged as she tries to avoid the damp patch on the back her dress which is clearly visible from behind.  “I just realised how soaked I am now the dress isn't stuck to me,” she manages, between huff and puff breaths as she focuses on the contraction. 

“Hopefully they have the pool you wanted ready, then you can take off the dress and just relax in the water.” thought Tom, speaking out loud. 

“Sounds heavenly...” Kirsty replied, holding herself up with one hand as she bent over with the pain, clutching at her belly with the other.  “These have gotten a LOT worse since the waters went.  Like someone's taken away the cushion I had.”   She vocalised a low moan as she worked through the contraction. 

There was a knock at the door, and the midwife the couple had been dealing with during their prenatal care walked through, she was known as Suzi.   Definitely an out of towner as she was not really much older than Kirsty and Kate, but didn’t follow the same naming convention of those in the town. 

She noticed Kirsty working her way through a contraction and waited for it to finish – Kirsty, wrapping her arms around Tom as she stood with a wide stance, moving her hips left and right as she vocalised a low moan.   As the contraction finished, and she managed to stand back up fully and look around at the new entrant into the room, Kirsty’s eyes rose up and met Suzi’s, who smiled in response.  “So how's my mother and sneaky little baby then?” 

“We’re fine, and I think baby really wants to show itself now” replied Kirsty, her hand rubbing her bump. 

What Suzi referred to was Kirstys apparent lack of bump.  All of the ultrasound scans and other checks that she had went through suggested the baby was growing normally, and in fact was suggesting that it was going to be very big when it was born – but her apparent lack of bump was baffling.  Suzi could only shrug when asked to explain it, and just replied saying that sometimes bumps just don’t pop out much.  Her uterus, and subsequently the baby growing within it, seemed to be quite deep in her body, so the outward signs were significantly less than many other women, but everything was perfectly normal and not to worry about it. 

“Can I check you over?” asked Suzi, as Kirsty nodded, adding “Do you mind if I take off this dress... it’s a bit wet?”    

“If it would help, go right ahead, want me to bring you something else to wear?” she asked. 

“No... no thanks.   Feeling a bit hot and bothered if I’m honest – hoping a bit of naked time might help cool me down.”   Kirsty blushed as she said it, not exactly sure what the etiquette would be for a situation like this. 

“Hey... you’re the labouring mamma... you call the shots” grinned Suzi as she offered her hand to help Kirsty onto the bed.   Kirsty hiked her dress up over her bump as she had done before in the car and then took Suzi’s hand and Toms and managed to get herself on the bed.   Tom lifted off her dress and folded it over, putting it away in a plastic bag to be washed later. 

Suzi donned her gloves, and with a “OK, deep breath in” she put her hands between Kirsty’s legs and into her vagina.   Kirsty squirmed a little as she groaned at the unpleasant sensation but a few moments later, Suzi withdrew her fingers and pulled off the gloves.  “You’re doing well... at 6 centimetres, so still a way to go, but I’m happy to get you admitted... no need to go home.” 

Kirsty breathed a sigh of relief.   She wasn’t expecting to get turned away, but she’d read all sorts of horror stories of women who had laboured all day and found that they were only 2-3 centimetres dilated when they got to the birth centre and were sent back home for longer.   Frankly she didn’t think she could manage another car ride. 

“I’ll be back in a few minutes with a gown you can wear... don’t think you’d want to move down to our delivery suite in your current state of undress” Suzi turned and walked out of the room with a grin. 

Kirsty swung her legs by the side of the bed and sat and chatted a little while with Kate and Tom.  As the time passed, another contraction started to grow, so she closed her eyes and focused on rubbing her belly, reaching out for Tom, who grabbed her hand in response, as Kirsty was left grimacing in pain. Kate looked on concerned, not only for the simple fact that her good friend was in pain, but seeing how much the pain was having a visible effect on Kirsty, she was worried that she would have it all to come. 

Kirsty came out of the contraction looking up at her friend who was rubbing her belly sheepishly.  “Hope I'm not scaring you...” she managed with a smile.   Kate lied, saying no, putting on a brave face so as not to let her friend worry when she needed to concentrate on herself.   “Babies are just having a wrestle in here I think, don’t know what it is, but they’re crazy active right now... I don’t know, perhaps I'm just noticing it more considering the situation.”  

There was a knock at the door interrupting their heart to heart, as Suzi walked back in the room, closing the door behind her, ripping open a plastic wrapper as she walked towards Kirsty and handed her the gown she had just unpacked.   Holding her free hand and shoulder, Suzi helped Kirsty off the bed as she pulled the clothing over her head. 

“Ready when you are, let's go have a baby!” Kirsty seemed suddenly full of energy, knowing she was moving on with her labour.   Suzi nodded and led the group out of the room, down the corridor and into the delivery suite area of the building – Kirsty stopping midway to hold onto the wall as a contraction worked its way through her.  After making sure she was OK, they continued their way to a door, which was opened in front of the group leading to a low-lit room, the area dominated by the pool in the middle of the room.    Kirsty’s eyes lit up seeing the inviting water. 

Kirsty took off the gown again, waiting a little while as Suzi strapped a monitor to her belly to monitor the contractions, and she was finally released to go into the water.    As she took Tom’s offered hand, her legs entered the water one after another with an audible splash.   Standing in the tub she rocked side to side as another contraction built up, her hands grasping both of Tom’s and squeezing tight.   Kirsty’s eyes were closed as she worked through it, until finally it passed and she sighed as she lowered herself down into the water, blissful relief evident on her face. 

Kirsty sat in the water with her legs butterflied out, soles together as she took in a deep breath, her hands working an ache in the underside of her belly.  The next contraction built up and it was clear that this felt different to Kirsty by the noises she was making – giving a low, humming noise rather than the grunts and groans she had been doing before.   She smiled as the contraction ebbed away, stating that she was so glad to be back in the water, it felt like the pains were so much less intense with the water to help. 

After the hectic run up to this point, suddenly everything was calm.   Over the course of the next hour, Kirsty worked her contractions in the tub, taking time out between the surges to find time to have a joke and conversation with Tom and Kate, the water doing what is should to mask the pain of the contractions.   Suzi popped in back and forth over the time and kept her notes, bringing in some gas and air for Kirsty as things picked up close to the end of the hour.   Kirsty took plenty of opportunity to breathe deeply on the mouthpiece, groaning with the contractions as they picked up intensity as the labour progressed. 

Things got more emotional as Kirsty entered transition though.   The pain had ramped up considerably, to the point where the water and gas and air wasn’t helping, Kirsty was starting to mumble to herself, focusing inward as she could do nothing but yell out as each contraction got to her, ramped up, and then seemed to only let go for a moment before its next friend gripped her. 

Tom was starting to fret, feeling helpless in the situation, whilst Kate was simply looking on aghast, finding her friend not coping well with the pain, and being concerned that she would need to go through this soon herself. 

Kirsty got Tom to get in the pool and hold her as she went through the contractions – she was starting to feel the ill effects of the late-stage labour, feeling all shaky and nauseous – but Tom’s presence, holding her, whispering to her that she was doing great, keeping her focused helped her to progress.  Thankfully for the transition phase, it didn’t last long, and after around 30 minutes, where Kirsty was getting well and truly fed up with the pain she suddenly felt the urge to push. 

Suzi leaned over the edge of the pool and managed to reach between Kirsty’s legs to check her dilation – sure enough, she was at 10cm and was good to go.   Both Tom and Kate let out sighs of relief knowing that the difficult transition period was finally over, and hoping that Kirsty getting to push would help her deal with the pain better – when she was back in control. 

The first push felt like heaven to Kirsty.   She could finally do something.   Tom sloshed around the pool to kneel down next to her shoulder and give her support, whilst Kirsty screamed like a banshee as she pushed, putting all the frustration she had just been through into a monumental effort to get things moving.   Kate moved around the pool to get a look, morbid curiosity ruling her thoughts at the moment.   She was very disappointed that Kirsty’s long, 10 second push showed absolutely no external effects whatsoever. 

Another push, then another and finally a fourth and suddenly Kate jumped.   “I’ve just seen it.”   Tom leaned over to glance between Kirstys legs and sure enough, as she pushed with a loud roar, her lips parted, and something could be seen in the gap it created.   As she let off the push the shape slipped away, but both Kate and Tom were buoyed by the result, the energy of which motivated Kirsty to keep on going. 

Over the course of the next 10 minutes, Kirsty put a monumental effort into pushing out her baby, and felt success as she reached down and felt the shape growing and growing with each set of effort she put in. But something was wrong. She didn’t know if it was mothers intuition, or something she felt when she was expecting to feel the head of the baby, but she called Suzi over – who had been pleased with the progress so far and started to prepare her notes whilst Tom and Kate were keeping Kirsty motivated. 

Suzi popped over and took a quick glimpse between Kirstys legs, just to get a shock. She didn’t let on too much, but urged Kirsty to push when she felt the next contraction, waiting with baited breath for it to happen. It didn’t take long until Kirsty was once more pulling on her legs in the tub and pushing out the mass between her legs. Suzi’s fears were confirmed when she realised that the thing which was coming out was not the babys head, but its behind. 

“Kirsty... your baby is breech” Suzi infomed Kirsty, trying to keep a calm tone in her voice. Tom reacted first. 

“Does this change anything? Does she need a section or something for that?” 

Kirsty soon reacted to the change in atmosphere in the room, gasping hard, releasing her push mid contraction and wailing out loud as her body reactively forced her to keep on pushing.  

Suzi did her best to keep all in the room calm and on the immediate need to focus on Kirsty’s labour. “Nothing needs to change. You can still push out this baby naturally.... it’s just coming out butt first... Kate or Tom – when it’s time, I’ll need you to support the baby, as we will need to get mum out of the tub and more vertical.”  

Kirsty interrupted “I need Tom... this hurts so bad.” 

Kate nodded “Guess that answers that question then... best get my catcher’s mitt.” 

Suzi nodded. “Right... well, here’s our game plan. When the body is born, I’ll ask Kirsty to stand and use gravity to help give birth to the head. Kate, you support the baby as it comes out, and Kirsty – because the cord will potentially be caught between the emerging head and the body which is already outside, we need to focus on speed to deliver the head so the cord isn’t restricted for too long. I’m afraid you will need to push your hardest to get this head out of you as quick as you can. Do you think you can do it?” 

Kirsty nodded, not able to answer verbally as she immediately folded over to start her pushing on the next contraction. Not sure if it was Suzi’s dire warning or not, but she seemed to push with a lot more might than before, holding Tom’s hand and squeezing as hard as she could to get through the contraction. Suzi and Kate looked on at the baby emerging from between Kirsty’s legs. 

It was clear after this contraction that the thing which was coming out was the baby’s behind, as now the hips – legs folded up into the babys body – were clearly visible. What Kate found unusual was sheer size of the infants body which was stretching her friend open – the stretch was easily as big as any head she had seen on any of the ‘preparing for birth’ video’s she had seen – she looked over at Suzi who wasn’t reacting to the size, just focusing on the area between Kirstys legs to make sure things were going as they should. 

Kate shook her head, presuming she was worrying about nothing, and went back to rubbing a cloth on her friends head and giving her encouragement.  

Suzi jumped in now. “Hands and knees please. We need to be ready to help you stand up when the time comes.” 

Kirsty accepted support from the three others in the room as she wriggled in the pool to get onto her knees – her movements limited by the sheer size of the infant between her legs. The next push as she was vertical had the legs fully born, which flopped down. Kirsty gave a yell – unsure if it was simply pain, or a sense of triumphant success as she felt the movement – her hands were now spread out either side of her, one held by Tom, one by Kate. 

The next push had the body fully born, Kirsty surprisingly making very little noise at this point, simply focusing on the push. The baby was facing with its back towards the group, so Suzi leaned in and felt for the cord, making sure that it wasn’t caught on the neck, before trying to manage the task of lifting Kirsty up for the task of giving birth to the head. 

She gave an affirmative that everything was going well, and asked Kate to get behind Kirsty and be ready to reach down into the pool to support the baby, Tom to take her under her armpits and be ready to lift. 

Kate took a moment to peek around the front at the baby when her hand went to her lips. “How did you fit all that in there?” she gasped out – noting the sheer size of the baby in comparison to her friends dainty bump.  

Suzi scolded her. “Please, we need to be quick.” 

Kirsty gasped out loud “I need to push, quickly.” 

Sheepishly, Kate realised that she had made an error and got into her assigned space. She was forced to lift her own bump up so she could lean over the edge of the pool, her bump hefted over the top, Kate as a result ending up on her tiptoes, her large bump splashing into the water as she reached towards the area between Kirsty’s legs. “Got it.” she confirmed. 

Tom heaved up whilst Suzi supported the baby from the front, waiting for Kate. As she felt her hands grasp the infant from behind, she let go and moved her hands up to Kirsty’s vagina. Kirsty was now upright on her own feet, water draining off her. She didn’t have a moment to lose as she squatted down, opening up her legs and pushed.  

Her howl was deafening to Tom who had his head close to his wife’s, grasping onto her with all his strength. Suzi pushed hard on Kirstys lips, separating them and giving what help she could to ensure that the cord didn’t get trapped by the emerging head. 

Kate stood aghast at the amount of effort and pain that her friend was in as she pushed again and again, her inhibitions gone, the power of gravity pulling the weighty body down along with her primal need to push. Kirsty didn’t stop pushing until the head was out – and it took 3 long minutes. Even when the contraction had stopped, she yelled out loud and grunted with effort. 

Kirsty leaned her weight forward as she pushed, relying more and more on Tom for support. The position change tipped her vagina away from Suzi’s hands, and the midwife dashed around to behind Kirsty to stand alongside Kate, who at this point had gotten a full on view of her friends stretching vagina as the head emerged. 

As the head reached its widest point, stretched to a point where Kate didn’t think would be physically possible for the human body to achieve, Kirsty let out a scream of pain which turned Kate’s blood to ice. In front of her eyes, her friend was tearing, and Kate couldn’t do anything to stop it. 

Her hands were covered in blood and all Kate could do was sit open mouthed at the vision in front of her. Kirsty had not ceased in her pushing efforts, oblivious to the damage that she had done to herself. She couldn’t think, just react to the unstoppable force of the instinct that the boulder between her legs needed to be outside of her body. 

Suzi looked over to Kate, seeing the friend’s frightened look she whispered to her “Don’t worry, we’ll sort that out before she even realises, she’ll be so high on happy hormones.” 

And with that, the baby dropped into Kate’s hands. Without the weight of it held by Kirsty, Kate wasn’t expecting the bulk and had to adjust from her already precarious position on her tiptoes to hold onto the slippery bundle but she held on by some instinctual force she didn’t even realise she had. 

Kirsty was panting as she realised the head had finally come out, shell shocked into mutely staring forward. Kate spoke first. “Take the baby babe!” 

Kirsty suddenly realised what had happened. “Is it over? Is the head out?” She let go of Tom and shuffled back, reaching between her legs to take the waxy, blood covered bundle from between her legs as Kate shoved it forward, almost overbalancing in the process. 

Kirsty sank into the water, suddenly realising the pool was blood-red. She looked up at Suzi. “Everything OK?” she enquired. 

“Just a small tear. We’ll let you rest a few minutes, deal with the afterbirth and see about getting those dealt with when it’s time. For now, bond with your baby.” 

Tom looked up at Kate who held her fingers up behind Kirsty’s back in a ‘pinch’ motion – with her fingers being around an inch apart. She mouthed to Tom “I saw her tear. I saw it all.” Not wanting to say anything out loud in case it startled Kirsty. 

Over the course of the next hour or two, as Kirsty was cleaned up and the baby – a girl which they decided to call Laura to keep up with the naming tradition – was given a clean bill of health, all that was going through Kate’s mind was that her friend, with the tiny bump, gave birth to a 13 pound baby, and struggled as a result. She had a bigger bump than her friend did for several months prior, and she still had time to grow.  

She was worried – whatever her friend had to deal with, she had to do it twice. And one thing was certain, time was certainly not going to stand still for her whilst she prepared herself for it. 

[unholybinchicken]

santana for the ask gamee

OK buckle up homies. I am a Santana Lopez stan first, human second. Santana is best girl so this is probably gonna be a long one, answers under the cut...

favorite thing about them

She has such a big heart and is genuinely so sweet and caring and is ride-or-die as fuck for the people she cares about. Also she's just so fucking funny and she has these ditzy moments that are so comedically underrated.

least favorite thing about them

I don't like when the writers would use her to air grievances about cast members (but I also think "every time you so much as cooked macaroni and cheese together or farted" is funny and I'm sorry but I can't help but laugh every time I hear that). I also didn't like the dodgeball thing from s3 because it felt like the writers trying to justify Finn outing her (which absolutely isn't justified at all and I hate that there's still people in the fandom trying to act like it was). Also just like with Brittany's 'angry lesbians' comment, I didn't like the whole 'you need a 100% Sapphic goddess' conversation and the biphobia, especially considering it required two actual bi people (Naya and Demi) to utter those words (yikes).

I wish she could have stood up for herself a bit more when the feud with Rachel was resolved (because yeah maybe she took it too far but it wouldn't have gone there if Rachel hadn't overreacted to begin with).

idk if I'd necessarily say "least favourite" more than "most noticeable flaw" but she tends to spiral when she doesn't have control of a situation, which leads to things like the whole Artie situation and later the whole leprechaun thing.

(also ... again more of a "most noticeable flaw" thing than anything else I think she has low self-esteem and a fear of success but I could write an essay on that so we'll save that for another day)

favorite line

"First of all, that is offensive! He shot Martin Luther King!"

brOTP

Besides Brittana (because they are besties as well as soulmates and wives), hands down has to be Sancedes!!!! I love their friendship. I love how in season 2 Mercedes laughs at all Santana's comebacks. I think they stayed friends way after canon ended.

I'm a sucker for Kurtana, Blaintana and Samtana besties as well.

OTP

Brittana ofc <3

nOTP

All ships with male characters but especially Finntana, Pucktana and Sebtana. I don't like the other main Santana ships either (Quinntana/Pezberry) and I don't like Dantana or Santina either (but I'm cool with multishipping as long as it's not invalidating her as a lesbian and as long as people aren't rude about Brittany, because Britt's one of my comfort characters as well)

random headcanon

I have so many Santana headcanons it's not funny but I don't know what the barometer of randomness is, so here's a list of them and ig you can decide which are the more random ones.

Also I'm a demisexual lesbian Santana truther and I know there's others out there but I don't think it's a widely popular headcanon.

unpopular opinion

That I think she's overhated??? No fr I have no patience for people who call her irredeemable or a terrible person because she wasn't. Santana is best girl point blank period, and in my opinion, even though I love a lot of the other characters as well, she was the best part of Glee.

Santana's version of Don't Rain On My Parade is the superior version.

In terms of some fanon things, fuck JKR but Santana's not a Slytherin and I'll die on that hill. I'm not a fan of the cutesy nicknames people give her in fanfiction. Also her abuela would never allow her middle name to be Diabla so fuck Ryan Murphy for putting that into the universe.

(also idk if this is an unpopular opinion or not but the people who are whining that kevin and jenna talk about naya/santana too much on their podcast seriously need to get a life)

song i associate with them

favorite picture of them

There's too many of them to narrow it down to just one but I'm gonna have to go with weddingtana ...

she's so happy and smiley because she just married her britt-britt and they're WIVES!!!

(we did it joe)

anyway, this was fun, please send in more asks, I really enjoy doing them

[merrhea39]

Trans-Masc Dominik ch 5-1

At 8 AM on the dot Dominik was awoken by a call on his phone he didn’t even check to see who it was. “H-hello?” Dominik’s voice was groggy and a bit deep. “Oy hey dere mate I was wonderin’ if ya wanted to hit the gym before we fly.” It was the familiar Irish voice of Finn on the other side. “W-what? I-I just got up… a-and I have my flight in like… 3 hours… I should pack…” As Dominik speaks he hears giggles definitely coming from Rhea. “Ha Dom Dom your voice is much deeper right now we could tell you just got up mate.” The somewhat mocking voice of Rhea said with a chuckle. “Whatever, I don't have time.” Dominik said, getting up. “Also don’t get too mad at us with what we’re gonna do tonight ‘kay?” Rhea said hanging up the phone right after not giving him a chance to respond. “Tonight? What are they going to do tonight?” Dom sighs to himself as he gets packed and ready for his flight.

Dominik and Rey made it safely to the arena in houston that night and Dominik took notice that Edge had a promo that night but more importantly that his father and him had a main event match against the Uso’s for the undisputed tag team championships, one half being the smackdown tag team championships that he had held with Rey last year before being taken from them by the two brothers. Dominik and Rey watched the short promo Edge had while getting ready together, but Rey was a bit quiet as he watched Edge talk. “You okay Papa?” Dominik asked his father. “Yeah, just thinking about this match coming up. We gotta win this.” Rey said a bit dejected as he gets his mask just right on his head. A camera and an interviewer come in to ask them some questions. “Excuse me, Rey, Dom, great to see you guys and congratulations on your victory over The Judgment Day at Summerslam, but how have you managed to shift that focus and preparation ahead to tonight's tag title match against the Uso’s?” Kevin the interviewer asked putting the mic in front of Rey not Dominik, because of course he did. “Kevin that shifting is that fact that The Judgment Day are now in our rear view, but now they must deal with Edge. Now Edge and I go way back, and they have no idea what a savage Edge can be. In fact Edge and I were once tag team champions, now you know that’s a bond that lasts forever, that’s why I can’t thank Edge enough for helping Dom and me avenge our pride como familia. As far as tonight goes, we are about 1 thing, defeating the Uso’s and becoming the undisputed WWE tag team champions in Houston viva!” Before Rey can finish, Dom grabs the mic and finishes for him. “Mi raza!”

[kariachi]

Some fanfic! More necromancer au stuff, this time set after Enemy of My Frenemy.

Kevin died and shit has to be done about it.

~~

There was a practiced ease to Kevin’s wardings anymore. He remembered the first one with what was almost too much clarity- how slowly everything had gone as Argit checked diagrams and played back audio files of books he couldn’t read. The mechanical repetition of ‘the fire will be safe’. Kevin using his powers to take in oxygen, worried even the movement of breathing might fuck something up. The undercurrent of desperation beneath every heartbeat between them.

Anymore it was nearly old hat.

“-and I told them, you know I told them!”

“I know you told them.”

“But do they listen? No, of course not! ‘That Kevin, he’s just being an asshole again’, and what happens?”

“You die on me.”

“I die on you!” As always aggravation and worry practically rolled off Argit as he worked, tracing runes along Kevin’s body in liver, blood, and whatever other bits and pieces the magic needed. Kevin didn’t pay attention anymore, whatever else went on between them, he trusted him with this. After all, this was far from their first rodeo, and he took warding him very seriously. “You know they’re trying to pretend it didn’t happen?”

“Really-” Argit rolled his eyes as he spoke, one ear twitching in its spot against his mane. “-can’t imagine why anyone would do that.”

“Hush it.” Kevin didn’t sock his arm like he would have normally, but they both knew it was there in spirit. “I get it, I really do, I just coulda done with an apology before they went all ‘nothing happened everything is fine’ mode.”

“You’re too good to them, this needs more than an apology.”

“It’s rough on them. I mean, G watched me get murdered in front of her-”

“Only because she dragged you out there in the first place.” Huffing, Argit caught his jaw in one hand, drawing out the sharp angles Erinaens only put into their magic over the major lines of Kevin’s face. “If I thought I could without commanding her I’d be using her blood in this rather than mine.”

“You’re gonna hold this against her forever, aren’t you?”

“If she lives that long.” With a sigh and smile despite himself, Kevin reached up to stroke his fingers over one of Argit’s ears.

“Slow deep breathes, man. She’s already suffering.” He let Argit tilt his head up- he may have been stronger than he looked but there was no way he was moving Kevin if he didn’t want it- and sighed as he pressed his nose up beneath his jaw. They stayed like that for a long moment, fingers at ears and nose at throat, before Argit sighed.

“This is the third time you’ve died on me, Ravrsa.” A near whine came unbidden to Kevin’s throat.

“I try not to. I promised I would, remember?”

“I know.” With a brief nuzzle, Argit pulled away and went back to his finishing touches. The two sat in a familiar silence as he got the runes on Kevin’s face the way he wanted them, checked every marked inch of bare skin to ensure everything was perfect. Did a quick check of the diagrams for he was working off now. Every time something with magic or death happened to Kevin, he went for something more intricate, that took more power, and would make him harder to hurt.

“We about good,” Kevin asked with all the calm of somebody who had been in this exact position what was now seven times as the final check went by with affirmative sounding murmurs.

“Yeah.” With each moment that passed Argit’s ears came further off his mane and his quills smoothed. “Yeah, you ready?” With a deep breath and a bit of shifting, Kevin centered himself. Magic could be just as… fun, as any other type of energy, and if took effort to let it pass over and through him without reaching out. It was one thing when he was acting as a conduit, when it went through and out, but when it was staying… This would be his first warding since he fell off the wagon and he would need to keep a tight grip on himself.

“Ready.” Argit gave him a sharp look over for any sign of weakness, then chattered an affirmative. Kevin closed his eyes as he laid a hand on the runes, keenly aware as magic began to pour into them.

All magic, all life energy, felt different from the electricity he’d long been used to, a steady, flowing thing in counter to manic crackling, not as tempting but easier to take in. Electricity yearned, it leapt into your arms and begged to be set loose. Kevin didn’t discuss such matters with Gwen, no matter what she wanted they weren’t that close yet, but with Argit he had described it as a wild thing, a beast that heeded his call but always strained to break loose even as it strained to his every order. But magic, magic knew where it was going and it went with a smooth and steady grace that belied its power. It washed over you, sunk into you before you’d even realized, needed that bit more strain to divert it from its path and to follow orders.

And he wasn’t ashamed to admit that Argit’s was his favorite, even ahead of his own.

His magic was a constant flowing stream beneath his flesh, a constant presence that brought comfort as much as it kept his nerves aware of the power he wouldn’t take. Charmcaster’s magic had been like standing in the shallows of the coast, feeling the waves crash around your calves, around his mind, and she had kept it neatly tucked away like Argit and his mom. That one had been like standing in a whirlpool, swaying in circles as he was made to do as she commanded. The Fulmini, his had been like a river washing him away, and the Citrakayah’s had been like gazing up from the bottom of a pool. The Anodites didn’t bother hiding anything, he didn’t know if they even realized they didn’t, and just being around them was a test of his resolve. Every minute with Gwen, much as he loved her, was rain falling on and through his skin and begging him to let it soak into his bones. Sunny had been the same way and their grandma had been worse. Legerdomain had been like dissolving into the ocean, intense, overwhelming, trying to make him part of itself and itself part of him.

Argit’s was a whirlpool, and Kevin had to wonder if such similarities were tied to families or the type of magic, large enough for him to rest comfortably in the center as the walls rose high around him. He was stronger than his mom, for all he refused to acknowledge what he was capable of outside of times like this. Stronger, and his magic flowed in time with Kevin’s own in a way that nobody else’s had. It was, supposedly, part of being a familiar, and why they could play off each other’s power well enough for him to fill the role. All he knew for sure was that it felt nearly like a part of him, and he had to clench his teeth to keep from reaching out to take it in, to pull more and more beneath his skin, to savor it like he was sinking in his teeth.

Vaguely he was aware of Argit’s hand coming up to massage his shoulder, of soothing words that meant nothing but a thing for him to drop his head to the side on, to rub his cheek on thin skin. Argit chuckled, brushed his knuckles over his cheek before his hand dropped away. There was a click, and heat that crooned to settle in his gut and stay forever. Kevin kept himself in line though, ignored the siren song as it burnt the magic down to cinders settling through him, forming a second skin over every nook and cranny of his being.

The whole thing wouldn’t have taken more than a minute, but it felt like the best kind of hour.

Kevin took another deep breath as Argit carded a hand through his hair, slowly and blearily opening his eyes. Argit was tired, a major ward for his best disaster, but his eyes were bright, mane smooth, ears upright. A favorite look, one that screamed Safety in his head. They shared a grin, and Argit leaned in to press his nose under the corner of his jaw.

“That,” he said, “is the second strongest ward I’ve been able to get my hands on. Anyone gets through that and the next up’ll turn anyone who magicks you into a smear.” Snorting, Kevin flashed his teeth as he pulled away.

“Thanks, Hedgehog.” With something almost a purr, Argit slipped a lock of hair behind Kevin’s ear before stepping away and tossing him back his clothes.

“Anything for you, buddy,” he said as Kevin laughed and started yanking shit on. “Now we just need to get your little jackasses set before someone gets hurt. Again.”

[vxnillite]

ZNoah comfort drabble

context: During their last field trip, Z-Dog was nearly killed by a pack of creatures that Noah had stubbornly insisted on taking a closer look at. It reminded them of when their brother had died from very similar circumstances, and the trauma and the flashbacks pushed Noah into a downward spiral of self-blame and self-neglect.

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to imply that this is specifically how people should react to a person having a panic attack. I based a lot of things about Noah on myself, and the descriptions here are kind of based on my own experiences with panic attacks, and how I wish I was comforted in those situations. So yeah, this is self-indulgent.

CW: mentions of self-harm, swearing

Grace wasn't surprised to know that Noah had called in sick again today, making it the third sick day in a row. That meant that they'd officially used up all their sick days for the month, but also that what happened on their last field trip was still eating up at Noah.

But Grace wasn't going to leave the poor kid alone wallowing in their own thoughts and self-pity any longer. At lunch break, Grace came around to Noah's quarters where she found them huddled in the far corner of the room, legs squashed against their chest and their face buried between their knees. Apart from the ticking clock on the wall, the room was dead silent.

"Noah," Grace crooned as she approached the bed, sitting right on the edge.

"Grace, please..." Noah could barely speak. "Not now..."

Grace stayed seated on the edge of the bed. "Have you visited her yet?"

Silence. Grace understood that as a 'no.'

"She'd want to see you," she continued.

"To kill me, for sure," Noah spat in one breath.

"You can ask her that yourself."

The door hissed open, followed by footsteps that sounded too familiar to Noah. They panicked, but still didn't look up.

No, they couldn't even bear the thought of meeting Zdinarsk's eyes after what happened.

Grace walked out of the room after a small exchange with Zdinarsk, who stood in the corner of the room opposite to Noah.

"First off, I'm not leaving even if you beg me to," Zdinarsk said. "Second, I—"

"You could've died."

"Right off the bat, huh? Alright then." 

Zdinarsk got on the bed and sat in the middle, leaving a bit of space between her and Noah. Then, just as she was about to touch their arm, a poorly stifled, erratic sobbing echoed from the scientist, whose body began to quiver violently.

There was only one other instance that Noah had come undone like this, completely removed from the brash, cold attitude they usually had.

Zdinarsk immediately caught Noah in her arms. Instantly, she felt their head burning, undoubtedly feverish. But she pulled Noah in as tightly as she could, even lightly wrapping her legs around their body. Still, they remained tense within her embrace.

"I'm sorry." Noah constantly repeated between fickle breaths.

"Hey, now," Zdinarsk crooned as she stroked their hair. "Noah, listen to me."

"It was all my fault."

"Breathe with me."

"I'm sorry."

"Focus on my voice."

"You could've died."

"But I'm right here, right now, Noah. I need you here with me, too."

As Noah still kept wheezing, Zdinarsk would continue to stroke their head, running her fingers through their hair the way they liked it. A few minutes passed, and Noah gradually started to calm down.

Zdinarsk smiled as she felt Noah's breathing calm down. "There you go," she encouraged, then she kissed them softly on the top of their head. "You're safe with me, remember?" 

Noah, still in a daze, laid the side of their head on Zdinarsk's shoulder as they took a few more deep breaths. The last one seemed more like a heavy sigh — full of dejection — as they saw the bandages on the soldier's arm. 

Ever since the field trip, images of Zdinarsk's near-death had been flashing and mixing with the vivid memory of Kevin's own demise in Noah's mind. Because of it, they haven't had any proper sleep as the visions still haunted even their dreams. They haven't eaten either, the guilt telling them they didn't deserve to eat.

Seeing Zdinarsk's entire arm bandaged only fuelled that guilt.

Noah clutched their brother's jacket tighter, fingers fidgeting. "I'm really sorry," they started, voice weak and dry, "I should've listened to you. I shouldn't have gone to that nest. If I'd just stayed put, you—"

"Look, what's done is done," Zdinarsk said, "2 days ago, I was still mad, of course. But now..." She squeezed the scientist reassuringly. "I'm just glad we both got back in one piece."

Zdinarsk peered over at Noah, but they wouldn't meet her eyes. They just sniffled and kept scratching their wrist, a habit that the soldier had begun to notice a while back. So she clasped her hand around Noah's own to stop them, but she also didn't say a word as she waited for Noah to calm down again.

Minutes later, the scientist broke the silence. "I filed some papers to get you off my security."

"What," Zdinarsk sputtered, "Noah—Why would you do that?"

"I have to."

"No, you don't, Noah. And you didn't tell me?"

Noah clicked their tongue. "Kasi I knew you'd react this way!"

Zdinarsk didn't want to be mad, but she was. "Why did you even think of—"

"Kasi, what if you actually die the next time?!"

With Noah finally looking straight at her, Zdinarsk had a clear view of them — rather, the aftermath of their emotional and psychological turmoil that had gone on for the past days. Puffy, red eyes, dried up tear streaks all over their cheeks... And Zdinarsk had never seen them this pale and hollow before.

"I try so hard, Z," they choked, hysterical, "So fucking hard to be a little less stupid and reckless out there. But I know that you know… I'm a ticking time bomb—a fucking accident waiting to happen! Eh, if it's going to happen anyway, edi sana—"

Zdinarsk grabbed Noah by the forearms and forced them to look at her. "Don't you finish that sentence," she chastised, feeling her own heart pound with anticipation.

Stubbornly, Noah finished it anyway. "I'd rather be the one to die out there than have you die because of me, Z." Then, they added softly, "I could never forgive myself if that happens again."

"Noah… How many times do I have to tell you this?" Zdinarsk's hands traveled down to the scientist's own and squeezed them. "Nothing out there is gonna kill me."

"Putangina, 'di mo 'yon alam!" [You don't fucking know that!]

"Yes, I do."

The soft chuckle in her voice made it hard for Noah to quip back.

The soldier continued, slowly pulling Noah back towards her. "You study these animals, right? You watch them aaaall day and make your little notes on them. And some of those notes are about how they hunt or attack, and we go over those notes together, right?" 

From the look on their face, Zdinarsk knew that Noah understood what she meant. Their muscles relaxed again; their gaze, once frenzied, then softened. 

"I know nothing out there is gonna get me because it's your research that helps me know what I'm dealing with—which kinda means you're the one keeping me alive out there."

Zdinarsk expected them to crack even the slightest smile — a chuckle, at best — but she nearly fell over when Noah threw themselves at her for a tight hug that said all the words that were left hanging in their chest, everything that they couldn't say without crumbling into incoherence all over again.

Noah smiled as they felt Zdinarsk hug them back. Of course, their face was hidden, buried snugly in the crook of the soldier's neck.

[biaswreckingfics]

Love You More Pt.1 (k.s.w.)

Summary-

Imagine, meeting someone and, as fate would allow (or as we like to call it: Kevin) you become close friends. Maybe even best friends? Now imagine falling in love with your best friend. Not all at once! No, just a little bit more and more with each passing day that you know them. Imagine constantly have thoughts of them prying their way into your mind, sneaking in and stealing your focus away. Even when your brain is elsewhere, they're there in the background like a thief casing your heart, or a ghost stuck in limbo. It always comes back to them. Imagine the warm, comforting high when they're around. The bursting joy in your chest when you get to be near them. And the sparks ready to catch light when close is still not close enough.

Sunwoo knows that feeling all too well because with each and everyday that passes, he loves you a little bit more.

Inspiration-

Love You More by JLS

A reddit post that read "I love my wife but I also like her. Like who she is at her core, I really like that person."

Note: This is meant to be a badly written piece focused on Sunwoo's experience of falling in love with y/n. Day 0 is the only one explicitly not focused on him.

~♡~

Day 0

Prologue?

You’re hanging out with your friend, Kevin. You hadn’t seen each other in a while and you’d both decided it was about time to catch up. After all, the best thing about your friendship was that no matter how long it had been, not matter how far apart you guys were, it felt like you’d never been apart.

“He did what?” you exclaim in shock, laughter enveloping your words.

“Yeah, Sunwoo drank like 10 shots of tequila because Juyeon told him he wouldn't get hungover from it."

"But I've met Juyeon and he’s so nice! He would never!"

"I swear, he did!" Kevin laughs

"Oh god. I bet - what was his name? Sunwoo? He must have been feeling like hell the next day,"

"Yeah..." he chuckles, "you still haven't met all the guys yet right?"

"Ah, no. I've met a few of them! Like Jacob. Sangyeonie and Juyeon. There was also... uhh… He was a little loud but in a good way...? Hyunjae!" You clarify, "they were all really nice. I like them."

"Would you like to meet the rest of them? We're having a games night this week. You can help us annoy Sangyeon during mafia" you're both laughing before you decline: "I've got plans and I took on extra shifts at the café this week so I really can't. But have fun for the both of us!"

The rest of the day is full of fun, laughter, and much too much teasing at your expense but you definitely go home with a smile. That is until Kevin ruins it by texting a photo of your purse and jewellery. You’re not too fussed about it but then you remember your timecard was in there. Damn it, you were just going to have to pick it up sometime before work.

~♡~

Day 1

I first laid my eyes on you,

Cans and cups of different drinks, and snack packets litter the small coffee table. Eleven guys scattered around the living room, some comfortably set on the sofas, others on the floor. They’re all engrossed in the competition on the TV screen between Eric, Chanhee, Jacob, and Hyunjae. To say that it’s loud… it's definitely an understatement. There were yells from all around the room:

“Shoot him, Cobie! Shoot him!

“How could you miss that!”

“Eric, what are you doing! Come here! If we lose-"

“I don’t think they can win…”

It wouldn’t be surprising if they’d had the police knocking on their door out of a safety concern. Thankfully, though, there were no complaints because Kevin had taken the initiative to give his neighbours a heads up about his house guests. He didn’t expect they would be able to hear them, but he wasn’t taking any risks. Not with this bunch.

Sunwoo is sat on a sofa, watching the game intently. Every so often he throws advice, mainly to Jacob’s team, and curses under his breath when either team does something stupid. He shakes his head before going up to get a refill in his cup when he sees Kevin walking towards the door. Not thinking much of it, he returns to his seat to view the rest of the competition. The round was coming to an end and the excitement had only risen. A mix of “Yes!” and “No!” sounds when the round reaches its end and Jacob and Hyunjae are announced the winners. Eventually the yells calm to chatters as everyone discusses the match and where it went wrong when “Guys!” Kevin’s voice rose above the noise.

A bunch of “yeah”s and “what”s are thrown his way without so much as a glance and the noise just barely reduces. “I have someone I want you to meet” and immediately ten heads turn as Kevin steps slightly aside, “This is y/n!” You let out a small nervous “hey” directed at everyone. Sunwoo can’t see you from where he’s sat but he doesn’t want to make you feel awkward or uncomfortable by moving just to get a better look, so he remains seated. But he'd be lying if he said he wasn't tempted to get up when Hyunjae exclaims “Kevin, you never told us they were pretty.”

“Hyunjae, you’ve met them before?” Kevin responds with a laugh.

“And? My point still stands.” Kevin shakes his head while laughing before offering you a proper introduction to everyone. Sunwoo watches carefully, taking note as you slowly come into view. Wow… Hyunjae wasn’t kidding. You really are beautiful. Sunwoo starts a bit when he hears his name so suddenly. He’s about to say hi but your gaze meets his and, all of a sudden, Sunwoo’s forgotten how to speak. There’s no words in his head and his tongue is tied.

“Sunwoo? Nice to finally meet you!” You’re flashing him a warm smile and Sunwoo hopes the smile he returns is equally warm. He adds a small wave too, mentally cursing himself for not being able to speak. But how could he when his brain is suddenly flooded with thoughts of how much he likes your smile. Wait-finally? What does that mean? Kevin had spoken about him? He’s about to ask but, in his brief moment of mental panic, he misses his chance because now you’re meeting Chanhee.

Not long later, you’ve been introduced to everyone, and you’ve spent about 5 or so minutes conversing with Kevin and the rest of the guys before announcing it was time for you to leave. There is a small chorus of boos from around the room as Kevin hands your things to you and you say your byes. Say bye, say bye, say bye. Despite the voice in his head, all Sunwoo could do was wave and give you a small nod goodbye. He watches as you walk away, his thoughts still muddled. So much for a good first impression...

~♡~

Day 2

I can’t help but think of you,

The next day Sunwoo doesn’t know why, he doesn’t even realise it’s happening, but his mind keeps wandering to you. He replays the first conversation you guys had though, can he really call it a conversation? It was only a hello and goodbye. And he didn’t even speak. He’d had 10 minutes with you, and he couldn’t speak a single word. So why did it bother him so? It’s not like you’d done anything extraordinary or particularly interesting. So why should he care? It just doesn’t make sense. Sunwoo shakes the thoughts out of his head just as his name is called:

“Sunwoo, it’s your turn to order,” Jacob says. As soon as Sunwoo places his order, Kevin questions:

“What are you thinking about so seriously?”

“Huh? What? Oh! No, nothing,” the words tumble out of Sunwoo’s mouth in an instant that even he wouldn’t believe himself. “Just thinking about the last part of this project,” he adds in a more composed tone. It wasn’t a complete lie so it's fine. The guys don’t look convinced, but they drop it for now and resume their previous conversation.

“Oh, did your friend make it home okay… you know… last night?” Sunwoo suddenly asks.

“Sorry? Ah! Y/N? I think that’s the third time you’ve asked me that today Sunwoo,” amusement clear in Kevin’s voice.

“Really? I didn’t realise,” Sunwoo responds trying to keep an even tone despite hating the amusement he knows Jacob and Kevin are getting from this.

“You’ve brought them up even more times than that too,” Jacob adds, there’s a teasing lilt to his voice that has Sunwoo internally groaning. He's not living this down.

“It’s only because they're Kevin’s friend!” Sunwoo hurries, a bit too defensively, “I mean, wouldn't it be worse if I didn't acknowledge them at all?" Yes, Sunwoo thinks, that's the only reason. Out of niceness and nothing more. Or so he's convinced.

“You know, Sunwoo, they did ask about you,” Kevin can’t help but snort a laugh at how quickly Sunwoo’s facial expression changes, “they thought they’d annoyed you by, in their words, ‘intruding’.” There’s a slight drop in Sunwoo’s face which Kevin must see because he follows up with a soft chuckle “don’t worry. I told them it’s probably because you don’t know them very well. You’re fine,” Sunwoo nods at this, and smiles a thanks at Kevin before re-evaluating the previous night, yet again. Had he really come off so cold? Or awkward? Did he make you uncomfortable? Oh god, this won’t do. Next time, just act normal. Tell them they're pretty, it’ll be fine.

And just like that, throughout the day, Sunwoo was preoccupied with trying to figure out what it was that he should’ve said, beyond a simple hello and goodbye that is.

~♡~

Day 3

Was the same as day 2,

A few weeks pass since Kevin’s friends have met you and you’ve hung out with most of them a few times. Sunwoo was not part of the most unfortunately – not for lack of want – but simply because he was so caught up in projects that he just didn’t have a lot of time to spare. Any time he did have spare was usually spent gaming. So, when Kevin invited Sunwoo to karaoke, he didn’t hesitate to say yes. Especially not when he found out the invitation was from you. He was looking forward to relaxing. It’s just a bonus that he gets a second chance at a first impression with you.

Sunwoo follows Kevin into the room you had booked. One foot in and they’re both immediately met with enthusiastic screeching singing. The song? They could not recognise. When you notice, you don’t hesitate to greet them. Sunwoo watches as you whine and swat at Kevin for petting your head. And when he hears you laughing, he can’t fight the smile that tugs at his lips. And then you’re turning to Sunwoo, “Hey. Sunwoo, right?” Sunwoo nods,

“Yep,” popping the p. He’s about to stop there but he remembers how the first night went and decides he doesn’t want to come off short, “you look nice.” It wasn’t a lie but Sunwoo didn’t expect it to come out so forward and neither does Kevin apparently based on the way his brow raises. Sunwoo chooses to ignore Kevin’s amused expression, especially when you’re smiling back at him “thanks, so do you” and then you’re leading him over to meet your friend, also known as the owner of the voice that graced their arrival.

It’s a lot easier this time around, Sunwoo notes. Not only do you seem like you’re having a good time, but Sunwoo is actually getting words out. He’s speaking to you. And singing with you. And laughing with you. Well, you and everyone else. But it’s still a massive improvement. There are still moments where his mind goes blank, or he stumbles over his words like when you look his way for just a second too long. Or when you flash a smile at him unprovoked-oh, the way his mind melts when you do that. Maybe there really was something in the drinks. Either way, as the night continues, you’re both happier and more at ease.

~~

The next time Sunwoo sees you, he’s out with Eric when they decide they need coffee. It just so happens that the one café they were the closest to is also the one at which you work. They’re initially planning to get their drinks to go but when Eric notices you, he insists on saying hi and soon, they’ve decided they’re dining in. Things seem to be going their way because you end up being their server. Needless to say, after hearing you laugh so much, Sunwoo is glad that Eric insisted on staying for coffee. It was very much worth it.

Even as Sunwoo arrives home, he can’t help but smile as he thinks back to how happy you seemed. He’s no longer bemused by how easy it was for his thoughts to wander to you. You weren’t necessarily running through his mind. Rather you would appear in traces. Like a shadow almost. There but not quite. And Sunwoo is more than happy to accommodate.

~♡~

Day 4

I fell in love with you.

No one really knows how but, with time, you've become a part of the group and well... Sunwoo's not complaining. No one is. You've gotten closer to everyone, including Sunwoo - you're talking and hanging out a lot more. You've come to realise that Sunwoo really is not as intimidating or cold as he sometimes may (try to) appear.

In fact, upon learning that you'd never been to an aquarium, it was him who decided to organise a trip there. Just so you could experience it. You didn't fully get why he wanted to do this and, truth be told, neither did he. But as long as you let him, he didn't need either of you to understand his reasons behind it. It was only important that you let it happen - something that, Sunwoo had learnt the hard way, you weren't very good at. When he'd first announced he was organising a trip in the group chat, you immediately offered to help. Sunwoo didn't realise your help offering was more of an attempt to take charge. When he saw you calculating costs and getting stressed about the lack of confirmation, he immediately "fired" you: you were no longer allowed to have any part in planning this trip - albeit you did try to fight him on this to no avail.

You must admit though, you're impressed by how well organised everything is. Right down to the very last detail. Somehow Sunwoo made it so that no one was late, everyone was present, and you could relax.

As you're in the queue, a bag is being passed down among your group with some sort of "take one, pass it along" being uttered along with it. As this happens, you notice that everyone has naturally organised themselves into pairs as you stand alone. You don't have time to question it because the bag reaches you and soon, you're putting your hand into the pouch. You feel something firm, potentially plastic? As you pull it out you see it's a disposable camera with a note attached: "This camera is to be used to take nice photos. It is one between two. There is a maximum of 36 photos and if you run out, that's on you. Use your phone or something. And don't use the flash in the aquarium-you will get us kicked out." You smile reading the note and you look up to see that Sunwoo has joined you.

"I guess we're partners for today,"

"I guess we are," you smile, "are you gonna play nice?"

"Now what kind of person would I be if I did that," Sunwoo gently snatches the camera from your grasp and holds it away from you playfully, "I'll make sure all 36 of my photos come out great."

"Sunwoo! Give that back!" You're trying your best to reach for the camera without causing too much of a scene. Sunwoo laughs, "make me!" and sticks his tongue out at you. After some miniscule flailing and a lot of whining, you make some remark about how you don't need it anyways which Sunwoo doesn't respond to. His attention has shifted to an elderly couple watching the both of you. The lady's voice is full of warmth and bliss as she points at you and Sunwoo, reminiscing: "They're just like us when we were young. Do you remember? You were so silly with me back then,"

Sunwoo can practically see the love the elder man has for his wife as he speaks in a tender but cheery voice, "that was because I loved you before I knew I did. Now, my dear, when I'm silly, it's because I love you so."

His wife laughs as she places a hand to her cheek, Sunwoo can't quite catch what she says as they've begun walking off, but he's suddenly filled with a want for a love like theirs. So pure and tender. His thoughts are cut off though when you seize the moment to steal the camera back. Sunwoo turns to you, a pleasant shock on his face and when he sees you sticking your tongue out at him and making faces, he finds himself laughing.

~~~

When you finally get in, everyone decides to go off in groups of two (or more) pairs at their own speed. Sunwoo guides you to the first section of the aquarium and you are simply awestruck to say the least. Childlike amazement takes over your features and you don't even realise your mouth is wide open in wonder until Sunwoo's finger is gently pushing your chin up, "wouldn't want to catch any flies now, would we?" His voice is low and playful in your ear. If you weren't so fascinated seeing the little fish swim about, you definitely would have taken more note of just how hot his voice sounded and maybe you would have even been slightly embarrassed at the slight shiver than ran through you.

Instead, you turn right around to look at Sunwoo, excitement taking hold of you, "This is amazing! I can't wait to see the rest of it!"

"Well, what are we waiting for," and with that Sunwoo takes your hand and guides you forward. You can't help but smile at all the sea creatures as they glide through the waters. It takes everything in you to not stop every five seconds but even then, you can't help yourself. They're just so precious.

The childlike smile never leaves your face and as you're walking through a tunnel, you notice the top part is glass and through it you can see a large manta ray slowly wading its way through. You stop and stare at it, giggling at how silly it looks from underneath, and you say to Sunwoo, pointing at the creature, "look at how cute it is!" Sunwoo hums in agreement, the smile hasn't left his face since you'd both entered the aquarium. "Sunwoo, you're not even looking!" And you're right, he isn't. Sunwoo is much too focused on the photo he just took of you on his phone: you were smiling up at the manta ray with so much adoration and excitement in your eyes. And as he looks at the photo, he can't help but think how he would give anything to keep that smile on your face. But when he hears the pout in your voice, he looks up and laughs "you make that exact face too! Maybe you're related," earning a light shove from you.

You both take turns from then on dragging each other through the different sections. You can't help but want to see everything and there are even moments where Sunwoo struggles to keep up. You're constantly switching between pausing in amazement or dashing off, needing to satisfy your childish wonder. It's only when you see the penguins that Sunwoo really gets a break - though it's not without much of a fight.

"Sunwoo, it looks like it's getting crowded here. Let's just move on," you sigh dejectedly, surveying the groups of people with their children.

"Hey, you wanted to see the penguins for ages. So, let's see those penguins."

"But it's getting busy. It's not worth it," you refute. Sunwoo studies you for a moment, before he remembers: you've always hated large crowds, they make you uneasy. He looks around before extending his hand to you, "come on."

You hesitantly take his hand before following him as he takes you to a spot that's far enough from the mass group but close enough that you can see the penguins. He gently pushes you in front of him so you get a better view and then he hesitates, but only for a second, before wrapping his arms around you from behind, grabbing your hands and locking your fingers together. "You've been excited about this from the start. And I'll be damned if you have to miss out. I'm right here. Just squeeze my hand when it's too much and we'll go," he gives your hand a light squeeze as he holds you close to him, ignoring the butterflies that have infiltrated all parts of him. He feels the tension in your shoulders and hands slowly dissipate the longer he holds you and soon you're laughing and smiling again.

You both end up spending about a good 10-15 minutes watching the penguins before deciding you'd seen enough, and it was better to move on before feeding time was announced. You continue your way through the rest of the place, you were constantly ooh-ing and ahh-ing everything, waving at all the live creatures, whilst Sunwoo was mainly stuck awing at you when you didn't notice or feigning disinterest in everything. Though that persona is shattered very quickly when you see him copying and mocking some of the fishes. He tries to deny he ever did any such thing but when you pull up the video evidence, there's very little he can say in his defence. So, instead he pulls you through to the next section.

By the end, your mouth hurts a bit from how much you've been smiling. You're a bit surprised to find that you're not the last group out considering how long you'd spent in each section, as almost everyone is scattered around the gift shop. Almost everyone because Sangyeon, Jacob, and your friends-Anna and Minyoung-have yet to appear. There is a small cheer when they emerge, and everyone gathers to leave together and get food.

Sunwoo sees the look of surprise on your face as you realise that they were being serious about having a picnic. Though you don't realise that until the blankets are pulled out and set on the ground by him and Sangyeon. He would've been offended, but your reaction is so cute that Sunwoo can forego the questioning look you gave him. As they set up, Haknyeon and Hyunjae leave to get food for everyone. The food situation was initially a bit of a concern for Sunwoo if he's being honest but when the guys come back with an abundance of food that everyone is quite clearly content filling their stomachs with, his reservations are settled. After eating, you all play games together before deciding it's home time.

~~~

On the ride home, Sunwoo flips through the photos that were taken on his phone today by the pair of you. They ranged from silly to cute to professional level. He stops swiping on a photo that he'd forgotten he'd asked someone to take at the penguin enclosure. The photo isn't the clearest, but you're still wrapped in his arm, he remembers your one hand intertwined with his whilst the other gripped onto his other thumb. In this photo, your face is angled so that you're turning your head to talk to him, and a blur of a smile ghosts your face. Thanks to the camera angle, the tiniest part of Sunwoo's face could be seen. If the quality was better, it would have shown how intently he was listening to your ramblings, how the entire world seemed to fade away from the pair of you just for those few minutes. Instead, the photo shows his blurred face, focusing on you. Upon recollection of the moment, the photo ends up being saved in his favourites.

The next few photos after that, Sunwoo was actually facing the camera but none of them have the same appeal to him, so he deletes the ones that are deemed too bad and simply ignores the ones good enough to be posted.

As he reaches the first few photos he'd taken, he can't help but smile at his phone. The photo he'd taken of you, your face tinted blue by the light, your eyes were filled with so much amazement and a happiness that Sunwoo doesn't think he'd really seen much of before today. Sunwoo doesn't bother fighting the way his smile grows as he remembers how you were so entranced by the sea life, the excitement you'd felt today, and the way you just let yourself go and have fun.

Seeing that photo and the innocent joy in your expression makes Sunwoo realise that that's why he did it. He's always admired you, there's no doubt about that. You're so caring, and you'd mother everyone so much that even Sangyeon could take a break from his "father" role. You're not overly serious by any means, rather, you just care a lot (some may say too much) about the ones you hold dear. And so, everyone feels you're a secure base, a safe space, that they can enjoy themselves around you, judgement-free. And he wants to let you feel that same thing. Of course, you have your childish moments - much to your dismay, everyone has no problem calling you a baby for it - but for the most part, you tend to keep yourself "in check". But Sunwoo wants you to indulge in your childhood fantasies and slip out of the responsible adult role you often take on. He doesn't care for changing who you are, that's not it at all. In fact, he quite likes the person you are. He just wants you to be able to feel free of stress, even if it's just for a moment, without concern for the people around you. And he wants to enjoy it with you.

Sunwoo isn't quite sure when his thoughts turn romantic, but he knows that the way everyone knows they can go to you, Sunwoo wants to be the one you can come to when you're sad, stressed, or even happy. He enjoys teasing you and annoying you, even when it ends up with you both bickering. He likes the way he can make you stumble over your words because you're flustered or excited. He loves seeing how happy and content you are over the smallest things.

Sunwoo quite simply likes you and, even more so, he's falling in love with you...

~♡~

Day 5

You spent it with me.

It's been a while since the aquarium trip and you and Sunwoo haven't spent much time alone together. Not that it was a common occurrence before. But Sunwoo definitely notices you a lot more now. More specifically the lack of alone time with you. He should be thankful because at least he knows he won't do anything stupid with the others around but he can't help but be annoyed by it.

He still hadn't mentioned his feelings for you to anyone for several reasons-one being: you've become very good friends with everyone, especially Kevin, Jacob and Sangyeon. They treat you as if you were their own blood and you might as well be with the way you're always with them. Sunwoo knows that the latter two probably wouldn't mind if you were to date him but Kevin? He's not so sure and Sunwoo doesn't think he wants to put his friend in that awkward position.

And then there was the issue of his feelings. Sunwoo knows he likes you. A lot. But he doesn't fully understand the extent of his feelings. And he doesn't want to call it love when it could very easily be a simple crush that he's blown out of proportion. A crush is not worth putting your entire relationship at risk. And yet... Sunwoo knows, any other person, he wouldn’t have thought twice about making a move and seeing where things go. No one else has made him feel quite so sure and unsure of himself the way you do... But because it's you, he wants to have some kind of certainty. He doesn't want either of you to get hurt because he doesn't know if there is much coming back from this. And honestly, to anyone else that thought alone would have been enough of a sign. But alas, it wasn't anyone else.

Besides, Sunwoo doesn't want you to feel awkward by professing his feelings to you so he's okay to wait it out a bit longer. So you can get to know him. It's partly why Sunwoo's been wanting to spend more time with you.

Perhaps that's why he's here right now, parked outside the university you attend part-time. Though he isn't alone.

Sunwoo steals glances out of the backseat windows, searching for you. He can feel the excitement building gently in his chest at the prospect of seeing you again. When you finally make you way out of the building and towards the gates, Sunwoo sits himself up a little straighter and, unconsciously, brushes his hair back slightly. As he does this, he misses the knowing look Kevin gives him in the mirror. Sunwoo practices the hey he wants to give you in his head a few times before turning his attention forward. "Now I know you're not doing this for me-" Kevin starts, in a light teasing tone "I wonder who it is that's worthy of the great Kim Sunwoo's time"

Sunwoo doesn't get a chance to reply because he's cut off by the ringing of Kevin's phone. It must be you. Sunwoo turns back to the window as you look around, somewhat aimlessly, and when your eyes land on the car, you smile and soon you're running towards him the car.

You get in the back with Sunwoo and you give him a quick "hi" before asking Kevin "how was he?"

"He's actually been very good, surprisingly. Except trying to get him out, he didn't like that," Kevin starts. "Oscar's been good too though, it didn't seem like anything was wrong."

"Hey!" Sunwoo pouts but he can't ignore the sudden rush that goes through him at the sound of your light laugh.

Kevin chuckles before continuing, "I don't think you need to take him in,"

"I know but I'd rather be on the safe side."

You then turn to look into the carrier sat in between you and Sunwoo "hey baby, we're just gonna get you checked out okay? We just want to make sure there's nothing wrong." He knows the words arent for him but the soothing tone of your voice even has Sunwoo feeling relaxed and safe. A tiny meow sounds from the carrier and Sunwoo swears his heart stops for a second when he sees the pain in your eyes. He thinks about how worried you must have been yesterday when you called Kevin in a panic over your cat and today when you had to go in and, before he's even aware of it, he's placing his hand on yours and giving it a gentle squeeze. He doesn't know why he's doing this, he just knows that something in him tells him it's right.

"It'll be okay," he assures. Your smile is faint but Sunwoo just about sees it's there, "thanks Sunwoo."

~~~

The appointment with the vet goes smoothly. Oscar, your little furball, was okay. In fact the vet had said he was in good condition but a follow-up was booked as a precaution - which you were thankful for. Oscar seemed to have a relatively good time there, especially when the treats were brought out. And you're more at ease than you had been before.

Kevin drops you off at home - he would've stayed but he claimed he'd got a call from work in the and that he had to leave. Sunwoo, however, offers to stay with you for a while. You initially decline, not wanting him to go out of his way but when he assures you that he doesn't mind, you yield. After all, you really would appreciate the company.

The both of you help Oscar settle and calm down before getting settled yourselves. You notice a few scratches on Sunwoo's hands and you gasp "did Oscar do that? Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Sunwoo tries to tell you that it's okay but youre not listening, instead you've left the room, mumbling about how you shouldve just skipped class and some other things Sunwoo doesn't hear, before returning with a first aid kit. You sit yourself in front of him whilst taking the antiseptic and cotton buds out, ignoring Sunwoo's attempts to brush it off as nothing serious. Your touch is so gentle as you take his hand in yours but Sunwoo swears it burns. You apply the antiseptic to it and when you see Sunwoo flinch slightly at the sting, you can't help but crack a smile - the first proper one since the appointment "Not so tough now, are we?"

"If that's what you like, precious, I can be all kinds of tough whenever you want," the retort fell from his lips all too smoothly and what makes it worse is the stupid smirk that comes with it. That stupid smirk that sets off something inside you.

Unable to speak because you don't want to stumble over your words and boost his ego, you roll your eyes at him instead. Though Sunwoo can see the slight tint in your cheeks as you focus on cleaning him up and he can't help but feel inwardly proud of himself. He did that.

"That one's a bit nasty but they should heal up okay. I'm sorry he did that," you apologise when you finish cleaning the scratches. 

"No, he was scared. It's fine"

"Ah, Kevin mentioned that he wasn't the only one," your tone clearly teasing.

"I wasn't scared! I was just concerned" Sunwoo argues. Unfortunately for him, Oscar decides that that's an opportune moment to brush himself against Sunwoo's leg causing Sunwoo to jump and let out a startled yell. The laughter spills out of you in a sudden burst "just concerned, are we?" The way Sunwoo glares at you only makes you laugh harder which Sunwoo cannot stand for. You don't even notice that the distance between you and him shrinks until both your wrists are trapped in one of his hands. You unconsciously swallow and bite your lip and Sunwoo swears he could kiss you. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to. But he won't. At least not right now...

"Something amusing?" His voice dangerously low but you detect an edge of mischief to it. You know there's no escape for you now. Especially not when his free hand ghosts over your side. So, instead you nod your head once, a defiant grin on your face. Before you know it, you're screaming with laughter again as Sunwoo's fingers tickle your sides. You try endlessly to scramble away but Sunwoo doesn't yield. Not until you're yelling "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" in between laughs. Sunwoo's movements still only for a moment:

"What are you sorry for?"

You use the brief moment to scramble away then say in between breaths, "I'm sorry... you're such... a scaredy cat." When you see the way Sunwoo's eyes dart at you, you let out a small shriek and run off, giggling, with him hot on your trail.

~~~

When you both finally call a truce, you decide to order food. After some bickering about what to eat, you end up ordering pizza and watching a film, during which Oscar joins you both and lays himself across both your laps. You tried to move him off of Sunwoo, not wanting him to be uncomfortable, but Oscar just kept returning "it's okay, we can leave him," Sunwoo pets Oscar contentedly lulling the fluffy cat into a peaceful sleep.

As the film goes on, you've soon drifted off too. When Sunwoo eventually notices, he tries his best to move as little as possible so as to not wake either of you. You look so peaceful. The little voice in Sunwoo's head is practically swooning over you, especially when you furrow your brows before relaxing them again. There's a comfortable swirling in his stomach and he knows it's the butterflies called (y/n) taking off. He swears his heart is working double time to keep up... and yet it's somehow calm and steady at the same time. And as he takes you in, all Sunwoo can tell himself is yeah, falling in love with you isn't so bad if it means more moments like this...

~♡~

Sorry for making this so long! And also for taking so long to get this down.

It's not the best but I wasn't sure if I'd continue it with how things were going. I wanted to bring out Sunwoo's personality a bit more during editing but I gave up after a bit of time 😭

Anyways, soft Sunwoo hours! I hope you enjoy! I have notes for day 6 and 7, so hopefully when I'm in a better place, I can write it up for you! Nevertheless, writing this was some for of stress relief for me.

Also, I know the timing for this may not seem optimal but a if this can make someone feel a tiny bit better momentarily during these times it's worth it.

-🦁

[mystxmomo]

So not to start this off by coming across as my typical pretentious self but when considering aspects of a ship that are cute I personally like to allow it to be informed by the context of the characters within the ship. Like yeah you can make a first date be cute on any person, but the real treasure is found in things that are cute situationally to the character

I'll start with Edgar pairings because you know I'm not lying about him being my main little guy.

Edjose is the ship that, for me, I find the most straight forward "Oh. Little signs of affection are adorable on these two."

Like, I think of all the game five ships I write for, these two are the ones where the Cute Charm of the ship is the gradual acceptance of intimacy. José has grown up in an environment where the love he received was conditional to his work, and Edgar's love was supposedly unconditional but often inauthentic at best and explorative at worst. And (in the best case "these two come to understand eachother and have a healthier relationship" path) it's just inherently very cute for the two of them to have small moments of physical intimacy, understanding, and vulnerability.

Hmm. A specific scenario that has played out in my head that I've been looking for an excuse to include in my head being something like the two of them at a party together and Edgar, overwhelmed but masquerading it as anger, goes to place himself next to José. José takes notice and asks if he's had enough, touching the small of his back as he does it. Edgar glares at him, but it's clearly not with malice. José excuses the two of them from the room, and when they're alone Edgar spends like ten minutes resting his forehead against his shoulder.

Private, quiet intimacy. I think it's adorable on them.

Kevgar is cute like just conceptually to me. I know it's the entire premise of my main fic for them but I love the role reversal of "man introduced to gay culture by a man a decade younger and far more knowledgeable then him" I think it's nice especially give their character flaws and vulnerabilities. I think that Kevin has never actually gotten a chance to explore his own personhood before he doesn't have the vibe of a man that does a lot of introspection outside of self-flagellation and I think Edgar is good for him.

I think Edgar would for better or for worse know that Kevin is someone safe. Even before they like eachother or before they're getting along it's really hard not to look at this man and decide yeah he's wearing his heart on his sleeve he couldn't manipulate me if he tried, let alone that he wouldn't want to. Specific situation wise though I think?? It's something I've tried to write before and more specifically incorporate and have failed so if it pops up in a fic in the future don't look at me, but I think it would be kind of sweet if, pre-relationship, Edgar just Comes To Kevin when he gets in moods where he's getting really paranoid about the people he does trust taking advantage of it, or Kevin coming to Edgar when he's forced to be alone because being with someone he hates is better than being left to his own thoughts and guilt. And it's about the intimacy in the inherent trust that even if I hate you you won't hurt me. I think that's nice. That makes me feel warm and happy.

Edgar and Vera is really sweet because I think it's the only ship here where Vera would willingly eventually tell him about the full extent of her situation with her sister, the fact that she murdered her and took her identity, the fact she did it out of jealousy, ect. Like I think other ships here she might tell them bits and pieces, but with Edgar specifically I think there's a moment where she'd break and just dump everything on him, and he just like. Takes it? He accepts her for who she is, for better or for worse, because he does love (be it as a friend or romantic partner) Vera and wants the world for her! In return, I do think Edgar would tell her about killing his mentor, but I don't know if that holds the same amount of emotional weight for him as Vera's sisters death holds for her.

I included this scene in my uhh biography fic, but I do turn over scenes like. Melancholic dancing together. Sitting together and Vera leans in and whispers in his ear while blocking her mouth and they both turn and look at a character while she does it. I think Vera is a very physically clingy person, and I think she is the only person Edgar will let do that to him explicitly and publically. I think they like the idea that they're comfortable with casual touch and affection, and I think it's charming because in my head their end game relationship IS platonic.

I like? Edgar and Patricia? Like, clearly, given I wrote something involving them for his birthday. But I don't know if I have anything off the top of my head that would be "cute" for them, because I see so many of their interactions on the basis of mutual respect and the horrifying ordeal of being know. Like, I feel that so much of their relationship involves the inherent respect and seeing eye to eye and knowing eachother in ways others absolutely don't want to come to know you. So I don't know if I'd say it's?? Cute? But if I had to pick a scenario for them that would feel meaningful in some way, the idea of like. I would have to come up with an au to justify it, because canonically both Edgar and Patricia want Edgar dead. But protecting eachother or standing over eachothers bleeding out body.... In either direction. That would be nice to see for the two of them.

Vera/José is like...

I think so much about the appeal of this ship to me is the grief and the tragedy. They're both dealing so heavily with their own grief and trauma, and I don't think either of them are emotionally mature enough to help eachother deal with that grief when they're both handling their own. The aus I have for them are like. Madam Coral pulling Hook!José into the sea not by a song of seduction, but from the agonizing sobs that are echoing from the sea. The vibe of canon José/Vera for me is Vera acknowledging that this man tried to manipulate her but willing to disregard that in her own loneliness and exhaustion. They're standing there covered in dirt and grime looking at the damage the game has done

The only au I have that's kinda cute and fun for them is the. Basil au, because I think it's hilarious that Dill-Vera wants to fuck him like, canonically. She thinks he's hot. I lost the point of this question I know I'm supposed to be coming up with something cute for them but I think the point was that they are tragic. Uhh. So while my normal interpretation is that they would normally drag eachother down in their own misery... Hm. There is an au where they maybe mellow eachother out, and through eachother come to understandings about themselves. José maybe able to come to hear the way Vera's parents treated her (her "sister") and realize his own father never quite actually loved him (and he knew that, of course. He knows that love is conditional, he knows that care is secondary) and to that point, Vera (who sees the world through her perfumes craft, and how people only saw worth in it after it made money) is able to come to value herself beyond her worth as a perfumer. And there's connection there. And I don't think they'd ever truely be able to help eachother climb out of the realm of addiction, and I don't think they'd ever truely have the level of connection to eachother they could have with other partners (Vera is never telling him about killing her sister, José is never telling her the extent of the horrors he's seen at sea) but theres love and symapthy and empthy

And that's not cute. But it is heart warming

Anyway. Both of these characters are addicts with no emotional intelligence and no self-awareness. I hope this helps.

Vera/Patricia is ALSO a ship that's hard to come up with cute moments under the condition of romance because I ship it mainly under a toxic pretence, but like. At worst Patricia is actively trying to murder Vera, and using effection and comfort to calm her and help guide her to her death, and at best Patricia doesn't kill her, and Vera grows attached and their relationship becomes a little co-dependent bubble. And you can shape that in a way that's not DESTRUCTIVE, right? That co-dependence in itself isn't going to rip them apart. But the both of them have lived a very long, exhausting life. Vera never got acceptance from her community as herself, and Patricia ruined the acceptance of her community through her actions (it's more complicated then that, but as Patricia see's it, from her perspective.)

And so both woman don't have acceptance in their communities, and they can find that in eachother, and when you find that you want to keep it. And I think in doing so, they struggle to know Each other? If that makes sense. Something something the idea of eachother, seeing themselves in their partner rather than their partners actual issue, but knowing that vulnerability is there and knowing they connect with that vulnerability.

Something cute for them, actual situationship wise... It's not a specific situation because again. All of my situations with them are like. Patricia coaxing Vera to smoke to relax her, or Vera melting down in Vera's room. But I have this scene in my head for a scene from their main game where Patricia and Vera, both in their worn clothing and covered in blood, meet on the boat. The wind catches in Vera's hair, and she turns to give Patricia the smallest, most yielding of smiles.

For a moment, all is well.

Vera/Kevin

I think Vera Scares this man

I will keep it honest with you. I'm still working out their dynamic, so I don't know if I can come up with anything immediately cute off the top of my head for them. But I think Vera confuses this man, because she both confirms and contradicts his world view at the same time. On one hand she's dainty and elegant and kinda small and would be easy to... Hurt? Not to sound deranged. She's kind of pathetic in a way that would pull at Kevin's heart strings. But shes also very clearly manic depressed in a way that she has violently lashed out before, and gives me the impression of someone who goes through a lot of emotional swings. I think that contradiction would throw Kevin off.

And I think that's where the meat is. Like the meat is her challenging his view. But I don't know if that's cute that's just a straight forward dynamic. I think the idea of Kevin just scooping Vera up and over his shoulder is very cute. I don't even think she'd fight it like Edgar would, I think she's so touch starved that he scoops her up and she freezes up like a cat she's so thrown off.

I'm surprised I didn't hit José/Kevin sooner, but like. Gestures at the fandom. To be fair, they mostly got that covered.

I do think that the fandom does get the baseline of their dynamic wrong? This is a ship that, at the very least, starts as a hate fuck and has to grow from there. I think these two are verbally fighting in the streets and fucking in the sheets. But it's easier for me to come up with things that are cute and charming for them as a result, because the aspect of the enemies. It's about the little aspects of care while they deny it's aspects of care. Kevin gathering José up after catching him drunk because the instinct of being a hero overpowers the aspect of hating men? That's cute as hell to me.

I don't think. José is self aware enough to understand what he appreciates about Kevin is that Kevin disrespects him for who he is and what he does. I think José DOES like the fact Kevin is willing to challenge him so avertly. It would amuse him as much as it frustrates him, but would especially frustrate him when Kevin starts making points that are right. I think Kevin is, more then anyone here, someone that might make José actually question and crumble against what his idea of honor (because José's idea of honor IS bad. He thinks he is a good person because of his service to the queen, because of his role in the navy) is through direct confrontation and conversation. I can imagine Kevin and José arguing and José just stopping mid sentence and trailing off as he realizes, unfortunately, that Kevin might be RIGHT about something he's saying. He needs to sit down over it, and he expects Kevin to mock him for it, but I think by the point that this would happen Kevin is also sitting there looking at José essentially melt into himself and hold his head over his own world view and just

Quietly sit down and join him. Sitting back with him, rest an arm around his shoulders and sit with him.

And they have that moment where both of them understand. Yeah?

José/Patricia and Patricia/Kevin .... Give me a day or two to think on that one. I haven't put much thought into either of those dynamics. The most I've thought about José/Patricia's dynamic is in the post game au that came out before Edgar's letter where she was constantly exasperated and judging him for like. Still being alive, literally for that reason. Patrica doesn't respect José OR Kevin, I think she thinks they're both big miserable babies in drastically different ways. But she also thinks that of Vera, and I'm willing to ship those two. So I'll think of something unique and interesting for you in the future.

[mirainawen]

chasm, straw in the wind, and crooked storm on carson pass

chasm.

summary: rising from the dead is practically another tuesday for winchesters. a milligan, however…

it immediately follows getting garth'd. sam and dean went off grid after the trials to allow sam time to heal and dean time to nurse his regrets. the two are on the rocks after dean's stunt with gadreel, not the least of reasons why being gadreel's attempt on kevin's life (an angel of the lord is supposed to protect a prophet of the lord, so the attack awoke another latent power of prophets, smiting).

finding out that their long locked up half-brother is topside again is somehow the best and last thing the two of them need right now. the chasm, as they say, isn't fixed yet.

Dean stares across the room, index finger tapping the table—one, two, three, an unconscious mimicry of the clock. The ticking was the only other sound in the room.

“Okay,” he finally says, letting his hand fall. Sam stirs at his voice. “Walk me through it again.”

Benny doesn’t sigh. His expression says it, loud and clear. “Story ain’t gonna change, Dean.”

He glances at Sam, who, arms braced on his knees and hands clasped, lets his shoulders rise heavily and fall under the look. The lines around his eyes and mouth are deep again, and not just from the lack of sleep. The knife’s edge they’d all been balanced on was crawling down their spines.

He leans away from it. “So you’re sayin’ Adam…what? Just waltzes outta the cage, takes a little jaunt through hell til he finds an exit and just…stumbles into the only monster in all of Purgatory who isn’t gonna tear him limb from limb on sight?”

Benny’s lip curls in the shadow of a smile. “Looks like it.”

::

straw in the wind.

summary: there's a crack in sam's glass house. (adam's on the warpath.)

concussed after a particularly bad exorcism, sam speaks to adam about the cage for the first time. he implies that adam doesn't quite...fit with him and dean. that adam's not relentless or aggressive enough to make a good hunter, unaware not being okay with sam tends to push adam over the edge. thus pushed, adam goes on a reckless hunting spree (affectionately termed the "fuck you sam tour" by writer and captive audience of a bff who must be hit by ideas thrown her way until she cries "ow!"). distracted by sam, dean doesn't put the pieces together about a "hunter off the rails" and adam's (not...atypical) radio silence. when garth finally calls dean to "come get your boy", sam and dean hit the road to find him and talk him down off the ledge. sam makes an old yeller reference. dean hears the first distant sounds of sirens.

“Dean?” he called, but there’s no answer. He could try his other brother…other brother? Adam. Right. It was about Adam. He was gonna tell Dean something about Adam, it was…they needed to tell Adam something. He groaned, rubbing his forehead.

Connecting the threads of his thinking lately had been a killer. The pieces often had sharp edges, slipping through his grasp. Getting this far hurt like a bitch. The meds couldn’t kick in fast enough. But when they did, he didn’t really think any clearer, just hurt a little less. He clung to  the pieces, finding his phone in hand.

Call Adam. Adam hated that. Couldn’t be bothered to answer texts. Everything was always on his terms. Sam hated that.

“Sam?” Adam’s voice sounded…surprised? Maybe a little worried. Definitely a bit distracted.

“Hey. Adam.” Those two words felt like they took a lungful each.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah?” He pressed the heel of his hand to his head, fighting back the dizzying little edges of light dancing about his peripheral.

Adam hissed. “Well it’s not like you call. Why are you calling?” The demand annoyed him.

He huffed a sound that takes all the air out of his lungs again. “Because you…don’t want us to.” It was like, one of so many rules Sam did not understand.

“Cause Winchesters only call when they need something.”

The implication irritated him further. “Okay, well, I need to tell you something.”

“If it’s that Dean is overbearing, he’s your favorite brother, Sam, I don’t want to hear it. Why’d you crack your skull open anyway?”

He opened his mouth, and yanked the phone away as a messy, confusing sound crackled over the line. He forgets the line of questioning as bright spots dance behind his eyes.

“Sam?” Adam’s voice broke back through. “I’m really busy. Can we not play-at happy family right now? I’m sure Dean will be overjoyed to make sure you have company while you recover.”

::

crooked storm on carson pass.

summary: accused of a crime he didn't commit, joe wiles his time in a carson pass jail while adam tries to prove his innocence. at every turn, the local sheriff seems to be one step ahead. has adam finally met his match?

“JOE!” He barked, causing Joe to jerk clean out of the bed, rolling off onto his back in a graceless heap.

Joe groaned and touched the back of his head as he half-sat up. “Galldang you, Adam,” he protested mulishly, peering at his brother in rebuke. “What’s the big idea, huh?” He prodded at his head and winced.

“Well, Joe, that’s what I’d like you to tell me.” Adam gestured at himself before folding his arms and peering down at his brother.

Joe groaned again as he sat up, and glanced at his brother under knotted brows. “Well maybe you should tell me - you’re so smart.” Which was Joe’s way of saying he didn’t appreciate Adam’s tone of voice.

“Then I will.” Adam shot back, censure bordering on condescending in that way that was Adam’s of saying that Joe was in for a lecture. “You’re supposed to be in Zephyr Cove.”

This time when Joe groaned it was pure frustration. “Yes, well, obviously I’m not.” He threw out a hand, encompassing the jail, and climbed to his feet. “So go ahead. Lecture away, Older Brother - I don’t really have any other option, do I?”

And maybe it was the set of Joe’s jaw or the fact that he was so mulish, standing there framed by cell bars with the bed clothes piled about his feet, but Adam found he derived no pleasure from fighting with someone who couldn’t fight back. And Joe loved to fight back.

If anyone had ever pointed out to Adam that Joe did follow his examples, he would have argued the opposite - but if someone had ever pointed out that Joe had learned how to argue with authority from watching Adam argue with their father, he would have stormed away in a speechless rage.

[ma-lark-ey]

Summarizing the Foxhole Court cast as artists I follow on Spotify and why (and with links to the artists/songs);

Neil;

Set It Off, thinks he’s so cool and edgy and for the most part he is but also there’s too much time where’s he’s a silly goose. Specifically, he’s Cinematics Era because yeah they have some emo bangers like Partners in Crime and I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead but also Dad’s Song is on that album as is Dream Catcher

Andrew;

Chase Petra. Intense, overwhelming, takes awhile to understand, either is super mellow and chill or the pop punk anthems are GOING. Particularly, Andrew reaks of Monet Issues and Soapy Water, but I also believe he could jive with Reliable Narrator, not to mention In An Emergency Such As The End Of The World

Kevin;

Noah Kahan. It's abut the complex relationship with where you grew up and having a deep, inescapable loving and loathing for that environment. You're Gonna Go Far is just so Kevin coded, and also recognizing you are simultaneously your problem and your solution, like Dial Drunk. And All My Love is just sooo Riko and Kevin (I mean, 'No winter coat could keep out the cold of your atmosphere // We once sang Retrograde, we'd shake the frame of your car // Now I know your name but now who you are')

Aaron;

Alec Benjamin. A lot of people find him unassuming and whatnot, but honestly he'd kind of devastating and we should be cautious. Particularly, Boy In The Bubble & Outrunning Karma I feel have a very fitting energy. My Mother's Eyes (Unreleased) also has something distinctly Aaron about it, as does The Knife In My Back (Unreleased)

Nicky;

The Moondivers. Similar genre feel to Chase Petra but has a more lo-fi undertones. Stays at a pretty level sixty but can go either direction pretty fast. Particularly, Lovely has very Nicky energy to, lacking commitment but also not lacking the love and the need for the person.

Wymack;

Fall Out Boy. Very gruff and rough and tumble on the surface and has that iconic emo energy, but under all of that harsh exterior there’s an underlying message of community and healing and acknowledging the depression and the darkness but also learning to heal. Things like Save Rock & Roll as well as The Kids Aren't All Right show that distinct want to improve and move on with life while we also have songs like My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark and So Much (For) Stardust keep us in that depressive state.

Dan;

Sabrina Carpenter. It took me awhile to figure this one out, but I think this is the one. Pretty much everyone knows who she is but doesn't realise just how much she's done. The energy of this low-level A-lister who everyone knows and respects at least a little bit, but doesn't have the public in the palm of her hand the way other women like Beyonce or Swift do. Also the vibes are entirely correct, she's in the car karaokeing this shit with Matt tell me I'm wrong. She's jamming out to Feather and Sue Me and Thumbs like it's nobody's business. The entire summary of emails i can't send just feels so Dan I can't explain it.

Renee;

Julian Moon. Has this softcore vibe about her, but it powerful and doesn't put up with a lot. Particularly, Siren Song I think fits Renee really well, and Pomegranate Seeds feels like something that'd be on her playlist. Savior matches her role amongst the Foxes (also the intense religious imagery in this song and this EP as a whole needed to be referenced).

Matt;

Placebo. It's glam rock but also not. It's kind of undefinable. You're not really sure what's going on with the music, but you know it's slaps. It's been around a long time and has it's own respect. tbch I don't know massive amounts of Placebo's stuff, mostly only know one album right now because I feel the need to completely dissect an album from an artist before I move on to the next one, but their cover of Running Up That Hill is fantastic. From their actual discography, I think Matt has the vibes/would enjoy Brick Shithouse, Pure Morning, and Burger Queen

Seth;

Eminem (YES I listen to Eminem unironically). He doesn't give a fuck what you think about him, he says a lot of shit he probably shouldn't say, but he's also got points sometimes. Without Me is playing in the background when he comes back in book one. Love The Way You Lie is him and Allison core. Just Lose It is just funny and something he'd listen too all the time. He'd also think he was cool and different for listening to him.

Allison;

Maisie Peters. As much feral crazy ex-girlfriend music as there is sad depression bops. Unpredictable in every measure. Is here for a good time not a long time. BSC is very Allison core, and I think History of Man as well. Boy also reeks of her and Seth's relationship, and Blonde is what she blasts in her bedroom to get ready in the morning.

Abby;

Kesha. She's got a history to her, she fits with the Foxes. She's one of this insane pack, but also she's working on helping fix this insane group. She cares abut their wellbeing, she wants the best. She's got the energy of Resentment, Learn To Let Go, but also she knows these are kids who are gonna do insane things, so let's through in Hymn and Raise Hell. She knows her role in the group, but also she'll stray out of it and test new things. Also, she has to be a bit crazy to be able to manage Andrew's lot.

okay thanks for coming to my tedtalk

[tadwisethebrave]

Background NPC: Tad’s Uncle Kevin

tw: mention of drugs

Kevin had gotten the call when he’d just finished helping out on a beach clean up. The man dusted off his hands of sand as best as he could before picking up. “Heeey Uncle Kevin, it’s Tad.” Kevin stepped away from the group he’d been working on so he could have a proper conversation with his nephew. “Hey buddy. What’s going on?” He asked, following it up with a “you feeling a little better?”

“Yeah um I finished that program…I think mom and dad told you about it right man?” “Yeah they did mention something about that. I’m glad to hear you got through it alright.” Kevin had been concerned for the kid. He was so young to have to go to rehab for drug addiction like this. He blamed his brother and sister-in-law for that. They were a little too free with their own drug habits, and now their son had almost died because of their negligence.

Kevin wanted to say so many things to them, but he wasn’t Tad or Galadriel’s parent. Still, he found himself pacing along the beach as Tad told him all about how he needed a safe space to continue to heal. How he knew if he went home to his parents he’d just want to go right back to using. How Uncle Kevin had always seemed super chill and vibed without drugs and stuff. He wanted Kevin to help him with that.

It was a daunting idea, to take in his nephew who was still struggling. But Kevin wasn’t going to let that kid get right back into trouble. “You’ve got it kiddo. I’ll set up the guest room for you, no problem. Do you need me to come get you? Great. Yeah, send me the address and I’ll be there after I get the house situated for you.” After a few more minutes of chatting they finally hung up, and Kevin said his goodbyes to his beach clean up crew.

Thankfully the house wasn’t far at all, just a stroll down the beach and he got in to lock up any alcohol he had in the house, add some air fresheners to make the place smell more inviting, and he tidied up every room and made sure the guest bedroom was fit for a teenage boy to sleep in for a while. Once he’d done that he grabbed his keys and was out the door, ready to go pick up his nephew.

On the drive to the rehab facility he got another phone call. This time, however, it was from his brother Bill. “Oh hey Bill. Yeah….yeah he called me a few hours ago, said he wanted to stay with me for a little while. You okay with that?” He asked as he merged onto one of the more painstaking freeways to get over to the facility. “Yeah man, I bet lil Tad will love to vibe with his uncle. You’ve always been such a cool guy to him and all that. And the little dude said he needs those good vibes right now.” Kevin had a lot he wanted to say to Bill. The first being it was sad that Bill and Eunji couldn’t be bothered to try to make their home a safe place for their son to continue to recover. The second being it was a little concerning that they were so casual about the whole thing. Would they not want to see their son after his rehab experience?

Kevin pulled onto the street for the facility, frowning as he got closer to the place. “Well are you going to at least come see him now that he’s out of rehab? I bet he’s missed you guys.” “Oh nah dude. I think we’d be harshing his recovery effort if we popped up over there right now. Eunji and I just had a joint a bit ago ourselves so…you know how it is.” Kevin didn’t really know how it was, as he had never gone that route, but sadly it was a habit of theirs that he was too familiar with. “Okay…well. I’m about to pull up at this facility so I should go Bill.” “Oh yeah word. Let us know if you need any cash to keep Tad vibing.” “Right. Sure. Thanks Bill.” He hung up just as he parked his car in front of the facility.

It only took him a few minutes before he spotted Tad coming out with that same goofy smile he always seemed to have. The kid looked a lot thinner for sure, and it was clear he hadn’t slept very well, but it was still his sweet nephew coming over to him like he’d made his whole day. “Hey kiddo. It’s good to see you,” Kevin greeted the kid, wrapping an arm around him and gently leading him over toward his car. “Ready to head home?” “Yeah. Thanks Uncle Kevin,” the kid mumbled, giving Kevin a quick hug before the two of them got into his jeep, making their way back toward Kevin’s beach house.

[f1]

Magnussen admits 'frustration building' at Haas but says there is 'reason to be optimistic'

Kevin Magnussen has “faith” that Haas can return to form in the second half of the season, despite admitting that “frustration” is building within the team after having not finished in the top-10 of a Grand Prix since May. Haas made a solid start to the season having scored points in three of the opening five races – as Magnussen took 10th at both the Saudi Arabian and Miami Grands Prix, while his team mate Nico Hulkenberg crossed the line in seventh in Australia. F1 NATION: The Quiz of the Season So Far However, since Miami, they have struggled to crack the top-10 – although Hulkenberg did finish sixth in the Austrian Sprint – which Magnussen believes is due to their rivals “making big gains” while they have yet to do the same. Ahead of the Belgian GP – where Magnussen finished 15th – he was asked how he felt about Haas’ on-track performances in recent races. Magnussen replied: “Well, I don't know. I think it's frustration. “It's of course building when you see other teams developing and making big gains and we haven't seemed to make that big step yet. But I still have all the faith in the team that we can turn it around eventually. Magnussen last finished in the top 10 at the Miami Grand Prix in May “It's not going to be immediate. But I think we're doing the groundwork to be able to bring that step later on in the year. It's, of course, frustrating when you don't have it, and we want to be up there scoring points, and doing well, and at the moment it's a bit hard.” Part of Haas’ issue this season has been their inability to transfer their strong qualifying pace to Sunday’s race. However, Magnussen believes the team have made strides in that area and can be “optimistic” about their performances for the rest of the year. LIGHTS TO FLAG: Rubens Barrichello on Schumacher, Ferrari, the Brawn adventure – and his racing exploits after F1 “I think we have made some progress. It's just that, overall, our performances have dropped compared to our main competitors,” explained Magnussen. “But qualifying versus race, I think that that has improved. “Unfortunately, some of the cars that we used to be racing in the beginning of the year have just become much faster overall and that's why we don't see that gain so much. Magnussen's current contract with Haas is to expire at the end of the 2023 season “But yeah, as I said, we're working super hard. The whole team is really working hard, and I think there's still reason to be optimistic for the remaining of the year.” Magnussen also gave an update on his contract situation with the team heading into the summer break. The Dane’s current contract with Haas is set to expire at the end of 2023, and while Magnussen says there is no news of an extension to report, he says he is “pretty happy” where he is. TREMAYNE: Remembering Roger Williamson, whose tragic story helped set F1 on path to becoming a safer sport “We'll see when it happens and how that pans out,” said Magnussen. “I think at the moment there's not any news to bring and eventually we'll come around to it. “I don't really know what's going on. I feel like the team is pretty happy, but you never know with these things, and I'll take it one day at a time.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 174

Everybody Hates Hitler/The Wedding of River Song

“Everybody Hates Hitler”

Plot Description: Sam and Dean investigate the death of a rabbi who spontaneously combusted. They soon learn that the rabbi was researching nazi necromancers

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: I’m not a nazi, I’m not a necromancer, I’m certainly not a nazi necromancer. I think I’m good

I’m mostly just worried that what this show is going to do is call whatever the product of necromancing that large man a golem……..

…how far in advance did the Men of Letters pay the electricity bill? Or do they have their own whatever??? Because this place has been abandoned for YEARS. THANK YOU, Sam.

Me 🤝 Dean: this thing can’t be that dangerous. (Reader, it was. But where I only mildly burned my finger on a car’s cigarette lighter, Dean cut himself with a scimitar)

I’M not denying that this dude is being followed and has some real supernatural worries goin on because *gestures broadly* BUT I can’t blame the librarian for wanting to go home shortly after closing time. Like. That’s just normal

I am BEGGING for a scene with Kevin and Garth, not just mentioning them

I AM glad that the boys have a place that isn’t just the impala to call home now

I don’t know what’s happening to him rn but…maybe he’s just growing up and college coeds are not on his radar anymore (one can hope), but Dean would normally be way more interested in what these two girls are saying…and not getting distracted by the guy subtly trying to get his attention from a distance

HE’S SO FLUSTERRRRRRED after finding out this guy thought they had a little bit of a thing when they saw each other earlier (which…I must have stepped away from the screen)

Mmm yeah, of course that guy’s still alive somehow.

*loud groan of exhaustion and disgust* I KNEW they were gonna do that…okay. I’m KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED FOR THE BEST HERE

Okay. At LEAST the golem seems to have been created by Jewish characters. It wasn’t super clear in the opening scene

“Everybody loves bacon” is such a 2013 sentiment

This poor guy…just had defending against the nazi necromancers dumped on his lap with zero preparation

I feel for this dude. Not only did he ask for none of this, he also was kept from a lot of his specific heritage by his parents. It’s not his fault he’s kinda helpless

Not a huge fan of seeing the nazi take control (however temporarily) if the golem, but I guess you have to raise the stakes somehow…and Aaron DID get control back, with the Winchesters’ help, but he started the attack on the thule

“The Wedding of River Song”

Plot Description: The Doctor makes his final journey to the shores of Lake Silencio in Utah

(I made a mistake and took a nap this evening and then didn’t wanna do anything else)

Awww, Charlie Dickens!! Amazing they brought him back at all/any rtd era character

The way this version of the universe is so fucking weird but I like it anyway.

Yeah, of course Moffat wrote this one. A woman is to blame for stopping time completely

Do we ever actually find out what THE question is? The FIRST question? The one that must never be answered

I’m not super familiar with the Brigadier but I’m still feeling a pang at his passing, even if it’s just in universe (I truly don’t know if that’s true)

…he replaced himself with the robot with miniaturized people on it. Right? I get that we have two actual Rivers

This episode of DW is the opposite of yesterday’s spn. Instead of a guy from the past coming to 2013 scoffing at that present, we have Winston Churchill making snide remarks to the Doctor about if he has heard of downloads

I never realized how ace-coded the Doctor can be til he told Rory that Amy called him “Mister Hottie” and would like to go out for “texting and scones”

The way she’d rather destroy all of time than kill him. It IS touching

Istg if either Amy or Rory die due to this….stop. No. Stop. You can’t kill Rory AGAIN. Oh good…Amy saves him with a machine gun. Give Karen Gillan All the Weapons Challenge 2k23

It……it IS weird they Amy tried to hook up with the Doctor all that time ago and now she’s his mother in law

Is THE question REALLY the fucking show title or are we gonna get something better than that?

(Realizing I don’t have long til the 50th anniversary special…like…by the end of next month, I think I’ll have watched it)

[kariachi]

Have some fic. Kevin, Argit, and nail polish.

~~

“Dude, did you just run your arm down the shelf at the dollar store?”

“Maybe.” Argit threw a heatless glower out the corner of his eye as he laid out the various blues in their stockpile. “What’s it to you?”

“Never gonna let you handle restocking again,” Kevin answered, snorting a fond laugh and shaking his head. Certainly, it didn’t stop him sorting through the box for all the golds on offer. There was no way Argit would ever skimp there. “Who’s the blue for?” Huffing, Argit lifted his nose up to properly look down it at him.

“Can I not pick my nail color for my own sake?”

“Any day,” Kevin said, smirking, “but you haven’t chosen blue ever when a man wasn’t involved.”

“One to talk,” Argit said, swatting his arm, “since when do you go for gold tones?” The answer came with a shrug.

“G suggested branching out, so…”

“Of course.” Rolling his eyes, Argit snatched his favorite out of the gold line-up and put it back in the box. “You’re not wasting my glittery shit on giving her variety.”  

“Of course not, Hedgehog,” Kevin laughed, swatting him back with more care. “Now, blues, spill.” Shaking his head, Argit made to focus on choosing a shade, only to lean over conspiratorially.

“Benny’s new buddy, the fucker he replaced you two with, has been trying real hard to hide that he likes me and hates it about himself.” The image of Rook having a thing for Argit at all, nonetheless how the strait-laced newbie would handle it, doubled Kevin over with more snorting laughter. Argit smirked down at him. “So I’m thinking, 'how far can I push this before he fucks off the planet entirely’.”

It took several long moments for Kevin to recompose himself, forcing in many deep breaths as he sat back up.

“So,” he finally said, “this is about a man.” Again he burst into laughter as Argit’s hand glanced off the back of his head with a fit of annoyed chattering.

“This is an entirely different situation and you know it!”

“Yeah yeah.” Kevin raised his hands in surrender. “He’s not your type anyway, and doesn’t have enough money to make up for it.”

“There’s just nothing to gain,” Argit confirmed. “If I’m gonna go for a Plumber I’m at least gonna try to grab Benny, he’s got money coming in. Still can’t believe you didn’t jump on it.”

“G was very persuasive.” Tutting, Argit shook his head.

“You’re wasted on her, Earthboy.” He picked up one of the blue, turning it in his hand to check the color in the light before holding it out to Kevin. “What do you think, close enough to his fur to get his attention?”

“Hmm.” Kevin considered the option, then began digging through the box again. A paler, almost white tone, a pale lavender, and a bottle of black joined the options already out. That done, he got up and headed for the pantry. “Okay, we mix up a lighter and a more purple shade, throw some black striping in, and you may actually just kill him outright.” Eyes lighting up at the idea, Argit grinned broadly and just a little bit sinisterly.

“Oh, you brilliant bastard-”

[mangacat201]

I posted 1,995 times in 2022

That's 277 more posts than 2021!

23 posts created (1%)

1,972 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@queenklu

@ahhhnorealnamesallowed

@the-marathon-continues-nip

@hattalove

@letmetellyouaboutmyfeels

I tagged 1,906 of my posts in 2022

Only 4% of my posts had no tags

#0 - 53 posts

#laugh rule yo - 77 posts

#the devil judge - 74 posts

#911 fox - 55 posts

#resource post - 48 posts

#the untamed - 41 posts

#duuuuuuuuuude - 37 posts

#word of honor - 34 posts

#bad and crazy - 34 posts

#true dat - 31 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#yeah once i realized how small their size of canon interaction actually is i went like 😳😳😳 because headcanon was so vast and limbo like

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Can you explain the origin of goncharev???

Ahhhhh... my friend your ask has set me with a nigh impossible task, for Goncharov as a phenomenon is a many-legged kraken whose suckers will snag any unsuspecting tumblr-fish swimming by while its center remains hidden by the jagged edges of the digital reef.

But i will try!

See, it started with a shoe.

No, it started with someone making a shoe who did not know what they were doing.

Nay, it started with someone being slapped with the dodgeball of Apollo's gift of prophecy and predicting that tumblr would hence come together to invent a piece of media and create a Fandom out of it so vast and authentic, people outside the hivemind would believe it was real and start to be driven mad with trying to find the source that only exists in the shape that is left empty by all the fannish things created around it.

And the tumbrlinas would be so delighted by their own work that they perpertuated it to the point of alerting its supposed creator who then went IN ON THE BIT.

And so the new fannish corner of the internet trundles on, continuing to make art and writing and music and meta discussions and we looked upon it and shared it as good.

Or, you know, you can have the origin explainer post (as far as i can tell) here🤣🤪🤭:

9 notes - Posted November 28, 2022

#4

I miss them.

The emotional build up of this SENDS me.

11 notes - Posted August 21, 2022

#3

Just sitting here, minding my own business. Meanwhile my spider plant a few days ago started to try and establish first contact with baby!Groot. Don't really know what to do with that🤣.

12 notes - Posted October 1, 2022

#2

𝐓𝐀𝐆 (𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄) 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑

Got tagged by @hedgewyse whom I was very happy to get to know better via this tag game, thanks a lot! Sorry it took so long to respond, I needed to get on tumblr on the laptop where I can actually type up text and I had a lot of things going on this past week that kept me LOL.

Favourite colour: Blue.

No explanation, not particular reason why, it’s just always been blue. All shades from deep purple to almost white. But I have a special place in my heart for the word ‘turquoise’, which I feel is just so the most. 

Currently reading: Oh good gosh, my open doc reading list is so long, I will constrain myself to the most recent things...

“(Love is)The second oldest profession” The 9-1-1 Buck/Eddie pornstar!AU I knew I needed but kept for a special occasion

I’m also reading “Achtsam Morden” a national German bestseller and the first actual like physical book I’ve picked up in probably four years. It’s hilarious and murdery and perfect

I’m listening to “Blood & Paper” by Kevin Hearne (whom I recently got to meet at a book signing event when he was visiting here and a friend asked me to spontaneously tag along - best decision in ages) Love the audiobook version read by Luke Daniels, he’s a whizz with the accents.

“Hide the drums (there’s fire in the sky)” latest installment of the Magical Marriage Ribbons-Verse, the Untamed Mega Saga, for which the author starandrea has been posting a chapter every day since May 31st 2020, so 805 consecutive days as of now without missing ONE. It boggles the mind. (I’ve started reading when the verse was ... oh I think about three parts in, I haven’t missed one too since then)

Last song: “The Greatest Show on Earth” - Nightwish, it’s my soundtrack for my daily yoga practice (no I am in fact not joking), so it doesn’t really count last leisure listening was the soundtrack of ‘Robin Hood - Das Musical’

Last series: Ooofff... ok, so many balls in the air at the same time. I’m watching “The Sandman” of course, as you do and loving it. Also “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” which is THE MOST(tm). Recently finished my rewatch and catch-up of “Manifest” and rewatched a couple of episodes of The Devil Judge with a friend who just started and that I got into it, remembering why I can’t be normal about those boys (and how delightful it is to rewatch with someone experiencing sth for the first time). Of course went down the magnificent and batshit crazy rabbithole that is Kinnporsche. Also, “Tomorrow” which is definitely my fav K-Drama of 2022.

Last movie: Day Shift - Fun and a nice remix of vampire tropes that you don’t really see on top of each other a lot. But it felt more like a set up to a movie trilogy I don’t know if it’s made enough impact into getting, so the premise might have been served better as a mini series? ...The Gray Man, which was solid and enjoyable and absolutely bonkers with how hilarious it was to watch Chris Evans have a ton of fun playing straight up, no holds barred, unredeemable villian. Ryan Gosling can stay... Ana de Armas is queen bee.

Currently working on: My last day of vacation :sob: and of course my WIP/plot bunnie enclosure excel spreadsheet (yes, I do not do things by half until I halfass writing them). Anyway, actual words or plotty thinky thoughts were put into:

- The Devil Judge a/b/o PWP (that has, so far, about 5k of set up and no porn) with a Jung Sunah made them do it scenario and non-traditional dynamics (yeah, idek...)

- Vincenzo Inception fusion - Jang Han Seo wakes up from getting shot to a curious set up of sleeping people around him (really really wanna write this one but the premise is so vast I’m afraid of flaming out again)

- three separate 9-1-1 Buddie fics of varying size and scope that reaches from one’s in love the other isn’t and confessions make things complicated (or do they), the fall out from the truck bombing goes the other way for Buck & the “Eddie deals with his 5B-issues by discovering shibari”!AU (do NOT try this at home-therapy)

- The Untamed - Blades of Glory!AU

pheeeeew. hooookay, wow, that was interesting, hope your learned something about me. I’mma tag some people, but please, feel free to participate at your own leisure. @hattalove, @the-marathon-continues-nip , @iskarieot, @themostglorioushour, @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels , @fondofeveryprickle, @ahhhnorealnamesallowed, @sam-t-a, @b612sunsets

16 notes - Posted August 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Jonathan Harker: Yo, yo, mofos, what's up, I'm about to drop some TRUE FAX. ×proceeds to speak lawyer for five paragraphs, then looks out the window×.

Dracula: ×scales castle wall upside down like a gecko×

Jonathan Harker: Akjejsksljhejslwpfjfbf DUDE WHAT THE EVERLOVING FUCKERY IS THIS!?!?!?!?!!!!????

23 notes - Posted May 12, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[amiandthechaos]

Thriving

Neil remembered reading about a study somewhere that claimed that the more you looked at a person, the more attractive they became.

That must be what was happening with Andrew.

Neil had never been exactly subtle with his staring before, but it was starting to turn into a problem when all he wanted to do was look at Andrew. And play exy, of course.

Most days he got to do both at the same time and it was the best part of his day.

Then again, that study had probably been about looking at people for a relatively short period of time, and while they didn't change, your perception of them did. Andrew had been slowly changing and Neil hadn't stopped looking at him for the past two years straight.

The lack of drugs in his system combined with living through the first relatively stress-free period of his life meant Andrew's appetite had increased quite a bit.

It was impressive to watch, really. He started putting away almost twice as much food as before, and then as a consequence started lifting more too, putting energy behind his gym sessions that Neil had never seen before. Andrew didn't like to admit it, but Neil knew he was tracking his progress and felt accomplished whenever he hit a new goal weight. Neil was proud of him every time.

On the other hand, Andrew would never weigh himself unless Abby required it for checkups, but Neil knew he couldn’t care less about that number.

Which, of course, drove Kevin absolutely up the wall. He had been in Andrew’s case about his eating from the very beginning.

“That’s not healthy.”

“You’ll ruin your performance.”

“Do not get another serving.”

“You’re making yourself slower.”

Andrew hadn’t bothered to respond to him the first few times and merely limited himself to showing Kevin up in court, where, if anything, Andrew was moving even faster than before and the power behind his swings was downright frightening.

Still, Kevin wasn't anything if not persistent and he kept berating Andrew for every choice he made. Neil was surprised Andrew had played indifferent so long, but he himself was getting sick of Kevin's rude comments.

"And another thing," Kevin continued as they tried to play the movie Nicky had chosen. "You could have gotten the fruit options."

"I did," Andrew replied enthusiastically as he took the ice creams from the freezer. "Strawberry and mango."

"Yeah but you got those for Neil, you're not eating anything other than full-fat cookies and cream and chocolate."

Andrew didn't dignify that with a response. Neil was already on edge from trying to get the DVD player to work after Nicky and Aaron knocked it over earlier. He gritted his teeth and stared at Andrew and Kevin in the kitchen.

"You think you burn all those empty calories off in the gym and in the court, but if you did, you wouldn't be growing a belly."

Andrew froze, and the whole dorm with him. Even Aaron and Nicky stopped fighting over the good bean bag chair and looked up.

So far, Kevin had only commented on the food itself, both the quality and quantity, as well as the hypothetical consequences it would bring to the court. He had never mentioned Andrew's body, an invisible boundary that Neil thought Kevin wouldn't be stupid enough to cross.

Andrew was deadly still, his back to Kevin, and Neil's blood was boiling, so he decided to do something about it.

"Hey-"

He barely got a word in when Andrew shoved Kevin back against the counter, tip of a blade less than a breath away from Kevin's chin.

"Shit," Nicky breathed out.

Neil didn't like seeing Andrew being this violent in any circumstances, but part of him couldn't help but be glad Kevin wasn't getting away with every stupid thing to come out of his mouth.

Andrew calmly looked into Kevin's eyes. Kevin was a lot less afraid of Andrew as he had once been and a lot more courageous in general, but still, he knew the kind of thing Andrew was capable of.

"Anything else to add?" Andrew asked him and let the blade graze Kevin's skin.

Kevin swallowed. "No."

Andrew waited another beat and then stepped away from Kevin, grabbing the ice creams and headed for the living room.

No one else spoke the rest of the night, and when Neil finally got the movie on, he sat down with a big scoop of cookies and cream ice cream just to spite Kevin. Kevin glared at him, but then so did Andrew because he was eating some of his ice cream.

Kevin did stop bringing up Andrew's habits and body, especially after ExyWorld magazine named Andrew the most sought-after goalie in Class I Exy. Still, he eyed Andrew's platefuls of foods with distaste and made loud comments about his own nutritional achievements, whatever they might be. Neil wasn't paying attention.

Neil was paying attention to the way Andrew's biceps bulged when he reached up to towel off his hair after a shower. The dorm was empty, Kevin having gone out with Thea for the night and everyone else too busy with studies to bother them.

They had already done stuff… twice, actually. And then Andrew had sent Neil out of the room, so Neil showered first and then waited for Andrew to do the same.

Andrew had no problem being shirtless around Neil now, which Neil both appreciated immensely and also found destructive for his already limited attention span.

"Stop looking at me like that," Andrew told him.

"Like what?" Neil asked, still looking.

He merely raised an eyebrow as if it should be obvious.

They didn't so much cuddle as they laid next to each other, sometimes touching, sometimes not, and each doing their own thing. Andrew would read or play with his phone, and Neil would watch a game on Kevin's laptop or take a nap. Recently, though, Andrew had been using the video game console Neil bought for him. He'd seen Andrew eyeing it at the store once and knew he would never buy it for himself. Neil didn't understand video games, but he did understand Andrew and he wanted him to have something for himself that he didn't have to share, and this colorful hand-held device was perfect.

Andrew kept it hidden from both Aaron and Nicky and only used it when they weren't around, and even though Neil didn't understand the games, he liked to watch Andrew play. He particularly liked it when Andrew worked on his digital island.

Andrew grabbed the console and got on the bed next to Neil. He smelled clean and fresh and Neil wanted nothing more than to press his face against Andrew's neck and breathe him in, even though that's exactly what he had been doing half an hour ago.

"Can I lie on your chest?"

Andrew looked away from the screen to stare at Neil. They had never done that before. Andrew sometimes let Neil touch his bare chest, but having his head there casually was new and Neil wasn't sure how Andrew would feel about it. He seemed to be considering it.

"Yes."

He made space for Neil, opening one arm for him to tuck himself there. Andrew's skin was cool against Neil's cheek, but he would warm up soon enough with this closeness. When Neil was settled, Andrew draped his arm around him to hold the console with both hands. Neil was trapped in the best way possible between Andrew's chest and his bicep.

Andrew was soft and sturdy all at once and Neil couldn't help but sigh in comfort. Feeling the muscle underneath made Neik think about all the work Andrew put into his bench presses at the gym. His pecs were easily twice as big as Neil's.

Neil watched as Andrew watered the flowers on his island and listened to his heartbeat. It had been rather fast a moment ago but it was now calming down. Neil almost smiled.

"Hand on your stomach. Yes or no?"

Again, Andrew considered the question but it took him less time now. "Yes."

Neil placed his hand on Andrew's stomach and did smile then. His fingers twitched, but he kept his hand still, the only movement coming from Andrew's breathing.

"You can move your hand. If you want," Andrew said. Neil nodded.

He didn't know what it was about Andrew's body recently; in general Neil had never really gotten what the hype was all about when it came to body parts or features. After all, Andrew and Aaron were practically identical-- or had been, Andrew's recent changes had been making the twins easier and easier to tell apart-- and yet Neil was most definitely not into Aaron.

But his current adoration for Andrew's soft and strong physique was undeniable and he didn't care to scrutinize every single reason why, he just wanted to bury his head in Andrew's chest and have his hands around every curve, muscle, and dimple that Andrew allowed, showing him how much Neil appreciated all that he was.

So Neil slowly moved his hand over Andrew’s skin, seeing some goosebumps erupted along the way near his thick waist. Andrew didn’t react otherwise and just kept playing, but Neil thought he was enjoying the contact. They didn’t practice a lot of non-sexual touching but if Andrew was okay with it, Neil would like to do it more.

They stayed like that for a while, Neil running his hands over Andrew’s torso and feeling like he could do this forever. Andrew needed to know how beautiful he was.

“You know I like your body, right?”

Andrew tensed. “Shut up.”

Neil stilled his hands, careful for a moment. “Shut up as in ‘Don’t ever bring this up again’ or shut up as in ‘I hate you’?

Andrew had already asked him in the past not to say certain things to him, so if this was the case again Neil will never mention it in the future.

Andrew’s heart beat faster. “I hate you.”

Neil smiled. “It’s true. I’d never said it so I wasn’t sure you knew.”

“I’ve never said that to you either,” Andrew pointed out.

“Yes, but you didn’t have to. I know.”

Andrew twisted his head down to look at him. “Oh?”

Neil shrugged. “You said you wanted to blow me.”

Andrew looked back at the game. “That doesn’t prove anything.”

“Well, I just wanted to make it clear. I really like your body.”

Andrew was quiet for two heartbeats. “I hate you. Shut up.”

Neil began moving his hand again and snuggled his cheek into Andrew’s chest a bit more to emphasize his point. Slowly, Andrew’s heart returned to a normal, calm beat and Neil thought that if this remained the same, then everything else could change around them and maybe he’d be okay after all. They would be.