#they were like new party trick just dropped and it is the only thing we can do

[partybarty]

My favourite stat from Day 4 of the Men’s Ashes, is that for three hours 98% of the balls that England bowled were short.

[onlyangel4]

Hi can i request an smau with just met to love at first sight (maybe summertime fling) with lando based on Wherever u r by umi and V 🥹 happy ending!!

wherever u r. ln4. smau.

lando norris x actress!reader

lando always thought that love at first sight was some cliche created by the movies, something not applicable with real life. but then he met you

faceclaim: madelyn cline

y/ninsta posted a story

written: emergency leg shave in a hotel sink before going out in monaco that i definitely do not belong at, wish me luck.

y/bff replied to your story: i can't believe you are going to an event alone, your confidence baffles me

y/ninsta: if it makes you feel better i said yes when i was drunk and now that i'm stone cold sober i am shitting my pants

y/ninsta posted a story

written: two hours later and i am ready

y/nsightings posted a story

written: y/n spotted outside a club in monaco, there is a massive celebrity event there tonight she told a fan that her plus one dropped out last minute so she is attending alone and is shitting herself, sounds like our y/n

f1updates

liked by user1, user2, user3 and 54,683 others

f1updates: lando, charles and alex, daniel and heidi have all been spotted outside the same club in monaco. there is an exclusive invite only event taking place. several celebrities have already been spotted entering the club including zendaya, yn l/n, tate mcrae and the kid laroi

view all 7,293 comments

user1: i would sell a kidney to get inside that club

user2: omg this is the event y/n was shaving her legs for

user3: she is so real for that if i knew that i was going to be in a room with f1 drivers i would shave EVERYTHING

user4: the summer break just started and they are already meeting up at a party they are all obsessed with each other

y/nupdates posted a story

written: y/n spotted leaving the monaco party with an unknown man

y/nfan

liked by user5, user6, user7 and 34,855 others

y/nfan: guys! so my boyfriend does a lot of work behind the scenes in film and tv so we got invited to this event in monaco. and i spotted y/n standing at the back of the party not really interracting with anyone because she didn't know anyone so i went up to her told her that i was a massive fan and she spent a lot of the night with us. we were dancing and watching lando norris' dj set when he saw her and goes "holy shit that is y/n y/ln shit you are hotter in person" and when his dj set was done he ran off the stage and over to us and we were about to take a selfie so i got this gem. honestly the best night ever.

view all 592 comments

user7: could that be who y/n was spotted leaving with

user5: omg that is such a lando thing to do

user6: i would not be mad at this couple

landonorris posted a private story

charlesleclerc replied to your story: alex is so mad that she didn't get the chance to meet y/n last night and you guys are just hanging

landonorris: man we are not just hanging, she is like actually perfect

charlesleclerc: oh dear are you what the kids call down bad

landonorris: i will forever hate alex for teaching you that

mclaren: so if you fancied inviting your new "friend" to the dutch gp no one would be mad, especially if she wanted to take part in media day

landonorris: you never miss a trick admin, i'll talk to her

y/ninsta posted a story

written: beach day

y/ninsta

liked by landonorris, sabrinacarpenter, alexandrasaintmleux and 1,384,735 others

y/ninsta: monaco trip dump

view all 23,452 comments

sabrinacarpenter: can't wait for you to be back in la

y/ninsta: girl i have so much shit to tell you

alexandrasaintmleux: meeting you was a dream come true, can't wait until we get to hang out again

y/ninsta: love you so much, will have to visit again soon

landonorris: i made the cut !

y/ninsta: that night was too memorable to not include

user8: y/n what do you mean

user9: lando norris wtf is this crossover episode

user10: didn't she go on holiday alone, who took all these pictures

y/ninsta posted a story

written: first time on a private jet wtf never flying commercial ever again

landonorris posted a story

written: and we arrived, so ready for the next part of the season

charlesleclerc replied to your story: if "we" is who i think it is alex is going to lose her mind

landonorris: tell alex her job is to make sure y/n doesn't get lost in the paddock

f1celebs posted a story

written: actress y/n y/ln has arrived for media day here in the netherlands

y/ninsta posted a story

written: exciting things coming

mclaren posted a story tagging landonorris and y/ninsta

written: lando took actress y/n y/ln on a hot lap, click the link here to watch the whole thing

landonorris

liked by y/ninsta, alexandrasaintmleux, mclaren and 1,453,621 others

tagged: y/ninsta

landonorris: bring your girlfriend to work day

view all 78,934 comments

y/ninsta: i think you mean "almost kill your girlfriend at work day"

landonorris: babe i was actually going slow

alexandrasaintmleux: no you brought MY girlfriend to work

landonorris: well no...

mclaren: next time we will put y/n behind the wheel

y/ninsta: omg really !

landonorris: that is an awful ideal

user10: he has just beaten the norizz allegations by pulling one of the hottest women in hollywood omg way to prove us wrong

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[eupheme]

Your best friend Wade who always jokingly flirts with you the way he flirts with everyone - and you hate it because you have a real genuine crush on him and the flirting doesn’t mean anything… does it? It has to take a mutual friend to be like “oh my god he’s in love with you and doesn’t know how to tell you, so that’s why he’s always joking about boners” (please and thank u ilu 😌)

omg avo this kicked my ass, the amount of pining for Wade as he (jokingly, you think) flirts with you would be off the charts 🥲💖 I wrote a little drabble with how that might go, I love you and your ideas - thanks so much for sending this to me!!!

— cause every time we touch (i get this feeling)

best friend!wade wilson x mutant!reader

<1k | flirting, dirty jokes, heaps of pining

Blow job. Leg Spreader. Slippery Nipple. Liquid Viagra. Sex on the Pool Table. Pink Silk Panties.

Each time Wade comes into Sister Margaret’s - which is four or five times a week - he asks for dirtier and more obscure drinks.

"Wishful thinking", he tells you, each time.

Even with the roll of your eyes, you have to admit that it keeps you on your toes. That you look forward to seeing your best friend so often - tamping down the jolt in your belly, night after night.

Reminding yourself that yes, he got you this job, but he's not here to see you.

That this always was his spot.

It had been an easy sell. Used to working overnight shifts - security, back then. After the disaster with Weasel, they had been desperate for a replacement. Wade had come to you immediately, dropping to his knees as you opened the door.

Winning you over with a "you could literally get paid to hang out with me. How is this not a win-win-win? How is this not your dream job?"

And here, you didn't have to hide what or who you were. Reading feelings and intent were a bonus, when a handshake could tell you everything you needed to know. Their feelings spilled as easily as they were written, when you were negotiating contracts.

It also helped in-house. A human lie detector. Able to break up fights, settle arguments. A party trick, when things got slow. The regulars trying to get things past you - tales based in truth spun tall, seeing when you'd catch them.

Wade never plays, but you think that's because you know him so well.

And what seems like a sell, quickly evolves into more. Warping, as days pass. Spending more time with a crush sounds tempting, on paper.

The reality is something else.

Yes, there is a seat saved for him at the bar. Literally saved - his name scrawled across the vinyl, and you still haven't been able to scrub it out. Stopping by at all hours to chit chat.

Teasing you - how he's "so glad he doesn't have to stalk you at your old job anymore". An over-the-top sigh about being relieved that you're safe now - in your new job, surrounded by mercs.

Begging for the best job. Puppy-dog eyes. Fake coupons for favors that would make a sinner blush. Crossing his heart that you could have anything, and he means anything you wanted, if he could only get "that thing involving the murder clowns".

It's enough to make you hope.

Later, at home - in the early hours as you're pulled under. Replaying his comments. The filthy jokes and the shameless flirting - wondering if that's all they were.

Wondering if he'd be waiting for you tomorrow, perched on his stool.

But there's the downfall.

You see him - but you also see him with everyone else.

The charming smiles. Head thrown back in a laugh as he works the room. A friend to all, and as you watch him - perched on the knee of a goddess of mercenary as he yaps away, you can't help the swift current of jealousy.

Of foolishness.

It's enough that you're almost regretting agreeing.

Your mood is sullen, as you wipe down glasses. Trying to ignore the ache when you see him flirt. That realization that the something special you thought he had with you, might just be a part of his personality.

And when Dopinder shuffles from the back with more ice for the chiller behind the bar, it only takes one look at you before he's sighing.

"Not again. Please, I am begging you. I cannot take more of your yearning.”

Your lips quirk. Hadn't realized you'd become that obvious. He'd become your go-to, in the long hours you spend together behind the bar. Pinkie-promising not to say a word - but you always thought you'd had a decent handle on your expressions.

"We don't have to talk about it." Your hands raise, placating, "Just let me yearn in peace. I'll get over it."

"You know that almost half of what DP makes a month is funneled back in here, right?" He gives you a long look, "Before you, I saw him once a week. I had to beg him to come get his paycheck."

Doubt still lingers.

"Doesn't mean anything," You shrug - eyes dropping, as you help him restock.

"You do not think Mr. Pool worships the ground you walk on?"

The intensity of his question has you side-eying him, "I mean... I don't think he sees me that way. He acts the same with me as he does with everyone."

“Sure.” He huffs, leaning against the bartop, just as Wade plunks down in the seat in front of you.

“God, I haven’t been over here in like-,” Wade checks a fake watch, “Fifteen minutes? Feels like longer. Felt like a fucking hour.”

Pivoting back and forth on the stool as he adds, “Is it possible for people to get separation anxiety? Or is that just dogs? Is this how Dogpool feels when I’m gone?”

You just manage to catch the last bit, as Dopinder slips away.

“Exactly the same.”

Tonight, Wade is the first person that sits down in front of you for the game.

A frown, as you peel off your gloves - your barrier, to the outside world.

His own already bare - sliding back-and-forth over his suit-clad thighs. You'd mistake it for nerves, if you weren't so sure Wade had never been nervous in his life.

"What's your story, Wilson?" You ask, "Hope you brought something good."

"Oh, it's a whopper. A real fucking doozy. Apparently, you're not gonna believe it. " His laugh is a little too loud, and your eyes narrow, "But let's give it a whirl, okay?"

There's a flicker, behind the bar. A sideways look towards the bar, where Dopinder's hands cover his face. You don't need to touch him to read the guilt written across his features - the way he almost flinches, under your glare.

You're going to fucking kill him.

The sound of your name brings you back.

“Ready to play?”

Wade's hands rest face-up on the table - an offering. For once in his life he almost looks serious, and it’s enough to bring you back.

A breath - before you align your own. Letting them drop down, skin mapping against skin for the first time.

It floods through you.

The lick of heat that almost feels like a caress. A deep yearn that causes your own heart to twinge, layering with the feeling of need. Desire. Want.

It's familiar. It mirrors something deep inside, something that’s become as much a part of you as flesh and bone.

Oh.

A laugh slips from you, breaking the beat of silence. Relief tinged with disbelief - your smile stretching wide.

“Yeah?” You breathe, softening.

“Yeah.” He laughs, “Thought I was being obvious. But you are pound-cake dense, apparently.”

Hands flipping over, to entwine between yours. Letting that feeling inside him linger, settling warm and comforting over your bare skin.

“But I like that about you.” Another huff of a laugh, “Like all of you, really. Always have.”

It makes your heart ache. In a way that finally feels full, feels right - instead of the near-agony you’ve been bearing for weeks.

Only you could be such an idiot.

thanks for reading! 💖

[miss-nandini]

Hello I found your blog and loved your writing!!! I was wondering if you could do “Saying I love you” to the house wardens from twisted wonderland (fem reader if possible) and what their reactions are? ( o///o )

A/N: Hey there! I hope you are doing well. Thank you so much for requesting. Enjoy and have a good day/night/afternoon! 💜💜

HC: Saying "I love you" to him (F! Reader)

You must be a little crazy to have chosen me. How did you hear my unspoken words? You are like the day, and I’m like the night. Let’s get together like the evenings. Love, wonderful love. It will break your heart and then heal it like the ethreal thing it is.

Or, the headcanon, where you confess to him.

I Love You!

Riddle: You broke a rule and he was mad at you. Not to mention he is supposed tutor you as well. Which meant only one thing— nobody's gonna here the end of it. You could tell he was trying hard. He didn't want to lash out. Maybe that's why, he was quiet. When the study session ended, you couldn't take the silence anymore. You didn't want him to be upset with you—not when...you love him so much. He deserves to know that! 

"Riddle, I love you."

He stopped in his tracks. He never expected to hear that words, specially from you. Not after everything. He didn't deserve it. He was supposed to be mad at you, yet...

"(Y/N)... No..."

"What do you mean, no?"

"I- we can't do this. You shouldn't—you shouldn't love ME out of all people. I don't deserve that. N-not that—

"Riddle, that's for me to decide. Say, do you reciprocate my feelings or not?"

"I-I... I do."

His voice was barely above a whisper. His face felt like it was on fire. Why do you have such an effect on him?! Despite all the doubts he couldn't help but melt in your touch as you wrap your arms around him.

"I love you too, my rose, I love you too."

Leona: He was being petty again and he was aware. But Leona is a little shit when he wants to be and we all know that. You were tired of the back and forth bickering. He just wouldn't hear you out. So, you had one last trick up your sleeve aka confess to him.

"Leona, I love you."

He was surprised. Huh? You? Love him? It took him a minute to process your words and when he finally did it he smirked like a crazy person.

"Huh, of course you love me herbivore."

His lips were on yours in no time. Congrats! You just skyrocketed his ego even further.

Azul: "I love you, Azul."

One day you dropped the bomb on him outta nowhere. He was flabbergasted. He is dreaming, right? There's no way in hell that you love his dumbass self! But there's the thing. You do love his dumbass self and when you tell him that, he is ready to crawl in his octopot. His face was redder than a tomato. He can never keep up his cool facade when you are smiling at him with literally hearts in your eyes!

"I-I-I d-don't u-unders-stand?"

He was a stuttering mess.

You took a deep breath and repeated yourself.

"You heard me right, Azul Ashengrotto, I love you."

"I-I-l-love y-you t-too!!!"

You would've sworn he was going to faint when you pecked his cheek.

Kalim: "I love you, Kalim!"

"I love you, (Y/N)!"

Yup, both of you confessed at the same time and ended up becoming a laughing mess, until the realization sank in.

"Wait... (Y/N)... you love me? Like love-love me?"

"Yes, Kalim!"

"Me too!!"

He is so happy that he ends up throwing a party in Scarabia that day. Jamil just hopes that you will keep Kalim in check. Ace and Deuce are quite surprised when they receive an invitation for the party. Well, as long as the two of you are happy.

You gained a whole sun for yourself, congrats!"

Vil: He was doing your make-up. According to him, applying make-up can make your mood better. You didn't really think so. But, oh well, he was passionate. Also, there's another reason for not saying 'no' to him. Because, this is one of the times when his complete focus is on you and you get to see his work. He loves to try out new things with you since you are the only female in the whole campus. (He likes you, but, he will never admit it.) So, it's a win-win situation for the both of you. His dedication makes you smile. Maybe, it's time that you tell him about your true feelings.

"Vil, I love you."

His hands dosen't stop, like he wasn't even surprised. But inside, he felt his heart bursting with overwhelming joy. He is overjoyed that his sweet potato feels the same for him.

He leans in.

"Let me show you my feelings, (Y/N)."

Idia: You decided to confess to him during an anime marathon in his room.The anime was romantic and that felt like a perfect timing. You locked your fingers with his, so he dosen't run away.

"Idia, I love you."

His hair literally was flaming red. He is dead sure that he heard wrong. But, the serious look on your face said otherwise. That's when he noticed how you were holding his hand and man he was sure that his heart will burst out of his chest. How can you even like a pathetic otaku like him?! That dosen't make any sense!!

"I-I-I—

He couldn't even form a proper sentence. His eyes widened even more when you leaned in.

Idia exe. has officially stopped working.

Malleus: Confessing to Malleus was proving to be harder than you thought. This guy gives off mixed signals. Not to mention that he is the future king of Briar Valley. It's really hard to understand this dragon. But, oh well, if you need to find out, then you have to confess. End of story.

So, when he arrives during night time, like he always does, you straight up admit that you love him.

"Malleus, I love you."

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, showing his little fangs. He is adorable, you have to give him that. But then, a huge smile spreads across his face.

"My dear child of man, I see that you beat me to it. I wanted to confess too."

Even if his cheeks were red, you decided to ignore that as his lips landed on yours.

[gibbysoup]

🌙 𝓗𝓸𝓬𝓾𝓼 𝓹𝓸𝓬𝓾𝓼 🐈‍⬛

Chris x reader

“Oh come on it’s just a bunch of hocus pocus”

Chapter 1

Warning: 90s bullying, almost fight, crying

A/n: I don’t own the rights to hocus pocus, I changed a couple things to fit this story

Halloween, a day that y/n truly just never understood. Even when she was a little kid, she thought the idea of putting on a costume and getting candy was a dumb idea, and as a now teenager, she definitely still thought it was dumb.

Moving to a new town wasn’t exactly what you wanted to do for your junior year of high school. You were happy at home, you loved sitting in the sun and jamming to Jimi Hendrix. But that was now all coming to an end as you now had to start wearing a coat in October due to the weather in Salem.

After a shitty day of school, all you wanted to do was take a nap, listen to some music or catch a scary movie on tv. But your parents had different planes for you. Your little sister Dani had been persistent on you taking her treat or treating around the new town. They thought it would be good for her to meet kids her age in the neighborhood. The only problem for you was that your parents would be going to a Halloween party that night, so you were now on trick or treating duty.

———————

“Let’s go, hurry up. The bewitching hour’s about to begin!” Your father yelled up the stairs to you and Dani. She ran down the stairs, eager to show your parents her witch costume. Once your father saw Dani he smiled at her. “That’s very scary, wow!” He then turned to you. “What about you, y/n, what are you supposed to be?” He asked you.

She looked at him. “A little leaguer..” y/n said, dead paned. She hadn’t put too much effort into her costume. It had been a while since she had actually trick or treated. She could tell that her father was just trying to get her a little more excited about the holiday, but she just stood there, frowning in her baseball cap and jacket.

Your mother came in, holding a camera to take a of the three of you to capture the moment. “Say Halloween!” She beamed.

“Halloween!” Dani and her father said, well she just stood there, a slight scowl on her face.

———————-

Y/n was carting Dani around to different houses so she can go trick-or-treating. Every house was decorated to the max. lights, pumpkins, fake spider webs and witches. Dani was clearly enjoying getting candy and going house to house, but y/n just dragged her feet the whole way.

“Lighten’ up, y/n.” Dani told her older sister, annoyed that she was clearly bringing the mood down.

Y/n heard this and rolled her eyes. “Can we go home now?” She requested, but Dani just shook her head.

“Nope.”

Just then y/n spots Jay and Ice and some of their friends harassing the kids passing by for candy. She knew those kids were bad news and she didn’t want Dani caught in the cross fire. And just before y/n had been tormented by the two earlier didn’t mean that Dani should be subjected to it.

“Let’s just go this way.” Y/n said, trying to get Dani to make her way to a different house that she could collect candy at but Dani headed straight for Ice and Jay, ignoring y/n. “Dani!0 she shouted, trying to get the attention of her younger sister, but it was no use.

“Ding ding. Ding ding.” Ice heldup his leg so Dani can’t passed him when she tried to enter the house.

“Stop and pay the toll, kid.” Jay told her.

“Ten chocolate bars, no licorice.” Ice said, gesturing to her pillowcase filled with candy.

“Dump out your sack!” Jay shouted at her.

“Drop dead, moron.” Dani spat, trying to make the boys leave her alone.

“Yo, twerp. How’d you like to be hung off that telephone pole?” Ice asked her, a slightly threaten tone in his voice.

“I’d just like to see you try it. Cause it just so happens I’ve got my big sister with me. Y/n!” She said, trying to scare the boys away from her.

Jay and Ice were clearly not impressed or intimidated by this threat. But they especially weren’t scared when they saw y/n walk up.

“Hollywood. Oh no.” Ice said, pretending to be scared of the girl as she approached the two boys and there group of followers. She had earned the nickname Hollywood due to her being from California. Apparently everyone in Salem thinks that just because you live in California means you live in Hollywood.

“So you’re doing a little trick-or-treating?” Jay asked, stepping closer to y/n.

She shook her head. “I’m taking my little sister around.” She answered.

“That’s nice. Whoa, I love the costume. But what are you supposed to be? A New Kid on the Block?” He asked her, his little minions laughing at his joke.

“For your information, shes a little leaguer!” Dani said, not making the situation any better.

“Whoa, little leaguer!” Jay said, He and Ice started to fake play a game of baseball to mock y/n. Dani tried to walk by again, but was unsuccessful.

“Wait a minute. Everyone pays the toll.” Ice reminded her.

“Stuff it, zit face.” Dani sassed back.

“Why you little…” ice said, moving to hit Dani, but y/n quickly stepped in the way, protecting her sister.

“Hey, Ice…” y/n shoved her bag of candy at him. “Here. Pig out. Come on Dani, let’s go.” She said, grabbing her little sisters hand and walked her in the other direction.

“See you later Hollywood…” Ice taunted, waving goodbye to the girls as him and his crew laughed.

—————-

Y/n and Dani walk up the steps to another house for more candy. Dani was still upset about the interaction prior. “You should have punched them.” Dani told y/n.

“They would have killed me.” Y/n said to her. Not only were they bigger than her, but she was also out numbered.

“At least it would have made your reputation at school a little better.” Dani snarked.

Y/n was fed up, she had a bad day, a bad Halloween, and overall just a bad life. “Hey! You just humiliated me in front of half the guys at school! So collect your candy and get out of my life!” She yelled. She didn’t even know what she was saying, she was just letting her anger and humiliation speak. But the look on little Dani’s face just showed heartbreak.

“I wanna go home! Now!” She exclaimed, storming off.

Y/n rushes off after her, finally tracking her down as Dani was now crying into a hey-barrel that was a part of someone’s Halloween decorations.

She looked down at her crying little sister who had her face in her hands as she weeped. Y/n knew this whole move was non of her fault, so she shouldn’t even be taking this anger and frustration out on her. She sat down next to her.

“Dani, I’m sorry. It’s just that I hate this place. I miss all my friends. I wanna go home.” Y/n confessed. “It’s just been hard..”

Dani looked up at y/n, tears streaming down her face. “Well this is your home now, so get used to it.” Dani said, sniffing and wiping her nose.

Y/n sighed, she knew that Dani was right. She needed to except that Salem was there home now and they were stuck here, well she was stuck here until she graduated and went off to collage.“Yeah. Give me one more chance?” She asked her little sister, hoping she could be forgiven.

“Why should I?” Dani gave her a skeptical look.

“Cause I’m your big sister.” She said, causing Dani to laugh, then reach up and hug her older sister. Y/n wrapped her arms around Dani, holding her in a tight embrace before looking up at the sky. “Whoa, did check that out.” She pointed out to Dani to look up and see.

“What?” Dani questioned, her curiosity peaked.

“Something just flew across the moon.” Y/n said.

Dani looks up and y/n jumps at her and scares her a bit. They both laugh. It was a sweet moment being shared by two sisters.

“Let’s go, jerk face.” Dani giggling. Y/n didn’t say anything back, instead she just laughed at her childish insult.

They both stood up and turned to look at the house, only it was a beautiful mansion.

“Whoa!” They both said, staring at the large building in amazement

“Check out this house.” Y/n said.

“Ah, rich people. They’ll probably make us drink cider and bob for apples.” Dani said, looking up at her other sister. They both gave a nod and walked into the house.

The entered the Foyer seeing that the door was wide open. “Trick-or-treat?!” They both said, looking around. Dani’s eyes went wide when she spotted a huge cauldron full of candy. “Jackpot!” Dani said, immediately running over to get her share of candy. “They got kind sized candy bars!” Dani said excitedly, holding up a chocolate bar to show her sister.

“Y/n Denison..” a voice said, she looked up and saw none other then Chris sturniolo, a boy from one of her classes that she totally was crushing on. She slightly froze, dropping whatever candy she had in her hand as he made his way down the stairs. She was now starting to wonder how he even remembered her name.

“Chris…hi..” she had said, slightly nervous to now be in his house. She was suddenly worried about how she looked or where her hands were placed.

“Oh, chris huh?” Dani smirked, looking up at y/n.

Y/n looked down at the younger girl and gave her what can only be described as a death glare, hoping it would shut her up from further embarrassing her in front of her crush.

“I thought you weren’t into Halloween.” Chris said making his way down the large staircase, coming to greet the both of the two girls

“I’m not, I’m just taking my little sister, Dani, around.” She said. Y/n wasn’t at all surprise that Chris had remembered what she had said earlier in class that day and about Halloween being made up by the candy companies.

Chris shot y/n and Dani a warm smiling before speaking. “Well that’s nice, my brother used to do that with me and my brothers.” He said.

“I always do it.” Y/n told Chris, acting like the whole thing was her idea, but Dani had to butt in and open her mouth.

“My parents made her.” Dani told Chris. Once again, y/n shot her little sister a death glare, giving her a slight elbow to the shoulder, hoping that would give her the hit to stop talking.

After a moment of silent had passed, Chris spoke. “Do you guys want some cider?” He offered the two girls.

“No.” Dani said flatly, but at the same time, y/n answered. “Sure!”

Chris went over and got two cups of cider. One for him and one for y/n. He came back and handed the other cup to y/n. “Thanks. So, um, how’s the party?” She asked him.

“Boring. It’s just a bunch of my parent’s friends. They do this every year. I’ve got candy duty” he said. “Or well, I was supposed to have some help but my bothers seem to have forgotten that there supposed to help me.” He said. He motioned for his brothers to come join him. Two boys who looked identical to Chris walked over. She knew Chris was a triplet, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember there names.

Matt and nick had entered the foyer, dragging their attention away from the party. “This is Nick and Matt.” He said gesturing to each of his brother’s respectively. “This is y/n, and her sister Dani. They just moved here for California.” He explained, then looking back at you.

“Wait there’s three of you?” Dani questioned, looking back and fourth at the three teenagers.

“Yeah Dani, that’s kinda the whole point of triplets.” She pointed out to her.

Dani looked up at y/n. “Duh…I know what triplets are.” She said, rolling her eyes. The three boys laughed at the interaction, knowing the sibling back and fourth all too well.

“By the way, Dani, I love your costume, I’m like, really into witches..” Nick said, complimenting Dani on her purple witch costume.

Dani seemed to light up at the compliment. “Thank you, and so am I. We just learned about those sisters in school.” Dani said, clearly very into her conversation with Nick, he even leaned down a bit to get to her level.

“Oh, you mean the Sanderson sisters?” Matt asked, inserting himself into the conversation. “We know all about them, our Mom used to run the museum.” He told her.

Dani’s eyes seemed to widen at the mention of a museum. “here’s a museum about ‘em?” She asked excitedly.

“Yeah, but they shut it down because a lot of spooky things happened there.” Nick said, obviously trying to spook her out a bit.

Just then an idea popped into y/ns head. “Well, why don’t we go to this old Sanderson house?” She suggested.

At the mention of this, Dani shakes her head no. Chris and his brothers look at y/n, trying to figure out if she was being for real or just messing around. “Well come on, make a believer out of me.” She challenged, knowing it was pretty much just an excuse to maybe spend some more time with Chris.

The brothers shared a couple looks, before finally speaking again, and it was Chris. “Okay, let us go change first.” Chris said. “They won’t miss me, trust me.” He said to the two before going upstairs with his brothers.

Once they were out of ear shot, Dani turned to y/n and looked up at her.“y/n, I’m not going up there. My friends at school told me all about that place. It’s weird.” She protested.

Y/n crouched down and got to her sisters level. “Dani, this is the boy of my dreams. He’s like the cutest guy at school.” She tried to explain.

“So, have him take you to the movies like a normal person.” She pleaded, but it was no use.

Y/n sighed. “Dani..Look, just do this one thing for me and I’ll do anything you say. Please? Please?!” She begged her sister. “I’m asking you this as your only sister..”

Dani thought for a moment. “Okay, okay. Next year we go trick-or-treating as Wendy and tinkerbell, with the wings, or it’s no deal.” She offered.

Y/n sighed once more, before finally giving in and compromising with her sister. “Okay, okay, deal!” She said.

A/n: omg…the support for this story is already insane…thank you so much! Hope you enjoy the first chapter!

Taglist: @keerahsturn @fratbrochrisgf @izzykinzz678 @st7rnioioss @jamiesturniolo @v33angel @kaisturni @valkatriee @sturnschrissy

[emeraldbloodcrown]

Once More

Chapter: Three - New Acquaintances Pairing: Poly; Tattoo Artists!141 x Baker!Female Reader Summary: Not getting the answers you want, you decide to catch a break at the town's festival, meeting two new strangers. Content/Warning: Still none, Kyle's dimples Word Count: 3.1k

Sharing a look with Anna both of you crouched by her sides, hooking an arm around her and guiding her movements until she could settle down on her bed. You swept another look over her body, trying to see the beginning of a bruise or her favoring an arm; anything to prove that she was injured. But you couldn't tell and she wouldn't say.

"Alright," you huffed exasperatedly. "Yell if you need anything."

Your grandmother waved you off, turning her hand as if to shoo you out of her room and you watched her pull the covers over herself before Anna closed the door.

You walked down the stairs in silence, a charged atmosphere between you both but Anna only addressed once you were back in your room.

"Do you buy it?"

Raising one of your eyebrow, you shot her a skeptic look. "Do you? Heavens, I don't want her to actually be injured but the way that just sounded… Plus, I can't shake that she's hiding something."

Anna furrowed her brows, "Anything in particular?"

"No, nothing I could point out but it's sitting there in the back of my mind, like things just don't fit together."

Climbing back into bed, you pulled the covers over you, setting an alarm for the next morning with the decision to start figuring out if your mind was playing tricks on you, or if there was truly something your grandmother was keeping to herself.

The next morning came faster than you had expected it, your entire body still aching from the day before and desperate for more sleep, and your finger hovered over the snooze button - just ten more minutes, or an hour - before you woke up enough to remember why you had set it so early to begin with.

The reason how your grandmother wound up owning a bakery had to do largely with her love for sweets. According to your father she had always been baking and progressing recipes to perfection. That was a similarity you apparently shared with her but where your drive came from a plethora of food allergies that made store bought foods feel like a round of Russian Roulette, she simply didn't like the taste, always complaining why she should buy it when she could make it so much better.

A sentiment that was soon shared by family and friends and after the first few people who hired her for making cakes and treats for their parties, she started to dream about doing that for a living and once her children had been old enough, she was able to fulfill that for herself.

Your grandmother had an unmatched love for good sweets and you reckoned that, with her age, it had been a long while since someone had gotten her something that hadn't been from a store, which could be just the right thing to get her to be more indulgent once you ask her some questions she's probably not gonna like.

Question was just what you were gonna make for her.

By the time you had something to show for your efforts, it was already an early morning and you could hear the slow, single footsteps of your grandmother making it down the stairs.

"Smells good in her, dearie. What're ya making?"

She circled the counter, one hand clutching the corner tight enough her knuckles were turning white and peaked into the pot.

"Quarkinis, hm?"

You hummed, rolling another ball out of curd dough and dropping it carefully into the hot oil.

"Gonna use powedered sugar?"

You hummed again.

"You used vanilla pods?"

Another hum.

"Two or three?"

"Don't play me; you've always used two and a half."

From the corner of your eyes, you could see her lips curl into a soft smile, nudging your side.

"I never understood your obsession with these. Ever since we made that trip to Germany, you just couldn't get enough of them."

"Cause you brought me there in the midst of the carnival season. Of course, I was gonna get hooked on sweets, music and bright colours. And," you raised a finger for emphasis before pointing it at her, "you combined Kreppels and Quarkinis for me so I wouldn't have to decide which I liked more."

There was a pause before your grandmother addressed the elephant in the room: "I also made them for you whenever we needed to talk."

"Sure did." Taking the last batch out of the oil and turning the stove off, you grabbed her a plate with the already filled in sugared curd balls. "Come on."

Your grandmother and you sat down in front of each other, the plate between you. She took one, observing the shape, giving it a small squeeze before taking a bite from it. 

She closed her eyes for a moment, her smile widening and pride shining in her eyes when she opened them again.

"Alright, what do you wanna talk about?"

"How did the fire start?"

You could visibly see how she was closing herself off: her shoulders drew high, lips turned into a thin line and her gaze hardened.

„I told you. Electric fire. The wires were old, was bound to happen one day."

You nodded. The report she had shown you when you had gotten back did state the cause of the fire as an electric one. Anna and you had already decided that you wanted everything of the bakery be new so that nothing could backfire on you due to age or over usage, so you had called someone to check and redo all of the wiring.

The thing was, given the tight-knit community, you had wounded up getting the son of the man who had done the check-ups for your grandmother, so they had both shown up for the appointment, meticulously checking everything after the father had apologized to you - 'could‘ve been your granny just the same' - and what they had found had raised more questions than answers.

All of the wiring was just as it should be, except for the one that had caused the fire. Which, father and son had pointed out, had started at a strange angle. It was too burnt now to truly tell, but you knew what they were trying to imply.

Someone had meddled with it.

"We just so happened to get the same electricians as you." 

"Oh, James‘ son? How nice of him to take over for his father" 

Her smile reappeared but it didn‘t reach her eyes, too practiced, as she went into an anecdote about something James did in his younger years.

"Sure, he also said that it‘s unlike his father to mess up like that-"

She didn‘t even let you finish properly before she started into an excuse.

"Well, didn‘t you always say that old people have a hard time coming to terms with the things they can‘t do anymore? And it‘s not like James‘ father is getting any younger either."

"Grandma."

She halted at the tone of your voice and watched as you crossed your arms and leaned over to rest them on the table.

"What aren‘t you telling me?"

"I don‘t know what you‘re talking about"

"All of the wiring was good. Kinda unlikely for it to burn your shop down, don‘t you think?"

"It was an electric fire," she insisted.

You knew you should back off but you also had the feeling that if you didn‘t push now, you might never get any clear answer from her.

"That‘s not true, and you know it!"

Her chair scratched over the floor as she slammed her hands on the table and got up.

"Stop it. You have no idea what you‘re talking about, just focus on rebuilding and leave everything else in the past. Where it belongs, I mean it."

You watched her leave before you deflated and pressed your hands over your head together. That wasn‘t ideal, but even if it wasn‘t the outcome you had hoped for, her reaction did show that something was off.

You took your time cleaning up, so by the time Anna found you, you were sitting on the window sill in the living room, window wide open and the hand closest to it holding a lit cigarette.

She came to a stop next to you, holding your shoulder to squeeze in and take a seat next to you, resting her head on your shoulder.

"Been a while since I've seen you smoke."

"Been a while since I've had a reason to."

She took the cigarette from your hand, taking a drag from it herself before she answered. "Yeah, I heard both of you yelling. Got anything?"

You shook your head, a bitter expression taking over your face. "Nope, only told me to drop it."

Anna scoffed and you couldn't help but smile. Years of working together had taught her that you were known for your stubbornness, often taking up fights with management for the sake of your residents' wellbeing. She had experienced it so many times that she had grown used the tone of voice that would precurse you not listening.

The same tone that was in your voice right now.

"Which you're obviously not gonna do."

Wrapping your arm around her shoulder, you squeezed her body. "Aww, look at you knowing me so well," You took your cigarette again, taking another drag, "No, I know something's going on."

"Well before you make that bomb explode, we got a festival to get to."

The sun was just starting to set when you and Anna arrived. The town square had been transformed: fairy lights and colorful pennants with the town's emblem hanging between the old street lamps and a stage right in the middle of it with several stalls loaded with a wide variety of food or little trinkets to buy.

You watched the pre-teens dancing to a mix of popular songs on stage before you hooked your arm with Anna and wandered into the masses. Quickly you noticed that nearly every family business was represented on this festival in one way or another but any bigger shop, those that had hundreds of branches all over the country, were missing.

A sudden pull from your elbow made you stop and look to Anna who had stopped, her fingers still in the crease of your elbow but she was focused on something on your left, her eyes filled with a child-like wonder. You had an inkling what had put her in such a state but you followed her line of sight, and heaved a sigh when you saw indded what you had been expecting.

Behind the row of food stalls were a few festival games set up, among them a shooting gallery with the woman working it advertising a giant sparkling Pegasus as the main prize.

"I want it…"

"5 pounds for three tries; that's gonna add up fast."

"I knooow"

You almost laughed when you heard her honest-to-God whine and you couldn't help but egg her on a little.

"You don't need it, tho"

Anna grabbed your arm with both hands and shook you while she kept whining.

"I want it so bad. I need it! Come on, have a heart."

"Okay, okay!  Where's your cut off?"

"500," she replied instantly and you snapped your head at her.

"The fuck you are; go lower. We ain't made of money."

"495"

"Try 50 or I'll keep your wallet hostage until we're home."

"You're a horrible friend," she said while grabbing the bills from you and stomped towards the game.

"For keeping you from bankruptcy? Yeah, so horrible."

Your only answer was Anna flipping you off. Laughing to yourself at that, you decided to take a look around to find something to keep you occupied while Anna tried to score her new friend.

You set your eyes on a claw crane and found if Anna could waste cash, so could you. Most people walked past the money trap, leaving only one person in front and you used the time to figure out which prize you wanted to try for.

"Bloody hell," he exclaimed in front of you, smacking his hands against the machine as it beeped sadly, indicating a loss. Noticing your eyes on him, he turned slightly, allowing you to see his, admittedly, pretty face; clean shaven and dark skin so soft to the look that it made you think of needing to do more of a skin care routine.

"Sorry, didn't mean to shout."

"All good. Which one were you trying to get?"

He made space for you and you stepped to the controls of the machine, feeding it the money for the first try. Surprised by your question, he pointed to plushie of a red panda holding a heart.

"That one. For my girlfriend."

You smiled at that and set the crane up for the panda.

"Oh please, you really don't ha-"

"They're a favorite of hers?"

You got on your tip toes for a moment before you decided to take the arm a little more to the left and letting it go down.

"Yeah, saw some compilation of them and has been obsessed ever since."

"That's cute."

The claws opened and closed around the leg, slipping a bit but had grabbed enough chunk of the body that it held on. You cheered the machine on as it so ever slowly moved to the front, and jumped in joy when it slid down the hatchet, and the machine beeped a success.

Taking in by your joy, the two of you high-fived before you went to retrieve the toy and give it to him.

"There was really no need for that but thank you," he said, adorning a sweet smile that dimples pop out in his cheeks.

"Anyone willing to get that angry for his girlfriend deserves some help. Besides, I often get lucky with these machines. Only them, tho," you laughed.

"Gotta remember that for next time then. I'm Kyle, by the way." Putting the panda under his arm, he reached to offer his hand and just as you were about to give him your name, you heard it being scremed by a very familiar voice.

Turning around to the commotion, you saw Anna waving, and when she noticed she had your attention, she waved the giant Pegasus in her arms.

"Unbelievable…"

"Your friend?" Kyle asked and, once you nodded while sighing in exasperation, he continued, "She looks fun. And she's found Johnny."

You looked again. Hooked around her arm was a man: tall with a mohawk, shirt exposing the intricate sleeve on his right arm, and an easy smile on his lips as he chatted with Anna and let himself be dragged by her to where you were standing with Kyle.

"Look!" Anne yelled when she was close enough, excitement bubbling in her voice.

"Can't believe you actually won it."

"Oh no, can't take the credit for that," she pulled Johnny closer, "he got it for me"

Mohawk guy - Johnny - winked at Anna, "Cannae leave a damsel in distress, aye?"

"And I'm sure you only had noble intentions," Kyle scoffed, smirk on his lips to which Johnny only rolled his eyes.

"I see ye got the toy fer yer girl."

Kyle clasped a hand around your shoulder: "Curtesy of my new friend."

Clapping his hands together once, Johnny said, "That calls for drinks. Come on."

You joined Anna's side just as Johnny went to Kyle, wrapping an arm around him and patting him on the back.

"Glad you could make it."

Johnny lead the three of you to the backside of the festival where a couple restaurant had their outdoor seating left open and offered food and drinks for a lower price. Naturally, seemingly ever table was occupied but Johnny found one almost hidden away at the far back.

Anna and you sat down next to each other with both of the boys opposite tou, and when you all had a drink, you clinked your glasses together in a toast.

"To new acquaintances."

Talking to new people had never been your strong suit, especially when you couldn't hide behind one of your expertises. But there was just something about how Johnny and Kyle created a pleasant atmosphere that even you could let yourself loose and not worry how you might be perceived.

"Am serious, Simon looked ready to murder him. Poor lad just about pissed himself."

Johnny had been retelling stories of their work, most of them having a Simon guy at the front of some customer forgetting their place.

"Wait, wait," you interjected, "so Simon's the big guy, right? Dressed like he's ready to rob a bank, that one?"

Johnny nodded vigorously, almost bouncing in his drunken giggle fit.

"And you have actually customers who throw a fit with him?"

Anna and you looked at each other incredulously, ready for Johnny to anounce it was a joke but nothing happened.

"So people are insane here, that's good to know."

You finished your drink, taking another look at Kyle. He had been joking with Johnny and sharing his own stories but for a while he had been absolutely quiet, eyes glued to the phone while his thumbs flew over the screen. A sharp curse escpaing his lips, getting Johnny's attention too, before he threw his drink back, patting his jacket for his wallet before Johnny stopped him.

"I got ye. Donnea worry, can pay me back later."

"Thanks, man. Sorry, I'll make this up to you," Kyle said, shifting his eyes as if to include you and Anna in the apology.

"Take care"

Anna nudged you, showing you the time.

"We should probably get going too," she said, raising her hand to flag down a waiter.

That seemed to get Johnny's attention, his head turning back to you both.

"Sure, ye girls mind if I bring ye home? Jus' tae be safe."

You hesitated for a moment but Anna jumped on the chance, swooning about him being a gentleman and hooking arms with him as soon as you were ready to leave. You could practically see hearts in her eyes and you realized where this was heading; sighing.

The entire way home,the conversation kept going but mainly between Anna and Johnny but you found yourself smiling at his attempts to keep you a participant and not just a listener while Anna chatted his ear off.

It didn't take long until you were almost home, bakery to your left when Johnny stopped, observing the work you had been doing.

"Damn me, almost back to her glory."

"And we're not even close to done," Anna exclaimed, letting go of Johnny in favor of hugging her new friend to her chest.

Johnny looked at you, "Cannae wait. Ye ever need help, ye know where ta find me."

[lipglossanon]

Mutual Future

•~•°•——— 🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔 ———•°•~•

crossover feat. Las Plagas!Leon and Shape Shifter/Wendigo!Leon

Warnings: one mention of eating people, snarky Leon

just a silly idea I had; don’t know if I’ll add onto it or not, just wanted to write this 😆

Title from Mututal Future (Repeat) by Djo 💜

•~•°•——— 🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔 ———•°•~•

It’s eerie. 

“We could be twins,” the woman in front of you whispers, eyes wide as they stare at you. 

You nod, “Basically what I was thinking.”

Staring at one another, you take in this doppelganger in the middle of a random antique store you decided to visit. Well you and—

“Mate!”

Two identical voices call out from separate directions and to your amazement, your uncanny twin turns along with you. 

You smile at Leon as he steps up beside you, but your mouth drops open in surprise to see his double next to your look alike.

Leon’s duplicate has a more sinister look to him compared to the sweet smile on your Leon. 

Your twin turns from her Leon to look at you, “Is he a shape shifter too?”

Her Leon scoffs with a roll of his eyes, “He fucking wishes. Smells like some weird bug.”

Your Leon shrugs easily, stepping up behind you to nuzzle into your neck, “At least I don’t eat people.”

It can’t be any weirder, you think to yourself as Leon’s twin sneers over at him before tugging your duplicate into his arms. His eyes flash over to you and you swear they’re different now— slitted pupils in his ocean blue gaze.

“Your mate could do better,” he sniffs haughtily. 

At that remark, Leon tenses and snaps his head up to face his mirror image. Your look alike gasps and you glance down to see his hands shifting into claws as the black veins creep up his arms. 

“I’m so lucky to be your mate, Leon,” you coo, turning to face him, slipping your hands up to his shoulders, “and I’m all yours, right?”

He relaxes in your hold, attention swapping back to you with a boyish grin, “Mm hmm.”

You mentally sigh as he reverts back to his usual self. Turning, you see the pair watching you with interest. Your “twin” gives you a smile of understanding while the other Leon keeps his face unreadable, strange eyes darting between you and the man behind you.

“Neat little party trick,” he breaks out into a smirk, copying Leon’s changes onto his own body. 

Your eyes stare as his arms slowly shift into claws complete with black veins creeping up his skin. 

“What the hell,” you whisper, looking over at your double who only shrugs. 

“He’s an asshole, sorry about that,” she sighs. 

“Hey!” You watch as he pouts at her like a little kid, “I really do think it’s a neat trick.”

Within the blink of an eye, he goes back to normal. 

He grins at your Leon, “You seem like a lot of fun.”

Your duplicate sighs loudly and grabs his bicep, “With that it’s time to go. It was lovely meeting you two, please don’t hold him against me.”

She shoots you a heartfelt smile paired with a little wave as she drags Leon’s copycat with her. 

“You never let me have any new friends,” is the last thing you hear before they’re out of sight.

“That was really weird, right?” You spin around to face Leon.

He’s staring at where the two were before shifting his eyes back to you, “Very strange. You still want to go on this road trip?”

Your heart flutters and you give him a shy smile, “Yeah, I want to. We’ve been planning it for weeks.”

He ducks down to drop kisses on your cheeks and lips making you giggle. 

“Okay, okay,” you laugh and push him back, “let’s get out of here.”

“Anything you say.”

[sseomtada]

being [ruben dias]

shenanigans ensue at erling's party & later, you're interrupted by a surprise visitor.

warnings: none | wc: 4966 | 6/8

“Should I go with sapphire or teal?”

You held both options up to your chest, head tilting in the mirror with scrutiny before spinning around to do the same for your best friend. She surveyed the outfit choices. One was a jewel blue two piece with a blazer and wide legged pants. The other’s color reminded you of a hue you’d find in a rainforest, with a cropped high-neck top and maxi skirt.

“Second fit.” Aki came to her conclusion.

That’s what you were leaning more towards too. You loved the competitor, but it felt a little too CEO for a party. She wrapped up steaming out her corseted pink mini dress and summoned you to her vanity where she curled your hair.

“Should I expect to see any of your suitors tonight?” Your eyes met hers in the mirror.

Her expression soured. “Absolutely not. Why would I bring a packed lunch to a buffet?”

That nearly made your ear get burnt off as you cackled. The once perpetually booed up girl you knew had now morphed into a menacing serial dater. You were honestly impressed with her evolution. She gave the same energy she received and was refusing to claim anyone seriously until they met all of her needs.

“I can’t wait to watch your masterclass in live time.” You slipped into your outfit.

“Watch closely.” Her lips smacked post lip gloss application. “Even an old dog can learn new tricks.”

The revelation that you were back together with Ruben was still settling in with her. While she wasn’t upset about it, she was crossed that she had been robbed of playing wingwoman for you at events. You reminded her that Cindy was single and it actually worked to perk her up a little. Playing Cupid was one of her favorite pastimes.

While approaching the party, you realized that you had ventured into familiar territory. It only fully sank in once the car rolled up to the front of the building and you spotted the interior. How you failed to notice that Erling lived in the same spot as Ruben was beyond you. Well, almost.

You had been quite distracted by the later recently. The location also made you laugh, recalling that Erling had hosted the initial meeting at his place of work. He was a man that clearly liked to keep everything in close knit.

When you got out of the lift, both your mouth and Aki’s dropped a bit. This was actually what getting paid the big bucks got someone. His apartment was a sprawling penthouse, recently renovated to have the latest styles and fixtures.

“You’re here!” Cindy bounced over to give you kisses.

“We hope you weren’t too bored waiting for us.” Aki scanned a tray of treats that floated by.

“I think I managed quite fine…” Her voice trailed off along with her gaze.

You followed it to a tall brunette swaying along with the chill house music playing through the sound system. His face was familiar from some pictures you’d seen in Ruben’s apartment - one of his teammates.

Speaking of which, you felt him. The flesh on your arms raised, silent alarm ringing to alert your system to someone’s eyes being stuck on you. When you picked up on his trail, you found him cracking open a bottle of water. His cheeks rose with a smile before he took a sip.

Another alarm signaled, your target closer this time. It was Aki who peered between you two like a strict father who was chaperoning a dance. She told Cindy to give you two a second as she took you by the hand and dragged you over. Your eyes widened, body tensing to slow her momentum.

“Relax, I just wanna say something real quick.” She tugged a bit more to loosen you.

That did nothing to ease your nerves about the impending interaction. If anything, it only made your stomach twist tighter. Ruben was experiencing the same thing judging by the look on his face as she saw her coming in hot with you on her heels.

“Ruben.” Her voice was flat in greeting.

“Aki.” He swallowed thickly.

“I don’t have to remind you that I make promises, not threats, right?” Aki smiled humorlessly.

Ruben staggered out a nod. He knew exactly where she was coming from.

“Good.” She gave your fingers a squeeze and released them. “I’ll leave you two to do whatever it is that people who dated for five years - separated for seven on account of one person’s decision - and reunited while ruining my favorite chair in the office do.”

Both of you were left with open mouths and flaming faces as you watched her go back over to Cindy, who you realized would have lots of questions about the exchange. You knew that Aki was going to figure out the real reason her comfort sofa had been replaced. What a time and what a way for her to reveal it.

“That was a ramble. She can’t ramble when she’s truly upset.” Ruben whispered.

Your head inclined positively. “I think that actually went well.”

His shoulders sagged with relief. You instinctually placed your hands over them to give him a small massage. If it wasn’t obvious that something was going on between you two in any onlooker’s eyes, they would’ve caught on by now.

The way he looked at you would cement any suspicions as well. Ruben couldn’t stop himself from visibly appreciating the effort you put into tonight’s look. The feeling was very mutual. You loved him in all black, especially when his shirt strained against his chest.

He leaned forward, getting as far as touching noses with you until you reared back slightly.

“Have you told everyone here about us?” You breathed.

“I haven’t shut up about you in the past two days.” Ruben chuckled.

A hand curled around the back of his neck to bring him in for the kiss he’d so badly wanted. You did too, even more so after what he said. It wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy the craving you had for him, present company and all, but it was enough to satiate you for now.

The music lowered, but you hadn’t even noticed until you heard clinking on a glass. Your view switched from eyes you often got lost in to the reason you were all gathered here tonight. Erling waved, thanking everyone for coming out to celebrate the launch of his brand.

He went on to announce the biggest news of the night. It was the project Aki had been working so diligently to secure for him - a deal to collaborate on an activewear line with H&M. You had a timer set to drop the news on his website after the party so that it wasn’t spoiled.

“A team of hardworking women really went above and beyond for me, so thank you Erika,” He tipped his glass to his assistant and then towards your group. “Y/N, Aki and Cindy.”

You met all the kind smiles directed towards you with one of your own. If you weren’t already lit up like a Christmas tree, his move surely made that the case. Ruben’s hand curled around your waist to pull you in for a kiss atop your head.

“Let’s have fun tonight, but not too much. Pep can always tell when we’ve overdone it.” Erling wrapped up his speech.

The members in attendance groaned, man beside you included.

“Oh! One more thing.” He interrupted again. “Cheers to Ruben and Y/N! I don’t know how you got so lucky, but please don’t fuck it up. I love being her client.”

Aki whooped and the music resumed. You were definitely on fire, head to toe.

Ruben’s head fell and shook. Your arms wrapped around him as you made a small cooing sound. Poor thing, he had to take a lot of warnings on the chin on your behalf tonight. A part of you was smiling though. It was good to know that someone inside his camp was keeping him on his toes.

Celebrations got into full swing once the drinks really started flowing. Before the crowd got too involved with libations, Ruben introduced you to the people he spent the most time with. The tall brunette from earlier was John, you learned. You also did some low-key recon on his relationship status.

He’s here alone?

Poor guy has been coming to these types of events alone for a while now…

Everyone was letting a bit looser than you expected given Erling’s warning earlier. If the image of them somewhat behaving looked like Aki beating three of them in a row downing bulldogs, you didn’t want to know what full out was. Still, curiosity got the best of you.

“How do you guys act when not on your best behavior?” You quirked a brow at Ruben’s fellow countryman hitting a dance move you hand’t seen in ages.

He clutched his lower stomach subconsciously, gaze distant. “Let’s just say I don’t recall much about our treble celebrations.”

That was surprising. Even when you were younger with livers that could tolerate the cheapest of liquor in spades, he wasn’t much of a drinker. You’d only ever seen him drunk a handful of times, which was a blessing to be honest. He was the type to fall asleep anywhere.

“Sounds like it was a blast.” You hummed.

The feeling you had in his flat while taking in his accolades had made a reappearance. You didn’t know if it would ever get any easier - having to live all those moments of success he had secondhand. There would always be that voice in the back of your mind whispering that you should’ve been present for them.

“Hey,” Ruben must’ve sensed your longing, and tilted your chin up. “Remember what I said?”

You nodded and smiled, nuzzling into his palm. “I do.”

“Good, I just want you to focus on this. We’re here tonight because of you.” He beamed.

It hit you then that things must’ve been the same for him. The last time he’d been in your life, you weren’t anywhere close to being an owner of a multinational company. He’d missed your university graduations, the ladder climbing, your ribbon cutting ceremonies and all of the big projects that bore Bana’s credit.

“All those times you doubted yourself, those moments where you wanted to quit so badly…they never stood a chance against your belief in yourself.” His thumb ran gently across your cheek. “I’m so proud of you, Y/N, and I can’t wait to see how much more you achieve.”

You squeezed him tight. If there was anyone who had faith in you just as much if not more than yourself most days, besides Aki, it was him. Sometimes, you used to think that you were only doing it for him, pushing past the disappointment and doubt just so that he didn’t see you as a failure.

Hearing him say those words only validated the realization that your past thoughts had never been the case. You proved to yourself that with or without him, you were going to get to the point you were at currently.

“Come,” You took his hand in yours. “We can’t let them have all the fun.”

Ruben laughed as you downed the rest of your wine and pulled him in to dance with you. He spun you around, pressing his chest to your back. You peered at him devilishly over your shoulder while moving your hips in time with his.

That only lasted for so long before you felt him getting a little too excited. Your body pivoted to face his again, fingers joining behind his neck. He pressed his forehead to yours as you swayed and forgot the present environment in a more appropriate manner.

You didn’t know how many songs had passed until you came back to earth. There was noticeably more space in the apartment, a few bodies had cleared out while you were under his spell. A sight that caught your eye proudly was Cindy who was making hushed conversation with John on the sofa.

“This outfit of yours is doing something to me.” Ruben spoke into your ear.

A shiver ran down your whole body. He knew what he was doing, activating your senses like this and walking you right into his trap. You rolled your eyes mostly at yourself. That was exactly where you wanted to end up anyways.

“‘You trying to seduce me, Dias?” Your lip pinned between your teeth.

“Always.” He kissed your neck.

Just as your gaze was about to get lost behind your eyelids, you spotted Aki blowing kisses at a bottle of champagne. All of the lust fueled urges you were feeling took the back burner to newfound nurturing.

“You’re gonna have to put a pin in that.” You patted his chest.

Ruben gave you his best puppy eyes. “Hm?”

Your head nudged towards your friend who was now making a move on the poor alcohol, a finger trailing lazily down its side. He made a small ah sound, understanding what you meant immediately.

“Why don’t we take the party back to mine?” You looped an arm around hers.

Aki squinted at you. “Don’t you have knock to boots with that giant meany?”

It took everything in you not to laugh in her face. This was definitely the perfect moment for you to get her out of here. The next stage in her drunkenness would be a wildcard. You’d either be subjected to a long winded proclamation on how she felt about everything, or impromptu karaoke of Santana’s greatest hits. Neither of which suited the occasion.

“I have a bestie I’d much rather cuddle with tonight.” A little flattery always did the trick.

Her expression softened and she pulled you into a hug. The words muffled into your chest signaled that she’d slipped into the love bombing phase of intoxication, which you greatly preferred to her jazz rendition of Maria, Maria.

You began walking towards the door while dragging her slowly along. A hand raised to wave goodbye to Cindy and then Erling, the other stroking Aki’s back. Ruben was about to approach, but your eyes widened and your head shook quickly. The lion was almost out of the den.

As if she was an actual predator, Aki stiffened. Her glassy eyes found him instantly and you could see him holding his breath, waiting. She took your hand and dragged you the rest of the way to the door, her tongue sticking out tauntingly towards him.

Before the lift close, you saw Ruben laughing. He blew you a kiss, which luckily had gone unnoticed by your bodyguard. It found itself tucked into your pocket, remembering how you used to do the same back then.

You couldn’t wait to feel the weight increase as you collected those yet to come.

The following day at the office found your team one player down.

Given the night that transpired, you weren’t too surprised by that. You had to actually make good on your promise to bring the festivities home by dancing with Aki. Ultimately, that worked in your favor. It got her parched enough to drink water while also purging out some of the alcohol in her system.

What was surprising was the fact that she wasn’t the missing person. While her ability to bounce back was the quickest between you two, you weren’t placing bets on her peeling out of bed shortly after you did. And it was a good thing you didn’t take the risk.

She listened to the silence of the space, noticeably devoid of any fingers moving across a keyboard or faint music floating down the hallway like usual. Her hands then dramatically snatched the sunglasses from her face as she posed the same question rattling around your mind.

“Where’s Cindy?”

The inquiry hung for a second before a proverbial lightbulb went off in your head. You didn’t want to get too ahead of yourself, but you had a pretty good idea concerning the reason behind her discernible absence. At least, you hoped that was why.

“I think she’s cashing in one of those bonus days.” You smiled.

Aki shrugged, slipping her glasses back on. “Fair, poor thing works too hard.”

You focused on lessening the load for her upon her return. The more technical aspects of client management wasn’t particularly your favorite thing to do, but you’d suck it up for the sake of her finally getting the rest she deserved.

About half of the day passed when your best friend dragged herself into your office. She ran out of what little steam she had, which you completely understood. You commended her for even being able to lift a toothbrush into her mouth this morning.

That left you the sole survivor of Erling’s launch party. It took you back to the days when you first started Bana. Like that dollar and a dream saying, all you had was yourself, a laptop and an unhealthy amount of delusion.

You welcomed that energy and channeled it into the work laid out before you. One thing you never wanted to lose was that initial hunger. It was the motivation that would keep you going even when things were slowing down like they sort of currently were.

Any leads that Cindy had marked out, you followed up on with fervor. While you were at that, you worked on updating the company’s website and portfolio to reflect the latest projects you’d worked on.

When are you gonna give me a tour of your place?

You huffed out a laugh, typing.

Meet me there soon. Mine looks best at sunset.

Now that the cat was out of the bag, you didn’t have to worry about keeping him away from your home radius with a ten foot pole. It also helped that Aki was definitely going to be out of commission until the next day at the earliest. So there was no chance of a still awkward potential run in.

You wrapped up the last few emails on the list you had to send out and made your way back. Hopefully he wasn’t too eager to come over since quite the mess had been left from the previous night.

As soon as you got home, you cracked your windows to air out the loft and got to cleaning. Given that you didn’t know how much time you were working with, you put on an hour timer for extra encouragement. Dishes, sweeping, dusting and surface cleaning in that order all while you carried out laundry.

When the timer ended, you’d just returned from throwing the trash down chute at the end of the hall. With Ruben still not being there, you put your freshly cleaned shower to the test and then got into some loungewear straight from the dryer.

I’m downstairs.

You felt giddy as replied to him which floor you were on before you sent the elevator down.

“Hello MTV…” Your arm stretched above your head.

Ruben jogged over and tackled you inside playfully. You couldn’t help the giggles that fell from your mouth until they were cut off by his. He peppered your face with kisses and moved down to your neck.

“I missed you.” His nose nuzzled against your skin.

Even though it had been less than a day since you last saw him, you related to his remark. The hours you spent apart felt like days and sometimes even months, as exaggerative as that sounded. When you weren’t with him, in the back of your mind if not the forefront, you were always thinking about the last and next time you’d see him.

You stroked his hair gently, “I missed you too.”

Though you might not have millions of followers on your social media, you gave him the brand marketer’s version of a house tour. You’d argue that it was better. He got all the details from the imported quartz countertops, your treasured surgical steel knife collection, custom made sofa and  floor to ceiling tiled bathroom all the way down to the thread-count of your duvet.

“And now, as promised.” You dragged him back to the entirely windowed wall of your living room.

He’d arrived just in time to catch the sunset. It was luckily a good weather day in this perpetually drab city, grey skies making way for the blue he donned week after week. Hues of yellow, orange and a dash of pink illuminated the space, bathing you both in the sun’s warm kaleidoscope.

“I think your view is better than mine.” Ruben marveled.

That might’ve been true. The only thing you would change about your flat was to have a balcony like his. There was a unit with one a few floors up, but it was already occupied. You definitely weren’t staking out the developer’s leasing page on a regular basis to see if it became available.

Once the sun had disappeared, you settled onto the couch and lied on his lap. Unlike him, you reminded, you were not some Michelin star chef and also still had yet to do a grocery run. That left your trusted friend, the delivery app, to do all of the work for tonight’s meal.

Ruben wasn’t objected to the idea. In fact, he welcomed it a bit too eagerly. You almost took offense until he swiftly interjected that he’d been craving something different lately. It still had to be somewhat healthy though, special footballer diet and all.

You put in an order from one of your favorite spots. It was a small family owned Greek place that always used the freshest ingredients, something you were sure both your bodies would thank you for after a long day.

While you ate your mouth watering wrap, you curled up beside him and put on a random trending movie on Netflix. It quickly became background noise though. He was more interested in hearing about your recent events and how life had been since you moved to Manchester.

“There’s something else we have to talk about.” Ruben took a sip of water.

Your back immediately straightened. Those words were never the precursor for something pleasant. When matched with that tone and a more serious expression, you certainly weren’t excited to hear what was next.

“Should I be worried?” Your brows met as you tried to fight off the millions of scenarios that flooded your head.

“It’s nothing particularly bad, it’s just,” He scratched his beard. “Now that I play for City and we get so much media attention, being with me will come with a lot more than it used to.”

You breathed a sigh of relief. It was good to know that he wasn’t going to spring a surprise on you like the fact that he had a situationship he’d never really cut off, or that he was harboring a secret love child.

Funnily enough, the WAG thing never really crossed your mind. He’d only ever been the oddly cute buck toothed boy you fell for on the playground, even when you were watching him play before his senior debut. It was weird trying to reconcile that version of him with how others saw him.

“Oh no, do you have stalkers now?” You half-joked.

“Be serious!” Ruben warned through a grin. “I don’t, but some people do go a bit overboard with player’s partners. Taking pictures of them out in public, digging into their pasts, leaving malicious comments. I’ve been told that there’s some news about us so…”

The importance of what he was saying wasn’t lost on you. You’d heard about how intense things could get when publicly dating a footballer. With his looks and status, you honestly anticipated him having some fans that were obsessive in an unhealthy way. The fact that you hadn’t even really been out together publicly but already were exposed kind of proved that.

You appreciated him looking out for you. He knew none of that could ever change things, but still felt it was necessary to check in with you to confirm that you knew what all getting back together brought. It only made you want him more.

“All I do is work and I barely use socials anyways.” You wrapped your arms around his neck. “I guess the only thing I have to do is make sure I don’t leave home looking like a bum.”

He shook his head. “Impossible, you look good in anything.”

Your eyes did a full circle. There he was with his sweet words, trying to seduce you again. You had a thought to give him a taste of his own medicine and so you followed through with it. In one quick move, you straddled him and brought your lips to hover just over his.

“What about nothing?”

Ruben instantly sealed the gap between you and him. Even better, he muttered into your mouth. You swallowed his words, feeling them travel all the way down to stoke the flames already licking within the molten pit in your stomach.

Your tongue moved against and over his own while your hips dug deep into his. He trembled beneath you, hands falling to massage your ass. Most of it was left half exposed by your ridden up shorts, making your flesh rise to meet his fingertips and palms

Everything about him was so divine. The way he smelt, felt and tasted. You wanted to engrave each inch of him in your memory so that you’d never forget any of his being ever again. Your lips met his forehead, his cheeks, chin and neck.

They grew hungrier the more they feasted. You tugged on his shirt that was unhesitatingly removed with his help. Across the expanse of his shoulders, your lips traversed next, and then down to his firm chest. You became something of a woman possessed as your teeth pinched his nipple.

“Y/N!” Ruben gasped in shock.

You pulled away quickly, worried. “Did that hurt?”

“No, it just…” His eyes narrowed as a sly expression took over his face.

Instead of telling you what it did to him, he decided to show you. His hand trailed up your waist until his thumbs ran along the underside of your breasts. You shivered, teeth baring with a smile.  His fingers moved lower and began moving quickly, digging into your sides.

“Traitor!” You yelled and leapt from his lap.

“You started it.” He reached out a hand. “Come back, I won’t tickle you again.”

Your confidence in that statement was nearly zero. The escape you made from his clutches was made far too quickly for his revenge to be satiated. And his gaze still lingered with challenge. You took a tiny testing step towards him.

When he surged up to grab you midway, you shrieked again and easily dodged. Ruben gave you a look that screamed you were just delating the inevitable. You gave him one right back that said catch me if you can.

He might’ve been fast, but you had home court advantage. You easily weaved around your furniture to the kitchen. In the corner of the furthest end of the island, you gauged his stalking as he did the same.

“Ready to forfeit?” Ruben tested.

“I thought you liked to earn your wins.” You taunted before taking off again.

Your muscles fired up as you darted towards the bedroom. If you could make it under your covers, you’d at least have a few moments of extra protection from his treacherous digits. The neatly tucked duvet came into view and celebrations were imminent.

At the buzzer, he threw you onto the bed and launched an attack on your stomach. You tried to curl up, writhing and twisting your body in an attempt to fight off his fingers. It was to no avail, his hands had infiltrated beneath your shirt to tickle your bare skin.

Right as you were about to cry uncle, you heard your doorbell chime. That halted both of your actions. You sat up onto your elbows as he removed himself from your body. His brows raised as if to ask if you were expecting anyone.

You weren’t. If it was Aki, she wouldn’t have rung your bell since she knew the code. Though she could’ve been adhering to respecting your privacy had she heard you and Ruben scuffling from outside.

The bell rang again and you peeled yourself from the bed, straightening your shirt and shorts along the way to see who it was. You hoped it was her and not some disgruntled neighbor. Surely, you weren’t being that loud.

When you opened up, you took it back. You would much rather be staring down the barrel of aggravated eyes than the ones you met. It wasn’t as if you weren’t happy to see her, far from that, you were just stunned.

And truly in a pickle given the other visitor currently residing in your bedroom.

“Mom…” You regulated your breathing with a smile. “What are you doing here?!”

[youphoriaot7]

...okay. I'm still trying to get my thoughts together so this might be a bit rambly, but bear with me.

The more I look at the black shulker investigations that Cellbit did around the time of the election dinner, the more I believe the Federation intercepted him rather than manipulated him.

The information that was discovered through the mission was a lot of stuff that was super private to the Federation: he found evidence that the Federation knew about the Code Sword prior to Etoiles even knowing it existed, he saw mention of the Federation doing experimentation and tests long before Baghera or even Jaiden's plotlines came to light, he found Project A0 weeks before we heard about Egg A1. (And none of this is me bashing on other plotlines; don't twist my words.) [The ultimate culmination of the investigation was the Code Sword, so it seems as though there may be a tie there—which, if the Codes are currently using the black concrete, would make sense.]

When he got to the final coordinates that the shulkers led him to, however, there was another book inside that shulker with more coords. This struck me as weird at the time, and still bothers me—because the final book had told him to leave the evidence at the coordinates; so why say that only to give him more coordinates?

But the final shulker was out in the open: it would be fairly easy to find and drop a book inside. If you knew what you were looking for.

Switching gears a bit—if I'm not wrong, all of Bagi's childhood lore fragments have also come in black shulkers, not chests or white shulkers. All of her information has been stuff I'm absolutely certain the Federation would not want her to know about or remember, especially if/considering they had something to do with it all.

If the Federation is order, control, and perfection—white—then this new...thing is chaos, luck, and confusion—black.

I think those black shulker investigations were just an exceptionally early introduction to whatever the third player in this island's chess game is. One of the books Cellbit received then said that they "share[d] a common enemy," and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. If it was from the Codes, would that be referencing the Federation? If it was truly the Federation tricking him the whole time, would it mean the Codes? Why would they say that; acknowledge the Codes in private like that? Either way doesn't really seem to fully click into place. Not to mention he was investigating both parties at the same time: the Code Sword and the Federation's tests/experiments.

This...black shulker association(? ksjdfg) doesn't seem fully aligned with either the Federation nor the Codes: I think they're a "neutral" third party. They might be working together with the Codes at the moment, what with the Codes helping the eggs to communicate(??? still not positive that's what's happening) but I don't think they're the same entity.

The black organization seems to simply be committed to giving out information the Federation doesn't want people to know.

To add another piece to this puzzle, look at Hombre Misterioso and ¿?. (Which I consider two different people—one being the mysterious figure that was torturing (/lh) Cellbit, one being the man that gave Maxo the plans for SOFIA.) If we consider that both of them are also a part of this black concrete association(? skfjg), then they are also doing things that don't quite benefit the Federation or the Codes. The ¿? man seemed wary of the Federation (he told Maxo to "be careful, the Federation may be watching") and just had these masterplans for a giant supercomputer on hand, for whatever reason. Hombre Misterioso seemed to have his own still unknown reasons for torturing Cellbit, but he didn't seem fully aligned with either side either.

Neither of these people really...strengthened the fight for or against the Federation at all; all they did was give us more questions. More confusion. More information. More chaos.

[sweetcloverheart]

Clover Rants Miraculously - Divisive Derision

Derision finally dropped, so now I can go ahead and complain (spoiler warning for those who haven’t watched the episode)

So, for a long time, the reveal of the Chloe induced “Date Trauma event” for Marinette in “Derision” that apparently is what causes her tongue tying around Adrien bothered me for a while - and not in the "Ugh, more ‘Please hate Chloe’ nonsense” sort of way, but in a “This is upsetting me a similar way the Marinette-Chloe-Audrey scene in “Style Queen” (not the “telling a child to keep pleasing their abusive parent” stuff, but the other part) did, but I can’t pinpoint why.” sort of way that sort of stuck in my head for a good while as I struggled to figure it out

And then I realized the issue - it was creating the same problem of involving a character in an issue that didn’t need them there.

Yeah, Chloe would 100% have done that prank (and be completely unapologetic about it too), but it didn’t need to happen because this should be about Marinette and her issues only. Why is an episode that’s supposed to be about why Marinette seems to have trouble telling her boyfriend she loves him involving her bully (who has been such a huge non-factor since the start of the new season and hasn’t even been involved in any attempts to wreck the relationship so far) when there are so many other currently involved and active recent events and parties (like Gabemoth) that could be used to trigger and facilitate the plot. There were 9999 different ways you could have lead up to and explained Marinette’s “dating trauma” without Chloe being the centerpiece of it - like say she’s constantly panicking about confessing to Adrien because Marinette’s overly shy and hasn’t gotten over that, or because Marinette hasn’t gotten over her celebrity worship of Adrien, or that Marinette’s still upset over Chat’s rejection, or because the last time she had a boyfriend and tried to say she loved him he got Akumatized, or because the infinite amount of failed schemes by her and the girl squad have made her develop a Pavlovian response to clam up in front of Adrien when she tries to tell him how she feels and “move on to the next level”, or because Gabriel threatened her in an attempt to end the relationship with the bonus of getting her akumatized (“Chat Blanc” parallels? More likely than you think!). And if it has to be a cut-and-pasted event, then maybe make it where Marinette once liked a guy but he rejected her in front of the class and she was super embarrassed over it, or someone (Who isn’t Chloe - like seriously, she can’t be the only awful kid in Francois Dupont, especially with how the teachers handle disputes? Come on Thomas, let the other bullies have their chance to shine!) tricked her into thinking a guy liked her when he didn’t and embarrassed her in front of everyone, or that a guy she liked led her on as a joke and it hurt her a lot, or maybe even that Marinette being bullied made a guy reject her because he didn’t want to be bullied too and that making her hesitant to actually pursue someone she like. Literally, you have so many options that are 100% Chloe-free so that we can focus on Marinette, her character, and the Adrienette relationship growth and not retread old ground with another “Chloe makes Marinette miserable because she’s evil and sucks” scene. The whole “Box of spiders and paint on the chair” thing just making what should be a simple story of why Marinette cannot spit it out more drastically complicated (and frankly, a bit overdramatic) than it should be.

“But Clover!” I hear you say “If Chloe isn’t involved, how will she and Adrien end their friendship? The whole point of the prank and what it did to Marinette is to make Adrien realize Chloe is evil and bad!”

Same solution - have Adrien end it for an active recent event as opposed to something that happened a year before (And you know, not make him look like such an awful dude that it took a prank that happened way before his transfer (that happens to be keeping him from smooching Marinette) to break from Chloe instead of *gestures vaguely to seasons 1 and 3-4*). Make him end things because Chloe tried to ruin a date between him and Marinette, or because Gabriel bribes/requests her to try and break them up and he finds out, or because he learns about her and Lila becoming friends and her helping out with the other girl’s lies, or because he’s finally taking notice of her bullying and how it’s hurting everyone else, or because he finds out what she tried to do in “Gabriel Agreste” and after she does something else mean/cruel realizes the girl who used to play with him and helped him finally attend school has long since died.

Or just not do it/put it off for a later date and have her not involved in the episode at all. Adrien already ignored the crappy stuff she does, so it wouldn’t be that different from usual - heck, you can use this time to build up to the friendship dissolution by having Adrien actually take note of Chloe’s behavior and how she treats Marinette

“...Okay, but what about Kim? How does he get Akumatized and allow us to salt on him if the prank doesn’t exist?”

Even easier - used the prank plot on him and Ondine. Kim tries to play a funny joke on her, she freaks out unexpectedly, Kim feels like a jerk and bad boyfriend - and then BOOM, Akuma time! Then afterwards she can explain that a person who used to bully her did a similar prank and that’s why she freaked out. The two of them kiss and make up, Adrien’s left to wonder about how Ondine’s old bully and Chloe seem really similar, Marinette swears to keep working on overcoming her fears to be a better girlfriend to Adrien. Roll credits! (Or again, if we have to use the OG scenario, use a different character for the flashback as Chloe’s assistant pranker! MLB’s no stranger to pilling on with new cast members - actually, weren’t there, like, two kids shown in one of the old class photos from “Refleckta” who aren’t part of the current one anyone? why not bring them back as Chloe’s old lackies or something)

[allsassnoclass]

Kid fic prompts

Had a request to gather some prompts about characters with kids! Most of these are single parent aus, but there are other iterations of characters with kids as well.

While I came up with some of these, many of these come from my AU notebook, which is years and years old and from before I properly sourced things. If they are from your prompt list, please let me know and I'll credit or remove them, which ever you prefer!

I'm the band teacher and you're the new choir teacher at this under-funded public school

We knew each other in high school and ran into each other at the grocery store and my teenage child saw the interaction and is now trying to set us up

I PUT THE KID I'M BABYSITTING DOWN FOR TWO SECONDS HOW ARE THEY GONE WHERE-- oh you found them and are now holding them and searching for their guardian

We're camp counselors at the summer camp that we both went to as little kids

We both work at Disney World and all of the little kids LOVE you

Alternatively, you work at Disney World and I did not mentally prepare myself for spending a full day at the park with my child and no adult backup and you're an employee who is saving my life at every turn

I don't like you and you don't like me but our best friends died in a car crash and left their 1-year-old child in our custody so now we've got to act civil and learn how to co-parent

You run my kid's daycare

I'm only at this park because my younger sibling wanted to come (not because I'm secretly a small child inside haha what are you talking about) why are YOU here?

We both babysit the same kid on different days and I have to listen to the kid gush about you the entire time I'm watching them and we're FINALLY meeting at the kid's birthday party

We are overly invested soccer parents

I'm the host of a children's TV show and you're the child supervisor on set

The kids we're escorting to trick or treating on Halloween just dropped their bags and got all of their candy mixed up

I accidentally scared a kid on Halloween and their adult is angry

Your kid keeps kicking the back of my seat on this airplane

Hey we hooked up last night and it turns out you're my kid's teacher

My parents died and left me, a barely legal adult, in charge of my kid sibling and the only person that I can be myself around is you, some guy I work with at my crappy minimum wage job

My baby insists on crying all night long and you came into the hallway of our apartment complex to see what's up and offer help

We're the only single parents in the play group and all of the other parents are definitely shipping us hardcore

My kid threw a fit at the ice cream/toy/whatever store and you were the only person nice enough to help without judging me

Our kids are best friends and oh look we're both single so I guess I'll ask you out for a drink

I'm on the bus and my 2-year-old won't stop crying except you just smiled at them and they did

I asked you to babysit one time and now my child keeps asking when you will spend time with them again

You asked me to the store with you and your child and now my distant relative we met thinks I'm married with a kid

We're friends and my child's first word was your name and I'm jealous and also kind of endeared

You've been sleeping at mine because you're house is being renovated and we aren't even dating, yet every time you wake up to the baby crying and sigh "I'll go" I feel like we might as well be married

We've been on a few dates and my child just asked us when we're getting married

Our children are in the same class and we both hate the teacher, eventually the parent's evenings are just us competing at who can call out snarkier comments

We are the only two parents to agreed to attend the school trip (bonus: so I guess we share this hotel room...?)

I'm so sorry that my child pointed out how your shirt--actually never mind, I agree, that shirt is horrendous

You crouched down to coo at my baby but I forgot to tell you their favorite thing to do is play with people's hair and now they won't let go of you

I work as an elf at a mall Santa grotto and you keep bringing a seemingly endless supply of kids through to meet Santa

[evita-shelby]

National Anthem

Chapter 3

Cw:mentions of sex and torture methods very M-rated

Taglist @thegreatdragonfruta @zablife

“He can wrap a garrote ‘round a man’s balls in less than two seconds.” Eva is head over heels over her gringo.

Her grandfather would be spinning in his grave.

Really, its embarrassing how much she wants this man.

“It takes me five, four if I’ve gotten the party started.” her cousin, the handsome and enigmatic spy currently fending off bold heiresses by the dozen, whistled in approval. “And when did your gringo tell you?”

When Eva felt the scarring in his balls as they desecrated the confessional, but alas she cannot say such things.

Not to Santiago anyways.

Oh, why did she have to be the only girl born in their age group?

All her female cousins are much older or far too young.

Only one cousin is married, and his wife is her former lover.

Antonia might take offense at having her gush about Jack and his talent for murder. She used to hate it so when Eva would go on and on about Diosdado, from his pretty eyes and the way stole that silver filly for her in Texas.

Funny wasn’t it, so desperate for friends here when she used to have so many in her home country.

She is supposed to start over, find people she likes and create a network of people they can use to gain control of high society.

In a society that views them as oddities and something that doesn’t belong there.

But she must make the effort to get the Boston elite to love her. No, not love, adore her so that when Jack goes into politics and their son becomes President not a single bad word is ever said about them.

“Church, and at his place. We hit it off and chose a pattern for the china and all that.” Eva answered hoping he didn’t see through the half-truths.

“If he backs out of the deal and you’re pregnant, you’ll be married off to that Republican in New Jersey, Evita.” Tiago warned and she dismissed it when she saw her gringo walk into the ballroom.

“He won’t back out, I’ve seen it. Your godson will be youngest President of the United States, mark my words.” The witch couldn’t help but give her groom her most radiant smile.

And sure enough, the wedding is an affair to remember.

All the who is who of Boston and even New York and the Pope himself blessing the union. She is decked out in the family ruby parure, and Eva is sure Boston is out of red roses because Jack bought them all for her.

They aren’t in love, but something tells the witch its just a matter of time.

How could it not, they were perfect for each other?

“He’s got more whores than you have shoes, prima.” Santiago whispered before offering a last chance to back out with a false identity and his place in Casablanca.

“Not after me. There won’t be any other women after me.” The witch said kissing his cheek goodbye.

“Do you think Abe and Mary ever did any of that?” he asked as they lay head to toe on the massive bed.

Their honeymoon in Florida had been wonderful, and for the rest of their stay in Washington DC, they make good use of Abraham Lincoln’s bed. A reward for giving the First Lady good news regarding the ill health of President Wilson after Eleanor Roosevelt confided in her about Eva’s clairvoyance.

Jack had not wasted a moment to show how proud he was of his woman for scoring them such an invitation and continued to teach her every trick every whore had shown him.

The witch had ridden his face while she sucked his prick better than any woman he’s had, or so he said teased after she’d swallowed every drop.

Keep his stomach full and his balls empty, that had been the advice from her senile English granny.

And Eva had put it into practice.

He won’t stray, his secretary will get tired of waiting and resign. His favorite whores will seek other protectors and any woman dumb enough to try anything, will find themselves with terrible luck.

She won’t kill or hurt them, just let them know she could do so with absolute impunity.

Jack is hers, only hers.

“Who’s to say, maybe that’s why she went mad after his death.” Eva quite liked the view, both of them naked and him tracing idle patterns on her scarred ankle, but she preferred his broad chest over any pillow the world had to offer, so she moved back to the head of the bed and kissed him better than any French whore ever could.

Antonia had taught her to kiss like that, learned it from her younger sisters’ French governess, the young and sapphic, Madame Delacroix.

Jack tasted of her, and she of him, and if Abraham Lincoln was anything like Eva’s Jack, it’s a surprise the Lincoln’s only had four sons.

“I think I love you.” Jack says so earnestly she believes it. It is much easier to fall in love with a witch than for a witch to fall in love with said person, one had the risk of being accidentally beguiled by the magic radiating from their lover.

Eva doesn’t say it back, instead she changed the topic, kissing him again and again so he knows his words haven’t affected her want of him. “I saw something just now.”

“Hm, what did the Holy Pythia see?” he asked between kisses and wrapping her closer to him.

“The youngest president of the United States being made on this very bed.” The witch answered knowing she’s going to leave this room with a limp and he forgetting she didn’t say it back.

When Eva hears it again, Jack is drunk as hell.

He had gone out to some club he took over and celebrated like old times. Jack had risen high, but he missed the violence, the adrenaline and danger of his former life.

Tonight he let the beast out and showed Boston he was still Jack Nelson even if he was now a Wall Street Stock Broker putting her gifts and his together to make them richer than they ever were.

He had tried to fuck two dancers, pretty things who thought they could make him forget her, but they hadn’t. even if he closed his eyes, the brunette couldn’t be Eva nor could the blonde get a rise out of him no matter how long he’d had her.

“Got harder thinking about the woman I got at home than the one licking my cock. The other one said I must really love you if my prick wouldn’t stay hard no other gal except you.” He undressed himself and said this as if it were a great demonstration of his feelings for her.

Given his history, it was apparently.

But she loves his brutal honesty, knows that Jack wouldn’t hesitate to call her out on her shit and expects her to do the same.

They are equals, even if he pretends otherwise to keep his reputation.

“So, you love me?” the witch asked him. She should say it back, they have been married for nearly six months and Eva should be sure of her feelings by now.

But she isn’t, between the babies and getting to know every facet of Jack, she puts off seeing if what they have is love.

It will come, she knows. And she is fond of him and cares for him dearly, she isn’t ready to call it love.

Mainly because the last time she truly let herself fall in love with someone, they married her cousin and led her to a downward spiral so awful she let herself get caught in hopes Carranza would just shoot her already.

“Yeah, wouldn’t be here with you if I didn’t, sweetheart.” He answered honestly, inhibited by the alcohol and totally going to forget in the morning when he wakes up with a hangover from hell. “You’re the only one I want since that day in the church.”

“Even now that I’m pregnant with twins?” Eva teased him enjoying the show he was giving her.

He’d lost his shirt on the stairs, kicked off his shoes just inside the bedroom and tossed her his undershirt as she waited in bed.

“Even pregnant with the future president of the United fucking States of America and his VP.” He answered gesturing for her to undo his trousers only for her to refuse.

He did try to fuck other women, after all.

“I love you.” He said in a whisper once he got in bed with her.

“Tell me when you’re sober, Jack.” Eva responded and he promised to do so. Good thing he won’t remember this in the morning.

[my-favourite-zhent]

New Tricks - Chapter 10

Status: Work In Progress

Version: 1.01

Pairing: Rugan x AFAB!OC

Rating: NC-17 (This chapter R)

Genre: Adventure/Romance

Summary: Misadventures of Rugan and the original Zhentarim Gate's crew before and during the year of three sailing ships.

Table of Contents

Below the cut or on AO3

New Tricks - Chapter Ten

They were the first out of the city that day, clearing the gates just as Amaunator crested the hill heralding the dawn.

“Hurry up you bloody bastards, are you lot still asleep?” Zarys shouted from the front of the wagon.

“What’s the rush Zarys? Homesick?” Rugan teased.

“That job we did.” Her voice was quieter now.

“That poncy lord’s party? What of it?”

“According to the local broadsheets he’s turned up dead, and not just regular dead. Murdered rather savagely. A few of his staff too.”

“Guess he served the wrong type of wine to his guests, and someone took issue.” Rugan was ever trying to keep the mood light. “Got nothing to do with us.” He added.

“He was killed in his office, supposedly the safe was ransacked.”

“Oh? Good thing we didn’t go as Zhents then, city guard might be trying to pin it on us.” Though he tried to keep his tone cheerful Rugan could feel the colour drain from his face. Those runes were more important than the buyer had let on.

“And even better that you didn’t actually take the damn things.” Zarys spoke low enough so that only Rugan could hear.

Under better circumstances he would’ve teased Zarys about the almost compliment, but it felt like a cold hand was wrapped around his heart and he couldn’t summon the humour for it.

“Suppose I don't have to tell you to make sure the boys keep mum.” Zarys continued.

“Aye, I'll handle it.”

‘Izzy will be out of the city by now.’ He tried to reassure himself.

At the next rest stop he had cornered Sal and inquired about the cost of a scroll of sending.

“Hah, there’s a reason only Zarys is allowed to use those. Just one will set you back four hundred weeping wolves.”

“Four hundred?! To send one bloody message?!” Rugan struggled to keep the anxiety out of his voice. They were already a half day’s travel out of Waterdeep and the whole ride down the painful knot in his chest had only gotten worse.

“Look, I could cast it for you myself, do it for say fifty tarenths. But I’d have to know who I’m sending it to. Doesn’t work if the caster isn’t familiar with the receiver.” Rugan felt his hopes crest then dash themselves against Salazon’s words. Fifty tarenths he could’ve parted with but Sal had never met Izzy.

“You wouldn’t know them.” He remarked bitterly.

“Ah cheer up mate, we may pass another caravan before long. If you know what inn or temple they’re staying at, you could send a letter with one. Any reply would probably beat us to Baldur’s Gate.”

Rugan shook his head ruefully, Izzy had been vague on the specifics.

The ride after that had been a solemn affair. He did his best to put his mind off it. She was likely far from Waterdeep now, and if she wasn’t they hadn’t left any evidence behind, and if they had… well he was never going to see her again either way so what did it matter?

By the end of the tenday he had almost convinced himself of this last point. They had arrived at Daggerford without incident and were put up in rather nice accommodations. Lady Morwen of Daggerford had brokered a deal with Zhentarim leadership about a year prior and they were well treated in town even if not well liked.

Rugan had just slipped out of his boots and armour when a rap came at the door of his room. Slipping a dagger in the back of his belt he opened it tentatively. It was Olly.

“Letter for you.” 

“From who?” Rugan took the envelope and eyed it suspiciously, his name was scrawled on it in an unfamiliar hand.

Olly shrugged. “Innkeeper just asked if we had a Rugan in our crew, apparently another caravan dropped it off this morning.”

Rugan nodded. “My thanks, lad.”

He shut the door and carefully cracked open the seal. Inside he found a piece of parchment and a folded broadsheet.

Zhent

Saw this on my way out of the city, thought you might want to know.

I know you lot can look after yourselves but stay safe all the same.

Izzy

There was a smear of rouge at the bottom where she had pressed her lips to the page.

Relief washed over him like a tidal wave, and he found himself laughing despite himself. She was safe.

He took a moment to examine the broadsheet and sure enough it was an article on the duke's violent death. Might have even been the same article Zarys had read.

Rugan turned his attention back to Izzy's note, ghosting his thumb over the imprint of her lips. He laid in bed for a while longer, rereading her letter, committing her large looping scrawl to memory. At length he touched the red mark once more before folding the letter and tucking it into his shirt.

+++++

He was in good spirits that night, so much so that he didn't even mind spending the coin on a couple of rounds at the Lady Luck. 

Rugan had sat down at their table with a pair of fresh pints in hand, when Olly piped up.

“I think Bellar is homesick.”

“I'm not homesick, I'm just sick of this town, is all.”

Rugan looked Bellar over, his friend looked annoyed sure but more than that he just looked glum. He found himself agreeing with Olly's assessment but made sure not to say so.

“Cheer up Bel’, we’ll be on the road again soon.”

“Too bad we didn’t see more sights in Waterdeep.” Olly sighed.

“That gang war will have destroyed ‘em all in the next ten day anyways.” Bellar muttered.

“Bellar, are you trying to make the boy feel worse?”

Bellar glanced over to Olly who looked absolutely stricken. He at least had the decency to wince with guilt.

“Don’t worry Olly, they’ll have built something new by next time you return this far north.” Bellar tried to mollify the boy.

“We won't be doing a job up here again though, will we?”

“Not likely, no.” Rugan sighed bitterly. “But you'll have some time to yourself in the winter. Less work to be had and you can take a ship. Which is sure as shite faster than ambling up the Tradeway for three months.”

“So you won't be seeing Izzy again?” Olly's tone was compassionate. He was a kind lad but in this instance it got on Rugan's nerves, he didn't enjoy being pitied.

“Plenty other girls all along the Sword Coast, no sense pining over one.” He worked to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

“But you never introduce us to any of the others.”

It was Rugan's turn to wince. He had been particularly soft on her hadn't he? No wonder Bellar was concerned if even Olly had noticed that Rugan was slipping.

“If I introduced you to all of them I wouldn’t have any time to swive them now would I?”

Olly gave him a measured look but remained silent, seeming to have picked up on the touchiness of the subject. Rugan wasn’t sure if that was worse than the prying.

“Besides,” He added. “I’ve plenty of regular girls.”

“Regular girls?” Olly furrowed his brow.

“Don't you know? Rugan here has a girl in every city along the Sword Coast.” Bellar tirreni interjected.

“Used to in my heyday, all the way to Luskan.” Rugan said jokingly.

“What happened?”

“Well I don't go that far north anymore, now do I?” Rugan laughed and Bellar rolled his eyes.

“In all seriousness lad,” Rugan continued. “you'd be hard pressed to find a caravan guard that doesn't have at least a couple of lovers scattered about.”

“I've got two myself in Elturel.” Bellar said rather proudly.

“Now, why would you get two in the same city? The point is to spread them out.” Rugan sighed in exasperation.

“We're in Elturel all the time, and besides I like variety.” 

“Why not have one in the Gate and one in Elturel?” Olly piped up.

“One in the Gate?!” “No, no, no, Olly.” They interjected at the same time. The pair locked eyes before Rugan gestured for Bellar to go first.

“You don't want a steady lover in your home city Olly, they could find out where you live.”

“Might try to talk to your parents even.”

“These are bad things?”

“You’d never have any peace to yourself.” Bellar replied.

“And you're not looking to marry them, now are you?”  

“Never have any coin left then neither.” Bellar added.

“But Jarg's got a man in the Gate.” Olly argued.

“Well that's a bit different.” Rugan raised his cup to his lips.

“Yeah, Jarg does actually want to marry that one. S’not the same as a bedwarmer.”

“And besides, he's right useful.” Rugan took a long drink.

“Useful how?”

Bellar and Rugan exchanged a look, before Rugan replied.

“You didn't hear this from us lad. In fact you didn't hear this, period. But Jarg's man is in the Fist.”

“The Flaming Fist?!” The shock written clear on Olly's face.

“Keep your voice down Olly.” Bellar chastised. “We might be in Daggerford but you never know who you'll run into.”

“Sorry.” Then in a whisper. “Does Zarys know?”

“Aye, she does. Jarg's man is how she gets a heads up about stings half the time.”

“But Roah does not know,” Bellar added. “and we try to keep it that way.”

“Why? If Zarys is fine with it?”

“Because she'd kill them both, Olly.” Rugan sighed. “Look, I know I give Zarys a hard time about being irascible as she is, but she's only doing her job. Usually. Zarys is proper family, she looks out for us so far as she can. Roah on the other hand…”

“Roah is management,” Bellar finished for him. “straight from Darkhold, and management doesn't give a shit about us.”

Olly looked at his mug as he contemplated this new information.

‘Good.’ Thought Rugan. ‘Lad’s taking it seriously.’

Rugan hoped perhaps that the reminder of just how cutthroat the Zhentarim could be might help Olly make some smart decisions going forward.

+++++

The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful. They dealt with a few bandits here and there but it was better going than on their trip up. No Harpers to be seen this time around either.

Late at night Rugan sometimes thought of Izzy but pushed all thoughts of her away during the bright hours of the day. Just a distraction till they got to Boareskyr. 

When they did finally reach the bridge they had two days of rest. He spent most of that whoring with Bellar, Brem and Garias. They had invited Olly but he had only stuttered out a refusal.

“Still a bit green that one.” Garias had remarked one night on the walk back to the tavern.

“That was you not so long ago, little brother.” Brem had cackled and the two started into a round of bickering while Bellar and Rugan trailed behind.

“Developed a bit of a type recently, have you Rugan?” Bellar's voice low enough that they weren't overheard.

“Don't know what you mean by that.” He stared resolutely ahead, jaw set.

“You like the dark-haired ones lately, I noticed.” There was an accusation there that Rugan ignored.

“I like whoever's cheap and available, only so many coins in my pocket.”

“That so?”

“Not developing a crush on me now are you Bellar? Trying to suss out my preferences?”

“Soft bastard like you? No I like em with a little more attitude.” Bellar flashed a smile that bordered on predatory. Like a wolf who’s scented blood. Rugan took his meaning.

“Just the flavour of the month Bellar, it's nothing more than that. So kindly drop it.” He smiled back and the threat there was clear. Bellar said no more on the subject.

He continued going out with Brem and Garias when the caravan arrived in Elturel. Bellar was busy alternating between his two lovers and so wasn't able to observe and comment on Rugan's continued predilections.

Rugan had a regular girl in Elturel himself, but he had neglected to visit her till their last day in the city. When she commented on his short stay he had only replied.

“Rush job this one, you know how my boss is, always cracking the whip.”

Something about the way she looked made him think she doubted his story. But if she disbelieved him she didn't say so.

It was another month till they made the Gate, and by then he was free of his affliction. He had not spared a thought to Izzy or Waterdeep for the two tenday they were back in the city. 

There was good news to be had as well. Their next delivery would be down to Amn along the coast. A nice change of pace from the constant to and fro between the Gate and Elturel.

He had been in good spirits then as he prepared his kit and packed his bag. So Rugan had been totally unprepared when the letter had fallen out of his pack. Instantly he recognized it: his name on the envelope in that large looping script. He opened it to find the broadsheet still intact, as well as Izzy's letter with the red imprint of her lips. Lips he has crushed against his own, lips that she had pressed eagerly between his thighs, lips that he had dreamed about. Suddenly he felt as a man dying of thirst, but Izzy was not here to slake it. 

Angrily he crumpled the papers and threw them in the fire. He resisted the impulse to fish them back out and instead gripped his desk with white knuckles as he watched the flames lick up each page.

When at last each sheet was blackened and fell to ash he gave a sigh of relief. It was over now and he was free.

[my-own-walker]

Someone You've Never Seen Before

A Kyle Spencer Fan Fiction

frat!kyle AU, fem!main character, sexual themes, mature language, use of drugs and alcohol, frat boy antics

9.

I'd never thought of myself as pretty. In fact, I'd never really thought of myself at all. Sure, I took pride in what I wore, but that was just about where the vanity stopped. My looks were the least of my worries.

But I seemed to care so much more about them suddenly. It felt like my skin didn't sit right over my bones. I found myself staring in the mirror, scrutinizing every detail on my face. The pores, the size of my lips, the bags that seemed to crop up overnight under my eyes. It was new to me to feel this way. To feel, I guess, not pretty.

In the week after the party (and my overnight stay), I kept mostly to myself. Despite not wanting to show up to Calculus class, I knew I had to. I sat quietly next to Kyle and took notes diligently, not saying a word to him.

I couldn't shake this disgusting feeling of both guilt and anxiety when I was near him. It was, in short, a rough few days. I would wake up, scrutinize my appearance, try in vain to dress myself, go to class, feel awful, then go back home and lay in agonizing silence, trying to quiet my thoughts.

That was, until Wednesday night. My phone lit up and buzzed on my nightstand. I sat across the room at my desk, reading a book for one of my other classes when the noise distracted me. Determined to finish the chapter I was on before checking it, I put my head back down and re-focused. Until another text alert came through. And another.

"Damn, chill," I spoke, thinking aloud. I strode across the room and stooped down to look at the screen, my stomach dropping when I saw who was multi-texting me.

Kyle: Hey Hannah.

Kyle: Just reminding you. Meeting tomorrow at mine.

Kyle: See you soon!

"Aw fuck," I groaned. I flopped, face-first onto my bed, which was thankfully right next to where my phone lay. "Motherfucker," I mumbled into the fabric of my duvet. For one, I didn't want to see Kyle in an intimate setting, such as his room, ever again. I also did not want to return to the KLG house, fearing that someone had seen me fleeing on Saturday morning.

Our weekly meeting for our Calculus project snuck up on me. While I would have much preferred for us to meet at my place, I knew that wouldn't do.

The inside of my shared apartment with Lily was pretty strangely decorated. Lily and I were lovers of all things fun and odd, and our interior design choices reflected it. Our couch was royal purple, and decorated with several random throw pillows and stuffed animals. We placed billiard balls in a decorative bowl on the cowboy-themed coffee table we found at an estate sale.

I refused to use overhead lighting, which drove Lily crazy. She yielded to me, though, a person who commonly got migraines, so everything was lit a warm yellow and striking pink, thanks to the miscellaneous strings of light I hung everywhere.

It was a small place, but it did the trick for the two of us. It wasn't great for entertaining, and the way we decorated it didn't help. It overwhelmed the space. We understood that. 

Because of how small the place was, there would be no way to avoid Lily, who simply couldn't help but either flirt or mess with any frat guy in her sight. She also couldn't help but bust my balls, so if her flirting went nowhere, she would accuse Kyle of being my boyfriend and insist upon making him super uncomfortable. With Lily set on bugging us, we'd never get anything done. 

My room was not exactly an option either. It sat right across from Lily's bedroom. It was small, dark, and plastered with posters. I had no issue keeping it clean enough, but it wasn't suited for people to hang out in there, let alone a frat boy. I assumed he probably wouldn't enjoy members of The Smiths or The Rolling Stones staring at him from the walls.

I digress, Kyle's place was the only option. And at that moment, it felt like an impossible mountain to climb, an incredible obstacle to overcome. 

+

The time came, much before I would have liked for it to, to head over to meet Kyle. Except, I stood in my room, surrounded by discarded outfits on the floor, staring at myself in the mirror, frustrated. Why was it that I couldn't seem to piece together the right articles of clothing? No matter what I put on, I managed to see something I didn't like about myself.

With little-to-no time left to pick, I settled on a tee with a black skirt and knee-high socks. I felt like shit, but I needed to jet if I was going to make it on time. 

The walk there was quick and painless. I arrived at exactly 7 pm, our agreed time. Kyle stood waiting for me on the stoop again, knowing I'd need ushering through the house.

"Hey Hannah," he called to me as I walked up the drive.

"Hi," I said, simply. I met him on the porch, waiting for him to lead the way. He opened the door and led me through the house, heading straight for the stairs and to his room. In the upstairs hallway, this time, though, stood Archie Brenner, the other KLG guy in mine and Kyle's Calc class. He paused and looked at me with an unreadable expression. I cast my eyes down and continued on.

"Hey," Archie called after us. We both spun to face him, surprised. "Are you seriously meeting for the project now? And this often?"

"Yes," Kyle replied lowly. "Strictly business."

"You two fuckin' try-hards," he laughed, shaking his head as he walked away. I sighed inwardly, having expected way worse.

We made it the rest of the way unscathed and settled in his room, I on the couch and he on the ground. The center of the room was a mess, the small area on the floor covered with books and papers. He sat in the center of it all, a spot he'd likely carved out for himself in the chaos.

"Sorry," he chuckled bashfully. "Lot of makeup work and current work."

"Did you miss a lot of school?" I asked, pulling my Calculus materials out of my bag. Kyle sighed and ran a hand through his curly blonde hair.

"I missed Friday and a couple of classes on Monday," he answered. "It all just piled up so fast." He laughed, scratching the back of his head while looking down at his mess.

"Do you need time to work on all of it? We can be quick so I can leave-"

"No, no," Kyle interrupted. "It's nice to have a break and actually speak with another human."

"Can I help?" I offered.

"I wish. I'll be okay," he smiled, setting a few books aside to make room for his Calculus materials. "I think we should decide what differentiation scenario we want to take on." He stuck his pen in his mouth and bit down, holding it in his teeth while flipping to the correct page in his notebook. My stomach twisted while watching him, almost as if I were homesick.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

+

"No, no, it is," Kyle argued, standing to join me on the couch. He flopped down next to me, scrolling through his phone frantically to prove his point.

"A number cannot possibly be lucky or unlucky," I protested, crossing my arms. "The stigma around the number 13 is ludicrous. And 7 isn't lucky either."

"Hannah," he spoke sternly, cocking his head to the side as he looked at me, lips tight. "You can't possibly be a non-believer. You look the part of a believer."

"I look the part?"

"Yeah with your, I guess, like weirdo style," he tried to clarify, looking back down at his phone.

"Weirdo?! Are you serious right now?" I cackled. 

"I meant, like, artsy, I don't know," he muttered, dismissing my feigned shock. "Here!" He held his phone out and showed me the door of a home, donning the number 66.

"Yes?"

"Like I said, 66 is my unlucky number," he explained, turning the phone back to himself. He stared at the image for a moment, lost in thought. I waited before interrupting his thought.

"Are you going to explain, or?" I tried, sarcastically.

"Uh, yeah," Kyle murmured, locking his phone. "That was my old house."

"Oh," I managed, sensing the shift in his tone. He put his phone down on the couch cushion next to him and looked back over at me, a strange look on his face.

"We lost it during Katrina. My dad had just cut out," he continued. "Nothing but bad things happened there."

"Gosh, I'm sorry Kyle," I whispered, not sure how to proceed.

"No, I brought it up, it's fine," he sniffed, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand. "Brought it upon myself, I guess." He laughed sardonically.

"Doesn't make it any less shitty," I replied.

"Yeah, the situation was just, bad," he uttered, staring off over my left shoulder. "My mom isn't exactly all there, either. She's not right. Hard to live with." He shifted to face me better, resting his elbow on the back of the sofa.

I wasn't sure what to say, so I just nodded.

"After we lost our house, things got bad between my mom and me," Kyle went on, further spelling out a detail I didn't know about him. "I never had it good with my parents, but that year was the worst. Since then it's gotten even more bad. So I'm here."

"What do you mean?"

"I live pretty close to school but I live here because I can't live with her," he relayed. "It's okay because it's all on my dime. I'll be an engineer and make my money and be able to avoid her forever."

"Well, you have a plan at least," I returned."That's something."

"I got involved here so I don't have to go back there," he said. Kyle inhaled sharply as if he had broken out of a trance and smiled. "I'm sorry, I should stop."

I sat forward, putting a hand on his knee. "No, I'm sorry," I laughed. "I'm not good at finding things to say."

"It was nice that you listened," he hummed, looking down at my hand on his leg. I removed it quickly and crossed my arms, looking at him, almost pleading for him to change the subject with my eyes. "Do you want to get coffee or something this weekend?"

It was not the subject change I expected. In fact, words wouldn't even claw their way up my throat or fight through my lips. They sat in stunned silence in my head, frozen in shock. I mustered a nod, agreeing.

"Sunday?"

"Yeah, that works," I blurted, silently kicking myself that only those three words could muster the courage to leave the safety of my mouth.

Previous Part | Next Part

[justsome-di]

Nobody Ends Up Dead in a Bathtub, Everyone Keeps Their Organs: Chapter 25

Summary: Alex is an ordinary, highly-introverted office worker. He clocks in and out and goes home to his little apartment he shares with his younger sister. He hasn’t dated in years by the time his co-workers set him up on a blind date.

The only issue is he and his date are not on the same page. At all.

While Alex thinks it’s a normal date, Damián is under the impression Alex is a client who paid to be there. No-so-quickly, they realize something is up. It’s all a prank. Damián is a sex worker Alex’s co-workers hired as a sick joke.

After reassuring that they’re both okay, Alex decides he wants revenge for both him and Damián. The plan is to use the stigma of sex work and start a 6-week, scandalous fake dating scheme with a big finale at the office Halloween party. Alex’s co-workers will be too horrified to try to prank him again. At least, that’s the plan.

You can also read this on AO3. If you don’t want to wait for new chapters, the complete story is on Patreon for only $4 with bonus stories! If you’re enjoying the story and want to support me in other ways, consider dropping me a message in my inbox or reblogging this post!

Damián and Alex met Martin before he had the chance to leave the office. He looked at them like he was being held up against his will. Which he was, technically.

“This is us apologizing,” Alex said. “We’re sorry.”

“We’re really sorry,” Damián said. “If it makes anything better, I’d like to re-introduce myself. Properly.”

Martin’s brow was furrowed, but it looked forced. Like he wanted to be more upset than he really was.

“Okay,” he said.

“I’m Damián. I’m Alex’s friend. We have a plan at the end of the month to trick your co-workers into thinking we’re dating as payback for a nasty prank some of them pulled.”

Martin nodded. “I’m Martin. I’m one of those co-workers who pulled that nasty prank.”

“I’m Alex, we’ve known each other for a while.”

It got a little laugh out of Martin.

“We’re sorry we didn’t tell you about any of this,” Damián said. “It went further than we thought it would. I think eventually we would have let you in on it before the party.”

“It’s fine.” Martin looked a bit sheepish. “I’m sorry Alex told me your real name.”

Alex didn’t know why Martin was apologizing for that.

“That’s fine if you know,” Damián said. “I just really need you to keep it between us.”

“I will!” Martin’s eyes were wide all of a sudden with Damián’s safety back on the table. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Alex didn’t remind Martin of his involvement in the prank. Martin had turned over a new leaf. If anything, it made the revenge that much better. Alex was getting a somewhat-partner and a new friend out of it.

“Can we still invite you guys over if we’re hosting friends?” Martin asked.

Damián looked to Alex, who nodded.

“Yeah,” Damián said. “I don’t see any harm in it. Can we just keep the whole revenge thing on the down-low in front of everyone?”

“’Course,” Martin said. “And if the plan ever becomes more than a plan, and if you’re ever anything real, then we can just all pretend like it was real to begin with. It’ll be between us three.”

Martin smiled at them, and then the bastard walked away. Alex wanted to jump out of the window.

“Did you tell him anything?” Damián asked. “About this weekend? It’s fine if you did, but—”

“No. He’s just being a brat. I’ll fill you in on something else later.”

They let it go. Alex believed it was gentle teasing. He didn’t want to have to talk about the weekend just yet. It made him nervous to think about how Damián must have felt after some time had passed.

That entire Monday morning, he had started to wonder if Damián could have regretted it or found the whole thing disappointing. There was no real reason to. Damián had never given him any hints that he hadn’t enjoyed himself. But it didn’t stop Alex from making up scenarios in his head, only tamed when Damián turned to him with a smile.  

“We eat out a lot,” Damián said like they had married for years and were in desperate need of better habits. “Why don’t I cook for us?”

It had been ages since someone had cooked for Alex. And the last person to do so was his mother.

“Okay. What are you making?”

“Arroz con pollo? Chicken and rice. It’s cozy. I’ll make enough for Eve and Leo, too, if they want to join us.”

It sounded almost perfect. Like they were actually a little family with just one minor issue.

“I don’t think Leo likes me very much,” Alex said.

“What? You’ve barely met.” Alex could tell Damián was lying. He rolled his eyes. “Leo was just in a bad mood that one day. I’ll threaten him so he’s on his best behavior.”

Alex considered it. Worst case scenario, Leo would never like him and dinner would be painful. Best case scenario, Leo would tolerate him like a cat and they would sit in silence while Alex would never be on good terms with his boyfriend’s brother. God, were they boyfriends? Alex wasn’t ready for that word. He played it over in his head until he decided against it.

He would never be on good terms with his current romantic interest’s brother. Yeah. That sounded better.

They stopped for groceries and while Damián made him hold rice and an onion, Alex worried that Leo would still be cold towards him over dinner. Maybe Leo thought he was a pervert and maybe Leo didn’t know that there was something genuine happening between him and Damián.

By the time Damián was almost finished with dinner, Eve and Leo had arrived and Alex was worked up like a chihuahua. Leo walked right past Alex and to the stove.

“What did you make?” he asked.

“Arroz con pollo.”

“Hell yeah,” Leo said. “Is it done?”

“It’ll be done by the time you set the table for our guests.”

And that was all it took to get Leo to pull plates from the cupboard and start laying them out.

Eve sat down next to Alex, stiff and awkward herself. They were clearly siblings when you looked at them. Noses that bumped out at the bridge. Hair that couldn’t decide if it wanted to curl or lay flat. Warm, brown eyes that had a tendency to look like they belonged to homeless, orphan puppies. And their complete lack of social skills when they were caught off guard by a spontaneous dinner invitation.

“How was studying?” Alex asked.

“Fine.”

“Getting anywhere?”

“She’s doing really well,” Leo said. “I think she’ll pass her exam.”

Eve shrugged. Alex squeezed her shoulder. “You’ll do fine.”

“You’ll do fine!” Damián cheered. He set the pan of arroz con pollo in the middle of the table. “And even if you don’t, it’s not the end of the world.”

“Right,” Alex agreed.

Leo set glasses of water in front of everyone. “She’ll do fine. I’m tutoring her.”

“Of course,” Damián said.

He reached over to pinch Leo’s cheek, grabbing as much of his face as he could. But Leo recoiled and shrugged him off. Alex could see Damián looked hurt despite his smile widening. It was a sort of a tell, Alex decided. Damián could smile so much, but Alex had started to understand that it was often forced.

Alex tried lifting the mood as best as he could, though it was clear that it was not his strong suit at all. He complimented Damián on the meal—which was the best chicken and rice he had ever had in his life. He assumed it was because he had never had chicken seasoned so well before, but he was too embarrassed to confess to that out loud. Especially after Leo had asked Damián if he remembered the time his white ex-boyfriend had raved about arroz con pollo. Damián laughed and said white people were so funny about chicken and rice.

Alex tried asking Leo about grad school, but Leo barely talked. He answered Alex in short, usually one-word sentences. Had he been accepted anywhere yet? Yes. Had he made a decision about where he was going? No. Did he want to stay in the area?

To that, Leo had rolled his eyes. Damián answered for him.

“He’s applied to schools all over, but he’s being very secretive about it on top of acting like a moody teenager.”

“Isn’t my business where I’m going?”

Damián shot Leo a warning look, and Leo immediately tucked his head down into his plate. Alex imagined having any power like that over Eve. Eve did whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. Their parents couldn’t even get a handle on her. Everyone was lucky that her interests were contained to coding and thrift shopping for grunge looks and shaving her head rather than arson or grand theft auto.

Eve took up the conversation from there, talking about the classes she was actually passing. And when she finished recapping her week so far, she asked Damián what kind of appointments he had lately. She was curious, and so was Alex.

“I did have an interesting client last week,” Damián said.

“Interesting in a good way?” Alex asked.

“Interesting in an ‘I thought I might die for a few minutes, but it was all fine.’” Damián folded his fingers together and laid his chin on top of them. “I was trying to leave this guy’s house, and he was being a little weird. And I just thought, okay, this was this guy’s first time with a sex worker. It’s fine. People can get awkward. But I really need to get out of there, and he’s asking me if this is something we can do again. I tell him of course, he’d just have to make an appointment like he just did for this one.

“But he starts getting a little manic. And I was kinda starting to think, fuck, I hope this guy is okay. He’s talking a lot, and I’m just trying to pick my clothes up off the floor. I’m thinking that maybe I shouldn’t meet up with him again. And I’m standing there, almost naked, holding my clothes, and I hear someone in the house.”

“Fuck,” Eve gasped.

“I ask him if he lives with anyone, and his face is totally pale. And then this woman walks in. And she looks at me, and she looks at my client, and I realized, fuck, this is his wife. We’re all just standing there staring at each other. I’m fucking naked. My client is fucking naked. His wife is standing there staring at us.

“And this woman—this poor, poor woman—is trying to ask what’s going on, but she just’s kinda gasping. And I have definitely hooked up with people before who have spouses, but this is my first time meeting the spouse. Also, this might be how this wife is realizing her husband is gay—which, fuck.

“So I just kinda. Shuffle out of the room. And I get dressed in their fucking kitchen, and I call an Uber. And it was chilly outside, so I waited in their kitchen until I could dive into this car and make my getaway. And they start yelling as I’m waiting, and it sounds insane. Why wouldn’t it be? But I hear it escalating, and I’m watching Hernando take a wrong turn to get to me, and I was like, Hernando, you have one job. Get here right now, or I’ll give you one star.”

“Oh my god,” Alex said. “That’s awful.”

“I wasn’t serious. I gave him five stars and a nice tip.”

“No, not Hernando. This woman.”

“Oh. Yeah. I hope she’s getting out of that marriage.”

Eve laughed. She pressed her hands to her cheeks and over her mouth as if she was embarrassed. “That sucks for her. That had to be the worst day of her life.”

“Why are you laughing at her then?” Leo asked.

“I don’t know. I’m not laughing because it’s funny.”

Leo turned to Alex and looked at him critically like he had the first time they met. Damián kept his eye on Leo. Eve was trying to calm herself.

“So, was it worse than finding out you were hired as a prank?” Leo directed the question to Damián, but he was staring at Alex.

“Yes,” Damián said, firmly.

“I want to know how awkward Alex was.”

“Leo, stop.”

Alex was red and pushing a grain of rice around on his plate. Eve had gone quiet. She looked at Alex and then at Leo and then at Damián.

“I don’t want to hear about my brother being with a sex worker,” she said. “No offense. It’s not the sex worker thing. It’s the sex thing. I don’t like thinking about my brother having sex.”

“I don’t think any of us should be talking about it. It’s between me and Alex,” Damián said. “Leo, help me clean up.”

Leo managed to stand with an attitude. He pushed his chair back and took plates.

“I think the four of us could be good friends,” Eve said. “Like a polycule but for friends.”

“That’s just called having friends,” Alex said.

Friends. He let his mind settle on that. Friends.

[themculibrary]

Het Pairings Masterlist

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Until the day they’re sent out.

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“Bozhe moi.”

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