#yes they are intentionally next to each other yes they are gay in this au too next question

[wholeassbirdinhischest]

yall liked my tf2 beastars so im going to infodump about scout in this au and you will have to listen

scout is one little fuck. he is ten inches tall, while his mom is 8 inches tall and the rest of his siblings are fucking huge compared to him and his mom. what species they are mixed with is not visible though. most of them are just bigger and fluffier than the rest of their family. being a dumbo rat in a world full of beasts that easily put him in their mouth is hard, but in his words not mine, he is a force of nature

he and his siblings were all born the size of a paperclip. his brothers grew much bigger than him, all of them are around 2 feet tall while scout is, once again, ten inches tall.

once, scout defended his mom from a carnivore trying to devour her, or at least, that's what he thought until he found images of that night in spy's folder titled "pornography starring your mother" that was intentionally put in a spot where scout would find it.

scout drinks energy drinks the size of his entire body. how he does this is beyond me. how his tiny rat bladder survives this is also beyond me. what you will with this information is up to you freaks.

Scout is so deep in the closet that he doesn't believe that he's gay despite the fact he has had sex with sniper multiple times and brushes off by saying "well everyone has had sex with sniper." this isnt true, its only him, the closet is made out of glass.

scout is one of the few people who has seen pyro without their mask, no he will not tell you what they look like don't even ask him. he is all for respecting the wishes of his fellow small animal

speaking of pyro, its common to see scout and pyro fast asleep next to each other after reading comics.

miss pauling in this au is a brandts hedgehog. scout is basically using her as a crutch for his quote on quote "heterosexuality." shes great at her job i just don't pay too much attention to her when i really should.

scout would get into fights in high school and the person he was fighting would say yes, thinking they could just step on him. this would never end well for the person fighting scout, scout would sock people several times his size about once a month.

thank you for reading my ramblings about rat scout, follow for a free iphone 7

[hibiscera]

Another thing I forgot to post, from back when ACNH was released... ACxTFA AU! I still have so many characters to draw for this, but here’s the gang. 🍎🍒🍊🍐🍑

[Please no kin tags for Prowl, thank you!]

[emerald-phoenix-dragon]

"straight as a ruler"

Hey yall, here’s the long-awaited deamus fic that we’ve all been waiting for! If you want to follow my tumblr, it’s on my instagram profile now :). And if anyone from tumblr wants to follow my instagram, my handle’s @em.jade_dragon on there! Do like, share, save, reblog etc my posts, it really helps! More interaction (i.e interaction with my stories, commenting) would be very much appreciated :D. Anyways, without further ado, let’s get into things!

This is an eighth-year AU. TW/CW: food, alcohol, parties. stay safe everyone!

After the war, Professor McGonagall (now headmistress) invited all of the previous seventh-years back to Hogwarts to give them the chance to learn all of what they missed out on, as well as complete their NEWTs if they wished to do so. Most of the students did end up returning, even though a lot of them already had jobs (or offers that they had accepted).

The “eighth-years” were given their very own common room, and Dean was very glad for this.

It had been a relatively easy Saturday, and now, it was around 6pm, and the sun had just set. And because it was a Saturday, everyone was prepared for the event they all looked forward to - the weekly eight-year party. When Dean finally arrived on scene, albeit slightly late due to some solo quidditch practise (they didn't have any teams, but the eighth-years often had fun matches that were inter-house) to take his mind off something that had been bugging him for a while: Seamus. he couldn't quite put a finger on why he was having that nagging, butterfly-feeling in his stomach whenever he thought of his late best friend, but he kept on ignoring it hoping it'd go a way. He had the slightest suspicion what it might've been - after all, Dean was pretty sure he was pansexual, so it wasn't completely unexpected. But he'd intentionally tried to forget about it. He had, for a little, whilst he was outside, but now, as he entered the common room, he grew queasy again knowing his best friend would be looking for him.

As soon as he stepped foot inside, he noticed that a lot of people were already half-wasted. He must've been later than he thought.

"Dean-y, there you are!" He turned to see Ginny Weasley bounding towards him cheerfully, her eyes a little glassy. Other than that, she appeared to be pretty sober. "Gin, hey," Dean replied, giving her a light hug. They'd dated for a short while previously, but had broken it off after they both realised they were better of as friends. He was glad for that - they'd never have worked out, not when Ginny was practically in love with another classmate of theirs (spoiler alert - it wasn't Harry). He knew she, Neville and Luna had snuck into the party again. Not that anybody minded.

Ginny laughed loudly, and ran a hand through her cropped shoulder-length hair. She'd reportedly gotten Neville to cut it for her. "Needed a change", Dean remembered her telling him a month back. It suited her. "Dean, helloOo?" Ginny waved her hand in his face, and Dean blinked. "Come on, let's go say hi to everyone else!" she said, and promptly dragged him to the end corner of the room. There, on the couch, sat the golden trio, squished in with the bronze trio group. Neville and Luna were there too - Neville and Blaise were engaged in a flirty conversation on the floor, and Luna smiling fondly at them. She turned when Dean and Ginny approached.

"Oh, hello, Dean. How was quidditch practise?" she asked sweetly. He told her it was fine and she nodded. "Got a case of wrack spurts around you. Seamus, too."

Dean wondered what it meant. He was about to ask but before he could Ginny had strolled up to her girlfriend and had begun kissing Luna rather passionately. Sighing, he sat down near Blaise.

Hermione and Ron were cackling loudly with Pansy, who was telling a story involving Draco and the giant squid. Draco was silently sulking, leaning against Harry who was playing mindlessly with his partner's hair. "Dean, mate, you made it!" Harry said, nodding at him.

He smiled slightly. "Yeah. What'd I miss?" "Well, Dray here's been traumatised by Pansy and Ron and 'Mione-" "-They were not!-" Pansy cut in, now listening to the conversation as Hermione and Ron started discussing something about Percy Weasley and his new relationship with Oliver Wood.

Dean and Harry laughed. Malfoy scowled, but their eyes were light. "-Anyways, Ron and 'Mione and I had a fun time teasing Blaise and Nev, and at some point we were all dancing to ABBA music but we settled down again." Harry continued.

Ron nodded. He made a terrible impression of Parvati and Lavender, who had been singing along, before he stopped and seemed to remember something. "Oh yeah, and Seamus came looking for you. Not sure where he's gone now, but Luna said something about some girl rejecting him and now he's probably sulking-" Luna, by this point, had tuned into the conversation, with Ginny now sitting in her lap and gazing lovingly at her. "I never said she was a she, Ron. But yes, he had quite a lot of fuzz around his head." "You should go check on him, mate, he's your bestie!" Ginny suddenly exclaimed, her voice slurring. Dean nodded and got up, exiting the scene.

***

Despite having left his circle of friends rather swiftly, Dean had been interrupted several times for small chats and drinks with people in the room before he could even start searching for Seamus. He'd heard the latest gossip from Padma Patil and Wayne Hopkins, been given a bottle of fire whisky from Theo Nott, and had discussed the uses of owl feathers with owl enthusiast Michael Corner. At this point he'd gotten rather tired and was a tad bit intoxicated.

He ended exiting the common room and heading down into a more quiet hallway to try and sober up, when he'd heard quiet sniffling in the corner. Curious, Dean cautiously approached the noise to find Seamus sitting hunched against the wall, a bottle cradled in his palms. When Dean approached him, Seamus looked up and wiped the tears from his eyes rather swiftly.

"Guess you finally decided to turn up whilst your best mate got his heart broken, huh?" he said bitterly, his Irish accent coming out thicker than it usually did. Dean's heart melted a little, and he felt incredibly guilty. "Seamus, I'm so sorry I was clearing my head out a bit at the quidditch pitch and lost track of time, I feel awful I-" Seamus put a hand up, telling him to stop. He stood up and put the bottle on the floor. Dean couldn't help but notice how soft Seamus' hair looked tonight, and how toned his muscles were through the thin school shirt. Seamus, unfortunately, noticed Dean's staring. "What're you staring at for?" "I- nothing", Dean said quickly, awkwardly scratching his neck, looking away at the wall for a second. He'd forgotten how incredibly fit the Irish boy was, even though he was both taller and more muscular than Seamus. They stood in silence a bit, before Seamus spoke up. "I asked someone out today. Thought I'd give m'self a shot, y'know? But they said no. It wasn't a girl who- who rejected me. It-" he breathed out shakily, and Dean realised how incredibly shattered he was, and put a hand on Seamus' arm without thinking about it too much. "-It was a guy. Stephen something from Ravenclaw."

Dean didn't know what to say. He had wondered if his best friend had been 'bent', but never really thought about it too deeply. Inwardly he felt his guts churn and he suddenly felt strangely content, but he wasn't sure why "I- I'm so sorry mate, that's awful," he began, and trying to lighten the atmosphere, continued, "Maybe Steph wasn't into white guys?" His best mate laughed, and it was a broken, hollow sound. "Thanks Dean-o, really makes meh feel better. Perhaps he's into you, eh?" "I- well I'm not into him-" he began, but Seamus cut him off. "Bloody no shit, you're straight as a ruler!"

"But I'm not. Straight as a ruler, you say. I'm- I think I'm pan, Shay." "I- what?" Somehow, without Dean realising, Seamus had brought his hands onto his chest. And now all he could feel was his calloused palms digging slightly onto his chest, over his erratically beating heart. "I thought I was the gay bloke out of the two of us! Like, I dunno, at least the only fruity one."

"I guess you thought wrong." Dean said awkwardly.

"I guess I did." They stood there for another minute, staring at each other.

And suddenly Dean remembered that he was still holding onto Seamus rather tightly, so he made to let go, when he felt hands sliding down to his waist and gripping him. Astonished, he glanced up from staring at the floor and looked into his best mate's deep brown eyes. He reached his other hand out unconsciously, cupping his chin. "Oh, for fuck's sake!" Shay said, the lilt in his tongue sounding for some reason really hot.

Next thing Dean knew, Seamus had crashed his lips onto him, pushing him into the opposite wall of the narrow corridor.

He didn't respond at first. Seamus stopped for a second, pulling back. "Kiss me back, you dolt, or I swear to merlin I'll be punching that fucking sexy face of yours-" Next thing Seamus knew, Dean was snogging him back.

~fin

[sugarbabywenkexing]

WKX and YBY going undercover as a couple!!!!!!!!! OP YOUR MIND IS AMAZING PLEASE SOMEONE WITH TALENT WRITE THIS I'LL GIVE MY FIRST BORN (OR MY HAND IN MARRIAGE IF YOU DON'T LIKE CHILDREN). Sorry for the caps, I forgot to change back and I'm too lazy to write everything again ☺️🥰

Anon, I have so many other Lucifer AU thoughts that I'm not going to dig too deep into here, but THIS EPISODE

Because as soon as they mention undercover fake married you think oh it's going to be the main couple, which is always delightful don't get me wrong, but then they go no, Chloe's already been investigating so everyone knows her and that won't work. Instead, the orgy having, nightclub owning, outrageously flirtatious ex king of hell and the immortal who's so damn tired of being immortal and just wants to die, who both hate each other but also have an uneasy alliance going, have to do it instead.

So now, they're trying to do their best impressions of a totally non sexual, middle class, socially acceptable gay couple, complete with little pink jumpers, and both Lucifer and Wen Kexing are too high on the gremlin scale not to go in for PDA to make things intentionally worse.

And OK, Ye Baiyi is coping, he's managed to rein himself in to clichéd gay best friend levels of bitchiness and they're getting away with it. They're having their little dinner parties to interview suspects on the down low, but they're not getting anywhere with the case so what's apparently the logical next step? Try and piss off the murderer (by breaking the HOA rules).

It's time for the drunken speedo pool party (which is also a look that Wen Kexing can pull off rather well, don't you think Ah-Xu?) Eventually they catch the killer, but mostly because they have an actually competent detective on their side because they're too busy having fights over how to arrange the food at their garden party.

And the thing is that in the actual episode part of the humour is that a manly heterosexual straight man is having to pretend to be married to a queer man, but in this AU they're both gay and they hate each other which is infinitely funnier. I can't stop thinking about Zhou Zishu playing backup and looking out the window to see Wen Kexing and Ye Baiyi kissing and having an absolute brain implosion:

There's just so much fun to be had with this concept.

Screencap source

[hedgehoggery]

An Unexpected Reunion Pt. 3

As promised, chapter three of An Unexpected Reunion (Chapter 1 here, Chapter 2 here), my kakayama NYC-AU turned basketball-AU. Perspective shifts twice instead of just once but hopefully that’s not too confusing. I hope this one leaves everyone in a better mood than chapter 2 did! ;P 

Word Count: 2914

Chapter 3

“Mr. Kakashi, you listen when I’m talking to you!” Kakashi’s eyes focused back in on the teen sitting across from him, speaking in a mocking tone that was likely a failed impression of Kakashi’s own voice. Naruto burst out laughing at the confusion on Kakashi’s face. “You always say that to me, so how does it feel!”

“It really wasn’t that funny, Naruto,” Sasuke said quietly, shaking his head.

“What were you saying, Naruto,” Kakashi said, masking his slight embarrassment at having zoned out with his usual sigh. He had been unable to focus much on tutoring today after the way dinner had ended last night. He had spent the whole day wrangling with himself about whether to go back to the tree shop tonight and try apologizing again, or if that would only upset Tenzo even more.

“I was asking about basketball! Sakura’s parents gave her permission to join the league, so we’re all in!” Sasuke whipped his head around.

“I never agreed to that!” he snapped. Naruto’s face fell as he looked over at Sasuke with an almost infantile pouty face. Sasuke sighed. “Fine. Whatever.” Kakashi laughed to himself as Naruto started cheering at his small victory. Naruto was usually an absolute buffoon when it came to social interactions, and Kakashi hadn’t yet been able to figure out if he knew the effect he had on Sasuke and was using it against him, or if it was purely by chance.

“Excellent, so you’ll all be ready for practice right after we’re done here?” The teens nodded, Sakura and Sasuke much less enthusiastically than Naruto. Kakashi checked his watch. “Well, we’ve still got about ten minutes.” He sighed, anxious to get away from the confines of the school and figure out what to do about Tenzo.

“Everything okay, Mr. Kakashi?” Sakura’s voice made no effort to hide her concern. While Kakashi put on a front about hating kids, he couldn’t deny that he felt a strange sense of ownership over these three. Especially Sakura. Naruto and Sasuke both had sad life stories and were orphans, just like Kakashi. But Sakura was genuinely kind hearted and had her own share of struggles, though admittedly different from those that Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto had to bear.

“Oh, everything’s fine,” he said, waving his hand lazily in front of his face as if to swat away the notion that something was wrong.

“You seem distracted,” Sakura continued.

“I know what it is,” Naruto said, in a tone that could only mean he had no clue what it was. “Mr. Kakashi is having girl problems.” Sakura rolled her eyes and Sasuke chuckled softly. Kakashi raised one eyebrow.

“Why would you think that?” he said, remaining intentionally vague.

“Because you’re acting all weird like adults do when they’re having stupid problems with their wives and stuff. Girl problems,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest with a decisive nod.

“Oh, is that so,” Kakashi continued, trying to run down the clock on this conversation so he could ship the kids off to basketball and head on to more important things.

“Sasuke, I’m right, dontcha think?” Naruto said. Sasuke chuckled.

“No, I don’t think Kakashi is having girl problems,” he said, emphatic enough that Kakashi actually raised his eyebrows in surprise. Naruto sighed dramatically.

“Ehhh, ‘woman’ problems, whatever,” he said, making air quotes with his fingers as he talked.

“Not quite what I meant,” Sasuke muttered, barely audible. Kakashi shot him a warning glance before checking his watch again.

“Well, it’s close enough to time,” he said, standing up to put an end to the uncomfortable conversation. “I’ll come with you to introduce you to the coach before I leave.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets before heading out the door, hearing the three teens follow closely behind him.

They walked down the hall towards the gymnasium, the hollow sound of bouncing balls and the squeaking of shoes growing louder with each step. A familiar booming voice somehow drowned out all of the other sounds as soon as Kakashi opened the door.

“Oh, ho! Kakashi! Come to accept a challenge, have you?” Kakashi sighed.

“No, Gai, I’m here to drop off my kids for basketball,” he said, gesturing behind him at the three. They were staring at Kakashi’s friend with expressions of mixed horror and admiration, and Kakashi could hardly blame them. Gai was wearing a green tank top and impossibly tiny green shorts, both of which displayed his impressive build. While not actually taller than Kakashi, his confident presence made him appear to tower over everyone. He flashed a ridiculously wide grin and a thumbs up at Kakashi’s students.

“Excellent! You can call me Coach Gai. Lee!” Kakashi felt the three kids behind him jump at the sudden increase in the already deafening volume. A teenaged boy dressed in frighteningly identical clothes to Gai ran up behind him.

“Yes Coach Gai?”

“Take these three new recruits over to get a uniform!” Lee ran over to the trio and led them towards the locker room.

“Kakashi, what have you gotten us into!” Sasuke hissed as Lee physically pushed him away. Naruto had already run off, and Sakura was following him with more hesitation.

“Kakashi, you’re not going to stay?” Gai asked once the kids were out of earshot.

“No, I have things to take care of tonight,” he said, an image of Tenzo flashing across his thoughts.

“Hmm, well at least tell me your kids’ names,” Gai said.

“Naruto is the loud one. Sakura is the girl. Sasuke is the dark one,” he said, pointing vaguely at each kid fighting with blue pennies as he described them. Gai grunted.

“Sasuke… isn’t he the one…?”

“Yep,” Kakashi interrupted. “But don’t bring it up.” Gai nodded and shot Kakashi a thumbs up.

“Hopefully next time you’ll be able to stay! We’re playing three on three and each group needs their own coach. You’re lucky there was a substitute coach assigned or else your kids would be benched!” Kakashi hadn’t realized he was supposed to coach his students and felt a slight pang of guilt at leaving them with a mystery substitute. But the guilt associated with Tenzo was much more pressing, and he decided it required attention first.

“Well, sorry Gai, but I’m busy. Maybe next time,” he said, waving. He turned to leave just as the gymnasium door swung open.

“Ah, there he is now, the substitute coach who will lead your kids to victory!”

Kakashi stared in horror at the man who had come through the door and who was now staring back at him with mirrored expression.

“Tenzo! You’re the substitute coach?!”

___

For the second time in two days, Yamato found his mouth and brain completely dry. Words danced on the tip of his tongue, but none of them seemed to make any sense.

“I thought you closed at seven!” Kakashi continued, clearly not experiencing the same vocabulary shortage as Yamato. 

“That’s only on Wednesdays!” he said finally, unsure why he was yelling. “What are you doing here?!” Kakashi scoffed, a ridiculous noise coming from the usually reserved and contained man. Yamato noticed with some level of smug satisfaction that his out-of-character behavior had been noticed by Gai and a few of the kids behind him, all of whom were now staring at the sputtering silver-haired man.

“What am I doing here?! I work here!” Kakashi yelled, oblivious to the gaping stares of his friends behind him. Yamato let out a strangled laugh.

“They let you work with kids?!?!”

“Kakashi, do you know this man?” Gai boomed. Yamato could see the exact moment that Kakashi remembered he was in a public forum - he sighed deeply, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and leaned back into his usual relaxed stance.

“Yep,” he said, several decibels lower than he had previously been shouting. “He’s an old friend.” Yamato couldn’t help rolling his eyes at that description - for multiple reasons. Gai either didn’t notice or chose to ignore Yamato’s reaction, and let out a eardrum-stinging laugh.

“Hah! Perfect! Then you should be even more motivated to lead your kids to success, Coach Yamato!”

“Yamato?” Kakashi asked, thick with confusion, but Yamato cut him off before he could reveal too much. He regained his composure and stepped around Kakashi to talk to the head coach directly.

“There’s a team in need of a substitute, Coach Gai?” he asked. Kakashi turned to stand next to Yamato, side-eyeing him suspiciously.

“Kakashi’s team!” He waved Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura over, despite the fact that they were only a few steps away to listen in on the conversation. “Let me introduce you to Coach Yamato, he’ll be your coach since Kakashi is busy tonight!”

“He looks young enough to be in the program himself!” Naruto objected. Yamato could sense Kakashi’s smirk, even though it was hidden by his ever-present giant scarf.

“I’m 19! Besides, wouldn’t you rather have me as your coach than old man Kakashi?” Yamato was satisfied to see Kakashi whip his head around to glare at him as Naruto burst out laughing.

“Have you ever even played basketball, Ten… er, Yamato?” Kakashi said. Yamato chuckled and glanced over at Kakashi.

“Maybe I spent the entire last four years playing,” he replied. “Anyway, don’t you have somewhere to be?” Yamato revelled in making Kakashi sputter a second time.

“I… got my days mixed up,” he said. “I’m free tonight.” Yamato put his hands on his hips and raised one eyebrow in Kakashi’s direction.

“You don’t want me to coach your kids that badly?” he said.

“Wow, Naruto, you were right,” Sasuke said. “He is having ‘girl’ problems.” Yamato looked over at Kakashi in time to see him shoot Sasuke a threatening glance.

“Actually, I’ll just observe,” Kakashi said. “Yamato probably is a better coach than me.”

“Excellent!” Gai yelled. “You can be a cheerleader, Kakashi!” Yamato couldn’t help but grin at the thought of Kakashi wearing a tiny cheerleader outfit. “Coach Yamato, go get ready and we’ll get started!”

__

Kakashi took his seat in the bleachers behind Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura as Tenzo went into the locker room with his duffel bag.

“How do you know that man, Mr. Kakashi?” Sakura asked. Kakashi sighed as he thought back on how complicated it would be to answer that.

“Oh, just from the neighborhood. We were both in the GATE program ourselves,” he said. It wasn’t a lie, but it didn’t really begin to explore the depth and breadth of how Kakashi and Tenzo knew each other. Of their complicated childhood experiences. Of Kakashi risking everything in his life to save Tenzo from Father Danzo. Of Tenzo unknowingly saving Kakashi from himself.

“So like me and Sasuke!” Naruto said, jabbing Sasuke in the side with his elbow. Kakashi raised his eyebrows and looked at Sasuke.

“Almost exactly like that,” he said, mockingly. He was surprised to see Sasuke’s cheeks flush a little - the kid usually showed no reaction to anything. Kakashi looked around the gymnasium. There were four teams including his own, and Kakashi recognized the other coaches as his fellow tutors and childhood friends Asuma and Kurenai. Gai was already on the court with his team, enthusiastically stretching.

The door to the locker room opened and Kakashi couldn’t contain a soft gasp as Tenzo emerged. He was wearing a tight black tank top that Kakashi couldn’t help but notice displayed his delectable shoulders, and black shorts that, while not as tiny as Gai’s, still showed off a fair amount of thigh. Tenzo glanced away from Kakashi with a flush in his cheeks when he noticed him staring.

“You were in GATE together, huh?” Sasuke said, mirroring Kakashi’s earlier mocking tone.

“Alright, everyone’s ready!” Gai boomed from the court, and Kakashi mentally thanked him for distracting Sasuke for the moment. “Everyone on the court! We’re going to play three on three, half court!”

Tenzo enthusiastically motioned for Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke to take the court before grabbing a basketball from a large bin and dribbling it around the court. He deftly jumped into the air and shot it directly into the basket. Kakashi raised his eyebrows. Maybe he wasn’t joking about playing for the last four years.

“Alright, Coach Yamato!” Naruto yelled. “You’re way better than Mr. Kakashi!” Kakashi shook his head in mock insult, but didn’t disagree with Naruto. Tenzo chuckled and glanced over at Kakashi, turning slightly pink again when he saw that he had been watching. Kakashi had half a mind to think Tenzo was only showing off for him to begin with, but he shook the notion away.

Gai loudly assigned the first teams - Asuma’s team would play Kurenai’s on half the court, and Gai’s would play Kakashi’s on the other half. Tenzo sat down on the first row of bleachers as Gai’s team walked over to begin the match. Kakashi scooted down to sit next to him.

“You’re not bad,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking straight ahead. He saw Tenzo glance at him from the corner of his eye.

“Thanks,” he said.

“Hey, no fair, they’re older than us!” Naruto shouted. Gai’s team was indeed older than Kakashi’s but only by a year. Kakashi wasn’t surprised to find that the boy dressed identical to Gai was on the team, as well as a cute brunette girl with dimples and a tall, broad shouldered boy with beautiful long hair that he was currently tying into a messy bun.

“Makes me wish you never cut your hair,” Kakashi said softly. Tenzo whipped his head around in surprise to look at Kakashi before chuckling and looking back at the court.

“I guess you did play with it all the time,” he said fondly. Kakashi chuckled as he remembered countless times he had practiced braiding Tenzo’s hair or tying it in pigtails or just running his fingers through it. “But I had to grow up sometime. Plus, it made everyone think I was a girl at first.” Kakashi couldn’t resist turning to look at Tenzo’s now-short hair and impressive muscles.

“They certainly wouldn’t now,” he said, immediately embarrassed by his own forwardness. He saw Tenzo’s face get impossibly red.

“Coach Yamato, come on!” Sakura yelled from the court. Tenzo slapped his hands on his thighs and stood up.

“Well, here we go,” he said, jogging over to the sideline. Kakashi watched as Tenzo gave brief instructions to the team on where to stand and what to do before Gai blew a whistle - much too loudly - and the game began.

Kakashi chuckled as he watched Tenzo run up and down the sidelines, getting way to invested in the game. Naruto shot the ball wildly, missing the basket by a long shot, and Tenzo pulled at his own hair in frustration.

Tenzo had always been tightly wound, a trait that Kakashi loved to poke and prod at for fun. He knew exactly what to say to set Tenzo off and he knew exactly when saying nothing at all would set him off. He had always stressed about everything much more than Kakashi did. Kakashi preferred to just go with the flow - he had spent part of his youth being a tightly wound ball of stress and found that it had only created more problems for him. But he was happy to see that Tenzo was still as anxious as he remembered.

Gai’s team turned out to be quite proficient at basketball - which came as no surprise to Kakashi, he was absolutely certain Gai had forced them to practice daily before the league started - and they were obliterating Kakashi’s team. Naruto was overly competitive but wasn’t very good, and it was Sasuke who was carrying the team on his back.

“Naruto, just pass me the ball!” he yelled, just as Naruto threw another wild shot that came nowhere close to the basket. Sasuke groaned and looked skyward, as if asking the heavens to grant him patience. The long-haired boy on the other team caught the wild shot and returned it, adding two points to their already astronomical score.

“Way to go, Neji!” Gai and Lee boomed in unison.

“Naruto, it’s a team sport!” Kakashi heard Tenzo yell from the sideline. “Throw the ball to Sasuke when you get it!”

The game continued in this manner until finally Gai blew the whistle again, putting Kakashi’s team out of their misery.

“And the winners are… Team Gai and Team Asuma!” he yelled. Six of the kids on the court cheered, while the other six moped over to the bleachers.

“We’ll do better next time!” Tenzo said cheerfully once they were all sitting next to Kakashi. The three kids groaned in response. “Come on, I’ll buy you three dinner for your hard work.” At that suggestion, the trio cheered up significantly.

“Alright, Coach Yamato!” Naruto yelled, jumping up. “You coming too, Mr. Kakashi?” Kakashi glanced at Tenzo, his eyes full of question.

“Sure he is,” Tenzo said, maintaining eye contact with Kakashi. “But I’m not paying for him.” Kakashi chuckled and stood up.

“Ah, we’ll see about that.”

[swan-archive]

so: ya gal viewed a Certain Notorious Play the other night in SF

a little post-mortem, because i just KNOW you all needed another one of THOSE

Michael Luwoye was a wonderful Hamilton. i know it’s catty to rag on LMM’s voice, but really, the sheer DIFFERENCE it makes when you have an actor with a powerful voice in the role. doesn’t even compare. he roared and howled and bellowed and felt like a tiny compact hurricane bursting off the stage. amazing.

- i specify “tiny” because he was VISIBLY SHORTER than both Solea Pfeiffer and Amber Iman. TINY HAM IS CANON

- Luwoye’s act 1 young Ham was maybe the cutest thing i’ve ever seen! he was SO thrilled to meet Burr and SO excited to make friends and SO jazzed to go out drinking and revolution-ing with them, just so desperate to be liked and find a place and make his name. cute boy. excitable boy.

- not to monster au at yall but Luwoye literally SNARLED “call me son ONE MORE TIME” and uuuuhhhhhh it’s all canon, all monster aus are canon now, i don’t make the rules, i just live in fear of them like yall do

- and then the turnaround between that and a more tired, more morally compromised, running-out-of-options Ham in act 2! a really deft character shift and one that was delightful to watch.

- interesting little character moment: from what i’ve heard/seen most Hamiltons jump right back into the game after “Say No To This,” bantering with Burr and bouncing off to the meeting with Jefferson and Madison to Get Shit Done. Luwoye did not play it like this. his Hamilton was visibly wrung out and sick at heart at the beginning of “Room Where It Happens,” answering Burr in clipped monosyllables and not looking at him and standing all stiff and still until he started to mimic Burr’s “talk less / smile more” in an intentionally crude and sorta nasty style. this Ham was not happy to have to take a page out of Burr’s book.

- Luwoye’s “Hurricane” was a powerhouse. the rapped section was this howl of defiance that nearly knocked me out of my seat, Ham standing there and daring God to do His worst and vowing he’d get back up again. ooooooof. intense.

- Luwoye emoted like a MOTHERFUCKER. his break in “It’s Quiet Uptown” was gutting. tears literally dripping off his face.

- this cast seemed...lighter on the Lams than other productions, which was a bit disappointing, but at Laurens’ first verse in “My Shot,” Luwoye did that hilarious deer-in-the-headlights fullbody freeze at him as he had a Strong Gay Moment

Joshua Henry’s Burr felt very different from Leslie’s as it comes across on the cast album/b**tl*g, but in a super compelling way. i think i saw an article that referred to his Burr as more of a “showman” than Leslie’s, and if i’m remembering right, i agree with that description. Henry!Burr was very mobile and raggedly charming, always had a disingenuous wide-eyed smile hitched up, except for...when it slipped. the untrustworthy self-serving mercenary Ham sees by the end of act 2 was very much in evidence here. 

- and his Burr broke SO EARLY! by “Winter’s Ball” he was already visibly/audibly like WHAT THE HAP IS FUCKENING re: Hamilton’s ascent. his “Wait For It” right on the heels of that was so angry. you could feel his desperation as he tried to justify his methods to the audience, and his unspoken understanding that nothing he is doing makes sense. this was a Burr who, on some level, KNEW that his schtick was not going to remain tenable for long, even if he didn’t know the exact nature of his own breaking point. suuuuuuuuuper engaging to watch.

- ahhahahaha and his delivery of the “...Okay,” in “Non-Stop” was HILARIOUS it was like “hmm yes please keep doing this thing where you say nice things about me perhaps”

- ...also, not to be crass, but somewhere around “Non-Stop” i became suddenly and powerfully aware of how his thighs looked in his costume and uuhhhhhhhhhhh. can we just like. get a Yell Heah real quick for Buff Burr? Yell. H e a h

- act 2 Burr spiraled REAL quick. his “Room Where It Happens” was wild-eyed and electric and frantic and by the time they got to “Your Obedient Servant” and TWWWE he was just a WRECK. where Leslie’s Burr gave at least the impression of making a measured choice to shoot to kill, Henry’s was clearly running on fumes and not in control, and it was terrifying and great.

- and not to go too out of order but can i just say, “Aaron Burr, Sir” is kind of a throwaway exposition-y song, but having it played between two black men? REVELATORY. INCREDIBLE. “fools who run their mouths oft wind up dead.” we were five minutes into the play and i was already like ulp

Emmy Raver-Lampman is the great love of my life and she will be my bride one day, even if i have to defeat Daveed Diggs in unarmed single combat for the privilege. i will do it. i will do whatever it takes to know the touch of her hand. are you listening, Emmy? i’m right here. i’m right h e r e

- my favorite thing about her act 1 Angelica was how YOUNG she played her. which, granted, she is a younger actress than Renee/Karen/Mandy, but i thought it was a really powerful interpretation given that Angelica really is only two years older than Eliza, is still not all that old herself when Eliza’s doing her giddy “Helpless.”

- okay. okay, so. Emmy’s “Satisfied.” okay. a YOUNG “Satisfied.” instead of a mature regretful reflection on a decision that had pros and cons on either side, the regret and the loneliness and the love felt incredibly raw and immediate. Emmy’s interpretation was very “yes, i made this choice, and oh my god what if this was IT, what if this was the END what if there is nothing like this for me ever AGAIN, i cannot take it back and i would not take it back but oh god oh god oh god” and it. destroyed. me. she had that flutter in her voice that you get when you’re crying and laughing at the same time at the second “to the groom / to the bride” and holy shit it was devastating

- also: G5 BITCH TEAR OUT MY THROAT WITH YOUR TEETH

- another fun thing about Emmy’s Angelica was how utterly unimpressed she was with every man she interacted with! her teardown of Burr almost felt like an afterthought in how easily it came out. her chemistry with Luwoye wasn’t as immediately sparky as, say, Renee and Javi’s, but their back-and-forth was very banter-y and instantly comfortable and you really got the sense of two people who could have clicked together given the chance.

- her act 2 interactions with Ham were delightful too—at the end of “Take a Break,” the staging has Angelica start to chase after Ham when he leaves all “i can’t stop until i get my plan through congress.” this was not an “i languished in a loveless marriage in London i lived only to read your letters” chase as Emmy played it. it was a “bitch i have been on a boat for THREE MONTHS and if you think i’m gonna just be like oh hahah whatever we don’t need to hang out when i came all the way over here to see your wife and you then THINK AGAIN—” chase. it was Good. her rejection of Ham in “Reynolds Pamphlet” was so complete and crushing too—it was obvious that Ham was not even on her mind, she was there for Eliza.

i expected to like Amber Iman as Peggy/Maria, but i didn’t expect the extent to which she would steal the stage whenever she was featured in a song! she was so lively and read so well from the audience and was just a joy to watch.

- her Peggy was HILARIOUS. where Jazzy’s Peggy in “Schuyler Sisters” seemed more bratty-kid-sister-i-wanna-go-home-i’m-tiiiiiiiiiiired, Amber’s was like “you guys. you guys. we’re going to get mugged. we’re going to get shot. we’re going to get mugged, and then shot, and then murdered for good measure and WHY IS NOBODY LISTENING TO ME FUFKDCHSDKSFKHEJ” and the fact that this came across so strongly when she was sharing the stage with The Great Love Of My Life and could not have rightfully expected to claim any part of my attention is a credit to her

- the faces she was making at every male cast member who came within 2 feet of her were HILARIOUS. THE FUCK IS THIS. THE FUCK IS YOU. this was a Strong Lesbian Peggy for sure.

- and then her Maria! her Maria was magnetic. she played her as complicit but very obviously unhappy about it; whenever she stepped away from Ham as he did one of his monologue bits you could see the tension and nervousness and distaste on her face, but then he’d turn back to her and the mask would snap back up. not to toot my own horn but like...I Have Been Right This Whole Time.

- and then that red dress just draws the eye whenever Maria’s onstage, such that you couldn’t help but seek her out and watch her standing there silently as Ham drove himself over a cliff into the ocean. she was RIGHT THERE for all of “We Know,” standing there under one of the staircases next to Ham as he went off, watching watching watching and UGH it was such a little thing but it was so good.

i was surprisingly not as sold on Solea Pfeiffer as Eliza as I thought i would be? she had some great moments and was overall a strong performer but for whatever reason they never quite added up to a cohesive whole for me. whatever. still gonna marry her

- her “That Would Be Enough” with Michael Luwoye was actually deeply tragic in a way i’ve never seen/heard from any of the other Eliza/Alex pair-ups. these were clearly two people on completely different pages, having conversations right past each other, and that hurt me very deeply as someone who ships the thing. but it was in my mind also very believable characterization! whatever. i wanted to die. TALK ABOUT YOUR FUCKING FEELINGS, CHILDREN

- actually one of my favorite moments of hers was a teeny tiny one in “Take a Break,” during the verse where Angelica is reading the comma sexting letter. Eliza is onstage but out of the spotlight at this point, tidying up, and she’s bent over and closing the piano when they get to the “my Dearest...Angelica.” for a second she raised her head and half looked over her shoulder and i was like OOOHHHHH SHIT because it felt very, like, “Eliza knows about this flirtation but trusts Angelica not to overstep her bounds BUT is still deeply unsatisfied with how it is playing out” and i just. liked it. good shit.

- i think there’s a spectrum of “Burn”/post-“Burn” Elizas; in my mind i look at it as the spectrum of ice Elizas (exemplified by Pippa) to fire Elizas (exemplified by Aubin Wise/Lexi Lawson). Solea’s “Burn” fell closer to Pippa’s on that scale, very cold vengeance and restrained but ugly hurt, but after that song she ran even colder than Pippa’s Eliza. she didn’t break at all in “It’s Quiet Uptown,” not even when Ham did. her air was this frigidly magnanimous “yes. you did this to us. don’t presume to do it again,” and she looked to be the one supporting him as they exited. i don’t know that that’s my Eliza, but it was interesting to watch.

didn’t have super strong feelings about any of the revset/dual cast folks, aside from surprisingly Jordan Donica as Laf/Jefferson! was not expecting to jive on him, given Daveed is such a charismatic actor in both those roles, and he was clearly working hard for the trickier raps, but he was very funny and fun to watch.

- as Laf, he really got across the sheer Badness of Lafayette as a person, in the sense that he was deeply uncool and trying real hard and just. not. quite. making it. he was also very good at the physical comedy bits given that he is built like a man who is half human, half giraffe, and half random bag of pipe cleaners stashed in the back of the crafts closet of an elementary school classroom.

- seriously he is ALL LIMB. he TOWERED over everyone else onstage. A MONSTER. A MISSHAPEN GIANT

- he also played a very slick and menacing Jefferson who was constantly using his height advantage to attempt to intimidate Ham. didn’t work, obviously, but made for some very striking tableaux in the cabinet battles.

Ruben Carbajal had a lovely voice but i believed him more as Philip than as Laurens because HE LOOKED LIKE A LITERAL CHILD. HOLY SHIT. chubby cheeks and petulant pout and all. it was nuts. where is hamilton casting getting ahold of all these FETUSES

- as i mentioned i preferred Anthony’s Laurens but i did enjoy what a fratty little fucker Ruben’s Laurens came off as. like a hummingbird given human form. that was fun.

Mathenee Treco was a good Herc, kinda camp gay dad friend? which was unexpected but fun. his Mads was a little more vital than it seems like other people’s tend to run; he came off as someone who would overreach himself and then break down into coughing. something a little different.

i eh...didn’t particularly care for Isiah Johnson’s Washington. it was a fairly played straight Local Dad Fed Up With This Shit, Just Wants To Go Home And Build A Deck, which like...isn’t wrong, but there could be more, you know? eh. nothing’s perfect i guess.

i think it was @duckbunny who characterized Rory O’Malley’s King George as “bratty spoiled rich child throwing a temper tantrum” to Groff’s “sleazy abusive bf” King George? or maybe that was someone else? anyway i believed it, both because of his very round babyish face and because of his lack of poise compared to Groff’s King. he was scaryfunny. i habitually skip kgiii’s songs when listening to the cast album, so i was pleased to find myself enjoying all of them live. still think either “What Comes Next?” or “I Know Him” could’ve stood to be cut and replaced with...almost anything else to cover the costume change, really, but they’re fun, no big deal.

this has very little to do with anything but the ensemble featured dupes for Carleigh Bettiol, Betsy Struxness, and Ariana DeBose, i wasn’t sure what to do with this information, perhaps you are not sure what to do with it either, we can just hang out and be puzzled together, it’s chill

[imwastingmylifeinhere]

Magnus Chase and the Obligatory Hogwarts AU Ch14

On ao3

Here it is, folks! Now, I assume you all understood what I was hinting at last chapter (I wasn't that subtle). Without further ado, let's go!

P.S. I'm sorry in advance.

“A…about Conall.”

“Conall?” Magnus didn’t quite understand what was happening, but simply seeing Alex like this had him worried. The way she was hugging herself, the way she stood, bloody hell, just the air she had about her right now reminded Magnus of himself two years ago. Frightened and miserable and without a clue of what he was supposed to do. The thought of Alex feeling like that didn’t bode well with him.

Alex nodded, tightening her arms around herself. “Yes. It’s…” Alex stopped talking immediately as a group of students turned the corner and walked by them. She followed them anxiously with her eyes as they passed by. Whatever she wanted to talk to him about, Magnus realized, she didn’t want other people to hear.

“Come on, let’s go somewhere quite,” he said and tugged at her sleeve to get her to follow him. Under normal circumstances he would have taken by the hand but Alex looked like she would break apart if he wasn’t careful.

He led Alex through the corridors and up the stairs until they were outside the Room of Requirement. He walked in front of the wall three times asking the room to give him a place where he could talk to Alex. Once the door appeared he opened it and walked inside. The room was simple with an old looking couch in front of a fireplace with a coffee table between them. It looked like part of the living room from Perthro.

“Come, sit down.” Alex sat next to Magnus on the couch without a word. She played with the flayed edges of a blanket that was lying on the couch and Magnus waited. He really wanted to ask her what was wrong and have her explain but part of him was afraid of what he’d hear so he waited for her to speak first.

“Conall had been acting weird lately,” Alex started. She wasn’t looking at Magnus, focusing instead at the blanket she was still playing with. Magnus’s mind immediately jumped to the worst possible scenarios. Conall and Alex had fought, Conall yelled at her, he said something that hurt her.

“He’d be really affectionate most days but other times he’d hardly hold my hand and…” Alex sighed in frustration and threw the edge of the blanket she had been playing with aside as if it would get rid of her problems. “I don’t know, I felt stupid about paying it this much attention at first. It might have been a coincidence, right?” It seemed as if the irritation with which she had spoken the last two sentences disappeared when she made that question. The “right?” came out sounding like a little kid that had just learnt Santa Claus wasn’t real and was desperately trying to convince themselves that he was even though they knew it was a lie.

“But the other day, when we went to Hogsmeade… things were fine at first, but after we got back and I asked him to kiss me he didn’t do it.” Magnus nodded and made a little ‘mm’ sound to show Alex he was paying attention. He remembered what Alex was talking about and he also remembered the pang of jealousy he had felt.

“It was weird and what he said then, about having to do homework he forgot, sounded like a bad excuse. Maybe I’m just overreacting, I thought, but…” Another deep sigh. Alex did that a lot as she spoke and every time she would run hand through her hair. It had turned into a mess, locks of green hair sticking up at odd angles. “He acted like that for the next few days too. It was like he was avoiding me. And I tried to figure out of something had happened for him to act like that, but…” Alex’s voice dropped. If it wasn’t for the silence in the room Magnus wouldn’t have heard what she said next. “All I could come up with was that I was male at the time.”

Magnus had to do a double take, not only to make sure he had heard in general but also to make sure he had heard right. “You think Conall acts different around you when you’re a boy?” He asks, knowing he sounds redundant and internally cringing at his own words. “He doesn’t seem like the type to do that.”

He really didn’t. Even with Magnus’s jealousy towards the other boy for dating Alex he had to admit he wasn’t a bad guy (then again Magnus was fine with everyone as long as they weren’t gits). He didn’t treat Alex different as a boy before they started dating, not as far as Magnus could remember.

“I know!” Alex snapped at him. It was the first time since they walked into the room that she had looked him in the eye. “I have experience with people who do what you didn’t think they would!”

She lowered her eyes again and focused on the fabric of her school trousers. “I just… I was waiting for him to do something these past few days, prove me wrong. I was waiting for him to kiss me like he normally does and he didn’t. He only did this morning,” Alex’s voice broke, “after I was a girl again.”

Once more, Magnus internally slapped himself for stating the obvious. “Have you talked to him about it?” It wasn’t like he had any real experience with relationships but everyone always said that communication is key.

Alex threw her head back in exasperation. “Ugh! No! That’s the problem! I know I should talk to him and I don’t think he’s doing this intentionally, not really, but…” Alex trailed off. She raised her legs onto the couch and hugged them close to her chest. Magnus had the sudden urge to wrap her in a blanket and bring her hot chocolate to make her feel better.

“I’m scared,” she said in a small voice. “This… it reminds me too much of how things were like before I came to Hogwarts.”

“…What were things like before?” Magnus asked hesitantly. He regretted his words immediately as Alex hugged her legs tighter. He spoke quickly, waving his hands frantically as he tried to take his words back. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to! It’s okay!”

Alex shook her head. “No, it’s… it’s fine. It was like… I wasn’t me. I mean, I was, but I couldn’t act like that. Not around others. I didn’t really have friends at Durmstrang, more like people I knew that didn’t mind being around me. They were “friends” with me,” Alex made huge air quotes with her fingers, “but not actually me. Who they knew was “Alexander Fierro”,” air quotes once again, “heir to the Fierro fortune. I knew they wouldn’t act the same if they knew I wasn’t always a boy. I heard the things they said.”

Magnus didn’t need Alex to elaborate on that. He knew people could say really horrible things either because they didn’t understand or because they didn’t know any better. After he started questioning whether he didn’t liked only girls, every time someone would make a mean comment about homosexual or bisexual people it felt like a jab for him. The ignorant insults felt personal and they hurt.

“There was a girl at Durmstrang I was close to,” Alex went on. “We talked more and she didn’t seem to care about my family. I knew that she had a gay brother so I hoped she’d be more open than the others…”

X, she didn’t even want to think her name anymore, had told Alex about her brother and while she had said her parents weren’t so happy, it was obvious she loved her brother dearly. They wrote letters to each other frequently and she would always bring him up in conversation. It made Alex feel a lot more comfortable, the fact that she knew for sure there was someone more accepting.

“She wasn’t. I told her everything, I confided in her. I felt like a weight had been taken of my shoulders.” Alex let out a small, bitter laugh and Magnus only understood she was crying when her voice broke. “She took that weight and hit me on the head with it. She spoke with the teachers, contacted my parents, made me a complete joke at Durmstrang.”

Those last few months had been hell on earth for Alex. Every student would now refer to her as a girl and turn the word and the pronouns into sneers. They would give her ‘girly’ things like accessories, make up and skirts and throw slurs at her. They’d make sure she knew how little they liked her. Even the teachers would emphasize her full name whenever they talked to her and make sure they used boy even when they didn’t need to.

Honestly, spending the summer at the streets had almost been a relief after that.

“The moment the school year ended my parents told me that they don’t want me coming back to their house.” A sob shook Alex’s body and she wiped away the tears from her eyes furiously. “I mean, I was kind of expecting it, to be honest. I have no illusion that my parents ever cared about me. They would have thrown me out the moment Loki left me at their door if it wouldn’t have destroyed their image.”

Magnus scooted closer to Alex without a second thought and put an arm around her shoulders. He pulled her close and held her to his chest. He didn’t know what he should do to help Alex but his instincts screamed at him to hug her, as if it would shield her from the pain. If only.

Another thing his instincts told him to do was find the girl Alex told him about and have her and Alex’s parents endure horrible punishments. As tempting as the thought was, it would have to wait.

“So, yeah,” Alex said as she buried her face in Magnus’s sweater. “I’m scared. Mean words from strangers are one thing, but a person I’m friends with? Even worse, in a relationship with?” She shook her head and Magnus felt her hair rub against his clothes.

“I don’t want to lose the people I trust,” she said quietly.

Magnus tightened his arms around her. “You won’t. You’ll always have Sam, Mallory, T.J and Halfborn and me. You’re not getting rid of us this easily.”

Alex laughed weakly. She stopped hugging her knees in favor of hugging him back. “Damn it.”

Magnus chuckled. “I still think you should talk to Conall. If it’s just a misunderstanding then it’s better to get it out of the way as soon as possible. You don’t want a misunderstanding to ruin your relationship, you,” God, this hurt to say, “you two look good together.”

Even though I keep wishing it was me you kissed instead of him, Magnus thought but kept it to himself.

“And if you are right about Conall… well, same thing, you want to get it out of the way as soon as possible.”

Alex nodded. “Thank you,” she mumbled.

They fell into silence. Somehow Magnus had ended up propped against the arm of the couch with Alex hugging him and practically lying on top of him. Their breathing had seemed to synchronize and Magnus found himself playing with Alex’s hair. The silence was only broken by the crackling of the fire in the fireplace.

“Hey, Alex? Can I ask something?” He asked after a few moments.

“Hm?” Alex shifted so that she was supporting her weight by her elbows and she was looking straight at Magnus.

“Why did you ask me for advice? I’ve never been in a relationship myself, wouldn’t it be more logical to ask Mallory or even Sam?”

Alex didn’t speak for a moment as she herself seemed to be wondering why she did go to Magnus for help. She hadn’t thought about it much, honestly.

“I trust you,” she finally said. “You make me feel at peace.”

Alex was looking at him it the eye and Magnus could not look away. He never could with Alex’s eyes. They were just so captivating. It was as if an actual physical force wouldn’t let him look anywhere that wasn’t Alex Fierro’s eyes or face.

Her skin was darker than his. Not as dark as Sam’s, but definitely dark. It looked smooth and Magnus knew she probably had clay or paint stuck in her nails. Her hair was a mop of green locks that looked so fluffy and felt as good to the touch as you’d expect. Her eyes were pulls off molten gold and chocolate respectively and this close to her he could see the individual specks of color in them. Her mouth was slightly open, he lips full and pink and probably so smooth. Magnus knew exactly how they moved when she talked or when she laughed.

Alex was in a similar state. She hadn’t realized how right her statement was until she spoke the words and she couldn’t say they weren’t a hundred percent true. Magnus, with his dirty blonde hair and atrocious haircut, his geeky outbursts and eyes like the sky on a cloudy day had a calming effect on Alex she hadn’t noticed until now.

Weird, because her heart felt anything but calm now, beating a mile a minute as her eyes were somehow fixated on Magnus’s lips. They were a pink worthy of make-up companies yet a bit chapped from him biting on them all the time and they were moving closer and closer as they both leaned in almost instinctively.

I wonder what it’ll be like to kiss Magnus.

I wonder what it’ll be like to kiss Alex.

That was the last thought they both had before their minds just shut down. Nothing else mattered, not now. They were alone in the Room of Requirement, they were lying on a couch by a fireplace with an old frayed blanket covering their feet and they felt calm. They were in their own little personal bubble where time, or the lessons they were late to didn’t exist.

They didn’t matter. All that mattered at that moment, all they wanted to pay attention to was each other’s warmth, each other’s eyes and each one’s breath that ghosted over their lips as they moved closer.

They were a breath apart when the moment was shattered and their bubble popped by an especially loud crack in the fire as a log broke in half. Magnus and Alex jerked at their seats and snapped out of their dazes. Suddenly what they almost did dawned on them and all the things that didn’t exist in their bubble came crushing back,

“I, uh, um… sh-should we go to class?” Magnus stammered out as he sat up straight hurriedly. He moved so hastily that he accidently knocked foreheads with Alex. The Slytherin girl moved back with an “Ow!” and pressed her palm against her head. She tried to get off the couch as quickly as possible but her legs -  and Magnus’s for that matter- were tangled up in the old blanket and she lost her balance as she tried to stand up.

“Ugh.” She groaned as she fell off the couch on her knees.

“Are- are you alright?” Magnus asked. His hands dangled awkwardly in the middle between them, wanting to help her out but also feeling like he wanted to bolt out of here as soon as possible after that.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Alex took Magnus’s hand and got to her feet. A second passed before they both realized they were still holding hands and when they did they jumped almost a meter away from each other.

“I,uh, should be going,” Magnus mumbled and pointed behind his back at the door. The poor boy looked like a fish out of water.

“Yeah, me- me too. Thank you for—for talking.”

They both made for the door. The room that had felt so comfortably warm just a moment ago was like an inferno right now. Or maybe it was just their burning cheeks. They were blushing so hard that their skin was redder than the Gryffindor common (and that said something).

They reached for the doorknob simultaneously and their hands met, sending a small lightning bolt down each of their spines. They pulled them back as fast as they could, holding them to their chests like they had just been burnt.

“Uh, um, after you,” Magnus said and gestured at the door.

“Th- thank you.” They both stepped out of the room and the door disappeared from the wall the moment it closed behind them. “I, uh… b-bye. See you around, I-I guess?”

“Y-yeah, b-bye.”

They stood where they were uncomfortable for a moment, looking everywhere but at each other. Alex was the first one to leave, soon followed by Magnus, and they both tried as hard as they could not to start running as fast as they could to their dorms.

At least not until they had turned the corner. One simple thought went through both their minds as they run to their respective lessons:

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck

What the fuck did I just do?

//////////////

Alex hadn’t been able to pay attention to any of her classes for the rest of the day. Everything went by in a blur, whatever the teachers said went in through one ear and straight out the other. How was she supposed to pay attention to anything after that?

She had went to Magnus for advice, talked about her past with him and he helped her like the fucking ball of sunshine he was. The more she thought about it the more she realized she had meant what she had said. Magnus made her feel at peace, as cheesy as that may sound. They lay on the couch in silence and Alex had felt calm and comfortable.

And then she had to be an idiot and ruin everything! She had almost kissed him! Not only was Alex dating someone already, Magnus most probably didn’t even like her like that!

…Did she like him like that?

He certainly wasn’t hard on the eyes, that was for sure. Then again, she thought that for all her friends. She brought up Magnus’s face in her mind, his fluffy blonde hair and his clear eyes and that little dimple on his left cheek whenever he smiled and her heart decided to do a backflip. She felt her cheeks heat and she bowed her head, pretending that she was taking notes.

W-well, just thinking he’s pretty doesn’t mean I like him like that, Alex though in obvious denial. Images of the two of them popped into her mind. They held hands as they walked and laughed together, they cuddled on Alex’s bed in Perthro while watching movies and Magnus played with her hair, he kissed her sweetly on the lips at breakfast as goodmorning. With every new imaginary scenario her heart picked up the tempo and beat even louder.

The realization hit Alex like the Hogwarts Express and it took her a moment too long to realize that the lesson was over and she could leave for lunch. When she did, she quickly packed her stuff and run out the door to the closest bathroom. Thankfully, it was empty.

Alex splashed some water on her face and tried to calm her heart. She liked Magnus. She liked liked Magnus. She wanted to hold his hand and kiss him and cuddle and – oh, Merlin. Her heart skipped a beat every time she thought of that like she was in some stupid fanfic.

It dawned on her then that she had never reacted like that about Conall. She liked him, she didn’t hate the guy, but she had never felt like the main character of a crappy YA novel. Hell, looking back at it, what she had thought when Conall asked her out was ‘Sure, why not?’

She splashed water on her face again. Okay, let’s review: she realized she might have never liked her boyfriend romantically to begin with, said boyfriend had been treating her differently whenever she was male so she had to talk to him about that and she almost kissed one of her best friends who she does like romantically but who probably doesn’t feel the same way.

“Merlin’s underpants,” Alex muttered as she let her face fall in her hands. This sucks, why did people bother with feelings? She felt envious of T.J for being aro/ace and not having to deal with this shit.

Alex didn’t realize how long she stayed in the bathroom muttering curses under her breath. She only left when a first year student walked into the bathroom to see her repeatedly hitting her head against the wall. The little girl looked at her very confused but Alex just walked out of the bathroom and headed to the Hall of the Slain to bury her feelings in food.

Elsewhere in the castle, Magnus was having a similar breakdown. His Professor was drowning on and on about something but Magnus wasn’t paying attention to what- hell, he wasn’t even sure what class he was in right now.

I almost kissed Alex I almost kissed Alex I almost kissed Alex. His mind was like a broken record player, repeating that phrase over and over until it felt like it had been tattooed on his brain.

He had fucked up, he had fucked up so badly. Alex didn’t like him like that. They were friends, that’s why she had come to him for help. He liked being her friend and yet he might have completely destroyed everything with what he just pulled. Alex had come to him for advice and what does his brilliant brain tell him to do? Try and kiss her! Marlin, he’s an idiot.

Alex has a boyfriend, he reminded himself, even if they’re having problems right now, they might work things out. And even if they didn’t, even if they ended up breaking up, there was no way Alex liked him like that, not with how she had run as far away from him as soon as possible.

Magnus let his head fall on the desk behind his open book. Fortunately, he was sitting at the back of the room so the Professor wouldn’t notice that he wasn’t paying attention. He could feel the questioning stare from his fellow Hufflepuff dig into his back as he wondered what was wrong with Magnus and why he was lying on his desk like his life was over.

It might as well be.

Alex could hardly touch him after his little stunt. She fell on the ground trying to get off the couch and away from him for crying out loud! She snatched her arm back the moment they so much as touched! She probably found the idea of them dating repulsive.

Magnus groaned into his desk quietly. Nobody heard him, save for the boy that sat next to him and was still very confused as to what was happening with him.

“Mate, are you alright?” he asked in a hushed voice. The teacher didn’t notice, too busy explaining something or the other.

“Just leave me here to die,” Magnus mumbled back.

Even if he couldn’t see the other kid’s face he could feel the awkwardness roll of him in waves. There was a stiff little pat on Magnus’s shoulder, like a silent ‘hang in there’, and he didn’t disturb him for the rest of the lesson.

Magnus didn’t say or do anything until the bell rang and he could leave for lunch, he spent the rest of the class period to wallow in his own self pity. He walked to the Hall of the Slain as is a haze and all he wanted was to stuff his face with food until he was too full to think of anything else.

What he or Alex hadn’t realized was that they ate lunch together and so they would have to face each other. Magnus preferred to go through the Imperius curse.

When Alex walked into the Hall of the Slain and walked over to table 19 to see Magnus’s blonde head she wanted to turn around and run to the dungeons. Maybe she could talk some house-elf into giving her food so she wouldn’t have to face Magnus so soon after the realization. Her heart was doing a drum solo just at the sight of his blonde head and she wondered if she could beat up her heart until it stopped doing that.

Conall waved at her. “Hey, Alex!”

Great, now they had all noticed she was here. She couldn’t turn around to leave now. She made her way to their table and sat at the last free seat, which was, oh would you look at that, between Conall and Magnus. Honestly, was there some higher force or something that liked laughing at her pain and misery?

Saying that was the most awkward luch of their lives would be an understatement. With nine people sitting at the table they were already pretty crammed. Normally it wasn’t so bad, but when Magnus and Alex felt like lighting had gone through them every time their elbows hit accidently it was. They tried their best not to look at each other, especially not in the eye, and by the end of it they felt like it would have been less exhausting to write an exam.

The only good thing was that they had both come to a decision on how to deal with their troublesome feelings by the time they had to leave for afternoon classes.

It’s probably just a stupid crush, it’ll go away in like a week, Alex tried to convince herself as she made her way to the greenhouse for Herbology, refusing to accept how much like a lie that sounded even to her.

I should just try to forget about it, Magnus told himself as headed to Charms. I probably don’t stand a chance anyway.

If any of their friends knew the whole situation from both sides and were listening to their thoughts right now they would have face-palmed. Those idiots.

*hides under the bed* PLEASE DON"T KILL ME! Actually, you would be right to kill me, I would do the same in your place, but still!