#my roommate saw me attempting to make more over easy eggs and said that he always gave up and just made scrambled

[lynxalon]

i dream of eggs over easy

[chlorinecake]

🎙️ star-crossed lovers 【 薄幸な恋人 】 ⛦

summ✩ry Forbidden sparks fly between you and Enhypen’s main dancer upon dorming together, but what happens when your bandmate threatens to expose this reckless romance?

p✩iring idol!niki x popstar!reader ✩ EPISODE 1

genre band au, fluff, secret romance cw swearing, slightly suggestive, mild bullying, kissing, girl drama, reader is younger than Niki wc 4.5k

"Where were you last night?” Haerin asked with a whisper, removing the tape-seal from her container of apple slices.

It was early in the morning when you, your bandmates, and the Enhypen members got up for breakfast in the Hybe cafeteria.

Getting up early proved to be a challenge, especially considering your late night adventures with Niki and unbreakable inability to sleep in beds that aren't yours.

You couldn't help but wonder how much better you would've slept if Niki stayed next to you-

"W-what are you talking about, Rinnie?" You stuttered unintentionally, taking a sip from the coffee you prayed would help you get through another busy day in Korea.

"Don't play dumb, ____. You know what I saw," she sighed, meeting your nervous eyes, "You really shouldn't be disobeying the curfew rule, not to mention how dangerous sneaking around a foreign country is."

"I appreciate your concern, Haerin, but I promise, you have nothing to worry about," you said with a smile, "I just wanted to get some extra practice time in, that's all."

The sound of approaching footsteps cut your conversation short, the Enhypen boys and your bandmates finally joining you two at the table.

"Ooo, are you guys telling secrets? I wanna hear," Jade cheered, placing her food tray on the table.

Apparently you and Haerin looked a lot more suspicious than intended, but then again, two girls whispering always looked a little fishy.

“Hehe, no secrets over here!” Haerin covered, shoving her mouth with apples to avoid anymore questions.

"Riiiight," Jungwon smirked, revealing his soft dimples, "Anyways, how’re you all enjoying the roommate pairs?”

"I’m actually quite pleased with our group, right boys?” Heeseung joked, exchanged high fives with Jake and Jay to which Sunghoon rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm sure you guys took a while to get used to each other," he mumbled sarcastically, "What do you think about us, Serenity?"

"Hmm," she began in thought, "wellll, Sunoo's kinda vibey. He has a lot of fancy skincare products that he shares sometimes, so that’s been nice. Sunghoon's also really easy to look at so..."

"Easy to look at, huh? Is that your way of calling me hot?"

"Heyyy, I never said you could use my stuff," Sunoo blurted out, interrupting Sunghoon's attempt at flirting.

"Moving on," Serenity chirped, redirecting the convo, "What about you, Mr. Leadernim?"

Jungwon took a bite of his scrambled eggs before answering, "Honestly, Jade and Haerin remind me of my sister. We get along pretty well and they're not too troublesome, I guess."

"Yeah, Jungwon's pretty cool, too... aside from his tendency to hog the shower," Jade teased back.

“Okay, now what about you two?” Heeseung started, sending Niki a funny look that made him choke on his water.

“Alright, you can answer ____ while he keeps drowning,” Heeseung chuckled, passing Niki a napkin to wipe the water from his now shiny lips.

You still couldn't believe that he actually kissed you WITH THOSE LIPS-

“Uhhh,” you began nervously, trying to think of something normal to say, “N-Niki... w-well, he's uh... Niki, he's—”

“My GOD, the look on your face right now makes it seem like you’re in love with him or something,” Serenity gawked rudely, dramatically throwing her hands in the air as she successfully got everyone’s attention with her big mouth.

“I mean,” Niki started with a plain expression, “its not like I’m entirely against the idea of having a girl fall for me...”

“Yeah, happens all the time to guys like us,” Jake winked, immediately cringing at his own words.

Step, step, step, signaled Miss Kim’s signature black booties across the tiled cafeteria floor, “Good morning, my little minions. Now what’s going on over here with all this chatter?”

Turns out Miss Kim only worked as an activity assistant for Enhypen, though, she always had a way of waltzing into every room like she owned the place.

“Not much,” Jake answered, “We were just discussing our practice schedule for the day.”

“Mhm, so that means the few of you are well updated on your instrument rehearsals this evening, yes?”

“Instrument rehearsals,” Jade repeated yet asked.

“Exactly. Jade, Serenity, and Jay will play a guitar riff during one of the stages, so you’ll meet in the recording studio at 4pm today.”

“Sweet,” Jay smirked, playing air-guitar while mimicking the Karma instrumental.

“Also,” Miss Kim continued, “I can’t really remember, but which of you here is struggling with the choreo?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to you as you raised your hand shyly.

“Oh, ____,” she said, dragging out your name, “perfect! Niki, you’ll be skipping vocals today to help ____ catch up in the dance studio.”

You couldn’t hold back the smile that grew on your face at her words: maybe some extra dance practice wouldn't be too bad after all.

“Alright, I'm headed to the fashion department to check out your stage costumes. Heeseung and Jungwon, please make sure everyone follows today's schedule accordingly.”

“We won't let you down, Miss Kim," Jungwon nodded as the stern lady turned on her heel, beelining to the cafeterias coffee counter a few feet away from your table.

"Alright guys, you heard the boss lady. Let's wrap up breakfast and meet in 10," Heeseung said, getting up from his seat first as the rest of you followed shortly after...

To Room 10: Hybe's indoor gym and workout center.

The intense exercise routine left you feeling pretty worn out.

Your mind was mostly focused on getting all your reps in without passing out, ignoring the overflow of sweat that kept seeping from your pores. You all had just finished the last part of the workout: a mile outdoor run around Yongsan Family Park.

"And you're telling me we still have rehearsals after this?" Serenity huffed, taking yet another large gulp from her jug of Gatorade.

"Yes," Sunoo answered plainly, taking the blue drink from her hands and pouring it into a nearby bush.

"Dude, what the hell?" She yelped, backing away to avoid the splashes, "Don't tell me you're still mad about that 'skincare' thing."

"If you had any idea how many added sugars people put in that stuff, you would've poured it out yourself," Sunoo replied in a sassy voice.

"Well if it wasn't obvious, I couldn't care less about whatever you just said," she sighed, sadly watching as the blue liquid trickled past the leaves, soaking the soil, "you totally owe me a drink after this, by the way."

"Hey, that's actually a pretty good idea! We should go out for drinks tomorrow night," Jake cheered, using the back of his hand to catch his sweat, "everybody down for splitting the bill?"

"Yeah, but we can focus on that once we get back up this hill," Jay replied, encouraging the rest of you to keep on treading.

▶︎ ၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊| • • •

Later in the rehearsal studio, practice started off a bit slow with a warm up session before actually breaking down the choreography.

Apparently, the official dance composer for the upcoming stage changed a part in the performance for you and your group to follow, adding a trick move with Haerin and Jade.

Meanwhile, the Enhypen boys were working on perfecting their routines, as they had already memorized the whole thing a lot quicker than the Riot Grrlz.

The main practice session lasted close to two hours before the talent supervisor called for a break, sending the other members off so you and Niki could have the studio to yourselves.

Finally.

"So what was that all about earlier?" He asked, kneeling down to stretch his legs.

"In the cafeteria this morning?"

He nodded in response, guiding you to the floor to help you stretch with him.

"Well, Haerin said she saw me last night... Sneaking out, I mean. She didn't say anything about you, but..."

You couldn't help but giggle at the way his face dropped.

"What the? I could've sworn everyone was asleep when we came back last night," he said with an awkward smile, holding onto your wrists as he pulled you toward your feet on the ground, "what'd you tell her then?"

"I told her not to worry about it, but I avoided mentioning too many details," you said, squeezing your eyes at the painful stretch you felt in your hamstrings.

"Welp, all that means is we'll have to be more careful when we sneak out again tonight," he winked, finally letting go of your wrists so you could relax.

"Tonight, huh? I'm surprised I've got you hooked so fast. What's it been, like three days?"

"Four, actually. But I'm surprised by your sudden confidence. You could hardly form a coherent sentence about me, earlier," he teased, offering you his hand to help you up from the ground.

"That had nothing to do with you and everything to do with the way you almost died while drinking water," you returned before dramatically reenacting the way he struggled, pretending to choke on the air, "I was nervous... for your safety, of course."

"Mhm. I'm sure you would've saved me though... Nothing a little mouth to mouth can't fix," he smiled, looking at your lips before looking away, trying to maintain his focus, "You remember how the choreo starts, right?"

"Uhh," you started, scratching the back of your head, "With the little arm-move-thingy?"

"Sure, you could call it that," he chuckled, "Now just follow my moves like we did at the skate park. I'll go slow at first and speed up as you catch on."

"Okay," you said, watching his movements in the mirror as if hypnotized.

It amazed you how even while practicing the moves in slow motion, he still looked effortlessly talented.

"Good!" he encouraged, observing how much you improved with the footwork compared to day one, but there was something about your hip movements that he thought looked a little stiff.

"Okay, hold on," he started, walking up to you and placing his hands at your waist, "Try to be a little more fluid with this step, otherwise it looks kinda awkward."

"Like this?" you asked, keeping his hands in place as you rolled your hips in front of him, trying to follow his instructions.

You didn't even realize how close his body was pressed against yours until a loud slam startled you both.

Niki's gaze immediately darted to the source of the sound, seeing none other than Serenity barging through the studio door, marching in with a cattiest look on her face.

"Ummm, how can I help you, officer?" Niki asked playfully, stepping away from you and crossing his arms.

That's when Sunghoon and Sunoo ran in behind her, trying to catch their breath while spitting out a few words, "We tried to stop her," Sunoo started, "but she wouldn't listen."

"Aha! I knew there was something going on between you two! Don't try to back away now, Niki! I guess you couldn't wait to loosen up each other's buttons again, huh?!" Serenity rambled, making an utter fool of herself.

"We were rehearsing the choreography, genius. Like Miss Kim told us to," You retorted, not being in the mood for her games at the moment.

"Mhm, without leaving room for Jesus, I see! Speaking of Miss Kim, just wait til I tell her about this!"

"What are you two doing here?" Niki asked the two frustrated boys, trying to redirect the conversation.

"We were in Room 10 doing our cooldown when Gossip Girl over here started interrogating Haerin," Sunghoon sighed, "One thing led to another and before we knew it, Serenity was bolting out of the gym like a crazy person."

Your eyes went to meet Serenity's frame, who stood with her hands on her hips and eyes narrowed as she wrestled with whatever angry thoughts ran through her brain.

"Ren, please don't tell Miss Kim. This was obviously a huge misunderstanding," you pleaded with her, trying to be mature about the situation.

"No… little kids like you need discipline. Though," she paused, twirling a strand of her chocolate brown hair, "I might consider keeping your little secret if you resign from being captain over the Riot Grrlz."

You scoffed at her offer, "You're delirious. And for the last time, there isn’t any secret for you to spoil, anyway."

"Fine,” she grinned, a little too wide, “I tried to be nice about this, Niki, but your girlfriend has left me with no other choice but to come clean about this matter.”

Flipping her hair, she marched towards the door, looking back as if waiting for you all to follow her, which you did, all the way to Miss Kim in the fashion department.

▶︎ ၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊| • • •

To no one’s surprise, Miss Kim wasn’t happy to see the five of you crowding her during her shift, especially not when you were given specific instructions to follow the schedule while she was away.

After Serenity expressed that their was “a breach of the rules” between you and Niki, Miss Kim summoned all of the Riot Grrlz and Enhypen members for a disciplinary meeting.

"Oddly enough, my disappointment doesn't fall on Jungwon and Heeseung, even though I put you two in charge of everything," the lady began, holding her hands behind her back as she paced around the table you were all sat at.

"Serenity has brought to my knowledge that some of your are struggling to follow the strict rules in place here. Are there any witnesses to this claim?"

Serenity kicked Haerin's leg from under the table, trying to get a word out of her, but she remained silent thankfully. You couldn't help but feel guilty though at the sight of Jungwon and Heeseung hanging their heads in shame.

"Very well then... and are any of the accused parties willing to come clean about the alleged incident?"

Niki peeked at you for a second as if waiting for you to say or not say something first.

"I..." you began timidly, "I did stay out past curfew last night, but only to practice."

This was a partial lie, but you had no intentions on bringing Niki down with you. After all, it's not like he forced you to sneak out with him, as you most definitely wanted to.

Miss Kim's eyes widened slightly at your sudden choice to speak, "Go on," she said, stopping in her tracks.

"And about what Serenity saw in the rehearsal studio... It was nothing. Me and Niki were only trying to practice like you said."

She hummed at your words, "I appreciate your honesty, ____. And Serenity, it would bring me much joy if from now on, you would focus more on working than running after silly rumors."

"Soooo," Jake started, "are we free to go now?"

"Not just yet," Kim answered, clearing her throat before continuing, "From now on, your curfew will be pushed back from 11:00pm to 8:00pm."

A loud groan filled the room at her words, but a satisfied look remained on Serenity's face until the next part of Kim's rules were announced.

"A piece of blue tape will be lined at your bedroom doors, so anyone who tries to leave after 8 will have a tough time hiding it once the tape is torn. Also, expect to be waken up extra early tomorrow for exercise. No breakfast."

"But Miss Kim," Jade began, "Maybe you can give us another chance, there's no proof, anyway."

"Proof or no proof, my rules will stand in place until further notice. And for the record, this is not a punishment."

"Yeah, more like a freaking detention center! I knew it from day one," Serenity whined, the taste of her karma unfortunately falling on the lot of you.

"If that's what you wanna call our home to multinational superstars, so be it," Kim retorted, making her way to the office door, "hopefully there will be no more disruptions for the day."

Slam.

The door was closed, and with that, your busy schedules re-open and waiting to be completed.

"____," Haerin spoke quietly, shyly meeting your eyes as she walked up to you, "I'm really sorry that I brought that up this morning, Serenity must've overheard us talking."

"It's okay, Rinnie. This isn't your fault," you smiled, patting her head gently to cheer her up.

"Mhm, well that's sweet. Thanks for getting us on probation, lovebirds," Jay sighed, getting up from his seat and walking out of the room.

"Yeah, so much for stopping Serenity and her big mouth, you guys," Jake said, giving Sunghoon and Sunoo a look before walking out too.

"Guys, Miss Kim said this wasn't a punishment. Like ____ said, this isn't anyways fault," Jungwon said, trying to convince everyone to see the situation in a more positive light.

"Whatever, I'm gonna join Jay in the instrument room. Don't take too long in here, Ren," Jade sighed, running a frustrated hand through her hair before also leaving.

"Cool, I'm gonna go get lunch because I don't work well when I'm hungry," Heeseung huffed, walking past Niki and towards the door, "I taught you well, brother, but please, stay out of trouble from now on."

Serenity's initial pitiful look returned to the sassy one she wore before, watching as Jungwon, Sunoo, and Sunghoon followed after Heeseung, closing the door behind them.

And then there were three.

"Miss Kim thinks that some silly tape and a bedtime will stop you two, but just know that I'll be watching for myself," Serenity threatened, staring you and Niki down from her seat.

"Got it, officer," Niki teased, walking up to you and taking your hand in his.

"And where do you two think you're going?"

"To complete our schedules? Now we've all had enough with your Nancy Drew act. It's time to put your working face back on," you replied, mirroring her cattiness, "You're gonna be late for your rehearsals with Jade and Jay if you don't hurry up."

"Gosh, you two can be so annoying sometimes," She exclaimed, fixing her hair before marching out of the office, leaving you and Niki alone again.

With your hand still in his, he turned your body to face him, taking your face in his hands and looking at you with the most loving expression.

He just can't get enough of you.

He reached for your wrist, drawing your attention to the bracelet he gave you the other day, "You still trust me, right?"

You couldn't help but look away from his face for a second. If he held that intense eye contact with you for any longer, you're sure you were gonna explode.

"Stop, you're too shy," he giggled, turning your chin to face him one more time before kissing you on the lips, a pink hue raising to his cheeks. You got lost in his touch for a second, hardly remembering that this reckless romance is what got you in this room in the first place.

"Niki!" You yelped, suddenly feeling his hands tickle you under your shirt, "You never answered my question, silly," he chuckled, backing away as you tried fighting him off.

"I trust you, stupid, now stop tickling me before someone catches us," you sighed, trying to catch your breath from all your laughing.

This boy was making your heart do things you're sure it's never done before. Backflips, cartwheels, splits, you name it!

"So does that mean you're still down to hang out with me later tonight," he asked, pouting at you playfully, "unless, you don't think it's worth it."

▶︎ ၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊| • • •

Your evening ended on par with Miss Kim's revised schedule, everyone completing their assigned tasks before showering and heading to bed at 8 o'clock sharp. And to your surprise, she wasn't joking about the blue tape thing either.

You and Niki waited til an entire hour had passed before initiating your escape plan, just to make sure that everyone was asleep.

Dressed in the best "incognito" outfits you could find, Niki tied a few bed sheets together to make a rope, tying it to your bunkbed for you to climb out the window with.

He went first because you were too scared.

"Alright, you're coming?" He whispered from the ground, watching you shyly peek from the window.

"You look tiny from up here," you giggled, pointing at him playfully.

"____, stop stalling and get down here," he chuckled back, motioning with his hands as if encouraging you.

Sticking your right leg out the window, you said a small prayer as you gripped onto the makeshift rope, climbing down with your eyes closed to keep yourself from chickening out.

"That's it, there you go!" Niki cheered, clapping for you as you finally made it down... the 10ft wall.

"What if someone sees the rope just hanging here?"

"They won't."

"Well... what if a little raccoon were to get cold out here and sneak into our room for comfort?"

"Come on," he smiled, taking your hand in his as he skipped from the building, adjusting the sunglasses to his "costume."

He wanted to show you around the city of Seoul, taking you to one of his favorite Japanese food stands to get filled taiyaki's because they're his all time favorite. He ended up doing most of the talking while ordering, thanks to the language barrier.

You both wanted chocolate filled, so you ended up just getting one large taiyaki to share.

He tore a piece of the fish pastry's head before putting it in his mouth, careful not to get any chocolate on his face.

You took the snack from his hand before taking a small bite yourself, surprised by the initial crunchiness of the pastry that soon melted into a softer texture, coupled with an equally delightful taste.

Now you see why Niki likes these so much.

"This is crazy, you know that?" You said, taking in the beautiful city scenery that made up your surroundings.

"Of course, especially with everyone reminding me all the time. But what was that you said again? About breaking rules as long as it's worth it?"

Both of you started to walk a little slower, not really paying attention to where you were going, just enjoying each others company, "You're never gonna let me forget I said that, are you?"

"Nope," he smiled, looking into the distance, "because those are the exact words that got us here in the first place."

"And where is "here," exactly?" You challenged, going for another bite of the snack before handing it back to him.

"Alone, outside, past our curfews, holding hands in this beautiful park while dressed up as anonymous wanderers..."

You giggled in between his rambling-

"...Waiting for the right moment to kiss each other again."

A certain feeling of butterflies ran through your stomach at his words.

Was risking your career really worth all this? You'd vote one hundred and ten percent yes.

🎆 Pop!

The sight of fireworks bursted into the night sky before you two, shattering into a glittery shower of colorful sparkles.

"Oh my God," you jumped in shock at the loud noise, making Niki chuckle at your startled reaction.

"Jeez, you're gonna draw attention to us if you keep jumping like that!"

"Ahh, how was I supposed to know they were going to be fireworks tonight?"

"We're just outside of Yeouido Park. The officials here are probably rehearsing for the upcoming firework show," he said before filling his mouth with yet another bite of taiyaki.

From the looks of it, a few more people started to crowd the area, pulling out their cameras to take pictures of the occasional fireworks that splashed into the clear night sky.

"Maybe we should get going now," you said shyly, adjusting the silly scarf you wore around your neck to keep yourself undetectable.

Confused at first by your initial prompt, Niki took a look around before now seeing a few photographers pointing cameras at everyone.

"Yeahhhh, you're right, let's go before we get caught," he smiled, picking up the pace of his steps as he turned around, beelining back to the Hybe building with his hand still in yours.

The time had just hit somewhere around 10 o'clock, so you and Niki got a good hour to yourselves after your long day of work.

Luckily, his makeshift rope was still hanging outside your dorm room window when y’all got back, and once again, you successfully snuck out together undetected.

Or at least, that’s what you both thought until the morning came…

▶︎ ၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊| • • •

There was a certain news feed circulating around the web, originating on that same Korean Pop media website you were stalking before your trip.

You weren’t surprised to find Serenity with her bright blue eyes practically glued to her phone screen, announcing the blog’s title out loud as you and Niki came down together for warmups in Room 10:

Young Stars Spark Romantic Rumors After Photos of Them Kissing in Yeouido Park Circulate the Web.

Oh no, this can’t be good.

Niki had already informed you a few minutes ago about the post popping up on his phone, "There's no way we got caught. I made sure we blended in with the crowd,” he said, not being able to hide the worry growing inside him.

“And besides,” you replied while whispering, “we didn’t even kiss.”

But as to be expected, Serenity was having a field day rubbing the news in your faces.

“Starting mess at work again, I see?” Sunoo pointed, rolling his eyes at her words, but she ignored him.

“Ren, did you even look at the pictures going around?” Haerin offered as she adjusted her workout clothes, “Those people look nothing like Niki and ____.”

“Let me see,” Jade said, reaching for Serenity’s phone and scrolling past the title to analyze the pictures that revealed two older idols who didn’t even match you and Niki’s heights.

The fear boiling in your stomach suddenly disappeared.

“Oh, and their names are right here!” Serenity pointed out before zooming in, “Nevermind, I can’t even pronounce that.”

“Great, so that means we can get back to practice now, yeah?” Jungwon said, trying not to sound as annoyed as he truly was.

You and Niki just bust out laughing.

“What’s so funny,” Serenity scowled, obviously dissatisfied with the reality of the situation.

"Just the fact that you genuinely thought we'd go against Miss Kim's rules… Besides, how would we have even gotten out last night?" Niki tried, kneeling down to tighten his shoelaces, “I’m sure you checked the blue tape by our door. It stayed intact the entire night.”

“Mhm,” she hummed, obviously not wanting to engage in the conversation anymore, which you were thankful for.

The fitness coach started explaining the workout to Jake so he could translate for you and your group, outlining that the session would start with some intense weight lifting before cardio, a.k.a, a 2 mile run around the park.

Great.

Heeseung encouraged you all with his bright smile, “Alright, guys, let’s get moving!”

And that’s exactly what everyone did for the next three hours, keeping a shared goal in mind to follow Miss Kim’s activity schedule perfectly: Day five’s schedule outlining an in-person fan meeting that evening.

🎙️ For my baby, @microwvdstrawb3rri3s, and the lovely 🐥 anon ~ Episode 3 coming soon 💕

⛦ Tags: @squoxle @ashgonedash @nikimeows @nikipedia07 @3ngene--frvr @illymontyshit @filmofhybe @whoslug @nikiiitties

🎙️ Feel free to check out more fun reads on the pinned post at my home page ~

[atlabeth]

transferred part eleven - atla smau

masterlist | part ten | part twelve

there’s a time skip of about a month between this and the last chapter just so u know

summary: trying to run from your past is hard, but falling for your brother’s roommate is even harder. little do you know that he’s falling for you as well.

a/n: i am so sorry this took so long to come out. i’ve been really unmotivated to write in general plus i’ve been super busy with school. i also have been hating everything i write lately i rewrote this like 4 times before i was okay with it lmao. also realizing that i might’ve channeled my stress over school into this chapter. manifesting a tea date w zuko

wc: 1.9k 

warning(s): cursing, pining, some very stressed out college kids, a painfully awkward zuko after a fun realization

perm taglist: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin

transferred taglist: @ourbestfriend-mishacollins @lil-lex1 @xxshad0wxb1rdxx @zuko-is-the-sun @akiris @irohs-teapot @thatarthistorynerd @charlenasaxen @minninugget @marvel-ousnesss @count-thotticus @what-ye-egg @furblrwurblr @thesstuff @mariachiii @ietss @dizzy-miss-lizzieeeeee @xbarrjallenx @tommy-braccoli @dreamsluvrr @floofybread @thelovelylolly @lin-biefong-is-my-life @tiffanyy-21 @sistheselenophile @theincredibledeadlyviper​ 

“Take all the time you need, I can see that it’s a very busy day.” Your head shot up from below the counter when you heard the voice and a grin broke out on your face. 

“Zuko! What are you doing here?” You felt the heat rush to your cheeks as he smiled, which was something that seemed to occur every time you were around him. It wasn’t your fault he had a smile that could make anyone melt. 

“Zuko! What are you doing here?” You felt the heat rush to your cheeks as he smiled, which was something that seemed to occur every time you were around him. It wasn’t your fault he had a smile that could make anyone melt. 

“What, am I not allowed to just show up?” He joked as he pulled a chair out from a nearby table and sat down. 

“No, of course you are! This is actually the highlight of my day. It’s just, this is one of your rare days off, so I figured you would wanna spend it doing something better than, uh, coming to the place that you work.” You dropped the towel you had been using to clean on the counter and walked around the register, taking your own seat across from him and crossing one leg over the other. 

“Well.. you sounded really stressed in your texts, so I thought I would pay you a visit. It can’t be easy balancing all of your classes along with this job, and I figured I could try and help with some of that.” 

The grin from before came back and you rested your chin in the palm of your hand. “Zuko, that’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me. You didn’t have to come all the way here just to hang out with me when we live together.” 

He seemed taken aback by that, surprisingly so. “How? I mean, you had a boyfriend, right?” Thankfully, you missed him visibly cringing at his choice of words as you looked away and passed it off with a laugh that only sounded slightly strained. 

“Keyword is had. I don’t really wanna get into details, but there’s a reason we broke up.” You opened your mouth to say something else in an attempt of changing to subject to anything that wasn’t your failed love life when you heard a familiar voice behind you. 

“I see that my only working employee is taking a break after her break?” You turned your head in a flash and your eyes widened slightly when you saw it was the one responsible for paying your bills.

“Oh, Iroh! I am so, so sorry. Blame your nephew for distracting me on the clock.” You immediately jumped out of your chair as Iroh came out from the back and he simply shook his head, giving you and Zuko a warm smile. 

“Please, do not worry. This is actually for the two of you.” He set the tray with a teapot and two cups on your table and the calming scent of jasmine immediately washed over you.

“Are you sure? I mean, you’re practically paying me to do nothing right now,” you asked, hesitantly settling back in your seat. 

“I have complete faith that you will be able to handle anything that comes your way — today has been a slow day anyways, so you will be fine.” 

“Don’t even try to stop my uncle once he’s made up his mind about something,” Zuko chuckled. Iroh gave his nephew a knowing look that made him blush as he continued walking towards the door.

“Enjoy your date!” He called as he exited the store. Zuko’s face somehow turned an even brighter shade of red and you bit down the smile growing on your lips. You wouldn’t mind if this was a date, of course, but you knew it wasn’t. It was just one of your best friends coming in to see you to help you wade through the endless sea of stress you had found yourself lost in. Definitely not a date. 

“Y/N?” Zuko’s voice snapped you out of your pondering and you nodded with a small laugh. 

“Sorry, just got lost there for a second.” You picked up the teapot and poured a decent amount into both of your cups. “Y’know, I’ve actually started to like tea since I started working here,” you mused, taking a small sip of your own once you finished. “That might have something to do with the fact that we get a discount, but you’d be amazed at the things I’ve grown to like just because they’re cheap.” 

Zuko responded with a laugh of his own, and from there, conversation flowed easily. You weren’t even aware of how much time had passed as the two of you traded stories — your classes, events from your childhoods, your high school experiences — about anything and everything. Your stress melted away a little bit more with each shared anecdote and cup of tea. 

You found yourself enthralled with everything Zuko said — it wasn’t so much the material as much as the way he just… was. The way his eyes sparkled when he talked about his passions, how he tapped his fingers against the ceramic cup when he got excited, and of course, that smile that made you melt. You hung onto every word he said, but you enjoyed him simply being there just as much, if not more. 

And as Zuko watched you talk animatedly, barely able to get through the story you were trying to tell without laughing every other word, he knew that he would do anything to keep that smile on your face. The million dollar smile that lit up every room you walked into and made his heart burst at the seams every time without fail. He wanted you to see yourself the way he saw you, and he would do anything to make you happy. 

It was at that moment that Zuko realized that he was crushing on his best friend’s sister. Hard. 

“Shit,” he muttered. Your story grinded to a halt, exaggerated hand gestures frozen in the air, as you fixed him with a questioning look. 

“Did you say something?”

“No, no— Just- it was nothing. Keep going,” he gave an encouraging smile and nodded for you to continue, which you happily obliged. 

“So, anyways, that was how my lab partner asking a question led to us setting our entire experiment on fire,” you finished with a chuckle. You hit your hands against the table a few times then stood up. “Thank you for this Zuko, really. I wish we could just stay here talking, but I’m not getting paid to do nothing. I gotta get back to work.” 

You waited for a response, but the faraway look in his eyes once again signalled that he wasn’t paying attention. You sighed and snapped your fingers in front of his face, and that seemed to get him out of his stupor. “Hello? Earth to Zuko? 

He blinked a couple times and you let your hand fall to the table, concern flickering across your face for a second. “Sorry! Just.. thinking.” 

“About what?” 

“Classes,” he blurted after a too-long pause. 

You could tell that he was hiding something — throughout your time spent together, you had picked up on how he would always pick at the skin on his right thumb whenever he was nervous — but you didn’t want to push him. 

“I take offense to that, Zuko. You think that your classes are more important than my very entertaining story about my chem lab, I’m just- I’m heartbroken,” you snickered. “I was just telling you that I enjoyed this, and I really appreciate the break, but I actually have to get back to what I’m being paid to do.”

“Right! I, uh- have to get to those.. classes I was talking about.” He laughed nervously and stood up as well, and the two of you bumped heads as you both reached for the tea tray in the middle. 

You let out an exasperated laugh and backed up, rubbing the heel of your hand against your forehead. “Zuko, please! This is my job, let me do this, okay?”

He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, looking like a fish out of water, as he stared at you with wide eyes. You nodded expectantly and raised your eyebrows and he was finally able to get something out. “Uh- right.” 

You chuckled as you picked up the tray and set the cups on it as well, but it was more than a touch concerned. “Is.. everything okay?” You asked, casting a glance back at him once you reached the register again. “Because I don’t mean to overstep, but you’ve been acting strange ever since I started talking about chemistry. Do you have a thing against molecules or something?” 

“Oh, no—it’s nothing you did! And I don’t have anything against chemistry,” he laughed. “I just.. I have a lot on my mind.” Zuko paused, letting his words linger in the air and causing more than a few questions to pop up in your head, but he broke the silence before you could ask. “I really enjoyed this, though.”

“Well, if you ever wanna talk about that stuff on your mind, then you know I’m here,” you smiled. “I had a great time too. And honestly, Zuko, you might be the only thing getting me through this week.” 

“Well, I’m happy to be of service,” he said, returning your smile. “Do you need me to pick you up after your shift?”

“That’s so sweet of you, but I can just catch a ride with Jin. She works at the dress shop across the street, and she actually lives pretty close to us!” You saw the slightest glimpse of disappointment flicker through his eyes and you stumbled over your words trying to explain. “It’s not that I don’t enjoy your company! I mean, obviously I do, we just talked for like, three hours— it’s just she offered, and I didn’t want to say no, plus she’s in my bio class, so I thought it would be good to get to know her—”

“Y/N, you don’t have to explain yourself to me,” he interrupted with a light laugh. “I don’t mind. I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t trying to get out of it because you didn’t want to make me feel bad or something. I know I’ve told you a million times, but I really don’t mind. You make my mornings brighter.” 

You averted your gaze with a small smile as you felt your cheeks heat up, and you bounced on the balls of your feet. “Cool. I’ll see you when I get home then?” 

“Yeah. Good luck with the rest of your shift, Y/N. I’m glad I could help with some of your stress.” The two of you exchanged waves and then Zuko was on his way. As soon as he left the shop you deflated and leaned against the counter, shaking your head and muttering to yourself. That man didn’t even know the effect he had on you. 

The rest of your shift went by much, much slower than your time with Zuko, but the conversations the two of you had during your break kept buzzing around in your head. And though things had started picking up with customers coming in for their lunch breaks or for a quick tea stop, making a lot of extra work for you, a small smile stayed on your lips for the rest of the day. And it was all thanks to Zuko. 

[shimmertrapped]

I’ve Got You - Stiles Stilinski x Reader (6/?)

Summary: After being rescued from an unknown enemy, Y/N and Stiles grow closer whilst dealing with trauma and a lingering threat.  (post-high school AU where Scott, Allison, Stiles, and Y/N are roommates)

Characters: Stiles x Argent!Cousin OC (Reader), Scott x Allison

Word Count: 2567

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The kiss was sweet and didn’t last too long, but when they broke apart, they remained close enough that Y/N could see the flecks in Stiles’ golden-brown eyes.  He kept his hand on her neck, sending a shiver down her spine as his fingers brushed it.

Y/N bowed her head and let out a shaky, breathless laugh.  “Wow.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

Y/N shot him a playful glare before breaking out into a smile again.  She felt light enough that she could almost forget everything that had happened the last week, and everything that was still going on now.  All that mattered was the boy in front of her who was somehow looking at her the way she had always wanted him to.

“So...” Y/N finally forced herself to say.  “What now?”

“Good question,” Stiles said, looking up at the ceiling. “Not too sure how to proceed from here.”

“Yeah, we kind of skipped a few steps,” Y/N agreed. “Awkward first date, all that jazz...”

Stiles raised a brow in challenge.  “We could still have an awkward first date.”

Y/N glanced away from him then, suddenly jerked back to reality.  Because yes, she only almost forgotten what she had gone through this week.  The thought of leaving the house, knowing that he was still out there somewhere...

Stiles, seeming to sense exactly what thoughts were running through her head, rushed to say, “But we don’t have to go anywhere.”

Y/N gave him a quizzical look.

Stiles held up a finger, then turned his head and cleared his throat, tugging at his shirt collar.  When he looked back, his face bore an exaggeratedly nervous expression.  “Y/N, would you, uh, like to order Chinese take-out with me sometime?”

Y/N stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing.  She quickly composed herself to play along.  “I would love to, Stiles.  How about tonight?”

He pretended to think for a moment before saying, “Tonight’s great.”

“Perfect,” Y/N grinned.  “It’s a date.”

“Aaah,” Stiles ran a hand through his hair, dropping the act.  “See that’s why I like you.  You’re just as much of a weirdo as I am.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Stilinski.”

His eyes seemed to flicker at that.

“But like, we are actually going to order Chinese, right?” Y/N asked.

Stiles straightened, his face utterly serious.  “Oh, definitely. What time is it anyway?”

Y/N glanced over at the clock on the oven.  “Six thirty.”

“Oof.  No wonder I’m so hungry,” Stiles said.  “How about you?”

As if on cue, Y/N’s stomach growled.

Stiles laughed, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

He quickly got to his feet and extended a veiny hand out to Y/N, which she took and allowed herself to be pulled up as well.  Then Stiles turned around and opened up a drawer, rummaging through its contents before whipping out a faded menu that read ‘Willie’s Chinese’.  He waggled his eyebrows at her, then laid the menu flat on the counter.  Y/N moved to stand next to him, closer than she would have before.  She could practically feel the heat coming off his body as she stared down at the menu.

“So... Egg rolls, obviously,” Stiles said, running his finger down the list of menu items.  “Fried rice... Chicken balls?”

He looked to Y/N for confirmation.  She nodded.  “Sure.”

“What else?”

Y/N pursed her lips in thought before saying, “Something vegetable-y.”

“Vegetable-y, vegetable-y,” Stiles murmured, scanning the items on the faded pages.  “Stir fried vegetables?”

“Perfect,” Y/N said.

“Okay... And maybe some general tao’s.  That should be enough, right?”

“Think so.”

Stiles reached into his back pocket to pull out his phone, his eyes darting back and forth from the menu as he dialled the number for the restaurant.

Y/N realized then that she had never changed out of her clothes from yesterday.

“Mind if I go shower while we wait for the food?” She stage-whispered as Stiles held the phone to his ear.

“No problem,” he mouthed, before saying, “Yeah hi, I’d like to make an order for delivery?”

Y/N retreated from the kitchen and headed upstairs to the girls’ bathroom.  As she washed her hands, she lifted her gaze to the mirror hanging above the sink.  She had avoided her reflection since returning home yesterday, but finally, she steeled herself to take a look.

Her hair was lacking some of its usual lustre and her skin was sallow, but all in all, it was not as bad as she had braced herself for.  And now, after the events of the past fifteen minutes, she looked... rejuvenated.  Her face broke out into a huge grin then, and she allowed herself a moment to silently freak out about what had just happened.

After all this time, over half a year of secretly pining after Stiles, she had made a move.  It wasn’t at all how she had always imagined doing it, but when she had seen him there on the floor, looking as broken as she felt, she couldn’t help but say the one thing that might be able to explain what she had done, to take away whatever guilt her story had placed upon him.

Getting those words out had been more difficult than recounting the details of her capture to the sheriff, and for those excruciating seconds where Stiles hadn’t said anything, she had regretted ever opening her mouth.  But then he had told her how he felt, and... Y/N had never felt such absolute, overwhelming elation.  Just reliving it now, she couldn’t wait to go back out and see his face, to simply be in his presence again.

She hastily threw her hair up in a bun, deciding to skip washing it, having just done so yesterday - she’d spray some dry shampoo on it after.  Then, she hopped in the shower, going through her usual routine with a little more sense of normalcy than the day before in her zombie-like state.

When she was finished, she padded back into her room through the attaching door and opened her closet.  What did one wear for a stay-at-home date?

She decided to opt for comfort, but tried to make it cute, picking out a plain white cami and throwing a nice, drapey cardigan over it.  For bottoms, she just pulled on another pair of her favourite black leggings.  Moving to her vanity, she saw to her hair, and then headed back downstairs where she found Stiles sitting on the couch with his phone. Evidently he had decided to shower too, his damp hair dripping onto a fresh, green plaid shirt.

He looked up when she entered the room.   “Food should be here soon.”

Y/N shot him a thumbs up and went to curl up on the arm chair across from him.  Stiles set his phone down and leaned back slightly. Y/N felt her face burn as he simply sat there looking at her.

She buried her head in her shoulder.  “Stop staring at me.”

“I always stare at you,” Stiles said, and she could hear him grinning.  “It never bothered you before.”

She whipped her head back up to shoot him a look.  “How can that be?  I thought I was always staring at you.”

Stiles shrugged, then whispered, “Mysteries of the universe...”

Y/N giggled and she thought she saw his eyes light up.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Stiles stood up to answer it and Y/N went to get her purse, attempting to pay for half but Stiles wouldn’t have it.  Then together, they carried the food into the kitchen where Stiles had already set the table and poured two glasses of water.

“You had time to shower and set the table before I came back down?” Y/N asked.  “Do I take that long?”

“Yes,” Stiles flashed a cheeky smile.

Y/N’s stomach did a flip.

She attempted to compose herself as they unpacked the food and sat down to load up their plates, Stiles heaping a pile of chicken fried rice onto his, Y/N taking mostly stir-fry, feeling the need to get some nutrients back in her body.

Y/N felt self-conscious as she bit into a particularly crunchy piece of broccoli, hoping it hadn’t sounded as loud to him as it did in her own head.  They had eaten alone together just this morning but it felt different now, the air more charged.  It was too quiet with nothing but the sound of their chewing.

Moving to take a sip of water, Y/N broke the silence.  “Would you rather be able to read minds or stop time?”

“Oh, read minds, easy,” Stiles said, gulping down his food.  “I could have saved us so much time trying to figure out who the alpha, or the kanima, or whatever other supernatural bullshit going on around here was.”

“Yeah, but wouldn’t it get annoying?” Y/N asked.  “Constantly hearing all those thoughts buzzing around you?”

Stiles considered this.  “Eh, you’d probably get used to it.  How ‘bout you?”

“Stop time,” Y/N said.  “But with the huge caveat that I wouldn’t age while time was stopped.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow, chewing as he waited for her to elaborate.

“Well, if I was always stopping time but my body was still aging, I could easily lose like, a year of my life in real time.  And then when I started to look older, people would catch on to that and next thing I know, the government would be banging on my door, wanting to do testing on me.”

Stiles choked on a laugh. “You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“I take hypotheticals very seriously.”

“Okay,” Stiles said, wiping his hands on a napkin before going to scrape more rice onto his plate.  “Would you rather have hands for feet, or feet for hands?

They carried on like that for the duration of their meal.  After they had finished and cleaned everything up, Y/N strolled over to the living room.  She could hear Stiles following behind as she settled into the corner of the couch.  Stiles sat down in the middle, a little closer than he would have before.

They were quiet for a moment, and then Stiles let out a laugh.

“What?” Y/N asked, both amused and intrigued.

“I just still can’t believe this,” he said, shaking his head.  “All this time...”

Y/N bowed her head, smiling too.  “I know.”

“Scott and Allison are going to freak.”

Oh they most certainly would.  Especially Allison.  Y/N had never quite divulged her feelings for Stiles to her, but she knew her cousin had been able to tell anyways.

“Allison’s going to want to go on double dates,” Y/N said.

“Yeah, now we won’t be the awkward third and fourth wheel when we all hang out.”

Y/N laughed.  She looked over at Stiles then and caught him unsuccessfully trying to stifle a yawn.  She frowned.  “Tired?”

“Nah, I’m good,” he said, waving a hand.  “I’m guessing you aren’t, after your nap earlier?”

“Yeah, not really,” Y/N admitted.  “But you don’t have to stay up on my account if you want to go to bed.”

Stiles looked at her, his voice low as he said, “I don’t want to.”

Y/N blinked, her pulse speeding up as his eyes held hers.  Her voice came out quiet too as she said, “Then what do you want to do?”

Stiles looked down then, and edged a little closer to her on the couch, their knees touching now.  Impulsively, Y/N stretched out her fingertips to graze his knee. She heard Stiles swallow, and when they looked back up at each other, she knew the answer to her question.  She removed her hand from his knee and lifted it to rest on his arm.  Then, ever so gently, she tugged on his sleeve, pulling him closer to her as she leaned forward at the same time.

As their lips met, Stiles placed his arm over the back of the couch so her head was nestled comfortably in the crook of his elbow.  Then, he reached his other hand to cup the back of her head, running his fingers through her long hair and down to settle on her waist.  Y/N slid her own hand higher to wrap her arm around him.

Y/N felt electric. Their movements were perfectly in sync, as if they had been doing this forever.  Though she didn't want to stop, they broke apart for air then, but barely moved away from each other.  Stiles reached to tuck her hair behind Y/N’s ear before dropping his hand to rest lightly on her bare ankle.

And then the world tilted

She was back in the windowless room, the click of a shackle echoing off the walls as it locked around her ankle.  She couldn't get enough air, she - 

Y/N jerked away from Stiles, gasping and shaking.

"Y/N?”

His voice, high with alarm, sounded distant to her ears, but somewhat brought her back to reality.  She was in their living room, on the couch, and Stiles -

She placed both hands on the back of her neck, panting.  "Sorry.  I don't know what just happened. "

"It's okay," Stiles said quickly, and she saw him reach for her before hesitating and changing his mind.  "Was it something I did?”

Y/N shook her head, trying to clear it.  "I just... I need some air."

"Okay," Stiles said, standing as she did.

She moved to the patio door in the kitchen and slid it open, gulping down the cool, night air, sensing Stiles slowly approach her from the side.  After a few more deep inhales, Y/N closed the door once more and turned to press her back against it, sliding down to the floor.  

And then, she couldn't help it.  She started crying.

"Y/N," Stiles said, worry coating his voice. 

Through her tears, she saw him drop to the ground next to her.

She felt Stiles place an arm around her tentatively, as if unsure whether it was the right thing to do in the situation.  But when she leaned into him, pressing her cheek to his chest, he wrapped his other arm around her and cradled her to him.

"Shhh, it's okay," he said, his voice soft above her ear.  "You're safe."

She allowed the warmth of his body and the sound of his steady heart beat lull her until she managed to stop the flow of tears.  She sagged against him and let out a long breath.  "I'm sorry.  I don't know what that was."

He stroked her hair.  "You went through a lot.  I’d be more concerned if you weren’t feeling like this."

Y/N sniffed.  "But I felt fine.  More than fine.  I don't know what brought it on."

Stiles rested his chin on the top of her head. "When you go through something traumatic, sometimes your body reacts to things against your control.”

"Well it sucks," Y/N said.

Stiles laughed quietly, the shaking of his shoulders jostling her.  "I know.  But it won't last forever.  Let's call the therapist first thing tomorrow, okay?"

Y/N nodded, sniffling again.  Then said, "I think maybe I should go lie down afterall."

"Alright, c'mon."

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AO3 link

tag list: @lzz-chaos​, @combative5sos​

posted May 19, 2020

[sergeant-donny-donowitz]

Home (DonnyxFem!Reader Postwar AU)

Requested by @struggling-bee

@tealaquinn @war-obsessed @owba-chan @inglourious-imagines

Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist :)

When the bands stopped marching, and the parade confetti was swept away, and the boys were all home, things seemed to be back to normal. Everyone seemed to live perfect lives in box homes.  The boys were home. But for you, somehow the end of the war brought some problems... The boys came home... Meaning, your roommate immediately got married, and left you to pay all the rent. The boys came home... Meaning, you lost your job at the factory. Donny came home... Meaning, he was a decorated war vet, and was bored. He went back to work in his father's barbershop. He woke up in the same room he did as a kid. The adventures were over...Something he couldn't abide by. So he moved out... He kept his job, but he needed to start a life of his own... The interviews stopped and the awards waned. The war and the heroes were no longer on the front page. Something about communism and bolsheviks was on the front page, something Donny was too tired to read. He sighed, and flipped through the paper, finding  a section full of people looking for roommates.  His eyes ran lazily over the names, until he spotted a familiar name... "Y/n...Y/n L/n..." He squinted at the name as the dimming light began to set. He wondered if it was really you... And a day later, you wondered if it was really Donny. THE Donny Donowitz looking for a roommate...it was almost unimaginable to you... What were the odds... Then you wondered (and perhaps even hoped) that he'd recognized your name... And you caught yourself. You went to school together, that was all, and that was all years ago. He wouldn't have remembered you. Besides, being a war hero of his status probably made his ego blow up, and made him even more of a jerk than you remembered... Why would you even want to room with him? But somehow...even then you thought he was cute... "God damn it...." You muttered trying to get yourself to listen to yourself. Still you sighed...You always had a thing for that ballplayer...Boy could he swing, on the field, and in the clubs... You remembered seeing him that night...It was late May. A drowsy summer night, back in 1939. The world was consumed in a war that had not yet dawned on either of you. You had graduated from high school that afternoon. That night practically everyone you knew was at that dance. Donny was surrounded by his friends from the old baseball team, and the girls. You were with your friends on the other side of the club, dancing the night away. But every once in a while you'd glance at him, and wish you were the one he’d asked to dance... Then you'd laugh at yourself... That would never happen. Seven years passed, and there he was, at the door of your apartment. He wanted to look around before renting with you... You opened the door, genuinely praying that there was another jerk in Boston named, "Donny Donowitz...." But no. Of course there wasn't. He was leaning againt the doorway, "Y/n? It's really you! How are ya!?" You were a little shocked for a moment as you gripped onto the door, "You...you know my name?" "Of course I do! It hasn't been that long, has it? Graduation...well..I barely graduated...but it's only cause of you." He grinned, genuionely.

"Really?" He didn't quite catch the sarcasm in your voice. "Yeah! Ms. Changretta's history class was a fucking killer, and you saved me. Just like in physics...chemistry...art...anyway..." He cleared his throat. He felt so happy to see you again, and he couldn't quite catch why. You were just the girl he used to copy homework from... And maybe steal a glance at every now and then But that was just so long ago... Still, as hard as it was to admit...Donny Donowitz still had a crush on you, after all those years. He may have been a notorious war hero, but that didn't make him any less shy when it came to you... "Anyway....I heard you were lookin' for a roommate...and I'm looking for a roommate, and-" You raised your eyebrow, and subtly pressed your hand against your forehead, expecting it to burn, wondering if this was actually happening, "Come on in. Take a look around." He smiled a little. You always were a bit of a 'no nonsense' type of girl. Time was always of the essence with you... That didn't change, apparently. So he leveled with you, and you leveled with him. He needed a new place, asap. And you needed help with the rent.

Donny moved in, and life went on... Kind of... You had a job interview one morning, not long after. Your eyes shot open as you glanced at your clock. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." You shot out of bed when you smelled something in the kitchen. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." You threw a robe on as you sped walked to the impending disaster... Instead you found Donny standing at the stove, making omelettes... "Good mornin' Y/n..." God, he'd practiced that in his head a million times and still didn't come off the way he wanted to. "Everything ok?" He raised his eyebrow when he looked at you, seeing how frantic you looked. "I...thought something was burning. I mean...you did almost burn the labs down once...." He chuckled, "That was a long time ago, kid." You smiled a little, and he glanced back at you, catching a glimpse at you in your night down.

He clenched his jaw, and turned back to the stove, clearing his throat, "Come on Donny...she's just your roommate...she's too smart for you..."

You looked down at yourself...

"Shit. Fuck. Shit. Fuck..."

 You stepped back into the hall, "I'll... I gotta get dressed..."

He nodded, "Yeah! I'll...get this ready for ya... No problem..."

You turned away, and walked back toward your room, but stopped for a moment...

Was he more of a sweetheart than you remembered?

Maybe...just maybe...you sighed.

Then  you looked at the time.

You stormed through your closet and got dressed, washed up, and then rushed out.

"Wait! You gotta eat

something

!"

You looked at him...

“Yup,” you thought damningly, He really was more of a sweetheart than you remembered.

He pitched an apple toward you. "Thanks, Donny!" You rushed out the door.

"Good luck-" You shut the door as he murmured, "doll..."

You ran all around Boston that day.

You had foolishly scheduled not one, not two, but three interviews back to back.

And halfway home you remembered you were out of milk...

And you decided to pick up some eggs too.

You sighed as you held the brown paper bags, and struggled to get your keys out. They fell to the ground. "Damn!"

You reached for them, just as someone else did.

"Rough day?" Donny got them for you and chuckled as he unlocked the door for you. He happened to just come back from work at the moment.

You both walked into the apartment. You flipped the lights on, he took the bags and set them on the kitchen counter as you took your coat off.

He put the groceries into the fridge, and smiled a little, appreciating that you brought some eggs...because he'd broken a lot of them accidentally that morning.

He was just nervous...Something that wasn't easy for him to admit, or even realize why.

"So, Y/n, how'd it go?" He turned over just as you set your coat onto the rack. And he saw a scar beginning at the right side of your neck, disappearing beneath your collar. You turned to him, but before you could answer, he saw the end of the scar. It ran from the right side of your throat to your left upper arm.

He was genuinely storming in his mind. He knew Boston was a rough town, but you had always been a bit calmer and smarter, and frankly more innocent. He wanted to know who gave you that scar, and who he'd fight for it.

"Where'd ya get that..." His voice was low, his eyes darting from the end of the scar back to your eyes, his brows furrowed.

You shook your head nad waved it off, "Ah, forget it."

"I won't."

The way he said it, you knew he meant it...

And if Donny Donowitz remembered anything, it was the face of every man who ever hurt one of his friends...

You sighed, "The pacific."

"Pacific?" He titled his head in confusion, "I thought you worked in the factory in the war."

"I did. But only for the last year of the war. Before that, I was a WAF." You knew he'd keep asking questions till he got the whole story, so you sat on the couch as you briefly explained, "We got shot down over some islands. I got this..." You gestured to your scar, a crude attempt at murder, and a ticket home the military called honorable discharge, but you called bullshit. Just a few months later,  the WASP program was shut down... "That was that..."

"I didn't know you shipped out..." He sat by you.

You shrugged, "Just a few weeks after you did." He nodded, understanding that was enough war talk for one night. "So...how did it go?" You smiled softly, "I got a job." "Why're you sad?" His lip pouted a little, though he didn't notice...you did... You noticed back in eighth grade, when he liked a girl... 'No...it can't be...I'm imagining things...' You denied everything, to yourself, and to him. "I'm not." He narrowed his eyes. "I've known you since fifth grade, and you're gonna lie to me  right in my face?" You turned your face away from him subtly, but he knew more than what you gave him credit for. He held your chin up gently, and turned your face back to his, "Hey, come on..." It was almost a whisper, but you could hear everything. The sincerity, the worry, the soft beginnings of love. Or at least, something like it. "You can tell me anything, kid." You sighed and leaned your head back onto the couch, "I used to be someone, Don..." Don... No one had called him that in so long. In fact, the last time he could remember someone calling him that was you, about seven years before, when you tutored him for a physics exam. Why he remembered that moment so vividly, he refused to explain to himself... But why he cared so much about it, and why it made him smile, he couldn't deny to himself. "What do you mean?" "I used to be a fucking pilot. I used to be head of my unit in the factory too for fuck's sake. I was top of the goddamn class all my life, and now all I can do is be a fucking secretary." You took a breath, "Now that the boys are home...girls like me have to stay home."

His heart broke in that moment... He could say anything, he could give you a million speeches, but not a word of it would change the truth of the matter. You, like millions of other women were robbed of the bit of humanity and freedom you had been given during war... Still, he tried his best... "Hey...Hey, come here." What possessed you to let yourself fall into his arms, you'd never know. But it didn't matter...because you did... And you fell for him, at last.  "You'll always be someone." "Yeah?"  Your head was in his lap, and you looked up at him. This time...This time he heard the sarcasm. He nodded, "Yeah. Everyone'll always be someone to somebody." What he really meant to say was: You'll always be everything to me... But somehow, after everything he did, every drop of blood he saw, every scalp he took...didn't matter. After all those years, he still couldn't muster up the courage to say it quite yet... "Easy for you to say, you killed fuckin' Hitler." You smirked as you looked up at him. His arms were around you protectively, his hands weaving their way through your hair, and his eyes tender, looking into yours. You'd known him for fifteen years... And you'd never seen his eyes like that before.

He smiled softly, and spoke like he'd been there all along, "You'll always be someone to me, doll..." Your heart skipped a beat, and in that moment, you found yourself in a place you never imagined. Far from war, out of a factory, and in someone's heart. You were home... And your head rested against his chest. The war was over, but there were still things worth fighting for... And from that moment on, it was you and Donny against the world.

Your lips pressed against Donny's in that moment. One of countless to come...

[marvxlousqueen]

Warren Worthington- Share My Bed (pt 2)

read part one here! 

word count: 2.5k

warnings: mentions of sex, cussing, peter is still nuts about ping pong i’m sorry 

A/N: I’m glad you guys liked it and wanted a part two :)) also thank you to everyone who sent asks giving ideas and what not :) also i’m sorry if this is trash but i’m really tired 

also tagging @itsametaphorbriansblog should i start a tag list?? 

using the same gif bc it’s pt 2

Peter jolted awake after the smell of bacon and eggs floated into his room the next morning. He looked to his side, trying to find (Y/n), but seeing nothing. He hopped out of bed, planning to make a run to the cafeteria kitchen to grab the fresh food before anyone else could. He turned around while slipping on his goggles and saw another figure in Warren’s bed. 

“Oh-oh my god, (Y/n) what the-” Why is she in Warren’s bed? Does she know she’s in Warren’s bed? 

Peter snuck over to Warren’s side of the room, gently pushing one of his fluffy wings over, revealing more of (Y/n). Warren had an arm draped over her waist, his chest pressed against her back. Peter started poking at (Y/n), hoping she would wake up without alerting Warren. “(Y/n).. (y/n) wake up.. come on,” he whispered, poking her cheek repeatedly.

“Wh-what? What’s happening?” (Y/n) voice was groggy and raspy, eyes barely being able to see anything, still adjusting to the morning light. “Peter? What-”

“Why are you in Warren’s bed?” He was whispering screaming at her, still trying to not disturb Warren. She looked over and saw him peacefully snuggled into her. Wow, he actually looks like an angel, she thought. She looked back at Peter, eyes rolling before she began whisper screaming back, “I didn’t want to be! You kicked me out of bed, you dick!”

“I did not!” 

“Uh-yes you did, you were like a dog running in it’s sleep.” 

“Well that doesn’t mean you have to go jump into bed with some random guy. Come on, I’m getting you out of here.” Peter grabbed (Y/n) arms and started to pull her from Warren’s grasp. “No, Peter, stop. It’s 7 am on a Saturday, I’m going back to sleep.” Peter just shook his head, I will not have my friend taken from me by some newbie, he thought. He continued to tug on her arms, almost pulling her completely off the bed until Warren tighten his grip, pulling her back into his chest. He nuzzled his face into her neck, wings wrapping around her once more. His eyes fluttered open, all the movement had woken him. 

“Morning.” His voice was gravelly, still heavy with sleep. Once his eyes finally adjusted to the brightness of the room, Warren saw a very angry Peter looking down at him. “What?” 

“Can I talk to you, bro? In the hallway. Now.” Peter stormed out of the room and into the hallway, waiting for Warren to follow. 

“Why’s he mad?” (Y/n) shrugged, feeling cold once Warren unwrapped his wings from her body. He stood up, not bothering to put on shoes before stepping out into the hallways. Warren cracked the door, figuring Peter wouldn’t want (Y/n) listening in. 

“What the hell? Best friends are off limits!” Peter was turning increasingly red, which was easy for him to do considering how pale he was. “Wait-since when are you guys best friends? I thought you only just started hanging out?” 

“It doesn’t matter! She’s my friend, you will not get involved with her because then who am I supposed to hang out with?” 

Warren was getting frustrated with Peter. Peter had been at this school longer and seemed to have no problems making friends, whereas Warren had only met one person who was interested in talking to him (besides Peter), which was (Y/n). 

“Peter, you have tons of friends. I need a friend and I want it to be her.” 

“So you just want to be friends with her?” Peter raised his eyebrows, knowing that people who just want to be friends don’t cuddle like (Y/n) and Warren were. 

“Yeah. Yes, just friends.” Warren nodded his head, keeping his eyes on Peter. He knew lying was bad, but when he saw Peter relax his shoulders, he knew it was the right thing to do, just for a little while until he spoke to (Y/n) about how she feels towards him.

“Good, good. Come on, I’ll teach you how to play ping pong after we grab some breakfast.” Warren was surprised that Peter wanted to spend time with him. I have friends, he thought. I have two whole friends. Warren wanted to slap himself for being so excited over something so small, but he was happy. It was only his third day at the school and he had already met some great people who liked him and who he liked back, one as more than a friend. 

Warren followed Peter into their room to slip on his shoes before heading to the cafeteria when he saw (Y/n) grab her pillow to leave. “Hey, (Y/n)... where you going?” (Y/n) just stared straight past Warren, ignoring his question, instead looking to Peter. “Thanks for letting me stay, it won’t happen again.” She left with a slam of the door.

“What-um, what was that about?” Peter shrugged as a response. “Sometimes girls are just like that. She’s probably just missing her own bed.” Warren wasn’t convinced. She seemed actually upset, but he figured he would wait to ask about it when he saw her later, considering he didn’t know where her room was and was too shy to ask Peter, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. Even though it wouldn’t be the wrong idea, he thought. You shouldn’t have lied, Warren, now how is he going to trust you when he finds out?

Warren pushed the thoughts down, instead focusing on Peter’s words as he described the art which is the game of ping pong. 

(Y/n) rushed back to her room, face burning, knocking loudly to wake up Jean and Scott. “Let me in!” Scott answered the door, only wearing boxers. “What do you need?” 

(Y/n) rolled her eyes. “I need you out of my room. And I need to talk to Jean.” 

Jean was awake at this point. “No, you can’t just kick Scott out.” 

“Uh-yes I can. I get kicked out of here all the time and it’s actually my fucking room, so get out Summers before I make you.” (Y/n) pushed Scott into the hallway and locked the door behind her. He started pounding on the door. “I don’t have my clothes!”

“Get over it! I need to talk to Jean!”

Jean stood up, grabbing his clothes before opening the door to hand them to him. (Y/n) slammed the door again, “No! Scott can’t be in here, it’s personal and I’m pissed and need to vent, so please just sit down and listen.” Jean took a seat on her bed, head feeling cloudy from waking up and having to move so much so suddenly. 

“So! What does it mean if a boy invites you into their bed? Apparently, it means they just want to be friends! Did you know that? I certainly didn’t know that. I would’ve thought that if a boy invites you into their bed and wraps their arms around you, it meant he was interested in you, right? But! I guess not!” (Y/n) took an aggressive step towards her bed, before throwing herself down, screaming into her pillow. She felt the mattress dip next to her. 

“Tell me more, I’m listening.” Jean started to brush her hair out of her face, but (Y/n) just buried herself further into her pillow, too embarrassed to speak. “Did Peter come onto you?” 

(Y/n) sat up, shaking her head. “No.” 

“Then who..?”

“Warren.”

“Who’s that?” 

“His new super cute roommate. I swear he looks like an angel, and not just because of the wings.”

“Wings? Oh god, is it the guy who tried to kill us last year? (Y/n), no! He’s dangerous with those metal, knife wings, and-”

“He doesn’t have those anymore. He had these huge, feather wings and he held me with them last night.” Jean’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait, you actually cuddled with a guy you just met? Who tried to kill us last year?” (Y/n) nodded sheepishly, “Peter kicked me out of his bed, like literally kicked me. And it was freezing because someone wouldn’t let me in to grab a blanket, and he offered so..” 

“I’m sorry about that. I know I’ve been a lot lately with Scott and everything, but I just like being close to him. I mean, what if something like last year happened and we died? Life is so short and-”

“I forgive you, you can stop talking.” She nodded, realising her friend was actually upset. “Why do you think he’s not interested in you? It sounds like he is.” (Y/n) shook her head, eyes meeting Jean’s. “I heard him tell Peter. Said he wanted to be just friends. Don’t know why I’m surprised, no one is ever interested in me.”

“That’s not true, come on. I have a feeling he was just saying that. He’s probably shy.” (Y/n) shrugged, not answering. “Let’s go grab some breakfast, yeah? Then we can have a girls day at the mall. That’ll cheer you up!” 

“Fine. I’ll go find Jubilee and tell her. I’ll meet you in the cafeteria.” (Y/n) stood up, making her way to the door before Jean grabbed her arm. “You should also invite Jubilee’s roommate. That new girl who helped us out against Apocalypse. I think her name’s Ororo. She seems nice.” (Y/n) nodded, speeding across the dormitories into Jubilee’s room.

Peter was sat in his room that afternoon waiting for (Y/n) to drop by. His foot was tapping rapidly in an attempt to calm himself. Warren was sat on the other side of their room, attempting to catch up on the classwork he had missed while being on bed rest. Finally at 8 o’clock, Peter sped off to Jean and (Y/n)’s room, worried something might have happened. (Y/n) answered when he knocked, wearing a face mask. Peter looked over her shoulder and saw Jean, Jubilee, and Ororo wearing the same. “Hey Pete, it’s girls night. Sorry, no boys allowed.” Ororo let out a yell of agreement from behind her, making Jubilee laugh and almost choke on her soda. 

“How come you didn’t come by? I was waiting for our ping pong game.” His eyes showed that he was worried. Maybe she was actually upset this morning, he thought. “It’s girls night, so Scott didn’t come over and I didn’t get kicked out.” 

Jean spoke up from behind her to add on. “And I realized I was being a bit of a dick kicking her out everyday so Scott won’t be coming over as much.”

“O-oh. That’s, that’s good then. Yay for you.”  Peter stepped back into the hallway, about to run off before (Y/n) followed, peeling her face mask off as she spoke. “What’s up? You seem.. sad?”

“...I liked hanging out with you. Warren was enjoying it too, I could tell. He said he wanted to be friends!” 

“Yeah that’s kind of the problem,” she muttered, but of course Peter was able to catch every word. “The problem? You don’t like Warren?”

“No-I, uh. I do like him, Peter. Like I like like him. But I heard him say he doesn’t like me so I’m not sure if I want to spend a lot of time with him yet.” 

“Oh.. you like him? That’s... fun.”

“Why did you say it like that?” Peter opened his mouth, then closed it to think before speaking. “It’s just- I don’t like the idea of you dating him because then you would only come to our room to see him, not me. And- and I know it sounds sad, but you’re one of my closest friends, even though we just became friends. Just- not a lot of people can handle my.. personality and energy. They get annoyed, but you don’t and I don’t want to lose that.” 

“Peter, you aren’t going to lose anything, okay? First of all, just because I date someone doesn’t mean I would abandon you, right? And second, he doesn’t even like me so it’s not relevant.” 

Peter shrugged, “He might’ve lied to me because he sure did seem to like you while you two were cuddling. You know what, I’ll go ask right now.”

“Peter, no! Don’t-” (Y/n) was cut off as a blur of silver sped down the hallway, towards Warren. (Y/n) took off after him despite knowing there was no way she could catch up. “Peter stop!”

Warren sat up fast from his bed when he saw Peter crash through the door. “What the fuck are you doing?” Peter ignored his question. “So earlier when you said you didn’t like (Y/n) that was a lie, right? Because she totally likes you and was sad because she heard you say you just wanted to be friends and I don’t like seeing my friend sad so I hope you were lying to me.” Peter’s words tumbled out of his mouth so fast that Warren tried to piece together what he said. 

“She-she likes me?” Once the words left Warren’s mouth, (Y/n) burst through the door, pushing Peter over. “Peter don’t you dare!” She looked at Warren, her face red from her sprint down the hallway and from embarrassment. “Did he-um, did he say... anything? Because if he did, it’s a lie.”

“I already told him.” (Y/n) (if possible) felt her face get even hotter. Her eyes met Warren’s before she turned and took off, heading for the safety of her own room again. 

“What should I do?” Warren looked at Peter, who decided to stay on the ground finding it quite comfortable. “If you like her I would tell her, but if not don’t hurt her or I will hurt you.” 

“What happened to ‘best friends are off limits’?” 

“That was before I saw her so upset. Plus she told me she wouldn’t abandon me so I’m okay with it.” Warren nodded before pushing off his bed, making his way to where he assumed (Y/n)’s room was. He soon realized he didn’t know the exact room so he knocked on a few, hoping to find her. 

Finally one of the doors opened to reveal Jean. “Can I talk to (Y/n)? Please.” Warren could’ve sworn his mouth had never been this dry. Jean stepped aside, allowing him to come in. He saw Ororo and Jubilee stretched out on the floor, then he saw (Y/n) curled up in her bed, head under her blanket. Warren slowly approached her before pulling off her blanket. “C-can I talk to you?” 

She opened her eyes, meeting his, nodding. (Y/n) didn’t move, wanting Warren to talk to her where she was. “O-okay. So-um, yes, Peter told me and- I.. I like you too. I’m sorry you heard what you did, but Peter was on my case about liking you and I don’t know...” Her eyes widened, “You like me back? Oh my god.”

Jean laughed from across the room at the tone (Y/n) used, one of pure shock. Warren nodded, his eyes flicking from her lips to her eyes. (Y/n) sat all the way up and started to lean forward. Warren met her halfway, pressing his lips to hers. They broke apart seconds later, remembering they were in a room with others. 

“It’s girls night, no boys allowed!” Ororo successfully broke the silence, making Jubilee and Jean erupt into laughter. (Y/n) looked to them and then back at Warren. 

“Maybe you guys could take girls night somewhere else, hm? Give me and Warren some time to talk..” Jean’s eyes widened, “You’re kicking me out for the night?”

“Oh come on, Jean. I would do it for you and you know that.”  

[lonelypond]

Washed Up, Ch.2

NicoMaki, Love Live, 1.7K, 2/?

Summary: Nico and Umi deal with their guest.

Turtles And Talking

Umi Sonoda kept almost speaking. She would turn her head toward the bathroom she and roommate Nico Yazawa shared, open her mouth, pause, shake her head, close her mouth, and look back at Nico. Nico, in an attempt to avoid any responsibility for the current crisis, yes, darn it, Umi was going to call it a crisis, Nico was staring into the cup of coffee she’d made herself once they’d gotten her guest settled.

“Nico?” Umi began.

Nico glanced up.

“You did offer her the couch, not our bathtub to sleep in?”

And then there was the explosion of Nico raging around the living room, “of course I offered her the couch, and a blanket and maybe some of your clothes but she was so cold, Umi, practically clammy, what was Nico supposed to do. Hot shower but no, no, bath….soaking, more than an hour…”

“Do you think she fell asleep?”

Nico hesitated, listening, “We could knock…”

“Yeah…”

But neither of them moved.

“Nico will make muffins. Easy breakfast for everyone.” Nico opened the refrigerator and stood, staring into it.

“I have a chapter to finish reading.” Umi sat down at the table, not bothered by having forgotten to grab her textbook.

“She probably has clothes on by now, right?” Nico asked the refrigerator interior, which hummed no response.

A cough. A hesitant voice. Nico spun, startled, slamming the door so hard bottles rattled inside.

Maki stood in the doorway, wearing sweats borrowed from Umi, hair in a towel turban. “Thank you both. I feel much better.”

“Nico was just about to make muffins. For breakfast.”

“Muffins?” Eyebrows raised.

“Puffy cookies? Round scones?”

Umi typed something into her phone and showed the screen to Maki as she pulled out a chair.

“Oh.”

Nico heard disappointment, “Are you hungry? Is there something you’d like?”

“Pizza?”

Pizza was a surprisingly normal request. Umi and Nico shared a relieved look.

“I believe it is my week to buy the pizza, Nico. We can just move pizza night ahead two nights. We have a guest, after all.”

“Please don’t upset your schedules…”

“We’re not.” Nico sat across from Maki, “Nico wants to help and if pizza will help, that’s what we’ll have. And if you feel comfortable enough to tell us what’s going on, that’s okay. And if you don’t, that’s okay, too.”

Maki glanced from Nico to Umi and back, meeting nothing but solid, calm concern from both women. She started to cry.

###

Nico had gently, half hugged, half dragged Maki to the couch; Umi had called her girlfriend Honoka Kosaka for an emergency pizza pickup. Both Umi and Nico had agreed that the effervescent Honoka would make sure that the pizza party didn’t get too gloomy. Nico had put on a live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and Maki was wrapped in a throw, leaning forward, following the fights with an avid interest.

“Why did you pick that movie?” Umi hissed, she and Nico hovering in the kitchen archway, watching Maki.

“Cotaro and I had a Turtles marathon last time he visited.” Nico shrugged, a little distracted by where the throw had fallen off Maki’s shoulder. The sweats had been too hot and constricting so she’d switched to a oversized tank top Nico slept in sometimes and Umi board shorts. “They like pizza. Maki likes pizza.” Nico pointed at Maki, absorbed in the movie, “Nico called it.”

Umi grunted.

The door opened and Honoka stepped in, balancing three pizzas, just as the Turtles were being disciplined by Splinter. Honoka took in the dimmed lights and the subdued mood and crossed the room to nudge Umi.

“Splinter always scared me.’

“He’s a good teacher.”

“He’s picky. And mean.”

Nico snorted, grabbed the pizzas from Honoka, announced “Pizza's here” and dropped them on the couch next to Maki.

On screen, Splinter opened the pizza box.

“Sneaky too.” Honoka whispered as Mikey started to waver, about to break and answer Splinter's question.

As Splinter recited pizza cheeses, Maki repeated them, stumbling on the Italian.

Nico flippd open the top box, “Just regular, probably 3 cheeses, not the NINETY NINE CHEESE PIZZA.”

Maki spun, amethyst eyes deep and worried, “But pizza sauce? With tomato?”

Nico chuckled, “Yes, pizza sauce with tomato.” Nico picked up a slice, took a sniff, “And a serious shake of oregano.”

“Shake?” Maki asked as she took her own slice.

Nico shook an imaginary shaker, “Nico measurement.”

Maki nodded and bit, swallowing with a huge smile, murmuring a happy noise. Nico relaxed, just slightly for the first time since she’d been startled by a moving tarp.

Umi and Honoka came around the couch, Umi sitting in the loveseat, Honoka snuggled next to her. She waved, “I’m Honoka. Aren’t secret hideouts like the Turtles cool? And April’s really brave and friendly. I got clams on one, no sauce. I thought you might like seafood.”

Maki tensed. Nico knew she didn’t have a weapon in her borrowed clothes, but Nico swore Maki was reaching for one. “Why did you say that?”

Honoka missed the menace gathering in Maki’s aura. “Nico said you were hanging out on the pier so I thought maybe you were a townie. Everybody around here loves seafood.”

“Townie?”

“Someone who is a local, not a summer visitor or tourist.” Umi explained. Umi was Wikipedia with martial arts skills.

“Are you townies?”

“College students.” Umi put her arm around Honoka, “On the mainland. But Nico had a room to rent so I moved out here.”

“Are you a college student?” Maki asked Nico, no longer paying attention to the movie.

“Nico did the full time college gig for awhile, but now Nico is working while waiting for someone to discover her singing voice.”

Maki nodded as if that were the obvious choice for Nico, making Nico glad she’d hadn’t added an apologetic note. Keep the confidence up, cheers up the pretty girl.

“Kick his ass, Splinter.” Honoka pumped a fist.

Maki was drawn back to the movie, frowning at Shredder. “That’s a lot of armor, very stiff. Doesn’t seem practical.”

“Are you familiar with armor?” Umi started, waving off Nico’s about to be furious look, “My family has the armor of our samurai ancestors in its possession. I have been studying how much thought went into its creation.”

“Only the greatest artisans can create something both decorative and functional.” Maki was frowning at Shredder, “That’s just a poorly made target that shines like the moon on the sea.” She picked up another piece of pizza.

“What’s your armor like?” Nico forced her voice casual.

“Woven of the finest seaglass.”

“That sounds super cool. And pretty.” Honoka leaned into Umi, “Nico’s new friend is fun.”

“Hey, Maki…” Nico asked softly, the pizza box a safe buffer between them. She muted the movie, Umi covering Honoka’s mouth before she could complain, “What happened to you?”

April had just dosed the Turtles with adrenaline and Maki watched as they shattered their cages.

Nico saw Maki’s jaw tighten, rage bursting like speeding fireworks deep in jewel eyes. “I don’t want to get married; I don’t understand how people decide; how many strangers do they want me to meet? I don’t want the Storm Crown.” Her voice dropped to whisper, “Mama and Papa never listen to me.”

“Are you of legal age?”

Leave it to Umi to ask the practical questions.

“Legal age?”

“Eighteen years old. Adult.” Umi clarified. Maki did look a little young. Nico slid further away, eyes on the TV.

“Nineteen winters.”

Old enough to vote. Not old enough to drink. Nico relaxed.

Which, of course, Honoka mentioned, “Guess you can’t buy her a beer, Nico.” She smiled at Maki, “Me and Umi can’t drink yet either.”

“Shut up, Honoka.” Umi snapped, then she had another question for their guest. “Are your parents going to send anyone after you?”

Maki sighed, falling back against the couch, Nico forcing her attention on the movie as the tank top slid further down Maki’s shoulder. There were turtles and snow and a truck speeding to disaster.

“I don’t think they can find me. I kept nothing.”

Nico could testify. But now was not the time to remember that initial meeting on the pier. Maki was running from people who’d been looking her over. Nico stood abruptly, everyone in the room watching her curiously, “Be right back.”

“Want me to stop the movie, Nico?”

“Nope. Be right back.” Nico repeated.

Close bathroom door, wait two minutes, flush toilet, run cold water, slap some on face, stare in mirror, raise hands to temple, Nico Nico Ni. Making someone smile. Nico nodded at her mirror image. Still worked. Ready to go out there and deal.

Nico returned to the couch, Umi seemed to have run out of questions, Maki had untensed enough to sit up. She was watching the end of the movie, wide eyed.

“Nico should have made popcorn.”

“Popcorn?”

“Kernels of corn popped and slathered in Nico’s special coconut oil and butter mix.”

“It’s so good, Maki. Not like the movie theater stuff at all.” Honoka had sprawled out on the floor, her feet reaching back to bop Umi’s thighs every couple minutes. Umi had found her textbook, deciding this was an ideal time to study. Just a regular night at home. With their new friend.

“Hey.” Nico leaned over toward Maki, “Nico’s glad I found you.”

Nico caught an almost smile as Maki turned away.

###

Nico had called in sick. Standing in the kitchen, debating pancake breakfast or bacon and egg breakfast, Nico was tapping out a tune on the refrigerator door and humming.

A quiet cough, “Do you always communicate with that machine?”

Nico whirled. Maki with a blanket wrapped around her. Like the tarp. Maki seemed more comfortable wrapped in a robe type thing.

“Nico is humming, not communicating. Nico thinks better, humming.”

Maki frowned, stepped up to the refrigerator, opened her mouth, and hummed a melody that caught all of Nico’s attention. It seemed to have extra textures, a pulsing sort of purr. “Communicating.”

“And what did you just tell Nico’s refrigerator?”

“The breakfast hunt has begun.”

Maki said it so seriously, Nico stared. Then Maki quirked up an eyebrow.

“You’re totally messing with Nico.”

A shrug. Maki sat at the table, continuing a low hum, twisting a curl of hair, eyes half closed, attention obviously somewhere else.

French toast, Nico decided, reaching for the pie tin she mixed the batter in. Eggs and carbs. The breakfast hunt would have its prey.

A/N: Hi.

[babyjamiebarnes]

Short Stuff

Rating: PG

Warnings: like maybe one bad word

Featuring: Bucky x (short) Stark!reader (because I love dad!Tony so much)

A/N: Another writing challenge submission, this time for @theassetseyeliner! My prompt was “You don’t understand me! Nobody does!“ “That’s because you’re so short, you lil shit” with my main man Bucky. Again, I’m new to writing Marvel so any help on characterization is appreciated!

You’ve been shorter than everyone your entire life. Even in elementary school, all of your classmates somehow managed to be inches taller than you. You could only blame your parents, both of whom were under six feet tall and came from short parents themselves. Over the years, you’d grown used to hearing all the short jokes people could think of and learned to shrug them all off.

Being short had a few perks, after all. General admission concerts were easy to sneak to the front because no one saw you step forward every few minutes. Hide and seek was your childhood game of choice, especially when cupboards were involved. And whenever you were interested in someone, it was almost guaranteed they would be taller than you, giving you the perfect reason to request piggyback rides.

Living with your dad in New York had a few perks too. One of those was getting to live with the Avengers. Even though you were well into your 20s, you weren’t going to turn down free living space and the coolest roommates the world had to offer.

While Natasha and Wanda (and Bruce) seemed to understand the daily dilemmas that came with being short, most of the guys didn’t get it. Clint would chuckle every time you got on your tiptoes to reach the cereal boxes on top of the fridge, Steve nearly had a heart attack every time you climbed onto the counters to reach the top shelves, and Sam offered more than once to let you use the wings next time.

That’s why Bucky was so baffled when you walked into the kitchen one morning with a rolling step stool. He knew what it was, of course, but he didn’t think anyone actually had much use for them.

You rolled your step stool to the front of the cupboards holding everything you would need to make pancakes, locked the wheels, and climbed up, leaning over the counter instead of climbing on top.

“What are you doing?” Bucky asked in the middle of taking a bite of cereal.

“Making pancakes,” you replied simply.

“Well yeah, I can see that,” he laughed, “but why do you have a step stool?”

“Steve got tired of being scared half to death whenever I would climb on the counters so he got it for me.” You hopped back onto the floor with the pancake mix and cinnamon in your hands.

“We can just move stuff to lower shelves.”

“I still struggle to reach those, buddy,” you laughed.

The two of you kept typical small talk as you got all the pancake mix ready, tossing in the eggs, milk, water, and a dash of cinnamon for flavor, when you stopped mid-sentence and kicked your step stool over to a different area of cupboards.

“Now what are you doing?” Bucky asked with a laugh.

“I forgot the chocolate chips.”

Before you had the opportunity to lock the wheels on your step stool, Bucky was standing in front of you and handing you the small bag of chocolate chips that sat on the second highest shelf.

“That’s way too much work,” he said, nodding towards your step stool.

“Ugh, you don’t understand me. No one does,” you grumbled, taking the chocolate chips from him and moping back to your pancake mix.

“That’s because you’re so short, you lil shit,” he laughed. When you shot daggers at him with your eyes, he walked over and pulled you into a hug. “Oh, come on, grumpy pants. Your little height struggles are adorable.”

You continued to pout and attempt to mix the chocolate chips into the mix with Bucky squeezing his arms around you. He only pulled away when your dad walked in, not even taking his eyes off his tablet as he spoke.

“Hands off my daughter, Barnes. She’s not allowed to date anyone older than me.”

[betweentales]

P R O L O G U E

In a world dominated by humans, It's easy for one to forget the horrors that lay just beneath the surface. Timelines doomed to repeat the same history, humans reign victorious over monsters! Monsters forced underground, their happy ending just out of grasp, a fingers touch away. The story told isn't one of heroes saving the underground, but the life of a child considered an accident by many. This child stood alone at the apex of a mountain whose very name was said to have been cursed. Their mind full of self-hatred and inner loathing, they cast themselves down into the darkness, seeking for something more for their life. Yet it was not to be this day, for the child came to land upon a bed of flowers, their determination bound them tight. From the darkness a voice called, exclaiming words of power and glory! However, the kind-hearted child denied, continuing forward. their attention now being taken by a smiling flower, who offers the human a guide in this wretched world. Upon accepting, its kind smile abruptly turned to that of malice and intent to kill. A motherly figure stepping in and rescuing them from deaths hands. The characters whom the story revolve around are all too similar to that of one already known, a fallen human and their brother, a king a queen, and two skeletons. However, the spotlight shines not on them. Their lives cut down too quickly for them to truly bloom and our story starts once again, with a lone child, standing at the apex of a mountain. Staring down at the years of heartache that continuously lifted them up. The puzzles they faced came relentlessly, and hope seems farther away as their motherly figured left them. However their determination once again kept them tight, they continued. Pressing on through their hardships. They were going to set the monsters free! Uniting them with the mankind they had become used to. While not inherently cruel they saw a future bright with both kinds living peacefully. However, one small lapse in judgment doomed them to stay forever in the underground. Fear keeping them from speaking to asgore, for that's all they needed to be able to live their lives peacefully on the surface. A self-placed stalemate. Three years had passed since the child had fallen from the surface, stalling the inevitable, fighting Asgore. They living a loving life in Snowdin with their family, two skeletons by the name of Sans and Papyrus. Sans, the elder, was a comedian and would often leave a few nights in a row to go perform stand up in the local bar, or library, or even in Hotlands, where the biggest hotel in the Underground was, housing the core. While, on the other side of the spectrum was an overly excited skeleton by the name of Papyrus, who was attempting to become head of the Royal Guard. A brutal service devoted to the destruction of humankind. Unfortunately, the younger skeleton was far too kind for such barbaric acts, giving up his only chance to join in favor of befriending the child. Their life's a happy one, thanks to the sacrifices their friends have had to make for them. The night of which their happy life came to a crashing halt is one that will be forever etched into their memories. The child sitting up in their comfortable bed far to early in the morning, shivering at the cold air surrounding them and quickly going to bundle themselves up, A nightmare had awoken them and continued to keep them awake. Slowly he shuffled down the stairs, the floors creaking from the years of abuse under the pressure now placed on them. Silently making their way downstairs and staring at the sleeping lump on the couch, it wasn't uncommon for the skeleton to be asleep on the couch after a long nights work but what was odd was their shivering figure. It must have been cold if even a skeleton shivered. Slowly the child laid their blanket on the shivering form and shuffled towards the kitchen, flicking on the light and staring blankly at the fridge. A note posted on the door informing the two other roommates that he (Papyrus) would be out and about today and hopes to run into them before dinner time. A sleepy murmur escaping through throat as they go and retrieve a carton of eggs from the overly large fridge. They were going to make themselves and their roommate some breakfast. They lurched over the stoves eye for longer than they would like to admit, before shuffling and sitting on top of the sleeping skeleton, laying their plate on their head and turning on the tv. Days like this were quite normal and honestly not that rare, However, the child wasn't complaining. The times he spent with the two were blissful. So wasting a day watching television with one of the two he loves was quite alright with him. The sleeping skeleton began to awaken, sitting up while still miraculously keeping the plate of eggs on their head. The shivering body leaning into the smaller humans as they watched the current mettaton broadcast, only then noticing the plate of eggs and removing them from his skull. The child looked up at the skeleton and yawned slightly, curling up into their jacket   “ Good morning…” “ Morning kiddo..whatcha watching?” the skeleton asked softly “ Mettatons latest news report…. the same thing as yesterday, except today he wore a blue tie. “ the human smiled “ Well color me surprised “ The skeleton retorted, sitting once again in silence with the smaller “ ………. Oh my god….. Anyway, Papyrus said they would be out for the day but would be back before dinner “ The child looked up “ sounds about right “ the skeleton sighed, getting out his phone and scrolling boredly. A few bored hours passed, mindlessly watching television without a care. The soft warm breath from the skeleton whos head was rested on theirs was comforting, and soon enough they found it harder and harder to keep their eyes open. Their lids fluttering ever so slightly before eventually, they found themselves asleep, and into another wonderfully horrid dream.

[nemesyis]

Cohabitation

Song Kyungil x Reader

Warnings: 18+, Fluff, Smut.

Kyungil balanced the last few boxes in his muscular arms as he attempted to shut the rear door of your hatchback.  “These are the last babe, can you get the door for me?”

You laughed as you took the top box from him before it fell. Opening the front door to your new duplex, you held the storm door for him so he could get inside without dropping the rest.  “Why are you so clumsy?”

“Only because I keep falling over you” he responded with a wink.

Rolling your eyes as you began to unpack boxes in the kitchen.  You had been dating your boyfriend, Kyungil, for two years and a month ago had made the mutual decision to move in together.  Between his job as a music producer and your successful series of horror novels, the spacious duplex was well within your means.  

He took the box next to you and began to unload dishes into the upper cupboards.  “We should think about picking out something we both like.  What do you think babe?”

You laughed, holding up two different dish towels. One was black and white checkered.  The other was black and embroidered with an little angry green man.  “What you don't like Zim?”

“It's not that I dislike Zim, I just think we could find some stuff we both like.  It would make the place feel more like our home instead of a place shared by roommates.”

“If we are going to go that route, we should probably do the bathrooms as well don’t you think?”

“Sure babe, I will get my keys.”

Looking up from your task in surprise “What, we are going now?”

“Might as well, unless you want to christen the place first” he smirked, landing a slap on your ass as he dodged into the hallway leading to your shared bedroom.

Dropping the towels, you took off after him.  He tried to shut the door to the bedroom but you shoved it open laughing.  He was ready for you and swept you up in his muscular arms and tossed you onto the bare mattress.  He followed close behind, pouncing and pinning you down.  He leaned in close enough for your noses to touch.  Glaring up at him in mock annoyance, you tried to shift his form off of you.  

“Kyungil” you groaned in exasperation, a smile threatening on the corner of your mouth.  Getting physical with him would only cause him to drop all of his dead weight on top of you.  Deciding instead to tickle him.  Slipping your hands under his loose Hulk t-shirt, you found the defined muscles on his ribs that he proudly referred to as his “tiger claws” and began to assault his sides.  

He burst into laughter and bucked upwards to get away from your onslaught.  “Babe, stop it!  Don’t tickle me.  You know how much I hate it”

“Then get off of me you big brute” you laughed.  Taking the opportunity to escape, you grabbed the car keys and made a dash for the door.  “If we are going out we might as well get some groceries too.” you decided.

Sighing in defeat, he adjusted his shirt and put on his favorite baseball cap and followed you out the door.

At the store, you stood staring at row upon row of bath towels in every color imaginable.  Your cart was loaded down with several color options.  Kyungil held up a solid black towel “Babe feel how soft it is.  We should get these.”

Glancing up from your choices, you felt the soft pile of the terry cloth and agreed “I like them, but are you sure about just solid black?”

“Why not?  We both like black.  Besides, I saw you eyeing the galaxy shower curtain and these will go with it.  Add in the stainless steel soap dish and toothbrush holder, and i think we have a winner.”

“Ugh… too many choices” you groaned.  You did like the galaxy print curtain though.  Smiling to yourself as he put the chosen items into the basket.  

“What about sheets Babe?”

“I’m sure that between the two of us, we have enough to outfit a medium sized hotel”

He laughed and took over pushing the cart.  You were going over your list as he went on about his plans for his ‘man cave’, also known as the spare bedroom.  “I can put my gaming stuff in there, a 65’ tv to play them on.  Set up a mixing board for my music, and…”

You tuned him out as you started towards the grocery aisles.  “What do you want for dinner tonight?”

“How about steak and potatoes.  I can grill them up and we can even put some steamed broccoli with it as well.”

“Sounds good.  You go pick out the meat and I will go grab the veggies.  Do we need milk or eggs?”

“Might not be a bad idea to grab them anyways.  I think my eggs went bad a couple of days ago.  I’ve been so busy packing and moving, I never had a chance to eat them all.”

Taking the cart from him, you waited until he disappeared into the refrigerated section to pick out the steaks.  Making  your way to the toy section, you picked out a matching set of nerf guns with extra ammo.  Burying the items beneath the new towels.  You then hurried back to the vegetables and grabbed a bag of potatoes and some a fresh stalk of broccoli.  You had just finished putting the green vegetable into its bag when he reappeared holding two styrofoam trays with large steaks under the plastic wrap.  “Do you approve babe?” he asked.

Inspecting the meat, you nodded your approval. You smiled up at him “I always like it when you show me your meat” you said in your most innocent voice.

He chuckled and put the steaks in the basket. Leaning closer he whispered “I’ll show you my special meat later”

You batted at him playfully and pushed the cart towards the dairy section.  Selecting a dozen jumbo eggs as he grabbed a gallon of milk.  You were just about to head to the front to pay and leave when he stopped and headed towards the pet section.  “I need to grab kitty litter and a bag of food.  Sihyoung and his girlfriend are bringing Moonie over later tonight.”

Your boyfriend had a cat.  A solid black cat named Moonbin.  His friend had been kitty-sitting during the move.  One corner of your new living room was taken up by a large cat tree.  You had made sure he put it far enough away from the curtains to keep them from being shredded.  It still had a view out the window so Moonie could watch the birds and squirrels that ran around in your backyard.  

“Where are you putting the litter box?”

“I figured we could put it in the spare bathroom for now.  We can figure out a permanent place to put it later.”

While you paid for the purchases, Kyungil bagged the items and loaded it back into the basket.  Thankfully he hadn’t noticed the nerf guns.  You had bagged them yourself.  You were finally ready to go home.

Once home, Kyungil helped carry everything inside.  He set about putting the groceries away as you took the new bathroom towels to the master bath and began to decorate.  You managed to hide the nerf guns in the bottom of your closet under your lower row of hanging clothes.  

Returning to the bathroom, you discovered that you forgot to get toilet paper.  You had one roll left and decided  you would stop by the store again tomorrow on your way home from work.  It wasn’t worth getting back out again.  

Kyungil called from the kitchen, “Babe, how do you want your steak?”

“You know how I like it” you called back.  “I’ll be in there shortly to start the potatoes.”

“Don’t worry about them, I’ve already started” was his reply.

You voiced your acknowledgment and began the task of making up the bed.  Choosing your favorite set of sheets.  Clouds and rainbows on a sky blue background.  You knew he secretly hated them, but would put up with them for your sake.  As you fluffed the comforter and smoothed it over, you looked up at the bare walls.  “Hey Sickness!” you called to him.  “What do you want to put on the walls in here?”

“How about that new piece I got last month”

“The abstract nude?”

“Yeah, I like that one a lot”

Eyeing the piece you picked it up and turned it upright then sideways.  You were never sure which way it was supposed to go.  It had been gifted to him by his friend Seunghyun as a pre-emptive house warming present.  Kyungil told you a couple of times that it was supposed to be you.  Unsure how exactly the tangle of blocky shapes was supposed to be you, let alone a human was a mystery.  “Which way is up again?”

He came into the bedroom and took the art piece from you.  He turned it completely upside down “This is the right side up Baby.  How about we put it over the dresser?”

Shrugging, you handed him a nail and hanging hook as he located the stud finder.  Finding the stud in the center of the wall, he passed the stud finder to you and picked up the hammer.  He was just beginning to position the nail when you passed the handheld device over his ass.  Looking over his shoulder at you and smiling “What are you doing?”

“It’s a stud finder right?  I was trying to find a stud” you grinned cheekily.

He shook his head and finished his task.  Hanging the painting on the wall.  “You’re trying to find a stud right?  Well you got one right here” he said, flexing his bicep at you.

Rolling your eyes with a smile you went to the kitchen to go check on the potatoes.  The pot had just reached a rolling boil.  You turned down the heat and placed the lid on the pot.  Taking your steamer basket and the broccoli out, you washed the vegetable and chopped the stalk up into florets.  Dumping the contents into your steam basket, you added water and put it on the stove.  

Kyungil came up and embraced you from behind.  Planting a kiss behind your ear.  “I love to watch you being domestic.  It is such a turn on.”

Arching into him, you rubbed your ass against his crotch and smiled “I know you do.  Just don't think I’m gonna become your little stay at home wife.”

“I would never assume you would.  But if you ever wanted to, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.”

Turning in his arms, you ran your hands down his chest.  Looking up at him from under your lashes you smiled.  “A lady of leisure? I don’t think I could ever do that.  My fans would never let me.  I’m in the middle of a series.  I can’t leave them hanging.  Not only that, I doubt my publisher would let me off that easy.”

Dipping his head, he stole a heated kiss and groped your ass before he took the pot of potatoes off the stove and replaced it with the cast iron griddle.  He brought it up to heat quickly and gently lay the steaks on to it.  The aroma of cooking meat and spices filled the kitchen.  He drained the potatoes and went digging for the masher while the steaks sizzled.  You checked the broccoli.  Finding them just tender enough, you removed them from the heat and dumped them into a bowl.  Adding butter and salt, you sat the bowl on the table.  

“They smell amazing.  I didn't realize I was this hungry” you confessed as you set the table.  

Your boyfriend opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of red wine that had been chilling all day.  He popped it open and set it in a bowl of ice.  “I don’t know where the ice bucket is” he laughed.  

You set the bowl of potatoes on the table and went hunting for wine glasses.  “Which box did you pack them in?”

“How should I know.  You packed your own kitchen stuff.  Don’t worry about it.  We can break the rules and use water glasses.  Just don't tell Seunghyun.  He might actually hurt us or send us to the inquisition for using anything other than wine glasses for this.”

The doorbell rang just as you were finishing dinner.  Kyungil answered and you heard the voices of his friend Sihyoung and his girlfriend, Kate, in the front entry.  The voices were accompanied by the frantic meowing of an extremely disgruntled cat.  “Yeah, he didn’t really like the car ride so much.  But he was a good kitty for us.” Sihyoung told his friend.  

“Come on in, Y/N and I just finished dinner.’

You wiped your hands and went to greet your guests.  Smiling as you shook hands with Sihyoung and Kate.  “So sorry it’s such a mess.  We literally brought over the last few boxes today.”

Kate smiled.  “No need to apologize. Nacho and I were the same when we moved in to our place”

The two of you and the other couple exchanged conversation for about fifteen minutes before they left.  Kyungil let Moonbin out of his crate and the only thing you saw of the cat was a black streak that flew down the hall and under the bed.  Any attempts by your boyfriend to coax the cat out were met with disgruntled growls and hisses.  “Just leave him be for a while.  He will come out when he is ready” you laughed.  

While he was distracted you took the opportunity to quietly open and load the nerf guns.  Leaving one with a note on the bed, you snuck out and hid somewhere in the house.  

Kyungil got to his feet and saw the toy laying on top of the covers.  A note with it said:

“I am somewhere in the house.  This is your weapon for the night.  Loser has to make dinner for a week.  Winner gets to pick their prize”

Grinning he went on the offensive.  Belly crawling down the hallway, he searched for signs of your feet behind the sofa.  Not finding you, he ducked into the guest bathroom and looked behind the shower curtain.  

While his back was turned, you took the opportunity to launch a stealth attack.  Popping off a shot at his back as you dove out of the hall closet and into the kitchen.

He yelped in surprise and turned in enough time to see you disappear around the corner.  He was in hot pursuit.  He took a flying leap, firing after you. He landed on the sofa and rolled to the floor as a couple of your foam projectiles bounced off of the cushions.  

You took off down the hallway again and dove between the bed and the wall next to the door to the master bathroom.  He chased after you laughing “You are so in for it Y/N.  Just wait till I win.”

He took cover on the opposite side of the bed as the fire fight went full force.  Moonie took off out of the bedroom in a flash of black fur as his hiding place became much to noisy as the two of you laughed till you couldn't breathe any longer.  Kyungil put his hands up in surrender.  “I give up.  I’m out of ammo.”

Laughing you held your weapon out in front of you.  As you came around the bed, he attacked and tackled you onto the mattress again.  This time you didn't fight back quite as hard.  He kissed you all over your face and neck.  You squealed as his hair tickled your neck.  Breathless with laughter you stared at each other smiling.  

As you lay under him, the tension became palpable.  He leaned down and gently brushed his lips to yours.  You met is lips half way and his kiss became hungry.  He pulled back and sat on his knees long enough to pull his shirt over his head.  You devoured the sight with your eyes.  You loved looking at him.  His bronze skin rippled over muscle.  Dragging your gaze back up to his face, you blushed.  He had caught you staring.  “Like what you see?” he asked as he bent back down to claim your lips once more.

Kyungil watched as your pupils dilated with desire and your breath became shallow.  He crashed his lips to yours with bruising force and ran his tongue along the seam of your lips demanding entry.  As your lips parted for him, so did your knees. He settled his hips between your thighs and rocked against your core.  He could feel your heat through your leggings and his jeans.  He groaned when you ran your nails down the expanse of his back before grabbing onto his ass.  

Your breath hitched when you felt his growing erection nudge against your sex.  It caused a shockwave of pleasure to ricochet through your body.  Moaning into his mouth, you urged him along with your hands.  When his fingers delved under your leggings and pushed your panties to the side, your eyes snapped open as they found the sensitive little nub of flesh and began to rub circles around it.  

“Please Kyungil, I need more”

“Begging already?”  

“Fuck you”

“Okay”

You grinned as he stripped off your leggings and panties in one tug.  You were in for it now and you knew it.

“Always such a brat” he smiled before he buried his face between your thighs.  ]

“When am I not”

This was all the answer you could give before he had you a panting wailing mess beneath his talented tongue.  Your entire body jolted as the deft muscle stiffened and flattened against your clit and sent you spiraling over the edge.  He tore a long and loud wail from you as you came on his tongue.  

“That’s my girl”

You lay there panting, coming down off of your high.  He pulled you upright and helped you out of your shit and bra.  As you lay back, he stood to strip off his jeans and boxers.  The sight of his hard cock dripping precum made your mouth water.  “Lay on the bed for me.”

He sat obediently and lay back on the mattress, his feet still flat on the floor.  You lay your upper torso across his belly and wasted no time in taking his entire length into your mouth.  He sucked in a breath and you sucked him down your throat.  There were perks for not having a gag reflex.  You held him as long as possible before you had to come up for air.  Swallowing hard around his cock before pulling back.  

“Fuck baby, you do that again and I’m gonna cum down that pretty throat of yours.”

“You becoming a minuteman on me?”

He laughed and flipped you over.  “I’ll show you minuteman” as he slid into your cunt from behind.  He pressed your chest to the mattress and began thrusting with long hard strokes.  

“Ffffuck… harder, fuck me harder!”

He obliged and picked up his pace.  Thank god your bed did not have a headboard.  The neighbors if they were home would have been subjected to the pounding against the wall.  As it was, they knew exactly what he was doing to you by your vocalizations alone.  Kyungil always reduced you to a moaning screaming mess.  

Arching your back as you felt the tightly wound spring in your abdomen snap, you came loudly.  Hips jerking wildly as your orgasm dripped messily down your thighs. Kyungil held on and fucked you through your orgasm, his own thighs drenched by you.  

“Im going to cum Baby, where do you want it?”

“Cum all over my ass” was your breathy reply.

Kyungil wrapped an arm around your waist as he chased his own pleasure.  His hips began to lose their rhythm as he neared his own end.  Fucking into you hard once, twice, and on the third he quickly pulled out and you felt spurts of hot cum land on your lower back and ass.  “Oh my god, how lucky am I to have a girlfriend with such a good pussy” he groaned, his body wracked with pleasure.  

You looked back at him over your shoulder, blowing your hair from your eyes with a puff.  “Just lucky I guess.  Now get me a towel.  Not one of the new ones.  I don't want to have to wash them just yet.”

He laughed as he left you in your face down ass up position to search for a towel.  “Which box did you pack those in?”

Groaning you called back “It was the one marked master bathroom”

“Its not in here Babe.  Sit tight, I will go look in the garage.  It might be out there for some reason” he said as he pulled on his boxers and walked out of the room.

“I swear to god Kyungil.  Just hand me any towel.  I’m going to have to wash all the bedding again as it is. I can throw it in with the comforter.”

“Good, I didn't want to sleep on rainbows and clouds tonight anyway.” he laughed.

“Asshole!”

-End

[stripestheboar]

Stagnant Decay Chapter 5

AAAAAAAAND we’re back.

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Papyrus wasted no time in cooking up a quick meal for the two of them, making a quiche since he felt like showing off his below average cooking skills. He knew how to construct he food, but when it came to taste, it came up just short of edible. Some would say he had looking good but being awful down to a science. Still, it was a sort of peaceful activity for him; as much as he enjoyed the company of others, being alone with his own thoughts was a privacy he refused to take for granted. His thoughts were on the incidents of that morning. As much as his newfound roommate was quite the monster, he was still taken aback by every oddity he discovered as time progressed. For now, though, it was the almost prophetic way Dust knew about his schedule that threw him through a loop. He attempted to push it all aside, but he would admit that his curiosity was more than peaked.

The tall skeleton hummed to himself softly, finishing up breakfast and turning around to the table to serve it. He was stopped for a moment, noticing Dust waiting eagerly at the table. There were six chairs at their brand new table, just in case any of his friends came over, and yet Dust chose the exact chair Sans would always take when he decided to stay and eat. Papyrus was just about to tell Dust to pick another chair (politely, of course), as it was his brother’s chair, but then remembered that Sans most likely wouldn’t be joining them. So, to be a gracious host, he allowed the small skeleton to sit there, serving him the plate of magic food before going over to the pantry.

Dust picked up his fork, a starved expression evident across his face. That tired look lifted slightly, the grin widening as he skewered a piece onto his fork. Papyrus assumed he must be very hungry. After all, he hadn’t seen the other eat at all the day before. He let out a small exhale to himself, pausing before grabbing his box of oatmeal and dinosaur eggs. It was quick and easy, and before long, he had a bowl of his favorite food in a small bowl. Taking it over to the table to eat with Dust, he was surprised to see all the food on the other’s plate suddenly gone. He blinked his sockets in initial confusion, quickly bending down and searching under the table. Surprisingly nothing. He stood back up, brow bone furrowed, but with pride welling up in his ribcage.

“Breakfast was great,” Dust complimented slowly, snapping the other’s attention to him. “Can I…” He paused, looking away for a moment as Papyrus awaited the ending of the question. “Is there more?” The taller monster stared for a few seconds, before proudly leaping up. “Of course there is!” he declared, taking up the plate and quickly moving to the kitchen to retrieve seconds. “The Great Papyrus always makes extra for those enraptured by his food’s astounding taste!”

Now observing more carefully, Papyrus now noticed the slight glimmer of joy in the other’s mismatched eyelights as the taller skeleton returned, as if it was the first time he’d seen food in over a month. “Aha! It seems that you and your more than well-tuned palate wait for another taste of my craft, yes?” Papyrus told him joyfully, sliding the plate over. Dust just grinned in response, before promptly eating his meal at a fast pace. Well, “eating at a fast pace” was a bit of an understatement; the small monster practically inhaled the entire plate. Papyrus couldn’t help but clasp his gloved hands in momentary glee, seeing as no one had ever really taken to his food in such a way.  

His attention was soon drawn away, though, as he noticed the not-Sans get up from his seat and head over to the incredibly tall sink, presumably to go wash his plate. While he was, of course, surprised, he wasn’t ever going to complain. A Sans that actually took the time out of his busy sleeping schedule and did his dishes was nothing short of a blessing in his mind. However, a small problem soon arose once both were reminded of the towering hight of their kitchen sink, all thanks to Papyrus’ insistence. Dust stood there, staring up at the sink for a moment in what could only be assumed to be puzzlement as he looked at the enigmatic problem before him. Still, he just seemed to shrug it off and tried to somehow climb on top of the counters to reach the sink. His endeavor was quickly stopped when he felt two gloved hands wrap around his ribcage. He flinched, of course, nearly dropping the plate and doing something he knew he would regret, but Papyrus made sure to keep a sturdy hold on him. “It seems like you need a boost!” he told him confidently, lifting the other up to where he would be able to reach the top of the sink made for only the likes of the younger skeleton. Dust could only remain still, stiff as a board in the other’s care, and as he seemed to slowly realize what had occurred and started washing his plate, he never once loosened up. Papyrus could count many times where he was forced to pick up his lazybones bag of a brother to transport him somewhere he didn’t want to go, and each time Sans was about as rigid as a cooked spaghetti noodle.  

He momentarily wondered what Dust’s version of himself was like, but refused to think of such a thought any further after a few considerations.

As soon as Dust was set down, Papyrus pulled his hands away, taking a quick moment to look down at them. He quickly felt himself go stiff, his sockets widening in a horror that was not new new him in the past day. Covering the palm of his red gloves was a thin layer of dust, contrasted from handling the said skeleton for that short moment in time. Memories flashed of the dusted monster and the tightened grip on his soul from the irreversible consequences. Panic and shame quickly filled him and he slapped his gloves  onto his clothes and brushed then off to wipe the powder off as hastily as possible. It looked almost as if he was attempting to put out a fire on his shirt, the same type of panic on his face that you would see on a man on fire. Dust merely watched, expression sagged as he slowly blinked his tired sockets. Papyrus clenched his hands, stuffing them into his pockets so as to not look at them and feel the disgusting and itching crawl on his bones of the powder that was no longer there.  

“I b-believe it’s time we get you cleaned up,” he said stiffly, gesturing upstairs. “Your clothes are filthy, and I’m sure you need a bath with all that…” He cleared his voice, striding past Dust. “Come on, I don’t mind you using ours. I can even get you some clothes!” He was sure Sans wouldn’t mind if he took a few articles of clothing; he never wore anything else besides that hoodie and a pair of loose-fitting shorts, after all. Dust didn’t argue, simply following the larger skeleton up the stairs and to Sans’ room. Papyrus gripped the handle to open it, but soon found that it was locked as always. He let out a small huff of annoyance at his brother’s difficulty, reaching into his inventory for something.

Dust noticed the small setback and stepped forward and Papyrus messed with the handle. “Don’t worry, I can open it for-“  

“No need,” Papyrus cut him off, the door suddenly swinging open. The smaller monster stopped in his tracks, staring at the ajar door in initial confusion. “Just a little jam with the handle is all,” the other continued, going into the room and quickly snatching up a few articles from the bottom of Sans’ drawers in his dresser. What he had was a pair of black sweatpants and an old blue hoodie Sans could never let go of. He smiled to himself in satisfaction, turning around to face Dust, who still stood in the doorway with a look of slight confusion as he gazed at the door and its handle.

“Papyrus…” he drawled softly. “Did you just…?”

“Take a few articles of clothing? Of course I did,” Papyrus hummed quickly, moving past the other and shutting the door behind him. Within seconds, it was locked again, and Dust’s confusion expression turned into one of silent realization and thoughtfulness at what he saw. He said nothing about it though, and Papyrus knew that would be best for now.  

He gave Dust a gentle hand on the spine to guide him along to the bathroom, complete with a tub and a sink that Sans would actually be able to reach. He retrieved a white towel from the closet and set it down on the sink counter with the clothes placed neatly on top. “There you are,” he grinned, gesturing to the shower. “Take as long as you like, as long as you get those bones clean. I’ll wash your clothes.” The smaller was silent for a moment, staring over at the towel and clothes, before slowly tilting his skull up to look at Papyrus. “Paps… you don’t have to do this for me,” he mumbled in his usual hushed tone, but he skeleton in question seemed to just brush it off with a shake of his skull. “Nonsense. I needed to do my own laundry anyways.” He looked down at Dust, placing a hand on his shoulder and feeling him stiffen. “Besides… I don’t want you to stress yourself. It’s obvious you’ve dealt with more than your fair share of worries. I want to make sure you’re feeling alright. Maybe it will finally help you get a bit of rest. After all, how long has it been since you’ve had a nap? If you really are Sans, you must be far behind your busy napping schedule.”

Dust paused as usual, taking be time to consider Papyrus’ words. Sans was never so slow, usually replying with a painfully unfunny line within a second, seemingly having a response for everything.  

The smaller skeleton’s sagged features lifted some, the eternal smile pulled upwards as he placed a hand atop Papyrus’. “Thank you…” he mumbled, squeezing the other’s fingers. “I… really appreciate it.” The other just closed his sockets with a smiled, giving the shoulder a quick pat before removing his hand. “Appreciate me all you want,” he grinned, a hand on the hip of his pelvis. “The Great Papyrus will take your appreciation as payment for his good deeds. Now, when you’re ready, place your clothes outside the door and I’ll come to clean them, understood?” With a curt nod as confirmation, he let out a small “nyeh heh heh” as he left the room, shutting the door behind him with an unintentional slam.

Once there was a door between them, Papyrus let out a small exhale, his clavicles slumping slightly as he looked back at the bathroom. It took him only a few seconds, but before long, he was straightened up again and marching downstairs confidently.

Everything was fine.

For now.

If you really are Sans, you must be far behind your busy napping schedule.

Sans stared at the closed door for a long moment, before beginning to search the bathroom, his motions slow and deliberate as his sockets took in everything that looked so new and yet so familiar. He could accurately name the brand of the soap used before he pulled back the curtains. Papyrus insisted on only one brand after all, after a marketer at an outlet mall had wrung his brother in by guaranteeing white and smooth bones. As insignificant as it may seem, Sans’ skull still kept the fond memory, storing it away for future reminiscing.  

If you really are Sans, you must be far behind your busy napping schedule.

They were back once again, though this time only in whispered hushes that pulled at the edges of his mind, attempting to snag his attention. It was unfair that his focus had been moved from them when all he ever paid attention for years had been them. Sans merely ignored them, choosing to undress despite their protests and silently placing his clothes outside the door. Starting the water, he placed the faucet on its hottest setting, steam quickly thickening the air and whitening the mirror within seconds.

Skeletons weren’t effected by any temperature that didn’t freeze their marrow or melt them on the spot. They could still feel it, but it never nipped at them or caused the slight tingling of pain that humans often described. Warmth wasn’t a necessity for them. Most of the time.

Sans slowly slipped into the water, his cold, tired bones quickly heated by the scalding water. He was as rigid as a slab of concrete as he eased himself in, warm water a definite first for him in such a long time. He had never thought of his own cleanliness in forever, to the point where he had forgotten what such luxuries even felt like. Despite the temperature feeling near boiling, he could only feel ecstasy as he slid in until the water reached his rib cage. He ignored the small layer of light gray that was swarmed around him as the dust was washed from his bones. That would be all down the drain soon enough, and with it, that panic that Papyrus donned with each time he touched him. He never wanted to see that expression on his brother’s skull again, ever.  

If you really are Sans, you must be far behind your busy napping schedule.

His brow bone furrowed. They would let that one drop, would they? He let out a soft sigh, closing his tired sockets in attempt to shut them out.

It was merely a fluke. Papyrus had misspoken, that’s all. There was nothing else to it.  

It was a mistake.

Papyrus wouldn’t say something like that to Sans unless it was a mistake.

‘If you really are Sans.’

His sockets shot open, catching a flash of red out of the corner of his vision. The red had ducked behind the edge of the tub, wisps of red fabric disappearing in a single moments at the words echoed in his skull.  

“I am Sans,” he whispered in hushed tones, knowing the one that still stuck with him could hear him perfectly despite it.  

‘You’re not his Sans.’

Sans had nothing to say to that, his expression unable to form a glare due to his restless nature. So instead, he replied with a question. “So what would that make you?”

‘You have not forgotten, have you?’

A crimson, clawed hand latched onto the edge of the tub, it’s movements sudden. Sans was quick to turn his skull, refusing to acknowledge the red. He wasn’t going to fall for this. He was home, and he was with Papyrus. The voiced of they and him were quick to overlap, flooding him with their words and their deceptions. Flashes of red were always at the corner of his vision, attempting to grab his fleeting attention.

You are not supposed to be here.

‘If you really are Sans.’

You need to continue.

‘We need to go home.’

You need to finish what you started.

‘Please don’t push me away.’

Don’t leave us.

‘Please come home.’

Sans ground his teeth, his concentration faltering as he grabbed the soap. He would not be taking as long as he had originally hoped, but right now, he needed Papyrus. He was quick to wash his bones, clearing his white exterior of the layers of dust that only served as a reminder. They continued their vain attempts, hut for the first time in who knows how long, he dismissed and ignored them. The one he once sought care from now pushed away. He drained the water, sitting in the tub to watch with glee as the dirtied liquid was flushed down the drain. Even while he was drying himself off, though, they persisted, not taking any form of refusal as an answer. Sans quickly dressed himself in the familiar clothing, stopping in a stiff pose like a cat in a sweater. Once he was sure he was dry, he used the towel to wipe off the white sheet that fogged up the mirror, and once he got a look at his expression, the voices lessened. They continued their persisting, but grew weaker as he left the room with a faster hurry than he had showed so far. He had almost immediately bumped into Papyrus, who looked down at him in slight surprise.

They didn’t let up, growing ever louder as he stared up at the monster he knew to be his brother.  

He was home, and he knew that to be true.

Even still, they persisted.

“Papyrus…” he spoke, his grin stretching up slightly as he brought a shaking hand up. Papyrus seemed to know exactly what to do at that moment, grabbing the hand gently and grinning down at him. Sans obviously flinched, still sensitive to the contact of another. “See? Much better already! You look clean as can be!”  

They were almost deafening at this point. He needed his reassurance, and he needed it before they broke him.

“Papyrus… can you… I…I…”

He brought his other hand up, a certain desperation apparent in his voice as he tried to calm the flurry. Papyrus tilted his skull, but seemed to recognize the movement in an instant, quickly bending down to bring Sans into a gentle hug.

Sans nearly lurched in surprise, his shaking frame unable to keep still. This was all so familiar. This was home.

“Aha! I see you need your daily dose of brotherly hugs, hmm? Don’t worry! The Great Papyrus will be more than happy to fill you in!”

In an instant, they were silenced. Sans felt a warmth, resonating from deep within his soul, a type of warm feeling that rivaled the heat of the bath water.

He was home.

[mccblogger-blog]

MCC April 2017 Trip to Mallorca by Thomas Few

MCC’s intrepid band of rascals departed for the fair isle of Mallorca (or Majorca if you’re English and want to spell it incorrectly) earlier than I thought humanly possible on a Friday morning at the beginning of April. The bus began its rounds at roughly 1am, meaning not one of us had an ounce of sleep that night. The party contained myself (Thomas Few), Chris and the world famous Jack Lee, David Nicholas, Blaine Phelps, Adrian Sullivan, Gareth Jehu, Nigel Jones, Mark Andrews, Anthony Swiss Jam-Boner Big Ring Cowdry and Phil Pryor. A more quality band of men has never been seen. 

We arrived at Bristol airport in good spirits considering the lack of sleep and proceeded to the newly refurbished restaurant in the departure lounge, named after the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. With a name like that he was always going to do well in life. The true men’s men of the group, myself, Adrian and Gareth opted for a pint of the finest Guinness, whereas most of the other lightweights stuck to non-alcoholic fare. An embarrassing way to start the tour I thought to myself. On my recommendation a few of the boys decided to order the Eggs Benedict. A fine choice indeed and no doubt they will thank for me the recommendation one day, as I feel even before we left the UK, I had improved their lives for the better. 

We arrived at our hotel in Puerto Pollensa at around 11am and after a quick and easy check-in, we headed to Palms Bar for lunch before our first ride. In my opinion it was madness to even contemplate riding after a full 24 hours plus with no sleep, but not wanting to appear weak, I went along with it. The bikes were delivered bang on time and we were greeted by what looked like half decent Eddie Merckx bikes. Over time we came to realise they weren’t great. Rumours are flying that the bikes cost a fraction of what we paid for them and Chris embezzled the rest to pay for Jack’s Rapha addiction, but I’m saying nothing.

We headed out to Formentor lighthouse for our first ride, which was a total of 38 miles and plenty of climbing. The views were nothing short of spectacular and after just this one ride I can see why people come back here to ride year on year. 

With our first ride out of the way it was time for our first meal at Pollensa Park’s all you can eat buffet. The ride incidentally was a walk in the park for what was to come! The buffet, which featured nearly everything you can think of, was ideal after a long hard day. In my opinion the food may have been too good and too plentiful, as while I may have cycled over 350 miles in Mallorca, I went home weighing 5lbs more than I did at the start of the week! While I did my fair share of eating, it was noted by all that Gareth Jehu knows his way around a plate of food. Underneath that lean physique hides the soul of a fat man. Following a monster feeding session, we headed to Palms for a few pints. Some drank more than others over the course of the week and while I may not set the world alight on my bike, I certainly feel my drinking skillset made up for this. 

I shared a room with the one and only Mark Andrews. I had heard many negative stories about Mark’s exploits as a roommate, mostly focussing on his powerful snoring. While I cannot dispel these allegations, as Mark does indeed snore like a mule, it was not as bad as I was led to believe and I did manage to get to sleep. Our room was kept nice and tidy and Mark showed me how to hang my bib shorts over the balcony to dry. Key attributes of a strong tourist. Would I share with Mark again? Yes I would. 

Our first ‘proper’ ride of the tour started with a big climb up somewhere called ‘Lluc’, which everyone pronounced as ‘Look’. I came to quickly learn this type of long, gradual climb, with switchback upon switchback is typical of Mallorca. After a descent of the ‘Big Pig’ we eventually made it to lunch at the port of Soller, which was yet another stunning setting with impressive views. Seemingly at the top of every climb and around every corner in Mallorca you’re greeted with incredible views and breath-taking scenery. I’ve said it before, but what a place! After lunch we headed back to Pollensa via some places I can’t remember the names of clocked off with an 88 mile ride to our names. Stirling work. The evening proceeded exactly the same as the previous evening. If you’re interested just read the above bit again. 

Day 3 saw us take on the legendary climb of Sa Calobra. Obviously, in Mallorca to get to a climb, you also have to do many other climbs first, the biggest of which was up the Selva gorge. Chris had previously told me this was his favourite climb on the island and I’m inclined to agree. Not too steep a gradient and plenty of shade. Perfect for someone as terrified of the sun as me. I attacked the climb with reckless abandon, finishing ahead of accomplished warriors such as Blaine, Phil and Mark. I was thinking, ‘is this the turning point? Is this my time to shine?’….turns out it wasn’t. After Selva the group split, with Adrian, Mark, Nigel and new recruit Tony heading back down ‘Look’ with the rest of us heading to Sa Calobra.

The road down into Sa Calobra has to be seen to be believed. Just over 6 miles of snaking hairpin bends. Lovely descent, not so lovely climb. One road in, one road out. Following the descent into Calobra we enjoyed lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beach, eating not too much, but not too little. These decisions are critical. Following my big performance up Selva I was excited about the prospect of taking on Sa Calobra. Alas, it did not go well. The first group of myself, Blaine, Dai and Phil set off first, with the racing snakes giving us a bit of a head start. The first two miles went well. Blaine and myself side by side, chatting away, but then it hit me and my world came crashing down around me. Blaine continued on up the road and carried on talking, oblivious to the fact I was now about 50 yards behind and going backwards. He flew up Sa Calobra like a man possessed, all his training paying off big time. The KM King has earned his crown. First Jack and Chris flew past, then Gareth and then Phil. I was in a dark place. 3 miles down, 3 miles to go and I can barely turn the pedals. I am broken. The bonk is real. Next to pass me is Dai. Luckily for me, Dai took pity on me and slowed to my crawling pace and talked me up the rest of the climb. I strongly believe if it wasn’t for Dai I’d still be somewhere on the road halfway up Calobra. What a guy. About an hour later I rolled into the café at the top of the climb a broken shell of a man. I can’t remember what was said to me or what was happening. I don’t know how I managed to get back to Pollensa, but somehow it happened. Another 80 miles in the bag and a lesson in the art of bonking. Later that night we headed in to town to meet Tony for a few beers. Tony is a mate of Blaine’s and is a cycling mad businessman from Basingstoke. He rode a Pinarello. Unfortunately for old Tony it didn’t make him any quicker up those climbs! 

Day 4 and some of us decided to take this as a bit of a rest day. The group headed out as usual at 9.30 ish and 25 miles later found ourselves in the beautiful town of Petra. After coffee and cake in the square, myself, Dai, Phil, Nigel and Tony decided to turn around and head back to base. Just 50 miles today thank you. Phil and myself did our best taking turns on the front to get us back in time for a delightful spot of lunch in Tolo’s on the seafront at Pollensa, the place with Bradley Wiggins’ TdF winning bike up on the wall. After lunch Adrian and myself decided to relax by the pool with a beer. One thing led to another and by the time the rest of the group got back I found myself six pints in and apparently slurring. I don’t believe a word of it though and enjoyed a few more at Palms later that night, while presenting an EC Cycles jersey to the owner. While I took all the glory and was centre stage on the Facebook post, in actuality it was Swiss’ jersey. Sorry mate! 

Day 5 and we had a big one lined up. The day started with a husband and wife from Cardiff Ajax complementing us on our fabulous new club kit. They were dazzled by the fiery coral (raging pink) and were green with envy at the concept of our ‘home and away’ kit variations. I’ll try to keep this bit far shorter than the ride itself, which was 105 miles or so. It was long. It was hilly. It was hard. We didn’t have lunch until about 4pm. We only just got back before dark. Orient, Deia and Valdemossa were impressive. Swiss swanned off to do Big Pig and Sa Calobra on his own with no food. All in the big ring. Easy. What a day. Myself, Gareth, Blaine, Adrian and Nigel decided to leave the hotel to find a restaurant for a steak. We settled on ‘Hotel Romantico’ which was an ideal location for a bottle of fine red wine. Clearly we were the sophisticated raconteurs of the group. 

Day 6. Mark awoke complaining that his backside was sore after yesterday’s ride. I took this with a pinch of salt as most people would. However when Mark showed me what he was talking about I took it all back. Red raw is an understatement. It’s safe to say I’ve never seen anything like it. My attempts at treatment failed, but luckily Dai was on hand with some magic cream to save the day. How Mark got on a bike that morning I will never know, but he only lasted so long before him, Nigel and Adrian headed back early to put their feet up.

The rest of us ploughed on to the monastery atop Sant Salvador. We flew through the lanes chain-gang style at what felt like 40mph and we made it to the base of the climb in no time. I was feeling good so attacked the climb with vigour. I will never learn. After lunch we headed back toward Muro for a coffee. The pace was yet again relentless and Dai was heard to shout from his position at the back of the group ‘Slow down, it’s hard work at the back’. The logic being that the wind goes over the top of the group and then drops at the back, hitting Dai full tilt. I am inclined to agree as I was struggling as well. After a coffee at Muro we headed back to Pollensa. I mentioned earlier that I never learn…the bonk was real and yet again I was broken. This time it was Swiss’ turn to nurse me back onto the group. Eventually we got back to Palms some 95 miles later. A few select Trojans decided to head back out to do some more miles to hit 100. I was not one of them. A few pints at Palms and that was our last night over and done with. 

Day 7. Some rode, some didn’t. I certainly didn’t. Our flight didn’t land in Bristol until 1am and I had a wedding to attend the following morning so I didn’t think I needed to add any more fatigue to the equation. Instead a day of shopping, coffee drinking, massages and sitting by the pool was in order. Why we didn’t do all that sooner I have no idea. We departed the hotel later that evening, leaving Gareth behind to spend a few days more in Mallorca with his wife. Incidentally, after 7 hard days on the bike without any damage, Gareth managed to sustain a back injury while relaxing by the pool for a few days with the missus...feel free to insert your own innuendo based pun at this point. 

All in all, the trip to Mallorca was a resounding success. No injuries, barring Mark’s backside and no arguments. Miraculous considering Anthony slept on the balcony as Phil’s snoring was so bad! We got in a very solid block of training, had a great time with plenty of laughs and looked like pros in our new kit. What more do you want? Personally, I can’t wait until next year. My plan was to follow Gareth’s lead and stay on for a few days with Alice, but then again I don’t want to come home with a bad back, so maybe it’ll be a boys only trip for me again next year! Thanks for a great week lads and a big thanks to Chris for organising. Bring on Mallorca 2018.

[balshumetsbaragouin]

Bittersweet Future: Chapter Seven

Summary:

One often finds their destiny on the road they take to avoid it...

If Some Things are Inevitable…

Sunday morning rose well before either Vlad or Danny were ready to greet it. Despite Vlad’s early riser status, the last 24 hours had been harrowing to say the least. For the first time since teenhood, he slept well past midmorning, only appearing a little before noon at the beckoning of his stomach. Danny was more than happy to curl up in a bed and sleep till Armageddon, until he smelled something wonderful wafting up the stairs and into the bedroom. He was sharing what would be his room, in the future, with Vlad. The future arch-nemesis had graciously offered Danny the one bed in the room, opting to sleep on the floor. Which was just fine with a sleep addled Danny, because sharing a bed with Vlad was still on his ‘never happening’ list. Though he had to admit, the list’s items had been changed a lot recently, with ‘stay inside Vlad’s house’ and ‘fight with him willingly’ being struck from it. He slowly uncurled as the delicious scent twisted under his nose, enticing him from the bowels of sleep. He cast a blurry-eyed furtive glance around the room, hoping to feign sleep if Vlad was still around. Finding nothing but the inside of his currently sparsely decorated bedroom, Danny shrugged the covers off and shuffled towards the door. There wasn’t a clock to be seen, so he didn’t know the time, but his stomach obviously determined it was time for food. He clopped down the stairs and turned towards the kitchen; where he could hear someone clattering cookware together to make food. Vlad was making a smorgasbord. He couldn’t remember being quite this hungry in awhile, but he assumed it has something to do with the battle yesterday and the few days before that. He smiled down at the practical breakfast buffet he was making. True enough it was officially time for lunch, but he didn’t care. He looked over his shoulder when he heard Danny stumble down the stairs and into the kitchen. “I see the smell of food woke you up.” He turned around to stir a pot of oatmeal while he waited for Danny process his sentence. “Yeah. It smells good.” His brain was working on monosyllabic at the moment. He lifted his tired head from the table and looked over at the stove. “What are you making?” “Oatmeal, bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, pancakes, and waffles. Plus toast, in a second or two.” Vlad flipped over a pancake as the waffle iron went off next to him. “Wow. Is, um, that all for you?” Danny only barely lifted his head from the table to ask, before setting it back down. Vlad snorted in response to the innocent question. “Of course not Daniel. You don’t expect me to eat this by myself? Well, I feel like I could at the moment, but I’m not going to.” He paused to slap the newest waffle onto the plate of them he was collecting and finished off the pancakes. Danny smiled into the table top. He was way too tired to think about cooking something at the moment, and sore on top of it. Something vaguely concerning tickled at the back of his mind, and he looked around the kitchen. His eyes finally settled on the clock in the room, before widening in surprise. “It’s nearly half past noon, where’s everyone else?” “Maddie is in the lab, Jack has gone grocery shopping, Jasmine is in the living room you just passed without care, and the two of us are in the kitchen.” Vlad plopped several of the eggs he had just cracked into the hot skillet. “How do you want your eggs? I’m feeling over-easy today, but something tells me you want scrambled as usual.” “Um, I’ll eat them however you want them, I don’t really care at the moment as long as it’s food.” Danny looked over towards the stack of hot waffles and pancakes on the counter next to the stove. “Can I get some of those?” He didn’t wait for a response, already walking over to the cabinet where his family kept the silverware and plates to make himself one. “Of course you can, take whatever you like, the dishes are-” Vlad turned around to find Danny already behind him, reaching for a big fluffy waffle. Vlad raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, determining to put it on his ‘still unexplained’ list about Danny. If he was lucky, he’d get a chance to ask about it later. Danny loaded his plate with bacon, hash browns, waffles, and the first two over-easy eggs Vlad made. He looked forlornly over at the near finished oatmeal, realizing he both had no more room on his plate, and had forgotten to bring a bowl. Vlad rolled his eyes when he saw Danny’s face. “Oh for heaven’s sake, it’s not going anywhere Daniel; I’ll bring it to you in a minute. Just grab the syrup from the cabinet and go start eating.” He watched in interest as Danny did just that, neither asking where the specific cabinet was nor looking for the shelf it was sitting on. Two points for the uncanny knowledge category and he’s been up all of 15 minutes. Vlad mused before finishing off the eggs and stirring the oatmeal one last time. “Ooo, what smells so delicious?” A voice carried from the living room and back into the kitchen. “Breakfast, well more like brunch at this point.” Vlad answered calmly fixing himself a plate. He reached into the upper cabinetry for a bowl and balanced it with his own food haul. Maddie walked into the kitchen, Jasmine balanced on her hip. She wasn’t in the blue hazmat suit typical of when she worked in the lab, having changed a few minutes back to clean up from lab work. “You cooked? With what, the cabinets are nearly bare.” Maddie set Jasmine into her high chair next to Danny nearly frantically piling food into his mouth. “Good morning Daniel.” She said while walking towards where Vlad was finishing the balancing act with his own food and the bowl of oatmeal Danny had asked for. “Guf murnin’” Danny said behind a mouth full of food. “I made it from scratch. There was plenty of milk and flour to go around, so it was simple.” Vlad stepped around Maddie to set his plate and Danny’s bowl onto the table. Maddie was about to fix herself something when she noticed a plate already loaded with her favorites. “Pancakes, turkey bacon, hash browns and scrambled eggs right?” Vlad called from his position inside the fridge. He looked over the top of the refrigerator door at a pleasantly surprised Maddie. He chuckled and grabbed the last of the orange juice from the door. “You ate it every time I made breakfast for the four of us, so I figured-” “Four?” Danny had paused in his food vacuum behavior long enough to get a clear question out of his mouth. “Yes, Maddie and her roommate, plus Jack and I.” Vlad set the juice onto the table and settled into a seat besides Maddie. “I can’t believe you remember crazy stuff like this, it’s been years.” Maddie poured out some baby food for her daughter into a bowl, ready to balancing feeding Jasmine and herself at once per usual. “Oh come on, I fixed it for breakfast like three times a week, give me some credit.” Vlad shot back with a smirk. The female ghost hunter watched as Danny finished his first plate and practically bum rushed the kitchen counter for seconds. “The food isn’t going anywhere Daniel.” She smiled around her fork as he tried to Tetris more food onto his apparently too small plate. “You’re so wrong about that. It’s definitely going somewhere.” Danny settled back into his seat next to Jasmine, fork already posed at his lips. “Its destination is Dannyville, population my stomach.” Maddie rolled her eyes and nudged Vlad sitting next to her. “And what’s with you?” She asked to the second person practically inhaling his food at the table. “I haven’t seen you eat like this since that time we got caught in the woods for three days and Jack forgot to pack the rations.” Vlad gulped down the last of his waffle before answering, “I didn’t actually eat much yesterday, and because of all that running we did I’m starving.” He emphasized his point by heading back to the nearly half gone spread for a second plate himself. He decidedly neglected to mention he was always this hungry after he expended a lot of ghost energy. He sat back into his seat and suppressed a laugh as Jasmine valiantly avoided her mother’s attempts at feeding her. Maddie’s face settled into a small frown as Jasmine dodged the spoon for a fifth time and then reached for her plate instead. “No.” The mother said while moving her plate farther out of Jasmine’s reach. Jasmine let out a frustrated whine and leaned over farther while still avoiding the spoon. When the plate moved again, the frustration became anger and she let out a short scream. “No, Jasmine.” Her mother continued to move the plate away from the determined infant. Vlad poked the new mother in her side to get her attention. “Why don’t I try for a few minutes? You finish breakfast, and I’ll play Dodge the Spoon with peanut.” He got up to switch places with an increasing flustered looking Maddie. She sighed and looked back at her currently growing ice cold plate of food. “I don’t know, I mean, you’re still hungry too.” She watched as Vlad waved her off and began to nudge her into his old seat. “I’ve already had a whole plate; I’ll be fine for a few minutes.” He smiled when Maddie relinquished her seat and began eating her food again. Danny watched the exchange with growing malaise. For the few minutes he had been too hungry to consider anything else, the fact Vlad was eating breakfast with his mom and sister in the kitchen of his house hadn’t bothered him. Now, it was all too clear how wrong everything was and he couldn’t manage to un-think the sentiment that none of this was supposed to be happening. Vlad watched as Jasmine grew increasingly more upset with the lack of table food being presented for her to eat. “Where in the world did she get the idea any of this was for her anyway?” “Jack sometimes feeds her stuff off of his plate when I’m not looking. I keep telling him she’s too young to be on serious solids with all the spices in it, but he doesn’t listen.” Maddie pursed her lips as she thought about the last time Jasmine had gotten a hold of real food. “And he’s usually gone or busy by the time the results of it hit her stomach.” Vlad hummed in thought before turning his back completely to Maddie to block his next trick. He turned his hand and the spoon of baby food intangible and stuck it into Jasmine’s stunned cheek, slipping it completely inside before only phasing the spoon and not the food inside of it. The Gerber plopped inside Jasmine’s still closed mouth, and Vlad quickly removed the spoon from the inside of her face, turning it tangible. He watched in smug satisfaction as the baby swallowed, eyes still practically bugged out of her head. That trick always did shock her into eating. Jasmine slowly blinked her eyes before letting out an excited squeal. She kicked her legs and opened her mouth, now more than interested in eating after feeling the fun tingle of intangibility. Danny watched the whole exchange as a stunned look slowly crossed his face. He couldn’t believe how blatant Vlad had just been with his powers. Admittedly, he wasn’t the poster boy for inconspicuous sometimes, but the audacity of using his powers with his mom right behind him…it just seemed amazingly shortsighted. Maddie grabbed her plate and was headed for the sink when she heard Jasmine squeal. The house wife/inventor watched muted fondness as Vlad spooned mashed bananas into Jasmine’s much more cooperative mouth. She shook her head and slid back into the seat next to him. “I can’t believe you got her to eat. She’s so stubborn when she gets like that.” “Oh I’m very convincing when I need to be.” “That’s true, and you are the only one who can get her to eat when she’s in that kind of mood.” Maddie reached over began cleaning up the rest of the table. “I’m still not sure how you convinced us to let you pay for staying here. I mean, you need a new car, and your insurance doesn’t pay for acts of God, which is basically what a ghost attack is, and you don’t have anything you could sell left. Your whole apartment went up in smoke last night. Why are you paying to stay again?” Maddie shuffled the last of the dirty plates into the sink to be washed later. No doubt by Vlad with his OCD tendencies. She leaned against the kitchen counter and watched the rest of the room. There were times, like these, when it honestly felt like her life was missing something. She had her husband and her amazing little girl, but sometimes she wished Vlad was here too. He was more than simply helpful, he was one of her closest friends, and came up with the best ideas to help move her family’s scientific work forward if they were stuck on something. It was why she was in the lab this morning, Vlad had said something offhandedly last night and it had set off a chain of thoughts in her sleep that left her with an ‘eureka’ moment when she awoke this morning. “Because I’m staying in your house, eating your food, using your utilities, and so is Daniel. I have to provide something having two extra people around can’t be easy for you financially.” “But you have so much to replace.” “I don’t have to move immediately, your quite generous offer for an indefinite stay was very clear last night when we talked it over. If I’m staying here as long as I need, then at least I can pay for something. I still have a job, besides, if I don’t buy the groceries we’ll all starve.” Vlad finished half-joking. The Fenton’s weren’t the best with money at the moment, both the adults still used to the single lifestyle without a new baby to suck up most of the funds. They over spent their budget every once in a while, and Vlad pitched in by overpaying for meals that the Fenton’s insisted were free, claiming it was for eating through their groceries. Neither party thought anything of the arrangement, and the Fenton’s were getting much better about their budget. “Still, I’m sure that saving all of your money, not paying us, at least for the first two months, would help that significantly.” Maddie walked back over to the table, ready to get more comfortable on the couch in the living room. Vlad scrunched his brows as Maddie lifted her child from her seat by the table. Danny was nowhere to be found. Knowing him, he’s vacated the area out of awkwardness. “Perhaps, but I’m not going to be freeloading around here. Besides, even if you don’t want me to pay, someone has to pay for Daniel until he gets a job.” Maddie sighed and walked back into the living room. Sure, she didn’t want Vlad handing over money he’d need to replace the several thousand dollars he’d lost over the last 24 hours, but she couldn’t deny they needed the money. If not for Vlad staying, then for Danny. They didn’t have any real savings at the moment, and what they did have was being eaten up repairing that huge hole in their roof. Even though Jack was out getting supplies for them to fix it, and between the three of them it would be done by the end of the month, it cost money they didn’t have at the moment. “Alright. I can accept money for that at least.” She settled bonelessly onto the couch and looked up towards where her ceiling should be. The ghost hunter scowled as the open air from outside shifted the tarp up and temporarily revealed the sky. Vlad followed her eyes up and grimaced when he noticed the second hole in the roof. I really should have just thrown him out of the hole he had already made. Though I might have some news to cheer her up. “I didn’t tell you which ghost Daniel and I ran into yesterday did I?” He leaned over the edge of the couch watching as she flipped a little more aggressively than necessarily through the channels on the television. “No you didn’t, you just said it was pretty annoying.” She stopped on MTV to listen to a song by Motley Crew. “It was the ghost that came through the roof on Wednesday.” He waited for her to digest the information over her attention on the music. “Wait, you mean the one who was able to remove energy out of other ghosts?” She patted Jasmine’s back and looked over her shoulder at Vlad. He was the picture of calm confidence as he related how the two of them had destroyed Dracul, with careful omissions of course, and some out right bullshit for good measure. “It was really a lucky shot, the last blow. For a second, I was sure I was going to be ghost food. Luckily, that ecto-blaster of yours is nicely calibrated. What are you calling that by the way?” “Well I haven’t decided, but right now the only thing I can manage to call it is ‘damn’.” “Why’s that?” Vlad walked around the couch and sat next to her on the side closer to Jasmine. “Because it’s always, ‘damn this circuit blew’, ‘damn it, it’s sucked up another entire pack of batteries, ‘damn that stupid gun.’. At this point, it’s been called ‘damn’ more than anything else, so why not?” Vlad scoffed and picked up his ‘niece’. “I can see it now, ‘Damn!’ it supplies all your ghost hunting needs.” Vlad felt his heart flutter at the sound of Maddie’s light giggling. He loved that sound. “Oh yeah, that’s a real seller. No matter if you are angry or excited, it’ll fit perfectly.” Maddie rolled her eyes skyward, and glanced at the clock in the living room. Jack should be back by now. She thought absentmindedly. She heard her daughter giggle when their new boarder tickled her stomach. She had to admit, Vlad was surprisingly good with children. “Damn!” The sudden exclamation caught both of the adults off guard. Jasmine giggled some more, and happily repeated herself a few more times. Vlad and Maddie blinked down at the cursing giggling infant in front of them in shock. Slowly their eyes connected as they processed Jasmine’s behavior. “Maddie?” “Yes Vlad?” “We’re going to have to stop cursing aren’t we?” Vlad frowned when Jasmine cursed again, oblivious to the actual meaning of the word. “Yeah, I’m also going to have to fill out Jasmine’s ‘First’s’ book with that as her first word. Maybe this will come back to embarrass her later.” Maddie glanced down at her now more settled daughter, whining for attention since her cries hadn’t seemed to work as she liked. “And I’m going to have to run upstairs and beat you if you don’t stop that da-danish filled laughter Daniel.” Danny was doubled over in a giggling fit. As if the ridiculous exchange about what to name one of his parent’s ecto-guns wasn’t enough, his sister decided to interrupt in the best way possible. Oh Jazz will never live this down. He sucked in some air in a large gasp and continued laughing.

“Danish filled-” “It was the best I could come up with mid-word.” “Hey I think it’s a great idea, what else would a Fruitloop curse on but baked goods?” Danny stood over the banister suppressing giggles on the stairs to complete the sentence. Vlad’s impromptu confectionery exclamation was the highlight of his day so far. “Alright that’s it!” Vlad quickly handed Jasmine back to her mother before bounding over the back of the couch. “You’re one dead badger Daniel.” Vlad rushed towards the stairs as Danny let out a squeak. The teen hero bounded up the last stair and ran for his room, right as Vlad reached the first step. Danny closed and locked the door behind him and made for the window, to lock it just as a precaution. “You know Daniel; one would think after having ghost powers for a year, you’d learn how to neutralize them better.” Vlad leaned against the inside of the door arms crossed. A pillow sailed across the room and bounced off of his face and into his hands. Danny had a second pillow in his hands at the ready, a wide grin pressed to his lips. Somewhere between breakfast and Jasmine’s first real word, he had forgotten all about ever being antagonistic towards Vlad. “You must be joking. Do I look five years old to you?” “No.” Danny said while stepping around the bed to face Vlad. “But I definitely feel five.” With that last statement, Danny rushed forward. Maddie jumped on the couch when she heard a crash emanating from the room above her. She was about to head upstairs to investigate when she heard Jack screech to a halt outside. Directly following that, she heard another sound from upstairs. She looked quickly from the ceiling to the front door, making her decision when she heard the RV door slam. She shifted Jasmine father back on her hip as she reached for the front door. Jack was likely to be burdened down with groceries, and would appreciate the help. Maddie swung open the door to greet her husband and was instead greeted by an entirely unexpected sight. Jack was wrestling not with groceries or supplies from the hardware store but a bundle of electronics. They all had the symbol for Axiom labs on the side. Some of it was in the shape of ecto-weapons, but the majority of it was bits, odds, and ends. Jack shoved the stuff in his hands into an over-flowing box in the trunk, before hefting the whole load into his arms. He turned from the trunk to find a very confused wife staring back. “Maddie!” He called loudly from his position right next to the rear of the RV. His orange clad form bounded up the few stairs to his home, Maddie quickly moving to allow him into the house. “Jack, what is-” “Do you like it baby?” Jack interrupted while wriggling the box to and fro. “What’s in there Jack? What happened to the groceries?” Maddie admitted; her husband could be scatter-brained. The groceries are probably still sitting inside the RV.  She thought with a roll of her eyes. “I got all these great ghost hunting electronics and weapons from the Axiom depo. They were selling them to make room for more new stuff in their inventory. This stuff was all just declassified! It’s the latest in civilian tech. an-” “Sweetheart that’s wonderful, but where are the groceries and hardware store supplies you bought earlier?” Sometimes he can get so engrossed. Maddie set her daughter down into a baby swing to free up her hands to help Jack. Jack scrunched up his face in concentration. Stopping in the middle of a rant about ghosts always threw him off, but still… “What groceries Maddie?” “You know,” she started while browsing through the family’s newest electronic haul, “the ones you were supposed to be buying this morning from the U’Shop’N’Save.” She picked through the broken and falling apart mechanics, waiting for Jack’s answer. Jack picked up a particularly rusted piece and began gutting it for the expensive high-end hardware. “Oh those! I didn’t get a chance to get over there.” Jack began levering off another rusted component with a screw driver. Maddie dropped the piece she was currently working with into the table with a resounding thud rivaling the noise coming from upstairs. “What do you mean?” She managed to make the question sound like an accusation as well. “Just how much money did you spend on this,” she paused to gesture across the kitchen table, “junk Jack?” “Aw Mads. This ain’t junk.” Jack pouted under the increasing glare of his wife. “Answer the question!” She slammed her hand against the table as another crash came from upstairs. Daniel’s done it this time. Vlad thought while dodging another hastily thrown pillow. It slammed into the night stand, upending it, and sending both its contents and the items on its top crashing onto the floor. The older halfa winced at the sound, sure it would bring at turns curious and then furious Maddie up the stairs. Danny stood crouched on the opposite side of the room, atop the bureau. He balanced on the edge on the balls of his feet, one last pillow in hand. He was having the time of his life. Not only was he able to get some of his latent anger, about Vlad, out on Vlad; he was able to do it all without ending up tossed through a wall or some other hard solid object. He jumped down and ran towards the dismayed Vlad across the room. Vlad tripped Danny’s legs out from under him. He snatched the pillow from Danny’s stunned hands on the way down, and sat on top of him, straddling his hips for good measure. Danny twisted up to grab the pillow only to be rewarded with a bop to the head. “Give up little badger; you’ve lost.” Vlad smacked him in the face again when Danny made another attempt for it. “No fair! Since when is pinning and wrestling part of a pillow fight?” Danny half-whined and reached for the pillow again. “Say ‘Uncle’ Daniel.” Vlad suppressed a laugh at the ferocious pout Danny was sending him. Somehow, Daniel manages to bring the most childish behavior out of me. He’s like the bratty little brother you can’t help but love anyway. “Fine Unkie Vlad. You win.” Danny firmly interrupted Vlad’s thoughts. Vlad chuckled while moving to stand up. He used his extra height to deliver a final stinging slap to the face with the pillow. “That’s Uncle Vlad to you, brat.” “Yeah whatever.” Danny responded. Vlad turned his back to survey the damage their ‘little’ fight had caused, giving Danny the perfect idea. He was about to sneak in another hit across the back of Vlad’s head, when he heard someone scream from downstairs. “How the hell could you do this to us?” Danny and Vlad shared a look, after hearing the voice carry up the stairway. Danny quickly tossed his raised pillow away in favor of heading towards the door. The curious teenager peaked out of the door frame just as he heard his father’s surprised voice rush up the stairs. “I haven’t done anything wrong!” “What are you talking about? Jack, we don’t have the money for frivolous purchases like this.” “Maddie calm down.” “Calm? I am calm! I’ll tell you when I’m not calm!” Vlad tossed the younger halfa a look and motioned towards the back of the house. Danny reluctantly followed, pulling away from the sudden fight below. They walked to a spot in the back hallway leading up to the current attic, and what would be the OPS center in the future. Danny was about to question their position, it was farther away from the kitchen fight he was eavesdropping on, when Vlad winked and stuck his head clean through the floor.  More than a little shocked, Danny hesitantly followed his lead, and found himself staring down into the kitchen. Wow! This is perfect. Not to self: eavesdropping is simpler in the back hall. He swept his eyes over the state of the kitchen. His mother’s arms were settled on her hips, glaring a fiercely at his alternatively flabbergasted and furious father.”Jack just what are we supposed to do for food? Or about those holes in the roof?” “I-er, well…” Jack hedged. “I’m sure Vladdie-” “Vlad’s the one who gave me the money for the groceries this time! The man who just had every possession he owns blow up on him doled out the money you just threw away on gadgets and crap!” Maddie pointed an angry accusatory finger in Jack’s direction. “Well gosh Mads, I’m-” “I don’t care how sorry you are Jack! We have a daughter to feed, two holes in our house, no money to buy either groceries or supplies, and you spend the cash we do have on junk!” “This equipment isn’t junk!” Jack valiantly defended. “Well I can’t feed my child microprocessors and spectral resistors Jack Fenton, so it might as well be.” “Don’t you go getting all high and mighty on me! I’m not the only one who spends money on stuff we don’t need.” Jack’s voice wavered heavily with accusation. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” “You’re the one who bought a whole new wardrobe last month, when you had perfectly good clothes at home.” “You mean the maternity wear? Or maybe the clothes from before my hips got stretched out by your kid?” Maddie hissed out at Jack. Danny felt something poke into his shoulder and slipped his head back through the floor. “What?” He said nervous. The fight was beginning to take on severe tones, and he had a feeling something bad was going to happen. He had all but dismissed the possibility, the apartment being destroyed, and his own presence seriously mucking everything up, but now it seemed to be a significant possibility again. “Let’s get out of here. It’s still early and the park is a short walk from here. We could disappear until they decide to be more amicable.” Vlad could practically feel the awkward energy coming off of Danny in waves. He wasn’t sure why the Fenton’s arguing was so upsetting to him, on the other hand, it really didn’t matter. “Uh yeah sure.” Danny pushed up from his position on the floor, and started back towards his future room. He paused as he passed the stairs, a new sound catching his attention. “Hey Vlad, do you hear someone crying?” Vlad stopped next to Danny and leaned over the banister overlooking the living room. In a matter of seconds, he spotted the source of the wails; 6 month old Jasmine bawling her eyes out. Vlad frowned as the argument and Jasmine’s cries reached new heights. “Say, you wouldn’t mind if we brought peanut with us, would you little badger?” Danny was about to protest when he heard his parent’s lively disagreement reach ‘incoherent scream’ level. If he didn’t want to be around all this anger and noise, there was no way his sister did. So he looked back over at Vlad, and shrugged his shoulders. At the very least, Vlad would be taking care of all the babysitting duties, so he had nothing to worry about. Vlad smiled, gratefully, over at Danny before walking off to find the needed supplies. It took 15 more minutes than he thought it would, it seemed that kids require half a store’s worth of items to go anywhere, but it wasn’t like the fighting had died down any. If he had to judge, he’d say it had only gotten worse. Vlad silently slunk down the stairs, scooped up Jasmine, and made a beeline for the front door. Danny was quick on the elder halfa’s heels, stopping only briefly to contemplate the nasty severity of the ‘lover’s quarrel’ going on behind him.

“So how far is this park anyway?” Danny shuffled along after Vlad, holding the baby carrier in his left hand. The fight had him more than a little uneasy, especially since he had an idea of what it would cause, but still he didn’t want to be walking around forever. Danny was still tired from the battle with Dracul the day before, and any amount of serious effort, and at this point walking qualified, made him want to curl up in bed for a week. “Not too far, just a few blocks. More than long enough for a conversation not meant for mixed company.” Vlad nonchalantly replied. Danny winced. He had been hoping Vlad would just drop that line of conversation after the diner exploded and all, but apparently he was more determined than a dog with a bone. “A conversation about what?” “Don’t be ridiculous Daniel, about your ghost powers of course.” Danny sighed and rubbed his free hand on his neck. “I thought we already had this conversation?” “No. What we had was a game of twenty questions where you answered about two out of every ten. I’m not really satisfied with how that conversation went, but I’ll allow you your former stipulations. You don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to.” Vlad stepped off the curb and began crossing the street towards a fenced in area. Danny hesitated on the other side of the street. He recognized where they were going now. The park was a favorite of his when he was a child. It was only about five blocks from Fentonworks, and had an assortment of childhood favorites, including swings and a jungle gym, making it a popular destination for families. Especially, in the evenings in summer, when the light from the sun lasted into the late evening and the air was warm but no longer blazing. “Are you coming?” Vlad was leaning against the green fence surrounding the park; already well ahead of the stalled Danny. As if I really have a choice, it’s either awkward conversation with Vlad, or listening to my parents argue. Danny shrugged his shoulders, as best he could with his burden, and started across the street. This was really the lesser of two evils. The two of them walked into a deserted park. The lack of people surprised Danny, who then had to, once again, recall the time in which he resided. It was likely most of the families moved to Amity Park sometime in the future, causing the lack of kids running around to make more sense. Vlad probably knew this place would be deserted too. Danny shoved a tingle of discomfort away at the thought of being alone with Vlad. Despite the fact he and Vlad had nearly died fighting together just barely 24 hours previous, he still didn’t trust him farther than he could be blasted. Most of the time at least. He noted with growing apprehension. Danny nearly jumped when the older halfa grabbed the baby carrier out of his hand. He had been so engrossed that Vlad moving around to his left side had gone unnoticed. Jasmine had been surprising quiet during the entire walk. The yelling in the house, and the subsequent crying she had done, had tired her out. Danny made a beeline for the swings. If he was going to be subject to an unwanted conversation with Vlad of all people, he was at least going to be comfortable. Vlad quickly joined him, setting Jasmine in the baby swing to free up his hands. “So Daniel, could I ask your opinion about something?” Danny eyed Vlad suspiciously. He had been sure the next thing out of his cunning future arch-enemy would be a question about his powers. Now he seemed to want to talk about something else entirely. “About what?” Danny hedged. He wasn’t about to agree to help with something he knew nothing about. “I was wondering what to get for Maddie for her birthday. You seem creative enough, so I thought you might have some interesting suggestions.” The teen hero let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. So that was it. “Dude her birthday is only like two weeks away.” Danny rolled his eyes. Honestly, you’d think someone professing to be in love with my mother would know what to get her. “You had better think of something quick, or you’ll run out of time. She loves azaleas, but I’m sure Jack will get her those. I mean she also likes ghost hunting stuff, so maybe some really nice-what are you looking like that for?” Danny fidgeted under Vlad’s intense gaze. At the moment he felt like Vlad was dissecting an interesting scientific project, the project being him. “I was just wondering how you knew when her birthday was, since I didn’t mention the date, and I’m sure Maddie hasn’t. That’s not something people talk about casually.” Uh-oh. “I..uh…well.” “More over Daniel, how did you know where the dishes and syrup were this morning at breakfast? It’s not like you’ve gotten your own plate before. The last time you ate there, everything was gotten for you, and even if by some miracle you figured out where the dishes were on the first try, there really is no excuse for the syrup.” Vlad gave Jasmine a small push in the swing and waited for Danny to reply. While he wanted to question Danny about his ghost powers, he needed to soften him up first. “I…” He what? He didn’t really have an excuse for this. I mean even if he could explain away everything, from the plates and syrup to the bathroom thing last week, that still left his knowledge about his mom and dad, well future mom and dad. Suddenly, an idea hit him. It wasn’t the best plan, but it was better than the mindless gum flapping he was currently doing. “How do you think I know about all that?” Yeah great plan, answer a question with a question Fenton. Maybe he’s as narcissistic as I remember? Danny could only hope Vlad gave him a small reprieve by taking the bait. “I think you spied on them with your powers. It would explain how you knew the house layout and even little things, like dish placement. It also explains how you knew I visited often and how to ask for me to get inside.” Vlad finished the explanation with another push to the baby swing. Danny felt relief flood through him like a small tsunami. “However,” Vlad interrupted Danny’s feel good moment, “that doesn’t explain how you know so much about their personalities, or mine. You knew Maddie’s birthday, and that Jack is an awful cook. You honed in on my feelings for Maddie nearly instantly, and I can assure you most people can’t even begin to guess at them. You also unconsciously play into our personalities and weaknesses, making it harder to un-entangle our lives from your own. That kind of thing only comes from a significant amount of time spent with the people involved, to develop your behavior around their own. I’m not sure how you’re doing that.” Danny swung his legs in the seat of the swing. He was still at a loss to explain that, but not answering was better than saying anything at this point. Vlad could see through any lie he constructed, and more importantly, it was easier letting him fill in the blanks himself. Vlad took in Danny’s stoic form a few moments longer before shaking his head. He knew that at this point, that his questions on that kind of knowledge were going to go unanswered. “The last time we spoke about this seriously, you said you got your powers in an accident.” It wasn’t really a question or a statement. “Yeah and I’m not going to say where either.” “Oh I wouldn’t dream of asking the specific location. I was just wondering, what constitutes an accident to you?” What kind of non-question is that? Danny still felt at prickle of unease under his incredulity. He knew enough about Vlad now to assume this was a roundabout way of still getting what he wanted. “I mean, it wasn’t on purpose. I didn’t mean to-” Danny stopped short, realizing he had almost given away the specifics of his accident. “I mean, no one meant for it to happen.” “So then it’s safe to assume your parents’ worked for the government?” “Ok where did you get that assumption?” Danny was having a hard time following Vlad’s logic, tenuous to non-existent as it was to him. Vlad had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. “Honestly Daniel it was rather simple. The kind of energy necessary to create a ghost hybrid is extreme. Far beyond what someone could get in exposure to even the most active of ghost hauntings or weak points. There is only one machine I know that is capable of producing that kind of power, and it was confiscated by the University of Wisconsin after my own accident. As any consolation, it was nonfunctional when they got their hands on it, but the proto-portal and its schematics were taken and placed under university property.” He explained calmly. “I’m sure those government hacks, the Guys in White, would love to take a look at the schematics and try and create a working replica. Knowing their incompetence, but determination, there are two ways for things to have played out. They could have failed consistently in small ways, building up an excess of ectoplasm on this side of the barrier that they then ruthlessly experimented on you with.” Danny felt a small shiver run down his spine at the thought. He hadn’t even considered that as an option. “The second is one spectacular failure, something relatively explosive, that exposed you to a lot of energy at once. Considering, that not only did you claim it was an accident, which I believe by the way, and the fact only the government would have access to the kind of technology needed, the rest of the ghost hunting community is frankly light-years behind, it necessarily follows that your parents worked for the government before they died, likely in the same explosion that gave you your powers.” Vlad picked Jasmine out of the swing and sat down in another one next to Danny. “Am I close little badger?” Not even. But I have to admit, there are some serious glimmers of how it actually went down in that tale. “Um, well…close enough?” Danny made a note to have other people fill in the details for him in the future, it made lying so much easier. “Mind telling me how you figured it was my parents working for the government, and not me sneaking into a lab or something?” “Simple enough. You are both incredibly awkward and comfortable around ghost hunters.” The look Danny was giving him was priceless. “What I mean is; you told me you used to fight ghost regularly in your hometown, but being around Maddie and Jack makes you nervous, and not just because they like to shoot at ghosts either. From there, it follows your own parents’ hunted ghosts; where else would a kid your age get the practice? It also explains why their whole house makes you uneasy.” Vlad paused to look over at Danny. “Reminds you of home right?” You have no idea how much. I’m so glad I haven’t told him any real details from my life, or I’d be royally boned. Danny replied mentally. Vlad sighed and bounced an increasingly fussy Jasmine in his lap. “You don’t have to say anything to that. To be honest, I’m glad your powers were an accident, the alternative is horrifying.” “I’ll say. Who treats other people like glorified lab experiments?” Danny shoved thoughts of Dani away from his mind; the point was still a valid one. “Those hacks at the university hospital for one.” Vlad hissed. When he noticed Danny’s quizzical stare, he decided to share a little more. “Did I ever tell you about my time in the hospital, before my powers manifested?” Danny frowned in thought. Vlad hadn’t ever mentioned any details, not in the several months since he had known him, not that he blamed him one bit. Danny shook his head and waited for Vlad to continue. “At first, they didn’t know what to do with me. They knew I had some kind of radiation poisoning sure enough, but they didn’t know how to fix it or why it was manifesting as…” Vlad stopped and quirked his mouth into a small grimace. “In any case, for the first couple of weeks I was in so much pain, I wasn’t really all there. I was in and out of consciousness, and it took them nearly three weeks to actually stabilize me. At one point, I remember them asking about next of kin, just in case I died.” Danny felt surprise jolt through him like a bolt of lightning. He had an idea that the ecto-acne was more deadly than he originally thought, but it never hit him how serious it was. “After that, they had every specialist they could think of running in and out of the ICU. Checking samples of everything, biopsies of every organ, x-rays, dozens of monitoring equipment you name it and I had it hooked up somewhere. But that all eventually died down. After I had been in there for a solid three months, with no significant improvement, but no longer a nearly dead wreck, they handed over my case to another head doctor. They moved me out of the ICU, something I was originally glad for, and onto a floor I hadn’t heard of before then.” A dark tendril of dread slithered up Danny’s spine. This story was beginning to sound rather ominous. “I never saw the new head physician over my case, but he sent plenty of his underlings into the room for him. Since the other doctors had exhausted all of their ideas and resources on my case so far, they handed the case over to an experimental researcher in radiation studies. They re-took plenty of samples, but that wasn’t the bad part. Several of their…therapies were less like boons of medical science and more like medieval torture, but with no real clues what was wrong, let alone how to fix it, his “therapies” were as good as anything in the hospital’s eyes. In between being treated like a lab rat, and being injected with absurdly painful “remedies”, I had just about lost hope of ever getting out.” Vlad stopped when an unseasonably cold breeze curled through the area. He sighed before continuing, “Nothing they did helped, but it was the only option I had, so I went along with it.” “When did you get out the hospital?” Danny interrupted the narrative. He really didn’t need any more details about the hospital from hell. “The…symptoms from the poisoning resolved on their own, soon after my powers showed up. I checked myself out right after that; against doctors’ orders might I add.” Vlad snorted before adding, “but it’s not like they were doing much for me in any case.” Danny didn’t know what to say about the story. He had to admit, it never occurred to him how much differently his life would have gone without his best friends’ help right after the accident. If he had ended up in hospital like Vlad, or even just having tests run like crazy by his overly concerned parents. When he thought about it, the possibilities were chilling. He had gotten the easy road in a lot of ways. When Danny didn’t respond, Vlad decided to move on. “Come on, we should get home, the sun is setting.” He stood from his place next to Danny and headed back towards the park entrance. “Oh, er, yeah. Hey are you hungry, ‘cause it’s totally dinner time.”

The sight that greeted the duo upon returning home was nothing like they expected. Maddie and Jack were still arguing, and worse, it seemed to have hit a whole ‘nother level of extreme. Danny and Vlad stood on the curb across the street, watching as bags of luggage fell from an open window at the top of Fentonworks, and onto the street below. On the sidewalk, Jack Fenton would pick up a bag and run it back inside, only to find an entirely different piece of luggage waiting for him when he returned outside. The entire time, two angry scream strain voices carried on an argument. Danny blinked at the scene before him. He’d never seen his parents act so completely nuts. Admittedly, they weren’t the most normal parents by any stretch of the imagination, but throwing things out of a window and screaming mindlessly at each other is definitely outside of his definition of normal, even with his own family. Vlad paused for only a second more before forging ahead across the street. The sooner he got to the bottom of this, the sooner he could convince the neighbors to stop rubbernecking out of the house next door, and intervene between the two overwrought adults. Danny stumbled off the curb after him, not at all ready to jump into the fray, but seeing no choice in the matter. This is going to end badly. He thought right before the first coherent sentence reached his ears. “Damn it! Stop throwing my things out of the window Maddie!” “Get out! What part of that don’t you understand? Get out of my house!” Maddie screeched and tossed another piece of luggage outside onto the sidewalk. Jack ran the piece back inside and continued screaming, “This is my house too damn it. I’m not going anywhere! If you want to get away from me so badly, why don’t you go to a motel or somethin’?” He picked up the newest piece and was about to run back inside with it, when he spotted Vlad and Danny crossing the street. “Vladdie! You have to help me! Maddie,” he gestured up just as another piece of luggage landed next to the trio, “she’s lost her mind!” Vlad looked up at a sweating flustered Maddie and a red faced with anger Jack and made a snap determination. This was all Jack’s fault. So he acted accordingly.  I need to get them away from each other, and since this is obviously Jack’s doing, he’ll be the one leaving. “Jack what in the world is going on?” Danny snuck behind the two adults on the sidewalk outside, spiriting himself and his currently infant older sister inside the house, and away from some of the loud insanity. Unfortunately, he could still hear all of the arguments from the living room, and it was driving him up the wall. Jasmine was no better off, the combination of fatigue, hunger, and the buzzing tension in the air, made her a nearly tearful mess. Danny noticed his pint sized future older sister about to break into tears, and decided to find a location a lot quieter somewhere in the house. The only place he could think of was the basement/lab, and considering the current atmosphere it was a good choice. With barely a moment’s hesitation, Danny plunged down the steps into the Fentons’ basement; Jasmine nestled securely in his arms. Back upstairs Maddie and Jack had completely ignored Vlad’s presence and gone back to screaming, now significantly more hoarsely, at one another. “Jack, I can’t stand to look at you another minute right now, just go!” “Why should I? This is my house; I’m not going anywhere. If you don’t want to look at me, then get out of my house!” “Jack perha-” Vlad attempted to interrupt. “Why should I be the one to leave when you’re the one who fucked up?” “I didn’t do anything wrong!” “And still you refuse to admit spending all of our money, with no savings in the bank, on Axiom’s garage sale garbage wasn’t a mistake! What am I supposed to feed my baby Jack? Screws and circuitry!” Maddie glared down from the second story window, and tossed another piece of luggage out. “I don’t know, whose fault is it we have no savings? No one told you to buy new clothes you selfish bitch!” “And what was I supposed to wear Jack? Rags? All of my stuff was nearly 4 years old, worn out because it was already from the Salvation Army, and didn’t fit because my shape is different after having Jasmine.” “Yeah maybe so, but that doesn’t mean you needed to buy stuff from the department store.” “After you splurged on six new jumpsuits and the components for an ecto-defense system we could have built from scratch for ¼ of the price? Am I not allowed to buy anything nice for myself?” Jack opened his mouth to respond, but Maddie interrupted, “That still doesn’t excuse you spending Vlad’s money to buy shit from Axiom instead of groceries.” “We’ll find more money b-” “Where Jack? From the ethos? We have no savings; the mortgage is coming up due, as are the utilities. We have two gaping holes in our roof in the middle of the summer rainy season, and No. Fucking. Food. What are we supposed to do till next month?” Maddie stomped her foot loud enough to be heard on the street below, waiting for an answer. “I’m sure Vladdie- Wait V-man now that you’re here I can ask you, can I borrow about 2000 dollars until next month?” Vlad stood flabbergasted on the street next to Jack. Who in the world asked to borrow that kind of money from a basically homeless man on such short notice? “Jack…I…” Vlad scuffed the heel of his shoe against the sidewalk and tried to think of a proper response. He shook his head before replying, “Jack, I’d love to help, but I don’t have that kind of money to give you. Even if I wanted, I still have bills of my own to pay, so I don’t have the money available right now. I mean, maybe in a couple of weeks, two, I’d be ab-” “You see? So what are you going to do about our cash problems?” Maddie had walked down the stairs, tired of screaming out of a window, and was standing in the living room. “Well, I have a few inventions I could sell.” Jack crossed his arms. “Which ones? We don’t have the supplies to build any more of our schematics, and the ones we do have won’t be ready for sale before the bills are due.” “Well I don’t know Mads, but it’ll be ok.” “The world doesn’t run on rainbows and happy thoughts Jack.” “Oh that’s right; it runs on cute dress skirts and red trampy lipstick.” “Hold on the both of you!” Vlad interceded before the fight ratcheted back up into furious scream-a-thon territory. Maddie and Jack’s heads swiveled Vlad’s direction. “This is going to get us nowhere. Now I appreciate the fact you are both angry, and that this is really none of my business. On the other hand, the two of you have been fighting for hours, and you still don’t have the money to pay for anything. Let’s say it is safe to assume screaming isn’t going to cause money to appear alright?” Vlad held out his hands, palms up, willing the gesture to placate the quarreling couple. Maddie sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Vlad’s right Jack, we can’t keep this up all night.” “Yeah that’s true Mads, a-” “But you still aren’t staying here tonight.” “Wait one Goddamn-“ “Jack! Can I speak with you for a moment?” Vlad grasped the orange clad ghost hunter around the wrist, and forcefully drug him off. “Yeah what’s up V-man? Listen, I know I asked for a lot of money a little bit ago, and there’s no way I could really ask you to give that much, but maybe just a few hundred-” “That’s not what this is about.” Jack’s eyebrows shot up and he motioned for Vlad to continue. “Jack I think you really should spend the night in a motel.” “Vladdie-” “Just hear me out!” Vlad turned his back to the increasingly impatient looking Maddie, wanting this to look like it was completely Jack’s idea. “I’ll give you the money to stay in a motel for two days. It’ll give you both some time to cool off, and it’ll make her miss you more if she’s staying here without you right?” “Well I gu-” “And I’m sure you will show up with a heartfelt apology and some flowers and chocolates right when she’s missing you most.” Vlad sent Jack a covert nudge and wink. “Oh! Right, that’s a great idea Vladdie, glad you-” “You.” “Oh, uh, I thought of it. I don’t really want to leave her alone with Jazzy though, what if a ghost shows up?” “Oh I promise me and Daniel will take great care of them. And it’ll only be for two days at most. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.” “Yeah that’s true, ok V-man, I’ll take you-my advice and make scarce for a day or so. Then come back with a huge romantic gesture and a teddy bear for Jazzy. Yo-or  I have the best ideas.” Jack paused before slapping Vlad on the back. “Thanks for reminding me of them Vlad.” He was honestly grateful, who could ask for a better best friend. “Oh you’re very welcome, I just don’t know what I’d do if the two of you couldn’t get along.” Like perhaps marry Maddie and perform inappropriate, for public conversation, actions with her. Jack walked around Vlad and strode towards his wife. “Listen baby, I know you’re upset with me, and I understand that. I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to spend the night in a motel, and I wouldn’t want you leaving the house and being uncomfortable. I’ll grab some things and be on my way for the night before all of the places fill up.” Jack picked up two piece of luggage off of the floor. He wasn’t sure what was in them, but since Maddie had been emptying the drawers of his things to stuff into suitcases, he was sure there’d be more than enough clothes for a day or two. Maddie watched him grab a few more things out of the bathroom for good measure, before loading it all into the RV to set off. “So I guess I’ll see you Tuesday night.” Jack stopped when his wife scrunched up her face before nodding slowly. “I love ya’ baby and I’ll miss you.” Jack leaned over and gave his wife a good-bye kiss, before peeling off in “Jack” driving style down the street, trashcan crashes announcing his retreat. Maddie left out a deep breath into the gloom of the falling night, walking back into her much quieter, but much emptier feeling house. She knew her husband meant well, but sometimes his behavior made their relationship harder. He was so out there all the time, and he barely paid attention to finances and food, worrying more on the next great invention or discovery. And while that was fine in college, and single life, there were some things more important than even the best ghost discoveries on the planet. And if Jack didn’t learn to reorganize his priorities to include more mundane things, it would put strain on their relationship. She flopped down on the couch and glanced at the clock.  Only 8pm, and it feels like midnight. What a nightmare of a day. Maddie shifted her glance over to the top of the basement stairs, where she heard steps echoing up the stairwell. Danny finally heard the loud resonating voices from upstairs disappear. He had waited a few extra minutes, to be sure it was over and not just a lull, before peeking up the stairs. A few more seconds of waiting had afforded him not a single sound of aggravation, so he figured it was safe to come out now. “So that’s where you two were hiding.” Vlad said as the pair reappeared onto the ground level. “Has the air raid stopped? Last I heard suit case bombs were raining from the sky.”

Maddie crossed her arms and frowned. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t go into the lab, it can be dangerous down there. At least don’t take Jasmine with you, there are fumes in there I don’t want her exposed to.” She decided to ignore that air raid comment. “That’s funny coming from someone who didn’t notice her child disappeared for several hours.” Danny retorted. Instead of the fierce glare and stinging verbal rebuttal he was expecting, his mother broke down into tears. Danny started at the intense crying jag his minor comment had set off. Vlad sent Danny a monstrous glare before sliding next to Maddie on the couch. Danny was waiting on the periphery of the scene when Vlad sent him a cold look that had him retreating up the stairs; baby sized elder sister in his arms. Vlad settled into the couch next to a heaving Maddie. He hadn’t expected her to take the comment well after her fight earlier, but this was a little more than what he had anticipated. Vlad floundered around for something to say. He wasn’t even sure it was what Danny had said was the problem, so he was at a loss for how to help. More importantly, Maddie made him nervous as all hell, so making coherent sentences around her was a struggle on a good day. “Maddie-” “Oh God I’m so sorry!” Maddie sniffed through her tears. “I don’t mean to just turn into a water fountain on you, I’m just so flustered and tired after everything that’s happened today.” Bingo. At least he could work with that. “It’s alright Maddie really. I’m sure you’re more than a little upset after today, and I’m sure Daniel didn’t mean anything by that comment. I’m more worried about how you’re feeling than being in the room with you crying. I mean you’re obviously upset, so that’s what matters.” Maddie rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, smearing some of her mascara across her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around her middle, more out of comfort than chill. “I’ll be alright. I mean, I’m upset now, because Jack still doesn’t seem to understand what he did wrong, but I’m sure after he thinks about it more, everything will be fine.” She let out a shuddering breath and leaned back into the soft comfort of her furniture. Vlad took a deep breath; it was now or never after all. A little boldness here could pay off big time later. A voice somewhere in the back of his head told him this was seriously wrong, but he stuffed it into a box. There were more important things to worry about at the moment. He carefully slid an arm around Maddie’s shoulders. He barely suppressed a jump of surprise when instead of just accepting his gesture; she leaned deeply into his embrace, sobs coming back in full force. Now, more alarmed about the return of her tears than his awkwardness, Vlad wrapped both arms fully around her form, pressing her shaking body into a full hug. Maddie snuggled deeper into the hug, happy for the emotional comfort it provided. There was a good chance she had just messed up her relationship with her husband on a few levels with some of the things she accused him of and said over the last few hours. At the moment, she only wanted to relax and forget all of that just happened. She sighed as the last of the sobs left her calm, and in no hurry to extract herself from the warmth of the hug. Maddie could hear Vlad’s heart racing with her head leaned against his chest, and could only smile to herself. Nervous as ever, at least some things never change. She pulled back gently and looked up at him. “Thank you, I needed that hug.” She watched as his face tinged with pink. Will never stop being fun. “Yeah of course, any time.” He realized he should probably be removing his arms about now, but there was no way in hell that was happening without her asking. He felt his heart skip a beat when she leaned in to lay her head against his shoulder instead of scooting away. “You want to eat dinner, watch a bad comedy, and pretend the rest of the world doesn’t suck for a few hours?” Maddie asked. “Yeah, that sounds like a great plan.” Maybe for a few hours… God please. …just let me pretend. Their thoughts mirrored one another.

By the time he had rounded the corner into his room, Danny was barely holding back from hyperventilating. It was happening again, right in front of him this time. It didn’t matter that the circumstances had changed. Sure they weren’t in Vlad’s apartment, considering it was a piece of burnt-out slag. Sure he was nearly entirely sure that the fight was different than the one they had ultimately had, because the crazy circumstances dictated it, but it didn’t matter. Nothing matters; well nothing I can change matters. Danny thought ruefully. The truth of the matter was, even if he could changes something in the past, minor details, the exact way something happened, no matter what he did, Danny felt like some general events would still occur. Even though the argument was about something else, it still as big and happened. Even though Vlad’s house no longer existed, his mom and dad were still separated with his mom downstairs, emotionally needy and vulnerable, with a circling vulture of a Vlad hanging around. If no matter what I do, some things are just meant to happen, then maybe fate is real. And he wasn’t sure what was more disturbing about that thought. The fact that it meant people had no real control over their circumstances, or the fact his mission was essentially a sham that put his very existence in danger for no reason.

…then destiny must exist.

[commentaryonhowwelive]

November 2015. Age 23. Inside the Womb of Apathy

My older brother was in town looking for a job in Denver, so he was staying with me in Boulder during the search. He was just as clueless as me in regards to what he was trying to do with his life, which was kind of nice. Misery, or rather, cluelessness loves company. Kind of like in a folie a deux, no matter what you’re doing, if you have another person doing it with you, it makes whatever you’re doing just a little bit better. 

He used to work at a local brewery so we all decided to go grab a few drinks there one night so he could catch up with some old chums. My roommate, Freezerp, and I were incredibly cheap. In fact, thinking back on it now, it was laughable. So naturally when my brother said we’d probably get hooked up with free beers if we gave him a ride over, we were up and out.

We were a couple of bohemians when it came to craft brews, so we stood there and stared at the rotating tap for a few minutes before my brother and his old coworker came by and asked us what we wanted. We grabbed a “Weeeeeeee!” which is a dark scottish ale and he grabbed a “North Star” which is a very high ABV porter that was just about to run out, so he jumped on it. It was “Geeks Who Drink” trivia night so it was packed, but we found a nice spot in the sitting area where we settled in next to a cute girl drinking alone.

“I’ve been at a Yoga seminar all day, and it’s been all about health, so I just want to do something that’s unhealthy and have a nice beer. I’m not from here so I just typed in ‘brewery’ to google and I found this place.” She said with yoga pants on that were actually being utilized.

“Oh yeah, I mean.” I said slightly slurring, “Twisted Pine is just like the OG place to go around here.”

It’s amazing how easy it is to just strike up conversations with a girl, or anyone really, when you’ve both had a drink or two. We talked about species of bananas, my buddy’s rap project, jokes about me being a substitute teacher. She left after just a few drinks, and I never even caught her name.

I remembered that I had to drive home so I wanted to sober up a bit before driving home. We had a swear jar at home which was a joke in itself, but in addition to it being a joke, we decided to use all of the money in the swear jar to buy beer with, which we wouldn’t count swears that we said while drinking the beers we bought with the swear jar. Perfect right? I know it’s perfect, thanks. 

Anyways, we realized that we had probably $15 or so in the swear jar, so Freezerp and I decided to walk to the liquor store to buy some more beer. We figured that we’d sober up enough before having to drive home, but just enough to drive, then when we got home we could keep on drinking. We went to the liquor store and in our usual goofy stupor to fill up a “You-Pick-6”. We searched and arrogantly yet superfluously judged the beers based on the labels and ABV. 

“The guy on this bottle has a fuckin’ attitude and I like it.”

“Look at those muscles too. He does, in fact, lift bro”, Freezerp replied. He stopped the conversation and looked around, dropped and did 20 push ups, then popped back up again. We continued as if nothing happened.

“He probably just drinks eggs for breakfast.”

“Paleo. Just like this beer. We’re getting one.”

We ended up with the same shit we probably would’ve bought if we were completely sober, with the exception of the $5 stout from Fort Collins because we wanted to see whether it was 3.5 times better than the other beers.

On our way back to the brewery, Freezy yelled “LAST ONE THERE LOSES” and when I’m drunk and I’m sucker for challenges, so I started sprinting, even though I was carrying a 6-pack of beer. I realized that I probably looked like I was stealing the beer, but I didn’t even give a shit because I was too busy laughing so hard and running as fast as I could that I literally couldn’t focus on anything else except for how absolutely hilarious it was and how incredibly tired I was, even though I’m a long distance runner.

I texted Sophia when we got to the bar. “Hey giiiirrrlrlllll wanna come over?”

She usually didn’t respond quickly, but when it came to sleeping in my bed with me, she was all over it.

“Yes! When?”

“I’m at the Twisted Pine but were about to leave. Meet me in funbarrel at 10?”

“K :))”

Allow me to explain, I don’t live in a town called Funbarrel. It’s actually Gunbarrel, but we call it Funbarrel because we’re just a couple of kooky crazy kids. 

“Woo!” I exclaimed and did a little jig as my phone vibrated in my pocket on the way to my car.

“Do I bring beer?” Sophia texted me again.

“We just got more beer after the bar but if you want to bring more I will never say never.”

“Ok biebs. Sweaty Betty it is.”

Sweaty Betty is our favorite craft beer.

I started dating Sophia a few weeks prior and thus far it’d been pretty great. She wasn’t the prettiest girl, nor the smartest, nor had the greatest aspirations, but she was who she was and I appreciated her for who she was. We vibed in a way that I had never vibed with anyone before, and that was good enough for me. I knew I could’ve probably found someone better if I tried, but I was too tempted to stay with her because of that good knob slobbin. Ew that’s gross sorry you just had to read that. But anyways, we pretty much just got together every night, got drunk and had sex. It was casual as fuck, and sure it was probably super unsustainable and we knew we were gonna crash and burn, but fuck it, I was gonna ride that shit out as long as I could because for the time being, it fuckin rocked. Plus, since I was on Lexapro, I wasn’t freaking out about the constant sex all the time. 

My first girlfriend panicked any time our gonads were even semi close, calling me a few days after hooking up when I had gone back to Orlando for the week for class, absolutely sure that she was pregnant, even though we never even had sex. It was absurd and kind of scarred me to the point that I started freaking out every time I had sex with anyone afterwards. Kind of like when you’re a little kid and your mom tells you that if you stop making that face it’ll stay that way. Somehow I let some constantly freaked out girl convince me of how easy it was to get someone pregnant (subcutaneous semen absorption I guess?). But Lexapro fixed it all. It seemed like this little white miracle pill let me have sex all the time and not worry about pregnancy. I mean, come on, I pulled out and used a condom anyways. Ok enough with the detailing my sexcapades, I promise. 

----------

I was chilling pretty hard at that time in my life. I kept thinking about what I wanted to do and accomplish and whatnot, whether I wanted to go back to graduate school or not, but it always ended up with the same conclusion.

“Fuck it”

I did whatever the hell I wanted, I had a job that, yeah it wasn’t glamorous, but I looked forward to going every day. Not everyone can say that and I felt blessed. My brother was talking about some courier job he saw in the newspaper that night before Sophia came over.

“That’d be the perfect job because you’re just doing normal things.” He said describing the courier job. 

That’s how I felt about the delivery job I had: I drove around town bumping tunes, then when I’m back in the shop I’m usually just working with a few other people. Plus I never had to be at work until 10:30 A.M., so I could drink any night of the week and be fine by the time I had to be at work. In addition to that, it wasn’t like I had to use a whole lot of brain power at work anyways.

Goddamn, things were pretty alright. Right as I finished my 2nd beer after getting back home, I heard a knock on the door. 

“GET THE FUCK OUT” I yelled. 

Sophia daintily walked in with her typical awkwardness that she hid so well behind a veil of confidence. Her silly half smile made me want to take her to bed immediately, but I knew we couldn’t for at least another hour or so until everyone else started settling down too.

I got up and gave her a foot-lifting-off-the-ground-hug. Our hips pressed together hard and I looked into her eyes devilishly. I put her down and walked toward the fridge while she put her stuffed backpack which whatever the hell she kept in there in my bedroom.

“PORTER OR IPA”, I yelled across the apartment.

“Ummmm, I don’t care whatever you have more of”, her soft voice struggled to carry from the bedroom into my kitchen. 

I had more porters than IPA’s, but the IPA’s were 7.5% and the porters only 5.2% and frankly I wanted us both to get drunk quicker. I cracked open an IPA and brought it directly to her.

We were both two beers in within 20 minutes. We cracked into the Sweaty Bettys, going in for number three with no hesitation. My little brother who had just turned 21 started pouring shots for him, Freezy, my older brother, me, and Sophia. I looked at Sophia and gave her a quick double eyebrow raise. 

At this point, it wasn’t a question of whether we were going to hook up that night. In fact, it was virtually never a question of whether we were going to hook up when she came over to stay the night. The only question was how ok I was going to be with it while we fucked. The more drunk I was, the more I was able to pretend like there was love, instead of two directionless early twenty-year-olds attempting to fill the void with shallow dopamine. 

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

I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her towards me. As she did an assisted sit up, she lifted her arms up for me to lift her shirt off. No bra. Perfect. I remembered she didn’t shave her arm pits but luckily I had successfully drank myself to the point of benevolence toward anything that wasn’t perfect, which was everything.

We don’t have to fall in love, in love, in love

We don’t have to feel the touch, the touch, the touch

We can do it for the rush, the rush, the rush

I’m waiting for you

Breathe Carolina sang out of my phone on my bedside table

I took my shirt off as well and pushed her back down; as I did she grabbed me and took me with her. The teasing hip thrust I gave her the moment she walked into my door came back ten fold. I pushed into her crotch with mine, both of our pants still on, taunting her because I knew she wanted me more than I wanted her. Holding my breath followed by audible exhales accompanied my thrusts as I was getting off just from knowing how full of lust she was. It didn’t take long for us to be completely naked and send ourselves into a hermaphroditic entanglement, but I’m not sure what happened from there because that’s when I blacked out.

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

A few nights later and we were sitting on the couch watching Samurai Gourmet on Netflix. I was eating a sweet potato and drinking malt liquor. She was knitting. 

“I’m going on a date with a girl from Bumble tomorrow,” I said nonchalantly. 

Sophia’s eyebrows furrowed, “What?”

“I told you, we’re not exclusive,” I said not looking up from the conversation on my phone with the little 21-year-old blonde girl. 

“But, like...that’s just, like..shitty,” she said starting to cry. 

I ate the last bit of sweet potato, “Oookay, I’m going to bed.” 

She slept on the couch that night and I didn’t care.

[hottytoddynews]

Enjoy our “Reflections” post — one of many vignettes and stories featuring memories of days gone by. This installment is from Oxford’s Tom Brown. 

If you would like to contribute your own Reflections story, send it, along with photos, to hottytoddynews@gmail.com.

The Lyceum on the Ole Miss Campus. Photo by Steven Gagliano

Everyone who attends Ole Miss likely believes those years were golden for them and the University.  It’s very difficult to argue with that logic since all experiences as a student are personal and carry hopes and expectations as well as outcomes.  We factor how well we did individually as well as the school and its components.  So, are my four years at Ole Miss more golden than yours?  Let’s see……

My father graduated from Mississippi State, my mother and sister attended the University of Southern Mississippi.   My dad enjoyed Bulldog sports but never had much opportunity to see them play.  In 1951, he was able to obtain two tickets to the State-Ole Miss game in Starkville, and he wanted our whole family to go, me, my sister who was only four at the time and my mother.  He was very proud of us and wanted us to meet Professor Herzer who was not only his mentor but a special person to him.  We enjoyed that visit as the Professor heaped praise upon my dad and we were so proud of and for him.  Dad managed to find two more tickets to the game, but they were on the Ole Miss side of the stadium.  So, we divided up, my mother and I went to the Ole Miss side and my sister and dad to the State side.  My recollection is that it was a clear but blustery day and at eleven years of age it was my first association with anything Ole Miss.  

   My father, T J Brown, at Seale-Lily Ice Cream Company in Jackson

Mother and I had a terrific time and stayed for the whole game despite the fact that neither of us completely understood the game or the rivalry.  Unfortunately, when we got back to the car to drive back to Jackson, my dad and sister had been waiting for almost the entire second half.  I remember vividly that Dad wasn’t happy with us, but it was likely the final score, 49-7.  Not only was it a big win for Ole Miss but Arnold

(Showboat) Boykin scored seven touchdowns that day which is a one game record for Ole Miss that still holds today.  I didn’t appreciate my dad’s feelings until later when I really understood the Egg Bowl tradition nor did I really appreciate the game I had just witnessed.

My first visit to Oxford/Ole Miss was with my high school band on band day at a football game; I think we came two years in a row likely 1955 and 56 and many high school bands came from across the state to perform either prior to the game or at halftime.  For some reason, one thing stuck in my mind, and I remember it today as if it were yesterday.  Our bus came in on highway 7, and there was a large billboard for Neilson’s Department Store.  I saw very little of Oxford since we went straight to campus, had a rehearsal, ate lunch, performed at the game and went home immediately after the game. I liked what little I saw of the campus, and it occurred to me that if we were invited to perform why weren’t we given a chance to see more of the campus but didn’t think about it for very long since I was a long way from being a college student.

After finishing high school I had planned to go to Mississippi State, primarily I think because my dad went there. I had worked in a couple of local pharmacies part time while in school and had an interest in Pharmacy as a career as well.  I stayed in Jackson my first year and went to Millsaps but didn’t do well nor did I enjoy staying at home, so I decided to come to Pharmacy School at Ole Miss.  In September 1959, I arrived on campus as a student and went to my assigned dormitory, Gerard Hall.  After helping me get settled, my Mother and Father left, and my Mother later told me that as they left they passed a large garbage can full of beer and whiskey bottles.  They looked at each other and said: “we taught him well now he’s on his own.”  I have never forgotten that.

I was a bit uneasy, frightened let’s say, about being away from home and knowing no one at Ole Miss.  I had two roommates that first semester but only one made it to the second semester and he was gone after that. Pharmacy was not an easy major, and I had to study and pledging a fraternity helped to be sure. Gene Peery made a huge difference in my life at Ole Miss.  He was an accounting professor and faculty advisor for Sigma Nu, and he did everything he could to help me.  At one time I had three jobs dormitory manager, served meals in the Delta Gamma house and worked in the Dean of Men’s office mostly with Gene’s help.  He didn’t have to help me because I wasn’t an accounting major but he was helpful to everyone who sought his assistance, and he was an outstanding teacher.  I have never forgotten what he did for me and many others while at Ole Miss.

Renowned UM Accountancy Professor Gene Peery (left) lectures Eddie DeMiller (right) and Howard Davidson at the 1988 celebration of the funding of the Peery Chair in Accountancy.

One of the nicest things about Ole Miss in the late 1950s and into the 60s was that enrollment was only about 3000 students.  It made a difference to me because I was able to get to know a number of people and make many friends over my four years.  In fact, if you worked at getting to know people it wasn’t difficult to know most of them in one way or another.  

I had several roommates over the next couple of years including a high school classmate of mine in 1960; we roomed in Vardaman Hall.  We were good friends, but we also managed to develop friendships with several guys who like to play Boure’ and play we did.  Almost every Friday night a game would start and generally last through the weekend.  We ordered food from Kiamie’s for delivery and never left our room.  By Sunday night the room was virtually unlivable, but everyone had a great time win or lose and the friendships we had still exist today.  Everyone in the group became a success story after college.  Looking back it is amazing that we did well after graduating, but we would all do it again given the chance. Right, Ed Meek?  

My roommate and I enjoyed sports, so it was nice to go to practically every sporting event on campus that year.  When we weren’t taking in sports, it was easy to walk to the square and see a movie at either the Lyric or the Ritz and eat dinner at Seay’s Mansion, Mistilis or Grundy’s.  Food was inexpensive then compared to today.  Once in a while, we made it to the Beacon when we could find someone with a car. If we had a ride, we might also stop by the Kream Kup for ice cream and the pinball machines.  This was the year that I had the most fun without a doubt but certainly had typical college crazies as well.  I slept through a final exam taught by Dean Hammond and had to retake the course the following semester.  My close friends laughed when I walked into the exam when it was nearly over, bleary eyed, sweaty and apologetic.  I got what I deserved.  

In 1961, I moved to Baxter Hall and roomed with a fraternity brother; I was also the dormitory manager.  This year became a bit more serious as far as studies were concerned, so I attempted to stay on course academically. My roommate wasn’t much help since he enjoyed keeping the ladies up all hours of the night on the phone.  At that time there were faculty members living in some of the dormitories.  There was an apartment on the west end of Baxter that housed George Street who served the University in many posts.  George and I became very good friends and maintained that friendship for many years; he was an enjoyable gentleman.  

In the spring of 1962, I had another roommate with whom I served on the Pharmacy faculty years later.  It was a quiet year for the most part but being big sports fans, we didn’t miss many athletic events.  I was scheduled to return as the dormitory manager in the fall of 1962 but as things happened George was moved from his apartment, and the entire floor was cleared in order to allow James Meredith to occupy his apartment and to obtain a buffer by not using that floor for students.

The events of the fall of 1962, although awful in many ways, actually brought students closer, in my opinion, because we not only had common difficulties and experiences but enjoyed many fine things that occurred on our campus.  We all learned that if you fully invest yourself in Ole Miss, you would reap large rewards beyond your college experience.  To fully appreciate the changes that were borne out of that fateful fall day in 1962, the University had to wait until a graduate from those years became Chancellor in 1995.  Robert Khayat understood and appreciated what the University could be made a difference in the lives of all who love Ole Miss.

Many great things happened in 1962 and who can forget a national champion football team who turned adversity on the campus into a renewal of spirit and proved that during the worst of times shared enthusiasm for success defines Ole Miss.  ESPN responded to this team by airing a documentary titled ‘Ghosts of Ole Miss.”  The 1962 team is the only undefeated team in Ole Miss football history. To say that I was a student at Ole Miss during the best football years is an understatement.  The teams from 1959-1962 won 39, lost 3, and tied one.

I also remember seeing Bob Hope perform on campus.  I don’t remember the year, but he performed in the gymnasium (now Martindale) and was having trouble with blood clots in his legs so he performed in a chair that rotated so everyone could see him.  For me, personally, I remember meeting William Falkner at the home of Dr. James Silver who lived on campus.  I felt very fortunate but didn’t truly appreciate it until later.

I came back to Ole Miss in August, 1969, after serving as a Medical Service Corps Captain in the Army.  I returned at the insistence of a former lab instructor then professor in Pharmacy, Dr. Mickey Smith.  He talked me into graduate school and helped me get a position on the faculty in 1970, and I will always be indebted to him for convincing me to return.  I retired in 1999 after 30 full years and then taught part time until 2014.

When I returned to Ole Miss in 1969, the University was still in recovery mode to some degree from 1962 but recover it has, and from 3000 students it has grown to over 20,000.  It has grown not only in size but in reputation.

Everyone who has attended Ole Miss has many stories both during school and after graduation.  The amazing thing is the relationships formed while a student continue today.  When we travel, I come across friends from Ole Miss or people who never attended who recognize Ole Miss from a cap or shirt I may be wearing.  I remember being in Norway and a man walked by, saw my cap and said in broken English “Hotty Toddy’, it makes you proud and happy to be a Rebel from Ole Miss.

  The post Reflections: Ole Miss – My Golden Years 1959-1963 appeared first on HottyToddy.com.

[carryonmyobscurialson-blog]

Life's a Ball

Summary:

With sweaty palms, the boy seemed to throw his whole weight into launching the ball – and it was airborne for just a second.

As subtly as he could, Percival whispered the word "Accio..." From the most distal corner of his mouth.

The ball flew to him with a sudden and powerful trajectory – Percival smiled as he heard Credence's delighted gasp from where the boy stood – and Percival met the ball with his bat right as it approached him, sending the leather ball veering off into a further corner of the yard.

Pairing: Credence Barbone/Original Percival Graves

Note: I come back on tumblr and theres a depressing decline in Gradence things on here. :( Time to spam the tag with random one shots I guess? Here's a fluff.... with kind of a sad ending.

Under the cut as always, original link (here).

It was many times over that Percival asked Credence something he'd like from the store -- and many times Percival was frustrated hear Credence answer "No, Mr. Graves." 

There were some occasions where Credence would respond that they needed celery or carrots -- or some other grocery type item that the house needed for the pantry.  

"No, Credence," Percival explained gently, "That is not what I mean. I want to know if you want anything from the store... for yourself. Like a treat."  

"A treat?" Credence would cock his head in confusion, completely oblivious to what that might mean.  

"Yes you know, like a candy bar or a toy," Percival spelled it out for the boy. He bit the inside of his cheek, feeling silly for suggesting a toy when Credence was hardly of the age to desire toys.  

Although – admittedly – it was sometimes hard to remember that Credence was actually an adult.  

While his frame was actually taller than Percival's own, Credence slouched so much that you could only actually tell the extent of his height when the boy was lying down.  

Even after a few months of staying in Percival's brownstone, Credence still carried the body language of a nervous child meeting a stranger. It was something Percival yearned to break him out of, but as director of magical security its hardly as though he had any time to unravel anyone else's deep, ingrained personality traits.  

Credence was also still frightened of imaginary things and anything that went bump in the night.  

And Credence was largely ignorant to many of life's simplest pleasures – like a home cooked meal or a relaxing stroll in the park. Percival would never forget the first time he had given Credence some coffee, for some reason forgetting that not everyone has drank coffee before -- but that was a story for another time.  

So -- often -- Percival found himself regarding Credence as a child even though he knew he really wasn't. 

After all -- what was a child rather than a soul who was still yet naive to the complexities of mortal existence?  

"A ball," Credence responded one day, taking Percival by surprise, "I'd like a ball."  

"What... what kind of ball?" Percival asked him over the table where a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon were laid out.  

"A ummm..." Credence looked thoughtful for a second with a speck of egg still dangling adorably from the corner of his mouth, "What do you call them... oh yes, a baseball."  

Percival was confused but intrigued.  

"Isn't that a no-maj thing? Why on earth would you want that, my boy?"  

Credence shrugged, "I've always heard kids wanting to play baseball with their dads. You don't have to if it's any trouble at all though, Mr. Graves." 

"No, no," Percival insisted – he was rather perplexed by Credence's reasoning, but as this was the first thing Credence had ever actually requested, Percival wanted there to be no reluctance on his part, "A baseball it is. I'll get it right after work." 

And so Percival did.  

It had been a long time since he had been in a No Maj store -- and as he exited the place Percival mused to himself that he hadn't been missing out on much.  

There were all sorts of new types of machinery and gadgets – metal trinkets for which Percival did not know the purposes of.  

Thankfully, the simple white ball with red embroidery had been easy enough to find... evidently, baseball was more popular than ever with the No Majs these days. It made sense then, that this was some kind of integral tradition for No Maj children – and Credence was curious for a taste of it. 

Still not sure what to make of that whole "with their dads" bit though.  

Credence was quite gleeful when Percival handed him the leather ball upon his arrival. Happiness was a wonderful look on Credence -- and it was a look Percival aimed to see much more of.  

"There you are my boy, one baseball," Percival smiled at his beaming roommate, who cradled the toy with the gentleness of someone receiving the holy grail.  

"Thank you so much Mr. Graves!" Credence said breathlessly, rotating the ball with his fingers as his dark eyes studied it's surface, "I'll pay you back somehow." 

"Not at all Credence," Percival had to restrain from rolling his eyes at the silly notion, taking this time to unload the rest of the supplies he had purchased during his errand run. "It's a gift." 

"I've never had a gift before," Credence said softly, his eyes still not leaving the ball. 

The admission – although hardly shocking – stirred something ugly in the belly of Percival's emotions. And so he changed the subject to avoid ruining Credence's exuberance for his gift with some scathing comment.  

"So, how exactly is baseball played, Credence?" Percival asked curiously as he waves his wand to get the dishes going.  

"I have no idea, Mr. Graves," Credence then confessed, "I was hoping you could tell me."  

Percival turned towards Credence, unable to hide his astonishment.  

"You what?!?" Percival couldn't help but scoff, "Credence, I don't know the first thing about No Maj games."  

"Modesty and her friends played it," Credence pouted slightly, "I figure it can't be that hard."  

Percival was tempted to explain that the difficulty of understanding the game's concept was hardly the problem here.  

He simply didn't have time to spend on such a silly practice. It wasn't necessarily just because it was a No Maj sport (although admittedly that didn't help) --- Percival Graves just hated sports in general. 

Yet Credence had looked so damn eager and excited – and truth be told it was the most excited Percival believed he had ever seen the boy thus far. Why – for this of all things – Percival could  not even begin to guess... but who was he to stand in the way of anything that might make up for all the things Credence deserved yet never received?  

And so – together, Credence and Percival learned the rules of baseball.  

Thankfully -- as both of them were individuals of high intelligence – it took neither of them long to learn all they could from available reading materials.  

After maybe a week since having obtained the ball and later a bat – Credence and Percival were ready for their very first attempt at "baseball practice". 

Credence played the role of pitcher at first, with Percival a few feet away, gripping the neck of the baseball bat.  

"Just throw it as hard as you can, Credence," Percival instructed his already demure pitcher.  

Of course, Percival knew at least to hit the ball off to the side rather than to send it flying back to Credence.  

A heavy-ish projectile zooming quickly in the direction of Credence Barbone's face... wouldn't that be quite the trainwreck? 

And finally -- Credence threw it... but also kind of didn't at the same time. 

After only maybe a few seconds of being airborne, the baseball descended to the moist grass on which they stood with a soft thud.  

They both stared at it for a moment before Percival spoke up again.  

"That's okay Credence," Percival said with a gentle patience that he would never have thought himself capable of, "Just pick it up and try again. This time, try to really pull your arm back as far as it can go before you throw it."  

Already embarrassed by the first failed attempt, Credence nodded in acknowledgement before he bent down to pick the ball up.  

Another throw. 

Credence had definitely taken Percival's advice to heart, and Percival saw him throw back his hand and stretch it as far back as it could go --- but the ball only made it some of the way to where Percival stood before it fell again, rolling its way to Percival's feet after it landed.  

Percival sighed, and he looked up and already he could see that Credence looked on the verge of crying. 

He really  didn't have time for this. 

"I'm sorry, Mr. Graves," Credence mumbled miserably, his eyes dropping down to his shoes and the green grass around it, "I just wanted to do something with you, and I always hear about other kids playing this with their dads and parents, so I just thought.... but turns out I'm no good at this either..." 

The boy's shoulders shuddered violently with the underlying pressure of a repressed sob.  

Percival swallowed hard, feeling strangely gutted at the silly but sad explanation.  

If there was ever need for a reminder as to why Percival mistook Credence for a child sometimes.. 

Sighing, Percival picked up the ball this time and he handed it back to Credence, who at first could only look at the object resentfully.  

"Let's just try, one more time," Percival insisted, "Please? For me?"  

Credence took it with uncertainty, but Percival was still overjoyed that Credence hadn't just given up all together.  

He stepped back and got into position.  

And Credence pulled his arm back... as far as it could go.  

With sweaty palms, the boy seemed to throw his whole weight into launching the ball – and it was airborne for just a second.  

As subtly as he could, Percival whispered the word "Accio..." From the most distal corner of his mouth.  

The ball flew to him with a sudden and powerful trajectory – Percival smiled as he heard Credence's delighted gasp from where the boy stood – and Percival met the ball with his bat right as it approached him, sending the leather ball veering off into a further corner of the yard.  

They both stared as it's found its  landing spot in a barren patch of sand and grass that was in the northwest corner of Percival's backyard.  

The ball rolled around in a circle before it finally came full stop. 

Percival ventured a glance at Credence -- and Credence was all proud smiles and confident demeanor. Unsurprisingly, the sight of it  made Percival's own lips curve into a glowing smile.  

"I did it, Mr. Graves!" Credence exclaimed merrily.  

"Yes, you did, my boy..." Percival walked over to where the boy stood, using his free hand to reach out and rub soothing circles on Credence's back, "I'm so proud of you."  

"Would you have time to play more?" Credence asked as he walked over to retrieve the ball.  

In truth, Percival really didn't have time – but the proud expression of accomplishment on Credence's face was something he had never quite seen before, and Percival had known right away that the way it made his own heart feel warmed with affection and endearment had now become a new addiction.  

"Yes, my boy," Percival smiled at him sweetly, "I will always have time for you."  

So -- they kept playing. 

Credence kept throwing... but not really. 

Percival kept whispering secret summoning charms – and then hitting the ball just so it wouldn't wander too far, or too close to Credence's face.  

Both their smiles kept growing.  

But most importantly... Credence had finally begun to feel some sense of self accomplishment, and Percival had unknowingly just experienced one of the first things that made him fall in love with the gorgeous man child that Percival would come to love for the remainder of his days.  

And it was not for another 40 years later that a much older Credence Barebone threw a baseball at the sky above the cemetery where Percival had been laid to rest -- and Credence wondered when his throwing arm had gotten so weak.