#[i do not usually spell out accents but sometimes it feels right? sorry for the horrible inconsistency]

[nerianasims]

Midsummer Eve part 2

This book. Is causing me pain.

Okay first I have two good things to mention.

I'm still liking Honeybell. She says she wants to defend Sidney (since he's so perfect and all), and Night-star admonishes, "With all good thoughts and honest spells." Honeybell shoots back, "With weapons of all kinds."

Later, when Night-star calls Eva perfect (again), Honeybell says, "[one] wearies of perfection, as one does of moonshine, I am sometimes so glad when the broad-faced moon stares herself to death, and goes right out; the dancing, trembling, winking stars, that sparkle in heaven's high arch, delight me most."

(By the way, Honeybell has one of the easiest character voices to read in this, surpassed only by Cormac. She speaks in a much simpler, more comprehensible manner than everyone in the book but him. That quote from her is refreshingly to the point, elegant, and lacking in commas and semicolons compared to most of the book.)

Niceness over now time to complain again.

The writing style has gotten worse. There are pages and pages of text blocks with no paragraph breaks. Randy the woodcutter is the worst in his speechifying about nature and goodness and how perfect Eva is and I don't even know what because I can't read what he says any longer. To top it off, he's written with a broad Irish accent.

Plot: Eva's mother dies (of course) when Eva is I think 16 and her mother (Geraldine) was in her mid 30s. One of the things Geraldine says in her long, long, LONG death speech is "God is good." Um no I don't think God is good for killing off a woman in her mid-30s sorry. But that's typical of this book.

Also typical is that when Eva goes to the doctor, she passes by an old woman who thinks about how beautiful she is, and then the doctor also thinks about how beautiful she is. While her mother's dying. Everyone in this book is always thinking and talking about how beautiful Eva is. I promise you, you have never read a fanfic which people accuse of being about a "Mary Sue" that's this extreme.

I'm not sure, because time is not tracked very well in the book, but I think a year later Cormac returns and proposes to Eva again. So she's 17 at this point and he and Sidney are 21. I am much less uncomfortable about this than when Eva was 14 and they were 18. Cormac's kind of a jerk about his proposal but also he offers her riches and the ability to help people with them. He says "I again offer you the passionate love of a passionate nature."

Eva of course nobly turns him down because she can only love Sidney and also because this book is opposed to passion. Cormac says he met Sidney in Rome, where Sidney had failed at becoming a rich and famous artist. This is true, but Cormac also says that Sidney no longer loves Eva, which is false. We learn this immediately because Sidney pops out of the bushes to tell her so.

This is where the walls o'text start to really come out in full force, so I've been skimming even more than usual. Sidney and Eva get married, though they have nothing to live on. They get on a ship going to I believe Rome, because for some reason that's the only place Sidney can become an artist. There's a shipwreck and a lot wrung out of Eva's dog almost dying in it, but he's fine because Eva's so amazing. They lose what little they had and live dirt poor in London.

Sidney says he could make money if he would paint what was popular, but he just cannot lower himself to do that, and Eva of course agrees. I do not. I think he's a self-absorbed shit. He could at least get a job and paint in his free time -- but no, that would sully the purity of his art and of his and Eva's noble impoverishment. And we're in a holding pattern of purple as I wait for Sidney to get kidnapped by fairies as was promised in a description I read of this.

And finally, here is a typical passage about Eva:

"[She] was, in the poetic feeling and phraseology of the country, 'the world's darling,' 'the Flower of the Lakes,' the Rose of Mucross,', 'the heart's delight,' 'the pulse of the heart,' 'the world's cush la machree --' to all within her sphere; and if they loved her before 'her trouble,' -- with the warm instinct of Irish nature, they idolized her after it."

As a reward after finishing this thing, I am going to read Howl's Moving Castle as soon as I'm done.

[goldenmirroraffair]

Chapter 1: Introductions

Jesus Christ I’m nervous. My heart is pounding out of my chest. It feels like I’m about to get a heart attack.

‘Did you pack everything, Ryoma?’ My mother asks, sitting left of me in this Limousine she picked out because it’s “vintage” and “classy”. She personally makes sure it gets washed twice a week but honestly, I couldn’t care less about some luxary car right now.

‘Of course, mother’ I reply as if I haven’t checked a hundred times last night. Jurinji, my younger brother who is sitting to the right of me looks very cool and composed. He supports his head with his hand and seems to be more bored than anything. I, however, feel like I’ll shit myself out of fear.

‘Are you excited for your first day at a normal school?’ the woman to the left of me asks. Jurinji replies with a witty ‘I don’t really care. The main thing is completing my studies right now’.

‘Perfect. How about you, Ryoma?’

‘I can’t wait to impress my teachers, mother’.

‘Amazing. Looks like we’re here’.

My heart skips a beat after Charles, our driver helps me out of the car. A giant white building stands before me. Above the entrance are big golden letters that spell out “Hopes stars academy”. I tell myself that it’s only one year and I can do it as I say my goodbyes to mother. ‘Don’t disappoint me’ she reminds us as she usually does.

‘You’re shaking’ Jurinji points out.

‘I’m very sorry. This is a stressful situation’.

‘Pull yourself together’ he says with a sharp tongue as he enters the building.

Sometimes I question if I’m really the older sibling.

With a big gulp I open the door. There must be hundreds of people here. I already lost track of my brother as I stumble towards something that resembles a map. I pass black lockers with golden decoration. As to be expected from a private school like this.

‘Can I help you?’ some guy asks. His golden blonde hair on top doesn’t match the colour of his black undercut. He has a piercing on his lip. Even though I have pierced ears I don’t really get to see facial piercings that often. My father thought it’s “distasteful”.

‘Sure, I need to get to room 103. Do you know where I must go?’ I ask the punk.

‘Wait, are you taking Mr. Parkers class too?’

‘I’m not sure. I just received the room number’.

‘103 is where I’m going too. So, you can just follow me’ the helpful man explains. I hope I don’t have to sit next to him. Status is everything so maybe he’ll bring my reputation down.

As we’re walking, he makes an introduction. ‘By the way my name is Axel. Nice to meet ya!’ His thick German accent is almost too much for me to handle. There are probably loads of German students here since this school is located in Bavaria.

‘Greetings, Axel. My name is Ryoma Felch’.

‘So uhh do you always speak like a robot?’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to come off as rude. I just wanna like make sure you’re comfortable.’

‘I’m comfortable thank you very much’. The rest of the walk was dead silent. He drops a quick ‘Gorgeous hair by the way. What products do you use?’ which I ignore. He could die of a heart attack right on the spot and I wouldn’t care. Some would say this is an extreme and cold reaction but mother taught me to talk to people with respect so that’s the least I can expect from others.

I enter the room first. There is a small group of girls sitting in a circle. You could smell their Ariana Grande perfume through the entire class.

‘Holy shit’ a girl with red eyeshadow says as she sees me. Oh no. ‘You’re the Felch boy, right?’

‘Yes. It is nice to make your acquaintance’, I respond.

‘The who boy?’ the pierced man behind me asks.

Another girl with green eyeshadow gives him a killer stare as she walks over to me.

‘Ryoma Felch! You know. The son of the owner of the Fashion brand FELCH?’

‘What like felching?’ He thinks for a second but then remembers. ‘Oh yeah but didn’t the owner die like half a year ago or something? And doesn’t that mean he’s also Swans brother?’

‘Jesus fucking Christ Axel you idiot’. The same girl responds. She noticed he didn’t only hit one sensitive nerve but two.

‘I apologize but I refuse to listen to you any longer’ I really want to leave right now.

This is way worse than I would have ever expected. I pass the young women and sit down on a chair with a red pillow. The girl with red eyeshadow is pulling Axel out of the door. I hope he gets suspended. Isn’t that what happens in schools like this? I remind myself that it’s just this year and then I’ll graduate.

After a few minutes more students enter the classroom. Since this school has two buildings, the main building is for people who are looking for a higher education (aka the school for all the wealthy kids) and a second building that resembles a public school. The second one is under renovations right now though, so the classes are a mix of both. Axel and the Ariana Grande perfume ladies, for example, are obviously not from the main building. They come back into the room and Axel sits down on the opposite side of the class without even daring to look at me. Finally, the teacher enters. He’s suspiciously young. If he didn’t sit down at the front, I would’ve thought he’s another student.

‘Umm hi class’ Oh no. I think the students that look wealthy are just as confused as me right now. ‘You can call me Mr. Parker. Even though I’m your teacher this year I want us to have a chill relationship’ He has a Bavarian accent similar to Axels.

‘Excuse me! I think I’m in the wrong classroom’ a girl shouts out as she starts packing up. I notice her Gucci glasses which look stupidly big on her.

‘Emma Singer, right? I’m sorry but no, you aren’t. I used to be a teacher at the second building but because of the renovations I teach this class now.’ She pulls her Notebook back out. ‘So first of all, I want to do introductions. If someone throws the ball at you – you have to say something about yourself. Let’s start with you, Emma’.

She catches the ball.

‘Well, I’m Emma Singer, I’m 18 years old and single.’ a few other students cringe at that statement. ‘I’m in the fashion design course at the main building and I plan to make my own label someday.’ The statement is kind of ironic because she didn’t seem to recognize me. I mean I’m ME.

The ball passes all over the classroom and even knocks down a water bottle. The teacher took some paper towels and cleaned it up though. Finally, someone throws the ball to the girl with red eyeshadow. ‘I’m Chayenne, 18 years old and not single.’

She received a few chuckles from that. ‘I chose to be in the makeup class because of my passion in makeup and the racism connected with shades. I often struggle finding a good foundation or concealer because the industry often forgets people of colour exist.’ She sounds very serious about this topic. I love passionate people a lot. She throws the ball to Axel, but he fails to catch it and it hits his face. That even gets a laugh out of me.

‘My name is Axel Mueller and I’m like 19’ Like 19? Doesn’t he even know how old he is? At this point I’m convinced he’s an alien imposter trying to figure out how humanity works. ‘I have a cat called Milk and my mom owns a club that I work at part time. So maybe you’ll see me at the Typhoon. Oh yeah and I’m from the theatre class.’

‘Gay!’ another student shouts out. The amount of rude people in this class is so annoying. I don’t have anything against queer people, but I would’ve been so mad at them for calling me that.

‘So?’ Axel responds. What? That’s a shocker. I didn’t expect him to… well it’s none of my concerns.

‘HEADS UP!’ he shouts as he throws the ball in my direction.

‘Huh?’ I notice it too late and just like 20 seconds ago with the punk himself, the ball bounces off my face. This time, however, I fall backward and hit the back of my head against the window silt behind me. A small ‘fuck’ escapes my lips. Hopefully nobody heard that.

‘Oh, shit Ryoma do you want an ice pack?’, the teacher asks.

‘Yes, that would be great.’

‘The nurses office has some.’ There’s a small pause that feels like an eternity. Does he expect me to get it? Is he being serious right now?

‘Oh shit my bad. I’ll go get it’ the guy who assaulted me says.

‘No need’ I say as I stand up and start to walk to the door.

‘But you don’t know where it is’ Axel exclaims.

‘And you do? Aren’t you from the second building?’ a few students are making shocked noises.

‘See this as Axels punishment’, Mr. Parker says to deescalate the situation.

‘Not suspension or something like that?’ A lot of students are chuckling. Chayenne is having the time of her life. ‘Whatever.’ I open the door with Axel following me.

[sawmillgameplay2009]

on the contrary i think youre the one whos screwed!

where the fuck are you anyways?

What the hell is your problem? You don't even know me! I can't even do nothin' to ya, intangible freak! And you bettah feel lucky about that!

[samwilsonsupremacy]

going to a fancy restaurant with the outsiders gang headcanons ( gn reader included)

a/n: i LOVE the outsiders, & a scenario like this has been swirling around in my head ever since i first read the book!! if u like this, feel free to give any requests for more!! ( also i literally cannot spell restaurant so if i forgot to autocorrect it once thats my bad LMAO )

this lowkey also turned out to be super long so sorry lol

:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*

it had been a long day for everyone.

soda & steve were just comin’ home from the dx, darry came home from work, dally had been at buck’s and two-bit, johnny, pony, and you were just home from school.

usually someone made dinner. usually it was you and pony, sometimes it was soda and steve (and those nights, dinner was usually burnt or raw).

but today, dally had an idea. anytime he gets a glint in those light blue eyes, you know something’s gonna happen, and everybody’s gonna have to go along with it.

and today is no different.

his lips curl up into a smirk as he takes a drag of his cigarette, and darry just raises his brows, ‘cuz he knows something’s about to happen.

“  we should go to dinner.  “

okay, not as crazy as everyone was thinking.

“  at the fanciest restaurant in town.  “

now there’s dallas winston.

it’s not like it was a crazy thought. the gang did deserve something special, more so than the chocolate cake you and pony always made.

you all looked to darry for approval, of course.

a simple nod meant it was a go !!

however, the fanciest restaurant was all the way on the other side of town.

too far to walk, even for all of you, who usually walked everywhere.

“ i can drive. “

good ol’ two-bit with his trusty (albeit nearly ALWAYS broken down) car.

and when two bit smirks, it’s arguably more terrifying than dally.

but, nevertheless, it’s decided. you’re going to the restaurant, no matter what.

so everybody hops in the car.

well, more like shoves each other in the car.

dally wanted to drive. two-bit said no way. darry beat them both to the driver’s seat, so he’s the driver.

everyone is secretly glad, because dally really sucks at driving & two-bit always jokes around and swerves and then almost hits something.

that’s pretty much why his car is always broken down.

so you’re sitting in the middle of the backseat. soda and steve are on your right side, and pony and johnny are on your left. dally’s in the passenger’s seat.

two-bit is in the trunk.

it’s one of those cars where the trunk is open to the rest of the car, so he won’t suffocate.

he originally wanted to ride on top of the car, but darry dragged him down.

darry’s a pretty good driver. despite the commotion.

dally constantly turning the radio up, soda and steve shovin’ each other against the window, two-bit shouting random words in everyone’s ear just to make them jump.

you’re pretty quiet, and so are pony and johnny. they’re smoking out the window.

darry has to pull over and do a “if y’all don’t shut your mouths soon, i will turn this car around !!!!! “

but at that point you’re so close to said restaurant that it doesn’t even matter.

anyways, as soon as you park there, it’s obvious that you’re all out of place.

like REALLY out of place.

sure, it might be kind of funny, but it feels like you’re gearin’ up to be embarrassed.

but you know who doesn’t care about being embarassed?

two-bit mathews.

so he goes in, cigarette hanging out of his mouth, charges right up to the host & asks for a table.

two-bit being two-bit, of COURSE he uses a fake british accent.

“  excuse me, sir, could you be a good lad and squeeze me in for a little table ? i have... seventy people in my party.  “

a blink from the host. a blank stare.

“ hahaha! just joking, of course. i have eight little lads who are right hungry!! “

the host’s brow furrows.

“ no.  “

well, it’s not like it was unexpected.

everyone looks to dally, ‘cause it was his idea in the first place.

“ alright. your loss. “

and then he just walks out.

now THIS is strange.

dallas winston doesn’t usually just walk away from something like that.

however, as you’re all walking to the car, he pulls you aside, that old glint in his eyes once again.

“  lookit this.  “

out of his jacket pocket comes what must be at least twenty spoons, and three plates.

“  what in the.... dally, how’d you get that ? “ you asked, because it didn’t look like he left the group at all while two-bit was horsing around.

“ don’t ask, don’t tell, half-pint. “ is all you get in response, and with a wink, dally has sprinted up to the front of the group.

:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*

hope you enjoyed! again, feel free to request scenarios! (no nsfw, ofc) i rly love writing headcanons lmao <33

[words-writ-in-starlight]

day 1: "bound"

Essek cannot, in honesty, say that he is paying attentiong to anything being said right now. He should be—this is his trial, after all, his death sentence, the axe finally starting to fall—but he isn’t. He’s made his confession, did all he could to exonerate anyone who might be caught in the crossfire, offered the names of his co-conspirators. There is no defense to offer that the Bright Queen would consider worth hearing.

Indeed, laying it all out again has reminded Essek that I am a selfish and overcurious man, and thought nothing of it is not exactly an exculpatory defense, even if she did hear it.

So, Essek feels that his involvement here is complete, is the truth. All he has left to do at this trial is still be sitting bound and compliant in the accused’s seat when they sentence him to die, and he can do that without listening.

On a strictly professional level, he finds that he’s impressed with the efficiency of his arrest. He estimates that it’s probably no later than five hours past noon. He was called to an emergency meeting at the palace perhaps six hours ago. In that time, he has been accused of treason, thoroughly countered in an escape attempt, stripped of all spell components or possible weapons, and brought to the throne room to face the Bright Queen’s justice. Quana Kryn, the Dusk Captain of so many lifetimes, is no fool—she did all her work in secret, and only arranged for his arrest when she was sure that her case was beyond reproach.

She did her work well, Essek is obliged to admit, if only in the privacy of his own thoughts. And anything that she didn’t already know, he told them himself, under the strongest truth magic the clerics of the Luxon could muster. He had worked alone, after all. His confession meant that Verin, that the Nein, could walk free, and he freely admitted as much when his willingness to talk became the subject of question.

The Bright Queen had given him a look of cool, weary disappointment, and remarked that it was a shame he had come to loyalty so late. He had said frankly that he agreed, and that was the last they had asked of him.

And since then, he hasn’t been listening.

Instead, he is thinking. Not about magic, nor even really about saving himself. Essek has been living on borrowed time since the moment he walked out with a Beacon in hand, and he’s known it. He wants to live, but this feels—inevitable. This feels like it’s already over, and Essek is only dreaming this trial, these chains, and this sentence. So his mind wanders, and he’s surprised to find that there are more fond places in his memory than others, these days.

He’s thinking about the new cat that Caleb recently adopted, a scrawny gray-and-black kitten that Caleb coaxed with scraps for a week until it trusted him enough to be touched and taken inside off the street.

He’s thinking about how Caleb promised Luc that he could name it, next time the Brenattos visited Rexxentrum.

He’s thinking about Fjord and Jester making port in Nicodranas in a month, and Beau breaking into their study to sit on Caleb’s desk with Urana, the dainty black cat Essek brought Caleb two years ago, in her lap, just to tell them that they were going to teleport everyone to the Chateau for dinner.

He’s thinking about sunlight, strangely, and the way it glows on Caleb’s hair, makes the freckles on his eternally windburned cheeks bright on his skin, turns his blue eyes piercing and warm. Sunlight speaks with a Zemnian accent, in Essek’s life, and he might be the first drow in a long time to wish he was going to see it again before he dies.

Essek is so absorbed in his own thoughts, in refusing to listen to the voices deciding on the method of his death in favor of the memories of other voices, full of joy and exasperation and playful outrage and affection, that at first he assumes he’s imagining the words in his ear.

“Heeeeeeey, Essek, it’s me,” Jester chirps, and he can picture her sitting on the rail of the ship, kicking her feet and making Fjord count for her. “Just wanted to say hi, ummmm, we saw a whale yesterday that could have swallowed us whole! Let me know how—”

Essek almost curses himself aloud for not having thought of this.

Jester doesn’t Send to him every day, not all the time. Maybe one in three, on average. Sometimes she’ll go a week without Sending at all, and other times—usually when they’re becalmed somewhere and she’s bored—he’ll get three messages a day. She’s charmingly blasé about relative times, between the Lucidian and their landbound homes, or at least, Essek reminds himself that it’s charming when she wakes him up from a deep sleep. He had no way of knowing that she would Send to him here, now, and now she has, and he has no idea what to do.

Essek needs to answer her, though.

The reality of his situation—it doesn’t set in, all at once, abruptly. He’s been well aware of the reality of his situation for some time now. But the reality of this aspect, this unforeseen complication, comes home immediately.

If Essek doesn’t answer her, Jester will assume something is wrong. If she assumes something is wrong, she will either hammer him with Sendings until he responds, or, more likely, go directly to Caleb and demand his help in reaching Essek. He loves his friends desperately, but they have never encountered the idea of a half-measure, and he doubts the feeble protection offered by his confession will keep them from being apprehended as traitors if they actually come and try to rescue him.

If Essek had more time to think, he might take a moment to bask in the warmth of being a person whose friends might try to rescue him. But he doesn’t have time, and he doesn’t have the luxury of letting this slide.

He can’t risk them.

Essek raises both his bound hands and scratches at his brow, hiding his mouth.

“I’m sorry, Jester, I’m in a meeting,” he murmurs, so quietly he can barely hear himself. He keeps his voice as calm and matter-of-fact as possible, just like the times when she really has interrupted a council meeting or the like. “I may be quite busy for a week or so. I will Send to you when I can.”

There’s a pause, and then her voice comes back, dramatically forlorn.

“But Essek, we miss youuuuu,” she whines, and then bursts into giggles. “We really do! Send when you have time, and stay out of trouble! Love you!” She pauses again, and then hums tunelessly until the spell runs out.

“Essek Thelyss,” the Bright Queen says, her voice ringing across the throne room like struck crystal. “Rise, and receive your judgement.”

“I will,” Essek whispers, and then lowers his hands, and stands to face his sentence.

[sevicia]

tell us about ur ocs then

OK BUT YOU ASKED FOR THIS

((After i finished writing this i realized how long it is IM SO SORRY if anyone actually reads this i am kissing you so so very tenderly))

OK this is daría she is a swamp witch. She is veeery moody and has a dont care didnt ask type of attitude. She loves creachers and is able to talk to them, she also has vast knowledge of plants and natural remedies. She loves reading, and Aurora (her gf)! She's friends with Sammy (her cousin) and frenemies with Angel (she finds her annoying even though theyre very similar) <3 Also shes an nb lesbian, the shortest of the group and she's 16-17 I faghor to mention that

^ angel (left) and sammy (right)!!

Angel is a very orderly, serious girl, as well as as a nocturnal witch! She's able to see ghosts and talk to them (AKA order them around to do her chores LOL), and can see almost perfectly at nighttime. She has a tiny (huge) crush on Sammy, her only friend due to Angel's "rude" nature (in reality she is just blunt). She also loves to accesorize, and her favorite color is blue! She's pretty tall and lanky, and is #trans and a lesbian. Also, she finds Aurora annoying. She's 17-18!

Sammy is a caring, kind girl who is also a day witch! She has the ability to soothe and heal all lifeforms. She is also a great singer, having a deep love for music since childhood. She's very affectionate, esp. with Angel, and although she reciprocates her feelings she is too shy to ACTUALLY act on them. This infuriates Daria who just wants the two to quit pining and just kiss already. She likes summer the most, and has a good relationship with her and Darias grandma, who is the legal caretaker for them both. Sammy was adopted by Daría's uncles, who both passed away for Mysterious Reasons. Her relationship with Aurora is a good one, finding her cute and funny. She's tall, a little shorter than Angel, and is a cis lesbian. She's 17-18!

(I wanna redesign her but i still havent gotten around 2 it help)

This ^ is Aurora! She's not always in a swimsuit LOL this is just the only decent drawing of her i could find. She usually wears a school uniform with pink accents. She's bubbly, kind and puppy-like, getting excited REALLY easily. She loves fashion, sweets, animals, Daria and the color pink! She is not a witch in any capacity, but she still studies witchcraft in an attempt to become an artificial witch. She likes chasing Angel around and tries to actively become her friend! She's the second shortest of the group, and is a cis bisexual girl! Her age is 15-16; she's a year younger than Daria!

OK those are the witchy ocs now for the fruit ones 😏

(a note: The children in the fruitverse are born (hatched?) from flowers, which people who are looking for children go to in order to adopt. However, sometimes there's children that no one adopts, and they, along with children that got bad adopted by bad parents, get sent to the Fruit Basket, which is essentially an orphanage. Generally, people looking to adopt seek out the more mild-mannered fruit children, meaning they look for the sweetest fruits (AKA strawberries, bananas, apples, etc.) and other, more acidic fruits have a lower adoption rate due to them being known to be a bit more difficult to raise.)

This girl^ is Berry! I am the best at names I know. She's quiet and calm, and enjoys reading dates with her bff Nana. She lives with just her mom, Ms. Raspberry, and has a pet dog named Pinkie. She is often distressed because she gets roped into wild situations (mostly nana's fault TBH) when she would rather just chill all the time. Still, she's earnest and responsible. She's 13 years old!

This is Nana the man the myth the legend. As you can see, he is a banana. He's mischievious or however you spell that, and enjoys Berry's company mainly because she's 90% of his impulse control. He lives with his parents (Mr. and Ms. Blueberry), and his two siblings: Benjie (oldest) and Nadia (youngest). He loves them to death, and often teams up with Nadia (who is like 10) to stress out Benjie (who is 23). He is tall, and 14, a year older than Berry.

this is Ran! her ref sheet says pretty much everything, but ill talk abt her anyways cause i love her <3

Ran is an orange! She's a quick-tempered girl, but really sweet on the inside. She has trouble opening up to others due to her original parents neglecting her emotional needs while she grew up. When she was 6, her teacher caught onto the fact that her parents treated her badly, and she was sent to the Fruit Basket. At age 9, Lia (a lemon woman) adopted her from there. Ran feels as if she is indebted to Lia and needs to 'earn' her love by being as perfect as possible, so she puts a lot of pressure on herself. Meanhwile, Lia loves her unconditionally and is doing her best to make sure Ran knows that. Ran eventually becomes friends with Nana and Berry, and she is 15 years old.

These two right here are the Cherry sisters!

Mia (left) is the oldest at 22 years old, and she has a playful, happy personality. She likes fashion, and her main love language is signs of affection! She often tries to let her little sister Cher know she loves her, but she can get a bit TOO attentive to the point of overprotection. She is very popular with just about everyone due to her cheery personality and the fact that she's pretty (LOL), making Cher jealous. She is Benjie's girlfriend and loves him to death. Her main hobby is making him flustered!

Cher (right) is the youngest at 16 years old. Her personality is a bit more sour than Mia's, due to her feeling as if she's the shadow of her sister. She has a bit of an inferiority complex, and is often torn between wanting to be Exactly like her sister, or being her own person and being 'worse' than her sister her whole life. She is reclusive, easily annoyed and a bit bitter. She feels as if she is inferior to Mia due to not getting as much attention as her. Still, she likes fashion and is a horror movie fan. She eventually befriends Ran (and 'those two weird kids', by proxy).

OK now for the fruit ones that dont have drawings (yet)!:

Benjie: He's a tall, strong #transhet man, 23 years old, and he's a banana! He has a worrisome and anxious personality that he tries to hide by 'acting cool' (he just puts on sunglasses and hopes for the best). He is very kind, working at a dog shelter and always trying to pull his little siblings out of trouble. He has a soft spot for Berry due to her being a friend and a source of relaxation for Nana.

Monserrat: She is a lemon girl who has been in the Fruit Basket ever since she was born, and has a rivalry with Ran that stems for Lia adopting Ran instead of her. The rivalry consists of Monse being mean to Ran and Ran not letting herself be trampled over. She feels as if she deserves to be Lia's daughter more than Ran due to the fact that both her and Lia are lemons. In reality, she is just bitter about having never been adopted at the age of 15, and channels that bitterness towards other people. She likes romance novels and books, and eventually finds a friend in Cher after having a redemption arc in which she apologizes to Ran (and to Nana, Berry and Charlie, who she also enjoyed antagonizing).

Charlie: They are an apple kid who got pulled out of an abusive home, into the Fruit Basket, where they get ostracized and picked on by the other fruit children due to them being 'weird' (AKA not being able to communicate like everyone else; stuttering) and 'dumb' (AKA them struggling at school). Their peers at the Fruit Basket called them 'Rotten Apple'. This has made them defensive and reclusive, which just makes them get excluded even more. Their only friend at the beginning is their pet worm Alice, though later on they befriend Nana and Berry. They get along well with Ran, too, since they have a kind personality under those layers of defensiveness and aggression.

Agatha: Not a fruit, but a human! This girl is a 'mad scientist' type of character. She's a genius and enjoys programming, hence her creating the Fruitverse, an 'ecosystem' contained in a computer program that got out of hand; it was meant to be a simple game, but she kept adding and adding elements and details in her excitement until the 'characters' became able to think for themselves and altered her computer in the process, becoming a sort of virus for her. She comunicates with the 'characters' through a microphone that resounds in the town speakers, and while most of the adults are respectful and fearful of her, the children are... not, often taunting her and calling her 'stinky' and other names, which makes her basically ragequit and leave her computer (she leaves it running all the time. No matter what, she couldn't bear to know she'd be ending the fruit people's lives. She gets attached easily.)

OK NOW THE ROBOT STORY DW IT ONLY HAS A FEW CHARSCTERS SO FAR THIS IS ALMOST OVER I PROMMY!!

Alice: A 17 year old trans girl with a masculine voice that doesn't match her appearance living in a futuristic city where robots have become a commodity, and people who keep the robots running (AKA essential workers) are treated very, very badly. She lives in the poorer side of town with her parents, who are both maintainance workers, and her sister, a wannabe influencer. As the daughter of maintainance workers, she is bullied in school. One day, she isn't able to stand it any longer, so she skips school and wanders around town, eventually finding a hidden tunnel that leads to an underground system, where discontinued or 'faulty' robots are left until 'recollection' (AKA getting crushed and burned in a facility). Seeing this, she sets out to help the robots, feeling a connection to them. Her adventure leads her to the rotten core of the city.

Annie (short for Anastasia): She is a 20 year old girl, Alice's sister and a wannabe influencer. She worries very much about her little sister, trying to look out for her whenever possible. She is easily annoyed and follows trends as best as she can with her limited options. She has plenty of friends, though most of them talk about her behind her back. She knows this, but she's terrified of not being popular, so she sticks with them. Deep inside, she is a kind, caring girl who is scared of not being liked. Initially, she is against Alice going into her crusade alone, but warms up to the idea eventually, choosing to trust her and looking out for her in a more indirect way.

The Mother: This entity is the AI that rules the city. It doesn't take a single form, being able to choose its vessel from custom-made robot-suits. It is responsible for the unequality of the city, encouraging it as it allows it to keep itself on the top of the metal chain. Eventually, when Alice manages to find it with the help of her sister and robot friends, it tries bargaining for its existence by telling Alice it can give her the life she's always wanted. It promises Alice a future of being adored, of being accepted by her peers. Or something. Haven't decided on that yet!

OK THATS IT IM SO SORRY I GOT EXCITED.

[dragons-bones]

FFXIV Write Entry #1: Delayed Gratification

Prompt: foster || Master Post || On AO3

IT BEGINS.

The Jewels and Java cafe is the brilliant brainchild of my friend @catpella and was used with permission. :3

--

“Again, I am so sorry,” Synnove hissed, mortified, as they walked down one of the many hallways of the Arcanists’ Guild.

“It’s perfectly all right, my love,” said Aymeric fondly, squeezing her hand. “If we miss the ferry, we can simply teleport.”

His lady sighed heavily and muttered, “But I like the ferry ride…”

He laughed and raised her hand to kiss her knuckles, and satisfaction purred in his chest at the way Synnove’s golden cheeks rosed with pleasure. Galette, in her usual position draped around her mama’s neck, didn’t bat an eye. Ivar, behind them, made a disgusted noise, followed soon after by Tyr’s annoyed elder brother huff; he ignored them, well used to Synnove’s sons’ idiosyncrasies.

It was not the first time one of their getaways had been temporarily delayed by a work-related emergency; their friends and colleagues were normally keen on ensuring the pair of them got to take vacations, but sometimes matters arose that absolutely could not be handled by anyone else. This one, thankfully, had occurred while they were still in the city and easy to reach. Very easy; they’d been merely around in the corner from Mealvann’s Gate in the Jewel and Java café, enjoying sweet treats before they planned to wander over to the ferry quay for the journey to Bloodshore and the cabin, when Thubyrgeim’s emerald carbuncle, Din, scurried in with a note from the Guildmistress.

“Oh, she’s playing dirty,” Synnove had muttered as she read the note. Din had twitched an ear in her direction, but he had clearly been in the midst of gossiping with Galette and Tyr, their noses and ears and tails moving in the way of creatures who didn’t need sound to communicate.

(Aymeric had, not for the first time, suspected that Synnove’s carbuncles’ aetheric harmonic matching capabilities were nowhere near as common as his lady implied they were. Certainly, he’d never ‘heard’ any other carbuncles speak, but he also knew Synnove’s quintet limited their direct communication to Synnove’s immediate social circle, and it would not be out of the realm of possibility that other carbuncles had similar preferences…)

Aymeric had peered over his shoulder, setting down his fork with its piece of rolanberry shortcake on his plate, and shook his head in amused exasperation at the sight of the Guildmistress’s shorthand, which was as atrocious as Synnove’s. “What seems to be the problem?”

“One of the fourth-years needs final approval for her thesis project’s spell changes,” she had said, refolding the paper, then pinching and dragging her nails along the crease to sharpen it. A chip of her bronze nail lacquer ended up left behind. “Yamomo—” the chair of the aetherophysics department, he had recognized the name immediately, “—had to ‘port out to the Range. It’s either an unscheduled detonation or one of the Squadrons fired on a part of the island they’re not supposed to, Thubyr’s writing got a bit sloppy there.”

A bit sloppy?

Pointedly ignoring his look, his lady had continued, “Solkthota’s presenting her thesis project at the next conference, and guess where that is?” Her voice had turned as dry as the Sagolii.

Aymeric had giggled even as he had fished Roksana out of her bowl of melting ice cream and absently began cleaning her face with a napkin as the white carbunclet had purred. “Does it start with ‘Radz’ and end with ‘Han,’ by chance?” he said.

“Oh, you’re good,” Synnove had said with a rueful laugh, and waved down one of the café’s waitresses to get their desserts packed to go.

Now, they approached one of the warded workrooms in the Guild’s north wing. As they did, Synnove carefully smoothed out her expression from huffy and annoyed to professional interest. For all that she did want to be vacation right now, enjoying the lazy trip around the southern coast of La Noscea to sightsee or nap or cuddle, she would never take out that frustration on one of her students.

She dropped his hand—reluctantly, though she quickly skimmed her thumb over his knuckles first—and opened the door to the workroom, stepping inside, with Aymeric following just at her heels.

The workroom was large and well-lit, the early afternoon sun streaming in through the many windows. The part they immediately walked into was a small observation area, with a setup of desks similar to a small amphitheater leading down to the main floor; this must be one of the practical demonstration workrooms, then. Two students were off to the side, a dark-skinned Highlander lad and a tiny grey elezen girl who had yet to hit her growth spurt and could have been anywhere between sixteen and twenty-one summers old. At the front of the workroom, pacing nervously, was a gangly Sea Wolf young woman, skin the color of storm clouds and hair such a shocking shade of daffodil yellow he would have thought it was dye if her eyebrows hadn’t been the same color.

All three students’ head whipped up and around when Synnove entered, and Aymeric saw the two sitting ones’ jaws drop as he took a seat at one of the other desks, Ivar and Tyr jumping into seats next to him as the twins tumbled down his arms to the desktop. The presumed Solkthota paled and stammered out, “Professor Greywolfe! You’re supposed to be on vacation—”

Synnove waved a hand and closed the short door on the partition between the observation area and the presentation area. (Briefly, as the latch on the door clicked into place, he felt the faint snap of a ward activating.) “Hadn’t left yet, Solk, and an emergency means Professor Yamo has to put the fear of the Twelve into someone,” she said absently. Her voice had gone from her usual faintly Ala Mhigan and Lominsan accented lilt into the crisp tones of a Gate arcanist on duty. “Remind me of what your thesis was covering? Professor Yamo hasn’t given me a copy yet.”

The young Sea Wolf took a deep breath and launched into a technical diatribe that almost immediately had Aymeric’s eyes glazing over. He recognized a few words and phrases—Shotamian manifold, harmonic oscillation—and knew just enough from listening to Synnove’s explanations over the years that this project didn’t seem to be carbuncle focused, but otherwise it was all Allagan to him. Instead, he made sure Amandina and Roksana hadn’t taken a page out of Galette’s playbook and hadn’t gotten into the bag of treats sitting beneath the desk at his feet, and leaned back in his seat to observe. Faintly, he could hear the other two students murmuring to one another, but about what, he was too far away to tell.

(They weren’t looking at him as they did, at least, so if he was the subject of their conversation, they at least had better manners about it than most Ishgardian nobles.)

Solkthota finished quickly, nerves clear as day on her face, and Synnove nodded, reaching up to pet Galette’s tails. “All right, no time like the present to test this.” She gestured towards one of the person-shaped targets at the end of the room. “Let’s see what this modified Ruin can do.”

The student took another breath as she unhooked her grimoire from her belt, opening it and quickly turning pages to the correct one. Solkthota removed her channeling stylus from the strap on the grimoire’s back and held it up in the air, the tip pointed towards the target, and began to cast.

The bolt of power had barely left the stylus before Synnove was roaring “DOWN!” and tackling the Sea Wolf to the floor. Aymeric grabbed the twins just as the word began to leave Synnove’s lips, and was on the floor beneath the heavy ironwood desk, the shrieking carbunclets tucked close to his chest, just as the echo of it was overtaken by the roar of an explosion. Tyr was on top of him and his little sisters as a bright light blinded him, blocking it out, but having an enormous topaz carbuncle atop him did nothing to muffle the sound or the feel of the room trying to shake apart.

The silence in the aftermath was nearly as deafening as the explosion had been.

Tyr rolled off his head, shoving past Ivar, who hung from the desk, chittering in excitement because big boom and, of course, he had watched. Aymeric crawled out after Tyr, and as he stood, the girls immediately pulled themselves up onto his shoulders and tucked into his neck, shivering. He absently stroked first Roksana, then Amandina, and hurried to the other end of the observation area to where the other students had been. As he walked, he noted that the ward on the partition was flickering oddly, like cracked glass, but the spell still held—barely.

The Highlander boy had covered his elezen classmate’s head with his torso, and she was shoving at him now, her voice muffled by his bulk, saying, “Tyon, gerroff, you’re heavy!”

Aymeric bent over to help Tyon keep his balance as he pushed himself up and crawled out from the desk. “Are you all right, you two?” he said.

Tyon rubbed at one ear, and accepted his proffered hand to get to his feet. “Ears’re ringing,” he said while also blinking rapidly. His tiny classmate popped up next to him, patting her dark blue hair back into place and scowling faintly.

Synnove, meanwhile, was lowering her arm; the right one, upon which she wore the ring denoting her as a master arcanist. The glimmer of a shield fell away as she did, and then she was standing upright and helping Solkthota to her feet. Galette’s ears were pinned back and her nose was twitching, but otherwise she seemed utterly unperturbed.

“I am so, so sorry,” the Sea Wolf was saying, her whole body shaking and her eyes wide with mixed shock and horror. “I know I did the math right, I know I did—”

“Honey, take a deep breath,” Synnove interrupted, hands on Solkthota’s shoulders and her voice firm as she looked up at the young woman. “In for seven, and hold, hold, hold, little more, and now out for seven. That’s it. And again…”

As Synnove calmed her student, Aymeric and the other two began righting chairs and wiping plaster dust from the tops of the desk. Tyr came over to headbutt Tyon’s thigh, and the Highlander gave his head a firm rub; as he did, an emerald carbuncle that appeared more vulpine than the standard manifested, yipped what was likely a hello, and then went to sit on the elezen girl’s foot. She immediately bent down and scooped the creature into her arms, tickling under its chin.

Soon enough, Solkthota’s breathing was under control, and Synnove gave her a grin. “There we are. Now, what’s the first rule of science?”

Solkthota’s answering grin was shy and watery. “It’s not science until you write it down.”

“Very good,” said Synnove, her green eyes glittering. “So let’s do that first. Next, we’re going to go through your arrays page by page; your working theory is sound, but the math fell through at some point.” She suddenly pointed towards the young elezen, without looking. “And no helping her, Atreanne!”

“Oh, come on, Professor G!” Atreanne said in a high, nasally whine. Her carbuncle added its own whine as emphasis. “I’m the best at it!”

“And Solkthota will learn better if you don’t feed her the answers,” Synnove said, her voice wry in the way of someone who had. “But you and Tyon are welcome to stay and observe, both of your physics work could do with some polishing.”

Tyon and Atreanne exchanged looks, wide-eyed, and then bolted for the partition.

“I’m glad now it wasn’t Professor Y today,” Aymeric heard Atreanne whisper to Tyon. “Professor G’s way more patient with screw-ups.”

“Professor G likes screw-ups,” Tyon whispered back. “They’re more fun, she says.”

“They are more fun, now hop to it, kids!”

Solkthota was dragging over the desk that had been pushed up against a wall, and Tyon and Atreanne grabbed chairs from the observation to bring over and sit with their classmate and teacher. Synnove, meanwhile, looked at Aymeric as she walked backwards towards the slate chalkboard.

“Can you get me some fresh chalk?” she said, a rueful grin on her face.

Aymeric laughed and gave her a sweeping bow, the twins peeping excitedly as they held on. He righted them as he straightened, and turned to head to where he knew one of the storage rooms were.

It was a good thing he had remembered to pack a few books to read.

[adonis-koo]

to the moon and back

Summary: Sometimes the distance in relationships really does make a strain and sometimes...it can really make quite the experience, at least in your experience with your boyfriend who only lives half way across the world...

Pairing: Jungkook/Reader, theres like,,,implied Taehyung/Reader if you really squint

Genre: angst, smut,

Word Count: 6.4k

Tags: long distance relationship that I accidentally projected way too much of my own personal experience into 😃, Jungkook just really loves MC, skype sex, I am sorry, mutual masturbation, a little praise kink, Jungkook says baby in korean a lot and once again I am sorry, sex toys, a lil overstim, nothing too crazy tbh, dirty talk, dom!jungkook and sub!MC 🤑

Note: I missed ldr!Jungkook and MC which is based off this sorta imagine I did for them! So I cured it by writing a lil bit about them!! :)

“Hey Jungkook…” 

The said man in question suddenly perked up from where he had been looking down, half his hair tied up and he was rubbing his eyes, he looked tired these days and sometimes you couldn’t help but feel bad. Long distance relationships weren’t always what they were cracked up to be and it wasn’t like you were intentionally looking for a ball and chain at the time...

But well, it was a long night, you were slightly drunk and in a long dry spell so you thought, what the hell? When you signed up for a sub/dom dating website. Again, your intentions weren’t to actually date someone, you were just slightly drunk and horny, and waking up the morning after your phone had been blown up by your now boyfriend. It was innocent at first, you both had a good laugh (to somewhat of your embarrassment) about the whole drunk thing and you were just curious to get to know him. 

It was from there you had learned he lived halfway across the planet in South Korea and not only this but when you began exchanging photos he was by far the most beautiful man you had ever seen. One thing led to another and eventually you both decided to make it official. 

You were used to this of course, you had never actually met him in person and sometimes you felt a little apprehensive to do so, you knew it would hurt Jungkook severely if he ever found out but still...sometimes it felt like you just didn’t know him as much as you wanted too. 

Time zones were a literal hell, by the time you woke up he was getting ready to sleep and most the time texts weren’t sent until the next day, video calls were rare and usually had to wait until the weekend. It sucked. 

Jungkook, if anything, had been trying to convince you to at least fly out to see him, he even offered to pay for your ticket as he was- ahem- apparently in the chain of business for a really well known exports corporation and was a supervisor so he lived very well off in comparison to yourself, who was still in college and buried in debt with little to no money left outside of the expenses of living. 

But again, you were just...nervous...flying by yourself, to a country you had never been too, to meet a man you had never met...You knew realistically everything would be fine, Jungkook was exactly who he said he was, he wasn’t some criminal that was going to murder you and sell your body parts on the black market but…! You just wanted to be safe! To be careful even if that would never happen. 

“Hm?” Jungkook hummed, it was a late saturday night for him but he always stayed up just for you, just to be able to talk to you, to see your face, even if you went hours not talking to one another while he worked and you studied. He told you he just enjoyed looking over at his monitor and seeing you.

Currently you had been curled up on your pillow scrolling on your phone and occasionally admiring your boyfriend’s side profile and strands of hair long hair that fell from his face, “Why did you learn English?”

Jungkook raised his brow a little before suddenly laughing causing you to shift a little in embarrassment feeling as though you had said something dumb, “Well,” He rasped a little, he had been brushing up on his english ever since you started dating but he was also a little self conscious of his accent despite you saying several times over how much you adored it, “English is mandatory to learn in school but I learned extensively due to my family traveling a lot for business and work. I once spent a whole year in New York when my father was employed overseas, that was actually how I became so fluent, classes are fine but experience always teaches best in my opinion....” Jungkook’s lips curled into a smile as he hummed once more, “Which means your studies in Korean would be easier if you visited…” 

Flustered you rolled onto your back as you pressed your pillow against your face, “Jungkook…!” You whined wiggling in your best as you heard his laugh filter through the speaker, “I need you know I really need to stay and study for my finals, it makes up for over forty percent of my grade!” 

“Not even for winter break?” Jungkook let his lips jut into a pout as he laid his chin against his hand, “Jagi I have a bed that’s way too big to sleep in all by myself, are you gonna make me downgrade?” He sighed dramatically as he fell back in his computer chair pulling his hair tie out as his hair fell at his cheeks as he began to fix it. 

You ignored the heat immediately flushing between your legs at the deep rasp of his voice, “My mom’s expecting me to come home to visit for the holidays Koo…” You frowned as you peeped out from behind your pillow to find the massive pout on your boyfriend's face as he sunk in his seat. 

“Sometimes I think you’re just embarrassed to tell people we’re in a relationship,” Jungkook mumbled as he sat up in his seat, running his fingers through his hair as he sulked, obviously trying not to let your rejection make him upset but even through a screen you could always read his moods, sometimes too easily. 

“That is not true!” Your voice was immediately serious as you sat up, fixing your laptop as you set it in front of you, Jungkook was once more slouched in his seat, his hand resting on his cheek as he looked away from the screen, “That is not true Jungkook, I-...” You sighed, “I can’t just drop all my responsibilities here to visit you, you know this, you know hard I’ve been studying for finals and how much my family has been wanting to see me…” 

Jungkook didn’t reply for a moment but you could’ve sworn you heard something akin to a scoff escape his lips, “But you still haven’t told your family...have you?” 

“I haven’t had the chance…” You were immediately trying to defend your reasoning when deep down you felt bad that well...he was right...to a degree, but what were you supposed to tell you family? You met your boyfriend on an offshoot website based around sexual play and not only this but he lived half way around the world. 

“You talk to your mom on the phone weekly Y/n,” The longer Jungkook looked away from the screen the more upset he was getting and you could tell and yet you felt so helpless, it wasn’t like you could just reach over and grab his face, or simply hug him and apologize. Once again, you found yourself at a loss of what to do or say. 

It wasn’t that you wished you hadn’t met Jungkook, you’d never in your life change that night, but sometimes you wished things weren’t so complicated and that your fears wouldn’t get the best of you. And you did speak some truth, even if you weren’t nervous to meet Jungkook in person, it didn’t change the fact that you wouldn’t be able to go now with finals approaching and your family expecting you for the holidays.

“I’m just,” Jungkook inhaled sharply before letting out a sigh, “I just feel so frustrated sometimes, I want to be with you, not part time, half time, or only at night. I want to wake up with you in my arms every single day. And I can’t do that, hell I can’t even get a phone call during the week let alone a text at the same time of day if I’m lucky. We just had a work party where everyone brought their partners and I couldn’t bring mine because she lives in America.” 

His upset was beginning to make you upset, it felt like your gut was being grinded and it wrenched in an unpleasant feeling as you spoke, “Look I’m sorry okay? I can’t help it that this is where I live, I understand you want to be with me, you don’t think I want the same thing?” You put your hand on your chest, trying to keep your voice level as you swallowed harshly, “But right now, I can’t help it Jungkook. The holidays just aren’t a good time right now…” 

“Then what was the excuse during the end of the summer when you weren’t even in school and your parents didn’t want to see you?” Jungkook replied, his jaw clenched and hurt in his eyes as he questioned you, “Or was it still because you were sick in the middle of july?” 

“I just met you!” You cried out now beginning to feel genuinely hurt at your boyfriend questioning the sincerity of your feelings, “I wasn’t going to fly out to Korea to meet someone I had only been talking to for three weeks! Jungkook this is-” 

“I’m not embarrassed to be with you! God, that is literally the last thing on my mind right now! I’m embarrassed at the way we met, I’m embarrassed that I- I somehow have to explain to my family that my boyfriend lives in South Korea and that I’ve never met him and somehow explain to them that you aren’t some serial rapist or human trafficker out to sell my kidney! Because that’s exactly what I’m going to hear! And I’m sorry I just haven’t been ready to deal with that!” You couldn’t even stop the tears from flowing down your face as you pressed your hands to your eyes, “It’s easy for you to talk about us because you’re an adult who lives debt free by himself in his own apartment with your own secure job and you don’t have to answer or deal with anyone, even your own parents! That’s not how it is for me Jungkook.” 

Your head was lowered as you tried to muffle your sobs that was the only thing that filled the loud silence that filtered the air, running your hands through your hair as you took a breath. You could hear a sigh on the other side before Jungkook spoke, “Y/n…” 

“You know what,” You sniffled as you straightened up, “I’m not in the mood to talk anymore,” 

“Y/n! No! Jagi listen-” 

“No I’m done!” You argued back as you wiped your face with the sleeve of your hoody, “I don’t want to talk to you right now. Goodnight.” You clicked the end call button before closing down your laptop. Sitting now, staring at your distinct reflection on the black screen before bursting into a new set of tears. 

Your phone’s ringtone was immediately set off as you sobbed, picking it up as you harshly punched the decline call button before it quickly popped back up on the screen only for you to press it even more vehemently. Your phone lit up several times being flooded with messages from Jungkook trying to convince you to talk to him but you immediately turned off your phone as you collapsed back against your bed, weeping against your pillow as you tried to ignore the pure hurt that filtered your veins despite it being justified. 

God you shouldn’t have even said any of that to Jungkook! Really it was your fault you hadn’t seen him, you had made excuses all because you were just scared. He was probably going to break up with you now...Squeezing your pillow tight you closed your eyes as you muffled your sobs. 

“Girl why are you staring at your phone?” Lisa sighed in exasperation, “Don’t tell me…Oh shit…” She sighed as she watched your eyes begin to pitfully water, “What was it this time?” 

“I’m a horrible person be-because I can’t just fucking suck it up and tell my family about my boyfriend and- and I can’t just go visit him!” You were already wiping your eyes despite not even crying yet and you refused to ruin your mascara in a public store. The bookstore was quiet as ever and the barista who worked the cafe was still sorting magazines out on the rack not even paying attention to you both but still you had to keep up your ideals or else you’d be crying all the time. 

“You are not a horrible person oh my god!” Lisa raised her brows before scoffing, she pointed a long acrylic nail at you as she spoke, “That boy needs to calm his hormones, you are strapped for the rest of the holidays. Y/n! Come on, seriously you need to draw some boundaries with him! Just be honest and it’s going to save you both a lot of trouble.” 

You sunk in your seat as your lips began to tremble making Lisa sigh, “How many messages did he send this time?” 

“Twenty four.” You mumbled. 

“Jesus Christ.” Lisa groaned as she pressed her hand against her forehead, her bangs which had been melded together with hairspray not even moving an inch, “What even started this fight!?” 

Lisa was not only your closest friend but most times she was also your voice of reason which you knew was most times right but still you couldn’t help but feel embarrassed as you twirled your straw that poked through the lid of your iced coffee, “Well it was innocent at first, I just asked him why he learned English when he was younger and it translated into him saying experience taught him best which meant going to Korea would help me with my own language studies.” 

“Why can’t you just be honest with him!? Seriously! Y/n!” She gave you her premium disappointed look as you whined, kicking your feet as you covered your hands over your face knowing she was right, but!

“That would literally crush him!” You replied feeling defeated as you slumped in your seat once more, sighing as sadness filled you, “It feels like…” You poked your tongue into your cheek as you exhaled in frustration, “No matter how hard I try, I just always end up hurting him. Jungkook would be so hurt if he knew my main reason for not wanting to see him.” 

Lisa raised her brows as she scoffed, “No he would not! If he’s so desperate to jump on your pussy he’ll come to America and not only meet you but he’ll be meeting me as well the first time. This relationship is a two way street Y/n-” 

“He has a whole team he’s managing Lisa, he’s told me he’d visit if he could schedule the time off but-” 

“All I hear is an excuse,” Lisa clacked her tongue, “Fair is fair, you’re just being cautious as anyone should be when they’re talking to someone over the internet,” She curved a brow before snorting as she sipped her drink, “Now listen, do I think he’s a kidnapper that’s gonna kill you? No. Do I think he’s a fuckboy that just really wants to smash you? Maybe, it’s your relationship. Do what you want but regardless of whether your reasoning is legit he should respect it regardless.” 

You deflated as you sighed, scrolling through his messages where he had profusely apologized several times and went on to explain that he just really wanted to be with you and never meant to dismiss your feelings on the matter. You hadn’t replied yet which made you feel even worse but truthfully, you just really wanted to talk to see him tonight on a video call and talk things over. 

“Anyways, it’s time to boss up bitch,” Lisa pulled out the three textbooks from her bag before dropping them on the table as she offered a smile, “We got finals to prep for, we’re in the two week countdown so we need to cram as much as possible.” 

Sighing you glanced down at your phone one last time before turning it off knowing the temptation to look over Jungkook’s messages would be too tempting. Putting your phone away you pulled out your notebook along with your own textbooks as you nodded, “You’re right, it’ll at least take my mind off of it…” 

You could only hope. 

You had spent the last ten minutes trying to gas yourself up, Jungkook had stopped texting around lunch time having obviously given up and giving you space as this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened and he knew if he just gave you time you’d eventually reach out to him. 

Like right now, except you felt severely embarrassed for your actions this morning and you knew you could have handled things in a better and more mature way then you had, regardless you were struggling to even send a text at the moment let alone video call him...Checking the clock on your phone you sighed, it was already 1pm in Seoul....

Jungkook if anything was probably on his computer sulking while playing video games as he usually did on his weekends off when he wasn’t talking to you. Sucking in a breath you knew you needed to talk to him now because if you didn’t you’d have to go the whole week with stale texts that never went over well and you weren’t working with much to begin with, you didn’t want to make it worse. Sighing, you sat down on your bed as you began to type.

[10:25]

‘I’m sorry I haven’t replied to any of your messages :( can you video right now?’

You chewed on your lip anxiety immediately spiking in your head as you wondered if you came across too much like a victim...Or maybe you should’ve just not mentioned the not replying to his messages and just asked if- 

You nearly jumped out of your skin at the sound of the skype call sounding with Jungkook’s name under it, grabbing your chest you collapsed onto the bed as you made yourself comfortable, shying away from the camera as you grabbed your pillow in insecurity before accepting the call. 

“I really am sorry Jagi,” You couldn’t even open your mouth before Jungkook’s worried expression showed up on your laptop, the hoodie covering his head and just as you expected his puppy like eyes were glossed and filled with sadness, “I- I didn’t realize how much stress you were under and I shouldn’t have been so careless. This is the only time during the week that I get to see you and I really don’t want to argue…” 

You curled up against your pillow as you mumbled, “I should be the one apologizing, I know how much it means to you for us to be able to see each other in person and I need to make the time for us to be able to do that it’s just…” You had meant to tell him the truth but- “I just have a lot going on right now but I didn’t mean to take that out on you, I know you just want us to be together...” 

“Oh jagiya,” Jungkook sighed, longing filled his face and his fingers twitched a little as they ran through his hair as if wishing he could just hold you close to him, “It’s okay, I’m just glad you wanted to talk. I didn’t want the whole week to drag by without being able to talk to you, you know you always make my day better…” 

And just like that your chest blossomed with warmth as you curled up, hiding the smile that began to creep on your lips as you squeezed your pillow, “Not as much as you make my day. Especially when you send those tease pictures for me right before I need to go to bed.” You would never get enough of that addictive feeling of talking to Jungkook, his smile was always infectious.

And just like that you watch, just like every other time, in amazement at the way Jungkook’s personality switches like a light, the innocent sweet smile that was once on his lips is suddenly twisted into a cocky smirk and he leans back his chair, his long hair is slightly messy but just enough to make him look truly wicked, “Oh? Is that right gongjunim? I thought you’d appreciate it?” 

Said photo in question was sent thursday night when you were prepping for bed and Jungkook had very obviously just gotten out of the shower in the mirror selfie he had sent that displayed the chiseled abdomen and broad chest and not to mention the….ahem package he was sporting beneath the thin towel that he had purposely clutched with his free hand. 

Yeah...that nearly destroyed your right hand. 

“Well I did…” You immediately coiled up, no matter how many times this happens with your boyfriend- which is nearly every weekend, you always end up getting shy despite your thighs furiously pressing together and wetness building up in your panties, “Maybe a little too much…” 

Jungkook pressed his tongue into his cheek as his smirk widened, just his stare made you press your face into the pillow as you heard his chuckle, “What? What did you do?” 

The fact that he skipped to the golden question made you whine as you kicked your feet, you could hear another laugh from him as you curled up once more, “You know…” You mumbled, feeling your face burn as you pressed it against the pillow. 

“No baby I don’t.” Jungkook pouted but his voice rasped and something about saying baby in english with that accent of his had your fingers twitching as he puffed a breath of air in cockiness as he hummed, “Why don’t you tell me hm?” 

Shifting against the bed you shook your head, “You know what I’m talking about…” 

“Do I?” Jungkook challenged as he raised a brow, his beginning to clench as he slipped into his dominant headspace, tucking his tongue into his cheek as he asked, “If you can’t use your words would you rather show me? Be a good girl and show me, yeah?” 

Your words were muffled as you replied, “I had help…” Your face felt like it was practically on fire as you rubbed your legs together as you heard him laugh, “Then be a good girl and go get it jagiya, I’ll still be here.” You gave Jungkook a good laugh as you nearly scrambled out of bed to get your bullet vibrator off it’s charger before diving back on the bed making your laptop bounce as you sat up right. 

Jungkook meanwhile had pulled off his sweatshirt and repositioned his camera to expose his lower body, the familiar sight of his plump cherry lips exposed in that forever tainted smirk as he made himself comfortable in his chair, his thighs spreading apart and the indent in his sweats showing off proudly, “Good girl kitty, now I want you to take off your clothes, all of it.” 

You wiggled in your comfy sweatshirt feeling a little shy as you began to shed your clothes, “The bra too baby,” Jungkook coaxed as he licked his lips, his cock tightening and becoming harder at the sight of your flustered, shy expression as you unhooked your bra, there was nothing more this man wanted then to suckle on your nipples that immediately hardened against the chilled air of the room. 

Jungkook’s hand found its way to his bulge as he palmed himself through his grey sweats, “Panties too baby, I know you’re shy but you need to be a good girl and take them off. And remember your words.” He added with a low growl. 

“...Yes sir.” You mumbled, feeling chilly and exposed to nothing more then the camera on your laptop and Jungkook of course before you pulled off the panties you wore, arousal sticking to the fabric that stringed before you tossed them aside, your eyes unable to stay off his hand that kept stroking his bulge. 

“Good girl,” His lips twitched into a sadistic smile, “Now spread your legs jagiya and show me what you did to that photo I sent you, every little detail baby.” You whined as you looked away from the camera, “Jagiya…” Jungkook’s voice deepened a little in warning, “Are you gonna make me get out the controller?” 

Outwardly you’d completely deny that but inwardly....The idea nearly had you frothing out the mouth, but reluctantly you did as he asked, the chilled air nipping at your exposed warm wet folds had your levels of arousal that much higher and you could hear a soft verbal moan from Jungkook as he squeezed his hand over his cock, “Shibal,” He muttered a few other words in korean that you could only half make out before he spoke once more, “You’re so fucking wet baby. Play with yourself, don’t make me wait.” 

Tenderly you slipped your hand between your thighs, flinching a little at the cold that seeped from your fingers that met in opposition to the heat radiating off your cunt, arousal met your fingertips as you dragged them up you slit before rubbing slow circles around your clit, your lips parting a little at the idea of it being his fingers doing this to you.

Jungkook let out a little scoffed laugh, licking his lips as he pulled down his sweats just enough to free his throbbing cock, a sight you’d never fully get used too and had your mouth watering at just the sight. He was much thicker then he was long but he certainly wasn’t short, the vein on the underside of his cock displayed and you could even see his tip beginning to weep as it became red, “How bad do you wish those were my fingers playing with that little clit baby? Put those fingers inside your cunt baby,lay back and use your toy to make yourself feel good for me.

Situating your laptop before you laidback, opening your legs once more as you began to transition to your subspace as you closed your eyes, imagining his fingers dragging up your inner thighs. 

Letting your eyes open you whined at the sight of lube slipping from his cock as his hand slowly pumped his shaft, his lips parted at the sight of one finger slipping inside your cunt before pulling out and adding a second finger. You could just imagine those long thick fingers filling you up while fitting up against your g-spot. 

Fumbling with your vibrator you turned it on, switching the setting to a low pattern before carefully placing it on your aching bud. You had anticipated your reaction just as you did everytime and yet every time you still jolted, your walls tightly squeezing around your fingers as a whined squeak escaped your lips. 

“Fuck princess that’s it,” Jungkook edged you on, his tongue in his cheek as his hand squeezed around his cock before he used his free hand to grab his own toy, the fleshlight that nearly always turned you into a mess, “Bet that little hole can hardly fit your own fingers let alone my big fat cock, right baby? Yeah?” 

Your thighs were twitching as pleasure was rapidly buzzing against your clit and your walls kept squeezing around your fingers as you desperately tried to reach to your g-spot in need for an orgarsm to make up for all the anxiety and stress you had been under the whole day, “Yes! Yes sir! Ah- Mmph need you! Fuck, please! Sir.” You whimpered as your hips jolted to fuck back against your fingers.

 Jungkook pushes the opening of the flashlight over his tip as he let out a soft moan, his hips fluidly began thrusting to the point your walls were so tight you could hardly move your fingers just at the idea of his cock forcing its way inside you, you just knew this mans stroke game was good and proved it every fucking time he took out that toy.

Watching his cock disappear with every thrust inside his toy as his lips parted a little wider this time, “You want this baby? You wish this was your pussy I’m fucking nice and deep?”

Your body was too excited for all of his dirty talk as you squirmed shifting the buzzing vibrator to the sweet spot of your clit as you squeaked, trying to keep yourself from being too loud as your roommate was home, “Want it! Want it so fucking bad! Please sir! Sir!”

You were embarrassingly horny and this made worked you up every single time, your hips we’re stumbled and your walls were rapidly clenching in excitement as his thick cock rocking it’s way in and out of the toy that you could just imagine was your pussy he was fucking nice and slow, making you feel his nice fat cock with every killer slow thrust.

“Oh Jagiya,” Jungkook moaned out, “Don’t tell me my kitten is already close?” He chuckled as he watched the way your body withered the way it always did when you were close, his eyes feasting on the way your pussy was stretched so delicately against your small fingers and the way your thighs clenched and your feet kicked, “Do you need to cum so soon?” 

“Please! Please! Sir! I- I don’t think I can-“ Your thighs clamped together as your lips fell open, unable to even wait for his blessing as your orgasm ripped through your body, your toes curling as little whimpers escaped you, you could hear a long moan from Jungkook as you liddedly watched his hips stumble against his flesh light, hand running through his hair while he fumbled something in Korean. 

“Baby fuuck,” Jungkook’s voice lowered as he moaned, “Cum again princess, cum for me baby I wanna hear you make those noises again for me. Keep those little fingers stuffed inside yourself.” Jungkook’s hips kept stuttering against his toy, his cock throbbing desperate as his moans became breathy at the sight of you obeying him. You were always such a good girl.

Your fingers were aching but your desire to watch him come undone was even greater as you began pushing your fingers back against your g-spot once more, feathery whines escaping you at the feeling of pain beginning to mix with pleasure at the consistent thrum of the vibrator against your clit.

“Ah! S-sir…!” You whimpered quietly as your walls suddenly clamped around your fingers once more, “I- ah! I don’t think I can…!” 

“Yes you can,” Jungkook growled his hips bucking up into his toys faster his cock throbbing and squeezing in pleasure at the sight of your arousal slipping from your soaked cunt and the sight of your tits bouncing at the way your body kept squirming, he could only imagine what it would be like fucking you tied up and left to his mercy, “And you will,” He snapped with command, “You’re gonna be a good girl and cum for me again princess. I wasn’t fucking asking.” 

Your legs immediately twitched and your breath hitched as you cried out, your back arching at the way your body listened to him so easily on command, your walls tightening around your fingers rapidly and pleasure seered into your clit as the orgasm roughly filled your body, “Ah Jungkook! Fuck, fuck, fuck…! Fuck! Ooh!” Moans escaped you louder then you intended as your hips desperately fucked into your fingers to ride the powerful orgasm you experienced.

Jungkook moaned softly as his hips bucked one last time into his toy before cum was filling it up at the idea of milking all of himself in your little warm cunt, letting his hips swivel as he milked every last drop of cum from his cock as he moaned before relaxing back in his chair.

Chuckling a little at watching your lower body scramble at your vibrator continuing to drill against your over stimulated clit as you struggled to turn it off, “Take your fingers out baby, I wanna see them.” Jungkook licked his lips as you obeyed him, pulling your fingers from your cunt to reveal the thick layer of arousal and cum on them nearly making Jungkook’s mouth water with the desire to lick every drop off your fingers, this man couldn’t even describe what he’d do to go down on you.

“Ah fuck, jagiya,” Jungkook laughed, a little flustered at the way you sat up, looking directly into the camera before putting your fingers in your mouth, licking off the salty and somewhat musky taste of your arousal which in your opinion wasn’t that great and Jungkook would never accept your opinion on the matter, “You’re gonna make me hard all over again.” He whined as he carefully pulled the toy off his cock, feeling the white substance already rolling down his softening shaft to reveal the mess he had made.

You giggled a little, feeling shy once more as you stood up with wobbling legs, “I don’t have to help with that.” You called out, grabbing your favorite sweatshirt to pull over your body. It was your favorite because...Well because Jungkook had sent it to you and because it was big on him it was massive on you. 

You absolutely adored it, coming back in view you collapsed onto your bed as you curled up, Jungkook had just finished cleaning himself up, fixing his camera for you to see the beautiful radiant smile and eyes light up that was your boyfriend. He always had that dreamy look in his eyes while looking at you everytime you finished having Skype sex and everytime it always made you shy as you grabbed your pillow and curled up.

“You’re always so fucking good baby,” He groaned as he ran a hand through his hair, his smile permanently on his face as he stared in adoration at your curled up figure that was practically buried in his sweatshirt, “Mmm you were such a good girl too, your eyes were rolling to the back of your head when I told you to cum again.” 

He had a boyish laugh at the way you curled up, “Stoop! You know I was already overstimulated, you better hope my roommate didn’t hear anything…!” You covered your face in embarrassment at the realization you were a little loud.

Jungkook’s face stiffened a little at the mention of your roommate before he tried to play it off with a small laugh, “Yeah well, what’s he gonna do about it anyways? You were just being my good little girl jagiya.” You covered your face in semi embarrassment. You knew Jungkook was redirecting the conversation back to verbal aftercare because you knew he didn’t like the fact that your roommate was a guy who was not only your age but also very attractive. 

It wasn’t like Taehyung was ever interested in you, but you had mentioned to Jungkook when you first started talking that you used to have a crush on him. You felt as though some days that still lingered in Jungkook’s mind despite the fact that you didn’t even look at Taehyung twice anymore.

Especially since you and Jungkook became an item, however you also hadn’t told Jungkook that Taehyung had been...Well you weren’t sure what he was doing to be honest outside a few innuendos and winks. It mainly weirded you out as he had never paid any attention to you but regardless. This wasn’t about your roommate, this was about your amazing, handsome boyfriend who somehow managed to make you cum twice just by the sound of his voice, not everything could do that.

“You make it difficult to try and disobey.” You mumbled as a smile tugged in your lips, closing your eyes at the idea of his arms wrapped tight around you and his forehead pressed against your own, you could almost feel his warm breath against your face and his lips pressing against your forehead.

“Mmm id like to see you try,” Jungkook laughed as he leaned back his seat, letting out a content sigh as he spoke, “I’d make you wear those vibrating panties the whole day after making you overestimate yourself and I’d make sure to wake up every hour just to hold that button for three minutes straight.” 

“You’re so mean!” You whines as you fluttered your feet before crawling under your covers as you yawned, “You’re already planning a punishment when I haven’t even done anything wrong.” 

“I’m not!” Jungkook laughed as he objected, moving his hair from his face, “I’m just telling you what would’ve happened if you weren’t obedient. I mean, that’s not always a bad thing baby.” He sent a wink your way that immediately made your cheeks warm as you pressed your face against the blanket with a giggle.

“I can’t do that over a video call…! Maybe if you were here in my bed I’d be a little more defiant.” You always had a hard time trying to flirt confidently but Jungkook always ate it up every single time you threw him a crumb.

“Jagiya if you can’t be defiant over a call what makes you think you’d manage it when I’m between your legs sucking the soul out of your pussy?” Jungkook was immediately cackling at the way you shoved your face into your pillow with a whine, “Exactly baby, you can’t even look at me right now.” He cooed out.

“Well maybe I’m just a little more bold in person.” You challenged, peeping out from behind your pillow making Jungkook chuckle as he shook his head, his eyes filled with adoration as he leaned back in his seat.

“Well sweetheart I’ll just have to see for myself one day huh?” Jungkook’s smile was so beautiful, it was arguably one of your favorite features as he spoke, “You know I love you to the moon and back jagiya.”

“Well I love you love you to the stars and beyond,” You whispered back as you hugged your pillow close, closing your eyes sleepily as you smiled….One day...Hopefully you’d overcome your anxiety soon to make the one day become soon, you weren’t sure how much longer you could stand being apart from the one person who would never stop making your day.

[magicforjournals]

The Green Dress (A Story About Loki) Chapter two : That was unusual

Warning : A little teasing, a lot of fluff and kissing.

So that’s him. That’s Loki.

Why are you not bothered by his presence? He’s supposed to be the bad guy, no? Why are you so captivated by his eyes? All you want to do is run your fingers through his hair and feel his lips on your skin. Why are you feeling like this?!

Pepper tugs on your hand, bringing you back to reality. “Come on, let’s go get a drink,” she nudges you slightly towards the bar. You need a drink, and a stiff one at that. The feeling that came over you when you locked eyes with Loki, that had never happened to you. You don’t register that Pepper has let go of your hand, still walking in the direction of the bar, when you almost run into someone, full force. Two strong hands grip your waist, stopping you from toppling over, and you look up to meet those beautiful eyes.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there.” You say, quickly stepping away from his electrifying touch.

“It’s my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Loki answers. His voice is deep and his accent makes your lower belly hurt for more. You want to hear him talk forever. “I’m Loki,” he says, stretching his right hand out to you.

You reach out to shake his hand, giving him your name and getting goosebumps as your skin touches his. This man surely has you under some kind of spell, right? You had heard his brother talk about his magic once before, when you had come over to see Nat after a mission.

“You’re not an avenger, are you?” He smiles down at you, a dimple showing and his voice resonating inside of you.

“Oh no, no. I’m a teacher actually, but Natasha is my best friend and I’m here often, more than my own home,” you giggle, tilting your head up to get a better look at him. He is tall. And so handsome. Why are you giving this man all this information about yourself? You need to get away from him and his irresistible eyes, you think as you lower your gaze.

He reaches down for your chin with his right hand and gently lifts your face up again to look into your eyes, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“A teacher, that’s interesting!” He says softly. You hear Nat call your name from the bar. “Your friend is waiting, I hope to see more of you soon.” He says with a wink and walks away. See more of me soon, what the hell does that mean?! You’re shaking your head as you walk over to the bar, trying to get rid of the haze that took over while you were next to him. This isn’t natural, there’s something else going on.

“I see you’ve met Loki,” Nat says as she hands you your favorite drink. “What do you think? And why are you blushing?!” You were blushing?! You slap a hand to your face and feel the heat of your cheek. Well, that’s unusual. You take a big sip of your drink, almost finishing it.

“Nat, I think Loki might have me under a spell or something.” You whisper to her.

“What do you mean?” She asks, growing concerned.

“I don’t know. I can’t stop looking into his eyes whenever I’m next to him. We shook hands and it was almost... electric when his skin touched mine. I can’t think straight right now.”

“Either he put a spell on you or you’re into him.” Pepper giggles.

Attracted to Loki. You did want to feel his hands on you again, be near him, touch him… maybe you did want him.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Nat replies. “It’s Loki, God of mischief! I wasn’t thrilled with Thor bringing him here tonight in the first place. Please just be careful around him, I don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t trust him.” She holds your hand and gives it a small squeeze. You know she’s right and she only wants what’s best for you. Loki had been the villain for so long now that it was hard for everyone to trust him. You smile at Nat and squeeze her hand back.

Sometime later, you are all sitting on the couches, just chatting. The men are arguing about who is the strongest, as usual, and other Avengers stuff you don’t really care about. You notice that your drink is empty, and you get up to go to the bar.

As you wait for the bartender to mix you another one, Bucky leans over the counter next to you and grabs a beer. “Hi,” he says as he pops the top off.

“Hey Buck, how are you?” You reply with a smile.

“I’m good, how have you been? Everything still going ok at school?” Just like Nat, Bucky was always curious about your job. You think that it possibly brings him some comfort, being friends with someone with a normal life and a normal job.

“I’ve been good, school too. My students are amazing, so smart. Potential Avengers maybe!” You say as you wink.

“We’re in trouble if they’re your students though!” Bucky chuckles, “Listen, I don’t usually beat around the bush with you, so I’ll just say it. I didn’t like seeing you with Loki earlier. I don’t like him and I don’t want him near you or even to touch you again.” He adds. Oh, he’s serious... he’s doing his staring thing.

Ok, people really don’t like Loki around here. You can understand that, however.

“Oh,” you gasp. “I understand, Buck.”

“I just want you to be safe,” he says with a sweet smile, putting a gentle hand on your arms and rubbing little circles with his thumb.

You look down at his hand, moving your eyes up to his face and you see that he’s looking at you, a strange sparkle in his eyes.

“You look nice tonight, by the way. I like the dress,” he adds. A burning hot heat floods your cheeks for the second time tonight and you dip your head whispering a thank you. He smiles at you and walks away to go sit back with Steve.

You grab your drink and head back to your spot next to Pepper. You notice that Steve is staring at you as he sips on his beer, and you wonder what the hell he wants. The party goes on, you guys keep talking and arguing, and Maria opens her presents. You’re having a good time.

As you get up to go to the washroom, you again feel Steve’s eyes on you and you quickly get annoyed. That staring bit is just getting old at this point. Why is he looking at you like that? He was the one who had made it clear he didn’t want to get involved in any sort of relationship, and he’s been eyeing you down like you’re a piece of candy he can’t wait to unwrap. It’s infuriating. Once locked away from the world, you walk to the sink, splashing cold water down your arms in an effort to calm you down. He’s probably had one too many beers, just let it go, you try to tell yourself. Once you’ve successfully calmed yourself down, you’re on your way out, when you, once again, bump into Loki.

“Hi”, he says with a crooked smile, wrapping his arm around your waist to keep you from stumbling over your own feet. You’ve never been this clumsy, but around him, it’s like you can’t find your footing.

“Hey,” You reply, squirming out of his hold. “Washroom’s free!” Stupid thing to say, you think to yourself.

“Ah, thanks,” Loki replies.

“No problem!” You say back, feeling like a complete idiot.

“Can I be honest with you?” he then adds after a brief moment of silence.

“Yes, of course!” you say, too quickly.

“I haven’t been able to take my eyes off of you tonight.” He says suddenly, slowly walking towards you, making you move instinctually back against the wall. He presses one hand against the wall next to your head and looks down at you. You knew he was tall, but he is towering above you. He’s taller than Steve, you think. Having him so close to you, you can feel the warmth of his body through his black shirt. Your eyes fall to his shoulder, following the length of his arm, and you see that he’s rolled up his sleeves, his pale, toned forearms clashing with the colour of the thin material. “There is something so… so intriguing about you”, he adds, and your eyes flash up to his face, so close to yours. You can taste his breath on your lips, mint and alcohol mixed together, and you have to hold yourself back from wanting a better taste. His eyes are gazing into yours, and you fall into the deep ocean before you. He lifts his other hand and caresses your cheek softly.

“I’m not that special,” you gasp as he touches your skin.

“I think you are. As I said, I have had a very, very hard time keeping my eyes off of you,” he whispers. ‘“You look ravishing in this dress. I have to admit, I have a weakness for the colour green, and it suits you just wonderfully.” He brushes the hair off your shoulder and traces his finger along the curve of it. “I know that everyone fears me, but you don’t seem afraid. Are you?”

“No, I don’t find you scary.” You whisper against his skin.

“You don’t think of me as the villain?” He asks, genuinely surprised.

“I don’t know…” You say with a frown. “I think you were maybe misunderstood a lot and y-you don’t know how to express yourself,” you answer him honestly.

Then, without any warning, Loki crashes his lips against yours. You should be pushing him away, but his kiss is tender and passionate, his lips intoxicating and you just cave in. You moan against his lips as you wrap your arms around his neck, and Loki responds by dropping his hands to your waist and pulling you in tight against his body. You shiver as you feel the tip of his tongue against your lower lip, licking slowly, begging for access. Moaning again, you part your lips and let him in, his kisses becoming increasingly desperate as he groans in pleasure in your mouth. You can feel him getting harder against your stomach. You hadn’t realized how much you needed - no - you craved him. You’re the one to break up the kiss, gasping for air. As you close your eyes and tilt your head back against the wall, you get a glimpse of Loki’s swollen lips and you can’t help but moan softly. Eager to taste you again, Loki drops his head to your neck, kissing and biting as he makes his way up to your ear, running his hands over your body. He takes your ear lobe between his teeth, nibbling gently and whispering just how beautiful you are, how much he needs you. His words and voice reverberating in the very pit of your stomach, making you pant as a throbbing heat makes you clench around nothing.

“Loki,” you moan his name. “Not here, not now.” You gather all the strength you have to put a weak hand on his chest, not to push him away, but to let him know you’re about to lose it here in this hallway. He slowly lets go of his grip around your waist and rests his forehead against yours, taking in your scent.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly, “I don’t know what came over me, but I had to kiss you. It won’t happen again, unless you ask me to.”

Those sweet words turn you into a puddle and you reach for his lips, needing to feel their softness again. This time, he kisses you gently, wrapping a careful hand around your face before breaking your embrace.

“You should go back before one of them comes looking for you,” Loki whispers against your lips. “We’ll see each other soon, I promise.” He kisses you once more and goes into the washroom.

As you stand in the hallway, your fingers against your swollen lips, you can’t stop yourself from smiling. What just happened? Did you just kiss Loki Laufeyson? No, no. Did Loki Laufeyson just kiss you?! You were alone now and craved his touch, more than you’ve craved anything else in your life.

You tried to fix your hair and dress quickly, and made your way back to Nat, who was getting anxious. As you sat with your friends, you couldn’t stop thinking about Loki’s lips, his touch, the way he held you tight, and the heat and dampness between your legs returned. You were aching for more of him. You looked around the room and found him smirking at you while in conversation with his brother. Blushing instantly, you squirmed in your seat and saw, out of the corner of your eye, Steve noticing the silent interaction, his face stoic as ever. And that, that was unusual for Captain America.

[rainbowvamp]

merlin live thoughts - compiled for your convenience - ep 1

[added to give context.]

[narration begins]

kilgarha [not going to spell his name right don’t care] calls merlin a young man in the narrative intro and then switches to boy the next time. why is he a young boy in the little voice over?

[intro music plays. scenes playing over intro music] why don’t i recognize any of the scenes in this intro? has it been this long?

[back to Merlin hiking to camelot] saw merlin wanted it to be lancelot. was sad. usually i start with the lancelot eps but i am not. not today. [ :( ]

he smiles cute. what a dork. good for him.

[merlin walks into Camelot and doesn’t know they’re about to kill a guy] he’s so excited for the little horns blowing and then it’s like heart break. oh baby. baby. poor baby. what a terrible introduction

why does uther say his [own] name like that? i hate him.

what’s fair and just about killing a guy uther?

i want to have a mean nickname for uther but uther is already a bad name.

[after they kill the guy I am confused] what societal -ism is magic an allegory for in this damn show????

[angry mom yelling at uther from the place where her son’s just been killed] hammurabi’s code? okay girl ig.

[girl goes in a puff of smoke] best magic disappearance in the whole show. not used nearly enough. more people should disappear like the dead guys mom.

[merlin wanders around looking for gaius] he’s holding his little backpack straps the whole time and it makes him look so young. baby. baby. baby.

[first view of gaius office/chambers/whatever] i like the set for-

[pauses to obsess about weird set choices] wait i’m sorry. what the fuck is this

[description in alt text]

why do you have this? i’m cackling because there’s no explanation that i can think of that isn’t joyous or hilarious. is there an ao3 tag for Gaius’ weird rabbit mask? missed opportunity not to have this be the mask merlin wears in my enchanted fic [mercelot cinderella au]. fuck. that would’ve been hilarious. comedy rewrite of the enchanted fic where Lancelot falls in love with merlin while he’s wearing this.

okay. unpausing now.

[gaius falls over a railing that has probably been there for 20 years] how has this old man survived this long if that’s all it takes to make him fall the heck down his own stairs in his own house.

[gaius freaking out about Merlin’s magic and it triggers my daddy issues] gaius is very yelly. yells yells yells.

[Gaius says] who are you?? i love this line

[tbh I have no idea what this is a reaction to] gaius is funny in this episode. why isn’t he like this all the time?

gaius’ actor is so earnest when he says thank you. last time anyone will say that to merlin in this show. lol

merlin has his own room and a window. living large! all i can think about is lancleot standing by the window. but it’s fine.

collin is such a good actor. he’s so enthralled by camelot at night.

[voice over of hunith’s letter] gaius is charged with keeping merlin safe. forgot that.

also, “may god save you both” feels like it doesn’t fit.

[morgana’s telling uther killing the sorcerer sucked] i love morgana’s accent. is it in the rest of the show? if not we deserved more of it.

“the more brutal you are the more enemies you’ll create” including morgana. especially morgana. morgana was right.

[lady helen in her tent, but I couldn’t remember her name was lady helen] love the little mindless humming while the singing lady braids her hair. lady helen. good for her. she has a good smile.

also she missed some hair while she was braiding but we all make choices.

[knights protect lady helen and also dies] sometimes i forget there are knights other than the ones we like.

[lady helen killed by doll stabing] don’t see how having your son killed gives you the moral high ground to kill an innocent person. seems like this makes you the bad guy as well.

how does kilgaha [not changing it] know merlin’s name. i should know this shouldn’t i. idr. [I don’t remember. You’ll see this a lot if I keep doing these]

gaius just taking care of merlin is so cute.

he dropped the water on purpose. [so merlin would pause it with his magic like a little testy test]

[merlin grabs a mop for spilled water] what a good boy cleaning up without being asked.

“don’t do magic merlin” neither gaius nor merlin has any idea how to stop him from doing magic.

[gives the guy the medicine he’s not supposed to take all at once and doesn’t finish his warning ] merlin: stands there and watches him drunk the medicine all at once when he could’ve stopped him.

[arthur being an ass to that little boy with the wooden circle scene] arthur’s hair is kind of good in this scene and it makes me mad because this scene makes me want to claw his fucking eyes out.

who is that kid[with the wooden circle that Arthur throws knives at]?he deserved better.

[arthur says] “run” ugh i want to fucking hurt him. not in a fun way.

[merlin no arthur start to argue] i know they’re establishing that Arthur will grow and merlin has courage, but… ugh.

merlin is also sassy. “i could never have a friend who could be such an ass”

[merlin’s I could take you apart with less than that line] “don’t use magic” immediately intends to use magic to hurt the crown fucking prince. dummy. fails at it because has some sense. dummier

[merlin gets thrown in jail] also. jail? for what? attacking royalty? too high a sentence. unrealistic. [/j]

[fake lady helen enters to meet uther]lady helen’s dress is really weirdly designed. good hair though.

gross that uther kisses her hand. gross that uther.

[I forgot why-]merlin sleeping on a bed of straw? oh that’s right. jail.

gaius taking care of merlin again. [gets merlin out of prison. But there are conditons I remember the scene]

oh it’s the stocks!

gwen is coming!

gaius is laughing. what a jerk. who probably saved merlin from a. couple years in prison. so ig it’s fine.

i love that gwen is in camelot red. it’s so pretty on her and probably signifies who she’ll be later.

[gwen says Merlin’s not a big hero type] she’s so unintentionally mean and awkward. i love her.

“you don’t look like that.”

“i’m in disguise” [merlin’s smile is so cute]

he has such a cute smile.

[Gaius says]“you are a question that has never been posed before merlin.”!!!!

kilgarah :( trapped below. so sad. [kilgarah is calling merlin]

[merlin takes lady helen a potion for her voice] the preparation for lady helen’s voice looks nasty.

merlin is nosy. what the fuck bro. you can’t just do that.

okay plot, but wtf?

[lady helen discovers him in her room.]he looks so suspicious. he doesn’t even say what it is. he just hands her a suspicious bottle from his suspicious hand. don’t drink it girl!

[arthur and merlin meet on the street] god i fucking hate arthur. in this ep.

he [merlin] takes off his coat. they’re gonna throw down.

[arthur throws merlin a mace!] okay, but fighting a subject with a fucking mace? what the fuck “my lord”? [me quoting what merlin just said because I think I’m clever]

“how long have you been training to be a prat my lord” is one of the best lines in this show.

[they destroy various stalls while they fight] also, arthur better be paying for any wears that he is ruining with his little pissing contest.

love that arthur is being beaten up by inanimate objects. love less that he gets to win @ the end.

gaius is yelling again :/

[merlin while gaius is telling him he can’t use magic] “if i can’t use magic i might as well die” that’s a homosexual metaphor if i have ever heard one.

gaius is giving me whiplash with the yelling and then the caring. i cant process it. ik that’s probably how normal parents behave but that just isn’t vibing w/ me. [*]

uther is eating a strawberry and i hate him for it because i like strawberries.

he looks like the guy from buffy in this scene. hate that.

i am too emotionally basic for the complexity of these characters. help. [*this is me processing my inability to process gaius earlier]

merlin: hears a voice[kilgarah] and goes looking for it in the middle of the night.

merlin: this is a good idea.

[merlin covered gaius with covers before he sneaks out] love that the magic is just stop motion of them moving the blanket up him. we love practical effects.

[in the dungeons] knights playing dice. ig we should be writing more about that now.

the dice keep moving and none of them are thinking “magic”. why?

i can’t even fault merlin for going to find kilgarah because i too would go somewhere potentially dangerous if i felt like i was wanted there.

cgi on this dragon is… well. it’s there.

[I decide I want to know how many times destiny is said in this series]

destiny count : 1, 2,

merlin: arthur is the worst. um, i kind of don’t want him to succeed. i would kill him myself if i could

destiny count : 3

i want merlin to escape his destiny, actually.

destiny count : 4

where is kilgarah even going? just away . perching where he can’t be seen to be mysterious.

[merlin going around the castle to give morgana a potion]a jaunty little jog up the stairs.

[morgana thinks merlin is Gwen and she starts to get undressed.] um… real sus not to announce you aren’t who she thinks you are merlin…

[arthur is such a jester] morgana is right about arthur. if someone hasn’t already saved arthurthejester as a url, they should. that’s a good one.

[gwen walks in while merlin is pretending to be gwen] gwen should be mad about this actually. if i were gwen i would simply stomp on merlin’s toes for being in the lady morgana’s room without permission while she was changing. that’s 2008 for you ig.

the weird arthur/morgana thing they almost did. i’m glad they didn’t do that.

[maid sees real lady helen in the mirror] lady helen kills a maid. not worker friendly. don’t approve.

i’m not mad she wants to kill arthur. im mad about all the other people she kills to kill arthur. do assassination normally girl. don’t kill commoners to get back a nobles.

[morgana walks into the feast in the red dress] i think morgana looks very nice. it’s gross that merlin says god have mercy. it’s also gross my most beloved demisexual merlin is looking at her with lust. not compliant with my headcanon. episode is bad now. [\j]

merlin and gwen interacting gives me life. i love them. i genuinely love them. i apologize for any fic i have ever written where they weren’t absolutely together.

they’re not flirting, but they’re flirting.

[re: men gwen would date] “obviously not you.” i love her. she’s so awkward. it makes my heart so happy.

[back in lady Helen’s room] i think the dead maid twitched! she lives! she just passed out! oh good :) stop killing servants 2k22

uthers crown looks stupid. i hate him.

he looks at her[lady helen] with gross eyes.

what language is she [lady helen]singing in? someone? anyone?

i am also entranced by pretty people singing pretty songs.

merlin is so smart covering his ears. baby. baby. baby.

why the cobwebs though?

if she was just gonna stab him [arthur] why didn’t she just sneak into his room disguised as one of his guards to do that? like… knights are noblemen, kill them if you want.

[when merlin saves arthur] i appreciate that we’re seeing merlin be a good person, but he should have simply let him die.

[uther makes merlin a manservant] “i will reward you by making you a servant and usurping you from whatever life you have to serve my terrible son.”

the only good thing about this is arthur also does not want merlin to be his manservant.

[gaius going> now you can keep the prince safe w/ magic] protect the prince with your magic? this could be queerer. this should be queerer :/

merlin being handed the magic book

[pause thought to] destiny count : 5

is like being shown that other gay people existed and thrived in the time before. it matters so much to see those real artifacts of queerness. i made magic queer again. i feel better.

final thoughts:

i love merlin, gwen, morgana

i wish lancelot was here

gaius is fine ig

arthur and uther make me want to commit real actual criminal murder.

stop killing common people to injure the nobility. this is wrong and unforgivable.

okay. ep 1! this was fun. i’ll post this eventually. maybe. if you’re reading this i posted it.

00:25 - june 30

[mercurysnitch]

1976 Guitar (200 follower celebration)

Summary: An Australian runaway walks into a London pub... and finds herself having a drink with the one and only Roger Taylor.

A/N: As promised, my little celebration piece. I actually started this after I hit 150 followers, but I put it aside because I wanted to work on other things, and then decided to keep it for my next follower milestone. Which ended up taking a lot longer than I was anticipating, but hey, we got here in the end. 

Just fyi for clarity, the reader here is Australian, but living in London after finishing journalism training. Yes, even in the 70s London was full of runaway Aussies. But it must have seemed a lot further away in the days before instant messaging and video chat and free phone calls over the internet.

Title is from a Skyhooks song, recorded well after the 70s, incidentally. The bits in italics are lyrics from the song. This isn’t a song fic, and I honestly can’t remember why this is set in 1976 (I think it just sort of popped into my head like that) but those particular lyrics seemed quite fitting.

Warnings: Drinking, light swearing

*********************************************************

...one night I met a girl at the Sebel bar

And she taught me how to play that 1976 guitar

London, 1976

You decided you liked English pubs soon after you moved to London. They were cosier than the airy places you were used to back home, and the clientele were a lot less rough. Most of the time.

Your favourite pub was your local, just around the corner from your poky little second-floor flat. Decent food, good drinks, and interesting people. The bands playing on Saturday nights were always worth a listen too. Tonight, though, was a weeknight, which meant you were there for a stiff drink and maybe a nice greasy pub meal.

You hardly looked at the bartender as you flopped onto a stool. He floated over almost instantly anyway. "What can I get yer?" "Whiskey please" you ordered, attempting to be polite but mostly sounding tired. The barman smiled. "Coming up." It was fairly empty in the pub, so he returned with your drink almost immediately. You smiled gratefully and wasted no time taking your first sip. But you'd barely swallowed it, still dealing with the afterburn, when you heard a huff of surprise from a neighbouring stool.

You turned in the direction of the noise to discover the source: a youngish bloke with shaggy, pale blonde hair and big blue eyes. He looked strangely familiar, but you couldn't think where you recognised him from. If you weren't so annoyed you would've been taken aback by how attractive he was. Instead you glared at him. "What's your problem, mate?" He flashed you an annoyingly pretty smile. "Nothing. Just don't see many girls drinking whiskey like that." "Like what?" you shot back. "Like they do it all the time. Suits you, though." He flashed the smile again, and you felt your anger ebbing away.

Seeing the smile again seemed to jolt your memory. "Fucking hell," you gasped, "you're Roger-" "Don't say it" Roger hissed, cutting off your exclamation. "You'll tell the whole pub and then I won't get a moment's peace all night." You immediately looked downcast. "Sorry." Roger smiled reassuringly. "It's alright."

You eyed Roger curiously. "So tell me, what's the drummer from Queen doing in a place like this?" He broke into a cheeky grin. "I could ask you the same question" he said flirtatiously. "I've had a very long day and I live around the corner" you told him. "What about you?" "We used to play here, in the early days" he explained. "I always liked the atmosphere, and the people are always… interesting."

Suddenly you noticed him eyeing you up with curiosity. "I like your accent but I don't recognise it. Where're you from?" he asked casually. "Australia" you told him cheerfully. You noticed his expression fall slightly. "Not from Sunbury, I hope" he joked. You grinned cheekily. "Melbourne, actually. But I don’t blame you for not liking Sunbury." Roger was shocked. "You know about that?" You nodded. "I was there. It was a great day, actually, for me at least." Suddenly you smiled. "Anyway, whoever thought booking Queen to play at Sunbury was a good idea clearly knew nothing about bloody Sunbury. Or Australians, frankly." Roger smiled grimly at the memory. "God that was a shit gig. Might be the worst reception we've ever had." "If it makes you feel any better I enjoyed your set" you told him softly. "Queen's just a bit too sophisticated for most Aussies, I think." "But not you?" he asked, smiling. "But not me" you agreed.

"So what brought you to London anyway?" Roger asked. "I got sick of Australia" you told him. "It's so… behind, culturally. Anyone who's a serious artist or writer or whatever buggers off to London or somewhere first chance they get. So when you're still there you feel so far away from everything, it really feels like you're at the arse-end of the world sometimes." Roger grinned. "Arse-end of the world. I like that" he mused. "But I don't think you've come to the other side of the world just because you thought Australia was boring." You stared at him crossly. "Oh yeah? Why d'you reckon I'm here then?" you asked, challenging him with a look. "I think you ran away from something" Roger declared softly. "As far away as it was possible to get, just about."

You stared at him in shock. Now you thought about it, he wasn't exactly wrong. Suddenly your expression darkened. "Well, I suppose I'm running away from my mother and her bloody expectations of how I should live my own bloody life" you grumbled. He quirked an eyebrow. "Expectations?" "She wants me to be like her" you explained. "Find a nice bloke with a ‘suitable’ job, get married, buy a house, pop out a few kids, be a bloody housewife for the rest of my days." 

"And you don't want that" Roger said quietly. He understood how it felt to choose a life different from the one your parents wanted for you. "No, I bloody well don't" you agreed. "I want to achieve things with my life, have a proper career." Your mother had told you several times that there was no point trying to advance in your job since you were just going to quit when you got married anyway. The recent feminist revolutions seemed to have entirely passed her by, but then Australian society in general did have a tendency to run a bit behind on things like that.

Roger's gravelly voice pulled you out of your thoughts. "And what might that career be?" You smiled. "I'm a music journalist. Well, I'm a researcher right now, but I'm trying to freelance a bit on the side." Roger nearly laughed. "Y'know, most music writers seem not to like us for some reason" he observed wryly. "But I get the impression you might be an exception." You grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” "Maybe I would" Roger quipped.

You both drank quietly for a while, Roger gazing at you curiously. "Y'know, you never did tell me what's driven you to drink on a Wednesday night" he commented, casually as could be. "You really want to know?" you asked incredulously. Roger nodded. "Wouldn't ask if I didn't, love." You sighed. "Well, I was supposed to have a date last night, but he stood me up, which was just a delightful way to spend an evening" you said, your voice dripping with sarcasm. "Then this morning my boss was even more of an arsehole than usual, and I found out my article that was supposed to be published next week got pulled from the issue, so god knows if it'll ever see the light of day now. And then when I got home the disappearing date had the nerve to ring with a pathetic excuse that I'm almost certain he made up, and apparently he was blind to the possibility I wouldn’t want to reschedule the date he missed until I spelled it out to him."

Roger winced in sympathy. "Christ, that is a shitty day." “Well, it seems to have improved since I got here” you observed, flashing a sly smile. Suddenly he grinned, not bothering to be subtle about eyeing you up again, almost appraisingly this time. “You know, I could make it even better, if you’re interested” he said smoothly. You cocked an eyebrow in interest. “Oh, really? And how exactly would you do that?” “Have dinner with you” he replied, not missing a beat.

You blinked, shocked. “You want to-to what, take me out to dinner? Why?” “You seem interesting” Roger said, shrugging. “Besides, I like having company when I’m out, being alone’s not as fun.” You had to agree with him there. “So is it a date, then?” you asked, still a little uncertain about the turn your evening was taking. Roger smiled cheekily. “If you want it to be” he said. He seemed nonchalant, but you thought you detected a flicker of uncertainty under the rock-star swagger. You grinned. “You know what, bugger it. Take me on a dinner date, Roger.”

******

There were some decisions in your life you would live to regret, but going on that first impulsive date with Roger wasn’t one of them. One date very quickly became many, and before you knew it Roger was a fixture in your life. Well, as much as a touring rock star could be, anyway. You found it oddly satisfying writing a postcard telling your mother you were going out with a shaggy-haired rock’n’roll drummer, knowing he was almost the complete opposite of the sort of person she wanted you to pair up with. You’d also finally managed to get an article published in the paper, but, predictably, your mother’s response to your postcard entirely neglected that achievement in favour of detailing every reason she thought you should leave Roger and return home immediately. None of them really held much weight, and the suggestion your actions would damage your reputation back home was in your view rather forcefully disproven by the enormous quantity of messages you received from both friends and relatives congratulating you on both the article and your choice of boyfriend.

You did eventually find the things your mother wanted for you with Roger, in a way. Technically you never actually got legally married, but you were deeply committed to each other. And you did end up with the big house and the family of your own, alongside a flourishing career in rock journalism. It wasn’t always easy, juggling everything and getting people to take you seriously as a journalist, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. Sometimes, just sometimes, you were just a tiny bit grateful for that shitty day in 1976.

In '74 we got tight, in '75 we starred

Then we learned to play that 1976 guitar

**************************

A/N: I don’t think there’s too many Australianisms in here, but feel free to ask if you’re confused!

Taglist: (as always let me know if you want to be added/removed/think you should be on here but aren’t - it’s been so long some tags have changed since I added them) @wandering-at-midnight @royal-avengers @trumanjo @ohmygoditsanthonyedwardstark @itsametaphorbriansblog @wineandwanderings @simplyvictoria-93 @kotoamor @j1224 @florenceivy @jennyggggrrr @mercurycrowley

[seeminglyseph]

12, 33, and 39 -- character solidifying asks for Rain

12. How does their education and intelligence – or lack thereof - reflect in their speech pattern, vocabulary, and pronunciations?

Rain's speech patterns are largely influenced by reading and writing as a preferred method of communicating thought. He pronounces some things a little wrong if it's a specialty and he's got kind of an immovable accent so when speaking another language even if he gets the grammar right there's a good chance it takes a second to process. Like hearing someone speak perfectly fluent Japanese in an indisputable Dutch accent. He's trying, but he lived in one isolated place all his life, and while it was a trading town it was also an ex-refugee mixing pot of survivors from a collection of smaller cultures making his regional dialect so specific and also influenced by multiple sources that no matter who he is talking to, outside of Haven he has an accent of some sort. He's gotten used to the idea that he doesn't know the right way to pronounce things so he either will give the effort where it is due or if he's corrected, but also like... that one post of the russian woman exclaiming 'oh I'm sorry in english you need me to specify The car. In russian we fucking understand which fucking car I mean when I say car.' Chances are good that even though Lucio knows the same language as Rain, they also absolutely are not and Lucio thinks his southern is 'some weird hick fringe group' and Rain thinks Lucio's southern is 'bandit lord' or 'smells like new money dresses like fake royalty' as one might say. Neither of them know the correct pronunciation of the high level words only ever read and never heard. But Lucio will argue with you that the mispronunciation is correct "It's spelled 'eppy-tome'!" and Rain will get embarrassed and remember every single time he said "eppy-tome" out loud and possibly spend the rest of the night obsessing over whether or not people have been laughing at him this whole time or not.

All this to say Rain speaks fairly formally however his dialect tends to lead to casual sounding language used formally? While he may be book-smart fluent in other languages chances are he hasn't had many people to actually talk to in it so it would take a period of familiarization. (Even then, he's probably more formal in speaking Vesuvian or whatever 'cause book learning a language rarely teaches casual use. and he does know how to talk casually with friends in Haven's dialect, it's just in his native language he sounds like a book nerd, and in foreign languages he sounds unsteady formal and a bit blunt. Though blunt is by accident because he isn't always sure the words to put things in a subtle way, he usually tries to combat this by just being quiet when he isn't sure. It makes him look more mysterious than anxious. '"Better to look stupid than to open your mouth and prove it" my ma used to say.'

33. Do they drink? Take drugs? What about their health?

He does drink in a casual social way, as well as in a way where low alcohol beverages are fairly normal to just have because the alcohol or fermentation kept it safe or gave it flavor or something... but sometimes he can drink to excess either to try and make himself comfortable in the social situations he craves to be in, or as a way of escapism when he feels moody and overwhelmed with thought. I think some level of mind altering drugs would probably be used in meditation sometimes 'cause he's like a wizard guy who does wizard stuff in his wizard tower but also probably he'd do shrooms once or twice at a party 'cause they party hard at Haven. He's a young warrior and a hunter, sometimes surviving means getting absolutely fucked up and maybe there's an orgy. he's like 24, he likes to act mature but sometimes also he is young dumb and full of cum 'cause getting outside the constant supervision and expectations of his parents and going a little wild with the right encouragement.

Health wise though he works really hard to be healthy, though he doesn't really have to add a lot of extra work or effort to it besides a few exercises and stretches and meditations in the morning and before bed. He leads a fairly healthy lifestyle by habit though he could learn to indulge a bit more. He maintains muscle mass and such with protein and carbs and vegetables and hunting regularly and helping farm and other necessary manual labour. He is perhaps pushing himself to fatigue but his youth gives him the illusion he can maintain this and a full study of the magical arts and manage his household full time. He will eventually hit a plateau in studying which will free up some energy but for now he's secretly exhausted 90% of the time.

39. What do they like to ridicule? What do they find stupid?

Lucio. And Lake, but mostly Lucio because he's trying to be nicer to Lake because a lot of stuff he believed was wrong but also Lake makes it very difficult to be loved so it all tends to roll back to Lake's useless bandit husband. There may be some growth necessary there but it's on all parties. Lake to allow himself to trust, Lucio to improve as a person and prove himself useful and worth of respect, Rain to be able to forgive and understand his position as both victim of his parent's abuse and tool used by his parents to abuse Lake. They could probably use a therapist. But as Lucio's fallen into a habit of hedonism and indulgence, Rain finds it to be annoying and a sign of weakness due to his own high standards for himself and his position as leader of his household. He tends to find unfounded ego very annoying, though he himself can be guilty of it himself from time to time. He has been guilty of worse than hypocrisy.

[crowtrinkets]

Liquid Courage

The Apprentice is alone after Asra leaves for a trip, they decide to have Julian over for a drink as friends. However, one bottle of wine later and some of their relationship with Julian before their death is revealed.

Takes place after the plot and after Asra's upright ending. Platonic relationship between Julian and Gender Neutral apprentice/reader I uploaded this to my AO3 and thought I would post it here as well. :)

Word count: 3,729

———

The air was warm and slightly muggy as Julian and I walked from the castle to my shop. Asra was away to aid the locals of Nopal with a small issue. He was adamant that I go with him but by the time we would return our rent would be due. I insisted on staying and running the shop so we avoid eviction. He was sad to leave on another journey without me but responsibility comes first, and besides, he would only be gone a week at most. By the fourth day, I started to grow antsy being in the shop all day and decided to pay Asra's parents and Nadia a visit. I baked some cookies and the four of us had tea together, Julian joined as well because the four of them are still working on the new clean water system for Vesuvia.

It was a little awkward when we had to explain to everyone my um... Predicament regarding my lost memories. Asra's parents were especially shocked when they learned their son made such a drastic deal with the Arcana. But in the end, we settled on the fact that they also made deals of their own in a sense, they still treat me as family and are kind but I can't shake the feeling that they're a little unnerved by my circumstances. Muriel, Nadia, and Julien did not seem especially surprised by the news, I mean they all attended the ritual as well. However Julian was especially quiet for that conversation but I never bothered to ask him about it. I figured any talk of the plague makes Julian uncomfortable.

After the masquerade we all started to hang out as friends, I especially became close with Portia and Julian. I would visit Portia on occasion so we could talk about magic and she could show me her progress, Julian would be there as well and sometimes we'd all have dinner together. Portia and I both loved to tease Julian with the fact that he finds magic weird. "A science man" is what he called himself, I protested with why can't one be both a science and magic person. He winced a little at that comment and changed the subject. I again did not make attempts to pry into why he reacted as he did. I would like to think Julian and I are close, I understand he and Asra had a past that I know nothing about, but it doesn't bother me. What they had was in the past and I have no say in the decisions they made back then. Especially because I was well.. Dead.

Julian hummed idly beside me as we walked through Center City. I wanted to invite everyone to my shop for drinks, mostly because I could not bear another night alone in the shop. However Julian convinced me to leave Portia and Nadia, something about "letting the lovers be." I took his suggestion and invited him alone. I would like to become closer with Julian. On occasion we have gone to the theater together, Asra staying behind claiming if he wanted to watch overdramatized actors wailing he would just pay Julian a visit. But I find enjoyment in the arts, Julian's critiques however always take the cake. Who knew he would be so critical of another actor's method. I chuckle to myself remembering how heated he could get sometimes.

"Something amusing, MC?" Julian leans forward to look me in the eyes. His hands in his pockets.

"Oh nothing, I was just remembering the time you heckled that poor actor," I stifle my laugh recalling the horror in the actor's face.

"Oh, he deserved it! His accent was terrible! And he took too many breathes between speaking it made the play much less enjoyable," Julian crosses his arms seeming visibly agitated. We finally approach the shop and I unbind the spell as well as unlock the front door, allowing Julian in first so I can lock up behind us. Julian looks about the shop with a cautious curiosity.

"Careful Julian, you may insult the spirits with all your staring. Julian freezes, his one eye going wide as dinner plates as his gaze shifts to the floor. I have to cover my mouth to stop my laugh from escaping.

"I'm only kidding, why don't we go upstairs," Julian gives a quick nod and is making his way upstairs after a few quick strides. I skip happily to the kitchenette and search the cupboards. There's a bottle of wine here somewhere I just know it. Asra and I don’t drink often but we always keep something handy. I find a nearly full bottle of white wine and grab two glasses.

"This is no salty bitters Julian but I think it will suffice," I turn towards Julian who is awkwardly positioning himself on the small table in the corner. Asra and I don’t need much room but Julian's long lanky figure looks awkward, he settles on resting his legs on the chair next to him. Taking up two of the mismatched chairs. I place the bottle and glasses down and go to prepare a snack for us to munch on. As I cut up some fruit, Julian sits silently occasionally adjusting his large frame in his seat. I speak without thinking.

"Does it make you uncomfortable to be back here?" I see Julian tense from the corner of my eye. Damn, I just wanted to fill the silence not pry into Julian's subconscious thoughts. I turn around knife still in hand, thinking of a quick way to remedy my comment. "Because the last time we both were here together I threw a bottle at you…. Sorry for that by the way," I wince at my own comment.

"Oh yes, no apology needed, a strange man breaks into your shop, I can understand the hostility," Julian gives a weak smile and looks down.

"Why don’t you pour our glasses while I continue with the snacks?" I suggest. With a nod from Julian, I turn back around cutting the fruit and opening a tin of crackers. Placing the platter on the table I sit on the only available chair while Julian hands me my drink. I take a sip and feel the drink go down my throat and its telltale burn following it. For a while we both sit in silence, taking sips and eating apple slices and crackers in between. I did not expect this evening to be so… so awkward. When Julian and I hang out it's usually not this quiet. Well maybe because we're either walking in the busy streets talking about the show we are about to see, sitting in the show, and then walking back talking about the show we just saw. I quickly think of a topic before we spend the whole night in silence.

"So Julian," he stops mid-sip, glancing at me. "Why don’t you tell me about the water reroute project," Water reroute?! We were just talking about that at the palace!

"Well considering we just talked about that with the Countess I do not have any new information for you," Julian states with a wave of his hand.

"Right right, silly me, well um…" I ponder for a moment. "why don't you tell me about some of the trips you've taken? Asra and I have traveled a little but definitely not as much as you," With that Julian gives me his usual toothy grin and starts off on a story about his time on a spice ship. Satisfied that the silence is being filled I sit comfortably and continue with my drink.

---

I don't know how many hours it's been since Julian and I first arrived back at my shop but the wine bottle is now empty, I feel warm and dizzy, but just the right amount that I can still walk and make rational decisions. Almost.

"Julian, we're friends right?" my words come out and I try my hardest not to slur. Julian, whose head is now laying on the table, gives me a nod. "Best friends?" It slips out. Julian sits up and gives me a confused stare.

"Well, I would imagine Asra has that honor?" He starts. I shake my hand in the air.

"No…. no, I mean yes, but Asra is my partner. I mean like…. In the way, Asra and Muriel are… or me and Portia? I would say you and I are as close as that?" Julian thinks for a second and nods with a smile.

"Then yes, I couldn't ask for a better friend who is just as appreciative of the arts as I am," Julian raises his glass so we can toast, although we have nothing to drink so we both take a bite of the leftover cheese on our platter.

"Then can I ask you something… personal?" I trace the wood grain of the table with my fingers, trying to distract myself from the conversation I started.

"Ask away my dear friend," Julian pops another slice of apple in his mouth.

"Were we friends before I died? I know you and Asra were-" I'm interrupted by the sound of Julian coughing on the apple he just ate. Spitting it into a napkin while I stumble to grab him some water. I hand him the water and he quickly drinks it. I grab myself some as well, maybe I drank a little too much. I sit back down taking sips of my own as Julian finishes off his glass. Putting it down with an exasperated gasp. "I'm sorry I guess that was a little too personal," I try to joke. But the concern in my voice is obvious.

"No no, I guess you have the right to know, I mean it is your past," Julian says with a shrug. His usual demeanor has dissipated as he stares forlornly out the window. Looking for something I can't see. After a minute Julian meets my eyes once again, with a nod he sits back in his chair, legs stretching out onto the other chair once again.

"Yes, we knew each other. You were my apprentice at my clinic, during the plague. Ah, I'll never forget that day, it was a long day at the clinic, well they were always long but this one especially. I was just about to head home until an unfamiliar magician stormed in." Julian lets out a chuckle as he recounts the memory. "Your demeanor was so strong and determined, but then you took one look at me and all that slipped away, you shyly approached me and said, 'Hello sir, I would like to apprentice under you and become a doctor, if you will have me?'" Julian lets out a barking laugh, throwing his head back after impersonating me. I roll my eyes but laugh with him. Unfamiliar with the memory, but it seems I haven’t changed much.

"Did I really ask you like that?" I give Julian a pointed look.

"Well maybe not as dramatized as I made it, but yes. You asked and I gladly agreed. You told me you wanted to cure the plague and you figured a magician doctor would be of great assistance," Julian's smile is warm but his eye evokes sadness.

"Wait, I thought you said someone couldn't be a magic and science person,"

"I said the same thing back then but you were so determined, I couldn't say no to that innocent face as well," he lets out a small chuckle but trails off. Mumbling something I can't fully hear, but I think I get the phrase "shouldn't have" at the end. I don't comment, allowing Julian to continue his story. The knit-in his brows growing tighter as he goes on.

"You worked very hard, studying as much as possible and aiding me in house calls, eventually you got good enough that you didn’t need me to help you anymore. Taking your own house calls. We both worked long hours and eventually we almost never saw each other. Only on occasion when you needed me to sign off on death certificates for patients who had no one to claim them. And even then there were so many bodies that they weren't required anymore," Julian stops for a second. The atmosphere of the room begins to grow heavy, the single candle on the table dances reflecting on Julian's solemn features. He lets out a sigh refusing to meet my eyes.

"Eventually I became so busy with my work, trying to find the cure that we stopped speaking. When we first started working together we would sometimes go to the Rowdy Raven to lift our spirits but even then I was too busy for you. It wasn't until you were sent to the Lazaret that I knew what happened." A shiver runs up my spine at the mention of the Lazaret. I remember the flashes of memories I experienced when I went there with Asra. I remember the pain and the sick aura that coated me when I was about to be cremated. Julian finally meets my gaze and reaches for my hand, I take it, gripping his leather-clad palm.

"I am so, so very sorry MC," Julian grips my palm with a squeeze, his eye grows misty as he looks into mine. "If I had never agreed to take you in as my apprentice this never would have happened or I would have at least been able to care for you as a patient," before Julian continues I rise from my seat approaching him and pulling him into a tight hug while he still sits in his chair. He lets out a quiet squawk but then relaxes in my arms, wrapping his around my back hugging me back.

"Don't you dare apologize, Julian, I may not remember what my life was like before but I know that I wanted to help. I wanted to help and you gave me that chance. But I chose my fate, I knew the risks of what could happen to me and I still chose that path. You are a dedicated and hard-working doctor, it wasn't your fault Julian," I hold Julian tightly, his head resting on my shoulder, he lets out a stifled cry. I feel tears run down my own face but I stay quiet allowing Julian to get his emotions out. For a while we just stay in place, crying and holding onto each other for dear life.

After a bit we pull apart, rubbing our eyes dry, I keep an arm on Julian's shoulder. For a second we glance at each other and chuckle at the other's red puffy appearance. I grab some tissues and refill our cups for the both of us and we each clean our faces and drink water to rehydrate. I sit back down finishing my glass and look back at Julian who is readjusting his patch after wiping his other eye dry.

"Besides, if I never became your apprentice, we never would have become friends," I give him a shy smile.

"Ah ah," Julian raises his glass to toast me again, to which I raise mine "Best friends," he says with a toast. I laugh at his joke to my comment earlier and clink our glasses together. We down our cups of water acting like its salty bitters and we're at the Rowdy Raven.

Once again the two of us fall into silence. It’s a comfortable silence but I can't help the question brewing in my mind.

“Did I have a bird mask? Like yours?” To that question, Julian cracks a smile. He lets out a sigh.

“Heh, you did actually, and I uh… I may have kept it,” a flush crawls up Julian’s face at that last comment. I sit up.

“You did?”

“I am always one for nostalgia. After you, well yknow, I was tasked with clearing your desk and sending them to your home. Your mask was left on your chair and I couldn’t let such good craftsmanship go to waste,” Julian stands placing his cup down, and extends a hand towards me. “Would you like to see it again?” his sly smile and waggling eyebrows are so hard to say no to. Not that I would though, it would be nice to see an item from my past. With a nod, I grab his hand and we make our way downstairs and out of the shop.

—-

The moon is high in the sky and Julian and I make our way in the south end. He says his belongings are all at a friend's house but won't tell me their name. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was keeping it a secret for dramatic effect or if they were a fugitive. I practically have to jog to keep up with Julian until we finally reach our destination. A comically small house with a fittingly small door. But Julian walks past the door and goes around to the side.

“Wait here, uh this may look suspicious but just trust me,” before I can say anything Julian starts climbing into the window of the home. Cursing as glass bottles get knocked over when he finally makes it inside. I wait for a few minutes, hearing rustling and Julian's constant commentary. I finally hear an ‘aha!’ before Julian pokes his head through the window again making his way back out. He approaches me, hands behind his back. “Now this is a treasure that belongs to a dear friend of mine, do handle it with care,” with a wink (I think) Julian pulls a bird mask from behind and puts it into my waiting hands. I nearly gasp when I see it. It looks almost exactly like Julian’s but rather than red glass covering the eyes, it's transparent, devoid of any color. I turn it in my hands stroking the long beak. It’s cold to the touch and definitely finely crafted as Julian stated. My fingers trace the circular eyes.

“You replaced the red with a less intimidating color, you said it scared the children and you wanted them to at least be able to see a friendly pair of eyes behind the scary bird mask,” Julian's voice is low but full of nostalgia. I turn the mask around and pull it onto my head, fixing it so it sits properly on my face. I can smell dried lavender and sage in the beak. I look up at Julian who looks at me slightly astonished, but it soon turns to a smile.

“My you look as good in it now as you did then,” with a laugh I remove the mask.

“Where’s yours?” I look up at him.

“Ah that, I uh,” he lets out a nervous chuckle “I threw it in the aqueduct,” I give him a surprised look to which he shrugs. “At the time I felt hopeless and like my life was meaningless, I thought I was going to be hanged. But looking back on it, I just wanted to put my past behind me, and be a better person,” I place my hand on Julian's arm, he looks at where I made contact and then meets my eyes.

“You are a good person Julian,” He gives me a smile, but frowns when he looks at the mask once again, it must be a reminder of the horrors he faced during the plague. An idea strikes in me. I look around the area, trying to find a good place. We’re near the edge of town so it shouldn’t be hard to find. I walk towards the waterway with Julian following. I crane my arm back, mask in hand, Julian tries to protest but before he can do anything I throw the mask in the aqueduct. It lands with a splash. He looks out into the water, shock plastered on his face.

“Looks like you’re not the only one for theatrics Dr. Devorak,” I nudge him with my elbow. Julian lets out a laugh and slings his arm around my shoulder.

“How about a pint at the Raven then, let these former plague doctors blow off some steam?” He says with a grin. I nod and we head over together.

—- I am awoken to someone gently shaking my shoulder and calling my name. I let out a grunt and realize I have a pounding headache. I slowly open my eyes and see Asra above me.

“Asra, you’re home early,” I whisper, shielding my eyes from the incoming sun.

“And you’re asleep on the floor, Ilya is also in our bed?” He gives me his usual mischievous smile. I slowly sit up massaging my temple, swaying slightly as I feel the alcohol looming in my system, I look over at Julian, who is in fact sleeping in our bed while I am on the floor with a single blanket and one of our many decorative pillows. I try to recount what happened last night. Julian and I went to the Raven, we drank quite a bit, dancing and singing till the late hours, and then we came back to the shop because Julian left his aqueduct plans here. But Julian was way too drunk to go back to the palace so I insisted he sleep here. He tried to take the floor but he was too drunk to resist as I pushed him into mine and Asra’s bed, taking the floor so my guest could sleep comfortably. I turn back to Asra.

"Salty Bitters," I grunt out, rubbing my head, my voice is hoarse, probably from the amount of singing I did last night. Asra gives me a knowing smile and kisses my forehead.

"How about I get you some tea to help with your head and throat?" I give him a nod as he helps me to the table, blanket wrapped around my shoulders. As Asra fills the pot with water he looks over his shoulder at me. "Did you two have fun?" I glance over at Julian who is a tangled mess of blankets, watching his chest rise and fall. I remember the moments we shared together and the laughs we had the night before. Looking back at Asra who is now facing me I give him a smile. My voice comes out rough and raspy but I don't mind.

"Yes, yes we did,"

[aggieharkness]

can you do a hurt/comfort story about agatha finding and adopting wanda after wanda's parents died?

Lily of the Valley (Part 1) (Wanda x Pietro x Agatha)

Summary: Agatha was in Sokovia when the bombings that killed Wanda’s and Pietro’s parents happened, but when she discovered them she knew she had to help them.

a/n: It’s my first ask, so I hope you like it and enjoy it, and if you want more, just... ask. I’ve decided that we all could do with a bit of Aggie being mentor/mum to Wanda and Pietro, so there will be more of this for sure. Also, I’m horrible at summaries, so I apologize in advance.

Warnings: injuries, bombs.

Words: 3k

Lily of the Valley

It was already dark when she started making her way back to her motel. She was trying so hard to blend in, making sure no one had any reason to think she was nothing more than a woman just having a walk from a very dark and dangerous forest all the way back to her very small and damp motel room filled with cockroaches. She was in this little town because she needed a plant that she had run out of after her rabbit had knocked over her cauldron and had caused it to spill her brand-new potion all over the floor. If he weren’t so cute and her familiar, she would have cooked him. Now she had three suitcases worth of this plant in her pocket as she walked through the quiet dark streets. Stupid gardening rules. Her soil back in her little cottage in Salem was far too acid for this plant to grown and even after she had tried spells to make it suitable it just wouldn’t grow. Plants really were weird; she had seen the most complicated flowers blooming in between concrete plates and in her perfect soil they just wouldn’t even get roots. Stupid gardening rules.

There were people running around, shots being fired, but she didn’t bother, she couldn’t get hurt. She wasn’t a baby, she knew perfectly well that in a hostile environment such as this she couldn’t go around without a protection spell around her, it would be suicide. As she turned a corner, she saw a bunch of men building up a barricade, shoots flying over their heads. She didn’t know the city well enough to change her route, so with a spell firm in her mind in case she needed it she walked close to the wall of a building, behind these people. This was one of the things that she sure as hell didn’t miss from the wars she had lived, the gunshots. They wouldn’t let her sleep, their sound still ringing sometimes in her nightmares, but that was her own fault, she decided to go on holiday to Paris just when it was being invaded by the Germans. Poor choice from her part.

Deep in thought, she didn’t see it coming, just felt how out of the blue she was being pushed by an invisible wave to the other side of the street, her back hitting the cold and damp floor, fragments of rocks and walls flying over her head. Out of habit, she waved her hands over herself, a purple energy field protecting her sore form from the flying projectiles. A cloud of smoke filled the air as the building she had just been walking by collapsed or at least part of it, she just couldn’t make out any forms through the thick cloud of dirt. Screams filled the previous quiet air, bringing unwanted memories to Agatha’s mind. After centuries and centuries of living among these mortals, she had experienced plenty of happy and sad moments, bittersweet and horrid ones, but also perfectly marvellous and simply wonderous ones as well. It was just that the sad ones, the terrible ones, always managed to make themselves known whenever she was feeling a bit down or when something bad was happening, like right now.

She heard more explosions coming from afar as the dust seemed to dissipate enough for her to see that the street was covered by debris, the building barely standing, some of the walls still in place, curtains and photographs hanging from them as if nothing had happened, the only witnesses of the explosion, their shattered glasses and half-burnt fabrics. Vanishing the magic field, she stood up, feeling something warm and sticky running down her face, her black pants ripped at her thigh, a superficial gush bleeding more than it should. Taking her hand and touching her forehead she looked down at her fingers to see the red liquid tinting them, making sure that there was nothing broken as she took a couple of steps in between the debris. Thankfully she was fine. With another wave of her hand, the dust dissipated completely, the streetlamps that were still standing illuminating the gruesome scene. People underneath walls, and what she guessed were parts of those who had been close enough to the building when it exploded.

She was used to working with tongues, toes, fingernails, even sometimes organs, but she usually wasn’t the one to open up the people to get them, she would just buy them from very honourable psychos that she knew, so seeing this made her stomach turn, another wave of memories filling her head, sporadic images of friends and acquaintances disappearing in clouds of dust, alarms sounding throughout the city as to warn the people that the bombs were coming. God, she really had been alive for far too long. At the moment she didn’t care who saw her or what they thought of her, two orbs of purple magic in her hands as she made her way to the half-blown building, levitating slightly over the floor as not to stumble over anything or anyone. The bombs were getting closer, which made Agatha’s hair stand on the back of her head, the sight of small fire’s surrounding her as she hovered over one of the apartments, taking a look.

Something that she guessed was once a couch laid covered in debris, a small Tv still on in between them. She had had one of those back in 1954, bought it herself, brand new in a beautiful turquoise colour with a matching television stand. She was a witch, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t enjoy the joy of home appliances or electronics. Before she even made the attempt of crossing the imaginary threshold that separated the apartment and the street, she saw two figures moving around. They hadn’t seen her, far too shocked to look around, before the voice of a boy reached her ears as the two kids run and hid underneath a table. Just a few seconds later another bomb landed right in front of Agatha, but it didn’t explode, although that didn’t matter to her, she was more than ready to vanish it, but it was far too close to the kids. Landing on the concrete floor she kneeled next to the table, two terrified kids staring back at her. One was a girl, with dark red hair and soft green eyes, the other was a boy, with blond hair and blue eyes, both sharing the same shocked and terrified expression.

-Are you okay? – neither of them answered, they just stared at her. Looking around she saw part of what once had been a perfectly good kitchen, the Tv playing the Dick Van Dyke show. Now that she was closer to the bomb, she managed to make out the word “Stark” in white, a red light beeping as if it had been supposed to go off as soon as it had hit the floor. “Stark”, she knew that name, but couldn’t remember from where, but since they were firing missiles at civils it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that it was not a very friendly company. Sticking her arm out towards the kids she waited. – I’m not going to hurt you.

-Who are you? – the girl's voice was soft and quiet, a very thick accent enfolding every word as she spoke. It held a tone of distrust, protectiveness that didn’t go unnoticed by Agatha, which brought a small smile to her lips. A little feisty girl.

-My name is Agatha. What’s yours?

-Where are my parents?

-Your parents? Were they with you when this happened? – the girl nodded, a wave of sadness filling Agatha’s chest. Standing up she walked around the room, lifting walls and rocks just enough to see if there was anyone underneath. Close to the back wall laid two bodies, their heads turned away from her. She didn’t need to check their pulse to see that they were dead, probably because of the blast, but she couldn’t understand how two grown adults were dead and two small kids were just fine, miraculously unharmed. She didn’t know how to tell the kids but knew better than to keep something like this from anyone. It was better to feel the pain all at once than discover the horrid truth after years and years of lies. Kneeling beside the table she looked at them, sorrow in their eyes. They already knew. – I’m sorry. I can tell you one thing though. They didn’t feel any pain.

-They are… gone? – the voice of the boy had a much thicker accent, he probably spoke less English or didn’t practice as much as his sister did, but it didn’t make the pain that Agatha was feeling go away. She had once been a happy kid, just like them, and out of the blue, she had found herself alone, just like them. She knew this feeling of despair and loneliness far too well.

-I’m sorry, I really am, but you need to get out of here. It’s not safe.

-We don’t have anywhere to go.

-What are your names? – sitting on the floor she tried to speak in low and hushed tones, as not to scare them. For some reason, her mind was screaming at her that she needed to take these two children out of there, take them away, but she couldn’t. Not after Nicholas.

-I’m Wanda, this is Pietro.

-Those are very lovely names. Can you and your brother stand up? I need to take you to a safe place, Wanda. I promise I won’t hurt you, but you can’t stay here.

-What about mum and dad?

-I’ll take care of them, don’t worry. Do you have a favourite colour, Wanda? – she stretched her arm, waiting for the little girl to take her hand, and for a few seconds she thought she wasn’t going to move, but slowly the little hand came to rest over hers. A jolt of magic came through Agatha’s arm, making her eyes turn purple for just a few seconds. This girl, Wanda, had magic, enough to keep her and her brother safe, and she suspected that the bomb hadn’t gone off because of her as well. She was obviously far more powerful than an ordinary witch, a ten-year-old couldn’t master a spell of this kind without having spent at least a century practicing.

-I like red. – crawling from underneath the table she quickly moved far away from the bomb, her brother following her quickly.

-And you Pietro? Do you have a favourite colour?

-I… I like blue.

-That’s lovely. I like purple, it’s a bit of a mix between the two, isn’t it?

-Where are we going to go? – Wanda’s eyes searched the room, staring for a few seconds at the Tv before it finally turned off. Before any of them could understand what was going on the ceiling gave away, the entire upper apartment falling on them. Agatha swiftly and effortlessly waved her hands skilfully over her head, protecting the three of them from being crushed. Wanda and Pietro looked at the older woman, purple rays coming out of her hands as the debris fell to the sides, falling onto the street. Wanda had felt something strange when she had touched Agatha’s hand, now she suspected it had been magic, which made her feel safe, protected, and she was sure it had the same effect on her brother even if he hadn’t touched him. She was saving them. Agatha moved her arms, pushing the entire thing far away from her and the kids, panting slightly once she turned her head back down to look at the two little ones. – How did you do that?

-I’m a witch Wanda. Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you. Let me take you to a safe place, okay?

She took both of them by the hands, transporting themselves to her cottage in Salem. Maybe it was too forward, but they were little, and she couldn’t just take them to the outskirts of their hometown and hope for someone to take them in. She would keep them until she could find a family for them, a suitable one. In her heart, she felt as if she was more than capable of taking care of them, but her mind was screaming at her not to do it, not after what happened with Nicholas. As the purple cloud dissipated both Wanda and Pietro looked around the room they were standing in now, the walls covered in diagrams and drawings neither of them could understand, shelves filling up the rest of the space with old and new books as well as plants and floating candles. The room was cosy and comfortable, with a big fireplace on the other side. Agatha stared at the two little ones as they walked around her home, looking around, examining every inch of it. They didn’t look scared or worried, but she could sense the overwhelming sadness that was emanating from the girl. Before she could stop her, Wanda had wrapped her arms around Agatha’s waist, hiding her face from the world; she could have pushed her away, she could have told her she didn’t like hugs, but this feeling of a little person that relied on her even though they had just met like five minutes ago was something she hadn’t felt in such a long time. She couldn’t push her away.

-Wanda, listen to me, okay? – taking the little girl by the shoulders she kneeled in front of her, taking in her green eyes that were filled with tears. – Stay here, okay? I have to go back to do something.

-Will you come back?

-Of course, I will. Just make sure your brother doesn’t touch that big book that he’s going for right now. – with a movement of her fingers she lifted the book that Pietro was about to touch, placing it on top of the shelf, the boy gasping when he saw it moving away from his grasp. – I’ll be right back. Just five minutes, okay? Count them, and you’ll see that I will be back in just a jiffy.

Wanda nodded at the older woman as Agatha snapped her fingers and apparated back in the blown-up apartment they had just left. It was painful enough to lose your parents, but it was worse if you didn’t even have a thing to remember them by. Agatha didn’t remember her father, he left when she was a baby, at least that’s what her mother had told her, but knowing that she didn’t love her enough to take care of her, to teach her she didn’t even know if it had been just one of her many lies. Kneeling close to the dead bodies she examined them. They didn’t have anything on them that she could give to their children, so maybe she could use something else. Necromancy was one of her specialities, but in this case, it wasn’t even an option, so she settled for turning them to dust. With just a twirl of her fingers, a small flower bloomed from them, a small white lily of the valley which she picked up as carefully as possible, smiling.

It was a very small token, but maybe it would be enough for the kids to remember them by. In the future, she would figure out some other way for them to keep a happy memory of their beloved parents. Turning around to look at the bomb which still hadn’t gone of she saw the Tv, maybe she could take hers out of the attic. Vanishing into thin air she found herself standing in her kitchen instead of her living room, she aimed for the wrong room accidentally. As she walked to the door that separated the hallway and the kitchen, she saw the two figures sitting on the floor one in front of the other one, counting. Smiling she knocked on the doorframe, making them turn their heads, Wanda’s eyes lighting up at the sight of her. She had come back.

-Come here, both of you. – they stood up, trusting this unknown woman that had become so important for them in just the course of the latest hour. – I know it’s not much, and I will try to get something better for you, but this is the only thing I could do with your parents. We’ll plant them in the garden and that way you’ll be able to see them every day. – taking Wanda’s and Pietro’s hand she placed the lily on their palms. The little witch felt the essence of her parents in the petals, which brought tears to her eyes.

-Thank you.

-You don’t have to thank me. Why don’t you two go to the couch and take a nap while I plant this?

-Will you stay with us?

-Until I can find a nice family for you.

-No, I don’t want to go. Please, don’t leave us. – the girl hugged her by the waist again, not wanting to let go. Agatha meant safety, protection and comfort, her brain filled with painful memories of the bombing and the pain of her parent’s death. Agatha was the first person apart from her family who had helped them and not tried to hurt them or kill them. She felt the older witch’s pain and guilt, something she couldn’t quite understand, but she knew she didn’t want to leave her alone. Agatha felt Wanda’s mind unconsciously trying to get inside her own head, probably trying to figure her out, so gently she pushed her out. It required skills and strength, today she wouldn’t see Agatha’s memories.

She was fighting with her heart and her mind. She didn’t want to lose these two innocent kids because of her way of life, that’s what had caused her to lose her son in her first place. She was always busy, practising magic, getting more power, maybe she had disciplined him too much, maybe she had not paid him enough attention, but that was something she couldn’t solve now, he had betrayed her, made an alliance with the enemy and had tried to kill her in the process. She couldn’t let that happen to these kids. It brought tears to her eyes to see how practically two strangers couldn’t let go of her, and it surprised her, even more, the fact that she had grown to care for them in such a short period of time. They were alone and had magic in them, she couldn’t just let them leave and hope they would end up with a family that could take care of them and not judge them or hurt them. She had had plenty of experiences with people who even nowadays were still afraid of witches and had tried to kill her. They were ten years old; she couldn’t let them suffer that.

-It’s okay, it’s fine. I won’t tell you to go if you don’t want to. You are safe with me. – Agatha hugged Wanda back, letting the tears fall freely on top of the redhead’s hair. Noticing Pietro standing a few feet away she stretched her arm, asking him to join them; he hesitated at first but soon joined them, appreciating the warmth both his sister and Agatha provided. – I will take care of you, I promise.

-You won’t leave us? We are not yours; how can we believe you? – Pietro stared intensely at her, his blue eyes hard as he placed a protective arm around her sister. They really had been through a lot, even if their parents had tried to shield the worst from them, they were still very smart children.

-I have an old Tv in my attic and several DVD’s as well, why don’t you keep them? I saw the show you were watching.

-That doesn’t tell us if you are not going to throw us out.

-I had a son many, many years ago, but I didn’t take care of him as I should have and ended up getting hurt. I didn’t love him as I should have, and he went bad. I regret it every single day, but I won’t let you down, I will prove to you and myself that I can protect you and take care of you. For your parents, for your future.That seemed to do the trick, making Pietro soften his eyes, returning to the hug. She wasn’t going to leave them stranded in a spiral of darkness on their own without a single person to look out for them. She was going to be the mother she should have been, giving all the love she had neglected to give to her son to these two kids that had found a way into her heart without her even realising it. A purple aura surrounded the three of them, an unspoken vow sealing her promise as the both of them rested their heads on her chest, the lilies still resting on the palm of Wanda’s hand.

[punkcupcakestyles]

Love Song

Part 15

Catch Up!

Sofia Welsh-De La Rosa and Timothée Chalamet will star in new Amazon series and, honestly, I won’t talk about anything else ever again

Amazon Prime has just announced the release of its new original series set in 1970’s New York. According to Hollywood Reporter, the new series will be lead by Sofia Welsh - De La Rosa, Timothée Chalamet, and Logan Lerman, and will be produced by Jordan Peele (Get Out and Us) and directed by Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey). The ambitious project is in talks with some other big names in Hollywood, such as Meryl Streep and even Robert de Niro, to join the series.

Honestly, I’m gagging. 

This might come as a surprise as both Sofia, who has been enjoying lots of Oscar’s buzz for the third year in a row, and Timothèe are on the prime of their movie careers, as two of the most prominent young actors in Hollywood, but according to many sources, Sofia has been looking for a way to work with Peele for a long time, while Timothèe is excited to add some action to his resume, after his role in Hostiles and The King. Also, rumor has it, Amazon is willing to pay a hefty (and I mean hefty) amount of money to sign the young stars. 

As for Logan Lerman, this is his the actor’s first TV role since 2005 and is set to be his comeback after his career faded a bit to the background. With the star-studded cast, Amazon is hoping this to be the platform’s next big hit. 

There is no doubt that Sofia, Timothèe, and Logan are three of THE most talented young actors today, with Sofia being the reigning queen of the pack. Recently, the actress has played a pirate, a thief, a devious courtesan and a feminist writer trying to bring down love, and she’s been rumored to have just signed a deal with Disney to play her very own princess, as well as an undisclosed character in MCU’s highly anticipated Black Widow. She truly has the range, Darling!

Sofia was seen having coffee with Timothèe early in the week, before the show’s announcement, which sparked rumors that the actress had ended things with Harry Styles after he had dinner with his ex in London. She was also seen leaving the James Corden Late Late Night’s studio with Logan...

@BobbyC I’m sorry but all of them are gay...

@Peanutbuttah Eh, she can’t act anyway

@Loveisloud @peanutbuttah She can act, she has been in commercial and art-house movies and has received rave reviews every time. You just don’t like her because she’s dating your fave. 

@Arewethereyet she’s an sl*t. So glad Harry’s done with her…

@Soph Are you drunk Buzzfeed? One does not leave Harry Styles for anyone!

****

Harry was cooking. 

The air smelled like garlic and butter and I breathed in deeply, just realizing how fucking hungry I was, as I followed him to the kitchen. It just occurred to me that I hadn’t eaten anything that day, other than a cup of coffee that Harry had made me in the morning. It was a little strong for my taste, I liked mine with sugar, even when my mom kept telling me I was being violently disrespectful to coffee. I didn’t care, not one bit. 

I never really ate on interviews or auditions days, it made my tummy feel funny and I was usually afraid that my clothes wouldn’t fit like they were supposed to after, so, no food for me, thank you. Usually, D would force-feed me as soon as we were done, practically shoving fruits, nuts, and salads down my throat (sometimes even a burger!), but today I was way too anxious and excited to even pay attention to her efforts. I was going on a date with Harry, I couldn’t care less about anything else!!!

And now, I was fucking hungry and it smelled even better in the kitchen.

“I didn’t know you cooked,” I smiled, looking at the pasta that was boiling on the stove and the bubbling alfredo sauce. Grilled prawns and a green salad were carefully plated in rustic blue and gold plates.

My eyes traveled to him, and I saw him hesitate for a second before he gifted me with a shy smile. He was so lovely, it was no surprise that my head became fuzzy every time I was around him. Even the most superficial thought struggled to grab a hold to my brain. I wondered if anyone could keep their wits around him, but somehow, I doubted it.

“It takes my mind off of things,” he finally said. “And I kinda wanted to impress you, I guess.” 

The admission made my heart soar in my chest and I beamed at him as he stood in front of me. I admired his beauty for a second, his skin was slightly tanned and it looked almost delicious against the white fabric of his shirt, and his smile was warm, making me feel giddy as he trapped me against the counter with his arms on each side of my body. 

I wanted to kiss him, so so badly, but instead, I let my fingers brush over his neck until they reached the tips of his hair. It tickled and he laughed softly with the most wonderful smile.

“Really?” I asked him softly, cause I didn’t want to break the intimate moment we were sharing. 

“Yeah. A bit silly, innit?”

“No, it’s not silly. But, if you wanted to impress me, then you should’ve made a chocolate lava cake,” I teased. “You would’ve gotten me, then.”

“Chocolate, uh?” The right corner of his lip shot upwards, and an adoring feeling hit me right in the chest like a tidal wave. 

“Yeap.”

“I’ll keep it in mind for next time,” Harry muttered, his words getting lost in the air as he leaned down to kiss me.

I realized that it was all I wanted: To kiss him slowly, maybe even for hours. But I knew I had to stop him. I was under his spell and there was nothing I could do about it, nothing I wanted to do, anyway. But even I could admit that this was just a dream, one that I wanted to remember every second of. So when he was gone, I would still have those memories. 

So before his lips could brush mine, before he could melt my brain with his kisses, I pressed my forehead to his and dropped my hands to his chest, right where his heart was beating rapidly. 

“Sorry,” I said shyly, casting my eyes down so I wouldn’t have to look at him, not a few more seconds, not until I had gathered the will to stand strong by my decision. 

“Is there something wrong?” His voice was full of sincere concern, a little bit rougher as well, which made his accent more noticeable. 

“No,” I shook my head, finally looking into his green eyes. “Everything’s perfect.”

“You just don’t want me to kiss you?”

“It’s just...I want to remember every bit of tonight,” I said, as I tried to ease the utter embarrassment that was crawling over my chest. Who said stuff like that? Writers in cheesy movies or bad teen shows. Fuck. 

“Except for my kisses?” He insisted, almost like a little boy fishing for reassurance. I brought my fingers to his cheek and grazed them it until he smiled at me. 

The answer was “fuck, no”. His kisses were a memory I wanted to carry with me forever. But I also wanted to have that night, so I could carry it with me, and compare it to every other date, every other person that would come my way. 

“I want to remember the little details,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “The dinner you made, which is really close to burning, the grandpa pants…”

“Hey! These look cool! And the sauce, I have it under control!”

“If you say so,” I sneered mischievously, twisting my lips into a mocking smile as he pretended to be offended. “And I want to remember everything you did to make me feel special”

Harry’s arms looped around my waist as he pulled me to his chest and I hugged him back and looked at him, battling the need to just lean in and kiss him. His lips were so pink. 

We both sucked at the whole “no kissing allowed” thing, and somehow that made me feel a lot better. For once, I wasn’t the needy, dreamy one. 

“What do you think?” I asked in a whisper, smiling against the brush of his lips as he bumped our noses together.

“I want to kiss you, Sof, all fucking night long,” he pouted. “Been thinking ‘bout it all day.”

“I’ll make it up to you. Just...lemme have this, yeah?”

“Why?”

“Cause…” I laughed embarrassedly. “I already have your kisses in a little folder in my brain. Now I wanna have this.”

“Is it just me in that folder?” Harry asked, suddenly interested in some other thing that frowning. Curiosity and amusement were burning in his stare and I rolled my eyes at him, almost scoffing at the fact that was the only thing that had managed to catch his attention. 

“Mostly you…” I conceded, even though the petty part of me was all for rolling out with a long list of names before I got to his name. “And Sebastian Stan…” I said, not being able to resist it. 

“Bucky Barnes?” His eyebrows twisted in confusion and he looked at me as I licked my lips, considering just how weird I wanted my answer to be.  

“And the cartoon, too...” I replied, a little bit too casually for it to go unnoticed, but Harry didn’t seem to notice, cause as he was nodding thoughtfully, his hands traveled to my neck again, making me look at him as he dipped his head down to reach the curve of my neck. 

“That’s a bit greedy, baby,” He whispered against my skin, pressing soft kisses down to my pulse point. I wasn’t sure if that was technically a kiss, and I didn’t care, it felt so good. “Someone else?” He was cheating, and we both knew it. I could feel his smile growing bigger, and I sighed as he grazed his teeth over the curve of my neck and let his tongue soothe my skin. “Babe?” He insisted, just to tease me. It was hard to think, and he knew it, but I wasn’t going to admit it just yet. 

“Uh.” I licked my lips and struggled for a second, as I struggled to remember what was it that I was going to say. “Chris Evans, “ I began. “and uh, Michael B. Jordan. Mmm… and Logan Lerman.”

“Isn’t that the guy you’re gonna work with?” He asked, stopping suddenly to look at me. I fluttered my eyes open and smiled when they could finally focus on him. 

“Yeah, him and Timothée Chalamet.”

“Mmmm...I don’t know if I want to share my folder with them,” Harry pouted, which made me laugh. I realized it was no laughing matter, but still, a warm, almost giddy, laughter kept bubbling out of my tummy. 

“Why? Does it make you jealous, H?” I teased.

“Should I be?”

“Mmmm...I don’t know. I honestly think I would let Logan fuck me...those eyes, man.”

“So funny, S…” Harry rolled his eyes. He was not as amused as I had expected him to be. 

“You shouldn’t be,” I said softly, looking him in the eyes, serious and sincere.  

“You sure?” He asked and I was sure he wasn’t talking about Logan Lerman anymore. 

“I’m sure, baby.” I wasn’t even lying. “So, who’s in yours?” I asked, cause maybe that’d take attention away from myself. I didn’t think things through though, cause he had a whole bunch of options for his answer. Who could it be? One of his supermodel exes? His singer ex? This wasn’t a fun game at all. 

“You.”

“Oh, so THAT’S how you answer that kind of question!!” I exclaimed, which made him laugh, and, as he did so, his dimples showed on his face, making him look a little boyish. He was fucking pretty, Jesus. 

“I’m not even trying to be a good boyfriend here,” Harry chuckled, and I relished on the way the word `boyfriend” sounded out of his lips. So pretty, so fucking pretty. “My folder is called “When Sof’s not around”, and I think we need to fill it up, so I don’t run out of thoughts.”

“Oh, we don’t want that,” I scrunched up my nose and shook my head at him as a smile played on my lips. I was so fucking happy and I couldn’t even figure out why. 

“No, we don’t.” The tip of his tongue lapped across his pink lips, and I followed it with my eyes, taking a second or two before I peered up to him again. “I was hoping we could kiss all night,” he said softly. “and maybe I could eat you out by the pool.”

“I didn’t bring a swimsuit…”

“You wouldn’t need one, baby,” Harry laughed, a mix of mischief and endearment lacing with it. I couldn’t stop staring at him, and my knees wobbled a bit as he leaned down, bumping our noses together one more time, as the soft brush of his lips against my skin made me shiver. 

“Don’t cheat,” I whispered and his soft laugh echoed down in every inch of my body. His lips grazed over my forehead, as he pressed a soft kiss to my skin. 

“Ok, baby. We’ll do it your way.”

“Thank you.”

“I think it’s silly, y’know?” He started, pushing me back so he could look at me with his bright green eyes. “We’re just starting, Sof.”

****

I wanted to kiss him. 

I looked at him, licking a spoonful of dessert with my head propped on my hand as I listened to him talk, but all I could think of was how much I wanted to lick the trace of chocolate out of his lips. 

“Is there something wrong, S?” I noticed there wasn’t much concern in his voice, not like there usually was when he asked me if I was ok. This time, there was a hint of mockery, almost as if he knew exactly what I was thinking and that all I wanted to do was to sit on his lap and press soft kisses from his jaw to his lips. 

Fuck.

“No,” I smiled sweetly, cause I wasn’t one to go down without a fight, and I took his hand in mine and pressed it to my lips before I looked at him again. 

“Were you distracted?” His smile was turning more devilish as the seconds went by and I felt myself get warm as he leaned closer, his hands dropping to my thigh and pressing softly to it.

He wasn’t gonna win. I was not going to let him. 

“Nope,” I said, letting the ‘p’ pop between my lips. “Tell me about your album, I promise I’ll be a grown-up about it.” 

“Nice save…” Harry chuckled. “I think you’re gonna like it.”

“I have recently discovered that I’m a very jealous person. I don’t think I’ll like it, but I’ll be happy for you.”

“You shouldn’t be jealous.” A smile tugged on his lips and I felt warm, so warm inside, I couldn’t help but smile as well. “And I think you’re like it, especially since I made a few last-minute changes, against Jeff’s will.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he kept saying I had the guts, the audacity to change the album when we’re about to drop the first single.”

“What changes?” I insisted, because Jeff’s feelings were the least of my concern at the moment. 

I wished I could have played it cool. Maybe that would’ve made me look more interesting, aloof, unapproachable, and all those things a girl should be in front of her crush. But my heart was racing and the world was turning chaotic as my head ticked, like a tiny little bomb. 

I needed to know. 

Tick, tick. 

“You’re already sure you’re not gonna like it,” Harry smirked, surely unaware of the mess inside my head. “You might as well wait for it.”

No!!! TIck tick. 

“Oh, please, please, pretty please?? What’s the advantage of this if I can’t get a tiny sneak peek?”

“Well, for instance, you get me to cook for you…”

“It was delicious, thank you.”

“And you get me to eat you out at night when you’re not being stubborn and imposing kiss-bans.”

“I like that very much, too,” I giggled, looking at his green eyes as he got just a bit closer, just an inch away from me. 

“So it’s not such a bad deal, is it?”

“I guess not.”

“Good.” His bottom lip rolled into his lips and he bit it thoughtfully for a couple of seconds as his eyes kept burning little holes into my soul. That’s how it felt. “Let’s watch a movie, baby. Are there any bans on cuddling?”

“No, not yet.”

His fingers squeezed mine and he got up swiftly from the table, smiling brightly as we covered the few steps to a different room near the pool, where a giant screen awaited for us. There were a bunch of individuals blue chair, blue and velvety, and a larger one, that was meant to comfortably fit two. The room was dark, only lit by the lights coming from the screen, and I followed him blindly until we were sitting side by side. Slowly, we found each other, and as Harry sat against the armchair, I settled between his legs, cuddling up to his chest while his large hand rested on the curve of my waist. 

He smelled like a lazy Sunday morning when the rain is lightly tapping on your windows and all you can hear are the chirping birds when still early, so the world hasn’t woken up just yet and you get to focus on that feeling, on the promise of what’s coming. 

He also smelled like pasta and chocolate, and I didn’t mind that at all. 

He felt soft, comforting, and sweet, but above all, he felt safe. I was safe with him. 

And, I struggled for a bit, trying to understand what came next, what was the warmth and giddiness that settled in my tummy every time I looked at him. 

“You ok, baby?” Harry asked and I nodded absentmindedly, not ready to let my thoughts go just yet. What was it? “Wanna watch Set It Up?”

“Yeah, whatever you want. your choice.”

“Are you sure you’re ok? You don’t say that often.”

“Oh, shhh, Harry I always do whatever you want.”

“We definitely have different definitions of ‘Whatever Harry wants’” He mused and I propped myself up to look at him, almost suspiciously, almost angry.

“Do we? What do you want?” I asked. 

“To kiss you. And for you to stay the night.”

“I have a bed, y’know?” I quirked my eyebrow, looking at him as I had already won the argument. 

“Yeah, unfortunately…”

“And we promised we would behave tonight.”

“You can stay in a different room,” he offered. “Or I will.”

“What’s the point then?”

“You won’t have to miss me in the morning…” he shrugged. I laughed out loud, despite my best efforts to look offended. “And I won’t have to miss you.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Love. 

He looked a lot like love. 

And love looked a lot like him. 

***

Harry Styles and Sofia Welsh were out grabbing Fro-yo and I’ll never be as cool as either of them

Yes, I know what you’re gonna say: Are they paying you to write this sh*t? And the answer is yes! someone’s paying me to write this sh*t! Alas, neither Harry nor Sofia is. I wish. 

The usually private couple, and bear in mind I am using the word couple loosely here as they haven’t confirmed to be dating, gave the world a glimpse of their relationship as they stepped out in Los Angeles to grab ice-creams and bubble teas, along with friends.

Ever since the rumors of their relationship spread around, the couple has been mostly keeping a low profile - which is not very surprising as Harry Styles is not very open about his personal life since he was a member of One Direction and a large part of his fans believed him to be romantically involved with one of his bandmates (that was a mouthful! And also very true, there has been a lot of conspiracy theories about it)

Sofia, who’s in the middle of an Oscar campaign (and has been showing us just how much designers adore her), sported a pair of leggings, a crop top, and a large blazer, a perfect outfit for the ever-changing LA weather, and looked happy and relaxed as she waited for Harry to get their orders. Both stars took photos with fans and left together in Styles’ classic car…

****

We were made out of good intentions. 

We slept together that night and every night after that for an entire week. We didn’t do much, we kissed and cuddled, and spent our mornings lazily together until one of us had to go out to the real world. We even went out and we kept stealing looks and smiles at each other, like two little kids that were too shy in front of their crushes. 

Photos were taken. Articles were published. Midge was elated. 

Harry’s new single was coming out that night, and there was going to be a party to celebrate it. If it was a hit, they were going to celebrate their success and all the hard work that went into it. It was a flop, and it was not going to flop, they were going to drink for better times ahead. 

“Fuck!!!” 

I stared at the ceiling, willing my body to move and failing miserably at it as every little muscle in my body contracted painfully. My arms hurt, and my legs felt like they were on fire. 

I just needed 5 more minutes before I got up and got ready to leave. 

It was day 4 of “my new life” as my trainer liked to call it, and after another lunch of grilled chicken and steamed broccoli, I was ready to quit. I had trained and dieted before for different roles, but this time, I had a feeling she wanted to suck the life out of me. It even made me reconsider if I needed to be in a Marvel Movie. Would Midge kill me if I quit?

“Sof…” The male voice scared me just a little, as I thought I was alone in my house. I turn around just slightly, as much as my tired poor body could handle and smiled as I saw Sam standing by my door. “Can I come in?”

He was holding a tray, with something that looked like a sandwich, coffee, and a glass of water, along with a white bottle of medicine. I nodded, grunting even at the soft movement, and he walked quickly to my bed, setting the tray down before me as he stood awkwardly. 

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” I struggled to ask while I propped myself up and sat criss-cross on my bed. I sounded angry, and maybe I was, why would he bring me a sandwich? It was all I wanted to eat and all I couldn’t eat at the same time. 

“I’m off work today, and I wanted to check on you. Cat told me you’ve been feeling under the weather. I called your mom and she told me you should “just eat a sandwich and take an aspirin”, so here they are,” he said, offering me a childish smile as he pointed the tray with a little too much joy. 

“I can’t eat a sandwich,” I sulked. “And I need to get ready, I have to go to Harry’s.”

“You can eat a sandwich. And he can wait 5 minutes, you’re always there.”

I realized we hadn’t talked about the kiss, not really. I avoided being alone with him, and whenever the occasion presented itself, Sam would go out of the room, giving me space and maybe waiting for me to be the first one to reach out. I had never done that. Honestly, I didn’t think I would.

“You’re right, Sammy,” I said, picking the sandwich in my hands and noticing that he had already cut the crust off. “Thank you.”

It was weird between us, tense and quiet, and I didn’t like it. I bit into the bread looking at an empty spot on the wall as I waited for him to say something. Anything, I would take it. But Sam remained silent, pressing his palms on his thighs as he went to get up. 

“Sam,” I called for him and I smiled shyly when he finally turned around. He took his time, though, and for a moment there, I was scared he was going to leave. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s not what you want to hear when someone you like kisses you.”

“I shouldn’t have…”

“Did you want to?”

“Yes,” I breathed and I realized I wasn't lying. I did want to kiss him, there was no use in denying that. 

I put the sandwich down on the plate and moved closer to Sam until I could see the golden freckles that were hidden in his light brown eyes.

“Do you remember that night when you came through my window and stayed the night with me?”

“Yeah, I heard your dad scream, and I wanted to be there in case…”

“I know, Sam. I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since then,” I admitted and he kept staring at me as if he was considering what his next move would be. Would he kiss me? Did I want him to kiss me?

“You’re not being fair to me, Sof.”

“I know. You haven’t been fair to me either, but here we are.”

There was a moment of panic, cause for a second, I thought he was going to kiss me. He leaned over me and I held my breath as I looked at him, not able to stop him just yet. But as his lips brushed over my forehead, I closed my eyes, smiling as he pulled away from me. 

“Eat the fucking sandwich, Sof,” he replied and it wasn’t enough. I took his hand before he could leave and I licked my lips, peering up to him with something more than just fear pressing up to my chest. 

“Are we good?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess we’ll talk about it again when he gets back with his ex.”

That was a low blow, and we both knew it, but I just stayed quiet as he left the room, wondering if I deserved it. 

****

It took me a while to get ready, so I was late for Harry’s party. I went straight to the pool, where a large screen had been set up and the new video seemed to be on a loop. I couldn’t find Harry anywhere, but at the same, he was all I could see. I stared at the screen, looking at his golden skin as he was surrounded by the adoring crowd, at the way they kept touching and the expression on his face as he leaned into them. The song didn’t even matter, cause all I could focus on was his stupidly beautiful green eyes. 

I mean, I had watched his videos before. I had seen him fly through the sky and be surrounded by kids, but this was different. Those were entertaining and beautiful, and I felt the emotion in my tummy simply because it was him, and somehow, just seeing him made me happy. But in this one he meant to capture your attention and a little bit of your soul. He wanted to be desired and to be free along the way. And it was such a fucking sexy video.  

I lost count of how many times I allowed myself to watch the video, but it was probably too many times. After a while, I decided it was time to look for the real Harry, who was still nowhere to be seen, so I left the pool, smiling and greeting everyone as I passed by. 

I hoped he was alone, cause I wanted to fucking kiss him like no one else was looking. I wanted to tell him how lovely, talented, and amazing he was. I was going to kiss him a lot and praise him, it couldn’t get better than that. 

I looked for him in the living room, where a small crowd was throwing back cocktails and beers and went out to the front door, where people were lounging about, a bit drunkenly. But he wasn’t anywhere, and I was starting to feel uneasy. 

It took me more than a few minutes to make my way to his room because people kept getting in my way. I did my best to smile and engage in silly conversations about nothing, but my heart was growing heavy and my brain was too anxious to even remember if I had succeeded. 

I heard him talk even before I stood by his door. I couldn’t quite tell what he was saying or who he was talking to, but I noticed that his words were a little bit slurred, and his accent dripped thick in his low voice. The door was slightly ajar and I pushed it open and stood by the frame as I saw him talking on the phone. He had his back to me, so he didn’t notice that I had arrived, not that it mattered. 

“C, you’re drunk,” I heard him say and I wished he had just said a different name. “No...I know I told you it was just a PR relationship...Cause I need time to figure out...Really, C? Wanna know if I still love you? You’re not being fair...” The last part came out as a dry laugh, and I knew I had to leave, it was rude and inappropriate, but, most importantly, it was breaking my fucking heart. But my feet seemed like they were made out of cement, and my legs had chosen that moment to numb out of pain. So, I was still standing there when he turned around, and probably saw the tears that were threatening to spill down my eyes. 

I wanted to know the answer too. Could I know it? It’d save us a lot of pain. 

“Bye, C.”

He dropped his phone to the bed and I looked at him as he walked quickly to me. He looked flustered and worried, but it all seemed so distant, that it didn’t matter. 

“Baby,” Harry said, but that wasn’t my name. Did her call her baby too? He probably did, he was a ‘baby’ kind of guy. “Are you ok?”

“Yes, I was looking for you cause I wanted to check if you wanted me to post something on Instagram,” I lied. “D already drafted a tweet, it’s really simple.”

“Sof, how much did you hear?”

“Nothing. I’m gonna get a couple of photos and uh, I’m gonna go home, I think I need a rest day.”

His hand went to grab mine, but before he could do it, I turned and walked away rushing down the stairs until I could get lost in the crowd. 

Fair? None of us was being fair. 

[fanfiction-funtime]

Alexander Vodka lines

I did most of the characters, but some I don't know or genuinely can't think of anything. Hope this is good >-<

Hello: Hey there, your that Traveler fella ain’t ya? Hope I don't owe you copyrights for  the name. Hm? I don’t? Well then, what can I help ya with?

Adventures? Sure why not, I could use the inspiration.

Two names: You’re curious why I have two names? Well it's sort of a thing in Snezhnaya that officers and other high ranking people have two names, like how harbingers do. Since I’m a high ranking member of the Schneznayan authors association, well former member, I have the name “Eis Cay’zar” meaning “ice ruler”. And Alexander Vodka is a pen name. Hm? What's my resistance name and real one? Well now Traveler, a man must have some secrets.

Change of tone: Ah yes, people often find the way I change from more eloquent speech to more casual off putting. Well it's the same reason I wear two sets of clothes: sometimes I feel like looking like an old noir hero, other times I like looking like a new age caped crusader. Sometimes I like sounding high society, other times I enjoy sounding like I’m from Khaen’ria.

How do you know about Khaen’ria: Well I was looking for accents and found out about a place called “New York” or something, a bit of investigation and I discovered everything. My source? That's a secret, ehe.

Good morning: Mornin’ Traveler! What's in the mornin’ paper?

Noon: Lunch time, my favourite time of the day. Let’s go get some pizza, I’m famished!

Afternoon: Almost time to punch out, let's go knock some skulls first.

Night: *yawn* Today was fun, thanks buddy. Get some shut eye, or if you can't come meet me at (wanmin/angels share/the tea house), first rounds on me!

When it rains: I am so glad I got over my fear of contacts.

When it rains(with glasses outfit): Hey can we get under something? I can barely see!

When it stops raining: The smell that comes after rain has always been one of my favorites.

When it snows: Perfect weather to bundle up with a nice hot cup of hot chocolate!

When it stops snowing: Do you ever miss home, Traveler?

About freedom: I warned Barbados, you know that? I knew that as long as he saw it coming, Signora wouldn’t stand a chance. But he just looked at me and said, “good, when I’m gone mondstadt will be truly free of the gods”. That’s a man I’d follow to the depths of the abyss and back.

About Venti: Speaking of Barbados, he’s a great drinking buddy. Me and him knock back a couple hundred rounds whenever I’m in Mondstadt! Course I’m always paying the tab, but I consider it a way of repaying him for making songs about my books.

About Kaeya: The cavalry captain? He’s pretty cool if you ask me, modeled as Rex Mondoleon for the cover of a historical fiction book I made. But I’d still like to know what he’s hiding behind that smile.

About Diluc: Don’t tell him I told you this, but one time I found Diluc after he was hit by an abyss spell that made him drunk. While he was drunk he kept ranting about how sorry he is for kicking out his brother. The poor guy has all that forgiveness in him but he’s too afraid to let it out.

About Jean: The acting grandmaster of the knights is someone truly deserving of respect. She leads by being a good person and earning the respect of her people, and she has never once tried to cover up the mistakes of the knights. In fact if a knight makes a mistake she’ll rush out to fix it. Jean should be the grandmaster, not that crooked old bastard.

About Lisa: Lisa was my first friend in Mondstadt. She mailed me about getting copies of my books into the Mondstadt library, I said I’d do a signing to promote a new one, one thing led to another and now we have tea every ninth day of the month.

About Rosaria: Don’t tell anyone, but I’m very sure she’s a vampire. A nice one, but still.

About Barbara: Awe that little doll? I once saw her kill multiple fatui because they threatened some sick and injured travelers. So I think she’s a great person, takes compassion to save lives and guts to handle taking them as well.

About Bennett: Bennett? Yeah I know him, nice kid. He likes my books but kept breaking them, so now I make special enchanted ones so he can’t break them even if he tried.

About Razor: The guardian of wolvendom? He’s a weird one alright, but he’s not a bad guy. I taught him how to read and write.

About Fischl: That crazy kid? I don’t care what everyone else says, she’s nice. People need to learn to just leave people alone, she’s not hurting anyone with her persona.

About Noelle: You will never find someone more dedicated too...well anything than Noelle is too the knights and her training.

About Klee: Klee and I are great friends! Nothing is more stimulating than massive explosions!

About Amber: She always has interesting stories to tell, like one time where she got rid of some bandits by making a dummy merchant cart filled with explosives! Or the time she had to help a kid get her pet giant snake out from the cathedral!

About Zhongli: Heh, he thinks he’s slick, but I know he’s Rex Lapis. Gotta say I kinda hate him for just giving up his gnosis, however he did it to free his people so I can’t be mad.

About Ninnguang: Never much cared for economics because I don’t know much about ‘em, so I can’t say anything about her business sense. But I can say that she’s a great leader who puts her people first.

About Keqing: Haven’t talked to her enough to know much, but she’s dedicated to her people and that's enough for me. Her dislike of blind faith in the gods is definitely enough to make me want to get to know her better though.

About Qiqi: Qiqi’s a nice kid, I don’t care what anyone says her being a zombie doesn’t make her bad.

About Baizhu: Snake man? Nice guy, helps me be accurate in my books. Always worry about him though, one hot breeze and he’s out like a light.

About Xingqiu: Xingqiu always tries to hide his good deeds, and while I can respect anonymity I can’t let a hero go unsung. So I’ve written multiple short stories about him using a different name, and put in the beginnings that it’s based on a true story.

About Chongyun: His popsicles are great inventions, I’ve played around with the idea a bit and made flavored ones. So far I’ve got strawberry and grape down and am working on this weird fruit called a..Banananana? I think?

About Beidou: Captain Beidou is so cool! She tells me stories about her journeys out to see and I write about them, but after seeing her in action I can’t really say that I do her justice.

About Kazuha: Kazuha has suffered so much, yet he refuses to give up and curl up away from the world when he so easily could. I have immense respect for him.

About Xianling: You’d be surprised at how good slime and boar tusk can be.

About Xiao: I’ve written down many myths and legends of the yaksha, but sadly I've never seen him in person.

About Verr Goldet: Oh she’s great company! Good business sense, and always polite.

About Gorou: Many people rightly attribute the Resistance’s survival and victories to general Kokomi, but it’s wrong to say general Gorou isn’t a brilliant strategist. He knows how to rally his men against impossible odds, and how to keep them standing against them. I’d follow general Gorou into battle any day.

About Ayaka: Ayaka seems so lonely, I hope when this is all done she can have some form of social life.

About Thoma: Thoma’s as cool as he seems. He always has a level head, and solves problems smoothly and without issues.

About Yoimia: KABOOOM!

About Kokomi: One time I was doing an interview of her excellency, to boost morale and draw new members. I intended on asking for her autograph, only for her to ask for mine! I’ve been riding that high for a while now and still ain’t come down.

About Signora: I hate fatui, but without that she has some good qualities: most of her power is her own unlike most other harbingers, and she’s a sharp dresser. Plus she’s actually justified in her choice to join the fatui, not excused, but isolation can justify many crimes in my book. But no matter what I can’t forgive her. She attacked my friend without a chance for him to fight back, and was unfairly cruel. Nothing can justify that, and I will not forgive her as long as she remains unapologetic for her cowardly cruelty.

About Childe: Fatui are scum, but Childe’s probably the best of them: he personally tries to keep civilians and the weak out of fatui business, and he’s only in it to make sure his family lives well. He also is powerful on his own, but most of his strength is the Tsaritsa’s well deserved gifts. Still though, he’s just a single stressful day from losing all his morals. I can’t leave the fate of my homeland to a madman like him, not unless he gets therapy.

About Scaramouche: Scaramouche...that bastard, it’s been five years and he still owes me 30,061 mora.

About the Fatui: The fatui are really just people who are lost or genuinely believe they’re in the right, and while I can sympathize and respect many of them I can't agree nor can I just stand by and watch. The grunts usually aren’t that bad, honestly they’re more like underpaid graduates new to the workforce, but the fighters you see daily? Almost all of them are scum no better than raiders, and debt collectors are the worst of them because they’ll do anything they can to scam you out of everything in their contracts.

About us-commissions: You know, if you’d like to commission a biography it’s 100 mora per ten pages.

About us-inspiration: You’re a font of inspiration for me, ya know that?

About us-fellow rebels: I’ve been with ya enough to know that this path you’re on, the one to find your sis/bro, you’re fighting against something far beyond my ability to deal with. I won’t abandon you, I’ll be here every step of the way.

About us-friends: We’ve been through a lot pal, I’m glad to call you my friend. Please, call me my rebel name: it’s Belgrade, named after the city where some very brave men took their last stand against oppression.

Hobbies: Well you have reading and writing, otherwise? Can't think of anything.

Favorite food: Grilled tiger fish, come get it while it’s hot!

Least favorite food: I really wanna try it, but I can’t have almond tofu. Or any nuts. Closes my throat right up.

Something to share: Hehe, I got embarrassing dirt on all the harbingers. Signora? She has a Tsaritsa body pillow. Scaramouche? He knits sweaters for his pet pig, cute but he hates letting people know. And Childe? Hoo man, the pics I’ve got on him have put a pretty mora on my head.

About me: Hey have you seen my dice? I wanted to teach the mondstadt kids how to play them...hm? What?! No, not gambling! It’s, uh, a tad embarrassing...h-hey look! Literally anything else, let's pay attention to it!

About me II: Alright! These rolls are great, can’t wait to use them next game. I’m so proud of Fischl, so young yet so imaginative. She’s already-ah! T-traveler! What are you doing?..

You know I’m the one meant to be learning the secrets here.

About me III: Back in Snezhnaya, everyone looks down on things that don’t “conform” where even the most rigid of nations like Inazuma have stopped caring. Adults can't play games, men can’t wear dresses, can’t even have a “weird” sense of humor. No laws against it, but being outcasted is...it’s not good…

About me IV: I wish I grew up in Mondstadt. The kids there are so free to be themselves, and the adults aren’t pressured to be nothing more than working hands. It’s not perfect, after all people are rude to Fischl and Benny for being “different”, but it’s better that’s for sure.

About me V: Hey traveler...this is...no it’s not embarrassing. You’re my friend and I have no reason to be embarrassed by wanting to enjoy time with you! Fischl’s going to run a pen and paper dice game, ever played one? It’s super fun, you get to be anything you want really, and it’s a great way to bond.

You will? Great! I’ll help you make a character!

Alexander’s troubles: It’s so hard to find publishers these days. Noone wants an actual plot, they just want twist after twist. What’s up with that?! Shock value is no substitute for characters you love living fulfilling lives.

Happy birthday: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday you crazy bastard, happy birthday to you! Seriously pal, you put yourself in harm's way every day it seems, we literally met when you were fighting an actual god! Actually, know what? No danger all day! We’re wrapping ourselves in blankets and just relaxing!

Feelings about ascension-intro: woah, somethin’ feels different. I like it!

Feelings about ascension-building up: man, I’m feeling inspired all of a sudden! Hey traveller, give me a prompt!

Feelings about ascension-climax: HA! I don’t know what high I’m riding but I like it, I just finished writing a whole book series!

Feelings about ascension-conclusion: WOO! YEAH! ULRICH MIKAEL KEEPS WINNIN’!-I-I meant Alexand-ah forget it, I’m feelin’ too good to care!

OCs:

About Louis: That crazy inventor guy from Fontaine? I heard he got used by the fatui, damn shame that. Noone deserves to have their heart played with like that.

About Spritefather: You ever heard of Spritefather? I’ve only heard legends, but the fanmail I keep getting tells me that sometimes things are only legendary until someone writes them down.

About the Storytraveler: There’s this woman who travels from universe to universe to fix things, she’s in Teyvat right now. You should meet her, really nice person. But her powers are a bit weird, why does she transform like that? It takes so much time!

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Tagging: @love-psxlm, @storytravelled, @genshin-obsessed, @golden-wingseos