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carryonmywaywardcaptain · 3 years

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Miles of Memories- 1

We’ve Got Tonight- Bob Seger

Miles of Memories Masterlist CarryOnCap’s Masterlist

Dean x reader Best Friends to Lovers AU

Summary: Feeling anxious about heading off to college, you make the most of your last night in town with the help of your best friend, Dean.

Warnings: fluffy, adorable Dean and fun banter. Slight angst (goodbyes are hard). Minor mentions of childhood trauma

WC: 2,900

A/N: This part is like a “prelude” to give you a glimpse of Y/N and Dean’s relationship (5 years before the main storyline). I hope you stay tuned for the slowest of Dean x fem!reader slowburns. I’m so excited to share this story, so please let me know what you think! MASSIVE thanks to my spectacular and badass beta crew—@christopher-evxns @deanwinchesterswitch @ezilyamuzed & @wonder-cole—for all of their help and input!! I edited even after their feedback, so all mistakes are my own. Credit to Bob Seger for the song :)

Zipping your suitcase closed with a heavy sigh, you worked through your mental checklist for the hundredth time to make sure you hadn’t forgotten to pack anything.

“Jeez, you act like it’s the last time you’ll ever see this place or something.” With a smile and a roll of your eyes, you turned to see Dean leaning casually against your doorframe. “Y’know, I figured I’d talk to Bobby about renting this space out anyway. Save you the stress of missing it while you’re gone because it’ll look completely different the next time you come back.”

“I’m not too worried. I think you’re the last person Bobby would trust with anything—let alone a space in his house.”

Dean grinned, pushing off the doorframe to mosey into your room. “See, normally I’d agree with you. But it just so happens that he gave me my very own key to the garage, so I think he’s coming around. This ready?” He pointed at the suitcase on your bed, and you nodded.

“Riiight. I’m supposed to believe that Bobby would actually give you a key to come and go at the shop anytime you want.”

Dean shrugged, spinning on his heel with your bag in hand. “Guess he’s looking for a new favorite since you’re skipping town to go be successful out in the real world.”

You snorted and shook your head, silently following him to the door. He stepped out of the way, placing his free hand on the doorknob as you scanned the bedroom one last time. Gnawing your bottom lip, you sucked in a deep breath and tried to alleviate some of the tightness in your chest.

This room had been a safe haven for most of your life, and it was hard to remember the days before you called it “home.” Your mother had passed away when you were a toddler, and your father was a drunk, in and out of jail and your life until one day he didn’t come back. Bobby had often been the one who took care of you when your father needed to pass you off onto someone else.

You didn’t remember much about the “Travelin’ Man” (as Bobby not-so-lovingly referred to him on the rare occasions he was mentioned), but you could easily recall the night Bobby told you this would be your room for good. The relief and excitement you’d felt upon learning you’d have a space of your own were still vivid. Knowing you had a place you could always return to provided a sense of stability and consistency you’d never known.

Bobby may not have been your father by blood, but he was your dad in every sense of the word. Sure, he was a little rough around the edges and tended to be a hermit, but he also had a heart of gold, and not once had he ever made you question whether he cared about you.

A few weeks after settling into your new home, you had met Jessica and Sam during recess at your new elementary school. Although they were a grade younger, you’d instantly hit it off with them. Jess and Sam had always been there for you over the years, too, willing to lend an ear or make time for movie nights and spontaneous trips to the diner. Eventually, Sam had introduced you to Dean, and the two of you had been inseparable ever since. Each and every memory you had growing up involved at least one (if not all three) of them. But while it was difficult saying goodbye to everyone in general...you still hadn’t been able to grasp the idea of saying goodbye to Dean.

Dean was the one who had been by your side through everything. From heartfelt life chats and your deepest moments of self-doubt to car ride sing-alongs and your loudest belly laughs. He was always there to comfort you, remind you not to take things so seriously, and even drag you into trouble once in a while.

The thought of leaving him and your safe, familiar home brought yet another wave of apprehension and doubt. What if you were making a huge mistake?

“Y/N...” Dean’s gentle voice coaxed you back to reality. “We’ve still got a lot to pack into our night, so don’t go checking out on me yet.”

Without looking back, you slipped past Dean and heard him shut the door as you made your way downstairs.

“You know, this wouldn’t be so hard if you would’ve just applied like I told you to. Then we could both be going off to college together, and you’d find out what an honor it would be to have me as a roomie.”

“Okay, well, let me remind you that you’re the one who decided to go ‘see what’s out there’ and get a fancy college degree under her belt. And, even if we did survive being roommates without making the other want to pull their hair out, there’s no way in hell that town would be able to handle both of us.”

“That’s fair.”

“Besides, I won’t have much of a chance to miss you. You’ll probably flunk out and be back here by the end of the semester anyway.”

“Also fair,” you laughed. “Taking a year off to work at The Roadhouse and pretend to get my life together seemed like a good idea at the time, but I’m a little worried about getting into the groove of studying and all that crap again.”

“You know, if you need help, all you gotta do is pick up the phone. I mean, Sammy’s a real bookworm, and he’s only a phone call away.” Dean winked as he held the front door open and motioned for you to lead the way.

Sticking your tongue in your cheek, you fought to hide your amusement at the way he threw his brother under the bus. Before you made it through the door, you whirled around toward the stairs again. “Dang it. I forgot my bathroom bag. Do you mind tossing that one in the car? I’ll be right back!”

“Another bag? Where are you gonna put all this crap?” he muttered.

After retrieving the pouch from the bathroom upstairs and making sure you hadn’t left any necessary items in the drawers and cabinets, you hurried outside to find Dean patiently waiting beside your car. You tossed the small bag and he caught it with ease, pitching it in the backseat before closing the door.

“And done. Any last-minute stops to make along the way?” he asked.

“Nope. I caught Ellen, Jo, and Jody at the end of my shift yesterday, and Charlie was over for a bit this morning. And, you know, Sam and Jess ditched us for California last weekend. That means you and Bobby are the only two left to put up with me until I leave in the morning.”

When your voice cracked unexpectedly, you cleared your throat and surveyed the scrapyard until the faint prick in the corners of your eyes faded. As your departure drew near and you considered everything you were leaving behind, venturing out into the world was quickly beginning to feel more daunting than exciting.

“Hey…” Dean gripped the tops of your arms, stirring you from your thoughts. “We’ve got tonight. Who needs tomorrow? We’ve got tonight...babe. Why don’t you staaaaaaaayy—”

You had thought he was going to say something sweet and comforting, but you playfully shoved him in the chest when you realized he was speaking in Bob Seger lyrics. He stumbled back a step, laughing as he walked around the front of the impala and climbed inside.

***

There was an old park on the outskirts of town where Bobby and John would occasionally drop you both off when they had errands to run. As the years passed, you began riding your bikes the few miles across town, taking turns balancing Sam on your handlebars until Dean was old enough to drive. Eventually, Sam stopped tagging along, but somewhere along the way the park became a place you and Dean cherished.

A large pond stretched across most of the area, and there was a stately willow tree near the water’s edge that served as your designated “spot.” It was a hideaway often overlooked by others, but it was the perfect escape when the two of you needed a place that was all your own.

“Alright.” Dean plopped down beside you on the blanket. “You’ve got your grub, an amazing view, and the best company you could ever ask for. What else could you possibly want?”

“You’re right. Baby’s good company and all, but she’s not much of a conversationalist.”

Dean grimaced. “Just for that, I might eat your food.”

“Depending on what it is, I might let you.”

He smirked and unrolled the brown paper sack in his hand. “PB&J’s, just like Mom used to make! I asked if she could whip up a few before she flew out to make sure Sam got all settled at Stanford. She said to tell you she’s sorry she couldn’t catch you and to wish you good luck. This seemed like a, uh, better idea at the time...now that it’s been a couple of days, these might taste like shit.”

You couldn’t help but laugh as you took the sandwich Dean offered. “We’ve probably eaten worse, but I appreciate the sentimental twist. Seeing as how you’re in your 20’s and you had your mom make us sandwiches.”

“Hey, I was going for authenticity! Trying to help you feel like a kid again before you start adulting or whatever and—you know what? Just shut up and eat your food.”

The two of you unwrapped your sandwiches and continued bantering back and forth between bites. Even though the bread was soggy from marinating in jelly for a few days, and it certainly wasn’t the best thing you’d ever eaten, it brought back a flood of nostalgia.

When a comfortable silence fell over the two of you, your thoughts began to drift to dozens of adventures you and Dean had had here. You gazed out over the water, watching the willow branches graze the surface as they gently swayed in the breeze. You tried to commit every detail to memory as you soaked in the peaceful atmosphere, not knowing how long it would be until you returned.

After a while, Dean chuckled under his breath, and you looked at him curiously.

“You remember that day we were pretending to be pirates, and Dad ended up coming to pick us up early?”

“Of course.”

“Man, he was so pissed when he saw us standing on top of that picnic table we managed to drag out and ‘sail’ into the middle of the pond. Sure made an awesome ship, though.”

You smiled at the memory, though it was anything but funny at the time. “I think he was a little more pissed at the fact that we left Sam playing alone in the gazebo. And obviously what made the ‘ship’ great was the pirate flag I made.”

“Uh-huh,” Dean snorted. “You mean the crappy skull you drew on our lunch bag and stuck on the end of a stick? Pretty sure we were having a blast with the ship because it was my brilliant idea in the first place.”

“I was like 8, and it was still better than anything you could’ve drawn.” You crumpled up your trash and threw it at him. “And I was having fun--right up until you pushed me off anyway. I nearly choked to death on all that nasty water I sucked in.”

“Okay, well, you shouldn’t have been trying to be Captain when I’m the oldest, and it was clearly my title to begin with. There was no plank to walk, but obviously, you had to go overboard.”

He grinned, keeping his gaze fixed on the water. As you studied his face and noticed the faraway look in his eye, his smile faded. You figured his thoughts had drifted back to his dad, who had passed away a couple of years later.

“I felt so damn bad, though. I really was afraid you were gonna drown. And Bobby was ready to kill me when he found out.”

“Lucky for you, you can’t get rid of me that easily.”

The two of you joked and reminisced for several more hours, eventually watching the sun set over the water until it sank below the horizon. When it was time to head back to Bobby’s, Dean took the long way home so you could crank the radio and sing along with your hand hanging lazily out the open window. Back at the house, you sat on the kitchen counter and talked with both men until Bobby finally bid you goodnight--but you still weren’t ready to call it a night, knowing morning would come soon and it would be time for you to leave.

After convincing Dean to stay a little longer, you grabbed a couple of old blankets and spread them in the bed of one of the pickup trucks near the house. With your head on his chest and your body tucked comfortably against his side, you chatted beneath the stars until you drifted off to sleep.

***

“Got everything all packed up?” Bobby asked.

“I think so,” you answered.

“Better double-check because I’m not driving a few hours just to bring you a lost shoe or something.”

“Is that a challenge?” you teased, seeing right through his gruff quip. “Because I bet I could talk you into it. We both know you’re not gonna know what to do without me.”

He frowned a little before smiling fondly, and you could’ve sworn there was a misty glaze in his eyes.

“Yeah. I s’pose you’re right.”

“Oh, don’t get all sentimental on me now. You could probably use a little break. Besides, I’ll be back so often you’ll just get sick of me all over again.”

“C’mere, kid.”

Bobby reached out and pulled you into a hug. Much too soon, he let go and stepped aside so you could say goodbye to Dean. His soft green eyes had been fixed on you, but he glanced away and clenched his jaw when you took a step toward him.

“So, uh...don’t forget about us when you make it big out there in the real world—catch a break as an artist or an author or some music critic.”

“Yeah, okay,” you scoffed. “I haven’t even picked out a major yet, but I think I have an advisor who can help me figure out a good fit...eventually. Maybe I’ll be a doctor—or follow in Sam’s footsteps and be a lawyer!”

“There you go. Why not just do it all while you’re at it? Jack of all trades, master of none. Whatever you end up doing, you better come back to visit soon.”

“You got it. Try not to turn into a grumpy old man while I’m gone.”

He shook his head, cracking a smile as he met your eyes. “Only a couple years older than you, brat. Anyway, I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night, so I made you a playlist for the drive. Figured I might as well do something useful while I was awake. I sent it to you while you were getting ready.”

Pulling out your phone, you found a message already waiting with a link to the playlist.

“This is awesome, Dean, thank you. But if it ends up being six hours of nothing but Zeppelin, I’m gonna be pissed.”

He tossed his head back and laughed, making the knot in your throat grow once again at the thought of not seeing him almost every day. You couldn’t help but wonder if he’d miss you as much as you were going to miss him.

“Don’t worry; I think it ended up being a decent mix. Not too many classics and not too much of the more modern crap. There was, uh... a certain thought process behind each song, let’s just say that.”

“We all know some of that modern crap is a guilty pleasure of yours. I mean, Taylor Swift?”

“Yeah…” His gaze lingered until his grin faded to a sad smile. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Pressing your lips into a thin line, you leaned forward and threw an arm around each man. Squeezing your eyes closed, you hugged them tight.

“All joking aside...you got nothing to worry about. You’re gonna kick this college thing in the ass,” Dean murmured.

“Thank you.”

Clearing your throat, you slipped out of their embrace and quickly made your way to the car.

“Drive safe--and call when you get there!” Bobby hollered.

Stealing one last glimpse over your shoulder, you waved and slid behind the wheel. You hit shuffle on the playlist, letting the music fill the vehicle while you fasten your seatbelt.

I know it’s late

I know you’re weary

I know your plans don’t include me...

You shook your head and smiled, blinking back tears at the irony of the song—the lyrics perfectly encapsulating your night with Dean.

Look at the stars so far away

We’ve got tonight

Who needs tomorrow?

We’ve got tonight, babe

Why don’t you stay?

As you started the car and drove away, seeing him and Bobby grow smaller in the rearview mirror, you finally began to cry.

Part 2

CarryOnCap Crew (Forevers):

@abswritesfandoms @amanda-teaches @cosicas-cuquis @crist1216 @droidyouseek @emoryhemsworth @ericaprice2008 @flawless-disaster @janeyboo @jenn0755 @ksgeekgirl @maresmiley @memyselfandmaddox @notyourtypicalrose @randomparanoid @rynabarnesrogers @sandlee44 @scarletsoldierrr @shann-the-artist-moon @sheerioasteroidpanda @shynara51 @someday-when-you-leave-me @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan @thisismysecrethappyplace @torntaltos @waywardbaby @waywardrose13 @weebid @whimsicalrobots @wintersoldierbaby @yesfanficsaremylife

Cap’s SPN Crew:

@adoptdontshoppets @akshi8278 @alexwinchester23 @chevyharvelle @deangirl7695 @dean-winchesters-bacon @fandomoniumflurry @pisces-cutie @supernaturalenchanted @superromijn @thoughts-and-funnies @waywardnerd67 @x-waywardaf-x

Miles of Mems Tags:

@bobbie3939 @jerkbitchidjitassbutt @mlovesstories @onethirstyunicorn @peridottea91 @valsworldofcreativity

Also tagging those of you who seemed interested when I posted the masterlist. I don’t want to pester you, so I probably won’t tag you in future parts unless you let me know that you’d like to be tagged!

@badlittlehabit99 @cajunquandary @devvoon @flamencodiva @hybrid-in-the-making @impalackless @janicho88 @themoonblooms

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whumping-to-conclusions · 3 years

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Howdy there! Thanks for tagging me on the post. Could I get number 20 please? [voice trails off as I vanish behind a corner in awkward slinkiness]

This snippet introduces a couple of my OCs, Eleanor and Jesse, two definitely-not-in-love programmers in their mid-20s who you'll be seeing on here every now and then. They're a pair of cuties; I hope you like them.

----

Tap. Tap. Tap-tap. Eleanor was typing away at her computer when it started.

It was early afternoon at the office and she was editing a line of code, nose practically pressed to the screen, when suddenly, her vision went fuzzy at the edges. She rubbed at her eyes, thinking that maybe she had gotten something in them, but her periphery remained fuzzy. Lights and blobs of nameless colors started popping in front of her eyes.

“That’s weird,” she murmured.

Then came the pain.

A sharp, clear stroke of pain cleaved her forehead, like someone had driven a searing nail into her brain.

“Agh!” Eleanor took her glasses off and pressed her hands to her head, but it did nothing to abate the throbbing, aching pulse, the nail driving in further second after second.

“Eleanor? You okay?” Jesse’s voice floated out to her from the neighboring cubicle. Eleanor couldn’t even answer.

She heard footsteps approaching. Jesse’s hand touched her shoulder, the brush of a bird’s wing.

“Eleanor? What’s wrong?”

“Headache,” she gasped. “Really bad headache.”

More footsteps.

“What’s going on?” Mia’s voice. A pause. “Is… she okay?”

“I don’t know. She says her head hurts.”

Eleanor heard Mia bend down beside her, felt her feel her forehead.

“Eleanor, can you hear me? Look at me.”

Eleanor lifted her head from her hands and winced at the radiance from the fluorescent light above her. It was much too bright.

Mia was kneeling beside her, and Jesse and a few of her other coworkers were standing around her. She groaned a little. “Nothing―just―the head―and I can’t really see―it’s too bright in here.” She shivered and closed her eyes, pressing her hands to her head again.

“I think she has a migraine,” Mia said to Jesse. “She’s probably going to have to take the day off, especially if she’s got no meds for it.”

“I’ll take her home,” Jesse said immediately.

“You sure? I can take her if you’re busy with something.”

“No, I―I got it.” The others murmured their assent. Jesse’s hand touched Eleanor’s shoulder again. “Can you stand up?”

Eleanor nodded. Woozy from pain, she rose from the desk. It felt like she was underwater, her movements thick and slow. She opened her eyes a crack, looking down at the floor to avoid the fluorescent lights. Mia handed Eleanor her bag and glasses. Jesse offered his hand, and Eleanor took it, grabbing at the walls of the cubicle for support as he led her out of the office.

Jesse stopped and turned to face Mia again. “Uh, tell Ben I’m taking the day off.”

Twenty minutes later, Eleanor was huddled on Jesse’s couch as he brought her a cup of tea. The room was darkened, the lamps turned off to keep from hurting her head. The apartment was cluttered, but cozy--movie posters on the walls, CDs and books piled up around the coffee table and couches, not to mention the wealth of electronics scattered around.

Jesse handed her the cup and tried not to wince. He hated seeing Eleanor like this―her skin too grey, her hands shaking, her beautiful dark eyes dull with pain. He handed her the cup. “Drink this--my mother always made it when I was sick.” Eleanor took a sip, and Jesse glanced at her for her reaction. “You like it?”

Eleanor swallowed. “Yeah, it’s―it’s good. I just….”

Jesse knew that voice―she always had a little hesitation to her speech when she was afraid of inconveniencing someone. “What is it?”

Eleanor set down the cup on the end table. “Something cold sounds better, actually.”

Jesse nodded. “No worries, I’ll get you some ice water. Anything else?”

“And… a cool rag for my head sounds pretty good right now,” she admitted.

“Of course. I’ll be back in a second.”

Jesse dashed out to the apartment’s kitchen and poured a glass of ice water for Eleanor, then took a clean dish rag out of the cupboard and ran it under the faucet. He started wringing it out with more force than what was strictly necessary. The worst part of this whole thing was that there was absolutely nothing he could do to help Eleanor but keep her comfortable. His job as a programmer was all about fixing―tweaking the code, eliminating bugs, changing the programs to function exactly as intended. But this was a bug he couldn’t fix. He hated it.

Jesse returned to the living room along with the glass and cold rag. “Here you go, El.”

Eleanor took a sip and draped the rag on her head, brushing her dark bangs aside. Jesse took a seat on the other end of the couch and tried to let his mind wander. But he was still too fixated on Eleanor’s pain. He found himself looking back at her every minute or so, just to make sure that she was okay.

“You can go do something else if you want,” Eleanor said softly, after a while.

Taking care of you is what I want. “I’m staying here.”

Eleanor nodded.

The afternoon passed by and slowly changed into night, and Jesse’s stomach started to rumble. “I… kinda need some food,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

Eleanor gave a listless shrug. “Still hurts. And I feel a little sick to my stomach.”

Jesse took her hand and rubbed at her knuckles gently. “I’m sorry. Does food sound good or no?”

“I don’t really feel like eating.”

“Okay. Let me know if you want something later, though, yeah?”

“I will.”

Jesse turned on some classical music and thirty minutes later he sauntered out of the kitchen with a bowl of tomato soup.

“I’m sorry,” Eleanor said as he sat down on the couch again.

Jesse’s brows drew together. “For what? You haven’t done anything.”

“I... didn’t want to put you through this whole mess. I… I don’t want to be a burden on you.” She picked at the hem of her blouse.

Jesse set down the soup and looked her straight in the eyes. “Now, I want you to listen to me, El. You are not a burden. Don’t ever think that, okay?”

“Okay.” Eleanor nodded, then rubbed at her temples. “It just hurts so bad.”

“I know.” Jesse gave a sympathetic grimace. “Is there anything that can help take your mind off the pain? Any movies you like, or music? Or maybe… no, that’s a bit silly.”

“What?”

Jesse felt his ears getting hot. “I was going to suggest I could read a book to you, but, you know, if that’s childish or whatever―”

“No, that sounds nice. Really,” Eleanor added, leaning forward earnestly. “You seem like you’d have a good reading voice.”

“Okay. What sounds good?” Jesse got up and walked over to the bookshelf on the other side of the room and started running his index finger down the spines of some of the books. “I have all kinds of novels--mystery, fantasy, a little horror but you probably don’t want that right now….”

“Any fairy tales?”

Her voice was so soft, a bird’s wing brush, that Jesse wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. “Sorry, what was that?”

Eleanor blushed and cleared her throat. “Sorry, I, uh, asked if you had any fairy tales.”

Jesse smiled. Look at her, all embarrassed about it. “I think I do, actually. Give me a moment.”

Jesse darted through the door on the opposite side of the living room and into his bedroom. It took a few minutes to locate the book, but eventually he found it stashed under his bed.

He walked back into the living room toting the huge volume and flopped down on the couch beside Eleanor. The cover was dusty, faded pink and green, and embossed with curly gold letters. Jesse rubbed the dust off the cover. “Hans Christian Andersen’s Compendium of Fairy Tales. My favorite as a kid, actually. Here we go.” He flipped to the first page and cleared his throat. “Once upon a time….”

Jesse had no idea how much time passed as he read tale after tale, keeping his voice lilting and soft as to not aggravate Eleanor’s migraine. Eleanor watched the pages turn with her lovely eyes, which seemed to grow just a bit brighter as he read. Eventually, Jesse realized that it was very silent, and looked over. Eleanor had fallen asleep against his arm, her head nestled in the hollow of his shoulder. Her breathing was deep and even.

Jesse didn’t want to disturb her, so he simply stayed like that for a while, listening to the sounds of the night, until the book slipped from his hands and he, too, drifted off with a head full of dreams.

#whump #sickfic #hurt/comfort #migraine #fluff #caretaker x whumpee #whumpee x caretaker #headache #writing #romance #affection #whump asks #whumpee #caretaker #young adults

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landgraabbed · 3 years

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1, 5, 6, and 7 for the storytelling asks 💛💛

thank you so much for sending these!! <3 under the cut because this got so long!!

1. what’s the last screenshot you’ve taken for your story?

not very pretty or glamorous lmao

5. how do you choose your characters’ names?

answered here!

6. how long have you been working on your story for?

the save got started in august/september 2017. it was basically gameplay and very little to no storytelling at first. i'd say the storytelling started mostly around late september/october which might not seem like a long time, but in practical terms this is the span in which i played chief of mischief up to soulmate so... yeah. i worked on it on and off during the years, though. i did plan things in my 2018 hiatus, but mid 2019-march 2021 i did no work.

the ideas for gremlin started in winter 2017/2018. i had a rough place of what i wanted to include in all parts, but they only get fleshed out as i approach them.

7. whats the biggest risk you’ve taken with your story? did it pay off?

that's an interesting question! i can think of two:

malcolm as jessamine's primary partner. the original plan had khalil as her primary partner, and he would have another partner in basil. (jessamine and basil were always meant to be half-siblings so they would never be in a relationship) i had always planned to have jess be enemies with someone in chief of mischief, with whom she'd make amends in friend of the world. malcolm was it because he was part of the welcome wagon. and then he stuck around. and my wife fell in love with him and so did i! and that was it. i think it paid off. jessamine and malcolm have.... grown on me, i suppose. they're two deeply broken people at the start. their relationship was a mess right off the bat. they made a friendship work, and then they rushed the romantic part of their relationship because "that's what normal couples do" and they had no idea what an actual good couple does (i've been meaning to do an edit for them with hozier's like real people do for an age). hence all the mess that happens between master chef and party animal. they've made it work.

public enemy. i had always intended to make jessamine and her partner do the partner's aspiration together. had i followed the original plan, this would have been computer whiz. since it was malcolm, it was public enemy which.... yeah. the aspiration that makes you witness the death of a sim. spoilers from now on, i do know you're catching up. i went back and forth on whether i should do this or not. and, doing it, how deep into the questionable bits i should go. when i decided i would do it, the choice that it should be victor feng was made very quickly. he was the man who malcolm idolized and his boss, so political scandal it was. and then i had to narrow down the details of his passing. ultimately, it came down to either nancy (pufferfish nigiri) or jessamine doing it. i decided on jessamine. had i went the nancy route, it would be malcolm and jessamine ultimately going back on their decision. it would be less questionable of them, and i suppose i wanted that darkest moment for them both to serve as their tipping point character wise. public enemy is truly malcolm and his colleagues making terrible decisions one after the other under duress to horrible consequences. was it worth it? i'm still going back and forth on that. the pros are the character growth it enabled down the line and how it closes the issue of malcolm being torn between nancy and victor (wouldn't have been as powerful had nancy done it). the cons are, well. i lost one of my favorite characters and it was a very dark moment for them. i'll let the reader decide whether it was worth it.

#p #replies #prismaie #psc:extras #tag stuff #and as usual i wrote you a gd essay i'm so sorry

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big1ron · 4 years

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The Venator “Resolute” had jumped right into a separatist trap. Somehow a virus infecting the main computer has scrambled the hyperspace jump coordinates, and now the companies on board were outnumbered and without reinforcements, deep in separatist space. A few last, desperate SOSs to nobody, and the ship was quickly overwhelmed with fire. The Resolute was going down. But not before each of the escape pods could be jettisoned.

————- Chapter Six: Rescue. -————

- as always sorry for the wait and length. But here you go! May receive small edits later. -

There were a few moons in the system to check over, and they couldn’t waste much time. This was separatist controlled space and they had already shot down one Venator. Plo Koon didn’t want his fleet to be next. Still, he opted to be deployed with the rest of his Wolfpack. Leaving the fleet to Admiral Coburn. Now that he was closer to the system, he could feel Anakin and Ahsoka in the force. He took a gunship down with Wolffe and his personal squad to the command outlet the message had been sent from, as that was where they were most likely to find them.

Echo pulled up beside Jesse, now free of Kix as Kix got too fed up with the constant tripping and was now walking by himself. Jesse was still carrying Dogma, who was resting his head on Jesse’s, eyes closed.

“did he actually fall asleep?” Echo poked him in his injured side and he jolted awake with a hiss of pain.

“Well he’s not sleeping anymore” comments Jesse as echo flinches in sympathy, clearly not having intending for that poke to hurt badly.

“You karking bantha fur osik rag shabuir better kriffing have one hell of a karking good reason for doing that.” Dogma cursed angrily. Kix stifled a chuckle.

“No I just wanted to see if you were awake.”

“Jesse, if you would be so kind.” Jesse took a step closer to Echo and Dogma smacked him upside the head.

“Hey no, that’s not fair! You two teamed up on me you’re not meant to do that!” Echo complained, rubbing his head

“You did deserve that” says coric.

“You too?! You’re supposed to be the neutral party you shabuir!”

Tup continues his trek forward, now using his weapon as a walking stick, when he hears a clones voice. He can’t make out what they said but he stops and looks around.

He hears shouting and chatter but when he determines the direction they’re coming from and heads towards it, he doesn’t see anything.

Great. More hallucinations. He thinks. Maybe from the dehydration this time. He ignores it when he hears a more clear

“Hey! Trooper! Over here!”

He starts walking again, in the same direction, but he hears running footsteps behind him. He turns around and points his stick at whatever it is.

“Who is this!? Are you even real or am I just actually going crazy now?”

He’s face to face with a Wolfpack clone. But he doesn’t lower his weapon until he gets his response.

“Woah, vod calm down. This is the 104th, here to retrieve you. I’m sparker. Come with me, let’s get you back to the transports ok?” He had the signature warmth of the 104th’s relief devision but tup couldn’t quite believe it. Still, he cast his stick aside and followed Sparker back to his squad.

He gained a few strange looks from the rest of the squad as he still looked quite wild. A wave of self consciousness washed over him.

They located a couple other 501st members as well before returning to the gunship, marked with the signature “plo’s bros”. There he was looked over by a medic, and told to sit tight for the trip back to the venators in orbit.

Plo Koon’s gunship landed at the outpost that had relayed the message. Three troopers were waiting outside the command post at attention as the general stepped out. Wolffe was right on his tail

“At ease, troopers. You must be Rex, Fives and Hardcase correct? We received your transmission. It was quite... entertaining. Trooper Fives, do you mind sharing what discussion topic had you so passionate? You have permission to speak freely.”

Fives could feel Rex’s glare burning holes into the sides of his head. They had actually heard that? That was embarrassing. “It was uh... wether or not how many lightsaber blades an individual had related to how much of a bitch they were... sir. Among other things.”

Rex shook his head disappointed and embarrassed, hardcase was struggling to contain his laughter, and one of the Wolfpack members passed some credits to one of the pilots. Wolffe was definitely grinning Impishly at Rex. Definitely. Plo Koon only shook his head amusedly. “Well captain, do you happen to know where your two lightsaber wielding individuals are?”

“Oh yes sir. They should be back soon. They got bored and so made a small speeder bike track. They’ve been racing eachother.”

“Then we had better get the gunship out of the way. Wouldn’t want to skew the results.”

No doubt the Wolfpack was already placing bets. They were notorious for it.

As the men took their places along the main road, eagerly awaiting the results, Rex finally asked Wolffe the question that was burning in his mind. “Have you heard from the other squads yet? Did you find anyone else?”

“Sorry Rex, haven’t had any contact with them since they were deployed. But it’s still early. Just you wait and I’m sure at least a few will turn up. Don’t worry”

Waiting, Rex could do. Not worrying? Not so much.

Cheers erupted from the small group as the motors of the speeders came into earshot. Anakin jetted last the crowd and with a quick 90° turn he drifted to a stop. Ahsoka wasn’t far behind, but Rex had no doubt in his mind that anakin had lapped her. Ahsoka might be a daredevil but Anakin was a true speed demon. Always had been. The Two of them dismounted and met with Plo Koon as the Wolfpack paid their bets.

“Ahsoka, Skywalker. It’s good to see you two.” Plo Koon greats them.

“And it’s great to see you Master Plo” Ahsoka responds.

“Now, I assume you two have had enough of this planet?”

“Definitely” they both respond at once.

Jesse and echos squad overhear a series of howls in the distance. Multiple groups communicating to each other. Jesse signals for them to ‘stop’ and be ‘silent.’ Coric disobeys.

“No. No! Howl back!” Coric howls as loud as he can, to Jesse’s horror.

“What are you doing!? You’re going to lead those animals right to us!”

“Those aren’t animals! It’s the Wolfpack!” Coric howls again.

“It’s official. He’s lost it. Good job everyone, we actually drove him crazy.” Says echo.

Coric gets a response and howls once more, before the air is quite again. “I’m not crazy. But rescue is coming now”

“You can’t possibly know that. The howling thing is fake, we all know that.” Jesse isn’t having it.

But in just a few minutes two Wolfpack members, sinker and boost make contact with the group.

“Hey! 501st! Coric! Come over here! Man you all look terrible!”

“Yeah Thanks boost. Truth is we all feel mildly terrible too. Here to get us off planet I hope?” Coric walks over to the two, and the rest of the group follows. Jesse and echo are completely stunned.

“Yep! We were just about to leave. You were going to be left behind you know. You all got lucky. Which one of you was howling by the way?” Asks sinker, as they lead the group in the direction of the transports.

“That would be me.” Says coric.

“Ah, figured. Pretty impressive, but not as impressive as this.” Sinker takes a deep breath and howls so loud it makes the rest of the groups ears hurt. Kix winces. Boost laughs.

Rex darts around the hangar. This is the last batch of gunships and he’s still missing so many clones. He feels terrible. Especially about Kix and Echo. He can’t stand the thought of leaving any clones behind, but he knows they won’t all come back. He spots Tup getting out of one of the gunships and rushes to him

“Tup! You’re alive! I was worried when Hardcase and Fives told me that had lost you. Are you doing alright?”

“I’m gonna kill those karking nerf herders. They left me! I fell down a cliff and I don’t think they even noticed I was gone!”

“They looked for you. But fives thought you were dead. With good reason. How did you even survive that fall?”

“I didn’t jump, I slid. I rolled the entire way down.”

“Alright kid. I’m glad to have you back. You’ll have to give Hardcase and Fives a stern talking to about that.” Rex patted Tup on the shoulder before moving onto the next gunship.

His eyes fell on the group leaving this one. The group was larger than the rest, sitting at 5. Dogma, Jesse, Coric-

“Echo, Kix!”

Rex ran over and hugged the two tightly.

“Huh. Guess I am your favourite after all.”

Rex smacked Echo in the back of the head. “You’re not my favourite. I don’t have favourites. But I’m sorry for leaving you two. I had to lure a group of droids away, and I got lost.”

“That’s fine. We survived. Mostly.” Says Echo

“Thanks to Coric. Echo would have killed me if it weren’t for him”

Rex gives echo an unimpressed look, but he can’t stay mad as he’s still to relieved at seeing them both alive.

Tup storms over to where Hardcase and Fives are discussing something with Sinker and Boost.

“You two LEFT me! I was all alone! Cause you two wouldn’t too arguing long enough to notice I FELL OFF A CLIFF!”

“TUP!” Fives immediately scooped up his little brother in a bone crushing hug. “I’m so sorry! I won’t do it again! I’m not gonna leave you anywhere again and I’ll stop picking fights with Hardcase I promiseeee”

“No you won’t.”

“Ok maybe I won’t but still I love you and I’m sorry. Hardcase, you can come in too.” Fives knew he wanted too, but sometimes Hardcase needed an invitation. He joined the hug wrapping his arms around the both of them but not too tightly.

Rex watched as the troopers found their brothers, and each made note of who was there. He waited for more gunships, there was still a significant portion of the 501st missing. But the last wave had arrived, and Rex tried not to think too hard about the ones he would have to leave behind, as he saw the stars turn into smears and the planet disappear out the viewport.

Wolffe put his hand on Rex’s shoulder. How long had he been standing next to him?

“You know... we did the best we could. I’m sorry Rex.”

“I know... I know.”

“Why don’t you go join the others? Some of them have some pretty interesting stories to tell. I’m sure you do too.”

“I will, thanks.”

Wolffe knew the thanks was for more than the offer. He watched Rex go join the others, laughing and enjoying the company of those who were still there.

36 notes · View notes

austarus · 4 years

Text

Harry Wells x Reader Crisis of Infinite Wells (Part 2 of 5)

**A/N: The picture/edit/gif does not belong to me. It belongs to @marry-me-harrywells

Word Count: 4144

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

You brushed your damp hair from any remaining knots, the remnants from the warm shower no longer lingering on your body. Taking in a breath, you smelled freshly of raspberry delight from your shampoo and conditioner combo. Nothing beats getting clean. Placing the hairbrush down, you braided your locks into a French Braid that Jesse had taught you to do. You sighed at the thought, turning to look at the picture frame that remained on your bedside counter. It was just last year that everything was ok. A shiver had gone down your spine.

The frame held a picture of you, Harry, and Jesse at a Christmas Gala back on Earth 2. Your fingers ran over the cool glass when you picked up the fame, taking a seat on your bed. Jesse and you had wide grins, thoroughly enjoying the night, while Harry had a small smile laced onto his face as he stood in between you both with an arm around you and her, a glint of light evident in his deep blue eyes. Harry and Jesse had been making progress on restoring his intelligence, something that Marlize DeVoe hadn’t done a great job of doing Jesse had commented. And much to the dismay of some of Jesse’s hero group, Jesse pushed forward with helping her father. Honestly, you knew Harry wasn’t just going to sit around and be an Average Joe. What was it that Cisco called them? Jesse and the Quicksters? Yeah, that sounds about right. You laughed to yourself a bit, remembering how Harry hated the name your friend had given Jesse and her group.

Vrr, vrr

Your phone vibrated, bringing you out of your thoughts. Lowering the picture frame into your lap, your fingers still danced over the glass pane. Picking up your phone, you saw a text notification from Cisco.

Ciscito: Hey, you still up? (10:45 PM)

You: Yeah, what’s up Vibe? (10:46 PM)

Ciscito: I think Chester and I made the necessary modifications needed to connect the Cerebral Inhibitor to the Mindscape machine. Schematics and diagnostics seem to be running smoothly, but without a test run we can’t be too sure. (10:48 PM)

Ciscito: Have you talked to Cecile? (10:49 PM)

You: Yeah, she said she’s free all of tomorrow, but if something were to come up she’d let me know. Also, I sorta got persuaded into babysitting Jenna next time Cecile and Joe need a date night, but that’s fine with me. (10:51 PM)

You: That’s why I’m going to have Harry and Sherloque, maybe even our salty German Wells be our fresh pairs of eyes for this. (10:54 PM) One wrong calculation and well…

Ciscito: Ugh, please don’t mention said Herr Wolfgang “stick-up-my-ass” Wells (10:55 PM)

Ciscito: You feeling ok? Need me to come over? (10:55 PM)

You: No, I don’t wanna steal you from Kamila. She’s going to need you with what she experienced in the Mirror Dimension. And Eva’s still on the loose. (10:55 PM)

Ciscito: But are you feeling ok? (10:55 PM)

You: Honestly, I’m scared Cisco. What if I’m wrong? What if all of this is wrong? Like I said I’m just a doctor, I don’t know if my thought process even works with the new rules of physics with this new timeline… What if I’m the reason that I don’t get to see Harry again? That we don’t get to see him and Jesse. (10:57 PM)

Ciscito: Hey! No! You listen to me, and you listen to me well. We’ve done this before. We didn’t think it was possible for multiple universes to even exist, but it did. Closing the breaches to trap Zoom, we figured it out with Harry. Nazis from Earth-X crashing the West-Allen Wedding suddenly happened, but then we saved the day with everyone. (10:59 PM)

Ciscito: Hell, we didn’t even know how to perform an exorcism until a couple of weeks ago! Scientifically might I add, despite all the things Cecile brought in. We Expecto Patronum-ed the shit out of Thawne. He’s just lurking around like the pissed off, red-eyed Voldemort that he is now. (11:00 PM)

Ciscito: My point is, have a little faith in yourself. If it’s anything that HR taught me, is that you don’t have to be a genius or a physicist to come up with a plan to save the ones you love. (11:00 PM)

Ciscito: Remember that. (11:01 PM)

You: Thank you Cisco, I really don’t know what I’d do without you. 11:01 PM)

Ciscito: Yeah, I mean, that’s why I’m here. All in a good day’s work, you know. Doing the Lord’s job, blessing others with my existence and advice. (11:02 PM)

You: Wow, Ciscito, I can practically feel the narcissism through the texts. (11:03 PM)

Ciscito: Is that what you still have me on your phone as? (11:04 PM)

You: You’ll never know~ (11:05 PM)

You: Goodnight Ciscito~! (11:05 PM)

Ciscito: Wait (11:06 PM)

Ciscito: No, this is serious! (11:06 PM)

Ciscito: CHANGE IT!! (11:06 PM)

***

With hurried footsteps, you entered into the Speed Lab seeing the Mindscape machine all set up with the Cerebral Inhibitor perched on a nearby table. Chester was working on creating some algorithms for Sally and the other STAR Labs Satellites while Cisco tinkered with the Neural Splicer. Nash was already in the room, hovering over them and messing with Cisco. The leather jacket you wore seemed to carry a bit more weight on your shoulders, you made a head nod at each of them. You peeled your jacket off, not being able to stand it against you anymore. Not really registering Chester’s chattering and enthusiasms to Cisco about opening up multiple dimensions and the endless possibilities of technological advancements that could come from such discovery, you took a seat on a mobile stool nearby. Running a hand through your hair, your brain rifled through your doubts. What if I end up frying Nash’s mind? A pang of hurt struck your chest because then not only would he be dead, but so would all the other Wells if your assumptions about due to their existence in his mindscape were correct consistent wavelengths. Their hypothetical blood would be on my hands.

Once Cisco had threatened Nash to leave him to work in peace, you approached the slyly grinning adventurer. “Hey, I just wanted to thank you.” You pocketed your hands in the back pockets of your jeans and gave him a small smile.

“For what?”

“I don’t know. I guess for taking a chance on me and coming back. Even if you didn’t know what was going on.”

Nash pursed his lips for a moment, shaking his head for a bit, “Oddly enough, I had a gut feeling that told me an adventure always comes with your Team’s calls.” A cheeky laugh left him. “You guys just always go out looking for trouble, huh.”

*Speak for yourself,* you deadpanned in your thoughts, but let him continue.

“Lucky for you all, I happened to be available, so why not pop in. If this does work, then…” The dark-haired Wells trailed off, looking over the Speed Lab, “Then you get your Wells back. But-”

“-But?-” You raised a suspicious eyebrow at him, crossing your arms.

“You owe me.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, little lady. You owe me and when the time is right,” he paused in thought, “I’ll cash that favor in.”

You scoffed and unfurled your arms, an incredulous look on your face, “What? Nash, you-”

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Cecile interrupted you, entering the labs with Baby Jenna in her stroller. You rolled your eyes at him, gesturing and mouthing that this conversation wasn’t over. Nash just smirked to himself. Heading over to Cecile, you gave her a hug. “Jenna gave me a bit of a tantrum getting dressed today.”

“No problem, thanks for doing this Cecile.”

“Always here whenever you guys need me.” The metahuman attorney gave Jenna a toy to stay preoccupied until this was over. Cecile turned back to you, a look that’s all too familiar crossing her face. “You couldn’t sleep.” You made a sheepish look before heading over to one of the computers, setting up the software to monitor physiological and psychological functions. Cecile followed close, reading you, “Or more like you didn’t want to sleep.”

You opened your mouth to speak only to be cut off by that motherly look she had on her face. Closing your mouth, you shut your eyes for a moment before reopening them, “I guess I was nervous. I mean, a lot’s at stake here, Cecile.”

“Uh -uh, what did I say about negative attitudes in my labs,” Cisco strode close, handing you the one MAD 2.0 after setting down the Neural Splicer. You stuck your tongue at him, “We want him back just as much as you, all of them, so don’t worry. We’re Team Flash. When have things not gone our way?” You and Cecile just made a face at him as he handed Cecile one MAD 2.0. “Actually, don’t answer that, anyway- Party people, let’s get a move on.”

You and Cecile put on the MAD 2.0’s meanwhile Cisco sedated Nash, who’s currently lying on a gurney and had the MAD 2.0 on already. Caitlin had told him the sedation would last a few hours, but would keep Nash’s body under normal cellular and molecular regulation. Making eye contact with Cecile, you nodded as if to say that you were ready. Your nerves spiked slightly in anticipation, the hairs at the back of your neck sticking up. She held a hand for you which you took, shutting your eyes in focus and allowing her to transport you into Nash’s mind.

***

Opening your eyes, you find Nash right in front of you before looking around. *I guess what you indulge in becomes your mindscape* you thought as your eyes scanned the cold-looking cave walls with lights hung up on them to illuminate the paths.

“Alright, I’ll be monitoring your vitals until Caitlin comes back, but in the meantime Cecile and I will be here in case anything happens,” Cisco voiced out to you and Nash, but you had stopped listening and pushed past Nash. But where? You had no clue, you just needed to start moving.

“Ah, hey-” Nash followed with quick steps until he was beside you. “Shouldn’t you be letting me lead the way? This *is* my mind and everything. I’d know it best.”

“Perhaps, but I didn’t see you moving. The one who’s supposedly quick on his feet as a multi-versal explorer.”

“Snarky, I can see why Harry would like you,” Nash let out a little laugh, his words making you grin slightly. “And it’s geological myth-busting, ah-thank-you-very-much.”

You pursed your lips for a moment and stopped, turning towards him, “Be honest with me Nash, do you think I’m being delusional about this?”

“Delusional? Never. Conflicted? Slightly. But hopeful,” he adjusted his jacket and started walking with you in toe, observing the caves and mentally remembering where he had last seen both Wells doppelgangers. “Even with that shred of doubt within you, I can see that you haven’t let it consume the hope you have left. Hope is important, it gives life meaning. How else would a physician such as yourself come up with a brilliantly thought-out plan?”

He glanced at you with a quirked-up eyebrow, sending you a witty smile that was oddly comforting. Maybe because he wore the face of the man you trusted the most. You smiled to yourself and looked on ahead. Hope, sounds something up Kara’s alley really. You both had passed by a couple of exits or cave-memory outlets actually.

“So, based off what Cisco told me when he exorcised Thawne out of you, each cave outlet has a memory of yours? Whether good or bad. And only you’d be able to get into it?”

“Give or take. Thawne apparently rifled through all my memories, so I’m less keen on having the others do the same.”

“Did you install a little battle droid or something, Solo?” You joked.

“Ha-ha, not exactly. And an adventurer never shares their secrets without getting something in return.”

“Touché, Nash. Touché.”

You two continued to walk for god knows how long (Cisco checked in to say that 35 minutes had passed since you’ve entered, and that Caitlin had finally returned) until voices reached your ears. Stopping in your tracks, you and Nash were currently on the top part of a slight rocky incline structure within his mind. He stopped beside you, squinting at the sight in front of him. From a good distance you can see a group of Wells, in an enclosed circle, heatedly discussing something with each other as insults and science-y words were thrown around. Very loudly, might you add. They were none-the-wiser about yours and Nash’s appearance. From afar, one wore a dark fedora and the other had platinum white hair while the remaining two had dark hair. One dark-haired Wells had their back facing you. Is… is that one wearing sunglasses inside a cave??? Your eyes widened as one of the voices distinctly made your heart jump: gruff, sarcastic, and full of irritation towards the other men.

“Oh my god,” fell out of your mouth in a shaky whisper, standing stunned in place. Your body refusing to even synthesize tears at this point.

At that same moment, Nash had turned his head towards you, reaching a hand out to stop you, “Ah, hey- (Y/N) don’t-” but you had already started running down the slight incline. Not too steep enough to pick up way too much speed, but good enough for you to keep running.

“Shit,” Nash cursed, yelling out to one of the Wells in the group that he can see clearly just as you had started running. “Sherlock!” Nash made his way down the incline albeit a bit slowly, gauging the forthcoming interaction with the group.

“Hm, its Sherloque,” Sherloque immediately perked up at the sound of the voice calling his name incorrectly, eyes easily spotting you in the dim-ish part of this mind-cave as you were closing in. “Uh, ’arry. ‘arry!”

“What?!”

“Incoming,” the detective quickly altered his doppelganger and pointed a finger behind him. “Incoming très vite!” The other two Wells turned as well with confused looks.

“What?” Those words left Harry’s mouth, turning his body around in one fluid motion only for your body to launch into his arms. Knocking the tall Earth 2 genius back a little, but not enough to have you both fall to the ground. Your arms wrapped around him tightly as your head buried itself in his chest.

Harry had stood there, the shock leaving his body after a second or so. His arms circling around you instantly, a soft expression crossing his face as his eyes shut. The dark-haired man breathed you in. Reopening his beautiful baby blues, he kissed the top of your head before you both pulled away slightly. A hand gently cupped your face while the other held onto your upper arm as if checking if you were an illusion or not. It always blew your mind to pieces and made your heart swell at the way he handled you. How his callous hands can manipulate machinery and tools, yet gently caress you as if you’re made of the most fragile material to ever exist on any earth.

“Hey,” he whispered in that gruff voice of his, eyes filled with such warmth at the sight of you. Your hands rested on his firm chest, a thumb rubbing the material of his black sweater. His thumb brushed your cheek, feeling the growing heat on your skin. Feeling you against him. It was weird. Your psyche self and his interacting like this in Nash’s mindscape, yet feeling utterly and impossibly real to the touch.

“Hi,” you responded with that silly star-struck grin never leaving your face, the heat on your cheeks growing. You might as well had heart eyes popping out of your face. You saw him check over you, seeing if the Crisis had done anything in any way to change you from what would have been something so familiar.

Sherloque had a small smile on his face at the reunion, Sonny had that wide smirk on his features before nudging the uptight German beside him. Said German only rolled his eyes slightly as he adjusted his glasses but knowing deep down that it’s nice to see someone else other than a Harrison Wells doppelganger. Wolfgang won’t admit it because it’s just not his style. Nash had stood a little back behind you, nodding at the three gentlemen as the couple in front of him literally forgot the existence of him and the other Wells men.

Sherloque cleared his throat, “Now is that anyway to say ‘ello to us, good doctor?”

You blinked snapping out of your trance with Harry, looking over to the rest. You and Harry broke apart from the hug with you doing a tiny excited wave, “Hey, sorry about that.” At the same time, Harry’s hand found yours and intertwined your fingers together.

“No problem, Doll,” Sonny responded in that Brooklyn accent of his. Harry raised an eyebrow at him.

Wolfgang was the last Wells you made friendly eye contact with, but you noticed something. “I like-” you gestured to the slight facial hair on his face, “-the goatee thing you’ve got going on . It suits you.”

“Danke,” Wolfgang’s cheeks were dusted a slight pink color. He played with his glasses a bit.

“Now what brings a beautiful dame like you to these dark depths?” Harry shot a glare at Sonny for the pet names, he mistakenly held your hand a bit tighter and it made your heart beat a bit louder. You only raised your eyebrows at this Wells as he had spoken to you. Sonny just shrugged to which Harry narrowed his eyes even more. Oh, if looks could kill.

“We-” Nash started, stepping close to stand beside you while Harry was on the other side, “-have a proposition.” You five now stood in an enclosed circle.

You gulped, licking your lips and criticizing yourself for getting too caught up in the moment when every second should be spent on your theory, “I think I found a way to bring you guys back.” The Wells men froze, their eyes lighting up for a fraction before glancing at one another. Sherloque nodded at you. “Each and every one of you.” You snuck a peek at Harry, who’s eyes met yours instantly.

“Vell,” Wolfgang was the first one to break the silence that had shifted, “let’s hear it. Bitte.”

***

You explained your theory to them about multi-dimensions, the equipment that would be used, and what Team Flash had been doing so far. You couldn’t help but glance at Harry and Sherloque, receiving encouraging nods and a proud smile. “I just wanted to run this down with you guys because rewriting the laws of physics seems to be your area of expertise.”

Each Wells had their minds working through the information you had just given them, the cogs in their brains already turning in order to isolate a critical factor that can ruin it all.

“It shouldn’t be as tricky as multiverse hopping, amiright?” Sonny joked.

You gave a sheepish smile at the cheery Wells. I can ironically see why they call him Sonny. “I-I know I’m just a doctor, and- Barry and the others said it makes sense. Chester and Cisco are working to manipulate the Cerebral Inhibitor to the Mindscape while adjust the Neural Splicer for the Cerebral Inhibitor in order to return your psyche’s back to your bodies.”

“Aber ein problem,” Wolfgang interjected, gesturing with a hand while he had an arm crossed across his chest. “How are you going to take into account zhe dimensional breaches? Has Team Flash found ein dimension to extract it’s properties in order to make a sufficient extrapolator?”

“No,” you draw out your answer, “but that’s where you all come in.” Sherloque’s eyes held that curious glint as you continued, “All the Wells will be the key-”

“To opening up dimensional breaches to Earth-Prime.” The Frenchman finished. You nodded, biting your lower lip.

“Recording each entrance and cataloging it for future use in case something else were to happen,” Nash interjected, adjusting a gloved hand. Why does he wear those all the time?

“And it’s up to us, all of us to crack this… dimensional code. To solve a new problem,” Harry added on. You turned to him, your thumb rubbing his hand.

“Harry, you figured out how to close the breaches. Without a doubt, I have faith that you and the others can open these dimensions. That all these Earths are just hidden somewhere tricky to make us lose sense and hope of finding the ones we love.”

“But- and excuse my English- there’s a fuck ton of Wells and Earths in here and out there. How would efficiently cataloging even work with that much information and coordinates, my friends?” Sonny brought up an excellent point. One you hadn’t thought about because honestly you didn’t think you were gonna get this far. You were essentially at a loss for words.

Wolfgang cleared his throat, raising a pointer finger, “Ja, vell, before zhis crisis had occurred I created a neural memory chip in vhich I vas able to register every Vells across the multiverse from our strange und large Council. Basically, downloading zhe information into my own memory as vell as my psyche. Vas not easy, but after some time it vas a success.”

“Wolfgang, that’s amazing.” You said, feeling that hope inside you swell up again and taking down the pesky doubt that had been gripping your heart these past couple days.

“Danke, schatz.” The German Wells mumbled the last part to himself, but Sonny and Nash heard him. “I believe zhat a Council meeting ist overdue.”

“I guess, I should leave that to you guys.” You shrug your shoulders a bit, sadly letting go of Harry’s hand.

“Nein, halt-”

“Non, (Y/N)-”

“Hold on, doll-”

“Babe-”

Your eyes widened in confusion at there protest. “What?” Nash only rolled his eyes, crossing his arms because he really didn’t want to attend a stupid Council meeting with all those “idiots”.

“The others are…” Harry pursed his lips and glanced off a bit before looking at you. He didn’t want to say it.

“Stubborn? Irritably hardheaded? Unnerving?” You suggested and crossed your arms at you. “Yeah, I know. I’ve dealt with like four Wells already.” Harry raised an eyebrow at you, but he knows that his flaws were something you’ve grown to love and accept of him. As you’ve told him before obviously.

“Zhe ozhers vill need convincing-”

“-yeah, they’ll actually sit down and listen to ya, doll. Instead of getting at each other’s throats like the last couple of times and having all hell break lose like an all out mafia brawl.”

With confusion laced on your face at this new information regarding the council meetings you can see why Nash hates attending them. Your eyes wondered at Sherloque who had remained quiet in thought then to Harry. Each exchanged looks before Harry spoke up, “I think what this idiot is trying to say is that it’s best for you to propose the idea.” You opened your mouth to say something, but Harry cut you off. “I will be right beside you. Sherloque, Wolfgang, and I have sorta… taken charge of the entire council.”

“Like the Roman Triumvirate?”

“Just without the power-grabbing, backstabbing, and domination.”

“What about Sonny?” You all looked at the Brooklyn-accented Wells.

“Yeah, I actually don’t know why he hangs around us.” Harry deadpanned to which Sonny pouted with an eye roll.

“Hey, I’m your guys faithful secretary and advice guru, basically your hype man.” You had not seen Harry roll his eyes so much and so hard at the New York Wells. It made you want to laugh so much had your situation not been filled with a serious tone. “So, what do you say, doll?”

“I-” Your eyes danced to each Wells, sighing and looking down for a moment before locking your gaze onto Harry. “I don’t want to make a fool of myself,” you whispered.

“You won’t. Babe, I’ve got you,” Harry took your hand in his larger one once again, “Just like you’ve been by my side before.”

“Sherloque?” Calling his name snapped him back to reality, but it did not mean he had not been listening to you.

“100% with you every step of the way, petit fleur.” He tipped his hat at you, a knowing small smile on his face.

“Alright,” you let out a breath and shrugged. Harry grinned widely, especially at the fact that you would be staying longer. “Lead the way.” What else do I have to lose?

French and German Used:

très vite – very fast

danke – thank you

danke, kleine frau – thank you, little lady

bitte – please

und – and

aber ein problem – but one problem

petit fleur – little flower

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antialiasis · 4 years

Text

Dave and His Memories Discuss Mia (and Jean)

Back in 2007, when I was writing The Fall of a Leader for NaNo, there was one particular chapter that stuck out. In it, Shadowdart sat down contemplating the roots of his moral system. While I was writing this particular chapter, for whatever reason, I got so intensely into his head that I genuinely felt like I was discovering something legitimately profound and important. By the time I was editing the story in January and got to that part again, it felt pretty unremarkable as a chapter. But the experience of writing it had been something unique. I’d never really felt like that writing before, and never felt it again... until this Saturday, that is.

It's a bit of a long story how that happened. For the past few months I've been participating in the Blacklight RPG on Thousand Roads, as Dave from Morphic, only as a Poochyena (because this is a PMD RP, where any participating humans are turned into Pokémon). Without getting into too much in the way of explanations, the other day on spur of the moment @unrepentantauthor and I started to privately roleplay an imagined interaction between Poochyena Dave and their character's father, a Delphox named Jesse Stranger, where they argue about which of them is less of a terrible father and are both being giant hypocrites going "NO U" at each other and it's great.

Anyway, at a certain point in the argument Jesse the Delphox uses Miracle Eye to mind-probe Dave about whether he's ever had 'violent thoughts' about his kids, and I sat down to write what he'd find. And it happened again! I spent three hours so in his head that I was full-on crying about his feelings and was shaking afterwards and everything. Like thirteen years ago, reading over it again afterwards it's like okay, this is not all that remarkable. But since this stands largely on its own and doesn't require any background knowledge of the RP, here it is anyway, for anyone interested in Morphic extras.

The formatting here is a bit unusual; I originally used Discord spoilers for some of the thoughts in the memories that he refuses to consciously acknowledge, the stuff that wouldn't show up in the narration of his POV of these scenes but is there anyway for a psychic to pick up on. Since Tumblr can't do those, I've replaced them with strikethroughs, which is not quite the same effect, but oh well.

What... what was he doing. Dave's ears flattened back against his head. Miracle Eye? What was that? Was he supposed to have any fucking idea what--

Everything fell in on itself, the Delphox's mind pressing against his own, finding faults, piercing them. He yelled out a panicked string of curses he couldn't hear. Fuck, fuck, what was happening--

--and then, suddenly, a memory. The echoing slam of a door, the unbearable screeching cry of an infant in his arms. she was gone, for good this time, and he knew it, fuck, he fucked it up every time, of course he fucking did Blinking rapidly and standing there and listening to the fucking interminable howls of this freak he never wanted and was somehow stuck with, thanks to these clownish fucking abortion activists. because he'd gotten drunk and fucking bragged about it at a bar, what the fuck was wrong with him A fleeting, angry thought as he looked at the baby, this flailing little bundle: Maybe Jane had the right idea. The mental image of just grabbing her by the ankle and tossing her off the balcony, watching her sail over the trees as the wailing receded into the night, or even just slamming her into the wall, a crack followed by heavenly silence. he didn't want this, he didn't want this, how was he supposed to take care of a fucking baby alone, he couldn't do this, fuck, maybe the police wouldn't even care when the baby wasn't fucking human, or he could just jump after her and get it over with--

His stomach clenched in revulsion, nausea crawling up his throat. What the fuck was this? He barely even remembered that night, hadn't thought of it in fucking years. He wanted to reach out and tear Jean away from this creep, just hold her and keep her safe and make sure nobody could hurt her, ever. Fuck, he just wanted to go home.

--and then a sudden unexpected yank into a series of other memories. Mia, four years old, no idea why she shouldn't hurt people; the abstract realization she was disturbed, weird, but also fascinating. She wasn't a monster; she was just different. Smart. She could figure it out, if he just explained in the right way if he failed that was a problem for later--

--watching the new game Mia and Lucy had invented for the first time a year later, the predatory glint in Mia's eyes as she pounced: it's a game, honestly it's just pretty cute, it's just the same as the little violent impulses they all have this might be more concerning when she has scythes but it's nothing to worry about--

--Mia, seven years old, little scythes beginning to poke out of her arms. Feeling almost giddy analyzing the X-rays: he'd been right, they were growing exactly as he'd predicted. Cheryl taking him aside, asking if she should be worried. No, of course not, she won't do anything, Lucy can stay insubstantial what if -- she won't, she's brilliant, she gets it--

--getting a call from the school, about how Mia, nine, had swiped and cut a girl's hair. Showing up to the principal's office, trying to placate the horrified parents. "She could've killed her!" "Of course she wouldn't have. She knows her own limits. It was just a game, like the games she plays with her sister. We'll talk to her about why she can't do that and that'll be the end of it." the hair's very close to the neck, fuck, Mia, what--

--looking at her in his car one day after one of their weird talks to offer her hotdogs, only to find her staring at him in the sort of way she stared at Lucy during their games, and when he asked what she was thinking she said she was hungry. "Just so we're clear here, when you say 'hungry' you mean 'let's get hotdogs', not 'I want to tear Dave's throat out and eat him', right?" "Both." Fear congealing in his stomach, blood running cold in his veins. She wasn't actually going to, and he knew it -- she was annoyed to even have to explain: "I like talking to you more than I'd like eating you." "That's great, but you can't eat people you don't like either." "I know." "Tell me why." -- but in his mind's eye he saw her lashing out, scythe through his throat, her sharpened fangs tearing at his windpipe, and felt so sick he couldn't breathe. Telling her to please not let him down please before exiting the car, extending his hand towards her and imagining her lunging again and every primal instinct in his brain telling him to get away, but no, she wouldn't, he knew that, and instead holding his hand firm until she took it if she attacked it'd be on him anyway--

--another call. She'd attacked a boy, put a pretty deep cut in his arm. His heart pounding in the office. Mia please don't fucking do this Somehow persuading the principal and the parents that it's a matter of childish impulse control, it's not like she wants to hurt anyone, she knows she shouldn't, they were thinking about making some sheaths for her scythes anyway kind of, maybe, he'd thought about it once and once that happened it wouldn't be a problem. Asking her about it in the car afterwards. Apparently it was this group of kids that kept harassing her about religion, of course it all came down to fucking religion, and she was just defending herself. Like she didn't have that fucking right -- but they talked about it anyway and it'd be fine and they'd make the sheaths Mia please--

--a pang of dread every time he got a call for a while, until at last the third one, when it was clear the principal had already made up his mind when he arrived at the office, and he argued fiercely anyway, they were provoking her, who even does that -- but then she expertly executed a fly on the wall and he couldn't even disagree anymore, she was probably better off homeschooled, and he took her home and they talked about religion on the way and he was glad he'd not have to get any more of these fucking phone calls, and then even fucking Howard was acting like it was all her fucking fault but it wasn't, she wasn't a monster, she was just Mia and she was weird but she was a fucking person and she was his best friend, taking her for hotdogs was like the best part of his week, he couldn't fucking lose her and it wasn't her fault, he'd made her this way and he'd figure it out--

--that horrible day of waking up to all of them gone but Lucy, off on a fucking suicide mission to rescue Gabriel, begging Jean to come home, realizing he'd fucking told them about the trap laid out for them, pacing around the house drinking whatever he could get his hands on trying to imagine they'd all be all right only all he could think was that they were all dying and he should go out there and do something except there was nothing he could do, he'd just be getting himself killed, and fuck, that was fine, fucking bring it, but they'd kill Gabriel too. The utilitarian calculus that rationally they should have just let them kill Gabriel so nobody else would die, they'd all fucking hate him forever but at least they'd be okay, but even then he just fucking couldn't, he was pretty sure Gabriel hated him already but Dave's heart still sank into a bottomless pit at the thought, and all he could do was cling to the fantasy that somehow everyone would be okay and try to drink enough to not remember the rest it'd be his fault, his fucking fault, he told them where to go--

--learning, from Jack's strained recollection of that day, that Mia had died with some kind of psycho fucking grin on her face after slitting somebody's throat, and feeling sick and pressing his lips together as he sat there, but it wasn't her fault, it wasn't her fault, it wasn't her fault, she was fucking unique and he loved her and if they hadn't shot her three times in the head he'd be fucking taking her and driving off, getting her out of the country, he didn't care, they couldn't take Mia he'd made her that way and he hadn't said the right things to her and he'd fucking told them where to go like a fucking idiot--

See, Dave thought, fiercely, in the middle of it, she wasn't a fucking monster, I never thought she was a fucking monster, all I ever wanted was to keep her fucking safe.

#morphic #actual writing #david ambrose's many issues let me tell you about them

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ilovefanfic86 · 4 years

Text

Supernatural S15E20 “Carry On” Series Finale

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Warning!!! I am going to be very emotional in this post. I kinda still am. There will also be plenty side noes.

I knew they would play that version. (Grabs tissues)

They were babies.

Bobby will always be the dad the boys desrved.

Sam was so damn buff in “Lazurus Rising”.

I like how we get to the old characters/actors.

It feels like they wanted to make us cry before the actual episode.

Here we go...

*Deep breaths*

Lol!! “Ordinary Life”

Dean kept Miracle!

THANK YOU JARED!!!

I’m Sam making the bed.

I loved this montage of Sam and Dean living a free life.

The title card for the last time.

Pie Fest!!

Finally Someone brought up Castiel.

*Side Note*

What Dean said makes sense. Them honoring Cas’s sacrifice by being happy and free is what the should do, but fuck that.

What is this purge shit?!

They are SINGER AND KRIPKE!

Haven’t seen John’s journal in forever. Its beautiful to see that they still have to use it.

Evil mimes = Vamp mimes Thank you Dean.

Well its clear that Jack brought back everyone. Good cause I was worried about Garth.

I don’t trust this plan.

Dean and his ninja stars are too funny.

Yea, clearly a trap.

*Side Note 2*

I am feeling a little let down with the “MOTW” storyline. It’s not what I was expecting. Hopefully this goes somewhere.

Damn! Sam got his ass scooped up.

Wait... What? Jenny? I barely remember her.

Oh... Well bye Jenny.

DAMN IT DEAN!!!!!!!!!!!

I FUCKING HATE THIS SHOW!!!!!

Dean telling Sam that he is proud of him.

STOP!!

I am truly speechless right now. Dean is really dead.

Poor Sam. He had a hunter’s funeral with just the dog.

My heart is really broken right now.

Thank you Donna.

*Side Note 3*

I noticed that the call is from Texas. Like “Walker: Texas Ranger” Lol!!

I am having anxiety watching Sam leaving the bunker.

The Table...

*Side Note 3*

How did Dean fight the universe’s ultimate badasses and was taken out by a FUCKING NAIL!!?!?!?!?!

Dean and Cas deserved better.

Dean is in heaven.

BOBBY!!!

Wait... What did Jack do?

So, no more reliving life’s greatest hits?

Rufus is with Aretha Franklin and John and Mary live up the road.

Harvelle’s Roadhouse.

CAS HELPED JACK MAKE HEAVEN FOR DEAN!! SO CAS IS IN HEAVEN?!?!?!?

Except... WHERE THE FUCK IS CAS?!?!?!?

There’s Baby! With the original license plate.

Sam had a baby and named him Dean!

I can’t see the woman on the porch? Is that Eileen?

Little Dean has the possession tatt.

OH GOD SAM IS ABOUT TO DIE!

An acoustic version of “Carry On...” Who said that this was okay?!!!!

Is he going to meet Dean on the bridge?!!

“Heya Sammy.”

After watching the episode a few more times and reading the lastest gossip about the finale. I do have some opinions on the matter. Some of you may agree and some may not. These are my opinions and thoughts.

Given all that has happened this year I am grateful that they filmed anything. They risked their health and the health of their familes, to get us the finale. I appreciate that. However, there is clearly somethings that were amiss.

First, Dean. (a.)At first I was just completely hurt about his death. I was so mad that he was killed by rebar because of a lame ass vampire. I get the angle that they were going for with it. Now that Chuck isn’t writing their lives anymore, they don’t have plot armour anymore. Basic shit can hurt them now. Just like when the didn’t have any “luck”, regular people shit happened to them. So, if you fight in a barn around random ass rebar sticking out, you’re bound to get hurt.

(b.)Social Media. I get on Twitter and Supernatural is trending. But, not because of high praise. No. It was because a lot of the fandom felt cheated by the finale. Which is how i felt at the time.Then that Jensen did not like the ending. That he thought that the ending was going to be different than what we got. Granted that they couldn’t go full out because of the virus. If I am correct, Jensen said that they would go out “Butch and the Sundance Kid” style. Plus they edited so much of the episode “Despair” that him and Misha felt that the charaters were cheated. Also Jo (Alona Tol) and Ellen (Samatha Ferris) Harvelle were not asked back. Which I thought was strange.

(c.) What happened to all of Dean’s earthly possessions?

Seceond, Sam. (a.)Sam’s life. I am glad that Sam got to live a long life and have the family that he always wanted. I know that because of the pandemic we couldn’t shoot everyone together. That being said, Did Sam marry Eileen? We don’t see or hear from her. The only glimpse of his wife is on the porch and its so far away we can’t tell who it is. Also in Sam’s montage, we see a lot of pictures inside his house. But not one of his wife. It just seems rushed is all.

(b.)Sam’s aging. I am not okay with the wig that they had Jared wear. It looked like a Party City wig. Again, rushed production. But, I do forgive them for a shirtless Sam/Jared. THANK YOU!

(c.)Sam’s heaven. This may go into the plotholes area. When Sam goes to heaven will he see Jess again? Jess was the love of his life and he said that he still thinks about her.

Third, Castiel. (a.) Misha Collins did a amazing job as Castiel. His performance in “Despair” really broke me. That being said, Cas deserved better than the show gave him. A few mentions in the last episode. But no one is really talking about the fact that Cas confessed his love for Dean and it was completely ignored. We just know that Jack got Cas out the Empty and they both made a new heaven for Dean. Does Cas and Dean ever see eah other?

(b.)Destiel/CasDean. DESTIEL BECAME CANON! This was a huge thing for the SPN fandom. People who have never watched the show were interested by this. This made 2020 a little more enjoyable. Now, I know that there are some that are against Destiel. That is your right and opinion. However, it is now plain to see that Cas has always had the feelings toward Dean. And they are not on a platonic level. There has been years of evidence to this. Sam and Cas’s relationship is not the same as his and Dean’s. Naomi programmed Cas to kil Dean but couldn’t once the time came. From angel to demon, Devil and God has all said at one point or another that Castiel was in love wth Dean.. Whenever Cas died on the show, Dean spirals out of control. He always tries to find something else to get his mind off the fact that Cas is gone. Does Dean feel the same for Cas? I’m not sure, but I lean more to that he does. I have always believed that Dean was Bisexual. He’s been seen checking out men on the show. I just wsh that they would at least acknowledged it.

Fourth, Plotholes.(a) There are so many plotholes after the finale that I need answers to. I have too many to put on here. I will put those in a different post.

For what the finale was, I liked it. It did fall a little flat, but if I just focus on the fact that they both got the ending they deserved.

2 brothers, hunters, Archangels vessels, Men of Letters, Legacies, Knight of Hell, Boy!King, ‘Messengers of God’s Destruction’, Dads, Heros. Thank you.

Sam and Dean Winchester... There is peace, now you’re done.

(not my gifs)

#supernatural #Sam Winchester #Jared Padalecki #dean winchester #Jensen Ackles #castiel #Misha Collins #jake kline #alexander calvert #bobby singer #jim beaver #spn spoilers #SPN #spn final season #spn finale #spn s15e20 #SPN Spoiler #Carry On My Wayward Son

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harrisonarchive · 4 years

Photo

George Harrison, Friar Park, circa 1990; photo by Terry O'Neill.

George's jukebox at Kinfauns has been explored by the Harrison Archive (and is available as a playlist here), thanks in large part to an article about it, published in the Record Mirror's 1 January 1966 issue.

George's jukeboxes at Friar Park, however, are a little more obscure. The following playlist of songs featured on the jukeboxes and mentioned in some way from 1970 onward is an approximate one only, based on doing some digging into print interviews, audio interviews, and written pieces by family and friends. (The tracks include information previously posted on the Harrison Archive. For - hopefully - easier navigation, I've also bolded the artists -- and tracks known for certain to have been either on the jukeboxes or George's favorites.)

"Stardust" (instrumental) - Hoagy Carmichael "Our son, Dhani, and I, like George’s friends, were spoiled by his rich and loving presence: from the morning wake-up call, which could have been (depending on our location and mood) a morning raga, a Vedic chant, a Mozart concerto, Cab Calloway’s ‘Bugle Call Rag,’ or Hoagy’s earliest instrument version of ‘Stardust'..." - Olivia Harrison [read more]

"Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" - The Four Tops "Rescue Me" - Fontella Bass

These tracks receive shoutouts in George's "This Song" (and the Four Tops were Sixties favorites, too, appearing on his Kinfauns jukebox).

"Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" - Cab Calloway Clearly a favorite by one of his favorite artists, covered by George for Jools Holland's TV show, and also released on his posthumous album Brainwashed.

"When I'm Cleaning Windows" - George Formby "September In The Rain" - Dinah Washington "Dizzy Fingers" - Zez Confrey

George was a member of the George Formby Society (and attended conventions with Olivia and Dhani), and became friends with another attendee, Ray Bernard, who recalled the latter two of the above songs as some of George's favorites. (The Beatles also covered "September In The Rain" for their Decca audition; I'm not sure if George preferred Dinah Washington's version to any other, but its release year is closest to when the Fabs covered it, hence the inclusion on the playlist.)

"A Shine On Your Shoes" - Fred Astaire

Covered by George in a home video shared by the Harrison Family in the Guitar Collection app and the deluxe limited edition of Living In The Material World (and, on 1 February 2020, by Olivia on her Instagram, where she explained that George was playing a Danny Ferrington Keoki ukulele).

"True Love" - Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly

George covered this song as well, for his 1976 album Thirty-Three & 1/3. As Olivia recalled on Dark Horse Radion in 2018: "We'd been watching ‪Bing Crosby‬ and Grace Kelly, watching that movie ['High Society'], and they do a duet, and just that little harmony thing they do, because she wasn’t known as really a singer; he’d play and then we'd sing it." [read more]

"Roll Over Beethoven" - Chuck Berry

A longtime favorite, George covered this with The Beatles, during his 1991 Japan tour, and during his 1992 Natural Law Party concert, where it became the last song he played live onstage at a concert in his lifetime. As George said, "there hasn’t been any rock & roll better than that." [read more]

"Hong Kong Blues" - Hoagy Carmichael

Hoagy Carmichael was a favorite of George's, and he covered this song for his 1981 album Somewhere In England.

"Barnacle Bill the Sailor" - Hoagy Carmichael

A favorite, associated with George by Dhani, and mentioned by Olivia. "He would go up at parties to the DJ and say, ‘I’ve got something really amazing.’ ‘Cause he was who he was, they would listen to him, and then everyone would just be bummed out, it would clear the dance floor. And then he’d come back later - ‘I’ve got something else’ - and he’d put it on again. You know, he would just do this until the DJ was like [exasperated]." - Dhani Harrison, la minute rock, Rolling Stone France, 28 Nov 2017 [read more]

"Midnight Special" - Leadbelly "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" - Hank Williams "The Great Pretender" - The Platters "Words Of Love" - Buddy Holly

The songs themselves might not be George's favorites or jukebox selections -- as yet, I haven't found any mention of actual song titles, so these are just personal choices -- but the artist were mentioned by George and Olivia; and "Words Of Love" was obviously a favorite, having been covered by The Beatles, and, according to Mark Lewisohn's Complete Beatles Chronicle research, initially having been sung by George and John.

"The Ying Tong Song" - The Goons "I'm Walking Backwards For Christmas" - The Goons

Both these tracks were mentioned by Olivia as having been on the Friar Park jukeboxes in December 1974.

"The Lumberjack Song" - Monty Python "Spam Song" - Monty Python "Layla" - Eric Clapton

These tracks were mentioned by Eric Idle as having been on George's jukeboxes at Friar Park. "The Lumberjack Song" was of course also performed at the Concert for George.

"Heartbreak Hotel" - Elvis Presley

Eric Idle also recalled early Elvis being on the jukeboxes; and of course, George named the song as his first musical root.

"Blue Suede Shoes" - Carl Perkins "The Bells of Rhymney" - The Byrds

These two Perkins and Byrds songs were mentioned as favorite songs by George in the March 1997 issue of Guitar World.

"Mauna Loa" - Gabby Pahinui

Another artist loved by George, although again, this track choice is just a haphazard personal one, since there doesn't seem to be any public mention of which of Pahinui's songs were George's preferred ones.

"Ooo Baby Baby" - The Miracles "I'll Try Something New" - The Miracles

George absolutely loved The Miracles, and Smokey Robinson specifically, collecting their records, and writing songs in honor of Smokey ("Ooh Baby (You Know That I Love You) -- a nod to the first of the two Miracles tracks listed here -- on the 1975 album Extra Texture, and "Pure Smokey" on the 1976 album Thirty-Three & 1/3). As Olivia has recalled: "We used to sit around singing a lot of Smokey Robinson songs. That kind of sealed our relationship, I think. [George] said, 'You're the only person I've ever known who sang the high note at the end of "I'll Try Something New."'"

“Back On The Chain Gang” - The Pretenders “Brothers In Arms” - Dire Straits “Cold Day In Hell” - Gary Moore

The three tracks by The Pretenders, Dire Straits and Gary Moore were mentioned as favorites by George in the March 1997 issue of Guitar World.

"Long Tall Sally" - Little Richard

George was a Little Richard all his life, as various comments over the years show.

"Tandoori Chicken" - Ronnie Spector "I Am Missing You" - Lakshmi Shankar "Rebel Music" (live) - Bob Marley & The Wailers

Put down on tape during the "Try Some, Buy Some" sessions, "Tandoori Chicken" was an improvised song, as George recalled: "a 12-bar thing done on the spot with Mal our roadie and Joe the chauffeur." For Dark Horse Records, and featuring Lakshmi Shankar, one of [George's] favorite singers," another song for this playlist is "I Am Missing You." The Marley track was chosen from the setlist of the three 1975 Roxy show attended by George and Olivia, recalled by George as "the best thing I've seen in ten years. [...] I could watch The Wailers all night."

"The Rain Song" - Led Zeppelin "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)" - The Beach Boys

"The Rain Song" was written in response to a comment made by George, and subsequently made it on one of the two jukeboxes. The Beach Boys song was on the jukeboxes, and -- like "The Rain Song" -- played at the wedding of Dhani and Sola, as reported by Vogue in 2012.

"Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" - Stevie Wonder "Telephone Line" - Electric Light Orchestra "Come On In My Kitchen" - Robert Johnson "When The Levee Breaks" - Memphis Minnie

All four of these artists were mentioned as favorites by George in a 1976 interview. (The titles are arbitrary choices, since the interviewer didn't ask George for any further details. However, Johnson's "Come On In My Kitchen" was covered by George and band during rehearsals for the Concert for Bangladesh.)

"Maria Elena" - Ry Cooder "Concert in B (live in 1963) - Andrés Segovia

Two artists mentioned frequently by George as being favorites (Segovia first in 1963 -- hence the choice of a live piece from that year -- and up through the 1990s). The Cooder track was specifically mentioned by Olivia in the June 2018 issue of Songlines.

"Piano Concert No. 21" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Olivia mentioned a Mozart concerto as being something George would play in the mornings as they were starting the day, so this is another random choice of a concerto.

"The Weight" - The Band

The atmosphere of the song inspired the Harrisong "All Things Must Pass," as George recalled in 1987 -- he also named it as a song he admired in that same interview. In a 1974 interview with Capital Radio, George deemed The Band "the best band I've ever seen."

"Farther On Down The Road (You Will Accompany Me)" - Jesse Ed Davis

A Harrisong was given to Jesse by George, and recorded by Jesse before it was released by George himself (but since "Sue Me, Sue You Blues," the song in question, is already on a collaborations playlist....); this Davis selection (written by Jesse and Taj Mahal) was covered live by George and Eric Clapton in December 1978.

"Isn't It A Pity" (cover) - Nina Simone "Backwater Blues" - Big Bill Broonzy "Changes" - Bix 'n' Bing

Nina Simone's cover of the Harrisong "Isn't It A Pity" in turn influenced the mood of another Harrisong; and Dhani recalled listening to Simone, Big Bill Broonzy (who is name-checked in the Harrisong "Wreck Of The Hesperus") and Bix 'n' Bing together with his dad (these tracks are once more personal choices).

"April Kisses" - Eddie Lang

The first song on this playlist, "Stardust," was "one of [George's] favorite songs," as Olivia has recalled; she also named Eddie Lang (though she didn't mention a specific title).

"Kalimankou Denkou" - Le Mystere des voix bulgares

George enthused about this Bulgarian choir in numerous interviews, and introduced this particular song during his interview on Rockline in February 1988.

"Taxes On The Farmer Feeds Us All" - Ry Cooder

"Later, after a lasagna dinner in his ornately paneled kitchen with his wife Olivia, their son Dhani (just home from his school year at Brown University in the States), and Olivia’s sister, Linda, Harrison takes his visitor upstairs to his Friar Park Studio. Picking up a nearby National dobro from the vast array of vintage guitars hanging from the walls, Harrison slips a glass bottleneck on his finger as he seats himself to strum 'The Farmer Is The Man Who Feeds Us All,' the traditional tune of 1860s America made famous in the 1920s by Fiddlin’ John Carson and later popularized on Ry Cooder’s 1971 'Into The Purple Valley” album as 'Taxes On The Farmer Feeds Us All.' 'That’s where I first heard the tune,”'says Harrison of Cooder’s interpretation, before he begins to sing: 'The farmer is the man, the farmer is the man/Buys on credit until the fall/Then they take him by the hand/And they lead him from his land/And the merchant he’s the man who gets it all.'" (Billboard, 19 Jun 1999)

"God's Own Drunk" - Lord Buckley

This particular Buckley piece was mentioned by George in a 1979 radio interview promoting his eponymous album, and the song "If You Believe": "Pray, give up, and it all recedes away from you. I don’t know if you… you must have heard Lord Buckley, you know, well, there is a thing he did called 'God’s Own Drunk.' I think it was that. Anyway, it was one of Lord Buckley’s things and he was talking about love. He said: 'Love is like a beautiful garden, you know, when you use it it spreads, but when you don’t -- it recedes.' And it’s true. It’s really that in its simplest form." [read more]

"Free Fallin'" - Tom Petty

As Dhani has said, he can remember "getting advance copies sent to my dad from Tom. He’d be like, 'You want to hear Tom’s new stuff?' And it would be the first time anyone’s heard 'Free Fallin'." (Premier Guitar, Jan 2018)

"Let It Be Me" - The Everly Brothers

Covered by George in a demo version after seeing the Everly Brothers in concert (George's cover appears on Early Takes Vol. 1).

"Clair de Lune" (cover) - Isao Tomita

One of George's favorites, as Olivia has recalled.

"México Lindo y Querido" - Jorge Negrete

Negrete was mentioned as a favorite by George, and Olivia recalled Negrete being on George's jukebox.

"Bugle Call Rag" - Cab Calloway

Recalled by Olivia in her introduction for Harrison, and as George's school wakeup call for Dhani.

"Cool River" - Maria Muldaur "Fear Of Flying" - Charlie Dore

Two more specific songs mentioned or covered by George.

"Sweet Leilani" - Bing Crosby

Mentioned as a favorite of George's by Tom Petty, and by Olivia.

"Every Grain Of Sand" - Bob Dylan

Named as one of George's favorite songs in his June 1999 Billboard interview: "I mean, you tell me one person other than Bob Dylan who has a moral message in a tune that's improved upon Bob's words in his song 'Every Grain of Sand.'"

"Kaliyuga Varadan" & "Ragam Tanam Pallavi" & "Gajavadhana" - U. Srinivas

One of George's favorite artists, as he, Dhani and Olivia have recalled; these three particular tracks were singled out by Olivia in the June 2018 issue of Songlines.

"Raga - Manj Khamaj" - Ravi Shankar "Guru Bandana (Prayer)" - Ali Akbar Khan "Abhogi" - Hariprasad Chaurasia "Kafi Holi (Spring Festival Of Color)" - Ravi Shankar "Enna Thavam" - Papanasam Sivan "Thumri - Mishra Tilang Raga - Addha Taal" - Sultan Khan "You And Me" - Zakir Hussain "Raga Chayya Nat" - Kala Ramnath

The eight selections above are mentioned by Olivia in the June 2018 issue of Songlines.

“México” - Mariachi Sol de Mexico

In 1998, George commissioned José Hernández - founder of Mariachi Sol de México - to translate and arrange the Harrisong "Dark Sweet Lady" in Spanish, as a special version for Olivia. While that recording is understandably a private one, mariachi music seems to have been a favorite of the Harrison family and the Arias family, as it's mentioned as having been played at family events held in California. And: "Last year I brought over a mariachi orchestra [Mariachi Sol de México] and we had a private concert at Friar Park because I got tired of waiting 30 years for someone else to do it. It was my way to let my friends experience that music – which was what George was always trying to do. He wanted people to understand and be moved by the music that he loved." - Olivia Harrison, Songlines, Jun 2018

"Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie" - Bob Dylan "Bhoop Ghara" - Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivkumar Sharma, Brij Bhushan Kabra

"George used to always say that if ever you are not feeling right, you should listen to Bob Dylan's 'Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie' and 'Call of the Valley.'" (Olivia Harrison) This track from "Call Of The Valley" was mentioned by Olivia in the June 2018 issue of Songlines: "[it was] something George had on our juke box. We played it as a remedy in our home if you were feeling a certain way. Kabra was one of George’' heroes as a slide guitarist, up there with Ry Cooder."

"Sarve Shaam" - Ravi Shankar

From the 1997 album Chants of India (produced by George), the song was also performed at the Concert for George, and was clearly very special to George, as Olivia remembers: "At the end of his life George said to me that all he could listen to was 'Sarve Shaam.' After all the sounds and sights and tastes you experience over a lifetime, it came down to the purity of 'Sarve Shaam.'"

Listen on... YouTube | Spotify

#George Harrison #quote #quotes by George #quotes about George #ghjukebox #harrisonarchive features #Olivia Harrison #Dhani Harrison #Tom Petty #Ravi Shankar #Jesse Ed Davis #et al #George's jukebox #fits queue like a glove

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charmingcentry · 5 years

Note

Bechloe = high school AU. Love popular Beca/nerd chloe

thanks for the suggestion anon! hope you enjoy :D

“Hey, you’re drooling again.”

Chloe fixates her attention back towards her best friend Aubrey, immediately clearing her throat nervously. It’s lunch period and presented before Chloe is an untouched, unwrapped, peanut butter and jelly sandwich; she didn’t enjoy how peanut butter stuck on the roof of her mouth anyway. The redhead would have been consuming the poorly-made cafeteria food yet she finds a petite brunette more appealing than satisfying her hunger.

The brunette chuckles loud enough for Chloe’s table to hear; the redhead couldn’t help but smile. The redhead continues staring and notices Beca’s head drift towards Chloe’s table and she shoots a small smile at Chloe when the two make eye contact. Oh, how the redhead’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She notices one of the guy friends rest his arm against Beca’s shoulder as the brunette snatches a sandwich from another person.

“Chloe, seriously, I think your glasses were fogging up too at this rate…” Chloe blushes and removes her oval eyeglasses, cleaning the lenses with the microfiber cloth.

“She’s really pretty Bree. I mean, just look at her!”

Her best friend doesn’t miss a beat with her response. “Yes because the dozens of ear piercings are totally attractive.” Aubrey notices Beca’s gaze return onto her best friend as Chloe rolls her eyes and lightly smacks Aubrey on the shoulder. “I’m joking… kind of. I mean, whatever works for you.”

Another female slipped into the rectangular lunch table - Stacie Conrad. “We talking about Beca again? I saw Chloe blushing like miles away.”

The redhead groans and buries her face into her sweater sleeves, ignoring the slight push against her face from her glasses.

Beca, a name that swiftly induces a noticeable blush across Chloe’s face with no hesitation. Starting from Day 1 of freshman year where the redhead’s seat was directly behind Beca’s, she couldn’t help but notice the immediate butterflies fluttering in her stomach or an immediate stutter when Beca would ask her something; Chloe felt enamored by her presence.

Perhaps Chloe loves how blunt Beca is or the amount of confidence the brunette exerts around her huge group of friends; nevertheless, Chloe definitely feels something for Beca and could possibly rant how amazing she is.

One problem.

The popularity circulating around the brunette would raise attention to Chloe if she ever communicated with Beca and its definite rumors would be spread. And, she’s definitely dating that Jesse Swanson guy. So, the redhead prefers to admire from afar, even if it may hurt.

She slowly raises her head and is met with bright light along with the bell that echoes throughout the school, signaling that it is time for 6th period. Chloe sighs as she slings her baby pink backpack over her shoulders as she waves goodbye to Aubrey and Stacie. She adjusts with the sleeves of her sweatshirt as she walks towards her AP Calculus classroom. Heading up the staircase, she feels a slight tap on her shoulder.

Tap-tap, tap-tap

It’s almost too rhythmic for a simple shoulder tap... Chloe glances over her shoulder and finds navy blue eyes looking directly at her. The redhead trips on the final step of the stairwell, her heart rate picking up faster. Chloe immediately springs up and repositions herself against the wall, avoiding the swarm of underclassmen and upperclassmen. Again, she finds a short brunette, quirking up an eyebrow.

“You seem clumsy…” Chloe’s mouth goes dry as she attempts to create a response. A taller male wolf-whistle at the two, Beca immediately whipping her head back and glaring at the male. Chloe swears he mouthed “Good luck Beca.”

“I-I, uh, yeah! Heh, sorry about that. Um, d-did you need something or… something.”

Beca lets out a short amused chuckle. “Actually, I just transferred classes and I know you’re in that class and stuff.” Chloe could feel her knees go weak and her head become light-headed. “Can you like take me there maybe?”

The redhead nods enthusiastically and immediately wraps her hand around Beca’s wrist, pulling her towards the classroom. To her surprise, the brunette doesn’t pull away.

Chloe and Beca enter the classroom together, the redhead escorting the brunette towards an empty seat that luckily is next to the redhead. Chloe lets herself relax as the teacher begins class once the tardy bell rings its annoying popping pattern. He claps his hands together and walks to the front.

“Team-up. You will be preparing a project about limits, basically a lesson video. Groups of two, no exceptions since there are now 28 of you.” He makes eye contact towards Beca who surprisingly sinks lower into her seat. “It is due next Friday. You will have today and tomorrow to prepare. I will not accept any late videos. Good luck. The rubric will be distributed at the end of class.” The teacher claps his hands together and the class roams about with the sound of desks and chairs scraping against the tiles echoing throughout the room.

Not having her friends in this period, Chloe immediately turns to Beca, a smile spreading across her face. Yet, someone is asking Beca already.

Damnit.

Before the redhead turns back around, she notices the person walking away sadly and Beca turning towards her; the feeling of light-headedness came back.

“You uh, wanna work on this together?”’

Chloe couldn’t believe it, Beca Mitchell is asking her to be her partner! The redhead clears her throat, biting back a gigantic grin. “Yes, that would be awes.”

Beca slides her desk towards Chloe’s. “Uh yeah… awes.”

“Time’s up.” The class goes silent. “What are you waiting for? Go work on it!”

Chloe notices how Beca tenses up: her jaw is stiffened, her shoulders are raised slightly, and her navy blue eyes are wide open. She clears her throat and turns her body towards Beca, who’s tugging her sweater sleeve frantically. The redhead taps Beca on the shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”

The brunette immediately stops tugging her sleeve. “Uh, yeah. Just, kind of nervous I guess? So let’s get started on this fucking project!” Chloe raises an eyebrow at Beca’s hand gestures and emphasis of the cuss word. The brunette immediately shoves her hands into her pockets. “I-I I’m sorry, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Chloe only smiles at Beca’s nervousness. “You’re fine Becs… let’s get started on the project before Mister yells at us.” The redhead slips out a piece of lined paper as the brunette slips out her phone.

“You wanna like… exchange numbers or something?”

Chloe happily complies, taking out her own phone and swapping numbers with her project partner.

She found it amusing that someone who exerts an intense amount of confidence is actually pretty nervous and awkward.

Aubrey finds her friends in the library, Stacie beside a seemingly giddy Chloe. The redhead’s face has flushed shade of pink with Stacie trying to capture her attention. Aubrey walks closer to the table and notices the Cheshire Cat-like grin washed over Chloe. She pulls a seat across from the two and sets down her belongings.

“Uh, what’s going on?”

Chloe doesn’t reply but instead lets out a series of giggles. “Beca is coming over to her house tomorrow… found her like this after the bell rang.”

Well, well, well, looks like Chloe is perhaps one-step closer to dating that annoying alt-girl.

Chloe is running back and forth throughout her household, arranging her family’s belongings to ensure that her home is tidy and clean. She spent around an hour and a half vacuuming around her place, making sure the floor is free of crumbs. Although Beca wouldn’t care since she generally seems laid-back, Chloe wanted her first impression of the Beale household to be perfect; she even went as far to mow the lawn!

She glances towards the clock, 12:45 P.M, Beca is scheduled to arrive in 15 minutes. The redhead storms up the stairs, dashing swiftly into her room - the untouched place of her household. Chloe quickly gathers the scattered clothes and tosses her laundry in the closet. She arranges the school items on her desk in the corner and quickly makes her bed. The redhead’s adrenaline finally simmers as she takes a step in her doorway, feeling satisfied with the cleanliness of her room.

Her adrenaline quickly emerges once again when she hears the first note of the doorbell; it has her rushing down the stairs, attempting to not slip and fall. Chloe unlocks the door and takes a deep breath; thank God her family isn’t home.

She swings the door open and finds Beca with her backpack and laptop and Chloe notices how her mouth slightly parts. “Hi Becs! Come in.”

“Oh, uh yeah… where are your uh-” The brunette gestures towards her face

Chloe slightly blushes as she leads the brunette towards her room. “Oh… I wear contacts at home.”

“You should wear those at school y’know… you look really pretty.” The redhead widens her eyes at Beca’s comment, her blush growing frantically. “Not that you’re not pretty without them! Uh, just like, you should wear those more often… I guess.”

“Why thank you! You’re so sweet… uhm, let’s get started on this?”

The brunette takes a seat on Chloe’s freshly-made bed, booting her laptop up. “Yep.”

Once Beca’s laptop starts up, she notices dozens of MP3 files scattered across her home screen, each one labeled as a song. Her background is her gigantic group of friends at what appears to be an amusement park… she sure is well-known. The brunette selects the editing program and retrieves a USB cable from her school bag along with the Calculus textbook.

“How come you just transferred into our class? It’s the third week of school.”

Beca flips through the book, settling on the page where the Limits lessons and problems are located. “Uh, my math teacher beforehand told me to ask the counselor to see if it was possible… the teacher for AP Calc let me in.”

“How come she wanted you to switch?”

The brunette meets Chloe’s gaze. “Said I’m ‘too smart’ for the regular math class.”

“Is popular Beca Mitchell secretly a math whiz?”

Beca rolls her eyes, an amused smile spreading across her face. “That’s one way to phrase it… and I’m not really popular dude.”

“Says the one with like what? 3 friend groups? And a boyfriend!”

Chloe notices how quickly Beca’s demeanor changes, her eyebrows raising and her face scrunching up, her smile quickly replaced with a grimace.“Boyfriend?”

“Yeah! That Jesse dude?”

Beca pauses for a bit before breaking out into a fit of laughter. “You think Jesse and I are dating? Dude gross! Not in a million years… he’s like my brother.” The brunette catches her breath after laughing for a bit. “Besides… I uh, play for the other team y’know?”

Chloe attempted to hide her felicity, a smile fighting to be seen. The redhead bit the inside of her cheek and tightened her hands into fists, bundling an area of her bedsheets. The girl she’s been pining on since freshman year is gay! Chloe might have a chance only if Beca feels the same way. “That’s really cool… but you are popular though. You’re always going to those parties right?”

The brunette skims over the textbook, dragging her finger delicately across the thin pages. “Uh yeah. For money.” Beca notices the redhead tilt her head like a confused puppy… cute. “I just play music. A DJ type of gig I guess?”

“Do you make your own music?”

Beca exits out of the editing program seeing how their conversation is clearly not math-related. She leaves her home screen visible for Chloe and slides the laptop towards her curious project partner. The redhead drags the cursor over each file, reading the titles of her mashups. Her mouth drops open when she comes upon a certain file.

“Titanium AND Million pieces? Those are my favorite songs!”

A corner of Beca’s mouth lifts up. “Really? None of my friends have heard of them. You wanna listen to it?”

Chloe immediately nods her head enthusiastically, double-clicking on the file. The audio player appears on the screen and the redhead’s room fills with the melody of Titanium and the lyrics of Million Pieces. A smile gradually grows on Chloe’s face as Beca appears to be worried, tugging at her bottom lip, looking at the redhead who seems happy with the music.

“This is so good Beca! No wonder you get paid for these types of things…”

The brunette returns a soft small to Chloe, adjusting her position on the bed to face towards Chloe. “I guess… it’s not that much. Maybe like $20 or $30 dollars.”

“An hour?”

“No for the whole night.” Chloe lets out an astonishing gasp

“You need to be paid by the hour! Your an amazing DJ. I’ll talk to those party people if I have to!”

Beca snorts, laughing at Chloe’s exasperation. “What are you, my manager?”

“I could be.”

“Since you seem so good at math and all… I’ll consider it.”

The redhead nudges Beca’s shoulder. “You’re good at math too you nerd.”

“Not as good as you though… you’re like what, the top of the class?” Chloe goes silent as she reopens the editing program, sliding Beca’s textbook between the pair. “Knew it~”

“Oh shut up, let’s just get started on this.”

Sprawled out before the pair are stacks of lined papers along with Chloe’s whiteboard that is filled with graphs and mathematical equations. The brunette is arranging the video clips together as Chloe leans in, directing which clip should be placed. The textbook is wide open, a few pencil marks marking the thin laminated pages and the clock reads 6:23 P.M… Beca’s been at Chloe’s house for five hours which the redhead is trying to remain calm about. As the last video file transfers into the editing program, the brunette’s phone vibrates once. Chloe leans away, allowing space for Beca to retrieve her phone from her back pocket. A slight smile is replaced with a frown as the brunette slips her phone away.

“My mom is here, I need to leave.”

Chloe frowns as well, hoping to spend more time with Beca. “Aw… okay. I’ll walk you down.”

The brunette gathers her belongings and gently slips them into her backpack. Beca puts her shoes back on and as the two are about to walk out of Chloe’s bedroom, the brunette springs back around and looks at Chloe.

“You wanna come to a party with me next Saturday?” Before Chloe could answer, Beca interrupts her with one more proposal. “And if you want… we can go out before? Like uh… a date.”

The redhead’s knees go weak as a wide grin appears on her face. “I would love to. Both the date and the party.”

Beca smiles. “Sweet.”

The two walk downstairs, Chloe escorting Beca to her mother’s car. As the two drive away, the redhead whips her phone out and messages the group chat with her two best friends.

GUESS WHO ASKED ME OUT

Stacie immediately replies YES CHLOE!!!!!

And of course, Aubrey isn’t as enthusiastic oh dear god.

Saturdays are becoming to be Chloe’s favorite day.

#bechloe #bechloe prompt #beca mitchell #chloe beale #enjoy

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numberfivefinn · 4 years

Text

who: @numberfivefinn & @jstj

what: jesse finally decides to tell finn about his relationship with rachel.

where: st. hevans residence

when: friday august 28th

triggers: none :o

JESSE was nervous. He and Rachel had been preparing for this for the last few days, even testing his reflexes in case Finn tried to punch him in the face. While he accepted that he'd fucked up and broke the unspoken bro code, his face was too important for his work -- he couldn't risk a broken nose. But Jesse had decided to be the one to tell Finn so that Finn could get mad -- he couldn't get upset at his ex for dating someone new, but he could get angry at his friend for dating his ex. And if he was angry now, he might forgive them faster later. That was the theory, at least. Having texted Finn to come and meet him in the apartment, Jesse grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge, positioning them on the coffee table. Hopefully Finn wouldn't bottle him out of anger, though he did briefly consider decanting them into plastic cups. When the door finally opened, Jesse managed a nervous smile, nodding at Finn across the room. "Hey, man. Thanks for coming. Come sit down."

This week had been extremely bizarre for FINN. Something fishy was in the water, particularly between Marley and Rachel and somehow Kurt had managed to be annoyed with Rachel and Jesse, his friend group practically crumbling before his eyes. He knew he was in the middle of it, he just couldn't figure out why or how. However, he knew how strong everyone's connections were, and was only hoping everything would be okay and that Marley wouldn't end up moving away. Finn wasn't really surprised when Jesse asked him to come over, although he was usually the one asking them if he could come over or just simply showing up. It didn't feel like something specific was going on, but he did find himself curious to why Jesse wanted to see him. Once he arrived, he walked in, seeing Jesse across the room. "Hey," he greeted back, picking up a slightly more serious vibe in the room than usual. He took a seat next to Jesse, suddenly becoming nervous for no reason besides that it felt a little... off. "Is everything good?"

Now Finn was here, JESSE just felt... guilty. The lying and the deception had been justified, in his eyes -- but he'd betrayed Finn in a more serious way, and one he couldn't make excuses for. The truth was, he'd liked Rachel for years. She'd always been in the back of his mind, and Jesse had always been rooting for her and Finn to break up, waiting for his chance. Finn was the kind of guy who was quick to anger, but he cared about his friends. And Jesse cared about him. A head's up or a quick chat to ask permission would have prevented this whole problem, and Jesse felt terrible about getting them into it. For all his teasing, he didn't want to hurt Finn. Finn had clearly sensed his serious tone, and Jesse was quick to reassure him. "Everything's good. Everyone is fine," he told him, in case he was worried. "I just have to tell you something. Something that's probably going to make you quite mad. And you have every right to be upset, but if you're going to hit me, please just avoid the face." Jesse took a deep breath, wondering how to start this. He might as well get it over with. No time like the present. "Rachel's not dating a guy called Jeffrey from Tinder. That was a cover story when people started getting suspicious. The truth is... she's dating me."

FINN had always had a very light, playful friendship with Jesse, the tone between them rarely being serious. They both knew how to push each other’s buttons, but never took anything as an offense because they knew it was out of love and good intent. It was almost as if Finn needed to crack a joke or that Jesse was about to pull off some sick prank on him, but there was something in his eyes that told him this seriousness was real. Listening to Jesse speak, he raised his eyebrows, quickly furrowing them down again in confusion; what would he be mad about? And why did he think that there was a chance of him punching him? He was just recovering from punching Marley’s ex and he wasn’t gonna use his other healthy hand to do it. “Dude, I’m not gonna hit you,” he intervened with a scoff. His pulse slowly raised when he started talking about Rachel and Jeffrey and even more so when he said it was a... cover story? And there it was. For a second or two, the world froze and he suddenly had all the time in the world to process all the drama that had happened the past couple of weeks, the way Jesse had been pushing him to get out there, why Rachel was extraordinarily nervous around him. It couldn’t have been anything else. “What?” was all Finn managed to get out. Inside his mind, he had so much more to say, so many questions to ask. “You?”

JESSE wasn't particularly reassured by Finn's assertion that he wouldn't hit him -- he wasn't holding his breath for that to be true. Finn had a temper, and Jesse had seem him take it out on enough chairs over the years. "Me," Jesse confirmed with a nod, giving Finn a few agonising seconds to process the news. "It started at Kurt and Sam's anniversary party. But it was just casual, so we didn't say anything to anyone because it would have been hard to explain. It wasn't worth the trouble just for a hook up. But it's not casual anymore. We're together. I've never felt this way about anyone before." Undoubtedly, Finn didn't care about that -- now wasn't the time for Jesse to tell Finn about how happy he was. But Jesse could help him understand everything that had been going on. "All the drama with Marley and Rachel, it's because of this. Marley got suspicious, and Rachel kept digging herself holes with the Jeffrey lie... That's why they fell out. Kurt was also furious at us. Only Sam really seemed pleased." If they'd managed to keep things to themselves, this whole situation would have been so much less messy -- but Marley had moved in, and that had been the start of the trouble. "Please don't be mad at Rachel. You can be mad at me, but she'll be devastated if you're upset with her."(edited)26 August 2020

FINN exhaled loudly as he listened to Jesse speak, his whole body clenching up, trying to process all the emotions he was feeling from these news. He instinctively avoided his friend’s gaze, keeping his head held down as he wanted nothing more to not hear another word that was coming out of his mouth. Come to realize, he should’ve known this was coming. The way Jesse used to look at Rachel when they were still dating were hard to ignore, and he was sure Jesse didn’t even realize how obvious it was. It wasn’t even that they were together, or at least that’s what he thought he was feeling at the moment, but it was the constant lying. Finn had spent the last week feeling nothing less but crap about everything that was happening, putting the blame on himself and his cluelessness for the pain among their friends. But all along, it was Jesse and Rachel collectively building a lie so big it was tearing people apart. “You’re telling me that everyone knows about this?” Finn asked, nearly hypothetical as he had no wishes to actually hear the answer. “I don’t get why you didn’t just tell me from the beginning.” His voice was trembling, and he almost started feeling feverish and nauseous at the thought of them together.

JESSE watched Finn with concern. Beneath their banter, Jesse did care about Finn, and did respect him. This definitely wasn't a way of showing that. The undeniable truth was that Jesse had been selfish. He'd put his own wants ahead of what was good for Finn, his friend. He didn't entirely believe everybody else's anger was justified, but Finn's was. "Marley and Kurt worked it out a few days ago, and then I told Sam. They didn't know for a long time, we kept it to ourselves." Maybe Finn didn't want to hear the answer -- but Jesse was going to approach this with full honesty. No more lies. Finn's question made him cringe a little, knowing that what he was about to say wasn't going to be well received. It was hard to be tactful when being honest about sleeping with someone's ex. "Because it was just sex at first," he replied, wincing a little. "It would have been awkward and difficult to explain to everyone when it was just a casual arrangement." Jesse paused for a moment, reaching out to play with the untouched beer bottle in front of him. "Let me rephrase that. It wasn't worth telling everyone when it was just a hook-up. It's more than that now, so it's worth all the trouble of coming clean." That probably wasn't any better, but Jesse wanted to steer Finn away from the image of him and Rachel together. "All we tried to do was avoid hurting people. We weren't very successful."

FINN rubbed his sweaty hands together, his leg shaking as he held back a lot of adrenaline that was rushing through his body due to building anger. He eyed one of the empty chairs besides them, but knew better not to cause a scene. Plus, Kurt would kill him if he ruined their furniture. He felt offended and hurt that everyone, but particularly Jesse and Rachel, was keeping this a secret, but most of all he was pissed that it was Jesse and Rachel. “Okay,” Finn mumbled as he abruptly got up from his seat, turning away from Jesse as his fists clenched. He couldn’t listen to this anymore. He didn’t want to know everything, even if he knew that was Jesse’s way of coming forward with everything they had been hiding. “I just—I don’t wanna hear another fucking word,” he said, the volume of his voice raised significantly since last time he spoke. “I gotta go. I-I can’t. I can’t even look at you right now, Jesse. I’m not even sure we’re friends anymore.” Not leaving a second for Jesse to interfere, he stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door so hard he was almost sure something was going to break. He painted heavily as he practically ran down the stairs, waiting until he got outside before succumbing to his emotions. A loud groan escaped his lips as he kicked a trash can, finally making his way home. Or maybe a small detour to the bar...

JESSE could see that Finn was getting more worked up, wondering whether it was about to get physical. He could see the gears turning in Finn's brain, fists clenched as he worked out what he wanted to do. He was prepared to be hit, but he would prefer to avoid violence -- though if that dissipated Finn's anger faster, maybe it would be worth it. Despite how it undoubtedly felt to Finn, Jesse did care about fixing their friendship. He'd broken a cardinal rule, but he knew that with enough time and space, they could get things back to normal. Or as close to normal as they could. Finn stood suddenly, and Jesse braced himself, casting his gaze down as Finn raised his voice. He nodded, holding his hands up in deference. It hurt to hear him say they weren't friends anymore -- but they'd get through it. Jesse was smooth, he could fix things. He'd already started winning Kurt back over. "Finn --" he started as Finn stormed away, but he was gone, and Jesse knew it wasn't wise to follow him. Sighing, Jesse took a moment in the silence that followed the slamming of the door. "Well," he muttered to himself, taking out his phone to update Rachel on what had just happened. "At least I'm not dead."

#para #para: 002 #para: jesse

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alj4890 · 5 years

Text

Angst Prompt

(Thomas Hunt x MC) (Matt Rodriguez x MC) with the request to have MC confronted over choosing Thomas over Matt on a talk show. Requested by Anonymous

A Red Carpet Diaries Fan Fiction.

I don't own any of these regardless of what my credit card statement says.

A/N: Thanks nonnie for this! I've wanted someone to confront MC over this for a long time 😉

Not sure who all to tag and should have probably posted this with the question/answer, LOL. @hopelessromantic1352 @sunflowergirl05 @cora-nova @krsnlove

Masterlist

The Interview

"Welcome back to Film Plus! I am as always, your host, Christie Gallo. I am thrilled to introduce our next guests. You first saw them heat up the screen in Tender Nothings and they now have a new film opening this Friday. Give a warm welcome to the stars of Critical Mass: Jessica Clark and Matt Rodriguez!" Christie stood to hug Jessica and Matt while the studio audience cheered.

"Thank you!" Jessica smiled while tucking a lock of her short black hair behind her ear.

"It's great to be back." Matt added while sitting down next to Jessica.

"So..." Christie sat down across from them. "A lot of big things happened this past year."

Jessica laughed. "You can say that again. It has been one whirlwind after another."

"First off, I saw the film and loved it!" Christie exclaimed. "It had everything! The suspense though, I was on the edge of my seat from beginning to end."

"Yeah, I'm still seeing a masseuse from it." Matt rubbed the back of his neck, causing the audience to laugh.

Christie smiled at him. "I bet. This is your third movie you completed this year so far, right?"

He nodded. "I have been keeping busy. After my accident on the set of Double Agent, I decided not to sit back and let things I love pass me by."

Christie turned to Jessica. "This has been a big year for you too. A wedding, an extradionary directorial debut, and now this film. When do you have time to sleep?"

Jessica grinned. "I've heard of this sleep you mention, but I haven't met him yet."

Christie laughed as Matt teased his costar. "You two have been close for how long now?"

Matt and Jessica looked at one another. "Three or four years I think." He said.

"Yeah, you were basically the first person I met in Hollywood." She replied.

"Really? How did that happen?" Christie asked.

Jessica put her hands over her face while laughing. "My best friend and agent decided we should crash Matt's party. I didn't know until we got there that we were not technically invited." She looked over at Matt and smiled. "I snuck away to be alone and try to breathe normally at being surrounded by Hollywood's most famous when I bumped into Matt."

"Then what happened?" Christie asked.

Matt colored some. "We heard some people coming in and ducked into a closet together. The um close quarters, ah, made it a very tempting position."

"We made out." Jessica added with a wink.

"See. This is what is missing from my set." Christie turned to her stage manager. "I could be stuck in a closet right now with Matt, Demetrius, if you would allow it to be constructed."

The audience and guests laughed at the insuing banter between the host and stubborn manager.

"Back to that love story. So was that kiss the beginning of something special?" Christie propped her chin on her fist and smiled in encouragement.

Jessica readjusted in her seat and tried to joke. "It certainly made filming the love scene in Tender Nothing's easier."

Matt averted his eyes from her and shifted more upright in his chair. "We were both busy with filming back to back movies."

Christie seemed oblivious to the tension growing between her guests. "Now when you two were a part of Double Agent, were you dating? I know Jessica that you were reported as being with Chadley Fortnum, but that seemed a little hard to believe. You and Matt had been seen together at the Tender Nothing's premiere and seemed so close."

"Chadley and my relationship was a publicity stunt. Matt and I were kinda a thing." Jessica was blushing.

Matt cleared his throat. "We were more than kinda, Jess." He turned back to Christie. "Jessica and I were in a relationship then. She was with me throughout my recuperation after the accident."

Jessica rubbed her forehead. "That was a difficult time for us. I was being attacked by Viktor Montmarte and didn't want to burden Matt with it while he was dealing with the possibility of never acting again."

Christie's smile softened. "You met your husband around this time, right?"

Jessica shook her head. "I actually saw Thomas at Matt's party and then he attended the premiere of Tender Nothing's". Her lips curved into a reminiscent smile. "He told me that night he hoped we would work together someday."

"But this was when you became close to Thomas, right?" Christie prodded.

Jessica eyed Matt. "Yes. We kept our relationship professional. Thomas cast me as the lead in The Last Duchess and supported me as I dealt with Viktor."

"It must have been hard on you. The threats from Viktor, worried over Matt's accident, and falling for Thomas." Christie replied. "If you don't mind my asking, when did you realize Thomas was the one you should be with?

Matt silently focused on Jessica, waiting to hear her answer.

Sbe lowered her eyes to her tightly clasped hands in her lap. "I..." She cleared her throat. "The night before our premiere party...I couldn't sleep and went to the studio. Thomas was finishing the final edits and we..."

She closed her eyes at the memory. It had been one of her favorites yet she knew now how much it was going to hurt Matt, the one man who had done nothing but be her steadfast friend and one time love. "We ended up kissing that night."

Matt lowered his eyes while a muscle spasmed in his jaw.

Jessica darted a look at him. "Thomas encouraged me after the kiss to think about what I wanted with our relationship. I...I knew he was the one I wanted to be with."

Christie sighed softly at the romantic part. "When did you tell him?"

Matt kept his eyes down. Jessica swallowed as tears began to build in her eyes. "The next night at the party."

Christie grimaced slightly. "Matt, I bet it was hard to attend that night after the breakup."

Matt looked up. His lips twisted in a bitter, depreciating smile. "I bet it would have if I had been told anything."

The hostess paled as it hit that she had led them into a depressing story. "Oh. I'm so sorry. I didn't--"

"You could have told me, Jess. All I ever wanted was to see you happy. Do you have any idea what it felt like to see you and Hunt disappear?" Matt said. His voice had a hard edge to his serious tone. "Then there were all the suggestive comments about what you two must be doing in private. After that, you said goodbye to me as if I was just some random friend. I stood there in shock as Thomas wrapped his arm around you and took you home."

Jessica swiped at the tears falling down her cheeks. "Matt, you're one of my best friends. I would never intentionally hurt--"

"You did hurt me. I was like the rest of the world. I got to find out through magazines and appearances that you and Thomas were together." His tone softened. "Look, I'm happy you two have each other. Really, I am. It just would have been nice to have been worth some type of explanation." Matt swallowed down the bitterness that he was finally able to release.

Jessica accepted the tissues Christie handed her. "I am so sorry I made you feel anything like that. If I had known..." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I should have told you. You are one of the kindest men I have ever known. You deserve nothing but the best."

Matt folded his arms and nodded as his neck convulsed with trying to swallow.

Jessica laid a hand gently on his arm. "Matt?"

He released a deep breath and briefly hugged her. "You know I forgive you. Let's forget about it."

Christie wiped her tears and tried to turn the conversation into less personal grounds. As Matt explained the clip they had brought for the audience, Jessica kept her eyes on him.

She thought of their past and then the night she had met Thomas under the bridge. She fell hard for the director and he made her forget every single time she was near him what she had once felt for Matt. Even now, looking at her friend and co-star made none of the flutterings and excitment build as seeing her husband did.

Jessica and Matt walked off the set after the interview was concluded. Matt waited on her as she gathered her purse and coat. They walked together outside to the waiting car to take them back to the hotel.

"Matt," Jessica began, "are we--"

"We're good. I was in love with you once." He admitted. "But seeing you with Thomas has shown me that there is something better out there." He patted her hand. "We won't talk about this again and I don't want you worrying about it affecting our friendship."

Jessica kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Matt. And I mean that for everything." She cocked her head to the side. "You really are a great guy."

A grin slowly formed. "I try." Matt pulled his phone out. "We have another interview tomorrow. I say we make certain it stays on topic of the movie instead of our shared past."

"Deal." She held her hand out and chuckled when he shook it.

#choices rcd #choices matt rodriguez #rcd matt rodriguez #rcd thomas hunt #matt x mc #thomas x mc

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royalbloodedbastards · 4 years

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chatzy // weed closet pj party

DATE: Friday, March 27, 2020 CHARACTERS: Chase, Jesse, Malia, Alec, Casey, Blue, L, Parker, Jack ABOUT: The Morpheus cabin hosts a PJ Party. Mammals smoke marijuana and Twister ends with a twist.

Chase made sure that all the lights were placed well and all the blanket walls were secure. He picked up a cat from the twister mat and flipped it onto its back so he could hold it like a baby. He unlocked the door and stood to the side, wondering if he should wait there and be a fake psychic that was standing there the whole time or step back so he wouldn’t be weird. He swayed a bit and then walked over to take his cookies from the oven.(edited)

Malia held her mug of hot chocolate in both her hands as she shooed Killer # 1 from pulling at the blanket fort. She followed Chase into the kitchen and smiled. "Any pronoun preference tonight? I don't want you to like, explain yourself if you don't want to."

Jesse was finishing washing the few dishes that had piled up over the day and didn't hear Malia's question to Chase between the sound of the water running and some vague daydreams. As he put the last plate on the drying rack, he turned around and absently pet Killer # 2 on the head, still in his own world.

Chase set the cat down on the counter, pulled the cookies from the oven, and then picked the cat up again as he turned the oven off. He grinned widely at Malia, heart full. “No, no preference. Thanks for asking. Say whatever feels right.” He leaned against the counter. “Did either of you want a cookie? They’re vegan and don’t have nuts, but they do have weed.”

Malia considered it, then glanced at Jesse. "Want to split one?"

Jesse tuned in to catch the last part of Chase's offer, once he realized he was being addressed. He smiled at Malia, shrugging one shoulder. "Sure, okay."

“I’m actually gonna put a note on them to only take half, so y’all might wanna take a quarter.”

"Oh shit, okay." Malia pulled off half a cookie and then held that half out for Jesse.

Jesse took it from her. "Thanks. Who're you expecting to come?" he asked Chase.

Alec let themself into the Morpheus cabin and wandered over to where the three were standing in the kitchen, looking around as they go. "Hey gang! Are there new sheets up in here? It looks swanky. Do those have weed in them?"

Jack doubted his decision up until the moment he knocked on the door, but he was determined to push himself. "Let yourself blow, Jack," he whispered. After waiting half a minute and hearing voices from the inside, Jack decided to let himself in. "Is this..." The room was much emptier than he expected. "Oh my actual gods," he muttered. "Why am I always so fucking early."

Malia brightened at the sight of Alec and waved her quarter of the weed cookie at them. "Hey! Yes they do." She walked over to Alec to give them a quick cheek kiss and noticed Jack in her peripheral vision. "Hey! You came!" She walked over to him. "I gotta say I wasn't sure if you'd come."

"Uh, yeah," Jack smiled. "Me neither, TBFH," he chuckled. "It smells like the inside of Martha Stewart's purse in here."

"Oh yeah, Chase made weed cookies." She held out her quarter for him. "Take this, I'll go get another piece for me."

Chase shrugged. “Um, it was more of a general invite? Alec said they were co–“ As if summoned, they were there. “Hey!” Chase turned his attention to them. “Sure do! But don’t have any eggs, dairy, or nuts.” He turned to Jesse again. “Uh, I dunno who else. Blue, maybe?”

"Uh," Jack took the quarter cookie in his hand, eyes wide. He hadn't been high before and had no idea this is how the night was going to go. But at the same time, the cooke did smell great...

Malia noticed his hesitation. "You okay?" she asked. "Oh my gods, did I just peer pressure you? I totally did, didn't I? I'm sorry, you don't have to eat this."

Jack laughed. "No, I mean, that's fine. I've just never... Done this before? I've always been curious but, like... Just have not."

Alec beamed at Malia, then bounded over to Chase and Jesse. They scooped up a cookie and broke it in half. "Oh holy mackerel, awesome! You're the fucking best." As they happily chewed away at it, they started petting the cat in Chase's arms. "Can I hold him?"

"Oh, okay." Jesse closed his eyes for a half second and exhaled when Alec came over, and then put on what he hoped was a polite smile.

"Ah." Malia tapped her lips. "Okay, eat like, half of that and check in with me in like, 20 minutes. We'll just pace you."

"Okay," Jack brought the cookie up to take a bite. His first was cautious and amounted to nothing more than a nibble. Swallowing the crumb down, Jack thought to himself, It's already quartered, it's probably not that much, and ate the rest of the piece in one bite. "Ugh. Butter makes everything taste so good."

Chase opened his mouth when Alec took the cookie and then closed it when they only took half. He smiled and held the cat out to drop into Alec’s arms. “I’m gonna go make a sign for the cookies. Can y’all stay here and make sure people don’t take more than half?”

Casey pushed the Morpheus cabin door ajar and poked his head inside. "Knock, knock! It's your friendly neighborhood drug peddler—I mean girl scout!" Casey held his arm through the door, showing off two boxes of Girl Scout cookies in a little plastic bag.

Alec gave Chase two thumbs up and hopped up to sit on the counter beside the tray of cookies. "You got it! I'll guard them with my life." They hugged Killer # 2 close to their chest. "If anyone tries to take more I'll sic Killer here on them." Jesse looked between Chase and Alec, then rubbed his temple and nodded.

Malia blinked as he watched the whole quarter go into Jack's mouth. "Or, you can do that, too." She laughed and sipped her hot chocolate, finding it finally warm enough to drink. "It'll be fun! Here, uh, I dunno if you know everyone here?" She walked back into the kitchen. "That's Chase," she said, kissing their cheek as she walked past. "And that's Alec, and that's Jesse."

Alec waves at Casey from the kitchen with the arm they aren't using to hold Killer.

Jack rubbed his hands together to get off the crumbs. "I don't know anyone," Jack half-laughed. He waved along as Malia pointed people out, being careful not to make contact. "Uh, hey. I'm Jack. Thanks for inviting me."

"Oh my gods, kitty!" Casey launched into the room, setting the girl scout cookies on some surface along the way. "Hi kitty," he sang. "You're such a beautiful little mammal!" Casey smiled up at Alec. "And you're a beautiful mammal too, of course."

Chase smiled at Malia and waved at Jack, then waved at Casey. “Hey Case!” He smiled at Jack. “Ah, Chase.” He shoved a thumb into his chest. “Make yourself at home. It’s real cosy here.”

Jesse has only ever had one interaction with Jack before, and he isn't too keen to remember it. Still, he smiles at him– this is a better place to meet than on a frozen lake. "Uh, hi. I'm Jesse." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But Mal just said that, sorry."

Alec held Killer out to Casey so he can pet him, and then they reach out a hand to pat the top of Casey's head too. "Aw! We should make a club. Founding three members right here. There's vegan weed cookies!" They wave at Jack as well. "Hi Jack!"

Malia moved back into the kitchen to pick up another quarter of a cookie. She popped it into her mouth and kissed Jesse's cheek, too. She wanted to tell Jack that she also invited her brother, but wasn't sure how either person would take the news at the moment, so she refrained. "Should we put on some music?"

Jack waved and smiled at all the greetings, not sure if he was supposed to respond or if everybody else had just convened before Jack arrived and agreed to be nice to the weird guy. "Uh, yeah. Let's put some music on please."

Chase sprinted upstairs to grab a pen and paper and wrote “STRONG: TAKE HALF” on it so that people would get the message. He took a moment to rummage around his room and then ran back downstairs so that he could put the sign next to the cookies and hold allergy medication out to Alec. “Thought you might need this.” He leaned against the counter and looked around. He raised his eyebrows and pulled out his phone. “Does anyone have any requests?” He put on Toxic by Brittany Spears.

"Oh my god," Casey crooned as he stroked the cat. "Cute mammals and vegan weed cookies," he repeated under his breath. His active listening turned off at first contact with the cat and the verbal response was just his way of saving the memory in case it came up again later.

Jack narrowed his eyes at Chase when Toxic came on. He whispered to Malia, "Is Chase... Gay?"

"Ooh, yes, put on—" But the music started playing before she could finish her sentence. Malia laughed, slapping a hand over her mouth. "What would make you think that?" she replied quietly, giggling again.

"Two of the best parts of life," Alec replied cheerfully, breaking off a small piece of one of the cookies and popping it into their mouth. They almost spit it out in their excitement when Toxic comes on and they immediately hop off the counter. "Chase, I would die for you!"

"Um, do you not hear and see what is happening in front of you?" Jack gestured vaguely in Chase's direction. "I mean, like, it's great. But..." Jack laughed.

Jesse exhaled a laugh at Chase and leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms over the pastel pyjama shirt he's borrowing from his brother.

Malia laughed again. "Oh don't worry, I see it. Jack, I think me and Jesse are the only straight people at this party right now."

Chase laughed at Alec and blew them a kiss before looking at Malia. “I can queue up a song that you want!”

Jack looked around the room, brows furrowed. "Um... Since when?" If what Mal was saying was true, then Jack had to fight the urge not to kick himself for coming out to these events sooner.

Alec picked up one of Killer's paws in each hands and made him dance along to the song with them.

Casey pulled a pen from his pocket and took a deep hit, watching Alec dance with Killer. "So debonair!"

Alec cracked up and let Killer jump down once he started to struggle. They sneezed three times in quick succession and picked up the allergy medication Chase had given to them a minute earlier. "That's what they call me!" @spexile

Malia laughed. "I mean... since always? But since we've all been aware? A few years." @spexile

"Oh my gods, are you allergic to the kitty?" Casey sat down to let the cat brush by him as he walked away.

Jack widened his eyes and laughed. "Ugh. Of course. So are there, like, no straight boys at this camp at all because..." Jack's sentence trailed off as he remembered who he was talking to.

"Nope!" Alec replied as they took one of the pills. "I'm allergic to all kitties! And everything else with fur. Do horses have fur, or is it hair? Maybe I'm not allergic to horses. I haven't really tested it out, I think they're some creepy."

Malia raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Chase took half of a cookie and nudged Jesse. “What’s up? You look like you’re leaving your body.”

"Huh?" Jesse blinked a few times and turned to Chase, breaking into a smile. "Sorry, zoning out. Everyone looks really nice, yeah? Especially for a pajama party." He ran a hand through his hair, watching Malia as he said this. @caitlin

"Oh my gods," Casey gasped, pushing Killer away. "That's so tragic, I'm so sorry for your loss. I mean, I don't have any cats or pets or anything, but I love being a pet uncle."

Chase smiled and leaned against the counter. “Yeah, not everyone just wears sweatpants to bed.” He looked at Malia as well. “I really like her robe.”

"Nothing!" Jack quickly covered up. His eyes scanned the room, looking for something to change topics to, but he came up short. "So, pajamas..."

"It's horrible," Alec sighed dramatically, their expression giving away how much they were exaggerating their distress. By the time Killer was out of sight, a grin had spread back across their face and they waved their hand. "I used to work in a pet store, I can handle a couple cats."

Malia gave him a knowing smirk. "Were you going to say something about my brother?"

"What? Why!" Casey laughed. "That's so masochistic of you but also feels so correct for your vibe and I love that for you."

"Um, what?" Jack turned red, unable to help the smile forming on his face. "I have no idea what you're talking about, shut up."

Chase sings along to Womanizer under his breath.

Chase also looked around. “Uh, if we don’t all want to stand, we can move to the couches?”

"Working around animals all the time's a dream come true, eh? But they fired me after four days." Alec laughed. "'Cause I was allergic to everything in the store except the fish." They turned to Chase. "I love couches, let's go!"

"Okay, I'm pretty sure you'd be super obvious to anyone, but I literally have a superpower about this stuff so don't play dumb."

"Oh my gods, you're incredible," Casey laughed, getting up to join everyone on the couches. "I want the side seat!"

"Ugh." Jack flushed. "Wait, what do you mean you have a superpower?"

Chase grabbed the tray of cookies to take with him so that the cats wouldn’t be able to get at them while he wasn’t looking. “Case, I put up the shamrock stained glass.” He smiled and pointed it out to him as they sat down.

Malia shrugged and finished her hot chocolate. "I have a superpower. I like, know who everyone likes, who everyone is fucking. All that good stuff. I used to think I was just really observant? But I'm pretty sure it's because of my mom. Oh my gods, but my brothers don't have it, before you like explode with embarrassment. Parker is so clueless and if Kieran did have the same thing I'm pretty sure he wouldn't care enough to do anything about it."

Casey gasped. "Oh my gods!" He went up to the glass to admire the details. "Oh my gods, wait, Chase, now that I'm not drunk, this is actually so good!"

Jesse waited for Chase to leave the kitchen before he followed. He paused to smile and shake his head at the twister mat in the middle of the room before taking a seat on one of the couches.

Alec veered away from the couches to go over to the glass as well. "Aw, shit, it is really good!" They looked over their shoulder to smile at Chase. "You have a new calling!"

"Wait, so, like... Can you tell if someone, like..." Jack didn't know how to phrase the question without sounding pathetic. "What do you think you sense with me and your brother, then?"

Chase set down the cookies and then turned to lean over the back of the couch to look at where his art was hanging near the window. “Aw, guys, you’ll make me blush!” He nodded sagely. “Drunk art is a talent of mine.”

L knocked at the door and smiled at Blue and Parker. “This was a good idea for a party!” Parker shrugged.

Malia hummed and turned toward the sink to start washing her mug. She had a huge grin on her face. "Well, I don't think you need a superpower to tell?" She glanced at Jack. "Let's just say there's a reason I left you two alone on St. Patrick's day."

Jesse got back up from the couch to get the door when the knock came. He opened the door and looked at Parker, then Blue, then L. "Oh, hey. Come in."

Blue nodded, taking L's hand in hers. She slapped Parker lightly on the back. "It is! I don't know why Parker is being so grumpy about it." When Jesse opened the door, she grinned at him. "Sup." She pushed Parker in ahead of her and followed after him.

L stepped in and gave Jesse a hug in greeting. “Hi! I hope we’re not too late!” She pulled away and took Blue’s hand again. Parker sighed and stepped in. “I’m not grumpy, I just don’t see the point in buying clothes specifically to sleep in.” He smiled awkwardly and looked at Jesse. “Um, hi.”

Jesse nodded at Blue and gave L a one-armed hug back before stepping away to give them room to enter. "No, no, not at all." He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled back at Parker. "Hey," he repeated. "What's up?"

Jack's sheepish grin fell off very quickly as Parker, L, and Blue all walked into the cabin. Breathing deeply, Jack pressed his lips together. After the jacuzzis he had mentally prepared himself for a moment like this, but now in person, his heart and brain still felt like they were operating miles apart.

Blue wandered into the living room and, of course, Jack was there. She immediately Did Not look at him and instead put her focus on Casey. She rushed over to him. "Fuck yes, we look so good!"

"Oh my god, trash babies!" Casey squealed and ran over to celebrate with Blue. "What is this recurring mammal theme tonight?" He turned to Alec and called out, "Watch out, we've got some allergens coming through!"

L followed after Blue and waved goodbye to Jesse. “Oh, Alec, do you need any antihistamines? I don’t have any on me but it’s probably not a far run to my cabin.” She teased.

His reaction was not quite what she expected, but looking at what he was staring at told her why. She took a deep breath and dried off her hands quickly. "Want me to go get Parker?"

Alec moved to sit on the back of the couch and pretended they were trying to lean even further away from Casey and Blue. "No! Keep them away! Also you guys are cute as all hell, aw." They shook their head at L. "I'm good, I'm good! Chase got me some already."

Parker shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “Um, nothing. Cool idea for a party.” He hoped Jesse hadn’t heard him bitching about it to Blue a moment ago.

"Oh, yeah, it was Chase's." Jesse cleared his throat and glanced back at the couches. "Yeah."

"Um, no, I mean, he can live his life. it's cool." Jack tried to sound casual but wasn't convinced that he did.

Blue gasped, clutching Casey as if in need of support to stand. "You're allergic, to mammals?"

“Oh.” Parker frowned but didn’t know how to retract his statement without sounding like a hypocrite. “Um, Mal said she was here?”

Jesse relaxed. "Yeah, yeah, just over there. Talking to Jack."

"I know, right?" Casey confirmed. "It pains my heart and I'm not even involved." Casey shook his head piteously toward Alec.

"I am," Alec responded mournfully. "Like, all of them. Wait." They scrunched their eyebrows together. "Not humans. Humans are mammals? Yes."

Parker felt the blood drain from his face. He looked over at Jack and made sure that was far away from where Blue was. “Um, did your brother choose the guest list?”

"I guess?" Jesse shrugged– he's not sure what Parker's really asking, and he has no desire to find out. "I think it was open invite, kind of."

Malia watched Jack carefully, then checked the time on her phone. "Well, okay, that edible is probably going to hit you in a hot sec. We can just chill in here for now?"

L nodded. “Humans are mammals because we make milk! I’m pretty sure you’re just allergic to, like, fur an dander though. But, actually, going back to the milk thing...” she squinted. “I guess you are... allergic to all mammals.”

"That was a gross sentence!" Alec said to L, brightly.Casey fiddled with the ears of his onesie. "Dude... That's so rough," he laughed.

Blue laughed and kissed her girlfriend's head. "You're so fucking cute." She turned back to Casey. "So, I was told there was weed? Where's that?" Jack nodded. "Uh yeah. I mean," Jack looked for a place to sit on the floor. "How do I know when it happens?"

“Ugh, okay.” He frowned again and looked at the two groups of people, and then made his way over to Jack and Malia when he made his decision. “Hey. Hi.” He smiled at them a bit.

"Oh, you'll know." She looked to Parker when he walked over and smiled. "You came! Hi."

L laughed. “I know! I regretted it as it was coming out of my mouth!” She smiled at Blue and tugged at one of her raccoon ears. “Says you in this.”

Jack smiled at Parker as he walked over. "Hey!" Jack noticed that the question he had just posed Malia was echoing now in his brain. How do I know when it happens?

Parker took a seat near Jack. “Hey,” he repeated and shrugged at Malia. “Yeah, Blue invited me.”

"That's cool," Jack mentioned a little too quickly. "Mal invited me." Jack felt a tingle slowly rise up his spine and a smile started forming on his face. "Yeah," he chuckled.

"And so did I! Jerk." She crouched down so she could look at the both of them more easily, smiling despite the weirdness between her and her brother right now. She watched Jack's smile slowly travel across his face and then looked back to Parker. "I was just telling Jack that he might start to feel this edible soon. He took a quarter of one so it should be fine, though."

"Ah, c'est la vie," Alec responded to Casey (on time) and stroked an imaginary beard to give the impression of wisdom. "You can quote me on that."

Blue giggled and pressed her mouth to L's neck briefly. She came back upright and slung her arm across her girlfriend's shoulders. "Very wise," she said to Alec. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before."

Casey scampered away from Blue and L to give them space, taking a seat beside Alec on the couch instead. "Is this distance okay? You'll let me know if you get allergic to me?"

“Oh. Yeah.” Parker flushed. He’d mentioned Blue inviting him to get at Malia and hadn’t even thought of Jack in the moment. He frowned at her. “You gave him an edible?” He tried not to sound too judgemental.

"Thanks! I should put it on a t-shirt." Alec grinned at Blue. They slung an arm around Casey's shoulder and leaned against him. "I'll let you know by sneezing on you, does that work?"

Jack shrugged. "I took it, she didn't peer pressure me." With each wave of static rising up his back, Jack felt his smile grow wider and wider. "This is... Great." He laughed.

Malia sighed. "I gave him a quarter of an edible, and told him to eat half of that to take it slow. Jack," she smiled at him, more teasing this time, "decided to eat the whole thing. But I promise, it's fine. You look very chill, Jack."

"Yes, that's wonderful, right into my hand." Casey cupped a hand under Alec's chin, pinching their nose twice in the process.

"Ugh, shut up, I literally look the same." Jack grinned goofily.

L blushed and nodded at Alec, though she hadn’t really been paying attention to what they were saying. She took a seat on the couch. “Were you asking about something, babe?”

Parker squinted and then hummed in acknowledgement at Malia and then looked back at Jack, and then at the floor. “You do. I’m actually surprised you’re not wearing a power ranger’s suit, since it’s a pajama party.”

Alec scrunched their nose up after Casey pinched it and shook their head like a wet dog. "Gross!" they laughed. "Is there enough like, DNA in that to clone me if I do? I feel like I talk about cloning a lot. Maybe I just talk about everything a lot."

"Um, you told me that we were never gonna talk about that again." Jack pointed at the ground in front of Parker.

Malia tucked her hair behind her ear and stood. "I'm gonna go say hi to everyone else. I like, barely spoke to Alec since they got here." She winked at Jack and then lightly squeezed Parker's shoulder, even though he wasn't looking at her. She walked away from them and wandered over to Jesse, grabbing his hand as she moved to his side. "Hey."

"Yes you do, but so do I." Casey leaned into Alec's embrace and kicked his feet up onto the couch. He pulled his pen out of his pocket and took another hit before holding it out to Alec. "Do you want some of this? It's CBD."

Jesse had been caught between heading back to the kitchen or sitting by Chase on the couch, so he relaxed when Malia approached and gave him something to do besides examining the shamrock stained glass. "Hey," he replied, squeezing her hand with a smile and turning to face her fully.

Parker laughed and ducked his head. He looked back at Malia, smiling a bit as she walked over to Jesse, then shook his head at Jack. “No, no. I promise, my lips are sealed. It was just too perfect to not bring up right now.”

Blue dropped onto the couch and pulled L a little closer to her. "Oh, I was gonna ask about the edibles, but I think they're in the kitchen and uh, someone is in there." She looked around, frowning when she didn't see Parker. "I don't want to make it weird so I'll just— Oh! Casey," she rolled her head over so she was looking at him, now. "Can I have some too? Pleaaaaase?"

"Okay, but actually," Jack leaned it. "If I got like, not a morphsuit, but a headless one? Like a turtleneck with gloves? Would that be weird? Because I feel like it could be like, a thing?" Jack cackled. "Oh my gods. Wow. No sorry, I heard it as I was saying it."

Alec was beginning to feel the edible kick in. "Yell heah," they sighed happily and took the pen, settling against Casey more. "You are an angel and also so comfortable I never want to move again. But hat could also be the, uh," they waved a hand around. "–decor? Yeah, the decor speaking. It's so cozy in here!" Alec passed the pen to Blue.

Chase blinked out of his momentary suspended animation and looked at the people around him on the couch. “Oh, uh, Blue, the edibles are here.” He smiled and pointed at the coffee table. “Didn’t want the cats to be able to get at them.” He blinked again. “Also, hi!”

Malia could feel the edible hitting her slowly, and she smiled up at Jesse easily. "I," she said a little smugly, "stopped a potential disaster. Jack is safe and stoned in the kitchen."

L nodded approvingly at Chase not wanting the cats to consume drugs. She backtracked when she thought of who she might have seen in the kitchen. “Ah, good idea.”

"Yeah, Blue, just take it," Casey waved a hand nonchalantly. "Um, don't take my comfiness away and credit it to inanimate objects! I'd like full recognition for everything you're feeling right now, thank you." Casey pulled his feet onto Alec's lap and nuzzled his raccoon hooded head into Alec's neck. "If they're gonna be cute on that side of the couch, then so are we!"

Parker tilted his head to the side, a smile spreading across his face. “No, no, please let me hear about this thing.”

"Oh shit, I'm blind," she said, laughing. "Okay wait, I don't want your pen." She grabbed a half of a cookie and started to eat, then snuggled back into L's side. "It is a good idea. I have a lot of them, surprisingly."

Jesse didn't bother glancing at the kitchen to check, too busy smiling at Malia. He rested his free hand on the side of her arm. "I guess that makes you the resident peacekeeper."

Chase picked up the nearest cat since everyone seemed to be pairing off. He looked at Casey and then at Blue. “Are you guys matching on purpose, or was this a coincidence?”

"Ugh!" Jack cackled again. He wasn't sure if he could feel his face turning red or if that was just the high. "I was thinking like it'll be like a turtleneck but with the morphsuit hands. And I could just wear it under what I normally wear and it would just look like gloves, but then I could like, poke your face or hold your hand or something stupid like that, blah, blah. Ugh," Jack pulled his face down with his hands, half laughing, half whining. "What am I right now?"

Alec wrapped both of their arms around Casey fully now. "I take it back! You can have 110% of the credit." They rubbed their cheek against the top of his head. "You're saying we're not always cute? I'm betrayed!"

L moved so she could put her arm around Blue. “That’s not surprising! You had the idea about the solar panels!”

"Literally just a coincidence, I don't even know this woman," Casey called out to Chase, scowling at Blue. "And nooo, we are! Sh, shh." Casey gave Alec a reassuring stroke on the back of their head.

"Oh shit, you're right!" Blue laughed as she swallowed the rest of the edible. At Chase's question, she leaned over and flicked Casey's head. "Don't lie because I look better than you!"

Malia flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Oh, me? What an honor! Glad to be of service." She leaned a little closer to him as she laughed, lifting her hand to pull at his shirt. She thought better of it at the last second and lowered it again. "Everyone is on the couch, should we like, actually use the blanket fort?"

Parker felt his chest swell and pressed his face into the cupboard next to him to try to cool his cheeks down at least slightly. He pressed his palm into his mouth to keep from smiling too much and to keep down a small, strangled sound at how cute Jack was. He covered it up as a cough and nodded at Jack, face still against the cupboard. “Wanna hear something lame?”

Alec flopped backwards when Blue leaned over so they were half twisted and lying over the arm of the couch now, still somewhat entangled with Casey. "I hate it when you fight!" they said with a laugh to the two of them. "Not in front of the children!"

Jack sighed, smiling at Parker. "Please. Let me be the not lame one for like, two seconds," he laughed.

Chase laughed and put his hands up. “Woah, woah, calm down everyone, didn’t mean to start anything. This is actually a zero violence household, so I’m gonna have to ask y’all to cool it, you both look great in your fursuits.”

"Aye!" Casey flinched in exaggerated offense when Blue flicked him. "Don't you flick me!" Casey swatted Blue away, his other hand grabbing Alec's shoulder to keep himself steady. "I'm the good parent!" Casey protested to Alec and Chase. "She literally started it."

L pressed her hands to her cheeks and fake-sobbed.

Parker spoke quickly so he couldn’t stop himself. “I brought plastic gloves with me from work so that maybe we could hold hands on Saint Patrick’s day, but I didn’t know how to bring it up.” He leaned back on his hands.

"Sure." Before letting go of Malia's hand so they could move, Jesse ducked his head to lean closer to her so he could still be heard. "You really look amazing tonight."

Jack closed his eyes. His body was frozen still, but a huge smile grew on his face. "Wait... Are you... Being serious?"

Alec pretended to wipe tears away. "This is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but with raccoon fisticuffs on a chesterfield."

“Ugh.” The cabinet wasn’t even cool anymore. Parker sighed. “Yeah.”

“Yeah, and I’m finishing it.” Chase did his best to sound serious and not to laugh, but utterly failed when Alec spoke. “Not with a bang, but with the most Canadian sentence I’ve ever heard in my life.”

"Yo, I have no fuckin clue what you just said, but yes." Blue turned a exaggeratedly mean face to Casey. "You're going down, Casey."

Casey threw his head back laughing at Alec's lament and wrapped his arms around Alec's shoulders again. "Raccoons are very vicious, I can't help it. We fight to the death, we eat trash, and we loan out money for desert island real estate." Casey stuck a tongue out at Blue. "Try me, Nook."

"Do not insult me like that! Nook? The evil capitalist scum? You're really dead for that." She disentangled from L just to get close enough to flick Casey between the eyes, then moved back to her spot. "Try me again."

Jack felt like simultaneously melting and fizzing up like a bottle rocket. "You don't like..." He drew a circle on the floor between them with his finger. "Have them right now... Do you?"

Malia's face uncharacteristically flushed, and she turned her head a bit into his so the rest of the room wouldn't see. "So do you, and I mean it. You look sexy in stripes."

Casey gasped and sat frozen, mouth agape. "You just—Chase!" Casey turned his head toward Chase and yelled out. "Blue is bullying me again!"

"You brought that on yourself!" Blue shouted back, trying to hold in a laugh and keep up the bit.

Parker had never regretted not taking plastic gloves with him to a party more. In all honesty, he considered it, coming to the Morpheus cabin. He pulled his face from the cupboard and buried it in his hands. “No. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Alec lifted their head more to look at L past the ruckus on the couch. "Did you know koalas have smooth brains?"

Chase tutted and wagged a finger at Blue. “Hey, hey. What did I just say? Raccoon or not, you gotta keep your paws off each other.”

L tilted her head at Alec. “What does that mean?”

Jesse touched her cheek , then remembered where they were and dropped his hand. His ears were warm, and the flush was quickly spreading to his cheeks. "Should we sit down?"

"Their brains are smooth," Alec repeated to clarify.

“What does that mean!” L laughed.

Jack pressed his hands into his face then laughed and shook them away. "That's okay! I'm like—I feel so good right now and I'm just really happy that you're here." Jack scooted closer and touched his index finger to Parker's knee.

Casey stuck out his tongue at Blue again, but he was smiling. He gave Alec's shoulder a squeeze before standing up and walking over to Chase. "Hey! Are we gonna play Twister?"

Malia glanced around the room. "I think I actually left something upstairs," she said quietly, brushing her hand lightly over his chest. "I should go get it now before a game starts or something."

Parker smiled so hard that his cheeks hurt. He touched Jack’s knee, careful not to make contact with his skin. “Me too.”

Alec held their hands out until Casey was fully out of reach, at which point they wrapped their arms around themself instead and turned their attention back to L. "You know how our brains are wrinkly, like coral? Koalas don't have wrinkles, their brains are right smooth! That's why they're bad at crosswords."

Chase tilted his head and then perked up a bit. “We should!” He stood and looked around. “Does everyone wanna play Twister?” He addressed the party.

Jesse didn't get the chance to agree before Chase spoke. He closed his eyes for a moment, then laughed and rubbed the back of his neck again. "Spoke too soon, I guess."

Jack savored the moment for only a second before hearing Chase's announcement. He dropped his head and laughed. "Ugh. Of course it's Twister." He smirked up at Parker. "That's like, a total disaster if I play, right?"

Malia's eyes closed in frustration. "Okay, well, maybe we can go get it later?" she asked him quietly.

L tilted her head, blinked, and then laughed. “Are you serious? About the smoothness, not about the crosswords.”

"Twister!" Casey yelled in repetition, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Fuck yes, Twister!" Blue clapped.

Jesse tucked a piece of hair behind Malia's ear and gave her a half-smile. "Of course."

Parker exhaled a laugh and shrugged. “I bet you could do really well, actually.” He shook his head. “Ugh, nevermind, I didn’t say that.”

Chase picked up the spinner and put it on the floor. “Okay, so, either if someone doesn’t want to play or if someone’s closest, they can spin the wheel for everyone else?”

"Deadly serious!" Alec exclaimed. Without sitting up they slowly slid off the couch, head first, so they could lie on the ground by the twister mat. "Sounds good, Chase!"

Jack laughed and rose to his feet. He pulled the sleeves of his sweaters down past his fingers and held his covered hands out to help Parker up.

It was physically painful to rejoin the party and sit at the Twister mat, but Malia managed, somehow. She pulled Jesse along with her so they were sitting beside each other.

Casey bounded across the floor to sit beside the mat. "Has anyone ever played this in underwear covered in oil?" He asked nobody in particular.

"Only you, weirdo," Blue said as she moved, pulling L along with her. "But that does sound fun."

"I've played it in a swimsuit covered in oil, does that count?" Alec asked, sitting up so there was more room.

“That’s very Greek.” L nodded as she followed after Blue.

"Um, I've never done it," Casey clarified. "I just think it sounds fun! Did you have a good time?" he asked Alec.

Jesse followed Malia easily and nodded his head towards the blanket fort before he sat. "Want a pillow?"

Parker took Jack’s hands through his sleeves despite not needing any help up. He stood there for a moment, the dropped his hands, heart pounding in his chest. “Um, were you gonna be spinner?”

"It was crazy hard, but fun!" Alec moved to sit up on their knees. "We did it on the beach with way too much spray on sunscreen. Slip-sliding everywhere."

"Uh, I guess." Jack's heart sank a little bit. A naive part of him was hoping he'd be able to play, but he wasn't sure how. "Do you think—" Jack turned to Parker. "If they have gloves, maybe I could play? I could just, like... Wear a scarf and gloves?"

"Oh," Malia didn't want to be not at his side for ever a few seconds. But, her ass would start to hurt, sitting here, so she nodded. "Sure, yes, thank you."

Parker blinked and then nodded quickly. “Uh, yeah, I don’t see why not!” He looked around. “Do you want me to ask?”

"Oh my gods, sunscreen, that's genius!" Casey clapped his hands in recognition. "I bet tanning oil would work too. Except for the radiation but whatever, beauty is pain, right?"

"Yeah, please. I like, just officially met half the people here and I'm afraid I won't remember their names," Jack laughed.

Chase crouched to pick a cat off the mat again. “Should I change?” He asked Malia and Jesse, since they seemed least likely to make fun of him and most likely to tell him the truth.

"Well," Malia looked over to Chase. "I love the shorts, but if you're in a compromising position it might be... a bit of a show, for us?" She giggled. "Up to you."

Jesse disappeared into the blanket fort and came back out with a pillow in time to hear Chase's question. He glanced between Chase's shorts and the twister mat. "Maybe, yeah, you might want to." He held out the pillow for Malia, then sat down next to her.

Parker smiled and reached out to touch Jack’s sleeve again. “Cool, I know...” He looked between Chase and Jesse and frowned. “I can ask Jesse.” He dropped his hand and walked over to Jesse and Malia as Chase left, figuring Jack would follow.

Chase bobbed his head and scampered up the stairs.

Alec laughed and leaned against Casey again. "But the tanning oil would rub off some places and stay on the other! Your skin would look right fucked up."

Jack followed Parker. The sensation of walking was very interesting to say the least. Jack found his mind drifting to several different places in the short span of distance between where they were sitting and where Jesse stood. Casey put an arm around Alec. "Okay, good point, good point. So then maybe the beauty is in the fun and laughter you share with your friends and then you just wear long sleeves the next day!"

Blue was leaning on her hands, her eyes mostly closed and lazily leaning in and out, lightly pecking L's lips every time she was close to their face. She wasn't paying attention to the rest of the room. "What did you learn about koalas?" she asked.

Jesse blinked when Parker came over and looked to Malia, remembering now something about a fight between them. He assumed Parker had come to speak to his sister, so he waited for one of them to speak with hopes that it wouldn't turn into an argument.

Malia accepted the pillow from Jesse and moved so they were practically touching while sitting next to each other. She looked up at her brother from her place on the floor and gave him a little smile. "What's up?"

“Um.” Parker cleared his throat and looked at Jesse mainly. “Do you have, like, gloves and scarves and stuff?”

Alec smushed their face into Casey's shoulder. "You're a genius. We could do that in my loft! Except I don't have tanning oil or money to buy it. I have vegetable oil?"

L was in and out of conversations. She smiled. “They have smooth brains! No wrinkles, and can’t solves puzzles because of it.” She nodded a bit, then looked at Casey and Alec. “If vegetable oil comes from vegetables and olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from?”

Jesse rested one hand on the ground behind Malia so that even though his arm wasn't around her, there was still a semblance of it. He drew his eyebrows together. "Winter clothes? Uh, yeah, some. Why?"

"Vegetable oil is probably so bad for your pores but maybe, like, olive oil? Is that expensive?" Casey laughed. "Or bubble bath! Oh my gods, this Twister idea is getting steamier and steamier."

Blue laughed at L's joke, resting her head on her shoulder. She glanced around the room finally, not sure how much time had passed since she sat down. She saw Jack standing in the middle of the living room and stared maybe a little too long, then turned her head in the opposite direction, staring at the floor.

Parker shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Because Jack wants to play Twister?”

Jack smiled and waved awkwardly at Jesse from past Parker. "I'm a freak, I'm sorry."

"Oooooooh," Malia turned to look at Jesse. "Do you have rubber gloves? They might have more traction than fabric."

Alec laughed at L. "Olive oil is so expensive," they lamented to Casey. "But I have bubble bath! Oh! Oh! I have bath oil. Or, Ime did, but they left it behind so it's fair game!"

Jesse fully noticed Jack behind Parker now. "Oh. Right." He realized how that sounded and flushed again. "Yeah, yes, we have rubber gloves in the kitchen. And you said a scarf, too? I can grab that."

L tucked a piece of hair behind Blue’s ear when Jack walked into the room and cuddled up next to her more. “Are we waiting for Chase to get back?”

"Wow, this is like, the most intimate game of Twister I've ever heard of and I am so in." Casey squeezed Alec's shoulder. "I'll bring the scented candles and red wine."

"Cool," Jack nodded at Jesse. "Good thinking with the rubber," Jack mentioned to Malia.

Parker nodded and resisted the urge to take Jack’s sleeve again. “Thanks.” He felt weird being the only people in the room standing and took a seat next to Malia. “Hey, what’s up?”

"I'll get the gloves?" Malia offered to Jesse, then turned to Parker with a smile. She wasn't sure if Chase would want to sit there, but her brother was talking to her so she didn't say anything about it. "I'm great, how are you? Actually, hang on, let me go get the gloves."

"That'd be great," Jesse replied to Malia. He smiled at Jack but was careful to keep a decent bit of distance between them as he got up and moved past to go get a scarf from the closet behind the door.

Alec heaved a sigh and pressed the back of their hand to their forehead. "You can't say things like that and not expect me to fall head over heels in love with you!"

Jack glanced around the room while waiting for the scarf and gloves. For a moment, his eyes found Blue and he pressed his lips together in a terse smile before quickly looking elsewhere.

Malia stood and walked over the mat and into the kitchen. She found the gloves in the cabinet underneath the sink and brought them back to Jack with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

Parker opened his mouth to speak to Malia and then closed it again. He folded his hands in his lap and pretended not to notice Blue.

Jack's attention fell back to Malia and he smiled, taking the gloves. "Honestly, so good. Like... Great." He pulled the rubber gloves on with a loud snap.

Blue didn't know what to make of that facial expression, but she was more focused on Parker sitting next to him, clearly with him. She turned her head back to L. "He just gave me the weirdest smile ever? What the hell?"

L frowned and tilted her head “Maybe that’s how he smiles?”

Jesse returned with two scarves, one large and one small. "Uh. I didn't know if you wanted a big one or not." He held them out, carefully.

Malia nodded, briefly squeezing his hand once the gloves were on. "Great." She returned to her spot at Parker's other side and bumped shoulders with him. "Okay, hi, I'm good. How are you?"

"Uh," Jack opted for the smaller one. "This is probably good. So it doesn't, like, drag or anything. Thanks." He wrapped the scarf around his neck, tucking the excess into his sweater. He sat down beside Parker, his face wrapped in a hand-knit neck brace. "This is great."

Parker moved his hand to the space between himself and Jack and looked at the Twister mat. He shrugged at Malia. “Um, I’m fine.”

Casey let his head rest on Alec's and brought up the hand that was wrapped around Alec's shoulder to cradle their face. "Fall in love with me, baby. That's all I've ever wanted."

Jesse nodded at Jack and wrapped the end of the other scarf around his wrist absentmindedly. "Should I check if Chase remembers the game?" he asked Malia.

Malia was debating trying to press for more conversation from her brother when Jesse spoke to her. "Oh, yeah," she frowned. "He's been gone for a while?"

Jack's gaze fell to Parker's hand. He shifted his weight to sit more comfortably before letting his hand settle beside Parker's, so their pinky fingers stacked.

"Hmph," Blue sighed, looking ahead and not at Parker again. "Maybe."

Alec could feel a blush spread across their face despite themself and they grinned at Casey. "I see now! You orchestrated this whole thing to seduce me! Keep going, it's working– flattery is accepted 24/7 in this town. By 'this town' I mean my brain."

Jesse shrugged one shoulder, but he glanced at the staircase. "He might've fallen asleep. I'll go check."

Malia's frown deepened. "Fallen asleep?"

Casey laughed. "Yes, good, then my plan is working beautifully." He let his hand move up to the side of Alec's head, gently scratching his hair. Casey suddenly remembered that he had brought cookies, but couldn't recall where had placed them. He pouted slightly as he wracked his brain for the memory.

Jesse glanced at Parker and Jack before deciding how much to say. “Yeah. He hasn’t been sleeping well. I’ll be right back.”

Malia nodded as Jesse walked away. She knew Chase hadn't been sleeping well but it was concerning to realize that he was this tired. She eyed the mat, brow furrowed in thought.

Parker stifled a smile at touching Jack’s hand and moved so the tips of his other fingers touched Jack’s. He tried to make it so that the line of sight between Blue and his hand was blocked and acted Fully Natural. He looked at Malia and tilted his head at her. “Are you okay?”

L frowned a bit at the mat and extended her legs in front of her. “Have you guys played Twister with paint? It’s awful.” She smiled.

“I’m high as all hell right now,” Alec sighed happily, feeling as though Casey was slowly pulling their soul from their body through their hair. “L! That sounds like a dream come true.”

Jesse headed upstairs and knocked on the wall beside Chase’s door, even though the door was ajar. “You okay in there?”

Jack relished in the sensation of having Parker's hand on his, as strange as the method was. Both physically and mentally, he was buzzing.

Chase was curled up on his carpet, pajama pants cuddled to his chest when Jesse knocked on the door. He sat up with a start and looked down at himself, shook his head, and sighed. He pulled the pants on and ran over to the door. “Ha, yeah, sorry.” He smiled and started back towards the stairs.

Casey laughed at Alec's declaration. He didn't have as much of a head high as he figured everyone else did, but the sensation of playing with Alec's hair was really satisfying multiplied with the CBD tingle. "Oh my god, wait, paint twister actually sounds so fun. Or like pigment powder twister, like they do in Holi?"

Malia looked over and Parker and smiled. "All good."

Jesse put an arm out to stop Chase before he reached the staircase. He was going to say something about how Chase didn’t have to go back down, or how he could stay with him upstairs if he wanted, but neither seemed quite right. He sighed and patted Chase’s shoulder instead. “Want me to make some coffee to get you through the party?”

Parker wanted to take Jack’s hand fully, but was somewhere between not brave enough and not stupid enough to do so in front of Blue. He frowned slightly at Malia. “Okay.”

Blue was trying very hard to ignore Parker sitting next to Jack but was only halfway succeeding. She turned to L and raised an eyebrow. "With paint? That sounds terrible, I kinda love it."

L bobbed her head at her friends. “It’s super messy, but I think it’d be fun. I’ve never done it, by the way.” She tilted her head at Casey. “Is that a thing? Do people end up inhaling it?”

“Pigment powder. I love the alliteration. And that sounds amazing! But less slippery than paint? So lower stakes.” Alec looked around at everyone. “All of the hosts have fled the circle. Oh, hey Parker!” They waved at him considering he was the only one they had yet to greet.

Chase stopped and frowned slightly, then shook his head. “Nah, man, I can make it though a party.” He exhaled a laugh as though this was obvious and started down the stairs. “Were y’all waitin’ for me?” He asked once he was down. “Y’should’ve started!”

"Oh good points," Casey conceded. "Okay, yeah, paint is probably better. And if the colors are all good, probably more aesthetic too?" Casey followed Alec's focus and waved at Parker and Jack.

Parker looked somewhat less than pleased to have Alec bringing attention to him and flushed, glad Jack wouldn’t feel how sweaty his hand was. He coughed. “Um, hey.”

L nodded. “I think I wouldn’t do all the colours on the board! Because then you’d just get brown, right? I’d pick nice pastels or something.” She looked over at Parker when Alec and Casey waved, but thought she probably shouldn’t wave.

“How’s it going?” Alec asked Parker since it was clear Parker didn’t want a conversation. They laughed at Chase when he returned. “Howdy,” they replied in a poor imitation of his accent. “Yeah, w’all were waitin’!”

Jesse returned to his seat beside Malia, watching Chase carefully.

"Yeah, that's a good point. Wow, look at you, Apollo kid over here with the color consciousness," Casey snapped for L with his free hand.

Malia bumped Jesse's shoulder with her own and waved at Chase. "We were! Ready to start?"

Blue is pointedly not looking at Parker. "Who's spinning?" she asked the group.

"Well, we probably can't all play at the same time right? Maybe we could do teams and spin for our teammates," Casey suggested.

“Um, I’m fine.” Parker’s fingertips started to tingle, but he brushed it off as anxiety. “I hear you’re well? High as a kite, was it?”

"Ooooh, good idea." Blue nods. "Okay...." she scans the room. "Teams of three?"

"Close enough," Alec replied cheerfully. "I'm glad you pay attention!" They counted the number of people in room, then nodded. "So like, teams of three where one person spins and the other two duel to the death?"

Chase shook his head and mussed up Alec’s hair as he passed them to take a seat next to Jesse. “Sorry! Killer was bein’ real cute.” He looked around and bobbed his head. “That sounds like a good idea.”

"Don't even joke about death matches, Alec, because I will make it happen," Casey replied seriously.

L looked around. “Should the teams be random?” She suddenly felt like that could turn out terribly. “No!” She replied to herself. “I wanna be on Blue’s team!”

Also she was totally like “omg Casey I AM a color conscious Apollo kid!!!” on time

Blue laughed and pulled L closer. "Okay! And..... Chase, come join us!"

"In.... in Twister? How would that even work?" Alec glanced around the circle again. Their eyes settled on Jack and Parker's hands for a second and they smiled to themself, but it quickly faded and they drew their eyebrows together and pulled their phone out to text Parker.

arent u allergic to latex???

Chase scooted closer to Blue and waved goodbye to Jesse and Malia. “Godspeed without me, guys.”

Malia glanced between the two clearly forming couples on either side of her and Jesse. She put her chin on his shoulder. "We might have to split up," she pouted.

Jesse smiled at her and rested a hand on her back. "Did you want to play? Because I really just want to spin."

Malia laughed. "I also really just want to spin."

Parker checked his phone and made a weird face at Alec when he saw it was them that texted him. He checked the message and the color drained from his face as he realized his fingertips were not pounding in time with his heart but because they were starting to swell. He pulled his hand away and shoved it in his pocket. “Um, where’s the bathroom?”

"Seems it's for the best, then." Jesse blinked and looked over at Parker. "Uh, just over there." He pointed to a door under the staircase.

Feeling Parker's hand pull away, Jack looked down at his own. At took a second longer than it normally would to register the question being posed. "Uh..." Jack turned to Jesse for an answer.

Parker nodded and rushed to the bathroom so he could run his fingers under cold water.

Casey, ever eavesdropping, cupped a hand beside his mouth and called across the room to Malia and Jesse. "Give us your boyfriend!"

Malia sighed. At Casey's suggestion, she closed her eyes and smiled. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that!" she said to Casey. She ran a hand down Jesse's back. "Good luck," she said to him before scooting closer to Jack. "Where'd Parker go?"

Alec laughed at Casey and hopped to their feet. "I'll BRB!" They grabbed the allergy medicine Chase had given them earlier and put it on the ground outside the bathroom. "There's Reactine right outside," they said to Parker through the door ."Don't die!" With that, they hopped back over to Casey.

Chase looked at Blue and L and kept his voice low. “Who’s spinning? Also, should I use my powers to cheat?” L shook her head.

"Same to you," Jesse replied, also choosing to pretend not to have heard Casey. He moved over to sit by Casey and Alec. "Are you guys okay if I spin?"

Blue shook her head. "It's too obvious if you cheat in such a small room."

Jack nodded his head toward the bathroom. "To the bathroom." He folded his hands in his lap and smiled idly at the Twister mat. "This is great."

Malia giggled. "Still feeling good? I think you should be plateauing by now. I'm gonna spin, okay?"

"Yeah! Spin away," Casey chirped, scooting a bit to give Jesse room. As Alec came hopping back, Casey looked up at them. "Everything cool?"

Parker groaned quietly when he heard Alec outside the door and grabbed the allergy medication on the way out. He took a few and downed them with tap water before returning, hand still in his pocket. He sat between Jack and Malia. “We’re a team? Can I spin?”

Alec gave two thumbs up, one for Jesse and one for Casey. "Yep!" they replied to both. "We should get the Killers in on this."

"I just feel so calm. This is what Linda always talks about in my podcast. I just... Ugh." Jack sighed. His hands came up to the scarf to play with the knitting. "Your sister is spinning too," Jack mentioned to Parker as he came back.

Chase sighed and shrugged. “Pretend people are just really high.” L shook her head again. “No way!”

"Yes we are and absolutely not, I can't play twister in this outfit," Malia said to her brother. She grinned at him. "Sorry, deal with it."

Blue cackled. "Nah, we'll play fair." She wrapped her arms around L. "Okay but, who is spinning?"

Parker sighed. “Fine.” He smiled as Jack brought up his podcast. “The uterus one?” He pulled out his phone to text Alec quickly.

Pls dont mention it to anyone?

"The Power of U," Jack smiled. "Hosted by Linda Ballerini, expert in hollistic healing and women's health, thank you for joining us today."

L rubbed her cheek against Blue and smiled. “I can spin if you guys really want to play!” Chase hummed. “I am tall but not bendy. I have trouble touching my toes.”

Malia's mouth opened a little and she smiled. "Why do you listen to a women's health podcast?"

Alec winked at Parker, then realized that could be misinterpreted so they texted him back as well.

u got it!! u should also get new gloves for him tho if u guys are playing tweester together??

They laughed at how 'tweester' sounds for a couple seconds then put their phone away. "Are we against each other Casey? 'Teams' is misleading, eh?"

Parker smiled at Jack more and shook his head at Malia. “It sounds calming!” He checked his messages again and shrugged before putting his phone away.

"She's just so affirming and understanding and empowering. And her voice is like honey." Jack shrugged. "Helps me relax."

Jesse was getting more confused by each addition to the rules. "Wait, I thought we were playing as a team? Is it against each other?”

"Oh my gods, are we?" Casey thought about the logistics for a second. "I mean I guess if it's like every person for themself on the board then that makes sense," Casey shrugged.

"I was thinking like, the two non-spinners face off and whoever wins goes against the winner from another team! But we can also try and cram six people on the mat. That sounds hectic, in a great way." Alec nodded.

"Six people on the mat could be chaotic but also I love chaos," Casey suggested. "Or we could try to tie teammates back to back and have them play as a conjoined unit!"

Alec snapped their fingers. “I love that! Let’s do that.”

Jesse frowned slightly. “Or one from each team at a time?”

Malia still looked a little confused but nodded. "Okay, okay, fair enough." She overheard Alec and Casey's scheming and leaned over the mat. "Um, friends," she sing-songed. "How about, one from each team, when the first person falls the second person swaps in. Last person standing wins for the team?"

L smiled. “Hey, that way nobody has to just spin!” She nodded at Blue like this was the perfect solution.

Casey rolled his eyes. "I mean, Alec and my idea sounds way more fun but sure we can go with the rational thing." Casey leaned towards Alec to whisper, "Okay, so our game is gonna have bath oils, scented candles, and hand cuffs."

Malia shook her head. "Nope, no, I'm just spinning. Two people per team so it doesn't take too long?" She smiled sheepishly between Chase and Jesse. "Please?"

Alec grinned at Casey. “I have two of the three! Do you have scented candles?”

Casey shook his head quickly and put his hands up. "How is scented candles the thing that you don't have?"

Chase gave Malia a thumbs up. “I love not bending and stretching!”

“That’s a good idea,” Jesse answered quickly to Malia, then nodded and laughed at Chase.

Alec cocked their head to one side. “Huh, is that surprising? My cabin used to be full of explosives so I steered clear from candles.”

Satisfied, Malia moved back to her side of the mat. "Okay, Parker and or Jack, one of you get out there."

Casey blinked. "Wow. Amazing. Okay, no, yeah, I have scented candles."

Blue realized too late that Jack was not the spinner for his team and frowned. "Um," she scooted closer to Chase and spoke very quietly to him. "Hey, do you think this is a good idea?"

Parker looked from Malia to Jack and tilted his head. “Should I start? Not to brag, but I’m pretty flexible.”

"I," Jack slapped the floor in front of him, "would love to see that."

"Ew, Parker," Malia shook her head. "Go for it." She addressed the rest of the room. "Who has the spinner?"

“So now I’m thinking about it and being covered in oil with reduced mobility in a loft that has no railing and surrounded by fire is kinda fucking bananas?” Alec laughed. “Sounds thrilling! I’m glad I’m lucky!”

Chase chewed on the inside of his cheek, only now noticing Jack’s Lewk™️. “Um...” He looked at Jesse. “Probably not? Should... uh.” He tried to message Jesse through telepathy and looking at him.

L frisbee’d the spinner over to Malia.

Jesse glanced over at Chase and raised his eyebrows in question when he noticed his look. “Huh?”

Parker laughed and stood. Then, when he noticed nobody else was standing, he squatted so he seemed more ~casual~.

"You... Are incredible." Casey was at a total loss for words. "And also your cabin needs a visit from the fire marshall."

Chase looked at Jack, then at the mat, and then raised his eyebrows at Jesse in question.

Blue saw that Parker was up first and pressed her lips together. "Whatever," she muttered, and moved to stand on the mat. "Casey," she said to her friend. "Come on. Parker versus the raccoons."

Casey clapped, hearing Blue's challenge. "Yes! Let's go!" He stood up and moved to the edge of the mat. "Three competitors! Two species! One victor!"

Alec just laughed at Casey and waved a hand. “Go Casey! You got this!”

Jesse frowned slightly and shrugged one shoulder. “I think it’s okay,” he answered Chase.

Chase bobbed his head. “Alrighty. Spin, Malia. Raccoons should team up and get the human out for now! Then deal with each other.” He smiled. “No alliances!” L protested.

Malia laughed and spun the arrow. "Okay, left hand green."

Parker takes his hand out of his pocket and puts it on the mat, apparently Extremely skillfully.

Chase leaned over and spun the arrow. "Right foot red!"

Blue yawned as she put her hand down, a little off balance.

Casey feeling cocky, turned to face away from the mat, stretched his arms up overhead and leaned back, falling into a backbend with his left hand on green.

Alec whistles at Casey. "Holy shit!"

Parker put his foot on red.

Blue also whistles at Casey and stretches her foot out to hit a red circle. "Don't get too cocky, Case." she teased.

Casey, grinning cockily, slid his right foot over to land on a red circle. "I will be as cocky as I deserve, thank you."

Jesse spun the wheel now. "Uh, right hand green now."

Parker slid his hand over fairly easily to the green circle.

"Already there, baby!" Casey nudged his right hand over an inch to reach another green circle.

Parker put his hand exactly where Blue was reaching and it knocked her off balance. "Uuuugh," she groaned as she slipped out of place. "You screwed me over, Valentine!"

Parker blew Blue a kiss and smiled, hoping that this was a joking anger rather than a threatening one.

Casey tried to angle his head up so all the blood wouldn't rush into his brain.

L jumped up and took Blue's place. "I'll knock 'em dead, baby!" She was secretly glad that Blue was out before Parker.

Malia took the spinner back and twirled it around. "Okay... Left foot yellow."

Parker skillfully moves his foot to yellow.

L moves a leg next to Parker's.

Casey steps his left foot yellow, crossing his legs so that he's holding himself up sideways.

Chase took the wheel from Malia and flicked the spinner. "Left hand red!"

Parker moved his hand and leaned on his blisters. He inhaled sharply but managed to save it.

Casey calculated his next move in his head. With a quick switch, Casey managed to flip himself into an upright position on all fours, with his limbs in the appropriate places.

L moved one arm around but simply wasn't tall enough to reach the other colour. "Oof." She fell and sighed. "Sorry guys." She stuck out her lip as she crawled back to Chase and Blue.

"All good!" Chase patted L on the back. "You did better than I could've." He smiled. "It's all about having fun, anyway. Now we can watch them and mix up all the colors on the mat."

Blue booed. "This is rigged!" she protested, then pulled L close to her to kiss her cheek. "You were the cutest one out there."

Parker is also going After everyone to see which row he's supposed to do because I forgot that he was colorblind ok

L wrapped her arms around Blue and smiled. "Only because you weren't there!"

Jesse spun the wheel next. "Left foot red, now."

Casey deftly brings his left foot over to a red circle. "We're killing this, baby!"

Parker laughed at Casey. "Are you saying that to yourself?" He slipped as he twisted and hit his back. "Ugh." He rolled. "Jack, get in there." He smiled up at him.

"I'm saying it to my beautiful teammate and supporter over there," Casey nodded his head toward Alec.

Malia smirked at her brother. "Now that you're out you can spin," she teased him.

Alec cheered as Parker fell. "Whoo! Twister master Casey!"

It took Jack a solid moment to bring himself up to a standing position. "Oh my gods, okay. Ready to watch me fail?" He went over to the side of the mat and tried to visualize how he was going to take Parker's place.

Parker held up his hand to Malia. "I can't. Out on disability."

"Ugh," Malia swatted his hand away. "Fine, whatever. You ready, Jack?"

Chase whistled at Casey as well. "I believe in you, Nook!"

"Yep!" Jack called out from the mat. He crouched slowly and carefully placed each limb on a circle. "Oh my gods. Oh my gods. Ohhh my gods." Somehow, he managed to get into the correct position. "Oh my fucking gods, wait, am I doing it?" Casey laughed beside him. "Yeah man, that's it."

Blue took great interest in playing with L's hair now that Jack was on the mat.

Parker pulled his hand away, in fear of it actually hurting, and then grinned at Jack. "Oh, you're a natural!"

"Can you braid my hair?" L asked.

Malia spun. "Left hand yellow!"

Both Jack and Casey reached for the same yellow circle and for a moment, their bodies wobbled together on the mat. With clutch reflexes, both of them caught their balance, planting their hands on adjacent yellow circles. "Fuck," Jack hissed, chuckling all the while.

Chase bungled the colours up to throw them off, but did it too late

Blue couldn't help but watch as Jack got way too close to her friend's hand. She eyed the shared circle with suspicion then, finally, turned back to L. "Oh yeah, no problem." She ran her fingers through L's hair and started putting it into sections.

Chase leaned over to flick the spinner, then tossed it in Jesse's direction. "Uh, left foot green, I think it was?"

Casey saw that the easiest green circle was the one caught between them. Trying to move quickly, he launched his foot toward the circle. However, in his haste, he overshot the distance and accidentally kicked Jack's leg out from under him, sending them both toppling to the floor.

"Ow, fuck," laughed Jack.

"Sorry! My bad. Here—" As Casey brought himself up to sitting position, he offered a helping hand out to Jack. Jack reached out in response and before his high mind could perceive what was happening, Casey had grabbed onto his exposed wrists and pulled them both up to a standing position. Casey gave Jack a congratulatory pat on the back and turned to Alec, cheering, "Ay! Who's your man!" Behind him, Jack stood open mouthed, frozen.

Alec pointed at Casey and jumped to their feet. "You are! Wow, that was amazing! Did we win?"

Parker watched the interaction, opened his mouth to say something, and closed his mouth before anything could come out. He tilted his head at Jack and opened his mouth again, but didn't know what exactly he was supposed to say. He pushed himself up and raised his eyebrows at Malia. "Did you see that?"

"Hell yeah we did!" Casey ran over to Alec with his hands up for a celebratory high five. "Mammal power, baby!"

Chase smiled at Jesse, seeing nothing wrong with the interaction. "Good job! You won."

Blue watched them both wipe out with trepidation, and almost stood to interfere when Casey grabbed Jack's arm. But, nothing happened. Blue blinked and sat back.

Malia looked up from readjusting her robe. "What?"

Jack wasn't sure if he was having trouble processing what just happened or just having trouble processing. He looked back at Parker and Malia and stepped off the mat, his brain struggling to form a continuous thought. "Uh, sorry guys. I guess we lost."

Jesse smiled back. "I guess so. I got lucky with my team." He looked up at Casey. "That was really impressive."

Before Parker could say anything to Malia, Jack was back, so he just shook his head at her. "Nevermind." His heart pounded in his ears. "Oh, well. That doesn't matter, the teams were stacked. Alec, like, never loses games."

#frm.chatzy #mus.jack #mus.casey #rel.jack&parker #rel.jack&malia #rel.jack&jesse #rel.jack&blue #rel.casey&blue #rel.casey&alec #rel.casey&jesse #rel.casey&chase #rel.casey&jack

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niallismymuse · 5 years

Text

Chapter 5

For about three days, Tessa sat in her apartment and stewed. For some of the time she was pissed to the highest degree, but the for rest of it, she was just sad. Decades of friendship had just been tossed down the drain, and she didn’t know why.

They hadn’t ever fallen out like this; in fact, she and Jess hadn’t really fought in years. The last time they were both bitterly angry at the other was when Jess was hanging around with some idiot boyfriend, and Tessa had been jealous over how much time she was spending with him. They had argued about it, and then avoided each other for a week. But once that week was over, Jess dumped him, and they made up after promising to never fight again.

“Never fight again my ass,” Tessa grumbled to herself and sighed heavily.

Niall had maintained a respectful distance these past few days, giving her time to sort herself out after the cabin fiasco. He had texted her yesterday to check in, and again today, but that was all. She hadn’t brought up the near-kiss in the woods, and neither had he.

She hoped that what Jess said hadn’t ruined whatever was growing between them. The look on his face when she had turned around and bumped into him…it haunted her. Tessa had never seen Niall look as angry as he had in that moment.

Tessa was sitting in her living room, laptop on her legs, blanket around her shoulders. She was looking through the responses to her roommate ad. Enough was enough. She needed someone else to live with her – she was starting to get lonely, and she was tired of all of the memories she had made in here with Jess. It was time for someone new, and fresh memories to be made.

Even as she scrolled through her email, she kept peeking towards the front door. She had left Jess’ Christmas present on the end table right beside it. Tessa knew that needed to be dealt with; the date of the show was coming up, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to give a ticket to Jess anymore.

An idea sparked in her mind, and Tessa immediately snatched her phone off of the coffee table and called Niall. He answered on the third ring. “Hey, Tess, what’s up?” He sounded unbothered but curious; they had never talked on the phone before, preferring to text.

“Hey! Um, so, I have two tickets to see Hamilton this coming Wednesday, and…I was wondering if you would like to come with me…” Tessa trailed off, heart thudding loudly in her ears. It sounded an awful lot like she was proposing a date together, and she recalled, suddenly, how after their pictures had been released, he had suggested they stay out of the public eye.

Oh, God. Was she about to be rejected?

“That sounds cool, I’ve never seen the musical before. Heard great things about it, though. Yeah, I’ll go. How much do I owe ya?”

Tessa shook her head quickly, despite the fact that Niall couldn’t see it. “Oh, no! Don’t worry about that. They were a gift, and I have no one else I want to go with.” She paused and bit down on her lip. “It’s my treat. I’ll come pick you up and everything.”

Niall was quiet for a moment, considering. She wondered if he had guessed who the gift was originally intended for.

“Yeah, sounds good Tess. I’ll send ya my address. Where are we seein’ it, and what should I wear?”

She smiled to herself, relief flooding her veins. She slumped back into the couch, looking up at the ceiling. She told him the theater, and then added, “It’s pretty fancy and we have good seats, so I’m going to dress up. Not, like, anything too crazy, but I’ll be wearing a dress and heels. So maybe a suit?”

His voice was a little bit raspy when it came through the line, making her heart flutter. “I have a couple suits, yeah. I’ll be able to throw something together that’ll look good enough that they don’t kick us out.”

Tessa giggled. “Okay, well, sounds good.”

The silence stretched on between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was the type of silence where they were just enjoying each other’s presence on the phone; happy to be communicating at least in this way, since it wasn’t in person.

After chatting for a little bit, they hung up. They both had shit to do; Tessa had to respond to her potential new roommates and decide if she wanted them to live in her apartment, and Niall was working on his next album. “I’m excited to listen to it.” She told him before the call ended, and she was.

Tessa was excited to see Hamilton with him; today was Friday, so there was plenty of time to prepare herself for it and make sure she wasn’t too nervous.

She continued scrolling, deciding right off the bat that some of these people who had applied wouldn’t be suitable roommates at all. It was something you had to have a sense for; and, through reading their emails, Tessa could tell that some of these people weren’t right for her living space. If she was going to share it, she was going to share it with the right person, dammit.

She giggled at the thought of asking Niall to move in – that would be entertaining. She wondered how he would react to the question, if she posed it. Maybe she would tease him about it at Hamilton.

Lost in her daydreams, Tessa continued to scroll through the roommate applications, always finding some reason to reject each one of them. Deep down, she just didn’t want to deal with the drama. There was a possibility of her new roommate ratting her out on Twitter or spilling secrets about her personal life to her fans.

Tessa was beginning to doubt this whole plan of finding a new roommate when she came across one application. The woman who had applied was named Leah Krowski, and she was twenty-five, just like Tessa. She worked at Starbucks and was a manager. Attached was proof of her employment. Her only question was about the number of bathrooms and if they had to share.

She had a good feeling about this one, so Tessa replied, asking if they could meet and if it went well, she could show Leah the apartment. Surprisingly, Leah replied within a few minutes and named an outdoor cafeteria down the street. She wasn’t working today, so she could meet within the hour.

Tessa acquiesced, and then got ready to go out. She was still on her self-labelled ‘week off’, so she didn’t need to do any sort of filming or editing.

After freshening up, she headed out of her apartment, purse slung over her shoulder. When she stepped outside, a cool breeze swept her hair off of her shoulders. It was sunny outside, but the air was chill. It was nice. This was the type of weather that she loved the most.

Feeling even better about her current situation, Tessa hopped inside her car and took off towards the café she had said she would meet Leah at.

Once she parked her car, she got outside and chose a nice sunny spot near the sidewalk. That way she would see Leah when she arrived, and she could enjoy the weather while she waited. Tessa pulled her phone out and typed out a few emails that needed to be sent, enjoying the sunshine on her face.

She was about to check the time when a timid voice called from behind, “Um, miss? Are you…Tessa? Queen Tessa?”

Tessa froze for a moment, before spinning around in her seat and giving the teenage girl now in front of her a broad smile. “Why yes, yes I am. What’s your name?”

It was clear she was a fan. Her eyes were wide, and her hands were shaking, and she looked a bit like she was about to either pass out or throw up, potentially both. “K-Kalynne. I hope you don’t mind…but…I was wondering if we could take a picture? You’re my favorite YouTuber…?” The poor girl was so timid that even her statement at the end sounded like a question.

Tessa stood up and nodded her head, smiling. “Yes, of course Kalynne. We can take a selfie.” She turned a critical eye over her shoulder, noting the lighting and the placement of the sun, and then hummed softly. “Here, let’s take it over there.” She offered Kalynne her arm, and the girl took it gratefully, albeit nervously. She strode over to the spot she had mentioned, careful not to drag her.

Kalynne held out her phone, and Tessa stretched her arm out to get the two of them in the picture. They both grinned at the screen and then the phone clicked as the picture was taken. She handed Kalynne her phone back and smiled sweetly down at her. “Is that good?”

Kalynne didn’t even check it, still looking up at Tessa with awe. “Yeah, that’s great. U-Um…thank you so much…”

“You’re welcome.” Tessa waited for a moment, because she had the sense that Kalynne had more to say.

“You…you helped me get through a dark time in my life. I was struggling last year with some problems, and your videos…they actually made me smile and laugh.”

Tessa’s entire stance softened. Her eyes teared up, and she leaned down to give the younger girl a strong hug, rubbing her back. “I’m so glad I could help you. I am…honored that I could.”

Kalynne hugged her back, a little stiff with shock at first, but that shock soon melted away, and she hugged Tessa fiercely

This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. This was the first time she had heard this individual story, yes, but not the first time she had been approached on the street and told that she had helped someone. It was humbling, to say the least. Part of her couldn’t believe that she had affected lives like this, but the evidence was hugging her back right now.

Once the two broke back from the hug, they chatted on for a little while. Tessa learned that Kalynne was a high school junior, and she was excited to start applying for colleges in the fall. She wanted to go to UCLA but was concerned about getting in since it was such a prestigious university.

Tessa could remember those feelings herself and gave Kalynne as much advice as she could on the matter. After reassuring her that she would upload a new video on this next approaching Thursday, they said their goodbyes.

She went inside and ordered a croissant, and then meandered back out to the table where she had been sitting earlier. A woman was sitting there, staring right at her. Her hair was a light brunette shade, glinting in the sunlight. Tessa frowned a little to herself – no one had been sitting there when she had gone inside the café. This must be Leah, then. But how had she known that was where Tessa had been sitting?

Tessa ventured closer to the table and brushed some crumbs off of her cheeks, folding the remaining bits of croissant in the napkin she had grabbed inside. The woman stood; she was petite and lithe. Her lips curved up into the smallest of smiles. She had a small nose piercing. “Are you Leah?”

She nodded in a reserved manner. “I am. And you’re Tessa, I’m assuming.” Her lips quirked up into a sideways grin. “Also, you’re famous, apparently.”

Tessa blushed, completely taken aback. “U-um…I don’t consider myself to be-“

Leah cut her off. “I saw the whole thing that just happened with that girl. I was sitting in my car, and I saw her approach you. Friends don’t act like that around each other, and she had this awestruck look on her face. Thus, I deduced you were famous or popular in some way.”

Tessa blinked, oddly impressed. “Well, I have a YouTube channel. She’s one of my fans…” It was such an unnatural thing to say out loud. Yes, she had fans, but normal people didn’t, and for a moment, all she could think about was that she wasn’t normal.

“That was sweet of you.” Leah replied. “I’m not sure I would have been able to do that. I’m not much of a hugger, myself.”

“Fair enough.” Tessa sat down in her seat, setting her napkin down on the table. “So, Leah. Tell me a little bit about yourself.”

Leah told her about how she had gone to a community college back in Wisconsin, where she was from, before dropping out and moving to California on a whim. She had crashed with a friend for a while, before getting the job at Starbucks and moving out. She had lived in Pasadena for a couple years, before deciding she wanted to live right in the thick of Los Angeles. She worked at Starbucks in the day and then on her art portfolio at night; she had decided that she wanted to become a tattoo artist.

“Oh, interesting. Do you have any tattoos?” Tessa asked, intrigued. One amazing thing about LA was that you could meet all sorts of people there. Everyone came from all sorts of different backgrounds, but they all lived here with one common goal: to make it. Whatever ‘making it’ meant for them, well, that was different for everyone.

Leah rolled back the sleeve on her t-shirt and showed her a couple of the tattoos she already had. “I have a few more, one on my ribs, and one on my ass, but I’m not going to show those to you in public.” She snorted, and Tessa laughed.

She liked Leah. She was a bit abrupt and Tessa had a feeling she could be brutally honest, but she admired that. She was funny and interesting, and as long as she cleaned up after herself, they would get along great as roommates.

After talking for a little bit longer, Tessa stood up from the table. She had finished the croissant, so she took a moment to throw away her garbage before turning back to Leah. “I’ll show you the apartment now, if you would like.”

Tessa led the way in her car and directed Leah to park in one of the guest spots that existed in the parking lot. There were two parking spaces designated for their apartment, but she didn’t want Leah to get a ticket or anything since she didn’t live there, yet. “The apartment is on the fourth floor. Sometimes when I’m feeling like I need exercise, I’ll take the stairs, but not today.” She informed her and directed her inside the building.

She unlocked the apartment and let Leah enter first. Luckily, she had cleaned while sulking inside for the past few days, so the apartment wasn’t dirty or messy. Sure, there was a wine glass in the sink, but no one needed to know about that.

Leah wandered through the apartment after Tessa gave her a quick tour, pointing out her bedroom and bathroom. The bed in there was already made, and she had dusted yesterday. It was quite bare, with white walls, so she told Leah she could do what she wanted with it as long as there wasn’t any damage to the walls; the landlord had strictly told her and Jess that they could find other means of hanging things besides nails.

Tessa felt a pang go through her chest at the thought of Jess. It hurt a little to watch as Leah looked through what had once been Jess’ drawers, and what had once been Jess’ bathroom. It wouldn’t have bothered her if they were still on good terms, she thought, but now she was filled with nostalgia for all of the good times they had shared.

God, she needed a drink, and she needed to move on from her friendship with Jess. Clearly, it was over, and she needed to act like it.

“Now, the only thing I need from you as my roommate is 50/50 on the rent and utilities. Also, clean up after yourself. All of the complicated things, like groceries and cooking…we can figure that out later.” Tessa told Leah, crossing her arms under her chest. This wasn’t new information; it had all been laid out in the advertisement Leah had responded to, price of rent and her typical cost of utilities as one person included.

Leah glanced back at her. “Yeah, that’s fine.” Her response was brisk, business-like. “What I want to know is if you’re problematic.”

Tessa blinked. “Um…excuse me?” Shock colored her tone.

Leah sighed and turned fully around to face her. “You seem cool and nice, but I’ve lived with shitty people before, and that’s how they get you in. Do you have any problems? Am I going to wake up in the middle of the night to see you staring down at me with a butchers knife in your hand? Any constant significant other issues?”

She couldn’t help it. She started laughing, a full-on belly laugh. Tessa doubled over with the force of it, eyes watering up and blurring. Leah merely stared at her as she laughed, one eyebrow lifted up: waiting.

Eventually, Tessa could get herself under control, and she straightened up, still chuckling a tiny bit. “No, no problems, unless you count overworking and a slight hankering for wine.”

Leah cracked a smile. “Alright. Sounds good. Let’s do this, then?” She held her out and Tessa took it, giving it a firm shake.

They discussed further details in the living room. It was decided that Leah would move in on Saturday and Sunday, carting her things over from her current apartment after work. Tessa would help when – ifas Leah put it – needed. She didn’t mind. It would be a welcome reprieve from working, because though she had some time left on her self-called ‘week off’, she was starting to feel a little antsy.

After Leah left, Tessa milled about the apartment for a little while, needing to do something but not quite wantingto at the same time. She had crossed off a big item on her to-do list: find a new roommate. It was a relief, honestly. That had been dangling in front of her for weeks, and she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

Right as Tessa was looking through her fridge to decide what she wanted to cook for dinner, a light knock sounded from the door. Brows furrowing together, Tessa padded over to the door and swung it open.

Outside was Lyrica.

Tessa couldn’t help herself – she sucked in a quick, startled breath. Her heart beat picked up speed, pounding in her ears. Jesus, was Lyr about to come beat her up to defend her girlfriend’s honor?

But Lyrica held her hands up placatingly. “Hey, Tessa. I’m not here to cause trouble…I just wanted to talk.”

Tessa eyed her warily. She and Lyrica were friends, yes, but Jess obviously took precedence here. And she had the oddest feeling that Lyr was here without her girlfriend’s knowledge. Maybe it was the edgy look in the other woman’s eyes.

She stepped aside and let Lyrica inside, closing the door promptly behind her. “It’s nice to see you, Lyr.” Tessa said, hesitating. “But…why are you here?”

Lyrica looked a little lost at the question. Her lips parted and then closed, before pressing firmly together. She took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. Tessa watched all of this with curiosity; Lyr wasn’t one to hold her punches or be so nervous, especially in front of her, a friend. What was going on here?

Suddenly, she blurted out, “I’m going to ask Jess to marry me, and I want your blessing.”

Tessa gaped at her. What? That made absolutely no sense. Jess wasn’t even on speaking terms with her right now. What would having her blessing matter? Besides, this wasn’t the 1950s. Marriage didn’t require a blessing from anyone anymore.

She rallied herself to say exactly those things, but Lyrica rushed on before she could manage it. “I know that it seems weird, but Jess loves you, Tessa. I know you guys aren’t talking right now, and you’re probably pissed as hell, and I understand, but she didn’t mean those things-“

Tessa cut her off. “Lyrica, don’t try to apologize in her stead.”

Lyrica straightened herself up, eyes flashing. “I’m not. But she was drunk and sad about your friendship, and maybe a little angry about it too.”

Tessa’s eyes widened. “But it’s her fault! She stopped talking to me! She stopped replying to my messages, even when I asked if she wanted to hang out, and then shetalked shit about me to all of my friends while I was literally a room over!” Anger was beginning to tint the edges of her vision red; everything she had stewed about the past few days was bursting forward, albeit a condensed version.

Lyrica dipped her head once, acknowledging her words. “But did you ever ask her why she stopped responding to you?”

Tessa faltered, feeling a bit like she was teetering on the edge of a cliff. She needed to pinwheel this back into why Lyrica had come, not why she and Jess weren’t friends anymore.

“I’m not saying you’re wrong, Tessa. In fact, I’m a little bit on your side, but don’t tell Jess that.” She smiled slowly, giving a half-shrug. “I hope you guys can make up. But I came here to ask for your blessing to ask Jess to marry me, and nothing more. You know she doesn’t speak to her parents, and maybe right now it wouldn’t mean much, but I can’t think of a better way of honoring her besides asking her best friend in the whole world if I can marry her.”

“You shouldn’t have to ask me or anyone for it,” Tessa muttered to herself, but at Lyrica’s look of reproach, she continued on, “But yes, Lyrica, I give you my blessing.” She paused, contemplating the words she needed to say. “I know you make her very happy, and I know you will for the rest of your lives together.”

Lyrica brightened, and drew Tessa in for a hug. She accepted it, patting Lyr’s back awkwardly. When she pulled away, she smiled. “Don’t worry. You’ll still be our maid of honor, you know.” She turned back towards the door, getting ready to head out.

“I’m not going to count on it.” Tessa told her a tiny bit sourly, but then winced, regretting it. “But let me know how it goes. If you can.”

Lyrica glanced back at her. “Oh, I won’t do it for a while. But I figured I would ask you now anyway.” With a wink and a grin, she left, leaving Tessa standing there feeling more confused than before.

She went and laid down on the couch, pulling her phone out to order takeout. She couldn’t think enough anymore to fathom cooking. Everything was weird and off, but maybe some Pad Thai could fix it.

Tessa snorted to herself, thinking about Leah’s request to know if she was problematic.

Maybe she had lied, after all.

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