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mediumgayitalian · 2 months

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The slam of his car door is loud enough to make him jump, echoing across the dipping valleys and proud hills. He curses to himself, standing frozen, one, two, three, four, but no one comes running. A light dusting of snow falls in a perfect circle around an invisible border, and Lee shivers as he jogs over to it, worn sneakers squelching over the wet, half-thawed grass.

As soon as he steps onto the bottom of Half-Blood Hill, he feels the difference, the balmy breath of warm summer under the clear December sky. The power of Thalia’s tree sends its usual shiver down his back, and he touches it, briefly, as he speeds past, sending his usual prayer of thanks. He pauses at the crest of the hill, using the bright gibbous moon to survey the camp, marking his path.

“Two, four….twelve,” he mutters to himself, craning his neck to map every one of the patrol harpies. He crouches for a while, watching them, tracking their patrol: paired, hexagonal, staggered circuits around the cabins. Four minute window of opportunity.

He can do four minutes.

As the two harpies walking the Apollo-Artemis circuit begin to cross the common, Lee bolts. He keeps low and close to the shadows, sprinting fast and on the balls of his feet to stay quiet, and ducks behind whatever shadow is closest whenever something looks his way. By the time the harpies turn back towards Cabin Seven, he’s already on the rickety porch, tossing his backpack inside the window Michael left open for him and throwing himself in after it.

He lands palms-first, tucking into a roll to absorb the momentum. He freezes, panting, by the leg of what is usually Amir’s bed, straining to hear past the crickets and cicadas.

One, two, three, four.

Nothing.

He’s good.

“Took your damn sweet time, didn’t you.”

“Hello to you too,” Lee grumbles, pushing himself upright. From across the cabin, lounging on his bed like a goddamn French monarch, is his dick of a brother, grinning like the little shit he is. “Haven’t seen you in weeks, most people say hello, et cetera, et cetera.”

Michael shrugs. “You’re late. I watched you on the hill; you coulda made that run twenty minutes ago.”

“Nobody asked you.”

“I’m always asking me.”

“Get over her, boogerbrain.”

“Real mature,” Michael mocks, but ambles over anyway. He retches like a twelve year old when Lee hugs him, but twists his hands in the back of Lee’s shirt when he lets go too fast. Lee hides his smile in his over-gelled hair.

“You might miss me less if you actually write me letters, you know.”

“I didn’t miss you,” he responds automatically. “And I wouldn’t have to write you letters if you stayed home, already.”

Lee sighs. “…I have school, Michael.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m sure your dumbass bio teachers have loads to teach the guy who can do open heart surgery with his eyes closed.”

“Yeah, yeah. If anyone could do with a good, old-fashioned, public school humbling, it would be you, hothead. You ready to go?”

Michael pulls away with a roll of his eyes. “Only since yesterday. Been waiting for your sorry ass.”

“My sorry — your sorry ass doesn’t have a car!”

Michael snickers, jogging back to his bunk and grabbing the black duffel bag resting under it. Lee makes quick work of packing his own bag, stuffing in a couple squares of ambrosia and and giant roll of bandages, just in case, before creeping over to the only bed left with someone still in it.

“Hey, kiddo.” He folds over the sheet pulled all the way over messy blonde curls, immediately plaguing the cabin with loud snoring. He rests his palm over a sleep-creased cheek, mapping his thumb over the freckles dotting pudgy cheekbones, and brushes back the hair plastered to his baby brother’s forehead. “Will, sweetheart, get up.”

It takes him a couple minutes of gentle prodding — when Will is out he is out — to wake up, squinting blearily in the dim fairy lights strewn across his bunk. He blinks, one, two, three, four, then gasps.

“Lee!”

“Oof,” Lee grunts, shifting his weight as he is abruptly accosted with an armful of child. He smiles, curling around Will’s flailing, chattering form, tightening his hold on his waist and resting his forehead on his shoulder. “Hi, buddy.”

“—missed you so much! Is this why your letter was late? Are you staying? Is this why Diana left yesterday? Is she here now? Is Cass coming? Is everybody coming? Can I —”

“C’mon, Motormouth,” Michael interrupts, cuffing Will’s ear as he walks by. “Go get your sneakers on. We’re going for a drive.”

“‘Kay,” Will days happily, dashing off to find the light-up Star Wars shoes he refuses to throw out, even though there are literal holes in the soles.

“You got his bag?”

“Yep,” Michael affirms, holding up a straining backpack. “Toothbrush. Hairbrush that he won’t use. Three comic books. Change of clothes. And two more changes of clothes for when he inevitably destroys the first one,” he adds when Lee opens his mouth. He shoots him an exasperated look. “Me and Diana have been chasing after the little brat for four months, dude. I got him.”

“Alright, alright,” Lee grumbles. “Heaven forbid I double-check.” He turns over to the door, where Will is tying his shoelaces, tongue peeking out of his mouth. “You ready, Will?”

He tugs on the two loops. The entire knot unravels. Quick as a flash, he stuffs the laces inside his shoes, scrambling to his feet.

“Yes,” he lies. He scratches at his throat.

Lee and Michel sigh in unison.

Luckily, the reaction is hardly more than itchy eyes and a cough. Lee herds him towards the door, sliding the backpack over his shoulders and holding out his arm and —

“Hold on a sec.”

“Why?” Will whispers.

“Shh,” Lee says.

Window cracked open, Michael exhales. The release of his bow hardly makes more than a soft hiss.

The angle is odd, limited space as there is, but Michael never misses — the clunky arrow whistles through the open window, sailing past the sloped roofs of the west wing cabins, and thunks somewhere behind the first layer of trees in the forest. Immediately, it lets loose a burst of sound identical to a dropped bottle and a group of teenagers cursing. In seconds, the curfew harpies are screeching, descending upon the source of the noise with the fury of a thousand sun chariots.

“Go go go go go,” Michael orders, wrenching open the door.

Will, immediately, takes off, gleeful at the opportunity to run away with permission (usually, he’s running from one of them, screeching at him to get back here). (Or Chiron, although Chiron has a much easier time catching up, what with the six limbs and all). (…Is Chiron an insect? Technically?)

“How long do we have?” Lee whispers, once Michael has caught up.

He shrugs. “Seven minutes, give or take? More than enough time.”

Lee worries his bottom lip. “More than…” He glances at the forest. Vaguely, in the low firelight, he can see the odd wing, hear the odd screech. Nothing looks very close. He glances at the rapidly approaching Athena cabin, just a few yards out of their way. Hm.

“Detour!” he decides. “Will, c’mon!”

Ignoring Michael’s hissed complaints, he veers towards to neatly maintained cabin. He slips in the space between Cabins Six and Four, holding tight to Will’s hand. He counts the windows as he passes — one, two, three, four — and stumbles to a stop, crouching down in the dirt.

“Oh, are you — for the love of Zeus.”

Lee ignores his eye-rolling, scanning the ground for pebbles. He selects a handful of them, careful not to choose anything too big, and jogs a few steps back.

“What’re you doing?” Will asks, too loud, but at least he tries to whisper.

Instead of answering, Lee launches the first pebble at the window.

It pings off harmlessly.

Waiting a breath for the harpies to come running, he continues, firing off pebble after pebble with increasing strength. Finally, after pebble #7, a face appears behind the clear glass, bleary eyes widening when they take in the sight in front of them. Quickly, the latches are undone, and the window is yanked open.

“Lee?!”

Lee grins. “Hey, Carter.”

“What’re you — you’re — it’s December! What’s going —”

“I need a favour,” Lee whispers. “Can you — cover for us?”

For the first time, Carter looks away, brows raising as he notices Micheal, who taps his (watchless) wrist obnoxiously, and Will, who waves brightly. Carter waves back, small smile tugging at his lips.

“Cover for you?”

“Just, like, infirmary stuff. I don’t think anything will happen, and if it does we’re an IM away, but —”

“Lee,” Carter says exasperatedly, “cover you guys for what?”

“Oh.” Lee clears his throat. “I, um. I need to do something for my family.”

Smiling, Carter rests his elbows on the windowsill, chin in his hands. “Mysterious.”

“We’ll be back by tomorrow evening,” Lee assures.

“And then you’ll stay for a bit?”

Lee’s mouth goes dry. “You want me to stay?”

Carter ducks his head, fingers tracing a mindless path on the windowsill. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you for a while.”

A thousand gods of prophecy could not predict the sound that comes out of Lee’s throat.

Something between a whimper and an awkward laugh, his voice cracks four seperate times. Carter giggles. Lee prays, genuinely, that a crater opens up beneath him and drops him right at Lord Hades’ feet.

“Everything okay, Lee?”

“Peachy,” he croaks.

Carter giggles again. Lee flushes. Michael gags exaggeratedly behind him, pausing mid-heave to whisper something to Will, and then there’s a giggle, and then two people fake-retching. Carter peeks through his dark eyelashes, pleased expression softening his heart-shaped face, and Lee counts twelve of his own capillaries straight-up explode.

“Well,” he says, too loudly. “I’m — well.”

“I think you have harpies to run from,” Carter suggests gently.

“Indeed.” Lee clears his throat, nodding. “As you have so astutely observed, we do —”

Michael, recognising the strained tone to his voice, groans. “Fucksake, Lee —”

“— and so I bid you adieu —”

“Dude, oh my gods, snap out of it —”

Lee can’t. He barely has control over his own mouth.

“— and vow to see you again in the eve.”

Feeling his soul exit his body, settle in front of him, and then crumple up and die, Lee fucking bows. There is the very distinctive sound of a hand slapping over a mouth, muffling an eruption of giggles, and then the hand of mercy, also known as Michael Yew, clamping on the back of his lava-hot neck.

“Please excuse him,” he says grandly. “He was dropped on his head as a child. He’s normal, usually.”

“Except when you wear your glasses,” Will pipes up. Lee makes a mental note to find Clarisse’s spear and shove it through his own eye. “He gets real weird when you wear your glasses. Once he walked into a wall and broke his nose.”

“…Did he.”

“Yep. And last time he —”

“God, this hurts me to say,” whispers Michael, “but I have to put a stop to this conversation. We’re on a time limit. C’mon, Will. Bye, Carter. Sorry for — well, you know. Apollonian dramatics, not always easy to control.”

He turns, dragging Lee, still hunched over, out of the Cabin Six shadow.

Lee does not un-hunch until they are well over the crest of Half-Blood Hill, harpy screeches beginning to echo behind them.

“I have never been more embarrassed to be related to you in my life,” Michael informs him, the second he’s upright. “Like, genuinely, I’m considering disowning you. That was atrocious, Fletcher. You need to get ahold of yourself. Where is your game? Your dignity?”

“I think he lost it when he was born,” Will says thoughtfully. “Or maybe when Carter smiled at him the first time.”

“I hate both of you,” Lee croaks.

Neither of them seem too incredibly bothered, snickering to each other as they duck into the car.

Willing his flush to go down, Lee herds them into his car. He takes a moment in the cool air to chill the hell out, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, then slips behind the wheel. He checks that Will is belted in properly, slips the car into neutral, and coasts down the road, waiting until Thalia’s tree slips out of sight before turning it on and hitting the gas.

“Where’re we goin’?

“You,” Michael says, flipping down the vanity mirror to glare sternly at Will, “are going to dreamland. It’s three in the morning. Time for bratty children to sleep.”

“What? No! I’m not tired!”

“Fine, fine,” Lee says, exchanging a grin with Michael. “Stay awake, then. As long as you like.”

Will narrows his eyes. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“No trick?”

Lee crosses his fingers. “‘Course not.”

“Fine,” he relents. He settles into the booster seat Lee dragged out of the trunk for him (which he hates), arms crossed over his chest, and stares out the window.

Counting off on his fingers — one, two, three, four — Lee and Michael begin to hum.

At first, nothing happens. Will taps absentmindedly on his knees, humming along to the parts he knows, but soon his fingers slow. Lee and Michael keep it low and quiet, cycling through quiet folk songs Michael’s dad taught him, matching with the rumbling of the car, the slight breeze of Lee’s cracked open window. Michael kicks softly at the base of his seat, one, two, three, four; and matches the rhythm of the radio static, the click of the blinkers on every turn.

Will’s out in twenty minutes.

———

The drive is long.

Michael curls up sometime around four, fogging up the windows with every snore. Lee keeps the radio on a low hum, letting the background noise keep him focused as he navigates. The Atlantic Ocean is ink-black in the early morning, and the waves crash loud enough that he can hear them over the sounds of the engine, and for a while they’re still far enough from the city that the air smells fresh. Even when it starts to sour, and the noise gets a lot more urban, it’s early enough and he’s east enough that the traffic is minimal. Never non-existent — he actually cannot imagine what a traffic-less New York would look like; he doubts he’ll ever live to see it — but enough that he keeps at a steady 35.

The drive through Jersey is uneventful. Farmland and suburbs, nothing he hasn’t seen every day of his life, nothing he didn’t see the last time he made the drive. He entertains himself by counting every brown car he sees, randomly wagering the number by the time he gets there. He’s relieved when he finally crosses the memorial bridge, driving down the exit ramp and pulling into the first big parking lot he sees. Michael wakes up as he puts the car in gear, killing the engine.

“We here?” he asks, popping the joints along his spine.

Lee yawns. “Pretty much, yeah. Pulled off the highway.”

“‘Kay.” He glances in the backseat, where Will is starting to stir. “You nap. I’m gonna find a place for him to change and brush his teeth, maybe get breakfast for all of us.”

“Sounds good”

He crawls in the backseat as Michael guides Will out of it, accepting the blanket tossed his way. He slides his hoodie over his face, lies back, and conks out in minutes.

———

“Yo, Lee. Get up. I got food.”

“Timizzit?” he asks, shaking the grogginess from his limbs.

“Eleven. You slept for four hours. We gotta be at the theatre in an hour.”

“When’s she on?”

“Fuck if I know, man. Diana said noon, I’m gonna be there at noon. You wanna piss off Diana?”

“No.” He rubs the heel of his palm into his eyes, reaching blindly in the direction of Michael’s voice. “Food, please.”

A bag of grease is deposited into his waiting hand. He is pleased to find three cheeseburgers within it, and immediately tears into them with a fervour that can only be described as ‘ravenous’, or perhaps ‘revolting’. Esurient, perhaps, if one was feeling poetic.

Finally awake enough to function, Lee looks critically at the scene in front of him. Michael is dressed in the same button-up and slacks he wears to his dad’s performances, on the years he’s in the U.S., and Will is in jeans without grass stains, real shoes, hair mostly brushed. Michael has even managed to find a shirt that’s not half-unraveled from Will picking at the seams.

“Nice,” he says, nodding in approval.

Michael picks at his nails, visibly preening. “Oh, it was no big deal.”

“Yeah, yeah. Dweeb.”

He polishes off his last burger, then ducks inside the nearest store to find somewhere to get changed. Diana told them it didn’t matter, really, what they wore, but Lee knows better. He knows what this means for Cass, and while yeah, sure, it wouldn’t really matter if he showed up in sweatpants, he wants to show her that he put in the effort. That even if her mother couldn’t, or wouldn’t, they will. All of them. He wants her to see them and know that they did this for her. He wants her to see them and know that they tried, that they care.

Hair perfectly placed and clothes as unwrinkled as he can get them, he hurries back to the car. The theatre isn’t far, and they have a little under an hour, but he doesn’t want to push it. Finding parking will be hard enough.

“Are we on a quest?” Will asks, five minutes out on the road.

“Eight year olds don’t go on quests.”

“Diomedes was ten when he fought the Trojan war.”

“Are you Diomedes?”

“No.”

“Are you ten?”

“No.”

“Then no quests for you.”

“Aw.”

“Your quest can be being quiet for twenty minutes,” Michael grumbles, making a face when Will sticks his tongue out at him.

———

part two

#writint michael was SO FUN and also a bit of a challenge bc he is a bitch #god i love him #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #hoo #heroes of olympus #pjo hoo toa #lee fletcher #michael yew #will solace #cabin seven #cabin seven kids #lee fletcher & will solace #michael yew & will solace #lee fletcher & michael yew #my writing #fic #longpost

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world-of-aus · 3 months

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Hi, Hello and Welcome To Today’s Gym Thought..

Feat. Criminal!Bucky

Momma I’m in love with a criminal???

The warehouse was abandoned, quiet, the only sound was the soft crunch of the occasional broken glass beneath your foot.

Detective Walker is ahead of you gun drawn high as he makes his way through the warehouse, every corner he turns a silent prayer is on your lips that he’s not here despite the sources that had brought the two of you here.

“Walker it’s a bust,” you try, “he’s not here, look at the place it’s empty.”

The blonde turns advancing on you, you don’t back down meeting his glare. “The perfect grounds for vermin like him!” he hisses. “I am not leaving this place till every square inch has been checked, every crate turned over, every office examined, do you understand detective!”

“I'm not your enemy here walker get your goddamn gun out of my face.” You grit gesturing to the gun he waves around wildly. “Yeah, well you’re acting like it, why don’t you be useful for once and go check one of the damn offices, I got the floor.”

You turn without another word, heading your chiefs warning of your partner from earlier, “don’t let him deter you from what the two of you are going in to do, he’s a hothead detective y/l/n – reactive, you need to stay cool, one of you needs to be the brains of this operation.”

Taking the rusty stairs two at a time you make it up to the lone dusty office that overlooks the warehouse, you spot Walker creeping through the shadows, eyes and gun trained ahead. You lead with your gun as you step into the office, it's quiet, eerily dark. You descend further into the room, looking one way then another. You examine the crooks and crannies for anything, you find nothing, you let out a silent breath, he wasn’t here.

A curse leaves your breath when you turn and find him. You’ve got your gun raised and pressed against this chest in record time, Walker's growl of your name piercing the stale air.

The brunette gives you a pointed stare, “Answer him.”

“I’m fine Walker, nothing up here, just a rat!” you grit, holding the man’s gaze before you the whites of his teeth shine in the moonlight gleaming through the broken glass.

“Alright I'm heading out to the docks, stop messing around up there!”

You want to roll your eyes, but they stay trained on the man before you, “What are you doing here!” you hiss when the warehouse falls quiet once more.

His grin only grows, hands slowly coming up to cradle the gun you have pressed against his chest, he could easily disarm you if he wanted. “They said you were looking for me.”

Your jaw clenches, “We are, and you’re not supposed to be here.”

“Worried for me Lisichka?”

You press the gun harder into his chest, he chuckles, “let’s get one thing straight here Barnes my job is always to get the right guy not a wrongfully convicted one, so no unfortunately I’m not worried for you, I’m worried about locking up the wrong guy.”

He chuckles again before he does exactly what you knew he would, he’s got you disarmed and in his arms in a second. His front is flush to your back, lips by the hollow of your ear, “you know Lisichka, for someone not worried about me, you sure make my safety your top priority.”

“Don’t think too much of it Barnes, I’m just doing my job.”

His laughter ghosts over the skin of your neck, fingers trailing along your clothed skin as he circles you like a predator, he stops in front of you. “It’s endearing how much you care detective, though you know you don’t need too.”

You roll your eyes, “I refuse to watch the wrong person be incarcerated because of revenge.”

He touches your cheek, “Lisichka.”

There’s a bang from downstairs Walker growling your name, “Y/l/n, get down here, we got another lead, bastards moving!”

Your eyes flicker, from the door back to his, he’s grinning, “Go lisichka, we’ll be seeing each other soon.”

Walkers screaming your name now, your feet carrying you out the door, and when you look back he’s gone – like a ghost.

#bucky barnes drabble #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x you #bucky x you #bucky barnes au #criminal!bucky #bucky barnes fanfic

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agustd-png · 6 months

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Day 6: Jungkook + Namjoon 🎄 Double Penetration (one hole)

Kinkmas 2023

"I think she can take it," Namjoon said to Jungkook, though his full attention was on you. "Two is a lot, but she's been doing good. Haven't you, babygirl?"

He was referring to your "training"; slowly you worked up to using bigger and bigger toys on yourself, with his help, and you'd gotten used to some rather large ones by this point. But even the largest toy Namjoon had stretched your pussy with was not the same as having two cocks in it. You were unsure, but the thought was so intriguing to you (especially if the other would be his friend Jungkook), that you were up for it.

"I'll try my best," you said with a nod and a sensual smile.

"I know you will," Namjoon praised.

You all took your time; you knew you would need it if you had a prayer in reaching this new goal. But getting to explore Jungkook's toned body for the first time was a treat that you wanted to draw out anyway, and he seemed just as eager to do the same with you.

You'd already taken each of them separately and felt your wetness and lube dripping down onto the sheets below. Namjoon cradled your face as you straddled him, ready to sit back onto his cock. "Look at me." You saw the way his pupils were blown out in lust. "Tell me if it's too much and we'll stop. Okay?"

You nodded, knowing with all your heart that to be true, but loving to hear it all the same.

You easily pushed back onto him, sliding right down the length. He shifted his pelvis, rolling it in circles in an attempt to stretch you open a bit more. You leaned forward and pressed your sweaty chest to his, giving Jungkook as much room as possible. He got up to kneel behind you and you felt his dick prod at the already filled hole. "Gonna be a tight fit," he said, but in a delighted tone rather than an unsure one. He seemed to think you could do this too.

Namjoon kissed your neck over and over, between encouraging praises whispered in your ear. You knew relaxing would be the most important part and tried extra hard to do so, letting your weight rest on Namjoon fully, his strong hands holding your ass securely.

Jungkook slowly pushed in, over the course of several minutes, and though there were a few moments it stung, a few times you jumped and started back at square one, and a few times you really thought you'd be unable to take them both that day, soon enough you felt a change and realized you'd done it. "Holy shit..." Jungkook groaned loudly when he felt just how wonderfully tight and warm this was, breaking into your thoughts.

Your eyes closed and you got lost in the feeling. "Feels so fucking full..."

"I'm sure," Namjoon chuckled. "Just wait till we move. Can we?"

You nodded enthusiastically, leaning in to kiss him. An unhinged moan broke through you when they did, pulling back then rubbing past each other on their way back in, as if fighting for who got to be the deepest. The way they dragged against your tight walls was blissful, hitting every spot inside you. And on top of that, two sets of hands feeling you up, and two mouths kissing all over your body. What more could you ask for?

Please consider liking, reblogging, commenting, and/or sending a message!

#mine #kinkmas #kinkmas 2023 #jungkook smut #jeon jungkook smut #namjoon smut #kim namjoon smut #rm smut #bts smut #bangtan smut #kpop smut #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #bts imagines #bts scenarios #bts x reader #bts x y/n

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yridenergyridenergy · 4 months

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2024/02/17 sukekiyo - Tsumetai Chinmoku live report (Day 2)

SETLIST

Houmonsha X

Gloss

The Hole

Mosaic Shoujo

Candis

Valentina

MOAN

Kuchi ni ringo

aftermath

Rongai na ikimono toshite

Kawattekuremasen deshou ka?

Scarlet

Tada, mada, watashi.

Hakudaku

Uso

Kokyuu

Margaret

I'll try to focus on the differences and what I had forgotten to include in yesterday's report.

The band's outfit were generally not only completely different from yesterday, but also from different references entirely, at least from what I could see. Takumi had his clothes from the MOAN music video, but Yuchi appeared to have bare shoulders with the partial long sleeves, so no trace of the puffy material that hid his skin in the previous photoshoots. No drooping pane of fabric behind his shoulders like yesterday, I think. UtA was definitely wearing something more square and formal. It reminded me of some of Japan's student uniforms, and he looked especially like a "bad boy" while wearing his guitar upside down during aftermath to focus on playing the violin-like instrument. His long hair was also styled completely toward his right in a vast mane. Mika may have been wearing the same black suit. As for Kyo, his outfit seemed like it was two pieces linked at the front of the abdomen, but there was definitely a large band of fabric missing which exposed his skin above his waist. He also had a long skirt with many vertical folds, and his hair and makeup were the same as yesterday. But what was most striking about his look was the sheer amount of pearl necklaces he had aroumd his neck and resting on his shoulders. It looked heavy as hell. Maybe it was literally the accessory he wore for Dir en grey's Ochita koto no aru sora PV? And hint for ranuunculus: it looked most badass overall when Kyo was bathed in red on his head and over his shoulders while white illuminated most of the lower portion of the necklaces.

Right away, it was clear that the mood for today's concert was different: Houmonsha X started and once again, very epic. I noted that Kyo dances tip-toeing widely left and right near the end of the song, while the music sounds like crawling and buzzing bugs, and he does this on a floor illuminated by collapsing diamonds, so it really gives the impression that he purposely plays along at trying to avoid stepping on the lights. Oh and at the very beggining of that song, Kyo crouched and swished his hips side to side, literally dusting off the floor. This time, Kyo sang the "Are those eyes scary? How are they scary?" in the demented way.

I don't know if I just didn't remember or if it changed, which will be a recurring theme in this report, but Gloss had not only the blinking alternating hanging lights, but big flashes of purple were projected from around Takumi's distance from the edge of the stage. Overall, it was a very emotional, but powerful and beautiful song that followed Houmonsha X's vibe well.

The Hole started next and my prayers for a different setlist were answered! It was so cool. The song starts with a video on screen with opaque red everywhere except one large hole left untouched, where Kyo stands. The hole grows progressively larger, in a corrupted way. It's so cool later when Kyo swiftly rotates from his left side to his right side, vice versa, along with the music, drawing a wide circle each time, and I think he gestured considering those options at some point.

Mosaic Shoujo! Another change from yesterday. Kyo waved his arm up and down wildly at us during "Ano hito janakyaya", only to retrieve his arm toward himself when wondering "How many more times?" Quite sure it was during this song that I noticed what move Kyo does to drop his knees repeatedly like in that Candis prologue that I gifed from the footage on Erosio. While keeping his toes on the same spot, he rotates his heels outward, like a lot of women do in Japan, which causes a drop and the motion has to be repeated to maintain balance anyway. Anyway, overall a very feminine demeanor.

Candis followed and I had at least thought of bringing my penlights this time. I noticed that on screen, dots of light made up a huge fake disco ball, at the beginning, but maybe I just missed that detail yesterday.

The medley of pop songs continued but it was a lot more seamless, less foreboding than that sequence had been yesterday. There was hope for less sorrow later, somehow.

Valentina was still just as perfect~

MOAN, why do you not have a penlight yet? Anyway, it seemed even cooler to watch Kyo make the song's gestures (pump up the ceiling, circle a finger around to come back to you; rinse and repeat but you never get bored of it!) while wearing that excessive layer of pearl necklaces.

Kuchi ni ringo, I forgot to mention yesterday that he kind of screeches the janai in: "Sono makka na iro janai" instead of singing it more with despair like in the studio recording. Confirmed that this is the song where the first floor is covered by an opaque layer of blue light. At the end, it's odd because while the lyrics say: "Ah I want a womb", Kyo moves the diamond shape formed by his fingers ouward in different directions along with the repetition of "hoshii, hoshii, hoshii", as though he in fact wanted to know who wanted it.

aftermath came and I definitely focused on UtA's badass pose with his right leg extended backward while he leans forwarf to play the violin-like instrument, allowing the guitar that he rolled to his back to resr on his leg.

The part during the session took place again today but the man appeared more assured now and was wearing a plain black long-sleeved shirt. Kyo also looked less stiff. He rested his left leg on his right one and I can't remember how his hands were positioned, maybe just on his lap, but that too was more casual than yesterday. Also, either I didn't notice because I was looking through binoculars then, but a zoomed-in projection of that scene plus Kyo's following improv for the instrumental session was played on screen. Maybe the video experienced trouble yesterday and only began working later?

For some reason, Rongai na ikimono toshite seemed to have a whole lot more projections than I remember it having yesterday. Not sure if they could whip up a new video in less than 24 hours. It involved not just fractals, but like an evolving kaleidoscope of structures like what you'd find in complex metallic beam structures on bridges. It helped to enhance the song's menacing and mysterious aura. And big, bright white lights get flashed toward us in time with the intense moments throughout the song.

Kawattekuremasen deshou ka? was the song that appeased my growing concern that I had misremembered or totally forgotten stuff from yesterday hah. The video played during this song was totally different. It features only large bubbles, like soap bubbles, of various colours. Each bubble was so large that it encompassed the entire band. In the first "Naze watashi dake honto no ai o shiranai?", I don't know if something was mispronounced or if I was too distracted, but it didn't sound like "honto no ai o", more like it could have been aibito? But the second one was sang as per the lyrics, so I put that behind.

Scarlet was the same as yesterday, with its imposing "I want you to kiss me" & "I want love" being the only two lyrics projected on screen. Maybe it's during that song's "Let's make the sound of love as I think of you" that Kyo slides a hand between his legs?

Tada, mada, watashi. appeared as much as a classic as yesterday. I think it's due to the bright lights being projected on us and the screen otherwise displaying very little, mostly just small lyrics in English at the bottom and shimmering white borders there and at the top of the screen, which may have been done with the intention of giving us the impression that the PV is being recorded live, that we're witnessing this historic moment.

There's a word shown vertically in red in the couple of seconds of suspense before the chorus. It's just hiragana but somehow I haven't been able to catch it yet! It might be "oyasumi"?

After a short break, Hakudaku started and I knew that the end was already upon us, too soon. Uso began without a single second of interruption too. And as the tradition goes, Kokyuu was played after those. There's always a very long pause before it begins, as though someone needs to regain their composure or something.

Yesterday, I must have used the binoculars at this point too much, but I noticed that way above his head, the video projected involved scenes of isolation. For example, a lone strawberry shortcake, clearly to celebrate something, first left unattended on a table. Then the chair and the table are empty. A woman appears, followed by an older version of herself. She's beautiful, but nobody else shows up around her. The cake is cut and consumed, in part.

Kyo sang the ending, and I was expecting him to leave like yesterday, a wet kind of dry after uttering the softest: "Kanashimi wa owaranai dare no tame?", but he surprisingly held onto his mic stand, although stepping out of the pink LED line to the side a bit. Seconds of silence until... Margaret started! Some mercy. That song, although its lyrics are sad, counted as an "un deux" in this context thanks to its uplifting melody.

The credits were rolled on screen while the band performed.

Kyo left before the song's last few notes were played, essentially immediately after the last lyrics. We were less shy to start clapping after Margaret was properly finished, compared to yesterday at the end of Kokyuu. It was the instrumental of Zephyr that was played tonight as the other members left the stage. Mika peeked at us from atop his drums but I don't think he waved like he did yesterday, so it might have been a prompt to wake us up and start clapping, yesterday hah.

Three times during the concert, there was a weird, faint sound like "woaaan" at the end of songs, which was super obvious because we were all quiet. I didn't hear that at all yesterday. Maybe it seemed to coincide witn Takumi dragging his chair toward his keyboard to adjust his distance from it?

So far: man, I've rarely heard bass and drums hammer at our very molecules this much. Every single one of Yuchi's notes is a tidal wave crushing straight through us.

Now, which of the two setlists, or a secret third one, will the 20th have?

#京 #Kyo #sukekiyo #tsumetai chinmoku #live report #kyoto

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notesfromthepalace · 6 months

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Some Things are Not for Tea Time

My Father once said "... people will hate you [and be jealous of you] because they see you with a new nail set every week, not knowing you do your own nails at home to save money".

Let me explain:

What my Father was trying to convey is people will dislike you over the smallest things i.e. like me doing my nails on my own every Saturday morning to save money (back in my college days), but jealously having an effect on their perception; "Oh she has so much money she gets her nails done every week" - then going into the rabbit hole of assumptions just because they are choosing to dislike me.

Again, as I always say, this blog is for the girls who get it, because if you don't, the first two paragraphs will go right over your head (if it hasn't already) and you will be lost in the sauce the entirety of this blog post.

But for the girlies who get it: the nice, mind your business, your man and money type of girls who stay prayed up but don't tempt me to jump because "knuck if you buck".

Yes, you darling!|

Hey friend!

So, just to be clear, if you did not know: not every woman who smiles in your face is your friend, and not every compliment comes from a place of being genuine.

That being said, not every woman you have conversations with should be privy to every good thing that happens in your life - to include your plans for the future.

I believe I have touched on this subject before but the more and more I vet my social circle and distance myself from certain people, the more and more apparent how important it is to safe guard the things that are so precious me.

Story Time! *Mariah Carey voice

Over the last few months, I have received a vast amount of good news and there have been new things, new investments, and new moves. But recently, certain people have been reaching out to me to inquire about my whereabouts, my love life and so on.

To be quite frank, it is none of their business.

So myself and my African Prince have gone for a holiday in Times Square, met each other's close families and friends and have started to move as one - 2024 is going to be a movie (if you know what I mean).

God has been really great to me and through prayer, and learning to be more discreet with what I am working towards, my dreams and visions are coming to fruition. For example, last year I bought my first pair of Christian Louboutin heels:

I didn't do a "show-in-tell" or an unboxing. No tea no shade to people who do that, I just chose not to. I wore the hell out of these shoes though! The photo above is from my Ghanian Sweetheart taking me to The W in Bellevue for date night. But when I bought the first pair, I told myself that I would have the pumps, this time next year - it's this time next year, is it not?

My African King was literally in my mind. He got me the very shoes that I told myself I would have by December 2023!

There was a time I was doing hair and make-up on the side for some extra money. I'm aware that there are plenty of girls who had my address who may not be the finest company. So I didn't want to post the nice things I had or the nice things my man would do for me before someone tries to rob me - jealous people do that.

I am currently enjoying the Christmas Holiday with my man in our home away from the city and during this time of love and bliss, I received a call from a girl I used to be close with.

She called me on FaceTime - in tears (and inebriated) asking why we don't hangout, how come she doesn't know what's going on in my life, why I don't call her; Then goes on to insult the girls I do hangout with like "you only hang out with your boujie friends, yeah I saw that you went to the Powder Room" - like yeah I did go to the Powder Room (very nice restaurant by the way) because I was invited by a friend to go. Like I have said in previous posts, I frequent high-end establishments all of the time.

Don't get me wrong, a part of me felt bad bad because I genuinely like and care for the girl. But as I was evolving, she would ridicule the changes that she saw and insinuate that I was acting like I was better than her or the other girls we used to go out with.

To put things into perspective, she and I started hanging out when I dumped my ex. And I remember I called her on a Saturday morning and she was surprised, like "What, you're calling to go out with us tonight? We always ask you to come out and you say 'no'".

She was right, I would typically say no, but I didn't want to be one of those girls who sits in their flat and cries because they just went through a breakup. I was ready to go to the club and just be out. I needed to take my mind off of the hurt. So we went to club that night.

But, in my typical Sarah Chanel fashion, I got tired of the club quick. I don't mind it from time to time, in a section with my girlies from back home. But I remember the last time we went to the club, she got kicked out for being drunk and disorderly.

I was low-key cool of the entire situation. I was also going through my own personal evolution and changing what I do, how eat, the places I frequent - just for her to ridicule the changes. That was another reason why I distanced myself. As a friend, I wasn't asking her to do the things I was doing or to change herself; I would've loved her support though. My best friend and I have been friends of over a decade and when I would talk to her about taking my walk with God more seriously, she didn't make me feel bad for it or act weird, even as a person like herself who isn't extremely religious - she supported me from afar, so I know it's not impossible or an extreme ask.

Not to mention she would put me in compromising positions like trying to hook me up with a man that she knew was in a fully committed relationship with another woman, or acting a complete fool in a restaurant and yelling at the waiter.

So naturally I distanced myself. And to be fair, she's not the only person I distanced myself from. Over these last two years, I have seen so much change in my outlook on life, my spiritual life and walk with God, my ideas and interests, my love life and so on.

I am also of the understanding that everyone you meet can not go on your journey, especially if they choose to remain in the same place mentally, that they were in back in 2022 - we are on the brink of 2024, become anew.

Take tips from my blog, it'll help.

And I don't say that to be a mean girl.

I want to see all women, especially young women of color evolve and be of their higher selves. But I can't make the horse drink the water if it doesn't even want to come to the well.

With less than a week left in 2023, leave the need of giving everyone an explanation in 2023 - ITS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS!

For the girlies who have already been living their lives in luxe and love, keep doing it.

But for the girls who don't know where to start, sissy pooh, start at Notes From the Palace. And will it be lonely someone times, yes. Will your character be questioned by people that you thought were your friends, yes. But will the grass be greener on the other side, YES!

Happy New Year and I pray all of my readers, even the low key haters have a year of prosperity, peace, love and money

With Love,

Sarah Chanel

P.S.

You see that shoe! I almost forgot the most important part. Walk with Jesus, for real. And I will be walking right along our Lord and Father Jesus Christ for the rest of my life because all of the great things I have obtained and will achieve are all in thanks to the Most High! Stay prayed up!

#black women #black women in luxury #luxuriousbw #black women in leisure #black love #happy new year #holidays #christmas #jesus christ #merry christmas #new years resolutions #level up #black femininity #black beauty

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dirty-milk · 1 year

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i. …and I grieve in the mouth of madness, coiled like a serpent on its tail - I thrash, and I gnash, and I inhale, and I exhale, and I wail.

ii. …and in the maw of the mania, the circle takes the square; paradox prompting paradise poisoned by the prayer.

iii. …and in my cheeks cradle chaos, counters the crooked crescent, smoking a smile - dancing in the dusk of descent.

iv. enough.

v. my teeth taste the torch; my spit savors the scorch - my tongue toasts the tender, my throat tempers the tremors.

vi. my jaws are broken from chewing the cracked carousel, drinking up the dust and dancing to the death knell. who dreams of the damned deploying a dispel?

vii. the dead don’t want you, the fallen have you forfeit - outbid the outrage and send it into orbit: sing the splinters split and spit. who yields youth, yawning years beyond the yesterday?

#spilled ink #prose #poetry #writercreed #spilled thoughts #prose poetry #poem #poets on tumblr #twcpoetry

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bloodyscarab · 5 months

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Moon Knight Mystery Swap!!

hey! here's a fic i wrote for @fdelopera for the 2023 moon knight mystery swap! very belated חנוכה שמח!

so grateful to have participated in this, and as a jewish system i felt incredibly lucky to have been able to write about the feeling of being a jewish system around the holiday season for another jewish person! thanks for this prompt and thanks to @tiptapricot for putting this on!

rededications of dedication

word count: 1.1k rating: g prompt: mcu moon knight system celebrating hanukkah, but each alter has a different idea on what to do, but while writing this turned more into the mcu system celebrating hanukkah, showing what each alter did to prepare. oops! final notes: slightly angsty in the middle, but a happy ending! small mentions of struggling with religious identity. generally jewish stuff that i don't aim to explain for the uninitiated. based slightly on my own system experience + how our system engages with religion. cheers!

---

in the system, it was jake that first engaged with the idea of hanukkah.

the concept of celebrating hanukkah had grown into a distant fog in the years since the system had left home. religion itself was not the issue, but the time and space in which hanukkah resided always felt distinctly hollow. the winter holiday season always left them with a bitter burn.

hanukkah wasn’t necessarily about the family. they all knew that. but it wasn’t a transgression to want someone to pray with, to watch the candles’ dancing brightness with, to recount embarrassing memories of hanukkahs past with.

jake had proposed the idea internally because layla that had inspired it externally.

“did you ever celebrate hanukkah, as a kid?” her eyes were scanning her phone as marc laid next to her in bed, back turned and eyes closed. the room was dark aside from her phone screen.

he hummed inquisitively, turning to face her. “why?”

“just looked it up because i was curious. it starts next week. i thought it would be cool if we could do something.”

“i did used to celebrate, but not for years.” marc wanted to expand on the statement, but every memory he tried to reach for felt as though it was only pulling itself further away from his grasping hands.

“do you wanna do something?” her voice softened, like she could witness the mental struggle in his face. “we don’t have to. it was just a thought.”

“i don’t know. i’d have to think about it.” it was such a simple answer that only seemed to hold multitudes of further questions. she nodded with a hum and looked back to her phone.

steven wanted something that he felt he could excel at.

he took to research on the prayers and traditions a part of him thought he ought to know without looking them up. the prayers he found felt clunky on his lips at first, like he was hitting square blocks against circle pegs. he understood only vaguely that the language had once felt circular before, that his mouth had, at one point, not felt square.

it was important for him to get those kinds of things right, and he knew within himself that it felt important only to him. he knew that marc didn’t mind, he knew that jake already knew, he knew layla wouldn’t mind. yet he struggled with each word, getting the pronunciation of the chet just right, letting the spacial vowel between the dalet and the shin hang for just the right amount of time, just for himself. it gave him a purpose for the moment, for his time out.

he was the one that looked for a hanukkiah, in a joint effort with layla. marc had imagined something rather plain and uninspired, while steven and layla pushed against the idea. the pair chatted over layla’s laptop for hours over ideas: surely electronic ones were too cheap and far from the original story, a thick olive wood one seemed too grand, a silver one with long and elegant intertwining strands felt just slightly too ornate. then there was the prices; then again, what was hanukkah but a celebration, an excuse to buy and use something expensive, ornate, heavy with artisanal craftsmanship and centuries of tradition? marc only listened in, intense conversations in the next room over that he could absorb in the louder chunks, but not entirely.

marc had been more interested in the understanding of his own history. asking jake for some kind of exchange of memory felt like walking across a glass bridge under a dark abyss, trusting in one another to not let the other look down.

jake’s stories felt only somewhat familiar to marc. each memory felt fragmented, split into a narrative marc remembered and a narrative jake knew to be true. marc was surprised with the amount of things he thought to be routine that he learned from jake. jake remembered things like the murmuring of marc’s father in his study, reading over the hanukkah halakha. he remembered things like watching marc’s mother taking time to wipe the wax that dripped down the hanukkiah branches just before sunset, the sky’s pink hue bathing her features in a glow that made her look less angry, less tired.

marc had the instinct to hide from the memories, to run across the chasm between him and jake and shatter the transparent bridge. he ached with a feeling of profound loss. he was faced with the seemingly endless times he missed those moments that connected him to deeply to his identity, the moments he now realized were missing in a way he wanted to recapture.

it stung in a way he could not quite place that jake did not just hold the memories he could not bear to carry, but also ones where he had been content, if not still balancing softly on an undercurrent of imminent destruction. the stinging became a quest, a want for versions of the feelings that jake held onto for marc alone.

jake suggested hanukkah because he wanted it. marc was jealous, in some respects, of jake’s assuredness. some of the prayers still hung from his lips, tucked into his cheeks to be used whenever needed. jake knew about hanukkah in a way that was admirable simply for his memory. he remembered their father’s recountings and readings of maccabees, held firmly to the power of the visual of jews with agency, power, self-confidence.

hanukkah was more than just lights on a windowsill, more than simple stories that echoed through bones of generations, and jake knew that best.

before the first sunset, it was jake’s hands that unpackaged the hanukkiah, placed it on a small plate to catch wax like their mother had done. it was marc’s hands that lit the shamash, touched it against the first candle. it was steven’s voice that recited the prayers, slowly, methodically, like he had practiced.

and it was layla that sat the longest at the desk, letting the warmth of the light rest against her as she sat on her laptop until the columns of wax were redistributed into drips and puddles. the light from the flames radiated off of her face and curls in a way that marc felt comforted by.

when she crawled into bed beside him, he hummed at her like he did the week before when she suggested celebrating hanukkah in the first place.

“still a good idea?” she whispered.

“yeah.” she could hear his gentle smile in the dark through his words. “glad you suggested it. you seem to enjoy it, too.”

“of course i do.”

“seven more days,” marc mused, a tone in his voice that held an air of sadness at the transience of the positive feelings of the holiday.

“seven more days. until next year.”

“yeah. until next year.”

#moon knight mystery swap 2023 #moon knight #marc spector #layla el faouly #steven grant #jake lockley #fanfic

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perpetuelledaydreaming · 2 years

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18 | chapter seventeenth

summary: not everything's so easy, not with you placing walls and billy not telling you what he thinks.

warnings: light smuttt.

listen to: How do I make you love me - The Weeknd | Go fuck yourself - Two Feet | U- Kendrick Lamar | Bad Romance - Lady Gaga (playlist here)

Please go look at the playlist, I revamped it all so you can read the chapters with the new songs and also maybe give your guesses of what's coming next given the songs?

word count: 4.2k

series masterlist + read the next chapter early on my ko-fi!!

Billy’d debated for the past few weeks what his favorite sound was. It was always between your laughter or your moans, couldn’t quite decide what he loved more. Though, today was the first day that you’d moaned his name as you ground against him while you kissed him in his Camaro. He’d suggested the first time the week prior after your debate, he parked at the farthest spot he could so no one would be able to see how you climbed into or where you went. Billy’d find a quiet place near the forest on the side of a less occupied road. It was always during lunchtime since you’d realized that making out or doing more in some places at school would simply make you have a panic attack eventually and you truly needed to work during detention since you’d been called out by the Principal saying that the last three detentions you’d barely made any progress.

You tried not to laugh but there was a hint of a smile on Billy’s lips as he thought about what you’d done in the library. Therefore, the Camaro would become your routine. Lunchtime arrived, you would tell Eddie or Robin, depending on who you were walking to lunch with that you needed to study for something since you didn’t have time because of detention; meanwhile, Billy would tell the people he wanted to be alone, snap at them if they’d any questions and drive the Camaro to where you would usually meet.

A few cars would pass here and there but they wouldn’t blink an eye at the Camaro, the speed that would usually drive through the road wouldn’t give them the time to actually check out what was happening inside of the Camaro.

They wouldn’t be able to see both of your legs curled up on Billy’s side, one hand wedged between both of your chests while the other weaved its way into Billy’s curls, tugging slightly as he kissed you roughly. His hands seared into your hips, digging into your sides as your skirts or dresses or shirts -depending on the day, would ride up a bit as he pushed his whole body against yours.

The kisses were reckless, breathless, thunders, pure gasoline. Part of you hated it, hated how much your body craved him and that no one had made you feel like he could. You recalled the first day you’d met him, how you knew that he had broken so many hearts before, how you knew that he tossed girls aside without any care in the world and how you’d sworn to yourself that you wouldn’t be another one of the bunch.

And yet, there you were. His name spilled from your lips like it was a prayer.

You definitely hadn’t learned anything.

Instead, the need had begrudgingly only grown stronger, developing into an everyday kind of thing over the course of the past week and a half. As much as it pained you to believe it, you couldn’t keep your hands off of him and you wished he’d never take his hands off of you.

“Billy,” you breathed against his mouth, as you gyrated your hips on his lap in slow circles. Absolutely loved the way he seemed to respond, he was so hard that you could barely focus by the way he was pressing against you.

You pressed your lips harder against his as Billy’s hands moved up and down your sides, into your hair then back down again. He wanted to touch you everywhere, all at once, every square inch of your body; which only made you want him more. You tug at his neck pulling him into you as closely as you possibly could. Billy makes some strained sound before he pulled your hips harder against him. He can feel you, your underwear wrecked allowing him to feel how warm and wet and willing you were; you moaned and breathed against the other’s mouth.

Billy knew he wanted to have you, he knew how much he wanted you and if it was with any other girl, he thought he might’ve done something already about it. But this was you, Billy simply felt like he could wait a little longer, pleasing you got him off just fine but as the days passed, his will became stronger.

“You’re making this so hard,” Billy whispered before he was sucking on your neck and you were tugging at his hair, he sucked on the flesh of your chest as he nudged the sweater you were wearing down before he was pushing the shoulder of your sweater a bit down, exposing one of the cups of your bralette.

“What?” you teased innocently as you cupped his face softly, forcing him to look up from your chest before pressing your lips to his jaw while still straddling him.

“You’re such trouble, princess,” Billy smiled as he placed his large on the nape of your neck as guided you down to kiss you senselessly.

Both of you smile into the kiss before Billy lets go of you, focusing on your chest that was littered with a few hickies he’d left there, just to remind you of him when you were alone. He loved it, to know that he’d marked you and that underneath those nice and preppy clothes that you wore, he was there. You often complained but you secretly loved it too.

“Billy,” you whined as he kissed over the bralette, loving how you were arching your back toward him.

For a moment, you realized how much Billy made you forget about everything around you. It didn’t matter if you were kissing senselessly, or if he was talking with you about a new song he’d heard on the radio, or if you were just close while reading your respective things; time seemed to fade away when you were close with him.

Everything just paused, it was just you and him.

You let out a shaky breath as you opened your eyes to see him working on you but as you were about to look down, from the distance you saw a familiar car driving up to where you were.

As it got a bit closer to you, you realized whose it was.

“Fuck,” you gasped before you were pushing Billy by his chest and you were climbing down from his lap. Billy was startled for a moment as he saw how you were dropping to your knees in the Camaro, climbing down his body.

Effectively, you managed to hide, hiding your head on Billy’s lap as Craig’s car passed next to the Camaro. Your breathing was harsh, your heart probably was about to pop from your chest as you shook softly. The last time that Craig had found you while doing something you shouldn’t, you’d almost ended up in the hospital and it’d been the reason why you’d moved to Hawkins. He would probably kill you if he found out that you were sneaking out from school to go and make out with the resident bad boy of Hawkins.

Billy noticed your harsh breathing right away, your pinched lips, and the distress in your eyes. He frowned softly as he stared at the car that had just passed in front of you, he recognized it from the time he went to your place. Something was up. Billy sighed as he softly pushed some stray hairs from your face as he looked down at you, observing you under him as you caught your breath for a moment. He got worried for a second, his mind wondering if you were having a panic attack but you were a little bit calmer than the first time he’d seen you get one, he, unfortunately, opted for light humor instead.

“So, listen,” Billy started, making you look up to him. “I’m really not complaining but I wanted it to be special,” Billy said with a smirk.

You glared at him. “Shut up,” you grumbled before you were climbing out of his legs and placed yourself on the passenger’s seat.

Billy frowned at you, he opened his mouth but then choose to close it before he decided to start closing his shirt and rearranging his pants. You sighed as you began to fix yourself again, at the end of the day you would both need to be in class in less than twenty minutes.

“What’s the deal with him?” Billy asked, turning to you as he turn on the engine.

“With who?” you answered, it was clear as day that you were trying to play stupid, that you didn’t want to touch on whatever could’ve happened with your step-father but it only made Billy even more curious.

“Your stepfather, you were hiding from him,” he explained as he began to drive you back to school.

You sighed, refusing to look at him while you gazed through the window. Billy tried to focus on the road but his eyes were searching for something in your face, any type of hint or clue that could clock him into what you were thinking. He’d come to find that you had even taller and stronger walls than him, you’d talked through the time that you’d spent together about many things but it was mostly kept at surface level or at small comments here and there, nothing too heavy or too personal.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” you huffed as you looked farther into the forest, you were willing to hide your emotions by donning a casual tone.

But Billy could read you, even through the harsh walls that you kept up, he could read you sometimes. He wasn’t sure how he did it and why it was with you that he felt such kinship but yet he did. He understood that there was something that was hurting you, a deep gash on your heart because you looked as white as a sheet, Billy could see it as his eyes flickered from the road to you.

“Okay but you know that you can talk to me, right?” Billy stated, watching you softly as he parked in the usual spot he did.

You would usually get out of the car as fast as you possibly could, making sure that no one would actually see you, especially now with the elections for class president being in just two weeks. No one could see you with him but today, you didn’t slip out of the car as you usually did.

“I can?” you asked with a frown as you gazed back at Billy.

He shrugged, his lips tight for a second before his eyes met yours. It was strange, how nervous you made him when you were looking at him like that, even though he’d been buried between your legs, he was still nervous about it.

“Yeah, we are kind of friends, no?” he asked.

“We are?”

Billy’s eyes narrowed while he frowned. “Stop answering my questions with questions,” he grumbled and you pinched the bridge of your nose.

“I’m sorry, it’s just,” you sighed as you looked away for a second, your hands nervously twiddling with your sweater. “I didn’t think that we could, I thought we were just messing around,”

Billy pursed his lips. Just messing around, that was it? He thought to himself. He knew that you hadn’t had any real conversation regarding the stage of your relationship but he couldn’t help to feel his chest tighten as he heard what you believed it was.

“Well, we are but,”

“Yeah, and no one can know so I don’t think we need to talk about it,” you stated seriously while looking at him.

Billy held his breath as he looked at you. It shouldn’t be fair, it shouldn’t be like this, at least not with you. And yet he didn’t know what to do or how to say that it wasn’t just messing around.

“Right,” he finally breathed out as he looked away while you gave him a quick nod and climbed down off the Camaro.

You felt your heart squeezing on your chest as you climbed down off the Camaro before you gazed back at Billy who was still looking away from you. He was so hard to read these days, not that he was ever easy to read but you couldn’t tell whether or not he agreed with what you’d said. It was even stranger that even though you knew exactly how far whatever you had was able to go, part of you longed for him to disagree with you but you still didn’t know exactly what you wanted him to say.

You walked away with that in your mind, not as attentive as you usually were but you truly couldn’t care that day enough to sneak around; you’d been there many times before and no one had said anything, you truly believed nothing would happen. Unbeknownst to you, though, there was always someone watching.

The day went on as usual, except for the fact that Billy didn’t come that day to Peaches as you’d hoped he did. You, though, tried not to mind. Telling yourself that it was okay if he had chosen not to see you, even though when you got out of cheerleading practice, you’d notice his Camaro still at school so you knew for a fact that he was in basketball practice.

That night you took your bike for a run, as you tried to take your mind off Billy and what you’d talked about. You often feared getting closer to people, even more, now when you’d been hurt so many times before and with Billy… the thought of him hurting you petrified you. You were cautious, it was in your nature, you knew how much appearances could deceit you and with Billy, it seemed like his appearance matched with what you thought of him; even as you felt something, you didn’t know if you could trust him.

You barely slept that night, tossing and turning in your bed as you thought about Billy’s eyes. When you arrived at school that day, you realized that you can finally breathe, you felt like you’d been gasping for air since the day before.

You climbed down off your bike fairly quickly, walkman covering your ears as you blast music to keep your brain from thinking about Billy too much. Maybe that’s why you don’t notice the whispers or the stares as you enter the school; maybe, part of it is because you’d gotten used to people looking at you but at least not in the magnitude that they were currently watching you.

It goes unnoticed by you until you reached your locker, taking some books out as you sighed tiredly when you realized that you had detention with Billy in the afternoon. You think about what to say that day if you were going to be brave enough to go to the Camaro, though you lose your train of thought as you are suddenly turned by a pair of hands on your shoulders.

You flinch slightly as you find yourself being pressed against the locker by Robin, her eyes wide and frantic as her mouth moves. With your headphones still in your ears, you can barely listen to her and she notices your expression right away before she’s yanking your headphones off.

“What the fuck, Robin?” you grumble as you take the headphones from her hand.

You weren’t in a good mood that day, being startled in such a manner wasn’t a good way to start your day. Though, you do notice that she doesn’t care, ignoring your question completely before she speaks.

“Are you sleeping with Billy Hargrove?” Robin asked.

Your heart sunk as you stared back at Robin, your mind running a hundred miles per hour as you wondered what to say. Lie. No, Robin would be able to see the lie in your eyes. Don’t even entertain the idea of it.

“What?” you ask her, your voice a bit wavery as you frowned.

“I said, are you-”

“I know what you said!” you grumbled, your brows still furrowed. “Why would you think that!?”

Robin relaxed a bit, her grip on you being less strong than before. She was believing you, you just needed to nudge her more into it.

“Everyone’s talking about how you were climbing down from his Camaro yesterday at lunch and since Billy’s been missing from lunch and you too, everyone’s wondering if,”

You didn’t let her finish, you needed to squash the rumor hard, and fast because there was no way that you could be associated with Hargrove. He could be the most popular kid at the school but you needed to keep your campaign clean and without associating yourself with one of the main bullies of the school; even more, in a small town like that you knew that rumors ran fast, you couldn’t allow it to get to the ears of Craig.

“Well, I mean I just went out with him to talk about our English project,” you explained to Robin who nodded softly, seemingly believing you completely. “You know that I can't stand him, right?” you lied as you watched Robin letting go of you.

“Yeah,” she reasoned and you finally take a deep breath as you take her hand in yours.

“Help me shut this down, please,” you pleaded with her, your jaw tight as you think about the ramifications of not being as careful as before. “No one can be thinking that!”

True to her word, Robin helped you through the day as you kept on receiving different looks and comments from people. You’d talked with each and every one of your study group in each class, you would bring up the topic in any way you could as always it wasn’t too obvious but you would clearly refuse any kind of association with Billy.

“No way people are saying that!” “I can’t stand him, that’s why we fought in the cafeteria,” “He’s a bully, there’s no way that I could be friends with him,” “No, it’s about a stupid English project that Mrs. Clarke put us in,” “Yeah, he wishes,” “He’s been with every popular girl at the school, I don’t want to be another,”

There was a bitter taste in your mouth each time you finished a conversation where you denied that Billy was somehow close to you. You wondered how he’d been reacting to the rumors, you hadn’t really seen much of him that day, and when you went to your locker before lunch there wasn’t any note that let you know he was waiting for you in the Camaro. Part of you wanted to pretend that it was okay what you were doing, that it was okay to not have any association with him whatsoever, ignoring how your heartache each time you repeated that he’d been slutty and that you wouldn’t be another one of the bunch.

And yet you were.

By lunchtime, you just had to deal with one last group: The cheerleading squad. If the rumors had to end it should be there with some of the popular girls in the school.

“So, what you’re saying is that you weren’t in the Camaro with him,” Erica, one of Chrissy’s best friends asked as you sat down at the table as poked her lunch.

You rolled your eyes, you were aware of the skepticism in her voice, the lingering sarcasm.

“I was but we were discussing our English project,” you replied as you narrowed your eyes at her. “How would you feel if there was a rumor like that about you?”

Chrissy quickly wrapped an arm around your shoulder, giving you a soft squeeze as she narrowed her eyes at Erica too.

“You know, we don’t believe it, right?”

“Thank you, Chrissy,” you replied with a soft smile.

Riley, one of the other girls giggled, though. “I would’ve liked it if the rumor was about me, Billy is so attractive,” she gushed, her hands on her heart as she swooned.

“Yeah, until he’s dumping you for the next girl,” Jessica, another girl who had probably been with Billy given her sullen features spoke.

“I’m pretty sure it was Tina who started the rumor,” Tammy commented and everyone at the table nodded.

You frowned.

“Tina?”

Chrissy pointed you to one of the girls that sat on the table for the popular kids, along with Jason, Carole, Tommy, and Billy. “She was with Billy during summer,” she explained to you.

You’d seen her glaring at you before and you were sure that you had some classes with her, she belonged to Billy’s group, popular ones. You now understood, the reason for it all and it wasn’t new, she wanted Billy all for herself and you couldn’t help yourself to feel a bit of irritation as your gaze followed Chrissy’s.

At least, until those electric blue eyes stole your attention as he sat down on the lunch table; Billy’s eyes were on you as he sat down with a coy smile while your face dropped, quickly becoming a blushing mess as you saw how he looked. You cursed how pretty the sunny day made his eyes and curls look, those pretty blue eyes that seemed like the ocean while he stared at you.

And then, he fucking winked at you.

Your stomach dropped as all of the cheerleaders immediately turned around to check on you, as if you’d just been caught on a lie, as if you weren’t someone to be trusted they narrowed their eyes at you, waiting for your response. You stared at Billy for a second, part of you wanted to go there and slapped him before you kissed him; but your better judgment got ahead of you. What would people actually think if you were hanging out with Billy, not only that but you were starting to have feelings for Hawkins's resident heartbreaker. How would Craig react?

You frowned at him, giving him the nastiest glare you’d given him before quickly turning to Chrissy and the other cheerleaders.

“This is what I mean!” you squeaked, outrage lingering in your voice.

The girls must’ve bought it. Some of them narrowed their eyes at Billy’s while others gasped as they realized that you truly didn’t have any interest in Billy Hargrove. They murmured in each other’s ear while they looked away from Billy and at you, already the rumor dilating from your fantastic skills as an actor. Relief washed over you as you gazed at them and nodded, while some looked back at Billy grinning up at him, happy that they now had a chance after they’d lost their hope.

And Billy?

Livid.

He was staring at you with his jaw unhinged and a sharp glint in his eyes that made you realize that you might’ve overdone it. Billy didn’t show up for English that day and for the first time you didn’t blame him, you felt awfully bad for what you’d done, guilt filling your chest as you recalled the words that you’d spewed all day. Part of you believed that you were overthinking it, Billy was known for having multiple girls in his beck and call and you weren’t new to being another girl for an asshole that truly didn’t care about you. You truly believed that in approximately two weeks he must’ve found another girl to make out with in his Camaro and you would be another story; even more importantly, your reputation with the school and Craig wouldn’t be damaged by it.

Billy fitted the type, that’s what you convinced yourself, and yet, you couldn’t help but feel dread as you thought of seeing him in detention.

You left your locker before Robin or Eddie could catch you, you ran up to Steve but much to his confusion you told him that you would be late for detention, even if Mr. Clarke always took about twenty minutes after the last ring of the bell and you’d told him so. To your surprise, Billy was already at the library when you arrived and Mr. Clarke was late too. You didn’t want to say anything to him and Billy didn’t say a word as you waited for Mr. Clarke. You followed Mr. Clarke’s instruction once he arrived, you nodded attentively at him and Billy simply grunted in affirmation, and yet you believed he noticed your scowls.

Mr. Clarke left you alone after ten minutes of supervising and it took almost another thirty minutes for either of you to speak.

If you could’ve avoided it, you would’ve but Billy made it difficult for you not to.

“You have to stop doing that,” you spat before giving him a stern look.

Huffs and grunts accompanied by furious glares that were a bit too obvious to let pass began to hurt you in a deeper way than you would’ve ever wanted to admit. Billy could tell that he’d hurt your feelings by the little irritating gestures that he made for forty minutes and he was somehow impressed that you hadn’t snapped at him.

But he didn’t react to your voice. Instead, he frowned as he heard your words but continue to stack the books as he’d done for the past forty minutes, he doesn’t grace you by looking you in the eye, which in turn just annoyed you even more.

“Hey,” you exclaimed again as you rounded up on him, finally making him stop ignoring you.

Billy simply narrowed his eyes in annoyance but remained silent as he gazed at you. You know you hurt him, you can see it in his eyes; even when you were fighting he’d never looked at you like that.

“What I did at lunch today, I was just trying to squash a rumor that we’re sleeping together,” you said firmly.

“Yeah, heard that,” Billy answered as he shrugged his shoulders while your brows furrowed.

“And what did you say?” you asked anxiously.

“The truth, we haven’t slept together,” Billy replied firmly. “And who cares about what they think anyway?”

“I care,” you hissed, glancing at the main desk of the library where some old ladies were. “Look, I don’t want to get caught with you, so please just keep your distance until we see each other at lunch?”

Billy's eyes narrowed in annoyance. He had tried to ignore how he’d felt all day after you’d right down shut him down from being your friend, but with your attitude at lunch; he honestly only could feel like he dragging his heart through the floor.

Billy Hargrove had always known that love wasn’t for him and yet, nothing had prepared him for when he was actually rejected by the girl that each day just assured him that love did exist by just breathing; now it had made him realize that truly wasn’t for him.

“You’re a hypocrite, you know?” he snapped at you.

“What do you mean by that?”

Billy chuckled sourly at your question while you glared at his reaction.

“You just want me to mess around, to distract you and when I do the same with other girls, I’m a playboy and an untrusty person,” He answered bitingly while you gave a step back as you realized how angry he actually was at you.

And yet, as you studied his features, you realized that under that glare you could feel him saddened by your action.

“Billy,” your voice a bit softer than before. “I didn’t mean… I thought that we were just messing around. It’s not like we’re in a relationship or anything of the sort.” you reasoned, adverting your gaze while staring at the ground.

Billy scoffed. “So, this thing between us, is just you using me?”

“I’m not using you,” you replied quickly.

You would never use him, you just didn’t want to get hurt.

Billy stared at you, letting the silence sit in for a moment as your gazes met. Billy hated that you looked so beautiful, hated that you were the cause of his heart racing in such a manner, hated that you were the thing that kept him up all night and the thing he dreamed about when he managed to sleep. He wondered if he should just come right out and say it, his feelings about you but that wounded part of his soul didn’t allow him to say anything.

He had enough misery for a lifetime, he couldn’t be rejected right out of the gate.

“You really don’t like me?” Billy finally asked softly, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

You sighed as you watched him carefully, your heart racing as you took in his scent.

Yes, yes I do, you thought but you couldn’t bear yourself to say it.

“Don’t do this, Billy” you pleaded with him, your eyes soft.

He wanted to kiss you when you were looking at him like that.

He didn’t though.

“I’m not your toy, y/n,” he stated. “I actually care about you and this, I just don’t want to do this if you truly feel nothing,”

“Billy,”

He let go of you abruptly as he walked away from the library, and out he went. You stood there, in the library as you ran a hand through your hair and wondered how badly you’d fucked up.

***

author's note: this is a sad chapter but chapter 18 will be special, I swearrrrr it. I hope you enjoy this chapter! lmk what you think about it!

***

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im-just-a-br0adway-baby · 4 months

Text

To say that being a single mother of triplets was tough would be an understatement, especially for Alma Madrigal. Not only that her children would run circles around her whenever they could, but their development was visibly different, despite being the same age. It has become more apparent now that the triplets have recently turned three years old. Julieta and Pepa were saying so many words and even Pepa started reading the signs they saw on their walks in the village. Bruno, on the other hand, was not saying anything. Every time sound came out of his mouth, it was still completely incomprehensible.

While Julieta and Pepa both understand what Bruno was trying to communicate, mainly because he smiles or nods most of the time they are together, Alma still thought about what would happen when they started school the coming fall. She did not want to hold Bruno back, she wanted him to go to school with his sisters. At the same time, she was concerned about the fact that none of the preschools in the Encanto was going to enroll him unless his language improved.

It was not until one day when Alma’s fears would begin to shrink. She picked the triplets up from daycare one Friday afternoon and the mother and children walked through the village together. One of her friends, Rosa, saw her and she stopped to talk to her.

“Hola, Alma! I know you told me about how concerned you were about Bruno’s language, but I found someone that I think would help!” Rosa said.

“You did?” Alma responded.

“Si; there’s a speech and occupational therapist that just transferred to the Encanto, Dr. Valeria Martinez.”

Rosa then handed Alma a small business card with Dr. Martinez’s name and address handwritten on it. She looked at the business card and smiled before putting it in her dress pocket.

“Gracias, Rosa! I hope to get to see her on Monday with Bruno and talk to her about what’s been going on.”

“De nada, Alma; and good luck!”

Alma hugged her friend with a smile and continued walking with the triplets. They continued walking in the village square until they got back to Casita and the triplets dropped their backpacks on the couch. The three went into the living room to play with their toys and Alma sat on the couch in the courtyard and took Dr. Martinez’s business card out of her dress pocket. She stared at the card and smiled.

“I hope my prayers will be answered with you.”

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Once Monday rolled around, Alma took the triplets to Dr. Martinez’s office after picking them up from daycare. They walked into the office to see Dr. Martinez sitting at her desk and sat in front of her.

“Hola! You’re here for a consultation?” Dr. Martinez asked.

“Si; my friend gave me your business card and I wanted to talk to you about doing a session with my son, Bruno. I have triplets and I’ve been noticing he’s not meeting the same language milestones as his sisters and now that they all turned three, it’s beginning to concern me. I don’t want to hold him back when they start preschool next year, but I know none of the preschools in the Encanto are going to enroll him unless he can at least acquire some language skills,” Alma explained to the therapist.

Dr. Martinez took the notes in her pad. “How long has this been going on?”

“Since Julieta started talking. Pepa started talking super early and even started saying three and four-syllable words before their second birthday. I originally figured Bruno was just going to be a little bit delayed since Pepa and Julieta started talking at different times. But now that they’re three and he’s still not talking, it’s worrying me.”

Dr. Martinez continued writing what Alma was saying in her notes. “Would it be okay if I took Bruno into my office so I can get to know him a little bit more?”

Alma nodded and Dr. Martinez and Bruno made their way to her office as Alma waited in the front with Julieta and Pepa. They sat at a little table together and faced each other. Bruno looked at Dr. Martinez and studied her as she smiled at him.

“Hi, Bruno! I’m Dr. Martinez. Would you like a toy?”

Bruno stared at Dr. Martinez and reached out for her arm. He squealed in excitement and began feeling her arm until he started to hold her hands. He smiled and Dr. Martinez gently removed his hands and got up from the table. She came back with a shape sorting cube and gave it to Bruno. She took out the star toy and showed it to him.

“Star,” Dr. Martinez said as she showed the toy to him.

She then put the star inside the star hole. Bruno smiled and tried to repeat her, and sound was coming out, but he could not get the syllables. Instead, he grabbed the circle toy and put it in the circle hole.

“Circle,” Dr. Martinez emphasized.

Bruno made another noise that was incomprehensible. He tried as hard as he could to say “circle”, but all he could do was make the same incomprehensible noises he’s been making this entire time. Dr. Martinez continued writing notes in her pad as Bruno continued playing with the shape sorter and making noises.

For the rest of the session, Dr. Martinez brought out more toys and said more words associated with the toys as Bruno attempted to say them. He continued playing with the toys until the hour they had together was finished.

Bruno and Dr. Martinez came back to the front after their session to see Alma, Julieta, and Pepa waiting for them. Bruno ran to Julieta and Pepa and they hugged him as tightly as they could. Dr. Martinez took out her notes to review the session to Alma.

“During our session, it seems to be clear that he’s trying his hardest to repeat what is being said to him. The sound is coming out, but he’s having trouble with the syllables. My best suggestion would be to focus on very specific syllables before having him speak full words. I have a couple of exercises that could help him in this folder,” Dr. Martinez explained as she gave Alma the folder she mentioned.

Alma went through the folder and found several sheets with specific syllables for Bruno to work on at home. “Gracias, Dr. Martinez; this should help Bruno with the first step in speaking.”

Dr. Martinez smiled and shook Alma’s hand. “I hope this will help him. I’ll see you next week.”

Alma and the triplets left the office and walked back to Casita. Julieta and Pepa asked Bruno lots of questions about Dr. Martinez and if she was nice. While Bruno could not answer with words, the girl still knew that he liked her.

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

Several weeks have passed, and Bruno has made progress with pronouncing one syllable at a time. While he has not said a word just yet, Alma was feeling optimistic about his speech because of the progress he was making. It was not until one early spring day when the triplets were drawing together in Casita’s courtyard when Alma’s prayers would be answered.

“Look what I drew!” Pepa exclaimed as she held up her drawing of herself, Julieta, and Bruno together outside on a sunny day under a rainbow.

“I love that picture!” Julieta replied.

The girls expected Bruno to make another noise to show how much he liked the picture, but instead, he pointed to where Pepa drew herself. He did not remove his finger from the paper and opened his mouth to try and say what he wanted to say.

“Pepa!” Bruno said in a way that was still a little bit slurred, but still pretty easy to understand.

Julieta and Pepa looked at Bruno simultaneously in shock as their mouths dropped open. Before they could run to their mother, Bruno pointed at the picture again, but this time, to where Pepa drew Julieta.

“Juli!” Bruno said as he smiled.

Julieta’s and Pepa’s smiles grew wider as they screamed in excitement. Alma overheard her daughters’ screaming and ran into the courtyard from the kitchen, originally assuming somebody got hurt.

“¿Qué está sucediendo? Is everyone alright?” Alma asked as she saw her triplets still on the floor together.

“Did you hear Bruno?” Pepa asked, still smiling.

“He said our names!” Julieta added.

“I… I showed him my drawing and he pointed to me in the drawing and said my name! Then he pointed to Julieta and said her name!”

Alma looked at Bruno and he pointed at Pepa’s drawing of herself again! “Pepa!” he said again and smiled. Alma put her hand on her mouth and cried tears of joy. Bruno pointed at Julieta on Pepa’s drawing and said “Julieta!”

Alma continued crying and picked Bruno up and hugged him. She cried more in his ruana and Bruno hugged her back. Julieta and Pepa ran up to Alma and hugged her and reached for Bruno to give him a hug.

“Mama!” Bruno said as he went back to hug his mother.

Alma’s eyes widened and she looked at Bruno when she heard him say “mama.” She held him closer and tighter as she cried more. “Asi es! Mama! I’m Mama, Brunito! Mama!”

Alma put Bruno down and Julieta and Pepa gave him the tightest hug they possibly could. Bruno hugged his sisters back and they sat back on Casita’s couch together. Alma went back into the kitchen, still crying tears of joy, as the triplets continued drawing their pictures together while waiting for dinner to be ready.

“Bruno talks!” Pepa pointed out as she and Julieta hugged again.

“Bruno talks!” Julieta repeated.

“Bruno!” Bruno repeated when he heard his sisters say his name.

Julieta and Pepa looked at each other, and then at Bruno. They screamed again and looked at Bruno in excitement and hugged him once more. “You’re saying more words, Bruno!” Pepa yelled.

Bruno smiled and hugged his sisters back until Alma came back to the courtyard from the kitchen. She saw her triplets still celebrating Bruno’s milestone and sat on the couch until her children were finished screaming.

“Dinner’s ready, mijos.”

The triplets ran into the kitchen for dinner and to tell Alma about how Bruno just said his own name.

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

The months following the triplets’ first official day of preschool saw much more progress in Bruno’s language. Ever since he said his sisters’ names for the first time, he was pointing to more objects and saying more words. Dr. Martinez has noticed this progress during every one of Bruno’s speech sessions since. At his first session after the triplets’ fourth birthday, Dr. Martinez noticed he was much closer to being on par with the rest of his peers in his language development.

Bruno was talking more to his classmates and Julieta and Pepa could even have more conversations with him. This also helped Bruno build his confidence over time. In their toddler class, his teachers did not think he was going to meet the same milestones as his sisters because of his language delay and he was not verbally telling his teachers anything. Now that he is speaking more, his teachers have noticed he understood what they were saying the entire time, he was just having trouble verbally expressing himself.

Bruno left his session with Dr. Martinez, feeling more confident than he ever was before. He not only was saying more words, but was also saying short phrases.

“How was your session?” Alma asked as she and the triplets started walking into the village and back to Casita.

“I liked it!” Bruno responded with a smile.

“Was it fun?” Julieta asked.

“It was!”

The Madrigals continued walking and talking about Bruno’s session. The fact that Alma could have a conversation with Bruno now made all of her fears disappear. She could finally understand him and she felt like she could have a stronger relationship with him; and Bruno loved having a better relationship with his mother and sisters.

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e-dubbc11 · 1 year

Text

Metal Moment

Photos are not mine. They are courtesy of Pinterest/Google

Pairing: Billy Russo x F! Reader

Warnings: None really, pure fun and fluff, couple of swear words.

Word Count: 1.6K-ish

Summary: You’re home alone, cooking, and waiting for Billy and the Castle’s to come over for dinner. You’re listening to some Metallica, and it’s so loud you don’t hear them come inside.

A/N: I had this idea last week while I was making dinner one night. My husband came home while I was rockin out and scared me. I used Metallica’s Enter Sandman for this.

As always, thank you for reading! I appreciate it so much and comments, reblogs are welcome and encouraged. Don’t be shy to tell me your favorite part. 💕💕 💕

You nearly forgot about your plans tonight until you glanced at your work calendar. The date was circled and inside the square said “Cook. Castle’s. Dinner.”

It had been the last time you and Billy went out to dinner with Frank and Maria when you suggested plans for them to come over and you would cook for them.

“Well, as long as Bill isn’t the one cooking, I’m in.” Frank chuckled.

Billy narrowed his eyes, pointed at Frank and rebutted. “Hey, I can open an MRE just as good as the next man.”

You reached for Billy’s finger and pulled it down so he wasn’t pointing anymore. “Billy’s not a bad cook, Frank. I mean, he’s not a really GOOD one either but he does have his moments.”

Pretending you had hurt his feelings, Billy clutched his chest and leaned in to quickly kiss you on the forehead. “Thank you, my love.” He said sarcastically. “I haven’t poisoned her yet, Frankie.”

Everyone at the table erupted with laughter and the Castle’s agreed to come over for dinner. It took a while to finally nail down a specific date but it was coming up on Friday.

Thankfully, the grocery store wasn’t too busy after work. You were able to get everything you needed for your spaghetti and meatballs that Billy loved so much. “Baby, what are in these meatballs that make them taste like this? They’re amazing!” Billy Russo flattered you but he wasn’t a liar, he always meant everything he said.

You had told him once before but apparently he needed to be told again. “I use three kinds of meat, Billy. Remember? I use beef, pork, and veal.” You reminded him with a slight smile.

In addition to the spaghetti and meatballs, you had also bought everything to make a salad and strawberry shortcake for dessert.

A text came from Billy around 4:30 saying he and Frank would be done around 6, so Maria would meet them at Anvil around that time and come home from there. That was plenty of time to get everything done so out came the Bluetooth speaker because cooking with music on was so much better than NOT cooking with music on.

While stirring the sauce, Enter Sandman started playing. It had been awhile since you had heard it and it had brought back a memory of one of your first dates with Billy while riding in his car.

The beginning of the song started to play and Billy extended his long arm and was about to change the song when you stopped him. He just assumed you didn’t like metal.

“Wait, Billy. What are you doing?” You remember touching his hand so he would take it away from the button. “I like this song.” You said.

Say your prayers, little one, don't forget, my son. To include everyone. I tuck you in, warm within, keep you free from sin. ‘Til the Sandman, he comes

Billy couldn’t believe what you just told him. “Whoa, wait—YOU like Metallica?!”

You crossed your arms across your chest. “Billy Russo, just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean that I can’t like Metallica and metal in general.”

Sleep with one eye open. Gripping your pillow tight

Exit light. Enter night. Take my hand. We're off to never-never land

He looked at you as if you possessed the key that unlocked his heart. “Well I didn’t say that, y/n and I’m sorry for insinuating but I’m just going to tell you that—that very few people surprise me.”

Billy smiled, gave you a wink, and by the end of the song the two of you were singing it at the top of your lungs. It was just fun, one of the best dates you had ever been on, and solidified the fact that you were in love with him.

That little moment in the car gave you a glimpse of who Billy Russo really was, he loved to smile and have fun. He didn’t show that to many people, to anyone really. Any time Billy could just relax and be himself was when he was most happy.

He didn’t have to be a CEO or a marine, he could just be…Billy. He loved you for allowing him to be himself, for not running away when he shut himself off from you. He just needed a little coaxing out of his shell and letting him know that he could trust you.

Trust. The concept was lost on someone like Billy who had built a wall around his heart, not allowing anyone over that wall or anywhere near it, for that matter. But that wall slowly started to come down the first time you made him smile, the first time you made him laugh, and the first time you listened without judgement.

The hole you had started to put in that wall during that car ride was the start to that wall coming down, brick by brick. You just needed to be patient and let it come down at a pace Billy was comfortable with. It didn’t matter to you how long it took but you would be there when it finally did.

With the memory fresh in your mind, you continued to stir the sauce and sing along with the music.

Something's wrong, shut the light, heavy thoughts tonight. And they aren't of Snow White. Dreams of war, dreams of liars, dreams of dragons' fire. And of things that will bite, yeah

What you didn’t know was that Billy, Frank and Maria were going to be a little earlier than you expected. Getting off of the elevator, the three of them heard the music coming from your apartment, a look of confusion on all of their faces.

“Is that comin’ from your place, Bill?” Asked Frank. “Sounds like Metallica.”

“Enter Sandman…” said Billy. “Remember that story I told you Frankie, where y/n was in the car with me and that song came on, we hadn’t been dating that long…”

Billy’s words jogged Frank’s memory. “Oh yeah! You went to change the song and she told you not to and that’s how you found out she loves metal.” Frank said. “And what did I tell you to do after you told me that story?”

Sleep with one eye open. Gripping your pillow tight

Exit light. Enter night. Take my hand. We're off to never-never land. Yeah-yeah

“What did he tell you to do, Billy? I can only imagine what Frank said.” Maria asked.

Billy quickly looked at his longtime friend, a slight smile tugged at his lips and looked back at Maria and said “Frankie told me to marry her.”

“Awwww, and you DID marry her!!” Maria said excitedly.

Billy blushed slightly. “I did marry her.” He said.

A wicked smile spread across Billy’s face. “Hey, you guys wanna sneak up on her? She’s singin’ and rockin’ out, she’s not gonna hear us.”

“Bill, just make sure she’s not holding any knives.” Frank joked and they pointed at each other as if to say “good call.”

Hush, little baby, don't say a word. And never mind that noise you heard. It's just the beast under your bed. In your closet, in your head

Billy carefully unlocked the door, he knew your back would be turned if you were cooking at the stove. The three of them made sure to not make any extra noise walking into the apartment. Just like he knew you would be, you had your back turned towards their direction and you were still singing.

Exit light. Enter night. Grain of sand

The lights were dimmed so there was no chance of any shadows being cast that would cause you to turn around or give you any indication there were other people in the apartment. Always light on his feet, Billy hugged the wall, followed by Frank, then Maria. She had a look on her face that said “I feel bad for doing this but it’s gonna be fun.”

Exit light. Enter night. Take my hand

Billy held up three fingers and counted down “3…2…1”

On one, they jumped out from behind the wall singing the last line of the song.

“WE’RE OFF TO NEVER-NEVER LAND!!!” The three of them yelled out.

You screamed, quickly turned around and your fist met Billy’s nose. Blood gushed from his face and he pinched his nose with his fingers.

“Shit!! Damn, I forgot how quick your reflexes were baby! Fuck!” He cried out in pain.

Even though you felt terrible, a slight smile spread across your face. “Oh my god, I am SO sorry, Billy! Are you ok?!” You asked while giggling a little.

Frank wasn’t giggling, he was doing a full belly laugh, and almost falling over onto the floor. “I told you we shouldn’t scare her like that.”

“You did no such thing, Frank!” Maria said through her laughter.

Quickly, you placed some ice in a plastic bag and wrapped the bag in a dish towel. “Hold this against your nose, baby. It will keep the swelling down.”

Billy was silent, his eyes were closed as he tried to get the bleeding to stop.

“Say something, Billy. Please? I said I was sorry.”

Billy pulled the ice bag away from his nose and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on your forehead.

He had a warm smile on his face but winced a little in pain as he said “It’s alright, my love. Although, if I had known that one of these days you were gonna clock me, I wouldn’t have bought you such a big diamond.” He joked.

Frank had finally composed himself long enough to get out “Well, look on the bright side, Bill. At least she wasn’t holding a knife.”

It caused him pain, but Billy had started to laugh. Then everyone else began to laugh as you pushed yourself up onto your toes and planted a soft kiss on Billy’s cheek, his beard tickling your lips as you tried to settle your laughter. You couldn’t help yourself.

Enter Sandman had another memory attached to it now, whether Billy wanted to remember it or not.

Tag List: @mindidjarin @saintmurd0ck @wheresthesunshinesblog @rafaelakelley @idaoftheburningmind @snowkestrel @xdervyxccgh @mattmurdocksscars @fakehappy27 @music-indie-tv @fictional-hooman @kayhi808 @munsonownsmyass @gijos @celestialams @marudersarehot

If you’d like to be added to (or removed from) my tag list for the ever so handsome Billy Russo, just let me know and thank you again for reading! 💕💕💕

#billy russo x reader #billy russo imagine #billy russo fluff #billy russo fanfic #billy russo #metallica #enter sandman

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figandthewasp · 3 months

Text

magic_of_i

PISCES NEW MOON MAR 10 1:00AM PST / MAR 10 10:00AM CET / MAR 10 8:00PM AEDT MOONTHLY THEME: Dreams, Transcendence & Intuition NEW MOON REFLECTION: When I sit silently with my higher self. I discover an untapped world of inspiration. We begin the last moon cycle of the astrological year with a new moon in Pisces, the last sign of the zodiac. We have almost come full circle & will be closing the cycle with the Libra full moon just after the astrological new year begins with Aries season. This new moon carries emotional intuition and truth bombs upon the back of a lightening strike square between Mars and Uranus. Sudden bursts of energy, changes, shifts in plans or expectations are followed by the capacity for creative vision, availability of intuitive insight & dreaming up new ways forward. Because there will be heightened sensitivity, connect with your innermost desires and dreams, and embrace new perspectives and transformative change. Set intentions with empathy at the forefront that align with your deepest desires and spiritual aspirations, with a focus on the collective. If we collectively dream of better days in these moments, what impact might that have? What if this new moon was a group prayer? I'm here for that Other ways to honor this new moon would be to embrace your creativity: make time for creative projects. If you need to release emotions: water rituals for cleansing and releasing are optimum. And dream journalling: personally my dreams have been wild and this has been helpful and insightful into the subconscious realm If you have been regularly moon journalling, after reflecting on your intentions for this new moon, it might be interesting to go back and revisit the last moon cycle of last year. What do you notice?

#magic of i

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mediumgayitalian · 3 months

Text

———

“Hm,” Piper says, fingers steepled. She looks very intently at the air in front of her. “Hm.”

Nico scowls impatiently. “Feel free to be helpful at any given time. Now, even, if you’re so inclined.”

“Have you considered that the reason you’re so infatuated with Will is because you may be blessed by Apollo?”

“I’m infatuated with Will because he is the physical manifestation of everything I value in a person,” Nico says automatically. Then he frowns, processing the rest of Piper’s sentence. “Wait, what?”

Nico understands his error as the grin on her face stretches into something truly grotesque. “I was going to make a joke about your drama levels, but thank you for that. I’m really looking forward to telling several dozen people and delighting in the knowledge that you’re going to curl up into a bundle of humiliation under your bunk tonight as you think about it.”

Instead of answering, Nico decides to walk away. Since there is so much blood concentrated in his skull, resting mostly around his face region, he takes two steps and begins to pass out, but luckily Piper has followed him and impedes a head injury by gripping his arm and merrily forcing him forward.

“So,” she says, steering them towards the amphitheatre, “what’s Plan B?”

“Bold of you to assume there was a Plan A.”

“You like Sunny Boy way too much to walk in there blind.”

“…Touché.”

She’s smug enough to be silent, slinging an arm over Nico’s shoulders as they walk. The closer they get, the harder Nico is forced to grapple with just how godsdamn much he’s softened. I want you to be happy, Father had said. Camp will be good for you, Chiron had agreed. You’re a little twit and need socializing, Mr. D had snipped.

Nico needs a better father figure. He wonders if Paul Blofis’ offer is still open.

The amphitheater is not, of course, empty when they arrive, because Nico knows the Fates personally and each of them despises him. The actual training part is empty — unsurprising — but the stands are moderately filled, with people gossiping, braiding hair, and if Nico is not mistaken, a small, pop-up nail painting salon. Mitchel lifts a purple-smeared hand in an absentminded wave as they step onto the packed dirt.

Nico ducks under Piper’s arm, turning to face her. “I need to fight you,” he informs her. “For my own personal pride.”

She nods thoughtfully. “It does indeed need restoring.” He curved, icy blade gleams in the early afternoon sun, mirroring her dangerous smile. “Square up.”

Since honour is for nerds, Nico doesn’t bother waiting. He simply attacks, lunging for the left side Piper always leaves open. Unfortunately for him, her recent meddling in his love life means her mother has blessed her with a little sprinkling of extra verve, and she dodges easily and cheerfully.

He sends a glum mental prayer down to his father.

Anytime you’re feeling generous, Pop, he grumbles, I would love a boost.

There’s an actual rumble to the ground, as his father laughs at him.

“Real kind,” he says out loud. “Dick.”

“I wonder if you would have more success in the wooing department if you had conversations outside of your own head,” Piper says sweetly. She spins her sword in a neat little circle by his face. “All bay brooding makes you look so…broody.”

Nico scoffs at her. “Will seems to like my broodiness. For some reason. So there.”

“And yet…” She trails off, shooting him a teasing look. Nico is unfortunately very easy to tease (thanks, Bianca) (and for that measure thanks, Hazel) (Reyna too, probably) (and honestly Annabeth) (gods, and Percy) (don’t even get him started on Leo) (really, it would be more prudent to name the people who do not take sick pleasure in driving him up the wall) and as such succumbs easily to her tormenting, taking a hard hit to the side when he’s too keyed up to avoid her spinning slash.

“Note to self, don’t let the monsters know about big embarrassing crushes,” she muses. “They make Nico sloppy and will get him killed in battle.”

She mimes writing something down. This, thankfully, leaves her distracted enough that Nico gets his sword levered against hers, twisting until she’s disarmed. She lifts both hands up in surrender when he points a sword at her throat, but remains entirely unaffected by his glare.

“Pride re-instated?” she asks.

Nico huffs. “No.”

…Yes.

“You’re such a grouch,” she says fondly. She tries to ruffle his hair and is forcibly stopped by his jab to her ribs. Unfortunately, Piper McLean takes no shit sitting down, and in a minute they’re on the floor, getting caked in dust, trying to see who can leave the most bruises on the other. Nico would wager that they’re just about tied.

“You have a list,” Piper grunts, muffled as she bites his bicep. He shouts, wrenching his arm away — she is pointy. “I have no idea what you’re all mopey about.”

He digs his knee into the small of her back. “I gave him flowers! He made a poultice out of them!”

“Technically, you made the poultice.”

He elbows her in the stomach. She shrieks and jabs her knuckles right under his eye.

“You’re so annoying!”

“Ugh!”

Every part of Nico’s body aches. So badly. He’s not sure which one of them won their brawl, if either, but he knows for sure that he is actively turning purple. He feels like the first time his nonna gave him a hammer and a piece of cutlet — he was maybe five years old — and told him to flatten it. (He remembers, now, the look on her face as she wiped pulverized chicken flesh from her eye. Oops.)

“Go to Will and get healed up?”

Nico huffs a laugh, immediately wincing at the strain on his tender ribs.

“Yep. Let’s go.”

The walk is miserable and bruised. And slow, since both of them are limping. Several campers walk by snickering, since apparently Saving The Entire Damn World, For Real And Actually, You Ungrateful Brat, Should I Just Destroy It Again Then earns you no permanent respect.

It’s not too bad, though. Nico would rather chomp on concrete than admit it out loud, but Piper isn’t horrible company, and she hums when she walks. Bianca did the same thing. For once, it’s a pleasant reminder, although he does wonder if Nico will ever be able to look at the women in his life and not think of her.

(In all honesty, probably not. He sees her in the clouds, in the gnarled bark of the trees; feels her in the warmth of the sun; hears her in every snorting laugh. He likes to imagine how much she would love these women, though. If she were alive they would be her friends first. He knows she was happy with the Hunters, however briefly. He thinks he can maybe forgive himself if he thinks of her without weeping.)

“Least it doesn’t look too busy today,” Piper comments. She purses her lips at the Big House, which for once seems quiet. Perhaps Will made good on his threats and finally dosed the Hermes’ table breakfast spread with Benadryl. Nico would be proud. He deserves a day of peace.

“Great. That means we get the full force of Will’s bitching on us alone.”

Piper scoffs. “Please. You like it when he yells at you.”

Nico almost kills her for real. By the time she manages to kick him off of her, still snickering to herself, they both have a new layer of bruises on top of the old ones.

“Gods, di Angelo, you make it so easy —”

“Shut up,” he says hotly. “You are literally the most annoying person in this stupid camp.”

She sticks her tongue out at him. He scowls, kicking a rock to avoid kicking her and setting both of them off again. It rolls over the grass, pinging off the side of one of the many braziers and rolling finally to a stop back at his feet. In its new position, it perfectly catches the brightly shining sun, refracting the light in a dandelion-esque burst.

“Huh,” he murmurs.

Wincing at his stiff joints, he crouches, vaguely registering Piper pausing somewhere to the left of him. He scoops the little thing up, bringing it close to his face to inspect.

It’s roughly cut, so it’s not anyone’s jewel or anything. Some of the pieces are textured with tiny little divots, like a regular stone, but some are straight and flat and catch the light. Some kind of crystal, then. It’s dense, about the size of a walnut, and shaped kind of like a brain. It is a very familiar shade of blue.

“Holt Hades, you are sappy.”

Nico flushes, shoving the rock into his pocket. “Nobody asked you, Piper.”

“I asked me! I am always asking me.” She jogs to keep up with his suddenly speedy strides, gripping onto the elbow of his shirt when he tries to move faster. “Is this Plan B? Little gifts.”

“It’s a rock,” he says shortly.

“Diamonds are rocks.”

“I didn’t get him a diamond.” He pauses. “Should I get him a diamond?”

She shrugs. “I dunno. I’m not the one in love with him.”

“Who said anything about —”

“Nico! Piper! Hey!”

“Notice who he called first,” she whispers, right in his ear. She grins over at Will before he can say anything. Or curse her. “Hey, Will! How are you?”

It is unfair for a person to look good in mint scrubs. They don’t even suit him, not really, but he still looks — well, he’s beautiful. His hair is poofier than usual and sticks out like he stuck his finger in a socket, and his beam is so bright Nico has to genuinely squint to look at him, and how is it, honestly, that his freckles look like dappled sunlight? That’s not normal.

“I’m okay.” He waves them inside, not bother to close the door behind them — it’s nice out, and Nico knows he prefers the breeze and sun. “Bored.”

“Not enough ocular surgery to perform?”

Will’s grin turns wry. “Nope.” He reaches out to brush his thumb across Nico’s eye scar. He freezes, holding his breath, hyperaware of those callused fingers as they approach the ever-warming skin of his face, heart galloping in his chest. As soon as Will makes contact — because of course the touch was to get his vitals, c’mon, Nico, head in the game — he frowns.

“Why are so many of your capillaries burst?”

Piper smiles guiltily, holding up a hand.

“I beat him up.”

“Wha — you did not!” He turns to Will, indignant. “We beat each other up! She’s lying!”

Will sighs. He glares at them both for a full forty seconds, then turns his face up to the heavens, muttering something that sounds suspiciously like I do not deserve to be surrounded by this kind of dumbassery. Send lightning through the sky if I should let them suffer.

Nico waits. No lightning comes forth.

Will sighs. “Cot, let’s go, y’all know the drill.”

Piper mouths y’all as she sits down. Nico mouths eat dirt back at her.

“Now, I could hum sum’n and —”

“Sum’n,” Piper whispers delightedly. Nico ignores her.

“— get y’all fixed up good, but y’all’ve pissed me off good —”

Nico takes the initiative to pillow-smack Piper in the face while Will’s back is turned. Luckily, it muffles her shriek.

“— so I’m not gonna do all that.” He closes the cupboard with his hip, hands full of vials. “Ain’t even gonna waste ambrosia on y’all, honestly. Y’get some bruise ointment and a Tylenol ‘cause I know y’all were up to shenanigans.”

He puts a lot of emphasis on ‘nan’. Nico knows he is trying very hard to be stern, but he is in fact very cute, and Nico is putting a lot of his brainpower towards memorizing the specific wrinkle pattern that Will’s nose gets when he’s annoyed. If he says that Will looks like a bunny he might actually get shot, no matter how much Will allegedly seems to like him, so he manages to choke down the sentiment. But it is indeed there.

“— and take it easy, y’hear? Bruises don’t heal in a day.”

Gods, his eyes are really, really pretty. He’s almost tired of thinking it, but they match the sky exactly, all the time. Poets write about sparkling eyes and pretty faces all the time, but all of them can choke because all of them are liars. Will Solace has the prettiest eyes of anyone who has ever lived. They are indeed the windows to the soul, and his soul is just —

“This is for you,” Nico blurts. Essentially acting on its own, his hand slips in his pocket and draws out the blue stone, holding it out. “Um. I saw it and —” He glances at Piper, panicked, and she kicks him in encouragement. “Thought of you. So.”

Will stares at the stone for a moment. Nico sweats.

“Nico di Angelo,” he chides, hands on his hips. The panicked look he flits in Piper’s direction grows tenfold. He is not at all comforted by the grimace she sends back. “Do you think I’m so corrupt as to accept a bribe?”

“Um.” Nico hesitates. Piper smacks her face onto her hands, groaning. “That’s not what I —”

“Well, you would be correct.” Quick as a bird, Will darts out and snatches the stone, sliding it into one of his many (many) shorts pockets, nodding in approval. “I don’t have any aventurine. I’ve been looking for it. Good bribe.”

He sets down the ointment and Tylenol, gesturing for Nico to hold out his hands. Nico sighs, then complies.

“I mean, he didn’t destroy it, this time,” Piper whispers as he begins to sing, enveloping Nico’s body in a warm, golden glow. “So…progress?”

“Progress,” Nico agrees. He glances over at Will, eyes squeezed shut in focus, and rolls his eyes fondly. “Who knew it would be so hard to convince someone who already likes me to go out with me.”

———

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frischkasekuchen · 2 months

Text

Dreamtalia Carrie AU - Blood of the Covenant

Credits:

Nevo, Dreamtalia and its characters by kyokyo866

Carrie by Stephen King

Content Warnings:

Swearing

Religion/Christianity

Religious Abuse

Child Abuse

Homophobia (slurs are used)

References to smoking

Starring:

Reve and World as Carrie White (Reve Faucher and Nicholas Major)

Nevo as Margaret White (Nathan Major)

(Author's Note: I spent Lent and partway through Easter working on this fic. This is for the 50th anniversary of Carrie. Beta read by my sister. Please remember to thank Tabitha King for making sure Carrie's story was told and kickstarting King's career. )

"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." - Ephesians 6:4 (King James Bible)

If it wasn’t worth it, if it wasn’t for his only friend, he’d never do this. If the boy didn’t think there was more to life than prayer, the day of Judgement, and papa- he would happily rot in these four walls till some other horrible disaster came.

(tonight)

The word bounced around his head.

(i am not afraid of him)

Nicholas, for the first time in his life, was going to do something worse than just say fuck under his father’s roof. Something worse than

(of whom shall i be afraid)

sharing a quarter cigarette with Reve that one evening. But there was that rising nausea, like the same urge to vomit when he first tasted sin- nicotine.

(she gave of me the tree, and I did eat)

Anxiously,

(flex)

Nicholas made his pocket change swim in the air around the ceiling light, like sharks circling a lone surfer.

“Nicholas!” Papa called, causing him to shoot up from his bed and drop the coins. “Reve has come over for dinner, come downstairs!”

“Coming!”

The boy looked in the mirror. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders the way Alfred does- minus the boisterous, prideful laughter that accompanied the stance. Nicholas marched downstairs, like a soldier to a battlefield.

—

(it was a dark and stormy night)

As Reve surveyed the dinner table one could most definitely compare it to a battlefield. Despite the polite conversation he had with Mr. Major

(what is your favorite proverb)

the air was thick with tension- the boy might as well cut it with a knife so he could breathe a little.

Things began to escalate when dessert was presented at the table. Nicholas’ father divided a blueberry pie among the three. Its filling looked thick and slimy, with cane sugar crystals. Fresh, bulbous blueberries were packed together and nestled in the crust.

When Reve took a bite of his share, he puckered his lips. The pastry was too sour and too sweet all at the same time. “It’s great!” Reve said.

However, Nicholas wasn’t having any of it, literally. He just twirled his fork in his right hand, while his left was scratching his pant leg.

“This is new.” Mr. Major said, “You haven’t touched your pie.”

“It makes me have breakouts.” Nicholas answered firmly, pushing the plate away from himself.

Mr. Major let out an ‘I-know-better’ sigh. He pushed the plate back towards his son. “Pimples are the Lord’s way of hindering pride.”

“Maybe it’s a Sign I should lay off the sweets.”

Reve jumped in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. “I-I wouldn’t mind taking his share! I have a sweet tooth after all.” Personally, it was in the boys best interest to keep the man placated.

A pregnant pause.

“Actually,” Reve chimed in once more with an eager grin, “Nicky and I have something important to tell you!”

Mr. Major’s eyebrows raised and he hummed in expectation.

Nicholas looked like a deer in headlights, it was as if he forgot what this dinner was for. The boy’s wide eyes told Reve ‘I can’t do this’.

Reve locked his pinky with Nicholas’ own under the table.

(im here)

It seemed to say.

“Reve and I…”

(spit it out be a man)

“Have been invited to prom!”

The man froze as though struck by the lightning outside. “Prom.” Mr. Major muttered in horror.

“I’m going to support Reve and-” Nicholas gulped for air a moment, “The coach thinks this could be good for us because, y’know, we’re growing up- and stuff.”

The man’s lips moved but neither boy heard what came out his mouth.

Nicholas pressed on, “V- Mr. Bazarov and Ludwig bought us tickets- so you don’t have to spend a cent.”

“No.” Mr. Major’s voice raised to an audible volume.

Nicholas began a tangent, “People think we’re- Reve and I- are weird, and not the good kind- the bad kind. And I think we need to learn, to- well- get along with everyone else, before it's too late-”

Nicholas was promptly doused with tea as his father threw it across the table. Some of it got onto Reve’s shirt. Fortunately for the two it was lukewarm. Nicholas sputtered and sniffled quietly.

Reve placed his palms on the table to stand up and voice his outrage-

But Nicholas placed a hand on his knuckles and gave a faux-reassuring squeeze. Reve sat back down. Nicholas’ hand stayed

(i just need you here)

right where it was.

“Go to your closet.” the man snarled.

“I haven’t done anything wrong.” Nicholas protested.

“After all you’ve been taught- you fraternize with a sodomite?”

“He isn’t a bad person, Papa.” Nicholas muttered as he scrubbed tea out of his eyes.

“The moment you stepped into that shower room-” The man heaved a heavy breath, “You exposed yourself to him, those boys- that filth. And even after you were punished for the Sin of Lustful Thoughts- you went back for more.”

“It-” Reve whimpered in a small voice, “It isn’t like that.” No one heard him.

(my siblings arent bad people im not bad am i)

The man shot out of his seat and thundered over to Nicholas. He gripped the boy’s forearm as though he were a chew toy. Mr. Major’s face appeared disturbingly enchanting, with his blue eyes framed by stringy, pink hair.

(this is too much too mu)

“Come to your closet and pray.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong.”

The man raised his hand to strike at Nicholas. The boy seemed resigned to what would come next.

Reve spent a good quarter of his life just…watching Nicholas be treated like everyone’s ragdoll. But remaining seated as his own father did the same? That was just too much.

The sound of Reve smacking away Nathan’s hand was almost as ear shattering as the sudden thunderclap.

Nicholas looked dumbfounded. The man looked offered. And though he was terrified, Reve stood between father and son.

“Don’t you hit Nicky!” Reve shrieked. “He’s your son- he doesn’t deserve that!”

“You have no right to-”

“I do! He’s important to me!”

Nicholas had doubted that Reve cared. He thought they were only friends of circumstance, but he’d gone and said that. “Reve…”

Reve was shoved and he slammed against the kitchen counter.

“Reve!” Nicholas ran over to his side, and shot his father a glare.

“Nicholas.” Papa said in a hushed tone. “Tell that man no.”

“I already said I was going.” Nicholas countered as he got Reve to his feet.

“Then tell him you’ve changed your mind!” Nathan nearly hollered. “Or we’ll move! Move somewhere you’ll never see that boy or that teacher again!”

“No- I won’t!”

“That’s final.” Mr. Major walked away as though he had the last word in.

“I’m not done!” Nicholas screamed.

“I have to close the window. The rain’s getting in the house.” he marched to a nearby window.

“I’ll get them- just please talk to me!”

And Nicholas flexed.

At that moment, Reve felt the house shift. Every window slammed shut, even the one upstairs, and the one Mr. Major was going to close and nearly crushed his fingers.

A large knife dangled inches away from the man’s face as he cowered in a corner.

Nicholas’ fingers flexed and twitched like a malfunctioning machine.

Reve put a hand on Nicholas’ shoulder. “Nicky,” he murmured, “put the knife down.”

Nicholas breathed a staccato of inhales and exhales through his nose.

Reve wrapped his arms around Nicholas’ shoulders, leaned close to his ear and whispered, “Please put that knife down, Nicky.”

The knife fell to the floor

(not worth it hes not worth it)

with a clatter.

“Witch.” Mr. Major breathed. “Devil’s power.”

Nicholas was sniffling, but without any doubt in his mind he said: “The devil’s got nothing to do with this. It’s me- me.”

“And it’s- he’s amazing.” Reve huffed.

“Nonsense.” Mr. Major rose from his crouch. “The devil is cunning. He gives you things- he tricks you- you know what he did to your mother-”

Nicholas chuckled with mirth. “She ran away, Papa.”

“She was seduced, she vanished into the night-”

“She ran away. Everyone knows that.”

(she knew she knew you were)

Reve put a hand over his mouth; Nicholas’ life was revealed to be more of a hellhole with every new fact he learned about his friend.

(can anyone tell me what abandonment means)

Nicholas sighed, “And I don’t wanna talk about these things anymore.”

(just wanted to talk like how all the other kids do with their)

Reve looked to Nicholas, his father, and then back to his best friend again.

“Are ya really sure you wanna go to prom? You don’t gotta go just for me.”

Nicholas smiled at him through the tears, the tea and nodded. He gripped Reve’s hand in his “We’re going.” Nicholas looked at his father. “We’re going to prom.”

And that affirmation is what sealed the boys’ fates.

—

Reve opened his umbrella and stepped out of the doorway.

“Have a good night, Reve.”

Reve nearly stepped off the porch. Instead, he whipped around to face Nicholas. He didn’t notice at the time, but he was crying. “Please- please promise me- that if I leave you alone with him, you’ll still call me in the morning.”

Nicholas was confused, but gave him a grin. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

“People like him- they- what if he-” Reve’s trembling lips stopped that track of words.

(no no i cant say it)

“Papa won’t do that.” For some reason, Reve felt like the other boy was lying through his teeth. “Things are gonna change around here.”

“Saturday night?” Reve sniffled.

Nicholas cupped Reve’s cheeks, stood on his tiptoes, and kissed away Reve’s tears.

He pulled away. “Saturday night.”

Reve nodded, turned away, and found the courage to drag his feet away from the Major bungalow and walk home.

(Author's Note: Sorry if this piece was heavy- the Carrie AU is kind of a personal story to me (aka mad projecting). I just really wanted to do something for a Stephen King anniversary because both his novels and Dreamtalia itself have carried me through tough times. Thank you for reading.)

(P.S Shout out to anyone who got the Utena reference)

#dreamtalia #carrie au #tw swearing #tw religion #tw religious abuse #tw child abuse #my writing

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