#oh maybe its because i changed my apartment round and the tv broke and a valuer is coming on thursday and im sewing so my brain is just too

[artemisbarnowl]

Somethings weird about me now. I havent cried since thursday but i feel like this

Hormones? Did a switch flip and im just....on the next stage of getting over it?

[cyncerity]

Sizeshifter!Tommy au where he noms SBI and Beeduo all at once? He grows just big enough to where they all fit nice and snug in there and he can feel all them. Big man just wants to hold his family close and keep them safe!

I wrote this as quickly as I could because this prompt gave me so much brain rot. It also gave me an excuse to write one of my favorite vore tropes: overstuffed preds 💖

tw: vore

“Yes!!” Tommy yelled after his 5th consecutive win against the rest of his friends and family in Mario Kart. He heard the rest of them groan as he laughed harder at their defeat. “Alright, Tubbo, you came in last, you know what that means…” Tommy snickered as he leaned closer to Tubbo. The brunette simply laughed as he shoved Tommy’s face back. “Yeah, yeah, I owe you, but I have a feeling you’re gonna wanna cash that favor in now, aren’t you?” Tommy grinned mischievously in response. “Oh, you know me so well.”

Tommy and Tubbo scrambled off the couch and went to the living room as the other 4 continued to play. In a matter of no time Tommy was a giant, approximately 45 ft in height. Not huge, but big enough so that Tubbo had room in his stomach. And as soon as he reached that height, Tubbo shoved his arm in his mouth with a sly, silly grin. Tommy’s response to this was to close his mouth around Tubbo’s torso and slurp the rest of him in like a noodle, making the now much smaller boy burst into giggles. He licked him for a few minutes before getting impatient and swallowing him down, the now familiar feeling of the warm, squirming lump traveling down his throat bringing the shifter bliss. Tommy laid back, closed his eyes, and put a hand on his stomach as he felt Tubbo enter his belly, fully content to lay their the rest of the day.

“Tommy, get back in here, we’re starting another game!!” Tommy heard Wilbur shout. He peeked an eye open. Surely they knew he was giant right now, right? They had to have known what he and Tubbo had gone into the other room to do, they’d have to be stupid not to know. Tommy sighed and made his way back to the dining room where Mario Kart was set up, laying on his stomach (which Tubbo didn’t seem to mind, surprisingly), only bothering to fit his top half in the room. “Oh, there you are! Can you still use one of these?” Ranboo held a controller to Tommy, who’s face remained deadpan as he lifted his hand to compare it to the controller, which was barely the size of his finger nail. “Right, I guess that makes sense…” Ranboo continued a bit awkwardly. “You wanna just watch this round then, Toms?” Phil asked. Tommy shrugged and nodded as Techno started the game.

A few minutes later, Wilbur came out on top, with Ranboo being the loser. Tommy chuckled as Wilbur continued to gloat his victory to patronize Ranboo, when the mocking finally died down and the attention was surprisingly turned to him.

“Alright, Ranboo, new rule for the night: you lose, youre sleeping in the giant.” Wilbur said nonchalantly. Tommy’s face turned to one of utter confusion before he laughed a bit as an argument broke out between Wilbur and Ranboo. Ok, this could be something he could get behind. He was always up for the chance to nom his friends.

Soon Ranboo stared at Tommy with tired eyes as he pushed his lips open. Tommy quickly closed his mouth around the teen and threw his head back as hard as he could and swallowed down Ranboo in one gulp, taking Ranboo by surprise and making Wilbur lose it with laughter. Tommy rearranged himself as he felt Ranboo enter his stomach and Tubbo move over to make more room so that he was now lying on his back, watching the tv upside down. He looked down at his gut.

He had noted a while ago that 50ft was the minimum height he could be to swallow both Ranboo and Tubbo, that being the minimum height where they weren’t crowded and Tommy still felt full while not showing any signs of having eat someone from the outside. At his current 45ft, though, his friends started to make a bump on his gut. Nothing too noticeable unless someone was looking for it, but there nonetheless.

A few minutes later, Techno lost. “Alright, rules of the night, Techno,” Wilbur said as he shoved his twin brother towards Tommy, “down the hatch you go.” Techno just rolled his eyes, not excited or anything but seemingly not opposed to the idea. Tommy was beginning to think this wasn’t such a great idea anymore. Yeah, having two people fill his stomach was nice, but he was fairly certain that two was his max. It was already a little cramped as it was. God, if he even managed to fit Techno in their, would it give him a stomach ache? Tommy negotiated the idea of growing bigger so there’d be more room in his belly, but he had never attempted to shift with people in him, so he dropped the idea.

Nevertheless, a few moments later Tommy found himself watching the bulge of his stomach grow slightly, maybe a half inch to him, bigger as Techno entered his gut. The organ growled around its new occupant, probably realizing (just as Tommy had) that there was already to much stuff in his belly. Tommy drowsily rubbed his stomach and felt internal rubs back as he heard Phil shout from the couch, their last race seemingly over. Wilbur stood up and began shouting for a rematch. Tommy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Rematch or not, one of them was going to end up in him, and he didn’t know if he could physically take that. He wasn’t sure where the point of unhealthy weight in someone’s stomach was, but he was sure he was close to reaching it. He’d never felt so full before, and he didn’t know if that was a bad thing or not. It’s didn’t hurt like he thought it would, and so much motion under his skin made a shiver run up his spine and melt his muscles in the best way possible. Of course, that could all change once a fourth person entered his stomach. He’d only ever eaten three at most, and at that point in time he was about 150-200 ft tall, so this get entirely different.

Phil proudly and snuggly pushed Wilbur towards Tommy, who readied himself as he picked up Wilbur and carefully placed him in his jaws. Tommy took slow, small swallows just in case any harsh or fast movements would give him a stomach ache. Phil seemed to notice his sons’s dilemma, though, and moved towards Tommy to rub his stomach, trying to push his occupants aside to make room for Wilbur, and making Tommy let out a sigh and start purring, to blissful to even feel embarrassed.

“Wil’s idea cause you a bellyache, mate?” Phil asked, continuing to rub Tommy’s gut as it swelled even more with Wilbur’s entry, giving another, louder low growl at the added weight. Tommy groaned slightly and nodded. Phil gave him a sympathetic smile and he placed his hands on the organ to rub it, and felt a second pair of hands rubbing from the inside. Tommy seemed to be on the verge if sleep, the over-stuffing making him drowsy.

“Does it hurt, Toms?” Tommy shook his head. “Then, do you mind if I go in?” Phil said as he laid a hand on Tommy’s gut. Tommy nodded as he picked Phil up, begrudgingly standing as best he could and moving to the living room where he could throw the couch cushions on the floor and make a makeshift bed, feeling the most likely equally drowsy people in his belly slide down the walls of the stomach as their surroundings shifted. Tommy soon felt them start to try and get into a comfortable position after having been moved, and out of curiosity looked down at his stomach. He was surprised to see that not only had Wilbur added probably another quarter inch to his distended gut, but he could make out their movements from inside him. To him, it only looked like his stomach had swollen about two inches bigger, but he could just barely make out when someone pushed at him or leaned their full body weight against his organ. It might have been somewhat disturbing to anyone other than Tommy, but at the moment, the young shifter was to entranced by the fact that now he could actually feel and see what was going on in his belly to care.

Once they reached the living room, Phil got gently popped into Tommy’s mouth as he began to take the couches apart before he was swallowed down, reaching the stomach within seconds, everyone else who had been eaten already fast alsesp. Phil chuckled as he felt his world shift as Tommy laid back down, rubbing what he assumed to be the front of the stomach.

“Hey, Toms?” “Yeah?” “How about next time, best two out of three?” Tommy only chuckled, poking where he felt Phil rubbing his stomach. “Oh, it’s so on.”

[love-and-monsters]

Fake Dating pt. 2

M Faerie X F human reader, 6,405 words

This is a part two to this story. Elwain and his human are safely in the human world, dealing with things far more mundane than an assassination attempt. Both of them are adjusting to the new life and to each other. Very fluffy, with some caretaking. I was in a very romantic mood while writing this and I think you can tell.

Content notes: mentions of parents trying to kill their child, descriptions of minor illness.

“This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Why do humans like this?”

You repressed a snicker. “You’re watching it.”

Elwain didn’t even look away from the screen to reply. “You put it on.”

“I just turned on the TV. You’re the one who started watching.” Elwain made a noncommittal noise. You pressed your lips together, trying not to smile. “I can change the channel, if you want. There’s a documentary on that I wanted to-”

“No, this is fine,” Elwain said. He hopped onto the couch next to you and curled up. “Ugh. These people know that expensive doesn’t mean good, right?”

You covered your mouth with a hand. Elwain actually, legitimately enjoying trashy reality shows was by far the best thing you’d learned about his personality since you’d started living together. The worst thing was probably that he’d grown up with servants and had no comprehension of household chores. It had taken a few weeks to get him to put his food back in the refrigerator when he was done with it, and you weren’t sure he was ever going to get the hang of doing dishes. Still. He was getting better.

“You’re still going to need to vacuum later tonight,” you reminded him. Elwain groaned.

“I spent all day at work!” he said. “I should get a day off.”

“You only had a five hour shift today. I worked seven. Plus, I have school. You don’t get breaks on household chores. Doesn’t matter how much you worked, they still have to be done.” Elwain looked away sulkily. That was an expression you were getting uncomfortably familiar with. “And you’re not allowed to do magic for it, either.”

“What? Just because you can’t use magic, there is no reason for me to be forbidden!” Elwain said.

“Yeah, sure. You remember what happened last time you used magic to clean the apartment?” Bright pink spots appeared on Elwain’s cheeks. He glared down at the couch, expression screwed up in irritation.

“I fixed that.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure. You fixed the apartment. What you’re never going to fix is my trauma from walking into my apartment and finding everything covered in spiders!”

“I apologized!”

“Look, the next time you decide to enchant a bunch of bugs into doing household chores, just. Don’t.”

Elwain huffed. “They weren’t even venomous to humans! All of you are so easily frightened. They weren’t going to hurt you.”

“I think the heart attack I had upon entering my own apartment could be considered as hurting me,” you muttered. Elwain looked sour, but didn’t respond, apparently returning to his TV show. Elwain’s adjustment to the human world had been… difficult. He had no real understanding of conventional social norms and obviously still expected everyone to treat him like a noble, despite working a minimum wage job at a fast-food restaurant. Not to mention that he seemed to have very loose morals when it came to enchanting mortals. As far as you were aware, he’d never done it to you, but he didn’t seem to have any sort of restraint when it came to anyone else. Before he’d gotten his job in customer service, he’d made all of his money by charming random people off the street into handing over their wallets.

Admittedly, his skills had come in handy. You didn’t feel particularly good about it, but he had charmed the landlord into giving you the apartment for significantly less than the going rate. In your defense, there hadn’t been many options. You couldn’t stay in your parent’s house with a Fae hanging around, and even with both of you working, there was no way to afford an apartment otherwise.

It did not help that Elwain apparently found your moral crisis very funny.

“You all live by such dumb rules all the time. If you really wanted, I could probably charm someone into giving us their house, or just letting us stay there.”

“That feels morally dubious,” you said.

“Ugh. You won’t let me steal anything, you won’t let me charm people into letting us use their things without stealing them, you won’t even let me charm people into handing some things over!” Elwain flopped across the couch. “So now we’re living in a garbage apartment and I have to work at a greasy food place where customers yell all the time and-”

“It’s a nice apartment, especially considering what we’re paying for it,” you interrupted. “And if you use magic too often, people might start figuring out that something weird is going on.”

“I doubt it. Mortals are stupid.” But Elwain didn’t protest, and went to his job as usual, and didn’t steal, which was more respect for your rules than you were worried he’d show. And, really, you were glad you’d instated the ‘no magic’ rule at large, given how unpredictable the results could be.

Elwain sprawled across the couch. He had a tendency to take up ridiculous amounts of space, pushing you to the edges of the couch to avoid contact. Eventually, you got up.

“Where are you going?” Elwain asked as you walked out of the room.

“I’m going to study for a bit before bed,” you called back. “Enjoy your show.”

He stared after you until your door clicked shut. Weird. He’d seemed almost annoyed about you leaving, even though it meant he could watch his shows for longer and you would stop bugging him about vacuuming. Whatever. He’d been acting weird recently, though. Maybe you should talk to him about it. He’d seemed fine for the first month or so after leaving his home and his parents trying to kill him, but maybe he was having some sort of delayed reaction.

You buried yourself in your textbooks for the next few hours, trying to get a solid start on one of your papers. The back of your mind seemed to be focused on the little noises in the apartment, though. Every sound of footsteps or things being moved pulled your attention back to the rest of the house. Eventually, you heard the sound of the vacuum running for a while before Elwain headed into his room.

He never went back into the main area of your apartment and, buried in work, you were soon thoroughly distracted. Gradually, as you worked, your mind grew less and less focused until you were face down in your books, dead asleep.

“Wake up!”

You bolted upright. There was a piece of paper sticking to your cheek from a stream of drool. You hurriedly pulled it off. “What? What’s going on?” You blinked, focusing on Elwain’s fine face in front of you. “What are you doing in my room?”

“Your alarm was going off. I can’t believe you didn’t hear it. It woke me up.” Sure enough, your phone, which was still sitting across the room from you, on its charger, was ringing furiously. You weren’t surprised that you hadn’t noticed it, though. Your head felt like someone had stuffed it with cotton.

“Oh. Sorry.” You rose a little unsteadily and turned the alarm off. “Thanks for waking me. Probably would have slept right through it if you hadn’t.”

“Uh huh,” Elwain said. “Did someone curse you?”

You blinked at him. He seemed dead serious. “Uh, no. I doubt it. Unless you know something I don’t.”

“If you’re asking about my parents, I would assume they are no longer concerned about me,” Elwain said. His voice was clipped, like it always was when he talked about his parents. “I don’t think they would bother to curse a mortal. If they had the means to lay a curse on someone, it would be far easier and more effective to just curse me.” He paused. “I was only asking because you look terrible.”

“Thanks,” you mumbled.

“You do. Why didn’t you sleep in your actual bed last night?” he asked.

“Because I fell asleep at my desk by accident. Are you going to stand here and just insult me or-” You broke off into a round of thick, hacking coughs. Elwain took a step back, alarm crossing his face.

“What is happening to you?” He lifted his arms in front of him, like he was trying to ward off some kind of evil spirit.

“It’s a cough,” you said. “Have you never seen a cough before?”

Elwain lowered his arms, still looking at me like he thought you would start convulsing at any moment. “Fae don’t do that.”

“They don’t cough?” You rubbed at your chest. A significant amount of phlegm had settled there. God, your body really had to pick the worst time to get sick.

“Not like that,” he said. “What’s the matter with you?”

“I’m sick,” you told him.

He nodded slowly. “I’ve heard of that. A mortal thing. Your forms are weak, so you occasionally fall ill. It is a sign of your small, failing lifespans.”

You considered correcting him, but decided that you had better ways to spend your morning than trying to explain germ theory to a Faerie. “Yeah. Sure. Well. I’m sick. So that’s why I’m coughing. It’s just a cold. I’ll be fine.”

Elwain narrowed his eyes. “Hmph. Well. I have work. Don’t die while I’m out.”

“I’m not in any danger of dying,” you told him. “Go head to work. Have fun.”

“That’s unlikely,” he muttered, but he left your room without protest. You closed your door after him and set about getting ready for your day.

The cold had settled into your head and chest and you could tell it was going to be bad already, even before it had come on fully. God. You could not afford to get sick.

Elwain was eating breakfast when you shuffled into the kitchen. You’d needed to absolutely cake your face in makeup to look presentable, and you saw his brows rise as he looked at you. Fortunately, the Fae at least knew how to keep their mouths shut. He just looked back at the frozen waffles he was toasting.

You snagged a granola bar and headed for the door. “Have a good day at work!” you called over your shoulder. Elwain grunted in response. The door swung shut behind you.

Work was exhausting, as per usual. It was better than Elwain’s job by a long shot, since you were working in a local candy store run by a sweet older couple, but between keeping an eye on any batches of candy being produced, sorting out customers, and having to deal with the requisite child-throwing-a-fit-for-not-getting-sweets, it was tiring. Trying to look bright and perky while being weighted down with a cold was awful.

As soon as work was off, you had class. Dragging yourself through it was a slow, painful slog. By the end, your head was fuzzy and you felt dead on your feet. Slowly, you hauled yourself on the bus and fell asleep.

Naturally, you missed your stop.

About an hour after you were supposed to be home, you dragged yourself in through the door. Elwain practically slammed into you. His hands clapped on either side of his face and he peered intently at you. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling you! I thought you were dead!”

You pushed him off you and bent to one side to cough heavily until you were nearly sagging to the floor. Elwain stared at you. “Sorry,” you rasped when you’d stopped. “I fell asleep. And then my phone was on low battery and I wanted to make sure I had enough battery to use my GPS to get home.”

“You couldn’t have texted me?” Elwain drew himself up, hands on his hips. The entire situation reminded you, ridiculously, of your mom when you came home after a night out. “I was worried! I didn’t know where you were, and mortals are so ridiculously fragile-”

“Aw, you’d have been fine,” you said. “If anything, you’d be able to do more without my stupid mortal morals.”

Elwain’s expression went strange for a moment. “Are you feeling well? You seem… off.”

“I’m not feeling well. I’d like to lie down, actually.” You coughed again. “That okay with you?” Elwain was still frowning, but he stepped aside, allowing you down the hall and into your room.

You went down into your bed face-first. Almost as soon as you hit the pillows, your mind faded into sleep. Sleep came to you in fitful waves. You kept waking, coughing, rolling over and falling asleep again. When your alarm pulled you back to full consciousness, you felt thoroughly awful. The cold had settled firmly into your chest and head, gumming everything up. Your chest rasped every time you breathed in, prompting heavy coughing fits, you shivered even when you were wrapped in blankets, and your head felt full, achy, and cloudy.

The cold had apparently decided to upgrade to a full-blown illness. Slowly, you shoved yourself upright. It was hard to breathe through your nose and your mouth. Your throat stung with every inhale. Every cell of your body just wanted to pop some of the cold medicine that made you sleep and hopefully you’d wake up when it was all over.

Just as you were standing up, someone knocked on your door.

Well, you knew who. There was only one person who it could be. Grimacing, you walked over to the door and pulled it open. “Elwain. What?”

He stared at you. “I was- are you okay?”

“I’m sick. You remember the discussion was had yesterday?” you said. “Anyway. You needed something?”

Elwain looked you over. You hadn’t looking into a mirror, but given his expression, you probably looked terrible. He seemed to think you were five seconds from crumbling into a pile of ash, like a vampire exposed to sunlight. “Do I need to call 911?” he asked.

“Uh, no. It’s a cold. I don’t need an ambulance. I need to sleep for a while. Why are you knocking on my door?” you asked. Elwain’s mouth moved wordlessly. Whatever he had wanted to talk to you about, it seemed to have been completely derailed.

“I… er.” Elwain’s gaze flicked over you again. “Well. I wanted to see how you were doing. You went to bed right after you got home last night and I never saw you again. And you seem to be doing… poorly.”

“Yeah. I’m not doing great. I really just want to go back to bed.” You rubbed your hand over your head. “I feel like shit.”

Elwain hesitated. “Do you need me to do something?”

“Just go about your day. I’ll try to keep my gross self out of your way.” You slouched across your room to your bed. “If you don’t need anything else, I’m going to try to get a little more sleep.”

Elwain lingered in the doorway for a few moments longer. Finally, he turned and headed into the kitchen. The door remained open behind him, and you couldn’t be bothered to get up and close it again. Instead, you buried your head in your pillow. Sleep claimed you again within moments.

Less than an hour later, your alarm went off again. You slapped at it balefully until it shut off. Somehow, it felt like you gotten negative sleep, like sleeping had made you even more tired. Slowly, painfully, you pushed yourself upright. Shivers wracked your frame. How had sleep made everything worse?

You threw on the first clothes that you could get your hands on and shuffled into the kitchen. Elwain looked up from his breakfast. His mouth opened slightly. “Good lord. Maybe you have been cursed.”

“Thanks,” you mumbled. “I don’t look that bad.” You did, but you’d slathered enough makeup on your face to cover most of it. Then again, maybe that wasn’t enough to hide from Fae eyes.

“You look like a walking corpse,” Elwain said. You collapsed in the seat next to him and coughed into your fist. The force of the motion made your head throb. Elwain curled his lips back from his teeth in a grimace. “Are you certain you don’t need me to call 911?”

“No. It’s a cold. I’m-” You dissolved into a fit of coughing so severe it was difficult to catch your breath. Elwain stared at you, eyes wide. “I’m fine,” you croaked.

Elwain narrowed his eyes, but returned to his phone. You didn’t know where he’d gotten it from, because he certainly hadn’t purchased it, but you’d decided you weren’t going to ask. You ate slowly, mostly because your stomach felt tender, and you couldn’t finish even half of your normal portion. After a while of picking at your food, you dumped your dishes in the sink and started gathering your items to head out.

“Where are you going?” You startled. Elwain had appeared at your shoulder, completely silent. You might have chalked up not noticing him to your cold-dulled senses, but he could sneak up on you no matter how well you were feeling.

“Work,” you said.

Elwain looked back down at his phone. “You are not supposed to leave the house if you’re sick.”

“It’s a cold. I’ll be fine,” you said.

Elwain kept looking at his phone. “If you are sick, you are supposed to stay home, both so you can avoid infecting others and so you can recover.”

“Are you reading that off a website? Where are you reading that from?” You tried to grab his phone, but he gracefully slipped out of your reach.

“I searched about human illnesses on the internet,” he said. “Your symptoms are consistent with the common cold, but they are also consistent with pneumonia. It says you should sleep and drink water until you are recovered.”

“Look,” you said. “I’m fine. It’s a cold. I’ve had them before. I will have them after this one. I know how to handle them. I’ll pop some cold medicine and I’ll be fine.” Elwain stared at you. His expression was hard to read. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll live.” You sniffed and blotted at your face with a tissue. “I’m going to leave now. I’ll see you later.”

You swept out the door, giving Elwain a wave. He stared after you, not moving until you slammed the door shut.

It was a long, slow, awful day. You could barely keep your head together. By the time you got home, your limbs were heavy with exhaustion and your mind was swimming.

You dragged yourself through the door. Your body felt like you were wrapped in a massive, thick blanket. Everything was warm and it was hard to move, like everything was stiff.

Elwain stared at you as you pulled yourself into the kitchen. “You look like death warmed over.”

“Fine,” you mumbled. “’m fine.” You slouched over the counter and leaned against it. Elwain stood, stepping closer to you. “I’m good. I… I’m good. Just… Tired. Tired. Need to nap.”

“Perhaps you should nap in your room,” Elwain said. “Not on the counter.”

“I’m fine here.” Your words were getting mushy. Why weren’t your lips moving correctly? “I’m good. I just, um. Need. Something…”

“It’s okay. You’re okay. Here, hold onto me. I’ll-” Elwian’s hands were on your waist, on your back. You felt boneless, mushy. Your limbs weren’t moving the way you wanted them to. The only thing you could feel were Elwain’s hands supporting you. Was he carrying you? Maybe. You felt like you were floating. Your head was disconnected from your body, floating. Someone was speaking to you from far away, a soothing voice. It was so soothing. Maybe you could just sleep for a bit. Just sleep. It would be nice to just sleep.

Dimly, you came back to yourself. You blinked your eyes open. The ceiling was unfamiliar, at least as ceilings went. Not that you were familiar with many ceilings, really. Looking down at yourself revealed why the ceiling was so unfamiliar. The bed was covered in heavy, dark blue sheets. Elwain’s sheets. You were in his bed.

Slowly, you pushed yourself upright. You still felt bad, but less bad than you had been feeling. A raking cough escaped your chest, thick with phlegm.

“You’re up!” Elwain appeared in the doorway. He looked… frazzled? You weren’t sure the Fae could look as frazzled and unkempt as a human could, but he didn’t look as ethereally beautiful as he usually did. He looked sort of ruffled. “I was considering dragging you to the hospital, but the internet said that maybe ginger tea would actually be better, so I got you some of that.” He indicated the cup in his hands.

“You have got to stop getting all your information from the internet. Or at least I need to give you a media literacy course on identifying good sources,” you croaked. Your voice sounded bad, but it no longer hurt to speak. It just felt uncomfortable.

Elwain gave you a bewildered look and held the cup out toward you. “Drink it.” You took it obligingly and took a sip. Elwain must have dumped half a bottle of honey in it, because it was so sweet you almost couldn’t taste the ginger. You swallowed it carefully.

“Thank you,” you said when you’d finished the cup. “What, uh. What exactly happened to me?”

Elwain sat on the end of your bed. He was wearing his old cloak, the one he’d taken with him when he’d fled from Faerie. He tucked it tighter around him, fingers fidgeting at the hem. “I was hoping you could inform me of that, actually. I was quite frightened when you collapsed like that.”

“Oh, yeah,” you said. Vaguely, you remembered passing out. “How long was I out?”

Elwain glanced at the clock. “Mn. Less than an hour? You were in and out for the first ten minutes, mumbling a lot.” You had vague memories of Elwain leaning over you, expression panicked. Must have been from then. “Once I got you into bed, you fell asleep. I wasn’t sure if I should wake you or not.”

“It is,” you said. “Probably a good idea to let me sleep. Though if I ever do collapse again, please call 911.” You considered. “Well, I guess don’t call 911 unless I’m actually dying. I can’t afford the ambulance.”

Elwain nodded, even though he looked politely confused. “Is your illness getting worse?”

“Maybe,” you said. “It’s hard to tell. I think I have a fever now, so that sucks.”

With absolutely no warning, Elwain leaned forward. His face was abruptly so close to yours, close enough to feel his cool breath tickling your skin. The hairs on the back of your neck lifted. Suddenly the only thoughts in your head had to do with his lips pressing to yours, his cool mouth meandering along your skin-

His forehead touched yours. His eyes closed, a little furrow appearing in his brow. “You’re warm,” he said. “Very warm.” He sat back.

You blinked. “Uh. You can do that with your hand, you know.”

“Oh? I saw the forehead one on the internet,” Elwain said, but he reached up and cradled your face in his hands. With a soft, delicate touch, the back of his hand brushed against your forehead and down your cheek. The touch made something in your chest tighten and your breath catch. “You still feel warm.”

You moved your mouth, trying to get your brain back in gear. “Uh, yeah. Fever! That’s, uh. Bad. I need, um. You remember that pill bottle in the bathroom I showed you? The one with the little red pills?” Elwain nodded. “Get those and a glass of water. They’ll bring the fever down.”

Elwain vanished for a moment and returned with a tall glass water and the bottle of pills. He watched as you downed them and sank back into bed. His sheets were softer than yours, his bed even more luxuriously plush. You weren’t sure where he’d gotten the sheets from, or if maybe they were the sheets you’d bought him, just augmented with magic. “Why did you put me in your bed, anyway?” you asked. “My bed’s not that much further away.”

“I wanted to keep an eye on you,” Elwain said. “And you do not like me coming in your room.”

“I don’t like you just walking into my room whenever you feel like it, but you can come into my room,” you said. But you were pretty glad he’d put you in his bed. Everything in his room smelled faintly floral and herbal, a smell that relaxed you. Everything was cozy.

“I am not familiar with how to deal with sick mortals,” Elwain said. “Do you need anything else?”

“No. I just need to rest.” You paused, looking toward the window. “I should probably head back to my own room, actually. You’ll probably want to sleep here tonight, right?”

Elwain shook his head. “Stay. You need to rest. I will sleep elsewhere.” He swept out of the room, cloak fluttering behind him. You stared after him for a moment before sinking back into bed. Despite just waking up, your head was already muddy again. Maybe Elwain had gotten you the pills with the sleeping medicine in them. Your eyes closed. Within moments, you were drifting away, fast asleep.

You dreamed of strange things, of hands on your face, cupping your cheek, of soft lips pressed to your neck, of kind eyes and strong arms carrying you around. When you opened your eyes to see the same kind eyes staring down at you, you were half-convinced you were still dreaming.

“Hello,” Elwain said. “You have been asleep for a while.”

You blinked. Your body did have that foggy heaviness that came when you’d been sleeping deeply. Even your discomfort from the illness seemed far away and dim. “Elwain.”

“Yes. I’m right here.” He said it more gently than a simple statement of fact, almost like a reassurance.

“How long was I out?” There was bright sunlight streaming in through the window and across the bed. You lifted a hand to clumsily shield your eyes.

“Over twelve hours. I thought you should probably sleep. That’s what the internet said.”

“Oh, man, we are going to need to get you some better resources than just ‘the internet,’” you said. “But you were right. Thanks for letting me sleep.” Slowly, you shoved yourself up into a sitting position. “What’s that?”

Elwain held a bowl out to you. “I was told that soup was good for mortal illnesses.”

You took the bowl of vegetable broth. Elwain’s cooking was usually pretty hit or miss- he could follow recipes just fine, but he also had a habit of deciding that he had a better idea than the recipe and going completely off the rails. The soup just seemed to be broth, though. You took a cautious sip. It was watery, but tolerable.

“Are you feeling better?” Elwain asked. You nodded, glancing over at the clock.

“It’s past nine,” you noticed. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“I called in sick. I wanted to stay home to make sure you were all right.” Elwain looked completely serious.

“It’s just a cold. I’m fine.”

Elwain’s eyes narrowed. “You collapsed.”

“Well, yeah, but…” You trailed off. There wasn’t much you could say in response to that. “Fine. But if you get fired for this, I’m going to be pissed.”

“I will not be fired. My boss loves me.” Elwain gave a superior little sniff, nose stuck up in the air. You laughed into your bowl of broth.

When you were finished, Elwain took your bowl back into the kitchen, returning only a few moments later. “Do you need anything else?”

“I think I’m okay,” you said. “You really didn’t have to stay home to take care of me. There’s not going to be a lot to do. I think I’m mostly going to sleep.”

“Regardless. I think it is better to be safe.” Elwain looked at you from the doorway for a moment longer. “I need you.”

He left the doorway. You could hear his footsteps retreating into your apartment, perfectly steady, like what he said hadn’t made your chest tighten intensely. You sank back into his bed. His scent wreathed around you, gentle and reassuring. Oh, god. Warm feelings were fluttering up in your stomach, swelling through chest and trembling in your lungs. Worse than that, they felt familiar. How long had these feelings been lingering in the background of your mind? And now they had surfaced and you didn’t know what to do with them. Naturally, you would have some kind of emotional crisis when you were sick.

You faded in and out of dreams where Elwain’s scent wreathed around you and his gentle hands stroked your forehead and cheeks. You woke up feeling oddly melancholy.

The sounds of the TV drifted through the open door. Shaking some feeling back into your heavy limbs, you hauled a blanket over your shoulders and headed into the living room.

Elwain was draped over the couch, staring at the TV. There was some soap opera on with a woman and a man hysterically throwing themselves at each other. Elwain looked up as you padded into the room. “Is it okay for you to be out of bed?” he asked.

“Yeah. I feel better, actually.” The sleep had helped quite a bit. You still felt foggy, but the pain in your head and chest had faded. Elwain sat up, drawing his limbs in closer to himself so you could sit next to him.

“You look less… corpse-like,” he said. Before you realized what he was doing, he took hold of your face in both hands and pulled you closer to him. “You are still warm.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m getting better.” You reached up and carefully pried his fingers off your face. You were overly aware of how your fingers lingered together. “How’s your day off going?”

“Human TV is still strange,” Elwain said, turning back toward the screen. “I can’t imagine any humans really behave like this. I have never seen it.”

“No, it’s a soap opera. It’s supposed to be deliberately over-the-top and crazy. That’s why they’re fun to watch.” Elwain rolled his eyes, but there was amusement in his expression.

“Is there anything you want to watch?” he asked.

“No, this is fine.” You settled into the soft cushions, staring at the TV. As much as you were looking in the direction of the TV, most of your attention was focused on Elwain. His gaze kept flicking toward you, as if he was unable to focus on the show either. After a moment, he reached out toward you.

One of his hands settled on your head, the other on your shoulder. Before you realized what had happened, he pushed you so your head was resting in his lap. You stared up at him as he, apparently unconcerned, started weaving his fingers through your hair.

“What are you doing?” you asked.

“You did this for me when I first came here,” Elwain said. “It was soothing. I thought you might like it as well.” He paused. “Was I incorrect?”

You considered for a moment. His fingers were still carding through your hair, twining strands around his fingers. “No. I don’t mind.”

Elwain continued to stroke your hair. His nails scratched lightly at your scalp. The feeling of being touched made something tremulous swell in your chest. It was a pleasant feeling, but one so sharp and overwhelming that it almost made you cry.

You lay with Elwain for a while, his hands absently playing with your hair and trailing along your head and neck. He seemed to be paying far more attention to you than to the TV. “You should take better care of yourself,” he said, stroking your bangs back from your forehead. “If you were to die, I would be alone in the mortal world.”

“You’d manage,” you said.

“Perhaps.” Elwain removed his hands from your hair and hesitated for a moment. He seemed to be struggling to speak. Then he sighed. “But I would prefer it if you were with me.”

You looked up at him. He was staring deliberately to one side. There was a faint pinkish color to his cheeks and his eyes were narrowed. “You could have left, once our deal was up. I only asked you to stay with me for the night. And yet, you helped me. There was no reason to. I no longer have my connections or any particular Faerie skills. Even the few powers that remain with me, you don’t like me using. You have gained nothing from this deal and you help me regardless.”

“Of course, I did.” Thinking about that night only brought one image to your mind. Elwain, who had nearly been killed by his own parents, looking lost and confused and abandoned. He had been cocky before, but in that moment, he had just looked forlorn and upset. He had just looked scared. “I wasn’t going to just leave you on your own.”

“You could have,” Elwain pressed on. “Easily, you could have. You could have justified it, even by mortal morals. There’s not a lot here that could kill me. As you have pointed out, I would be fairly fine on my own. But you stayed with me regardless, for no other reason than just helping me.”

“You’d just almost been assassinated. I couldn’t leave you,” you said.

“You could have. But you didn’t. And, at least so far, you have asked for nothing from me in return. To be quite honest, you’ve been almost annoying with how little you allow me to do.”

“I try,” you said. Elwain snorted. It was an inelegant noise, but somehow also incredibly attractive. “Where are you going with this?”

“I’m trying to explain to you that I care about you. I want you to be well and safe and healthy because you saved me and you didn’t have to and I appreciate it.” Elwain’s cheeks flamed red. “That’s what I’m trying to say.”

You reached up slowly and let your hand cradle the side of his face. He leaned into your touch, eyes closing. “It’s strange. I’m not used to this,” he said. “My parents loved me as far as they could use me. It’s how Faeries are. But you have used me for nothing, gained precious little advantage from having a Faerie living with you. And I wasn’t used to it. I still think I’m not used to it. But I am so… so… happy. For this. For you.” He blinked his eyes open. They were hazy with emotion. “Thank you.”

It was an impulse maybe you could have resisted if you were feeling better, but you were overwhelmed with feeling and not in the mood to fight with yourself. The hand on his cheek shifted position toward the back of his neck and pulled him down on top of you. His mouth pressed into yours, tense and unyielding, then softening as he realized what was happening.

There was a moment of fumbling, while Elwain registered that you were kissing. You broke away from his mouth, but he was pressing into you again, pulling you close to him and meeting your lips over and over with his own. His tongue brushed your lower lip and his moan sounded against your mouth.

You weren’t aware of how it happened, but suddenly you were lying back on the couch with Elwain on top of you. He was kissing you furiously, his hips flush to yours. Your fingers tangled in his hair, pushing him as close to you as you could get.

One of your gasping breaths caught in your chest, triggering a coughing fit. You rolled over, trying not to cough right into Elwain’s face. He sat back. His lips were already slightly kiss-swollen and he looked a bit rumpled. “Right,” he said, trying to finger-comb his hair back into a presentable state. “You’re still not feeling well.”

“Hold on. Give me a minute, we can keep going,” you said between coughs. Elwain pressed his lips together, but they were twitching toward a smile.

“You are admirably determined, but I think it would be better for you to rest,” he said. There was a pause. Elwain tugged on a few of the longer strands of his hair. “I take that to mean you feel the same way?”

“That I like you? Yeah.” You pulled him down so he was laying across your chest. He looked at you, eyes surprisingly wide and innocent. “When I first met you, I thought you were kind of an asshole. And you are kind of an asshole. But you’re also charming and endearing and you try to follow my rules even when you totally don’t have to. And you’re willing to take care of me when I’m sick.”

“You took care of me when I had lost everything,” Elwain said. “I only wished to return the favor.” His fingers wandered over your stomach, tracing absent patterns on your shirt. You could feel his warmth against your skin. “Usually, that’s how it works, with Faeries. Favors are given because giving means you can get something in return, and you’re always trying to leverage the deal to get more than what you’re giving.” He closed his eyes for a moment, brows furrowing. “But when I saw you were sick, I wasn’t thinking that I needed to pay you back. I was only thinking that I wanted to help you.”

You stroked your fingers through his hair. “That’s what love is.”

“Mortal love,” he sighed. “I always thought it was flimsy and weak and short-lived.” His eyes opened again and he nestled into you. “It’s much stronger than I thought. So much more than I believed. It almost hurts, but it’s a good hurt.”

You started coughing again. Elwain swung himself up and gathered you into his arms. “I’ll take you back to bed,” he said. “You need to get better. I want to continue this.” He pressed a kiss to your forehead. You rested your head on his shoulder and closed your eyes. His heartbeat thudded against you, slow and steady. The feeling of him holding you swelled and ached inside you, a pleasant ache. You clung to him as he eased you into bed and settled in next to you. Your illness was all but forgotten. Everything was soft and pleasant under a heady wave of love.

[jokertrap-ran]

(光与夜之恋 Light and Night) Osborn’s 5✩ Inspiration: Black VS Black [黑色对峙] Date Translation (END 5: Listen)

“Now that we're done putting away the model, it's about time we put it away as well.”

*Light and Night Master-list | Osborn’s Personal Masterlist *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Join the Light & Night Discord (＾▽＾)~ ♪ *This 5✩ Inspiration has 6 Endings!! *Osborn’s tag will be #For Night, For Freedom *Requested by anon! You can check my on-going requests and more here!

✥ Choice: Listen [倾听] ❖ASMR

The cat caused an incident! What should I do?

⊹ Pick up the scattered components ⊹

Around the fallen car model were several of its scattered compartments that had fallen out. 

The rear spoiler didn't manage to escape unscathed with a running crack through it.

MC: Yikes! The parts came out!

I quickly knelt down to gather all the pieces when a large hand picked up the car model much faster than I could.

Osborn looked at the model, as unfazed as ever.

Osborn: Looks like my car model was more attractive to it rather than your cat teaser wand.

MC: Is the model okay? Some parts fell out...

He looked left and right before his brows furrowed into a slight frown in displeasure, looking slightly bothered by it.

Osborn: Hmm…

Thinking about how this car model had been displayed alongside his trophies made me grow increasingly nervous.

MC: Does this car model have any special commemorative significance to you?

Osborn nodded and my heart immediately seized up.

MC: Oh no… Is there any hope of fixing it?

Osborn: It looks easy to piece together, but it's actually pretty complicated with many intricate compartments.

Osborn: Once it gets taken apart, it's pretty much impossible to…

MC: Sorry, I didn't know it was that serious. I should have caught it while I could earlier...

This whole incident had happened while I stood witness to the entire thing. I couldn't help but feel like I too, had a part in the blame. I clenched my fists. Then, Osborn snorted.

Osborn: Pft—

MC: ???

Osborn: I'm joking.

If he'd looked at a loss earlier, then he certainly wasn't now. A familiar impish smile tugged at the side of his lips.

Osborn: The main body's alright, and the parts that fell up just have to be-

MC: OSBORN! I was really panicking there! How DARE you-

Osborn: S-Sorry!

MC: Hmph! Apology not accepted!

I pretended to be mad, snatching the model out of his hands and turning it around to get a better look at it.

MC: What did you say again? We just have to reinstall the parts that came out back in?

Osborn: You're… not angry anymore?

Glancing at his expression that was still frozen in surprise, the corners of my mouth that had been starting to quirk upward soon lowered.

MC: I'm not free to be mad now. I'll be mad later when I have the time. You better remember!

Osborn gave a light laugh at that.

Osborn: Okay.

Suddenly, a muted clatter sounded.

Mitt had slyly slinked to the door, entertaining itself by playing with the yarn ball that had been placed in front of the sofa.

Osborn: Looks like it's taken a liking to the toys you brought.

MC: Of course! Let's not disturb it now that it's happily occupied with its toys, and get down to setting this car model straight!

❖☆———————————★❖

Osborn: Ever built a car model before?

Osborn: No? So it's your first time doing it? And at my place too.

Osborn: ...You want to be my assistant, huh.

Osborn: That works too. Let me see where I put my toolbox.

Osborn: You have sharp eyes. Saves me the trouble of looking.

Osborn: Two more components left. Wanna try?

Osborn: Here. Just line it up and slowly screw it in.

Osborn: ...It's upside down.

Osborn: Come, I'll teach you how.

Osborn: This should do it.

Osborn: Looks like the joint needs a little polishing. Pass me the exacto knife.

Osborn: Now's not the time for the flat-blade screwdriver.

Osborn: Great reaction time. You got it right this time.

Osborn: Okay, done.

Osborn: What do you think? Pretty cool, ain't it?

Osborn: Right. We were just installing parts earlier, so why were you so nervous?

Osborn: Because you're inexperienced? Then you'll just have to do it a couple more times.

Osborn: Why's your face so red all of a sudden?

Osborn: Looks like it lost interest in your ball of yarn. It might be looking for a new target.

Osborn: Okay, get up.

Osborn: Now that we're done putting away the model, it's about time we put it away as well.

❖☆———————————★❖

By the time we found Mitt, it was already sprawled out beside the TV cabinet with its paws stuck underneath, fiddling with something in the gap.

Recalling the layout of his living room, I quietly tip-toed and whispered my idea into Osborn’s ear.

MC: I’ll take left, you take right. We’ll pincer it.

Osborn: It’s already here, so there’s no need to go through so much trouble.

MC: Huh?

Osborn: Just wait and see.

Osborn took a couple of long strides forwards in the direction of the cat.

I followed after him, quietly approaching the black cat. However, my attention was suddenly caught by the photo frame that the cat had just been playing with.

Picking up the frame, I carefully observed it…

In the picture were Osborn and a couple of familiar-looking teammates. They’d all had an arm around each other’s shoulder, beaming as they held the same trophy.

Their faces all look much younger… Is this a photo from years ago?

The race car in the background had a red and white body with an orange rear spoiler, similar to the car model that Mitt had batted off its perch earlier.

MC: Don’t tell me… Was that car model made based on this race car?

I was lost in thought when a sudden meow broke my train of thought.

Osborn: Still wanna run?

❖☆———————————★❖

I raised my head to see Osborn with both arms raised, gently holding up the cat in question.

The bright and warm sunlight shone in through the window, carefully outlining his chiselled side-profile and the contours of his muscles.

Although Mitt had already been caught, it still glared daggers at Osborn. It was as if a cat and a human were engaged in a silent battle with each other.

After a while, Mitt seemed to register the fact that it’d lost, meowing pitifully in that soft cry once more.

❖☆———————————★❖

Osborn: Oh? You know how to beg for mercy now, don’t you?

Osborn carried Mitt to the little corner we’d set up for it. Mitt seemingly gave up on the game of chase, lowering its head to eat the cat food that we’d prepared for it since the very beginning.

Watching it eat its food so obediently, I couldn’t help but kneel down and stroke its round head.

Mitt cast a doubtful glance at me, but turned its head, indulging nuzzling itself into my palm.

MC: !

MC: I touched it! How cute…

Osborn: You’re that excited from just being able to touch it?

MC: Yeah. It looked so naughty that I thought I wouldn’t be able to touch it today.

Osborn: It’ll come running up to you for a lick or two so long as you have food.

MC: Then I MUST let it try the wet cat food! Maybe it’ll get closer to me!

I sped towards the sofa and picked up the packet of wet cat food, purposely waving it before its nose.

It couldn’t resist the offered temptation after all. Its soft fluffy paws batted at my wrist as it opened its mouth and cried its pleas.

MC: Okay, okay. Any more and you’ll end up a piggy.

I recalled something after putting away the remaining food. I picked up the photo frame that I’d set down earlier and handed it to Osborn.

MC: Oh, yeah. By the way, this was the photo frame that Mitt was batting with under the TV cabinet earlier. I don’t know where you normally display it.

He took the photo frame from me and glanced at it.

MC: And on that note, I realized that the car in the background looks very similar to the model we just pieced back together. Are they the same?

Osborn: Oh. The model was made according to this race car.

Suddenly, I recalled having seen the highlights of all his races before.

The year and month in which he’d won his first racing championship seemingly coincided with the time that this photo was taken.

My guess had tumbled out of my lips before I could stop it.

MC: Is this the car you drove when you won your first championship?

He quirked a brow.

Osborn: Why, you know me so well.

MC: Then… Is that car model something of a memento from that race?

Osborn: You can say that.

MC: I heard somewhere before that that car’s engine had to be changed out every two races. It shouldn’t be in use anymore, right?

Osborn: The engine exploded on me during that race, so it was only my companion once.

Osborn spoke lightly of it, but thinking of how exciting and terrifying it must have been back then, I couldn’t help but feel my heart sink a little.

MC: I’m glad the car model’s alright. Otherwise, it’d be such a pity for such a meaningful memento to get damaged like that.

Osborn: So I should thank you properly. Is that it?

MC: Huh? Thank me?

He chuckled lightly, his eyes sliding from the photo to my face. He had a slightly flippant look on his face.

Osborn: Weren’t you the one who made that car model more meaningful?

MC: ……

I was taken aback for a bit. I looked at him in surprise, only to find his gaze calm and gentle. There was a smile glimmering within his eyes.

Osborn: You were pretty clever when fixing the model. Why so stupefied now?

As his words sank in, I felt my heart flutter as I realized what he’d meant by having made it more “meaningful”. Something seemed to have filled my heart. It was a little flustering, yet also a little sweet.

I worried my lip and gathered my courage together before looking up to meet his eyes.

MC: Then, that makes me happier now…

MC: Although I didn’t get the chance to sit in on the race of your first championship and cheer you on…

MC: I was still able to piece the model back together and play a part in that precious moment of memory.

Inexplicable emotions surfaced in Osborn’s eyes, and in the next second, his big hand ruffled my hair with a vengeance.

Osborn: There’s really no helping you, is there?

I shyly ducked my head, but I couldn’t stop the corners of my mouth from rising.

At this moment, the sun had enveloped us both within its warmth.

The cat quietly ate by our feet, letting out a purr of satisfaction every once in a while.

Slowly but surely, unspeakable feelings started to bloom and spread within the confines of my heart.

I hope, from the deepest points of my heart, that time would always be eternally frozen in this beautiful moment.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

✥ Choose your Ending:

END 1 | Choice: Do Nothing [都不做]

END 2 +3 + 4 | Choice: Call Out [呼唤] ⊹Speak⊹

END 5 | Choice: Listen [倾听] ❖ASMR

END 6 | Choice: Heart-throb [心动] ★Night★

❖☆————— ⊹ For Night, For Freedom⊹ —————★❖

Previous Part: (Prologue)

[seagreen-meets-grey]

When Lightning Strikes Ch. 16

When your life is nothing but a cloudless sky, lightning can come and strike you so unexpectedly, you won’t even know what hit you.

Or: When Hiccup and Astrid meet, it is as if lightning strikes.

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13] [Chapter 14] [Chapter 15] [Chapter 17] [Chapter 18] [Chapter 19] [Chapter 20]

Crossposted on ao3 and ff.net

_______________

Hiccup regretted not going back for a jacket the minute the wind started blowing sideways. His hand hurt from gripping the handle of his umbrella, preventing it from succumbing to the forces of nature and escaping him like a gas-filled balloon. When it turned inside-out for the third time, he gave up and closed it, hunching his shoulders in an attempt to keep the rain from disappearing down his back. It only semi-worked. He could count the goosebumps on his skin. Soon, his t-shirt was clinging to his torso and he started rubbing his arms to stop shivering.

This had been a very stupid idea. Why had he not thought this through? Where was he even going? And why on earth had he not taken his car?! But turning around and walking back to his house sounded worse than to keep walking, because the way back was the direction the rain and wind were coming from. He started jogging to warm up and get out of this weather as fast as possible, taking the route to the nearest person he could think of.

With a trembling finger, he rang the doorbell, waiting for the familiar static. The first voice he could hear was that of a barking dog, then some swearing and yelling at the dog to shut up, then finally, someone addressed him. “Hello?”

“Hey man, it’s me. Can you let me in? I’m cold and wet.”

“That’s not what- Shut up, Hookfang! Sit! That’s not what your mom said last night.”

Hiccup let his forehead fall against the front door. “Just let me in, please.”

The sound that came out of the buzzer reminded him of a dying cow, but he was able to open the door anyway. At the top of the stairs, Snotlout was standing in the open apartment door, holding his excited dog by the collar. When it spotted Hiccup, it wagged its tail against its owner’s legs and barked happily.

“Come in before he barks up the whole stairwell again. Mr. Browner’s been sticking his head out the door every time we came back from a walk to complain if Hookfang made even the tiniest of sounds. And you know he’ll make the sound if he sees people.” Before he closed the door, he yelled down the stairs, “Yes, Mr. Browner, I’m talking about you, you massive dick!”

Hiccup scratched the happy dog, trying to escape its tongue. “Wouldn’t massive dick be a compliment in your book?”

“What?”

“Nothing. Do you have a jacket for me?”

“What do you need a jacket for?”

Hiccup wordlessly pointed first at his clothes, then out the next window. “Oh, come on…” Of course, in the few minutes he’d spent inside, the rain had let up. A small patch of cloud was even lighting up a little, as if about to expose a bit of sunshine.

“You walked through a car wash or what?”

“Why- why would I ever- No, it’s been raining for the past few hours, have you not looked outside lately?”

Snotlout flopped into his armchair where a set of headphones and a half-empty bag of chips were resting on each arm. “Nah, I was busy.”

Gently shoving Hookfang away from him so that he could move, Hiccup peaked at the TV screen. “Obviously.” He was looking at the pause menu of a Harry Potter Lego game. Snotlout quickly grabbed the remote and the screen went dark.

“This is Call of Duty. Shut up, Hiccup.”

“Clearly. I could still use a jacket, though.” Oh, he would use this newfound knowledge on a later occasion. When he had the right mind for it and wasn’t still feeling like a wet towel in winter.

With a groan, his friend got up and left to his bedroom. As soon as he was gone, Hookfang jumped onto the chair and stuck his nose into the bag of chips, licking the inside. Hiccup grimaced. Snotlout loved his dog, but he still had trouble making it listen to him. Or follow any rules at all. Lucky for him, Hiccup now knew an expert in all things dog training and– Oh, right. Said expert had also just kissed him, more or less, and then bolted.

She’d said she needed to go home. Maybe she’d meant her parents’ place? Maybe she hadn’t even been talking about anything regarding her relationship with her husband? Was he overthinking this again? Maybe… Maybe she’d forgotten she needed to meet her family, the equivalent of remembering the oven was still on. Or something. He sighed. It was a place to start.

He was hit in the head by a hoodie, followed by a yell from Snotlout. “Catch! Pff, loser.” Hiccup decided not to say anything when his friend reached into the bag of chips and ate a few, before inspecting his hand and scrunching up his face in disgust. “Ew, dog slobber! Hookfang, you shit dog!” The shit dog wasn’t impressed by its owner’s disgust, staying on the armchair without a care in the world. “Now get off my chair!”

When the dog didn’t move, Hiccup sharply whistled and pointed down at his feet with a stern face. “Hookfang, come here!” After a few moments of intense eye contact, Hookfang actually gave in and followed the command, lying down at Hiccup’s feet, much to Snotlout’s dismay.

“Hey! Why are you listening to him?! You betrayed me, you son of a bitch dog!”

“You know, technically, he is the son of a bitch.”

“Shut up, Hiccup. I need that jacket back by tonight.”

Hiccup took in the chipped flame print on the sleeves. The jacket itself was too wide for him, but the sleeves were way too short. He probably looked like an idiot. “What for?”

“I want to wear it to work tomorrow. There’s this girl that likes that stuff.”

“You mean oversized clothes for kids? Didn’t you wear this back in school?”

“It’s retro! Whatever, she digs it. So give it back later, okay? I really need it.”

He shrugged. “Sure. Thanks anyway. I bet you didn’t have any other jacket you could lend me.”

“I’m not gonna give you my fine stuff. You wouldn’t be able to handle the swag, anyway.”

“What swag, Snotlout?” Before his friend could dive into that age-old discussion again, Hiccup held up his hands to stop him. “Save it, I gotta go.”

“Where?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Bye, Snot. Hookfang, listen to Snotlout. Whatever. Thanks again for the help!”

He had grabbed his umbrella and was out the door before the dog could follow him or Snotlout could dig for more details. He didn’t have time for that right now. There was a place he needed to go and there was no time to waste. Realizing he could have asked for a ride, or at least for a short ride to his own car, he slapped his hand against his forehead, breaking into a jog.

Every few minutes, a short drizzle broke out of the clouds, and Hiccup felt taken back in time to a certain rainy November day. Time was of importance just like it had been then, but today, he was determined to catch her in time and not let go. Unless she wanted him to, which he hoped she didn’t, but now that he thought about it, maybe she needed to be away from him and concentrate on the relationship she wanted to keep. Winded, he slowed to a stop and leaned against a traffic light at an intersection. The next bus stop was just down the road.

Checking the schedule on the wall of the bus shelter, he sat down on the narrow bench underneath and waited. With a sigh of relief, he found his city ticket in his wallet. The hoodie and exercise had warmed him up enough and he made sure no water would drip out of his hair and run down his neck.

What if the roles were reversed this time? What if she – and he tried to not get his hopes up – had plunged deeper into this connection between them and now needed to sever all ties to him in order to not lose her mind? That he could relate to.

He got to his feet the moment the bus rounded the corner. If her decision really ended up to break contact, he would still find her and talk to her first. For his own attempt at closure, at least. He’d know he at least tried this time, and didn’t give up at the last minute because the mountains in his way were too steep to climb.

He had to change busses twice until he got out two streets over from her parents’ place. Using the short pause between drizzles, he made it to the driveway, eyes darting around in search for her car. It wasn’t there. His stomach dropped and he felt his heart beat in his throat as he walked to the front door and rang the bell. He would leave no stone unturned; he was all in.

The door opened and Wilma Hofferson curiously raised her eyebrows at the sight of him, disheveled and wet from the rain, wearing an unfitting hoodie.

“Hi,” he nervously greeted. “Is Astrid here, by any chance?”

Wilma shook her head. “Last I saw her she was leaving to meet someone for lunch earlier, I assumed it was you.”

“Oh.”

“Seems like I assumed wrong. Have you tried her phone?”

He could have slapped himself. Her phone. He could just call her, for fuck’s sake! “No- no, you were right, she was with me. But then she left and now I’m trying to find her, but seems like she went home home, so never mind. Sorry for bothering you!”

Mind already recalling her phone number, he left a bewildered Wilma behind and jogged back to the bus stop. He scanned the schedule, but he had no clue where he should go. He didn’t even know her address. Tapping his right foot on the ground in a quick pace, he tried to get his racing thoughts in order.

“Alright, Hiccup,” he mumbled to himself, “what’s the plan here? How can you solve this?”

Call her and ask for her address? No, that was stupid, and also inconvenient. He could just ask her to meet him somewhere.

Call her and talk on the phone? Also no. This was a conversation to have face to face.

Call Heather to ask Dagur for Eret’s number or address? Yeah. Great idea, Hiccup. Call your ex to ask her brother for your almost-lover’s husband’s number. Just call her yourself, you idiot.

But when he pulled out his phone and stared at her contact info, the knot in his stomach grew tighter. It all came down to this phone call. It was easy, actually. He just had to press call, wait for her to pick up, then convince her to meet him for a very important conversation.

He was frozen where he stood, the steady sound of rain on the bus shelter’s roof like white noise in his ears. His heart was pounding, growing bigger and bigger in his chest, pushing against his lungs until he felt like he couldn’t breathe. Ripping his gaze away from his phone, he took a few deep breaths and started walking, absentmindedly opening his umbrella.

His hand was clenched around his phone, the chipped corner of the screen digging the reminder into his skin that he was avoiding his task. It was just a call. A call he needed to make. But when he imagined her answering, his mind went blank. What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to make sure he didn’t screw this up?

Confront your fear, he heard Dr. Mala’s voice inside his head. Examine it, analyze it, confront it. What’s the worst that could happen?

Well, for starters, he could stutter around for so long that she hung up on him. She could tell him she didn’t want to talk to him. She could ignore his call altogether.

He clenched his jaw in determination. Well, then he would try again! He would find a way to reach her, he would even make an ass of himself by showing up on her parents’ doorstep every day until she either talked to him or told him to fuck off. No more avoiding, no more hiding behind fears of rejection and hurt. That wouldn’t get him anywhere.

The phone was already pressed against his ear and signaling an outgoing call before he could drive himself mad by going over what exactly he would say. Sometimes, he just had to approach the dragon without the axe. Maybe it was friendly.

After twenty eternal seconds, he realized she wasn’t going to pick up. Before his mind could start making up ridiculous reasons for that, he firmly told himself to try again in exactly fifteen minutes. In the meantime, he would just walk around Berk in the rain in his friend’s hideous jacket, definitely failing at not preparing what exactly he would say when he tried her again. But if he already didn’t give a shit about his appearance, there was no way he would avoid the call anymore, either. And hey, if she told him she wouldn’t be friends with him anymore, for whatever reason, then at least he knew where he stood.

That didn’t stop him from drumming his fingers against his leg at every red traffic light, though, or keeping up a quick walking pace because he needed to dump his nervous energy somewhere. By the time his phone signaled him the fifteen minutes were up, he had to orient himself for a minute because he’d walked to a part of town he didn’t immediately recognize. But he decided it wasn’t important where he was right now, and pulled up Astrid’s number again.

His mind conjured up an image of Cam with that Shia LaBeouf video he liked to play in every situation. Just do it! Yeah, Heather’s boyfriend was truly something.

“Just do it,” he mumbled, repeating the sentence seven times in a row before he finally pressed the call button.

It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

Twenty seconds later, it was still ringing, but he didn’t give up this time. Either she picked up or he reached her voicemail.

When the signal suddenly disappeared, his breath caught in his throat. But the voice that appeared was automatic, asking him to leave a message. So he did.

“Hey… It’s me. Hiccup. I- I don’t- I’m just calling because…” He took a deep breath. “I need to talk to you. We need to talk. About… About everything. Like, earlier, when you, you know, left – I probably don’t need to remind you. You said you needed to go home, and I know you meant home to Eret because I was at your parents’ house and you weren’t there, so. Um.” He sighed and ran a hand over his face. He should have just texted her. Then he could have carefully constructed a coherent message instead of this all-over-the-place rambling.

“Like I said, I really have to talk to you. There is something I need to tell you, something I should have told you a long time ago, but I can’t do this over the phone, that would be… Can- can you just call me back? I don’t know where you live and you didn’t say when you would be back or what you were up to, and you’re not answering your phone, obviously, so.” His legs were moving on autopilot, crossing streets, rounding corners. The motion was like water that kept the mill running, namely his sanity. If he stopped walking, he would stop talking.

“You know, maybe I should just get to the point. We- we need to talk about us. I- I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like there’s something between us and… And maybe I’m way off here and misinterpreting– No. No, I actually don’t think that it’s just me, because today, you almost kissed me. I almost kissed you. And I need to know why, I need to know where we stand with each other, because… Because…” His lips kept moving, but no sound came out. A truck drove by him and honked. Hiccup winced and a switch went off in his brain.

“I’m in love with you,” he blurted out and his heart stopped for a few beats. “I’ve been in love with you since I met you and- and there’s nothing I can do about it. Believe me, I tried. Remember when I showed up at your wedding and told you we shouldn’t be friends? Yeah, that worked out well.” An awkward laugh escaped him. “I don’t know what you want, either from me or- or from yourself, or your- your husband… But I want to get out of this limbo of trying to forget you and falling back under your spell every time you so much as look at me. It’s like… It’s like you dropped an anchor in me and the tide buried it deeper and deeper in the sand – if that even makes any sense, I just– I can’t go on like this. If there is any chance you feel the same, please call me back. If not, if you’re going to take my advice and resolve things with Eret, then I’m happy for you. But I can’t be your friend anymore. I… I need a clear answer from you.”

Abruptly, his feet grinded to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk. Tires screeched behind him and a biker angrily cursed at him, but he didn’t even register it. “I guess… With you going home so fast, you probably decided to patch things up with your husband, and I guess that’s my answer. Or maybe not, what do I know, my judgement can’t be trusted, I once thought I’d be able to get over you. Anyway, when you hear this– Oh fuck, do you even check your voicemails? Well, if you do, just… Call. Or text. Um… Yeah. Bye.”

He ended the call and sunk to the ground underneath a lamp post, ignoring the unpleasant feeling of rain and dirt dampening his butt. Only when something cold ran down his back, did he notice it was still raining. He’d been so absorbed in his message that he hadn’t even noticed he’d been holding the umbrella askew, and now his left arm was soaked, the hand holding his phone cold and stiff. When he got back to his feet, he accidentally knocked it against the post and the device went flying, landing in a nearby puddle.

“Fuck.” Before the next pedestrian could step on it, he scrambled to get it back, infinitely glad he’d bought the waterproof version. But when he wiped it on Snotlout’s jacket and took a closer look, he groaned. There was a large crack zigzagging over the screen, and on first inspection, it looked like it went deeper than the protection glass. He tried to unlock it, but it didn’t react to his touch anymore. “Fuck!”

Great, now he had to find a repair store that was still open in Berk on a Sunday evening. Hopefully, he would be able to still accept incoming calls… He cursed his clumsiness with vigor. This was so typical. When – if – she tried to reach him now, she wouldn’t be able to. Maybe she’d leave him a voicemail asking him to call her back and they would find themselves stuck in an endless, vicious cycle.

Where the hell had he ended up, anyway? It looked like he was in a suburb, but none of the streets looked familiar to him, and when he pulled out his phone to check his location, he groaned. Right, smartphone not available. But if he could find a bus stop, he could make his way back into the city. Or he could go back to the Hoffersons and ask for a ride. That wouldn’t be awkward at all.

After a while of walking around and finally asking a passing dog-walker for directions, he found a bus stop and quickly scanned the schedule. He’d made it to the end of the route of the only bus line that even came out here. And it being Sunday, he was just lucky that the next bus would be here in no less than 52 minutes, because he had, of course, just missed the previous one. He could walk back, but that would take just as long, and also his feet hurt. These shoes weren’t made for long walks through puddles. At least it had stopped raining.

So he waited. And waited. And played around with his stupid phone for a while, but it just wouldn’t magically work again, no matter how much he begged it to. After 50 minutes of waiting, it suddenly started buzzing – and his heart climbed into his throat when he saw the caller ID. He tapped the screen frantically, but it was to no avail. His last resort was to try the lock button and hope it would accept the call, but instead, it did the exact opposite. Absolutely fucking awesome, now she probably thought he’d declined her call on purpose. And where was the damn bus?!

The calls kept coming in, but there was nothing he could do except stare at his phone in resignation and jiggle his legs nervously because the bus wasn’t coming. Fifteen minutes and four awkward short conversations with passing strangers later, he embraced the fact that no one would lend him their phone for a very quick call, or a text, anything. There was no way he would wait around for another hour.

Grabbing his umbrella and starting the journey in the direction he hoped would lead him back home, he glanced suspiciously at the dark line of clouds on the horizon. The sunset was beautiful, though. If only he could enjoy it.

Soon enough, it was pouring again. And the calls stopped.

[wildlyminiaturesandwich]

🏠 Tiny Living Stuff Pack Review 🏠

Thank you to the EA Game Changer Program for providing me with the opportunity to play with Tiny Living Stuff early!

I didn’t have a lot of time to play around with this pack because I had some real life obligations during the early access time frame and the embargo time was once again at a ridiculous hour of the morning for me (don’t get me started on that mess), but here’s what I did learn about the new Tiny Living Stuff Pack.

I feel like I need to say straight away that this is my favourite stuff pack so far. The reason I feel the need to say that is because when I sat down to go through the notes I’d made during early access and type up this review, the more I got into it, the more it started to sound... aggressively ranty 😬

I was going to try to tone it down a bit, but honestly there are already so many reviews out there that gloss over the glaring bugs that I figured I might as well just leave it. It’s my honest opinion of the pack, and what’s the point of doing a review if I’m not giving my honest opinion, no matter how ranty? lol

I’m gonna put this under a cut, because spoilers.

— What I loved —

🏠 Create-a-Sim:

I’ve been saying for a long time we need more comfy casual clothing for our sims and with this pack we finally got some! LOOK AT THOSE JAMMIES!

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting any CAS items with this pack, but we got some amazing clothing that I will no doubt use on literally every sim I make lol

The hairs are good too, and more options are always appreciated, however I honestly feel like we already have different variations of most of them.

The best part about the hairs is that every single one of them has been made available for kids and toddlers! Apparently one of the gurus found a quick and cost effective way to convert hairs, so hopefully we’ll see this happen more and more with each future pack!

🏠  Buy Mode:

The Buy Mode objects are 100% the star of this pack for me. I don’t think there is a single thing in the buy catalogue of this pack that I didn’t absolutely adore! Some of the objects have issues — and I’ll get into that in a bit — but overall I love, love, LOVE the general concept of everything.

[click for larger]

The objects in this pack were based off the Scandinavian concept of Hygge and I really think they hit the nail on the head! Everything feels so cozy and comfy, with a little hint of Ikea to the furniture and I just... I can’t even really put into words how much I love it all. I honestly can’t remember a single previous pack (expansion, game or stuff) where I have loved every item in the buy catalogue, there’s usually always something that’s like “Meh” or “I don’t like this at all” to me, but the objects in this pack are 10/10.

I also love that they combined so many things. Like the murphy bed with the couch on the front (though I do wish we were also given that couch as a separate couch as well) and the TV unit that’s also a bookcase AND a stereo. And I really appreciate that they went back and redid some of the old book ends to make them functional bookcases. 

— What I didn’t love —

🏠 Create-A-Sim:

I say it with every pack and I’m going to continue to say it even if no one is listening...

WHERE ARE THE KIDS, TODDLERS AND ELDERS CAS ITEMS!?

I know the kids and toddlers got some hairs but that doesn’t make up for the serious lack of CAS content that every age range besides young adults has and it’s getting really hard to make unique sims when there isn’t enough content to choose from.

🏠 Build Mode:

For a pack dedicated to Tiny Living, I was really disappointed to see literally only one door in the build catalogue. ONE. I was expecting some small windows, maybe some sliding doors, but nope; just one door. Hell I would have even been happy to have less CAS stuff in exchange for some build stuff!

I get why they haven’t added bunk beds and spiral stairs yet, those are a lot of work and I’m ok with waiting until they perfect them BUT this would have been the perfect pack to add ladders. We already have ladders in game that are fully animated (pool and island living ladders) it really wouldn’t take that much work to make ladders work between floors. I HATE the idea of having to put stairs outside in tiny builds and ladders are the ultimate in space saving “technology"; I feel like the team really dropped the ball on that one.

🏠 Murphy Beds:

Listen, I love the concept of the murphy beds and the design of them looks really cool but I can’t see myself using them at all as they are currently.

I was almost immediately disappointed with them when I realised they were remote controlled. I know that it makes it easier for the Sims Team so they don’t have to work so hard to animate them, but I really wanted sims to pull them down by hand. The reason I wanted murphy beds in the game was because they would fit better with small apartments and homes of sims who don’t have a lot of money, and to me a remote controlled murphy bed sounds incredibly expensive. 

Oh but don’t worry, because apparently the remote control is invisible?

Now, the version of the game that the Gurus were using for the stream didn’t have invisible remotes BUT they use a dev build of the game that isn’t the same as ours, and many other Game Changers are also saying its invisible for them too, so I dunno what happened but that’s just one of the things that needs to be fixed.

The other issue, which is the biggest deal breaker for me, is that the damn things constantly break! And I do mean CONSTANTLY. You know how when you buy a cheap stereo or sink it’ll last a few days/uses before it breaks? Yeh, not the case for the murphy beds. They break instantly, and they break often.

I was REALLY looking forward to murphy beds being added to the game and I thought if there’s one thing I need to do above all else with this pack, it’s test out those glorious murphy beds! Well... I managed to play for roughly three sim days and here’s what happened during that time:

Bed 1 (never used before) got stuck on first use and squashed Sim 1

Bed 1 got stuck on second attempt and killed Sim 1

Bed 1 got stuck on third attempt and squashed Sim 2

Bought brand new bed

Bed 2 pulled down without issue for Sim 2

Bed 2 broke at 11pm while Sim 2 was sleeping and squashed Sim 2

Sim 2 refused to sleep for 3 hours out of fear while Sim 3 was able to sleep in broken, sparking bed for that time without issue because they weren’t in it when it squashed Sim 2

Sim 2 repaired bed while Sim 3 continued to sleep

After 3 hours Sim 2 went back to sleep and Bed 2 broke again almost immediately

Bought brand new bed. Again.

Bed 3 got stuck on first attempt and squashed Sim 2

Bed 3 got stuck on second attempt and squashed Sim 3

Bed 3 pulled down without issue on third attempt for Sim 3

Sims 2 and 3 slept for another 2 hours before Bed 3 started sparking again but didn’t squash them

Woke Sim 2 up to repair bed and immediately sent Sim 2 back to bed (the fear moodlet only happens if they get squashed but the bed can break without squashing them apparently?)

Bed 3 broke again 3.5 hours later and squashed both Sim 2 and 3

I rage quit.

For the so-called “Hero” object of this pack, this is just unacceptable. The percentage for breakage REALLY needs to be turned down because in my opinion they’re not usable as they are.

And even if it weren’t for all the bugs, I probably still wouldn’t use them in tiny homes because I don’t think they’re space saving at all. They take up exactly the same amount of space as normal beds do; 6 tiles. You can’t put anything in front of them or around them if you want them to be functional on both sides, and you can’t even put dangling lights above them because I guess, realistically, the bed would hit them on the way down?

It’s especially annoying with the murphy bed that has the couch attached. It would have been really nice to add a small coffee table or ottoman in front of it but you can’t because then your sims won’t be able to use the bed. I really wish they had have made at least the little round coffee table and the ottoman from this pack inventory-able. Sims could have them out during the day, and throw them in their inventory when they need to use the bed at night, then place them back down in the morning when they wake up.

I think it’s this aspect — not being able to put things around/in front of the murphy beds — that actually annoys the most; the bugs will probably be fixed eventually but I can’t see this ever changing. I spent most of the three days we had for early access trying to work out how to fit a murphy bed into a 32 tile micro home without having it just sitting in the middle of an empty room and let me tell you, it’s not worth the frustration.

— The Verdict —

🏠 7/10 Would go Tiny again

As I said, this is my favourite stuff pack so far and I will get a lot of use out of the CAS and Buy stuff, but because of all the things I mentioned above I can’t give it a 10/10.

I do love the content of this pack, but right now I’m getting kind of fed up with the issues that keep happening with every pack lately. It’s all stuff that should have been caught by QA testing, stuff that is glaringly obvious to the average player, and stuff that would have only taken two minutes of gameplay to find out was a problem. I don’t know who tests these packs, but whoever it is needs to step up their game in a big way.

Overall I really do love the pack, but some major aspects fell a little flat for me. And the fact that that’s not at all a surprise, and that this feeling of “I like it, but...” has become the norm with new packs is really quite sad.

If you have questions about Tiny Living Stuff, feel free to drop an ask in my box, anon will be on right up until the release 😊

[the-dead-skwad]

Every Mom Ever X Damien Haas X Reader

Damien fluff 🥰 Had such an issue with my laptop getting this up but I hope you guys like it ❤

You looked down at the script laughing to yourself. At the top of the page it said in bold letters EVERY MOMS EVER. You only had a small part because obviously all the fans love to see the usual guys and normally you were on smosh games. Honestly it was the strangest/ best job you had ever had, getting paid to play games and be silly.

Scrolling down the script you noticed you were along side Damien which was perfect. You had been the closest friends for years now so it should be pretty easy. As you looked closer your heart started to pound harder and harder. "Oh jesus!" You said way louder than normal.

"Hey!" Shayne's head peeked round the door. "Whats up?"

Your eyes darted to him "Ermmmm.... have you seen Courtney?"

"Yeah she was just making a coffee" He pointed down the office.

You leapt out of your seat "Great!" you ran past him "Thanks!" shouting back to him just leaving him the most confused he's ever been.

Bursting through the canteen door Courtney nearly threw her coffee across the room. "Hey mannnnn.. Whats going on?"

"So..." you could litterally hear the panick in your voice "I'm in the next every blank ever right?"

"Yep!"

"And we all ricieved the script today right?"

"Yep!"

You took a huge sip off her coffee, like that was going to help you "Have you read it yet?"

"Nope!"

You sighed passing over your phone to her. Watching her face go through a journey of expressions would have been so funny if you weren't freaking out so hard. She placed your phone down gently on the table and turned to look at you "So, this maybe be the GREATEST DAY EVER!"

"No! Courtney this is the worst day ever!" You started to pace up and down the kitchen "I can feel my heart in my throat, my hands are sweating, I'm shaking."

She stood up and took both your hands in hers "Listen Y/N, your my best friend right?"

"Yeah..."

"And you trust me right?"

"Ermm yeah"

"And I've never steered you wrong?"

"Well there was that time you said we were getting pizza and instead sent me to a haunted house with Damien and Shayne."

She shook her head "That doesn't matter right now.. What I'm trying to say is, it's all going to be fine and you litterally have absolutely nothing to worry about, and besides I'll be there."

"Are you sure?" You squeezed her hands.

"Yes I'm sure."

A loud scream came from the office making you both jump. "Oh my god.... Shayne's read it."

--

It was the day of the shoot and you were super nervous. You hadn't let on how you were feeling to everyone except Courtney. She picked you up from your house, you sat in the car rambling on about something you and Damien had waatched the previous night.

"Soooooo...." she looked over at you smiling "Did anything happen?"

"No, I mean it was samazing as usual. We watched TV, ate shit, laughed and joked all night, but again nothing happened. I just don't think its going to happen mannn. If he liked me it would have by now."

"Maybe he just feels the exact same as you. Maybe he's too nervous to do anything."

"Yeah I don't think so... I'm just going to have to get used to the fact that we are just friends and even if my heart aches when I see him I'm just going to get over it."

Courtney squeaked a little "Dudeee! Your heart aches? Thats the cutest thing I've ever heard!" She beeped her horn as Shayne's car swerved infont of her "I promise you now I'm going to do all I can to help you."

"Thanks mann, I just need to get through this shoot first then we'll set a plan in action."

"Deal!"

You pulled into the work parking lot an got out. Shayne parked up next to you amd got out with a huge smile on his face "Good morning! I'm so ready for today."

"Hey Shayne." You smiled at him. Damien got out his passenger side and your heart nearly exploded "Morning Damien!"

"Hey you." He walked up to you and gave you a hug "It's been ages since I've seen you."

You looked down at your watch "Yeah! A whole 11 hours! How ever did you cope without me."

"Honestly if it wasn't for Shayne I probably wouldn't have."

"Yeah alright.. Lets get this shoot over and done with and then I need...."

Damien cut you off when he pulled a caramel iced latte from behind his back "This?"

"How in the fuck?"

Shayne's face popped up between the two of you "He literally made me stop to get that." You heard Courtneys happy squeak from behind you.

"Awhh thank you." You gave him a hug and turned to Courtney. Your eyes were nearly popping out your head.

--

You sat on a not so comfy bed on the set. The cheap black 'emo' wig stratched the top of your head, you rubbed your hands up and down your legs.

"Hey, you ok man?" Damien nudged you, he knew you far too well and clearly noticed you were nervous. "It'll be fine, we've been best buds for years."

"Yeah" you half smiled. The words 'best buds' was like a punch to the gut. You took a deep breath in through your nose and went to 'happy place' which ironically was sat at home with the smosh crew watch and eating shit.

"ACTION!" Gareth's voice made you jump.

"So.. this is your room?" Damiens teenage voice he put on would have made you laugh if you weren't in charecter.

"Yeahhh...." You both awkardly glanced at eachother "Sorry I can't close my door.. You know moms."

"DID YOU CALL SWEETIE!" Courtney burst through the door with her mom voice on.

"Ughhhh," You were trying your best teenage impression "God mommm! Leave us aloneeee!"

"Sure sweetie!" She slowly backed out the room "If you need anything I'll be out here."

You turned to look at him, your faces slowly got closer and closer. Your lips were literally inches away from eachother. Courtney reappeared "You sure you don't want a snack hunny?"

"Mooommmmmm!" You screamed at her.

"Cut!"

Your whole brain was fuzzy from almost kissing him. You knew you weren't going to as it wasn't scripted but thats the closest you have ever gotten to him even if you did spend nearly every waking minute together. Both of your eyes locked for a minute. You swear you saw something new in his eyes but you really didn't know what. "Ermm, I'm just going to talk to Court for a sec." You leapt out the bed.

She was getting changed out of the ridiculous Mom costume "See it wasn't that bad."

"NOT THAT BAD!" Breathing you calmed yourself down "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout but my entire insides are screaming. I don't know how much longer I can hold in these god damn feelings, its been years since I've felt like this, I know youv'e heard all this from me before but honestly I feel like I'm going to burst. How in the hell do you even tell one of your closest friends that you're head over heel inlove with them without destroying everything you have now. I mean if something was going to happen it would have by now. Jesus christ I feel like my heart is going to explode one day soon...." Your rant trailed off as you noticed courtneys face. Her eyebrows were raised so high they had nearly migrated off her forehead and her mouth was dropped wide open. "What?"

Someone behind you tapped you on the shoulder. Who ever it was has just heard everything you had said. You spun around to explain your self when you were met with those beautiful warm brown eyes. "Shit...." You breathed out "I..." Before you could even begin to apologise he placed his hands either side of you face and pressed his lips against yours. You kissed back instantly. It felt like your bodies just melted into one, like it was always supposed to be like this. You moved back and looked into his eyes and you saw it. Pure love.

He brushed his thumb against your cheek, both of you were smiling from ear to ear "Wonna grab some lunch?"

"That would be nice." You leaned in again for another kiss.

A very loud scream from the doorway broke you two apart. Shayne stood there with a bigger smile than the both of you put together. "Ian!" He screamed down towards the set "You owe me 20 dollars!"

　

[therainroguefanfiction]

🎃 Frightful October Act VI, #18 ~ Stranded (Izuku Midoriya)

📑 Table of Contents

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Romance

Word Count: 4,458

Pairing: Reader x Izuku

World: Boku no Hero Academia

Author’s Note: So um, not sure what the hell happened here lmfao I’ve been writing these out on paper and then typing them on the computer to post. I start writing and just keep going until I feel I’ve found a good stopping point. This single fic was 10 pages long, front AND back. I had to cut so much stuff out and shorten it drastically, and it still ended up being okay 4k words. I don’t know what to say, man lol I hope ya’ll enjoy this!

───── ⋆⋅🎃⋅⋆ ─────

“We’re having a school trip tomorrow,” Aizawa announced boredly as he passed out two sheets of stapled paper to each student. On one sheet was a series of four islands and information about each one, while the second sheet was a permission slip. “The Quad-Peak islands have been steeped in mystery for two decades. This all began when four women planned a four day trip to the islands and never returned home.”

A murmur broke out through the class.

Aizawa ignored it, returning to the front of the room. “Recently, four foreign diplomats were out fishing near the islands when the vanishes without a trace. You will be working in pairs to discover what happened to them.”

You hummed thoughtfully as your eyes scanned the paper. ‘Four islands. Four women. Four days. Four diplomats. Four is considered bad luck because it can be pronounced like the word for death. It’s completely baseless, but many people fear the number, so much so that a lot of buildings don’t even have a fourth floor. Is this mere coincidence? Maybe a setup? A test? I need to get some information from Seven about this.’

“Sensei?” Momo raised her hand. “How will our partners be chosen?”

Aizawa didn’t open his eyes as he sat behind his desk. “All Might already chose the pairings. They will be announced before we leave tomorrow.”

Izuku glanced over his shoulder at you, praying to whatever gods he could think of that you were made his partner. He had been crushing hard on you since the day you saved him from a group of thugs trying to rob him. When he came to U.A. and found out that he was in the same class as you, he felt so incredibly lucky and vowed to get closer to you, but you were a loner and he was awkward and shy.

The bell rang and you gathered your things, heading over to class 1-B. Students gave you strange looks as they left the room, but you ignored them, approaching your best friend. Seven glanced up at you, eyebrow raised.

“I got a job for you if you’re interested.”

His lips curled up as he stood, shoving his phone into his pocket. “Can I cover over to your place?”

“‘Course. I’m running low on funds this month so I’m glad you don’t want me to buy dinner this time,” you stepped out of the room, Seven falling in step beside you.

He scoffed. “You spent it all on soda and video games, didn’t you?”

You coughed, turning your head away from him.

With a chuckle, he bumped his shoulder against yours. Seven stood at five-feet-six-inches with blonde hair and rust-colored eyes. The thick square glasses he wore were patterned with a white tiger print.

The two of you didn’t hang out much at school, so as the two of you walked down the hallway, bantering back and forth, the rumor mill at U.A. began to churn. All it took was one person to propose the question, ‘Are they dating?’ before it started to make its rounds around the school. Just like a game of telephone, by the time it reached Izuku, it had been molded into something completely different.

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As soon as Seven stepped into your apartment, he dropped his bag and tackled the black cat sitting on the couch watching the TV. You sweatdropped as he crushed the cat to his chest, scratching behind his ears and cooing at him.

“Let go of me, you cretin!” The cat in question was your older brother, Shun, whose quirk, ‘Panther’, turned him into a black cat when it manifested. Shun snapped his golden eyes to you. “Control your friend!”

You cleared your throat. “Seven, we have work to do.”

He frowned, not releasing his grip. “What is it?”

“I need you to look up a story,” you explained about the trip and everything Aizawa had told you. You pulled out the permission slip, setting it down on the coffee table. “Can you sign this, Shun?”

Shun wiggled free from the boy’s grasp, his eyes never leaving him as he refused to put his back to the boy. He slapped his paw down onto the slip, angrily. “Why should I? You always let this cretin come here and abuse me!”

“It’s not that bad, Shun,” you commented, quickly looking away when he snapped his glare toward you. “Anyway, Seven provides really valuable information but he won’t help without a little… motivation. Isn’t it your job as my big brother to help me any way you can?”

“Don’t you play the big brother card on me, Y/N!” Shun snapped. “I am not a pet for this cretin’s vain amusement!”

While you and Shun argued back and forth, Seven took out his phone, holding it firmly in his hand. His eyes widened as lines of blue code scrolled by, giving his eyes the appearance of an LED screen. His quirk was ‘Digitizing’. As long as he touched any device connected to the internet, he could quickly search and access any information across the globe. Firewalls and traps were completely useless against him.

“Come on, it’s not like I bring him here every day.”

“Show some respect for your elders!”

“I’ll make you some pan-seared tuna for dinner.”

“Oh my god my mouth is watering just thinking about it – O-Oi, don’t try to bribe me!”

Seven closed his eyes, clearing his throat. “The articles are all real. Furthermore, there have been numerous incidents that have been kept out of the public eye. They were sealed behind some pretty heavy security. The number four was present in every single report.”

Your brow furrowed. “What is the significance of these islands and number four?”

He shrugged. “That’s for you to find out, I guess.”

You glanced at your brother and he sighed, “Hand me a pen.” Groping around your bag, you handed him one. He held it between his two paws and signed his name. “You better be careful. I won’t forgive you if you don’t come home!”

You smiled softly, kneeling down in front of him as you leaned forward on the table. “Don’t worry. I’ll bring you home some fresh-caught fish, okay?”

He huffed, looking away, but the twitch of his ears told you that he was excited about the idea.

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“Look, there they are!”

The four islands were just in sight across the horizon. They were arranged in a diamond shape, each island representing the four points of the diamond. The ocean spilled into an underwater cavern that was positioned in the center. Each island was huge, expanding in all directions for several miles.

A rickety wooden dock had been built in the sand of the first island. The sand expanded back until it hit the tree line where it changed to dirt. Tall trees lined the edge of the sand, towering high into the sky. The first island gently sloped up out of the water, steadily rising until the fourth island hovered high above the water.

Aizawa waited for everyone to settle. “This is not a vacation, this is a mission. Your job is to locate the diplomats and bring them back safely. This isn’t a competition.” He sent a pointed look to Bakugo who scoffed. Aizawa gave each student an earpiece before assigning them to one of the four islands.

You glanced over at your partner, Izuku. “Ready to go?”

He gave you a hesitant smile, his cheeks warming. “Let’s do it.”

You trudged through the thick sand, feeling it being kicked up as you walked – you had to pause at the tree line to dump it from your boots before continuing. The fourth island was directly across from the first so the two of you headed in a straight line, dodging low hanging branches and thick roots that jutted out from the ground.

After a twenty-minute trek through the trees, you heard feet pounding the ground. Bakugo rushed past you, sending you a grin over his shoulder. He and Hagakure had also been assigned to island four and, of course, he had to be competitive.

Your eyes widened and you yelled for him to stop, but he only moved faster. Cursing, you pushed yourself forward. “Bakugo!”

“Huh?! The fuck are you yell – ” his words were cut short when the ground beneath his feet gave way. He went tumbling over the edge toward the whirlpool in the center of the islands.

You cried his name, diving to the earth. Your hand caught his wrist, but the ground beneath you was giving away and he was too heavy for you to lift. The feeling of falling rushed over you and you used your momentum to kick him. It was just enough for him to grab the ledge, being helped up by Izuku.

Because of the height of the fall, you sank far down into the water, getting trapped in the rushing current. You tried to break free, but it was too strong and it dragged you deep underneath the islands.

Izuku’s eyes scanned the water, waiting for you to resurface. He pressed on the earpiece, but it refused to connect. “Kaa-chan, is your earpiece working?”

The blonde snapped out of his shock and pressed on the earpiece, but his wouldn’t connect either. He shook his head, cursing as he ran a hand through his hair angrily.

Izuku bit his lip, weighing his options. “Kaa-chan, go find Aizawa-sensei. I’m going after Y/N!”

“O-Oi!” But it was too late. Izuku had jumped into the swirling water below.

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A groan passed your lips, eyes fluttering open. Darkness surrounded you, your wet clothes sticking to your body like glue. Your head throbbed and your body felt like you were encased in ice. It took some effort to sit up and take in your surroundings. ‘Is this a… cave?’ your eyes fell on your partner, half of his body on the rock while the other half was dangling in the water. “Midoriya!”

His face scrunched up as you pulled his body onto land. Green eyes met yours and he sighed in relief. “You’re okay, thank goodness.”

“I am, but what about you?”

“I think so. Nothing is hurting other than my head.”

You tilted your head, curiously. “Why did you jump after me, Midoriya?”

“W-Why?” his cheeks grew warm, a welcome feeling against the coldness he felt.

You smiled softly, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. “Thank you. When we get out of here, I’ll kiss the other cheek,” you promised, holding your hand out to him. “Let’s see if we can find a way out of this place.”

The circular cave was large, the ceiling towering above you. Half the cave was flooded with water which opened up to a bigger water source. You could try to get out that way, but it was impossible to tell how long the water went on for. If there were no air pockets, you risked drowning. There was also a strong current to consider.

“Y/N-san, over here.”

You approached the greenette, finding a thin beam of light coming from a crack in the wall. Your fingernails dug at the crack and the rock shifted. Izuku put his fingers beside your own and, together, you tugged the black rock away from the wall until it broke free, falling to the ground with a thud. You could hear the sound of water dripping in the background as the smell of moss invaded your nostrils. The path was long and dark, and you had to lean over to avoid hitting your head.

At the end of the path was another crack of light, brighter this time. The two of you pushed the rock as hard as you could and it fell backward with a thud, filling the path with firelight.

The hole opened up to a circular room with three other holes on different sides. In the center of the room was a pile of paper and magazines lit on fire, the flame dancing across the walls. Empty candy wrappers and chip bags littered the floor.

More importantly, three men were pressed against the wall, ready to strike.

You held up your hands in surrender and the man in the middle wiped sweat from his brow with a dirty handkerchief. “You’re the foreign diplomats that went missing a few days ago, right? We were sent here to find you.”

The men exchanged a look, the middle man speaking up. “My name is Beralt Smith,” his gray hair was messy, standing on end as if he had run his hands through it several times, eyes the color of aquamarine.

“I’m Y/N, and this is my partner, Izuku Midoriya. We’re students at U.A.”

“U.A.?” The man on the left repeated with wide eyes. He was short and plump, his brown hair circling a bald scalp. His eyes were black and beady. Bowing at the waist, he said, “Zachary Qi, it’s a pleasure.”

The man to the right was thin as a pole, round glasses covering mousy brown eyes. His hair was the same color, matted to his forehead with sweat. “Franklin Henry,” he spoke softly, his eyes trained on the ground.

“Wait, where is the fourth diplomat?” you questioned.

The men exchanged a sad look before Beralt spoke up, his voice reflecting the sadness in his eyes. “Benedict Kirkland was bitten by a snake shortly after our boat capsized and we arrived on the island. We did everything we could to aid him, but he succumbed to the poison. He was gone by the time the sun had risen.”

“We’re very sorry for your loss,” Midoriya bowed in respect, you doing the same.

“Thank you.”

“How did you come to find yourselves in this cave?” you asked. “Maybe we can use that route to try and escape.”

Zachary pointed toward the hole on the left, facing North. “Through there is the entrance to this cave. We hid there when a sudden storm rolled across the island, but it’s been completely sealed off by debris.”

You frowned. ‘I think I’m starting to see why these islands are considered cursed land…’

“I’m sure you’ve already checked the other two paths, as well,” Midoriya murmured, thoughtfully. He was determined to come up with a plan to get everyone to safety. He refused to let these men die.

“We did, but it would be best if you checked for yourself in case we missed something.”

You and Midoriya exchanged a look before you examined each pathway, searching for any small chance to escape. To the north, the entrance was blocked by large rubble that wouldn’t move an inch.  To the east was a dead end. And to the south was a small room, barely big enough to fit a single person. Your eyes narrowed at the high ceiling, squinting in the darkness. It was faint, but you could see a light near the ceiling.

Midoriya saw it too as he stuck his head into the room. “Do you think we can reach it?”

“I don’t know, but we have to at least try.”

He nodded as the two of you switched positions. He kneeled down, motioning for you to stand on his shoulders. You did as he indicated, using the wall to steady you. He slowly stood up, gripping your ankles. Standing on your tiptoes, you reached for the light, but it was just out of reach. With a grunt, you lifted your foot, digging it into the wall as best as you could.

“Be careful.”

You climbed the rest of the way, slipping a few times on the mossy stone. Your fingers gripped the ledge and you heaved yourself up and over, fingers digging into the stone. A burst of cold, fresh air hit your face. It was a small cave entrance!

“Y/N-san?” Midoriya’s voice reached you.

You leaned your upper body over the ledge. “It’s open up here! But… how do I get you guys out?”

“Try looking around for something that can act as a rope. But don’t go too far, and be careful!”

You nodded, crouching against the low ceiling as you headed for the low light coming from the entrance. Your breath came out in puffs of air, the temperature lowering as the sun faded across the horizon.

Eyes scanning the area around you, you took notice of a tall tree, its bare branches curling out as if it were reaching for something. Near the top, a thick vine had fallen from the tree beside it, wrapping around one of the branches. You could only hope it would be long and sturdy enough to help.

Activating your quirk, ‘Infernarrow’, a flaming bow appeared in your left hand. You grasped the bowstring and pulled back, a flaming area materializing as you did so. The arrow soared through the air, easily splintering the wood as it pierced the center of the branch. It came tumbling down, loudly cracking the other branches in its way before falling to the ground with a loud thump, the vine falling around it like a snake.

You untangled it and headed back to the cave where you tied one end to a large stone behind you. Laying on your stomach, you peered over the edge again. Midoriya was still there, body shaking as he wrapped his arms tight around his body. His worried expression changed to relief when his eyes met yours.

“I found a vine. It should be thick enough to hold up.”

“I’ll go get the others!” he ducked back into the tunnel, reappearing moments later. Franklin was going first so Midoriya wrapped the vine around his waist. “Put your feet on the wall and hold tightly to the vine. Y/N-san will help by pulling you up,” he glanced up at you and you nodded. “I’ll be here to catch you if you slip,” his bright smile seemed to ease the older man’s fears, but he was still shaking like a leaf.

You sat up, heels digging into the ground as you gripped the vine tightly in your hands. You weren’t nearly as strong as All Might or Midoriya, but you were far from weak and determined not to let the men fall.

The vine pulled taut as he started to climb. He honestly wasn’t that heavy, so you were able to steadily pull him up until his shaky hand gripped the ledge. With one hand still gripping the vine, you extended the other to grab his wrist, helping him up and over.

“I might need your help with the other two,” you said softly, glancing at him as he took a breath.

He nodded, undoing the vine from his waist and throwing it over the ledge. “I-I’m not very strong, but I’ll do my best!” he kneeled beside you, gripping the vine above your hands.

Beralt was up next. As Midoriya wrapped the vine around him, he clapped his hands and took a deep breath. “Now it’s time to see if those rock climbing lessons were worth the money!”

Your body shifted forward at the sudden weight but you pushed yourself back, pulling slower than you had with the previous man. Franklin’s arms were shaking, veins looking like they wanted to burst through his pale skin.

Beralt’s fingers gripped the ledge and Franklin grabbed his arm. Through gritted teeth, the man said, “No disrespect… sir Smith, but… maybe you should… consider better… eating habits!” he gave one final tug and the man heaved himself onto the ledge, breathing heavily.

He huffed, looking embarrassed. “Zachary is the one that snuck all that junk food onto the boat,” he threw the vine over the ledge before settling on your other side, hands wrapping around the vine. “He’s also heavier than I am, so prepare yourselves!”

The third man’s weight did concern you and you briefly wondered if the three of you would be strong enough to pull him up. If you did drop him, would Midoriya be able to safely catch him? Or would the older man’s weight crush the boy without remorse? That thought worried you and you flexed your fingers before resuming your grip on the vine, eyes shining with determination.

Zachary started to climb, making the three of you lurch forward at the sudden weight. The heel of your boot slid before getting stuck in a crack in the rock. You used this to your advantage, putting most of your weight on that side.

“I… can’t -” Franklin’s arms gave out and he fell forward at the sudden lurch of the vine. Both you and Beralt lost your grip but you gripped it again, the vine sliding through your hands at an alarming speed, burning the skin. You winced in pain, your stomach turning. Zachary cried out in fear and you could picture Midoriya being crushed.

“Damn it, STOP!!” you screamed, clenching your hands as tightly as you could, pushing yourself back with your legs. The vine came to a stop and the two men quickly grabbed it, taking some of the pressure off of you. With every move, your hands screamed at you, but you ignored the tears stinging your eyes.

Finally, Zachary reached the ledge, being grabbed by the back of his shirt by Beralt. His face was red, tears staining his cheeks.

Your hands were stinging and burning simultaneously, but you held the vine tight, biting down hard on your lip to try and distract your mind. Midoriya was heavier than Franklin, but much lighter than the other two, so Beralt did most of the lifting. You were thankful because you could feel how your grip had weakened considerably. You felt so thankful when Midoriya pulled himself up onto the ledge.

Midoriya took a breath as he kneeled in the cave, suppressing a shiver. “For now, let’s try and build a fire to keep warm. We can try to find our way when the sun rises.”

“I’ll go look for some wood,” you announced, leaving the cave. Darkness covered the island, the wind nipping at your damp clothes like hungry vultures. It felt good on your hands, though, that felt like they were on fire. You didn’t want to be near Midoriya right now because you knew how much of a worrywart he was – he’d freak out about your hands and the two of you had more important things to worry about.

You weaved through the trees, returning to the branch you had broken with your quirk. The spot was hidden behind a thick trunk of wood, but you only had to lean back to see the faint outline of the cave. You kneeled on the cold grass, holding out your shaking hands. The skin was dark red and was beginning to blister. There were small beads of blood, growing bigger when you stretched the skin.

‘I should wrap them up, but then he’ll definitely notice…’ you sighed. ‘I can’t even use my quirk with my hands like this,’ you cursed, throwing your head back to prevent the tears from falling.

The crunching of leaves alerted you to Midoriya approaching and you quickly flipped your hands over, nearly wincing as the skin rubbed against your clothes. He rubbed the back of his neck, face burning. “You… did a really good job back there, Y/N-san.”

You smiled up at him. “It was a group effort. I doubt I could have done it without their help…” you subconsciously flexed your hand and hissed in pain.

Midoriya noticed. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry!” A breeze whipped around you and you shivered. “I am cold though, so let’s hurry up and get that fire going!” with a grin, you tried to pick up the branch but a wave of pain went through your hands. You tried to hide it, but Midoriya was watching you closely.

He knelt beside you, gently grabbed your wrists. His eyes widened when he saw them. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?”

“I didn’t want to worry you. And it’s not even that bad…” you mumbled, not meeting his gaze. He ripped the fabric of his hero costume, exposing his knees. “W-Wait a minute, Mido -”

His warm smile made you pause as he ripped it into strips. “We need to cover them so they don’t get infected,” he gently wrapped it around your hand.

“Sorry for the trouble,” you sighed, looking up at the dark sky. “When sensei first mentioned this place, I found it weird that the number four kept coming up. Online, a lot of people speculated that this place is cursed and I think I’m starting to believe it.”

He hummed, beginning to wrap your other hand. “I don’t know much about curses, but I do believe we make our own luck. Even if the world is against us, I believe we can still come out on top as long as we work hard and never lose hope.”

You watched him as several emotions flickered across his face.

His eyes met yours with a fierceness you had never seen from him before. “That’s why I want to… tell you how I feel. I really like you, Y/N-san, a lot. Will you please go out with me?”

“Midoriya… no, Izuku,” you rested the back of your hand against his cheek and smiled. “I would be happy to,” he smiled so brightly it lit up the darkness. “For our first date, what do you think about an island getaway?”

He laughed as he stood up, bringing the branch with him. “I vote for a warmer first date.”

As another breeze passed through the trees, you suppressed a shiver. “Agreed…”

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You knew that, in the fall, the sun rose in the East, so when the sun started to rise, you had your bearings. The five of you walked for hours until the sun started to set once more. With a stroke of luck, you faintly made out the light of a flashlight sweeping the trees and the sound of a familiar voice calling your name.

All Might found all of you, radioing back to Aizawa and the others that were out searching for all of you. He led the way toward the ship, the three diplomats following him closely as they geeked out about getting to meet the number one hero.

“Do you remember what I said, Izuku?” you asked, softly.

His brow furrowed in thought and you chuckled.

“We found our way out of the cave,” you kissed his left cheek. “We found the diplomats,” you kissed his right cheek. “And we’re on our way home,” your claimed his lips with your own.

Despite his burning cheeks, he pulled you closer to his body.

Maybe he was right after all. Maybe you did make your own luck.

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[chubbydino]

Hi! I finally gathered the courage to read concatenation (normally I don’t really read fics with unhappy endings) and I LOVED IT. I mean, it tore my heart out, threw it on the ground and stepped on it, but still. It made me feel so much, which is not something that a lot of stories are able to do. Just a question, I remember reading somewhere that you would maybe write a fix-it but I can’t find it anywhere, so was it just an idea or something you plan to do? Thanks!

hello! there was talk about a fix-it for it a few years ago, and i did start one, but i’ve since deleted it after only writing a few paragraphs. i couldn’t write a fix-it that did any justice to the story. 

i did write an epilogue, tony’s letter, that you probably already read if you just read the series, just to kind of tie up tony’s thoughts on everything for people who wanted that. it was part of marvel trumps hate for 2016 i believe. 

but yeah, no fix-it fi planned or published. i’m so happy you read the series though, and that it was worth it for you to have waited so long to read. :) it always makes me smile when i see someone new has left a comment or kudos or something. <3

i did find a little section of a fic i never published while i was looking for the epilogue i had started, so though it’s not a fix-it, it isn’t angsty (at least, not to me lol)! just some stony pining sass and quips. 

below the cut!

Grey streaks of sunlight filtered through the missile-proof glass of the of an empty bedroom in the Avengers compound. Despite being unoccupied, the room was meticulously clean—the most unkempt part about it being the memory foam mattress on the floor, still wrapped in plastic. A low crackle of thunder echoed against the barren, muted-grey walls, and as the winds changed, the patter of rain against the glass could be heard from the doorway as Steve stood there, surveying.

The compound was much smaller than it appeared upon first glance. The living area was one of the biggest rooms, excluding the training facility that wasn’t attached to the compound itself. Steve was starting to see it as home, but it would take time. New faces were appearing faster than he could remember names, and he had a bit of trouble with that. So many of them were just kids. So many of them would be barely functioning human beings without powers, but here? It was impossible to expect them to meld perfectly. But they tried. Tony and Bruce spent hours designing things to be comfortable and accepting.

Steve just never anticipated himself being the one to feel out of place here. It wasn’t like it was that big of a surprise, but he’d just been so comfortable living at the SHIELD compound, then in the Tower. Upstate New York was a big jump from that.

“Captain,” Friday said, her voice coming in crystal clear as though she was standing right beside him. “Mr. Stark is able to see you now. Please make your way to the conference room, Sector Alpha.”

Despite being small on the first two floors, the compound had an extensive underground network that was large enough to warrant its own zip code.

“Thank you,” Steve said, glancing around the empty room once more. It would be filled within the month, he was sure. It was either a new superhuman, or a visiting one. The guest manifest was something of a joke nowadays.

Steve made his way down the hallways, eyes running over the photos hung on the walls. Various teammates with their arms slung around each other, laughing. Triumphant newspaper articles showing zero casualties and major victories. Graduations, awards—all kinds of things that made the compound feel more like a college campus than a house.

But the further along he went from the living quarters, the sleeker and more professional things became. Steve was more comfortable here, surrounded by expansive glass windows and minimalist metalwork. No photos, no art on the walls. Everything became sterile and transparent.

The windows to the conference room had already been tinted, effectively sealing the room from wandering eyes. Not that Steve had seen a soul since arriving, but it was barely five in the morning, so everyone was either asleep or training already.

The doors opened for him as he entered the conference room. An enormous oak table took up most of it, and several windows were actually seamless TV screens to watch something upwards of fifty channels at a time.

Tony sat with his back facing the main screens, sprawled in his chair, turning back and forth, back and forth. He fiddled at a tablet screen, two fingers curled at his mouth. He was working, but it was busywork. Steve knew the difference between a Tony in crisis and a Tony trying to distract himself. Either way, he didn’t acknowledge Steve’s arrival.

Steve took it all in stride, and rounded the table to take a seat beside Tony. He scooted back a bit, putting a healthy amount of space between them.

The sound of the rain didn’t reach them here. Natural light didn’t even reach them here. Everything was artificial and cold. A war room.

Steve leaned back in his chair, propping his head up with one hand. Silence ticked by, broken only by the quiet taps of Tony’s fingers on the glass of his tablet.

“You’re late,” Tony finally muttered, not looking up.

“Yeah,” Steve said, lifting his head from his hand in a casual motion. “I was looking around.”

Tony let out a snort. “I ought to clear out your room and give it to someone else, with how often you show up.”

“I’ve been busy,” Steve said quietly.

“Busy,” Tony repeated.

“Yeah.”

“Busy,” Tony said again.

With a final tap to his tablet, Tony tossed the piece of glass like a discarded magazine. It skittered across the table and settled a few inches from Steve. Steve glanced at it, expecting to see some sort of article or video, but it was blank.

“I wasn’t aware—“

“You can’t just leave me like that,” Tony growled. “In charge. You can’t just do that without warning me first.”

“Remind me to tell the mass murderers of the world to give me a heads up before they start killing people,” Steve replied easily, unfazed.

“That’s bullshit,” Tony shot back. Steve couldn’t see true anger in his eyes yet, though. “You’ve been stateside for three weeks. You can’t possibly think I didn’t know you’ve been stateside for three weeks—did you think I didn’t know?”

Steve blinked once. “I didn’t think you cared.”

Tony scowled at him, leaning forward in his chair. “What were you doing on your little vacation?”

Steve shrugged. “I had to clean my place out in Brooklyn. My lease was up a month ago and they held everything out of courtesy. I had to arrange to get it all shipped here.”

“Your storage unit,” Tony said tartly.

Steve frowned. “It arrived, didn’t it?”

“Of course it arrived. It arrived weeks ago.”

A shrug was all he could really muster in response. “Then I helped with cleanup for that Queens disaster—which I’m sure you saw on the news. After that I visited Bucky in Brooklyn for a few days, saw Sam on his leave weekend and helped out at the VA.”

Tony worked his jaw, and Steve cocked a brow at the flicker of anger he saw in his eyes now.

“You’re a real class act, Rogers,” Tony finally forced out. He stood abruptly, and Steve reflexively stood too.

“Hey, what’s going on? I didn’t warn you, I get it. I’m sorry. But I don’t always get a warning, Tony.”

He didn’t realize he’d reached out until Tony shrugged him off.

“Don’t,” Tony hissed. “Don’t start with that shit.”

Now Steve was genuinely confused. “Okay. Let’s—we can talk about this. Let’s talk about this. That’s what we’re here for, right?”

That response only served to piss Tony off all the more. “Oh please. Enough with that feelings crap, Steve. I’m done with all of that—I’ve been done since you—“

Steve hand came to rest on Tony’s cheek, effectively silencing whatever he’d been about to say. A warm understanding came to Steve’s eyes, and he moved closer, enough to feel Tony’s breath on his collarbone.

“You think I wasn’t thinking about you,” Steve said.

Tony jerked back, but Steve followed him, keeping close.

“Shut up,” Tony cut. “That’s not what this is about.”

“Sure. You’re just here to chastise me about my leadership.”

Tony slapped his hand away. Hard. Hard enough that Steve had to blink a few times to process, and that was enough time for Tony to snatch up his tablet and start toward the door.

“Welcome back, Cap. I’m getting some coffee, then you’re going to meet Vision, Natasha and I to bring you up to speed.”

He stormed toward the closer exit, and Steve thought momentarily to let him leave.

Of course, Steve Rogers never let anyone get the last word.

He jumped forward, cutting Tony off at the door and yanking him into a kiss.

He tasted like bourbon. Just a faint taste, like he’d sipped on some hours ago and hadn’t eaten anything since. Tony certainly hadn’t slept--judging by the bags under his eyes--so Steve knew better than to assume he’d fallen asleep with that taste in his mouth.

“You didn’t say anything,” Tony hissed when they broke apart. He gave Steve a frustrated shove.

“You said no favoritism.”

“Fuck you,” Tony spat. “That doesn’t mean you don’t show me some fucking decency.”

“Let me get coffee with you,” Steve murmured, hands settling at Tony’s waist.

Tony was quick to remove them.  “No.”

“Tony,” he began, “Tones. Let me get you coffee.”

Tony just scowled at him. “I don’t know what I expected from you, if I’m being honest. I genuinely don’t. I don’t know what I expected. But I definitely didn’t expect you to treat me like a dick.”

A little flare of anger nibbled at Steve’s gut. “You laid the groundwork very clearly. You specifically told me you wanted no special treatment. You specifically told me you wanted this to be a working relationship. Professional—that was the word you used.”

“Because that’s what I want,” Tony cut. “But that doesn’t mean you ignore me!”

“I didn’t ignore you—“

“You didn’t so much as text me when you came back. I got a mission report five days later after two weeks of nothing.”

“If you were worried about me, you’re allowed to say it. Nobody’s here.”

“Fuck you.”

Tony tried to leave again, but Steve hooked him around the middle with one arm, blocking his path.

“We talk here or we talk over coffee,” Steve said evenly. “Those are the options. I don’t care which.”

“You don’t get to make those decisions. I’m heading the compound right now.” Tony chopped his arm with an elbow, and Steve relented. He slid away, and Tony shot him a glare. “I’ll see you when we meet with Nat and Vision. You know, our teammates? Red guy, weird looking? Girl, red hair? Short? Likes leather and spandex?”

“Tony—“

He didn’t get another word out before the door was closing and Tony was walking briskly toward the in-house coffee shop.

Steve watched him go, unsure of the sudden strain in his chest. What he and Tony did behind closed doors was nobody’s business, but apparently that special treatment he’d been so adamant about not receiving was something he’d actually wanted all along. This was something Bucky would laugh at him for, had Steve dared to break his promise not to tell. But he was pretty sure Bucky already knew anyway. The whole team knew, at least in some fashion.

With a heavy sigh, Steve stepped out and headed in the opposite direction, chewing the last of the bourbon taste from his bottom lip.

************

“There really isn’t much to report,” Natasha said, thumbing through digital pages of activity logs. “A few issues with telepathic powers, but Wanda and Vision handled that area. Combat training schedules are consistent, as is improvement.”

“T’Challa visited for several days and imparted some wisdom in a sort of ‘master class,’ if you will,” Vision added. “We saw a slight spike in improvement with several female students after his visit.”

Natasha rolled her eyes, but Vision continued, oblivious to his innuendo.

“All in all, very few issues to report that concern you, Captain Rogers. A few technical malfunctions with our security system, an attempted trespass by a belligerent ‘fan’ of ours, and two incidents of misconduct—all of which were handled appropriately.”

Tony was staring at him through a stylish pair of glasses, but Steve ignored him. “Sounds like everything went smoothly.”

Natasha leaned back, only briefly glancing between him and Tony. “So, you’re back to stay with us for a little while?”

“For now, yes,” Steve said with a nod. “I figure I ought to help out since I left so abruptly.”

Tony let out an indignant snort.

“Really, we need to get our advanced hand-to-hand classes back on track,” Natasha said. “I’ve been able to handle it, but I can only teach so many classes before fatigue sets in. If I’m called on mission, I don’t want to be worn down.”

“I don’t need the explanation,” Steve chuckled. “I’ll handle those, and I’ll start back in with the combat strategy too, if that’s okay.”

“You’re the best one for it,” Natasha replied with a shrug. She stood, gently tapping Vision on the shoulder. “Well, we’ll leave the two masterminds to discuss. As far as I’m concerned, this meeting is over.”

“Thank you for the update,” Steve said with a dip of his head. “I appreciate it.”

Natasha grabbed her bag and left, nearly closing the door in Vision’s face, but he passed right through it amyway. There was light music playing in the background, coming from the wet bar over in the far corner. Steve thought to ask if Tony wanted a drink, but he knew better.

“I wanted to apologize,” Steve said after an unsteady silence had lengthened between them.

Tony said nothing. He turned his face away, chewing the inside of his cheek.

“I should have contacted you. The reason I didn’t was because I didn’t know where we stood. Last time we talked, you made it very clear that you didn’t want any special treatment—hell, that you didn’t even want me to talk to you outside of ‘business hours.’ So how was I supposed to guess that you wanted me to text you?”

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, but still wouldn’t look at him.

Steve had to fight every urge to keep pressing, but he held his tongue and leaned back instead, at a loss. Their relationship was complicated at best, and moments like theses made it even worse for them.

“Pick one word and tell me how you would describe what I mean to you,” Tony said, eyes still closed. “I want you to pick one word.”

Steve frowned, but began to rake his brain for the proper word. Surprisingly enough, a blank nothing came to mind. He could think of no word to describe Tony Stark. None that would accurately fit. Friend, confidant, partner. He trusted Tony more than anyone on Earth. More than Bucky at this point. Bucky was still too unpredictable in some instances.

“Everything,” Steve said decidedly.

Tony finally looked up at him, momentarily shocked. It quickly faded to anger, though.

“Well. Some way to show it,” he snorted.

“What do I mean to you?” Steve pressed, unaffected by Tony’s quip.

Tony’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if he’d just discovered he’d been tricked

“Well?”

For a moment Steve thought that Tony wouldn’t respond. Instead, Tony let out a sigh. “I think we need to discuss what happens when one of us goes off on mission.”

Steve’s lips pursed, not allowing himself to show the hurt sucking a hole in his chest. That was how it went with Tony Stark. One minute he was snapping about being too public, the next he was chastising Steve for not showing him enough affection.

If he hadn’t been to infuriatingly handsome, Steve might’ve had a chance. 

[zen3to5]

J/H 3-21: The Trials of Michael Kelso

In doing this project, I haven't touched the "A" stories of any episodes since "Ice Shack." That's a consequence of trying to stick to things that could plausibly have happened on the show; even continuing through Season 3, Zen needs to be in proportion to what its role would've been in the overall story. (It's also a consequence of the "A" stories in the last few episodes not having much, if any, overlap with the "B" stories and runners.)

Well, in this case, there's a whole new "A" story for "The Trials of Michael Kelso," and what was its "A" story is a significantly altered "B." Jackie and Hyde don't have a single scene together here (just as in the actual episode), but I promise there's payoff to this. And there's also ripple effects spreading into Season 4, because a certain off-screen development there made for the new "A" plot here...

FF.Net AO3

---

SHOW TITLE   INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT   The Hyde residence, as trashed as ever. BUD sits on the couch, watching TV. The door swings open and HYDE enters.   BUD: Hey, there he is!   HYDE: Bud, man, you’re not working tonight?   BUD: Well, the bookie knows to look for me down at the bar, but he doesn’t know where I live.   He laughs. Hyde tosses his keys onto the counter and sits on the other end of the couch.   HYDE: You in trouble, Bud?   BUD: Oh, no, no no. (beat) I mean, most of those guys, when they say “I’ll beat your face in,” that just means “you’ve got another two weeks,” you know?   HYDE: I mean, if you need another loan...   Bud looks up, expecting. Hyde pulls out a few bills and passes them over. Bud counts them and pockets them.   BUD: Atta boy. Hey, why don’t we go and hit up the nudie bar?   He gives Hyde a friendly jab to the arm, and Hyde nods and cackles.   HYDE: Now you’re talkin’.   Bud laughs and pats Hyde’s knee. A knock comes to the door, and Bud pushes himself up.   BUD: Hope you’ve got some singles left. You never know who you’re gonna meet there.   Chuckling, he opens the door. There stands EDNA HYDE, cigarette in one hand and a suitcase in the other.   BUD: Edna?   Hyde jumps to his feet.   HYDE: Mom?   They all stare, no love lost among any of them.

MAIN CREDITS   BUMPER   INT. APARTMENT – NIGHT   Moments later. Bud looks back and forth from his son to his ex-wife. Finally, he chuckles weakly and beckons Edna inside.   BUD: Hey – Edna! Wow, you look so... older.   She rolls her eyes. Hyde fumes behind them as Bud gamely tries to stay chipper.   BUD (cont’d): God, how long’s it been, the three of us all together? Was it that trip out to Milwaukee? You know, the one where they pulled us over on the way back after I hit that deer?   Edna glares, shoves Bud back by the chest as she strolls into the apartment.   EDNA: No, Bud, it was after the trip to Green Bay where you lost your lunch and your beer all over Phil Bengston’s head. Milwaukee was where you met Jo-Jo the wonder ass.   She sits down on the couch. Hyde moves as far away from her as he can without leaving the room, but doesn’t escape her notice.   EDNA (cont’d): (to Bud) I see you picked up our son. (to Hyde) Steven.   HYDE: Edna.   Edna looks him over.   EDNA: You seem like you’ve held up. I knew you’d be fine.   HYDE: Yeah. That really makes up for you taking off with Truck Stop Terry, huh?   Edna scowls at him. Bud clears his throat, laughs weakly, and takes his place back on the couch.   BUD: So, Edna – what brings you back to town? Should we, ah, set a plate out for Truck Stop Terry too?   He looks around for support for the wisecrack but gets none.   EDNA: (to Bud) Truck Stop Terry is halfway to Nebraska with a hooker named Billie and everything I had marked for the pawn shop. I’ve got no cash left and didn’t have any place else to go.   HYDE: Sucks, doesn’t it?   EDNA: Still a smart ass, I see.   HYDE: There’s the attitude that won you “Mother of the Year” seventeen years running.   EDNA: Hey, you’re lucky I stuck around as long as I did in a little dump town like this. I lasted longer than this one.   She points roughly to Bud, who looks anywhere but at the two people in the room with him.   EDNA (cont’d): Anyway, I’m back, aren’t I?   HYDE: Don’t give me that crap. You just said you had nowhere else to go, else you wouldn’t be here now.   BUD: Steven –   HYDE: (to Bud) No, screw this, and screw her! I’ll be at the bar, Dad.   He leaves quickly, slamming the door after him. Edna and Bud shift around on the couch.   EDNA: Like father, like son, huh?   BUD: He’s a good egg, Edna. Hell, he’s keeping me afloat here.   Edna looks up, a searching look in her eye.   EDNA: Yeah?   BUD: Yeah. I’m drowning down at the track. You must’ve done something right with him.   EDNA: Eh. The twitchy kid’s folks had more of him than I did.   She takes a long drag on her cigarette.   BUD: Come on, Ed.   EDNA: (sighs) Well... that fake I.D. he’ll be using at that bar? Who do you think taught him how to get one of those?   Bud gives her a congratulatory gesture as she shrugs and smokes.   CUT TO:   INT. PINCIOTTI LIVING ROOM - NIGHT   That same night. DONNA, JACKIE, and KELSO all sit on the couch. Jackie and Kelso’s homework is spread out over the coffee table, while Donna holds a notebook and pencil in her hands.   DONNA: (to Jackie) So if “x” equals 7, then “y” equals...   JACKIE: 2?   DONNA: Wrong. Kelso?   KELSO: Uh... L?   DONNA: (beat) Also wrong. It’s a pretty simple equation, guys. Just think about it for a second.   Jackie’s face scrunches up in thought. Kelso stares at her, grinning, and gives her a light nudge with his shoulder.   KELSO: You’re so pretty. You don’t even need to know math.   Jackie turns to him, beaming.   JACKIE: That’s so weird. I was just thinking the same thing!   They giggle together. Donna lets out a long sigh.   DONNA: Okay, I think “girls’ study night” needs to go down to just girls.   Jackie pouts at Donna, but Kelso starts gathering his things.   KELSO: Yeah, I’d better get going. (to Jackie) We’re still on for the Hub tomorrow?   JACKIE: Uh-huh.   KELSO: Awesome. See ya then.   He exits.   Donna moves down the couch closer to Jackie.   DONNA: Great. Now maybe we can get some work done.   Not likely; Jackie’s still looking after Kelso’s wake.   JACKIE: Michael’s so sweet. Now that we’ve been spending time together as friends, he’s like a completely different person. He’s changed so much since we broke up.   She sighs. Donna tries to hide her skeptical expression.   JACKIE (cont’d): When I look into his eyes, I can see the maturity and honesty there now. He really has grown up.   Donna’s expression turns disgusted, and turning her head doesn’t hide it anymore. Jackie scowls at Donna.   JACKIE (cont’d): What, you think I’m wrong?   DONNA: Gee, Jackie, let me think. Uh, YEAH! I mean, this is Kelso you’re talking about. Of all the times he’s said he’s learned something and grown up, when has he ever actually learned anything and grown up? And if you’re thinking about getting back together with him -   JACKIE: No, no, no, Donna, I don’t want to get back together with him. (beat) But if I ever did, it’s good to know that he’s ready for a healthy, adult relationship.   DONNA: (looks up) Oh, God, kill me now.   JACKIE: Fine. You don’t believe me? I’ll prove it. I’ll come up with some simple psychological tests that’ll show Michael’s matured.   DONNA: You know, Jackie, that’s a good idea.   JACKIE: It is?   DONNA: Absolutely. If you’re even considering getting back with Kelso, you better have him tested.   BOB and MIDGE enter, carrying two large grocery bags each.   BOB: Hi there, kids.   DONNA: Hey, Dad.   BOB: Listen, sweetie, do your mom and me a favor. This Thursday, would you mind spending the night over at Jackie’s? We’re having a little party here.   DONNA: Well, Dad, I don’t mind. I’ll just stay up in my room.   BOB: Honey, I really think you oughta be out of the house for this one. See, this party is... well, it’s... we’re all gonna be...   MIDGE: It’s a nudist party.   Donna and Jackie both shudder, and Jackie screams. They gather their things and race out of the room. Bob and Midge look after them, then to each other. They shrug and head into the kitchen.   BUMPER   INT. HUB - DAY   The next day, early afternoon. Almost empty. “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” by Neil Sedaka plays on the jukebox.   Jackie and Kelso occupy the wall table, Jackie in the booth seat and Kelso across from her. Jackie’s notebooks and Kelso’s food are spread over the table. Donna and FEZ share a small round table. Fez sits backwards in his chair and plays with the straw of his soda.   FEZ:  So in a nudist party, everyone is nude, yes?   DONNA:  Yeah, Fez.   FEZ: And that includes all the womens?   DONNA: Yeah... and all the men, too.   FEZ: But also all the womens.   He gets a dirty little smile. Donna puts a palm to his face and shoves, sending him flying back from his seat onto the ground.   Jackie looks up over her notes at Kelso, who’s using one of his fries to draw shapes in the blob of ketchup in his basket. Jackie clears her throat.   JACKIE: So, Michael, this assignment I’m working on is about what careers we might want after graduating, and -   KELSO: Oh, I remember that one. I did pretty well on it, too. See, I had two choices. I was considering becoming a doctor...   JACKIE: Ooh, a doctor! That’s so mature.   She looks over Kelso’s shoulder at Donna, who’s watching the scene with a slightly mocking smile. Fez crawls back into his seat.   KELSO: Yeah. Or a rodeo clown. ‘Cause then I’d get to wear a big clown nose and ride around in barrels. Yeah, I think I gotta go with rodeo clown.   Jackie looks dumbstruck as she makes a note in her notebook. Donna puts a hand over her face to hide her laughter.   JACKIE: (beat) Okay... enough about that. So Michael, there are two events occurring this weekend. One that you might like, and one that I would really, really, really, really, really want to go to. Now, should we go see the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders -   KELSO: Oh, pfft! Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.   JACKIE: Yes, or -   KELSO:  No, Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.   JACKIE: But Michael, I want -   KELSO: No, Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders!   A crestfallen Jackie makes another mark in her notebook. Donna, barely holding it together, stands and staggers into the bathroom.   Fez moves from his chair to an empty one by Kelso.   FEZ: So what does one do to get invited to a nudist party?   Jackie covers her face with one hand as Kelso looks off in thought.   CUT TO:   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT – EVENING   Later that day. THE CIRCLE. Kelso is juggling a single egg.   KELSO: Hey, guys. Check out this egg Jackie gave me to take care of. It’s great for rodeo clown practice. Later I’m gonna find somebody to chuck it at.   Pan to Hyde.   HYDE: Hey, man, I volunteer Edna. An egg to the head is just the sort of “welcome home” greeting you deserve when you roll back into town after riding a trucker around the greater Midwest area.   Pan to ERIC.   ERIC: (to Hyde) Edna? Wait, Hyde – your mom’s back? That’s great, man! I mean – it is great, isn’t it? Because that’s the sort of thing that usually is great, but – I mean... with how your mom left... and not to mention she’s, you know...   He makes a gross face.   Pan to Fez.   FEZ: (to Hyde) Hyde, do you think your parents will be on the guest list for the Pinciotti’s nudist party? Because that is some naked I would like to avoid.   Pan to Kelso, still juggling.   KELSO: Yeah, Bob and Midge are going all out for that one. I was over there with Jackie and saw ‘em settin’ up a keg, and makin’ cheese puffs, and little mini hot dogs, and hard-boiled...   He trails off, catches the egg, and laughs as he stares at it.   Pan to Hyde.   HYDE: (to Eric) Look, Forman. I know how “after-school special” you get over these things, but this is no big deal, all right? So I don’t want you running to get Red or your mom to check up on me, ‘cause me and Bud – we’re okay now, and we can handle... (to Kelso) They have cheese puffs?   Pan to Eric.   ERIC: (to Hyde) Okay, Hyde. If you say so. But I want you to know... damn, now I want cheese puffs! (beat) Hey – maybe my mom made some for dinner!   He and Hyde bolt to the stairs.   CUT TO:   INT. FORMAN KITCHEN – EVENING   RED and KITTY are in the middle of their meals, but Eric and Hyde are way past that. Their plates empty, they’ve split an entire loaf of bread between them and eat it by the slice. Eric shovels his slices in plain, while Hyde uses the bread to soak up leftover sauce and juices from his plate.   Red does his best to ignore their behavior, but Kitty keeps stealing glances at Hyde.   KITTY: (to Hyde) Steven, this is two nights in a row we’ve had you over for dinner. Is everything alright at home?   His mouth too full to talk, Hyde nods vigorously and reaches for a tall glass of milk.   HYDE: (gulps down milk) Oh yeah, Mrs. Forman, everything’s fine.   He starts in on another bread slice. Kitty looks from him to Eric and laughs.   KITTY: Okay, then. I have a custard pudding for dessert if anyone wants -   Eric and Hyde, both eating, nod and beckon for the pudding without looking up. Kitty retrieves the large pudding bowl from the island, and no sooner sets it on the table than the boys start spooning it onto their plates. Eric is the first to take a bite.   ERIC: (loudly) Oh, God, this is great! (to Hyde) Man, remember the custard your mom used to make at school? That was horrible! God! I hope she’s learned to cook while she was gone.   HYDE: Shut up, Forman!   Too late; Red and Kitty both turn toward Hyde.   KITTY: Your mother’s back?   Eric slams a hand down on the table, drawing his parents’ attention.   ERIC: (loudly) Did I say that? I didn’t say that! Why did I say that? Oh, God, listen to my voice! I’m so loud!   Red and Kitty consider their son for a moment, then turn back to Hyde.   RED: Steven?   HYDE: Yeah, so? She’s back.   KITTY: Well, now, that’s... that is such good news! (laughs) ... Isn’t it?   ERIC: (loudly) That’s what I said! That is just what I said! Is it good or not? Why am I still talking like this?   RED: (to Eric) Hey – stop acting weird. (to Hyde) So, Edna’s back, eh? Well, that sure is... surprising.   KITTY: Yeah. How’s your father taking that?   HYDE: Fine. They sit and shout, just like old times.   Hyde’s gone from eating bread slices to tearing them up. He refuses to meet Kitty’s eye.   KITTY: Oh. (laughs) And how about – how about you, Steven? Are you all right? Because you don’t look all right.   RED: Kitty...   KITTY: Well, Red, the woman just up and left him and then comes traipsing back into town. I think he has some feelings he needs to let out -   HYDE: I’m fine!   He kicks himself back from the table and hurries out the patio door.   Eric stands and reaches out a hand.   ERIC: (loudly) Hyde – come back! We never even asked about the cheese puffs!   When Hyde doesn’t return, Eric collapses back down into his seat and covers his face with his hands, while Red and Kitty share a look.   FADE TO BLACK   COMMERCIAL   BUMPER   INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT   Later that night. Bud and Edna are still on the couch. Beer cans and liquor bottles surround them. Edna has a fresh cigarette and Bud has a cigar. Each has, in their other hand, a large glass filled with whiskey. They laugh uproariously as they clink glasses and take a drink.   Their cavorting keeps them from seeing Hyde enter. He takes in the sight, unsure what to make of it, until Bud finally spies him.   BUD: Steven!   He raises his glass in salute.   HYDE: Bud, you’re drinking?   BUD: (shrugs) What can I say, son? Something about your mother’s always driven me to the bottle.   He cracks up, and so does Edna. They clink glasses again and take another drink.   EDNA: Oh, this is fun! I’d forgotten the good times like this. (to Hyde) Steven, honey, you were probably too young to remember, but there was this one Christmas where the snow was falling and the heat was paid and we’d lifted one of those pre-decorated trees from the store, and we just spent the whole night laughing and shootin’ shots of peppermint Schnapps.   She winks at Bud, who grins and falls into a bobbing nod with his head.   HYDE: Actually, I do remember that Christmas. You locked up and passed out before I got back from Forman’s. I spent the night outside.   EDNA: (beat) Oh. Well, you still have all your toes, right? So it all worked out.   Her glass is empty. She refills it while Bud leans way back into the couch.   BUD: Steven, I’ve got good news – your mom’s moving in.   HYDE: What?   BUD: Yeah. Isn’t it great?   HYDE: No!   He crosses behind the couch and looms over his parents.   HYDE (cont’d): God, how do you do this – both of you? You screw me, you screw each other, you both ditch everything, and then you both roll back into town and in two days you just decide you’re back together? What the hell is wrong with you, man?   BUD: (shrugs) We’re Hydes!   He and Edna crack up again. Edna pats on the stool by the couch; very reluctantly, Hyde sits.   EDNA: Steven, this is just the way life is. So we all screwed each other over, boo-hoo. And we all thought we’d take off and find something better, but we didn’t.   HYDE: Speak for yourself, Edna.   EDNA: Oh, yeah? So why’re you here instead of hiding out in that spindly kid’s basement?   Hyde looks at her. She nods slowly.   EDNA (cont’d): Yeah, Bud filled me in on all that. You’re gonna tell me a hard ass like Red Forman wasn’t one slip-up away from tossing you out?   BUD: Hell – the few times I’ve been by, I’m surprised he didn’t throw me out. He is one angry, scary, shiny-headed S.O.B.   Hyde stares at the ground, his left hand holding his right fist.   EDNA: My point is, Steven, we’re all back with each other now, and people like us... we get what we get. Sitting around going over all the bad times – well, that’s not gonna do any good. This is where we’re stuck, and we’ve gotta make things work.   BUD: (to Hyde) It’s all I’ve been trying to do. And Ed moving in, that’s settled. Now, if you’ll spot me a few more bucks, your mother and I have a lot of things to take care of tomorrow.   Hyde’s head bows lower. He can’t find a retort. Edna grabs a liquor bottle and presses it into his hands.   EDNA: Now come on, baby. Why don’t you buck up and have a drink with your mom and dad?   Slowly, somewhat reluctantly, Hyde sits up and takes the bottle, gives it a sniff.   HYDE: This Beam’s Choice?   His parents nod. Hyde clinks the bottle against their raised glasses, and they all drink.   CUT TO:   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT - DAY   The next day, just after school. Kelso is still juggling Jackie’s egg. Fez and Donna sit on the couch, watching him. Donna shakes her head and tries not to laugh. Kelso notices and turns to present more of the show to her.   KELSO: Man, I am gonna be such a good rodeo clown.   Donna claps a hand over her mouth. Fez looks from her to Kelso, confused.   FEZ: I don’t get it. He’s not even really juggling. He only has one egg.   Kelso catches the egg.   KELSO: Oh, yeah? Well, we’ll see about that, Fez.   He heads up the stairs. Donna leans on the armrest of the couch.   DONNA: He is such a moron. He is so gonna fail Jackie’s test.   FEZ: Test? What test?   DONNA: Well, I’m not supposed to say anything, but Jackie’s testing Kelso to see if he’s really grown into a more mature, honest guy.   Fez gives Donna a long look, then breaks into laughter. Donna joins him, and they end up leaning against each other.   FEZ: That can’t be going well, can it?   DONNA: Duh! He’s already failed two tests, and the second that egg breaks, he fails the third. Jackie wants to see if he’s responsible now, so she told him she needed him to look after it for a few days.   Kelso bounds back down the stairs, his arms filled with eggs.   KELSO: Okay, Fez. How do you like – this?   He starts tossing the eggs into the air one by one. He manages maybe one-and-a-half rounds before they start to get away from him. The eggs land on the floor by his feet, they fly across the room – some even land on his arms and shoulders. When he tries to retreat, he slips on egg yolk and barely avoids crashing back into the TV, instead falling into the lawn chair.   KELSO (cont’d): Dammit! That’s it – I’m sticking with barrel riding.   FEZ: (to Donna) Well, that’s another “F” on the tests of love, am I right?   Donna tries to shush him, but it’s too late; Kelso heard.   KELSO: What do you mean?   Over Donna’s objections, Fez goes on:   FEZ: Just that when you broke those eggs you broke Jackie’s egg, and you failed the third test she has put to you to see if you have matured.   Donna puts a hand to her forehead. Very slowly, Kelso stands back up.   KELSO: Wait... so Jackie – the girl I love more than anything in the world – she’s been testing me? Why? Is she seeing if we should get back together?   DONNA: I’m not sure, but if she wants to, this is what she’s basing it on.   KELSO: So by breaking that egg, I failed the test? And all the others so far, I failed those too, and I lost my chance to win Jackie back forever?   Donna and Fez both nod.   KELSO: (beat) Okay, so when’s the make-up test?   Donna completely buries her head in her hands as Fez gives a slow and condescending shake of his head.   CUT TO:   INT. PINCIOTTI LIVING ROOM - DAY   Almost everything is in place for the party. A table is set up near the wall for food and punch, the furniture has been pushed to the sides to leave space open for dancing, and the keg is set up. But it hasn’t started yet – Bob and Midge still have their clothes on.   MIDGE: I think that’s everything, Bob.   BOB: Not quite, Midgie. Time to seal the place up good. Ready?   They nod together. Cut to:   MONTAGE, set to the theme from MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. Bob and Midge go through every room in their house, sealing up doors and windows. Blinds are drawn, curtains are pulled, tacky photos of Bob in an Elvis costume are hung on the little window in the front door, and Midge covers up the bathroom mirror with a towel before Bob comes in and moves the towel to cover the window.   The montage ends with quick cuts showing all the sealed spaces in the house, ending with one left unattended: a small corner of the living room window, where the blinds haven’t properly shut. Fez’s head looms there, grinning and nodding in delight.   CUT TO:   EXT. FORMAN DRIVEWAY – DAY   Hyde shoots hoops alone. He looks like hell. Red and Eric, dressed for work at Price Mart, come outside from the kitchen.   RED: Steven. There you are.   HYDE: Oh, hey, Red. Forman.   RED: Eric tells me you missed school today.   ERIC: Um, Dad, I thought we weren’t gonna mention that part.   RED: (to Eric) Look, your mother’s making me do this, and if it goes to Hell, I’m taking someone down with me.   HYDE: No, Red, it’s okay. Edna’s moving in, so I took the day to, you know, get the place cleared up a bit. And sleep off the “welcome home” party we had last night.   He cackles. Red isn’t amused.   RED: Your mom and dad couldn’t “clear up?” Or were they “sleeping it off” – up their ass?   HYDE: Nah, man. They’ve been out all day. Had some things to pick up – another bed, a dresser, chairs -   ERIC: Wait, I thought your dad was almost broke. How can they afford that? Unless... I mean, your mom’s always given it away for free, but I guess when you’re on the road, desperate times...   Red glares at him.   RED: Can it.   ERIC: Yes, sir.   RED: (to Hyde) Well?   Hyde shifts on his feet, not meeting either Forman’s eyes.   RED (cont’d): Is your dad hitting you up for money again?   HYDE: (short, tense) It’s fine. I’m fine. We worked things out, and it’s gonna be okay. (beat) They’re my folks. You get what you get, you know?   ERIC: What – no! Hyde, that’s not how it works. They can’t do that to you. (to Red) Dad, say something.   Red holds up a hand to quiet Eric and gives Hyde a hard look.   RED: Look, Steven, I know what you’re hoping for. But your parents... the thing is, son -   HYDE: Hey, I’m not your son! I was only even here so long as I toed the line, right? One strike and I’m out, right Red?   Red’s face hardens. Seeing his dad’s expression, Eric inches back away from him.   HYDE (cont’d): Will you just butt out? You too, Forman! All of you!   He throws the basketball into the garage and storms off. The hedges and trees begin to rustle in a growing wind. Eric shivers, and even Red seems cold.   ERIC: Dad?   RED: Yeah?   ERIC: I thought Hell would be warmer.   Red looks up at the sky.   RED: Damn spring snows.   They head inside, Eric hugging himself tightly, as snowflakes start to fall.   BUMPER   INT. HUB - DAY   A busier afternoon. The snow outside is falling heavily now. “Crazy on You” by Heart plays on the jukebox. Jackie is back at the wall table, sharing the booth seat with Donna as they study.   Kelso enters, bundled up for the weather. In his hands is an egg stuffed into a scarf stuffed into a tissue box. Slowly, with great care, he walks over to the girls and gingerly sets the box down before sitting down across from them.   KELSO: Hey, guys.   Jackie and Donna look from each other to the egg.   JACKIE: (to Kelso) What’s that?   KELSO: Oh, it’s just this little crib-like thing I made for Eggy.   DONNA: “Eggy?”   KELSO: Yeah. And I couldn’t leave him exposed in all this cold, ‘cause that would be immature and irresponsible.   He makes a big show of nodding. Donna puts a hand to her forehead. Jackie picks up the egg and checks the bottom.   JACKIE: Michael, what happened to the pencil mark I made on the bottom?   Kelso takes the egg from her and checks the bottom. He looks to Donna, who just sighs and shakes her head.   KELSO: (to Jackie) Oh. Must have come off when I was giving him his gentle bath.   Donna rolls her eyes; she can’t believe what she’s hearing. Jackie puts a hand to her heart.   JACKIE: Michael, I knew you had this in you. After all this time, you really have become mature, responsible, and honest.   KELSO: Yeah – that’s me! Mr. Mature, Responsible, Honest Guy!   He grins and nods like a doofus. Jackie smiles back at him. Donna shakes her head.   The grin slowly slips off Kelso’s face. He glances down at the egg and sets it back in its “crib.”   KELSO (cont’d): Actually, Jackie – I found out about the tests. And I broke the egg you gave me and tried to cover it up, which wasn’t very honest or mature. So maybe, whatever the tests were for, I don’t deserve it.   He pushes the egg toward Jackie and gets up.   KELSO (cont’d): I’m sorry. See ya.   He leaves. Donna and Jackie stare after him, mouths agape.   DONNA: Oh, my God. He owned up. Before it all blew up in his face.   JACKIE: Yes, he did. (beat) Which is the honest, mature thing to do. So he has changed!   She beams and scribbles down some notes.   DONNA: And you were right. So if Kelso learned something, and you were right about something... and if it’s snowing this late in spring... I think those are three signs of the end of the world.   She stares into space, in shock, as Jackie swats her on the shoulder.   BUMPER   INT. HALL - EVENING   The hallway of Bud’s apartment complex. It doesn’t look much better than the room. Hyde walks up to his door, a small, wrapped parcel tucked under one arm. He tries his key on the door, but it doesn’t unlock.   The LANDLORD, a greasy-looking old man, appears at the other end of the hall. He has Hyde’s knapsack in his hands.   LANDLORD: They’re gone, kid.   He heads up the hall to meet Hyde.   HYDE: What do you mean?   LANDLORD: Gone, left, split. Came in from the dog tracks a few hours ago with a huge wad of dough and a big bottle of hooch and cleared out.   He pushes the sack into Hyde’s free arm.   LANDLORD (cont’d): They left this. Said to give it to you.   HYDE: (beat) Did they say where they were going?   LANDLORD: (shakes head) Sorry.   Hyde just stares down at the sack in his hand. The landlord starts back down the hall, then steps back and puts a hand on Hyde’s shoulder.   LANDLORD (cont’d): Look, kid. I hate to drop bad news on ya like this...   He takes a slip of paper from his pocket.   LANDLORD (cont’d): But on their way out, your folks didn’t settle their damages.   He holds the bill out to Hyde, who finally looks up.   CUT TO:   INT. FORMAN BASEMENT - NIGHT   Eric lies on the couch and reads a magazine, his Price Mart smock open. Instrumental rock plays softly on the radio.   The basement door opens, and Hyde steps in, covered in snow. His sack is slung over his shoulder and the wrapped parcel is still under his arm. Eric sits up, and the two of them regard one another for a moment.   ERIC: Hey.   HYDE: Hey. (beat) Uh, Forman, are Red and Kitty home?   ERIC: They turned in for the night. Do you need something?   Hyde crosses to the other side of the couch and sits down. He throws his sack into his chair and sets the parcel on the coffee table.   HYDE: Nah, man. Just – you know, turns out Edna left some things behind, so her and my dad, they went to pick ‘em up, and I thought... you know, just for a few days, if the basement’s free...   ERIC: Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course.   Hyde nods. He looks down at the parcel, and Eric follows his eyeline.   ERIC: (nods to parcel) Whatcha got there?   HYDE: Oh, it’s nothing. Just now that Bud and Edna n’ me, we’re all back together so I thought, you know, I’d get something for the apartment.   ERIC: Oh... well, that’s nice. That’s really nice.   He scratches at the back of his head, running short on words.   Hyde slams a fist down hard on the parcel. It makes an awful shattering noise. For good measure, he throws it at the wall, just above the TV.   Hyde sinks back into his seat and stares straight ahead, his breathing heavy. Eric, bug-eyed, looks slowly from the shattered parcel to Hyde.   ERIC: (voice breaking) Well... hey! Now it’ll match your dad’s décor!   He giggles nervously. Hyde just keeps staring at nothing. “Behind Blue Eyes” by the Who comes over the radio.   ERIC (cont’d): (beat) You know, Hyde... “a few days...” weeks... months... when you live in a little town like this, they all just sort of roll together.   Hyde’s head won’t turn, or his breath steady. Eric pats Hyde on the shoulder and moves to get up. Hyde’s hand catches his arm. Still looking ahead, Hyde’s face is a stone about to crack.   Eric sits back down, and he and Hyde adjust their arms to be around each other’s shoulders. They both stare at the wall as the radio keeps playing.   FADE TO BLACK   CREDITS   INT. PINCIOTTI LIVING ROOM - NIGHT   The party. Riotous samba music plays. We see nothing except the living room window, with shadows occasionally passing by the blinds. A slow pan takes us to Fez, watching from the one gap in the blinds in ecstasy.   BOB (v.o.): Okay, everybody – limbo!   A cheer erupts from the party guests. The shadows move, suggesting a limbo. Fez’s eyes go wide, and he falls back in a faint.   END.

[ultsracha]

Soulmate Chan (skz)

Request: Maybe could it be an Imagine where you are soulmates with Chan and like switch bodies randomly? A/N: Thanks for requesting love, I know that this kinda of went off the request but I got carried away heh, its super long and I’m sorry but I hope you enjoy! Thank you to the wonderful @trixareforlix for helping me with ideas! <3  Summary: everyone has a soulmate and everyone has a different experience when they finally touch their soulmate. Yours just happened to be a little more extreme than everyone else.  Warnings: Swearing, very, very, very mild angst for like .2 seconds

soul mates were always a mystery to you

most people on earth had one

and the stories you heard of how they knew the other person was their soul mate were always strange��

the majority of the people you met who’d found their soulmate had pretty normal experiences 

like hugging the other person and feeling the entire world heat up for 3 seconds before fading away

or your parents story when your mum was working at a cafe and handed your father his change and ever so gently touched his hand with hers

and the feeling of electricity that flowed between them that they both said lasted for what seemed like weeks 

but there some stories that were more extreme than just a feeling

a story broke the news of a young pair who both flew 6 feet in the air when they nudged hands while walking down the street 

or the soul mates who’s eyes changed colour when they bumped into each other on the street 

sometimes people knew as soon as they found each other

other people had to use social media after realising they must have accidentally touched their soul mate on the street and not felt anything

you had yet to find your other half 

not that you minded all too much

the idea of what could possibly happen when you meet them makes you,,,, nervous

chances were you’d feel some kind of amazing feeling in your whole body and then you’d know who you’d be destined to be with forever

everyone else in your family had similar whole body feelings of warmth of electricity or like being full of water 

Even your younger sister found her soulmate during a sports day relay race in school 

So now you just go about your business trying your best not to touch people as you go 

It’s a boring Friday evening when everything decides to changes

Your phone rings halfway through a movie and it’s your best friend

“Hey, there’s this really cool group that’s performing at work tonight please come and see them” they whine through the phone 

You internally sigh and agree because well

it’s time you saw the real world not just work and your apartment 

So you get dressed again and walk to the bar, signs plaster every wall and lamp post for a group called ‘3racha’ 

When you get there the stage is all set up and people are already filling up the from of the stage 

you just walk over to your friend and linger around the bar until they have a spare moment to come talk

“so, did you hear them do soundcheck or anything? are they good?” you ask over a vodka lemonade

“Yes!” they literally squeal, “there’s three guys, one of them has this super sexy Australian accent. You’re gonna love him” they’re practically bouncing at this point 

So maybe this night wouldn’t be a total bust because cuties on stage

You really thought it would be some old guys with guitars but after another 20 minutes waiting and 2 more drinks

3racha were on stage and well

let me tell you something

fucking incredible 

they had so much energy and passion and every song was powerful

all three boys were undeniably handsome 

but the leader was something ELSE 

your friend was right about the accent, it was beautiful 

and that angelic face that goes from smiling to deadly serious in a second 

holy shit someone was one lucky person to have him as their soulmate

You learned their names, Changbin, Jisung and finally Chan

by the end of their songs and some surprisingly funny dad jokes from Chan

you were going to follow them on their social media because they were so, so good 

When they finally said their goodbyes you were right at the front of the crowd by the stage 

Chan waving and smiling while hopping up and down 

Until the moment he missed the edge of the stage 

and fell 

everything happened in slow motion and the look on his face as he flew to the ground was priceless

No one could catch him before he landed 

Right on top of you 

His whole body crushing into yours in a second

You would’ve screamed if it weren’t for the strange feeling that filled up your whole body

Like you were filled with sparkling water 

Or how TV static must feel 

You closed your eyes as the feeling crept up to your head and braced for what would follow

Honestly it just seemed like Chan killed you and this was what death felt like 

And then you were being yanked from the floor and heard a female voice groaning on the floor

“Chan mate what the fuck are you doing trying to kill fans?” a very, very angry Jisung is holding your shoulders and shaking

“I think you picked up the wrong survivor” you mumble, raising your arm to brush through your hair 

You hand quickly passes through the amount of hair on your head

Hang on a minute

With a heart full of dread you turn to look at where Chan was supposed to be lying on the floor from where he fell and see 

Yourself

You’re looking down at yourself with wide eyes

You are also looking back up at yourself with wider eyes 

“Is this what it’s like to be dead?” You ask, turning back to look at Jisung

“Chan what are you talking about, also help the poor girl up” He growls, walking round you and helping your other self up 

“No, I’m Chan” your other self says while looking you up and down

“And I’m Y/N” you reply 

Everyone in the bar is just standing around looking at you with shock and confusion 

“Let’s go. Now” Changbin appears from nowhere and grabs you and your other selves arm and drags you to a backroom

As you walk more things seem different than before

Everything seems slightly lower down than usual 

Your clothes feel, loose 

So, naturally you look down to examine your outfit because when you left the house it was NOT this baggy 

even more panic sets in when you see a plain tshirt and baggy tracksuit bottoms 

When you get into the room Changbin forces you and other you to sit down on a sofa next to each other

“Right. So what in flying fuck is going on here then?” Jisung asks 

“It’s pretty clear what’s happened, they body swapped” Changbin sighs back 

“Hold on a minute..” You start saying before clasping a hand over your mouth

That accent 

Slowly removing your hand from your mouth and looking at it in more detail it finally sinks in

You’re not in your own body 

your own hands were not this big, and you certainly didn’t have the money for these nice rings 

Which means you swapped with Chan

“OH MY GOD THEY’RE SOULMATES” Changbin yells while slapping Jisungs chest with excitement 

This means 2 things: 

1) Chan is your soulmate and you’re not about to complain

2) You, for the time being, are stuck in Chan’s body

“Holy shit...” Chan whispers from next to you 

“Uh, it’s nice to meet you I guess” you sigh twisting to face Chan 

“Nice to meet you too.... I don’t mean anything by it but when do you reckon we can get our own bodies back?” He asks, rubbing the back of his neck nervously 

“I’m not going to lie, I have no idea how to solve this problem, I guess it’s just how long the universe wants to keep us like this” You reply, looking at your own body 

That outfit really was cute 

“How long did you family members take for their match to finish?” Changbin asks cautiously 

“My parents had a feeling which lasted for like 3 weeks...” You mumble awkwardly knowing that this would not be a popular answer 

They all groaned and Jisung stormed out of the room moodily 

“He’s just worried about out shows and new music we need to finish it’s nothing personal” Chan explains, patting your knee sympathetically 

That’s when the whole situation dawned on you

Your job, your family, you friends 

You’d have to explain what was happening 

Which would mean explaining to your family you’d finally found your soulmate 

The entire situation was just proving more and more stressful and just as you were getting caught up in your thoughts

Chan patted your knee again this time keeping his hand there gently 

“It’s okay, there have been worse matches happen before. Remember the couple on the news that caused a fire in a bus stop a few weeks ago?” 

You snort in reply before looking up at him 

It was weird seeing your own face looking at you

“Maybe we should do some research on if this has happened before and how they managed to get back in their own bodies” Chan explains as he stands up and grabs his bag before grabbing his phone and sitting back down

He doesn’t seem to mind touching because he sits with his leg pressed against yours on the sofa 

It was nice and comforting despite only knowing him for a few minutes 

After some digging and whining about not having a thumb print on his phone from your thumb 

You found a website which explained a couple from New Zealand had swapped bodies for 5 days before returning to their original body when they found their soul mate 

“So I guess we just have to wait this out then...” You sigh, standing up 

“How are we gonna do this? Do we need to see your parents?” Chan asks 

“No no no no no, not yet, this will be too weird to explain right now especially because we met today...” You quickly rush to explain 

Chan quirks an eyebrow but doesn’t argue

“Well can you at least stay at my place tonight? I want to get to know you more” he asks 

If it had been any other person, any other day you would have said no but this is your soul mate

The person the universe knows you’re perfect for 

So you agree and part ways briefly to get your things to stay over and then walk to his apartment 

Which is just down the road from yours 

His apartment is messy but empty all at the same time

His bedroom consisting of a mattress on the floor and a desk with recording equipment 

“I just moved in like 3 months ago and we’ve been super busy with music and performing I haven’t had a chance to like get any furniture” He mumbles, placing blankets and pillows on the sofa for you

You just nod in reply and sit down

The reality really has sunk in 

This is your soulmate 

You’re in his freaking BODY 

And you have no idea how to get OUT 

The evening goes pretty smooth 

Talking about where you grew up, favourite foods, movies you enjoy 

The universe must know what it’s doing because the more you talk the more you realise Chan is really a genuine and kind man

With very similar interests and thoughts as you

You both fall asleep on the sofa together watching a movie 

Sadly as morning came about you were both still trapped inside each others bodies 

You made breakfast for Chan out of the very limited food in the fridge and vowed to buy him some decent food before you had to plan what was going to happen tonight 

3racha were performing tonight 

It was the biggest venue they’d ever played before and well, it was important 

You knew none of their lyrics, had no rapping skills and well couldn’t think of anything more terrifying than performing on stage

“Look, I can teach you lyrics and Changbin and Jisung can do the majority of it and if anyone asks its because you’re ill” Chan repeats again

“But Chan, I can’t rap, I suck at this.” You sulk, lying on his bedroom floor

“You’re in my body Y/N. You have my mouth and my voice. You can do it! It’s just confidence and knowing the lyrics” 

And so, you let him teach

It was hard, very very hard but by the end of the day you knew enough lyrics to pass as Chan 

But that didn’t change the rock in your stomach and the feeling of terror as you paced back stage waiting 

“Y/N it’s okay you can do this just remember the stuff we learnt and keep smiling” Chan was rubbing your arm reassuringly 

“Don’t mess this up, please. You have no idea how big this is for us.” Jisung snarks as he stands next to you 

He has done nothing but make you feel more nervous all day 

“Look. It’s not my fault I swapped bodies with Chan okay? I didn’t ask for this and I’m sorry we couldn't fix it but being an asshole isn’t going to make me perform any better. You’re lucky I even bothered to try.” You reply with as much conviction as your shaky voice would let you

Jisung looks amused and replies while smirking;

“Chan, she’s fiery. I’m glad your soul mate has some sass to her” before walking away

As much as that makes you smile you can’t shake the nerves 

“Chan I’m so scared, I don’t want to mess this up for you” You’re nearly crying at this point

Your hands wont stop shaking 

“Even if it’s not good I don’t care, I found my soulmate and that’s way more important to me than a show. If you’re feeling that worried we can say that I got food poisoning or something” Chan explains, taking both of your hands in his

“No no no I’ll perform because I don’t want to let you down or do anything to damage your career. It’ll be okay but thank you for caring so much” 

Tears are streaming down your face as Chan brings you into a hug 

He just holds you there in his arms in a super weird hug that’s kinda uncomfortable because you forgot you’re in Chans body so you’re like a head taller than yourself 

He obviously forgot he’s a head smaller because he’s in your body and you ended up weirdly holding each other

But it was nice and you could feel your heart beat racing

A warm feeling spreading through your body making you never ever want to let go

It felt like an eternity before you pulled away and opened your eyes 

To see Chan’s face in front of yours 

You look down and see your own body 

“Did we just?” Chan asks in disbelief 

“We did” You grin, wrapping your arms round his neck for another hug

Which works out perfectly this time

“GUYS WE SWAPPED BACK” Chan screams 

“Thank fuck for that” Jisung gasps, hugging Chan tightly 

“We have to go Chan quickly” Changbin rushes before pushing them both 

“Let’s go on a date when this is over yeah?” Chan grins as he’s being pushed by Changbin 

“Of course!” You have to shout because he’s so far down the hallway 

The performance is amazing, as expected 

Chan sends you winks and pulls cute faces the whole time 

When they’re done you meet him back stage 

He pulls you into a sweaty hug and kisses the top of your head 

And despite only knowing him for a day you loved the feeling

Changbin and Jisung were buzzing with happiness over how well they did 

“Chan let’s all go out to celebrate!” Changbin beams 

“I can’t tonight, I said I’d take Y/N on a date...” Chan explains, draping an arm around your shoulder 

“Let’s all go out together, we should definitely celebrate.” You interject, the last thing you wanted was to take Chan away from his best friends after such an important milestone for them

His smile told you everything you needed to know about his feelings as you all got ready to go out together 

Chan was perfect, polite and sweet to you and every single thing he did made you smile 

The universe knew whats up when it gave you your soulmate 

[parkerstylesperalta]

making art is therapy bitches

I got inspired by my own sadness tonight and wrote a little something with Tom. 

Warning: lots of angst. mostly angst. a slight hint of floof. also, 1.5k of shitty writing. 

my first fic type thingy ever! woohoo!

A year and a half. Time heals all wounds, they said. But the cut still felt sore in your chest every time Tom’s name popped up on your screen. How’s school? It was innocent enough, and with him being in a relationship there was nothing you could do about your aching heart.

Tom and you had broken up on not so good circumstances nearly a year and a half ago. It was a bad break, and both you, him, and your friends felt the shockwaves of the aftermath. After years of friendship and a long-lasting relationship, the end shook up your life. You didn’t talk for a long time, then fought, and then were friends, more fighting, then strangers again for a while. The back and forth of your feelings towards him gave you whiplash.

So Valentine’s Day obviously was a rough one, when you woke up to a text from him. Nothing mentioning the holiday, just a text talking about your major in college, and what you’d been up to. But on social media, his girlfriend was posting about him and the comment on her photo that he left broke you just a little further. Why, if he had moved on to someone else, was he choosing to continue to talk to you? You wanted to ask him- to call him out and just know why he felt the need to continue with you when so much in your lives has changed. It didn’t feel fair. It wasn’t.

You talked for almost three weeks, and constantly. What’s the winter storm at home putting you through? Any new auditions coming up? Simple. Nothing new. But it hurt- it felt normal. Consistent responses, and every day. Things progressed to talking about your career, your hopes and dreams. What made you want to pursue this field? I need advice about something. It felt like the good old days when you were together, and life was different.

A drunken night out led you to confess to your friends your constant back and forth with Tom, and your best friend nearly lost it at the news. You pulled up the texts and showed her. If she knew, she might as well know it all.

“y/n, what are you doing?”

“I don’t know,” you confessed.

“He fucked you over, babe,” your friend hiccupped. “You’re just going to be sad.”

“I think I still love him, I mean how can I not? He’s texting me about nothing but at the same time I feel like its everything because its how we talked when we were together,” you drunkenly rambled.

“You’re always gonna love him, he was your first.”

“I know. Its stupid. She’s there now and he obviously doesn’t need me or love me anymore soooo,” the words slurred together.

Your best friend laughed. “It’s not stupid. And bitch… why would he be texting you all the time... and on Valentine’s day... if he didn’t care anymore?”

 Two weeks earlier…

Tom sat on the couch, phone in hand, Harrison on the other side of the couch and Harry laying on the ground in front of the TV. Fifa blared as loud as possible and Harry cursed out Harrison for screwing him over in the game at the end of the round.

“Alright Tom, your turn,” said Harrison, handing him the controller.

“Nah mate you play another. I’m good for now,” he said, not looking up from his phone.

Harry flipped around to look at him. “You’ve barely played tonight. Stop texting Annie for five minutes and play, Tom.”

Tom sighed. “You should be glad I’m not playing. Because if I was, you would not be winning right now. And i’m not texting Annie, for the record.”

“Then who the hell are you talking to? You haven’t stopped staring at your phone for a damn week,” Harrison called out.

“Nobody,” Tom flushed angrily.

“Oh shit,” Harry chuckled and looked over at Harrison with a smug grin.

“What?”

“Its y/n, isn’t it?” Harry teased. Harrison’s eyes lit up with recognition.

“Why would I be-“ argued Tom.

Harrison leapt across the couch and snagged Tom’s phone out of his hand.

“Aye! Fuck off!” Tom protested, reaching for the phone while Harrison blocked him from grabbing it.

“No way. It is y/n! Since when are you two talking again? Does Annie know? Shit- you aren’t doing anything stupid right?” Harrison quizzed.

Tom groaned. “No. I am not being stupid, okay?”

“So what does this mean?” Harry smiled.

“Nothing!” Tom sighed. “Nothing. I just… I don’t know. Annie has just been really frustrating lately and… y/n is always here for me. Even after I fucked with her head.”

The boys groaned in unison.

“Mate, you can’t just go back to her when your new girlfriend isn’t doing it for you. That’s fucked up,” Harrison lamented.

“I know. I’m not going back to her, okay? It just feels good to talk to her like we used to. It’s never really been that way with Annie.”

“So you still love her?” asked Harry.

“Of course I do,” Tom confessed.

 And back to the night on the town…

 You felt your phone vibrate slightly on the counter, and you looked down to see a call had just ended. Quickly you grabbed it and went to the call log.

“Shit. No no no no shit!” You panicked.

“What?” you best friend asked.

The call log showed your last activity-

One call with Tom. Two minutes and fourteen seconds.

You froze. “I… butt dialed him. I just fucking- HE HEARD ALL OF THAT CONVERSATION, Y/F/N!”

“Oh no.” your best friend processed what had happened.

“Oh no?! This is a BIT MORE than oh no. This is, I’m dead. I’m absolutely dead and should go lay on the street for the buses I’m dead. Oh my god.” You began to pace the bar.

“y/n it’s okay! He probably could tell you were drunk and is just gonna ignore it. Or maybe he didn’t really hear everything!” she reasoned with you.

You felt sick to your stomach. “I need to go home.”

The uber back to your apartment was quiet and uncomfortable, and the driver blasting 80’s rock at its fullest volume did not help your situation no matter how catchy Africa was.

When you arrived at your apartment building, you had almost sobered up minus some lingering fuzziness inside your head. You walked up the two flights of stairs, and as you were turning the corner to your room you rifled through your bag for your key. They clinked as you pulled them out and went for the keyhole.

“Hey.” A voice behind you made you squeal in fear.

“Fuck!” you flipped around quickly, only to be met by messy brown curls and eyes you hadn’t seen in a while.

You paused. “What.. what are you doing here?”

“Hi to you too, y/n,” Tom smiled shyly. “I uhm… I got your call.”

Your heart sank to your stomach. “…course you did. Listen, Tom, I was drunk and emotional and I am so sorry that you had to hear-“

“I want to talk.” He stepped closer to you and cut you off.

“Why? So I can be even more embarrassed than I am already?” you huffed.

“Annie and I broke up. A week and a half ago.” Tom spilled.

“And..?”

“Y/n I know that I fucked up. Bad. But I can’t stop myself from wanting to talk to you and be around you like we used to. And I know that I in no way deserve that from you. I just want that drunk voice in your head that I just heard to be the real y/n that I know. I miss you- and I don’t expect anything from you but I just needed you to know that. It wasn’t her.” He rambled.

“What wasn’t her?” your voice cracked and betrayed you.

“She wasn’t… I didn’t start dating her because it was her. I started dating her because I didn’t have you and I needed someone. But it’s always been you that I want.”

You stayed silent.

“I know that’s fucked up.”

“It is.” You agreed.

He ran his hands through his hair. “I should’ve… fuck I shouldn’t have come here. I’m sorry.” Tom turned to leave.

You grabbed his wrist to stop him and he turned around with wet eyes.

You took a deep breath.

“I’m not saying that any of this is okay, or that I forgive you, or anything.” He bowed his head further. “But- I miss you. I’m stupid and I miss you.”

“So what does that mean?” he questioned.

“I think… I think you need time. You need a while to figure you out, and maybe after that, I’ll be here,” you said.

“Time,” he smiled.

“I mean we’ve had plenty… what’s a little more?” you chucked a bit.

“Thank you, y/n,” he said sincerely.

“Boy, you have nothing to thank me for yet.”

He smiled and grabbed your hand. “Thanks for butt dialing me,” he smirked.

You rolled your eyes and slipped your hand out of his. “I’ll text you in the morning.”

“Okay. Night, y/n,” he agreed with a nod.

“Night, Tom,” you said, turning the key and walking inside.

A month passed, and after that time the texting became a coffee date. And the coffee date turned into dinner, and dinner turned into five. Time heals all wounds, they say. And even after a deep cut, you finally agreed with that.

  tagging my queen @wazzupmrstark bc she’s my boo hi

[callunavulgari]

YEAR-IN-BOOKS | 2019

So. Last year I read 89 books. The year before that I read 39. The year before that I read 23. This year I have (thus far) read 110 books out of my goal of 100 and will likely finish both The Secret Commonwealth and The Library of the Unwritten before the end of the year. I may even finish another depending on which audiobook I go for next. So I’m gonna talk a lot. Again.

1. a book you loved?

Again, I read a lot of books this year. It was a great year for books. I discovered Brandon Sanderson, which has been amazing. I reread at least two different favorite series, some graphic novels, a few books that would ordinarily be outside of my typical genre. But I’m going to pick Red, White, & Royal Blue, which was probably the one I loved the most. Casey McQuiston, for those of you who weren’t in The Social Network fandom, wrote a really fantastic RPF in like 2011 or so. It was gorgeous and while I’m sad that it was never finished, I can still appreciate the crap out of it. RWARB is a story about the son of America’s first female president falling for the Prince of Wales. It is everything I loved about fics like The Student Prince and Drastically Redefining Protocol and more. It’s best universe 100% and I will probably be rereading it within the next few months because I loved it to pieces. Also, it won both best romance and best debut novel on goodreads by a pretty large margin, which is amazing! 

2. a book you hated?

I think the only book that I absolutely hated this year was The Gunslinger. Which sucks because a lot of people recommended that one pretty highly, but I either reluctantly enjoy Stephen King’s books or I outright loathe them. My review, directly from goodreads, with a rare one star rating:  

“Thing number 1: same guy who did the audiobook recording for The Stand did this one as well. Bad enough. Thing number 2: I forgot how badly Stephen King writes women. I got to listen to this narrator read a scene where a woman has an orgasm because the main character is exorcising a lust demon out of her by shoving a gun into her unmentionables, and then I got to hear someone described as "falling whorishly." DNF at 75%. Sorry. I just could not do it. Falling whorishly was the straw that broke the camel's back.”

3. a book that made you cry?

I definitely cried when I finished The Hero of Ages, which is the third of the original Mistborn trilogy by Sanderson. Without spoiling things... I was definitely crying by the end of it. Might have been crying at the end of the first in the series too. The only other ones I can think of that may have made me sniffle are Everything I Never Told You and To Be Taught, If Fortunate. 

The first because it’s a wonderfully crafted little tale about a family getting torn apart when their daughter dies tragically. The whole thing is pulled wonderfully taut with tension, and each of the character’s snippets into Lydia’s life before her death leads you to more and more discoveries until finally everything comes together seamlessly in the end.

The second because it is a little, little book about a big, big universe and is just so achingly beautiful and big inside that it hurts.

4. a book that made you happy?

I mean, I’m tempted to Red, White, and Royal Blue again because it is 100% the one that made me happiest. I was grinning like an idiot half the time I was reading it. But, because answering the same book for two questions seems cheap when I’ve read over 100, so I’m gonna go with King of Scars, which is the sequel to the sequel of the original Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. It took the best things about the original series and combined it with the best parts of Six of Crows and left me with a super riveting, fun read.

5. the best sequel?

Gah, I read so many series this year, so this is kind of hard. I have two answers!

The Well of Ascension, which was the second of the Mistborn novels and probably my favorite and The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, which in my humble opinion was leagues better than The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. Not that it was bad, I’m just starved for stories about smart sexy ladies who become pirates and flirt with other pretty pirate ladies.

6. most anticipated release for the new year?

Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner is still my answer to this one. The release date got pushed back to August of next year instead of March of this one, so provided it doesn’t get pushed back again - that is 100% my answer. Some others I’m excited about: The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks, which I found out about two minutes ago, the as yet untitled Stormlight Archive #4 which is apparently coming out in November next year, and like six books that don’t have release dates yet so probably won’t come out until 2021. Oh, oh, oh, and The King of Crows, the fourth in The Diviners series, which I forgot was coming out in February!

7. favorite new author?

Easily Brandon Sanderson. Most of my other favorites that I really loved were all authors I’ve read before. Sanderson was my Rothfuss of 2019. Discovering his books changed my whole damn year.

8. favorite book to film adaptation?

I didn’t reread the series this year, but HBO put out their adaptation of His Dark Materials and it has been absolutely amazing so far! I’m blown away by every single episode and can only hope that the second and third seasons will be this good.

9. the most surprising book?

Okay, so there’s this book that I picked up randomly at the library because I liked its cover. It’s called The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard Morais and it’s about an Indian boy who grows up to become a world famous chef. It’s so, so rich. The detail is wonderful. You can taste the food, feel the sun, be a stranger in a market somewhere in France. It was a true delight of a book and definitely one of my favorites. 

10. the most interesting villain?

I read Codename Villanelle shortly after I got into the TV show, and it was actually a surprisingly good book. She’s a great villain. However, I also read Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, which you don’t even realize is about the evil queen until you’re like halfway through the book. That one was really, really well done and I need to get around to reading its sequel.

11. the best makeouts?

I’m tempted to say Chilling Effect because there’s just something about a sassy space pirate making out with her alien crew member whose skin can make her go into anaphylactic  shock that really appeals to the part of me that shipped Sheppard/Garrus from Mass Effect, but there were two really steamy ones in The Hating Game (elevators) and Ninth House (slightly dubcon-y bit because one character is drugged, but super searing anyway?). 

Also the bit in Red, White and Royal Blue where they make out against a painting of Hamilton in the White House will probably get me every time.

12. a book that was super frustrating?

Again, But Better was a pretty decent book over all. But there were slightly too many pop culture references and listening to an audiobook where the characters are signing along to Blink 182 along with several other songs was a little cringey because the narrator did not actually sing, just kind of singsongy shouted. It was weird.

The Alchemist was also really slow going for such a short book but was over all pretty good.

13. a book you texted about, and the text was IN CAPSLOCK?

I have no real life friends who really read and it is fucking tragic, so the closest I got was recommending a bunch of books to my mom and going off on tangents about how good they were. I think I might have ranted to Nick about a couple of them too.

14. a book for the small children in your life?

I reread The Bartimaeus trilogy again this year and it’s a kid’s book series that I would recommend to literally anybody because it might be my favorite series ever? I also read Lockwood & Co, a kid’s series by the same author who did Bartimaeus, which was fantastic because I didn’t even know he’d written anything since Bartimaeus? It didn’t quite compare, mostly because I adore Bartimaeus way too much, but was still highly entertaining. Spooky kid detectives hunt ghosts! 

15. a book you learned from?

While I did not read a single non-fiction book this year (again, whoops), a lot of books are informative even if they’re fiction. Hell, I learned more about cooking from The Hundred Foot Journey than I have in any cookbook out there.

16. a book you wouldn’t normally try?

Maybe Challenger Deep? I’ve been branching out more, so it’s getting harder and harder to tell which books I wouldn’t normally try. I did read like three exclusively romance novels this year, which was a bit odd for me.

17. a book with something magical in it?

I still say all books are magical. And definitely a lot of the books I read were magical, but probably the one with the most magic was The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, which was a meticulously crafted love letter to all stories and fairy tales. It was really magical and definitely lived up to The Night Circus. If she keeps up like this, I won’t even mind the decade between publications, because she has a hell of a way with words.

18. the best clothes?

Maybe either The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (the descriptions of her gorgeous silky green dresses made me deeply envious) or Three Dark Crowns (which had neat food and clothes from what I remember)

19. the most well-rounded characters?

All of Sanderson’s stuff has great characters, but Everything I Never Told You is still probably the one with the best. Celeste Ng is really, really good at making you feel each of her characters down to their marrow.

20. the best world-building?

To Be Taught, If Fortunate was very much wow when it comes to the world building. But so was Ninth Gate and The Alloy Era of the Mistborn novels (sequel series to the original series that takes place hundreds of years after the first series). I also read Saga this year, a graphic novel series about a man and his wife on the run from their governments with their baby daughter because their species are in a long standing war and nobody wants anybody to know that they can procreate. That has some fantastic world building.

21. the worst world-building?

Maybe What If It’s Us? I found that one largely boring.

22. a book with a good sidekick?

Definitely any of the Alloy of Law books. Wayne is a wonderful sidekick and all of the other “side characters” in that series are fantastic.

23. the most insufferable narrator?

Ugh, the Gunslinger. Both the character in the book and the person who narrated the audiobook.

24. a book you were excited to read for months beforehand?

I think the only ones I was really excited for head of time were the two Folk of Air sequels by Holly Black and The Starless Sea. I still need to read Call Down the Hawk, and I’m currently reading The Secret Commonwealth, the sequel to His Dark Materials which I’ve been excited about since I learned that it would be a thing.

25. a book you picked up on a whim?

You already know about The Hundred Foot Journey. We Are Where the Nightmares Go and The Monster of Elendhaven were also both randoms that I picked up during the Halloween season that I really enjoyed.

26. a book that should be read in a foreign country?

The Hundred Foot Journey. 100%

27. a book cassian andor would like?

I still don’t know what to make of this question.

28. a book gina linetti would like?

Probably any of the steamy ones? I honestly don’t know.

29. your favorite cover art?

Probably The Ten Thousand Doors of January. It’s very pretty and flowery and the book itself is fantastic. I also really like the cover of David Mogo, Godhunter.

30. a book you read in translation?

I think The Alchemist was the only book I read that was translated from another language.

31. a book from another century?

Ha! North and South was first published in 1854. Other than that the oldest ones I’ve got were written in the 80s (Shards of Honor, Ender’s Game, and The Alchemist) or the 50s (The Two Towers).

32. a book you reread?

This year I reread the Bartimaeus Trilogy, the Temeraire novels (and then finished the last two I hadn’t read yet), Sabriel, and The King of Attolia.

33. a book you’re dying to talk about, and why?

I have clearly talked enough at this point. I think the only one that I loved that I didn’t get a chance to talk about already was Horrorstor, which is a book about haunted Ikea (basically). It’s fantastic and hilarious and spooky and now that I think about it Gina Linetti would probably like it. Oh, and The Bear and the Nightingale trilogy, which was a retelling of an old Russian tale. It was great. 

TLDR; Read Sanderson’s books, Leigh Bardugo’s books, and whatever Casey McQuiston writes for the next 30 years.

[morethanithoughtofficialblog]

Chapter 11: And I had an anxiety attack... again.

In which the title describes the whole chapter

*Your POV*

I slammed the door behind me, fell to my knees, and closed my eyes. Today was such a shitty day I actually don't want to go back. But I have to. Unless I want to get fired, which actually doesn't sound THAT bad.

Wait... yeah, that sounds reasonable.

My apartment was just like my mind: a complete fucking mess that made no sense and looked like Narnia. But despite that, my personal laptop was hanging out on the small table I have in front of the TV. I sighed and went to the kitchen, trying not to worry.

It's been a while ever since I met the group of monsters and, honestly, I'm loving it! They are super nice and a part of me has changed a bit... so I'm becoming more dedicated to making them as happy as I can.

And that also refers to some of their complaints, like "you should seek a better job" or "this is dangerous for you, you should have something that makes you happy". And that's what I was about to do.

After taking my cup of coffee and I sat on the couch, I opened my laptop and started to search for different jobs and opportunities. I'm a scientist and a... politician? We could say that. I'm experienced in both terms and I'm really trying to look for a scientist post today. I want to do what I love and, well, I'm a science nerd. Fite me.

I just don't want to work in the Congress anymore. It's boring, it's lame, and I'm not going to stay in an office for the rest of my days- not when I'm starting to care about things. Alphys and Sans have said that they want to become part of the science world, but they have to study hard to get it. While I'm waiting for them, though, I'll make them proud and work in science!

While browsing around, I ended up on a Facebook page and noticed I had a shitton of notifications. Interested, I checked the groups and started to read the messages... bad idea...

Paula: Hey, monster lover! You should just go with them to the Underground, hah!

Anna: Jesus, when did we let this happen?

Anna: I thought you were smarter than this!

John: You are gonna put us in trouble

John: And it'll be all YOUR FAULT!

And so it went. I frowned slightly and decided to check Discord, trying to get distracted for a bit. My mind was starting to make bad moves, and I just couldn't make them real. What if it was better to leave the topic? Did I make a mistake? Should I start protesting AGAINST them?! Are they a threat to humans? Oh my God, what have I done? Should I-

Do you wanna get... Frisky?: Hey (Y/N)!

Do you wanna get... Frisky?: you wanna play UNO?

CoolSkeleton95: YES, HUMAN!

CoolSkeleton95: YOU SHOULD JOIN THE FUN!

I shook my head with a smile, knowing I could never do that to them. Not after the little and funny history we have together, and how much comprehensible they looked with my problems socializing. They've made laugh like there is no tomorrow and to learn a lot of things. I just can't wipe them away from their dreams. I just can't wipe them away from my life.

Smartass: Sure, right now?

puns are love, puns are life: we're startin' right now, kiddo.

puns are love, puns are life: join this round before undyne comes with her shitty strategies again

I giggled softly, remembering the stupid nicknames we all had in that Discord group. I immediately went for my headphones, then joined the chat.

"Hi!" I exclaimed, praying that everyone could hear me. Fortunately, they could.

"hello kid, ready to lose?" A deep voice said, which I immediately recognized it was Sans. Everyone seems to have a high-pitched voice comparing them with him. Heck, even my father would sound like a three-year-old girl if we compare their voices!

After a bit of playing stupid rounds of UNO and hearing Sans's awful puns, I lost track of time. Eventually, Sans and I ended up playing Dead by Daylight together, the skeleton by some coincidence having the game installed. And so talked privately from then, and... got used to the game, I suppose.

"DUDE WHAT THE-" I stopped myself before I could use a bad word, not knowing how he would react. I still don't feel comfortable enough to be my usual, swearing, and boring self around them. I'm trying to be as less boring as possible... but I know that I'm still boring, even if I, indeed, try hard.

"i hate this game soooooooo much... what if we play somethin' else?" he asked, making me sigh in relief. This game's no good for someone with anxiety, keep that in mind. Bad thing I'm kind of a masochist in that aspect.

"You hate a lot of games, don't you? And sure, any suggestions?"

"do you have... mortal kombat?"

Oooh

This is going to be interesting!

"Which one?"

"x, i'm too poor to buy the new one"

"Sure, I have it! I'll love to play it, it's been a while"

"cool cool, i'll invite you then"

And we played like for, what, hours? Mortal Kombat is sincerely one of my favorite sagas of videogames since I was a little child. Dolls? Nah, videogames were my thing since the beginning of times.

I forgot my problems, I forgot everything. It was just me, my character, and an angry Sans rattling his bones all over the mic. I was enjoying it, even if he tried to deconcentrate me with his jokes, that at the end were all just corny comments trying to make me flush but made me laugh instead.

I joked now and then as well, and hearing his laugh was such a gratifying feeling I couldn't do anything but to laugh with him. Besides, his laugh is quite contagious, and I'm easily influenced when other people laugh, so this got the best of me.

When I looked at the clock though, fear ran all over my body, and I stood quiet for some good minutes. I tried to contain my anxiety, to calm down. I took deep breaths and closed my eyes, telling myself I'll be just fine.

"(y/n), are you-"

"HOLY SHIT IT'S 1 AM WHAT THE FUCK- AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

...

Nice job, sweetie.

My mind was being a huge and stupid mess whenever those awful screams were out of my mouth. Sans wasn't answering, so I felt worse. I started panicking and creating ways to make him hate me less, and before I could say anything, I heard laughter.

His laughter.

"oh my god (y/n) you panic a lot" he said between breaths, while I just remained silent. What the- "i'm sorry, it's just... you should not worry about anything, k? remember you said tomorrow you don't have to work, k? just relax. nothing's wrong with staying late once in a while, right?"

"Wait, so you don't think I'm pathetic or anything like that?!"

"wha- of course not! everyone has their moments (y/n), and you have anxiety, for god's sake! it's totally normal for someone to freak out now and then. you shouldn't feel guilty of that"

How...

I felt tears trying to escape from my eyes and I hold them back, keeping my cool... temporarily. I draw a weak smile in my face, even if Sans couldn't see it.

"Thank you. I needed that" Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnd my voice broke down in the process. Shit.

"don't worry (y/n)" he said kindly, and I bet he was still wearing that permanent shit-eating grin. I chuckled to myself, slowly making tears disappear "hey, do you wanna meet up tomorrow? maybe you want some time to yourself, i know, but maybe you should try to interact more with people... since i'm assuming you don't"

I never thought I would get lectured by a skeleton. Guess life is unexpected, huh?

But I realized he was right. My social anxiety can only be solved by interacting with others. There is no escape, and I'm conscious of that. Besides, what can go wrong? Sans has been nothing but a nice guy, and I'm starting to enjoy his company a lot. Maybe I'll be able to consider him as a friend?

"I'd love that, thank you so much. I don't get to hang out often, so that means a lot"

"don't sweat it. everyone deserves a chance to express themselves"

We hung up the call with a quick "see you tomorrow" and I went straight to bed, never erasing that last sentence he said from my mind.

"Everyone deserves a chance to express themselves", huh? Maybe...

Maybe this is my chance

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

*Sans's POV*

We hung up the call and I let out a sigh. I never realized I was playing until late, mostly because Papyrus didn't come for his bedtime story, and so I lose track of time. I was having a good time though, but I can't be stubborn and keep her up any longer. Not after she almost had a heart attack.

She's nice, and she seems pretty genuine. Doesn't look like the type of girl that should hide anything, not with that anxiety of hers. She's a goddess in Mortal Kombat, though. She knew how to use almost every fighter perfectly, and I felt like a punching bag with jokes in its interior. The more she won, the more I joked. At least she laughed... a lot, actually. She's a good audience, just like Tori.

Then I remembered she cursed when she was starting to freak out, and I started to wonder if she uses "strong" language daily. Or well, at least in her head.

I looked over that beautiful website called Youtube and watched some memes, that are truly gold if you ask me. A sick and dark sense of humor combined with random things and retards living their lives- in one word, perfection. I would also watch Tumblr, but that site gave me a good uncomfortable feeling that I don't want to relive any sooner. I also wanted to check Wattpad, but ever since I knew that it was mostly FanFiction, I thought more about it. Then I remember that Alphys told me she had an account and I immediately never went to that place...

Alphys is scary sometimes, no one can judge me. Her weird FanFictions are pretty much apart from anything I like to read or write...

And yes, I'm a writer.

That's why I thought Wattpad would be a good idea...

Thank God I changed my mind.

I'm mostly a science fiction lover, but drama and suspense are not that bad. I also like a lot of horror novels, but I'm no good at writing one my self. Believe me, I tried. It's hard to make it as noncliché as possible, considering that paranormalities are a huge cliché themselves.

I always include romance in my stories though. I realized it's quite essential in defining people's personalities and actions. Besides, romantic scenes leave a nice drama feeling when they are not exaggerated, so I try to put them once in a while.

I'm currently writing a novel instead of a short story, but it's hella difficult if you are bone dry of ideas. It takes a skele-ton of effort to come up with something good, and it's harder to put it in words. I also need to do some more research, since it includes scientific things...

Ah, sci-fi. What would I do without it?

I'm also a classic novel lover. Macbeth it's just wonderful and Journey to the Center of the Earth are old masterpieces that have a special place in my soul. I read them when I was a kid, and I would do it over and over. But I also want to see what new books the surface has to offer- one of my wildest dreams is to visit the biggest libraries around the world, like the ones in Paris or in Tokyo. But that has to wait.

I'm tired, but I never get myself to sleep. I suffer insomnia since... quite a few time, actually. It all started with the first reset of that goddamn flower; it started whenever I realized that the timeline theory was real and that, whoever got the power- the DETERMINATION- had the entire world at their hands.

Flowey was first, then Frisk came and had the power. Now I don't know if she has it anymore, considering we are at the surface and anyone could be more determined than her. But there's still a chance she has time and space at the tip of her fingers, and with a snap, she can make everything and everyone I love disappear.

That kid... she probably wants to see me suffer. After everything I've done to stop her, she hates me even more. She's selfish. She's a prick. And I'll never forgive her.

She knew I would remember when she did that. She killed everyone I loved, she destroyed the little hope I had on my home... and laughed at my face about it. That fight, that crazy look in her eyes... I have nightmares about it. Whenever I see the kid, a part of me replaces it with the painful memories of past timelines.

And I can't make them stop. I can't erase that devilish and empty smile Frisk had. I can't erase the vision of that flower becoming a God before my eyes.

I can't erase Papyrus's smile still with hope before turning to dust.

I shook my head and sighed. Out of all the times, I can't bring myself now into thinking like that... not anymore. We're on the Surface now, for God's sake! I should be happy because now I can fulfill my happiest dreams!

...

I lack the motivation, though.

There's no hope for me, or that's what I think.

I want the best for everyone (except Frisk and Flowey; screw them), but me? Heh, this old sack of bones won't be his usual self any sooner. It's just... it's just stupid to think I'll ever be the casual and relaxed skeleton ever again. I'm paranoid. I'm scared. I'm a fucking coward trying to protect his brother, but being too useless to do anything about it.

I can't go back to Snowdin. I can't go back to that goddamn house. I can't.

I glanced over my desk and noticed the folder with the things for my education. I let a sigh, knowing that I would never be able to keep up with that kind of stress. Not if my mind it's worried about something else.

I turned off the lights and went to my bed, trying to clear my mind. I let a new human enter my life, one older than Frisk...

That doesn't mean it's less dangerous.

That doesn't mean she's not a murderer...

[madlitparanormal]

This photo you see is one from after a seance conducted in my dining room. My Ouija board that I have used for the last few years with the planchette that came in the box, a lemon scented t light candle of which I had four, and a wax stained notepad and pencil for our friend Blaine to write down the boards responses.

April 12, 2019

It started as a couples game night. We played what the meme and two rounds of game of thrones clue. (Blaine stole my victory, I had my final accusation of Sansa Stark in the Gardens with the catspaw dagger and I was right! But Blaine guesses before me and was completely incorrect but he showed the cards from the secret envelope!) Anyways, we ate pizza and drank a few beers or a few glasses of wine. And then we decided it was time. Sigourney and I had always been intrigued by the board, Blaine who is Sigourney’s boyfriend had helped us with an experiment years ago and was fine with attempting to use it, and my boyfriend Edison usually declined with a “No, I’m good.” But for some reason he agreed to participate on this night. We lit four t light candles. The four of us placed our fingers upon the planchette, we moved the planchette around a few times to test the mobility, and then began the seance. “Is there anyone here that wants to speak with us?” Barely a shuffle. I asked again. Barely a movement. Of course this is me and after a few glasses of sangria so I got a little sarcastic with it. “Is there anyone here that doesn’t want to speak with us?” Still nothing. We dismissed the board.

April 13,2019 12:00 am

Sigourney and I decided to leave the men out and try on our own. Blaine acted as our recorder and Edison a witness. We all turned off our phones this time to see if it would help. Sometimes technology causes dull responses. Sigourney and I placed our fingers on the planchette. I said I would try to be a medium first and if that didn’t work then she could try.

“Is there anyone here with us?”

The planchette shuffled to yes.

“Are you a good spirit or a bad spirit?”

Somewhat jumbled letters.

“Ok let’s try for yes or no. Are you a good spirit?”

No.

“So you’re a bad spirit?”

Yes. The planchette shifted to the word yes and then quickly circled it several times. Edison said maybe we should dismiss it. Sigourney and I looked at one another. “Nah”. This conversation turned out to be one of the longest we had ever gotten.

“What’s your name?” Sam.

“Why are you a bad spirit, Sam?” Kill.

“Because you killed someone?” Yes—The planchette circled yes vigorously.

“How many people did you kill?” 949

“You killed 949 people?! Why??” My pleasure.

“You took pleasure in murdering people?” Moms.

“You murdered mothers?” Yes—violently circling the yes on the board.

“Where did you murder those women?” Baltimore.

“Sam that’s awful. Why are you contacting us?” Dead.

“Because you’re dead?” Yes.

“Well Yes Sam, you wouldn’t be talking to us through an Ouija board if you weren’t dead.” No response.

“Is there something you wanted to tell us?” 911.

“911? Do you mean the date or the number?” 911. Dead man.

“There is a dead man?” Yes—Violently circling the Yes again.

“Where?” Hole.

“The man is in a hole?” Yes—circling.

“What city?” Palm Harbor.

“What street?” Alderman.

At this moment we all looked at one another. Alderman was a street very near us and it runs through Palm Harbor. I don’t know why but suddenly the planchette violently shoved across “goodbye.” It was an intense session. I haven’t found anything leading me to believe there was a actually a dead man in a hole in Palm Harbor yet, not anything about a serial murderer of mothers in Baltimore. The closest thing I’ve found to the above conversation was a man named Samuel Little who is a convicted murderer. However, he is still alive.

April 13, 2019 1:00 am We began a new session. Sigourney and I placed our fingers on the planchette.

“Is there anyone here with us?” The planchette immediatey and with a strong push, crossed the board to the word yes in the left hand corner.

“What is your name?” Mama.

“You know, I’m not surprised that you would say that. Because you’ve been around for several years now.” I said, rolling my eyes. Yes.

“Who are you really?” B-E-E-L-Z-A-B-U-B

“That’s the name of a Demon...” I stated blatantly. GOD.

“You’re a God?” Yes-Violent circles.

“What do you want from us?” Souls.

“You want our souls?” Yes—violently circling the word yes again.

“Well you can’t have them. I’m baptized.” I said. “You’re out of luck on that one.” Signourney then mentioned that she is a redhead and redheads have no souls. The otherworldly being then spelled, Sex.

“You want to have sex with us?” (Keep in mind we were all partially intoxicated so we got very sarcastic and we joked around a lot). Yes.

“Why?” Souls.

“Oh, you steal souls by having sex with people?” Yes—violent circles.

“But I’m baptized and Sig has no soul. Is it true that redheads don’t have souls?” Yes.

“Well ... none of us are really interested in that..” Violent circles across the board broke out. The spirit on the other side vigorously shoved the planchette around and at some point the planchette even went off of the board and slipped out of our fingers a few times.

“Calm down!” I said as I forcibly moved the planchette back onto the center of the board.

“Why is it that when Sigourney and I use the board we get this kind of reaction but when anyone else uses the board with us it doesn’t work?” Sex ...

We ended up getting into a side conversation with the supposed Beelzabub and it lead somewhere completely inappropriate that I’m not going to discuss on here. It was pretty funny but again, personal.

The planchette on this night was more than ideomotor effect. It was violent, it was real, and it was creepy.

Last night while I was home alone I was in my bedroom watching tv. I had since cleaned up from game night and threw out the wax stained papers and put the board away. As I was sitting watching a few clips on Tik Tok, the tv shut off on its own. I looked up. I hadn’t set a sleep timer. And nothing else in the apartment had turned off. It turned on again and I heard the chime that comes with the power on. The movie I had on prior to this incident popped back up on the screen. I thought it was strange but decided that it was probably nothing, until it happened a second time...

I hope you all find this passage as entertaining and intriguing as I did. All accounts are true, names have been changed for protection.

To be continued...

[kz-i-co]

Distrust

Summary: Your best friend is going away and you're asked to look over her apartment too bad her boyfriend won't leave you alone.

Pairing: Nam Woohyun/ Reader

Genre: angst/smut

Words: 3.5k

A/N: I had to write this since Woohyun is my ultimate bias and all :)

------Also be prepared for some cringy smut....I found out that I’m not really good at writing it lol

m.list ╫  ∞masterlist

-

"Honey, I'm home." You said with a big smile as soon as your best friend opened the door, the only problem was, once you saw who it was, your annoyance only grew. "Oh, it's you."

He made a face and laughed sarcastically. "Its nice to see you to."

"Don't you have your own place Woohyun? Why are you always here?" You walked inside.

"Wait don't answer that." You said as a smirked formed on his face.

"Will you two stop fighting for once?" Taeha came into the room.

"Maybe if your boyfriend stopped being an ass."

"You started it." He fought back.

"You fight like siblings." She laughed.

"I rather be eaten by wolves then be his brother." You slipped out.

"Ouch." Woohyun held his heart in pain.

"Ew, I hate looking at your face." You glared. That was actually a lie. Woohyun was very handsome, at least to you in the beginning, but then his personality came.

"(Y/N) That's so harsh, he has a beautiful face." Taeha grabbed his face and kissed him passionately.

You made a gag noise and moved to sit on the couch. You decided to turn on the tv until your eyes glanced over to the bags on the floor.

"Hey Taeha, are you going somewhere?"

"Oh, yes." She leaned over to you and sat down. "My sister just had her baby and she needs help adjusting for awhile so I'll be living with her."

"What about your apartment?" You asked.

"I'll watch over it and help pay the bills." Woohyun spoke before you could.

"What about me? I can do it." You were basically begging.

"I'm her boyfriend I should." Woohyun fought back.

"Shut up brat." You growled through your teeth.

"I think it's better if (Y/N) does."

"Yes." You cheered and stuck your tongue out at him.

"I'm sorry Woohyun but you have your own place you need to pay for, (Y/N) lives with her father so she doesn't have to pay for anything."

"But- wait you still live at home?" Woohyun asked you.

"Hey shut up. It's free rent." You shrugged.

He laughed and you immediately threw a pillow at him.

"Why do you want to anyway?" You asked annoyed.

"Peace and quiet." He pursed his lips. He had roommates, he was probably sick of.

"I suppose I can let you sleep on the couch." You smirked.

"You want to sleep in the bed me and Taeha have-"

"Woohyun! Shhh." Taeha stopped him from continuing.

"Okay ew, I'll wash the bedsheets, no biggie." You smiled annoyed. "So how long will you be gone for?"

"Not sure, probably a month tops." She slightly shrugged.

"Woah, how can you two be away for so long?"

"I'll drive up to visit every weekend." Woohyun smiled cutely causing you to roll your eyes.

"Why don't you just go with her?" You asked.

"Because I can't take a month off of work." He spoke.

"When will you leave?" Tomorrow morning. She said.

"Wow, so soon." You looked at her widely.

"I know, it's so sudden but she needs me." She tugged her hair behind her ear nervously.

"Well I guess I'll go pack....You probably want to say your goodbyes." You arched your eyebrows.

"We already did, before you got here." He said dumbfounded.

You made a face. "Not like that (Y/N)." Taeha clarified but you didn't believe her.

"Sure, goodbye." You left them alone.

-

"What do you mean, you're leaving for a month?" Your dad asked as you loaded your car.

"I'll only be in town, chill." You started. "Taeha needs someone to watch over her apartment while she is away."

"Come on dad, I'm 22. I'll be moving out eventually." You continued.

"I know." He agreed.

"And you have Arin." Your little sister. "I'll still be here and there, no worries." You said as you shut the trunk.

.....

As soon as you entered the empty apartment, you moved around slowly seeing if there was an sign of the nuisance. You put your stuff into her bedroom and immediately took off all the sheets and threw them into the washing machine. You didn't want to risk those germs.

You could get used to this. Living alone with no one to bother you and no one to judge you. Taeha's bathtub was even nicer then yours that you couldn't resist. You drew yourself a nice bubble bath and plugged in your ears buds, feeling the most relaxed you have ever been in your entire life.

You sat there until the hot water eventually turned cold and the bubbles now faded. You tied your damp hair into a loose bun and dressed into an oversize t-shirt and leggings.

As soon as you left the room you heard pan rattling from underneath the counter. You could see the kitchen clearly from where you were but you saw no one. You hesitated to look on the other side of the counter afraid of what you were going to find. You grabbed the broom and walked over as slowly as you could. You lifted the broom ready to position as you got closer. Just as you were about to swing a startled Woohyun stared at you lifting his arms up for protection.

"Woohyun? What the hell." You put the broom down.

"Why are you trying to kill me?" He stood up.

"I didn't know it was you."

"I called your name when I entered." He said.

"I didn't hear you and how did you get in anyway?" You asked.

"I have a key." Should have known.

"So you're really staying?" You asked disappointed.

"Chill out I won't be here your whole stay, I just need a little break." He confessed. "I can cook for you." He gave you a begging smile.

"Okay fine." You easily accepted. You couldn't cook for shit. You threw the sheets into the dryer, as Woohyun started cooking dinner. He was lucky he was such a good cook, unless you would toss his ass right out on the street.

-

"Last week on big broth-" You looked around as your program suddenly changed.

Then the couch suddenly sunk next to you. "Woohyun? How do you keep sneaking in here?"

He just shrugged.

"I was watching something?" You said again.

"But the game is on?" He looked at you innocently.

"So? Go watch it in the bar or something." You snapped trying to grab the remote but he held it over his head, where you couldn't reach. "God, you're so annoying."

You sulked down in your seat. He looked at you guilty and changed the channel back for you. He tossed the remote so it was in your lap. The problem now was that you were feeling guilty. You.

He was playing with his phone until the show started to grab his attention.

"Why do you like this show? It's just a bunch of strangers living together and arguing over every little thing."

"That's not the point of the show, every week someone gets eliminated and whoever makes it to the end wins like a million dollar's." You explained.

"I don't get it."

"Its a game, you have to get people to like you since the people in the house are voting each other out." He still looked lost. "Its easier to understand once you watch it from the beginning." You gave up.

....

"You asshole!" You yelled at Woohyun as he pushed you off of the rainbow road. It was long after that you decided to play video games instead.

He was a laughing mess as you pushed him with your feet to the corner of the couch. "I was in first place."

"I'm sorry." He laughed and laughed even harder once your character came in last.

"I hate you." You said but more playfully. "I'll get you next round."

"Woah, it's 1 am....I have to get up early tomorrow." He stood up.

"Okay. I'll give you your couch back." You smirked.

"I have an idea." He looked at you with a challenging look.

"What?" You looked at him timidly.

"We'll play for it."

"Play for What?" You asked.

"The bed tomorrow night."

"Wow, how gentleman of you to kick a woman out of the bed."

"You scared?" He smirked some more.

"No, you suck at Mario kart, you just got lucky because you got a blue shell."

"Fine, then it should be a piece of cake then." He smiled.

You squinted at him. "Fine 3 rounds, best 2 out of 3, win."

You made your way to the bedroom as he made himself comfortable on the couch. Thinks he can beat me. Funny.

-

"Your boyfriends a tool." You said loudly through the phone as an elderly women gave you a disgusted look.

"What?" Taeha said.

"He's making a bet with me to sleep in your bed."

"Why?" She asked.

"Because I've been making him sleep on the couch every time he comes over."

She giggled but then suddenly stopped. "Hey don't be too hard on him okay, his roommate gives him a hard time, that's probably why he likes it there."

"What's wrong?"

"He's just a jerk. That's all."

"Well why don't you both just move back together?" You asked.

"He has to finish his contract first of all and last time we lived together it didn't turn out so well."

Taeha and Woohyun use to share that apartment last year, but something happened and he moved out suddenly and they broke up. You never knew what happened between them since it wasn't your business and seeing how much your friend was hurt, you didn't have the heart to ask. But since they got back together recently, they seemed as happy as ever but they stayed apart, even though he slept over most of the time.

"I have to go, I'll talk to you later okay." She sounded rushed and hung up.

Your mind grew more curious of what happened a year ago. You knew you shouldn't be so nosy but you just wanted to know so bad.

-

"You are going down." You pointed at Woohyun who just gave you an amused stare. "Here."

"We're drinking now too?" He asked as he grabbed the drink.

"So you can't cheat this time."

"I didn't cheat the first time...the game gives you the shells."

"Whatever, I think it be funny who would win when we are under the influence." You said.

"So now we are drinking and driving? You're dangerous." He laughed.

"Come on, it's fun."

.....

You were both laughing hysterically as you couldn't even finish the race. You both were safe to say, at least buzzed. The drinks you choosen had a low alcohol rate so even the 4 bottles weren't enough to get you drunk, but it was enough to make everything seem more funny then it was.

"There is something I'm dying to know." You sat up but your vision couldn't keep up with you.

"What?" His head was leaning off the back of the couch.

"Why did you and Taeha suddenly break up last year...that even caused you to move out."

He stared off into space just thinking about it. Like you just opened a wound. "You don't have to tell me, I was just curious. You both just seem different towards each other since you got back together that's all."

"Taeha wants to keep it a secret." Was all he said.

"Taeha is keeping a secret from me? Well I have a secret she kept from you." You said with a challenge.

"What?" He asked.

"Okay I'll tell you but then you owe me a secret." Your almost drunken state was basically like acting like elementary school kids.

"She lies to you about loving your dog when she really can't stand her."

"What?"

"She complaines when she gets dog hair all over her clothes." You shrugged.

He just stared in confusion.

"Don't be mad, she's just not an animal person, doesn't mean she hates them all." You continued. "Tell me a secret then."

"I heard you had a crush on me when we first met." He smirked.

"What?" You stiffened up causing him to laugh. "Taeha told you that?"

That bitch?!? How could she even tell him. You didn't even tell her. What?

"She lies." You said.

"She said that's why you're so mean to me, because you like me."

You threw a pillow at him. "Not anymore."

"Anymore? So you did?" He asked sitting up more.

"I just thought you were attractive. Thats it." You threw your hands up in defeat.

"Even though you call me ugly all the time?"

"Now you're ugly." You smiled.

"I look the same." He glared.

"Shut up."

"If it makes you feel better, I always thought you were cute." He turned away.

"Cute, like a child?" Your voice was getting annoyed.

"No. Just stupid stuff, like the look of disappointment when you look at the sink full of dishes, or how happy you look when you see a bird in your window, or just how aggravated you get when your hair falls in your face. All the expressions you use throughout the day."

"Wow, you're really drunk." You laughed.

"Yeah." He laughed with you.

"I just thought of secret Taeha told me that would really drive you insane."

He looked at you. "She said you're a horrible kisser."

His eyes opened wider. "What?"

You laughed once again taking another sip of a fresh drink.

"I'm not." He said like a 5 year old having a fit.

"Its okay, some of us can't be talented kissers like myself."

He arched an eyebrow at you.

"What? I am."

"How can you suck at kissing?"

"I don't know you tell me?" You smiled.

"Fine if I'm so horrible then you can tell me." He scooted over to you.

"Are you high, I'm not kissing you." You pushed him away.

"Its just a kiss, it doesn't mean anything...besides aren't you curious since you like me and all."

"I don't like you....anymore." You mumbled the last bit. "Did you forget you're dating my best friend?"

You siped your drink down even more, making you feel more loose.

"I told you, it won't mean anything." He was definitely more drunk then you.

Your stomach fluttered with butterflies. You would be lying, saying you never thought about it. Your head told you, you didn't like him anymore like that, but maybe it still lingered in your heart. It was hard to read though since when you looked at him you felt mostly annoyed now.

"Is this going to be the first secret just between us?"

He nodded. "We probably won't remember this in the morning." He said.

You shook it off and made the first move by bringing your lips towards his. It was a weird feeling. You couldn't tell if it was the alcohol in your system or the fact your stupid old crush lingered, but you were enjoying every second of it. He wasn't a bad kisser at all. It felt mesmerizing.

He pulled away trying to catch his breath. "What do you think?" He asked still leaning against you.

"I cant tell yet." You brought your lips back to his. His was working against yours desperately causing adrenaline throughout your body.

Your head was screaming at you to wake up. This was wrong. Your best friend didn't deserve this. They only just got back together a few months ago and now this? You were the worst friend ever.

But you couldn't stop. It felt right. Something in your gut was saying it was meant to be.

"Woohyun maybe we should-" You started but once he started kissing down your neck you felt lost.

The next thing you knew you felt the bed hit your back. Everything was happening so fast that you couldn't even process.

He had you pinned against the bed while he kissed up and down your neck. His wandering hands started brushing up your shirt, feeling every inch of you. You were just as guilty and you started undoing his belt.

You felt him playing with your bra strap, eventually loosening up the tight fabric. He had it off quicker then you realized and immediately started messaging your chest, loosely under your shirt. His lips made it's way back up to your lips, feeling more moist then before.

He stopped suddenly once he felt your hand making it's way inside his jeans. He closed his eyes tightly as you rubbed against him. You could feel the tightness growing causing you to unzip his jeans for more room.

When you felt like he had enough, you tugged his shirt up signaling for him to pull it off. You took some time to admire his toned body until he distracted you by tugging off your sweats. You went ahead and took off your own shirt being completely exposed.

It almost looked like he blushed as he saw you in full. He leaned down wanting to kiss you once again, but before he could reach you, you held your hand up to stop him. You started getting up causing him to lay on the bed instead.

At this point you were growing impatient. You still blamed it on the alcohol because normally you wouldn't act so desperate, but here you were breaking all the rules. You took off the last bit of clothing there was between the both of you. You gently took him in your hand and slowly jerked him only enough to lubricate. You leaned forward guiding him in and relaxed as you could adjust.

His muffled sounds were so beautiful as you began your movements. The pleasure was unreal. It was almost like a dream. If only it was to save you all the trouble.

You leaned down kissing him passionately as you quickened your pace. Once you lifted up for air, you grabbed his hands leading them to your chest. You tilted your head back enjoying the pleasure.

As you felt like you were lost in your own world, he grabbed your hips helping you keep the rhythm. You moved your hand to the front of your folds to guide your climax closer to the edge. Just as you were about to release, he beat you to it causing the room to spin. You felt numbness scattered throughout your body.

You looked down at Woohyun's beautiful face and you couldn't help but smile seeing how exhausted he was. You moved off and collapse on the bed next to him.

He turned on his side facing you as he gently started to close his eyes. You could feel the exhaustion effecting you as well but you asked one last question.

"Are we bad people?" You looked forward to see him already asleep. You kept thinking of that question right before you passed to.

Please be a dream.

-

When you woke up the next day, you felt more relaxed then ever. But you couldn't stop thinking about Woohyun. You were so convinced that last night was a dream you almost fell out of bed seeing him sleeping next to you.

"It wasn't a dream?" You said to yourself. It wouldn't be the first time you had a wet dream about the boy next to you.

You felt all the emotions hit you at once. Taeha would never forgive you for this. What were you going to do. You'll have to move far away. But what if you didn't tell her? You had to it was the moral thing to do right?

You leaned your head down, trying to get all the thoughts out of your head that you ended up screaming at the top of your lungs. Woohyun first instinct was to cover his ears as you suddenly woke him from his slumber.

"What the fuck-" He looked down and suddenly pulled the blanket up to his chest. Then he looked at you startled as ever. "Last night really happened?"

"We are terrible people." You were on the verge of tears. "Taeha will be home in 2 weeks, what are we going to do."

"Is lying worse then cheating?" His head fell down into the pillow.

"Oh my God, oh my god." You were rocking back and fourth.

"I'll tell her."

"Tell her what?"

"Just the truth, we were both drinking and did stupid things." He tried to steady his voice.

"We can't tell her over the phone, we'll have to wait until she gets home. Why ruin her trip?" You panicked.

"Okay."

But you knew the guilt would kill you. "Do you remember everything?" He suddenly asked you.

You did. "I mean yeah, but we weren't ourselves."

"Shoot, I need to get to work." He dragged the blanket off with him.

"Hey." You covered yourself with the sheet.

"Sorry, I don't want you to see." He looked down towards his sensitive area.

"I saw it last night." You glared.

He stuttered but continued to hide in the bathroom until he was fully dressed.

Everything felt so awkward. How were you gonna face Taeha again or better yet, Woohyun for the next 2 weeks.

The worst thing you could ever do to your best friend was done in her bed in her apartment. You may have lost everything you ever cared about.