#nate wright (mentioned)

[saphimaki]

Woah bricen lore chat finally

Also some extra facts:

- Name Meaning: Bricen means "armor" or "protection," fitting his guarded personality. Lebeau means "handsome" or "the beautiful," which reflects how others perceive him—striking, mysterious, and effortlessly cool.

- Origin: Born in Marseille, France, Bricen has a slight Marseille accent that occasionally slips out, especially when he’s frustrated or caught off-guard.

- Personality: Bricen keeps his distance from most people. He's not cold exactly—just... hard to reach. Before connecting with Nate, he didn’t really have close friends, choosing solitude over shallow connections. Underneath the cool, aloof surface, though, he’s deeply observant and quietly thoughtful.

- Hobbies & Interests:

Sketching: He’s always carrying a small sketchbook filled with expressive, sometimes abstract drawings. He rarely shows it to anyone.

Wandering Outdoors: Whether it’s a hidden creek, a riverside path, or a quiet rooftop, Bricen loves being outside—especially alone.

Parkour: Climbing walls, hopping fences, and scaling rooftops like it’s nothing. Parkour is his form of escape and control.

Fencing: A sport he picked up back in France. It’s elegant, disciplined, and sharp—much like him.

Trinket Collecting: From metro tickets in Marseille to shiny bottle caps and river stones, Bricen has always collected small, odd items that catch his eye.

- School Life: Academically, Bricen performs well—consistently getting A’s and B’s. But his attitude? Terrible. He challenges authority, rarely participates unless he feels like it, and gives off a “don’t push me” vibe. Teachers respect his intelligence but dread his sarcasm.

- Home Life: Despite his guarded nature at school, Bricen comes from a loving but often absent family. He’s the middle child—caught between a protective older brother and a lively younger sister who absolutely adores him. While his parents are warm and supportive when they’re around, their demanding jobs often keep them away, leaving the siblings to rely on each other more than anyone else.

[big-nate-main-au]

Gina what's your favorite book?

GINA: My favorite book? Easy. "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. Why? Because Elizabeth Bennet doesn’t let anyone walk all over her, she’s smart, witty, and totally unafraid to speak her mind—even when it’s unpopular. Sound familiar?

Also, the writing is sharp, and the social commentary is iconic. Plus, it’s literature. Not like that sci-fi comic stuff Nate reads with exploding mutant hamsters or whatever.

So yeah. Jane Austen > everyone.

You're welcome.

[magicalincorrectrobodokiquotes]

"Sister Act" Clip

“Oh, Blaze, I almost forgot. Your mom needs to talk to you.”

Blaze blushed in embarrassment. Mooooooooom, I’m 29, in human years. 

“Hi there Mr. Shapiro. I’m Ashley.” waved Mrs. Burner, with a four year old in her arms. 

“Awwwwwwwww, and who’s this little one?” Nate gushed.

“This is my youngest, Wright.”

Beat.

“No, the irony isn’t lost on us.” Mrs. Burner explained.

“Noted.” Nate tried not to laugh.

“Mom…” groaned Blaze. “I’m working.”

“I know, but I figured that while your father, siblings and I are visiting Giagiá and Pappoús, I could take Wright to see you while Flicker, Sparky and Ember are out at the movie theater.”

“Mrs. Wright, this studio isn’t kid friendly.” said Nate. “Did you see the store parallel to us?”

“Sorry, I can’t see very far away. I’ll check it out as we head to the home to see Giagiá and Pappoús.”

“Don’t. It’s an adult toy store.”

“Oh my.”

“Yeah. Anyways, feel free to hang.” Nate offered.

“We can watch Wright for a while.” said Blaze.

“I’d like that, thanks, Blaze.”

[boatboys]

in a very old post roach mentioned that a daemon au exists. what would everyone's daemon be?

Oh hey sure! There's lots of little snippets of AUs that include daemons, and lots of scattered chat convos, some of which contradict each other; here's the list as far as I could gather up.

Richard/Rich and Erin Merrill (giant white hero rat)

Joseph/Joey and Maria Trimmer (grasshopper mouse, although at one point in the musings she was a raccoon!)

Basil and Sasha Wright (brown bat)

Liam and Lisabetta/Lisa Beaker (river otter)

Michigan/Mitch and Alaska Ford (lab retriever)

Solace/Sol and Charity King (raven)

Benedict/Ben and Beatrice/Bea Jones (we've thrown around bullfrog vs american badger)

Athena/Thena and Odysseus/Odd/Oddball Merrill (white/cinnamon tiger and yes it's wildly out of place and inconvenient on the fleet. CAN'T BE TAMED!!!!)

Angela/Angie and Theophilius/Theo Merrill (anatolian shepherd)

Belladonna/Bella and Narcissus Beaker (peacock)

Finnegan/Finn and Saoirse Merrill (red setter)

Helen and Troy Bane (leukistic/albino jaguar)

Rich's tech coworker Phil Green has a mole

We didn't determine Nitrogen "Nate" Chau's daemon's species but roach says she should be named Free Radical and that's great.

Liam's PRT sex friend Jordan Levi has a corgi

People with Hastings coloration genes also end up with white or leukistic/albino daemons! Also, while I'm compiling things: some characters that y'all have not met yet, for our own reference.

Rafael and Calliope Caro (mockingbird)

Connor and Delilah Campbell (fox)

Android/Andy and Yaga Strega (black rooster)

Dylan and "Wolf" Ulfric (wolf)

Nitro and Beartrap Goresmith (albino spotted hyena)

Arthur and Morgaine Carraway (black timber wolf)

William/Will and Lavinia/Lav Sandgren (coyote)

Samuel/Sam and Abigail/Bugs Washington (hare)

Gabriel/Gabe and Thalia Caro (barn swallow)

Sofia/Sofie and Virgil Caro (swan)

Phoenix and Stonewall Jett (rottweiler)

[lovesodakid]

sworn to secrecy 4

chris x fem!reader

1 2 3 5 6

summary: chris and y/n have known each other, pretty much their whole lives. y/n has always had a crush on chris. chris always viewed y/n as ‘nate’s little sister’ until one day, he realized, she wasn’t so little anymore…which nate sees..in which. he does not approve of whatsoever. (“brothers best friend trope”)

warnings: slight mention of underage drinking and a small mention of toxic household. that should be all :)

____________________________________________

“y/n.”

“y/n wake up.”

i softly groan at the feeling of being shaken awake. as i sit up fully in my seat, i look over to chris, leaning dangerously close to my face from his seat beside me, as he was whispering in my ear to wake me up.

“mrs. johnson called your name three times for you to answer the question.” he quietly says to me.

that’s when the embarrassing truth of me falling asleep in class hit me.

“miss y/l/n?” mrs. johnson asks from across the room while shooting daggers into me with her eyes. “what is the answer to number four?”

i freeze. mostly in embarrassment, half in fear as i feel what seems like a thousand pairs of eyes on me. have i mentioned i have a small fear of being put on the spot? no? well now you know.

“i-um. what..what was the question?” i ask, rubbing my eyes.

“well. since you can’t seem to focus in my class, maybe you can focus in detention.” mrs. johnson says as she begins walking over to her desk.

i let out a sigh as i stand up, gathering my things. as i finish, i look over to chris as he shoot’s me a sympathetic smile as i begin making my way to the front of the class.

as mrs. johnson finishes wrighting up my detention slip, she clears her throat to speak again.

“next time, don’t fall asleep in my class.” she says calmly.

i don’t say anything as i just nod, taking the slip and walking out of the classroom, making my way to detention.

it’s been two days since nate and i stayed at the triplets house. things have been okay at home since we came back. usually when we end up having to stay at the triplets, the day we come back home, everyone just pretends everything’s fine. my dad speaking in a unsettling calm tone, my mom looking like she’ll break down any moment. i don’t know why she stays with him, i’ve cried multiple times for her to divorce him, but she just won’t. she claims that he was her “first love”. that she can’t abandon that or him. quite frankly, i think my dads a piece of shit who deserves to be abandoned.

as i enter the detention room, i hand the lady at the desk my detention slip before making my way to the back of the room.

as i sit down, i put in my airpods to listen to music. letting my mind drift off into space.

the good thing about being in detention, is the fact that the lady in charge of the kids in detention, couldn’t give a fuck less what we do.

ever since the night at the triplets, i’ve had the same re-occurring dream of the memory of my mom and dad. i used to have them when i was younger, but one day in eighth grade, they just stopped. i thought i had somehow blocked that “traumatic memory” out of my mind. or that’s what my old therapist said anyways.

-

“you got detention?” nate practically yells to the whole cafeteria as i sit down next to him.

i rub my face in annoyance. “i just fell asleep in class. it’s no big deal.”

“it is a big deal since it got you detention.” he mumbles, a hint of anger lacing his voice. “what’s with you? why have you been so tired recently?”

i roll my eyes. “i haven’t been sleeping well okay? im sure ill be able to soon.”

he doesn’t say anything as he just shakes his head.

“so..you guys coming to the party tomorrow night?” nick asks, cautiously.

chris and matt look at nate and i for an answer.

“i am.” nate speaks up. “she isn’t.”

“what? what do you mean im not?” i quickly question him as i whip my head towards him beside me.

“for one, you got detention.” he says calmly. “for two, im not dragging my little sister with me to a party.”

nick, matt, and chris just stare at us as we slightly argue.

“nate, i just fell asleep in class. i didn’t blow up the school.” i scoff, “and i can go with them, i don’t have to ride with you there.” i say, motioning to the triplets.

“y/n i said no.” he says firmly.

“nate, stop pretending your my dad. you don’t have a say-so in if i go or not.” i spit out, crossing my arms. “im going. i’ll probably just have to ride with you guys if it’s okay.” i say, looking between the triplets.

they briefly look at eachother before quickly nodding, nate doing the opposite, letting out an annoyed breath.

-

it’s now the day of the party. nate still isn’t talking to me, which hurts a little bit but i don’t focus too hard on it. a party has never really ever been my ideal type of way to have fun, but trying it out couldn’t be too bad right?

as i get dressed, i put on a denim mini skirt with a tight black, short sleeve shirt that’s slightly cropped. after 5 minutes of debating between doc martens or random knee high black boots, i choose the boots.

i normally wear baggy jeans and a random shirt, so i rarely ever dress up. but when i do, i usually feel hot, like tonight. my whole life i’ve ever only been hung out with the triplets and my brother. i’ve never really made an effort to look “good”. i mean yes i put makeup on and nice clothes, but ive never dressed up around them. so this is definitely a new one.

the second im done, almost on cue, i hear honking coming from outside. which can only mean the triplets are here.

i grab my phone before walking out of my bedroom and making my way downstairs. the house is empty, signaling my parents are gone, as usual. which also makes me thing nate has already left for the party.

i walk outside towards the van, i can’t help but notice the way chris looks at me through the window of the dashboard. it could mean nothing, but my body reacts differently. a surge of butterflies swarming my stomach.

“oh my god y/n!” nate exclaims excitedly as i get in the backseat. “you look hot!”

“thank you nick.” i thank him, a small giggle exhaling from my mouth.

“so, y/n/n. are you drinking tonight?” matt asks from the driver seat. per usual.

the thought of drinking tonight hadn’t even crossed my mind until now. drinking is completely out of character for me, the girl that usually has a book in her face, replacing it with alcohol?

“um, i don’t really know yet.” i answer honestly. “maybe?”

there’s a first time for everything right?

“well if you decide to. make sure you stay close to one of us okay?” chris says from the passenger seat.

“okay.” i agree.

-

“holy shit there’s a lot of people.” i say in surprise as we pull up to the, might as well say ‘mansion’ for the party.

the front door wide open, teenagers standing and sitting on the porch. one kid in particular seems to be vomiting. yuck. the front yard flooded people who look like they’re having a good time.

“yep. that’s a ‘christian davis’ party for you.” chris says, unbuckling his seatbelt.

christian davis is one of the richest kids in school. not to mention one of the most popular.

“let’s go!” nick screams in excitement, grabbing my hand to pull me out of the car.

____________________________________________

a/n: i apologize for the constant time skips, but i didn’t know what to writeee. plus i wanted to hurry up and write the party part 🙈 (for those asking for a tag list, i probably won’t do one for this story, given the fact this is my first one.)

[smallcollegebasketball]

Bevo Francis Award Watch List of 100 Players

2025 Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List Released

Kansas City, MO – The National Awards Committee and Small College Basketball are happy to announce the Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List for the 2024-25 season. Three months into the season, this year’s list is made up of some of the best players from NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, USCAA, and NCCAA.

John McCarthy had this to say about this years Top 100 list: "Congratulations to all 100 players that are on the Bevo Francis Award Watch List of 100 Players,” stated McCarthy. “This is a remarkable accomplishment to be listed as one of only 100 out of approximately 13,000-16,000 players that compete at the NCAA DII, NCAA DIII, NAIA and NCCAA levels. I want to emphasize that, while this is ultimately an individual award, we focused on team success as an important criteria for this list, and for this award.”

The Clarence “Bevo” Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. Considerations will be season statistics and individual achievements, awards, personal character and team achievements. This is an incredibly prestgious award, as this award will only be given to one player within Small College Basketball per season.

2025 marks the eighth year of the Bevo Francis Award. Past winners include Dominez Burnett of Davenport University in 2016, Justin Pitts of Northwest Missouri State University in 2017, Emanuel Terry of Lincoln Memorial University in 2018, Aston Francis of Wheaton College in 2019, Kyle Mangas of Indiana Wesleyan University in 2020 and Trevor Hudgins of Northwest Missouri State University in 2022. In 2023, RJ Sunahara of Nova Southeastern was named the winner, while in 2024 Elijah Malone of Grace College received the honor. The award was not presented during the 2021 season.

John McCarthy added this about the Bevo Francis Award: “This is a very challenging, difficult, and somewhat agonizing process, and I truly appreciate a great amount of insight and information from our National Awards Committee,” mentioned McCarthy. “Once again, congratulations to each and every player on this list. What an honor! Importantly, I greatly appreciate the University of Rio Grande for their continued support of the Bevo Francis Award, as they have been supporting this award since inception during the 2015-16 season. We are truly grateful."

On February 15th, the list will be reduced to the Top 50 players. One month later on March 15th, the Top 25 players will be announced. On April 5th, the finalists of this year’s award will be announced, followed by the Bevo Francis Award winner being crowned on April 7th.

The Bevo Francis Awards Committee consists of the following coaches: Gary Stewart - Stevenson (Md.), Chris Briggs - Georgetown (Ky.), Bill Dreikosen - Rocky Mountain (Mont.), Mark Berokoff – Oklahoma City, Mike Donnelly – Florida Southern, Sam Hargraves – Olivet (Mich.), Richard Westerlund – Great Lakes Christian, Chase Tiechmann – Florida College, Aaron Siebenthall – Ottawa (Kan.), Mark Vanderslice – USC – Aiken, Matt O’Brien – Southwestern (KS), Chris Wright – Langston(OK), Ben Thompson – Emory & Henry, Justin Leslie – Midwestern State, Raul Placeres – Maryville College (TN), Chris Martin – Loras (IA), John Lamanna – Whitman (WA), Brian Miller – MSOE, Justin Downer – Point Loma Nazarene. To stay up to date on all things Small College Basketball or to learn more about the Bevo Francis Award, please head to smallcollegebasketball.com.

2024-25 Bevo Francis Award Watch List of 100 Players

Tray Alexander 5’10” Sr. Pace Nate Amado 6’3” Sr. Babson Jack Bachelor 6’2” So. Washburn Braxton Benham 6’1” Sr. Berry Benjamin Bill 6’10” So. Daemen Jamir Billings 5’11” Sr. Wooster Jadin Booth 6’2” Sr. Florida Southern Caedmon Bontrager 6’7” So. Indiana Wesleyan Adam Brazil 5’10” Sr. Hampden-Sydney Octavio Brito 6’4” Sr. Keene State Ryan Broeckel 6’6” Sr. Wisconsin Lutheran Jack Browder 6’4” Jr. Carson-Newman Luke Burnett 6’2” Sr. Alabama-Huntsville Andres Burney 6’9” Sr. Georgetown Blake Campbell 6’4” Sr. Alabama-Huntsville Quenton Coleman 5’10” Sr. Wayland Baptist Ryker Cisarik 6’9” Sr. Nova Southeastern Tyson Edmondson 6’5” Sr. Lake Superior State Wes Enis 6’2” So. Lincoln Memorial Jaquias Franklin 6’1” Sr. Georgetown Elyjah Freeman 6’8” Fr. Lincoln Memorial Demitri Gardner 6’4” Jr. Augusta Jamal Gibson 6’8” So. Southern University (LA) Hobert Grayson 6’6” Jr. Ouachita Baptist Dallas Graziani 5’8” Jr. Nova Southeastern Christian Green 6’6” So. Trinity (TX) Jamison Guerra 6’0” Sr. Oregon Tech Scott Gyimesi 6’6” So. Tufts CJ Hall 6’2” Jr. Nelson Alton Hamilton 6’8” So. Lewis-Clark State Kaleb Hammeke 6’0” Sr. Fort Hays State Jacob Hanna 6’3” Sr. Washburn Luke Haupt 6’6” Sr. Point Loma Nazarene Justin Hemphill 6’6” Sr. Daemen Jahn Hines 6’4” Sr. Christopher Newport Tristan How 6’7” Sr. New York University Carter Huschka 6’7” Sr. Wisconsin Eau-Claire MJ Iraldi 6’6” Sr. Nova Southeastern Deonte Jackson 5’9” Sr. LeTourneau Anthony Johnson 6’2” Jr. Cumberlands

Cameron Kahn 6’6” Sr. Dallas Baptist Charlie Katona 6’7” Sr. MN Duluth Reed Kemp 6’0” Sr. Maryville (TN) Antwan Kimmons 6’0” Sr. Concordia-St. Paul Drake Kindsvater 6’6” Sr. Washington (MO) Jair Knight 6’2” Jr. Emory Nick Koch 6’1” Jr. The College of New Jersey Peyton Law 6’7” Jr. Freed-Hardeman Jaylon Lee 6’9” Jr. Rocky Mountain Jaden Lietzke 6’7” Sr. Oklahoma Wesleyan Lucas Lorenzen 6’4” Jr. Dordt Kaleb Lowery 6’8” Sr. The Masters Russ Marr 6’3” Sr. Sewanee E.J. Matthews-Spratley 6’2” Jr. Stockton Lakeem McAiley 6’6” Sr. East Stroudsburg Jalen McCoy 6’5” Sr. USC-Aiken Erza McKenna 6’9” Sr. Mobile Khalif Meares 6’3” Sr. Rowan Vincent Miszkiewicz 6’8” Sr. Keiser Latavious Mitchell 6’8” Sr. Florida Memorial Ahamed Mohammed 6’1” Jr. West Texas A&M Bryce Monroe 5’10” Jr. Langston Shaunn Monroe 5’11” Sr. Lourdes Drew Moore 6’4” Sr. Trine Samaje Morgan 5’9” Jr. College of Idaho Tommy Murr 6’1” Sr. Alabama-Huntsville Kashie Natt 6’3” Sr. LSU Alexandria Gabe Newhof 6’9” Jr. Spring Arbor Jordan Oates 6’5” Sr. Salisbury Francis Okwuosah 6’6” Sr. William Woods Andrew Orr 6’8” Sr. Washburn Christian Parker 6’6” Sr. Mount Union Collin Parker 6’8” Sr. Columbia (MO) Ben Pearce 6’1” Jr. Emory Logan Pearson 6’4” Sr. Wisconsin-Platteville Shane Regan 6’4” Sr. Wesleyan Nick Reid 6’7” Sr. Upper Iowa Joe Reuter 6’5” Sr. Hillsdale Nick Roper 6’8” Sr. IL Wesleyan Noah Schutte 6’4” Sr. Concordia (NE) Ian Scott 6’7” Sr. Grace Brayden Shorter 6’5” So. Washburn Joey Skoff 6’3” Sr. Morningside Aamari Smith 6’3” Sr. Whittier Tristan Smith 6’5” Sr. Concordia (NE) Lane Sparks 6’3” Sr. Huntington Alex Steen 6’8” Jr. Florida Southern Jacob Stoltz 6’0” Sr. Wisconsin Lutheran

DJ Talton, Jr. 5’8” Jr. OK Wesleyan Marcus Tomashek 6’6” Jr. Michigan Tech Caleb Van De Griend 6’8” Jr. Minot State Joshua Van Gorp 6’10” Sr. Central (IA) Alex Van Kalsbeek 6’6” Jr. Northwestern (IA) Jesse Van Kalsbeek 6’6” Fr. Northwestern (IA) Henry Vetter 6’5” Jr. Trinity (CT) Joshua Ward 6’1” Jr. Palm Beach Atlantic Anton Webb 6’8” Sr. Taylor A.J. White 5’10” Jr. North Georgia Kyreese Willingham 6’5” Sr. Minnesota State Andrew Young 6’9” Jr. Missouri S&T

[casspurrjoybell-20]

FOOLS IN LOVE - Chapter 14 - Part 2 BOOK THREE: 'Fools Fall in Love' Trilogy

*Warning - Adult Content*

Noah Wright

I banged on Nathan's apartment door and as soon as my brother answered, I pushed my way past him and into his home.

"Nice to see you too," Nathan spoke sarcastically, shutting the door and following me to where I was pacing in his living room.

I thought I spotted his girlfriend, Maggie, in the kitchen but I was too pissed to greet her.

When Nathan got close to me, I snapped...

"You've been hanging with mom now? What the fuck?"

My brother sat down on the couch with an exhale.

"Can you sit? Your angry pacing is nauseating to watch."

I stopped and glared at him.

"Answer the fucking question, Nate."

I had told Nathan a while back when our mother first came back into my life.

We haven't spoken about her since but I thought he'd at least tell me about him supposedly forgiving her.

"Chill. I've met with mom a few times for dinner and lunch," he said matter-of-factually, shrugging.

"What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal? You're sharing a meal with her after she abandoned us and left us with our shithole dad. That's the big fucking deal. She didn't go off on a business trip, she upped and left without a second thought," I shouted.

When it came to the anger issues in my family genes, I had it worse than Nathan but that didn't mean Nathan didn't also have anger issues.

He still had them, just not easily as sparked as mine.

Unless someone was yelling in his face like I was.

He stood up and shoved me back a step.

"Nathan," Maggie said, appalled as she stepped into the living room with us but her boyfriend ignored her.

Nathan seethed at me.

"Didn't I tell you to sit the fuck down? Trust me, I fucking know she dipped out on us but if you gave her time to explain herself, her life wasn't much easier."

"Oh, I got her shitty excuse. She chose drugs over us and got hooked. Am I supposed to feel sorry for her when she got herself in that situation? She should've been worried about getting us out."

Nathan shook his head.

"There's more to it than that, you're too fucking immature to have an actual conversation with her."

I gritted my teeth.

"No, it's that you've always been a mommy's boy, so of course you welcomed her back with open arms. She tells you her fucking sob story and now she's back in your life like nothing happened. You're such a fucking pussy."

Nathan laughed sardonically.

"You have it backwards, you're so caught up in this 'poor me' victim attitude, you can't even see she just wants to apologize and make up for what she did. I'm not the pussy, you..."

I hit him.

Everything he was saying took me over the edge and I slammed my fist into my brothers jaw.

Maggie gasped and flung to Nathan's side.

"Fuck you. You don't understand because you left too, asshole. You went to college while I had to take care of our drunk, fuck-head father."

Nathan was on the couch, listening to me while rubbing his jaw.

Maggie sat next to him as I kept going.

"I had to suffer all of his bad days because his bad days always got taken out on me. Not to mention his child-rapist best friend."

I had more to yell but Nathan stopped me and stood back up.

"What do you mean 'child-rapist' friend."

Fuck, I didn't realized I said that until Nate questioned me about it.

I took a breath.

"Nothing," I muttered.

"The point is..."

Nathan looked sick to his stomach with worry as he asked...

"Did one of dad's friends touch you...?"

"No, I'm fine. He just..." I sighed and sat down because then I felt as though I might pass out.

"It doesn't matter, I'm over it."

I wasn't but Dr. Zinko was helping me cope.

"Noah, why the fuck wouldn't you tell me about something like that?"

"It... fuck... it happened a while ago. When I was thirteen. It wasn't like he... he... it wasn't like..." I groaned, frustrated because I didn't want to talk about it.

"That's besides the point. The point is I needed mom... and you and fine, you were able to get out and go to college, obviously I wanted that for you but mom... she should've... should've..."

It wasn't until Nathan hugged me when I realized I was shaking, tears running down my face.

"I'm sorry," he told me.

"I didn't know about all of that. Why didn't you tell me?"

I shrugged.

Nathan pulled back.

"Always trying to fight your own battles, Noah. You should've fucking told me."

"It doesn't matter," I mumbled and swiped at my face.

"It does matter, Noah and you're right, Mom should've been there and I should've checked in on you more. I'm so sorry I didn't. I was pissed at Mom when she came back. for a while but then I just..." that time Nathan shrugged.

"Life's too fucking short and unpredictable to not move forward. I never said I forgave her but I'm at least giving her the chance to prove that she's worthy of forgiveness."

"I don't know if I can do that," I said, shaking my head.

"And that's your choice but don't be mad at me for making mine. I really think you should reconsider, though."

********

Reconsidering was all I thought about on my fifteen minute drive home.

That and all the words exchanged between Nate and myself.

I had apologized for my yelling fit and for hitting him but I didn't stay much longer after that.

There was too much to think about.

I didn't know if I could ever forgive my mother but maybe Nate was right about giving her a chance but the thought of giving her a chance and hearing her dumb excuses 'because no excuse was good enough for leaving' made my blood boil with anger.

So there was still a lot to think about.

Something I hadn't thought about on my ride home, was the events that occurred prior to speaking with Nathan.

Like Sam and I agreeing on talking at my apartment.

So around eight pm that night, it was a bit of a surprise to find Sam sitting on the stool in my kitchen, talking to Ciera.

Their chat came to a halt when I stepped through the door.

All of us freezing but my eyes were only on Sam's.

[tlhrfanfic]

[Late] Thus With a Kiss I Die

Title: Thus With a Kiss I Die Ship: Late (Nate/Procrastination&Logan) Warnings: Idiot Gays, Kissing, Making Out, Disaster Gays, One Brain cell shared. Cuuuute. Words: 12,444 Request: So this was a Kiss AU list request that was requested by @romantichopelessly​ for a present for getting lots of stuff done with her Botwot AU: 36. we can never be together.

Summary: Logan was just cast as Juliet in the school play. He is not thrilled. Then he finds out that his crush Nate is Romeo. He's doomed.

Read on AO3

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

Logan couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t that he couldn’t believe that a senior class in an all-boys boarding school was doing a play. No, that was statistically likely, all things considered. 

 What he couldn’t believe, however, was that the school had chosen Romeo and Juliet as the play for the senior class that year. 

 Why?

 They weren’t even changing the genders of the female characters to appear pro-gay or any of the less than moral types of things private institutions did to bring in donators. 

 “Maybe our parents just thought they’d get a kick out of some of their kids dressing up in drag and talking falsetto.” Logan snorted and glanced at his best friend. 

Virgil sighed. 

 “I’m soooo glad I got the nurse. Yes! No one cares about that old hag’s lines. Smooth sailing.”

 Logan glared. 

 Virgil cleared his throat, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, and shrugged. 

 “Yeah… tough luck you got the lead.”

 Logan laughed at that and shook his head. 

 “Thank you.”

 Virgil raised a brow. “For what?”

 “Most people have been congratulating me.”

 Virgil snorted. “Oh, yeah. Well, any time dude.”

 Logan sighed and nodded. 

 “So uh… have you talked with him yet?”

 Logan, who currently had his face in his hands, could hear the slight smirk in Virgil’s carefully phrased question. He suddenly longed to glare daggers at his friend but, due to all the excitement, was too exhausted to bother. Definitely not his excitement, but it was felt nonetheless. 

 “I don’t have any idea to whom you would be referring to Virgil.”

Logan attempted to silence the other with a look but his gamble failed.

 Virgil’s smirk widened. “Oh you don’t, do you?”

 Logan mustered up the energy to actually glare daggers his way, but there still wasn’t much fire behind it. He sighed. 

 “What am I going to do?” he asked, a slight whine to his words that he generally avoided. 

 Virgil sighed as well. “Why are you asking me?”

 Logan rolled his eyes and adjusted his glasses. 

 “One of us is actually in a romantic relationship and it is not me.”

 Virgil blushed and shrugged.

 “It’s all still very new though so I don’t know what you expect from me here, Lo.”

 “How do I get him to like me?”

 “Dude, you’ve liked that guy since we started high school. If anyone knows how to get him to like you, it’s you.”

 Logan groaned. 

 “Has Patton been having you listen to those self-growth tapes again?”

 Virgil shrugged but smiled softly and, for a moment, Logan smiled as well. He was very pleased to see his friend so happy. “They’re really not so bad.”

 “Good to know.”

 Logan sighed. 

 “Why don’t you just tell him?”

 Logan looked up at Virgil as if he’d grown an extra head. 

 “Right. Tell Nate Lassus, whom most of those students who identify as gay or bisexual and/or pan want, that I’ve had a crush on him for three years? Someone who I should not even want because truly, what do we have in common?”

 “You mean aside from the fact that you guys like each other and want to kiss each other and make out and do I need to keep going?”

 “That does not promote a healthy relationship, Virgil.”

 Virgil rolled his eyes. “Then you get to know him and I am certain there is something you guys have in common.”

 “Also, he does not like me. Don’t think I didn’t hear that.”

 “He does, and I hoped you would.” Virgil stuck out his tongue.

 Logan bit his tongue to keep from snapping at his friend. Virgil had been on this whole theory that Nate liked him as well. Which was absolutely absurd and held no merit whatsoever despite Virgil and Patton’s so-called evidence. 

 “Patton said he looked excited when you were chosen for Juliet. Even looked your way, hoping you were looking at him.”

 Logan looked up at Virgil. For a moment, there was a sliver of hope but reality sunk in. 

 “This is Nate Lassus we are talking about, Virgil. He’s just excited to get to kiss a guy on stage.”

 Virgil groaned but dropped the subject. Logan knew that wouldn’t be the last of it, however, he was happy for the break.

 »»————　♞　————««

 Nate watched as his two best friends fooled around with some of the prop swords backstage. He was currently working on some backgrounds, hammering some pre-cut wood boards that would be used as trees or perhaps castle props or any number of things. 

 He didn’t do the whole painting bit, but he could definitely manage hammering support pieces of wood to the backdrops. 

 As he worked, Nate thought back to the assembly when they were informed that a play would be put on and the parts that they would perform. When he had heard his name first, announced along with the name of the play’s male lead, his only thought had been a half-hearted wish. 

 If only Logan could be my Juliet… he’d thought and then—as if his thoughts had actually held any power at all—Logan’s name had been called and Juliet’s had followed. Nate could only glance at Logan, hoping to see what the other’s reaction had been. Unfortunately, it had looked like… well, not disgust, which was good… but definitely shock and dread. Nate had tried to tell himself that the looks were more about the role he’d been given and had nothing to do with himself.

 It felt like a lie, but it made Nate feel better all the same.

 “Take that, heathen,” Janus’s crisp voice broke through his thoughts. He glanced up from his spot on the floor as he shifted to the next set of backdrops and supports. 

 “Never, you scallywag bitch!” Remus cackled and rushed at Janus, the pair’s swords clacked with every strike.

 Where Janus actually had had fencing lessons and moved with finesse and experience, Remus struck down with pure force and nothing else. With Janus’s slight frame—at five-foot-four—it would seem that Remus’s strategy could gain him the upper hand. However, it was the smaller teen’s quick and fluid footwork that secured his victory. 

 As Nate had guessed, Remus’s wood sword was soon sailing across the room, clacking onto the tiled floor. Remus cackled, rather than growing angry, and rushed to get the wooden sword. With the more chaotic of his friends distracted, Janus turned to Nate while continuing to run through different fencing patterns.

 Sharp eyes met Nate’s, one a deep brown and the other a warm gold. He said nothing, knowing that whatever it was his friend wanted to say, he would get to it when he was ready and not a moment sooner. Still, as the moments ticked on, Nate wished he would just get on with it already. 

 “Sooo… Logan Wright is your Juliet… now why does this seem so fitting.… Oh right, because you complete morons are in love with each other. Maybe even the teachers and staff know it and this is the whole damn school’s way of saying ‘Now Kiss’.”

 Nate rolled his eyes. He tried to stay chipper and upbeat but now that it was spoken, he could no longer ignore the siren call of his crush as a topic. 

 “Jan… he didn’t even look at me… what if…”

 “Hopeless…”

 “Jan, I’m serious here.”

 “And so am I, Nate.”

 Remus returned. 

 “How do you know Logan likes him anyway, babe?”

 Janus looked at his boyfriend and shrugged. 

 “I can’t really say how… just trust me on this. My instincts are solid when it comes to people’s love lives.”

 Nate wanted to argue but, since Janus was his best friend from grade school, he already knew it was pointless. Not to mention, Janus had walked into the school freshman year, spotted Remus, and pointed him out to Nate. 

 “That guy is strange and quite possibly deranged. And I’m not sure how I know this, but we are most definitely going to date.”

 Nate had snorted and moved on. Then it had happened in Junior year, long after Janus had forgotten about the fateful statement he had made two years before. So he might have been right back then, but Nate really didn't want to have to wait two years like the other had to find out if his best friend’s prediction today would come true. 

 “You really should tell ol’ Logan how you feel, dude.” Remus shrugged, grinning that almost maniacal grin of his. Nate couldn’t help but grin back. 

 Still, his friends obviously didn’t get it. 

 If Logan had any feelings, he would have looked his way at the assembly when he’d realized it was Nate who he’d be kissing. 

 Oh, fuck. That’s right.

 Not only was it that Logan would be kissing him… 

 Nate would get to kiss Logan. 

 “And this look is Nate now realizing that not only does he get to share the lead with his crush, but he also gets to kiss said crush on stage in front of everybody.” Janus murmured with a side glance at his boyfriend. Remus snickered. 

 Nate threw them the double bird and kicked them out. 

 Getting back to work, Nate put all thoughts of crushes and kisses out of his mind.

 »»————　🕶️　————««

 Logan almost didn’t make it to the meeting with Mr. Thomas Sanders, the drama teacher who was putting the show on, and Nate. He was just going to continue on with his normal routine and that would be that. They would realize he just wasn’t going to do it and they would get someone else. 

 Then he realized that part of him wanted to go. Was it curiosity? Or was it the siren call of having a valid reason to spend more time with Nate?

 Logan blinked as he looked around, finding himself already headed in the direction of the theater. 

 It took a lot less time than he hoped to reach the two large oak doors, opening one of them and slipping inside. He was not surprised to see Mr. Sanders’s bright, welcoming smile. He was also not surprised to see that Nate was not there. 

 Nate had a habit of running late… all the time. 

 Something that would annoy him in anyone else, but with Nate, it somehow just worked.

 “Logan! Thank you for being here,” Mr. Sanders said, still smiling brightly. “Nate should be here soon.”

 Logan nodded, ignoring the heat rising up the back of his neck. 

 He jumped a moment later as the oak door opened once more, his head jerking in that direction.

 In walked Nate, looking just as attractive as he always did. It was because he was having what Roman, Patton’s friend, would call a ‘swoon moment’ that Logan didn’t notice it at first, but Nate’s gaze was on him from the moment he walked in the door. 

 Pretending that his blush was not currently seeping into his cheeks, Logan cleared his throat and turned in Nate’s direction. Standing up straight, Logan nodded at the other in greeting. While they weren’t friends, they had shared a number of classes and projects and school trips over the years. They’d talked but only in a capacity regarding those things. 

 None of which were personal or intimate. 

 Logan withheld a sigh, then remembered he should say something. 

 “Salutations, Nathan.”

 “Hey yourself, Logan. Hey, Mr. S.”

 Nate joined them and Mr. Sanders led them to the front row of seats. He had three padded fold out chairs, one in front of the other two. Logan took one of them and Nate took the other. Ignoring how close he was to Nate at that very moment, Logan focused instead on Mr. Sanders. 

 The drama teacher took the chair in front of them and beamed at them both. 

 “Thank you both for coming. I just wanted to take a moment and congratulate you both on getting the roles, even if you may not have wanted them.”

 Mr. Sanders who smiled apologetically. 

 “I had suggested we hold auditions and I was overruled.”

 Logan shrugged, a habit he had picked up from Virgil. 

 “It can’t be helped now and it’s not for any major event. I mean, I may suffer from making an absolute mockery of myself but… I have my own reasons for doing it, I suppose.”

 “Oh really? Do tell,” Nate pressed, flashing an easy grin.

 Logan flushed. He couldn’t believe he had just said what he’d said. He had felt surprisingly calm in the moment though he supposed that was just the effect Mr. Sanders had on people.

 Effective for an instructor teaching performing arts. 

 “It’s just… I’m a team player. We all have to do this. I cannot be selfish. I’d also… well, I’d kind of like to challenge myself too, I suppose.”

 And it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Nate was playing Romeo and Logan would get to kiss him. 

 Logan’s heart rate increased and his eyes fell to Nate’s mouth before quickly looking away.

 “Huh. Well… that’s epic. Good for you, dude.”

 Logan nodded. 

 “Nate’s right. That is very epic!” Mr. Sanders agreed. 

 He clapped his hands.

 “Alright, I know I don’t have to tell you two that Romeo and Juliet are the two most important characters in the play. Obviously, without them, the play would not exist. But, I want you guys to forget about that.”

 Logan’s confusion must have shown on his face because Mr. Sanders elaborated. “You are to think of them as people. Think of them as your friends. Or better yet, yourselves. I want you to get into their minds and think about why they do the things they do in the way they do them.”

 He stood up, pacing back and forth as he explained, glancing at them every so often. He then returned to them, taking the chair once more.

 “By doing that, you open them up in an intimate way that allows you to become them. Does all of that make sense?”

 He looked at Logan first before glancing at Nate. 

 Logan considered the words. He wasn’t an actor. That was Roman. 

 Which reminded him to make a mental note to speak with Roman after this. Unfortunately, while that would help future him, it did not help him now. 

 “I suppose… it’s… well, if we don’t feel what they are feeling…” Logan was grasping at straws. He was hands down the worst choice for the character of Juliet he had ever seen. 

 Nate leaned toward Logan. It was subtle but Logan, constantly aware of his surroundings, noticed. Strangely, it was comforting. 

 “Let me take a stab.”

 “Go ahead, Nate.” Mr. Sanders said with a grin, pleased with the other’s enthusiasm.

 “It’s because we can’t just learn the lines and do what the movements and motions say. Anyone can do that, but in order to sell what we are doing, we have to understand the character’s struggles to better perform them on the stage. By becoming the characters, we help the audience experience what they were feeling and thinking.”

 “Very good Nate! Exactly.”

 Logan glanced at Nate and smiled his appreciation. Nate shrugged.

 And winked.

 Logan blushed and turned his attention back to Mr. Sanders who was rising to head to his bag. He pulled out what appeared to be papers and two boxes and headed back to them. Handing each boy a stapled document, he continued to talk. 

 “These are your scripts. Feel free to highlight, take notes, change directions, and—although anything you change must be approved by me—I am always open to and strongly urge suggestions.” He then handed them each a box of two highlighters. “Rehearsals will start tomorrow after school. They will run for an hour and a half during weekdays for the next four weeks. The three weeks after that will be two and a half hour practices and the week after that is show week.”

 He glanced at them both. 

 “Any questions?”

 Logan, afraid to speak, shook his head. He held his script and highlighters close, ready to bolt at the first opportunity. Nate must have agreed in some fashion because Mr. Sanders continued on. 

 “One last suggestion. You are expected to run your lines outside of rehearsals. It’s the only way to memorize the lines. However, you are not expected to run lines together. I do want to strongly urge that you do. Find a nice quiet place to run the scenes you guys have together. You both already seem pretty comfortable around each other. That will help! Especially when it comes to practicing the kiss.” 

 He glanced at Logan. “You do not have to practice the kiss but you will want to. Trust me. It’s not easy to kiss strangers on stage.” He shuddered and Logan had to wonder at his experience with such things. Perhaps it was better not to ask. 

 He ignored his flaming cheeks and cleared his throat. 

 “Thank you for all the suggestions and insight, Mr. Sanders, but if that is all, I really must go.”

 “Yes, of course. You are both good to go and I look forward to seeing you at rehearsals.”

 Logan took off and didn’t look back. 

  »»————　♞　————««

 Nate wasn’t sure how he managed it, but he was able to keep his disappointment and irritation off his face until he thanked Mr. Sanders and left. 

 So… that was it then. 

 Logan didn’t like him and was actually disgusted by the idea of not only kissing him but practicing kissing him too. 

 He sighed as he ignored the urge to hit the wall. Even if it would help him let out his frustration, he’d have a broken hand and that would just do no one any good. 

 Deciding to put the feelings into doing something useful, Nate made his way to the door that led backstage and headed in. Making his way past the dressing rooms and costume closets, Nate reached the main backstage floor, where he found Janus. 

 His friend was busy working, sketching backgrounds onto the backdrops that had already been assembled. Janus didn’t even bother looking up. 

 “Nice of you to join me, Nate.”

 Nate had no idea how he always knew it was him without looking, but at this point, he couldn’t be bothered to ask. Janus would likely take it to his grave anyway. 

 “Hey, dude.” Nate sighed.

 Janus immediately looked up from what he was doing, his eyes narrowing. 

 “What happened?” 

 Nate blinked, a shiver at the dangerous look in those two toned eyes running down his back. Not for the first time, he was extremely happy that Janus was his friend rather than an enemy. 

 “Nothing… exactly?”

 “Darling, it’s my job to be vague and interesting. Yours is to be strong and mmm… a little himbo-esque. Now, I’m going to ask you again. What happened?”

 Nate sighed and explained what had happened in the meeting and Logan’s sudden rush out the doors at the end. Janus kept the same unreadable expression on his face throughout the story and when Nate finished, he sighed. 

 Nate frowned. 

 “What?”

 “Nate… darling… I don’t mean to sound harsh when I say this… who the hell am I kidding, yes I do. Especially since I know you can take it. Think about what you just told me and then think about who it is you’re talking about…”

 “Logan… yeah, so what?”

 Janus tutted. 

 “Okay… I see I am going to have to spell this out for you, hon. In the years that we have attended this school with Logan, have you ever seen him date? Ever see him hold hands with anyone?” He watched Nate closely. Nate, not sure where this was going, just listened. “Ever see him hug anyone… well, I suppose he gets hugs from Patton but that definitely doesn’t count. Everyone gets hugs from Patton. But anyway… ever see him in any scenario like those I mentioned?”

 Nate didn’t really need to think about it. He had liked Logan for so long, it was as if his presence was a magnet for Nate’s gaze. 

 “No… but I don’t really see how…”

 “So gorgeous… so sweet… but so, so dumb.”

 Nate might have felt offended but the other said the insult with such fondness it almost felt like the other compliments he’d offered. 

 “Janus, just get to the point.”

 “Very well. Of course Logan ran out of there at the thought of practicing kissing you… he’s never been kissed, Nate.”

 Oh.

 Oh.

 “Oh.”

 Janus smirked and stood up, coming to stand in front of him. Nate looked down at him and sighed. 

 “I… never even considered… huh… okay… so I should definitely go find him then?”

 “Oh, most definitely.”

 Janus winked. Nate grinned at the other and nodded at the sketch. 

 “Nice trees, by the way. I think that’s what they are—”

 “Fuck you,” Janus said but grinned. 

 “You wish.”

 “Don’t I just.” 

 Nate chuckled and pointed at the hall that led to the exit with his thumb. 

 “I’ve got a cute nerd to find. Catch you later.”

 “Oh, have you learned how to catch things now?”

 Nate, who totally could not catch anything thrown his way, gasped. 

 “Low blow, my friend.”

 “It’s how you know I care. Now, go find Logan. Also, maybe consider telling him how you feel… just a thought. No pressure.”

 “Yeah… we’ll see. Later.”

 “Go get him, darling.”

 Nate snorted but headed out for the dorms.

 »»————　🕶️　————««

 Logan reached the dorm room that he shared with Virgil and quickly buried himself in the thing that made him feel safest: homework. 

 He was so lost in his homework that he almost didn’t hear the knock on the door. It wasn’t odd to have someone knock on his door, so Logan didn’t give it much thought. It was likely Patton looking for Virgil or something. Patton often forgot that his cell phone would be a much more efficient solution to finding his boyfriend. 

 Then again, also knowing Patton pretty well by now, it was just as likely he was checking up on Logan. That boy did wear his heart on his sleeve and would want to help if he perceived someone was upset in any way. 

 Therefore, when he went to open his door, it was with great surprise, and uncalled for embarrassment, he found Nate on the other side. 

 “So… hey.”

 “... Hi.”

 Logan did not miss how Nate glanced into his dorm before looking at him once more. 

 “I was wondering if you… uh… if you had a moment.”

 Logan shifted slightly but nodded. When he said nothing, Nate continued. 

 “Do you think we can maybe take this inside?”

 “You wish to be invited into my dorm room?”

 Nate chuckled softly. Logan frowned. It almost sounded fond but that made no sense. Logan was barely a blip on Nate’s radar. There was no reason for him to be fond of anything that had to do with Logan. 

 Deciding it was obviously projections of his own feelings—why did he have them again?—Logan pushed any thoughts and inquiries on fondness from his mind. 

 “Yeah, if that’s alright with you.”

 Logan considered before nodding, opening the door and stepping away to let Nate pass. He closed the door behind him, trying to ignore the twisting of his insides from having his crush in his room. 

 Not sure what to do with himself, Logan returned to his desk and leaned against it, watching Nate and ignoring the heat rising up the back of his neck. 

 “Alright… we’re inside. What did you wish to speak to me about?”

 Nate, who had been checking out the room, seemed to focus on Logan’s side. 

 Interesting. 

 He grinned at Logan now and crossed from the book shelf he had been perusing to stand in front of him. 

 “Yeah, so… I just wanted to talk about the play…”

 Logan sighed. 

 “Obviously. There is no other reason that could have brought you here. I know we don’t talk too much and we aren’t friends so there would be no reason to hang out, but surely, after years of school with me, you would know that I am pretty observant.”

 Nate chuckled that same fond laugh again. The sound had heat slipping into Logan’s cheeks and he cleared his throat. 

 “What about the play, Nathan?”

 Nate sighed. “Janus told me you’ve uh… you’ve never been kissed…”

 Oh.

 Right, the kiss in the play.

 Even though this was obviously about kissing each other in the play, Logan couldn’t get past the fact that he would have to kiss Nate. If it had been anyone else, he was certain he could manage. But with Nate… 

 What if he was horrible? What if Nate told everyone?

 No… Nathan Lasses could be a dick but to most people, he was kind and fair and nice. Besides, in Logan’s humble opinion, Remy—Nate’s twin—was much worse. 

 Nate wouldn’t tell anyone. Knowing Nate, he’d offer to help him practice and—

 Suddenly it clicked. He knew exactly why Nate was there. 

 “Ah. You wish to practice the kiss,” he said simply. 

 Nate’s eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment before the look was replaced with something else. Something softer. 

 Do not even think of that word, Logan, or so help me.

 “Correct, as always, scholar.”

 Logan blinked. Huh, a nickname. 

 As far as Logan had been informed by Patton, nicknames were things people gave to other people they really liked and wanted to be friends with. 

 Logan held back a sigh. 

 Friendship… well, I suppose if that’s what he wants from me… it would be selfish of me to refuse.

 Ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, he forced a smile. 

 “That… that would be okay with me…” Logan said. 

 This was not how he wanted his first kiss—especially not with Nate—but as there was no hope for more, it would be pointless to hold out on the impossibility that there ever would be.

 Besides, it was better this way. He was far too busy for silly things like holding hands, little whispers spoken between kisses, flirting, cuddling. He wasn’t big on those things anyway. Even if he would have liked to try… with Nate.

 “Wait, really? I honestly thought I was going to have to like talk you into it or something.”

 Logan shook his head and held up a hand.

 “Not at all. Janus, though I’d love to know who his source was, is correct. I’ve never kissed or been kissed. This is an adequate solution. Completely logical.”

 Nate frowned and Logan hesitated. 

 “What’s wrong?”

 Nate had a look on his face that was hard for Logan to read. It was reserved but there was something else too. Before Logan could figure out what it could be, Nate was suddenly grinning and clapping. It was as if nothing had happened but there was still a weird charge in the air. 

 Or maybe Logan was reading too much into the situation. 

 “Nothing’s wrong, dude. Let’s get started.”

 Logan’s eyes widened at that. 

 “Now?”

 He was pained to admit to himself that he might have squeaked the word, but if any one else asked, he would take it to his grave. 

 Nate snickered. 

 “Aww, getting shy? Cute.”

 Logan blushed at that and, regretfully, flailed his embarrassment. 

 “I’m not cute!”

 “I mean, of course you don’t find yourself attractive, scholar, but you never know. Some people might.”

 “Oh, yes, and someday Patton will stop hanging out with cats even though he’s pretty severely allergic.”

 “Haha, yeah right.”

 “Exactly.”

 It seemed to hit Nate what Logan had meant and suddenly the taller teen was closing the remaining distance between them.

 “I’m serious, Logan.” He looked it too. His dark brown eyes locked with Logan’s and he smiled the same smile from earlier. The one that Logan was positive he was projecting because it made zero sense for Nate to smile at him like that unless…

 No Logan. You already ran the probability of a guy like him liking a guy like you. He doesn’t like you in the same way you like him.

 “Hey, Logan…” Nate said, voice lower. Softer.

 Logan looked up, unsure of when he looked away. His grey eyes met brown once more and suddenly the atmosphere changed. 

 He could no longer hear the world outside his dorm room and time felt slower. He wasn’t sure what was happening and he wasn’t sure he liked it. Clearing his throat, he swallowed. 

 “Yes, Nathan…” he whispered. 

 Why was he whispering?

 “Can I kiss you?”

 Logan swallowed again but nodded. 

 Nate smiled and Logan was shocked again to find it seemed kind of… disappointed. Sad, even. Then Nate was closing his eyes and Logan, completely out of his element, did the same. 

 The first contact was soft… almost as if it hadn’t been there at all. Logan found himself leaning into it and his lips found Nate’s. He gasped and pulled away, bringing a hand to his mouth. 

 “Very good, for your first kiss,” Nate said, grinning teasingly. Logan blushed. 

 “Shut up.”

 “No, no. None of that. I’m serious. You did good.”

 “Right.” 

 Logan had no reason to believe him, of course, but it was nice to hear. Then again, unlike Logan, Nate had kissed many people. Maybe he knew what he was talking about. He cleared his throat.

 “Should we… keep practicing?”

 Nate seemed surprised by the question but laughed and nodded. 

 “We absolutely should keep practicing. Definitely should. One hundred percent.”

 Logan rolled his eyes but snorted. 

 “Very well. Kiss me again.”

 Nate smirked. 

 “Yes, sir.”

 With that, he placed his hands on Logan’s hips and tugged him against his body, leaning down to kiss him deeply on the mouth.

  »»————　♞　————««

 Nate couldn’t help the pleased sound that escaped him as he kissed Logan deeply. His eyes were closed, brows furrowed, lips moving against Logan’s. 

 Never in all his wildest dreams had he ever thought he would get the chance to kiss Logan. Now that he had, however, he felt as if the universe was laughing in his face. 

 Like, yeah you get to kiss him but you ain’t never gonna have him. Not how you so desperately desire.

 Fuck the universe. 

 If he couldn’t find the words to tell Logan…

 If he couldn’t trust himself to say the right things…

 Well, he’d just have to tell him through his kisses. 

 He could do that.

 Logan’s arms wrapped around him and Nate took that as all the permission he needed to hold Logan closer. He moved one hand to the small of Logan’s back as his other hand came up to frame the intelligent teen’s face. 

 Nate was the one who had to pull away, inhaling sharply as he tried to catch his breath and chuckling as Logan chased after his retreating mouth. 

 “So…” Nate asked, the word low and still a little breathless. “How was that?”

 Logan just blinked up at Nate. “H-huh, what, I’m sorry?”

 Nate laughed deeply at that and, before he could talk himself out of it, he quickly leaned down to kiss the other’s forehead. 

 “Cute…” he said, voice low and fond. 

 Logan blushed but said nothing. Silence fell between them, neither knowing what to say or what to do. Logan seemed to want to say something—maybe ask something—but it was clear to Nate that he was nervous. Nate wished he could think of just the right thing to say that would reassure the other that he wasn’t ever going to judge him. 

 If he only knew how much I care…

 Then maybe you should tell him. That voice sounded far more like Janus’s than it did Nate’s.

 Yeah right.

 Nate smiled down at Logan and was about to ask him if it would be okay if they practiced again tomorrow but in the next moment Logan was pressing closer and kissing him. Having absolutely no problem with this change in plans, Nate wrapped both arms tight around Logan, embracing him completely as he kissed back hungrily. 

 It was Logan’s turn to make pleased sorts of sounds, the other teen obviously getting lost in the feelings and sensations. That was all well and good, of course, but the sounds did things to Nate and if he allowed those sounds to keep doing those things to him, well… 

 He wouldn’t need words to tell Logan how he felt because Logan would be able to feel it.

 Pulling away quickly, Nate worked hard to catch his breath. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. 

 “Okay! So, I think this is a great place to stop. We can totally practice some more tomorrow, if you’re okay with that—”

 “Yes.” Logan said it so quickly he seemed to surprise even himself. 

 Nate’s brows rose as Logan cleared his throat and spoke up again, more reserved. 

 “I mean, that would be agreeable.”

 Nate smirked at that.

 “Great. Same time after classes? Back here?”

 Logan nodded but then stopped. 

 “Yes… but can we go to your room? I just… if Virgil’s here I’m not going to be able to… you know… it’ll be too embarrassing.”

 “You do realize that we are going to be kissing in front of a whole lot more than just one student, right?”

 Logan nodded, pulling off his glasses. He pulled out a little handkerchief, wiping gently at the lenses. 

 “Of course… but that’s a little different. We’ll be on stage and the audience will mostly be in shadow. Not to mention, the audience will be one collective group. I won’t know where my friends are sitting—well, most of them will be in the play but that is beside the point—and so I won’t see them. If it were just Virgil there though… it just seems too…”

 “Intimate,” Nate asked, hopeful. 

 Logan considered the word and finally nodded.

 “Yes, exactly. Too intimate.”

 “Well, I mean I have a roommate too, so I’m not sure I can promise Janus won’t be there.”

 That was a bold face lie. He could and would make sure Janus would not be there. 

 He grinned. “But if that’s cool with you, then I am more than happy to sacrifice my room for our kissing practices.”

 Logan blushed but smiled gently, nodding. 

 “Thank you.”

 Nate nodded. 

 He glanced at the door and then back at Logan. 

 “So… I have to be honest… kissing you is kinda fun…”

 That’s the understatement of the century.

 Still, he didn’t want to come on too strong and scare the other. The blush this pulled from Logan also made the light confession so very worth it.

 “Mind if I take one for the road?”

 Logan’s eyes brightened and Nate watched as the other’s eyes darted to Nate’s mouth and back while licking his lips. He nodded slowly. 

 “I would not be opposed.”

 “Good.”

 Nate moved in close once more, hands on Logan’s hips as he guided him in closer. His brown eyes met gray and he grinned warmly. 

 “Cute,” he said as the other blushed a little deeper.

 Before Logan could argue his point, Nate closed his eyes and kissed Logan hard. Logan gasped into the kiss, perhaps surprised by the sudden intensity. Nate took the opportunity to slip his tongue into Logan’s mouth, exploring it and caressing Logan’s tongue with his own. 

 Logan let out an almost whimpering sound and Nate groaned in response. It was Logan who ended the kiss this time and Nate couldn’t deny that he had definitely chased after his mouth. Logan was panting and pulled out of Nate’s hold, the taller teen letting him. 

 “Wow…” Logan breathed, bringing his fingers to press at kiss swollen lips. 

 “Yeah,” Nate agreed, catching his own breath. Silence fell between them again but it was almost comfortable this time. Nate grinned. 

 “Well, I guess I’ll see you in class and kissing practice after.”

 Logan nodded. When it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything else, Nate moved close once more and kissed the top of his head. 

 “See you tomorrow, scholar.”

 “See you tomorrow, Nathan.”

 Nate had the walk back to his own dorm to consider everything that had just happened. He couldn’t believe how well Logan had taken to kissing him. Then again, Nate had it so bad even if Logan couldn’t kiss, he’d still enjoy it… but there was also the fact that Logan was intelligent and smart and capable and it was no surprise at all that he had picked up kissing just as well as any other subject or skill. 

 But Logan had enjoyed it… and had wanted to keep doing it. 

 Just like that, hope returned in Nate’s heart. 

 Maybe, just maybe, his hopeless crush on Logan Wright wasn’t so hopeless after all. 

 »»————　🕶️　————««

 Logan continued to press his fingers against his lips throughout the night. He did it so much that it almost became something of a fixation. He would remember the feeling of Nate’s lips pressed against his own and brush against his own lips, still sore from all the kissing. 

 He would then smile and sigh as his insides fluttered until he reminded himself that the kissing was just Nate being a good friend and one would assume a good actor. Logan was pretty certain that Roman went on often about something he called ‘method acting’. 

 His and Nate’s kissing was simply that. 

 Logan longed for so much more. 

 Still, Nate had obviously enjoyed kissing him so maybe this kissing practice would prove to be a good thing. 

 Logan brought his hand up to his lips once more, smiling softly as he brushed against them idly. 

 It was at that moment the door opened and Virgil shuffled in, tossing his bag by the little couch in the middle of the room. He collapsed onto it, only then glancing Logan’s way. 

 Logan, still lost in the memory of kissing Nate, had registered Virgil’s arrival but said nothing, still sliding his fingers gently across his lips. 

 “Hello~ Earth to Logan? Dude, what’s going on with you?”

 Logan blinked and looked at Virgil.

 “Oh, hey there, Virgil. Did you hang out with Patton?”

 Virgil nodded before shaking his head. 

 “Nope. We’re talking about you… you’re acting very… uh… Roman-y and Patton-y today.”

 Logan blushed because what that meant was that he was being very feelings-y. Logan usually was not a very feelings-y person. His best friend knew this well. 

 There were, however, some things he was not yet aware of. 

 “I kissed Nate today!” Logan said. Then he added, as an afterthought, “a lot.”

 Virgil’s eyes widened almost comically. 

 “You did what? When?”

 “While you were out…”

 “So, what? Did he ask you out? Are you two dating? Do I have to give him the best friend talk where I threaten his life if he hurts you?”

 Logan’s brows rose and he stared at Virgil waiting for him to end his tirade. He didn’t respond until Virgil grinned sheepishly and gestured in a go-right-ahead sort of manner. 

 “Okay, first… you have the wrong impression but, considering I blurted out that I kissed him with no other context, that’s not your fault. He sought me out here and I realized that he was offering to practice with me and well… I accepted.”

 “So…” Virgil bit his lip. “Look, I know when we’re younger and they tell you your first kiss is a big deal and all and it’s best with someone you really like and that likes you too but… it’s not like it is on tv.”

 Logan shrugged and smiled at Virgil. He knew it wasn’t a fully happy smile, but honestly, Virgil was a good friend. He tried his very best to help Logan any time he needed to feel better. 

 “So… even though you have to kiss him in the play when doesn’t like you—which, I’m still positive he does, that’s not the point here—how was it?”

 Logan laughed as he watched Virgil shift to the edge of the couch, leaning forward in Logan’s direction, obviously invested in whatever it was Logan would say next. 

 The intelligent teen blushed but smiled slowly, biting his lip. 

 “It was so much better than I could ever imagine.”

 Virgil chuckled at that and nodded. 

 “Yeah. Yeah, I feel that. Remember when we were younger and we were grossed out by even the thought.”

 Logan nodded. In fact, until that first kiss, Logan had still very much thought that. But now… 

 “I want to kiss him again.”

 Virgil laughed again. 

 “Damn, L.” 

 Logan blushed. “Shut up.”

 Virgil snorted. “Nope. Never. Besides, it's my job to keep you on your toes.”

 Logan shook his head. Idly, he brought his hand up to brush at his lips again. 

 “I’m a little worried though… it’s obvious that you like kissing him so much because of your feelings for him, L.”

 Logan nodded. He too had come to the conclusion. 

 “Okay… maybe don’t have so many practices?”

 Logan considered and nodded. 

 “Yeah… yeah, maybe.”

 Virgil seemed happy to have helped and went off to shuffle in his backpack for his homework. Logan sighed. 

 Virgil had a point. A very valid and logical point. 

 Unfortunately, Logan was not sure how well he would be able to resist now that he’d had just a taste of what could never be.

 Pushing the problem out of his mind, Logan turned his attention back to the problems that were within his ability to solve. 

  »»————　♞　————««

 Nate honestly felt like he was floating as he walked through the dorms, heading for his own room. He headed inside, making his way to his bed and tossed himself onto it. As he looked up at the ceiling, he brought a hand to his mouth and slid his fingers against his lower lip. 

 A smile slowly slipped onto his face as he pulled his hand away and bit his lip. He couldn’t believe how readily Logan had agreed to ‘kiss practice’. He had even agreed to continue it. 

 Nate found himself torn. 

 As much as he had so very loved kissing the intelligent teen, he also knew that he was only setting himself up for heartbreak. The play—and so the kissing—would come to an end and things would go back to the way they had been. 

 Still, Nate didn’t see why that meant he couldn’t enjoy it while he had the chance. If it had never been for the powers-that-be choosing himself and Logan for Romeo and Juliet, he would never have gotten the chance to feel what it was like to kiss the boy he had liked for so long. 

 The door opened and Nate, a soft, warm smile on his face and insides toasty, looked up to meet Janus’s gaze. Janus, apparently noting the love-sick look on his face, sighed and tugged Remus in by their linked hands before closing the door. 

 “I take it from the revolting look on your face that you talked to Logan?” Nate noted how eager the other sounded. 

 He cleared his throat. 

 “Oh, yeah… yeah, we talked a bit…”

 Nate looked away as Janus narrowed his eyes. 

 “And…?”

 “Ah, and nothing… I just told him I completely understood he was nervous.”

 “Did you tell him how you feel, Nate?”

 Nate had the decency to look sheepish. 

 “Not… exactly…”

 Janus gave him the look that meant he should continue. 

 “But he was very responsive to my kisses.”

 Janus’s eyes widened and Nate felt a rush of pride at causing such a rare phenomenon. It was not often that one surprised Janus Trompeur. 

 “You kissed him?”

 Nate could hear the excitement in his voice. Not wanting a misunderstanding, Nate cleared his throat. 

 “Yeah… I told him it was understandable he was nervous since he’d never been kissed and he came to the conclusion that I was offering to practice with him and so he agreed and we kissed… a lot… and it was so much better than I could have ever imagined.”

 Janus crossed his arms. “Uh huh.”

 “You should have seen Logan too… I’ve… I’ve never seen him like that before… I can safely guarantee it was enjoyed by both parties. He’s also agreed to continue. We’ll have another practice tomorrow.”

 He glanced up at Janus, hoping he would see where he was going with this. 

 The other sighed and winced. 

 “Oh, Nate… you beautiful, dumb idiot… you’re going to try to kiss him in love with you, aren’t you.”

 Nate flashed a grin. 

 “I’m going to kiss him in love with me, Janus!”

 Janus sighed, bringing a hand up to palm his face before he shook his head. 

 “Oh, darling. That’s not going to work if you don’t tell him how you feel.”

 Nate sighed. 

 “Yeah, you should lick his juicy butthole as well!”

 Janus and Nate both glared at Remus, who just cackled and continued to listen. 

 “Nate…”

 Nate threw up his hands in frustration. 

 “Okay, okay! Damn it, I know, Janus. I know.”

 Janus smiled and nodded. 

 “Very good… and….”

 Nate sighed and rolled his eyes but answered dutifully, as expected. 

 “And I promise I will find some time before the play is over to tell him how I feel.”

 Janus flashed a victory smile. 

 “Good. Now, all this dabbling into your love life has made me hungry. Let’s go get dinner.”

 Nate grinned and nodded. Ignoring the return of the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Nate pulled on his coat and joined the other two for dinner.

 »»————　🕶️　————««

 Logan wouldn’t say he had grown used to kissing Nate three days into practice, but he would definitely say he had grown comfortable with it. Unfortunately, as Monday came and classes began once more, Logan realized that today would be the first rehearsal. 

 He would have to kiss Nate… but on stage. 

 “I can’t do this, Nate,” he said, his words a little sharp from nerves. Nate just shrugged and nodded at the audience that was currently made up of the rest of their senior class. Unfortunately, that meant the seats were nearly packed and quite a lot of people would be watching. 

 Unlike their parents and faculty, the other students wouldn’t hold back if he were to make an absolute mockery of himself. 

 Suddenly, hands were on his shoulders and he could feel the tightness deep in his bones melting away as strong fingers rubbed into his muscles. 

 “Sorry… I should have asked first… I can stop, if you want me to…”

 Logan shook his head, letting out a little moan of pleasure as his eyes closed. 

 “No… this is… this is acceptable.”

 Logan sighed as he focused on Nate’s hands and the way his muscles relaxed under his touch. By the time his body was completely relaxed, Logan realized he was pressed into Nate in a very intimate way. Stepping forward, he turned to look at Nate, clearing his throat. 

 “Thank you for the massage. I appreciate it.”

 Nate smiled. 

 “Anytime.”

 Logan, noting how amazing his body felt, nodded. “Noted. I might actually take you up on that offer in the future. Now, let’s run the lines once more before we—”

 “Logan. Nate. You two are up.” Remy called, as if bored out of his mind.

 Logan stiffened but gave a sharp nod. Nate returned his hands to Logan’s shoulders as he nodded to his twin. Remy walked off and Nate turned Logan to look at him. 

 “You’ve got this, Logan. You already have all your lines memorized. Literally. Which by the way, think you can help me with that, because I totally do not…”

 Logan laughed, feeling the worry and stress melting away. 

 He turned to look at Nate and smiled. 

 “I have this theory.”

 Nate grinned. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

 “That you’re going to do a really good job.”

 Nate’s eyes warmed and his smile went soft. Once again, Logan was projecting onto this poor teenager who had no idea what he did to Logan. 

 “Let’s go break some legs, yeah.”

 “I prefer the phrase ‘fracture a femur’ but yes, let’s.”

 Nate laughed deeply and Logan couldn’t help but grin, a little proud of himself for causing such a reaction. 

 »»————　♞　————««

 Nate, in character, made his way to his love, tears lingering on his cheeks. He swallowed hard as he took in his ‘dead’ Juliet, rushing to the ‘concrete’ dias where her body lay. Pulling Logan into his arms, he tried his hardest not to look directly at Logan’s face. He didn’t want to cause the other to crack up or break character. 

 Vowing that he would love Juliet and Juliet alone forever, Nate as Romeo took the colored-water ‘poison’ and began to choke. He shuddered and moved to lay beside his lover on the dias. He choked a few more times for good measure, causing students in the audience to laugh before he collapsed once more on the structure and closed his eyes.

 Nate did his very best to look dead. Considering that Nate was lazy by nature and often lounged around, and he was pretty certain Janus would happily tell him to his face he looked like a dead man walking, that was the easiest part of the play. 

 But what would come mere moments later… 

 Nate felt Logan shuffle on the dias, hearing him let out a yawn, signaling to the audience Juliet had woken from her drugged sleep. Unfortunately, Nate could not see what Logan was doing lest he break character but a moment later, he gasped. 

 Logan called for ‘Romeo’ but when Romeo did not rouse—though it was hard because Nate wanted nothing more than to reassure Logan how well he was doing—Juliet cried for her dead husband. 

 Nate felt a shift on the structure and then soft, gentle hands were taking hold of his face. He bit the part of his lower lip still hidden by his closed mouth to keep from grinning. He heard as Logan professed that he would kiss Romeo so that Juliet may be with him.

 Soft but firm lips pressed against his own. Nate couldn’t deny he definitely smiled into the kiss. He could also feel Logan smiling into it. 

 That was when it happened. 

 Logan cracked up laughing and Nate opened his eyes to chuckle as well. 

 “Well, hey there, Julie, baby.”

 “Oh my god, shut up.” Logan said through his laughing.

 Mr. Sanders joined them and laughed. 

 “That was really good… we’ll need to work on the laughing but otherwise… that practice was amazing, everyone! We’ll keep working on the blocking, but just keep running your lines and memorizing them. I think this is actually going to be really, really awesome!”

 Nate glanced at Logan, who was beaming at Mr. S’s praise. 

 He’s so pretty when he smiles. Janus is right. God, I have it bad.

“Yeah, just wait til half of us have to do it in dresses.”

 Nate snorted as he glanced at Janus, who was playing Rosaline. He had a point. Janus, Logan, and Virgil—not to mention a handful of other senior boys—would be wearing dresses for the show. 

 “And I have every faith that you will all rock them,” Mr. Sanders countered, which earned him a grin from Janus. 

 Janus leaned his arm on Remus’s shoulder and shrugged. 

 “I mean, you’re not wrong, Mr. S,” Janus agreed.

 “I know I’m not. Now, you all get out of here and have a great and relaxing night. Logan, that means you.”

 Nate glanced at Logan to see his crush blushing but grinning. Virgil spoke up. 

 “I’ll hold him to it, Mr. S.” 

 Thomas beamed at that. 

 “Good man, Virgil. Alright, see you all tomorrow.”

 Rehearsal ended for the night, Nate turned to Logan. 

 “So… I’m kinda hungry and I’m assuming we’re still on for kissing practice tonight?”

 Logan glanced at him and nodded. 

 “Then let me at the very least get you some dinner. It’s the least I can do after my dumb ass got exiled and you killed yourself over it.”

 “Nathan… it’s a play.”

 “You’re so right. It’s a total power play. You deserve better.”

 Logan snorted at that and hesitated before bringing up a fist to punch him lightly in the shoulder. 

 Nate feigned bodily injury, grabbing his arm. 

 “Oh. You got me. I’m dead.”

 He then pretended to die on the dias, eyes closed, tongue sticking out. 

 It wasn’t until warmth pressed against his cheek that he opened his eyes to see Logan pulling back, face flushed. It was obvious that Logan had just kissed his cheek and Nate, grinning, sat up to look at Logan. 

 Glancing around, he noticed that everyone else had left—well, mostly everyone. Virgil, Remus, Janus, and Patton were talking at the entrance to the backstage area. None of them were looking their way and so Nate, feeling confident, turned his attention back to Logan. 

 Before he could even open his mouth to ask Logan if he could kiss him, Logan claimed his mouth with his own. Nate’s eyes closed and he quickly returned the favor, a soft, happy sound escaping him. 

 Logan placed a hand on his chest as he slid closer, his other reaching up to grip at the little hairs at the back of Nate’s neck. Nate shivered but gasped, Logan quickly taking advantage of this and slipping his tongue inside. 

 Nate moaned, teasing along Logan’s tongue with his own as he kissed back desperately. 

 “Ooooooh,” Janus teased.

 Nate’s eyes opened wide as he and Logan both jumped from the kiss. He quickly glanced toward the backstage but no one was there and all sound of talking had ceased. He would have assumed that the others—seeing what he and Logan were up to—had left but he also knew Janus very well. 

 “That was…”

 “Satisfactory.”

 Nate laughed at that. “Yes, very, very, very satisfactory.”

 He held the other’s gaze and smiled. 

 “So… dinner?”

 Logan rolled his eyes. 

 “Very well. You’re paying.”

 “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

 »»————　🕶️　————««

 Logan fidgeted with his keys in his pocket as he walked with Nate to the cafeteria. The nice thing about the school was that they had little restaurants in the cafeteria, a lot like they did in colleges, instead of what most public schools offered. Unfortunately, as they allowed the students to work there for a wage, Virgil would most definitely be present. 

 He sighed as he realized the long talk Virgil would want to have with him the moment he saw Logan with Nate, already feeling exhausted. 

 “What’s wrong?”

 Logan blinked up at the other. 

 “Huh? Oh, nothing,” Logan lied. It wasn’t a complete lie, per say. Logan was used to Virgil and he never minded talking with his friend. He just didn’t want to hear the ‘I told you so’ from his friend when Virgil realized he hadn’t been limiting the kissing practices as well as he could have. 

 Nate, looking doubtful, frowned. “You sure?”

 Logan laughed softly and nodded. “Yeah… just stressed out about the play but… somehow, I know it’s going to be okay.”

 Nate laughed at that. “That’s the attitude to have, scholar!” 

 Logan smiled, ignoring the slight twinge of guilt he felt at not being completely truthful. Then again, there was no way he could be truthful without informing Nate about how he felt about him, and Logan…

 He just couldn’t bring himself to do it. 

 Maybe it was selfish but, knowing that Nate would suddenly feel awkward and uncomfortable around him once he found out, Logan wanted to enjoy a little more time with him.

 Just the two of them.

 Just like this. 

 They reached the cafeteria and Logan followed Nate to the center of the room. Logan considered the options and was about to go order from where Virgil was working when Nate called out to him. 

 “My treat, so where we eating today?” 

 Logan nodded toward the little taco hut where Virgil stood now, watching them both. Nate, noticing Virgil for the first time, gave a start before grinning. 

 “Oh! Hey, Virgil. What’s up, dude?”

 He moved over to the little taco restaurant and offered his fist, which Virgil bumped but not before snorting and rolling his eyes first. As Logan joined them, Virgil spoke up, not taking his eyes from Logan’s gaze. 

 “Hey, losers. What brings you guys down? Logan, didn’t you say your plan was to do homework tonight?”

 He eyed Logan doggedly, which the intelligent student ignored, instead glancing at the menu though he already knew it by heart. 

 “Oh, that was my fault. After rehearsal I practically begged him to go get dinner with me because I am a sad, lonely guy.”

 Logan watched Virgil closely, surprised at the slight grin slipping onto his face at Nate’s words. 

 “You’re not bad, Lassus. Your brother though… he’s a dick and he still owes me 50 bucks. Now, what can I get you losers to eat?”

 Logan ordered what he always got: the taco plate. Nate, meanwhile, ordered a taco salad. Logan would have been slightly surprised as Nate had never pegged him as a good nutrition aficionado, but then the other asked for double meat and Logan could just sigh fondy and grin. 

 Nate tried to pay but Virgil completely ignored him. Food was placed on two trays and cups added afterward. 

 “On the house,” he said slowly, holding Nate’s gaze as if just trying to goad him into objecting. Nate seemed to realize this because he grinned and held up his hands. 

 “Okay, okay. I got the message.”

 “Finally,” Virgil mumbled but he was grinning ever so slightly. 

 Logan realized that, in his own way, Virgil was approving of Nate. Once Nate took his tray to go find a great table, Logan grinned when his best friend’s eyes met his. 

 “Thank you,” he mouthed. Virgil rolled his eyes but mouthed your welcome before waving in the direction Nate had gone. 

 “He’s not such a total waste of a human, I suppose,” Virgil said finally. “But Logan… if this is something you want… you really need to tell—”

 Logan sighed, cutting off yet another tirade. “I’m aware, V. I promise… I’ll tell him by the last performance.”

 Virgil groaned softly. “You really, really should tell him before that but… fine… look, L. You don’t have to tell him if you don’t want to but… I’m afraid that if you don’t, all of this is going to hurt you a lot more than you realize.”

 Logan wanted to disagree. Unfortunately, he was definitely not an expert on feelings and since Virgil was dating one of the two experts on feelings that they knew, he suspected Virgil likely picked up a few things. 

 “I vow to tell him before the start of our last performance at the latest.”

 “I’ll drink to that compromise… you know, if I had a drink.” He sighed wistfully but Logan knew it was all for the theatrics. Though Virgil would swear up and down that he was not dramatic, Logan—friends with three dramatic people—knew better. He could be just as dramatic as Roman when he wanted to be. 

 Logan grabbed his tray, thanked Virgil once more, and headed for the table on the far side of the large, open room. Virgil called back to him, wishing him good luck, causing Logan to smile softly. 

 Gray eyes sought out his...friend. Logan, ignoring the sudden feeling of sadness, pushed such thoughts out of his head. Sure, Nate would never be his boyfriend, but it was clear he wanted to be friends. Logan would not be the kind of person who couldn’t be friends with someone who did not want to date him. 

 Nate waved his arms wildly, chuckling when Logan’s eyes met his and he corrected his course for Nate’s table. He reached him quickly enough, snorting when Nate tugged him gently to sit next to him, rather than across from him. 

 Logan had expected Nate to talk to him then but, as he quickly learned, Nate was very much an eat-now-talk-after kind of guy. 

 Laughing softly, Logan started to dig in as well. 

 »»————　♞　————««

 Nate had eaten about half his food when he turned to Logan. 

 "I don't know about you but kissing sure does work up an appetite." His grin was flirty and eager. 

 Logan blushed and nodded. 

 "Interestingly enough, I have found that as well," Logan said. "I, too, am quite famished."

 He continued to eat as Nate became preoccupied with stuffing his face once more. 

 "Mmmm."

 Nate looked up at the sound of laughter. Logan was watching him eat, amusement in his gray gaze.

 "Adequate to your taste buds?" Logan asked with another laugh. 

 Nate looked at him and answered, a bit of food still in his mouth. 

 "Beyond adequate," he moaned. "Thank Virgil again for me later." 

 Logan laughed. 

 "Will do."

 They fell into companionable silence once more, Nate glancing at Logan every so often. Every other time he glanced, he caught Logan's gaze and both of them blushed before looking away. 

 Huh.

 Wasn't that interesting. 

 Deciding he needed more time to consider the new development, Nate cleared his throat. 

 "So… what new book are you reading? I just picked up this great Agatha Christie novel that I'm sure you've read already but it's so good."

 Logan blinked. He looked confused and even said as much. 

 "How do you know I read Agatha Christie novels?"

 Nate laughed at that. Looking fondly at Logan, he smiled. "Scholar. You've been reading those books since we all started here. I noticed them and started reading a few myself."

 Logan’s brows rose and while he didn't say anything, Nate knew exactly what that look was for. 

 "Yes. I read. Shocker, right?"

 Logan's expression took on an apologetic sort of look and Nate laughed. 

 "No no. You're fine, cutie. I'm used to people being surprised. In their defense and yours, I don't read a lot. But I can and do read."

 Logan nodded, a grin slipping onto his face as he turned to look at him better, leaning in eagerly. 

 "So which book is it that you're reading?"

 "Death on the Nile."

 Logan nodded with a grin. 

 "That one is very good but my favorite will always be—"

 "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd," Nate finished for him with a warm smile. 

 Logan blinked. He stared at Nate for a few moments, questions in those gray eyes. Nate was worried that maybe he had said too much. 

 Maybe Logan realized that Nate really liked him and now it was going to be awkward because Logan didn't feel the same. 

 And then Logan blushed and nodded. A soft smile slipped onto his face.

 "Precisely."

 Nate grinned as the slight charge between them in that moment settled. He didn't know what had happened but it hadn't sent Logan running and he considered that a win on his part. 

 They finished dinner and said their goodbyes to Virgil before heading out of the cafeteria for Nate’s dorm. 

 »»————　🕶️　————««

 Logan was quiet on the walk to Nate’s dorm room. He knew that Nate had to be wondering at his silence but he couldn’t bring himself to speak just yet. 

 The reason for his silence...

 There had been a moment while eating with Nate that had opened his eyes to knowledge he hadn’t been aware he had lacked. 

 Logan didn’t know how he knew it but the moment Nate supplied Logan’s favorite Agatha Christie novel as fact and not a guess had been very telling and Logan was almost certain that Nate liked him. A lot. 

 Perhaps even as much as Logan liked Nate. 

 Just tell him! You know he likes you now! Tell him!

 He knew that his more logical side was right. At this point, with such a high probability of his feelings being reciprocated, the logical course of action would be to tell him. 

 And yet, Logan couldn’t. 

 He couldn’t even give a logical explanation as to why, which frustrated him more than anything. It just didn’t feel like the right time. Or the right place. 

 Logan chewed his lip. 

 He really hated relying on his feelings. 

 “Hey… half-dollar for your thoughts?”

 Logan blinked up at the other. He seemed nervous. Logan smiled at him. 

 “I’m certain the expression is ‘penny for your thoughts’.”

 Nate grinned at that, seeming to relax once more. 

 “Yeah, well. Pennies are practically worthless these days and I think more highly of the things that come out of your beautiful brain.”

 Logan blushed at that and cleared his throat. 

 “Just have a lot on my mind.”

 Nate nodded, falling silent once more. 

 Logan bit his lip before moving a little closer to the other. He tapped him with his elbow in a playful manner he’d seen Virgil do with Patton. It seemed to work because Nate grinned down at him like the sun. 

 “Hey.”

 Logan wanted to make up for the silence and since he couldn’t tell him everything… not yet...Logan said the first thing he could think of. 

 “I can’t wait for practice.”

 Then he blushed as he realized the implications of this. Nate looked at him in surprise, a slight flush to his cheeks as he slowly grinned. 

 “Uh oh…”

 Logan raised a brow. He hadn’t expected that reaction. “What?”

 “Looks like someone has an addiction to kisses.”

 Logan blushed but rolled his eyes. 

 “You are what my friend Roman would call ‘an absolute dork’.”

 Nate snorted. 

 “Roman Prince? Not surprised that’s his idea of an insult but, well, you're not wrong.”

 Logan grinned, pleased to feel the air around them grow comfortable once more. 

 “But… I concede that, perhaps, you are not wrong as well.”

 Nate grinned at him. 

 “About what?” he pressed. Logan glared at him. Nate took on a look of innocence. “I merely want to be clear about what part of what I said was not wrong.”

 Logan knew that wasn’t the case. Nate wanted to hear him say it. He decided that since he couldn’t outright tell him how he felt, the least he could do was tell him what he wanted to hear. 

 It was true, after all. 

 “I am… addicted to kisses.”

 He blushed far deeper than he expected to confess that out loud. He stopped and quickly hid his face in his hands. Nate must have glanced back and noticed he had stopped before quickly returning to him. 

 “Awww. No, no… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you… I was just teasing. Can I… can I hug you?”

 Logan nodded but did not remove his hands from his burning face. He felt as strong arms embraced him. He stayed like that, feeling safe and secure in his arms. At some point, he pulled his hands away to press his face into the other’s chest, his own arms wrapping tentatively around the taller teen’s middle. 

 “How’s that? Better, cutie?” 

 Logan nodded, trying to ignore how warm the nickname made him.

 “Do you want to postpone the practice? If you need to, then that’s totally—”

 “No!”

 Nate blinked down at the other in surprise. Logan could see that his reaction had been a bit too passionate considering Nate had no idea how he felt about him.

 “I mean, no… I very much would like to keep on schedule.” 

 Nate slowly grinned. 

 “Then what better time to start… Can I kiss you right here, Logan? Right now?”

 Logan had a feeling Nate was expecting him to laugh and playfully punch him before they continued on their course for his room. 

 That was not what happened. 

 Logan moved his arms from around him. He then threw himself at Nate, wrapping his arms around his neck, as he kissed him. Hard. 

 Nate’s eyes widened but soon fluttered closed as he tightened his hold on the slighter teen, kissing back as desperately as Logan kissed him. 

 When they finally pulled away—it was with some difficulty breathing, Logan couldn’t deny—he swallowed hard and held the other’s gaze. Nate’s gaze was curious.

 “Nate…” Logan said slowly. He saw the slight surprise on the other’s face. Logan had never called him Nate before.

 “Logan…” 

 Logan hesitated. He very much needed to tell Nate or he would always be wondering ‘what if’? As a scientific minded individual, what ifs were only useful if the question was answered. Logan needed some answers.

 “Can we… can we go somewhere quiet… your room is fine… but just somewhere with not a lot of people… please?”

 Nate, obviously confused, nodded.

 “Yeah… we’re almost to my room anyway. Come on.”

 Logan’s insides churned and tumbled as he walked at Nate’s side. He honestly had no idea what had possessed him to almost tell Nate how he felt… outside. 

 That… that definitely was not the place for such intimate talks such as that. No. One should take the person of their affections, ask to speak with them in private, and only for their ears, share what was in their heart. 

 Logan nearly made a face. 

 When had he become so sentimental?

 He glanced up at Nate and slowly, a fond smile slipped over his lips. 

 Oh, yeah. Right.

 They reached Nate’s dorm room soon after, Nate holding up a finger before walking inside, signaling Logan to wait. Logan, considering himself fairly intelligent, was sure Nate wanted to make certain Janus (and by proxy, Remus) was not around. 

 He waited as patiently as he could, rubbing his fingers against his jeans in a comforting manner. Soon enough, though it felt a lot longer to Logan, Nate returned and held the door for him. 

 “Come on in, scholar.”

 Logan did just that, almost jumping at the click of the door as Nate closed it behind them. He then led Logan into the room, making his way to the bed and taking a seat. He patted the space next to him. Logan took a deep breath, crossed the room to the bed, and took the offered seat. 

 He quickly turned to Nate just as Nate turned toward him. 

 “Logan, there’s something I need to tell you,” Nate said at the exact same time Logan said, “Nate, there’s something I wish to tell you.”

 Both of them broke out laughing, their faces flushed, gazes vulnerable. 

 Nate cleared his throat and held out his hands, palms up, to Logan. 

 “May I?” he asked, voice low. Logan nodded, placing his hands into Nate’s.

 Nate, dark eyes locked with Logan’s, bit his lip before smiling. 

 “That’s better… now… I’m sorry for jumping the gun. You… you go first.”

 Logan wanted to refuse or insist Nate go, but he decided that that wasn’t fair to Nate. He had been the one asking to talk. He should go first.

 He nodded. 

 Taking a deep breath, Logan for the first time in his life ignored his mind and spoke from his heart.

 »»————　♞　————««

 Nate squeezed Logan’s hands as the other seemed to search for the courage needed to say what he had to. 

 Nate knew what he hoped Logan wanted to say. He hoped more than anything that Logan had come to realize that he liked Nate too. But, that could just as easily not be what Logan wanted to tell him. Maybe he had noticed that Nate liked him and was being respectful, letting him down in private. 

 Maybe he just wanted to be friends. 

 Nate could live with that. It would hurt for a while, but he could deal. 

 As long as it wasn’t Logan never wanting to see him again, Nate could live with whatever it was the other was about to tell him. He sighed inwardly and instead focused on Logan. 

 Logan, who was struggling. 

 Nate squeezed his hands again. 

 “Hey,” he said and waited until Logan’s eyes met his. “Whatever it is, you won’t scare me away.” He paused. “Unless you dress up as a clown on the weekend… then I’d say my loyalty is questionable…”

 Logan laughed at that and it seemed to be the reassurance he needed. He cleared his throat and Nate leaned in subconsciously.

 “... You were correct earlier… when you said I was addicted to kisses… I am very much addicted to kisses…” 

 He glanced down at their hands and seemed to consider what to say next. Nate watched him closely, mesmerized by him. 

 “I am addicted to your kisses, Nate…”

 Nate blushed and a big grin slipped onto his face as it hit him. 

 Logan liked him. And Nate was him. Nate. Logan liked Nate. 

 “Are you saying-?!!”

 Logan laughed at that and nodded, blushing a little himself. 

 “I like you, Nate. I have for a very long time.”

 Nate whistled and shook his head. 

 “Well, that just sucks because I’ve liked you for a very long time too. Since we first met, now that I think about it. It feels like we’ve missed out on so much time.”

 Logan blinked at the remark and nodded a second later when it registered what Nate meant.

 “It does. But we’re here now… together...”

 Nate beamed and his excitement soon morphed into unbridled adoration. 

 “Be my Juliet… but alive… and forever?”

 Logan snorted. “There are so many things wrong with that question, Nate, but I like you, so I forgive you. I will be your boyfriend, though, if that would be agreeable with—”

 “Yes! So freaking agreeable! Totally agreeable!”

 Nate watched in wonder as Logan laughed, not holding back, his gray eyes full of happiness and fondness as he looked upon Nate. He couldn’t keep from surging forward and claiming Logan’s lips with his own. 

 Logan relaxed into the kiss with ease, his arms wrapping around Nate’s neck like they’d never stopped. Nate moaned into the kiss as Logan kissed back eagerly, sounds of enjoyment escaping him as well. 

 When they broke for air, Nate nuzzled into Logan’s hair with his nose before pressing a kiss to his temple. 

 “Boyfriend,” he said, overjoyed to use the title for Logan. 

 Logan rolled his eyes, blushing. “Dork.”

 Nate brought a hand to his heart as if he had been hurt. He then swooned and ‘collapsed’ upon his bed. Logan laughed and then shifted to hover over him. 

 “Let’s keep this between us… just until after the play… Virgil has been trying to get me to tell you forever and I really do not need to deal with any I told you so’s… and maybe, I also would not mind keeping you to myself for a little bit longer.”

 Nate snorted. “Oh. You can always have me to yourself. I don’t mind picking Janus up by the collar and tossing him out if need be… uh, but maybe don’t quote me on that. Still, keeping up a ruse sounds fun. I’m in.”

 Logan smiled down at him and Nate brought a hand up to frame his face, guiding him down to kiss him.

 If they got lost in the kisses and each other, neither minded in the slightest.

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

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Thomas Sanders or Joan, nor the rest of their group. I do not own or make money off of these characters. I only own the story as it is written.

Super uber thanks to my beta reader for this fic @superweebside​ and the two that preread my stuff to make sure its up to par: @romantichopelessly & @sunshineandteddybears.

[saphimaki]

Do u think "Top of My School" could apply to any characters?

It's so giving Gina, especially considering how she takes school so seriously to where she didn't focus on having friends or company (hence the counselor arc).

"I’ll go all out / Ace every test / No doubt / Outdo all the rest"

Definitely shows how she preforms in school with these four lines. Considering how she gets A+s and has a 4.5 GPA (how??), it reflects on how she outdos others.

"Don’t pout / Or settle for second best"

She decently projected as overachieving and crashes out when someone does better than her for sure.

"And who’ll love me / If I’m not the top of my school?"

She would so think this, whether it's because of family, society expectation, or just her mental thoughts in general.

"Maybe they’ll just have to learn to be jealous / Watching me shine like a star"

She would be convinced that people are jealous of her academic standing, and that she'll be destined for success (ok now I see the parallels between gina and nate).

GAHH the whole song just fits her, and I love this suggestion too, thank you for the ask!!

[riotpanther]

i’m well aware of riri’s age in the ironheart comics. when i read her solo comics, i was under the impression that the version of shuri in them was based off her mcu counterpart. i’ve also read the scripts for both black panther films. while the og script said that shuri was 18 years old, nate moore (one of the producers) stated that she was 16 years old in the first film. this is the first i’m hearing of letitia wright also stating she was 18, so it’s a little hard to pinpoint exactly what her age was in the first film. me personally, i concluded that she was 16 years old since the script had been adapted from the one released and a producer from the film said so (and like i mentioned i wasn’t aware of letitia also stating she was 18). so based on timelines/events in the mcu shuri would have been either 20 or 22 years old in bpwf while riri is canonically 19 which is a very harmless age gap.

also just saying, i don’t really see the sister panel as proof or a valid reason to be against the ship (age debacle aside) when you include the context. a terrified little girl was trapped in a crumbling building with her unconscious mother. she asked shuri a question and shuri said what she needed to say in order for riri to get the girl and her mother to safety. if shuri was the one who initially said that riri was her sister than i could understand that but that’s not what happened. i’d also just like to add that none of the texts i used on the ironheart comic panels have any kind of sexual connotations or even (sans the 2nd to last one) outright romantic implications (though i understand how that may not make them less bothersome to you).

anyway, i can’t speak for everyone since there are gross weirdos out there who like pedophilia, but when i read the comics, i believed that shuri was still 18. i wasn’t aware that they take place in the same universe as the original older version of her character. if i was mistaken about their age difference in the ironheart comics then i’m sorry this post was offensive or harmful to you. clearly you’ve got a passionate displeasure for romantic shuriri and i wasn’t trying to trigger that. but since i post a lot of content for the pairing that you’ll likely find displeasing, my account probably isn’t the best place for you.

shuriri + text posts ♡

[big-nate-main-au]

Dear Daphne

What was your first date with Nate like?

DAPHNE: Okay, well… I guess I’ll tell you. But only because it was kind of… sweet. And also chaotic. Which is exactly what I should’ve expected from Nate.

Our first date wasn’t anything fancy—we went to this little diner after school. He showed up late (of course) and tried to act like he totally had it all under control. He was nervous. Like, weirdly nervous. He kept fidgeting and making these terrible jokes, and honestly? I thought I was going to roll my eyes into another dimension.

But then… he pulled out this crumpled drawing from his pocket. A comic he made. About us. It was messy, kinda dumb, and adorable. He made me laugh. Really laugh. Not out of politeness, but because he was trying so hard to make it special—even if he didn’t really know how.

We ended up ditching the diner early and just walked around for a while, talking about random stuff. And somewhere between the sarcasm and the silliness… I kinda liked being with him. Just that experience made and helped me realize how wrong everyone's perception of Nate was. If you really get to know him, you can tell he has a heart made of gold, just in a different mindset. Just… the real one.

So yeah. Our first date? A beautiful disaster. And somehow… it worked.

[lukeyhughes]

this is a spiritual successor to my gen kill is perspectival but its not necessary to read that first 

its almost unreal how adaptable one bullet away is. it’s like perfect miniseries material, even better than the generation kill book. while gen kill is basically made up of characters just doing things and being affected by it with a very loose story arc (which is a format love dearly, but general audiences probably disagree), one bullet away is a journey. fick basically goes through the hero’s journey throughout it. 

i say this not to mean that it would be like a prequel/sequel to generation kill. i suppose it could be, but the story of oba is pretty different from that of generation kill (even parts that are based on the same events) 

first of all, iraq would just be apart of nate’s journey not the whole story. episode 1 would be darmouth + training, episode 2-3 would be afghanistan, episode 4 would be recon training + pre-iraq, episode 5-6 or 7 would be iraq, and the last episode would be coming home. 

second of all, adapting fick’s story would make the lead characters and their relationships to each other extremely different; some of the characters we know in love would be background if an oba adpatation

lead characters in gen kill: brad, ray, nate, poke (arguable), trombley (arguable); secondary characters: walt, wright (arguable), kocher, patterson, encino man, casey kasem, godfather, wynn, rudy, doc bryan; tertiary characters: everyone else 

in oba the only main character would be nate, but in certain episodes lead characters would be nate’s officer friends, ss marine, wynn; secondary characters: all the TLs, stafford, christeson, doc bryan, patterson, encino man, godfather, casey kasem, whitmer, his family/girlfriend; tertiary: everyone else 

[i think in a oba adaptation poke would probably be one of the most important secondary characters bc theoretically he appears in like 5/7 episodes as he was in afghanistan and iraq, not to mention that in fick’s account poke speaks less about racism/white man/etc. and is pretty philosophically insightful]

third of all, nate’s character himself would probably be pretty different. the way wright sees fick and the way fick sees himself come across starkly different in several areas which i’ve always thought was interesting. for instance, in gen kill nate is pretty distressed about the syrians coming to iraq; in oba, fick pretty explicitly says that he doesn’t care and that they chose to be here (he only doesn’t want his men to see because he doesn’t want them to be upset about it which in itself is SUPER insightful to his character)

i also think oba is probably more palatable to the general audience than generation kill. let me say that part of the reason i love generation kill is because i hate exposition, and there is basically none of that in gen kill; most people want to know what’s going on when they watch a show though. the story of oba has exposition baked into it bc it would show nate training to become a marine.

it’s kinda shocking to me that oba has not been optioned for a series, or if it has that no one has produced it yet. it just seems like a story that the public would gobble up: upper middle class ivy leaguer treads off the beaten path and joins the marine out of idealism, becoming one of the most competent/skilled officers in the corps and bringing all his men home despite all the obstacles that were put in his way. i feel like some people would be disappointed that the iraq part wouldn’t be gen kill 2, with all the same actors and dynamics and shipping opportunities and such, but i feel like that wouldn’t be as interesting of a story since we’ve already heard it once.

[yulmoldauer]

its better not to say such things out loud (Tyson Jost/OC): Chapter One

part 2

Story summary: Mason Wright was recently traded and because an Av. Sometimes a fresh start with a new team across the country is what a guy needs, right? It seems to work out, going to a place where no one truly knows you. That is, until someone finds out what you’re desperately trying to hide.

Chapter 1

Summary: Mason’s had a rough game, to put it simply. It was never the best idea to get into a fight with someone bigger than you. They won even with him taking a five-minute major for fighting halfway through the third period. The team goes out to celebrate his 23rd birthday post-win and Tyson takes care of getting him home and to sleep safely.

Warnings: None, I believe! Just some drinking mentioned and there’s a drunk character if that makes you uncomfortable. There’s also a slur against lgbt people used.

Words: 1,968

Notes: The title is from The Stigma (Boys Don’t Cry) by As It Is. This is the thing with the LGBT main character that I’ve had a few different people tell me they’d be interested in :) I’m having a lot of fun writing and plotting this so far, so let me know if you enjoy!

There were perks to being smaller than most other people in the league. Being an extremely fast and skilled defenseman was one of them.

Being outmatched in every possible articulation, being compared to a chihuahua yapping at a pitbull, everything like that. Which is how he ended up in the penalty box for five fucking minutes, the asshole in the box next to him chirping him the entire time, it seemed like.

“What are you, a fag?”

That was what Mason heard fly by him, aimed at Jost who wouldn’t get into a fight to draw a penalty. Mason knew for a fact that’s what the guy was trying to do. He still took the bait when Tyson didn’t.

Mason was smaller than nearly every player he knew. Watching him get into a fight was exciting yet painful at the same time for anyone with a brain. The other guy was at least six-foot compared to the five-foot-eight Mason. To say it was outmatched…

Mason was going to be lucky if he didn’t come out of this with some scrapes and bruises. A broken nose was pretty likely as well, once he thought about it.

But hearing that word ignited something in him that overtook the reasoning section of his brain and both of them were dropping gloves. Sure, he’d definitely have a black eye tomorrow, but he’d gotten a few good licks in as well.

They still won the game, which was nice.

“Dude, you gotta at least get into it with guys in your weight class.”

“You’re funny, Landeskog. Whole fucking league is out of my weight class,” Mason huffed as he stripped his padding off of his lean torso.

“Yeah, kinda the point,” Zadorov shrugged. “Not your fault you’re smaller, just the way it is.”

“I get it, I’m short,” he ran a hand through his wavy helmet hair and reached down to unlace his skates. “Z, you can fight for me, then. I’ll run my mouth and you can do all the hitting.”

“With you? Don’t take it, man, Wright can go on and on for hours,” Tyson chirped from across the room. That earned him a glove chucked at his face.

“Fuck y’all. I don’t even have a good comeback.”

“Because it’s true!”

Okay, maybe it was true. Mason was just a talker, it’s how it was.

Tyson gave him endless shit about it, but really he didn’t mind. He actually enjoyed just being able to turn his brain off and absorb whatever stuck from what Mason was going on about. Usually it didn’t even matter--ranting about how a show got robbed of some award that doesn’t even matter, spewing information about whatever book he was reading, going off about whatever asshole did something stupid during his day-- Tyson would just let him go until he ran out of steam. Conversations were nice, too, when he was in just a talkative mood as well.

Mason did know how to shut up, though. Sometimes. (Hint: that’s what made him the favorite out of the Wright/Zadorov best friend duo. He could be quieter than Z. They’ve threatened to separate the two on multiple occasions, though.)

“What’d that guy even do to rile you up? You looked pissed,” Nate broke Mason out of his train of thought.

“Just called someone something stupid. I’m not gonna repeat it.”

“He called me a fag because I wouldn’t take the bait for the penalty,” Tyson said soon after. “He’s just a fucking moron because he got a longer penalty than any of us.”

There was an uncomfortable moment as that sunk in, then a few “what the fuck” or “that’s gross” phrases before people moved on to heading to the showers.

Mason was about to sneak away when Tyson called out his name.

“Hey, I wanted to catch you before you hit the shower. You got a second?”

“Yeah, sure. I just have to do some pt kind of stuff before I shower. What’s up?” he offered with a friendly smile.

“I just wanted to thank you for sticking up for me. You definitely didn’t have to, but calling him on it drew a ton of attention to it. I think it’s really important to start weeding that shit out of the sport, y’know?”

“Yeah,” Mason smiled. “I--thanks, man. That means a lot to me.”

“‘Course,” Tyson gave a nod. “And you know if you were, like… y’know, gay or… anything, really, I wouldn’t care. And neither would anyone else on the team. It’d totally be okay.”

Mason wanted to give him a reassuring “I know” but couldn’t. Hockey was definitely not the environment known for welcoming lgbt kids and turning them into well-adjusted, accepted adults.

“Thanks,” Mason murmured. “Really, that means a lot.”

“Of course,” Tyson breathed, like he was getting a huge weight off his chest. “Um, yeah. I’ll let you go do your physical therapy stuff now. I’ll see you at the bar after everything’s done here?”

“Yeah, I’m not gonna ditch you for my birthday, idiot.”

With an excited smile, Tyson turned and headed in the opposite direction.

Once he reached an area to chill out while waiting for the showers to clear out, Mason sighed, plopping into a chair and resting his head in his hands.

Obviously he knew why Tyson brought up starting to call out homophobia and other bigoted shit they were all used to just overlooking. But why did he bring up the whole ‘we’d accept you no matter what’ thing?

The thought of ‘he was very sensitive to a slur so maybe he’s gay’ never crossed Mason’s mind. That would simply be too easy and rational.

Did Tyson know he was different? What exactly did Tyson know? There was no way Tyson would out him, but still. Trusting people to keep a secret was hard. It was just easier to bottle everything up.

God, he needed to figure this out.

Maybe he’d get drunk enough tonight to just forget for a little while. He didn’t get drunk or even drink all that often, he could let go every now and then.

At the beginning of the night, Gabe took his keys, promising that he’d give them to whoever would be driving Mason home. They all knew for a fact Mason wouldn’t drive drunk, it wasn’t even in the realm of possibilities. Honestly, they were more worried about the newly twenty-three-year-old losing them or putting them somewhere so he’d ‘remember where they are later’, which was proven ineffective at the last gathering Gabe threw.

“If you can’t figure out where the stupid keys are, he can come get them in the morning or I can drop them off to him or something,” Gabe rolled his eyes.

“You’re sure you don’t remember where you put them?” JT triple-checked. He’d been the designated driver for a few of them, including Mason, Tyson, and a couple others who had already gotten out to the car.

Mason shook his head. “I’m not even that drunk,” he insisted.

“Uh-huh. Gabe, just let me know if you find ‘em and we can work something out for him in the morning.”

Twenty minutes later, Gabe sent a picture and “anyone know who these belong to?” in the group chat. It was, without a doubt, Mason’s keys, adorned with a keychain reading “DETROIT” in graffiti lettering. He was from Detroit, and everyone knew that he refused to take that keychain off until it literally fell off for some sentimental reason, most likely.

‘Lol where’d you find it?’ someone texted back.

‘My dishwasher. His wallet was there too’

Mason has still never heard the end of that. No matter how hard he tried to explain that when he put them somewhere, it meant that he wouldn’t lose them or buy something stupid online (last time that happened, he bought a thing to hang on a window so your cat could sit on it and sunbathe. Mason has not owned a cat at any point in his life.) and he’d remember where it was once he sobered up.

Of course he still gets relentless shit for it. He wouldn’t expect any different.

Currently, Mason and Z were arm wrestling over a table in the back of the bar, people beginning to call it quits and going home. And with his pride hurt that he could not beat Z in an arm wrestling match, Tyson stole the other’s keys and wallet from Gabe, saying goodbyes and forcing Mason to as well.

“You are blasted, man.”

“Mmph,” he shrugged and laid his head against the passenger window. “I wanna lay down and sleep.”

“You can when I get you home. Gimmie your seatbelt so I can buckle you in.”

Mason followed the order with a small pout, not drunk enough to the point of incoherence but… definitely a little fucked up. Tyson had done this before: dealing with the mopey friend at the end of the night. Mason was definitely one to get mopey or clingy once they left the main event.

“My face hurts.”

“That checks out, buddy. I’ll get you some ice for it back at your place. What?” Tyson continued to ask when Mason stared out the windshield all angsty.

“Still can’t believe I couldn’t beat Z.”

“That guy could slam most of us through a table, don’t beat yourself up.”

“Can’t. Someone already did.”

“You’re full of jokes, huh?”

Mason just grinned sleepily as they pulled into the apartment complex and Tyson had an arm wrapped around his friend to keep him steady. Getting a drunk person to go to bed was usually one of the hardest parts of the night.

“Would you just--”

“I got it,” Mason huffed, fumbling with his keys near the lock of the door.

“Dude.”

“Shut up, you’re gonna wake up my neighbors,” he grumbled, finally getting the door open with a triumphant “see? I’m an adult.”

“I see. Go be an adult and get ready to go to bed,” Tyson rolled his eyes, taking the keys out of the door and locking it behind them.

“I don’t wanna sleep,” he replied quickly.

“You’re drunk, what do you mean you don’t want to sleep?”

“Not tired,” he flopped down on the couch.

“At least get out of your clothes. That way if you fall asleep it’s in pajamas.”

Mason was sprawled out, already clicking through Netflix.

“Fine, I will go get you pajamas. Here,” Tyson pressed a cold compress to a bruise on his face and headed to the bedroom.

“Thanks for driving me,” he heard from the other room.

“‘Course,” Tyson called back. “Here, put these on,” he tossed the clothes at Mason.

“Are you staying here? You can take the guest room, if you want.”

“Sure. Probably easier than trying to get home this late,” Tyson shrugged and headed for the kitchen. As he heard the rustling around of what he assumed was his friend changing, Tyson got a glass of water and painkillers for when Mason woke up.

“I can drive you home tomorrow,” Mason slurred even more heavily as he began getting more tired. He’d managed to get his jeans off and a pair of shorts on before moving onto the shirt. He’d just pulled his shirt off when Tyson walked back in the room with the water.

“Woah,” he said quietly, stopping quickly.

For whatever reason, he’d never realized that he had never seen his teammate and friend shirtless. That was weird, especially when you played sports together for a living. He assumed it was due to the faded scars along his chest, almost in a u-shape under each pec.

He didn’t even know what kind of injury would cause that kind of surgery.

“When did you get surgery?”

Fuck was all that ran through Mason’s head.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

For the top 5/top 10 thing. Top 5 ships. And top 10 animated movies

Oh snap. Okay, first off, these two lists are bound to change over time. These are just the choices I came up with at this time. 

Top 5 ships

1) Mattelektra

2) Jancy 

3) Cleon��

4) Westallen

5) Spideychelle 

Honorary mentions: Feenris (I think that’s the name for the Phoenix Wright x Iris ship?), Quakerider, Mileven, Quickwest, Jopper, Nate x Elena

(I’ll write my top 10 animated movies in a separate post / UPDATED with the link to the list) 

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Speaking of you writing, can I mention real quick how much I love your writing? You have this quirky and creative energy to the flow of what you wright that makes it an absolute delight to read! And there's this tone, that makes the mundane seem magical and the magical feel mundane, that some of my favorite authors use. You Makenzie, are well on your way to mastering it and I cannot wait to see what you create next!!

Nate I’ve just been sitting on the knowledge that this is in my inbox for a few days now having no idea what to say in thanks but feeling a little warmer every time I think about it

[brotherhood-ao3feed]

Sex Robot

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Wzd7N5

by arekeytaketour

"Have you ever had sex with a robot?"

Spoken so casual and calmly by Courier Six, the question made Nate and MacCready choked on their drinks, Danse's mouth gaped, while Hancock and Cait were laughing hysterically. The Courier's companions, however, were groaning and further sank themselves deeper into their drinks.

A story of how Courier Six tried to prove (to no one other than himself) that his past sexual adventure and partners are not weird at all.

Words: 734, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 3 of Boston Vegas

Fandoms: Fallout 4, Fallout: New Vegas

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Male Courier, Male Sole Survivor, Paladin Danse (Fallout), Robert Joseph MacCready, Piper Wright, Cait (Fallout), John Hancock (Fallout), Preston Garvey, Deacon (Fallout), Craig Boone, Arcade Gannon, and others Fallout 4 and New Vegas companions, Fisto (Fallout)

Relationships: Male Courier & Male Sole Survivor, Paladin Danse/Male Sole Survivor, slight Male Courier/Fisto

Additional Tags: mentioned of sexual intercourse with a robot, Courier is weird, Robots, Fisto was mentioned

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Wzd7N5