#oh my soccer glory days i miss them

[sk2lton]

i js finished watching the first ep of csm, bllk, and bleach tybw and i will never experience that kind of happiness ever again

[wonijin]

DOWNFALL

you just wanted more budget for the soccer team. unbeknownst to you, karina wanted more. and before you know it, you were both knee-deep in a dangerous game of sweet lies and bitter emotions.

TAGS: enemies to less than enemies lovers. 3.2k words. thick juicy sexual tension. slight smut at the end.

WARNINGS: manipulation and sexual themes

the sea of students part as karina walks through. you follow her long graceful strides with your fast march.

“come on, karina. aren’t you supposed to be the president here?” you complained lowly in karina’s ear. people are already whispering because of the unusual sight of you and the student body president, you didn't dare attract more by arguing with her publicly.

“i am. that’s why you’ll regard me as president yoo.” karina replied without sparing a glance at you, her cold eyes trained forward.

“well then, president yoo. the soccer club needs more funds. as the captain, i’d like you to raise our budget just a teensy weensy more.”

this exact line has left your lips too many times these past few days. but who could blame you, the girl beside you refused over and over, leaving you no choice but to insist.

“how many times have i told you? we can't. the budget has already been decided so you’ll have to do with what you have.” you both reached an empty classroom and you closed the door behind you immediately.

“fuck that. we missed championship last time because of your shit budgeting. you think i’d stand for the same shit twice.” your hands flew up in the air in frustration, inhaling a deep breath. karina points her icy glares toward you, freezing you in place.

“if you think you can just get whatever you want, then you’re dead wrong. i’m not like my predecessors who bends to every single one of your whims.”

your brows furrow at her words. before you could reply, she had already opened her mouth.

“so i suggest you either give up or you find another way to get to championships.” with that, karina slams the door shut, leaving you fuming and glaring at her back.

karina knows you. she’d seen firsthand your effect on people. she’d watched you break peoples heart. she’d witnessed your charm work to the previous presidents. only to be reduced to tears when they realize they are but a means to an end.

in her eyes, you tarnished the student council’s reputation. they were branded as your puppets. one word from you, and the most respected students karina knew heeded. all because they found you endearing. oh, how it broke the ever so hard working girl.

but karina won’t turn out like them. she refused to be. in fact, she’s on a mission to get revenge. for her friends and for the council. a mission to restore the student council to its former glory and to destroy you.

this is either the stupidest idea you ever cooked or the cleverest.

the school parking lot was flocked with students despite the scorching weather. while cars of all shapes, color and sizes lodged aimlessly.

“everybody! thank you for coming today!” you shouted at the top of your car, holding a megaphone in one hand. “welcome to the soccer team’s sexy summer car wash! where we wash your car in ways both you and the car will enjoy!” cheers erupted through the crowd. you peer among the people gathered and you think just how much you’ve earned from the participation fee alone.

“let’s get this party started, shall we?” you put down the megaphone beside you. the crowd goes wild as you remove your shirt. your team members followed after. and the parking lot is in chaos.

the party is in full swing with more and more people appearing by the hour.

“i didn’t think washing cars would be this fun.” winter giggled beside you as you fill up buckets of water. it was safe to say winter liked the attention. after all, many are already lining up to take her home tonight.

“of course, when have i ever had a bad idea?” you grinned.

“every idea of yours is bad,” winter’s nose scrunch, remembering all those times you got the team in trouble. “speaking of, are you sure karina won’t just pop up suddenly? i mean look at how many people there is, she’s gonna find out.”

“then, let her. we’re students and this is our school.” you shrugged but both you and winter know it isn’t as simple as that. at least not when it comes to yoo jimin.

“she already thinks you’re the devil who have sex with everyone in exchange for favors. this would only make shit worse between the both of you.” winter’s words rang true to ears. unfortunately, you chose to be deaf to reason, too consumed by your hatred for the president to heed her advice.

“she can do whatever she wants and i could care less, winter.” if karina wants to paint you as the villain, so be it. those girls, her friends and the past council members, they slept with you willingly. they tried to give you what you want in hopes of winning your heart. but they didn't and so they wept.

“and would you really stop all this just because theres a chance little miss president will come?” at that, both you and winter come back to the heart of the mob.

the team didn’t really have to try to be suggestive or anything. walking around shirtless and flexing your muscles every now and then is enough for this sexy car wash to be sexy. after all, who wouldn’t be satisfied with sweaty six pack abs.

you were washing the hood of someones volvo while the owner was flirting with you.

suddenly you hear a murmur ripple through the crowd. you craned your neck to see the sea of people part.

a koenigsegg jesko pierced the population of teenagers. its engines roar over the hush whispers and its ivory skin reflecting the awe-struck faces of the students.

the luxurious car stopped behind you. everybody fell silent and you stood up, each one eager to know who is the driver.

the door opened and everybody broke out in gasps and distinct whispers. you looked at her with wide eyes as you stood frozen in place.

karina sauntered over to you. confidently and slowly, like she owned all the time in the world. strangely, there was no hint of anger in her gorgeous face. but her eyes held something you couldn’t fathom.

imaginary electricity prickle your skin. the air around you gets more charge every step she takes. you try to school your expression once more.

karina stopped in front of you.

“karina-” you started. but her gaze kept your mouth from saying anything further. she raises her hand and a slender finger met your lips delicately. “shush.”

you quietly observe as she face the car you were washing. she inspects it silently. she traced the hood with her fingers without a word. bubbles gathered at the tip of her fingers. she lifts her hand once more and in a blink of an eye she flicked it over to you. the bubbles landing on your cheek.

“what the fuck?” before your hand can wipe your cheek, her hand stopped yours. the other landed on your cheek gently. you feel your throat get clogged up as your wide eyes meet her brown ones.

you inhaled sharply, shakily as she moved her thumb to remove the white foam. her face closer to yours than before, giving you the chance to admire her features. it was nothing short of perfection.

although you were more than certain the foam had long since left you face, her soft hands stayed perched on your face.

“what are you playing here, karina?” you growled lowly. karina smirks at your frustration. how entertaining to see you crumble.

she leaned impossibly closer. expensive perfume invaded your senses. your eyes closed for a second as you gulped. “you forget. this is my parking lot you’re standing on.”

“we’re students here, we’re allowed to use this space.” as if coming back to your senses, your back straightened as your hand flew to her waist. her smile faltered for a blink of an eye but you caught it. and your lips widened at the sight.

“my, why are you so defensive?” she giggled beside your hear. melodious as it sent your bare spine shivering. if that wasn’t enough, she brought her other hand to your abdomen. “i’m not here to stop your fun. i just dropped by to say hi to my favorite student.”

her body pressed against yours. so close, you can feel her ample chest. should your hands go any lower, it would meet her ass.

“what are you playing here, karina?” you ask one more time.

“i’m playing your game. so try not to lose,” each word left her mouth with diction and it registered onto your brain slowly. just as you were about to make a comeback, her lips planted a kiss onto your ear. you feel your body go red, your mind on haywire.

and when her spell has left your system, she was already in her car revving her engine.

the student body president had declared war. and so far, she’s winning.

“watch me get the highest bid. everybody wants a piece of this, no doubt.” giselle twirled, showing off her curves.

“i doubt anyone would even bid at you. they’ll be too busy putting their money on this.” kazuha replied, flexing her muscles.

everybody lined up back stage for the team’s charity dating. in truth, you’ve raised more than enough money for the team. however, you wouldn’t let the threat by the name of yoo jimin pass so easily. and everybody knows when you cross y/n l/n, you cross the whole soccer team.

so you made the perfect stage of revenge for your humiliation. that little scene from the car wash spread like wildfire, everyone who had a mouth were talking about it. good and bad.

“thanks. i owe you and the team.” you pat winter who is fixing her makeup in front of you. you were the last ones in the line.

“what do you mean? this would’ve happened sooner or later, with or without intervention from miss president.” winter laughed. she put down her mirror and turned her body towards you.

“it’s already too late to talk you down whatever insane plan you come up with. so i wish you luck instead” she smiled at you. winter already knew it will work, there wasn’t a time it didn’t. *captain never fails*, that’s the line the team holds onto.

then you heard her name get called on stage. not soon later, loud chants filled your ears.

and you were left with your own thoughts.

you knew karina was somewhere among the crowd. she’d bid for you until she wins. the night starts with the two of you. and that’s where your game begins. your favorite game, the chasing game.

you’ve never lost at this game. and you have no plans to.

“please welcome! consecutive season MVP for three years and of course captain of the soccer team, y/n l/n” the crowd roared your name. it echoes throughout the whole venue. adrenaline pumps throughout your body.

you smile and the crowd goes wild. “okay. we’re starting off 70K WON.” not a bad start, your pride tells you.

“120K WON.” could be better. your eyes scan the crowd. a woman like karina wouldn’t be hard to miss. no matter how many people are here.

“500K WON.” a gentle voice spoke up. everybody turned turned their heads towards the source. a woman holding the number “7” with a gloved hand.

there she is. sitting elegantly, dressed in white that shows of her milky shoulders. her hair down, her eyes piercing and her lips painted red. she looked ethereal just by sitting in a chair.

the crowd murmured as they watch karina throw the highest bid of the night. you were sure another wildfire had just been brought to life.

“going, sold! a date with miss l/n for 500K WON” the announcer clapped and the audience followed.

“well, folks. this officially ends the soccer team’s charity dating. thank you for coming. for those who won a date, enjoy. for those who didn’t, there are other ways and many more chances.”

you walk down the stage to where karina is standing. she patiently waits for you to reach her, eyes never leaving your figure.

“you must like crashing our parties.” you greet. you both know there’s no need to be hostile, for now at least.

“of course. like i would pass up the chance to see your miserable face.” she links your arms together. you hummed in response. “let me buy you a drink then. for bidding 500K WON for this miserable face.”

you let her guide you to the bar where she orders an expensive drink. figuring you wouldn’t be able to go through the night this sober, you settle for a beer.

“barbaric. just like how i imagined you.” she huffs through her nose. what a priss you thought.

“its a classic” you correct.

the bartender passes you the bar. without missing a beat, you drink some and leave some on your mouth. then, you press your lips to karina and passes the beer to her mouth.

the president makes a disgusted face that makes you chuckle. you see her throat bobbed up and down.

your eyes fly back to her face, “tastes better when its from my mouth, yeah?”

you invade her space until her familiar perfume invades your senses again. “you wanna play my game, karina? sure. i don’t mind.”

“but what i don’t understand is what you’re breaking your heart for?” you say like you already know she’s the one who’s going to end up in tears.

“break my own heart? as if you can get even close” she scoffs.

“because your friends cried over me? please, they knew what they were getting into. it was their fault for not paying attention enough.” you ignore her. and while your words ring true, she still felt anger bubbling in her chest.

“or is it because the past council treated me like a queen?” you look at her in the eyes and laugh lightly in disbelief. her brows furrow in a blink of an eye, but it was gone the moment it appeared.

“i didn’t tell them to do anything. everything they did, they did on their own accord. maybe that’s precisely why it pisses you.i just butter them up a little and suddenly all my wishes come true.”

you had struck a nerve. it was why she’s in this crusade to end you. she worked hard for her seat in the council, fought for her reputation and earned people’s respect. meanwhile, you didn’t do anything and people still kiss the ground you walk on.

people fail to see you. the true you. manipulative and toxic. only she does and it frustrates her.

“but that’s why i like you. while others were blind, you saw reason. they were too busy winning my favor but you were plotting my downfall.” you tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear.

suddenly, she grabbed you by your tie and crashes your lips together. her lips were soft as they looked. they contrast her aggressiveness. for a moment, both of you were list in your world full of hatred and anger for each other.

your teeth clashed and your tongues intertwine. when you pull away, a string of saliva connects both your lips.

karina takes your hand and lead you outside the venue where her expensive car is parked. both of you wastes no time getting in.

you don’t know how long the drive took but when you did arrive at her mansion, you were drowning in your own lust. in the blink of an eye, you were pinned in the door of her room.

your hands roam all over her, feeling every inch. her lips move from your lips to your jaw to your neck. while her hands reach lower and lower until she’s palming you. you throw your back.

“you think you’re so mighty.” she bites the skin beneath your ear.

“know what i like about being president?” she asks you even though shes aware you’re head is stuck in ecstasy to answer. “i get to put people like you in their place.”

karina rubs circles through your pants. your body burns at her touch, like there’s flames at her fingertips.

“why don’t i show you what your friends saw in me?”you breath out and she laughs at how stupid you sound. how could say that while you writhe under her fingertips.

“after all, you paid for a good time. let me show what your money is worth.” you you reach on to her back for the zipper of her dress. you pull it down, leaving her in her undergarments. your eyes feasts upon everything before you.

“like what you see?” she puts a finger on your chin, forcing your eyes to meet hers. she smirks before kissing you again, slowly this time. her hands quickly unbuttons your shirt and you shrugged it off, not breaking the kiss. you were about to remove your tie but she stops you. “keep it on.” she says firmly.

karina grabs you by the tie and pushes you onto her bed by your shoulders. she climbs onto top of your abdomen. her once more before she pulls away and puts hand on your chest to keep you down. with one hand, she takes off her bra. her boobs spilling for you too see. your eyes meet as her hands massages her voluptuous tits, moaning. she bit her lower lip and threw her head back, just to tease you.

unable to resist any longer, your hands reach out to touch. but her hands were faster, she removes the tie around your neck and binds your hands. “you can touch next time.”

“right now. all of you is mine.” her lips attack your neck until they’re red and purple. hands explore your body until they stop at your chest. squeezing them before removing your bra. her lips move onto them next. she pinched, sucked and you ached for more.

next, she removes your pants and your panties, leaving you bare before her. she admires and for the first time you feel your face flare from someone looking at your body.

as if testing the waters, she puts her knees between your thighs and raises them until her knees barely touch your bare core. “fuck.” you let out a breath.

“don’t worry. i won’t make you beg.” this time, the unsaid words hang on her tongue.

“i’ll give you everything you want tonight. until you’re too drunk to remember anything else but me.” your breath hitch as her hands rub circles on your thighs.

‘by the end of the night, you’re going to be wrapped around my finger’ the thought makes karina smirk.

she gives you one last kiss before diving down, disappearing between your thighs.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

I decided to watch the Walker pilot so you don’t have to. #2

Because I don’t love myself enough, I guess. Let’s continue.

Recap in case you missed the first part: it’s boring, Jared acts like he stumbled on the set and never heard about it before, Texan law enforcement must wear very pristine shirts and cowboy hats or they will die, I guess, the cinematography wants to be good but I’m not sure it knows how to do it.

The last thing I mentioned in the first post was Jared doing a thing with his mouth but I think you need to see it. It’s basically the extent of Jared’s acting in this show. I had nothing against you, man, I swear. I even got your autograph once. I’m not a hater. I’m just looking at him...

THE TITLE CARD! I had paused the episode riiight before the title card. You have to witness it in all its embarrassing glory

Whose idea was it??

Some shots of the city of Austin. Walker and Martinez (Mexican Lady Cop) are having lunch. She says she’s heard about him, he asks what she’s learnt, she says, I textuallty quote, “I hear you are the edge of the coin”. Again, we are not allowed to have any kind of slight metaphor without the dialogue slapping us in the face with it.

“Not head or tail, just... your way” Jared didn’t even come up with the metaphor in that interview, it was in the script. Unless he came up with that line, which isn’t even a good line.

She basically tells him not to get in the way of her career. Being a Mexican-American cop is hard! Such deep commentary.

They start discussing the case, which I had already forgotten about. The cop who was slightly assaulted and won’t talk about it. “Maybe whatever was in that truck spooked him enough to abandon his oath” maybe it was a monster. god I wish it was a monster so that’d mean I’m watching Supernatural and Jensen is in it. The “oath” thing is kinda icky, like they want to remind us that being a cop is a noble path. It is in some places under some conditions. But we’re talking about Generic American conditions.

He’s like “let’s use the traffic cams to see if we can see something” and he slips right into his Sam tone. Admittedly that’s a Sam kind of thing to say.

It was day, and now it’s night. Walker house. He arrives when his family have already started dinner. Except the daughter isn’t there, she’s out with a friend. “Isabel, some Mexican girl” Walker’s father calls the friend. “Mexican American, dad” the gay brother corrects him, a deep and interesting commentary on ethnicity in the United States, we’re weeping with emotion.

Walker apparently isn’t happy that his mother has enrolled his daughter in a Catholic school, his father snaps back at him. We don’t care. We’re not emotionally invested in any of this.

There’s some awkward dialogue because he mentions the daughter playing basketball, but she’s switched to soccer. Wow, it’s like she’s become an entirely different person in those eleven months he was undercover! Can you believe? Apparently she used to play soccer before, she’s come back to it. Whoa. She’s an utterly unrecognizable person now, it’s going to be so hard for Walker to get to know her again from scratch. Can you believe?

Then he gets a call. He needs to pick up the daughter from the police station. He does some Jared awkward faces and leaves.

The daughter (Stella) was at a party and was arrested for possession. I miss when possession meant demonic possession. Dramatic music plays. She’s there with the Mexican American friend, whose parents arrive and he starts a speech on how they should get to know each other better. It is so not the right context to start making friends. “Epic first meeting” Isabel says. “I’m so sorry, this is so embarrassing” Stella says. “For who?” Walker quips, like a normal person does.

He’s like, let’s go, and the girls hug, which is the only believable expression of affection I’ve seen so far in the episode. Can’t the story be about Stella and Isabel?

Father-daughter conversation in the truck. Apparently we have emotional moments in cars, which we have never seen on television before.

He asks what she was thinking, she’s like, duh what do people use drugs for. She calls him out for disappearing completely. She mentions how it was bad enough that they didn’t have mom. He says “we both got to stop acting like she’s gonna come back and put us right” which makes absolutely zero sense. It’s like someone wrote it on a note for how to develop the characters and they just decided to slap it into the script of the pilot. Remember these people haven’t seen each other for eleven months, he left shortly after his wife died. They didn’t have the time to process the grief together, why is he even saying that line here?

Meanwhile Martinez get home and we meet her boyfriend, a very cute Black man. They’re cute. Why can’t the story be about them?

He asks her about Walker, she says he’s a mess. Oh god. She says he was a Marine, “signed after 9/11”. Holy shit. He’s a Marine who signed up after asdfghjkl can’t you feel the Manly Trauma here????

He’s a Marine who signed up to fight Muslims after 9/11 and now has a dead wife, he’s exactly the kind of male lead character we need right now.

She says she’s trying to figure him out. Her boyfriend is like “dude stop thinking about that guy, he’s not at home trying to figure you out” and she replies “oh I’m pretty sure he thinks he knows everything about me already”.

This is the first scene that hasn’t felt bad so far.

Meanwhile Jared and his brother go to a bar. It’s very ~Texas Aesthetic~, and they’re wearing cowboy hats, of course. You are not allowed to go to a bar without a cowboy hat in Texas. “The brothers Walker” the flannel-shirt-clad bartender says, coming with drinks. Jensen Ackles makes a face somewhere in the mountains.

The brother goes to call his partner and the bartender starts chatting with Walker. She has a conversation with Jared’s awkward faces and she’s like, I guess you left because I couldn’t answer your questions about what happened yo your wife. This is how people converse in real life.

She asks him if he’s alright and he doesn’t answer, instead is like “let’s have a dance”. He doesn’t say he’s fine, but I think it still counts as a I’m Fine Lie Moment #2 because that’s what it is in spirit.

I know you’re bored, I’m bored.

They dance in the Texan bar, I’m distracted by the pool tables and wish this was Supernatural so we’d see Jensen Ackles play pool.

Obviously the dance is interrupted by work - a text from Ramirez who says she’s got something, “office 8am?” so he leaves because he has to wake up early. I’m not kidding.

I was kind of warmed over by Ramirez and her cute boyfriend and by the bar who was kind of nice as a location, when the next scene at the office immediately starts with Ramirez saying “My mom wouldn’t let me play with dolls when I was a kid, so Iearned about cars instead”. I die a little inside. It’s the second time she’s referred to her mother wanting a son...? So she’s badass because she wasn’t raised to be feminine...? Ew.

So they have this lead thanks to her knowledge of cars. They go investigate. I’m bored.

I shouldn’t have said I was bored, because Walker destroys my boredom by having Jared pick up a cross and start talking to “JC” sarcastically asking him for guidance about his kids going to the Catholic school. “Can you stop” Ramirez says, along with all of us.

By the way they’re in a workshop run by an ex-convict who employs former criminals to make figurines (like that cross). I got a bad feeling about this. Former criminal in cop shows is always code for current criminal.

The investigation leads to two guys who work in the store - “oh I know you,” one immediately says when he spots Walker, “you’re the ranger with the dead wife”. Walker is like, what did you say. And the guy is like oh I heard the story of a ranger’s wife biting a bullet near the border, guess you couldn’t protect her uh~~~

They exchange more provocations - Walker calls him some lowlife something and the guy goes to punch him and Walker beats him up. Violently. I’m uncomfortable. We’re supposed to think he’s exaggerating here but... he does get very violent and should not be a cop. Period.

They go to Ramirez’ house because he cut his hand. Her boyfriend is like “baby there’s a dude bleeding on your couch” I want a season of him, exclusively him.

She scolds Walker. Not because he beat up a guy with more force than needed, but because he acted stupid and that’s bad for her career. I’m uncomfortable.

Also, what’s bad is that they’re supposed to work *together*. He says he has his own way of doing things. Yikes yikes yikes.

She says that her theory is that they put them together because he always break the rules. Apparently she read up his cases and he always break the rules. The main character of the show is a cop who break the rules in half the cases he works. Yikes yikes yikes but also did I mention yikes?

No, wait, he acknowledges that he “bends” the rules, like that’s better! Yikes!

More bad dialogue, then Stella’s school calls him. She hasn’t been at school.

He goes to ask Isabel’s mother, who reveals they haven’t their papers yet, so any criminal activity would mean deportation. He talks about it with Ramirez and mentions that his brother who’s a DA could get in contact with the Feds to speed up the papers. Are we supposed to be like “oh what a good guy”? The thing is just creepy to me.

Well, at least Ramirez says something about it, or actually quotes her mother who used to say that the law doesn’t protect us. That’s why she ~burned bridges~ with her family! Apparently because she became a cop.

Ow. Her mother is not speaking to her because for her, her daughter being a cop is like a betrayal. But for her it’s a way to set things right! We’re supposed to think her mother is exaggerated. #notallcops #individualgoodcopscanchangethesystemfromtheinsideforsuredefinitely

Meanwhile their investigation continues. Remember the cross Walker randomly picked up to mock the concept of Jesus? Ramirez stole it. And now they find out there’s heroin in it. Alright... obviously the business that was supposed to rehabilitate former criminals is a cover for cartel drug dealing. What were we expecting. I’m tired.

Ramirez decides to work the case alone and sends Walker to look for his daughter. “I was that kid once, I always wanted to be found”. The impression you get from the scene is that Walker had forgotten about his daughter missing lol. Ramirez insists he goes. I’m uncomfortable with how many times people put on cowboy hats. Someone should count. We’re only 30 minutes in and it feels like it’s happened 80 times.

Alright, a break now! My laptop’s ventilation is running like crazy, VLC and long tumblr drafts are a bad combination. Or maybe it’s just my laptop being allergic to this show.

[lavenderlattaes]

20 with hyunjin please

a/n: someone give me lessons on making better titles,,,, hhhh (also i lowkey wanna make a full length fic with this lmao)

when practice is over. | hwang hyunjin

⇒ pairing: hwang hyunjin x reader

[ high school! au ]

⇒ genre: fluff

⇒ prompt: #20 Kissing in a stairwell, giving them an artificial height difference.

⇒ word count: 1.1k words

⇒ warnings: one teeny tiny violent comment from seung but it’s all cool, and maybe hwang hyunjin in general just bc lol

Finally, you thought, no more stuck-up chaebol heir classmates, no more piled up homeworks, no more final exams, no more stress. It’s just you, your animes, and your limitless tubs of ice cream over summer break. You bid goodbye to your best friend, Kim Seungmin, knowing he still has lots of stuff to do as class president despite it being the last day of the year already. You usually wait for him and walk home together, but today, you had to make a few stops before heading home anyway. 

“Wait for me before watching the latest episode of Black Clover or I’m going to snap your wrist in two!” Your overly violent and passionate best friend calls out as you head for the door, making you whip around to stick your tongue out at him as he rolls his eyes and waves his hand. You let out a chuckle, knowing he’s just joking about breaking your wrist, since someone else is going to end up breaking every single one of his bones if he even tries to break at least one finger on you. Nonetheless, Seungmin loves you and only does it to get on your nerves and emit a response from you, knowing how emotionless you can be at times.

Let’s just say he’s one of the very few people you can actually tolerate at school. The two of you didn’t fit well at such a prestigious school, but with brains like yours, you both got scholarships and are studying the best education with almost zero expense on your part. You can handle a few stuck-up chaebol heirs for quality education.

“Hey, Y/N! Going home already?” Another friend of yours, Han Jisung greets, also making his way outside his room which was across from yours. You shake your head with a smile. Despite being the son of the CEO of a huge music label company, Jisung was pretty down to earth and fun to be around. He’s met all of the biggest idols to date, but he’s never let that get to his head, which is why you like him. 

“I have to meet up with the captain,” you say with a teasing smile and Jisung lets out a loud laugh, knowing what you mean. 

“Aight, I’ll see you around for the summer, then. You have to go see some concerts with me. You and Seungmin and the whole gang. My treat,” Jisung says and you thank him for the offer before you both part ways.

You reach the stairs, waving at your junior, Yang Jeongin. His dad owns the school but he’s an absolute angel, and all of your friends love him too. He heads for the theatre club room, and you head down the stairs, eager to reach your destination. You reach the first landing and round the stairs making it down just a few steps when you stop in your tracks. 

Your breath hitches. Standing just a few steps below you was Hwang Hyunjin in all his soccer uniform glory, his long, blonde hair held back by a loose half ponytail and a headband. His hair was kinda messy, and it was probably from running around the field so much.

“Hey,” you manage to squeak out after a few seconds of silence, and Hyunjin chuckles, biting on his lower lip lightly.

“Practice ended early a few minutes ago and I was waiting for you already,” he says, moving up one step. 

“Sorry for making you wait, I ran into Jisung in the hallway.” You say sheepishly and Hyunjin nods, his lips upturned in a small pout.

“I missed you too much, baby,” Hyunjin sighs, moving up one more step so he can reach for your hands. He takes your hands in his and swings them to the sides gently, his head tilted as he gazes at you, making your knees go weak.

Okay, so maybe you don’t really hate chaebol heirs, especially ones that play soccer and go by the name Hwang Hyunjin.

“What are you up to today?” He asks you, placing his large hand on your hip gently, moving you to the side by the wall, so other people can pass. Your cheeks heat up when a group of seniors pass by, smirking at you and the soccer team’s captain. You still weren’t used to all the attention and affection, since you’ve only started dating a few months ago and Hyunjin’s been chasing after you for far longer than that.

“Hmm, just going to watch the latest episode of Black Clover with Seung, after he’s done with class president stuff,” you say, looking away shyly. Hyunjin tsks, cupping your face and turning your head to face him.

“Look at me.” He says and your eyes reluctantly turn to him, making a bright smile grace his features. “Perfect, there’s my pretty angel,” he sighs dreamily and you feel like disagreeing because he literally exists there and you can’t even come up to his own beauty’s level.

“I’ve got meetings to attend to with Dad tonight, so I’ll be busy. But I’ll call you before you head to bed, okay?” He tells you gently and you nod, your cheeks heating up when his thumb caresses your cheek softly.

“Okay, now, kiss me.” Hyunjin says so casually, making you gasp and hit his shoulder.

“Hwang Hyunjin!” you exclaim as he whines, letting go of you to rub his sore spot. “Ow, that hurts,” he says, making you gasp and move down the steps to check his shoulder.

“Wait, really? Oh, I’m so sorry Jinnie, you caught me-” 

Noticing the close proximity, Hyunjin turns to you and slips an arm around your waist, pulling you into him as he plants a kiss on your lips. Your eyes widen and your hands grip his shoulders, kissing him back anyway. A full smile breaks out onto his face, making him break the kiss. You both gasp for air and you stare at him.

“You’re crazy,” you whisper, your cheeks a dark shade of red now as your eyes frantically look around, hoping no one saw a thing. Hyunjin chuckles, leaning up to kiss your lips again with a soft peck. He nuzzles his face in your shoulder since you’re taller now on the staircase, his arms wrapping around your waist to hug you properly.

“Let me enjoy this, Y/N. I love kissing you,” he says with a wistful hum, his eyes closed in content. You sigh and shake your head, wrapping your arms around his shoulder, your hands coming up to play with his messy hair.

“Fine. But only because I know you did well during practice today.” You stroke his long blonde locks gently, relishing in the way he moves closer to you at the simple gesture. You soon hear the sound of faint footsteps and see his co-captain, Lee Felix round the staircase, still in his soccer gear as well, a confused look on his face. He turns around and his eyes meet yours before landing on his captain wrapped up in your embrace. He stares at Hyunjin in disbelief before turning to you and you piece it together.

“Hwang Hyunjin, you skipped practice again?!”

[sleekervae]

The Neighbour [0.3]

Something was irrevocably different with Remington; Emerson picked it off right away. On an early Tuesday afternoon, with the air thick and humid and the sun beating down like a plague (no pun intended), Remington was fussing over himself more than usual. He had changed out of four or five different outfits, playing with his hair, and was it appropriate for him to wear makeup? Eva hadn't seen him with it on, yet. No, it was probably best to keep it casual for now. Then again, he had a fantastic highlight that worked absolute magic under the sun...

It was around eleven thirty when Remington finally came down, dressed down but still presentable in a simple pair of ripped skinny jeans and a t-shirt. Emerson and Shy were sat on the couch as they watched Netflix, Pepper situated between them. Remington stopped short when he saw the pair cuddled up on the couch, he smiled deviously.

"Eugh! You guys are so flippin' cute it's gross!" he gushed, putting on his diva voice.

Shy chuckled softly, "Hi Rem,"

Emerson's attention diverted to his older brother, intrigued to see him all ready to go out somewhere.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Coffee with Eva," Remington replied simply.

"The neighbour with the cat?" Shy said.

"Yeah," Remington nodded, "Emerson tell you she gave us a loaf of bread last week?"

"He did," she smiled, "Poor thing, I felt for her. She looked so flustered at the pool,"

"Well, moving is a bitch already. Throw in Covid 19 and you got a real thorn in the ass," Emerson said, then turning back to his brother, "You gonna' be social distancing?"

"We're going to drink our coffee and walk around in the park," Remington replied, "She works from home anyway,"

"So, who asked who for the coffee?" Emerson asked.

Remington shrugged, stopping at the hallway mirror to fix his hair again, "She brought up how she hasn't had a chance to get around the neighbourhood, so I offered, she accepted. She has our vinyl too,"

"Which one?" Emerson asked.

"Boom Boom Room,"

"Side A or B?"

"A,"

"I'd approve either way,"

Shy couldn't help but subconsciouly squeeze Emerson's arm, a glimmer of excitement bursting behind her eyes, "So, she's a fan, too?"

"Took her a minute to figure it out. Didn't even bring up Em or Seb, so clearly she pays more attention to me," the blonde smirked.

Emerson glowered at his brother, "Yeah, yeah, go for your cup of fuck-off-ee," he grumbled.

Across the street, with her room strewn in discarded clothes that just didn't make the cut, Eva finally felt confident standing in her denim skirt and black tee. On any other day she'd have paired the ensemble with her pleather jacket, but it was too damn hot out. Even with the window letting in a cool breeze, the air was uncomfortably humid. What did she expect when moving from the Emerald City to Los Angeles?

Eva made sure to close and latch the window shut before she left, not eager for Pluto to go off on another reign of terror. Stopping to grab a fresh face mask, her phone suddenly began to vibrate in her purse. She figured it might have been Remington sending her a text, but the screen flashed to the Blocked Caller ID. Eva rolled her eyes and denied the call.

Stepping out into the humidity, Eva waved her hand over her face as she stepped out of the complex courtyard, just at the same time Remington was locking the door to his house. As soon as she caught his eye, he was all smiles.

She was glad to see him; a little relieved, even. He looked cool, cool enough to appear on some grungy magazine cover. All he needed to complete the look was a cigarette and maybe a skateboard, too. The messy blonde hair, the glimmer in his eyes brought back the warmth she associated with his presence and as she came to meet him at his car, his spicy cologne danced up her nose and imprinted itself in her olfactory memory.

Remington had never been more wary of how his hands shook, his left hand he stuffed into his jean pocket and the right he gripped his car keys with a vice-esque grip. He found himself mesmerized briefly by the fit of her skirt, her black t-shirt tucked in smoothly but not too tight to over expose her figure, but just enough to give Remington an idea. Her short brown hair fell delicately over her face, one side pushed back behind her ears and exposing her stormy blue eyes to the sunshine. She was the embodiment of innocence and grunge wrapped into a perfect five-foot-six package.

"Glad you didn't stand me up," he grinned.

"Well, I kind of happen to live right over there," she drawled, pointing to her balcony, "It'd be kind of awkward and hard to hide if I tried,"

"You look really nice," he nodded after a brief moment.

"So do you," she agreed with confidence, "Where we off to?"

There was a forested park not far from where they lived. Despite the pandemic, the fields were filled with older kids playing games of soccer and basketball, there were vendors out trying to sell their ice cream, a couple girls were scattered across the grass and sunbathing. It almost all seemed so normal, if not for the fact that the kid's jungle gym had been fenced off so no child could climb upon it.

The pair walked side-by-side, him with his iced black coffee and her with a green tea frapp -- no whipping cream. The gravel path they walked was shaded by a canopy of lush green trees, providing some relief from the hammering heat. Remington kept his gaze locked on her, worried to miss a moment where she'd crack a smile or briefly run her tongue over her lips. Her fingers appeared so dainty yet he could spot the small calluses at the middle joint of her thumb, and some paper cuts on her middle and index fingers.

"So, how does a ghostwriter get hired?" Remington asked, "Do you just openly advertise 'hey! If you're a lazy author, come hire me'?"

"No," Eva shook her head with a giggle, "I used to write articles for the newsletter at my college, and then a friend of mine forwarded me an email about a client who was looking for a ghostwriter. I didn't know much about it but the money was pretty good. It was a grant application for requesting financial aid for survivors of residential schools,"

"Sounds depressing," Remington said.

"It was pretty heavy shit," Eva admitted, "But, I did get fifteen-hundred for a six page application. Well worth it, I'd say,"

Remington blew an impressed whistle, "So you make pretty good money off of this?"

"Let's just say my student debt has decreased significantly since I took up the profession," and she took a brief sip of her drink.

"You ever publish anything under your own name?" he asked, "Eva Kuznetsov is a cute pen name. Evelina sounds more mature, though..."

Eva shrugged, "I think about it sometimes... but it's just easier to write under someone else's name and let them have all the glory. Say, if they happen to do something stupid to forever tarnish their career, that won't come back to bite me in the ass,"

Remington smirked, "Like a particular fantasy author who's made some pretty heavy comments concerning the trans community?"

"Let's not even talk about that, my heart still breaks when I think about it," Eva sighed, "To answer your question, however, if I got confident enough I may try to publish something in the future,"

"What else do you like to write?"

Eva opened her mouth but closed it quickly, pressing together her petunia pink lips as she visibly swallowed whatever words were about to pass through them. When she looked up at Remington again, his brown eyes dark like soaked coffee grinds that sent her into a caffeinated headrush. What would he think if she actually told him...

"I write poems, some short stories," she somewhat lied.

Remington's smile grew wider, mischief glimmering over his face like light beams reflecting over windchimes in a saturated dusk, "You hesitated just now," he spoke curiously, "What else do you write?"

Eva glanced down at the ground, a nervous giggle bubbling out and knocking the air out of her lungs, "Okay listen, don't judge me, it's just a hobby of mine,"

"Oh God!" Remington gasped, "Do you write porn?"

Eva laughed again, her pale cheeks flushing in red, "Well... I do happen write some naughty shit... in my fanfictions,"

Remington stopped dead in his tracks, taken aback by her answer. He totally thought she would say something along the lines of erotic fiction on a platform like Literotica. For understandable reasons, he had some mixed emotions about fanfictions.

"What kind of fanfiction?" he asked, somewhat bordering on the third degree.

"... Um..." she glanced at him again, the smirk on his lips compelling more giggles to burst from hers. She pressed her hands together over her nose and mouth, and Remington laughed as well.

"Okay listen, I promise," he put his right hand over his chest, "I promise I will not judge you for whatever smut you write for whoever," he assured her.

"It's not... yeah, I guess it kind of is," Eva chuckled nervously, "I usually write for stuff like Criminal Minds, but more lately I've gotten into writing for Euphoria..." she trailed off, timid as she waited for his response.

"Alright, that's actually not bad," he nodded, "I'll be honest, you didn't strike me as somebody who write fanfics,"

Eva glanced timidly at her scuffed sneakers, kicking up pebbles and dust, "Are fanfic writers supposed to look a certain way?"

"I don't know, actually," he simpered.

"I don't tell a lot of people that I do it, mainly because their first impression is either 'what the fuck' or 'OMG we should collaborate' and I'm just like," she hung her head back, "Nooo!"

"You're more of a soloist then a team player, then?" he teased.

"Let's just say I tend to work better alone," she replied, shrugging her shoulders as though the comment should mean nothing. But Remington found it odd that Eva was out here all on her own, never brought up her friends or family. He didn't see many personal effects in her apartment, neither.

"Is that why you're out here by yourself?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she replied.

"Well... don't take this the wrong way, but I haven't really seen you with anybody. You don't talk about your friends or your family,"

Eva shrugged again, "They're all back in Seattle. Besides, opportunity was drying up over there and I just wanted a fresh start," she said, "Besides, Pluto's my friend,"

"Well, that's a given," he replied, "Are your parents up in Seattle?"

"My dad is," she nodded, "I don't know what my mom's doing," Remington's silent was her cue to go on, "I um... we haven't really spoken, her and I,"

"You have a falling out?" he asked suddenly.

Eva glared down at the gravel again, "You can call it that. She's a pilot and she's always flying, and so you know, I never really got to see much of her growing up. And then, she suddenly shows up for my college graduation and expects us to be one big happy family, like she has it in her head that she can make up for all the birthdays and shit she's missed. And I just didn't know what to say to her. I don't know who she is, but she's my mom," she glanced up at Remington again, "And I don't know why I'm telling you all of this,"

Remington wasn't bothered by her unloading, it seemed as though Eva needed to get things off her chest more than she realized. Her smile was sardonic and her voice petty like a comedian on stage, putting on the brave 'I don't give a fuck anymore' face.

"I find sometimes it's easier to unload to new people then it is to your friends," he said, "What does your dad do?"

"Chem professor. Which is ironic because I seriously sucked at chemistry," she replied.

"Show me a kid who didn't struggle in chem, honestly," he said, "But do you get along with your dad?"

"For the most part," she chuckled, "He's still confused as to why I choose to write anonymously, but that's his problem. What do your parents do?"

Remington chewed on the inside of his cheek, "My mom's kind of like our manager. Does a lot of production and behind the scenes stuff. And I haven't seen my dad for nearly twenty years,"

Eva was silent for a moment, studying him. He spoke with a firm grin, yet still trying to shadow that flicker of sadness within his face.

"So we both have parental issues... that's nice to know," she put on a teasing grin, "Maybe that's why we make such good friends?"

Remington swallowed thickly, "So, you are indeed confirming we are friends?"

"I am," she smiled, "It'd be nice to have whatever few I can scrape up,"

"That fact that you also live across the street means that you're now stuck with me," Remington grinned with pride.

"True," Eva hummed appreciatively, taking another sip of her drink, "Somehow, I don't think I'll mind, though,"

When Remington drove her home she gave him a sweet and polite goodbye, a hug which made his confident exterior falter for a second long enough for her to witness it through the flush in his cheeks and his lack of response. His words tripped over the length of his tongue when he tried to flush out a proper goodbye and he felt his hands began to quiver again.

And when he went to open his door, he took one last glance. The small brunette turned at the same time and met his gaze, but he was too far away to hear her sharp inhale. And when he finally went inside he fall back against the door, staring into space with the biggest grin he'd had on since... well, he couldn't remember when he last felt so excited.

[ericsonclan]

Where A Kid Can Be A Kid

Summary: Violet is stuck on thoughts about a bad day of school until Louis texts her and asks if she wants to hang out.

Word Count: 4047

Read on AO3:

Shit. Today really sucked. Violet frowned deeply as she strolled home. She didn’t feel like going home today. School was always a pain in the ass but today was just worse. Marlon couldn’t hang out during lunch period and for some reason it felt like the teachers all had their focus on her, asking her all the questions that she didn’t fucking know the answers to. Violet shifted the backpack on her back filled with assignments she wasn’t sure if she’d do or not. She hated most of her classes.

Then again if she flaked out on doing most of her assignments over the weekend, she’d be stuck in the trailer. Her dad usually spent most of his time there over the weekend and whenever he was there he tended to reek of alcohol. He’d be there and Violet would be stuck with him while she caught up on homework assignments she had no idea how would help her in the future. It wasn’t like she was going to be the next great scientist or go on to help shape the young minds of America. She was just going to get by like she always did.

Violet grumbled to herself and angrily kicked a rock. At least school was over for the week. That was the silver lining in this shitty day. Violet gave a tired sigh; all she wanted to do was forget this whole day even happened. All of a sudden her phone chimed, causing her to pause in her tracks and stopping her from kicking another stone. Rummaging around in her hoodie pocket, Violet pulled out her old flip phone to check who it was. Knowing her own social habits, Violet already had a pretty good guess: it was probably Louis.

She was right.

Chuck E Cheese?  

Violet stared at the text with a soft smile on her lips. Finally something good. Quickly she sent back a reply.

Olive street. 20 minutes.

Violet was about to head over there but froze when a realization hit her. It would probably be best to drop off her backpack at home. She didn’t want it getting in the way or have to worry about forgetting it. Besides, she was nearly at the trailer park.

Violet dug her heels into the ground and began to sprint home. Her old sneakers picked up more dirt and wear and tear as she weaved through streets along the way before reaching the front door of the trailer. She took a second to catch her breath and calm down, The last thing she wanted to deal with was her dad.

Quietly Violet opened the door, hoping that her dad wasn’t home. It only took a second for her heart to drop when she saw him on his chair. He was here. Shit. Violet wondered what the best course of action was as she silently closed the door. That was when she noticed that he was fast asleep on the chair, an empty bottle of beer dangling in the loose grip of his right hand.

Violet gave a shaky sigh of relief as she gently placed down her bag. Tiptoeing into her room, she opened an old book of constellations that she had never bothered to return to the library. Within the back few pages was some money she had saved for a shitty day. Violet smiled and snatched up the money, pocketing it before heading out.

Louis gave a long, dramatic sigh as he walked up to his room. Falling face first onto his bed, he let all the day’s thoughts sink in. This week had been so boring. Sure, school was always a mixed bag but even all his favorite classes had covered things he didn’t care about. On top of that he hadn’t seen his friends all week. He missed Marlon and their joke offs together, Mitch and his chaotic fun and Violet and her iconic full body eyerolls.

Reaching around blindly while his face was still smushed against the bed, Louis searched for his phone. His fingers brushed across a pencil and a few music sheet papers with songs he was writing before he found it. Yoinking it, Louis opened his messages and immediately selected Violet’s contact name before sending a simple text.

Chuck E Cheese?

He threw his phone down and groaned as he draped himself over his bed more, staring up at the ceiling as he waited for a response. It felt like forever when in reality only a few seconds had passed before his phone dinged. Violet’s responses were as quick as ever. Holding the phone up above his head, Louis read the message.

Olive street. 20 minutes.

Louis smiled excitedly. He nearly let his phone slip onto his face but luckily he caught it in time. He wouldn’t be adding to that embarrassing number count today. Making a small sound effect as he jumped off his bed and jogged over to his desk, Louis quickly grabbed his car keys and wallet.

He snatched up a pen and scribbled a note to let his dad know he was going out. Sliding down the hallways on his socks, Louis barreled down the stairs and put the note on the table where his dad was sure to see it. He slipped out of the front door and made a beeline to his car, apologizing to one of the gardeners that he bumped into on the way there. Double checking his seatbelt and making sure he had the best classical music playing, Louis was off.

Within 15 minutes he had reached Olive Street and immediately saw Violet in all of her grumpy sunshine glory - at least that was how he would describe it. Louis gave a friendly wave to his friend as he pulled forward and stopped the car right beside her. “Hey, Vi!” Louis poked his head out with his signature smile.

Violet was silent as she strolled forward and opened the door. It wasn’t until she was seated that she spoke up. “Hi, Lou,” Violet looked up with a little smile as she fastened her seatbelt.

“Are you ready to party?” Louis locked eyes with Violet as he glanced up into the rearview mirror.

“Yeah, let's go,” Violet’s eyes wandered out to watch the world outside her car window while Louis drove. The two friends talked here and there about school and how both of them were sick of this week and glad it had ended. The conversation was light and easy and Violet enjoyed the simplicity of it as the classical music played from Louis’ car. After around a twenty minute ride they had arrived at the arcade. Putting the car in park, Louis undid his seatbelt and got out to open the door for his friend.

“Thanks,” Violet slipped out of the car and started to walk forward.

“No problem, bestie!” Louis grinned brightly and locked the car before jogging over to catch up with Violet.

Soon they entered Chuck E. Cheese and were immediately greeted by a staff member. “Well, hi there! Welcome to Chuck E. Cheese!” The staff member smiled before reaching over and grabbing the stamp and ink. Louis and Violet already knew the drill, they had been here tons of times before. Once their stamps were on Louis held out his fist with a grin. Violet silently moved her fist forward and fistbumped Louis. The pair looked at each other and shared a happy smile. “Now, onward to the token machine!” Louis declared and grabbed Violet’s hand, pulling her forward without warning. Violet’s comments were lost to Louis as his joy radiated off him while they made their way over to the token machine. Louis dramatically pulled out his credit card and leaned against it as he placed the card into the machine. The machine whirled to life and tokens began to pour out of the slot and into their small cups. Soon Louis and Violet’s arms were full of the tiny cups filled to the brim with tokens. Violet stuffed a bunch of tokens in her hoodie pocket while Louis tried to stuff the rest in his back pockets. This only made his butt look lumpy which made Violet laugh.

“Ha, ha. I look lumpy. So, anyways, what should we play first?” Louis asked as the two made their way around the arcade. The lights and sounds of the multiple games overwhelmed their senses. Each game seemed to be trying to draw over anyone’s attention that it could get.

“Strength test,” Violet led the way and Louis sighed deeply.

“But I suck at that.” Louis whined as he followed her, weaving past the different people who were also enjoying the different arcade games.

“But I don’t.” Violet smirked over at Louis before putting in some tokens in the slot to start the game. She took a step back and stared at the ball. Her mind quickly changed the soccer ball into the different things that were pulling her down in life. Her frustration and determination swirled around in her heart as she sent her foot forward, kicking the ball with all her strength. The kick caused the ball to launch back with a hearty thud as the machine rang with a happy tune.

The score flashed brightly on the screen overhead. Based on how loudly the machine was reacting to Violet’s attempt she must’ve made a new high score. Tickets began to pour out of the machine, coming out in copious amounts for this game’s standard. Louis clapped with enthusiasm and Violet looked away, a small smile of pride prominent on her lips.

Louis strolled forward and placed more tokens in, taking a few deep breaths to get ready. “Now, it is my turn. Watch as I kick that high score out of the water!” He kicked his leg, giving a loud cry as his foot connected with the soccer ball. The ball flung back with a faint sound and Violet laughed as Louis’ score flashed on the screen. It was far below hers.

“Shut up, Vi!” Louis pouted as he strode away. “You know my strength has always been in my arms. I’m going to choose next and totally kick your ass!”

“Uh huh, sure, Louis.” Violet stuck her hands in her pockets and strolled alongside her best friend who was trying to find the game to beat her at. That’s when he noticed the Dance Dance Revolution dance pad. Violet followed his gaze and let out a long groan. “Oh no,”

“Oh, yes!” Louis pulled Violet forward and immediately put in some tokens so both of them could play at the same time. He selected a song and before Violet could say otherwise the game had begun. Louis nodded his head to the beat of the song, causing his dreads to bounce lightly as his feet found the right buttons with ease. He happily danced and sent over a competitive grin to Violet who was too busy struggling to notice. Her feet sloppily tried to keep up with the beat but she just couldn’t seem to get it.

After a few rounds Louis agreed to call it quits and moved to gather the tickets when he remembered that this game didn't reward players with that. Violet quickly pulled him along, determined to find a game she could beat him at. Soon they were standing in front of whack a mole and it was clear that the evening would turn very competitive. Each of them seemed to want to prove that they could beat the other at more games and so they ran around the arcade playing every game they could until their stomachs growled loudly. It was dinner time.

“Have no fear, the pizza will soon be here!” Louis declared with a smile as he guided them towards the spot where they could order food. Louis was sure to order lots of pepperoni pizza and a few sodas. After a few minutes of trying to find a spot while sipping absentmindedly on their sodas the two found a booth that sat near the large animatronics of Chuck E Cheese and his pals.

Soon the pizzas showed up and the server wished them a nice meal before walking away. Violet was the first to strike and snagged a slice of pizza, quickly shoving it in her mouth. Louis watched in shock and somewhat awe at his friend and her ability to eat piping hot food like it was nothing.

“This pizza’s the shit!” Violet exclaimed as she grabbed more slices.

Louis laughed and nodded as he grabbed a slice to eat. “Save some for me,” He snatched up a slice of his own and devoured it.

“Eh, you have enough money to buy all the pizzas in this place,” Violet smirked as she stole a slice from Louis while he was distracted by the show that was going on with the animatronics.

“Hey! That’s a sneaky move!” Louis huffed and watched as Violet demolished the slice. She leaned back and causally sipped on her soda when suddenly a familiar voice appeared beside the table.

“Hey, Louis! Hi, Vi! Sorry I’m late.” Marlon smiled apologetically as he stood by their booth. Louis and Violet looked up, both having different reactions at seeing their friend. Violet seemed shocked at the fact that Marlon was here while Louis smiled brightly and immediately scooted out of the booth.

“Marlon!” he exclaimed before doing their special handshake with him. Louis bopped his fist on the top of Marlon’s before Marlon returned the gesture. They slapped their hands together before repeating it the reverse way. Then their fingers wiggled together before they wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders. Both of them laughed happily until they noticed that Violet was still lost as to why Marlon was here.

“Hey, Marlon. I didn’t know you were gonna show up.” Violet mumbled through a mouthful of pizza.

“Yeah, Louis invited me. He didn’t tell you?” Marlon looked over at Louis as he slid into his side of the booth.

“It must’ve slipped my mind.” Louis laughed and nervously scratched the back of his head.

“Well, now that Marlon is here we should order more pizza,” Violet slid over a slice of pizza to the blond.

“Oh yes! This pizza is the best!” Marlon smiled as he took the first bite. He tilted his head back and let the cheesy goodness of the pizza fill his stomach. Without waiting a second he stuffed the rest of the slice in his mouth. Louis already knew what needed to be done; he ran over to order another pizza. Once he returned he saw that the rest of a pepperoni pizza had already been demolished by his two best friends.

“Huh, that's weird,” Violet commented as she took a sip of her soda.

“What’s weird?” Marlon sputtered out chunks of pizza and Louis used a napkin to wipe away the odd chunk or two that landed near him.

“I didn’t know they had Marlon be the mascot here,” Violet had a playful smile on her lips that turned into a smirk when she saw how much that had annoyed Marlon.

“Har, har, because it's a rat and you always say shit about my hair looking like a rat’s tail even though my hair is cool,” Marlon frowned and leaned back in his seat. He had always been proud of his mullet since he’d grown it out years ago.

“I said it looked like a dead cat, there's a difference,” Violet leaned forward with the smuggest smile on her lips.

“Oh boy,” Louis looked between his two best friends, wondering what to do, when the pizza arrived at the table. He gave a quick thanks to the server before an idea struck him. “Let’s have an eating contest!”

Marlon’s eyes lit up at that and Violet seemed interested. Their focus shifted from their conversation and soon the three of them were invested in the contest. All three gave it their all but soon Louis tapped out then Violet. Marlon gave a victory cheer that turned into an odd series of burps as he groaned and fell back into the booth. All three of them silently agreed to sit there for a while and let the food settle before they played any more games. After a while their stomachs were stable enough to move again and they got up to their feet and began to walk around in search of the next game.

“Alright, you get first pick,” Louis playfully nudged Marlon’s shoulder with a grin. Marlon returned the smile then scanned the area to figure out what he wanted to play first.

“Hoops.” Marlon nodded towards the basketball game and Violet’s eyes immediately brightened.

“Okay, but you better watch out! I’ve improved since the last time.” Louis proclaimed as he strode over.

“Oh. So you can actually score a point now?” Violet smirked back at Louis as she put in the tokens. Marlon laughed at that which made Louis frown.

“Yes, yes, I can score a point now!” Louis declared loudly and Violet and Marlon shared a smile.

“I’m sure you can, Lou,” Marlon gave a genuine smile then grabbed the first basketball to start his round. He got in the right form and got ready to make the first basket. Like always Marlon was great at the game, scoring all the baskets with ease as his score steadily increased. The basketballs continued to squash into the net and Louis applauded and cheered loudly. Violet nodded with a small smile, impressed by the score before having her turn.

She wasn’t bad herself. In fact Violet was really giving Marlon a run for his money, scoring basket after basket and making her score nothing to scoff at. Still Marlon had just edged out in front of her, something that Violet was sure Marlon would boast about for the next little while.

Louis went next and struck a pose as he prepared his first shot then gave a dramatic throw. The first ball - to Violet and Marlon’s surprise - actually went in. Both clapped, genuinely impressed that Louis had made the first basket. Louis did a quick bow, a proud smile on his lips. “Thank you, thank you. Now to make the rest of the shots!” Louis yelled and returned to the game. He didn’t make any of the other shots.

“What were you saying about making the shots?” Violet teased and Louis shot her a look.

“Shut. I can still beat you two at other games!” Louis snatched up the tickets and  headed straight towards skee ball. None of them were superstars at that game but that didn’t stop them from having a blast. Once they finished a few rounds of that they headed over to the balloon popping game.

The three of them quickly became lost in game after game as they wanted to play all the games they could. But soon they realized that it was growing late and they knew what game they should end on. The wheel of tickets. Louis started it out and spun the wheel.

“Come on, let's win some tickets!” Louis bounced anxiously on the balls of his feet and gave a small groan when he only won twenty tickets. Marlon was next and he spun the wheel with all his might. He only got five more tickets than Louis though. Violet walked forward and took a deep breath.

“You got this, Vi! You know what they say: blondes are like good luck charms when it comes to the wheel of tickets,” Louis’ sentence made Marlon and Violet look over at him.

“Thats makes zero fucking sense,” Violet commented before spinning the wheel.

“Yeah, if that was true then I would've gotten more tickets,” Marlon pointed out and Louis gave a sad frown.

“I was just trying to be a supportive friend,” Louis played with his dreadlock self consciously and soon turned his attention to the wheel.

Violet ended up only getting twenty five tickets as well. After a quick discussion the trio decided that they’d spend the rest of their tokens here. Each of them took multiple turns as the other two chanted for them to land on a jackpot. As luck would have it, Marlon finally landed on a jackpot and then Violet.

“Whoa! It is true about lucky blondes!” Louis beamed and strolled over to spin around the wheel one last time. “Now, I’m going to show you that luck is on my side too!” Louis chanted under his breath, hoping for a jackpot of his own. Marlon and Violet were chanting as well. Everyone was shocked when the wheel landed on the jackpot for the third time that day. Louis screamed with joy and hugged Violet tightly before Marlon tackled the both of them in a hug and lifted them slightly up in the air.

Arms full of tickets, the trio made their way over to the ticket muncher with big smiles. All three took turns feeding the machine which made a satisfying munching sound as the tickets went in. Soon they had their grand total on a receipt.

Violet, Marlon and Louis walked over and stood before the wall of prizes. Immediately they began to argue over what the best prizes were to spend their tickets on. Louis wanted to get cool shutter shades and a nerf gun. Marlon seemed rather attached to a plushie of a rat which made him receive some light teasing from both Louis and Violet. Violet wanted to get a tiny basketball.

“Wait, wait, wait. I think we can get all that we want,” Louis began to count the number of tickets and soon Marlon and Violet joined in to help him. With the power of their three brains they were able to determine that they could in fact get all they wanted and have some left over.

After all three of them got the prizes that they wanted, they were left with another choice. A grand total of seventy eight tickets were left to spend on smaller items.

“So, what should we get with the remaining tickets?” Marlon asked as he stared at the limited selection. Violet and Louis walked forward and stood beside him. All three were studying the small prizes displayed under the glass when Louis suddenly gasped.

“Bracelets! We should get those Chuck E. Cheese bracelets!” Louis smiled and  bounced with excitement. “That way we can all be matching!”

“So, like friendship bracelets?” Marlon glanced over at Louis who nodded.

“Exactly!” Louis looked between his two best friends, hoping that they would agree.

Marlon and Violet shared a look, having a short silent conversation before smiling and turning to look at Louis.

“Let’s do it,” Violet gave a casual shrug, acting as if it wasn’t a big deal. It didn’t fool the other two though. They could tell she was just as happy as they were about this idea. Once they had decided on the item, Louis purchased the bracelets and handed two over to his friends.

All three of them put the bracelets on their wrists and the three friends all looked at each other, smiling giddily. Marlon held out his wrist and Louis immediately clinked his wrist against Marlon’s before both looked over at Violet. Violet rolled her eyes but the small smile on her lips gave away how she really felt as she clinked her wrist against her friends’.

“Okay, time to head out! Maybe even get some ice cream?” Louis spun around and smiled at Violet and Marlon.

“Sounds good to me, Lou,” Marlon replied while Violet nodded in agreement.

“Then let's not dilly dally! Ice cream awaits!” Louis announced loudly and led the way outside. Violet watched as her two friends excitedly talked about which ice cream they would get as Louis pulled out of the parking lot. She looked out of the window with a soft smile. It had started out as a shitty day but by the end of it all it had turned into a pretty good one. Her eyes wandered over to Marlon and Louis who were arguing over whether they should listen to classical music or classic rock. They were a lot sometimes but still, Violet was glad to have friends like them.

[shirtlesssammy]

2x02: Everybody Loves a Clown

Then:

Dean wore cute hospital PJs once. And I’m being really flippant over a very cool Then sequence. 

Now:

Medford, Wisconsin

At a fair, the locals are enjoying the rides, and carnies, and clowns (and fire breathers--I mean, I spent many a summer at the county fair in my youth, but I guess, never the one in Medford, WI...wow.) A family with a young girl is enjoying the day. The daughter sees a clown in the distance and waves. 

Yay CLOWNS! If the fucking thing didn’t look like Pennywise’s depressed cousin, maybe I wouldn’t be so skeptical right now. 

Later that night the family drives home in their little Smart Car when the daughter sees Pennywise’s cousin again. Even later, the daughter, hopped up on cotton candy and Fun Dip, can’t sleep. She looks outside to see Pennywise’s cousin chillin’ in her backyard. TOTES NOT CREEPY. She races downstairs to let him inside. 

Meanwhile, the brothers give their father a hunter’s funeral. Sam is overwhelmed and wants to know if John said anything to Dean before he died. WHelps, NO Sam, NOT AT ALL. Dean lets a Single Man Tear fall because he’s not emotional and not lying and not a big ball of pain and anger and relief and guilt. 

One week later, Dean’s at Bobby’s fixing up Baby (and finally grooving to the actual music of the show, thx Netflix for always ruining my season 1 experience). 

For Is This Pornography Science:

Sam wants Dean to admit SOMETHING. Dean wants to bury it all REAL deep and continue to fix his soul car in silence. 

Sam also has a voicemail on their dad’s phone from a woman named Ellen. They agree to head out to find the woman. 

Sidenote: I love that the minivan only plays AM 70’s music. GOLD. 

Anyway, they end up at a place called the Roadhouse. They head inside to the seemingly deserted bar. There’s a man sleeping on the pool table. Dean is accosted by a young woman with a shotgun. He gets the better hand without issue though. She punches him though and Sam comes out from the back at the end of another gun. Boy, this is a real fun crowd. 

Meet Ellen and Jo Harvelle. They know Sam and Dean, but Sam and Dean don’t know them. And I know John is fresh in his grave, but fuck you, man. Way to isolate and terrorize your children their whole lives. Ellen tells them she could help with the demon. She then puts it together that John is not alright. Sam admits that the demon probably got him. 

Ellen tells them that Ash can help them with their cause. Enter: Ash and all his mullet glory. 

Dean and Ash flirt unnecessarily. Ash is a genius and can’t believe what John accomplished. (I mean, what does a genius have to do with hunting, but ok. Sam and Dean are geniuses too but I’d say it’s their street smarts that’s kept them in the game this long.) 

Anyway, Ash can track the demon. He just needs time. Dean tells Ash that he really likes his hair, and then the camera thought that was too gay so it cuts to Jo’s butt. It’s a cute butt and all, but Dean’s still very bisexual. 

Sam asks Ellen about a folder of case information. 

Dean asks Jo about how Ellen got caught up in the hunter life. Jo’s dad was a hunter. He passed away. There’s a moment of Dean thinking about Jo in more than a friendly stranger way but that passes really quickly. Jo calls him out but Sam interrupts (as he does). He’s caught a case!

Sam actively wants to pursue a killer clown case. What kind of upside down world are we living in? Oh right, the world where Sam works cases to process/push through his grief. The brothers try to figure out what’s happening. Dean wonders if it’s a cursed object since it’s moving from town to town with the carnival and it’s happened in the past. Time to find that needle in a haystack!

At the carnival, a disillusioned kid wanders around the funhouse with his dad. He sees Pennywise’s cousin. 

He’s scared but his dad tells him they’re his friends. That night, little Evan lets his new friend into his home to murder his parents. Boy, I dread thinking about the panel of therapists he’ll need in life.

The brothers decide to pose as carnival workers to blend in to find the cursed object. Dean immediately gets off on the wrong foot with one of the carnival workers, who is blind and has an apparent hair trigger temper. Papazian, the worker, is also adept at whirling blades right into a bullseye which is definitely #goals. Dean then pulls an older brother and makes Sam sit in the clown chair during their interview. “This place is a refuge for outcasts,” the carnival manager says. SOLD!

The boys patrol the carnival with EMF meters, until Sam discovers a real human skeleton dangling in the funhouse. YEESH. Papazian overhears Dean talking about the case over his phone and stops him to ask about “EMF” and “skeletons.” Dean scrambles for an explanation. Um, they’re writing a book about...ghosts! Phew! Saved it, Dean Bean. Before the end of the day Sam and Dean witness another kid who sees an invisible clown. Dun dun DUN. 

Sam and Dean tail the family to their home and then sit outside waiting for the clown to appear. It’s much later when a light turns on in the house. The little girl is awake and she’s ready to bring in her new playmate!

My GOD. 

Dean and Sam intercede in the most shotgunniest of ways, by breaking into the house and blasting away at the clown. The clown suddenly fades to nothing and launches out the door.  

Invisible clown on the loose? G R E A T

Later that morning, the Winchesters ditch the van in the woods off the side of the road.

While they walk, they discuss emotions. Sam pushes Dean to grieve in a healthier, more open way. But Dean is OKAY, he’s FINE! He pushes Sam in return to deal with their Dad’s death and stop trying to bury himself in hunting. 

Later, with emotions safely squashed into a tiny space in their chests again, they go over the case. Ellen’s crew turned up a likely suspect: they’re dealing with a rakshasa, which feeds on people and can turn invisible. They eat every 20-30 years so it lines up with the earlier carnival. Carnival manager Cooper worked at both carnivals, and is now their top suspect. 

Sam breaks into Cooper’s trailer, while Dean heads to Papazian to borrow a brass rakshasa-killing knife. Papazian invites Dean to look for the knife in a trunk, only Dean discovers a clown wig inside. “You?” Dean asks before Papazian morphs out on him.

Dean breaks out of the trailer and runs into Sam. He didn’t get the knife, but he found the killer! Good job? Unfortunately Papazian is currently in invisible mode. Sam races for the funhouse to get some brass, heading for the piping hot pipe organ to steal a few blades. 

In the funhouse, knives whirl out of nowhere, pinning Dean to the wall. He pulls the fire extinguisher system and the invisible shape gets trapped in the mist and strobe light. The Winchesters stab it with a brass pipe and it fades away into a pile of clothes. 

Back at Ellen’s bar, Jo congratulates them on a successful hunt. She heavily hints that Sam’s a third wheel and Sam miraculously leaves so that Jo can make her move.

Dean admits that he’d be heavily on the side of massive flirtation, but he’s been having a rough time lately. “Wrong place, wrong time,” Jo surmises. Yep! 

Ash wanders in. He scraped out all the data from John’s notes and turned it into a genuine demon tracking program on his computer. He’ll notify the Winchesters if omens turn up. 

Ellen offers the Winchesters spare beds but they head back to Bobby’s so Dean can drink and work on his car and pretend that he doesn’t feel things. Sam admits that he’s got a lot to work through about their Dad’s death. He feels guilty that he never mended fences with their dad, and admits that he isn’t okay. He tells Dean that he knows he’s feeling the same. Dean admits his own feelings, except instead of words he uses a crowbar to bash the living hell out of the rear trunk of his soul. I mean car. Dean bby

DEAN SMASH:

I feel like a friggin’ soccer mom!

Was there an article in the Demon Hunters Quarterly that I missed?

I know what you're thinking, Sam. Why did it have to be clowns?

“Planes crash!” “And apparently clowns kill!”

I swear, the next person who asks me if I'm okay, I'm gonna start throwing punches

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[blkgirlcafe]

Home PT. 5

Viktor Drago x Cyra (Black OFC)

Cyra (Ky-Ra) -Sun or throne

Kazimir (Kah-Zee-Meer) - Bringer or Announcer of peace

Viktor Drago is married to the love of his life, they have a 5 year old son. He is willing to do anything to keep them safe.

Warning: Kidnapping, abuse, mentions of child abuse

Flashback 4

Viktor was absent from the gym for two weeks, Ivan thought of a punishment. After coming home late and missing his alarm in the morning Ivan made him go to the countryside. One of Ivan's friends owned a farm and he had to go work there, while also doing workouts. But today he was back, Ivan had a meeting setting up his next fight in a week and he was by himself. He went through his normal routine, keeping a look out for Cyra. 

When she finally entered with the girl she was always with he smiled to himself, happy to see her. 

Cyra looked up after Anna nudged her arm. 

“There goes your giant boyfriend.” she joked. 

“Chill out, obviously he doesn't like me.”

“Oh yeah then why he is smiling, when have you ever seen Drago smile.”

“He is probably just happy to be back in the gym, leave me alone.”

Yeah Cyra was a little snappy, she missed home, she missed her brothers, she sighed as she started to stretch, not even looking over in Viktor direction. 

Viktor frowned, she didn't even look at him. Normally she would at least smile at him, mouthing a little hello. He hoped he didn't upset her in any way, he would apologize before he left. 

Viktor worked out, keeping one eye on her as he did so. Her bubbly personality just wasn't here today, she was gray like the weather. The gym slowly emptied out, Viktor pushed himself to keep going, just to watch over her. The friend left as Cyra was sitting on a row of mats doing  sit ups. 

Viktor walked over to her, sweat drenching his tank top to his body. 

“Hey.” was all he could say, suddenly everything he wanted to say got jumbled in his mind. 

“Hey Vik.” she leaned back on her arms, breathing heavy. 

“I am sorry…”

Cyra cut him off with a wave of a hand, “You don't have anything to be sorry about, you don't owe me anything, you are a grown ass man.”

Viktor was stuck not sure what to say, he took a few steps back as she got up and gathered her things. 

“See ya later.” and just like that she was gone. 

Viktor went back to the punching bag, confused about the interaction. On one hand she said he didn't need to be sorry, but she was clearly upset. Viktor didn't have a lot of experience with women, none as a matter of fact, at 25 he only been with one woman sexually, and that was after he won a fight, she was just a groupie The experience was short, a means to an end. Women were a distraction his father told him. Women came and went, glory was forever.

-------

Viktor was in the gym when they came, and he knew they would. It had been a week since Cyra and Kazi were taken, her brothers were used to talking to her everyday. The doorbell rang and Ivan got the door, telling him to keep going. They quickly fell back into old habits and Viktor didn't like it. 

Her two brothers entered the gym with Ivan in the lead. 

“Vik where is Cyra, her phone is going straight to voicemail?” the oldest of the two spoke first. 

Viktor stopped and turned towards the men, not sure what to say. The oldest, Trey, was a military veteran, now working in private security and he looked like it. He was big, not as big as Viktor but enough so that it would be a fight. 

“She left him.” Ivan said, lying. 

“Bullshit, because if she did, she would have come to us.”

“Yeah what's up drago?” The younger brother, Malik asked. Like his sister he chose college over the military, getting a graduate degree in microbiology. 

“She left me.” it pained him to say it, even if it wasn't true, because Cyra and Kazi were his world and he would never be able to function without them. 

“Why?” 

They were not backing down, whatever lie he told them, he knew they wouldn't believe it.

“Cheating, I was fucking a groupie.” he sighed, dropping his head. 

“Where did she go?” Malik asked.

“She didn't tell me.”

“So let me get this straight, your wife and son leave you and the first thing you do is hop your ass on tv to talk about a fight?”

Trey, never one to shy from a fight, got right in Viktor's face, “You are lying and I swear if anything happens to my sister and nephew I will gut your big ass and your dad. If I don't hear from here in 24 hours I will be back.”

Ivan stood with his arms folded, “You threats mean nothing, she is an american woman, they come and go as they please.” 

Trey turned to the older man, “You keep my sister name out your fucking mouth, you think I dont know about you bitch.” Trey lodges a wad of spit at the man's shoes, “I don't have any respect for you, if anything happens to my sister I will make sure you watch your son die slowly.”

They left, leaving the two Drago men together. 

“This is all your fault the least you can do is not act like she isn't in danger.” Viktor started to walk away. 

“Where are you going, get back to training.” 

Viktor spit at his feet, adding to the pile already there.

-----------

Cyra was sitting next to the door, listening as she could faintly hear the phone conversation between Andriy and Viktor. She longed to hear his voice in person. She moved away when she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Kazi was thankfully sleeping, they let him out this morning to play. 

“Come.” came a rough voice. 

Cyra got up and followed the men to the kitchen, on the table was her phone, the call still in progress. 

“Talk.” Andryi said. 

“Hey babe.” she said. 

“You and Kazi okay?”

“Yes. How are you vik?”

“Fine. They are going to let you call your brothers, they came looking for you today, I told them you left me, that I cheated, I need you to tell them the same thing.”

“Ok babe. I love you.”

“I love you too Cyra, tell Kazi tata miss and love him.”

The call ended. 

“Now, you are going to tell your brothers exactly what I tell you, I don't think I need to make any threats, you already know what will happen.”

They called Trey first, he picked up on the second ring. 

“Cyra?”

“Hey Trey.” she tried to make her voice light and airy, Trey could pick up on anything. 

“Don't hey Trey me, what the hell is going on. Vik says you left him because he cheated, but you don't call or answer your phone for 5 days. I go by the house and Ivan is there, what in the hell is going on?”

“Sounds about right, he was fucking some girl, I found out, I took Kazi and left, I didnt know what to do. I felt like shit.”

“Nah man this shit aint adding up. Why would you feel like shit because he fucked up, why would you think you couldn't call me or Malik? Where is Kazi? I don't even hear him.”

“He is sleeping.”

“At 2:30? “

“Yes Trey Damm, I don't need the 3rd degree from you shit I got enough going on.”

‘Let me speak to Kazi.”

“He is sleeping Trey, I just said that.”

“I dont give a fuck Cy, something aint right, this shit dont sit well with me and I am starting to get agitated. I will out ya husband so fucking quick so dont play with me.”

Cyra looked around the room, it was clear Andriy didn't like being told what to do, he didn't like that Trey was running shit, but he nodded his head. 

“Damm give me a moment.'' The phone was put on mute, she could hear Trey talking to himself about how something just wasn't right, how Viktor barely looked at other women, so how did he cheat. 

They took her into the room, she gently woke Kazi.

“Uncle Trey wants to talk to you, Kazi please don't say anything about the bad people.” Cyra cringed at calling them bad people with them in the room.

She unmute the phone, “Kazi Uncle Trey wants to talk to you.”

“What up big man?”

“Hi uncle trey.” he sounded sleepy. 

“Where are you at bud, we need to hangout.”

“I’m with Mama.”

“How was school?”

“Fine.” Cyra was coaching him to lie and she hated it. 

“When is your next soccer match man, I need to come cheer you on.”

“I dont know.”

“Let me know okay bud, you have dinner?”

This was a trick question, it was barely 3pm.

“No, I had nuggets for lunch.”

“What is mama cooking for dinner?”

“I don't know, she doesn't cook.”

Fuck Cyra thought, taking the phone.

“Are you done Trey, I gotta go.”

“Aight Imma let you go but I need to hear from you tomorrow or in a day or so. Stop ghosting me, and Imma beat Viktor big ass just because.”

“Bye Trey.” she quickly hung up, handing them the phone. 

“Come.” she was yanked off the bed and Kazi started crying. 

Back in the kitchen she was made to sit. 

“Now we have a problem, everything was fine. Why didn't you tell us you had brothers?”

“I just assumed you did your homework, plus you never asked.”

A hand was slapped on the table, making her jump. 

“This isnt a game, if they fuck up what we have going I will not hesitate to kill you and your son and be back on the next play to the Ukraine.” 

They pushed Cyra back into the room with her son, she found Kazi curled up on the side of the bed on the floor crying. They were all from Ukraine, did they know Viktor from before.

[need-a-fugue]

Why Not? - Chapter Three

Summary: With a garage to run and a young daughter to, well… run after, Bucky Barnes doesn’t exactly have time for dating. And with his relationship track record – and the constant meddling of a certain overbearing best friend – he’s not so sure that’s a bad thing. But then he meets Annie – a rather insistent, pretty damn cute fellow car enthusiast – and it’s got him asking himself, despite all his hesitations, why not?

Author’s Note: Written for Little Darlin’s Mystery AU Challenge. Thanks to @sourpatchkidsandacokecan​ for triggering this… sprawling thing simply by supplying me with the prompt of Mechanic!AU for Bucky. It’s taken on a life of its own already… look at what you’ve done!

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC

Warnings: Your teeth may rot from sweetness...

Chapter Three

The place is nearly empty – not so surprising for four o’clock on a Sunday – and it makes their little meetup look more like a quick bite out between friends than a first date. But when Bucky texted late Friday night – Sorry, Lana’s sitter cancelled. Can’t make it for dinner tomorrow. – Annie’s slightly overzealous, more than a bit insistent nature burst forth in all its tenacious glory and pushed and pushed until she got him to offer up this small window of free time. She had berated herself – out loud in front of the bathroom mirror – for at least an hour after their text exchange ended, absolutely horrified that she had backed him into a corner and somehow turned their date into an early bird special at the pub down the block from where his daughter is having a swim lesson.

But her doggedness had set something off in Bucky. And it wasn’t the fact that she seemed so interested in meeting up with him that did it. Though it had been a long time since a woman pursued him to this degree. It was actually something about her perfectly controlled attempts at organizing this date – her swift and methodical breakdown of his, admittedly, all-over-the-place schedule – that weirdly… turned him on. She took control of the whole damn thing, and damn if that didn’t just give flight to a horde of butterflies that – even now as the two sit in awkward silence across from one another in a dark and empty pub – are beating their tiny wings mercilessly into the lining of his stomach.

The silence is finally cut through when Annie clears her throat, delicately cocking her head to the side as she looks over at him. “You, uh,” she mutters, leaning forward and reaching out to gingerly swipe her thumb across the side of his neck. A rather uncomfortable giggle ripples out of her as she pulls away, settles back into her seat, and holds up her hand to show him the small red glob she managed to pull off of him. “Looks like… jam?” she questions, inspecting it herself before quickly wiping it away onto the napkin in her lap. She catches him giving her a curious look, corner of his mouth curling ever so slightly into a coy grin. “Sorry,” she breathes out, ducking her head to hide the sudden blush blazing its way up her cheeks. “I just… I noticed it…”

“Yeah,” he says lightly, breathy chuckle following on its heels. “No, we… uh had waffles with strawberry jam for breakfast.” He clears his throat awkwardly, the stilted sound pulling her attention. When she looks back up, it’s to find him smiling nervously as he rubs at the back of his neck. A small snort, a tentative glance, a twitch of his fingers as his hand slowly rolls around to his jaw, swiftly scrubbing at the thick scruff. “Shit. I guess that’s been there all day.”

“Well,” she breathes out, biting down on the corner of her lip to keep from smiling too wide at his obvious embarrassment. “Can’t blame you for saving some. That does sound pretty delicious.”

“Yeah?” He grins, all crooked and charming, the ease with which he shifts from nervous to confident actually startling him a bit. “You wanna skip out on burgers and come over for waffles instead?”

Her eyes blow wide, thick, apprehensive laugh bubbling up from her chest and spilling out along with a teasing, “You’re very forward!”

“Nah,” he hums, waving a hand absently through the air. “I just have about four dozen extras in the freezer now that I need to get rid of.” He looks up at her, locking his dazzling blue eyes onto hers and raising a single dubious brow. “You don’t even have to come inside. Really. I’ll just run them out to you. You’d be doing me a favor.”

Annie leans back and laughs, the light, melodic giggles flowing so easily into the small space between them, seeping into his pores and setting his skin aflame. “Do you have enough strawberry jam for all of them?” she asks, steeling her features in an attempt at a serious inquiry.

He shakes his head – “Definitely not.” – and relaxes in his seat, letting his shoulders slacken as he lays his forearms out onto the tabletop, absently twisting his fingers together. “But we’re going through a testing phase right now. Trying out different things. One day it’s strawberry jam on the waffles, next day whipped cream…”

“Oh, there should always be whipped cream,” she interrupts, chin and lips tightening into a stolid directive.

He chuckles a bit before going on to list, “hot fudge sauce, orange marmalade,” stopping briefly to wrinkle his nose in disgust. “Maple syrup,” he declares, quirking a very stern stare her way, “the way it oughtta be.” Then his features soften once more, delicate smile splitting his face. “Last week was butterscotch… just glad we made it over that disgusting hurdle.”

“Out of curiosity,” she intones, brow furrowing in deep interest, “is it you or Lana who’s so set on this testing?”

A swift, breathy laugh falls from his lips, his head shaking languidly. “Not me… I get pretty stuck in my ways. No,” he mutters, tone taking on a sort of wistful twang. “No, my baby girl’s the adventurous one.”

“That’s a good thing, though, right?” she asks, leaning forward to mirror his posture, elbows up onto the table, shoulders slumped and relaxed. “My niece is three and I don’t think she’s eaten anything that isn’t some shade of yellow in about a year and a half.”

“Yellow?” He lets out put-on shudder. “We went through a green phase last year. But that really just meant a lot of spinach and green beans.”

“Ah, yes… we have wax beans. And corn. Lots of bananas. And far too much cheese.” He snorts out a laugh, shaking his head in a sort of miserable solidarity with her sister – with all toddler parents. “I babysat last week,” she goes on, “and I had to coat each chicken nugget in mustard ‘til they were dripping just to get her to eat them.”

“Svetlana won’t eat mustard,” he announces simply. “But if you like ketchup, I’ve got about fifty gallons in the cupboard.”

The two share a soft laugh, each pulling back and sitting upright when the waiter comes by to take their order. A bacon cheeseburger for Bucky, no onions, extra pickles. Annie quirks an almost suspicious brow at him as he hands over his menu, giving the waiter little more than a sidelong glance as she says, eyes still plastered to the man across from her, “Same. Medium rare.”

Bucky catches her gaze, the corners of his mouth quirking just a little bit higher, skin around his eyes crinkling just a little bit deeper as he watches her with an amused sort of interest. He says nothing, simply scooting his chair closer and leaning forward once again, his bright blue eyes never leaving hers.

It’s little more than a moment before the silence becomes too much for her bear – not that any sort of silence has ever been particularly bearable for Annie – and she clears her throat again, ducking out of his piercing stare. “Svetlana,” she starts, forced casual note to her voice. “That’s a beautiful name. Don’t hear it too often.”

He nods lightly, winding his fingers together once again and twiddling them distractedly as he nibbles at the corner of his lip. “Yep,” he says, letting his lip pop loose along with the P. “Means light,” he goes on, brows rising appreciatively before his countenance takes on a soft, almost wistful character. “Light of my life.” He shrugs. “’Course, poor baby girl still can’t actually say it.”

A small hum escapes her as she watches the man across from her, rather silly, crooked grin tugging at her face as his almost seems to glow. “It’s Russian?” she asks simply, chin falling to her open palm as her body unconsciously shifts forward, leaning closer to him.

His eyes flick back to hers, the dreamy quality slowly dissipating as he answers, “Yeah. Yeah, her mom is Russian.”

She nods, a bit hesitant to ask, but too keenly curious not to… “Right. You said you were divorced. Was that… recent?”

“Nah,” he says, shoulders lifting in a casual shrug. “We split a couple years ago. Never really shoulda gotten married to begin with.” Another shrug, this one looking almost forced. “Just seemed like the right thing to do.” His gaze drops down to his hands for the briefest of moments, forehead furrowing as he watches his fingers shift and clench, white knuckling as they worry each other. He pulls them apart and shakes them out swiftly before reclining back in his chair. “We were always better at just being… friends.”

Something in her chest catches at that – the solemn sincerity with which he breathes out those words, better at being friends – and she feels suddenly… lighter, the tension she’d been carrying in her muscles, ever since brazenly asking Bucky to dinner the other day, finally easing, if only a bit. “And you’re still friends now?”

He looks up at her, seeming almost surprised by the question. “Yeah. Yeah, Nat’s great. She loves Lana like crazy… great mom. And she’s pretty relaxed about the schedule, you know?” The light blue of his eyes begins to haze, a sort of gray cloudiness pushing over his irises. “It’s easier right now, though. Just daycare and swim lessons to juggle.” He breathes out a short chuckle. “And soccer. But that’s… not real soccer right now, you know? Not like the games really mean anything, or like she’s missing anything if we skip a practice.” He shrugs blithely and bites down on his bottom lip. “She starts kindergarten next year, though. Not sure what it’ll be like once she’s in school.”

Annie’s brows tug tightly together. “What do you mean?”

He shifts uncomfortably in his chair, rocking it a bit and dragging it across the wood floor with a small scrape. “Just… Natasha wants to put her in this private school by her.” The clouds in his eyes thicken despite the soft smile that tugs at his lips. “It’s a good school. I’m all for it. But… it’s right by her. ‘Bout forty minutes from me.” A quick shrug, an almost painful laugh. “It’d probably be easier… better… for her to stay over there during the week.”

Ah. Annie pulls in a deep breath, finds herself nodding slowly as she takes that in, lips pursing as she thinks on what to say… thinks on how she might be able veer away from this obviously sensitive subject. First date, she reminds herself, those two words rolling around inside her head as she continues to watch Bucky absently gnaw on his lip. This is supposed to be a first date, not a damn therapy session.

“It’s good, though,” he spurts out suddenly, pulling himself upright in the chair. “It’ll be good for her. To have that stability. It’ll just be hard… on me.” Some light returns to his eyes as he offers another smile, small but genuine. “Might have more room in the freezer, though.”

She laughs lightly and quickly takes the out he offers, pulling away from any talk of exes and custody arrangements. “Why did you make so many waffles?”

He cocks his head and looks at her as though she just asked him why the sky is blue. Because it is. Because that’s just how it is. “Because Lana wanted to.”

She nods slowly, realization washing over her. Of course it’d be that simple.

“You know,” he breathes out, pensive look on his face. “You’re pretty easy to talk to.”

“I am?”

He lets out a gentle laugh. “You didn’t know?”

She shrugs blithely, crooked grin blooming. “I may have been told that before. I think it’s just what happens when you show genuine interest in a person.”

“Oh,” he intones, brows rising and face pulling into what she’s already beginning to recognize as his teasing guise. “So you’re genuinely interested? In me?”

Another shrug, the forced casualness of the motion being just over the top enough to cause an expectant tingle to trace up Bucky’s spine as he watches her. “Maybe.”

He shakes his head lazily back and forth, blows out a long sigh as he does so. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but I think your boss might be even more interested. I mean, he practically stalked me for weeks.”

“Ugh,” she moans out dramatically, falling face first atop the table with a dull thud. Her shoulders shake with silent laughter, the man across from her snorting out a sudden and thoroughly amused chortle of his own as she lays splayed out before him for a moment longer. She pulls herself upright, trailing her fingers through her long, thick hair in an attempt to right it, and locks onto Bucky’s thoroughly entertained gaze. “I told you,” she practically whines. “I didn’t know he would do that. And I am so, so sorry.”

“Yeah, you better be,” he says with mock offense.

Her eyes narrow accusingly. “You know, I have access to all of his receipts. I saw how much he’s been paying you. You should be thanking me.”

“Thanking you?” he snorts. “He needed a job done. I did it.”

A single brow cocks high, the rather indignant expression setting off those damn butterflies in Bucky’s stomach once again. “He’s a mechanical engineer. He runs pilot programs out of MIT. His father built the first working model of a flying car.” She leans heavily over the table, positioning herself close enough to him that he can almost feel her breath hot on his face. “Tony Stark can do his own tune-ups.” She flops lazily back into her chair, smile brimming with snark and sass, and Bucky realizes that the heat on his cheeks may not have been from her breath after all, but from his own body betraying him with a fiery blush. “Hell, he could build a robot to do all of that for him.”

He clears his throat thickly, eyes shifting away for a beat so he can… regather himself. “All of a sudden, I’m feeling very used,” he mutters vaguely, gaze bouncing back to hers upon hearing a bright shock of laughter. “It’s true,” he deadpans, not at all succeeding at keeping the grin off his face. “And honestly,” he mutters softly, the thought only just now occurring to him, “I can’t help but think that someone who helped her dad rebuild a Mustang might just know how to change her own oil too.”

A look of alarm flashes across her face, leaving a slightly embarrassed – slightly charmed – crooked smirk in its wake. “I guess you’re on to me,” she admits with a sigh. Then, leveling him with the kind of overconfident stare he had not yet seen – nor expected to see – on that delicate, dimpled face, she says, “Now that you know what I was willing to do just to get to know you a little better… what kind of hoops are you willing to jump through for me?”

He takes a moment to answer, his pale blue eyes boring into her, stabbing deep down into her soul as he gazes tenderly at her. “Well,” he says finally, never shifting his stare. “I guess I could pay for your burger.”

[silcntrilcy-blog]

RILEY PEARSON. CISMALE. TWENTY-THREE. ROGUE.

hi !! i’m tess, i’m 18, i’m in cst, and i use she/her pronouns ! i play two babes so far, riley and amelia ! i’ve written out a lot for riles, so i’m just gonna get to it ! i did play this character before, but i’ve revamped him a bit, aged him up a bit, and then did a bit more, so sorry for the novel of a bio ! there is a basics section down below if you’re just skimming for the moment !

My mind is a very dangerous and destructive place; only the darkness survives.

biography

born and raised to two military soldiers in san antonio, texas, riley pearson was nothing short of the perfect son. he was raised strict and proud with a smile on his face and a salute at his fingertips. his mother, lillian, had finished serving her time for her country only a few months after finding out she was pregnant, but his father, jace, was deployed for another service not even a week before riley’s birth. for the first four years of his life, he was a momma’s boy with a picture for a father. lillian worked hard to make sure riley knew who his father was, what he looked like, the sound of his voice from scattered calls and old home videos. when his father returned, all it took was a week of activities to spur into him those four years his father missed. he was an easy adapter, and his parents saw that clearly.

they were a family, and nothing was going to take that away from them. they dressed him up every day and sent him to school, welcomed him with open arms off the bus, and sat together for dinner in the kitchen as they mused over their day. some would call them ideal, others seemed to like the term “robotic”. it continued like this for years, and soon enough, riley realized just how ideal his parents thought he was.

he stayed inside every night, nearing the age of fourteen, while his friends ran off to birthday parties, concerts and soccer practice. he had never realized his parent’s overbearing expectations until he was made to realize that hardly any other kid had them. he began to hate his home.

he started breaking rules— staying out past curfew, never doing his homework, running away to friend’s houses for days on end, not as much as a text home to let his parents know he was alright. he had gone from the golden boy to the town nuisance. but it was only when he was caught with drugs (weed) at school did his parents draw the line.

he had just turned fifteen when his parents shipped him off to military boot camp. he was infuriated, acting out for nearly a month when he first got there, but slowly he started to condemn to their rules. he began to fall back to that perfect, golden child that he was before. he took his drill sergeant's orders as if they came from his parents. he started making friends, basking in the life he had taken for granted. and not three years later, he was stepping off the bus from boot camp, a smile on his face and a pep in his step. he was happy to see his parents— he figured maybe life would be perfect now. they were going to be this ideal, uniform family again, no matter how robotic. he realized everything his parents did, every little rule and promise, it all was meant to make him into a better man, to keep him on a straight line. over the years, he saw kids continuing to rebel within the boot camp, pushing their luck and ending up worse in the end. it was a never ending cycle, and he wanted no part of it. oh how did his dreams fly.

one year after riley stepped off the bus from bootcamp, his entire ideal world crumbled. a virus swept over the world and the dead began walking. everything his parents had trained for, everything he had trained for, was surrounding them in hoards. they grabbed everything they could and darted off to the first military base they could find, leaving everyone they ever knew behind. they were soldiers now— but they weren’t fighting for their country; they were fighting for their lives.

the pearson family lasted three months. three months of family bonding and survival all washed down the drain when their military base was overrun by an enormous hoard of the undead. soldiers fought bravely, proudly, and children cowered behind whatever family they had left. riley and his parents were in the front of the battle, and as his mother called out a final i love you, her arm was torn apart. his father jumped in to save her, and his leg was attacked from behind. all the while, riley watched in frozen terror as the family he once knew was ripped to shreds.

he couldn’t remember what happened— maybe he fought his way through, maybe he cowered behind everyone else until the last dead had dropped, maybe he slept through it all, but somehow, some way, riley walked out of that base with his life, his father’s jacket, and a gun, not a thing else. no one else survived, that he knows of, and he was the last one alive to tell the tale.

after that, he took no chances. three years of bootcamp and an entire life of military parents taught him how to fight like a soldier no matter what world he was in. he became a cold killer, fighting for himself and only himself. the memory of his parents burned in the front of his brain— they died for him, and he was damn sure not going to let their death be in vain. so he fights for himself, for the world he remembers, and he does whatever it takes to survive— no matter the cost.

he’s became colder, crueler, more sculpted by this world than he ever had been. he resorted to staying silent on most occasions, rarely a full phrase spewing from his lips. he’s fell into an emotionless state for a long time, pushing himself away from other survivors, knowing no matter what, they’d all end up the same. in his mind, there was no point to friendships anymore, no point in taking the time to get to know someone if their fate was already sealed. this mindset hurt him more than he could comprehend, and it took a while for him to learn from his mistakes

it was only last year that riley began travelling with another survivor, italia. they had crossed paths time and time again over the years, and at some point, they just stopped leaving eachother. this... bond, friendship, whatever they wanted to call it, it’s what he needed to chip away at that cold, hard exterior. she had the same sadness in her eyes, the same trauma laced in her veins, and somehow, their pain merged. suddenly, he was talking again, the sentences getting longer as time passed. but of course, tragedy always found riley.

only a few months after joining italia in the apocalypse, riley came face to face with someone he thought he’d never see again. at first, riley thought it was just another bug eye, a stage three that was just begging for a bullet between the eyes. but that flash of camo and the glimmer of a rusted locket hanging around rotting skin, riley felt his whole world collapse ontop of him. it was his mother, in all her rotting glory. 

riley broke. for the first time in years, he let himself break down, right in front of the one person he knew would understand. together, two fingers on the trigger of a shaking gun, riley and italia put his mother to rest. he buried his mother with his father’s old military jacket, his most prized possession, and traded it in for the locket that held years of memories between the rusted engravings. it took him another month or two to push down the urge to burst into tears. 

riley blamed himself for what happened to his mother, not only her death, but for her afterlife. she was left to roam the world for years as a rotting corpse, all because he didn’t take the time to give her mercy back at the base. his father, god knows where he is. 

he took those months to heal, to put the pieces back together, and now he’s managing to live a functional life. he’s speaking more, managing full phrases, almost keeping a conversation. it’s a complete 180 of the boy he used to be.

basics.

riley is an 23 year old survivor who witnessed the death of his parents around 4 ago on a military base where they and many other families had escaped to during the initial outbreak. his family was military born and raised, all of them as uniform and perfect as you would expect. when his teen years came along, he began to rebel— running away, getting mixed up with drugs, general disrespectful teenager stuff. when his parents had decided they had taken enough, they shipped him off to military boot camp, and three years later, riley pearson stepped off that bus and walked home a perfect soldier. he had hoped everything would return to how it used to be before he had ruined it all, but a year after he returned home, the outbreak began and all hopes of a perfect life were destroyed. after the death of his parents, he was the lone survivor of the military base and the last remaining piece of his family. he has become cold since their death, nearly emotionless, only continuing to fight for the sake of his family’s memory. he’s no longer much of a talker, and after seeing his mother’s corpse just a year ago, he’s wondering if he’ll ever get back to the boy he once was. he’s currently travelling alongside another survivor, italia, and she has helped him to speak more, managing full phrases, sometimes even sentences.

wanted connections.

bootcamp buddies - this is someone that riley met in bootcamp and became friends with during those three years. they wouldn’t know about riley’s past since the bootcamp, i.e. the death of his parents and the loss of everything he loves, so this reunion would be quite the awkward one taken by dani jennings 

trading partners - riley has decided to trade with a very select group of people, all single rogues or rogue pairs, and has kept the personal information to the bare minimum. they meet at set locations, on a routine schedule so not everyone is there at once, and trade the basic needs of what they have. i’d love to have some of these trading partners!

an ex ? - this would be from his rebellious years, before the three years in bootcamp (or honestly maybe even the beginning of boot camp ? ). he is a completely different person than he was back then, though he has fallen into some of his old habits (smoking). this could be fun !

his uncle - there is a wc on the main for this !!! i’d love to see him around

those are all i’ve really got now, but if you’d like to plot or fill a connection, hmu! my ims are always open and i do have a discord !

[hxttrick-archived]

★ FILL IN THE QUESTIONS AS IF YOU ARE BEING INTERVIEWED FOR AN ARTICLE AND YOU WERE YOUR MUSE.

REPOST, DO NOT REBLOG!

Tagged by: @paindealt​ (thank you!) Tagging: Everyone!

1. WHAT IS YOUR NAME? “Kung Lao. The Great Kung Lao. The best of the best. The White Lotus hero. The greatest Shaolin. Th--”

2. WHAT IS YOUR REAL NAME? "Kung Lao. Can’t get tired of hearing it, can you?”

3. DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU’RE CALLED THAT? "I’ll never forget, so you shouldn’t either. I was named after my ancestor, plain and simple. He reigned as champion after he defeated Shang Tsung, but his life came to an end when he faced against Goro. My family’s spirit may have been crushed by his death, but his legacy was bound to continue-- and it has within me. I remember asking my father one day about why, and he only told me that he knew I was special. I’m the Great Kung Lao’s number one legacy; no one within the family can top my skills.”

4. ARE YOU SINGLE OR TAKEN? “Single.” (This is verse dependent.)

5. WHAT ARE YOUR POWERS AND ABILITIES? "Of course I have a plethora of skills, but my favorites fall upon using my hat. I can do so much with my hat, like manipulation of its direction or allow it to spin around my body to protect myself; just call me the hat master. With Lord Fujin’s instruction, I learned how to teleport and how to create wind vortexes by using my chi, and I can never be more thankful for his teachings. Even my ancestor plays a part in my abilities; his spirit rests within me. I can call upon the Great Kung Lao to assist me whenever I need him, but I never truly need help. I’m constantly blessed that he’s there for me though.”

6. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR EYES? "Brown hazel.”

7. HAVE YOU EVER DYED YOUR HAIR? "Nope. I rather keep its natural color.”

8. DO YOU HAVE ANY FAMILY MEMBERS? "What kind of a question is that? Everyone has a family-- in one way or another. My father Kung Peng, my mother Mao Xiang, my sister Kung Shi, and my nephew Kung Jin. While both sets of grandparents have been dead for some time, I have eight uncles, eight aunts, and twenty five cousins; isn’t that a big family? ....I wish I could talk to most of them. In the future, when I-- I mean my future counterpart died, I realized that the family has fallen apart, lost their status, moved on to America. I even heard rumors they wanted to forget I even existed! And my nephew-- it is crazy seeing him all grown up. I don’t know what to even say about any of it...but I can say that...that I miss Shi...”

9. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? "I have eight bunnies; five does and three bucks. My does are Xiao Xue & Qi Qi- both Hol/land Lops, Hua- who’s a Bev/eran, Yuming- one of my two Flem/ish Giants, and my special albino Himalayan: Xiaolian. My bucks are Bao- another Holl/and, Jiaozi- the American rabbit, and Xing- my other Flem/ish.”

10. TELL ME ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DON’T LIKE. "Shang Tsung-- Oh, something. Disrespect towards the elderly.”

11. DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES OR ACTIVITIES YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? "I like to meditate, train, and practice swordplay. On some days, I’ll participate in playing soccer with other monks, especially when the weather is nice. When I am not in the mood for vigorous activity, I like to read or take naps, or spend quality time with my rabbits.”

12. HAVE YOU EVER HURT ANYONE BEFORE? "All in the life of a Shaolin. In other words, yes.”

13. HAVE YOU EVER… KILLED ANYONE? "Yes, but do not be afraid. We Shaolin call killing someone a drastic measure.”

14. WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL ARE YOU? "Do you mean my animality? A cheetah.”

15. NAME YOUR WORST HABITS. “I cannot think of a single one. People tell me that it’s my pride, my confidence, my ego; they think I brag; what is so wrong about a healthy confidence? ----Okay, maybe I come off as prideful. Hey, even I am not perfect. Also, my sleep pattern can be screwed up some nights, so I tend to nap during the day and that’s what causes me to slack during training sometimes. You better not tell my masters or Lord Raiden about this.”

16. DO YOU LOOK UP TO ANYONE? "Yes.”

17. GAY, STRAIGHT, OR BISEXUAL? ”I’m...bi.”

18. DO YOU GO TO SCHOOL? “Not exactly. I study and live within a monastery, and receive a monastic education as well as martial arts training.”

19. DO YOU EVER WANT TO MARRY AND HAVE KIDS SOMEDAY “Some day, but I am not yet prepared to drop everything and leave the temple. There is still so much I want to do and wish to achieve. ”

20. DO YOU HAVE ANY FANS? "I’m no movie star but I know I have fans-- tons of fans.”

21. WHAT ARE YOU MOST AFRAID OF? “I fear being unable to protect the Wu Shi. Again, I had to witness dead monks before me... The carnage must stop!”

22. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY WEAR? "All it takes is to look at me. The long answer would be something comfortable, not constricting to my form, but nothing too revealing. Sometimes, I will wear the classic orange outfit monks wear, but not always.”

23. DO YOU LOVE SOMEONE? “What do you mean by love? Romantic love or platonic? Platonically, of course I love someone-- more than one.”

24. WHAT CLASS ARE YOU? "The class of being the greatest, obviously.”

25. HOW MANY FRIENDS DO YOU HAVE? "I have many friends whom I consider allies.”

26. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON PIE? "On pie itself or a specific kind of pie? Can it be mango pie? I want mango pie.”

27. FAVORITE DRINK? "Tea.”

29. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE? "Besides the temple, there is the Kung family home, and besides that, I have a place where I train in seclusion, where I can view the mountains for miles and admire the scenery from the cliff side. It’s watching the sun rise and set, and gazing upon the moon in all of its glory that make it a nice place to be”

30. ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SOMEONE? "I have a small crush, but that is not your business.”

31. WHAT’S YOUR DICK SIZE? "That’s REALLY none of your business! But if you’re so curious, I’m bigger than you-- is what I would say if I knew you had one.”

32. WOULD YOU RATHER SWIM IN THE LAKE OR THE OCEAN? "The lake, I suppose, but I prefer a river, to be honest.”

33. WHAT’S YOUR ‘TYPE’? "Back to this? What do you mean by type? Are you asking me because I said I had a crush? I shouldn’t of said that; just forget I said that, okay?”

34. ANY FETISHES? "UH-- EXCUSE ME?!”

35. TOP OR BOTTOM? DOMINANT OR SUBMISSIVE? "WHY are you ASKING me these QUESTIONS??! I am a monk! I took a vow of chastity! I can’t answer that kind of stuff when I don’t even know myself!”

36. CAMPING, OR INDOORS? "Finally changing that last subject! ---Both.”

37. ARE YOU WAITING FOR THIS INTERVIEW TO BE OVER? "You’ve been polite enough until you started asking me those risque questions, so yes.”

[katedoesfics]

Shadows of Hyrule | Chapter 70

It was late in the morning when Link finally trudged out of his room, dragging his feet across the floor as he made his way downstairs. He had hardly slept - for obvious reasons - and only managed to catch a few hours after Mipha made her sneaky escape. On the plus side, he was officially on summer vacation, and he had the entire summer to sleep.

With the exception of Ganondorf’s ominous return.

His sister sat at the table, her legs swinging under the chair as she colored in a coloring book. Link sat himself with a sigh beside her. His stomach was growling, but he wasn’t ready to put in any effort into making food. He looked around, noticing then his father’s absence.

“Where’s Dad?”

“He had to run to work for a little bit,” Aryll said without looking up from her coloring.

“Oh.”

“I wanted Mipha to make me breakfast,” she continued as she scribbled away.

“Why would she do that?”

“Because you were having a sleepover and I wasn’t invited.”

Link practically jumped up in his seat. His gaze narrowed on his sister. “How do you know that?”

“Because I saw her. Duh.”

“Don’t tell Dad,” Link snapped.

Aryll paused her coloring, meeting Link’s gaze with a frown. “Why?”

“Because he can’t know, okay?” he said, flustered.

Aryll looked at him curiously. “Why?”

“Because - Just - Because I said so, alright? Just keep your mouth shut.”

Aryll crossed her arms. “That’s not very nice.”

Link rolled his eyes. “Promise, please, Ary?”

Aryll’s gaze narrowed on him for a moment, then she shrugged and returned to her coloring. “Fine,” she said. “But only if you let me paint your nails.”

Link groaned, but agreed to her terms. He found the energy to make himself a bowl of cereal, and once his stomach was silenced, he moved to his room to dress, returning to the living room to await his fate. Aryll already had the nail polish out, organizing them on the coffee table in rainbow order. Link slouched on the couch and clicked on the tv as his sister set to work painting his toes.

She had finished one foot when their father entered, but Aryll took no notice, too busy painting her brother's toenails in lively colors.

His father took one look at his son, snorted, and grinned. “Ah, how the tables have turned, Sucker.”

Link rolled his eyes.

“Link said I could paint all his toes if I kept my mouth shut about Mipha sleeping over in his room.”

Link yanked his foot back from her angrily. Her jaw dropped at the realization that she had spilled the beans. She jumped up suddenly, spilling the contents of the open nail polish bottle, and jumped forward towards Link, narrowly missing his groin as she pulled at his shirt.

“I'm so sorry, Link!”

Link grunted, his hands moving to protect himself. “Get off!”

But she continued to pull and shake him. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!” After a moment of this, she flung herself on top of the couch, her arms dangling as she regarded her father with an apologetic look on her face. “I fibbed, Daddy,” she said. “Don't ban Mipha from coming over ever again!”

Their father looked between them for a moment, still standing in the kitchen as the spectacle took place before his eyes. After a moment, he grinned, laughed, and moved across the room. When he passed his son, he hit him upside his head. “At least he won't die a virgin,” he said to seemingly no one as he rounded the corner to make his way upstairs.

Aryll turned to her brother questioningly. “What's a virgin?”

“Nothing,” Link muttered.

“It can’t be nothing,” Aryll said stubbornly.

“Are you done with my damn feet?”

Aryll moved to pick up the nail polish bottle that was on the floor. She hurried into the kitchen to grab some towels, then returned to attempt to clean up the spill she had caused. Most of the polish simply smeared and would require additional efforts, but Link couldn’t have cared less at that moment. When Aryll finally gave up, she looked up at her brother with big, sweet, innocent eyes, and stated “I still have some more toes to do or they will look funny.”

“They already look funny,” Link said with a sigh as he settled back into the couch. “Hurry up.”

Aryll sprang up gleefully and sat herself on the couch, taking her brother’s foot once more and set back to work. “Are you gonna show Mipha later?”

“Yeah,” Link said with a roll of his eyes. “Sure. She’ll love ‘em.”

Aryll nodded, still concentrating on painting her brother’s toes. “Almost as much as she loves you.”

Aryll spent another half an hour perfecting Link’s toes and blowing them dry before finally releasing her brother from the torture. He wiggled his toes in faux admiration, then got up to retrieve his phone, dialing Mipha’s number.

“You know,” she said, answering the call. “You’re supposed to wait three days so I won’t think you’re needy or something.”

Link grinned. “I’m needy.”

“Clearly.”

“I just had my toe nails painted by Ary,” he whined. He chose to leave out the bit about her spilling the beans to their father. “I need an excuse to get out of here before she starts braiding my hair.”

“So, now I’m just an excuse?” Mipha feigned being hurt. “And here I thought we had something special.”

“Okay, goodbye,” Link said.

“Wait,” Mipha said quickly. “I promised Urbosa we could hang out today.”

Link’s gaze narrowed as he spoke. He was sure that could only mean gossip. “So you can give her all the juicy details?” If a blush could have been heard, Link heard it.

“What?” she started, then laughed nervously. “No. What? Goddess, Link. No. What. No. No!”

“You’re a good liar. But if you could at least work in somewhere that I’m a proficient and passionate lover, that would be great.”

“Proficient?” Mipha repeated. “That’s a big word for you. Who you trying to impress?”

“Just trying to give myself an edge in the dating world for when you find something better.”

“I thought you were a catch?”

“Well, I sure like to think so.”

“Alright, Fabio,” Mipha said with a sigh. “I guess you can tag along.”

“Great,” Link said. “Let me just put on my heels. Ary did an excellent job painting my toes.”

*****

Mipha made sure to warn Urbosa in advance that Link would be with her, and thus blowing their plans of gossiping all together, but as it worked out, Riju had insisted on tagging along as well, quickly and easily convincing Revali that they needed a rematch against Link. By the afternoon, Hyrule’s six Champions, including Riju, Teba - and now that school was out - Suki, had found themselves between the park and the soccer field, Riju bouncing a soccer ball from knee to knee. She looked up just as Mipha and Link approached, making the group complete.

“Finally!” Riju shouted, drawing the attention of the group to Mipha and Link. They were hand in hand and either in the midst of conversation, or simply staring lovingly into each other's eyes, which the group assumed to be the more plausible explanation. Riju's outburst brought them out of their gaze, however, and they turned their attention curiously onto their friends.

Riju bounded up and down, clapping her hands together. She pointed to Mipha and Link, then to herself, then back to the new couple excitedly. “I called that, you guys, you heard it, I called it. I knew it! I told ya! I did that!”

Urbosa put a hand on her hip and shook her head, grinning. “Yeah, sure, Riju, you called it.”

“So, this is finally a thing, now?” Zelda said. “Officially? The ship is sailing?”

Mipha's brows knit together, her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink. “The ship?”

“Apparently everyone knew it but the two of you,” Teba said with a tone of disinterest.

“I was starting to wonder if Link would be single for the rest of his life,” Revali said with a smirk.

“That doesn't say much for me,” Mipha muttered. Link elbowed her playfully in the ribs.

“Ignore them,” Urbosa said, waving her hand at them.

“I’m not here for gossip,” Revali said, clapping his hands together. “I’m here to kick Link’s ass.” He grabbed the ball from Riju and grinned devilishly at Link.

“Shirts!” Riju yelled. “Me and Revali, you and Daruk.”

Link turned a helpless gaze to his friend. “Can’t you just punch him?”

“I’m not losing to Revali,” Daruk said. “And definitely not Riju.”

Link sighed, pulling his shirt over his head as he jogged after the four of them onto the field. Once the game started, Teba and Suki had wandered off, leaving Urbosa, Mipha, and Zelda alone to watch the game.

Urbosa put a hand on her hip and grinned at Mipha. “You hit that.”

Mipha yelped lightly and buried her face in her hands.

Zelda turned to her in surprise. “You hit that?”

Urbosa nodded. “She hit that.”

“Can we stop saying that?” Mipha muttered.

Urbosa shrugged. “You fucked? Screwed? Made love?” She bent over and grinned. “He put his dick in your -”

“Urbosa!”

“You promised me details!”

“I hate you,” Mipha muttered.

“Remember last time?” Urbosa said, reminiscing happily. “We were right here when I told ya you needed to get laid. And you finally took my advice.” She patted Mipha’s head. “My little girl is all grown up.”

Mipha groaned loudly. She turned her attention on the game, which had apparently stopped for a moment while Urbosa was teasing her. A group of young children had swarmed the field, jumping up and down around the players. One made a muscle with his arms, and Daruk was clearly pretending to be impressed with the little guy’s biceps. Another made shooting motions with his arms, as if shooting a bow, and Revali was in all of his glory as he signed an autograph for the child. A couple more were fighting with imaginary swords, while the other was telling an apparently very thrilling and animated story to Link, judging by the way his hands circled around him and made what appeared to be explosion gestures. Riju shared in this child’s excitement, engaging just as excitedly in the conversation.

“You’re totally gonna have his babies,” Urbosa said.

Mipha met her gaze. She hadn’t realized she was smiling while watching Link.

[miguel-manbemel]

Aspects & Fanfics Ep. 21: Whatever Happened to Honesty and Logan?

The release date for this episode is coincidental. Today, it’s the fifth anniversary of the first introduction of the Teacher Guy on Vine, and this episode of the fic is partially focused on Logan. So, it serves to celebrate the anniversary too. Happy birthday to Logan.

For new readers, it also features an original character that I introduced in the fic, a representation of Thomas’ Honesty, still without a name, because I want to wait until Deceit gets his name to give a name to Honesty. The description of this character appears on the second episode of the fic, “The Trouble with Honesty”. Basically it’s a classic British gentleman wearing a gray suit with a yellow bowtie and a yellow umbrella clinging from his arm. He also wears a bowler hat, and speaks with a posh, old-fashioned RP British accent. When introduced, he was the orange Side, so the umbrella and bowtie were orange, but I changed it a few episodes ago. The quirk of this character is that he shares the same body with Deceit, so they use it in turns. Sometimes Deceit comes out, other times Honesty comes out. They both can speak from the same body in a Gollum fashion. Lately, the Side that is out can project a “holographic” image of the Side that is in, who can speak as if he was out, but he can’t touch anything. I hope this little summary can be of help.

And now, I leave you with the episode. If you want to read previous entries, you can find them right here. And as always, thank you to anyone following, liking, reblogging, or simply reading. You’re appreciated. Until next time.

SYNOPSIS: Honesty has been hiding something to the other Sides. Due to the fusion that happened when fighting the Dark Master long ago, Honesty is disappearing into Deceit and soon he will cease to exist. Logan has the idea of getting from the Dark Master the knowledge to revert the fusion so that he can teach it to Thomas. However, when Logan tries to steal these memories from the Dark Master, he overloads, and that makes him lose his memories of the last 20 years of his life. Thomas must find a way to restore these memories before he goes to sleep, as then it will be irreversible.

WARNINGS: There is a scene of Logan being apparently electrified, some moments of mild angst and brief moments of prinxiety. The end card is pure platonic logicality.

EPISODE INDEX

[Thomas is checking his agenda, while he also has his laptop over his legs]

THOMAS: Okay, so I have to finish writing this for today, then tomorrow I have to take that photo-shoot in the morning… then the day after tomorrow… oh, yes, I have that meeting in NYC, I almost forgot! So tomorrow evening is flight time. Ugh, I hate flying at night. And also, in the evening after the New York meeting, I have to go to see that Broadway show where my friend appears in. He invited me and I can’t miss that. And next Monday, when I’m back to Gainesville… yes, it is the first day of filming what I must finish writing today, and in the evening, I have a recording session for a new song… [sighs] You know what? In weeks like this I wish I was like Deceit. No, I don’t mean a good liar to invent the excuse that I’m sick to stay in bed all week. I mean that I’d wish to have six arms like him to do all these things at the same time… although the thing about being sick is an idea too…

[intro sequence]

THOMAS: What is up, everybody? Yes, it is a very busy week for me. But apart from all of that, I must also dedicate all the free moments I have to spend time with my Sides, trying to find a way to turn Roman back into a Light Side. I mean, we love him in any form he has, but since he turned into a Dark Side, that has affected my creativity. It’s getting increasingly difficult to create things, as if Roman had more difficulty as a Dark Side to let himself get carried away in the creative process. And it also doesn’t help how much he misses Virgil, that distracts him so much. And Virgil isn’t having a good time either. Not only because of the stress I’m feeling in the past few days with so many things to do at the same time. He also misses Roman, and that heightens him, and therefore makes me feel anxious like in the times when Virgil was a Dark Side. [sighs] I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to make it through it all.

PATTON: [rising up] Of course you will, kiddo. You just have to believe in yourself, and in your own capacities. You can do this!

THOMAS: Thanks for the encouragement, Patton, I really appreciate it, but… this is getting really hard.

ROMAN: [rising up] Thomas, nobody said that the road to fame and glory would be swift and easy. Remember that line from that movie? “You want fame? Well fame costs, and here is where you start paying, in sweat.”

THOMAS: I never wanted fame for the sake of fame, Roman. I’m contented with just living off my acting and singing and making people happy, that’s all.

VIRGIL: [rising up] In fact, I think the idea of getting more and more famous is one of the things that heightens me most. You don’t even want to consider yourself famous at all, as if denying the fact that your fan base is scattered all around the globe and could fill several dozens of soccer stadiums. I mean, you have millions of fans all over the world, all ready to see anything you come out with as soon as you release it, and you don’t consider that “fame”?

THOMAS: [nervous giggle and anxious face] Thanks for getting me more stressed, Virge. I’m glad to see that, despite the circumstances, your skills are still on point.

VIRGIL: Sorry, Thomas.

LOGAN: [rising up] Thomas, the key to avoid getting too stressed over a huge load of work is carefully planning your activities. We’ve talked about this several times already, remember?

THOMAS: Yes, I know, but… when you have so many things in your head at the same time, it gets so difficult to plan everything. Especially when you add your “Master” responsibilities. Ugh, I still don’t like using that word to refer to myself.

HONESTY: [rising up] You should not do that, however. Remember that the first step in getting to know your powers is accepting them as part of who you are, and that includes embracing your nature as the Light Master of your Mind Palace.

THOMAS: Yes, I know, Honesty, but I… [suddenly realizing Honesty’s out] Oh, hello, Honesty. How are you doing? It’s been ages.

HONESTY: Why does everyone tell me that every time I show up?

THOMAS: You don’t show up much often lately, and the other Sides don’t see you either. Even Deceit is starting to worry, cause you stay out of reach even for him now.

HONESTY: Well, I do also have a right to disappear every once in a while, don’t I?

VIRGIL: Disappear every once in a while? More like appear every once in a while.

ROMAN: But why do you want to disappear, though? Have we done something wrong or…?

HONESTY: No, no, no! Of course not! There’s nothing wrong between us! However, you’re asking it as if I was leaving you behind for good. Guys, I’m still here, I’m fine and I still love you all. Stop worrying so much about me.

THOMAS: Okay, okay, as you wish. You’re your own Side… well, not completely now, but we still appreciate you the same. I hope you remember that.

HONESTY: Of course I do, and, like I said, I do appreciate all of you too. But seriously, don’t overact on this. I’m fine, and I’ll keep on being fine.

PATTON: As for me, I miss our afternoons of tea and cookies. It’s been ages since we had the last one.

HONESTY: I miss them too, Patton. I promise that soon we’ll have another one… [suddenly concerned] but now, if you excuse me, I gotta go.

THOMAS: What? So soon?

HONESTY: Yeah, sorry, I have… something to do.

THOMAS: But…

HONESTY: Bye, gentlemen!

[there’s a yellow flash around Honesty and when it disappears, Deceit is in his place, he shows a face of utter confusion]

DECEIT: How… how did I get here?

THOMAS: What? You don’t know?

DECEIT: [sarcastic] If I knew, I would certainly ask, don’t you think?

PATTON: Well, basically Honesty was here. Then, he said he had to go, and then you appeared in his place.

DECEIT: What? Honesty came out?

ROMAN: That line would sound so stupid out of context, bearing in my mind we all have been out for so long…

DECEIT: Why didn’t I sense him?

LOGAN: You don’t remember anything of what Honesty has done?

DECEIT: No, nothing at all. I was in my room, and then, the next moment, I was here with you.

LOGAN: This is disconcerting. Something doesn’t seem to be right with you two, even though Honesty tries to deny it.

DECEIT: Wait, wait. We’re talking about the same Honesty, right? I am the liar of the group. Honesty would never tell a lie, at least not without a good reason, would he?

LOGAN: Well, that’s how it should be, but, too many things have happened lately with you two and we still don’t know the effects they had on you two in the long term. Maybe something’s happening with Honesty and he doesn’t want to tell us.

THOMAS: Great, as if I didn’t have enough things to worry about, now this.

DECEIT: Do you think Honesty is endangered somehow because he had to get fused back with me? That would kill me. It’s my fault that he had to renounce to his body after all.

LOGAN: My advice is that you bring him out, Deceit, so he can tell us what’s going on.

DECEIT: Okay, I’ll try, but as I told you, I don’t sense him, so I don’t know if it’s going to work.

[Deceit points at the empty space where Honesty usually appears. Nothing happens]

DECEIT: I’ll try again.

[Deceit points again, and still nothing happens]

THOMAS: How can this be? He was talking to us just a minute ago, and now he’s out of reach? Could he be in autopilot?

DECEIT: No, that cannot be. We can’t get in autopilot if one of us doesn’t want to be, and I’m not in autopilot.

THOMAS: You’re right, Honesty told me long ago. Then, I don’t know. If only we could go to find him in the Mind Palace like we use to do with other Sides… but he’s inside of you, there’s literally nowhere we can go to to find him… because I cannot get inside Deceit’s “Mind Palace”, can I?

LOGAN: No, Thomas, I’m afraid not. We’re not complex human beings, we’re more simple aspects. We’re not developed enough to hold a Mind Palace inside each of ourselves.

VIRGIL: Also, you’re not a Russian doll to have spaces inside of spaces inside of spaces.

LOGAN: Of course he’s not a Russian doll. He’s a human being, and he’s American. Inside of him there are only his organs.

VIRGIL: [sighs, then frustrated] Will there ever come a time when I, among all Sides, can say a metaphor of any kind and you don’t take it literally, Logan?

PATTON: But wouldn’t he look cute as a doll, Russian or otherwise?

DECEIT: Logan, I think I have an idea. Could you get a grasp of my memories like you did long ago? When you did the opposite, showing Honesty your memories, you unlocked the block between us. Maybe it could work again.

LOGAN: I don’t know if it’s a good idea, Deceit. Remember that the last time, we almost lost you.

DECEIT: But that was because I was a Dark Side and I was corrupting Honesty. Now, we’re both Light Sides and therefore there’s no chance for corruption. What could go wrong?

VIRGIL: Usually, when someone asks that question is the exact moment when things start going wrong…

THOMAS: Dee, this could be risky.

DECEIT: I know, Thomas, but even so, I wanna take the risk. Please, Logan. Check my memories. If nothing is unlocked, at least you could find out something useful.

LOGAN: [sighs] Okay, if you’re sure… [approaches Deceit and puts his hand on Deceit’s chest] Here we go.

[Logan starts shaking as if he was being electrified while Deceit looks at him expectantly. After a few moments, Logan takes his hand off and returns to his spot]

LOGAN: [concerned] Oh, my goodness…

DECEIT: [scared] What? What did you see?

LOGAN: I didn’t expect to see that.

DECEIT: [anxious] What? What?

LOGAN: I saw Deceit’s and Honesty’s memories of the last months and I saw everything about the issue. It all started with the fusion of Honesty into you. When he blew up his own body to get into you and overthrow the Dark Master that was possessing you… something happened to him. I’m positive that you know how his key color changed from orange to yellow.

DECEIT: Yes.

LOGAN: That was not the only thing that changed. Honesty has literally fused partially with you. Now it’s not that there are two aspects in the same body. Now these aspects are stuck and mixed together, sharing functions, as if you were Siamese brothers. And the worst is…

DECEIT: [very anxious] Finish already!

PATTON: Easy, Deecey, don’t jump into the… highway to Hell just yet!

DECEIT: It’s not a moment for jokes now, Patton! Logan, come on!

LOGAN: The worst is… like the more time goes on, the more you two are fusing into one single aspect at all. Soon, there will be only one of you at all.

DECEIT: But I thought, being Light Sides, we couldn’t corrupt each other!

LOGAN: This is not corruption. It’s not like the other time when one Side was destroying the other. What is happening now is that all the essence of one Side is joining the other Side. Have you recently felt a change in your behavior of some kind?

DECEIT: I don’t know…

THOMAS: I do, though. The other day, when Virgil and I went looking for you into your room, when we were leaving you said “after you, gentlemen”, just like Honesty usually speaks, even with the British accent.

PATTON: And now I remember another time, when you said you had to go to your room to do “something”, in a cryptic way. What was that something, Deceit, and why didn’t you want to tell us?

DECEIT: Well, it was nothing special. It’s just that I wanted to make some tea and I was ashamed of saying it, because I’m not good at it and I didn’t want you to try it before I could practice, so… [sudden face of concern] Wait. I never liked tea! Unless it was served with Patton’s cookies… those were the only times I could enjoy it, because I liked the taste of his cookies mixed with the tea. And now I was making tea to drink it alone on my own? What is going on?

THOMAS: Then Logan is right. It’s happening. Those are traits that belonged to Honesty, and now you’re acquiring them as your own.

DECEIT: What’s gonna happen if this process continues?

LOGAN: You already know what’s gonna happen. When the process is completed, Honesty’s consciousness will cease to exist and you will take his place in everything he used to do as a Side. Basically, Honesty will be no more.

DECEIT: [horrified] Oh, no…

LOGAN: And I’ve seen Honesty knows. He has raised a barrier around himself, like a hermetic egg that separates him from the rest of you, trying to stop the process. It works partially. The process is going really slow when he’s inside that barrier, but not completely so the fusion is still eventually going to happen. He only comes out from time to time, because sometimes the barrier gets weak and he needs to get out to recharge it from the outside. When the barrier is fully charged and he closes it around him, it is completely hermetic and he can’t sense anything from us when he’s inside. If it gets weak, he starts feeling us and that’s the signal he uses to get out and recharge. When he has to get out, he takes advantage of the memory lock mechanism that you two had in the old days when you didn’t know that each other was inside of you and forgot what the other did while he was out. That mechanism was still there in you. Back then it was just triggered when you changed places without control, but now Honesty has decided to use it on purpose so that you didn’t know what he was doing when he was charging the barrier. And as I’ve seen in his memories, he’s been hiding everything from us because he doesn’t want to worry us or be a burden, especially now that we have the problem with Roman. He doesn’t want to distract us from fixing Roman’s problem.

DECEIT: My goodness… and this is all my fault. If only I had been smarter and didn’t let the Dark Master trick me, Honesty wouldn’t have had to fuse with me to fix my mistakes.

THOMAS: It’s not your fault, it’s the Dark Master’s fault. We didn’t blame Roman when he tricked him. Why would we blame you?

ROMAN: I know the feeling, Deceit. Don’t get carried away by it. Trust me, it will only hurt you and you would get nothing in return other than pain and sorrow. However, Honesty shouldn’t have hidden this from us. My problem is nothing compared to his. Light or Dark, I’ll be okay, but he… he could… We gotta do something to help him! Now I feel guilty too, because he’s hiding this because of me!

DECEIT: Yes, but what can we do? Perhaps if I change places with him? No, I’ve tried and his block doesn’t let me do it.

LOGAN: Yes, and he placed the block without saying a word to you precisely to stop you from doing that, because if you changed places, the process would take the opposite way. Honesty would absorb you and you would cease to exist, and he doesn’t want that. I’ve seen in his memories that he prefers to disappear himself rather than seeing you disappear, because he feels a deep fraternal love for you. He considers you his brother and is willing to sacrifice himself to save you from his destiny.

DECEIT: [emotional] I… I do love him too as if he was my brother. In a way, I think we really are brothers, both physically and emotionally. No one knows him better than me and no one knows me better than him, for obvious reasons. He’s the only one in this world I could never ever tell a lie, not only because I could never deceive him, as he knows all my memories, but also because I couldn’t find it in my heart to deceive him… And yet he’s taken me aside of his problems when he needed me most. Gosh, he’s going through so much and he’s going through it all alone… I must do anything it takes to save him. Isn’t there any way to revert the process?

LOGAN: The only thing that comes to my mind is Thomas.

THOMAS: Me? What can I do?

LOGAN: The Dark Master managed to create a full body of his own for Deceit when he was about to fade away. Maybe you can do it too if you learn how to do it.

THOMAS: So much pressure… I feel like such a failure for not knowing how to do what you say that I can do.

LOGAN: Not knowing something is not a failure, Thomas. Neither it is not being able to learn that something on the first, second, third or whatever number of tries. The failure would be not being willing to try, and if there’s one thing you’re always willing to do is trying to learn.

THOMAS: You’re right on that, Logan. I love learning new things and I always do my best on that. I won’t do any different this time. I’m ready when you’re ready, Logan.

LOGAN: I knew you would say that and I’m proud of you, Thomas. Then, it’s time for you to learn how to be the Light Master. The problem is… that none of us know how to teach you at all or who could teach you.

THOMAS: Then we’re right back to where we started. How am I supposed to start learning if I don’t even know what and how should I learn?

DECEIT: [frustrated] Dang it! We’re on a dead end. And it’s all because of the Dark Master! That… father of a virgin! For him it was so easy to use these abilities. I wish we could grab him, steal all of his knowledge and transmit it to Thomas.

LOGAN: Hey! That is an excellent idea, Deceit.

DECEIT: What? I was only venting… Can we do that?

LOGAN: Yes, I think we can, thanks to Roman.

ROMAN: Me? How?

LOGAN: At this moment, the Dark Master is trapped in Sandersia as a fragment of his former self that has taken the shape of a Sandersian to keep on existing. He has some power, but not enough to be a danger, especially now that Remus’ black cauldron is safe again behind the barrier in his room and you are alert of his existence. If we could get to the Dark Master, you could use your Creativity powers to hold him still while I get all of his memories, like I just did with Deceit. Then, with that knowledge at my disposal, I could assume my role as teacher and properly teach Thomas how to use his Master powers.

ROMAN: That… could work. But couldn’t it be dangerous? We’re talking about absorbing the knowledge of an entity that is pure evil, even if now he’s incapacitated. Couldn’t that have some sort of secondary effects on you?

LOGAN: You have a point, certainly. He’s neither an ordinary Side nor an ordinary Sandersian, and therefore we don’t know if there could be any secondary effects on me… But if we don’t do something soon, we could lose Honesty. And I don’t wanna lose anyone of you. Not again. It was painful enough when we lost Ira. Maybe I didn’t show it, because I struggle with showing my feelings, but it was the worst pain I ever felt in my life. I don’t wanna feel that pain again, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure I don’t lose again any of my… that is a strong word but I can’t think of anything else to describe it… of my loved ones. I have the intention of saving Honesty, then help you and Virgil get reunited permanently and then carry on with our lives as it should be. I don’t care what happens to me.

[Roman tears up, then approaches Logan and hugs him. Logan shows a face of shock and starts blushing. He’s so stunned that he doesn’t hug Roman back]

ROMAN: You’re already teaching me a lesson, Logan. A lesson of bravery, loyalty and friendship. You would make such a great prince indeed… I never realized how much I admire and love you despite how different we are.

LOGAN: [nervous] This is a little overwhelming… I’m not accustomed to this kind of signs of affection…

ROMAN: [making a gesture of stepping back] Oh, I’m sor…

LOGAN: [hugging Roman back] However, I think I could get accustomed to this quickly.

[Roman smiles and squeezes Logan a little bit in the hug. Then Deceit, Virgil and Patton join in a group hug]

THOMAS: I’m so proud of you, Logan. But we don’t want anything bad happening to you. Are you sure you want to go through this?

LOGAN: [heartwarming smile] Yes. Whatever it takes so that we can repeat these group hugs more often… [suddenly nervous] Uh… for scientific reasons, of course.

THOMAS: [smirk] Of course.

[everyone returns to their own spot]

ROMAN: Okay, if you’ve made up your mind, let’s get down to business… to def…

LOGAN: Roman, please, not again.

ROMAN: You’re right, sorry. It’s not the time for Mulan lyrics right now. What’s the plan?

LOGAN: When you were fused, Romulus said that no one could escape from him while they were in Sandersia. I presume the same happens with you, Roman.

ROMAN: Yes, that’s right. I never meddle in any Sandersian’s life, but if I wanted, I could find them no matter where they were and bring them to my presence.

LOGAN: That means you could find the Dark Master anywhere he was and bring him wherever you want.

ROMAN: Yes.

LOGAN: And then you could trap him and stop him from running away.

ROMAN: I mean, you said it yourself, we’re talking about the Dark Master. I don’t know how much power I could have over him. But if he was subjected to the rules of Sandersia as any other Sandersian, I could.

LOGAN: That’s exactly the plan. We go somewhere in Sandersia, you force the Dark Master to show up, then trap him so that he can’t move and I get his memories.

ROMAN: And then, what do we do with him?

LOGAN: Well, I’d be happy to get rid of him for all eternity, but unfortunately, we need him inside the Mind Palace, you know why.

ROMAN: Yes, I think I’ll never forget why.

LOGAN: After we’re done, you expel him as far away as you can and we return home and start training Thomas.

ROMAN: Sounds like a plan. Are you sure you’re ready to do this?

LOGAN: As sure as I’ll ever be, Roman.

DECEIT: Well, then what are we waiting for? Let’s do it. Off to Sandersia!

[Thomas and the Sanders Sides sink down into Roman’s room, then they enter into Sandersia. They walk a couple of miles away from the door until they stop]

ROMAN: Well, this place looks as good as any to start working. Are you guys ready? Especially you, Logan. As I told you, I don’t know if this will work and if it does I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold him. Be ready to do your thing as soon as I get him.

LOGAN: I’m ready when you’re ready, Roman.

THOMAS: Be careful, guys.

ROMAN: Okay. Let’s go.

[Roman rises both hands. At first, nothing seems to happen, but after a couple of minutes, the Dark Master falls down from the sky, crashing in the middle of them]

PATTON: Wow… that was a hard fall… It still is, it’s November…

DARK MASTER: [rises up] Ow! That hurts! What? You? What are you doing?

[Roman points at the Dark Master without saying a word. The Dark Master tries to move, but he can’t no matter how much he struggles]

DARK MASTER: I can’t move! What is this all about? How dare you do this to me! Let me go!

LOGAN: [approaching the Dark Master] Don’t worry, we’ll let you go, as soon as I get what I need from you.

DARK MASTER: What?

[Logan sighs, and after a second of doubt, he puts his hand on the Dark Master’s chest. Then, he starts shaking. At first nothing seems to be different to what happened with Deceit, but after a moment, he starts groaning as if he was in pain]

THOMAS: Logan! Are you okay?

DARK MASTER: [face of understanding] Oh, so this is what you’re doing. [evil smirk] Let’s see if your little nerd can handle so much knowledge.

THOMAS: Something’s going wrong! Logan, step back!

LOGAN: No! Not yet! I’m not done yet! [in pain] Aw!

THOMAS: Logan, please! This isn’t normal!

[The Dark Master starts giggling with an evil face]

DARK MASTER: Leave him alone, Thomas! He wants knowledge and he’s ready to pay the cost of that knowledge!

THOMAS: The cost…? What cost?

LOGAN: I’m… almost done… but I… I don’t know if I can hold on.

THOMAS: Please, Logan, don’t overdo yourself. I don’t want you to put your life on risk!

[suddenly, Deceit transforms into Honesty]

HONESTY: Logan! What are you doing!? I felt a huge force that crossed my barrier! What is going on!?

LOGAN: Honesty? I’m doing this for you! I’m getting the knowledge to save you from disappearing!

HONESTY: Then you know… But I don’t want you to be endangered because of me!

LOGAN: [struggling voice] Just… a little… more…

[suddenly, lightning sparks are seen all around Logan’s body]

LOGAN: I’m… overloading… I must let go… [tries to get his hand off] I can’t… My hand is stuck!

HONESTY: [scared] Logan!

[The Dark Master shows an ominous smile]

LOGAN: [with a voice of pain] Help me…

THOMAS: [running to Logan] I’m going, Logan!

[Thomas approaches Logan and tries to hold him, but as soon as he touches him, there’s a huge spark and he pulls his hands back in pain]

THOMAS: Ow! I got shocked! I can’t touch him!

HONESTY: Deceit can get him with his gloves! I’ll send him to you!

[Honesty changes to Deceit]

DECEIT: What’s happening!?

THOMAS: Quickly, Deceit, get Logan off the Dark Master! You’ll be protected thanks to your gloves!

DECEIT: Okay!

[Deceit grabs Logan. The gloves protect him, but he can’t move Logan]

LOGAN: [weak voice] Please… help me…

[Logan faints, and the Dark Master laughs evilly]

DECEIT: [scared] Logan! [struggling and yelling while he pulls with all his might] Nnnngggghhhaaaaaaaa!!!!

[finally he manages to unstick Logan off the Dark Master, and they both fall to the ground. The sparks surround Logan for a couple of seconds more until they fade away]

DARK MASTER: [with an evil smirk] Well, that surely was an electrifying experience! Does anyone else want to feel it?

ROMAN: [angry] Just shut up, you monster!

[Roman moves his arm and the Dark Master is propelled away until he gets lost in the distance, then Thomas and the Sides go to check on Logan]

THOMAS: Logan? Logan, say something, please.

LOGAN: [unconscious] Nnggghh…

PATTON: Logan… please, wake up…

[Logan opens his eyes]

LOGAN: Where… where am I?

DECEIT: [hugging Logan] Thank goodness, Logan! Are you okay?

LOGAN: [confused and uncomfortable] Do… do I know you from somewhere? And how do you know my name?

DECEIT: [stops hugging him] What? What do you mean?

THOMAS: Logan, what are you saying? Don’t you remember us?

LOGAN: I… I’m confused. Is that you, Thomas? I do remember you, but… you’re so old now… I also remember Princey, although I had never seen him with that outfit before, and certainly not so tall. [pointing at Patton, Virgil and Deceit] Who are these other people, though?

PATTON: Logan, don’t you remember me? It’s me, Patton!

LOGAN: I’m sorry, but I’ve never seen you in my life.

PATTON: Guys, this is not good.

THOMAS: Wait a second, guys, let’s not panic. What is the last thing you remember, Logan?

LOGAN: [rising up] Well, you were studying for your Math test. You know, the one with algebraic fractions. Don’t tell me you didn’t pass it. We worked so hard on it.

THOMAS: That… that was when I was in school, Logan. I’m 30 years old now. It’s been nearly two decades since then, I’ve even graduated as a chemical engineer in college. Have you forgotten the last 20 years of our life?

LOGAN: That can’t be, Thomas. That doesn’t follow logically. You, a chemical engineer? You were always headed towards dramatic arts and music.

THOMAS: And I work in that now, but I did graduate with a bachelor degree of science. Besides, how would you explain logically that I’m suddenly a grown up adult? No wonder you only remember Roman. Back then, he and you were the only Sides that had appeared before me, not counting Virgil, because he only appeared sporadically at that time and I think you didn’t get to meet him up until later. But I did mention him to you. Remember Anxiety?

LOGAN: Oh, so that is Anxiety? Nice to meet you at last, Anxiety. I’m Logic. Thomas has mentioned you so much.

VIRGIL: [confused] Yeah… sure… Nice to… meet you… too, I guess.

LOGAN: Is he always so eloquent, Thomas?

THOMAS: Forgive him, he’s… shy.

VIRGIL: What?

[Thomas makes a gesture to Virgil asking him to play along]

VIRGIL: Oh, uh… yes… I am, sorry.

LOGAN: It’s okay, nobody’s perfect, as Princey can attest.

[Roman emits some offended Princey noises]

THOMAS: Patton appeared later on, that’s why you don’t know him at all. And Deceit, back then, was a Dark Side that hadn’t shown up yet. Not anymore, though.

LOGAN: I see… And you’re saying that I know all these people and I have forgotten them? But, how could this happen?

THOMAS: It’s a long story, really long if it covers 20 years… How are we going to restore your memories back?

ROMAN: I knew there were going to be secondary effects, but I didn’t expect this.

LOGAN: Well, if you say that there’s 20 years of my life that I don’t remember, obviously you don’t have time to tell me all of that, unless you can live without working and therefore without food and health care, not to mention sleep, rent, et cetera, for the next two decades.

ROMAN: Yes, Teach, we had figured that out already.

LOGAN: Luckily for you, and for me, I guess… there’s a way to restore my memories.

THOMAS: How?

LOGAN: I’m your acquired knowledge, Thomas. If my memories were truly gone, they would be gone from you as well. As you seem to remember everything that I don’t, that means that my memories are still inside of me somewhere, only that, for one reason or another, they’re blocked from me and I can’t reach them. If you find a way to break the block, these memories would return to me.

THOMAS: Sweet. And how do we break that block.

LOGAN: Well, I need a memory that is strong enough to break the block, but you mustn’t tell me. I have to make the effort to find it out for myself with some clues you give me. For instance, take me to places I used to know, or give me things that you think they could help. Things like these.

THOMAS: I think I get it. Stimulating your memory can make these lost memories return to your mind naturally. Well, then I think we have no time to waste. Let’s return to Roman’s room.

LOGAN: Okay… by the way, what is this place?

ROMAN: This is…

PATTON: Don’t tell him, Roman. Give him clues so that he can remember by himself.

ROMAN: Oh, right. [choosing his words carefully] Well, it’s a place… um… where we have been several times already. It is connected to my room and it’s populated with, uh… characters created by Thomas and me.

[Logan looks at Roman with a blank stare]

THOMAS: Anything, Logan?

LOGAN: Nope, sorry, I got nothing at all.

ROMAN: Well, here is where Virgil… I mean, Anxiety, and I… lived the most important day in our lives. And you were there to witness it.

LOGAN: The most important day in your lives? Like what?

ROMAN: Another clue… that day I wore a royal outfit with seven gems on my chest representing the seven colors of the rainbow, which also represented each one of you close to my heart.

LOGAN: Each one of us? Seven gems? But there are only four people here other than Thomas and me. Who are the other two? I don’t remember them at all.

ROMAN: [sighs] It’s pointless. Our wedding and Sandersia clearly are not gonna help him regain his memories. We need something stronger.

LOGAN: Wedding? So you and Anxiety got married? My congratulations to you. I would have liked to see it.

VIRGIL: You saw it, Logan. You saw it. [sighs] Let’s go back home and look for something else.

DECEIT: But we better hurry. I don’t know if we’ve got much time.

THOMAS: Why are you saying that?

DECEIT: Guys, now I’m feeling Honesty. And that means that his barrier has got broken, perhaps by the energy unleashed while Logan… you know. And that means… the clock is counting for Honesty.

THOMAS: Why, you should have told us sooner!

LOGAN: I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I was going to tell you that, indeed, we haven’t got much time.

THOMAS: I’m afraid to ask. Why are you saying that?

LOGAN: Well, Thomas, you must restore my memories before you go to bed tonight.

THOMAS: And why is that?

LOGAN: Because if by that time my memories are not accessible, they will be deleted when the memory reorganization process happens while you sleep. And that means that you will forget everything that I have forgotten, and all the other Sides too. And it will be irreversible.

THOMAS: Then I mustn’t sleep, by any means. No sleep tonight. Jeez… Fanders would kill me if they heard me saying this.

LOGAN: Well, that would buy you some time, but it’s not realistic to think that you will resist much time without sleep. You could get an extra day, two at most, but the more time you spend with sleep deprivation, the worst we will work and the lesser the chances that I get my memories back. And eventually you will fall asleep anyway, whether you like it or not, and everything will be lost.

THOMAS: I’m sure it’s not so bad. I can resist sleep for as long as I want.

LOGAN: [calm] Falsehood.

DECEIT: Well, glad to see that that part of him remains okay.

VIRGIL: The one time that I’m in a safe distance from him when he says “falsehood”, and he decides not to screech it. I wonder if he likes the idea of me getting deaf on that ear, or something.

THOMAS: Okay. Then there’s no time to waste. Let’s go back home already.

LOGAN: Lead the way, then. I have no idea where to go.

THOMAS: Just follow us, Logan.

LOGAN: And as I said before, how do you know my real name?

THOMAS: It’s a long story.

[Thomas and the Sides start walking to the door to Roman’s room. Midway, Honesty appears]

HONESTY: Don’t stop walking, I will follow you.

DECEIT: Honesty. Why did you hide your problem from us?

HONESTY: I didn’t want to be a nuisance. You were busy enough already trying to help Roman.

ROMAN: Don’t put me as an excuse, Honesty. Your trouble started before I turned into a Dark Side, and even if it didn’t, you are in more danger than me. I can perfectly wait until you’re safe and sound.

HONESTY: Okay, fair enough. It’s just that…

DECEIT: What is it?

HONESTY: You went through so much, Deceit. I didn’t want you to fall apart again because of me. It was so hard to get you out of the pit you had fallen into. I didn’t want you to suffer again because of me.

DECEIT: And you pushed me aside, just like that. How am I supposed to take that, Hon? Do I have to infer that you consider me weak and worthless? That you don’t trust in me having any strength of my own to cope with issues? Because that offends me. I may have had a time of weakness, but I’m here now, that should say something. And what does that say about you? You’re Honesty, you’re not supposed to lie. Lies are my job. Even white lies are in my department.

HONESTY: You know it would never be my intention to belittle you, Dee.

DECEIT: [angry] Then don’t belittle me! If you had been honest from the beginning, maybe we would have been able to help you sooner. And maybe you wouldn’t be on risk of disappearing now. [switching to a sad, but still angry voice] Like I said earlier. No one knows me better than you and no one knows you better than me. But this is the first time since we became friends that I have felt like I don’t know you, and I don’t like it. You were the only person in this world I could never tell a lie. You still are. And yet you lied to me, because a lie of omission is a lie too. And it hurts, because I love you and I don’t want to lose you.

HONESTY: I’m so sorry, Dee. It’s just that… I didn’t know how to react when I felt what was happening to me. I only knew I didn’t want you going through any kind of pain. And I obviously made the wrong choice because I have hurt you. I’m terribly sorry. It’s a shame that one of us always has to stay in hologram form now, because I really need a make up hug right now, and I can’t touch you. Please forgive me.

DECEIT: [sighs] I’m not mad at you, I’m just scared for your safety. Just promise me that you will never do something like this again, and we’ll be even. If something ever bothers you again, even in the slightest, I wanna be the first in line to know. Promised?

HONESTY: Promised. From now on, I will never leave you out of my problems. That’s what friends are for, and we are friends. Because we’re still friends, right?

[Deceit stops walking and Honesty does the same. Deceit looks at Honesty right in the eye]

DECEIT: Even more than that.

HONESTY: What?

DECEIT: I do consider you my brother too, Hon. That’s why I’ll do everything I can to save you.

HONESTY: [emotional] Thank you… dear brother.

ROMAN: [calling them from a distance] Guys, are you coming with us?

DECEIT: [starts walking again] Sorry, Roman. We were just bonding as brothers.

HONESTY: True, true.

ROMAN: Glad to hear that, but we gotta go.

[The gang keeps on walking. Soon they reach Roman’s room]

ROMAN: Does this place look familiar to you, Logan?

LOGAN: No, sorry. Nothing looks familiar to me.

ROMAN: Didn’t think so. I didn’t let you into my room until much later than what you remember.

HONESTY: Maybe if we go to Logan’s room, something there could inspire his memory?

VIRGIL: It’s worth a shot.

[Everybody sinks down, then they rise up in Logan’s room]

DECEIT: Well, Logan?

LOGAN: Who did redecorate my room?

THOMAS: What?

LOGAN: I mean, I used to have a student desk chair in my spot, where I could sit to listen to the teacher.

THOMAS: Logan… you are the teacher now. So, I guess it was you who redecorated everything.

LOGAN: Oh, that makes sense. I couldn’t keep being a student for 20 years, could I?

THOMAS: But what do you eventually think about your room, Logan?

LOGAN: Well, despite my initial reaction, I think it is… adequate.

THOMAS: And did any new memory come to you at all?

LOGAN: Sorry, Thomas.

THOMAS: Okay… Let’s try something else…

PATTON: Maybe if I show him this… [takes his cat hoodie off and shows it to Logan] What do you think about this, Logan? I never take it off because I really love it.

LOGAN: Um… good for you, I guess. I’m glad that you like felines.

PATTON: It’s not just that I like cats. It’s just that this hoodie makes me feel warm.

LOGAN: Well, that’s the purpose of any outerwear, or any garment in general, to protect you from the harness of the elements, specifically cold temperatures in this case.

PATTON: It’s not that the hoodie is soft and warm, which it is, by the way. It makes me feel warm because it was given to me by someone very dear to me, someone that I hold deep in my heart. Someone I look up to and respect very much, for his wittiness and his kindness.

LOGAN: [unsettled] Please… Patton, it was? I’d thank you if you stop. If there’s one thing I don’t like at all is feelings. I don’t have them, so I don’t understand them, and things that I don’t understand don’t have a place in me at all. It’s good that you know someone so nice, whoever it is, but I’d prefer if you keep their description to yourself, or at least avoid talking about feelings in front of me.

PATTON: [with a face of sadness and sorrow] O… okay, sorry Logan. I didn’t mean to bother you. Guys, this won’t work either, I’m sorry…

VIRGIL: [a little mad at Logan] How can you not remember that hoodie? It was given to Patton by…

PATTON: [interrupting Virgil] It’s okay, son, don’t tell him. It’s not his fault that he can’t remember and I don’t want to make him feel bad about it, it would be useless.

VIRGIL: As you wish, dad.

LOGAN: [confused and slightly worried face] I’m… I’m confused. If I have offended you somehow, Patton, I apologize.

PATTON: [with an over the top smile] Don’t worry, Logan. Let’s just focus on finding something else.

VIRGIL: [knowing very well what that over the top smile means, looking at Patton with a slightly worried and emotional face] Yeah, let’s.

DECEIT: Maybe if we take the route to the things he likes, we could click on something.

THOMAS: Good idea. Maybe… that course that I couldn’t take yet, because I’ve been busy as heck. But I promised I would take it for you, and I will.

LOGAN: Good. I love that you are willing to learn something, Thomas.

THOMAS: Do you have any clue of what course I am talking about? It’s about something you really enjoy.

[Roman starts humming the tune of the song “Stars” from “Les Miserables” trying to give Logan an extra clue]

LOGAN: Please, Roman, do not interrupt us with sing-songy-make-believe music. You know I hate theater.

ROMAN: Look, one thing you remembered!

LOGAN: Sorry to disappoint, but me hating theater is one of the memories that I didn’t lose, I have always hated theater since childhood. I just don’t get it.

THOMAS: Stay with me, Logan.

LOGAN: I didn’t move from here, Thomas.

THOMAS: It was an expression… Whatever. Do you remember anything about the course I was talking about?

LOGAN: [a little frustrated] I… I’m sorry, Thomas, I’m afraid this won’t work either. I don’t know what you are talking about.

THOMAS: [sighs] We’re wasting time. Nothing seems to work at all.

PATTON: Maybe we should take a break, to lift our spirits up and refresh ourselves to keep on looking. I could bring some cookies if you want.

THOMAS: No, it will be better if we all stay here, in Logan’s corner. If we can’t bring his memories back here, I don’t think we’ll have any better luck anywhere else. But we certainly need a break, because we are totally blocked.

LOGAN: I’m terribly sorry, guys. For some reason I can sense that there’s an urgent need to bring my memories back, but there’s nothing I can do.

THOMAS: It’s okay, Logan. It’s not your fault.

LOGAN: Maybe if we take some soft drinks or a snack, as Patton suggested, we could feel refreshed and ready to start over again. I’ll go check what’s on the fridge.

THOMAS: Okay, Logan, it’s your room. Do as you want.

[Logan goes to the fridge and opens it. After a few moments of checking its contents, something calls his attention]

LOGAN: What’s this?

THOMAS: What?

LOGAN: [returning to his spot] It’s a jar of what looks like some kind of berry marmalade. Its label reads… “Crofter’s Organic”. Is this my face drawn on it? What’s this? I had never seen this thing in my life.

ROMAN: Logan must be really out of it if he can’t even remember Crofter’s.

THOMAS: [his face lightens up as if having an idea] Why don’t you try it, Logan? See if you like it.

LOGAN: I don’t think so, jelly is disgusting for me.

[every Side in the room shows a face of utter shock and disbelief upon hearing these words, Roman even gasps loudly]

THOMAS: Just for scientific reasons, as you like to say. Maybe you could be surprised.

LOGAN: Okay, if you insist, but I don’t see how this could be of help at all.

[Logan invokes a spoon, takes a spoonful of Crofter’s and gets it into his mouth. Suddenly, he shows a face of shock]

LOGAN: It… it’s delicious… this Crofter’s…

THOMAS: Do you like it?

LOGAN: Like it? LIKE IT!? I LOVE THIS!

[Logan starts devouring the whole jar as he usually does. Suddenly, he stops and his body starts shaking. Some sparks appear around him, until there’s a huge flash, then he stops shaking]

THOMAS: Logan… are you okay?

LOGAN: [unconcerned] I’ll always be okay if I have my Crofter’s with me, Thomas, why are you asking?

THOMAS: So… you do remember?

LOGAN: I do? [suddenly realizing] Yes, I do! My memories are back!

[Patton shows a face of happiness, the other Sides smile]

THOMAS: Yes! I knew Crofter’s would work!

LOGAN: I’m so sorry, guys. This detour has been my fault, I should have retreated earlier when I sensed something was failing.

THOMAS: It’s okay, Logan. The important thing is… was it worthy? Did it work?

LOGAN: Yes… Unfortunately I didn’t get all of the Dark Master’s memories, but I did get enough to teach you what we need. Soon, if you follow my instructions, Honesty and Roman will be safe and sound.

DECEIT: Cool!

ROMAN: Awesome!

THOMAS: Then I guess we should start working. How do we do this?

LOGAN: It’s late now, Thomas. We’re starting tomorrow, after you finish your morning commitments and before you jump on that plane.

THOMAS: [sighs] Dee, can I borrow one of your extra arms, please?

DECEIT: No, but I wouldn’t mind the being sick excuse to gain some extra time.

THOMAS: I was just kidding back then… But Honesty, will you be okay if we wait until tomorrow? I don’t want to wake up tomorrow and find out that it’s too late.

HONESTY: Don’t worry, Thomas. I think I’ll be fine until tomorrow, the process will take a lot more time to be completed, so we have plenty of time.

THOMAS: Then, it’s settled. Tomorrow I start training. I hope I can do it.

PATTON: You can do anything you set your eyes on. And we’ll be rooting for you all the time.

[all the Sides nod in agreement with a smile]

THOMAS: Thanks, guys.

ROMAN: Well, guys, I’ll better be going. I’ve been too much time with you now and I don’t want to corrupt you.

VIRGIL: Hopefully this will be one of the last times you have to say this. I miss you so much, even if we see each other everyday for some time, each hour we’re apart hurts.

ROMAN: I miss you too, but Honesty has the priority now. When he’s safe, we’ll start thinking about me. Bye, guys. [blowing a kiss to Virgil] Bye, Virgil, I love you.

VIRGIL: Love you back, Roman. Good night.

ROMAN: It will never be a good night completely without you, Virge. [sinking down] Goodbye, my love.

VIRGIL: [sinking down] See ya tomorrow, guys.

LOGAN: Patton, don’t go just yet, I need to talk to you later, alone.

PATTON: Okay, Logan.

DECEIT: We’ll go get some rest for tomorrow, then. I can’t wait to be two separate Sides again so that I can give you that make up hug, brother.

HONESTY: Me neither. [disappearing] Bye, guys.

DECEIT: [sinking down] See you tomorrow, guys.

THOMAS: See ya, guys. I’m going too as I need to rest for tomorrow, so, until next time, take it easy, guys, gals and non binary pals. Peace out!

[end card]

[Thomas has just left. Now Logan and Patton are alone in the room]

LOGAN: Patton, I just wanted to say…

PATTON: Yes, Logan?

LOGAN: … I wanted to apologize to you again. Now I remember everything and I know exactly why I hurt you so much. I belittled your words of affection towards me and I’ve made you feel bad. So, I’m sorry.

PATTON: It’s okay, Logan. You weren’t yourself earlier. Now everything’s fine again, and that’s what matters.

LOGAN: I’m also glad to be myself again. There’s so much I had forgotten that I don’t want to forget ever again.

PATTON: Like Crofter’s. I don’t know how to take that we showed you all kinds of things related to us, and it was a jar of Crofter’s what brought your memories back. Do you care more about Crofter’s than you care about us? [faking offended voice] I’m kinda… jelly about it.

LOGAN: That’s not completely accurate, Patton. Do you want to know the reason why Crofter’s worked?

PATTON: I’m intrigued, Logan. Why?

LOGAN: You know how much I love Crofter’s. It’s because of its taste and quality, but it’s also because it’s one of the few passions in my life that I can share with all of you, guys, without exception. We all like Crofter’s, and I have so many heartwarming memories of me eating Crofter’s with you, guys. That is what unlocked my memories, the memory of me sharing Crofter’s with my friends.

PATTON: [squealing] Awww!

LOGAN: But, please, don’t tell the others. It is a little overwhelming for me to share my feelings, as you know and I… I don’t know how to do it. It makes me feel awkward and I just don’t want to make a fool of myself.

PATTON: But Logan, you mustn’t be afraid of sharing your feelings. It’s part of who you are. And we love you just the way you are. And trust me, sharing your feelings with us would never make us see you as a fool. On the contrary, we know how much you struggle with expressing your feelings, and we would appreciate you even more. Don’t ever be afraid of being yourself, cause you being yourself is the reason why we love you.

LOGAN: I’ll try. Do you know what has been the best thing coming out from this mess?

PATTON: What is it?

LOGAN: That I got to experiment again the honest feeling of trying Crofter’s for the first time.

PATTON: Good for you, Logan. Do you want me to bring some Maria biscuits so we can spread some Crofter’s on them?

LOGAN: That would be a satisfactory experience, Patton.

[bittysvalentines]

Tilting

To: @dievampiredie

From: @storytruths

Happy Valentine’s Day, darlin! I hope you like it! 

“I’m calling in a favor.” 

Derek feels the sigh start in the pit of his stomach, long before it reaches the cresting waves of his shoulders. He knows that tone of voice. That cheeky, commanding, I’m-calling-the-shots-here swagger layered over the wobbly insecurity of knowing you’re asking for too much. When Derek dies and stands at the edge of the river Styx, waiting to be ferried across to the underworld, Chiron’s voice will sound exactly like Dex’s voice does right now. 

Derek lets the sigh heave out of his chest with the fatalistic drama of someone who already knows they’re about to get fucked.

“A favor.”

“Yes.”

Derek leans backwards in his chair, tipping his head until it hangs upside-down between his shoulders. Dex’s freckled, anxious face appears above his. 

“And what favor would that be, on this, the day we agreed would be spent in silence and solitude as per Article C of our cohabitation treaty?”

Dex’s nose wrinkles in annoyance, scrunching up like bunny. 

“Well, nothing, if you’re going to be a dick about it.”

Derek swings around in his chair until he’s nose-to-looming-chest with Dex. All he wanted this Valentine’s day was to be left alone.

You know. To mourn for his hopelessly unrequited crush on his roommate in peace.

But here he is, in all his ginger headed gangly glory, asking Derek for a favor on Valentines Day in direct violation of Article C, and really, Derek can only be expected to withstand so much.

“Sorry. Dick mode deactivated. What do you need, bro?”

Dex blinks, obviously surprised by the change of tack. 

“Um. Well.”

The blustering pause that follows is unfortunately charming.

“It’s. Well. There’s no good way to say this. I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”

Derek…thinks he might have blacked out there, for a minute, actually.

“What?”

Dex’s blush is a sweet sweep of pink under his freckles. I’m dying, Derek thinks. This is my brain’s final attempt at simulating euphoria at the time of death.

“I need you to pretend to date me. Tonight.”

“I’m… I think I missed a step, there. Maybe.”

Dex huffs in frustration. He scrunches one hand up in his hair, tugging at the roots. He looks anxious and jittery, and more than a little irritated, and frankly this is not at all how Derek imagined being asked out by William Poindexter would go. 

“It’s a long story.”

“Sounds like it’s worth the wait, there, bud.”

“Look—“

“No, seriously, I’ll make time.“

“Nursey—“

“I mean if I’m going to be taking you on a Valentine’s Day date I’d expect there to be a little backstory—“

“Would you just let me talk?”

Derek relents a little, easing back in his chair. He stretches his long legs out in front of him, forcing Dex to take a step back. Dex narrows his eyes at him, and then sighs again.

“It’s… do you know that girl Lisa? In Ancient Civ?”

“The one with the curly hair?”

“Yes.”

Derek nods. He does know Lisa from Ancient Civ. She’s pretty, in a comfortable kind of way, with her big dark eyes and her big curly hair. She’s a hugger. 

“She asked me out.”

Derek blinks.

“Lisa from Ancient Civ asked you out?”

“Right.”

There’s another pause, as though somehow Dex believes this serves as explanation enough. Derek raises an eyebrow.

“…..And?”

“And I told her I was gay.”

Derek can’t help the laugh that comes ugly-snorting out his nose. He really can’t. One minute he’s facing down almost certain heartbreak— or at the very least humiliation— at the hands of his roommate who also happens to be the love of his life, and the next minute he’s picturing William deer-in-the-headlights Poindexter outing himself to Lisa from Ancient Civ because she dared to ask him out.

It’s not Derek’s proudest moment, he’ll admit it. But karma so rarely throws him these kinds of bones.

Dex’s face manages to be both unimpressed and unsurprised at the same time.

“Lisa asked you out on Valentines Day. And you just… told her you were gay?” 

It’s possible he’ll break a rib from laughing. Isn’t that something that happens to people?

“I panicked.”

“Clearly.”

Dex scowls. It makes the lines on either side of his nose get deeper. Derek loves him so damn much.

“I’m still not clear on how we get from your impromptu coming-out to me pretending to date you on what is possibly the most cliché and dramatic day of the year.” 

Dex sighs again. Derek starts to worry if he keeps it up, he’ll hyperventilate. 

“She asked me to the girls’ soccer party tonight. When I told her I was gay, she said I should bring my boyfriend. I didn’t… it happened really fast, okay?”

Derek has to actively clench the plane of his abdomen tight to keep the hysterical giggle from bursting out of him. 

“Can’t you just not go?”

“Don’t you think that’d be adding insult to injury? She asked me out on Valentine’s Day.”

There are moments, Derek thinks. Every once in a while, there are moments when the entire world tilts on its axis. Like when he was five, and he saw his kindergarten teacher at the Olive Garden. Or like when he learned that the seasons go backwards in Australia. 

Falling in love with William Poindexter has been a constant flow of those moments. Every minute shifts the paradigm, every interaction changes the shape of the solar system. Every new thing Derek learns about Dex, it moves the foundations of the Earth a little more— a couple degrees here, a couple inches there, until all of a sudden Derek’s on a path he didn’t even see. 

Like now, with the discovery that even an anxious, embarassed William Poindexter would bend himself into a pretzel before he intentionally caused another person pain.

You may as well, says the voice of Chiron, paddling Derek’s canoe down the river. You’re already doomed. 

Derek sighs. He tilts his head up at Dex, sees the lamplight in his hair, sees the freckles on his long nose. 

“Alright,” Derek says. “Lead the way, Princess.”

~

The party is about what you’d expect for a college soccer team’s Valentine’s Day soiree.  Red streamers, glittery heart-shaped cutouts suspended from the ceiling, a punch in a truly violent shade of pink that Derek refuses to touch on principle. All in all, it’s nothing too outrageous.

Or at least, it wouldn’t be, if he wasn’t also holding William Poindexter’s hand.

The music thumps low in another room when he and Dex walk in. Almost immediately Lisa is on them, pushing beers into their hands and beaming.

“I’m so glad you came! One of us should get to dance with our Valentine tonight at least, right, Will?”

Derek sympathizes with her in the worst way.

“I guess, yeah. I’m sorry, again, about—“

“Oh no, stop! I’m just teasing you. I had no idea you two were together!”

Neither did I, Derek thinks. He takes a long pull on his beer to avoid answering. Next to him, Dex gives a kind of nervous half-chuckle, flexing his fingers convulsively around Derek’s hand.

“Yeah, it’s, um. Recent.”

The giggle is back in Derek’s throat. He coughs it out as best he can, trying to stay cool.

“Thanks for having us, Lisa,” he says, as if forcing the hysteria in his chest into word-shapes will make it less unbearable. 

“Any time!” Lisa says. She cranes her head around Dex’s shoulder then, someone in the room beyond catching her eye. “Sorry, excuse me, you guys. I’ve gotta go make the rounds. Go on, enjoy the party!”

She’s gone in a bounce of brown curls, and Derek is left with the acute sensation of Dex’s fingers in-between his and the growing sense that this might really be his last night on the Earth.

Next to him, Dex sags minutely in relief, exhaling in a whoosh.

“Thank you,” he says quietly. It’s not quite too quiet for anyone else to hear, but Derek’s sure no one else is listening to them. It feels private, secure. 

“No problem, bro,” Derek answers. Even though it’s rapidly becoming the biggest problem of Derek’s entire life.

“She doesn’t seem too put out, does she?’

“Nah, she seemed okay. Plus, look at her. She won’t have any trouble finding someone else.”

Dex goes strangely tense next to him, and all of a sudden Derek’s hand is empty. He blinks at the loss. When he finally shakes himself back to reality, Dex is stiff and somehow distant.

“Sorry,” he says quickly. “If I’d known you were interested, I wouldn’t have—“

The giggle comes back too quickly for Derek to stop it, this time. It comes out though his nose almost like a sneeze, a wild puff of disbelief in a higher register than Derek’s hairline. Dex is blushing, scuffing his shoe on the ground, that irritated hunch already curling around his shoulders. 

May as well, Derek thinks. He stuffs the giggle back down. It’s Valentine’s Day, after all.

“Dex,” he says. Derek reaches out and laces his fingers back firmly into Dex’s, squeezing them tightly under the Cupid cut-outs and the lace doily hearts in the windows.

“I’m not interested in her.”

When Dex squeezes back, Derek feels the world tilt on its axis, a few more degrees towards the sun.

[stargleeksil-blog]

Criminal Minds S07E04 “Painless” review

Episode 04 – Painless

Heyo! So so far this is shaping up to be one of the most awesome seasons (excluding 2-5 XD) and this episode’s name is seriously freaking me out.

Really frightened of what’s going to happen.

Aww, Hotch is reading to Jack and he’s the best in the class, of course he is. Jackie boy.

“We just finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night.”

“So he’s reading at a fourth-grade level.”

He’s holding back?

“Why do you think that is?”

“Paul Cain?”

“Yes, he’s been over. He’s a friend of Jack’s.”

Wait. So Jack’s bully is a friend of his and he invited him over? Something’s not right here.

“How long hast this been going on?”

“Well, Jack says that things are going very well at school, so the steps you’re taking must be working.”

“Let me know if anything changes.”

“Can I keep this?”

“Thank you so much.”

“Does anyone remember this picture?”

“Hotch and I were there.”

“That’s principal Doug Evans. We had to drag him to safety.”

“High school bombing in Boise, right?”

“School shooter and school bomber.”

“A kid named Randy Slade shot three students and set off an IED in the cafeteria via cell phone, killing himself and thirteen kids total, but not before posting all of his plans online.”

“Last night, Principal Givens was killed by a bomb modeled exactly like the old one.”

“It feels like the unsub wants to attack the man who kept the school together after the bombing.”

“It’s a pretty symbolic target.”

“And this week is the tenth anniversary of the massacre.”

“And today is the first day of a four-day event to commemorate the bombing at the school.”

“Except commemorating it isn’t enough for this unsub.”

“No. He wants to relieve it.”

Andy Partridge: “You may leave school, but it never leaves you.”

“Perpetrators of school violence are often sophisticated with their weapons. Randy Slade carried his bomb in his backpack.”

“This guy hid his in Givens’ clock radio.”

“Yeah, and progressive. Each one tries to top the body count of the one previous.”

“And they’re loners by default, not by choice. They try to join various social groups, but they get shut out.”

“Randy Slade wasn’t a loner at all. The family cooperated fully with us.”

“He was a high-functioning psychopath, straight-A student, varsity wrestler, lots of girlfriends.”

“With an above-average intelligence that made him incredibly resourceful. His explosive of choice was Semtex. It’s found at demolition sites, but it’s held under lock and key.”

“Which made us consider the possibility of a partner. Never found one.”

“Slade was too much of a narcissist to share credit.”

“But he was also an impulsive teen, which is what bothers me about this unsub.”

“His sense of control?”

“And the end game that he’s working toward. Slade’s pathology revolved around the big kill. This unsub could have done the same if he’d waited for the candlelight vigil.”

“Which means there’s no blaze of glory fantasy here.”

“This unsub has more bombs made, and he’s savoring the anticipation of his next attack.”

“Did you get the student files to our technical analyst?”

“Good. We’ll start with criminal records.”

“What’d you find, Garcia?”

“A blast from the past, I believe. Does the name Brandon Slade ring a bell?”

“Yeah, the bomber’s younger brother. Sweet kid. He couldn’t give us much back then.”

“Most seven-year-olds don’t. They do, however, grow up to become seniors who attend the same high school.”

“I thought the Slades were gonna leave Boise.”

They separated and the mom and kid stayed ... yikes.

“Did you question Brandon about last night?”

“We’ll need to talk to him.”

“So this unsub has to be tied to the school somehow, right?”

“Current student, alumni, family member who lost someone?”

“It could be Slade groupie celebrating his hero.”

“He taped nails to the exterior of the bomb, specifically to rip open flesh. That’s a sadistic detail of Slade’s the unsub copied.”

“Except he tricked Givens into blowing himself up.” 

“A groupie probably wouldn’t show that much self-control.”

“But someone with an ax to grind against the principal would.”

“Maybe he’s a surrogate for the tormentors in high school he can’t punish.”

“Who were yours?”

“I don’t even remember.”

What?

“You don’t even remember?”

“Wait, were you one of the mean girls?”

“No.”

WHAT? NO WAY!

“Valedictorian, soccer scholarship, corn-fed, but still a size zero. I think that you might have been a mean girl.”

“I was actually one of the nice girls, even to guys like you.”

“Guys like me? I’ll have you know that my social standing increased once I started winning at basketball.”

“Oh, yeah, you played basketball?”

“I didn’t play. I coached basketball. I broke down the opposite team’s shooting strategy.”

“Is that why Morgan kicked you out of the pool last week?”

“Yeah. It took him three rounds to realize I was hustling him.”

“Huh.”

Okay, it’s official, Reid is my favorite. Who the fuck scams Morgan and gets away with it for so long? DAMN.

“Well, it looks like we’re not the only ones interested in Brandon.”

“It’s gonna make it a lot harder for us to talk our way in.”

“Unless we use it to our advantage.”

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.”

“My name is SSA David Rossi of the FBI. That’s R-O-S-S-I.”

“So if anyone has any questions, you’re free to ask them now.”

Well that was certainly a distraction of the press.

“Mrs. Slade? I’m Special Agent Emily Prentiss with the FBI. This is …”

“Martha, we can do that. We’ll just have to come back later.”

I, too, don’t believe that her son did it. But ...

“Let us prove that for you.”

“Once we rule him out, we can get these people off your lawn.”

“Martha, you can observe. You can stop us and call your lawyer whenever you want.”

“Agent Rossi was always very nice to Brandon. Let him do it.”

Of course Rossi is the cutest thing ever and leaves a good impression.

“Dave.”

“All right, feel free to call me if you have any other background questions. My phone number is …”

“It’s Dr. Spencer Reid. R-E-I-D.”

What the ... oh my god, it’s Morgan payback. I am starting to like this episode. Oh boy.

“You know, there’s a sniper right be … oh!”

“Never mind.”

I love that Rossi is into video games.

“Oh, a while back. After this kid told me how much he loved playing with his big brother.”

“First edition. I’m touched.”

I’m impressed. And apparently, the kid is also a good writer. Damn.

“So are you.”

“I read one of your AP English essays. The Futility of Jay Gatsby and the Green Light.”

Whoa.

“Well, I was curious as to, uh, what kind of kid you grew up to be.”

“But that didn’t stop you from getting beaten up on a regular basis.”

Hee hee, that kid is seriously my fave here. ‘You bang your fans, mine beat me up.’ He’s sharp as fuck.

“And uh, Principal Givens, he couldn’t stop that, could he?”

“That must have really ticked you off.”

“Well, just because you downloaded them doesn’t mean you sat here and watched them.”

Ooh, someone’s been taking lessons from Garcia.

Rossi was much cooler ten years ago?

“So were you.”

Oh snap.

“When did Harry leave?”

“Is that why Brandon ended up in North Valley?”

“Just want to see if you took after your big brother.”

“Actually, dude, I don’t think you’re mean enough to have done it.”

“But tell me the truth. You’re happy that Principal Givens is dead, aren’t you?”

“Well, Randy wanted the whole school dead.”

“Whoa. Am I missing something here, Brandon?”

“Well, did Randy have some sort of agenda? Did he target specific people inside of the school?”

“We didn’t. We couldn’t find any logic to his actions.”

“So how do you know, huh? Did he tell you?

“Did a seventeen-year-old confide in a seven-year-old?”

“Did you find something?’

“He had a list, didn’t he?”

“If he still has the list, it’s somewhere in that room.”

“Martha, do you know anything about this?”

“I can have a search warrant in an hour.”

“Tear it apart.”

Whoa.

“Yeah, bookshelf is clean.”

“I love dating readers, hate profiling them.”

“Catcher in the Rye, Atlas Shrugged.”

“These are all titles that a teenage kid would obsess over, but Randy made that list when Brandon was just a kid.”

“You’re right. So, however Brandon got his hands on that list, he would have hid it in something a seven-year-old would read.”

“Hotch! We found it.”

“Principal Givens is on this list.”

“You’re on speaker, JJ.”

“So we might have another one.”

“Might?”

“One of the North Valley alumni was killed in her motel room. No bomb or gun this time. Looks like he used his bared hands.”

“You got a name?”

“Chelsea Grant.”

“She’s on the list.”

Shit.

“The unsub crushed Chelsea’s throat so she couldn’t scream, then he pulverized her ribs, sending fragments of bone into her heart.”

“Principal Givens was high-profile. Chelsea wasn’t.”

“Right now the only thing connecting them is they’re both on the kill list.”

“A kill list Brandon kept secret for ten years.”

“But he was in custody when this happened.”

“The question is, how did the unsub get the exact same list?”

“We ruled out a partner, but not exclusively. Slade made every part of his plan public.”

“It doesn’t make sense that he would hide a partner. He didn’t want to share the credit.”

Well, I really don’t like where this is headed.

“And this weekend is the partner’s best chance to claim it.”

“Partners of dominant psychopaths are usually submissive, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be intelligent or that they’re physically weak.”

“The unsub laid low after the bombing and successfully evaded police and FBI. That took cunning and patience, which he’s exhibiting now with his current murders.”

“We think he fits the loner profile Slade debunked. He grew up in an abusive home, which kept him from forming the normal social bonds in high school.”

“Even outcasts eventually form friendships. But this unsub was the outcast the outcasts rejected.”

“He won’t stand out in any capacity, and as a matter of fact, most of his fellow students probably won’t even remember graduating with him.”

“And that invisibility is what made him attractive to Slade.”

“This partner wouldn’t steal the spotlight.”

“Slade turned to the cafeteria because of the names on his list ate there together during fifth period.”

I love the way he points with his pinky.

“So his hatred festered when the names on the list emerged from the cafeteria as media heroes.”

“And now he wants to finish the job that Randy started.”

“Emotionally, this weekend is more a high school reunion to him than a memorial.”

“We go to reunions to show who we grew up to be. Often that means changing everything about who we are.”

“Consciously or not, Randy Slade revealed clues as to his partner’s identity when he detonated his bomb.”

“Agent Prentiss will be conducting cognitive interviews to see what the survivors might remember.”

I’m with those skeptics. I mean, they survived a traumatic experience, and now they want them to relive it? No dice.

“Yes, but there may be some details that you didn’t think were important at the time that could help us now, things that could help us learn about the partner.”

“The interviews we’re going to conduct won’t focus on what you saw, but what you felt.”

“The Boise police have offered everyone on this list a protective detail.”

“So as you can see from your board there, this kill list is weirdly similar to high school. Group one is like the popular kids – prom court, football team, Dean’s list .the Heathers, if you will.”

“Kid’s in Slade’s social circle.”

“What about number two?”

“That would be the kids from the other side of the tracks, 180-degree difference, kids this close to getting kicked out – stoners, burnouts, mental cases.”

“Chelsea Grant is on this list.”

“Maybe Slade targeted them because they disgusted him?”

“But they didn’t threaten Slade’s sense of superiority. He wouldn’t have even cared about them.”

“All right, well, maybe the partner put them on the list. They’d be closer to his social status than Slade’s.”

“Why would the …”

“I’m so sorry.”

Oh my God, it’s working.

“Why would the unsub list kids that he fit in with?”

“Apparently that’s how this clique worked.”

“The kids in it were meaner to each other than kids on the outside.”

“Garcia, separate out all the kids who got into trouble regularly. Then eliminate the names that the partner put on the list. Now, who’s left that came to the memorial?’

“Right. Whoever made the list wouldn’t put their name on it.”

“Uh … Sir, I think … I think I’ve got him.”

“Lewis Ramsey. FBI.”

“Put the drink down. You’re coming with us.”

“Did you hear the conversation?”

“What did you notice?”

“That was when he ordered you to lock the doors, right?”

“What did he say?”

“Why did he detonate so early?”

“Now, let’s go back for a second.”

“Randy was pointing the gun at you. Did you see the cell phone in his hand?”

“What was on it?”

“The black cell phone?”

“Are you sure? The grey cell phone was the detonator.”

“The black cell was the one he’d talked to his mother on.”

“Then how do you explain your fingerprints in her room?”

“You’re very convincing, Lewis. But you were convincing ten years ago, too.”

“Oh, yeah. You were blowing up in the back parking lot, right?”

Oh dear, sarcastic, judgy Morgan is seriously the hottest fucking thing.

“Yeah, of course it was.”

“It also allowed you to pose as a loser. The very type you wanted to kill.”

“You know how we know? You wrote it down.”

“‘All the losers in this godforsaken school’.”

“But you did type up the rest of the list.”

“Lewis, we know how guys like Randy make friends.”

“They build up rapport through secrecy.”

“Only the two of you are smart enough to see through the BS of high school, right?”

“And it felt so good doing whatever Randy said and not have to tell anybody about it.”

“Make me a list of kids we should kill.”

“Sure, Randy.”

“Get me a pound of Semtex from your dad’s construction site.”

“Whatever you say, Randy.”

Ugh.

Oh what, he thought he wouldn’t use him? God, this dude is stupid as fuck.

“He would use you?”

“You were mad that he actually did it.”

“But you were also mad that he left you behind.”

“Then why come back?”

“What does a loser like you have to gain by seeing all the kids that he hated so much?”

Oh shit. Morgan talking down on potential unsubs shouldn’t be getting me all hot and bothered like this.

“You buy it?”

“He fits the profile, and the evidence points to him, but he seems sincere. He’s not the unsub.”

“He was the partner, but look at how Slade added ‘all the LoSeRs in this Godforsaken school’.”

“This capitalization isn’t an accident. Look.”

“L-S-R … Lewis Stuart Ramsey.”

“So Slade named his own partner.”

“Ironically, Lewis’s marijuana conviction saved his life.”

Thank you for using ‘ironically’ correctly.

“Well, that puts us back to our original problem.”

“If the unsub isn’t the partner, how did he get his hands on a list that Slade and Lewis kept to themselves?”

“The only answer is that part of the profile is wrong. The unsub’s vendetta has nothing to do with the list.”

“Did you get anything from Jerry Holtz?”

“Only that he mixed up the cell phones that Slade used. It felt like he was making the story up, but I only had a hunch.”

Important lesson: Always trust your gut instinct, Emily.

“We need to find him now.”

“There’s a connection to the victimology that we’re missing.”

“Whatever he’s holding back might be the key.”

Oh shit, the guy Emily interviewed just got stabby-stab-stabbed like shit. Fuck.

“Jerry Holtz?”

“How long?”

“Less than an hour.”

“The only people who knew we were doing cognitive interviews were the other survivors.’

“The unsub must be a part of that group,”

“Well, we don’t know that for a fact. He could have been lying in wait. Look, Hotch wants me to go through the victims’ lives and find the overlap. We can compare their histories with the unsub’s.”

“Well, what else do we have to go on?”

“Spence said the unsub would have broken his hand beating Chelsea to death. Did you notice anyone with a cast on their hand, someone who seemed hurt?”

“No.”

“I might know why. This unsub doesn’t feel pain.”

Of course he does.

“There’s a medical condition called pain asymbolia, where patients register harmful stimuli without being bothered by it.”

“They’ve been documented holding their hand over an open flame because their brain doesn’t send pain signals to the central nervous system.”

Oh shit, so this fucker can’t even register pain? Damn, that is fucked up.

“Sounds pretty rare.”

“You sure the unsub has it?”

“The crime scenes prove it.”

“This unsub displayed an unusual level of savagery towards his victims.”

“And consider this – he smashed through a glass display case, but there were no cuts on Jerry. That means he most likely punched through it as a show of force.”

“Now, the only way the human body could withstand that level of pain is if he couldn’t feel it at all.”

When Reid realizes something is up ...

“It must have taken a major toll on someone’s emotional development.”

“A significant contributor to our sense of empathy is the way we personally experience pain.”

“And the unsub didn’t develop his sense of empathy because it was cut off.”

“Does every person with asymbolia have this?”

“Actually, most feel empathy just fine, which makes me think the rest of our profile is still accurate.”

“Loner, invisible, outcast, boiling rage ….”

“Son of a bitch!”

WHAT?!

“Hi! This is Dr. Spencer Reid. I actually can come to the phone right now with a very special message that your mother is …”

“Reid.”

“Sorry. I’m really sorry.”

“I don’t know where that came from.”

“Where were we?”

“I’m going to have Garcia check medical records. What causes asymbolia?”

When Reid suddenly realized that Morgan got him back ... 

“Severe trauma produces lesions in the insular cortex, usually after a stroke.”

“But this unsub’s young, it’s most likely caused by an external factor.”

“Like a bomb going off next to him?”

“Yeah, a bomb going off next to him.”

“I will crush you.”

“What?”

“What?”

Ooh, my puppy is gonna get it this time.

Okay.

I just ....

Hands down one of hte best scenes in the entire seven seasons so far.

HOLY SHIT.

“It’s so weird seeing yearbooks again.”

She’s so cute! I love JJ so much.

“A friend of mine who teaches said that Facebook is making them obsolete.”

I’m in total agreement. Facebook is making life obsolete, but ... different discussion for a different time.

“I’m having serious flashbacks going through these senior bios.”

“Four years of accomplishments boiled down to one paragraph.”

“Hey, did your school have anything called Top 10?”

“No. Is it an academic thing?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Only ten of the survivors listed it, including Jerry and Chelsea, and neither of them were valedictorian material.’

“Okay, so … what are we looking at here?”

“Well, maybe it’s a clique inside a clique.”

“Yeah, but it’s jocks, nerds, theater geeks. Nothing that would bring these kids together.”

“Except …”

“What?”

“I know what the Top 10 is.”

“Recognize the Top 10?”

“No.”

“They were the students that went in front of the cameras after the bombing.”

“I thought all the surviving students were interviewed.”

“After the initial aftermath, yes, but these are the kids that went on talk shows, traveled to other schools.”

Wait. So the list comprises of those ‘elite’ that have gone on talk shows and talked to schools about the tragedy? Oh boy ... I have a bad feeling about this.

“My guess is that they didn’t self-select who made the cut.”

“Principal Givens did.”

“That’s why the unsub killed him first.”

“He was an outcast who wanted to fit in.”

“Being a survivor should have been his golden ticket. But he was excluded again, and that’s why he’s killing them.”

“Yeah. The rules of high school never changed, not even after a tragedy.”

“Go ahead, Garcia.”

“Hey, listen up. I cross-referenced students files with medical records.”

“Now, there were six kids that were knocked unconscious in that blast, but only one fits the outcast profile.”

“His name is Robert Adams, and he just used his credit card at a local restaurant, the address of which …”

“I just sent you right now.”

“I’m on my way.”

Oh shit. That fucktard who can’t feel anything just took the top eight hostage in a fucking restaurant ... oh damn.

“He’s nowhere near the window, so there’s no line of sight.”

“We profiled this would be like a reunion to him.”

“He wants people to recognize who he is.”

“I think I know what he wants to be recognized for.”

“Robert Adams, we’re with the FBI. We just want to talk to you.”

“We know why you’re doing this, Bob.”

“Bob, you’ll be in the news for a couple of days. But no one will know the real story.”

“Tiffany … what did Randy say to the kid who looked him in the eye?”

“But he didn’t say it to Jerry, did he, Bob?”

Wait, so this whole thing started because they stole his thunder and told his story? Oh boy. This is fucked up in the head.

“Did he, Bob?”

“We can give you back your story, but you have to drop the gun.”

“Drop the gun.”

“Bob.”

“Morgan, he’s heading to the south entrance.”

“Copy. I got the back covered.”

Awesome.

“FBI. Drop the weapon, Bob.”

“Hotch!”

“Prentiss, in here!”

“We need medical in the boiler room.”

“Hold your fire.”

Damn. Hotch is one badass motherfucker.

Khalil Gibran: “Pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.”

My gorgeous honey enjoying his music

Until ...

“We interrupt your regularly scheduled musical selection with an important announcement.”

“Never wage a practical joke war against an MIT graduate, because we have a history of going nuclear.”

Who hacked into his playlist?

“Now sit back, relax, and enjoy the dulcet sounds of me screaming in your ear.”

Screaming.

“Okay, kid, that was cute.”

“But that’s all you got?”

Snoring.

“Hey, baby gi…”

Screaming.

I am so in love with this show.

Oh my God, Rossi giving him the white towel of surrender. AWESOME!

“Uh-uh.”

“All right, Reid, it’s on.”

“Just know that paybacks are a bitch.”

Snoring.

Oh my fucking god, just when I thought this show couldn’t get any better. This is seirously the best episode ever.

“Hey.”

“How’s Jack?”

“There’s a kid that’s being mean to him at school, and Jack’s solution is to invite him over and make friends with him.”

“That is the sweetest and saddest thing I’ve heard.”

“How did you find out?”

“His teacher told me.”

“He wants to solve it himself.”

I love Jack Hotchner so much. He is possibly the best human being ever ... on television.

“There’s probably a part of you that wishes you could step in.”

“Well, there’s a part of me that wants to protect him from everything that could hurt him, but I know I can’t.”

“No. But you can show him that he doesn’t have to face it alone.”

“How did you get by in Paris?”

“Um, I, um … I played a lot of online scrabble.”

“With some girl named Cheeto Breath.”

XD

I am so in love with this kid.

“We haven’t talked to mom in a while, so I thought it would be a good idea if we did it again.”

“Buddy, you’re not making me sad.”

“It makes me happy, because it reminds me what a great job mom did with you.”

“So maybe if we got in the habit of doing this again, you know, mom could help us.”

“You know, if you have a bad day.”

“Mrs. McKee said Paul’s been mean to you.”

“No?”

“Okay.”

“Well, mom, look out for Jack anyway.”

“Oh, dad, too. Of course.”

“Good job.”

“Okay. Time to settle down.”

“Good night, buddy.”

“I love you, too.”

Best daddy award to Hotchner.

And best son award to Jack, because that kid is the fucking best!

So despite the horrific part of this episode - oh my fucking god how the fuck are those people managing to make me giggle during a serious show???? 

The Morgan/Reid prank war.

The knowledge that JJ is addicted to Cheetos and plays scrabble.

And Jack Hotchner always brings a huge smile to this face.

Again, thank you so much for keeping up with me and my crazy notions.

See y’all next time!

[pressingtobinheath]

Nikki and Sam masterpost (Samton)

Well it all started when Sam Kerr joined her best buddy Caitlin Foord at Sky Blue FC after the 2015 WWC. Despite popular belief Sam and Caity never dated. It’s fake news and alternative facts... anyway

Summer 2015

Sammy joins Sky Blue! and they seem to be hanging out a lot 

A post shared by Sam Kerr (@samanthakerr20) on Aug 9, 2015 at 10:55am PDT

Sky Blue season ends and Sammy heads back to Australia 

Australia Season 1 (US Fall 2015- US Winter 2016)

but then.. a wild Nikki appears in Australia to play for Sam’s home team Perth Glory 

A post shared by Sam Kerr (@samanthakerr20) on Oct 12, 2015 at 11:35pm PDT

Posted on Billie (Sam’s dog) instagram: Nap time with @gutinikki7 ☺️

Sammy gets injured and Nikki post this insta wishing her luck on surgery 

They continue posting pics post surgery (First selfie Sam post of just them, pay attention to the caption)

samanthakerr20 🎯

Nikki is still in Australia and going on adventures with Sam

Nikki goes on family vacay with Sam’s family 

They come back from vacay and Sam continues to show her around, now featuring Dibernardo 

This is the last post of Australia Season 1

samanthakerr20 😋 😠 (her caption for the post below

nikkiguti7🙋🏼😊 (nikki comments) 

Sam nor Nikki bares each other goodbye on social media 

Sky Blue 2016 - NWSL Season 

Before Sam arrives in NJ she begins to do what she does best: Embarrassing and making fun of Nikki. 

Nikki’s only strike back is correcting Sams terrible grammar. Grubka decides to do the same and Sam refers to Nikki as a peasant

April - Sammy finally comes back to SBFC (Still rehabbing from injury) 

and influences Nikki’s way of eating 

May comes and Rachel Breton begins to spill the tea via her insta go pro vids

They attend a baseball game (Confirms what we all expected) - May 30, 2016

WHAT’S THAT? That’s Sammy holding her girl as they walk into the stadium 

Heres the Rachel Breton videos of tea being spilled 🍵🍵🍵🍵

A post shared by Rachel Breton (@rachiebret) on Jun 5, 2016 at 6:01pm PDT

A post shared by Rachel Breton (@rachiebret) on May 27, 2016 at 12:59pm PDT

Then things begin to add up as the season goes on... 

Sam is wearing Nikki’s shirt from her high school* (Breton actually didn’t spill this tea, Nikki did it herself on insta)

They go and see the GOAT of Mens soccer aka Messi play even though Sam is a Real Madrid fan 🤢

June 25th, 2016 Sam can finally play again, gets subbed in and scores basically right away. She then full on SWERVES her teammate to run to Nikki who’s on the sidelines. Sam did an arrow podcast not that long ago where she talked about almost giving up due to her last injury, so her finally scoring and being healthy was a big deal. (gif credit to @uswntinmotion )

Resulting in the best SBFC picture that they use for everything. 

Back to normal posting as they both post the same selfie

Sammy leaves for the Olympics in mid July

Kimmy post this picture of the housemates as Sammy leaves ( I cropped them because Nikki looks all teary-eyed) 

Nikki post this shortly after wishing her the best of luck in Rio. 

nikkiguti7 Good luck in the Olympics @samanthakerr20 👋🏼👋🏼!!! #riobaby

Sam randomly posts this picture at the end of July after a game (obvi missing Nikki, we find out this becomes a theme: Sleeping nikki pics) 

samanthakerr20 Mood .

And then the Olympics begin and a wild Nikki appears in Brazil wearing Sam’s jersey and traveling with the Kerrs (the small fandom is shook) Unfortunately we never get a picture of them together at the Olympics. 

nikkiguti7 What a game. What a stadium. What a group!!! 🇦🇺⚽️💪🏾 #aussie #aussie#nicegoalsammy #kanga #andnicewinusa

nikkiguti7 Had the most amazing time in Brazil!! Didn't get mugged, or get Zika! Met some great people, watched some great soccer, and got to be part of 50 Aussie fans in a stadium of 60,000 Brazil fans. Thanks for all the Aussies for being so great 😊 Now back to New Jersey to get back to work! We got some unfinished business 🇧🇷⚽️💪🏾🔹🔸 #greatjobmatildas#didntgetmybraids

(comment on post) samanthakerr20 🐨

The Matildas are eliminated and Sam post this on instagram

samanthakerr20Leaving Rio tonight to head back to Jersey. Thank you to my amazing support crew for always being there for me on this roller coaster journey! Back to Jersey to rejoin @skybluefc & push for play offs! #grateful 🇦🇺

They return back to Sky Blue Fc and back to normal frat dad/flop activities

such as: Boat life 

Attending Red Bull games

and sleeping Nikki

Sam being a good gf

Sams birthday - Sep. 10th

nikkiguti7 Happy Birthday to my best friend @samanthakerr20! I hope that you have the best day and it's the best year yet!! Im so happy that you're in my life. You are one of a kind! 23 never looked so good🦄🤖🐶😍👌🏽👵🏽👵🏽👵🏽!! #idiothead

Sam posts a pic for national peanut day aka calling her girlfriend a peanut aka saying she’s cute. 

Sky Blue has a last Cloud 9 event to celebrate the season and this cropped part of a team photo emerges. THE FANDOM IS SHOOK. 

They don’t make it to the playoffs (I  don’t want to talk about it) and Sam heads back to Australia early but they interact on twitter briefly

Everyones like “stay in seattle?” 🤔😏

and Mid october Nikki is headed to Australia gain 

Australia - Perth Glory 2016-2017

(Screenshot credit to @stephcat )

Nikkis birthday in Australia. Sammy being cute. 

samanthakerr20 HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Spending her birthday having coffee with cats 🐱☕️ So happy to have you in AUS for another birthday 🎉👌🏽 @nikkiguti7

Australia continues 

samanthakerr20 Uhh 😍

And so do the adventures 

(Screenshots of instastory credit to @pughnation )

They puppy sit for some friends

(screenshot credit to @pughnation ) It’s a video of Sam showing the puppys, cricket and then ending on Nikki. 

(following two screenshots from @agent-sarahwalker )

Christmas at the Kerrs feat. Nikki, Dibernardo and Mautz

Australia 2017

New Years Eve ( Vid of Nikki holding Sam from behind, it’s cute and worth the click) 

They attend the Aussie open with Dibernardo on Jan 5

Club time 

Twitter banter over own goal scoring

Dry waterfalls in Aus. 

They both get suspended for the same match. Couples that get suspended together stay together?

Sammy gettin jealous 

Back to Adventures

and the sleeping pics continue in australia 

Perth Glory makes it to the grand final of the W league

However they sadly lose to Melbourne City and Nikki along with Mautz and Dibernardo are headed home while Sam prepares for Matildas camp

samanthakerr20 Sad to see my 3 American buddies head back home! Been a blast, See you all soon 🇦🇺🛫🇺🇸🛬

🤔

Feb. 24 Sam is away with the Matildas in Portugal and post this

samanthakerr20 Dreaming 💭💦

            nikkiguti7 This is you: 😝

            samanthakerr20 @nikkiguti7 this is you 🐸

            nikkiguti7 No this is me: 👸🏼

And then she post this on her dogs instagram.

(Also note, Nikki wearing Sams shorts from AusWNT.)

Nikki’s fave part of Aus 2017 

March 26th Sam bids Aus fairwell on insta and includes these pics on her insta ( i cropped the one) 

NWSL 2017 - PRESENT 

Sam’s back to being an ass on instastory 

but she’s back and they’re living together again with Kelley, Taylor Lytle and Sarah Killion

being typical flops again

This tweet becomes important in a few posts. 

First game of the season in Seattle which is Nikki’s hometown and also on Easter weekend. 

Nikki takes over SBFC snapchat

Quality time with the parents

They stay in Seattle to celebrate Easter and hike 

nikkiguti7 Happy Easter from the top of this mountain #hikers

They come back from Seattle and Sam gives Nikki a fresh pair of Nike’s taking care of her girl for the season

April 20th, 2017 they begin a family... okay not really but they brought Brooklyn home from the shelter to foster her 

They go away for a game and rookie Kayla Mills blesses us with A++ content on her snapchat takeover. (Not sure since it’s early in the season if the rookie didn’t know, didn’t know that we all know or that nobody generally cared) 

Best house at SBFC aka the Frat House

Sam leaves for Australia and misses the next game but wins a major award from the W- League, 

When Sam gets back to Jersey, she post on her instastory a picture of a card and balloon waiting for her on her bed back at the frat house

Referencing this tweet becomes important 

Because Nikki posted this picture while Sam was away 

Anyway the inference is that they live in the same room at the frat house

Back to their family 

I wonder who she sleeps with?

Sam and her bike helmet being a derp 

Kelley is their constant third wheel 

Happy family

Sam’s instastory of her little family sleeping 

another one of Brooklyn on their bed 

Recent FIFA - June 

They go hiking in Utah

and take a helicopter tour of the grand canyon ( which im surpised sam did since she said she absolutely hates flying) 

Current - Mid June

Back with Brooklyn after FIFA Break

Sam wearing Nikki’s Perth Glory shorts 

Embarrassing Nikki asking her Curry or Lebron.. and Nikki chooses Curry while wearing a Lebron shirt that is clearly Sams 

June 17, 2017

Portland vs. Sky Blue

After Sam’s 2nd goal

At the end of the game (Sheridan ships it) heres the vid of this

http://pressingtobinheath.tumblr.com/post/161953058178/scnnett-look-how-happy-she-is-oh-you-got-it credit to @scnnett

After the Portland game they stay in Oregon to celebrate Fathers Day with Nikki’s dad 

Giving the people what they want at Volleyball Tuesdays 

End of June/Beg of July 2017

Goal celebration hugs 

Riding Bikes on 4th of July  - Click for link

July 9th game, Sam scored a hattrick to win the game 3-2 in 12 minutes right at the end. Post game hugs and tweets

After game day snuggles with Brooklyn

http://padfootnprongs21.tumblr.com/post/162799775646/nikkis-my-spirit-animal vid posted by Sammy of Nikki and Brookyln

http://padfootnprongs21.tumblr.com/post/162942060821/i-am-still-nikki-nikki-is-still-me - another one 

Game Day 7/15/17

After game Frat Dad activities

Boat days are back!

Featuring a not so impressed Nikki and Sam just living life

wait there’s the smile

and the abs

End of July 2017

Sleeping in Seattle 

Nikki irish step dancing and Sam recording her calling her a “flog”

Tournament of Nations

- coffee in Seattle 

Australia vs. USA - Nikki is there, we hear she’s in street clothes but her dad is wearing a Kerr jersey 

Be your girls biggest fan 

Sammy and the Matildas win the Tournament of Nations and Nikki can’t wait for Sam to get home

Sam’s flight gets delayed on the way back to Jersey and a Sky Blue Cloud 9 member tells me that Nikki rushed out of the Washington game saying she had to get Sam from the airport. 

They’re back and go on a mini golf date ((August 2017)

and to the beach 

https://scnnett.tumblr.com/post/164182577728/she-got-it-from-kelley - Sam scaring Nikki 

http://pressingtobinheath.tumblr.com/post/164226533858 - Nikki cuddling Brooklyn with her legs on Sam 

Sam gets nominated for Fifa Womens Play of the Year 

Sam scores 4 goals in the Sky Blue FC vs. Reign game. Reclaiming her 1st place spot in the golden boot race, extending her record for NWSL All Time Scorer, becoming the first person to score a hattrick 2 times in one season, becoming the first to. score 4 goals in one in league history. 

When the final whistle blows Nikki eats kisses Sam’s ear 

http://pressingtobinheath.tumblr.com/post/164424572937/anyway-heres-the-clip-of-nikki-eating-kissing - Here’s the link

Here’s pic by pic ( credit to @uswnt-tobin )

Days after the game they visit DC because Sam’s mom is visiting

Mini gold with Sam’s mum

http://pressingtobinheath.tumblr.com/post/164679192478 - Sam attacking Nikki with a stuffed snake 

Presents!

8/26 Nikki assist Sam’s goal against Boston

http://pressingtobinheath.tumblr.com/post/164760751973/dashonkelley-these-two - Sam messing with Nikki during her post game interview 

Another sleeping pic 

Brooklyn taking over the bed

(Nikki’s story) 

Sams story 

Coffee Dates 

- http://pressingtobinheath.tumblr.com/post/164756403758/coffee-date 

THE PICTURE THAT SHOOK US ALL 8/28

http://pressingtobinheath.tumblr.com/post/164839490870/im-brooklyn-getting-yelled-at-in-the-background - Sammy doesn’t really care about the flowers Nikki is painting

US Open with the Frat dads 

Stud muffin!

Sam’s birthday!

http://dashonkelley.tumblr.com/post/165206770910/happy-birthday-sammy - Sammy’s surprise birthday party at McDonalds

Holding Nikki as they walk into Mcdonalds

Rachel Breton and Taylor Lytles live insta describing this as. “Their natural habitat” (playing cards)

Visiting Brooky girl at her new home

Picking up new foster dog (Nikki wearing #20 Australia shorts)

“Who’s gonna wash your pants? (Nikki to Sam) “You are cause you’re her girlfriend” - quote from Maddy Tiernan 

Season ends... time for Australia 2017/2018

Missing cuddles 

Counting down the days 

*Reached video limit so I have to just put links 

*Shoutout to @scnnett for offering help and trying to help me get the videos even though I failed

*Shoutout to. @voices-from-above for encouragement

*Shoutout to anyone whose post I used, I credited them and everything else I got myself 

*They don’t have a ship name.. - send me suggestions

*If I’m missing content submit it or put it in an ask and I’ll look for it

*I’m thinking they’ve been together almost 2 years

*Sammy is 23 and Nikki is 26, they’ll be 24 and 27 in the fall

*GUTI stands for get used to it and was Nikki’s nickname in college because she used to tackle hard and say “get used to it”

*If I made a grammatical mistake, forgive me I’ve been doing this. for 2 hours and I’m over it. I’ll fix it eventually.

*Thank you and enjoy this wonderful ship

*We’ve been exposed. Evacuate. Nikki liked a tweet about this post.