#okay sorry plant nerd spiral

[amandaherzman]

For September's plant - the beginning of spring where I am - I chose the primrose. The common name originates from the latin - prima rosa, or first rose. It’s one of the early bloomers that usher in the spring. It’s also one of the favoured plants of the fair folk

[cynic-spirit]

The Word Series (3) Serendipity – Finding Something Good Without looking for it

Masterlist

Reblogs and comments welcome

.....................................................She..............................................................

On the other side of town she thinks about the man she has met. She had inherited her uncle’s vast orchid and lily farm after his death. She had just moved in. She was not aware of most of her surroundings and before she knew it she was walking in an odd part of the town, while walking her dog. From a distance it appeared that she was close to someone’s ranch. As there was hardly anyone around, she had a light hand on her dog’s leash. Suddenly she hears the loud sound of a train whistle and before she could get a grip, Cerberus had run away.

She got into a state of worry. Loud noises startled Cerberus mainly because he was still going through training to handle her condition. She started looking all over and calling his name. She walked and walked and reached what looked like a fence of someone’s ranch. She called again and when she did not get anything back, she decided to look in the other direction when she hears a loud voice.

It’s here!! Your Dog is here!!!

She looks towards the direction of the voice. To say that she was nervous would be an understatement. There stood a big burly man with shoulders like Apollo holding the leash of her dog. She is almost scared. She thinks, men who look like that are anything but gentle. She is scared to go to him. She prayed Cerberus has not done any damages to this man’s property otherwise, she doesn’t know how she will handle it. With careful steps she walks towards him and takes the leash from his hand.

“Thank you so much. He …he…ran away..” She said with all the confidence she could muster.

“Yeah, he ran into me”

(Oh God! Please tell me he didn’t bite you, she thought, quick apologize before he says anything)

“I am sorry about that”

“No problem, looks like he is not used to this place”

(Of course he is not used o this place. It is a big town, I just moved in. Its beautiful but like all beautiful things, its scary. Stop talking to me. I must go now, she thought but at least I can tell him that he is correct )

“Yes, we ….we just moved in..”

“Nice name ya gave him”

(yes, I got the name from the myth of Hades and Persephone, he is the guardian dog, he will protect me, God knows I need protection from people around me. Should I tell him all this, no, he does not want to hear stories. Guys who look like that are not nerds, just thank him for the compliment, and don’t look him in his eyes, his deep blue eyes.)

“Thank you”

I am Syverson. Nice to meet ya.

(Oh dear!!! Oh Lord!!! Umm.. okay, act natural, she thought, don’t let your anxiety get the best of you. Just greet him normally and if you don’t want to shake hands don’t. Pretend to hold the leash tightly. She thought.)

Nice to meet you Syverson.

Sy. Call me Sy, everyone else does.

(This is going well. She thought. Its getting late, I have to lock the greenhouse too. Just end this conversation soon)

Nice to meet you Sy. Thank you for grabbing Cerberus. I don’t know what I’d do without him.

Love your dog too much?

(For a second she went blank. She did not have a habit of lying so before she got into a spiral of thinking too much she blurted out)

I…I …kind of am dependent on him.

Dependent?

(Oh no! I have revealed too much, I don’t need his pity for my stupid anxiety. She tells herself that She has to leave now, the town is new for her. She does not want to get lost again and definitely not get stuck with this fearful looking man. Just end the conversation and get it over with she thought)

He is .. my… kind of… therapy dog. Thank you again Sy. I….appreciate your help.

And she leaves hurriedly. (Don’t look back she said to herself. She keeps walking and just then it strikes her, wait, she forgot to give him her name. How rude of her She did let her anxiety get the best of her. This man caught your dog and without him Cerberus would get lost. He was polite too, even if he looked scary. The least she could do was give him her name. She scolded herself, maybe next time, but what are the odds of meeting him again)

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Sy....................................................................

Sy reaches the grocery store. He parks his pickup truck and walks towards the entrance. He look inside the store, not many people, but he saw a familiar black Labrador at a distance. He shakes his head, maybe he is just imagining things. He goes inside the store and picks up a cart. He starts with some of his necessities. Ground coffee, vegetables, , fruits, grains. Then he moves to the other things he needs, body wash, some shampoo. He also needs that flea spray for his dog Django who is constantly itching himself. Sy keeps walking and putting things in his cart. He is about to go to the frozen food section for his meat and dairies but he hears a small bark. He wondered if it was a bark. He was a trained soldier, his hearing does not faulter him. So he looks around and when he turns, what he sees three aisles over brings a smile to his lips.

He sees Cerberus sitting quietly with a jacket that says “service dog, full access” . He is looking up at someone who is hidden behind the aisles and Sy knows who that person is. Perhaps he will find the name of his mystery woman and befriend her, and then in due time, he will ask her out, then they will be together and,… Wait what? Sy again reprimands himself again. Where is your head at you doofus, get your act together? Sy takes in a deep breath and pushing his cart slowly, he walks towards the aisle to greet the mystery woman.

She stood in one of the aisles looking at gardening supplies. That solves one mystery, Sy thought. She is either a farmer or a florist. He stands near the end of the aisle. She is still looking at the supplies, unaware of his presence. Sy watches her for sometime before he realizes it is not polite to stare. He clears his throat and it grabs her attention. She looks in the direction of the sound and gets startled, almost drops the can. Immediately she averts her eyes and looks away. Then she starts walking in the opposite direction. Sy is befuddled that she does not remember him, but he wont let her have it this time so he calls her.

Hey, nice to see ya again here.

He puts up his hand as a wave to greet her.

We met yesterday? Don’t you remember me? I got your dog. He points at Cerberus.

Umm…. Yes.. yes. You helped me with my dog. Of.. Of course I remember you. You are the dog guy. … I mean.. dog person..the dog man…  sorry.. I mean You are Sy. Nice to see you again Sy.

Sy smiles at her awkwardness a little. Still got it he thinks happily.

That’s right. I didn’t expect to see you here. I am just here for some coffee and fruits, and some you know other stuff. I also got some toilet paper paper and some spray for my dog. You know my dog has fleas,

Sy continues to ramble

(What is the matter with you ? Who talks about toilet paper with a woman? Dog has fleas??? Maybe you can tell her about your dog shit and horse poop too!! Real Smooth Sy, all you had to do was ask what is your name? You talk about clouds, weather and flowers to pretty girls like that not poop and toilet paper. Shut your damn mouth!!!)

He berates himself in his head as he shuts his lips tightly to stop talking. This woman was so hard to talk to. Why was she so hard to talk to he could not understand.

It is nice to see you again. Good Day Sy

Good day. Nice to meet you too.

She says and leaves hurriedly with Cerberus following her.  

Sy leaves out a breath and bangs his head lightly on the aisle shelf. Was he really talking about toilet paper to this woman. That is not smooth talk, that is not normal talk, that is not talk in any sense. No one wants to hear about dog fleas Sy, especially a quiet, shy, woman named…

Named?

Oh Shit!!!

Sy exclaims out loud. He forgot to ask her name again. What is the matter with me????

He exclaims again as he leaves the cart and runs towards the exit to catch her in order to get her name but she is long gone and Sy is left with a disappointment on his face. He looks around but sees her cart on the counter. He swore he almost felt his heart constrict in longing. He had driven the woman away, literally.

Yeah, he definitely had a thing for this woman. If he wasn’t sure then, he is sure now, for never has he run after a woman, literally like this.

........................................................She..............................................................

After getting her dog back she was very tired and immediately slept. She woke up the next day and tended to the beautiful orchid farm that she had on a few acres of land. She inherited the land from her uncle who had no heirs and had adopted her after her parents died tragically in an accident. She lives with her aunt who manages the workers on the farm. The farming of these plants is tough but she manages it well. She has a degree in botany and agriculture. This knowledge as also helped her to bring some exceptional varieties of plants in her farm. She had managed some contracts with a few people which had started to bring profits. Now when she is here full-fledged, she had plans to add some elusive varieties to the newly constructed greenhouse.

Today was a day when she had to go to for some supplies to get the soil ready for the fresh seeds. She is expecting a small shipment of orchid and lily seeds in a week. She informs her aunt.

“Aunt viola, I am going to get some fertilizers and manure at the market, I’ll return the book at the library on my way back, I will be back in an hour or so”

Sure honey, take care!

As soon as she reaches the store, she is relived that there aren’t many people. One of the reasons she prefers to come early in the morning. She has anxiety and one might say a kind of agoraphobia. Crowds and crowdy places give her panic attacks which is why she keeps her therapy dog close. Slowly she walks to the aisle. She keeps a few of the necessary items in her cart when she sees the hunky man from the day before again.

(Oh god! Not him here. Who comes to the store this early. How small is this town? Aren’t there other stores here?  He is probably thinking who was the rude girl who didn’t tell him her name. I must hide)

With that she hid behind one of the aisles and pulled the leash of Cerberus. But he sat like a stubborn mule. She pulled the leash. Cerberus probably though she is playing with him and barks loudly.

(Dammit you stupid dog!!!)

She thinks in her head praying that the barking did not get the man’s attention. She waits a few seconds and continues browsing through the aisle.

(Thank heavens! Men who look like that don’t look at awkward girls like me)

Just when she is relaxed and browsing the section, she hears someone clear his throat. She looks to her side and almost drops the can on the floor.

(Act natural, leave, he probably doesn’t even remember you)

She starts to leave but then again the man speaks.

Hey, nice to see ya again here.

(Oh no! he remembers me. Okay, get over yourself and talk to him. Don’t be rude to him at least today.)

She thinks

Umm…. Yes.. yes. You helped me with my dog. Of.. Of course I remember you. You are the dog guy. … I mean.. dog person.. the dog man…   (Did you just call that man a dog man? Unlike you, he had told you his name, call him by his name) …. sorry.. I mean, You are Sy. Nice to see you again Sy.

That’s right. I didn’t expect to see you here. I am just here for some coffee and fruits, and some you know other stuff. I also got some toilet paper and some cream for my dog. You know my dog has fleas.

She is slightly confused now as she could not understand what is going on. Its hard enough for her to talk to people normally because of her condition. She does not have a lot of people in her social circle but she knows they definitely don’t talk like that.

Is he making fun of me? She thinks. He probably is. Men like that are often mean. Nevertheless, he did help you so just greet him and bid him good bye and leave the store as soon as possible. She will leave the things and the counter and someone to pick the things she bought.

It is nice to see you again. Good Day Sy

………………………………………………………………………………..

......................................................Sy..........................................................

Sy manages to buy the stuff he wanted and somehow comes back home grumbling at his stupidity. He empties all the contents of his grocery bag on the kitchen aisle and starts to arrange them one by one while pouring food in the dog bowls for his dogs. Sy was talking to his dogs at the top of his voice in his house waving his hands all over the place.

…….and then she left. But this is not all guys, I did not ask her name too. Can you imagine. How hard is it? Hello We met yesterday, and I forgot to ask your name.

HOW HARD IS IT? Sy yells making Django and Aika bark as well.

Even a fuckin brainless ass knows not to talk about fleas and toilet paper to a woman. What happened to me? I am not normal. This is not normal.

She probably ran away. I saw her cart on the counter. I ran after her and I saw her cart at the counter. Because who would want to giver her name to a guy who talks about fuckin’ toilet paper and fleas. I cannot believe….

Just then the phone rings and snaps Sy out of his incessant rambling.

Hello

Didn’t you have a party just last week?

Yeah Yeah!! I’ll be there. But I aint bringing anything and I aint dressing up.

Sy puts the phone down and continues to speak with his dogs.

That was Alyssha, she has called us to her party this weekend. I hope that will get my head out of shit and poop talks that I have been doing.

Alyssha was Sy’s cousin and even though Sy did not have any siblings of his own he loved her a lot. She had moved in here after marrying one of his soldiers, Jack who is also now honorably discharged.

………………………………………………………………………….................

After the unusual day of being run away from and embarrassing himself, Sy is on his bed about to sleep, thanking gods that the shitty day is over. Never has he acted so senseless around a woman. There you go again you doofus, he thought.

Sy observed a few more things about her today. Unlike yesterday, she was dressed differently today.  She wore a lost large dark brown sweater with a pair of bootcut jeans. The shirt collar was peeking out. Her shoes were simple. She had her hair tied in a ribbon again, differently this time though. Sy finally saw her complete face. He imagined her face again and his breath hitched. Just admit that you have feelings for the girl, yeah I have feelings for the girl that I don’t know the name of. I have feelings for a girl who probably ran away from me.

He puts his large palm on his face.

Sy sighs and tries to recollect more details about her. He knew she was into gardening or farming. She had kept her bag in the small stand in her shopping cart. There were no tools this time. They probably were gardening tools yesterday. She also had a book in the cart. Wait, he knows that book, no, he knows that seal on the stem of the book. It’s the Grand Central Library. The biggest library and the only library that the town has. She is a member there.

Maybe I can meet her there and ask her name and apologize for how I talked.

Oh Stop it Sy, your behavior is bordering on stalking now. Leave it. He again chided himself.

There was something about the woman that drew Sy to her. Something about her made him want to protect her and cherish her. He just wanted to take her into his arms and keep her safe.

And once again, Sy drifted off to sleep thinking about his mystery woman for who he definitely has feelings for.  

@rmtndew @oddsnendsfanfics​ @omgkatinka​ @kmuir1​ @agniavateira​ @readermia​

[squidlyskeet]

Joy Ride -.003

Pairing: StreetRacer!Bakugou x Fem!reader

Genre: TokyoDrift!au, Noquirks!au

Status: Ongoing

TW: violence, blood, firearms, eventual nsfw, 18+, mentions of anxiety and OCD disorders, grand theft auto, gang activity.

Summary:

It started with a simple question, “what do you say Y/n? You coming?”

After the sudden death of her mother, Y/n is sent to live with her estranged aunt halfway across the world in Tokyo, Japan. Weary of what this new adventure might hold for her, she decides to let loose the first night she was there, but how was Y/n supposed to know it would lead to a car chase? A car chase in the the passenger seat of a very angry, very hot, street racer’s super car?

A/n: I have not a clue what’s going on with my text seperator, and these are taking for E V E R TO POST. Don’t mind me, this is just a fic dump at this point. Also I just want to point out that BOLD ITALICS are meant to be words spoken in Japanese. I didn’t realize it wasn’t keeping the font when moving the chapters from my word doc’s to here, so I’ll go back through and edit them so they make more sense. ✌🏻-squidlyskeet.

═══☩══♛══☩═══

 “Oi. What the hell is this.” A stern voice gritted out from behind us.

  I didn’t understand a word but I knew it probably couldn’t be good. For some reason I felt like this was the infamous Bakugou.

 “Oi Bakubro, where were you man. The race is about to start.” The red head, Kiri I think, blasted back in Japanese.

  My confusion was spiraling as they continued their conversation. I still hadn’t turned around, and was debating how fast I could turn to leave and walk off without anybody questioning me.

   Ochakos attention was taken when Deku signaled her to come over to help with something he was fiddling with, and now I was stuck between two very heated men as they rambled back and forth in Japanese.

   In a split decision, I turned my heel and attempted to side step the man behind me. Figuring retreat was my best way out of this.

     I made it a few steps before I let myself breathe again but I was halted when I felt a firm grip on my arm and a menacing aura behind me.

 “Who the fuck are you?” The voice said, I still hadn’t looked in his direction, and if it were up to me I never would.

“Dude ease up, she doesn’t speak Japanese.” Kiri spoke, before anyone else could get a word in. I look at him in silent thanks, not understanding but would recognize the defensive tone anywhere.

“Tch. Look at me,” The voice, Bakugou, demanded.

   I gulped fruitlessly trying to wet my dry mouth, and decided to give in and just look at him. If I dwelled too hard on his blatant hatred, I was afraid a flip would switch and I’d be thrown into a debilitating anxiety attack.

    When I finally turned my body around to face him, that same slow motion effect kicked in as I traced his features with my eyes. His full lips were tight and slightly open, showing off his perfectly white teeth clenched underneath. Some of his pale blonde hair fell in his ruby red eyes, which were focused and narrowed on me. He was stunningly handsome, the kind of man you’d do a double take at to make sure he looked as good as the first time you glanced. Only to find out he was better looking.

     His body was lean and muscular, the tight fit of his tank top showing off his biceps and forearms. He was bent down, probably trying to intimidate me, and like the other two massive guys he was towering over me too.

 In conclusion, Bakugou looked like he was made of all hard angles. From his personality to his body, nothing but ice cold stone.

 I didn’t realize I was staring until his gravelly broken English spoke up again.

  “The hell are you staring at. Who are you?” His voice came out just as terrifying as before, but he relaxed his grip when I jumped back at his tone.

 Heat spread through my cheeks, I was ashamed I was showing such weakness in front of him. I wanted to be confident, especially with a man who looked like him.

I tried to sound confident.

 “I’m Y/n L/n, I’m Noel and Mirios niece.” I said, feigning any semblance of a steady voice.

“That’s funny cause last time I checked, Mirio didn’t have a niece.” He deadpanned.

  Damnit, I was hoping maybe throwing around titles would get him to get off my case a little. I just wanted to stand with Ochako and wait for the race to start, maybe have her tell me a little bit more about how all this works.

 “Well technically, no. I’m actually just Noel's niece but Mirio did tell me to call him uncle, so I’d assume he would be okay with me telling you that. Although this is my first race, so I’m not really sure how or what to..,” I trailed off when one of the guys in a lawn chair whipped around and stared directly at me, obviously overhearing my statement about this being my first race. “Oh no, I wasn’t supposed to say that.”

 Bakugou was standing in front of me, brows furrowed in annoyance and confusion. He was looking at me like I had sprouted a second head, and it was making me uncomfortable.

 “What?” I directed at him.

“For someone so damn shy, you ramble like an idiot.” He said flatly. At least he was no longer arguing about my identity.

  He turned his body slowly, completely losing interest in me and walking back to his car I somehow missed noticing at the front of the lined up cars.

“Oi. Who brought this Nav hoe over here? Someone get her away from the cars.” He yelled over his shoulder.

“Kaachan!” My head whipped to Deku, who stood from the ground, “Don’t talk to her like that, what if she’s actually Mirio’s niece? And you heard what she said. This is her first race.” He yelled back, the deep baritone intimidating, but leaving Bakugou unphased as he kept walking.

“Shut up you damn nerd.”

“Thank you Deku, but I can handle this.” I planted my hands on my hips. There were a lot of things I’d take from people, but degradation wasn’t one of them. My mom taught me that at least.

 “You can stomp around having a hissy fit like a child all you’d like Bakugou, but I was invited over here by Ochako and you don’t even know me. So don’t stand there and call me names like you do.” I was huffing in anger when I finished, but quickly calmed down. Immediately embarrassed by my outburst as I noticed every single one of the West side Riders were staring at me, jaws unhinged.

I was a little shaken when I noticed Bakugou had stopped walking midstep, hands clenched tightly at his sides.

Oh my, I think I’m in trouble.

 “Hey hey hey, everyone just calm down now. Y/n was it? Hi sweetie,” The yellow haired man from the lawn chair did an awkward walk run to place himself next to me. “I’m Denki Kaminari, hope this isn’t a bad time or anything, hah, but did hear you say…this is your first race?” He threw his arm over my shoulder, with a wicked smirk on his face.

Shit, I thought we were past that and that no one noticed.

“DAMMIT YOU DUNCE FACE.” Bakugou's loud yell brought me back to reality as the third degree was taken from me and placed on Denki.

    The other guy in the lawn chair let out a loud laugh, assuming this was the Shinsou Ochako was talking about, I pushed down a smirk when I put together that Denki must catch a lot of crap from Bakugou.

“What? Why does that matter?” I asked the man still leaning on me.

“Shut the hell up Denki, I swear to god.” Bakugou said, and Denki’s wicked smirk turned into a shit eating grin.

 Shinsou was full on laughing now, doubled over in fits of laughter at Bakugou’s expense.

“Because little flower, if you are who you say you are, that means you’ll be Bakugou’s Navigator tonight.” Denki’s eyes weren’t on me when he said it, they were on Bakugou. I was happy for it, because while the details didn’t make sense, the statement did. There was no way I wanted to be trapped in the car with an angry porcupine for however long it took to finish a race.

 “No she’s not.” Bakuhou’s gravelly voice strained out through his gritted teeth. He was facing us now, sharp features twisted up in anger and looking like he wanted to hit Denki.

  I looked at the others, Kiri was openly laughing now, Shinsou has been a mess of laughter since before the spat started, and Ochako and Deku had their faces turned away, mouths covered by hands, and chest heaving in silent giggles.

  “Yes she is, you’re the only available squad leader,” Denki stated, before sucking his teeth loudly and checking his nails. His eyes shot back to Bakugou. “That is, unless you want me to get Tenya on the phone and tell him he needs to come fulfill the duty as a squad leader. That’ll do just fine won’t it? Leave this adorable, defenseless flower in the hands of Tenya?”

  I didn’t know what Denki said in the second half of his rant, but it seemed serious enough that everyone, even Shinsou, stopped laughing. All eyes were turned to Bakugou.

   I thought for a second I saw his cold exterior drop and a look of panic flash across his widened eyes. But it was gone so fast I thought I imagined it.

  Everyone stood in tense silence for a second, while I wondered what was going on. It was starting to grate on my nerves how much I was actually left out of simply because I didn’t understand most of their language. It was my own fault, and I’d remember to pester Noel about it until she taught me a few words and phrases.

Bakugou’s shoulders visibly slumped out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look at him, his head still held high but the look of reluctant defeat across painted his features.

 “Fine. She can come,” he paused, pointing a finger at me and holding my eyes. “I want you and your gear ready before this race is even finished. When the winner is announced go back to East wall and stay there until I come get you. I’m going to prep until the second round. Don’t bother me.” With his final annoyed statement, Bakugou opened the door of his sleek orange car, shooting me one last look of disdain, got in and left.

   Bending down to put my hands on my knees I finally let myself breath normally. Relieved I could have a moment away from Bakugou’s heavy personality.

 I felt a hand rub circles on my back before looking up at Ochako.

 “I’m sorry, I really should have warned you before I brought you over here. I didn’t think he’d be happy, but I really didn’t think he’d call you names.” She said, apologizing genuinely.

 “I honestly can’t believe he caved, I guess all you really gotta do is throw around the boss’s name and he backs off that attitude of his.” Denki piped up from behind Ochako, retreating back to his lawn chair.

 “I really wouldn’t push him too far next time Denki. Sure he relents for the boss, but he has limits. You know he doesn’t like having a Navigator.” Kirishima said, injecting himself. His tone sounded scolding and disappointed. I’d be lying if I said it almost made me want to try to cheer him up.

 “That’s enough.” Deku commanded.

 “Hey, it’s not my fault that bitch left him for-.”

 “DENKI. I said that’s enough,” Deku’s firm voice cut over Denki’s antagonizing one. “Kirishima, go check on him and make sure he's okay. Denki shut the hell up from now on.”

  Without a word Kirishima pocketed his phone and in one smooth motion got in his car. Within a second he was gone too, all that was left was Ochako and I, Deku and the two bumble heads in the lawn chair.

   I felt really bad. That could have gone way better than what it did, and now I have to try and Navigate for Bakugou. Jesus, how am I supposed to tell Noel and Mirio.

  “Izu, I’m gonna go help get Y/n ready and then we are going to go watch the start of the race. I have my phone if you need me.” She yelled in Deku’s general direction to which he replied with a flick of his wrist practically dismissing her. I caught the look of surprise on her face, and watched it melt into anger.

Lord have mercy on that man's soul for later.

  “Alright Y/n, lets go get your equipment, and I’ll give you a few pointers.” She smiled back at me, warming my soul and easing some of my anxiety.

 Maybe this wouldn’t be that bad.

—————————————————

  It definitely was that bad.

  Round one just ended and Mirio won, I guess people bet on these things, earning Mirio a lot of money. I remembered leaning over the edge of the hip high wall of the parking deck, looking down over the road trying to spot the obnoxious yellow vehicle through the maze of buildings and sidewalks.

    My breath caught as the previously mentioned car shot around the corner in a wide arc and straightened out only to move so fast I could hardly see them. The next thing I knew a yellow flare was being shot into the sky and Mirio was being announced the winner.

Which lead me to right now.

 Mirio had just backed into his parking spot, and Noel was cheering about how fast he went in the straight shot.

  The thought brought me back to Ochakos mini lesson, ‘A straight shot is a part of the track where there are no turns, not even any curves. Drivers can make up the time they lost trying to drift around curves because they can’t go as fast. Now I’m going to show you a little secret...’.

   I was trying to memorize it in my head when Noel caught my attention.

 “What’s that stuff for honey, we were only racing once tonight. I don’t need another set.” She said, her brow furrowed in confusion.

 “Well you see, I uhh- ImetagirlnamedOchakoandshewantedmetomeethersquadsoIdidandthenImetBakugouandIaccidentlyspilledaboutthisbeingmyfirstraceandnowIhavetoNavigatrforhim.” I was breathing heavy when I was done, and Noel planted her hands on her hips.

    “I can’t fucking believe this, I’m sorry you what?” She demanded.

 “All I’m saying is I see why you wanted me to say this wasn’t my first race. Now I have navigate for the angriest man at this stupid meet. Is there any way out of this?” I said while pleading with my eyes.

 “Mirio.” She shot over her shoulder.

  Said man, turned to look around and abruptly left the conversation he was having next to his car.

 “Yes baby?”

 “Tell him what you just told me.”

“Uhg. I accidentally may have let slip that this is my first race to the west side team. Now I have to Navigate for Bakugou.” I was getting tired of repeating myself, I wanted answers.

 “Well I suppose it could be worse. It could be Teny-.”

“Mirio!” Noel slapped his arm.

He sighed before starting.  “I’m sorry little chick, there isn’t anything I can do. You technically are a part of the East side Riders now as long as Noel and I are together. Even if you don’t race, all family members are a part of it. It’s tradition. New members are initiated by Navigating for a different side's squad leader. It’s meant to be that way so a third person party can tell if the person is worthy of joining.

     This may seem like fun and games, and most of these people are irrelevant. But every person here who is on a squad has to either be ready to drive or navigate at a moment's notice. Usually under more stressful circumstances, but we won’t get into that. The reason you have to ride with Bakugou is because he is the only squad leader available without a permanent Navigator. I have Noel, and Monoma has Kendo. The south side is out of the question.” He shrugged as he finished.

That was a lot to process. Does that mean I’ll be a part of a gang or something? Jesus. What did I get myself into. All I wanted to do was have a few drinks and go fast in a car and now look.

  My god I’m a train wreck, and my stomach was clenching with every passing second.

  The gong sounded, and the announcer's voice sounded off through the speakers again.

 “Gear up, round two starts in ten minutes!” It sounded like he was screaming, but I couldn’t really tell with blood rushing in my ears.

  Noel has the bridge of her nose pinched between her fingers, her foot tapping on the floor. When she finally huffed and looked at me, I made it a point to look at anything that wasn’t directly back into her piercing cat like eyes.

  “Look at me,” I finally relented, and snapped my sight directly back at hers. ���If you get hurt in any way, psychically, emotionally, shit even if he hurts your feelings. I’ll kill him.”

 As if on cue, the rumble of a motor popped over the bump in the entrance and maneuvered it’s way around the sea of cars. I didn’t have to look over my shoulder to know it was a burnt orange sports car with a fuming blonde in the drivers seat as the tires came to a screeching halt behind me.

  “Get in.” Bakugou’s deep raspy English left no room for argument.

  Noel nodded after me before reaching out to wrap me in a hug. I returned it thankfully.

  “You’ll do great.” She whispered in my ear before releasing me.

   I counted to ten before turning around taking a few steps to Bakugou’s passenger door. I looked through the windshield at the headrest only to find it bare, and sighed in relief. I was putting things together in my head, and as far as I could tell, some stitching on the headrest indicated a person belongs there. Permanently. And if it’s not your name, it’s not you.

  Man this is the worst walk of shame I’ve ever taken, and it didn’t help that Bakugou kept his eyes on me the entire time.

   I finally pulled open the door, standing back when I remembered the car doors opened up and not out. I slid in, taking in the interior of the car. It was leather, like real leather. It felt warm and nice on the exposed skin of my back between my crop top and jeans. I could feel there was no cushion though, probably just leather stretched over hard plastic meant to keep the bucket seat stable at high speeds. The color scheme was hunter green and orange with neons under his dash, lighting up the floorboards.

   I didn’t know much about cars but I knew enough to know that this car probably cost a lot of money. Whether he built it or bought it I had no idea, but either way it was a fortune. The dash displayed a screen bigger than a computer, and when I looked behind me there was no back seat, just six nondescript silver tanks. All neatly stacked in racks with hoses coming out of the tops and disappearing into the floorboard.

  “Shut the damn door.” Bakugou snapped at me, pulling me out of my inspection.

  I jumped when he spoke but quickly regained composure and reached for the door handle.

  “Tch. Not like that.” He reached across me brushing his arm against my collarbone and pressed a button on the side of the dash. I turned my face to the side to try and hide the glowing red that creeped up my neck while the door started closing automatically. When the door finally closed my blush burned hotter as I got a face full of what the inside of his car smelled like.

Heavenly. A perfect mix of sweet and spicy. Sandalwood, and gasoline. And something sweet. Was that..

Burnt sugar?

   Whatever it was, the smell mixed together in my nose fogging my brain.

     Without moving out of the way for other people in case they needed to get through, he pressed his foot down on the third pedal beneath the dash and shook the shifter in the middle before reaching behind my seat, obviously trying to find something.

   I stifled a giggle unsuccessfully when I caught sight of his shift knob. It was short, sunk down further into the center console compared to Mirio’s which sat higher. I was giggling though, because the shift knob was a grenade.

 “Something funny?” Another short jab.

“No no, I was just admiring the shifter.”

“What, you don’t like it?”  

“No I do, I was just thinking that’s a very Bakugou thing to have.” I replied.

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean? I can’t fucking do this.” He growled out the last part in Japanese, thoroughly confusing me and shutting me up.

     Something for the second time tonight landed in my lap, the familiar straps indicating it was a seatbelt. Or, more accurately, a harness.

  “You have two minutes to attach that to the seat and put it on, after that we are going and you don’t want to be out of a seat belt for the exit.” The last part sounded more like a threat than anything else and it sparked my limbs into moving.

  He didn’t think I could do it, well I’d show him.

 But after a minute I realized the slots were different than the ones Mirio had, and instead of five points there were eight points of attachment. I fumbled to try and get them into the slots when I finally figured out how they went in. It wasn’t the most comfortable sitting arrangement known to man, sitting practically backwards and trying to fanangle the small silver pieces into their designated holes but I refused to ask the hotheaded blonde for help.

   Thinking about him caused my eyes to unconsciously shoot in his direction, he had a look of annoyance on his face and if you squinted hard enough you could almost see amusement.

 A sadist through and through. Gaining amusement out of my struggling.

     Finally I had the damn thing in place, and when I went to sit down back in the seat I heard a thump from the inside of the car on Bakugou’s side.

   Pulling the harness in place, and finally clicking the last buckle together I looked up to find Mirio leaning against the door and looking into Bakugou’s car.

  Bakugou kept his face and eyes straight, almost like he refused to make eye contact.

 “Are you all strapped in little chick?” Mirio had his signature smile while he addressed me with his new nickname. I actually like it, cute but at the same time platonic.

  “Yup.” I replied with a smile of my own, trying to ease his tension and my own with the false pretense.

  “Got all your equipment?” He asked, but this time his face was pointed in Bakugou’s direction. His eyes held a glare, but he kept his voice light as he spoke to me.

 “Yup look!” I reached down to the floor showing Mirio all my stuff. I was pretending at first, but this time around it was genuine.

 “Good. Have fun little chick. Don’t get hurt okay, your aunt will kill me.” He waved, and Bakugou revved his engine clearly ready to go.

  Bakugou was about to take off when just as he was about to put it in first gear to leave Mirio grabbed the steering wheel and leaned down, invading Bakugou’s personal space.

“If anything, and I really mean anything happens to her, I’ll string you to the side of the building and count the seconds till you stop breathing. You hear me?” Mirio’s voice changed when he changed languages, his tone was dark and menacing as he spat the words out.

   Bakugou revved the engine again, visibly clenching the grenade shifter harder.

“Loud and clear.” The Japanese words his only reply before he slammed the car in first gear and took off towards the exit.

—————————————————————

-.003 💥MASTERLIST💥 -.004

Tag list: @thatonegeekchick​  ☺️☺️

Word✌🏼-Squidlyskeet

[softestvirgil]

Proud

This is my story for the first week of the @fander-pride-meetup! Week 1 (June 1th-June 8th): Relationships- Showcase Various Relationships (Platonic, Queer Platonic, Romantic, With Yourself, Ect.) through the sides and other TS Characters! 

Summary:

Logan goes to pride with his boyfriend for the first time

Genre: Fluff/Angst

Rating: PG

Pairing(s): Romantic Logicality

Warnings: Sensory overload, Homophobia

Let me know if there’s any more I should add!

Logan didn’t like public places.

He was on the spectrum and sometimes crowds were too much for him.

Yet here he was, sitting on his bed, waiting for his boyfriend to get ready so the two of them could go to a pride festival together.

It wasn't that he hated people, but he was prone to sensory overload. All the noises, all the visual stimulus, all the people possibly bumping into him… it was too much sometimes. He tried to get past it but it was very challenging for him.

"Aren't you excited, Logan?" Patton asked, happily painting a rainbow on his face with face paints.

"Sure," Logan replied with sarcasm, whilst staring at Patton fondly.

"I know you hate crowds but this will be fun! I promise!" Patton reassured.

Logan sighed. "Okay," He was doubtful but the shimmer in Patton's eyes made his cheeks turn red instinctively. He had gone to a few small concerts and been okay, so maybe he would be fine. Maybe.

Once Patton was done, Logan was blown away by how gorgeous his boyfriend was. He had rainbow flags on both cheeks, glitter highlight, red lipstick and was wearing ripped jeans, fishnet tights and a tank top that said "Gay Dad" despite the fact that he was not, in fact, a Dad at all.

"You look… wow," Logan commented, awestruck.

"You're so gay. C'mere let's have matching rainbows!" Patton cheered.

Another thing Logan wasn't much of a fan of was colors, but he was a fan of his boyfriend.

Probably the biggest. Which was why he not only let Patton paint rainbows on his face, but he also wore a shirt that he gave him that had a rainbow with nerd glasses on it.

Once the two arrived at pride, Patton teared up from happiness.

The sight was glorious. All the flags, all the smiling faces, all the supportive and loving glances, the couples holding hands proudly, it was like nothing he had ever seen.

There was music being played by a performer on a stage nearby, and Patton got out his flag and began dancing to it happily. He looked so carefree and joyous, and he was.

Logan felt this too, but right away, he started feeling like it was too much.

The sounds, the sounds were too much. People were singing. People were talking. People were yelling. People. Sounds. Loud. Too loud.

He covered his ears and felt himself spiraling, and he couldn't stop it. He was attempting to ground himself. Try to focus on one sound at a time.

The song. There was a girl singing a song about love, the lyrics were about another girl and her voice sounded like honey.

"Logan, honey?" Patton said, worriedly once he noticed the pained expression on his boyfriend’s face. "Oh, gosh I am so sorry. I thought it would be okay…"

Logan shook his head. "I'm fine. It's fine. I can handle it,"

Patton knew this would happen, but he just wanted to experience this with him. It was selfish of him to force Logan to do something that was too much for him, though, and he knew that.

"We can go. It's okay. We got to see it, that's all I needed," Patton announced, trying to guide Logan out. Before he could though, he noticed Logan's gaze was rested on protestors.

They were set up on the left the side of the park, with signs in hand and shouting homophobic slurs at people who were just there trying to have a good time. People like Patton who grew up feeling wrong and finally found a place where they felt right; it was wrong.

"Come this way first," Logan instructed.

Patton did as told and they walked to where the protestors were, then, without warning, Logan planted the biggest kiss on Patton's lips. People all around them cheered, and Logan smiled against Patton's lips. At this moment, Logan didn't feel scared or overwhelmed.

He felt proud.

"You're going to hell!" One of the protestors screamed.

"Going to hell? Excuse you, I'm the king!" Logan yelled and then kissed Patton again.

Once again the crowd erupted in cheers. This kiss was a lot shorter, and once it was done they held hands and walked away, ignoring the screams of those who opposed them. They didn't care because they knew what love was, and that was something not everyone got to say. So why would it matter how they felt it?

After that, the pair left and went back to their apartment.

They then watched a movie and snuggled up together, and neither of them removed the rainbow paint from their faces. They didn't need to go to a place to be proud, pride could be wherever they were as long as they were unapologetically themselves and head over heels in love, and that's all they really needed at the end of the day.

Patton hung his rainbow flag on the living room wall that night, and Logan smiled up at it.

“Perfect,”

[griffinxwoods]

stuck 

clarke and lexa are snowed in at raven and anya’s holiday/housewarming party

i wanted to finish this for clexa week but, life happens, and i wasn’t able to so here’s a snippet, the beginning really, and if you guys like it, i’ll wrap it up soon and post it to ao3. but i figured something is better than nothing, even if i think it’s pretty rough so, here you go. also, a rough attempt at a moodboard. nevertheless, enjoy! 

_____________________________________________________________________

It’s almost over. Technically she’s halfway to the finish line. But it’s almost over.

Finals week is upon them.

Clarke has a few sketches to finish for her portfolio, her finals project only has a few tweaks to be done, and then she can finally relax for winter break. She can worry about her last official university semester once the new year rolls around.

Tonight, though, Raven wanted to have a group study session at Clarke and Lexa’s apartment. it’s a nice change from the stuffy Arkadia library, at least Clarke can sketch on her couch instead of those hard, wooden chairs, oddly always warm.

The crew’s scattered around her apartment, Octavia and Lincoln are sitting at the kitchen island, going through flashcards for Lincoln’s psych exam. Bellamy has taken to the recliner, flipping through the pages of his latest history read. He graduated years ago yet, he still hangs around. Nerd. Jasper and Maya are sat at one end of the dining table, there’s less studying and more of Jasper goofing around, but poor Maya has a highlighter in her mouth and about 3 other different colored highlighters in each hand, going through her bio notes. Pre-med is rough and Clarke feels for her. Monty is next to them, fiddling with a broken car radio he’s trying to fix for Miller. Raven and Anya are at the opposite end, Raven seemed to have wrapped up her studies early and somehow dug out Clarke’s old toaster and opened it up, rewiring it. Anya’s just eating some nuggets.

Clarke’s stomach grumbles. Hmm, not a bad idea. She moves to get up from the coach when Lexa appears, plate of nuggets in hand.

Clarke beams up at her, “how’d you know?”

Lexa shrugs, “You’ve been sketching for a while, figured you’d want some fuel.” She flops down next to Clarke and pulls up the Twitter app on her phone.

Clarke pulls her in for a kiss, slow and tender. She caresses Lexa’s face and Lexa pulls back, rubs her nose against Clarke’s, moving her head to the other side. It’s sweet and slow, perfect.

Clarke leans back and looks at Lexa through her eyelashes, “Thanks, baby.”

Lexa’s lips curl up a bit on one side, that sweet smile reserved only for Clarke. She reaches for Clarke’s hand and rubs her thumb over Clarke’s.

BANG.

“Attention, everyone!” Raven yells. “Hear ye, hear ye, I have an announcement before we wrap up this lovely hellish study session.”

Everyone jumped in their places at the crash, but they gather closer nonetheless. Raven smashed Clarke’s old toaster on the ground. Sigh, typical. Dramatic, as usual.

“Anya and I are throwing a housewarming party,” Raven beams.

“Does that mean we have to buy you gifts for being an adult,” Lexa scrunches her face, she grabs a nugget and pops it into her mouth.

Raven tilts her head to the side and feigns a smile, “Yes. Why ever the fuck else would I be hosting a party when you and Clarke have a perfectly furnished apartment.” she waves her hand in the general direction of everything they have, then points at the kitchen, “a fucking Nespresso machine, Clarke. You guys are boujee and I want in on it.”

“Raven,” Clarke sighs.

“Help me, I’m poor,” Raven pouts and bats her eyelashes.

Lexa stifles a laugh, “Might as well make a, like, baby registry for your apartment, ya know”. She pauses and looks at Clarke, “Is that a thing? Did we do that?”

She pats Lexa’s arm and sighs, “Yeah babe, it’s a thing. Technically.”

“Lexa, you beautiful dumbass, te quiero tanto” she practically launches herself across the table to grab Lexa’s face and plant a quick rough kiss on her lips. “I’m gonna sign up for that and send you all the link. I want a blender. And a microwave. And those smart light bulbs. God, they’re so fucking expensive, I don’t understand why. Gonna need Ms. Amazon Alexa too so I can connect that. I wanna speak to her. Our own smart house, how zesty of us. Oh! A fridge, need that too but the one you tweet on! That’s so boujee, I love it- ”

Lexa’s stunned, really didn’t expect that one. Clarke plopped back against her seat and lets out an exhausted breath. She’s used to Raven’s antics, of course, but tonight she just wants to finish her sketch and cuddle with Lexa. They’ve been here for hours, she’s tired and she has an early class in the morning. She picks up a pencil and continues to work, letting the conversation idle into background noise.

Her peace only lasts a few seconds.

Jasper mischievously snatches a sheet of paper and crumples it up, throws the ball at Lexa, and laughs, “She won’t shut up and it’s your fault, Woods.”

Lexa snatches a fat eraser out of Clarke’s hand and launches it at Jasper’s face, pure reflex.

Clarke gives up, her efforts futile, she snaps her sketchbook closed and groans.

“Fuck! Ow, what the fuck, Lex?”

“If you so much as look at me wrong, I will Spartan kick you off my balcony, you failed abortion. Capice?”

Clarke snaps her head towards Lexa, trying and failing to controller her laughter, and smacks Lexa lightly on the arm, “Lexa, no.”

“What? He’s annoying.”

“He’s our friend, remember. Be nice.”

“I’ve never claimed him. He’s your friend.”

“Everything that’s mine is yours, sweetheart,” Clarke singsongs and boops her on the nose.

Lexa tries to bite Clarke’s finger and falls short, her eyes narrow on her girlfriend, “Pick your battles, Griffin”

“HELLOOOO!” Raven bangs on the table abruptly. Everyone stops. “We were talking about me.”

Anya’s exasperated at this point. She only decided to come over for the free food and now she has to deal with this? She checks her watch, wondering when would be a good time to drag Raven out of her before she rips someone’s head off for suggesting teal accents when her apartment theme is planned to be black and gold. Seems trivial to Anya but, she knows Raven well enough by now.

Lexa blinks, “Oh? I-”

“Can you not? Thanks. Anyway, back to me now.”

Lexa throws her hands up, defeated, “Why am I in trouble when that sorry excuse for a man physically attacked me. In my own home! I’m a victim.” Lexa narrows at him, “the white man wins again.”

“Hey!” Jasper protests.”I was just-”

Raven lowers her voice and glares at Jasper, he gulps. “I will tie you to a chair and set your three mustache hairs on fire one by one. I know how long you’ve tried to grow that out, you’ve gotten attached to them, little man. Do not test me.”

Octavia grins, “This is getting good. Shall I make popcorn?”

Jasper slouches back into himself. Maya gives him a soft kiss on his cheek and a soft smile, and Monty puts him in a headlock and tousles his hair playfully, “You’ll be fine, buddy.”

Anya pinches the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed. She checks her watch again, looks around the room. Good enough. She raises herself out of her seat and steps towards Raven, an arm snaking around Raven’s neck.

“Alright Reyes, that’s enough. We get it, we’re poor, we need house stuff, and you’re becoming a dictator.”

“The Castros are shaking right now,” Lexa smirks.

Raven snorts, “Ha, noice.” They high five and Clarke and Anya share a look, both rolling their eyes.

“Okaaaay” Anya drawls, she detaches from Raven and grabs her hand as they make their way to the door, “So we’re gonna go. This was nice until crackhead Martha Stewart here took over.”

Raven pauses, a little insulted but nonetheless, she continues, “I want the fridge that can tweet, Anya.”

“I know baby,” Anya sighs, dragging Raven along.

“It’s essential. It’s the future. Technology, it revolves around us, you know.”

“I really don’t even know what you’re saying anymore.”

Lexa waves from her seat, grinning, and turns to Clarke, “We’re not getting the fridge.”

Clarke hums absentmindedly, “Absolutely not.” She really doesn’t care anymore, though. She just wants to go to bed with Lexa. She rubs her hands down her face, crosses her arms and yawns.

Lexa watches her, noticing the drooping eyelids, sketchbook closed in front of her. She stands and clasps her hands together.

“Okay putas, time to go. Pick up your shit and get outta here, it’s beddy-bye. Clarke looks like she’s going to knock out on this couch and I’d rather not carry her to bed so, let’s move on out.” She ushers everyone up and out, herds them towards the door like a shepherd gathering stray sheep into a barn. Or out, rather.

They all protest on their way out, but appreciate the eviction considering how late it’s gotten and no one noticed.

“Thanks for the food, Lex. I’ll see you on the field tomorrow, right?” Lincoln hugs her and gives her a sharp look. She’s on her vacation and he knows how quickly she can fall into a lazy spiral if she lets herself.

Lexa grunts, “But it’s supposed to snow.”

Lincoln gives her a sharp look and she concedes, nodding in agreement.

They all file out, waving goodbye, and piling into their cars. Lexa closes the door, locks it and leans against it, letting out a sigh of relief.

“It’s quiet,” Lexa breathes.

“Lex. Bed,” Clarke whispers. She’s waiting in the bedroom doorway, hand reaching out towards Lexa. She strides over and slips her hand into Clarke’s, placing a tender kiss to her lips. Clarke hums and her lips curl into a smile on one side, similar to one of Lexa’s.

They fall into bed, a tangle of limbs, soft kisses on smooth skin, breaths evening out.

Clarke curls deeper into Lexa’s warmth and not a minute later, drifts off.

[jflashandclash]

Attrition of Peace

Thirty One: Ajax

I Bully a Teenager on Fire

 Pax felt like a cheesy villain. If he had a mustache to twirl, now would have been appropriate mustache swirling time. Pax couldn’t grow one, but he heard construction paper and some tape could get the job done. [1]

Atë had been right: children of Eris were designed to be bad guys. “You and I are a lot alike…” he repeated to Leo. Pax removed his helmet, to remind Leo he was talking to another demigod instead of a monster, though the definition might have been blurring beyond a Mist trick and was questionable on the distinction.

A tugging sensation hit Pax’s gut as he said, “I know exactly how much this is going to hurt. So, sorry. I’ll give you an IOU on a burger or something.”

Leo tightened his grip on the sledgehammer and makeshift cage. Contrary to what Kally might have thought, Pax wanted Leo as armed as possible, and not because it would make things good for a photo op.

“You’re not the one who’ll be apologizing!” Leo declared before frowning. “Not that I’ll apologize. Because you’re a jerk. Dude, you have gotta stop twisting words around.” Leo’s hands rekindled.

That was the only thing Pax didn’t want.

Pax put up his empty hand. “Leo, we all know you’re hot enough without the flames. Besides, I’m the one who took Frank’s stick and pretended to be Hazel to make out with him. Do you really wanna flame up around me?”

Leo made a face at the words make out.  

Pax didn’t want to do this. But he and his friends were about to start losing. He could still hear the command in his brother’s tone when he hissed—in Mayan—to get ready. As an information broker, Pax wanted to scream. You don’t mess with the Big Three on equal footing. That’s how you get weapon hurricanes, forecasted only for people who screwed up fighting a child of Poseidon or Hades.

The wind had picked up and spiraled towards Mr. Tempest Tantrum.

By now, Pax couldn’t see or sense Kally in his immediate surroundings. But he could hear the other Calypso muttering something from the trench. He gestured vaguely to her. “I guess she’s been lying to you. About the magic. And the boys. I wonder how much she’s lied to you about Mr. Seaweed Brain. You did just leave her to kill the one person in her way of getting Percy back. The one who took her dream boy from her.”

           Pax remembered all the times he wished he’d been born a child of Apollo, or Athena, or even Dionysus, with the ability to heal, to do underwater basket weaving, or to make people uncontrollably disco. He remembered how sad he was the first time he found out what he could do.

           A tugging in his gut told him his powers were taking effect. He had hated using it on Kally, to make her anguished enough for a solar blast. He hated it here.

“Hey, Snake Dude,” Leo said, “Don’t talk about my Sunshine like that. Else I’ll face-plant you. Hard. Leo-style.”

When Pax had done this to Kally, to make her angry about her mother’s presumed rape, he focused on the past horror he felt when realizing what his father must have done to Aunt Nilley for Axel to be born or Ms. Iwakura for Hiro. There had been no love there.

For Leo, this was much easier. He could feel their shared insecurities, honing in on the jealousy, the self-hate, the rage, the inadequacies, and the guilt. All Pax had to do was think about what would happen after this: how Alabaster would join their group, how Alabaster and Kally would start a painfully awkward romance worthy of their own nerd sitcom, since Alabaster was a hot dork and Kally wouldn’t tease him for being a witch, how Kally would try not to third wheel Pax, and Alabaster wouldn’t care because Pax hurt him too much. How Pax would become more and more alone until his brother murdered him in an act of rage.

Okay, maybe Leo wouldn’t empathize with that last part.

“I wonder if she’s been altering your memories, to avoid having to see him again. Have you had weird gaps or time lapses?” Pax asked. With the whistle of the wind, and the dash of rain, he had to raise his voice. “That’s like lollipop-stealing for a sorceress of her level, even if she’s out of her zone.”

Leo’s mouth twitched. His fire extinguished again.

“Do you think she’ll leave you for Percy whenever Annabeth and Percy break up? I mean, they will eventually break up. They’re a high school couple, and—even with the trauma—statistics aren’t in their favor for a healthy adult relationship. And that whole saved-her-from-forever-alone will eventually wear off of Calypso.”

“Wow. Dude. Ladies dig Commander Leo.” Although the words seemed confident, Pax could feel the anxiety unsettling Leo’s mind. The pull in Pax’s gut deepened, like a howler monkey decided to use his intestines as a getaway rope. “Calypso wouldn’t—”

“It’s okay,” Pax said, “It hurts to know you’re Ogygia’s—ha ha—washed up second. Or, in Calypso’s case, washed up twenty-third.”

“Not cool,” Leo snapped. He had gone pale. His fingers mindlessly fiddled with the leg trap. Before, Leo had been glancing back at his friends, to where the wind had picked up and the explosions were occurring. Now, all his attention was focused on Pax.

Although Percy’s gusts were howling and tiny water droplets dashed into Pax’s cheek with the ferocity of kamikaze mosquitoes, Pax braced into the storm with a sense of belonging. Feeling the watery daggers cut into his skin calmed him. Considering everything that had happened, this is how the world should look.

They were running out of time. Axel wouldn’t be able to stand against this for long.

“It’s hard, when you’re up against someone that you could never beat,” Pax said, feeling the bitterness slip into his voice. “Someone with a full, living family that loves them. A constant place to call home. Someone always accepted to the fanciest schools no matter how much he screwed up in the past. Someone whose ADHD and dyslexia only affects him when it’s convenient for the plot.[2] Someone that all the boys and girls fall for without him even trying. Someone with a future. How long do you think it’ll be before he steals your golden apple?”  

Pax shrugged. The words made him feel numb. Not like a cute panda. “Again, you saved her from Ogygia, but that little party won’t last forever. How long do you think you’ll matter with him here?”

           Leo opened and closed his mouth like he wanted to respond, but either nothing came out or the hurricane drowned the noise.

           Pax clenched his fist. Leo replicated the movement. And Pax could tell, without any satisfaction or happiness, that he’d won and—in a horrifically evil way—he’d be able to save the day.

 Thanks for reading! I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween!

  [1] Random soundtrack update! This scene was almost entirely written to the Kitchen Cover of Believer. (Admitted, with the AMV for Kakegurui).

[2] Sorry, I had to. :D

[jehanprouvaire]

ExR each going to get coffee and getting one for the other and then both of them and up with 2 perfect coffees because they're sappy nerds who know those kinds of things about each other

what a perfect prompt for barricade day also thANKS FOR SENDINGIT. enjoy some lighthearted fluffy exr being productive at university becauseI’m certainly not. As always, I picture the lads how @batcii draws thembcs they’re actually? perfect?

It had been three days since Grantaire had actually seen the outside world. His portfolio had been due in at twelve pm and after a solid forty eighthours of no sleep and way too much exposure to paint fumes in an unventilatedroom, he’d sprinted across campus in two mismatched shoes, a flip-flop and aloafer if you were wondering, to submit it on time.

As he walked out of the art department at 11:59, squintingin the sunlight and trying to stand far enough away from people that no one couldsmell his less than alluring natural body odour, he spotted a small coffee shopburrowed conspicuously on the far side of the park. There was no point going tosleep now anyway, he thought. There was another revolutionists meeting thisevening and if he napped now he knew he’d miss the entire thing. It was astudent club run by three third years studying law; his best friend Bahorel haddragged him along to a meeting some months ago and for some mysterious reason,Grantaire couldn’t stay away. Okay, so it might’ve had something to do with acertain blonde. No way was he going to miss watching the French ball of angerthat is Enjolras in his element in favour of wasting time on sleep. A cup ofcoffee was desperately needed.

The little bell chimed as the door swung against it toannounce his welcome into the shop. A quick look around showed a few customersscattered around on rickety furniture and enough potted plants to give Jehanheart palpitations.

Grantaire skimmed the chalkboard menu quickly and settled onjust a large black coffee. Cheap and caffeinated. As he approached the younggirl at the till, another chalkboard caught his attention. It was smaller andwas written in clumsy yellow writing, reading ‘drink of the month!! whitechocolate mocha!!!’

It wasn’t the alarming amount of exclamation points thatmade him pause; it was that a cinnamon white mocha was Enjolras’ favouritedrink. Well, secret favourite drink. He told les amis that he drank his coffeeblack and organic but Grantaire had caught a whiff of the sickly sweet beveragemore than once.

Without thinking about it he ordered two drinks, one for himand one for Apollo. He even asked them to write the names on the cups just sohe could giggle to himself when Enjolras would see it and predictably glare athim. It was just gone twelve on a Wednesday so that meant Enj would most likelybe in the library working on his speech for tonight. It was only a five minutewalk away so Grantaire turned to head back out the way he came, only to bumpright into the focus of his thoughts.

“Oh! Oh I’m so sorry, are you- Grantaire?”

“Uhh.” Grantaire blinked, startled, his sight suddenly fullof dark skin and fair hair. “Hey Enjolras. Didn’t see you there.”

“How odd, I was just on my way to see you actually. Yourassignment was due today, wasn’t it?”

A crease formed between Grantaire’s brows but there was asmall smile touching the edge of his lips. “Yes actually. You were coming to- Howdid you know about my assignment?”

If they hadn’t been standing so close, Grantaire would’vemissed the subtle red that chased across Enjolras’ cheeks.

“Oh, um, Ferre mentioned it this morning.”

Grantaire just nodded. It was then that he spotted the twosimilar cardboard cups in Enj’s hands, very much like the ones he was holdinghimself.  

“Are you meeting up with someone?” Grantaire asked. “Don’tlet me keep you, it’s fine.”

“What? No, I’m just-“

“You’ve got two cups-“

“I was actually going to-“

“Now I feel silly for buying-

“Wait, you’ve got two cups too. Are you busy? I’m sorry, I’llgo-”

“No!” Grantaire blurted, taking a step towards Enjolras asthe French man took a step back. “I thought you might be in the library so Iwas going to, uh, bring you a cup of coffee. For, um. Sustenance.”

“Sustenance.” Enjolras’ expression looked like it did whenCourf announced he was going to communicate exclusively through emojis.

“.. Yes. But you’ve already got a cup so I’ll just, uh, givethis to Jehan.”

“I thought Jehan didn’t like black coffee?” Shit.

“It’s not black. It’s, um. It’s a white mocha.”

Enjolras’ next words came out quiet after a small pause. “Thoseare my favourite.”

Grantaire replied with a shrug, trying very hard not to lookembarrassed. Instead of scowling like Enjolras usually did when Grantaire didsomething odd, he put down both cups on the table beside him and reached outfor one of Grantaire’s. There was a small roll of his eyes when he spotted thename sketched on the side but they slipped shut as he took a sip. “Mm. Youremembered the cinnamon too.”

“Of course I did.” He whispered, not wanting to disturb thepeaceful quiet that had settled between them.

Enjolras opened his eyes again and caught Grantaire’s. Amoment passed between them. Two. Then Enjolras smiled, something soft and fond.He kept the drink pressed against his chest and picked up one of his own fromthe table, offering it to the painter.

“I was coming to give this to you. I was hoping to catch youbefore you left the art block.”

Grantaire felt his eyebrows rise to the ceiling.

“For me?” His tone was a little stunned. Enjolras nodded.

“I know you don’t like being disturbed when you have adeadline but this is the least I could do.”

Something happened to Grantaire’s heart in that instant. Hewasn’t sure if it skipped a beat or beat one times too many but it manifestedin his veins with a burst of adrenaline and the next thing he knew words werespilling out of his mouth without permission.

“Have lunch with me. Let’s… would you like to sit down withme? I’ll buy us lunch.”

He was sure that he looked like a deer in headlights and notthe endearing kind either. Too late now, the words were in the air, existing inthat abstract way they do. Worst case scenario, Grantaire literally dies on thespot right here, but then again if that happened he wouldn’t have to facewhatever terrible grade he was bound to get from the mess of oil paints andgraffiti he submitted earlier, oh god-

“I’d love to.” Enjolras said quickly, interrupting his spiralling.There was an awkward pause where neither of them was quite sure what to do bar smilenervously and avoid each other’s lingering looks. Enjolras recovered first andpulled out the nearest chair, ignoring the loud scrape of wood against woodenfloors. He sat down, nodding to the opposite seat for Grantaire to take. So hedid.

As they looked across from one another, Grantaire opened hismouth to ask what Enjolras would like to eat but the other boy beat him to thepunch, instead asking a question that made Grantaire groan in embarrassment andplonk his head face first on the table.

“… Grantaire, what on earth are you wearing on your feet?”

got a prompt?

[esseastri]

1, 2, 5, and 9 for... Ro, Aliena, Tieran, and Nyeni, and for one hero you haven't talked about as much, though which is up to you.

yeesssss all my favorite OCs aaaaahhhh (she says as if they aren’t ALL her favorite ocs….)  I think I’m going to go with one of the Wardens for the last one….maybe Bal? Get some dwarfiness going on in here. :D

oh, dear god, this got so long. I’m not sorry, because I love all of these nerds sooo much, but. Yeah, this is. very long.

1. When was the moment your character first felt something for their love interest?

Ro: I think that first night in camp on the way to Lothering, when she wakes up from her first Archdemon nightmare, and Alistair is already awake, watching over her, because he knew this was coming. And he comforts her despite the fact that they barely know each other, and yeah, part of it is “okay, we’re both Wardens, this is just a thing that happens,” but part of it is…he sees someone else is hurting and he’s willing to sacrifice his own comfort to make sure she’s okay. It’s the first time she’s felt safe since her family was murdered, and it all spirals from there.

Aliena: “Well, Lucky, since the information you gave me was worth nothing…that’s what I’ll pay you,” And she fell in love INSTANTLY. 

Tieran: Probably sometime during the trek from Haven to Skyhold. I have this notion that Dorian is the sort of person to whine constantly about the cold even while he actively lights fires, passes out blankets, uses his magic to keep himself and other people warm. Tieran would be eternally amused by the whining, since it’s what he wants to do but can’t since he has to set a good example as a strong leader, but he’d also see the kindness Dorian dishes out with the snarky comments, and that combo of…prickly exterior with warm, soft, kind interior is what would get him to move from the Friendship Forged in the Hellfire of the Future to something more like….ah, yes, I love this man. oh shit, I love this man?? 

Nyeni, canon: She gets an inkling during that conversation with Cassandra that starts with, “I don’t actually know much about you”–because that’s the first time anyone in the Inquisition asked her about who she IS as opposed to who they want her to be. She 100% does not realize how intensely and dramatically in love she is until they’re in the In Hushed Whispers future and Cassandra dies, and Nyeni freaks the fuck out. Because she can’t comprehend a world in which Cassandra is not alive and not with her, and that’s the moment where she realizes how very dear to her Cass is. And it’s overwhelming and she retreats hardcore for a long time and pretends to be chill by not speaking to Cass and getting flustered and it’s adorable and hilarious.

Nyeni, non-canon: I think that Nyeni falls in love with Kepi gradually. I think she’s deep in the middle of it before she really knows what’s happening. It’s all the little things–how much Kepi cares for those around her, how brave she is charging into battle, how strong she is surviving on her own or standing as the leader of the Inquisition, how kind she is. That all sort of piles up in the corners of Nyeni’s heart until one day they’re out in the Hinterlands or Crestwood or somewhere and Kepi bends down to pick a flower in the sunlight and Nyeni’s just like, “Oh. Yeah, of course I love her. Look at her.”

Bal: gosh, I think Bal just sort of… giggles a lot whenever Zevran flirts with her because it’s so gosh darn CUTE isn’T IT? how sincerely he says these ridiculous things!? and the WINKING? And she just spends a lot of time genuinely amused by how he is at the same time effortless and trying very hard. And the moment she realizes that no one else in her shitty life has ever made her laugh so much, she just sort of has an “Oh!” moment and tumbles in headfirst from there.

2. How long before they did anything about it?

Ro: she 100% lets Alistair make the first move. She tries her damndest to keep him at arm’s length because dear god, everyone close to me fucking dies and I am NOT letting that happen to him, but when he pulls out the damn rose and makes his speech about happiness in dark times, she melts and just goes “fuck okay then” and kisses him.

Aliena: I am still bitter that the game didn’t let me kiss Isabela in Act One, so you can bet your ass they start sleeping together fairly quickly. They probably get drunk in the Hanged Man celebrating…something. Possibly even as early as after winning the “duel” with Hayder? Anyway, there are definitely sloppy, drunk make outs that lead to further Things. They probably continue in this way until after the Deep Roads–Aliena took the Deep Roads as a sort of wake up call of, “yeah, I’ve almost died a lot in my life, but HOT DAMN WE ALMOST DIED DOWN THERE” and so the first time Isabela comes to the new house in Hightown, Aliena pauses the usual shenanigans to say something along the lines of, “take this as you will, but I love you, and that doesn’t mean I want anything from you that you don’t want to give, and we can carry on as we are or develop from here, but I just want you to know that in case something happens.” Isabela probably ignores that until after the whole thing with the Arishok because she can’t believe she fucking came back what the fuck, and she figures that, well shit, if she came back for this girl, maybe it is something more. Maybe I’ve thought about Aliena and Isabela waaay too much. This is long. I shall stop.

Tieran: Listen, I love the first kiss moment in canon, after they come back from dealing with Dorian’s shittastic dad and there’s that moment of “I think you’re very brave” and then theY KISS AND IT’S CUTE AND WONDERFUL and yeah, this unfolds pretty much like canon at that point, because it’s great.

Nyeni, canon: She stalls for-fucking-ever. Mostly because Cassandra is a pining loser and she is also a pining loser, and neither one of them is confident enough to do something about it. It probably takes Varric or Dorian or both giving them a stern talking to that involves a lot of blushing. And when Nyeni comes back from the Fade after Adamant, she comes into Skyhold and just marches straight up to Cassandra and holds her fiercely and promises to never go anywhere without her ever again, and that’s what gets them to kiss.

Nyeni, non-canon: Listen, Nyeni is the sort of person who doesn’t think that she is worthy of the girls she loves, and will therefore stall and try to convince herself that she must get over her feelings because they will never be returned. So she will wait for Kepi to make the first move. And once Kepi does, she will just be the most radiantly happy person in Thedas.

Bal: Probably after the Fade at Kinloch Hold. Bal is literally terrified by that experience because dwarves don’t belong in the Fade what the fuck and there is a lot of… not wasting time. Not letting this slip past her. Not waiting for the end of the world to take Zevran from her. Not letting the end of the world take him from her.

5. What are some ways they like to spend time together?

Ro: mmm, dinners. Especially post-game, when they go off to Amaranthine and start training the Recruits. They get their food out of the mess hall like all the other recruits, but then they take it upstairs and eat together, just the two of them. They talk about their days or tell stories or just…chat. They get time to themselves. Also, reading letters. They write each other boxes and boxes of letters when they’re alone, and when Alistair comes back from a mission, they retreat to their room in the evenings and read each other the letters they wrote out loud. It’s cheesy and they laugh a lot, but there’s something about having those words they put down on paper when they were alone said out loud that makes them closer. More.

Aliena: I really love the idea of these two just going down to the Hanged Man and challenging the entire tavern to either a brawl or a Wicked Grace tournament. Either way, they clean the damn place out. They also go to the Wounded Coast and dive off the cliffs into the sea and swim and dunk each other and kiss underwater and then they dry out on the beach and just….watch the ocean. Watch the horizon. Isabela tells Aliena stories about her ship and her crew and the pirate shenanigans they got up to, and Aliena tells her about Lothering and they plan for the future.

Tieran: He and Dorian have long, late-night, in-depth discussions about magical theory. They drink wine and read their own separate books next to each other in bed. Dorian teaches Tieran how to play chess until he’s good enough to beat Cullen. They both go down to the Herald’s Rest and bother Bull into drinking contests they never win and Tales With the Chargers.

Nyeni, canon: She and Cass train–Nyeni has a lot to learn about the sword after she picks Knight-Enchanter, and Cass teaches her a lot. Nyeni convinces Cass to let her read Swords and Shields out loud, and they just curl up next to each other in the armory attic and Nyeni reads with all the voices and dramatic accents and stuff and Cass tries very hard to keep her laughter as quiet as possible.

Nyeni, non-canon: She drags Kepi down to the wine-cellar to play with the kittens Cole found and keeps there. They spend a lot of time in the garden, and she brings Kepi seeds to plant. They make flower crowns. …She probably reads Swords and Shields out loud to Kepi, too, with all the voices. That’s just…such a dumb Nyeni thing to do.

Bal: She and Zev play pranks on the rest of their friends. They make a lot of harmless traps and try to get Sten to laugh. They take very long, very luxurious baths together. Since both of them grew up in shitty places that barely had showers, they definitely do overdramatic baths, rose petals and bubbles and the works. Zevran poses in ridiculous positions for Bal to sketch. He tells her stories about far-away lands while she’s drawing, and they make plans to visit…everywhere.

9. What is the most difficult thing about their relationship?

Ro: Distance. Duty. No matter how much they wish it were different, both she and Alistair are too…righteous? to abandon their duties, even when those duties separate them. Whenever Alistair is out on a mission, Ro sleeps terribly. And when Ro is out on training trips with the Recruits, Alistair spends more time in the kennel with the pups than with other humans. As mentioned, they write each other buckets of letters. They hate the separation so much, but it makes times they are together all the sweeter.

Aliena: There’s a fine line of affection that Aliena has to tread very lightly. There’s only so many times Isabela can hear the words, “I love you,” before she starts feeling the pressure and pulls away. And there’s only so much attachment Isabela can handle before she leaves for several days and disappears without saying anything. She always comes back, but Aliena has learned the hard way that too much romanticism will drive a wedge between them. Luckily this isn’t a huge problem, since she fully understands the need to not be tied down, that need for independence. She’s got it, too. But she has had to learn how to…show Isabela that she loves her without saying it. And without making it…a big production? It’s the little things that pile up, not the grand gestures.

Tieran: Again, distance. Post-Trespasser, when Dorian goes back to Tevinter, Tieran manufactures reasons to visit him. There’s also a little bit of cultural misunderstanding that occasionally gets frustrating. Though there are a lot of things about Tevinter that Dorian is trying to change, there are some things he’s a-okay with that Tieran sees as problematic; and Tieran is Very Dalish, and sometimes there are things about that that Dorian doesn’t quite understand. So there’s a lot of…talking things out, and making sure no one is offended.

Nyeni, canon: Cassandra is a Strong Warrior Woman–and that’s important, understandable, and necessary–but it can sort of…worry Nyeni. She wishes that Cass could be okay with the world knowing that despite the fact that she’s a badass warrior, she also likes romance and reading shitty smutty novels and likes flowers and poetry and kissing Nyeni’s forehead and holding her hand. She wants Cass to be okay with public displays of affection. And Cass has a need to guard the softer side of herself because of her duty and her authority and everything. And Nyeni understands, but she wishes she could have both, or–let the world see both.

Nyeni, non-canon: …possibly the worry? I think….there’s a lot of worry in their relationship. Nyeni worries that Kepi is going to get herself killed charging into battle without barriers; Kepi worries that Nyeni is going to get herself killed hanging back on the edges of battle with no sword, no nothing except her barriers. Nyeni worries that the responsibility of being Inquisitor will close Kepi off and weigh her down and wear her out; Kepi worries that the pressure of being Inquisitor will make shy, anxious Nyeni even worse at talking to people. I think they probably worry too much about each other, and that makes things…scary.

Bal: Their pasts. Both of them were assassins of some kind, and while neither of them have problems with that, there’s something to be said for the number of deaths on your conscience and the amount of blood on your hands getting to you. So, I think that there are a lot of nights that end in nightmares waking them up and a lot of stories and secrets that they can’t tell each other, and there’s a strain of just… so much blood. They can usually joke through it, but there are some secrets and some horrible things that just can’t be erased. And that’s difficult.