#the fact that he left camp during the summer and stayed in New York

[decaffeinatedpartymuggoop]

Guys percabeth fics set pre-tlo feed me so good you don’t have any idea.

The angst? The arguing? The PINING?? Beautiful

[asshlyyyy]

Green Sweatshirt (Jacob Custos x Reader)

Yay, here is what I’ve been working on... but not really cause I kind of wrote it all out now. It went into a different direction then originally imagined, but yay! For those of you who care, I will be posting the first part to my Elvis fic later tonight, and then Look Deep Within tomorrow. Hopefully. If not tomorrow, then Saturday.

Masterlist

Pairing: Jacob Custos x gn!reader

Warnings: Fluff, angst, and swearing

Word Count: 1.9k

New York didn’t get that hot. In fact, the hottest it has ever gotten in the state was a whopping 108 degrees Fahrenheit. That being said, summers weren’t too bad. They were nice when the sun was out, and cold once the sun went down. You had no complaints though because you loved being wrapped up in a blanket or a hoodie. it made you feel safe and at peace.

When you got to camp, it was no different. You still embraced those feelings you had before. Except for the fact that you had fewer bedsheets/blankets. That was the one downside of camp. They gave you one thin bed sheet to keep you warm throughout the night. Now, usually, you would be fine… but you were absolutely freezing. You didn’t pack many long pants and if you did, they were jeans, and there was no way you were gonna wear jeans to sleep. 

So, in the end, you mostly just suffered or stayed up. Any extra blankets that the camp had gone to the kids. So, You were head down to the fire pit and just sit. You would watch the lake... the stars from up above... the moon... You didn't think much during these times. It might've been worse to be outside than inside during these cold moments, but you thought differently. Once you got used to it, it was no biggie.

"Hey, didn't expect to find you out here," a voice said as they walked over to you.

"Mmm, it was cold," you comment, not daring to move your head. Mostly because you already knew who it was by the sound of his voice.

"So you came outside?" He questioned and sat down on the log next to you. You looked over to meet his brown eyes.

"Why not, better than shivering under a thin line of bed sheets," you replied and shrugged.

"Right right, makes total sense," he nodded like he agreed with you. You rolled your eyes playfully and pushed him away lightly.

"If you're going to make fun of me you can rightfully leave." You let out a light huff and folded  your arms against your chest. Trying to be overly dramatic.

"I'm nottt, wanted to keep you company. I saw you leave."

"Are you spying on me now, Jacob? That's not gentlemen-like. More like a creepy stalker." 

"I wasn't spying on you," he let out a laugh, "I just happened to look out the window as you left."

"Mhm, likely story," you teased the sports coach.

Jacob shook his head at his comment and looked out towards the lake. He knew that if he wanted to make a move, that moment had to be now. He couldn't wait any longer. If he did, he would keep chickening out. How do you even go to ask someone out now without being creepy? It's not like the two of you can go out on romantic dates out here in the woods.

You heard shuffling next to you, so causally you looked over and watched as Jacob struggled to get off his green sweatshirt. You raised your eyebrow in confusion. He finally got it over his head and looked over to you and held it out to you. You looked at him confused.

"To keep you warm," he answered your unasked question.

"Okay...?" You took the sweatshirt out of his hand. Slowly you slipped your arms into it and pulled it over your head. 

That was the first time you wore his iconic green sweatshirt. Ever since that faithful night, you wore his sweatshirt a lot more. Everyone was quick to notice it also. They figured something had to be happening with the two of you. Well, there wasn't. At least nothing was happening at that moment. 

On the last day of camp, Jacob grabbed your hand and pulled you away from the other counselors and children. You two had to be long gone from anyone. You looked at him as a giggle escaped your lips. A smile big on your lips, as Jacob stared at you with adoration in his eyes. 

"What, Jacob?" You asked as you pulled at the ends of his sweatshirt that you were wearing.

"I-" he tried to speak, but words just didn't come out.

"Cat got ya tongue?" You teased him and puked his side.

"Listen, uh... I really fucking like you, Y/n. From the moment I met you in fact. So cheesy I know, but... ever since you've been wearing my sweatshirt it's just... God, I just... I can't see myself with anyone else."

"Are your proposing?" You raised an eyebrow.

"What- no no no," he shook his head. "I... I wanted to ask you out. To be my significant other. My other half."

"Aw, Jacob are you asking me out."

"Yes, I literally just said that," he laughed gently in fear that he was about to be denied. You tucked a loose piece of hair behind your ear and nodded.

Truth be told, you felt the same about Jacob. The bubbly sports coach... The attractive strong... The sweet and caring, Jacob. Your cheeks dusted over your cheeks as you felt your heart flutter. Sure, you joked and teased him a lot, but... he made you feel things you've never felt before. It was a new... and strange experience for you.

"I'd love to, Jacob."

That leads you to today. A  few months after that whole incident. A few months after Jacob had asked you out. The two of you shared an apartment together near his college. You didn't go to school or anything, you mostly stayed in and worked. Thankfully you were allowed to work at home.

You didn't realize it, but that very same green sweatshirt became your lifeline. It became a sense of safety for you. You wore it all of the time, and when you had to wash it... well, you watched it be washed and then watched it dry. While Jacob found it cute that you were wearing his clothing all the time now, he knew that... it was becoming unhealthy. Here and there yeah you can wear it... but every single day... for the past several months.

Little did he know, it was his sweatshirt that kept you safe that night. The same one that saved you from death. You never told him this because you didn't want him to overly blame himself. You knew how Jacob got, and if you were so close to death... he would a hundred percent blame himself. It was in his nature. He wanted to protect you with all his life.

So, as you stared at the glass door to the washer, Jacob looked over at you from the door frame. He didn't want to hurt you, but he knew he had to put a stop to it. He let out a light sigh and made his way over to you. "Babe," 

"Mm?" You replied, not taking your eyes off the green that spun around.

"We need to talk." That snapped your eyes away. You looked over at him with fear. Was he about to break up with you? Was it something you did? What did you do to cause this? Jacob was quick to notice your shift of mention and shook his head.

"We're not breaking up, I promise."  He reassured you. You let out a light sigh and relief and went back to looking at the washer.

"Babe!" Jacob said to get your attention once again.

"Mm?" 

"Can you look at me for more than a fucking second?" He was getting frustrated. You didn't blame him, you were acting like a child.

"No can do," you replied. You were worried that if you looked away too long something back would happen. The color could fade, or it would end up ripped. All these possibilities scared you. So, no. You could not look at him for more than a second. 

Jacob let out a huff and walked over to you and picked you up from the ground and pulled you away. His arms tight around you, just so you couldn't escape.

"Jacob no!" You looked back over towards the washer and dryer frantically.

"This needs to happen, Y/n," Jacob spoke and carried you all the way to the bedroom where he locked the door and stood in front of it so you couldn't escape.

"I mean Jesus fuck. You're sitting in front of the washer and dryer in your underwear." He started off.

"So? Don't you like me in my underwear?" You saw no problem in what you were doing.

"I like you in whatever you wear, but..." he started to shake his head, "you need to give that sweatshirt a break. Hell, even throw it away. That's all you wear!"

"I wash it! Not like it smells or anything." You looked at him. You still didn't even know why you were getting an intervention right now. You did nothing wrong.

"What is wrong, Y/n... please... you've been wearing it ever since that night. You don't let me take it off you, you won't let me wash it. What is wrong?" He asked. His eyes were full of care and love all for you.

You looked down at your hands and walked over to your shared bed. You sat down and brought your legs up to your chest. You knew you had to tell him... He was your boyfriend after all and you two never kept anything from each other. You told each other the nastiest of things in fact, and you were scared to tell him about that night?

"It's about that night..." you spoke softly. Jacob walked away from the door and sat next to you on the bed.

"When you weren't around me... I got attacked. Could've died really... it grabbed hold of my shirt... or technically yours. Because it was so much bigger on me, I was able to slip out of it and run towards safety. It saved my life and it's stupid but... I just feel safe every time I wear it," you explained as shortly as you could. You didn't want to think much about it, knowing you would end up crying. 

"Baby... why didn't you tell me?" Jacob spoke softly from beside you. His arm snaking around your shoulders.

"I was scared you would think... I was a baby or something. Wanting to always wear that sweatshirt."

"The only baby you are... is mine. I would never think something about you, ever.  If anything, I'm insanely proud," he explained as he kissed the side of your head. You looked over at him and smiled gently.

"Thank you," you said softly.

"Now, I have no problem with you wearing my clothes. But please... don't overly find protection in them. You're safe here in our apartment, and I will always be there for you. To protect you and keep you safe." He looked into your e/c eyes. 

"I love you," you said.

"I love you too," Jacob responded and pressed his lips against yours.

[platoniclokiimagines]

Hanging with Loki during a heat wave :(

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

A/N: Some more silly fluff for you. Never mind that it’s January and most places are probably having the Opposite of a heat wave right now. Enjoy~

WC: 1050

Rating: G

TW: None

The seasons in New York were a whole amalgam of a mixed bag.

Sure, the winters were terrible, with the snow and the cold sometimes bad enough to make you want to hibernate like a bear and not come out again until well into spring, and sure, spring and fall were mild and cool, with bearable weather that required a light jacket, if that. But when it came to summer…

New York had two types of summer.

Manageable, and all hell has broken loose and there’s no escape from the sweltering heat of a thousand suns raining down on any who step outside.

Although, to be fair, being inside typically didn’t help matters much, either. It was just that at least you had shade, and air conditioning, if you were lucky and the weather hadn’t caused a grid brownout.

The Compound, it seemed, was not exempt from heat-induced power outages, as you had quickly come to find out when you woke up one morning, drenched in a layer of sweat that let you know the day was going to get off to an absolutely fantastic start.

After changing into some clothes that didn’t threaten to suffocate you where you sat, you trudged yourself into the main living room, curious to see if anyone else had woken up in a similar manner.

The sight of half the team absolutely thrown across furniture in an attempt to stay cool would have been amusing, if you hadn’t been cursing to yourself that all the good spots had been taken.

Natasha had set up camp by the patio door, which she had propped open in hopes of catching any sort of breeze that might pick up. Thor was sprawled across the couch, fanning himself with a handheld fan made up of folded papers that you sincerely hoped weren’t anything important. Sam was in the kitchen, taking ice cubes out of the freezer every five seconds while Steve scolded him that opening and closing the door was going to cause everything to melt much faster.

And then there was the fact that almost everybody was in the bare minimum amount of clothing to keep themselves decent while cooling off.

It would have been a funny sight, if you all hadn’t been absolutely miserable.

“Where’s everyone else?” You glanced around the room, trying to figure out who wasn’t accounted for.

“They either left in hopes of finding somewhere else that has power, they’re soaking in a cold bath...” Steve spoke with an apologetic smile, as though the heatwave was his fault entirely. “…or they’re down in the basement arguing with F.R.I.D.A.Y. about getting the power back up and running.”

Well, that explained where Tony had disappeared to.

You nodded, and heaved a sigh, wondering how you were going to figure out how to stay cool when it dawned on you that someone else was missing from the room.

Someone who would be particularly helpful at the moment.

“Loki in their room?”

“Are they ever not?” Bucky quipped from somewhere out of sight, but you simply couldn’t be bothered to figure out where he was. You were now on a mission.

“I’m gonna go… check on them. See if they need anything.”

Before anyone else could do the math that you had, you turned on your heel and made a beeline straight to Loki’s room, knocking politely exactly one time before heading in anyway.

“You know, you defeat the purpose of knocking when you just barge in, Y/N.” Sure enough, Loki was sat comfortably on their bed, looking like they had no care in the world as they glanced up from their book to look at you. “You look…”

“Like I just ran a marathon in a hundred degree marathon? Yeah. It’s hot as shit.”

Loki shrugged a shoulder and glanced out the window boredly. “Is it? Hadn’t noticed.”

“Exactly. Hey, quick question. Your dad was a frost giant, right?”

Loki didn’t tense at the question; they’d long since come to terms with their parentage and all the messiness that had come along with it, and it wasn’t (usually) a topic of distress for them anymore.

“…yes?”

“Does that mean you’re, like, eternally cold and don’t have to worry about getting hot at all?”

Loki narrowed their eyes at you, quickly putting two and two together quicker than you had. “Y/N, don’t you do it.”

Too late.

You’d already jumped toward the bed, landing halfway on top of Loki, who gave a rather loud “oof” as you got yourself comfortable, laying perpendicular of them, with your shoulders and head against their chest.

The relief was, frankly, instantaneous, and you couldn’t help your content little sigh at finally not feeling like you were going to melt right where you stood.

“Gross, I don’t want your sweat on my clothes,” Loki complained, but they didn’t move away or try to get you off of them.

“Oh, give it a few minutes and there won’t be any more sweat left. You’re like a freezer. How have I never noticed that before?”

“Well, I promise you this isn’t something that started today, so…”

“Are you calling me stupid?” you whined, giving Loki your best, albeit playful, look of offense.

Loki grinned in that cheeky way that made you want to throttle them. “I mean, I was going to say imperceptive. Unobservant, even… But you said it first.”

This time, you really did look offended. “Hey! Not nice.”

“Neither is tackling someone because you know they’re going to keep you cool.”

“Keep it up and I’ll remind everyone else of your little party trick, and then you’ll wish it was just me in here bothering you.” This time, it was your turn to grin cheekily. How the turn tables.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

You shrugged, and looked toward the door, opening your mouth as though you were going to call for someone, and Loki immediately covered your mouth.

“Fine. Fine. You can stay. But if you leave sweat stains on my shirt, you’re buying me a new one.”

“Such a priss. Deal.”

“Deal. Enjoy your personal air conditioning unit.” With that, they opened their book again and went back to reading, and you got comfortable, closing your eyes with a content little hum.

Perhaps this heat wave wouldn’t be so bad after all.

[prettyboyjackhughes]

-Boy Best Friends- [J. Hughes & T.Smith]

Literally no one asked for this but Kelly @prettyboycozens and I were talking about how much we love Jack and Ty's friendship, especially after the interview of Jack where Ty comes in and then came up with this idea and I had to write it so here we are! Hope you enjoy!

Jack and I had been close since we were little. We started out next door neighbors then he was the weird boy who I waited at the bus stop with, then he became the boy I had every class with in middle school. Around 6th grade is when we finally clicked and became best friends. He calls me ‘Ranch’ even though my name is Rachel, all because one time his phone autocorrected ‘Rach’ to ‘Ranch’ and he thinks it’s the funniest thing ever. He even changed my contact name to ‘Ranch’.

It’s been an interesting 8 years being friends with him and watching him grow up. The funny thing is, I’m pretty sure we’ve only spent a full year together one time during our whole friendship. He’s always been off doing all his hockey stuff while I’ve been home in Michigan. But then college rolled around. He got drafted the summer after my senior year, managing to watch me walk across the stage at graduation before flying up to Vancouver for his draft 2 days later. I watched him get drafted on TV and remember the thrill of hearing New Jersey picked him because coincidentally, the college I was planning on attending, Seton Hall, was about 20 minutes away from the arena he would be playing in. Knowing I would be getting to spend, hopefully, the next 4 years with my best friend within a short car ride’s distance away for the first time in 8 years was some of the best news I had gotten in a long time.  The first year was rough but I managed to survive, mainly because of Jack. It took a while to figure out the dynamic of our friendship but we settled into a routine and a comfortable cycle. We went back to Michigan for the summer, spending it with our families. He trained most of the summer while I worked. But almost every evening was spent together. Then it came time for us to head back to Jersey and back to the chaos that waited for us.

“Why are you living in the dorm again next year? When Ty and I have a perfectly good room for you to stay in?” Jack asked, his face way too close to his phone. We had been on FaceTime for at least the last 2 hours, him distracting me as I attempted to do homework.

“Because I can? Why would I wanna live with you and Ty?” I shot back, smirking as he looked offended.

“Well that one hurts. Hey, I was just offering so you didn’t have to worry about getting stuck with a bad roommate, like freshman year.” I grimaced at the thought of my freshman year roommate. I had spent more time camped out in Jack’s apartment than at my own dorm.

“That is a good point. But who said you and Ty are good roommates? I know for one, you never pick up anything, your room was always a disaster when we were little and Ty sings in the shower so there’s two cons.” Jack rolls his eyes.

“My singing is lovely! You’re just jealous you can’t sing as well as me!” Ty yells from across the room as Jack turns the camera to show him.

“We’ll work on the singing. And I’ve gotten much better at cleaning up after myself. I even know how to do laundry now!” Jack says, excitedly. I laugh and put my pen down.

“This really isn’t convincing me to move in with you two. Just saying.”  Jack rolls his eyes.

“Just give us a chance. It’ll be fun.” I shrug.

“Okay fine. But you do know that means Brady will be around the apartment, right?” Jack’s face screws up a little and I roll my eyes. Brady is my boyfriend that I met midway through my freshman year. He was a sophomore, majoring in business and just happened to be at the very first party I went to. He was older, in a fraternity and sweet-talked me. I fell head over heels for him almost instantly. But the issue was that Jack and Ty weren’t huge fans.

“Jack, he's not that bad.” This time it’s Jack’s turn to scoff.

“Yeah because having to go and pick your drunk boyfriend up from a party every 2 nights doesn’t make him that bad.” Ty appears next to him and starts talking.

“Rach, we’re just looking out for you. We don’t exactly love the guy.”

“Well that’s what’s gonna happen so get used to the idea.” Jack looks over at Ty.

“I think we can be civil. So you’re moving in?” I nod and Jack cheers. I roll my eyes and start to think about what I have to pack.

The next two weeks are a whirlwind of chaotic packing and moving. The boys were sweet enough to give me the biggest bedroom in the apartment, even though I had the least amount of stuff out of the 3 of us. Once I had moved in, the boys and I settled into a routine of me cooking, then cleaning up, them doing laundry and me folding; really just a lot of splitting up the housework and jobs around the house to get them done. Brady was around a lot, but Jack and Ty were civil and not complete jerks. I was proud of them. But then one night, while Jack, Ty and I were watching some movie Ty had been wanting to watch, I got yet another call from Brady asking me to come pick him up.

“Baby…I…need you to come get me…I-“ Brady’s drunk voice is drowned out by the yelling and music in the background and I can’t hear him anymore.

“Brady, where are you? I’ll come get you.” He mumbles something back but I can’t understand it so I just end the call.

“I have to go get Brady. He’s drunk at a party again.” I say, sighing as I get up off the couch. Jack and Ty exchange a look and then Jack gets up too.

“I’ll drive you. You’ll have to make sure he doesn’t puke in my car though.” I nod as Ty stands up too.

“Might as well come along for the ride.” I slip my shoes on and follow Jack out the door of the apartment, Ty closing the door behind us.

“Let me check his location and I’ll tell you where we’re going.” After enough times of being left sitting somewhere and having no idea where Brady was, he ended up agreeing to share his location with me. In times like these, it was his saving grace.

“He’s about half an hour away. The party must be somewhere in New York.” Jack doesn’t say anything, just starts driving. The ride there is silent, for the first time. Usually Jack and Ty won’t shut up when we’re in the car, constantly fighting about what music to listen to, whose turn it is to drive; everything under the sun is up for discussion when we’re in the car. I usually sit back and listen, occasionally injecting myself into the conversation when I feel necessary. I’ll also play mediator when they’re fighting over something stupid. But the fact that it was silent in the car right now, made everything so much worse. It feels like we’re driving to the end of the world.

“There’s the house.” I say, almost 45 minutes later. Jack manages to get the car parked and turns around to look at me.

“You want us to come with you to find him?” I shake my head, sliding out of the car and shutting the door behind me. This would be the 5th time I’ve had to pick Brady’s drunk ass up from a party in the last 2 weeks. I was getting pretty tired of it. But his explanation was that it was because he was in a fraternity. He said that it was apart of his “brotherhood” or something stupid like that. I didn’t buy any of it but I loved him so I let it go. And as I waded my way through ridiculously sweaty bodies all dancing to way too loud music, I remembered how much I didn’t like partying.

“Hey you’re Brady’s girlfriend right?” A girl asks, grabbing my arm and yelling over the music. I turn to her and nod, an eyebrow raised.

“I just saw him go into a room with some other girl. Top of the stairs on the left.” I gulped, hoping she was wrong.

“Thanks!” I yell back, hurrying over to the stairs and taking them two at a time. I wind through people going up and down the stairs and manage to get to the door. As my hand finds the handle, I take a deep breath, hoping and praying that the sight behind this door isn’t going to be what I think it is. I finally bite back the fear and push the door open. Sure enough, sprawled out across the bed with some girl’s hands all over his bare chest is my boyfriend.

“Baby? Hey I-“ He says, starting to sit up.

“Fuck you. Hope she’s worth it.” I spit out, glaring at him before turning around to rush out of the room. I stumbled down the stairs, bumping into people and blindly apologizing as I pushed through the crowd. Somehow I managed to make it out of the house and into the back seat of Jack’s car.

“Hey hey hey are you okay? Where’s Brady?” Jack asked, a concerned look plastered across his face.

“He-he cheated on me. Wi-with some girl at the p-party.” I stuttered, fighting the tears pressing against my eyes. He and Ty exchange a look and then both look at me.

“Just drive Jacky. Please.” I whisper as the tears finally start to slow a little. It’s silent again for most of the car ride. My phone kept buzzing with texts and calls from Brady but finally, after what seemed like the thousandth call, I put it on do not disturb and tossed onto the seat next to me.

“Well, I mean, there’s always the option of kicking his ass.” Ty says from the front seat, looking up into the rearview mirror at me.

“What do you say, Jacky boy?” I bury my face in my hands and finally let the tears fall.

“Shit Ty, she’s crying! You broke her!” Jack says, hitting Ty’s arm as he looks back at me.

“I didn’t break her! How is it my fault!” They continue to argue back and forth the rest of the ride home, which would usually make me smile and roll my eyes but not today. Not after what just happened.

As soon as we get back to the apartment, I rush inside and to my room, closing the door behind me. I heard Jack and Ty come in not long after me and whisper about something for a while. I hear the front door open and close again and then Jack tapping lightly on my door.

“Hey Ranch, you okay?” He asks, getting a tiny smile from me because of the nickname.

“I should’ve listened to you and Ty. You said he wasn’t good for me but I didn’t listen. I-I thought he loved me.” This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve cried to Jack about boys. I’ve had my share of boyfriends through the years and every single break up was cried out, usually over the phone with Jack.

“Ty went to go get you ice cream and I remembered how much you like bubble baths so I got one ready for you if you want…” He says, awkwardly picking at his thumb and looking at me.

“Seriously, how did I get so lucky to have you as my best friend? You and Ty?” He smiles a little as I sit up and walk over to where he’s standing in the doorway.

“You both are going to make some very lucky girls happy someday, you know that right?” He smiles and nods as I hug him.

“Now aren’t you glad you moved in here?” I smile and nod, looking up at him.

“Yeah. Yeah I am.”

[singingaboutwishingx]

Sam/Josh, 19+37

19. summer camp + 37. coming out

sam and josh are nineteen years old, but they’ve been coming to camp since they were nine. they’ve gone from the babies of the camp to the counselors, the top of the food chain. they’ve been best camp friends for years, but it’s mostly a “we’re best friends for eight weeks out of the year, and we like each other’s instagram posts during the other forty-four, but we don’t really stay in touch because, yeah, we can call and text and facetime, but we both have lives, and it’s just not the same, you know?” this is partially due to the fact that sam lives in california and is about to be a sophomore at ucla, and josh is from connecticut and is about to be a sophomore at harvard. the bigger, unspoken reason, is that they’ve both been pining for the other for YEARS. 

the kicker (because we couldn’t have a story about these two without one, now could we?) is that they’re both dumb teenagers who think the other is straight. sam has been in love with josh since they were fourteen, and josh just as long, but it took him a couple more years to come to terms with it. they’re both too afraid to say anything because they think they’ll ruin the precious friendship they have.

and so here they are at nineteen, back for the last summer they’ll ever spend in these woods, sad and a little apprehensive and so, so in love, but determined to make this the best one they’ve ever had. one of the other counselors somehow managed to sneak in a fifth of cherry vodka for each of the last-year counselors (there were only four of them, but still impressive). it’s awful, cheap as shit, but hey, nobody’s died yet, and it gets them drunk.

at the end of week one, josh and sam sit alone, very tipsy, at a dead end of one of the hiking trails they know by heart. they’ve been sitting uncharacteristically quietly for like five minutes, and josh decides he has nothing left to lose. he’s going to tell sam how he feels. if sam doesn’t take it well... well, it’s seven more awkward weeks and then they never have to see each other again. before he can say anything, though, sam just blurts out “listen, i’ve been sitting on this for, like, four summers now, but i’m in love with you.” josh is absolutely stunned. “sam... i didn’t even know you liked guys.” “it’s not really public information.” it takes josh another minute to collect his thoughts, but he finds his words eventually. “i mean, i would say it’s good thing you told me because i’m in love with you, too.”

so they date in secret that summer. it’s everything a summer romance should be: passionate, emotional, ephemeral. they try long-distance for a few months when they go back to college, but it just doesn’t really work out. they meet halfway over winter break and spend three days in iowa, knowing that they’re saying goodbye. they agree to at least stay vaguely connected on social media, and to not close the door permanently. you know, just in case.

sam publicly comes out the following november, and josh the june after that. they send each other pretty generic “hey, i’m proud of you” messages, but that’s the last they really talk for a while.

eight years down the line, sam’s on the fast track to becoming a junior partner at gage whitney pace, and josh is helping run grassroots campaigns anywhere they’ll hire him. when a prospective new york state senator calls him, his heart stops a little because new york is where sam is, but an acceptance tumbles out of his mouth before he can think about it. he needed a job anyway. what was he going to do, turn it down?

after josh has been there a few days, he drops by sam’s office. not in the middle of the morning, interrupting his meeting, but at 5:30 pm. he’s half hoping sam will already be gone for the day because josh has exactly no plan (there are few things josh is scared of in a big way, but his affection for sam, still there after all those years, is one of them). sam isn’t gone, though, and his assistant escorts josh to sam’s office and lightly shuts the door.

sam’s initial shock at seeing josh soon gives way to delight, and he comes around his desk to give josh a huge hug. and they just talk for a while, catching up on the past eight years. sam, at first, leans back against his desk, josh wandering around his office (and, oh, how it reminds sam of all those summers--sam would sit on the bottom bunk, josh pacing the wooden cabin floors in front of him and talking more with his arms than his voice).

eventually, a half-baked plan pops into josh’s mind, and once again, before he can think about it, he’s standing completely still, but a foot away from sam, and the words “are you seeing anyone?” come out of his mouth. sam looks at josh for a moment and slowly shakes his head no.

josh takes another step closer, and sam stands up fully. they’re at eye level now, so, so close, and josh is struck by sam’s eyes, just as blue as they were when he was nine years old. something distant in the back of josh’s mind knows that anyone could walk in and see them inches apart, but he doesn’t care.

with a last burst of courage, he leans forward and kisses sam. it’s soft, tentative, but not unreciprocated. sam pulls away soon, though.

“not here,” he whispers. “you wanna go get dinner?”

they get dinner, and they go back to sam’s apartment. sam lends josh a t-shirt and sweatpants and curls into josh’s side when they go to bed. the years have changed a lot, but not how they fit together.

they effortlessly slip back into it, and josh starts taking more new york-based jobs. slowly, they build a life together. they get a brownstone and a dog and a marriage license, and not a day goes by without them both silently thanking god that they got drunk on terrible vodka when they were nineteen because, hey, maybe they had killer hangovers the next day, but the fact that it led to this? worth it.

color palate/vibes: every shade of green, the crystal blue of a lake. the faded orange of a camp t-shirt, worn soft by years of wear, and the steely gray of a skyscraper. shy glances and messy kisses and initials carved into a tree. secret handshakes and “love ya, man,” said at a normal volume and a whispered “i love you” after so no one else can hear.

send me two tropes and ship and i’ll tell you how i’d combine them into one story!

[aknosde]

Fátima I’ll have you know that I wasn’t actually going to drop all of this but then you told me to and I can’t fucking resist you. This is really long I’m sorry. Percy Jackson tiktok au:

This au is like 99% fluff. The only thing that keeps it from being 100% is that I’m maintaining Percy’s history of child abuse, Annabeth's tenuous relationship with her parents, Leo’s mom’s death, The death of Carter and Sadie’s parents, as well as Hazel’s issues (minus the dying), but these things don’t actually come into play.

As you can deduce above, the characters are Percy, Carter, Sadie, Hazel, Annabeth, and Leo. For the sake of my sanity, they are all sophomores in high school.

Character Histories

Percy and Hazel met when he was five and she was four. Hazel’s mom brought her into Sweet on America while Percy was hanging around Sally. They quickly became inseparable, had playdates most weekends until they could control their own schedules, and at around 8/9 years old they started referring to each other as siblings.

Percy: *standing, having a serious conversation with another child at the park*

Hazel: *climbing him*

Percy: WHy are you doing this? The jungle gym is right over there?

Hazel: *continues to climb him*

Percy: You’re a gremlin *pats her affectionately*

      Annabeth and Leo met when they started middle school. Annabeth’s relationship with her father and stepmother has reached a nice area, not perfect, but good, and she doesn’t really talk with her birth mother. Leo’s mom died when he was in fourth grade, he’s fostered by a middle class family, and goes to private school with Annabeth on an academic scholarship.

Leo: –so the problem is that this formula doesn’t work with the diameter of a cylinder but I need...

Annabeth: speak english please

*fifteen minutes later* Annabeth: I think I’ll put vertical supports her, although triangular would be more stable, but according to the building codes...

Leo: I beg of you,,,

     Cater and Sadie’s history stays much the same, they were raised separately until Julius died, except he died during a cave in on one of his digs, and Ruby died in a construction accident. (She was walking by when the supports failed) They started living with Amos in eighth grade. Yes, Amos still has a baboon, an alligator, and an indoor basketball court.

Carter: And so that’s why Amos named his baboon Kufu.

Sadie: You are literally the most annoying person alive, can I have your fries?

    Carter and Percy met on the subway when they were ten, going to a day camp in the summer while Julius was giving some lectures in the city. They were inseparable for the week, and then didn’t speak to each other for four years.

Hazel’s mom has a few mental illnesses that developed when Hazel was around 10, she’s still present in Hazel’s life, and they live together, but she’s not always all there. Once Gabe is out of the picture Hazel spends a lot of time at the Jacksons’ apartment, enough where she keeps a toothbrush there.

As for Gabe, he remains his normal abusive self. Things come to a climax when Percy is 11/12 after Gabe throws a bottle at him. There’s no reasonable excuse for this, and Sally comes home while Percy’s still crying. Gabe’s dealt with swiftly, but Percy has some scarring on the left side of his face.

Also quick note: in this au Percy is 1/2 black, 1/4 moreno, and 1/4 native american. (Moreno and native from Sally and black from his dad)

Their Accounts

So as in the post that got this all started, Percy’s account is largely Ancient Greek and Roman mythology and history. He also does some stuff for indigenous mythology, but he’s super into the greek and roman stuff. (Insert this meme (it’s the thirteenth one down)) He also does skateboarding and some light gymnastics/parkour/acrobatics.

    Hazel is a gymnast. She’s also just super nice and supportive so she makes those motivational videos, but mostly it’s gym stuff and her and Percy hanging out. She’s not quite as popular but she doesn’t really care. She is also the #1 horse girl, and rates horses. Percy would tease her, but he’s also a horse girl.

    Sadie does comedy. Some if it’s scripted or little skits, but there’s a lot of her just ranting at her camera. Also her life is just weird (*cough* alligator and baboon *cough*) so people just like to see what she’s doing. Also a theatre kid™, sorry, I don’t make the rules.

    Carter gives detailed accounts of every Egyptian myth he thinks is cool (all of them), but he makes more comedic abridged versions too. He’s also known to make videos laying out archeological digs. About a quarter of his videos feature Sadie insulting him in the background.

  Leoooooo! He has a lot of comedy, the first video of his to do well was a situational comedy, he always has a sarcastic comment or a bad joke. Most of his stuff now is for robotics. He’s on the robotics team at his and Annabeth’s school, but he does a lot of stuff on the side just making crazy cool contraptions. He has a series of him going scrounging for parts because he doesn’t exactly have the money for a lot of his stuff. Also skateboards occasionally.

 Annabeth’s account in verging on booktok. Every time she reads a book she reviews it, and if it’s popular she’ll record herself reading it and put the best clips together. She’s still really into architecture, she talks about it often, shows some of her sketches, and has a series where her followers can pick videos in New York and she’ll go and critique them. Also has some lifestyle videos about staying organized, but only for school stuff because otherwise she’s pretty messy.

Prequel Stuff

Carter and Percy reconnect when they start duetting each other’s mythology busting videos. They have two series together, one on parallels between Greek and Egyptian myths (called Percy and Carter’s Mythological Mashup) and another about hellenistic culture, specifically about Egypt during the Ptolemaic Dynasty. (Working title: Colonizers suck,,, but the Aesthetics)

Them getting closer forms a friend group of Percy, Hazel, Sadie, and Carter, and they hang out most weekends. Their parents are all friends now.

Okay, The Actual Thing

I lied, there’s a prologue: everything starts at the very end of freshman year when Percy posts a video of him, Hazel, Carter, and Sadie at central park. (caption yet to be determined). It ends up on Leo’s fyp and his though process goes something like ‘oh, it’s a bunch of pretty people who aren’t white.’ He follows Percy and forgets about it.

 So Leo’s life is going pretty normal, Percy’s videos pop up on his following and for you pages. Nothing really happens until Percy makes a video detailing a type of ancient greek technology (im thinking torsion catapult but its not set in stone). Leo thinks it sounds really cool, so he makes it and duets Percy’s video

From there, their friendship develops. Leo keeps making models and prototypes of ancient tech for some of Percy’s videos, and eventually he starts doing his own research. And in turn, Percy duets Leos videos and talks about the historical significance of certain mechanisms or their origins. By now, they’re mutuals and talk pretty often. 

 Annabeth also follows Percy after one of his videos appears on her fyp, but much later then Leo. In fact, he’s on her page because she follows Leo. She’s with Leo when this happens, and asks him about Percy and checks his profile before following him. He follows her back the next day. 

The first time they interact beyond liking each others videos is when Annabeth takes part in one of those ‘creators are struggling like you’ with her ADHD and dyslexia, which Percy continues from her.

 One day Percy and Leo (quite literally) run into each other, and as they’re mutuals and do text, they decide they might as well hang out in person, thus Leo is indicted into Percy’s friend group.

Leo eventually brings Annabeth along too

And the rest of it would be shorter 4+ panel comics and maybe a few mini arcs. I have specific videos outlined for each of them.

[isoscele]

Lumberjanes Week Day 6 - Ghost Stories/Land of Lost Things

.

In Xian’s bullet journal, in purple gel pen, the four of them wrote their last will and testament. It was an incontrovertible fact, said Presley, that they were going to die here. One, it had snowed every single one of the four days they had been here, and showed no signs of stopping. Two, despite their best efforts to ration their fruit leathers and peanut-butter-banana sandwiches, they had run out of food. Three, Ana’s ankle was sprained and they were probably not going to be able to get back up on the cliff they had fallen from. Four, despite what fantasy books said, kids on hiking trips did not actually survive tripping into a desolate, war-torn alternate dimensions, no matter how much moxie and general perseverance they showed.

It was hard to argue with that. So they divvied up their belongings among parents and siblings and pets, taking turns with the pen in a kind of grim ritual.

Once they finished, they surveyed their work.

“Don’t give your rollerblades to Peter,” Ana told Xian. “He’s going to break his collarbone immediately.”

“If I have to become a ghost, I want to spend my afterlife watching Peter eat it in the Walmart parking lot,” Xian said firmly.

The sky here was a kind of burnt-rubber color. The snow kept coming down, so there must have been clouds up there somewhere, but it was difficult to distinguish them from the blank slate of horizon.

There were no plants, no animals, nothing but a long line of snow-covered earth. If you dug down to the surface, as Siobhan had, there was only scorched dirt. There was a little rubble, but not much. As far as otherworldly apocalyptic wastelands went, it was disappointingly barren. There were no helpful clues, or conveniently-placed newspapers with pictures of mushroom clouds. Even the breaks in the landscape looked harsh, a continual jag of cliffs and valleys and something that smelled like it might have been a swamp, a long time ago.

When they’d first set up camp, Siobhan had knelt down to wrap Ana’s ankle and Presley had started clearing space to make a campfire, and so Xian had gone around looking for something to help start it, trudging through the knee-deep snow with her windbreaker tied around her legs to keep herself from getting frostbite.

Mostly, she had been walking towards a massive rupture in the snow that looked like it might have been a felled tree. Probably, it would be too damp to burn, but Presley had mad survivalist skills wrapped up in her little band-geek brain, so maybe she would be able to scrape the bark off or something. Or maybe there would be something they could eat. Even then, back in the halcyon days when they still had two out of four fruit leathers left, that was a pressing concern.

As Xian approached it, though, it started to look less and less like a tree. It was curved in a weird way, and it didn’t have any branches. It took a long time for her to reach it, so by the time she reached out one hand to wipe away the snow, there was a part of her that already knew what she’d find.

It was a rib. More specifically, it was the rib of something that had ribs the size of a school bus. It was picked completely clean of meat, as pristine as a museum exhibition.

Xian had to take a step back and stare at it. It filled her whole vision, and she couldn’t get over how clean it was. Her first thought was scavengers! Her second thought was HUGE scavengers! Her third thought was no, that’s dumb. It’s just old.

Siobhan’s theory had been nuclear war. Presley agreed with her–maybe not with the method, but she thought they were in an alternate dimension that had destroyed itself somehow. Ana had suggested time travel, like they’d tripped into Earth’s first ice age.

But something bad had happened here. With that understanding came a powerful, terrible relief. Of course they were standing on a graveyard too vast and ancient for them to ever understand. Of course this was a place of tragedy. It still was, the white of the ground and the orange of the sky and the way that Presley had said we should find some kindling, as if they were ever going to find any kindling.

Xian had looked at the bone for a moment longer. She thought about how, in horror movies, the characters always tried to find some justification for what was happening to them, had some big why-me breakdown. From an audience’s perspective, though, it was easy to tell who was earmarked for catastrophe. From the moment they stepped onto the screen, they were tasked with telling a story. They were suffering because they were only ones who could tell it. It wasn’t their fault.

Xian didn’t know what that meant about them. They were teenage girls, which could make some sense within certain narratives, but they were teenage girls who were probably not going to get out of here. Girls who were plucky and inquisitive and charming and still would not be saved.

Then again, sometimes the answer to why-me was just you were there. Sometimes, it was as simple as an extinction event, coming to wipe you and everything you knew clean.

Xian turned around and started the long walk back to camp.

.

The hike had been Siobhan’s idea. School had just ended and it was Presley’s last summer before she moved away, so everything was terrifying and big and moved in slow-motion. It felt like every minute the four of them weren’t doing something amazing together was a minute wasted. Siobhan imagined growing up like a skin you shed in reverse. The more you crammed  into those early layers, the harder it was to lose them.

She’d packed the bag, which was another mark on her ledger. If she had brought a first-aid kit, if she had brought more food, if she had brought a second water bottle, things might be different. Never mind that it was only supposed to be a day trip, and her mom would’ve lost her mind if Siobhan had packed for an overnighter.

The third thing that she could never ever be absolved of was that she was the one who saw the fox.

It had streaked through the trees, a blur of formless red, but for a second it had looked at her and–and Siobhan wasn’t exaggerating, time stopped. Its eyes were golden and a million years old, and somehow she had known exactly what it was saying to her.

They’re leaving you they’re leaving you every second they are getting farther away from you and you can’t do anything to stop it and you’re the only one who wants to anyway, you’re the only one selfish enough to ask for forever.

And then time had unstuck and it had leapt back through the trees, and Siobhan had pushed past Ana and almost tripped over Xian and she hadn’t even realized that she had started running, it was more like she knelt into the air and kept going.

She hadn’t realized the others would follow her, but of course they had.

So Siobhan couldn’t sleep. She was cold, and she was hungry, and she was ashamed that during their will-writing she’d made up people to give her things to because she wanted her friends to think that she had friends other than them, that she too had cool cousins in New York and family members she could trust with the contents of her bedroom.

And she was ashamed about everything else, too, every dumb decision she had made in possibly her whole life, and then Presley said “Siobhan?” and she realized she was kind of crying into the snow.

“I’m okay,” Siobhan said, “I’m okay, I’m fine.”

Ana reached out and touched Siobhan’s elbow. Her fingers were cold, but steady, and it did make Siobhan feel better.

“I think I’m gonna go look for food,” Siobhan said. She hadn’t realized she was going to say it until she did, but it felt right. She couldn’t stay here. She couldn’t just lie down and try to sleep through another night that looked exactly identical to the day.

“Okay,” Xian said. She pushed herself onto her elbows and tried to brush some of the snow off her shirt. “We’ll come with you.”

This was how they got into all kinds of world-ending trouble, but Siobhan supposed there were worse things.

She didn’t think she could get any words out if she tried, so instead she reached out and helped Xian get the snow off her shoulders.

.

Ana’s ankle didn’t hurt much anymore, but Presley still stoically bore the task of giving her a piggyback ride. Ana liked this arrangement because Presley would kneel down and wait for Ana to loop her legs around her waist and then she would say, with all the seriousness of a soldier about to pull the knife from his dying comrade’s stomach, I’m going to do it, get ready, get ready, and then she would stand up.

They didn’t have a direction, and none of them were entirely sure which way they had come from, so they were just kind of walking. Most likely, they had already gotten turned around three or four times, but Ana was hoping it would eventually cancel itself out.

But then again, it probably didn’t matter whether they got anywhere new. Already, the snow had probably completely concealed their old campsite. Everywhere they stepped was a new world, fresh and footprintless. Packed with promise.

Presley and Xian were talking, but Ana was a little too tired to follow the conversation. Instead, she tried to catch Siobhan’s eye and silently communicate something deep and necessary to her. She didn’t know what that deep and necessary thing was, but she trusted Siobhan to figure it out.

They walked for a long time without finding any kind of break in the landscape. Ana let herself feel reassured by the steady rhythm of Presley’s footsteps below her, the slow thread of Xian’s voice. It almost felt like home, pacing circles around Siobhan’s trampoline or getting marched to the principal’s office for “disturbing the classroom environment.”

So of course, she was the last one to see the cave.

It looked a little like a wasps’ nest, fat and bulbous and buzzing from the inside out with a pale yellow light. Shadows stretched across the entrance, flickering in stop-motion. The cave, whatever else it meant for them, was inhabited.

Ana looked down at Xian, who tended to be the most genre-savvy of them all. But Xian wasn’t looking at the cave; she was staring into the sky with a look of abject terror on her face.

“Presley,” Ana said. “I think we should–”

Presley locked her arms around Ana’s ankles and took off running towards the cave.

Ana had to duck so they could get inside, pressing the side of her face against Presley’s crown of braids. Then, the light was everywhere, and she had to blink hard to disperse the pink clouds that spotted her vision.

“Oh my God,” Siobhan said from somewhere behind her.

Xian shuffled closer. “What is that?”

In the center of the cave, a candle had burned almost to a stub, giving off the unmistakable smell of pine. Behind it, half-submerged in the pool of light, lay some kind of abomination.

It was a wolf and yet it wasn’t, couldn’t be. It had thick white fur and a distinctly lupine body, but it had human hands, bent and weathered. An old woman’s hands.

Oh Grandmother, Ana thought, inanely. What big teeth you have.

And if it was dead, which it could very well be, it had not been dead for long.

As slow as the shifting of a tectonic plate, it lifted its head and opened one blazing eye. Ana understood with a jolt that it had known they were there the whole time, that it had been listening.

It surveyed them, looking very old and very tired. It locked eyes with Ana. Then it spoke, in a voice so gravelly and ancient that Ana had no problem believing that it had been here for as long as there had been a here to be.

“Kids come with two heads these days?”

“Yes,” Ana said automatically, because even in her mindless terror she had to indulge her favorite hobby, which was tricking old people into believing things about The Youth. “But only the ones who are on social media too much.”

Presley frowned so hard that Ana could feel it from her shoulders, like an earthquake. “That’s not true,” she said. “We’re two separate kids. Stacked on top of each other.”

Wolf Lady huffed and closed her eyes again, apparently done with the conversation.

“Hey!” Siobhan said. “Hey, ma’am, please–can you help us?”

“We fell down a portal,” Presley supplied. “We’ve been here four days, and we’re going to die here.”

Wolf Lady smiled. It was the smile of a rotting jack-o-lantern, and it showed a glint of teeth. “Not a bad place to die,” she said, almost to herself. “But most people deserve better.”

“Do you have food?” Xian had crouched down, like she was speaking to a sleepy child. “Or–or do you know how to get some?”

“No,” Wolf Lady said. “No. You don’t need to get food. You need to get out.”

Silence. Outside, the wind wailed.

“What happened here?” Xian asked. Her voice was tight, thin. “I found these–all these bones.”

“You what?” Siobhan said.

“War,” Wolf Lady said. There was something inarticulable in her voice, a kind of grief that had exhausted all other avenues and therefore had no choice but to live forever in this cave.

“They were huge bones.”

“Big war.” Wolf Lady opened her eyes again. “Maybe you’ve noticed it. Wasn’t the kind of thing you can get out of the carpet. You, two-headed one. Grab my specs.”

“Specs?” Presley said, confused, but Ana tapped her head and then pointed to one edge of the cave, where a pair of thin, cracked glasses had gathered what looked like years’ worth of dust and melted snow.

Xian was the one who picked them up, but she handed them to Ana. On some old impulse, Ana slid them over the bridge of her nose.

Immediately, the world exploded in a paroxysm of color, spreading across the four of them like an oil slick. Wolf Lady seemed to be the center of it, bleeding orange from every inch, but there was so much of it coming from everywhere that Ana had to pull them off again.

“You can use those to get home,” Wolf Lady said, in the tone that one might say you can use salt to improve this soup. “Find the portals. For the love of God, get out of here.”

Ana cradled them against her chest. Siobhan looked openly skeptical, but she hadn’t tried them on. Ana believed that the glasses could do whatever they had to. Could reach through time and bring them back to some soft, scared world where everything they needed was still in one piece.

“Are you coming with us?” Xian asked. Her voice had gone quiet again, the way it did when she already knew the answer. Like when she predicted the endings of movies, the sad, certain everyone dies.

Wolf Lady laughed. As strange and animalistic as the rest of her was, her laugh seemed very human. “A very, very long time ago, I worked at a place where the only rule was that the kids had to make it out okay. The rest of us–well, it depended on how the forest felt. But we made it a long time, on that rule. I’m not breaking it now.”

“Thank you,” Presley said. Every word out of Presley’s mouth had an incredible gravity to it even in the silliest of situations; now, Ana could hardly bear to hear it. “We’ll remember you forever.”

“Oh, don’t do that to yourselves,” Wolf Lady said. “My name is Rosie. Think of it every once in a while, and forgive yourselves for the rest.”

.

Outside, everything was degrees of white and black, the snow bracing itself against the sky. Presley’s stomach was a black hole, and the rest of her was so numb as to cave in on itself.

She took one of Siobhan’s hands and one of Xian’s. Ana reached down and squeezed her shoulder.

They began to walk, and across the end of the world, a portal blinked into being

[vindicatedvirgil]

what are you, a middle school librarian?

me: actually studying to be a librarian roman: accuses janus of being a middle school librarian me: i can fix this just gimme a blank document and some lofi and a cup of warm tea and a few hours

anyways in a discord server i’m in we were coming up with kahoot questions and i see the words middle school librarian and janus and i thought: i could make a fic out of this.

...so here ya go. a roceit fic. uber romantic. enjoy. also a very small mention of intrulogical (so small that you might miss it tbh). 

TW: mentions of chronic illness (i think that’s it)

[masterlist]

---

Being a middle school librarian was, frankly, exhausting. Janus shooed the final kid out the door and locked it behind them, wanting to slump against the door and shut off all of the lights so that his migraine had a chance of escaping. Except he had to meet with the English faculty soon. He swore there wasn’t enough tea in the world for dealing with Roman Prince, the cockiest of the bunch.

It wasn’t that Roman was a bad teacher. Janus actually held him in the highest regards in that manner; he was excellent at promoting diverse, new materials and he kept his students engaged through acting exercises and relevant references. No, it was just that Roman was insufferably handsome and was absolutely aware of it. And Roman knew that Janus felt this way and preyed upon the librarian every single time they were in the same room.

The other faculty were none the wiser as Roman slid his hand along Janus’ bicep, the cardigan doing nothing to hide the grip of the English teacher. Janus wanted to smack him or kiss him (or maybe both), but instead he opted to sit at the head of the table, chin in his hand as he eyed the packet of materials he wanted to share with the faculty about new books and research strategies.

As far as meetings go, it was a short one, and the other teachers filed out quickly as it was, indeed, a Friday afternoon and they likely all had better things to do. Janus packed up his things quickly, ready to go home and make a fresh pot of tea and curl up with the mystery he had started at lunch time, his cat at his feet. When he looked up from one of his many book bags, Roman prince was leaning over the counter, a smirk on his face.

“Mr. Prince, if you don’t mind, I need to get going now,” he said, trying not to seem too frazzled about the fact that they were alone together in an empty library. Roman pursed his lips in thought and reached his hand out to take one of Janus’, before pressing his lips to the knuckles.

“Would you like to go to dinner with me tonight, Janus?” His voice was smooth and it reverberated throughout Janus’ whole body, and he tried to not appear flustered or blush at the interaction but it had been so long since anyone had openly flirted with the librarian that he was definitely aching for attention. “No strings. I just want to get to know you a bit better. Outside of the library and school, that is.”

“Roman,” Janus tried to keep the tone of his voice level as he pulled his hand away from Roman’s lips, instantly missing the feeling of having them on his skin. “You know the rules as well as I do, that the faculty of this school are not meant to have… extraneous relationships.”

“Relationships, no. But a friendship, yes. That is not frowned upon,” Roman said thoughtfully, as though he had refreshed his memory by reading the employee handbook earlier that day (he definitely had). “Unless you’re concerned that we wouldn't be able to remain just friends.”

Janus stammered over his thoughts. “I- No, that’s…” he trailed off, then finally nodded in agreement. “Alright, Roman. One dinner. And then I’ll decide if we can be friends.”

-

Janus was thankful that Roman didn’t choose some fancy, expensive restaurant for their night out. Not that two men who worked for a middle school could afford it anyways, but he didn’t think that his yellow cardigan, black button-up, and black slacks would cut it in a fancy setting. Except Roman… Janus’ eyes swept over the man. The teacher somehow always looked elegant, even in white jeans and a red shirt. Maybe it was the way that his curly hair swept over his forehead or the thin veneer of makeup that was always perfectly present on his face, but… Roman was always extra. And it was aggravating.

The librarian leaned his hand on his chin once he had settled into the booth. The diner was near the school and was a favorite stop of many students and faculty, and given that it was a Friday evening, it was rather busy. Several students that Janus recognized stared at the pair when they walked in, and Roman waved them off fancifully (leaving Janus to wonder if Roman ever did anything without that hint of theatricality). 

An awkward silence had settled over the pair as they pored over their menus. Janus ran a hand through his hair almost fitfully before deciding it would be in his way and he threw it into a messy bun off the back of his head. When he glanced up, Roman’s eyes were fixed upon his hair, his face, and Janus wanted to run. He was always self-conscious working around kids who were brutally honest; but he could accept their blatancy when they pointed out the scars on the left side of his body. Adults were more sneaky about their glances, and he could always tell that they were feeling sympathy for him.

“Please do not stare at me,” Janus mumbled, meeting Roman’s eyes. The teacher stammered, looking back down at his menu, but not before Janus noticed a faint blush covering his counterpart’s cheeks. 

“Sorry, I just… you put your hair up in that bun so effortlessly and it turned out beautiful,” Roman explained, and now Janus was the one who had to hide his blush. He said nothing though, and soon the waiter came over to take their drink orders.

“Can I get a cup of coffee, please? Bring over some milk and sugar with it, please,” Roman said, flashing a dazzling smile at them. “And a glass of water, if you don’t mind.” The waiter nodded at this, then looked over at Janus, who was thrown off by how polite Roman was to them.

“Uh, just water with lemon, please. Thank you,” Janus said, and the waiter walked off, leaving the two in quiet again. Janus glanced up at Roman, though, then decided to start up a conversation. “What did you do before you were an English teacher?”

“Well…” Roman set down his menu, resting his chin on his hand. “I went to school for theater, and did a lot of community theater while working in diners and at coffee shops. It was great, but… I couldn’t bear the hours of those jobs anymore. So… I went back to school to become a teacher. And during the summer I run a theater camp. Sometimes I’ll still do community shows.” Janus nodded at this, pursing his lips in thought. 

“I was a theater major for my undergraduate,” he said, and Roman raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Yeah, I know. Surprising, right?” He sighed, “I was really focused on musical theory and directing. And then… I realized it wouldn’t be enough to support me. So I started working in a local library to help pay the bills, and from there I decided to go on to get a degree in library science so I could become a librarian. I shadowed a librarian at a middle school in my old town for a bit and decided that was my path forward,” he explained, and Roman nodded. “I miss theater, though. I miss the nerves before a show and the costumes. I miss a lot of it.”

“You could help out with theater camp next summer,” Roman suggested. Janus wanted to shake his head but he nodded instead, smiling faintly. It wasn’t a commitment, anyways. It was just a nod. “I wanted to be on Broadway someday, you know? See my name in the lights. Instead, I just see my name under students’ names on their properly formatted papers.”

“It’s not too late for you,” Janus’ words fell out before he could stop them, and he resisted the urge to reach out and take Roman’s hand in comfort. “What’s stopping you from flying off to New York right this second?”

“I…” Roman started, but faded away as the waiter brought back their drinks. The waiter asked for their meal orders. “Can I get the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and green beans? Thanks.” Janus watched as Roman’s demeanor shifted from open and kind to more closed off, and tried to fight off the frown that he knew was trying to press through to his lips.

“I’ll have the soup and salad combo, with the broccoli cheddar soup and a cobb salad. Thank you,” he said, and the pair handed their menus off, then sat in silence once again. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“I was about to leave for New York, once,” Roman said quietly, and Janus watched him intently. “I had a flight booked and a place to stay. But then… my brother got sick. He needed someone to take care of him so I… dropped everything. Picked up a second job so he didn’t need to work and I resigned myself to community theater.” Roman sighed, carding a hand through his curls. “He got better, thankfully, and now he’s married to this astronomer and they’re about to adopt a kid, and I’m so happy for him, but…”

“But you skipped out on your dreams for him,” Janus finished the sentence, knowing that Roman couldn’t, and the teacher nodded. “You deserve to have your dreams come true, Roman. I see you with those kids, you instill hope and passion in them. More than anyone else, you deserve to see your name in the lights.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Roman said thoughtfully, glancing out the window at the setting sun. “But I don’t know if that’s my dream anymore. I think… I would rather see one of those kids’ names up there and know that I’m the one that pushed them to reach for the sky.”

“That’s… incredibly selfless of you, Roman,” Janus said, and he was surprised at the truth of that sentence. Roman was a selfless man, risking his potential career as a Broadway star to take care of his brother, giving his all to make sure his students understand and are successful. It startled Janus, the depth that was behind Roman’s brown eyes, and he felt bad for resigning the man to his appearances.

The rest of the evening passed without much excitement, and as Janus drove away from the diner and towards his small apartment filled with books and cat hair and tea, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he would be unable to simply maintain a friendship with Roman Prince.

-

“So I was thinking brunch,” Roman had stepped into the library soon after the final child had left for the day, startling Janus out of his alphabetization of books to reshelve. He glanced up at the teacher, a bewildered look probably masking his joy at seeing Roman.

“What?” He asked incredulously, not understanding what the other was getting at.

“For our next friendship outing. I know this great place that serves delicious crepes and they have a plethora of tea options, you’d love it,” Roman was babbling and Janus couldn’t help but stare at his glossed lips. He shook his head, trying to regain his sense of reality.

“Uh, Roman, I don’t know…” It wasn’t that Janus didn’t want to spend more time with Roman. He did. Desperately. It was all he could think about at night, in the shower, on his drive to work. Roman filled his every available moment of peace and it was too much because Janus couldn’t bear to just be friends with him.

“Not a fan of crepes? They have other stuff, too,” Roman started, not realizing what Janus was unsure of. “Or we could go to see a movie—”

“It’s not that. I just…” Janus took a deep breath, lifting his eyes to meet Roman’s. “I don’t know if I can be friends with you, Roman.” He watched as the teacher visibly deflated, as if all of the oxygen from his lungs had been forced out by that one sentence. “I like you a lot. Too much, I think. And I don’t think I could bear to just be coworkers and friends. I’d always… want more.”

“Oh,” Roman didn’t look up from staring at his hands. He appeared physically upset, and Janus just wanted to get up and hug him and comfort him but… it would be too much and not enough all at once. “You’re right. I just… you’re the first person I’ve known in a long time that I’ve connected with on a level this magnitude and… it sucks that we can’t explore that more.”

Janus glanced at the sentence he had just written down on a sticky note in front of him as he was going through his emails. A job opening at the public library. It paid better, had better benefits, and he was considering it greatly. He brushed his fingers against the bright yellow paper and then smiled, looking up at Roman.

“We may not be coworkers for much longer, though,” he said, watching as Roman’s eyes snapped up again to meet his. “There’s a job opening at the public library and I’ve been thinking about applying for it.”

“You should,” Roman breathed out, and Janus worried that he had instilled hope in the other; what if he didn’t get the job, and they would remain coworkers and remain unable to move forward from this? It was worth a shot, though, if they wanted to see what happiness could lay ahead of them. 

-

Janus was pacing in front of the checkout counter. The last kid had left for the day and tomorrow was the last day before summer vacation. It had been a few weeks since his interview, and he just heard back.

Roman came in, his messenger bag in tow. The two had been avoiding each other in person so as to not risk anything but were texting constantly, and Janus had messaged him to come into the library after he had finished in his classroom for the day. Janus wanted to fling himself into Roman’s arms but he held himself back, instead waiting to watch as he sat on top of one of the tables.

“What’s up, Janus?” He asked calmly, though Janus noticed the twitch in the teacher’s fingers as he sat there. “Did you hear back from the job?”

“Uh, yeah, I did,” he responded, not meeting Roman’s eyes. “They offered me the job.” 

And then it was as if the world froze in time, Roman’s face was lit up with joy and admiration as he scooped Janus up into a warm hug, their embrace filling almost every need they’d both had for the past few weeks. 

“I need to put in my notice, but… after that, um, do you want to go on a date with me, Roman?” Janus asked, stepping back because the touch was too much and if they stood that close any longer he’d be unable to resist the urge to connect their lips. And not that he didn’t think the middle school library wasn’t romantic, but… he wanted their first kiss to be more special than this. Roman nodded emphatically, then left as quickly as he came, allowing Janus to finish packing his bag for the day.

-

One week later, the pair sat on Janus’ couch after he made Roman dinner, their heads leaning against each other as a movie played on the television. But neither of them were paying it any attention, instead their eyes were locked on the way their fingers were intertwined between their laps, on the slow breathing of the other.

“Janus, I’d really love to kiss you, now,” Roman said quietly, and Janus hesitated. He had wished they had done something more romantic for their first date and now his cat was twining itself between their legs but Roman’s hand was at the base of his neck and then lips were on his and it was magical and wonderful and worth the wait. They’d have the chance for a million more romantic kisses and brunches and outings, and in that moment, Janus knew that this was something that would span his entire lifetime.

[scepticiism]

[ohwereusingourmadeupnames]

And the Land is Dark

Pairing: Peter Parker/Tony Stark (Starker) Rating: Mature (M)  Notes: This is my fic for @twokinkybeans‘s Jar of Dirt challenge. The kink was outdoor sex - so we got camping and nakedness!  Warnings: outdoor sex, NSFW stuff, & the inevitable softness that comes with my work. Summary: 

Tony and Peter alternate picking vacation destinations for the summer & it’s Peter’s turn. When he brought up camping, Tony had his reservations. It turns out that fresh air and Peter Parker are the perfect combination. 

Read it on AO3 here

The most important thing for Tony in his relationship with Peter, was equality.

When they first met on MIT’s campus, Tony had no idea that Peter worked in his R&D department – it’d been a long time since he graced the actual Stark Industries building and couldn’t have possibly known the well-rounded, extremely attractive man worked FOR him.

They were in one of the alumni buildings, gathered with the last 30 years’ worth of MIT graduates celebrating something or another. The conversation didn’t veer close to anything professional – everyone knew what Tony did; breaching the topic only led to shop talk that he didn’t want to stomach more than absolutely necessary.

Finding out that Peter got his checks from his company didn’t change anything between them – it simply made Tony much more conscious of the power imbalance that could easily be made into an issue (and not necessarily from Peter himself). The age gap between them didn’t make him bat an eye, Tony preferred the men he dated to be somewhat younger. For both of their sakes, Tony made Peter’s desires to be independent his first priority.

That included, much to his dismay, vacation picking duties. Over the past 3 years they’d been together, Tony and Peter alternated who picked the destinations for the entirety of the summer. It was one of the only times of the year Tony didn’t have many obligations – he could carelessly spend it with Peter without feeling an ounce of guilt. He simply wished this was his year to pick.

Peter brought up the idea of taking a camping trip to start off their extended vacation around March. He showed Tony pictures of the Great Smoky Mountains for a few weeks before he finally told Peter he was game and would love camping in a secluded site on the banks of one of the streams running through the trail. Tony loved to camp and did a ton of it after he graduated from college and tried to sow his wild oats.

It quickly became apparent that Peter had never gone, however. Peter walked into REI with a determined grin that immediately turned panicked. His eyes got comically wide – Tony picking up on the overwhelmed feeling almost instantly. “It’s alright, Pete. We’ll start with the simple stuff and go from there. I’ve got your back,” Tony said softly, his arm wrapping around wide shoulders that were pinched together tightly. “Sleeping bags first.”

The rest of the adventure around the outdoor store was filled with Tony giving Peter a rundown on all of the different equipment while they picked it out. They settled for two huge sleeping bags, a 6-person tent, some campfire cooking utensils and a stove, and the little trinkets that Tony convinced them both they needed (because who didn’t need a waterproof match container?) Footing the bill didn’t feel bad at all, the smile on Peter’s face was more than worth it.

To really enjoy the camping experience, Peter convinced him that driving would be the best way to get to their mountain excursion – so, he talked Happy into letting him drive the man’s SUV in exchange for a couple extra weeks of vacation for him and Pepper. It was the easiest deal he ever made – but, Happy didn’t need to know that. They packed and repacked the car way more times than necessary before Peter deemed them ready to set out on the 12-hour drive.

Tony took the first driving shift; they set off around 3 in the morning to make the most out of the empty roads and lack of traffic. The espresso Peter made him before they left kept him wired for 5 hours straight – they watched the sun come up and sang to the playlist Peter put together when their StarkPhones actually got reception.

Peter took over after the second bathroom stop – Tony filled up the car and their coffee cups before they set out again. This time, the music stayed off; Tony put on his reading glasses and pulled out Fire & Blood, the book he’d been reading to Peter every night before they passed out for the last couple of weeks. It seemed juvenile, but it was soothing for them both. The story was compelling and got them through another big chunk of the drive.

Their next pit stop took a while. The closer they got to the mountains and the park they were staying in, the narrower the selection on food stops and grocery stores became. Tony caught Peter eyeing the McDonald’s they passed when they took the exit, which just so happened to be located right across the way from a local supermarket. The big coolers they got during their shopping adventure were empty and waiting to be filled with junk food meant to sustain 2 grown men for three days.

The sheer amount of packaged chips and cookies Tony watched Peter put into the cart made him laugh, his boyfriend at 26 still ate like a 10-year-old. The idea of letting go of the reins of his diet for the next few days quickly became a reality with every new and intriguing sweet Peter claimed tasted amazing. The plan was to hike around and enjoy the surroundings, anyway – that would require extra sustenance.

Getting the supplies situated and binging on McDonald’s took them another hour, both of them more than satisfied when they got back on the road to finish off the drive and finally get to their destination. As Tony drove, he talked about some of his own camping trips – the two of them laughing when he described the poison ivy he’d accidentally wiped his ass with. The view got better the closer they got and by the time they were pulling in to claim their camping spot, the sky was lit with a gorgeous sun surrounded by the most beautiful clouds.

A look of wonder passed across Peter’s face the further into the park they got. For the first time since Peter planned the trip, Tony realized that this was probably Peter’s first time ever seeing anything like this. Queens didn’t have a good view of the sky most of the time, let alone beautiful mountain passes and cotton-ball clouds. Reaching across the center console, Tony gripped Peter’s hand tightly. They shared a smile before Peter turned his attention back to the view out the window.

As far as first days went, Tony didn’t have anything to complain about. Watching Peter attempt to put the tent up before realizing that a single pull would do it provided entertainment Tony didn’t count on. The rosiness of Peter’s cheeks when he caught Tony looking at him making it even better. “You knew how easy that was, didn’t you?” Peter questioned, affection and annoyance battling for dominance on his face.

“I sure did. I thought it would be better to let you figure it out. How are you going to learn if I do everything for you?” Tony looked at him pointedly, the man more than familiar with the fact that Peter put learning and knowledge above all else. The eye roll he got was totally fair, and all the more adorable because of it.

They unpacked the campfire stove and all the accessories for it and put them into the tent – Tony could tell that Peter was already ready to start exploring. After getting changed, the pair set out for a long hike – they caught the sunset standing on a flat summit of the mountain closest to them. The best part of it all was the look of awe still clearly etched on Peter’s face – there were colors reflecting in his eyes that didn’t even exist in the confines of New York’s city limits.

Hand-in-hand, Tony used the last dredges of light to get them back to their campsite. Peter held the lantern for him while he started a fire when they got back – the idea of having warm food one they both were looking forward to becoming an actuality. He talked through the entire process as he did it – Peter listened carefully; his eyes wide as he watched every one of Tony’s movements carefully. When they eventually got the hot dogs on the skewers, Tony was exhausted and lulled into a relaxed state by the sound of Peter’s voice and the open quiet surrounding them.

Sleep came easy, Tony passed out on his back with Peter curled up against his side, and when they woke up the next morning, neither seemed to have moved at all throughout the night. Peter kissed him fully awake and promised a naked dip in the water after getting food in his belly. Tony worked his culinary magic and put together a pretty decent bacon and egg combination.

The rest of the day was spent walking along the water ways that connected to each other throughout the trail. Peter looked insanely adorable splashing through some of the deeper water. A couple of times, the waded into a stream that was not meant for humans to be in and Tony had to drag himself and the koala bear clinging to him out of the faster currents. It was one of the best days Tony could remember having in a while – sunburn and blisters on his feet included.

----

The next two days followed the same pattern – Peter picked out a spot he wanted to go explore and they spent all day doing so. Tony kept them fed and alive when Peter slipped and dislocated a finger – it seemed like a life or death situation in the moment, at least. It was a blast, soaking in the sun and simply enjoying being together. Their nights were spent curled up around the fire, both too exhausted to do much more than talk about the day’s adventure and exchange lazy kisses.

As the end of the trip creeped up on them, Peter finally let them be lazy. They drank beer and floated in the small stream in front of their campsite. Getting drunk before 1 in the afternoon was an absolute treat and led to the most exquisite nap under the tree they tied their hammock to. The past few days of excitement compounded and created a wave of fatigue that brought them under until the edges of the day were creeping in.

“Pete, wake up, baby. Let’s have some dinner and enjoy the stars one more time,” Tony mumbled sleepily, his eyes blinking awake only moments before. The sky was starting to turn that hazy pink and orange color – if they moved quick enough, they could eat their dinner under a crimson sky waiting eagerly to give way to clarity and brightness.

It took a few minutes for Peter to come around, Tony spending all of them peppering Peter’s skin with soft kisses and caressing the parts of him he could reach in their tangled-up position in the hammock. The sleep-lines on Peter’s face pulled a chuckle from Tony’s chest, his fingers tracing over them without hesitation. “Sleepy Pete is one of my favorites.” Giving him a quick kiss on the lips, Tony did his best not to kick Peter in the face as he climbed out of the ENO.

Hamburgers and beans by the fire as the sun set couldn’t be beat – Peter woke up with a ton of energy and obliterated all the food Tony put in front of him, a wide smile on his face while he did it. Completely satisfied, Tony relaxed into the chair that’d been his main source of back support for the past few days. Peter’s wandering hands landed in his lap a few minutes later, a familiar heat in his eyes.

“Want to sleep under the stars tonight?” Peter asked, his voice low, the timber of it an invitation for more than just sleeping under the night sky.

Without hesitation, Tony nodded his head, his fingers running down the length of Peter’s arm. “Sounds romantic,” he mumbled in response, the two of them sharing a soft laugh at the sarcasm that Tony couldn’t always help. Leaning over the arm of his chair, Tony invaded Peter’s space, his lips pressing against his boyfriend’s cheek. “The big sleeping bag right by the fire is probably our best bet.”

There wasn’t any rush in their movements. Peter climbed out of his chair a few minutes later and went about getting their trash into the big bag they’d been putting everything in. He would not so casually meet Tony’s eye overtop the fire, his smile getting sultrier as the seconds passed.

When Peter dragged the sleeping bag out and unzipped it, Tony couldn’t handle the waiting around anymore. He got up from his chair and took the handful of steps that separated him from the gorgeous man he got to call his own. Kicking off the moccasins he wore around their campsite, Tony grabbed Peter’s hand, pulling him down to the ground with him. Peter’s wide eyes had him laughing seconds before he pressed forward and captured slightly chapped lips in a warm kiss.

Despite it being June, the nights were a little chilly – so Tony took great care when stripping Peter down to nothing. Shoes came off first, then the first layer of shirts covering the naked skin of Peter’s chest. Tony took off a piece of his own clothing when something of Peter’s hit the ground. When they were shirtless and busy kissing each other breathless, Tony covered Peter with his upper body, the warmth between them more than enough to keep a chill at bay.

Tony took his time taking off Peter’s pants. His lips lingered on a delectably long neck; the skin still red from their time in the sun. Tracing his name with his tongue, Tony marked a path down, down, down until he was settling between the v of Peter’s legs. His fingers worked the button open, Tony blowing a warm gust of air against the front of bright blue boxer-briefs as the zipper of tight jeans came down. The bulge pressing up against the tight fabric pulsed, Peter obviously very interested in what was about to happen.

Bypassing the area Peter wanted him to touch the most, Tony continued his journey to get Peter completely naked. Slim hips came up off the ground when he started to peel the jeans down Peter’s legs, the boxer briefs coming down with them. Tony ran just the tips of his fingers down the inside of spread thighs, the goosebumps pebbling across Peter’s skin a tangible reaction that never ceased to make Tony harder than a rock.

Too interested in Peter’s skin in the moonlight to worry about his own pants, Tony palmed Peter’s bare erection, the length pulsing into his touch. Groaning, he tightened his grip and started to slowly pump down to the base and back up again, his thumb swiping across the already leaking head. “You’re absolutely stunning like this,” Tony admitted, his eyes moving from the show his hand was making to Peter’s, the normal hazel a little darker, pupils completely overtaking most of the iris.

“You drive me crazy,” Peter moaned out, his bottom lip being pulled between his teeth as he tossed his head back.

Tony let his lips trail over the weepy head, his tongue poking out for a taste.

Fingers fisting into Tony’s hair had him taking more of Peter’s length in his mouth – his boyfriend groaning each time his lips tightened during the upstroke. Tony pressed the back of his head into Peter’s hand, the contact there spurring him on just as much as the cock sliding deeply into his throat. His own erection pressed messily against the seam of his pants, everything about Peter in that moment fanning the fire in his belly. Thrusting a hand down, Tony adjusted himself, a moan being choked out around the cock in his mouth.

Moving quickly, Tony got up onto his knees, his mouth still firmly working Peter’s cock over as he did. Shaky fingers got the button of his pants open, the immediate rush of relief pulling a groan from him again. Tony forced his eyes shut, his fingers pulling the zipper down and shoving his pants down just enough to free up his cock. Only then did he pull up and off Peter’s erection, his eyes finding the other’s while he shimmied the rest of the way out of the intrusive pieces of clothing.

Tony wrapped a hand around himself, a tight fist stroking up and down a few times just to relieve a bit of tension. “Fuck –“ he gasped out, Tony letting his chin drop to his chest. A huge gust of air left his mouth – it felt like physical pain, pulling his hand away from himself. Peter looked at him intensely, the tip of his pink tongue peeking out to wet his bottom lip. Unable to resist, Tony leaned over him, pressing their lips together briefly.

He didn’t allow himself too much time to luxuriate in the feel of Peter’s tongue against his own, though. His boyfriend was thrusting up against him, the sticky wetness of his cock dragging along the skin of Tony’s stomach. Settling into the gap of Peter’s thighs again, Tony used both hands to push his thighs further apart, everything deliciously on display for him.

Fingers of his right hand wrapped around the base of Peter’s cock, while Tony used his left hand to pull Peter’s ass cheeks apart. He let his tongue graze along the already fluttering hole, the move pulling a shout from the man above him. “Fuck – keep doing that,” Peter muttered mindlessly, the words broken apart by gasps and moans. Tony didn’t need to be told twice.

Redoubling his efforts, Tony gripped Peter tightly and let the pace of his hand match the swipes and thrusts of his tongue. Peter’s hands pawed at him uselessly, the hitch of his hips and the frequency of his breathing telling him just how close he actually was. “Cum for me, Pete.” Tony forced his head up, his lips and chin glossy from his own spit and the messy way he went down on Peter with abandon. It took a singular nod from Tony before Peter was coming, thick pearls of cum coating Tony’s fingers and the supple skin of Peter’s abdomen.

Tony didn’t give him any time to recover, he simply ran his fingers through the warm cum and used two of them to press against Peter’s entrance. They slipped in without much resistance – his tongue and the orgasm did a decent job relaxing Peter and his usually wound up body. He set a fast pace, the second Peter let him in, Tony was thrusting and pulling back with efficiency – doing just enough to make sure there wouldn’t be any pain.

Face red and cock pulsing, Tony replaced two fingers with three, his arm tired from the ruthless way he was simply taking. Peter didn’t seem to mind, though – his cock was already starting to harden against his stomach, the pulse of it making him clench around Tony’s fingers.

“I’m ready, I’m ready. Fuck me, Tony,” Peter’s words cut through whatever rational braincells were left. Tony pulled his fingers out and spat in his hand, the leftover cum and spit the perfect lubricant for a coupling like this – wild and carefree. He didn’t let his hand linger as he spread the fluids over his length, the mere touch made him want to explode. Tony had just enough left in the tank to heft Peter’s legs around his hips as he lined the tip of his cock against Peter’s hole and pressed forward, bringing them together as one.

His hands pressed into the sleeping bag up by Peter’s head, his fingers just shy of being able to play with the hair that haloed out. Bringing his bottom lip between his teeth, Tony went through the periodical table in his head to give Peter a second to adjust and to stave off the orgasm that was quickly approaching.

Peter took his own erection in his hand and started to stroke, the darkness in his eye reflecting the moon above perfectly. Pale skin seemed to glow in the depth of the darkness surrounding them, the hand Tony watched becoming iridescent the longer he stared. The movement was a nice distraction, but not enough to stop his hips from swiveling and pulling back, the press inside the only thing he wanted in that moment. Tony let his head hang between his shoulders, the force of his thrusts easier now that he wasn’t trying to hold himself up as much.

The clench around him drove him towards the edge before Tony could stop it from happening. Dropping down to his elbows, Tony trapped Peter’s hand between them to stop the rhythmic jerking over smooth skin. Each tug caused Peter’s hole to clamp down around him and it was pulling Tony to the precipice a lot quicker than he wanted. “You’re going to make me cum. You feel so fucking good,” Tony babbled, his nose moving over Peter’s cheek with every back and forth thrust.

Hands grabbed his face, Peter tugging until Tony shifted his attention to him. He couldn’t stop the roll of his hips, so he didn’t try – staving off obviously wasn’t going to happen. Peter looked at him with his mouth wide open and pupils blown, the sight of it almost enough to pull him over, the tantalizing squeeze and tug of their physicality be damned. Their lips brushed and for a moment, they shared panted breaths.

“Flip me over,” Peter mumbled when Tony tore away from the kiss, his heart pounding from the anaerobic thrusts of his hips and the astounding lack of oxygen. Clenching his eyes shut, Tony nodded. A miracle stopped his hips and allowed him to pull out – the two of them fumbling around for a minute before Tony was on his back and Peter was settling over him, his tight hole already surrounding Tony’s cock.

“Shit – I’m not going to last much longer, baby.” Tony looked up helplessly, his fingers wrapping around Peter’s hips tightly. “I’m so close – “

Peter smirked down at him, his hand wrapping around his cock before he started a ruthless pace with his hips. The strain of his rise and fall could be seen so plainly in the clench of heavily muscled thighs and the ripple of abs that were so warm and tight – it was fucking beautiful.

Throwing his head back, Tony felt the heat in his stomach hit the boiling point, his orgasm sweeping over him like wildfire. He planted his feet and thrust his hips up, the throbbing tip of his cock pressing against Peter’s prostate – the move enough to pull him right over the edge with Tony. A satisfied moan left Tony’s lips at the feeling of Peter’s cum coating his skin.

The brightness of the stars made Peter glow – the post-orgasmic haze swirled around his limbs, making him look like one of the stars in the sky himself. Smiling widely, Tony let his hands trail over the pale skin, the moonlight not conceding under his fingertips, no matter where he touched. In that instant, he knew he’d never be able to look at Peter the same – the ethereal nature surrounding him right now would forever be engrained in the back of his mind; Peter was beautiful all the time, but this took it to a new level.

Not able to stand the distance between them any longer, Tony wrapped his arms around Peter’s middle and pulled him down. Their lips met, the kiss a steady reminder of the never-ending thrum of love and affection that pulsed between them. Three years later and they were still rocking each other’s worlds.

The coolness of the air broke them apart a while later, the cum cooling on Tony’s chest starting to get a little too sticky for his liking. Groping around, Tony found his t-shirt and wiped his and Peter’s chests. When Peter got up, the situation was beyond help. “We’re going to have to get in the water,” Tony said nodding towards the steadily running stream they’d been “bathing” in all week.

Chilly air drove them into the flow – the coolness was inescapable, though; Tony’s skin immediately lit up with goosebumps. He worked quickly to get himself clean, the water icy the longer he stood nude in the elements. Peter didn’t seem to be moving, so Tony splashed some water over at him, a laugh leaving his lips.

A wash of water hitting him wasn’t all that surprising, Peter was never one to back down from any sort of challenge laid down in front of him, especially where Tony was concerned. Shaking his head, Tony retaliated, the wave hitting Peter starting an all-out war. By the time they were panting for breath, neither man could remember what the cold seeping in felt like. Peter wrapped his arms around Tony’s neck, his wet and naked torso pressing in to share body heat

“This was fun,” Peter said, his expression open. “Really fun. I didn’t know being away from everything could be so – nice.”

Filling in the rest of the space, Tony let his arms wrap around Peter’s hips. He tilted his head and stole a quick kiss. “You just have to be open to appreciating it, Petey.” Tony brushed their noses together before pressing in for another kiss.

Later, wrapped up together in the sleeping bag, Tony pressed his face into the back of Peter’s neck. He snuggled into the warmth there and let out a soft sigh. “Where are we headed next, anyway?” Tony asked, his body completely relaxed.

Peter grabbed his hand and kissed the back of it, the spread of a smile evident on his lips still pressed against Tony’s skin. “How do you feel about white-water rafting?”  

[songsofacagedbird]

Is that BALIAN “BALO” DRISKELL? Wow, they do look a lot like EMILIIE DE RAVIN I hear SHE is an EIGHTEEN year old high school SENIOR. Word is they are a REGULAR student at Luxor Academy. You should watch out because they can be NAIVE and SENSITIVE, but on the bright side they can also be BUBBLY and OPTIMISTIC. Ultimately, you’ll get to see it all for yourself.

the basics //

Full Name: Balian “Balo” Grace Driskell

Preferred Name: Balo Driskell

Age: 18

Birthday: February 23rd

Zodiac: Pisces

Gender & Pronouns: Woman (She/Hers)

Sexuality: Balo doesn’t label her sexuality, she’s part of the LGBT+ community (and has canonly dated both girls and boys) but she doesn’t feel comfortable labeling it personally.

Occupation: N/A, she occasionally does commissions though (both art and in like making clothes)

Relationship Status: In a relationship with Cade Carroll (npc) since early May 

Place of Birth: Rochester, New York

Hometown: Saratoga Springs, New York

Country of Citizenship: United States

Languages Spoken: English (first) and French

deeper dive //

Hobbies and Talents:

 ○ Sketching (in particular people and animals, an inspiration board for her sketch book can be found here.)

 ○ Painting

 ○ Gymnastics (her leg is her left leg! By “her leg” I mean the leg she leads off with / does her split with for her floor routine / has better balance)

 ○ Fashion Design and Sewing

 ○ Cheerleading

 ○ Gymnastics

 ○ Yoga

 ○ Roller Skating

 ○ Scrapbooking

 ○ Dancing (a hobby, not a talent)

 ○ She can touch her nose with her tongue

Favorites:

 ○ Color: The entire rainbow, Balo has issues with picking one favorite color so she doesn’t choose.

 ○ Food: Balo’s not the biggest on food but she has a weakness for popcorn. Extra butter, light on the salt.

 ○ Animal: Cats

 ○ Drink: Hot Chocolate

 ○ Flower: Sunflowers

 ○ Book: a fairy tale collection she got from Zander when she was a child

 ○ Holiday: Christmas, to the point she’ll start decorating as early as she can. (June? Why not!)

 ○ Movie: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

 ○ Scent: Strawberries, real a bit more than the artificial but she adores both.

 ○ Place: Her “little art studio” (technically just a corner of her room with her art supplies).

 ○ Quote:

“Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that as well.” - Unknown

Bêtes Noires:

 ○ Color: Dark brown, although she won’t admit to it

 ○ Food: Chicken à la King

 ○ Animal: Spiders, Balo does not like spiders and would like to stay far away from them

 ○ Drink: Matcha

 ○ Flower: Nepenthes peltata

 ○ Book: The Divergent Books

 ○ Holiday: 4th of July

 ○ Movie: Rugrats in Paris, she thinks it’s practically a horror movie

 ○ Scent: Garlic

 ○ Place: The Driskell family home in Saratoga Springs

health //  

Conditions:

          ○ Anorexia Nervosa

          ○ HIV

Allergies: N/A

Sleeping Habits: Balo gets to bed usually at a good time and sleeps 8 hours at a shot.

Exercise Habits: She exercises multiple times of day, between gymnastics and cheerleading, it’s important she’s in prime shape. Dance and Yoga are her go-tos outside of practice.

Addictions: N/A

Drug Use: Very rarely. After a bad LSD trip (when she wasn’t aware she was being drugged until after the fact), she’s very wary of drugs on average.

Alcohol Use: Occasionally. Balo doesn’t have a high alcohol tolerance, she gets tipsy after one drink and if she keeps drinking, after a couple the odds of her stripping are extremely high. (It’s not a sexual thing, she overheats and doesn’t really think about the consequences).

personality //  

MBTI: ESFP

Enneagram: 2w3 (The Helper with The Achiever Wing)

Alignment: Neutral Good

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

Percy Jackson Parent: Iris

Pokémon Type: Dragon

Pokémon Subtype: Ghost

Winx: Nature

appearance //  

Height:  5′11” – not at fc height (I enjoy her being a few cm taller than Zander too much to put her at fc now #oops)

Tattoos: One

Scars: None

Piercings: Ears

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Blue

Fashion:

 ○ link to balo’s closet

 ○ link to balo’s shoes

life at luxor //  

Classes:

 ○ Communications

 ○ French

 ○ General P.E.

 ○ Visual Arts

 ○ Fashion Design

 ○ Human Biology

 ○ Beginner Ballet

Clubs and Activities:

 ○ Art Club

 ○ Cheerleading (Flyer)

 ○  Gymnastics

fun facts //  

 ○ Balo has been attending Luxor since her Freshman year.

 ○ Balo’s kind of a literal ray of sunshine who believes (almost) everyone is truly good at heart.

 ○ Very easy to manipulate, please manipulate her. I’ll literally give you my firstborn.

 ○ Usually you’ll see her running around with a smile trying to brighten everyone’s day. She tries to put everyone’s happiness before herself, however, she’s slowly getting better about forming boundaries.

 ○ While it’d be easy to assume Balo’s dumb, that’s not quite the case. She only remembers the information she wants to. The issue is... most of the information she wants to learn is relatively useless. Want to know how to sew sutures? She’s your girl. Want to know the definition of cannibalism? Well, ask Jack how that goes.

 ○ She has two teddy bears and an American Girl doll living on her dresser. Duffy, Shelley-Mae, and Robin Banks. They’re decorative, but they make her happy.

 ○ One of her best friends is Logan Keller, the boy who went missing during the summer camping trip. The two are still in touch, and extremely close, so occasionally he gets mentioned here and there, but it’s still a sore spot for her (I am still in touch with the person who played him, so I run stuff by his mun when / if he comes up).

 ○ Jack’s adoptive parents recently adopted her, although she hasn’t said a lot about it. Your muse probably won’t know unless one of the two directly told them (or they heard it from Zander). It’s not a secret, she just didn’t make an announcement or anything.

 ○ In October 2019, Zander had an intervention for her to force her to get help for her eating disorder. She was in inpatient until April 2020, when she returned to Luxor.

 ○ Cheer and Gymnastics team member from Freshmen year until her intervention, and she returned to both teams this fall with the new school year.

 ○ Balo’s left handed (the only one of my muses that is a lefty)!

 ○   I’m aware Balo’s family page can be complicated, please feel free to dm me with questions. Also, please remember Balo doesn’t know she’s Daniel’s daughter, let alone the fact there’s even a chance Lance isn’t her father, which means your muse has absolutely no way of knowing this.

 ○ Befriended a stray racoon on the Lake George campus she named Reese Withercoon.

 ○ Literally only just said her first swear word this June, we’re very proud of her for finally getting that done. (#ThanksAxelAndLeo)

 ○ Balo finds the Winnie the Pooh theme song extremely soothing, which resulted in her naming a certain group chat with a set of friends the 100 Acre Woods - because she finds spending time with them soothing too.

 ○ I’m always willing to discuss my muses, so feel free to hit me up if you have any questions at any point.

a tl;dr history  //  

 ○ Balo’s home life growing up was far from perfect. Her father, Lance - is an abusive alcoholic, and while her mother tried her best to protect her children - she also covered things up without hesitation because she loves her husband. It wasn’t uncommon to see a Driskell in the ER with a lie and people willing to back up the story.

 ○ Balo was conceived during the time Lance and Cassandra were seperated the only time that her mother tried to leave. She’s completely unaware that she’s not Lance’s biological daughter (as is everyone else).

 ○ She’s been attending Luxor since freshman year, although she had to leave in the middle of her Junior year had to leave for a few months to attend extensive inpatient treatment. She came back in April, although she could not rejoin the cheerleading and gymnastic teams until her therapist confirmed she was doing well (so the start of her senior year) because of concerns about her well-being.

 ○ She was disowned following her HIV diagnosis over the fall. Over the winter, the Fieldings adopted Balo.

 ○ I strongly recommend skimming Balo’s timeline page before interacting with her. These are just the bare minimum basics, and there're more things your muse may know on there.

wanted connections //  

 ○ Friendships

 ○ Someone to manipulate her, please I beg you

 ○ Anyone who knows her from the gymnastics and/or cheer teams, or the art club

[randompjoblog]

The cold wind did not help his mood. She did not help his mood. He did not understand her, he couldn’t understand why she left. He doesn’t understand why she’s back. 

It was bitterly cold in new york. She showed up to his study group for biology. He told her about it in September, during their last conversation. He hadn’t heard from her since now it was late November and he was done. When they were younger her disappearing acts were okay even fun. He liked hearing the stories from those missing periods. He was always concerned but now he was over it. 

That morning had been great. He woke up early, from the light flowing through his window. That was his favorite way to wake up. His coffee had the right amount of sugar and cream and his mom made breakfast. He had stayed the weekend with her instead of in the dorms due to the fact that the dorm’s heater was broken and that he really missed his mom. She had kissed his cheek and told him to be good. He felt like he did in high school, not the complicated mess of college. The group met up at a small cafe. It’s very hipster but has good coffee and big tables. They’ve also never been kicked out, so there’s that. They had been there all semester but they weren’t quite friends. Percy had ordered and sat back down to start working on the assignment when somebody hugged him from behind. He flinched not knowing who it was but the mystery person whispered “Miss me” in his ear and he knew exactly who he was going to fight that day. 

“Annabeth get off” 

“Wow someone has not had enough coffee”

He stood up, looking at his best friend. He knew she was only back for a few days.

“Annabeth lets go outside” 

“But is free-” 

“Outside,” he said sternly but even he could hear the sadness in his voice.  

She was right it was freezing. The streets were still crowded and his group had a perfect view to watch them fight so he decided to find a quieter part of the loudest city on earth.

“Why” he finally asked after walking half a block, “why are you back, and why are you here” 

“Is that all I get after three months?” she asked cheekily. 

“You don’t understand, do you? This is not fun, this is not a game, you can’t just pop in and out of my life at your leisure. Yeah, that’s all you get after three months after what I got for three months.”

She paused for a moment. “I thought you would be happy to see me, you used to like hearing my stories.”

“Your right, I used to” He took a few steps forward, she followed. 

“I went to Florida” 

He didn’t respond.

“I stayed with Clarisse, She moved there after camp last summer. I went to the beach every day and -” 

“You didn’t tell me any of it”

“I’m telling you now” 

He stopped walking, she turned to look at him. Her eyes stormy and narrowed. 

“Annabeth you left, you told no one where you went, when you would be back, why,” He took a breath, deep. “Why did you leave” 

She didn’t have an answer at least not right away. She looked away, “I don’t know, Its what I do Percy”

He looked at her. She was tanner than last September. Her hair was shorter, to her shoulder, choppy in a cute way that looked like she had cut it herself. She was bundled up in a sweatshirt, for his college, and a wool coat over that. She was looking across the street, her arms were crossed. He knew that she was on the verge of tears, but so was he all semester. 

He attempted to get her talking again, “How was Clarisse, I only talked to her a few times but she never mentioned that you were with her”

She looked over and then back to the building across the street, “yeah, I told her not to tell you but she good, she’s in school.” 

He grimaced, “I just don’t understand why you didn’t want me to know where you were, Annabeth I was really worried about you. I don’t care for your reasons but I just want you to know this before you leave again. I love you and there are a lot of people who love you here. I just can’t understand why you would leave after that. What you told me, I would have. You know that right I would have stayed until the end of the world but you left before you gave me the chance. I just don’t understand, help me understand.” 

“I” she stumbled over her words, “I’m not- I’m really I don’t know.” She paused and took a breath, her voice got small and soft, “it’s easier,” she paused, “it’s easier, Percy to shut you out, I’m sorry but I don’t, I can’t get hurt by you your too important to me and I can’t risk it, I’m sorry, I really am” 

She turned to leave, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a tight hug. He had missed her, a lot. She hugged him back fiercely. The one thing about their friendship that always stayed true is that they always hugged way too tight for far too long. They both took comfort in each other’s hugs. 

He loosed their embrace to look at her face. She was crying, tears falling from her eyes. He wiped her cheek with the pad of his thumb and asked the question he had been dreading since she arrived. “When are you leaving?” there was no hint of malice or bitterness in his voice. He knew what was coming, he also knew it was going to hurt a lot but maybe she was happier this way. Always leaving first. 

“I don’t know, I was going to go to LA and visit Rachel but I don’t know anymore. I really missed you maybe I’ll stay in new york for a while.” There was a small smile and she wasn’t crying anymore so that was a bonus. “I’m freezing,” she continued, “can we please go somewhere warm” she slid over to his side, arm still wrapped around his waist and his arm over her shoulders. 

He laughed, “Yeah, let’s go get me stuff from the cafe and we can hang at my mom’s apartment.”

“Are there cookies?”

“Wow, dumb question chase, do you even know my mom?” 

She laughed, “I was just checking” 

There were some amazing peppermint cookies back at the apartment. They were for dinner that night but Percy made an exception. With Annabeth, there was never a certainty she would be there tomorrow so he had to make the best of today. He did love Annabeth, she was his best friend, and now he might understand a little better why she runs, and maybe just maybe he can convince her to stay a little longer this time.

[catthecoder]

tag game - get to know me

tagged by the awesome @orangenfrottee - thank you, i haven’t done one of these in ages and these questions sound like so much fun! 💕

1. what is the color of your hairbrush? it’s grey on the back with black handle

2. name a food you never eat - hmm, i used to be such a picky eater but i recently slowly started eating a lot of food i used to despise... if you asked me a few months ago, i could write up a rather long list, but right now? the only thing that comes to mind are picked cucumbers 😬

3. are you typically too warm or too cold? too cold, 100%. somehow, my body stays cold even when it is like 30 degrees, which is hella weird.

4. what were you doing 45 minutes ago? eating lunch! i made bagels with ricotta, ham, cheese, egg and avocado and i had a couple of baby cucumbers along with it (mind you, not pickled ones) and it was super delicious.

5. what’s your favorite candy bar? i think twix is my favourite? or perhaps this slovak bar called ‘horalky’, which is basically wafers with peanut filling and sides dipped in chocolate... god, now i want one so desperately.

6. have you ever been to a professional sports game? i used to watch hockey a lot and i’ve been to a couple of games.

7. what is the last thing you said out loud?  huh, i think it was my order when i went for coffee a couple of hours ago? (i got a latte and a piece of apple crumble cake, in case anybody’s wondering)

8. what is your favorite ice cream? i could eat ben&jerry every day, so it’s probably their ‘half baked’ or ‘phish food’. also, i’d die for a good mango sorbet.

9. what was the last thing you had to drink? plain old water

10. do you like your wallet? i like how small and practical it is..... i’m trying to recall the last time i actually took it out of my backpack and i’m coming very short.

11. what is the last thing you ate? the bagels from question 4!

12. did you buy any new clothes last weekend? i bought a pair of new masks last thursday and they arrived on monday - does that count?

13. what’s the last sporting event you watched? haha, does the bake off count as a sporting event? if not, i think it would be some skiing competitions (slalom) last winter - my parents follow them rather closely and it kind of rubs off on me when i’m home with them.

14. what is your favorite flavor of popcorn? salty mixed with sweet!

15. who is the last person you sent a text message to? my boyfriend.

16. ever been camping? does setting up a tent in friend’s backyard and sleeping there count? if so, then yes.

17. do you take vitamins? not really... i sometimes take c during autumn for immunity, but i haven’t bought any this year so far... oh, i am taking probiotics right now, though i’m not sure whether that counts as vitamins.

18. do you regularly attend a place of worship? no.

19. do you have a tan? no, if i try to tan, i just turn pink (or red). though i’m pretty sure my skin is marginally lighter underneath where i wear my watch.

20. do you prefer Chinese or pizza?  if going out, pizza; if i’m cooking, chinese.

21. do you drink your soda through a straw? if there’s ice in it, then yes; otherwise, i tend to skip the straw. 

22. what color socks do you usually wear? black or white.

23. do you ever drive above the speed limit? gonna be honest and say yes. not by crazy amounts or anything like that, but if i know the road and i can see quite far around and ahead, i will go 10ish% above the limit easily. not gonna lie, it’s especially easy on highways (though i nearly got fined last time i drove, so who knows how i’ll feel about it the next i’ll sit behind the wheel) 

24. what terrifies you? haha, like i’m going to share that.

25. look to your left, what do you see?  a shelf with alcohol bottles, glasses that don’t fit into our kitchen cabinet, an assortment of cameras and other photography equipment and a scanner. oh, and a window.

26. what chore do you hate most? taking out our organic waste bin - it starts smelling very bad very quickly plus the bin for it downstairs hadn’t been taken out in a very long time and it’s always covered by fruit flies and smells veeeery bad and i’m feeling yucky just thinking about it.

27. what do you think of when you hear an Australian accent? i think - hah, that person is australian, how cool.

28. what’s your favorite soda? i love san pellegrino. limonata is my go to, but i recently had lemon & mint and my god, that one is amazing.

29. do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? i go in, even if i drove there - i don’t like eating in my car.

30. what’s your favorite number? i’ve always had a special connection to number three, so let’s go with that.

31. who’s the last person you talked to? depends on what you mean by talked to - actually spoke to, with my voice? the bartender at my favourite coffee shop. had a meaningful conversation? probably with a customer service employee who’s helping me resolve an issue. just chatted to, without much of a point? my boyfriend.

32. favorite meat? hmm, probably ham?

33. last song you listened to? i’m currently listening to ‘cigarette daydreams’ by ‘cage the elephant’, though that’s going to change in a minute and half.

34. last book you read? ‘renegades’ by marissa meyer! it was so. good! i started the second book, ‘archnemesis’ yesterday and i’m even more in love. 100% recommend if you’re into superhero stories with secret identities and enemies-to-friends(-to-lovers). such an amazing series.

35. favorite day of the week? what even are days?

36. can you say the alphabet backwards? only crazy people can.

37. how do you like your coffee? oat latte with a bit of honey.

38. favorite pair of shoes? i own way too many shoes to be able to pick a single favourite pair.

39. time you normally get up? between 8:30 and 9:00.

40. what do you prefer, sunrise or sunsets? sunsets.

41. how many blankets are on your bed? none. there is one on the couch though.

42. describe your kitchen plates? we found this kitchen set in tesco after eating from paper plates for at least a week after moving in - there are four bowls, four small plates and four big plates (a year layer, we found two extra big bowls matching our set) - the bowls are grey from outside and white on the inside; the small plates are grey on the top and white on the bottom and the big plates are white on top and grey on bottom.

43. describe your kitchen at the moment: very small - a third of it is a stove (with two heating pads? circles? whatever), another third is a sink and the last third is workspace with a small shelf for spices, cutlery etc, and a cutting board and knives stand. most of the workspace is taken up by a cutting board i used to cut avocado and cucumbers for lunch and there is a tiny pan (and i mean really tiny, like one egg sized) leftover on the stove. i’m probably going to do the dishes after i finish answering these.

44. do you have a favorite alcoholic drink? i’m not that picky, i’ll drink almost anything. i think i prefer fruity drinks though - i really like french martini or sex on the beach.

45. do you play cards? we used to play cards a lot with my parents and sister (and grandparents as well) - i love playing canasta, but you need four people for that, so i haven’t actually played in months... we also played a lot of joker and i taught my boyfriend to play this summer (not that he didn’t know how to play, he just wasn’t particularly good)... and we also play poker with a couple of our friends here from time to time

46. what color is your car? this is going to sound so bad, but i am actual not sure? we ended up finding quite a good deal on a car we wanted to get after uni, so we bought it - however, it is back in slovakia and both me and my boyfriend are stuck in uk right now. it’s either black or very dark blue, but for the love of my life, i can’t remember and the photos i found weren’t helpful at. all. (if it weren’t for covid, i’d be able to answer this question a lot better). oh, and the car i had before (my mom’s old car) is red.

47. can you change a tire? i like to think i’d be able to (after enough googling and youtube videos), but if there was somebody else with me, i’d gladly let them do it.

48. your favorite state or province? like in usa or what? i guess new york.

49. favorite job you’ve had? i don’t think i’ve particularly enjoyed any of the jobs i had so far - if i had to pick, i’d say working in an ice-cream shop, because if there is one thing that could make work during a very hot summer even slightly bearable, it’s the fact that every so often, you can nibble on a bit of an ice-cream.

i’m tagging @stonerbughead @strangenightsofdaydreams and @i-know-you-can - i know there is like 50 questions and that’s a lot, but they were actually a lot of fun? 

[marvelous-writer]

One Fall Weekend

Summary: A field trip to the mountains goes horribly wrong, forcing Peter and Brad to put their differences aside in order to survive.

Whumptober Day Six: Lost

@whumptober2019

Link to read on Ao3:

Mr. Dell somehow managed to convince Midtown Tech to green light his outdoor nature hike idea. It probably took a lot of convincing on his part, as well as Mr. Harrington’s, who was also co-leading this field trip, saying that it would be good for everyone to get outdoors in nature and learn the history of America’s land.

When Peter came home from school with the permission slip for the trip, May was quick to call Tony and discuss it with him. And before he knew it, the slip was signed and there were a few large packages from Sierra Trading Post and L.L. Bean waiting outside of their apartment door the next day when Peter got home from school. He didn’t even need to check the shipping label to know who they were from.

If you ask him, May and Tony were being a little too enthusiastic about him going on this trip. It’s probably because they’ve been getting on him lately with taking it easy from patrolling and focus on being a teenager and spending some time with his friends.

Peter honestly didn’t want to go on this trip, not just because of the fact that whenever he went on a school trip always seems to involve him endangering everyone’s lives when a psycho villain shows up. But May and Tony were pretty adamant on him going, so he didn’t have a choice.

The two of them sure were one heck of a force to be reckoned with.

That’s how Peter finds himself in the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate, New York, one and a half weeks later on a Thursday night at the campsite where they would all be staying for the next three and a half days.

“Okay, everyone listen up!” Mr. Dell calls. “Once your tents are all set up, we’re leaving for a scavenger hunt! Make sure you have your backpacks, flashlights and the maps I handed out!”

Peter turns back to the black and green tent that they’ve just finished setting up, smiling proudly at his and Ned’s handiwork that took them under twenty minutes. Tony had invited Peter up to the lake house last weekend and taught him how to set up a tent, start a fire without matches, as well as a few other outdoor survival skills, with Morgan’s help, of course.

It was clear that Tony was worried and stressing a bit over the trip, and Peter understood why the man was going all out with buying him all of this camping gear and making sure that Peter knew what to in an emergency. It was all a little excessive, but Peter appreciated it nonetheless.

It was just a camping trip up north, not even a couple hundred miles from the Compound and the Stark’s lake house. It’s not like they were going half-way across the world again. This time, there weren’t going to be any bad guys to fight. The scariest thing they’re going to be facing is Flash without wi-fi.

“Wow,” Michelle’s voice comes from behind them. “I actually can’t believe the two of you managed to put this thing together. I’m impressed.”

“Thanks.” Ned smiles, decked out in his camping gear, wearing a navy green hat with tiny marshmallows dangling from the rim, swishing in the air as he turns around.

“And you ever doubted us?” Peter asks with a smile.

“Well, yeah. Sort of.” She shrugs, stepping closer to him.

Peter fake gasps and presses a hand to his chest in mock offense. “Michelle Jones, I’ll have you know that we are both men or many talents.”

“Yeah!” Ned adds.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that.” She knowingly smirks at Peter, their eyes locking as she stands in front of him, only mere inches from his face.

Peter feels his heart start to race when they both start to lean in closer to each other.

Ned makes a disgusted sound, ruining the moment. “Now you two had to make it weird.”

Michelle rolls her eyes with a smirk and starts to pull away from Peter, but he snakes an arm around her waist, keeping her close to his side. She lets out a small laugh and leans against him.

Ned ducks into the tent, leaving them alone for the moment. Peter takes his opportunity and plants a light kiss to Michelle’s cheek, who breathes out a small laugh. Much to his surprise, she faces him and wraps her arms around his neck, kissing him.

Peter’s eyes close, and all of a sudden the world blurs as a warm ness spreads through his chest, feeling lighter than air. Michelle pulls away after a moment, grinning.

“W-What happened to being discreet?” Peter breaths out, eyes fluttering open.

“Couldn’t help myself.” Michelle grins at him, starting to pull away. “I have to go back and help Betty. Stay out of trouble, Mountain Man.” She tells him, already starting to walk off in the direction of her’s and Betty’s tent.

Peter watches her go with what’s probably a dumb, lovestruck look on his face. He can’t help it though. Whenever they’re together, Peter feels so happy and complete.

And for the moment, he’s able to forget about how he never wanted to come on this trip in the first place.

…….

Once the tents are all up, everyone grabs their things when Mr. Dell calls them over so they could get assigned to their partners for the scavenger hunt.

“...Ned with Abraham, Darcy, Samantha and Emily, Josh with Flash, Michelle with Betty, and last but not least, Peter with Brad.” Mr. Harrington reads off from the clipboard in his hands.

Peter’s stomach drops. It wasn’t already bad enough they were being forced out here, in the middle of nowhere to do this scavenger hunt, but to be partnered up with Brad, of all people? He didn’t know what was worse.

Peter turns his head, eyes searching the group of his classmates, until his eyes land on Brad, who looks just as thrilled as Peter probably does.

It wasn’t exactly a secret that the two of them weren’t fans of each other. Brad clearly wasn’t over everything that happened during their trip to Europe in the beginning of the summer, and their little fight over which one of them would win MJ over.

But now that Peter was dating Michelle, he thought for sure that the guy would let it go, but it’s only gotten worse. Brad still tries with MJ, trying to get her to like him, whether it be with telling stupid jokes and stories, trying to impress her, and a whole bunch more of annoying things that Peter absolutely despises.

And now the two of them had to traipse around through the woods, partnered up together.

The good ol’ Parker Luck strikes again.

The group starts to disperse into their groups, leaving the two of them awkwardly standing there.

Peter sucks in a deep, grounding breath before he walks over to Brad, trying not to let the disappointment show on his face. He was going to be cordial and work with him, not rude or anything. Ben and May raised him better than that.

Peter awkwardly clears his throat as he comes to stand beside the other boy. “Uh, so… which way did you want to go?”

Brad pulls his map out from his sweatshirt pocket and unfolds it. His brows pull together in concentration as he studies it, tracing a finger over a path. “We’ll go south.” He decides as he folds the map back up, maybe a little too roughly.

“Sounds good.” Peter agrees lightly. “Do you think we should-” He starts to say, but Brad starts to walk away from him.

Peter breathes out a sigh. “Yeah… okay.” He mumbles to himself as he follows behind him.

This was going to be a long hour.

…….

Thirty minutes later, they’ve completed half of the scavenger hunt, finding four oak leaves, five acorns, three pine cones, a piece of pine bark, and various other things off the list. They only have five more to go, but the only problem is that it’s getting dark, so much to the point that they had to take their flashlights out a while ago.

Brad stops again for the third time in the past two minutes to look at the map. Peter stands at his side, shining the flashlight on to it so they can see it.

“I don’t get it…” Brad says with a frown. “The path should be right here.” He taps his thumb on an area on the paper.

Peter’s brows pull together, looking away and shines his flashlight around them, squinting in the darkness to see if anything looked familiar.

Nothing does.

They were lost.

The real ness of their situation hits Peter like a ton of bricks, a sinking feeling forming in his stomach. They were lost in the middle of nowhere with no food or water, no tent, no blankets, only the clothes on their backs and each other.

“We’re lost… aren’t we?” Peter tentatively asks.

He expects Brad to scoff at him and deny it, but the frightened look on his face says it all.

Brad swallows hard, brows pulling together. “Yeah… I think we are.”

Peter breathes out shakily and runs a hand through his curls, trying to come up with some kind of plan. He’s Spider-Man for goodness sake! This shouldn’t be so scary to him with everything he deals with out on the streets everyday, but it does.

A sudden cold wind wishes past them, crinkling the fallen leaves on the ground around them. A shiver races through Peter and he sees Brad pull his sweatshirt closer to himself in his peripheral.

“Come on. It’s getting cold and we can’t stand around. Let’s go this way… they have to be looking for us by now.” Peter says, pointing his flashlight a few feet to the left from where they’re standing.

“Right.” Brad nods, folding up the now useless map, storing it away in his hoodie pocket once again. “Let’s go.”

…….

Another thirty minutes pass by and now, it’s pitch black out.

“Can anyone hear us?” Brad yells, his voice echoing off into the distance.

They’ve had no other choice than to resort to yelling for help, hoping that someone would hear them. But so far… no one has.

Peter walks along next to Brad, hood up, with an arm wrapped around himself, the other holding onto the flashlight with a shaking hand. He’s been shivering for some time now, teeth chattering, and it was only getting worse.

“Do y-you think we s-should s-stop and t-try to s-start a f-fire?” Peter suggests.

“We need to keep moving.” Brad argues.

“Y-Yeah, but i-it’s getting colder. S-Someone might s-see the flames.” Peter shoots back, growing frustrated.

Brad breathes out a sigh, a puff of white smoke escaping into the air, barely visible with the flashlights. He rounds on Peter, face tense. “We can’t just start a fire anywhere. There are too many trees around us.” He angrily says. “I’ve gone camping with my folks since I was six. You’re just a city boy, so I’d expect that coming from you.”

“And y-yet h-here we are lost, in t-the middle of nowhere!” Peter shouts back, throwing his arms out.

Brad’s mouth opens and closes a few times, his face contorted in anger, but nothing comes out. He turns his head away and lets out a frustrated sigh. They’re both silent for a few long moments, the only sources of sound being the trees blowing in the wind around them. The silence is unsettling out here, compared to the hustle and bustle of the city they’re both used to back at home.

Peter closes his eyes and reaches a shaky hand up, pinching the bridge of his nose. Now wasn’t the time to lose his temper.

“I’m sorry.” Peter apologizes, letting out a sigh. “This isn’t your fault, Brad but fighting is-isn’t going to h-help us.”

Brad looks back at him, their eyes meeting, before his shoulder’s slump. “You’re right.” He agrees.

Peter’s slightly surprised to hear him say that. He never would’ve imagined that Brad Davis, would openly admit that Peter was right about something.

“What do you think we should do?” Brad asks, folding his arms over his chest, looking miserably cold.

In the time they’ve been out here doing this stupid scavenger hunt, Brad had automatically taken the lead, casting Peter aside, and Peter had let him, not wanting to make any waves with him. Now, however, it seems like Brad was willing to work with him.

Circumstances set aside, it was a turn in the right direction.

Peter’s eyes searched the black darkness surrounding them, fear and dread creeping it’s way into him. “Well… let’s t-try to find somewhere to b-build a fire, get warm, and h-hopefully someone will f-find us. I think I have something that’ll help start it.”

“Okay.” Brad says. “We just need to find a clearing and some loose branches and twigs.”

“Right.” Peter nods. “Come on.”

They both continue on their way, leaves crunching underneath their shoes as they walk through the woods.

…….

Peter doesn’t know what’s worse, the relenting cold that has him violently shivering now, or the knowing hunger growing in his stomach. He can’t even remember the last time he ate.

“I’m seriously c-considering ripping off some bark and eating it right now.” Brad groans at his side.

“Sorry, the granola bars I brought are in my other bag back at camp.” Peter says, shooting him a sympathetic look, even though he could barely see it with the dim yellow lighting of their flashlights.

“Yeah, same.” Brad says. “I mean, we could always ear bugs, right? Roast them when we build a fire?” He grins, trying to lighten the mood.

Peter gives a short laugh. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Brad breathes out a laugh. “I know and then we’d have to-”

His voice cuts out when Peter’s spider-sense practically screams at him, feeling his whole body tense up. He doesn’t know why it’s going off but on instinct, Peter shoots a hand out and shoves Brad backwards, hearing a loud ‘oopf.’ Peter doesn’t even realize his next step is met by air, before he feels himself falling forward.

In a matter of seconds, he feels himself hit the ground on his knees, only for his body to be propelled forward by gravity, continuing to roll downwards. Branches snap, leaves and plants being crushed underneath him as he continues to tumble, panicked mind racing, throwing his hands out in hopes to grab onto something to catch himself. But he’s moving too fast.

Peter can’t even tell which way was up or down.

Something suddenly snaps in his arm when he manages to grab ahold of a small tree, failing to stop his descent. There’s no air left in his lungs for him to be able to scream out from all of the pain.

The last thing Peter’s aware of is slamming head first into something incredibly hard, before he knows no more.

…….

Excruciating pain is the first thing he’s able to register, as well as how freezing he is. Peter can’t pinpoint exactly where it’s coming from with how badly he’s shivering.

Sounds slowly return next, a faint ringing in his ears.

“-eter! -eter!” Someone’s muffled voice screams from somewhere in the distance.

Peter manages to slowly peel open his heavy eyes, meeting darkness. He can hear branches snapping nearby, before there’s suddenly a golden light shining down on him.

“Shit, Peter!”

There’s someone kneeling down next to him, a blurry face above his. Peter slowly blinks a few times until he’s able to recognize that it’s Brad kneeling above him.

“Peter can you hear me?” Brad pants, eyes wide and panicked.

A wave of pain washes over Peter before he can answer, a groan escaping at the back of his throat as he tightly closes his eyes.

“Uh-shit. Okay. Shit this is bad.” Brad mutters, followed by the sound of a zipper and things moving around, possibly in a backpack. “Shit. No cell reception.”

Through Peter’s pained and woozy mind, he distantly remembers sitting with Tony in the living room at the lake house, and the new StarkPhone Tony gave him.

“M-My… bag…” Peter forces out through chattering teeth.

“What?” Brad shakily asks.

“M-My b-bag… p-phone’s…”

“There’s no reception out here for miles-”

“G-Get it… p-please.” Peter weakly cuts him off, a weak cough escaping through his lips.

He can swear that he feels something wet come up, that hopefully wasn’t blood.

Brad frowns, aiming the flashlight around them. Peter’s backpack had somehow slipped off him during his fall.

“Got it!” Brad announces, jumping to his feet.

Leaves crunch under his shoes as he retrieves it, bringing it back over and kneeling at Peter’s side again.

“I-Inside l-left po-pocket.” Peter tells him, hearing the bag being zipped open.

“Found it… but we still don’t have any reception out here.”

“I-It’s made s-so it’ll w-work out o-of range.” Peter stutters out, a violent chill racing through him.

Peter had just been so upset about the whole trip and this week has been crazy, so he forgot all about the phone. He hasn’t even used it since Tony gave it to him, finding that the man had already put his number in the device.

How could Peter be so stupid to forget about it? They could have called for help hours ago.

“It’s locked.” Brad’s voice takes him out of his self-blaming thoughts.

“1962.” Peter grits out, wincing as his shoulder gives off a particularly painful throb.

He looks up at the other boy, as he types in the passcode, allowing Peter to see his wide, fearful eyes, as well as his rosy nose and cheeks from the biting cold.

“T-There’s only one number on here?” Brad says, almost questioningly. “A… Tony?”

“C-Call hi-him.” Peter struggles to say through chattering teeth.

Brad’s brows pull together as he looks down at him. “Tony? As in…”

Peter closes his eyes, breathing out shakily as another round of chills race through him, feeling something warm slide down his cheeks. “B-Brad, p-please… c-call h-him.”

“Okay, okay.” Brad says, tapping on the device a few times before Peter can faintly hear the dial tone in the background.

They wait there for several moments, hope filling through Peter, praying for Tony to answer.

“Oh my God, yes!” Brad’s yell causes him to flinch from the suddenness of it and Peter lets out a low groan when it jostles whatever injuries he has. “My name is Brad, I’m in Peter’s-yes-no, but we were on a scavenger hunt and we got lost-” Brad quickly speaks, but his voice starts to fade in and out of Peter’s ears, replaced by a staticky noise.

Peter’s eyes are growing heavy again, his head pounding away, as he shivers on the cold, hard ground.

“-eter? Hey, you have to-awake! -eter!” He can hear Brad’s frantic voice, but it sounds so far away.

Peter’s eyes slip shut, and then he knows no more.

…….

Voices fade in and out of his ears and he feels multiple hands on him.

“-shock-hypothermia-” Someone’s saying but the words don’t register with his jumbled, pained brain.

Peter somehow manages to open his eyes into slits, and there’s a bright white light surrounding him with the silhouettes of faceless figures above him.

A violent shiver wracks through him and he squeezes his eyes shut, feeling something soft and warm being pulled up to his chin.

“Hold on, honey… just hold on.” A soft voice tells him, and it almost reminds him of May, but it just doesn’t sound like her.

Everything fades to black.

…….

Peter wakes to the sound of someone crying, before pain erupts throughout his body. The crying only gets louder when his throat strangely starts to ache, only for him to discover that he’s the one who’s crying. He can feel the tears sliding down his cheeks and rolling down into his hair.

It hurts.

Everything hurts.

Make it stop!

Make it stop!

There’s suddenly a warm, calloused hand on his forehead.

“I’ve got you, Pete… I’m right here… I’ve got you.” A familiar voice says from somewhere around him.

Tony.

Peter wants to open his eyes and see Tony’s face, but everything hurts too much. It’s all too much.

He’s barely aware of the pinch of a needle in his arm, before the darkness consumes him once more.

…….

Consciousness slowly creeps up on him before his hearing comes next. There’s a soft, rhythmic beeping at Peter’s side. Everything feels weird and fuzzy, not allowing him to think clearly.

Peter manages to slowly open his heavy eyes, sluggishly blinking, only to discover that he was in a clean, white room, lying in bed. His brows pull together in confusion, as he rolls his head to the side, eyes landing on a person sitting in a chair at his bedside. He’d recognize that face anywhere.

“T’ny…” Peter hoarsely mumbles, throat horribly dry.

Tony’s head shoots up from his tablet and their eyes lock, relief washing over the man’s face.

“Well look who’s awake.” Tony smiles as he puts his tablet down on the nightstand beside the bed, and reaches a hand out, resting it on the side of Peter’s head.

“Where r’ we?” Peter hoarsely asks.

Tony’s thumb rubs small, soothing circles on his forehead. “You’re at the Compound in the medbay… you were hurt pretty bad, bud.” He softly says, brows pulling together. “Do you remember what happened?”

Peter can remember bits and pieces of going on the camping trip, partnering up with Brad for the scavenger hunt, getting lost… but it’s all fuzzy after that.

“You took a nasty fall down a steep hillside.” Tony tells him. “Your friend, Brad called me on your phone and we came looking for the two of you.”

Peter frowns, not recalling any of that.

“It’s okay if you can’t remember. You have a concussion but you’re going to be all healed up in no time.” Tony says with a small smile.

Come to find out, Peter had quite a severe concussion, as well as a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm, broken wrist, two cracked ribs and a badly sprained ankle, not to mention he came in with a severe case of hypothermia.

It takes about a day or so until Peter’s foggy brain clears up a bit and he’s able to remember what happened in the mountains. He remembers Brad coming to his rescue, climbing down that hillside after him and calling for help, not leaving Peter’s side.

…….

A sudden knock on the glass wall has Peter looking over at the doorway, seeing Tony standing there.

“Hey, kiddo. You feeling up for some visitors?” Tony asks with a smile.

Peter nods with a smile, sitting up a little bit more against the stack of pillows behind him. “Sure.”

Tony ducks out of the room and a few minutes later, Michelle, Ned and, to Peter’s surprise, Brad file in through the door. Peter’s smiles widens when Ned rushes over to him first.

“Oh my God, Peter! I’m so glad you’re okay!” His friend breathes out, clearly relieved as he carefully hugs him.

Ned steps aside after a few moments, allowing MJ to come over. She’s looking at the machines Peter’s hooked up to with teary, worried eyes, as well as the bright blue cast wrapped around his left arm. Before Peter can say anything, she leans over and presses a soft peck to his lips.

She pulls back, resting her forehead against his. “I thought that-when I saw you… I thought you were dead.” Michelle tearfully whispers.

“I’m so sorry, MJ… you shouldn’t have had to see that.” Peter tells her, reaching his good hand up to cup the side of her face. “But I promise you, I’m okay.”

They stay like that for a few more long seconds, before she pulls back, wiping at her eyes as she stands at Ned’s side. Peter’s eyes slide away from her and over to Brad, who was awkwardly standing over by the door. Peter’s eyes slide back to MJ and their eyes meet, the two of them sharing a knowing look.

She nods in understanding. “We’ll give you two a minute.” Michelle says before she grabs Ned’s arm and pulls him out of the room.

The room is silent for a moment before Peter’s eyes fall on Brad. “Hey.”

“Hey.” The other boy repeats, a little awkwardly as he walks over to the bed. “So… how’re you feeling?”

“Better.”

“That’s good.” Brad says. “You had us pretty worried there, with everything that happened. That was pretty scary with you… you know. I… I thought you were dead, when I found you at the bottom of that hill. You weren’t moving and you were all bloody… I-I didn’t know what to do.” He admits.

Peter’s eyes fall to the bed as his brows pull together, silent for a few seconds. He couldn’t imagine how terrifying that must have been for Brad to experience, on top of them being lost.

“I would be if it wasn’t for you.” Peter slowly says, looking back up at him. “I never got to thank you.”

Brad just shrugs, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “No problem.”

A silence forms between the two of them for a few moments.

“Uh… so… I guess you weren’t kidding when you said you knew Tony Stark.” Brad says, gesturing a hand around the room, smiling. “This place is awesome.”

“Yeah, I know.” Peter smiles.

After their little heart-to-heart, MJ and Ned walk back in, carrying a few bottled drinks and snacks from the vending machine down the hall. MJ carefully sits at his right side and snuggles against him, mindful of his injuries, while Ned sits at the end of the bed, with Brad taking the unoccupied chair beside the bed on Peter’s right.

It’s almost as if a weight has been lifted off of Peter’s chest after talking with Brad, and with everything that’s happened… they’re grown a little bit closer with each other. No longer nemeses, but friends.

It’s true what they say, tragedy does bring people closer together.

[cupcakemolotov]

It’s Cold Outside

Written for @lalainajanes, this was supposed to have been written before the end of the Holiday Season, since she works retail aka the hardest job on this planet. Its mostly a ton of fluff, sorry folks, no smut here, but hopefully I can finish something else soon!

Caroline eased the tips of her fingers out of the mound of blankets and shivered. The air was bitterly cold, the fire having gone out sometime in the night. Around her the house was quiet, the soft sounds of snow sliding against the windows easily discernible. She hoped the lack of thunder and harsh winds meant the worst of the storm had passed. She supposed she could check the weather report if her phone’s battery had made it through the night, but that would require moving. She was not looking forward to untangling herself from her super cozy pile of blankets.

Or the man pressed along the length of her spine.

She was pretty sure Klaus was still asleep, the warm tangle of him lax, his breathing deep and even. Even with the layers of clothes between them, even the hat she’d crammed over her frizzy waves, she could still feel him through every line pressed against her. The tangle of legs, the way her wool clad feet were shoved against his. The heavy length of his arm draped across her waist.

It left her wondering how he’d feel naked and just as close, and those were both dangerous and familiar thoughts. Dating one of Rebekah’s brothers could make her social life messy, but dating her friend’s favorite was a recipe for disaster. Caroline had watched Rebekah cut people out of her life for much smaller infractions, and she had made it perfectly clear years ago that her brothers were off limits.

If only she’d known.

Caroline had laughed when Rebekah had made her pronouncement, not believing dating a Mikaelson would ever be an issue. She and Rebekah had become friend’s despite themselves, and at the time she couldn’t imagine how Rebekah’s brothers would ever be a temptation.

She just hadn’t anticipated Klaus.

She’d met him for the first time during the summer of her junior year, having landed a coveted internship in New York City. There had been a complication with her sublet, a broken pipe had made the space unliveable, and a series of conventions had made getting a hotel room for a night or two on her budget impossible. A panicked phone call to Rebekah had ended with Klaus being bullied into offering his guest room. Caroline had been too stressed to be embarrassed, and Klaus had been grudgingly polite that first night she’d shown up with her bags.

He’d ignored her babbled thanks, hauled her bags into his extra room, and told her that as long as she didn’t disturb him when painting and didn’t have sex in the public spaces, he didn’t care what she did. She’d spluttered at his words but he’d disappeared before she could manage a reply, leaving her red-faced in his guest room.

Caroline had texted Rebekah that she was at Klaus’ apartment, thrown herself into a quick shower and immediately started scouring the internet for a place to stay that wouldn’t end up with her on an episode of the ID Channel. It hadn’t gone well. New York’s renting market was vastly different from anywhere she’d lived, and she’d been forced to text Rebekah a series options before crashing hard before the first day at her internship.

Said internship had left her pulling late hours, often staggering home after midnight and crawling out of bed again at six the next morning to start over. But Caroline wasn’t a quitter, and she had a very deft hand with concealers. It did, however, make finding a place to stay tricky. Her daylight hours were packed and so she’d find herself running searches when wolfing down a midnight snack, exhausted and blurry eyed.

It was how Klaus had found her.

She’d been camped at his kitchen island, eating her cold pizza leftovers and scrolling through listings with one hand. He’d been paint flecked and rumpled, curls fluffed into disarray. They’d both just sort of stared at each for a long moment. Caroline had known that he was stupidly good looking, all of Rebekah’s family was unfairly attractive, but something about frazzled artist Klaus had done things to her insides.

Thankfully, exhausted-Caroline hadn’t had a chance to embarrass herself. The expression on Klaus’ face had been a familiar, even if she usually saw it with less stubble, and she’d shoved the remains of the pizza box in his direction. Hungry Mikaelson’s were usually mean, and she was too tired to deal with it.

She hadn’t expected him to sit and eat as directed, Rebekah usually took more coaxing and Klaus hadn’t seemed much like the social type. At best,  she’d have expected him to grab a slice and disappear. Instead, he’d sat and ate while studying her from an expression only slightly paint speckled. It’d been a little nerve wracking, but she’d lost all possible shyness when he’d started butting into her apartment searches. His comments had been a mix of helpful and annoying. She’d stayed up way to late that night arguing with him, she’d barely gotten in enough sleep to count as a single REM cycle. But even though she’d needed seven cups of coffee to function the next day, she’d admitted, at least to herself, that it’d been worth it.

It’d been… fun.

Caroline had tried really hard to keep her impact on his space to a bare minimum. Particularly once staying a few days had stretched past a week and that had meant avoiding him as much as possible. She’d expected him to react more similarly to Rebekah having he space invaded than he had. Klaus had been engaging and smart, bitingly sarcastic at times, but over all he’d been weirdly nice about her enforced stay as she’d complained about subletting in New York City.

Maybe that should have been a warning flag, but she’d been tired and off her Mikaelson game. Having narrowed her list down to two potential opportunities, she’d been cautiously optimistic that her stay at Klaus’ apartment would be ending.

The cupcakes on the counter had been her only real warning. Klaus in the kitchen when she got home in and of itself hadn’t been particularly alarming, but a Mikaelson offering bribes was never a good sign. It didn’t help that Klaus, freshly showered and alert, was an unfair sensory overload that had little to do with the warning bells going off in the back of her head.

Klaus had been completely unapologetic when he told her that he’d called his realtor about her situation. He’d ignored her loud noise of disbelief, and continued on that after a chance to really dig into the current renting market, it looked like her best bet was to stay where she was in his guest room. Caroline had not taken his suggestion well.

It had felt too much like mooching. Klaus has already refused her offer of rent when she’d tentatively broached it when she’d been stuck for that first week, and to extend that for another six weeks had left her spluttering with anger. She’d tried to be reasonable between gritted teeth, pointing out that she’d only called Rebekah for help in desperation, and his spare bedroom was an emergency location only, not a solution.

He’d made that clear the first night, hadn’t he?

Klaus had listened to her rebuttals with a little smile that made her want to bite him until she had run out of air. Then, picking up a cupcake, he’d unwrapped it while using her mom and Rebekah to cut her legs out from underneath her in two neat sentences. She’d kind of hated him a little for it even if the rest of her grudgingly admired his cutthroat tactics.

She’d still eaten the cupcakes, even if she’d really, really disliked that he’d been right. He’d been smart enough not to gloat in his victory, sliding her the box and disappearing back into his room. Too irritated to sleep, she’d written out a pro and con list for her new situation. Finally and irritably, she’d admitted her wasn’t wrong. His apartment was much closer to her internship that she’d have managed to find on her own, and the extra hour of sleep was a huge benefit. His doorman was friendly, the nightlife was awesome, and as long as she didn’t murder Klaus it’d probably be okay.

At least she didn’t have to share a bathroom.

But for all of her lists of lists, her fanatical attention to detail, there had still been challenges. The weekly cleaning service had taken some getting used too, and she’d still sneak re-cleaned her bathroom every time. The lack of things to clean when she’d been unable to sleep from stress had been annoying. Thankfully, Klaus hadn’t complained too much the time she’d rearranged his spice cabinet in a fit of anxiety and cupcake driven paranoia at three in the morning.

In fact, he’d sat on his counter with sleep heavy eyes and listened to her ramble about memos and models until the pre-dawn hours with only a small bit of complaining. She’d bought him flowers in thanks, and she’d tried not to read too deeply into his niceness. Rebekah had many things to say about her favorite brother, but patient and nice had rarely come up.

Thankfully for her sanity and her inability to shake off her awareness of his cuteness, for all the times they ran into each other, they still missed each other just as often. She could go days without him appearing from his studio. She’d given up on tip toeing around the first week of her stay, and as the summer moved on, she’d forgone any niceties or concerns for his sleep schedule pre-coffee.

Then pizza night became a thing.

Caroline couldn’t remember quite why pizza night had started, she was pretty sure it had something to do with post work drinks, and tipsy-Caroline being hungry after a night out. She was a bit fuzzy on the details, and hoped she hadn’t rambled too much. Tipsy-Caroline was a talker and a lot cuddly. Klaus hadn’t said anything, and she’d tried not to blush for almost a week.

But whatever had happened, every Thursday night for the rest of her internship, she’d walk in to Klaus and pizza. He’d poke and prod at her until she was spluttering; she’d argue with him over the silliest of topics until she was yawning and he’d shoo her off to bed. It became her favorite night of the week.

She found Rebekah’s brother to be a strange mix of snobbery and hard work, that biting sarcasm she enjoyed and a charm that was occasionally sweet. Little things cropped up in the apartment that she knew were for her even if he never explicitly said anything. Small things. A hand soap she liked or a certain snack in the fridge. Little sticky notes with cute sketches.  She still had all of them, tucked away safely in new apartment.

And okay, maybe she’d developed the teeny, tiniest of crushes even knowing that liking Klaus had been a bad idea all around. A girl only had so much willpower against accents and dimples and clever wit. But Klaus wasn’t someone she could date casually, and there wasn’t any chance for a hot sexscapade. Not with Rebekah being such an important part of her life.

In the end, she hadn’t known how to say goodbye.

Thankfully, Rebekah had flown out for her last weekend in NYC, which had kept her goodbyes from being awkward. Klaus had been especially busy with a series of paintings and had left them to entertain themselves, but he had cleaned up and taken her and Rebekah to dinner their last night. He’d even emerged from his painting cave to wish her luck the morning she’d moved out. He’d already been smeared with paint and a little more disheveled than she was used to seeing, and keeping her goodbye hug platonic had been both easy and difficult.

She hadn’t really wanted paint on her clothes.

The trip back to the airport had been wistful, and Caroline would never admit it to Rebekah, but leaving had felt like a missed opportunity. She would never have stayed, she had one year to go, and so she had forcibly put Klaus and lingering possibilities out of her mind. But New York had always been her end goal, and twelve months later, she had moved into her shoe box apartment. The weeks she spent moving and adjusting to her new workload had been amazing and stressful, but it wasn’t until she finally settled that she found her thoughts drifting back to Klaus. Caroline had found herself idly wondering once or twice if he’d mind if she showed up with a pizza.

If he’d been in the States, she might have done it.

But a little bit of casual fishing with Rebekah had confirmed that he was currently in Europe promoting his newest gallery and wasn’t expected back in the States until after the New Year. Putting aside her disappointment, she didn’t even know if he was interested though she had hope, she’d thrown herself into her post-graduation life.

Caroline found she adored New York in the fall, pumpkin spice lattes and leaves falling in Central Park. But even as fall turned cold and blistering, stringing up Christmas lights and forming her tiny tree had been a tiny milestone she’d loved. She’d flown home to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with her mom, the quiet town of her childhood a stark contrast to the city she lived in now. It had been nice to realize she didn’t miss it, that Liz was happy that Caroline was building her life.

New Year’s Eve was in Vale, Rebekah having been super insistent that their friends circle spend the holiday in the new year at the Mikaelson Family Lodge. Caroline had avoided asking if her wish for an activity outside NYC was as much the opportunity of most of her family being overseas or a reaction to the very messy breakup weeks before.

Fervently wishing that her bestie had chosen someplace warmer to spite party without her ex, Caroline had packed up her ski gear and set her teeth. Since she was flying from Virginia instead of New York, she would end up landings hours before the rest of the group, but she was looking forward to the silence. She’d planned on a long bath. A chance to raid the wine cabinet, and maybe some picturesque selfies on her bedrooms balcony.

She just hadn’t counted on a legit blizzard rolling in the day if her arrival. It would figured her one trip to Vale would be a disaster. The storm was supposed to have been intense but manageable, so she hadn’t worried too much when she’d been getting on her flight. Chicago has its fair share of winter storms, she could manage the weather for a couple of days.

She knew how to drive in inclement weather.

Once she’d landed in Denver the weather had been a different story. The weather predictions had worsened and airlines had been presumptively cancelling flights. A quick phone call to Rebekah had confirmed that they weren’t getting out of JFK that night, any planes heading into the Midwest grounded. It had also become clear that if she didn’t want to spend the night at the airport, her best bet was to ride the storm out at the lodge.

The worst of the storm was supposed to have hit later at night, so Caroline had decided to roll the dice and rent a car. The two hour drive would only get worse the longer she waited, and the roads were expected to remain open for several hours.

Driving in the steadily falling snow had been tiring, her muscles drawn tight with strain. She’d texted Rebekah her plans but hadn’t heard back, her reception spotty, and it been with a great deal of relief that she found the house lights on as she’d pulled into the driveway. The walkway was mostly free from snow, as if someone gave deliberately shoveled, and she hoped the Mikaelson paid the caretaker well.

Yanking on her jacket, Caroline had grabbed her bags and made beeline for the front door, shivering in the wind and snow. The door had opened as she’d reached for the handle and she’d nearly slipped as she caught sight of who was standing there.

Klaus, with his mouth set in disapproval, the sweater he wore soft and comfortable looking, inviting her cold fingers to reach out and touch.

“I thought Rebekah was joking when she said you were making the drive.” His words were terse, edged in exasperation as took her bag and ushered her into the heat of the house.

Caroline rolled her eyes as she headed straight for the fire,yanking at her scarf and gloves. “It’s not my first time driving in snow, and I refuse to sleep on an airport floor.”

Klaus had made a rough noise of disbelief. “What would you have done if you’d gotten stuck?”

“The worst isn’t supposed to hit for a few hours,” she’d protested, looking over her shoulder with raised brows. “It was perfectly fine and…”

Her words cut off as the power flickered and the. died around them, the fire their only source of light. The sudden silence had been punctured by the crackling of the fire, and Klaus exhaled slowly. “I’ll go check the backup generator.”

Caroline set her jaw and started pulling her gloves back on. “I’ll go with you.”

Both of his brows had arched. “You just got out of the storm, love. You sure you want to go back into it?”

To puncture his words, the windows rattled as the wind picked up. “You might need me to hold the flashlight. Plus, I know how generators work, being as this isn’t my first snowpocalypse.”

She could tell he had wanted to argue, but he’d manage to refrain. They’d trudged out into the storm together, and Caroline hadn’t argued when he’d use his taller frame to block the worst of the wind. Their investigation had lead to the discovery that mice had chewed through the wires, leaving the generator unusable. The cursing that had come from Klaus had almost been worth knowing that they were going to have to figure out how to deal with the snow without the convenience of running water. Caroline had taken back all her mental thank yous to the caretaker. She would have killed for a shower or bath to thaw in and was extremely unhappy she wasn’t going to get one.

Once back in the house, Klaus had rolled his neck with a sigh and eyed her. “Come on. I picked up dinner earlier. I’ll share. We’ll open a bottle and figure out our options.”

Caroline frowned and slipping out of her wet shoes, thankful for her thick socks and making a point to avoid the growing puddles as snow melted off their jackets. “Do you think the power will come back on?”

“Doubtful, sweetheart. The winds have been picking up all evening, and it is as likely someone’s asinine Santa decoration took out a power line as it was a tree limb. We’ll have to make due, I’m afraid.”

Dinner turned out to be Italian. The lasagna was room temperature, the cheese a bit congealed, but the wine made up for it. As had her company. It had been ridiculously easy to fall back into old patterns, and so much harder not to let her eyes linger on the curve of his lips, the hint of a dimple in the firelight.

It was with regret that she forced herself to be practical once she finished her food. Sleeping arrangements needed to be decided upon, their water supply examined. A quick perusal had showed that while the generators had been neglected, the pantry was well stock with food and water they could live off of should the storm last longer than expected. The bedrooms all had thick blankets, but also large windows and thin curtains. The master bedroom hadn’t been much better even though it did have a fireplace. In the end, with its fireplace, doors, and easily covered windows the den had ended up being the unanimous winner.

They’d wrestled a double mattress into the den as Klaus had refused to sleep on the floor and had convincingly argued the couch wasn’t wide enough for two. Deciding not to complain when she didn’t want to sleep on the floor either, she’d helped him move things around. By the time they’d piled the bed with blankets and settled in for the night, she’d been exhausted.

Thankfully, so had Klaus. Getting into bed had been quick, both of them covered in layers of clothes. Secretly, she had really been hoping Klaus snored or drooled or something that she could use to keep her hormones in check. Seeing Klaus again, sharing a bed with Klaus, had woken all sorts of ideas she had thought she had kept in check. And instead of being annoying, Klaus had proven to be an excellent bedmate and a quiet sleeper. And really, stupidly comfy.

Taking a bracing breath, Caroline mournfully decided it was best get up and deal with the fire. If the storm had eased up, it was likely that the roads would be cleared soon. Rich people rarely lived with inconveniences, and Caroline figured it wouldn’t take long for the airport to be functioning. Snow plows would start clearing the streets as soon as it was safe. She figured it would be best to get the den straightened up and eliminate all signs of their forced cohab for the night even if the rest of her social circle would be showing up much later that night.

Taking a deep, bracing breath, she pushed up to try to untangle herself. The arm wrapped around her waist tightened and she squeaked as she was pulled backwards, firmly against Klaus’ chest.

“It’s cold,” he murmured, voice sleep rough. “Stay.”

Caroline bit her lip to keep from shivering. “I was going to restart the fire.”

His fingers flexed against her stomach and she felt him move around behind her. The sound of the covers shifting and the familiar click of a phone screen was loud, and she pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at the little grunt of disbelief he made. “It’s six am, Caroline. I don’t remember you particularly enjoying mornings.”

“Technically, it’s eight am in New York,” she pointed out just to be contrary. For all that he’d complained it was cold, the bed was cozy with the combined heat, but she didn’t feel like reminding him of it. Burrowing back into her pillow, her voice was slightly muffled by the bedding. “We can’t stay here forever.”

“Perhaps not,” Klaus agreed softly, legs brushing hers as he settled behind her. The bed didn’t provide much space for them both and a tangle of limbs was nearly unavoidable. Not that Klaus seemed interested in avoiding her, his arm still draped across her waist. “But I’m in no hurry to leave, either.”

“Not a fan of the cold?” Caroline teased yanking the blankets higher, hoping to cover the heat in her cheeks with the motion. “How does that work? You live in New York.”

He laugh was soft. “And as I’ve been told, so do you, love. But I was referring to my current company, not the slightly unfortunate temperature.”

Caroline’s eyes widened, fingers curling tightly into the sheets at his casual admittance that he’d talked to someone about her. The sudden jump in her pulse left her breath hitching in her throat, and she tried not to fidget. “New York was always in my plans. I’m pretty sure I mentioned it at least once.”

“You did,” he agreed. “Does the city still meet your expectations?”

Taking a bracing breath, she glanced over her shoulder to find him watching her intently. There was a crease from his pillow on his cheekbone above his usual stubble, and his eyes were dark in the low light. “It’s nice to be able to afford more than a single drink at a time, and I still hate the subway. But I think I’m getting used to it.”

She’d found herself fitting easily back into brightly colored flats and comfy sneakers for running to catch a train, and her boots had gotten a much needed upgrade once the weather had chilled. For all of her complaints about public transport, she loved having a coffee shop always around the corner and highlighted takeout menus on her fridge. She was still looking for the perfect yoga class, but her legs were in fantastic shape.

It was messy, but it was hers.

“I’m glad,” Klaus said simply.

Biting her lip, Caroline rolled onto her back to study Klaus’ face more closely. There was a quiet sort of intimacy laying there with him, even with the layers and layers of clothes between them. Toes curling nervously beneath the pile of blankets, she forced herself not to fidget.

“I thought about swinging by with a pizza to say hi, I was pretty sure the doorman would let me in, but I was told you were in Europe.”

His lips curled slowly, a hint of a dimple peeking from his cheek. “London seemed less of a trial than my apartment after you left.”

Not willing to read into that when she wanted it so badly, she looked at the ceiling in mock exasperation. “You probably ruined the spice cabinet in a week.”

He made a rough sound of amusement, but his gaze was serious when her eyes returned to his. “If only your lingering presence was limited to my spice cabinet. You were in the magazines on my coffee table, your trash tv addictions just sitting there on my DVR, the precise way you’d folded your bathroom towels after the maids left last. You were gone and I still couldn’t escape you.”

Caroline her felt her cheeks heat, her mouth going bone dry at the dip in his voice, the smallest hint of gravel. “First of all, those shoes are quality entertainment, and I’d have thought you were happy to get your space back.”

“You cannot imagine I let just anyone rearrange my kitchen at three am, Caroline.” His brows arched, something warm and amused lingering in his eyes. “Much less confiscate my DVR with their poor television choices.”

She’d known that but hadn’t been able to really read into such a thing with her last year of school standing firmly between them. Carefully inching closer, she watched for any sign of discomfort or distaste but instead, Klaus settled a hand against her spine and pulled her closer still. She sputtered out a laugh, something giddy rising in her chest, and forced herself to focus.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Klaus’ chin tipped downward, both brows arching. “A pretty girl living with the older brother of her best friend? It was rife with potential commentary from our mutual acquaintances, as I am sure you can imagine. By the time I realized that it was more than just a bit of lust, I’d also realized how bad of an idea it would be to start something when you still had so many choices to make.”

Caroline could respect that. She hadn’t been ready for something serious. It could only mean good things that he’d realized that and waited. But her school hadn’t been the only elephant in the room.

She bit her lip, words slightly hesitant. “Rebekah won’t be happy.”

Klaus’ lips quirked at her faint warning. “My sister doesn’t share well, true. It’s a family trait, I’m afraid. But as I do t believe either of us are looking for a fling, she will get over it. Eventually. Assuming, of course, you wish to pursue something that would lead to her throwing such a fit.”

His fingers tightened slightly against her spine, a sign that the question had been difficult for him. It was nice knowing that he was as nervous as she even if he was hiding better. Particularly with how much she liked Klaus, the potential for more than just like she could see not that far in the future and she wanted it.

More importantly, she had already decided that Rebekah’s feeling weren’t more important than her own. It wouldn’t be an easy conversation and her friend was likely to throw the tantrum Klaus had alluded to, but Caroline was certain they could work through it. But it was important that Klaus knew that she had decided on him, that she had done so knowing the Rebekah would be unhappy.

“I was going to use that pizza dinner as a chance to find out if you were seeing anyone,” Caroline admitted, fingers lifting to toy with the ties of the hoodie he wore. “And if you weren’t, receptive you’d be to a move or two.”

His eyes flared with interest, thumb brushing slowly across a knot of her spine. “What kind of move?”

“The kind of move where I wore something short and tight that made my boobs look fantastic,” she said with a slow growing smile. “It couldn’t be too racy of course, Rebekah would never believe my outfit a coincidence if I showed too much skin. For that, I’m going to have to bribe her with candy flavored vodka and those English cake things she likes.”

“Not a fan of fairy cakes, love?”

“Oh no, they’re delicious, but for someone who drinks pure sugar disguised as alcohol, I do not understand her hatred of frosting.”

Klaus laughed softly, eyes lowering to the curve of her lips. “A discussion for another time, I think. I’m not particularly interested in the things my sister likes, Caroline.”

It was with more than a twinge of regret that she covered his mouth with her palm. Both of his brows arched in question, confusion clear on his face. Caroline took a deep breath and tried not to think about the feel of his stubble under her fingertips, and wonder how it would feel against much more delicate skin.

“You were going to kiss me.” The low noise of agreement he made set off butterflies low in her stomach and did not help her resolve. At all. “You can’t kiss me.”

His free hand lifted her palm from his lips and he tipped his head. There was no censure in his voice, just a careful caution she appreciated. “No?”

“Well,” she amended. “You can’t kiss me right now. It might be early, but we need to get the fire going and figure out food and I’d really like to brush my teeth. And you know, figure out how long until we can expect the power to turn on and the roads to be plowed. I’d also really, really like to get this room straightened up because if Kol teases us about sharing a bed Rebekah is going to be livid and I’d prefer her to be maybe not drunk, but at least tipsy before the conversation about dating her brother happens.”

His hand shifted so that thumb stroked slowly along the curve of her bottom lip as she drew in a breath. “And after we accomplish this mental list of yours, Caroline?”

“That depends,” she said brightly. “A girl has to have standards, and while I’m totally onboard with the kissing post-toothpaste, your half frozen hands aren’t getting anywhere near my boobs.”

Klaus’ laughter shook his whole body and she forced herself to maintain a straight face when what she wanted to do was laugh with him. Ducking his head, he caught her fingers and pressed the wide curve of her smile against her palm. Her breath caught, and for a moment they laid there, watching each other. Then Klaus pushed up, taking the heat of the blankets with him, and she squealed. He took no pity on her, pulling her up with him, and she pressed against the heat of him once they stood, shivering.

“As delightful as this is,” Klaus drawled, tugging at the ends of her hair. “I cannot start a fire and cuddle with you at the same time, sweetheart.”

Nodding, she reluctantly moved away from him. “Fine. I’ll track down some of those water bottles and then start folding the bedding.”

His eyes glimmered with laughter. “Don’t forget the toothpaste.”

Caroline huffed out a laugh then, reaching back to redo the mess of her bun as Klaus stepped around her. For a moment, she watching him move, the shift of his shoulders beneath the layers before making herself look away. She had no doubt that he would have the fire going in record time. She’d brush her teeth and give Rebekah a call, find out what kind of timeline they had to work with and then she’d very happily submit herself to a few hours getting handsy with Klaus.

It would have to suffice until they made it back to New York. Then she’d suck it up and break the news to Rebekah before she let Klaus take her to dinner. If he was really lucky, she’d show him some of her new, pretty and very adult lingerie. Delighted with her plan, Caroline went hunting for her cellphone, happiness a bubbling in her chest.

It was going to be a great New Years.

[grace-ko]

tw: mentions of homophobia, racism and government sanctioned execution

It was raining on that Tuesday in Shanghai, their mother insistent that she could go to work that day, despite her stomach being so big it felt like just a light breeze would knock her over. But she never made it to work, her water breaking just as she stepped out the door, though the heavy rain was enough to make it seem like it was just part of the weather. It happened fast, a neighbor hearing her scream out, helping her to their car. They called Grace’s father from the hospital and he sped through midday traffic to get there in time. To meet their first born, their hope, their light. On that day in 1968, the rain came down hard, but all their parents could remember was the peace they felt the moment they held Grace for the first time.

Born Meixiu Ko, they never imagined life beyond China and the reality they knew. As a young child, they weren’t aware that they didn’t share the same luxuries as kids around them, under the impression that being in Shanghai meant they were as close to “made it” as possible. But it was the early 70s and China was under communist control, anyone seemingly “counter-revolutionary” were to be executed and that wasn’t the kind of future Grace’s parents wanted for them. So in 1972, the Ko’s packed up and took 4 year old Grace all the way from Shanghai, to Jackson Heights, Queens, New York.  

In their first few weeks, the Ko’s stayed with a family friend and some of Grace’s first memories were of trying their best to be quiet and cause no trouble. They understood from a young age the horrors that their parents had taken them away from. They had seen the pain on their mother’s face as the plane took off and it took years before they considered what it meant to leave home, to leave a whole country that you knew for somewhere so foreign. But like always, they made it work. Grace’s father eventually got a job as a custodian at a local high school and by the time they turned five, Grace’s mother had gone to work as a secretary for an accountant that had an office near Wall Street. And together, they created a life for Grace that was full of love, a deep kind of love that Grace has always done their best to never take for granted.

And Grace was known for being a well behaved, “quiet” kid. As they learned English, they found solace in the books that taught them the language, the tv shows they’d get to watch for an hour a night, the culture that seemed so foreign to them yet so familiar. It helped that Jackson Heights was popular for asian immigrants and though they were thousands of miles from Shanghai, they always felt a close connection to their home, to the life their parents had left behind. But they were settled with the life they had. The routines with their parents, their ability to pull all of their attention whenever they got a good grade or perfected one of their mother’s recipes. They enjoyed the fall evenings out on the front stoop as their parents drank tea and watched them bike up and down the street, sure they would always catch their father sneaking a bottle of alcohol out of his shirt pocket to pour into their cups, their little giggles enough to let Grace know that one day they wanted a love like that.

Of course their childhood wasn’t all peaches and cream, but to their memory, the goodness that their parents gave them overshadowed the negativity the world threw at them. There was the inherent racism that came along with being asian in a country that was in turmoil. Reagan was formally apologizing for the Japanese interment camps in the late 80s, Vincent Chin’s death had trickled all the way from Detroit to New York City and it was the first time in their life that they had started to see their community come together in different ways. The Vietnam War that had started before they were born, ended when they were 7 and they could still recall that day in April and the conversations being had at home about how they had left a country that was now fighting against the very country they lived in.

And then there was the fact that they were a young woman growing up in a world that was just starting to treat women as more than something to make a man shine. But despite it all, Grace managed to find their comfort zone and stayed in. From an early age, their love of books always led them to the library. They felt like their library card was the key to the city and Mrs. Ko would often come to pick up Grace at the library and find them surrounded by piles of books, begging her to let them take it all home. But it wouldn’t be until high school that Grace would ever consider writing, at least as a means of art, of expression or anything that was more honest that the words that came out of their mouth. They were happy but they also sensed that there was more, more than Jackson Heights, more than just having a crush on the boy that lived down the road, more than the same four friends they had for what felt like forever.

Then, just as they were about to start high school, Daniel was born. Daniel their baby brother, their first best friend, their favorite person in the world. As the first child in the family to be a full American citizen, Grace watched as Daniel experienced the world so differently from the way they had. He never questioned his Americaness, having no ties or memories of China. They watched as he made friends with everyone, always impressive, always with a smile and Grace couldn’t resent him, only admire the work that had gone in to giving him a life like that. And in a way, Grace believed that the universe had given them Daniel as motivation, as proof that they had a purpose. And being Daniel’s big sister was a challenge Grace had never backed down from.

For Grace, high school was a blur of helping their parents with the baby, trying to be more social, having their first crush on a girl, discovering their love for writing in their junior year after a particularly magnificent English teacher and spending far too much time dreaming about how hot Linda Hamilton was in Terminator. There were a few crazy parties, some bad dates, a few late nights on the subway with their best friends they had found through the local rec centers after school program. There were a few fights with their parents, growing pains and a growing realization that college seemed like the most life changing thing in the world. They’d be the first in their family to go and though they wanted desperately to leave New York, with Daniel being six at the time and their parents still working, they applied to in state schools only.

In the Fall of 1986, Grace started at Pace University on their Manhattan Campus. With a major in journalism and a minor in east asian studies, they were determined to keep their tie to their home while also embarking on new adventures in the place they had come to know as home for so many years. Despite not having the most formal campus experience, Grace enjoyed the luxury of having all of New York City be their campus and they saw the city in a way they never did when they were growing up in Jackson Heights. They met activists, poets, fellow writers, democrats, republicans, communists, anarchists and an endless list of more. They went to parts of the city they never knew existed, made friends with drag queens and eventually met the first group of queer people they had ever really encountered. Their first kiss with a woman happened in an empty 7 train car as the sun came up and they were positive they had never experienced anything sweeter.

Upon graduation from Pace, they worked the graveyard shift in the offices of CBS News and had a part time gig at the local library. 4 months after graduation, while they were starting the process of applying to graduate school, Mrs. Ko gave birth to a baby girl. And Grace had never met a challenge quite as fierce as their sister Maya. Being two decades older than your youngest sibling was not something Grace envisioned, though Daniel always make jokes that it was just a testament to how much their parents loved each other, And in 1991, Grace left to Syracuse University to pursue their masters. It was the furthest away they had ever been from home since coming to the US and it was still in the same state. But the distance and the campus experience was transformative for Grace. It pushed them and one of the first achievements mentioned whenever Grace is introduced at an event is that they published their first book during the summer before their second year of graduate school.

But while it’s one of Grace’s most proud moments, it’s also their most shameful. Their first book, titled The Journey: From Shanghai to Jackson Heights is a memoir, in which the year that Grace spent at home with a newborn baby, working, applying to school, dealing with a pre-teen Daniel, is portrayed as one of the most stressful of their young life. A portrayal that Maya has just started to forgive Grace for. But Grace never expected their first book to get the attention it did but their publisher would always say that it was their writing. It wasn’t just the story, it was the way they wrote it that brought people in and Grace realized for the first time in their life, that their voice was something worth sharing.

When Grace returned to New York in 1993 after graduating from graduate school, they moved into a small one bedroom apartment in the west village while working for the New York Times. Their memoir had gotten them plenty of attention and enough to get them in front of journalists who despite their clear biases, couldn’t help but admit that Grace Ko was a damn good writer. But they still spent a lot of that time visiting home often, getting to know Maya as she grew up, hoping that when she was old enough to understand, she’d read the book one day and find it as something funny to laugh about. (That would later not be the case.)

After two years at the New York Times, Grace entered a PhD program at Columbia University. At 27 years old, Grace felt like they were most at home when they were learning, writing, working on anything that told a story. It was all Grace wanted to do. To tell good stories, to tell stories about people like their parents, like the teachers they had met in high school, like the people they had left behind in China. Many of the pieces Grace wrote for the New York Times gave more voice to the asian american community than it ever had before and  it was something they felt passionate about. And it was during this time in their PhD program that Grace found their love for teaching which would eventually lead to them being a professor at Hunter College, Bronx Community College, Sarah Lawrence College and eventually Columbia University.

It was also in 1995 when Grace met Alana Silvers during their first week of their PhD program. At this point Grace had been with men and women and realized they didn’t really prefer one over the other but rather that they just enjoyed the company of people who moved them. But they hadn’t come out to anyone in their family and they hadn’t anticipated entering into a relationship that would end up being so long term. And it wasn’t, at first. Even though Grace was clearly in love and enamored with Alana’s personality, her writing, her everything, Grace was still hesitant to dedicate themselves to someone when their career was just starting. So they were on and off for the first two years but lots of subpar nights with other people was enough to make Grace realized that Alana was it for them, the one they wanted a future with.

So in 1998 when they were both teaching and writing, Grace working on their second book, Alana working on her first, they moved into a two bedroom apartment in Brooklyn and started to build a life and love like Grace had always dreamed of, one like their parents had. Grace still visited home often and eventually came out to their parents, especially once Daniel figured out that Alana and Grace weren’t just “roommates” when he asked to stay over and realized the second room in the two bedroom was more of a guest room than his sister’s room. And it was tough at first, their parents unable to wrap their head around it. It was Daniel who was their saving grace, seemingly before his time in the way he embraced Alana as another big sister with such ease. It was Maya, however, who just couldn’t get past it. And the older they got, the more the distance grew.

In 2002, at the age of 34, after a lot of conversation, some arguments with their parents, Grace and Alana decided to go ahead with having a child with the help of one of their close male friends. Motherhood had always been something Grace wanted but never expected would happen the way it did. They didn’t imagine they’d be raising a child with a woman, that they’d constantly have to answer questions about who the father was and if Alana was their babysitter. But they protected themselves with their love for each other, their determination to give their child a good life. Allen Ko was born on a sun filled Friday in the middle of the day, Grace’s water breaking an hour after Alana had left the house for her morning lecture. For years, Allen would be known to Alana’s students as the reason they all got to leave class almost as soon as it started.

Grace’s 30s were a blur of diapers, daycare, giving birth to a daughter, no work/life balance, a hectic but beautiful marriage and a fight with her sister that would ultimately result in a silence between them that has lasted over ten years. When Maya was 14 and Grace was 36, Nina had just been born and Maya was old enough to finally read Grace’s first two books. The second was fiction and about anything but their family but there were clear influences of their own experience. To say the least, Maya disagreed with the experience they shared and despite that fact that she already felt weird about Grace being with a woman, the books caused Maya to throw such a tantrum that they ended up having a screaming match in front of their parents house in Jackson Heights.

It put a strain on their relationship with their parents since Maya was still at home, though they called their mother twice a week to check in, three when they were feeling extra lonely. And they never stopped their kids from going to see their grandparents but they refused to see their sister and Maya was happy to refuse as well.

Grace eventually stepped away from teaching and dedicated most of their time to their kids and writing. They eventually bought a house in Westchester County with a huge backyard and plenty of space for the kids to grow up. But four years after Alana and Grace decided to have their third and final child, Alana’s father fell ill and was offered a position at the University of North Carolina. It was horrible timing and Grace felt selfish for saying how much they hated the idea but moving back to Alana’s hometown felt like the opposite of an upgrade. Of course the town was cute, Grace had visited plenty of times with Alana but it wasn’t the place they wanted to raise their kids or live their life. Not to mention it was states away from their own family and they had never been that far away from them before. But ultimately, they gave in and they packed up their beautiful home (one which Grace still cries over) in New York and made the move to Edens Town in 2012, a year after officially getting married once same sex marriage was legalized in New York State.  

In 2013, Grace published their third and most recent book, a fictional story about a family from the New York suburbs who moves back to Shanghai when the father’s parents get sick. It was a New York Times Best Seller and highly acclaimed as Grace’s best novel to date. So much so that Grace is filled with fear that they’ll never be able to top it.

In the seven years that Grace has been in Edens Town, they’ve become involved with their kids schools, done a few pieces for the New York Times, The Atlantic, Vulture and various other magazines and newspapers. They’ve built up their social media following, still gives lectures and guest talks and is a frequent contributor on CNN and MSNBC, especially on issues related to Chinese politics and the Chinese-American experience.

If Grace had to put a time on it, Grace would say their relationship with Alana started to deteriorate a year after their move to Alana’s hometown. Everything changed, and the passion and love that had once been there, ultimately resulted in a divorce that Grace isn’t sure they’ll ever recover from. A 50 year old single mom is not who they imagined they’d end up being, but they suppose they have always dealt with difficulty the only way they knew how, with their head held high and the power of their ancestors behind them.