#the usual weirdos you find in an diner at 3 am

[the-witchhunter]

DP x DC: The Dead Man at the Diner

Danny has a hard time maintaining regular jobs. At this point he’s pretty much nocturnal after years of being attacked at night, and possibly just part of his ghostly nature. He’s odd, and a basic google search brings up various news articles about him getting into fist fights with the mayor of a small town. He barely passed high school and college was out of the question, so who in their right mind would hire him?

What’s a job that would work with his odd hours, doesn’t require a college education, and a possible criminal record and a tendency to be ready to throw down is NOT an issue?

Danny is a cook at a 24hour Diner in Gotham

The man just needs to be able to flip a burger and make breakfast food and doesn’t mind a gun in the face because he’s well used to it. So what if the robber was dumb enough to pull that shit next to the fryer. If he didn’t want something to end up extra crispy he should have stayed out of Danny’s kitchen

Just think of all the folks he would meet.

Sure, the vigilantes of the city would be obvious and you can’t tell me spoiler isn’t dragging folks there to eat. Maybe they notice some weird things about the cook, like he doesn’t breath, his eyes reflect light like an animal’s, or the time he accidentally cut off a finger and it was fine the next day, or maybe the time a robber shot him and he just... didn’t react

Something is weird about that guy

And of course the person I think would love a jersey style diner breakfast at all hours: Harley Quinn

Technically she’s not supposed to bring the hyenas in, health code and all that, but everyone else is to freaked out to tell her and Danny doesn’t care. Frankly he spends his break petting them and they like him because he smells like food.

[sesamestreep]

Jyn/Cassian, 11

11. 3 AM and I'm still awake (from this prompt list) sometimes, in order to defeat the prompts that are still in your inbox after a YEAR, you have to go into the archives, find an AU you wrote in 2019 (ON PAPER), type it up, and post the first chapter as a prompt fill even though the full fic is incomplete and that stresses you out to think about. this is one of those times. known affectionately amongst a small circle of mutuals by its draft name "sir, this is an IHOP", I'm releasing this one from the vault, please clap... cross posted to AO3 here 🌒🌔

The question Jyn gets asked the most when she tells people she works the overnight shift at a 24-hour diner is, “How do you do it?” As if she’s just admitted to shooting herself out of a canon for a living, which, to be fair, is a thing she wanted to do as a career when she was nine, but that’s beside the point.

The answer to this question is simple: you get used to it. Or, in Jyn’s experience, your life sucks for three weeks while you get used to it and then you get used to it. After that, the weird hours and irregular sleep schedule just become routine.

To be fair, she only started doing the graveyard shift in the first place because she wasn’t sleeping at night anyway and she could get more hours that way. Now, sometimes, she sleeps perfectly well in the daytime when everyone else is at work and then, other times, she doesn’t sleep at all and becomes convinced that she’s the first human being who was born with a biological indifference to sleep. Either way, she manages. 

And it’s not actually that bad. The tips are a little worse because there’s fewer customers and they tend to be drunks or insomniacs or plain weirdos who don’t get the concept of twenty percent for good service and usually leave her whatever change they have on them. And sometimes it’s so dead that Jyn literally counts the seconds on the big clock by the door. But it’s also calmer than any other shift at the diner, and sometimes people feel so bad for her being up all night that they tip her extra, which is nice. It all balances out, really.

That being said, the overnight shift doesn’t lend itself to regulars the way other shifts do. She has some, but they don’t tend to be regular regulars. At most, she sees the same drunk college students show up there for breakfast at two a.m. but not the same day every week. Her co-workers that work other shifts talk about old couples that come in for dinner three times a week and always want to sit in the same booth, or the father and daughter who get breakfast every Saturday together that the entire staff fawns over. Jyn doesn’t get regulars like that, and even if she sees the same people, most people don’t want to make conversation as they’re inhaling pancakes in the wee hours of the morning. They barely want to make eye contact with her, honestly.

Not that Jyn minds. She didn’t get into waitressing because of her bubbly personality. She’s good at it, can be pleasant and accommodating when she needs to be, but she’s also fine with customers not wanting to chitchat. It’s one of the perks of the shift, in her mind, and why it suits her to work it, rather than the breakfast or the lunch shift.

Then, she gets a regular of her own and it doesn’t change everything, but it changes enough.

*

The first time he comes in, the restaurant is so dead that for once the manager on duty isn’t on Jyn’s case about drawing in her sketchbook while she’s working. It’s that slow. There’s a couple at a table in the corner that started out their meal by bickering with each other loudly and now Jyn’s pretty sure one or both of them is asleep at the table. She already gave them their check, though, so she’s giving them at least an hour before she bugs them about it. It’s not like she needs to turn over the table or anything.

When the man comes in, the place is so empty that he actually looks around in confusion, which catches Jyn’s attention from where she’s hiding behind the cash register. 

“Sit anywhere you like,” she calls to him, half-relieved to have something to do and half-annoyed to have to do anything.

“Oh. You’re open, then?”

“As long as it’s one of the twenty-four hours in the day,” she replies, trying to sound sunny.

“Last time I checked,” the man says, sounding unsure, which makes Jyn smile for real.

She brings a menu over to the table he settles at and offers him her more standard customer service smile. “Hi, I’m Jyn. I’ll be your server this…morning. Can I get you anything to start?”

“Coffee, please.”

“Regular or decaf?”

“Regular, thanks.”

“Sure,” she says. Then she loses her mind momentarily, because she follows it up with, “You want crayons?”

That question clearly throws him, and for good reason. “What?” He asks, blinking up at her.

“Do you want crayons? To color in your placemat?” Jyn asks, less casually. She doesn’t know why she asked in the first place—he doesn’t look like the type, by virtue of not having any children with him and looking to be older than her, if she had to guess—but she does it anyway. Maybe she’s a little punchy from having no one to talk to all night.

Thankfully, he laughs, more like he’s surprised than anything else, but it still counts. “No, I’m good, thanks.”

She nods and heads off to get him his coffee. When she returns to his table with it, she doesn’t bother asking if he’s ready to order yet, because he’s still got his head bent over the enormous menu, reading it intently. She pops back over to her spot behind the register and resumes the sketch she’d been working on of the couple at the back table. She’s sure now that they are both, in fact, asleep, which is going to make it very awkward to get them to pay their bill.

A few minutes later, she hears the man at the other table clears his throat and she looks up, trying to mask her annoyance. When she does, though, she sees he’s not looking in her direction and probably didn’t do it to get her attention. Still, she should probably go check on him.

“Are you ready to order?” She asks, pulling out her order pad as she sidles up to his table.

“I—well, actually, I have to ask: why did you think I would want crayons?”

Jyn shrugs. “Technically, I’m only supposed to offer them to customers under twelve, but I think that’s bullshit. Kids aren't the only people who like to color.”

The man nods, processing this. “Okay. Not the answer I was expecting. I thought it was your way of saying I looked young.”

“No, no,” she says, and then winces. “I mean, you don’t look old or anything. You just definitely don’t look under twelve.”

“Then my disguise is working perfectly,” he says, half to himself.

Jyn snorts. “Is this your way of saying you do want crayons?”

“No, I’m all set. I think I’ll just have some eggs.”

Jyn gets the specifics of his order from him and goes to deliver the ticket to the kitchen. When that’s done, she decides it’s past time to finally collect her payment from the sleeping couple in the back. Under the guise of cleaning plates out of their way, she makes as much noise with the silverware as humanly possible, which causes the man to wake up. When she pointedly asks if there’s anything else they need, he grumbles a response in the negative and jostles his girlfriend’s wrist to wake her up too.

“You can pay right up front,” Jyn says, cheerily, before she swans away with their dishes.

After a few minutes, they come up to the cash register to pay her, even though it’s technically the manager’s job to run the register. He can’t be bothered when it’s this quiet. They don’t give her a tip then and there, but she holds out hope that they left her some cash on the table, which she checks as soon as they’ve gone. Of course, there’s nothing there and she curses under her breath before she buses the remaining dishes. She goes back again with a rag to wipe down the table, even though that’s yet another thing the manager is supposed to be helping with during overnight shifts. By the time she’s done with all that, the other man’s food is up and she goes to deliver it.

“Do you need anything else?” she asks, once she’s dropped off his food. “More coffee?”

“Yes, but could I switch to decaf?” he asks, looking like he’s asking for a kidney rather than something completely reasonable.

“No,” she says, automatically.

“Oh, I—what?”

“Sorry, that was—I was kidding.”

“Oh.”

“It wasn’t funny,” she says, feeling her face heat with embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” the man says, waving a hand. “It’s fine.”

“It’s just—it’s a restaurant. You can have whatever you want.”

“Right,” the man says, smiling faintly in either amusement or confusion, like he’s not really sure what to do with her. And who could blame him for that?

“You were being polite. I shouldn’t have made fun of you,” Jyn says, fully mortified at this point. He’s definitely not going to leave her a tip now, which means this whole shift has pretty much been a bust. 

“It’s really fine,” he says. “I probably would have caught on faster if it wasn’t…”

“3 AM?” Jyn suggests.

“Yeah,” he says, with a full, self-deprecating smile that catches Jyn completely off-guard. People shouldn’t be allowed to be that attractive without warning.

“I’ll get you that decaf coffee,” she says, trying to sneak off and preserve at least some of her dignity. He thanks her as she’s retreating, and when she refills his mug, she says as little as possible so she doesn’t end up accidentally insulting him again. 

It makes things a little weird, realizing he’s cute at the same time as he becomes her only customer in the entire diner. She’s supposed to be checking in to see if he needs anything but it also feels suspiciously like fawning over him. Has it really been this long since she’s had a hot customer at this godforsaken place? She tries to distract herself with drawing, but her latest subjects just left. She’s also not supposed to be doing that where customers can see and the man is seated right across from the counter, putting her directly in his sight line. It’s unfortunate, really, in more ways than one, because he’d be fun to draw, with his messy hair and his stubble and the lines around his eyes, but doing so would involve watching him even more intently and that’s a level of weird she just isn’t willing to stoop to.

While she’s absolutely not staring at him at all, she does just so happen to notice the moment he takes off his jacket. His table is directly in the path of the draft from the front door, so it didn't seem weird for him to keep it on, because that section of the diner is always freezing. Now, though, with the jacket off, she can see he’s wearing some sort of uniform—crisply pressed navy blue pants with a matching shirt that has a patch over the pocket that she can’t read from this far away. He’s got an ID badge too, which she also can’t read, clipped to his pocket. 

To her surprise, he’s not distracting himself from his lonesome meal by messing around on his phone, like most customers and honestly even she would be doing while eating alone in a restaurant. He is occasionally throwing a glance in the direction of the TV hanging in the corner, which is set to a channel playing reruns of “Murder, She Wrote” for no other reason than there’s nothing more interesting on at this hour.

Jyn hates the feeling of having too little to do and she especially hates having just one customer and feeling like she’s creepily watching their every move, so after what feels like an appropriate amount of time, she makes her way over to the man’s table, doing her best to seem casual.

“How is everything?” she asks when she gets there, even though she could have just as easily asked that from the counter. It wouldn’t have been professional, she decides, even if there is literally no one else around. She, of course, manages to catch him right in the middle of a sip of coffee, which is a special kind of superpower one only develops as a server.

He swallows and offers her an apologetic smile. “Everything’s great, thank you.”

“More coffee?” she asks, when she notices his mug is close to empty.

“Uh, sure. Thanks.”

“Decaf still?”

He laughs at that, for some reason. “Yes. I promise I won’t switch back and forth the whole night.”

Jyn shrugs. “Doesn’t matter, really. It gives me something to do.”

“Still,” he says. “Decaf would be great.”

“You got it.” She heads off to retrieve the pot of decaf and swings back to refill his cup. After he thanks her again, she asks, “Coming or going?”

He blinks at her in confusion for a moment. “I’m sorry?” he asks.

“No, I’m—” Jyn stops short, feeling ridiculous. “I just meant—are you coming from work, or going there?”

“Oh,” he says. “How did you—?”

“The uniform,” she replies, gesturing gingerly to his clothes with the coffee pot.

“Right. Of course,” the man says, looking down as if he hadn’t realized she could see him at all. “Uh, coming from.”

“What?”

“To answer your question,” he says, looking pained. Not that Jyn can blame him; this has been a trainwreck of a conversation so far, thanks mostly to her. “I just got off work.”

“So this is dinner, then?” Jyn asks.

The man laughs and it’s a strange, reluctant sound. “I guess so.”

“That explains the decaf.”

“Sure.”

“Not the one cup of regular coffee, though.”

That gets another laugh out of him, though he appears less surprised by it this time. “Does everyone who comes here have to justify their caffeine habits?” he asks, not sounding offended.

“Only the people unfortunate enough to sit in my section,” Jyn replies. It’s not worth pointing out that the entire restaurant is her section at this hour.

“I see,” he says. “Well, the cup of regular coffee is to give me enough energy to get back to my apartment without falling asleep at crosswalks, if you must know.”

“Ah, makes sense.”

“I’m glad you approve. You had me worried for a second there,” he says, and it lands somewhere between outright sarcasm and flirting, which is enough to make Jyn want to pull back.

“Yes, well, now that we’ve got that figured out, I suppose you deserve the chance to finish your meal in peace,” she replies, formally, and fights the urge to wince at how stupid she sounds.

“Okay,” the man says, sounding amused again as Jyn turns around and retreats back to the safe haven of the cash register to hide from the awkwardness she’s created. 

Luckily for her, after only a few minutes, she gets another table to distract her. It’s four people who appear to be college students and they thankfully don’t seem to be wasted, which is a surprise, even for a Tuesday morning. It’s a nice change of pace for the typical night shift. If Jyn had to guess, they probably just came from studying late at the library. Then again, she never did the whole college thing, so she could be wrong. All of her knowledge of what it’s like comes from TV shows. The college kids are nice enough, if a little boisterous for this time of night, when she takes their orders, which is what matters. Once she gets everything in to the kitchen, Jyn decides it’s probably safe to check on the man who’s there alone again.

When she approaches his table, she sees that he’s done eating and that he’s gotten distracted by his phone. He’s reading some message with his eyebrows drawn together in concern, but he looks up as soon as he hears her coming and his face clears in a deliberate way that suggests he knows he was pulling a face and that he doesn’t want to be asked about it. Not that she would, honestly, even without the signal. It’s one thing to be weird about his coffee ordering habits—she’s his waitress and she’s bored; sometimes people like to banter with their servers—but she doesn’t know him at all. She’s not going to ask who’s texting him. That’s none of her business, even if her curiosity seems to be piqued by everything he does.

“Can I get you anything else?” she asks, as pleasantly and professionally as possible, even as her mind fills in a fake backstory of an emotional affair with a co-worker that’s turned sour and now results in petty 3 AM text messages that make him scowl at his phone.

“Just the check would be great.”

“Of course,” she says, and goes off to fetch it. She returns and drops it off at the table with a breezy, “You can pay at the counter whenever you’re ready.”

“Thanks,” he replies, without looking up, and Jyn retreats again behind the counter, to wait for him or for her college students’ order to be up, whichever comes first.

The man takes a few minutes to finish his coffee and get his jacket back on, but he doesn’t hold up the table, which is nice. Even when the restaurant is empty like this, Jyn hates when people linger. It shouldn’t bother her, really—they’re paying customers, after all—but it still drives her nuts. She pushes off the back wall when she sees him approaching the counter and he has the audacity to look kind of shy when their eyes meet. Has this guy never met a waitress before? Is he a shut-in or something? And most importantly, why does she care? Hot people shouldn’t be allowed in the diner, she decides. It’s confusing, especially in the middle of the night.

He hands her the check along with the cash to pay it without a word, and she sets about getting him his change out of the diner’s ancient cash register. She hands over the bills and a few coins and thanks him for coming in.

“You have a good night,” she adds, sounding folksier than she means to. “Or morning. Whatever it is.”

He smiles at that. “Thanks, you too.”

“I will, thanks.”

He’s already turning to go when he adds, casually over his shoulder. “See you around, Jyn.”

By the time she’s remembered that she introduced herself when he first came in and recovered from her surprise at hearing her name come out of his mouth, he’s already gone. Apropos of nothing, there’s some buzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach that she kind of wishes would go away, but it’s also the most exciting thing that’s happened to her all night, tragically. The cook ringing the bell to tell her that she’s got orders up is the only thing that startles her out of her reverie. 

She brings the food over to her table of college students, and then goes over to clean off the cute guy’s table. As she’s moving plates around, she notices he left a tip in the form of cash tucked under his water glass. It’s a little over twenty percent, which, given the night she’s had, basically makes this guy the love of her life. She’s pleased enough that she almost forgets to be disappointed he paid in cash, rather than with a card, making it impossible to learn his name. Almost.

[phoenixhalliwell]

Do You want to know a secret?

Pairings: Frankie 'Catfish' Morales X Gender Neutral Reader

Author's Note:  Sorry for the repost, Tumblr has been a little weirdo and decided it didn't like this fic so somehow deleted it completely! If I’ve overlooked anything that might imply anything other than gender neutral please give me a heads up and I will correct it <3 

Frankie happens to meet the younger miller sibling at a party and drama ensues.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Frankie tightens his grip on the steering wheel of his truck and tries to keep himself calm. The loud music from the party drifts in through the window, causing him to sigh.

'It's just party, it's a safe place. Your brothers are inside. Just go in, have a drink, show face and if it gets too much get the fuck out of dodge.' He repeats the mantra over and over again. So caught up in his thoughts, he doesn't see movement out of the corner of his eye.

BANG

"MOTHERFUCKER" Frankie nearly launches himself through the front window at the sudden interruption.  Heart racing, he turns to the source of the noise, only to see Santiago giggling with his face pressed up against the door.

"I swear to God Pope, one of these days I'm going to end you!" he growls, quickly opening the door and knocking his friend in the face with it.

"Owwwww" Santi whines, rubbing his nose. Frankie just smirks.  "Serves you right pendejo"  Grabbing his cap off the passenger's seat, he shoves it on his head like a protective shield and jams his hands in his pockets.

"Thought you were never gonna get out of that fucking truck Fish" Santi teases but only receives a half hearted shrug of the shoulders in return. He feels a pang of sympathy for his friend and quickly  tries to reassure him.

"Look, I know you're not the best with people, but it's a party! Just have a drink and relax. God knows you need to chill out yeah? Lets head in, it's fucking freezing out here."

Both men trudge up the driveway towards the house, Santi gives Frankie a playful nudge before opening the door and heading inside. Frankie takes a deep breath to brace himself before heading into the 'warzone' The Millers party is in full swing. With the combination of Will's organisation (there is enough alcohol here to open a liquor store) and Benny's love of people, the house is jam packed and the partygoers want for nothing while they are here. Santi is in his element and happily mingles with everyone, smiling and hugging people as he goes. Frankie makes a beeline for the kitchen, his usual designated safe place and finds Will is already there, chatting away to an unfamiliar face. Will's face lights up when he eventually sees his friend and calls out

"Hey man! Didn't think you were actually going to make it"

Will excuses himself from the person he was talking to and rushes over to give Frankie a bear hug.

"Pope can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be" Frankie has to shout a little to be heard.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Santi tackles Will from the side and a tussle breaks out. Frankie just rolls his eyes and grabs himself a beer to watch the show. The boys have a quick catch up in the kitchen before Will is stolen away to play party host. Frankie is nursing his second beer and trying to keep himself calm when he suddenly gets a quick jab in the ribs from Santi.

" What the fuck man?" he growls at his friend. Santi slides closer to him before informing him

" You've caught someone's eye hermano" and subtly nodding over to someone behind Frankie.

Frankie does a quick glance over his shoulder to where Pope gestured and suddenly feels his breath leave him. Standing in the corner of the kitchen has to be the most beautiful person he had ever had the pleasure of seeing. While everyone else is decked out to the nines, they have opted for a more casual approach which he loves. A further glance up and he sees the warm smile which is currently being given to him. Be still my beating heart is all Frankie can think. Ever the Hawk, Santi notices his brother's heart eyes and doesn't hesitate to shout over.

"Hey! Fancy joining us? "

Well that sure as hell snaps Frankie out of his daydreams and panic runs through him. Whipping round he sees Santi wiggle his eyebrows at him and shoot  him a thumbs up with a shit eating grin. Frankie feels his face flush muttering curses under his breath. He's definitely going to end Pope, he just has to figure out how to make it look like an accident. Their new guest is quick to make their way over to them and introduces themselves.

"Hi, I'm jinx"

Frankie gapes down at the hand that is currently extended to him but makes no move to shake it. He feels utterly betrayed by his body right now.' Why are you so fucking awkward?' He wants to shout to himself.

Jinx gives Frankie an unsure look as though maybe regretting coming over. Santi is quick to take the lead  and playfully pushes Frankie out the way to  get to Jinx.

"Jinx! What a great name. I'm Santiago and this useless bastard here is my favourite flyboy Frankie" Jinx lets out a belly laugh at this and Frankie has to hold onto the counter to keep himself upright. A small pang of jealous shoots through him at the thought of Santi being able to make Jinx laugh like that. 'Smooth bastard' he thinks bitterly. After a few moments of listening to the two of them talk, Frankie gets his wits about him and is able to engage Jinx in a conversation. And boy is he given a run for his money. Jinx is funny, sharp as a tack and sarcastic as hell. Frankie finds himself falling a little deeper as time goes on and can't for the life of him remember now why he didn't want to come to this party.

" I see you boys have finally met the baby of the family"  Benny interrupts the moment, slinging his arm around Jinx's shoulder, squeezing their cheeks together before ruffling their hair. Jinx squawks in outrage and lands a sold punch on Benny's shoulder, causing him to wince. The ensuing sibling squabbling begins to fade out as Frankie feels the colour drain from his face.

"Wait. You're Y/N Miller???? I thought you said your name was Jinx?" Santi questions, casting a glance at Fish.

" It's a nickname my brothers call me because everything always going south whenever I get involved" Jinx replies,  face heating up.

Frankie is in the middle of a meltdown at the new revelation. Of all the people at this fucking party, he had to be pining after his brothers' younger sibling. Frankie groans in realisation, causing everyone to turn at look at him in sync.

"You good there Fish? you're looking a little pale." Frankie is suddenly brought back to the group, embarrassed by being  caught out.

"Fine, awesome, Fantastic" Frankie replies with a nervous laugh. Benny narrows his eyes at him before  throwing another curve ball into the conversation, causing Jinx to look away in embarrassment.

"I hope the two of you kept your hands off baby Miller, I know what you're like Garcia!" Benny warns, point a finger at him.

"Not me you have to worry about" Santi mutters under his breath, causing Frankie to elbow him roughly in the side. Benny just glares at the both of them. 'And that is enough fun for one evening, time to retreat' Frankie decides and makes his excuses to his friends. He makes sure to tell Jinx how lovely it was to meet them and before hightailing it out of the kitchen. He's nearly at the front door when he feels a hand on his arm and turns to see Jinx looking at him nervously.

" Look I know this goes against protocol with you and the guys, but I had a really fun time tonight and I'd really like to spend more time getting to know you if you were interested as well. .."  Jinx is suddenly cut off by Benny shouting "YO JINX WHERE YOU AT?"  Sighing, they shove a piece of paper into Frankie's hand , and give it a tight squeeze.

" Balls in your court  Frankie" and then they disappear into the crowd to find Benny. Frankie looks down at the number in his hand, hardly believing his luck. Maybe Pope can live for another day.

 After a lot of back and forth, Frankie bites the bullet and texts Jinx. Palms clammy he rewrites the message for the millionth time before launching the phone on the table and throwing himself dramatically on the couch. He has had found a lot of bad thoughts creep into his mind over the past few days since the party which kept him from messaging sooner.  

'What have I possibly got to offer? Am I good enough? Why would they want to get involved with a washed up old army man? What if this is a joke? Frankie is pulled from his thoughts by a loud buzz and a coldness washes through him. Moment of truth. Taking a deep breath before glancing down at his phone, a surprised laugh suddenly escapes him.  

Messaged received from Jinx: Took you long enough flyboy. You owe me dinner for making me wait.

 It's been so long since he had felt this light and care free and it was Jinx who had brought that out in him. After messaging constantly back and forth, it was decided that their first date would be at a cosy little diner. This eased Frankie's mind as he was already a nervous wreck without bringing a fancy establishment into the mix. It was easy to talk to Jinx and Frankie found himself pouring his heart out about his past mistakes: about his substance abuse, how his license had been suspended and how he'd lost his wife and daughter because of it. Shame welled up in him but was swiftly chased away with the feeling of Jinx's hand covering his and the sweet smile they gave him. The next few weeks were honestly the best of Frankie's life. The couple had come to an agreement  that they would keep whatever was going on between the two of them to themselves. To allow their relationship to bloom without any outside interferences (i.e The Miller brothers) Frankie would wake up to texts wishing him good morning which made his day that much brighter. They would sneak in  frequent date nights and their stolen kisses always made him feel like a teenager. His favourite night had to be when they had went out a drive in his truck and sat in the bed of it looking at the stars and making up constellations to make each other laugh. He had made sure to bring a blanket with them and the feeling of Jinx in his arm's quietened all the noise in his head. He was finally at peace.

Of course he felt guilty about sneaking around with Jinx behind his brothers backs but the more time they spent together, the less Frankie began to care about the 'betrayal' His friends are starting to get a bit suspicious of his shiftiness  but Frankie is quick to assure him that everything is fine. And everything was fine until one Santiago fucking Garcia had to go and ruin everything. After a nice dinner and drinks at a nearby restaurant, Frankie and Jinx ended up back at his house for the evening. As soon as the front door closed, the couple were all over each other unable to keep their hands to themselves. Giggling, Jinx dragged Frankie to the couch before playful pushing him onto the couch and quickly straddling him. Hands roam each other's bodies and they are just getting into the swing of things when the front door is rudely thrown open and Santiago comes marching in

"Frankie what the fuck man why aren't you answering my tex....."

Santi stopped abruptly in the living room doorway, doing a perfect imitation of a fish. Both parties just stare at one another before Santi suddenly points at them and shouts

" I fucking knew it!!!!"

" Please, you didn't know shit" Jinx scoffs while Frankie hides his face in his hands out of sheer embarrassment of being caught. Sighing, he gently rolling Jinx off him onto the couch and receives a confused look in return. Frankie drags himself off the couch and makes his way to Santiago, grabbing his shoulders and looking him straight in the eye.

" Pope, I need you to listen to me right now ok, this is important. Me and Jinx have been seeing each other for a couple of months now and its going so good man. I haven't been this happy in a long time. But you CANNOT say anything to Will or Benny about what you saw. If they find out they're going to kill me!"

Santi looks between the two of you, noticing the way Jinx nervously bites their lip, waiting for his answer. Crossing his heart, Santiago nudges Frankie.

"Don't worry guys, your secrets safe with me"

What a load of shit.

 *a few weeks later *

"OK boys listen up! I want a clean fight. Smack talk is allowed but absolutely no contact or you will be disqualified." Jinx announces to the room.

On one side of the table, Santi is rubbing Frankie's shoulder, furiously whispering instructions into his ear, while his friend is just nodding numbly along but not really taking anything in. Across the way he sees the Miller boys sending him death glares. Frankie gulps, why did it have to come to this?

After Santi (who still feels really guilty about it) accidently let it slip at boy's night the previous evening that Frankie and Jinx where sneaking about together, shit hit the fucking fan. In a slight rage, Benny had tried to strangle Frankie for "breaking the bro code" while Santi was trying to pry them apart all the while pleading Fish for forgiveness.  Will  was pacing the floor off to the side giving Jinx a lecture down the phone about the sanctity of brothers in arms and " WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE FRANKIE JINX?"

Eventually the drama had simmered down and an agreement  had been made. This would be settled through a good old game of Beer Pong (which Jinx had picked because the whole crew were all abysmal at it) The terms and condition where as follows:  If Frankie's team won, he could continue seeing jinx to his hearts content and nothing would be said on the matter.  If the Millers won then Frankie was to never see the youngest Miller again and would be forced to live a life of exile ( Will eventually talked his brother down to Fish having to spend a week in the 'doghouse' for his transgressions) Jinx was chosen to referee the match because there wasn't anyone else who could come out to play at such short notice. The only reason Jinx let this go this far was so that their brothers go to do the whole 'overprotective' thing. They scoff at the thought that benny and Will actually believe they had a say in the new relationship.

Regardless of the outcome, Frankie was going home with them tonight.

"Like all great battles, this is to win the hand of your one true love. We know Benny can't shoot for shit so it's Will we have to keep an eye on. We've got this hermano" Santi whispers in Frankie's ear.

The next hour descends into complete chaos as the boy trashed talked one another and take dirty shots and became the most competitive they have ever been! Eventually there is a tie between the two teams and a hush had fallen over the room. This next one would the deciding turn, his last chance. Santi solemnly hands Frankie the ball. No Pressure. Inhaling deeply, Frankie sends up a prayer and takes the shot......

A rabble of noise descends over the room. It takes him a while to understand that Pope is screaming in triumph while Benny is screaming in outrage.  Frankie finds himself quickly scooped up into a hug, with Santi chanting " WE WON, WE WON!!!" in his ear. When he is eventually put back down, he turns round to see Jinx doubled over , tears streaming down their face, laughing  at the madness. There is a tight feeling in his chest as he suddenly realises just how much he loves them.  Sensing movement just behind him, Frankie quickly turns to see Will beside him. The eldest Miller stares him straight in the eye before sighing and shaking his head.

"Listen Fish, i'm not gonna lie I am not 100% ok with this situation. In my eyes, no one is ever going to be good enough for Jinx, but I suppose if they HAVE to be with someone then you are the best man for the job."

Frankie lets out a breath he didn't even realise he was holding. He sticks his hand out to Will who takes it and gives it a firm shake.

"You have no idea how much of a weight that is off my shoulders man. What about Benny?"

" He'll come around eventually, he's just really overprotective of Jinx." Will reassures, clapping Fish on the back and heading into the kitchen to get a beer.

Frankie's shoulders slump in relief that this whole debacle is over. No more sneaking around, stealing kisses and quiet moments together. No more having to keep his feelings a secret. He can still hear Benny grumbling away in the background, arguing that the game was rigged and demanding a rematch. Santi being the shit stirrer that he is, cackles and continues to wind him up, calling him a sore loser. Frankie finally glances back to Jinx who is leaning against the wall smirking at him.

" Ready to claim your prize Francisco?"

Frankie's heart soars.

[meetmeinthematinee]

Prompt Request -- Pyrrhic

3) pyrrhic - won at too great a cost 

For @keanuwwu

“Momma’s home” You said as you slipped the key into the lock of your car. You jerked the heavy door open and tossed your bag on the passenger seat before sliding in and settling into the driver seat, closing the door with a heavy thud. This car was your baby. A beautiful, glossy black 1969 Mustang Mach 1. “Baby, it’s been a real night.�� Sometimes you talked to your car. You liked that after a long night of listening to and dealing with drunks and weirdos it didn’t talk back -- or at least it hadn’t yet. 

With a turn of the key the engine roared to life and you swung the car out of your usual parking spot and out onto the deserted streets. This was your favourite part of working late. The emptiness of the roads. The way you could really open her up and fly. The way you had to focus on the road, shifting through the gears, it helped you get out of your head. Pretty soon into your drive you noticed that tonight you weren’t alone. Familiar shaped headlights beamed behind you. 

They pulled up beside you at the next red light. It was your car’s twin. In grey with black stripes instead of black. You looked over at the driver and smiled. He looked surprised -- and maybe even a little delighted to see who was behind the wheel. You nodded and revved your engine. He revved his in response. Fuck. He was trouble. You felt it in your bones. Then again, that had never stopped you before. As soon as the light turned green you were shifting, pulling away from him, tires squealing as you surged forward at a high rate of speed. It didn’t take long before he caught up and was next to you, looking over and grinning before he overtook you. 

He was racing ahead at full speed and as you started to gear down to take the sharp curve up ahead it dawned on you that he might not know it was there. “FUCK! SLOW DOWN!” You screamed alone in your car and you felt your stomach drop. It unfolded almost in slow motion. You heard the squealing of tires and saw a shower of sparks go up into the air as the metal of his car met the metal barricade on the curve. He kept it under control and steered into the skid crossing into the oncoming lane. He drove slowly off onto the shoulder just past the curve. Your heart was pounding in your ears. You drove slowly by before deciding to risk it and park in front of him on the shoulder. 

He was walking up to your car. You eyed him warily in the side view mirror and didn’t quite know what to make of him. He was. Laughing? It should have unnerved you. It didn’t. He leaned his tall frame down to peer through your open window. 

“I won!” His voice was deep and a little raspy. He laughed and shook his head. Your jaw dropped. “You call that a win?” “It would have been if I had known the curve was there.” “What are you doing racing roads you haven’t been on before?” He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m headed home from a business trip. I was bored. Then I saw you and your gorgeous car and I thought, why not?” 

“Buddy, you’re out of your mind.” 

“Jardani.” 

“What?” 

“My name.” 

You cut the engine and reached for the door handle. He deftly stepped away from the car. He raked a hand through his long dark hair. Smirking as he caught your eyes rove up and down, giving him the once over. You shut the door and leaned against the car. “So Jardani, how are you not more upset that you just scratched the shit out of that beautiful car? Is it stolen?” You folded your arms across your chest. “Did you steal yours?” “No, I worked for it.” “Well, there you go.” He countered with a smirk. “I’ve got a great mechanic. He’ll sort it out and it’ll look brand new in no time.” “Have you even looked at it yet?” “No…” You both walked towards his car. You pulled in a sharp inhale. The left rear of the car was all smashed in. 

“Oh shit. That isn’t driveable. This is bad.” 

He stood there staring at what he’d done. “Fuuuuck! Ah fucking fuck!” 

“Still think you won?” Peering cautiously at him with a grimace on your face.

“Yes?” He answered quietly.

“Are you hungry Jardani? I know a place nearby. You can call a tow truck from there too.”

“Yeah. Actually, I am hungry.” His hand tangled into his long hair and a wave of concern washed over his face. “I can’t believe I did this to my car. Aurelio is going to kill me.”

“Who’s that?”

“My mechanic.” 

You let out a low chuckle. “With a car like that? You better come up with one hell of a story to save your ass.”

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

He followed you into the diner. “Hey Louise.” You called out to the waitress coming out of the kitchen. “Hey hun! Oh, you brought company.” 

“Yeah, found this one on the side of the road. Can he use your phone to call a tow truck?” You said as you settled into a large red booth near the door. 

“Well, then. You better be careful with her, son. She bites.”

“LOUISE!” 

“Just call em as I see em sweetheart. You want your usual?” 

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“And you, honey?” She looked expectantly at Jardani.

“Burger, the works and a coke, please.” 

Louise winked at you before beaming at Jardani. “Well, this one has manners at least! Lemme show you where the phone is.”

He laughed and shot you a bemused smile before trailing after Louise.

“You bring guys here often?” He asked, sliding back into the booth after making his call. 

“Ones I find interesting, sure.” You sat back, resting your head against the vinyl seat and grinned at him.

He licked his lower lip and leaned forward his hands splayed out in front of him. “You think I’m interesting?” His eyes lit up with amusement. 

“Could be.” The corners of your lips turning upwards into a sly smile.

[nikvs-blog]

pov rp: i try to wink at u but i close both eyes like jinsoul in this gif <3 SBJDWBDJWBDJ hello im xan im 22 & from the est timezone i use she / her pronouns & ur watching disney channel. is this super late ? yea...but thats super on brand for me its fine its fun its sexy so * jugkook vc* let’s get it !

— jung jinsoul. she/her. cis female. | was that niko seo i just saw in the hideaway lobby ? i hear the twenty-two year old spends most of their time working as a waitress, but i’ve always just seen them scribbling poetry on napkins. they live in 3A and i often see them in the halls. they always give me a vibe of making wishes on falling stars, silk ribbons adorning messy ponytails, and breakfast at midnight.

BACKSTORY

so miss niko was born in a teeny tiny suburban town in north carolina to a pair of  young high school sweethearts ! unfortunately her mom passed away during childbirth so it was a very bittersweet arrival into the world for baby niko

her dad was a mechanic who never made it to college since his girlfriend got pregnant towards the end of their senior year. they got married before niko was born though because they were pretty serious abt raising her right but they never really got the chance to /: but her dad loved his job he loved working with cars & it was something his own dad did before him plus it was a job the town really valued since it was so tiny ( u really only needed one of everything )

when i say tiny i mean everyone knows everyone tiny. growing up the town kinda pitied niko bc of her mom dying so to compensate everyone kinda tried to do their part in raising her ! her neighbors were just as much of a parent to her as her own dad was, and everyone had stories abt her mom so niko kinda appreciated how small the town was.....sometimes

that changed as she got older ! when she started high school her dad kinda entered a rough patch & started drinking more with his buddies, started working less, and niko started getting calls from the sheriff at 2 am like “hey we’re gonna keep ur dad for the night he didnt do anything crazy but he got a little too drunk u can pick him up tomorrow” sort of thing 

she was there for him every time but it got kinda overwhelming knowing everyone was in her family's business & how much kids would gossip at school or adults would give her sad looks

basically she kinda just....became very disillusioned with her reality & began to realize no one around her was really.....happy or had big dreams and their entire lives revolved around this tiny town which scared her

but also ? it had started becoming her life, too. she was voted prom queen senior year, she had a job at a diner where the same people ate everyday, she’d been dating the same boy for four years and everyone talked about how they’d probably get married soon. she’d become exactly like everyone else without even realizing it....she didnt have some big dream.....she didnt even have plans for college she was just so stuck

and then disaster hit the summer after she graduated high school. her dad had crashed right into a tree on a rainy night trying to drive home after a night out drinking & died on impact. the news honestly didnt feel real to her until her grandparents were helping her clear out her house so she could come move in with them 

which is when she finds her mom’s old diary ! and boy was that thing . fat & juicy ... it had all four years worth of her mom’s high school years inside and niko became ...obsessed with it. all she did that summer her dad died was read her mom’s old diary learning more abt the woman from those pages than she ever had from the mouths of everyone in her town

 thats how she found out her mom had always dreamed of moving to some city like seattle and starting this new life once she found out she was pregnant with niko ! so niko was like ok this has to be a sign....told her grandparents she loved them but she couldnt stay in north carolina.....and boop ! she pretty much disappeared from the town, didnt tie up any lose ends ( including her bf of four years who she was kinda engaged to ? JSDBJBDJ ) because she just had to leave that bad. 

cue a scene on bus with niko looking out the window as some dramatic song abt new beginnings plays . JSDBJSBDJW seattle was truly her new start at 18 ... and all she wanted to do was just ... reinvent herself 

so she did ! first thing she did was get a job as a waitress bc uh ur girl was BROKE broke but she knew she was good at serving. the first year was.....pretty rough there’s no sugar coating it niko was struggling bad, probably living in some questionable apartment when she wasnt coach hopping at her coworker’s places. despite all this she was....insanely happy she really believed ( and still does ) seattle is magic !

she was working at a diner ironically, just like she had been back home, but this diner changed her life about a two years ago. one day one of her regulars ( a very well off lawyer who worked downtown ) told her she was way too pretty and charming to be serving at a place like this & that he had a buddy who owned an upscale restaurant near his job downtown & that he could probably get niko a job there if she wanted

so she was like UH hell yes....showed up the next day at this fancy restaurant, charmed the pants off the owner, and the rest ? is history !  she moved into hideaways a bit after getting this new job & has been there ever since <3

PERSONALITY + TIDBITS

personality wise niko is kinda ....hard to figure out. she doesnt do it on purpose, she’s just still learning about who she is and what she really wants. back home in north carolina she was kind of the small town golden girl, loved by everyone type of deal but also very romanticized by those around her ??? ppl thought she was brilliant and knew so much about everything when the truth was she just knew a little about a lot. she would read to escape the suburban boredom of her reality & took a special interest in things like art and poetry and astronomy. shes the type to want to share the stuff she’s learned with those around her

in seattle since no one knew her the way they did back home, niko decided she wanted to keep it that way. because of this and because shes so hesitant to talk about her family sometimes she can come across as mysterious but she’s a surprisingly open person !! she’s naturally super curious and friendly and she’s found it really helps to be the kind of person people want to get to know and trust when working in the service industry. she’s got the type of aura about her that makes you feel as if maybe you’ve known her forever, even if she’s only told you one thing about herself ( which is often the case) . can probably make anyone feel at home within five minutes of talking to her & you won’t even realize how she’s doing it. her boss swears she’s charming enough to sell honey to a bee ! 

she’s also got a flighty side though that comes out when you get too close. niko’s great at relationships when they aren’t deep, but the moment you start and figure her out and see past the smiley walls she’s got up she recoils fast. in a way she’s terrified of anyone knowing too much about her because she’s scared that once they do they’ll pity her, and niko can’t stand being pitied. she’s also super good at dishing out affection but not so good at receiving it. the type to fall in love then right back out of love in one day. kinda a heart breaker bc of this but she doesn't mean to be, she just gets infatuated kinda easily & isn’t very good at keeping things serious ever since literally running away from her long-time ex in north carolina JSBCSJBDJW 

some fun facts: she wants to get a cat and name it cat so bad but she’s not sure she’d be a good pet mom so she just settles for petting stray cats in public. 100% that weirdo crouching in the street making kissy noises because she saw a cat and wants to pet it. she can name just about every constellation & loves to sit outside and look at the stars on clear nights, usually while smoking a joint . she’s a hardcore lightweight .... im talking one tequila shot and she’s floored ... two glasses of wine and she’s taking her top off  then crying kinda deal like she CANNOT handle her liquor so she tries to keep partying to a minimum. she’s got a collection of napkins from work were people have scribbled their phone numbers onto as well as a collection of napkins niko herself has scribbled on. she mostly writes poems and sometimes she even leaves a napkin with a poem on it behind at a table like a little gift for whoever sits there next. she’s probably always writing poems for all her friends or infatuations so if you’re in her life....you’ve gotten one at some point ! 

the only thing she brought with her from north carolina were all her records. she’s got a pretty extensive collection that ranges from donna summer to louis armstrong to led zeppelin & when she finally got a record player of her own in seattle it was probably the best day of her life <3 she really likes to watch scary movies but also they scare her so bad so it’s a cycle of oh yes lets watch this.....fuck why did i do that.....im sleeping with the lights on rinse & repeat. she really likes to cook ! she learned at a pretty early age out of necessity but now she does it for her own pleasure also because of her growing interest / knowledge in the restaurant industry. her wardrobe is 95% thrifted and 5% stolen from miscellaneous people ( her dad, old boyfriends, hookups, friends, etc. ) is a notorious hoodie thief so dont lend her yours......

and this is WAY too long im.....so sorry this literally always happens aha <3 yes i ramble but thats bc . i have a lot to say and i also have a lot of love to give ! spare some plots ? we can im on tumblr but i am 100% easier to reach on discord  @ EL i love u 💖✨🌙#8172 so hit me up there & lets get this show on the road baby ! 

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Ep 23 S3: Always Put Guns on Your Satellites

Ah, I’m finally back at my home computer after a little hiatus there. In case you are curious, I went to San Fransisco and then spent about 2 weeks trying to find a single parking spot. But, I’m back in my normal place now, where trash trucks aren’t driving around, breaking the speed barrier at 3 AM and where I don’t have to parallel park at a 45 degree incline. I got my fill of good food, chilling out, getting completely rained out by a freak storm in May, and walking about a mile vertically to go three feet horizontally, it’s time to sit back, relax, and talk about an anime that came out 20 years ago.

Y’all...what were even doing 2 weeks ago? It really does feel like three years.

If memory serves, we are currently in the midst of not one, but 3 Apocalypses. Lets just place em down in case you forgot

1.) The Millennium Item Apocalypse, where if one person gets all 7 (or was it 10?) of the items, the world freakin ends. This is briefly on hold because Bakura, our Millennium item enthusiast, hella died about 24 episodes ago and none of these people have brought it up or tried to contact any sort of governing authority even though Yugi and Tea both witnessed the murder about 7 hours ago (which, for Marik’s credit, did take place over international waters, touche). So, for now, Bakura’s spirit is kinda holed up in Pharaoh’s puzzle necklace so he’s just...chillaxing.

2.) The God Card Apocalypse, where if one person gets all 3 God Cards, the world freakin ends. Briefly on hold because everyone got stuck in a VR universe, and Marik felt like staying on the blimp instead because I dunno maybe he wanted to take a nap or something.

3.) The Matrix, where Seto’s Dad is going to launch a bunch of machines to trap the entire human race in this VR zone against their will and become a slave to the machine overlords. Somehow this is a thing that has been happening in the background this entire series but has only been revealed like...last episode.

Bro is reminding me that I forgot to mention that all these duel monsters are becoming slowly more and more real but like...eh.

There’s three concurrent Apocalypses right now. Don’t forget. There’s three of them.

Anyway, Seto Kaiba has decided it’s about time he deal with his Daddy issues/prevent the Matrix.

While Kaiba has decided to confront his Father, the rest of the people on this show have no freakin idea what to even do so they’re just arguing with eachother in Domino square and getting no where.

Also, I nearly forgot, Joey can’t even beat up Noah currently because Noah switched places with Mokuba, because this isn’t Yugioh unless we start switching brains like it’s as easy as turning your T-shirt inside out.

Of course, in this case, Mokuba didn’t exactly *switch* places with Noah--Moki’s brain is just...floating around this world somewhere. I don’t know if he got stuck in a Monkey or if he’s just...dead...but it just makes absolutely no sense to me how your soul can get sucked into a VR game and now lives tron-style in VR while someone else steers your body which isn’t any more connected to the machine itself, so I’ll just assume he’s dead. It’s just easier to say Moki died, it’s happened so many times to this kid at this point.

Basically, Mokuba is here, but in not-spirit. In every way but spirit.

And about those brain pods--does Yugi’s pod take up 2x the RAM because he’s got two people in that bean or has Noah seriously not noticed this like at all? because there's two dudes in one pod and Noah has just acted like that’s a completely normal thing that can happen.

(read more under the cut)

Anyway, the A team has sort of all turned into the B team because only Kaiba’s can really have any active involvement at this part of the arc, so Yugi decides to take a break and enter brain fort. Which, I assume he does just whenever he’s bored. It’s just kind of weird when he decides to do this, without warning, in front of a large group of other people.

Anyway, it’s Yugi, so he somehow turns what is so clearly Kaiba’s problem into this selfish need to carry the torch by himself for no reason.

Like, Yugi is the main character--I get that--he’s gotta be some sort of moral standard because this is a protagonist in a kid’s show, but it is such a stretch for him to still think that there’s any good left in Noah after all the events of this arc. It just comes off that every time Yugi tries to see good in Bakura, or Marik, or the Kaiba family even, he’s maybe doing it out of guilt.

Like Yugi isn’t naive at this point - he set a guy on fire once with Russian Whiskey in a freakin burger diner, and even if you don’t consider Season Zero canon, he also set PaniK on fire and left him to die in the woods (and that nut ABSOLUTELY died), so it just doesn’t make sense to me that he’d helplessly fall victim to a thousand evil assholes who pretended to be his friend. Instead, it’s sort of like Yugi’s trying to overcompensate for the amoral weirdo residing in about 98% of his brain right now.

Overall, TL;DR, Yugi is kind of a weird guy.

Love him, but he’s sort of a walking disaster with some very selfish motivations and I forget. Not about the walking disaster part of course, that part is like clearly very obvious, especially when we find out his grand masterplan.

Also, this happened,

Again, I would be absolutely fine if Tristan just remained like this, talking like the librarian out of Terry Pratchett, taking Serenity to prom just like this.

Anyway, these guys had absolutely nothing to do, so the show invented something on the fly.

If you could copy-paste any card, why not just copy-paste 24 Exodias? Like I get they don’t have God cards here but they have all the other ones, right?

Like I don’t understand the danger here, you can just keep playing cards infinitely because there’s no rules when you’re outside the game. Just keep slapping stuff on your duel disk like it’s that fanmade Yugioh game that they made for real life VR headsets. Youknow the one that was so bad that it became like a viral video, where everyone is a really low poly Yugioh character but they only have like 4 character models, and for some reason one of the four is Yugi but as a girl in a miniskirt? And they’re on the blimp for some reason, and none of them can stand up straight so they kind of duck walk everywhere? That one? The one with Joey saying “It does what it do!”

Like I feel like if even I saw that video show up on my twitter, everyone else has seen that video of just this really bad VR game and I don’t remember what it was called but feel free to google it, it’s a fun 10 minute ride.

Anyway, the mayhem of that viral video is kind of what this entire VR arc is turning into. More and more as we break reality and completely ignore the rules, to the point where now we’re just slapping whatever cards on our duel disk--cards we shouldn’t even freakin have because we identified at the beginning of this season that no one has a deck here.

But anyway, back to the only person who got out of the VR zone, lets see what Noah’s up to. Ah, the real world, where all we ever had to worry about was magic.

This password was so obtuse even Noah, who is literally a computer, forgot it. Wow.

So now that Noah has escaped the computer, he decides to walk down the hall to log onto yet another computer so he could use his hands instead of...however he was using computers in the digital zone.

He could have done this from within the Orb, right? Like this part didn’t really require him stealing Mokuba’s body? We know he’s already connected to Kaiba’s network so he could become ascended and open the Door of Truth, so I’m assuming it would also have the ability to just log onto this computer in his own ship?

Noah does seem to be just winging it through this entire arc, but he could have done this sequence, and THEN stolen Moki, and THEN hightailed it out of there. It would have saved him some problems later. But wtv, lets hack a satellite, that good ol Kaiba pastime.

Also, fun fact, Kaiba went through all that work to get rid of all the weapons and then forgot about his space stash?

Like was there just SO MANY weapons that he overlooked it, or is he just keeping this here, just to have? Just in case, youknow? Like why does Seto Kaiba have access to The Bomb? Why would we leave a horrible nuclear missile in the hands of a teenager who freaks every time he plays cards? This child who is so unstable, that he knows he was married to a paper card in a previous life but doesn’t feel like talking about it? That crazy kid?

Like usually we have a set of two keys for this type of thing and two different people turn the key at the same time, we don’t just leave them in the Seto Kaiba headquarters with the kid who turned all cards into guns. Are all of Seto’s handlers actually just spies from other countries trying to keep Seto from nuking the planet? Is that the real answer to who the hell Roland is? Is he just a nice spy that makes sure Seto plays enough cards to forget that he could blow up the world if he sneezed too much and pressed the wrong key loading up Duel Disk Myspace?

The implications.

Meanwhile, Kaiba is the only one on this show smart enough to just walk into Gozaburo’s office, where I assume this guy has just been hanging out the entire arc.

Yep, that’s right, they’re going to do a card duel with a chess champion because this show has to shoehorn in those cards. Just one more card fight. Just cuz. Just one more completely pointless card fight between these two people, to show...that Seto can beat his Dad? Seto’s beaten his Dad like every opportunity he’s had to beat his Dad I don’t...exactly know why this was necessary. Would’ve been a much bigger emotional beat for Seto to have just walked away, but that would have also been a much different Seto than the Seto we have.

So basically, if Seto loses, Gozaburo threatens to erase Seto’s mind entirely, which we’ve already pointed out has been so wiped at this point that it would be all of 700 KB and it would just be a single corrupted pixel picture of a dragon.

Anyways, Marik finally conquers his greatest enemy.

Oh. OK. This is a thing he can do now. Welcome back to the show, Marik.

Anyway, Marik has decided it’s high time for him to just go flippen spaz and start breaking stuff. For no reason. I don’t think he fully comprehends that he’s underwater and should not blow up the boat.

Or maybe he FULLY comprehends that? Either answer for him would feel correct.

Also, while I don’t cover cards here, Kaiba’s Dad has decided that the only way to beat his son was to pretend he’s Yugi Muto and reenact the pilot.

It was weird. It was sort of like watching someone audition for a role they don’t have.

Lets go back to Noah.

I knew this arc was going kinda long but how did they end up in freakin Guam???

Marik, who has no concept of technology because he grew up in a tomb and is currently possessed by an ancient force of evil, is still able to recognize a good countdown clock when he sees one. Before he bashes it to pieces because of course he can.

Marik almost saved everyone else’s ass, but unfortunately doesn’t understand that the monitor is not actually attached to the workings of the computer. Much like my Mother.

Bro brings up that this a very Metal Gear thing to only use helicopters to travel over the ocean and hot damn we got yet another Metal Gear reference in just before this arc closes. These weird war crime children.

Ps I like that they drew in the shadow of the bangs across Moki’s eyes as if that would somehow make Moki look sinister. lol.

But, much like the Grinch, Noah’s heart grew...well, it grew.

I wouldn’t go as far to say it grew even a full size, but youknow it...kinda made a weird little fart and bloated a little bit.

So like with Tristan turning into a monkey, it does seem a lot like Noah is just turning into Mokuba and that’s why he’s decided to save everyone. Least in my mind that’s what it looks like. Maybe if he really did take Yugi’s body, Noah would have lasted maybe 5 seconds before being doubled over with endless anxiety and guilt. Would’ve solved a lot of their problems.

I’ve been watching a cat while commuting 4 hours a day and this is actual footage of what my charger cable looked like after the cat went Marik on me and decided the cable deserved to die at 3AM after the freakin SF garbage truck went supersonic and woke up the entire neighborhood.

(the cat is fine, btw, we went and hid all the other cords, dumbass cat)

So what does Noah do? He decides...it’s time I fessed up. And he does it in the worst way, during a time when literally everyone else in the VR world is fighting multiple card enemies/their Dad.

Way to be, Noah, way to be. On the other side of town, Yugi was visibly sweating and had this facial of expression of like “Wow, maybe Noah is just a freakin psycopath?” Which, I dunno, kind of seems like the sort of thing we figured out 23 episodes ago, right at the same moment we met Noah.

Anyway, that’s all for this episode. Really seems like the only person who actually DID anything was Noah who just...decided to throw a bunch of missiles directly at himself because he can’t think things through. I guess Marik did some stuff too, but honestly, I have no idea if Marik thoroughly understood that he just guaranteed that he was absolutely going to be destroyed by rockets. That Loki.

Hey if Noah DOES manage to destroy everyone on this boat, he prevents 3 whole apocalypses and that would default him to hero status. He’ll kill off like 3 major villains and maybe even Shadi. And who doesn’t want Shadi to die (who I assume is already dead but wtv) I mean that’s not going to happen, but like...way to try and save the world Noah, you’re doing your best life.

Anyway, if you just got here, here’s a link to read these recaps from the very beginning, fair warning, there’s 2.5 seasons.

[mycasandstarrs]

SPN 8x08: “Hunteri Heroici”

THEN: Sam and Amelia bond over losing a loved one. Cas is out of Purgatory; the truth of how/why he didn’t make it out is revealed. Naomi is the one responsible for resurrecting Cas. She is also Cas’ new boss.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

That is terrifying.

RIP Gary. Heart burst right out of his chest.

“Yeah, hey, you know what? Uh, Dean's here. He really wants to talk to you.”

“Ms. Tran, yeah, hi, uh...” *hangs up*   

PFFT.

“Garth has a safe-houseboat?” I know, right?

“What's the word, Cas?”

“It’s a shortened version of my name.”

Oh, how I missed you.

“Any, uh, tablet chatter on angel radio?”

“Oh, I couldn't say. I turned that off.”

“You can do that?”

“Yeah, it's a simple matter of blocking out certain subsonic frequencies. I could draw you a diagram if you want.”

I would’ve been interested in seeing that diagram.

“Why'd you flip the switch?”

“Because it's a direct link to Heaven. And I don't want anything to do with that place – not anymore.”

Cas was trying to avoid Naomi.

AWW HON.

“I could be your third wheel.”

“You know that's not a good thing, right?”

“Of course it is. A third wheel adds extra grip, greater stability.”

Bless YOUR HEART.

“I even found a case. Oklahoma City – a man's heart jumped 10 feet out of his chest. It sounds like our kind of thing, right?” THE HUNTER LINGO, HOW ADORABLE.

Why are y’all mean to my angel???

Dean and Cas are standing rather close to each other.

“I can't sense any EMF or sulfur. Mr. Freleng's arterial health is, uh, excellent. Mm. He did recently suffer from a... *sniffs* ...mild, uh... *sniffs* What is that? ...bladder infection.”

“Cas, stop smelling the dead guy.”

Cas gets a gold star for trying.

“According to Olivia, they would meet at the park every Thursday at 12:45, walk to the Moonlight diner, where she always ordered a Caesar salad, dressing on the side. They would chat about everything, and she'd be back on the road by 1:30.”

“You don't think she's telling the truth.”

“Too much detail. Sounds rehearsed.”

At least Cas is learning from the best.

“Guy was living a lie, and it came back to bite him in the ticker.”

Don and Amelia’s wedding album. Small yikes.

The lighting during these scenes...is so superficially bright. Like it’s not real, like it’s just a dream.

“It's just this house, you – he's gonna think we're moving too fast. Are we moving too fast?” Yeah, y’all kinda are.

“So, who's this handsome fella? *Amelia’s dad walks past Sam to the dog* Yeah, he's a good boy! How you doing there? You're beautiful.” The chances of me doing that to someone are pretty high..

 (Did Sam ever meet Jess’ parents?)

“I got to say, Sam, you look like a real fixer-upper to me.” How do you even respond to that politely?

OH I KNOW WHAT THIS IS.

“Now, Ms. Freleng, I don't want to bother you. I – I really don't. But I – I do have just one question for you. *slams table* Why did you kill your husband?!”

I LOVE CAS’ ATTEMPT AT BAD COP, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. 

“I was being bad cop.”

“No, you were being bad everything.”

Where the hell did Cas even learn to do that???

“W-what did you think Gary was hiding?”

“That he was sleeping with her.”

“I know.”

At least it was a good thing Cas exposed that right away. They can now rule out witchcraft.

Straight out of Looney Tunes.

RIP dude. Fell to his death.

“So we're looking for some sort of insect-rabbit hybrid? How do we kill it?”

I love Cas.

“They're little animated movies. You know, uh, the coyote chases a roadrunner, and then the – the anvil gets dropped on his head.”

“Is it supposed to be funny?”

Yeah, it’s hilarious. (Tho the Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner ones were usually my least favorite ones.)

“I understand. The bird represents God. And coyote is man, endlessly chasing the divine, yet never able to catch him. It's... It's hilarious.” You and your weirdo humor.

I love Cas digging through their stuff. It’s adorable.

“Cas, you gonna book a room or what?”

“No, I'll stay here.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah. We'll have a slumber party, braid Sam's hair.”

Team Free will slumber party! That would’ve been adorable.

“Okay, well, I need my four hours, so...”

“I’ll watch over you.”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

Dean gets so flustered over that.

RIP victim #3. Killed by an anvil.

Black Hole. a nefarious bank robber.

“Hey. Can you lift this?”

Cas is like “No shit, I can lift a simple anvil.”

One of my favorite Destiel moments, as upsetting as it gets.

“Your father... Beautiful handwriting.” Aww.

“Don't get me wrong. I'm – I’m happy you're back. I'm – I’m freaking thrilled. It's just this whole mysterious-resurrection thing – it always has one mother of a downside.”

“Maybe take a trip upstairs.”

“To Heaven?”

“Yeah, poke around, see if the God squad can't tell us how you got out.”

“No.”

“Look, man, I – I hate those flying-ass monkeys just as much as you do, but –”

“Dean! I said no!”

Cas putting his foot down.

“Talk to me.” I love when Dean does that.

“Dean, I... When I was... bad... and I had all those things – the... the leviathans... writhing inside me... I caused a lot of suffering on earth, but I devastated Heaven. I vaporized thousands of my own kind, and I – I – I can't go back.” 

(Cas does a little nose scrunch there that is the cutest thing.)

“'Cause if you do, the angels will kill you.”

“Because if I see what Heaven's become – what I – what I made of it... I'm afraid I might kill myself.”

WHAT A HUGE THING TO LEARN

OF ALL THE MOMENTS TO INTERRUPT. S A M.

I would’ve kicked Sam back out.

Sunshine Retirement Home.

“You can't tell me this joint doesn't give you the heebs and/or jeebs.” And that’s where I get it from.

Cas didn’t have his FBI badge? 

Dr. Dwight Mahoney.

(Also, the group alias: Crosby, Stills, and Nash.)

Cas is pretty.

“Oh! You look so much like my third husband.” Get it Sheila!

The heart eyes!

“A lot of these people – they just tune out and live in their own heads. It's like maybe the real world is too much for them, and they just run and hide, you know?”

Sam kinda looked disgusted with that meal.

“Uh, my father was in the Marines.”

“Jarhead, huh?”

“That's right. Uh, 2nd battalion, First Marines, Echo company.”

“I always thought they were a little puffed up, myself. But, hey. What do I know? I'm just an old grunt.”

Have some respect, dude.

“Sam, you got the look.”

“The look?”

“The one a lot of guys get after they've been through the meat grinder – the one that lets you know they've seen a lot of crap they can't forget. The second their feet hit solid ground, they start running, and they don't stop – not till they find something to hold on to.”

“You think that's what I'm doing here? Just holding on?”

Yeah, Sam.

“I think the two of you are holding on to each other, yeah. 'Cause I know she's scared. After what happened to Don, I don't blame her for taking off. Needing to run away and hide – I know why she did it. The question is – what are you running from, Sam?” Amelia’s dad freaking exposed them.

Fred Jones, a psychokinetic.

“So, you really think this one man is causing all of these... shenanigans?”

Testing the theory, Dean hit himself with a book. It’s textbook cartoon-ish, right down to the birdies.

“Do we... kill him?”

“Excuse me, Agents. Did he just threaten to murder one of my patients?”

Of all the times to get caught.

The cake mishap.

“Fred’s gone.”

“What?”

I’ll always love exasperated Cas.

Dr. Mahoney, the real villain.

The orderly just spills all the tea.

“Seems to me like the dude's living in a dream world.”

“This – it won't last. You are living in a dream world.”

“Sam is a mess.”

“I'm a mess. But when I'm with Sam, I'm happy, Dad. And I haven't been happy in a really long time. So please, just... let us be messes together.” 

But that’s how it falls apart.

At least the Dad immediately started on the ���give him a chance” thing.

Cas gets him and Sam inside Fred’s mind.

Shattered reality.

“What's up, Doc?” Dean saw a chance and he took it.

“You let me walk, and half of this is yours.” UH REALLY

“Give up! I've been dealing with this crazy for months! And you – idiot – bring a gun to a gag fight.” Great line.

Sam vague talking about his own experience.

“Look, it can be nice living in a dream world. It can be great. I know that. And you can hide, and you can pretend...all the crap out there doesn't exist, but you can't do it forever because... eventually, whatever it is you're running from – it'll find you. It'll come along, and it'll punch you in the gut. And then... then you got to wake up, because if you don't, then trying to keep that dream alive will destroy you! It'll destroy everything!”

Fred takes back control.

RIP Dr. Mahoney. Forced to shoot himself.

“Now that's all, folks.”

“You got to make it stop.”

“There might be a way. The procedure will be painful, and... when it's over, I'm not sure how much of you will be left.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

Awww, Cas earned shotgun riding!

“I have been trying to pretend that I can escape what I did in Heaven, but I can't. All that pain that I caused – I – I have to come back, to make things right.” Cas took Sam’s words to heart.

“I want to stay with Mr. Jones. Someone should watch over him for a few days just to be safe.”

“Okay, and then what?”

“Then I'm not sure. But I know I can't run anymore.”

:’)

“So, Ame is playing the Sugarplum fairy, right? Right? Now, this is her big moment, you understand, and she waddles up onto the stage –”

“Waddles?”

“What? You were a chubby kid. It was adorable. Anyway, she waddles up onto the stage, and she is dragging two feet of toilet paper behind her.”

A cute family moment...

Sam opens up about what he’s running from: losing Dean.

Sam’s gut punch has come. Don’s alive.

“Ode to Joy from Symphony No.9” by Ludwig van Beethoven.

[joylessholland]

Just A Guy I Like (Part 3/?)

TOMHOLLANDxMALEREADER

(1,293 words)

Warnings: Swearing, I think i used the “F” word (not fuck the other one) like once (YES LOLA THE DRAG QUEEN IS LOLA FROM KINKY BOOT AND I QUOTE THE MOVIE, BITE ME BITCH)

A/N: Hi this part is later than i thought it was gonna be up so sorry but put that in the past cuz the next part was so much fun to write!!! IDK if i”ll do more than four parts it is still unknown to me! If you want more lemme know!

part one, part two,  Masterlist

THIS IS THE SONG LOLA SING (i’ll add a link when its time for the song too) SONG LINK  there might be an add not my song or vid!

The last week with Tom was amazing, he was so sweet and funny and when the two of you were together there was endless smiles. Your feelings for him got stronger every day and you think his did to, but one thing about him has been a huge road block in your relationship, his sweet face was still buried deep in the closet. Of course, you were supportive of his choice to take thing slow but you weren’t going back into that dark cesspool of self-hate people call the closet for any man no matter how sexy!

           Three knocks came at the front door and you flung it open “We paid rent you fat asshole, oh sorry Tom” you say shyly as he walks in “Well good-morning to you too” he snickered unpacking a breakfast from a brown paper bag “What’s all this” you ask sitting at the tiny table “This is a celebratory…” he checks his watch “Brunch” he finally says “What are we celebrating exactly” you asks dipping your finger in a cup of maple syrup “I came out to my mum and dad last night” his voice raises you off the chair “Oh, Tommy that’s amazing,” you pull him into a tight embrace “I couldn’t have done it without you!” he whispers into your ear “I’m so proud of you” you smoosh his face like grandma “Alright, Alright, They took it well thanks for asking” he laughed pulling your hand down “Where’s Maggie I brought her some”  “I don’t think she came home last night, Some people go to church on Sunday Mags and I usually get SHITFACED and do stupid shit” you giggle “SO you have no idea where she is” he ask a bit of concern in his tone “Well she could either be sleeping at a friend’s house, or she could be in Mexico being a drug maul for the cartel, either one she’ll be home for diner” you say buttering your toast “Let’s go out tonight, to a club” a long silence come after your statement, Tom never wanted to go out because in public a famous actor is heavily watched  and if he slipped up he could be outed in a second “You know I hate going out, I feel like I have to be so straight out there, and you don’t help every time we’re out together you do cute shit” he huffed “What can I say I’m just so naturally charming and beautiful, come on, I know this great little club in west Hollywood, come on, Please.” You stick out your bottom lip. He stares at you for a long moment before finally agree to a few drinks and a dance “I’ll pick you up hear at seven?” he asked “Pick me up in the alley it won’t be a long drive!” “Good plan.”

             “I don’t know about this” Tom said “We’re here already and I do not want to waste an outfit” giving in, he exits the car pulling his hood up another part of your plan to make sure no one knows who he is till your inside. The line is long but it’s no matter you called a friend, passing the line you saunter up to the larger door man. “Lines back that way” he said pulling his sunglasses down “Your new aren’t you” “Yup” his monotone voice means you’re not gonna have any fun toying with this one “I’m a friend of Lola” the large man tenses “Mr. Quinn” “Last time I checked” the man moves aside “Enjoy your evening boys” “Thanks Sweetheart” you pat his large chest as you walk by.

             Inside the club queens of all shapes and sizes walk the floor some with trays of drinks, some dancing, some prepping the stage. “Drinks?” you ask tom who has shed his hoodie and is marveling at the shimmering lights, the small stage, all the fancy gays wearing body glitter “Uh, sure” you walk to the bar and order four shot taking them you hear music start to play “She about to go on lets go” you pull him along to the dance floor where everyone is gathering in front of the stage “Who” he laughs “Lola” “Oh, your friend”  your response in drown out by the crowds cheers as a beautiful Queen walks on stage clad in thigh high red leather boot, a matching red dress, her chocolate skin shining with glitter and gloss. Her boots click against the hard stage as she puts her hand up, the crown stops. “Ladies, Gentlemen, those of you who are yet to make up your mind. I am Lola, my club is a place where anyone and everyone is…SEXY” (SONG TIME) the crowd cheers as she begins to sings the beat picks up as dancers arrive on stage. Tom pulls you close as the music booms and the two of you begin to dance. The vodka has kicked in now and your both having an amazing time. Tom suddenly stops dancing to the beat when he sees a man with a camera snapping pictures of him dancing, when their gazes meet the man give him a sinister smirk and begins to push past the crowd. Tom grabs your arm and pulls you along as he chases the man outside “What wrong?” you ask waving to Lola on stage before you exit the club

             A car is pulled up in front of the club a small man sitting inside “Check your email ya fa-“ “There are like forty drunk drag queen outside I wouldn’t finish that sentence” you snap as Tom lunges toward the car, it speeds off. “Tom come back” you shout as he chases the car “Me running after shots this should be fun” you mumble to yourself as you run to Tom who is frantically flipping through his phone “What’s wrong” you put a hand on his arm and he shrugs it off “This is what’s wrong” he shoves his phone in your face you quickly read the email,

           ‘Give me five thousand dollars within twenty-four hours or I send this picture to every news outlet I can’

“Tom,” you start “I knew we shouldn’t have gone out tonight” he growls “Let’s go” “Tom, just calm down” you try “CALM DOWN, you want me to calm…“ he shout hitting his car “I’m about to get outed to the world and you want me to calm down!” his voice cracks as he is on the verge of tears. “Tom all he has is a picture of you dancing at a night club” you speak slowly “A drag club in West Fucking Hollywood” he shout “Look, your proud and that’s great but I’m not ready to be…” “to be a faggot like me, I get it” you turn and walk away tears clouding your vision “Vin, that’s not what I meant just please get in the car, I’ll take you home” he pleads “I’ll find my own way thanks” you try so hard to be strong when inside you feel like falling to the ground sobbing “Please” he tries again “Fuck off, Tom” you yell turning to look at him as a tear escapes you eye and falls down your face “Fine, have it your way” he barks angrily getting in his car and driving off. You enter an alley all your tears breaking free you reach into your pocket “Fuck” you forgot your phone in his car, you kick trash can. Were you really going to have to get on a bus, you couldn’t go back into the club like this and you really weren’t in the partying mood. Walking down the alley a man comes out from behind a corner, turning you see one behind you as well. “Why tonight”

if you missed the song it like really good so like just saying

 Here are some beautiful KITTENS: @midtownvaledictorian @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @tiemeupspidey @captain-katie-xx  @panicatttckiss @champagneholland @seilamigliorcosacheabbiamaivisto @mendes-holland @maggie-starz @natalie-kn  @vaeyron @wonderyoung @ging3r-fall @louisnholland @little-weirdo-13 @calumminter @sunshiineandmoonliight @m-snop @tomhstories

[writtenwordsoffic]

The Inquisitive Snake - Part 2 - Jughead x Reader

Part 1

Masterlist

@idle-lanes @sgarrett49 @murderyoursoul @moonlight53

itsgirl17321 said: Part 2 to inquisitive snake?!?! Loved the first part!

Alright so I’ve made the reader demisexual - It’s where I wanted to go with the character. Anyway, thanks for reading. 

Music while writing: Maroon 5 “Harder to Breathe”, Arctic Monkeys “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High”

“What are we doing?”, I asked while we just sat there behind the back of the school. It had been a few days since I had skipped class.

“Look, I told you if you wanted to come it was fine but quit asking so many questions. You’ll figure it out anyway…and we’re waiting”. Ricky seemed annoyed.

“Waiting for what?”. I leaned more against the tree while Ricky took a puff of his cigarette.

He nudged with his head, “her”.

I looked to where the movement was coming from, realizing it was Y/N heading towards us. Unlike her friendly demeanor before that I experienced, she seemed like she was walking with a purpose.

She then realized it was me standing with Ricky as her face softened a little. “Hey Jughead”, her eyes then shifted to the Serpent next to me, “Ricky”. She gave a nod but the way she used his name was almost business like.

She began to pull out a small envelope from her bag, “…and you have?”

Ricky pulled out a somewhat thick envelope from his back pocket as they exchanged each other’s objects.

“Can you do some more?”, he tossed his cigarette to the ground.

She gave a slight sigh, “yeah but it will still take 3 to 5 days. I never know when I have the chance to work on them”.

He gave a nod. “I’ll find you tomorrow then”. She gave another nod putting the envelope in her bag.

“Pleasure doing business”, she gave a slight smirk to me and turned - off on her way.

I just looked at Ricky. “Were we just buying drugs or something?”. My eyes followed Y/N as it didn’t all make sense to me.

He gave a chuckle. “We usually have the drugs ourselves Jones. And just weed at that for the most part…here”, he tossed the small envelope to me.

I opened it up and saw a decent stack of ID’s for some Serpents and other students I recognized. “Huh”.

“You want one?”.

“I mean…not sure what I would use it for”.

He laughed. “For whatever Jughead. Best to use it in Midvale though. Everyone knows each other in this town. THAT’S how she helps us by the way. I can make a mint on these with students from Riverdale High especially”.

“What does she need the money for?”, I looked up and saw no remaining sign of Y/N.

He shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t care. She isn’t high priced and knows what she’s doing at least”.

My curiosity of her had shifted once again. We began to walk back to his motorcycle that was in the parking lot. “So, why is she weird?”

He gave a laugh. “Not sure how to explain it as I haven’t heard it from her mouth. But there was this great rumor last year”.

“Didn’t take you one for gossip”, my eyebrow arched in jest.

“Well when it doesn’t involve me or our people”. He gave pause. “She went out with some jock last year but they broke it off only after a few weeks. He said she was crazy. That she didn’t find anyone attractive or something. That having “feelings” was different for her. He just said she was pretty sure she was a “les".

“Huh”. I knew there was a word for it but didn’t know where it laid for her. “I don’t know if that warrants her a weirdo”. 

He gave a laugh. “It does here. Our school is a bit more…well sexual in nature? Everyone’s always doing something or someone. Except her it seems. Bit of a loner that one. I’m not sure how someone can’t live without sex after experiencing it. Maybe she just needs more experience”. He gently shrugged. 

As the conversation on Y/N ended there. We made it back to his bike and my borrowed car. “Just give me a picture of you with a blank background if you want one. Facing forward and all that”. 

I gave a nod. My curiosity was beyond that of getting an ID now.

I sat there looking out the window waiting for Betty to arrive. The last few weeks it seemed she would be making me wait more and more. Something out of nature for her. 

My ears perked up when I heard a familiar “ding” but instead of Betty, it was Y/N. My eyes kept hold on her. “Pick up for L/N?” 

Pop gently nodded, “just working on the burger hun”. She gave a nod and took the take out shake in front of her. She gently turned to scout a spot to wait. She caught my eye. 

I waved her over but she seemed a little reluctant if not confused by my offer. She carefully took a sip of her drink while standing over the table. “Careful now. I may ruin your reputation as a bruiting Serpent”. 

“I’ll decide my own reputation thank you very much”, I nodded to the opposite side of the booth for her to sit. She seemed a bit hesitant by my offer, yet she still sat down. There was a small silence for a minute, “so…”. 

“I’m aware Ricky is a gossip you know”, she took a sip of her drink and stared out the window. 

“Yeah. He’s a talker that one…”, I rolled my eyes a bit. 

“What did he tell you exactly?”, her tone seemed defeated. 

“Uh…”, I tried to think of my wording. “He just told me about the guy you dated last year and what he said about you after…”, I resisted making eye contact but didn’t make my words harsh. 

She gave a small sigh. “I’m not crazy you know. If I know who I am, there are worse things to be”. She continued looking out the window. 

I paused, “there’s a word for it, isn’t there?” She looked back to me, finally catching my eyes as well as my sincerity. 

She gave a nod. “Well there’s more than just me. Some people are asexual, I consider myself demisexual”. She could tell by my arched eyebrow that I wanted her to continue. “Let me give you an example. Who was your first celebrity crush?” 

I became a little bashful at the thought but answered nonetheless. “Jennifer Aniston…” 

She nodded. “Okay and was it because you found her body, her features, attractive?” 

“Well yeah…”. 

“See I don’t get that. I can’t comprehend how someone can find a random stranger "sexy”. I don’t know them, so how could I have physical feelings for them?“. 

“I mean, I feel a strong connection with someone after I know them a while…”, I was trying to understand. 

“Ah but do you check them out? Tell me you haven’t checked out a random chicks chest or butt for that matter. There are features that physically attract you to a woman yes?”, she seemed to light up a bit more with the conversation.

“Well yes”. 

“I don’t. Never have. I don’t know them on a personal level and it doesn’t make sense for me to find them attractive in that way…”, her words became distant for a moment. “I told him that. He was mad that I said I couldn’t find him attractive yet…” she stared back out the window. 

“I’m sorry”. I reached for her hands out of care -she practically jumped but let the action occur anyway. “He shouldn’t have made fun of you”. 

“Yeah well…I’m used to it now…”. 

My focus kept on her. How her lip kind of curled while quivering, how her hair fell to her shoulders and how she seemed too sad to let anyone else in. An emotion I had felt before. I looked at her eyes that were still out the window, there didn’t seem to be any hope behind them even though she had tried to give off some confidence before. My focus was so lost, I didn’t even hear the bell ring. 

“Hey sweetheart!”, with those words, both Y/N and I returned our hands to our sides and Betty - without any care, slid into the booth next to me. Her arm latched around mine. “Hi! I’m Betty. Are you one of Jughead’s new friends?”, she took out her hand for Y/N to shake. Her peppiness a little in overdrive.  

“Uh…more busi…” 

“Yes she’s my friend. This is Y/N”, I interrupted and they shook hands. Y/N resisted giving me a gentle smile. 

“L/N! Orders in!”. Y/N grabbed some money out of the envelope I saw earlier that day and popped out of the booth. 

“It was nice meeting you”, she gave a sincere smile to Betty. “Uh give Ricky the pictures tomorrow if you want one - both of you. I’m sure there’s a Serpent discount”, she gave a smile and was off to the counter. 

Both Betty’s and my eyes followed her as she left the diner. “What about pictures?” Betty turned, her eyebrow at an arch and a bit of her facade toned down. 

“Eh some Serpent stuff. I’m sure you’d like it though. It would include an adventure to Midvale”, I gave a smile, wiping away any of her turning thoughts.

She gave a slight peck to my cheek. “Alright…I’m getting a shake”, she smiled and got up from the booth. 

I felt bad. My thoughts were still on Y/N. But Betty didn’t seem to mind that she was there. I left my thoughts drift with me while I stared back out the window.