#unlike mika who is boring to look at and even more boring to play with

[microfeelings]

I got c5 Noelle, Sayu, and One (1) Freminet. I'm good on pulling for the rest of this banner 👍

[quentinbecks]

11, 13, 27, 48 for Quentin and Charlie

32, 44, 64 🙈, 84 for John and Charlie

16, 23, 45, 58, 78, 83 for Rafe and Charlie

Thank you, Mika! Sorry for taking forever to get to these.

11. Who is the most physically affectionate?

Before the blip? Charlie. After the blip? Quentin. He’s very much going to take advantage of the time lost and have his hands all over her (if that’s what she wants).

13. Who steals the blankets?

Charlie! She gets cold easily.

27. What is their ideal vacation?

It would be someplace that doesn’t involve any Sinister Six or Spider-Man business. It could be anywhere or with anyone of their friends as long as it’s relaxing and involves good food, nice drinks, and plenty of sex. And weird touristy trap tours for Charlie to force Quentin on.

48. What was their most memorable date?

The first function they went to as a couple. Both were so proud to show off that they had found love with people who worked for rival companies. It was the first time Charlie was out and about with him as just herself and she couldn’t have been happier.

32. What are their morning rituals?

John wakes up a lot earlier than Charlie does, but she will begrudgingly wake up for a nice round of morning sex followed by a joint bath or shower (sex is maybe involved again depending on the day or their energy). Afterwards there’s an extensive skincare routine. John usually grabs some form of breakfast and coffee which Charlie sometimes skips so she can maybe go back to bed for an extra half an hour/hour.

44. How are the holidays spent?

They spend the holidays with John’s family and their children. If it was up to Charlie, they would spend time together out of town just the four of them. But, that wouldn’t look good for the project so they attend a sermon and host the Seeds and their respective families at the ranch.

64. What would they dress up as? (for Halloween)

sjsksk obviously Harley and Joker. Though, Hannibal and Clarice would also be something they would do and lack complete self-awareness about.

84. What is their favourite game to play together?

Charlie isn’t big on games (video, board, or card) so she’s open and willing to play whatever John wants even if she doesn’t necessarily enjoy it.

16 answered here.

23. What do they do when they’re bored and together?

They’re lucky that they’re rich because when they get bored sometimes they just decide to pack up and travel to another city for a quick vacation. Other times they’ll just relax together on the couch, a trashy movie or show on in the background while Rafe looks up new mythical treasures he might be interested in unearthing. Charlie just lays in his lap grateful for these lazy days. And of course they pass the time with sex fairly regularly. Honestly, these two are rarely bored together.

45. How are birthdays spent?

They usually spend them out of the city. Once they meet Harry and Sydney they invite them on a family vacation that revolves around celebrating one of their birthdays. It’s a nice week long getaway with the kids and their beloved family friends.

58. Do they have similar taste in movies?

Yes and no. Rafe likes more “high brow” films; anything you can find on the Sundance or IFC channels. Charlie does too, but she loves B horror movies as well. Unlike Rafe, she can appreciate both art house and things like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series because she’s a connoisseur of taste.

78. What is their favorite photo of them two together?

Their wedding photo!

83. Who makes the other smile with almost no effort at all?

Rafe! He barely has to do anything and it makes Charlie smile John take notes.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 175

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 27 - “Rin-chan’s Date with a Handsome Ghost!?” Date watched: 24 March 2020 Original air date: 12 August 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/7vdwVuj Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

not pictured: a handsome ghost

Are you ready for more summer vacation antics? How about some ghost stories! No, not the gag dub kind, I mean actual ghost stories. Yes, tonight the girls decide to poke around an abandoned wing of their school and wind up in the middle of something bigger than themselves. Let’s dive in!

The Plot

All the girls are gathered around a table in the dark as Komachi tells them the story of Count Rosett, who used to live in a mansion behind the school with his girlfriend, until she died in a tragic accident. The count lived out the rest of his days in sadness and now his spirit returns to the school on the anniversary of her death. Nozomi, Urara, Milk, and Coco are all a little scared by the story, Karen and Nuts seem indifferent or even bored, but Rin is scared out of her mind. So naturally they go check it out.

Over in Nightmare, Kawarino himself summons Arachnea to the office and tells her that while her work is good, if she instills fear into her opponents, then they’ll expend all their energy. Sound advice honestly. With that in mind, she sets off, and begins to haunt the girls on their ghost hunt. How timely! Arachnea plays her card very quickly by bringing a skeleton to life, which makes itself known to Rin and only Rin, so she bolts off down the hallway away from the other girls. Suddenly she runs into another shadowy figure.... who reveals herself as Masuko Mika, who is inexplicably here at the same time with the same objective of finding the ghost and reporting on it.

or they’re doing the fusion dance

Nozomi, Urara, Komachi, Karen, and the fairies continue exploring the school building, trying to find Rin, and end up in a pitch-black classroom. Karen bumps into something, and when they shine the light on it revealing it to be a large statue of a man, she finally gets scared and screams. After Karen calms down, Komachi deduces that this must be Count Rosett, and then they see a large portrait on the wall of a woman who looks a lot like Rin.

or more accurately the animators drew Rin’s head on this random portrait

Rin and Mika continue wandering around until the skeleton reappears and starts chasing both of them. Rin trips and falls but Mika doesn’t stop, so Rin scrambles into a nearby classroom to hide and the skeleton passes her by. This time, though, she comes face to face with yet another specter, as a large shadowy figure reaches for her, and this one isn’t a student.

She freaks right the fuck out and loses consciousness. When she comes to, the other girls are surrounding her and asking what happened. When she explains, Komachi puts the pieces of the puzzle together and deduces that this was Count Rosett, the portrait was of his deceased girlfriend, and he was trying to give Rin a gift for his girlfriend. They convince her to try to meet him again and resolve his centuries-old suffering by accepting the gift. She really does not want to but they beg and plead her and she begrudgingly agrees to try it. Once again she enters the room and lo and behold the shadowy figure reaches for her. However the girls suddenly finds themselves in broad daylight in the courtyard of the school building and adjacent mansion, with a handsome man standing in front of her. He greets her and presents her with a rose-shaped hairpin, but before Rin can explain that she’s not his lover, the sky turns purple and Arachnea makes her appearance. She gloats about this excellent terrain and turns the wandering skeleton into a Kowaina, which is just a giant skeleton with a Kowaina mask on its forehead. Rin and the other girls quickly transform. 

The monster wreaks havoc on the mansion, which Rouge takes special exception to on behalf of the Count, and Arachnea retorts that it doesn’t matter anyway since this is a false world, before reminding Rouge that she had just been deathly afraid of the Count’s ghost mere moments ago. Rouge exclaims that her fear went away when he communicated his feelings and the girls all go on the attack. Mint and Aqua and then Dream and Lemonade perform a nice one-two combo on the monster as Rouge declares that she won’t forgive Nightmare for wrecking the Count’s house, even in an illusion world, and then her brooch glows and she summons her new weapon, the Rouge Tact. She uses it to perform a powered-up version of her finisher: Rouge Burning

The items should have been called Rouge Torch and Dream Tact but what do I know

This attack utterly destroys the Kowaina, and the mansion returns to its former beauty. The girls detransform and Count Rosett once again tries to give Rin the hairpin. She tells him she isn’t the girl he was waiting on, but he responds that she fought so hard for his sake and he just wants her to have it. She smiles the biggest smile and then the Count and the scenery fade away, leaving the girls back in the school building, with Rin still holding the hairpin. As they leave the building, Nozomi teases Rin about possible latent feelings for the Count, and then Mika reappears screaming about how she was chased by a skeleton. Komachi suggests they go back inside and get pictures, but Mika is too afraid to see any more ghosts. However, Rin states that ghosts are just like people, they experience normal feelings and once those feelings are communicated there’s no cause for fear, a marked change from her earlier behavior.

The Analysis

It’s shameless summer filler and it is EXCELLENT. This is how you do low-stakes. It’s fun! It’s a great character spotlight! It takes us new places! It ties into typical summer activities! This plays out like an episode of Scooby-Doo, with a shoujo bent. It’s comedy gold from the very beginning, when Komachi tells a ghost story and the others are varying degrees of afraid and all the way through the episode when Rin is the only one being haunted, either by Arachnea’s interference, classmates, or actual ghosts. The poor girl can’t get a break. But the comedy is done excellently, and the episode is positively filled with wonderful facial expressions (which is why my gallery ballooned to 132 images, a record for a non-movie or finale episode, so check that out).

I love how Karen and Nuts are just so over it all, while Komachi is too excited about the mystery to be scared. It makes sense given her affinity for literature, she’s heard it all before and she just wants to see if there’s any weight to the rumors. Nuts, being well-read and also generally apathetic, is probably just not spooked by ghost stories period. But back to Rin: Nozomi explains how she’s positively terrified by ghosts, and so of course she’s the one that ends up seeing them all, and ultimately meeting Count Rosett in the flesh (sorta) teaches her a valuable lesson that hey, they’re not so bad if you can reach an understanding. I don’t believe this has any lasting impact on her character but I might be wrong. I hope we see some hint of this going forward.

As I said, while Rin is scared out of her wits, the other girls are far from unshakeable. Even Karen, who spends about half of the episode acting bored, finally flips when she bumps into what she thinks is a person in the dark.

Nuts is still unimpressed though

Nozomi and Urara are scared when they start but everyone’s animosities fade away once they find the portrait of Count Rosett’s presumed girlfriend, and all they can think of is trying to get him to meet Rin and put him to final rest.

This and the next episode have really made me realize a problem to the show at this point, however. Since they got rid of Girinma, Nightmare’s only grunt is Arachnea, while Gamao is still wandering around as a free agent, and the two basically alternate episodes. Bunbee is going to dip his toes in the water again in episode 29 but it’s kind of a slog on the villain side until episode 31 when Hadenya and Bloody show up. Gamao is completely unlikeable and Arachnea has all the personality of a loaf of stale bread. Her attempt at being scary here consists of chasing Rin with a skeleton in an already haunted setting. That’s all she can muster. I’m very reticent to give Smile Precure credit for anything but they definitely had a better haunted school episode.

During the battle, Rouge accesses her portion of the Symphony Set for the first time, which is called the Rouge Tact. “Tact” is of course a name that will be reused for various Precure baton weapons in the coming seasons. The wiki says that it’s derived from the German word “taktstock”, which refers to a music conductor’s baton. As for its design, it is a large leaf shape with a handle on one end and an extension on the other which lights on fire. As I quipped above, I think it should have been called “Rouge Torch” while Dream’s baton should have another name, but oh well. The way she uses it is interesting, as you’d expect her to use it to launch a fireball directly at the enemy but she doesn’t. During her normal Rouge Fire attack, she creates a burning butterfly from the back of her hand and then palmstrikes it into the monster. Here, instead, she ignites the tact, then in a single motion she swoops the flame in front of her as the butterfly separates from her hand, she releases the tact and grabs it with her right hand as she pulls back with her left for a palmstrike and the burning butterfly shoots towards her enemy. A lot happens in a short time but the effect isn’t dramatically different from her normal attack, and rather than shooting a stream of fire directly from the tact she just uses it like a lighter. Once again, it suggests the staff weren’t sure how to incorporate the Symphony Set into the show.

I appreciate them remembering that Masuko Mika exists but it’s a really big coincidence that she’s here on this night. The script didn’t make it clear whether the ghost was spotted on one night every year, or every month, or just randomly. If they had clarified that, it may have made more sense for her to appear. I’m glad they’re trying to incorporate her but all she really does is scare Rin, sneak around, and then run off at the first sign of actual spookiness. Bring her into the group dang it! Make her a friend of the precures. Minor complaint.

From a cinematorgraphy standpoint this episode has some really cool camera shots. My absolute favorite is this zoom back from the abandoned wing of the school:

And later on the inverse: a zoom in and tilt upwards to look at the portrait of the lady that resembles Rin:

These scenes help to breathe some energy into the episode and provide atmosphere, enhancing the creepy and mysterious mood of the place.

Then there’s this sequence where the girls are trying to convince Rin to go find Count Rosett again, where the camera dollies back in stages and then shifts right to look at Karen.

I don’t remember seeing complex camerawork like this in previous episodes so to have so many of these unique shots in one episode is really cool and it makes me want to see more of it.

Finally, while this isn’t a very complicated shot, I like this bit from the fight where Dream and Lemonade perform a double kick in perfect sync.

I’m a sucker for cool fight choreorgraphy and this fits the bill. Sure, we’ve seen other more complex fights in this season alone but I like to call them all out when I find them.

(reminder: you can find higher resolution copies of these gifs in my gallery, I have to keep them under 2 MB for Tumblr)

All told, this episode is a fantastic summer ghost story. It balances comedy with an interesting mystery and provides Rin with just enough character growth to justify her unlocking her new finisher. It’s got some wonderful facial expressions that you can find in my gallery and it’s only brought down a little by its unerwhelming villain.

Next time, another summer staple: it’s time for a festival! Look forward to it!

Pink Precure catchphrase count: 0 kettei!

[is-this-a-skam-account]

“Anything You Want”

5 Times Lucas Ran Into Eliott, and the One Time Eliott Runs Into Lucas

Or, Eliott is the really hot yard worker Mika has hired, and Lucas is trying to find a summer fling but may be way in over his head.

1.

Lucas is certain there is nothing to do in this small excuse for a town. Every year of his life, for every summer since he was five, he has been doing the same things over and over. Going to the movies, going to the pool, going to get ice cream, or, his personal favorite, spending a night in with his friends. With only one small village within a twenty mile radius, there really isn’t anything to do. Now he is eighteen, the summer before his college years, and he has never been more bored out of his mind. He is sitting in his room at 9:21 just staring blankly at the wall, mind completely empty.  

He already reached out to his friends, yet all of them were either at work or at a family-function.  Lucas was thankful, however, that his roommates were out for the day. That left Lucas alone to strut around the unbearably hot house in nothing more than one of Yann’s large t-shirts Lucas had stolen and his boxers.

Lucas finally finds the strength to get out of bed and get himself something cold to eat. Preferably ice cream.

He grabs his phone off the nightstand, opening Instagram as he walks into the kitchen. He swallows hard and his grip tightens on the phone when his ex-boyfriend’s account is the first thing he sees. Oliver and Lucas broke up just a couple months ago, around April. Well, really it was Oliver that broke up with him. Lucas was confused as to why Oliver chose to break up, but then, when Lucas saw Oliver holding hands with another guy two days later, Lucas realized how stupid he had been. Obviously, he had been seeing someone behind his back. Thinking back on it, Lucas should have seen the signs. He should have noticed that they hadn’t been hanging out as often together. Oliver stopped spending nights with Lucas, always making an excuse why he would have to go home so early. Leaving the relationship left Lucas feeling hollow. He was left feeling like he wasn’t good enough for Oliver, that he didn’t satisfy all his boyfriend’s needs, even when he knew that wasn’t true.

There is still a pang of hurt that runs through Lucas’ heart when he sees the newest photo Oliver posted with his new boyfriend. Oliver had been the one to stand by Lucas during his coming out, so obviously there is still some attachments there.

Lucas turns his phone off and places it face down on the counter as he reaches into the freezer. He fishes out his small tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream before grabbing a spoon and going to sit on the couch and watch some Netflix. He doesn’t mind these lazy days, where he doesn’t go out and do anything, where he can stay home, binge watch any show, and maybe make a couple stains on the couch that Mika will later complain about.

He’s eventually is pulled back to Instagram by the times he’s on episode 3 of Grace and Frankie. He has a few messages from Emma, as well as a few from the meme group chat he has with the guys. Lucas opens up Emma’s message and the first thing he sees is possibly the most gorgeous man he has ever laid eyes on. He immediately clicks on the post, pleasant to find that it’s a video. Lucas nearly laughs at how stupid it is, some guitar sound playing in the background as the guy zooms in on his eye. But, dear god, is that guy attractive. Lucas closes the post to see what else Emma sent him.

@em.brgs: i think he is the most gorgeous person i have ever seen.

Lucas laughs before responding.

@lucallemant: i second that notion.

@lucallemant: why don’t you slide into those DMs. Been a while since you got dicked down ever since Alex moved away.

Lucas doesn’t expect a response so fast, but before he knows it his phone is vibrating with notifications.

@em.brgs: oh you’re one to talk. You just think you’re soo funny.

@lucallemant: i am, thank you.

@em.brgs: he’s so hot he makes me want to stab a pencil in my eye.

@lucallemant: well if you do that i really don’t think you’ll have a chance with him.

@em.brgs: haha, that’s so funny Lucas thank you for the self esteem boost.

@lucallemant: what i’m here for.

@em.brgs: and anyways, even if i was going to DM him (which i’m not because i’m not that desperate, unlike some people Lucas) it seems like he just got out of a relationship. I don’t go after guys who are looking for a rebound

@lucallemant: right, you just go after guys who are already in a relationship.

@em.brgs: hey! That has happened only twice!

@lucallemant: round of applause for emma everybody.

@em.brgs: ugh, whatever, i’m going to go message Manon about your non existent love life.

@lucallemant: have fun!

Lucas snickers as he exits the messages. He trains his attention back on the TV and takes another scoop of ice cream. About thirty minutes, and a whole lot of chocolate, later a loud buzzing noise jolts Lucas out of whatever summer-induced-TV-show-daze he was under. Usually he is able to just brush off the noises of his neighbors getting the lawns mowed in the middle of the day, but this sounded like it was literally coming from right outside his window. He placed the ice cream on the coffee table before getting up (begrudgingly) from the Lucas shaped divett he had made in the couch. He leaned over the love seat in order to reach the curtains he had closed when settling down to watch TV. Lucas peeled them back just enough to peer outside into their front lawn. He furrowed his eyebrows when he saw a guy mowing their lawn; what the hell was the guy doing? Lucas ran to their front door, getting ready to tell the guy off and ask him to leave. He had his hand on the doorknob when he spotted the note taped to the door. It was written in Mika’s handwriting.

“Lucas,” it read, “don’t forget that I have hired someone to do work on our lawn/garden this summer.” Lucas had forgotten, “he is coming by today around noon and will be coming by every saturday for the next few weeks. The payment is on the back of this letter and he will ask for it when he’s done. Also, make sure to give him something to drink after, just to be polite. AND DON’T BE AN IDIOT.”

Lucas drew his lips in a line after he finished reading the letter. He had totally forgotten about that conversation with Mika. Though, in his defense, you really shouldn’t have important conversations with people who are obviously drunk and just gotten home from a party.

He flops back down with a huff, resting his head against the wall behind the couch. Part of Lucas really wants to go back to the window and watch the guy out in the yard. In those few moments Lucas was watching him, he seemed to be extremely attractive. Well, that much Lucas could tell from his toned arms and lean build, legs that seemed to go on forever, and high cheekbones somewhat hid from view by a worn-out baseball cap. (Don’t judge him, he hasn’t allowed himself to ogle any eye candy ever since his breakup with Oliver). Lucas scoffed at his inner monologue and instead opted to make some lemonade; try and take his mind off his meaningless existence. If Mika was going to make him give the guy something to drink, might as well be something sweet.  

Lucas hooked up to the speaker in the kitchen as he walked in. He immediately started blasting his favorite artists: Nirvana, the Stones, Beatles, and, of course, the Clash. His friends always call him cliche for his taste in “old-style” music, but Lucas doesn’t really care. He sways his hips and jumps around the kitchen as he gathers the supplies for lemonade. He’s practically belching out the songs as he mixes the drink together and adds the ice cubes to help chill it. Oliver never liked Lucas’s taste in music, so they would always listen to his playlist made up of rap and hip hop. Not that Lucas has anything against those genres, they just don’t happen to be his favorites.

He’s about to pour the lemonade into two glasses when there is a knock at the door. Lucas glances at the drink and the door a few times before deciding to just pour it into the cups later and get the door first. Lucas obviously doesn’t think before opening the door, because as soon as he does he becomes painfully aware he’s still just in his boxers and t-shirt. Lucas becomes even more embarrassed when he comes face-to-face with the most godly human he has ever seen. Well, actually he has seen the face once before. On Instagram. Just a couple hours earlier. Lucas has to mentally make sure his jaw doesn’t drop open. He didn’t think it was physically possible for someone to be more attractive in real life than on social media, but somehow this guy managed to pull it off. Truly, he had everything. The height which made Lucas feel small (usually Lucas would protest this, but honestly it was kind of a turn on). He had the eyes which pierced into Lucas and made him melt on the spot. He had the perfectly shaped lips, a sharp jawline, even fucking perfect eyes.

“Uh, hi,” the guy says after a couple seconds of silence (and, it might be Lucas’s subconscious, but he swears he sees the guy trail his eyes up and down, soaking in everything Lucas is presenting at the moment), “you must be Mika? We talked over the phone.” He offers his hand and Lucas takes it.

“Oh, no, sorry I’m Lucas. Mika is my roommate. Well, one of them.” Lucas says and leans against the doorway. Lucas tries his best not to choke as he now blatantly sees the guy drag his eyes up Lucas’s form. He feels like he could drown in that gaze.

“Did he happen to leave any, uh, money as payment? Sorry I hate to be so pushy…”

Lucas jumps like he’d been burned and reaches behind the door for the note, grabbing the money. “No don’t apologize. Sorry, I forgot,” Lucas laughs awkwardly as he hands the envelope over. He takes it gratefully, “I didn’t catch your name.” Lucas says after neither of them make a move to walk away.

“I’m Eliott.”

Pretty name for a pretty guy, Lucas thinks. There is a blush creeping onto Eliott’s face which makes Lucas painfully aware he had just said that aloud. Lucas coughs to try and clear up the tension, “um, I made some lemonade. Would you want a glass?”

“I would, but I actually need to get going. I have another lawn I need to be at.”

Lucas nods, “well, I could give it to you in a to-go cup?”

That makes Eliott chuckle, “guess I can’t say no to that.”

Lucas smiles and offers Eliott to come in. He does so and Lucas closes the door behind them. Eliott finds his way to the kitchen with Lucas following closely behind. He lunges for his phone to turn off the music that was still blaring, a blush creeping on his face. He fumbles with it for a few seconds before turning back to Eliott.

“Sorry, uh, I was getting hype in the kitchen making this lemonade I guess.” Lucas jokes.

Eliott laughs, “I know, I could hear you from outside.”

Lucas blushes at that and forces himself to look away and get out one of their cardboard coffee cups. “Well, at least I was giving you something good to listen to.” Lucas comments as he pours the lemonade into their respective cups. As he turns around he briefly catches Eliott staring at a place a little south from his head and shoulders, which makes Lucas cock his eyebrow and hand the drink over.

“Thank you, for the drink.” Eliott says as they walk back to the door, “not so much for the music.”

“What do you have against my music?” Lucas asks offended as he opens the door and Eliott walks out.

Eliott shrugs, “nothing, just a little corny is all.”

Lucas rolls his eyes, “guess you’ll just have to play me your superior music taste next them then.”

“Guess so,” he says it with a wink, “bye, Lucas.”

2.

Lucas regretfully wasn’t there the following Saturday when Eliott was supposed to come by. He had picked up an extra shift at the coffee shop after Imane said she had an emergency to take care of. The shift wasn’t too busy, since most people don’t want hot coffee on days when it’s over 100 degrees. He spent the majority of the time sitting up by the register and fooling around with his coworker, Tyler.

Tyler was actually how Oliver and Lucas had met, since they were friends and Oliver came in to get a cup of coffee during Tyler’s shift. Oliver started flirting with Lucas, Lucas left a little note on the coffee cup for Oliver and the rest is history. Lucas was terrified that the breakup would affect his relationship with Tyler as a coworker, but it turns out Tyler was super chill and didn’t really care. He even said that Oliver was a douche at times, and that Lucas deserved someone better.

“Any big summer plans?” Lucas asks.

Tyler sighs and leans against the opposing counter from Lucas, “not really, college starts pretty soon for me so I have to start getting all that stuff ready. What about you?”

“I wish I could say I had something big planned, like a road trip. But sadly this summer is just as boring as the rest.” Lucas groans and rolls his head back.

Tyler laughs, “how’s Yann and the gang?”

“Good, they’ve been pretty busy though. Basile just got together with Daphne-”

“What?! That loser finally got together with her? Damn, Basile.”

Lucas laughs, “I know, it was a long time coming to be honest. He’d been pining after her since second year.”

“Well,” Tyler pauses, “I guess if they make each other happy…”

Lucas nods, “I can’t say I’m not jealous. Last summer I was the part of the annoyingly touchy couple.”

Tyler draws his lips in a line, “maybe you can still find that this summer. Anybody catch your eye?”

Lucas shrugs, “I wish. I miss being in a relationship sometimes. What about you though? How’s Clare?”

“She’s good, little difficult with her studying in the US though. I miss-”

Tyler is cut off by the ringing of a doorbell which signals the entry of a customer. Lucas immediately goes into full customer mode saying on instinct “welcome to Coral Cafe, how may I help you?” as Tyler rushes over to the area where they actually assemble the drinks. Lucas doesn’t look up right away as he fiddles with something on the cash register screen, getting ready to place in the order. When he does finally look up he feels his stomach clench and heart pick up all at once.

“Oh, hey! Lucas, right?” Eliott says as he continues his track to the register. Lucas feels like his legs are giving out, “I didn’t know you work here.”

Lucas couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting over to the girl standing beside Eliott, his arm around her shoulders. She’s beautiful, is the first thing Lucas notices. She has seemingly silky hair, large chocolate colored eyes, amazing bone structure, and her smile lit up the room. He just got out of a long-term relationship, he hears Emma’s voice in his head. Lucas has to visibly shake his head, it’s not like Eliott was interested in him. He’s mowing their lawn for god sakes. They had one conversation that’s it.

“Lucas, you good?” He hears Tyler call from his station just about a few feet away.

Lucas looks over at him, smiling and nodding before turning back to his customers, “hey, Eliott. Uh, what can I get you?”

“I’ll take a caramel frappuccino,” Eliott says and Lucas has to look down to hide his smile. Of course, the sweetest thing on their menu. “And uh, Lucille, what do you want?”

Lucas looks up, waiting for the request. She hums for a second as she looks over the menu; taking about an eternity to decide. Lucas sighs quietly and his eyes automatically trail over to Eliott. He feels his breath catch at the gaze Eliott has locked him in, basically drilling him to the spot. Lucas’s heart picks up, and he doesn’t dare look away. He could stand there for hours. It doesn’t help that the backdrop lighting from the windows illuminates Eliott like some ethereal being. And Eliott knows the effect that he’s having on Lucas, he’s obviously not an idiot. What Lucas wouldn’t give to knock that smirk off his face...

“I’ll take a,” Lucille’s voice drags him back to reality, “brownie. I’m not a big coffee drinker.”

Lucas nods and puts the order into the register. He states their total and Eliott fishes out his credit card. As he’s passing it over, their fingers momentarily brush and that meer touch has Lucas spiraling. He isn’t even sure he can swipe their credit card his head is spinning so much. He does it successfully, however, and passes the card back before walking over to grab them a  brownie from their pastry selection. As he does so he can feel Tyler’s gaze on him.

Tyler takes a few steps closer to Lucas and bumps their shoulders, whispering a quick “you okay?”

God, am I that obvious? Lucas wonders to himself before giving a nod and walking back over. He passes the brownie to Lucille and gives Eliott a quick wave as they walk away. That was the longest two minutes of his entire life.

When the two finally leave the coffee shop, neither of them sending another glance Lucas’s way, he feels like he can finally breathe again.

He lets out an audible sigh, guess Eliott got back together with his girl is a brief thought that crosses Lucas’s mind. Then again, it wasn’t really his place to worry about it.

“Lucas, dude, you okay?” Tyler asks and walks back over.

Lucas takes a breath in before answering, “yeah, why?”

He shrugs, “nothing, you just totally stiffened up when that guy entered. Something happen between you two? A hookup?”

Lucas whips his head around, “a hookup?! Why would you think that?”

Tyler frowns, “that dude was totally fucking you with his eyes dude. Like, hardcore. And I’m not usually good at spotting that stuff but like holy shit. His gaze even had me affected.”

Lucas rolls his eyes, “whatever. My shift is about to end, so I won’t have to deal with your bullshit for that much longer,” he laughs.

Tyler scoffs, “c’mon, you like me.” Tyler sing-songs as he wraps his arms around Lucas from behind.

Lucas wriggles out of the grip with a laugh, “right, in your dreams.”

When Lucas gets home from his shift at the coffee shop he spends an hour or so chilling with Mika and a very quiet Lisa in the living room. They watch whatever comes on TV because they can’t find the remote, which Lucas finds hilarious. Mostly, though, Mika is walking Lucas through his dating app and trying to convince Lucas to download it to get a new boyfriend or “even a friends with benefits” as Mika put it. Lucas found it easier to tune him out the longer the conversation dragged on for.

It’s not like Lucas would mind a fling. He’s never been “flung” his whole eighteen years of life, only ever being in one long-term relationship. He wonders what it would be like in a fling. From what he’s gathered it’s mostly talking and sex and talking and sex, which Lucas would not mind. Something like that for the summer before his college years would be a-okay with him.

“Lucas,” Mika whistles and waves his hand in front of his face to grab his attention.

Lucas blinks and shifts his gaze over, “sorry, I got lost in thought. As you were saying?”

Mika raises an eyebrow, “what got you so wrapped up there, kitten?”

Lucas shrugs, “nothing really, I was just thinking about what it would be like in a ‘fling.’ What is it like?” Lucas asks, knowing that Mika wouldn’t have any problem sharing his oh-so-many stories.

Mika shifts and brings his legs up to his chin, “well, it’s really nice in the beginning. The flame lasts longer than just a one night stand, but not as long as a honeymoon phase of a long-term relationship if you can understand?” Lucas nods, “it’s nice because you both don’t get sick of each other, since you both sort of know it’s going to end soon. The sex is usually awesome, but so is the talking. Everything evens itself out.”

Lucas hums, “that sounds nice.”

Mika smirks, “oh, yeah? Well, the problem is you can’t really get attached, since you have to have a mutual understanding that it’s going to end. That’s been a problem with some of my past flings.”

“Oh, for you?” Lucas wonders.

Mika scoffs, “no, kitten, for the other guy. People just can’t stay away from me.”

Lucas rolls his eyes and stands from the couch, “alright, that’s enough for me, I’m heading in.”

“What?! But it’s only seven!” Mika complains.

Lucas shrugs, “sorry, guess you’ll just have to talk to Lisa about your dating profile. Night, guys.”

Lucas obviously doesn’t go to sleep right away. Nope, he spends a few minutes changing into sweats and then the next hour or so scrolling through and switching between the same six apps over and over. It isn’t until about ten that the group chat of him and the gang starts to get active, and begin discussing if they want to have a small get together at Arthur’s place since his parents are out of town. Lucas isn’t one to say no, especially after not seeing the gang for the past week or so. He quickly changes into his signature “romance” hoodie and faded jeans before sneaking out of the house and grabbing his bike to take to Arthur’s. By the time Lucas arrives the boys are already two beers in and in the middle of a very intense video game that looks like it would give Lucas a seizure if he concentrated on it for too long. Lucas, instead, opted for nursing a beer in the small loveseat adjacent to the couch, Yann next to him.

It isn’t until the pizza gets there that they actually start up a conversation, mostly about how Basile and Daphne are doing. Though, when that conversation goes under they turn to Lucas for amusement.

“Any guys catching your eyes this summer, Lucas?” Arthur wonders aloud.

Lucas groans at the question, “everyone’s been pestering me about relationships. What’s with that this summer?”

“Well, it is the summer before we all head of to college.” Yann comments.

“Yeah! We just want our Lucas to get some good dick so he isn’t all grumpy the coming school year!” Basile adds.

Arthur butts in, shaking his head disapprovingly at Basile, “bro, seriously, sense the conversation. It’s like you’re not even talking about the same thing.” Basile grumbles and downs his beer in retaliation.

Lucas laughs at his friends before sighing into his beer, “I mean I want to be in a relationship, but maybe that’s my problem. Maybe I’m just looking for it too hard.”

“I can help set you up with someone, I have a few acquaintances who would be more than happy to satisfy you, Lucas.” Arthur offers with a playful wink.

“No, no, I think what our boy needs is an old fashioned night in the town. How about we just chill here, have a few more beers, than head to that bar we all like,” Yann offers.

Lucas nods and reluctantly gets up from his spot on the couch, “I think we’re all out of beers. I’ll just run out real fast and get us some.” They all agree and pass Lucas a couple dollars to help split the coast.

Lucas takes his time walking to the store, even opting for the one that’s an extra block away. He loves his friends, he really does. But it’s not like he needs or wants their help in finding him a boyfriend. That’s always been a topic really private to him, at least in the beginning. Eventually everyone starts questioning “why do you have hickeys on your neck?” or “where were you over the weekend?” Which, granted, they should have those questions but usually Lucas likes to keep the beginning as much of a secret as possible, just in case anything goes under.

Lucas walks into the store, and nearly getting blinded by the overly bright fluorescent lights.  He immediately beelines for the back and grabs the cheapest case of beer available. He digs out his phone as he heads back to the register located at the front of the store. Lucas snickers when he sees he has a new message from Emma. He opens it up to find another shared post of the guy from before. Or the guy who now has a name: Eliott. Lucas feels his heart pick up as he opens the post. The lighting in this photo is even better than the last one. His bone structure is to die for, not to mention those eyes-

Lucas is sent flying backwards, his phone falling out of his hand and onto the ground when he accidentally collides with someone as he turns the corner. He frantically apologizes, trying to locate his phone as quickly as possible. As he sees the guy turn around. Lucas’ eyes shoot up and he feels his mouth run dry. This was not happening to him. It couldn’t be.

“Oh, Lucas! Long time no see,” Eliott chuckles.

Lucas gives an awkward laugh, “yeah sorry, uh, I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Eliott smirks and bends down to pick up his phone, “distracted I see.” Eliott glances at what is on the screen and Lucas feels like he is ready to implode, he was looking at Eliott! “Well, at least you were looking at something worthwhile, huh?” He passes the phone back over.

“You know, I would try to explain it, but I think I would just be digging my own grave,” Lucas blushes.

Eliott laughs, and the sound echoes in Lucas’ ears, “I always appreciate an admirer. Especially one as cute as you.” Lucas feels himself choke on nothing, if he tried to respond he isn’t sure anything would even come out. Eliott breaks the silence as he nods at what Lucas is carrying, “party tonight?”

“Oh, um, no not really. Just me and the guys are chilling at Arthur’s place.” Lucas pauses and glances at what Eliott is holding in the basket, “wow, big homecooked feast planned there?”

Eliott laughs, “no, no. I can’t cook to save my own life if I’m being honest. It’s actually Lucille who offered to cook dinner, but she’s vegan so...lots of greens and other things in this basket.”

Lucas feels his heart constrict at the mention of Lucille’s name. But just as the feeling came on Lucas had to remind himself that for the love of God he doesn’t have any reason to be jealous, it’s not like Eliott would even be interested in Lucas. “That’s nice of her,” Lucas manages to say.

Eliott nods, “we haven’t seen each other in a while. I just moved back into town so,”

“Oh, where’d you move from?” Lucas wonders.

“I went to Paris for a modelling gig, then came back here.”

A model, of course! “Oh, that’s awesome. Is modelling what you want to do?”

Eliott shrugs, “I guess it’s an option. What I really want to get into is art.”

Lucas raises his eyebrows in surprise, Eliott hadn’t really struck him as an artistic type, “that’s awesome, dude!”

Eliott smiles, “thanks. Y’know I can do art, but I can’t seem to find the stupid sugar in this place,” Eliott says exasperated.

Lucas laughs, “I can help you if you want?”

“Would you mind?”

Lucas shakes his head, “of course not! Is it just sugar?”

Eliott bites at his bottom lip, and Lucas can’t help but watch. His eyes finally manage their way back up to Eliott’s eyes and...is that...a blush on his cheeks? “Actually, it’s sugar, brown sugar, brussel sprouts and spinach.”

Lucas smirks, “wow, guess you really do suck at grocery shopping.”

“I told you,”

Lucas laughs and thinks for a couple moments, “so sugar and brown sugar should be in the isle…” he lets his voice trail off as his eyes scan the shelves, falling on what he was looking for. He jumps into action, grabbing both off the shelves before turning back to Eliott, “so here’s these two. You really didn’t see these?” Lucas laughs as Eliott places them in his cart.

Eliott scoffs, “I guess I was too distracted by a certain someone crashing into me.”

“Alright, point taken.” Lucas laughs, “I think that brussel sprouts would be in the frozen foods section, which is just two isles over. And...spinach should probably be there too.”

“Thanks, Lucas, don’t know what I would have done without you,” Eliott says.

He shrugs, “I guess you probably would have just been stuck here wandering around for the next hour or so.”

That made Eliott laugh, “you’re probably right.” Lucas is just about ready to say his goodbyes when Eliott stops him, holding his arm as he tries to walk past, “I’m hosting a somewhat small party at my place next sunday, would you want to come? You could bring your friends if you wanted to.”

Something inside Lucas almost wanted to tease Eliott, have himself play hard to get and just see what the other’s reaction would be. Instead Lucas smiles and says “of course, I can get the information from you next saturday. Sound good?”

Eliott nods, “sounds perfect. Bye, Lucas.”

3.

Next Saturday it’s raining cats and dogs outside. Lucas is immediately disappointed, knowing that Eliott probably won’t show up while it’s raining like this. Though, not that Lucas would object to that. He wouldn’t mind to have some eye candy today, he sorta needs a pick-me-up.  

Mika spent the night at a “friends” house and Manon had left early to have, what Lucas could only guess was, a heated discussion with Charles. Lisa had...disappeared. To be honest, Lucas never really knows where she is. When he got up he had no idea what time it was. The sun was shrouded by the dark clouds, casting even darker shadows over the bleak town.

It’s almost twelve by the time Lucas makes his way into the kitchen. His eyes are still half closed as he fumbles through their cupboards looking for the bread. Lucas gives up on his search after what feels like an eternity of looking. He opts for the couch instead, the ol’ reliable. As he sits down he doesn’t jump to turn on the TV, or to turn on his phone, instead he sits there listening to the rain. It sounds like someone pounding ruthlessly on the window with how hard the rain was hitting it. He lets his head roll back and his eyes drift close. He thinks about just falling asleep on the couch, it wouldn’t be the first time.  

He can feel his subconscious taking over, or actually he can pinpoint the exact moment his subconscious takes over, because of the image of Oliver that appears on his eyelids. Lucas can immediately recognize the memory. It’s of their first real date, they had gone to the park after Lucas got off work. Oliver had packed them a picnic, and Lucas thought it was the most romantic thing ever. They had laughed practically all day, not once was there an awkward silence or even a moment that passed where Lucas felt like he didn’t belong. It all just felt so right. That was the day that Lucas felt like he was falling in love for the first time.

His eyes fluttered open, tears streaming his cheeks. He wiped them away violently, and rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. He seriously had to get over that prick. He knew it, his friends knew it, even Tyler knew it. Yet Lucas found it so hard to let go. There is a difference between being in love and falling in love, it seems. Lucas is obviously in love with his mom and his friends, maybe even Mika (though that may be stretching it a little). That type of love is guaranteed. You are guaranteed to love your friends in a way that is indescribable. But with Oliver, it was like falling in love was brand new. It made Lucas’s heart beat faster and his pupils dilate. It made his palms sweat and hairs stand on end. And then it was all gone.

A loud knock at the door startled Lucas out of his daze. It audibly made him gasp and jump off of the couch. He took another second to compose himself, and wiped under his eyes a final time before walking to the door. He unlocks the deadbolt and swings the door open just as a large gust of wind and rain hits him in the face. He blinks his eyes back open against the rain, sort of waiting for the person at the door to say something.

“Lucas, you okay?”

He would recognize that voice anywhere, “Eliott,” Lucas breathes out, like it’s the first time saying his name.

When Lucas doesn’t say anything else Eliott laughs, “that is me. Uh, may I come in? I’m sort of getting soaked.”

Lucas nods frantically and opens the door wide enough for Eliott to step through. As he’s slipping off his shoes and hanging his jacket by the door, Lucas asks, “what are you doing here? You can’t really work on the yard in this weather.”

“I know, but, I told you that I would give you the information for my party tomorrow. I didn’t really want to disappoint.” Eliott smiles over his shoulder.

Lucas bites at his bottom lip, trying to remind himself he shouldn’t get too excited, that Eliott isn’t here to just hang out. “Oh, thanks,” Lucas mumbles and closes the door.

“Sorry, is it a bad time? I can go…”

“No! No! You’re fine, why do you ask?”

Eliott shrugs, “you’re eyes are a little red. Either you’ve been smoking something or you’ve been crying.”

Lucas cringes and, on instinct, goes to wipe his eyes. He isn’t really sure what he’s trying to do, maybe wipe the redness away, “oh, yeah. I wasn’t smoking anything,” Lucas laughs, though that just made him sound pathetic.

Eliott pauses and they are suddenly surrounded by a very tense silence in the middle of a very small entrance. “I won’t ask for any details, since we aren’t that close, but if you want to talk…”

Lucas smiles, “thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” Lucas nods his head in the direction of the living room and they start heading that way.

“It’s a nice place,” Eliott comments as they take their places on the couch.

Lucas laughs, “you’ve been in here before!”

“I know, but I didn’t really get to appreciate the structure and composition of the rooms-”

“Okay, okay, we get it you’re an artist.”

Eliott laughs, but slowly it dies away and they are left once again in a rough silence. “So, Sunday,” Eliott begins, finally breaking their pause, “it’s going to be super chill. It’s just going to be like thirty people tops, it starts around 7-8pm, though who knows when people will actually show up. And my house is just a couple streets away from here.”

Lucas smirks, “you came all the way over here to tell me that?”

Eliott shrugs, “no, I came all the way over here, in the rain, mind you, to hang out with the cute and devilishly handsome guy who lives in a house I work for.”

“Oh, you must be looking for Mika then,” Lucas jokes, “sorry he’s not in today-”

“Lucas!” Eliott exclaims in laughter, “I obviously meant you.”

Lucas bites his lip and looks away from the searing gaze Eliott has on him. Lucas doesn’t know how much more of this he can take before he combusts. “How do you do that?” Lucas asks. “Do what?”

“Flirt like that when you obviously still have a girlfriend?” Lucas asks. He nearly regrets the words as soon as they come out of his mouth because of the shocked look which appears on Eliott’s face.

“Lucas, I don’t-” Eliott begins, but then his words fade off into a very quiet “oooooh.” Lucas raises an eyebrow at him as he enters into a fit of laughter.

“What? What’d I say?” Lucas asks.

“Lucas, Lucille is not my girlfriend. She’s my adopted sister.” Eliott laughs again.

Lucas feels the color drain from his face as he mumbles a nearly quiet “oh my god,” followed by his cheeks erupting into flames. “I’m so stupid,” Lucas groans and goes to cover his face with his hands.

Lucas feels his face heat up even more and he rocks back and forth in embarrassment. “I can’t believe I just did that,” Lucas says as Eliott’s hands go to wrap around his wrists and pull his hands away from his face.

“You were jealous! That’s adorable.” Eliott laughs.

Lucas groans again, but this time can’t hide his face in his hands since Eliott still has grip on them, “I was not jealous! I’ve talked to you like three times before today! How could I be jealous?”  Lucas groans and pushes himself off the couch “what do you say we forget that all just happened and have a beer?”

“At 11 o’clock? Of course!”

Within just an hour they had both downed three beers, which actually isn’t too bad. But Lucas had ulterior motives. Because everytime he closed his eyes, Oliver appeared as a very real, very vivid image. He hoped that the alcohol would completely erase him from his mind. Luckily, Lucas had Eliott to help distract him as he told Lucas a story about one of his friends puking on a girl in a very animated way. Lucas appreciated the distraction, though he almost felt guilty in using Eliott to take his mind off Oliver.

The more Lucas drank, the more easy-going he became. He was able to laugh and joke around with Eliott. He told him a couple things he’d never told anyone, not even Yann.

“I’m still trying to get over my ex, who broke up with me and was fucking someone on the side the whole time,” Lucas says.

“I’m bipolar.”

“I broke up my best friend and his girlfriend because I thought I had a crush on him,” Lucas takes of sip of his current beer.

“I cheated on my ex-girlfriend more times than I can count.”

Lucas scoffs, “okay, at least you’re a worse human than I am.” He snickers when Eliott chucks a pillow at him. “I used a girl as a beard for a while,” Lucas mumbles.

“What do you mean?” Eliott asks and looks at Lucas through his half closed eyes.

“You know, when a gay guy uses a girl to pretend that he’s still straight? Wow, you didn’t know what that was/?”

Eliott shakes his head, “oh, I knew what it meant. I just wanted to be certain you were gay before I did this.” Eliott says and pulls out a joint from his pocket. Lucas tries not to think how long that’s been in there. He lights it using a lighter that had been left out of their coffee table.

Lucas watches as Eliott leans forward, closing the distance between them. Lucas doesn’t go to turn away, too caught up in everything Eliott. Eliott’s eyes holding him in place. Eliott’s hand snaking around his waist. Eliott’s other hand placing the lit joint between his soft lips. Eliott as he blows out, releasing a vast amount of smoke between them. Lucas opens his mouth and breathes in, holding the smoke as Eliott pulls the joint from his lips, and only releasing when he knows for sure Eliott is watching.

Lucas takes the initiative, pulling Eliott’s head down to meet his. Their kiss is chaotic. It’s messy. Full of lips and tongue. Lucas barely registers Eliott grounding the lit joint into the ashtray until both of Eliott’s hands are free and they come up to Lucas’s waist, pulling them closer. There is absolutely nothing soft in their movements as Eliott lays Lucas on his back. Eliott nips at the soft skin of Lucas’s neck, trailing hot kisses back up to Lucas’s jaw. Lucas doesn’t think through his movements as he pulls Eliott’s shirt off, followed by his own. Their mouths crash together, as if the mere two seconds they were separated was a decade. A moan is pulled from Lucas’s lips as Eliott grinds down, providing much needed friction. Lucas can feel Eliott’s boner pressed against his thigh, and Lucas is sure Eliott feels his.

Lucas finally decides that just kissing isn’t enough anymore and pushes them upwards with a force that sends Eliott on his back and Lucas straddling his lap. “Fuck, you’re beautiful,” Eliott mumbles and brings his hands up to Lucas’s hips, gripping them with enough pressure to leave possible bruising there the next day.

Lucas slowly starts moving down, pressing kisses over the expanse of Eliott’s toned chest until he gets to his denim jeans. Lucas quickly unbuttons, unzips, and pulls them away to reveal Eliott’s impressive erection. He spends no time in taking Eliott into his mouth, pushing him all the way to the back of his throat. Lucas gags a couple times (he wasn’t lucky enough to be born without a gag reflex) but he forces himself down. The moans coming from Eliott is enough of a reward. He pulls himself off, stroking up and down a couple times before kissing up his length.

“Fuck, Lucas, where did you learn to do that?” Eliott asks breathless.

Lucas smirks, “not my first time, baby.”

Eliott’s eyes roll back as Lucas goes down again, this time bobbing his head and twirling his tongue around the tip of Eliott’s cock. “Shit, you need to stop,” Eliott moans and moves a hand through Lucas’s hair to pull him off.

Lucas pants for a few seconds, trying to decode what Eliott had just said to him, his mind completely elsewhere. “Right, yeah,” Lucas begins, voice already hoarse.

Before Lucas can say anything else Eliott is pushing them back to their original position, Lucas underneath him. Lucas normally likes the more dominating position of riding, but he has to admit that Eliott’s broad shoulders and just their vast size difference makes Lucas feel more secure. Eliott works on Lucas’s jeans for only a couple minutes before they are tossed to the side and they are finally connected skin to skin. Lucas moans at the feeling, and he is so, so glad that his roommates aren’t home.

Eliott’s lips are roaming Lucas’s chest and he mumbles, “I’ve been dying to do this every since I first saw you that day in your loose-fitting shirt when you opened the door for me,” Lucas bites his lip when Eliott leaves a good sized hickey on his neck, just above where any shirt could cover it, “I just knew I had to see that pretty mouth wrapped around my cock.”

Lucas moans, he tries and fails to grind upwards, whining when it doesn’t work. Eliott chuckles, “you want me that bad?” Lucas nods and wraps his arms around Eliott’s neck. “Well, you’re going to have to tell me, babe, or else I won’t know what to do.”

“You know what I want, asshole,” Lucas rushes out as Eliott roams his hands down his chest, lifting up when they get close to Lucas’s crotch.

“I don’t think I do.”

“Oh, fuck you.” Lucas hisses when Eliott’s hands move to roam his backside, “I want you to fuck me, Eliott.”

Lucas can feel Eliott’s smile against his chest. Lucas closes his eyes when he hears Eliott spit into his hand, making impromptu lube, “I don’t have anything, don’t worry,” Eliott mumbles before sliding in a finger. Lucas’s toes curl and he grinds his jaw at the feeling. He hasn’t had sex in a while, so it’s gotten really tight. A few minutes later and Eliott has three fingers in, creating a steady pumping motion that has Lucas moaning for more. Every so often Eliott’s fingers will curl up, hitting the place that sends waves of pleasure and shivers through Lucas.

“Are you okay?” Eliott asks, and Lucas nods. He’s glad that Eliott keeps checking in. He never knew sex could be so pleasurable. With Oliver it was only every about satisfying his needs, rather than Lucas’s.

Eliott removed his fingers allowing Lucas some breathing time before Eliott starting aligning himself. “Ready?” Eliott asks. Lucas nods frantically and wraps his arms a little tighter around Eliott’s neck. Slowly he starts to push in, and Lucas sees stars. It’s centimeter by centimeter, but it’s seems to go on forever. When Eliott is finally flush against Lucas, he lets out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding.

A few tears fall from Lucas’s eyes, but he has always been the guy to cry during sex. Something in his nature apparently. Slowly, Eliott starts moving, a much slower rhythm than his fingers carried. However, he still managed to hit Lucas’s prostate repeatedly. Everytime he pushed in Lucas would moan with pleasure. Pretty soon Eliott’s rhythm started to become erratic and Lucas knows they were both close. Stars were shooting across his vision as the pressure built up in his abdomen. He didn’t even need to touch his cock before he was screaming out and coming onto his chest. Eliott following only a couple seconds after.

Eliott collapsed on top of Lucas, panting heavily and sweat making hairs stick to his forehead. Lucas doesn’t think twice about moving some hair out of the way and placing kisses onto the sweaty skin. Finally, once their breathing patterns return to normal, Eliott asks, “did you dry come?”

Lucas laughs and brushes his fingers through Eliott’s hair. “I guess I did.”

Eliott positions his head on Lucas’s chest so they can make eye contact with each other, “you are unbelievable, Lucas.”

Lucas hums, “I guess I am. But props to you for hitting my prostate every time.”

Eliott laughs, “I guess that’s my specialty.”

“I’m going to go grab us some towels,” Lucas says and slowly shifts out from under Eliott until he’s back on his feet. He shimies into his underwear before marching through the house to find their cupboard of towels.

When he walks into the kitchen he tosses one to Eliott and begins wiping himself down. He sits beside Eliott on the couch, a silence falling over them. It’s charged with a question neither of them are ready to ask.

It’s a couple more minutes before Eliott speaks up, “so, what is this?” Lucas refuses to meet his eyes, looking everywhere but at Eliott. “Is it casual?”

Lucas’s eyes finally flick up to find Eliott’s, “casual, yeah. Sounds good.”

Lucas feels like he’s a hollow shell as he watches Eliott get dressed back into his jeans and t-shirt. He slips his own shirt on to walk Eliott out. Lucas opens the door for them and Eliott walks through. The problem is you can’t really get attached, since you have to have a mutual understanding that it’s going to end. That’s been a problem with some of my past flings, Lucas hear’s Mika’s voice in his head. They pause in the threshold as Eliott hands over his phone, and Lucas fills in his contact info before handing it back over. No words exchanged.

He closes the door without waiting for Eliott to get all the way to his car. Once he hears the truck drive away, he falls to his knees, breaking down into tears.

4.

Lucas purposefully evades the house next Saturday, trying his best to avoid Eliott because he knows as soon as he lays eyes on him his heart will melt. So, when Lucas gets a text from Eliott Monday night asking if he wants to go for a ride, he can’t refuse.

Mika gives Lucas a wary look when he walks past them in the living room. Lucas didn’t dress “to the nines” for a booty call from Eliott, which is exactly what it was. Though, Lucas isn’t necessarily complaining, the sex is really good. And as Mika said, so is the talking, though they do less of that. By the time Lucas is walking out the front door, Eliott is pulling up in his truck. He rolls down his window as Lucas walks up, and pokes his head down to give Lucas a beaming grin. Don’t smile like that if you don’t mean it, Lucas wants to say as he climbs into the passenger seat.

“Hey, baby,” Eliott says and gives Lucas a little peck on the cheek.

Lucas can’t help but smile, and he hates himself for it. “Hey,” he replies and buckles himself in, “where are we going?”

Eliott hums as he puts the car into drive, “you’ll see.”

The drive there is silent. Lucas stares out the window and watches as the suburbs become farmland. Even when they are barely any houses, they keep driving. They could have gone on forever, and Lucas would not have minded. Finally Eliott pulls over as the sun is setting over the horizon. They are in an empty cornfield that seems to stretch on for miles. It’s almost breathtaking.

“Where are we?” Lucas asks as he hops out of the car and walks around to the front, Eliott mirroring his movements.

“Well, my family used to live out here. We only recently moved to the city. But, anytime I got overwhelmed or scared I would come here.” Eliott shrugs and his eyes survey the horizon. “I know it looks like every other corn field out there, and to be honest it is, but there is something more peaceful here. More serene.”

Lucas smiles up at Eliott and takes his time in studying his expression. It only lasts a few seconds before Eliott glances down, locking eyes with Lucas. A hand snakes around Lucas’s neck and he’s being pulled into a kiss. It’s softer this time, less rushed. The feel of each other’s lips is familiar, and Lucas melts into the feeling.

He didn’t really get a chance to before, because it was so hectic, but Lucas studied the way Eliott kisses. He kisses like Lucas is air and he’s been drowning for years. He kisses like he’s never tasted or felt anything more beautiful.

And Lucas’s heart breaks knowing that Eliott has kissed others in the same way.

Lucas pulls away from the kiss, cutting it short. Eliott seems confused and pants for a couple seconds before running a hand through Lucas’s hair. “You okay?” He asks.

Lucas forces a smile, “yeah, yeah. Let’s get in the car.” He says and grabs Eliott’s hands, pulling him to the back seat.

Lucas pushed Eliott in first, making him land on his back. Lucas crawls in afterwards, closes the door behind him and he straddles Eliott’s lap. He quickly strips himself of his shirt, throwing it out of the way.

“Lucas…” Eliott whispers and starts to sit upright.

Lucas shakes his head and presses a hand to Eliott’s chest, pushing him back down. Eliott doesn’t protest, but keeps his hands positioned on Lucas’s waist.

Riding Eliott felt like an awakening. Being able to watch him slowly unravel and fall apart underneath had Lucas moaning. As they reached their end Eliott grabbed a tight hold onto Lucas’s waist, halting Lucas’s rhythm. He started thrusting hard upwards and Lucas completely unraveled. He came with a moan loud enough it could have been mistaken for a scream.

Afterwards they wrap themselves in a blanket Eliott had in the back seat. Lucas laid his head down on Eliott’s chest. To be honest, Lucas was practically laying on top of Eliott because of the thin seats. But neither were complaining. It was actually nice being able to rest his head on Eliott’s chest and trace different shapes over and across the large expanse of skin. Eliott had his arms wrapped around Lucas protectively, yet gentle as if he pressed any harder Lucas would shatter.

“I think you left some bruises on my hips,” Lucas jones after a little while of silence.

Eliott laughs, “good, everyone will know you’re already fucking someone.”

“That hickey you gave me has barely faded away and it’s been over a week.”

“You just bruise like a peach, it’s not my fault,” Eliott laughs again as Lucas punches his chest playfully.

After a while Lucas goes to shift his position, to take some of the pressure off of his left arm. But a rush of soreness shoots up Lucas’s back making utter a soft “ow!”

“You okay?” Eliott asks.

Lucas nods, “yeah, just sore.”

Eliott wiggles his eyebrows at Lucas as he lays back down, “I guess I did my job well then.”

“Shut up, idiot.”

Eliott grins and loops an arm up around Lucas’s head, pressing him impossibly closer. Eventually they both drift off to sleep. Eliott’s heart acting as a soft metronome.

When Lucas next woke his head was spinning. He tried to get a sense of his bearings, but it took him a good few minutes to figure out he was in a car. He groaned as he stretched out his legs and arms, only then realizing that he was being spooned by another person on the narrow car seats. Memories of the night before comes back to him all at once as he shifts his hips and groans out in pain. Damn, Eliott really did him rough.

“Lucas?” a husky voice asks from behind him.

“Morning,” he replies, and smirks as he rubs backwards into Eliott eliciting a low groan from the older boy.

“Mm, don’t do that, baby. I might just jump you,” Eliott mumbles into the soft skin of Lucas’s neck.

“Well, I wouldn’t necessarily refuse,” Lucas jokes and Eliott laughs.

“Okay, I definitely would but I think we should probably leave pretty soon.”

“Wow, you don’t have any balls anymore do you?” Lucas laugh and he can practically feel Eliott’s eye roll. “There is definitely an Eliott in some parallel universe who decides to ravish Lucas in this car, right here right now.”

“‘Some parallel universe?’” Eliott asks.

“It’s my theory,” Lucas explains, “that every time we have to make a decision, there is a different version of me in another universe who made the other choice. So in every life, I’ve tried everything.”

“I don’t know if I believe that.”

Lucas hums, “well, you’re wrong. Because there are multiple Eliott’s and Lucas’s laying together right now like we are. There are some who are still pining after each other. There’s one version where Eliott didn’t come in for a drink of lemonade the first day they saw each other. There’s another Eliott and Lucas who met at school.” Lucas pauses, and shuffles backwards to press his back against Eliott’s chest, “and there is an Eliott and Lucas who aren’t just having casual sex. Instead, they are telling one another that they love each other for the first time.”

5.

It’s been nearly a month since Lucas and Eliott started their “friends with benefits” relationship, and Lucas knows he’s in way over his head. Ever since that car ride with Eliott, slowly but surely, he’s feeling have grown from attraction to love. He tries to ignore it, he really does. Because they have a ton of fun together. And at times it is easier to forget, like when they are just talking normally or when Eliott is balls deep inside of him and Lucas is screaming to come. Those times are easier.

But then there is time in between. When Eliott presses gentle kisses to Lucas’s forehead, lulling him to sleep as he massages his scalp. Or when they stay awake afterwards and watch a cheesy Disney movie. Or when Lucas is having post-sex cravings, but his joints are too sore to move so Eliott offers to go get him whatever he wants.

It hurts because even if Lucas were to move on from Eliott, he knows he would never be able to find someone who satisfies him as much as Eliott does. And not just physically. Yes, their bodies match so well together, but also mentally. They can laugh and just enjoy each other’s company without it always having to be about the sex. So, Lucas drew himself a line, at least until his crush passes. That’s all it is, a crush. At least that’s what Lucas tries to convince himself.

He won’t allow any kisses on the lips from this point onward, he’s decided. It sounds stupid, since people would argue that getting kissed on the lips is less intimate than having sex until the early hours of the morning like Lucas and Eliott have been doing. But sex with Eliott is almost animalistic. Sure, there are days when he is calm and builds Lucas up to his climax, but really it’s all about satisfaction. Kissing on the lips is much more intimate than just seeking release. Kissing each other slowly is almost like telling the person “I like you, I like you a lot.” And Lucas doesn’t think he could hold himself back from murmuring a soft “I love you” against Eliott’s lips if they ever kissed again.

“Lucas is probably going to be with his newest fuck buddy this weekend,” Arthur says as he repeadtedly smashes a button on the controller pointed at the TV.

He had decided to hang with the Gang for the first time in about two weeks. Lucas actually turned Eliott down on an offer to make time for his friends, which Lucas saw as growth. Slowly trying to separate himself from everything Eliott.

Yet, here he was. Making himself into the conversation of his tight friend group.

“WHA- I don’t have a fuck buddy!” Lucas protests and sits up in his chair.

Yann rolls his eyes, “dude, even if you say that you have about ten hickeys on your neck. Obviously you’re fucking somebody.”

“Or you’re the one getting fucked…?” Basile adds, more as a question.

Arthur sighs in exasperation, “seriously, Basile. Sense the conversation.” Arthur shakes his head as he turns back to Lucas, “so who is he?”

Lucas sighs in defeat, “you guys don’t know him.”

“Try us,” Yann says.

“Fine, his name is Eliott. And before any of you say anything about it, we both agreed that it was something casual. Just like a, a summer fling if you will.”

Yann pauses and narrows his eyes at Lucas, “you like him don’t you?”

“What, Yann! You can’t just ask him-”

“Ugh, yeah! Okay I do!” Lucas juts in, cutting Arthur off. “He’s everything I’ve ever looked for in a guy. He’s nice to talk to, he’s funny, we have a crap ton in common, he’s hot, and, of course, to top it all off he’s actually really, really fucking good in bed. It’s just unfair!” Lucas groans, “at the beginning I was just using him to get over Oliver, but now it’s like I’m falling in love with him and I just can’t stop!”

“Have you considered the possibility that Eliott is falling for you too?” Basile asks.

Lucas shakes his head, “no, I mean he was the one who proposed we do it casual.”

“Well, wait,” Yann says and shifts forward on the couch, “did he propose it or did he just ask you if you wanted it casual.”

Lucas pauses, “I can’t...remember.”

Yann raises an eyebrow at him, smile growing wider, “okay, so. So far we have that he may or may not have proposed a casual relationship, but also that he obviously spends a lot of time around you, and he obviously likes to leave hickeys on you where he knows other people will be able to see them.” Yann pauses. “Maybe he doesn’t want the relationship to remain casual anymore?”

Lucas isn’t entirely sure how to respond, so he doesn’t.

“Right,” Yann breathes in, “so, why don’t you contact him?”

Lucas rolls his eyes at his friend, “I’m not going to confess my love to him over text, Yann.”

“Right, you shouldn’t.” Arthur jumps in, “why don’t you ask Eliott where he is? Then maybe you can meet him and have a talk with him.”

“Yeah! Do that, do that!” Basile says all too ecstatically.

Eventually all of them are chanting for Lucas to text Eliott. Lucas laughs as he pulls out his phone and types in Eliott’s contact. The idiot had named himself in Lucas’s phone: love of my life, my one and only with a few heart emojis to boot.

To: Hey, where are you right now?

From: Awe, does my baby miss me that much?

From: May I remind you that you were the one who said no sex tonight? ;) Cockblocked yourself, mister.

To: Jesus, you are too much to handle.

From: Mm, well obviously, I had you biting your arm so hard last time to hold back your shouts.

To: That isn’t what I meant, ugh! Nevermind, forget it

From: No, no, I’m sorry. What’s up?

To: Nothing, I just wanted to know what you were up to.

From: Well, since you turned me down :( I went to a party at a Idriss’ house.

To: Ah, okay.

From: ??

From: That’s it?

To: Yeah

From: You are very weird, Monsieur Lallemant.

To: Thanks

“He’s at a party hosted by Idriss.” Lucas reports.

Yann claps his hands in excitement, “well let’s go then! I know his apartment!”

When they walk into the party, they look like a group of deer in headlights. Lucas has never been a big drinker, so parties are not really his thing. And this party was...chaotic. Every person looked like they were drunk out of their minds and just about ready to pass out. Or there were the people in one room passing around the thickest joint Lucas has ever seen.

He grabs himself a beer, to at least look like he’s doing something, before walking around and looking for Eliott. He checks all the downstairs rooms, even in the basement. Still no sign of Eliott. Maybe he went home?

The deep bass of the songs playing starts getting to Lucas’s head, and he knows if he doesn’t leave soon he has the high possibility of passing out. He’s grabbing his jacket and slipping it on when he takes a glance up the stairs. He feels his heart stop.

“Lucas, where’s your man?” Arthur asks excitedly as he comes up beside Lucas. Obviously he doesn’t see the tears streaming down Lucas’s face or the slight flashes of anger as they pass through him. Lucas can’t form any words, so all he can do is motion his head up the stairs. Lucas watches as Arthur follows his gaze, and he watches as his smile fades away. There Eliott stands, pressing himself against a guy who clearly wasn’t Lucas. Because Lucas is the one watching them. Arthur turns away when they see Eliott and the other guy disappear into the closest room. “Lucas…” Arthur begins.

He shakes his head, “nah, it’s okay.” He knows he isn’t convincing either of them as another tear runs the length of his cheek, “I mean, we’re casual. He’s probably been...he’s probably been fucking other people this whole time, right? I’m not special. I’m just a toy. I knew that. It’s fine. It’s okay.” Lucas rushes out of the house. Everything suddenly becoming too overwhelming.

He makes it past the driveway and down the street before he’s kicking and screaming at a metal gate. He slams himself against it, punches it, and curses at it until his fingers are bleeding.

+1

To Lucas: Hey, what are you doing later?

To Lucas: Did you ever come to Idriss’ party?

To Lucas: Hey, haven’t heard from you in a while. Everything okay?

To Lucas: Did I do something?

To Lucas: Lucas?

To Lucas: Okay, you’re sort of freaking me out, are you safe?

To Lucas: Lucas, why aren’t you responding. I saw your instagram post.

It’s been two weeks since the night of Idriss’ party. Eliott had been repeatedly calling and texting Lucas, yet to no avail. Maybe Lucas was done with him. Well, ever since Lucas’s most recent post on Instagram, it’s been made clear that Lucas moved on. In the photo Lucas has his arms wrapped around a guy Eliott would describe as...decent looking. They’re both smiling and gazing into each other’s eyes. It almost makes Eliott sick. The caption ties the whole thing together: he thinks because we’re on a date he gets to eat my fries. It’s cheesy, and Eliott nearly smiled at it the first time he read it.

But then his heart was ripped out of his chest. Because it meant that Lucas was cutting all ties with Eliott. It made sense, especially if he’s gotten a boyfriend. He wouldn’t want a fuck-buddy around. But that was the issue.

Eliott was so caught up in their friends with benefits relationship he hadn’t even realized he was falling for Lucas. And he had been falling hard. When Lucas began cutting ties with him, he was plunged into a period of depression. He locked himself in his room, cancelled the job he had with Mika to avoid contact with Lucas, and even turned his phone off. It wasn’t until Idriss and Sofiane burst into his room that he actually got out of bed. They had demanded to know what was going on. Eliott explained to them the situation: Lucas had cut ties, he’d gotten himself a boyfriend, and Eliott is slowly dying without him

“Wait, Lucas as in Lucas Lallemant?” Idriss asks.

Eliott nods his head while shooting his friend a questioning look.

“Well, he’s friends with Yann, uh, yeah Yann that’s his name. I saw them at my party Friday, and Yann and I were talking when all of a sudden Lucas came rushing past us, he looked super upset. It looked like he had been crying. We overheard some of the conversation between Lucas and his other friend, blonde hair, glasses guy.” Idriss pauses, “anyways, we heard them him something about ‘Lucas, I’m sorry. I can’t believe he did that’ and Lucas responded with something along the lines of ‘well, I’m his fuck toy so I don’t know what I expected.’”

Eliott frowns, trying to understand what they could have been talking about. Then it dawned on him, he had been making out with a guy before going into a room together. Eliott was so drunk he honestly doesn’t remember half of it. He does remember than he ended up throwing up on the guy, so obviously they didn’t end up doing anything. But, shit, Lucas doesn’t know that. “Oh, fuck,” Eliott groans and runs his hands through his hair. “They must have seen me go into the room with that guy. Shit.”

Sofiane frowned, “what guy? Did something happen?”

Eliott shook his head, “no, no. I...I ended up not going through with it. I felt...guilty.” Which was part of the truth, his friends didn’t need to know the more embarrassing details.

Sofiane lifted his eyebrows, “bro, you need to text Lucas. Tell him what you just told us. He obviously has deeper feelings for you as well, he was super upset it sounds like.”

Eliott pauses, “you think so?”

Idriss and Sofiane nod their head frantically.

Eliott laughs at his friends, but his smile fades almost immediately after, “but what if he doesn’t feel the same way? Or just doesn’t respond to this text either.”

Idriss places a gentle hand on Eliott’s shoulder, “you don’t know until you try, do you?”

He gives his friends a parting smile as they slowly make their way out of the room. It takes Eliott a couple more minutes to make his hands stop shaking and reach to unplug his phones. He opens his messages to Lucas, his heart slightly breaking at all the messages Lucas has still yet to respond to. Eliott takes a deep breath, his fingers typing out a message. He doesn’t want to scare Lucas off with a sudden barrage of all of his emotions. So he opts for a simple: Hey, Lucas, I miss you and I really want to talk. Just talk. I have some stuff I need to tell you.

It takes a day for Lucas to respond. It was shocking to Eliott that Lucas actually read it and responded to his message. He thought he was going to have radio silence forever.

He had holed himself in his room, turning off all notifications except for ones coming from Lucas. So when he heard his phone ping from his bedside he scrambles to grab his phone. His eyes finally focus on the screen, and he can practically hear his heart shattering.

From Lucas: Please stop contacting me, Eliott. I’m trying to move on from you. I saw you with that guy at Idriss’ party and I realized that I can’t do this casual thing forever. I realized I was falling in love with you, and obviously those are emotions that would get tangled in your whole ‘no strings attached’ thing. You contacting me isn’t making it any easier. Just stop.

Eliott feels like he is going to throw up. That was it. He lost his chance. Lucas doesn’t want to see him anymore. Sure, he’d gotten a confession, “I realized I was falling in love with you.” But Lucas already moved on. Lucas now has that guy who he flaunts on Instagram. Eliott briefly thinks about contacting that guy via Instagram and telling him that Lucas’s been fucking someone on the side, but he isn’t that evil. Instead he goes back to hiding himself in his room. Drawing pages upon pages of a raccoon and a hedgehog, smiling, holding hands, hugging, kissing, watching TV, moving in together, sleeping together, everything that their alternate universe selves could go doing at this very moment.

But of course he’s in the one universe where they go their separate ways.

Eliott’s forced out of his apartment when he runs out of milk around 10pm. He had been making  cereal but was sourly disappointed when he found they didn’t have any milk. And neither Idriss or Sofiane are home to go get him some. He forces his legs into sweatpants and throws on his one sweatshirt before heading out the door. He looks like shit, he realizes, but he can’t find it in him to care. It’s now been a week since Lucas responded to his message. And in that week Lucas has posted another photo with his boyfriend on a dinner date. A dinner date Eliott wishes he could have been on with Lucas.

It’s slowly eating him alive, he thinks. The fact that he’s lost Lucas feels like it’s tearing him limb from limb. He regrets every waking moment that Lucas isn’t with him. That Lucas isn’t in his arms. Or when he can’t run out at one in the morning to go grab Lucas what he’s craving that very moment.

Eliott walks in like a zombie, barely having enough energy to pick up his feet as he walks to the back of the store. He grabs a random jug of milk, the weight of the carton pulling him forward. He watches his feet as he walks. He blinks slowly as the ground moves underneath him, and it begins to feel as if he isn’t even walking himself. Eliott bumps into something, and mutters a soft “sorry.” It’s when he hears a reply that he realizes he hadn’t bumped into something, but rather someone. He picks his head up to give an honest apology, but is met with the image of Lucas standing in front of the cereal. Their eyes lock for just a second before Lucas turns to run away.

“Lucas.” His voice halts Lucas dead in his tracks.

Lucas spins on his heels, coming face to face with a very disgruntled looking Eliott. He is probably the most worn-out looking Lucas has ever seen him. He’s in nothing but sweats, which Lucas didn’t even know he owned, his hair is more messy than usual, the dark circles under his eyes speak volumes on how little sleep he’s gotten, and he looks even thinner, almost like a shell of an Eliott he once was.

Lucas cradles the carton of orange juice in his arm and grips the box of cookies a little tighter, “hey, Eliott.”

Eliott doesn’t smile as he steps closer, but he tries to make a joke nonetheless, “big night I see.”

Lucas smiles, “well, Victor is over, so.”

Eliott feels his blood run cold. Victor. Most likely the boyfriend. “Ah, okay. Guess you had to find someone to replace me,” the joke runs flat. It doesn’t come out as a joke at all. All it does is make Lucas shift uncomfortably where he stands.

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Lucas mutters and Eliott feels his heart flutter for just a second. “He’s nice, though. Yann introduced us. But, uh, there is one major issue with him.”

“And what’s that?” Eliott smiles.

“He likes dipping oreos in orange juice.” Lucas nearly whispers it and quirks an eyebrow up at him.

Eliott shakes his head in disbelief, “well, that is obviously inhumane. Are you sure he’s human?”

Lucas laughs, god, how Eliott missed that sound. “Sometimes I wonder. Anyways, I should probably, uh, head out. Don’t want to keep him waiting too long.”

Eliott nods, sucking in a breath, “yeah, of course.” He wants to scream when Lucas turns back around, walking slowly towards the front of the store. Eliott wants to beg Lucas to stay. To talk. Even for just another minute. Just long enough to tell him how much he regrets every choice he’s made up till now. How much he wants to kiss him and tell him he loves him. And cuddle and watch stupid cheesy movies togther. He wants to eat oreos with milk, like a normal human does. He wants to just kiss those lips one more time. He wants to brush his hands through Lucas’s hair one more time.

He wants to whisper a soft “I love you” in the morning before Lucas has woken up because Eliott was too ecstatic to fall asleep with an absolute angel sleeping next to him. Just one more time.

But Eliott was stupid enough to go into that room with a guy he can’t even remember the name of. A guy whose face is just a blur. Lucas could be his, and yet he still managed to fuck it up.

Before Eliott can stop himself he is sprinting out of the store, dropping things on random shelves as he goes. When he breaks out into the street he frantically looks from side to side, searching for the brown hair that sticks up every which way. It’s pouring outside, a storm passing overhead, and it blurs his vision. He spots him, moving in and out of the crowd. Eliott feels his throat constrict and heart rate pick up as he frantically moves after him. But it feels like the closer he gets, the faster Lucas is moving.

Eliott almost thinks it’s a lost battle, about to give up when he shouts a quick “Lucas!” not even sure if the boy will hear it over the pouring of the rain.

Eliott can do nothing but watch as Lucas slows down and looks over the sea of people, finally locking eyes with Eliott. Eliott’s face breaks into a grin, and he doesn’t care how stupid he looks as he trips over himself trying to reach the man of his dreams.

“Eliott?” Lucas asks, as if he isn’t sure if Eliott is really in front of him.

“Sorry, I-” Eliott swallows. He didn’t plan out anything to say.

Lucas waits patiently, searching Eliott’s face for any clue as to what is coming next.

“Lucas, I just, I need you to know,” Eliott can’t get the words out.

Lucas rolls his eyes, “Eliott, saying sorry isn’t going to get me back in your bed. I need you to understand that I fell in love with you, and it’s just too painful for me to continue this friends with benefits thing we have going on if I can’t actually have you in my life. You can’t just be some drifter who comes in and out whenever he pleases. I’m sorry if you don’t feel the same way, but I need a foundation. And, and it breaks my heart that you aren’t ready to offer me that.”

Lucas is about to turn away, but Eliott grabs his arm before he really has the opportunity, “no, Lucas. I-that wasn’t what I was going to say. Sure, I am sorry. I made so many choices that I regret. But, God, it’s killing me every second you aren’t with me. To be honest I’ve never felt this way with anyone before you.” Lucas is about to roll his eyes, so Eliott laughs and says, “and before you roll your eyes at how cheesy I sound, just know it’s true. I made poor decisions because I was falling in love with you. And I still am. I’m continuously falling for you, Lucas. I love you.”

Eliott can see the shocked expression flicker across Lucas’s face. And then an expression that says “I don’t know how to respond to that.” Lucas takes a breath in, “but, I...It’s too late, Eliott.” Eliott bites his bottom lip, hard enough so that it distracts him from the breaking of his heart. “I can’t just leave Victor…”

“But you can, Lucas!” Eliott pleads and grabs hold of Lucas’s free hand, “I want to be your boyfriend. I want to have a life with you. I want to see where our lives are headed, together. I could even see myself marrying you, Lucas. Which sounds crazy, I know, but it’s true.”

Lucas searches in Eliott’s eyes, maybe he is searching for the answer to their problems, he isn’t really sure. “I need some time,” Lucas mumbles and slowly slips his hand out of Eliott’s reach.

Eliott shakes his head as he watches Lucas’s gaze turn away. In one last attempt Eliott uses his hands to cup Lucas’s face, forcing them to face each other. Lucas is about to say something, but doesn’t have a chance before Eliott’s lips on his. Eliott melts into the kiss. Lucas tastes like honey, sweetness must pump throat his very veins. Lucas responds, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. Eliott hears Lucas drop his bag of groceries in order to wrap both his arms around Eliott’s neck.

Eliott knows he needs to stop the kiss, because he’s trying to prove to Lucas he’s not just a sex toy, but the man that stole his heart. So Eliott slowly takes his lips away, and rests their foreheads together. “I love you, Lucas.” Eliott mutters against Lucas’s lips, “take all the time you need. But...preferably sooner than later. Because it’s killing me, Lucas.”

Lucas laughs breathily, and Eliott can tell neither of them are ready to pull away just yet, so he forces himself to make the first move. He steps away, untangling his fingers from Lucas’s hair. He walks backwards until Lucas is lost in the sea of people.

It’s another week before Lucas contacts Eliott. He’s just lounging around his house after his lectures at his university, obviously trying not to think about Lucas. But failing miserably. He practically jumps to his phone at the notification from Lucas. Next thing he knows he’s sitting in his car parked outside of Lucas’s house, trying to build up the courage to actually walk to the front door.

But before Eliott can unbuckle his seat belt Lucas is opening the door and standing in his doorway. Eliott notes that he looks positively ethereal standing there. Hips cocked outwards, hair a spikey mess, eyes red and puffy, and those lips mouthing Eliott’s name. Then Eliott realizes that Lucas is crying, and he’s only mouthing his name because he isn’t able to actually form any words without fear of his voice breaking.

That sends Eliott flying out of his car, rushing to cup Lucas’s head in his hands. They crash into the hug and Eliott feels Lucas smile against his shoulder, which eases away some of his worry. They stand there for what could have been eternity before Lucas whispers,

“I ended things with Victor, neither of us took it well.”

Eliott smiles, “well, I guess I’ll just have to take responsibility than.” He lifts his head off Lucas’s shoulder in order to cup his head in his hands and wipe away his tears. “I love you, Lallemant, so you better at least take responsibility for that.”

Lucas laughs, and the glassiness in his eyes fade. “Oh, I plan to.”

Eliott melts at the sight of Lucas’s smile. All he wants is for his boy to feel better. “Want to go watch a movie?” Eliott asks.

Lucas nods, “but only if it’s Oui-Oui.”

Eliott laughs, “whatever you want, baby.”

[manjuhitorie]

undefined

Muro Festival, is a rock festival! Which invites newcomers, upcoming artists, veteran come-on-ers, and all hard song enthusiasts alike to celebrate. Named after Muro Kiyoto, who is the manager of a Shibuya concert venue. As an avid enforcer of music events he’s esteemed by many in the scene, so the event draws in people who are driven by the fuel of that pass. At least bands will comment “Muro fest is an adhesive (Arukara)” or “The number one trait of Murofes is that the performing bands have awesome strong connections even on the side, and that the essence of that friendship engulfs it (Wasure).“ or “Even if Murofest was hosted at a small park or a in the middle of the street or in Muro’s house or even in a public toilet, I would perform. I love Murofest (Mizuno Gii).” 

Anyway the performances are full of power! Full of summer heat! Full of maudlinism to soar like Muninn! Full of a favorite: there’s Hitorie’s dead pan heartfelt bassist, ygarshy! 

And you were able to watch it on a niconico livestream but...

 IT’S ENDED NOW

 I will preserve this post as a report.... Doubling as a source for various trivia....  I’m considering maybe if a fan makes a purchase of a Wasureranneyo album, or something of similar sentiment, and DM’s me a screenshot, I could share the recording... Even if you see this in a billion lightyears from now. Because sharing is caring, all around yeah!!!

You have to get niconico premium to watch it, which is only 540 yen. Nothing compared to the fest’s ticket fee of 10,000 yen (Plus airfare fee for us overseers). You can use foreign debit cards, or even Paypal… ! Much of the performances were locked up, only for Premium members originally even for those who were able to watch real-time, so there’s no regrets in seizing the now. Thumbs up. Live shows enhance a whole different essence, so more than listening to a J-rock playlist on Spotify I’d recommend taking a dive into this while you can!!

Not only can you upfront witness the air around their electric pickguards warp to their technique, you can see them hop and whomp and throwmp around! What chords they clench with their teeth, what lines they unleash from the pit of their lungs, what parts the band will huddle together for and what songs mean the world to them! Also the crowds reactions, I move when I see them move, in polysemy. If there’s any niche J-rock band names you’ve maybe been curious about, or just want to find some new indie J-rock, the artist line-up is here! LAMP ON TERREN: wowawawa’s best buddy ‘Dai-chan’ is in there… *Waves hand* TERREN were once scheduled for a joint live with perfect timing, so they brought a birthday cake for wowaka and they got friendly with Rie... or so they thought.. The next day SND was ready to beat the shit out of them on stage. But they’re all friendly now (I think)))) Arukara: They master the standard rock setup with wads of distortion, wah effects, while sometimes make instrumental songs with violin etc. even! They do podcasts! And they reinforce cats a lot. I recommend Chigirero.  majiko: Village Man’s Store: Who are the band with bright red suits, bright firey songs, and bright red lips who kissed Shinoda that one time - In seriousness I could recommend them though, they’re sweet with only a little taste of the sleazy!  KAKASHI are rejoiced by quite a few Hitorie fans I know. There’s CIVILIAN: A three-piece whom all graduated from the Tokyo School of Music Shibuya, the bonds roam, who also hosts Nanou HoehoeP, another past utaite like majiko. LEGO BIG MORL: Sukippara ni Sake: Who are swanky with Kachāshī-like dances to the stretches of never making a boring song. And so so many more! J-rock band names start to make more less sense the more I’m in here! Wahoo! A band named Hitorie performed two years ago, and there’s LEGO BIG MORL this year, which is hoisted up by the same manager as Hitorie, Mika Arara! The members separately will some participate in cooking shows(), some each do acoustic shows on their own accord, each ego-search, and their stoic songs together are bound to at least make your foot tap from their flavored textures. For this sake I’m eyeing up the band’s particularly memorable whiz named Hiroki Tanaka. Hiroki is not most notable for his #My ygarshy hashtag, but for the sake of this he is. Under the tag is either Hiroki posting a picture of him together with ygarshy or him commenting #My ygarshy on pictures ygarshy of himself with others. Or the “What? Are you a couple?” on ygarshy’s “It’s our 9th year anniversary” photo of him with SND… yg “Sorry.” In general ygarshy and Hiroki are friendly, they drink and vent together time to time.Also Hiroki and Shibata Takahiro, the character who comes in soon, have a unit called Takahiroki. Which is the two of them fused to make flurry, with only an acoustic guitar and a mic as their weapons even!  Their concerts tend to break the norms of the non-flamboyant J-rock scene, as they screw around with their power with no real point, just a joint to a jollity! Where as many J-rock shows will use screens of music visualizers to engross, Takahiroki will use the crowd by galvanizing them raise their signature rainbow towels or make explosive call-outs towards the flames of reality. Where many will use subdued dance to party, Takahiroki will chit-chat about food and females as they swing their limbs like spinning amusement park rides or dress as bartenders and drink . Though all rock shows are have their unique tricks and spirit, it’s nice to see it super shaken up also… I introduce these two for good reason! It’s background for what’s feautured in the niconico livestream! The band Wasureranneyo! That Shibata is on vocals and guitar, that Hiroki is on main guitar, our ygarshy is on bass, and Takayuki Tomita is on drums! Tomita is from a band called THE LOVE NINGEN, whom I’m not sure how came into relation with Shibata, but Wasurerannee yo is constantly borrowing members to fill it’s blanks due to . ygarshy has been consistent for more than half a year now! Hiroki also bounces in whenever he can an ex. Wasurerannee yo member once filled in for Love Ningen. They themselves most likely meet at festivals like this! Where similar bands get together under a sonic medium and spend the crepuscle ball. But I’m going back to ygarshy! Him! His performance is a spotlight!

the important part     THE SHOW    highlights 

Wasureraneeyo start at 1:27:28, end at 1:58:39. You can manually copy-paste, and it’s a whole 30 minutes action-packed. There's about 48 hours before a the single watch instance will expire, but it's possible to close the window and come back anytime between then.

The first 5+ minutes are rehearsal, they’re muted to give the live-goers an extra extra incentive. It’s still worth a peak to see how musicians will stroll as they test. They played their theme song and also a cover of Alexandros’ Wataridori there’s nothing worth hearing anyway right (*wails).

The rest is 100% worth the buck!  ●Shibata starts off by whimpering over an urge he needs to burst out, he needs everybody to cheer him on. When he Says “Miyamoto - Ryou!”, you have to shout “You can do it!” Note: Miyamoto and Ryou are a comedian duo, who just days ago were revealed to the victims of a corrupted corporation, who was holding absolute control over them. People have cheering for them to win better circumstances in the case. Yet the apologies and the press conferences have been fantasy football battles.... Ugh... It's a riot for sure though! Official news reports are here or here or etc. ●He gets everyone to wiggle their arms 90° angles above their heads “like we’ve gone crazy!” and shout a nonsensical “Yossoi hoi hoi!” chant! With the heat as the beat! yga just plays bass! ●He makes noise for his mom, multiple times throughout! His T-shirt even has his mom on it! Specifically a picture of 2 year old himself being embraced by his mother printed on it, with the word “Mother” metallically written on the back… Source from his past diary entry of him expressing his maternal love. I can’t believe this ygarshy no wonder you can’t help but smile a lot during these shows. ●He complains about the shitty time he “went out drinking when he two cute girls walked through the door in, ‘Oh, oh, oh!’ he thought, only for them to start chit-chatting about how small their boyfriend’s dicks are! What kind of damnation is this bullshit!” ●The lyrics are about that stuff anyway!! ●There’s also a special appearance from Kanata Takehiro, the vocalist of LEGO BIG MORL. Shibata bitches at him mid-solo because “Fuck you! All the girls are staring at you now damn it!” *He is actually popular in the band due to being good and cooking and math and being an overall goofball behind the gallantries. The original of Odore Hikikomori features Hiroki and Sekihan, of Happy Head NANIYORI also he was in the niconico scene a long time ago, both dressed in clothes that you may find very unlikely but 100% plausible. ●ygarshy smiles and then recalibrates his hair over his eyes to look like a dark souls boss faceless again. He holds his bass with the neck upwards, he’s reviving his high school orchestra club bass playing sensibility. Virtuoso. The high tempo of Wasureraneeyo’s songs is definitely on par with Hitorie’s, Rie's irregular metres, swapping, interchanging and 456 metres are monstrous, but the sheer volume of tutti and strumming in Wasure’s punk songs seems to be something else as well…! yganbare!! ●Also don’t worry about those missed minutes because Shibata crowd-surfs again. This time with cash in his hand a mission! Saying “I’m glad to be here! Take me to the cute beer darling!”, as he is driven by the hands of the compliantly ecstatic crowd towards a staff member waiting in the middle of the crowd, holding up your average beer! Shibata trades the cash for the cup, he orders everyone to gather under him, “I can’t stand up if you’re pushing my ass! Oh now I can thank you”, and at last he gains the support to stand up! On top of a crowd for God's sake he rises. To glug the beer like a food chain top predator of the wild. Then to slide back to stage while crying for his mom again.

●Hiroki physically shoves ygarshy around while they have the stage to themselves. Ahh how the tables turn, the kicker to the pushee. ●In his black robes ygarshy is just such a trance to witness play throughout… It’s really great in motion and as a whole I love dirty rock concerts. Music has to be heard, my lumberous lumpy text can’t convey those sound waves… So give it a watch if you may have free time to do so! Only if you can please!  Source for comments and some info: https://skream.jp/feature/2019/06/muro_festival_2019.php  More photos and videos can be found on their official twitter! Photos by Suzuki Kouhei woah...

[aria-chicken-flugget]

Things Can Only Get Better - Guren X Reader / Mika X Reader

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences (ao3)

Category: F/M (some eventual M/M)

Fandom: 終わりのセラフ | Owari no Seraph | Seraph of the End

Summary: It starts in 1983, you transfer schools for your Junior year of high school but no one knows why. Yuu’s been getting into trouble a lot without you and Mika, his two best friends growing up in the orphanage – you find out that Yuu spends a lot of time with Guren, a senior and notorious troublemaker who you don’t trust is a good influence on Yuu at all! What happens when you get to know Guren and his friends? What’s he hiding? Why is Mika not there? Find out in this 80s inspired extravaganza of highschool Romances, music and more!

*Title of the work inspired from Howard Jones’s hit of 1985*

Haven’t read the first chapter and want to? -

Link to the first chapter here on tumblr.

Link to further chapters on ao3 here.

Notes:

(F/S) = Favourite subject – (R/S) = Random Subject

I hope you enjoy this chapter my lovelies! It’s not beta read so please excuse mistakes.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

                                 Chapter Two: Shout at The Devil

“What’s this? Don’t tell me someone actually wants to date you, Amane?”

You both broke your embrace to see the bored face of a tall, punky pink haired guy with glasses, holding the hand of a young girl with similar features. You wondered where you’d seen this guy before. They stood before your seated position upon the steps to the arcade on what appeared to be an intimate moment romantically, you rolled your eyes at his assumption. The little girl was smiling and dressed in a sweet, white ruffled dress with a matching bow holding lose, rose locks. He however was not smiling. He had studs in his ears as well as studs on a leather wrist band, clad in a casual black bomber jacket and khaki coloured jeans. Yuu stiffened with a glare,

“What are you doing here, Kimizuki?”

Shiho rolled his eyes,

“And they say I’m blind. I’m taking Mirai to the Arcade, dumbass. What’s it look like?”

Your lips tightened not only at his attitude but at the way he spoke in front of the little girl. Luckily, she wasn’t paying attention though, she was dragging her foot across the concrete in an attempt to entertain herself.

“It looks like you’ve been grounded, why else would you bring your sister here.”

Yuu smirked darkly and you frowned. Again, it didn’t look like Yuu but that Ichinose. It was then you’d realized where you’d seen the punky guy, he was that skater who almost knocked straight into you on your first day of joining Shinjuku high school. You were seconds from asserting as such, but Kimizuki had rolled his eyes and stated,

“I don’t have time for this.”

Before waltzing up the steps, guiding little Mirai. Yuu twisted around with a bark,

“Don’t start anything then, Jackass.”

Kimizuki half turned briefly as they reached the doors to the arcade,

“You know if I didn’t have Mirai, your ass would be grass right now.”

“Only losers rhyme in their threats, waistoid.”

Yuu scowled and Kimizuki balled his spare hand into a fist in a moment of rage before jabbing it to Yuu,

“We’ll see who the loser is when I kick your ass at school, Amane.”

Before stalking off through the doors of the arcade, not before offering Yuu a death glare. Yuu rolled his eyes as he turned his body back around away from the arcade. Your lips thinned, yep, this is definitely going to be a challenge, you thought to yourself.

***

You both walked along the sidewalk and reached the records store,

“This is where I work.”

Yuu beamed and you smiled in return, you both loved music. So did Mika. Better yet, Yuu actually had a job now. He held the door for you as you stepped into the store with mild awe. Rows of records lined like bookcases with band posters decorating the stone walls. You loved the edgy feel to the quaint store that was deluged in amber and red hues, it held the punk rock vibe of a basement venue. Dio’s metal track ‘Stand up and shout’ was playing in the background.

“This is great!”

You beamed and he scoffed a laugh, pointing at your attire of another soft cardigan and neat skirt and you rolled your eyes, giving him a shove as you both laughed.

“You’re late, brat.”

A husky voice boomed over the faint metal track in the back ground. Yuu’s smile dropped,

“Am not! I was on time!”

He shot back. Your eyes reflexively rolled as you saw who it was that spoke, as he emerged from behind the back of the store. None other than Guren Ichinose. He was donning a black leather jacket with studs and his raven locks were slicked back, save for a few runaways.

“You were two minutes late.”

Yuu frowned in thought and you found yourself rolling your eyes again as he furthered,

“Now I’m two minutes late for my cigarette break.”

“You can’t smoke in here?”

You asked without thinking, curiosity taking over and he allowed a sly smirk at your doe eyes,

“’Boss doesn’t like it.”

Huh. Weird, but fair enough. In that moment you recognized the jacket Guren was wearing. It’s the one Yuu had worn the other day at school. Guren raised his brows casually,

“Got a problem, Peach?”

Your furrowed brows knit together further as he stuck a cigarette between his lips. Clearly you’d looked displeased enough for him to catch onto your thought process. Apparently, you were unable to form a cohesive sentence as you staggered,

“That jacket –“

Pointing between the two boys, before scowling,

“Wait – Peach? -”

“Where d’ya think the idiot got the jacket from?”

Guren interrupted with a scoffed laugh, managing to sound cohesive with a cigarette between his lips. Your jaw dropped in that moment as he’d made his way outside, starting to light his cigarette as he swept passed. Your wide eyes trailed his wake before you huffed with the closing of the store’s front door. Yuu allowed a smile,

“He’s not so bad, once you get to know him.”

“He seems like a pain in the ass.”

You countered as you met Yuu’s gaze, he chuckled,

“Remind you of anyone?”

You quirked a brow,

“I hope you mean yourself.”

You remarked, making you both chuckle. But when you thought about it, you wondered how well Yuu could possibly know Ichinose. Not to mention how naive Yuu’s always been. You somehow just knew that there was this mysterious, dark aura around Ichinose, telling you that he had much to hide. And warning you to run away, even though it’s trying to lure you in.

***

Whilst you were there you were somehow roped into buying Yuu’s new favorite album.

“It’s the best rock music of ’83, I swear it.”

He lilted, fluttering his long lashes as he swayed you into buying ‘Shout at the Devil’ by Mötley Crüe. You liked rock but did you like it as much as Yuu? Unlikely. You laughed,

“What if I don’t like it?”

“You will!”

“But what if I don’t?”

You both laughed harder. You realized the song in the background of the store was now ‘Whip it’ by DEVO, a new wave synth-pop song from a couple of years or so before and you hopped up and down a moment,

“I love this song! This is more me, Yuu.”

You claimed playfully and he shook his head before insisting with a raised brow and a wave of the Mötley Crüe record,

“Ok, I’ll let you listen to my tape of it before, but I’m reserving this record for you.”

You laughed a cackle,

“You’re so stupid, Yuu.”

As you started to cave, he wore a victorious grin,

“You won’t regret it, I promise.”

“I better not.”

He laughed again before you noticed the time, gathering yourself to leave,

“It’s getting late, I better head. I’ll listen to it another time - see you at school?”

“Sure, cool. See ya.”

He waved with his smile that you were anxious you wouldn’t see. You were curious as to why the store was kept open so late, considering stores usually close by around 7pm latest. You saw Guren leaning against the building as you exited and offered a cursory glance as you walked by, only to be stopped by his words,

“You’re walking home?”

He asked, incredulous as he flicked a cigarette stub away. He thought the bike attached to the lamp post in front of the store was yours. You turned on your heel to face him with a mild, sarcastic scoff,

“Uh… yea?”

He allowed a stupid smile as he raised his brows, peeling himself from the brick wall of the store.

“Alone, at this time? You can’t live nearby.”

He stated confidently, hands in his pockets, and you retorted,

“How do you know where I live, did you stalk me or something?”

You wondered if you went too far, but he just laughed at your attitude. As he flicked his chin to you,

“One look at your clothes and I know you don’t.”

Your cheeks tinged rose at your cardigan and skirt combo and you held your arms a moment. Of course he was right, you didn’t live in Nagoya, you were just outside. He rolled his eyes but sighed, rubbing the back of his neck a moment before offering,

“Look, do you want a ride?”

Your eyes shot up to meet his and you were even more amazed at how his charming, violet eyes were sincere.

“I can get the little welp to watch the shop, I doubt he’d want you walking all that way.”

Your eyes shifted as the dusting of blush covered your cheeks again, causing Guren to tilt his head back with a small laugh,

“You didn’t tell him you were walking, did you?”

“No.”

You drew out petulantly. His smirk was starting to really irritate you now.

“D’you want the ride or not?”

He asked, his patience supposedly thinning and you huffed as you saw the darkening sky beside you, the street dimming with it with the fewer cars. You bit your lip, prompting him,

“Oh come on. No funny business, I swear.”

He spoke with a natural authoritative tone before he laughed, his hands up in a mock surrender. You fought the urge to smirk at his stupidity, giving him a skeptical once over before claiming,

“Fine. I’ll take the ride.”

***

“I thought you were offering me a ride?!”

You snapped, clenching your fists as you faced his stupid fucking smirk.

“I am. Here.”

He said innocently as he gestured to the push bike to his left. You fought the urge to square up to him as you two stood out back. He’d come back with a push bike?

“What are you, twelve?”

You spat only for him to break out into a boyish grin. You rolled your eyes,

“I thought you were driving?!”

You asked, astounded at his nonchalance. He shrugged,

“I never said I was driving.”

“What?!”

“I don’t drive.”

“WHAT?!”

He’d turned on his heel to stalk off,

“'Later!”

He called over his shoulder as he wandered off in the opposite direction to the store.

“So, you got Yuu to watch the shop just so you could slack?!”

You hollered to his back, eyes sending daggers.

“Yup.”

He called without looking back. You growled.

“What about your bike? How are you gonna get home now?”

You asked tersely but he only laughed as he carried on walking, making you even angrier.

“Ichinose? Ichinose! HEY IDIOT!… Dammit.”

You called irritably, only to be ignored until he left, causing you to grumble.

“Jackass.”

You muttered darkly as you mounted the stupid bike to get home.

“’No funny business’ my ass.”

You scoffed as you began to pedal.

***

You rode the bike back to school in order to give it back to the idiot Ichinose but quickly realized you didn’t know how to find him. He was a senior so he wasn’t in your classes, unless I find him somehow at lunch? I could ask Yuu? Ugh, I really don’t like the idea of Yuu being around that guy, he’s so shady. You grumbled to yourself, chaining the bike to the bike stands outside the school in a huff, just hoping you’d bump into him to tell him you have his bike. Although, knowing your luck, you knew you’d see him again.

***

“You’ll be transferring to the senior class for (F/S), and for (R/S) as well, due to your abilities simply excelling expectation, Miss (L/N).”

Mr. F. Bathory beamed in his weirdly over-excited manor, silver hair slicked behind him in a ponytail, hands intertwined in front of his chest, a lazy smirk that sent uncomfortable shivers down your spine. Looks like I could see Guren sooner than I hoped, you thought with a disappointed sigh. Mr. Bathory took you to your new (R/S) class and low and behold, Idiot Ichinose was actually there even in a class. He had an infamous reputation to skip nowadays supposedly. However, when you entered the classroom you’d cringed for an entirely different reason - It was chaos. The teacher wasn’t there for whatever reason, and there were tables on their sides, papers strewn along with random books and pencils littering the floor. Some guy with seaweed coloured hair in a red letterman jacket was being held back as he laughed a guttural chuckle, Ichinose being held back by Goshi and an ash blonde you didn’t know but recognized as their friend.

“Now, now, what’s this ruckus for? Hmm?”

Mr. Bathory asked from the door frame with a voice of honey coated ice-shards. They all dropped their hold on the two, Ichinose broke free with an abrupt jutt of his shoulders, whilst the other seemed in pretty bad shape… you could hardly make out his features they were so swollen and blood congealed. Guren’s ear was bleeding but the other guy had an eye already swelling shut. Despite this, he was smiling malevolently. It was almost creepy. Maybe he’s some kind of freak masochist, you scrunched your nose. In any case, it was abundantly clear that he’d wanted a rise out of Guren. And he got one. The ash blonde stepped forward and dipped his head,

“I apologize for the mess, Mr. Bathory. We will clean it immediately.”

You couldn’t help but raise a brow at how polite he is, being affiliated with Ichinose and Goshi.

“Whilst I appreciate your efforts, Shinya, that’s not what I asked.”

That same voice was back, threatening and he offered a small smile that didn’t touch his blazing eyes. When all were reluctant to answer, Ferid warned,

“My patience is wearing thin.”

“The psycho attacked me.”

The pummelled masochist stated with that same eerie smile.

“What?!”

Guren bellowed, almost lunging for him again if it weren’t for Goshi blocking him. You cringed, why is he still winding Guren up?  Better yet, what could he have possibly said to get Ichinose so angry? Ferid started tutting,

“Uh-uh, stop that. I’ll offer one last chance for you to explain yourselves for making such a scene before your teacher’s arrival – in fact, I’m surprised no one reported their absence, as they should have arrived by now. And you all know the drill.”

A unanimous sigh filled the room before Goshi stepped forward and admitted,

“It got out of hand when these two started trash talking, stuff like family and…”

Goshi winced with a side glance before meeting Ferid’s piercing gaze.

“And Mahiru.”

Ferid’s brows raised and he shifted his gaze for a split second before recomposing,

“I see.”

A heavy silence fell as you observed those in the room, most either solemn or exhausted. Or they were that guy who fought Ichinose. Either way, it was clear that whoever Mahiru was, it was a sore topic for all of them. The thought made a wave of compassion wash over you and you dared not ask why. Ferid measured the silence for an excruciating moment before announcing.

“I want this cleaned up. Now. You –“

He pointed at one of the guys holding back the masochist in the letterman.

“Take Hiiragi to the infirmary.”

He ordered and it was done. They brushed passed, this Hiiragi slumped over the shoulders of his escort, blood narrowly missed spluttering over you as they clambered passed and you fought your gag reflex.

“Ichinose. My office.”

Guren was still out of breath and his lavender eyes had still somehow darkened when meeting Ferid’s gaze. Mr. Bathory offered one last glance at the room before adding,

“I look forward to seeing you all this Saturday, in detention.”

A collective groan emanated from them all, which their sudden winces that followed indicated they instantly regretted the outburst. Mr. Bathory slowly turned to the class with a cocked brow,

“For that, add another Saturday. All of you.”

“What?! –“

“No way! –“

“I have plans! –“

A chorus of complaints ensued before his gaze darkened,

“Want there to be a third Saturday?”

With that threateningly silky voice. You’d realized you’d been biting your lip, having felt a small pang of sympathy for the class, after all they weren’t all involved in the fight. You tried,

“Sir? With all due respect, not everyone was involved. I think that’s why they’re upset.”

He seemed to consider your attempt at diplomacy for a second, only to smile cunningly whilst bending to your height to level with your gaze,

“Well you can ponder on that when you join them this Saturday.”

Your jaw dropped -  WHAT?! I got a Saturday detention for that?! You’ve never had a Saturday detention in your life. He smiled at your racing thoughts before rising to watch the class and caught the glares of many before stating to you,

“Welcome to the senior class, Miss (L/N).”

Before he swept out of the dilapidated class. You found yourself watching Ichinose as he swept up his denim sleeveless jacket before glancing at you and leaving the rest of you to clean up his and Hiiragi’s mess.

“AFTER that classroom is clean, Ichinose.”

You heard Mr. Bathory’s command from in the halls and recoiled as it was shortly followed by a hissed string of cusses from Ichinose upon his agitated return.

“I never thought you’d actually listen.”

Shinya teased Ichinose which flabbergasted you, he was clearly not in the mood for banter. Guren gave him a murderous glance but otherwise ignored him. Goshi laughed,

“It’s only ‘cause it’s Ferid fucking Bathory. That dude is evil with punishments I’m telling you, we got off easy as.”

After a dumb moment of watching Ichinose picking up a desk to place it, you shook yourself out of it to help them.

Notes:

*Chapter Title inspired by Mötley Crüe’s 1983 hit and album of the same name*

[my-origin-of-love]

EYES FULL OF WONDER

One is a global pop star; the other is the creative director of the Valentino fashion house. One is “rootless” and at home around the world; the other is constantly traveling but always has a “place to go back to”. They are different in age, origin and lifestyle, but bound by a deep friendship. Mika and Pierpaolo Piccioli discuss their loves, fears, challenges, and how they learned to keep their “eyes full of wonder”.

On the surface, Mika and Pierpaolo Piccioli do not have much in common. One is an international pop star, the other is the creative director of Valentino, one of the brands that is most representative of luxury and Italian craftsmanship. Mika, 35, is at home around the world: born in Lebanon, he fled with his family because of the civil war that tore the country apart for 15 years, spending time in France, Great Britain and the United States. Piccioli, 51, is solidly tethered to Rome, where he works, and Nettuno, a few kilometers from the capital, on the Lazio coast, where he grew up and where he lives. Their stories are very different, yet interconnected, thanks to a shared creativity and deep, warm, conspirational friendship.

Mika: We do the same thing, but with different materials.

Pierpaolo Piccioli: In a different form, I would say.

Mika: I like to take on everything in a very intense way. Five years ago, I didn’t speak Italian. In two months I learned it and I was on a television show, X Factor. But I have the same attitude in any setting. Not long ago, I became interested in trying horseback riding. I took a few lessons and two months later i bought a horse. In a matter of weeks, I learned how to jump over obstacles higher than a meter. Every day I train for two hours and then I go to the studio to work.

Pierpaolo Piccioli: But once you’ve learned how to jump as well as you can, in the best way, you’ll get bored, you’ll stop jumping and you’ll move on to something else. Right now it’s your big passion, but in a few months you’ll be tired of it.

M: That’s true, but let’s not get the word out. [He laughs.] I don’t get bored that easily.

PP: The fact is that you always need new challenges.

M: When I have to reach level B, I work to get to Z, going through all the intermediate steps. I need to be able to do my best so that I can do easy things well. It’s a condition that stems from my past. When I was eight years old, a Russian teacher instilled a rigid discipline in me. And I understood that you have to overcome your limitations to succeed in doing what others expect of you. It’s a mindset that you have, too.

PP: If you stay on your turf, with what you know best, you don’t move forward. If you only do what you want to do, you don’t grow. When I was eight years old, I lived in a small town outside Rome, far away from fashion, from everything. Distance was my limitation. But I made my dream come true and life gave me much more than I could ever have imagined; everything I’ve achieved is like a gift. And that’s why I keep going in my work without anxiety. But I, too, always need to do new things, because I want to work with that enthusiasm, with that enchantment that I experienced early on in my career. As a young man, I saw fashion as an almost unattainable world and I still want to have that perspective.

M: You want to keep your eyes full of wonder. Wonder is a natural feeling when you’re little and then, with age, you develop a kind of protective shield that makes you impervious to everything. It comes from experience, from disenchantment. In the creative process there is a fluidity that removes that shield, and that almost child-like capacity for wonder is essential to produce excitement in other people, whether they are 7 or 75 years old.

PP: There’s something else that we have in common. Both of us have stable personal lives, families composed of people who are very different from us. I’ve thought about it so many times. I think that you can jump one, two, or ten meters on a horse, you can get past the limits, the boundaries, because you know where to go home. On the other hand, when people don’t have anything behind them, they get lost. Both of us have a center of gravity that keeps us balanced: the people who love us and whom we love.

M: I sensed this strength inside you from our very first meeting. You have deep roots, which allow you to not feel afraid of intimacy, of telling stories. Thanks to these roots you don’t fall into the trap of playing a role, which is an enormous danger for those in our line of work, for those in the public eye. In the fashion of the 50s, 60s and 70s there was more romanticism, there was the idea of a creator. In the 90s and 2000s, the designer became a lifestyle inventor. When I met you, before a plate of spaghetti with clams in a small trattoria in Milan, I thought “Here is a designer who is able to see the big picture.” You and I can talk about the importance of cooking a particular dish or about a work exhibited at the Venice Biennale, or about gossip or philosophy. It doesn’t matter: we’ll still be talking in the same way. When creativity is your engine, it’s very important to know where you come from, so that you’re free to fly. And I know a wonderful thing about you: for you, this place to go home is a geographical place - Nettuno.

PP: I felt different in Nettuno. Overcoming limitations for me was also about returning to the place from which I had wanted to flee. Living there for me today is also a way of expressing the freedom I have to do my job while rejecting the stereotype of the designer who lives in a castle or in a big city and goes to parties. Today it’s as though the life you lead and the image you present of yourself are worth more than your talent. For me, it’s essential to be faithful to who you are, however you are, and it doesn’t even matter whether others understand it. The important thing is for you to know it and not to become how others want to see you. If you change your identity, you also change the reasons for your success. In a creative profession, you have to use your most real and intimate identity. That’s true for you, too.

M: But unlike you, I have no place to go back to. Not having roots in any one place is typical of my generation and those that came after it. My job is anti-adult. Eleven years have passed since my first album, I speak new languages, I have a family that lived in London but is now scattered around the world. My first song was like a stone that I tossed and now that stone has become an enormous rock, to which I am tied and which I carry around the world. But I want to do it, I need to support that weight. I don’t have a place to go back to; I have people to go back to. That’s why I’m more interested in knowing who I come from than where. I am the migrant child of migrants. The culture I come from has become essential, because it’s the one that gives me my sense of identity. I don’t want to belong to any place. I’d rather belong to people, ideas, gestures, to the mythology of a country more than the country itself.

PP: That’s what makes you free: belonging to people more than to places. The idea of a homeland is an anachronism. It scares me, just as borders do.

M: Because they are the opposite of culture. Protection stems from a conscious ignorance. Thinking you’ll find your identity by closing yourself off is a fatal contradiction, with horrible consequences.

PP: Progress comes from breaking barriers; that’s always been the case. You gave a generation of people awareness by talking about freedom and equal opportunity. That’s where the strength of artists lies, in spreading ideas that go beyond their expressive form and make people think. Your strength is in being open to all possibilities. You’re a mix of influences - it’s part of modernity. But you also have a profound awareness of who you are. If you didn’t, you would become generic, you wouldn’t be able to communicate anything interesting, you would repeat things that had already been done, already been seen. That’s true for me too. One’s way of looking at things is crucial.

M: And the curiosity with which we look at them.

PP: Sure. But let’s not hide the fact that we’re also two obsessive perfectionists. Before my most difficult performances you always tell me’ “Get ready: it will be a total disaster, you’ll be awful.”

M: Yes, sometimes I despair, I cry and you tell me off.

PP: But when you’re in that intense state you work better. You’re like a tightrope walker. If you have the net beneath you, you walk across the rope. If you don’t have a net you run. That’s what makes you an artist. You have to express a strong emotion of yours to elicit emotions in others. The same is true for me: when I worked with Maria Grazia [Chiuri, currently creative director for the Dior women’s lines] I was more rational, because when you work with someone else you discuss every idea and every intuition turns into a rational analysis. On my own, I learned to give in to my emotions more.

M: I remember a great moment. You were about to present your first collection. I stopped by the atelier and we went to dinner with your family and your team members, who were all tired, but electrified. Right then, we had fun, we talked until 2 o’clock in the morning, and I thought, “I can feel creativity, talent; the atmosphere is sweet even if the stress is palpable. Everything will be fine.”

PP: For me, staying on as Valentino’s creative director was an obvious choice, because I feel that is my place, the one that makes me free. But it’s a role that I had shared , so there was a risk that I would end up like a table with a missing leg, and I knew it. At times like these, your children help. Benedetta [one of Piccioli’s three children] was about to take her exams at the end of the high school. One evening, she started talking to me about the philosopher Nietzsche, who said that you must be aware of your roots, but there has to be a moment in which you forget them, so that you can look forward - otherwise, you’re too tied to the past or too focused on the future. I thought: “That’s me at this moment in my life.” Instead of changing perspective, I decided to change the perspective of others so that I could be “seen”. And at the show, with all the people I care about around me I felt love. I understood that what you build is what supports you.

M: I like coming to see you the night before the show, in the offices at Place Vendôme in Paris. If God ever decided to buy a place in Europe, he would have an apartment there: there is the most indescribable view. Your family and your work group arrive from Rome, and it’s as though everyone had moved to Paris in a bubble. And to me it feels like being in an amusement park. There are amazing dresses, beautiful young men and women, but also your kids, with one claiming to be hungry and another wanting to go play soccer...It’s the most wonderful moment. My challenge is to make the models laugh, as they’re always very serious. But I never succeed: they’re there to work and they just want to go home. Whereas for me, being in your show would be tough. I’d love to, if I could be invisible.

PP: For my part, I always go to your concerts. I sing, dance, let loose: no one notices me. And I have a blast.

M: But we never talk about music.

PP: Or fashion. Because we talk about what feeds our creativity.

M: Creation needs solitude.

PP: It’s indispensable, you seek it out.

M: But it doesn’t mean that you’re alone.

PP: It’s the only time when you can stop thinking about what you’re doing, and focus on what you want to say. Every creative act flows from a kind of urgency, from something personal, that you want to put out there. Then you decide what shape it will take - but first, you need a moment to just look for the spark.

M: It can happen in a flash. You call it accidental coherence.

PP: It’s not all that clear when you try to put things together, but the finally instinct kicks in, making complexity simple. Only then can you “show” your idea to others. For example, we only talk about what you’ll wear for your performances once you’ve decided what you’re going to do on stage.

M: It’s a moment I fear: you call me and I describe the show to you, I use words to paint a picture. And I know that by the end of our chat I will have understood whether it works or not.

PP: That’s exactly right: you talk, and I see.

M: I talk and you say “Ah, ah...” or “Ummmm...”

PP: And so you change.

M: True. But I do it because while I’m talking to you I’m also picturing everything. And I understand what doesn’t work.

PP: And once the image comes into focus we find two words that capture the spirit of your show.

M: It’s accidental coherence. You and I call it that.

(Interview conducted by Laura Incardona)

Magazine: Celebrating - Made in Grazia

[hotcocosharing]

Lose To Win Chapter 12: Boarding

Title: Lose To Win Chapter 12 Fandom: Kiss By The Baddest Bidder & Her Love In The Force Rated: Drama, Thriller, Angst, Fluff, Smut, Mystery? MPD’s MC: Mika HIJIKATA KBTBB’s MC: Mia SAKATA Characters: Goto, Kaga, Ishigami, Soma, Ayumu, Namba, Eisuke, Soryu, Mamoru, Baba, Ota, Kirisawa Summary: Let the journey begins Background: Another 6 months later, she was back at the Tres Spades Hotel under Eisuke’s request. (Order)

Notes: Finally they board the ship, first night let’s party

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ Chapter 1: The Reunion Chapter 2: RSVP Chapter 3: Recharge Chapter 4: Welcome Back Chapter 5: Decision Of A Lifetime Chapter 6: Our Story Chapter 7: Stress Release Chapter 8: Play Thing Chapter 9: What The Three Words Mean Chapter 10: A Real Man Chapter 11: The CEO

Chapter 12: Boarding

Mia looks up and down the brochure with the gigantic vessel in sight, everyone’s mouth drop open when they study the cruise ship with amazement. Even Eisuke Ichinomiya the great is impressed but it’s Baba who couldn’t hide his excitement.

“Not bad.” Ota snorts, “Let’s see if the inside is as good.”

You’ve been on a cruise once. It was a long time ago, years before your parents were divorced, when you and Mia still slept in the same room. You barely remembered a thing but the ship sure was not this enormous. “Oh my god, it has eighteen decks!” Mia exclaims but quickly clamps her mouth when Eisuke shoots her a glare.

The ship is ridiculously luxurious with water slides, surf simulators, rock climbing, a bionic bar, full-sized basketball court, ice-skating rink, a park, theaters, spa, salon and countless shops. You would not get bored or so does the brochure says. Scanning the size of the vessel, you and the two Public Safety officers share an annoyed look- this is so much harder than expected.

All sponsors have their own rooms, The Dragons are sharing, only Eisuke gets the exclusive suite, no surprise there. After distributing few detectors and multi reminders for everyone to check their rooms upon their return every single time to ensure no one’s bug. Goto and you are sharing the room as cover while Soryu shares with Kaga, an hour later all bidders gather at Eisuke’s suite. Mamoru is already lying on one of the couches, you and Goto sets up the laptop and connections while Ota and Baba begin to browse the bar. Eisuke is not particularly happy with the intrusion but he’s used to all the nonsense and bickering, especially when they put a smile on Mia’s face.

Soryu and Eisuke discuss the arrangements of The Dragons when the door bell rings, Mia opens the door to be greeted by a “strange” man.

“Hello! Beautiful collarbones!”

“Luke!!” The duo shouts, you drop whatever you’re doing and head to greet the man.

“Hi, Dr. Foster.”

Your favorite blonde smiles and kisses your cheek first before his lips trace to your collarbone for a few good seconds, “Ah, so you two are twins. Thought so." 

(Plz see "switching places” for their previous encounter)

The reunion continues as you and Goto report quickly to Jin, Kaga’s out on the deck smoking, observing everything. By six o'clock, Eisuke orders everyone to get lost and get ready for the cocktail party. Ota and Baba look drunk enough, it’s a wonder how those two hold their liquor.

The party is overflowing with people, you slowly look around the lounge and regret on taking Eisuke’s “advice”. With a place this big, how could you all work without earpieces! He says not to rise unnecessary attention and just pretends to be enjoying the first night before they have a more thorough plan on how to investigate each place.

Unlike Kaga, you don’t have too much trouble with Eisuke making the calls. He’s a born leader, well he’s bossy but he’s a genius too so as long as he benefits the investigation, you’re in good terms though you know from the back of your mind to be careful as you suspect he will screw you over at some point. This is Eisuke Ichinomiya after all.

The Dragons are scattered around the place, keeping an eye on any suspicious guests though they are just enjoying the glamorous night and bitching how lucky that they are “invited” (chosen) on this amazing cruise, thinking their wealth, power and status are the reasons that bring them here. Of course they are, otherwise most of these people are worthless.

You get a strong feeling in the gut that this is way over your head, beyond three law enforcement (well, four including Mamo) could handle, even with Soryu’s manpower and Eisuke’s intelligence, it feels like something far darker and dangerous. Only you have no idea what it is and how far it goes but you know not to ever ignore your intuition.

The man of the hour, Akihiro Saji (CEO of The Saji Corporation, owner of cruise) finally appears on stage and gives his welcoming speech. Handsome, rich and loving husband. His record comes back clean but you can’t wait to find what’s hiding behind that charming smile. They are always too good to be true, you quietly think to yourself. Baba and Ota are soon surrounded by their new lady friends while Eisuke putting on his business face and mingling in the crowd with Mia by his side. You and Goto next to them as his assistants and lawyer, the perfect and convenient cover.

Suddenly, the room goes black. After a few gasps and overreacting yelps, a spotlight comes on a man in sparkling blue. “Welcome onboard, ladies and gentlemen! I’m your host of the evening, the mad hatter and this will be a night to remember, a trip of a life time. Let the party beginssssssssss!!!!”

The audience cheer and watch the tricks like little kids, you hate magic tricks. What’s so fun about being tricked and deceived? The smirk face from the so called magician makes it worse, then you have to clap and applaud for a phony? No just no! However, that expression on Eisuke’s face is priceless!! He’s obviously pissed about them getting a madhatter, how typical! It’s not like he has it trademark and the guy is just doing tricks not holding a black market auction. You can’t help and roll your eyes at how childish the multi billionaire is and how freaking lucky he is to have your sister in his life.

The performance eventually comes to an end, (thank godness) the “madhatter” has one last grand magic trick for everyone. “Make a wish,” he says, “Whatever it is, I’ll make it all come true.”

A number appears on screen for everyone to text their wishes, moments later some are yelling they’ve found an envelope with jewelry or cash or whatever they’ve wished for underneath their seats. Seriously, how stupid are these morons?! The world is sure not fair, with fools, cowards and liars in high and powerful places.

The auction managers find it amusing though and begin sending their own wishes too. “Seriously, you too Mamoru!” You frown.

“Ya, why not? Nothin’ to lose.”

“Have a little fun too, my pretty lady. You may like the surprise.”

“No thanks, Baba. I hate surprise.”

After the ridiculous show, you all gather at Eisuke’s suite again to discuss the next plan. “Where’s Kaga?” Your eyes search the suite to find Soryu at the dining table, he shrugs.

The door bell rings, “Oh must be him.” Baba says and heads to the door. Kaga walks in without looking at anyone but you.

“Where have you been?” You ask, fingers tapping quickly across the keyboard. He doesn’t answer, taking a step to the left and a man walks through the door.

“Dad!!!” Mia exclaims.

You look up and see a big smile on his face as Mia runs in for an embrace. Your mind go blank and freeze on spot as your father winks in a burgundy dress shirt and a pair of matching trousers along with a pair of sunglasses on his head. “Surprise!!”

See, you hate surprise.

Chap 13 What Did You Wish For?

[semestakatarsis]

the adventure of pirate mika and dragon rider taehyung: the treasure in lonely castle

pt. 1

Mika pulled and pushed the iron door with all her might. For the countless time, it did nothing but rumbled loudly, sending dust and debris to the air and down her hair. A loud groan followed every clatter it made, resonated ghostly around the high ceiling of the tower. It sounded so much like a beast was disturbed by the rowdy noise of iron clashing with rocks. Perhaps there was actually a beast napping somewhere inside this glamorous yet abandoned castle. Well, that wouldn't be surprising. It just occurred to her that there must be some kind of beast inhabiting this place as this is the famous Lonely Castle, stood bold and tall in the only island there was in the vast ocean of the Depraved Sea. The island wasn't big; rumour had it that it took only thirty minutes to walk around the whole rugged shoreline. It was the only shelter Mika could find after the wild weather of the area almost wrecked her ship. The Depraved Sea was as dangerous as the legends had told. It was well-known for its monstrous underwater creatures and deadly storms that occur on a daily basis. Mika had no choice but to make her weary ship stranded at the sloppy side of the island. She decided to venture out a bit while her ship took some rest. She didn't expect to get herself trapped in the Lonely Castle, which at first she thought was empty and deserted as its name would probably live up to. Apparently, no one had ever told her that some beast would probably have made this place their temporal home.

However, a beast couldn't become her main concern at the moment, for she was mysteriously trapped in a barred round room up high in the tallest tower of the castle. No food, no water. The only way out was the square window on the opposite side of where she stood, yet it would be too hard to survive three hundred meters jump to rocky water. And yes, the tower was that tall. On a side note, Mika had no idea about who had locked her up here. She remembered entering the main hall, but even before she managed to say "Hello?", she was attacked from behind. The world went dark instantly--she didn't even remember collapsing to the dirty marble floor. A few hours later, she woke up to realize she was being held prisoner. Her dagger was taken, her pocket--used to be jingling with a handful pieces of gold--was empty. Soon she realized that only beings with some sense of intelligence would disarm and rob a hostage, but "beings with some sense of intelligence" might refer not only to humans, but also human-like, half-human, and somehow-still-human beings, like, say, vampires? Cyclops? Orcs?

Engulfed by anger instead of fear, Mika shook the iron door violently. "HEY!!!!!!"

As expected, the beast groaned, a little louder than before like it was getting impatient and probably saying, "Stop making noises, finbutt! Someone's trying to get a good sleep down here!"

"YES, YOU, NASTY SHITSHARK CENTIPEDE!!!!!!" Mika screamed at the top of her lungs. "Let me out of here and let's fight!!!!!!"

Mika spent the rest of the day yelling and screaming curses. She was trying to provoke whomever lived in this castle. She had been through a similar circumstance before and she had learned that provocation was quicker than crying for pity. She was a pirate, after all. Pirates didn't plead for freedom. Pirates fought their way out with their swords and handguns. Mika wasn't too confident without her dagger though, and the idea of hand-to-hand combat had never interested her. But she put the thought aside and decided that there would never be a combat if her enemy had no guts to show up.

"OH, COME ON!!!!!!" Mika kicked the door. "Are you waiting for me to get tired?! Well! I'll never get tired of cursing at you, Mr. or Mrs. Coward! I love cursing! Cursing is fun! Cursing at you is even more fun!"

The rustle of wind filled the air. Even the beast had stopped responding. The color of the sky was divided like a half-rotten tangerine. Orange on the west, dark grey on the east. The surface of the sea imitated the colors, yet its natural blue darkened them a little.

Mika was panting. Beads of sweat rolled down her face. She silently admitted that she was actually getting tired of screaming. At last, after one final kick and "Tell me when you finally find some courage to show your shitshark butt!", Mika stormed to the other side of the room--which didn't take long because the room only held such a small space--and sat on the floor.

It was infuriating, but Mika told herself to calm down. Now that her anger had subsided a little, her brain provided a room for clear thoughts. She leaned back, resting her head against the wall, and closed her eyes. Everything that had happened in the village seemed to find its way to play a rerun behind her closed eyelids. The village that used to be her home, villagers that once were her best friends and family. Mika left them at the age of twelve to follow her brother Taeyong, the only blood-related family she had, who decided to join a crew of sailors that worked for a cargo ship. The ship transported cargos and goods around the world. Taeyong wouldn't even let her come to the harbor at first; there was no way he would let his little sister see him on board for he knew she always followed him around and copied everything he did. But Mika overheard his supposedly secret conversation with the headman the night before and was pretty much convinced that he would be leaving with a group of people at noon, and Mika thought he couldn't just leave without telling Mika what he was actually up to. So after lunch, when Taeyong was diligently washing dishes, Mika sneaked out of the house and ran to the harbor. Eventually, Taeyong found her already on board. To his surprise, somehow Mika managed to persuade the captain to let a little girl join his crew. They had one of their biggest fights afterward and it became a show for people in the harbor.

"You have to stop following me!" Taeyong yelled.

Being the bold kid she was, Mika yelled back, "Why do I have to stop following you? You're my brother!"

"This is not a pretend game, Mika! I'm not pretending to be a sailor! I'm going to be a real sailor, in a real ship! And the sea is real too, and the real sea is dangerous! There are so many monsters out there that could eat you!"

"You can protect me!" Mika insisted, already bawling. "I want to go anywhere with you! I want to be a real sailor, too! I'm not afraid of monsters!"

"You don't understand!"

"No! You don't understand!"

"You're too young, Mika! You're only twelve!"

"You're too young, too! You're only fourteen!"

Unlike his crew that were pretty much entertained and reminded of their family they left in their hometowns, the captain was starting to get tired of watching the seemingly endless fighting. Fortunately, before he considered the thought of setting off without them, the headman came and reconciled them. It was decided that Mika might join the crew and sail with them for a few weeks until the ship returned to the village to drop goods. Taeyong halfheartedly accepted the resolution, but the headman reassured him. That moment, life felt like it just had a new beginning. An adventure to the world beyond the sea, new islands, new people. Mika was looking forward to meeting magical creatures more diverse than fairies and naiads that inhabitat the forest area of her home island. Ah, and more monsters, too. Mika had been secretly growing interest in monster hunting, and her home island was too small for bigger monsters than the boring herbivores aptonoths, moofahs, and kelbis--though Mika was kind of proud of the kelbis for it was a rare species inhabiting only several islands in the world and that should've made her island special--or so the headman said.

Well, years later, who knew she would end up becoming a female pirate?

And the last time she visited her village, which was three days ago, the villagers didn't seem to like her new identity. They attempted two vicious things, so evil Mika couldn't believe she would come to question the loyalty of her own people: burn her at the stake and destroy her ship. At this thought, the images played in her brain started to blur and fade out. It faded in a moment later in a picture of her brother getting beaten up on a deck of a luxury cruise ship by some wicked-looking pirates. He was curling on the floor, one hand protecting his head and the other covering his stomach. The wicked-looking pirates were laughing while kicking him and hitting him with wooden sticks. The cruise ship seemed to be on fire. Pirates were running around chasing passengers and ravaging everything they could put their hands on. The scenes were so miserable that a sudden realization hit Mika so hard it sent chills down her spine and jolted her awake.

Her eyes snapped open.

That was that; it had always been the reason why people despise pirates.

That also should be the reason why her own people in her own village tried to tie her up at a stake and light a fire on her feet, as if they'd turned blind on her.

But Taeyong was the reason Mika chose this path.

Suddenly, Mika realized it was night time and her surrounding had changed. Shadows swayed on the floor. Someone had ignited the torches on the wall. A dark figure loomed in front of her door. Mika tensed.

"Finally," she said, trying hard not to freak out. "You came."

"I'm not the one you'd been calling names earlier," a voice of a man replied. He took a step forward and the light of the torches illuminated his face, a face so human so dashing Mika forgot how to blink. "I'm a prisoner, too, but I've been quieter than you."

1722 words / 170425 / monster reference: monster hunter

[ya-ya-sestrahood]

Clone Swap Party XL! (a very fluffy Orphan Black fic)

Because four clones wasn't enough.

Starring: Sarah as Krystal, Alison as Helena, Helena as Cosima, Cosima as Veera, Veera as Beth, Beth as Alison, Krystal as Rachel, and maybe, possibly, Rachel as Sarah.

Read on AO3

Read the Original Clone Swap Party!

1. Pre-Party and the Wager

Alison dashed here and there, dusting surfaces, and arranging shelves, and lining up plates of food. Felix’s loft hadn’t looked this impeccable since, well… since Alison had last cleaned it.

“It’s just a party, Alison,” Sarah said. “You need to relax. You’re makin’ me nervous.”

Alison stared back at Sarah -- fully supine on the couch, shoes kicked off, nursing a beer.

“You don’t look nervous,” Alison said. Sarah shrugged. “And you’re going to mess up your wig, lying like that.”

The wig Alison was referring to was long and blonde. Sort of Krystal-like, really, which made sense, as Sarah was going to be playing Krystal. It was a prospect that sort of just made Sarah want to lie on a couch and drink.

And Alison had been cleaning in full Helena costume, which was a sight that felt wrong and backwards and sort of just made Sarah want to lie on a couch and drink.

Sarah had offered to help, of course, but was secretly thankful when Alison declined. She’d already seen Sarah’s idea of clean, after all.

“Sestra,” Helena called out, stumbling out of the bathroom. “How do I look?”

Sarah tilted her head back, peering upside-down at her sister. Well, she looked a bit like if Cosima hadn’t slept in a week. Sarah gave a thumbs-up, clicking her tongue in approval.

“Amazin’, Cos.”

Helena grinned back.

“I have never worn clothes like these before.” And as if on cue, her tight skirt and awkward heeled boots decided to conspire against her. She tripped over herself in slow motion. Her hand caught the table, sending a tray of hors d'oeuvres and crudités and other fancy words Alison used for food toppling to the floor.

Helena raised her head sheepishly, hoping Alison somehow hadn’t noticed. The icy glare shooting in her direction seemed to indicate she had very much noticed.

“Again?” Alison asked incredulously. She still remembered scrubbing the bits of food out of the carpet after Helena’s last accident.

“Sorry,” Helena said. “But it was not because of drinking this time.” In Helena’s mind, this made it better.

“Just… leave it,” Alison said, exasperated, as Helena scrambled to pick up all the remarkably tiny snacks, mostly ending up just burying food deeper into the carpet. Helena raised her hands and stood, Alison moving in, targeting and eliminating each small mess with pinpoint precision.

“She just likes being dramatic,” Sarah whispered to her sister, reaching up and gently patting her back. Unfortunately, this motion caused the bottle in her lap to tip just enough to send a splash of beer onto Alison’s head.

Time seemed to freeze. Sarah and Helena’s eyes went wide with panic.

...Alison kept cleaning. She even started humming a little tune.

Thank fuck for that cheap wig, Sarah thought. She turned to Helena, pressed a finger to her lips. Helena mirrored her, thrilled to share a secret with her twin.

“Hello?” came a soft voice from the front door. It was Veera, or someone dressed like her. Hoodie, backpack, sheep mask.

“Lamb sestra!” Helena shouted, part out of excitement, part as a distraction from the beer that was slowly dripping off of Alison’s blonde Helena curls.

Lamb sestra pulled her mask up (it was Cosima) and looked around the room. Sarah lazing on the couch, Alison on the floor, cleaning, Helena bounding across the room with her arms outstretched.

Oomph.

Helena collided with Cosima, knocking a burst of air from her lungs.

“Sorry,” Helena said, righting herself. “I tripped.”

“Hey. It’s good to see you too.” Cosima matched Helena’s toothy grin with her own.

“Where is everyone?” she asked, glancing at her Mika-appropriate watch before realizing she hadn’t set it. “Am I early?”

“Just barely,” Alison said. She continued to scrub as she looked up. “I knew you’d be late, so I told you the party was half an hour earlier than it was.”

“What?” Cosima shook her head disbelievingly, waving her arms as if trying to conjure an explanation out of the air. She looked to Sarah for help, but was only met with a laugh and a shrug.

“Has anyone told you you can get a little… intense with the party planning stuff?”

“Yes. Several times.” Alison stopped scrubbing for a moment, leaned back to rest on her calves.

“I wanted you here. You help calm me down.”

Cosima sighed, annoyance giving way to sympathy.

“Alright, Alison,” she said. Alison gave a small smile, embarrassed, then got back to work.

“Oi,” Sarah said roughly, reaching over to knock Alison’s shoulder with the back of her hand. “What about me? I’m a calmin’ presence.”

“No offense, Sarah, but you always look ready to fight someone at the drop of a hat.”

Sarah huffed, turning to the others for backup. Cosima waved a hand and made a she’s not wrong sort of face.

“Yes, very grouchy,” Helena said, nodding seriously. “Like the garbage monster.”

“Right, well you can all piss off,” Sarah said in an amused kind of way, and maybe in a slightly bitter kind of way.

With that settled, Cosima finally took notice of Helena (who was still standing very close, by the way) and her whole look.

“Dude, look at you. You’re hot shit.”

Helena tilted her head to the side, considering.

“This is good? Hot shit?”

Cosima smiled warmly.

“It’s good, it’s good.”

“I tried to make the eyes, but…” Helena sort of motioned vaguely toward her face. Faint smudges of eyeliner lingered on her cheeks from where she’d rubbed it away in frustration. Cosima took her hand, smiling.

“Come on, sestra,” she said, leading her around the couch to the bathroom. “We’re gonna achieve maximum Cosima.”

Sarah propped herself up on her elbows to get a good look at Helena’s face as she passed.

“Oh, meathead, y’know I coulda helped you with that, yeah?”

Helena tilted her head, surprised.

“You know how to do this?”

“Well, yeah,” Sarah said, matter-of-fact. “I do my own.”

“Oh,” said Helena flatly. “I thought you were just always tired.”

Sarah let out a stunned sort of wuh noise. By the time she’d turned around to protest, Helena had already ducked into the bathroom. She slouched back into the Sarah-shaped imprint she’d left in the couch, a frown settling onto her face.

“Alright, everyone get your shots in while you can, yeah?” Sarah grumbled. “There’s not gonna be a Sarah at this thing.”

The sound of Helena tut-tutting emerged from the bathroom.

“She will come, Sarah,” she said.

“Sorry, dude,” Cosima chuckled. “There’s just no way.”

“I’m sorry, Helena, but I have to agree,” Alison added. “With our… history, it seems unlikely.”

“You will see,” Helena said, doubling down. “I sent a very nice computer message.”

“Yeah, we got you that computer to play games and watch Disney movies, not to send e-mails to bloody proclones.”

“There is a lot more you can do with computers, Sarah. Did you not know?” Helena said, then paused.

“Please do not take my computer away. Me and Kira are building very strong castle in Minecrafts. If I don’t help, she will be taken by the monsters,” she said gravely.

“Poor thing,” Alison added. “Don’t take her computer, Sarah.”

Sarah scrunched up her face, confused at how they’d gotten here.

“No one’s takin’ anyone’s computer, alright? Just don’t want you to be upset when she doesn’t show.”

“You’re wrong,” Helena replied, sing-song.

“Bet you anythin’,” Sarah said.

Sarah heard Cosima sigh loudly, then the sound of beads clattering. Helena was suddenly standing over her, a cold look on her face, one and a half eyes painted. Sarah jumped a little.

“You do not want to make bet with me, sestra,” Helena said. Her voice was flat and a little terrifying.

“Oh, uh… yeah?” Sarah tried putting on a tough face but was honestly a little scared. “Maybe I do.”

“You will lose.”

“Don’t think so, Meathead.”

Helena’s eyes narrowed to thin slits.

“Fine. It is your mistake to make. Tell me what you want.”

Sarah swallowed, unsure of what she was getting herself into.

“I win and you clean up at the end of the night. Give Alison a break, y’know?”

She tried to throw Alison a kind look, but her eyes were shut tight at the idea of Helena cleaning.

Helena sighed, air flapping between her lips.

“Boring. I’m disappointed.” She paused, looked to the ceiling in thought.

“But it is okay. I will win. And then you will do what I want.” She grinned, but her eyes stayed steely cold. Her teeth looked sharper than usual.

Sarah swallowed.

“Which is…?”

“You must be sestra Krystal. For… one week.”

“A week?!” Sarah practically screamed, startling Alison. She’d be going back home to Cal and Kira after this. There’s no way she could subject them to that.

“That’s insane, Helena,” she said, softer this time. “It’s not happenin’.”

Helena raised her eyebrows in mock surprise.

“What happened?” she teased. “You said you would bet anything. That’s what you said, yes? So very very sure that Rachel will not come.”

She leaned her elbows against the arm of the couch, loose strands of hair dangling above Sarah’s face.

“You are not scared you will lose, are you?”

Here’s the thing: Sarah knew better than to rise to a line like that. And if she hadn’t already downed two beers, or if she weren’t actually a little scared, she wouldn’t. But, you know, things being what they were…

“Fine.”

Wait, she thought. Shit. No.

Helena smirked, satisfied. It made Sarah incredibly uncomfortable. She felt even more uncomfortable at the sight of Helena spitting on her palm and sticking it out for her to shake.

“Oh, uh… how ‘bout we just…” Sarah carefully curled her pinky around her sister’s.

“Pinky promise,” Helena said knowingly. That seemed to be acceptable. She tapped Sarah’s cheek with her (mercifully) dry palm, then turned back to finish her makeup. Cosima stood in the doorway, eyebrows raised at Sarah in a what the hell did you just agree to? kind of look.

“You should find out what Krystal eats,” Helena called back. “And how she sleeps. And if she likes men with big beards.”

Sarah groaned quietly.

“I know she took a samba class,” Alison offered.

“Probably not gonna come up,” Sarah said.

“Just trying to help.”

  2. The Party and the Quiche Incident

The time for the party arrived more quickly than Alison had anticipated, though Cosima helped convince her the apartment was clean enough.

Helena was already having the time of her life hanging out with Sarah-Krystal.

“How do you make your face this shiny?” she asked, prodding at Sarah’s cheek.

“It’s called moisturizer, sweetie.”

“Hello, ladies,” came a voice from the door. It was Beth. Specifically, Beth in a very Alison sweater and headband.

“Heeeeey,” Sarah sang.

She fluttered over to the door on the world’s tallest high heels to greet Beth-Alison and noticed another guest hovering behind her: Veera in Beth’s coat and sunglasses.

“Oh, hey, girl!” Sarah said. “Looking hot, as usual.”

Veera lowered her face, caught off-guard.

“Oh. Th-thank you. Thanks.”

“Hey, what about me?” Beth asked, playfully shoving Sarah in the shoulder.

“Um, yeah, the whole ‘soccer mom’ thing isn’t exactly in right now, but don’t worry, babe, it’ll come back. These things always do.”

“I think sestra Alison looks nice,” said the real Alison.

“Thank you, Helena. See? Helena thinks I’m hot.”

Beth opened her arms to receive Alison’s Helena-hug.

“A very happy partying to you,” Alison said. Her impression left something to be desired, but the effort was there.

“And you,” she added, pulling Veera into a hug of her own, whether she wanted one or not.

“You too,” Veera said softly. Raising her eyes, she caught sight of Cosima, her doppelganger. Cosima raised her hand in a tentative wave. Veera waved back.

“Helena, your hair smells like beer,” she noted.

“Hm?”

“Hello, dudes!” shouted Helena-Cosima from the kitchen, diverting attention away from any beer-hair conversation.

“I have been very busy with science experiments.”

And she had been. The counter in front of her was nearly spilling over with drinks of all shapes and sizes and colors. No one was quite sure when she had done all this.

“Mm, this one is good,” she said, after taking a small sip of a short reddish one. She walked over (carefully, on account of the Cosima boots) and handed it to Veera.

“For you, Beth. You have had such a very long day solving crimes.”

“Yes,” Veera said. “Y-yeah. Thanks.”

It was clear from Helena’s eager staring that she wouldn’t get away with not trying it, so she tried it, triggering a small coughing fit.

“It’s very sweet,” she choked.

“Yes, because you are very sweet. High five!”

Veera hesitantly raised her hand knowing the high five would likely be a little too hard. It was.

  Veera, though not particularly hungry, loitered nearby as Beth filled her plate at the snack table.

“Have you said hello to your friend yet?” Beth asked.

Veera glanced over to Cosima on the couch who was busy ignoring Alison-Helena’s attempts to arm wrestle her.

“Yeah,” Veera answered.

“Yeah?”

“We waved.”

“Waving is nice, but I bet she’d love to talk to you, don’t you think?”

Veera swallowed.

“I don’t know.”

It’s not that she didn’t want to talk to her, she just hadn’t completely figured Cosima out yet. Beth was familiar. Beth was comfortable. Even if she was Alison.

“Hey,” Beth said softly, placing an assuring hand on her shoulder. “I know that Veera might be a little scared, but she’s safe here. She’s with people who love her. You see what I’m saying?”

Veera nodded. Maybe it was just the way she said things, but Beth had a way of clearing her doubts. She was usually right.

“I’ll go say hi,” Veera decided.

“I can go with you,” Beth offered.

Veera felt a small pang of guilt. Beth was kind, too kind, and maybe Veera had to learn how not to rely on her so much.

“I’ll be alright,” she said, and to ensure she’d be alright, downed a large swig of her (still very sweet) drink before walking over.

“I am the strongest sestra of all,” Alison proclaimed, holding out her bicep.

“No one’s arguing with you,” Cosima sighed.

Veera cleared her throat.

“Excuse me.”

“Beth!” Cosima shouted. She stood and stepped toward Veera, arms out, hesitating a moment when it occurred to her that maybe she was overstepping her bounds, but Veera opened her arms, allowing her to close the distance. The hug felt surprisingly easy, like it was a piece of Veera she’d been missing. A comfort.

“H-hey, Mika.”

Then, to her dismay, it ended. Cosima slipped the straps of her backpack off her shoulders.

“I brought something,” she said, pulling at the zipper. “I thought that maybe, if you wanted, we could play a game.”

Synapses fired in Veera’s brain.

“Game?”

She craned her neck trying to sneak a peek inside. Cosima’s hand emerged with a small box.

“Magic: The Gathering. Do you know how to play it?”

She did. Two or more players face off against each other using decks comprised of spell cards and land cards. The object of the game is to reduce the opponent’s life total to zero, or cause them to expend their entire deck. There are five basic colors of mana used to cast spells: green, red, blue, black, and white, which are gained by playing and “tapping” land cards: the base types are forests, mountains, islands, swamps, and plains respectively. There are several different types of spell cards. Creature spells summon a creature to fight for you, able to deal damage to your opponent and to defend against your opponent’s creatures during the combat phase. Many creatures also have specific abilities that can--

But Beth didn’t.

“I’m a fast learner,” Veera said.

  Sarah-Krystal and Helena-Cosima watched curiously as Beth-Alison considered her drink options.

“Why is this one green, exactly?”

Helena tilted her head to the side and scratched at her chin.

“This is a good question,” she said. “What did I put in this one? It is maybe a miracle of science?”

As they considered this concept, Alison-Helena descended on the counter, grabbing and pounding two mysteriously-colored drinks down her throat.

“Whoa,” Sarah said. “Damn, girl.”

“Food,” Alison said through a cough.

“What?”

“Is there food?” she asked.

“There’s an entire table of food over there,” Beth pointed out. “Oh, and I made quiche.”

She found it by her side, taking it and placing it in front of Alison. Plop.

It was barely on the counter a second before Alison had the foil off and her hand buried inside. Her sisters watched on, dumbfounded, as she shoveled a sloppy handful of quiche into her mouth.

“That’s just how you’re gonna eat that, huh?” Beth asked.

Alison shrugged, taking another bite.

“It’s a little salty,” she said.

Beth’s eyes bore sharp into hers.

“But very tasty, sestra,” she added sheepishly.

“Knock knock, bitches!”

Everyone’s heads shot to the source of the shrill voice: Krystal, in the doorway, dressed in what looked like a Rachel Duncan Halloween costume. ‘Sexy Businesswoman’ or something. She was a real sight.

“Ummmm…” Sarah tried to find the words. Any words at all.

With a slip of the wrist, Krystal let her purse fall to the floor.

“Someone pick that up,” she said.

Then her coat.

“And that.”

She kicked her legs, right then left, sending her shoes soaring in wildly different directions. The sound of something heavy tumbling to the floor echoed from an unseen corner of the room.

“And those.”

No one moved. They all watched on as she glided over to one of the den chairs and took a seat.

“Sarah!” she yelled, clapping her hands. Silence. “Where’s Sarah?”

“She’s not here,” Beth said.

Krystal threw her head back, groaning dramatically.

“One of you will have to do. Make me a drink. Strong, but not too strong.”

“Did you say ‘green’?” Helena asked.

Krystal spun in her chair, shot Helena a rude look.

“No.”

  Cosima’s couldn’t keep her mouth from hanging open as she watched Krystal’s entrance with rapt attention. Veera, however…

“I’m attacking you with these three.”

“Hm?”

Cosima turned back, suddenly overwhelmed by the game in front of her. Man, there were a lot of cards…

“Oh, um, I’ll block your serpent with my rhino.”

“My serpent can’t be blocked this turn,” Veera said, a smug smile beginning to pull at her lips.

“Right,” Cosima said, taking a look at her measly hand. “Then, I’ll play this Commencement of Festivities which prevents all--”

Veera slapped a card down like she’d been ready.

“Counterspell.”

“Oh.”

Cosima snuck another peek at her hand, hoping she’d see something else this time. Nope. Still just two useless forests.

“I guess you win,” she said.

Veera began sweeping up the cards, smile plastered on her face.

“You really are a fast learner,” Cosima said.

Veera paused, considering.

“Detective’s intuition.”

Her smile gradually faded as she finished putting her cards away. She chewed at her lip like she wanted to say something. Cosima had a feeling she knew what it was.

“Rematch?” she offered.

Veera broke into a grin, nodding, and began reshuffling her deck.

  Krystal tentatively brought the drink to her lips and sipped. She winced.

“This is terrible, and you’re terrible,” she said. Then in a whisper: “I’m so sorry, you know I actually think you’re, like, amazing.” Then out loud: “I hate you.”

“Can you taste the ice cream?” Helena asked.

“Go away.”

Helena reached for the drink, but Krystal pulled away.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t drink it.”

Helena shrugged and wandered off, curious to see what Cosima-Veera and Veera-Beth were doing on the floor.

“Can you believe her?” Krystal asked, turning to Beth-Alison, Sarah-Krystal, and Alison-Helena on the couch, a row of blank stares. “And did you see what she was wearing?”

“You have a very loud mouth,” Alison hissed. “I should sew it shut.”

  “I will fight you with this one and this one,” Helena said. She’d joined Veera and Cosima, figuring that, as Cosima, she should know how to play with all these funny-looking cards. “And this one.”

She didn’t.

“This one is a defender card,” Veera pointed out. “It can’t attack. This one is dead. It should actually be in your graveyard pile. And this one is a Pokémon card.”

“I’m not sure where you even got that,” Cosima added.

“Do I win?” Helena asked, but before she had a chance to revel in her almost-certain victory, she caught a glimpse of a long shadow hovering by the front door.

“Sarah!” she yelled. The shadow disappeared in an instant, the clomp-clomping of heavy footsteps echoing through the hall.

Now acclimated to her Cosima boots, Helena sprang to her feet, took a running leap over Krystal’s lap (who let out a very un-Rachel-like shriek) and rounded the corner in time to spot Rachel at the top of the stairs.

“Sarah!” she yelled again. Rachel froze. “You made it.”

Rachel turned around, slow and calm, as though she hadn’t just tried to make a break for it. She was the perfect Sarah Manning: hair, jacket, makeup, boots. Almost too perfect. A Sarah Manning still in the cellophane.

“I did,” she said.

“Come,” Helena said, tugging at Rachel’s arm. “Everyone is waiting for you.”

Rachel dragged behind Helena with leaden footsteps. The scene inside was exactly as she’d feared: all eyes on her, everyone speaking to each other in frantic whispers. This was a mistake.

“Dudes!” Helena boomed. “Sarah is here!”

She turned, smirking, to face a panicked-looking Sarah.

“Look, Krystal! It’s Sarah!”

Sarah stared back wide-eyed, mouth hung open, unable to respond.

“Hello, Sarah,” Beth said, mercifully cutting through the uncomfortable silence. She and Rachel exchanged cordial nods.

“Yeah, um, hey,” Sarah said, finding her voice.

“Oi oi,” Rachel said. It sounded oddly natural. Like she’d rehearsed.

“Oh! Sarah,” Krystal called, oblivious to the tension in the room. “Fix me a drink, will you? Chop chop.”

Rachel’s face twisted into a look of horror.

“What is this?”

“Oh,” Sarah said, sensing a potential situation and quickly stepping in between the two. “You know, that’s, like… you know. That’s… Rachel?”

Rachel inhaled sharply through her nose.

“That’s Rachel,” she repeated, forced calm in her voice.

Krystal tapped impatiently at her empty glass.

“Yeah, I’m hearing a lot of talking and not a lot of drink making, so if you could get on that, that’d be great.”

Sarah’s eyes shot between the two, terrified. Rachel, however, was eerily calm, an unsettling smile creeping onto her face.

“Sure,” she said and stepped toward the kitchen counter.

“Hey, Beth?” Sarah called, trying desperately not to freak out. “I mean, uh, Alison. Help Sarah with the drinks? And, like, make sure the drain cleaner stays under the sink?”

Beth shot Sarah a thumbs-up, heading off for Rachel-babysitting duty. Sarah spun around, finding the group farthest out of Rachel’s earshot (Helena, Veera, and Cosima). She quickly dashed over to them, still trying and still failing to keep it together.

“She showed up,” she whispered, panicked. “She actually showed up.”

“Yes,” Cosima-Veera said. “It’s surprising.”

“I’m spending an energy counter to look at the top card of my library,” Veera said.

Sarah shook her head frantically.

“What?”

Veera looked up from her cards, confused.

“Sorry, what were you talking about?”

Sarah exhaled, ran a hand through her hair. This wasn’t helping. She just had to… deal with it. Reluctantly, she found her way over to the group at the kitchen area.

“Hey!” she squawked, a little too loudly. God, she was too drunk for this. “How we doing here, ladies?”

She and Rachel caught each other’s eyes, both silently acknowledging that this was weird.

“Good!” Helena said. “Everyone is here. Sarah is here and she has bourbons, so she is very good.”

Rachel kept her head down, hiding her face behind a drink.

“Great!” Sarah said, hopefully sounding normal. “This is all just… so great.”

“Really great,” Beth agreed.

“We have a connection, sestra,” Alison-Helena said, reaching a hand out to Rachel, her faux-twin. Rachel choked a bit on her drink. “Can you feel it?”

Sarah quickly reached out and pulled Alison’s arm back down to her side.

“Yeah, don’t do that.”

“Sarah!” Krystal called, still not reading the room even a little bit. “Drink!”

Rachel grit her teeth, eyes boring holes in the back of Krystal’s head.

“She’s a bit much, isn’t she?” Beth observed.

“Yes,” Helena-Cosima said. “I would like to crack open her skull and study her brain.”

Everyone turned to face her, horrified. Well, everyone except Rachel, who had put on what could only be described as a wistful smile.

“For science,” Helena clarified.

“Wouldn’t mind seeing that,” Rachel said.

“Here,” Beth said, handing Rachel a (not poisoned) drink. “Better take this to her.”

Rachel’s eyes fell to the drink in her hand, then back up to Beth as if to say, you can’t be serious.

“It should hopefully shut her up for a bit,” Beth said.

Rachel sighed softly, conceding the point, and began walking over.

“How are you doing, Krystal?” Beth asked, noticing Sarah’s face contorting itself in an effort to seem somewhat calm.

“Kinda freaking out, to be honest,” she admitted.

“Because of the bet,” Helena said.

“Because this is weird!” Sarah whispered furiously. “It’s weird, and something’s gonna happen.”

Helena shook her head, tsk-tsking.

“You worry too much,” she said. “She is here to have fun, like us.”

Everyone briefly considered, then rejected the idea of Rachel Duncan ever wanting to have fun.

“Well,” Beth said. “Whatever the reason, she’s here. And it’s fine. Nothing’s going to happen.”

Right on cue, they were hit with a sudden tidal wave of shrieks and screams. Rachel stood above Krystal, horrible obscenities spewing from her mouth, forcefully shoving an entire quiche into her face.

“It’s --mmmmmphhhh-- so salty!”

Beth rushed over, instinct kicking in, and grabbed Rachel by the shoulders. Rachel’s superhuman fury held in her place.

“Can someone help me here?” Beth asked, desperate.

Sarah somehow managed to pull herself together and ran over to help. She was only a couple feet away when she was intercepted by a leaping Helena, or rather, Alison-as-Helena, who latched onto Beth’s back with a vise grip.

“This is not helping!” Beth screamed.

  The mood in the apartment was different after the Quiche Incident. Krystal was thankfully unharmed, save for a bit of smudged makeup and some sticky hair, which she was now tending to in the bathroom. Helena had somehow managed to persuade both Krystal and Rachel to stay; Rachel had been cooling off in the far corner of the loft for several minutes now. The others had dropped character and were debating next steps, which was proving challenging after all the drinking.

“I think you should be the one to talk to her, Sarah,” Beth said.

Sarah laughed, appalled.

“Piss off. Not a chance.”

“She does kinda have a weird thing for you,” Cosima noted.

“Please, sestra,” Alison whined, the only one who refused to break character. “You forgave me. You must forgive Rachel for the quichings.”

“Christ! Fine!” Sarah conceded. She really, really didn’t want to, but this whole thing was a real buzzkill, and she just needed it done.

With purpose, she strode over to Rachel’s shame corner and took a seat next to her.

“What do you want, Krystal?” Rachel snapped, in what was still a pretty impeccable cockney accent.

Okay. If she wanted to do this in character, fine. Might make things easier.

“Just seeing how you’re doing, sweetie.”

The word ‘sweetie’ seemed to hang in the air like a bad smell. She regretted it instantly.

“You wanna talk about what happened there?” she asked, quickly moving on.

“No.”

“Okay,” Sarah said, fighting an eye-roll. “You wanna talk about anything else?”

“No.”

“Great. Good talk.”

Sarah moved to stand up, but something stopped her. Maybe it was the alcohol, but she’d been hit with a sudden wave of guilt.

“I just hope you know we’re happy you’re here,” she said. “You’re like, our sister, you know?”

Rachel finally looked over at Sarah, shock and confusion written all over her face. Yeah, Sarah hadn’t exactly expected to say it either.

And then --and this was definitely the alcohol-- she leaned in for a hug. She watched Rachel’s expression morph from confusion to more confusion to horror as she wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

‘Sweetie’ had felt weird. This felt wrong.

Rachel had gone stiff, all bones and sharp angles, some built-in defense mechanism to protect against dangers like mild affection. Sarah cursed under her breath, holding the hug for an uncomfortable amount of time, only because she knew the moments after would be worse. Finally, she pulled away.

Rachel’s lips were pursed tight, eyes wide, staring back at Sarah with a look of ultimate betrayal. Sarah realized she needed to say something. Anything, really.

“I, uh… took a samba class once.”

“I should leave,” Rachel said.

“Yes!” Helena shouted out of nowhere, causing them both to jump. “Let’s go somewhere!”

“Oh,” Sarah said, stunned. “Wait, hang on.”

“I want to go!” Alison joined in. “Where are we going?”

“I want…” Helena said, pausing dramatically. “... to dance.”

This was all happening very suddenly and seemed like another disaster waiting to happen. On the other hand, everyone seemed eager to escape the party-killing atmosphere left behind after the Quiche Incident.

Sarah looked over at Rachel. Rachel looked at her. They both remembered the hug.

“Let’s go!” Sarah yelled, leaping to her feet.

3. Hitting the Streets and Other People

At some point, through the smoky haze, through the sea of writhing bodies, through the endless, pulsing drumbeat, Sarah snapped out of her trance, suddenly remembering that she’d come here with other people. She scanned the area, finally spotting three familiar shapes at the bar. She pushed her way through the crowd and made it over to them: Veera, Cosima, and Beth.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” she said, effortlessly slipping into her Krystal voice. “I completely spaced and lost track of time. I don’t even remember how we got here. We can totally leave whenever you want.”

“Are you kidding?” Veera asked. Sarah wondered how she could see anything in this place with Beth’s sunglasses on. “This is exactly where I want to be after a long day’s work.”

She took what looked to be a pretty big swig of her drink.

“I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe, kid.”

A laugh forced its way out of Sarah’s throat.

“‘Kid’? How much have you had to drink, Beth?”

“She hasn’t had that much, actually,” Beth said.

“Have you tried this whiskey?” Veera asked. “It burns, but I can handle it because I’m a hard-boiled detective.”

She giggled quietly to herself like she’d made a joke.

“Don’t worry,” Beth said, smiling fondly at Veera. “I’m making sure she drinks plenty of water.” She seemed to be taking to the mother hen role.

“Great,” Sarah said. “I guess everyone’s okay then?”

“We’re okay, Krystal,” Cosima said. She was faced out toward the dance floor. “Observing the people here is actually proving to be quite interesting. Helena, in particular.”

Sarah followed Cosima’s eyes and spotted her immediately. A circle had formed around Alison -- some of the onlookers seemed amazed, some amused, and some looked genuinely afraid. She was a hurricane: spinning, jumping, kicking, thrashing with no regard for the beat of the song, or in fact, anyone around her. She was in her own world.

Also in their own world: the two women in the crowd slow-dancing to EDM. It took Sarah a moment to realize one of them was Helena. The other had clearly had too much to drink, slumped against Helena with all her weight.

She spotted Krystal at the other end of the bar sitting next to some guy who, even from this distance, was obviously hitting on her. Krystal was playing with the straw in her drink, seemingly bored out of her mind.

Sarah scanned the crowd again, searching, but...

“Where did Sarah go?” she asked, wondering if maybe Rachel had bolted. This didn’t exactly feel like her kind of scene.

“I’m not sure,” Cosima said. “I haven’t been able to-- whoa.”

Beth turned in her seat and followed Cosima’s gaze. Her eyes shot open.

“Holy… macaroni.”

Sarah looked again, and finally, in the way back corner, she spotted her.

Holy macaroni.

She was surrounded on either side by two of the sweatiest people Sarah had ever seen: a man behind her, a woman in front. They all moved together as one, undulating, bodies locked tight together in a death grip.

It was all pretty on-brand for Sarah Manning, but still, Jesus Christ.

“Wow, that’s, uh…”

“That’s our Sarah,” Beth said.

  “So, what do you do?”

Krystal-Rachel poked at the salt on the rim of her glass with her straw. It was more interesting than anything this man had to say.

“I’m in the cloning business,” she said flatly.

“Oh, awesome.” Pause. “Did you say ‘clothing’?”

“Cloning,” she repeated in an exasperated sigh. “We make clones. Soccer moms. Hackers. Hot manicurists. Me.”

“That’s cool, that’s cool. So... what do you do for fun?”

“You’re boring me now. Get out of my sight.”

“Oi, mate,” Rachel said, having suddenly appeared behind them. A very sweaty woman dangled from her neck like a human scarf. “You botherin’ my sister?”

“Um, we’re trying to have a conversation here, Sarah,” Krystal said, and with no small amount of shame, she draped her arm around the man next to her.

“No, you know what?” he said, shaking her loose. “I’m done here. To be honest, lady, your sister’s kind of a stuck-up bitch.”

And before Krystal even had a chance to get angry, Rachel’s fist flew forward, connecting with the man’s nose with a sickening crunch. The woman clinging to Rachel jumped back, quickly vanishing into the crowd.

“Oh, fuck!” Krystal shrieked.

Rachel found an empty bottle on the counter and brought it shattering over the man’s skull. He crumpled to the floor in a heap.

“Holy fuck!”

  There was a good deal of chaos after Rachel’s second violent act of the night, the sisters scrambling to gather each other and evacuate the club before the police arrived. Beth was off-duty, and she was also Alison, so… what could she do, really?

“Look, I’m still mad about the frittata thing,” Krystal said to Rachel once they were a safe distance away from the crime scene.

“It was a quiche, actually,” Beth pointed out.

“Quiche, whatever. What I’m saying is that you almost killed a man for me, so I guess you can’t be all bad. You’re alright, Sarah Manning.”

“About earlier,” Rachel said, the words snagging in her throat. “I… what I mean to say is--”

Krystal placed a light hand on Rachel’s shoulder.

“We’re good.”

  “Bye, Cosima!”

Helena’s new friend hung halfway out of the window of her ride, reaching for her hand. Helena took it.

“I love you, okay? I mean that.”

“Goodbye, Vicki,” Helena said with a wave.

“I’ll text you.”

The car pulled away, knocking the woman (Vicki?) back into her seat.

“She is called Vicki with an ‘i’,” Helena told the others. “She is my friend.”

“Huh,” Cosima said, because what else could she say? Slowly though, it began to dawn on her.

“Wait, ‘text’? You didn’t give her my number, did you?”

“No, mine.”

“Right, but yours yours or yours mine?”

“Yes.”

  The eight sisters wandered the streets, no particular destination in mind. Helena was walking by Sarah’s side at the front of the pack, loudly humming a particularly repetitive tune she’d heard in the club.

This had been going on for a solid five minutes now.

...

Sarah decided to check out what the others were up to.

Cosima was prattling on to Veera about the merits of the film adaptation of Dune, Veera listening intently with a soft smile on her face. They looked like they’d been friends all their lives.

Alison leaned heavily on Beth’s shoulder, exhausted from her bout of Helena-dancing. Beth’s arm hung loose around her, hand gently patting her back.

Krystal and Rachel were… sharing a frozen yogurt? Where had that come from? And Krystal was laughing? Yes, Krystal was laughing at something Rachel was saying. Was she telling a joke? That couldn’t be right. It was like one of those Magic Eye pictures -- no matter how long Sarah stared, trying to make sense of it, it only ended up giving her a headache.

Giving up, she turned back around. It was at that moment that a couple rounded the corner ahead of her. Her eyes instinctively went to the cute blonde first, but then…

“Tony?!”

“Oh, you’ve gotta be shitting me,” Tony said with a look of horror.

His clothes were slightly less raggedy than usual, his hair a little less ratty than usual, but it was definitely Tony. His arm hung around the suddenly very confused blonde by his side.

“You said you were busy,” Sarah said, smirking. “Didn’t know you had a hot date.”

“Yeah, well, can’t say I’m sorry I missed whatever the fuck this is.”

The words were harsh, but the tone was at least partly amicable.

“Hey,” Beth chided, lightly shoving his shoulder. “Watch your mouth, mister.”

“Um.” The blonde slowly drew her eyes along the eight (eight!) women in front of her, all in completely different outfits, some very obviously wearing wigs, but all with Tony’s face. “Are these… your sisters?”

“Yes!” Alison yelled, head still firmly planted on Beth’s shoulder. “Sestras!”

“Jesus,” Tony groaned, running a palm over his face. “Look, babe, I’ll tell you all about it, but we should really get outta here.”

“Aw, Tonyyyy,” Sarah pouted, obnoxious as possible. “Don’t go! We miss you!”

Tony quickly shuffled away, date in arm, to the sound of his sisters’ protests and wolf-whistles. He flashed them a parting middle finger before disappearing down a side street.

“We should follow them,” Alison said with a mischievous grin.

“I think we’ve done enough damage,” Beth said.

“Okay,” Alison conceded, no energy left to argue. “Then let’s go somewhere I can sit. Somewhere quiet.”

Unexpectedly, it was Rachel who spoke up.

“I know a place.”

  4. Shite Beach and the Long Week Ahead

Shite Beach, one of Sarah’s old hangouts. She was a little concerned as to how Rachel knew about it, but she wasn’t really prepared to have that conversation now.

Alison, with the last of her energy, had managed to channel her inner Helena and build a small campfire. It was below freezing out, but between the warmth of the fire and each other, everyone was comfortable.

Cosima and Veera were on their backs, the former gently guiding the arm of the other, tracing lines against the sky.

“See, it goes from here all the way down to here.” Cosima said. She brought their arms up again. “And then across here.”

“Oh!” Veera said, smiling. “I see it. Cygnus.”

“Mhm.”

Their arms slowly dropped back down to their sides, still entwined.

  Sarah sat in between Rachel and Krystal, and Helena lay across all three of their laps, feet on Krystal’s, head on Rachel’s. Sarah could not for the life of her remember how they’d gotten into this position, but now she was stuck here.

“You hit him very hard, didn’t you?” Helena asked, carefully examining the damage done to Rachel’s knuckles. Remarkably, Rachel was letting her do this.

“She really did,” Krystal agreed, still slightly traumatized.

“Deserved it,” Rachel said. She winced as Helena fingers found a tender area.

“Not so easy being Sarah Manning, is it?” Sarah asked, chuckling.

“Piss off.”

It seemed she’d more or less gotten the hang of it.

“It is more easy being Krystal, I hope,” Helena said, grinning up at her sister. Sarah groaned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Krystal asked, feeling out whether or not she should be offended.

“She was so very sure Sarah would not come. Now she must be Krystal for one week.”

“Oh god,” Sarah moaned, burying her face in her hands.

Rachel laughed, softly at first, but it only became funnier over time.

“What’s so bad about that exactly?” Krystal asked, drawing out more laughter.

“Hey, shut up!” Sarah said, shoving Rachel in the arm. She did not shut up. In fact, she started laughing harder. “You totally screwed me by showing up.”

“Do not fight, you two,” Helena said softly. Her head dropped to the side, watching the fire. “It is too nice here.”

Sarah realized with an unexpected warm feeling in her chest that Helena was right.

  “You think maybe you went a little overboard tonight?” Beth asked. Alison’s body had given out, slumped against Alison like a sandbag.

“Maybe,” she said. “It was a good party though, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Beth said, patting her shoulder. “You did good.”

Alison’s eyes drifted lazily, settling on each of her sisters in turn. Her family.

“If I were sestra Alison,” she said. “I would want to make a speech right now.”

Beth looked down at her, suspicious.

“Please?” Alison said, eyes wide, child-like.

“Speech!” Helena yelled, piercing through the quiet. Others joined in, a small chorus.

Beth narrowed her eyes at Alison, who met her with a cheeky smile. Sighing, she slid out from under Alison (causing her to crumple unceremoniously to the ground) and stood to a small but enthusiastic round of applause. She scratched at the back of her neck, feeling the weight of her sisters’ expectant eyes on her.

“They say you can’t choose your family,” she started. “I consider myself incredibly lucky then, to have been given all of you. My sisters. I truly could not have chosen a better family.”

“Cosima,” she said. Helena’s and Cosima’s heads both perked up. “I’ve never met anyone with a more brilliant mind. Every moment with you is a learning experience, and I’m a better person for having met you. Also, you give the best hugs, and that’s something to be proud of.”

Helena stretched her hand out behind her toward Cosima, who took it. They smiled brightly at each other.

“Krystal, your determination and your resilience inspire me. You’ve been through it all, and every time, you come out the other side stronger and brighter than ever.”

Krystal fanned her face with one hand, desperately digging through her purse for a tissue with the other. Sarah brought her arm around her shoulder.

“And your nails always look great,” Beth added, drawing a tear-choked laugh out of Krystal.

“Helena, you have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. You show me the good in others when I can’t see it for myself. You bring out the light in all of us.”

Helena blinked. Her whole body felt hot. She’d finally found a family that truly loved her, and it still didn’t feel real, though the feeling of Alison’s hand suddenly gripping tightly around hers helped remind her it was. This was real.

“Sarah, I don’t think we can ever thank you enough for what you’ve done for all of us. You never hesitated to put yourself in harm’s way to protect your sisters. You’re our hero.”

Sarah, struck with embarrassment, turned her head to the side and caught Rachel staring back at her. Her eyes seemed desperate, something written in them that she could never bring herself to say.

I’m sorry?

Forgive me?

I don’t want to be alone?

Sarah nodded to her, an assurance Sarah felt she needed. She watched as Rachel’s face softened.

“Veera,” Beth said. “Mika... I hope that tonight has shown you how much we all adore you. In the darkest period of Beth’s life, you were her strength. I want for everyone here to know what that feels like, to have you in their lives. You don’t have to--”

Her voice caught in her throat. She paused, took a breath.

“You don’t have to be alone anymore.”

Heat rushed to Veera’s face. Her eyes burned with tears. Reflexively, she buried her face into Cosima’s shoulder. Cosima held her as she cried.

“Rachel,” Beth started.

Rachel felt her entire body tense up. She hadn’t even dared consider the possibility of being mentioned. Not for the first time that night, Rachel regretted ever having shown up.

This was a mistake. This was a mistake. This was a mistake.

“Rachel, Rachel, Rachel,” Beth said, shaking her head, though her face remained soft. “I’ll admit I never expected to see you here tonight. And I’ll admit that I’m not entirely sure what it means for us. But maybe, hopefully, it means we can start over. A clean slate. So, if you’re open to it, on behalf of all of us, your sisters, I want to welcome you to our family. We’re glad you came.”

Rachel blinked -- once, twice, three times -- stunned. She slowly turned her head, met the others’ gazes, and finally saw their expressions for what they were. Curious. Cautious, maybe. But not unkind.

“I was sure no one wanted me here,” she said softly, to no one in particular. “I came out of spite.”

“And now?” Helena asked, looking up at her from her lap. “Why did you stay?”

The words on her mind felt like a betrayal of everything she knew how to be. She couldn’t say them. Not yet.

“Do not think about it so much,” Helena said, tapping Rachel’s knee. “Just stay with us.”

Tomorrow, Rachel would have to go back. Back to the boardrooms. Back to her lonely, soulless apartment. But for now, maybe this was fine. Maybe she could admit to herself that this was fine.

“Beth,” Beth said. “You… You’re alright, I guess.”

“We love you, Beth!” Alison shouted, very quickly joined by a loud chorus of whoops and cheers.

“Alright, alright,” Beth said, hoping the darkness was enough to hide her blushing face.

“And I guess I should say something about, uh… myself.” She scrunched her face up, struggling to figure out how this one was going to work. “I’m proud to say that I pour my entire heart into everything I do. Being a mother, acting… party planning.”

The others chuckled to themselves. Cosima reached over and playfully nudged Alison.

“I take such good care of all of you, and, um… ah, screw this. You’re amazing, and I love you, Ali.”

Alison laughed through her tears, quickly standing and throwing her arms around Beth.

“Love you, Beth.”

A few awwws rose up from the audience. Alison wiped the moisture from her face and stayed standing alongside Beth as she closed out her speech.

“Family is a messy thing. It’s not always what you expect. But what we have here, what we’ve found in each other, this is what matters. I’m honored to call each and every one of you my sister. Thank you all for being here tonight, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that we’ll be able to share many, many more nights like this one. As a family.”

The sisters erupted into raucous applause, stumbling over each other to hug Beth. (Veera gave the biggest one, in case you were wondering.) Soon, a new wave of calm fell over them, and together, they all sat and waited for the sun to rise.

  It was the morning after the day after the party, and Helena stood at the door to Sarah’s apartment. Knock knock. She hummed to herself as she waited, a fun little tune she remembered hearing at the club. Soon enough, the door opened, her sister’s boyfriend on the other side.

“Hello, Cal. It is good to see you.”

Cal said nothing, only shook his head disapprovingly as he walked away, quickly disappearing into another room. It was more or less what Helena was expecting.

“Auntie Helena!”

Helena beamed as her niece came into view, running full speed into her arms.

“Good morning, angel,” Helena said into Kira’s hair. “You are well?”

“Mmhmm.”

Her breath tickled Helena’s neck. It felt like sunshine.

“Is your mother home?” Helena asked, biting at her lip to keep from giggling.

When Kira stepped back from Helena, she was grinning.

“No,” she said. “But Auntie Krystal is.”

Helena grinned back.

“Mm. Good.”

“She’s silly,” Kira said, very matter-of-fact.

“Yes, very silly.”

Helena reached into her pocket, pulling out a slightly bent candy bar she’d been saving.

“For you, angel,” she said, handing it over. “For being Auntie Helena’s good little spy.”

She put a finger to her lips, and Kira copied. Together, they would make sure Sarah’s debt was paid in full.

“Hey, girl. What are you doing here?”

Helena turned to face a very worn-out-looking Sarah dressed as a very worn-out-looking Krystal. Krystal had been very eager to lend out some of her clothes and a long list of unwanted fashion tips once she realized Sarah would actually be going through with this.

“I was out walking and thought I would see how my pleminnytsya was doing,” Helena said, fighting a smirk. “And Sarah. Is Sarah here?”

Sarah stuck her jaw out, irritated.

“... Nope. Just yours truly.”

“Oh!” Helena shouted. “But I am very lucky you are here, sestra Krystal. My nails are very boring, I think. Maybe you could paint them?”

Sarah twisted her face into something that probably didn’t pass for a genuine smile.

“Aw, sweetie, you know I’d like, love to, you know I would, but I just don’t have any of my--”

Helena emptied her coat pockets onto the dining table, bottles and bottles and so many bottles of nail polish.

“These will work, yes?”

Sarah stared, dumbfounded, at the mess on her table, then back up at Helena.

“Just out walking, huh?” she asked.

“Yes,” Helena said. “Very big coincidence.”

“Okay, whatever,” Sarah said, sighing. She took a seat at the table, brushing bottles aside to make room. “Gimme your hand.”

“Oh. No. Not these nails,” Helena said. She kneeled and began untying her shoelaces.

Sarah’s head fell into her hands. This would be a long week.

[thrashermaxey]

Lining Up: Gourde’s Hot Start, Getzlaf Underappreciated, and More – November 13

  In this week’s installment, we take a look at one hot line and one cold line. The temperature of these lines was determined using Dobber’s Line Production Tool to compare even-strength production over the past 10 games. I compiled a list of the highest scoring line for each team at even strength. Here’s the list…

  #

Team

Line

Points

1

Buffalo

Jeff Skinner – Jack Eichel – Jason Pominville

30

2

Islanders

Anders Lee – Brock Nelson – Josh Bailey

20

3

Colorado

Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen

19

4

Tampa Bay

Yanni Gourde – Brayden Point – Tyler Johnson

14

5

Montreal

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

13

6

New Jersery

Taylor Hall – Nico Hischier – Kyle Palmieri

13

7

Pittsburgh

Carl Hagelin – Evgeni Malkin – Phil Kessel

12

8

Winnipeg

Nikolaj Ehlers – Mark Scheifele – Blake Wheeler

12

9

Nashville

Filip Forsberg – Ryan Johansen – Viktor Arvidsson

11

10

Columbus

Artemi Panarin – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Cam Atkinson

11

11

Philadelphia

Claude Giroux – Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny

11

12

Ottawa

Ryan Dzingel – Matt Duchene – Mark Stone

11

13

Carolina

Micheal Ferland – Sebastian Aho – Teuvo Teravainen

10

14

Calgary

Matthew Tkachuk – Mikael Backlund – Michael Frolik

10

15

Florida

Mike Hoffman – Aleksander Barkov – Evgenii Dadonov

10

16

Washington

Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – T.J. Oshie

10

17

San Jose

Tomas Hertl – Logan Couture – Timo Meier

9

18

Edmonton

Alex Chiasson – Leon Draisaitl – Tobas Rieder

9

19

Vegas

William Carrier – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Ryan Reaves

9

20

Arizona

Brendan Perlini – Derek Stepan – Christian Fischer

9

21

St. Louis

David Perron – Ryan O’Reilly – Zach Sanford

9

22

Minnesota

Jason Zucker – Eric Staal – Mikael Granlund

9

23

Boston

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak

8

24

Chicago

Brandon Saad – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane

8

25

Toronto

Zach Hyman – John Tavares – Mitchell Marner

7

26

Vancouver

Loui Eriksson – Elias Pettersson – Nikolay Goldobin

7

27

Rangers

Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Mats Zuccarello

6

28

Anaheim

Pontus Aberg – Ryan Getzlaf – Rickard Rakell

5

29

Los Angeles

Tyler Toffoli – Jeff Carter – Ilya Kovalchuk

5

30

Detroit

Michael Rasmussen – Jacob De La Rose – Gustav Nyquist

5

31

Dallas

Valeri Nichushkin – Tyler Seguin – Devin Shore

3

                                                                      Yanni Gourde – Brayden Point – Tyler Johnson

At any point in the season, if you ask me who Tampa’s top scoring line is, I’ll go with the safe answer of the Kucherov-Stamkos line. But that answer doesn’t seem so safe anymore, as Gourde and Point continue to prove that their success last season was no fluke. 

Yanni Gourde has been fantastic this season, with 17 points in 17 games. While I don’t think he’ll maintain a point-per-game pace throughout the season, I believe he can replicate last year’s 64-point total. His ice-time is up a minute and a half from last season, so maybe there’s potential for 70?

Brayden Point is one of the most talented players on a truly talented team in Tampa. Try saying that five times fast.  Already with 19 points in 17 games, I’m gonna go ahead and make a ‘bold’ prediction that Point finishes second in team scoring – behind only Nikita Kucherov. The 22-year-old definitely has the tools to be a point-per-game player in the NHL, but maybe 70-75 points is a more realistic expectation this season.

I don’t think Tyler Johnson will ever replicate his magic from 2014-2015 – during which he tallied 72 points in 77 games – but I do believe he’s a solid 55-point player with value in deeper leagues.

Considering they’ve been one of the hottest lines over the past 10 games, it’s no surprise that Gourde, Point, and Johnson have comfortably out-chanced their opponents (62 scoring chances for vs. 48 against). Unlike a lot of high-scoring lines that are mostly deployed in the offensive zone, this trio has an offensive zone faceoff percentage of just 39.68%. Since they’re relied upon at both ends of the ice, it seems logical that they don’t get separated once they hit that inevitable cold stretch.

As I was searching for highlights for this line, I typed ‘Point Gourde scores’ into YouTube. I want you to say, ‘point gourde scores’ out loud. Tell me that doesn’t sound like Steve Carell as Gru from Despicable Me, calling a basketball game (point guard haha). I’ll see myself out…

    Pontus Aberg – Ryan Getzlaf – Rickard Rakell

During the past couple of seasons, a lot of Ducks have been sitting. But injuries aren’t the only reason Anaheim has struggled this season, off to a 7-8-3 start (2-6-2 in their last 10). I’m not sure if they’d have a single win without spectacular goaltending from John Gibson and Ryan Miller. They’ve been an extremely boring team to watch, and I hardly ever feel like their offense is threatening to score.

I know I spent the entirety of the above paragraph dumping on the Ducks, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find fantasy value in Anaheim. Maybe I’m out of touch with prevailing hockey opinions, but I feel like nobody realizes just how good Ryan Getzlaf is. While everyone (myself included) complains about how many shots the team gives up, Getzlaf has quietly put up 11 points in 12 games. I’m such a huge fan of guys like Getzlaf and Rakell because they are the most offensively gifted players on a team with a great off-day schedule. While most teams play on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays during the week, you’ll rarely have to sit your Ducks, as 63% (highest in the league) of their games are played on Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Sunday. Now is a great time to buy low on Rickard Rakell, who I believe will improve on his current 54-point pace.

In terms of scoring chances, the Aberg-Getzlaf-Rakell line has allowed as many as they have generated. As I mentioned, the Ducks allow like a million shots a game, so it’s refreshing to see that this trio has a 55.68 Corsi for %. Pontus Aberg has been impressive for stretches this year, with five goals in 12 games. I don’t see him being someone you hold onto for the whole season, but he’s proven he can score every now and then. He definitely hasn’t secured a spot on the top line just yet.

    Notable Line Changes

Follow me on Twitter @BrennanDeSouza for the latest line combinations and injury updates!

  Anders Lee – Mathew Barzal – Josh Bailey (Source)

Brock Nelson moves to a line with Jordan Eberle and Andrew Ladd.

  Drake Caggiula – Connor McDavid – Leon Draisaitl (Source)

Interesting to see Ryan Nugent-Hopkins away from McDavid. Draisaitl has proven he can perform without McDavid, but we’re well aware of the magic they can create together.

  Nick Schmaltz – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane (Source)

Don’t know how long this will last, but this hurts DeBrincat’s value in the short term as he is moved down to the third line (I type this as he scores against the Hurricanes). The Blackhawks are currently on an eight-game losing streak. So I expect the lines to be shuffled a bit more before they find a winning combination.

  Jeff Skinner – Jack Eichel – Sam Reinhart (Source)

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Well, apparently Sabres’ coach Phil Housley doesn’t subscribe to that logic as he breaks up the hottest line in the league. Obviously, this is great news for Reinhart owners and awful news for Pominville owners. Sam Reinhart is still available in 57% of leagues, and should make a great addition to your roster.

  Nikolay Goldobin – Elias Pettersson – Jake Virtanen (Source)

Shotgun Jake on the top line with rookie sensation Elias Pettersson! Virtanen – the sixth overall pick of the 2014 draft – already has seven goals in 19 games.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/nhl-line-combinations/lining-up-gourdes-hot-start-getzlaf-underappreciated-and-more-november-13/