#thank you for nothing nura

[gentrychild]

Anyone : most to least would fall in love with an absolut moron

Nura, what the hell? All of them are morosexual and the moron at the same time? Except maybe All for One and Inko who are just disaster-sexual.

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Izuku: "I want a quirk so I am going to make an enemy out of the freaking Symbol of Peace just to test a completely insane theory."

Shouto: Can't believe I am going to have to marry you. Summer wedding or winter wedding, though? Winter sounds cozier...

Izuku: "No idea of why this supervillain is cooking me breakfast every morning."

Shouto: Can I get married to him without introducing him to my father? Yay, probably. Now, where will we live? A nice place, with plenty of space but close enough from my hero agency...

Izuku: "Cranes are a perfect mediation tool."

Shouto: *sighs and takes off his shirt*

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Shouto: "I refuse to use half of my quirk because I have daddy issues."

Izuku: You absolute moron. You fool. I want to kiss you. I want to throw my 72-slides-powerpoint titled "Appreciate your goddamn quirk" at you.

Shouto: "Midoriya runs into danger without me? Midoriya doesn't want me to risk grievous injuries or to be caught by the commission? Betrayal! Oh, passive aggressive comments for Midoriya! Passive aggressive comments for one thousand years!"

Izuku: "... Ah, so this is what it feels like to have a soulmate."

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Dabi: "I mean, what's the worst that can happen if I throw bleach on my hair for a dramatic reveal while I am slightly on fire?"

Hawks: T_T

Hawks: Can't believe I have to honey trap you now. For my cover. As a mole.

Commission: "You really don't have to."

Hawks: "I DON'T HAVE A CHOICE."

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Hawks: "Anyone is a mastermind who knows what he is doing and definitely not a teenage personification of chaos."

Dabi: Be strong, Todoroki Touya.

Hawks: "Can you give me a glass of... What's the name again? Wet ice or something. I'm parched."

Dabi: *burns out of his shirt*

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Aizawa: "Living only on juice pouches sounds like the perfect dietetic choice."

Kurogiri, taking his shirt off: "You fucking moron. I want to shake you by the shoulders until you start acting like a reasonable human being. I also want to kiss you."

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I was going to say that Nagisa was the exception since I can't see her falling in love but...

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Inko: *discovers that the coffee machine at work is broken*

Everyone: *runs for the hills*

AFO, sighing: "Why do I find that so endearing?"

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AFO: *does anything, really*

Inko: Ah, so many red flags that en entire flag factory wouldn't be enough to make them. I like that in a man.

[doujin-and-drop]

Gyaku Shaun Sai Hanri / Ace Arftorney ENGLISH PATCH (VER. 1.0)

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS VERSION 1.0. THE EXTRA BONUS CASE HAS NOT BEEN TRANSLATED YET. THIS POST WILL BE UPDATED WITH A VERSION 2.0 DOWNLOAD ONCE THE BONUS CASE HAS BEEN TRANSLATED.

Thank you all who have waited patiently for me to translate this game! It was a lot of fun. Please support Cheshire, who now goes by Oota Manta, for creating this game! (here is his pixiv - MAJOR R-18 WARNING)

For this game to run properly, you MUST either set your computer's locale to Japanese or use a locale emulator.

EDIT: SPRITE PAGE.

DOWNLOAD LINK (INTERNET ARCHIVE)

Below are some translation notes (spoiler warning)

This was my first ever major translation project. Since it spanned the time of almost two years, the quality of the translations may increase as you play through the game. Nonetheless I have gone back and redone a lot of the earlier dialogue with the help of a friend to make it sound more natural in English. If you find any errors or typos, you may leave an ask and I will correct it in a patch update.

In order to keep the spirit of an actual Ace Attorney game, several things were changed. Most notably, the characters names.

Names:

稲刈たんぼ (Inekari Tanbo) is Phoenix Wruff. People familiar with the Japanese Ace Attorney names may recognize that this name is nowhere near Naruhodou Ryuuichi. That's simply because this character, as with Edgewurrth, were not actually named after the main characters of the original series. I decided to change this given their clear homage. Inekari Tanbo literally means "harvesting (a) rice paddy".

条框蓮司(レンジ) (Jyoukamachi Renji) is Miles Edgewurrth. To be honest, I don't think there is a pun in his name. At the very least, I had trouble thinking of what it could be. If somebody knows, let me know. The most I can figure is the first kanji in his name can mean "streak", and according to Cheshire, Edgewurrth was supposed to get the white streak of hair, not Abe, but he didn't like how it looked on the former.

萬舞 (Man Mau) is Krystal "Kris" Balle. Her name means "10,000 dances", hence her English name.

濡沼 ウキモ (Nuranuma Ukimo) is Ashley Goodhead. Ukimo doesn't seem to have much significance as a word, although it could be related to 浮き which means to float, as in like, floating in water. I say this because the other parts of Ukimo's name, 濡(Nura)沼(Numa) refer to being wet and to swamps.

If this is true, why the name choice? Well, it's very complicated...

濡 Means a little more than just being wet. It also can mean being wet in the sexual sense. There's also the word 濡れ衣 (Nuraginu) which means to be falsely accused of a crime (literally and archaically "wet clothes"). Both these I would say fit Ukimo, not only because of her story position of being falsely accused, but also, well... just look at her design. It would be naive to claim there's nothing sexual about it.

沼 has some connotations among gaming, interestingly. It can mean being addicted to something (that something being a piece of media, typically) or being "swamped" in a game, i.e being stuck and unable to progress.

Now, this meaning of the word has only come into play somewhat recently. Like, 2015-ish. Which makes it sort of inapplicable, since Gyaku San was created around 2003.

A different slang use of 沼 that was used around this time was 池沼 which means, basically, the r slur... in a way? It's used to make fun of "weird" or "cringe" behavior, typically present in those with mental disability. It's a homophone of 知障, which does mean "mental disability​".

With all this in mind, I had a very hard time piecing together a name for Ukimo that would feel at home in Ace Attorney. Especially because I don't know the full extent of what Cheshire had in mind when naming her.

Ashley was chosen given that, to me, it is a very "popular teenage girl" name. "Ash" would also make her closely related to "Phoenix". (Get it? LOL). I almost debated on making any use of ウキモちゃん (Ukimo-chan) be "Ash", but decided it would be kind of weird...

Goodhead was chosen for several reasons. It, of course, is a clear sexual pun, but it is also a reference to James Bond, something I feel could encapsulate some of the slang meanings of 沼 (media obsession) while serving to imitate Ace Attorney's love of pop culture references. "Goodhead" could also be taken literally, as in meaning she has a good head on her shoulders, which would refer to her being innocent; the "false accusation" meaning in her name.

It was the best I could do. Orz.

阿部伊���郎 (Abe Ichirou) is Abe Founder. He kept the first part, although his last name became his first name, and his original first name means "The one wise son". However, without the kanji, "ichirou" can mean to fail your college entrance exam. Considering that he lies about going to a prestigious college when he actually went to a average one reminded me of this, so his last name was chosen to hold similar meaning. "Founder", as a noun, can mean someone who establishes something, and typically this is used with positive connotation. However, as a verb, it can mean "failure", which I think is apt and captures this stark contrast meaning.

Many things in the game were changed to better be understood by a Western audience, such as obscure Japanese pop culture references and suchlike. The backwards poster bit was the hardest, but I managed to pull it off. In short, Ashley's - or Ukimo's - poster originally was a reference to an old Japanese song (likely) that had さんさん(san san) written. When read from the back, さ looks like ち(chi). The "look dood" poster said 犬さんぽ in the original, which means "dog stroll". But when read from the back, it looks like 犬ちんぽ which means "dog penis". I did my best with this, haha.

[jalebi-weds-bluetooth]

hey there! my name is nura from canada and im very happy to have come across your blog! i used to casually watch ipkknd with my mom when it first aired more than 10 yrs ago but i didn't remember anything besides the leads so now im watching it all over again and im HOOKED. im glad that there is a fandom for the show, i would've hated feeling so alone in my love for this show.

i was going thru your posts and i noticed in one recent ask you had answered smth along the lines of the general disinterest of the cast for the show and i think their unwillingness to do anything more with the show. can you pls elaborate a little on this as i have no idea what this show was like behind the scenes. i apologize in advance in case i am misinterpreting your answer!

thank you and i can't wait to dive deeper into your blog and possibly bug you even more as i continue my rewatch 💙💙

- nura

Hello fellow Canadian :)

I am so glad you're enjoying watching IPKKND!!! Fandom makes things memorable for everyone :) I've met some of my closest friends due to this show and it's so exciting to chat up about everything you liked about it!!!

Oh don't worry, the cast is actually the best friends off screen. Barun (Arnav), Sanaya (Khushi) and I think Akshay (Akash) even live in the same building! And they all (which includes Daljeet [Anjali], Abhaas [Shyam] and the writer Gautam) often keep hanging out with each other and going on trips together!

The show was also amazing off screen, you'd roll off your bed laughing at their chaotic behind the screen interviews.

Interviewer asks about why Khushi wants to leave post Arnav telling her she's the biggest mistake of his life scene:

Sanaya: Oh nothing, you see my husband has some gas issues.

Barun (yawning and laughing): Haan I have gas.

Sanaya: Exactly, so I need to take a break from this.

LOL.

But yeah Barun himself quit the show (thank God) because he (accurately) didn't see where the show was going and why he needed to be a part of it. Also the cast in general, especially the leads aren't invested in simply seeing IPK again on screen. Which, understandable. A lot of writing and effort went into making IPK in the first place - to simply see it again as a cash grab (which they did with Ek Jashn) doesn't seem like reason enough. Also Sanaya and Barun have made it very very clear that they really aren't into daily soaps and would much prefer to be in limited series and they're both beyond what IPK is.

Barun has consciously chosen characters that are non romantic in nature to shed off the 'romance' projects. Which is a bit of a shame because few people sell romance the way he does! Sanaya is chilling. Lol she always is.

It's nothing bad, it's just that naturally they're probably not as attached to the show as much as the fans are because tbh, how famous or a classic IPK is was understood some time after the show ended as opposed to when it ran.

It's not like they don't like the show - of course they do granted that it put a few of them on the map, it was a different show and they found great friends out of it - but there actually doesn't seem to be any active engagement regarding the show.

Some examples of when you can see the cast being devoted to their shows like their fans would include the cast of Sarabhai V/S Sarabhai (there was a cute insta reel a few months ago of all of them singing the title song of the show) or Arjun Bijlani from Miley Jab Hum Tum - dude genuinely loves his show so much that when he's clean shaven he posts on Insta that it's #Mayank (which was his character's name).

And it's not a bad thing, it's just that the actors aren't invested in the show they did ten years ago - which happens. In several interviews Barun has little comments on Arnav, he has more of a critical analysis why IPK was different and the writing of the show (he's more inclined to writing in general). And Sanaya also has very little to say about Khushi apart from it being similar to her so she had fun playing it. I think in the recent most interviews where they had questions regarding 'what would their character do' currently or were asked to behave like their characters - they were both a little lost on what to do and had nothing apart from a few funny comments.

Which, again, isn't a bad thing at all.

In fact it probably tells what a big role the writer and director play in fleshing out these characters! Gautam Hegde (the writer) still waxes some of the most beautiful lines about IPKKND.

And if anything the Rewind showed that Barun gets ASR only if there's a purpose to it. And Sanaya can switch into Khushi when she's performing somewhere.

It can feel a bit bittersweet for a fan because a show means so much for a viewing experience. So I won't say that the cast is 'unwilling' - I'd say they're reluctant.

And that's different.

I don't think Barun and Sanaya would ever reprise Arnav and Khushi beyond an hour of shooting if there wasn't anything meaningful to it.

So keeping all this in mind I'm very happy not seeing IPK on screen because current Indian television landscape is terrible and if there's no actual purpose to bringing IPK on screen then what?

It'll just be a Season 3 of Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Rise Bhi or Season 2 of Pratigya!

And canonically Arnav and Khushi got their happily ever after and I'd love it to remain that way.

Lol this was a long answer!!!

Much love Nura,

Jalebi

[ireallylikejonouchi]

𝙽𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚑𝚢𝚘𝚗 𝚗𝚘 𝙼𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠

Written and drawn by Shiibashi Hiroshi, Nurarihyon no Mago is a manga series that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump with 210 chapters, 25 volumes. It’s about a Japan that has a massive Yokai underbelly, consisting mostly of yokai yakuza clans that run certain parts of Japan. The protagonist, Rikuo Nura, is the third heir of the Nura clan, kingpin of Kanto. His grandfather is the legendary Lord of Pandemonium, the yokai Nurarihyon, but Rikuo is only a quarter yokai, having a half-human father and a full human mother. As a child, Rikuo thinks yokai are the coolest thing, but his classmates mock him for this, not believing that they exist, and finding it even weirder that someone could admire them. Rikuo is told that it is his destiny to take on this role, and that he cannot live a human life. Hearing stories about evil yokai who enjoy making humans despair, Rikuo decides that yokai are terrible and he wants nothing to do with them. When Rikuo’s classmates are attacked by some rebellious yokai from the Nura clan, who are unhappy about their new leader being a quarter-human child, Rikuo awakens to his yokai blood and transforms in order to defeat them. He decides here that he will become the third heir in order to subdue yokai that would bring terror to humans with his “Fear,” the power system of the series.

With the synopsis out of the way, from this point on there will be spoilers. Be wary. I’ll try my best to spoil only what’s necessary in order to get my point across.

The beginning of this manga takes its time setting up character dynamics with short story arcs, as well as establishing what the yokai of the world are truly like with various examples of opinionated yokai antagonists. Some consider it boring, and I can understand why, but I think it pays off very well. The characters are incredibly likeable and fun. Even the ones that don’t have very much development are still a joy to see on the page when they show up. Rikuo himself is simultaneously a complicated character and a very easy character to follow. The first chapter takes place a couple of years before the second one, and his childish judgement to go from worshiping yokai to hating them is intentionally so. The story is about his growth. Rikuo is told that he must take on this role, he denies, but eventually accepts under his own terms, and for his own reasons. This ultimately sets up what his character arc will end up becoming, as one of his final conflicts at the end of the story sees him battling against another half-yokai, Abe no Yoshihira, who believes it is his duty to follow his evil father’s plan because of his "cursed” mixed blood. Rikuo doesn’t simply reject this title, but he also doesn’t accept out of obligation. He accepts this as an opportunity to bring about change. The change he wants slowly evolves from protecting humans to bridging the social gap between human and yokai so that they may find peace together. Fate shouldn’t be fought against or ignored, but you must make whatever you can out of it. Rikuo feels that connecting human and yokai is something only he can do as a half-yokai, so he feels a responsibility to carry this out, yet it is also what he truly believes in and wants. He is a leader because he was graced with the opportunity to bring about a better world. Your fate is only what you perceive it as. The final villain Abe no Seimei believes that human and yokai are fated to be at odds forever, and that influences his evil plan to purify the world. Both are believers of fate to some extent, the message isn’t something as simple as “defy fate” or “there is no fate,” which I appreciate. This manga is very good about exploring all facets of the themes it presents, which I will give more examples of shortly.

The power system is an interesting one. To quote the wiki, “ Osore (畏, Fear) is the term that denotes the unique skills and traits of each yōkai. It refers to the "fear" of the unknown, an emotional reaction produced when the yōkai represent themselves as "monsters". As yōkai first existed as creatures who induce fear in humankind, the general concept of "fear" revolves around being feared and respected by humans and making them feel small and weak. It involves exerting a wall of pressure to make one's presence feel larger than the actuality. When done correctly, this also creates a change in the mood and surrounding air - as seen whenever a dense fog appears when a Hyakki Yakō gathers in the series. Itaku states that Osore only applies to scaring humans.“ Fear is an inherently negative word, especially when associated with demons. However, Rikuo is proud of his fear, despite scolding yokai who scare humans. Fear in this manga is not quite so black and white. Rikuo’s form of fear is reverence, admiration. He considers this to be a form of fear, and he is indeed proud of the awe he is able to inspire within his followers as well as his enemies. Rikuo is able to use a power that comes only thanks to his human side, letting a yokai haunt his humanity while keeping control with his yokai half, performing Equip and gaining that yokai’s powers, but only if they entrust themselves to him. It is the ultimate representation of the Fear that Rikuo believes in. For the core power system of the series to have such a double meaning about it speaks to the coming complexities, and it is incredibly fitting for this story, as I hope to convey.

Fate, lineage and connection to history are the main themes of this manga. Many of the characters in the story are tied to tradition before it starts, and have to be brought out of that by Rikuo and his progressive mindset. One’s blood is used to portray this theme in an interesting way. Rikuo’s father, Rihan, describes him as a symbol of hope for the future. Rihan longed for a world where human and yokai could get along, yet he came into constant conflict with both evil yokai and evil humans, as his son Rikuo would soon come to do as well. Rikuo loved his father, and carries on his dreams. However, similar to his “fate” of leading the clan, his respect for his ancestors is well-informed by his individual beliefs, and not from any kind of feeling that he MUST do what his ancestors wished. Abe no Yoshihira failed here, becoming a slave to his perceived fate. Hagoromo-gitsune, the main antagonist of the Kyoto arc as well as Abe no Seimei’s mother, was tied to her blood relations as well. She did everything for her son, who was soon to be reborn again into this age. She had her own image of an ideal world, erasing humans and making a world full of yokai, but she didn’t consider her child’s ideals, which she could have presumed from Seimei’s suffering he received when both human and yokai betrayed him. Seimei is born and casts Hagoromo-gitsune into hell, declaring that he will purify all life from the world, as neither human nor yokai can be trusted. Abe no Seimei is the agent of fate, declaring that all living things on Earth have doomed themselves to a fate of death thanks to their own horrible and greedy nature. Abe no Seimei is a half-yokai himself and he has found solace from neither of those sides. Rikuo, however, does not give up. He equips himself with the true fear of this reality that places him in-between two worlds, unable to fully enjoy life as a human or a yokai, refusing to resign himself as Seimei did, and instead fighting against the fate Seimei enforces by bringing together humans and yokai, including Hagoromo-gitsune, in order to seal the final blow against him.

You may be wondering what it means that Rikuo was able to finish off Seimei by fusing with his mother. Well, you see, Hagoromo-gitsune is sort of, in a way, Rikuo’s mother as well. You see, before Rihan had a child with Rikuo’s mother, he was married to another woman, Yamabuki-otome. For context, Abe no Seimei is a man who reincarnates throughout generations, as does his mother, Hagoromo-gitsune. Some time after Yamabuki-otome’s death, Seimei used her to take revenge on Rihan for disrupting his plans, by reviving her as a child and turning her into the host of the yokai Hagoromo-gitsune, sending her with false memories and subliminal orders to kill the man she loved when she was alive. Once she had killed Rihan, her human self hid itself away in despair and Hagoromo-gitsune was able to take control of her body for good. In modern times, after being cast into hell by Abe no Seimei, she is revived by Nurarihyon in anticipation for the final battle. After encountering Rikuo and his burning feelings in Kyoto, she had regained her human memories before being struck down by Seimei. Upon her most recent revival, she found she had feelings for both Rikuo and Seimei, and considers both to be her children. She regrets that her feelings for Seimei had ended up being met with treachery, and she goes to confront him. When she hears his full plan, she decides to do kill him herself, though she fails. She feels it her duty as a mother to make up for not understanding his suffering earlier, as it’s now too late to reason with him. Hagoromo-gitsune’s progression comes from her ability to find love for her yokai followers, considering them to be her children all the same as Rikuo and Seimei, and learns that she should have seen this love all along rather than being blinded by her obsessions with her blood son. Once again, she values her children and the blood she shares with them, but she is only able to find happiness when she realizes that the feelings she has for them don’t have to be restricted to only them simply because they are her kin, and similarly she does not need to follow Seimei’s plan just because she thinks it’s what a mother “should” do. Fusing with Rikuo is the culmination of this. While Rikuo is technically her kin, as Seimei is, we see through her arc that she has matured and learned to spread her love. So even though without context it would seem that she simply went from one child to the other, we can see the complexities of this and see how it relates to Rikuo’s arc, accepting something not out of obligation, but from your own will. 

By coming to a true understanding with the woman that Abe no Seimei had discarded, his mother, and her doing the same, an act that seemingly defies their fates (Rikuo’s fate to be a cold yokai ruler and Hagoromo’s fate to be a slave to her child’s whims), they’re able to defeat him and sever fate itself.

The Hundred Stories Clan Arc is one that I really appreciate for showing me how truly interesting Rikuo was as a character. I hadn’t realized it up to that point, and it’s clear why. His characterization and progression is subtle. The text doesn’t tell you how Rikuo grows, the art and his actions do. When humanity told of Rikuo’s half-yokai status is convinced that he must be killed for the safety of Japan, Rikuo is forced to face the fact that the humans he wants to protect are not perfect, and have as many imperfections as yokai do. Humans can be greedy, they can do horrible things when they’re afraid. In a backstory, the leader of the Hundred Stories Clan is shown to be a despicable human from Japanese history named Sanmoto Gorozaemon, who takes control of yokai to secure his political and social power, and turns himself into a yokai in order to secure that power. When a member of his clan is assaulted by humans who don’t care about the harm they’re causing, some of them even reveling in it, through facial expressions we can see him struggling with the thought of killing these humans to end the conflict, or out of revenge possibly. Shiibashi leaves this to the reader’s interpretation and it works wonders, he has no internal monologue relating to this feeling and nobody points out that he seems crazed or anything. It’s some panels that you could easily miss if you’re reading too fast.

In this panel, we are shown his reaction to a female yokai appearing and tormenting the humans that were tormenting him and his clanmate just moments ago. Even when he showed such rage at the humans, seemingly almost snapping, he decides he needs to stop the yokai from killing them. However, the expression on his face conveys perfectly how complex his emotions are over this. Despite how confidently he’s saying he needs to save them, his face almost looks like he doesn’t want to. Of course, he overcomes this and saves them for the sake of his dream.

It’s clear to see the moral dilemma he’s going through and it’s conveyed entirely through art and subtext. This is confident storytelling, and not to mention incredible artistry. Shiibashi has a certain maturity and respect for the reader that is hard to find in Shonen Jump manga sometimes.

Rikuo’s fight against the yokai artist Kyosai in this arc is notable for being similar to what I just described from the beginning of the arc.

Kyosai has an interest in turning human women into yokai using his painting techniques, including one of Rikuo’s classmates. Enraged, Rikuo engages him in combat with his newly acquired Attack Mode, which switches his Fear from a defensive technique to an offensive one, and changes his hair from white with black underneath it to having half of his hair being black on one side and the other being white. As the fight progresses, Rikuo is continuously injured and decomposed by Kyosai’s abilities, burning his flesh and scarring Rikuo black.

Rikuo’s deteriorating mental state during this arc is conveyed visually through his design, with both the way he is inked as well as his literally evolving design, his new transformation. He’s never had to confront these kinds of humans and yokai before. This leveling of suffering is new to our middle school-aged protagonist. After Kyosai is defeated, his momentary rage subsides but he is still scarred, physically and mentally. Encho, the acting leader of the Hundred Stories Clan, betrays Sanmoto’s reincarnated brain for personal gain, confusing Rikuo who is already in a fragile mental state. He struggles to comprehend the enemy, as he had been forced to face humans that he wanted to protect, yokai that despised those humans, and even his own best friends. Once again, exclusively visually conveyed and up to interpretation.

At the end of this arc, he accepts the help of his friends, his aide Yuki-Onna, and equips with her, washing himself of the stress he’s in and covering him in a beautiful veil of ice. His design goes back to normal in order to show this, and get across just how much his friends mean to him, in a truly impactful way that really strengthens the theme by giving real weight to his connection with both his yokai and human lives.

Every arc is strong in its own way, I simply wanted to discuss the few that best show what I’m trying to say. I hope you now understand why I love this manga so much and why I think you should read it. I promise the things I’ve spoiled here are only a fragment of the whole experience, and your appreciation will only grow as you experience the full context by reading the manga. If I got across what I wanted to, then you understand that this manga cannot be explained as much as it can be experienced. There are probably more things that I never noticed, maybe you’ll discover those before I do.

This manga is an ode to the future, to humanity. We can overcome our differences and coexist. Perhaps all it takes is for one person to take the fear that we as people feel in our daily lives onto themselves. The fear that there can never be change, the fear that our road only ends in sadness. The fear that our history defines us. The fear that we must conform to our duty. The fear that accepting a duty strips us of individuality. The fear that we can never bring these conflicting aspects of our mind together and find inner peace. The fear that we can never bring the conflicting aspects of people together and find true peace amongst ourselves. Not many people can overcome that fear, but he who is truly strong is he who equips that fear. He who takes that uncertainty of the future and uses it to empower himself and push for that change he wishes to see. This review is my ode to the man who was able to understand what makes people who they are and didn’t let that fear consume him. The man who equips true fear. Thank you for reading.

[pocketramblr]

Thank you very much! Also I should really go to sleep it's 2 am and I have a doctor's appointment at 9 and work at 12 (although if my doc says I am in fact having a lung infection I ain't doing nothing ill get a sick leave note and tell my boss to suck it and go back to bed I do not care that we are so massively understaffed that we have to get workers from other branches)

Nura I am forcefully tucking a blanket up to you chin and slamming a glass of water on the beside table and telling you firmly to "go to sleep" before I close the door just a bit louder than necessary

[cakesunflower]

Know Me [C.H. One Shot]

A/N: Hellloooooooo! Here is the awaited Trust Fund Cal!AU. As always, I did not expect for this to get so long. 29,893 words to be exact. I kind of hate myself for it but, like, whatever. Grab a snack (or a whole meal idk) while you read!

P.S.: Nura’s name is pronounced Noo-rah. P.P.S.: For those of you who don’t know, “beta” is Urdu for “child.”

Happy reading babies!!

People were predictable. That was one of the first things Nura Ansari learned when she first started working at the Little Palm Island Resort and Spa when she was sixteen. Nearly six years on the job and she’d developed the skill of reading people; just one sweep of her gaze and knowing exactly the kind they would be. The resort was a luxurious one, its patrons that of high celebrity rank or families with loads of money to throw around that wouldn’t make a dent in their bank account once it was gone. She could pick apart the parents who didn’t care what their kids got up to, the younger crowd with the sponsors booking them the finest room the resort had to offer to show it off on their social media garnering millions of followers, those who legitimately wanted to enjoy a family vacation, and everyone else in between. Different people, all ultimately the same beyond the surface.

But despite the exasperation she often felt with most of her encounters, Nura had learned to become patient, as well. Had perfected a smile fake enough that it seemed real—or maybe she was only given that illusion, seeing many of the patrons were blind to everything but their good time—and had become capable of accommodating the most difficult of customers. She started off as a lifeguard before moving onto waitressing and bartending, a job she came back to every summer since she turned sixteen. Hopefully, this was her last.

“Look alive, Nura.” She straightened her back immediately at the sound of Patrick, her co-worker’s voice, exiting out of Tumblr that had been opened up on her browser. This morning she was covering Elaine’s shift at the front desk, and would be off by two and would have the day to herself until her waitressing shift from seven to midnight started. 

Sticking the orange flavored gum to her mouth, Nura drew her attention to the guests approaching them, sharp eyes taking in the group of four guys and three girls. They rolled in with the breeze that engaged the plants by the door in a dance, the scent of sea salt one Nura’s nose had become numb to over the years. The early afternoon sun was high in the summer sky, the glass walls of the lobby allowing for the bright sun rays to bathe the room, the wooden and glass furniture glimmering amidst it. If she listened closely enough, Nura would be able to hear the swishing of palm trees right outside, or the relatively distant waves of the ocean. No matter how many years of this job Nura had under her belt, those were sounds she would never grow tired of hearing. Ironic, given that she’s trying to get out. Not just the island, but Florida as a whole.

The group of seven were giddy, chattering amongst themselves as the sounds of their voices carried throughout the open lobby, taking advantage of the welcome cocktails Amber was offering them by the door. The girls were carrying their totes and guys were each wearing backpacks, and Nura caught sight of Mattie and Rob, the two bellhops, each rolling in with a cart full of luggage. Nura’s eyes shifted back to the group approaching the front desk, taking them in in all the glory of their glowing skin and shining hair and bright smiles. She couldn’t forget the designer clothes that, not for the first time, made her feel inadequate in her uniform of the resort’s signature baby blue button down tucked into a black pencil skirt that stopped above her knees. 

Nura swallowed down that unwanted thought that was good for nothing but putting herself down. Comparing her appearance to that of others was something she’d put an end to years ago; she had to, in order to work this job. So she put on her smile, gaze shifting to the guy in front of the group, whose head was ducked as he used his free hand to dig out his wallet, the glass already half empty in his other hand. “Good afternoon, welcome to Little Palm Island Resort and Spa,” she began, the rehearsed speech rolling off her tongue effortlessly despite manning the front desk not being her priority. “I’m Nura, can I—”

“Yeah, can you get us checked in quickly, please? Four Island Grand Suites, all under the name Calum Hood.”

She instantly clamped her mouth shut just as the glass clinked on top of the counter which it was rested on, the familiar vein of irritation being picked at when the dark haired man in front of her dropped his I.D., credit card, and phone with the reservation confirmation pulled up in his e-mail. Nura’s gaze dropped to the items in front of her, a silent breath inhaled through her nose before she lifted her gaze, brown eyes meeting unapologetic brown.

Patrick was standing right next to her—she wished they’d gone to him instead.

Willing for her smile to remain on her face, Nura pulled the items towards her, hating that she allowed herself to take in the man before him. Tattoos inked around his skin, shown off by the short sleeved black Guess shirt that hugged his torso tightly, tucked into a pair of jeans Nura knew only someone who was accommodated to hot weather could wear in their spot of Florida. She looked down at the picture on his license—a California license, which made sense to his comfort in clothing choice—before glancing up to back at his face.

He wasn’t even looking at her, instead showing off the sharp line of his jaw as he listened to whatever the tall blonde guy was saying to his right. Even so, Nura picked up on the spark of amusement in his dark eyes, framed by long lashes, despite the absence of a smile from his plump lips. She itched to reach for her iced tea sitting under the table to flush out the thought of how handsome he was in the softness of his face and the contradictory sharpness of his features. Inviting and unforgettable. 

Nura turned her attention to the computer, pulling up his reservation order with a few clicks of the mouse. “Sorry about him.” She looked up to see one of the other guys, black hair contrasting starkly against hazel eyes, stepping up with a dimpled grin on his face and an arm draping around the first guy—Calum’s—shoulders. With a hand coming up to pat at Calum’s chest, who in turn shot a mildly irritable look towards his friend, the guy added lightly, “Apparently he didn’t nap enough on the near five hour flight.”

She didn’t miss the way Calum’s eyebrows lowered, wondering if it was for the truth behind his friend’s words or the fact that someone else was accounting for the snappy first impression he’d made. Calum’s eyes swept over to her, and she caught the very moment he finally saw her properly. Nura’s eyes were sharp, didn’t miss a single thing, catching the relaxation of his eyebrows with a blink of his eyes and the ever so subtle part of his lips.

He saw her, and yet he didn’t apologize for cutting her off or the impolite way he’d done so.

The two of them were caught in a brief lock of gazes, and Nura fought the dry smile from quirking at her lips because she knew she wasn’t going to get an apology out of him. She doubted he even knew what he’d be apologizing for. So instead she brought back her customer service smile and rather than acknowledge the brief, awkward encounter, she read off the reservations Calum had made just a week or so ago.

Nura tried not to scoff at the duration of their vacation—lasting the entire three months of summer. Which made sense, given the total that she’d caught a glimpse of at the bottom. The suites they reserved cost a little over a grand a night, each. Toss in four of those, all for a three month long stay? It cost more than her four years’ attendance of university combined.

The hum of chatter between the group never ceased, and Nura promptly ignored the gaze she felt burning a hole in her face as she made sure everything was in order before reaching in the drawers to pull out the appropriate keycards for every suite and their respective card holders. Nura finally looked up, offering the cards to the man before her, who couldn’t be that much older than her. She smiled, professional and polite, as she said, “Here you go, sir.” His eyes, deep and dark and intense, never wavered from hers. Nura didn’t back down, either, despite feeling something unfamiliar tickle her in the pit of her stomach. “Mattie and Rob over there will show you to your suites. Enjoy your stay.”

Calum picked the cards out of her grasp, the tips of his fingers brushing against hers as he did so, finishing off the rest of his drink and Nura was surprised that she had to fight herself from observing the way his throat worked. He put the glass down and as he held out the other cards for his friends to take, all of them voicing their thanks before walking away from the reception desk, Calum lingered.

He offered a nod, a subtle gesture with ducking his chin, the corner of his lips just barely lifting up to showcase what others probably found to be a charming smirk. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

“Nura.” Her name was slipping past her mouth without much thought, jumping at the opportunity to give herself a name. She refused to be boiled down to what was supposed to be a term of endearment but essentially had her nails curling into her palm. If it came from a significant other, that was fine. She encouraged it. But not from strangers who called her as such for the purpose of being patronizing. Her smile remained, though steely to match the hardness of her eyes. “My name’s Nura.”

Calum eyed her for a moment. If he hadn’t expected that from her, he didn’t let it show—and he was good at it. Instead, he scoffed, hitting the card he held with a finger as he said, almost boredly, “Noted.”

He turned, then, following his friends out the doors to follow Mattie and Rob to where their bungalows were on the island. They disappeared the same way they came, a chorus of chatter amongst them, absent of the deep voice of Calum Hood as they went. When they were gone, Nura let out a huff, finally picking up the iced coffee under the table as the cubes swished in the confined space of the cup before she took a long sip.

“So?” Patrick spoke up for the first time, prompting her to look at him as she enjoyed her refreshing drink. With a tilt of his head towards the lobby doors, he asked with a wry smirk, “What kind were they?”

Nura licked her lips, looking towards the door as if they’d reappear again. But she’d seen enough. Well—she’d seen enough of one person. And from what she perceived, the least talkative guy out of a group of them, all in clothing Nura couldn’t really afford and didn’t care enough to, anyway, was the only one on her mind as she answered Patrick in the form of a too fitting lyric, “Super rich kids with nothing but fake friends.”

*****

The smoke billowed past his lips in a thick cloud, disappearing into the air as Calum watched it dissipate into the night sky. His gaze flickered back to his friends, the glow of the tiki torches’ flames dancing across their shadowed features as they looked over the menus the host had given them. Calum looked to his left, observing the ocean that lay before them beyond the restaurant deck. The tides weren’t severe, a soft lull of water tickling the shore every so often, the sound nearly muted over the chatter of his friends.

The breeze was calming against his skin, a pleasant contrast to the warm weather. Florida heat was different than Californian heat, enough to prompt him to put on a pair of linen shorts his mother had advised him to pack. He hated wearing shorts, unless they were his athletic pairs and he was on his way to the gym. But jeans felt too restricting, and the whole point of this vacation was to let go. To relax and enjoy the company of the only people he truly enjoyed being around. It wasn’t off to the greatest start, considering he was already on his fourth—fifth?—cigarette today. He was supposed to be cutting off.

As if reading his mind, Ashton huffed to his right. “Hey, come on—none of that,” he said, frowning as he reached over to pluck the cigarette out of Calum’s hand. He let him, watching blankly as his dimpled friend snubbed it out in the ashtray on the table. Leaning back in his chair, Ashton shot him a look. “You’re supposed to be quitting.”

Calum scoffed lightly, arms crossed over his chest as he, too, remained leaned back. The breeze hit his face gently, the flames of the tiki torches dancing against the night sky as Calum shot Ashton a look. “I’m not much of a quitter.” He paused, a corner of his mouth quirking up wryly, feeling Ashton’s gaze on him as he added as an afterthought, “At least, I wasn’t.”

He didn’t even have to look at Ashton to know his friend easily picked up on the resentment coloring his tone, a bitter taste in his mouth as he thought of the moment that pushed him over the edge, eventually leading him to book a three month vacation. He wasn’t sure why Dawn getting married had churned at his heart so harshly; they’d broken up over two years ago—she was, by all accounts, free to live her life the way she pleased. Not that she hadn’t been when they were together, but Calum hadn’t expected her to be getting married.

Correction: he hadn’t expected her to be getting married to someone who wasn’t him.

Next to him, he heard Ashton sigh over the chatter of their friends and the other patrons sitting around them, feeling Ashton give his shoulders a squeeze. Calum merely pursed his lips, eyes on the snubbed out cigarette in the ashtray, ears only focused on the gentle crash of waves and crackle of the tiki torch fire as, from the corner of his eye, he saw a figure approach their table.

He didn’t look up, not until he heard them say, “Good evening, everyone. I’m Nura and I’ll be your server for tonight—can I start you off with some drinks?”

Calum head raised, gaze flickering up to the waitress who was also behind the reception desk when they checked in earlier in the day, only this time she was in the glow of the torches and the moon above and wearing a different uniform. This one was a standard white blouse tucked into black pants, a notepad in her hand and her dark hair once again in that slicked back pony tail. An easy going smile was present on her red lips, yet he didn’t miss the way the corners of her lips subtly strained when her dark eyes met his, his presence apparently not one she wanted to be in.

That was a first.

He kept his gaze on her, stubbornly so, as she jotted down the drink orders his friends were saying until, ultimately, Nura’s eyes met his. She expectantly watched him, waiting, and Calum found himself wanting her to wait it out. Testing her patience, almost. He wasn’t quite too sure why he was doing it, but Calum kind of enjoyed the way her pen was already impatiently tapping against the notepad she held. Nura’s eyes twitched into slight narrowing, and he saw the exact moment where she picked up what he was trying to do—it hadn’t taken her long.

Nura remained silent, brown eyes on brown, an intensity present in hers that told Calum she didn’t at all appreciate his childish antics despite the small, polite smile that remained on her lips. And they were childish, Calum knew. Yet he didn’t stop. He wanted to see how long she would hold out, despite the curious and confused gazes of his friends watching them. Their silence was louder than when they talked, the absence of their voices making room for the suffocating quiet Calum had been wanting to avoid.

The curl of Nura’s lips were now twinged with an unpleasantness reserved just for him. “And for you, sir?”

She’d lasted about forty-eight seconds, which in hindsight, was a long time to remain numbingly silent in an unforeseen standoff such as this one. In the expectant pout of her lips, Calum fought the urge to smirk at the annoyance that tightened her mouth as well, clearly bristling at being the one who had to submit first. One corner of his own lips curled up, not entirely a smirk, as he told her, “Whiskey on the rocks.”

She was gone with a sharp turn of her heel and fierce swish of her ponytail, and as Nura left, Luke scoffed from across the table. “Are you trying to get her to spit in your drink?”

His words earned some laughter from everyone else, and Calum merely scoffed as he lifted his left elbow to rest on the bannister of the wooden railing they were seated next to. He scratched at the back of his head leisurely, uncaring as he gave a one shouldered shrug. His gaze only briefly swept over in the direction of which Nura had left before smirking at his friend. “She’s too much of a professional to do that.”

Crystal raised her eyebrows, an amused grin tilting at her glossed lips. “Oh, and you know her so well?”

Calum smirked lazily as the scent of the flames on the tiki torches tickled his nose. It was a familiar combination, mixing in with the salty sea breeze, something he’d smelled whenever he attended a bonfire on the beach back in California. Here, though, it was fresher. More intoxicating. “No, but she never stopped smiling,” he informed, his words prompting Crystal to scoff in disbelief. “She’s the type to smile at customers and talk shit about them behind their back—but she’d never actually do anything to jeopardize her job.”

“Don’t think she’d appreciate you psychoanalyzing her, man,” Michael chortled from next to Crystal, leaned back with his arm draped on top of her chair.

Rolling his eyes with a click of his tongue, Calum waved Michael off. His tone was bored as he responded, “Doubt she’ll care, so long as she’s gettin’ paid.”

Ashton shot him a disapproving look, one that Calum promptly ignored by shifting his gaze back out to the ocean. He heard them move on from his maybe insensitive comment rather than chastising him for it beyond the look Ashton had given him. Calum wasn’t in the mood to listen, they all knew that. So he watched the ocean, the moonlight glimmering against the ripples of the water and the silhouettes of people walking upon the white sand, feeling the urge to sink his own toes into the sand before diving into the inviting water.

Everything about the resort spoke to its tranquility; the rooms didn’t even have television that would pull them into the real world. Wi-Fi availability was a given, sure, but the suites themselves didn’t come equipped with TVs or anything like that, giving guests the opportunity to relax with the help of technology. Calum was ready for it. He didn’t want to reach for his phone anymore, didn’t want to open up his laptop and somehow stumble upon something he knew would upset him. This vacation was to help him get out of his own head; a resort such as this, as well as his guitar tucked away in his suite, should be enough to help him out. Being trapped in his own head never did him any good. Why worry about his ex’s wedding when he could wonder about how many times he could go scuba diving in three months?

He listened to Luke and Sierra talk about their excitement for the impending dolphin encounter they definitely wanted to take part in, silently wondering if he should take a look at the different activities the island offered. It would serve as a distraction, wouldn’t it?

Footsteps caught his attention as Nura approached the table, a tray in her hand filled with glasses. “Here we are,” she smiled, moving around the table to put down the appropriate glass in front of each of them. The act was followed by polite thank you’s spilling from everyone’s lips, while Calum merely met her eyes as he picked up his glass and took a sip.

If Nura was perturbed by his lack of gratitude, she didn’t let it show as she tucked the tray under her arm and clicked her pen. Gaze sweeping over the table, she asked, “Are we ready to order?” Her question was met with a hum of approval and she started with Luke before moving around the table, quickly writing down everyone’s orders. When she got to Calum, however, he was mildly surprised when she raised an eyebrow and innocently asked, “Would you like another minute?”

Clearly she was still irritated with his earlier antic with the drink order, tilting her head at him as Calum pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek, fighting the smirk from appearing. The patronizing tone wasn’t one she tried to hide, and Calum could tell his friends had picked up on it as well, trying not to laugh at his expense. Not that he was embarrassed. Mildly surprised and impressed, but never embarrassed. “No,” he answered with a lift of his chin, not one to break eye contact as he closed the menu and offered her a tight smile of his own. “I’ll have the shrimp and spaghetti skillet.”

Nura didn’t say anything, instead just wrote down his order and Calum wondered if she was fighting the urge to roll her eyes. As she collected the menus, a man standing in the doorway that led to the indoor dining area called her name. “Nura—I gotta step out for a few minutes, mind getting behind the bar?”

She looked over her shoulder, giving him a nod as she answered, “Sure thing, Ted.” Then, smiling at the rest of them, she said, “I’ll be back with your food.”

Before she left, though, Michael raised his eyebrows. “Are you a bartender, too?” With an impressed scoff, he asked, “What don’t you do around here?”

Nura let out a soft chuckle, menus in one hand and the tray in the other. “Uh,” she pretended to consider for a moment with her face scrunched and an eye squinting shut. Calum took a sip of his whiskey, focusing on the spicy taste rather than cute expression of the waitress. “Housekeeping—I hate making my own bed, never mind someone else’s.”

Her response enticed laughter from the table, smiling as she chuckled along before her eyes met Calum’s. He wasn’t as engaged as the rest of them, sipping his drink and threatening to empty his glass before his food even arrived. Nura’s smile lessened as she pressed her lips together, looking away from him and nodding at the rest of them as she repeated, “I’ll be back with your food.”

The air was lighter to breathe once she left, and while Calum didn’t quite understand the tension he created with someone on his first day here, he also didn’t quite care enough to fix it.

Fuck. He either cared too much or not at all. He needed to find a balance, fast, before he drove himself crazy.

*****

Yoga hadn’t ever been something Nura was interested in. She preferred a good cardio workout, maybe blow off some steam with a willing partner in bed, but yoga hadn’t ever been on her radar. But somehow she’d ended up in a yoga class during the fall semester of her junior year at college and decided it was something she actually enjoyed. It woke her up, made her in tune with her body and reveled in the stretch of her muscles. Which was why on the days her shift didn’t start until later, her day would still start with the sun coming up and partaking in morning prayers before leaving her room to make it to the eight-thirty yoga class the resort offered to its guests.

The sessions were held on a large deck facing the beach, the sun already warming them as the crash of waves along the shore served as a peaceful soundtrack behind the voice of the instructor. It was easy for Nura to get lost in the tranquility of the practice, allowing herself this moment’s peace before jumping into the rigorous activities her job required from her. While the rest of the class would go off to enjoy the resort, Nura would be getting ready to dive into an eight to ten hour long work day. Yoga in the morning was just one way to ensure she didn’t lose her mind, even if she was in the company of women who attended classes with dangling earrings and designer leggings and sports bras.

“Heard you had front desk duty yesterday,” Christy, the yoga instructor, hummed once class was wrapped. With a knowing smile, she asked, “How’d that go?”

Nura scoffed, shouldering the bag that had her yoga mat rolled in. “Turns out some people are just as irritable checking in as they are before they get their food,” she responded, keeping her voice appropriately low in case a guest or two heard her.

Christy’s grin widened with a chuckle, reaching up to tighten her pony tail, the action only reminding Nura of having to take out her space-buns when she got ready for her shift. “Don’t you just love humans?”

Nura’s expression fell flat, voice dry as she returned, “Not particularly.” Checking the time on her watch, she let out a breath and said, “Alright, I gotta go get ready. I’ll see you later, Chris.”

Her friend waved in return. “Happy waitressing.”

To get to her own suite, Nura had to trek past a cluster of guest state suites, but it was a walk she enjoyed. The trees stood tall all around her, leaves surviving as a canopy to shield from the sunlight. No matter where you stood on the island, the sound of the ocean could always be heard, soft and steady as the waves fell upon the shore. The salty air tickled Nura’s nose pleasantly, a scent she’d become accustomed to as it mixed in with the fresh citrus smell that clung to the island as a whole. It smelled like home.

It hadn’t always felt that way. Nura had gotten her job at the resort the summer she turned sixteen, serving as a lifeguard and occasionally a waitress. It was a two hour drive from her home in Homestead, and not a journey her mom was particularly fond of her taking, but it was the best job offer she received at the time. The money was good, as were the accommodations, but Nura was only thinking of it financially. Whatever money she didn’t use for herself, she sent to her mom to help out. Being a single mother working as a teacher, supporting two kids, Nura did her best to make it as easy for her mom as possible. 

Biting the inside of her cheek, Nura reminded herself to call her mom when it was both their lunch breaks.

The sound of something melodic pulled Nura out of her reverie, her steps slowing as the strum broke through her thoughts. She furrowed her eyebrows, eyes darting around to trace the sound before her gaze lifted a bit to land on the back porch of one of the bungalows. Nura stopped, eyebrows raising when she caught sight of one of the guests she’d checked in as well as served the other day. The kind of rude one with dark hair and admittedly handsome face—Calum, she remembered.

Her grip on the strap of her yoga bag tightened, head tilting ever so slightly as she observed him sitting on the porch. He hadn’t noticed her, and the porch wasn’t too far from where she was, and Nura noticed the ink that was wrapped around his arm coloring his chest. Calum was oblivious to her presence where she stood on the sandy pathway, head ducked as his fingers plucked at the strings of the guitar he was playing.

It sounded nice, whatever he was playing, a consistent tune that streamed through the towering trees and was carried by the island breeze. Nura couldn’t help but think how it fit him, the broody, kind of asshole musician vibe he apparently owned. She knew it was probably unfair of her to label him so negatively, since she only had two interactions with the man, but Nura had become an expert in reading people based on how they treated her and/or the way they acted in general. You would think people would be their most relaxed self on vacation, but Nura had come to understand that more often than not, these people were running away from whatever their reality was back home.

Nura let out a breath and maybe Calum heard it, or he just looked up at that exact moment, but his eyes landed on hers and she saw the quirk of his eyebrow as he recognized just who happened to be watching him. She watched the way his chin lifted, fingers ceasing their work on the string as the guitar remained resting on his thighs, and even from where she stood, Nura could see the way his eyes narrowed in observation. Could feel his gaze take in the sight of her and hated that wherever his gaze seemed to linger on her body, she felt a warmth spark without her wanting it to.

“This isn’t a free show,” he called out, deep voice carrying a rasp that traveled with his arguably annoyed voice.

Nura bit her tongue, eyebrows lowering into a frown at his words as she ignored the warmth that bloomed in her cheeks. But biting the tip of her tongue didn’t seem to be enough, and it was like Nura lost all control of her mouth as she instantly retorted, “Wouldn’t pay for one, either.”

Her breath hitched in her throat, eyes widening as she heard her own words echo in her ears and saw the way Calum raised his eyebrows. Shit. For six years, she’d become so good at keeping her mouth shut, at always waiting for a guest to be out of sight and earshot if she ever wanted to voice the irritated, mocking thoughts that ran through her head during interactions she could do without. Never had Nura allowed for a resort guest to hear the way she occasionally badmouthed them—she couldn’t help it. Dealing with uptight, self-righteous rich people was difficult and Nura had to blow off some steam some way. 

But never in their presence. And now here she was—talking back to a guest right to their face.

She felt mortified, especially knowing if this got back to her boss, Mr. McNulty, she’d be in deep shit because the guests were basically the gods around here. Nura held her breath in her lungs, eyes wide and lips parting as her frozen brain tried to break out an apology—though, apologizing to Calum, who Nura was slowly realizing looked something akin to amused, was not how she wanted to start off her morning.

Calum scoffed, eyes narrowing ever so slightly as he gave a challenging tilt of his head. “Excuse me?”

Was amused the right word? He looked surprised at her response, as if no one had ever close to insulted him to his face before. Maybe they hadn’t. Nura had been around the filthy rich long enough to know they only ever were told what they wanted to hear, always kept happy because they had money and were therefore superior to them. A bunch of bullshit, in Nura’s opinion. But she needed the money they were so willing to spend, so she stayed silent and did her job. Until now, it seemed.

Though apologizing to the dark haired man tasted bitter in her mouth and she wanted to do nothing but spit out another dry remark, Nura still managed to stammer out a quick, “I, uh, I’m sorry.” She forced herself to move on, feet moving quickly as the warmth in her cheeks intensified, uncaring of some of the sand slipping into her flip flops as she went and all too aware of the intense gaze burning a hole in her back that seared through her clothes.

Nura could only hope he wouldn’t file a complaint. She knew of guests who did so for much less.

*****

“Aw, man—you gotta stop with that.”

Calum instantly exited out of the app and locked his phone, dropping the device on the space between his legs as he remained sitting on the poolside chair. But it was too little, too late given that Ashton had seen exactly what Calum had been doing on his phone, and the brown eyed man let out a defeated huff as he linked his fingers together. Feeling the need to defend himself, Calum grumbled, “It’s not like I’m hung up on her.”

Ashton pursed his lips, a shadow of a dimple appearing under the scruff he’d decided to sport while on vacation. His hazel eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, but Calum knew his best friend well enough to know he wore a look of disapproval. “No, you’re just hung up on the fact that she’s getting married.”

The inside of his cheek would soon start bleeding with the way his teeth were biting into it, lips pursing at Ashton’s words as the sun beat down his back. “It’s not that, either,” Calum responded, voice quiet among the hum of the beach. Ahead of them, he could see their friends enjoying the clear blue water of the ocean, the music playing from Michael’s speaker next to them consistent. 

He could hear the confusion in Ashton’s voice as he asked, “Then what is it?”

That was the million dollar question, wasn’t it?

He didn’t miss Dawn—Calum knew that for a fact. They’d dated for seven months and Calum liked her enough to stay with her that long, but deep down, he’d always known they weren’t together for the right reasons. He’d wanted a warm body at night, a hand to hold at events, and she. . . She’d wanted his money. Calum had always kept that thought in the back of his head, not wanting to think about it too much but not allowing himself to forget about it, either. He’d known it, his friends had known it, and yet Calum kept Dawn around a lot longer than he should’ve. 

Finding another girl to fall in bed with would’ve been easy. But then it would be the same thing all over again, wouldn’t it? Just another person wanting to get into his pockets. That’s how it was with almost every person Calum met, except for the friends he’d escaped to Florida with. Except he’d escaped with a hollow pit in his chest and a bitter taste in his mouth. He was lucky his friends hadn’t called him out on his less than enthusiastic attitude, even if they’d only been here for three days. The point of being here was to forget about the shit that seemed to weigh him down back home and so far, he wasn’t doing too good of a job at it.

Calum rolled his lips into his mouth, dragging his upper teeth along his lower lip before letting out a long sigh. “I don’t know,” was all he could say to Ashton. And it was the truth.

They were silent for a moment, listening to the buzz of the beach around them, and Calum knew Ashton was trying to find some words of comfort, encouragement, support for him. Calum appreciated it, but he didn’t need to hear them—nor did he need them, period. Calum didn’t need pity over a problem he couldn’t even figure out. What he needed was to forget about it altogether.

Apparently Ashton seemed to have the same idea.

“Come on—let’s get a drink,” he declared, clapping Calum’s back as he stood up.

Calum followed him with his eyes as Ashton veered off to the right, before sighing and standing up as well to walk with him. Unsurprisingly, Ashton filled the silence between them, talking about a new band he’d discovered while fooling around on Spotify that he thought Calum would like. And although his mind felt heavy, Calum still remembered the name Ashton mentioned to look them up later. New music was always something Calum was looking for.

They made their way to the beach cabana bar, dodging groups of people playing tanning and kids making sandcastles as they went. The kids were few, Calum noticed. Most of the guests were either people his age, or those older wanting to enjoy a vacation without their kids, probably having left them behind with grandparents or nannies. Calum pursed his lips; that’s how it had been with him. His parents had always been busy with the distillery or some other kind of business that always took priority; loving when they were around, completely absent when they weren’t.

“Hey—Nura, right?” Ashton’s laugh cut through Calum’s thought, forcing him to blink back into reality as his gaze zeroed in on the woman behind the round bar. Oh, great. Calum took in a breath as he gripped the edge of the bar and braced himself on it, watching as the front desk girl-slash-waitress turned to face them. Her pink lips lifted into a smile directed towards Ashton, faltering ever so slightly when her dark eyes met Calum’s. Ashton folded his arms on top of the bar, dimpled and charming smile on his own face as he introduced, “I’m Ashton, and you already know Calum.”

“I do.” She didn’t sound too excited about that, and Calum found himself having to fight back a smirk as she stood in front of them, bracing her own hands on the bar. Unlike this morning when he’d seen her in leggings and a fitted tank looking like she’d just come back from an early morning workout, Nura now wore the familiar white blouse with a name tag. “What can I get for you?”

Before Calum could answer, Ashton said, “Two tequila sunrises, please.” Then, turning to Calum, Ashton continued, “You know what you need?”

Dragging his gaze away from Nura, who’d immediately pulled away to make the drinks, Calum raised an eyebrow at Ashton, voice dry as he rebuked, “Other than a three month vacation?”

His friend chuckled. “Well, that, but also a big ass, five course meal that I’m pretty sure we can set up for dinner tonight,” Ashton said, an excited grin on his face. “A private dinner type of thing right on the beach. That can be done—right, Nura?”

Nura, who had just returned in front of them to place down their drinks, raised an eyebrow at her sudden inclusion in the conversation. She looked at Ashton before shifting her gaze to Calum, surprise evident on her face before she looked back to the dimpled man. “Oh, uh, yes it can. You just give the front desk a call and they’ll set it up for you.”

“Awesome,” Ashton grinned, slapping the bar top with his free hand, the other wrapped around the glass as he pulled himself away from the bar. “Thanks, Nura.”

While Ashton was already walking back to where their friends were, Calum had been pulling out his wallet to pay for the drinks. He placed down the money, eyes drifting to the tip jar that already had a bunch of bills inside. Calum scoffed lightly before pulling out some more bills, folding them up as his gaze lifted to Nura. She was drying a glass, gaze on her own actions, seemingly making it a point to not look towards Calum as she pretended to listen to a conversation some other customers were having on the other side.

A corner of Calum’s lips curled up at her obvious disinterest, arm folding on the bar top to lean forward as he held the folded bills up between two fingers. Nura looked over, raising an eyebrow, and Calum tilted his head ever so slightly. Before he could help himself, he mused, “Unlike you, I’m capable of being nice.”

A surge of satisfaction shot through him at the way Nura’s lips parted at his words, eyes narrowing as she watched him purposefully stuff the bills in the tip jar. She wasn’t hiding the irritation that sparked through her brown eyes, his smug act of kindness one that obviously seemed to tick her off. Nura scoffed lightly, taking two steps towards him, hands braced on the bar and showing Calum the thin silver chain she wore around her neck which hid beneath her shirt. 

He could clearly see the way his words had prickled at her skin, pink lips in a tight smile as she returned, “There’s a different between being nice and being decent. You’re only just barely proving yourself to be the latter.”

Calum scoffed through his nose, his smirk still on his lips despite the shot she’d taken at him—one that did, strangely enough, both amused him and threatened to rile him up. He remained put longer than necessary, brown eyes locked onto hers, momentarily wondering if she was going to apologize for the snappy comment like she had earlier this morning. He wondered if the slight pinkness across the apples of her cheeks was because of the Florida heat or something else.

“Nura.” A voice cut in, and she finally broke her gaze and Calum looked over her shoulder to see another resort employee step behind the bar. “Time for your break; you gonna take fifteen or the full hour?”

Nura was already untying the black waist apron she wore. “Hour. I gotta pray and call my mom,” she informed the other worker, folding the apron under the bar before moving to get out. Calum pushed himself away from the bar, watching as Nura went, sipping his drink and smirking around the straw when she glanced at him over her shoulder before quickly turning and walking away.

Calum chuckled lowly, feeling a bit better than he had before. The pinkness in her cheeks had nothing to do with the heat, he was sure.

*****

“Nura, I need you waiting on the private dinner,” Mr. Gonzalez, the restaurant manager, informed her just as she gave the order for table seven to the kitchen. “Lorraine will cover your tables.”

Nura blinked, not entirely expecting to give up her section to serve just one table. “Oh, but—”

“No buts, Ms. Ansari,” Mr. Gonzalez cut in with a shake of his head. He’d always been a bit of an impatient man. “They specifically asked for you, so go. They’re ready to order drinks.”

He didn’t give her any room to argue, already turning away as Nura defeatedly pressed her lips together and exhaled sharply through her nose. She had a feeling she knew exactly whose private party that was—especially if they specifically requested for her. Tightening her pony tail, she made her way towards the doors of the restaurant that led to the outdoor seating before following the path down to the private area of the table on the beach. As she neared the table, the chatter reaching her ears along with the distant sound of the ocean, her suspicions were proven correct when she recognized Calum, Ashton, and the rest of their friends.

“Good evening, guys,” she greeted, putting on her best customer service smile once she was by them.

“Evenin’, Nura—great seeing you again.” The smug patronizing tone wasn’t lost on Nura as her gaze darted to Calum, who was grinning up at her a bit too widely. Truth be told, if any of them, other than Calum, had been the one to request her service, Nura wouldn’t have minded. From the few interactions she’d had with them, they all seemed like genuinely nice people. Nura knew how to pick them out from the ones who smiled to her face but had less kinder thoughts running through their minds. Calum’s friends didn’t seem like those type—Calum, on the other hand, was a different story.

And as much as she didn’t want to give into his contempt, had taught herself better, Nura couldn’t help but return, a bit dryly, “I’ll bet, especially since I’m told I was specifically asked for.”

Calum leaned forward, arms crossed on the table as he looked up at her from where he sat on the right side of the table, the other end from her sitting next to a pretty blonde haired woman. “You were such a wonderful waitress last time and served us so well—we didn’t wanna mix it up.”

His patronizing words sunk deeply in Nura’s bones, and though she fought to keep the effect of his statement off her face, it didn’t stop Nura from clenching her jaw and tightening her grip on the pen. She noticed the looks the others at the table were sending Calum, silent warnings, but he didn’t seem to care. Why would he? She was just the help—it never mattered to people like him that their words could have any kind of impact, big or small, on the people whose job it was to make sure they were happy.

Her skin was warm, Nura could feel it under his douchey smirk. And while hate was a strong word she never used lightly, Calum was really coming close to it. Who the hell did he think he was, so blatantly poking at her profession? This wasn’t what she wanted to do for the rest of her life, and even if it was, who the hell gave him the right to shit on it? Nura knew people like him; they either built themselves from the ground up, or never had to work a day in their life and were rich off the expense of everyone else.

One look at Calum, she knew it was the latter.

A fire simmering in the pit of her stomach, Nura ignored Calum’s words, forcing politeness into her tone as she asked the rest of the table, “Can I get you started with some drinks?”

They all seemed to slowly snap out of the looks they were sending Calum, one by one telling her of their orders as Ashton took it upon himself to order the first round of appetizers as well. Nura jotted it all down with a riled up flushed face, barely looking at any of them as she quickly said, “I’ll be back with your drinks.”

She turned around to leave, only making it a few feet away when she heard one of the girls say, “Cal, what the hell’s gotten into you?”

At least not all of them were assholes.

Nura didn’t stay long at the table after dropping off their drinks, heading back inside to check on their appetizers before bringing the dishes of a shrimp platter and fried calamari to the table. The minutes of taking their orders for their entrees had passed by in a blur, settling into reality only for the brief moment of telling the blue eyed, blonde guy the specials of the night. She didn’t bother looking at Calum as he told her his order, thought she wasn’t immune to his gaze resting heavily upon her.

A polite, “Your food will be ready shortly,” later, and Nura was gone.

She found herself in the bathroom after dropping off their orders in the kitchen, sighing as she stepped out of the stall to go wash her hands. Her frustration had settled a bit since first hearing Calum’s words, though she still couldn’t believe the audacity of the guy. Just because he had money, didn’t give him the right to basically insult her in front of her friends. And although Nura had tough skin, it didn’t mean nothing got to her. Was it so damn hard to treat another human being with respect?

As she dried her hands with the air dryer, she heard the ladies’ room door open, turning when she heard her name being called. She looked over her shoulder to see the blonde girl from Calum’s table, turning around once the dryer stopped as the woman offered her an apologetic small. “I just want to apologize for Calum,” she said, heels clicking on the linoleum floor of the bathroom. “I’m not trying to make excuses for him, but honestly, he’s normally not so rude.” She was nervously twisting a ring on her left hand, and Nura wasn’t surprised to see the rock that was on her ring finger. “He’s just going through something.”

Nura wanted to laugh. This woman seemed nice, and although she said she wasn’t trying to make excuses for Calum, it sure sounded like she was. Chin lifting, Nura let out a breath through her nose and surmised, “Everyone’s going through something. It doesn’t give him the excuse to patronize others.”

She nodded quickly, and Nura was jealous of how shiny her blonde hair was under the bright lights, or how her blue eyes seemed to glitter as well. “You’re absolutely right.” She offered another small smile. “I just wanted to apologize on his behalf.”

It would be better if Calum decided to take responsibility for his own words, but Nura appreciated the sentiment nonetheless. So she returned the smile with a single nod. “Thank you, uh. . .”

“Crystal,” she supplied, finally naming herself with a grin.

Nura smiled once again before taking a breath and awkwardly gesturing towards the door. “I should, uh, go check on your food.”

“Oh, right, of course,” Crystal laughed lightly, stepping aside to let Nura pass.

Nura made it halfway down the hall of the bathroom before stopping abruptly when someone turned the corner to walk in her direction, teeth instantly pressing together when she recognized Calum. He stopped as well, as soon as he saw her, chin lifting and lips parting as he let out a short yet amused chuckle. The sound irritably poked at Nura’s nerves, no matter how stupidly handsome the guy was.

Pursing her lips, she broke their gaze and continued on her way, determined to make it past him without so much as uttering a word. But Calum seemed to have a different thought in mind, because as soon as there was about three feet of distance between them, he spoke up.

“I’m surprised you didn’t fire back like you’re so fond of doing,” he hummed, effectively stopping Nura in her tracks as her dark eyes met his. Calum looked down at her, full lips adorning that damned smirk as the chain around his neck glimmered under the light. With a condescending quirk of his eyebrow, he added, “Wouldn’t want your boss finding out ’bout your lack of customer service, huh?”

Nura narrowed her eyes, tilting her head as her skin flushed once more in an angry heat. Fuck—what was up with this guy? Arms crossing over her chest, Nura threw caution out the window. She’d already shot back at Calum more than once, at this point, despite her constant professionalism for the past six years, she didn’t quite care. “What would you know about customer service?” she asked, taking the few steps towards him, undeterred by their significant height difference as she looked up at him. 

Nura then pointedly gave him a once over; the chillier weather for tonight warranted the Dr. Martens, black pants, tucked in shirt and leather jacket he wore. And pushing aside the thought of how good he looked—and ignoring the flutter in her stomach at the jewelry he also adorned and how everything looked stupidly perfect on him—Nura scoffed. “I doubt you’ve worked a day in your life. Only someone with a lack of appreciation for hard work would be so casual in basically threatening someone else’s job.”

His eyebrows lowered into a frown, the muscle in his jaw jumping as his expression transformed instantly. With a rasp in his voice, Calum returned, “I didn’t threaten your fuckin’ job.”

She scoffed with a roll of her eyes, shaking her head up at him. Of course he didn’t understand the implication behind his own words. People like him had no problem saying shit if it meant they could show off their own superiority, and it pissed Nura off. “Oh, you didn’t?” she asked innocently with a tilt of her head before her eyebrows knitted together in a glare. “Then what was that about my boss finding out about my lack of customer service?” Calum pursed his lips and Nura saw the way his throat worked, saw it in his dark, conflicting eyes that he knew she was right. “Money doesn’t give you the right to look down on others. It doesn’t make you better than anyone else. Now if you’ll excuse me—” She stepped back, neck tense as she took a breath in order to calm herself down, brown eyes meeting, what she could almost say, were disgruntled brown. “—I have to go check on your food.”

She walked past him without another word, without letting him say another word, with shoulders squared and head held high and the image of his taken aback, disgruntled expression seared into her head. Even if the anger swirled in her stomach and her skin was flushed with an indignant embarrassment as she curled her fingers into her palms, nails digging into her skin so her outrage didn’t lift her. Hate was a strong word, and while Nura didn’t feel it for the tattooed man behind her, she did feel it for the way he made her feel like she was lesser than.

*****

Pulling her hair out of the tight ponytail it had been in all day was something short of a sweet relief—she’d only feel completely relaxed when her bra was off, too. But for now, Nura settled for her dark hair falling around her shoulders as she ran her fingers through it, feeling the dull ache of a sore scalp as she approached the still open bar in the resort restaurant. It was late, nearly eleven at night, and most of the resort had cleared out save for the few guests milling around. Nura was off the clock, and that’s all that mattered.

“You look like you could use a drink,” the main bartender on duty, Riley, grinned from behind the bar, already fixing up a drink for her.

Nura huffed, leaning forward on the bar as he made the bourbon on the rocks. “Some toddler almost threw up on me. I think I prefer it when the snakes leave their kids at home.”

Riley sighed dreamily as he slid the cup over to her. “Don’t we all?”

Nura chuckled, raising the cup in silent cheers before taking a sip. Patting the bar top with her free hand, she told him, “I’m gonna get some fresh air. Thanks, Riley.”

He waved her off and she left the restaurant, walking towards the pool area. It was locked off to prevent guests from sneaking inside after hours for safety reasons, of course, but there was one gate that didn’t lock properly and maintenance never got around to fix it. The thought always made Nura scoff in contemptuous amusement, given the status of the resort and the lack of upkeep for this particular gate. But she never said anything, not when she could get into the area so easily. Not to mention the several blind spots from the security cameras.

Seriously. What were they paying millions of dollars per year for? The rich never failed to amuse her.

Nura settled down on a poolside chair, watching the pristine blue water ripple in front of her, glowing with the in-pool lights. The silent hum with the ever-present ocean waves was calming as she sipped her drink, arms resting on her knees and figure crouched forward as she sat. Nura loved sitting by the pool at night when no one was around, the usual busy hum of guests splashing and chattering away something that had gotten tiring very quickly. And with the dark sky above her, glittering with stars, it was a calming way to unwind before she headed back into her room to turn in.

“Drinking on the job?”

Nura prided herself in not letting out a startled scream at the sudden voice, head whipping to her right to follow the sound, sitting up straight when she saw Calum standing over her. He wore athletic shorts and a white and red shirt, right arm wrapped around the neck of the guitar she’d seen him playing the other day. Her heart had began racing, but calmed down when she realized there was no threat—not a physical one, anyway.

She pursed her lips, adopting a bland expression as she quirked an eyebrow up at him. “Do you see the company name anywhere on me?” she retorted tiredly, referencing to her lack of name tag that was now in the pocket of her pants. How did he even get in there?

Calum pursed his lips and Nura looked out towards the pool again, feeling her muscles tense in his presence. She hadn’t seen him for a few days, ever since she waited on his table for their private dinner. After her little confrontation with him in the hallway—which, frankly, she was surprised she hadn’t heard about from her boss—Nura had put on a smile for the rest of the table and didn’t stick around longer than necessary. Saying that she regretted giving Calum an earful would be a lie; something told her he didn’t have many people talk back to him the way she did, and doing so was as much for herself as it was for him. The guy needed to be brought down a peg or two, and although Nura couldn’t be sure it did the trick, it felt damn good to say what she wanted to.

The look on his face had been pretty fucking satisfying, too.

“Can I sit?”

Nura felt her eyebrows wanting to furrow together at Calum’s words, but she kept her expression blank as she lifted the cup up to her lips and plainly said, “You’re the guest.”

She heard him sigh quietly, exasperatedly, before sitting down on the poolside chair to her right as she took a long sip. A silence settled upon them, awkward and heavy and Nura held back from snapping at him for ruining her peace and quiet. Dozens of other chairs around the pool and he had to pick the one next to her. What damn game was he playing?

Nura looked down at her cup, the drink teasing her just as an unfamiliar scent overpowered the chlorine of the pool. Fresh, kind of citrusy, tickling her nose in a pleasant way. Nura bit the inside of her lower lip when she quickly realized it was whatever cologne Calum was wearing; fuck, of course he smelled good. Of course whatever designer perfumed he owned smelled like a fucking forest god or something. It only served to annoy Nura more.

“I wanted to apologize.” Her eyebrows drew together in a frown, not looking towards Calum as his words resonated in her ears. What? “For what I said the other day. I didn’t—I don’t think I’m better than anyone just because I have money.”

There was a tense discomfort in his voice as he spoke, particularly when he acknowledged whatever financial upper hand he had. Nura knew, instantly, she’d struck a nerve when she had thrown it in his face and, truthfully, she was surprised he was even making the move to apologize. She had dealt with many people on this resort, and most of of them never even considered apologizing to the staff for things said and done. And they were meant to just deal with it with smiles on their faces. 

Hearing Calum apologize, especially when he clearly felt so out of his element because of it, was refreshing. And Nura didn’t take that lightly.

“I’m also sorry for the way I’ve treated you since I got here.” Oh, he was still going. This time, Nura did look at him, brown eyes meeting apologetic brown, showing him that she was listening. The guitar was on his lap—he was practically hugging it, like a security blanket, which was oddly endearing—and his features had settled into soft solemnity. With a breathy, sheepish chuckle, he added, “I know I didn’t make the best first, second or third impression but I swear I’m not usually such a—”

“Self-righteous dick?” Nura supplied, unable to help herself and rolling her lips into her mouth, cheeks flushing. He was trying to apologize and she was basically insulting him.

But Calum let out another chuckle, this one more accepting as he nodded. “Yeah,” he said. Then his lips curled up a bit, a ghost of his signature smirk appearing as he added, “I mean, I’m a dick but not that shitty.”

That had her laughing lightly, some of the tension between them rising into the night sky, allowing Nura to relax slightly as she offered a shrug. It was weird, feeling even a little bit at ease around Calum, but she didn’t find herself minding it too much. “Well, I can be bitch but normally not to that extent.”

With a quirk of his eyebrow, Calum allowed his smirk to widen a bit as he said, “Dare I say we bring it out in each other?”

Nura scoffed with a single shake of her head. “If that’s true then there’s no hope for civility between us.”

Calum grinned a boyish, lower lip biting smile that was a bit too handsome on his face, and Nura took a sip of her drink when she noted the sharp lines of the crinkles by his otherwise soft, smiling eyes. “’S going well so far,” he pointed out as Nura swallowed the sip, watching as he raised the little red pick he’d been twirling between his fingers. “You mind if I. . ?”

“That depends,” Nura hummed, feeling the smirk tug at the corners of her lips. “Is it a free show?”

Calum’s eyes danced with a glimmer and Nura pretended it was a trick of the moonlight as his smirk returned and he sat the guitar properly on his lap. She tried not to focus on his biceps or the ink snaking around his arm as he returned smoothly, “On the house.”

Nura suppressed a laugh, though her smile remained as Calum returned it before his attention went the instrument on his lap. She watched his fingers place themselves in what she assumed were the right places—she knew nothing about instruments—before her gaze lifted ever so slightly to his face. His head was ducked, short dark hair unable to hide the concentration that settled on his features as he took a soft, almost inaudible breath—Nura heard it in the quiet of the poolside—before he began strumming.

The melody he played was soft, tranquil tune and Nura couldn’t tear her gaze away from him. The peace she thought Calum had destroyed with his presence was instantly returned with the gentle strum of his fingers, the rings on his fingers glinting with the movement against the pool lights and the moon above. She watched him; watched the way his attention was solely on what he was playing, the movement of his fingers, and the gentle bop of his head that went along with the tune. 

It didn’t go unnoticed how lost he looked in the music he was playing, and it wasn’t lost on Nura how he was creating magic with his fingers. She knew art when she saw it, when she heard it, and although she knew he was playing a song by Coldplay, he still played it beautifully and expertly. And the more he played, the more at ease Nura found herself being, finishing off her drink and leaning back on one hand as she listened to him. Not exactly how she thought she would end the night, but truthfully. . . She couldn’t complain. As surprised as she was, she couldn’t complain.

“Nura, is that you?”

The tune that had softly filled the night immediately ceased as both Calum and Nura looked up, and she felt her jaw tighten when she caught sight of Keith Holt, the pool supervisor, approach them. He was older than her, around thirty, with surfer style shaggy light brown hair and green eyes and a goatee that made him appear a lot older than he was. She felt her grip on the cup tighten, not entirely keen on being in his presence. Truth be told, Keith kind of creeped Nura out, especially since he’d asked her out last summer and she’d said no. 

“Hi, Keith,” she returned, hoping to keep the nonchalance in her tone as he stopped in front of them.

His gaze looked from her to Calum, eyebrows raising before looking back at her. “You know you’re not supposed to be out here after hours,” he pointed out, and just the tone of his voice had her biting her tongue. Like he was chastising a child with the teasing way he spoke in. Trying to be endearing but only coming off as. . . Creepy.

“Right, right, sorry. Won’t happen again,” Nura said, her words falling quickly as she stood up. The less she could be around Keith, the better. Nura then glanced down at Calum, who had been watching along silently, and she took note of the look in his dark eyes; observant, curious. Forcing a smile, Nura said, “Come on, Calum. We should go.”

Calum met her gaze and maybe he saw the mild urgency in her eyes, the tightness of her smile, and Nura was relieved he didn’t protest it as he nodded and stood up. He gave a nod to Keith, lips flat before saying, “Sorry ’bout that, man.”

Keith watched them with sharp eyes, and just as Nura turned to go, he said, “McNulty won’t be happy if he knew you were sneaking in guests to the pool.”

Nura paused, eyes squeezing shut in exasperation and annoyance, feeling the heat of Calum’s gaze on her profile as she refrained herself from snapping at Keith. Two things he always made Nura feel: discomfort and annoyance. Opening her eyes, she planted the sweetest smile she could muster, all too aware of Calum’s gaze as she looked over her shoulder at Keith and mused, “But he won’t know, will he? Please, Keith?”

She never felt guilty for using his strange likeness of her against him. Keith returned her smile, nodding as he said, “Only because it’s you.” Gross.

“Thank you, Keith,” Nura responded before offering him a wave and making her away out of the pool area.

Her and Calum walked in silence for a few moments, and Nura dropped the plastic cup in a recycle bin they were passing by, Calum broke their quiet by scoffing. “You must dislike that guy more than me—at least with me, you’re better at faking nice,” Calum said, a lightness coloring his tone to ease the tension Nura felt in her muscles.

It had worked, surprisingly. As they walked in the general direction of the staff suites in the building behind the pool area, Nura chuckled lightly. “Just get bad vibes from him,” she chose to say. Simple, but true. She saw Calum nod from her peripheral, one hand still securely holding his guitar as he hummed once in acknowledgment. Nura licked her lips, feeling the awkwardness creep in. “Your, uh, bungalow’s that way,” she found herself adding, gesturing towards the right.

Calum followed her gesture with his eyes before nodding, brown eyes flickering down to meet hers as they walked. “I know. Thought I’d walk you back just—you know, in case.”

The sentiment wasn’t spoken but it wasn’t lost on Nura, and though Calum quickly broke their gaze when he spoke, jaw clenching as he looked straight ahead, Nura still felt her heart pathetically skip a beat. The act of walking her back, just in case Keith decided to be a creep. . . It was sweet, far more than Nura thought he was capable of. 

Fuck, he’d just played the guitar for her by the pool. She was either delirious from her long shift, or she truly couldn’t make sense of reality.

They reached the door to her suite soon enough, and as Nura pulled out her keys, the corners of her lips tilted up as she offered Calum a smile. A real, genuine one she hadn’t given him before. “Thanks for walking me back,” she said, and although the kind tone she spoke to him in felt foreign, it didn’t feel wrong. As she unlocked the door, she added with a gentle smirk, “And the free show.”

At that, Calum’s lips split into a smirk of his own, cheeks pushed up and utterly boyish as he looked down at her. She didn’t miss the way his top teeth just barely grazed his lower lip before he said, “Next one’s gonna cost ya.”

Raising an eyebrow as she opened the door, Nura shot back, “When did I say I wanted another one?”

A mock expression of hurt crossed Calum’s face, sucking in a breath through O shaped lips before he clicked his tongue. “Alright, ouch. Thought we were good now, Nura.”

She smiled, playful and mischievous as she entered her suite, flicking the light on and turning to face Calum, who stood out in the hall. He had his eyebrows raised, waiting for her response, his short laugh echoing in the hallway when all Nura did was hum back, “Maybe,” before shutting the door to end the strange night.

*****

“Fuck,” Calum breathed out, using the towel to wipe the sweat he could feel running down his back as he and Luke exited the resort gym. His triceps, chest and quads had a delicious soreness in them after the workout he and Luke decided to take part in, water bottle nearly empty from downing it. Next to him, Luke chuckled as Calum added, “That felt good.”

“Much fucking needed,” Luke agreed, using his own towel to dab at his face, letting out a sigh of relief when they stepped out of the building and out into the night. The sun had long since set, the resort fluttering with the sounds of the waves and crickets chirping, and the mildly chilly breeze felt refreshing against their warmed, worn out skin. “Hey, is that Nura?”

Calum looked at Luke, noting his narrowed blue eyes looking off ahead, and Calum followed his gaze until his own landed on the woman in question. His eyebrows raised as he saw her, taking a second to recognize the dark haired woman in something other than the resort uniform he always saw her in. Calum’s footsteps slowed without really meaning to, eyes taking in the black skirt, heels, and bandeau top she wore so damn well as her long dark hair danced lightly in the breeze. Shit.

“Hey, Nura!” Calum blinked at Luke’s sudden call, watching as Nura looked the other way before finding the two men who were approaching her—Calum more reluctantly than his best friend. “You look ready for a night out.”

Nura smiled as she took a few steps towards them as well, fingers playing with the chain of the purse that hung off her shoulder. “I am,” she confirmed and Calum distracted himself by pulling his shorts up higher on his waist and checking the time on his phone. Anything to keep himself from letting his gaze linger too long on the pretty woman in front of him. “A couple of the staff and I are going to this club a few blocks away.”

“Really?” Luke hummed, eyebrows raising and Calum had to only glance at him briefly to know what was coming next, an excited glimmer in his blue eyes. His smirk returned, a dimple popping. “Which one?”

Calum wasn’t surprised when about an hour and a half later, he ended up with his friends at the club Nura had mentioned. It wasn’t how Calum had expected the night to go after his gym session with Luke, but he hadn’t been surprised when his friends had immediately agreed to Luke’s proposal of going out, and as soon as everyone was ready, they were piling into Ubers and heading over.

Calum sat in the middle of the U-shaped couch, the table in front of him holding bottles and glasses that glimmered against the strobing blue and purple lights that flickered with the beat of music. Green laser lights flashed against Calum’s eyes every few minutes, but at this point, he’d become accustomed as he sipped from his Negroni, licking his lips as he lowered the glass and let his gaze wander.

His friends were around him, Luke and Sierra on their feet as they danced in their VIP section, singing along to the music while the rest of them remained seated on the couch. It was busy in the club, unsurprising given that it was a weekend as well as the summer, and still Calum found his gaze searching through the silhouettes of people in the dancing crowd or by the bar, trying to catch sight of the familiar face he knew to be there.

He stood eventually, feeling the mild strain in his muscles as he did so, letting out a soft grunt as he decided that he needed to stretch his legs. And if he happened to see Nura somewhere in the crowd, that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Calum sipped his drink as he moved around, avoiding as many people as he could from rubbing up against him, shoulders shifting and moving along the wall as he went. His leather jacket stuck to his body, the heat of the club and the dozens of bodies around him only contributing to the warmth he felt, but Calum didn’t mind much—especially not when his eyes finally landed on who he was searching for.

He stopped where he stood, catching sight of Nura leaning by the bar and before he knew it, Calum was making his way over. He shouldered his way through, large frame giving him an advantage to move forward. He wasn’t sure why he’d been so adamant on seeing her, but his feet were moving without much thought and before he knew it, he was right by the bar, up to her left.

Nura seemed to be trying to get the bartender’s attention, and Calum licked his lips after taking a sip of his drink, arms folding on the bar. She didn’t notice him yet, an exasperated sigh escaping her when the bartender once again evaded her, and Calum smirked lightly. “We’ve got bottle service if you’re sick of waiting.”

She glanced over at him, eyebrows lifting in realization before she let out a gentle scoff. Nura stood straight, left hand on her hip and the other braced against the bar as she tilted her head up at him. “Then what’re you doing here?” she rebutted.

Calum looked down at her, doing his best to keep his gaze fixated on her glimmering dark eyes—never daring to go lower in fear of focusing too much on her red lips. She looked gorgeous, and although her eyelashes were long and her face was glittering with makeup, Calum knew she looked stunning all of the time. Hair tied back or loose around her shoulders, face full of makeup or completely bare—Calum could easily admit that Nura was the prettiest woman he’d ever seen. Ironic, given how much of a dick he’d been to her.

His people skills had definitely taken a hit lately.

Calum smirked at Nura, shrugging one shoulder as he easily responded, “Rescuing you.”

She scoffed almost incredulously, an amused smile lifting her lips as she locked her gaze with his. “From what?” Nura challenged, narrowing her eyes slightly. “A life without access to the advantages of money? So kind of you, Cal.”

Though her words themselves were sharp, Nura spoke them playfully, a glimmer in her eyes that told him she was just teasing. And while Calum would’ve been insulted before, he merely rolled his eyes at her, pursing his lips before returning, “You gotta be a dick about it?”

Nura grinned, a laugh escaping her as Calum scoffed out a smile as well. She pressed her smiling lips together, glancing over her shoulders and Calum recognized just a few of the faces as some of the staff at the resort, and Nura looked back at him. He saw the hesitant turn her smile took before she gave him a shake of her head. “Thanks for the offer, Calum, but we’re, uh, fine here,” she finally said, a kindness in her tone to show her appreciation for his offer. 

Calum leaned back ever so slightly as he inhaled a small, albeit surprised breath. He hadn’t entirely expected for her to reject the offer, no matter how nicely she’d done it. Calum had become all too used to people jumping on the offer of joining a table he’d bought, too used to being used for the advantages of the size of his bank account. Most people Calum had encountered only ever associated him with what he could do for them, mostly when it came to footing the bill. And while he didn’t at all mind doing it for his closest friends—especially because they never asked him to, always either offered or ended up paying for themselves—Calum had, at one point, become numb in doing it for others. He kind of expected to just do it, because others expected it from him.

Now when he was voluntarily offering to do it for someone else—someone he didn’t really know—the logical rejection had his eyebrows knitting together in confusion and curiosity. “Are you sure?” he found himself asking.

Nura nodded, waving him off. “Yeah, we’ve already got a tab going and, uh, you know—” she paused, gaze taking him in before her brown eyes lifted to meet his. “—staff and guests shouldn’t really fraternize.”

Calum raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced by her reasoning. “We’re not on resort grounds.”

She let out a short laugh, gaze averting as she gave a shake of her head before looking at him once more. With a pointed raise of her eyebrow and jut of her chin, Nura finished meaningfully, “Go back to your friends, Calum.”

He did, reluctantly and with a frown on his face, because Calum had a feeling that Nura’s guest and staff mingling reasoning was some type of bullshit—and that her real reason had something to do with her previous comment about the advantages of being in the VIP section.

Calum scoffed to himself as he took a sip of his drink and continued back to where his friends were. He was so used to people throwing themselves at him because of his money—fuck, had a whole relationship based off of it. And now, in the face of someone who actually rejected his offer because of it, Calum kind of felt at a loss. 

Though, because it was Nura, he shouldn’t be surprised. That woman wasn’t like anyone else he’d ever met. And although her comments, at first, had pricked his skin the wrong way, his mind had started to change. As he settled back down on the couch next to Kaykay, his thoughts seemed louder than the deafening music and busy hum of the club. Nura was unlike many of the people he’d encountered in his life, and that suddenly wasn’t such a bad thing.

Around forty minutes and two drinks later, Calum was leaving the bathroom, back pressing against the wall as a group of girls giggled past him as the upbeat music of the club was no longer muffled. His face scrunched as he air dried his hands, no paper towels available in the bathroom and the machine was out of service, and just as he turned the corner to enter the main part of the club, Calum came across a sight that had him slowing down, eyebrows knitting together as he watched Nura in conversation with that guy from the pool the other day. Keith, he vaguely remembered.

Except it didn’t seem to look like a conversation Nura was particularly enjoying, Keith’s figure easily looming over her shorter stature as she frowned up at him, shaking her head as she talked animatedly. The other night, Calum hadn’t been blind to the quick escape Nura had made from Keith at the pool, remembered how she had said she got “bad vibes” from the guy, and it only had an alarm bell ringing through Calum’s head when his sharp eyes caught Keith’s hand reach out to grab Nura’s, who instinctively pulled hers away.

She had said earlier she didn’t need rescuing, but Calum couldn’t, in good conscience, walk away knowing Nura wasn’t comfortable with the guy.

“Hey, Nura,” Calum smoothly stepped up to her left, catching the way she instantly looked up at him with raised eyebrows, the surprise evident in her features. She expertly wiped it off as Calum’s dark eyes met hers, an easy smile on his face as he jutted a thumb over his shoulder. “Everyone’s lookin’ for you at the table.”

Nura’s red lips parted in realization, eyes shining with relief before she smiled and nodded. “Yeah, sorry—I was just coming to you guys,” she answered. Then, looking back at Keith, who was watching them with a frown and an irritated look Calum didn’t care for much, Nura told him, “Like I said, Keith, I’m here with friends and I’m not really in the mood to leave yet.”

Calum’s jaw tightened at her words, fighting to keep the easy smile on his face though he felt his fingers curling into the palm of his hand as he realized Keith’s intentions. He stood still, feet planted in place and giving no dancing body around him the power to push into him. He wouldn’t move until Nura was going with him.

Keith looked between the two of them, failing to ease the smile he wore as he asked Nura, “Are you sure? We could—”

“I’m good, Keith,” Nura cut him off pointedly, and Calum’s lips twitched into an annoyed curl at Keith’s insistence. She was already turning away as she added, “I’ll see you later.”

Calum’s brown eyes lifted to meet Keith’s green, unapologetic about the warning glare that crossed his features as Keith’s lips thinned. Nura’s hand then grabbed Calum’s leather clad arm and was pulling him away, releasing him once they were somewhat engulfed in the crowd and over the music, she shouted to Calum, “Thanks for that.”

“No problem,” Calum responded, feeling the tension in his muscles ease now that they were away from Keith. This time, Calum grasped her arm, his touch light on her warm skin, ducking his head slightly as Nura looked up at him. “But, seriously, Nura—you and your friends should join us.”

Her lips parted, ready to object. “But—”

Rolling his eyes, Calum cut her off with a wave of his free hand. “Look, I know you don’t want to take advantage of my money after shitting on it so much, but I insist.”

He watched the way her jaw slackened in amused incredulity, staring up at him as a short bout of laughter escaped her and he grinned, knowing he’d caught her off guard. Nura grinned and Calum desperately tried to keep his gaze away from the way her tongue trailed across her lower lip, raising his eyebrows expectantly as she considered his offer with an averted gaze.

Finally, she let out a groan, rolling her eyes to the ceiling as she gave in, “Alright, fine, fine.”

Calum grinned triumphantly, unable to stop himself from draping his arm around Nura’s shoulders to guide her towards their table as she pulled out her phone to let her friends know where to go. 

At one point of the night, when Nura was two margaritas in and was sitting in one corner of the couch, she felt someone sit down to her left and glanced to see Luke settling in, head leaning back and long legs spread. She feared someone would trip on them, given that almost everyone was on their feet, drinking and dancing.

With an amused chuckle escaping her, Nura asked him, “You good?”

“I’m great,” Luke answered with a chuckle, dimples shadowing his features, splashed in the purple and blue lights of the club. Sitting up properly, he offered her a smile. “Thanks for showing us this place—it’s awesome.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Nura laughed lightly, glancing forward to see Ashton pour Elaine and Willa another drink. “Thanks for my showing my friends and I how the VIPs roll,” she added with a teasing grin, earning a laugh from Luke in return.

“Your first time?” he questioned and when Nura nodded, Luke laced his fingers together, sitting forward with his arms resting on his thighs. “Yeah, I remember mine—it was ’cause of Cal, actually. He knew I wanted to go to a Laker’s game for my eighteenth birthday and couldn’t afford to go and he knew, like, I was incapable of accepting a court side ticket, even if it was for my birthday. He ended up getting tickets for all of us just so I had a great birthday.” Luke scoffed with a smile, shaking his head as he leaned back. “He’s a good friend, no doubt about it.”

Nura listened to him intently, unable to help the way her eyebrows raised slightly at Luke’s story. Court side tickets to an NBA game weren’t cheap and although Nura knew Calum had money, the fact that he would get several tickets for all of his friends just so Luke could have a good birthday had her heart warming. She sipped her drink after a soft “wow,” escaped her, chewing on the straw as she acknowledged the small bit of guilt she felt pool in the pit of her stomach for calling Calum out about his money. She didn’t entirely regret it, given how their first few interactions had went, but Luke’s story only confirmed a thought that had been brewing in Nura’s mind: Crystal had been right, that night in the bathroom. Calum was proving himself to be not as bad as Nura had originally thought, especially when he pulled her away from Keith and had her and her friends join him and his friends.

She had always prided herself in reading people with the job she had; maybe, just this once, she was just a little bit wrong.

*****

Her room smelled like Chinese food and rain, and Nura loved every bit of it. Having woken up a couple of hours ago, she showered off last night’s booze stench and as she put on  her lounge shorts—pajamas on top for the few minutes she took to pray—

and an oversized Queen shirt, she ordered Chinese food enough to feed a family of four. It was her day off—which was one of the few reasons why she had decided to go out last night—and she fully intended on sitting in her bed with her food with Brooklyn Nine-Nine playing on the TV right across.

Until a knock sounded on her door.

She sighed exasperatedly, her food already spread out on a tray on the bed, and got off the bed, blinking in surprise when she opened it and there stood Calum. “What’re you doing here?” Nura asked, eyebrows raised before they knitted together. “Did you walk in the rain?”

Calum, with his hands buried in the pockets of the black rain jacket he wore, responded with a dry smile as he responded sarcastically, “Oh, good afternoon to you, too, Nura. I’m doing great, thanks for asking.”

She pressed her lips together briefly, expression deadpanning before she stepped to the side and let him in. It wasn’t like it was down pouring outside—which was why she didn’t feel bad about ordering takeout—but the drizzling still had Calum’s dark hair wet, as well as his jacket. “Good afternoon, Calum,” Nura stated, a sweet smile gracing her lips that had Calum scoffing as she gestured for him to take off his jacket. “What’re you doing here?”

What could possibly have made him cross half of the resort to get to her room? Especially in the rain? She raised her eyebrow at him as she hung his jacket on the row of hooks behind the door, facing him with her arms crossing over her chest.

Was she imagining the sheepish expression that softened his features, hand raising to run through the short strands of his wet, dark hair as he let out a chuckle. “I just, uh,” Calum paused, clearing his throat before settling for a small, boyish smile. “Wanted to check in on you, after last night. How’s the hangover treating you?”

Nura felt her lips part ever so slightly at his words, expression relaxing into a subtle surprise at the thoughtfulness he was displaying. All of them had gotten pretty drunk last night, a time well spent, and she remembered Calum, Michael, and Crystal walking her back to her room before they went to theirs. She also remembered throwing up last night—fortunately she’d made it to the toilet—and had brushed her teeth thoroughly before taking a shower and deciding to order her favorite hangover food.

Calum didn’t have to come to check on her, especially when it was raining, but it was an unexpected gesture she felt warming her heart as a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “I’m actually about to dig into some hangover food,” Nura laughed lightly, gesturing to the bed where the Chinese spread was laid out. She pulled her lower lip into her mouth, considering her next words carefully. Technically, Calum shouldn’t even be in her room. Nura was well aware of that. She was also well aware of how she didn’t want to kick him out. So she smiled up at him and asked, “Care to join?”

Calum’s eyebrows shot up, gaze flickering to the bed before resting on her once more, unsurely. “Are you sure? I didn’t mean to, like, show up and—”

She cut him off with a roll of her eyes, turning to go back to her bed and giving him no chance but to follow. He joined her as he sat next to her at the head of the bed, back against the headboard and Nura leaned down to open the mini fridge by the wall. “Water or Coke?” she asked him as she felt the mattress shift under her while he settled.

“Water, thanks,” Calum responded, taking the bottle from her before chuckling at the spread. Raising an eyebrow at her, he asked, “Do you always order this much food?”

“When I’m hungover? Hell yeah,” Nura chuckled, quickly pressing play on the TV before picking up the container of white rice and putting some on her paper plate.

They settled into a comfortable silence as they helped themselves to the food and watched the show play on TV, and as she leaned back against her pillows, legs crossed and plate in her hand, Nura couldn’t help but think how strangely this situation had progressed. She didn’t make a habit of having resort guests in her suite—in fact, it never happened. She kept her distance, especially since many of the ones she encountered were people Nura was fine with never seeing again. It wasn’t lost on her how Calum had been one of those type of guests when he first arrived.

But something had changed that night at the pool, where they’d been able to be civil to one another for more than a few seconds after Calum had apologized for the things he had said and the way he had acted. No longer was he another guest with some kind of superiority complex the amount of money he had gave him, nor was he the asshole who tried to get under Nura’s skin on purpose. Things had shifted between them without Nura truly being able to comprehend the moment it happened, but now that it had, she couldn’t complain. Hanging out with guests on company property wasn’t allowed, and Nura wasn’t a risk taker, and yet. . . She didn’t want to kick him out of the room. Especially when he made the little noises that came with the opening theme of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

It felt easy, sitting in her room, eating Chinese and watching one of her favorite shows. Calum had taken off his shoes, legs crossed as he ate the shrimp lo-mein, a comfortable silence between them only broken by the TV and the gentle rainfall that had surprised them. Nura didn’t care that she probably looked like a bum, too comfortable in her clothes and her hair falling messily around her shoulders, even though the guy next to her looked unsurprisingly good even if he was in only a pair of athletic shorts and a shirt. She was definitely not checking out the way the muscles of his tattooed arm flexed whenever he reached for his water bottle.

Nura quickly focused on her attention on the show, watching the episode play out. And in her purposefully sought out distraction, she’d momentarily forgotten who she was sitting next to, and after swallowing a bite of her food absently murmured out, “I would totally hook up with young Scully.”

Calum’s short, incredulous laugh pulled her into reality, and Nura’s face flushed in realization as she shoved another forkful of rice and orange chicken into her mouth. She was surprised, then, when Calum hummed thoughtfully before saying, “Really? I’d go for young Hitchcock. He’s got nice hair.”

Nura blinked before looking at Calum, face scrunched up in skeptical confusion. “You’d go for him because he’s got nice hair?” she repeated dubiously, scoffing with a shake of her head despite Calum’s defensive slackened jaw. “That’s not a reason to get with someone!”

His lips parted, incoherent protesting exclaims escaping him before he gestured to the TV with a challenging furrow of his brows. “Why do you wanna get with Scully?”

“Because!” Nura started, earning an expectant raise of eyebrows from Calum as he gestured with a shake of his head for her to continue, and Nura rolled her smiling lips into her mouth as the laugh threatened to escape. She pushed herself further into her headboard before admitting, “He’s got a nice jawline. And he’s taller than Hitchcock.”

Calum’s expression fell flat, before his dark eyes narrowed almost comedically and he rebuked, “So basically my reason isn’t as superficial as yours?”

Her cheeks heated up before she waved him off, looking towards the TV once more and saying, “Shut up, watch the show,” which only earned a laugh from him.

They continued watching in silence, the food slowly lessening as they kept eating. By the time the next episode started, Nura was full and Calum was asking her, “Did you read all of these?” She glanced over, catching him looking at the five novels piled on the bedside table, picking up the top one. It was her favorite book, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Nura hummed in confirmation and as Calum opened the book and flipped through the pages, let out a soft, incredulous breath. “Shit—not a page left unmarked, huh?”

She laughed after taking a sip of her Coke. “That’s my favorite book—have you read it?” When Calum gave a shake of his head, eyes still taking in her writing in the margins and the highlights, Nura continued, “You should. It’s beautiful. And the marks are just how I read.” She chuckled lightly. “The dream’s to work in the editing field of a publishing firm. Reading new stories all day from all kinds of people is, like, the perfect way to spend my time.”

Calum looked at her upon hearing her words, eyebrows raising in surprise and what Nura thought was a hint of admiring as his lips curled into a smile. He nodded, smile soft and warm that sent a flutter ripple through Nura’s stomach. “That’s pretty cool, Nura,” he said. 

“Thanks,” she returned, unable to keep the smile off her face. Whether it was because of Calum or the topic at hand, she couldn’t be sure. For her own sanity, she chalked it up to the latter. “I worked as an editorial intern the past two years during the school year, so that really helped with my resume. I’m hoping to hear back from a couple of places I applied to soon. With any luck, this’ll be my last summer working here.”

“I’m sure you’ll get loads of acceptances,” Calum nodded, voice holding a kind of sincerity she hadn’t heard before as he put the book back down.

Nura twisted her lips to the side briefly before offering, “Do you wanna borrow the book? I mean, if you’ve got free time to read since you’re, like, here for a while.”

Calum glanced at the copy before raising an eyebrow at her. “Are you sure?”

She nodded, a bit too quickly, before smiling. “Yeah, totally. Just don’t drop it in the ocean.”

He scoffed out a laugh, grin showing off those crinkles by his eyes Nura found too adorable. “Yeah, thanks,” he agreed before pushing up from the bed, raising an eyebrow at her. “Can I use your bathroom?”

Nura hummed, gesturing to the door off on the left that Calum soon disappeared behind. She leaned back against the headboard once more with a happy sigh, no longer trying to make sense of this situation as she watched the show play in front of her. Though, that only lasted for a few moments as knocking on the front door interrupted her. She paused the TV before heading over, jaw instantly tightening as she mentally chastised herself for opening the door.

“How can I help you, Keith?” Nura asked, hoping she kept the heavy disdain out of her voice as much as possible. She hadn’t forgotten last night when he had tried to get her to leave the club with him, only ceasing his insistence when Calum had swept in to pull her away. That rescue, she was appreciative of.

“Hi, Nura,” he returned with that smile of his that never settled well with her. His hands were clasped behind his back as he looked down at her. Unlike Calum, he looked like a wet dog because of the rain. “Something about last night has been bothering me.” She quirked an eyebrow; was he going to apologize for being so pushy? “That guy you were talking to last night—isn’t he a guest here?”

Nura stared up at him, bewildered and taken aback at his question. That’s what was bothering him? Her grip on the door handle tightened, shoulders squaring and chin lifting as she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. “Yes,” she answered, albeit slightly hesitantly. Her stomach twisted, not liking where this was going. 

Keith hummed with his lips pressed together, eyebrows raising, and expression reading one of I hate to do this to you, but. . . “You know employees aren’t allowed to mingle with guests like that, Nura.”

Was he fucking serious? Nura didn’t think it was possible for him to get more annoying, and yet he was proving her wrong. She fought from letting her aggravation show on her features, keeping them as neutral as possible as she calmly responded, “Yeah, but we weren’t on company property, Keith.” She saw the corner of his lips twitch in annoyance. She knew she was right, and his desire to seek her out and try to make some power move over her only fueled her dislike of him. “And it’s not like I was the only one there. Have you talked to the other employees I was with? Or am I the only one on your agenda?”

Keith scoffed through his nose, looking down at her with a miffed curl of his lips. “I was getting to them,” he said, voice slightly strained, and Nura wanted to laugh. Bullshit. He was only ever going to try and hold it over her head. “If you’re seen entertaining the guests in more than a professional capacity, I’m afraid I’ll have to report you to McNulty.”

Nura’s jaw slackened at his words, staring up at him in disbelief with an angry knot tightening in her stomach. Her grip on the door handle tightened, the metal digging into her palm as she pressed her teeth together and exhaled through her nose. He was threatening her. The son of a bitch was actually threatening her because she was, what, becoming friends with some of the guests? As opposed to normally wanting to be as far away from them as possible and cursing them out behind their back?

She was too speechless to say anything in return, to tell him to shut the fuck up or mind his own damn business, and Keith merely smiled at her and said, “Have a good one, Nura.”

She stared at the space where he stood for a brief moment until her thoughts kicked in and Nura slammed the door shut with an aggravated grunt. “What the fuck,” she muttered through strained teeth, fingers running through her hair as she stepped away from the door.

“Shit—was that because of me?”

Nura’s breath caught in her throat, momentarily forgetting of the man that had been in her bathroom until she caught sight of Calum, leaning against the wall on his left shoulder and a frown on his face. Nura licked her lips, hands clasped behind her back as she leaned against the wall opposite of him. She saw the downturn of his lips, looking bothered by the conversation he had just overheard.

“No,” Nura answered with a sigh, giving a shake of her head. She saw the guilt that caused him to chew his lower lip and she found herself wanting to get rid of it. “That was just Keith. . . Being a piece of shit.”

“Are you sure?” Calum asked, frown deepening. He crossed his arms and Nura’s gaze flickered briefly at the way his biceps became more apparent, the tattoos only making her throat dry. “He sounded pretty—”

“Petty? Bitter?” Nura supplied with a scoff. She rolled her eyes, looking off towards the window. The awning above her window prevented the rain from getting into the room, working with the screen on the window itself. The sound of rain only served to calm her now irritated nerves. “I’m not gonna stop being friends with you just because he’s unjustifiably jealous.”

Calum raised his eyebrows at her and Nura saw the ghost of a smirk curl at his lips. With a subtle tilt of his head, he asked teasingly, “We’re friends now?”

Nura felt her cheeks heat up, smile turning shy and embarrassed as she pressed her palms against the wall behind her. Friends may be pushing it, but Nura believed that they were getting there. She definitely didn’t find him as rude and terrible as she had before, the change more or less slapping her in the face. But whatever they were now, it was far from annoying guest and disgruntled employee. His gaze felt heavy, playful, and Nura melted under it. Feigning confidence with a life of her chin, she shot back, “I took full advantage of your bottle service last night; yes, we’re friends.”

Calum laughed at that, grin wide and real and showing off those crinkles and annoyingly perfect white teeth. His laugh held a rasp that sent a shiver down her spine as he ducked his head, nodding along in agreement. When his head lifted, brown eyes meeting her own, Nura felt a calmness in her chest, a flutter in her stomach especially when he confirmed, “Right. We’re friends.”

*****

Nura had seen a ghost. Or, at least, that’s what she looked like.

Calum watched her from where he sat at the table with Kaykay and Ashton, eyebrows knitting together behind his sunglasses as he watched her listen to whoever was on the other end of the phone call she’d taken. He saw it in the way her lips parted, shoulders rising and falling with the quick breaths she’d began taking and how she had reached behind her to grip the guard railing around the outdoor section of the restaurant. Her ponytail danced in the wind but it didn’t do anything to hide the alarmed expression painted across her face.

It wasn’t his business, he knew it wasn’t, but the way she pocketed her phone and ran a hand down her chin, looking around with a panicked gaze before her quick feet took her to the inside the restaurant had a worried knot forming in Calum’s stomach. Before he knew it, he was pushing back his chair and was on his feet, barely hearing Ashton’s, “Where’re you going?”

Calum only granted him and Kaykay with an absent, “Be right back,” already halfway into the restaurant.

He folded his sunglasses on the neckline of his shirt and looked around, not even acknowledging the other guests on different tables as his eyes searched for Nura. He found her talking to the guy he recognized as the manager, who put a hand on her shoulder and nodded at her, a look of reassurance on her face. Nura was quick to nod, hands reaching behind her to untie the knot of her apron as she handed it to him and began making her way towards the exit.

Calum moved quickly, following her as his eyebrows drew together, his longer legs allowing him to get in front of her with a hasty, “Nura, hey—are you okay?”

Nura stopped short, her gaze lifting to meet his, and up close Calum saw the panic and mild fear swirling in her dark irises that only had his worried frown deepening. Her eyebrows drew together, the distress clear in her features as she let out a sharp breath. “Yeah, I just—” Her throat worked, licking her lips as she glanced away briefly. “My mom’s sick—she has, uh, a bad case of the stomach flu and I’m just really worried, y’know? It’s just her and my brother back home and I, uh, I need to go see her.”

Calum pressed his lips together, feeling a weight settle on his chest as he took in her hoarse voice, thick with concern. She looked out of it, which Calum understood as he asked, “You’re gonna drive back?”

“No, I’m gonna fucking take a magic carpet, Calum.” He clamped his mouth shut, her words as sharp as her voice and, again, he understood. He kept his gaze on her, eyes soft and features worried, and Nura squeezed her eyes shut as she brought her hands up and covered her face, a soft groan muffled in her palms. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry—shit.” She dropped her hands, sad eyes meeting his. “Yeah, I’m driving, why?”

Despite her snapping at him, Calum hadn’t really carefully considered the next few words that tumbled out of his mouth, rushing them out in an uncharacteristic ramble, “Let me drive you—I mean, it’s none of my business but I just—I don’t want you on the road by yourself when you’re so worried about your mom, y’know? I can take you. Let me help.”

It sounded so stupid once the words were out of his mouth, and although Calum’s intentions were purely just for the purpose of wanting to be there for Nura, he understood how they could be misinterpreted. But, shit, seeing her so worried, so frazzled, had his heart leaping out of his chest and he wanted to be able to do something. This had nothing to do with him, but he wanted to help, wanted to be there for her.

Nura gaped up at him, completely taken aback by his offer, eyes holding nothing but disbelief. Half of him expected her to tell him to fuck off, so he was pleasantly surprised when all she did was stammer out a bewildered, “I—no, Calum. You don’t have to. Y-You’re on vacation. Why would you even—”

“Because, uh, you gave me a really good book to read.” He said it with a soft smile, a real smile, and at this point he was willing to give her any reason or excuse in the book if it meant she would accept his help. He still had so much time left on his vacation, what was a little time away from the resort if it meant making sure Nura and her family were okay?

They’d become friends over the past two weeks, and Calum had a bit of a habit of going above and beyond for his friends.

Nura scoffed slightly, lips just barely curling up in a smile she couldn’t afford right now. He didn’t want her to smile if she couldn’t. Not when her mom was sick. “It’d be a three day thing, Calum. I’ll be running around doing errands for my mom and—”

“And I’ll help you with them,” Calum cut in, his words earning a skeptical eyebrow raise from Nura. His shoulders dropped, thinning his lips at her as he told her dryly, “I can help you.”

“You’ll help me or pay someone to help?” Nura retorted and Calum was glad even in a tense, worrisome moment such as this, she still found it in herself to joke around. Even if it was at his expense. At this point, her poking fun at him for his financial status was something he truly found amusing. It was way better than her taking advantage of it.

“I’ll help you,” he said with a roll of his eyes. When Nura rolled her lips into her mouth, seemingly considering his words, Calum dropped his chin and raised his eyebrows at her, silently encouraging her to say yes. “Let me come with you.”

Her dark eyes met his, looking as if she was searching for something in his gaze. Whatever she found, she must have liked because she finally dropped her shoulders and sighed with a nod. “Okay.”

The two and a half hour drive to Homestead was filled with Nura’s playlist playing in the car, a variety of songs Calum approved of as he lowly sang along to them. Nura didn’t talk much in the car, opting to stare out the window and chew on her unpainted nails, only speaking up when she told him a faster, easier route than what the GPS dictated. Calum didn’t mind her silence, though he hoped she wasn’t letting the worry consume her, knowing there was no real way he could stop it from happening.

His friends had been surprised in his new plan, but none of them tried to talk him out of it. Not like Calum expected them to; they’d all come to really like Nura and thought it was sweet of Calum to help her out in whatever way he could. Nura had just looked too overwhelmed, too scared for Calum to let her go on her own. 

When they finally pulled into the driveway of a one story house in a cul-de-sac, Nura broke the silence as she turned off the music in the car. As they unbuckled their seatbelts, Calum felt her gaze on him before she commented, “You’ve got a nice voice.” He looked at her and she smiled. “I didn’t know you could sing.”

“It’s just—” Calum stammered and he felt something heat up his cheeks. Since when did he fall over his words? “Just in the car and the shower.”

Nura’s smile was sweet, words sweeter, “You’re really good.”

She got out of the car then, and Calum let out a slow exhale as he followed her actions, glancing up at the bright blue sky and wondering when his heart learned to skip a beat or two. They grabbed their duffels out of the car and Calum followed her up to the front door after handing her the keys, which she then used to unlock the door and step inside. 

Just as the door opened, Calum heard a woman’s voice from inside call out, “Nura, is that you?”

“Yeah, Mama,” Nura called back and as Calum shut the door, she toed off her shoes by the corner and he followed her lead, placing his Docs properly with the other sandals and sneakers already there. He then looked over to the living room to the immediate right, caught sight of a woman who had apparently been lying down on the couch sit up as Nura dropped her bag on the floor and walked over, “Asalamalaikum.”

Nura’s mother stood up, dressed in a printed tunic and leggings as she smiled and returned, “Walaikumasalam,” before putting her arms out so Nura could walk into her mother’s hug. He saw Mrs. Ansari close her eyes as she hugged Nura, a smile on her tired face as she said something in a foreign language.

“I’m good,” Nura answered her before pulling away, which was when Mrs. Ansari’s eyes landed on Calum, who was lingering in the entrance a bit too awkwardly. He felt out of place, the strap of his duffel feeling heavy on his shoulder as he offered a small smile. At her mother’s questioning look, Nura said, “Oh, Mama, this is Calum. He drove me here.”

Mrs. Ansari blinked in confusion as she looked at Nura. “Why didn’t you drive yourself?”

Nura scoffed. “Because I was basically in a catatonic state after finding out you were sick. Calum offered to come with me.”

Mrs. Ansari shot her daughter a flat look at the first part of her statement, but then her lips lifted into a kind smile as she looked at Calum. “It’s nice to meet you Calum. Thank you for accompanying Nura.”

He felt some of the awkward tension in his muscles ease as he returned her smile, chuckling lightly. “Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Ansari. And, really, it was no problem.” His eyes met Nura’s as he added. “It was the right thing to do.”

Mrs. Ansari’s smile widened before stepping back and gesturing to the couch. “Please, come sit,” she said to him before settling on the smaller couch by the window. 

Calum walked further into the living room, taking note of the pictures on the wall. Many of them of Nura, especially when she was younger, with a boy who he figured was her brother and lots of family photos of them with their parents. But Nura hadn’t mentioned her father, and if he was still in the pictures put up on the wall, Calum could only correctly imagine where he was.

“So, Mama,” Nura said, settling on the three seater couch that Calum sat on the other end of, putting his bag down as Nura focused on her mother. “Kya hua? Bilal said you’ve been sick for a few days? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to worry you, beta,” Mrs. Ansari said with a click of her tongue, as if she hadn’t wanted Nura’s brother telling her. “The doctor prescribed me antibiotics and I’m getting a lot of rest. I’m not contagious anymore, which is good, Alhamdulillah, but I’ve just been feeling a lot of weakness.”

Calum noted the worry on Nura’s features, in the furrow of her eyebrows as she looked at her mom. “Is it getting any better with the medicine?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Ansari nodded, shifting so she had brought her legs up on the couch, back resting against the arm rest as she faced Nura and Calum. “Really, baby, I should be fine in a few days. You didn’t have to come.”

“I was worried,” Nura told her. “I’m staying for the weekend, okay?” When Mrs. Ansari opened her mouth to protest, Nura shook her head. “No, Mama. I already told them I’d be here and I have lots of personal days so it’s fine. Deal with it.”

Calum felt his lips curl up slightly in amusement as Mrs. Ansari let out a sigh with a roll of her eyes. Clearly she wasn’t the type who particularly liked being fussed over. “Acha, fine.” Then she glanced at Calum before looking back at her daughter and gesturing to the kitchen. “Oh, go get him some water or something. Don’t just sit there.”

Nura’s face scrunched up, looking over at Calum who had rolled his lips into his mouth. Nura scoffed, telling her mom, “He can get it himself.”

He suppressed the chuckle. He should’ve seen that one coming—why should she have to serve him in her own home when she already did so at the resort? Except Mrs. Ansari didn’t see it that way, clicking her tongue as she warned, “Nura.”

Rolling her eyes with a huff, Nura stood up reluctantly. “Fine,” she grumbled, shooting Calum a sharp look as she walked past him, only to stop before facing her mom again. “If you’re not contagious anymore, I’ll sleep with you so Calum can have my bed.” Mrs. Ansari nodded and Nura shifted her gaze to him, raising an eyebrow. “Hope you’re okay with downgrading to a full sized bed.”

Calum scowled after her, shaking his head at her dig before looking back at Mrs. Ansari, letting himself smile at the woman watching him. She then sat up, voice coating with curiosity as she spoke up. “Nura said you were friends—do you work at the resort, too?”

Calum’s lips parted, half feeling the need to give into the lie. But he quickly talked himself out of that useless point, fingers laced together as he let out an almost sheepish chuckle. “Oh, no. I’m, uh, actually staying there with a few of my friends. I met Nura on my first day there.”

“Oh,” Mrs. Ansari sounded, eyebrows raising in intrigue. She tilted her head before asking, “And you left to accompany Nura?” Calum’s throat worked, not entirely sure if she approved of his actions or not. He wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t. No doubt it was strange that her daughter arrived to help out with a man she hadn’t seen before. It probably looked fucking weird, but Calum didn’t regret it. So he nodded quietly, felt something ease in him when Mrs. Ansari smiled and said sincerely, “Thank you.”

He returned her grin just as Nura reappeared, a tall glass of water in her hand that she begrudgingly offered him. His smile only widened, finding the pout puckering her lips really fucking adorable. With a tick of her head, she said, “I’ll show you to your room for the weekend.”

Just a few moments later, Calum was stepping inside Nura’s bedroom, utterly neat and minimalistic in every aspect. The bed was perfectly made, bright green plants in one corner of the room, a study desk opposite of the bed and a bookshelf filled to the brim with books—which was not at all surprising to him. To the left of the door they’d walked through was a dressing table, only a few makeup and belongings on top as Calum remembered most of them being in Nura’s suite back at the resort. The walls were a pastel mauve color, so light he had to squint to see it, and the floor free of carpet, the wood sleek under his sock clad feet. There was a picture frame on the single bedside table next to the lamp and alarm clock, a photo of a younger Nura with a man he recognized from the other pictures in the living room. Her dad, Calum could tell. Same eyes, same nose.

As he carefully put his duffel down on the floor next to the bed, Calum turned to see Nura leaning against the wall by the door, eyes on him. She was watching him intently, a small smile teasing the corner of her lips, and Calum raised his eyebrows under her gaze. Did he look out of place? He kind of felt like it, but the room smelled of vanilla and shea butter, a scent he had come to recognize Nura by, and he didn’t want to admit how easy it would be to fall asleep engulfed in it.

“What?” Calum finally asked with a low chuckle, wondering what was running through her mind.

Nura grinned, teeth biting into her lower lip as she glanced out the door. She then looked at him, the sun seeping through the window washing her brown skin in a pretty glow as she quietly, conspiringly, said, “I’ve never had a boy in this room before.”

Calum’s eyebrows shot up at that, feeling his smile return. Not what he had been expecting, but the way she had admitted it was tugging at his heart. From what Calum knew, Nura was Muslim, and although there were certain parts of the religion she did and didn’t practice—as far as he knew from what she had told him—he wasn’t surprise over the lack of boys that entered this room. He felt like a fucking thirteen year old boy at the mild case of excitement twisting his stomach as he asked, “Really?”

“Mhm,” Nura nodded with a gentle laugh. “I mean, my mom’s not so conservative, but my dad was. So, y’know, no boys ever stepped foot into the room when he was around. But, like, he passed when I was fifteen and after that, I still didn’t wanna bring boys in here. So, yeah,” Nura chuckled a bit nervously. “You’re the first.”

Calum felt his smile soften, briefly biting the inside of his cheek as Nura’s eyes met his. They gleamed against the sunlight, a sight he wouldn’t ever get tired of. “Well, I’m honored.” Nura laughed lightly, watching as Calum looked around her room some more, his grin returning as he gestured towards the bookshelf with an amused, “That doesn’t surprise me.” She rolled her eyes, unashamed of her overflowing shelf and Calum sat down on the edge of the bed, fingers linking together in the space between his legs. “Reminds me of my room; I’ve got this, like, big shelf filled with old vinyls and albums and stuff.”

Nura raised her eyebrows, teasing smile upturning her lips. “Really? You’re into music?” She blew air through her lips. “I had no idea.” He shot her a look at her sarcastic tone, earning a laugh from Nura. “Is it just a hobby? Your collection of music?”

He took a breath, hands bracing behind him on the mattress as he leaned back a bit. Her question was simple, innocent enough, yet it had Calum pausing to consider the thoughts running through his head. Music was the only thing that kept Calum sane; it was the only thing, other than his friends’ support, that kept him together when all of the bullshit with Dawn had happened. Playing his guitar was a hobby, but he found relief in collecting vinyls and records and listening to music. The way Nura lost herself in the books she read, it was the same for Calum when all of his focus went into the lyrics being sung and chords being played. He wanted to make a life out of his love for music, whether it be collecting his favorite records or selling them—hell, he knew how to play a few instruments, he wouldn’t mind teaching others how to play, either.

“I don’t know,” he finally answered Nura, catching the silent inquiring look that crossed her face. “I guess. . .” He trailed off with a thoughtful furrow of his eyebrows, head tilting back as he gazed up at the ceiling. “It wouldn’t be so bad, making some kind of career out of it. Maybe then I’ll have an appreciation for hard work.”

His last statement was spoken with a knowing smirk shot at Nura, who scoffed out a laugh as she remembered those words all too clearly—she’d snapped them at him that night at the restaurant. Her laugh had Calum grinning, and Nura ran her fingers through her hair as she shrugged. “If you’ve got the means to do it, I’d say that’s a wise way to spend your money,” she told him, the encouraging tone not lost on him.

Calum smiled. It felt. . . Good that someone other than his best friends thought his idea was one worth pursuing. He doubted his parents would care much what he did, too busy with their own business and too invested to let go of it any time soon. Something loosened in Calum’s chest at Nura’s smile, tone appreciative as he simply said, “Noted.”

*****

“I thought Billy liked barbecue chips—these are salt and vinegar.”

“Yeah, those are for me—hey, put them back in the cart!”

“Nura, we’re supposed to be shopping for your mom and Billy, not you!”

“A girl has her needs, damn it, Calum.”

He pursed his lips with a shake of his head, shooting Nura a look as she huffed and continued to push the cart along. The two of them continued down the aisles of Wal-Mart, finally heading towards the check-out with their stuffed cart. Nura may have gone a bit overboard, but it was their last day in Homestead and she wanted to make sure the fridge, freezer, and pantry were fully stocked before they left.

The past three days had been nothing short of interesting. It was a strange dynamic, having Calum around, and Nura was surprised how well he got along with her mom and Billy—which was kind of understandable, given that he hadn’t acted like a dick to them right off the bat as he did with her. But that was in the past.

In fact, Calum had been a huge help around the house, despite Nura’s constant teasing that he took in stride—and knew he deserved it, especially when he nearly sucked up one of Billy’s DS cartridges in the vacuum. Other than that near mishap, he helped her around the house, surprising Nura with his efficiency in the kitchen, got along really well with Billy and played video games with her seventeen year old brother, and had been quick with a small garbage can when Mrs. Ansari vomiting acted up and she couldn’t make it to the bathroom on time.

He hadn’t even been disgusted, and if Nura ever had any doubt about the kind of man Calum was, it was gone.

If anything, she could feel her heart pick up its pace every time he looked at her, felt the butterflies tickle her stomach whenever he smiled. She was falling, and it was probably a bad idea, but she didn’t care. 

“We’ve got everything?” Calum checked as they got to the self-checkout, eyeing the cart with a small smirk.

Nura snorted. “For the house and even some road trip snacks, yes.”

The two of them worked together as Nura scanned the items and Calum bagged them before putting them back int he cart, and not for the first time this weekend she found herself thinking how good of a team they made. Who knew the pretty rich boy was good at mundane things he could pay people to do?

When the last of the items were scanned and bagged, Nura reached into her purse to grab her wallet, eyebrows knitting together when she didn’t find it. “Huh?” she sounded, confused, as she opened it and dug through, groaning when she realized she didn’t have it. She didn’t even think about how she’d driven to Wal-Mart without her license on her, but was more pressed about the fact that now there was no way to pay for her groceries. Shit.

“What’s wrong?” Calum asked, eyebrows knitting together.

Nura’s shoulders fell, turning to look at him with disdain on her features with a little bit of self-loathing. “I think I forgot my wallet at home.”

Calum blinked. “Oh.” Then he stepped towards her and Nura watched as he pulled his wallet out of his jeans pocket and slid out a credit card. “We can just use mine.”

Nura’s eyes widened, grabbing his bicep as she stopped him. “Wait, no—I can’t let you pay for two hundred dollars’ worth of groceries, Calum.”

He looked down at her, a furrow in his eyebrows as if he didn’t understand the problem. It was stupidly endearing. “Yes, you can.” Then with a chuckle, he added, “Not like you have much of a choice, Nura. It’s okay.”

Her stomach twisted, eyebrows knitting deeply as she barely sounded a protesting, “But—” when Calum inserted his credit card. She took a breath before chewing on her lips, not entirely feeling right about this. Logically, Nura knew he had the money, knew that two hundred dollars wasn’t much to him, but that wasn’t the point. Taking care of her family was something Nura had become accustomed to; she and her mom did it together, even Billy chipped in with the summer jobs he’d get. It had always been the three of them, and while she definitely appreciated Calum’s kindness, it just felt strange accepting it. She didn’t want to owe him anything, and didn’t want him thinking she wanted him to pay for something for her family. It wasn’t his job.

When he pulled his card out and signed his name on the pad, Nura shifted her weight on her feet and peered up at him. “Thank you, Calum,” she said, her voice holding the genuine appreciation she felt over him fixing her blunder. “I’ll pay you back.”

She saw the frown that drew together his eyebrows as he pocketed his wallet, shooting her a near bewildered look. “The hell you will,” he said with a scoff. Calum shook his head, walking to the back of the cart to grip its handles. With a pointed look at her, he added, “I didn’t mind doing it, Nura, and I didn’t do it for you to owe me anything. I was happy to help.”

The look in his eyes told her that he wasn’t going to budge on his stance, and Nura just kind of fell for him a bit more in that moment. She also felt a wave of guilt for all the teasing she had done regarding him and his money, and wished she could take it back. Coupled with what Luke had told her that night at the club and him paying for her family’s groceries—not to mention the fact that when they’d stopped to get gas on their way to Homestead, he’d paid for it—Nura knew that Calum Hood wasn’t like any of the guests she’d ever encountered, and the money he had, he would use it for others before using it for himself.

That little trait only made him all the more attractive.

As they exited Wal-Mart, Nura tried, “Will you at least let me get you a drink when we get back? On me.” She didn’t know how much that would mean, given what he was paying to stay at the resort, but it was all she could think of doing. It was a small gesture, nothing compared to what he’d done.

And yet, Calum grinned at her, sharp features melting into a giddy softness as he pushed the cart along and nodded. “Absolutely.”

Nura left Homestead with a lighter heart than the one she’d arrived with. Most of it had to do with the fact that her mom, thank God, had started feeling a lot better than when Nura first got home. Her antibiotics seemed to kick in, and they did plenty in helping her mom out with the nausea and pain she had been feeling. With Calum and Nura chipping in to help around the house, even if it was only for three days, her mom was able to get as much rest as she could and it helped her recovery along.

She was no longer pale or running between her bed and the bathroom anymore, the pain had nearly subsided, and Nura knew her mom would be okay. And after telling her brother to be good and take care of their mom, and with Mrs. Ansari and Billy thanking Calum for all of his help, Nura and Calum left her house and were back on the road to the resort. This time, she joined in with him in singing along to the songs playing through the car at a louder volume; lighter hearts made for a happier car ride back, and Nura really fucking appreciated Calum’s help in it all. While she had been caught completely off guard when he had offered to come, she was so relieved he did.

They got back to the resort late in the evening when the sun had set and, ever the gentleman, Calum walked Nura back to her suite. Their footsteps softly thudded on the sleek floor, the hall empty as they reached her door around eight in the evening. Nura unlocked it and stepped inside, dropping her bag on the floor and turning to see Calum watching her, leaning against the doorframe with his hands in the pocket of his leather jacket which she couldn’t understand how he wore in the Florida heat.

Nura wrung her fingers together as she took a step towards him, feeling her skin flush as she began, “Calum—thank you, honestly, for helping out this weekend. You didn’t have to take time out of your vacation to do that and I—I really appreciate it.”

Calum’s eyebrows so briefly pulled together as his face scrunched up in protest, giving a shake of his head. “You don’t have to thank me, Nura.” He shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips. “You’ve been takin’ care of us and it just felt like the right thing to do.”

She let out a breathy chuckle at that, about a foot or two worth of space between them as she raised an eyebrow at him. “Yeah, well, it’s my job to. You did it because you’re a good person.”

She saw the way his eyebrows raised, corner of his lips tugging into a wider smile as he scoffed lightly through his nose. There was a teasing glint in his dark eyes as he said, “Means a lot, coming from someone who once said I was just barely a decent person.”

Nura rolled her lips into her mouth, an embarrassed heat flushing her skin as Calum chuckled quietly at her reaction. Of course she remembered saying that to him, right after he had basically tipped her out of spite. It seemed like so long ago, rather than just a month. “Yeah, well,” Nura mused, not at all minding the way the space between them seemed to be closing. Her gaze lifted so brown eyes could remain locked with his, a teasing flutter in her stomach under Calum’s intent, purposeful stare. “Safe to say you’ve proven me wrong.”

They were so close, her vanilla scent mixing with the woodsy freshness of his cologne, a combination Nura desired more of as she looked up at him. Calum leaned towards her, nose brushing against hers, fueling the fire sparking in Nura’s veins as his voice dropped into a raspy, deliciously teasing murmur, “Enough to break your fraternization rule?”

Nura’s response was tilting her head up to finally give into the heat his body was radiating, to succumb to the way Calum was pulling her and connect her lips with his. She felt herself inhaling sharply as he returned the kiss, his hands finding her face as he kept her close, moving his lips with hers. Nura leaned into him, her own hands gripping his wrist as her lips parted, deepening the kiss earnestly, the softness of his lips curling her toes, pressing herself into him. She couldn’t possibly be close enough to him.

Calum’s hands were warm against her skin, the couple of rings he wore chilling her gloriously, and he tasted like the mint gum he’d been chewing in the car. The subtle flutter in her stomach whenever Calum smiled at her had erupted into a hoard of butterflies, his tongue sliding against hers. God, she knew it was a bad idea, knew she was crossing a professional line she had never ventured near. But the way Calum’s thumbs caressed her cheek, kissed her so softly yet intensely, had Nura throwing caution in the wind. How could she possibly focus on anything else when Calum was kissing her like it was what his lips were made to do?

They pulled apart too soon, a brush of lips and labored breathing, and Nura kept her eyes closed as she reveled in the warmth Calum’s body provided. Her heart was racing, his nose brushing against hers, and Nura found herself wanting to stay close. Bad ideas never seemed so good right now. “Yeah,” she finally breathed out, ragged and overwhelmed, eyes still closed as her lips curled into a dazed smile. “Definitely worth it it.”

*****

It was a long day. Every so often, the long days caught up to Nura and the day couldn’t be over quick enough as she made her around her specific areas. Her sneakers, though they were comfortable, at this point seemed to be too tight on her feet and she couldn’t wait to go back to her room and collapse for the night. Except it was one in the afternoon and her hour lunch break wasn’t for another half hour. A little bit less, she realized as she glanced at her Apple Watch and read the time as 1:06. Not fast enough though. And it didn’t help that she was waiting to hear back from some publishing firms she had applied to work for, itching to check her e-mail every few minutes. The day was already taking a toll on her.

God, she wanted to nap.

The Florida sun was something she was used to, but today it only seemed to slow her down. She kept walking from the restaurant to the pool, providing guests with drinks and snacks whenever they demanded them. Mundane, repetitive, but she got paid for it, so Nura walked around and did her job with a pleasant smile on her face despite it feeling so strained on her cheeks.

It wasn’t too bad, though, because at least while she was around the pool, she got to see Calum. He, Luke, Sierra, Michael and Crystal were all by the pool, and it was taking all of Nura’s willpower and every ounce of her professionalism not to openly admire the glow of Calum’s skin under the beaming sun, or trace the ink decorating his skin with her gaze. Their eyes would meet every now and again, and though Nura focused on doing her work, she could still feel the weight of his stare on her. It was nerve wracking and thrilling in the best ways.

Ever since their kiss last week, there had been so many more snuck in. While she worked, Calum spent time with his friends in various activities the resort offered, but as soon as she clocked out, he was joining her in her room for dinner and a TV show to binge—even if, by the end, the show was long forgotten and they were too busy with dizzying kisses and wandering hands. It was a dangerous game they were playing, Nura knew, but all of her worries seem to melt away when she was with Calum. And it felt good, for once, to not constantly think of life’s problems that had taken residence on her shoulders. It felt so good to get lost in Calum’s kisses, his touch, to melt under his warm gaze and be the reason for that stunning smile. 

“Nura, you can take your break after dropping off that order,” Mr. Gonzalez said as she picked up a small tray with a single mango smoothie on it to be delivered poolside.

She nodded, stifling the yawn threatening to escape as she made her way back to the pool to give the drink to the middle aged woman who had ordered it. Nura balanced the circular trap on the palm of her right hand, left hand gripping the rim of the tray for extra security as she made her way over. The woman was sitting just a few feet away, and Nura couldn’t wait to give her the drink and go for her break.

And maybe she’d gotten lost in her thoughts, let herself get too distracted, but Nura hadn’t registered the two kids that were running past her, hadn’t heard their excited shoulders behind her over the busy poolside hum. But just as she reached the woman, the kids, probably about nine or ten years old, roughly bumped into Nura as they went, and the startled gasp ripped past her throat faster than she could grab the glass as it toppled over, sending the yellow colored smoothie splattering right onto the woman who’d been waiting for it.

Nura heard the few gasps around her, but they sounded distant over the sound of her rapid heartbeat and the woman’s startled shriek of, “Oh, my God!”

Face flushing in an embarrassed heat, Nura covered her mouth briefly, eyes wide in mortification as she stammered out, “Oh, God, I’m so sorry, ma’am. I—Let me grab you a towel.”

“Don’t!” the woman snapped, ripping her sunglasses off her face to fix Nura with a fierce glare with icy blue eyes. Nura stopped, blood frozen and eyes apologetically wide. She was all too aware of the stares she and the now soaked woman were receiving, and she couldn’t be more horrified over the whole encounter. Especially as the pissed off woman sat up and continued, “You’ll manage to fuck that up, too. What, do you not know how to walk?”

They had been trained for moments such as this, where the customers create a scene just like what the woman was doing. But in the six summers Nura worked at the resort, nothing like this had ever happened to her, and in this moment, she forgot all about what she was told as she remained frozen in her spot, humiliated by the way she was being spoken to and angry that she couldn’t say anything back without the risk of being fired.

“Ma’am,” Nura began, hating that her voice was a bit unsteady, holding the tray to her chest and picking up the now empty glass. Throat working, she continued, “Let me get you a towel and—and another drink—”

“Don’t bother,” the woman scoffed, pulling out the towel she was laying on to wipe at her skin. The scowl was a permanent fixture on her face as she looked up at Nura. “You’re lucky you didn’t break the glass, or else I would’ve sued your ass faster than you can—”

“Hey—it was an accident and she already apologized. Move the fuck on.” Nura’s eyes widened, heart stopping in her chest as she whipped her head to the right to see Calum next to her. She gaped at him, breath still in her lungs as she wondered what the fuck he was doing as his own scowl was directed towards the seated woman.

Who, in turn, stared up at him with incredulity and irritation. Though many people were watching the scene, Nura was absently relieved that all action around the pool hadn’t ceased, because if there had been complete silence, she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle any more humiliation than this. “Who the hell are you?” the woman demanded with a frown. “She spilled the damn drink on me—can’t even fucking do her job right.”

Nura’s face was on fire, that much she was certain of. And it certainly didn’t help when Calum took a step forward, figure looming and intimidating, as he snapped, “Accidents happen. If you’re so bothered, get off your ass and get your drink yours—”

The woman’s eyebrows had show up and jaw had dropped in astonishment, and Nura quickly cut in with a hasty, “I’m so sorry, ma’am. I’ll send someone else for your drink,” and, without thinking, grabbed Calum’s arm and roughly pulled him away.

Nura was too aware of the eyes on her, hearing Calum’s flip flops drag on the floor and his indignant protests as she told Lorraine to help out the pissed off lady by the pool, and it wasn’t until they were away from the pool and restaurant and headed towards her room where she finally let out a sharp breath.

“What the hell was that?” Nura demanded harshly, not even bothering to look at Calum as she made her way towards her room. She didn’t even want to eat anymore. She just needed to be in her room where she could have a proper fucking meltdown. Thank God her suite wasn’t far. They were already entering the hall with the brisk steps Nura had been taking.

Calum easily kept up with her pace, and she could hear his own anger as he returned, “She was treatin’ you like shit. I couldn’t just let her do that.”

Her vexation getting the best of her, Nura let out a humorless laugh, jamming her key into the door before shoving it open. “That’s fucking hilarious coming from you.”

Calum shut the door, the slam sounding distant as Nura’s heart pounded in her ear as she turned to face him. She didn’t even pause to admire him standing there in just a pair of black swimming trunks, the scowl on his face matching the one she wore. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” he demanded, scoffing as he took a few steps towards her. Nura stood her ground, jaw tight. “Are you seriously bringing that up again? I thought we were fucking passed that, Nura.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, defiant as her skin remained hot to the touch. “I thought so to, until you decided to say fuck my job and tried to play the hero when I didn’t ask for one.”

He genuinely looked bewildered at her statement and Nura knew it was because he didn’t think what he did was wrong. And while if she was more level headed, she would understand why he thought that, but right now it only fueled the fire burning her blood. There was a good chance he just made things worse. Gesturing towards the door behind him, Calum exclaimed, “That woman was being a bitch to you!”

Nura clicked her tongue loudly, looking away with an irritated shake of her head before returning, “It’s just part of the job. You’d know if you ever had one!”

Calum scoffed, incredulous and angry all at the same time as he raised his eyebrows at her. “Excuse me?”

“It’s all a part of working in customer service.” Nura let out a breath, lips curling in a near condescending smirk as she eyed him. “But I wouldn’t expect a trust fund brat like you to know that.”

His eyes narrowed, darkening as he took the few steps towards her, tall body towering over hers and Nura hated the excited twist in her stomach, and the thrill that shot down her spine, when Calum’s voice dropped and he returned darkly, “Only one being a brat here is you.”

Electricity shot through Nura’s core at Calum’s words, only being able to release a small breath until his lips captured hers in a rough, dizzying kiss that had her instantly wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him impossibly closer. It was a frenzied kiss, desperate and heated as Calum’s fingers instinctively worked on the button of Nura’s black uniform shorts, and thank fucking God he was only in swimming trunks as he pushed her shorts down her legs and she kicked them off.

They were a mess of heavy breaths, needy kisses, and working hands as the kiss briefly broke when Calum lifted Nura’s shirt off, a fire brimming in her chest as he pushed her onto the bed before climbing over her body to connect their lips once more. He tasted of beer and cigarettes, and Nura didn’t at all mind the combination as the scruff on his chin scratched at her skin, his warm body pressing into hers as Calum broke their kiss and Nura let out a dazed, breathy gasp when his plush lips teased her neck with kisses.

Her anger and humiliation from before melted away under Calum’s body, eyes fluttering shut as one hand went to the back of his head, fingers threading through his growing dark hair and head tilting back as she reveled in the way his lips and tongue and teeth worked at her neck. She was overwhelmed by him; by his taste, touch, scent as Calum moved lower, lower, lower, his lips leaving a trail of electricity in his wake as he kept going down her body, brown eyes absent of his own previous aggravation and flashing with wicked mischief as she watched him reach her underwear.

When he pulled it down, Nura bit down on her grinning lower lip, head tilting back into the pillows as his lips teased the inside of her thighs with kisses. 

Fuck a nap; this was exactly how she wanted to spend her break.

“I’m sorry ’bout what happened at the pool.” Nura felt Calum’s chest lightly vibrate under her ear as he spoke in a rasp, her gaze fixed on he way her fingers played with his. The room had fallen into a tranquil silence, the steady beat of Calum’s heart calming Nura more than a nap would have. “I just hated seein’ the way that woman spoke to you. Reminded me of how I spoke to you and I’m sorry for it.”

Nura’s eyebrows furrowed at that, lifting her head to look at Calum. He was resting against her headboard, the sheets doing well to cover her bare chest as she laid next to him. Calum’s brown eyes met hers and Nura’s features softened as the little bit of guilt she could still see in them. “You don’t have to apologize. I forgave you for that a long time ago.” The corner of his lips quirked up but Calum still didn’t let himself smile, and Nura rested her hand on his chest as she sighed. “Thank you for defending me. And I’m sorry, too, for being such a bitch about it.”

“No, don’t,” Calum said with a shake of his head, his left hand coming up to cover her right one on his chest. Nura glanced down, feeling a smile tug on her lips at his warm touch, at the way his tattooed hand seemed to perfectly hold hers. Her brown eyes met his soft ones, feeling herself melt under his gaze all over again. “It wasn’t my place to jump in like that, no matter how much it pissed me off. I put you in a tough spot and that wasn’t fair of me.”

Nura felt her smile grow, heart fluttering in her chest at the sincerity in Calum’s voice. She then let out a chuckle, shaking her head as she responded to Calum’s curious expression with, “Either we suck at apologizing to each other, or we’re really good at it.”

Calum scoffed, his grin finally appearing, bright and beautiful. “I think it’s the latter,” he said with a quick wink, leaning forward to connect their lips in a toe curling, breathtaking kiss.

She would’ve continued it, except her phone let out a notification ding, and Calum groaned in protest when Nura pulled away with a light giggle. She reached over Calum, ended up laying with her stomach on his as she grabbed her phone from the bedside and read the new e-mail she’d received. And as her eyes took in the words on the screen, Nura’s heart dropped and a gasp escaped her throat. “Oh, shit!”

“What?” Calum asked, worry creeping into his voice. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, my God,” Nura laughed, the excitement widening the grin on her face, reading the e-mail one last time before letting out a thrilled squeal. She kicked her legs excitedly, earning a bewildered laugh from Calum until she finally announced, voice high with enthusiasm, “Penguin Random House is offering me a job in their editorial department! Oh, my God—I got the job!”

She looked back at Calum as the words fell past her lips, catching the way his eyebrows shot up and something flashed across his eyes, akin to happiness and pride, before a grin split across his face. Those crinkles she adored so much appeared, just for her, as Calum laughed, “That’s incredible, doll—congratulations!”

Her stomach was wild with butterflies, cheeks aching from the grin she wore as she let out a squeal and pushed herself up to hug Calum. She laughed against him, feeling his arms wrap around her as he squeezed her tightly, bodies flushed as she felt his nose nudge at her neck. “Oh, my God—I’m moving to New York.” That had been the dream; to land a job at a publishing firm, preferably in New York City, and move there to start her life as proper adult. The thought was fucking terrifying, but one that brought Nura a kind of happiness she couldn’t comprehend.

Fuck, if only she didn’t have to go back to work in ten minutes. She’d properly be able to celebrate—especially since Calum was already in her bed.

*****

“Nura? Mr. McNulty would like to see you in his office.”

She looked up from where she was leaning against the bar, checking her e-mail to see another offer had come in. Over the past few days, ever since that first e-mail from Penguin Random House, the other firms Nura had applied to had finally reached back after the many video interviews she had done. She’d gotten job offers to most of them, including Simon & Schuster, which was her top choice, with Penguin being her second. Her days, despite dealing with the same kind of people all of the time, carried on with a happier note with each acceptance.

“Okay,” Nura nodded, pocketing her phone and taking off her apron. Riley took it from her, storing it under the bar as Nura walked out of the restaurant and in the direction of the main lobby of the resort. She couldn’t be sure why Mr. McNulty was calling her, but it was opportune; Nura could take that moment to tell him she wouldn’t be coming back next summer. Or ever again.

She reached his office door, knocking until she heard him answer with a “Come in.” Mr. McNulty glanced up from his computer, leaning back as he said, “Oh, Ms. Ansari, good. Please, have a seat.”

Nura was good at reading people, and right now, she got an uneasy vibe off of Mr. McNulty. He didn’t look entirely happy, elbows resting on the arm rests of his chair and hands linked together as Nura slowly sat down on the chair in front of his desk. “Is everything alright, sir?”

“I’m afraid not, Nura,” he said with a sigh, leaning forward as he clicked something on the laptop in front of him. Her eyebrows drew together as he turned the laptop to show her the screen as he said, “This is you with one of our resort guests, correct?”

Nura’s gaze went to the screen, heart in her throat as she watched a video of her exiting Calum’s bungalow from a few days ago, pausing on the steps as Calum leaned in to kiss her. The video ended with Nura turning around, giving the camera a clear shot of her face before it automatically stopped—along with Nura’s heart.

Shit. Oh, fucking shit.

Her lips parted, blood rushing in her ears as she tried to find the right words. “Sir, I-I can explain—”

“You know our policy, Ms. Ansari,” Mr. McNulty cut in with a shake of his head. He didn’t look angry, per se. Just disappointed, which Nura knew was worse. Especially since she knew the man, they got along well. She had never had such a transgression, and she was absolutely mortified. Fuck. She knew this would happen, knew they hadn’t been careful. “Engaging in relationships with our guests is against company regulations, and is grounds for immediate firing.”

Which would go on her record, and although she was going to quit anyway and already got offered jobs at all those firms, there was still the risk of them finding out about her getting fired from the resort. And she knew the reason for it wouldn’t be taken lightly, either. Shit. She was screwed.

She couldn’t even look Mr. McNulty in the eye, gaze dropped to her lap where she picked at her nails, face flushed in an embarrassed, saddened heat. How could she have been so dumb? So careless? Fuck.

“However—” Nura looked up when Mr. McNulty began speaking again, taking in the resigned expression he wore. “You have been with us for over five years, and despite your mistake, you’ve been an essential employee at Little Palms. Which is why I’m willing to offer you a deal.” She sat up, breath stilling in her lungs, eagerly and carefully listening. “I’m going to give you the chance of voluntarily submitting your resignation, effective immediately. You will get paid for the hours you have worked, but you will need to leave by the end of the day. This way, it doesn’t go on your record. Does that sound fair to you?”

Nura let out a heavy breath, disbelief crossing her features. She had already been planning to quit, and although that wouldn’t have been effective until the end of summer, doing so now was better than being fired. It would suck, Nura knew, having to leave the friends she made here quicker than she had anticipated, but Mr. McNulty’s offer was the lesser of two evils. At this point, she didn’t care what was fair or what wasn’t. It was her fault for being careless despite knowing the rules of the resort, and Mr. McNulty’s generosity wasn’t something she was going to take with a grain of salt.

“I—Yes. Yes, sir. That’s fair,” Nura nodded quickly, throat tight. None of it was fair, but it wasn’t like she was going to be unemployed. She had jobs lined up. It would be okay. She would be fine. “Thank you, Mr. McNulty.”

He nodded as the two of them stood up, and he reached his hand out and said, “It was wonderful having you with us, Ms. Ansari. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.”

She offered a small smile, shaking his hand firmly. “Thank you, sir.”

It wasn’t until she walked out of his office did Nura let out a breath, eyes closing briefly before opening as she leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling. She wasn’t going to lie—that was kind of shitty. And although she knew she could use the extra time to pack up her life and get ready for her move to New York, it still left a small hole in her heart. Mr. McNulty only allowed her to resign out of her loyalty to the resort; so easily could she have just been fired, and Nura knew that would’ve sucked more. Still, it wasn’t wrong—or at least, she didn’t think it was—that the situation left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Nura sighed once more, giving a shake of her head as she began walking, figuring she might as well head to her suite to start packing. Her phone let out a ding and she pulled it out, eyebrows raising when she saw an e-mail from a Penguin Random House address. Nura hummed in acknowledgment, walking as she read the message from the woman who was the head of the editorial department, feeling a small smile tug at her lips as she read that the woman was excited to hear more from her, and that she hoped Nura accepted their offer.

And the e-mail had made her smile, reminding her of the hope she still had and how today wasn’t so shitty, until she got to the last line of the e-mail.

I’m so glad Mr. Hood—or Calum, as you may know him—recommended you to our firm. His e-mail only reaffirmed our decision in moving forward with your application.

Nura stopped, eyebrows slowly knitting together as she read those two sentences over and over again, hoping that she was only imagining them. But the more she read them, the clearer they got, and the heat that simmered in her veins only seemed to intensify with each second that passed by.

What the fuck.

He had reached out to them on her behalf? What the hell had he been thinking? Nura ran her fingers through her hair, letting out a sharp breath as she remembered the day she’d gotten the e-mail from them. He had been with her and he kept his damn mouth, didn’t even think to mention that he’d talked to them. 

Good thing he hadn’t, or else she would’ve probably ripped his head off while he was naked in her bed.

Heart drumming wildly in her chest, Nura texted him with trembling thumbs, casually asking him where he was. When he responded almost instantly, telling her he was at the beach, Nura didn’t think twice. She didn’t care she had to get her things ready—she needed to have a conversation with him first.

She arrived to the beach quickly, deaf to the sounds of people enjoying themselves and music playing and waves crashing. The sand was soft under her sneakers, eyes narrowed against the glare of the sun as she searched for Calum, or maybe even his friends, knowing he was with them. She walked in the direction of the shore, looking right and then left, jaw clenching when she caught sight of him resting on a towel under an umbrella. 

Nura stormed over, her anger and indignation overwhelming her, ignoring the greetings his friends offered her as she stood in front of his now sitting body when he heard her name being uttered by everyone else. “I need to talk to you,” Nura stated through gritted teeth. God, she was so angry, so outraged that he would meddle in her business the way he had, no matter his intentions. 

Calum frowned from behind his sunglasses, taking them off before he slowly stood up. Not even his stupid tattooed body could distract Nura from the glare she wore. “Is everything okay, sweetheart?”

Nope. No endearing nickname would distract her either. Nails digging into her palms, Nura demanded, “Did you reach out to Penguin Random House on my behalf so they would give me the job?”

She saw the realization flash across Calum’s face, lips parting as guilt tugged at his features and the knot in Nura’s stomach tightened. All of Calum’s friends had fallen silent as he started, “I—yeah, I did, but Nura—they were goin’ to give you the job anyway.”

“Maybe!” she exclaimed defiantly, eyebrows shooting up. “But it was what you did that made them go through with it, and I didn’t fucking ask you to do that.”

“Nura—” Calum let out a breath, frowning down at her as he gave a shake of his head. “I was just tryin’ to help.”

The sun was burning down her back, and it only drove Nura’s irritation further. Her chest felt tight, hating every minute of this. “I didn’t ask you to,” she repeated through gritted teeth, expression as hard as her eyes, and she knew Calum could see that. “I want to have a job because of my own hard work, not because of anything else.” She crossed her arms over her chest, voice lacing with a bitter venom as she added, “But I guess that’s too hard for someone who hasn’t worked a damn day in their life to understand.”

The hurt flashed across Calum’s face and for a moment, Nura regretted the words she’d uttered. God, they had been past that. She had stopped throwing his access to money in his face, had realized he was so much more than his bank account. But she was so angry in his act of meddling, and she lashed out when she was hurt, uncaring of who got caught in the damage. And it didn’t matter how much she liked Calum, how much he made her smile or laugh or feel good. He hadn’t respected her work ethic, had interfered when he wasn’t needed, and it only ended up hurting her. So she hurt him.

Nura took a step back, thinning her lips at him, uncaring of his friends’ stares as her brown eyes remained locked with Calum’s. His eyebrows were drawn together, the hurt more prominent on his face than anything else, and although the sight of him looking at her light that tightened Nura’s throat, it didn’t stop her from saying, “You cost me two jobs today, Calum. Do me a favor and stay the hell away.”

He saw the alarmed confusion in his eyes at her words, but Nura didn’t give him a chance to say anything as she turned and walked away, arms crossed tightly as she made her way off the beach. She knew he tried to go after her, was stopped when Ashton said, “Let her go, man,” and a dry sob escaped Nura as soon as she was far enough away from them. She felt her face scrunch up as she fought to keep the tears away; tears of anger, of sadness, of hurt—whatever the fuck they may be. It all came crashing into her after disappearing from Calum’s intense, pleading gaze, and Nura only let the tears fall when she was in the privacy of her bedroom.

She had expected to say goodbye to the resort soon enough. Saying goodbye to Calum, though, had never crossed her mind. 

*****

“She’s settled well in New York,” Mrs. Ansari told him with a smile, a happiness in her eyes as she spoke about her daughter. “She always wanted to get out of Florida, and even though I don’t like her being so far, I know she’s happy. That’s all I can ask for.”

Calum smiled, looking down at his hands as he twirled one of his rings. “She’s definitely a city girl—I’m not surprised she fits right in,” he said, unable to keep the fondness from slipping into his tone. Her face flashed across his mind; glimmering brown eyes and a smile that rendered him breathless every time. “They’re lucky to have her there.”

There was a silence that settled upon them briefly, and Calum heard the sound of porcelain clicking against glass as Mrs. Ansari put her mug of tea on the coffee table. “She told me what you did.” Calum’s throat worked as he looked up to meet the older woman’s gaze, surprised when she smiled at him gently. “Your heart was in the right place, Calum, and I know Nura knows that. She’s just. . .” She trailed off with a soft chuckle. “She’s independent, always has been. Her father and I raised her to work hard for what she wants and what you did, although it was only out of good intentions, made her feel as though you didn’t value who she was.”

Calum sat up, hating that that was ever a thought in Nura’s head. He admired her, so fucking much. And helping her had been such a natural instinct that Calum hadn’t stopped to think how it could be interpretated. Fuck, he should’ve known that the only way to help Nura was to support her in how she chose to run her life, not pave a pathway for her. Calum shook his head with a sigh, gaze dropping once more as he stared at his half drank cup of tea. Without even thinking, he murmured, “I value her more than anything.”

And he did. Of course he did. She’d come into his life like a whirlwind when he least expected it, when he was too busy being bitter over the way Dawn’s life had been moving forward despite her taking advantage of him. Nura was better than anyone Calum had ever met. She never took advantage of him, was quick to knock him down a peg or two when he needed to be, and, fuck, he loved her for it. Of all the things in the resort, Nura was the one who gave him a peace of mind, who pulled him out of the vat of bitterness that Dawn had thrown him in. He’d gone to Little Palm to so the beach and ocean and everything else in between could distract him. But it was Nura who did so by keeping him on his toes in the best way possible. 

He heard the smile in Mrs. Ansari’s voice. “Give her some time, beta. If you truly care about her, and I can tell that you do, you’ll try one more time.”

The late October chill of New York was something Calum was familiar with. He enjoyed it, a nice change from the warmth of Los Angeles, and he didn’t mind standing out on the sidewalk, back leaning against his car as he kept his gaze fixated on the front door of the building in front of him. His hands were kept warm in the pocket of his long dark grey coat, watching each person that walked out of the door, hoping it was the one familiar face he had been in search for.

He had half a mind to pull out a cigarette to warm him up, but he didn’t want the first time she saw him in months to be when he smelled of tobacco. Fuck, he didn’t even know if she wanted to see him. For all he knew, she would see him waiting outside and turn right back into the building. His heart drummed in his chest, and no words of reassurances from his friends or Mrs. Ansari echoing in his brain could ever prepare him for the moment that Nura emerged from the revolving door of Simon & Schuster, dark hair dancing in the breeze as she took in a breath of the late afternoon New York air.

Calum’s heart leaped in his throat the second he saw her, pushing himself off the car and standing straight, feeling every drop of blood racing in his veins as Nura started descending the concrete steps and looked up, only for her dark eyes to lock onto Calum’s.

Nura stopped where she stood, hands buried in the pocket of her own peacoat and he wondered if she was trying to determine whether she was imagining him or not. He saw the shock on her face, lips parted as Calum took a tentative step forward. There was still about fifteen feet worth of space between them, filled with people passing by, and he was desperate to close it.

“What—” Nura let out a breath, and Calum swore he didn’t think he had missed her voice so much. She finally descended the stairs, making her way towards him, eyebrows drawing together as she asked, “What’re you doing here?”

For a moment, all Calum could do was stare at her. Standing in front of him after months of just being a memory in his head, Calum was desperate to drink in the sight of her for as long as he could. She looked beautiful, unsurprisingly, having replaced her resort uniform with jeans, heeled boots and a turtleneck under her coat. Absolutely stunning.

“I—” Calum paused, clearing his throat before he reached into the inner pocket of his coat, pulling out the item that had been weighing it down. Nura watched, her eyebrows rising at the item in his hands. “I thought you’d want your book back.”

A scoff escaped Nura’s upturning lips, taking her copy of Aristotle and Dante from his hands. She had never asked for it back when she left the resort, and it had been the only thing Calum had of Nura’s once she left. He’d read the book once and then twice over, soaking in the words that had become her favorite to read. He felt closer to her every time he read it, momentarily allowing himself to forget how he had fucked things up between them.

Nura rolled her lips into her mouth before lifting her gaze to meet his eyes, gently asking, “Did you like it?”

Calum rolled his lips into his mouth, hands returning to the pockets of his coat. “It was beautiful,” he nodded, voice softer than he intended. He looked down at his shoes then, black Docs stark against the pavement. “Ari kind of frustrated me, though.”

“How come?”

He bit the inside of his cheek, considering his next words carefully before he told himself to just stop thinking. He’d been thinking of saying them for so long. Now, he finally would. “It took him so long to figure out he loved Dante.” Calum’s gaze met Nura’s, offering her a small, close mouthed smile, a bit sad, but truthful. “But for me, figuring out I loved you was the easiest thing.”

Calum heard the sharp inhale Nura took at his words, brown eyes framed by long lashes widening as she gaped at him, and Calum didn’t regret it. He’d been holding those words in for so long, had kept them in his chest to the point where it had become almost painful. Now they were out there, spoken to the person they were meant to, and now Nura had the power. So he stood there, watching her, waiting for her to say something. Anything.

He saw the subtle way her eyebrows drew together, grip on her book tightening as her throat worked. “I—” Nura took an unsteady breath and Calum wondered if she could hear his pounding heart. Nura dropped her gaze, looking down at the book, letting out a nervous chuckle as she said, “Well, Ari’s a gay kid in 1987, so things weren’t so easy for him figure out—”

God, if she was anyone else, Calum would’ve hurt his eyes by how hard he would’ve rolled him. Instead, he felt himself letting out a breathless chuckle, some of the nervous tension easing in his muscles as he took a step towards her and cut in, “But I also admire him.” Nura pressed her lips together, watching him as Calum offered a small smile. “Because he gave me the push to come out here, to tell you how I feel, to apologize for the way I fucked things up.”

She was listening to him intently, eyes wide and earnest, and Calum pulled his hands out of his pockets and cupped her cheeks. Her skin was as soft as he remembered it, felt a ghost of a smile curl his lips when her eyes fluttered as soon as he touched her. Even in the heart of New York, he could smell her delicious vanilla scent.

“You make me better, Nura. With your jokes and your ethics and all of the things that make you, you. Watching you push yourself pushes me, and that makes you the best person I know.” 

“Oh, shit.” Calum let out a short laugh at the whisper she let out, looking up at him in awe and incredulity. He hadn’t meant to make her speechless, but he needed her to hear the truth, every ounce of it. She licked her lips, the corners tugging up. “That’s, uh, a lot of credit you’re giving me.”

Calum’s own lips formed a smirk, still feeling his nerves buzz in his veins. “You deserve it,” he told her before tilting his chin and widening his smirk. “You pushed me to open up my own record shop, after all.”

Nura’s eyebrows shot up, surprise crossing her features. “What? Seriously?”

“Mhm,” Calum confirmed, thumb stroking her cheek. “Over in Brooklyn. Complete with records, instruments, and even lessons by yours truly.” Then, with a cheeky grin, he added, “Gonna check out that hard work thing you’re always talking about.”

Nura laughed at that, using the book to lightly smack his arm as Calum laughed, feeling the knot in his stomach loosen almost completely. When her laughter quieted, brown eyes lifting to meet his, she softly asked, “Did you mean it, what you said? That you. . . You love me?”

Calum’s smile softened, throat working as her eyes provided him with a warmth against the New York chill. He lowered his chin, eyes on hers as he confirmed, “I love you.”

Nura’s chest fell with a sharp exhale, and Calum briefly caught sight of her wide grin before she closed the gap between them with a press of her lips to his. Heat warmed Calum throughout his body as he kissed her back, leaning into her the way he had been desperate to do so for months, feeling her arms wind around his waist as she held him close. It felt so good, so fucking right to kiss her, to feel her so closely, to love her like he wanted to.

“I love you, too,” she murmured against his lips, a giggle escaping her as she uttered those words so happily. 

They pulled away with thundering hearts and giddy grins, and the flush in her cheeks told Calum that they would be okay. It was all the reassurance he needed. Calum grinned, snickering lightly as he hooked an arm around Nura’s neck and mused, “Money can’t buy me that.”

Nura’s expression fell flat, bemused despite Calum’s teasing grin, and she smacked her lips together with a roll of her eyes before saying, “Shut up and kiss me again.”

His face hurt from how widely he was grinning, ready and willing to comply. “Yes, ma’am.”

--

tags: @irwinkitten​ @loveroflrh​ @softforcal​ @sweetcherrymike​ @astroashtonio​ @meetashthere​ @novacanecalum​ @captain-what-is-going-on​ @angelbbycal​ @singt0mecalum​ @hopelessxcynic​ @lfwallscouldtalk​ @bodhi-black​ @findingliam-o​ @softlrh​ @highfivecalum​ @calumsmermaid​ @erikamarie41​ @quintodosuniversos​ @longlastingdaydream​ @babylon-corgis​ @lukehemmingsunflower​ @imfuckin10plybud​ @pastelpapermoons​ @conquerwhatliesahead92​ @rotten-kandy​ @metangi​ @neigcthood​ @ohhmuke​ @old-zeppelin-shirt​ @5sos-and-hessa​ @trustmeimawhalebiologist​ @vxlentinecal​ @pettybassists​ @vaporshawn​ @lu-my-golden-boi​ @visualm3nte​ @isabella-mae13​ @dontjinx-it​ @lifeakaharry​ @neonweeknds​ @antisocialbandmate​ @ixcantxdecidexwhosxmyxfave​ @calpalbby​ @grreatgooglymoogly​ @sunnysidesblog​ @miahelizaaabeth​ @madelynerin​ @dramallamawithsparkles​ @kaytiebug14​ @hoodskillerqueen​ @bitchinbabylon​ @empathycth​ @xhaileyreneex​ @inlovehoodx​ @aestheticrelated​ @bloodlinecal​ @sublimehood​ @madbomb​ @raabiac​ @britnicole11​ @outofmylimitcal​ @wildflower-cth​ @wildflowergrae​ @bloodmoonashton​ @vxidhood​ @gosh-im-short​ @thesubtweeter​  

[valeriethepussycats]

Enraptured

Pairing-Loki x Reader

Warning- cursing

Your thoughts and other characters are in italics.

A/n- this is an continuation of the dream world with Loki in Assemble (chapter5) if you want the song that inspired this it’s hanging by a moment by Lifehouse. (A little vent- I just found out that Mike Wazowski, The cyclops from one of my favorite movies growing up as a child is taller then me so from now on all of my Marvel fanfic and others the height is 5,5. The average height for a woman thank you for coming to my Ted talk☺️.)

Y/n and Loki are standing outside on the balcony. Y/n looks at Asgard with aw that she’s here. And Loki is looking at her with love in he’s eye like he’s already planning there life together and all the things he wants to do with her. This is all new to her Y/n’s father didn’t play anything games when it came to boys. In his eyes Y/n couldn’t have a boyfriend until she was eighty-five, imagine how he gonna react when he finds out that she likes someone and that someone just so happens to be Loki.

“Your staring.” Y/n announced not taking her eye off the scenery.

“I am not, cannot admiring beauty.” Loki said giving Y/n direct eye contact without staring but with minimal blinking.

Robin turns to face Loki with a gentle smile face. “What does it mean to have your name written in stars.”

“How-“ Loki stated.

“Thor told me.” Y/n answered.

“Well it only happens every 500 years. It tells you that your faded to be with someone. It’s started out as a simple spell but something happened and the stars intervene.” Loki explained.

“What’s going to happen between us?” Y/n said as her brows pull together in a frown.

“The more we are with each other the stronger we will be?” Loki answered.

“like seeing memories?”

“Yes.”

“Can the connection be lost?” Y/n asked.

“Do you not want it?”

“No. No, I want it......it’s just what if something happens and your taken from me.” Y/n said with a gloomy sigh.

“That would never happen.” Loki said in a voice soft with affection. “I will always find my way to you....you have been in my mind for a year. Now that I finally had you I do not want this feeling to fade.”

“I haven’t felt at peace like this in a long time.” Y/n started. “And it’s all because of you. I want to know more about you.”

“I’m not telling you about The Tesseract if that’s what your implying.” Loki told Y/n walking back into the dining room.

“I don’t want know about it?” Y/n said as she follows Loki.

“Really?”

“We’re gonna find it regardless if you tell me or not.”

“Is that cockiness, my dear?”

“No....no it’s confidence.” Y/n said holding her head high. “Now tell me something about you.”

“I am Frost Giants.” Loki said staring at his toes.

“What’s a Frost Giants?” Y/n said in a curious tone.

“Race of large humanoid beings.” Loki stated. “Let me show you.” Loki gently grabs hold of Y/n’s right hand. “Make your hand as cold as possible.”

“Ok.”

Y/n makes her hand Icy cold to the point where Loki’s hand starts to turn blue. The blue starts to climb up his arm and before it reaches face he goes away quickly. “Did I hurt you?”

“No. I just.....do not want you to see that form.”

“Why not?”

“You might not like what you see.”

“Don’t make that decision for me.” Y/n informed sassily. Y/n walks up to Loki and with her clod hand she touches Loki’s face and the blueness starts to spreading further, consuming his whole body.

“You know my eyes turn red too.“ Y/n said with a smile. “Now we have something in common.”

“You do not find me monsters?” Loki said searching Y/n face for anything that shows disgust. “You don’t hate what you see?”

“Why would I...I literally just found out what Frost Giants were five minutes ago

Blue skin or not you’re still Loki.” Y/n said with smile. “And who ever told you that you look like a monster fucking lied- “

Before Y/n could say anymore, Loki kisses her. Y/n stood froze when he kissed her abruptly, her hands still mid-air from the vibrant rant about him be called a monster. But Y/n pulled Loki closer, then She moved her hands to his shoulders affectionately. Loki runs his thumb down her cheek. More and more the kiss becomes heated.

I should stop this....but I don’t want to

Just then Y/n jumps up on to Loki and wrap her legs around Loki’s waist with out breaking the kiss. He walks them over to the table and swipe it with one arm and placed Y/n down. Loki started kissing Y/n carefully, tenderly, as if she were the most precious thing in the world. The tip of his tongue trailed against the seam of her lips urging her to open for him and she did. Her heart pounded when his tongue slipped inside her mouth as he deepened the kiss. Y/n whimpered into the kiss, them both pulsed with desire, with need, for each other.

“Lord Loki.”

Hearing that was like a cold bucket of water getting thrown on both of them. Robin wanted the world to open up and swallow her whole.

“It better be important.” Loki looks over Y/n’s shoulder at the woman in the doorway.

“Her lady is needed for the ceremony” Ada said shifting from foot to foot.

Loki looks down at Y/n. “It must have slipped my mind.”

Y/n looks up at Loki while biting her lower lip. “What’s supposed to be happening.”

Loki steps to aside. “You must go, the ceremony will be starting shortly.”

The ladies quickly grab hold of Y/n’s arm and pull her away but her eyes remain on Loki. “Ceremony? What ceremony?” Be Loki can give Y/n a answer she’s already gone out the room.

“M’lady we must get you ready.” Said Ada.

“What exactly is this ceremony and why am I supposed to be getting ready?” Y/n asked.

“My lady we cannot tell you it was lord Loki’s orders.”

What is he up too.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The maidens walks Y/n into a room where there is nothing but ball gowns. “Oh no.” Y/n tries to run out the room Merona stops her by blocking her path.

“Something the matter m’lady?” Merona fairly short woman asked.

“Am I supposed to be wearing one of these gowns?” Y/n questioned.

“Yes, m’lady.” All three maidens said in sync.

“What’s wrong with the dress I have on now?” Y/n wondered.

“That morning attire, m’lady.” Eda said walking over to the gowns.

“Morni-“

Do they have an attire for every fucking part of the day

“Do I have to?” Y/n said giving the maidens the puppy dog face.

Maidens nod their head “yes.”

Y/n sigh heavily. “If I must.”

The maidens goes to help Y/n out her clothes but she stops them. “Wha-what are you doing?”

“Getting you dressed, m’lady.” Ada answered.

“Why? I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself.” Y/n told them scratching her head. The maidens move Y/n to chair that’s in front of a big mirror and starts to do her hair and make up.

“Its our job, m’lady.” Eda stated.

“Why do you call me ‘m’lady’, I’m not royalty.” Y/n stared. “I’m just like you...commoner.”

“M’lady, you do not know how important you are.” Eda replied.

“What does-“

“We know you are from Midgard and you are not use to our custom.” Merona chimed in.

“How is Midgard?” Ada said in a cheerful voice.

“Ada, we should not bother her lady with such nonsense.” Merona scolded.

“No it’s fine Merona. Midgard is very different from Asgard everyone lives differently and there are different languages.” Y/n explained.

“How different?” Ada said in a curious tone.

“We don’t change every time of the day, we wear one set of clothes every day that’s unless you bath or shower then you change and we have phones and tv.”

“What is a phone?”

“What is a tv?”

Another maiden walks into the dressing room. This one carries herself as one would do being the manager of a company, the ladies whole demeanor changed when she walked. It’s like they knew they were in trouble but they just don’t know why.

“Merona..Eda....Ada why is her lady Y/n not ready.” Nura scolded them.

The three maidens hang their heads low and apologize.

“It is my fault they wanted to know more about where I come from.” Y/n told Nura. “And I wasn’t exactly cooperating.”

“Your too kind but we must get you ready.” Nura take Y/n behind a screen to change into the dress of her choosing. What are you doing so Eda starts to finish her make up while Merona tries to find a suitable hairstyle for the occasion. When they are done working a miracle. Nura looks at Y/n to see if she can find any imperfections on her dress and to see if there’s any strands of hair misplace or any smudged make up.

“You look beautiful m’lady.” Nura said with a proud smile.

Y/n smiles at the older woman. “Thank you.”

“Now we must hurry.” Nura proclaimed.

“Right....to some ceremony I know nothing about thank you Merona...Ada...Eda” Y/n said running out of the room

“You are ever so welcome m’lady.” Ada said with a smile on her face.

“No, fair I wanted to say that.” Eda whined.

Nura speed walks to catch up to Y/n. “A lady should never run.”

“Oh I’m sorry.” Y/n said as she stops running and walks.

“If needed so she speeds walks.” Nura informed Y/n.

Y/n and Nura reaches double doors and before Nura could open them Y/n stops her.“Before we go in.....what’s happening?”

“It is your wedding day, m’lady.”

“Wedding......day!?!

“I am go to tell you everything you need to know.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

The Throne Room was quite no one dare to speak the only sound you could hear was the Orchestra playing. Loki looks over at the head servant, reading his mind the head servant walks off to find what’s taken Lady Y/n so long and before she make it out.

The doors open to reveal Y/n dressed in the most lovely gown rich with color, walking down the aisle between the knights and courtiers of Asgard. Y/n kneels on the dais before King Loki. Loki smiles down at her. A man brings the queen's crown and ring to Loki on a pillow and he takes it.

“By the sacred laws vested in me, I crown you...Y/n...Queen of Asgard.”

Before Loki crowns Robin she wakes up in her bed back on earth and in her room on the Helicarrier.

“So it was all a dream...something my mind cooked up.” Y/n said with disappointment.

(I’m kidding about the 5,5. I’m just going through something lol. And if you want to look at the dress I suggested. Here.)

[aggravatinggemini]

Druck translation: Hypotension/Vacuum

Ava: I’m so looking forward to it. It’s gonna be so cool.

Fatou: I haven’t ben to a concert in ages. Do you think many people are there?

Ava: Mhm. Doch, I think so. 

Nora, can I borrow your highlighter?

Nora: Huh?

Ava: Your highlighter.

Nora: Oh right, yeah sure, go on. I bet it’ll look cute.

Ava: Thank you!

(Doorbell rings)

Nora: Hello?

(Nora groans

Mailin: Hey. Sorry that I’m bursting in like this. Can I talk to you all for a moment?

Nora: Yeah sure, come in.

Mailin: I... just wanted to apologize for having freaked out like that. Uhm... My family and I, we are really close to my Omi (granny). Uhm.. So because of Corona we don’t see her that often anymore. And when we do we’re being extra careful. Uhm... but.. she doesn’t really understand all of that and... then I said that I’ve been sleeping in a tent by myself. And then when we’ve been at my Omi’s  I hugged her.

Ava or Fatou: But nothing happened.

Mailin: But something could have happened.

(muffled voices in the background)

(Fatou sighs)

Fatou: I would love to hug you right now, I’m really sorry.

Mailin: I’d love to hug you all as well.

Nora: Me too, ey. That really sucks, I’m really sorry.

Mailin: I’m sorry I overreacted like that.

Ava: You can always talk to us, no matter what.

Nora: Uhm guys, that’s here... the concert.

Fatou: Oh fuck.

Nora: We’re already late, aren’t we?

Mailin: I lool like shit now.

Ava: No, hold up. Okay. Let’s fix this.

Moderator: Live, only for you: Nura!

(Th girls singing along to Radio by Nura)

[sugawara-sweetheart]

Heya, Nura 🥰

Not sure if you saw my reblog on my sideblog or not, but anyways — I have come to ramble about that recent masterpiece you created featuring Tadashi.

Ahem.

HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SO GOOD AT WRITING??!!!

LIKE DUDE I WAS HAVING NOODLES WHEN I SAW THE POST, AND I STOPPED SLURPING THEM SO I COULD READ. AND WHEN I TELL YOU MY FACE WENT RED, IT. WENT. RED.

but damn, I gotta know, does tsukki just ignore & let the whole thing go?

or did you have something else entirely in mind? or did you just wanna leave it on a cliffhanger??

hi!! i did see it!! :))

sgshsgsh THANK YOU MY LOVE STOP IT IM BLUSHING you see i hadn’t written in agesssss and then yesterday i had brainrot and wrote that tadashi smut, getou smut, toji and gojo fluff (separately lol) and sgsjsgs I DID IT IN MY STUDY BREAKS AHAHAH

i’m so happy you enjoyed it though!!!! i just couldn’t stop thinking about a needy yams jacking off to us so🥺the lil thirst just happened tee hee

sgshsgs I HAVE NOTHING IN MIND TBH I USUALLY NEVER DO WHEN I END STORIES LIKE THAT i just wanted some spice✨to it and have no intentions of following it up. umm i think tsukishima would be stunned and a lil shocked but he’d try to pretend it never happened for his own sake and yamaguchi’s. that’s the light✨version. if it was a piece of dc👀it’d be way different

[korra-the-red-lion]

Unnatural Affairs. Chapter 2: Let the Good Times Roll.

When I woke up the next morning, my eyes were achy and itchy. Falling asleep after spending most of the evening crying might have had something to do with that. I groaned as I reached for my glasses, deciding that I definitely needed a shower. I grabbed my soaps, shampoo and conditioner, flip flops, towels, and headed towards the communal shower area.

Luckily for me, there was no one here when I got there. I turned on the water, letting it heat up as I set up my things. I pulled the curtain across and got to washing all the eye boogies off my face. The warmth of the shower was very much needed as it ran down my body. I started feeling more like myself again as I scrubbed all the night grime off. I spent a few extra minutes, just enjoying the feeling of the warm water against my skin. If I closed my eyes, I could convince my mind that I felt great about this whole thing.

Then my stomach rumbled. I realized that I really didn’t have much of an appetite after my chat with dad and emotional break down with mom. I hadn’t eaten much of anything since lunchtime yesterday. The allure of food was more than enough to convince me to leave the comfort of the shower. I quickly wrapped a towel around both my body and hair. I gathered everything up and shuffled out of there. I peeked my head around the corner, feeling self-conscious of the fact that I had to go back to my room practically naked. I dashed back to my room and closed the door as quickly and quietly as possible. Sarah was still sleeping, thank God.

I got dressed and towel dried my hair the best I could. I didn’t bother with anything fancy today, since I was going to be spending most of my day standing in line to get my textbooks. I wasn’t going to wait around and end up spending hours of my school time there, so I planned to do it today.

I checked myself in the mirror before leaving. Just plain black leggings and a over large t-shirt that read ‘how-to pick-up chicks’ with a picture of a stick figure picking up a baby chicken. I adjusted my glasses to make sure they were straight, and I tossed my hair over to one side, trying to give it some style. I said I wasn’t going to be fancy, but I’m also not going to go out looking like I woke up from a rager.

I grabbed my purse, student card and my phone, and left the room. The sun was shining brightly overhead once I got outside, trying to squeeze out those last few days of summer. It felt good on my skin, and I thought about maybe eating outside. That would be nice.

Yawning as I made my way to the meal hall, my thoughts of my new classes and the new people I would meet wormed its way into my head. I knew I would do well in most of my classes, except for maybe some of the science ones. The issue was making friends. It’s not like I had hard a terrible time making them or anything, but my disposition ended up pushing away a lot of people. Then of course, the conversation I had with my dad popped up like an unwanted house guest. Dammit, he really knew how to get in my head.

I was practically storming as I walked into the meal hall. It was actually nicer than I thought it would be. There was quite bit of space, with nice large tables. It was also clean, which was a huge plus. Of course, move in day was literally yesterday. Maybe give it a week or so, and it would change. I walked down the stairs, letting the smell of food knock me out of my foul mood.

I loaded my plate up with hash browns, two fried eggs, bacon, and toast. I was starving and couldn’t wait to eat. I was about to head outside when I saw familiar strawberry blonde hair and I found myself walking towards it.

Shyly I approached the table where Lyn sat by herself. She was nearly dozing off in her seat, her plate empty in front of her. I tapped her shoulder, causing her to jolt awake.

“Wha’?” she blinked a few times and looked over her shoulder, smiling when she saw me. “Oh, hey Ally, wassup?”

“I was hoping I could sit with you?”

“Be my guest,” she said with a yawn. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun today, instead of that tight ponytail she had yesterday, and she wasn’t wearing the paint either, revealing all her freckles that were splashed across her nose and cheeks, like I suspected.

“How’d you sleep on your first night? Any crazy parties for you, or was the noise enough?”

I shook my head. “I’m not really a party girl, honestly. And I mean, the noise was definitely something I need to get used to. But my roommate seems really cool and at least that’s something. I was worried I was going to have a horrible roommate, like some of the horror stories I read about.”

Lyn cupped her chin and was leaning against the table as she listened to me. I wonder if anyone ever told her she had an intense stare. Even in her sleepy state, I know her focus was entirely on me as I spoke. It wasn’t uncomfortable or anything like that, more like an observation. She smirked into her hand and said, “I had one of those in first year.”

“What? Really?”

She nodded, still not taking her eyes off me. “Oh, hell yeah. She was so strange. She ironed all her shit in the room, told me I wasn’t allowed to cross the line she taped to the floor unless it was a necessity, and legit told me that I couldn’t listen to my music too loudly with my headphones in. Like, this girl was on something, I swear. Eventually, I broke down and requested to be switched out. Thank God, they moved her into a single dorm, and I got to stay. That’s when Nura moved in, and she’s awesome. We get along like PB and J, you know? I’m rarely in there anyhow, with practice and work, but still. Gotta feel welcome in your own home, you know?”

She ends with that a lot, I noted. It was endearing. I nodded in agreement. “I get that. Sometimes it was hard to um…go home after school. I don’t always get along with my dad, so it was awkward to go home.”

Lyn winced. “Shit, sorry. That’s crappy, not feeling like home is a safe place.” She sat up and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. “Dammit, Hart, you ruined the mood.”

“No, no! You didn’t do that at all,” I said quickly. “I was the one who brought it up in the first place!”

“I was the one who was all like ‘feel welcome in your home’,” she groaned. “Listen, I’ll make it up to you, yeah? You can ask me one thing, anything you want.”

“That seems really extreme…”

She shrugged. “I’m pretty much an open book.”

I bit my lip in thought, not really sure what to ask her. I didn’t know her all that well, but the offer to get to know her better was intriguing. Still, nothing really came to mind, and I ended up shaking my head. “Can I cash it in later?”

Lyn laughed, “Sure thing, Ally.”

We ended up talking for awhile longer about general things, like what majors we were taking and our favourite bands. Just simple stuff. Talking to Lyn was really easy. She laughed for no reason and had an infectious smile. When she was excited about something, she ended up bouncing her leg under the table. I’m not sure what it was about her that calmed me down, honestly. But she did. Maybe it truly was just her easy-going nature, but she seemed like a genuine person. Eventually, I had to get going to grab my books, much to my disappointment. I knew that once school started for real, I wasn’t going to be able to hang around her as much. It sounded like she had a lot more on her plate than I did.

As we both stood, I worked up the courage to ask for her number. That way, I could at least keep in touch with her by text. When I did, her eyes narrowed as a smirk appeared on her face.

“Sure, totally, Ally,” she took my phone from me, her fingers brushing against my hand as she did. “I don’t usually give my number out to anyone, but I will for you, since you’re cute and all,” she handed my phone back with her smirk still firmly in place.

Damn, that something I wasn’t expecting. I know I was blushing, but I tried to play it cool. I got the feeling yesterday that Lyn was a flirty kind of person, but I’m not entirely sure what her whole situation is.

“Thanks. I just know once school starts, we’ll both be pretty busy,” I said, looking away. Yeah, play it cool.

“Totally, just playing, you know?”

“Ha, totally.”

She pulled out her own phone and checked the time. “Yikes, gotta head out for real, though. Let’s try and hang before classes start, yeah? I’ll see you around, Ally!” With that, she left. But not before giving me her signature wink on the way out.

I tried to stop myself from smiling, but it was so hard. She really did have an infectious nature to her.

XXX

As I had hoped, there weren’t that many people at the bookstore. The line was a little long, but not so crazy that I would regret my choice in footwear. The bookstore itself was small, with not a lot of room to navigate. The lady behind the counter seemingly was 100 years old and was certainly moving like one. The only reason why this was taking a long time was literally because of her.

I tapped my foot along to the song I was listening to. I have to say, while I don’t love the lyrics, drivers license was a pretty catchy song. I missed the days of women writing songs telling men who did wrong by them to eff off. There was something cathartic about it all. Still, can’t deny a good song when I heard it. I was pretty content to stand there idly until someone tapped my shoulder.

I looked over, but there was no one there. Maybe the guy behind just hit me by accident? Shaking my head, I went back listening to the music when I felt the tap again. Again, there was no one there. Slowly, I take one earphone out and can hear the sounds of someone whispering around me. My eyes widened in understanding horror of what was happening.

There’s a freaking ghost trying to get my attention.

Inwardly I groaned, but I kept a neutral face on the outside. Well, except for the frantic look around I did with my eyes. There, in the corner. I turned slowly, trying not to draw too much attention to me as I did.

There is a ghost, looking no older than me, with some fancy hair cut and a nice suit on. He’s got a wicked grin on his face as we made eye contact. He floated over to stand directly in front of me.

“So, you can see me after all,” he said. All ghosts have this tinny tone to their voice, as if they’re talking through a bad phone call or something.

I nodded slowly but don’t dare say a word. There are way too many people around right now.

He tilted his head in a mostly human way, until it creeps a little bit past his shoulder, like his neck was broken. “Can’t you speak? You’re not one of those mutes, are you? Not that that’s an issue, but I was hoping to get someone who could share my story.”

Sighing through my nose, I pulled out my phone and typed out a message. I can talk, just not here. Too many people. Can it wait?

The ghost squinted at the screen, clearly able to read what I wrote. He frowned as we make eye contact again.

Oh Christ. I didn’t like the look in his eyes. He looked like he didn’t agree with me one bit. Some ghosts understood that most people can’t see them and that it makes a person look insane if they just start talking to thin air, while others just didn’t care. I had a bad feeling that this one fell in the second category.

He reached over, his hand going through my face. I felt the cold sliminess as he pulled his hand back through, and it takes my entire will power to not shudder or vomit on the spot. I really hated when they did that.

I wasn’t sure if it was normal for them to be able to touch people. I honestly never looked into too deeply, as it was best to avoid talking about it at all. But not for the first time do I regret that decision from 14-year-old me. I should have just used public library sources and at least had a better understanding of these things. But nope, I didn’t want to do anything out of the ordinary. Stupid.

“Human, all I want is for someone to listen to me and tell them what happened,” he said snootily. He reminded me of some popular guy who was used to people doing what he wanted on the drop of a hat.

I shuffled forward in the line a little. There were only three people ahead of me. I turned my head slightly, pulling my earphones up, hoping to God it looked like I was talking into the mic. “Listen, buddy. I am very happy to listen to you, but after I get out of here!” I hissed as quietly as possible.

Now he looked pissed off. Once again, he reached for me, as if that would make a difference. Except this time, it does. I can’t help but violently shudder as I stumbled back, reeling from the sudden shock of falling to my death. I don’t know if it was murder or suicide, but regardless, I feel the impact as my body hits the ground. My books tumbled out of my arms as I began to hyperventilate.

Oh my God, breathe Ally, BREATHE!

How could I breathe when I feel my neck snapping, but I don’t die right away? How can I breathe when I feel my skull leaking my brains all over the pavement? My vision is getting narrow as I trembled on the floor.

Okayyoujustneedtotakeadeepbreathlikemomtaughtyouinandoutinandoutcountto7holdfor7right?

My thoughts were racing and jumbled, my breathing definitely not slowing down in the slightest. We make eye contact one last time, me and the stupid selfish ghost. He was looking down at me with absolutely no pity or guilt at all. The look he was giving me suggested that if I had just done what he wanted, everything would have been fine.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to take a deep breath, but it didn’t work. I was still hyperventilating, my vision getting spotty. There is someone next to me, maybe another student. Quite frankly, I don’t really know much at this point. I felt someone, someone alive that is, take my hand and help me towards the door.

Yup, this is exactly how I expected my trip to the bookstore to be.

XXX

I woke up in my own bed, my mouth dry. I remember going outside and telling them to give me my purse. I took my Ativan and got back to my residence with the help of someone. I seriously can’t tell you who. Judging from how dark it was, it must be nighttime. Groggily, I sat up and reached for my glass of water instinctively. Except, it’s not there. Because I’m in a dorm, not my house. So, there is no night table with my water. I forced myself to get up and head towards the bathroom.

I washed my face and mouth, taking sips of water as I do. When I looked into the mirror, all I saw was my own pathetically pale face staring back at me. Day 2 and already I failed dad. Goddammit, the school might call my parents to tell them I had a panic attack at the bookstore. How humiliating. Not even a day away from home and I fall apart.

I can’t stop the tears as they fall down my face. I feel like garbage and I know I look like it too. I break down, using the sink as support. I feel like such an idiot. My mom wanted me to take a year off, maybe do some traveling. She probably knew that the stress of being away from home wasn’t going to be great for my stupid anxiety. As the sobs rack my body, someone’s timid knock draws my attention.

Sarah pokes her head into the bathroom, a look of worry on her face. She walked right in and pulled me away from the sink, embracing me.

“I’m here for you, Ally.” That’s all she said, but it strikes me deeply. This girl barely knows me but is here in this stupid bathroom, holding me tightly. Goddamn, how were some people just that good?

So there we stood, in the bathroom. She just held on to me, whispering into my ear and rubbing my back. I couldn’t say or do anything, so I just rested my head on her shoulder until I finally felt okay enough to head back to our room together.

XXX

As expected, I had a voicemail from mom when I bothered to check my phone in the morning. Well, more like afternoon. I stayed in bed all day, wearing my sloth covered PJ bottoms and my favourite hoodie. I basically watched one movie after another, just to keep my mind off things. Sometimes you really needed to take a ‘me day’.

Sarah left after checking to make sure I was feeling better. She said something about getting some good food and better desserts to cheer me up. I gotta do something nice for her after I was feeling better.

I stared at the screen, wondering if I should listen to the voicemail when a text appeared there. I was confused for a minute until I saw it was from Lyn. Then shame filled me, stopping me from opening it. She probably thought it was so lame that I had a panic attack in the stupid bookstore.

So, I ignored it. I didn’t want the only other person on this campus who I knew to think I was some pathetic loser.

Well, that only worked until my phone lit up again, this time with a phone call. I really didn’t want to answer it, so I declined the call.

Sarah walked into the room, holding two huge bags. “Okay, so like, I got some super yum food to help you feel better.”

“You really didn’t have to do that,” I mumbled into my hoodie.

“Sorry? Can’t hear you when mumble like that,” said Sarah. She plopped down on the bed and opened the first bag, pulling out a bunch of Taco Bell. The second bag had cupcakes and mini cheesecakes in it. I couldn’t believe that she did all this just for me.

She handed me a handful of Taco Bell things. I wasn’t even sure what most of it was, since my parents and I rarely ate fast food like this. But my God, it smelled amazing. I opened one up and took a tentative bite. It was so good right now. It was like Sarah knew I just needed some junk, just salty goodness.

“Yas! I like, was hoping that would work,” she said triumphantly. She noticed my phone was vibrating and picked it up, staring curiously at the screen. “Who’s Lyn? She’s called you like, 3 times. Is she your sister?”

I shook my head, stuffing more in my face. With some difficulty, I swallowed and took my phone back from her. “I just met her the other day. I guess she heard about the whole bookstore incident and wanted to check in…”

“But?”

“But I don’t want her to think less of me…”

Sarah made a disgusted face. “Ally, if someone thinks less of someone because they have anxiety, then they need to like, check themselves. So many people have mental health stuff going on. Like, seriously girl. I think she honestly just wants to make sure you’re okay.”

I stared at my phone, knowing that Sarah was probably right. Still, I wasn’t sure I was ready for that conversation. What was I going to say anyway? Hey, everything is totes fine now. Just had a panic attack because some jerkass ghost demanded I see how he gruesomely died, except didn’t bother to tell me who I was supposed to tell. So yeah, basically went through something extremely traumatic for absolutely no reason at this time. How was your day?

Yeah, that wasn’t going to fly. Instead, I fired off a text that just said, I’m doing okay now. Thanks for checking in. I don’t really feel like talking about it right now.

There. Straightforward and easy. When I got a message from Lyn, this time I opened it. Ok, let me know if u do wanna talk. I’ll be here.

“I guess I should call my mom, huh?” I said, looking over at Sarah, who was attempting to stick a whole mini cheesecake in her mouth.

She smiled unabashedly at me and swallowed. “Oh, I think you like, should, but no pressure. If you need to take time, then like, take your time.”

I gave a little laugh as I handed her a napkin for her face. It felt good to laugh. Sarah laughed too, as she wiped whipped cream off her lips. She handed me a mini cheesecake and we both attempted to shove the whole thing in without making a mess of ourselves. I giggled as I tried very hard not to make a mess, only to end up smearing a whole streak of chocolate sauce on my face somehow.

Sarah wasn’t much better off, with whipped cream on her nose this time. We ended up taking silly photos of each other and drank a ton of the pop she brought from Taco Bell. We ate and joked around for the next little while, until I finally worked up enough courage to listen to my mom’s voicemail. I excused myself and told her I was going to make the call.

I sat outside, the afternoon sun warm on my face. I don’t love the idea of making this call out in the open, but I didn’t want to kick Sarah out of her room either. It is what it is, I guess. I opened up my voicemail and listened to mom’s message.

“Hey, baby. How are you doing? Dad and I got the call and I just wanted to make sure that you’re doing better? Was there something that triggered it? Or did it just happen out of the blue? Either way, just call me back so I know you’re doing better now. Love you, Alexandra. Bye-bye.”

I scrolled to my mom’s name on the call list and hit call, listening to my phone ring in my ear. She picked up after the third ring. “Hello? Alexandra, is that you, baby?”

“It’s me, mom.”

“Thank goodness! Are you okay?” I could hear the concern dripping from her tone.

“I’m doing fine, yeah.”

“Okay, I’m glad to hear it. Can you tell me what happened?”

This was the part I wanted to avoid but knew I couldn’t. I shifted to get more comfortable and told my mom everything that happened. I wanted her to understand that everything about the whole situation was basically non-consensual. If I had the choice, I never would have spoken to that stupid preppy ghost in the first place. I wondered if my dad was listening in as I explained it all. I honestly hoped he wasn’t.

There was silence at the other end while I waited for mom to take it all in. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until mom said, “Okay.”

I sighed in relief.

“It sounds like that was…different? They’ve never done that to you before, right?”

Kind of think of it, no. That was different. Of course, when I was younger, I would just speak to them normally anyway. But that? I’ve never had a ghost do that to me, ever. I’ve never felt so violated before. It was strange…

After talking to mom a bit longer, I finally hung up and laid in the grass, looking up at the clouds. Was there something about this area that made them stronger, maybe? I really shouldn’t be thinking too much about it, but I also didn’t want that to happen again. Maybe I could walk down to the store tomorrow and see if they had anything that warded off spirits. I might also do some research, just to make sure.

So much for being ‘ordinary’, huh?

[owl-with-a-pen]

TOWER TRAINING - A CHEEKY SNEAK PEEK OF CHAPTER 63 OF MY FIC “ALL THE WAYS TO SHOW I CARE” (The full chapter will be available on my AO3 later this week)

A prompt for Harmony (Mina Loo)

Summary: A training session to build Nia’s skill in precognitive combat turns out to the be perfect chance to get Brainy to open up about certain emotional struggles.

Nia stood against a rocky and unforgiving terrain, dust blasting off of nearby surfaces into fine powdery swirls, startlingly bright against the glare of the static blue sky.

It was harrowingly beautiful. Totally alien. No matter how many times she saw it, she never thought she would get used to it. She could almost imagine the crunch of that foreign soil beneath her feet, the chill that probably ran through the bones of every prisoner who occupied its space.

She hissed suddenly, correcting her stance as something impossibly fast moved past her. A blur of washed out, ghastly colour, though Nia didn’t need to get a good look at it to know what it was. What it always was.

The Phantom rounded on her again, and this time Nia was able to capture its face, the horrible gape-jawed scream that seemed to be permanently affixed to its mouth. She backed up uneasily, gauging its distance. Once she was certain she had it in her line of fire, she threw her arm out, dream energy scorching her fingers as it tumbled through the filtering system on her gloves, spiralling outward in a vibrant blue swirl.

But, the thing was too fast. Before she’d even let her energy fly, the Phantom was already out of sight again. Nia gritted her teeth, darting her attention around the simulated room, clenching her hands.

“Do not aim for where it is,” Brainy instructed, his voice echoing from somewhere at her back. “Aim for where it will be.”

Nia bit the inside of her cheek. Training was getting more intense by the day, but this session was way harder than any before it.

She knew why. In less than twenty-four hours, she’d be travelling back in time to Kara and Alex’s high school alongside Brainy. Not only did they have to be prepared for anything the past might hit them with, the second they had a piece of Kara’s DNA, Nia wouldn’t just be fighting a simulation any longer.

They didn’t have time to waste. She had to get this right. But, figuring out where the hell the Phantom would spring out from next was proving to be incredibly difficult. If Brainy could just lend her the foresight with his differential calculus, she’d know exactly where to aim her throwing hand.

But, this was something she needed to learn alone. Brainy couldn’t be by her side at every moment.

It didn’t mean she had to like it.

“That’s easier said than done,” Nia gritted out, narrowing her eyes as she waited for the Phantom to show itself again. She could hear her heart thundering inside her head, frustration and fear practically swarming inside her gut. At least she could use those emotions to her advantage – they made her far more tempting bait to lure the Phantom back out from hiding.

“Dream energy comes from within,” Brainy continued, “what you do with it is entirely within your control.” He sounded as though he’d moved, which wasn’t surprising. He’d been circling the outskirts of the simulation grounds this whole time, reviewing her progress with his arm folded loosely behind his back. “Focus is paramount to success. Losing your focus-”

Nia yelped.

“-will be fatal.”

Nia hadn’t even realised that another Phantom had been tracking her until it was too late. Even if these simulated Phantoms weren’t progeny like the ones Prime had created the day before, they clearly travelled in packs.

Nia jerked suddenly as the creature’s talons shot out towards her, throwing up a shield of blue in a last-ditch effort to defend herself. The sudden shift in balance sent her off kilter and before she could right herself, she tripped, landing awkwardly on her side.

The shock of the impact rattled inside her, which only made her frustration that more potent. After all, Nia knew what Brainy was referring to when he spoke about losing focus. Recently, it felt like any time she had a good hold on her powers, her visions would be right there to knock her back on her ass. It didn’t matter that the Midvale visions had passed now she had a clear lead, it would only be a matter of time before another took its place. And then what? How the hell was she supposed to focus when she couldn’t even see clearly ahead of her?

The hole in her heart her mom had left behind seemed to grow deeper every day.

But then an impression of static coalesced at the far edge of the Phantom Zone simulation, and a moment later, Brainy stepped through the haze.

Something inside Nia’s chest eased seeing him there, calming a fraction of her irritation.

This training wasn’t like their previous sessions. For starters, Brainy wasn’t acting quite as reserved. Nia knew that he’d been dealing with a lot since he’d removed his inhibitors, and even more now that he was free to be himself after he’d given up his ruse against Lex. Before, he’d been doing everything to hold back his anger about the trial, his pain over Kara, but even after he’d let those emotions out, he clearly had no idea what to do with them. Yes, he’d begun to substitute donuts with healthier snacking throughout the day, but Brainy was still in clear need of that crutch, and Nia knew he was struggling far more than he ever wanted to admit out loud.

Brainy kept it well hidden during their training, although there was something far more open about his expression than there had been before. He smirked when he reached his hand out to her, offering his support.

Nia smiled back, taking his hand as she pulled herself back up onto her feet.

“Do you see where you went wrong?” Brainy asked the second she was upright, dark eyes scanning her intently.

“My focus?” Nia rolled her eyes. “I get it, Brainy. I want to be focused, too, but I can’t control when I have a vision. I can’t even control what I have a vision of.”

“Interesting,” Brainy mused. “When you have a dream, do you try to curb it to fit your situation?”

“Only if it’s dire,” Nia muttered, folding her arms. “After you—” She forced herself to take a deep breath, swallowing hard. “When you got attacked by that Phantom, it was just me and Alex against a hoard of those things. I knew that if I lost my cool, if I stumbled for even a second, Alex would pay the price and then we’d all die. I gave Alex a clear route to get to those lost souls, but then my vision hit me again, like it was trying to mess with me or something.”

Brainy ran a hand along his jaw, brow furrowed. He gestured to her thoughtfully. “Your dreams get more frequent the longer you ignore them.”

“I wasn’t ignoring them,” Nia said, a little more forcefully than she’d intended. She sighed. “It was just… I didn’t understand them. The same thing happened after you started working for Lex.” She laughed weakly. “I kept dreaming of you, and I had no idea what it meant.”

“Did you try to understand them?”

“I--” Nia bit her lip, glancing up at Brainy awkwardly. She grimaced. “With you? Honestly? No. I- thought it was just you getting inside my head.”

Brainy’s expression softened at that, although Nia was certain she saw something pained flicker behind his eyes. He took a step closer to her, almost secretively, folding his arms. “And your dreams of Midvale?” he asked, lowering his voice.

“I didn’t… I mean, there wasn’t time to look into it. If we all hadn’t connected the dots together, I’d still be no closer to understanding it.”

“Dreams are a powerful tool,” Brainy said slowly. He wasn’t quite watching her any longer, instead his gaze seemed to be focused on a task far outside of Nia’s grasp. Then, he blinked, glancing towards her decisively. “I… I watched Nura go through similar struggles at times,” he admitted, before quickly clearing his throat, “and though what I can speak of her must remain minimal, I can assure you that she found a way through her struggles in the end as well. Quick-fire visions can occur during battle, but you must not let that deter you. Your mind needs to remain open to the dreamscape at all times.”

Nia’s mouth fell open. “But, what if the vision I have has nothing to do with the fight?”

“Then it still holds importance,” Brainy said firmly. “However, I calculate that a large reason why your dreams are attacking you in this manner is because you are not allowing them to help you. You have made liberal use of your other powers in battle.” He made a small flourish with his hand. “Your dream energy, for example.”

“Thanks to your gloves,” Nia said, bumping his shoulder. “And of course I do, Brainy. Dream energy can actually hit stuff.”

“And your astral projection,” Brainy added, his lips twitching fondly. “After all, I would not be stood here without it.”

Nia blinked at that. Brainy rarely mentioned the incident at Leviathan’s ship since it had happened. Not that she could blame him. Even still, hearing it now reminded her again of how close she’d been to losing him.

And how close they were suddenly stood now. Close enough they could have been touching.

Nia’s face warmed.

“But,” Brainy continued thoughtfully, “when it comes to your dreams, you still view them as a hindrance unless you are specifically looking for something.” He quirked a brow, taking her shoulder. “Your visions do not work that way; they are a part of you, and they will work with you, but only if you allow them total access.”

She could feel Brainy’s fingers squeeze firmly against her. Nia swallowed. “I don’t know how.”

Brainy smiled and he lifted his chin, eyes glittering proudly. “Let’s try an exercise.”

[moth-and-raven]

CHAPTER EIGHT

I’m proud of myself for finding the Raven again. It’s much easier during the day, though I must’ve gotten turned around at some point because I’m approaching it from a different direction this time. Regardless, I slip in the front door and see Julian immediately, pacing the length of the bar and chatting distractedly with the bartender in Neviv.

“Reyja!” He rushes over as soon as he notices me. “Thank god!”

The bartender rolls his eyes and puts down the stein he’d been cleaning. “You’ve a strong stomach, my friend, if you can stand our Ilya’s nerves.”

“I don’t mind,” I say softly. These words are for Julian’s benefit, not his. “It’s worth it.”

Julian blushes as we’re waved out the door.

“You’re alright?” he asks once we get outside, pausing on the steps to tuck my hair behind my ear.

I take his hand and mesh our fingers. “I’m good.”

He checks the area almost automatically, but there are very few people around at this time of day. Relieved, he lets out a breath and crosses the street, keeping to the shadows despite the lack of foot traffic. “I don’t know what I expected, but I couldn’t stop imagining all these horrible things...”

“It’s okay.”

Julian laughs bashfully and raises my hand to his lips. “It’s okay,” he repeats, marvelling over the words. “Hm. I haven’t said that in a very long time.”

“Nadia told me you’ll get a trial.”

“She’s a good woman, the Countess.”

I hear the heartache in his words. “You deserve it, Julian. I mean it.”

He cups my cheek, the leather of his glove cool against my skin. “I know you do,” he says softly. “It’s, well… yes, I know you do.”

He shakes his head like he can clear the gloom that’s fallen over us and nods towards the end of the street. “I thought we could go to my favorite tea shop. Barth makes a mean drink but it’s a bit early to start downing the Bitters, even for me.”

I’ll let him change the subject for now. I don’t want to upset him. “You’re not going to believe this, but I don’t drink tea either.”

He laughs. “No coffee, no tea, no alcohol. Next you'll tell me you don't like seafood.”

"Um."

"Ha! Mazelinka will be so pleased. She's been trying to keep me kosher for years."

"Is seafood not kosher?"

"Some of it is. But I developed a fondness for lobster after I left Nevivon and shellfish is assuredly not." He points down a side-street.

We turn the corner and I smile at him, latching on to his elbow. "I'll keep all your urges in check."

"Oh, I'm sure you will. I can't wait to see how."

He's so easy to talk to. Actually, this might be flirting. Maybe I'm better at it than I thought, when I have someone so eager to volley it back. "Does the tea shop serve anything else?"

"Mm, I think they have hot cocoa. A bit unusual for summer, perhaps, but I'm sure they'll make it if we ask."

"That’s the only hot drink I like."

Julian chuckles to himself. "You know, a good friend of mine prefers hot cocoa too. I hope you’ll meet him someday."

"I hope so too." I want to meet all of his friends, learn which foods he likes and which he doesn't, hear stories from his childhood in Nevivon and his apprenticeship in Prakra. I want to know him inside and out.

I want to love him.

Maybe I already do.

We walk for a while in companionable silence. My thoughts careen away into a bright future, full of peaceful nights and laughter. For once, it seems attainable, not a dream but a memory yet to be made. I don't have to dream when reality is so kind.

I catch Julian staring at me several times. He smiles when I meet his gaze, but he can't quite hide the sadness in the set of his brows. I understand: we're not safe yet.

Still, I've never felt more free.

"This is it." Julian stops after several blocks and gestures to a nondescript storefront patterned with abstract marigolds. We duck inside to cool shadows slanting across the floor, the shop mostly empty aside from a pair of young women giggling in a corner and an older man buried in a newspaper at the counter.

None of them even look up as we weave around rickety tables until we reach the back of the room. Julian pulls out a chair for me and hangs his coat on the back of the other, settling down where he can see the door.

“Will you be alright here?” I ask. I should’ve thought of that earlier.

But he nods. “This shop’s been good to me. Well, I should say its former owner has.”

“Former?”

“She sold years ago, after her wife died.”

“Oh.”

“Mm.” His gaze drifts to the counter, as if looking for a familiar face. "Aida was one of the first victims of the Plague. Poor Nura. It broke something in her, I think, to see the love of her life fade away like that."

"I can't even imagine."

"I wish I would've been here to support her."

"I'm sure you did what you could." I reach over to rest my hand on his.

He smiles wryly. "You think so highly of me."

"Yeah, I do." I watch him search me, like he expects to find the lie in my eyes. “I do,” I repeat more softly.

It almost seems like he wants to argue, but he shakes his head and redirects his attention to the mahogany tabletop, stroking the back of my hand with his thumb.

“Tell me something, my dear— that is, if you can. But I’ve always wondered: how do those cards of yours work?”

I feel the tingle of the tarot deck Asra made for me from my bag, like it’s been waiting for him to ask. I wasn’t even going to bring them, but I stopped by my room at the palace on the way out to pack some essentials in case I happen to find alternate lodgings again tonight, and when I was changing clothes, the black velvet pouch caught my eye. I can’t believe it’s only been a few days since I got them. I feel like a different person now.

I lean away from Julian to grab the cards. I don’t think he was expecting me to actually have them, but he smothers his surprise quickly. I tip them out of the pouch and start to shuffle as I talk.

“So the deck is seventy-eight cards: the Major Arcana, which has twenty-one cards plus the Fool, and four suits of fourteen cards each. Those are the Minor Arcana. We go to them for advice on everyday things, like money and emotions.” I pluck a card at random. “Like this, the King of Wands. He’s…”

I falter, but only for a moment. If this wants to turn into a reading, I’m not going to stop it.

“He represents someone bright and charismatic, eager to help if he can. Maybe a little older, but still confident and, um. And sexy.”

Julian raises a brow but doesn’t interrupt.

“He’s one of the court cards. Four of those for each suit. And every card has two sets of meanings, depending on if I pull them upright or reversed.”

“Reversed?”

“Upside down. Like this.” I spin the King of Wands to show him.

“And what does he mean then?”

“He might be more fearful, maybe afraid of losing control or showing that he isn’t as confident as he appears to be. Sometimes it means that he’s prone to anger, but—” I swallow hard. “But usually it’s more that he’s trying to force a certain outcome and kind of doesn’t care who he steps on to get it.”

Julian touches the card’s deep black surface, skating his gloved fingertips over the inverted King’s crown and the delicate silver lines of his leafy staff. “I see,” he says quietly. “Are these outcomes set in stone?”

“What?”

He looks up at me. “The fortunes they tell. Do they always come to pass?”

“Oh, um. Actually, ‘fortune-telling’ is kind of a misnomer. I think of reading the cards more as asking for advice. Sometimes what they say helps people make a decision, or see something from a different perspective.”

“Ah.”

I put the deck down when he has nothing else to say. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, don’t mind me. I’d just wondered what sort of secrets you could learn, if there was some way to…”

To tell if he’s guilty or not. “We can ask.”

“What do you mean?”

The cards can be tricky. Their messages are usually complex, multifaceted, and depending on who chooses to speak, purposefully vague. But the voices of the Arcana can’t lie. Whatever they say, no matter how deep the meaning is buried, is worth listening to. “Well, all that back-corner-of-the-market ‘you’ll marry into a rich family and have thirteen children’ kind of fortune-telling is bullshit, but if you hear what the cards tell you, they can help.”

Julian shifts in his chair, eyeing me from behind his curtain of auburn curls. “I’ve run out on you before,” he says. “Back at your shop, I mean. When we met. I, ah, I don’t think I knew what I was asking then.”

“I pulled the Magician, didn’t I?”

He laughs harshly. “You did. I assumed it was referring to Asra, but of course I already knew I was looking for him.”

“It might’ve been, but not like that. The Magician usually means new opportunities. Success. Maybe following a logical outcome and getting what you need.”

This time, his laugh is warmer, and when I look at him, he’s smiling. “And it led me to you.”

I hadn’t made that connection. I think he’s more familiar with this process than he assumed he was. A warm flush settles into my skin as he reaches across the table and strokes my cheek, his attention following the sweep of his thumb and settling on my lips, then darting back to my eyes.

“Perhaps I need another reading,” he says softly. “One I’ll listen to this time.”

“Okay.”

It’s so much easier to reach him now; his aura is welcoming, a rich imperial purple that invites me into it like an embrace. It’s ragged around the edges, fading to rust-red, but I could lose myself in its depths and never think I was lost. The tingle of a card beneath my fingers calls me back.

I wish it hadn’t.

“The Lovers, reversed.” I wonder if the Arcana are capable of mocking. “Um, before I say anything else, the Lovers doesn’t always mean, like, actual lovers. It might be referring to any relationship.”

Julian examines the silvery figures, avoiding my eyes.

“So, um. Lovers reversed could be something like not taking responsibility for your actions, or feeling a disconnect with someone you—” I almost choke on the dismay rising in my throat. “Someone you thought you were close to. Maybe there’s something getting in the way of being together.”

He nods sadly and I regret every word I’ve said since I fished the deck out of my bag.

“Yes, that… that clears some things up.”

The finality of his tone scares me. “It does?”

He tries to smile but it reads as a grimace. “Let’s get out of here, my— Reyja. I think we need to talk.”

------

It’s getting late when we leave the tea shop; the gentle tinkle of the greeting bell as the door shuts behind us sounds like a warning. I thought my nerves had settled, but Julian’s bearing has changed so thoroughly that I almost don’t recognize him anymore. His shoulders slump, his fingers pluck at the buttons of his uniform, and he won’t look at me. After catching him staring so many times, it feels odd.

I suppose it isn’t hard to guess why. Clearly we saw the same thing in the cards: there’s a lot going against us if we want to make this work. But we knew that. From the beginning, we knew that. I thought we were going to try anyway. The idea of losing him so quickly constricts around me and I find myself reaching for him. At least he lets me, and squeezes my hand so tightly in return that it almost hurts.

It crosses my mind that we could leave. Find a ship in the harbor, set sail for distant shores where no one knew us or what we’d left behind. But almost as soon as I think it, I know he’d never agree. He did that exact thing for three years; it was because he learned it didn’t work that he came back.

I won’t help him run. And I won’t let myself run either. I’m willing to fight for him even if he isn’t. I have to tell him that.

I’m about to when a musical voice cuts through the gathering evening.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite beanpole.”

Julian flinches, drawing me to his chest. But he relaxes again as soon as he turns around and recognizes who spoke.

“Speak of the devil!” he laughs. I can almost believe there’s nothing wrong, hearing him happy again.

“Talking about me? I’m not surprised.” The woman rests her beautifully-decorated crutches against the sandstone wall behind her and fishes in the pocket of her tunic for a cigarette case.

“No, you wouldn’t be, would you?”

“Oh stop, you’ll inflate my ego.”

“Ha! You’ve never needed my help for that, Nura.”

Is this the same person who started the shop we just left? The South End must be smaller than I thought.

“Who’s your friend?” she asks, gesturing at me with her head.

I’m not going to wait for him to introduce me this time. “I’m Reyja.”

“Nurlan. Your doctor and I go way back.”

A strange sort of pleasure warms me at the idea of Julian being my doctor. I wonder if they’ve known each other long enough for her to reassure him that there are people on his side, in words he won’t accept from me. “How far back?”

Both of them look at me oddly, but Nurlan shrugs. Her single sandal, I notice, is patterned with the same sort of flowers that adorn the walls of the tea shop. “Before he skipped town,” she says.

Good. “How did you know him?”

Nurlan raises a heavily made-up brow. “Jealous type, huh?”

I flush. That isn’t what I was thinking, but it’s a possibility I hadn’t considered. And I’m ashamed of the hostility that floods through me even without proof… and even though she’d called him mine mere moments ago. “I- I just meant, um.” How can I salvage this? How much can I give away without giving anything away? If I tell her I’m looking for a witness to his character, to prove to both him and the Palace that he isn’t the man who murdered Count Lucio, will she play along or try to get away from me as fast as she can, like simply being around me will summon the guards? I wouldn’t blame her either way: it’s a weird thing to ask.

But I can’t shake the feeling that I’m running out of time.

“Uh, sorry. Honestly, I was just wondering if he was always—” Thank god I’m already blushing, because I can’t believe I’m going to say this. “—as cute as he is now.”

Julian sputters and Nurlan laughs, bold and brassy. “Ha, you think he’s the cute one? Of the two of you, you definitely have that covered,” she says, and winks at me.

It’ll be a miracle if I ever stop blushing.

Nurlan doesn’t push the point, calling a tiny flicker of flame to her fingertip and lighting her cigarette. She takes a deep drag and eyes me through the cloud of smoke she lets out. “Yeah, he’s always been that cute. And he was always willing to do the difficult thing, always there when… well, he’s one of the good ones. Fewer of those around these days.”

Julian shifts, almost like he wants to run. But instead he chuckles nervously. “That talent for flattery is what makes you so popular.”

"Oh, you’d know if I was really flattering you. I could have you on your knees before you even realized it.”

“A-ahm, yes, I’m sure you—”

Nurlan cuts him off, holding up one hand. “Does that answer your question, Reyja?”

“Yeah.” I never doubted it: the only one who seems to is Julian himself.

“Good. I’d love to stay and chat but there’s a show tonight. You two are welcome, if you want to come. I can always find a place for my friends.”

Julian shakes his head. “Thank you, Nura, but, ah, we have other plans.”

“Suit yourself.” She taps out her cigarette. “But you owe me a drink before you go galavanting off again.”

“Of course.”

Nurlan eyes him suspiciously, but waves goodbye and starts down the alley next to her, towards a door held open with a box of stage props.

Julian’s gaze lingers on me after she leaves. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Why? She seemed nice.”

“Oh, she is. I’m glad you got to meet her before…”

I can’t let him keep doing this. “What is it, Julian?”

“What is—? Ah. Yes. Erm, right. How about we… the seawall. Let’s, ah, let’s go down to the water and, and talk.”

My heart aches as we cross the street, following the sound of the waves to the southern pier. He wouldn’t keep putting off whatever he wants to say unless it was big. I should be brave and just make him say it now, but I don’t think I want to hear it either.

We walk again, this time in silence. I stew in my own thoughts until I realize that we’ve stopped under a lantern just turned on for the night, close enough to the bay to see the Lazaret’s ominous outline cluttering up the horizon. Julian stares at it for a moment, then wheels to face me. I catch just a glimpse of the pain in his expression before he wraps his arms around me and kisses me so hard, I lose my breath.

He tangles his hands in my hair, his mouth frantic on mine like he would die without me. I’m only too willing to kiss him back, anchoring my grip on the collar of his coat. His attention wanders across my throat, drawing little red bruises where he sucks instead of licks, his breath warm on the saliva he leaves behind. I hold him closer and graze my lips along the shell of his ear, wound up in him so fully that, for a moment, I’m almost able to forget about the looming conversation that brought us here.

He hisses when I take his earlobe between my teeth, pulling away just enough to pant a few words. “P-please, don’t be afraid to bite.”

I happily oblige, and his hiss becomes a moan as his knees give out, making him sag against me and the wall behind us.

“Oh, again!” he begs, tearing his collar down to reveal the side of his neck. “Here, where you’ll leave a mark!”

As I sink my teeth into his pale skin, the image of him doing the same to me, brewed in the swirl of my desperate dream the morning after we talked so long at the Raven, comes rushing back. The cry he fails to swallow sounds so familiar, so passionate, that I almost don’t notice the tears on his cheeks until he steps away and cool evening air flows in to replace him.

“I’m s-so sorry,” he says, turning away to scrub at his uncovered eye with the side of his branded hand. “I’m so sorry, Reyja. Oh, I’m so, so sorry.”

And all at once, I know why we’re here.

“I’ve done you a h-horrible disservice,” Julian continues, pulling each word from a tortured place. “I’ve hindered you, distracted you. And now if I make you fail, I’ll have put you in the bad graces of the Countess herself.”

I answer without hearing my own voice. “Make me fail?”

“I’m afraid I’ve done to you what I’ve done to the people here, people like Nurlan and Barth. Somehow, I’ve made you all believe that I’m a good man, and I’m not. I can’t be: if I haven’t done what they say I’ve done, then where does this guilt, this certainty that I’ve wronged someone so terribly I can never atone for it… where does that come from? The simplest solution is usually the right one.”

He shakes his head and takes another step towards the heartless sea. “I was so selfish, dragging you into this. Oh, I should’ve been strong enough to stay away from you, no matter how much I wanted—” His voice cracks. “All I can do now is make sure you’re safe. Please stay safe, Reyja. Please. This time we’ve stolen meant so much to me. I’ll never forget it, but I hope you can.”

I fight through my numbness enough to find outrage. “You want me to just abandon you, leave you to your fate? You want me to forget my first, my first anything? My first everything? ”

“I want you to be safe. And you won’t be safe with me. There’s a warrant with my name on it in every city from here to Dayyruz. I cannot, will not, be the blood that stains you. Believe me, if I thought I could be the man you deserve…”

“Please don’t do this,” I whisper.

But he isn’t listening anymore. “The Lazaret out there, that’s what I have to offer. A monument to my failures as a doctor and as a man. I killed hundreds. Thousands, maybe. Every life that slipped through my hands is red in my ledger. If I don’t hang for the Count’s murder, I should hang for countless others.”

“Julian, please!”

His shoulders tremble beneath his heavy coat. “I won’t ask you to forgive me. You were right, what you said: that puts far too much of a burden on you to erase the wrongs I’ve done. And you shouldn’t forgive me anyway. I’ve h-hurt you.” He does his best to swallow his tears. “The best I can do now is cauterize the wound and leave you with nothing more than a handful of pleasant memories.”

“Please—”

“I’ll apologize to you with every breath until my last, Reyja, and it still won’t be enough. I know that. C-can… can you get home from here?”

With the bay on one side, I know exactly where I am. Maybe I shouldn’t tell him that, though, if only to spend a few more moments with him. But I won't let my last word be a lie.

“Yes,” I say, so softly it’s a wonder he hears it.

“T-t-then, then this is goodbye.”

He shifts out of the circle of light.

“Julian, wait—!”

But he’s already gone.

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

Nurlan Samal belongs to @atypicalacademic​.

prev || next

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

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[loveofshows]

Kara and Brainy getting into a fight after he comes back from the dead

I have been avoiding this conversation for so long. Also this is more so after he gets his soul back.

——

"You shouldn't have done it," a voice startled her out of her sleep.

It wasn't even morning, and Kara was surprised to find Querl awake.

Sitting up straight, Kara glanced over to see Querl sitting down, avoiding her gaze.

"How much did you hear?" Kara couldn't help but ask.

"All of it." There was a pause before he continued. "You didn't have the right to do what you did."

"I know," Kara whispered.

"Then why did you do it?" Querl asked. Kara flinched at the harshness of his tone. "And don't say it was because I deserve a second chance. I already had that thanks to Nura."

She didn't say anything, she wasn't sure what to say.

"It's unnatural to bring someone back from the dead. You shouldn't have done it."

"And what? Go back to life and move on?" Kara snapped, Querl flinched but nodded. "I couldn't. I killed you Querl. No one can move on from that."

"So you brought me back purely because you felt guilty?" he asked in disbelief. The thought of toying with life and death made Querl sick. And the fact that Kara went and did the unthinkable, well he wasn't sure what to think about that.

"I love you, Querl."

"If you really loved me, then you should have left me alone Kara," Querl said, turning his attention back to his hands that were formed in a first. He just wanted her to go away, but he couldn't quite say the words.

"You would have done the same." It was a murmur but Querl still hear it. Turning his head to face her, he rapidly shook his head.

"No, I would not have," he stated, "I would have let you rest and we would have moved on. I wouldn't have forced you into something you didn't want to do. Which you did by the way. I rather be dead then be alive knowing there's always this monster inside of me.”

"Brainy..."

"No, you took something from me, you've betrayed my trust Kara. I don't think I can forgive you Kara. I think I need some space."  Nothing hurt more then hearing those words from someone she loved dearly.

With a nod, Kara slowly stood and made her way to the door. "Okay," she whispered, hand on the door. "If that's what you want." With that, Kara left.

Querl plopped down on the bed and covered his eyes with his arm. He wasn't going to cry, not yet. He knew how this conversation was going to go, but nonetheless it still hurt.

Once Kara was alone in a room she didn't know, she curled on in a ball and cried. She should have listened to Oliver and left Querl alone.

What's done is done, and now all Kara could do was live with what she's done. And if Querl hates her for the rest of their life, then shelol just have to move on.

[starswouldtell]

Brainy

Full disclosure: I know very little about the Legion of Superheroes outside of what the show has given us, but this thought came to me and I followed it. I hope my version of Nura Nal is enjoyable. This could be read as a follow-up to Hope; it’s not directly related to what I explored there, but they work as a timeline together for my thoughts on Brainy in his early days with the Legion. This was written for the “finding family” prompt for @elmayarafest. _________________________________________________

“You know,” Nura says (she’s sitting in his chair, her knees drawn up so she can rest her chin on them) “when I had my first dream about you, it wasn’t just about you becoming a hero.”

“Was is not?” Querl answers distractedly; across the table from her he’s working on a smaller force field generator. It’s delicate work but he finds he doesn’t mind her company and maybe even enjoys the chatter.

“That wasn’t all.” He can hear the smile in her voice and finally looks up at her.

“I see.” It’s extremely probable she wants him to ask what she dreamed, but he stays silent- a bit of a game to see how long it will be for her to come out with it.

“Don’t you wanna know what else?”

“I assume if you want me to know you’ll tell me.” Querl smirks, looking back to his work.

Nura rolls her eyes but smiles. “I dreamed of you finally feeling pride in your family.” 

At that, Querl frowns, looking to her again. “Pride? In my ancestors?” There’s nothing heroic in that... the thought alone makes him uneasy; he thinks of all that his father feared in him-- all that the galaxy fears...

Nura sets her feet on the floor, scooching forward and folding her arms on the table. “Family doesn’t have to be blood. Sometimes-... sometimes it’s people you choose.”

“I see...” Querl murmurs, considering that.

“...What I’m saying is... you have a family here. If you want it.” Nura offers softly. “I hope you know that.”

His eyes meet hers and after a moment he speaks. “I- Thank you, Nura.”

“Anytime, Brainy.” She says with a smile, before getting up and heading out of the lab.

Querl peers after her. Brainy...?

But Nura was smiling; calling him family in spite of his blood; accepting him for all that he is.

Brainy...

He doesn’t hate it.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Wasn’t gonna do a 5x11 post, but ya know what? It was a good one, and it’s fun to talk about stuff ya like.

SPOILERS.

Folks this one is LONG:

Admittedly, I don’t really understand what Brainy did with the rock and the stick, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter, because we get Motorcycle Brainy.

I appreciate that nearly every character on this show has the impulse to go out and get a black Stealth Outfit and procure a motorcycle whenever they gotta do clandestine, under-cover stuff. (See also: Lucy, Kara, Alex, J’onn.)

ALSO appreciate the ongoing commitment to characters showing they care via food, as seen in the Breakup Feast scene. 

I’ve seen this episode four times and it’s only JUST occurring to me that Lex is grabbing some of Evil!Winn’s hair and not just creepily picking lint off his shirt, after their little chat.

Lena Laments to Lex! Lost Lots of Lobe Legwork.

And then NAT CITY TOY CON! 

Lex’s action figure is safe for children ages 5 and up, AND the articulation allows for lots of action and superhero poses!

(That thing has NO visible leg or arm joints, Lex will not be doing ANY action posing, whatsoever. XD)

But, for real: It’s a pretty great prop. The packaging is spot on. 

Love all the Supergirl action figures in the background too. (AND WITH THE NEW SUIT I am envious of Earth Prime.)

Get ‘im William, GET ‘IM.

The Lex and Kara scene was GREAT, loved the recorder smash.

Then dramatic slow walk with wiiiiiind, very nice.

CAPE SAVE

WINN

Absolutely love the moment between him, Alex, and Kara when he reveals he has a family. 

AND HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER ARE LOVELY. THAT KIDDO IS SO CUTE.

Group huuuuuuug

‘I might have missed you just a little bit.’ ‘Me too, just a little.’ ‘Yeah, well, I missed you, like, A LOT.’

Side note: Really dig Winn’s superhero outfit. 

“I wanted to apologize to you, for how I treated you after you took my mother’s medallion.”

*Skeptical Thor face* Is it really hers though?

(Answer: No.)

Okay OKAY now we get to the REALLY GOOD PART but first, a bit of appreciation for Winn referencing Sam Spade.

Alright, are we ready? ARE WE READY????

J’onn’s office (which is ALREADY a cool set) gets a SECRET ELEVATOR that leads tooooo...

THE TOWwait, whoops, almost forgot:

Kara’s total nerd reaction to the secret elevator and Alex’s elder sibling-ly ‘don’t push’ while actually pushing Winn are just. *chef’s kiss*

Okay, we’re back: THE TOWER!!!!!

Complete with PAPA BEAR HUG for Best Son Winn!

I like J’onn’s Martian vest, though I do feel like he should get some finger-less gloves, or something, to complete the look.

“In the future they call it the Hall of Justice.” “I like that.”

“So like STAR Labs.” “Or the Arrow Bunker.” “A place where my Superfriends can work, whenever they should need it.” 

1.) I don’t know why the casual references to the other shows are throwing me, it’s not like they haven’t done it before...maybe it’s the fact that characters besides Kara have this kind of...lived-in familiarity with this stuff that’s otherwise been reserved for her, due to the nature of JUST the lead visiting the other shows. 2.) It occurs to me that Supergirl, the show, never had a central hub like the Arrow Bunker or Star Labs that’s just for the main characters. (Well, I guess the Office of Solitude counts? Kind of?) All of the sets (aside from Kara’s Loft and J’onn’s office which are like...living spaces) require at least a handful of extras milling around in the background. I don’t know where I was going with this....*Marge Simpson voice* I just think it’s neat. 3.) J’onn calling them his Superfriends!!!! :D

“What are you gonna call it?” “I was thinking...The Tower.” “COOL.”

Kara you lovable nerd, you.

The cut from the Martian Memory Meld to Winn’s puking is comedic gold.

“And James runs a small town newspaper and mentors children? That’s adorable!”

You can tell who’s only watching the show via gifs, because this line threw them.

Alex being like, ‘BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE.’ XD

Evil!Winn’s message has Jim Carrey Riddler energy. I think it’s that ‘Let’s play to win!’ bit that does it.

Aaaand some other stuff occurs. Lex and Brainy talk, The Kara and William stuff at CatCo, Evil!Winn’s warehouse lair.

But then BACK TO THE TOWER for more nerding out and some lovely heart-to-hearts!

Winn telling Nia about Nura: :D :D :D

And then OOOOOH BOY, my favorite scene: Kara and Winn.

It starts off great, with Kara being like, ‘I bet you’re a great dad.’ And then Winn gets to talk about being a dad! And naming his little girl after his mom! ‘It was either that or Winifred.’ Heart AND humor??? AND THEN: “KARA WAS AN OPTION.” AAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW

BUT THEN WINN’S LIKE, ‘EVERYONE IN THE FUTURE NAMES THEIR KID KARA’ HECK YEAH THEY DO

 And then the scene continued to be great but I will admit that I was gripped with a sudden, terrible fear that when Kara mentioned not being too thrilled with her ‘legend’ she was gonna talk about how she betrayed Lena yet again but THANK GOODNESS IT WASN’T THAT.

Instead what we got was this nice little exchange about Kara feeling like she’s endangering William, and Winn being like: ‘you put ME in danger but I always trusted you to protect me’ which is a LOVELY bit of trust and reassurance and a nice deconstruction of the idea that heroes have to distance themselves from others in order to best protect them. Supergirl the TV show has always said and will always say NOPE.

STRONGER TOGETHER.

“Being in your orbit...it’s inspiring.” “You.”

I JUST LOVE KARA HAVING THEM THERE GOOD FRIENDSHIPS.

Then Wicked Winn’s Warehouse! Followed By Lex on a Legion Ship! Learning of Leviathan!

The Obsidian pitch sounds TOTALLY legit, can’t IMAGINE how that could be exploited for evil.

Then Toyman’s Terrible Tigers! Which Brainy Tries to Tame! 

And, look. You’re either the kind of person that watches these DCTV shows and rolls your eyes at on-the-nose music cues, ooooor you’re the kind of person that applauds that kind of go-for-broke attitude.

I am one of the latter.

(BUT it’s always just gonna be...really hard to top The Flash using “Flash Gordon” as Barry jumps into a black hole.)

ANYWAYS.

Always cool to see Kara speed folks away from danger. Very nice!

Whoops, little out of order here, I got excited: prior to the super speed, we have a Winn Stand-off.

(NGL the mental image of Winn singing “Nothing Left to Lose” with his evil counterpart has been amusing me all week long.)

But I digress! Toyman seems to perish in the explosion, but given that this is a two part episode...HMMMM. I think NOT.

(I mean, there’s also the end of episode cliffhanger, so. Yeah, obvious guess is obvious.)

But for the moment, Winn’s future is safe! Yaaaaay!

Then we get the cute moment between Kara and William and YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT, I SAID CUTE. BECAUSE IT WAS CUTE.

So please put me firmly in camp: Generally indifferent to ships but certainly not opposed to more cute reporter shenanigans.

(Also she wouldn’t let him have dinner alone with the world’s saddest sandwich.) 

Instead William gets to come to GAME NIGHT!

Everything about that scene is. So good.

The friendly trash-talking! The glasses bit! ‘Marty’! William saving the Jenga tower for Kara! Space Dad being there! 

(Oh, forgot another scene in my haste to rejoice over game night. Winn and Brainy. T’was good.)

(Oh, no, forgot another one: LENA HAS Q-WAVES. THE GOL-DANG MIND CONTROL PLOT CONTINUES.)

And then there’s the cliffhanger and the next episode preview WHICH I’m absolutely looking forward to because MORE WINN and also KARA AND WILLIAM GET TO SING “AFRICA”.

WHICH...thank you, show, for giving us “Africa” after revealing that was Kara’s other choice, but she went with “Intergalactic” back innnnn...season...three? Well the reveal was in season four. But karaoke night proper was in season three. And “Intergalactic” was great! But. 

COME ON.

IT’S GONNA TAKE A LOT TO DRAG ME AWAAAAAAY FROM YOOOOOOOOOU

Anyways. Wonderful episode! A true season highlight! David did such a good job! EVERYONE did such a good job! This fandom is the worst! And I hope that they actually DO stop watching the show, because it will be better for their emotional well-being and mental health, as well as our own!

[cyclone-rachel]

this is sOOO late and im sorry, but what are your thoughts on the latest episode and s5 of supergirl so far?? :D

so season 5 was… difficult to get into, at first? There were a lot of things happening, and moments that I liked (Kara’s new suit and her in general, any scene Kelly and Alex shared, I really liked James, J’onn was very good, there was some stuff with Brainy I enjoyed, I weirdly liked Lena and Eve/Hope’s whole thing for example although that was a lot thanks to Supergirl Radio, etc.), but every episode I was worried about what was going to happen and so I couldn’t actually focus on a lot of it?

This continued for the first 4 episodes, I think. But from episode 5 on, I don’t know if things changed, but I found them easier to like personally and I spent less time worrying about them. Especially 7, and not just because I got to podcast about it. 8 was fine? Not the best midseason finale we’ve ever had, but it tied some things up.

I don’t know how to feel about Crisis, so we’re just gonna skip that, and I will say that I’ve really enjoyed both 5x10 and 5x11, the post-Crisis universe has been very good and interesting so far.

it’s almost like before then, the episodes had been… inhibited.

ha.

Kidding.

But seriously, on 5x11 as a whole:

I just want to say that I appreciated Brainy’s new aesthetic in the opening scene, as well as him setting things up so that he could get Winn out of there. That all was pretty cool, although what would he have done if someone other than Winn had gotten out of the bus first? What was that Winn thinking when he saw Brainy there, waiting for him? What are Brainy’s thoughts on time-travel movies, and would he like them enough to quote them?

it’s not guilt-free for you if you don’t need to feel guilt in the first place when eating chocolate because you don’t gain weight, Kara.

(the girls night scene was cute! I liked that that all was discussed, and I wish we got more scenes that were similar.)

I didn’t catch that Winn’s dad was into virtual reality at first, but that was very interesting and definitely made sense for the end of the episode. And I’m not sure how Lex knows so much about this alternate universe Winn? But he certainly got on his good side very well.

really big of Lena to admit that she needs Lex’s help, but they are working together, and this is a new universe where things are different now, so I feel like she meant it

love how Lena immediately is put off by Brainy being there, not because he was her friend and it’s weird that they’re meeting at that point, but because he arrived with Lex (was he in the same vehicle as Lex and Toyman? Or did he get there on his motorcycle?) and because he’s friends with Supergirl, which Lena knows very well. But Brainy’s acting was very good, and keeps him from being found out.

what exactly did Kara do to get her Pulitzer in this universe?

I hope that there is an action figure made of Supergirl in her new suit

I’m sure Lex really likes casually using the word “crisis”

damn. Kara’s slow walk out after she changed costumes was very cool, she looked very powerful and I love her

our Winn was Very Dramatic in the first scene he appeared in, but he’s still great and I missed him

also I appreciate how his suit is Ravenclaw colors, I feel like that maybe wasn’t intentional but it could be? I hope he designed the other Legionnaires’ suits to be more colorful, as well.

(I really want to see his reaction to Brainy’s new suit!)

I also liked the reveal that he has a wife and kid, that’s a perfect explanation as to why he’s stayed in the future (how long has it been for him?)

and I had no issue at first with his wife being named Ayla, because 1. my captions spelled it as Aila, so she could be someone completely different from the Legionnaire mentioned in 3x10, 2. if she really was the same Ayla, she could easily be bisexual and previously have been in relationships with women. who knows, we don’t have enough information. I’m upset about it as much as other comics fans are, and wish it was acknowledged, but on the show itself I think it’s fine for now.

Alex and Kara’s reactions to Winn coming back were so good, and if Brainy wasn’t trying to hide his emotions/guilt, I think he might’ve wanted to hug him too.

what “old friend” are you calling to keep the Legion ship safe, Alex?

I really missed Andrea, I didn’t realize it until now but I did and I want the best for her.

LENA’S FUZZY PURPLE COAT. it looked very nice and warm.

Secret elevator! (just imagine that in the tune of “Secret Tunnel” from Avatar the Last Airbender)

The tower!

I was almost expecting Kara to say “Arrow-cave” to be honest

it’s a very cool set in general, looking forward to seeing more of it, and I like the callsigns on the wall.

Winn, please tell us more about these very important things

my headcanon was that our Winn used the name Toyman as a way of reclaiming his father’s name for good, but I don’t think that works anymore. whoops

I feel like Alex might know something is up with Brainy? Or at least she’s going to suspect.

aw, I’m sure Kara felt bad about people writing articles about Winn originally. did she have to in season 3?

aww, I really enjoyed Nia’s reaction to the Tower, and her whole conversation with Winn. Also for what it’s worth I’m glad that Nura does still actually exist?

And she used her dreaming powers! I’m very happy about that! It’s good!

still no idea why Nia calls Brainy wildcat. I know it was because of that one movie Brainy referenced in 4x15 and 5x05, but… would appreciate an explanation, thanks.

Winn’s conversation with Kara is GREAT, this is exactly the kind of good heartwarming stuff I expected from a family reunion like this

I knew Lex was going to be sneaking around on a Legion ship! although we still don’t know how Brainy’s Legion ship is there, when we all saw it leave in the season 3 finale.

Uh… I don’t know how I feel about the fight scene? it’s fine? I like Kara’s super-speeding everyone out of there more, though

that Winn and Winn conversation was real tense and I appreciated it a lot

David did a very good job! this scene with William and Kara was kind of a natural progression of their already-established dynamic, and like you said, a way to make the next episode’s subplot for them seem more natural! of course Kara would take offense to that sandwich! people are just mean!

TRIVIAL PURSUIT PARTNER

what. did Winn and Brainy and everyone play trivial pursuit in season 3. when did they have time for this. is this how Kara decided to introduce the Legion to more 21st century pop culture. how did Winn decide that Brainy was a good partner for him, when they were rivals in the second half of season 3. I want to know.

anyway I love this scene. I love how easily Brainy tells Winn the truth and how genuinely sorry he is, and how much Winn understands Brainy and what he’s done, even if he’s still angry about what happened.

also Brainy crying when Winn calls him his friend is my reaction whenever someone says something really nice to me.

Brainy needs a hug, is what I’m saying. thanks.

lol I feel like the word “defiance” was really pointed there, for Jesse

also 

cousin? Cousin?? Cousin???

I know nothing about this. I thought Winn was stopping Brainy’s great-great grandfather. that completely threw me. I’m sorry. what’s happening with this, I want to know everything.

this Lex and Lena scene is very pretty and also very tense, and I’m wondering why Lena chose that beach image?

game night is very cute! I like that Nia is feeling better! Also Alex continuing to say “she’s terrible” while Kara is taking her turn at Jenga, a very sister-y thing

I can’t believe Winn is using the fake name “Marty”, he definitely did that on purpose, what a dork

yeah that last scene really puts the whole “Toyman is eternal” thing into a new light, doesn’t it

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!