#plus students are on spring break this week so i have slightly more time between tutoring and office hours to try

[lilyoffandoms]

Detective Agent Jason Lin

Lucas • Evan • Aryan • Saima

My Art ish Tag (Wayhaven Edition): @thosehallowedhalls

[gojology]

Coffee With Extra Sugar.

𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆 | Whew! I finished this after 1 hour and holy crap this is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written, I hope you like it. I’m literally sweating. 𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 | Gojo Satoru x Teacher Fem! Reader 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 | 2,314 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 | None! 𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 | Gojo Satoru, the man who didn’t ever get rejected, got rejected by you. Unknowingly having a teensy tiny (or maybe not) crush on him, Nobara gets you to go on a coffee date with Gojo. Through the jumble of mixed feelings, you accept, and find yourself in a position you never thought you’d be in. One-shot.     Often times, you found yourself enjoying a nice cup of coffee with extra sugar after teaching the exceptionally unusual teens that Gojo had forced onto you. One was unlike any other, Sukuna’s vessel. Even with the threat of death looming over his head, he was one of the happiest teens you knew. Bouncing around, reminiscent of Gojo in a way. The most remarkable thing about him though, were the eyelids below his very own. Marking Sukuna’s existence on the boy’s body.        The other boy, named Fushiguro, had a troubled backstory. His father was the only one to have a complete lack of cursed energy. Maybe that was why he was always brooding, he always seemed to be off in his own land.     As for the only female, she was your favorite student. Nobara was albeit, a bit cuckoo, but that’s what you loved her for. Outside of the educational setting, she made an amazing shopping buddy and had an endless bucket list of things to do in Tokyo. Headstrong, stubborn. Happily willing to give you any sort of advice in men, even though she didn’t seem to show a particular interest in them. You told her all about the weird stuff that Gojo would do around you, and she always said that he might have a thing for you, but you never believed it until now.     The latest event had been when you were lounging in one of the spare rooms at Tokyo Jujutsu High, drinking another cup of coffee after the extreme levels of stress and torture that was training the trio. Gojo had casually strolled in, loudly announcing himself as he slid the door roughly shut.          “Oh (Y/N)! I was looking all over for you!”         “Really? I wasn’t. Leave me alone, I’m not talking to someone who calls himself a teacher and then dumps a buttload of crazy teens onto me.” you calmly replied, sticking out a pinky whilst sipping your coffee. Although you found your eyes to be glued onto Satoru.        He dramatically stuck a hand onto his chest, leaning backward just a little as if he had been told he shouldn’t have ever been born. “Me?! Oh no, I wasn’t dumping the kids onto you sugar. I’m a busy guy, being the strongest sorcerer and all.” he gloated, grinning a little.     You grunted before pulling out your phone.     “Pay attention to me, why don’t you?” he muttered softly, digging his hands into his back pockets.     Did you hear that right?    Clearing his throat, he loudly sat down next to you, even though there was another chair on the other side of the table. Crossing his legs, he began to speak.     “So, (Y/N), I felt really bad for dumping the kids onto you, and I thought, hey! Why don’t I take you out for a meal or two? You know we don’t really know each other out of work and I’ve been meaning to talk to you more-”     “No.”     “Why not?” combing his hair with his hands, he almost looked sad, but you knew where it was going to go. You had seen Gojo date girls for 2 weeks and break up with them after. It’d be weird to date a co-worker for an astounding total of 2 weeks and then immediately get broken up with afterwards. Besides, he was probably horny and hadn’t found a girl willing enough to talk to him back, even despite a face and body that looked like it was sculpted by the Gods.     “I know what you do with girls, just fuck with them, not looking for that.” You scrolled through the article you were reading, something about some 11 year old child getting their cancer removed miraculously, probably a super nice jujutsu sorcerer.    The silence grew between you two, Gojo’s eye shifting to you when you weren’t looking, and your eyes shifting to him when he wasn’t looking. You almost wished you were a bit friendlier.     “Right.” he mumbled to himself, before getting up and walking to the door. You felt something bad growing inside of you.    Looking back at you one last time, he shut the door.     “I’m telling you, (Y/N), Gojo-Sensei was trying to ask you out, ARE YOU THAT DENSE?” snapped Nobara, who was busily lecturing you about how you had seriously fucked up.     “I didn’t know!” you whined, “I thought he was just being stupidly friendly! It didn’t cross my mind!”     “Gosh, woman, men aren’t hard to work. Gojo is 100 times easier, hand him a box of candies and he’ll probably whip out a ring. All you had to say was yes!”     “...What if I didn’t want to say yes?” you shot back.     “Hah, shut up, I’ve heard the way you’ve described that man, acted as if he descended down from heaven”    You definitely didn’t have a crush on him, but you did let your mind wander sometimes, in some indecent areas sure, but wasn’t that true for everyone?    “Okay, and what do you want me to do now? Want me to just.. Go talk to him and ask for the chance back? That’s embarrassing, and as I said, I don’t have a thing for him.”    “I’ll snag that chance back for you, but you seriously owe me one. I’ll even get Fushiguro and Yuuji on board, but they’re almost always doing stupid stuff and I have to convince them with the weirdest shit to get them to cooperate.”     “Nobara, no cursing first of all, there was no reason to, plus I don’t NEED the date, why are you even-”     “Oh shut up.”     The next day, you found yourself urgently rushed to a coffee shop by a poorly disguised Nobara, Yuuji, and a less then willing Fushiguro. You scanned the shop, the scent of coffee so strong it wafted out of the interior. Gleaming windows with, “Kento and Coffee Inc.” proudly painted on the window.     Wearing a white t-shirt and a long trench coat, with a long plaid skirt, you found yourself self-conscious. Were you too overdressed? Nobara had told you that you were supposed to dress in a cute “dark academia” (whatever the heck that is, she showed you a few pictures of it online though.) style of fashion.     “Don’t worry! Just follow whatever I said earlier, I’m an amazing Cupid and I just know there’s something between you two! I’ll be in the corner, watching you guys, just don’t mess up!” Nobara chirped, handing you a red scarf to borrow from her closet.     You hastily threw it on, taking a deep breath in and breathing out. Trying to casually stroll into the coffee shop.    There Gojo sat, casually dressed in a black t-shirt. A pair of circular black shades perched on his nose, lazily eating a cake pop.     Your heart skipped a beat, even though he probably didn’t even try with the outfit he wore, you still found him absurdly attractive.    He jumped up, “Oh fuck, I thought everyone ghosted me.” he looked at you, tilting his head slightly as if he was confused. “I thought Yuuji and the crew were gonna be here too. Didn’t ever show though, do you know what happened to them?”     “O-Oh, um, yeah, I think I heard that Yuuji and Nobara got distracted and was going to some newly opened sushi restaurant instead. Fushiguro didn’t wanna thirdwheel or something like that.”     You swore you saw him smile slightly.    “So it’s just you, and me?”    You looked around, hoping to God that Yuuji would pop up and tell the world about his love for Jennifer Lawrence.     “It would.. Appear so.”    He clasped his hands together, beckoning at the cashier at front. “I’ll go get some coffee for us, any idea what you want yet?”     “Uh, just coffee with extra sugar.”     “Gotcha.”     You found yourself staring at his hands, playing with the hem of his pocket as he walked up to the small line. His fingers were impossibly long, and you couldn’t help but realize how veiny and large his hands were.     Snapping yourself out of your daze, you grumbled, taking the trench coat off, it had suddenly gotten hot. Pulling out your phone, you pretended to read, but in actuality you found yourself ogling his impossibly tall body, and how undeniably hot his voice was.     It was alright to find him attractive right? Sure, you hated a lot about him, like, like... Well, you couldn’t think of anything off the top of your head right now. But you for sure knew you hated him.    Yuuji snickered, “Gojo’s girlfriend is getting flustered, look at her cheeks.” He giggled, pointing at you. Fushiguro slapped Yuuji’s pointed hand down, hissing at him, “You’re going to fuck over this operation. Didn’t your mom ever tell you to NOT point?”     “I don’t even have a-”     “SHHHHHHH!” Nobara shushed them, gesturing to Gojo now walking over to the table where you were sitting.    He slid the chair out and sat down, grunting as he did. He looked down at you. “So, anything new with the kids?”     You gulped, a warmth flooding to your cheeks, the way he looked at you made you feel weird, and you couldn’t find yourself to make a cheeky remark.     “U-Uh, um, no, uh, Fushi-, I meant Yuuji, he’s doing as good as usual... And uh, Nobara’s doing pretty good too! Fushiguro’s just... Uh, you know, haha” you giggled nervously, “acting as normal.”    He laughed, “That’s Fushiguro, guy doesn’t even crack a smile. Yuuji’s a special one isn’t he? No idea how he acts all cheerful even though he knows he’s gonna, you know.”     “Guy doesn’t deserve it.”     “I know.” you pursed your lips, not wanting to talk about such a serious topic.     Seemingly noticing your discomfort, he turned his head over to the cashier who was now loudly shouting, “Order 132! Order 132! Two regular coffees with extra sugar, 2 donuts, 4 cake pops, and a slice of cake!”     “That’s our order~, what good timing!” Gojo sang, immediately springing up to fetch the coffee and the absurd amount of sweets Gojo had ordered.     “Gojo-Sensei sure does have a sweet tooth.” Yuuji pointed out, looking at Gojo casually walking back and handing you your coffee.     “Yuuji, did you seriously just notice that?”     “Yes. Why? Do you look at Gojo-Sensei eat? You’re really weird Fushiguro.”     Fushiguro let out a sigh, and Nobara giggled, but now all their attention was focused at the pair, drinking their coffee.    “So, uh, any idea why the kids invited us here?” he said, playing with his strikingly white hair. Your stomach did backflips, it looked so soft. Wait, fuck, why were you even thinking these things?

   “Uh, yeah, something about.. Um,” FUCK. You were supposed to say you didn’t know.    “Something about... Putting us on a... Blind date?” You mumbled sheepishly, Nobara crumpled on the table, murmuring about how stupid you were.     Shit, fucking shit, you weren’t supposed to be honest. 

   “Really now?” Gojo inquired, lifting an eyebrow and putting his arm on the table, leaning his face onto his hand. He took a bite out of his donut.     Now your face was really burning, why were you acting so strange?     Could it be true?     You had a crush on Gojo Satoru?     At first, you wanted to reject it, but the feeling settled in. It made more sense to you then not having a crush on Satoru. The feeling of regret when he tried asking you out, the many times where you found yourself ogling when he was naked, the amount of dreams you had about him.    You really did have a crush on him, huh?    You stammered, a rush of self-confidence flooding into you, “Fuck it.” you breathily mumbled, “I like you, Satoru.”     The doubt settled in as soon as Gojo looked at you, wide eyed, mouth slightly agape. Nobara was even shocked herself, she had never seen you as headstrong as this.    Fushiguro and Yuuji were in an intense discussion about their preference in women, well, more like Yuuji, Fushiguro was ignoring him, looking at the wall instead of the surprising twist in the date.    “You like me, (Y/N)?”     “Fuck, yeah, yeah I do.” you looked at his shades, oh how you wish you could see his eyes right now.     A slow grin spread across his face.     “I like you too, (Y/N).”

   Nobara, now quietly cheering and shaking Itadori and Fushiguro gesturing to you two, chewed them out for not seeing the events building up to the climax. 

   “Really?”

   “Yes, really, sugar.”

   Everything felt unreal, you had never thought you would find yourself in this position ever, was this a dream? You tried pinching yourself.

  He snickered, “No (Y/N), this isn’t a dream. I really do like you.” he rubbed the back of his neck, readjusting his crooked shades. “I would even say I’ve liked you for a while.” 

   It had never dawned on you that he wasn’t being flirtatious just to be flirtatious, he was actually actively trying to

get you.

“I can’t wait to tell the kids this.” he grinned to you, smiling widely. “Fuck, this feels like a dream to me too. I didn’t think you actually showed any interest in me.” 

   You couldn’t even be cheeky back, you were in a state of euphoria. 

   “Actually sensei.” you turned to look who was talking, Yuuji was excitingly bouncing up and down. Fushiguro looked like he wanted to be launched off a roof.     “We set up the blind date.” Nobara smiled, looking at the pair. “You know, I’ve always seen the romance and chemistry between you two, and you guys finally worked it out like adults!”   

    Why did you get the feeling that she was mocking you too?       Regardless, you had walked into the coffee shop single, and you walked out with the guy who had stolen your heart for years now, without you even realizing.     All thanks to Nobara.      

[fangirlshrieks]

Spring Break part 1

a/n: This is my first official post on here and I don't know how it will turn out. Tik Tok really made me obsessed with Harry Potter 😭.  Now I am a simp for Neville. I got a soft spot for quiet, nerdy, shy, and subby boys. I don't usually write fanfiction because my ideas are usually super long and I have no time to write them out but I decided to write this one. I will also be posting this on my wattpad account. I read @omg-imatotalmess sub!Neville fic back in December and I've been obsessed with the idea of Neville being a sub. *internally screaming* 

Part 1, Part 2, part 3

Word count: 2,519

Pairings: Neville Longbottom x female reader

Warnings: Mensions of sex, Innuendoes, mentions of plant boy's insecurities

The sunlight intruded through your dorm room windows. It shined at just the right angle so the light hit your eyes, abruptly waking you up. In annoyance your turn onto your stomach and bury your head under your pillow desperate for just a few more minutes of sleep but the memory of it being the last day of school before spring break entered your mind. You peaked from under your pillow to check the time. It was around 7:05. You huffed. It was too early to get up. Unable to go back to sleep with the light in your eyes you reluctantly got up out of bed and got ready for the day. You could hear the deep snores of your dorm mates sleeping quietly as you got ready. It was times like these where you enjoyed getting up earlier than everyone else. There was always a sort of peace before the hustle and bustle of everyone rushing to the bathrooms to find a mirror or use the sinks. You made sure to be as quiet as possible. Having gotten ready you decide to head to the great hall for breakfast. 

Sitting down at the Y/H table you grabbed a toast and some butter and jam. There were a few students around but not enough to fill the hall with loud noise. None of your friends were up yet, that's for sure, so you scanned the room to see if your boyfriend, Neville Longbottom, was there.

'Who am I kidding he's probably still asleep too' you thought.

But just as you turned to eat your food, Neville had entered the great hall. He spotted you and quickly walked over to where you were sitting. 

"Hello love" he gave you a quick peck on the top of your head before sitting down next to you. 

"What are you doing here so early?" His tone is full of amusement, knowing you aren't normally one of the first students to enter the great hall in the morning. 

"I could ask you the same thing" you said, giving him a teasing look. 

"Well I couldn't really sleep last night. Too excited for holiday, I guess." He responded with a bit of nervousness in his voice. You didn't seem to notice however.

"Well I was rudely interrupted from a wonderful sleep by a disgusting thing called sunrise." The sarcasm in your voice made the two of you laugh slightly.

"I'm sorry you didn't get to sleep in."

"It's fine. That just means I get to spend more time with you today." You said nudging him with your shoulder. "By the way did you ever tell your gran that I would be visiting the two of you at the lake house."

Neville's grandmother was invited by an old friend to stay with her at her lake house. The lake house was relatively close to where you lived in London but it was obviously in the wizarding world. You had asked Neville about two weeks ago if you could visit him and his grandmother while they were there. You had never been to a lake house before and you wanted to spend your first Holiday with him as his girlfriend since you two had got together.

You had only been going out since December but you had been friends since 1st year. When his grandmother heard the news about the two of you finally becoming an official couple she was ecstatic. She always believed there was something more between the two of you. Even when you were in your previous relationship with a boy from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic your fourth year, there was always something there but neither of you believed that other could ever like you in that way. But after you broke up with your ex at the end of your fourth year, the tension between you and Neville was undeniable. It was not until the start of 6th year after Neville had an encounter with Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic and it was revealed that Voldemort had returned that you and Neville had actually acted on your feelings. Now here you are actually together.

You had visited him and his grandmother before during other school breaks but only every as a friend. This time would be different. Your mind sometimes wondered about taking your relationship to the next level but you only ever mention that once before and Neville seemed nervous the entire time so you dropped the subject. You assumed it was because he was a virgin and unfortunately to your dismay it was a well known fact that you had lost your virginity to your ex who had bragged about it when you were a couple (but that is a story for a later time).

"Oh yeah." He seemed anxious and grabbed a toast to shove in his mouth to try and drown the worry in his voice, but it didn't help. "Gran said you are welcome anytime."

"Perfect." 

More students started filling the hall as you finished your breakfast. Dean and Seamus had also entered the hall and made their way towards the two of you. 

"Hey guys." Neville greeted them.

"What are you two love birds talking about?" Dean said while leaning over your shoulder.

"Just making plans." You said nonchalantly as you turned your head towards him.

"Plans for Holiday I assume?" Seamus piped in with a raised eyebrow. From behind your back, Neville gave him a look almost as if he was pleading with him not to make any inappropriate jokes. 

"Yes, actually" you answered.

Seamus pushed on, "Care to elaborate?" 

"I'm sorry, but I actually have to pack, which I would advise you three to do the same." You turned back to Neville. "I'll meet you at the Entrance Hall so we can head towards the Express together, yeah?"

"Sounds like a plan." And with that Neville watched you headed towards your dorm to pack.

He was thankful you left before Deam or Seamus could mention anything about what had happened last night. The three of them all walked over to the Gryffindor table to eat.

"So you and y/n are you and going to be sharing the same room?" Seamus asked.

Neville choked on his juice he was drinking and coughed a few times before finally recovering.

"Relax mate, it's natural to be nervous your first time." Dean added.

"I already told you too, me and y/n are not doing anything during break. She's just visiting me and gran for a day." Neville had a slight red hue over his cheeks.

"Alright, alright " Dean said amusingly.

"But just so you know spring break is when couples usually…" Seamus didn't get to finish.

"I get it, Seamus! Do you have to be so loud?" Neville cut him off. "I think I'm going to go pack now, see you guys later."

"Just remember to pack the rubbers Seamus gave you." Dean laughed under his breath.

Of course how could Neville forget the rubbers.

------ The night before in the boys dormitories ------

"Yeah, it's going to be great. Y/N is joining me and gran for a day at the lake house. It will be nice to not be the only person my age there. Plus I can show Y/N all the cool plants around the lake." Neville was beaming talking about his plans for Holiday with you and his grandmother. His smile was radiant and by the expression on his face you could totally tell he was smitten by you.

"Wait let me get this straight. Y/N is going to be staying at your grandmother's lake house with you." Dean was trying to make sense of the situation.

"Technically it's my gran's friend's lake house."

"That doesn't matter." Seamus said bluntly. "The fact is you and Y/N are going to be at a lake house together during spring break."

"What are you going on about?" Neville was completely dumbfounded about what was wrong with the situation.

"Seamus, will you just tell him." 

"I got a better idea." Seamus walked over to his dresser and opened a drawer. He searched inside for a small box. Once he found it, he grabbed it, and threw it towards Neville. When it landed on his bed, Neville grabbed the box and read what it was. He saw the figure on the box was a warrior and the name 'Trojan' written at the very top. His eyes widened and he immediately fumbled the box before he dropped it. He could feel his cheeks warm up as Dean and Seamus laughed at his reaction.

"Wh.. Where did you get those?" Neville distanced himself from the condoms.

"It doesn't matter." Seamus said, still laughing.

"Are you serious? I can't take those with me." Neville was embarrassed for having never even thought that something like that would happen while on Holiday with you. "Wait, this trip isn't even about that. Me and Y/N haven't even done anything yet. I haven't even done anything yet!" Seamus insinuation had clearly caused Neville to freak out and rethink his entire plan of having you visit him during break.

"Chill out mate." Dean was trying not to laugh but it wasn't really helping.

"Mate we know it’s your first time, we just thought you could use some pointers." Seamus suggested.

"I really don't think that's necessary. We're not going to…" this time Neville was cut off by Seamus.

"Listen, when you put the condom on make sure you pinch the top so there is a bit of room there and then roll it down. If you don't it just might break and we don't want that happening do we."

"Also don't forget to use a new one every time. Apparently they are not reusable." Dean chimed in. 

Neville was in shock and the color of his face matched the color of his house's signature color. 

"Please stop." He was pulling at his hair in agony.

"We're just trying to help a friend out." Seamus said smugly.

"This isn't helping. This is making it worse." Neville shoved his head in his pillow from embarrassment. 

The other boys continue to laugh. Neville, extremely embarrassed by his friend's insinuation, tried to come up with a reason to leave his dorm and got up and grabbed the closet textbook near him.

"Uhh... I forgot I need to catch up on my studies" and with that he rushed to the Gryffindor common room. 

At this time at night the common room was empty. Only the fireplace lit the room with a warm glow. He sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace and ran his fingers through his hair to ease his nerves.

"How could I be so stupid?" He asked himself aloud. 

The signs had been there all along. He just hadn't put all the pieces together until now. You had originally asked him if you could spend the night at the lake house but he didn't understand why at the time because you lived close by. Then there was the conversation the two of you had a couple of weeks ago. You had asked Neville how he had felt about moving your relationship on a more intimate level and he had completely freaked out by the sudden suggestion. He had certainly thought about you in that way occasionally (even before the two of you were officially together) but he never imagined it to ever come to fruition. Then when the two of you had finally gotten together, he felt inadequate in that particular area because he had never been with anyone romantically. He was relieved when you dropped the subject but knew it would be a topic to come back again. 

He also noticed how touchy you had become lately in private. You two were definitely not a pda couple but preferred to show your love to one another in private. Neville thought back to the time last week when it was just the two of you sitting by the lake while he read you a chapter in his herbology book. The two of you had sat right under a tree and you had sat next to him leaning your head on his shoulder and placed your hand on his thigh. 

As he read to you, your hand slowly made its way higher and higher towards the area between his legs. At first he was completely oblivious to your actions until he had set his book aside from in front of him and noticed how close your hand was to his crotch. It had made him freeze and he felt his face heat up. You had looked up at him and leaned in to give him a kiss which eventually turned into a heated make out session. Neville couldn't recall how you ended up on top of him or how your hands had slipped under his shirt but they did. He untimely stopped the moment when his crotch was becoming increasingly annoying as you rested your weight on him. He sensed that you had felt a little disappointed despite your reassuring words. 

Neville rubbed the back of his head in frustration as he recalled the memory. He didn't want to stop but his insecurities got the best of him. He remembered how self conscious he felt when you started to rub up and down on his chest and stomach. Neville knew he did not have the most muscular built nor was he very slim. He often wondered what you even saw in him. 

He hated when he started to overthink. He quickly shut out those thoughts and ended up thinking about you and your smile. How he loved your smile and how bright you beamed every time you looked at him like he was the greatest person in the world. 

"That has to count for something right?" He whispered to himself. 

'Wait what if she does want to have sex this week?' He pondered on the possibility. 

His mind wondered about the idea of losing his virginity to you and smiled to himself as another thought entered his mind. 

You were riding him like your life depended on it. It was really a sight for sore eyes and he found himself more open to the idea. Then his eyes went wide with the sudden realization that he doesn't really know anything about the female anatomy. He didn't really know where his penis was supposed to enter or where the clit was. At this point he had wished there was some sort of sex education at Hogwarts.

His nerves seemed to oscillate from high to low with his constant thinking.

"This is going to be a long break." He said to himself rubbing his temples.

That night he kept twisting and turning in bed and couldn't get much sleep. He ended up sleeping for only 4 hours and was woken up by the sunshine entering the windows. He reluctantly got out of bed and got ready for the day. 

Heading out of Gryffindor tower he left towards the great hall for breakfast. 

a/n: Hoped you like it. 😊

[helbramstrauma]

So I made this Headcannon a while ago about a Fem! Ballerina Reader x Tsukishima Kei, and I decided to make a little one shot for it.

This is lightly proofread and was typed on my phone so apologies in advance :)

The beaming lights come to a dim, along with your stage smile as the curtains come to a close, you turn around to face the rest of your team for a job well done. Tonight was the closing performance for Swan Lake- the spring show is now no more, as you get a week break from rehearsal before practice starts for the summer recital. However as you are backstage quickly touching up your makeup so you can meet the guest in the hall for greetings, your eyes quickly pass the gaze of familiar yellow orbs. You turn around quickly again, you didn’t think Tsukki would be able to make it as he usually has practice on Friday nights and he already came to the Wednesday show. Never the less you were ecstatic to see him, you were smiling ear to ear whilst he was sporting his signature smirk.

“You did better than Wednesday,” Tsukishima remarks attempting to reach down and pick you up, but the tutu surrounding you gets in his way. “Can you take this off now I can’t reach you”. You let out a little snicker before shaking your head, “It wouldn’t be much of a gathering by the stage door if the black swan doesn’t show up”. You say, before padding away the sweat on your face that the stage lighting caused. “Besides you shouldn’t even be back here, go wait outside like everybody else”.

He faints being hurt before a devilish and teasing look paints his face once again before saying, “well if I wasn’t allowed back here why do I have the keys” he says holding up a pair of keys with a small rabbit keychain he gave you when he went away for a training camp. You know full well those are the keys that went missing causing you to use your friend’s set. He even helped you look for them, he can be too sly sometimes.

“You’re so mean to me,” you say before going up en pointe to grab your stolen keys and giving him a quick peck on his cheek before you tuck them into your leotard sandwiching it between the tutu and your tights.

He lets out a chuckle, “I hope you didn’t expect me to be nice before we started to date”. You poke your tongue out quickly before turning around and putting on an exaggerated smile before opening the door to the lobby.

The crowd is dense, you certainly wouldn’t want to be lost in it, plus it is moving slowly. However once people start noticing Odile’s arrival the crowd starts its way towards you, you are used to this by now but this is the first show you headlined. This is the first show where you were on the playbill and advertisement, this is the first time you were the star. Of course, it is an honor but it is quite overwhelming, the first night you had to go back backstage because you had a panic attack- but it got better throughout the week.

The crowd is now forming a makeshift line, as you greet the people and thank them for coming. Signing a few programs and taking a couple pictures. However, by far the best people you got to greet are your students, once you reach a certain level at the school you get to co-teach younger classes, and nothing can beat the feeling of seeing them look up to you. Once the lobby is almost empty besides a few lingering guests and family’s waiting for their child to wrap up, you decide to head backstage to get out of costume.

As you are the star of the show you got your own dressing room, although it is extremely small it makes you feel very special. To be honest it is a converted storage closet but the star that sits on the door with your name on it still gives you butterflies. Once you open the door you see Tsukki slumped over attempting to stand under the bar holding your garment bag, shoe bag, and purse. It is honestly a sight to see. Before sitting down, you shimmy out of your skirt and throw it at Kei so he can hang it in the garment bag. You hop into your director's chair that was a gag gift from Tsukishima and begin to dab miracle water on a makeup wipe before swiping away the stage makeup that is weighing down on you. Frankly, you have never been so excited to do a facemask, while you are removing your makeup you feel Tsukishima take the bun maker out of your head along with an ungodly amount of bobby pins. You hand him a damp brush while you start to work on removing some of your body crystals and the shimmer spray they envelopes you in.

Once you are cleaned up as well as you can with baby wipes you throw your still slightly stiff hair into a low loose ponytail. Then you throw on a plum hoodie with a holographic star detail that is definitely not tsukki’s you are able to take off your leotard without flashing your boyfriend.

“you could have asked me to leave”

“We both know you would have teased me about it” you retort

He then pulls you closer pressing your back against his chest before placing a kiss on the top of your head, “well you clearly don’t know me, because I would have teased you either way.”

You throw on some leggings after removing your tights before you make your way out of the performance hall and into the local 24-hour western imitation diner. The owners there know you guys now out of the sheer amount of times you’ve been there. It started as a joke since Tsukishima forgot a bouquet at your first performance, but you quickly decided you like it so much better than some flowers that were going to die anyway. Because one thing is certain you are always starved after performances. As you guys eat your regular orders from the dinner you can’t help but think you wouldn’t want it any other way

Hope you enjoyed the little one shot, this is the first thing I've written in a while so I'm a little rusty.

[misora-msby]

night drive

rating : mature

word count : 1.9k

themes : fluff, fwb, mutual pining, implied sex, drug use (alcohol and marijuana)

notes : originally from my ao3, thought i might post it here as well :) // you can kinda imagine this is an au where atsumu’s not doing volleyball in college because this dude would definitely take care of his body better than this as an athlete lmfao

miya 🤢 : “im driving over rn. be ready in 10?”

You grimaced slightly. Atsumu always did this; he’d text late at night, insisting to meet up without giving you much of a choice.

“bitch it’s so late and i literally just finished my assignment gimme a break”

Your reply was read and within a few seconds you received a reply;

miya 🤢 : “Sorry! I’m driving right now and will reply later.”

An annoyed groan escaped you at the use of the automatic reply function. You knew he definitely read the message. It was just like Tsumu to do this.

Throwing on a light cardigan and applying a bit of lip gloss, you grabbed your phone and a little tin box you always brought along on your drives with Atsumu. After stuffing them into the pockets of your sweatpants, you double checked your appearance in the full length mirror by the door. A spray of perfume was used and you slipped on a comfy pair of sneakers before exiting the flat to wait at the entrance of the building.

As promised, Atsumu arrived and you got into the passenger seat of the car. It was a little messy and you had to dust off some crumbs on the seat but it smelt just of him and the cologne he loved to use.

“You gotta stop doing this. Especially the impromptu texting.” you muttered, leaning back in the seat as he began driving.

“But ya always agree to it anyways. And as promised, I never do it on a Tuesday, Friday, or Sunday night, just like ya asked.” he hummed while giving the smirk you hated but loved. And as much as you hated to agree, he was right.

Six months ago, you two had been set up on a blind date with each other by some friends. Miya Atsumu, known as a notorious flirt all his life, and you, a regular student just looking for a change in life. The date itself didn’t go too well but the sex that followed was incredible and so you two had continued with this agreement for the past half year.

And here you were now; on a drive to someplace out of town, a packet of cigarettes to share in the cupholder while the little tin in your pocket contained something a little stronger to smoke. And not to forget the cooler in the backseat which most likely contained at least two bottles of beer.

“Fine… you’re right.” you sighed, crossing your arms as you kept your eyes on the road to try and guess where you two were driving.

“Hey, doll. Light me a cig, would ya?” Atsumu asked. As always, you pulled out the stick of tobacco from the packet and lit it before passing it to him. He took a long draw on it before rolling down the window to breathe it out.

“I don’t get how you’re still so fuckin’ handsome after all the ciggies and drinks you take.” you muttered while taking the cigarette from his hand to have your own draw of it.

“Same goes to you, doll.”

“... T-Thanks.” you muttered while reaching back to grab a beer from his cooler.

Neither of you saw it but there may have been the slightest flush on both of your cheeks.

After that, the drive was silent for half an hour, save for the soft R&B that played and the occasional humming from Atsumu. It was always like this, and somehow the two of you had grown to like it. As much as you complained over and over about it, you enjoyed it. Enjoyed the thrill, the sex, the debauchery, and strangely, the company.

“This place looks good.” his smooth voice hummed while turning into a forest. It was dark and a little scary with how cramped it felt with the towering trees, but your pride refused to let him know that. Plus, you knew you wouldn’t be thinking about it for much longer. He parked his car in a decent spot and unfastened his seatbelt before turning to face you who was just a little drowsy from the beer you had. “There’s a real pretty place I wanna go in there. But first…” Atsumu’s eyes looked darker than ever as he placed a hand on your thigh.

No words had to be said before lips were locked and soft moans were pulled from your lips. It only took a few more seconds before you were both scrambling into the backseat, with him pushing you down onto your back as he grinded his strong hips into your more delicate self. The kiss ensued, though at this point it was hard to call it a kiss as it seemed more like a battle between lips. He groaned softly as he felt your fingers entangle themselves in his blond locks.

The two of you pulled away for a second to gaze into each other’s eyes, dark with lust and passion.

“You taste like beer,” he chuckled while wiping off a little bit of saliva from the corner of your lips with his thumb. His touch was strangely soft, contrasting the way he had kissed you just seconds before.

“Yeah? You taste like nicotine.” you replied with a slight grin on your face. He replicated that smile, a rare sight from him, before resuming your kiss.

* ･ ゜ﾟ ･ * : . ｡ . . ｡ . : * • * : . ｡ . . ｡ . : * ･ ゜ﾟ ･ *

“Think you can walk over to that place I was talkin’ ‘bout?” Atsumu asked while pulling his sweatpants back up.

“Hmm… I don’t know, you were pretty rough tonight. You might have to carry me,” you laughed while putting your own clothes back on.

The man rolled his eyes, though there was the slightest hint of endearing in them as he took the blunt you had half finished smoking earlier and lit it himself, leaning back in the seat a bit. 

As he did so, he glanced over at you - hair messy and strands stuck to your brow from the sweat, your clothes were in a disarray, and marks he had left on your skin covered your neck and collarbones. It gave him a weird feeling to look upon you, like a sort of strange pride. Whether it was because he had given you that messy look, or because he was just proud of you in general, he didn’t know.

“No way, I’m tired too,” Atsumu scoffed and redirected his gaze out of the open window for a second before looking at you. His eyes softened slightly at the pout on your lips before he sighed, “Fine, I’ll do it. Help carry the drinks.”

He opened the door and carefully carried you out in a princess carry before kicking the door shut and beginning to walk. His steps were a little uneven and shaky as he was just slightly intoxicated.

As he carried you, you looked up at him, eyes tracing his sharp jawline and his blond hair. There were bags under his eyes and the scent of sex and everything you two were consuming today mixed into the cologne he wore with his natural scent. Somehow, it was still attractive.

“You’re hot.” The words left you in a whisper without you even realising it. Atsumu looked down and nearly stopped walking for a moment before laughing as he continued to walk.

“You’ve got the weirdest fuckin’ timing. But yeah, I know that.” he replied before setting you down a little later.

“Where are we?” you raised a brow at him, still holding onto his arm.

“Just take a look, would ya?”

Tearing away your gaze from his handsome self to look at the sight before you, you gasped softly.

You stood near the edge of a cliff, just beyond the fence-like barrier, there were paddy fields and the occasional farmhouse providing a small source of light. It was a pretty normal sight, but upon closer inspection, you could see the reflection of the night’s stars in the water of the fields. The twinkling stars shone in pitch blackness, undeterred by the city lights you were used to. The moon looked brighter than ever too. A cool wind blew past your face, refreshing it after the stuffy feeling of having sex in Atsumu’s backseat, carrying the faint scent of spring on it.

“You know, I think being here would feel so much better if I didn’t have your cum in me.”

“Shut the fuck up and enjoy it. You asked for it anyways.”

Atsumu flicked your forehead lightly before pulling you closer to the edge and sitting down on a log, looking out over the fields and up at the sparkling sky.

“Happy 6 months.”

“Tsumu, I don’t think anyone celebrates a fuckbuddy anniversary.”

“Eh, whatever. Fuck and drink buddy.”

“...well uh, happy anniversary!”

“Happy anniversary, doll.”

The two of you looked at each other in silence for a few seconds, slightly dazed expressions on your faces before breaking out into giggles.

“Oh! Right!” you passed him a bottle of beer and opened your own with a spare coin in your pocket. “Cheers!” you clinked your bottle against his before drinking about a third of it.

“Cheers.” Atsumu replied and took his own large gulp of the drink.

You leaned against him the moment he moved the bottle away from his lips. His muscular arm, strengthened by years of playing volleyball made him rather comfortable to lean against. You hummed an unfamiliar tune before sighing in content.

Atsumu looked down at you resting against him. He could get used to this. He realised that lately he had been opting to stay the night after the fun you had together. Whether the time contained pillowtalk or it was just falling asleep in silence, he enjoyed it. Atsumu enjoyed being around you.

You enjoyed it too. People often claimed the blond was an ass but you knew better. There were nights when after you two had sex, the worries of the day or week would catch up to you and you’d end up crying to him. It was awkward at first but he slowly got used to it and eventually would comfort you with food he ordered or a few words of encouragement. (“Yeah it’s that bitch’s fault, go fuck her up.” was probably the most commonly said thing). As the nights passed, you found yourself wanting to spend more and more time with him.

“Hey… the sun’s coming up.” Atsumu said, making you finally look up from your silence. You hadn’t even realised you had fallen asleep on him for a bit. 

As you narrowed your eyes and looked over the fields and fields of crops, you noticed he was right. The first rays of sunlight could be seen peeking over the landscape, bringing light to the sky.

“Woah… it’s pretty.” you whispered in awe.

Atsumu looked over and studied your features for a few seconds. The way your eyes sparkled and was lit by the early morning sunshine, the way your hair bounced just a little as the wind blew, and the way your feet tapped quietly on the dirt in tired excitement. He didn’t want to admit it but he realised he might’ve been falling for you for a while now.

“Thanks for bringing me here. I love it.” you grinned up at him. At the man who you hadn’t realised you had fallen for weeks ago.

“Yeah,” he replied, and in a voice just barely audible to the two of you, he whispered, “and I love you.”

This moment seemed like a perfect time to properly ask you to be his, but he figured he would just let you two enjoy it in silence for a little longer.

[all-might-can-smash-me]

Homestay 3

@ayumiinuzuka @the-wholocked-blog

College got me fucked and I’m in the middle of trying to get everything set for me to go to Cosmetology school by the end of the semester and I finally noticed you two requested a part three! Hopefully this will satisfy your hunger for a cute, domestic, fluffy Fatgum 🥺🥺🥺

Taishiro Toyomitsu / Fatgum x Reader

Summary: With it all starting with Fatgum and his two young students shadowing him for their hero work studies having to stay on the downlow in your humble countryside home, you and Taishiro of course hit it off and spring a long distance relationship, but will it just end there????

Part 1

Part 2

You are on Part 3

Masterlist / request info in masterlist

The chirping of the summer crickets and bugs sounded out along the rhythm of the heat waves that radiated back from the lush, green grass that swayed in the gentle breeze that cascaded over the lands. Birds flocked to and fro from the large camphor trees that loomed in their patches along the many crops and created their small little forestry where the many spirits reside with their humble hidden homes, temples, and shrines. You however raised a dirty hand to your brow as you crouch lowly to the ground, hands tentively pushing back the foliage of your plants to relive them of their heavy, ripe produce. Your bare fingertips also went to relieve them of any weeds that had tried to grow too close for their comfort. Life was as plain and simple as it had ever been for the many past years of your life in the humble country side. Tenants who would stay came and went, either staying their month or even their simple two week. Usually you would get the occasional tenant who would stay for their year as they worked as a teacher or something of the sorts, but no. You stayed weary of that since now you had Taishiro in your life. It had been a year, looming on two, of being with him. You would reside weeks to go and visit him when you didn’t have a homestay guest or he would come to stay with you for a couple of days.

Those times spent together gifted you with a small slice of domestic happiness. Whenever you were visiting him, you would be the doting wife like figure that fixed him breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The wonderful ray of light that ironed out his hero uniform or suits. That always sent a wave of relief through him, he was horrible at ironing and starching, but you were a wiz at it. You thanked your grandmother and her strict ways of doing the laundry though for that perfect skill that always impressed him. You were the cutie that would arrive at his work with that familiar, worn straw hat that would come to visit him and of course cast a little side eye at the secretary who wouldn’t let you in to see Taishiro the very first time you come to the big city to surprise him.

But when Taishiro came to visit you? It was so peaceful. No busy streets or people coming in and out quicker then the speed of light. No nosy streets of a city that seemed to never sleep. It was just you, him, the summer bugs that made humble dwellings upon your land, and the soft coos of the chickens that lived out their lives in their humble coop. Not to mention that he would help you hang the laundry filled with jokes, teases, and giggles. Help you with the heavy handwork around your seemingly ancient home, and glisten with sweat alongside you when relieving your garden of their produce. Both lives spent together filled the both of your with immense joy and satisfaction.

Just imagining those moments spent together as a couple or a married pair that seemingly lived together sent a blush and smile crawl upon your face. It even did so now as your tired legs pushed you up to a standing position, basket filled with your harvest now upon your back as you stepped up to a nearby pump, lifting and pushing down the handle to sputter out the cool water from the pipes and ground below to rinse your hands and fingernails of dirt before continuing forward, humming a soft tune under your breath as you stepped up to one of the small shrines that sat off to the side on your property, sparing a small cucumber and a prayer before making your way back to your home, hand tugging the edge of your shirt to wipe at the sweat upon your brow.

“Hey there! You probably should have waited for me!” Called out an all too familiar voice. There he stood with that iconic grin upon his face, hands upon his hips as he stood upon the porch of your home. There stood Taishiro with his hair showing off it’s beautiful blonde perfectly thanks to the summer sun. He also looked to be in the middle of bulking back up, but either way you didn’t care. He seemed to radiate handsomeness to you whether he be muscular, that cute bulky in between, or that strong fluffy form that was just absolutely perfect for cuddling away in the colder months. With a grin stretching upon your face, you let your tired feet quicken their pace, hands skillfully and carefully swing the basket off your back to abandon upon the ground as you used the last of your leg’s strength to hop up and onto the wooden planks of the porch, Taishiro’s hands moving to grab ahold of yours to help you do so and pull you close for a tight embrace. He pressed you close to his body, not minding the dampness of your sweaty shirt or the smell of dirt and soil that lingered on you with your time out in the garden.

“I missed you! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” You giggled out excitedly as you back away, hands pushing away the frizzy strands of hair that curled about your face due to the summer’s humid air. “I would have at least prepared myself!” You teasingly scolded him as you stepped back down from the porch, though he was quick to follow and grab ahold of the basket for you with ease, already leading you back to the house where he slid the door open with an sense of ease and familiarity and stepped in.

“Oh come on, it’s not like you need to prepare yourself before I see you.” He said with a roll of his eyes as he sat the basket down upon the tiles of your kitchen, shoes slid off and left by the back door alongside yours, his silly, fuzzy, pink slippers that were left behind at your home now upon his feet. “I like you sweat, dirt, and all” he said with a grin as he turned to look at you, though was bombarded with yet another hug, a sigh of content exhaling from your lungs.

“I know, I know, but still, would be nice to not be all nasty.” You said as you pressed your ear upon his chest to listen to the soothing drum of his heart, his check pressed away upon the top of your head as the two of you swayed gently to a soundless song. “But....I would still like to have a bath..” you said with a giggle as you pulled back a bit to look up at him.

The two of you now relaxed back within the tub of the bathroom, the two of you slouched lowly within the steamy water up to your chins in relaxation as the hot water began its process of melting away the stress of today’s work from your body. Music played too from a little speaker set off to the side, the two of you enjoying each other’s quiet company as the two of you relaxed. Though you cleared your throat as you removed the damp towel from your face to look at him.

“What happened this time....” you asked, though it came out more of just a simple demand for an answer, though of course not rudely or pressingly. He shrugged his shoulders as he reached a hand up, the water dripping from his arms as he removed the small cloth that sat over her own face, looking at you now. “The usual....a guy does something petty, sees the only way out is fighting back and I’m the shield of the whole situation.” He said with a dry chuckle as his arms rested upon the lip of the tub, you only giving a sigh and a small shake of you head.

“You know....you better be careful, your body must be worn down by all this breaking down and rebuilding.” You muttered out, which he only shook his head that was accompanied with a little smile at your worried gaze.

“Eh, don’t worry about me, it doesn’t do much to my body, only annoying thing is the rebuilding period.” He hummed out as he lifted his arms to take a look at them. They were bulkier, fuller than his lean mascular state that would appear right after all his fat energy was used, but those muscles peeled through and flexed with each of his movements. Now sitting up and causing ripples to break through the calm surface of the water, a bit of his upper torso was now on display. It was muscular too, but a bit fluffier now? Was that a good way to describe it within your mind? It puzzled you to find the correct words, but the one thing you were sure about was that you admired it and adored it.

“I like those period, it gives you a break from the grueling work of a hero.” You commented with a shrug of a shoulder, your head leaned back onto the rim of the tub, hair roughly over the side with those frizzy strands curled by the humidity within the steamy bathroom framed your face. “Plus whenever you are with me when that happens, I enjoy cooking you the things you like with you, it’s nice...” you hummed out as your head moved to look over at him, a small soft, flirtatious grin upon his face as he looked back to you, one of his damp fingers going to caress the side of your head, those water droplets that once sat upon his fingers now dampening your hair.

That loving look that he casted upon you always sent your heart fluttering and your eyes moving else where as it always got you flustered, no matter how many times he casted that same heart melting look in your direction. It would forever be a weakness against your love frenzied heart.

The two of you now stood, the sound of water being moved and dripped sounding out as towels were now used to rid of the stubborn droplets of water, hair ruffled to dry it, and clothes now tossed back on the two of you now resting out open the porch, mosquito net slightly billowing in the soft, refreshing evening breeze as the two of you sat upon the futon, cards now with your hands as the two of you mindless played away with the game at hand. Though the two of you mostly aimlessly talked about random things. Such as movies, shows, old childhood memories, moments of anger and sadness or triumph and courage. It was things that the two of you knew inside and out, but even if the two of you knew each other from cover to cover, those conversations always led on and on with giggles and grins and a feeling of fulfillment as the two of you would reluctantly curl up together upon the futon with the breeze tickling any part of your body opened to it’s touch.

“You know...I hate the filling when I have to leave...” Taishiro soon hummed out as he looked quizzically to the cards in his hand, finally grabbing one and tossing it down and grabbing another, you soon moving to educate you’re own turn with a sad sigh.

“It’s like my other half is missing. Of course I’m fine without you here, you know? I trust you and blah blah blah.” You said as you sprawled yourself out on your side, hand propping up your head, the other holding onto your hand of cards as you looked to him. “But still, I miss you and whenever you are here with me it’s like I’m uplifted? Refreashed? It nice to be able to just live side by side.” You continued on though reached out your door to nudge his side. “Your turn Tai...” you pointed out, which he silently looked down to his cards, brows scrunched together as he strummed his fingers upon his bare knee before finally discarding a card and picking another up. Though with your words something seemed to shift. Something....shifted within him. He seemed tense, fidgety, nervous even? You didn’t point it out, but you gave him a raise of your brow as you had done your turn once more, tossing down the cards to reveal you victory, but he only silently scooped up the cards, beginning to shuffle them again.

“You like living along side me, correct?” He asked, almost to reassure himself as his hands that clutched onto the deck of cards now sat limply upon his lap, you letting out a scoff in bewilderment as you looked to him.

“Are you kidding? Yes I do!” You said with a little giggle and a grin that just sent a soft smile upon his lips as he looked to you. It almost seemed to wash away the jitters that had strangely overcome them, but not quite as he fiddled with the deck in his hands. Though they were soon set aside as he dragged over his bag packed with clothes, hands shakily pulling out a cube shaped object wrapped with a silk handerkerchief. Those nervous fingers delicately unwrapped to reveal the velvet box that sent your heart racing in your ears as he set it before you silently. “Taishiro...?” You quietly managed out in your quivering voice, he still bashfully fidgeting with his hands as he looked to you.

“Now I know we’ve only been dating for almost two years and some people would think it be crazy for us to just jump right in....but the thing is....why not?” He said with a little laugh as he watched you gently sit back up, eyes boring down to the velvet box before you. “I mean, I can picture myself living with you for the rest of my life, having children, growing old together...the stuff that I would want from a partner for the rest of my life.” He continued on, that handkerchief now being rung and twisted by his strong hands. “And about your house, we can still keep it, I know how much it means to you if you were to move to the city with me, but really I would love to move out here with you! The commute to the city and back isn’t that bad.” The hero continued to ramble on as your wide eyes finally looked up to him and his nervous appearance. Your hands finally nervously moved to open the box set before you, the orange of the late setting sun hitting the ring that sat tucked away in it’s safe bed.

The tears had finally pooled to your eyes and had began to cascade over and down your cheeks due to their heavy weight. Your hand shook as you lifted the box up, fingers going to grab the piece of jewelry, but Taishiro finally let his ever so larger and steadier hands reach for the ring to gently tug it out and slip it upon your finger, those large fingers of his wiping away the tears upon your cheeks as you let a shaky smile stretch across your lips as you stiffled back your sniffles from your tears of joy. The hug that you had dumped upon him allowed him to release a breath of relief as his arms went to tightly embrace you, hands buried within the tangles of your hair as you let out your pleas of tearful and emotional yes to the question that loomed over head with the presence of the ring now upon your finger.

“Hopefully you like the ring, Kirishima and Tamaki helped me...” he said with a boom of laughter, the lingering jitters still seeming to flutter within his chest as he looked down at you, which you now reached out your hand to look to the engagement ring admiringly.

“I absolutely love it!” You said with your giggles as your puffy eyes looked back to his, a lovesick grin now upon both of your lips as the two of you once again entangled in a tight embrace.

[benscursedkid]

*title from the song of the same name by mansionair and a continuation of this post* 

synopsis: rebekah and ben’s relationship progression throughout their second year at hogwarts. (plus some bonus of other characters too.)

pairing: ben copper x mc; ben copper x rebekah roberts

genre: angst, fluff, etc. 

words: 5.160

a/n: is it 5am rn for me? yes it is. did i skip the ice vault scene because i’m tired and lazy? you bet. also, i know they’re in second year and thus supposed to be around twelve years old but i’m pretty sure i forgot what being twleve felt like (must be all the repressed embarrassment yikes) so i apologize if this seems slightly too heavy or at times mature for that. but then again, this is hphm so y’know... trauma <3 also be warned, i’m tired so this is unedited as of rn. i’ll come back and edit it maybe tomorrow or the next day but if you’re reading this then i have not done so yet. pls, enjoy anyway!

She woke up that morning with a spring in her step. Her bags had been packed for weeks, her robes already ironed and an outfit laid out for the morning. She discarded it, choosing instead to pull another one out of her trunk and switching their spots. The young girl ran all over the house, picking up anything that had been thoughtlessly left out and almost forgot to take time to sit and eat breakfast. 

It was a thing her parents still tried to insist on. Eating meals as a family despite the fact that they are indefinitely one member short. Their motivation usually wore off by lunch only to be half-heartedly reignited by dinner. 

The effort is just what she’d wanted except…Rebekah hates it, truth be told. They do nothing more than inquire about Rowan and Ben, occasionally touching on the weather before falling silent again. And that’s how they remain for the rest of the night. Disappearing into their room seems to be more habit than pastime for them now and Rebekah is left to her own devices. They don’t watch her father’s favorite movies, they don’t make any plans for the next day, they don’t laugh over old jokes. Sometimes, when the moon is high and her spirits are low, she wonders why they can’t try like she does. To fix their family. Her brother may no longer be around, but surely she is enough to keep them going, right? Surely, knowing that they still have their daughter left is enough...isn’t it? 

Her thoughts often took those turns at home, but today she hadn’t let them get to her. Her parents could be heard getting ready for the day in the solace of their quiet room while Rebekah finished brushing her teeth and gathering some last minute research she had done the night before. Mysteries might be fun, but it’s about time this one got solved. 

They were even quieter on the way to King’s Cross than usual—even by their new standards—but Rebekah didn’t care this time. Her mind was too busy running in different directions to spare a moment to anything else. 

“You be careful, ‘Bek,” Her mother whispers presently into her hair, her thin arms wrapped around her small body in the tightest hug she’s received since she came home two months ago. Her voice is uneven and Rebekah can feel the quivering of her lips against her dark hair. “Stay in one piece, alright?”

“I will.” She promises swiftly, the words leaving her mouth without much thought. 

Her father tries for a smile that even he has to know doesn’t land. “Say hi to your friends for us, yeah? Let them take care of you.”

His voice was gentle, his tone and intentions soft and well-meaning, but Rebekah can’t help but bite her lips to keep back a frown. It is glaringly something he would never have said before and for whatever reason, she doesn’t like the fact that he says it now. 

Her father’s hand reaches the back of her head, his palm cradling her cheek affectionately as she pulls away from her mother. He seems about to hug her himself, but in a move strangely unlike him, he doesn’t. Somehow she knew it wouldn’t come. Somehow her heart breaks just a little more anyway. 

The train whistles and she notices that her trolley has already been taken to the luggage compartments. Sound and perception come back to her all at once as the atmosphere seems to crack. Students mill about them in tandem and the heavy scent of the train’s engine prickles at her delicate nose. Her mother and father find their place again, stuck together like glue, and take a small step back. When they look at her their eyes are tired. 

“Have fun, Rebekah.” Her father offers as her mother struggles to keep up her already thin façade of a collected person. 

She nods at them in farewell, her body already turning towards the train. “I will.” She says again. 

She hated the summer holidays this year, yet turning her back on her parents is still a stinging betrayal that quells the breath in her throat. She makes a point to not look behind her lest she fall apart all together. 

Fortunately, there are still some reunions to be had today, the first of which she walks into before even stepping onto the Hogwarts Express. With her arms held tightly around herself and her eyes cast downward, Rebekah doesn’t notice it when a familiar head of blonde hair sticks itself out the window as she approaches the steps. 

“Rebekah!” Cheers a soft voice, one that is usually not heard over the ring of the crowd. 

On instinct, her eyes follow the sound, landing on the sight of Ben Copper with his neck stuck all the way out a compartment window. Unwittingly, all her claustrophobia melts off of her and a giggle even falls like a trickle from her lips. Her hand comes up to cover it but she doesn’t miss the way Ben’s cheeks flush deep with pink. 

The sight only strengthens her smile. 

“Ben,” Rebekah greets with a grin, moving out the way of the steps to instead walk over to stand directly in front of his window. Her hand still hesitates between covering her mouth and balling into a fist at her side. She swallows the uncertainty down. “What in Merlin’s name are you doing? Doesn’t your neck hurt?”

He blushes again and Rebekah gets the overwhelming urge to ruffle his already messy hair which clearly still shines with product. “No! Well, not before you mentioned it…” 

She chuckles. “Looking for the best view?”

“Not anymore.”

Emotions grips her throat and her smile hesitates between freezing and growing even larger. For his part, Ben simply rubs at the back of his neck shyly, unable to meet her eye now. 

His mouth opens to respond when she doesn’t immediately say anything back, only to be interrupted before he starts by a much higher, much more enthusiastic voice. 

“Rebekah? Is that you?” Rowan gasps, pushing Ben slightly to now fit her head through the window. The blonde grimaces next to her, his nose scrunching up in discomfort and the scene is so comical Rebekah has to laugh. It comes off her chest like a heavy secret she hadn’t known she’d been carrying. 

“You’re here!” Her friend gushes, her lips splitting with a grin so wide Rebekah fears it may cut her face in half. ‘What are you doing standing out there? Come in, the train will depart soon!”

Rebekah doesn’t mention how absurd she looks with her head popping out of a window like a cartoon character. She merely shakes her head and does as she’s instructed. 

It doesn’t take long to find her way to the compartment, even with the onslaught of students now hurrying to board the train. The whistle sounds off again somewhere, but the happy chatter of children and teens mute the sound of it. She’s barely taken a single step into the compartment when Rowan launches herself at her for a hug. Rebekah returns it gently, ignoring the way the rim of the other girl’s glasses press intently into the skin by her ear. 

Rowan releases her quickly, her arm looping through hers and already beginning to speak a mile a minute about something or other Rebekah doesn’t quite manage to catch yet. Perhaps she would, if her eyes hadn’t caught on Ben’s. His own are a warm and welcoming gold with the rays of fading summer sunshine catching on them through the window screen. They cast little squares across his face that Rebekah finds difficult not to count before—

Welcome back, he mouths to her silently, not daring to interrupt Rowan now that she’s started on another one of her tangents. 

Rebekah grins, a slight blush of her own rising to her cheeks. She nods to signal her acknowledgement before turning back to Rowan, barely catching the end of her complaint about the library near her house. 

It’s good to be back. 

~✾~

I haven’t seen him since we stepped off the Hogwarts Express, Penny will tell her later but only after Ben has already been gone. Why hadn’t she noticed his absence sooner? I’m a little worried, Rebekah. Especially after what happened last year with the cursed ice. 

She tried to bring it to McGonagall’s or Angelica’s attention earlier, but Dumbledore called for everyone to go immediately to their dorms after dinner. No exceptions. 

They were ushered to their rooms like cattle, their prefects doing their best to calmly give them orders. Chester, for his part, seemed to pay her some extra attention. In hindsight, Rebekah knows that he has good reason to be suspicious, but at the time his scrutiny only served to further agitate her. 

How could he have disappeared already? Why did no one see him leave? 

Why didn’t she? 

And why is it always those closest to her? 

~✾~

Her sleep that night was fitful and her appearance the next morning was even worse. And just her luck, her least favorite person caught her at the door to Transfiguration the next time she tried to see McGonagall. 

“You look worried, Roberts.” 

Rebekah sighs, her usually level temper flaring at the mere sight of her troublesome classmate. “What do you want, Merula?”

The Slytherin smirks, looking nonchalantly at the black polish chipping from her fingernails. “I was just wondering if you’d had any luck finding that cowardly mudblood friend of yours.”

Her eyes snap sharply over to Merula’s. Green meets magenta in a swirl of anger and pride, each of them holding onto both. When Rebekah speaks, her voice is low and measured. “Do you know what happened to Ben?”

“I know more than you,” The other girl mocks but suddenly she doesn’t seem so teasing anymore. She takes a taunting step closer and despite the daylight peeking through the windows, her eyes darken with mirth. “I know that sometimes even when people are missing, they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be.” 

The words are more than just a punch to the gut. It’s bad enough to be reminded of Jacob’s absence, but implying that the world is better for it is…

Merula takes this moment of hesitation to drive her point home. “There are things happening at this school you could never begin to understand, Roberts,” Jacob did. “Trying to uncover those things is going to get you killed.” Like Jacob?

“No,” Rebekah shakes her head, her hands balling into fists she just barely manages to keep at her sides. “Trying to get in my way is only going to end up hurting you, Merula.”

Merula glowers at her, her lips twisting up into a snarl. “You’ll learn everything soon enough.”

“If you’re not going to help me find Ben,” Rebekah snaps, her glare sharper than she thinks it's ever been before. “Then just stay away from me, Merula.”

“As you wish, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Rebekah finally pushes past her, but her words linger in her head far into the rest of the day. 

~✾~

“Please, Madam Pomfrey,” Rebekah pleads, pouring all of her worry and concern into the five syllables. “Someone should be with him!”

But the healer just arches an unconvinced eyebrow, refusing to move from her place blocking her entrance into the hospital wing. She crosses her arms at Rebekah’s comment. “And you’ve come to the conclusion that a skilled healer is not enough company, Miss Roberts?”

Rebekah makes a noise of frustration that sounds strangled in her throat. “He needs a friend, Madam!” The woman does not budge and Rebekah runs a fraught hand through her short black hair. She’d wrestled her Ravenclaw tie loose earlier and discarded her robes at her dorm the second she’d gotten back from the fifth corridor, figuring that it was only a matter of time until Ben got seen here. 

“I won’t bother him. I won’t bother you. I won’t bother anyone, I promise.” It’s been days since she’s heard from him, she was starting to worry... “Please,” She says eventually, the weight of all her troubles finally managing to drag her down. “I just want to see him.” 

Pomfrey studies her closely for a long time before something close to recognition flashes across her face. 

She steps aside. 

~✾~

He doesn’t wake up for another four days. By then the weekend has come along and not so easily, might she add. She’d spent much of her time after and between classes sitting in the hospital by Ben’s bedside. In the back of her mind, she knew that she should have been more worried about the notes and the quills and the clues, but every time she thought about that doubt crept into her mind. 

Surely, her luck couldn’t be that bad? How likely was it really that one of her very few friends was conspiring against her? And that it could be Ben? Of all people? 

It wasn’t just unlikely as far as Rebekah was concerned. It was impossible. 

Ben would never do that to her. 

Rowan and Penny had been worried about how thin she was stretching herself. Between classes and clues and uncomfortable hospital wing chairs. After her honesty in his class, Flitwick had given her a small extension on the last homework assignment, given how often—and how commonly known—she visits Ben when she can. Even Chester had taken to checking in on her, not that she was the one who needed it. 

And yet in spite of all this, she was not with him when he woke up. 

She’d been resting in her dorm with Rowan after being kicked out by Pomfrey the day before. The matron claimed her worried frowns and her frequency in the wing were beginning to scare some of the other students and instructed her to take the weekend away from the smell of pumpkin juice and disinfectant. She hadn’t wanted to leave, but she had been able to get Pomfrey to promise to alert her if anything changed. 

The rest of her and Rowan’s roommates had quickly vacated the premises when it became clear that Rebekah was not going to leave. She thinks they’re afraid of her, like many other people she’s noticed. Thinks that she’s mad. Like your brother, some of them say. You’re cursed. 

But Rowan stayed. For a while she tried to distract her with art or wizard’s chess, but eventually they settled on a book. Rowan sat on her bed, the book spread out on her lap as she read it to Rebekah out loud while she sat on her own bed upside down in boredom. Rowan had the better voice for it, they decided, and a longer attention span. 

It was like this that they found her. The poor frazzled student Pomfrey had apparently sent to fetch her. It’s Ben, they exclaimed and she swears the whole common room fell quiet behind the half-opened door. He’s awake. And he’s asking for you. 

Before she knew it, her legs were moving. She wasn’t really thinking—they knew where to go—as they ran her down the corridors. The pale morning sun blinked at her as she passed each window. Until the door came into view and she only just had enough wits about her to slow down, steady her now labored breaths before entering the wing.  

She pushed the door open and Madam Pomfrey was on her immediately. “That was quick.” She says matter-of-factly, her hands folding in front of her the way they commonly do, her shoulders straight and expression relaxed. 

Rebekah ignores her. “Is he alright?”

“I believe so,” She answers quickly without preamble and she heaves a sigh of relief. “His memory is erratic, but I have seen patients in far worse condition in my time as Matron of Hogwarts.”

“You said he asked to see me?”

“Many times, along with other strange requests and proclamations. I believe he’s experiencing some state of delirium.” 

“Can I talk to him?” She asks, ignoring the way her heart flips painfully in her chest at her previous words. She doesn’t want to think about how disoriented he must have been. She should have been there.

“Mister Copper has been through quite an ordeal and still remains in a very delicate state—” She begins but one look at Rebekah’s face tells her that little she can say will matter. She sighs in something that sounds like sympathy before gesturing over to his bed. “Make it fast.”

She smiles briefly in lieu of thanks before she’s moving again towards the familiar spot by his bedside. Pomfrey hadn’t even moved her chair. 

Despite his clearly groggy state, Ben smiles weakly as she approaches, recognizing her immediately. His voice is meek and scratchy when he says, “Hi, ‘Bekah…” 

Her lips pull up slightly at the unfamiliar nickname and she allows herself to fall habitually into the chair beside him. She reaches out to take his hand, but thinks better of it and wrings them together nervously underneath his bed instead. “How are you feeling?”

As she says this, Ben frowns, his whole body slumping further into his bed at the reminder of his condition. Dark spots can be seen beneath his eyes despite being unconscious for the past four days and his skin is still pasty and almost as pale as hers. Not for the first time, Rebekah wonders just what happened in the near week and a half it took to find him in the corridor. 

“Cold. Tired. Sore,” He laments, but his mouth manages to pick up just slightly anyway. “Not that different from usual to be honest.” 

Rebekah wants to laugh at his attempt at a joke—no matter how self-deprecating, acknowledging the effort it must have taken, but she doesn’t quite manage it. Instead, her brows knit together even more in worry for his health and well-being. 

“Are you comfortable?” She finds herself saying, her eyes flicking to his rather flat looking pillow and the cold bars of his bed. “Is there anything I can do?”

Ben smiles and this time it takes. He still looks tired and he still looks ragged, but not so lonely anymore. The sight reminds her of what a twelve year-old boy should look like as his round cheeks wrinkle with the change of expression. 

“Seeing your face is enough,” He admits a bit sheepishly, fiddling with his fingers purposefully, ducking his head down to look at them. “Madam Pomfrey is very helpful, but she doesn’t have the most comforting bedside manner.” 

This gets a chuckle out of her at the truth of it and Ben’s smile returns victoriously. 

Now it is Rebekah’s turn to look away and she nervously crosses her ankles before uncrossing them again. She shifts only subtly in her seat. “She said you asked to see me?”

His face twists in confusion. His head tilts in tired frustration. “Did I? I feel like I’m losing it…” 

A small part of her is left disappointed with his lack of remembrance, but it is far overshadowed by the full force of her concern coming back at his clearly patchy memory. Just what did that cursed ice do? 

Her hand twitches again to reach out to him but this time she listens to it. Her hand wraps cautiously around his wrist in what she hopes is a consoling manner. “What were you doing in that corridor, Ben? How did you get trapped in the ice?”

The Gryffindor shakes his head in anguish. “I don’t remember. I can hardly remember anything at all. Madam Pomfrey thinks it has something to do with the ice.” 

Emotion lodges itself in her throat and for a moment she can’t speak. Ben looks away from her, seemingly in shame, but shame for what she isn’t sure. And she hates that she questions it. This isn’t fair! Why must these things always happen to her? 

Paranoia pricks at her conscience and climbs up her spine. She has no choice but to press further. “I found a letter to you in the artefact room,” She explains and Ben still refuses to look at her directly. She isn’t sure whether to take that as a bad sign. “It led me to another one that told you to go to that corridor…” 

“I’m sorry, Rebekah,” Ben whispers as though he doesn’t have the strength for anything else. “I just don’t remember…” 

Something pulls at her chest. “Ben—”

“That’s enough for today, Miss Roberts,” Pomfrey announces, having snuck up behind Rebekah while she’d been distracted. “Mister Copper needs his rest.” 

“But—”

“It’s okay,” Ben grabs her hand, his own not much bigger but it still offers her the reassurement that is intended. “I’m kind of tired, anyway.” 

Rebekah frowns half in suspicion and half in confusion. “You just woke up.” 

“I’ll be fine.” 

Pomfrey clears her throat and Rebekah sighs, reluctantly releasing her hold on Ben’s hand and offering her friend in question a wave as she disappears back behind the privacy curtain. 

She doesn’t see him for the rest of the day, but her mind stays stuck on the hospital wing and the missing week and a half of Ben’s memory of how he got there. 

~✾~

In hindsight, meeting Bill had been, thankfully, one of the only good things to come out of that term. At the time, she couldn’t have ever guessed the way that things would soon be playing out, but one thing that was a constant in her life when nothing else was is Bill Weasley. 

Her surrogate big brother—and arguably the best one she ever had—went on to get her through the worst of times. Even when he couldn’t be there, he always lent her his support. Rebekah doesn’t know where she’d be without him. 

And to think she almost met him for the first time with a book about Patricia Rakepick. She knows now that hindsight isn’t always funny. 

~✾~

Speaking of older brothers, she never quite expected to find comfort in dry as wood Chester Davies of all people but—What are prefects for?

Rebekah’s grin comes surprisingly easy, all traces of her nightmare forgotten. “Badgering everyone about house points?”

“Hey!”

~✾~

Rebekah groans as her face plants into her textbook, her head feeling like it holds nothing but bricks. Certainly no useful curse-breaking information. 

A light, breathy chuckle is heard from beside her and if she weren’t stressed out of her mind, it might have brought a smile to her face. Her shoulder is cautiously poked as her study companion regards her fondly. 

“You’re not tapping out already, are you?”

She lifts her head just high enough off the potions book to glare at him through the dark strands of her hair now stuck to her face. “Remind me again why we didn’t invite Penny to teach us this instead?”

He hums as though in contemplation, but the smile threatening to lift his lips tells a different story. “Because I need the extra study time and you were just bored enough to join me?”

It’s mostly a lie. She knows that she needed to study some possible potions her and Bill could bring into the vaults and ever since he got out of the hospital wing, she hasn’t been able to see Ben too often lately...but yes, he also did really need the study time. Unfortunately, the hospital wing isn’t the most convenient place to do homework and even though he did every assignment his roommates brought back to him, Ben had fallen a bit behind in Snape’s class. 

Though, really, she doesn’t think anyone but Penny is exactly ahead. 

Still, she frowns as Ben reaches to brush some of the hair out of her face. The tips of his fingers graze over her skin and he clears his throat before looking away. 

Rebekah does the same, casting her eyes around the room. Truthfully, there’s not much to look at. It’s the same potions classroom it's always been: dark, dreary, and slightly dingy. Though, she must admit that the faint green light coming from the dungeon corridor does cast a rather lovely reflection across his face. 

“Well now I’m even more bored.” 

“I’m sorry.”

Instantly, her brows draw together in slight disappointment and surprise at the sudden sad apology. When she looks back over at him he’s already turned subtly away from her, but his eyes are somewhere else. Somewhere distant and far away. 

“Ben, are you sure you want to deal with the cursed ice again?” 

He actually barks out a laugh, but’s hollow and strained. “No, I am absolutely unsure,” He huffs, chewing anxiously at his lower lip. “This potion makes me feel better about my likely injuries, but I’ll learn a new charm to try and avoid injuries and trouble altogether—” 

Without thinking, Rebekah allows her hand to fold over top of his and Ben stares at it for a second, his cheeks going a little pink again before continuing. 

“—s-sorry, Rebekah,” He stutters out for a moment and she finds it more endearing than she thinks it really is. “I didn’t mean to worry you.” 

“Somehow, I find that strangely hard to believe.” 

They laugh together effortlessly, most of the weight from before gone. As always, the expression transforms his face into something more youthful and unburdened—the way she thinks it was supposed to be. The sound of their laughter mixing together like paint sounds like music to her tired ears. 

“But seriously though,” Ben adds as it winds down, all thoughts of potions and textbooks forgotten. “I’m still going to do it.”

She can’t help but ask. “Why?”

And when he answers her, he says it simply. As simply as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Because you need me to.” 

~✾~

She fell asleep on the train. 

Ravenclaw had a huge celebration the night before for winning the house cup. Rebekah hadn’t the energy to join in on the festivities—the cursed ice had really done a number on her, not to mention that bloody knight—but it was rather amusing to watch Chester run around trying to put out the fires of adrenaline. With all of that joy and creativity in one room, she’s sure he was up all night. 

Her and Rowan had their own secret celebration too. They congratulated themselves—and Bill, Penny, and Ben internally—for making it past the ice vault… and then spent the rest of the night theorizing on what the next one could possibly be. They certainly weren’t left empty-handed after all. 

But her brother’s voice haunted her well into dawn. She saw his face every time she closed her eyes. And she missed him. 

She missed him so much it hurt. 

“Rebekah,” A whisper. A tap to her shoulder. When did she fall asleep? “Rebek—”

“Don’t just poke her like that!” Mocks another voice, one equally as familiar yet in her groggy state she is unable to place it. 

“Well, the train has stopped, Rowan—”

“But you’re not gonna wake anyone up poking them like porcelain china, Ben—”

“Please tell me the two of you didn’t argue the whole time I was out?” Rebekah croaks out, her throat tight from recent disuse, attempting to blink herself fully awake. 

Rowan huffs slightly but doesn’t disagree while Ben remains still and silent and Rebekah suddenly realizes she’d fallen asleep on his shoulder. She sits up to give him his shoulder back and he offers her an understanding smile. 

“I’ll have you know I was perfectly civil—”

“—You threw your muggle studies book at me—”

“—well it’s the one I like the least, so—” 

Rebekah whines petulantly and throws them both a pleading look, her lower lip pulled over her other one in a pout. “C’mon, guys, summer holiday just started. Can’t this wait?”

Their frowns remain on their faces but they don’t object and Rebekah supposes she’ll have to start taking that as a win. 

“Thank you.” 

It doesn’t take long to gather their things and leave the train. Given that it has been stopped for the past few minutes, most students have already left. Only the slow stragglers remain. Ben and Rowan take up a spot on either side of her as they exit their compartment and descend the few short stairs to the King’s Cross platform. 

Immediately, the warm rush of summer air hits Rebekah as her foot touches the ground. With most of the families gone or leaving, it’s not as noisy as it was the last time she was here, but her ears do manage to catch on a voice calling out to them from her left. 

Rowan laughs from beside her and waves at her parents and cousins, her grip on her trunk nearly going white with how hard she squeezes it in excitement. She turns to give the shorter girl a quick hug and promises to write to her frequently, stopping only to throw Ben a hesitant nod of farewell before she’s skipping off to join her family. 

Rebekah takes a look around but does not immediately spot her parents. Or Ben’s. 

His throat clears and she turns back to him. His blue t-shirt ripples a little in the soft breeze, his hair waving with it, and his eyes bore into hers with intent. His brown eyes shine with something that feels like a goodbye and a hello all in one. 

She smiles. 

He opens his mouth but his attention catches on something behind her and she knows what he sees as an expression of fondness and recognition crosses over his features. His hand comes up into a small wave before looking back to her and sending the universal wait gesture. 

“Thank you,” Rebekah speaks before he can and catches him off-guard. “For all your help this year. I...I’m sorry about your memory. I’m sorry you couldn’t get it back.” 

Ben seems to shiver at the reminder before collecting himself. He shrugs in a more nonchalant way than she’s almost ever seen him. “Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault. Besides, considering where I ended up...I’m not sure I’d want to remember it anyway.”

She tries for a smile at the silver lining, no matter how bleak it is, but it feels cheap so she bites it back instead. 

“I’ll write you everyday,” Ben promises quickly, nodding almost confidently. “That way I wo—”

“Don’t do that,” She shakes her head, her smile half of a tease. “You won’t have too much to talk about if you write to me every day. Your letters will get short. Every weekend should suffice.” 

Ben nods at the idea. “Okay. Every weekend.” 

A beat passes between them. Neither of them speak. 

“I’ll see you later, Ben?” She asks somewhat hopefully and strangely somewhat unsure. Where did her uncertainty come from? 

But he only nods, a smile finally breaking through. 

“See you later, Rebekah.” 

[maddestzoomer]

peach and strawberry

request from @soggy-enchilada - Hiya!!! Could I please request a Nancy x female reader, where the reader is an Australian exchange student?? Something fluffy, maybe drunkenly confessing feelings at a party or something?? Smut or no smut, doesn’t bother me at all. Thanks !!

warnings - underage drinking, a tiny sprinkle of angst, ya know, the ushe

word count - 1.8k

a.n. - this is such a cute concept like !! my heart :( i didn't realize what absolute trash i was for nancy until now lmao. thank you for requesting this story!! i had a blast writing it! feel free to give me your thoughts & opinions on it :)

-

It's not the calendar that marks the passage of time for Nancy- rather, it is the subtle shift in the way the air smells. Now, the air smells clean and floral, telling of spring and chirping birds. It was March now, and the party-goers were just beginning to come out of hibernation

Pressure builds on her shoulders, and so she puts on a pastel pink sweater and tries to remember how the actual hell you talked her into going to a party.

Maybe it had to do with the way her name fell from your lips, coated with that lovely accent of yours. Or- maybe it was the smile you flashed her as she agreed to come with.

It had all begun a couple of months ago. Nancy was assigned to show you around the school- to basically be your bud until the week ended.

But your friendship didn't end once the week did. It continued through the two of you hanging out and studying together, through the two of you making inside jokes and helping one another to pick out outfits. It was through those times together that a seed was planted, one that seemed to be growing rapidly.

Throwing on a pair of flats, Nancy prepared herself to see you, and in turn, go to a party she didn't really think she belonged at. You'd agreed to pick her up for a party she truly didn't want to go to. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, tilting her head to the side. She looked okay, she felt (kinda) okay, so maybe tonight would be okay.

Looking at her dainty gold watch on her wrist, she realized it was time for her to go- 9 o'clock, sharp. Taking a deep breath in, she sprayed some perfume on her neck that smelled of peaches and strawberries, then walking from her room.  

And sure enough, as soon as she walked downstairs, there you were, waiting in your car. She smiled softly to herself, taking one last deep breath before walking out of the door.

Hurridly, she walked to your car, smiling as she got in.

"Hey there, Nancy! You ready to have some fun?" You gladly greeted, smiling brightly at the brunette sitting next to you. Goodness. That smile... It was enough to make Nancy's stomach fill with butterflies

Nancy smiled softly with a small frown as she looked to her feet, feeling something was there- a box, maybe. "Hi, Y/N- Um, what's down here?" She asked

"I probably should've moved that." You say, beginning to drive. "It's just some beer, they wanted me to bring something to the party. You can have one if you want." You tell her with a smile

Nancy softly bit down on her bottom lip, but eventually reached down and slipped a can from it's case. She didn't really like alcohol (the taste, the smell, the way it made her feel hot)- but she did want to have fun tonight. Plus, it's easier to be around a bunch of drunk teens when you, yourself, are a drunk teen.

Pulling at the tab, the can hissed open, filling the surrounding air with the smell of cheap beer. Nancy brought it to her lips, taking a small sip, then a bigger gulp to help it go down a little easier.

"So uhh, what house is the party again?" Nancy asked

"It's at that David guys place, the house on Maplewood." You glance over to her with a small smile "I may need your help in finding the right street."

Nancy smiled and nodded. David's house was a lot further than she'd expected the two of you would be driving- at least thirty-five minutes one way.

You reach over and change the radio's station, turning on some Tears for Fears song.

Softly, Nancy bit the inside flesh of her bottom lip. She felt like she /needed/ to tell you something- but she just couldn't find the words to do so.

How could she express the fact she loves hanging out with you? How can she express the fact simply thinking of you is enough to make butterflies flutter in her ribcage? How could she explain she wanted to hold your hand and kiss your lips? She couldn't. Not while sober, at least.

The two of you drove in silence for a solid ten minutes- silence that wasn't uncomfortable, just a little... unfamiliar. Usually, the two of you were joking and talking all whilst you hung out.

"You okay, Nancy?" You softly asked, noticing the almost troubled look plastered on her face.

Nancy looked to you with an almost saddened look in her eyes. "I just... I don't know if I really want to go to the party. I know it's du-"

"We don't have to go, especially if you don't want to." You say with a soft smile. "I want you to have fun tonight! If fun for you is just hanging out, watching a movie, and feasting on popcorn, then that's fun for me too."

Nancy smiled softly, going quiet for just a moment. "Maybe... Maybe we could do some star gazing? I know it's a bit chilly, but-" She glanced out her window "it looks so beautiful outside."

You smile softly and nod. You weren't at all surprised Nancy would prefer to watch the stars instead of hanging out with drunk people. Hell- you'd prefer that too.

You pulled the car into a parking lot- one that had a small park and a baseball field surrounded by a thick forest of trees. What you felt when with Nancy was hard to describe. You could taste words on the tip of your tongue (happiness. hope. home. love.)- but they always scared a part of you for reasons you couldn't understand.

Parking the car, then turning it off, you and Nancy got out. She carried the case of beers with her already opened one still in her hand. You smiled softly over to her, causing her to return a smile with the tiniest blush- one that couldn't be spotted thanks to the dark atmosphere around you both.

"We can sit on the hood if you want." You say, walking and taking a seat on said hood. Nancy did so as well, setting the case of beer down between the two of you. The two of you still sat close- close enough for your shoulders to occasionally brush against one another.

The air outside didn't feel as chilly when the two of you were together. It felt far closer to pleasant- with fresh forest air swirling softly around and stars dancing in the sky above.

You take a beer, opening the can before bringing it to your lips- /drink, drink, drinking/ until your face feels slightly flushed and the tiniest bit numb.

Nancy chuckled softly as she watched you do so "Careful," She said "I don't want you getting sick."

You smile at this- at her instant concern for your wellbeing. She was too sweet- all strawberries and milk tea.

It was slightly hard to comprehend the fantastic human you had beside you, especially the more you two drank.

Within an hour and a half, between the two of you, you were already down six beers. It was a lot easier for Nancy to drink when around you- especially when it was just the two of you. It was more comfortable that way; safer, even.

Nancy went eventually quiet, just staring at the stars with glossed over eyes. She should tell you...

"Y-Y/N?" She softly asked, keeping her glossy gaze on the stars above. There was a small frown building between her brows, one that made her look unsure of what she was about to say.

"Yeah?" You softly ask, steadily gazing at her.

You saw Nancy bring the beer can to her lips again, take a mouth full, and then swallow down harshly. She still had yet to return your gaze.

"I need to tell you something..." She softly murmurs, finally looking over to you. "But- please, promise me you won't like laugh or-or get freaked out." Her voice broke slightly as she spoke, and the heavy look she was giving you told that this- whatever it was- was serious. That emotions were involved- and that it would hurt if you reacted negatively

"You have my word." You say, suddenly becoming aware of how your heart was beginning to race.

Nancy went quiet, dropping her gaze down to the hood the both of you sat on for a moment. She knew she could trust you. She could /feel/ her stomach turning up and around, could feel her heart beating wildly like a caged animal in her chest.

A soft, trembling hand took yours and held it gently, causing your own heart to begin beating harder. God- if she were sober, she'd probably be having a heart attack right about now.

"I like you, Y/N. Like, really like you. And-" She choked softly on her words, biting down on her lip. "I just... I just thought you should know." She says

You continued your wide-eyed, saucer-like gaze at her. Did she just say what you think she said? O-Or are you somehow misinterpreting this? Fuck- you hope there isn't any misinterpretation.

"Say something, Y/N. You're scaring me." Nancy says, forcing a small, uneasy chuckle with an equally small, uneasy smile

Slowly, you reach over, putting a gentle hand on her cheek. She couldn't help from leaning into it slightly, your thumb tracing over her cheekbone.

You leaned in slightly closer, allowing for your lips to connect. As soon as your lips connected, a jolt of pure, unrefined electricity bolted it's way down your spines. Is this what euphoria felt like? To feel as though a small, perfect eternity was passing between your bodies- where the sky and the ocean mixed on the horizon.

Her lips parted against yours, sweetly deepening the kiss. She would've been glad to continue kissing like this until the mountains fell into the sea- but her-and your- lungs thought otherwise. Breaking away, you both smiled brightly, lips buzzing and heads spinning.

You allowed for your forehead to rest comfortably on hers as you both caught your breath, hand still cupping her certainly crimson cheek, reddened lips softly brushing past one another.

"I really like you too, Nancy."

[pinkhairedlily]

Wanting Validations

Chapter 5 of The Spring He Came Back | 5 of 12

“Momo, don’t forget your bento,” Baba called out just before Hinamori dashed towards her bicycle. She grabbed the two packed bento from her grandmother and pecked her cheek.

“I’ll try my best to give this to Hitsugaya today.” She was having trouble finding Hitsugaya without being caught by professors and other supervisors. “He’s gonna miss out on the fresh watermelon slices you packed in otherwise.”

Despite their staggered meetings, she found herself in high spirits. Dr. Aizen has continued to depend on her more, even letting her write a draft for a book section. She wasn’t sure if she had the qualifications to write such. She was only finishing her first semester, but the professor tempered her self-doubts with assurances.

“I don’t know if you ever noticed this, Hinamori. You’re a fast learner. You have the highest grades in your section, even above the upper middle-class folk,” Dr. Aizen handed her a large bulk of papers. “These are some designs I’m planning to use for my large-scale project next year. Go through them and annotate for me, would you?”

She was continuously yawning until she reached the academy. She glanced at the clock tower in the middle of the campus grounds and figured she can slip in a quick nap before her morning classes. She was busy deciphering the documents in the past few weeks to the point that she would sometimes go without sleep.

“I think I have a migraine,” Momo grumbled to herself. “Dr. Aizen should be consistent with his handwriting. The varying strokes in each document are like sending me on an acid trip.”

“What sends you into an acid trip?” Hitsugaya popped in behind her, dressed in the flashy, identifying grabs of a Soul member. He reached out to grab her arm and led her through a narrow alley between the buildings.

“Hey, good morning Shirou,” Momo said sarcastically while trying to match his steps. They arrived in front of a small almost-dilapidated room. “Are you gonna murder me?”

“Maybe, do you want me to shower you with yellow petals?” he joked. The room inside was definitely not worn down. The three Rs were there but were all asleep in bunk beds. Rukia and Renji sleeping together in the lower bunk with backs behind each other. That made Hinamori blush until she remembered Hitsugaya saying they were also childhood friends. Rangiku was passed out in the upper bunk with a subtle smell of alcohol.

“I see your nostrils twitching. Rangiku needs alcohol sometimes to power through her exams,” he gestured for me to sit on a day bed on the corner of the room.

“What is this?” Hinamori asked, feeling a little slow because she was only able to get two hours of sleep. She sat beside him and controlled the urge to close her eyes.

“It’s an escape dungeon. They think this is the sleeping quarters of the custodians, which of course is, but they rented it out to us.” Seeing Momo settled, he started to fill the nearby kettle to boil some water. “Did you get converted into a coffee addict or are you still my tea-loving friend Momo?”

“Black tea please.” Momo smiled at him. “How erratic are your schedules? Our class is about to start in one hour.”

He glanced at her, smirking. “How erratic is your schedule? Your eyebags are heavier than mine. Oh, is that a bento?”

“Baba made this. It has watermelon inside.” At such an opportune moment, Hitsugaya’s stomach grumbled. “Come on, let’s eat together like the good old days.”

She thought he was about to grab his bento box, but he reached out across her, their faces looming closer to each other. “Why don’t you sneak in some snoozes while I eat?” He was arranging the pillows behind her.

Hinamori woke up to the school bells ringing, a flurry of robes, and cacophony of curses. Slightly disoriented, she found herself waking up from Hitsugaya’s lap who was frozen red in his place, the empty bento box on the table beside him and a gray flask. How she got to that position she will never know because panic started to set in.

“Good morning, Hinamori!” Renji and Rukia both yelled before running through the door.

“Gotta go, childhood friends. Gotta thank you Histugaya. Renting this place primarily to see Hinamori and secondarily for us to rest is genius,” Rangiku said as she traipsed outside.

“Fuck,” Hitsugaya muttered under his breath, truly embarrassed. “Here’s your black tea Momo. Tell Baba her bento gave me the energy I needed.” He handed her the gray flask without meeting her eyes. “You gotta go, although your classroom’s much nearer.”

Still disoriented, she started towards the exit. Remembering a nagging question in her mind, she halted and glanced back at him, “Shirou-chan.”

“Hmm?” He still wasn’t meeting her gaze.

“How did you preserve the daffodils? It was below zero temperatures that week. Frost would have already killed them.”

This time he looked at her. “I just sprayed them with a solution I made, Momo. But I know you would have found a way to alter them naturally.”

Hitsugaya always has this weird way of validating her. His trust in her abilities has grown so much despite the time that they were apart. She wanted to honor that. “Thank you.”

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

It has soon become their morning routine – Hinamori with her bento boxes that soon included the rest of the group, Hitsugaya with the black tea for her and coffee for the rest, and few minutes of snooze on the sofa slash day bed. It wasn’t as if they haven’t slept beside each other since they were kids, but the slight reprieve was something to look forward to. They would be able to slip in mundane conversations in between, but almost often Hinamori would doze off in the middle of Hitsugaya’s rants. She has fully exchanged her nights with sleepless annotations for the experiment designs. She knew Dr. Aizen was ambidextrous, but it bothered her that the blueprints and guides frequently changed handwriting styles, and the discussion structures varied. Well, it couldn’t be helped that the professor’s thoughts ran too wildly that his hands were barely able to keep up. By the end of the semester, she was able to finish the book section, submit the annotations with her own suggestions for recalibration, and top her class.

“I think it was only a matter of time, Hinamori.” Rangiku quickly stole Hitsugaya’s sandwich from his hands and sat across them in their (open) secret hideout.

“What is?” Hinamori resisted the urge to clean the room. Printouts were sprawled everywhere, coffee stains on beds and tables, and a lot of instant ramen packs. While general admission students have the benefit of semestral break, the core Soul group tended to be occupied with competitions, conferences, and exhibits abroad. Hitsugaya’s group will be traveling to Karakura next week to compete against the infamous Ishida Uryuu, a prodigy of optics in physics.

“Why don’t you make your own sandwich Rangiku?” Hitsugaya grunted as he downed the last bit of his coffee and decided to lie down on the day bed behind his childhood friend’s sitting figure. After a minute or two, he started to snore.

“Your membership to the core group, of course. Hard to miss your superb accomplishments,” Rangiku replied. “Your radiant personality is also a plus. That would make it easier to hang out with us.”

Hinamori blushed at the compliment. “Thanks, Rangiku, but I really doubt I’ll get in.” The gap in expertise and intellect between core and general admission students was assumed to be wide enough to hinder friendships between the two groups, but she never felt that way with them. Granted that she was Hitsugaya’s friend, they never reacted strongly to her addition. It was true however that there was a gap. What inherent genius they have been born with, she compensated with hard work.

“Wish us luck though. I hate to see the bastard Ichigo smirking if we fail in the exhibit.” She’d be exaggerating, but veins really started to pulse around Renji’s temples.

“Stupid, there’s no if. We won’t fail. As if I’d let Ishida rub his win over my dead body,” Rukia interjected with the intensity of her competitiveness. She turned to Hinamori with an embarrassed smile. “Well, the deliberation will probably happen over the break. With us out in Karakura, they’d probably not look much into your relationship with Hitsugaya or with us.”

“Apparently, according to the academy’s standards, friendships are not meritorious. Such a stupid rule,” Renji added. This was the reason why they avoided letting both students and professors see them together. Only Dr. Aizen knew of their friendship. He made her feel like she could trust him with her secrets.

As if Rangiku read her mind, she quipped, “You’ve been meeting Dr. Aizen lately, right Hinamori?”

“I volunteered as his research assistant. The professor has a lot of projects with the academy so I do my best to ease the load.”

“How many projects is he handling?”

“He has five large-scale projects programmed for this year.”

“And he’s doing it solo? Wow, that’s a lot of work and a lot of funding.”

“Thank God for the investors, I guess.”

“If you get accepted as a core member, he would lose a great RA,” Renji assured her. A big question mark was probably on her face because he immediately expounded his statement. “Core members are expected to complete projects on their specialization. If you’re as genius as the midget sleeping over there or Rukia’s brother, you can complete as many as you like. But most of the time, we work in groups like how professors work together too.”

Rukia aided him, “What Renji is trying to say, you won’t have the time to help Dr. Aizen anymore.”

A foreign feeling crept along her insides. Over the years, she has mastered the act of hiding her emotions with a nonchalant smile, and she did this now to brush off three pairs of probing eyes. Confusing emotions from the conversation accompanied her to the semestral break party organized by her section. Balloons and streamers decorated the interior of their go-to ramen house. The owner, enamored with the boisterous students, provided free-flowing broth and discounted noodles refill. Several of her classmates tapped her on the shoulder and congratulated her for landing on the top.

In the midst of jovial cacophony, she felt untethered. Needing the space to rationalize her thoughts, she quietly slipped out of the party and traced her steps back to the academy. She was floating in-between circles, trying to walk beside her friend and at the same time, trying to make sense of who she was and what she wanted to be. Her memories brought her back to her first conversation with Dr. Aizen where she truly felt seen and needed.

But she was spending her days playing catch up to someone who doesn’t need her. Did she really want to join the core group to realize her dreams or did she want to join simply because of Toshirou? She found herself in front of Dr. Aizen’s office. “Professor.”

The door opened, revealing a disheveled glass-less Aizen. His furrowed brows immediately softened when he saw her. “Hinamori, come in.”

Hinamori hesitated because she didn’t know why she went to his office in the first place and what she wanted to talk about. But she stepped in anyway without further prodding, afraid to disappoint him. “Professor, I-“

“I saw your annotations, and I appreciated the suggestions for calibrations. You made my job much easier, Hinamori. You brought these projects closer to completion at a much earlier date.” He brushed his fingers through his brown hair and sighed contentedly. “But I need you to do one more thing for me. It’s very urgent, and only you can do it.”

Warmth coursed through her body. He trusted her well enough to do this. “Anything for you, Dr. Aizen.”

He quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to her. It was a description of a notebook– plain black cover, velvet finish, coffee-stained surfaces, and the first few pages ripped out. “It’s my long-lost notebook. I’ve searched everywhere, but I cannot find it. Maybe you can look through the libraries.”

“It will be difficult, Professor, given the broad description, but I will not let you down.”

“Of course, Hinamori. I know you too well already. You exceed my expectations. Do find it quickly for our funders. They are expecting me to complete the study over the break.”

“Over the break! That’s short notice, Dr. Aizen. You need to rest!” she complained. Embarrassed of her outburst, she covered her face with her small hands, flushing red at her visible concern towards her mentor. “I mean, please think of your health Sir.”

The brown-haired doctor looked at her incredulously and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I really lucked out with you, Hinamori. Why are you here again? Do you need to tell me something?”

She peeked at him through her fingers but found she can’t return his steady gaze. Straying her eyes to the floor, she requested, “Please deny my membership to the core group, Sir. I want to stay by your side more.” All of her senses were overwhelming her because of his close proximity and the comfortable weight of his large hands on her shoulders. Her emotions may have gone into override when he pulled her into a hug.

“Of course, Hinamori. You’re my one and only precious research assistant.”

She found the notebook the following day in the same library where she and Hitsugaya used to go, conveniently so as it was positioned beside her most borrowed ecology book. It was a tattered piece of document, but the experiment design and the parameters set were the first of their kind. She brought it immediately to Dr. Aizen and suggested to patent it. “You could name the methodology after you, Professor. Or better if it’s a theory – Aizen Laws on Ecological Succession or something.”

“Aren’t you a doll? You always say the most interesting things.”

With the set deadline for this particular study, Hinamori agreed to accompany the professor in a fieldwork on a mountain outside of town for a week. She would be back in time for Baba’s birthday.

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

She didn’t make it back in time. She got stuck with Dr. Aizen for two weeks in the mountain because he needed to repeat his sampling, not that she regretted it. Baba will understand. I expect she’ll be angry for a few days, but I’ll make it up to her. I just missed one birthday after all.

What she didn’t expect was Hitsugaya standing guard under the camphor tree, worried, angry, and defiant at the same time.

“Where the fuck did you go, Momo?”

NEXT CHAPTER | 6 OF 12 | IN RETROSPECT

[polymetis-23]

Diary Entry Sept. 26th, 2021

Day 1 - The hunt begins

I spent most of today working on updates to my hero gear based off the trial runs these past few weeks. First I removed the giant skirt from my costume and replaced it with a utility belt. Sure those might not have been the most iconic thing about steampunk but they tinkered a lot so I'm sure they were around plenty. I hope to make more gadgets as time goes on so this will be a good place to store them. For now it is a simple belt with pockets as found at hardware stores. I know, it's ugly and doesn't really fit and I wish I had time to be proper about it, but with The Eye out there it seems somethings will sadly have to be function over form. 

In addition to adding the tool belt, I have been working on the wrist crossbows (told you I wouldn't forget about them). I've moved them down from the back of my hand to around my wrist and made the bow limbs out of a semi-bendable metal. They work like springs and shoot the dart out fairly fast … or at least that is the current theory, I've really only added the wrist strap, had to finish some homework.

As the sun started to set, it was finally time for me to find The Eye (seriously does anyone have a better name for this person?) I could've sworn I was in a movie. The sky was overcast but no rain and everything seemed eerily quiet. Without a better idea I started from where I last saw them, the eye was still on the wall and it didn't look like anyone had been home in a while, I hope she didn't kill him. Anyway, I wasn't about to break into someone's house because that is illegal so I sat on the roof and surveyed for any mysterious red lights. It may not have been the most efficient way to find them, but hey that red glow is the only thing I have to identify them at the moment, and well the eye. I saw a few flashes over the course of the night, and a few more eyes around the city. Some the crime was obvious, another breakin or general vandalism, but others a dark red eye was just on a wall, nothing around to denote why.

Day 2 - Uh yeah, exams are a thing

    How, might I ask, are we in the third week of classes and I already have a quiz. Like seriously what are we supposed to have learned at this point? Even if they had taught us something, this is the absolute worst time, now I have to spend all day studying and I can't go out tonight. I was getting so close last night to actually catching up to The Eye. Sure I hadn't actually seen them, but I was getting quicker at navigating the city so the time between red flashes and my arrival at a scene was getting less and less, it was only a matter of time until I caught them.

Day 3 - Crossbow work

    The forecast for today is rain, lots of rain all day and I don't really fancy going out and getting soaked or slipping and falling on my butt while hunting for Eye, so I guess today is a design day. It actually works out really well because now I will have the wrist bow ready for when I finally do encounter her. Next thing I need to work on is tranquilizer darts, I don't want to permanently hurt those I bring in, after all I'm not the judge, jury and executioner, I just bring people in to meet justice. 

    After today's tests the bow seems to be great … or at least manageable. I still need to improve the aiming, for some reason the bolts won't group together. And I need to make an automatic reloader attachment, I have plenty of darts held on the cuff, but it would be nice for the system to be semi automatic incase I miss a shot or more probably I am fighting more than one opponent and need to incapacitate them both in quick succession.

Day 4 - The Evil Eye

    Finally a semi-free day. I was able to make a few small adjustments to my weaponry between classes then waited until dark to roam the streets. The clouds from yesterday blew by leaving not a trace and letting the nearly full moon illuminate the streets, although that could also be from light pollution … I guess it is good that I can see and not trip, but I would've liked to be able to see the stars.

    The night started relatively calmly, I was finally getting used to the red haze that settled over the world when I used my goggles. If I ever learn how to actually code, I'll have to write a program to filter out the ambient light, but for now I would just have to let my eyes adjust. I got lucky in my positioning tonight, I hadn't seen any pattern in how The Eye chose their targets so I had decided to sit on a random tall roof top and was rewarded with a beam of red two blocks over. Although I had previously only seen an aura of red indicating The Eye's (this is gonna stick now isn't it?) presence, it wasn't hard to imagine that they had the ability to focus it. 

    I ran across the rooftops, which were thankfully connected, I'll have to figure something out for when they aren't. I guess I could run at street level but that is more crowded and less direct, plus heroes are known for leaping across roofs right? Regardless I soon arrived at where the beam had been and looked for the source. Below me on the street there was a fight going on and sure enough one of the combatants' hands were surrounded by an aura of red. Upon closer observation I was shocked to find out this wasn't a fight, it was a beating. The man The Eye was 'fighting' was just laying on the ground not even trying to defend themselves. It was clear to anyone watching that the fight was over and didn't need to be continued so why was The Eye still there? I called 911  and reported the situation so her victim could get some help. I doubted they would be moving by themselves any time soon. 

    After placing the call I turned my attention back to the street to apprehend The Eye myself, but they were already gone, an eye left on the ground above the injured man's head. I could already hear the sirens of the ambulance and knew he would be okay. I waited until the paramedics started treating him, then left. I spent the rest of the night searching for another sighting of The Eye to bring them in, but they seemed to have gone silent for the moment. I suppose I will have to try again tomorrow now that I had seen they were not only bad, they were straight up evil. Attacking someone for no reason at all.

Day 5 - The Conversation

    So classes were normal today and nothing special happened except well, I finally got to talk with the eye. I went out a little earlier than I usually did planning on scoping out some of the roofs on campus. Although I was currently preoccupied taking down The Eye who seemed to operate across the river, I knew I would be coming back to stop crime on campus eventually. There is a really nice iconic roof space above the main lobby of campus where I was planning to start. Up there you can see all around campus, sure it wasn't the tallest building, but it did have a great view.

    Anyway, I was up there planning to see what was what and keeping an eye out for any red flashes in the city when from behind I heard:

    "I thought they blocked off all entrances to the roof" they had, I have just been practicing picking locks. Yes I know that skill is rarely used for anything good, but sometimes it can come in handy, like tonight with the door

    I turned around expecting to see some other student, while it wasn't a common hang out spot, people definitely still came up here. Instead I was confronted with The Eye herself, what was she doing on this side of the river and at my school no less. Of course I immediately confronted her about her illegal activities and she scoffed at me. I mean she literally scoffed and called me naive, how am I naive when I saw her commit those crimes? Like seriously? It quickly became apparent that she wasn't remorseful at all and needed to be brought in. We had a brief altercation which I definitely nearly won if she hadn't taken a cheap shot and knocked me on my butt I would've had her. As it was I landed with a loud smack and was slightly dazed. The only sound I heard was "stay down, this isn't the world for you" When I got my bearings again, she was gone and I was alone on the roof. 

    I layed back down and stared at the sky. This is going to take more work than I thought, but I'm sure it can't be that much more.

Day 6 - A day to relax

    Not much happened today, I ended up sleeping through my alarm which I guess is a natural consequence of staying up into the early hours of the night every day for a week. I did my laundry, bought a few groceries and sloughed through some homework and … that was about it.

Day 7 - Coding is still the worst

    So I have a problem set due for my coding class and I swear this class should be worth twice the amount of credit listed on the syllabus based on how long it takes me to write a 'simple' program. I guess I am learning some things because I can follow the code examples given in class, but I definitely can't recreate them. I'm gonna need to find another way to code my goggles or get someone to do it for me. Superheroes have a man in the chair right?

    I eventually got the problem set turned in and started to draft ideas for the semi-automatic wristbow, still very rudimentary though.

[detroitbydark]

Crossed Connections: Part II

Characters: Tech x Togruta!Reader 

Warnings: None

Summary: Everyone experiences exhaustion. Some handle it differently than others.

You can read the first part here

Tech swore he’d seen something as the transport had skimmed the tree line in an attempt to cruise under Separatist radar. A dark shape, springing from through the deep red treetops, attempting to keep up with the Havoc Marauder. 

That’s how Hunter found himself an unwilling student to Tech’s lecture on Anaxes’ native fauna.

“Did you know fyrnocks typically roost in tree canopies? They’re almost entirely nocturnal and are incredibly light sensitive but they don’t sleep underground.”

Hunter nods vacantly, knowing that once Tech started on a topic it was best to let it run its course. Wrecker and Crosshair were both asleep in the cargo bay. It was upto one of them to keep their brain occupied while his battery wore down. 

Even exhausted, Tech’s mind never seemed to slow, jumping from one topic to the next. Exhaustion only seemed to bring to surface the more obscure things he fixated on. At least he wasn’t focusing on languages this go around. 

Last mission Wrecker sat with him for over two hours as he’d slipped in and out of Shyriiwook. Wrecker, never to be confused with an intellectual, had smiled and nodded to his young vod before he’d finally burned through enough energy to pass out over the ships console.

“It’s thought that the species as a whole springs from a single mother entity.” Tech looks up to see if Hunter was still listening “it’s all very fascinating.”

Tech types away at the small datapad secured to his vambrace. “There’s even some chatter about them being linked to the dark side of the Force. Can you imagine? I mean, from what I understand of the Force-“

“Tech” Hunter interrupts gruffly “save it until after debrief with Commander Cody?”

With a flip of the wrist, the younger clone closes the pad. “Of course Sarge, just thought it was interesting” 

“It is but we’re all running on fumes at this point. Not sure any of it is sinking in.” He taps at his temple and Tech nods.

“Understood.”

“Plus, we’re only a few klicks away from base and I need you to organize your part of the debrief.”

Tech nods before flipping the datapad back open and beginning to splice together the data he’d collected during recon.

------

You’ve been on Anaxes for two weeks. It still felt foreign, sleeping in the depths of the caverns the base had been built in and around was seriously beginning to mess with your internal clock. No windows to show you night or day, no warming from the sun or cooling as twin moons rose into the sky. You’d never been so thankful for your chronometer. It was hard to sleep as you adjusted to the new environment. While it left you exhausted you also had yet to be late for your shifts already up before you chrono had to wake you. You’d consider it a win.

You were weary of seeing clones on the edge of death, mangled and passed off to you like they were no more than broken droids, only their brothers and a few of the generals seeming to worry about their well being. It wasn’t right. You’re heart hurt and while the other staff had either their clone brothers or other civilians to cling to you seemed to be left to your own devices, as if everyone else could just sense that you weren’t like them. Like on Kiros.

Your people believed only the strong survived. If you couldn’t keep up the Togruta left you behind. Your belief in the value of life made you an outsider within your own tribe. You believed life needn’t validate itself to matter. Simply existing in the first place gave it meaning.

It was a highly unpopular opinion.

The sheer number of casualties you saw roll in daily was another change from your post on Coruscant. Generally, by the time you’d seen the troopers there they’d been stabilized and needed supportive care. Anaxes brought you the worst of the worst straight from the front lines. The GAR was taking mass losses, entire squads destroyed in the blink of an eye without warning. You’d lost count of the number of Clones who’d taken their last breath in your presence. You’d never experienced anything like it on Coruscant and your training had done nothing to truly prepare you for the crushing feeling each loss brought to you and the rest of the medical staff.

You swish your mug around before bring it to your lips taking another swallow of caf. It had gone cold long ago, forgotten when the last emergency had rolled through the doors. You fantasized about a hot mug of it to soothe your throat. You kept up a steady stream of talk when you worked.  Your patients always knew exactly what you were doing and your colleagues knew exactly what you were seeing. You’d heard some other medics comment on how annoying it was but you were never going to be accused of not communicating effectively, not when troopers lives could depend on it.

 A side effect of hours of talking were often a scratchy, dry throat and a hoarseness that silenced you for the rest of the day. It was ok. Outside of the medbay you were never really sure what to say. Your confidence in your professional skill did not cross over to personal affairs. 

“Y/N?” It was one of the clone medics, Kix, from the 501st. He was amiable enough and seemed easy to get along with the few times you’d worked together.

The empty mug was set aside, to be forgotten till a later time when desperation drove you to more of the swamp water that sat bubbling bitterly in the break room.

“I’ve got a squad coming in off a recon run. They’re due for a once over so the powers that be are going to send them down after debrief.” Kix looked on edge as he spoke and you cocked your head trying to figure out what he was saying between the lines.

“You want me to do it?” You knew how to do what he was asking, you just weren’t sure why he was asking you of all people.

“Uh, the boys in 99 don’t much care for other clones.”

That was a new one.

“I can do it Kix” you nod reassuringly. “Don’t worry, ok?” A knot was beginning to tangle in your stomach. You brush off the feeling and try to give the clone your most reassuring smile. 

Clones that didn’t like other clones? You hadn’t heard of such a thing outside of the Coruscant Guard. 

Those guys were dicks.

Kix seems relieved, running a hand over his face roughly “I owe you. I’ll have them sent over to Exam 3 when they’re done?”

“Make it 5” you correct “they’re still getting blood off the floor in 3 and 4”

-----

Crosshair is spitting mad by the time The Bad Batch is dismissed from Cody’s debrief and Tech can’t figure out why. He just had to acknowledge that  pissed off was simply the sniper’s default setting. Tech figures he’s mad no one was willing to take the bait and give him the fight he was looking for.

To his left Hunter seemed as relaxed as Hunter could be, ever vigilant eyes scanning the halls as they traveled. 

Per usual, Wrecker was all smiles (if maybe slightly menacing ones) as they entered the lift down to medical.

Tech was pleased. He’d been told the intel would be useful. No one had insulted anyone. No punches had been thrown. It all seemed pretty good as far as he was concerned. All they had to do now was do a quick medical check and they were good to go for at least a solid day of rest before their next assignment. he falls in behind the others while they queued into a single file in front of him, each dipping into the room in turn for their scan. Hunter is in and out before Tech can blink, same for Crosshair. 

Wrecker was never the best behaved for the medical staff. He just didn't like medical. Tech couldn't blame him.  Hunter and Crosshair wait for a few minutes, making sure they weren’t needed to calm the big man down, before the excuse themselves to the small barracks the four of them called home.

Tech uses the wait to browse the holonet for anything that might pique his curiosity and bookmarks a couple things to look into once he could crawl into his rack.

When Wrecker pops out of the exam room with a sucker tucked into his cheek some twenty minutes later without any shouting following him, Tech takes notice.

“It’s stormfruit, man” Wrecker hums around the sucker “I like this one” He tips his head back toward the exam room as one big mitt cuffs Tech on the shoulder, knocking him back a step as he passes by. 

Tech doesn’t bother to take his helmet off when a bright voice calls “Next!” 

He’s greeted by the sight of a dimpled Togruta smiling up at him from her spot on a stool.

“Hey you must be…” she glances quickly at her datapad resting on her crossed knee “Tech?”

The voice is exceedingly familiar but he doesn’t know the face as she motions to the table. His feet stutter step as he moves further in the exam room, taking a seat on the table the composite of his armor clanks loudly. 

“Long day?” The medic asks and he nods, eyes narrowed as he rifles though his mental files. He knew that voice.

“You're not gonna give me trouble like the last one, right?” She starts, “it took me half a dozen lollys to convince him to let me scan him. I’m starting to think he played me, ya know?”

He nods again.

“You don’t talk much do you? Nexu got your tongue?”

Tech huffs quietly, flipping his visor up to view her without the incandescent screen in the way.

“I think you're the only person that’s ever said that.” He chuckles.

She beams at him, squinting and searching his face.

“Yeah? I won’t complain about being your first.” She teases before her cheeks, already a rich color, flush brightly. When she smiles nervously he sees the quick pearly flash of her incisors. He liked the way she smiled at him. It makes his stomach flip in a vaguely familiar way.

That’s when the data points come together. The realization hits him.

He’d often wondered what Grutababy looked like, curiosity only reaching a fever pitch after their conversation on the comms. He’d lay awake at night, while his brothers slept and try to piece together what she might look like, cursing himself for never once asking for a picture. 

His mind would run through the many sentient species he was familiar with as he’d try to place the voice from their lone conversation to it it had become a game. Twi’lek, Mirialan, human… Togruta?

It makes sense now, her profile name. Grutababy. Really it shouldn’t have taken a genius level IQ to figure that out. 

He watches her lekku sway gently as she moves through the room. Her skin, somewhere between red and pink, reminds him of a sunset he’d once seen on an outer rim planet, the name of which he’s since forgotten. 

The white markings of her people cross from one temple to the other, circling her eye like a mask. Others travel in soft swooping lines from the outer corners of her eyes down, crossing at plump lips and fading out at her chin. A small diamond shaped mark rests above each brow. 

Her eyes are a pale, icy blue. The overall effect is… stunning. 

She was more beautiful than he could have ever imagined (and he’d tried).

“This may sound weird-” she hums” her fingers fumble for her scanner, nearly dropping it off the counter. Frowning, she taps it against the heel of her palm when it refuses to turn on.

Once. 

Twice.

Three times.

Tech winces, wants to tell her that there was no evidence that treating a device like that would make it work. On the contrary it would often-

The scanner buzzes to life and a triumphant smile lights her features.

“Like, I was saying, it may sound weird. I just get the feeling….”

Tech swallows hard.

She lets out a nervous laugh and waves it off, “Nevermind, ignore me. Not enough sleep or caf and I’m imagining things”

Something akin to disappointment filters through his chest as she rubs the back of a montrail nervously. He wonders if he should tell her? She interrupts his train of thought with a deep breath and the moment has passed. She's all business now as she adjusts the scanner in her grip.

“So Trooper, how about we get your scan done and you can go get the sleep that I’m not.” 

[hpdabbles]

So i just found your Hufflepuff Draco fic and it’s amazing!!! I love it so much!!! I really hope you continue it because it is truly marvelous to read!!!

Draco’s parents pull him out of Hogwarts for a few days to recover properly from his encounter with the troll. Not that he really needs to do so but his father won’t hear anything otherwise and the man has enough leverage in the Education Board to make it happen.

With a whirlwind of “fix your security before I fix you a new job Headmaster!” and dozen of papers to sign for his excused absents including having his professors agree to send him any missed work via owl, the Malfoys leave the castle well into the next day.

The Golden Trio plus the older Weasleys promise to send him owls as well. His father pulled a not-so face- like he’s bitting back a grimace- when he saw his visitors and his mother had tightened her jaw but neither said anything. 

Maybe it had something to do with the heavy stare Draco was directing at them all but daring them to oppose his acquaintances.

He’s then taken home, where they proceeded to pamper him near to death. He’s told to not worry about school, not worry about any social events and to pretty much take is nice and slow. The Hufflepuff is all but ordered to remain in bed as if though he would drop dead at any second. Draco would have enjoyed it a lot more if his parents weren’t hovering around every corner.

“Draco darling. Would you like the house elves to bring you more pillows? More blankets?” His mother asked as Draco stared at the actual nest of bedding built around him.  He had no idea they own these many pillows. 

“No mother it’s fine”

“Son. Don’t strain yourself walking downstairs. I will have a house-elf bring up your meals instead.”  His father said after seeing Draco in the hallway. He put a gentle but firm hand on his back to steer him into his bedroom once more.

“I thought eating upstairs was against the rules? Besides father I’m fine. I can walk down the stairs.”  

“Nonsense. You’re hurt.”

“Draco darling. What are you doing?” Narcissa asked

“Um reading my class assignments? I’ve missed three days already.”

“You should be resting not worrying about something as silly as class assignments! Now, come, it’s time for bed.”

“Mother it’s barely six in the afternoon!” Draco protested trying really hard not to pull his own hair out.

“A growing young wizard needs plenty of rest. Especially after such a traumatizing event.”

“I’m not traumatized!”

 What is wrong with them? They have never been this protective. The first time around the two had been more than thrilled to sign on to a madman campaigning for genocide and hadn’t batted an eye when he had join said madman at age sixteen.

No something else change. Something drastic, something that affects the family. Draco just couldn’t figure out what that was. 

He highly doubts his sorting resulted in this kind of behavior, in fact, he was all but sure it would have done the opposite effect. Since it’s the only thing he’s changed that could have influenced his parents - making conversation with his classmates and being a glorified babysitter at his boarding school shouldn’t have done anything to him-  he couldn’t see what had happened.

Another strange change is the number of letters he receives. Draco was many things but well-liked wasn’t one of them. Yet he found a pile of envelopes and packages stacked on his bedside table by Dobby. The majority are from the students he helped since arriving, the ones who had earned him the Nicest  First Year Wizard title, all wishing get wells and we miss yous, a few even coming with some candy and pictures. 

It made him feel sort of guilty. Draco didn’t remember half of their names not having clocked them as too important.

The oddest letters, however, are from various aristocratic pureblood families who have somehow gotten wind of his injuries and had sent him gifts along with proper wishing you will in these hard times cards. They were acting like Draco was terribly ill, which was a little mind blogging. He only got hit by a troll! A few broken bones and a bruised ego wasn’t something to worry them so much like this.

His parents didn’t want him returning to Hogwarts despite his injuries had healed well over and him almost missing a month and half of the classes. If this keeps up he wouldn’t need to go since the winter holidays would just send turn right back around. 

Draco was getting fed up with the babying, the new rules his parents had instilled to not “exhaust his body too much” and the diet they had put him on was nearly nothing but greens and milk.

Milk!

Draco didn’t even like milk! 

It was reaching ridiculous levels. A time-traveling man couldn't even go for a walk in his own garden with his peacocks without his parents' nervous fretting. Slowly but surely he was being confined in his room. 

Draco had hoped the various healers his parents had brought over the last few weeks to do “tests and examinations” would have told them to calm the hell down but instead each one only worried his parents more.

He has been to St. Mungo’s much more then he thinks any time in his life, all to do further tests. What were they looking for? Draco was perfectly healthy, and he really just wanted to get out of the mansion!

Luckily daily letters with Potter were keeping his cabin fever down. The boy never failed to send him a letter each morning about the previous day and things he missed, surprising very well detail and good storytelling in his writing for someone his age.

Then one day, exactly two weeks before Chrismas - he was going to fail his first year. He was totally going to be the first Malfoy to be held back in the first year!- that a specialist healer arrived. 

He waved his wand over Draco, doing some quick spells before stepping out with his parents into the hall. There were a few muffled voices, a sound that he thought meant one of his parents were crying, most likely his mother before all three came back in. 

Both his parents were sporting watery eyes but only his mother allowed them to silently roll down her face. 

The Hufflepuff took one look at them before decided he could finish reading his newest stacks of owls another time.

Putting down Potter’s letter, which was describing how he somehow weaseled his way into the Quidditch team again, he gave the other adults his full attention. How that was possible without him being there to taunt the boy into flying after Longbottom’s remembrall made his head spin even if Potter gave the reason. It was ironic that one of Longbottom’s own house members took to throwing his little toy around. Poor kid couldn’t catch a break, could he?

“Mr. Malfoy, we need to tell you something very important.” The Healer, Springmist, started looking both gentle and professional. His mother went around the bed to hold his hand which greatly alarmed him.  

“Okay? What is it?” He asked when the room decided into a somber silence.

“Mr. Malfoy. Have you recently notice that your magic has been acting differently?” Springmist ask.

“No, sir I haven’t. Why?”

His father made a small choking noise and when Draco turns to look at him the other man quickly wipes away some stray tears before offering his startled son a wet smile.

“Nothing at all? No pain, or fatigue when casting spells? Have you experienced any hardship in moving about? Any trouble breathing, seeing, or hearing? ” Healer Springmist quickly regains his attention even if he just wants to ask his father what in the world was wrong.  

“No, sir. I already said this before. I feel fine.”  A bit of irritation leaked into his voice but he was sick and tired of the same questions being asked of him by so many Healers already.  “The troll barely even touched me.”

“Yes. It barely did. You were quite brave to help defend your friends like.”  Draco does not like the slightly patronizing way Springmist said that. Talking down to him as if though he is a child- oh wait.  “But it’s my professional advice that you never ever do something like that again. Your body can’t handle it.”

“I’m certainly not going to make a habit of fighting trolls sir. I do want to live, you know.”

At that, his mother let out one pain gasp. She gave his hand a squeeze but shook her head when Draco raised a quibble brow at her. His father came to his other side, bringing the startled Hufflepuff into a tight one arm hug. The man was never one to show such open emotions, at least not without a trusted company but he didn’t seem to want to remove his nose from Draco’s hair nor lessen his strong grip.

This springs his mother to join the hug and together they squeeze him between them, choking on sobs. Over the smell of expensive perfume and warm limbs, Draco sends the Healer a desperate look.  What in the world is happening!?

The Healer’s face clouded over in sorrow briefly before he took a deep breath and then he drops the strongest stunner on Draco’s head. Holding out a piece of parchment he says in a perfectly gentle tone. “Mr. Malfoy I’m terribly sorry to say this, but you have tested positive for MDC.”

“What?”

“MDC stands for Magical Decaying Core. It happens when someone core suddenly starts producing too much magic or not enough and begins to rot away at the body.” Springmist continues “It’s a slow process and there are treatments to help control-”

He is cut off by Draco getting out of his parents’ hold to rip the parchment put of his hands desperately. The boy’s eyes run over the words quickly, only half understanding the various results and healer notes but almost all of them agree that his magic production had jump drastically. The first stages of MDC.

But this can’t be! Draco hadn’t had it before, nor was there a history of it in his family. At least not the Malfoy side, he wasn’t so sure about the Blacks. Still, MDC wasn’t a laughing matter, it was one of the most painful ways a wizard could go.

It trapped the person in their own decaying body, robbing them of their ability to breathe on their own, or taking some of the senses like sight or hearing. Treatments was available but it only delayed the inevitable. Once someone had MDC they on average only had five years left, three if one didn’t count the last two which robbed the person of basic body functions. 

Was this a side effect of the ritual? Was that why no one attempted to time travel even though the secret was store away in Black Forrbbin Family Vault? 

Dammit, Potter what did you do to me!?

“Draco darling?” His mother says watching him with sad eyes as he read over the Healers report again and again. He could barely hear her over the ringing in his eyes. MDC. They thought he had MDC? 

Suddenly his eyes fell on a chart. Next to it, there were numbers that indicated the healthy amount of wizards of different ages should be showing. 

It graphed his magic production, and Draco felt a crashing wave of relief when he realizes the date his magic started to act differently. September 1st. The first spike.

The day he arrived. He was producing the magic of a full-grown adult but not because of MDC. Oh, thank Merlin!

He wobbled in place the ripples of relief still effecting his body but his father was quick to hold him up, one large warm hand on his tiny back and the other on his arm.  “Draco? Son? Do you need to lay down?”

“No. No. I’m fine! Really look! My magic only change on September first! That’s the day I went on the Hogwarts Express!” He breathes looking up at them happily. 

Springmist looked slightly heartbroken for him. “I’m afraid starting magical classes don’t cause this much of a-”

“No. I meant it’s the day I time traveled! I’m fine! Perfectly fine. Well despite being stuck in this body but trust me, I’m perfectly healthy!”  He gushes momentarily forgetting he shouldn’t have told them this. He’s not thinking too clearly, because he just avoided one to worst ways to go and he thinks he deserves spilling a secret like this in his emotional state.

 It’s not like Draco wanted to stay alive per-say but he didn’t want to go out painfully either. 

“Oh, Draco.” His mother whispers hugging him to her chest. She’s crying loudly again and even his father is sobbing openly. Healer Springmist is polite to not comment but he seems heartbroken completely now “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Darling, my little boy, I’m so sorry”

“Mother it’s okay. I’m fine!”

“Son, my dragon, I understand this is hard to accept.” Father starts joining their hug, chocking on his words as the Healer tells them he’ll go outside to give the family a few minutes. No one really pays attention when he slips into the hallway. “We’ll get through this together I swear it.”

They don’t believe him!?  

“Guys really I’m a time traveler! I’m actually twenty-five! I was working on my Magic History Thesis paper for my Spell Creation and Study degree before I came here.  Harry Potter sent me back!”

“Harry Potter?” His father says. He looks over at the pile of letters that all have Potter’s terrible penmanship but delightful stories rested. His father’s blue eyes, nothing like the silver Draco and his mother sported look down at him, searching his face for something and seeming to break what was left of the man’s heart after finding it.  “We can invite Potter here for the summer, love. I- I want you to experience whatever you can while you have time”

“What?”

“Lucius!” 

“I meant time in Hogwarts Narcissa!”

His mother presses her lips tight together but she nods eagerly when Draco looks at her with wild eyes. “You’re father’s right darling. We can invite that nice handsome young man over. If it will make you happy.”

“Mother what-?”

“In fact, we can send him an invitation for him to spend the Winter Holidays here! We’ll set up some nice mistletoes too.” She says with forced cheer. It’s painful to watch. And what does she mean mistletoes!?

“A splendid idea Narcissa. I’ll have the finest mistletoes shipped in at once.” Father is quick to say then he wipes some tears away as he attempts a smile. “We’ll make you look irresistible when he arrives. That boy won’t know what hit him.”

Wait. Wait. Were they trying to hook him up with Potter!? EEEEEW.

“Mother, Father,  seriously I’m a time-traveler! And I don’t like Potter that way!”

“We’ll get through this together son.”

“You’re not listening to me!”

[seminalstudy]

Hi everyone! I’m currently in the process of transferring to a new university and one of the biggest parts of that has been planning out and scheduling which classes to take my first semester, in hopes that I can graduate at the same time as people my age :’) As someone who’s planned how to graduate in three years not once but twice now, I figured I could share my experience and/or advice with anyone looking to maximize their college academics!

1. Establish a timeline: Ask yourself how many years you’re giving yourself to complete your degree as this will help you figure out how heavy your course loads will have to be to graduate at your expected time (this could be anywhere from 2 years to 5 or more). At my first college, I planned to graduate in three years in order to save money and because the school had easier academics, so I was confident I could handle the extra work. My new plan to graduate in three years is so I can graduate with other students my age, set your goal!

2. Now that you’ve established a broad timeline, it’s time to start looking at potential majors/minors and career tracks: Hopefully, this is something you’ve started looking at before applying to college, but don’t worry - it’s not too late! As someone going into college with the knowledge that I’d be taking out max loans each year, I tried to figure out what I wanted to do early on so I could maximize my credits ie take as many required classes as possible and not ‘waste’ credits on classes that wouldn’t really contribute to my degree (ofc I ended up changing my mind 3/4 of the way thru the year but that’s life). I narrowed my options down to 3 or 4 majors and managed to eliminate 2 of them pretty early on.

3. With at least one track in mind, research all the requirements to earn a degree in that area: Universities often have “general education requirements” regardless of your major, so you take classes in multiple disciplines and broaden your perspective. Course catalogs/general bulletins/college websites are where you can find info about your gen-eds and major-specific required courses. It’s really helpful to map this out by hand or in a spreadsheet program (I did it both by hand and with Excel to stay uber-organized). This is also where you can narrow down the majors you’re interested in by looking at the required courses and course descriptions. I considered a Data Analytics major early on, but after seeing how much coding was required (not a strong suit or interest for me) I could comfortably eliminate it.

4. Reach out to your advisor/navigator/registrar to clarify any questions: If you’re confused by any of the requirements for your major/gen-eds, talk to someone at the university. I feel bad for the numerous advisors I’ve had because I pestered them with questions so I could have a complete understanding of everything - it really helps in the scheduling process and I’ve never had a staff or faculty member be irritated by the questions - they love to help (plus it shows initiative and starts forming connections which is A+). Seriously, reach out if you’re confused, don’t just sit in the dark!

5. Map out required courses and pre-requisites: This is where Excel or Google Sheets can be your best friend - they make it really easy to keep track of what needs to be taken when. Some courses require a certain academic standing (sophomore, junior, senior) for you to take them, others require you to take several classes before you can register for it. Certain progressions of classes can really limit what your schedule looks like, so this step is incredibly important (and somewhat time-consuming).  

6. Generate a slightly less vague timeline: Based on pre-requisites and required class standings, begin to assign classes to fall and spring semesters. Let’s say you have to complete a senior capstone in order to graduate, and you can only take it senior year, write it into the timeline. Maybe you need to take Math123 and Math124 for your major, but Math124 requires you to complete Math123 first. Place 123 into a semester and 124 in the semester following that. This doesn’t have to be exact, but it’s good to be aware of what your future schedule will look like, and what classes you need to take sooner rather than later (this is also time-consuming because you’ll find numerous variations in potential schedules). 

7. Determine the courseload you’ll need to take: Some people luck out and have lots of AP/IB or like credits that will transfer into real college credit, helping to eliminate the number of classes you have to take (I was not such a person). You’ll generally receive a credit evaluation during the summer before the first semester so you can plan accordingly. Most advisors recommend taking 15-17 credits, but if you need to take more so you can graduate faster or less so you’re not overwhelmed, do what you need. I ended up taking the max credits allowed then over that, but that’s only because I was pushing so hard to graduate faster. This kind of ties into the last step, but you also need to evaluate your personal strengths and weaknesses.

8. Determine the courses that will maximize your first semester: Fun fact, your major requirements can often double-dip and count for your general education requirements too! Look at the pre-reqs for your higher-level classes and try to choose those that will open up the most classes, see which of your major required classes could count for gen-eds, such as humanities or science courses. If you’re between a few majors, look for classes that a required for them. For me, I was between a Business Administration or Sustainable Business major, so many of the requirements were the same. I took classes that could count for both, but if I wanted to go one way or the other, I wouldn’t be screwed over.

9. Try to balance the courses you NEED to take with those you WANT to take: I’m a humanities kind of gal (science has not been mon ami in the past) but both of my colleges require science and math classes. So, when I have to take a math and science course simultaneously, I try to add in some of the subjects I’m stronger in (history, english, etc) so that my GPA wouldn’t die. If you’re fortunate enough that affording college isn’t a concern, I’d personally say take as many courses that interest you as possible, but when financing a higher level education is more of an issue, complete your requirements but leave some space to explore your interests.

10. With a handful of courses in mind, look at actually scheduling your classes: With online registration, you can generally look at which classes are full, what times are available, etc. Are you really, definitely, for sure a morning person who can handle that 8am? Do you need a definite break for lunch? Will you be more productive in the mornings or evenings? Are there multiple profs for the class and does one have better ratings than the other? (ratemyprofessor.com is a lifesaver) Is there enough time outside of class to study/do extracurriculars/have a social life? Sometimes you’ll really need to take a class and it’ll be at some ungodly hour, but sometimes you gotta suck it up. Try not to overload one day with classes and make sure there’s enough time between classes to get to your next class, especially if your school has a large campus. This part is really based on personal preference, so enjoy it!

11. Give yourself time to do all of this: Especially for a first-year college student, there’s a lot already happening, and the opportunities are endless. It takes a lot of time to thoroughly research. This is a big process if you really care about being organized, and it can set you up for great success in college! All of these steps are really tied together but you’ll need more than one day (I took several weeks lol) to plan out a college career.

12. It gets easier: After doing this for just two semesters, I was much more comfortable making these big choices. For my new university, I managed to accomplish this in only a few days, but I was already familiar with the major I’m pursuing and how to lay everything out. For those of you continuing in college, consider mapping our the rest of your time if you haven’t already, and keep track of the courses you’ve taken and still need to take! This way, you won’t be thrown any loops when graduation comes.

Disclaimer: This advice is based purely off my own U.S. college experience which is undoubtedly very different from others! Ultimately, pursuing a higher-level education is your own personal journey, and do what you need to do to find success, this is just me trying to help out others!

If you have any questions about any of this, want to talk scheduling with me, or see my schedule planning notes and spreadsheets, just message me, I’m always willing to talk and even more willing to make friends!

-B

[iwroteinapastlife]

Artist

It’s @chlonathweek day 5 and we gettin angsty up in here~

***

“No, Chloé. Since Sabrina will be out of town for the rest of the week, you’ll have to pick a different partner for the art project.”

When he was six years old, Nathaniel’s mother had told him that life was about opportunities. Every moment was an opportunity, from the greatest of life’s changes to the smallest of life’s details. Every moment was a choice—a choice of stay or go, a choice of start or stop, a choice of do or don’t. Every choice had its consequences and it was on those consequences that human lives were decided. On those consequences that opportunities were taken.

And it was a simple fact of life, she had told him, that the consequences unknown, the opportunities left untaken, were the ones he would dwell on the most.

Perhaps it was the thought that he was sick of dwelling that brought Nathaniel to take the opportunity presented before him. That brought Nathaniel to raise his hand.

“I’ll do it.”

A general level of friendly chatter had sprouted in the class as students had begun discussing project plans, but conversation eased to halt then. He knew every set of eyes in the room was on him. His eyes were only focused on one.

“No,” she immediately said. She addressed the teacher, but those cold eyes never left him. “Madame Bustier, I’d prefer to do the project on my own.”

He tried not to let his fear show. He tried not to run from that soul-shaking gaze.

“Chloé, that would leave Nathaniel without a partner too. Plus, working with the class artist will be beneficial to your art grade.” In his peripheral, he saw Madame Bustier wave him forward. “Thank you for volunteering, Nathaniel. You can come sit next to Chloé for the rest of class.”

The twitch of her jaw. A look like murder. Then eye contact was broken and in just that split second before she turned to face forward again, Nathaniel swore he saw something more. Something painful.

If he did, it was hidden again by the time he was sitting down next to her. The rest of the class went on with their discussions, though he didn’t miss the glances of Marinette and Nino as they not-so-subtly spectated.

“What the fuck are you doing, Kurtzberg?” Chloé immediately snapped. “What do you want?”

“What’s the matter, Chloé?” he asked absently as he opened his sketch book to a new page. “I thought you’d be happy to have a partner who can do all the work for you.”

Wait. Shit. The words had slipped out almost as if reflex—fighting fire with fire. Except in this case, it was more like fighting a candle with a flamethrower.

Her jaw fell slightly ajar and her brows pinched together in fury. Her eyes though; swimming in her eyes was a splash of genuine hurt.

Chloé pressed her lips together and looked away without another word. She began gathering her supplies and throwing them in her purse. Guilt was an immediate led weight in his stomach and he knew that in his head, he would be kicking himself for many years to come for being rude to his fucking soulmate. Especially when he was actively trying to get closer to her.

“Wait, Chloé, I’m sorry.” He set his hand on her notebook just as she was reaching for it and that fed up look was on him again.

“Look, I don’t know why you wanted to be my partner and I don’t care. You’re right. You can do the project by yourself.” Even though he wasn’t holding the notebook hostage, she made a point to yank it out from under his hand. A moment later, she stood up and the school bell followed her out the door as if on cue.

He scrambled to grab his stuff and rushed out after her. She had a naturally fast walking pace, but she was definitely going faster than usual. “Chloé, wait!” She had already managed to make it to the school’s front door when he caught up to her. “Chloé!”

“Leave me alone, Kurtzberg,” she spat, still not slowing down.

“Wait!” He caught her wrist and the tips of his fingers met the exact mark that had started this all.

She spun to face him. “What!?”

He didn’t let go. He didn’t move. He was paralyzed under that icy gaze and he didn’t think this far and he didn’t know what to say but he needed to say something and, “The first time I ever spoke to you was when I defended Marinette’s floral design against you,” he blurted.

The worst possible combination of confusion and irritation. “So??”

“So…” His heart slammed against the inside walls of his chest and he knew he couldn’t turn back now. “That exact design is tattooed on the back of my left shoulder.”

At first, there was no change in her expression. It was as if her entire being had come to a screeching halt and the only thing her body knew to do was keep breathing. Then the wrinkles in her forehead softened the slightest bit as understanding took confusion’s place. Irritation, however, remained steady.

“Okay, and?”

He blinked. “And? Chloé, we’re—,”

“Soulmates?” she cut him off. “Yeah, I know. Newsflash, Kurtzberg,” she slipped from his grasp and held up her hand, putting his signature on display, “Your art gets spread around the school like wildfire. I’ve known for years.”

Years.

“Why didn’t you—?”

“Tell you? Are you serious? How was I supposed to tell you when you hated me from the start? When I had to watch you date someone else for two years, call someone else your soulmate for two fucking years? How was I supposed to tell you!?”

That cold fury didn’t budge, but now that hint of hurt he had seen earlier was as present as the guilt weighing heavy in his chest. Seeing her then, an avalanche of understanding came crashing down over his head. He doubted the pain he could clearly see now was even half of what she’d been holding inside. He didn’t know. He had no idea. This whole time, his soulmate was in pain because of him and he didn’t know.

“I… I’m sorry,” was all he could think to say but God that didn’t even begin to cover it.

“Yeah,” she said flatly. “Me too.”

With that, she turned to leave, and again, Nathaniel caught her wrist. Heaving a tired sigh of frustration, she faced him once again. “What do you want, Nathaniel?”

He didn’t know, if he was being honest.

In this moment, he wasn’t in love with her. He wasn’t desperately hoping to kiss her, nor did her clear displeasure with his presence make his heart break. His pulse didn’t spike from a look alone and his name on her tongue sounded no different from any other. She was beautiful—he would have to be blind not to see that—but he didn’t find himself sneaking peaks at her during class nor filling his sketchbook with her visage. When he woke in the morning, his first thought wasn’t of her and he didn’t see her face behind closed eyes when he lay down at night.

He didn’t know her favorite color or her favorite song. He couldn’t tell you what her pet peeves were or what tiny joys she found in life. He had no idea if she preferred the books or the movies, the comics or the show. He couldn’t possibly guess what seemingly harmless topic would spark a 10 minute rant, or what activities she secretly loved that she never wanted anyone to know. Did she like pineapple on pizza? Sprinkles on ice cream? Could she walk somewhere without listening to music? Did she take a water bottle with her everywhere? Chapstick? Lip gloss? Did she prefer writing with pen or pencil? Blue or black ink? Coffee or tea? Hot or iced?

He didn’t know. Chloé Bourgeois was, for all intents and purposes, a total and complete stranger. He didn’t even know if she was human.

“I want to know you,” he finally said.

“Why?”

She was listening. Giving him a chance. The anger was fading from her tone and though she sounded tired, for the first time since he saw her tattoo, he felt he might actually have a chance. An opportunity.

His grip on her wrist tightened the slightest bit, as if afraid that if he let go, she would leave and that opportunity would be lost forever. “Because I don’t know about you, but I know that it would be the biggest regret of my life if I never even tried to get to know my soulmate.”

The slight brightening of her eyes. The tiny intake of breath. It was subtle, almost nonexistent, but he didn’t miss it. The reaction to him calling her his soulmate.

“But you hate me,” she argued. He could hear her desire to fight subsiding with every word. “Don’t try to tell me that you don’t, because we both know that isn’t true.”

“Yeah,” he admitted, “I do.” His first impression of her had been awful and what he’d learned from Marinette after that had only made it worse. She was a bully, she was selfish, and with her father being the mayor and the richest man in Paris, she was also untouchable. He had never thought to look any deeper than that, because that was all the reason he’d needed to dislike her. But if she was his soulmate…

He shrugged, giving her the smallest of smiles. “And I’m clearly wrong.”

Chloé didn’t say anything. She stood there, looking back and forth between his eyes with an expression that he could only describe as exhausted and unsure. Eventually, her gaze dropped to where he still held her wrist.

With one last reluctant squeeze, he released her. She cradled the wrist in her other hand and swiped a thumb over the tattoo, staring at it as she thought.

“You’re right,” she finally said, voice low. When she looked up again, her usual air of confidence had returned. “You are wrong.” He couldn’t glean from her expression whether that was good or bad. He swallowed thickly, waiting on her every word. She let out a long breath, and with it, an immense weight seemed to ease off her shoulders. “And I probably am too.”

So…Did that mean…?

She fished her cell phone out of her purse and unlocked it. “Give me your number,” she said as she handed it over.

A flurry of pins and needles washed through him then as sincere blue eyes met his. It was the first time she had ever looked at him like that—ever looked at him with anything but antagonism. It wasn’t a happy look, but it was new. And it wasn’t…cold. Her eyes shined like the first day of spring and he could feel their warmth slowly spreading through him. It was a feat just to look away.

He tried not to let his fingers shake as he typed his information into her phone and handed it back.

“I’ll text you about the art project,” she said, and with one last look over her shoulder, walked away.

[187days]

Day One Hundred Twenty

So today could have been a disaster: Mrs. T was out sick, I had to change some questions on my APUSGOV test about ten minutes before the test review was supposed to take place, and I had meetings all afternoon... Everything went pretty well, though, so yay! Disaster avoided!

I was worried about World/English because B days are rowdy, and the debate prep has been challenging for many of the groups, and it’s not easy for one person to manage. Mrs. T did request a sub, though, and luckily it was one of the good ones. He was actually able to answer some questions and redirect off-task students, so it wasn’t all on me to do it. And students’ behavior was unusually good. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the last day of debate prep and students knew they had to buckle down, or because the lighter evenings have them energized, or who knows what, but I was happy about it. 

Both of my most challenging students had really awesome days because I kept suggesting small tasks they could do to help their groups. We always tell students to break their work into small tasks, focus on one thing at a time, and take breaks in between tasks as needed, but not all students know how to do that for themselves. They will have to learn how in the future, but for now? I'm totally willing to help. Yeah, I still had to keep telling one of them to go back to his seat and finish the task he’d been given, but he didn’t shout at me when I did it, and he did get back to work, so it’s progress.

During flex time, one debate group met in my room to practice giving their arguments out loud. I was holding an APUSGOV test review session (after hastily revising the test because I decided it should have more questions about checks and balances) at the same time, and made an exception to allow the ninth graders in. So they were there along with fifteen wicked smart seniors, which I think was both slightly intimidating and slightly inspiring. I caught them pausing every so often to listen to us discuss different concepts that will be on the test. 

Also, my phone rang when I was mid-review because another presidential campaign staffer saw my invite and wants to bring their candidate to class. Lesson, as always: it can’t hurt to ask. 

What else? Meetings! The team had a meeting with a parent during Block 5. I was worried it was going to be rough because basically everyone- the parent, the student, all of us teachers- has been feeling frustrated. But it was really positive and helpful, and I think it’s going to make a huge difference for the student. One funny/awkward moment: I was taking minutes, and my computer froze while Mr. F was talking, so I asked him to stop. I should have said “wait” instead of “stop” because he thought I was asking him to stop talking entirely! I clarified quickly, but I felt SO bad!

After that meeting, we had a faculty meeting, which started with a most excellent surprise: free tacos!

The Principal figured he’d interject something unexpected and awesome because, as I’ve said repeatedly, it’s been a rough year. He went on to say that there will be some trauma counselors here next week to talk to staff, and there will be (and have been) some to talk to students, too. Plus, the admins are planning a school spirit/morale-building fun day for sometime this spring (The Principal did add a dry, “Yes, there will be a spring” because there still are several feet of snow on the ground). They took suggestions for fun day activities during the meeting. These were mine:

ultimate frisbee

laser tag 

lip sync competition

t-shirt decorating

My cacophonous friends, who were sitting with me, echoed my suggestions and added a few more. After the meeting ended, we walked out into warm and sunny weather, and were reminded that, as The Principal said, there will, in fact, be a spring. 

[janenightwork]

How to Keep Christmas: A Reylo Romance in 25 Parts

"Four: Santa's Helpers" is below, or start from the beginning on AO3!

Fic Summary:

Rey and Ben have had feelings for each other since she began teaching at Chandrila Elementary School earlier that year, but neither knows their affection is mutual. Rey plans to use the the Christmas season––her favorite time of year––as an excuse to spend more time with Ben, and to find a way to tell him how she feels. But can she convince the Grinch-ish Ben to enjoy Christmas with her? Equally important: will her friends Finn, Poe, and Rose be able to stop themselves from matchmaking and meddling and general mischief?

Four: Santa's Helpers

Ben met Finn and Rose in the school’s auditorium, where Poe was about to appear dressed as Santa.

“Why are we having the Christmas extravaganza so early this year?” Ben asked Finn and Rose. “The kids aren’t gonna be able to focus on anything for the rest of the time between now and the break.”

Finn shrugged. “I heard the idea is to give them a chance to let off steam. That way they’ll hopefully be able to settle down. I doubt it, but hope springs eternal, right? Plus, Hanukkah was earlier than usual this year, and we had that party already. The kids associate Hanukkah as being near Christmas so they’re expecting it.”

Ben nodded his head in acceptance of Finn’s logic.

“Besides: can you really say your kids aren’t already checked out?” asked Rose.

“Oh, my kids have been checked out since the week before Halloween. They’re trying, they really are, but it’s all visions of dancing sugarplums at this point.”

“I’m just looking forward to seeing Poe as Santa. Do you think the kids will recognize him?” Rey’s voice said behind them. Ben turned to greet her and nearly choked.

She looked as adorable as always, but her outfit was ludicrous. Atrocious. A sartorial crime. She wore a pair of slacks as usual, but over them was a sweater with a huge cartoon reindeer on it. He was pretty sure Colin Firth’s character Mark Darcy had worn something similar in Bridget Jones’ Diary. (He was man enough to admit he enjoyed the occasional romantic comedy.) This reindeer, though, was covered in sequins. There were Christmas lights in its antlers, and its expression could only be described as deliriously happy, or possibly deranged. Ben suspected narcotics were involved. As if the sweater wasn’t bad enough, she was also wearing a headband with reindeer antlers, which somehow lit up. Ben didn’t know whether to laugh or feel vaguely afraid.

“Oh, you like Sparky?” she asked, humor lighting up her eyes at Ben’s horrified expression.

“Spar––” his voice failed him. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Sparky?”

“Yup! Look, it even says so right here!” She turned slightly to the side and pointed to the word “Sparky!” embroidered near the hem.

“He’s, um—”

“The ugliest thing you’ve ever seen?” she supplied helpfully.

“Quite possibly.”

“I think so, too. I bought him for an ugly Christmas sweater party a few years ago. The kids un-ironically love him, though, so now he makes an appearance every year.”

Rose turned to see Sparky and had much the same reaction as Ben, though she was a bit more vocal about it. She gasped, squealed, and smacked an unsuspecting Finn on the chest. “Ugly! Ugly sweater! Party! So perfect!”

Finn frowned, rubbing his pectoral. “Honey, geez, calm down. Also: what?” Then he looked at Rey and nodded at her sweater. “Oh. Hey Sparky.”

“You should make your Christmas party an ugly Christmas sweater party! That monstrosity is perfect for it! Sorry, I just got a little overexcited there for a second,” said Rose.

Rey tilted her head to the side in thought. “I’ll run it by Kaydel; I don’t think she’d mind. It’d have to be ugly sweater optional, though. People get grumpy when you force them to buy something to wear just for one party.”

“Do you have an ugly Christmas sweater, Ben?” Rose asked, eyes agleam.

He did not own an ugly Christmas sweater. Furthermore, he would not pretend to understand the trend of intentionally wearing something ugly. But he had vowed to make this Christmas as festive as possible for Rey’s sake. If wearing something that ought to be burned would make her happy, then so be it.

“No. But they can’t be hard to come by. And it’s all in the spirit of the season, right? Maybe I can find one my kids would like. You know, like…Sparky.”

Any further conversation was prevented by a whole auditorium’s worth of children squealing in delight at the appearance of Santa.

“Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas, boys and girls!” Poe called out from the stage. Ben had to hand it to him: he made a great Santa Claus. He was nearly unrecognizable behind layers of pillows under the suit, plus the wig, hat, and beard. The kids’ faces, all of them staring up at Poe, looked enraptured and enchanted.

Santa dutifully allowed each student to sit on his knee and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. When they'd all had their turns, a few of the other teachers herded them off to lunch. Poe got changed back into his regular clothes while Finn, Rey, and Ben cleaned up the auditorium.

“Hey guys!” Poe was all smiles when he reemerged from backstage. “How’d I do?”

“You know perfectly well that you did awesome. You just want to hear us say it,” Rey teased. “But since it’s true, I’ll give you the satisfaction: you did awesome.”

“Thank you, Rey. I appreciate it,” Poe laughed. Then his expression transformed into one Ben knew from childhood, and which could only be described as devilish. “By the way, do you know what the most common thing was that the kids asked Santa for?”

Before Ben could intercede and warn her not to take the bait, Rey said, “No, what?”

“They asked for Mr. Solo and Ms. Niima to get married! Isn’t that something?”

Rey’s face erupted into a fierce blush, and Ben wasn’t sure whether he was more furious with Poe for embarrassing Rey with his pot-stirring or more embarrassed on his own behalf.

“Did they. Really.” Ben hoped his tone conveyed the sort of conversation they were going to have later. Poe had the grace to pale a bit.

“Yeah! No, I’m serious. Really. They really said that. I didn’t bribe them or prompt them or anything. I mean, why would I do that? That’d be weird. Anyway, yeah, they really want you to get married. I guess the two of you singing that duet at the talent show really made an impression.”

It was a good memory. One of Ben’s favorites, in fact. She’d asked him to play piano for her at first, and then at the last minute asked him if he’d sing “I See the Light” from Tangled with her. He’d been nervous, because his voice just all right, but hers was much better. She’d encouraged him, though, and it had turned out beautifully.

They’d sat side by side at the piano, Rey singing about the joy of finding her place. All of Ben’s nervousness melted away in harmonizing with her, the lyrics uncannily true to life. "All at once, everything looks different, now that I see you." He’d forgotten anyone else was there until the cheering started.

“Well, that settles it. We can’t disappoint the kids, Ben. You’ll have to marry me,” said Rey. Her cheeks were still bright with a blush but she smiled at him, tentative and hopeful. His heart squeezed so hard it hurt.

“Okay, I'll marry you.”