#rotating between Serious things so took a break with. silliness

[wouldntyoulichentoknow]

who taught her that.

[hxlyhead-harpies]

Eventuality (C.D.)

Requested: Yes

Pairing: Cedric Diggory x Reader

Summary: The reader pretends she doesn’t care that her best friend has moved on

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1.6k

A/n: this gif of cedric tho.... i fell in love

You watched as he broke the surface, gasping for air and pulling her along with him. The crowd roared as he was pulled from the water with his hand wrapped around her waist. He pumped his fist in the air in victory, him having been the first out of the lake. She threw her arms around his neck in celebration and you pretended that it didn’t sting. You looked away with your arms crossed, not being able to bear the sight before you. 

Cedric and you had a complicated past. You had been friends, though that was hardly the proper word to describe it, at some point. But as of late you were strangers. The friendship had always been dysfunctional as you were in a different house, but it had always been special. Slytherin and Hufflepuff friendships were always unique but steadfast as both houses highly regarded loyalty. The difference between your houses had always been apparent in your relationship with Cedric but it was valued. You taught a young and shy Cedric how to stand up for himself and he reminded you that you were not like your parents and that you could choose your own path. 

There had always been an underlying tension in the friendship. Lingering stares and hugs that lasted too long indicated that there may have been something more to it. You had always assumed that you and Cedric would be an eventuality, that someday you would finally make your way to each other. But the beginning of sixth year had proven you wrong. 

Cedric had boarded the train with a lovestruck look in his eyes and began telling you stories of Cho Chang. The whole ride to Hogwarts he described her long, shiny hair and her beautiful amber-brown eyes. He spoke of her intelligence and wit, describing her grace and humor. You sat through it all in pain, a fake smile plastered across your face. You tried not to cry when he told you that he planned on asking her to Hogsmeade and you tried to act happy for him. 

Your friendship had become strained in the following weeks. He spent every waking moment with Cho and you pulled away, not being able to bear watching the boy you loved chase someone else. The final nail in the coffin was when he told you that he was entering his name in the goblet. 

“You can’t honestly be serious,” you had practically shrieked. Cedric furrowed his eyebrows.

“What? Do you not think I can handle it?” he asked, anger seeping into his voice.

“No, it’s not that! It’s dangerous you idiot, you could die,” you responded. Cedric scoffed.

“It’s not that serious, I probably won’t get chosen anyway,” he said, crossing his arms angrily. 

“It is that serious you git! Did you not hear Dumbledore,” you replied, “And of course you’ll get picked. It couldn’t be anyone else.” Cedric had rolled his eyes.

“I think you’re overreacting,” he said, his voice venomous. You huffed and stepped forward, pressing your finger to his chest.

“You do not get to tell me when I am overreacting,” you growled, “And I am just trying to tell you that-”

“You don’t get to try and tell me what to do! Not after avoiding me!” he had shouted back. You looked away and bite the inside of your cheek, trying to hold back your anger. 

“I haven’t been avoiding you, you’ve just been busy running around with your little girlfriend,” you spat out. It was a lie, you had been avoiding him. But you wanted to say something that might urge him to apologize. You had no such luck. 

“Don’t talk about her like that,” Cedric said, narrowing his eyes. You shook your head and looked away. 

“Whatever Cedric,” you said. His eyes widened and he stepped back. You hadn’t called him by his full name in years. You had a vast array of silly nicknames you used instead, and it was a low blow to use his given name. 

“Whatever,” he said before shaking his head and storming off. 

The two of you hadn’t spoken since then, only glaring at each other in the halls. You truly and deeply missed him but he seemed fine without you. He was doing well in the challenges, he and Cho seemed to be attached at the hip, and you had watched him smile and laugh at the Yule Ball. It was obvious that he had never needed you in the way that you needed him.

Once all the other champions came out of the water everyone began to vacate the stands. A crowd formed around Cedric and he was smiling wide, basking in the attention. You rolled your eyes, remembering all the days you had teased him for being an attention hog. Cedric thrived on validation and you assumed that his ego was receiving a hefty boost. Cedric turned and his eyes snapped to yours for a quick moment. He seemed to have frozen in place, his mouth hanging open slightly. You couldn’t bear to look away, your heart still yearning for him. Someone grabbed his shoulder to congratulate him and he tore his eyes away. You sighed and began your trek back to the castle. 

You were in the library later that day, avoiding the sounds of celebration coming from the Great Hall. All anyone could talk about was Cedric and you didn’t think that your heart could handle it. You were reading when you sensed someone watching you. You turned around quickly to see Cedric idling by a bookshelf, seemingly debating whether or not to talk to you. When he noticed that you saw him he sent you a brilliant smile that made your heart clench. But you knew him too well and you could sense his lack of confidence. 

“Hey,” he said softly. You gave him a curt nod before turning back to your book. “I saw you by the lake today,” he said, looking down at his hands. 

“Yes, Fleur and I have developed a nice friendship and I went to support her,” you explained stiffly. It was true, you and Fleur were close, but you truly went to make sure that Cedric would be okay. But you’d never let him know that. He blinked in surprise. 

“Oh. I just thought- never mind,” he said, looking away. You snapped your book closed and looked up. 

“Thought what?” you asked sharply. Cedric rubbed the back of his neck. 

“I thought that you might have come to watch me,” he admitted sheepishly. You scoffed and crossed your arms.

“You thought that I was watching you? Don’t flatter yourself…” You said. Once again it was a lie, but you desperately felt as if you needed to shield yourself from the boy in front of you. Cedric frowned and looked away. He stood up and rapped his knuckles against the table.

“Well um… Sorry to bother you then,” he said. He turned to walk away. He lingered for a moment by the shelves. “What happened to us?” he asked softly, not turning back to look at you. You sniffled and looked down, fiddling with the pages of your book. 

“I thought that we were something that we weren’t,” you said softly. Cedric slowly rotated so that he was facing you. 

“What?” he breathed out softly. You sighed and avoided his gaze. 

“I thought… I thought that we might have been more than friends. But I was clearly wrong and I let it ruin everything,” you answered. Cedric’s face seemed to break and he ran a hasty hand over it. 

“It wasn’t your fault,” he said softly after a moment of silence, “I thought my feelings were one-sided so I tried to move on.” His confession hung in the air as you tried to process what he said. “I thought that you could never love me back so I chased Cho instead,” he said. You furrowed your eyebrows.

“But you like her. You pulled her out of the lake today,” you pointed out, unable to believe him. He sighed. 

“It’s not like that. She and I are friends. And after you stopped talking to me, she’s pretty much the only real friend I have. She’s important to me, but not in that way,” he explained. 

“But she’s so perfect! How could you not like her?” you exclaimed, “She’s smart and she’s so gorgeous,” you said. Cedric took a step closer. 

“But she’s not you. And you’re all those things too. You are so unbelievably smart, smarter than I’ll ever be and you’re beautiful you know that?” You just gaped at him. “Please believe me,” he pleaded, walking to stand directly next to your chair. You pushed out your seat suddenly and stood chest to chest with the boy. 

“I want to believe you,” you said softly, “But how can I know for sure?” Cedric rested his forehead against yours and cupped your cheek. 

“Let me prove it,” he murmured. You nodded softly, staring into his beautiful gray eyes. Slowly, he leaned forward, brushing his lips against yours. He tilted back, a question in his eyes asking if it was okay. You grabbed his collar and pulled him back down towards you, years of pent up longing finally surfacing. The kiss was sweet and tender, his love shining through. You wished that you hadn’t spent months apart and that you had been able to tell him how you felt earlier. But it turned out that you had been right all along; no matter what separate roads you and Cedric traveled down, you’d always find each other eventually.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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add yourself here

[nahimjustfeelingit-writes]

Imagine

Reader attempting to break up with Erik.

Y/N and Erik sat staring at eachother. He blinked at her like she had three big ass heads.

“What?”

“It’s over.”

“What’s over? The movie?” Erik pointed to the ending credits to Best Man, “yeah, it is over.”

She groans with frustration, “I’m not talking about the movie, Erik, I’m talking about US.”

Erik watched her finger moved in between them both, a chill running up his spine.

“You...you tryna leave me? What?”

“Yes,” she casually says, “It’s come to my attention that me and you have no future.”

“Girl,” he kisses his teeth rather loud before fixing her with a glare, “Fuck outta here. We’ve only been dating for like seven months, and here you go talking about a future.”

“See, this is exactly why I can’t deal with you. You have a problem with my long term goals. I’m 28 years old, I’m tired of all these jump off relationships. If you don’t see yourself being with me for the long hall, then we’re done, point blank period.”

She was getting real aggressive with her neck rolling and hand movements.

“Calm your pussy down. You tryna marry a nigga? Can I at least figure out how my day is gonna be tomorrow? Damn,”

Her skin reddened with rage. She could smack the hell out of this pretty nigga. He was so confident that she would run back to him, AHT AHT!!!

“What you fail to realize, is that I deserve more than this. Fucking, eating, fucking again, eating again, screaming at eachother, you leaving for I don’t know how long then showing up, fucking again...it’s a tired pattern and I’m sick of it.”

Erik leans back in his chair, lazy body language pissing her off further. She don’t talk that shit when he deep in her guts.

“You leaving me pack your shit then. Pack up all those lace fronts, your fucking underwear, your bras, get that nasty ass mint ice cream out my deep freezer too.”

“FUCK YOU!!!”

Y/N meditated for a moment before coming back with her inside voice.

“Now that’s how you talk to me,” Erik reminds her.

“Any fucking way, like I said, we are done. It was fun, but I’m bored and I want more that you’re not giving me.”

“There’s the door,” he points, “I ain’t enough now I’m not gonna be later, right?”

She didn’t respond, lifting to grab her things. She packed away angrily, Erik on the video game now which also pissed her off. She couldn’t stand it when he did that. Video games were toxic. His good looks weren’t working for him at the moment.

“Ugh, where is my makeup bag,” Y/N went to search the bathroom again before giving up entirely. She shouldered her Nike duffle before walking into the living room. Taking a look at Erik, she was disgusted that he took this entire things so well, it infuriated her.

“Why are you so calm right now? I just broke up with you and you act like nothing happened.”

“Am I supposed to cry?” He presses a series of buttons on the controller, “You got your mind made up about me so...”

Her hand on the door knob, she kept a sharp eye on him. She was so ready to fucking bounce but at the same time she wanted him to fight for her. It was silly, but Y/N really did like Erik. If only he would show her more affection. If he did that, then they were getting somewhere.

“Do you really understand what is happening right now?” She goes to block the TV, Erik pausing the game, looking up at her with an annoyance.

“Yeah, you leaving me. It’s cool...I can have other bitches on rotation.”

“That shit doesn’t hurt me, Erik. You might be fine as hell but you don’t keep bitches on rotation. You don’t have time for that, remember? To much work...”

“And? I can if I wanted to. Why are you still here?”

“Because I want you to tell me how you feel instead of pushing me out! If you have some care for me in that cold heart of yours then maybe we can work it out instead of me leaving.”

He cracked a sly smile, “You starting to have regrets?”

Her leg shook, looking away from him, “I don’t want to go through with this fully if you talk to me. Just talk to me and I won’t leave.” Her voice went small.

“Aight,” Erik licks his lips, “I like you...a lot, Y/N. If I didn’t, with all the shit that’s going on in my life, I wouldn’t even be dealing with you for no seven months. But at the same time, I like what we got going on now. All that serious shit like planning the future is too much for me right now. I just want you to respect that, that’s all.”

Y/N didn’t think about it that way. Erik was trying with her. He was trying to make it a serious thing between them. But, something was holding him back. Whatever it is he had “plans for” she would never know and then there’s the sad reality that he may never come back to her when he walked out the door. She could not see herself falling deeply in love with a man who just leaves without a trace. Erik was too addictive for her to just brush it off if he left. He didn’t even have to do anything to drive her wild.

“You hella quiet, ma.”

“Just thinking about what you said.” She gave him a look, a sad one. Erik made a face, looking away.

“Did you get your ice cream out my freezer?”

“No, dumb ass,” Y/N drops her bag at the door, taking a seat next to him. She groans loudly before running her hands down her face.

“You stress me the fuck out, Erik.”

“You don’t think you’re stressing me out?”

She looks over at his handsome face.

“You really like me? Possibly love me?”

His jaw went tight and those whiskey colored eyes fell down to look at his hands.

“Love...that’s a loaded word, baby girl.”

“Just answer the question.”

“I mean...” he was really struggling to be open with her, “I do love your crazy ass. I do. This shit ain’t easy for me, Y/N, you gotta cut me some slack.”

She lets out a shaky breath. Erik wouldn’t lie about that for sure. She turns to him on the couch, looking at him fully. She couldn’t leave him behind, she saw the look in his eyes when she first told him she was going to bounce. He wouldn’t admit it but a part of his world came crashing down before him.

“I love you too.”

Erik gave her side eye, “go unpack your shit then.”

Y/N lifts from the couch, grabbing her bag to put her things away.

“Don’t try that shit again, Y/N.”

She smiled to herself, walking back to his room to put her things away in her drawers he left empty especially for her.

@tgigoldie​ @soufcakmistress​ @chefjessypooh​ @chaneajoyyy​ @pananegra​ @theblulife​ @becincere​ @blaqwidow91​ @fish-outta-watah​ @moonlight-night-sky​ @eyeknowmywrites​  @crowngold​ @njadakillthiscookie​ @blktinkerbell​ @luvanxi​ @sheisexcellent1​ @chocolatedippedinhoney​  @brandithecrystalgem​ @dababydababydababydababy​ @soulfulbeauty19​ @btitannaaa​ @sunkissedebony97​ @youngblackndgifted​ @harleycativy​ @rbhp​ @thee-germanpeach​

[flightsoffandom]

Getting Off Scott-Free

Pairs: Scott Lang x Reader

Words: 1954

Summary: After a long day of work, you get home to find that Scott is hiding something from you.

Warnings: None that I can think of

Notes: Left completely gender-neutral. Writing for Scott was hella fun, he is a huge goof. I knew I would like it but didn’t think I would enjoy it this much.

I am wanting to challenge myself by using the same prompt with different fandoms and try to make it as unique as possible.

I found this writing prompt @witterprompts​ and went with it. The original prompt is below.

“Against my better judgment, I've decided to keep you around.”

    Dating Scott Lang was an interesting experience. He could be a dummy but in the best way possible. You met Scott when he came to your place of work, trying to apply for a job. The thing was Scott completely botched his interview because he was too busy trying to impress you. He made you laugh, and he was attractive. So when he got denied the job because of his silly behavior, you asked him out to make up for it. During that date, you both hit it off and continued seeing each other. Your life had become more eventful and fun since Scott had walked into it.  After dating him for a few months and getting to know Scott, you asked him to move in. He agreed. It may have seemed quick, but he was sweet. You’d also be lying if you said you weren’t motivated by the fact that Scott living with you put him one step closer to being able to see Cassie. You had grown to love Scott, so it was a win-win situation.

When Scott became Ant-Man, you didn’t know right away. However, it didn’t take long for Scott to tell you. He tried to hide it, but he was terrible about lying about this kind of thing to people he was close to. It was a shock that a goof like Scott had become a superhero, but he was doing good. Scott helped with that whole situation with Pym Tech, and he enjoyed it. So you were fine with it and helped keep his secret.

It had been a long day at work. You were tired and looking forward to going home and relaxing. You pulled into your driveway. Parking the car before grabbing your work bag and leaving the vehicle. As you walk up to the door, you pull out your keys. You unlock the door before stepping in. It was quiet for a second. As soon as you closed the door behind you, Scott practically skids down the hallway. He comes around the corner to greet you, “Hey there, today has been totally uneventful and completely boring.” Scott glance to the side. He was talking so fast it was suspicious.

    On top of that, now that you had a chance to get a good look at Scott, you could see what he was wearing. Scott had on a robe and looked disheveled, that wasn’t unusual. It was the fact that he had tried to cover up the clothes he usually wore under the Ant-Man suit with the robe. You make a face at him, “Sure it was…” You try to walk around him, only for Scott to start herding you into the kitchen. You cross your arms, “I want to go change my clothes.” Scott laughs and grabs your hand, dragging you into the kitchen. Scott starts talking again, “Why would you want to change? You look amazing in those clothes?” When you’re both standing in the kitchen, you try to question Scott. He interrupts you, “You must be starving, I know I am. Come on, let’s have dinner.” Scott smiles at you as he backs up, using his body to block the doorway. You huff, getting frustrated, “What are you doing?” Typically his odd behavior was cute. You didn’t mind messing around. But you were tired and at least wanted to get out of these clothes. Scott keeps glancing behind him, down the hall towards the bedroom. “Let’s make dinner together when was the last time we did that?” Scott pauses before looking back at you, “Why don’t we to that anymore?” You find yourself chuckling as you roll your eyes, “Cause the last meal we cooked together ended up ruined because we got distracted ‘fooling around.’ ” Scott makes an exaggerated ‘sexy’ face walking towards you. He wiggles his eyebrows at you as he talks, “Again I ask, Why don’t we do that anymore?” When Scott reaches you, his hands go right to your ass. He squeezes both handfuls of your ass, “Honk, Honk.”

    You try to keep a serious look on your face. It doesn't take long for you to easily crack a smile. Trying not to be distracted, you avoid looking at Scott’s face. As an extra measure, you cross your arms to help keep some distance between you and him. Scott, however, is persistent and starts giving you rabid kisses all over your face. You wiggle around as you begin to chuckle. Finally giving in you wrap your arms around Scott’s neck and give him a kiss on the lips. Scott gives your rear another squeeze, “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you have the hots for me.” You chuckle and tease, “You wish.” You kiss Scott again. When Scott starts kissing you back, you get an idea. You let yourself enjoying making out with Scott for a few minutes. Once you can’t stand the feeling of being in your work clothes any longer, you put your plan into motion. As you keep kissing Scott, you slowly rotate the two of you. Until your the one who has your back to the doorway. You break the kiss. Scott immediately starts pouting, “Hey…” You chuckle and back up a little. You wink at Scott, “Can you close your eyes while I get more comfortable?” A huge grin slides onto Scott’s face. He rapidly nods before closing his eyes.

    You didn’t know how long Scott would actually keep his eyes closed. So you quietly exited the kitchen. As you make your way down the hallway, you keep an eye out for whatever Scott was trying to hide from you. About halfway down the hall, you hear Scott in the kitchen, “Tricking me like that is against the Geneva Convention, you know.” You call back over your shoulder, “It is not.” You hear Scott coming up behind you as he talks, “Well, its at least illegal. Paxton will totally back me up on that.” You laugh reaching your bedroom door, “I’ll be sure to ask him the next time he and Maggie drop Cassie off.” Scott grabs your arm and tries to worm his way in between you and the bedroom door. You gently push him aside. Scott gives up, getting a guilty look on his face, “Don’t be mad, okay?” You give him a look as you grab your doorknob, “Why would I…” Before you could finish your question, you get your answer. The door immediately falls into your bedroom, revealing what Scott was trying to hide.

Your bedroom door was no longer attached to the wall. Parts of the door frame were still attached to the hinges of the door. As soon as you let go of the doorknob, the door falls on to the bedroom floor. That wasn’t the only thing. The bedroom wall right across from the entrance has a huge chunk of wall missing. This was the last thing you wanted to come home to. You were at a loss for words. You step over the broken door and try to see if anything else was broken. Luckily it seems just the door and hole in the wall were the only issues. It had been a long day. You were too tired to deal with this right now. Scott stays right outside the room, watching you. You turn to look to glare at him, not saying anything. Scott holds his hands up in surrender, “I can fix it” Scott looks at the hole in the wall, “Probably…” He gives you an unsure smile.  You just start heading into the bathroom, leaving a trail of dirty clothes behind you.

The shower gave you some time to relax. You cleaned yourself off. Then stayed under the water for a little while longer to let the hot water keep pelting you. When the water started to turn cold, you ended your shower. Wrapping a towel around your body, you stepped out of the shower. As you walked into the bedroom, you noticed your trail of dirty clothes was gone. Before you could think about that too much, you saw something else. There were chunks of the wall all over the floor, including wall dust covering everything nearby. Which would have included your bed, but the sheets were missing. You walk over to your dresser and start pulling out clothes. After changing into comfortable clothes, you go to look for Scott.

    You don’t have to look far. Scott is still standing right outside your door, looking like a sad puppy. You weren't exactly mad at him, more annoyed than anything. You sigh, “Where did you put our sheets?” Scott motions, “In the dyer, I wanted to try to get them washed before you got back home… I put your clothes in the washer too.” Scott gives you a small smile. He was trying so hard you couldn’t stay upset with him. You finally smile back at him. Scott perks up when he sees you are officially not mad at him. You look around at the damage, trying to figure out how to fix it. You look back up to Scott, “So what happened?” Scott chuckles and rubs the back of his neck, “Well, see… I was doing some practice runs in the Ant-Man suit and…” Scott shifts on his feet and avoids eye contact, “I may or may not have gotten distracted and ended up taking out the door when I sized up, and then I couldn’t slow down and took out the wall.” Scott smiles at you and shrugs, “But you got no real proof I did anything.” You start laughing, “Why did you need to practice here?” Scott thinks for a second, “Well… I like it here, and I need to stay on top of my game?” Scott says it more as a question than an answer. You shake your head as you chuckle, “Let’s set something up in the basement… So more of the walls don’t get broken.” You grab the door off the ground and drag it into the hallway.

    You sit down and start picking up the bigger pieces of the wall off the ground. Scott joins you. As he picks up a few pieces, he asks, “So… You’re not going to kick me out or anything?” You decide to tease him, “Well, I’ve been thinking…” You look up at Scott. Scott looks a bit worried. You wink at him to show him your teasing, “Against my better judgment, I've decided to keep you around.” Scott lets out a dramatic sigh of relief, “Thank goodness… I don't know if anyone else would tolerate me.” You laugh as you finish getting all the pieces of rubble into a pile, “Welp, I more than just tolerate you. I love you.” Scott stands up, bringing back a trash bag, “You love me.” Scott says it in a sing-song teasing tone. You roll your eyes, chuckling, “I know, how silly of me to love you.” Scott holds open the trash bag, “Might be a shock to you, but I love you too.” You start to put the wall chunks in the trash, “I would have never guessed.” You chuckle as you go back to cleaning up. Once all the rubble is in the garbage, you stand up, “We just need to get that hole patched before this weekend so Cassie can come over.” Scott nods looking at the hole in the wall, “Where to start?” You think for a second, looking over the damage. You look down at the dust-covered floor, “Think the ants could at least help us finish cleaning up?” Scott grins and runs to the closet, shouting over his shoulder. “As long as you don’t tell Pym.”

[eddiesasspbrak]

Daydreams

Richie had trouble staying focused in class, always daydreaming about Eddie. He gets caught one too many times and has to face the punishment.

Part of my “I’d rearrange the alphabet to put U and I together” series

Read on AO3

A    E

3k+ words

Richie was in detention again. He was a good student when it came to his studies, consistently got As, but he couldn’t always keep his mouth shut. He’d landed himself in detention many times and had phone calls and letters home to discuss his behavior. Given his grades, they never took any serious action, though he hated how disappointed his parents would be each time. He tried to change, but you can’t easily change a trashmouth.

Lately, it wasn’t his mouth that was getting him in trouble. For a while he’d found himself daydreaming more than normal. He wasn’t a stranger to frequent daydreams when class became boring or he was in a situation that triggered one. The subject of each daydream had been the same and, at first, they had worried him. After a while he realized what exactly was going on inside his head and he accepted it and gave into it. He was hesitant to actually do anything, so he just ran scenarios through his head.

The subject of the daydreams was none other than his best friend, Eddie Kaspbrak. He wasn’t exactly sure when he fell in love with him, but part of him thought he always had been. It just took him a while to realize it. Before he truly understood what he was feeling he thought it might be due to puberty and rampant teenage hormones. But he was sure of it, it was love. Slowly the fantasies became more frequent and to the point where he couldn’t control them anymore. He’d look across the classroom at Eddie and all he’d have to do was yawn and suddenly Richie was gone into his mind, sitting under the big tree in front of school with Eddie’s head on his lap while he napped.

Sometimes he didn’t even realize he had zoned out until something pulled him out of it again. A few times he thought that he’d actually confessed his love for Eddie only to realize it wasn’t real. Probably for the best. It was worrisome though. If he couldn’t differentiate fantasy from reality, surely, he’d make a fool of himself eventually. Still, he couldn’t help himself. Eddie was like sunlight and Richie was the idiot who kept staring into it. If he went blind from his brilliance it would be worth it. Except that he wouldn’t be able to stare at him any longer, he’d have to survive on memories of his smile. He knew that if he voiced these things to Eddie, he would think he was crazy.

Every time Richie told a joke and Eddie laughed beside him, it filled him with warmth. He loved it when he’d tell him to shut up or he’d scold him for what he said too. He loved every part of him and every interaction with him was perfect. So why wouldn’t he want to extend them in his mind? The Eddie in his fantasies always told him that he loved him too. He wasn’t sure it would go like that in real life. He didn’t even know if Eddie liked boys or girls or somewhere in between. Richie wasn’t sure if he himself like boys in general or if it was just Eddie because he was all he saw. He’d imagined what it was like to kiss him so many times, he thought he might actually know what it felt like.

They’d been in history, learning about some old white guy, when Richie found himself looking at Eddie for the hundredth time that day. They didn’t sit together. Richie wasn’t allowed to sit with any of his friends in class because he was known to talk during lessons. That didn’t stop them from passing notes to one another. So, when he saw Eddie intensely focused on his notebook, it was unlikely he was writing notes about the lessons and more likely he was writing something to one of their friends. Or maybe to Richie. Maybe it was a love note that he would sneak into his locker or backpack signed from a secret admirer. And so, the fantasy started.

In his head, Richie saw Eddie slipping notes into his things and him finding them. In the pages of his textbook, in his pocket, in his locker, on his desk at the start of class, even in his lunch bag. Richie would theorize who it was sending him secret love letters until he finally caught Eddie with his hand in his backpack. Eddie would be embarrassed and flustered. He’d speak at the speed only he was capable of and deny that he was leaving a note. He’d say that he saw it in there and wanted to see what it said. Richie would know better and he’d silence Eddie with a kiss.

Richie was just getting to the good part when a hand slapped down on his desk, startling him and snapping him back into reality. It was the fourth time that week he’d zoned out in that class and the fourth time he’d been caught. He was sent to the office and, after a long lecture about the importance of paying attention in class, he was given a detention. It sucked but it was nothing he wasn’t used to.

After school, his friends walked him to the classroom where detention was held, telling him where to meet them when he was free.

“Real friends would find a way to get out of the detention.” He said with a grin.

They all ignored him, Stan rolled his eyes and Beverly shoved him through the door. He flipped them off as they left him there before finding a seat near the front. He found that if he was diligent in doing his homework during detention, sometimes they’d let him out a little early. So, he always sat in the front of the room, so they’d notice how hard he was working. Mrs. Walsh was the teacher left to babysit them this time. They rotated who had to supervise detention. She barely paid attention to them and he was pretty sure she was playing a game on her phone.

Not wanting to pull out a bunch of stuff, he decided to do some reading for his English class. They were currently working their way through Shakespeare plays and Hamlet was burning a hole in his backpack.

He did a decent job of focusing on it for a about ten minutes, and then his eyes began to get tired. This wasn’t unusual. He just had to take a short break, look at anything other than the words crammed together on the pages. The classroom they were in was usually used for science classes and the back half of the room was big tables with stools pushed up the edge and sinks off to one side. Other than that, they were empty as all of the science equipment was kept in cupboards that lined either side of the room only broken up by the emergency shower and eyewash station. At least once a week someone snuck into the classroom and pulled the chain that activated the shower and made a mess in the classroom.

The other people in detention were passing the time in their own ways. One girl in the corner was drawing in a sketch pad and had a charcoal smudge on her cheek. There was a guy sleeping with his legs up on the desk in front of him and his head tilted back against the seat. It looked painful. A girl sitting two seats over had a textbook open and propped up against a pile of books behind it. From the front it looked like she was studying but from where Richie was sitting, he could see that she had her phone hidden and was watching 10 Things I Hate About You. A favorite amongst him and his friends.

He thought about the plot and wondered if they’d get to The Taming of the Shrew while they were on Shakespeare plays. He’d never actually read or seen the play that the movie was based on, but he’d seen the movie about a hundred times with his friends. His mind drifted to the scene where Patrick was in detention and Kat entered the classroom to break him out. It was one of their top favorite scenes in the movie and suddenly Richie wondered if any of his friends would actually do that for him. He’d joked about it before entering the room, but he couldn’t actually see any of them doing it. Maybe Bev. It was a silly and sweet thing for someone to do he thought. The person he’d want to see do it would be Eddie. After all, it was supposed to be a romantic thing when Kat did it.

Any hope Richie had in getting back to the play were out the window as a new fantasy took over. Almost as if he’d been expecting it, Eddie entered the classroom, earning the attention of everyone awake. He was mildly flustered at the attention being on him as he made his way to the front desk. Mrs. Walsh looked up at him in annoyance as she set her phone aside, screen facing down. Richie really did wonder what she did on her phone that was so engrossing. He’d figured it was games but maybe she was on tinder. She was a widow, maybe she was looking for new love or just someone to warm her bed. Richie immediately regretted having that thought though he’d have to tell his friends that line later.

“Mr. Kaspbrak, I don’t see your name on the detention list today.” She said, eyeing the list sitting on the desk.

“No, I’m not here for detention. I’m here for Richie.” Eddie said, looking back at Richie with a small smile.

“Mr. Tozier still has forty minutes before he can leave.”

“I understand but it’s an emergency. His cousin…broke his leg.”

“I’m sure it will still be broken in forty minutes.”

“I know it doesn’t sound like it’s urgent, but you see, Richie is the only one he trusts. He doesn’t like being touched. So, he’s been screaming and threatening the EMTs with rocks if they come near him. We need Richie to come and calm him down so they can get him to the hospital and get a cast on his leg. If we don’t hurry, he could realistically lose his leg.”

“Mr. Kaspbrak-.”

“It’s true! My mom knows a guy who broke his leg while riding a bike on a trail and there was no one else around and no cell service. He couldn’t even drag himself for help so he just sat there praying someone would come by. He sat there four hours before someone finally came and by the time they got him to the hospital, the bone had started to…rot! They had to amputate, and he hasn’t ridden a bike since. Do you want that to happen to little…Timmy??”

Richie was biting his lip to keep from laughing as he watched Mrs. Walsh’s face go from mildly annoyed to extremely frustrated. She likely wasn’t believing a word coming from Eddie’s mouth, but she also didn’t want to deal with this any longer. Besides, this was Richie’s fantasy and he could make anything happen.

“Fine. Go attend to your cousin but I expect a letter from your mother by tomorrow.” She said, picking her phone back up.

“Yes ma’am!” Richie stood and grabbed his backpack, shoving Hamlet back into the open pocket.

He followed Eddie out into the hall and managed to hold his laughter until they were a good distance away. Eddie was smiling widely in a way that made Richie’s heart skip a beat. He just wanted to grab him and kiss him. But he would get to that later. He had plenty of time to enjoy the build up to it. He waited until they were outside to say anything.

“I thought you left with the others.” Richie said.

“I stayed behind to break you out. It took me a while to come up with an excuse though.” Eddie chuckled.

“It was a beautiful one. Hopefully little Timmy will be ok now that his favorite cousin is on his way.”

“Shut up, it was a good lie.”

Richie slung his arm around Eddie’s shoulders as they walked. The others would be at Bill’s house. He’d gotten a new multi-player video game they were all wanting to try. It was the first day since he’d gotten it that both of his parents would be out of the house so they could be as loud as they wanted without reprimand. Of course, Richie was in no rush to fantasize about what was actually going to come when he did get out of detention. He wanted to focus on Eddie.

“You’re my hero.” Richie said, squeezing his shoulder lightly.

“Does that make you the damsel in distress?” Eddie asked.

“Absolutely. I was debating growing my hair out or losing a shoe. But this works too.”

“You’re so dumb.” Despite his words, Eddie was smiling.

Richie didn’t know how much longer he had and all he could think about was kissing him. Even if it was pretend. They’d cut through the park, which was mostly empty this time of day, and the shade from trees set a mood with the sun poking through between the leaves above them. With no witnesses, his mind had created the perfect scene for a kiss with the object of his affection. Pulling Eddie to a stop with him, Richie dropped his bag in the dirt and, cupping his face with one hand, he leaned in and kissed him. It was an innocent kiss. More innocent than they typically were but he was in detention and didn’t want to draw attention to himself.

He’d imagined kissing Eddie so many times, basing it on the spin the bottle kiss he’d had a year prior at a birthday party. It was always the same in every fantasy, but this time was different. His lips were always pillowy and silky in his mind, but this time they were a little chapped yet still wonderful. Eddie always kissed him back immediately in his daydreams, this time he didn’t. When Richie pulled away, he looked shocked, his face and ears red.

“What…why…did you kiss me?” Eddie asked.

“Because I love you.” Richie had said those words more times than he could count while pretending. This time the weight of words felt heavy on his shoulders. Everything was different. Too different. Richie closed his eyes and tried to wake himself from the fantasy, but when he opened his eyes again, he was still standing in the park with Eddie. He knew that he’d been having trouble differentiating his daydreams from reality, but he never thought it was this bad. Bad enough to actually confess his love thinking it was just in his head.

Richie took in the still shocked face of the other boy and his heart began to pound in his chest. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, and he had to scramble for an excuse. “Fuck…hey Eds I was kidding. Don’t worry about it. Let’s go to Bill’s ok?” He picked his bag back up and slung it over his shoulder.

“You were kidding? What the fuck, Richie!” Eddie yelled, making no move to follow him. “I’m going home.”

Richie turned then, expecting to see Eddie’s angry face red and narrowed eyebrows. Instead, he was met with tears. At first, he wasn’t sure he’d seen them, but when one broke free and slid down his cheek, he was sure. He was crying. Why was he crying?

“Eds…I’m sorry. It was a dumb joke. You don’t have to cry about it.” Richie tried to laugh but he felt his heart breaking for a multitude of reasons.

“I thought you were serious! I should have known better. You may think everything you do is funny but playing with someone’s emotions isn’t! Did Stan tell you about my feelings? Is that why you did this?”

“Feelings? Stan hasn’t told me anything.”

“Don’t lie to me. Why else would you do that?”

Richie wasn’t stupid. He always got good grades and studying was easy for him. He’d learned to read between the lines and was able to understand people even when they weren’t speaking plainly. So, it didn’t take more than a second for him to understand what Eddie was saying. He loved Richie. Or at least liked him as more than a friend. He was so stupid for not noticing before. He’d always thought he was just looking too far into little things, hoping to find proof that he felt the same way. Now he knew he wasn’t.

“Eddie, I love you. I lied. It wasn’t a joke. I love you so much that I can’t stop thinking about you. I kissed you without thinking and panicked. Please don’t cry.” Richie had dropped his bag once more and was pulling Eddie into a tight hug against his chest.

“Are you lying?” Eddie sniffled.

“No. I swear. I’ve thought about telling you and kissing you so many times it’s criminal.”

Eddie chuckled a bit, his arms coming back around his middle, squeezing him back. One day Richie would tell him the truth about the fantasies and the mistake, but now wasn’t the time. He just wanted to hold him in his arms and maybe kiss him again and again until they got sick of it. As if that was possible.

After coming to an agreement, Richie sent a text to Bill informing him that he and Eddie would not be joining them at his place that afternoon. Instead, they would be going to Richie’s basement where they would be left alone and could talk about their newly found feelings for one another. And kiss. He couldn’t’ forget about the kissing. He’d thought about it so much, now that he could actually do it, Richie wasn’t about to let a second pass when he could be kissing Eddie Kaspbrak. The daydreams wouldn’t stop there, he’d just get to tell Eddie about them afterward and learn of the daydreams he had as well.

[carlincalzone]

×∆||• Toffee Dear starboy Ah •||∆×

Version by: @skyaoishipper101 (meh)

Original by: @Theniceststrawberry

~∆ Check her/him out in wattpad ∆~

Chapter 3: Safe heaven

Bzzt bzzt.

The forever annoying noise of Cobalt's phone

Buzzed obnoxiously under his pillow.

He let out a husky groan and stretched a limp hand under his pillow.

He clicked his phone on and squinted at the screen, Trying his best to ignore the buzzing crackle at his ears and black spots invading his vision.

'9:20 - math exams today'

Cobalt slammed his face back into the previous dent he'd formed in the pillow before forcefully pushing himself out of the warmth of his bed sheets.

He sluggishly hauled his body over to his drawers, Scanning all his clothes for his school uniform. His hands viciously tore at the different garments before grabbing the proper clothing.

His hands were quick to pull his shirt off and discard it as his fingers nimbly buttoned up his new one. Silk fabric was heavy in his hands as he tightly wrapped the tie around his neck and yanked it into a knot.

It took him less then five minutes to get dressed and style his hair into his everyday normal look, And look intidimadating enough to scare off those who wanting to be social with him, He hoped.

He didn't bother with his breakfast, Not even a snack to munch on. He was too stressed today.

Shajima was by his window as usual. Skillfully flicking up dark ruby colored strawberries and catching them in his mouth. For him this was a luxury. Simply blissful.

His morning schedule was a little like this:

6:30 - Awaken.

7:00 - Watch kittyboy get ready.

7:30 - Watch kittyboy leave.

7:40 - Get dressed.

8:00 - Parents leave house.

8:40 - Nap

9:40 - Eat strawberries.

His next plan was to make some deliciously sweet black forest ice cream cake but his cloud of thoughts was shattered by the splintering sound of a door being slammed.

Shajima turn his head to the window of the neighbouring house, Missing his strawberry which promptly bounced off his button nose.

Cobalt had arrived home and looked... Terrible.

His hair was a complete disaster, It mostly look like it had been grabbed or balled into a fist.

His clothes were entirely creased, His jean sy were very dusted up in the side. His tie was loosely hanging up over his broad shoulder and his top buttons were undone.

Sweat patterned his face, Red cheeks, It rolled in droplets down his neck.

Shajima dreamily gazed at him with a slight blush on his face. The only thing he could think of was how hot Cobalt looked in the whole disheveled style. But he had to push his silly fantasies aside and help his 'friend'.

He plucked of one of the seeds in a strawberry and aimed it at the window panes.

Cobalt lazily looked up at the window but just shook his head. He seemed almost very upset. The faintest trace of fear lingered on his lips.

Shajima lightly pushed open his own window.

"Kittyboy?" Shajima said with a worried tone in his voice. "I'm not in the mood, Shajy."

Cobalt remained quiet as he paced around the room. He kicked at his wooden bed posts and screamed into his pillow.

Shajima patiently sighed. He chewed on a sweet strawberry and blocked out cobalt's whining.

On the one day my outfit is perfect, But Handsomely Hot neighbour ignores me. Shajima said in his thoughts.

"Um. Coby. Quick question." Shajima said breaking the silence. "Shajy, I already told you I'm not in the mood." Cobalt answered, "Why are you home?" Shajima asked. "What?" Coby asked in confusement. "School ends later. Sure I'm homeschooled but It's only common sense."

Cobalt simmered slightly. Shajima knew he was right but he was ready to be Cobalt's problem solver?

"Coby. Why are you home?"

Cobalt inhaled a deep breath before leaning over his window ledge. His hands gripped the windowsill so tightly the the wood cracked off until his knuckles turned white.

"I had an phobia attack because of my classmate pranked me during my exam. Its not that too important, just my nerves fudging me over."

Shajima felt his face and stomach drop. Phobia attacks. He'd had a few and they were god very awful. Who'd have thought the cool, Handsomely hot non-socialable neighbour would have a phobia attack?

"Are you home alone, Coby?" Shajima worriedly asked, "Yes." Cobalt answered, "Do you want to come over?" Shajima asked again. "Thanks but no thanks. I'm unstable right now." Cobalt answered, "Then.. Do you want a strawberry?" Shajima asked again this time hoping his neighbour would agree.

Cobalt nodded as shajima tossed him a strawberry. Cobalt catched it and started gently nibbling the sleek red skin.

"Phobia huh?" Shajima said, "Don't get all smug, Shajy." Cobalt said, "I'm not. I just had an idea for our first voyage." Shajima said while just catching a strawberry with his mouth. "I told you I'm not going on illegal voyages." Cobalt said.

Shajima paused before adjusting his sakura flower crown. Cobalt was still shocked at how there weren't already bees buzzing around it.

"What if I told you it was legal." Shajima claimed, "Nope" Cobalt disagreeing. "Safe." Shajima claimed again, "Nope." Cobalt still disagreeing, "Away from all humanity?" Shajima claimed again hoping this time Cobalt would agree. "...maybe." Cobalt said.

Shajima beamed and clapped his hands joyously. Like a little kid.

"Great! Meet me back at these windows at 9:00." Shajima said. "9:00? Wait at night?!" Cobalt asked worriedly, "Yup! Wear something pretty for me." Shamjima suggested. "I will literally wear a trash bag with holes for my limbs." Cobalt said sarcasticly, "Please don't." Shajima said. "I'm just joking, hehe." Cobalt jokingly answered.

The two boys shook on it and turned to continue their personal duties.

~∆~∆~∆~

9 o' clock.

Cobalt settled on wearing a white polo shirt and black T-shirt underneath, and some black jeans. Nothing special, but he doesn't have a reason to dress extravagantly.

The brunet slid open his window to see a familiar boy pushing open his own.

Shajima was wearing blush pink polo shirt and a white shirt underneath it. His hair was rather considered to be messy and slightly damp. He didn't bothered with jewelry, but did had a single black choker.

He did notice cobalt immediately and waggled his fingers in a typically flirty manner.

"Good evening, kittyboy." Shajima greeted, "Evening, Shajy." Cobalt greeted back. "Ready for an adventure?" Shajima asked, "Sure." Cobalt answered.

Shajima swung his leg over the ledge and half twisted his body.

Cobalt awkwardly knelt by his window ledge. There was no way he'd risk his life to go on a midnight journey with practically a complete stranger.

Shajima swiftly dropped from the window and landed on a thick branch of a tree between there houses. An old chestnut tree that had been there for generations. He rotated his head to see the nervous wreck named Cobalt watching from a distance.

"Are you crazy?!" Cobalt said while his hands rested on his hips as he pulled of a baffled expression.

"Yes." Shajima was for once dead serious, His eyes glinting against the dark starry night atmosphere.

"I'm not jumping!" Cobalt claimed, "Please, Coby." Shajima begged. "Nope." Cobalt answered, "If you fall, I'll catch you." Shajima said.

Cobalt pondered the thought for a second before hesitantly clinging to the window frame.

Do I even trust shajima? Absolutely not. So why am I obeying him? This thoughts run around Cobalt's head.

One foot reached the stony wall of his house.

He looked back at Shajima, Both his eyes locked onto his every movement. Static and half by half. Shajima looked so different from this angle. He looked so-

Slip

Grab

Thud

Cobalt felt his body slam into a solid object. His hands was no longer gripping the window, But found its way to hold something else. Something warm. With fingers.

Wait.

Fingers?

Cobalt pulled himself back to see shajima smiling warmly at him. Both of them on the branch.

Teetering dangerously backwards, shajima wrapped a protective arm Cobalt's waist, Both holding hands with astonished expressions on their faces. Shajima seized the moment to pull Cobalt's waist closer and jump off from the branch, To the ground.

Once on the ground, Cobalt backed away and patted himself down; As if looking for any damage marks.

"Thanks." Cobalt thanked Shajima, "No problem, I had a feeling you'd suck at sneaking around." Shajima said.

Shajima didnt leave a second for his friend to protest in his defense before walking past the tree, And into the lane behind them.

Cobalt jogged to keep up and tugged the sleeves of his polo shirt.

"Where are we going?" Cobalt asked, "A place only I know of." Shajima answered. "Which is? Cobalt asked again, "Near. Now shut your mouth, boy." Shajima said.

Shajima took a sharp right towards a local forest.

A white metal sign scribed with metallic black lettering was nailed into the damp soil bordering the forest.

Blue moon wisteria forest

Cobalt followed like a curious toddler till he heard a distant noise.

A sound of pure serenity. Seems like running water. A nearby stream.

He'd never been in the woods so far before so he wouldn't know if they had a stream, But the woods didn't have a stream.

Shajima pushed aside a large pebbled path they'd been following, His eyes lighting up like a child on Christmas morning.

"We're here!"

Cobalt mimicked the action and pushed the lush foliage. His jaw as his head spun.

It was just like a painted scenery the water reflected the beautiful starry night sky, The water twinkled like the stars, There was a dock where you can tie a boat or catch some fish.

It was a lake.

Cobalt gasped as Shajima began pacing up to it, His hands tracing the corrugated stone prostrusions. Birds cawed from trees overhead.

Shajima eventually sat on near the edge of the dock and looked at the water, Letting his shoulders sink inwards and back onto the wooden dock.

Cobalt perched beside him, Both of his legs laying in the edge if the dock same as Shajima.

"Beautiful, right?" Shajima asked, "Yes, it is." Cobalt agreed. "I noticed this place the day me and my family moved into town." Shajima said, "You found this so soon?" Cobalt asked, "Of course. I thought it'd be a nice stargazing spot." Shajima claimed. "It's always the stars with you." Cobalt said, "Yup. I want to be one." Shajima said. "You are a star." Cobalt said while giving a glance at shajima.

Shajima giggled and hummed to himself. A song Cobalt has never heard.

Cobalt watched the fireflies glowing as they danced among the darkness. Time shifted as the clouds in the sky dissipated into a sheet of black.

"So. This is your new safe heaven?" Cobalt asked, "I guess so. It seems like it could be a new home." Shajima answered, "What about the house beside mine?" Cobalt asked again. "That's a house. Not a home. Home is where the heart is." Shajima said.

Shajima let out a shallow breath as he widely grinned up at the moon. Full and round, Like a pristine white plate.

"How about I share this new heaven?" Shajima said, "What do you mean?" Cobalt asked. "You said... You're unstable and... So am I." Shajima answered, "So?" Cobalt said, "you are the only other person to know about here. Let's make it our place." Shajima said.

Shajima stand up and somehow a scar peeked out from his shirt that Cobalt never noticed, He sooner held his hand and looked at Cobalt. Cobalt took the hand into his own. The Contact was icy but soon comforting.

"Yeah... Our place."

∆{stay tune for the next chapter guys TwT}∆

[nautiscarader]

Starco, 94 for the kink meme.

O n L y  T H r E E  M o n T h s  l A T e 

(Ao3) (kinks)

- Do you like it, Mr. Butterfly?

Marco's eyes widened, when Star walked into their dimly lit bedroom, her figure properly illuminated by moonlight seeping through the vertical windows. He thought he'd get used to this sight by now, after years of their friendship, dating and marriage, and yet, Star's body still mesmerised him exactly the same way it did when he first saw her naked.

Star wasn't completely naked, though, but her see-through nightgown left very little for Marco to imagine. But the most erotic and arousing part for Marco was the way the two parts of the glittering, unbuttoned nightgown curved around her pregnant belly, and Star definitely took time to expose it for him from every angle.

That same belly, with Mewni's future king or queen inside them caused quite a stir during their wedding, even though it was significantly smaller a month ago. Many people knew about their romance, but as far as Mewni's history went, no other queen was quite unabashed about declaring that she was already with an heir at the time of being wed. But then again, that was Star Butterfly, the queen who broke more rules and social norms than, quite possibly, any other, even Eclipsa.

Star paraded alongside the window, and then around their bed, watching as Marco's eyes follow her steps. She made sure to present herself for him from every angle, before she walked towards their bed. Marco's hands automatically reached to help her, but Star gave them a quick slap, before she nested herself into his laps.

- I can walk and sit, silly, I don't need help... - Sorry, Star, I just want... - I know, what you want, Marco... - Star's voice changed, as she cooed and took Marco's hands, placing one on her swollen abdomen, and another on her bum. - You want the whole package, don't you? - Oh yes...

Marco whispered, unable to focus on just one aspect of her body: her radiant, sly smile, her breasts, getting fuller each day, and the multitude of curves she already had or became more apparent only when she became pregnant. But of course, Marco would start their nights with a kiss, though now, he has someone else to caress as well. He gave her belly a quick peck, before he trailed down, letting Star slowly lean onto their bed.

Anticipating his tongue-work, Star let out a quivering murmur of satisfaction, that grew deeper and louder with every kiss Marco placed. He debated for a while whether to tease her, but ultimately decided to give her exactly what she wanted, and he dived his tongue right into her soaked folds, instead of circling her sex with his kisses, much to her surprise. Star's body jerked, and in the split of a second when she was in the air, Marco sneaked his arms underneath her thighs, gripping them just enough to let a long, shaky, needy moan from his wife.

Star loved when Marco was in control, and the feeling of him spreading her thighs was a sign of only the best things to come. An indeed, Marco did his might to lick, suck and caress her folds, her lips and her swollen clit, leaving no part of her wet sex unattended. With her pregnant belly in between them, he couldn't see her face, torn with grimaces of oncoming pleasure, but he could surely hear her. Mangled bit of his name left her mouth as she writhed in place, unable to move thanks to both her condition and Marco's strong grip.

Her voice grew in volume, until it finally crescendoed when her body jerked and Marco received far more of her glittery juices than he expected, trying to lick them clean. But her orgasm didn't rob Star out of energy; in fact, the climax made her wriggle out of Marco's grip, and, with some difficulties, she rolled her body onto her chest, exposing her ass and the freshly wet pussy to Marco once again.      

- Come on, Marco, I... I need you!

But instead of taking her the doggy style, like she expected, Marco's arms closed around Star, bringing her into a sitting position.

- Is that what you want, darling...? - he whispered, brushing her opening with just the tip of his cock. - Y-Yes! - she cried, her voice cracking as her impatience took over - Marco, don't let me magic yo-

Before she could finish, her voice broke when Marco dived inside her. He knew exactly how far and how rough he should be, after reading a metric ton of books on pregnancy, both regular and magical, and the conclusion was simple: Star definitely needed as much of him now as before she was pregnant, if not more.

With Star slowly bouncing on his cock in his laps, Marco was in control of her, and could not only caress her breasts with one hand, and kiss her exposed neck and ears, but also keep his other arm over her belly.

And when he looked up and saw their embraced bodies in the mirror in the corner, Marco was once again filled with a very primal pride he felt ever since Star announced she was with a child. He, Marco, a human, was its father, he has managed to impregnate her, Star, the princess, and he alone was privileged enough to enjoy the wonders of making love with her, and that notion only made him more fierce. He growled, feeling his wife's body writhe underneath him, giving her as much of himself as he could, without causing any discomfort.  

- Ma...Marco!

Star cried, noticing the increased speed of his moves. She kept her arms over his body, though admittedly, she could do very little to change their position. Marco's frantic thrusts, combined with her abnormally sensitive skin made her unable to babble anything than her lover's name, putting her on a straight path to climax. She knew he wouldn't do anything that would harm their baby, and the fact that he was able to rut her so vigorously while being the safe kid he once was left Star even more excited.

In the corner of his eye, Marco noticed the reflection of Star's glowing cheeks, and a moment later, he felt her walls closing down on him, which in turn caused him to come undone. Rocked by their shared climaxes, the two collapsed, though even in the post-orgasmic bliss, Marco made sure she fell onto him, and he onto the pillows, to protect Star's belly. With their bodies joined, Star was still milking him of his seed, in the same ravenous and hungry fashion as four months ago, when night after night she begged him to fill her to the brim with his potent cum. Star didn't have to verbalise her need for Marco to gladly deliver it in the same quantity each night, soon causing it overflow onto their pristine bedsheets, a sight they both were able to watch in the mirror.

The couple lay motionless for a while, savouring the intimate moment and their shared breaths, until Marco spoke, being the first to regain his senses.

- Feeling okay, honey? - he gave her shoulder a kiss - I wasn't too rough, was I? - his hands automatically drifted to her belly.   - Noo... Marcoo... - Star babbled, grinding herself into his laps again, prompting Marco to spoon her - You were great...

She turned her head, locking him in a long kiss, during which the queen of Mewni has managed to wriggle out and rotate he body so that she was could straddle him. When Marco opened his eyes, he was greeted once again with the sight of her now-plump breasts and her pregnant belly pressed against his chest as the most delicious weight imaginable, while Star's hand sneaked between his legs again.

- And do you know what I want now...? - she asked, closing her palm around his still messy cock. - Mhm, I think I do... - Marco moaned, and propped himself up on the pillows, waiting for Star to return the favour, as she went lower and lower, peppering his chest. - I want the sausage...

Star whispered in a smoky voice that put goosebumps all over Marco's body, until she suddenly spoke in a much higher and serious tone, breaking his blissful moment of peace.

- Marco! - What? - I told you, sausages. Go to the kitchen, I want hot-dogs. - Oh, right.

Marco quickly put on his boxers and the dressing gown, and reluctantly, jumped off their bed, trying to find slippers.

- You want ketchup, or mustard with them? Or the chilli sauce? - Nah, I've got something better.

And suddenly, Star reached her hand and sneaked it under his gown, giving a sudden grip on the bulge in his boxers that caused Marco to jump in place.

- I've got my favourite condiment here...

She licked her lips, and with that prospect on his mind, Marco bolted to the castle's kitchen, praising the unique mixture of kinks his wife had.

[randomxfiction]

Hello, I’m back. :)

After ending my first fic kakashi’s kunoichi, I thought of doing shorter and weirder stuff. One time I saw a prompt in the tags about a soulmate au that involves hair colors. So.. yeah.. I tried. 

Timeline: After the war, a year or so after Sasuke left the village.

A/N: This has gotten a bit weird and I won’t blame you if you stray away from it. That’s fine. I totally get you. I’m just experimenting plots and is still learning! Please enjoy. :*

-

KakaSaku // Soulmate AU Part I of III

Naruto and Sakura were bored on a gloomy weekend when they decided to invite their former teammates to hangout.

Considering Sasuke is not in the village, and Yamato is out for mission, Naruto and Sakura pouts as they walk side by side. Tiny specks of snow falls gently over their heads.

"Let's go check if Sai's home?" Naruto suggests.

Upon arriving at the apartment of their pale-faced friend, an inked baby tiger greets them at the front door. Sakura fished a scroll from her pocket out of habit and the hand drawn cub immediately leaps towards it, forming a note.

For any visitors, I am out on a romantic date with my soulmate. Please come back tomorrow or leave a message on my door. Thank you.

"Can’t he be more subtle?" Naruto laughs with the note's eye-straining cheesiness. "Soulmate? Sai's really gone overboard with Ino."

"He probably learned that in those stupid books he keeps on reading," Sakura remarks, crossing her arms. "I feel bad for her."

"Atleast she got a date," Naruto snorts.

"Do you want to die!?"

***

The two were left with no choice but to visit their former sensei -- obviously the busiest one of the bunch. They hopelessly dragged their feet towards the Hokage's office, and like the usual scenario, they see Kakashi drowning in towering paperwork.

He asks them of their purpose.

They took their chance and invited him to take a break for a quick ramen fix. The team haven't been together for a while, and it's quite rare for them to get an ample amount of free time on the same day.

“Come on, Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto requests and Sakura smiles shyly to him.

Kakashi stares back at them with tired eyes, half open, and his mind spacing out. He rotates his leather chair to face the window. Children are playing outside to build snowmen and throw snowballs instead of shurikens. How peaceful to see such a sight. The village is covered in a beautiful white cloak of ice.

In fact, anything is peaceful for him to look at except those damned papers on his desk.

A bowl of ramen is really inviting in this weather, he thought. The best thing to have right now, in the middle of piled up paperworks, is a large serving of Ichiraku's miso char siu. Hesitant to leave his office at first, but the Rokudaime eventually agrees with their plea, grabs his cape, and went on with his former students.

***

Itadakimasu, the three said in chorus. Excited for the hot soup to finally hit their mouths.

"Just like before, huh." Naruto is pleased with both the ramen and the presence of his former teammates. He smiles wide and happy.

"So, where are the others?" Kakashi blurts all of a sudden.

"Hm??" Naruto glanced with cheeks full, munching on his pork slice. "Why do you ask, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Well, earlier you mentioned that this is supposed to be a team get-together."

Naruto chuckles. "Sasuke and Captain Yamato are not in the village. How could you forget that, ya silly."

"Ahhh, right right,” Kakashi apologizes with his forgetfulness, "and Sai? I remember he just came back from a mission--"

"Sai is currently on a date with Ino." Sakura cuts in.

"--his apparent soulmate." Naruto adds, giggling to Sakura like a naughty brother teasing his sister.

She crosses her arms. "Hmph."

Kakashi's brows furrowed. Soulmate, huh.

"Did I hear that right, Naruto-kun?" Teuchi emerges from the kitchen. Suddenly, he stands behind the counter with starry eyes. "You said soulmate, right?" The old man continues.

All of them stared at the shop owner as if he's gone crazy.

Naruto nods, curious.

"It's probably from one of Sai's absurd books," Sakura explains as she fans her hand back and forth, faking a chuckle. "Don't mind it, Teuchi-san. Ehehehee."

"Oh, my dear, I can't just not mind it." The old man's sparkling eyes transformed into two blazing flames. "If that Sai boy really found his soulmate.. then that means.. that means!"

Kakashi squints, as if he already knows that it’s something ridiculous.

"What is it, old man!?" Naruto is on his feet in anticipation, leaning over to the counter.

Is he really serious in this soulmate bullshit? Sakura's inner self is growling.

The owner let out a deep, sharp exhale, “That means--”

"Come on, Teuchi-san, there is no such thing as soulmates." Sakura wasn't able to handle it anymore that she literally had to butt in. "Love is something that we choose -- not by some selfish force.”

She might be a desperate, hopeless romantic towards Sasuke, but even she can’t make herself believe in some pre-determined fairy tale.

"My, my, young lady. I cannot blame you of your naivety." Teuchi responds in a calm, wise manner.

Naruto was shocked with Sakura's sudden remark. He glances to her, then back to the old man, again to Sakura, then to Teuchi, he's so confused which side to take.

Kakashi felt his presence slowly getting erased in the middle of such ridiculous, yet expected, argument. He puts his hokage headdress back on, laid his arms crossed on the table, and slowy rests his face. Ah, I’m too old for this. Easing for a comfortable position with the hat covering his head like a turtle, muffling the noise. He took the chance for a peaceful little nap as the two continued to argue in the background.

"Alright, young lady.." Teuchi rolls his sleeve up.

"Hey, hey, take it easy old man. Let's not fight over this." Naruto tries to calm both of them down. “I'm pretty sure you will not survive Sakura-chan's punches."

"Don't be silly, Naruto-kun, I just want to show her something."

The stubborn pink hair closed her eyes and crossed her arms, dismissing them.

“Here.” Teuchi’s sleeve rolled all the way up to his shoulders, exposing his whole right arm. “Take a look.”

Naruto’s eyes widened. “Wha-what is that!? Did you burn yourself or something?”

“It’s a birth mark,” Teuchi chuckled. He looked over his shoulders with a pair of loving, nostalgic eyes. A patch of discolored skin reveals under his sleeves.

“It’s so weird,” Naruto examines, poking the patch of skin. “It’s red, and it’s.. almost.. shaped like a bowl.. a ramen bowl!”

The old man laughs, amused of Naruto’s observation.

Sakura’s curiosity reached its height and she decided to take a peek, opening one eye slightly. “Hmph. That doesn’t have anything to do with soulmates.”

“Well, it does actually.” He smiles at her and wrinkles form on his face. “I had this ever since I was a teenager. I never knew what it is, what it’s for, or where it came from. Until one day, I met the most amazing woman in my life.”

Naruto listened closely.

Teuchi paused to drink a glass of water then continues his story, “Of course, as a teenage boy I was struck in awe of how beautiful she was. Graceful, elegant, and gentle. But she’s an outsider, a traveler. That didn’t stop me, though. I approached her once and we immediately became friends. She came in and out of the village, constantly visiting me. Eventually, she agreed for us to be together. That time I felt like the luckiest man in the world.”

Sakura is starting to slowly pay attention. Still half-hearted, but listening.

“She moved in with me and we celebrated our love for each other. Our first morning, I remember, was that I woke up from an unbelievably delicious smell. I found her alone in the kitchen, doing a tiny little dance with nothing but an apron wrapped around her body. I sat on the dining table looking at her with awe, and she placed a bowl in front of me.”

“Tell me, is it ramen!? Tell me it’s ramen!” Naruto cuts in, emotionally invested with his story.

“It is the most amazing ramen that ever existed in the world.” The old man answers, sporting a nostalgic smile on his face. “But there’s more that caught my attention.”

Naruto gulps, waiting.

“For the first time, I saw her bare shoulders in broad daylight.. and I found.. the exact same patch of skin like mine.”

“No way!” The blonde haired ninja was dumbfounded with his revelation.

Teuchi gave a hearty chuckle before continuing. “I showed her mine and we were both shocked. It’s the exact same pattern, exact same shade, in the exact same place. That was a really weird morning for me.” He shakes his head upon remembering. “So I decided to ask the Leaf doctors about this unexplainable phenomenon.”

Kakashi’s head shuffles under his hat, getting comfortable.

“No one could give us a good explanation, not even Lady Tsunade. There were rumors floating from the nurses saying that, according to the global records, there were very rare cases of physical traits manifesting exactly alike between two different bodies. But in the Leaf, this was the first.”

“Not even Old Lady Tsunade knew what it was?” Naruto can’t believe what he just heard.

Teuchi nods. “But apparently, she escalated the news and it reached the Third Hokage. One night, in our suprise, Lord Hiruzen paid us a visit for a casual chat regarding the matter. He went out of his way to explain everything about the birth marks, and in our gratitude, we offered him a special bowl of ramen. I still remember his face after having the first sip of the broth.” He laughs again.

“Old man, stop stalling. What did the Third tell you?” Sakura’s face grimaced.

“Now this is where the good part starts, Sakura,” he smiles. “Lord Hiruzen told me, that only a very few people were lucky enough to have such evident manifestations..”

Sakura frowns. “Of what?”

“Of their soulmates, young lady.”

Naruto chimes in fast. “Wait, wait. So you’re telling us that the red patch of skin on your shoulder is exactly the same with that lady you were talking about, and then, this happens to be some sort of a way to determine that she’s your soulmate?”

“I always knew that you’re a bright kid, Naruto-kun. Yes, that’s what it is.” Teuchi approves of his comprehension. “When two people have something odd on their bodies that appears exactly the same, regardless of what it is, that means they are meant to be together, a couple destined by fate.”

“So.. if that’s how it is.. then..” Naruto starts to look underneath his jacket, to his back, beneath his shirt, he is now checking his toes. “Then.. wh-where’s mine?! I don’t have any!” He panics.

“Hahaha!”

“Eh?? What’s so funny, old man?”

Teuchi explains further. “This birthmark is our physical manifestation. Not everyone will have the same red patch of skin to determine their soulmates. Most of the time, people don’t realize theirs because it’s too subtle to begin with. Some might have the exact same mole positions across their bodies, while some can be as absurd as what we have, like maybe having the same white pattern underneath their fingernails. It could be anything, really.”

Sakura once again took a quick look to the old man’s shoulders, wondering if his story was actually real. She starts to mentally note all of her body markings she could possibly remember.

She asks, “You said you had it in your teenage years. So you never had it when you were still a child?”

“That’s right,” he answers. “It only revealed itself when I turned 18. Some might have their manifestations revealed to them earlier, some maybe later, while most people.. well.. they just never get the chance to see it in their lifetime.”

“What the hell does that mean,” she protests.

“It means, young lady, that physical manifestations are rare and special. Like I said, not everyone will have it naturally revealed to them. Lucky are those like us, who walked straight to each other at the right moment, and in the right time.”

“That’s just unfair!”

“Perhaps, it is.” The shop owner agrees. “Until today, I’ve never known of anyone else in the Leaf having the same situation, never even heard the word soulmates for decades.”

“It still doesn’t prove anything.” Sakura’s unwavering pride and stubbornness is getting the best of her. Deep down she wants to know more, but is too embarrassed to ask him. Especially not infront of Naruto and Kakashi.

“If you’re still not convinced, then let me tell you about the tale of the Hidden Fate.”

“Hidden Fate??” Naruto and Sakura repeated almost automatically. They never heard about this village before.

Teuchi’s face contorted, rummaging the story from his thoughts.

“It is said to be located at the outskirts of Konoha, just near the border from Suna. A tiny village resides there with a population of only one clan who possessed a bloodline limit passed down to generations, just like the Sharingan to the Uchihas.”

“But there’s no such village in the map.” Kakashi murmurs all of a sudden in a raspy, just-woke-up voice. His face is tired and eyes still droopy from a nice short nap. Naruto and Sakura looks at him with a face saying did he just fall asleep? 

“Lord Hiruzen himself told me about this mysterious clan. It is said that they possess ancient powers to reveal any person’s unique manifestation, thus helping them determine their destined life partners.” 

Kakashi adjusted his hat and hummed, expressing doubts for Teuchi’s tale. 

“Well, it is a myth after all.” Teuchi clarifies. “Rumors say that people around the world started searching for them to have their manifestations revealed, but the moment the clan learned that their powers were exposed, they erased their traces in the map and became nomads. No one knows where they are, or if they really did exist.” The old man wipes his hands on his apron and rolled his sleeve back down, finishing his story.

Sakura noticed Naruto’s silence. He sits there with his chin resting on one hand, thinking hard, and seems to be concentrating on some distant memory.

“Hey, Naruto. What are you doing?”

“Shh. I’m thinking of Hinata’s body.” He answers casually.

“What!? You perv!?” She grabs his hair tight and drags him out of the stall.

Kakashi stood u and paid the bills. “Thanks for the meal.” Teuchi bows with a smile as the hokage leaves, following his students.

Naruto struggles with Sakura’s monstrous grip, “No, Sakura-chan! Ow! It’s not like that!”

“Shut up!”

“I-I’m thinking of any body marks we could possibly have alike! Ow, ow, ow!”

In the middle of the street, Sakura stops. “What, you too? I can’t believe you bought that obviously made up story!” She lets go of his hair. “I told you, love is supposed to be chosen by the people involved, never by destiny.”

“Right, sensei?!” Sakura demands for his opinion.

Kakashi waves a hand as he strides away further from the two. Uninterested and lethargic to get back to work.

***

That night, a gentle blizzard starts to howl over Konoha. Winter is a bit harsh this year, Kakashi thought, as he watches the snowfall from inside his room.

He climbs up to his bed and sits. Legs crossed, with a mirror in one hand. His other hand reached for his messy hair, parting it where it grows the thickest. He points the mirror and checks the growing clump of pink threads buried deep beneath all the silvers -- the hue of cherry blossoms he knows very well.

“Fuck,” exclaiming under his breath. He pushes himself to the bed and his back flopped on the mattress.

***

In the morning, thin snow resided on the pavement from last night’s blizzard. Sakura shivers in the cold air despite wearing the thickest jacket she owns. Her way is towards the hospital to check up on some research she’s working on, but impulsively, she decided to take on a different route and headed straight to the Yamanaka residence.

“Forehead girl! Nice to see you!”

“Ino, I have a really quick question for you.” Sakura held her on both shoulders with a serious face, her hands icy from outside’s weather.

Ino was surprised with her friend’s unlikely greeting, “Geez, Sakura, what is it?”

“How in the world did Sai determine that you are indeed his soulmate?” Her emerald eyes darted straight to the blonde girl.

Ino blushes rapidly, “What! How did you.. know about that!?”

“Naruto and I were supposed to invite him out when we found this on his door.” Sakura shows her the scroll that contains Sai’s note from yesterday. “You were on a date with him, right?”

“Uhm.. y-yes..” Ino alternately rocks her shoulders up and down, embarrassed. “Geez, even that idiot Naruto knew?” Her face blushed even more.

“Y-you see..” she stutters, “Sai calls me his soulmate. That’s our, uhm, term of endearment.” Ino confessed.

“Wait, what?”

“Some couples call their partners darling, honey, sweetheart. He calls me soulmate. Artists tend to be unconventional, don’t you agree?” She swoons upon remembering Sai’s romantic tendencies.

“God, I can’t believe I wasted my time on this.” The pink haired lady slaps his face with her palm, exasperated. I knew that old man was a fraud! Sakura turned her back and decided to leave the flower shop. 

Ino was left with a bewildered face, noticing the ends of her friend’s hair that brushes inches longer behind her shoulders.

“Sakura?” she calls before she can even reach the door, “What happened to your hair?”

“Huh?” she looks back to Ino. “What are you talking about?”

Ino pointed her reflection from the glass pane. “I know you mentioned something about letting it grow, but since when did you start experimenting with hair colors?”

Sakura looks at her own reflection and sees the tips of her hair transformed in a familiar shade of black, almost like charcoal. A bluish undertone appear slightly noticeable whenever the faint sunlight hits. That’s.. weird? She’s absolutely sure she already saw this exact same shade somewhere, however unable to pinpoint exactly what it is.

Sakura laughed uncomfortably and rushed out of the flower shop. She tugs the hood of her jacket over her head and runs fast, a bit worried, as she tries to look for a nearby market to buy hair products.

***

In the Hokage’s office, Kakashi leans over his desk concentrating with the paperworks infront of him. His hand unconsciously keeps on brushing the part of his hair that buries the discolored strands, carefully clumping the silvers together in a strategic way that the pink won’t show.

Disoriented, he stripped himself off of the hokage robe and asks Shikamaru to clear his schedule for the day.

***

Back in Ichiraku, Kakashi arrives and sits silently on the farthest seat near the wall. Ayame walks out from the kitchen to ask him of his order.

“Sorry, but uh, is your father here?” The distressed hokage asks as soon as she saw the lady.

“He’s off to the market to re-stock ingredients and won’t be back soon. Is there something you need from him, Hokage-sama?”

Kakashi paused, thinking if he should continue what he’s planning to do.

“Hokage-sama?” Ayame repeats, snapping his attention back to her.

“Hmm.. Ayame-san, can I ask you something?” He starts.

“Anything, sir,” she replies with a smile.

“Do you remember your mother having a red patch of skin on her shoulder?”

Ayame thinks hard for a moment, “Hmmm. No, my mother doesn’t have that.” She placed a glass of water infront of Kakashi and continued. “I believe you’re talking about my father’s birthmark, he’s the only one in the family who has that.”

“Are you sure?” Kakashi still tries to wring information.

She laughs, “Of course, Hokage-sama, I’m sure of it.”

Kakashi unconsciously brushed his hair again, his mind is connecting all the intel he have, one after another. Trying to figure things out.

Finally, he stood up and went straight to the village gates.

***

Based on what Teuchi said, the village of Hidden Fate was located somewhere between the borders of Konoha and Suna. Kakashi knows very well that this is quite a risk, considering the rumors of the clan going nomadic. There will be no guarantee for him to find them there, nor prove their existence.

He runs his fingers through his hair once again as he jumps from one tree branch to another. There’s got to be an explanation to all of this.

And if there’s some truth with what he thinks this is, then why, he thought, why her of all people. He bites his tongue and speeds through the forest.

***

In the middle of his journey, Kakashi felt like his route turned oddly wrong and decided to take a break to recalibrate. Judging by the distance he traveled, he’s pretty sure he hasn’t gone that far away from the borders of Konoha. But observing the sudden shift of weather from a gloomy cold winter to a bright sunny spring, he knows he needed to stop for a moment.

He climbed the highest tree in sight and from up there, he scans the area then looks back to his map, comparing. At the far north, near a pond, he sees a humble temple that looks like one belonging to the monks. Small, but decent. He glances back to his map on-hand to double check and learns that the temple was not recorded. It is the first time he sees this as well, and even the surroundings look different. He must have gone lost to a different path.

Kakashi enters the clearance where the temple resides. The lake grew as he gets nearer, and the sunlight reflecting the water made its surface twinkle. Freshly trimmed grass brush on his sandals with every step, until finally he reaches the entrance.

The doors appear to be open and a familiar delicious smell hit his nose. Before he can step inside, a voice echoes to greet him from the back of the temple. 

“Are you lost, young one?”

Kakashi stops on his tracks to observe, there was a short moment of silence.

“Come in, the food is ready,” an old lady invites him again, welcoming.

Sensing no threats of danger, Kakashi went inside the temple.

It felt even smaller inside, shadows occupy his sight due to the lack of proper lighting. The sunlight shines in and it’s all the light he could work with. Old wooden furniture were scattered everywhere, like it isn’t always attended to.

The old lady emerges from a small space that seemingly appears to be the kitchen, then proceeds to place a tray on the table. Two bowls of ramen, steaming and fresh from the pot. She unties her apron and hangs it.

“You’re just in time, young one, let’s eat.”

***

Next

[strangephiti]

Control

Written for University last year. Prompt: A wager (mild violence, some swearing)

Control

I am timeless. I did not begin in the Garden and I will not end with Ragnarök. I am everything and nothing. I am one of you; And I am so much more than you can ever conceive. 

I watch you, all you dull, unimaginative people. You’re lives are so... pointless. I blink, and you are gone. So many of you sit there, wishing your lives away. You  watch successful people and wonder: “why them, and not me?” Most of you have never even picked up a guitar, or sat down with a brush, or planned your wonder emporium. But still: “why them, not me?”

I listen to you. You think that it’s all luck. You struggle to scrape together the months rent and so you think: “why work so hard for nothing? The rich are only rich because they got lucky.” You mope about lost time, and sit around, wishing for a better tomorrow.

I have nothing but tomorrows. 

I feel so very little for you all. And yet you fascinate me. I envy you. I envy your limited days. I envy the ticking clock that pushes your peers to achieve, to grow.  Without the pressure of mortality I have no ambition, no desire. So I have had to get creative with my time.

...

Kyle Hawkins isn’t a bad person. He is polite, takes care of his parents as well as his senile, happy, Nana. He is the youngest of five children - but his eldest brother got the best of both parents: the looks, the smarts, the luck. As it filtered down through the siblings the gene pool began to dry out, leaving Kyle with nothing but the dregs. At least, so he believes. What hope could poor Kyle have in a world where “like only goes to like?” 

He goes through the same drudgery day after day. Works at 8am, completes the same chores; eats the same sandwich at the same sandwich bar; the same shops on the way home – groceries for him and groceries for Mum and Dad. Then home for dinner, and streams of videos.

Weekends aren’t much better. On a Sunday he visits Nana. She makes him laugh with her confused ramblings, and breaks his heart when she forgets his name. He cheers himself up with a pint at the local, where he and the boys talk the same rubbish each week.

Even the successes of his friends don’t inspire Kyle.

“It’s alright for some,” he scoffs into his pint.

So narrow is his sight that he scarcely noticed me slip into his peripherals and from there on into his life. I’ve sat across from him for many years now, listening to him whine about his lot. He likes to talk to me because he thinks I am just as worthless as he is: No wife, no kids, no hope. We just sit and drink and talk. And I wait. I wait patiently for him to say those fateful words:

“What I wouldn’t give...”

I shrug at at him. “Nah mate. Opportunity could come dancing through that door with neon lights and a siren blazing, and you’d still be sat there on your fat arse, looking at your phone.”

“Ye ‘hink so? Listen… If Ah’d been given the chances some folk have...”

I don’t listen. Never do. It’s the same excuses again. And I’ve heard them before. Different voices, different faces, but the excuses are always the same. Then I say to him:

“Wanna bet?”

He scowls at me but says nothing. I take a coin from my pocket, a shiny silver American dollar. I tell him I got it on a family holiday when I was twelve, when dreams still lived, and that I told myself I would go back to this “land of opportunity” and make my fortune. I kept the coin to remind me. But I still hadn’t gone. It hadn’t helped me. Maybe it would help him, I said.

“You think it’s all about luck? And Fate? Why not let my little coin decide for you?”

I turn the coin between finger and thumb, making sure to let it catch the light above us, and trace it across his drunken, hazy eyes. As he watches I say:

“Chances are all around us, all the time. But you just sit there, fat, forty and failing.”

He grunts at me. He knows I’m right. So I go on.

“It’s easier to do the same thing everyday, every weekend, because you don’t have to try, don’t have to fail.”

His eyes start to glaze as he watches the coin. I twirl it, effortlessly, between my fingers, the light dancing across his face.

“But what if something else made those choices for you? Would you grab those opportunities?”

I know when I have him. The light from the coin fills his eyes. Letting this thing decide for him appeals to his lazy nature.

“We can start now,” I say. “Loser buys the next round. Heads I win, tails you lose,”

“Heads,” he slurs pointlessly. I try not to sigh at his idiocy. I toss the coin high, its streamlined edges whipping the air with a soft zing-zing-zing. The light flashes across his face with each rotation, and his eyes can’t seem to focus on anything else. I smack the coin down on the back of my hand.

“Tails,” I say. “You lose. Get us a packet of crisps when your up, mate.”

With a grumble he drains the last of his pint and shuffles off to the bar. I call after him, equally as pointlessly:

“That’s half the trouble with you, mate: You don’t pay attention!”

We begin immediately, before he has time to change his mind. I take him out the very next day.

“Chances aren’t given. They’re taken,” I tell him. “You have to pay attention. You have to make a choice. Either you or the coin.”

The coin takes all responsibility away from him. It is a thought that appeals all too much to Kyle.

We start small: a new sandwich at the shop? Heads. It’s tasty, that’s all. No regrets. No real interest. Scratch card? He wins £10. He chuckles a little. He’s not that impressed, but the seed has been planted. It’s Sunday. Visit Nana or not?

Tails. Not.

That doesn’t sit well with Kyle, so he goes anyway. He can’t not see Nana. She waits all week to see him. They sit for hours and, mostly, he listens. His heart is heavy when he leaves. She thought he was the man come to fix the television. She kept asking him when the Queen’s Speech would be on. It is not the best state of mind for Kyle to be in for a chance encounter with his ex.

Sara.

She looks so good. Kyle swears she sparkles. They talk awkwardly for a bit: Hubby is doing well; The kids are growing so fast; work has her snowed under. She smells like summer fruits. He remembers that scent from when she used to squeeze her body next to his in bed. She could have been his if luck had been kinder. But of course, it wasn’t. He wasn’t “ambitious” enough for her. 

“You could make so much of yourself...” she told him.

He scoffed. Fat chance. So they took a break. He gave her space and time - in truth he wallowed on his couch, eating and drinking and moping. Then Mr Perfect rolled up in his perfect electric car, spouting about his perfect carbon footprint, and she was hooked. Off they went together to live the “organic” life, climbing hills, and furrowing their brows at the “serious issue of austerity” - while planning another holiday abroad. They even took to the front line soup kitchens. Kyle found that strangely sickening. The idea of ladling spoonsful of cheap soup to the less fortunate, a factitious smile on their faces, knowing they’re going back to their cosy three bedroom house, and their fridge bursting  with food and shelves sagging with their weekly Waitrose groceries.

He hates that about them. He loves that about her.

My voice cuts though his thoughts: You could follow her.

There is a beat. I hold out the coin. Kyle hesitates.

“No.”

We go a for a few drinks to chase the day away. We forget the coin. I leave it dormant on the table. But somehow, it manages to slip into his pocket, as if by chance.

When he crawls out of bed the next morning, cursing his luck and blaming me for that fifth pint, he finds the silver dollar on his kitchen counter. He is still not sure how it got there. Such a silly little thing. Completely worthless here. But then, hadn’t it won him a tenner? And if he’d listened to it and not visited Nana, he wouldn’t have bumped into Sara – Beautiful, glowing Sara. It wouldn’t have brought the memories back. Or the pain.

Always a man to blame his circumstances, Kyle pondered. Anything he did as a result of this coin toss wouldn’t really be his fault. Would it? Blame free. It wouldn’t be his fault. It would be the coins fault – my fault.

He flips the coin. It hurtles and zings.

“Go to work today or not?”  

He smacks it down – heads: no work today. He smiles and makes his way to the couch. With remote in hand his finger hovers over the buttons - but then he stops and thinks.

“Stay home? Or go out?”

Flip, zing, catch – tails. Better get dressed then.

Kyle has no idea where he is going. He tells himself how stupid this is. Opportunity isn’t going to suddenly leap out at him. But there is a voice in his head, now, that isn’t his, and it whispers:

What if?

He goes to the newsagents to peruse the photography magazines – another would-be hobby he had given up on. He reaches into his pocket for change. The coins feel dull, chalky and thunk against each other, indistinguishable one to the next. Then there was that silver dollar, pushing it’s way between his fingers. Its cold face presses into his palm and sends a shiver up his arm. It seems to whisper to him.

“Buy it?” or Steal it?

He trembles. Like a naughty child he gives the shopkeeper a few fervent glances over the magazine. Flip.

It’s surprisingly easy to walk out of the shop. His heart is thumping so loud he’s sure someone must be able to hear it. But no one hears. No one sees. He’s terrified. He’s thrilled. He wonders if he could pick up a camera that easily as well!

He parks himself on a bench, contemplating. The chills of excitement soon leave him as he flicks idly through his ill-gotten magazine, barely noticing the words. It’s only his stomach protesting that makes him get up, and his feet carry him to the sandwich shop.

Bad move and just his luck! His supervisor is here, picking up his own lunch. Usually he’d have someone else pick it up for him – usually Kyle. But Kyle hadn’t gone to work that day. Stupid mistake! He knows he should leave... but he doesn’t. The coin finds it’s way into his hand once more.

You’ve always wanted to tell him want you really think of him, it whispers.

Flip. Zing. Heads. He smiles.

The profanities that he lets fly seem unsuited to the gleeful grin on his face. Everyone in the shop has frozen, listening to this tirade. Time itself is holding it’s breath. Kyle, once begun, cannot stop. Electricity is buzzing throughout his body, powering his words. His supervisor is too stunned to respond, his face white. When twenty years of bitterness has been exhausted, Kyle wishes his former supervisor a nice day and leaves.

He can’t keep the smile from his face. He wonders what else could he do?

Zing! Zing!

Kissing the beautiful girl at the bus shelter was a big mistake. His throbbing cheek could attest to that.

“Not right. Not worth it.”

But I got I kiss out of it, the coin whispers in a voice that sounds like Kyles.

What was that saying? Regret the things you do and not the things you don’t. He took a chance. He got what wanted out of it. She got her revenge and moved on. What harm was there?

While he contemplated this, three young boys walk by. They were typical lads, hoods high and trousers low. Their height suggested age, but their gangly limbs betrayed them. Fourteen? Fifteen? If that.

Wham! An explosion of white, viscous liquid erupted against the glass, barely an inch from Kyles right ear. Milkshake spattered across his face and seeped grotesquely beneath his collar and through his shirt. The lads cackled.  

“Fat Fucker!” One of them shouted.

Normally Kyle would hang his head and walk away. But today was anything but normal.

Flip. Zing! Bam!

Blood spurts. He knocks out two front teeth from the closest boy. Who knew he could hit so hard?

The boys reel. They hesitate, gesticulate. But in the end they simply grab their friend, his bloody face in his hands, and drag him off down the road, hurling foulness back across their shoulders and threats of “next time.”

Kyle’s smile grows broader.

“That’ll teach them.”

Will it?

“They’re just boys. Just kids doing stupid things.”

They’re just stupid boys. Someone needs to teach them a lesson.

Zing. Zing. Zing.

He follows. 

There are a lot of bricks and broken bottles in the alley beside the liquor shop, where the boys have chosen to regroup. There is a loose fence post, long and heavy. Kyle unhooks it from the chain link. It fits perfectly in his hand.

The boys are making too much noise to hear him approach, the one cursing through fat lips, the others jabbing him with jibes of “you got clocked by an old git!” 

Kyle tightens his grip.

The metal bar knocks the laughter out of the tallest boy, the next boy folds around the swinging fence post as it hurtles towards his gut, and the third boy receives a crushing headbutt. The boys are a little tougher than their skinny frames suggest and land a good few blows on Kyles flabby body. The pain feels exhilarating! Even when the boys are writhing on the ground he finds he can’t stop.  

“That’s enough!” He hears himself scream.

Is it? Aren’t you enjoying it? Asks the coin.

“No.”

Yes, Kyles voice answers. They’ll think twice before they shit on me again!

He leaves the boys crying and bleeding.

I can do whatever I want. His heart beats in his ears.

“What do I want?”

Sara.

Sara is always pleased to see Kyle. She thinks it’s wonderful that they can still be friends. Kyle thinks he hears a glimmer of regret as she speaks of “still being close.” But her face isn’t glowing today. It pales as she answers the door. Her eyes trace the line of blood dripping from the corner of his swollen right eye, follows it to the fat lip, the scratches on his neck. When she reaches out to touch his arm, her face concerned, Kyle feels that spark once more. It pulses through him stronger than ever.

Zing. Zing.  

He kisses her. She reels away. But she doesn’t react the way the girl at the bus stop did. She understands. She smiles. It is her pity smile, her soup kitchen smile, the one reserved for “poor unfortunate souls.”

“You’ve had a rough day, haven’t you?” She sweetly coos.

She pities him. She has no idea! He is better now that he has ever been! She pities him? How dare she? Everything was her fault anyway! She was the one that left! She was the one who fell into the lap of luxury and left Kyle in the gutter!

You were mine first, his strange voice growls.

Zing. Zing. Zing.

You’re mine still!

The look of pity vanishes from her face as her back slams against the wall. She screams, but he muffles the scream with his own mouth. Her flailing arms are no match for his strong hands as he slaps her hard and pins her to the floor. The voice in his head is stronger than ever.

Regret the things you do.

As they struggle, the silver dollar rolls from Kyle’s pocket - as if by chance. Kyle doesn’t notice. But as it trundles away, the scrape of it’s edges on the wooden floor growing fainter and fainter, he suddenly begins to see her face.

She is glowing. A red glow. Her cheek is welted; her mascara smeared. She looks at him as if he is a stranger – a monster. He reels back.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers in his own feeble voice.

She runs. He runs.

There is no light left in the day and no life left in Kyle’s voice as he tells the officers everything. He confesses about the girl and the boys. He confesses about Sara, with a catch in his throat. He even confesses about the magazine, as if that mattered at all anymore.

The boys’ parents have already filed their report. They had stormed the station en masse and had not long been satiated and sent on their way before Kyle arrived. 

Sara had not been seen.

“When she does come in, or calls,” he croaks, his throat dry from crying. “Tell her I’m sorry.”

They won’t. 

He doesn’t really want them to. 

He doesn’t want to be forgiven.

...

Kyle Hawkins wasn’t really a bad man. He was lazy and unambitious. He refused to accept responsibility for himself and was too stubborn make good choices. Now his choices are made for him. He sleeps and wakes at the same time every day; Eats the same food from the same plastic tray; Completes the same chores; Stares at the same walls and faces day after day after day.

Who will he be when parole comes around?

Flip. Zing!

Heads I win. Tails you lose.

[oldfashionedswiftcurse]

Alwyn vs. Swift Pt. 5

Taylor returned home early the next morning and found her father frantically on the phone. She slipped in through the front door and overheard his conversation.

           “I swear to God, Susan, if this is some sick game,” he began, but the voice on the other line interrupted him.

           Taylor froze. There was no way he was talking to her mother. Her father swore that when her mother walked out on them ten years ago, that was the last bit of contact he had with his wife. However, Taylor realized that like always, her father had lied to her.

           “We had a deal. I moved her closer to you, but not so you could reach out to her. When you left, it nearly destroyed her. I won’t pick up the pieces when you break her heart again.”

           So it was really her mother, and from what Taylor gathered, her father thought that she had run away to meet up with her mother. As if that would really happen. The only way Taylor would travel to find her mother would be to curse and yell at her for abandoning them. She listened closely, hoping her father would slip up and mention where her mother was currently living.

           “Just stay away from Taylor. And let me know if you hear from her,” he said angrily, hanging up.

           Taylor gave him a few moments to compose himself before she entered the kitchen.

           “Morning, Dad,” she said casually, waiting to hear his outburst.

           “Taylor Alison Swift, where the hell were you? And why didn’t you call me back?! You’re grounded.”

           She could tell this form of parenting was new to him. Her dad hardly realized anything different about her, so she stopped telling him her concerns, fears, and dreams.

           “Why does it matter, Dad? You’re never here when I do come home. Maybe I got tired of coming home to an empty house,” she muttered, and she saw his eyes darken in regret.

           “Sweetheart…”

           “Forget it, Dad. I’m going to my room,” she stated and turned to leave.

           Taylor had managed to sneak her father’s cell phone off of the kitchen island. Texting the number listed as “Susan,” Taylor impulsively asked her mother to meet. The number responded immediately with an address in Munich. Looks like her mother isn’t really that close. From what Taylor could tell, Munich would certainly be a day’s trip on train, but she was willing to do it. She was angry with her father for keeping this from her and her mother for nearly everything else. She agreed to meet at the Munich address on Saturday afternoon, two days from today. If she left class early on Friday afternoon, Taylor knew she make it to Munich by midnight. She would rent a hotel room, find some food, and meet her mother the next day.

           When she arrived at school, Taylor immediately raced to Rebecca, asking if she wanted to visit Germany with her this weekend.

           “Germany?” Rebecca questioned. “That sounds oddly fun, but I’ve got a date with Mark.”

           Taylor told her best friend about her intricate plan, and Rebecca was shocked.

           “You know what? I can cancel on him. This is so much more important. Shit, your mother…I can’t believe this.”

           Taylor paused.

           “No,” she began, “this is my problem. Go and enjoy your date. I’ll be fine.”

           “Like hell you will. You think I’m going to let you, an American, travel to another European country all by yourself?”

           At that moment, Joe appeared, hands in his pocket.

           “Becks, do you mind if I talk to Taylor alone?”

           “Sure,” Rebecca stated, turning to leave. “You might as well just take Joe. He knows his way around Europe, just ask our nannies.”

           Taylor chuckled, but grew silent as Rebecca walked away.

           “Hey,” Joe muttered, smiling slightly. “Look, about last night…”

           “You don’t need to apologize, Joe,” she said, shaking it off.

           “I do. I was drunk and idiotic, and I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

           “You didn’t,” she admitted honestly. “You were entertaining, for sure.”

           “Oh no,” he said, placing his palm over his forehead in embarrassment, “I hope I didn’t ruin my chances with you.”

           “Well…”

           “Anything. I’ll do anything.”

           “Come with me to Germany this weekend,” she stated, and he lifted his eyebrows in confusion.

           “Aren’t you supposed to be punishing me? A trip alone with you to another country doesn’t seem like much of a punishment.”

           “Well, it will be because you’ll be falling in love with me all over the world, and I still won’t give in to your flirtation,” she teased, and he chuckled.

           “You’re finally getting the hang of this whole teasing thing, love.”

           “So will you come with me?”

           “Just say when. I pegged you as more of a Paris girl, but to each his own, I suppose. Note to self, leggy blondes prefer the German countryside over the Parisian city.”

           She rolled her eyes, but when she returned home, she packed a backpack for their trip. The next morning, Taylor went to class like normal, but she left a half hour early. When she stumbled into the hallway, she found a beaming Joe waiting by the door. Because it was growing colder, he was wearing a denim jacket, black jeans, and Converse, as well as a black beanie covering his blonde hair.

           “Ready for our adventure, love?” He whispered, handing her a Euro train pass.

           She nodded, grinning back at him.

           “Remind me why you’re so excited to see a woman who left you and your dad,” he questioned, furrowing his eyebrows.

           “I’m not excited, per se. I just want to see her and tell her what a huge mistake she made. I deserved to have a mother who constantly loved me, not one who left just because things got too tough.”

           “Beautiful and candid. You just keep surprising me.”

           They left campus together and the second they got to the train station, Joe heard Taylor’s stomach grumble in hunger.

           “What’ll it be then? Sandwiches? Sushi?”

           Taylor eyed him slowly.

           “I can just wait to eat on the train.”

           His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

           “Silly me, I just assumed the nasty sound coming from your stomach actually meant something.”

           “Joe, I’m too nervous to eat. This is my mom, okay? This could be perfect, and she’ll finally realize how much she hurt me and my dad. Or this could go very badly, and she’ll admit she never loved me and doesn’t feel bad for hurting us.”

           Joe chuckled, but grew serious when she saw how stressed she was.

           “Taylor, your mum made a huge mistake, and it quite possibly ruined every good thing in her life. She probably doesn’t understand what it means to truly love someone, and she probably never will. That, however, does not mean that you need to carry the weight of your mother’s blunder. Now please choose a place for us to eat before my stomach starts a band with yours.”

           She tried not to smile, but eventually, she couldn’t help herself.

           “Fine, sandwiches for now. I’ll see how I’m feeling in an hour. My appetite is very particular. I have to eat as often as possible and as much as possible.”

           He chuckled.

           “Did you just make a joke? Remind me to never deprive you of food. And always remember that when you chose not to eat, I was the one who kept convincing you to eat.”

           Their train finally arrived, and they got comfortable in their seats. The train ride was nearly eight hours nonstop, so Taylor took two seats opposite Joe and sprawled her legs over the seats. After sleeping for a little bit, they sat next to each other and rotated songs from their playlists. Joe nearly blushed when he realized that Taylor had one of his band’s original songs on her playlist. While listening to their music, Taylor fell asleep again, resting his cheek against Joe’s shoulder. Joe left their seats to pick up some food and returned just when Taylor was waking up again.

           “I got you some Pepsi and a BLT,” he whispered, resting the food against the seat.

           “How’d you know what I like? You took a pretty big gamble.”

           “That first night after the show, when we were moving from pub to pub, you kept talking about how hungry you were and then you kept mumbling ‘BLT.’ I am a gambler, but I never take unnecessary risks.”

           “How could you possibly remember that?” She teased, straightening her unkempt hair.

           “Well, that’s when I realize that I was attracted to you. I couldn’t help remembering. I wanted to know everything about you then.”

           “And now?” She asked.

           “Now I’m afraid we know too much about each other.”

           “Well, you’re on an eight hour train ride to another country with me to meet a woman I haven’t seen in about ten years. So yeah, I think we’ve definitely crossed that line.”

           “Can I ask you something?”

           Taylor was hesitant, but nodded. These kinds of questions always scared her.

           “Why didn’t you invite Martin? It seemed like you guys were getting pretty serious at the party and…”

           His words trailed off.

           “Martin is a great guy. I’m not sure. I just didn’t feel comfortable telling him about my mom. I just…didn’t want to ruin his perfect life, I guess. We don’t even know each other that well.”

           “Hmm.”

           “What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked nervously.

           “Just an observation. Does that mean you feel comfortable around me?” He said seriously.

           Taylor didn’t know what to do when he wasn’t joking.

           “I do, as much as it kills me to say. I probably feel the most comfortable with you…but your drunken confessions may have helped that happen.”

           “Oh no,” he said, a slight rosy blush appearing on his cheeks, “you’ll never let me live that down.”

           “Never.”

           The train came to a stop, and Taylor and Joe exited. They found their hotel, booked two nights stay, and proceeded to look for food. It was nearly eleven at night, and after stopping by a late night fast food place, they got to their hotel. Joe allowed Taylor to shower first, and he turned the TV on. He ordered in for ice-cream, so by the time Taylor got out of the shower, it was waiting. She slipped it into the fridge while she waited for Joe to finish showering. She laid a towel on the bed when she heard the shower shut off, and Joe was grinning. Taking the spot next to her, they began digging into their rocky road pint.

           “This makes up for having your drool all over my t-shirt today,” he mumbled in between spoonfuls.

           “Oh, you little baby,” she teased, “I had to deal with your drunk self for an entire night. I thought you’d puke all over me.”

           “Luckily, the only kind of vomiting I did was straight from my heart.”

           “Your corny lines are getting old, Alwyn.”

           “Luckily, my body is maintaining its youthful glow.”

           “I don’t know,” Taylor began, giggling. “I’m spotting a few wrinkles right there.”

           She ran a finger along his cheek, smearing ice-cream along his face. Joe’s face wrinkled in disgust, but he reacted quickly. With his ice-cream still in his mouth, he leaned over Taylor and deposited the melted ice-cream onto her neck. Taylor screamed at the coldness of it and pushed Joe away, resting a dirty hand along his white t-shirt. He jumped off the bed, examining his filthy t-shirt, and scolded her.

           “Miss Swift, you’ve gotten me all mucked up,” he said as she tried to control her giggles.

           Using the towel that they held the ice-cream on, Taylor wiped the remains of the ice-cream from her neck and tossed him the towel. He threw the towel to the ground and lifted up his t-shirt. Lifting it over his head, Joe stripped down until Taylor had a near perfect view of his golden chest. He had some chest hair, but it was enough for Taylor to find extremely attractive. She watched him as he looked in his bag for another shirt, all the while hoping he couldn’t see her blushing cheeks. When he replaced his chest with a new t-shirt, he grinned at her.

           “You know that feeling where someone’s stare could burn through your skin? I’m burning, love.”

           She definitely felt her cheeks redden.

           “I wasn’t…”

           “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. But just know that now you can’t keep using the excuse that we don’t have sexual chemistry. It’s near palpable, and it’s radiating off of you.”

           “Shut up,” she teased, throwing a pillow at him.

           He ducked quickly, chuckling to himself. He slipped into the other bed, turning to face Taylor. Taylor began thinking about tomorrow.

           “I know you’re nervous about what might happen,” Joe whispered, “but just know that no matter what, you’ll always have Becks and me in your corner.”

           “Thanks, I really needed that.”

           “Good night, love.”

           “Good night, Joe.”

[standingstillwithnothinginmyway]

You Make Me Smile

Maggie was having a pretty rough day. The teenager she had been helping get through the flawed, racist system had gone to prison for a stupid amount of time. She knew for a fact that if the boy had been white, the system would have given in a slap on the wrist and kept it moving.

She hated watching young people of color receive the short end of the stick simply because of their race, ethnicity, or sexuality.

All she wanted was to go home and have a nice, cold beer and not think about it.

She pushed the key into the lock of Alex’s door and went to open it, but paused when she heard music played on the other side of the door. She could have sworn she heard Alex singing along with the upbeat rhythm that Maggie recognized as These Words by Natasha Bedingfield.

Maggie quietly opened the door and her heart swooned at the sight.

Alex was standing in her living room in Ninja Turtle pajama pants and a tank top folding laundry while loudly singing along to the lyrics. She caught sight of Maggie as soon as she walked in and her smile got wider, but she didn’t stop singing.

“These words are my own. From my heart flow. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you! There’s no other way to better say, I love you, I love you…” she sang loudly, extending her arms towards Maggie and scrunching her eyes with the emotion of the song.

Maggie could feel her heart doing somersaults in her chest, but she rolled her eyes and laughed to cover it up.

“You’re such a nerd, Danvers.” Maggie stated, walking to press a kiss to Alex’s waiting lips.

“What? Can’t a girl say I love you?”

Maggie couldn’t help the smile that widened on her face. “I love you, too.”

-

Maggie knew Alex loved corny jokes.

Like loved corny jokes.

Maggie could remember the first time she’d ever told Alex a pun “Hey, Danvers, what do otters drive?” “No clue” “Ottermobiles” and Alex nearly threw up from laughing so hard.

And so Maggie took to learning every single corny joke there was.

“Danvers, how many tickles take to make an octopus laugh?”

“…eight? I have no idea.” A light chuckle.

“Nope.” Maggie let a dopey smile cross her face. “Ten tickles.”

Alex snorted loudly in the middle of the DEO at that one. And it earned Maggie a small kiss which was always a great payment.

Alex’s favorite had happened after they’d worn each other out in bed one night. Alex was falling asleep quickly due to Maggie lightly rubbing her back. “Who was the roundest knight at the table?”

Alex’s head lifted up to seek out Maggie’s face. “What?”

“The roundest knight at the table, Danvers, who was it?”

“Uh…humpty dumpty?”

“Noooo.” Maggie laughed. “Cir-cumference!”

Alex’s eyes lit up at the math joke (nerd) and she laughed pretty loudly. It made Maggie’s heart swell.

And so she told Alex a joke every chance she could get. She loved hearing the bursts of laughter from Alex’s mouth and it prided her to know that she was the cause of it.

“What do you call a crocodile in a vest and a knack for research?” Maggie asked one day as Alex jotted down notes in her lab about whatever she was seeing through the microscope. Maggie would’ve been bored out of her mind if it hadn’t been for Alex in that white lab coat and those damn glasses. Instead her mind was in a frenzy and her body was on fire.

Puns helped to calm it down.

“Hmm?” Alex threw a quick glance at Maggie before returning to her notes.

“An investigator.” Maggie grinned largely waiting for Alex’s laugh.

Except it never came.

“Ehhh. That’s not funny because crocodiles and alligators are actually very different. Crocodiles live in more saltwater areas while alligators prefer freshwater. Also, Alligators have wider, U-shaped snouts while crocodiles are shaped like a V. So, I can’t laugh at your joke because it’s scientifically incorrect.” Alex stated very seriously.

Maggie was at loss for words. “…Are…are you kidding?”

“No.” Alex stressed with wide eyes. “Science is never a joke, Mags.”

Maggie watched her a moment before realizing that her girlfriend was actually dead serious. A laugh bubbled up and out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop it. “Woooow. You’re a bigger nerd than I thought, Danvers.”

“Whatever.” Alex chuckled, turning back to her notes.

-

Alex knew that she couldn’t dance. Like at all. But Maggie loved with Alex danced because it never failed to amuse her.

And so Alex danced all the time.

She does a little dance in the morning while Maggie watches her get ready for work from the bed they’d both slept in. She shimmies into her pants with while humming an upbeat tune and doing little extra jazz hands and things complete with facial expressions. The whole 9.

Maggie loved the mornings now.

She does a little spin move and sings dramatically into the shower head on the mornings Maggie joins her in the shower.

Maggie gives her a loud laugh and wet shower kisses for that.

Alex shakes her butt a little as she’s putting in the dvd for the night and Maggie watches on with her lip between her teeth and a smile on her face.

She only breaks out into laughter when Alex places her hands on her knees and really gets into it in a really dorky way.

And so Maggie always urges Alex to put in the dvd.

When she brings Maggie’s lunch to the precinct because Maggie has abused her paperwork for a day too long and her captain is on her ass about it, Alex places the take-out container on Maggie’s desk before doing a quick Michael Jackson spin and finishing off the move with finger guns.

Maggie nearly tips her for being the best delivery service in town. She kisses her in thanks instead.

To get Maggie to stop crying after she has to watch the man who murdered an innocent alien refugee walk free and couldn’t do anything about it, Alex does the silliest shoulder shimmy while making a goofy face and singing a Britney Spears song in an over-exaggerated nasally tone.

Maggie watches her dork of a girlfriend through watery eyes and she tells herself that she’s not gonna crack, but her girlfriend is persistent and she finds herself giggling at Alex’s actions.

“God, I love you so much.” Maggie whispered, tears still falling, but her sadness was eased a little.

“I love you more.” Alex smiles and leaning forward to capture Maggie’s lips.

Maggie’s favorite, though, is the dance that Alex does when she wins any kind of game.

During game night, Alex wins the game of Scrabble that had been going on for most of the night. She beats Winn by 4 points and she was up on her feet in the blink of an eye.

“Ha! I win! Suck it, Schott!” Alex cheers, thrusting her hands into the air and gently rotating her hips.

Maggie can’t help but laugh at her.

Fuck, she loved that woman.

-

Maggie loved to cook.

Growing up in a large family, Maggie had been forced to learn to cook from a young age.

And now, having to feed both of the Danvers, her cooking skills were coming into use.

And so she made a deal with Kara and Alex that if they picked up the groceries she needed, she would make dinner every night.

Needless to say, Maggie found herself spending quite a lot of time in front of her stove, Alex’s stove, and Kara’s stove.

She didn’t mind though. Most of the time she had some eager helping hands. Kara came in handy when she needed things chopped quickly and Alex was useful for measuring the proper amounts of ingredients.

They all made one solid team.

She also didn’t mind the silly things that went along with cooking dinner for her newly formed family. (It felt so amazing to even be a part of a family again.)

Most of the time there was some kind of music playing.

Kara preferred that they play Disney songs when they were at her place and Maggie spent her time watching the sisters break into slightly off key renditions of their favorite duets. (It came as a shock that Alex was usually the soprano and could hit most of the notes with ease.)

When they were at Alex’s place, Maggie found herself listening to anything from show tunes, It Takes Two from Hairspray and Maria from Westside Story were Alex’s two faves, to old school P!nk. Of course, she had her alternative rock bands thrown in there too.

Who would Alex be if she couldn’t tell Maggie to pour some sugar on her? (Cue silly dance)

Maggie, on the other hand, was more into old r&b love songs. Usher, Boys II Men, Shai, Alicia Keys, and Destiny’s Child filled the playlist. Maggie often times found herself singing the songs to Alex and finally understanding what the singers were talking about when they sang about love.

(Kara cooed each and every time Maggie sang along to the songs and Alex’s face turned into that dopey smile that told the world that she was in love.)

Sometimes, when Kara was otherwise occupied by being the DJ or checking her Snapchat, Alex moved to stand behind Maggie before she wrapped her arms around Maggie’s waist and whispered sweet things into her ear. This never failed to make Maggie melt back into Alex’s body and let her eyes fall closed at the feeling of being so close to the woman she loved.

Alex, though, would ruin the moment seconds later when she blows a loud raspberry on Maggie’s neck making Maggie shriek and push a laughing Alex away from her.

Fucking loveable brat.

And so cooking was always an adventure with the Danvers plus one Sawyer.

Laughs filled the kitchen along with the enticing aromas of whatever Maggie was cooking that night.

-

Humor had been a constant in their relationship.

It was the only way that they could cope with the constant threat of one of them dying in their unbelievably dangerous jobs.

And so they kept each other laughing any chance they got.

And proposals were no different.

Alex dropped to one knee one night after Maggie had gotten out of the shower to find the room filled with candles and rose pedals all over Alex’s huge bed. The ring she held out to Maggie had to be one of the most beautiful rings that Maggie had ever seen.

To say Maggie was shocked was an understatement.

“Maggie Sawyer, there are a million things I could say right now. I could go on and on about how much I love you or how much I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I hope you already know that because I do my best to tell you and show you every day.”

“I do. I know.” Maggie let out a watery chuckle.

“Hey, no ‘I do’s’ yet!”

Another chuckle.

“But I’m glad you know. What you don’t know is that I want to spend the rest of my life making that beautiful smile cross your face every day. I want to dance and sing in the shower with you every morning. I want to sing show tunes and Disney Princess songs with you. I want to take a Slow Ride with you and Cater to You like Destiny’s Children sing about. I wanna be your favorite delivery woman and your personal raspberry blower. I want all of it with you and only you, Mags.”

God, Maggie was a sobbing mess at this point.

“So, will you please let me put a ring on it? Marry me?”

Maggie couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled out of her throat. “Yes, baby, you can put a ring on it.”

Alex placed the beautiful ring on Maggie’s left ring finger before standing to thrust her hands in the air. “Yes! Take that, Yonce!” Cue silly dance move.  

Oh, how Maggie loved this dork.

[daebakinc]

EXO’rDIUM Newark Fan Account

For some reason, this time round, Prudential Center did not have its shit together. They had moved the show up to 7:30 weeks ago, so we assumed we’d all be in by 7:00 tops. Wrong. My new friends I made in line (YAY) and I didn’t get in until 7:30, by which time we were a drenched, bedraggled looking lot. One of my friends almost didn’t have her ticket work it got so wet. 

However, when EXO finally came on an hour late, it was like a flip switched. They made me forget I was hungry. That I was soaked through to my underwear and socks. That I was cold. EXO made me forget everything except how happy I was to see them.

I’ve got to hand it to the EXO-Ls there. We made sure they knew we were happy to see them. I’ve never heard fans sing along as much and as well as we did tonight. Well, I tried, but I was at a disadvantage since I primarily listen to the Chinese versions for practice lol.

The screaming and cheering started as soon as the lights dimmed, as if most of us hadn’t waited for hours in the rain. That said, this concert was also unique in another sense: EXO had so many more VCRs than I’ve seen. The opening VCR was the really cool mix of live footage and graphic novel style animated that introduced EXO with their powers as our protectors because we humans are dumb and keep hurting each other (there may have been a small commentary on American bombing during the Korean War but maybe that’s just me). The second was like a group date with EXO with Lay leading you between the members: you played darts with him, air hockey with Kai, an arcade game with Chanyeol, ate a snack&did a love shot with Sehun, watched a movie with Chen&Suho&Xiumin(who did aegyo!), watched Baekhyun make funny faces with a light stick, played a foosball game with Kai&Sehun, and then a dance party with all of EXO. The third had them all shrunken down and wearing those silly elf costumes with Chen, Suho, and Kai dancing around in a music room; Baekhyung and Xiumin working in a storage room with a very sleepy Kyungsoo who kept trying to nap; and Lay, Sehun, and Chen messing around in a sound room. So cute. The closing VCR was a kind of ending to the first. 

EXO were a little out of synch dance-wise for the first songs, but after that they pulled together. I’m guessing part of it is the smaller stage and missing Lay (It was so sad, during the dance break for Wolf there was clearly a spot he was supposed to be). They did a good mix of group choreography and songs where they’d be spread out and do small parts of the choreography.

After the first three songs, all remixes, the boys gave their greeting. Everyone but Kyungsoo, who waved, bowed. I’ll go into more detail about their greetings, because they were hilarious, in their individual sections. Half of them reminded us to be safe though. 

Through out the show, it was really awesome how much energy they all had, and how they interacted with each other as much as they did with us. There were tons of tiny interactions the whole time: Chen helping Suho when Suho dropped his cane during Playboy(THAT FREAKING PERFORMANCE!! OTL), Kyungsoo making Kai laugh when they were on the side of the stage together, Baekhyun and Sehun being distracted by a moving bunny toy someone tossed up at the end. It was a reminder that as much as they’re an idol group, EXO is also a group of very good friends. It gave the concert an intimate kind of feeling, if that makes sense. The fact that the boys were incredibly, and I mean extremely good, about rotating themselves so every side saw each of them for a good amount of time multiple times, also helped this.

They also did a few of their songs as acoustic versions and heaven help the souls of all of us there because it was some of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. Chanyeol played the guitar while the others sang, and Kyungsoo had hold out his mic so we could hear Chanyeol’s lines. Really though, I have video and y’all will see what I mean when I post it.

At some point, the staff gave them lightsticks to guide fans’ movements, and boy did they have fun dancing around directing us.

When they had to get changed, they took turns. Suho, Chen, and Kai were left on stage first and they told us about what they did in New York the day before. Chen saw Chicago, and wanted to give us the same feelings the musical gave him. Kyungsoo walked around and saw the play ‘Sleep No More,” which he suggested we go see but he was glad we were here instead of off seeing it. Silly. Kai went to Soho to buy shoes, then ate the third best pizza in the world, and bought medicine at CVS that he had trouble taking because the pills were big. Chen was adorable and kept repeating CVS because Kai was going on about how big the store was. Chen was also trying to amuse himself by trying to flip a bottle while Suho and Kyungsoo were talking. Kyungsoo also said he was tired because it was morning in Korea, prompting Chen and Suho to start yelling “Good morning” to us and making Kyungsoo laugh. Suho told us he walked around the city because he loves the movie “Birdman,” which again prompted Chen to be cute and pretend to fly, then sing “I Believe I Can Fly.”

While Chen and Suho were singing “I Believe I Can Fly,” Chanyeol came out and sung with them. It was so so pretty! Then Suho ruined it by asking “Was it a commercial?” to which Chen responded “Let’s move on,” and left lol. Xiumin pretended to kick them off. Chanyeol told us he went bowling, demonstrating by almost rolling his water off stage. When the others, Baekhyun was there too, asked him why do that when he can bowl in Korea and he said he just has bowling in his mind, but EXO-L in his heart. Cheeseball. Then, Baekhyun had to explain to us why they changed and this is where the little shit in him came out. He teased us for awhile asking if we were curious, then told us we had to help them sing the next song. He taught us the chant in Korean, then asked “When you’re dancing in the shower, don’t you naturally dance to the beat? I know I do.” He had such a smirk on his face. Dirty. He tried to get Xiumin to show us, but Xiumin said he doesnt’ really dance in the shower because it’s too slippery so he just showed us his upper body dance. Baekhyun then told us to not stop and bring out our secret dance. OTL

During the encore, the real one, people threw a lot of toys and such on stage. While it was fun to see the members play with them, I’ll also remind you guys to please not do this. There was so much confetti already on the stage and with the guys dancing, I was really scared they would fall and hurt themselves.

Now, on the members themselves.

Xiumin. My baby. I spent so much time watching him because he looked so healthy, and damn the man is gorgeous, and like he was having such a good time. I was so glad he was smiling so much. He reminded us to obey the rules for safety in his greeting and then did the EXO Showtime greeting. Got me right in the feels. He would do all these little dances in between songs or when they were just walking around, including some very unnecessary extra hip thrusts, and his singing and rapping was amazing. I was so proud when he got a mini dance solo during Transformer!! My boy needs more recognition for how good he is at pretty much everything. He also pointed a lot when he sang and got really into the music, and during Lucky he made a big heart with his arms. He walked around like that with this huge smile on his face. At the end, he tried playing soccer with some blow-up thing someone threw up with Kai, but gave up after it fell off stage. He blew a ton of kisses for us when they finally said goodbye.

Yes, Suho is an incredibly good-looking man(those tummy flashes we got during Wolf were no joke), but even more than that, he is such an adorable sweetheart. He tried to speak exclusively English for us through out, the dearheart, only reverting to Korean when he wanted to say something complicated. He also told us to be careful for our own safety and thanked us for waiting for them for a year. Once the concert started, he was all smiles and I do mean smiles. Unless the song was intense, that sweet smile was on his mouth. He also did a ton of little finger hearts and winks, enough to make any EXO-L swoon and spout gibberish. He accidentally called the tour “Exo’lucion” and got embarrassed, which is why he quickly moved on to the acoustic performances, which he called a “gift” for us. At the end, he thanked us for making the concert better than he’d thought and promised they’d be back after our collective groan of sadness they were leaving. He wanted to take a group picture with us after they said they goodbye, but  Kyungsoo convinced him to wait until after Angel.

Chanyeol was, for lack of better words, Chanyeol. Equal parts a giant child and serious musician. He took his ear piece out to hear us scream for him during his greeting and promised to make it a “crazy night.” While he had his game face on during his parts and the choreography, in between the kid was all smiles. It’d get especially big when he’d be at the edge of the crowd waving. It was interesting to see the difference in him when he had the normal guitar and the electric guitars. He was all soft sweetie during the acoustics, though he did show off a bit, and then hot af rocker with the electric guitar. For real, I didn’t anticipate how sexy he gets when he’s rocking out, which continued when he moved into the DJ box. Towards the end though, he reverted back to being a little kid. He played with the streamers and then stood in front of the confetti gun at the very end until Chen had to come collect him for the group pic. He also had a very fun time playing with two of those squishy, spikey yoyo toys, one of which Kyungsoo tried to play with too, and he crossed the entire stage to give Baekhyun a plushie.

Chen, the flirt. As with many of the others did in the beginning, he told us to be safe, but he also told us he could feel our love directly. He was constantly playing around when the songs didn’t demand seriousness. Whether this was with his members or us, it didn’t matter. He joked around a lot with the others, and I kept seeing them smiling or laughing when he was close to them. He’d also get this huge grin whenever he was waving at us, and doing a cute little hopping dance while going so, or trying to get people to move their lightsticks a certain way. The little sweetie also made a neat pile of the toys at the end so no one would trip. As much fun as he had, he didn’t fail to impress me with his vocals. He’s already one of my favorite voices in EXO, but the different riffs he pulled off flawlessly just had me in awe. That’s besides the fact that he is also, very handsome, and the way his neck muscles and veins look when he’s belting out his notes is just... wow.

Baekhyun. First of all, I know we all secretly envy this kid’s looks with eyeliner but damn. It’s even worse in person and by worse he looks ten times more gorgeous. He may not have been as extra dance wise like I’ve seen in videos, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t an extra tease. It started right from the get-go with his greeting where he told us this concert was for us to get closer and then go home. I already told you about the shower dancing, but goodness his tone and his smirk and the mischief in his eyes, what a little imp. Scamp Baek also came out during the group pic when Suho was telling everyone to do a cute pose and Baekhyun yelled out “No, sexy!!” All kidding aside, Baekhyun also really blew me away with his vocals. He was on key and hitting those notes and my ears were in heaven. That’s not to mention his dancing too, like the mini solo he had during Monster, which was so so good.

With Kyungsoo, even though he’s one of my top bias ruiners, I was in no way prepared. Honestly. When the camera panned to him my mind kind of blanked and then it went “His fucking face!” I feel bad for Xiumin, but my breath always caught when I saw Kyungsoo. Ok, moving on, lol. Handsomeness aside, he is such an adorable squish. So serious when it’s his line, but then a cute little smile always found its way onto his face as he looked out at the crowd. During his greeting, he asked if we were hungry and admitted he was too, bursting into laughter. He followed it up with “Ok, showtime!” Then during Lucky One he did the little head side bob thing with Chen all with a straight face. He also has a tendency to hold the mic with both hands when he does a power note that’s beyond cute for some reason. And he had so many perfect power notes he’d melt anyone who loves music’s heart.

Kai, I am convinced more than ever, is Johnny Castle in real life. There’s just something about his dancing/stage persona that just oozes sex. Whether it’s the smirk or the fluid power with which he moves, I don’t know. He’s pretty sexy on his own considering he had a bit of stubble showing and did little things like unbuttoning his shirt for Playboy. He even danced to Angel.Tonight was almost all Kai with little bits of Jongin. He did come out some, like when he did a little jump to be sure where the small ramp was or when he was playing with Kyungsoo and couldn’t stop laughing or when he played with a lightstick plushie and glasses or when he kept singing from backstage after their goodbye. As much as I love Kai’s dancing, those glimpses of Jongin just make him more endearing.

I’ll be honest: Sehun is the member I’ve always kind of glanced over. I don’t even know why and I feel really bad about it. I think part of it is that even though he’s an absolute puppy around the others, he’s very aloof on stage. I’ll admit, it does add to his cool guy sexiness. He is incredibly handsome, and I do mean like story book handsome. Especially in the VCRs. Seeing how good he’s gotten in his rapping and dancing, both of which were splendidly shown off during his rap/dance duet with Chanyeol, made me very proud as well. I think the best part of the night in relation to Sehun though was the small things that could easily have gone unnoticed. Like the little dances he did on the side when they were just walking around where he only moved his arms and lifted his feet. Or how he picked up a dog plushie, that looked like his dog, and carried it around for the entire encore like a real dog. The cool guy is actually a soft guy lol.

Even though Lay wasn’t there, I really hope EXO lets him know how much EXO-Ls screamed for him when he came on-screen during the VCRs. Seriously, that’s when we were at our loudest it seems.

Overall, this was a really, really fun concert. From start to beginning, EXO and all us EXO-Ls were having a blast and singing our hearts out. It also really meant a lot to me to finally see them, and to have their encore song be Angel. I don’t know if I’ve shared this on this blog, but when I lived in China, it was a really dark time for me and EXO helped get me through it, particularly EXO-M. At the time, I wanted to be a Chinese teacher, so I kept telling myself if EXO-M can live in foreign country and survive and flourish, I could too. I know EXO-M isn’t exactly what they were, but EXO as a whole stepped into their place in my heart and I love all of these boys so much for what they’ve given me (Angel is also my go to song when I’m having a panic attack to help calm myself down.) So to me, EXO is my Angel and tonight I got to give them a little love back.

[squipitme-blog]

The Walking Dead Is No Match for Its Eagle-eyed Fans

If you have a couple of hours and a few brain cells to kill, I highly recommend going spelunking in the deep well of online commentary on The Walking Dead. From fan fiction to nitpicking the set to challenging plausibility to porn, there’s quite literally everything to sate a curious (Walking) Dead-head.

There’s even one fan theory that is “an idea from a Batman theory mixed with Shutter Island.” It explains that, ultimately, Rick is actually in a mental hospital, with Laurie, Michonne and Andrea as nurses, the Governor and Negan as doctors, Shane as the general practitioner who committed Rick for kidnapping two children, Judith and Carl, and the whole rest of the cast rotating as fellow patients. Why a fan theory would ignore the entire concept of the apocalypse that’s garnered the show cult status is a mystery. Also, forget Batman — that happened in Season 6, Episode 17 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Regardless, here’s a cherry-picked selection from the World Wide Web of geeking out on The Walking Dead. Enjoy at your own risk of never watching the show the same way again.

Let’s talk about the blood

OK, this one is something that has personally bothered me, and I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to bitch about it. So, there was an iconic moment in Season 1 — perhaps one of the moments that solidified the show’s status as serious as fuq — when Glenn and Rick throw on some tarps and slather themselves in zombie goo, hands and organs so that they can walk among the dead undetected. Luckily, they pull off their smelly scheme in a nerve-wracking scene, and a new defense tactic in the Walking Dead universe was born.

So, it makes sense that in the very successful spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead (which centers on a different group in California at the start of the outbreak but operates within the same confines of TWD), they use the same strategy to walk among the dead. What bothers me is that they go from rubbing on a pretty disturbing amount of blood and guts to just a couple of hand smears on a shirt. This seems to be because the character always trying to go on a zombie jog in FTWD is pretty boy Nick, and it makes sense that the showrunners don’t want his adventurous ass always looking like Swamp Thing. But it just takes you out of it, in my opinion, that we’ve gone from Rick and Glenn wearing the the contents of two adult humans to Nick just sporting a little zombie blush.

Can zombies stop and smell the roses?

Which leads us to the next point fans pointed out online: What’s this nonsense about the walkers somehow being able to smell? We’ve seen all manner of deformed, decaying walkers, from solitary heads still gnawing on the ground to zombies missing parts of their faces, like the pet zombies Michonne kept as protection when we first met her in Season 3. The zombies are not supposed to be sentient, and they clearly don’t have any feeling, so why is their sense of smell so keen that they can sniff out their prey, differentiating between live humans and fellow zombies by scent?

This also helpfully leads us to another great crowd-sourced point: The zombies have gotten dumber as we’ve gone on. This could have a legitimate explanation, which is that at this point, the remaining zombies have been rotting for a long time, making them slower and dumber. But it’s still worth noting that in the first episode, the little zombie girl that Rick sees not only picks up her dropped teddy bear — suggesting far more motor skills and a kind of consciousness that we don’t get from present day TWD zombies (or even FTWD zombies, for that matter) — but also starts to run at Rick, which is a far cry from the post-drug-and-alcohol bender kind of stumble we see the zombies do now.

Fans also pointed out that throughout the gang’s time in Atlanta, zombies could throw things to break glass and climb fences. A possible explanation is that the producers didn’t have a complete idea of how every aspect of the show would operate yet, which plenty of shows do (for example, Carrie talks to the camera in Season 1 of Sex and the City but she stops doing it by midseason, showing that they quickly realized this was silly AF). It probably became clear that Rick et al. would have had a rough time surviving this long against those wily Season 1 zombies.

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Let’s get nitpicky

My favorite kinds of TWD fan comments comb the show for aesthetic deviations from the narrative. For example, people were really pissed that the prison lawn was mowed in Season 3.

Honestly, this one is fair. When our ragtag gang stumbled onto the prison, it had been months since the walkers took over the world, and everyone is just trying to find a turtle to cook or a gun to shoot. They’re definitely not finding the time or gas to hop on a John Deere for a joyride. Internet sleuths actually found out that the show pays its location’s owners to go without lawn upkeep for three weeks prior to shooting. Clearly, someone dropped the ball on this one.

More: Bring It, Negan! The Walking Dead May Have Just Revealed Its Secret Weapon

The Herbie the Love Bug of TWD

I also can’t help but giggle at the magic Hyundai Tucson fans noticed in Season 2 (which some fans and critics started referencing as a character). The vehicle model was from 2012, but in the show’s timeline, it’s supposed to be 2010. This is clearly an ad placement that was a production oversight — or maybe the showrunners were severely underestimating their fans back in Season 2.

What about this most recent season?

Boy, have fans stayed the course in their obsessive hunt for mistakes and plot holes. Since the 2017 premiere of the second half of Season 7, fans have already pointed out two huge errors that can’t be unseen.

In “Rock in the Road,” as Rick and his Alexandria angels dejectedly exit the Hilltop’s mansion only to be met by Hilltop residents wanting to join their fight, the camera pans over our heroes standing on what is supposed to be a southern plantation’s porch, with the front door wide open. The careful eye will notice that the mansion is no Georgia gem after all — there’s a paper mural faking an interior.

http://i.imgur.com/JY8Fkzs.mp4

But worse of all, in the very next episode, “New Best Friends,” fans spotted a plane in the background as Rick stares out from a trash mountain over the world’s wasteland — clearly, no place that planes are flying around anymore.

The paper background is kind of funny, but the plane is kind of sad because it could have easily been edited out. But who knows — maybe the showrunners were actually hinting at a new crew of NASA engineers who survived and are going to save the day in Season 8 by sending everyone up to Mars! Maybe every plot hole and misstep is leading up to some grand plot twist we can’t even imagine! I’m just waiting for someone to explain whether or not Dwight/Negan’s wife’s name is Sherry or Honey, because they use both.

Also, props to Eugene for this epic gag in last Sunday’s episode. He’s chomping on a pickle while he apologizes to Dwight for biting his crotch last season. Well played, D, well played.

Source : sheknows

https://squipitme.com/2017/04/10/walking-dead-no-match-eagle-eyed-fans/