#maybe I’ll do a second part to this where I draw Archie’s and like maybe the others

[rainbowpufflez]

I have a thing that in every fandom I’m in if I get brainrotted enough I’ll draw the characters parents

[alovesongshewrote]

Whumptober Day 19: Broken Hearts | Reader

Plot:  Part 3!!  Torture!!

Word Count: 3,158

Warnings:  Torture, threats, demons, possession, the demon is a mega asshole still

A/N:  Whump

Tag List:  @furblrwurblr​ @einahpetsyarcip​ @sorrels-scribbling​ @anxious-stitcher​ @alive-and-afraid​ @animedweeb333​ @douxiesdamsel​ @saroski05

Nari was not having a good time right now.  Her guardians, her protectors were dealing with some massive evil presence, and there wasn’t much she could do other than look for help with Archie.

Archie was also not having fun.  He was supposed to protect Douxie, to look out for him and make sure he was safe.  But now?  Now Douxie was anything but safe.  It was a new kind of horror, the cat-dragon decided, to watch his oldest friend get tortured in his sleep; to watch his skin tear on its own and the blood stain the sheets.  And then he had to leave him.  He had to leave his wizard, his boy, who he had watched over for almost a thousand years, to an uncertain fate.  He trusted you, of course, but this thing, this darkness that haunted you was a force to be reckoned with.  He didn’t want either of you to be hurt more than you already had been.

The two of them ran for a while until they found a payphone, which is literally the luckiest anyone ever gets in this story because those things are almost extinct, and called for help.  After that, all they could do was wait.

You were not doing any better.

You woke up restrained, tied to a kitchen chair with bonds that glowed the same blue as the demon’s eyes.  While this wasn’t the first time this had happened, it was the first time the magic burned.  Wherever it touched your skin an unfamiliar ache took hold.  That was new, it was different, and it hurt enough to make you wince.  The demon was waiting for that.  Now that you were awake, the fun could begin.

“Good morning, darling.”

You groaned a little bit, not wanting to deal with this asshole.  Unfortunately, you had no choice in that matter.

“What’s the matter?  Uncomfortable?”

“Eat a dick.”

The thing snarled, and the expression looked uncanny on your wizard’s face.  It was just so unlike him, and that reminder that he was trapped in there hurt you more than anything this demon could do.  That didn’t mean that the demon wouldn’t try.

It grabbed your face, jerking your head to face him, “Don’t get smart, now.  You don’t want poor Douxie to suffer any more than he has to, do you?”

You bit back a string of insults while trying to escape from the demon’s grasp.  That wasn’t going super well, and it only made the thing tighten his grip.

“Well?”

“Well, what?” you spat, words laced with venom.  The demon was unaffected.

“Do you want him to suffer?”

You stopped struggling and stared at the thing that controlled your boyfriend’s body.  He couldn’t be serious, could he?  Did he actually want you to say it?  

He jerked your face again, pulling it upwards, exposing your neck, “Come on, darling, we don’t have all day.  Just say it, yes or no.”

You stayed silent, incredibly wary of why exactly he would want you to say this.  In your first nightmare, he kept trying to manipulate you, telling you that if you loved Douxie you would die for him.  The situation was too similar for this to be a coincidence.

When you said nothing, the demon sighed, shaking his head.  You felt a sharp pain wherever his fingers made contact with your face.  Claws, you realized, were extending from his hand, carving into your skin and leaving shallow cuts across your cheek.  You gasped, trying to pull back, but that made things worse.  Not only did it give the monster’s talons a better chance to tear your skin, but it let you see the awful mix of demon and man that was this thing’s hand.  Simply put, it wasn’t Douxie’s.  It may have been attached to his body, but these long sharp claws were anything but human.

While you were distracted by that little abomination, the demon drew closer to you.  The hand that wasn’t embedded in your face curled around the chair, effectively boxing you in, not that you had anywhere else to go.  His figure loomed over you, reminding you that you were completely outmatched magically and physically.  You shut your eyes and gritted your teeth as the demon’s lips grazed your ear.

“If you say yes, I’ll let you go.”

Your eyes snapped open, and you turned to face the monster as much as you physically could.  Why the hell would he offer that?  To torture Douxie, probably, but this was too weird.  Before he’d based his attacks on your love for the wizard.  Why now, was he trying to get you to betray him?  You guessed it was because his identity as a demon had been revealed, forcing him to try another tactic, but that didn’t make too much sense if you thought about it too hard.  You knew that he was lying, he would never let you go that easily, the question was why?

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

You remained silent.  You weren’t going to say anything to this guy that wasn’t an insult.

“Well, you can't be blamed for that.  Here, let me show you,” he removed his claws and his hand from your face, allowing you to move your jaw again.  He moved that hand down the length of your body, and as it descended, your bonds loosened a bit and the burning subsided.  The demon pulled away from you for a moment, only to lean over your other side and push a strand of your hair back into place.  You didn’t make a sound.

“I bet you’re wondering why you get this deal,” he ran a clawless hand down your jawline, bringing it to rest on your chest, the same place he had stabbed you weeks ago.  You felt your muscles tense up as he lowered his head to rest on your shoulder.

“It’s because you remind me of my wife.  She had the same spark you do.  I don’t regret draining her, killing her slowly as I stole her power, but,” you could feel the demon smiling against you, as he paused, letting the threat sink in “There are some things I do miss.”

He kissed your neck, making you want to vomit.  You liked it when Douxie kissed you, but even though this was his body, it wasn’t him.  You were relieved when the demon stood, taking a few steps away from you.  You even relaxed for a second before he pulled out the knife.  Silver with a green gem.  It was the blade from your nightmares.

“This was hers once.  She’d never approve of it being used in this way, but she can’t exactly stop me from where she is, can she?”  he came towards you, pushing the point of the blade against your collarbone, “So, what’s your answer, darling?  Yes or no?”

You weren’t saying anything.

And it was pissing off the demon.

“Come on, darling, I’m running out of patience.”

Silence.  From both of you.

But you noticed his grip tighten around the hilt of the blade, his eye twitched, his jaw clenched.  It wouldn’t take much for him to explode.

It took nothing, actually.

“SAY IT!”  he screamed, the blade slicing through your skin, small drops of your blood hitting the wall.  You said nothing, but you could not hide your smirk.  The demon didn’t like that.  He placed the knife against your skin again, getting in your face and growling as he spoke, “Say.  It.”

You smiled then.  This may have been a powerful demon possessing your even more powerful boyfriend, but you were the one in control right now.  You said nothing.

The monster’s face went blank, and you smirked, even as he drove his blade into your chest.  It was enough to hurt, but not to kill.

He waited for you to say something, anything, but you just sat there, grinning.  He moved his blade down to rest against your ribs, demanding that you answer his question once again.  You refused, and the knife ran against your skin, breaking it and drawing blood.

The process repeated a few more times, but you never answered.  At this point, it had moved beyond refusing to respond out of fear.  If he wanted to manipulate you, the time had passed.  This was a game of defiance now, and answering meant surrender.  Answering meant death.

You could tell the demon was growing tired of this game.  Eventually, he threw the knife down and just started hitting you.  When he finished that, you were laughing.  Maybe this was just your way of avoiding the trauma that you would have to deal with eventually.  Maybe it was your way of letting Douxie know you were still there.  Maybe you had gone insane.  Either way, the monster was now slumped over your counter, screaming out of frustration.

Once your laughter had subsided, you leaned back still grinning, “You ruined my shirt.  Just, FYI.”

With a growl, the demon flew across the room, grabbing your throat again, not hesitating to squeeze this time, “You vile little-”

He cut himself off, letting go of your neck and stepping back.  You were already concerned, but the smile that spread across his face really set you on edge.

“Well, you won’t answer me, and you clearly don’t care about your own life,” he picked up the knife, “but maybe, you’ll care about him?”

He brought the blade over his wrist, Douxie’s wrist.  You started to struggle again, panic returning and adrenaline running through your veins.  The demon pushed the point of the knife through his skin, not far enough to cause any lasting damage, but more than enough to scare you.

“What’ll it be, love?”

“I-”

“Answer or he dies!”

“Okay, stop!” you cried, straining against the magic keeping you in place, “Stop it, please, I’ll answer, just don’t hurt him!”

He dropped the knife, grinning at you, “That’s all I needed to hear, darling.  Now, tell me.”

You waited until he was right in front of you.  You had never seen Douxie look so smug.  True, this wasn’t actually him, but it was still a weird experience.  This entire day had been a weird experience.  Your Douxie, the real Douxie, would never hurt you, ever.  He would never lay a hand on you, never swat you away or elbow you in the ribs or touch you when you didn’t want to be touched.  But today, his body beat the shit out of yours for hours.  Fortunately, if you got things your way, that would be over soon.  You tried to stay calm as you followed your plan.

First, you looked into the demon’s cold blue eyes.

Next, you let a few tears fall, trying to look as weak and unassuming as possible.

Then, you gave your answer.

“No.”

You waited for the demon’s response.  He smiled sadly, shaking his head, “I thought you’d say that.”

He drew closer to you, probably going in for the kill.  Whatever, it didn’t matter, what mattered was that he was close enough now for your attack.

Here’s the thing about them bindings.  They only last as long as the one doing the binding is focused on them.  When the demon had his little meltdown, you were able to free one of your hands.  It was only one of four limbs, but it was a good start.  You waited until the demon was in punching distance.

And then you just fuckin punched him.

It felt great.

Not physically, because, y’ know, hours of torture tend to make you feel like shit, but still, it felt nice.  

While the demon took a second to regain his bearings, you made quick work of your other bonds, freeing yourself quickly and getting to your feet.  You almost fell as soon as you stood, but shit, torture will do that to you, and you could deal with it later.  You needed to run first.  

So you did.  You grabbed the nearest weapon and bolted, not out of the apartment, but into your bedroom.  Sure, the demon beat you and Douxie before because you were in his domain, but now you were in your apartment.  It was over for him.  You had the high ground.

Thinking fast, you hid in the closet preparing your weapon, which was an unopened can of something.  Maybe it wasn’t great for melee purposes, but it would make one hell of a projectile.  You waited in the dark until you heard the demon outside.  You didn’t wait anymore after that.

You kicked down the closet door and yeeted the can at your boyfriend’s head.  It was a direct hit!  With a grin, you ran at the demon, tackling it to the ground and rolling away.  While it tried to get up, you slammed your fist into the ground, your magic forming a sigil on the ground and trapping the demon inside.

You stood up, breathing heavy but smiling.  But you weren’t done yet.  You needed to get Douxie back.

“Hey babe, I know you’re in there, and I’m sorry for beating you up.”

The monster growled, lunging towards you only to hit the invisible wall made by your sigil, “SHUT UP.”

You did not do that.  Instead, you kept on talking, “But I need you to come back to me.  I know you’ve been fighting him, and I’m sorry I couldn’t help you before, but I can now.”

“STOP THIS!”

“Fight him, darling, you can come back to me, I know you can.”  

Darling.  The word slid off your tongue like you’d been meant to say it all your life.  It just felt right.  It must have felt right to Douxie too because as the demon screamed, the glow of his eyes faded.  Blue turned to hazel, and your boy was back.  Behind him, smoke gathered, but you didn’t care.  Your mans was no longer possessed.  You could not stop the smile on your face as you grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the sigil.

In an instant, his arms were wrapped around you, and yours around him.  You buried your face in his chest, letting yourself relax for a second.  He was shaking and clinging to you as if he feared he would never hold you again.  That was valid.  Today was a traumatizing day for everyone.

You brought your forehead to rest against his, placing your hands on his face, tracing his cheekbones with your thumbs.  He was crying.  So were you.

“Hi,” you whispered.

“Hey.”

You let out a sob, pulling yourself closer to him, “I love you.”

“I love you too, I love you so much,” he said, repeating those words over and over, throwing in apologies pretty frequently. 

“YOU FOOLS.”

“Oh great, this guy again.” Your voice was muffled, but Douxie still heard you, smiling despite the situation.

“YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS.”

“Sure, Jan.”  Maybe it was the blood loss, but you had decided to be funny.  Also, it pissed off the demon, which was nice.

It growled again and lunged for you, and this time, the sigil flickered and faded, freeing the thing.  The monster had to take a second as he hadn’t expected that to work, but it did, and now you were in trouble.  Again.

Douxie had no time to deal with your delirious ass.  Instead, he picked you up and ran, stashing you in the elevator while he ran up the stairs to the roof.  He managed to beat the beast to the there, grabbing you from the elevator and running to the edge of the building.  He kept you behind him, trying his best to protect you.  The monster burst through the doors, now in its true form.

“(Y/N), I love you.”

“Eh, no, don’t do anything stupid.  We’re in this together,” you grabbed his hand, and smiled.  Maybe you were about to die, but that wouldn’t stop you from being a cute significant other.

“I love you, too, just by the way.”

Douxie shook his head, but he had no choice but to smile back at you.  That’s love children, that’s love.

You stretched out your hand, magic at the ready.  Douxie did the same.  

It was time to fight the demon.

It lunged at Douxie first, and he knocked it to the side with a spell.  It jumped back up, screeching again.  Now that you thought about it, you weren’t sure how your neighbours didn’t hear any of this, but you really didn’t have time to think about it.  The demon was coming for you now.  You dodged the attack, rolling under the monster and striking upwards.  It flew back, nearly falling off the roof, but it pulled itself back up at the last second.

“Hey, babe?  If we knock it off the roof, will that kill it?”

“Not sure, we’ll just have to see!”

Douxie attacked now, fighting off the darkness with flashes of blue.  You joined him, your magic whipping around the creature and throwing it, where else?  Off the roof.  Things looked good for a moment.  

Then the thing rose from the ground, knife in hand, starting in its true form and morphing.  But it didn’t turn into Douxie.  It turned into you.

And then it stabbed Douxie.

“NO!”  the scream tore itself from your throat as you ran at the demon, wrenching the blade from its grip and driving it into the monster’s heart, your heart, over and over again.

When it was dead, your face was wet with tears and blood, both yours and the demon’s.  You dropped the knife, covering your mouth and trying to keep in your sobs.

You felt Douxie’s hand on your shoulder, and you let him help you away from the body.  Neither of you could get far though.  A few minutes later, both of you were on the ground.  Your head was on his chest, his arms were around you.  From here, you could hear his heartbeat.  You wanted to look into his eyes, to make sure they weren’t blue, that this wasn’t a dream, that he was safe and you were safe, and everything was ok.

But his eyes were closed.

You just let your head drop back to his chest, and shut your own eyes.

“We did it, darling,” you whispered, “We’re safe now.  You-you were amazing.   I’m so sorry, Douxie, I’m sorry about all of this,” you gripped onto his shirt, trying to keep yourself grounded. “I love you, I love you so much.  Don’t worry, love, help is-help, help,” your words died in your throat as the world around you went black.

//

Even though you’d passed out, help was, in fact, coming.  It just took a while to get there.  

About a minute after you lost consciousness, Nari, Archie, Zoe and Claire burst onto the roof, finding a very dead demon, a dying witch, and an unconscious wizard.

Not a great thing to find tbh.

[teacup-crow]

The Christmas Runner

On the 12th Christmas Eve after the world ended, Molly and Carena told someone the story of the Christmas Runner. Major end of S3 spoilers, very minor spoilers for early S5. 

I spent all day in bed and this happened? Will probably go on AO3 once I polish it (and when it’s actually close to Christmas). Promise it’s wholesome!

(In my headcanon here Carena is 15, Molly is 13 and Sara is 7)

“Sam’s givin’ you how much to watch her?” Carena Skeet spluttered, towering over the younger girl, leaning her hands over her head on the brick wall of the housing block. The moon was a sharpened, thin crescent, and lights winked in the guard towers. Over in the main barn, they could faintly hear the twanging of a slightly out-of-tune guitar and some tipsy singing, suggesting the grown-ups’ Christmas Eve party was already in full swing.

Everyone said that Molly Harrison was the prettiest girl in Abel, with blonde curly hair and eyes blue enough to knock out zoms, but right now she was shifting foot-to-foot, looking more irritated than anything else.

“A loaf of crusty bread and a pot of blackcurrant jam, and… you’re not having any of it, Caz.”

“Dr Cohen only promised me a bloody book!” Carena pouted, but avoided stomping her foot. She’d about grown out of that. Nobody would dare call her pretty, but she was too, in a fiercely intimidating way. It was two months until she turned sixteen and could finally start Runner training, and she’d already begun practicing first thing every morning, tearing around the training shed when the sun had barely risen. Where Molly was soft and homely, she was angled and muscular. “You can read it if you let me have a spoonful.”

“That’s a rubbish trade and you know it! I won’t always go along with everything you tell me to do, you know, it’s not fair-“

“Oh blah blah blah, quit whinin’, let’s just get the job done before they realise they double-booked.” She dropped her hands and stalked away. Her foster dad’s old fireman jacket was too big on her, but wearing the king’s clothing added to her swagger.

“You don’t like kids,” Molly pointed out, stumbling a little behind her as she strode off to the front door.

“Kids is fine. Kids is kids. I have, like, fifteen siblings. I know what I’m doing.”

“Yes, and you don’t like any of them. And they’re all the same age as you!”

“What can I say, I’m not good at sharing.” She turned and gazed pointedly at Molly, who shrugged it off. “It doesn’t take two people to babysit a seven year old.”

“Yeah, so go away, Caz. You don’t even want a book.”

“Gotta get on Dr Myers’ and Sam’s good side if I want to be recommended for Runner, don’t I? Janine respects their opinion more than anyone else except Runner Five.”

“So go and sit on guard duty with Runner Five and earn their approval.”

“You jokin’? Five’s batshit.”

“They’re also the only reason we’re not dead, so maybe you should be a bit more respectful.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t try to tell me what to do, Molly Harrison...” Carena’s tone was affronted, teetering on nasty. Then she stopped herself. “But yeah, you’re right. Five’s batshit bonkers, but they’re awesome.”

“And scary?” Molly added.

“Yeah, if you’re a wuss.”

They’d reached the green wooden door of Maxine and Paula’s apartment, a wreath on the outside, a menorah in the window. Sara had hung paper chains all down their part of the corridor. It made both the teenagers smile for a second or two.

Carena knocked, to no reply. She tried again. 

“That’s weird,” she muttered.

“Sara, you in there?” Molly tried, peeking through the window. 

“Sara, we brought chocolate!”

This caused a patter of feet to charge towards the door. Carena grinned. “First rule of kids is lie through your teeth.”

“MOLLY!” Sara sprang through the door in a bright blur of red sweater and green trousers, and jumped into Molly’s outstretched arms. “Did you bring Galileo too?”

Years before, when Archie Jensen had lost Mildred van der Graff to an explosion, Five had managed to get their own chicken back to Abel relatively unscathed. Molly, already interested in animals even as a small child, had adopted Galileo Figaro, a now-geriatric menace with a beak that had lasted longer than anyone expected. The hen had strong memories of her dinosaur roots, and, apart from Molly, Five and Sara, would attack almost anyone who dared enter the coop.

“Galileo’s an old hen, she’s resting.”

“She went cluck-cluck-cluck over the rainbow bridge to Ed Harrison’s stomach, you mean.”

“Caz! Dad would never!” Molly looked scandalised as Carena burst out laughing at her own joke. Thankfully, it went over Sara’s head as she dropped down from Molly’s arms and stared up at Carena’s jacket in awe. Caz ruffled her mop of springy hair affectionately. She liked this kid, at least. It was very difficult not to.

“Hello, baby Sara, how’s it goin’?”

“Good, Princess Caz! I’m making a jigsaw puzzle. It’s got a million trillion pieces!”

“Sounds like an absolute riot. Tell you what, Molly can finish it with you and I’ll heat up the rations.”

Molly nodded despite herself, taking the pudgy little hand in hers and stepping into the cosy apartment. “Okay, let’s go, hopefully we have all the pieces...”

“Daddy had to remake some of the missing ones but he said you can barely tell the difference, sort of! Anyway, you said you had chocolate?”

This was still one of the oldest housing blocks in Abel, but instead of enough bunks for eight people the two rooms comfortably housed the little family of three, bathroom splitting a bedroom on one side and a family room on the other with a table and a bookshelf and warm candle-lit lamps too high for Sara to knock over on the mantelpiece. Woollen throws covered the kind of battered armchairs you sank into and artwork lined the walls. There was even a tidy kitchen corner with a kettle and a camp stove and a stack of chipped plates and mugs. It was one of Carena’s favourite places: better even than sharing a room with some of the roller girls on a rare trip to see her foster dad in London; much better than her own springy bunk in the children’s dorms, the wall behind her chequered curtain plastered in pictures and photos and plans but still not private enough to block out the whining and crying of the little ones all night. It was nice to see a place where a real family lived. When she stood in the centre of the room, she could squeeze her eyes shut and almost picture the faces of her real parents, her actual bedroom, the kitchen they’d had with a white-tiled floor. Or was it sand-coloured tiles? She wasn’t quite sure, not that she’d admit it. Whenever anyone asked, she always said she remembered the pre-zombie world perfectly.

“Caz? Are you heating up the food or...?”

“I’m getting to it!” She stomped towards the stove, where Sara’s parents had already left a few crumbling Tupperware containers of pea soup from the kitchens, and Molly had brought a bowl of eggs to hard boil if they felt snacky. Not particularly inspiring, but then food had been limited for the last week as the kitchens saved all their supplies up for Christmas Day. And none of them knew how to be fussy: Sara and Molly did not remember a time when food was plentiful, and Carena’s last remnants of pickiness had been starved out of her when the Ministry occupied Abel. She’d been nine, and her stomach hadn’t stopped rumbling for that whole terrible ten months. It ached again a little just thinking about it. She wondered if that had left her weaker, permanently damaged her chance to become a Runner or a roller-girl. As if her asthma wasn’t enough of a handicap. Well, she’d do it anyway. Nothing was going to get in her way, least of all the legacy of those who had hurt her foster father. 

“Three bowls of green soup, coming up!” She added a lick of salt, and stirred the metal pot. The ruckus from the square was louder now, almost matched by the younger girls playing with the puzzle behind her.

“I can’t tell if this is supposed to be a man’s face or a rat.”

“Daddy’s not a very good draw-er.”

“I mean… he could use some practice, to be honest. Any clue on where this piece should fit, Caz?”

Carena doled out the bowls and spoons. “Looks like a squiggle with earmuffs to me. Sam’s crap at art.”

“Don’t swear in front of Sara!”

“She’ll be fiiiine,” Carena rolled her eyes. “Lighten up, Molly.”

“Yeah, lighten up, Molly!” Sara echoed jubilantly. “Crap, crap, crap.”

“Okay, you can cut it out now. Eat your dinner.”

Molly changed the subject, sensing another mischievous outburst of swearing on the horizon. “Are you excited for Christmas, Sara?”

“Yeah! Did you hear that we’re going to have a hog roast and potatoes?! And games! And, and, Ms Marsh knitted me a hat and mittens!”

“How do you know about that?” Molly admonished. Sara immediately looked caught in the act.

“I… maybe heard her and Mama talking about it.”

“Did you ‘maybe hear’ or were you spying on your Mama?”

“I wasn’t spying! People just think kids can’t hear stuff!”

“Hey, spyin’ is a great skill, don’t knock it, Mol. Don’t worry, we won’t tell.”

“I wasn’t spying!” Sara drank down the last of her soup, licked the bowl, and pouted adorably. It was hard for the babysitters not to laugh.

“You know, I think that piece might actually be a clockwork mouse. I think it goes down at the bottom…”

They finished the jigsaw with only four missing pieces. “It’s… a big man in a red coat with a white beard! With lots of toys. I’m going to call him Mr Bob.”

“Sara, that’s Santa. Do you not know about Santa?”

“Father Christmas?” Molly tried, although she wasn’t completely confident either. Sara looked blank.

“You know my father is called Sam Yao?”

“No, baby, Santa Claus is different. He brings things to good children at Christmas.” In the back of her mind was an image of Ed in a terribly cobbled together Santa suit, a tiny Molly on his shoulders. A good memory in a flock of bad ones. It twinged in her chest.

“He’s a Runner?”

Carena sighed. “Basically. Yeah. Santa Claus is just another name for the Christmas Runner. Every Christmas Eve, he goes from township to township, leaving gifts for all of the children.”

“How does he get through the gates?”

“Well, duh, he lets the township leaders know what time he’s going to come on Rofflenet first. And he’s really fast, so he doesn’t need to worry about Raiders or zoms. He’s got a big sled drawn by nine dogs for all the presents!”

Sara’s eyes sparkled. “What are the dogs called?”

“Well, the main one is Rudolf, and he’s an, an Irish red setter. Or he wears a red jumper, like you. Something to do with red. The other ones…” she looked to Molly for assistance, and realised the blonde girl was just as enraptured. “The other ones aren’t important.”

“Caz!”

“Fine! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer… Victor?” 

Her mind drew a complete blank. Somewhere in her subconscious, a woman’s voice read the words of Twas the Night Before Christmas, but she couldn’t quite make them out. “Um… Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh and Spam?”

Molly snorted in surprise, her face contorting and shoulders shaking as she tried to hold back a peal of laughter. At least Sara seemed satisfied. “Okay, so how come I don’t hear them all?”

“He sneaks in with magic and only when you’re extremely tired so it’s, like, impossible to stay up to hear. But if you leave a sock on the end of your bed he’s guaranteed to put sommat cool in it.”

“How will he know what I like?”

Molly looked thoughtful. “Maybe you should leave him a list? But you like a lot of things.”

“And my socks are quite small.” Sara looked pensive, kicking her feet in the air to check the size of them. “You two should write lists as well!”

“I’m too old to write one-“ Carena tried, but Sara was already insistently jabbing a pencil and an old receipt at her from a scrap paper drawer in the cabinet.

“These big long lists from the olden days are perfect, we can use the back.”

Carena’s eyes flitted over the receipt. Morrisons. Mango, papaya, hummus, avocadoes. All words she didn’t recognise, foods she would never get to try, and, suddenly intimidated, she laid it down on the table. She wasn’t the strongest reader or writer at the best of times - she’d learned too late, and it was difficult with so many new things in a row. Sara sounded out the letters on her own list as she wrote, her reading already confident.

“Dear Christmas Runner. Thank you for all your hard work, and for taking so many risks to deliver presents…”

Molly glanced over at Carena with a dash of awkward concern. They’d shared a schoolroom as children, and again for the last few years, and had some of the same frustrations, although Molly struggled more with maths and numbers and the purpose and point of algebra and geometry than writing and words. “Can I write both of ours, and you do the pictures? Your drawings are really good.”

Carena nodded, and got up abruptly to wash out the pot and make some tea. Outside, the town choir had drummed up enough numbers to give a few carols a go. She cracked open the window a little to let the sound filter up. 

“I would really like some bubblegum but I know it is hard to find and my mothers don’t like it so don’t worry if you can’t find any. I also like marbles and you can fit lots of them in a sock!”

“You’re already running out of space!”

“Okay. Lots of love from Sara Myers-Cohen-Yao, kiss kiss kiss! What are you going to ask for?”

“Nicer soap,” Molly said, quite serious. “And I need a new metal bucket for chicken feed and milking. Mine is close to holes.”

“A bucket won’t fit in a sock!” Sara scoffed with childish mirth. “That’s ridiculous!”

“I don’t know, she has really big feet.” This made Sara giggle even more, and slide off the chair to look at Molly’s feet more closely.

“Ha, ha, ha,” Molly gave Carena a mock-withering stare. “What do you want, Caz? I’m doing yours now.”

Carena thought as the water began to bubble. All she really wanted was to be a Runner. To explore. To get buckets and soap and marbles and gum and make faces back in the township light up. All she wanted was her lungs and airways to do as she commanded, her muscles and heart to work with her, to let her push past exhaustion. 

“Eh. Shoelaces would be nice.” She smirked at Molly. “Or some chicken fat.”

“Make one more threat to my chicken’s life, Carena Skeet and you won’t be getting anything from the Christmas Runner!” 

“I surrender, I surrender!” Carena laughed, and poured the tea. “Anyway, shouldn’t you be in bed by now, Sara? If we’re going to get this Runner to come at all.”

“But I’m not even tired,” the small girl yawned, still on the floor with her head on the chair and cuddling one of the throws her mothers had stacked on the sideboard. 

Molly grabbed the rest of them. “Come on, we’ll build a blanket den, have our tea in there, and Caz can tell you more about the Christmas Runner.”

“Startin’ to feel like Caz does all the work around here,” Carena added, stirring in milk and honey and using the puzzle box as a makeshift tea-tray. “Go on then, lead the way.”

Five minutes later, they’d constructed a large blanket fort and, huddled together inside it, Carena began to tell them everything she remembered from the world before, embellishing the odd detail or ten.

“You’re lying, there were no flying snowmen.”

“Well, I saw a film about them!”

Eventually, Sara curled up and fell asleep, thumb in her mouth, dreaming up a jumble of tinsel and angels and dancing snowmen and turkeys.

Molly smiled, sleepy herself. “You know, you’re actually really good with kids.”

“You’re actually good at lightenin’ up.”

“Yeah! This was fun. I had a really nice evening.”

“Molly…” Carena began, and stopped. She tucked Sara’s blankets around her a little tighter. She didn’t know how to say how safe she felt, maybe for the first time since she lost her brother, warm and wanted and hopeful, surrounded by the peace she wanted so badly to fight for. “I think tomorrow is gonna be a really good day.”

The bell in the square jangled once, twice, twelve times and for once they didn’t panic. It had been years since a horde went anywhere near the gates. This was midnight.

“Merry Christmas, Caz.”

“Merry Christmas.”

***

Carena awoke under a pile of blankets, her head on the end of Sara’s bed, the sound of Dr Cohen humming in the kitchen as she fried the eggs for breakfast, and caught three bulging stockings out of the corner of her eye. A lump came to her throat as she saw the book, as promised, bound in ribbon, that she recognised even without reading the words.

The Abel Runner’s Handbook, fourth ed.

She nearly knocked the wind out of the doctors in her rush to hug them.

[tuttifuckinfruttifriday]

Part 2 of Archie’s envy >:) by my friend @randomly-a-fan who asked me if I could make a part 2

Forgiving

Pairing: Jason Voorheese and MJ x Malon, Jason Voorheese and MJ x Archie, Pennywise x Archie

Warnings: mention of mental abuse??kind of, Jason being the best dad—, fluff, angst

Like always, don’t hesitate to tell me if I did some mistakes!<3

—

Hearing a knock on her window, Malon slowly blinked awake. Telling herself that it might be nothing, she leaned against her headboard. Maybe... maybe it was an animal or a tree? With that in mind, she was going to go back to sleep until she heard the knocking again. Kind of scared, she froze and hid under the covers, now hearing the pitter-patter of the rain on her window, making it impossible to see what’s causing the noise. “D-Daddyyyy—“

When Jason heard his daughter muffled scream, he immediately got up. Not even thinking about why or about the woman beside him, he almost ran toward her room, only to stop with a tilt of his head as he sees her hiding under the covers. There didn’t seem to be any threat, so why did she scream?? It’s surely not from the now heavy rain outside...

Then, he heard it. The small knocking on her window. With a quick kiss on her red hair, Jason put his boots, his mask and coat on before he walked into the pouring rain, his machete at his side. “Mister.....? ...J-Jason.....??” His head snapped toward the small figure. It was Archie, Malon’s friend. He was drenched, so the first thing Jason did was taking him in his arms, his head tilting as he saw his small bag with him. He his his fragile body under his coat as he practically ran back toward the cabin, the boy’s arms around his neck. When he entered, his wife was pacing worriedly in the kitchen, Malon at the table drawing. The redhead was worried about her father when she saw him, but even more worried when she saw her drenched and shivering friend into his arms. “A-Archie??! What are you’d ping here???” She got out of the chess wooden chair, the wood creaking as she got down, and ran toward the purple-haired boy that her dad put down. By instinct, she took his face in her hands and made sure he was okay before hugging him, hearing a small chuckle coming from him as he returned the hug. When they got out of it, it was MJ’s turn to be concerned. “Archie? What happened??” She asked, seeing him putting down his wet backpack on the carpet. “Huh.... My d-dad was mean and......” Seeing him hesitating, she immediately understood and nodded taking him by the hand and to the bathroom. “What do you think about getting out of these wet clothes and taking a warm bath, huh?” Her soft motherly smile was a change from what he saw at home, so he couldn’t help but nod and she got out to fetch a black fluffy towel. He was really happy that Jason found him, or he would probably have been still outside and maybe dying hypothermia or—

“Here you go, if you need help, just scream my name and I’ll come ^^...” his train of thoughts was cut short as MJ came in with a bottle of shampoo, conditioner and body wash. They only had one kind of shampoo at home with some fruity smelling body wash, which he didn’t like at all. It made him feel like a baby, but those made him feel more mature, so he was thankful. So he took a nice bath after Malon’s mom put the water in it, and dried himself with the good smelling towel. It smelled like flowers, probably what the soap they used to wash it.

After putting some fresh clothes on, Archie went into the kitchen and looked at the happy family, Malon sitting on her dad’s laps. He envy her, because he can’t even eat with eveybody, his dad always away and his mom doing whatever chore that needed to be done. He was so deep in thoughts that he didn’t realize when a plate was put in his face. “Come eat with us, after you can tell us what’s wrong okay?” Still not saying anything, he nodded and sat down carefully on the comfortable chair, a kind of pillow glued to make the seat more comfortable. His eyes then drifted toward the plate of blueberry pancakes in the cracked porcelain. Questions were running though his head as he didn’t have any idea how they could make that with the small supplies they had. He never ate pancakes, but knew what it was, so he was shocked when he tasted the fluffiness, the berries putting a really good taste to it. “How does it taste?” He replied with a grin, his mouth full as the woman sat before him let out a chuckle.

After eating, he told the family about his father putting him down and about how he really wanted to make something for his mother. He didn’t really got any reactions out of them, except for Malon who ran toward her room to take her doll. “I got an idea!” She sat beside him, her dress riding up her legs a little in her excitement as she sat on the couch. “You could make her a dress, like the one you made for the Little Me!” Having never thought of it, his eyes widened. “What do I do if she doesn’t like it?...” His bad thoughts was stopped by a big hand on his back, rubbing softly as he looked at the undead man that got up from his seat. “He’s telling you not to worry. There’s nothing more that a mother can ask than something from her kids.” Confidence ran through his veins when he hears MJ’s soft voice. So with a small nod, he got up, following Malon as she walked toward her room. “My mother put her sewing kit in my room, since she downs really have any other place she can put it.. You can take anything you think she’ll like!” Eyes on all the colourful tissues a, he couldn’t decide which one she would like, so Malon helped him as she remembered that her hair was in the tints of blue. “This one?” A smile appeared on her lips as he nodded at the floral design. They worked on it, Archie being surprised as he saw Malon sewing. It was a really nice moment between the friends, the silence comforting.

—

“Hope you have a good day young man! Don’t get into any trouble and remember, what your dad says doesn’t matter, only your opinion does.” Smiling brightly, a grey box in his hands, he nodded and walked away after the family gave him a hugs, Malon telling him to come back soon because she wanted to play with him. She was saddened when he told her that he had to go, but understood since her parents must be worried, his mother at least.

—

“Where were you??” He was bombarded with questions as he put his feet into his house. “I was in search of a present for mom—“ “What did I tell you about cheap presents...? They don’t last long.” Taking a deep breath, Archie looked at his dad with no emotions showing on his face. “I don’t care what you say, and it’s not cheap.” A silence took place as the father and son looked at each other.

Then, Pennywise did something his son would never have thought. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and his shoulder slacked. “I.. I’m sorry son. It’s just that you know, all the stress of getting something for you and your mom to eat.... and all that... It makes me loose my tempers. I didn’t mean to be mean and say bad things about what you want to give her.. I’m a bad dad.” With another sigh, he looked down at his son before getting at his height and opening his arms with a sad face, asking silently if he forgave him. Evidently, Archie couldn’t be mad at him very long since it’s his dad. Thinking about it for only what seemed like 3 seconds, he leaped into his arms and hugged him tight, whispering about how he forgives him and understood. The tall clown couldn’t be more happy as he got up with his son still in his arms, a goofy smile on his face. “I love you...” His eyes wide open, Archie hugged him closer and responded with a small “I love you too, dad...” It was really nice, the two male bathing in the silence as they hugged tightly, being emotional. When Pennywise saw the box his son was holding, he asked him if he wanted to show him what it was, that he wouldn’t say anything bad. This time, Archie took a little longer to think, but nodded and got down as he open the small box, pulling the colourful papers out as a small gasp came to his dad’s lips.

“That’s beautiful, just wait until your mother sees it... I’m jealous.” A chuckle escaped the boy’s lips at his father’s confession. He was sure she would love it.

[birds-punch]

Archie! Sonadow AU: Spectrum (issue 222) Part 1

“Summary: Sonic and Shadow goes out on their first public date in New Mobotropolis, but ran into some trouble while on their date.

Characters: Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sally Acorn.

Pairings: Sonadow, Sonally (Past.)

Warning: Implied Homophobia.

A/N: This is going to be split in two parts because of how long it is. I hope you all enjoy reading this.

“Nervous, Faker?” asked Sonic to a certain black hedgehog, walking besides him. The two were heading down the path, hand in hand to wherever the blue hedgehog was taking his boyfriend to eat at for dinner. This drew several eyes and looks at them, as they continued walking to their destination.

Shadow simply answered back with his usual haughty tone, “Hmph! As if, Hedgehog.!” He paused slightly to shoot a glare at a pair of citizens pointing and whispering at him and Sonic. “And isn’t that something I should be asking you instead?”

The blue Freedom Fighter’s expression turned from teasing to surprise. He then scratched his chin in thought while the two hedgehogs still kept walking down the path. “Okay, okay I’ll be honest here Shadz, I was a tiny bit nervous at first when I thought of asking you out on our first date in public since; we don’t know how everyone else in the city will respond to us, even after we both came out to my friends,”

The hybrid couldn’t help but mentally snort as he was reminded of the various expressions, the Freedom Fighters had shown. Priceless!

Sonic then brought his hand away from his chin to rub the back of his head, “And I also thought you might not be ready too because I know how difficult it was fifty years ago when it comes to relationships like ours...”

Hearing that made Shadow actually feel a bit touched that his lover had considered his feelings over this, despite being fine with the idea of a public date; since he wanted to come out in the first place.

“But then I figured, ‘Aw! What the heck? It doesn’t matter what other people think of!’ As long as I know I love you and that I am just happy being with you Shadow. Then the opinions or who judge us, don’t matter.” Sonic had a small blush, blooming across his muzzle as looked over towards his boyfriend, waiting for his response.

Shadow was in complete amazement over what Sonic just spoke to him, but allowed a small smile to appear on his face, before walking closer to the blue hedgehog and kissing him on the cheek. Sonic looked surprised from the cheek kiss Shadow had gave him out in the open public at first; but couldn’t help but allow a smile form on his face as Shadow stepped back and retook his hand. Both hedgehogs continued to stare into each others’ eyes, forgetting the world around them and some of the people who were staring at them.

Shadow then spoke up, breaking them out of their trance.

“So Faker. Do you actually have any plans for where we’re suppose to eat or are we going to stay out here all night?”

‘Geez, nice job killing the mood there, Shadow.’ Sonic thought as he couldn’t help, but pout at Shadow before answering back.

“Course I have, Shadow. And before you ask, no. It’s not my favourite Uncle’s restaurant,” He then started leading Shadow down the path as he continued talking.

“Since this date is both an important and a special occasion for the two of us, I managed to get both of us reservations at a restaurant that Twan’ recommended. Something about the place not using margarine or whatever that is.”

Sonic then stopped at his destination before letting go of the GUN agent’s hand and walking towards the waiter behind the reservation table booth (or whatever it’s called.). Shadow allowed his surroundings to take in. It didn’t really looked all that special compared to the other fancy restaurants he had seen back in Capital City. Just your average typical restaurant with a fancy sign and the name: “Creme de la Creme”, displayed on the restaurant green awning. But the atmosphere didn’t seem too bad, it looked rather pleasant and welcoming.

So maybe this date won’t be so bad after all.

“Reservation for two, under ‘Sonic’.” Sonic said to the waiter.

The waiter only looked at the hedgehog pair, his eyes darting back and forth as if he was confused by what he’s seeing, “I’m sorry sir, I don’t-”

Sonic swiftly cuts him off, slamming his hands on the reservation booth, “Sonic, Hero of Mobius? Fought Robotnik? With the Ultimate Lifeform right here? Helped me stop the ARK?”

“Ah, yes of course! Right this way.” The waiter then lead them to their table.

Despite what just happened, Sonic seem to be pretty chill. Shadow on the other hand, was glaring at the back of the waiter’s head, like he trying to make his head explode with his mind. He did not like the look the man had gave him and Sonic when they were outside the restaurant. While his boyfriend probably did not noticed, but the hybrid knew his instincts were telling him that this waiter is discriminating them for their relationship.

Remembering what the blue freedom fighter had previously told him and realising that this was getting to him, the black hedgehog heaved a sigh before letting his eyes wander around the restaurant, in order to distract him from his thoughts. Like the outside of the restaurant, the interior wasn’t anything that different to the ones in Capital City that Rouge and Hope drags him to. There were lots of plants and flower which look fake and made out of plastic which served as decorations and the walls were pretty much all beige with light grey highlights, giving it a somewhat plain yet simple and homey comfortable feel to it. Shadow snapped out of his thoughts, the moment they got to their table and Sonic took his seat, while the waiter went off to continue his job.

“You okay Shadow? I noticed you were glaring at the back of the dude’s head like you’re gonna kill him?”

The said agent looked somewhat surprised and embarrassed that his lover had noticed, before taking his seat in front of him. Despite that the fact Shadow stayed silent, that expression of a small pout, along with a set frown and slightly drooping ears was a dead giveaway to the blue hedgehog.

Sonic gave his boyfriend a sadden expression before speaking, “Listen Shadow, I know your thinking that dude was judging us for being together, but please don’t forget what I told you earlier about not caring on other people’s opinions and...” he then stood up from his seat and took Shadow’s cheek into his palm, gently caressing it. “I’ll never be ashamed of you and what we have. No matter many idiots and jerks are there currently jeering and mocking us right now.”

Hearing this, coming from the hedgehog who’s known for being so cocky and laid-back to an annoying amount, greatly improved the black hedgehog’s move as he allowed Sonic a tiny smile before closing his eyes and started leaning into the hero’s hand to let his god-forsaken touch take over him.

Unfortunately, the blue hedgehog had to slide his hand away from the dismayed hedgehog’s cheek so he can take Shadow’s hands into his, as that laid-back tone, he’s used to hearing came back on.

“So for tonight, the only thing you have to worried about is what you’re gonna order.”

Welp, moment ruined. But it managed to squeeze some amusement out of the hybrid, as he only rolled his eyes and softly chuckle while another waiter came to their table, placing down a basket full of bread.

“Welcome and good evening.” the waiter greeted to the pair.

Sonic responded immediately, but still kept his attention on the black hedgehog, “Hey there pal, we’ll start off with water and-”

But the waiter cut him off before Sonic could finish talking, “Actually, I was wondering if I might ask you something first.”

Sonic and Shadow sat down on their seats, their attention on the waiter.

“Uh...sure, shoot.” Sonic answered.

The waiter hesitated for a short second as if trying to find the right words to say what he thinks about the couple. It just doesn’t make sense to him. “When do you plan on going back to dating the princess, if this new relationship you have is a phase and...”

He immediately trailed off the moment he noticed the expressions sent to him. Sonic had already dropped his friendly expression, his eyes were narrowed down and Shadow was giving him the same glare he gave the previous waiter, but actually looked like was ready to skewer him.

Despite the rather rude and obviously discriminating question, Sonic tried his best to keep a calm tone in his voice; but not changing his expression, “Look man, Sally and I have already talked about this. We’ve-”

Then another customer spoke up, trying to come to their defence, “Yeah man! Leave them alone! Can’t you see they’re trying to enjoy a date together?!”

The customer’s attempt at trying to defend the couple, only seem to make their mood even more worse as the waiter attempted to save face.

“W-Well yes I can see that, I just don’t understand why he didn’t give the princess another chance.”  

“She slapped him across the face in front of all of us and dumped him, duh!”

By then, Sonic decided that there was no point in wasting his time with correcting these people and actively made an attempt to ignore the “noise pollution”, by drawing his eyes away from the view and eating a piece of bread from the basket. Shadow also tried to do exactly what his boyfriend is doing to ignore the nuisances, but instead he had his eyes sealed tightly shut and was griping the bread in his hand so hard, it was almost like the hybrid was imagining one of the waiters or customers were in his tight grip instead and was trying to squeeze the life out of one of them.

The argument continued as more of the customers and staff got involved with their own opinions.

“But I still don’t understand why Sonic started dating Shadow now! He was straight until-”

“Just give it a rest! If he happy-”

“He once worked with-”

“You don’t understand-”

“Yeah, well I think-”

Shadow’s grip on his untouched bread tighten as he tries to block out, the opinions being tossed back and forth in the restaurant. He also begin trying to remind himself that he changed. He was no longer the hedgehog who obsesses over his past and joined up with the doctor to look for answers. He is now an agent of GUN with the duty of protecting Mobius. Just like his boyfriend and the Freedom Fighters.

“But Sonic and Princess knew each other since they were kids and they loved each other for a very long time! I’m sure whatever he’s having with Shadow right now is fake and against his will!”

Okay to hell with what he just told himself.

Letting his anger take over his senses, Shadow suddenly stand up from his seat with a chaos spear sparking in his hand, startling Sonic who practically choked on his bread.

Thinking fast, Sonic quickly jumped out of his seat before his boyfriend could seriously hurt anyone and grabbed Shadow around the waist before immediately pulled him out of the restaurant with his speed.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[scrapyardboyfriends]

Jenny’s Belated Live Blogging - 19th September 2019

- well those were some weird but mostly enjoyable episodes. 

- I feel like everything across the board today was very abrupt. From Rachel dying and Archie just showing up, to Aaron just randomly having a mystery friend at a casino. Everything just happened so fast. I mean...I didn’t hate what was happening but it was still paced strangely to me. 

- I’m glad Laurel is back and I’m glad she’s working things out with Jai. It was mostly swept under the rug but I appreciated that it was done in a way where they did get to have some discussions about the issues they were having, even if they were a bit derailed by Archie showing up so it put things in perspective. But in general, I like what they’ve been doing with Jai and Laurel and I liked this too today. And I like that she has been through kids losing a parent and I like that she wants to be there for him in this. I don’t know, I think their lives are fitting together pretty well these days and I like it. And I like that they have a bit of seriousness to play with but they also still have their lighter moments. I just really like them together. 

- Archie’s dead in the eyes stare was a little horrific. They should just get Archie, Kyle and Millie together to form a little horror movie trio. I’ll be curious to see if once Archie is supposed to be getting used to Jai again if the kid will perk up a bit. Right now it all makes story sense. I just don’t want another Kyle. Haha. 

- Speaking of Kyle...why was Amy just mysteriously not around? That was weird. If she wasn’t around...did we need to see Kerry? Did Amy not actually come back with her and Kerry was just lying? Or...All very weird. I really just need Tracy to know so she can stop being nice to and grateful toward Kerry. 

- This is the part of the recap where I yell at Asan. Because I really actually like Belle and Ellis together. I like that it’s giving Belle a more appropriate adult relationship that’s not with a married doctor or a serial killer. And now it’s all going to get ruined. I also really enjoy the dynamic between him and Billy and Al and all that’s getting ruined too. Damnit Asan!

- who else can Belle date if they don’t recast Ellis? Matty? Matty should get to date someone. Sigh...

- The Home Farm stuff was vaguely horrifying. I never need to hear Graham read a romance novel ever again. Good god. Also...it kills me that they’ve just decided they’re going to continually reference and mock Graham’s robotic ways instead of like...properly doing something with the character. 

- I still like Al and how horrible he is though. 

- I don’t know why Jamie and Andrea exist. 

- Jai should let Rishi call himself a master chocolatier if he wants to

- The scene between Aaron and Vic was lovely but it felt sort of out of place with everything else. I guess it was motivation for stealing the money. Just...a lot happened in these episodes. haha. I mean they’ve definitely had variations of this conversation before but it was still nice. 

- Anyway...onto the Dingle madness. Chas trying to get the bag was...a bit bizarre. Fun, but strange. Haha. 

- The impromptu Dingle meeting happened really fast. But I like that, because they’re needed for this plot and because Chas was calling it, that Aaron and Robert were actually involved. 

- Aaron really has basically become Robert...2015 Robert complete with dodgy contacts that he definitely should not have. Haha. I do wish maybe this plot was told over the whole week or at least a couple days rather than one double because it was a bit insane that he had time to meet this mystery mate (I’m glad Robert was like who the fuck is this person Aaron...we literally only associate with each other and sometimes our sisters???), get all of this money, chop up some printer paper to be fake money, contact Robert to light a fire in the barrel and having at some point prehidden the fire extinguisher. It was just a lot. 

- But I do enjoy them getting to be schemey and smug. And I liked Robert again being proud and turned on by Aaron doing crime. 

- The jumping around with the money was literally insane but it clearly made them happy so who am I to judge. Haha. 

- They definitely had sex on the money and fuck Emmerdale for showing us nothing. LET THEM KISS GOD DAMNIT. So anyway...now I’m going to have to draw this. 

- I loved Aaron’s little “I do work!” to Robert. I feel like that was for our benefit. 

- But anyway...I love them getting to win and be smug and have fun and I love call backs and I love Aaron not wanting Robert to leave a second before he has to. So all in all, a solid adventure for them. They’re insane and I love them.  

[all-of-the-imagines-for-eve]

Forget About It ~ Sweet Pea (Part 2)

A/n: Double post because I’m in LOVE with this. Wow it feels good to be back! Not my gif.

Word Count: 3816

MASTERLIST

'Cause I feel like a bad joke. Walk the tight rope to hold on to you. Was it real? Or a love scene, from a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it...

"We don’t even know who you stand with! ...Us, or them? You can’t be half a Serpent. Even your boy’s kid sister picked a side. Against the North Siders, even."

"Maybe not ALL North Siders are a complete waste."

"Who said she’s a North Sider anymore?"

Jughead and I had both ignored the back and forth musing between Sweet Pea and Fangs but the words hung over my head, becoming more tangible and real and prodding and harder to ignore each and every day I spent with Jughead and the Serpents. That process quickened even more when Jughead went headlong into the trials.

Hotdog was taking to me well. We got into the habit of cuddling up to each other on the floor. Midst everything else, that was one of the great things. I didn’t need Sweet Pea’s presence and comfort anymore, which gave room for me to simply want it. We hung out and talked and got to know each other past my nonsensical craving. He became a person, not a drug. A smile and a laugh with a name. I started to notice things. How bright his smile was, no matter the setting of the room. How smooth and deep his voice was. How undeniably handsome he was. How he was good with kids - the one or two times I’d seen him with them - and how good with Hotdog he was. He was so good. To everyone and everything.

The day Toni came to warn Jughead about the last trial was tense. I moved outside the second it got serious, wrestling with Hotdog. It was my absolute favorite thing to do. He was a big dog but he was gentle too. Even when I got him all rowdy and hyper he was still well trained and old enough to immediately step back and stop when I showed signs of strain or pain. Toni found me on the ground, dirty and pinned by Hotdog who was slobbering me up with kisses as I shrieked and giggled and tried to hide from his wet love. Toni shooed the dog, offering me her hand to help me to my feet. I took it. Once I was up I used to my shirt to wipe my face. When I was done, her serious expression wiped my smile away. "What’s up Toni?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

She looked at me a few more seconds before drawing herself up to her full height, still barely reaching my chin. "Seems this house is full of people who aren’t sure. People I can’t be sure about." I rose an eyebrow. "Are you a North Sider, Y/n?" I swallowed, my mood instantly darkening. Hotdog moved to my side, his nose nudging my hand as he sensed my distress. Toni seemed to grow more angry at the sight as I pet him, accepting his comfort. "You take shelter and seek comfort here but... can we trust you? Can I trust you not to break my best friend’s heart?"

My eyes widened and I blushed. "There’s nothing going on between me and Sweet Pea."

It was her turn to raise the questioning eyebrow and I swallowed. "I never said I was talking about Sweet Pea." My eyes fell. We both knew what I'd said was a lie. Even since the night we’d met we’d been growingsteadily and quickly closer. It was obvious that I had developed some kind of crush on him and he had become protective of me at the very least. I always had the horrible feeling that he saw me as a little sister he had to watch, but what Toni was insinuating undoubtedly made my heart beat faster. The prospect of him crushing on me in return...

Toni stepped closer and despite the height difference I stepped back, intimidated. "Don’t hurt him." She said it like a warning, an unspoken, ‘or I’ll hurt you’ added to the end that I could see in her eyes and body. I nodded, swallowing, and she walked away.

Things got complicated after that. I was suddenly aware of the effect I was leaving on the Serpents. I couldn’t stay, I knew that. Eventually I had to go home. Archie seemed to be a lot better and my dad was missing me. I was missing my dad too. South Side had become a second home, full of a bunch of friendly faces and safe corners and happy moments, unlike the dredged and tainted North Side I’d left behind where the only person I could always count on to make me feel happy was my dad. I wasn’t close to Veronica except through Archie and now that we were on not talking terms, I didn’t want anything to do with either of them. Betty I’d miss, but living with Jughead meant I’d see her occasionally. Kevin and I weren’t really all that close but he might be a face I would think about when I wondered what the North Side kids were up to. I could ask Betty for updates, though. I could visit my dad on weekends. I’m sure I could even get a job and start pulling my weight around the Jones’, not just cooking food and taking care of Hotdog and keeping things tidy. But those were long term plans. Those were moving out and being gone plans. Where would they lead?

Would I join the Serpents? Go to South Side High? Would I disgrace my whole life in the North Side because my brother had cracked and pointed a gun at some Serpents I didn’t even know at the time? Would I put my dad through losing me before I was even 18 to the dangers of the South Side and it’s life style just because of Archie?

On the other hand, could I bring myself to forgive Archie if I went back? Would we ever be as we used to be, or would I always be in this middle space? Too Serpent to be North Side, too North Side to be a Serpent?

No, Sweet Pea had made it clear. I had to pick a side eventually. Was it worth shoving a wedge in mine and my dad’s relationship to seek the freedom and happiness I had unexpectedly found with a gang that should hate me?

But, above all, if I did stay... would it be for Sweet Pea? Was this a pick and choose between Sweet Pea and my dad or was I oversimplifying it?

To summarize, I had a lot of questions and a lot of reason to be asking them. I was unsure on a lot of levels and it drove me away from Sweet Pea. My confusions and worrying and overthinking made me draw back. In my attempt not to hurt him, I drove a knife into his gut and twisted. Toni shot endless glares at me and the rest of the Serpents were starting to catch on too. Sitting close and quiet whispers and stolen stares and brief flirting turned to a solid cold shoulder as I internally panicked and it was hurting everyone around me. They’d started to trust me. Started to count me as one of their own in spirit, even if I didn’t have the tattoo and the jacket.

Now it seemed that I would be running home to the North Side with my tail between my legs.

Damnit why couldn’t this be easier?!

As if hearing my silent frustrated yell into the void of the mental universe, my brother showed up and did what he always does- he lost his temper and ran his mouth. And suddenly Jughead wasn’t blocking Sweet Pea from Archie, he was blocking ME.

"Are you friends with these thugs?" He spat.

"Are you joining the Serpents?" He asked, as if accusing.

"These were he people who attacked me!"

Each time I was there to argue.

"Don’t call them thugs!" or "Attacked you? It was a consensual fight!"

Archie kept blowing me off, straight up ignoring me. My hands were already clenched into fists when it happened. Jughead asked why he came and Archie said the one thing that tipped me off. "I came to tell you to stay away from Betty. She doesn’t want to see you anymore."

I moved to Jughead's side, my shoulder brushing his, and he started after a second, his face hardening in resolve. We both knew that was total shit. "Screw you," Jughead snapped. "I just saw Betty yesterday she..." he cut off, drifting. "She was fine-"

"No, dude," Archie cut in. "She’s been wanting to break up with you for weeks. "She’s been agonizing over it. Since you crossed the dark side. She just couldn’t bring herself to do it."

I nudged Jug again, supporting him. Helping him. He blinked, thinking. "So she sent you?" Jughead scoffed. "Betty would never do that!"

Archie took a step forward. "If you don’t believe me then call her! And feel free to tell her you’re a Serpent now, too. Bet she’ll love that." He took a step forward and Jug took a step back. We were side by side now and I was staring my brother down, angry and hurt because I knew how this was killing Jughead, who had become my best friend. "She knew where you were headed, Jughead. Okay, we all did. And she knows you can’t be with them and with her. I mean, come on, man." He shook his head." You know it too."

There was a moment of silence where Archie looked at me and I felt his words hit me on a more personal level. His message was to both of us. I felt my own eyes water as Jughead managed, “Tell Betty I got the message." His voice was wet and shaky, sounding how my heart felt.

"Yeah," Archie mumbled, voice quiet and gravely now. He looked at me. "Come on, Y/n let’s go home. There’s been enough of this nonsense."

So my time had come. Just like that I felt each and every pair of eyes that belonged to a person within what seemed a mile radius trained on me. This was my cue. My cue to leave and escape and run away. My cue to ditch the Serpents and return as the North Sider they dreaded I was.... And maybe I would have if Archie had just come to me. Maybe I would have given in and put my head back in the sand and closed my eyes to the horrors happening around me.

But something had just snapped inside of me and there was no going back now. "No," I answered firmly, my voice strong even though it was quiet. Even Jughead's eyes bore into me now.

Archie scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I get it, you made your point. I’m done with the Red Circle stuff, okay? Just come home. Dad and Vegas miss you." He sighed. "I miss you." I shook my head and he grunted in frustration, that anger from before coming back. "Y/n you’re a North Sider stop acting like you’re tough just because you want to make a point!"

I snapped. My hands flattened against his chest and I shoved with all my might, stepping into it. He tumbled back, eyes widening as he almost lost his balance. Jughead didn’t move to stop me. No one was holding me back. "North Siders are so stupid! And shallow! And... TERRIBLE!" I screamed, getting in his face. He was stunned speechless. "You look at someone different than you and don’t understand them so you write them off. You do it with your own! The popular attack the nerds, the straights attack the gays. Cheryl Blossom attacks everyone because she’s got issues and you all just let her because to actually do something to change how she is would mean putting in work to help her and you’re all too self absorbed to do anything about it! The LAST decent North Sider my age just broke up with her boyfriend because he joined a family of genuinely good people you all know NOTHING about. You don’t care about his reason or thinking or anything, you’re too STUCK on your own wants and needs and preferences. You’re so SELFISH!" I shoved him again but this time he was ready, catching my wrists and shoving back so that I stumbled. He was a lot stronger than me.

Sweet Pea moved forward behind me but Jughead caught him. "Let her fight her own fights." They both stilled.

Archie didn’t like that. Didn’t like the protective way Sweet Pea looked at me. Didn’t like me fighting my own fights. Didn’t like me fighting him. So he didn’t the only thing he knew how to do. He lashed out. "You think these people care about you at all?" It was like he’d slapped me in the face. I froze, staring at him with wide eyes. "You’re just a North Sider to them, Y/n! You don’t live on the South Side! And even if you did move in, you don’t actually know them. What they grew up going through and the life style they’re used to leading. This will all be new and dangerous to you. You have to adapt and change. They could never accept the real you. The you that sits on your bed at home because you’re tired from talking to people alone. The shy, reserved, quiet you that’s scared to raise your hand in class even though you know the answer because you get anxiety when you’re called on like a kid who took a cookie they weren’t allowed to have. You’re small and scared by everything. You’ve depended on me from day one and now you’re just running to the closest big man to protect you now that you’ve deemed me unsafe for whatever reason. They’ll ditch you so fast Y/n-"

"For no reason?" I asked in a low voice. Our eyes met and all his anger was gone instantly. It was like a movie was laying in front of us, showing the events clearly. We both saw it so easily that it was like we were watching it in each other’s eyes. "The night you completely lost your shit, I watched the big brother I looked up to for everything turn into a gun toting psychopath temping people to attack him and then threatening lives when they answered the call. Then you realized you fucked up and LEFT me. Alone, at night, terrified and shaken and about to have an anxiety attack. Those people you put in danger? Those people you shrug off as trouble, as thugs? THOSE were the people who were there for me when I had no where else to go because I was terrified of going home to a brother I was afraid of." My eyes watered as we stared each other down. My knuckles were curled tight, colored white, and shaking.

Jughead put his hand on my shoulder to calm me after a long pause of brother-sister face off. "I think you should go Archie. You’ve made your point." Archie swallowed and then pushed past me and Jug, into the crowd of Serpents and back home to the North Side.

There were no cheers. No relieved sighs or smiles. I’d chosen the South Side. But I was a wreck. Archie’s words had trashed me and they didn’t even have to see my face to know. They wanted to reach out and comfort me I could practically feel Sweet Pea itching to move. But no. All that came was silence, heavy and long.

Finally, mercifully, Jughead turned to face everyone. "What?" He snapped. "Did you enjoy the show?"

Sweet Pea didn’t even pause in his reply. "Show hasn’t even started yet."

The rest of the day I stayed in the trailer, in Jug’s room. I didn’t talk not once, and only came out to watch Jughead go through the last trial. I winced and curled away from the group as they beat him up, each getting in their own hit. Each time made me hurt as if they were hitting me, but I knew that Jughead’s pain was far worse. Finally Sweet Pea got his punch, brass knuckles glinting under the moonlight. Jughead was on the ground and I gasped. But then, like the Jughead I had come to know since living with him in the South Side, he stood up, spit blood, and almost seemed to smile. Toni put an arm around me as we both watched Sweet Pea offer his hand. Toni smiled and Jug took it and it felt like the whole South Side let loose the breath it had been holding. I was there when he got his tattoo and then I was gone, outside the trailer as Toni and Jughead talked inside. When it grew very late and Toni hadn’t come out, I sighed, hanging my head. They’d had tension since day one and I hated it. I hated it because I knew he loved Betty and that meant that Toni deserved better.

Sweet Pea found me falling asleep against the side of the trailer. He sat down next to me. "Hey." I hummed in response and he chuckled. His arm fell around my shoulders and he tugged me against him. He was so warm compared to the night chill that I curled into him, pulling my knees up a bit. "I was just gonna let you be. Toni and Fangs told me to let you cool off. But... I couldn’t sleep. Are you okay?" I sighed heavily and he nodded. "Thought so." He paused. "Jughead lock you out?"

I smiled at his protective tone. "He. Toni. Inside. I needed air."

My mumbles seemed to get to him as he nodded, letting me know he understood. "Want to come to mine then?"

Leaning away so he could see my face, I smiled. "I would love that."

His smile matched mine. He stood, pausing as I went to struggle to my feet before he laughed quietly, leaning down and scooping me up bridal style. I grunted in protest but didn’t fight him, pressing against him instead because GOD he was warm. He walked in quiet for a while before he spoke. "You know, what he said. It’s all wrong. You see the North Side like we do. I’ve seen it since I first met you. You’ve always been so protective and appreciative of us. You defended us, wrote off your brother. I wouldn’t have blamed you for going back. That’s your whole life... but you didn’t. I’ve asked a few of the guys. Fangs and Toni like you. They’re glad you’re sticking around. And we all know Jughead has a mega soft spot for you. I can’t exactly speak for everyone but I can say that there are Serpents who will have your back. And then the rest will have our backs, so really the whole family is behind you."

Eyes closed, I hummed. My hand flattened against his chest. "Thanks, Sweets. I needed to hear that." Under my hand, his heartbeat quickened when I used the pet name. The rest of the fairly short walk was quiet. He took me inside and to his bed this time. He set me down, pulling the covers over me. "Sorry I took your bed," I apologized.

He chuckled. "I don’t mind. Goodnight."

"Night." I was dead asleep too fast to even create another thought, and so the day ended peacefully and happy with me safe and warm and feeling absolutely wonderful...

Of course it couldn’t last long. Jughead worked on transferring me to South Side high and it was surprisingly smooth and easy. My father signed the papers after a call where I told him my plan about visiting on weekends and sticking close to Jughead’s side. After I told him about everything Archie had said, the friends I was making, and how much Jug was hurting and how much I was helping (because even Jug had admitted that I was helping by sticking around and actively cheering him up and said I wasn’t allowed to sleepover anywhere else anymore because he missed my breakfast making) just in general, he agreed that I was needed much more where I was. For Jug and myself.

My first day at South Side High, Sweet Pea was my guide. He walked around with his arm around my shoulders, his eyes tearing down everyone who even dared to glance my way in a shady or questionable way. He actually pulled me into his lap during lunch and no one said anything about it. I was enjoying the attention from him and generally being back into our flirty little back and forth.

My first day at South Side High, I joined Jughead’s newspaper thing because I was a great editor and an okay writer if need be. I waited at Sweet Pea’s locker with said boy while he turned the entry into the teacher in charge of the newspaper. I was excited for the publishing we had both talked about and worked hard over, perfecting to both of our standards. It was guaranteed a winner.

My first day at South Side High was pleasant even though the school was pretty crap. I found myself briefly wishing I could bring better learning conditions to the kids there because people like Sweet Pea and Toni and Fangs, who were smart and actually would try it they were given the opportunity, deserves the opportunity to try. It seemed all of Riverdale had spray painted them a general loss and I didn’t approve of it.

My first day at South Side high, Sweet Pea not-so-jokingly called, “See you later, Princess,” as I blushed. Seconds before all Hell broke lose and the brief moment of peace and contentedness shattered into chaos. The halls flooded with officers and I watched my fellow students and my friends get chased and pinned down. The sound of Sweet Pea’s fist slamming on the locker seemed to echo in my brain as I was tripped and pinned, a knee digging into my back. I cried out and Sweet Pea screamed my name and we were all dragged away as I watched my brother - of ALL people - watch with Jughead as I was carted off to wherever they were taking us like I was any other student.

My first day of South Side High taught me what it meant to be a kid on the South Side. It taught me what it meant to be a Serpent, as Toni scrambled to my side, barring me from the shifty kids in the cell with me. It taught me the Not Fun part of the life I had chosen. And it fueled me, my hard eyes turning to Toni as we shared a look of half outrage and half surrender. There was nothing we could do. But still. I was a South Side kid now. And I still wasn’t going to change it.

That was reason enough for Toni to smile.

-

Forever Tag: @bitchyseawitch @chipster-21 @alexa-playafricabytoto

[sieben9]

“the savior” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

OK, in one sentence: This episode was just all over the place.

There were good bits. There were intriguing bits. There were “eh” bits, and there were certainly bad bits, and they were all mashed up together in one big, weird pile.

speaking of which…

I’ll try and put some of this into words under the cut.

So, let’s start with the “Hmm, fascinating” stuff.

First of all:

I see we’re still doing the “two minutes of contextless new people” format of starting a season. ::nods sagely:: Interesting choice, yes. Though watching this while also finishing up Wonderland is going to be… fun. (Is this another Robin situation or is it just not the same Jafar? …look, weirder things have happened. I thought I’d ask.)

And, secondly, Emma’s weird future visions.

Now, currently, I see about… three possibilities. 1) It’s an actual vision of the future, and Emma will have to find a way to prevent it. Predictable (pun fully intended), but possibly interesting if executed well. 2) Someone sent her a fake future vision to manipulate her on a certain path. Not an unreasonable assumption, considering Hyde’s cryptic comments and the fact that these visions seem to be working to his advantage at the moment. 3) Emma has actual hallucinations as a result of severe trauma. Which I would find interesting, but I’m also not sure how much I trust this show to handle the topic, so… not exactly rooting for that one. Option 2 is my personal favourite at the moment, and I shall sit here and quietly hope. …semi-quietly, at least. I’m telling you, after all.

It would also tie into something else that baffled and slightly upset me during this episode. Namely, this:

do i even WANT to know what you’re wearing there, buddy?

Morpheus, who’s also Belle’s and Rumple’s child, somehow? And who is dreaming along with his mother and has opinions on their relationship? I quietly headcanon that he’s actually a version of himself from the future, and connected to his (much) younger self through this dream, but that’s so not in the text that I think I pulled a mental muscle going through the required hoops.

Basically, the cell-lump speaks fluent English and also is going to be the god of dreams. Or not. I am very confused.

But if we’re going with the “someone sends people false (or misleading) visions in order to manipulate them” theory from Emma’s death-dreams, this could be part of something much bigger and more sinister, and I’m always up for big and sinister.

Anyways, the dream sequence was amazing until it wasn’t.

pictured: sieben’s cause of death

I really, really loved the moment where Rumple decided not to let the cup fall. Because, yes, that might have been how they fell in love the first time, but this shows that he doesn’t need to recreate that moment. Them falling for each other wasn’t a fluke, it wasn’t a one-time-miracle. They’re kindred spirits and hearts, and they would always have found a way to be together. ::sigh:: Let me enjoy my happy shipper feels for a moment.

By the way: look who was ready to let his curse be broken so he could wake Belle up, no ambiguity about it whatsoever?

Yup, this guy. (Also “for you I would be the best man I can”? Guuuh. My heart...)

And then it all fell apart. I’m not even talking about Belle’s “I won’t make a home with you”. That’s… painful, but the sort of thing you can talk about once everyone is safe in the real world. (Also not entirely unfounded, since they were still working through their problems before Belle decided on her extreme nap). But everything she said before “Morpheus” revealed himself? That she’d rather she and her child stay in that burning room of pain forever, rather than… I don’t even know. Be back in the world and talk to Rumple? How is this a good thing for your baby, Belle? How is never being born and living out eternity in torment any better than “being in Rumple’s debt”? (Also, where did he imply that there was a debt owed? He did exactly what you wanted — destroying Hades’s claim on your child — and then went to your dad to wake you up. And when he refused, Rumple still found a way to wake you. There was never a word of debts between you. Not once. This is just … ::annoyed gesturing:: Why.)

OK, alright, OK. Like I said earlier, I’m pacing myself. There’s another ten episodes to go with this, after all.

Squarely in the “eh” department (to me, at least): the people from the Land of Untold Stories

I’m still interested in the concept (people who didn’t want their stories to play out? Do tell!), but the way it was handled in this episode was. Well, see above re: “eh”.

Also:

Swan Queen magic!

::ahem::

Hyde was pretty neat, overall. Especially his scene with Emma in the Hospital Basement of Forgotten Villains. Good, strong “Silence of the Lambs” vibe going on there. And, like I said, I am very interested in the kind of game he’s playing and what is up with Emma’s tremors. (They seem to be both connected to the vision and a source of trouble all by themselves, sooo… not sure what to think of them, yet.)

Oh, and speaking of good scenes with Emma:

fairy godmother of coffee and good advice

I missed you, buddy. Though I’m sure there are better ways to tell someone “you need to deal with your problems rather than suppress them” than to call psychiatric drugs “shortcuts”. Just a thought.

Anyway, good to see him show up like that. I’m a little sad that Emma’s parents “sent” Archie rather than having a proper talk with Emma themselves, but… well, sometimes family is too close to the problem, I guess.

And to be fair, Snow was busy having good character moments elsewhere.

and nobody is trying to kill anyone. how time flies…

I will admit, I’m not entirely thrilled that we’re still on the “good thing I lopped off that part of myself and then crushed her heart” train, but then again, it looks like that will be addressed, so I’m not complaining too loudly. Overall, this was an incredibly sweet scene, and Regina going “I was a terrible stepmother… no, really, please don’t try and be nice about it” was oddly touching. I mean, it’s clear that these two have made peace long since, but this ability to calmly discuss the damage done is still a new facet to their relationship. I like it!

And then there’s this:

I don’t care that she’s chewing scenery like it’s popcorn, I look forward to having her around so damn much, I can’t even describe it. Dear Queen, you currently have the “delightfully camp villain” spotlight almost completely to yourself, and I expect you to make the most of it!

Which also brings me to another bit I just... didn’t like. Everything to do with Zelena in this episode. From her weird sulking about Regina throwing her in prison that one time (because it’s not like there was any clear and pressing reason for that, right, Zelena?) to her equating Regina’s decision to destroy the Evil Queen with her (indirectly) getting Robin killed, all their interactions felt uncomfortable and decidedly forced. I get why, but I’m not invested enough in this relationship to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Alright, to close this post out, I want to draw attention to this episode’s biggest mystery:

So, if “Morpheus” is supposed to be Belle’s and Rumple’s son… where did those extra 60 centimetres come from? He is a gigantic man next to these two tinypeople. How did the two hobbits manage to birth a weird ent-elf together? (Yes, I know, decent nutrition before and during your growth spurts can do wonders, but let me have my silly little joke, alright?)

Maybe somewhat mean-spirited, but heartfelt addendum: the true hero of this episode was that airship-earthquake in the first minute of Storybrooke-time, because it saved me from having to watch another second of the Most Awkward makeout-session.

Thank you, weird airship, I am forever in your debt.

[weelittleweasley]

All Eyes on Me | Sweet Pea x Reader

Prompt: You catch Sweet Pea watching Betty’s Serpent dance at the Wyrm and you want him to know that his eyes stay on you only.

Request status: Open

Warnings: smut, profanity, jealous reader

It was around nine thirty when you got the text from Betty. You were sat on your bed, typing up your essay that was due the next day. You suspected the text to be nothing major--you knew she was out with your friends and your boyfriend, Sweet Pea. They were all at the Whyte Wyrm for Mr. Jones’ retirement party, but you decided to stay home. You thought it would be awkward for your boyfriend’s non-Serpent, North Side girlfriend to tag along in a place where everyone knew she didn’t belong. Besides, you had work to finish up.

You picked up the phone, reading the text from Betty that read, Come to the Wyrm. You’re not gonna wanna miss this. The text was unclear, but there was a nervous pit in your stomach that was growing by the second. Your anxiety started to build as you changed out of your pajama pants and into leggings and a sweater. Calling to your mom quickly, you tell her you’re running out to get homework from a friend. If you had told her your true plans, she wouldn’t let you leave the house.

The engine of your car purred underneath you as you made your trek to the South Side of the tracks. The five minute drive lead you to the Wyrm, where you could almost feel the sound of the base rippling through the poorly insulated walls of the bar. You turning the ignition off, closing the car door behind you. 

The brisk air engulfed your body as you pulled your arms tighter around your body to block out the cold. Your teeth chattered as you scurried to the door of the bar. As you quietly crept the door open, you examined the bar. You had only been inside maybe once or twice briefly when Pea had to swing by and pick up some things. But this was the first time you were here and planned on staying. No one noticed the petite North Side girl who wore a sloppy sweater and yoga pants, the keys to her Jeep dangling in her fingers. As you entered the bar further, you saw Veronica and Archie on-stage, singing a duet. You were confused as to why they’d be singing Mad World in a bar full of gang members--it was completely out of context.

Brushing it off, you scanned the bar for Betty who sent you the text, but you lost her in the sea of leather jackets and tattoos. Then, you catch your boyfriend, leaned up against the back wall, a confused look on his face as he watches two lovey dovey North Side kids sing a strange duet. Ronnie then stops singing and runs off the stage, Archie following behind. You ignore the talk of people and try to catch the attention of your boyfriend, but you stop when you see Betty on-stage. She starts to continue the song, slowly undressing herself from her denim top and pink skirt to unveil a lacy black leotard. Your eyes widen at the sight. What in God’s name was she doing? Betty seems like she’s in her own little world as she twirls around stage, dancing against a pole. 

Quickly, you look over to see your boyfriend’s reaction. You think that Pea was probably getting a kick out of this. Some good girl trying to be a Serpent. But when you look over to him, your small smile fades when you see Sweets completely enthralled with Betty. His eyes don’t leave the stage as she dances around. It’s like he’s in a trance. Your heart starts to beat faster out of sheer anxiety. You look at Betty then at Jughead and then back to your boyfriend in complete disbelief. What was happening? Mr. Jones stops Betty, thank God, and everyone gives her a pitiful clap. Mr. Jones wraps her in a Serpent jacket as you stand there in shock. You don’t even want to walk over to Pea. You were far too embarrassed to confront him.

You remain in the same spot in the bar, just thinking about what happened in the five minutes you entered the bar. Ronnie and Archie were suddenly in a fight, Betty was strip teasing, and now your boyfriend was enthralled by her? It was too much to absorb.

“Y/N?” a voice calls as you look over to see your boyfriend approaching you. “What are you doing here, baby? I thought you said you had work to finish up?” he asks with a small smile. His one arm grabs you by the waist to pull you in for a kiss, but you turn your head, his lips falling on your cheek. He’s clearly confused by your actions as you push his hand off of your waist gently. “Something happen?”

You can’t even fabricate a sentence. There was too much to say. “Betty?” you ask almost as a question. “What the hell was that?”

Sweet Pea shrugs. “She tried to do the Serpent dance I guess. I don’t know why. I’ll see if I can squeeze it out of Jones later.”

Still unfathomed by this, you shake your head. “That’s not my point.” Pea furrows his brows. “You couldn’t rip your eyes away from her for two seconds to see your girlfriend walked in the bar.” Pea becomes visibly uncomfortable as you shake your head. “Ridiculous.”

He doesn’t say anything in response. He was guilty as charged. He was staring at Betty dancing. Pea knew that he was wrong for doing so and he knew that you’d be giving him a hard time for this. Finally, he opens up his mouth to say something. “Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t think-”

“Exactly,” you cut him off. “You didn’t think.” He stops talking. “I don’t even wanna be here anymore. I feel so out of place,” you huff, knowing that you don’t belong in a place like this with people like this. 

Sweets nods his head. “Okay. We can leave. Where do you wanna go?” he asks.

You lightly laugh, “Home.” With that, you exit the bar in a huff, hearing Pea’s heavy boots following you. He calls your name as you walk back to your car, opening the driver’s door.

But he abruptly shuts it, preventing you from leaving. “I’m not letting you leave that easily,” Pea tells you as you cross your arms. “Let’s talk this out. Come back to my place. I wanna talk to you,” he grips your waist as you roll your eyes. You knew what he was trying to do and it certainly wasn’t working. “Please, Y/N. I’m serious.”

With a huff, you speak, “We are talking about this and that is all.” Pea smiles as you open the door. “Get in the car. I’m driving.”

In that moment, Sweets knew that there was no chance that he was going to have things his way tonight. Tonight, you were in charge and that brought a new kind of thrill to him.”

You found yourself in Pea’s trailer, you sat on his kitchen counter as he leaned against the sink. “I came here to talk,” you tell him. “So start talking or I’ll start walking.”

Sweets lightly laughs before saying, “Baby, I’m sorry for what I did. You know I only have eyes for you. It’s not like Betty and I fucked.” You physically cringe at his words, begging him to stop. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just got caught up in the moment. Everyone was watching Betty like that tonight. If you looked around the bar, you’d see that, princess,” he coos, walking over to you, placing his hands on either side of you as you still sat stoically on his counter. “I’ve done my share. What do you wanna say?”

Remaining silent for a few seconds, you want Sweet Pea’s anxiety to grow. To be honest, your anger had abated and now you just wanted him to know that he was yours and his eyes would remain on you at all times. Once you see a tinge of fear flash in Pea’s eyes, you speak, “This doesn’t happen again. Got it?” Sweets nods, pushing himself back, but you grab his flannel, pulling him back into you. “From now on, you have your eyes on me. I didn’t agree to be your girlfriend so I could have you looking at other girls, now did I?” you ask him.

This dominant nature that washes over you gets Pea excited as his eyes fill with lust and he gulps. You have a small smirk on your lips, watching the boy before you turn into complete putty at your words. “No, you didn’t, baby,” his voice is low and husky.

You smirk, titling his chin upwards. “Good boy,” you praise him before pressing your lips to his. His mouth his hungry for yours as he pulls you in closer to him. You tangle your fingers in his hair, parting your lips so his tongue can enter your mouth, massaging his and yours. Pulling gently at the roots, he scoops you up to carry you to his bedroom. When he places you back down, he quickly discards his shirt as you slowly pull off your sweater. Sweets’ eyes rake up and down your body as he sighs a string of profanities. His hands slither up your sides, but you slap him away. “No touching. Not tonight.”

Sweets groans, “Fuck, baby, please. I have to.” You knew that Pea always loved touching you. It made him feel like he was in control. He was the one calling the shots. But that was not how tonight was going to go. Tonight, you were the one in charge and he would be the one helpless at your touch. 

“You weren’t good tonight,” you tell him, tracing his lips with your finger. “You don’t get to touch me tonight. Not until I think you’ve earned it.”

He gives you a look as if to say, What are you doing to me? That only makes you feel more empowered. You have more of an effect on him that you thought. “Baby, please. I need to,” he slide his hands up your back, the contact of your bare smooth skin against his palms makes his heart rate skyrocket and the bulge in his pants rise.

Shaking your head, you slap his hands away again. “Not until I say so. I call the shots tonight. Do I make myself clear?” you tell him, pressing small kisses to his jawline as he groans in response. “Good.” With that, you drop yourself to your knees, pulling his jeans down to his ankles. You can hear Pea whisper under his breath as you smirk. As you pull down his boxers, his erection slaps his stomach and you smile. “Remember, baby. No touching,” you remind him as he bites down on his lip hard, looking like he could draw blood.

Slowly, you wrap your mouth around his cock, taking him in your mouth slowly. He groans out in euphoria, loving the way your mouth feels around his throbbing dick. You hadn’t given him head in the longest time. After you take him in, you start to bob your head up and down, slowly teasing him. Your tongue glides up and down his shaft, sucking on the tip of his dick. “Fuck,” he breaths. It takes everything for him to not wrap his hands in your hand and buck his hips up to force you to go faster. Your slow pace was killing him. “Please, baby,” he begs.

With his words, you stop sucking him off and speak, “What was that? You want me to stop?” 

“Shit, no, baby. I want your pretty mouth wrapped around my cock,” he tells you as your mouth turns up into a smile.

Pushing him further, you speak, “Whose pretty mouth?”

Pea finally catches the drift. “Yours, baby. I want your mouth around my cock. I only get this hard for you. I only wanna fuck you,” he tells you as you start to suck him off again. He throws his head back and lets out a groan. You hollow out your cheeks, bobbing up and down his shaft. With the parts you don’t reach, your hand stokes up and down. Your warm tongue glides over his veins and he groans louder and you know he’s coming close to his release. You continue to suck him off faster and you feel him twitch before releasing his load in your mouth. Proudly, you swallow his come and wipe your mouth. Rising back to your feet, you drag your hands down his chest. “Can I touch now?” he pants. You nod your head and in a flash, you are underneath him on his bed. He tugs your pants off and impatiently and literally rips your panties off your body.

His lips attack your neck, biting and sucking at the sensitive flesh, leaving hickeys all over your jaw and neck. You arch your back as his large hands grope your breasts, trailing down your stomach to your pussy. He slides a long digit up your slit to see how wet you were for him. You were so ready for him as he chuckles against your skin. You may act like you were the one in charge, but at the end of the day he knew that you were completely weak for him. 

“Just fuck me already,” you whine as he laughs.

“My pleasure,” he pants before thrust his large length inside you. Loudly, you moan at the sensation of him filling you up. He starts to move, giving you no time to adjust to his size. He was to eager to fuck you. “Shit,” he breathes as you let out a sigh. “So tight for me.”

Dragging your nails down his back, his lifts your leg over his shoulder so he can fill you up completely at the best angle. “Oh, right there, baby! Yes, don’t stop!” you moan out, making him slam into you harder and faster. “Fuck, don’t stop, don’t stop,” you moan, arching your back in complete euphoria. He groans, the grip on your waist vice like, sure to leave bruises in the morning. He was so rough with you, but he knew you fucking loved how he felt slamming his hard cock inside your tight pussy. He can feel your wall tighten around his cock and he moans out in pleasure. The two of you are close and then you come all over his dick. As he feels he is close, he pulls out, releasing on your stomach.

The two of you struggle to catch your breath at a steady rate. You keep your eyes shut, still coming down from your high. As Pea calms down, he grabs a towel from the bathroom for you to clean yourself up. You silently thank him, wiping his come off your stomach and chest. The room is silent before he speaks, “I thought you said you only wanted to talk?” He kneels next to you as you sit on the bed.

You roll your eyes, “We both knew this was coming.” He laughs before kissing your lips gently.

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

2018 Megaman Valentine’s Day Contest Rules and Info! *CLOSED*

How do I follow up a 10th Anniversary contest blowout that had tons of prizes? I really can’t, can I? Especially in terms of the sheer amount of winners. So, things will be a little less flashy with this year’s contest, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a few surprises in store, either!

Here is the rundown for this year’s contest:

PRIZES:

It’s the usual get-what-you want option for the top 3 artists in each category. If you prefer a cash prize through Paypal, that’s always the easiest and quickest option to get your reward.

As always though, I will be flexible and work with the winners to purchase Megaman-related prizes, if there’s something you’ve really had your eye on and would like ordered. Be it a 4-inch Nel, Nendoroid, Megamix manga, or some other trinket, if I can find it within your prize price range and order it to be shipped straight to you, I will do all I can to make it happen!

The winners for both the Talent and Humor categories will receive the following:

1st Place: $100 USD or an item(s) up to that value.

2nd Place: $50 USD or an item(s) up to that value.

3rd Place: $25 USD or an item(s) up to that value.

RULES:

Two categories, in which you are allowed to submit one entry for each category, if you would like. If you place in one category, you will be automatically disqualified from the other, for reasons of fairness, and to give other people a chance to win a prize.

CATEGORY 1:  If You Like It, You Should Put a Ring Boomerang On It (Talent)

Content Requirements:

* A romantically simple, or extravagantly over-the-top proposal scene between the Megaman characters of your choice

When thinking of a more romantic, but creative Valentine’s concept I haven’t really done yet, about the only thing off the top of my head was that of a proposal. While there aren’t a ton of actual married couples or even canon romantic relationships in the Megaman Universe, I think it still is a concept that will produce a lot of variety and unique ideas!

As always, you have creative freedom as to how you want to approach this theme. Perhaps you want to draw a nervous character picking out some bling at Ms. Millions’ jewelry shop. Maybe the proposal involves a fusion of Jewel Man and Ring Man surprising the fiancée-to-be. Want to draw a proposal fail? Make it on the jumbotron of Strike Man’s stage, and she’ll probably be too embarrassed to say, ‘Yes!’ Wedding proposal not your thing? You’re fine to make it something like a prom proposal even, if you’d like. 

As the talent category, judging for this theme will focus on the technical skills of your piece. Just as guys throughout history have had to brainstorm the most creative and surefire way to get her to say, ‘Yes!,’ your goal for this category is to create a unique and outstandingly well-drawn proposal scene to get me to say, “You win!”

CATEGORY 2: Beauty and the Beastman.EXE (Humor)

Content Requirements:

* Awwwwww…Beast Out! At least one Megaman character turned into a monsterous, beastly form. But looks are deceiving, and there’s a curse that needs to be broken.

* A beautiful character who hopefully has learned to love this other character shunned by society…or maybe not.

* Other various Megaman characters cursed into the form of household items or a handsome, vain, muscular suitor who can’t read books are purely optional.

Tale as old as Time~Man, claws like Greiga Rock~man, Beauty and the Beast…man.

Yeah, song with great rhyme, that is not. XD  

In the EXE series, we had a gimmick in EXE 6 known as ‘Beast Out,’ where Rockman took on a more animalistic form, either that of the Cybeast Greiga or Falzer. In the anime, this concept was utilized on other characters, giving us beastly “Zoanoroid” versions of classic Navis. So there has been some precedent of turning Megaman characters into beastly monsters.

So, let’s combine that idea with a popular fairy tale/Disney classic! Your goal for this category is to create a hilarious scene with a mismatched couple of a beautiful Megaman character and the less-attractive, beast form of another character of your choice. You are welcome to draw something alluding to your favorite part of the original tale or any of the numerous versions based off of it. You certainly can just use Beastman.EXE as the title alludes to, but you don’t have to. You can get creative and make a beastly form of whatever character you’d like.

For this category, show me how beauty is only skin-deep, in the funniest way possible!

PARTICIPATION PRIZE RAFFLE:

Back once again, with much less sadly, I am going to give away 3 rare participation prizes. There is not a separate wildcard category this year. In order to be eligible for the participation prizes, all you need to do is enter a pic for either the Talent or Humor category!

Like last year, if there is a prize here you are NOT interested in, please note that when you send in your submission(s) to me. Otherwise, you will be automatically entered in the raffle for a chance at each of these 3 items.

If you draw a pic for both the humor and the talent categories, you can double your chances to win! (Odds of course, depending on how many others enter and also draw two pics.) You will be able to add your name into the drawing a second time for just 1 of these prizes.

So, what are these raffle prizes? I’m sticking with the art theme, so you could come away with any of these special, historic pieces of Megaman art!

Raffle Prize #1 – Rockman 8 Anime Mid-Game Cutscene Cel (with Genga)

Yes, you are seeing that right. Just for drawing, you could come away with this cel from the mid-game cutscene, where, Rock runs out of Dr. Light’s lab after being told that if he ‘fwinds dat meatey-oar, we’wll fwind Doctah Whywee.” Yes, you can have a piece of that scene!! As you can see in these samples, the cel is not stuck, so you can proudly display each piece separately if you prefer!

It’s this scene, only not covered by the lab wall. Probably the first time we’ve seen this art fully unobstructed!

Raffle Prize #2 – Archie Comics Worlds Unite Inked page (Sonic Universe #77, Page 8)

Inked and signed by Gary Martin, this page showcases that rare brotherly interaction between X and Rock, with the sneering, evil trio of Wily, Robotnik and Xander Payne all behind bars immediately after they portal-escaped from Sigma’s grasp. Although their sentence only lasted like a page, before X let them out…

Raffle Prize #3 – Captain N Robot Master Height Chart

Ugly and poorly constructed? Yes! But that’s what’s so great about Captain N production art. From season 2, here are 3 of the 7 MM2 Robot Masters used in Episode 5, The Big Game: Wood Man, Heat Man and Quick Man. Why are they taped on like that? Apparently, when making these height chart references, the animators just reused other height charts as a base. So underneath these 3, you’ll find the original height chart for the people of Kongoland, a Smurfy-blue-bodied-Thundercat hybrid tribe of Donkey Kong worshippers. Yep, that’s a real sentence I just typed.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

When you submit, I would prefer you to include the following information in this format, along with your entry:

(Your name/preferred alias) – As much as I usually know who you are, there’s always someone new or somebody who has a different preference from what their email name says.

(Category this entry is for) – You can either say 1 or 2, or Talent/Humor· 

(Participation Prize Eligibility) – Just write “All” if you are interested in the chance to win anything. Write: “Exclude from #__” if you do not have interest in winning a particular participation prize.

In the event you are submitting your second entry, please specify which prize # you would like your bonus chance in the raffle to be put towards.

Only submit your own work, as usual. Any character, major or minor, from any series is allowed. Pairing characters from different series is totally allowed. Same-gender pairings are completely fine.

As always, participants are allowed to submit from all over the world. It’s easier for me to get prizes to US entrants, because international shipping is complicated and pricey, but I’ll do what I can for you guys who aren’t in the States.

Paypal is still the preferred method for cash prize payouts. Please have a valid account to receive your winnings.

Youngin's, get your parents permission before entering.

Entries do not need to be colored, but it is preferred. The more effort put into things as always, the better chance you have!

Entries can either be e-mailed to me at rock2125[at]hotmail[dot]com, or you can just PM/note me a link to your pic.

DO NOT post your pics in this journal, your dA galleries, tumblr blogs, other sites, etc. until the contest is over. This is the fairest way for competitive reasons. I prefer to keep them all secret until the deadline has passed.

I'll edit a confirmed entry list in this thread when I receive them. So you won't be in the dark about whether or not I've received your entry.

DEADLINE:

The deadline for this contest will be Monday, February 12th, 2018 by 11:59PM CST. This gives you a little more than 5 weeks to finish your entry!

MISCELLANEOUS INFO:

As usual, If you don't plan to enter, but would like to help me judge, please let me know through DM or mention so here. Never hurts to have extra opinions on all the entries.

Bug me with questions if you have any. Please join in, and good luck to everyone who enters! 

Heed the Heel Navi’s message...

Confirmed Entries:  

Category 1 (Talent): @borockman, @pandapanic0, @drewblossom, @wintesm, @hyperbole1729, @jb-artist, @digitallyfanged, @tianura, @lightlabs, @peach35, @iris-sempi, superbasket5, @shikai-the-storyteller, @yugiohlesbian

Category 2 (Humor): @frankenchio, @erekisaiko, @drewblossom, @prar-draws, @amiable-apparition, dark-dullahan, 

[youcancallmeelle]

And I’ll Be The Sky And You Be The Bird... Part 1: (FP Jones x Original Character).

** Inspired by this song **

I was so used to isolating myself and building walls around myself to protect me from any potential threat, and by ‘threat’ I meant the human race.

I wasn’t one for friendship groups or for traditions, holidays spent with those you love the most and I definitely had no interest in caring for people. In fact, the word ‘love’ made me cringe and die a little inside.

I have no idea why I became this way but I’ve learnt to accept it and to be honest, I had no intention of changing, not for anyone or anything.

But, that all changed ever so slightly when I moved to Riverdale, the town with pep.

Here I was, it was the height of summer.

The sun was blaring down and the heat basically slapped you in the face the minute you stepped outside.

I was at a gathering with friends, down by sweet water river where the water flowed out into a large, crystal clear lake.

The grass was green and the flowers bloomed, the water was steady and tranquil.

The smell of food drifted through the still air, obvious proof that Archie had burnt either the hotdogs or burgers on the barbecue.

I’d become friends with the group almost immediately after moving here from Ohio with my parents, where I broke free from routine and bad habits.

Archie and Betty were the first to introduce themselves and soon followed a mysterious stranger named Jughead, who was soon joined by Kevin, Veronica and Cheryl.

We all got on like a house on fire, we were the perfect match. It was almost like our personalities clashed in the best way, mellowing each other out.

This ‘gathering’ was initially inner circle only, but now there was at least Fifty of us. It consisted of the usual group, Reggie Mantle and the football team but also the Southside serpents.

It was no surprise that the serpents had shown up, seeing as Kevin was with Joaquin and Jughead’s Dad was the leader of the serpents, Jug’s recent pledge to the Southside also a contributing factor.

Strangely, I wasn’t at all intimidated by them, only fascinated.

After the involvement of Jughead’s Dad with Jason Blossom’s murder and Joaquin’s helping hand, I should have probably been terrified but I wasn’t.

“Liv, I want to see a drink in your hand or I’ll personally throw you in that lake!” Reggie bellowed, snapping me out of my daydream and pointing at me.

“Yes, Sir.” I replied, saluting him with an eye roll and proceeding the pour myself some lemonade from the table that was set up with a variety of refreshments.

I wasn’t in the mood for an alcoholic beverage, most of the people here were already drunk.

I observed my surroundings, watching Jughead spin Betty who had a massive smile upon her face.

Archie was on barbecue duty with Veronica by his side, red wine in hand.

Reggie and Dylton were manning the music, chart music blaring from the speakers that were on the back of Archie’s truck.

I sighed to myself, pushing my Ray Ban sunglasses on top of my head to push my blonde waves out of my face.

I felt like I needed a break from all the socialising for a while, it was overwhelming, so I took a slow walk down the bank, closer to the lake’s edge and away from the blaring music.

I found myself settling down towards the bottom of the bank and taking a seat on the grass, staring out over the water.

I was so invested in the environment that I didn’t even notice a presence sit down beside me, not until the presence spoke.

“Needed some time to yourself?”

I jumped at the sound of a male voice, snapping my head to see who it was.

I shielded my eyes from the sun to see who my company was, suprised at who I saw.

“You scared me.” I grumbled, wiping spilt lemonde off my bare legs and wiping my hand on my denim shorts.

“I’m sorry.” The serpent sniggered, removing their jacket and using it to sit on.

I took a moment to watch him, immediately noticing the similarity to Jughead.

“Name?” I asked bluntly, my stare set on the snake leader.

“FP.” He retorted, revealing a gorgeous set of white teeth.

“FP? How original, I like it. Last name Jones?”

He nodded and frowned before replying, pushing the sleeves up on his flannel shirt.

“You know my son?” He asked me and I nodded, admiring his slightly tanned skin.

“Yeah, he’s my age.”

“You’re Eighteen?” FP quizzed and I nodded. “You look older.” He told me, drinking in my appearance.

I looked pretty plain in my converse, denim shorts and black t-shirt.

“Charming.” I scoffed, picking at the plastic of my cup and sloshing the liquid around.

“I didn’t mean that in a bad way, I was just saying. Are you going to tell me your name or spite me?” The leader defended, holding his hands up jokingly.

I cracked a smile.

“It’s Liv, Liv Myers. Why have you sneaked away?” I wondered, watching the older man relax.

“Sometimes I just need to get away, even just for ten minutes. The serpents are my whole life, next to Jughead but sometimes being around people is suffocating.” FP explained and I nodded, pursing my lips as I agreed with his statement.

“Fair enough.”

“Why have you?” He shot back, his dark eyes full of curiosity.

“I’m not really a people person and anyway, my friends can take care of themselves.”

“Do you not have a boyfriend to take care of you?”

“I don’t need anyone to ’take care of me’, I can look after myself. I’m a big girl and I don’t depend on anyone, never have. I’m not into that relationship stuff anyway, it’s not my style.” I spoke, taking a small sip of my drink.

“What is your style?”

“Sex with no strings attached and not having to care about anyone.”

FP let out a chuckle and shook his head, looking forward over the clear lake.

“It seems you have no heart.” He commented and I shrugged, glancing at him.

“Maybe so, but atleast I don’t have to worry about it getting broken.”

FP hummed and thought about my response for a second before he spoke again, rubbing his jaw.

“It’s sad that at your age this is what you’re saying, it just seems wrong… Every other teenager is out experimenting and learning, dating and making mistakes.”

“I don’t particularly care, I’m not like everyone else and I take pride in that.”

“But don’t you ever want to go on a date? To actually feel something for that one person?” He asked, stretching out his legs and leaning back on his elbows.

“Why are you asking such weird questions?” I laughed, placing my almost empty cup beside me on the grass.

“I’m just curious, you intrigue me, Liv.” FP said, smiling at me and I couldn’t help but smirk back.

“And what about me intrigues you?” I wondered and this time it was his turn to smirk, the kind of look that was full of mischief.

“Your lack of sentiment.”

“Bite me, old man.” I responded, removing my sunglasses from my head and shoving them on my face.

“Ouch.”

“How old are you anyway?” I questioned him, looking over the top of my sunglasses to admire him.

“Double your age and some.” He chuckled and I raised my eyebrows, not quite believing that this guy was probably nearing Forty years of age.

He looked like he was in his mid thirties at the most, there wasn’t a single grey hair that I could see.

“You look good.” I nodded, looking him up and down.

“I’d say the same but I doubt it’s appropriate.” FP laughed as did I, I leant my head back to soak in the rays, loving the feeling of the heat all over my body.

I pursed my lips for a second before turning in his direction, seeing that he’d lay back on the grass, his eyes closed and lips pouted slightly.

“If it’s any consolation, I have a thing for older guys.” I teased, watching his eyes snap open.

I bit my lip as he studied my face, obviously trying to decide if I was messing with him or not.

“Good to know.” He replied, an amused look on his face.

I licked my dry lips and proceeded to roll over onto my stomach, my tanned legs in the air as I picked at the blades of grass.

I could feel FP’s stare burning into me like a hot laser, I turned to watch him.

His eyes were focused on my legs, trailing up to my ass that was just about covered in my distressed shorts.

I coughed to draw his attention, an obvious grin on my face as he snapped out of his trance and let our eyes meet.

“You alright?”

“Yeah.” FP stuttered, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair.

“Is the serpents your main job?” I inquired, watching FP shift his position to his side and leaning on his hand.

“I guess so, yeah. What about you?”

“I work at the mechanics near Riverdale high, it’s great.”

FP looked shocked, his eyebrows raised.

“You work with cars? I’d never have thought that, it’s pretty hot. If you ever want to make any extra cash, we always have cars come in at the Whyte Wyrm.” He informed me and I let out a loud laugh, almost snorting.

“Dream on, like I’m ever going to join in with your dodgy gang!” I exclaimed and FP let out a small laugh, rolling his brown eyes.

“It was worth a try.” He beamed, flashing his perfect teeth once again.

I didn’t say anything, only stared at him.

FP Jones was truly gorgeous, his eyes were still bright and containing youth, his smile was something to be envious of. He was still in good shape, he was fit and muscular.

“You alright?” FP asked, repeating the same line as I had earlier as he caught my lingering stare.

I frowned as I came to the realisation of how in depth my thoughts were, how detailed they were.

I couldn’t do this, I didn’t want to get close to anyone, I didn’t want anyone new in my life and I especially couldn’t start something with a middle aged man, let alone a serpent.

“I need to go.” I stammered, hastily getting up.

I watched FP’s face drop in disappointment, it was clear that he’d enjoyed our conversation.

“Will I see you again?” His distinctive voice called out from behind me as I walked away, brushing my hair back.

“In hell probably.” I muttered to myself, resisting the urge to turn back.

I couldn’t get back to the party quick enough, my heart pounding against my chest so hard that I thought it might burst out at any moment.

I didn’t have a chance to get my bearings because I soon felt a hand yank at my wrist and my heart rate only increased at the thought of it being FP.

To my relief, it was only Betty.

I sighed happily and looked at the blonde girl so thankfully, glad that it was her and not him.

“Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you, Ronnie made you a cocktail.” She explained, handing me a brightly coloured drink that smelt of mainly rum and tropical fruit.

“Um, I went down to the lake, just needed a minute.” I excused, taking a sip of the drink and scrunching my nose up.

“You were gone longer than a minute… wait, was FP there?” Betty asked, looking directly behind me.

I turned to see what she was staring at but quickly regained my composure as I saw him.

“Erm, no, just me.” I lied, unsure of why I was acting so guilty.

“Right…” Betty hummed but I don’t think she was convinced.

“Let’s go find Kevin!” I suggested, feigning excitement and attempting to distract the blonde.

I caught FP’s eye as I dragged Betty away, his head tilted to the side like he was analysing me.

Why did I have the feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time I saw him?

[littlemissnellie]

aaaaah, hello guys!

so...this was kind of supposed to be part of my 1 year anniversary thing but I just completely ran out of time and I've been super busy this week. so, whilst I desperately try to get some more daley screenshots together, I thought i’d set this up for you in the mean time!

as you may or may not know, I retired my Disney legacy a while back because I couldn’t keep up with 2 story-driven legacies as well as you would have deserved for me to, so I took a break from it. and although I’m still in no way ready to handle 2 story-driven legacies again *cough* @surreysimmer how do you do it????? *cough* I’ve recently been inspired by some wonderful blogs to start up a legacy that’s a little bit less story-based and is just some good old-fashioned, harmless, fun lil gameplay! hence, why this is here!

I want to keep up with my Daley legacy as much as possible and make sure that it’s as good as it possibly can be for you all story-wise, and because of that I tend to put quite a bit of pressure on myself to at least maintain its kind of mediocre standard. but with this new legacy, I don’t want that to be the case. I want to keep it fun and simple and just queue up posts for it as and when I get them and feel like it. so, I hope you don’t mind too much if there’s an occasional lull in posts; i’m probably just really busy! 

I also don’t know if adding another legacy to this blog would clutter it up too much??? maybe i’ll make another side blog and post it there? I’m not sure yet, i’d love to know your opinion though; it would really help!

I didn’t quite know what exactly you’d want to see as this extra little legacy though, so I thought that I‘d create a few little sims, give them some backstories and let you decide! so, under the cut I’ll give you a few descriptions of my various sim bbies, which might help you make your decision!

thank you in advance for your support guys! vote away!

I’m a Lover Legacy - Bethany, the lil red head was born and bred in the quaint little city of Windenburg. Being raised by her grandparents, after her parents died in a car accident, by the time that Bethany walked out of Windenburg University with an English Literature degree she was rather desperate for some freedom, which they were more than happy to give to her. And so, not long after moving into her modest little house, Bethany started working towards her job as an author, joined a local book club, where she made some wonderful friends, and even found love with a beautiful, free-spirited artist called Rory. Their relationship went from strength to strength and every day they fell more and more in love with each other. A rose was there to greet Rory at every date that she went on, so, as her and Bethany’s birthdays were drawing closer, she has a certain little present that she’d like to give back to her... (I’ve been playing their save a little bit already, so their story’s already pretty established, which is why their explanation is so damn long lmao).

A Townie Legacy - okay, so this description is probably going to be tiny in comparison, but that’s because it‘s not really established yet. I've sort of become a little bit obsessed with doing ea townie makeovers, and would love to use them for something. I thought that, because we all know and love or hate ea’s townies, making them my own and then starting up a save to actually play with them and see how they develop might be a fun little idea. with this option i’d obviously post all my townie makeovers (which I plan to do anyway v soon but sshhhhh, you didn't hear it from me) first and then get you to pick which family you’d like me to play with most afterwards. hopefully that makes a little bit of sense! for now though, I thought i’d use bob and eliza as the spokes people!

The Disney Legacy - so...these guys aren’t really very new around here, but if I was going to even think about adding a new legacy, these guys just had to be included! I know that the last time I was posting with them, their storylines were starting to develop themselves quite nicely, but this time, if they win and I pick up where I left off, the posts for them would be a little more simple and light-hearted. basically, just less story-based. I promise i’d still do my best to keep them like the characters I created for them though, it just wouldn’t be as thorough, I guess. if you didn’t see them last time I was posting with them, they currently have 5 little kiddos: the first set of twins Ethan (a nerdy, shy little bean), and Nathan (a very energetic, slightly rebellious little bean), Blake (an uber cool, independent little tot already), and then the second set of twins Isaac (a very curious, crazy little thing) and Jennifer (the one and only little girl who has already deemed herself queen of the household). so their little family could very well be making a comeback if you so wish!

Differences in the Family Tree Legacy - my little girl Leah over here didn’t want anything more in life than to follow in her parents’ footsteps and start up a little farm of her own. so when her mum and dad surprised her with her own plot of land and a tiny little cottage to go along with it, she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. and with her high school boyfriend Archie supporting her decision 100%, she couldn’t refuse! so off to Brindleton Bay she went, with the earth at her feet, the sunshine on her face and the joyous prospect of a life of her own in her heart. the life she’d always dreamed about was just starting, and she couldn’t be more excited...

The Shameless Legacy - Eloise has always loved animals, but with her mother’s severe allergies and her father‘s strict rules, having a pet of her own had never been a possibility. now that she was old enough to move out and start a life of her own though, there was nothing more that she wanted than to acquire a little companion of her own. the only thing left for her to do after that was to achieve her other life goal: to help all the other animals she couldn’t adopt as her own. and if she couldn’t manage to secure a job in any of the other clinics in the area, thanks to Brindleton Bay’s apparent lack of job openings, maybe she’d just have to start up her own...

The Gem Stone Legacy - Safiya Gem was always destined to make her parents proud, at least that’s what they believed. but the second that her wild, rebellious teen heart-throb of a boyfriend stepped into their house that dream crumbled before their very eyes. their precious, gifted, honest daughter was being led astray with every second that she spent in his company. her gorgeous chocolate locks were soon dyed to a shocking, electric blue. her face became clad with makeup. a tattoo soon adorned her skin. and at the first opportunity available, she was willing to drop everything to follow him to san myshuno and carry out life in a cramped little apartment in the heart of a not-so-pleasant neighbourhood. even though safiya was as happy as could be, head-over-heels in love as some may say, would this all end as perfectly as she thought?

Pethood Legacy - Julian had his whole life set out for him by his parents. he had a job lined up at the local newspaper ready and waiting, he had a lovely family friend to soon make his wife and he had a wonderful house to inherit when the time came. but Julian wanted no part in it whatsoever. and after revealing to his parents that writing articles was the last things he wanted to be doing, that he’d rather live in a cardboard box for the rest of his life than inherit that house and would only ever consider marrying this girl if she...became a man, then they wanted no part in his life whatsoever. they cut all ties with him, leaving him with nothing but the clothes that he was wearing and the tent he bought with the spare cash he had with him. it was an upgrade from the cardboard box he’d proposed, but was still a rather huge leap from how he’d been living up until that point. but he was free. he was himself, and unapologetically so. and if his family wanted no part in his life if he was to live this way, then he would find some people that did. or rather, something...

[keiraknighted]

too late to make a sound

Summary: If Betty doesn't tell Jughead the truth soon, Archie might accidentally tell her the truth about how he feels. Set during 2x06.

Archie wakes with a start, sweating, his heart pounding. He doesn’t remember what he’d been dreaming about, only that it hadn’t ended well. He immediately reaches for his phone and opens his conversation with Betty as if it’s second nature. She’s often the first thing on his mind lately.

He can’t help but be worried about her, with this whole black hood thing plaguing her. And he’s the only one who really knows what’s going on. She’s had to cut ties with Veronica and Jughead, her sister is out of town, and it’s not like she could ever tell her mother the truth. So he’s really all she’s got right now. It has crossed his mind to question why the black hood hasn’t forced Betty to cut ties with him as well. There’s some sick part of him that’s proud that he’s the only one she’s allowed to keep. And besides, he figures it’s pointless trying to get inside the head of someone whose face he hasn’t even seen. The best he can do is be there for Betty.

Archie gets up and goes to the window, slipping his fingers between the curtain to pull it aside slightly. Glancing through the gap he can see Betty’s own curtains are still closed and he quickly taps out a message to her.

Hey, you up?

Betty’s reply is almost instantaneous.

Meet you out the front of your place in 5.

Archie presses the lock button on his phone and throws on the first items of clothing he can find, running a hand through his hair to make sure it’s slightly presentable, before pulling on his shoes and running downstairs and to the front door.

His dad calls something to him as he passes, but Archie misses the exact words. He presumes his dad wants to know where he’s going.

“Meeting Betty!” Archie calls back as he heads outside. Betty isn’t there yet, but he spots her walking down the street towards him, her blonde hair and pale pink shirt hard to miss. He feels an instant sense of relief when he sees her, and he exhales, his shoulders dropping. Perhaps whatever the dream he had was affected him more than he’d originally thought.

Amidst his relief, there’s something else, a sort of tug in his stomach that seemed to be a recent development whenever he sees Betty, or thinks about her. A feeling he’s been trying very hard not to acknowledge because it would make things very inconvenient. Although lately, conspicuously since her break up with Jughead, he’s been squashing the feeling less and less. Feelings are harmless, right? And anyway, he’s not even sure he knows what the feelings are. It’s probably nothing. His concern for her bringing out some human response that feels a lot like… well, something else.

Archie makes his way towards Betty as she draws closer, meeting her in the middle.

“Everything okay?” she asks him. She looks exhausted, and stressed. He wishes there was something he could do to fix everything, to make her feel better.

“I should be the one asking you that.”

Betty shrugs, and glances at her phone. Archie stiffens, reading into her gesture.

“The black hood?” he questions. Betty nods reluctantly. “What happened?”

Betty sighs.

“Walk me to Pop’s?”

Archie nods and he falls into step beside her as they walk in the direction of Pop’s. He stays silent, waiting for Betty to give him the whole story.

“He called me last night, and he threatened Polly,” Betty starts. Archie opens his mouth to say something angry and supportive, but Betty cuts him off, sensing his thoughts. “It’s fine, just let me finish.”

Archie nods, keeping his silence.

“He told me to give him another name, or he’d kill Polly.” Betty pauses. “I refused at first, but he was so persistent.”

It’s an effort for Archie to hold his tongue.

“I told him Nick St Clair,” Betty says. Before Archie can decide how he feels about that, (on the one hand, Nick is awful and the world wouldn’t miss him, on the other, Betty could never live with herself if she had someone’s death on her hands, even someone as grotesque as Nick St Clair), Betty hurries on. “He’s not dead. I checked. The black hood called me before and told me giving him the name was enough. Apparently it shows my true nature.” She scoffs, but Archie can tell it bothers her.

“I know your true nature, and that’s not it,” he assures her. “You’re a good person, Betty.”

“I know,” Betty says, but he’s still glad he said it. “I know that now. I needed to clear my head, and I did. And I realised that this is just a sick game to him. Psychological torture. So… I’m done. With the black hood, with his letters, his Simon says.”

“So what happens when he calls you again?”

“I won’t answer,” she says vehemently, and Archie almost believes her. “I can’t… keep playing. I can’t.”

“Didn’t he threaten Polly?” Archie reminds her of the fact, as if she hadn’t just told him a minute ago.

“He did, and I talked to her. The people at the farm are gonna help her disappear for a while, just until it’s safe again.”

“Whenever that is,” Archie scoffs as the two of them approach Pop’s. “What about Jughead, and Ronnie? We have to tell them the truth.”

“And we will,” Betty promises. Archie’s not sure she realises how much the two of them need to know, not just for their sake, but for Betty’s own sanity. And for his own piece of mind too. Whenever he thinks about Jughead he feels a wave of guilt wash over him. He feels like it’s partly his fault the two of them aren’t together. Plus there’s the whole confusing feelings about Betty thing. But Jughead and Betty are going to get back together, this he knows. And besides, he has Veronica, whom he’s very happy with.

“I’ll tell them. Let’s just… you know, let things settle first. Make sure it’s all over.”

As she speaks, Archie notices Jughead through the window of Pop’s, sitting across a table from some girl from his new school, Toni or something. Archie stops in his tracks, grabbing Betty’s arm automatically, and she trails off, following his line of vision.

Jughead’s laughing with Toni, and it’s not like laughing is against the law or anything, but he’s not exactly looking heartbroken over his break up with Betty, and Archie’s no expert on body language, but it kind of looks like flirting. Maybe Pop’s wasn’t the greatest idea. It’s probably a totally innocent breakfast, but either way, Betty doesn’t need the heartache of seeing Jughead at all right now.

Archie glances at Betty, gauging her reaction. Is she worried about Toni? He’s pretty sure Jughead would never do anything to hurt Betty, but then again, technically they’re broken up, and the things he said to Jug on Betty’s behalf were pretty brutal. Still, if it were him, he’d at least have the decency to wait a few weeks before moving on. Betty deserves some respect.

He’d like to say something comforting, but before he gets the chance his phone is ringing, and Betty’s along with it, and it’s their parents demanding they come home right away.

“This can’t be good,” Betty mutters as she ends the call with Alice. Archie couldn’t agree more.

The “intervention” or whatever it is their parents are trying to pull is a complete waste of time. All it does is put Jughead in danger, and even though Archie gets to him in time to rescue him from the raid of Southside High, Jug isn’t exactly happy to see him, not that Archie can blame him. To top it off, Archie has this irrational annoyance at Veronica for the things she’d said about Betty earlier. He should understand, after all, what Betty said to Ronnie was pretty mean, and Veronica has always been proud. But does his girlfriend really think she can trash talk his best friend to his face? Not going to happen. He’s glad he has bigger problems to deal with to distract him. And once Betty finally reveals the truth everything can go back to normal.

There are a lot of things Archie wants to say to Jughead. He wants to tell him to stop being such an idiot and quit hanging out with the Serpents. He wants to interrogate him about Toni, let him know what an idiot he’d be to jeopardize things with Betty. And of course, he wants to tell him about everything going on with Betty and the black hood. But that’s Betty’s to tell not his. And Jughead is mad enough without him bringing up either of the other things.

He listens to Jughead’s rant patiently, knowing Jughead needs to get it out of his system before he’ll listen to reason. Archie suggests going to Mayor McCoy, telling her the Serpents aren’t the problem.

“Mayor McCoy?” Jughead says, and Archie can sense the venomous sarcasm. “The same McCoy that just arrested all my friends for no reason?”

“What do you care anyway, man?” Jughead says flippantly. “I thought you and Betty wanted nothing to do with me. Right?”

“Look, I’m sorry about what happened. And how it happened. And as for Betty, you should maybe talk to her.”

He needs Betty and Jughead to talk this out. Because the longer they’re broken up, the more he finds himself thinking about Betty, and not always in ways that people should think about their best friends.

Guilt pools in Archie’s stomach and as he takes in Jughead’s stony face, he’s hit with a similar image of Jughead from his dream last night. He almost says, hey, I think you were in my dream last night, but before he can blurt it out, Jughead is racing out the door.

As the rest of the dream comes back to him, Archie can only be relieved that he saved himself the torture of having to explain why Jughead was in his dream last night. He closes his eyes as he now recalls, in vivid detail, being in a darkened room with Betty, a gun pointed at them by a man in a black hood.

Confess, or I’ll shoot both of you, the black hood had shouted. Dream Archie had no idea what he was supposed to be confessing.

Betty, his dream-self said, urgently, before we die, I need you to know that I love you okay?

I know.

He kissed her, to make sure she really got it, expecting the black hood to fire any second. Nothing came. He turned to see the black hood pull his mask off, revealing his identity. Jughead.

His eyes screamed, how could you?

But what he said out loud was, I knew it. He pulled the trigger and that’s when Archie had woken up.

Archie opens his eyes, still reeling from the memory of the dream. Dreams don’t really mean anything, he knows that. But he’s suddenly certain of something, and the knowledge makes him practically groan out loud.

Of all the people he could go and fall in love with, it had to be Betty Cooper, didn’t it?

Archie tells himself he’ll just have to get over it. For one thing, he has a girlfriend, who happens to be Betty’s best friend. For another, Jughead is his best friend and even if Betty and Jughead aren’t together right now, they’re still in love. Telling Betty how he feels is not an option. He had his chance to be with Betty and he missed it, and now Jughead gets to be the lucky one.

But no matter how hard he tries, there’s this evil little voice in his head, whispering, Jughead doesn’t deserve her. You and Betty were meant for each other.

Archie does his best to ignore it.

But Fred says, “Kinda like that when I was trying to help FP. I don’t know what it is. Never ending battle with those two. Just hope with Jug it’s not a losing one,” and Archie hears, Jughead is a lost cause, he’s just like his dad. He’s not right for Betty.

The voice is wrong, Archie knows it’s wrong. The whole thing is wrong. But he looks at Jughead and he sees FP, and even the rational side of him can see history repeating itself. And it’s not that FP is the worst guy in the world. But he was in a gang, he was a pretty shitty father and now he’s in jail.

And Jughead joined the Serpents so easily. And he agrees to an illegal street race so easily. It’s like he doesn’t even think about the consequences. Jughead is supposed to be the smart one. But this drag race could end badly. If he doesn’t die in the process, there is every likelihood he’ll get arrested and thrown in jail, just like his dad. If that’s Jughead’s path, Archie knows there is absolutely nothing he can do to stop it. But he just might be able to keep Betty from going down with him.

And if he keeps thinking like that he’s going to do something stupid, like tell Betty how he feels and ruin basically every single one of his relationships.

They aren’t even together, the voice in his head says. You and Veronica aren’t in love, what does it matter?

Archie looks over at Betty as he picks up trash for their community service. She shouldn’t even have to be here as far as Archie is concerned.

Tell her, tell her, tell her, the voice says.

“Betty, you have to talk to Jughead,” Archie says. His chest aches and he can’t seem to dislodge whatever it is that’s stuck in his throat. He’s afraid that if she doesn’t come clean to Jughead soon, he’s going to come clean to her.

“Soon, I promise,” Betty says, “I just need to take care of a few things.”

Betty turns away, back to the task, but Archie’s eyes linger, his feelings bubbling to the surface, threatening to overflow. He’s sure it’s only Veronica’s overwhelming presence that stops him this time, and he swallows, getting back to work. This isn’t exactly the place for a declaration of love anyway.

Guilt gnaws at Archie constantly. When he’s not feeling guilty about having feelings for his best friend’s (ex) girlfriend, he’s feeling guilty about not having feelings for his own girlfriend.

And when he’s not feeling guilty about either of those things, he’s feeling guilty about calling Sheriff Keller and telling him about the street race. At least his motives for that one are pure. If the Ghoulies are in jail, maybe Jughead won’t make any more stupid decisions, and he and Betty can get back together and Archie can put this whole thing behind him. See? He’s a good friend after all. At least, that’s what he tells himself.

Veronica stays over the night before the drag race. He tells her he’s too tired for sex, but then he spends most of the night awake anyway. He should break up with her. He’s in love with someone else.

Someone you can’t have, he reminds himself. What’s the point in breaking up with a girl he likes if he can’t even be with the girl he really wants? He might fall in love with Veronica one day. There is every possibility it could happen.

Only, it hasn’t yet. And that’s not enough for him right now. And though Archie had tried to strengthen his resolve that morning, the blows that follow only serve to make it crumble.

His thoughts sliding to Betty as Veronica kisses him. Jughead’s look of pure glee as he presses the accelerator to the floor. Jughead’s lack of concern for his own life, and Archie’s. Jughead’s rage when he finds out Archie called the cops. That look Betty gives him that grips his heart and squeezes tightly.

It all only serves to make him want Betty more, and worst of all, make him believe he has any right to want her.

Archie goes to bed early to wallow, turning down the offer from Veronica and Betty to go to Pop’s. He can’t deal with that right now. He lies in bed, dreaming up scenarios where everything is fixed, and everyone gets to be happy, including him. Especially him.

Betty calls him a little after ten, and his stomach swoops when he sees her name on his phone screen.

“Betty,” he answers.

“I found the Sugarman,” she tells him immediately. Archie sits bolt upright.

“You did? Who is it?”

“I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. I’m going to call Sheriff Keller in the morning and I’m writing something for the Blue and Gold that’s probably going to take me a few hours,” she says. “I just wanted you to know.”

“Okay,” Archie swallows.

“Night, Arch,” Betty says. She sounds triumphant. Better than she has in days. Archie wants to drink that in.

“Betty?” he says hesitantly.

“Yeah, Arch?”

“Never mind. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

He hangs up the phone, his gut churning with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. Tomorrow. He’s definitely going to tell her tomorrow.

Except she doesn’t show up to school the next morning, and his disappointment is overwhelming. He doesn’t have the nerve to ask Veronica or Kevin if either of them knows where she is, but he keeps looking around, hoping she’ll show up.

He needs to do it now, today, before it’s too late.

He walks out of first period to see her waiting in the hallway, beaming. He can’t help but smile back at her, though his heart is beating a million miles a minute.

“Betty,” he says, and it’s like he can’t get enough of saying her name.

“Hey, Arch,” she grins. He just stares at her for a moment, as other students stream around and between them.

“Have you got a minute?” he finally says. He’s going to tell her now. Just not here, in a crowded hallway.

“Sure,” Betty says. He’s about to take her hand, lead her somewhere else. But then, “But first I have to tell you something. You’ll be happy to know I finally told Jughead everything.”

“You did?” Archie’s stomach drops. He tries to keep his face impassive.

“Yep! And he understands. Everything is good between us again!” she says happily.

“So you’re back together?” Archie verifies. Betty nods. Archie forces himself to mirror her smile. “That’s great, Betty,” he lies.

“I know. So what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh, uh… just wanted to know all about what happened with the black hood and the Sugarman,” Archie supplies.

“Oh, have I got a story for you,” Betty laughs, and the sound fills the air and works its way into his lungs, into his heart.

It’s better this way, he tells himself. It’s really a blessing in disguise. What did he think would happen? He’d confess his love for Betty and she’d suddenly just stop being in love with Jughead? Jug and Veronica would just give them their blessing and they’d get to live happily ever after?

It was always an impossibility.

Well, not always. But now it always will be, and he only has himself to blame for letting her get away.

[adorebughead]

Multitudes - Part 2

/ Part One /

*Read on AO3*

Thank you so much for the response to this fic so far. I really hope that you’ll enjoy it as much as I’m enjoying writing it! I wanted it to be ever so slightly less heavier than my previous fic (which isn’t hard to do seeing as FBOW was crazy) but still with tonnes of angst - cause I absolutely live for that shit. I hope you like it, anyway! If you take the time to leave a comment, thank you so much. It means a lot to me and continues to drive me to write!

————————————————

This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,

Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,

Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the  themes

thou lovest best,

Night, sleep, death and the stars.

“Ok,” Veronica announced, emerging from the bathroom looking as though she were about to attend the Vanity Fair Oscar after party which, believe it or not, she had actually done twice before. “I’m ready.”

“V,” Betty replied with a smile, “you look beautiful… but now I do feel a little underdressed.”

Smoothing down her skin tight black dress, Veronica popped her red lipstick into her sparkling clutch bag and shrugged. “I have to make an effort. Archie’s going to be there.”

“Archie?” Betty teased, finishing up her faint layer of mascara and blinking at her own reflection. “So, you actually know his name now?”

Veronica laid a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. “Ha ha. I always knew his name, thank you very much. You know, after Kevin stalked his Facebook profile in depth for me last night.”

“Oh, really?” Betty raised an eyebrow, chuckling as she ran her fingers through her hair and secured a tight, high pony tail with an elastic that had been beginning to hurt her wrist.

“Archie Andrews, former captain of the football team, part time musician, single, interested in women, dog lover; always a necessity, may I add-“

“Wait,” Betty interjected, throwing the mascara into her makeup bag and zipping it back up. “Archie Andrews?”

“Yeah. What? Do you know him?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “We went to high school together; he was kind of known for being a player. I haven’t seen him in a while but-“

“Ah,” Veronica mumbled, “the downside of going to school in New York. Well, whatever. Haven’t you seen those movies where the innocent, down to earth girl gets the town playboy to fall in love with her and completely change his ways forever?”

Betty smirked. “Sure, but life isn’t a movie, V. I mean, if it’s want you want then go for it. Just be careful, ok?”

“Ok, fine,” she replied, with a teasing huff.

“And since when were you innocent?”

“Anyway,” Veronica sighed loudly, narrowing her eyes as Betty giggled, “enough about me. Have you spoken to Trev since this morning?”

She flinched at the sudden mention of his name, leaning back in her chair and placing her hands in her lap. “No. I’ll probably phone him tonight, after the party.”

“What are you going to say?”

Betty bit her lip, picking at a small piece of skin around her nail. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, I have an idea,” Veronica declared after a momentary pause, walking over to Betty’s bedside table and opening up the top draw before carefully rummaging around.

Betty’s brows furrowed as she twisted around away from the mirror. “What are you doing?” “Aha!” She cried, retrieving the diamond ring with a victorious smile.

Raising an eyebrow, Betty tilted her head and folded her arms. “Are you proposing to me now?”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “Wear it.”

“What?”

“Tonight,” she continued. “Wear it. See how it feels.”

Betty shook her head with a snigger. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Pretend for the night that you are engaged to Trev and see how you feel about it. Nobody’s going to know us at this thing, anyway. Kevin said it’s mainly going to be a bunch of out-of-towners who Archie went to college with.”

Betty hesitated, an uncertainty masking her face as she studied the ring sat in the palm of her best friend’s hand. It really was beautiful. Trev had always known what she’d wanted, if ever the day were to come. It was traditional and classy and not to mention totally breath taking. The ring was perfect. The ring wasn’t the issue.

“V, I don’t know-“

“Come on,” she insisted, perching on the end of the bed to face her and picking it up between her thumb and forefinger with a shrug. “You might surprise yourself.”

-

Upon approaching Archie’s house, which, Betty noted, was the size of about fifty of her tiny apartments put together, she and Veronica exchanged a sideways glance of utter astonishment. It wasn’t just the fact that the house was practically a mansion, but it was also located right at the edge of the town’s beach, completely out of the way and surrounded by the most beautiful view of the sea.

“So, he’s rich,” Veronica observed, pursing her lips together and nodding. “Can’t say I’m disappointed.”

Betty rolled her eyes, looping her arm through her dumbstruck friend’s. “Let’s go inside and get this over with.”

Just as she had anticipated, the place was practically swarming with people left, right and centre, either already drunk or very much on their way to it. The music, which was more just a tonne of repetitive bass than anything else, was earsplittingly loud. The interior was clearly very aesthetically pleasing when not overflowing with drunken youths and crumpled up red cups, a notion Betty expressed aloud to Veronica as they made their way through the crowd.

“Youths? Who are you, your gran?” Veronica chuckled between various mixtures of excuse me and can you get out of the damn way? The male gaze very blatantly following her as she did so.

That was the thing about being best friends with Veronica Lodge. You were usually always in her shadow, a fact that Betty had typically welcomed, the thought of being the centre of attention not something she particularly favoured. However, tonight, she could’ve sworn that some of that gaze had also diverted onto herself.

“Betty! Veronica!” A voice bellowed, the both of them twisting their heads to meet with the glistening blue eyes of one of their colleagues and closest friends, Kevin Keller.

“You look amazing,” he exclaimed, observing Veronica up and down, his eyes widening as he did so. “I would consider selling my soul for those heels.”

She chuckled in response before Kevin’s regard switched onto Betty, altering into an abrupt double take.

Of course, after a fair bit of disputing back and forth, Betty had finally allowed Veronica to give her that of a slight makeover seeing as her initial jeans and plain t-shirt were apparently completely unacceptable. Instead, she had ended up opting for a black pencil skirt paired with a white v neck blouse, a neatly tied choker and a pair of nude heels that had been gathering dust in her wardrobe ever since Veronica had given her them for her birthday two years ago. Not only that, but a deep burgundy lipstick lay perfectly on her lips, one her mother had always scolded her for even considering wearing, and her hair was half up, half down; a few soft waves perching just beneath her shoulders. Truth be told, she felt pretty damn good.

“Who would’ve thought our little Betty Cooper could look so fierce,” he cried with an impressed albeit slightly stunned nod.

Betty’s eyes fell to the ground as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, hugging her chest with a small smile. “Thanks, Kev.”

“So, where’s your latest squeeze?” Veronica enquired with a wink, her eyes darting around the room.

“Joaquin is at home, in bed, pretty sick and pretty weak,” he replied with a sigh. “I think I’ve worn him out.”

Betty laughed as Kevin zipped his lips with his fingers. “Annnnd… that’s where this conversation ends.”

“So, let me guess, you’re looking for Archie,” Kevin sneered, tilting his head to catch Veronica’s attention which was clearly momentarily elsewhere.

She whipped her head back around and blushed. “Maybe.”

“And by maybe she means a damn straight yes,” Betty giggled.

“I can introduce you,” Kevin started, “our dads are pretty close so we chat now and again. Unfortunately, I had to turn him down when he told me he wanted me,” he teased. “We all have to make sacrifices.”

The three of them laughed, Veronica’s eyes lighting up at the sudden prospect. “Will you really introduce us?”

“Of course,” he replied, holding out his hand and gesturing them to follow. “But let’s get you a drink first.”

“Liquid confidence,” she smirked. “Good call.”

Grasping Veronica’s hand to shuffle after them both as they made their way to the kitchen, Betty scanned the room for a single familiar face, failing in her endeavour. However, it only took a few seconds before she saw it. A pair of dark eyes fixated firmly on her, but when she furrowed her brows and quickly looked again, they were gone.

“Double vodka and coke, B?” Veronica chirped, as Betty wrinkled her nose in response.

“Maybe just a single.”

“Make mine a triple,” Kevin winked, holding out his cup as Veronica poured the drinks. The three of them released a subsequent cheers as they clinked their plastic cups together.

Two, or maybe three, drinks later, paired with five minutes straight of crying laughing at Kevin’s college reminiscences, Betty was certain she was tipsy. The three of them had swiftly moved from the corner of the kitchen to the centre of the large, open hallway and started to dance, twirling each other around and chuckling loudly as if they had no problems in the world. Betty hadn’t done anything quite like it in a while. In fact, she wondered if she’d ever really had fun like this at all in her whole entire life.

“There he is,” Kevin yelled excitedly, seizing Veronica by the shoulders and swivelling her around to see Archie standing in all of his glory at the top of the staircase like some sort of Hollister model, chatting away to a couple of his friends with a drink in his hand.

Veronica’s eyes widened as she bit her lip. “Oh, Archie Andrews, you don’t know what’s about to hit you.” “Nice to see that liquid confidence is working a treat,” Betty giggled.

“Are you coming?” She asked, giving her hand a squeeze.

“Actually,” Betty started, “I think I’m going to get some air. It’s way too hot in here.”

Veronica raised a brow. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Ok,” she countered, “I’ll find you in a bit.”

Finally making it outside after awkwardly pushing through what felt like hundreds upon hundreds of people, Betty welcomed the cool breeze she had been craving as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Yep, she thought, I’m definitely tipsy.

Almost instantly, she reopened her eyes and her gaze fell directly onto somebody sat out in the distance, on the ground just above the sand. He was perched over a book, his dark hair falling ever so slightly in front of his face, the rest tucked up inside of the crown-shaped beanie that she wondered if he ever bothered to take off.

Of course he’s here, she rolled her eyes to herself, walking over to where he was sat before she could even stop herself.

“Whitman?” She cried, folding her arms sarcastically. His head lifted slowly, turning to see the source of the voice before stopping slightly as his eyes studied every inch of her sudden change in appearance. After a fleeting moment, he turned back around.

“Jones,” he replied nonchalantly, tucking his pen into the crook of his notebook and closing it shut.

“Never heard of them,” she scoffed, taking a couple of steps forward to admire the view before her as she plonked herself down a few feet away from him.

She studied him from the corner of her eye, waiting for some sort of sarcastic comment, but instead noting how he’d quite briskly returned to silently scribbling away in his notebook.

“What are you always writing in there?” She asked, a tone of mockery and confidence in her slightly slurred voice that actually rather amused him.

He didn’t take his eyes away from his half-filled page as he replied. “The names of all of the coffee shop baristas I’ve pissed off this week.”

She looked away then, a smirk of annoyance appearing on her face as she rolled her eyes. “Well, no wonder it’s taking so long.”

Glancing at him once more, she shook her head and pulled herself back up onto her feet, the sudden movement causing his gaze to switch to her as she smoothed down her skirt and pushed her hair out of her face.

“Going so soon?” He jeered. “What a shame.”

Her eyes narrowed as she placed her hands firmly on her hips. “You really like annoying me, don’t you?”

He shrugged, passing the pen between his fingers. “I think you enjoy it more than I do.”

“Ha!” She cried, a little louder than intended. “Don’t flatter yourself, pal. Just because you’ve got a James Dean thing going on-“

His head shot up as he raised a brow in amusement. “James Dean?”

She froze, wondering how the words she had just thought inside of her head had somehow left her lips without any form of warning. “Well, yeah, no, I didn’t mean it like James Dean was hot. I mean, he was. But-“

“Interesting.”

“No, no,” she raised a finger and shook her head. “No.”

After a moment, his stare dropped to her left hand that was still resting on her hip and his grin faltered, if only fleetingly.

“Well,” he mumbled, “I sure as hell send my condolences to that guy.”

It took her a moment to comprehend what he was referring to before the realisation that she was in fact wearing her engagement ring, and had been doing so all night, suddenly overwhelmed her. She blinked, unsure for a moment, unexpectedly feeling its heaviness.

“I’ll have you know that my fiancé is going to be a successful businessman,” she boasted. The word fiancé dropping out of her mouth with a slightly bitter taste before she could even stop it. She wasn’t sure she liked the way it sounded.

He shook his head with a derisive leer, heaving himself up and tucking his notebook into his back pocket. “How very predictable.”

She frowned. Taking a single step closer, folding her arms as he turned away from her. “Excuse me?”

“What is it that you do, may I ask?”

“I’m going to be a teacher,” she said confidently as he rolled his eyes and faced her once more.

“Figures. The businessman and the teacher. What an utterly drab life you are going to lead. Just like everyone else stuck in this place.”

Her brows furrowed as her jaw dropped in astonishment, her eyes widening as his smug yet vacant face burned a hole into her brain. God, he was so irritating.

“I am not stuck anywhere. And my life is far from drab.”

He released an uninterested laugh. “Say it again and maybe you’ll start to convince yourself.”

Her lip quivered as she turned on her heel. “Stay away from me,” she ordered, “and stay the hell away from my spot.”

She stomped away, disallowing him another inevitable snarky remark, her sense of direction wavering slightly as the vodka mixed with frustration and adrenaline began to well and truly go to her head. How dare he speak to her like that.

She wasn’t stuck. She was perfectly happy in Oakwood Bay and she had never had any intentions of leaving. She had been born there, grown up there, just like her parents and grandparents before her, and that’s exactly the life she wanted, and had wanted since she was a little girl, for her children, too. Her life was far from drab, and the fact that this ridiculously rude and highly conceited stranger had even suggested otherwise caused her blood to boil.

“I see you met Jughead,” Kevin announced, leaning against the doorway as Betty trudged over, dangling her heels beside her.

She barely looked up as she tried to shake off her anger, pulling herself out of the depths of her, now rather clouded, brain. “Who?”

“Jughead Jones,” he replied, gesturing over to where she had just come from, the place where black-coffee-guy was now walking out of sight. “He lives here. Just moved in with Archie. You didn’t hear it from me, but he had some trouble back where he came from, so Archie’s dad took him in. I think they went to college together, but I don’t really know much about it.”

She lifted her head in confusion. “Trouble?”

“I don’t know the full story,” he shrugged. “Something with his family. All I know is that he’s had it pretty rough. Rough enough that he had to leave home, anyway.”

Betty gulped, her frustration still hovering slightly as she watched him disappear into the crowd. “Well, all I know is that he’s a nasty piece of work.”

Kevin nodded in agreement, a look of wonder subsequently washing over his face. “I’m surprised he’s even talking to you.”

She slipped her feet back into her heels and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Why?”

He shrugged, raising a brow as he studied where her gaze continued to rest. “Because,” he uttered, “he doesn’t talk to anyone.”

-

Once returning back inside, Betty decided that it was probably best for her to call it a night. She had drank slightly more than she was used to, and the exhaustion that followed was beginning to encompass her entire body.

Shaking her head with a smirk at the sight of Veronica’s face latched firmly onto Archie’s at the bottom of the staircase, she decided to sneak past and drop her a text in fears of ruining the moment she’d been dreaming of and obsessing over for weeks. What kind of friend would she be if she’d have broken them out of their slightly unconventional fairy-tale moment?

Betty (23:42): Need my bed. Stay and have fun. Try to come up for air every once in a while ;) Speak to you tomorrow. B x

The walk home wasn’t typically a very long one. In fact, she only lived ten minutes away, but for some reason it felt much longer than usual. She had grown conscious of the clip clop of her heels on the concrete quite early on, echoing throughout the rather deserted streets with every step that she took. Any Oakwood Bay resident who wasn’t at Archie’s party would most definitely have been in bed a good three hours earlier. The sense of isolation had quite rapidly grown a little bit unnerving.

Suddenly, and rather unexpectedly, she saw it. The same dark eyes from earlier, but this time they were approaching rather rapidly, and there was an unsettling coldness inside of them. The face they belonged to wasn’t one she felt she could trust. Something in her gut told her to turn back around, and to do so quickly.

“Where are you off to?” He said, something about the expression on his face causing her skin to crawl. She had never seen him before, he was much taller than her, he was wearing a red, v neck t-shirt, his dark hair was shaved and his lips were curved into a smirk.

She decided to ignore him, instead quickening her pace. Her apartment was so close that she could see it. The alarm bells in her head were blaring as her fingers ran over her keys inside of her purse. Everything started to move rather quickly.

“Hey, Blondie,” he bellowed, a little louder and a little closer this time, causing her to flinch, “maybe we can take the party elsewhere.”

She retained her gaze firmly in front of her, clutching onto her cardigan tightly, really wishing that she hadn’t worn heels. “No, thank you.”

“Oh, come on.” She could feel his breath on the back of her neck now, her heart slamming against her rib cage as her thoughts started to race. She knew she shouldn’t have left by herself. “Don’t walk away from me.”

Almost as soon as the words had left his lips, and just as she was gearing herself up to strike him and run as fast as she possibly could, a large thud stopped her in her tracks as she released a small shriek. There was an abrupt silence. She couldn’t feel his breath anymore.

“She said no,” a voice hissed.

Turning around slowly, Betty stole a glance at the guy with the dark eyes who was now on the floor just a few feet away from her, grasping his jaw which was starting to bleed. Beside him was the one person that she hadn’t expected to see again, his face filled with rage as his clenched fist hung in mid-air.

“Get out of here, Chuck,” he spat. “I mean it.”

She blinked, the cold air raising goose bumps on her arms as she stood fixated in her spot. Her feet were throbbing. Chuck laughed with not even a glimmer of remorse, his eyes flitting between the both of them before heaving himself upright, his smirk now turning into a snarl.

“Watch your back, Jones,” he growled, before turning on his heel and briskly making his way back to wherever he had come from in the first place. She watched after him and felt a shiver possess her body.

After a few moments of complete, deafening silence, he cleared his throat. “Are you ok?” He said quietly, the tone in his voice unlike the one she had heard before. He went to reach out his hand, but retracted it almost instantly.

Her breath caught in her chest. “…Y- yeah.”

His eyes burned into hers for a brief moment, so much so she could hardly breathe, his expression twisted into something she had not seen before. His once vacant eyes were now overflowing with something new. He wasn’t joking. He wasn’t smirking. His chest was rising and falling rapidly. He wasn’t wearing his beanie.

They drank each other in for a few seconds longer. It was as if he wanted to say something but decided against it, before releasing a single, subtle nod, and stepping backwards. Pushing a couple of dark curls out of his face and tucking his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, he turned, and he left. She stayed, frozen, for a good minute as she watched him fade further and further out of sight. He didn’t say another word, and he didn’t look back again.

Once she had returned to the safety of her apartment, she briskly locked the door and shrugged off her cardigan. Turning on the light switch beside her bedroom door, she bit her lip and walked over to the window, peering outside into the darkness of an empty street, lit by nothing but the moon and all of its stars. A clear midnight. She exhaled deeply.

Pulling her curtains shut and leaving just a small crack for the light of the moon, as she always did, she kicked off her shoes and perched herself at the end of the bed. After taking a few moments to stare into nothingness, she retrieved her phone from her bag and allowed the screen to light up.

One missed call from Trev.

She sighed then, placing it face down onto her bedside table and throwing her head into her hands.

As she laid her head that night, she thought not of the boy in his London hotel room desperately staring at a blank screen. She thought not of her future or of her mother’s forceful hand smearing her red lipstick across her face when she was sixteen years old. She thought not of the beautiful diamond ring which was again buried under a pile of books at the bottom of her drawer.

No, she didn’t think of any of these things.

Instead, her thoughts travelled to the words of Whitman. To the beauty of the moonlit sea, sparkling even when she wasn’t looking. To a pair of piercing green eyes. To the way his quickening breath had hung in the air. To the burning smothering the pit of her stomach.

And, with that, she fell into a deep slumber.

[lala-kate]

Game On:  Part 2

Here’s my Day 3 entry for the @oqpromptparty. I chose the prompt “It’s Cold and OQ share a blanket”, and I decided to make it a continuation of my Day 1 entry--Game On. Feel free to read it here or on ff.net.  And as always--thanks for reading!

“Madame Mayor.”

She looks up to see him, Mr. Sexy-as-hell silver fox, grinning down at her while holding two cups of what looks to be concession stand hot chocolate. They’d exchanged texts during the week, texts that have made her feel lighter than she has in years, texts she’s kept to herself, hidden away like a secret treasure she’s afraid might disappear into thin air.

“Mr. Locksley,” she returns, sliding over a bit even though there’s plenty of room for him to sit beside her on the bleacher. He takes her up on her offer and sits down, warming her left side instantly as he extends the steaming cup towards her. She smiles as she reaches out from underneath her stadium blanket, allowing her fingers to brush against his as she takes the cup from his hand.

“You looked cold,” he muses as the football team wraps up their warm-ups on the field.

“I’m always cold,” she says with a shrug. “Henry sometimes accuses me of having no heart--says that’s the only way my circulation could be this bad.”

Robin chuckles, unleashing those dimples she’d like to nibble like popcorn.

“I’m sure your heart is of top-notch quality,” he states. “After all, you did invite this pathetic, besotted single dad over to your place for dinner tomorrow night.”

Besotted? With her? Her insides tickle at his pronouncement. God, when was the last time anyone had even been remotely interested, much less besotted?

“My motives are purely selfish,” she states, wishing he’d put his arm around her, silently chiding herself for being this desperate for a man’s touch. “I figure if you’re around, I won’t have to do the dishes afterwards.”

“So I’m manual labor,” he states with a nod. “I guess I can accept that if I’m getting a free home cooked meal.”

“One that will knock your socks off,” she boasts, quirking her brow in his direction.

“Feel free to knock other parts of my clothing off, as well,” he retorts, making her grin like a cat inspecting fresh cream. The thought of him in his skivvies leaves her mouth too dry for comfort.

“Maybe I’ll make you clean the kitchen in the nude,” she murmurs, careful not to let the people sitting nearby overhear. “Dinner and a show.”

His face turns bright red, making him all the more appealing.

“Remind me to work on my exotic dancing skills before I come over,” he says, sliding just a bit closer than he’d been before. “It’s been a while since anyone’s been interested in seeing me in my birthday suit.”

She inhales chilled air, allowing it to cool cheeks that are now over-heated.

“If you’re good, I might just tip you,” she hums, pressing her lips together to keep from grinning as he crosses his legs. She loves seeing just how worked up he gets over her, how the smallest gesture or teasing remark can give the poor man a nearly instant hard-on. “After all, I did just recently have a birthday.”

“Birthday suit for the birthday girl, is it?” he grins. “With an incentive like that, I might just strip and dance for you here. Although my kids would most assuredly disown me for the rest of their lives if I pulled a stunt like that.”

She chuckles, enjoying the tingling in her nether regions she’s been lacking for longer than she cares to remember.

“I’d have to have you arrested, you know,” she says, drawing the cup of cocoa towards her lips. “For indecent exposure.”

“You won’t know whether my exposure is indecent or not until you inspect me for yourself,” he hums, making her warm in all the wrong places. “And if there are going to be handcuffs involved...”

She swallows hard, feeling drops of sweat actually form beneath her breasts.

“Down, boy,” she breathes, earning herself a flash of dimples and a few inches of extra space. The first she welcomes. The second, not so much.

Archie, the school’s guidance counsellor, waves as he walks past them, and she grimaces, fully aware that people have been talking about the fact that she sat with the new guy at last week’s game. Mary Margaret in particular has been driving her bonkers all week with questions and words of encouragement, and the fact that she and Robin are sitting together again will only add fuel to her younger cousin’s fire.

Shit. Mary Margaret has spotted them and is grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat.

Regina ignores the inevitable text that buzzes in her pocket.

“Sorry if the quality’s a bit shoddy,” Robin states, pulling her out of her reverie and indicating their cups. “Not sure exactly how good the band booster hot chocolate is.”

She dares as sip, nearly scalding her tongue in the process.

“It’s hot,” she says, setting the cup on the empty space to her right, hoping the bleacher will cool it off enough to actually drink.

He takes a cautious sip for himself, wincing as he puts his cup down as well.

“I think I may have singed off a few taste buds,” he muses, settling in more comfortably beside her. God, he smells good--Polo, she thinks, and she leans in a bit closer to get another whiff, her insides melting at his understated masculinity. She wants him closer--as close as she can get him in public, so she unwraps herself from her blanket and extends one end in his direction, Mary Margaret and the rest of Storybrooke’s busybodies be damned.

“Would you care to share?” she questions, feeling like a teenager as her pulse trips over itself. He stares right at her, giving her a soft smile that slides all over her like warm butter.

“I’d love to share,” he says, scooting over until their hips are touching.

“You’re not remotely cold,” she observes as a warm hand slides around her back to pull her even closer.

“You can just say I’m hot,” he quips. “I promise I won’t mind.”

She shakes her head and grins as the band begins to tune, ignoring Mary Margaret’s enthusiastic thumbs up aimed right at them.

“Where’s Abby?” she asks, scanning the area near the cheerleaders where Robin’s ten year old daughter had hung out last week.

“With her friends Ella and Ripley,” he replies, pointing towards the far left corner of the bleachers. “They’re eating nachos and discussing boys, I imagine.”

Abby’s hair is in a high ponytail, a blue and white bow expertly clipped into her brown hair.

“Do you do her hair, or does she?” Regina asks.

“It depends on the day,” he shrugs. “I’ve become quite adept at braids and ponytails over the past four years, but she’s now at an age where she wants to do more things for herself.” He pauses, looking towards his daughter with unmistakable adoration. “I’m not sure whether I should be thrilled or despondent.”

She glances towards the band, spotting Henry laughing with Violet, a sight she’s not certain how to take.

“It’s hard,” she states. “Letting them grow up.”

“That it is,” Robin agrees. Abby stands up and waves at Roland, bringing a smile to Robin’s face as her big brother waves back. “We almost didn’t have her, you know,” Robin continues, his tone low and private. “She’s a bit of a miracle.”

“Rough pregnancy?” she asks. He sighs, his breath visible in the cool, autumn air.

“Rough time getting pregnant,” he says, looking back at her. “We had fertility issues after Roland’s birth. He was a preemie--healthy, thank God, but his delivery was really hard on Marian. So for many years we were a happy family of three.”

He pauses, his gaze fixed on his ten-year-old daughter.

“But things changed?” Regina asks, smarting at the familiar pang of infertility.

“Right after Marian’s thirty-eighth birthday,” he returns. “She decided that she wanted another child, and that if we were going to have one, we’d better not wait much longer.” He pauses, rubbing his thumb along the side of her arm. “After a lot of research and discussion, we opted to try ivf. It took three tries, and we nearly gave up, but we finally got pregnant with Abby.” He clears his throat, the weight of his emotions enticing her even closer. “She was worth it, you know. Every failed attempt, every agonizing discussion, every judgmental jackass’s comments on how we should just be happy with the child we already had…”

She reaches over to him from under the blanket and squeezes his thigh.

“She’s beautiful,” Regina says, earning herself a gentle squeeze in return.

“I think so,” Robin agrees. “Not that I’m biased or anything.” He looks at her quizzically, breathing in as if he’s trying to work up the courage to ask her something. “You said last week that you adopted your son.”

Just then the announcer states that it’s time for the National Anthem, so they stand, the blanket falling to the bleachers as the band begins to play. They applaud when it’s over, wrapping back up in their blue and white cocoon as they take their seat and the players take the field for the coin toss.

“I know what it’s like to want a baby and not be able to conceive one,” she begins, sparing him the embarrassment of having to ask. “After reviewing all of my options as a single woman, I decided to adopt.”

He nods, reaching for her hand under the privacy of the blanket. She lets him take it within his.

“Great choice,” he states, gazing over to the band who is now playing the school fight song. “Henry seems to be a fine young man.”

“He is,” she says, watching her son lean back as he proudly plays his trumpet. “He’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Did it take a long time?” Robin asks. “Adopting him, I mean.”

“Nearly three years,” she replies, welcoming the warmth creeping up her spine as his thumb caresses her knuckles. “But like you said, he was worth it. Every dashed hope, every referral gone wrong, every snide remark from my mother asking why I just didn’t get married already and have a baby the way God intended...”

He flips a curious brow her way.

“She didn’t know you were infertile?”

Regina laughs through her nose.

“I never told her,” she answers. “It would have just been one more disappointment on a list of many, so I decided, why bother?”

“As if infertility is something to be ashamed of,” he scoffs, shaking his head. “As if it makes someone less of a person.”

“I know,” she breathes, loving the feel of just enough muscle beneath his jacket as he sits up a bit straighter. “Trust me.” He smiles and squeezes her hand, and they sit in a comfortable silence as she leans into him, breathing in the mixed scents of fall, football and Polo, closing her eyes just a moment to take it all in.

“I can’t regret it, you know,” she says. “My infertility. Because without that diagnosis, I might never have adopted Henry, and Henry’s…”

She pauses as her son stands and plays “Charge” on his trumpet.

“He’s everything, isn’t he?” he breathes, looking from Henry back to her, those blue eyes of his a bit misty, prompting a piece of her heart to melt into him. “My children are to me, as well, you know.”

“Yes,” she answers, linking her fingers within his. “I can tell.”

He nods and clears his throat.

“As much as I love them, is it wrong that I now find myself wanting more?” he asks, his tone fractured. “More than just being a dad, I mean? That I’d like to possibly find a companion to enjoy my children with, someone who’ll actually laugh at my corny jokes and might possibly want to see me in my birthday suit from time to time, despite the mileage its seen?”

She squeezes his hand and takes a deep breath.

“I hope not,” she confesses. “Because I find myself craving the same thing, for the first time in a long time.”

A noisemaker sounds from behind them, and they wince together, laughing at their shared response as their team forces the fourth down and takes possession of the ball.

“I’m glad I met you, Regina Mills,” he says, his thumb doing things to her palm that make her want to crawl into his lap and kiss him senseless. “And I’m really looking forward to dinner tomorrow night.”

“So am I,” she says, purposefully ignoring Mary Margaret as she tosses them an exaggerated wink from over her shoulder.

[folklore-musings]

Camera Shy (Part One)

AU. Jughead is an aspiring photographer. His final project requires him to shoot nude photos of someone who inspires him. With no one else to ask Jughead asks Betty. Insecure of her body Betty is quick to shoot the idea down, until Jughead reminds her that she owes him. - Bughead leading to eventual smut.

Read on AO3 here

A/N - I’m terrible with summaries but I hope you guys like this. This idea came to me a few days ago when the Cole photographer photoset was going around. Enjoy! 

Betty sits at their usual table in the library, tapping her pen against her notebook as she waits for Jughead to meet her. He’d texted her a while ago mentioning that he had something important to ask her.

Every few seconds Betty’s eyes glance towards the door, wondering where the hell he could be. She was going to be late for her Women’s Studies class. She was never late for anything – a characteristic she was proud of.

Another five minutes flew by and she just couldn’t wait any longer. Betty starts to pack up and leave just as Jughead stalks over to her table, trying to catch his breath. “What did you do, run here?” She asks, shuffling her notebooks into her backpack.

“Sorry,” he breathes. “I can’t feel my toes it’s so fucking cold out there.” It’s the middle of March and spring is close on the horizon, but Mother Nature wasn’t getting the picture. Jughead brushes the snow off his beanie and rubs his hands together, using the friction to regain the feeling in his fingers.

Betty looks at him with a hint of annoyance on her lips. “What was so important that I had to meet you here, when you know I have a class in ten minutes?”

Jughead sits down across from her, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “I have a favor to ask you.” He clears his throat. “Before you say no, just hear me out. Can you do that for me?”

Betty nods, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “Sure Jug, but you know I’d do anything for you.”

“Don’t speak too soon Betts,” Jughead shakes his head and continues on. “I received the final project for my Photography class and well, it includes having to capture nude photographs of someone who inspires us.” Betty’s cheeks flush. There is no way he expects her to take her clothes off for him, especially in front of a 1080 pixel lens. “I was wondering if you would possibly consider modeling for me. I can’t ask Archie, because that’d just be weird. And I know Veronica agree to it, but I don’t want to cause any tension between her and Archie. So that leaves me with you. Plus, you kind of owe me.”

She scoffs. “Excuse me? What do I owe you for?”

“Don’t you remember senior year and all those late nights I spent helping you write and rewrite your thesis until it was absolutely perfect?” Betty drops her eyes from his steely blue gaze, the memories resurfacing. She’d never drank as much coffee as she did those last few weeks before obtaining her bachelor’s degree.

“Yes,” she mumbles through tight lips. “But that’s different. I didn’t ask you to take your clothes off and pose like the statue of David.”

Jughead exhales deeply. “No, that you didn’t. But if you had asked me to, I would’ve.”

“Bullshit.” Betty says, standing up and tossing her bag over her shoulder. “I’m sorry Jug, but I’ve gotta get to class. I’ll see you back at the apartment later.”

He lifts the beanie off his head and shakes the remaining slush from his hair. “Fine. At least promise me you’ll think about it, alright?”

Betty nods and looks at her watch. “Okay I will but I really need to go.” She pulls her hood on over her ponytail and dashes out of the library, thanking each and every God she knows that her class is in the next building over. If she sprints she knows she can make it on time.

She slips into her seat seconds before her professor starts to lecture. Betty struggles to free herself from her jacket, sweating despite the below freezing temperature outside, earning herself some glares from her surrounding classmates. Hastily, she digs her notebook out from her backpack and begins to scribble the notes posted up on the screen.

Throughout the entire lecture Betty is unable to keep her focus on the board ahead. Instead she finds herself scanning her eyes around the hallowed auditorium. The lighting is harsh and the room is too hot for her liking. Her sweater clings to her skin in the most uncomfortable of ways. Betty groans under her breath. Why does Jughead always have to do this to her?

His bad timing is impeccable. Betty barely hears a word her professor rambles about, too occupied with the thought of Jughead’s request. She’s not even comfortable looking at herself in the mirror naked, let alone having Jughead snap nude photos of her for a class project. Retrieving her phone from her bag she texts Veronica all about the situation, wanting to know her friend’s take on the idea.

Ronnie: I say go for it.

Betty: Easy for you to say, he didn’t ask you.

Ronnie: Ahh, but he considered me and chose you instead. Maybe he secretly wants to see you naked?

Betty: I highly doubt it. He’s never once shown any interest in me or my body, V

Ronnie: Say what you will, but I think you should do it. With your body and those cheekbones? Hell his professor will probably be knocking down your door to see the real deal.

Betty: Please don’t say that.

Ronnie: Betty I’m kidding. Just try it out, OK? Do a test run. You may be more comfortable in your own skin than you think.

Betty sets her phone down and stares at the nearly blank notebook page in front of her. She draws her lip between her teeth and sighs. She is going to kill Jug for dropping such a bomb of a question on her before class. She shouldn’t have bothered to come at all with the way her mind is reeling, feeling a little claustrophobic in her own skin.

She glances around the room for a clock, forgetting the watch she has clasped around her wrist. Unable to locate one, she picks up her phone and checks the time. Betty still has over an hour left of lecture and she can’t find any willpower to concentrate. Quietly, she packs up her things and sneaks out the back door, softly closing it shut behind her.

She grabs her phone from her bag, dialing Jughead’s number as she walks down the snow covered path leading to their apartment just outside of campus. “Pick up,” she mumbles under her breath, making sure not slip on the ice hidden beneath the snow. The wind whistles in her ears, burning her cheeks and making it hard for her to breathe.

“Hello,” Jughead answers on the fourth ring.

“Took you long enough,” Betty breathes into her receiver.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

Betty huffs and puffs; reaching the part of the path that breaks off into an incline. She really wishes she would’ve worn her boots today instead of her sneakers. “Yeah I am. I was a little too distracted though, thanks to a certain someone.” She’s gasping for breath into the receiver, pretty sure her phone is permanently frozen to the side of her face.

“Shit Betty I’m sorry. I should’ve waited to ask you. Are you on your way home?”

Betty nods, realizing he can’t actually see her. “Yeah, I am. Want to order some takeout? I’m sure Chinese doesn’t cover the cost of the class I just missed though.”

Jughead laughs and Betty feels her knees quake at the sound. “I will buy you all the Chinese you want. Lo Mein and Sesame chicken as per usual?”

Betty grins, he knew her so well. “Yes please. And extra brownie points if I get to have both fortune cookies.”

The line goes quiet, Betty quick to assume that the call must have dropped. She’s about to put her phone away before she hears him speak. “You drive a hard bargain Cooper. I’ll see you in a few.”

“Thanks Jug!” Betty hangs up the phone and shoves it in the back pocket of her jeans. She can see their apartment complex from where she stands, guessing she has about a half mile to go before she’s home. Despite the snow, the sidewalk is littered with footprints, creating a cushion for each step she takes, saving her from the ice that hides below.

Once she’s home she stomps her shoes on the welcome rug, shaking off any lingering slush. She’s soaked through to the bone. Desperately craving warmth she decides to shower while Jughead’s out picking up their dinner.

Betty leans in past the curtain and turns the knob for the shower, letting it heat up while she undresses. Before stepping in she looks in the mirror, studying her body in a way she hadn’t before. Her shoulders were too broad and her breasts were too small. She traces the curve of her jaw, wishing her chin wasn’t so pointy and angular. Standing there staring at her reflection, she’s suddenly hyperaware of the flaws her body possesses. There is no way she could pose in front of Jughead, completely unguarded and exposed. She rarely enjoys being photographed with her clothes on. She can’t imagine having to take them off.

The bathroom mirror begins to fog, steaming over with tiny water droplets. Sighing, Betty rips her ponytail from her hair and steps inside, letting the hot water wash away her insecurities.