#then a few hours to the arcade to waste some time before going to the movies

[foxcantswim]

FNAF Movie / / Vanessa x F!Reader [Jealousy Hurts]

(gif by me)

Mike starts to flirt with you. Vanessa definitely isn't jealous. Contents: Fluff, Angst(ish), Established Relationship Warnings: N/A WC: 2,220

"No no, like this," Mike laughed as he rolled the ball masterfully, he had been bragging about how good at skee-ball he was so you had asked him to teach you. After all, there wasn't a lot to do on the night shift so you might as well waste some time. Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy had been standing a few feet away watching the two of you play, each of them seeming curious.

You rolled another ball but it fell short again.

"Ah, I'll never get it," you groaned, already wanting to give up after failing to get a decent score for the past hour.

Mike smiled at you, stepping closer, "No. Come on. Let me show you." He grabbed another ball and showed you the angle of his arm, "It's simple. Just enough strength in the throw, not too much. And..." he released the ball and it swiftly made its way down the lane and up into one of the high score pockets, "Easy."

"You mean you make it look easy," you rolled your eyes at him and folded your arms in frustration.

He chuckled to himself before holding a ball towards you, "Come on. Let me help."

Vanessa sat in her patrol car outside the pizzeria, her fingers tapping on the wheel. She had been sitting here for almost an hour now, deciding on whether or not to go inside. Her eyes drifted to the clock on the dashboard - 02:40am. She'd usually check in on you every other night to make sure you were okay, but tonight she knew you were on shift with Mike... And yet here she was, pondering on whether or not to go in and see how you were doing. She definitely wasn't here to make sure Mike wasn't going to try anything on you... Definitely not.

Finally, she stepped out of her vehicle and slammed the door shut. She went towards the front doors and peered through the glass, she could see that the lights were on and she could hear faint music. She was about to knock but decided to try the door instead... And of course it was unlocked. Vanessa rolled her eyes in frustration, she couldn't count the amount of times she'd told you to make sure the doors were locked every night.

Upon stepping inside, she could hear muffled voices and laughter - she presumed it was from you and Mike. The stage was empty as she walked past it towards the arcade games, she could clearly see the tall animatronics at the back of the room by the skee-ball machines.

She manoeuvred her way past different games and machines, stepping over loose wires here and there making sure not to trip. She finally made it to the skee-ball machines, she patted Freddy on the arm to let him know that she was there. He stepped out of the way to let her through, however she stopped in her tracks at what she saw.

Mike was standing behind you, one of his hands slowly moving up your arm towards your wrist. Your hand soon lay in his palm, a ball was secure in your hand.

"And you just gotta..." Mike's voice was quiet as Vanessa watched him move your hand with his.

Vanessa decided to clear her voice, making herself known. Both you and Mike turned to look at her.

You dropped the ball and retracted away from Mike with a smile, "Vanessa!" you exclaimed with a smile, walking over to her, "I didn't think you were coming tonight."

Vanessa couldn't help but glare at Mike as you approached her and wrapped her up in your arms, she more than willingly returned the hug as you pressed your lips to her cheek.

"I er... I wasn't aware you two knew each other," Mike coughed awkwardly.

You had been working as an overnight security guard longer than Mike had, you met Vanessa in the first week and you two had hit it off pretty quickly - entering into a relationship only a few months after meeting. A couple of months later, another security guard was hired: Mike. You had only worked duo shifts with him a few times now but you already saw him as a close friend, it was nice to have someone to talk to on long night shifts.

"Oh! Yes. I met Vanessa a few days after I started working here," you said as you pulled away from the hug, Vanessa made sure to grab your hand with hers - she tried her hardest to not keep glaring at Mike. You squeezed her hand in response, "She's my girlfriend. Has been for a couple months now." Vanessa couldn't stop the small smile from appearing on her face.

Mike raised an eyebrow, "Ah... I'm just... surprised it never came up," he shifted on the balls of his feet awkwardly.

"To be honest I didn't even know you two met," you replied.

Vanessa nodded, "I helped him out for the first couple of days," she stepped ever so slightly closer to your side, her hand still firm in yours, "I wasn't going to come over tonight but I was... passing by so I decided to anyways." She definitely wasn't passing by, her last area of patrol was on the other side of town.

"Well, I'm glad you came," you smiled.

Vanessa smirked at you, "Oh really? You usually complain, saying something along the lines of 'I don't need you to keep me company every night, I'm a big girl'."

You rolled your eyes, "Just because I don't need you here, doesn't mean I don't want you here," you then turned your attention back towards Mike, who seemed to be uncomfortable, "I'm sure time will absolutely fly by now that there's more of us."

"What were you two up to?" Vanessa said, her mind going back to when Mike was practically wrapped around you.

"Mike over here is apparently the best skee-ball player that anyone has ever seen. So he was teaching me how to play. I'm sure I could challenge him any day now."

Mike laughed, "I'm sure you could, Y/N."

The three of you made your way towards the main stage, the animatronics walked behind you.

"What should we do to get through these last three hours, hm?" you wondered, looking around the room.

"I mean... We are at Freddy Fazbear's after all. Couldn't hurt to watch them perform a little," Vanessa suggested, nodding towards the showtime button on the wall. You looked towards the animatronics, they almost seemed excited to get up there and put on a show.

You and Vanessa were sitting at one of the party tables, listening to the music coming from the stage. Freddy, Bonnie and Chica were currently performing whilst Foxy stood by your table, he seemed to be enjoying the show.

Vanessa reached across the table to hold your hand, "Sorry for coming here unannounced, Y/N. Just wanted to see how things were going with... Mike."

You nodded, "Him and I became friends quite quickly. It is nice to have someone here when you aren't able to stop by. The animatronics are good company, but it can't hurt to have someone I can actually have a conversation with." You noticed the way Vanessa squeezed your hand ever so slightly as you spoke. You cocked your head at her before teasing, "You're still my favourite, don't worry. I'd rather have you here."

She grit her teeth, "You know, I'm happy you do have someone to keep you company when I'm not here."

A smirk appeared on your face, "Is that so?"

Before Vanessa could answer, Mike walked into the room with a couple of cans in his hands, "I managed to find a vending machine that still worked," he said, handing you a drink. Vanessa gulped hard as she saw him purposefully drag his fingers across yours as you took the drink. He simply placed the other drink on the table in front of Vanessa.

"They aren't out of date are they?" you said, trying to read the scuffed label.

With a shrug, he walked towards the front of the room to take a seat closer to the stage. Foxy followed close behind him before sprinting past him at full speed, jumpscaring him in the process. You couldn't help but laugh at Mike's reaction as he almost threw the can at Foxy.

You released Vanessa's hand in order to open the can, "I mean I am thirsty..." you hummed, a smile on your face.

Vanessa glared at Mike from across the room, "It's Fizzy Faz. It's disgusting."

You noticed that Vanessa was currently glaring at Mike as the man took his seat, "You sure? Is it disgusting or... Do you not want to drink it because of Mike?"

Her eyes snapped onto you, "Because of Mike? Wh-"

"Come on, Nessy," you grabbed her hand across the table once more, placing the can down onto the table, "I've noticed the glaring. What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on, Y/N," she didn't intend for her voice to sound so cold or snappy, but she couldn't help it.

A frown appeared on your face, "V..."

She sighed heavily, "Sorry. Sorry, Y/N. It's nothing, okay? Mike just..."

You had a slight suspicion of what was going on, but you really wanted her to tell you, "You can talk to me, Nessy. You know I won't judge you, right?"

"It's so stupid, Y/N," she laughed, shaking her head.

There was a moment of silence between the two of you, Vanessa's hand rubbed your knuckles as she tried to think about how to word what she was thinking.

You bit your lip before breaking the silence, "Can you play skee-ball?"

Vanessa was confused by the question, "Skee-ball?"

"Yeah. Are you any good at it?"

"I... I haven't played in a while. But I'd say I've still got it."

"Would you like to teach me instead?" you smirked.

Vanessa rolled her eyes, knowing what you were getting at, "Y/N..."

"Come on, Vanessa. Just admit you didn't like seeing Mike teach me like that."

She scoffed, "Can you blame me? Wouldn't you be pissed if you saw someone all up on your girlfriend like that?"

"To be honest I didn't think anything of it in the moment. I'm sorry, I should've been more aware. I wouldn't give you up for anything. You believe me, right?" you said, hoping for her to understand.

With a sigh, Vanessa nodded, "It's okay, Y/N. I didn't think you were in the wrong," her eyes drifted over to Mike who was currently downing his can of Fizzy Faz, a grimace appeared on his face as he slammed the can down onto the table, "You know he likes you, right?" she looked back at you.

You briefly glanced towards him, "I don't think so..."

She laughed slightly, "Of course he does. Those longing looks, the lingering touches. Him holding your hand teaching you how to play skee-ball. It's every cliché in the book."

"Okay, so maybe he does. But I promise to turn him down if anything happens, okay?"

With a nod, she replied, "Okay. Sorry for acting this way."

"I think it's cute. Shows that you care about me."

She almost looked offended, "Cute is not the word I would use to describe me."

You let go of her hand, she was surprised by the sudden lack of touch. You made your way round to sit in the seat next to her, "You are cute, whether you like it or not," you leaned your head on her shoulder.

Vanessa couldn't stop herself from resting her cheek against your head. The two of you looked over at the animatronics who were still performing, Foxy now having his own little performance on his own stage.

You stretched your arm across the table to grab your can of Fizzy Faz, you removed your head from Vanessa's shoulder to take a sip...

"It's disgusting."

"Told you," Vanessa smirked in victory, "It's probably years out of date too, I can't imagine what it tastes like."

You put the can back down before turning towards Vanessa, "You should taste it."

"I think I will pass on that, thanks."

"You sure?" you leaned closer.

Vanessa turned her head towards yours. She wasted no time in pressing her lips to yours, a soft smile creeping up onto her face. You smiled into the kiss as you felt Vanessa's hand creep up your neck to hold the back of your head. Sadly, you both needed to breath so she pulled away.

She licked her lips causing your breath to hitch... A grimace soon appeared on her face, "God, it tastes disgusting."

You couldn't help but laugh, "I know."

That didn't stop Vanessa from going in for seconds, though.

Vanessa x F!Reader - Safety Latch (Fluff,Angst,First Kiss)

Vanessa x F!Reader - Total Insecurity (Angst,Hurt/Comfort)

[vax-merstappen]

on vacation with the f1 boys ✈️

i love to travel so this is just me being self indulgent lol. also disclaimer i know some of the pictures are not from the country i said the vacation is in, bear with me lol. hope you enjoy and drop me any pref requests you might have!

Lando Norris

Destination: Finland

Lando always went on a ski trip with his friends during the winter break and this year he invited you to go along. You started on the easier slopes, as you both had to get the hang of skiing again, but by the end of the day you were tackling some of the more difficult ones along with your group of friends. Afterwards, the group settled down in the ski lodge with cups of hot chocolate around a crackling fire. You all spent a few hours joking around and catching up after not having all been together for a while. To finish off the day, you and Lando went alone to the sauna where you had the chance to decompress together before heading to bed. All in all, the day was well spent and you asked Lando when you would be able to come back even though you knew the answer would be next year.

Oscar Piastri

Destination: New Zealand

During the winter break, you and Oscar did not want to travel too far from his home in Australia, so you decided to go to the nearby country of New Zealand. Both of you loved staying at the beach and so you decided to spend most of your days at the scenic shores of the country. After having a relaxing time at the beach, you decided to tour the country’s mountains together and to take in the beautiful views. A personal highlight for you is a romantic dinner with Oscar in the stunning city of Queenstown. All in all, it is a relaxing trip far from the pressures of racing that brings the two of you unforgettable memories.

Max Verstappen

Destination: Italy

For Max, a vacation was any time he could spend completely away from racing with you and his friends. So, instead of traveling far away from his apartment in Monaco, he wasted no time in going on a boating trip with all his favorite people along the Italian coast. You both spent days lounging on the deck together and nights drinking with the group at the yacht’s bar. The sea made for a perfect getaway from Max’s fast paced life and you could not be happier to get some time with your boyfriend in such a scenic place. Relaxing in the waves truly made for a great time.

Charles Leclerc

Destination: Los Angeles

Your favorite place to visit together was definitely LA. You both had friends who lived there so it only made sense to take a trip there when you both were free. You spent the days on the beach with him, either surfing if the waves were nice or simply sunbathing otherwise. Charles also convinced you to go on the most extreme rides at all of the amusement parks, giving you an adrenaline rush that kept you wanting more. So many laughs were had with each of your friends, especially when Charles insisted on winning you a giant Ferrari colored banana plush at the arcade. You had no idea where you would find space for it in your apartment, but you knew you would cherish the memories it brought to mind.

Carlos Sainz

Destination: Miami

To Carlos, it would not be a good vacation without some golf. So, you both decided to head to Miami where you could find the best of what both of you loved doing, golf and relaxing on the beach. While Carlos golfed in the mornings, you relaxed on the beachfront balcony of the house you were staying in. And during the afternoons, you would both head to the beach to relax in the sand and waves. One morning you decided to spice things up and have Carlos try to teach you to golf, but after accidentally hitting the ball into someone else’s golf cart, you quickly scrapped that idea. Your favorite memory of the trip was definitely the day you spent completely together on a snorkeling trip to see a nearby coral reef.

Lewis Hamilton

Destination: Dubai

When Lewis wasn’t racing, he still loved to be doing something adventurous. Lucky for him, you shared his love of an adrenaline rush. So the perfect destination was Dubai. Every day was filled with excitement, from riding ATVs though the desert to eating at luxurious restaurants in the city. Lewis even convinced you to go skydiving with him at the end of your trip which was an experience you knew you would never forget. There was never a dull moment when you and Lewis traveled together and you knew that once this vacation ended, you would already be planning for another.

Daniel Ricciardo

Destination: Austin

Everyone knew one of Daniel’s favorite places was Austin, Texas. So when he had a week off after the race in Texas, Daniel of course convinced you to stay with him on vacation there for the next few days. He took you to his favorite bars and barbecue restaurants to savor the food. He also took you to a ranch where you got to ride horses through the American countryside. On the last day of the trip, the two of you decided to go to a country music concert and dance the night away. Both of you loved music and so this was the perfect memory to end what was a great few days of exploring the Texan landscape. And of course you had to get a souvenir cowboy hat to remember the trip by.

Yuki Tsunoda

Destination: Mexico

As you and Yuki are both foodies, you decided to go to a place with one of your favorite cuisines, Mexico. You arranged to travel throughout the country to try different foods from various regions. Between meals, you would spend time seeing some of Mexico’s most scenic beaches and visiting some of the tourist destinations like Chichen Itza. The best part, however, was getting to spend so much uninterrupted time with your boyfriend who was always away from home. Though you knew Yuki lived the fast life, all you wanted to do with him was relax. And what better place to do it than in such a warm and beautiful country. As for your favorite food you tried? There were too many good dishes to choose!

Alex Albon

Destination: Phuket

Alex was thrilled when you agreed to go to the country he raced for. When you got there, he excitedly showed you around all of the sights and took you to eat his favorite local food. After a few days of frantically touring Alex’s favorite places, you both decided that it wasn’t truly a vacation unless you relaxed a little bit. So, you spent the rest of the week at the beach in each other’s arms, just savoring the other’s company. There were a few splash fights in the pool and the time where you jokingly pushed Alex off of the boat, but otherwise you spent your time relaxing on the sand. Thai sunsets were truly like no other and you knew you would savor your memories for years to come.

Logan Sargeant

Destination: USA

When you realized that Logan hadn’t traveled much around his own country outside of Florida, you immediately decided that you were going on a road trip to fix that. The plan was that you would go up the east coast, stopping in all of the major cities to see the sights. From Carolina beaches to the nation’s capital, there were surely a lot of things to do. And when you had a boyfriend who drove cars for a living, of course you got to the be the passenger princess. Every time a road sign showed something that sounded cool, you insisted that you stop. Your personal favorite destination was New York, where you got to show Logan a lot of the famous landmarks that everybody would recognize. Once you hit Boston, you decided to head back south to his home state and warmer weather. You would cherish these memories forever.

[itsmattchou]

we are diamonds shining today !

pairing: kim gyuvin x gn!reader warnings: reader implied to be shorter than gyuvin (and being cute and adorable), worrying about exams, mentions of food, scary place wah, gyuvin is s t u p i d, yujin is anti love!!!, implied suggestive something idk, english isn't my first language!!! genre: fluff, crack synopsis: 5 "first times" with kim gyuvin. notes: LATE HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GYUVIN!! pls dont flop pls dont flop

the first time he kissed top of your head. it was a rainy wednesday, barely a month into your relationship with gyuvin. like always the two of you spent the lunch break together, just the two of you at your secret spot. while gyuvin was munching on carrots bugs bunny style, you confided in him about you being scared of the exam that was going to be written in a few- the bell rang- the exam that was going to be written now. you stood up and told gyuvin to please bury you once the exam was done, but he just shook his head and moved to stand in front of you, his hands placed on your shoulders rubbing soothing circles.

"you're going to do well, don't worry about it. i believe that you can nail it." he then placed a delicate kiss to the top of your head, succeeding in cheering you up.

the first time he tried sacrificing you. gyuvin was known for being a scaredy cat and hater of everything scary. he despised horror movies with a passion, whenever he sees someone playing a video game he exits as fast as possible, and he would hate halloween too if it weren't for the sweets making up for it. but you being his cute and adorable partner, managed to drag him into a horror house at the fair. it only took you half an hour of talking into him, a teddy bear and a months supply of cotton candy! but once you entered the building, the 6 foot man named gyuvin hid behind you as if he was a little child, only occasionally peeking over your shoulder.

suddenly, skeleton shot out from behind a corner, startling you and gyuvin. but your boyfriend wasted no time in screaming, "take them! take them instead! i'm too young to die!"

the first time he canceled a date. going on dates with gyuvin was one of your favorite activities. i mean, obviously, who wouldn't enjoy spending even more time with that boy? you two always took turns planning the dates, and the date you were supposed to go on tomorrow was planned by gyuvin. but in the evening your boyfriend called you and apologized to you a billion times before he confessed that he had to cancel it. of course you weren't pleased, asking him for the reason- but what he explained to you bummed you out. gyuvin liked to gift you flowers, mostly on dates, sometimes even for no occasion at all. turns out he never got those flowers from a flower shop, but his mothers garden instead. mrs kim, busy as ever, only that day had the time to finally take care of her garden again, only to find the mess gyuvin left behind when he straight up dug the flowers out of the flowerbeds to gift them to you.

"she grounded me! can you believe this?!" gyuvin complained on the one end of the line, while you were speechless on the other end trying to figure out how to slap gyuvin per telephone.

the first time he said "i love you". you going out with gyuvins friends wasn't unusual. matter of fact, spending time with his best friends was incredibly fun. sometimes, when you were having another playful fight with gyuvin, you'd just tell him that you liked spending time with ricky, gunwook and yujin more than spending time with gyuvin, resulting in gyuvin falling to the ground and rolling around dramatically, screeching something about you killing him in a ruthless way. it was another day of spending time with your boyfriend and your boyfriends boy friends and you five went to the arcade together. after hours of competing against gyuvin in multiple games (you won of course), you two went to buy some drinks as he asked you in a joking manner if you still preferred to spend time with his friends, and you told him the truth. of course you loved spending time with him more than anything and you'd choose him over ricky, yujin or gunwook any and every day.

gyuvin softly smiled at you before he blurted out an "i love you". it would've been a really emotional and romantic moment between the two of you if it weren't for yujin who suddenly popped out behind some corner, making gagging noises.

the first time he let you do his hair. it was another rainy day, a saturday this time though, and gyuvin was going to spend the night at your place tonight- leaving the door to your room open just a crack for the sake of your mothers sanity and wellbeing. you two were watching some silly romance movie gyuvin picked for you to watch, cuddled up on your bed with gyuvins head on your chest and his arms around your waist, and your hands in his hair, playing with it. you really liked gyuvins hair- he'd sometimes even accuse you of only dating him for it- and playing with it was a habit, even a must at this point. you weren't really paying attention to the movie, rather admiring your boyfriend, as suddenly a scene in the movie piqued your interest. the girl was styling her boyfriends hair in silly ways, while the boy was mumbling about not deserving that kind of punishment- only to be upset the second she offered to leave his hair in peace. with a grin on your face you called out your boyfriends name who only sighed dramatically loud in response, already knowing what you were gonna ask for. but of course you ended up convincing gyuvin to let you do it too, he just loved you too much to say no.

"please don't make me end up bald!" gyuvin whined while you were braiding his hair. you scoffed and told him to just keep on watching the movie without paying any mind to you, promising him to not cut his hair off (even with no scissors or razors in reach).

[folklvrsworld]

forget me, not ♧

pairing: harry james potter x fem! reader

warnings: very angsty, argument, memory loss, drinking, a little cussing, kissing

summary: au where the wizarding world is under a curse where each witch/wizard that turns 18 loses all their memories and have to start a new life. takes place after the second wizarding war.

song: arcade - duncan lawrence

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

The one thing I hate about being a witch is that once you turn 18, all your memories with your friends and partner will be gone. As they say, it is a marking of being an adult. Searching for a new life partner, and focusing on your work.

Everyone hates it. Everyone wants to get rid of the stupid curse. But no one can. It has been done since thousands of years ago, and it cannot be undone.

That is why, some people intend to make the best out of their lives before their memories are gone. Make millions of memories with friends, finding a true love, and pretending turning 18 is nothing more than getting older.

But others, choose to lock themselves up. Intending to find happiness and start a life after they've turned 18. Not making any friends, let alone a partner. So they didn't have anything to lose.

As for me, I wanted to lock myself up. The idea of not wasting my time finding friends and a partner who I won't remember, sounded like a good plan to me. But then, it all changed when I went to Hogwarts.

I befriended everyone. I knew everyone. You could even say I became the social butterfly of Hogwarts. I wasn't planning to be one, but from the minute I entered the castle, I just couldn't let myself spend seven years alone.

But most importantly, I found a person who could light up my world in just a second. A person who could make me smile, even in the darkest times. A person who would make me feel safe, even if the world was crumbling beneath my feet.

Harry was the light of my life. We got together at fourth year, with a few bumps here and there, we made it until the end. But after the war ended, we got into a pretty big argument, which made us split.

---- Two Months Ago ----

"What did you just say?" I furrowed my eyebrows angrily, after hearing what he said.

"I'm just saying! Maybe it's better for us to leave now than to experience the pain then. Besides, July is–"

"Two months away, which is still a good amount of time, if you ask me!" I yelled in frustration.

We were in Grimauld Place, we moved in together after the war ended. It was really lovely at first. Getting to live with your boyfriend, spending every hour with him and all.

But these past few weeks, Harry had been really distant from me. He always went out to go somewhere, he told me he was going to the Weasleys—but why did he went every single day.

When he got home today, it was like the usual. We had dinner together, then we relaxed a bit by the fireplace, telling each other how our day went. But then, he suddenly said he wanted to move out.

He claimed that the day both of us will turn 18 is coming very soon. And it would be better for us to separate now then to endure the pain later. That is true, both our birthdays are in July. I'm at the start of the month and he's at the end. But that wasn't a valid excuse for a break up.

"Look, I know you're mad—"

"I'm bloody furious, Harry! So what if it's two months away?! The thing we should be doing is cherish these moments together, make memories, have a good life. Not breaking up!"

"But experiencing memory loss when we're at our highest point, isn't any better, Y/N!" he exclaimed, "Especially for me, since your birthday is earlier and I'll have to wait for 29 godamn days before I lose mine."

He dropped down on the couch with his hands on his face, clearly stressed out. He meant well. I know this is going to be very hard for both of us, especially him. But I wasn't ready to let go.

"Don't think I want any of this, love. I really, really don't." he looked up at me and shrugged, "But what can we do? We knew this was coming."

"Love?" I accidentally blurted out, "If you love me then you would stay here with me and be with each other until our final days! If you love me then you would fight for what we have build since fourth year, not leave me alone in the dark!"

"Y/N, I do love you, you know tha–"

"If you love me then you would fucking tell me where you went everyday, because I know damn well you're not going to the Weasleys."

Anger was slowly building up inside me, "And for all I know, you could be meeting up with another girl."

He stared up at me for a couple of seconds, before slowly standing up. "So that's what you think?"

I nodded my head. "Yes. You're not denying."

He chuckled. An angry chuckle. He took a deep nasty breath, before looking at me in the eyes. His eyes which were once filled with love and kindness, now filled with anger and disappointment.

"You wanna know where I was? Fine." he went to a desk and pulled out a bunch of papers, shoving it into my hands, "Read."

I looked down at the papers and did as he told. It was job applications. Turns out he had been going to the ministry, trying to get a job as an auror. Something he had always dreamed of.

"Harry I–"

"No, you listen. I have been trying to get a job so I can provide us with what we need. I have been planning to buy you a house so once we lose our memories, so you have somewhere to stay." he growled.

"But what did you accuse me as? A cheater."

A big part of me felt guiltier than ever. I didn't mean to accuse him of such a thing, if I knew what he was up to, I would be overwhelmed. But a small part of me was also angry. Angry that he didn't tell me about it, resulting in this big fight.

In the heat of the moment, instead of saying sorry, I accidentally let my anger side off.

"Well how the fuck was I suppose to know!? You go out everyday before I even woke up, everytime you get home you're often pissed at me, and your excuse was the Weasleys!"

"If you had told me sooner, none of this would've happened—"

"Oh so it's my fault, when all I was trying to do was give you a nice surprise!?" he raised his voice even more.

The fight went on for what felt like hours. We were both angry, we were both disappointed at each other, we both thought ourselves were to blame. But we couldn't seem to stop.

"You know what. You wanna leave? Then leave. Who knows, maybe you'll find someone out there who can keep you company while I lose my memories." I scoffed.

He breathed out heavily, with his fists and jaw clenched, staring at me with the deadliest eyes ever. "Fine. I will. Grimauld place is yours. And if you care—this time, I'm really going to the Weasleys."

The next thing I knew, he packed all of his stuff and apparated. He even left his promise ring at what used to be our room. That's when I knew, I've lost him, forever.

---- Present Time ----

I fiddled with my ring as I remember the fight that caused all this, then his ring which I wore on top of mine. I couldn't help but think, that if I had just said sorry, none of this would've happened. He would still be here with me.

"Y/N/N? Y/N! Earth to Y/N..."

I finally snapped back to reality and shook my head, "Hm? What? Sorry, I dozed off a bit. Don't worry, it's not my memories. Besides I still got–" I looked at the clock, "Three hours until midnight."

"Don't remind me." Hermione groaned, "I just can't believe this is really happening. I'm going to lose my bestfriend.."

I sighed deeply and grabbed her hands, "Oh 'Mione, don't say that..Who knows, maybe we'll find our way back to each other one day. Besides, I work at the ministry."

What better way to spend your last hours of remembering your childhood with your bestest friend. Even if Harry and I broke off two months ago, Hermione and I are still friends. So, we decided to go out and drink a bit before I'm completely gone.

"Have you heard any news on Draco?" I asked, Hermione seemed to go a little uneasy at the question. I don't blame her, Draco was her ex lover, and just last month—she lost him.

"Uhm..Blaise said he's still working as a healer, he got an apartment near St. Mungos, everything seems to be going great for him." she smiled sadly.

I sighed and stroked her hand, "I-I'm so sorry Hermione, I shouldn't have asked..."

"No, it's alright. Really." she smiled.

Subconsciously, I continued fiddling with the rings. It's the only thing that made me feel like he's still here with me. "You're thinking about him aren't you..?" she asked.

"Him who?"

"Oh come on, Y/N/N. We both know who I'm talking about." she sighed, "I could ask Ron how he's doing, but he doesn't remember me."

I gulped and took my hand out from under the table, bluntly staring at the rings, "I just wished he would be here one last time, before I completely go blank."

"I mean—its mad, right? The only thing we lose are memories with our childhood friends and our childhood partner. Everything else stays the same."

"Yeah...but at least we won't forget about magic, that would've been a hundred times worse." she chuckled lightly.

"I should get going, after all these years I still have curfew." she groaned, "Are you gonna be alright on your own?"

I nodded my head and smiled, "Yes, Hermione. It's alright. Go, you don't want to be grounded."

She stood up and I did as well, before pulling her in for the tightest hug ever. I'm going to miss her. So so much.

"I'll miss you, Y/N." she sniffled.

"I'll miss you too, Hermione. Take care, yeah?" I stroked her back comfortingly.

After she left, I stayed at the bar for a couple more drinks. Since I'm a pureblood, I won't get drunk, which is a huge perk. Time went by, I looked at the clock again. 11 PM. One hour until midnight.

I decided it was enough drinking for tonight. I walked out of the bar and walked slowly, reminiscing the air and my surroundings. That is until it started to rain.

"Just fucking great." I muttered, I didn't have any umbrella with me, so I walked in the rain.

As I walked down the road, I heard footsteps behind me. At first, I thought it was just a stranger walking behind me. But somehow, the footsteps got closer and closer.

So, I turned around, hoping to see Hermione or someone I didn't know.

But turns out...it was him.

"Out here in the rain, are you? Want an umbrella?"

"No thanks, Grimauld place isn't far from here after all." I said, staying still at where I'm standing.

"Are you mad? This is Shaftsbury Avenue.." he chuckled lightly, approaching me.

I rolled my eyes, "Well I was going to apparate, dumbass."

I looked up at a big TV screen and saw that it was 11.55, 5 minutes until midnight. I gulped and stared at the man in front of me. How I wanted to jump into his arms and kiss him right then and there.

"Y/N, listen.."

"No, Harry. You listen." I sighed and approached him, "I'm sorry. I'm so incredibly sorry, for everything I said and did. I should've appreciated what you were doing for me instead of causing a big fight."

"This was all my fault! Truth is, I wasn't ready to let you go. I'm still not ready. And I can't believe in five minutes, I'm not going to know who you are!" I cried out.

"I am so so thankful for you and everything you have done for me, Harry. If I could go back and just apologize, we wouldn't have left with a big fight. Harry, I'm so—" I got cut off by him pulling me closer to him by the waist.

He took off the hood of his jacket, so I can look at his face clearer. He hasn't changed one bit. His beautiful green eyes were filled with love and passion, his lips curled into a warm smile.

"Don't apologize. It was wrong for me to be so suspicious. I shouldn't have used the Weasleys for an excuse. I'm so sorry, my love." he sighed.

My love. He is my love. I am his.

"I love you, Harry. I never stopped loving you. The second you walked out of that door, I regretted everything. I missed you so much."

He cupped my face and stroked it, wiping away my tears and placing a comforting kiss on my nose, "I love you too, Y/N. I will always love you."

- 11.57 -

With that, he leaned in and we kissed like never before. The kiss was filled with love, passion, protection, promise, desire, and sadness at the same time.

It felt like we were the only two people in the world. Standing on the side of the road, head to toe drenched in rain, but we didn't care. We found our way back to each other.

I felt his heartbeat on mine. His lips moved in sync with mine, just like how I remembered it. I felt safer than ever. I felt more comfortable than ever. Finally, I was back with my love.

He interlocked our hands together, his other hand stroking my hair and cheeks. My other hand buried in his hair, just how he liked it.

- 11.58 -

When we couldn't breathe anymore, we pulled away from each other. Still holding each other close, I took off his promise ring from my finger and slipped it onto his finger.

"Wear it. Please. So you'll remember me."

He smiled sadly at it and nodded, "I will, love. I'll never take it off. I promise."

He kissed my head, his ring, and mine. He pulled me in to a tight hug, his head resting on mine, my arms wrapped around his waist, as tears fall down both our faces.

- 11.59 -

He kept whispering reassuring things in my ear, my brain replaying every memory I had of my friends and him. In a minute, it will all be gone.

"We'll find each other in the new life, princess. I know we will. I'll stop at nothing to find you and be with you again."

"Don't forget me, Harry. Not until you lose your memories." I sniffled.

We pulled away from each other and admired each other's faces. Smiling as much as we can, and giving each other gentle pecks.

- 00.00 -

"Happy birthday, my love.."

The clock ding-ed. My mind went blank. I blacked out for half a second, before regaining consciousness and staring at the man in front of me.

"Hello, who are you? Did you need anything?" I asked with a smile.

The man shook his head, "No, you just dropped your umbrella. I was going to give it back to you." he said as he gave me what seemed to be my umbrella.

"Oh, okay. Thank you."

He nodded, "You're welcome. You should go back home, the rain is getting really heavy."

I thanked him once more before turning away and starting to walk. But before I could, I asked him, "Have we met before?"

He chuckled and shrugged, "Maybe we've bumped to each other here and there. It's a small world."

I chuckled as well and nodded, turning away and walked along the road. If I'm being honest, I think I've seen him before. Nevertheless, he was kind of cute.

[tbhsohn]

P1Harmony ~ Their Favorite Moments Together

~ P1Harmony Hyung Line x gn!reader

~ Genre: Fluff, and like a teeny weeny bit of angst in Jiungs

A/N - I’m not quite sure if i’m going to like this format too much, but we’ll figure it out. I also haven’t written in forevverrrr so i gotta get my mojo back.

~ Keeho :)

In the first few months you two had been dating, Keeho was always taking you to new places. He would always do research and pay close attention to activities you talked about enjoying; even if just a brief mention.

When he got a few days off from schedules, he remembered a mini golf place you two had passed a few weeks prior. He was determined to make the date a a surprise however, and asked Intak and Jiung for help. Jiung was responsible for helping Keeho plan, and Intak was instructed to keep you busy for atleast 2 hours so Keeho could reserve the place so it could be private.

Intak had texted you asking if you were busy for a couple hours in the afternoon, you agreed to hang out and told Keeho you’d be busy for a little while. As far as he knew, his plan was working out. Intak decided to take you to a nearby arcade, hoping it would keep you from finding out about Keehos “Super Secret” plan.

After about an hour and $60 wasted on the claw machines, Intak got a text that the place was reserved and he could bring you over. “Are you ready to head out, Y/N?” “Yeah let’s go, if i waste anymore money i might lose my temper” You both laughed an headed out. Intak headed towards the mini golf spot, leaving you confused. “Where are we going now?”

“Don’t worry about it, you’ll see.” He smiled, and you looked at him a little weird in return. He pulled into the parking lot, which in return looked empty and a little sketchy. “Intak what are we doing here?” You questioned. He had a mischievous smile and told you that it was a surprise.

Stepping out of the car you were met with Keeho standing behind one of the storage sheds holding to mini golf clubs with a very very proud smile. “I remembered you said this place looked cute a couple of weeks ago, i figured it would make a cute date.” He was very clearly shy, and that made your heart flutter.

“You’re too sweet Steph.” You leaned in to leave a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks for keeping them busy for a little bit Intak.” Keeho smiled, and handed you your club. “No problem dude. You two have fun.” Intak left with Jiung and you two had the place to yourself besides a few employees.

After finishing the course you two retreated back to his car. “How was your time at the arcade?” He questioned. You ears turned red and you got slightly embarrassed. “I spent all my cash trying to win a stuffed cat.” You sheepishly admitted. He turned his head towards you and laughed. “I take it you didn’t win it?” He asked.

“Didn’t even get close once.”

~ Theo <3

Theo never really considered himself one to faithfully enjoy baking, or cooking for that matter. But it seemed whenever you were bored, you had to look up a new recipe of some sort, and destroy the kitchen while making it.

Theo sat watching you intently from the couch, struggling to measure out the right amount of flour for a cake you had seen on the internet. Repeated the same process of measuring it, dumping it back into the bag it came from, and getting frustrated cause in your mind it looked like too much.

Theo rise from his spot on the couch and made his way over to you. “Would you like some help?” He chuckled at your clearly distressed state. The ingredients scattered all over the counter, and the textures of whatever you had been mixing all over you, made for a very stressed you. Theo took notice and pulled you into a hug, expecting you to either cry, or get extremely mad at the situation before you.

“I’ve never had this much trouble before.” You despaired claim was muffled by his hoodie, but he could tell it was really taking effect on you. “Sit at the counter, and i’ll take over. Let’s see the recipe.” His caring tone and smile never faltered. You handed him your phone and went to go sit down. He washed his hands and went to take his place where you previously stood. He got to work and soon enough he had finished what you thought was going to be a disaster.

Pulling the cake from the oven. Theo stood proudly in front of you, displaying the cake like it was the best thing he had accomplished. Your mouth was agape as Theo, your non chef Theo, made a cake that looked (almost) like it was made by a professional. “You’re ridiculous.” You smiled at him, and his creation. “I’m gonna make you do all the baking for me now.” You continued.

“Maybe you just need to grow a little more patience.” He returned.

~ Jiung :D

You knew from the moment you and Jiung had started dating, that he could become very dedicated to his work. He was a perfectionist in most aspects, and could tire out very quickly if he didn’t give himself a break.

You conversation over text had came to a sudden halt with Jiung, after an all day conversation about things you two hadn’t caught up on in a while, he stopped responding. You knew he had been at the company most of the day, and figured he just got a little caught up with something. A couple hours had passed and you still got no response from him. You called him a couple times since it was getting late, and you wondered if he was going to make it home for dinner.

You opted to just bring him some food that you had made, instead of staying up waiting. After packing up the food and making your way over there, you walked into his studio; and we’re met with a sleeping Jiung. Slouched over on top of his keyboard, and lightly snoring. You sat the food on his desk and lightly shook him awake. Once he adjusted to his surroundings and noticed it was you, his gaze softened. “Why are you here?” He asked. “I figured you fell asleep and I wanted you to get some food before i went to bed.” He pulled you in for a hug and sighed. “I love you lots.” He smiled into your torso.

“I get worried about you sometimes. You never rest.” Your hand went to his hair to run through it. “I never have the time. I wanna make sure things are perfect so I don’t have to come back and do them again.” He voice got quieter and you knew he was getting exhausted. “We’ll talk about it more later. Eat up so we can go home and you can rest. You can finish your work tomorrow, love.” Jiung didn’t fight back, he was too tired to protest; and deep down he knew you were right.

“You’re too good to me.” He smiled

[gourdkeeper]

Hi, tysm for your amazing Jamie fics 💗

I was thinking about a fic where Jamie sees Fem!Reader with Luke, whether it be catching a bite to eat, or sharing a hug or something, and Jamie takes it completely the wrong way and thinks there is something going on. Queue the issuing fight between Luke and Jamie!

Tysm again, best Jamie fics ever! 💓

Arghhahdhsks thank you!! I wouldn't say they're the best tho, Jamie got quite a few great writers <3 also damn!! First non smutty request! Enjoy!

Content warnings: jamie is really fucking jealous in this, violence, swearing, fem!reader, jamie is possessive once more, luke is just a perfect friend but he gets heated up too, reader doesn't put up with crap either

Word count: 1648

The sun was shining bright, there was a faint breeze in the air and the streets were bustling. It was the perfect day to grab a bite with a friend. And that was just the plan for today.

You invited Luke to hang out after working out together and he was overjoyed, accepted immediately. He likes you a lot as student, you're always eager to learn and you don't back down from a challenge, besides, you're really good company and friend. Luke likes playing video games a good deal and so do you, so every now and then you visit an arcade together or just play something online.

It's nice! Him and Bosch were your first friends when you first moved here and naturally, you cherish them a lot.

You walked through the park at first, it's a nice place nearby the academy and made way to the main streets.

Luke wanted pizza. Again.

"Luke please I'm gonna be sick of pizza at this rate." You huff at him and he just shrugs his shoulders at you.

"Getting sick of perfection? Couldn't be me-"

"You've eaten pizza the last time. And the time before that. And the one before too."

"Ok fine, what do you want instead? Burger?"

You can't help but laugh, how does this guy keep his physique when all he eats is junk.

"I don't know? Maybe we can grab some street food instead? The weather's nice and all!"

"Sweet! Sure, there's the pizza stall-"

You punch his shoulder in jest.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

You both joke around and end up settling on going to Chinatown, there's a new joint you wanted to try for a little while now and you were craving some ramen and soup truth be told.

Luke's stomach is growling and he starts mumbling about how he's gonna need to order the entire menu.

You suggest to take a starter to eat on the spot while you wait for the takeout order to be finished.

---

It's been a godawful day. His eyeliner isn't perfectly even. Just as he went out a bus splashed mud all over his pants. Then he got harrassed in the subway when all he wanted was to mind his business. Ugh.. he's sick and tired of the good-for-nothing brutes that keep taking over the city. It's even worse when the weather is good. The streets become packed. People bump into him. Thugs will try picking on him simply for being a "pretty boy".

And then there's the issue at hand, he wanted to grab some lunch and every damned place is full, bursting at the seams.

Jamie feels like he can't catch a break.

He decides to just call it a day. He'll just cook himself something much better anyway. "If these losers want to waste upwards to an hour in a queue they can take the L." He thinks to himself.

He's not aware that his day is about to become even worse.

He stops in his tracks just as he cuts the corner to go in his apartment.

"Luke?! What the hell is this douchebag doing here?" He stares for a bit and as Luke moves he notices someone covered by his wide silhouette. "...No way."

His thoughts are racing. "Now why, *today* of all days, is this joke of a man here and with *my* girl? What does he think he's doing? In *my* turf of all places."

He observes with a vein nearly popping at his temple as Luke extends a spring roll to your mouth and you happily take it. His blood boils as he sees you being all buddy-buddy with his rival. Trading smiles. Laughing at his lame jokes. The idiot even has the audacity of touching your face to wipe away a bit of food? How fucking dare he? How fucking dare he put his hands on you?

Jamie's fuming, any more anger bubbling in him and smoke would be coming out of his nose.

He spots the vendor calling them over to hand them take out boxes and bags. Huh? They're not gonna finish eating here? What? Is he intending on stealing his girlfriend away? Take her home? Nah, he ain't letting this slide.

He pulls and rolls up the sleeves of his yellow jacket and starts walking towards you and Luke. Head low, glaring through his brows and teeth bared.

"Oh Jamie hi!" You notice your boyfriend approach and wave, you didn't expect to run into him but you're always happy to see him.

"Jamie? Is everything ok?" You find his lack of response odd.

"Huh?" Luke turns around, spring roll still halfway in his mouth.

Expressing his initial confusion was all he had time to do before the long haired man pulled his arm back and swung at him. Fist landing right on his face, sending him backwards a few steps and making him spit the food out.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR BRO?" Luke doesn't understand what prompted him to this.

"Don't even start with the "bro's", I'm ain't no bro of yours." He spits at the ground directly in front of the blond. He's ready to throw hands.

"Jamie?!" You're caught completely off guard, why the hell did he do that? You rush to your friend, "Luke are you okay?"

He pushes you away lightly. "You might want to step aside. I'll deal with this."

People starts gathering around curious.

"Oh yeah? Why is that? Got tired of her boyfriend? Was I not enough?" Jamie snarls, "Or are you just trying to steal her away from me Mr. Perfect?!"

They push each other back in turns.

"What?!" You're incredulous, but... Kind of entertained at the same time?

"Is your girlfriend not allowed to have friends now?" Luke retorts.

"Not with dipshits like you, you fuckin' meathead loser."

"Oh I'm the meathead?! I didn't walk in here swinging. Peacekeeper my ass, that's the damn opposite you-"

"Watch your fucking mouth army boy."

"Or what?"

Their foreheads are almost pressing at each other and you decide to intervene before they both go fully at it and thrash the street.

"Both of you knock it off! What the hell is going on?"  You slide in the middle and push your boyfriend away. "Back off Jamie, what is this all about?! You too Luke, back off!" They hardly move.

Luke tries to put his hand on your shoulder to get you to get away and Jamie slaps it off.

"Touch my girl one more time and you're eating concrete."

"Jamie! Luke is my friend, he's not doing anything wrong-"

"Oh is that so? Sharing food while giggling to each other? Right in front of where I live?"

"...we were just grabbing some food? Like...how friends do?" You can't believe you need to explain how friendships work to your partner. Is he really that jealous? Or is it just because it's Luke?

You heard that they don't get along before but this is a whole other level.

"Touching your mouth?"

"For fuck's sake this is ridiculous-" You can hardly believe this.

"Don't worry, that's what he does best, being ridiculou-" Luke can't even finish what he's saying before another punch comes flying in his direction.

He straightens up and launches himself at Jamie.

You quickly step away, trying to avoid being hit on accident.

Luke isn't holding back. He's holding Jamie by the jacket's collar and punching freely until Jamie manages to stick his foot on the other's abdomen and kick him off.

"If you both don't knock that off right now I'm going home."

They ignore you, more focused on fighting than on you.

"Fine. Have fun, get a room while you're at it." You walk off, huffing. "What the hell is their deal..." You mutter to yourself as you walk home alone.

---

A few hours have passed when you get a text from your dear coach.

"Hey, sorry about today, I'll pay lunch next time. Hope you're not mad at me."

You're not mad at him, I mean, he didn't really do anything wrong, he just refused to take shit.

There's a knock at the door.

"Babe, are you home? I'm sorry!" Jamie is yelling from outside.

You take a deep breath and go to open it.

Yikes... he looks like roadkill.

You keep your head low and you let him walk in.

"...I'm sorry about today." He takes his hands from behind his back and pulls out a small bouquet of flowers. "I know it doesn't make it right but..." He hands them over to you.

"Jamie... What was all that for?" You accept the flowers and you take a hand to his face, his lip is busted and eye swollen, it looks like it hurts.

"I just... I just thought that you two were being too close and that...you know."

"Luke and I are friends, I know him for longer than I know you, if I wanted to be with him like that I would have done it before. You can trust me."

He clearly feels stupid. He knows his actions were irrational and brash. Amplified by the bad day he had of course, but it doesn't excuse it.

"I know I can trust you... I'm sorry."

You crack a smile and laugh.

"W-why are you laughing..?"

"It's kinda cute-“

"What is-?"

"That you're soooo insanely jealous."

"Lies. The great Jamie Siu doesn't get jealous of anyone." He's struggling not to laugh himself, fully aware of how silly he sounds.

You hold his hands and kiss his cheek.

"I'll forgive you..."

His eyes light up.

"... If..."

"If?"

You smirk at him.

"You also apologize to Luke. I think he deserves flowers too."

He shakes his head laughing and clicks his tongue, "Tsk, I'm not giving that guy any flowers."

You raise your brow at him.

"Okay fine! Flowers for the scoutboy it is, ugh..."

[bitterie-sweetie]

Set it up

Pairing: Seokmin (DK) x reader Genre: fluff WC: 6.2k A/N: happy bday and seokmin day nat @syuperseventeen !! this is the fic that i've been writing in our dms foreverrr and now it's finally here (*´∇｀*)

You have absolutely no idea how to get closer to your crush, but perhaps asking his best friend for some advice is the way to go.

The whole point was to get close to Mingyu. That’s really all you wanted.

You don’t remember when you first met him, exactly. For the longest time, he’s just been someone who’s there—the tall one at the center of the group, the one cheering for you when you finally scored a strike during bowling night, the one waiting for you by the bathrooms when the rest of your friends have already headed out the door. He would smile at you and ask how you were doing, but otherwise, the two of you have never really talked. Truthfully, you’re not sure he even knows your name.

But despite that, you do end up learning a lot about him at all these events your friends drag you to. You know he's a lefty, and that he's good at bowling and just about any sport under the sun. You know he's an amazing cook, or so everyone says, and on top of that he also likes to clean. Though what really sealed the deal might have to be the time he let you walk on the inside of the sidewalk, as if he were a character straight out of a drama.

Now, months later, you’ve finally acknowledged these budding feelings for Kim Mingyu. But while acknowledging is one thing, the problem that remains is how do you get closer to him? You’ve tried to strike up a conversation many times already but what is there to talk about? At the pizza place a couple of weeks ago, you nearly mentioned the Marvel movie you saw the previous weekend only to stop yourself—what if he’s also a fan and you accidentally spoiled the entire thing? Or maybe he's not a movie person at all and would just smile awkwardly and pretend he didn’t hear you. Is he a book person then? He might be. But you also couldn’t ask about that when you haven't read a single book since high school, and there's no way you'd be able to keep up with the conversation if that's what gets him talking.

So here you are, finally turning to his best friend, Seokmin, for advice. Saturday morning has you out at a cafe instead of getting your eight hours, but such sacrifices are necessary for the sake of love.

Seokmin comes back from the counter, carrying both of your drinks and setting them down on the table in front of you. He’s wearing his usual bright smile that you’ve seen a few times before, and it calms your rapid heart a little. You try to smile back at him.

Out of the people you know to be Mingyu’s friends, Seokmin seemed the most approachable. He’s friendly and outgoing, loves to laugh, and during your group outing at the arcade, the two of you even played a few games together. Besides, you definitely weren’t going to ask the one with the glasses when he hardly spoke and never looked your way once, and the one that dances—Minghao, according to Soonyoung—might just laugh at your request more than he’d help. Thus, Seokmin was the obvious choice. You thought that if anyone could help you out, surely it’d be him.

“So?” He looks at you, unblinking. “What is it that you wanted to talk about?”

You open your mouth, and then close it again when the words feel like they’re sticking to your throat. Maybe you shouldn’t have done this. Is it too late to turn back? But you remind yourself that it’d be a waste to have come all this way just to not go through with it. “Um, you know your friend Mingyu?”

“No, who’s that?”

“Well, I wanted to ask you how I could get closer to him. Like, maybe you can tell me what his ideal type is? What are his interests? Does he have siblings and is he close to his family? Do you think you could maybe put in a good word for me the next time you talk to him? Maybe even… set us up on a date or something?”

Seokmin simply stares at you for a while and then blinks. Silence lingers in the air and each second that passes only makes your cheeks heat up more and more. Great, you said way too much. What kind of person bombards their crush’s friend with a random session of rapid-fire questions anyway?

And then, just as you imagined in your worst-case scenarios, he laughs. "Oh? You want me to be your wingman or something?" He manages to squeeze out.

Oh.

You don't laugh with him.

He stops laughing. "You can't be serious?"

"Well, not exactly a wingman but you're Mingyu's friend. Maybe you could give me some advice? Help me out a bit?"

“Hmm,” Seokmin considers for a moment. "Yeah, I've known Mingyu for a long time..." He raises a brow, and the corner of his lip lifts a little. "He's a tough person to get to know; usually he’s so friendly with everyone that you'd never know what he actually likes.”

“Right, that’s exactly why I need your help.”

“Are you sure about this? Because you're going to need some intensive training."

You don't know what he means by that. Is he saying you’re unworthy? That you’ve got no game? That—well, actually, he’s probably right. You’re here begging for his help after all. But despite this being a slight bruise to your ego, you’re sure whatever advice he can give must be better than the things Soonyoung has been telling you to do.

“Yeah,” you give a firm nod, “I’m sure. Let’s do it.”

“Okay!” Seokmin lifts his cup, holding it out for you to bump yours against, and then the deal is sealed.

And so, the plan begins.

After the initial meeting at the cafe, you meet him every few days when the two of you have time. Tuesday afternoon at the library is when Seokmin tells you where Mingyu usually hangs out—at the lounge in the finance building—and then Wednesday is when you swing by and entirely miss him. You get dinner with Seokmin on Thursday, just in time for your next opportunity, which presents itself as another group outing. This time at a board game cafe.

“I’ll create an opportunity so that you can sit beside him,” he says nonchalantly like it’s the easiest thing in the world, then proceeds to shove nearly the entire sandwich in his mouth.

“Right… but then what? What do I do after that?”

He looks at you mid-chew. You wait. Ten minutes go by. “The rest is in the hands of the OTP gods, Y/N.”

You do end up sitting next to Mingyu, with Seokmin on Mingyu’s other side, but that turns out to be the least of your worries. Sitting there has you picking up a stack of twelve cards during a game of Uno, when the two best friends stack their plus four cards to pass the punishment along to you. So much for sitting beside Mingyu. At least it gets him to laugh, though it’s Seokmin who’s having a good time at your expense, eyes sparkling and lip curling automatically when he meets your gaze.

Then the Saturday cafe session comes around again.

Seokmin sits down and crosses his arms, face unreadable. "Y/N, I barely pay attention to what’s going on around me and I still managed to see the way you tried to not-so-subtly get Mingyu's coffee order out of him yesterday. Please tell me it’s something you’ll never do again. You’re way too obvious. I am embarrassed for you."

Oh. So that’s what this is about.

"Okay, well," you frown at him, "if that was so bad then how would you do it then?"

"For starters, maybe don't mention it five times in a row while intentionally staring at him like you're waiting for an answer." He gives you a pointed look.

It was more like three times! Not five! "I wasn't staring," you mutter under your breath, though you know he's right. You're probably a lost cause at this rate and you still don't know what to do with the information that Kim Mingyu likes americanos.

As if he can sense your displeasure, Seokmin stops with the teasing after that. "Okay, first you just have to act natural. None of the googly eyes, the strange walks by his table when we're hanging out, and especially no interrogation questions."

“Uh huh.” You're skeptical. He’s making it sound way too easy. “And then what?”

“Then you talk to him like he’s just some guy.”

In the next moment, Seokmin puts on an impression of Mingyu so awful that it makes you entirely forget that you’d embarrassed yourself this time.

Soonyoung picks the arcade for the next week’s outing, and Seokmin tells you about all of the games that you could play with Mingyu. Shooting games, he says, are especially a good team bonding experience. Or you could battle it out on the DDR machines. But two rounds into the shooting game, Mingyu’s character is already dead, and while you manage to score a D on the DDR game, he ends up failing halfway through the song.

“So much for that plan,” you mutter, putting down the gun from the shooting game you’re about to quit. “Do you think I should’ve picked something easier?”

“Nah, that wouldn’t be fun.” Seokmin shakes his head and then takes out some tokens from his pocket. He puts them into the slot, then joins you by the spot where Mingyu left a moment ago. “We didn’t get to the end of the story last time, remember?”

You nod, feeling the grin creeping onto your face already. Seokmin is a good shot based on when you played this with him last time, and the two of you have perfect teamwork. “Let’s get it,” you say, high-fiving his outstretched hand. And before long, the night flies by and the two of you have used up all of your tokens.

Just like that, the two of you fall into a routine. Seokmin would give you a piece of advice, you’d attempt to use it the next time you see Mingyu, and then it’d fail. Then rinse and repeat.

It’s far from terrible, though. Seokmin might tease you a bit about your embarrassing moments and lack of progress, but you can’t be mad about it at all when spending time with him is ultimately a mood booster. He’s great at distracting you from not only your failure of a love life but from all of your school stresses as well, and more often than not, your hangouts tend to derail into something crazy and fun.

Sometimes you find yourself joining him in doing the awful impressions of your favourite Marvel characters, and other times you’re going to the convenience store to get late night snacks while having the world's largest debate over which kimbap flavour is the best. At some point you even dare each other to slurp the last of your bubble teas in the library as quietly as possible (spoiler alert: it doesn't go so well).

Even when it’s not so crazy, there’s never a dull moment with Seokmin. You get to learn a lot about him—after getting kicked out of the library, he shares his secret spot on campus with you and the two of you end up studying together there into the early hours of the morning. When you ask for a drink recommendation, he shares his extra customized Starbucks drink recipe. And when the sunrise slowly appears on the horizon and the two of you have given up on studying for the next midterm, he doesn’t shy away from telling you what he aspires to do after graduation, what he’s always dreamed of.

You end up falling asleep on his shoulder, and you think he’s going to make fun of you forever for it, but he simply smiles at you. An extra warm smile, washed by the golden rays of first light.

Then the two of you part ways and promise to meet each other again in a few days, although it never takes that long before he texts you a meme and you swing by his secret spot.

It does, however, make your friends notice your absence. Soonyoung corners you after your shared class one day to ask you where you’ve been, what you’ve been up to, and why he doesn’t seem to ever see you when you’re supposed to be best friends.

“Y/N, you’re not even going to study with us?” Soonyoung stands there, jaw dropping and mouth open in shock when you stand up to leave. Beside him, his girlfriend wears a milder version of the same expression. “Where are you going? We barely get to see you these days.”

“I have to go meet Seokmin now,” you say, picking up your bag. “I’ll see you guys next time, okay?”

He gives you a strange look. “Seokmin? Why are you meeting him? Did you guys become besties or something? Is that why you’ve been so MIA lately?”

“Yeah, kind of. Something like that.”

“Something like that,” Soonyoung repeats, unconvinced. “Are you guys dating?”

“What?” It’s your turn to give him a weird look. “No, Seokmin is just a friend. We’ve been hanging out and studying together, and he’s helping me with—”

Mingyu.

Kim Mingyu.

Even his name sounds unusual in your head, as if it’s a word you’ve repeated so many times that it has lost its meaning. But you know it’s the complete opposite of that: Mingyu’s name is unfamiliar to you because it hasn’t come up in a very long time.

“Y/N? You good?”

“Um, never mind. It’s a long story,” you quickly say, forcing a smile on your lips to hide the way your world has abruptly flipped upside down. “I’ll hang out with you guys next time, okay? I’ll even treat you to coffee.”

At the sound of that, Soonyoung’s frown turns into a grin but you barely have time to glance at it before you’re taking off.

The student center looks the same as it did last week and the week before that, and yet, it feels completely different this afternoon. You’re taken back to the first day you stepped in here to meet Seokmin, months ago, long before your memories of this place were filled with laughter and his funny impressions and all of the silly inside jokes you share.

Because how could you have forgotten the reason why you started all of this in the first place? How could Mingyu have slipped from your mind? You like him, for goodness’ sake! Perhaps you should be glad that Soonyoung’s questions served as a wakeup call and yanked you out of whatever reverie you were in, but now your stomach feels all queasy at just how far you’ve managed to stray from your original intentions.

“Hey,” Seokmin greets with his usual bright smile. He takes a seat across from you, and you can feel the corners of your lips instantly curving up. It really is that easy to forget, you think. One look at that smile and you’re in a bubble, with the outside world melting away. But you can’t forget any longer.

“Hi.”

He nearly does a double take. “Everything okay?”

“Um, yeah.” You need to figure out how to bring this up without making it weird, but at this point, it’s going to be weird either way. “I was just thinking about, um, well, we haven’t really gone out as a group for a while since everyone’s been busy and all. Maybe we can go after midterms.” You throw in a shrug to keep it nonchalant. “And maybe you can tell me if… Mingyu would be interested in that trendy restaurant we went to last month.”

You’re bringing that time up because it totally could’ve been a test run, or at least that’s what you tell yourself. That day, the rest of the group had cancelled on the original plans since some of them were busy, and so you and Seokmin spent the night looking for something fun to do followed by some good food. But maybe it’d be a good date spot with Mingyu; it was a great place after all. Maybe you wouldn’t feel like throwing up if you keep telling yourself that all of these activities you did, all the time that you invested over the past few months were for Mingyu.

You can see the moment Seokmin realizes it. The light that’s ever present in his eyes slowly fades until it completely disappears, and for the first time ever, his smile is gone. It makes one thing clear—you weren’t the only one who’d forgotten about Mingyu. Seokmin had forgotten about him too.

“Right,” he nods slowly, “I can ask him about that.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

There’s a silence that settles between the two of you, but not in the way it’d felt before. This time it’s dense, suffocating, foreboding, although you can’t exactly tell why you feel it and what it’s leading to. What’s the big deal about having gotten off track anyway? You can just correct your route and continue.

“Seokmin? And Y/N? Wow, I haven’t seen you guys in so long,” a voice comes floating over.

And when you look up, it’s Mingyu. Right in the flesh.

You can tell that his hair has grown out a bit and he’s dressed far more casually than you’ve ever seen him, but he still looks as good as always.

The two of you mutter your hellos but when no one seems to pick up the conversation, Mingyu ends up looking between you and Seokmin in a way that might lead to the same kind of misinterpretation that Soonyoung experienced.

No, you can’t risk having him get the wrong idea. “Mingyu,” you impulsively say, “do you want to go out for dinner with me this weekend?” There’s a slight emphasis on the me, so he doesn’t think it’s an us question.

A questioning look briefly flashes across his face, but to your surprise, Mingyu ends up nodding. “Yeah, okay.”

If it were the you from last term, there’d be no way such a bold question would ever come out of your mouth. But now, things are different. Now you can rashly throw out such propositions all for the sake of correcting yourself and getting back on track before more people get the wrong idea.

After chatting for a while, Mingyu leaves the two of you and says he'll talk to you soon. Oddly enough though, you barely feel any satisfaction afterwards—you're not jumping for joy or squealing in excitement like you once thought you’d be when in this situation. But isn’t this what you wanted?

Well, it’s no big deal. You tell yourself it’s because you’re still dumbfounded over his answer, especially when the two of you haven’t connected recently. Yes, that must be it. That must be why he slipped your mind in the first place; it’s not that your feelings for him faded, but just that you’ve been too busy.

You pack away the other thoughts into a box and seal it tightly. What would you do with the fact that you asked Mingyu the question thinking he’d turn you down, and weren’t upset at the thought of being rejected?

Across from you, Seokmin also appears to be taken aback by this whole encounter. He's quiet for once, almost as if he doesn't know how to react, and there’s a neutral expression on his face that you’ve never seen before. When you meet his eyes, they’re missing their usual warmth.

“Congrats, Y/N. You won’t be needing my help anymore.” Then he looks down to check the time on his phone. “Ah, I have to go for my tutorial session now,” he mutters, standing up and then slinging his bag on his shoulder without giving you another glance. “Have fun on the date.”

“Yeah—” you start to say, but he’s already out of earshot.

It’s only after you get back to your dorm that you realize: Seokmin doesn’t have a tutorial session today at all.

The rest of the week passes by quickly. You don't get a chance to see Seokmin when you're wrapped up in assignments and latched onto by Soonyoung, who insists on dragging you from store to store to pick an outfit for your date. And while you’re looking forward to the date and you’re content that everything is back on track, for some reason the stone in your chest doesn’t disappear. You feel it pressing down on you every time your eyes drift to your phone and see the lack of notifications.

Soon enough, the weekend approaches and it’s time for your date with Mingyu. You end up reluctantly wearing what Soonyoung picked out, figuring it can’t be any worse than what you have in your closet, and then head out to meet Mingyu at the restaurant you agreed on.

The night starts off just a little awkward—he speaks so quickly that you only end up catching half of each sentence, and the noise in the restaurant definitely doesn't help your case. Is it too much to hope he doesn't ask any questions and that your half-laugh is enough to cover yourself? Oh and you end up dropping a fork. Unintentionally. But it turns out to be the best thing to happen, for when you meet Mingyu's eyes after bending to pick it up, the two of you burst into laughter and it's like all the ice between you melts away.

After that point, it's pretty much what you expected: the food is good, the vibes are nice, and it's everything you could've hoped for. Mingyu is really nice and talking to him reminds you of what caught your eye in the first place, and the night seems to quickly fly by.

But if you expect your heart to flutter at every smile Mingyu shoots your way, and for your cheeks to heat up when you accidentally bump your knees against his, then you’re left hanging. This feeling is like the same, strange emptiness you felt the day he agreed to go on the date with you.

Perhaps it could very well be due to how distracted you are, though. Every embarrassing moment, every funny joke—they all turn into stories that you save in your mind to tell Seokmin the next time you see him. It’s all too easy to picture him gawking at some and then laughing until he’s crying at others, and it’d be a fun time. Plus you’re acting natural just like you practiced, and when you tell Seokmin, he’d be so proud of how far you’ve come.

At the end of the night, Mingyu walks you to your dorm and even gives you his jacket to wear when the wind becomes colder than you anticipated. You thank him for a good time, and then you say your goodbyes and that’s that.

Afterwards, life goes back to a time before you ever knew Mingyu or Seokmin.

You find yourself studying in the library with Soonyoung instead of going to any secret spot on campus, and when he asks for all the details about your date, you have nothing to say.

There’s only one person you want to talk to about it, and he’s nowhere to be seen. He doesn't answer your texts, leaves them unopened, and stops posting on social media entirely. You can't even tell if he's purposely avoiding you or if he's just caught up with school work or other things going on in his life.

“You know what’s funny?” Soonyoung abruptly sets down his pencil, the noise of it making you flinch. He’s probably had enough of your endless sighing all throughout the hour that you’ve been at the library.

“No.”

“I haven’t seen you this miserable before,” he says, narrowing his eyes at you. “And that includes the time you didn’t get into your exchange program and when you failed the midterm in first year.”

“Are you done yet or—”

“That also includes all the times you got ignored and rejected by Mingyu.”

You stop typing. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Y/N, you went on a perfectly good date with him and you’re about to go on a second date, yet you’re here, more miserable than before when he used to barely look at you.”

Yes, you’re willing to admit that you’re miserable. But Soonyoung likes to talk around the point a lot instead of directly addressing it, and you’re tired of trying to figure out just why you feel this way when everything should be perfect by now.

“So?” You heave a sigh. “Soonyoung, what are you trying to say?”

“Y/N.” He turns so that he’s facing you, rolling his chair forward so that he can put his hands on your shoulders like he’s giving you a pep talk. “You’re miserable because you think you’re supposed to like Mingyu, but really, you’ve completely fallen for Seokmin instead. And now you have no idea what to do about it, hence your state of denial.”

You’ve completely fallen for… what? You study Soonyoung’s face, trying to tell if he’s cracking another one of his jokes, but nothing indicates that he is. He’s completely serious which makes it all the stranger why he’s saying you’ve fallen for Seokmin. Because how can it be true? Seokmin is a great friend and you’re really missing him since he’s been avoiding you and all, but having feelings for him? Is that possible?

“Wait, are you for real? You actually didn’t know until I told you just now?”

“Um…” You don’t know what to say to that.

Soonyoung looks at you for a moment longer before smiling and patting your arm. “It’s okay to not know. Take some time to think about it—what is it that you really want? Who do you think of when something good happens to you and you want to share it with someone? And don’t lie; I know it’s not me.”

You give him a weak smile, unable to deny the last bit, and then the two of you part ways to head to your respective classes.

Over the course of the week, you do give it some thought. You slowly go through all of your past interactions with Seokmin, examining them from different angles to try to pinpoint whether you might’ve actually developed feelings for him. And when that doesn’t give you enough information, you take a closer look at the moment Soonyoung inadvertently reminded you that Mingyu was the start of all of this.

Why did you feel so disappointed at the time? Was it really because your brilliant plan had been derailed, which meant no progress with your crush, or was it because Mingyu was simply the excuse to keep meeting up with—

A loud ring cuts through the silence of the room, pulling you out of your thoughts. It’s your alarm. Great, if you don’t head out right now, you’d be late for your date with Mingyu, so you quickly grab your things and leave the house.

This second date has your stomach in knots. You don't know why you agreed to it, but at the same time, you didn’t exactly have a reason not to. Truthfully, you never expected him to ask for a second date, and you didn't expect to see him again. And it’s not that the first date went badly at all; no, it was fun and enjoyable and just an overall good date. But that’s all it was. You could probably be having an even better time with Seokmin—

Seokmin.

Already, Soonyoung’s words are echoing in your mind again. Okay, maybe he really was onto something.

This time your date with Mingyu is at a new cafe a block away from campus. By the time you get there, he's seated at a table and looking as handsome as always with two drinks in front of him.

“Hey,” you greet, sliding into the seat across from him.

“Hey, Y/N.”

It’s far more awkward than the first time. The two of you exchange small talk and you ask about how school is going, what he’s been up to lately, and he tells you he started that show you recommended. You tell him you tried his favourite food stall. Then the conversation dwindles, and you can’t help but feel held back by the thoughts swarming your head. Should you talk about what’s really on your mind? Should you, Y/N, ask him, Kim Mingyu, about his best friend, Lee Seokmin? When you’re supposedly on a date? Should you—

"So... you and Seokmin, huh?” Mingyu says slowly.

Oh.

You can't believe what you're hearing.

“W-what?”

He lets out a sigh, a wistful smile appearing. "Yeah, I know all about it. The two of you weren't exactly subtle."

"What do you mean?"

"The way you were talking about Seokmin that night when we had dinner, and when I saw the two of you in the student center that day. It's pretty obvious that the two of you have a connection."

You open your mouth to deny it, but you can't.

You can't, because it's true. There's no doubt that this is why you've gone through the five stages of grief or whatever just because Seokmin hasn't texted you back in weeks. This is why the first date with Mingyu seemed underwhelming, and why you feel slightly reluctant to even be sitting here with him now. Beyond the initial favour you'd asked of Seokmin, none of this was ever about Mingyu. It has always been about Seokmin.

Soonyoung was right, and it seems like everyone around you could see it perfectly clearly. And now, it all makes perfect sense.

You swallow nervously. “Um, yeah. I guess you could say that.”

“Look, Y/N, I’ll be straightforward and tell you that’s why I asked you to come here today. We had a great time the other night—don’t get me wrong—but I think we both know that’s not where your heart lies.”

You nod, and it’s like the weight in your chest lessens just enough that you can breathe again. That had been part of your worries—how were you supposed to tell him that you’re no longer interested in him? That maybe you never really were in the first place because you’ve fallen for his friend? The last thing you wanted to do was to mess things up between friends, so hearing Mingyu say that this date isn’t a date at all is truly the light at the end of your tunnel.

“I don’t know what happened between the two of you specifically, but he hasn’t been himself lately, and I get the feeling that it has to do with… us.” He grimaces. “I talked to him, but I think this is something you should clarify.”

“Trust me, I’ve been trying. He’s been avoiding me though; he won’t reply to my texts and I can’t seem to find him on campus anywhere.”

Mingyu stares at you for a moment and you can’t tell at all what he’s thinking. “Tonight at seven. Meet him at your usual spot.”

“What?”

“He’ll be there.” He nods firmly, and then stands up. “Go for it, Y/N.”

“I’ll be there. Thanks for letting me know.” You stand up as well, picking up your unfinished drink. “Oh and—Mingyu?”

“Hmm?”

“If you knew that there was something going on between me and Seokmin, why did you agree to the dinner that day in the first place?”

Mingyu hesitates for just a moment as if the question takes him off guard, but then a smile starts to appear. “I thought you wanted to talk to me about him.”

“Ah. Right.” You give him a quick smile, wave, and then leave the cafe.

You’re never asking a crush’s best friend for advice ever again.

You practically count down the hours, staring at the clock on your phone every few minutes.

There’s still no word from Seokmin himself, and your heart pounds like crazy over the fact that you’d have to blindly trust Mingyu and believe that he’ll show up. What should you even expect from this meeting? How could you possibly prepare for it, having no idea what Mingyu has told him?

And what’s more than that is the other thought that pops into your head: what if he doesn’t feel the same way? Sure, everyone may have implied there was something going on between the two of you, but what if his avoidance was because he thought you used him? That the two of you were becoming friends—nothing more—and that you tossed him away the moment Mingyu looked at you? What if all of this is yet another misunderstanding?

Well, you figure it doesn’t matter anyway. You’ll go in there and tell him the truth regardless of whether you get rejected or whether he never wants to see you again.

So you get to the student center and then climb the stairs two at a time, unsure of whether you want to get there faster or slower. Because this time, there’s truly nothing to hide behind. This time when you see him, you’re no longer using Mingyu’s name as your shield or excuse, nor is Seokmin your crush’s best friend.

When you step into the room, you immediately see him curled up on the couch. It’s just as Mingyu said—Seokmin doesn’t look like himself. The usual brightness is missing from his face, seemingly replaced by the dark circles under his eyes, and the smile that he attempts when he sees you is just an attempt.

You gently take a seat at the opposite end of the couch. There was some sort of speech you practiced on your walk here, but after seeing him, everything leaves your mind at once.

“Hey,” you start. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Seokmin nods. “Yeah, um. It’s—sorry. I have no excuse for avoiding you. Just needed some space and some time to think.”

“Yeah, of course.” Then silence. “Seokmin—”

“Um, I—”

You stop. “You can go first.”

He hesitates, but ultimately continues. "I'm assuming your date with Mingyu went well? That things are going well between the two of you?" He doesn't wait for a response and simply nods to himself. "That's good. The two of you are good for each other."

"What?" You're almost worried for him because what exactly did Mingyu tell him? Nothing, judging by the sounds of it, or it’s that Seokmin has decided not to believe any of it. "What are you saying?"

He turns to you. "I know you were trying to get Mingyu to fall for you, but I think it worked on me too."

Oh.

Suddenly, it's like his confession makes everything click. You aren’t the only one who thought it was way too easy to forget Mingyu's name over the course of your hangouts, or to not have him cross your mind entirely until you were reminded. And you’re not the only one who was disappointed when his name was brought up again, or who wasn’t excited about your date with him.

Originally, you might've wanted to get advice from Mingyu's best friend and then developed feelings for said best friend along the way, but now you know that said best friend has also fallen for you.

“Too?” You shake your head. "No, it didn’t work on Mingyu. It never did; he only went on the date because he knew I—” you pause to take a deep breath, “he knew I liked you. He thought I asked him out because I wanted to talk to him about you.”

Still, Seokmin doesn’t say anything.

“But I'm not here to talk about Mingyu. Our hangouts might've started because of him, but we've spent more time forgetting about him than talking about him. And I think I must've spent more time talking about you than about myself during my date with him."

“Why would you do that? What do you mean…” he trails off and then meets your eyes, and you can see the moment it clicks for him. The light in his eyes—it seems to come back gradually like a candle flickering back to life or colour restoring in a monochrome landscape. “Do you really mean that?”

“Yeah, Seokmin. I don’t know when it started to happen, but the whole asking you for advice thing turned into an excuse to see you. I didn’t know it at the time when I asked Mingyu out and just—I freaked out and messed things up.” Your pulse is racing at this point, and it’s hard to swallow but you have to push on and ask one last thing. “So maybe… you can give me some advice on how to win your heart instead?”

“You already have, Y/N,” he says softly, and the warm smile that you missed so much is now back and glowing more than ever.

Then a moment later, as per typical Seokmin behaviour, he bursts into laughter. He laughs like he's finding the whole situation absurd—which it is—and soon, you join in too. You laugh at how Mingyu is the one who unknowingly brought the two of you together, how asking Seokmin for a mere favour has bloomed into an unlikely friendship.

And now, maybe into something more.

[autistpride]

Autism Acceptance

CAMP AU

Prompt day 1: April 1

word count 1340

@wolfstarmicrofic

Remus did not want to go to day camp. But his parents would not hear his no. They insisted that it would be good for him to learn these life skills and it was just during the day for the month of June. He would go after breakfast and be back home before supper, the same hours as the school day. It was even at his highschool, so he would know the building and where everything was.

But he still was adamant that he did not want to go. He wanted to stay home and read his books, draw, and listen to music and his videos. He wanted to play with his legos. Yes they absolutely needed to be reorganised again, this time by the number of studs instead of by colour like his mum had helped him do years ago.

Who needs to learn to ride a bike, make a sandwich, swim, do washing, or tie his shoes anyways?! He could keep wearing his velcro ones and when would he ever care to use a bike. He was perfectly fine not going in the gross water at the pool or the beach or the lake or wherever they were at. He liked playing in the water during the summer, but he much preferred the sprinkler or the kiddie pool that his parents set up each year in the back garden.

Remus grumbled and made his displeasure known the whole time his mum was packing his snack and lunch and putting them, his rescue meds, and his favourite book and his taggie in his backpack.

He frowned when his dad made a joke about him wearing the same grey hoodie and blue knitted stocking cap in the middle of summer but he wore them anyways like he always did.

He wore his headphones over his ears and clung to his stuffed kitty as he waited outside their small home for the bus to arrive to take him to the first day of the worst summer of his life.

Sirius did not want to attend the life skills camp. What a waste of a perfectly good summer in which he could be tanning, swimming, bowling, or at the arcade. Hell Sirius could even just spend it sleeping in and getting laid.

James however talked him into it. James had said it would look good on their college applications to have volunteer hours on there and this would be a good cause to support.

The camp needed peer mentors to partner with the disabled students as a “buddy” while they learned to do things that would help them be more independent. So Sirius packed his lunch and tossed it and a few bottles of water into his bag, started his bike, and rode to the public school that he had never attended.

When he arrived he was lucky no one was able to see through the visor of his helmet as his face contorted to one of shock and slight disgust. The school was a two story brick building obviously made in the early 1900s. The white paint on the window frames was chipped and peeling and the sign out front had obviously been the newest thing about the entire facility. He parked, locked his helmet up, slung his bag over his shoulder and pocketed his keys as he headed to meet with James, sign in, get his name tag, and find out which poor sod he would be partnered with.

Sirius was now the official buddy of someone named Remus Lupin. Poor boy had parents similar to him, giving a kid an unusual name like that. He was given a little “about me” about Remus to look over before the attendees arrived on the bus in twenty minutes.

Remus was autistic. He carried around a stuffed cat named Pandy that he had had since he was a toddler. His hat and hoodie were comfort items and he did not need to take them off unless he wanted to. He hated his clothes getting wet, getting his hands dirty, and did not like some activities due to sensory aversion like paint, mud, playdough, glue, or slime. He loved to read and build with legos. He also loved music and hummed and sang songs he liked. He hated loud noises and wore headphones, but he vocally stimmed loudly and liked to script his favourite films. James explained that stimmed or stimming was a repetitive movement or noise that served a purpose, often to help regulate. Remus also had epilepsy and would have emergency medication with him in case he had a seizure. Sirius wasn’t sure that he would be a good fit. He knew nothing about autism or epilepsy. But he wanted to make it work and he was determined. He had never been a quitter. So he read everything he could find quickly on his phone and prepared for the bus to arrive.

Remus had counted the turns of the familiar route while his legs bounced and his little hand man jumped over the cars and people and signs they passed. When the bus came to a halt, Remus stayed seated until most of the students had left and Ms Hootch came over and told him he could unbuckle like she always did. Ms Hootch had been his driver ever since he could remember. He liked her and the other students didn’t be mean to Remus on the bus because she wouldn’t let anyone feel sad on her bus.

He unbuckled and he stood, grabbed his bag and carefully put it on before clutching Pandy to his chest and walking to the exit. He slowly went down the stairs and was met by his friend Minnie. She was his helper, but she was still his friend. With her was another boy. He was the prettiest boy Remus had ever seen. He had long dark hair and even wore sparkles on his eyes!

“Remus, this is Sirius. He will be your buddy for camp this summer,” Minnie said with a smile.

“You're pretty and shiny like a disco ball,” Remus said.

The boy, Sirius, laughed. “Thanks I think.”

“You're welcome” Remus replied nonchalantly before looking at Sirius’ outfit. He was wearing a band tee with one of Remus’ favourite bands on it and Remus squealed loud and high pitched.

Remus started to sing one of the songs from the album and thought maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad summer after all.

Sirius had waited while students climbed down off the bus when he was approached by a stern looking woman.

“Sirius Black?” she asked in a no nonsense tone.

“Yes.”

“I am Minerva. I am one of Remus’ teachers. I’ll come with you to introduce you both and will be close by during the days while you both are here in case he needs anything. You can come to me at any point if you need help.”

Minerva motioned for him to move forward. There was no one around the door to the bus anymore and all the other students and their partners, including James, had already made their way inside to do the welcome games.

Sirius was surprised when a tall, gorgeous boy stepped into view and down the stairs. His smile when he saw Minerva was breathtaking.

Sirius listened as Minerva introduced him and laughed in surprise when Remus called him pretty like a disco ball. That had to be the weirdest compliment he had ever received but he liked it.

Remus’ squeal startled him at first and he jumped at the sudden noise right near his ears but resisted the urge to yell out. Minerva gave him a look of approval at that and he felt a sense of pride that he did something right.

However, what shocked him the most was to hear Remus begin to sing his favourite song. His voice was enough to make Sirius think he had heard angels. He grinned and began to hum along.

Maybe this would be a great summer after all.

[finniestoncrane]

How do you think the riddlers would do on an arcade date?

Arcade Date

Riddler Headcanons they would all be absolute pains in the butt at an arcade, but for different reasons u-u 💚 request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist minors DNI!! 🔞 cw for nsfw stuff: sfw mostly!

telltale

you know in his day the arcades were a lot cheaper

you didn't have to get stupid cards

you could keep better track of your money

and the prizes? much better, better value and quality

now you're just paying a 300% markup on a...

hang on this is an excellent scam

a brilliant side scheme to make some spending money

date's over, there's work to be done

arkham

he would hate to admit it, but you've had a stroke of genius

something he might have thought impossible

but this is fun, and... well not challenging

but the illusion of challenge is there

and watching you struggle is marvellous

especially when he can swoop in and show you how to win

it's all formulas and maths and logistics here

and that's absolutely his idea of a dream date

young justice

listen, it would have been a lovely idea

had you not been out with the clumsiest man in the world

and to think he was beating you

until he fell off the little stationary motorbike

and broke his glasses

and his nose started bleeding

and you needed to get his inhaler for him

but it's fine because now you get to tend to his wounds

and hold his little slushee up for him to drink

twojar

oh, is this like... an ironic thing?

because he really would rather go to a nice bar

or that new, expensive restaurant

but if you're sure, he'll tolerate this for you

as long as you sanitise your hands constantly before touching him

and uh... as long as he can stand behind you

and angle you just right for any of the more physical games

and you join him in the photobooth for a little private time

dano

it has been two hours since you entered the arcade

you thought the little puppy plushie at the front was adorable

shame those claw machines are always rigged

but that didn't stop him

and now, through blood, sweat, and tears

and two hours later

he's left a mark on the glass from where his forehead and nose sit

desperately trying over and over again to win it for you

because you're not going home without it

gotham

oh goodie!!! this is a very good idea!!!

although now that he's here, he's realised that the games are...

well they're a lot more physical based than he thought

much less opportunity to flex his mental skills

but he's happy to hold your bag while you wander around

it's nice to be able to flex having you on his arm

at least this time he won't get bullied, since he's an adult

or he hopes he won't

you'll stand up for him, right?

capullo

watch how many slam dunks he can get!!!

ok the hoops are a little off, he's better from a distance

OH OH look at how strong he is, listen for the bell

oh... he must have been too strong

OH WAIT the punching bag, let him try that

ok this is broken, see, you got a higher score than he did!

OK WOW watch and learn, he's a skeeball master

you know what!? everything in here is RIGGED

he's leaving right now

unburied

ok this is all very much beneath him

he's not going to waste his mental abilities on silly games

but he definitely wouldn't say no to you playing a few

and you have to do better than you're doing

because he needs at least seven thousand tickets

he's got his eyes on that neon green super soaker

and he will be whining all the way home if he leaves without it

so start playing!

[luvly-writer]

“You are my sunshine”

Part 35: We give thanks

——————————————-

Jason Todd x Latina! Reader

Social Media Au

Status: Finished

Warnings: tooth rotting fluff, Jason receiving the love he dESERVES.

Author’s note: Honest,y, I love you guys so so much, you literally, your feedback, seekng you guys enjoy this story as much as I love writing gives my life! Thank you so so so much. Btw! I had to divide it into two parts, so this is just Thanksgiving part one.

Taglist: @lorosette @nanas-teatime @izukuisbaby @writing-for-the-hell-of-it @unofficial-jaytodd-wife @graywrites5567 @addictedtothefictionalworld @halleest @randobeetlehouse @prettyacademia00 @tamimemo @jasontodd-artemisgrace4life @mxtokko

Series Masterlist:

——————————————-

The last few weeks have been a blur to you. Between helping Nola by sketching some things for her newest photo shoot background, to working with the finishing touches at the sanctuary, signing the contracts with Wayne Enterprises, Queen Industries, and Star Labs and working with all the paper work required, starting a new design for a gazebo in the Wayne Garden’s as a surprise gift for Alfred for Christmas, and spending time with Jason and his family, you were exhausted. You would have gossip sessions at lunch with Stephanie and Nola, a duo that was so chaotic and hilarious you left each meal with your stomach hurting from laughing so hard and visit Cass and Duke at the manor to watch movies. You would take Damian with you every time you went to the sanctuary and would take him out for ice cream after. Even some times, Jason would join you both and you guys would go to the arcade and just have fun. Alfred would invite you on Saturdays to have tea time with him, he would deny it but he was INVESTED in your family tea. Dick would drop by and watch KUWTK and the Bachelor with you (Nola and Jason would join and the three of them SWORE they were the best critics ever, it was hilarious). Jason and you would go to dinner twice a week and he quite literally spent the majority of his time at your apartment. He would crash there after patrol claiming “it was closer to the manor than his apartment and he didn’t want waste much time” knowing it was a big damn lie because his apartment was 15 minutes away from the manor and yours was 25 minutes. SMH, this man. You closet was half your clothes and half his, he had his essentials there, the only thing this man needed was to just say he lived with you and that was it. But he would be caught dead before admitting it because he was a little shit and liked seeing you roll your eyes and laugh in exasperation at his sheer audacity. “I am an independent man, I can live on my own” he would say as he is washing his face with YOUR headband, and you’d laugh and respond, “yeah? When was the last time you slept at you apartment?” To which he would roll his eyes dramatically and mutter, “…that’s not the fucking point” making you wheeze out a laugh.

Before you knew it, Thanksgiving day had arrived. It was three hours and a half before the time you had to be there and you were staring at five outfits in your bed trying to decide which one was better. You had already showered and straightened you hair. Now, you were just standing there on your towel looking at your clothes trying to decide. Jason had already finished getting dressed and was just sitting at your vanity chair in his phone. Soft music played was playing of the background since you had connected your phone to your speaker in order to get ready with music. You kept on alternating between outfits and muttering to yourself in Spanish, stressed cause you still had to do your makeup. Jason locks his phone and decided to just look at you, admiring his girlfriend in her in all her natural splendor. He already had the date where he would go with Bruce and Alfred to search and buy the ring and couldn’t help but feel a giddy sensation in his stomach with just the thought of calling you his wife. He started to smirk slightly hearing you curse in Spanish, finding it so amusing how invested you were in getting the perfect outfit. “Me cago en la madre……este no por que se ve muy de trabajo pero está lindo y este no porque aunque se ve lindo se ve casual. Does this make my shoulders look too wide? Does this shirt even match con el pantalón? Quejesto? (I’m writing it like this cause this is how it sounds with my accent, sorry if some don’t understand, it means “Que es esto?”) Ay noooooo……y si le mando una foto a mami? Ella nunca me dejaría salir fea.” The young girl mutter and Jason couldn’t help but laugh, finding her turmoil absolutely adorable. He stops once she drops her towel, finding her naked body as the most gorgeous thing to exist. He fucking swore, if she were to be a goddess, he would be her most devoted servant. He whistled lowly and when she looked at him as she started was putting on her shirt, he winked, making her giggle. She finally put on the outfit, took a picture and sent it to her mom, then did the rest with the other outfits. “Why do you send them to your mom and not ask me, I’m an amazing fashion critic” whined Jason. “A) the judgment of a Latina woman regarding clothes on a holiday never fails, and b)” she said nearing him and lowering her face to his, “you will say I look good on everything or that it would look better on the floor of the bedroom” she finished giving him a peck on the lips. He smirked in response and said, “which both are very valid answers and I stand by them” making her laugh. Her mom finally answered and she decided liked the choice that her mom suggested so she went with it. She changed to her fit and shooed Jason away from her vanity chair to start her makeup. He began to help her by putting away the rest of her clothes that laid on her bed and then threw himself on it to watch her finish getting ready. He stared at her in awe and she looked at him through the mirror and smiled at him. Oh……Jason was a goner, that girl, man, that girl literally owned his heart. She was his everything. He swore that if all good things in life were to be mixed and became one person, it would definitely be her. Time passed and finally,she finished getting ready.She looked for her purse and her shoes and once she had everything, she told Jason she was ready. He walked up to her and gave her a sweets kiss and grabbed his keys. They went down to the lobby and the apartment complex garage and got in the car. Before starting the engine, Jason looks at you and asks, “ready to meet everyone?” And you nod, your excitement to meet Wonder Woman was beyond the roof.

The ride felt too fast for your liking. You said you were ready but omg you were nervous. Wonder Woman was your fucking icon ok? You had the poster, you dressed up as her more than once you when you were growing up and frankly now that you thought about it, you were kinda embarrassed. It most have shown on your face because Jason laughed and teased you with, “you better not be backing out just because you were a little Wonder Woman fangirl” and at that you look at him him exasperated making him laugh harder, “if I recall correctly, according to everyone, you were also a Wonder Woman fan, so te callas” you shoot back and he nods his head laughing. “Touché, mi sol, touché”.

Finally, Jason parks the car. You got half an hour early, just like Damian requested because he wanted to spend time with you before everyone else arrived and stole your attention away. You both get out of the car, and start walking inside, hands intertwined. You walk into the living room and find Stephanie, Duke, Cass and Tim in a heated game of Mario Cart, oh……that won’t end well, knowing that- “I want next” said Jason from beside you, childlike wonder in his eyes and you hear Dick scream as he comes down the stairs, “So do I!” And you laugh at their antics. “There are a few other controllers there, knowing both of you would want to play and so would Kara, Conner, Roy, Damian and Jon later in the night.” Jason stiffened when he heard Kara was coming as well. She had quite the tendency to flirt with him at ANY chance possible and now that he had his girlfriend here he wasn’t sure how this would turn out. He knew YN trusted him and she wasn’t an insecure woman (I mean duh look at you, you are gorgeous) but he knew Kara had the tendency to be….excessive sometimes. His brothers would constantly tease him about it, since she was young and just crushing on him REALLY BAD, but it had gotten to a point sometimes where it was excessive and even they grew annoyed or uncomfortable. Before he could carry on going downward on a spiral, Tim continued, “But you will have to wait until we finish this one!” Steph pushed her elbow to his, “STEPHANIE STOP FUCKING CHEATING!” Tim screamed, “I AM NOT, YOU JUST SUCK!” She screamed back. “OH GOD HELP ME SO, I SWEAR TIM IF YOU FUCKING THROW THE SHELL AT ME I WI- TIM WOOOOOOOOW REAAALLY TIIIM ITS BECAUSE IM BLACK ISNT IT!?!” Screamed Duke, causing Dick, Jason and you to erupt in a big fit of laughter. Soon you felt two arms on your waist and look down to see Damian clinging to your waist. “Hi, mi pajarito, how are you?” You say as you crouch down and hug him tighter and you can feel his smile on your shoulder. “Good, now that you are here, I must present you to Batcow and Jerry the Turkey, they are most excited to meet you. Alfred the cat and Titus are enlighten to see you again” he says as he pulls you away and you laugh waving at the rest. After going and meeting all his animals, you settled in one of the living rooms of the second floor and you heard him talk about how nice his art club is going and that he met this girl whose name was Miranda and that’s she was “adequate” to hang out with. He told you about their growing friendship and that she talked a lot, specially about her crush on another girl in their class called Katie and how he considered her a terrible match for Miranda but he would be supportive as long as she made his new “ally” happy. You were happy to listen to him talk about his adventures in school. Honestly, happy is an understatement, after knowing all the shit the boy has been through, you were fkn ecstatic. He deserved to enjoy things people his age usually do, whether it was art club or hearing about his friends crushes, Damian Wayne deserved to be a kid. You were sitting on the couch with Damian’s head on your lap when your ever so loving boyfriend walks in. He looks at Damian, who you feel stiff at being caught so vulnerable, and you glare at his, daring him to say something that will make Damian mad. Thankfully, Jason catches the hint and tells you both, “The Kents, the Wonders, and Roy just got here, so Alfred told me to find you both.” And Damian perks up at the sound of Jon’s name. “Thank you, Todd” he says quickly before heading downstairs to his totally not best friend. You laugh and stand up walking towards Jason. You kiss his cheek and began to walk towards the elevator when Jason grabs your hand and pulls you to him, kissing you softly. “One last thing, mi sol” he says once you pull away and you look at him curiously. “Whatever Roy or Artemis say about me, it’s a lie” he says seriously and you bust out laughing, “I’ll be the judge of that,Jason” you say as you pull him towards the elevator and he laughs.

God, nothing could compare to how happy he is whenever you are with him.

___________________________________

<3

[cosmic-kinglet]

So...I have more already.

No Ruin this time, but instead a little post-protocol interaction between Eclipse and Ruin Eclipse. Yeah, I still don't have a shorter name for him to differentiate between him and Ruin. So, prepare to maybe get confused at some point, but definitely prepare to read 'Eclipse' a LOT.

Also, same 15+ warning I gave before, for the same reason.

     "Shoot! Another one fried!" Ruin Eclipse had tried several times to fix this particularly pesky machine. He stood, weary from his hours of trying and failing to get this machine working. Just as he was about to collapse in defeat on his new furniture, he spotted someone climbing the staircase.

     Eclipse emerged from the top of the staircase. He was just returning to his 'room' after his daily report to Moon. The hand pressed against the top of his faceplate made this fact clear enough.

     Ruin Eclipse could tell that Eclipse was not in the best of spirits. But, really, when was he ever? He knew he likely shouldn't bother, but Ruin Eclipse still felt the need to try checking in on him. As Eclipse drew nearer, Ruin Eclipse stepped forward to meet him the middle.

     Eclipse stopped, glaring down at Ruin Eclipse. He groaned. "What do you want?"

     Ruin Eclipse fought against his desire to back away. "I...I just wanted to ch-check on you. I um...I suppose you just reported to Moon?"

     Eclipse pushed past Ruin Eclipse. "Oh, don't waste my time with that crap! The less I think about that waste of scrap, the better!"

     Ruin Eclipse chased after Eclipse. "Fine! Fine! We won't talk about him! I still want to talk. Seeing as we're both here, and I know you cannot harm me, I would like to at least try to get to know you better."

     Eclipse stopped in his tracks. He turned back quickly. "Why?" he began, in a mocking tone, "Still want to try and fix me? Give me therapy? Make me all better?"

     'You make it difficult to want to do anything for you,' Ruin Eclipse thought to himself. "No. I'm afraid I could never provide adequate help for you." He took a few steps closer. "I really just want to spend some time with you. I've heard so many things that you've done, and yet I don't really know anything about you. Besides," he motioned toward the entire area of the West Arcade, "neither one of us has much to do here." His gaze then wandered back to the machine he had spent hours trying to fix. "Aha!" Ruin Eclipse raced over to the machine and then waved Eclipse over to join him.

     Eclipse wasn't sure why, but he felt the smallest inclination to go along with this stupid 'hangout'. He really didn't have much to do at that moment. He rolled his eyes, but he still slunk over to the machine that Ruin Eclipse had moved toward. As he reached Ruin Eclipse's side, he felt a sudden jolt run through his body. He stumbled slightly as he felt it flow through every one of his limbs, and he let out a small grunt of shock. 'What the hell?' he thought. The strangest part was that it didn't feel bad. It didn't feel bad at all. But what was it?

     Ruin Eclipse quickly reached out to stabilize Eclipse. "Eclipse! What happened? Are you alright?"

     Eclipse groaned as he regained his balance. "I'm fine."

     "You're sure? Did you trip?" Ruin Eclipse took a cursory glance the floor around them. "I don't see anything that might have-"

     "I said I'm fine!"

     Ruin Eclipse's head jolted back up to meet Eclipse's gaze, and he raised both hands up to chest level. "Alright. Sorry."

     Eclipse sighed. "So, why did you call me over here?"

     Ruin Eclipse perked up instantly at the reminder, "Oh! Yes!" He gestured toward the machine. "This arcade machine has been giving me trouble for a very long time. No matter how many times I go to that arcade machine dimension and grab parts for it, something always goes wrong!" He looked back up at Eclipse. "Since you showed up at a convenient time, and you're more skilled with machines than I am, I thought maybe you could take a look at it. I'm not asking you to fix it yourself! I just thought maybe you could tell me what I'm doing wrong, and maybe we could have some idle chit-chat in the process?"

     Eclipse sighed. He was already right by the machine. Why not? Without saying a word, he crouched down to peer inside. He felt the jolt again. Another involuntary sound escaped his voice box. What. The. Hell. Was happening?

     "Eclipse? Is something wrong?"

     "No!" Eclipse's response was made intense by a combination of confusion and embarrassment. As much as he knew something was wrong, it almost seemed to settle into him after the immediate pulse, and it felt really good. He tried to push those thoughts away by focusing on the arcade machine. He couldn't immediately spot anything wrong. "I'm not seeing anything right away." He really didn't care, but he still felt a desire to ask. "How long have you been working on this?"

     Ruin Eclipse was slightly surprised to hear Eclipse engage in small talk. "Today? About five hours, I believe. In total, 3 months. I only recently gained access to an arcade machine dimension, and that's given me a lot more to work with than what I had originally."

     A smaller jolt. The feeling went through him again. It urged him to keep the conversation going with a promise to deliver more. "An arcade machine dimension? What; it's just nothing but arcade machines?"

     "As far as I can tell; yes."

     Another jolt. Eclipse had to try and not show that anything was happening. "I...don't think I ever knew of a dimension like that. Although, I never cared much for dimensions other than my own. That much I do remember."

     "Yes, well," Ruin Eclipse's tone softened, "some dimensions are...less than pleasant. I may not have any memory of my dimension after the virus took hold, but I've been told that, when Sun and M-" he stopped himself, remembering that Eclipse didn't want to be reminded of Moon's existence, "when they were sent there in October, it was near its destructive end. It's likely gone at this point."

     Those wonderful feelings began to engulf Eclipse completely. This was good. This talk with Ruin Eclipse was good. It must be. "Right. I guess the whole missing memory thing is something we have in common."

     Ruin Eclipse chuckled, but it held a melancholy feeling. "Yes. I suppose it is." He paused. "You know...I actually had a gap in my memory much more recently. Just over a month ago, I want to say."

     Eclipse was violently snapped out of his bliss. Did Ruin Eclipse know that the virus was still there? That Ruin would still take over at times? How much did he know? Eclipse tried to maintain a calm facade as he replied. "Really? How do you know?"

     "Well," Ruin Eclipse began, "apparently two days after I was rescu-..." He trailed off, not wanting to tarnish the moment. He mimicked a cough. "Anyway! Two days later, I apparently revealed some brilliant plan to...um...deal with you. I found um...you know who...carrying a box of parts the next day, but I didn't even realize that the previous day had happened." Ruin Eclipse's voice began trembling slightly. "I was missing an entire day, and in that time, I suggested...killing you..."

     Any remaining pleasant feelings were now replaced with fury. 'He wanted me dead?! He thought he'd just act all buddy-buddy with me while actively planning to kill me?! I'd rip his voicebox out of his chest if I could!'

     "E-Eclipse?"

     Eclipse had been so distracted by his thoughts that he hadn't noticed his growls. He also didn't notice he had snapped a wire that he'd ended up holding. He simulated a deep breath in. "So...I'm assuming Moon didn't find anything when he checked your systems after that, right?"

     Stunned silence followed for a moment. "That's right. The firewall was still too strong to get past."

     Eclipse huffed. "Figures." He stood slowly. "Well, I couldn't find a clear problem with what you'd done," he ignored the feelings rushing through again as he continued, "and I actually ended up making it more broken."

     Ruin Eclipse took a step closer as he reassured Eclipse. "Oh, no! It's fine! We still had a nice conversation, and that was all I really wanted."

     Eclipse turned to leave, but then he felt metal finger tips press gently against the back of his hand. He snatched his hand away from the unexpected touch and turned back toward Ruin Eclipse, who was visibly startled.

     "Sorry! I just...it seemed like you knew something. About my gap in memory, I mean." He stepped closed, looking up to lock eyes with Eclipse. "Eclipse, if that thing is still inside me, please tell me!"

     "I..." Eclipse stood, uncertain. He felt such a strong desire to tell what he knew, especially after learning that Ruin had planned to kill him. And yet, there seemed to be something stopping him. There was something that wouldn't allow him to reveal Ruin. There was obvious strain in his voice as he replied. "I...I can't. Can't say..."

     "You...can't?" Ruin Eclipse tilted his head slightly. "As in you don't know? Or can you really not tell me?"

     Eclipse shook his head. "Really...really can't. Something...in me...in my systems."

     "Oh! Oh, that's...that's very bad! Very, very, very bad! I know you hate him, but Moon might-"

     Eclipse suddenly lunged forward. "I'm not going to Moon! And I'm not going to that goody-good knockoff either! I'll figure it out on my own!" He stormed off, not wanting to give Ruin Eclipse a single chance to stop him from leaving. He didn't care what happened to him; Eclipse was going to kill Ruin.

[shawtybabe]

Pinball Wizard: First day (Vance Hopper x reader chap. 1)

Hey so I am writing a story on Wattpad about Vance but none of it's posted yet and I am to busy to be consistent/motivated so I hope by writing on two sites it will help me get some new chapters out. (Its the exact same story so don't feel like you have to go to both websites if you're actually interested in this.)

TW: Blood, fighting, drugs, swearing.

One last thing, I am changing the story up just a bit so it makes sense, plus I hate stories that are pretty much word for word following the plot of the movie/show. First thing, I am going to make Vance the first kid to be taken, and you arrive a month before the kidnappings even start. Another thing is that there is a rich and poor side of town, I cringe at the idea of you beautiful reader living in some trashy, rotting shack, I can't do that to you. 

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

Out of all the places in the world, we had to move to the deadest place in the country, Denver Colorado. My mom and I have been doing this for a while, her job is being a very well-known drug dealer, and because of this, we have to move states and sometimes even countries every few years or so.

She has been doing this from the moment I could fit in a car seat, and even though from the outside she may seem like a horrible mother, I couldn't ask for anyone more caring and loving as her. I am sixteen turning seventeen in a few months so once I'm old enough, I can choose to start living on my own or continue living a wonderous life of crime and drugs with my mom.

If I'm being honest, moving states and countries isn't that bad, I don't really get that close with anyone, one of the reasons is that my mother is a very famous drug dealer, and the second is that I don't really find anyone that will accept me for it. A lot of the kids at school end up finding out about it, which leaves me the reject or freak of the school. Over time I have build up a very aggressive or uninterested exterior to people, plus a lot of them don't mean anything to me, I'll be moving and hopefully never see these people again so what's the point of wasting my time with them?

I'm not mad about moving, if anything it's amazing to get to see all these new places, foods, and cultures. I'm mad about this one destination in particular, Denver Colorado, it's a small rural town where almost nothing ever happens. The reason nothing ever happens is because nothing is there to cause anything to happen, I mean, this place is a ghost town, there is a cinema, corner store and a few arcades around. Those are the most interesting places to go around here, and sure, it might be a little more fun with friends, but like I said before, a lot of people don't like me or want to get to know me.

I ran my fingers through my hair, massaging my scalp as I did so. I had been in the car for the last four hours and I really needed a walk or stretch or something. My mom doesn't want to stop the car because there is only fifteen minutes until we reach the town, but I am desperate to move, my legs are cramping and tingling, and my brain is screaming for some sort of relief.

I shifted in my seat, unconsciously heaving a sigh. "Y/n, would you sit still, we are almost there darling, I promise. Once we have reached our house, we will leave the moving people to do their job and we can go get some ice cream." My mother told me. I scoffed with a smile. "Mom, I'm not eight anymore, I can go get ice cream on my own." I resorted back, she playfully slapped my thigh and make a 'tsk' sound.

I smirked and turned up the radio, continuing to shuffle and shift throughout the rest of the drive.

----

We soon passed a small sign on the side of the road, it read; 'Welcome to Denver." With a small smiley face next to it. I looked away from the sign and to the trees that lined the side of the road, watching them fly passed while I daydreamed about anything and everything.

My thoughts escaped me once we went over a speed bump, and I was jerked back into reality. I turned to face the road and immediately saw little kids riding their bikes along the path and on the small grass patches. I didn't like kids all that much, they were always loud and gross, the last time I spoke to a little kid, it was a boy and a girl, they both came running up to me with snot hanging down their noses and ended up licking it. I almost threw up right then and there, now the memory is forever etched into my brain.

I pulled a disgusted face and turned to see some people laughing and walking into a little corner store, it must be pretty popular. The store had letters plastered along the top of the building, 'The Grab and Go.' I hummed to myself, watching with a sliver of envy as a group of girls my age walked in together, all laughing, smiling, and giggling to each other.

Everything seemed to be plain and dry here, it looked like it hadn't rained in moths. I like the rain, it gave everything a refreshing glow once it stopped, it created life and sustained us all. Plus, it always lulled me to sleep on long, back aching drives.

I continued staring out the window, watching people, cars and kids go by. All the houses on this side of town looked old and worn out, I'm so glad that we managed to snatch a nice big house, by the looks of it, the town had a poorer and richer side, our house was in the middle of both, it's basically the line that draws the two apart. I'm so thankful for it.

There are ups and downs to my mom being a famous drug dealer, one of the good things is that we are never short on money, we get bucket loads from desperate people looking for some of the best dope of their life. The downside is that at least three times a year, I have to bail or sneak my mom out of jail. Even then it's not that bad, pissing off the cops is one of my favorite pass times, mom doesn't always approve of it though, she says it gives the pigs an even bigger excuse to lock us both away.

We finally pulled up to a big house, the main exterior was made up of wood and cobblestone and it had a big, wooded archway that stood above the front doors. Sitting on the archway was a pointed roof that looked like something from one of those medieval castles, the glass windows had small wooden frames that made small panels and the biggest and longest roof had a small window that protruded from it ever so slightly, the house was perfect.

(Here is a photo I based it off for the people that don't understand my terrible describing skills)

We had to drive up a long driveway, and when I mean long, it took around thirty seconds to drive up and into the car port. It was absolutely breath taking, I didn't have the words to describe how happy this made me.

I looked to my mom, my jaw dropped and eyes wide. She smiled and unbuckled her seatbelt, I did the same, ripping the door open and almost falling out of the car.

"Holy shit mom! This is incredible." I beamed at her, trying to ignore the aching in my legs from being so still and cramped for so long.

"I know you hate these sorts of towns so I hoped a nice house would change your perspective just a little." She explained, running her hand up and down my back lovingly. I turned to her and wrapped my arms around her torso, squeezing tightly.

She squeezed back but let go when she realized the moving people were here. She cupped my cheek with her hand and gave me the house keys. "Go get your bags and pick out a room, if you want you can check out the rest of the town, I'll just make these guys do all the work while I boss them around." My mother smiled devilishly and gestured to the men in the huge truck behind us. I grinned back, narrowing my eyes as thoughts of mischief filled my mind as I took the keys.

"Thank you, mom!" I called out as I raced to the trunk of the car, pulling out my suitcases and stumbling to the front door. 

I dropped my bags to slide the key into the keyhole and swung the door open, the first thing I saw when I opened the door was the huge empty space to the left and the kitchen to the back right of the large room. Just behind the kitchen were these huge, long glass panels with doors in the middle which led outside to the pool and backyard.

My mouth hung open and it took all my will power not to scream like a silly little schoolgirl. I snatched back up my bags and carefully made my way along the smoothed-out timer floor. The kitchen was pressed up against a wall which turned out to be the stairs, the wall was only separating them.

I stumbled over towards the steps and decided that I would make multiple trips to carry all my luggage upstairs, otherwise I would end up falling and snapping my neck. After some snooping, I found the second biggest room up there, it had a walk-in closet and two small steps that lead to what looked like a tiny platform, I'm guessing my bed would go there.

I threw my bags into a small corner and out of the way so no one would trip, I grabbed one of my backpacks and found my purse, I had a fifty dollar note in there and decided that I could stalk out some of the good stores or just get some food or something. 

--

I told my mom my plans and she said that it was fine. The warm breeze made my skin tingle and the hot sun made me squint when I looked even remotely towards the sky. 

I set off in a direction I estimated to be the mall, kicking pebbled and stones as I walked. A group of little kids on their bikes rode past me and it made me wonder how the hell they ride their bikes in such heat. 

After a little whiles walk I came across the small corner store, the grab and go. I weighed my choices, I could go to the grab and go to snoop and buy some overly priced soda's and candies, or I could find a mall and get a new pair of shoes or clothes or something.

 I only have fifty bucks so I might not be able to get some quality clothes or shoes so I'll just go to the grab and go instead. 

I walked through the doors, the bell hanging off the frame made a ding sound as I stepped through. I took my time to look around and take a stroll, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a pinball machine, I was about to go take a closer look but a boy with long, blond curly hair stepped up first and slotted some coins in. 

I didn't pay much mind to him and continued on my hunt for some good snacks, I stopped at the rows of magazines they had on shelves, I flipped through some before deciding they weren't worth my while. 

Turning around, I spotted some sodas in the big fridge. My gaze glossed over all the choices; I was about to reach for a bottle of cherry flavored coke when I heard the flimsy metal of a shelf crash.

I whipped my head around to see these boys who looked around 12 or thirteen grab a little boy's hair and snatch a packet of MnM's out of his hand. My face scrunched in disguised at these boys' behavior, I don't like little kids, but picking on them is something I couldn't even think of doing.

"Hey, asshole!" I shouted, taking a few steps towards the trio. One was a ginger with curly hair and a pale, freckled face. The tallest was a skinny boy with long matted hair that was swept to the side over his forehead. The last one was smaller than the rest and chubby with big, bulging eyes.

I wasn't super tall for my age, I was probably a millimeter below average height but even so, I wasn't much taller than these guys.

They're heads all turned to look at me, their faces almost shocked that anyone had said anything to them. "Hey, who the hell are you?" the tallest nodded his head at me, his eyes narrowing and a tough look on his face.

"Why does that matter?" I resorted, his eyebrows knitted together, his friends took a step towards me so they were in line with him.

"Do you know how pathetic is to see people twice somebody's age picking on them?" I crossed my arms and slanted my hips. One scoffed and the others rolled their eyes.

"If you have such a problem with it, why don't you come do something about it?" One challenged, I raised my eyebrow, my lips twitching up into a menacing smile.

"Why don't you think about what you're asking before you say something you'll regret." I narrowed my eyes and mentally prepared myself for a fight.

This isn't the first time I've fought someone, and it definitely won't be the last. I would say I am a pretty experienced fighter; it became part of survival at school, everybody hated me for no good reason and a lot of the time people would jump me and try and beat me up. Over time I have learnt a good about of fighting skills, now I can confidently say that I can win over half the fights I get myself into.

"How about you watch your mouth before I knock your teeth out." One spat hatefully, I let out a laugh and pretended to wipe a tear from my eye. "I'd like to see you try little boy."

I saw the small kid behind them try and scoot away from the intimidating scene before him, but the chubby kid from the trio grabbed him by the back of the shirt and threw him to the ground. My blood boiled at the sight.

"Hey!" I yelled marching up to the chubby boy, snatching his collar so he faced away from the boy crying boy on the floor. I raised my fist high and struck him in the nose as hard as I could, he yelped in pain and his hands shot to his wound, blood leaking from his closed fingers.

By now a crowed of almost everyone in the store had formed but I didn't waste much thought on that as the two other boys came charging towards me. One tried tackling me but I gripped his hair tightly at the roots and pulled his face down onto my raised knee, his jaw colliding with my kneecap.

I threw him to the floor and landed a kick to his stomach, just to make sure he would stay down. Just as I landed a third blow, the ginger boy snatched my hair from behind and attempted to drag my onto my back, I threw my arms behind my head and clawed mercilessly at his cheeks and forehead. He let go with a pained scream and I raised my elbow, swiftly turning my body as I repeatedly rammed my elbow into any part of his face.

He fell backwards into the large glass fridges, but they didn't break. I held his up his collar and swung my fists into his nose and lips until the flesh on my knuckles ended up ripping on his teeth. My face grimaced as I clutched my bloodied fist in the palm of my second hand.

I spotted the chubby kid still standing there trembling with his hands covering his nose and tears spilling from his eyes.

"Now, do you want some more, or have you learnt your lesson on running your mouth?" I gave him a sarcastic smile as I bent down to eye level with him. He shook his head vigorously and backed away from me. "Good." I said through gritted teeth.

I wiped my bloodied knuckled on my pants and bent down to the crying boy on the floor. "Hey kid, come here." I said gently, opening my arms up to him. He picked himself up and stumbled into my arms, laying his head on my shoulder. "Can I pick you up?" I asked softly, running my fingers along his back comfortingly, I felt him nod and a chill go up my spine as I felt his tears seep through my clothes and onto my skin.

I picked him up as gently as I could, slightly bouncing him to help ease his crying. I tried hard not to look at the staring faces as I slowly pushed my way out of the store, I tried to squeeze through some people and accidently knocked my foot into someone else's. It was the boy at the pinball machine.

"Sorry." I called, slightly turning to face him. His face contorted into a look of frustration, he looked like he was about to say something but decided against it, turning his head away from me. I pushed him to the back of my mind as I carried the crying boy out of the store.

"Can you tell me where your mommy is?" I asked sweetly. He nodded and pointed to a dark green corvette stingray. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Uh huh." He answered weakly, I stroked his back, bringing my hands up to play with the little curls at the nape of his neck.

I wandered over to the car, my arm muscles slightly aching from not being used to holding human weight. I knocked on the drivers window and a lady who was flipping through a magazine slowly rolled it down.

"Hey, um, is this your son?" I asked slightly awkwardly. "Yes, who are you?" She asked, trying not to sound rude. "Um, he was being picked on by a group of kids inside the store, they were shoving him and stealing his candy. I came over to help." I explained, she quickly stepped out of the car and took the child from me.

"Oh, I'm so sorry you had to get caught up in that, thank you so much for helping him." She smiled brightly and coddled the child in her arms. "Oh, it's no trouble, so how old is he?" I asked, trying to change the subject, and sheepishly bringing my knuckles behind my back. "He is five, I really should have gone in with him, this is all my fault." She spoke.

I didn't say anything, I didn't want to justify her bad choice as a parent, so I just stayed quiet. "Anyway, thank you so much for helping, is there anything you want in return?" She stammered; I shook my head but widened my eyes as I remembered something.

"No but I did forget something inside, stay right here, I'll be back." I said, racing back into the lovely, air-conditioned store. I snatched a new bag of MnM's and a lollipop from the shelf and raced to the counter, ripping my fifty bucks from my purse.

The store clerk took her time when serving me, glaring at me the whole throughout the whole process I was just about to grab my items and rush back out, but she started talking. "Now, that was very heroic of you but if I catch you starting fights in my store again, I will call the police." She spoke with warning, and I knew she wasn't bluffing.

"It won't ma'am." I said hurriedly, grabbing up my items and change before scurrying out. I dashed towards the car, handing the lady her child's sweets. "He forgot these." I spoke.

I think the lady thanked me over one hundred time and offered my money twice as much, to which I still refused. Eventually I said goodbye to the two and decided to head home and wash the blood off my hands and clean up the cuts on my knuckles.

By now the sky was just starting to turn orange and the walk home was peaceful, I felt happy to know that I helped someone. Those boys got what they deserved and whoever gives me shit for it can end up with the same fate as them, they have no right to go picking on a five-year-old like that because of their selfishness.

I got home and the moving people were still heaving stuff in through our big wooden doors. Mom was in the kitchen ordering people around; she looked like she was having the time of her life. I strolled past her, giving her a small kiss on the cheek before going to find a bathroom so I can wash up.

I think my first day in a new town was a success, I'm guessing new spreads fast around a small town like this so I'm hoping the following days will be even more interesting. 

[tahitiwoke]

I'LL NEVER BE A STRANGER AND I'LL NEVER BE ALONE.

so while you would have to waterboard the information out of him and if asked directly what his favourite holiday is, he'd absolutely say something like thanksgiving (which is nobody's favourite) or christmas (which is the easy answer). but the truthful answer? phillip j. coulson loves valentines day.

there is something about the way people are around this time of year; sure, it's obnoxious and nausea inducing, sure it can be horrifically lonely if you've got nobody around, and sure everybody seems to have an opinion about whether it constitutes a real holiday or not. yet he cannot help but love the dopey smiles. the silly love heart chocolates. the cards and flowers and big, romantic gestures. last year, he had made filet mignon with black truffles and paired it with a spectacular merlot, a rose gold tiffany bracelet as a slight indulgence. (he doesn't care for jewellry as a gift, it feels lazy and easy, but it had suited her.) and it...had gone to waste. a crisis with the u.n. claire had been on the phone with half the global world leaders, playing tennis tag for well into the wee hours, and by the time she'd made it back to the residency, it hadn't seemed the time to claw back a semblance of a night. they moved on. no big deal.

this year, however, when chris agrees to help him divert some attention and the billy joel tickets a friend at the d.o.j. offered him in exchange for phil's standing reservation at a restaurant in the city that nobody got reservations for, it had seemed a no brainer. there are still a few phone calls on the books, some loose-end tying to be done with the french, but her diary is blissfully empty past six p.m.

they have dinner at the hotel, which is fine and not really at all part of the plan on the whole, because it works as a good cover; chris invites sloan sabbith to sit down with them and it's nice, looks like a working thing rather than a double date. it's private, too. sloan is thoughtful and has good points to make on the revised tax plan; phil mostly switches off after dessert, though, because claire has her hand on his knee, caught up in conversation with chris.

anyway. they have dinner. chris and sloan leave but before phil and claire, do they head back up to her room for a quick costume change -- gone are the formal suit and skirt, shirt combo, replaced instead with some plain clothes, comfortable, a soft sweater and jeans and baseball caps. (a red sox one for her, because it reminds him of the last time they went to boston together.) they look like everyday new yorkers. nothing to think about if passed in the street.

they go out the service entrance and are thankfully ignored by most of everyone; his friend at madison square who works as the stage management let them up to the private box and meechum, scott and carys follow behind in civvies, too.

( and because he can't resist any longer, as they walk down the back halls of the building to get to the service elevators, looking for all the world just like a small group of lost tourists, just friends at concert, phil reaches out and takes her hand -- she seems to be preempting him a little, too, as if she had the same thought, because it's barely a reach before their hands meet. )

they make it to the box in time for billy joel to take the stage and wish everybody a happy valentines. i hope you're all having a great night. let's spend a little time together. phil wraps an arm around her and she kisses his cheek; after this, there are grand designs to head down to chinatown, where he knows they've cleared an arcade centre, and to sign off the night? a horse drawn carriage ride through the park, like she'd asked. it'll be incredibly late by the time they get back to the hotel, but he's made a promise that he intends to keep. so he'll stay up as late as she wants.

[questioned-quetzalcoatl]

30 Days of OTP: Day 4, On a Date

Rating: K

Verse: Canon

AN: A little late! My apologies! It's hard keeping up with schedule qwq;;

Also, Arcade Dates my beloved <33

---

James is always one to come up with elaborate bullshit ideas, date ideas unfortunately counted as some of them.

"James?! What the hell that's cheating!"

"Nah, yer wrong there Smuckaroo! I'm just playing the game th' right way!"

Kainga nudged the bigger man in the side of the stomach with his elbow as the two were hovered over a Arcade machine, pretty much at the hip with each other as they'd been smashing buttons on this damn thing for over two hours. James had been so enthusiastic about finally bringing him here that the 'Surprise Date' wasn't really a surprise at all as he'd spilt it to him one night about two weeks ago.

Kainga crossed his arms and looked up at him with a disappointed pet lip and glower across his face. James managed to slip in another coin while not breaking eye contact with him, evident by the ever growing smirk and the clink of a coin dropping into the machine. That devilish glint in James's eye that'd kept him going at this game for hours was glowing ever brighter.

"The 'right way' my ass. We're wasting our time with this."

"Aw, is someone all pouty because they're not winnin'?~" James asked him in a baby-talk like tone, only fueling Kainga's rising anger along with his competitiveness.

"I'm about to rip the joystick of this machine then shove it up your a-"

Kainga's threat only being interrupted by the theme music of the old arcade machine as it started up in front of them. He desperately moved the joystick around in aggressive swipes away from James, lifting his leg up to try and throw James off by kicking him in the leg. James managed to dodge however, delivering a final blow to Kainga's overly pixelated character on screen and cheering. When the screen went black to signal the end of the round, Kainga was met with his own disappointed expression.

"Looks like yer no better at this than at Mario Kart~"

"I swear you take me on these kinds of dates just so you can have an excuse to rub something in my face."

"Hmm...maybeeee~" James leaned all too smugly on the machine beside him. "But I also get to watch you smooch me after each game I win. Victory tastes sweeter when it's from the lips of yer enemies.~"

Kainga let out a overly dramatic sigh, it had to be at least the 50th kiss he'd given him today. As much as he'd like to punch James instead, he leaned over and stood on his tippy toes to give the kiwi a small kiss to his lips. Maybe he should stop agreeing to these ridiculous bets James would offer him.

The thing is, James knows Kainga likes to kiss him. He's just too stubborn to admit it and when he's reluctant on purpose, James's favorite thing to do is wind him up about it. To see the fluster that spreads across his cheeks and the look of disbelief before their lips meet once again. He loves the way he has to stand on his tippy toes to reach him, having to grab his shirt in order to pull him down to his height.

James merely hummed in delight as Kainga kissed him, only to be shoved out the way and taken to another spot of the Arcade by said Tongan. He was determined to win at least something.

They pass around the various halls and levels of the Arcade, the only light being that from the neon rows of machines with flashing colorful pictures and glowing screens. There's cheering and an abundance of noise, bleeps and boops of the machines, chiming bings from the nearby Ping-Pong table they pass. The clinks of coins landing into machines from sweaty palms and the occasion slam of a hand against the game machine when they lost or didn't work. It was all very bustling and alive with it's neon retro decorations and overall aesthetic to the place, going as far as to have the typical retro themed carpets. The ones with various multi-colored shapes and squiggles, littered with candy wrappers and dropped coins.

There's a few more rounds of this game and that. James taking particular interests to the Zombie shooter like games, perhaps releasing his inner child as he shoots zombies through the head in painfully low textured graphics and cheering with every single one he kills. Kainga stood and watched him with great fondness, holding the oversized fluorescent pink and white plush cat James had won him at the vending machine. He'd battled with the thing for ages, determined to win it to impress him as the giant metal claw kept slipping from the prize. Only fueling James's rage more no matter how many times Kainga told him it was fine and he didn't have to win it.

"Aw fuck, only got 2 more coins left!" James held out his hand while showing Kainga the two small sliver coins the had left. Kainga pursed his lips together, thinking.

"Well what haven't we tried yet?! I swear you've been on everything at least twice, the way you were running around the place."

"Not everything!~" James grinned at him, taking his hand once more. "C'mon I know one we haven't gone on yet!"

Kainga is very much used to the dragging around that James likes to do, he doesn't even bother to argue with him about it and just lets him. In a way, he likes it. It lets him know that James needs him by his side in his own overly excited manner, it's very hard for James to forget Kainga whenever they're going somewhere. However he feels a little hazed, perhaps tired. It'd been a long day as the Tongan started to get disorientated. He'd let James lead, he was always happy to just tow along behind.

They were soon met with a particularly oddly shaped Arcade game, Kainga had to blink a few times and get a second look at it. He doesn't even know how but he's exhausted just by getting here.

"Oh...Basketball." Kainga heaved gently, clutching the plush to his chest tightly before looking up at James.

"I have two coins left," he flicked Kainga a coin from a flinch of his thumb. Kainga hastily catching it in his palm, "Wanna try and beat me here?~"

Kainga was never one to back down from a challenge. He knows just how much him winning winds James up.

"Alright, but if I win you owe me dinner."

James smirked "And if I win?"

Kainga furrowed his brows for a moment in thought. "I'll suck you off in the bathroom."

"You're absolutely foul," James looked over his shoulder at him, placing the coins into the machine. "And I absolutely fuckin' love it~" his smirk only widened with his eyes glinting with an adventurous gleam.

They scramble for the basketballs as they roll down the machines slope, pushing each other out of their way as they desperately try to shoot the ball into the hoop. Loud clanking from the not-so-sturdy hoop along with the sound of rattling chains whenever a ball goes into the hoop. The thudding of the balls as they hit all sides of the machine and elsewhere with the sheer force the two threw them at. It was only when the last ball roll down the slope that it all started to die down. Kainga reached for it only to be knocked to the side by James. Grasping the ball with a death like grip, he stood back and fully ram-smacked the ball at the hoop, jumping at least 5 feet in the air. Give or take.

THWACK.

The aim was unfortunate however, that coupled with the force he propelled the ball was a recipe for disaster. Kainga only watched as the ball hit the back of the machine, bouncing back off of it at full speed and proceeding to catapult itself at James's unsuspecting forehead. There was a sharp yell of pain from behind him, the only glimpse he caught of it all was James falling to the ground and the ball just bouncing away with soft hollow thuds.

In the end, Kainga won, quickly descending to James's side with a snort of laughter, soon becoming a choke before howling with it beside him. He couldn't help but smirk at the other's situation, James groaning in pain as he rubbed his now bruising forehead. Like that was going to do anything. He wasn't amused by Kainga laughing at him next to him however.

"Did I win?!"

"I got more points than you dummy, if you got that final throw in we would've tied. You still stood no chance."

James decided to change up his tactics in order to get at least some empathy points from him. He drawled out a whine, the dropping of Kainga's face is evident. He knows. And knows all too well.

"Welly button, I can't get up, I need a nurse. I've injured my arse and dick. Kiss them better...~"

How tempting it is to further injure James but the only result he gets from that was a kick to the hip and an impressed grimace as the other stands up beside him. Kainga placed his hands on his hips before smirking down at him. He ignored the pathetic whine that left James's lips.

"Come on, get up you idiot."

"Please?! Kai darlin?~"

“James I’ll injure more of you if you don’t get up already.”

“You are a terrible nurse.”

[androideql]

Mum has a store that she's been running as a side gig to the atelier business for the past two years. I've been working here since June because I saw more potential and less pain in the old family business than anything else I could be doing. Sales have been slow lately with the recession and everything, but we're not that worried because the bulk of our earnings comes from mending and bespoke garments. Our customers are extremely loyal as well in spite of the sudden rise in competitors, but even then, we notice the extra 1-2 free hours a day.

I've been using the bits of spare time I have to make the place look a little nicer, because we'd been so busy trying to keep it stocked, we just kind of... threw shit wherever it fit. All necklaces were sitting on a pile and one display we had was rusting, among a few other issues. It wasn't a good look.

I don't have a before picture but, here's the current situation.

Yeah, the christmas stock is out, I know, I know. If we wait, the local supermarket steals too many clients. It's a small town, c'mon.

I've still got shit to do obviously, like getting rid of that cable going through the middle and finding nicer carpets and better displays for fashion accessiories, and changing the tables for shelves, and figuring out how to solve the issue with all the work that comes in for mending. We have these baskets on the floor for that and, I mean...

Basket or not, they're on the floor. They need to be visible so that we can turn people away without them throwing a hissy fit when we're too busy to take on more work, too.

Also, one of the lights died. That's not good.

Oh, and the workshop, which is thankfully not in view of the customers. Some machines are being kept in boxes. We need more shelves. Badly. So much wasted vertical space.

That's just half of it. No pictures of the other half. Or of the storage area. Those are just shameful.

(Not pictured: a poster of Phil Collins above the industrial machine and one of Totoro next to the stairs, where I stood to take the photo. Mum likes both of these things. I haven't added anything to the, ah, decor.)

I'lll focus on tidying up the front a bit more before I move further back. Even if we can't get the shelves done, I still have some plans for an old arcade machine we have lying around. Hope I can do something about that before summer ends.

[redemptioninterlude]

@ofhope​ - saeyoung !

There’s something awful, about the dead spaces of time that existed in a day. How you needed something, anything, to fill it up, that endless, itchy waiting. Faye’s grown into becoming someone who waited for those minutes, those hours, those days to produce something, caught on the edge of adrenaline, knowing that within it, something big could begin. Something could even change YOUR WHOLE LIFE if you weren’t careful about it. And Faye couldn’t help but think ; if it wasn’t what it was... it might have even been beautiful. But instead, it was hours she wasted in places like bars, like casinos, like drifting in and out of places, dressed to kill, sometimes ready to do that, too. Waiting, to make a big score, to land a big bounty. And it means, too, that she meets strange people along the way ; people like 707, Seven, or, whatever the fuck he’s going by now, all wide grins and those glasses that block out her view of amber eyes, they play exchanges in money, they wrack up favours.

Usually he likes to waste them on trivial things. Information on a criminal, a slice of her bounty. An ask that she come back from some obscure location with some equally obscure toy, or memento. A round in a game. Or, like tonight, COMPANY WHEN OUT, her hands slung within her vinyl shorts, a cigarette left to dangle from the corner of her lips. He’s off ahead, illuminated beneath the harshness of halogen lighting, she can’t even see his face like this, those glasses of his putting up a glare. Faye, watching him from a distance as she lingers by the door ( avoiding the annoyed stares of the arcade staff, she stuffs out the light from her smoke before she drifts back inside ). 

The heels of her boots click smart against the tiled flooring, monochrome white, as if to reflect back all that emptiness. Unbothered when she pressed within his space ( it only ever works, when she’s the one stomping on boundaries, she’s never known what to do when someone else crosses those invisible lines that she’s drawn out, but few ever seem to, anyways ), back to the glass of the machine he’s rattling at, some new claw machine whatever as she takes in the pinched concentration written upon his face, sighing breathily. “Okay. But can we talk about what you REALLY WANT ME HERE FOR, or are you going to make me watch you try to get this limited edition whatever for the rest of the night?" he’s never been forthcoming, has he, Faye left to reach out to pluck those glasses off his face - the first time she’s actually seem him properly since meeting up with him earlier in the evening. “... at least tell me there’s a drink somewhere in all of this.”

- @ofhope​ ( gets a new follower starter ! )