#ok these pics aren’t great because the lighting made a glare

[cultdionysus]

Amphora from Athens 530-520 B.C.E.

First side depicts Apollo playing the lyre for Dionysus and Hermes

Other side depicts Theseus slaying the Minotaur

[kakashifanrp]

Marks of the soulmates 1/2

Kakashi Hatake x reader

part 2 <- here

AN: Soulmate fics get to me. They are soo cute! Soo i decided to drabble down one. Most likely this is part 1.. 😅 most likely a oneshot or two shot. 

(a pic of the mark aswell, just because I liked this one mark)

Soulmates, it had been a thing for ages. Almost everyone had a soulmate, finding it was another story. When the ancient shinobies of the past were able to make the mark of the soulmates it made the search easier for many. A mark would appear on the left wrist, a mark that would only be identical to your soulmates mark. Girls normally made sure to keep a eye out on their chruses wrist between 16 to 18 years of age, it was then the mark would normally appear.

Yours however came around when you were 17 and a half.. Right after you had became a jonin, and your best friend since childhood turned his back on everyone. It was not that you hadn't tried to stop him... Or even try to make him stop ignoring everyone that cared for him.. But after he joined the Anbu it was back and forth, before the sudden conntinuesly ignoring everyone. After days of watching it all go down, you followed him.. Knowing it didn't only hurt you, but also the rest of your friends.

"Kakashi.. Stop for a secound" You had been running after him for 5 minutes allready, after seeing the sad look on Gui's face yet again after Kakashi ignored him, and only gave a cold stare. It had been the boiling point, watching this for years allready. You caught up with him and stepped in front of him, but in normal Kakashi style he just walked around you. This made you clench your jaw as you stepped in front of him again, placing your hands on his chest making him stop by force. "I have tried to stop you for 5 minutes now" You looked up at him, only to be greeted by the cold stare of his.

"Why are you doing this? Do you even see how hurt your friends are? We are worried about you baka!" frustration had been building up over the years, seeing him act like a cold hearted brat. "You really are annoying" Kakashi muttered unimpressed and pushed your hands off him. "didn't you just become a jonin? Isn't it time to act like it?" There it was.. The vemon in his voice again.. Like he hated your gut. "My rank has nothing to do with this, and you know it. I don't know what has happend to you lately, but damn Kakashi.. Saying hi once in a while would not kill you" It was a desperate attempt to make him soften up a bit, and stop throwing away everyone that cared for him..

"You are just pathetic.. Can't belive they let babies become jonin theese days" he scoffed as he started to walk away. "Soo thats what you think of me huh?" His words hurt, it always did when he was in a mood like that.. "Can you be annoying somewhere else, some of us has actual things to do" He spat, not even looking back at you as he walked away.

You remembered that day too well.. It was the day you knew you lost your best friend, and it crushed you.. Not only did he look down on your abilities as a jonin.. But he seemed to had a distaste for you as a person too. As if that wasen't hard enough, your soulmate mark appeared later that day. That was suppose to be one of the happiest day of your life.. To finally get the mark you had dreamed of and start the hunt for your very own soulmate.. But after the talk with Kakashi earlier in the day it only made you sad..

You looked down at your wrist as you walked. The flame like mark were still there, and you had yet to start looking for the matching mark. Had it only been as easy for you as it was for Asuma and Kurenai it would have been great, but you truly had started to doubt if that was even what you wanted in life. "NARUTO!!" you heard the scream from behind you making you lift your head to see the blonde boy running away from the pink haired one yet again. "Y/N sama! Help me!" Naruto ran up and hid behind you which did not stop Sakura one bit as she chased after him.

"hey, I am not a shield!" Being dragged into their fighting was never fun, at least when you knew how hard that girl punched. "Wait until I get my hands on you Naruto!" they run around you, Naruto trying to dogde, while Sakura tried to punch. "Ey ey ey, Didn't you two just pass on a team togheter, teammates don't hit eachother, or use people as shields!" You facepalmed yourself as you watched them. "He tried to call me his soulmate!" Sakura shouted, red in face from the anger boiling. "But what if you are Sakura Chan?" Naruto carefully stood behind you with a nervous smile on his face.

"Guys, why even worry about that stuff now.. It is like 4 to 6 years before any of you get a mark, that is if you even get one?" This caught Naruto's attention, giving Sakura a opening to punch him in the head. "Still, I know my soulmate will be Sasuke, not a Baka like Naruto" She crossed her arms, looking offeded as usual. "ow ow ow" Naruto rubbed his head where he was hit and looked at the two of you. "I almost feel bad for the sensei you guys got.. With this being how you act thowards eachother." you let out a soft sigh. "Kakashi sensei don't seem to care" with narrow brows you looked at Sakura. "Hatake, Kakashi? Is he your sensei?"

"Yeah, He made us to that stupid bell test..what a scarecrow" Naruto mumbled. You had heard he became a jonin leader a while back, but he had not passed a team soo far. "Scarecrow? That was a new one" You raised your brow, knowing Naruto found all kinds of nicknames for people. "Y/N sama, do you have a soulmate mark?" Sakura looked at you, and you nodded. She grabbed your arm, making you gasp in suprise as she lifted the glove a bit to look at it. "wow! Have you found your match yet? When did you get yours? Did it just appear? Was it magical like they say?" You looked at the girl with wide eyes as she studied your mark.

"breath Sakura.. It is just a mark" You shrugged, making her thighten her hold on your arm. You winced at the sudden strenght the girl had when she got annoyed. "It is not just any mark!" She glared at you. "ok, i got it when I was 17 and a half.. And no I haven't found my soulmate.. And yes it just appeared" You muttered and noticed Naruto looking at it too. "hmm.. Soo thats how it looks like." He tilted his head before his eyes light up. "Thank you Y/N sama" He smirked and dragged Sakura with him, taking her by suprise as she looked ready to hit again. You just stood and looked at them walking away in confusion, wondering what he even thanked you for..

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke had gotten themself a mission, and they were not gonna stop until it was settled. The past week they had been looking at peoples wrist to see if they found you a match, Sakura had been soo happy to finally see a real soulmate mark that she had memorized it in detail and made a a drawing the three of them used to compare with. After a week they sat down defeated at Ichuraka's. "We have looked everywhere! No matches" Naruto whines. "Did you really think that was gonna be easy?" Sasuke looked annoyed.

"I was hoping yeah! It has to be someone in this town" Naruto took another bite of his ramen. "why do you guys look soo down" Kakashi sat next to them with a raised brow. Normally his students didn't hang with their heads while eating ramen. "Baka, Naruto! It can be from another village too! The mark is on people from all villages" Sasuke frowned and scoffed. "Mark? What mark?" Finally it seemed that the three students had noticed their sensei. "soulmate marks, what else sensei?" Sakura frowned. "aren't you three a bit too young to be worrying about theese marks?"

"We are just trying to help a friend" Naruto looked at him. "a friend?" Kakashi looked at them even more confused. He remember wanting a mark when he was younger too, but after he got it he never really cared. "Is it a meeting here today?" Iruka walked in, ready to get his lunch that he had ordered. "Iruka sensei! Show me your wrist!" Naruto demanded making Iruka go pale. "ehh, what?" Sakura grabbed his arm and looked. "nope.. Not Iruka sensei either" She mumbled, as he retracted his arm. "ok what is going on?" He looked at the genin in front of him.

"We have been trying for a week now to find Y/N samas match" Sasuke shrugged, making it sound like it was the most obious thing ever. "we have checked as many in kohona as possible, but it is too many marks and no one matches the one she has!" Naruto almost screamed as he explained, clearly frustrated. "Y/N sama?" Kakashi looked at the three genin, not sure if he heard the name correctly. That name he had not heard in years. "ohh, I see.." Iruka rubbed the back of his neck. "your old classmate, Kakashi.. She helped out at the school from time to time"

"That joke was not funny Iruka sensei" Naruto side eyed him. "what joke?" Naruto looked at Kakashi, almost making the ninja uncomfortable. "I don't belive Y/N sama is that old" This made Kakashi almost shrink in his chair. "I am not even that old" He muttered, making Iruka laugh. "well, You guys should have good luck then" Iruka got the food and left as the genin finnished theirs. "Kakashi sensei, can you help us out on this mission?" Sakura pleaded, started to loose the hope. "Isn't that your mission to do?" He noticed the look in their eyes and sighed. At least they seemed to be working in a team, which made them stop bickering for once. "Ok, I help for today"

Sakura gave him the paper. "We need to find this mark!" She pointed at it, not noticing the wide eye on her sensei. "You sure this is the mark?" He frowned as he looked at the kids. "Yes! She showed it to me. Just remember she must not know about this" The young girl said sternly. Kakashi just nodded as he looked at the drawing, ignoring Naruto's stare. "We have not checked your arm sensei" He said suddenly as he grabbed the arm to look, taking Kakashi by suprise. "hmm" The blonde said as he looked between the paper and Kakashi's wrist.

"what are you doing?" Kakashi tried to retract his arm, but all three of them grabbed it to look. "it is a match?" Sakura looked up at Kakashi, before they let go of his arm. "But you are too old sensei.." The three genin frowned as they watched him, making him uncomfortable. "How old do you three really think I am?" He placed the paper down, eyeing the three kids. "Older than Y/N sama" Naruto said with a obious tone. "But you two are soo different.." Sakura voiced her thoughts before she started to go pale. "oh no, what If I get linked with that baka" She started to freak out, thinking about it. If kakashi sensei could have the same mark as Y/N, with how different they were... What if the was cursed with Naruto!?

"Y/N sama! Over here!" Naruto yelled, making Kakashi pull down his sleeve. You looked over and noticed Sakura's face. "whats going on.. You three looks like you have seen a ghost?" you walked over before noticing Kakashi. "I am doomed!" Sakura ran off making you look shocked. "Naruto, what did you do this time?" The blond glared at you before looking between you and Kakashi. "Nope, still don't belive it" He muttered, eyeing his sensei. This whole thing made you look at them all confused. "Do I even wanna know..."

"Are you as old as Kakashi sensei?" Naruto blurred out, still looking between you two. "Well yeah.. What about it?" This made Kakashi smile under his mask. "I told you, I am not that old" Naruto just shaked his head and started to leave. "Still don't belive it" You giggled a bit, only imagine the shock he must be in. "It could have been worse Y/N sama" Sauske gave your arm a soft pat before walking away. "Theese kids never stops to suprise me" You sighed and looked over at Kakashi. "Now I see what he meant with scarecrow" You mumbled as the expression on his face and hair could remind you of one.

"a what now?" He stood up and looked at you. "Naruto think you look like a scarecrow, I can kind of see it now" You smiled a bit. "You should have good luck with them, they can be a handful." You mumbled, remembering the last time you spoke with Him. "You don't have to say that twice.. They are gonna be the death of me, I allready know it" He sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "oh, you don't know anything yet" You smiled and started to walk away, knowing he was in for it. "Where are you going?"

"I have guard duty today, soo off to my shift" You turned and looked at him. You studies him carefully, not sure how to read him at all.. And still a bit shocked he could talk at all. "Which side of the village?" He asked. "East side, waiting for a scroll delivery" He nodded. "I tag along then" You narrowed your brows a bit. "You tag along? Never thought I would hear that from you again, Hatake" You smiled and started to walk, letting him catch up to you. "well, it is a first for everything isn't it?" He keept his gaze on your hand, knowing you used to talk with your hands before. Maybe he was able to see for himself.

"Soo what is the scroll about? Since they need guards to greet it?" He played it off as he opened his book to pretend to read. "Well, I am not sure, all I know it is a delivery to lord 3rd" you shrugged as you lifted your hands a bit. Kakashi noticed the mark on your wrist as he stopped a bit. "Are you ok?" You stopped and looked over at him. "I gotta go" With a poof of smoke he was gone, making you sigh. "some things never changes.."

[citowon]

You’ve Got Mail! 🍒 Taichi Nanao

i’ve been sitting on this wip for monthssss... so glad i finally have it in a place where i feel a-ok to publish it!

word count: 4,329

tags: jealous reader, lowkey hurt/comfort, year 2 (no act 2 spoilers), gender neutral reader

“Reader!”

The voice was distant, but your shoulders relaxed as you recognized it instantly. That was just the kind of vibe Taichi Nanao emitted, the same energetic, carefree attitude he carried with him wherever he went, even though you noticed other students giving him annoyed glares as he sprinted through the sidewalk and to your side. “Reader! Hey hey hey hey hey, Reader! You’re not gonna believe this!”

“Um, hey! Scream in my ear again like that and I’ll go deaf before you even spill the deets.” Despite your teasing, you smiled as he caught up with your stride and sheepishly apologized. Your best friend’s energy was infectious, and you loved to see his sweet, goofy grin. “So, spill! What’s going on, Tai?”

He looked like a kicked puppy when you scolded him, but the second you asked you could see his face light up in high resolution real time. “Dude, seriously, you won’t believe this. It’s so cool! So I was about to nod off in Chemistry, it’s so hard, you know, but then my phone got a text, so I opened it, and then Mr. Kenta called on me for a question and I was so scared he was about to grab my phone before I even read anything, so I kinda beefed it and totally blanked but turns out, he just wanted someone to answer the question so I just passed.” He was breathless from his sprint to catch up with you, but spoke so quickly, you just knew he was over the moon about something. “Anyways, I look at my phone and, so, you know Omi, right?”

“Dorm mom guy? The beefy guy with the scar that makes cookies?”

“Yeah! We’re roomies! So earlier that day our director Izumi, we just call her Director, she’s such a cutie, she went to check the Mankai mailbox because our plays were already pretty cool but ever since the Winter guys creamed God Troupe we got suuuuper popular, it’s sick! We get so much fan mail now! I mean, I’ve only gotten four letters, and one of those doesn’t count because it was from my parents, and two of those are kinda iffy because they were addressed to the entire Autumn troupe, but like! Director finds this envelope addressed to me! Taichi Nanao! Not Autumn Troupe, me! So she gives it to Omi ‘cause he’s a total bro and he texted me-” He put on a fake deep voice and puffed out his chest here- “he texted me, ‘Hope you enjoyed the dumplings I made, blah blah blah, something about homework, you have mail!’ You know, because he saw how stoked I was with getting fan mail even though one of them was from my parents and two of them were for the troupe, not me, but anyways I was like, ‘Dude, that’s so awesome, you GOTTA take a pic’ and he was like ‘Uhhh, aren’t you in class right now’ and I was like ‘Yeah, if you count lunch as a class, and those dumplings were great’ and then I added a few dumpling emojis so I could distract him from the fact I was texting him at 2:46 in the afternoon. And I guess it worked because then he sends me this picture of a little white envelope, it’s kind of wide and short like those money envelopes, and I’m, like!” His mouth dropped into a wide O with a dramatic gasp. 

“So I’m sitting in Chem and I’m totally about to explode, it’s so exciting! I can’t even work, I’m just so into it, and I can’t resist the suspense until I get home, so I text Omi, ‘Do you want to be my best friend forever?’ And then he’s like, ‘Suuuuure? What do you need?’ And I’m like, ‘You KNOW what I need, I can’t stand it anymore, can you open the letter and take a picture of it?????’ And he’s like ‘Are you sure you don’t want to wait-‘ and I’m like ‘YES I’M SURE, open it open it open it! Please!!’

“Aren’t you worried he’ll read the letter?” You asked, and swallowed the worry rising in your throat. “Don’t you want to be the only guy to read it?”

“Oh, pffffft.” Taichi waved a hand in the air carelessly. “No worries! Omi’s awesome, way too chill to do that, and no offense to him, but he’s really oblivious. He’s a college kid and super sage, but he’s kind of stupid about that sort of thing. He’d probably just open the letter and then go back to cross-stitching or cooking or whatever he was doing at the moment.”

“Seriously, every time you talk about him I’m always shocked by how motherly that guy is.”

“Right? We all call him Ma. But so! He sends me a picture of the inside and- and guess what it was!”

You had a few working theories, one of them much likelier than the others, and you feared admitting to that one. So instead, you said, “You won a contest?”

“Nope!”

“Not even one of those 1,000,000th visitor contests that pop up on your computer?”

“Hey! I only clicked on those once, and I was like seven, I’m not gonna do it again! Guess again!”

“Scholarship information?”

“I’m a second-year.”

“Tax returns?”

Taichi gave you the most exhausted look he could muster. “Seriously?”

“Sorry, sorry, joking,” you said. “Was it a love letter?”

“Bingo!” He beamed and wiggled in delight, which was adorable, but despite his behavior you only felt dread. He swiped through his phone’s photo library. “Look! I have it saved. Look at her handwriting, it’s all loopy and pretty. That’s gotta mean she’s a total hottie, right?”

He shoved his phone into your hands. The letter was on crisp notebook paper with hearts doodled on the margins and a glittery magenta-gloss kiss planted on the bottom, and you looked down at it with disdain, but Taichi elbowed you, egging you on. You wanted nothing more than to put it away, pretend it was nothing, but he watched you so expectantly, and you didn’t want to hurt him, so you held the phone up and read. 

Dear Taichi,

I’m a huge fan of your work. That’s putting it lightly, I just love to watch you act, it puts a smile on my face, and it reminds me that I love you. I know we haven’t met, but I wish we did, and I hope we can. I want to be the girl you look for in the crowd, I want your eyes on me and only me. You’re incredibly talented and every time you step onto the stage it’s like I understand everything about what makes you unique. You’re so meek and when you get to snap it’s so amazing, and I’m reminded just how hot you are, you’re so adorably introverted and shy.

You glanced up from the phone at Taichi. He was giggling to himself, eyes shut tight with his mouth clamped into a curved line like he just ate sour candy. 

“She said I’m hoooot,” he sang. “Heheheh! I knew I’d get a girlfriend this year!”

You gave a low-effort snicker in response. He’s not shy at all, you thought bitterly. Before we were even friends, he kept pursuing me because he’s so outgoing, not meek. You don’t know him at all, and I hate that you think you do. Despite the gnarls growing in your heart, you continued.

It’s so cute, whenever you’re onstage I don’t even care about the play anymore, all I see is you. I’m totally captivated whether you’re in a hospital bed or in the yakuza. I envy Wolf and his motorcycle so much, I want your arms around me, no one else. I adore everything about you, I want to go with you everywhere. I can’t wait for next Autumn, because that means I get to see the boy that captured my heart and made it his own, and I can just eat you up.

Are you free next Saturday? I hope so, because I am. At 5 I’ll be at this Italian restaurant on the corner of Manor and Cateye Lane. Please go out with me, I can’t bear the thought of pouring all my feelings to you in this letter and getting stood up. I even attached my number to this letter so you can talk to me beforehand. I won’t tell you my name until we meet, though. So until then, I’ll just sign off like this;

Love, your secret admirer.

You sighed. The second you guessed it was a love letter, you were jealous, and you knew it, but the worst part was being unable to tell if the admirer was really good enough for Taichi or not. It ate you alive, made everyone seem like never enough, and you had no idea if your dislike stemmed from being a caring friend or a possessive one.

You’d really love to be something more than a friend, though, and every time you met up with Taichi it warmed your heart. He was pure sunshine and joy, and livened every dull class or boring walk. He was the guy that you could talk to for hours, and you did; you couldn’t even begin to count the nights where you both called late into the night talking about this or that, searching for comfort or a distraction or just a laugh. Taichi understood your insecurities and made them feel miniscule, because despite how awful you felt, he was still your closest friend, wasn’t he? And you’d do the same for him any day of the week. You remember being his only confidant when he sabotaged Autumn Troupe’s first performance, whispering advice and support as he cried tears of guilt laced with apologies. On closing night you reunited with him backstage and gave him the tightest hug you could muster. “See? You fixed it,” you said as the actor’s rush died down. “You did the right thing, and I couldn’t be prouder of you.”

This was why the admirer pissed you off. You glanced back at the looped print. “So adorably introverted and shy.” Taichi was the one that followed you around even when you wouldn’t give him the time of day, and his dreams of popularity pushed him to constantly meet new people. The stage was for expression, not confessions, and it disgusted you that some stranger had the audacity to say she knew everything about your longtime best friend.

Maybe your protectiveness made you a monster. Taichi had the right to pursue whoever he wanted, and so did this girl. But you worried for him. You didn’t have the courage to tell him the one secret you hid, and now you were paying the price. The fear that this girl would break his heart was unfathomable, and you never wanted to hear him cry again because someone else played him like a fiddle. 

But she was the one that asked him out, and his smile still hadn’t faded. 

“Adorbs,” you lied. “What do you think? About her, I mean?”

“She sounds soooo cute,” he said dreamily. The tips of his ears poked out of his hair, matching the cherry red dye as he spoke. “She wants to go to an Italian restaurant. That’s so classy and-!” He went wide-eyed. “Wait. Reader. Oh my god. What if we share the same plate of pasta. What if we pull a Lady and the Tramp?! That’d be so romantic. Man, I want it to be Saturday already!”

“Do what feels right, I guess. I mean, you only know her by a letter, right? I doubt you’ll get that far that fast.”

“Yeah, but still, it’s a date! I’m gonna go on a daaaaaate. A date a girl asked me out on. I’m so psyched!”

You nodded as you turned a corner into the entertainment district of Veludo Way. Mankai’s dorms were located around the outside of the sector, away from the glitzy theaters but still in the vicinity of any stray tourists. Somehow, all the play programmes ended up on these streets, crumpled and strewn by the wind despite the center being near spotless.

The entire time, Taichi was geeking out about his date while you tried your damndest to stay supportive. He didn’t deserve to feel guilty about something he was so overjoyed about, and while you couldn’t bear it, you let him keep talking about the admirer. 

“...And look at how she writes her lowercase d’s, the stem has a little loop, that’s so cute, I’m so obsessed! Is this what Masumi feels like all the time around Director-sensei? He was absolutely onto something. Love is real.”

“Do you mind if I ask something?” You asked as he hummed a happy little song. You hesitated for a moment. “You might not like it but I kind of need to ask.”

“Huh? What’s up?”

“Don’t take this too harshly, I don’t really want to ruin your mood or anything, it’s great to see you so happy. Really. It’s great. But are you actually interested in this person, or just having a relationship?”

“Well, obviously, it’s…” To your dismay, his delight sunk, and he met your eyes. “Hey, wait a sec. Reader, are you okay?”

“It’s more like, are you okay? Because I don’t want you to get hurt.” You felt your words freeze cold, but your blood was boiling. “She totally pegged you wrong. You’re not meek, and you’re not just- not just meant to be owned, you know? And maybe you don’t notice it but I do, she sounds so possessive. And that scares me for you because- because it just feels like she wants to date an actor she saw from afar, not the Taichi Nanao I know and love.”

You stared straight ahead and walked faster, ugly emotions rising and churning like lava underneath your skin, but your concerns were true. You were scared. The prospect of a partner molding and using Taichi was one of the greatest fears you had for your best friend and his pursuit of a love life, and regardless of how you felt romantically towards him, that would never change. Yes, maybe he’d always see you as no more than “one of the bros”, and that possibility stung, but you’d rather get rejected on loop by him than see him fall into an unhealthy relationship. 

You didn’t even need to turn to know Taichi sped up to keep up with you as his footfalls cracked the pavement. “Hey, hold on. You sound so out of it, are you okay?” 

“Mhm, but it doesn’t matter. Are you okay?”

“Um.” He pursed his lips into a tight, thin line. “I am, but I dunno. You’re not telling me something, and it’s seriously upsetting you, right? So you can tell me. We’re best friends! And I trust you.”

You felt something enclose your hand, and you looked down. Taichi wrapped his own hands around it, stubby fingers over your knuckles. “It feels awful seeing you so down, so if there’s anything I can do I want to be there for you!”

When you turned your head, you saw it; the ever-feared Look™. You were pretty sure Taichi didn’t even know he did the Look™. His big eyes squinted into a determined, pointed stare, as if it’d make him look tougher, but he looked like a kindergartener in defiance of naptime about to cry. “I don’t want to do anything that’d make my best friend uncomfortable!”

“Then don’t do that!” You snatched your hand away. “Don’t just- don’t do that. Not to me. Not when you’re about to go out with someone else.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s something I can’t have, Taichi! Because I already like you so much and it feels horrible to know that I can’t have that with you because you’ll only see me as a friend! It’s awful and the more I think about it the more impossible it seems and the dumber I feel for being like this and liking you. 

“But you don’t deserve that. You can make your own decisions. I don’t have any authority to tell you who and who not to pursue, and I just have to deal with that and my own stupid feelings on my own because that’s not a burden you deserve to shoulder.” 

Nails digging into your skin was what snapped you away from your outburst. Your hand formed a tight fist as you spoke, and in the silence that ensued, you let go and watched the tiny curves from your nails fade.

You didn’t hear a response, and you didn’t have the heart to look at Taichi for a reaction, either. You sighed, ran your hand against your face and through your hair. “I’m sorry, but that’s just the truth. And I know it’s such a dickish thing, but I know more than anyone how much it blows for pretty much everyone involved and I don’t want to hurt you so I just want to ignore it. It doesn’t matter. It’s whatever. I’m sorry.” 

More silence followed. You don’t remember the last time you felt so small and insignificant. The footsteps beside you ebbed to a stop and then there really wasn’t any sound other than wind whistling through the neighborhood trees.

So you steeled yourself and turned your face with a mask of neutrality as you spoke softly, “I mean, we’re still friends, right?”

“Can I kiss you?”

“What.” You raised an eyebrow as your indifference brewed into a storm of anger, disgust and embarrassment, and struggled to keep them contained. “You shouldn’t play with people’s emotions like that, Taichi,” you said coldly. “Do you really just want a partner so bad that you would just torment me like that?”

“No! I wouldn’t, that’s not what I meant!”

“So what do you mean?”

“I mean that I like you!”

“No you don’t,” you spat. “You don’t have to comfort me. That’s on me. And you don’t have to date me, either, just because you want someone doesn’t mean-”

“I don’t want someone, I want you! I spent this entire time trying to find someone else because I’ve liked you for forever and I didn’t want to kill our dynamic so I wanted to get over you!”

You watched him with wide, wavering eyes. He leaned forward and kept his eyes shut, face scrunched with determination as he forced himself to blurt it out. “And I don’t know, maybe the admirer’s a catch or not but I don’t care. Because if you-” he gulped. His cheeks went from rose pink to poppy. “If you like… if you like me, and I like you, t-then!”

“You like me?”

“How could I not? You’re always listening to me, and helping me clean up my messes, and you see the best in everything. And just being around you makes me feel so good. Like I can be myself and tell you anything.”

“Why are you so nice to me. Just so-” You covered your hot face with your hands. “Can I kiss you? I don’t know, is that too forward to ask? I really want to. Can I?”

He squeaked and nodded. “Yeah! I’d really like to-“

You watched his bright blue eyes glow even brighter as they snapped open and you did as you were told. Underneath your lips, you felt his mouth curve into a smile before he returned, pink lips against your chapstick, and with firmness that made you want more, more, more. 

But not yet. Not yet, when everything is so new and unexplored, and Taichi feels so perfectly soft. He’s very gentle with you, you realized; even while kissing you, his hands brushed against you tentatively, not quite sure where to put them. 

So you wrapped your arms around his neck and back, and hoped he got the message. The light touch at your nape confirmed it. 

You pull away after a minute that feels like a month, breathless. You glance at Taichi, and his tomato red face is the only thing keeping you from melting into ooze.

“That was nice,” he said, almost in a daze. It didn’t take a genius to notice he was staring at your lips. “I think I messed up? C-can I try again?”

“Yes,” you responded, a little too quickly. “Anytime. Yes.”

❖ bonus ❖

It took Taichi an embarrassingly long time to get his heart rate under control, even after you started the walk back home. 

He leaned against the front door and let his feet slide away until he sat down, hands covering his face and poking into his hair. His forehead still felt feverish, but he’d just have to make do. Everyone might get worried if he doesn’t enter soon. 

He fumbled for his house keys, prayed his voice wouldn’t crack, and entered. “Hey!”

“Hi, Taichi! Didn’t see you there!” Misumi chirped, despite standing right by the front window. Beside him, Kazunari swatted his arm.  

Also on the couch was Banri, Itaru, and Citron, phones in hand but all three turned to face him. The former spoke up first. “S’up. Anything happen today?”

“Maybe something you’d like to tell us?”

“Specifically animist?”

“What?”

Itaru tapped a finger against his chin. “This one’s hard, even for me. Animal? Analyst?” Taichi could swear Itaru’s eyes went from looking at the ceiling to staring straight at him. “Amorous?”

“Among Us?”

“Yes, that!” Citron raised a hand, and Itaru smacked it. Banri also went in for the high five, but Citron looked scandalized. “Not you. I cannot believe you think I would misunderstand Among Us,” he said sadly. 

Banri shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

Meanwhile, Taichi was busy feigning laughter. “That’s really good! Did you guys rehearse that? That almost sounded planned!”

“Well, did anything happen today?” Rounding out the rest of the actors in the room was Azuma, holding a cup of tea and crossing his legs at the table, as photogenic as ever. Across him was an Omi with a massive teapot in his hands.  

Oh, jeez. Taichi would be the first to admit he’d love to show you off, but his head was still spinning from earlier events and boy, did he want to scream into a pillow. 

“Not really? Just getting through another day at school. Almost fell asleep in history, haha.” Taichi mentally kicked himself for that fake-ass chuckle. 

Azuma took a long sip of tea.

“I’m glad you’re catching up on sleep, but make sure you’re studying. Education is important,” Omi called as he poured himself a cup of tea. 

“You sure nothing happened?” Kazunari toyed with the brim of his fedora. “You seem kind of out of it.”

“What? No! Hahaha! I’m to-tally fine!” Taichi begged himself to stop fake-laughing just as the doorbell rang. “Oh! Cool! I’ll get that!”

“Yoink.” Misumi beat him to the punch. “Hello! Who’s this?”

“Oh, I recognize you! Captain Sky, right?”

Oh no. 

“That’s me! Can I help you? Oh, just so you know, we don’t do autographs while at home-”

“No autographs, sorry. But I’m looking for my favorite actor, Taichi? We were walking home together and he forgot this.”

Acting on an impulse he hasn’t felt since he was five, Taichi attempted to turn invisible. 

“Come in! He just came home. Taichi, say hi!”

As it turns out, every superhero comic he’s ever read about everyday people developing their powers in high-pressure situations was full of crap, because Misumi was looking at him dead in the eye while you approached. 

Whatever thoughts he had left, they all dissipated as you took his hand (!) and pressed his phone into it. 

“I forgot to give it back after I punched in the location for our date. Don’t forget, 7 on Friday evening, alright?”

“Alright,” he mumbled. He was focused on your hand against his. You did that! You initiated that! That means you really liked him!

You broke away, but your pinky clung onto his. You watched his dopey smile as you went in for a peck on the cheek. “See you then, Tai!”

“Mmwwuhuh- huh,” he said. 

But you were already out the door, saying your goodbyes and blowing him a kiss (a kiss! How adorable!) by the time he decided to use his words. 

The door shut with a creak, and all was silent. 

“Did we miss something?” Azuma asked, daintily placing his teacup on its saucer like he was watching golf. 

Then all hell broke loose. 

Kazu dove to noogie Taichi. “Way to go, doggo!”

“GJ.” Itaru was already back to rhythm gaming, but it was obvious he was holding back a laugh. 

“Congratulations, Taichi,” Omi said, the one normal person in the room. 

Taichi thanked him while smothered in a hug with Kazunari, the older puppy crying crocodile tears. “I can’t believe our Taicchan is all grown up now! You’re like a whole little man!”

“I’m seventeen,” he protested. Then he connected the dots. “Wait, were you guys watching that?!”

“We heard yelling and got concerned,” Omi clarified. “I didn’t know what was going on until Misumi answered the door.”

“I can’t believe you guys.”

“As a wise woman once said: ‘If you’ve got it, flaunt it,’” Citron recited. “Beyoncé, 2005.”

“I can’t believe you know Beyoncé lyrics but not the word for ‘amorous!’”

“I can’t believe Taichi’s the first one in this house to eat ass,” Banri said. 

“I am not eating ass, Banri!”

“Oh, my bad. Sorry for your loss.”

“NEO, seriously, quit it, you’re about to make me lose a full combo.”

“I’m going to my dorm!” Taichi cried. “I’m going to scream into a pillow and I’m never gonna talk to any of you ever again!”

“You don’t eat ass but you’re going to practice screaming? Who are you, DJ Khaled?”

Itaru loudly laughed, a full body cackle that doubled him over. His rhythm game chimed, and he panicked. “Fuck, my combo!”

“Like how Taichi’s fu-“

Taichi couldn’t run away from that tease fast enough. 🍒

[supraveng]

Agent of Shield - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Well, I’m finished with the recordings, and saved the transcripts but nothing really stood out as helpful, sorry” you state as you look up at Steve.  He looks up from his papers and give you a reassuring smile “Thank you, there may be something in there that is helpful, but that is what Sam’s here for” he replies as he pats Sam on the back.   “Do you need a lift home? I feel bad for dragging you into work again and ruining your entire weekend.”   “Don’t be silly, nothings ruined and the weather is beautiful outside.   I’m glad I could help” you respond with a smile.  “Are you always this cheery?” Sam questioned as you started to get up from the table.  You looked at him grinning “Why wouldn’t I be?  I live in the best city in the world, have a job I love, and I got to hang out with the coolest Avengers this weekend. Life is good!”  “Well, you are a breath of fresh air around here, that’s for sure! It was a pleasure meeting you today and I hope I see you around again soon” Sam responded.  “That would be nice, have a great day” you waved as you headed out of the conference room.  

Steve squinted at Sam in confusion “are you hitting on her?” “Yes Cap, I was flirting with her.   I’m surprised you picked up on it, didn’t think you knew what flirting was” Sam replied with a smirk.  “Come on Sam, you can’t flirt with her” Steve grumbled.   “Sam can’t flirt with who?” Tony asks as he enters the conference room with a tray of bagels.  “Y/N Miller, she was just here and she is something else” Sam explains as Steve turns to grab a bagel.  “I think the correct word for her is beautiful, birdbrain, and she is way out of your league.  And why wasn’t I notified when she got here?  I wanted to test her actual translating abilities against FRIDAY” he replied with a smirk.  “Well, she left a few minutes ago, but I did enjoy watching her go” Sam said as he wiggled his eyebrows.  Steve rolled his eyes “how about you review her transcripts and find us some information on Demetri Makarov or where he’s going to be on the 20th.   We still have a lot of work to do.”  Tony chuckled and began going through the transcripts “hopefully we can convince Fury to let her join us on the mission, you know, to help with translations.”  “Come on Tony” Steve groaned “you are really willing to put that girl in harms way just so you can flirt with her?”  Tony gasped faking offense “First of all, I haven’t had the chance to even begin to turn on the Stark charm. Second, she’s a SHIELD agent, not some mousy librarian, although she would look hot in some glasses and her hair pulled up.” “Tony!” “Sorry, got a little sidetracked.  And third, that is no girl, that is a real woman.  Fury knows what she is capable of, so I will run it by him if we feel the need to have her with us on the mission”

You made your way home and hopped in the shower.  Today wasn’t as embarrassing as it could have been, but who were you kidding, they weren’t thinking of you as anything other than the translator.  You were a SHIELD agent, but never assisted with missions. Languages were your specialty and it didn’t make any sense for you to be needed in the field, but you still had your regular training requirements to fulfill and tomorrow was hand to hand combat and the gun range.   The gun range wasn’t a problem, your dad had you comfortable around them since you were small.   Combat was a whole different ball game.   You were raised to know how to defend yourself, sparing with a colleague always made you uncomfortable.  You never felt right trying to harm people you trusted and respected.  You preferred the punching bag, but since it didn’t punch back it was not helpful for preparing for missions.  Knowing what was expected of you tomorrow, you decided to make sure your less embarrassing workout gear was clean and packed in your bag to grab in the morning on your way to work.  After your shower you called your dad to check in and reassure him you were still alive and that you were heading to the shelter to see if you could find a running buddy.  

Walking into the shelter, you were greeted by Melissa.  You knew her by name now that you came by regularly trying to find the perfect companion. She greeted you with a huge smile and was a bit more energetic that usual.  “I am so glad you came in this weekend.  We have someone you need to meet, come on, he’s back her!” She said as he headed towards the kennels in the back.  She stopped at the first kennel and turned to look at you “This is Tobias, he’s only around a year old and just arrived on Wednesday, is in excellent health and he LOVES to run!”  You looked down at the sweet face smiling up at you and almost started crying.   He was adorable with big brown eyes and seemed to be waiting for you to greet him.  “Hi Tobias, aren’t you just the cutest thing.  Oh my gosh, he’s beautiful!” at that he jumped up with his front paws on your hips and began sniffing every inch of you.  Turning to Melissa “what do I have to do to take him home?”  “I’m so glad you like him, come this way, a few papers to fill out and he can go home with you today!” she responded gleefully.   “Well Toby, let’s go home buddy”

 The walk home with Toby was fun, he was like a kid in a candy shop.  No longer cooped up in a cage and wanting to sniff and pee on everything he could find.  You made your way to the closest pet store to grab some much needed supplies before heading home.  Tobias was exhausted by the time you got to your apartment, but even showing him his new bed, he followed you around the every where until you settled on the couch with your phone and a beer.   You snapped a pic of your new bestie and shot a text to your dad.  

Y/N:  Hi Colonel!  Meet your granddog, Tobias Miller!

Monday morning rolled around a lot sooner than you hoped with Toby snuggled next to you it was hard to leave your warm bed.  Getting up you slowly stroked his back and called his name.   “Ready for a run buddy”.  His ears perked up and he stretched before jumping out of bed and heading to the door. Giggling you changed your clothes and made your way to the kitchen for coffee and a muffin before grabbing his leash and out the door.  A short walk and you were at the Central Park entrance, you leaned down to Toby, scratching his ear while stretching your ham strings.  “Alright buddy, show me what you got!”   We both took on in a light jog and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a happy dog. He stayed right next to me, but I could tell he could probably lap a greyhound if he was given the chance.  You got back to your apartment after a good 45 minutes and Toby looked even happier to be slowing down.  You gave him his breakfast before heading to the shower.  Twenty minutes later you were drying your hair and trying to decide what to wear to the office.  You fixed your travel cup of coffee before kissing Toby goodbye and grabbing your duffle bag and out the door.  Having him in your normal morning routine took more time than usual so you hailed a cab and headed to SHIELD office.  

You arrived at your desk to see Maria Hill sitting behind your computer, twiddling her thumbs and snooping through your photos and knickknacks on your desk.  “And to what do I owe this honor darling Maria?” you said as you approached.  “Good morning, I could tell you, but first I need to know who the hottie is in this picture with you” she responded pointing to your vacation picture on your desk.  You laughed and rolled your eyes “That is Jacob, my gay brother.”  Pointing to the next picture “but that is Joshua, the straight brother.” “Wait, I thought that was the same guy” she looked up then closer to the pictures.  “They are twins and Joshua is single, he’s in the Navy, I can introduce you the next time he comes through town.   Maybe fleet week?” you smile and wiggle your eyebrows. “You know I like a man in uniform, but we can talk more about that later.  You are with me today for today, apparently Fury wants to make sure you don’t try to skip out”  she states with a deadpan look.  “Ok, that happened one, maybe two times.  I don’t need a babysitter, but since I never see you, I would love to kick your ass” you say with as much glee as possible.  “Good, because we are using the Avengers training area today” she responds as she stands up and you follow her out of the room.

You make your way to Stark Tower and get waived in by security.   You are headed to the elevator bays when you see Tony Stark approaching you.  He smiles at you and then lowers his glasses “schön dich wieder zu sehen”.   You smile and respond ” Es ist immer eine Freude, in Ihrer Firma zu sein.”   He grabs and kisses the back of your hand “tout le plaisir est pour moi.”   “vous êtes en fait plus charmant que je ne le pensais” you respond with a slight blush.  Maria clears her throat and you both break eye contact and glance at her.  “I have no idea what either of you said but we are running a little late” she states and turns towards the elevators.  “Nu te voi păstra” he responds releasing your hand.  “ne vedem mai tarziu” you say as you wave goodbye. You enter the elevator behind Maria and she stares at you wide eyed, you smile and shrug.   Maybe you can redeem yourself.

You make your way to the lockers and change into your workout gear, completely boring workout gear with absolutely no writing across your ass or chest.  You emerge to find Maria waiting for you and follow her into the gym, “you want to start on cardio?  Treadmill or elliptical?”  “Do I have to?” I whine. “I already ran 8 miles this morning and I can’t stand treadmills, it makes me feel like a hamster on a wheel.”  “Agent Miller, nice of you to finally join us.  And did I hear you only did 8 miles this morning?  Isn’t 10 your daily minimum?” You turn to see Nick Fury standing with his arms folded over his chest as he’s questioning your morning routine. You smirk at him as you approach “it’s a bit creepy that you keep track of my daily routine.  You do that for all your agents or just your favorite?” you ask with a big smile.  He glares down at you unamused as you start to notice several Avengers in the room slowing their tasks to listen to your interaction.  You step closer wanting to push every button to get him to crack “well, my usual run was cut a bit short this morning.  I had a new friend running with me and I didn’t want to push him to hard on our first run together, if you must know.”  “A new friend?” he questions.  “Yes, we met yesterday and he will be keeping me company on my morning runs.”  He nods at you knowingly and winks so that no one else in the room can see.  “Well then, you are all warmed up and ready to spare.  Get to it agent” he states before walking out of the room.  A take a breath and look at Maria “Ok, so where do you want to start?”

 German translation: schön dich wieder zu sehen – lovely to see you again

Es ist immer eine Freude, in Ihrer Firma zu sein – it’s always a pleasure to be in your company

French translation: tout le plaisir est pour moi – the pleasure is all mine

vous êtes en fait plus charmant que je ne le pensais – you are actually more charming than I thought

Romanian translation: Nu te voi păstra – I won’t keep you

ne vedem mai tarziu – See you later

@farfromjustordinary​ @ilovesupersoldiers​

[xuxibelle]

You’re Real?

Pairing: Cody Saintgnue x Reader

Word count: 3,981

Warnings: Fluff

Requested: No. Just an idea that popped in my head. Also, first time writing for this one.

Summary: Y/N has been out of the dating world for a while. Her friends try to talk her into trying online dating...

You had been out of the dating game for at least a year now, not that you were counting, but your friends were… Most recently they had been trying to convince you to give online dating a go. 

“At least make a profile and see what kind of hits you get,” Lila, one of your best friends, tells you.

“Why should I?” you ask her as you take your seat on the couch as your 2 other friends follow you back into the living room. “It’s gonna end up like all the rest of my relationships.”

“You don’t know that, Y/N…” Sarah says as she looks at you from across the coffee table. You give her a glare before you speak up.

“Sarah, it always ends the same… They always leave. It may not always be for the same reason or in the same way, but they always leave,” you remind her.

“That just means you haven’t…” Nia begins before you interrupt.

“Met the right one yet… yea, yea… I know,” you say as you roll your eyes. They all look at each other before looking back at you.

“Well, we knew you would say no anyway, so we set you one up before you could say no,” Nia tells you. You glare at all of them. 

“I-I’m sorry…. You did what??” you say getting a little upset.

“Yea, we knew you wouldn’t want to, so we set you one up last night,” Lila explained.

“Yea, look!” Sarah said excitedly. “You’ve already got messages!” she said as she handed you the iPad. You reluctantly took the tablet from her as you looked down at the screen.

“Half of these are creeps,” you say as you scroll through the messages without reading them.

“You don’t know that… You haven’t read the message or looked at their profiles,” Lila tries to reason with you.

“Liles...I can tell by the pictures…” you say as you glare up at her.

“Please…” you hear them all say in unison. You roll your eyes as you let out a sigh and leaned back against the couch.

“Only because I know you won’t shut up about it until I do,” you tell them as you begin to sort through the messages and delete the ones you deemed actual creeps before going back to the “normal” messages and replying to some of them after reading the profiles. “This guy doesn’t even have a pic of just him… it’s all group pics,” you say as you roll your eyes.

“He was the one you liked the most out of the messages, wasn’t he?” Nia asked curiously.

“Yea…” you sigh as you scroll through his profile.

“I say still talk to him,” Lila says as she watches over your shoulder. “Looks good to me.” You shrug your shoulders as you hit the reply button and send him a message back. You don’t expect a quick reply, but you get one within a couple hours from him. By this time, the girls had left and you were on your own. You were nervous at first, but after the first couple of messages it became very easy to talk to this guy. You spent the better part of the rest of the evening messaging back and forth on the dating app before he asked if it would be ok to text you. You thought about it for a minute before responding. You knew the girls would tell you to go ahead, so you figured why not. You could always block him if he turned out to be a creep or just overly annoying. Typing out your message, you added your number at the bottom and waited for a reply. Knowing it takes a little longer to get a response on the dating site, you kept refreshing the site to see if he replied yet, but you had nothing so far. Setting your phone down, you walk into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. When you closed the door to the fridge, you heard your text message notification go off. Thinking it was one of the girls, you made no hurry to get back to your phone as you grabbed a couple snacks before heading back to the living room and turning Netflix on. Picking up your phone, you see a text from an unknown number and your stomach drops. Suddenly nervous, your hands start to slightly shake as you swipe across your phone to unlock it and read the message.

Unknown: Okay, so I know first messages are always awkward, so what do you say we just pretend this isn’t a ‘first’ and continue our conversation from the site?

You laugh to yourself at the truth of his statement before you type out your reply.

Y/N: You are absolutely right… I would love to skip all the awkwardness. I have enough of that in my life as it is

Unknown: We’re all a little awkward lol

Y/N: So… what do I call you? I can’t call you by your username lol that would just be… weird

Unknown: Hahaha can you imagine the looks we would get? No, really though, some of my friends call me Lee.

Y/N: Lee… ok I can do that lol

Lee: and what do I call you?

Y/N: My name is Y/N. Or my friends like to call me Y/N/N.

Lee: Y/N/N, I like that. It suits you

You went back and forth most of the night while you watched Netflix, both teasing each other over different shows and movies you liked. When you look at the time on your phone you were a little disappointed that you were going to have to stop talking already, it didn’t seem like it had been that long. 

Y/N: I hate to do this… cause I really like talking to you, but it’s getting late and I have an early shift tomorrow…

Lee: No! That’s absolutely fine. You need your rest, completely understandable. I really like talking to you too. Talk tomorrow?

Y/N: of course :) Goodnight

With that, you set your alarm and crawl into bed with a smile on your face as you fall asleep. The next day at lunch, you meet the girls on your break.

“So, how goes the search?” Lila asked first. You shrug your shoulders so you don’t seem too enthusiastic about things, but you were truly hoping this guy wasn’t a creep.

“Okay I guess,” you reply.

“What about that guy? The one with all the group pics,” Nia asked you.

“Oh, him,” you begin, pretending that you forgot. “Yea he seems nice.”

“Nice… so does that mean you’re gonna keep talking to him?” Sarah questions.

“Maybe… depends on if he turns into a creep like most of them do,” you tell her plainly as they all give you a look. “I’m just telling you what always happens to me,” you say holding your hands up in defense.

“At least give some of them… one of them a chance,” Lila begged you. 

“We can’t stand to see you lonely all the time,” Nia said.

“I’m not lonely. I have you guys,” you defend yourself.

“You know what we mean, Y/N,” Sarah tells you.

“Fine,” you say with a sigh before you hear your phone chime with a text notification. The girls all look at each other. They know that sound and they know that they are all sitting with you and you don’t really text anyone else.

“Uhm… Y/N… what was that?” Nia asks you sweetly as she gives you a knowing look.

“Nothing,” you say as you look down at the table.

“Okay, who was that,” Lila rephrases the question. You huff before you look up at them and glare.

“Alright fine, it’s the guy,” you say quickly.

“What guy?” Sarah asks excitedly.

“The one with the group pictures…” you tell them as you bite your lip.

“And when did this happen?” Lila questions you with raised eyebrows.

“Yesterday after you all left. It took a couple hours for him to respond on the site, then we talked for a while. It was taking forever to talk through the site and we both seemed to like each other and he suggested we text,” you explain as you watch their faces light up. “I figured if it goes bad I can always just block his number.”

“It’s not gonna go bad, Y/N,” Lila tells you.

“You don’t know that, Liles,” you say with a sigh.

“Yea, and you don’t know that it’s not gonna be great,” Sarah tells you. “Stop worrying and just have fun for once.”

“Please. For us,” Nia begs you. You nod your head and they all smile at you. The rest of your workday goes by pretty quickly with you texting your mystery man as a distraction. You stop by the grocery store on the way home and grab a bottle of wine to help you relax. After you put it in the freezer to get it cold faster, you change into comfy clothes and sit on the couch for a bit, watching TV before your phone goes off again. 

Lee: How’s your evening?

Y/N: Good so far. Yours?

Lee: Better now. What are you up to tonight?

Y/N: Just relaxing with a bottle of wine and my favorite TV show.

Lee: Well that sounds like fun… What are you watching?

Y/N: Teen Wolf of course… Sucks that it was cancelled, but it was so good I can rewatch it.

Lee: That was a good show. 

Y/N: So what are you doing tonight?

Lee: Talking to you

Y/N: That’s how you’re spending your Friday night? Come on lol You’re a dude. Aren’t you supposed to be out partying or something.

Lee: Maybe, most other guys probably would be... I’d rather talk to you.

Y/N: ...that’s definitely different

Lee: Is that a good thing?

Y/N: yes lol very

You spend the rest of the night watching your show and texting back and forth. It becomes a natural thing for you two to text half the day and most of the night before you go to bed over the next week or so before the big question is asked. 

Lee: So, I was thinking…

Y/N: Don’t hurt yourself now…

Lee: *gasps* evil…

Lee:  As I was saying… lol I was thinking we should meet.

You felt your breath hitch in your throat and your body freeze as you stared at the word “meet.” It felt like you couldn’t breathe. You weren’t sure what to say. You knew you liked him, but you still don't really know what he looked like, not that looks matter THAT much.

Y/N: Okay

Lee: Yea?

Y/N: Yea... I mean, we both know we like each other’s company by how we’ve been talking. The next step would be to meet. 

Lee: So, could I maybe pick you up and take you out?

Y/N: Yea, that would be nice

Lee: Is tomorrow okay?

Y/N: It’s perfect

You texted the group chat you were in with the girls and let them know what was going on. Of course, you were bombarded with messages of how excited they were and that they wanted details and to make sure you took a picture since he didn’t have one on his profile because they wanted to see who had you texting him all the time. The last one made you laugh, but you were grateful for your friends. The next morning you wake up to a text from him.

Lee: I need to talk to you about something.

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. You wondered if this was where everything started going downhill. You told yourself no, you were going to be positive and see where it goes.

Y/N: Sure. You can talk to me about anything. What’s up?

You didn’t expect a quick reply, but he surprised you and texted back within 5 minutes.

Lee: Nevermind. It wasn’t important. Did you sleep well?

Y/N: I did. How did you sleep?

Lee: Pretty good

Y/N: Are you sure everything’s ok?

Lee: Yea, Nothing’s wrong. I’m looking forward to tonight.

Y/N: Me too actually. I never do this

Lee: Do what?

Y/N: Online dating

Lee: Why are you now?

Y/N: My friends lol they thought it was time for me to “get back out there” and they knew I wouldn’t create a profile for myself, so they did it for me. 

Lee: Remind me to thank them if I get to meet them

Y/N: As long as you don’t turn out to be a creep, you’ll get to meet them lol

Lee: I can promise you, I am not a creep lol

Y/N: Good

You texted off and on all day until it was time for him to leave to come get you. You were on the couch watching Teen Wolf when he texted you.

Lee: Okay, I’m leaving now. Be there soon.

Y/N: Okay, Drive safe.

It wasn’t fifteen minutes before there was a knock at your door. You paused the TV and went to open the door, your mouth opening and closing like a fish as you looked from your TV to the guy at the door.

“How does that work?” you say quietly.

“How does what work?” he asks. 

“I paused my TV and you show up at my door?” you question as you squint your eyes.

“Are you watching Teen Wolf again?” he asks you as your eyes go wide.

“How do you know I watch Teen Wolf?” you ask in shock making him laugh.

“It’s me,” he tells you.

“Yea, I can see that,” you breathe out as you motion to your TV.

“No,” he shakes his head. “I’m Lee,” he explains as he holds his phone up. You shake your head as you look at him.

“No you’re not,” you half laugh. “This is some kind of prank or something. The girls are setting me up for this for some reason,” you try to rationalize.

“Why would they do that? That would be terrible and from what you’ve told me, they love you very much,” he says with raised eyebrows. You pull your phone from your pocket, pulling up Lee’s contact information. You press the call button and, sure enough, his phone lights up with your name as he holds it over to show you. “Y/N…” he says quietly, snapping you back to reality as you look up at him. “Are you okay?” he asks as he sees you nod your head yes. “You’re sure?”

“Yea, I’m okay… just surprised,” you tell him. 

“How about we stay in? We can order take-out and just talk?” he suggests.

“That might be a good idea,” you tell him with a small smile before you open the door wider to let him in. You both take a seat on the couch while he pulls up a menu to order from.

“Is there any kind of food you don’t like?” he asks.

“No. I’ll eat just about anything,” you laugh. “But, I haven’t had really good pizza in a long time, so if you know of any places, that would be amazing.”

“Done,” he tells you with a laugh as you raise your eyebrows at him. “A couple of my friends own a little pizzeria about two blocks from here. If you haven’t had it before, you’ll love it.”

“Sounds perfect,” you tell him as you pull up Netflix on your TV while he orders the pizza on his phone. “Any preference?” you ask as he shakes his head.

“Not really. I can watch just about anything. It’s probably just going to be background noise anyway if we keep talking,” he tells you. “Although… I wouldn’t be mad if you wanted to keep watching Teen Wolf,” he says with a half laugh, teasing you as you feel your face flush and you look down at your hands holding the remote, your brain registering what he said.

“I think I’m good…” you laugh before you look up at him shyly.

“Have you seen all of it?” he asks curiously. You bite your lip as you look at him and contemplate your answer. “Okay, that’s a yes,” he laughs. “How many times have you watched it then?” he asks with a tilt of his head, watching your reaction.

“Well…” you begin.

“Be honest,” he tells you quietly. “I’m not gonna judge. I’m just curious.” You let out a breath slowly and met his eyes again.

“Honestly, probably more than 10-12 times,” you confess as you watch his eyes widen slightly.

“The entire series?” he asks as you nod your head. “You must really love the show,” he laughs.

“Yea, it was one of my favorites until they ended it,” you tell him. 

“What episode were you on when I got here?” he asks curiously. You laugh a little before you look back at him and answer.

“Dreamcatchers… Season 5, episode 3. It’s the one where Lydia, Kira, and Liam think Hayden is a werewolf. Lydia asks if any new Alpha’s have moved into town. Kira tells her no but they know of an old one. The camera pans to Liam making a sour face then he says they know the pack. Then it shows Liam and Mason walking beside the bleachers on the lacrosse field and that’s when you show up and that’s where the TV was paused when I answered the door,” you explain as you watch him bite his lip and notice his face flushes just a bit before he looks back up at you.

“That episode, huh?” he teases.

“What?” you laugh. “It’s not like I chose that one to watch today… that’s where I was in the series,” you defend yourself. 

“Right… the day I meet you in person is the day you happen to be watching possibly the only episode where I don’t wear a shirt? Mhm… sure,” he teases you. Your mouth drops in shock and offense at his teasing.

“I didn’t even know you were… YOU,” you say exasperatedly as you throw your arms in the air.

“Calm down,” he laughs at your reaction. “I just like teasing you. You’re cute when you get flustered.” You feel your face flush at his words. “See?”

“Moving on….” you half laugh. “Oh, so do I still call you Lee?” you ask curiously making him smile at your question.

“No,” he half laughs. “You can call me Cody.” The pizza comes shortly after you talking about Teen Wolf, and to your surprise, it’s actually from your favorite pizza place that you haven’t had time to go to in forever. “You have got to be kidding me,” you say as you stare at the box.

“What? Is something wrong?” He asks you worriedly.

“Not at all,” you half laugh. “This is my absolute favorite pizza place and I haven’t been able to go in ages… You really know the owners?”

“Yea,” he laughs as he watches you. “I grew up with the son so they’re pretty much like family,” he explains. You sit and share the pizza as you talk for a while and just enjoy each other’s company. He was right, the TV became background noise.

“So, I have a question,” you tell him. 

“Okay, shoot,” he commands.

“Why all the group pics and none of you? I’m not judging, just curious to your reasoning,” you explain as you see Cody nodding his head.

“Well, online dating hasn’t worked so well for me in the past, so… I thought this time I wouldn’t show my face, but still act like myself until I met the person. There were people before that would try to take advantage of me or use me to get what they wanted, or of course as with all dating sites, there were also the ones that just wanted sex, and it just made me not want to be seen first. I just wanted to be heard and then I would reveal myself,” he explained as you watched the emotions run through his eyes.

“I understand that completely… I went through sort of the same thing, although mine wasn’t from being famous,” you half laugh. “Is that what you meant in that one text when you said you wanted to talk but we never did?” you ask.

“Yea,” Cody sighs. “I was going to tell you, but then I figured you could either not believe me and you would stop talking to me, or you would think I was joking and you would forget about it, so I just decided to wait. My nerves just got the better of me,” he confessed as he looked down at his hands. You reached over and placed your hands on his, hoping it was okay with him. Cody raised his eyes to meet yours, seeing a soft smile on your lips. 

“You should never have to hide yourself from anyone. I can tell you’re too much of a good soul… Too beautiful to be hidden,” you tell him softly. Cody rests his palm on your cheek, thumb rubbing back and forth as he leans his forehead against yours.

“Am I not the one that’s supposed to be saying stuff like that to you?” he breathes out, making you laugh lightly. You shrug your shoulders gently as you smile at him. 

“Guess I beat you to it,” you tease.

“This time,” Cody jokes back, moving his thumb down, his eyes watching as it traces your bottom lip, tugging down slightly in the middle before looking back up to meet your eyes. You weren’t sure what to say next… Your brain didn’t want to work fast enough, but before you could even think of anything to say, Cody pressed his lips to yours in a soft kiss. When you didn’t pull back right away, he began to slowly move his lips against yours as your eyes fluttered shut. You laid your palm against his cheek as his hand slipped around to the back of your neck, trying to pull you closer. Tilting your head, you deepened the kiss when you felt him drag his tongue along your bottom lip before pushing inside to glide against yours. You felt his hands begin to move down your neck, but you’re confused when they stop on your shoulders and he pushes you back a little. “If we don’t stop now, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop,” Cody confesses breathlessly. Raising a hand, he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear. “I don’t want to do anything you may not be ready for,” he tells you. You freeze hearing his words, not used to anyone being so nice or compassionate towards you. Blinking a couple times to bring yourself back to reality, you lift your hand and poke his cheek a few times causing his eyebrows to furrow in confusion before he starts laughing. “What are you doing?” Cody asks you as he tries not to laugh.

“Trying to make sure you’re real…” you tell him in a completely serious tone, making him laugh even more. 

“Of course I’m real… I’m sitting right here,” Cody laughs. 

“But I could be dreaming…” you contemplate as you look at him. He reaches over and lightly pinches your arm. “Ow!” you exclaim as you playfully hit his arm.

“Just proving you’re not dreaming,” Cody laughs again.

“Then who are you? And why didn’t I find you sooner?” you ask in a playful tone. Reaching over, Cody takes your hand in his and pulls you into his side, wrapping his arms around you.

“How about we watch a movie and cuddle?” Cody suggests as you look up at him, half in shock and nod your head.

“Yea, that always sounds good,” you smile up at him before he leans down and presses a kiss to your forehead as he turns the TV back on.

Not sure who to tag for this one...

@definitely-not-black-cat  @bringmethehorizonandpizza​ @sunshine112  @empressdreams  @justasmisunderstoodasloki @bisexual-sk8r @devildisguiseasangel​ @bearsbeetsbarnes @justkeepdreaminganddreaming @wheres-mccall @wazzupmrstark​ @honestsycrets​ @nobernieyouareunderreacting​​ @tephi101 @yanii-the-hippie @thejemersoninferno @marvelgirl7 @pleasantlyshamelesswizard @thequeensardine @skymoonandstardust 

[winterknight1087]

Flower from the Fae (ch 33)

Chapter Title: A Mountain of (Platonic) Love

Summary: Virgil likes plants, but when he goes to investigate a plant his friend, Remy, tells him about, he doesn’t exactly check out the plant. Little does he know that the handsome man he meets there is a fairy who is about to challenge the world Virgil knows.

Word Count: 2595

Chapter Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit, Sympathetic Remus, cursing, implied homophobic comments by unaccepting parents

Chapter Pairings: LAMP, Sleep/Picani, Demus

AO3 Link      My Writing

A/N: this is chapter 33, so read the first chapter here! 

You all better be taking care of yourselves! *Patton-style glares at all of you like he does to Virgil after saying 'no one talks bad about my child'* 💜💜💜💜💜

“Come on, VeeVee! I know you can do it!” Patton cheered.

Gritting his teeth, Virgil concentrated on the plant. “Surgere!”

“No, it’s the imperative form, Virgil. It’s surge, not the infinitive surgere.” Logan stated, from where he was looking over Virgil’s plant notes.

Roman splayed out on the empty worktable. “Ugh, I thought when teaching someone the basics of magic, it would be easy. This is boring.”

Logan looked up from the notes. “What, did you expect the deal would just give Virgil all the knowledge required to use magic? No training whatsoever?”

“Uh…”

“No, do not continue that, your highness.”

“Oooooh, ouch. You got ‘your highness’ed. Logan is done with your shit.” Virgil grinned as he flopped into a chair, exhausted.

“What, and not yours?”

“If he were done with me, he’s be screeching ‘damn it, Virgil’ like everyone else.”

Logan rubbed his eyes, tiredly. “Plus, Virgil is actually doing extremely well. From what Joan told me, you should be glad we’re still not trying to light a match. He’s already attempting some of the more complex stuff.”

“I think RoRo just wants to do more traveling!” Patton giggled.

“Puh-lease!”

“Roman, we literally spent the entire afternoon in Paris. We have plenty of time to travel. Virgil getting control over his powers is quite a bit more important than planning another adventure.”

“Mrrph.”

“Thank you, Gala!”

Logan groaned but moved the notes he was looking over to the worktable. “Looking over these, I do question why you took so long to learn about magic, Virgil. These are extremely detailed in properties, uses, and side-effects of many plants. My understanding was that a botanist looked into the best care for different plants.”

“Believe it or not, those notes are only basic uses for different plants. Even those of us extremely dumb humans will use aloe vera for a burn.”

“But you have several directions on preparing a combination of herbs to treat more severe issues such as anxiety,” Logan answered, waving at a page with Virgil’s chicken scratch.

“Yeah, but those never worked.”

“Because you didn’t factor in the need for magic to complete these. Let’s move from making a flower grow to try this.”

Virgil winced away a little. “I…uh… I’m currently not allowed to try any more potions.”

“Who told you no?”

“Dee. Basically, one thing led to another and Remus and I may have set Dee’s study on fire.”

“Damn it, Virgil, not again.” Remy’s voice said from the greenhouse door.

“Really, if you think about it, it’s actually your fault for handing my spellbook to Remus and telling him to test me, Ocean Dirt.”

Remy peeked over the top of their sunglasses at him. “Gurl, you’re walking on thin ice.”

“Aren’t I always? Anyways, what’s up, Remy?”

“Emile is having an off day, so we’re having a movie marathon. Dee and Remy are already on their way. You weren’t picking up your phone, which I can understand why seeing you’ve got a couple of cuties with you.”

Patton gave them an apologetic grin. “Sorry! We kidnapped VeeVee from Dee to go on a trip to Paris for the afternoon and his phone ended up dying.”

“Which how dare it! We had more pics to take!” Roman announced.

Remy slowly blinked at this information Virgil willingly went into a major city? Wait, Virgil went to PARIS!! They may have been chill with his magic, but they were going to need some time to adjust to the idea of Virgil, their anxiety-ridden best friend, going off and spending an afternoon in some random place with his partners.

“Paris? Paris, France?” they asked.

Roman sat up excitedly. “Of course! It’s the world capital of romance! We’ll eventually go back as a single afternoon was not enough time.”

“Forget that, Rem. What kind of off day is Emile having?” Virgil asked.

“Parents called.”

Virgil was immediately on his feet. “OK, yikes. Give me a minute to get my phone and charger.”

He quickly went inside, leaving the fairies and sand being alone. “You three are welcome to come as well. Regardless of whatever Dee tries to convince himself of, you three are officially a part of our little family and that means you are welcome to join us in stuff. I’m not sure that was made clear between Dee’s insistent hissing and our talks about the fae deal.”

“If Emile is having an off day as you say, would it be more prudent for us not to come?” Logan asked, uncertainly.

“Like I said, you three are now a part of our little dysfunctional family,” Remy answered. “Best way to help him of these kinds of days is hanging out and reminding him that there are people who love him without denying any part of his identity. So, lots of food, games, and entertainment surrounded by his friends. If you three feel uncomfortable coming, it’s alright.”

“If it’ll help Emile, then we’ll come,” Patton answered, though he was still uncertain.

“Alright, got my phone,” Virgil said, moving to his worktable. “Hop on up, Gala.”

“Anything we should avoid discussing?” Logan asked as the group left the greenhouse.

“Emile has asked that we don’t discuss that for him. Even if it hurts him, he’d rather address those issues himself, on his own terms.” Virgil answered. “That said, you three just be yourselves and you won’t even touch any of those topics. Just respect Emile in who he is and what he does in his life and you will not even enter that ballpark.”

“Alright,” Logan looked around the small town. “So, are there plans for tonight then?”

“Lots of Disney/Pixar movies, fun, and love,” Remy answered. “Oh, Vee. Emmy will still be at his office for a little, so maybe you could…”

“Of course, what theme this time?”

“Disney animal sidekicks?”

Virgil nodded, thinking. “No problem. Hey, you guys want to help me make cookies? I usually just make a bunch of sugar cookies, but I have a feeling that it’s some kind of crime not to ask Pat for baking help.”

“Of course I’d love to help! Is anyone allergic to anything?” Patton asked, smiling brightly at the idea of baking with Virgil.

Ding!

Remy glanced at their phone. “Nothing for us, are you three allergic to any kind of Chinese? Dee and Remus are stopping to pick up dinner.”

“No.”

They sent the message off, listening to Patton discussing the various cookie recipes he had, all of which made Remy’s mouth water hearing about. Virgil grinned as he offered to let Pat take over the actual baking while he and Roman started discussing the animals to design on the cookies.

Remy caught Logan watching his three partners chatter with an amused look. “Hey, nerdy boi, you ever build a blanket fort before?”

“How is it that even with beings who do not fully know me know to put me on fort duty?” Logan commented to Patton.

“Because it’s a complex engineering problem. You have to understand what can go where for its maximum potential. I was asking as these three seem set to go on making a bunch of cookies and I need help turning my living room into a soft cozy fort.” Remy answered.

Roman snorted. “You just managed to make throwing blankets around a room sound nerdy.”

“At least they seem to understand that there is some kind of planning in making a fort,” Logan stated, giving the red fairy a look.

“And there’s the added issue of making sure our beloved cold-blooded shifter doesn’t steal all the blankets the first chance he gets.”

Virgil laughed. “The literal downfall of so many forts. And then the eventual kidnappings by the blanket monster.”

An intrigued look entered Logan’s eyes. “I’ll help you, Remy.”

They got to the house and all went to work. Virgil, Patton, and Roman went into the kitchen to start on the mountain of cookies they were planning and Logan followed Remy to collect every sheet and blanket they owned. Remy discovered quite quickly that they had picked the right fairy for this. Logan quickly took over on designing it. Remy just grinned and followed the fairy’s directions.

“Hey, Queen Bitch, you gotta try this!” Remy rolled their eyes but let the anxious man force some cookie dough into their mouth.

Remy’s taste buds were right to mouth-water listening to the discussion earlier as the cookie dough was already amazing and they just wanted to curl up in bed with a tub of it. They nodded which was enough to make Virgil laugh and head back into the kitchen, where they could hear the two fairies and Virgil arguing about the best animal in Disney. Remy caught a glance of Logan’s face, before smiling softly.

“You three are incredibly special to Anx.” Remy found themselves saying softly to Logan as they continued. “Only other being he’s warmed up to that fast is me.”

Logan glanced into the kitchen, smiling at the sight of his partners. “And I can promise you that he is incredibly special to us as well, Remy.”

Remy wasn’t sure what else they wanted to say, but they didn’t have to think of anything as the front door was thrown open to reveal Dee and Remus, both laden down with food. Logan and Remy immediately went over to take some of the bags and help carry them into the kitchen. It took a moment to find some free space, but Virgil was already condensing the cookie factory for the food.

“Great, the pests are here too,” Dee commented, off-handedly.

“Great, the snake is here,” Roman answered, not even glancing up from the cookie he was designing with Pua.

Virgil raised an eyebrow at Dee. “I thought you finally agreed to an ‘I will tolerate them’ truce?”

“Doesn’t mean I’m excited to see them.”

Dee and Remus started to properly set up the food and then the plates and utensils. Logan and Remy got the blanket fort finished, listening to Dee and Remus jump into the argument. Soon, all was finished and they started discussing what movies they should watch tonight, waiting for the final being.

 **

 Emile sighed as he climbed out of his car. It had been a long day and he was just glad to finally be home where he could cuddle his partner for the rest of the night. He could hear Remy moving about inside, with the clang of pans. He quietly entered the house and shut the door. He leaned his head against the frame, sighing. Emile took a deep breath, relaxing before he realized there were lots of different smells.

He turned around and found the living room converted into a giant plush room of blankets and pillows. Standing in the middle of the room was Remy, who was smiling at him. He glanced into the kitchen and saw six additional faces, peeking over at him, waiting with smiles. Remy moved forward and gently took his bag and set it aside. With that out of the way, they pulled the surprised man into a tight hug.

“Surprise,” they whispered to him.

After having to deal with his pretty much everything-phobic parents and just a whole mess of things, it didn’t really surprise him when his eyes started to tear up. “W-hat?”

“Come in here and get yourself a plate so the rest of us don’t feel bad about eating without you!” Dee called.

Remy laughed as they laced their fingers between Emile’s. “Well?”

“What is all of this?” he finally managed to ask as Remy gently dragged him into the kitchen where he saw a Chinese buffet and a mountain of cookies.

“Lots of love piled up for your pleasure!” Remus announced, smiling brightly and excitedly bouncing as he waited for Emile’s reaction.

Dee offered him a plate. “We heard about the call. We’re here to remind you that your parents may be biologically your family, we are just as much your family, who care and love you, Em.”

Emile gave Remy a look. “Rem, you didn’t need to…”

“Oh, hush. It’s not a matter of needing to do anything.” Remy answered. “We all love you and we want to spoil you.”

“And be here, however you need us, Emile,” Virgil added.

He smiled. “Thank you.”

“Now, let’s get this party started!”

The group got their food before moving into the living room. Logan started dictating where everyone should sit. Emile couldn’t help the grin as Dee got into an argument with him, knowing that by now it was just for the sake of arguing over real hatred. Everyone else had taken the spot Logan referred them to before Dee finally giving in and plopping down where the fairy told him.

Once he had done so, though, Dee froze, shocked. “What?”

Everyone but Remy and Logan watched on in confusion as Logan started rambling about thermodynamics and airflow. Roman called out that he needed to explain in English rather than in Nerd. Logan made a face but explained that where Dee was sitting was the warmest spot in the entire fort.

“MOVIE!” Remus screeched before Logan could start rambling again.

They managed to get through three movies before Remy and Roman got into a discussion of Disney’s weak LGBT representation. “Like come on! They could do more than have some character glance at a boy at the end of a movie for representation!”

“Exactly! They need to deck out a bunch of characters and send them to Pride or something.” Remy agreed.

Roman waved a cookie at them. “If they want a real prince version, they can steal mine! A young prince goes with his dads, completely decked out, to an anti-LGBT aunt who was talking bad to the family about her daughter being ‘badly influenced’. The evil aunt tells the young prince he will never find love and the prince ends his story with not only finding one love but three amazing princes of his own!”

“Huh, that sounds like something my uncle and his family did for me,” Emile commented softly, startling the prince. “My parents weren’t able to see more than two colors together for a month afterward because they had rainbow everything. All because I was questioning whether I was straight or not. They still blame my uncles for how far I fell from their idea of a ‘perfect’ child.”

“Oh,” Roman answered, shocked. “I’m sorry that your parents aren’t so accepting. If you would like, we can storm their house in rainbow everything!”

Emile laughed. “No, it’s alright. While they aren’t exactly as accepting as I might like, they’ve started to relax about it all, though slip up and make some not nice comments. Still, thank you for reminding me of that memory though. I should try and contact that uncle again. I haven’t heard from him since my mother banished him from ever visiting again.”

“So…” Remy commented uncertain of whether Emile was done or not. “Can we at least agree that in Mulan, Shang is absolutely bisexual?”

“No! He’s demisexual! Did you not see how disappointed he was when he learned that Mulan wasn’t Ping?” Remus screamed.

“Bitch, he’s bi!”

Roman joined in the argument, siding with Remy but also claiming Mulan was demisexual. Emile smiled as he snuggled in closer to Remy, with a blanket he somehow has managed to keep longer than a movie. He was lucky to have his friends and partner. The most recent joining fairies had already found their place in the group and he loved all of them.

Next Chapter

Taglist: @that-one-nb-kid, @hufflepuffxfox

[lonelypond]

Can’t Get Started, Ch. 2

Love Live, NicoMaki, 2.5K, 2/3

Summary: Nishikino Maki vs. Yazawa Cocoro has moved to LA for round 2.

Chapter 2

Nishikino Maki, in a dress that draped like butterscotch sauce, stood next to a vase half her height, full of taller, feathery, ferny flowers, regretting pinning up her hair. There was nothing to do with her non champagne glass holding hand but smooth her dress, which drew too many eyes to her. So she shuffled closer to the plants, wondering how to change their arc so they drooped a little in front of her, providing some cover, until she could figure out where Yazawa Nico might be in this series of rooms. Surprising Nico now seemed less a daring idea than a dangerous one and Maki was getting a headache from trying to sweep the room with her gaze while not making actual eye contact with anyone over Nico’s height. Which had led to one quick encounter with a pair of sea green eyes, but Maki had dodged that quickly enough.

And then a voice cut into her bubble of non conversation, “I loved the touch of ska you brought to the new Alyssa Raghu cover. It’s great to hear a horn section.”

Maki glanced down. The sea green eyes. A smile. Seemed familiar. But out of place.

“I’d love to mix up A-RIse’s sound, but I only get one vote.” A wink.

A-Rise. Tsubasa Kira. Maki found herself nodding, “Add in a producer and that’s even less say.”

A laugh. A light touch of the fair hair, “Exactly. Although, if we were working with someone as talented you, I’m sure we could come to a quick agreement.”

“That’s boring.” Maki said flatly, wondering if she’d just heard Nico’s laugh off her left.

“Oh.” Tsubasa reached forward, moving the fern Maki had been convincing to droop out of the way, “You like a challenge.”

“I like invested, passionate collaborators.”

“Sounds like a good general philosophy.” Tsubasa grinned, “Can I drag a waiter over with hors d’ourves?”

That was definitely Nico’s laugh. Maki found herself stepping forward, trying to get out of her little alcove, but found her conversational partner presenting an obstacle.

“Um…”

“Maki! Tsubasa, I see you’ve met…” And at the sound of Nico’s greeting, Maki spun, arm flying out, Tsubasa hopped back, a waiter stepped left as Maki stepped right, and Nico suddenly found herself under a deluge of margarita glasses. With a variety of colorful flavors, boldly splashed across the delicacy of her delicately monochromatic embroidered ecru gown. Maki gulped, paled, stared into Nico’s eyes and bolted, ignoring both women calling her name.

###

Panic attack? Was that what this was? The racing heart, the replaying the scene in her head, continually hearing Nico call her name. “Maki.” Had that actually been Nico’s voice just now? Maki jumped and saw herself in the mirror, eyes wild, hair nearly standing up where she’d tried to tear it out. She had to get out of there; this was no way to be seen by anyone. Heading for the door, ducking her head, ignoring all the gray and white cooling marble features around her.

She hit an obstacle in the doorway, a frowning Nico with a friendlier glance than Maki expected. “You didn’t have to run off.”

Quick glance down, yes Nico was still covered in the blooming rainbow of margaritas that was going to give Maki nightmares.

“We have to stop meeting like this.” Nico chuckled, her hand casually going to Maki’s elbow in an effort to guide her back into the lounge.

Maki shook off Nico’s hand as she stepped back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I really have to go.”

“You have to go?” Nico’s eyebrow quirked, “They haven’t even started the speeches. You must have been planning to…"

“It’s none of your business.” Maki knew she was rude and blushing and this was awful but how could she stand there and...

“Maki.” Nico’s voice was very tight. “It’s okay.”

It wasn’t. This wasn’t how Maki had planned for this evening to go. She’d sweep up to Nico, see Nico’s eyes light up as she followed the curves of the dress Kotori had insisted Maki wear, and then Maki would smoothly answer Nico’s awed questions about her latest composing gig.

Nico chuckled, smiling at Maki, not at all thrown by Maki’s refusal to engage in conversation. “Nico can pull off anything, but Tsubasa’s getting me a spare, this dress is insured in case of accidents, and I’m not upset. Mostly amused.”

Maki sunk down to a crouch, covering her head with her arms. Why wouldn’t Nico just let her leave?

“Nope, not acceptable.” Nico stated as she pulled Maki to her feet, dragged her to a couch, and knelt down right in front of her. Maki felt a sudden frisson go up the back of her neck as she stared down into sparkling jewel eyes and wondered if Nico was going to pull a glass slipper from somewhere.

“It’s not a big deal.” Nico glanced down at the dress. “Makes it pop.”

“I’m a mess.” Maki raked her fingers through her hair, wondering if she could will it back some less crazed state.

“Well, Nico’s dress is an actual literal mess so you look REALLY good in comparison.”

“I said I was sorry.” Maki’s temper was starting to frizzle to match her hair.

“And Nico said it was ok. And that you look good. So listen to Nico.” Nico snapped back.

“I’m a mess.” Maki repeated, head drooping, refusing to be comforted.

Nico snorted, “Yeah, but kind of an adorable one.” And now Nico was back to being too kind. And Maki was going to cry. So she forcibly swiveled herself sideways and crumpled into a little ball.

Nico’s hand was on Maki’s arm, urging Maki to unroll, “C’mon, Nico’ll get a change of clothes, everything will be fine, and we’ll laugh about it with our grandchildren.”

“What!” Maki sprang up, staring at Nico, whose eyes were so close, and full of mischief.

“I knew I could get your attention.” Nico winked, “Hi, Maki, nice to see you here. Nico thought she was going to have a dull evening.”

Maki took a deep breath and forced a half smile, “Hi, Nico. You look…” she giggled, “tasty.”

“Don’t tempt Nico or we’ll have matching dresses.”

Maki leaned forward as she laughed and Nico’s hand slid over hers and..

There was another voice as the door opened, “Hey, Nico, we found you one. Somebody had a quick change for a party.”

Maki jumped back. Nico sighed and spoke over her shoulder. “Thanks, Tsubasa. How am I doing for time?”

“Still good. How’s…”

Tsubasa’s question trailed off as she met Maki’s glare.

###

N: You should have stayed. YOUR dress was fine : P

M: Aren’t you giving a speech right now?

N: Yes.

M:?????????

N: Just finished. Now they want to take pictures but Nico’d rather have a Maki moment.

N: So we good for the Annie Awards after party?

M: Yes. I’ll be back that morning.

N: Tokyo again?

M: Chicago. Best friend’s engagement party.

N: Umi?

M: No, high school friends. Rin and Hanayo. Hanayo’s about to graduate with her Masters in EE. She’s joining some kind of social media music startup. They’ve been dating FOREVER. Rin spent high school inventing embarrassing forms of PDA just to annoy me.

N: Sounds fun. Do they ever come to LA?

M: Rarely. I go back to Evanston a lot.

N: Secret girlfriend?

M: Very public parents.

N: Oh.

N: Are you going to get in trouble for being tonight’s TWIG gossip girl.

M: I’m 24. I don’t get in trouble.

N:...

M: Papa said to stay away from breakables. Mama said to stay away from…

N: ?

M: Never mind.

N: Nico is intrigued ( ﾟｰﾟ)

M: Maki is tired ● ﹏☉

N: Pajama Selfie?

M: ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

N: Nico is beginning to suspect you don’t own pajamas.

M: Good night, Nico. See you next week.

N: Only if you send me an embarrassing PDA friend pic.

M: |`Д´)＞

N: Good night. Slide into my DMs sometime.

M: σ～ (｀´メ

N: (♡´艸`)

###

Maki had never been to this club. And the dress Kotori had insisted she wear didn’t have shoulders and the short, formal jacket she was wearing over it was of some lighter fabric than wool and unlined, so no help with the weather. By the time the driver dropped her off at the red carpet, she was already shivering. But checking coats was always a pain and it was five steps to the door.

The functionary with the clipboard and scowl stepped out into her path as Maki rushed forward. “Name, please.”

“Nishikino Maki.” Maki wrapped her arms around her torso, hoping the person knew how to speed read.

“I’m sorry but I can’t let you in.”

“I have an invitation somewhere…” Maki dug into her pocket, but all she could find was her phone, “There was an email. Yazawa Nico confirmed...we have plans.”

Scowling functionary made a gesture and looming bouncer stepped forward, flexing an arm seemingly accidentally. Maki, her fight reflex sensitive, stood taller.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Maki…”

“It’s Ms. Nishikino,” Maki snapped, “Japanese names are...never mind. Just look at my…”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Yazawa has asked you be removed from tonight’s guest list. That’s all I know.”

“That’s crazy, we’ve been trying to meet up for...Nico would never…” Two glances turned more dubious with every word. Maki paused, listening to herself, “Nico would never”...no, but there was Nico’s assistant….

Pulling out her phone and typing frantically, Maki ducked into an alley, as Madame Clipboard shouted, “There are no entrances there. Please don’t…”

Maki tuned out the voices.

M: They won’t let me in at the door.

N: Oh. Hang on. Let me see what I can.

Pacing and fury kept Maki a little above the early February temperature, but not by much. At least LA was warmer than Utah.

N: Meet me at the back door.

M: Okay.

Leave it to Nico to fix this. But there was Nico, sitting on a...tablecloth, with a plate of food, an actual wool shawl wrapped around a pretty, floral pink gown, fabric ruched into strips that swerved around her hips and torso.

“Here, eat this.” Nico offered Maki the food. Some kind of blah, one star pasta. At least it was warm. “Cocoro thinks you’re stalking me, trying to damage my reputation. So I can’t take you back in with me because she’s got your picture all over security like a most wanted poster. It’s a cute shot though, although the dress is not as pretty as that one.”

Maki stopped chewing to stare. Her mouth was probably open. Was Nico really going to leave her out here?

“You look freezing. Come sit next to Nico.” Nico patted the tablecloth and reached to take off her shawl.

Maki started down hesitantly, but Nico had the shawl wrapped around her before any part of her contacted the concrete steps. And an arm left casually holding Maki at the waist.

“Better?” Nico tilted her head, smiling.

“No.” Maki shoved the plate at Nico, slipped away from her arm, and pulled the shawl tighter. Nico’s clothes smelled like vanilla and peaches. “Are you really going to just leave me out here?”

“No, I’m going to encourage you to go home, have a hot hot chocolate, marry into the family as soon as you can so Cocoro gets used to you, and finally send me that pajama selfie. Tonight. When you get home. Nico has to go back in and finish telling a boring movie exec about her favorite composer and needs something to look forward to.”

Maki knew she was blinking, but her brain seemed to have frozen, and all of the words that had come out of Nico’s mouth had made none of the sense.

Nico bounced up, yanked Maki to her feet, steadied her when she stumbled off balance, and looked the most serious Maki had ever seen her, ruby eyes dark, “I am really, really sorry about Cocoro. You can tag along on my movie date with Cotaro tomorrow as an apology.”

A movie date with her little brother as an apology? And had Nico said “marry?” Maki kept the ends of the shawl scrunched in her hands as she tried to catch up but Nico kept talking.

“There’s a place in my neighborhood with the best popcorn and homemade candy. You’ll swoon.”

Maki decided what to latch on to, “Your brother?”

Nico sighed, “It’s my only free night for two weeks.” She slipped an arm through Maki’s, “Let’s get you a cab.”

When they got to the end of the alley, Nico stopped and spun Maki so the taller woman was looking at her, “Nico really is sorry.” A pause, then, “Can I?” as Nico’s finger brushed Maki’s cheek first, then her own lips.

Maki felt her cheek burn and tingle, even with only a quick brush from Nico’s fingertip. Her pulse started racing and once again, the evening started to feel warm, a thrill of growing excitement replacing the earlier fury. But Maki coughed and stepped back.

“As the lady wishes.” Nico bowed with the flair of a legendary minstrel, her smile a glow, “‘So, Maki, just so Nico is clear, WHEN you want Nico to kiss you, just say ‘yes.’

Maki knew she was blushing. Furiously. But when Nico reached out one last time for her hand, Maki didn’t pull it back. Nico leaned in close, whispering, “And WHEN you want to kiss Nico in the near to immediate future, consider this is my yes.” And then Nico let go and stepped back, “Nico will have a talk with Cocoro. And make sure this never happens again.”

“You better.” Maki shifted her shoulders, getting ready to hand over Nico’s shawl, but she decided she liked the weight of the wool and the hints of Nico tickling her nose and changed her mind. “And I’m keeping the shawl.”

“Good.” Nico’s laugh was bright bliss. “Don’t forget the selfie.”

Maki shook her head, almost finding her footing as she was about to exit the scene, “Nope. You have to work harder than this.”

Nico in the most ridiculous juxtaposition of walking meme and knockout fashion, flashed finger guns and a twinkle of a wink in Maki’s direction as she nodded, skipping away backwards up the carpet.

Maki collapsed into the back seat of the cab, glad for the near privacy. She was going to have to practice a few conversational quips for the movie date. What was the hot movie for 13 year old little brothers these days anyway? She pulled out her phone to do a few quick searches about topics of interest to teens, her cheek still tingling.

A/N: Okay, so you're getting three chapters. Sue me ; )

[mc-dude]

home

The sky is overcast, when it finally happens.

He thought it would be clear– the sun would come out, clouds would part, birds start singin’, etc., etc.. Had envisioned that the weight would lift off of his chest and he could finally take a unhindered breath for the first time in seven years, imagined some kinda cosmic entity would descend from the sky and tell him rest now, gabriel. You’ve done enough.

But there’s only a light drizzling of rain and a pile of bird shit precariously close to his coat, the fumes of distant smouldering buildings melting into the skyline. He snorts. Typical. His right heel clunks against the perforated concrete as he swings his leg out and in, out and in.

The world never gave a shit about him or his fucking problems, and it’s not about to start now.

A purple clad thigh settles down a respectful distance away from him.

“Well, that was almost disappointing,” she sighs, haphazardly waving her hand in the air in emphasis, “how easy they fell.”

Gabe huffs, leaning back on his forearms, eyes still trained on the billowing plumes of smoke in the distance. “It’s a lot easier to behead someone once you’ve removed all their limbs.”

“Eugh, asqueroso,” she pinches her nose. “I’m glad I can count on you to provide the vivid imagery as usual, amigo.”

His nose itches. It’s something he’s long ignored, the constant mending of his skin, the way it destroys and rebuilds itself over and over in a disgusting mockery of biology. The constant pain has become something of a reassurance– it means he can still feel something. He leans back on aching wrists, angling for a distraction.

“Did you dump the info online?”

“Por favor, who do you take me for? I did it ages ago. It’s trending on every news site worldwide.” She pulls up a holoscreen, shoving it in front of his nose. “This one is even calling for a post-humerus pardon for one Commander Gabriel Reyes.”

“Hmm. A bit late.”

“The common folk are always such, amigo. Can never see what’s right in front of their noses.” She reaches over to boop his nose. Gabe swats at her hand without any real vigor.

“So,” she starts, hesitating just long enough for Gabe to know whatever she’s about to say he’s not gonna like. “What are you gonna do now?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “Die, I guess.”

“Dios mío, you’re always so fucking dramatic.”

Gabe ignores her. He always thought this fight would end with his (second) death, splattered against the floor of some forgotten warehouse, alone and forgotten. Now that it‘s over, he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s going to do.

That’s a lie, an annoying voice whispers into his ear. You know what you want to do. He tells that voice to shut the fuck up and flops back against the rooftop, hand rubbing at his temple.

“Here I thought you would settle into a nice retirement– ” Gabriel catches the incredulous laugh that bubbles out of his throat before it leaves his lips “ –get a nice quiet house in L.A., adopt a dog. Maybe take up cross-stitching.”

“Hilarious.”

“I wasn’t making a joke.” She stands up, stretching her hands above her head. He trains an eye on her as she perches on the edge of the roof, arms outstretched to keep her balance. Adrenaline junky, he grouses to himself. Gonna get her killed.

“You’re right, Gabe,” she says, quietly. Serious, for the first time in a while. It makes him lift his head to give her his full attention. “You’re done. This long war you’ve been raising, it’s over. You deserve a little R&R.” She turns to him, smirk on her face. She taps her lips with a finger as if in deep thought. “Maybe a vacation? Somewhere sunny with a nice view.” She points her finger in the air, eyes going wide with a wicked sort of delight. “I know this great place in Gibraltar–”

Just like that, his amicable mood sours. He throws his arm over his mask with a groan. “Shut the fuck up, Sombra.”

“No, I’m serious. Hear me out– you’ve exposed them!” She pauses, spinning around on the edge and walking back the way she came. “Well.. I did, because I’m awesome and the security on that omnic’s hardware was hilarious bad, but that’s besides the point.” She turns and spreads her arms wide, gesturing to the horizon. “They know now. Everyone knows what really happened, what caused the fall of you’re little club.” She takes a few steps closer to him and kneels down so that they’re on a more even level, her voice growing quiet again. “You don’t have to hide anymore.”

Gabe stares at her. Doesn’t have to hide. What a joke. His nose itches again. He wiggles it in annoyance. Tired red eyes glance back up at the overcast sky. A drop of water lands on the eye hole of his mask, rolls down until it hits his decaying skin and evaporates. A wisp of smoke rolls off the point of impact, fading into the skyline. The exhaustion hits him all at once.

“I’m tired, Somb.”

“I know,” she coos, patting the top of his hood with fondness. “And now you can rest. Reconcile. Relax.”

Gabe glares at her. “You think it’s gonna be that easy? Forgiveness doesn’t just happen overnight.”

“But they must have read the news, must have realised by now what you’ve been doing–”

“Who said I was talking about their forgiveness?”

“Gabriel,” she says softly, tentatively.

He sits back up, wraps his arms around one of his knees to rest his chin on it. The fires are starting to die down, now just a whiff of smoke lazily drifting towards the sky. He can hear sirens in the distance, muffled by the thick fabric of his hood.

“.. you know what Talon did to me. You read the files.”

“I recall skimming the procedures done to one Subject 002 while I was carefully reducing their supplies of relevant pharmaceuticals over time, yes.” She pauses. “.. but you remember, don’t you? Once the sessions stopped, once the drugs were so watered down they had no effect on you anymore.”

“Bits and pieces,” he admits reluctantly. “They’ll come back to me in dreams, sometimes. Never know if they’re fucking real.” He kicks at the wall again. “The anger stays, though. The betrayal. All those years of having them feed that shit directly into my brain. Those aren’t so easy to get rid of.”

“You read the reports yourself, Gabe. What they did to you, what they made you think. What they did to make Jac–”

He glares at her sharply. “Don’t,” he rasps, low and dangerous.

Sombra puts her hands up defensively. “I’m just sayin’. The data doesn’t lie.”

He sighs, the exhausting eating away at his bones like it always does, making him hunch over like the old fucker he is. “I know. But this–” he taps the side of his skull. “This does.” A whiff of smoke rolls off of the impact, sifting into the air like a disease. “Who knows what fucking side effects I have from the shit they did. Some kind of programming to hurt someone after some predetermined conditions are met.” He tries not to think about the way they found Gerard, lying in a pool of his own blood with a single bullet hole lodged neatly between his forehead, a peaceful smile on his face. Of course, of all the fucking memories he got back, that is the one he can remember with perfect clarity. “Maybe by killing them all I just triggered something,” he says darkly, cautiously, “and one day you’ll wake up to see me hovering over your bed with a shotgun in your face.”

Sombra tsks, disgusted. “Like you could get past my security.”

Gabe rolls his eyes. “Whatever. You know what I mean.” He kicks his feet again. “It’s better if i just– fade away. For everyone.”

“Hmm,” Sombra sits down next to him, neatly folding her feet under her legs. “For you, maybe. Not for the people who still care about you.”

Gabe huffs. “No one cares about me.” Sombra taps her chin.

“That’s weird, then what’s the recorded 248 hours of log files I found on a certain swiss doctor’s computer of her running simulations on how to reverse your condition? The last one was made, oh,” she checks her arm display, “two days ago, by the way.” She opens a holodisplay of a white lily and waves it in front of his face. “Or the flowers that get sent to your sister’s fabric store every other month? There’s no name, but I traced the account to a bank in Cairo.” Gabe tenses up, fingers curling into the concrete. It crumbles beneath his grip. “Or should I tell you about a certain old man with a receding hairline who visits your grave every third sunday of the month–”

“Enough.“

“Oh, and then there’s a certain renown hacker who has been assisting you with your fucking mission for the past few years, you absolute moron. I know we don’t talk about feelings much, but you have to know that I care about you.”

Gabe tries to uncurl from where he’s been cradling the panging in his chest. “You care because I’m useful,” he spits between clenched teeth.

Sombra laughs. “Just because you’re useful doesn’t mean I don’t care. What’s the point of friends if you don’t help each other out?” She leans over to bump her shoulder against his arm. The impact makes him wince. “Nice attempt to change the subject, by the way.” She leans in closer, wrapping her fingers around the cuff of his jacket. “What are you so afraid of, Gabriel? That they won’t accept you, or that they will?”

His hand is shaking as he reaches for his mask, unclipping it and unsteadily pressing his knuckles to his forehead. “Fuck.” He hates how fucking perceptive she is. He used to have so many secrets before he met her. Smoke drifts away from a hole on his face, a haze of nanites that remind him just how fucking hopeless his situation is.

“They’ll never accept me looking like this.” He feels a third eye erupt from his forehead, world tilting with an infrared hue that he'll never get used to. He trains it on Sombra (as if to say see?) who doesn’t even flinch, just shrugs.

“Pff, come on. I’ve seen pics from when you were younger, Soldier 24.” He instinctively bristles at the name. “You were super hot. I’m sure the good doctor will be able to fix you up.” She pats his thigh amicably and reaches for a pouch on her belt to pull something out, hiding it behind her back. “Okay, hold our your hand.”

Gabe narrows his eyes. “Why.”

Sombra pouts. “Because that’s what you do when you’re accepting a gift.”

“I don’t want any of your gifts.”

“Always so difficult. Here–”

Sombra reaches out for his hand and places a light metal object in it. Gabe turns it over in his hand.

“.. and this is?”

“A phone. Come on, I know you’re not that old–”

“Sombra,” he interrupts with gritted teeth.

“It’s secure. My own work, of course. All you have to do is hit número uno on the speed dial.” She pats his hand one more time and springs to her feet. “For when you’re ready.”

If his heart still beat he’s sure it’d be bleeding out of his chest by now. He tries to clear his throat, but when he speaks it’s a barely audible rasp. “Ready for..?”

Sombra smiles at him before spinning on her heel to the fire escape, one hand waving casually over her shoulder.

“To see your family again.”

Gabe watches her walk away. He glances back down at the phone in his right hand. His mask is still in the other.

He stares at the both for a long time, until the sun sets behind the distant hills and the moon peaks out behind a sudden gap in the clouds. The moonlight gives his mask an almost ethereal glow. It’s well-crafted; hand-sculpted carbon fiber, built in holographic display with all the latest tech. He vaguely remembers the day he got it, handed to him by some dead guy with a smug look on his face. A new face for the new you. We can’t have you scaring the populace, now can we, my dear Reaper.

Fuck, he hated that guy. The shotgun blast to the roof of his mouth was the least he deserved. He curls his fingers around the edge of the mask.

It’s transformed from something they forced on him to something he’s chosen to hide behind, something that keeps him safe from prying eyes. He doesn’t remember the last time he took it off, before now.

You don’t have to hide anymore. Gabe pauses. Considers.

“Fuck that,” he announces with finality.

He takes one last look at the mask before curling his arm back as far as it can go and launching it into the distance.

He lets his coat and gloves dissolve and tugs the hood from his hoodie up over his head. He palms the phone, chest clenched with indecision before powering it on and hitting the 1 button before he can stop himself.

The dial tone rings once. Twice. Someone picks up.

“.. Gabriel.”

Not a question, not a statement. Just his name, spoken from lips he hasn’t heard it from in years. His knees almost give out and he sags heavily against the wall, hand clenched over his mouth to muffle the sob that works its way up his throat.

“Are you ready to come home?” No nonsense, straight to the point. Just like she’s always been. Gabe lets out a shaky laugh and stands, wiping his palms on his pants.

“Yeah,” he makes for the fire escape, making sure his hood is tugged snugly on top of his head before opening the door. “I’m ready.”

[roogerriffic]

All or Nothing - Chapter 4

During the next few days I had been putting a lot of thought into my decision to stay in L.A or go ahead with my move to Australia. I finally decided to go ahead with the move. I need to look after me and get my life back on track, I can’t do that if I’m only staying here for 1 person. I haven’t told Seth yet, I hope he understands. I will tell him today if he’s able to come around to my place, I don’t really want to do it over the phone.

I send Seth a text “Do you want to come around to my place after you finish work?”

He must be busy because I don’t get a reply. I just keep concentrating on packing for the move. It seems never ending. It’s just on lunch time now, I stop packing to get myself something to eat. While I’m sitting down eating lunch my phone lights up and gives me a text notification. I open up the text, it’s from Seth.

“Sorry, I can’t tonight, I promised Brooke I would have dinner with her”

That messaged hurt. I manage to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. I thought he had broken up with her. I wish I could just turn off the feelings I have for him, I hate feeling like this. I try my best to think logically about this. This just confirms that I am making the right decision about moving to Australia. I don’t reply to Seth. I just go back to keeping my distance and this time stay away. After a few hours I get another text message, it’s from Seth

“I haven’t heard from you, are you ok?”

He must have a feeling that there is something wrong, why else would he send that message? By the end of the day I am exhausted but at least I have gotten heaps done. In the meantime I have received 2 more messages and a missed call from Seth. He would know by now that I am ignoring him. It’s 9pm and I’m exhausted. Exhausted from packing and just emotionally drained. I get dressed in my pj’s and go to bed. I close my eyes and hope to drift off to sleep but my mind keeps racing. My emotions are conflicting themselves, I feel guilty for moving when I know Seth wants me to stay, I am excited for the next chapter in my life, I am still hurt because Seth is still with Brooke, I know I will miss Seth. Hours pass by and I still haven’t managed to get any sleep, it hasn’t helped that I still have been getting messages from Seth. The last message brought me to tears.

“Maybe it is better you keep your distance. I’m done with all the bullshit”

I cry myself to sleep.

A week passes and I am now on my way back to Australia. After that last message Seth sent we haven’t spoken to each other. Seth doesn’t know that I am on my way back to Australia. I sleep majority of the trip. I wake up when the flight attendant announces we will be landing in Brisbane in 30 minutes. The 30 minutes goes really quickly. The plane lands and taxis back to the terminal. As soon as I am inside the terminal, I turn my phone back on. There’s no new messages or missed calls.   I’m back at my parent’s place. I will be staying there for a couple of weeks until the house I got becomes available. I have a week off before I start my new job. I can’t wait. As the days go by, there still isn’t any word from Seth. I really do miss him but can’t bring myself to talk to him until I know Brooke is out of the picture. For my sanity I don’t want to get attached to him again. Tomorrow I will be getting a new phone so I have an Australian phone number which means I can totally focus on myself and not have to worry about if Seth is going to call or message me. A month later, I have never been happier. Work is going great, I’m in my house, and I have bought myself a new car. My mind is finally free, I am no longer dwelling on my feelings for Seth. Moving back to Australia is one of the best life decisions I have ever made. I have just got home from a night shift at work. Being a Friday night/Saturday morning, the night was full of alcohol related incidences, it’s exhausting. I have 2 days off now, so it sweetened it a little for me. Once I have a shower and get dressed, I get into bed and just chill out for a while before I go to sleep. I sit my phone on my bedside table next to my book, I pick up my book, settle down and start reading. A while later, I’m still reading....just. I can barely keep my eyes open but this is a great book and I don’t like putting it down. My phone lights up and Messenger notifies me with a ‘ding’. I don’t know who will be sending me a message at this hour, curiosity gets the better of me so I put the book down and pick my phone up. Once I unlock it, I see the profile pic of the person who sent the message. My heart sinks. It’s Seth. He rarely uses Facebook and because of that, I completely forgot that he was still on my friends list. My head was telling me don’t open the message, just ignore it, but my heart was telling me to open it. Of course I listened to my heart and opened the message.

“I have been trying to call you, your number has been disconnected. I’m hoping to catch up”

I reply “I’m no longer in the states. I have to be honest, If I had remembered you were still on my friend’s list, I would have deleted you. I was finally feeling back to myself again”

He says “I just thought you might like to know that I broke it off with Brooke”

I tell him “It’s best if we don’t contact each other, I finally have my feelings in check and I don’t want that screwed up. I’m happy”

He replies “I miss you. Can you at least tell me if you miss me at all?”

I don’t reply. I feel that all too familiar pang in my heart again. I thought I had gotten rid of it for good. I put my phone back on the bedside table and close my eyes. I hear the  notification, I don’t check what he has said, I pick up my phone to turn the power off so I can try and get a decent sleep without interruption. When I turn my phone on the next morning, I see another message from Seth. To say I’m shocked with the message is an understatement.

“Since you won’t talk to me, I am going to come to you. Give me a week and I will be there”

I brush the message off and chuckle to myself. All he knows is that I am in Brisbane. Brisbane is a big city and the chances of him finding me are slim to none.

I reply “You don’t know my address and I’m not going to give it to you”

He replies “How about this? If you don’t want me there, you have 3 days to delete me. I won’t contact you anymore, However, if you don’t delete me, you tell me your address”

I delete him straight away. Later that afternoon, I receive a text from my friend, Taylor. She has been one of my closest friends since high school. We rarely catch up because of our lives have taken different directions, but when we do catch up, it’s like we only caught up yesterday. I read her text.

“You have some explaining to do. I know you have today off work so I’m coming over now!!!”

I reply “What have I done?”

I don’t get a reply. I dare say that she’s driving, already on her way over here. 10 minutes later, there’s a knock on my door, I walk over and open the door.

Taylor asks “Are you going to spill the beans?”

Sarcastically I say “Hello, how are you?” then add “What beans?”

She asks “You seriously don’t know what I’m talking about?”

I reply “No, I have no idea”

She grabs her phone from her pocket, unlocks it, opens her messenger app, taps on a conversation to open it. She then passes her phone to me

“Check this out”

What I seen made me ropeable. How dare he do that. He stalked me on Facebook, figured out that Tay was one of my closest friends and asked her for my info.  Tay had the hide to give him my address and phone number.

I yell at her “Why would you give him my personal information for?”

She shrugs her shoulders “For a start, it’s Seth Macfarlane and two, he obviously has feelings for you if he’s willing to come here for you”

I sigh in frustration. There’s nothing that can be done now except wait. Wait for him to contact me or wait for him to show up at my door step.

She doesn’t care in the slightest that I am angry, she asks with a smirk on her face “Sooooo....... How did you meet him?”

I almost snap “I saved his life”

She thinks for a moment, then asks “How did you saving his life, end up with him having a crush on you?”

I sigh “He doesn’t have a crush on me”

She laughs “Uh.....yeah he does!”

I tell her “Look, it’s an extremely long story that I don’t feel like telling right now”

She says “Ok then, but I want to meet him when he comes to see you”

I glare at her.

She laughs at me before saying “Well I best be off now, you can thank me for this later”

Tay leaves before I can say another word. I can’t believe she gave Seth my address and phone number. Why is Seth going to all this trouble to keep in contact with me?

A week goes by and I have heard nothing from Seth. While I think it’s weird he went to all that effort to get my address and phone number and not contact me at all, I don’t put much thought into it. Right now its 6am and I have just pulled up in my driveway after finishing graveyard shift at work. As I walk up my drive I notice someone sitting at my doorstep. I can’t tell who it is, I’m too far away. This is freaking me out right now. I cautiously step closer and closer, I am a few metres away now. They appear to be asleep as they aren’t aware I am even here. The person has their back up against the wall, knees up to their chest and their head inbetween their knees so I still can’t tell who it is. I finally get close enough to recognise this person even without seeing their face. I mutter to myself “Oh for fuck’s sake”

I slap the back of his head pretty hard, it scares the living shit out of him “Jesus Christ” he blurts out

I ask him “Seth, what the fuck are you doing?”

He casually says “I was waiting for you to get home” he adds “That’s a very nice welcome by the way”

I sigh “Just get inside”

He asks while getting up to his feet “What exactly have I done wrong? I was kinda hoping for a better reaction than “What the fuck are you doing?””

I sigh loudly before explaining “I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a better reaction. You haven’t done anything wrong. I am finally happy, I’m no longer in the hell where my feelings ran my life. You show up on my doorstep and I’m scared I’m going to go back to that hell”

Once we are inside, Seth follows me to the living room. I sit down on the couch and he sits next to me.

He asks “So that’s it? You don’t want anything to do with me anymore?”

I reply “It’s not that I don’t want anything to do with you, because believe me, I do, it’s just easier this way”

He says firmly “I’m not going anywhere”

I tell him “Please don’t make this harder for me”

He raises his voice “I thought we had a good friendship, you seriously don’t want anything to do with me because you can’t keep your feelings in check?”

I yell at him “Really? You want to go there? I have told you what it has been like for me and that moving here has helped me. You don’t give a rat’s arse because YOU want to be friends”

He sighs loudly and calms himself down before saying “I will go back to L.A if you want me to. I just really wanted to try and keep our friendship, that’s all” he gets up of the couch and starts walking to the front door “I’m going back to the motel now, I will leave you alone” He looked and sounded defeated.

I blurt out “Seth, please stay”

He stops and turns around to face me, confused he asks ‘Why? I thought you didn’t want anything to do with me”

I reply “You’re right”

Confused still, he asks “Right about what? That you don’t want anything to do with me?”

I say “Not about that”

He looks at me, giving me a look as if to say “Tell me more”, when I don’t tell him he asks “Care to elaborate?”

I nod my head slightly. I take a deep breath and say “You’re right about how I don’t want anything to do with you because I can’t keep my feelings in check”

He says “I didn’t mean that to come out the way it did”

I tell him “I know, but it’s exactly how it is”

He asks “What now? Do you want me to stick around or do you want me to go back to L.A?”

I say quietly “Please stay”

He smiles softly and says “Of course”

I wake up on the couch, I rub my neck, it hurts from the awkward sleeping position. I only just notice Seth at the other end of the couch, still asleep. All I remember is just Seth and I talking on the couch. I must have fallen asleep pretty quickly. I look at the time on the clock on top of my TV unit. It’s 3:30 in the afternoon. Other than my neck, I don’t feel too bad. I carefully get up of the couch, trying not to wake Seth up, which I fail, I wake him up.

Groggily he says “What time is it?”

I reply “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. It’s 3:30”

He groans “Really?”

I smile “Yeah, Really”

He groans again “The day has gone”

He slowly sits himself up and says “I could really do with a coffee”

I tell him “I will make you one”

He says “I can make it, you tell me where I can find everything”

I smile “I will make it, it’s fine, just say thankyou”

He smiles “Thankyou”

I reply “You’re welcome”

After I make our coffees we move to the chairs in the entertainment area outside. We don’t say much as Seth is still half asleep. Half hour later Seth says “I better get back to the motel so I can get myself respectable again”

I tell him “After you make yourself respectable again, check out of the motel. I have a spare bed for you”

He says “I couldn’t do that to you. I have no problems staying at the motel”

I say “It’s no problem. It will actually be nice to have someone around”

He smiles “Well ok then. I shall check out of the motel”

I tell him “Good”

He leaves not long after that. While I am still scared that my feeling will flare up again, I really do want to our friendship back. I do miss it.

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