#'oh haha but he's so hot without them haha' HE'S A BIG DORK LET HIM HAVE HIS BIG DORK GLASSES C'MON

[yourthirdparent]

if i read one more jason grace fic where he wears contacts i will SCREAM!!!!!! put those glasses back on that man! i require jason in glasses for enrichment!!!

[lifewithdavefarts]

DaveFarts - Episode 9 “Trapped In The Closet” [Episode List] Following the most blatant sit-com tropes you can think of, Dave decides to spy on his girlfriend, Dana, because he thinks she’s hiding something. Tim reluctantly decides to join his friend, but the two end up stuck in the girl’s closet, which will eventually turn into a gas chamber.

Trapped In The Closet

“Yeah Dana. Sure. No problem.”

Tim was working on some college tasks, but couldn’t help but to eavesdrop Dave’s conversation with his girlfriend, Dana, on the phone. He could only hear his friend’s replies, which being only the 50% of what they were talking about, it didn’t make a lot of sense. Not that he was interested: Dave was simply hanging out in his room because he had nothing better to do during that warm Summer evening, apparently, and so he simply showed up to Tim’s place with a couple of beers and a remarkable amount of procrastination powers.

Despite being relatively hot outside, Dave was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of long, grey levi jeans, kinda loose as usual. Something that Tim hated about his kink is how quickly he checked his friend’s outfit, something that he always did since Dave is now basically his “fart bud”, against all odds.

“Yeah… yeah… I love you. No… I love you more!”

Kinda funny how Dave, 24, would revert back to an awkward teenager at times whenever he and his girlfriend were on the phone. They probably even acted like that on purpose, because love is doing stupid things together after all.

“Tim. Car. Now!”

Dave hung up and turned weirdly serious, got up and walked downstairs, saying something about getting in the car.

“Wait, what?” Tim asked, questioning whether his friend was being serious or not, but he did follow him to wherever he was going.

“We don’t have much time, Tim. Dana will come back soon. She’s out with her own friends and we have… like… 15 minutes.”

The two walked outside and headed towards the girls’ house, actually only a few blocks away from Tim’s. Tim himself reluctantly followed his bro into this, knowing that, at best, it may turn into a funny mishap to tell to their other pals while being drunk and laugh about it.

“I’ll just pretend your words make any sense, like I usually do…” Tim chuckled, sarcastically, but still following his friend.

“I think she’s hiding something.” Dave explained, walking at a fast pace, Tim right behind him. “She’s been strangely elusive lately and I want to check her room for clues.”

Tim just chuckled in response. “Dave, you do realize that this is not a 90s sit-com, right? Her room? Really? What are you hoping to find out, exactly, anyway? That she’s having some kind of affair behind your back?” he asked, trying to reason with him.

“An affair? You think I’m that kind of guy?” Dave answered, looking surprisingly offended by Tim’s question.   “I just want to make sure she’s fine. She seemed worried about something and she’s like this organized haf-woman/half-machine hybrid who keeps sticky notes in her room to keep an eye on her busy life.”

“Oh…” Tim replied, rather sarcastically.   “Now that makes a lot of sense.”

“Leave your sassiness for later, dork. Can we take your car?” Dave asked.

“Why? We’re already right in front of her house…”

Dave realized that he was so worried that they did, in fact, walked for a couple of blocks and found themselves stepping in Dana’s backyard without even noticing. He just laughed a bit about it.

“Sorry. Love makes me blind.” he joked, knowing that it was a rather silly thing to say anyway.

“Not the words I would have used, but ok.” Tim answered.

“Come on, let’s get inside.” his bro said, with a smirk.  

“Alright… but please, let’s keep a low profile and no awkwa-”

But as they approached to the girl’s house, Dave awkwardly started muttering some kind of theme song that was oddly reminiscent of the Mission Impossibile’s most iconic soundtrack. This guy has a girlfriend, everyone.

“So much for keeping a low profile, Ethan Hunt…” Tim joked.

Dana’s room, following the usual   “average american house tropes” that the writer of this story grew up with in the 90s, was on the second floor. Luckily, the house was empty, so both Tim and Dave could easily climb it without fearing of someone noticing their totally legal actions.

“Look at Tim, such a rebel! Such a fast climber!” Dave whispered, noticing how good Tim was at climbing the girl’s house.

“Thanks. I learned it when I visited your mom.” he joked.

“I thought you’d prefer my dad, you know.” Dave played along, with a rather noticeable reference to Tim’s homosexuality.

“Just… just let’s get done with this.”  

After some awkward climbing, the two found themselves in front of a window leading to Dana’s room. The duo was sitting on a small portion of slanted roof, wondering how to get inside.

“Alright. I could just punch through the window and open it. But you know I don’t like violence against windows.” Dave said, somewhat joking, but really trying to come up with a way to get through this final obstacle.

“Never mind, it’s open.” Tim said, as his hand passed right through the window.   “Or, you know, I got ghost powers all of the sudden, but I doubt it.”

“You’re so funny I forgot to laugh.” Dave commented, as he got inside his girlfriend’s room, making sure no one was there, immediately followed by his sassy friend.

The room was fairly big and messy, books and magazines scattered all around the floor and the bed. Dana was a busy woman: she got a degree in economics but, given the tough times, she had troubles finding a decent job lately. Dave actually suspected that this was the reason she was being nervous about, well, everything, understandably.

“Why don’t you just ask her instead of acting like the perfect boyfriend material that you are?” Tim stated, in his usual snarky tone, noticing Dave basically rummaging through Dana’s more personal stuff.

“Just… let me do my thing ok?” he was serious again, trying to find something that could be clue, deep down knowing that all of that was quite non-sense and even ridiculous, but his stubbornness was showing.   “Wait…”

Something drew his attention. A red (therefore important, according to Dana’s code) sticky note on the nightstand. Something was written on it.

“Oh… I guess I was right…” Dave whispered, eyes glued on the note.

“Something about her job?”  

But Tim didn’t get an answer, as they heard someone coming from downstairs. They probably were so focused on their mission that didn’t even notice how someone got inside the house minutes after them. They went silent and tried to listen to the person’s footsteps.

“Yeah. I’ll keep you posted.”

They heard a muffled female voice getting closer, probably talking on her phone. A voice that was very familiar.

“Fuck! It’s Dana!” Dave whispered.

The two looked around, looking for a quick solution or a place to hide, blatantly ignoring the window they used to get inside in the first place.

“The closet!” Dave said.

Without even questioning whether this was a good idea or not, the duo sneaked inside Dana’s closet and closed themselves inside just as the girl came into her room, still talking on the phone about something.

Tim and Dave managed to mess things up however, as they ended up in a very small section of that apparently big, spacious closet, so they had to arrange themselves in a weird position. Dave was standing up, towering over Tim, who found himself sitting on the floor instead, right behind his friend… with his face perfectly aligned with his loose jeans butt. As his eyes got adjusted to the dark, Tim started to distinguish the seams and texture’s on Dave’s jeans ass, and the tiny red Levi tag on the right back pocket. He couldn’t help but take a look, which he felt really unnecessary, given the context.

“So… this is where you lived for most of your life…” Dave joked, looking around, as if the closet was some kind of fancy mansion.

“Haha! Another gay joke! Great timing, Dave!” Tim muttered instead. The last thing they had to do was talk.

The two waited for a couple of minutes, hoping that Dana would just leave again or even just go downstairs, so they’d have enough time to get out of there in the hopes that Dave didn’t leave any clue of his presence.

“As long a we remain silent…” Tim whispered.   “We have nothing to worry about.”

Only moments after saying that, he felt a very familiar sound greeting his face. It was a long, rumbling sound coming from Dave’s denim ass. It was one of his usual, well-known loud farts, a fart that he was desperately trying to keep as silent as possible. Luckily, Dana was too busy with her phone to even notice the weird noise coming from inside of her closet.

“Dave! What the fuck?!” Tim hissed.

The gassy friend tried not to laugh, realizing how idiotic the whole situation was.   “I’m sorry dude.” he murmured.   “You know what happens when I’m nervous!”  

The smell was unbearable already. Being in a such small space didn’t certainly help. Those were probably some of the smelliest farts Dave ever managed to rip in Tim’s face, although this time was, against all odds, more like an accident.

“Tim…” Dave whispered, carefully placing his butt closer to his friend’s face.

Another fart erupted, sounding dangerously louder than the previous one. The rough surface of Dave’s denim gently caressed Tim’s nose. The blast of gas then turned into something much more subtle, but still otherwise bubbly. Tim felt his nose burn, as really he had no choice but to breath all of that in.

“Dave I swear. If you don’t stop, Dana’s gonna–”

But another   “slow-paced” rumbly fart cut him off. Dave was seriously trying to contain his well-known farting abilities. Tim, instead, was trying to remain calm, feeling like the Universe was somehow messing with him. That was an insane situation: he certainly wasn’t new to Dave’s farts, but in that context, it felt almost like one of his weird dreams about his fart fetish.

“Tim I’m sorry, at least I know you don’t mind… I hope”

Funnily enough, despite the slightly amused tone in his whispering voice, Dave sounded genuinely sorry. Yet he was right: Tim was insanely enjoying it, but knowing that Dana was out there made the whole thing almost surreal. And, once again, as much as Dave always proved so chill about this stuff, he couldn’t help but feel somehow awkward about having his friend face-farting him so non-chalantly.

And yet another   “ninja” fart was ripped all over his face.   Being nervous really turned Dave’s stomach into a messy cloud of gas, and Tim’s nose was there to vacuum it all up, completely defenseless, standing before the sheer power of the gassy friend’s powerful denim-covered anus.

Even though the situation was absurd, Dave couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. After all, the smell hit him too, and it was getting insane even for the farter himself, whose gas just didn’t stop building up.

“Sorry bro… I have to do this.” he whispered.

Tim felt Dave’s hands gently grabbing the back of his head, holding it still, as he pulled him in the clutches of his denim butt. The warm fabric of the jeans was soaking in that unbearable smell. The sniffer then felt the weight of his gassy friend almost crushing his skull. Despite being dark, Tim realized that Dave was basically sitting on him, using his head as some kind of human stool.

The fart was directly ripped in Tim’s mouth at that point, that rumbly sound once again renewing the already destructive stench. It was supposed to be loud, so loud, that Dave had to basically use his friend’s face to deadpan its impressive thunderous noise. The gassy bro was trying to rip it in the form of a long series, hoping that Dana would fail to hear (or even recognize) his well-known gross, but rather impressive talent.

Tim heard his friend’s sighs of relief after each, rumbling fart, but Dave was also trying not to burst into a laughter that could blow their cover. Fart fetish or not, he couldn’t help but to find it more hilarious than gross.

As much as the lack of space in that closet wouldn’t really allow it, Dave even lifted his right leg a bit, while still   “sitting” on his stool-friend, as a way to facilitate the impressive amount of gas gushing out from his anus. It’s not like he had to worry about Tim passing out or finding it too gross, anyway.

That fart itself was lasting longer than both of them anticipated. They lost count of how much time passed, probably a full minute. Tim’s face was warm and sweaty now, still trapped in the clutches of his gassy bro’s denim butt, directly living in person that thin line between Fart Heaven and Fart Hell.

A final sigh of relief, followed by a louder toot and a chuckle.   “Sorry, bud.” Dave muttered, hoping that his plan worked.

Indeed, Dana didn’t hear a thing. She hung up and left the room, her footsteps slowly turning into a far, muffled sound, until silence announced that the duo was now free to get the heck out of there, especially considering how they were almost both choking on farts.

Tim forgot what fresh, non-fart air felt like in his nostrils and so took a deep, refreshing breath the moment he stepped out of that gas closet. Ironically, Dave did the same, maybe even wondering how would Tim even endure something as overwhelming as his farts, but he didn’t really mind anyway. Despite everything, that was oddly hilarious, as the two stared at each other and then bursted into a laughter.

“Now let’s get out of here…” the farter suggested.

But before the two could even walk towards the window, Dana showed up again in her own room. She didn’t even startle.

“What are you two doing here?” she asked, sounding more like an inquisitive mom than an angry girlfriend. She was fairly mature, after all. “I don’t know what you Dumb and Dumber are up to, but I swear if you–”

“I heard the news, Dana. We were just outside your window…” Dave explained, slightly tweaking the truth. “We wanted to play a stupid scary prank but then I heard it, while you were on the phone you know…”

Dana shook her head and laughed a bit. She hugged her boyfriend and kissed him.

“Yes! I got the job!” she giggled. “Sorry I’ve been so cold lately. The job interview made me so nervous…”

“It’s fine, Dana. You’ve always been stone-cold anyway!” Dave joked, earning a playful slap on his chest by his girlfriend.

“Yes, that’s a very import–wait what’s that smell?” the girl asked, sniffling loudly the air around him.

Tim’s heart almost stopped while Dave did his best to not just laugh like an immature prankster. His hair, clothes, skin, were completely “soaked” in his gassy bro’s gas, so naturally he’d himself smell like flatulence.

“Never mind. It must be you, Dave. He farts like crazy when he’s nervous, Tim, I swear.” she said, disgusted but slightly amused as well.

“Ow… it’s part of my charm, babe.” Dave replied, using what he would have considered an irresistible flirty tone of voice, which was super awkward instead.

“And yeah. Tim’s very aware of my skills, right?” he joked, winking at him, like the big teasing bastard he’s always been since he found out about his fart kink.

Tim just shrugged, faking a disgusted look, his heart racing fast, knowing that all he had to do after that was take the biggest shower in the hope that such unbearable stench didn’t fuse with the atoms in his body.

“Well, it’s gonna be a wild ride!” Dana exulted, happy about her new job offer.

“How about a round of beers to celebrate?” Tim suggested. “It’s on me, no worries.”

“Great idea, but I’m paying. I got the job, you dumb-dumbs get to drink!” Dana replied. She was in a very good mood.

“It’s fine, Dana! It’s the least we can do after-“ but Dave interrupted him.

“Come on Tim, stop living in outdated gender roles and let the pretty girl buy you a drink.” he said, faking a serious tone.

The girlfriend simply rolled her eyes and left the room “Just… meet me downstairs when you’re done saving the world, ok?”

As Dana was nowhere in sight, Dave simply turned to Tim and let another huge, long one rip.

“Shhh. Just tying up some loose ends here.” he said, shushing the gay friend, blasting what was left of his gas out.

“Are you finish-“ “Not yet” he simply said, as if he was making sure no particle of gas was left behind.

With one high pitched final note that was met with some immature laughter, Dave sighed in relief.

“With that said” he chuckled “You might want to take a shower.”

Tim simply nodded with an unamused expression.

“Oh, and you might want to leave the other closet you’ve been hiding.”

That was out of nowhere.

“No pressure bro, just know that we’re all always more than happy to have a beer with you.”

“Thanks Da-“

“Despite your bigoted views on gender roles of course.”

“I’m going to punch you now.”

The duo then headed downstairs and no one got punched luckily.

Tim thought about his friend’s words and how it was probably time to leave that metaphorical stuffy closet soon or later, not that he felt forced or anything.

Dana’s closet, however, that’s probably the only one he enjoyed being trapped into…

End of Episode 9

[xkaileo]

For the one shot request:

Sasuke coming back from his first redemption journey a couple of years after the war. He meets naruto at ichiraku, then Sakura happens to walk by. Naruto insists she join and she’s so happy sasuke is back, but keeps the interaction “friendly” not “young girl talking to her crush”. Quickly after she gets a scroll from a bird and has to go. Naruto then explains that Sakura is in really high demand and basically brags about all of her accomplishments and everything she does for the village as a medic but also as a jounin. Sasuke is proud and happy for her but it’s not until later when he sees her sparring someone really good (Tsunade, Kakashi, Yamato, anyone from Anbu) that he is s t u n n e d. Like jaw to the floor. He can’t resist watching and maybe activates his sharingan by accident. It is not until like 10 minutes have gone by that he notices her ANBU tattoo for the first time.

So of course canon-divergent. I know it’s super clunky the way I laid it out (can you tell I’m no author?) lol anyways I thought it would be really nice to get a look inside Sasuke’s head the first time he’s gotten the metaphorical wind knocked out of him by Sakura haha.

Ask and you shall receive, nonny! This one was fun to write, having Sasuke sort of be stunned by her and feel just the need to do something about it; it was fun to put him in a position where he had to push a little to get something out of Sakura. Enjoy!

She's A Hot Commodity

It was amazing how much the Hidden Leaf Village could change over two years. More than Sasuke had expected, honestly; he'd thought the village was done with its constant renovations after multiple attempts for it to be destroyed. Well, they'd nearly come close one time, though he'd stepped in to assist. Meteors falling off the moon… who would have thought?

His first stop was Ichiraku, as he'd made one promise: he was going to treat Naruto to a bowl of ramen when he got back. His blonde friend was already there, waving wildly as he approached.

"Sasuke! You're back!" Naruto gave him a hug in greeting, to which Sasuke begrudgingly allowed. He wasn't one for physical affection, but one hug from his best friend wouldn't be the end of the world. Plus, he'd never hear the end of it if he didn't. Naruto would spend their entire lunch pouting and whining about it if he was turned down.

As they were seated, both boys heard a familiar voice behind them, and it was… None other than Sakura. Sasuke couldn't help but stare, just for a moment. It'd been a long time. She'd grown out her hair and seemed to be wearing it up in a ponytail. When had it got so long? Now that he thought about it… It'd been a little longer when he left, but now it had to be almost to her waist. He hadn't seen it that long since they were kids. He… liked it, if he was honest.

"Sakura." He nodded in greeting, the corner of his lips twitching into a smile. He was glad to see her. Maybe now he'd be able to take things… a little further, to put it simply. He'd left her with nothing more than a promise, and this was the start of it. He was here. He'd returned. Whether he would stay for an extended period was another question, but he did plan to offer for her to accompany him this time. He just had… a few errands to take care of before he left again.

"Sasuke! It's been so long!" Sakura came up between them and threw her arms over his and Naruto's shoulders, giggling as she was hanging out between them. "Would you look at that? My two favourite dorks are having lunch together. You know, Sasuke, if he's got you here against your will, all you have to do is ask." Well… Ramen usually would have been against his will, but this time, it wasn't. He was surprised when she leaned closer to his ear, her voice no more than a whisper.

"There's a new place that opened that serves rice balls if you need an escape." She clapped him on the back before turning to Naruto, who'd caught her attention.

"Sakura, join us!" He encouraged, and her expression went thoughtful for a moment before she agreed. Naruto shifted down one seat, allowing Sakura to sit between them. Sasuke didn't want to admit he was glad Naruto had shifted down; he wanted to sit next to Sakura, but he wasn't sure if she would have done that of her own accord. He couldn't blame her; it'd been a long time since they'd spoken, and there was… a lot they needed to talk about. She seemed… different. Not unfriendly, but there was something different about the way she was talking to him. No more blushing or bashful looks in his direction. He'd expected that much from her, but… was it possible something had happened?

Maybe… maybe she'd moved on. He didn't want to think that, but it seemed to be a possibility. Nevertheless, if that were Sakura's decision, that would have to be how things were. Friends were better than absolutely nothing.

Just as she was about to order, the sound of a messenger hawk could be heard, interrupting their conversation. Naruto and Sakura had been chatting animatedly, Naruto having made some dumb comment that Sakura was reaming him for while Sasuke chuckled at their antics. At least some things never change. He's still opening his mouth when he should be shutting it, and she's putting him in his place… as usual.

"Oh… I'm sorry, guys." Sakura's expression turned to a frown. "This is for me, and it's urgent. I have to get going. Sorry again. Let's pick another day to get ramen together as a team, though, okay? And… it's good to see you back, Sasuke." She gave him a smile that lit up her whole face, and it made his heart skip a beat. She was different, sure, but it was… nice. It made him feel a bit giddy.

"Yeah… Shoulda seen that one coming," Naruto admitted.

"Does that happen a lot?" Sasuke was genuinely curious. He knew Sakura was a hard worker, but she always knew how to make time for her friends. It seemed out of the ordinary for her to disappear so suddenly. If it was the hospital, wasn't Tsunade there to help out?

"Yeah, it kinda does. Sakura's kind of a big deal around the village now. It makes me a little jealous." Naruto, jealous? Sasuke wondered just how important she was, but as always, Naruto had the explanation. "She's done so much stuff! She opened a clinic for all the kids in the village that lost parents during the war, and she's been working with Ino and some professionals to get them the help they need. Just so they don't feel alone, ya know? You and I both know no one deserves to feel like that." After all, they were the very same kinds of kids that that clinic was helping. Sasuke was shocked and also touched. Had Sakura done all that in two years?

"Oh yeah! And she works super hard at the hospital. She's one of the only medical ninja in the village who's allowed to take missions alone, and that's a huge deal! She's been going to all kinds of places on missions, mostly deliveries or to provide medical help, but I swear she's always gone on a mission! She keeps asking me to water her plants like… every week." Naruto didn't mind her asking that, though. He liked taking care of them. Gardening was oddly calming.

"Wow," Sasuke remarked. It was not what he would have expected out of Sakura… not precisely, that is. He knew she was brilliant, but looking back to how they were as kids… no, when they'd first been put on a team, he never would have expected that much out of her. "Has she been doing anything else?"

"Oh yeah! She mentioned somethin' about taking on a team of genin, too. I think she'd make a great teacher, don'tcha think?" Naruto elbowed Sasuke gently, earning a grunt out of him and a nod in response. Sakura would make a stellar teacher. If she took on a trio of genin as their Jounin sensei, then they would undoubtedly be a force to be reckoned with.

He was… proud of her, honestly. To think she’d come so far from her capabilities when they were kids… she was so incredibly talented, it even made him a little jealous. He’d been a prodigy, but to see her hard work coming to fruition was exceptional. She was amazing. More impressive than he was expecting.

------------------------------------

It’d been days since he’d last seen Sakura, and after only briefly meeting her, he decided the best way to pass the time until she returned was training. He liked training; it kept him in shape, allowed him to practice living life with just one arm, and helped him clear his mind when it got too tumultuous to handle. Making his way to the training grounds, he was stopped by a flicker of familiar chakra that crossed the vision of his left eye.

Sakura? She was… Training? He shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was. That, and he found himself deeply intrigued. Like a curious cat, he made his way to the edge of the trees, remaining at a safe distance where he could watch. It looked like she was training with Kakashi, whom he would have considered a force to be reckoned with. He was a former ANBU, after all.

Wait… no. It wasn’t just Kakashi there. Yamato was there, too, and… wait, was Sakura taking them both on at the same time? His curiosity was piqued enough that he activated his Sharingan, using it to track her movements; in high-speed fights like these, it was a necessity. He would've never been able to keep up with Sakura's motions otherwise.

He watched her, amazed beyond belief. Every movement she made was fluid, each motion flowing into the next like an unbreakable chain. There was no hesitation or consideration; she moved without thinking, her body reacting with an impeccable natural flow. He’d never seen such fluid movements before, not even back during the war. What had she done since he’d been gone? He knew she was a Jounin now, but this… no, she had to be more than that. She was well above the level of a Jounin. It was almost an insult to put her that low.

He stared for longer than he’d expected, watching as she evaded both Yamato and Kakashi’s tactics, dancing around them like they were nothing. He watched as her long, pink hair flowed with every movement, even the occasional piece sticking to the sweat that formed on her brow. Even as she turned, he could see the concentration in her gaze, focusing on every motion. There was strength and power in the way she moved. There was one thing that bothered him, though, one thing he couldn't shake.

When had Sakura become so beautiful? He remembered her being cute when they were kids, though he hadn't been in the right state of mind to say anything about it. He'd also noticed she was prettier as they got older, but he'd never been able to take the time to appreciate it. Now, staring at her, he realized how attractive she was. He was taken aback by what he was seeing. It made his cheeks flush, made his heart race, and also made his heart wrench. Maybe… maybe he'd have to say something to her: something direct, this time.

It wasn’t until Sakura stopped, calling a halt to her training with Yamato and Kakashi to take a breather, that he noticed something else. He knew that symbol. Other Jounin he knew and had met bore it too. This wasn’t friendly training between three Jounin. It was so much more than that. But it made Sasuke wonder…

When did Sakura decide to join the ANBU? That was undoubtedly one of the last things he'd expected of her. As he stared at her training, he hadn't realized her gaze had turned in his direction; once he did, he ducked behind one of the trees, heart beating rapidly. Had she seen him? Had she caught him staring so openly at her? He hoped not. The last thing he wanted was to seem weird or creepy. One thing he did know was that Sakura's temper was terrifying, and he would have preferred not to be on her bad side.

"You're not doing a very good job of hiding, Sasuke." He looked up to see her above him on one of the branches, a smile teasing her lips. He startled at the sound of her voice, grumbling under his breath and turning away as the faintest shade of pink dusted his cheeks. Damn. She really was good. She'd caught even him off-guard.

"I wasn't hiding," he lied. Oh, he knew he was hiding, all right. He simply refused to admit it. "I thought this training ground was empty. I was mistaken." He heard her feet land in front of him, which urged him to keep his face hidden from her; he didn't want her to see just how much his cheeks had coloured at her appearance. It was all he could do not to look back and stare, admiring every inch of her toned figure.

"You're also not very good at lying," she teased further, taking a step toward him. "What's got you all flustered?" Damn. She hadn't missed it.

"It's hot outside." Technically not a lie; it was a scorching summer day, and he was wearing a heavy cloak. "I'm just flushed from the heat." Definitely a lie. His cloak was designed to keep heat in and keep cooler air closer to his body, like a cat's fur coat. It kept him comfortably thermoregulated.

"Liar," she accused.

"Tch." He wasn't going to dignify that with a response. She giggled in response to his gruff comment, leaving him to straighten as if he were on his way. She… was in his way, though, which meant he had to brush past her to leave. As his eye opened, he realized she was closer than before. He could smell her from where he stood. Her skin glistened with the faintest layer of sweat from her training, hair sticking to her cheeks and forehead. It didn't bother him; he was used to much worse sights.

Nevertheless, her skin was glowing from the exercise, and the way her green eyes sparkled made her look prettier. So pretty, he could feel his heart racing. He couldn't bring himself to move. If he so much as touched her, he knew what he'd end up doing.

"Sasuke, are you… okay?" Her head tilted to the side, and he felt his heart skip a beat. Stop it, he tried to scold her mentally, knowing it wouldn't work.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Liar. With one sharp breath, he took a step forward, his hand reaching to brush her out of the way gently. She stepped in front of him, stopping him and grasping at his wrist. He remembered that grasp; it was the same way he'd done it to her years ago, a firm but gentle grip. She released it after he stopped moving. Their gazes drew together instinctively; no words needed to be spoken between them. Sasuke felt a growing sense of worry after what he'd realized. Sakura was ANBU. That meant she put her life on the line every day, every mission, everything. It meant that at any moment when she wasn't on a mission, the Hokage could call her for one, and it could be the last time anyone would see her.

He couldn't wait. The moment Sakura released his wrist from her grasp, he reached up, tangling his fingers in her hair as need took precedence over logic. His lips crashed against hers fiercely, years of restrained emotions flaring in his chest as he kissed her. She seemed surprised for a split second but was quick to reciprocate; he felt her hands lock around his neck, leading him to skim a hand down her back, pulling her body tighter against his. At some point, he turned, pressing her back against the tree as they continued their motions, eventually breaking apart to breathe, staring at one another with wordless affirmations.

[huenjin]

dripping.

pairing — lee minho x reader | devil!au

word count — 2.6k words

rating — 18+

genre — smut, includes jealous sex, semi public sex (in a gallery), manhandling, spit play, sir kink, breast play, possession kink, fingering, orgasm denial, blow job, deep throating, degradation, humiliation, spanking, marking.

note — happy lino day! i speed wrote this to post something for his birthday so it's heavily unedited. this is filthy af and i might, just might, make a part two of this to delve more into it, haha, because lmao, i love this so much.

It's a big red stroke over the area that should have been for the eyes.

You drop the paint brush with the ends of the bristles still coated in deep red paint. The white plastic sheets underneath your easel prevents the white floors of the room in the back of the art gallery you own from being stained. You look up at the man before you, your friend of all these years, Bang Christopher Chan, shirtless in all his glory as he poses for you. His hands are shoved into the jeans of his pockets, built abs that are clenched and shine under the spotlight and his sharp side profile in your clear vision, all for you to paint down on a white canvas.

"It just needs to dry up now," you smile at Chan and look at him as you lean to the side of your chair, your fingers gripping on the circular edge to keep your balance. "You did well!"

Chan relaxes and walks a few steps to the side to grab his black shirt, only to pull it over his built physique. You take the smaller brush and dip it in the water in the can by your side, lightly brushing it over the toned abs in the picture to highlight it. The model walks towards you, moving behind you and bends forward. He observes the picture. His hot breath fans over your skin and you can feel the goosebumps rise. Chan speaks into your ear, "Damn! I look hot."

A soft laughter leaves your lips and you turn to look at him. Bang Chan is way too close to you, enough for you to see the golden specks in his eyes.

"It better do. Those are a lot of hours gone into you flexing and me painting."

Chan straightens his spine and takes a step back. You place the brush on the projection on the easel and stand up, removing the apron off of you and placing it on the chair.

"Why do you not sell your paintings yet, Y/N?" Chan asks as you walk with him to the door. You shift your dress fabric slightly, a small smile to yourself and you look at him. He continues, frowning, "I mean, you put your whole soul into it."

His face appears into your head. Chiselled jaws, sharp eyes that are able to radiate sheer softness in moments, veiny hands that cup your face while he kisses you like he is going to take possession of what he owns. You respond finally, "You say I put my soul in it and maybe that's why I can't sell it. Because it's not mine. I can't sell something that is not mine, can I?"

Chan looks at you like you are of one screw short. He laughs nervously and pulls the glass door. You take hold of the handle from him, holding the door out for him. His right arm snakes around your shoulders and hugs you, his warm cologne hitting your nose as you let him hold you, to bid him farewell.

"See you later, crocodile."

"You too, dork."

You stand by the door, watching Chan walk away till you cannot see him anymore. You fondly stare in the distance and pull the door backwards to close it.

"Who would have thought the devil's girl is here flirting and drawing naked men?"

You hear the very familiar voice, cold enough to send a shiver down your spine. Your head quickly turns, back hitting the glass door as you look at the devil himself, clothed in a black shirt — of course, the devil wears Prada. Lee Minho grazes his thumb over the edge of the painted canvas before taking it up. You walk towards him, folding your arms over each other.

"Keep it back, Minho," you frown. You look up at the brooding man hovering over your height. His eyes narrow down at your figure and then stare at the picture. He laughs darkly again, "How dare you flirt with another man when you know you are clearly mine?"

He throws the canvas down and you huff in disbelief. The devil can truly act like a child at times and you swear to both the heavens and hell, that you will never get used to it. You bend down to pick it up but Minho clicks his tongue, almost as if he is sending you a warning — a final one because you already ticked him off seemingly with Bang Chan's presence.

"I wasn't flirting with him," you look away and Minho takes a step towards you, his fingers holding your jaw and pulling your face to look at him. He lifts it up slightly, locking his gaze with yours.

"Were you not now, my darling?"

You remember the abdominal muscles of Chan's — sculpted and formed that you sigh, and his broad shoulders, wide and strong. Everything, however, changes when Minho's eyes darken and your mind is filled with lust. Minho's other arm snakes around your waist, pulling you closer into him. You are pressed against him and you gasp. A lustful expression makes its way to your face and your thoughts are clouded with Minho now. Everything Minho. His arms, his hands, his eyes, his plump lips that edge closer to you.

His thumb digs into your cheeks and the other four fingers grip your face as he opens your mouth with pressure, tongue jutting out slightly. Minho sniggers, "You might as well be begging to get fucked right now." Your eyes glisten, thighs and core clenching. Minho spits into your mouth and you swallow immediately. He laughs. "Ah, you slutty whore."

Your hand brushes against his growing bulge, up and down gently and you beg as he grips your face tightly, "Do me, please, sir." Minho's hand leaves your face. His nose brushes against the skin by your neck as he breathes hot air against it and you feel a pool of wetness gather on to the already damp fabric of your underwear.

"What thoughts do you have of me generally, angel?" He presses a chaste kiss against your jugular. "Were you hoping for something like this to happen tonight?" His head drops in between your breast, teeth clasping onto the thin fabric and pulling it down, exposing your supple breasts to the devil. He buries his face in between them, sucking in sharply. One of his arms pulls you in impossibly close to him whole the other sharply moves under your dress, teases the wetness of the fabric before rubbing his fingers against them. You gasp, inhaling air sharply.

"S-sir," you stutter. You know for a fact that you would have collapsed had it not been for Minho's grip around you. "I didn't—"

Minho's fingers pull the underwear strap away from your flesh, wrapping around them and in a minute, he pulls them down furiously. Strings of your wetness connect your dripping core and the underwear that is pulled down and Minho is laughing. Loudly.

"What lies! You are dripping, angel." Smirking, he raises an eyebrow at you and taunts, "See, I was correct."

He runs his index finger along your slit teasingly. You buckle under the sensation, gripping on the collars of his expensive black shirt, knees slightly buckling. Minho mumbles, "So wet and all for me. This is all mine," and he prods the index and the middle finger into your core, slightly circling the edge before entering completely – knuckles deep – without any warning and you gasp, scream leaving your lips with words calling for mercy from the devil himself.

Minho thrusts his fingers, in and out, as he sucks on your breasts. His tongue laps around your flesh, areolar and then the nipple. He sucks on it, the sound resonating loudly in the gallery and you worry if the security guard would come in to check.

"Minho—"

Thud. You jerk, spine straightening up and pain seeping through every end of your nerves as Minho's palm hits against your pussy. Your eyes water and you pull Minho closer, your head dropping onto his shoulder. His fingers come in a harsh contact with your core once again and you let out a choked sob.

"It's sir to you, slut. It is sir to dirty whores like you, flirting with men when you clearly know who you belong to. You belong to the devil, angel."

He slaps your pussy once again, your spine straightening up and your head thrown back and he orders, "Who do you belong to, angel?"

"The devil's," you cry, a sole tear falling down your eye, staining his shirt. "I belong to you, sir. I belong to you."

"Good girl," and his fingers enter you once again. You moan out his name. The intrusion is sudden and you are overwhelmed. You gasp, the air raspy against your throat before falling. Your hand clutches his shirt tightly, pulling it a bit and you hear the slight ripping sound.

He presses his thumb on your clit, tapping it slowly, simultaneously and you think you are going delusional. Your mind is empty and the devil is contaminating you, slowly like black ink in water, ripples that soon spread around, ruining everything.

"Sir, oh my fucking heavens."

He sucks on your breasts, tongue lapping against your erect nipple. He lets go only to hover a little above and suck purple hickies all over, telling you, "Fuck, you are insane. Insane for this." His teeth graze against your nipple and you shudder in his hold. His fingers, three in already at your sopping wetness, thrusting in at an impeccable pace. "Look at this sex. Wet and dripping. What a mess you are making and look at this filthy hole, sucking my fingers in and devouring them. You really are a slut."

You cry out at the feeling of being overwhelmingly full, your head falling down and your teeth biting into Minho's shoulder. Your walls are stretching out and you catch him mumbling, "So fucking tight and all for me. Look at this slut being a needy girl for me."

He curls them up into you and your back arches slightly at the tingles. You feel Minho slipping his fingers easily into you and the slick of your arousal dripping down your thighs, making a mess. He rubs your walls, his attention also on your enlarged button and your hips gyrate with him, thrusting and chasing after his fingers desperately. He finds your spot easily and pushes at it constantly. You feel the knot building up and you are moaning, voice barely leaving your lips.

The devil is evil and that is what Lee Minho is.

He removes his fingers the minute he realises you will snap any minute. The emptiness you feel breaks your heart and makes you weak. Your voice, croaky and husky, barely lets out, "Why?" Tears fall down your face at the orgasm denial and your knees fail to keep you up as they hit the ground. Minho lets you fall down on your knees, your vision now his huge bulge.

"Sluts don't get it easy. Ever."

Minho unbuckles his belt, unbuttons and unzips his pants, lowering the pants to his mid-thigh and he takes out his cock. His hot angry girth with heavily leaking precum is right in front of you. His fingers coated in your wetness enters his mouth and he wraps his tongue around it, loudly sucking. His eyes do not leave yours and you understand what he is asking you to do.

He expects the same. You open your mouth wide, tongue slightly stretched out like a girl thirsty and Minho shoves his cock into your mouth. You gag at the sudden entrance, arms lifting up automatically and hands wrapping around his length as you begin sucking on it.

Before you know it, his hand is flat against the back of your head, shoving your head forward. His big cock pushes past your buccal cavity, going deep down your throat and you gag against his length loudly. Minho moans before holding you there, your nose brushing his pubis and you are breathing through your nose, eyes watering.

There is nothing gentle in the devil's movements. He pulls himself back only to thrust his hip forward, cock going down your throat again. He abuses your mouth to his pleasure as he moves against you, procuring pleasure from you hollowing your mouth and your tongue flat against the underside of his cock, slightly wrapping around the length and teasing it now and then.

Your fingers try to move down without his notice. Your index finger finds your clit silently and you rub against it fast, trying to drive yourself to the orgasm you were just denied. With a blink of the eye, Minho pulls himself back, pushing you away from him and you whine. You are on your knees and you look up at Minho, arm stretching forward to grab his length, mumbling like a bitch in heat, "Want it, want it, want it."

He hums, gloating and pride washing his whole face, "What? You want more of it?" He slowly takes many steps backward before falling onto the stool before the easel. He spreads his legs, dick up and erect and he points at the ground before him. "Alright. Come here."

You are quickly on your four. Your right hand moves forward, followed by your right knee flat on the ground and then your left limbs. You crawl towards Minho, lips dark pink, swollen and open in desperation. You want to suck him off more, feel him down your throat, constriction your airways. You want to feel him so close. You want to taste him more.

You wrap your lips around his cock once you reach, pushing your hair away. Kissing the angry purplish red tip, you suck at the head. Minho throws his head back in ecstasy. You feel him twitching in your mouth, every single time you take him deep down your throat, gags hitting off the flesh and dying in your mouth. He pulls out barely before he is pushing back in, teeth gritted and eyes focused.

The sounds of your gagging bounces off the white walls of your bedroom, followed by the deep moans and sighs emitting out from Minho's lips as he fucks your mouth mercilessly. Each thrust of his hips causes the head of his cock to push past your airway, your throat constricting and eliciting a groan from him.

The flat of your hot tongue presses against his length. He finally lets you take control by a bare minimum. You lick his length, moving your head up and down as your wrists twist slightly, the right amount of pressure applied. Minho mumbles, "You finally decide to act like a good girl, didn't you, you slut? Did you think you might get rewarded then?" He holds a fist full of your hair and pulls you back to have you look him in the eye.

"You are mine," he emphasizes. His eyes darken and your heart beat races for the personification of evil. "Your soul, your body, your heart," he tightens his grip and your eyes widen, "They are all mine." He bends forward to kiss you, his tongue lapping against yours, taking in the salty taste of himself. He kisses you like he wants you to lose your sanity or bring him some.

And when he lets go, he holds his cock and he finds you salivating, eyes fixed on it, lips wide apart.

"Now, make the devil the happiest tonight."

[dreamii-yume]

New Episode Update Let’s GOO!!!

Warning : This is just Yume having a mental breakdown, seriously. This episode update was WHACK.

~ MAJOR SPOILERS FOR 68-75 ~

I know we ain’t participating and all but the game reminding you that there’s 10 minutes left to prepare is seriously bad for my heart.

Aah, shiet. Vil is still hurt.

He still has small wounds and scratches that he hid make up. Daddy, I’m worried.

Apparently, yeah, I’m not the only one cause my homeboy, Epel just asked to switch the center role with Vil. THE CONFIDENCE.

Aw, he’s worried about him falling over during stage (And make the performance look bad) Come on, Epel just be honest-

...He finally became the ideal poisoned apple that Vil wanted, huh?

Vil being proud a mom.

But the queen inside him is STRONG.

He’ll embrace the villain in him, OUR QUEEN CAN STILL GO. INJURED, WHO?

...AAND he proceeds to roast Epel again lol Typical Vil.

I love how Epel just accepted a nickname like “Doku Ringo-chan” lol It’s so cute, senior-junior relationship goals right there.

HERE WE GO.

Everyone is actually really confident hahaha

I really wish Deuce’s mom, Ace’s brother, Jamil’s sister, and Vil’s dad were here in person to watch.

HECK I WANT KALIM’S WHOLE FAMILY HERE WHY NOT

T-THEY’RE REALLY LETTING US HEAR THE FULL SONG. 

IS THAT JAMIL RAPPING.

Look at Jamil’s solo SD dancing. LOOK AT IT.

I really fucking love Vil’s singing voice aaa

HIS VOICE IS SO GOOD.

Album when disney.

Is Vil okay.

...aight im hearing some high quality panting here

...dont mind me listening to it a bit too much...

...they’re going to be great reference for some spicy- leave me alone

Vil panting is making me feel SOMETHING.

ANYWAY. THE CROWD IS A MOOD.

IS VIL OKAY.

Unmei no megami is giving me idia ptsd here.

Heartslabyul Senpais are watching their kids, looking all proud *sniff

Oh god, after playing Obey Me, it just occurred to me how similar Cater and Asmodeus’ voices are...

Watch these Senpai dorks act like Ace and Deuce’s second family. Trey being the dad, Riddle being the mom, and Cater being the supportive big bro. It’s so beautiful.

Riddle’s voice is a lot more softer now, I just realized...It’s so soothing...

God i miss u too octavinelle never change

Yeah, why tf did Floyd not audition for this

Bro, can you imagine Nobuhiko Okamoto in the squad as well??? IMAGINE-

Of course, he wasn’t in the mood back then. Of course. Why did i even ask.

IMAGINE FLOYD BEING IN VDC NEXT YEAR.

Omg i miss u too octavinelle never change

Azul’s gonna overblot again with Floyd’s marketing skills lol

Jade coming in like welp i guess thats that. Too bad, huh Azul?

GOD i miss u too octavinelle never change

SAVANA BITCHES HI

I wonder if these mfs knew that Vil just overblotted and malmal was the one who fixed the stage lol

oooh Leona’s sus about something he a sharp boi

Speak up my guy—

still so weird leona taking his job seriously

Malleus looking happier seeing this performance rather than Lilia’s lol

I miss the simpery in Sebek

Silver’s not in the verge of falling into a coma for once wow

Chenya’s so cute.

AND WE’RE BACK TO CUTE HEIGH HO TEAM

fcking shotacons man...im not one to talk

Aw, they didn’t show Neige performance...

The simping in the crowd is a MASSIVE mood.

WHO WINS TELL ME

These night raven fuckers better vote for us and not pull a “oh shie my hand slipped lololol” i swear to god- im gonna throw hands

*me holding my phone and pretending to vote as well

Suspense music intensifies be like-

HAAA

BOIS, ITS ONE VOTE DIFFERENCE WHO IS IT AAAA

WHAT.

HOW DARE- HOW!? HOW DID WE LOSE!?

WE LOST BY ONE VOTE!?

EVERYONE’S SO SHOCKED LOL

vil pls dont overblot again-

Noooo grim’s tuna cans-

WE REALLY LOST TO A LEGIT KIDS SONG.

These children do not have the right to be this cute. I wanna take Timmy, Toby, and Shelpie home.

I swear to god one of these dwarves sounds like Cheka lol Is it Toby?

EPEEELLLL DONT CRRYYYY

KALIMMMM DONT CRRYYYY

KALIM HAVING THE AUDACITY TO SOUNDING LIKE A BIG BROTHER AND THEN CRYING HIS OWN RIGHT AFTER LOLOLOL

I HATE THIS EPISODE YALL MADE MY TWO BOIS CRY IM FIGHTING THIS EPISODE. BURN THIS.

This background music too though im deeeeddd

KALIM IM SO SORRY FOR MAKING A SINFIC ABOUT YOU PLS DONT CRY-

Jamil impressed about Vil being “calm” and Vil just going “h e h. you dont even know.”

....ha...

Monsieur Rook. WHAT did you say.

ROOK VOTED FOR ROYAL SWORD. Are you kidding me. You snek how could you- i loved you

WHAT DID I SAY- Ya’ll night raven fuckers shall not slip by their fingers when voting rook.

Vil is in the brink of passing out aaaaa

I have never heard Ace this pissed before whoa- lol he sounds like Deuce in his delinquent mode

Aw...Rook felt that Neige’s performance carries a stronger bond than theirs :’( it’s hard to put the blame on him when he’s saying all these stuff

It’s just like what they said in the past episodes that it’s really hard voting for your own team when you know the opposing team is better.

Aww...He just wanted Vil to believe in himself more...Rook is such a best man. Im crying-

Oh noooo is Vil gonna cry too nooo- daddy turned to baby really quick SOMEONE GIVE HIM AN EMERGENCY HUG

Well- at least...at least the 100 year record of not being able to win is still going, yeah? Um...bad joke? Sorry, i’ll see myself out-

NEIGE NOT NOW AND YOUR VII-KUN BULLSHIT- we’re having a moment here

Neige is such sweetheart but aaaahh— This makes it worse, we can’t even hate him aaa—

OMG JUST WHEN I THOUGHT THINGS COULDN’T- AAAAA

MONSIEUR ROOK. YOU’RE A FAN OF NEIGE!?

MOTHERFUCKER just got exposed by Neige himself lol

Going to Neige’s shake hand events, sending him letters, buying all his merch and shie- HE’S A FULL BLOWN NEIGE STAN

WTF YOU SNEK GET OUT OF THIS SCHOOL-

OOOOHHH THAT FUCKING ALBUM- HIS “LIFE’S WORK” or whatever bullshit IS FULL OF NEIGE

...actually- my japanese is lacking- im not sure lol what is a ブロマイド??? Lol I feel like a clown.

Rook is sweating profusely LOL

...what do you have to say for yourself, monsieur rook.

Wait- huh is that-

IS HE GONNA CRY-

WHY IS EVERYONE CRYING!??!?!?!

HE’S SILENTLY CRYING AS HE INTRODUCED HIMSELF TO NEIGE WHAT. THE. FUCK IS THIS EPISODE.

Neige fanclub??? Eternal Snow??? What kind of creepy-ass- OH, HE EVEN HAS A MEMBERSHIP NUMBER TOO-

Props to Neige with his :) expression unfaltering.

I’m- I’m speechless.

Vil is just looking down at Rook in disappointment like- “you’re more pathetic than I am”

Queen just went “I think you need this handkerchief more than I do now” THAT’S RIGHT. REPENT MOTHERFUCKER.

Rook crying is cursed.

But damn, I’m kinda liking this new relationship this bitchy relationship they have

Neige just dragged everyone’s ass back on stage and his snow white energy just said “LETS ALL BE FRIENDS AND SING”

NEIGE IS FUCKING GREAT- HE REALLY DID GOT THESE BITCHES TO SING HEIGH HO LOL

ACE’S RELUCTANT SINGING AND DEUCE LOOKING LIKE HE’S HAVING FUN

KALIM IS SUCH A MOOD, SINGING EVEN WITHOUT KNOWING THE LYRICS AND JAMIL JUST HAVING THAT “i want to die” ENERGY

AIGHT. ROOK IS HAVING WAY TOO MUCH FUN AND EPEL IS TRYING HIS BEST. HE’S SO CUTE-

OMG NEIGE AND VIL HAVING SUCH GOOD HARMONY—

YAHOO Y A H O O TANOSHIINDA~~ 

YA’LL SURE ABOUT GIVING ME THIS BLESSED MOMENT??

What a somewhat happy ending, even though Rook just backstabbed us I’m crying Beauté 100 points!!!

LOL Vil realizing he’s having fun singing with Neige- “SOMEONE JUST END ME RIGHT NOW-“ The desperation in his voice-

I love how Neige’s yahoo yahoo is messing with everyone’s head, even Vil wants to pass out lol

haha Crowley is so depressed lol

WHA- WHO-

HEADMASTER OF ROYAL SWORD!?

He looks like your typical grandpa- and his outfit looks like that one mickey mouse wizard outfit but blue—

Old man just went “we won lol” just to piss Crowley off I like this guy’s energy already-

Crowley being most likely as old as this guy—

ooohh this man just sensed something in this stage- Leona did too, didn’t he???

* Damn. Crowley talking so fast sounds like he’s making a load of bullshit lol

Anyway, I’m just glad that it’s not mickey mouse who’s the headmaster— I would’ve lost my shit.

We’re back in our dorms and I forgot that the squad doesn’t live with us anymore. It’s suddenly so lonely now...

Grim is getting the yahoo yahoo ptsd too lol it’s too goddamn catchy

oooohh shiet- mickey is calling us again

YES we finally got a good picture of this motherfucker

It seems like nothing is disrupting our communication this time, so MC thought to call Grim but—

Grim is not here.

Uuhhh...Grim? Where you’ve gone??? We’re getting flashbacks of the first parts of the game.

We went out to find Grim and HE’S CHOMPING ON ANOTHER BLACK STONE ON THE STAGE-

GRIM SPIT THAT OUT YOU LOOK TERRIFYING

AAAAAHH GRIM HAS GONE FERAL— He’s attacking US

Is this because we didn’t win his tuna canss nooo

NoOO SWEET BABY COME BACK.

Legit I’m sad, please baby don’t overblot like this...

He learned a new move though- SCRATCH

Ooh— We’re seeing some Ignihyde scenes here~

P U H I H I

Idia getting a lot of emails from bigshot companies whoa—

THAT OLYMPUS—?! EXCUSE ME??? Ortho what- Are we finally getting that Hercules episode—

Damn getting a hot chance in olympus only to put them down the recycling bin oof— Idia why edit : Yume was informed that olympus is kind of a company that sponsored VDC sorry she was mind-fucked at this moment and the ability to understand proper Japanese just went whoosh lol Thanks to @starshiningsirius for pointing it out for Yume~ ♥︎ HONESTLY YUME’S JUST GONNA WAIT FOR ACTUAL PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATORS AT THIS POINT LOL Don’t trust me for important situation too much lol

Aaaahh...We’re getting this shut-in out of his room in the next episode, are we?

And that concludes the whole Pomefiore Episode! JESUS CHRIST 75 CHAPTERS ALL IN ALL!? How long is the Ignihyde chapter going to be, huh!?

This was a really, really fun episode lol I’d consider this a fan service episode actually cause of all the things we get to experience— The singing, dancing, and the new songs, THE DRAMA. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

But then, the plot thickens, no? What’s going to happen to Grim? In the Ignihyde episode? And those reoccurring memories of us? And our relationship with Tsunotarou lol ALSO WE NEVER REALLY DID FIND OUT WHAT ROOK’S UNIQUE MAGIC IS. DISNEY EXPLAIN—

Thanks for reading this shitpost of Yume losing her shiet lol See you all in the Ignihyde Episode~ ❤

[sjw-publishings]

A Shift In Attractions

Jace was crushed, after asking his asian friend for a date. Only to be told a lengthy description on why he should change his ways and set himself straight, before leaving off to some random asian chick who he never recalled seeing him with.

Though then again, the asian man was just a crush right? Crushes get crushed he supposed. Though he thought they had something, unlike those one night stands in private...

Maybe if they had bonded more in class than just mere classmates, he could have stood a chance...?

“No no...”

Shaking his head, he doubted it, the guy seemed completely dedicated to his girlfriend. He always recalled him proclaiming ‘Praise the lord to our relationship’ as he kissed his girl. No wonder he accentuated on the word ‘Straight’.

He never felt more insulted. Tugging his dress shirt, the tall lean college senior scoffed. Yes he was a valedictorian, and he stood out, but that did not give the right for this christian hottie to just diss him off like that.

He was being polite and civil too. All he wanted was to graduate with honours and have a lovely boyfriend.

He wished that he could have fallen for someone else...a shift in attractions-

“Hey man! Would you like to join us for prayer time?”

A tanned asian man in a checkered shirt and khakis interrupted his train of thought...and boy, was he cute. Down to the mannerisms and attitude...darn, he reminded quite a bit of his crush.

Without speaking, the tanned man grabbed hold and brought him down the alley way, where soft tunes filled in the atmosphere, as a group of men were seated in the middle.

“Welcome brother, I’m Paul Heng. So glad of you to join us.”

Ushering him down next to the man, he blushed wildly as he could. If anything, he literally drooled at those thick biceps and pecs straining against that marine tank of his. Not to mention the cute innocence that he displayed beneath those messy bangs of his, despite the asian probably being around the same age of him.

“Would you like to share with us what seems to be the matter?” Paul Heng spoke.

He looked around, more than half of the men were asian, and his gaydar definitely sensed the rest are gay, coincidentally enough. Not as to say the asians are not gay...but this group in particular...

Whatever, maybe they are allies at the very least.

“Oh...There was this guy...and..”

“Say no more.”

Paul placed his palm over on his back, still retaining his smile as he closed his eyes, head down as he prayed.

“Father God, please work about a shift in attractions within this man.”

The music was cranked up louder, still peaceful but yet...a little too calming? Coupled by the warmness emitting from the asian’s palm...it just made him, want to tell everything...

Eyelids heavy, Jace watched as the others mirrored him and Paul. Each of them grinning as their eyelids closed shut.

“Tell us...what you desire.”

Paul spoke, as his palm radiated heat within his back. Soothing those tired knots, loosening them, giving vigour that he never had. Igniting new desires within him.

“I want...to be young and fresh.”

Those words escaped out of his mouth instantly, like a inner desire coming forth. Young and fresh? Didn’t he want to graduate from school? As a senior? But as the warm, radiating heat seared his skin...almost like a warm tan, it definitely showed otherwise.

Sophomore, yeah he did do sort of well in school...but that was not what he really wanted. Crushing on his role model who was older definitely did not do him any favours either...

Freshman...yes, that was exactly what he wanted, where he is. Completely new to everything, a blank slate, letting the warmth guide him in the...overly calming music being played in the background. Regressing to a man who just turned legal 18 a couple of months ago, of course.

This was the freshman’s orientation, he and the other newbies were assigned to be in this group. Sure it was odd why they were in a batch with more than half being Christian and asian, but who was he to judge?

He was young, and fresh.

“Indeed, and someone as young as yourself, is bound to have so much energy.”

Senior Paul’s palm radiated heat once again. Jam grinned wildly, as his back wanted to just carry tons of stuff cause of his energy. Legs unable to sit still as they shifted back and forth within the meditation position he was in.

“And with that energy, belongs to brothers who are athletic.”

Energy, athletics. It made sense didn’t it? His back, while much younger, gained a sizeable definition as they broadened with the heat. Embracing the care, and concern from his brotherly figure, as the tanning trailed forward with the suggestion.

His chest toughened, definitely not as crazy big like his seniors, but he did work out quite a bit! A Light trace of abdominals Pressing against his dress shirt, his pectorals inflating to a sizeable degree, with those ‘Tiny udders’ begging to be milked.

But wait, didn’t he had done ‘It’ before? But that did not make sense to the college freshman. He just turned legal months ago! No way was he into that kind of life.

Besides, it feels unethical to think of such thoughts with Christians. Pretty sure they rubbed off him...despite being...

“Amen brother?”

“Oofmm...”

Paul gave a gentle rub against his back, as he let out a soft, satisfied response like the other freshmen. He just...knew this freshman orientation helped them, eyes still remaining shut as it was still prayer time.

“Amen...”

He spoke calmly, though there were hints of joviality within them. Grinning, his vocal chords still shifting due to puberty, he sounded so cute, so young. But damn these clothes are so uncomfortable.

He was never the smartest guy in his class, or even mid way. Which was supposedly odd considering he was half asian. Preferring softer, younger clothes that are more trendy or just stuff that gave his muscles a little more breathing room.

Wincing, he felt his legs strain against his Dress pants, being too tight for the male altogether and just a chore. Why did he pick such nerdy subjects? Those stuff are for brainiacs and the gays!

Wait did he just say that? He was gay...though that insult felt appropriate to him. Like how gay it was for him to wear briefs and shoes two sizes bigger than he was. Did he let his mother dress him or something?

Man...he hoped that his youth leader would call him out on-

“With such a youthful appearance, one ought to dress like one.”

Thank Lord! Someone gets him. Grinning wildly, Paul’s warm synchronising with his own, as the tight fabric softened. Sleeves rolling up to just below his shoulders, clinging firmly on his back as buttons and the collar disappeared into the wind.

Colour darkening in cotton, as printed logos plastered itself on his brand new Youth Trends shirt he got with an iconic ‘ORH’. Giving his body the much needed breather room it so desired.

Why would he wear a dress shirt? Only DORKS wear those....and his pastors and sometimes his youth leader as well...BUT NOT HIM. He definitely pulled pranks, but not stuff like that!

Sides, if there was a prank, he would be doing the more hands on kind of approach. What was he? An academic nerd? Haha ok lol boomer. He launches erasers, paint balloons and all those kinds of stuff towards the nerds.

Serves them right for calling em’ gay!

His tanned asian arms flexed in response, as his expensive watch became cheaper with rubber straps. It was time for attention! And being young, he wanted all if it!

So much, that Paul had to always bring them down before they interrupted the prayer session. He was so cool, his big bro Paul Heng, allowing him to just be, HIM.

Dress pants shrunk upwards, concentrating with mesh fabric as they became grey sports shorts. The kind of stuff he always wore while on the field kicking balls, soccer balls DUH. What you think, huh?

Tightening below in two areas, shoes shrinking to a size 8, metallic indents growing at the bottom and a signature styled itself on both ends of the cleats. Whose signature, one of the pro asian athletes of course. Which one? HAHA, Why you want to know? Gay?

Gay? POKE! Thrusting forward, by only a small bit. His hard-on actually shrunk back a couple of centimetres, like his brain-LOL WHO YOU CALLIN’ DUMB, FAGGOT?

Ruder and ruder, thrusting as he so desperately wanted action, never experiencing it. Buttocks hardening but shrinking in size as well, compacting to the new Jockstrap with his 6 inch wiener, only when its-

“Any Hard thoughts? Benjam....”

Paul spoke, his hand still on his back. Yeah he was hard, though it would be pretty gay if he said he got hard cause of the prayer. Yeah he was a new christian, but still...

“Yeah man...I wanna...”

The Chinese Asian’s pubescent voice spoke out...to be honest, he was not sure what he wanted. He liked being a young jock, but the more he tried to think of...some random older asian, it felt really really off.

What was he? GAY? I mean he had...some gay thoughts, but what was he thought when he was a Christian for years? Be fruitful and multiply...and man, did that phrase cause his smaller crotch to just wanna skyrocket through late puberty already.

“A hot babe?”

“Oh yes! Yes!”

“Hot babes for us men!”

“Preach it pastor!”

A hot babe? Yes! Yes! That was what he wanted, what his group wanted. Total jocks abstaining since forever, but now that they are legal, man did he just want to get married already and let loose, fulfil the calling on his life.

“Oh man I wish...I wish..”

Benjam squeezed his thighs as tight as he could. Rubbing against his smaller member as every brush only excited him further. The prayer session was simply too much for him to handle on his own. He had to say it, he had to-

“Brothers, You know what to do to seal the deal. Lead the way, Brother Shang.”

Paul got up from his place, but the warmth never left Benjam Shang’s side, his big brother figure trusted him in doing this, in spite of his young and fresh attitude which just pissed some of the older folks.

Its time for the younger generation to play a part in THIS-

“WE ARE CHRISTIANS!”

He yelled, in his youthful splendour. Pumping his fist in the hair, eyes still closed.

“WE ARE CHRISTIANS!”

The rest of his soccer group followed in suit, he knew that cause of their fellowship together of course.

They had stuck together since young in church, a close group which stuck like brothers through thick and thin. Through church camps, hang outs, and even the boring examinations he could not care less about.

As for as he was concerned, he had spiritual wisdom. Better than those overly intelligent NERDS!

“WE ARE HOT!”

“WE ARE HOT!”

He proclaimed, of course they were. They were the most popular group throughout high school. All the ladies wanted a piece of them, and all the GAYS were jealous.

Provoked to jealousy. Smirking to himself, cheekbones rising and rosy. He was always such a prankster, just light hearted stuff, nothing too GAY of course.

Though he doubted it was anything too far like some other of the ‘HetTubers’ did. Hair follicles brushing to the side, hair bangs over his brow as a raven feathery guy next door kind of look stuck on him, short hair of course-he was into sports and chicks said he looked cute with this style.

He was a Christian after all. Jaw rounding out while sharpening at the edges, with lips beaming into a smile, flashing bright pearly whites. He still represented God and even though he was mean sometimes with his ‘zoomer speech’, as the pastors would describe it, but hey-he was young and fresh!

“AND WE ARE GOING TO HAVE WIVES!”

“AND WE ARE GOING TO HAVE WIVES!”

The men inhaled deeply, nostrils wrinkling. Man it reeked of testosterone...They loved each other like brothers, but jocks needed their cheerleaders, husbands needed their wives. Not the smell of sports cologne.

They wanted to finish quick. At the final phase, light eyebrows furrowing, anticipating the climax with an-

“AMEN!”

“AMEN!”

“AMEN BROTHER!”

The new Benjamin Shang proudly proclaimed the chant, like the rest of the men. Boisterous Voices blending in harmoniously as a choir. Claps from the seniors applauded from the background, Paul was definitely pleased with him.

Letting loose their vocal chords like they just ‘came’ to be, of course nothing came out from below. Those were reserved specially for their wives, which they knew will be coming soon.

Beady eyes opening simultaneously staring around innocently as a college freshman, fresh and ready to chase-

CLICK

CLICK

Tail.

Almost instantaneously, his eyes were directed away from the group of men he was at. The rest of brothers followed as well, upon hearing the sound of high heels growing nearer. Laser focused on the single asian lady by the corridor.

“Look at her...she’s so pretty...”

[liliesoftherain]

YouTube Challenge!

Request: Ok so I’ve been watching a lot of youtube couples (not the cringey ones lol) and I reallyyy wanted a head canon for maybe bakugou, shoto, and kiri with a s/o who is a youtuber, and they shoot a couple video like those “my boyfriend rates my outfits” or “chapstick challenge” videos. Could the prompts (42)“(58)(18) Also boys to be pro heroes already...if that’s ok. 

A/N: I hope you enjoy this hun, @pletopliito​ and also as each one is written it gets shorter and shorter lol IM SO SORRY

Prompts: 18. “Have you lost your damn mind?” 43. “Why don’t you kiss me already?” 58. “Are you flirting with me?”

Pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x Reader, Eijiro Kirishima x Reader, Shoto Todoroki x Reader

Katsuki Bakugou!:

“Hey guys, QueenExplosion here! And I have a surprise! Drumroll… It’s King Explosion, as a guest!”

You excitedly pulled your boyfriend into the chair next to you, laughing as he grumbled about the name.

“Right, right! Sorry Mr. Pro Hero, I meant Ground Zero is joining me today!”

“Against my will, might I add.” 

You smacked his arm without looking for the snide comment,

But knowing your boyfriend,

This video was bound to be full of them

“Alright, so today I look a little bare don’t I? That’s because this hunk is going to be doing my makeup.”

“Get ready to look like shit.”

“ANYWAAAAYS, let’s just jump right in, yeah? So I have all my makeup set out on the desk here, I’m not telling him what does what-”

“Like I need to know, this shit isn’t rocket science.”

“And it’s his job to make my look as fine as I always do.”

You watched as Katsuki faced you, grabbing a random brush and your highlighter.

“This is like the base coat for your foundation crap, right.”

He huffed to himself as you stifled a laughter, side eyeing the camera

He brushed it all over your face before picking up your stick foundation,

“Now this just kinda goes.. Fucking everywhere.”

He narrowed his eyes in concentration and you thought he was adorable,

“What are you doing Katsu?”

“You put dots all over your face. So that, stupid.”

He grabbed the beauty blender and you were shocked to try to see him dab it all over your face

He lightly grabbed your neck to maneuver your position,

Making it easier to blend in the makeup

“Do you think I need this much makeup?”

“No.”

“Awhhh-”

“You need a fucking crap ton.”

You smacked his arm again at the rude comment,

But you knew he was kidding with the way he was smirking

“Now that your face is done or whatever the hell, guess it’s the eyes.”

He picked up one of your newer palets and your heart skipped a beat,

“Oh man I just got this… Don’t mess it up please.”

“Yea, yea shut up.”

“I’m serious Katsuki-”

“Shitty woman I won’t mess it up. Now quit talking so I can make your eyes fucking pretty.”

“Haha okayy~”

He grabbed a small brush and opened your eyeshadow pallet,

Staring intently at the colors

“What are you glaring so hard for? Just pick one, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“You use these two the most. Let’s mix them.”

“Wait, what-”

You watched with wide eyes as he dipped the brush into one color,

Roughly grabbing the powder onto the brush before-

“Have you lost your damn mind, KATSUKI!”

“EH!? WHAT!”

You watched as he selected another color,

Lighter than the first,

Blending them together on the pallet instead of on your eye

LIKE HOW A REGULAR HUMAN BEING DID IT

“YOU CAN’T JUST MIX THEM THERE, YOU RUIN THE COLOR!”

“HA? YOU BLEND SHIT ALL THE TIME!?”

“ON MY EYES DUMBASS!”

“So.. Like this?”

He brought the brush up to your cheek and smeared the makeup all over

“Whoops. Missed.”

“Katsukii!”

Laughing and whining you tried to push him away but he kept sneaking makeup all over your face,

Grabbing your hands and holding them so you couldn’t stop his onslaught

It was all fun and games till you heard a crash,

Looking down you saw your pallet on the ground,

Face down

“... Bakugou Katsuki…”

At the tone of your voice he stopped,

Looking down to where he saw you gaze on your fallen makeup.

“Oh fuck.”

Let’s just say that video ended with a bunch of cut scenes until you said goodbye,

Smiling face full of misused makeup and Katsuki with a smug look on his face,

Even if he did have matching makeup stains where you wiped your cheek against his.

“Fellas, if you’re asked to try this, just don’t-”

“Ignore him!! Thanks for the stopping by and watching the explosion duo! See you guys soon! ”

Eijiro Kirishima!:

“Hi beautiful people, and welcome back to my channel! It’s your host, RockkStarr here with my own, rock star- Red Riot! And today we are going to be doing the Chubby Bunny challenge!”

“Yosh!! I’m hyped up to eat some delicious sweets, oh, and the marshmallows too.”

Winking at the camera Eijiro pulled you in close,

You laughed and tried to squirm away as he left playful bites along your shoulder

“Oh stop! If you guys are unfamiliar with the challenge, it’s a winner-loser game-”

“That I’ll definitely win.”

“That you win by seeing how many marshmallows you can fit in your mouth while still being able to say, ‘chubby bunny’!”

“Oh then I’ll definitely lose, you see these cheeks? Made for this.” 

“Owiee!”

Eijiro laughed as you swatted his hand away while he pinched your cute cheek.

“Let’s get onto the marshmallows!”

“YOSH!”

The first few times didn’t go so well since he kept eating them,

“Ei babe you gotta keep it in your mouth!”

“That’s what she-”

After a few more failed attempts you were both up to five, and you both could still talk pretty clearly,

But Kirishima was not making this easy for you,

“What was that??”

“You heard me!!” 

You covered your mouth as you tried to hold back laughter,

Making it even harder to do so as you saw your boyfriend's cheeks puffed out so wide,

With a pursed smile to make him look funnier

“Say it again!”

“CHUBBY BUNNY!!”

After another 4 more you were getting to the limit,

Eijirou was tearing up in laughter about how cute you looked with puffed cheeks,

And every time you opened your mouth to talk they would almost fall out,

“Why don’t you just kiss me already?”

He teased with an almost clear voice,

You rolled your eyes at his smugness but did it anyways,

As soon as your lips touched you couldn’t hold back the giggles,

Spitting out wet marshmallows all over your boyfriend you began dying of laughter,

His shocked and disgusted face made you laugh even harder as his own came out of his mouth

“THAT WAS SO GROSS BABE!”

“AHHHH I’M SORRY!”

You both ended the video,

Your chin slick with drool and Eijiro covered in soggy marshmallows,

But you were both smiling and laughing nonetheless

“Thanks for tuning in! See you beauties next time, RockkStarr-”

“And Red Riot!”

“OUT!” 

Shoto Todoroki!:

“Hello friends, it’s me, IceeBaby! Don’t be alarmed, I know it may be hard to recognize me behind all this Gucci-”

“That’s a store brand tee-shirt, don’t lie.”

“Aaaaaand I’m here with my ice ice baby, Shoto! Thanksforruiningtheintro.”

“Anything for you, love.”

“Thanks babe..  today we are going to have a fashion show of sorts. I'll be trying on my closet for you all to see, and he is taking time out of his busy day to rate them for me!”

“She looks good in anything, so you’re going to get 10/10s everytime.”

“Oh my gosh. Are you flirting with me?”

“I most definitely am.”

“You do know I am dating a top pro hero right?”

“What is he going to do?” 

You giggle as Shoto pulls you onto his lap from, squeezing you tight while he did.

“He can try all he wants but he can't have you back.”

“You’re such a dork-Oh no!! You’ll wrinkle my clothes, let me go!”

“Wrinkled or not this outfit is still a 10 for me.”

You wiggled out of his hold, messing his hair up as you stood.

You tried on a few different outfits, explaining where you got them and why you liked them so much.

“Oh and this shirt-”

“Is my favorite actually.”

“Ohh?? Why is that?”

“This is the shirt you were wearing when we went on our first date.”

Your jaw dropped and Shoto swears there were hearts in your eyes,

“Shoto.. You remember that?”

“Why wouldn’t I? It was one of the best days of my life, you were wearing that shirt and that one pair of jeans that makes your ass look fat-”

“aahhhHHHHHHH! you know about my butt enhancing jeans!?”

“Well, then I didn’t but I know which ones they are now.”

“Kya, you’re so embarrassing~!”

“You were the one wearing them, trying to impress me.”

“Well of course! I was on a date with an up and coming hero, who has tons of pretty heroes who could snatch you from me.”

You pouted looking away from him,

He once again pulled you onto his lap,

“No one is more beautiful than you. I want no one else.”

You looked over to the camera with a smug smile,

“Hear that? Sorry thirsty guys and gals, this man is all mine!”

“Thirsty??”

“Uh yeah, you know how many people thirst over you?”

“Do you know how many thirst over you?”

“Not as many as you, sweetie pie.”

“Whatever you say love, in that case,”

Shoto glared at the camera, shielding you with his body,

“You thirsty people cannot have her either.”

“KYAAA SHOTO-KUN HOW EMBARRASSING!!~~”

You look up at the camera the best you could, a big smile on your face,

“That’s it for today’s video! Go find other people to thirst over!! But I really hoped you enjoyed this! Comment down below if you’d like more content like this! Thanks a bunchies friends! Icy Hot 1 and 2 reporting for outro! Bye!”

[13dead-ends]

Chapter 7 - Halloween

Chapter 7 of Blood Bound

Henry Cavill x Named OC

Summary: Nina has a lot to think about since her birthday and there’s a company Halloween party coming up.

Word Count: 7k

Warnings: lots of kissing (YAY), mention wooden stakes, alcohol

A/N: So sorry this took me forever, but it’s here and just in time for Halloween! I’m pretty sure this was edited at some point but there still might be hiccups. (Also this is the outfit Nina’s costume is based on) @hellcaster901​ thanks for reading all my stuff first Ilysm. I hope you like it!

Henry walked me up to my door. He took me home, since he had to leave early tomorrow morning. I didn’t want to leave, though. “Nice ruse by the way.” I chuckled. “Luring me with your dog.”

“I knew it would work.” He nudged me. My doorway came closer and closer and we were in front of it way sooner than I would’ve liked. We stood in front of it face to face.

“Thank you so much for dinner.” I smiled up at him. “It was really nice.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I wish I could’ve done more for your birthday though.” I shook my head.

“No this was perfect. Seriously.” I stood on my tip toes to give him a big hug. He hugged me back so tightly, I almost couldn’t breath. As I pulled back, I looked at him. His hands were holding my waist so I couldn’t step back. His blue eyes were filled with something I didn’t recognize. I blinked and he was looking at my lips. My chest brushed against his as he looked back up. Something like electricity ran through me and I pushed myself up on my toes and kissed him. He only paused for a moment and then he pulled me in, his grip on my waist tighter. I held his cheeks in my hands and felt a little stubble. Henry leaned in more and I ran my fingers through his hair. I was tingling all over and goosebumps rose on my skin. I smiled into him, but he pulled away, my chin following him for a second.  He stared at me for a second and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

“I love it when you blush.” He whispered; I hadn’t even noticed how hot my cheeks had gotten. I giggled and let my feet drop to the ground again. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” My voice wouldn’t raise louder than a whisper.

“Goodnight, Nina.” Henry kissed my forehead. “And happy birthday.” He walked away and I went inside. I shut the door and a giant grin spread on my face. I listened for the elevator, part of me wanting to go back out there and drag him back. I still felt the pressure of his lips on mine. My heart was racing a mile a minute as I walked to my bedroom to squeal into my pillow. I flipped over and grabbed my phone, dialing Irene’s number to FaceTime.

“Nina, isn’t it late there?”

“Irene! I have to tell you something.” She furrowed her brows.

“What?”

“I kissed Henry.”

“YOU WHAT?” She screeched. I laughed out loud. “Tell me everything right now.”

“Well first, he surprised me for my birthday. He cooked me dinner!” She sighed.

“Oh, that’s so cute. So romantic.” I grinned, feeling like a teenager.

“And it was great except when my mom called.” She shook her head, eyes big.

“Wait what? If that bitch said something- “

“I think she just wanted to say happy birthday.” I rubbed my temple. “So, it wasn’t bad at first.”

“Just out of the blue calls you? Did she last year?”

“Nope. I don’t know why.” I huffed. “She just shut me down as soon as I brought up my job.” Irene rolled her eyes.

“Fuck her, anyways, get to the kiss!” I laughed. “Seriously do you want to talk about it?” I shook my head.

“It wasn’t anything different from what I used to. Besides I had someone to cheer me up.” She giggled. “So, we ate and talked, and it was just amazing, and you know he’s a bigger dork than I thought. He told me- “

“Not that I don’t care about the dinner, but I really need to hear about you kissing Henry fucking Cavill.” I laughed.

“Alright fine!” I took a breath. “He took me home and walked me to my door.” She moved the phone closer to her face. “He hugged me, and I just kissed him!”

“You did?” I rolled my eyes.

“Yes! Is that so hard to believe?” Irene shrugged. “Anyway, afterwards he told me he likes when I blush and then he had to go.” I sighed like a middle school girl. “Irene, I haven’t been this excited about a guy since college.” She laughed.

“Haha remember when you tried to date that film student?”

“Oh, shut up.” We talked all night. I think I fell asleep on the phone. I woke up around ten the next day. Despite it being fall, the sun shone in my window and brightened my room. I inhaled a deep breath in and smiled. I did my normal routine with more pep than usual, I had nothing planned today, but my cheerful mood made me want to get up and do something. I should work on my article since I had all this energy. I got my laptop and set up on my kitchen island.

Hours later and I was nodding my head to the music playing in my speaker and typing sentence after sentence. I was in a groove and it was always the best time to write. Though when I wrote real accounts from donors I had interviewed over DMs and phone calls it damped the mood. People were scared. People just like me. A poor college freshman wouldn’t even talk to me even though I promised she’d remain anonymous. She was terrified of someone finding her out. I shook my head as I typed an interview with a donor from my own company.

Of course, I was scared. I’m still scared. I feel like I’m next or something.

I shuddered knowing the feeling all too well. I felt like I was just waiting for Positive to get hit of something. I sighed and continued to write, copying things from my research. I don’t know how long it had been, but soon I was sending in my draft to my editor. It was in her hands for a while at least. I leaned back, shutting my laptop down, then my phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Nina? Hey are you busy?” It was Penny.

“No, I’m not. What’s up?” I sat up again, wondering why she was calling me.

“Well, you see, Henry had a hard day on set today.” I furrowed my brows. “Lots more retakes than expected and he’s a bit…” we hadn’t fed last night, or the time I saw him before that. I stood.

“Is he okay? I can come down there.” I went to my room to change into warmer clothes.

“He’s sleeping now, but would it be okay if I come get you? I’m worried about him.” I chewed on my cheek.

“Of course. I’ll be ready when you get here.”

 It was dark in Henry’s trailer, curtains shut and barely any light shone inside. I stepped in as quietly as I can, but he’d wake up anyways. I shut the door and set my bag down. He wasn’t on the couch, so I went to the door to the bedroom, opening it a little.

“Henry?” I whispered. He was a lump on the bed, not moving at all.

“Nina? What are you doing here?” He sounded tired. I’ve never really seen him get this way.

“Penny came and got me.” I sat down next to his legs, his eyes were still closed and without my brain telling them to, my fingers brushed his hair back from his forehead. “Why didn’t you feed last night?” I kept my hand in his hair when he smiled a little.

“It was your birthday.” He just mumbled.

“I know, but now look at you.” I sighed. “Come on, take some blood and then you can finish your nap.” His eyes opened and they were duller than normal.

“Do you want to stay with me after?”

“Sure,” I smiled at him. He sat up and took my wrist, quicker and tighter than before.

“You’ve eaten enough today?” I nodded but he was already pulling my wrist up to his mouth. He didn’t ease into it this time and I sucked in air as he pierced my skin. I relaxed at the familiar feeling. My body got hot and I gripped the blankets. I chewed on my lip to hold in any noises I could make. He took more than usual, and I felt fuzzy and tingly all of a sudden. Then as his fangs left my skin, he trailed kissed up my arm, making me giggle.

“You’re so warm.” He mumbled as he got up to my shoulder. “You were warm last night when I dropped you off too.” My cheeks were hot as his lip met my bare neck. “I liked kissing you.”

“Henry,” it sounded breathless and before I could get another word out, he kissed my lips. My eyes shut and I let my hands wrap around his shoulders. His lips were just as delicious as last night, this time with a taste of my blood on them. He grabbed my waist and leaned back, taking me with him. I couldn’t breath as he straddled my legs over his stomach, my hair curtained over our faces. He kissed me again and I put my hands on his hard chest. This was better than any dream, but the extra blood he took was making me sleepy and I knew he’d still need time to rest. He wasn’t showing any sign of stopping and I really didn’t want to, but I pulled back a little. Our lips barely apart. “Henry, you need to rest.” He held my face in both of his hands and pulled me back for one more kiss and then pulled away. I looked at him with a small smile. It was nice to know that this affected him like it affect me. My cheeks were still flushed so I pressed my face into his neck. He looped his arms around my back and forced me to lay on top of him completely.

“Thank you for coming.” He sighed.

“Of course, just don’t wait so long in between.” I mumbled. It was quiet and I almost fell asleep like that, but he moved us, so I was laying beside him on the bed, I pushed my legs under the blankets, and he pulled me to his chest.

“I won’t.” He sighed and held me tight. I relaxed and let my eyes shut. I don’t know how long we were asleep when I woke up, still feeling the effects of blood loss so it can’t be that long, but Henry was mumbling incoherently. I sat up on my elbows, and watched as his brow scrunched and relaxed, then again. Was he having a nightmare? Do vampires even dream? I reached out to wake him, but he stopped suddenly, relaxing into a deeper sleep. I waited for him to start getting restless, but he didn’t so I just scooter closer to him, throwing and arm over his waist.

 “Wake up dear,” I open my eyes and Henry was smiling over me. “How did you sleep?” He trailed his fingers over my cheek.

“Good.” I smiled, stretching my arms. Henry had a hand over my stomach, his pinky right where my shirt had moved up to expose skin. “What about you?” I asked, thinking about his dream or whatever that was.

“Great, really great.” He shifted so we could sit up. I was surprised by the answer, but glad. Maybe he forgot his dreams. “It’s time to get you home.”

“What time is it?” I rubbed my eyes and tried running a hand through my messy hair.

“It’s almost five.” He brushed some hair back as it fell into my face again and sighed. “I didn’t mean to make you so sleepy.”

“It’s okay, it was nice to nap with you.” He chuckled, giving me a side hug.

“You too.” He helped me out of bed and kept my hand in his as we walked back out. “I’ll take you home.”

“Do you have any more filming?” He got my bag and I took it slinging it over my shoulder.

“No, I’m going home for the night. I’m still pretty worn out.” I frowned. “Don’t worry, I’ll sleep it off tonight. That’s why I’m not taking you home with me.” My stomach filled with butterflies.

“Why? You think we’d be up all night?” I cocked an eyebrow and he smirked at me.

“Careful, love.” He left it at that and opened the trailer door. I chewed on my lip and followed him out. He took my hand again as I stepped down and we walked to his car. We drove to my place, his hand on my thigh and I leaned towards him instead of towards the window. When we walked to my door, we said goodbye, but when I waited for a kiss Henry started to walk away. I almost accepted it, but instead I cleared my throat. He stopped and turned around, cute smirk on his face. “What?” He slowly stepped back towards me and I shrugged, pout on my lips.

“I don’t know, I just thought-“He laughed.

“Don’t be shy, now. Say it.” I looked down as he stood in front of me.

“I wanted a kiss goodbye.” He lifted my chin up as I said, and he kissed my lips. It was softer this time and I grabbed his wrist, wanting more.

“There.” He smiled against my lips. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay.” He walked away and I opened my door in a warm haze. I felt light and fluttery. Like I was about to lift of the earth like a leaf off a tree. I floated to my couch and flopped on to it. I sighed and checked it. It was from my editor.

Nina,

The article so far is amazing. I want to call you as soon as possible to work out some kinks. With all the riots going on this is really going to shed some light on the situation. It got me thinking about doing a weekly segment about the donor life with you. I know you’re one of our freelancers, but I really think it would be a good opportunity for the both of us.

Email me back during my office hours!

I smiled. That sounded like a fantastic idea. It also gave me a chance to write about something more lighthearted than all these riots. It was nice to know she liked my work enough to ask. Maybe I should interview Abbey and James for an article. I could even do a series of interviews with different donors. I grinned; I hadn’t felt this inspired in a while. One date with Henry and I’m-

Wait a second.

Did he ever say it was a date? It was dinner and he took me home, and he kissed me goodnight. That ticks all the boxes. Except the one where he told me it was a date. I dropped my phone on my stomach and stared at the ceiling. It had to be a date. This is just my brain’s stupid need for verbal confirmation. He never said anything today either. I huffed.

“For fuck’s sake.” I muttered, pressing the heels of my hands in my eyes. My brain was turning over the conversations we had in the last 24 hours. No dates were mentioned. There was a lot more kissing than usual, at least if it wasn’t a date, I had that. It had to be a date, right?

I groaned and sat up. Id make something to eat, watch a show until I fall asleep. I’d worry about it tomorrow. I was aggressively stabbing pasta as a crime documentary played on my TV in half an hour and I still hadn’t stopped thinking about Henry. I almost felt mad at my anxiety. It wouldn’t shut up. I don’t think I’d get any sleep tonight.

 I tossed and turned all night. It was next to impossible to fall asleep and even if I did, I got a an hour in at the most and that wasn’t even worth it. I woke up feeling groggy and tired. Even a small headache in my temples pulsed when I thought about Henry too much. I did text him a good morning though, which he hasn’t replied to. I rolled my eyes and ignored my twitching fingers instead of checking my phone again. I emailed my editor back and we chatted back and forth brainstorming some ideas for the article. It was exciting and kept my mind off my predicament, but as soon as she logged off, I was back to worrying. I drummed my fingers on my closed laptop as I stared at the wall in front of me. I decided to call Abbey to see if she wanted to hang out. She’d keep my mind off it. I pulled out my phone and dialed her number.

“Nina, hi! What’s up?”

“Hey, Abbey! Are you busy today?”

“I was going to look for a Halloween costume for the company party, actually.” I furrowed my brows.

“The company has a Halloween party?” I hadn’t heard about any party. If there was a party, I’d need a costume too.

“Yeah? Don’t you check your emails?” She laughed. “Do you want to come with me?”

“Yes, I’d love too!” Thank god. That’ll keep my occupied. She told me what time to be ready and I hung up and started getting my things together. Soon enough I was at a Halloween store staring at a slutty nurse costume.

“Please don’t be that.” Abbey laughed and I dropped the costume back on the rack.

“I won’t,” We moved onto the next isle. She had caught me up on all her shenanigans. She had picked up another client. How she handled more than one, I had no idea. It was quiet now; I’m waiting for her to ask-

“How’s Henry?” She didn’t look up at me, just looked over a Maleficent costume. My brain on the other hand was searching for an answer.

“He’s good. Still filming so I don’t see him quite as much.” He replied to my text from earlier, but that was it for today.

“That’s the issue with actors, but I’m sure Henry treats you really well.” I nodded.

“He does.” I picked up a witch hat, maybe I could just be a witch this year. “Abbey have you dated a client before?” She turned around; perfect brown raised.

“Once, why? Are you trying to date Henry?” She nudged me and my cheeks flared up.

“I don’t know.” Yes. “I just don’t know what to do, I guess.”

“Well, what happened? You have to give me something else.”

“He made me dinner for my birthday.” She smiled. “And we’ve been kissing.”

“Kissing?” She laughed.

“A little.”

“I fucking knew you couldn’t resist. Tell me everything.” I explained the night to her, and she ate it up. “That sounds amazing! He sounds amazing. What’s the issue?”

“He never said it was a date or anything. We’ve just kissed, been a little flirtier.” I shrugged and she sighed.

“I would just ask him if you’re not sure, but I’m pretty sure he’s trying to woo you.” She linked her arm with mine. “Don’t worry about it until you see him next. You both should take a second to figure out what kissing means for you both.” I nodded. “Come on, I’m not finding anything here.” We went to another store Abbey knew of and she found a cute fairy costume that she looked adorable in. I still didn’t think of anything, so we had lunch and we went home.

At home I was back to turning conversations over in my head and trying not to worry that Henry still hadn’t texted me. I rolled my eyes just worry when you see him next. Just like Abbey said. This was a problem for future Nina, present Nina still needs to think of a costume. I went to my TV and decided to flip through channels. Maybe I could get ideas there. I caught the end of one of the Harry Potter movies and thought of the witch idea again. Maybe a specific witch like Hermione or Bellatrix even. I huffed as the credits rolled. I went back to channel surfing until I saw that a Buffy the Vampire Slayer was on. I immediately put it on. One of my all-time favorite shows. As the familiar characters appeared on the TV, I got an idea.

The next time I saw Henry it was early one morning a few days later. Penny had taken me to the studio again, it was a big day for shooting, and he wanted to be sure he won’t end up like last time. As we got to the trailer, I felt all the anxiety bubble up again and I almost didn’t want to go in. It was going to be quick. Penny was waiting for me since Henry would have to go straight to makeup afterwards. I took a deep breath as I opened the door. He was standing in the middle of the floor, holding a script.

“Hi,” I smiled at him as he looked over at me.

“Hey, Nina.” His brow was furrowed as he looked at his script. “Good morning, sorry it’s so early by the way.” He looked up at me for a second, giving me a smile.

“It’s fine. How’s it going?” I went over to the couch to sit down and chewed on my lip.

“Okay, I’ve been having trouble with my lines.” I sighed, wishing he’d look away from the script again.

“I’m sorry, that’s never good.” Part of me wanted to run away from the anxiety, another wanted to smooth the crease in his forehead.

“It’s okay.” He set the papers down and came over to me. “How are you?” I shrugged.

“Good, my new articles doing well.” He sat next to me. Picking up my hand. I wish I could stay with him, that we weren’t doing this so quick today.

“I’m not surprised. It’s really good writing.”

“Thanks, I’m glad people are liking it.” He held my wrist up and I held my breath. He drank and I still felt all the same feelings, but they were dampened by my anxious mood and how distracted Henry seemed.

“Thank you, dear.” He kissed the back of my hand and I remembered how he kissed up my arm last time I was in here.

“You’re welcome.” We stood and he led me back out.

“I hate kicking you out so fast.” He opened the door.

“It’s okay, I have to finish my costume today.” I shrugged, but didn’t look at him, as I stepped out

“Oh? What are you going be?”

“You’ll see, at the company party.” He shook his head.

“Alright, I’ll see you then?” I nodded.

“See you Henry.” As the trailer door shut my fists clenched and I tried to avoid thinking about the awkwardness of that. God, he was probably having a normal day until I came and made it weird. I scratched my head as I sat next to Penny.

“You okay?” Penny titled her head at me.

“Yeah, just tired.” She didn’t press the issue as we went back to the car. She filled the silence with a little rant about a Love Island contestant. She had been trying to convince me to watch it for a while now. When I got home, I texted Abbey to come over. She had the perfect white heels for my costume. After that I’d have the entire outfit. I had hyper-fixated on the Buffy ensemble to keep my mind off the anxiety over Henry. Not that it really worked.

I opened my door and saw the long white dress hanging over by the window. I was going be Buffy before her first fight with The Master. I’d have to rewatch that episode sometime. I had the perfect leather jacket to wear over it, and a wooden stake I got at a Halloween store. I smiled and went to my room. A little while later Abbey was walking in my door and running toward the dress.

“Oh my god, the heels are going to be perfect with this. Remind me who Buffy is again?” She felt the fabric in her fingers as I shut my door.

“She’s a vampire slayer. She has superpowers and is destined to protect the world from evil.” She chuckled.

“I’m going to have to watch this show.” She set her bag down and pulled out the white heels, with a rounded toe and modestly high heel.

“It’s one of the best shows I’ve ever watched.” I went over to her and grabbed the shoes. “Thank you for letting me borrow these.”

“Of course, as long as you hold up your end of the deal.” I had told her that the heels were the only thing I needed, and she wanted to see the whole outfit together when she came here.

“I will, pass me the dress.” She clapped her hands and then gave me the dress. I changed quickly in my room. “Abbey come zip me up.” She came in and gasped.

“Nina! You look so pretty!” I rolled my eyes.

“You haven’t even seen the front.” She came zipped the back closed and I turned around.

“No, you’re still pretty.” I sat on the bed and put on the heels. It gave me just enough height to pick the dress up off the ground. I threw on the jacket and Abbey squealed. “I love it! You look so good!”

“Thanks.” I picked up the stake of my bed. “You don’t think it’s too much to come to the party as a vampire slayer?” She laughed, adjusting the jacket for me.

“No, I’m pretty sure there were two Dracula’s last year and one of them was an actual vampire.” I burst out laughing.

“You’re joking.”

“Nope. I think people will love it. Plus, you’ll probably be the only one who’s dressed like Buffy.” I went over to the mirror and looked at myself. It was really close to the original. People who’ve seen the show will definitely recognize it. “Do you think those stakes work?” We laughed at each other.

 I stepped onto the concrete after James. He was dressed as the devil, which for him meant a blood red suit and little horns glued to his forehead. He looked amazing. Abbey was in front of him, flowery skirt flowing behind her, wings shimmering on her back. I adjusted my jacket and followed them to the same hotel the previous party was at. This time it was covered in skeletons and spiderwebs. Very spooky and not as elegant as before. I grinned as I followed my friends to the ballroom. Inside it was open, just a bar and a dance floor.

“This is more of a rave kind of party.” Abbey linked our arms, a little of her glitter getting on me. “You can get way drunker at the Halloween party than anniversary dinners.” I laughed.

“If you say so, but you may have to take the pointy piece of wood from me after a few drinks.” They both laughed.

“Come on were starting with shots.” James grabbed my wrist and pulled us along. We went so fast I couldn’t search the crowd for those blue eyes. The bar was decorated like a witch’s kitchen, bubbling cauldrons and spiders hiding in corners. James picked out some green Halloween themed shot and we all drank. It was sweet as it hit my tongue. “Abbey you look too innocent to be drinking.” I laughed and Abbey adjusted her flower crown.

“Well you know I’m not, Nina’s the one in all white.” I rolled my eyes.

“I’m a character in a show. I didn’t have a choice in the color.” I nudged her. “Besides we all look great either way.”

“Speaking of, let’s take some pictures.” Abbey pulled us over to one of the little decorated walls. She caught one of her friends, dressed as Cinderella, to take some for us. As we tried different poses, I felt someone watching. As James and Abbey planned a new position I looked around, seeing Henry leaning on the bar watching us. He was just in a rugby jersey and jeans. Effortlessly handsome somehow.

“Nina, pretend to stab James with your stake.” I chuckled but did as they said and then finally, they were satisfied with the photos. I made sure they sent them to me and excused myself to go to Henry.

“So, you just show up with one of my only weaknesses?” I stood in front of him with the piece of wood at my side.

“I’m Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s kind of her signature weapon.” I held it up. “Why? You scared I’m gonna use it?” He smirked at me, with one eyebrow raised.

“Should I be?”

“Maybe,” I shrugged, tapping his chest with the blunt end of the stake. “What are you supposed to be?” I leaned back crossing my arms.

“A rugby player!” He pointed to the jersey. “I didn’t have a lot of time to find a proper costume.” I laughed

“It’s okay, you get to dress up for a living anyways.” He shrugged.

“Would you like a drink?” I nodded. As the bartender handed us our drinks Abbey called us over. We went to a tall table where my friends and few others stood.

“Henry, this is Abbey and James.” I introduced them.

“Yes, I saw you both at the anniversary dinner.” Henry shook James hand, and then Abbeys. “You both look great.” He smiled, and Abbey looked like she was going to faint.

“Thank you!” James nudged her and I giggled.

“Yes, thank you!” Abbey snapped out of her. I sipped my drink, feeling warmer already. “Nina,” Abbey pulled over a blonde girl dressed as Alice from Alice in Wonderland. “This is my friend…” We got some introductions out of the way and soon we were listening to James tell a story about last years party. I was invested until I caught a flash of red hair coming through the doors. I gritted my teeth. I knew Henry and I were on the same page when it came to her, but she would always rub me the wrong way now. Maybe after her last attempt at getting him as a client would put her off for tonight.

“So here I am, dressed as a Ken doll in the middle of the hotel hallway-“Lila unfortunately walked up to the table, and just happened to take the spot on the other side of Henry. She was dressed as Ariel, the scene at the end with her light purple dress. She really took advantage of the red hair.

“Okay, we have the devil, a fairy,” she listed off costumes and I knew what was coming. “A very handsome rugby player, and- “

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Abbey and Henry both said. I couldn’t help but smile, squeezing Abbeys arm under the table.

“Oh, never heard of her.” I didn’t hold back the eye roll. James finished his story, making us laugh even more. “So, Henry I heard you’re filming again.” She turned to him and touched his arm. I groaned internally. She had heard that from me.

“Yeah, I am. It’s been good to get back to work.” I felt my phone buzz as they continue their conversation. It was a text from Abbey.

I’ll tell her to fuck off. Just say the word.

No, it’s fine.

I chewed on my lip as Henry told a story about Kal, making everyone laugh. Lilas was the loudest. A little obnoxious too. “He’s just so big and has no idea.”

“Every time I see him, he almost knocks me over.” I added and Abbey and James chuckle, and unsurprisingly Lila didn’t.

“Kal loves you too much to hold back.” Henry stepped closer to me and away from her.

“It’s good you have him to keep you company.” Lila tried moving the focus off me, but Henry had other plans.

“Nina comes and visits me a lot too.” Henry grabbed my waist and pulled me to his side. Lilas lips dropped out of the smirk. “It’s nice filming so close by.”

“I’m sure it is.” Lila smiled again but it was forced.

“I got to repay her with dinner the other night as well.” He squeezed me even tighter.

“Yeah, he surprised me for my birthday. It was really sweet.” I hugged his waist.

“Well aren’t you two adorable.” She covered it well, but there was a sneer in there. I felt a little pride as Henry rubbed my back.

“Nina, come on we’re dancing.” Abbey interrupted.

“Henry?” I grabbed his wrist as Abbey started pulling me away. He sighed but let me pull him with me. We made it to the middle of the floor with everyone. It had gotten crowded as we spoke. When we found a spot open enough for all of us, Henry grabbed my waist and pulled my back to his chest.

“I’m not much of a dancer.” He said in my ear over the music. He wrapped his arms over me and I swayed us to the beat a little. “I just didn’t want to be alone with the Little Mermaid.”

“More like sea witch.” James rolled his eyes. “But as long as your all over each other she’ll back off.” James winked at us and then pulled me over to dance with him. We danced for a few songs and then Abbey decided it was time for more shots. I was getting a little buzz now and I wanted to dance with Henry some more.

“Nina,” His voice sent tingles down my spine. “I’ll be right back okay. Go dance, I’ll find you soon.” He kissed my cheek as he walked from the bar.

“Nina, Nina, Nina.” James clicked his tongue when Henry was out of sight. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”

“James they’re making out like teenagers when they’re alone.” Abbey, now a tipsy fairy, jumped up and down.

“Wait you know this? Why haven’t you told me?” James held his chest and I laughed.

“I haven’t even seen you since it happened, and both of you shut up, he might still hear you.” They both shook their heads.

“I don’t even care if he hears. That is one fine specimen of the male species.” James leaned back on the bar. My neck and cheeks felt hot. “You’re telling me every detail.”

“Fine I will, but just not now.” He huffed but nodded. We went back out to dance and I got another drink. I knew I was getting tipsy as I started dancing with more feeling. Abbey and I danced together, laughing at our ridiculous moves. I felt those same pair of eyes watching again and I turned around, finding Henry leaning against our table, watching from afar again. I moved my hips a little more smirking at him. Feeling more confident than normal.  Henry didn’t come back to dance, but his eyes stayed on me.

“Girl, you are most definitely getting railed tonight if you want.” Abbey whispered in my ear and I almost choked on air. Instead we burst out laughing, our drunk giggles mixing with the music.

“Shut up, Abbey.” She bumped our hips together.

“Ugh stop being so modest. You know you want to.” I was laughing again, but I wanted to strangle her.

“I never said I didn’t, but-“James and Abbey screamed with smiles on their faces. “You guys are acting like you’re sixteen.”

“Uh, you can’t hold me responsible for how I act after shots.” James said and pulled be over to him to dance. They finally gave me a chance to pull away, my feet throbbing. The heels were killing me. I went straight to Henry, tripping a little, but he caught me, keeping his hands on my waist.

“Hi,” I smiled up at him.

“Hi,” He smiled back. “Looks like You’re having fun.”

“Yeah, are you?” I poked his chest and let my hand rest flat on it.

“Yes, I am.”

“I can feel you staring from over there.” I leaned in closer, my jacket brushing against him.

“Can you?” He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re something else in this dress.” He squeezed my waist, and it felt like electricity was coming from his hands. “I could just- “

“Nina, there you are.” Abbeys voice came from behind me. I rolled my eyes for only Henry to see and he smirked, turning me around to face my friend. “Come to the bathroom with me, please?” She grabbed my hand and I let her pull me away from Henry.

“Oh my god, Henry has googly eyes for you.” Abbey and I both were in a stall, the only two girls in here for now.

“I’m the one with googly eyes. He didn’t even try and I’m drooling.” She snorted.

“He does look good in that jersey.” We heard the door open and we held back giggles to try and keep quiet. We went back out and checked our makeup in the mirrors. “Do I need more glitter?” Abbey touched her glittery cheek.

“No, you definitely don’t.” I laughed.

“Are you going home with Henry?” She turned to me as I fixed a piece of hair. I swallowed, the thought making me nervous.

“I don’t know. I’m too tipsy to think that far a head.” She nodded.

“Yeah true, but it’s totally obvious he wants you to go home with him.”

“God, he just makes me so nervous.” I shook my hands. “It’s so embarrassing! He’s so hot he’s hurting my feelings.” Abbey burst out laughing as the other girl in here came out. She gave us a weird look as we laughed together. We finally came back out and I almost bee lined for Henry. He was chatting with James at the table.

“You bitches left me.” James crossed his arms. “Come back and dance!” Abbey nodded smiling, but I leaned into Henry’s side.

“I need a break you guys go.” They sighed but didn’t push it. When they were gone, I turned to face Henry completely. “What were you saying before? You could just what?” I smirked.

“What has gotten into you?” Henry raised an eyebrow at me.

“Shots.” I giggled. “And being Buffy really gives me confidence.” He chuckled.

“Have you always liked the show?”

“Yeah, my grandma loved it and we’d watch together.” I grinned. “It’s feminist and bad ass and so 90s.” I rambled. “I think everyone should watch it.”

“I’ll have to watch it sometime.”

“Please do! And tell me what you think.” He nodded, smiling at me. “How do you play rugby?” I tugged on his jersey.

“Well, that’s a long answer.” I laughed and he tried to explain the basics, but it was more complicated than I thought.

“Okay, I’m not going to lie. I don’t think I processed any of that properly.” He shook his head.

“Maybe one of these days we can watch a game together.” I nodded.

“Sure!” Henry decided to get more drinks, leaving me at the table. I rested my elbows on it and my chin on my hands. I was debating taking my heels off when James and Abbey came back.

“Hey, how’s dancing?” I smiled at them.

“Fun, except James stepped on my toe.” Abbey’s cheeks were pink. I laughed as they teased each other. “Where’s Henry?”

“Getting drinks.”

“Oh fuck,” James looked passed me, over my shoulder. “Does that bitch not know when to stop?” I turned around and saw Henry standing at the bar, Lila standing next to him. I turned to face my friends; my lips pressed together.

“She’s infuriating.” My eyes went into the back of my head. “Do stakes kill mermaids too?” I stared at the abandoned wood on the table. I looked over my shoulder again just in time to see her rub his back. He stepped away, but that was it. “I’ll be right back.” James and Abbey were cheering for me as I walked over there, heels clicking. She picked the wrong night to act like this. I was drunk and jealous. When I reached them, the bartender was setting drinks down in front of Henry.

“Lila, I appreciate the offer, but I’m- speak of the devil.” Without looking Henry pulled me the rest of the way to him. “I’m Nina’s client and I’m not looking for more than one donor.”

“Besides Lila, you could probably have any client here.” I smiled at her as Henry slotted me in between them. “Don’t make it so hard on yourself going for someone who already has a donor.” I grabbed my drink and Henry grabbed his. “See you around.” I grabbed Henry’s hand and pulled him away from the bar.

“What happened to my timid Nina?” Henry teased. “Jealously changed you.”

“Shut up.” He laughed out loud at me as we walked. “I just don’t like her.”

“Neither do I.” I grinned at that, but before I could take him back to the table, he pulled me back, turning me around into his chest. “In fact, I don’t want to be in the same room as her.” I furrowed my brows. “Let’s leave.” My breath hitched in my throat as I stared at him.

~~~

Taglist:

@xxxkatxo​ @omgkatinka​ @thereisa8ella​ @lamthetwickster​ @thatgirly81​ @vikingsbifrost​

[scripting-life]

FFVII: returning to my first love

 *peeks out of the corner of my lurking spot*

Hello? Anybody out there? It’s only been, oh you know, four-ish years since the last time I’ve posted anything here. I apologize in advance for anybody who’s still following me from my Castle days. If you couldn’t tell from my extended absence, I’ve mostly moved on. Castle and Beckett were fantastic characters that let me to play with some deep-dive analyses, and Castle will always hold a special place in my heart as my comfort show and my first real and extended experience with online fandom. I’ll always be grateful to the community I’ve had the joy of interacting with (or, the community with which I’ve had the joy of interacting, as Castle would correct me my dangling preposition).

I honestly didn’t think I would ever have reason to come back to Tumblr after Castle ended. But the FF7 Remake has returned me to my very first love--when I was young and innocent and before I knew anything about OTPs or ship wars. I’ve been back lurking for several months now and seeing all the fanart/fanfics and fun theories and analyses has reignited my enthusiasm for the FF7 franchise. It’s also fun coming back to this franchise with a more mature understanding of the themes/concepts that completely flew over my head as a young preteen.

(This ended up being super long, so the rest is below the cut to spare everyone the pain of scrolling. Apparently, my rambling tendencies have not changed at all. lol.)

When FF7R was officially announced (five freaking years ago!), I was filled with apprehension. FF7 was my first taste of a “grown-up” game. I was 11 and played my brother’s copy of the OG on PC in 1-2 hours spurts on the weekends when I visited his apartment. It took me months, if not years, to finish the game (I ended up stealing his copy to play on our computer at home...lol), and I was so blown away by it. I remember the exact moment I finished it and how I was literally shaking as I watched the ending FMV.

Later, when I found out my brother had a copy of FF8 (my poor brother was so accommodating to his annoying little sister...haha), I was so excited to play, in large part because I thought it would continue the story of FF7. Young, naive me didn’t understand the numbering conventions of Final Fantasy titles. I was madly theorizing and breaking my brain trying to find connections between the two games’ plots and had literally played through more than half the game before I finally realized the storyline of FF8 had absolutely nothing to do with FF7. I was sorely disappointed, and I think that has somewhat tainted my appreciation of future titles. Not to say I haven’t enjoyed the subsequent FF titles, but I think a little part of me is always comparing them to that first experience of wonder and awe that I had with FF7.

I discovered fanfiction in my teens and starting writing FF7/Cloti fics in college. Aside from interacting with a few fic writers at the time, I was not involved in any online communities, so I kept myself pretty free of any ship war drama and the like. When I did research for my fics, I’d sometimes see shipping sites and theories where I didn’t always understand the logic of how certain conclusions were reached, but frankly, I didn’t much care and didn’t realize that Clerith vs. Cloti was such a touchy subject. I was peripherally aware that some sort great LTD war was waging, of course, but it didn’t really touch me. I stayed in my Cloti shipping/fic-writing lane and was probably a lot happier for it. And, to be honest, based on FFN’s listings for FF7, I felt like I always saw a bunch of Sephiroth/Cloud fics and thought that was just as popular as the more conventional ships.

Graduating college and entering “real life” pretty much ended my FF7 fanfic-writing journey. In the intervening years between college and the release of FF7R, I haven’t gone back to the OG too much. I’ve played almost all the Final Fantasy games since then, and I always enjoy getting my FF7 crew fix when I play the non-canon mobile games or the Kingdom Hearts franchise. But FF7 was a happy part of my teenage years, and I was content to think on it with sweet nostalgia.

Remakes, in recent experience (*cough cough* Disney, why?), have been hit or miss, with a lot of misses. It’s hard to strike a good balance between catering to nostalgia and delivering a fresh product, never mind the change in social mores through the decades. I was so afraid FF7R would screw up my memories, especially since I wasn’t the biggest fan of Advent Children. The graphics were great and the action scenes were fun, but the story felt like a let-down. Cloud, in particular, felt so different (and yes, moody) from where we left him after the OG. I understand now that a lot of his character motivation was better explained in the On The Way to a Smile novels, but back then, I just felt like AC came out of nowhere. 

Btw, because I see this question a lot on other blogs when I’m lurking, I’ve ALWAYS thought that it was very clear in AC--even without reading anything else--that the reason for Cloud’s depression was due to guilt and not because he was pining for Aerith. The only reason I didn’t like his characterization in AC was because it felt like it came out of nowhere since AC is set 2 years after OG and by the end of the OG, he seemed to be in a pretty decent place mentally and emotionally. That being said, I can absolutely understand why some traumas resurface years after the originating incident and how times of peace might actually be worse because he is no longer solely focused on saving the world, but I was just surprised and a little bummed that this was the direction the devs chose to take AC at the time. Now that I’m older, I do better appreciate the complexities of Cloud’s mental state and the fact that they depicted a hero with lingering mental health issues is actually pretty awesome. I’m drawn to characters that have flaws--sometimes serious ones--but try their best anyway. Hence, why why Tifa Lockhart and Kate Beckett are some of my all-time favorites.

Anyhow, that didn’t stop me from pre-ordering FF7R, of course. I avoided reading any reviews as I didn’t want my first impressions to be swayed, and boy, was I happy that I went in mostly blind. That sense of awe really almost felt like playing the OG for the first time again, but somehow more. The combat system is incredibly fun and the world-building is nothing short of incredible. The variety and abundance of NPCs gives the game so much flavor and the locations have been rendered so well. As I’m going through areas like the Sector 7 train station and Wall Market and Aerith’s house, I can almost superimpose the layout from the OG in my head, but now it’s in 3D and so rich and full. It’s obvious that a lot of attention was paid to details, and I love all the head-nods and homages to the OG.

And oh, the characters!

This is the Cloud I’ve been wanting to see in glorious HD and the Cloud I remember from the original game: all awkward, dorky trying to be cool, socially inept, mentally unstable, abrasive-at-times, reluctant to act depending on who’s asking, wannabe hard-ass who’s actually a big softie inside Cloud. I remember reading an article a few years back about how the devs basically redid Cloud for the Remake because they wanted him to go back to his dorky roots--which ends up making him closest to his personality in the OG than his appearances in other franchises--and I was SOOOO incredibly happy to hear that. I was so sick of the way Cloud was constantly depicted as this cool, broody McBrood in his cameos when he was a pretty big dork in the OG. (Anybody remember him doing squats in the Highwind when Tifa says it’ll be lonely with just the two of them and Cloud responds that he’ll make enough noise to make up for it? Like I said: cute, but a dork.)

I WAS surprised by how comfortable and sweet and touchy (so very very touchy) the devs made him with Tifa from the beginning. That initial scene of Cloud being such a smooth operator giving Tifa the flower had my jaw-dropping and every single flirty interaction after that (and there are many) had my Cloti heart overflowing in shock and bliss. Throughout most of my years as a Cloti shipper, even though I believed Cloti was supported by canon and pretty clearly together, I was also under the impression--mistakenly or not--that Cloti was the minority ship. So for Square Enix to make it so blatantly obvious that Cloud is really into Tifa at such an early stage has been an unexpected gift.

Also, they’re just really hot together. (Clotiscrew tunnel--be still my heart!)

As for Tifa...oh, what wonderful character development we’ve already gotten for Tifa. Tifa has always been one of my all-time favorite characters ever since reading her character blurb in the OG game manual. Initially, as a child, it was because I saw so much of myself in her. She was outwardly bright and optimistic, but tended to hide all of her stronger feelings inside. She fought with her fists, and for someone who was a tomboy growing up who liked playing contact sports with the boys, I connected with her in a way that I had never been able to connect with other female protagonists who were primarily back-row specialists. (I also aspired to grow to her listed height of 5′4″, which alas, did not happen...lol).

I love how the Remake delves into more of Tifa’s moral conflict between the destruction that she causes as part of Avalanche and needing to do something to stop Shinra, and yes, even seeking revenge. They touched on this in the OG lightly, but the Remake really hammers it home. She’s perhaps the most conflicted character in terms of motivation in Part 1. That scene with the Shinra manager on the train is actually one of my favorite scenes of her because it highlights that tension. The elevator scene, if you opted for it instead of the stairs (or if you did one, saved, and reloaded to do the other one, like me), is also underrated in terms of how much it reveals about Tifa’s inner struggle.

On this point, I also appreciate that the Remake has the characters reflecting on the damage they’ve both indirectly and directly inflicted--the Avalanche team all do this to a certain degree. In particular, Jessie’s constant inability to figure out what she’d done wrong with the bomb to cause such a massive explosion and her remaining feelings of guilt during her death scene (”they were my victims” ouch!) were heart-breaking.

Aerith’s depiction was another pleasant surprise. I’ll be honest; I didn’t much like her in the OG. She was too pushy and willfully oblivious to the point of being mean at times. In the Remake, much of her sometimes too in-your-face playfulness was kept--perhaps still a little too much--but I appreciate the nuance that they gave her. The train graveyard scene tells the player that she didn’t have friends growing up, and I think that partially contributes to her lack of social tact at times. The other factor that gives her personality more nuance is the hint of special knowledge that affects how she interacts with the rest of the group. It gives her additional hidden motivation and adds to her mystery for new players while simultaneously pulling at the heartstrings for old players who get the impression that Aerith is somehow aware--to a certain, unknown extent--of her own fate. 

I also appreciate that Aerith is more grounded as a real person than as some sort of revered being. I do blame AC for some of that. When you have the power to cure a fatal disease from the afterlife and send the dead back to life, it gets into some godlike territory. Maybe it’s a fair depiction of her powers as a Cetra, but I just get the feeling that Aerith herself wouldn’t really appreciate being made into this goddess-like figure. Remember that her character blurb in the original game manual implied that she was more interested in earthly things (i.e. the love triangle) than in exploring her own powers. I personally think that Aerith used the “love triangle” in the OG as a form of escapism from the weight of her burdens rather than genuine interest, and I just think she’d want to be thought of as a person rather than as a god. One of my favorite scenes for Aerith is when she and Cloud are traversing the rooftops and she slips on the ladder, letting out a simple, “Shit.” It humanizes her in a way that combats some of the ways she’s sort of been deified in the last 23 years. Also, Aerith wielding a folding chair like it’s WWE never fails to make me laugh. Overall, she just comes off as a more reasonably flawed and--as a result, to me--a more likeable character in the Remake, and I do very much like her now.

Barret is pretty much the exact larger than life character I imagined in my head, only somehow even better, and I really love how expressive and emotional his eyes and facial expressions are. His scenes with Marlene are truly the cutest thing ever. Red XIII is a big, furry ball of sass, and I need so much more of him in the coming parts (Cosmo Canyon still wrecks me to this day). The interactions between the Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie are incredible, and they really feel like people who’ve been friends and basically each other’s family for years. The Turks and Rufus are pretty much as cool as I imagined them in the OG.

There’s still so much more I haven’t even started touching on about the Remake, and I think that’s why I’m finally posting this now. I just can’t contain my love for this game any more, and I really really need a place to express myself. I don’t know if anybody is still reading, but I appreciate having the opportunity to finally gush about this game and franchise that I’ve loved so much for pretty much two-thirds of my life.

[fatgirlwritesscenarios]

Hot Chocolate Kisses

((Wooooaaahhh...when was the last time I was here, ya’ll? None of you better say last year because I know that! Haha. How is everyone doing?! I hope the start to your new year was a fresh one. I’m having good thoughts for myself this new year and some New Year’s resolutions that actually seem attainable! Anyway, I’ve been working on this little cutie off and on for awhile and finally finished it, so I hope you enjoy it! Thank you to everyone who still follows me and reads my stories even though it’s been forever since I’ve updated any of them!))

Pairing: MinghaoxChubby-Black!Reader

Genre: Cute and fluffy

Word Count: 3,372

Summary: You like the hot chocolate from a certain cafe and Minghao is all too eager to join you on your outing. Vernon wants to tag along, but Jeonghan is having none of that shit because he and Joshua have been waiting for a confession between their favorite couple of their favorite real-life romantic drama and he’ll be damned if Vernon ruins that for them. 

“Ah, Y/N, are you going somewhere?”

“I’m being a brat today. I want hot chocolate, but only from a specific café that’s further in the city. I think it’s like a block away from that Chinese restaurant that Jun and Minghao took us all to. Does anyone want to come with?”

“I’ll go! I can drive us!”

Joshua caught a chuckle before it made itself known, watching with Jeonghan and Jihoon as their resident cool cutie magically appeared in the living room of the dorms the minute your name was spoken and quite eagerly volunteered to accompany you on your outing. The smile you gave him radiated warmly and Joshua could only guess a blush was heating your cheeks from the way you patted one with the back of your fingers after Minghao asked you to wait for him and then ran into his room to get ready.

“Does anyone else want to go?” you asked, turning your attention to the three hyungs of the Vocal Unit with an inviting smile, “Jeonghan? Josh? Woozi?”

Jeonghan answered for them, waving his hand with a grin and saying, “We’re okay, Y/N. You have all the company you need with our cool cutie. Go enjoy yourself.”

You patted your cheeks again and smiled bashfully for reasons you never voiced but everyone knew of regardless, for they were the same reasons that Minghao was always so quick to respond to your name or the sound of your voice: Minghao had a crush on you and you had a crush on him, too.

Minghao’s signs that he was rather fond of you started manifesting not long after you and your performance group came to South Korea for a collaboration you were doing with Seventeen, though one could argue it started even before that. Your group had arrived two months ago, but for a full month before that, both groups had been in contact via phone or video call. During that time, Minghao had mentioned- more than once- how nice your voice sounded and how much he liked the way you spoke, a rather ‘funny’ grin on his face as he casually said this with the barest hint of a blush.

Meeting you face to face only solidified that fondness, intensified it to something more until every member of Seventeen and your performance group noticed a shift taking place

Joshua was the first one to notice and had been a faithful viewer of this cute and sweet drama he- like the dork he is- dubbed “Baobei: The Minghao and Y/N Love Story”.

“Where are you going, Y/N?” Vernon meandered into the living area, his face aglow with the blue of his phone screen.

“Do you remember that café next to the Chinese restaurant we all went to that one time?” you responded.

“Oh yeah, I love that café! I want to go, too!”

“No, you don’t,” Jeonghan intervened quickly.

Jeonghan was a faithful viewer, too, and quite eager for the love to finally bloom and flourish.

Vernon’s brow furrowed, “What? Come on, hyung.”

“You still have to finish your lyrics with Mingyu, don’t you?”

“We’ve been working on them all afternoon!”

The three older members chuckled at Vernon’s whining, but Jeonghan wouldn’t budge, “And you’ll be working on them all night if you stop now. Get it done now and you won’t have to worry about it at 3 AM like last time.”

Vernon pouted exaggeratedly, pulling a laugh from you as you went to comfort him with a hand on his shoulder; “Sorry, Vernon. Do you want me to bring something back for you?” you offered, smiling when his face brightened.

“Can you?” he asked just as Minghao came back into the living room.

“Ready. Thank you for waiting,” he said, fixing a black mouth mask to his face before moving to grab his coat from the front closet along with his scarf.

“No problem,” you answered, smiling up at Minghao a notch brighter than before, “Just text me what you want, Vernon, and I’ll bring it back, okay?”

“Thanks, noona!”

You waved your goodbye to those that were present and turned towards the door when Minghao casually grabbed the lapel of your coat and pulled you back; “Zip up. Zip up. It’s especially cold right now,” he said, sliding the zipper into place for you.

“Oh.  Thank you.” You didn’t meet his eye, but smiled nonetheless and patted your cheeks before zipping your coat up further, “Ready?”

Minghao nodded and followed you to the door, “See you guys later!”

“You two be careful. Behave yourselves,” Jeonghan called, rising from his armchair to go into the kitchen.

“We know, hyung. We have fans everywhere, so we’ll be careful not to draw attention to ourselves.”

“That’s not what I was referring to, but okay,” he said cheekily, disappearing into the kitchen while you and Minghao stood in the entrance way just before the door, puzzled.

Joshua snickered and waved them off, “Have fun!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nearly every radio station had Christmas music playing on loop, but you weren’t a fan of all the commercials. So Minghao handed over the AUX cord and let you plug your phone into your Spotify Christmas playlist. The car ride was relaxed and fun, you and Minghao giggling and dancing to the music as much as sitting and driving in a car would allow…but the atmosphere was…different.

Neither one of you spoke much and when you did, it wasn’t very loud like it normally would be. This was far from the first time you two had been alone together, numerous V-Lives and recorded performance rehearsals proof of that, so you weren’t uncomfortable around one another. And the atmosphere wasn’t ‘tense’. Just…different; like a simmer of change hanging in the air, corralling the both of you into a comfortably peaceful world that you didn’t want to disturb.

Minghao struggled to concentrate on driving, only wanting to stare at you as you sat beside him…because you seemed to be glowing. He could be disgustingly cheesy and say you were glowing like an angel, but…well, even if he did want to be that cheesy, it wouldn’t be accurate. You were glowing more like…Christmas. Lit up with a hundred bright colors was how you glowed, bringing warmth and wonder and magic into Minghao’s world.

You were already the prettiest person he had ever seen- brown skin like ground cocoa beans, the curliest hair that wrapped around any solid thing that played in it, and a round, chubby body perfect for hip-hugging jeans, body-con dresses and day-long cuddles. And you glowed…like Christmas. He wanted to stare at you all day.

“Speed bump!”

“Oh! Hang on!”

His arm shot out across your torso as he braced himself, Minghao unable to slow down fast enough or safe enough before the car was going over the speed bump roughly. He felt you lurch against his arm and bounce up, your head nearly hitting the roof.

“Whoo! Six Flags!” you joked with a laugh.

Minghao shook his head, his own laugh a little jilted and nervous, “Ah…Sorry. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine! I didn’t hit my head or anything,” you answered.

“Are you sure?” He moved his arm away from your chest and rested his hand over yours, his palm big enough to cover from your wrist to your knuckles.

You paused for only a moment, your heart stuttering at the heat of his hand, but not wanting to embarrass him or make him stop, you spread your fingers enough for his own to fit in the hollows and tightened your hold afterward. “Yeah, I’m sure,” you said, watching his reaction carefully and grinning when he first looked down at your joined hands and then up at you.

His smile was bashful and obvious, even through his mouth mask, focusing back on the road with renewed confidence.

*~*~*~*~*

The vintage sign of your favorite cafe shined like a welcoming beacon from its place on the corner of the semi-busy street, Minghao giggling at the cute happy dance you did as he pulled around back to park in the parking lot. You were out of the car before he even turned it off, the man forever amused and even saying as such as he stepped out to find you bouncing on your toes near the trunk, waiting for him.

“I’m surprised you didn’t just run inside without me,” he teased, nudging you with his elbow.

“Trust me, I took time to seriously consider it,” you replied, scrunching your nose up at him before looping your arm through his, “But…I don’t want to go too far away from you.”

Minghao felt himself go breathless, but a smile remained ever prominent on his face, and ever obvious in the shrinking in of his eyes, as the two of you made your way from the frigid outdoors into the comforting warmth of the cafe. The baristas greeted you, the afternoon appearing to be rather slow since there was no one else in line and only a few tables were occupied.

“Hi! Welcome! What can I get started for you?” the barista asked, friendly smile in place.

“A large hot chocolate and a strawberry muffin for me!” you ordered, glancing at your companion, “Order something.”

“Hmmm…” Minghao took a moment to consider his options, “I’ll get a large hot chocolate, too, and a blueberry scone.”

“Two large hot chocolates, one strawberry muffin and one blueberry scone. Will that be all?”

“That’s it!”

“For here or to go?”

You looked at Minghao, who shrugged at you, “I wouldn’t mind taking it here.”

“For here.”

“You’re total is $16.50!”

“Y/N, there’s something on your shoes,” Minghao pointed down at your boots.

“What? Where?” Distracted, you inspected your footwear with a curious furrow of your brow, your debit card held between your fingers.

Minghao took the opportunity to give the Barista his debit card, the girl giggling as she ran it and handed it back just as you looked back at him, extending your card out.

“There was nothing on my-”

“Here’s your receipt and a number! We’ll bring your order to your table!”

“…You snake.”

Minghao laughed at the unamused glare you gave him, pinching your cheek and cooing in the process, “When you’re with me, you don’t pay for anything.”

“Really? And why is that?” you asked, quirking a brow as a little smirk tugged at the corner of your lips.

Minghao shrugged, “Because I said so.”

You were rendered speechless as the dancer took your hand in his and lead you over to a corner booth on the left side of the cafe, grateful for their choice in tinted windows that allowed for the patrons inside to enjoy the view, but kept them hidden from passersby on the outside. You slid into the booth first, closest to the window, and found your heart skipping a beat when Minghao slid in beside you. You both worked your arms out of your jackets, Minghao discarding his scarf and pushing up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows. You sat entranced by this simple action, having always enjoyed staring at his hands, even when they were doing nothing more than adjusting his sleeves.

“How is your throat feeling?”

“…Huh?” It took you a second longer to catch up with what Minghao was asking, quite embarrassed to be caught staring at his fingers as closely as you were, “Oh! My throat. Better, actually. A lot better.”

“Good. I was worried,” he admitted, brushing a finger underneath your chin, “I told you not to push yourself so hard. You’re so stubborn.”

In the past week, you had been nursing a swollen throat that made singing a very difficult task and although you had promised not only your group mates, but Minghao as well that you would take it easy and relax it for a while, you decided to push your luck in recording a song that you were excited for when you weren’t even half-way healed. The song came out beautiful and rough, just like you imagined, but at a cost.

“I had to take advantage of how my voice sounded while it was sore. The song came out great!” you defended yourself, “Besides, I don’t want to hear anything from you about being stubborn Mr. ‘I’m Fine, I’m Fine! I Just Tweaked It!’.”

A month before you strained your throat, Minghao had twisted his ankle pretty badly. Instead of following everyone’s advice to let it rest, he insisted it wasn’t that big of a deal, that he just ‘tweaked’ it, and continued to push himself far beyond exhaustion learning new choreography. Not long after, he severely sprained that same ankle and had to be on bed rest for the following two and a half weeks.

Minghao glared dully at you as you simply stared back, your temple resting on your propped up fist. The staring continued for only a few seconds more when he- the sly, sneaky thing that he is- slipped an arm around your back and tickled your side. You squeaked and attempted to squirm away, but found yourself with nowhere to run as he locked you against his side and continued his assault, his giggling melding with yours.

“Here’s your order!” the Barista suddenly appeared and interrupted the torture you were under.

“Thank you! Thank you! Oh god, thank you!” you gasped for air, remnants of your giggling slipping through your lips.

The Barista nodded and snickered herself before she took the number that Minghao was given and then skipped away back to the counter. Once you gained your breath back, and had been reassured Minghao wouldn’t try to attack again, you picked up your drink, blew into it a few times, and took a gratifying slip. The chocolaty splendor coated your tongue and warmed you beautifully from the inside out. You hummed happily and took another sip, wiggling in your seat.

Your companion, his mouth mask tucked under his chin so he, too, could enjoy his drink, smiled at you and tapped the back of his finger against your cheek; “You’re so cute when you do that,” he mused, earning a confused hum from you, “You know, when you…”

He wiggled in his seat and you nearly choked on your muffin giggling. Minghao laughed at you, eyes shimmering and crinkled, and you were about to say something when you noticed the two baristas at the counter glancing over in your direction every few seconds or so, giddy smiles on their faces as they waited in possible anticipation. Your smile slowly fell, wondering if perhaps they recognized you and were on their way to recognizing Minghao, too.

If so, then you two would have to make a quick escape because it would only take one picture posted to social media before the cafe would be swarmed with Seventeen fans.

“What is it?”

“No, no, don’t look.” You grabbed hold of Minghao’s shoulder to keep him from turning around and averted your gaze from the counter to your table, “I think the baristas recognize us. They’re looking over here a lot.”

“Oh…” Minghao sighed and fixed his mouth mask back in place, “Maybe we should start heading back?”

“I wonder if I can order Vernon’s drink before we do,” you mused, glancing back at the counter…and pausing.

The two females had gathered together on the side closest to you and Minghao, waving you down with wide, excited smiles before pointing above you. Your brows furrowed as you glanced up…and then felt very grateful that a blush wasn’t easily noticeable on your face.

“Y/N?” Minghao followed your gaze only to find himself face to face with a mistletoe, “…Oh.”

“It’s tradition!” the baristas echoed from the counter, giggling girlishly now and waiting expectantly.

“It’s already the middle of January. I can’t believe they still have this up,” he mumbled, laughing half-heartedly in an attempt to lighten the tense atmosphere and hide the thundering of his own heart.

When his gaze settled on you again, you looked every bit as shy and nervous as he felt: quick, embarrassed glances into his eyes, your bottom lip caught between your teeth, a single curl wrapped ‘round and ‘round and ‘round your finger as you fidgeted. If Minghao weren’t caught up in this embarrassing situation with you, he would have been teasing you.

As it was, though…

“It may be tradition, but we don’t have to follow it, Y/N. It’s okay,” he assured you, his eyes narrowing with his reassuring smile beneath his mask.

You finally worked up the courage to meet his eye, holding his gaze for extended seconds that felt like minutes…hours…an eternity. He couldn’t tell what you were thinking, only that you were coming to some final conclusion. He stiffened when your hand lifted up and your fingers, soft and gentle, curled into the top corner of his mouth mask. You pulled down carefully until it settled underneath his chin again, your fingers resting there, trembling.

Minghao didn’t know if he had taken a breath in the 60 seconds that had passed, but he felt lightheaded and his lungs were burning. His eyes never left yours, even though it became increasingly difficult to hold contact with how close you were drawing to him. Closer and closer until your breaths were mingling, until your nose bumped his…until your lips were slanting with his and colors were exploding behind his eyelids. He remembered to breathe at last, inhaling you and the chocolaty taste on your lips…and he never wanted to be anywhere else ever again.

The baristas might’ve squealed. They might’ve taken a million and one pictures, but literally nothing else held any importance except for you and this warm, chocolaty kiss. A smile curled your lips as you pulled back, your dark eyes glimmering and his own vision all fuzzy with adoration. He laughed breathlessly in the short space between your lips before his hand cupped your cheek and he was kissing you this time.

He was vaguely aware of a sharp squeal, but…he was sure it wasn’t important.

*~*~*~*

Stepping out of the cafe with Vernon’s drink held securely in your hands, you and Minghao bid your goodbyes to the baristas- ignoring their incessant giggling. Snow fell quietly around you, soft little flakes brushing your cheeks and landing in your hair. Minghao stood before you then, quiet and thoughtful, just staring at you like he’d been doing after the kiss you shared under the mistletoe. You gazed back, unabashed and only a little shy.

He chuckled quietly; “Just so we’re clear,” he started, unwinding his scarf from his neck, “That kiss meant more to me than some silly tradition.”

He draped the scarf around your neck, wrapping it around twice and melting when you snuggled into it, “I like you, Y/N. I have for a long time…I think I liked you before I Even met you, the minute I heard your voice over the phone.”

His cheeks were stained pink and you had a good feeling it was from more than the cold. A smile as sweet and bright as all the Christmas lights prettied your face, “I like you, too, Minghao. I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while, but…I was too chicken.”

In his elation, the dancer lowered his mouth mask, grabbed the edges of the scarf wrapped around you, and tugged you close for another tender kiss.

“You’re mine to take care of now,” he said as he pulled back, taking your hand in his and leading you to the car, “So I’m going to be taking extra care to make sure you don’t strain your voice like that again.”

“And I’m going to glue your ass to a chair the next time you ‘tweak’ your ankle,” you shot back, giving him a little half-smirk that dissolved into laughter when he pinched your side, Minghao resisting the urge to press you against the car and kiss you silly.

There would be time for that later…plenty of time to make up for.

[merlinthoughts]

Season 1 Episode 5 - Lancelot<3

- YES BBG’s IT'S MY BOY LANCE

- he’s one of my fav characters u guys don't even KNOW

- like yah okay, i've only seen hiM FOR ONE EPISODE

- but he’s the light of my life

- and he may not even come back but he looks like a character that would come back especially if the fucking ep is named after him

-  oh damn, i sure hope he does

- and goes into arthurs posse of knights or whatever, replacing val

- or what valerie was gonna be

- idek, lets get to it bc i could go on for days just picturing lance as a main character while continuously expressing my love for him

- BUT NOTHING ELSE OBVIOUSLY BC THIS IS NOW A CATHOLIC WEBSITE

- tumblrs trynna urge me to go with them nasty thoughts

- you wish tumblr

- you WISH you can ban me

- u can't live without sucking dick >:(

- wow slow down shev... wow okay sorry. christianism. i forgot

- it got the best of me

- back to the episode!

- omg it's buckbeak why he making a cameo in merlin??

- my inner potterhead(uwu) is coming out i hate this

- bet you can't guess which house i'm in ;)

- it's fucking slytherin, it's literally so obvious

- hissshiss motherfuckers

- ew guys

- this is so hard to type considering my fucking ‘-’ button (called a dash for u furries who only see a face) is broken and i have to literally smash it to make it work, so i'm just insanely typing up the next dash by screaming at my keyboard that i can't fucking fix

- and i have so many dasHES TO DO!

- that made no sense bc yall aren't living in my socks at the moment

- BUT I'M DYING IT'S SO HARD TO JUST GET IT TO PRESS

- fuck it copy paste, my best friend, you always come when the time is needed

- LANCELOT LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL

- lowkey looked like that guy from the 100 though

- but better

- nothing against baloney of course

- lancelot literally just introduced himself, the camera panned in onto his chest, then he proceeded to faint or some shit with the camera still zoomed on his chest, and merlin reached up to grab his shirt, probably to yank it the fuck off and the opening credits rolled up. wtf was that scene.

- WAIT I REWINDED IT

- it's not supposed to be a zoom in of his chest lmao, my hoe ass thought we had a little fanservice for a second, but there's a big mushroom-looking blood stain on his shirt which i guess is supposed to mean he's fucking dead so it's not all that confusing anymore

- when was he stabbed tho?

- whatever. shit always goes down in BBC that's often unexplainable.

- “it had claws, wings…” arthur stops his sentence melodramatically while uther looks terrified. “and.. what?” WHAT UTHER?? WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?? YOU THINK ARTHURS  GONNA BE LIKE “FANGS, STEVE BUSCEMI'S EYEBALLS, DANNY DEVITO’S HAIRLINE, TALKS LIKE JOHN MULANEY?? I JUST TOLD YOU WHAT I SAW, NOT WHAT I IMAGINED. FATHER”

- but no… livestock apparently

- that’s what uthers shocked by

- not that theres a fucking griffin living in his world

- wait theres magic, means theres magic creatures doy

- but still, even if we all had magic here, i think it would be a little shocking seeing a griffin come for buckingham palace randomly

- or i guess if youre reading this and are in america, in the white house

- oh and it took only people apparently

- i guess that’s a little more severe but i stand uncorrected

- they be having a wild time in the hippogriff’s house ;)

- honestly sounds like a fucked up hogawart house

- here we have slytherin, hufflepuff, ravenclaw and... *looks at smudged writing on hand* hippogriff

- okay, who tf has a dream of coming to camelot when it's the most feared place, with banned magic and an asshole king with his hot bitchy son and a sorcerer who just brings chaos to the land

- well i mean, me 

- bc of the hot bitchy son but whatever

- camelot? more like cameNOT

- arthur calls himself the ultimate killing machine like the edge lord he is

- ARTHUR FUCKING KO’D THE BITCH

- knee to the nose and all wtf man

- this is probably foreshadowing smth with the “only noble blood can swoosh like a knight” thing, like somethings gonna happen and poor people are gonna revolt and uthers gonna be like “GEEZ fine, okay, no nobles can become a knight”

- merlins such a shit stirer, telling lance he can be a knight and telling him arthur would love him when we really know whats gonna happen bc of that rule

- and here’s gaius like uhh u liar wtf, crushing lance’s dreams while merlins just like wtf gaius, live in the moment, we can do anything, this is OUR show

- literally their such good friends and have known each other for a solid 10 minutes only

- i'm not that big into beards but id love to rub my face on lance’s

- HOMEWORK IS MERLIN’S EXCUSE, MERLIN UR LIKE 20 IN A WORLD PROB WITHOUT HOMEWORK

- haha little fault there, or like a minor inconvenience which isn’t important but i like to pretend to be smart: middle ages or well the show’s era was more in “AD” (476-ish is the start of middle ages, while the arthurian legend is supposed to happen in the 5/6th century so yeah, technically 400/500 AD), and homework supposedly only started up in 1095 so BOOM BBC GOTCHA

- no, merlin’s not gonna perform magic right in front of the librarian

- does he not know the wrath of librarians???

- our librarian at school literally kicked everyone out of the library once for the whole semester because there was an apple core on the bookshelf. this was during exam week. do u know how much i wanted to kill the person who didn't admit to their mistakes and let everyone suffer. WE COULDN'T ENTER TO EVEN STUDY

- OH GOD, HE'S DOING IT MERLIN IS A FUCKING MESS

- gwen and lancelot are my favourite thing, i literally want them to be together by the next episode

- or the next one with lance

- WAIT LANCELOT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A MAIN CHARACTER ISN'T HE BC I KNOW VAGUELY THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND AND LANCELOT WAS A KNIGHT WASN'T HE???? HE WAS A FUCKING KNIGHT AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT NEXT TO LIKE IDK BEDEVERE OR SMTH THIS IS AMAZING NEWS GUYS I LITERALLY COULD BE A DETECTIVE

- !!!! the only heto ship on this show i actually adore !!!!!!

- i mean i only love two things: merthur and glance

- idek what gwen and lance’s ship name is so its now glance

- merlin would be the best wingman for them by being gwens bestie

- “you can start by cleaning out the stables” *lance looks to merlin while merlin gives him the biggest smile and thumbs up* this fuckING DORK

- harry potter au where everything is the same but that grim reaper looking human creature in the prisoner of azkaban executing buckbeak is actually lancelot in the future 

- for symbolism purpose, not saying lance is like an animal killer but yknow

- same thing with the griffin yknow

- the two prettiest dudes in my world fighting against one another while sweat is glistening down their forheads is my new favourite aesthetic

- BUCKBEAK HAS COME

- oh wait no, people having been attacked by buckbeak have come

- netflix fucked up by subbing arthur as “orther” and i never laughed so hard

- don’t make me fucking laugh when there’s an ambush, netflix, this is not christian

- annd arthur’s pride is gone, and he goes up to chop lance’s fucking head off

- OH SHIT THAT TRANSITION THOUGH

- i'm so proud of my bb like genuinely so proud, lance deserves so much and here is is!! a knight!!

- MORGANA APPEARS THE LOML

- the three lomls in one room?? seriously bbc?? you really doing that to me?? for once im actually impressed and happy

- he's gonna get caught, i mean i KNOW that, but like it's still stressing out

- ewewewewewewewewewew

- arthur called morgana “isn't she so beautiful??” with a lovey dovey face pls don't lead this to that stepsibling porn bullshit i'm going to fucking puke

- i hated that shadowhunter bullshit like they seriously going to hit me with the indirect incest?? i was so done. i hated jace and clary, idc if theyre like the most popular couple, like wheres my raphael lovers at bc that's a boy i can enjoy

- “so if you could choose one... lance or arthur?” merlin subtly asks gwen like he doesn't have an answer himself

- it would have been so perfect geez, gwen and lance, merlin and arthur, myself and morgana

- i really wanna know what lance, merlin and arthur look like drunk bc that's a hell of a hangover they got the next morning and they probably cut out most of the soiree so like what did they do?? was there any drunk dancing and flirting??? bc i literally want to see that happen

- ik it's a bad thing but those drunk tropes where someone confesses their love to the person they like while under the influence is my favourite thing bc it's both hilarious, genuine and the other person often helps them to their feet and gets them to a safer place to rest and that's fricken adorable guys!

- not the drinking obviously, thats like a thing you can enjoy if you want but ya girl does not like drinking. or, well, she likes drinking with a limit. you can tell who likes to be the designated driver lmao. people here be drinking flat out whiskey and i tried it once and it burned by fucking throat

- merlin fucked up

- and this is technically his fault

- THEY GOT CAUGHT LMAO IT IS HIS FAULT

- hungover and caught this won't bode well

- “not worthy of a knighthood”

- hey so how do you retract a knighthood?

- do you like reverse the shoulder tapping

- like if you're christian, bc you know, we, as a christian group on this tumblr site, should already know about it... but when we do that cross thing on our shoulders, it means like a direct call with god or some shit. and if we do it the opposite direction it's considered the antichrist so is it the same for knighthood?

- OMG I JUST HAD AN EPIPHANy

- okay with christianity it's tapping the head the stomach, shoulder then shoulder, right? but the reverse is the anti cross like shoulder to shoulder, stomach and head. but… what if it were tapping the stomach, crotch, hip to hip? it would make sense right??? since the cross is upside down… it would lead to the dick and not the head. THAT'S WHY IT'S AN UPSIDE DOWN CROSS. BC YOU AINT SUPPOSED TO GRAB THEM BALLS UNTIL MARRIAGE!!! I SEE OMG I SEE YOU JESUS, TRYNNA HIDE UR FLOURISHING SEXUALITY

- omg guys, don't grab ur fucking balls in this blog post, it's considered the antichrist

- “you never will be” lmao he's gonna come back, he's lancelot, that's a main in the og legend

-  how pissed will lance be with merlin

- i hope big time bc like... angry lance *dries off sweat with hands*

- aw damn lance isn't mad he's like “this is my punishment. mine to bare, mine to bare alone. stop blaming urself. i put this on me” this fucking goof is making me swoon once fucking more

- NOW BUCKBEAKS BACK

- he's a real goat x3

- buckbeak can literally fuck shit up in the air, camelot has nothing on him

- ARTHURS FUCKING DEAD LMAO

- oh wait he aint, just a few of his knights

- imagine being an extra and playing as one of those knights. having to fight next to bradley james, and have him look at you when someones doing something stupid like you can mentally agree with him and then pretend to die on camera. that would be my dream. make-a-wish better do me some good when i get diseased that will prob be named after me

- hoephagus

- stupidolis

- nah thats stupid

- ;)

- i now understand mulans will to pretend to be a guy and join the army bc i would literally do that if i could stay with arthur fucking pendragon

-  aw it's called a griffin not a hippogriff

- i'm saddened

- harry potter has taught me WRONG

- this looks to be the climax where merlins like “fine guys, geez, i'll kill the griffin bc i'm magic!! wow!!! but arthur obviously knew, and i thought gwen was gonna know but she shocked me even more when she didn’t like fucking hell everyones oblivious. but since you can only kill buckbeak with magic, sigh, i'm exposing myself ig” even if it's like halfway through season 1 with 5 seasons altogether, this looks to be the right time

- this really sounds to be what we are waiting for, what kilgarah said about the destiny merlin will have

- WAIT WE HAVEN'T SEE THAT BITCH IN A WHILE

- wheres the dickwad gone lmao like was the actor busy the last few episodes or what?

- OMG ARHTURS BREAKING LANCE OUT OF PRISON SO HE CAN BE A KNIGHT

- how is the “arthurs pretty gay” theory not popped up more times on here

- like we all know merthurs pretty great and all

- but CANON wise arthur seems super gay to me

- like he just told lance to get up his ass because “i need… uhh... camelot needs” like he was just about to say he needs lance in his life

- have you not seen the glances??

- fucking hell

- arthur slowly comes closer to lance pretending to talk about what he knows about the creature

- lance also coming closer to ask if he truly believes that, with a raised eyebrow

- thought this shit was only in books and fanfics

- but no guys, we got a gay eyebrow raise

- bc we all know only the gays are capable of eyebrow raises

- fucking hell this is gay i cant even explain it

- like its subtly gay, but out of context youd think this is something out of a fansite

- and merlins not even in this scene

- “take the horse and never return to this place” OKAY NO FIRST OF ALL SECOND OF ALL FUCK OFF LMAO THIS ISNT GAY ANYMORE

- i mean he’s doing it out of the goodness of his heart, saving him from prison and all but lance wants to like…  be a good man and you aint letting him do that

- OMG LANCE IS SAYING GOODBYE TO GWEN

- LANCE BETTER FUCKING KISS HER

- I LOVE GWEN AND LANCE TOGETHER #STAN

- fucking kiss you fucking bafoon

- THEY DIDN'T FUCKING KISS WTFUCKINGFUCK

- merlin looks so dumb holding his dagger as if he doesn’t know what to do with it but i love that for me

- WAIT I THOUGHT LANCELOT WAS LITERALLY GONNA GO YEET OUT OF CAMELOT NOT TO FUCKING SACRIFICE HIMSELF AND FIGHT THE GRIFFIN

- bafoons, all of them

- big bouncing bucking bafoons

- arthur looks so scared i've never been so in love and want to PROTECT

- omg for all merlin and lance know, that scream was arthur fucking dying- OMG IT WAS ARTHUR

- HE'S FUCKAN DEAD

- nvm he's alive but like yall not think to check for some arterial wounds bc he could be alive now, but in 5 mins he could legit not make it

- slow music means death

- lancelot you were the best husband i've ever had, rip

- i would be crying more if i didn’t know what happened, but since i already spoiled myself on the first season by watching this about a year ago, i'm not that sad but its still getting to me slightly

- hahahaha so happy everyones okayyy

- ARTHUR AND LANCE TiME!

- arthur looks so happy for lance literally crack ship right there

- why does nobody talk about this wyd

- and here’s arthur defending lance’s honour

- but uthers being a bitch

- omg that transition from lance being told to wait outside, the camera following him out of the room and the doors slamming behind him just in time to hear uther yell at arthur from next door is what gives me chills

- uther better fucking accept lance

- “the law is the law” yeah but the law also says to stop being a stuck-up bitch, uther

- literally lance is the only fucking person to not see through merlins blatant magic tricks

- like he saw that shit, called it out and was not like “oh what its a trick of the wind, surely”

- and he's not fazed at all, u see merlin it aint that bad to tell some people

- the only thing he is worrying about is the credit he says he doesn’t deserve bc merlin killed the griffin and not him

- see how fucking great my husband is, guys

- he better not be like “sucks to suck, i lied again! it aint me, chief” to uther and arthur

- NAH OKAY HE’S JUST BIDDING HIS FAREWELL IM GONNA FUCKING CRY IN THE CLUB

- he better fucking come back soon >:(

- seasonal guest star at least

- main characters, big bonus

- we barely saw morgana this episode and i'm not okay with that, but at the same time it was more lance-centric so i'm aight actually. we got all the time in the world for my baby girl, but lance :’( good luck man

- literally everyone is so gay for lance

- gwens into him for sure, and i love that the most (guess thats not gay but whatever, beggars can't be choosers)

- arthur has a little crush ngl

- and merlins full out in love with him

- not to mention MY FUCKING SELF

- i mean, i won't deny that he’s literally perfect in every way and i've only known him for one episode, but i agree whole heatedly with these crushes

- “till next time, sir lancelot” merlin whispers with a smile

- yeah that's me right there

- BC I'LL BE SEEING HIM IN THE FINAL EPISODE OF THIS SEASON!

- greeting us all with the news on being cast full-time for the show, being the best guard around and a lover boy to all

- guys i feel like i'm on aphrodisiacs but instead of desire for sex, it's love for lancelot

- send help

[hallodraws]

Silkster | A Spider Story (04)

Wordcount: 1,974

Summary: “In September 2018, NYC, after college student Jonas Jaeger encounters the hero Spider-Man, Peter takes him back to his place to hear details.”

Warnings: Language, Very minor mention of injury

Author’s Notes: Part 4 of my story for my MCU OC, Silkster. While I love Infinity Wars, Spider-Man: Homecoming, etc, I love the rich history of the comics as well and wanted to write my own “Universe”. This is just for fun and I love researching all the different variations of the Spider-Man characters to compose my own story. Hopefully, you guys enjoy this so far ♡

『 04』

The car ride was a short one, but it was peaceful. Peter turned on the radio, listening to the newest chill tune sweeping the world by storm. He hated to admit it, but Peter was a big fan of this song, despite its current popularity. He wasn't by any means a hipster or anything, but he definitely had his likes and dislikes, and his interests were definitely more on the unique-side. Regardless, I watched as his head bobbed back and forth to the beat, that goofy smile still on his face. What in the world was he so happy about?

Water began to sprinkle across the windshield. I looked out the window and saw as thick clouds started to fill the sky, an orange hue running along their bottoms as the thousands of lights from New York City beamed up at them. The weather report didn't call for rain tonight, but this view made up for any inconvenience. Soon enough, this little sprinkle turned into a full-on downpour. That was okay, though. Rain in the city always made everything so shiny, and the light bouncing off the wet surfaces made it all look so magical. In about fifteen minutes we were at Peter's apartment. As he pulled into a spot, we looked outside again. It was insane out there. Where the hell did this weather come from? With the car and radio off, we could actually feel the truck shake from the amount of rain bulleting off the roof. Peter looked at the entrance, then back at me - his eyebrow slowly starting to rise. I knew that look. Suddenly we both bursts out laughing. We knew no matter how fast we ran we were going to get absolutely soaked. We could also tell this downpour wasn't going to stop any time soon. Together, we bolted out of the truck and ran full speed to the door, still laughing so hard our chests hurt. It's a shame Peter didn't park closer. Once we got to the door, we stopped, just for a minute to catch our breath. I could feel my hair and clothes clinging tightly to my body. Looking at Peter, he was just as lucky as me. "Ha...haha, Sorry you had to pick me up in this, Pete," I said through broken laughs and gasps. "Are you kidding?" He said, opening the door for me like a gentleman, "Like I was doing anything better." I pat him firmly on the back as we both ran up the stairs to his place, my hand making a loud "thwap!" when making contact with his wet back. We continued our laughing fit the whole way up as we left a dripping trail behind us as we went. "Should we find a wet floor sign?" Peter joked. I shoved him playfully up the stairs. "Get moving! It's fucking cold in here!" God, was I right. I was freezing. The chilly September air outside and the breezy stairway inside made my wet clothes feel like ice. I'd have to remember to take some time to dry off before I went back to the dorms. Hopefully, the storm would stop by then. Finally, we made it to his apartment. Peter turned the key and stepped in, eager to get inside out of this chill. "Go! Hurry up," I continued to poke fun at him, "or I'm gonna have icicles on my--" Peter quickly turned around, placing a finger to my lips. "Shhh," he hushed, "look." he removed his finger and pointed inside the door. I peeked inside, looking above his shoulder into the living room. There was May, fast asleep on the couch - remote in one hand and a bowl of popcorn balancing ever so precariously on her stomach. Peter could barely contain his chuckles as we both crept into the apartment, careful not to let the door squeak behind us. At a turtle's pace, we tiptoed across the room - stopping every now and again when May groaned in her sleep. After what felt like eons of the game "red light green light," we made it to Peter's room. As the door closed behind us, we each let out a deep exhale - apparently holding our breath while we snuck by May. Peter wasted no time and went to the bathroom, coming back in a flash. He was carrying two clean towels in one hand and a damp washcloth in the other. Peter placed the first towel on the bed, patting it with his hand as a cue for me to sit. I did, and right after, he draped the second towel playfully over my head. "Hey! You ass!" I said through hushed laughs, hoping not to wake May in the next room. Peter just answered with a chuckle of his own. I slid the towel off my head. I watched as Peter stripped the soaking wet shirt from his torso and slid off the sopping jeans that clung to his legs. I could feel my face grow a little hot. Peter looked... good. Did he always look like this? Was he working out lately? I watched him dig through his drawer for a new shirt, putting it on quickly. I watched as his face turned to a smile at the feeling of fresh, dry clothes as he walked back over to the bed, sitting beside me. "Dry off, man," He ruffled the towel against my hair, "or you're gonna catch a cold. Your face is already getting red, you don't have a fever, do you?" Thank god he was so clueless. I dried my head and hair to the best of my ability, eventually wearing the towel like a blanket across my shoulders. Peter took my arm and looked at the cut. It was already wet from the rain, but it seemed a bit irritated, so he began to press his warm cloth against the injury. I could tell I winced just a bit. "Oh, don't be a baby." He mocked, "I'll be done in a minute, anyway."

"What do you think of Spider-Man, Peter?" I asked without warning. I was just thinking about it, but I guess my mouth decided it was better to share. "W-What?" Peter looked taken aback. I suppose I could've led into that conversation a bit better. "I'm curious. What do you think of Spider-Man?" "I... well," he proceeded to look at my arm intently, cleaning the scratch again, "I mean he's okay I guess. I've never met the guy, obviously. But he does a lot of good for the city. And he kept you safe tonight and got back your bracelet. What's not to like?" "True. I just wish I was able to get my wallet and cash back too," I sighed into another laugh. Even when I'm getting saved by a hero, I still lose out one way or another. "Yeah, he-- wait, what?" Peter's eyes bugged out of his head for a second, "You didn't get your wallet back?" "No. Just the bracelet," I answered. "Turns out Spider-Man is also forgetful," Peter rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's cool though. There wasn't a lot of cash, and I canceled my credit card on the drive here," I found myself laughing again, "I wonder what he looks like-- ouch! Pete!" he began rubbing a little too hard. "S-Sorry! I wasn't paying attention." He apologized vigorously with that goofy grin back on his face. What a dork. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. I probably won't ever see him again anyway." I blew on my wet wrist to let the injury dry. "Never say never, Jones. New York's not that big a city." Peter walked to the bathroom for a second, returning with a large bandage. He peeled back the protective covering and placed it firmly on my arm. "Will I survive, doc?" I smiled as I pressed the edges of the band-aid down, securing them in place. "Bout a 50/50 chance," Peter elbowed me. As the room filled with the sound of hushed laughter, a loud crack of thunder broke our attention. I looked out the window again. Rain beat furiously against the glass as if it was desperate to get inside. "Jeez, it's not letting up is it?" I said with a lackadaisical drain to my voice. "Why don't you spend the night, man?" "Wait, really?" I was surprised. I don't know why. Peter was a gentleman. He wouldn't have let me walk back to campus, and I would've felt bad having him drive out there in this weather. "Yeah! There's no class tomorrow, you haven't spent the night in a long time, and Aunt May won't mind either," He didn't even let me decide. He could tell just by the look I gave him what my answer was. He went to his drawer and pulled out another dry shirt, handing it to me, "Here, give me those wet clothes. I'll throw them in the dryer." I hesitated for a second, then proceeded to stand up and begin removing wet articles of clothing. Peter was a good friend of mine, and we had gone swimming at the beach and pool together. But this was different in a way - more exposed. There I stood in my boxers alone as I handed the curled up ball of damp clothes to Peter. Peter didn't seem fazed and went out into the hall as I quickly pulled his dry shirt over my head. "Huh, same size. That's convenient." I remember muttering to myself as I sat back down on the bed. Peter returned shortly as another loud crack of thunder shook the apartment, the lights beginning to flicker this time around. "Wow! Where the hell did that come from?" He said as he hopped into bed, leaning against his headboard. "I know! I've never seen anything like it before." and I hadn't, not in the city, at least. Weather like this was pretty natural back home, but rain like this was really out of the ordinary. I looked at Peter. His eyes were closed as his head rested against the headboard. He looked so peaceful. As fun as this night had been towards the end, it was in fact ending. It was late, and I didn't wanna keep Peter up. "I'm beat! I think I'm gonna get some shut eye," I began to move to the empty spot on the floor, figuring that would be my bed for the night. Whenever I spent the night in the past I'd sleep on his couch, but tonight that was May's domain. "You're gonna sleep on the floor?" Peter's eyes were now open, looking intently into my own. "Well, yeah. May's on the couch, so I just thought--" "Dude, I haven't even cleaned my floor. Just stay up here with me. The bed's plenty big enough." Peter scooted to one side, effectively opening up more bed real estate for myself. "You sure?" Peter didn't answer. He just took one of his pillows and placed it in the spot next to him and pulled up the covers, showing me there was a welcoming spot to rest my head for the night. I looked at his floor. Peter was right, he really didn't clean anytime recently. I smiled and went with my best option - relocating beside him. Peter reached for his lamp and turned off the light. "Hey, Pete?" I said, sliding into a comfortable position. "Yeah?" he laid down facing me, clutching a pillow in his arms. "Thanks." I turned to face him. "For what?" he asked. "Getting me tonight. You know, making sure my night didn't end on a bad note." "I thought Spider-Man did that." He rolled onto his back, looking at the ceiling. "He did. But you did too." I closed my eyes. I could hear Peter chuckle to himself. "Anytime, man."

『 Previous | Part 03 』 『 Next | Part 05 』

[kujo1597]

Actually, That Was a Good Thing

Life is constantly moving forward. Things are always changing, nothing is ever still even when you don’t realize it’s moving. A lot can happen in just a year.

(A/N: Holy cow! I’m actually done this! I wanna thank those of you who read this until the end. I appreciate you so much! And I really appreciate new readers as well I hope you enjoy reading the whole story. Of course I’ll still be writing stuff for this AU but the main chunk of story is done.

And a big shoutout to @drawbauchery for her Mom Zircon AU. It really inspired my human Zircon. That dynamic between Zircon and Peridot is super cute! And I really wanted to do a similar dynamic. But without the stalker, I think I’ve put poor Peri through enough already. Haha.)

You can also read this on Archive of Our Own.

Chapter 15

Peridot let out her breath in a puff when she put a heavy box on a brand new carpet.

The room looked and smelled so clean.

“Ooof,” Amethyst put down another heavy box.

As she looked around Peridot felt a bittersweet feeling.

“Heck of a year,” she said.

“Huh?” Amethyst didn’t quite catch that.

“I was just thinking that is was just one year ago that I was living with Lapis and the two of us had our first date.” Peridot’s expression turned apologetic. “Sorry my moving day fell on our one-year anniversary.”

“Don’t worry about it; important thing is that we’re together,” Amethyst kissed Peridot on the cheek. “Not like it’ll take all day to do this anyway.”

“Yeah,” Peridot knelt to give Max a pat. She pointed at an arbitrary part of the hallway. “Go explore, Max. This is our new home.”

But he stayed put.

“Little guy probably needs to adjust first,” Amethyst suggested. “He’s never been here before.”

“That’s true. He’ll explore with me, I’m sure.”

Amethyst stretched out. “Well, we should start unpacking.”

“Then go out and buy a mattress. The bed in here is too soft.”

“You already tested it?”

“I felt it while putting boxes in my bedroom. I can’t sleep on it.”

“Alright, mattress shopping it is. Good thing you’re not stuck with that clown car anymore.”

Peridot laughed. “Yeah, I still can’t believe Pearl surprised me with a car. Fixing it with her was so fun, then she let me keep it!”

“So which room you wanna unpack first?”

“How many belts does one demigirl need?” Amethyst playfully groaned as she sprawled out on Peridot’s bed.

“I don’t have that many. And it’s not like they’re all the same anyway,” Peridot pulled out a few belts. “See? This one has an alien pattern, this one is covered in Pokémon, and this one is houndstooth.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen,” Amethyst really didn’t get it. “That’s just a lot of belts nobody’ll see.”

“A few of my therapists told me that doing small things for myself, even if it’s silly stuff like wearing goofy belts that only I know about can help my mood.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Probably should guessed. So is that houndstooth one because you like Persona 4 so much?”

“You know it.”

“And y’know... having a million belts is probably better than me. I just have the one and it’s being held together with duct tape,” Amethyst changed the subject. “Since you’re buying a new bed, do you mind if I have this one?”

“Not at all.”

“Cool.”

Peridot finished organizing her closet knowing full-well that it wouldn’t last. But it was satisfying nonetheless.

“Do you think Max will be fine while we go shopping?”

Amethyst glanced at the sleeping lump on the bed next to her. “I don’t see why not. Buddy’s passed out. And you leave him alone all the time.”

“Sometimes dogs piddle and get destructive when they’re nervous. He’d be left all alone in a strange new place.”

“We’ll just take a trip to Dreamy Sleep then come back.”

Peridot glanced at Max. “Well, what I can do is leave some of my clothes laying around to hopefully keep him calm.” She gave it some more thought. “Yeah, he’ll be okay if I do that.”

“Ready to go then?”

Before long Peridot changed and left her clothes on the bed and couch.

While her and Amethyst carried the new mattress through the hallway, thank the stars Peridot got a room on the first floor, Peridot was confronted by a woman with bright-yellow hair styled up into two points. 

“Do you have a dog?”

“Yeah,” Peridot signaled to Amethyst to put the mattress down. “But he only weighs nine pounds so he’s well within the size limit.”

“That’s well-and-good but if he cries constantly then we’re going to have a problem.”

“Max cried? Was it the whole time I was out? He’s usually very quiet.”

“He cried for the first five minutes.”

“Ah, this was his first time being left alone here. He should be good in the future. I don’t go out much so he should be adjusted next time.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a freelance programmer,” Peridot replied growing more irritated. She knows she doesn’t exactly look ‘respectable’ but frankly, bright-yellow hair doesn’t either.

“Okay the-”

“Jeanne!” Another woman came bounding through the hall. Her pale blue hair curved and floppy. “Are you harassing our new neighbour?”

Jeanne, oh how the sound of that name made Peridot’s skin crawl, replied, “I was just asking them about their dog.”

“I must apologize for Jeanne,” the blue-haired woman said. “She’s a stickler for the rules.” Her tone turned firm when she started to face the other strange lady. “I told you it was just a nervous pet.”

“It’s fine,” Peridot said, the new woman seemed very nice and when Peridot looked at her she felt something she’s never quite felt before. In some ways it was like how she felt about her dad. But different. 

Jeanne... not so much.

“Oh, right,” the new lady turned to Peridot. “Isa.”

“Peridot.”

“Amethyst,” she waved from where she was leaning against the wall.

“Good to meet you,” Isa said then she looked between Peridot and Amethyst. “Are you two living together?”

“No,” Peridot hesitated but saw a wedding ring on Isa’s finger and a matching one on Jeanne’s. “We’re not living together but we have been dating for one year. Exactly, actually. So you and Jaune are married, right?”

“Yes.”

“Got married the day it was made legal.”

“That’s great,” Peridot said, feeling relieved. Some of her neighbours in her old apartment were... less tolerant.

“We should let you go,” Isa said.

“Yeah,” a part of Peridot didn’t want this conversation to end. She started to consider getting to know Isa over tea. “Max is missing me. It was nice to meet you.”

The four all waved and said their goodbyes and Peridot and Amethyst reached Peridot’s room.

She carefully opened the door and Max came bolting out then started to run circles around her.

“Okay, hello, I know, you missed me,” Peridot picked Max up and kissed him. “Let’s check around for accidents, eh Max?”

After the inspection which turned up nothing resulting in lots of scritches and smooches from Peridot, and the mattress was in place, Peridot and Amethyst sat on the couch watching TV.

“So Peri, how ‘bout we do something naughty?” Amethyst wiggled her eyebrows.

“Oh, what do you have in mind?” Peridot gave Amethyst a sultry look.

“Well,” Amethyst dragged the next sentence out sexily. “Why don’t we cheat on Kofi and order Domino’s?

“How scandalous,” Peridot leaned into Amethyst. “Pull out your phone and place that order.”

“You want those spicy chicken bites?”

“You know I do-” Peridot couldn’t keep up the routine; she started laughing uncontrollably.

“How could you?” Amethyst said in mock offense. “I try winning your heart with pizza and chicken and you laugh at me?”

“I can’t help it,” Peridot said between giggles. “We’re such big dorks.” She collapsed onto Amethyst clutching her stomach.

Amethyst traced lines next to Peridot’s mouth with her thumb. “Maybe I should cut back on the comedy a bit. You’re starting to get laugh lines.” She rubbed Peridot’s cheek. “Then again, those are the best wrinkles. Means you’re happy.”

“Please don’t stop making me laugh, even when I look like my lola,” Peridot sat partially up and wrapped her arms around Amethyst. “Your sense of humour is one of my favourite things about you.”

“You feeling alright? Like, you’re cuddly but not usually this mushy.”

Peridot nestled into Amethyst’s neck. “I think I’m just feeling a bit lonely. I haven’t lived alone since college.”

“Want me to stay the night?”

“No,” a shake of the head. “Well, yes. But you shouldn’t. It’d be best if I just rip off the bandage. So to speak.”

“Alright, if you change your mind tell me,” Amethyst looked at her phone. “Still up for cheating on Kofi?”

“Always.”

“Have I ever told you that I appreciate how you started trying weird shit with your food?” Amethyst stated, amused by Peridot putting her chicken bites onto her pizza.

“I’ll never surpass the master,” Peridot took a bite. “I’m not brave enough to mix strawberries, canned tuna, and hot sauce together.”

“Not my best sandwich in all honesty.”

“They can’t all be winners,” Peridot said with a shrug.

They ate supper while watching Ninja Keith reruns.

Eventually Amethyst spoke up. “So, you still doin’ that Lapis and Jasper thing with me tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Peridot finished off her crust. “We need to make sure it goes well. And if it doesn’t, we need to be there to help them.”

Amethyst grabbed another slice of pizza. “True. And fukkin’ deck Lapis if she makes my sister even worse.”

“She won’t. Lapis has made great progress. Have faith in my roo-former roommate.”

“I know,” Amethyst sighed. “Just worried. Jasper’s been doing better too.” She took a big bite. “Don’t want it to go backwards.”

“I feel the same way when it comes to Lapis.”

“You sure you don’t want me to spend the night?” Amethyst had noticed a subtle sadness in Peridot’s eyes. “Sometimes it’s best to take band-aids off slowly. Y’ever slice your leg open?”

Peridot cringed. “Yeah, ripping off the bandage hurt like a son-of-a-gun.”

“But if you peeled it and wet it then it wouldn’t have.”

After a moment’s thought Peridot gave in. “You’ve convinced me. So I guess you need to go get your stuff then.”

“Nah,” Amethyst polished off her pizza. “I had a feeling you’d want company the first night. My stuff’s in my car.”

“You know me well.”

Peridot and Amethyst barely dragged themselves out of bed the next morning. They were both worried that things would go horribly wrong with Lapis and Jasper.

But before they arrived at the meeting place Peridot decided to drop Max off at the beach house. He needed the supervision if they were gonna be gone for the day.

Pearl was the one who opened the door. “Hello Peridot and Amethyst.”

“Hey Pearl,” Peridot greeted her. “Thanks for puppysitting on such short notice.”

“Don’t mention it,” Pearl gave Max a swift pat on the head. “I actually kind of like him now.”

“We can’t dawdle,” Peridot put Max on the floor then pointed into the house. “Go find Steven.”

With that, Max excitedly ran off.

“Bye Max,” Peridot called after him with a giggle.

“Amethyst,” Pearl turned her attention to her. “I need you to pick up a few things.”

“Got it,” Amethyst saluted as she took the shopping list.

“You’ve never watched Max for the whole day before,” Peridot passed a basket full of blankets, toys, and food for Max to Pearl then pulled a piece of paper out of her hoodie pocket “As you know he eats at all three meals, though breakfast isn’t an issue... He gets three-quarters of a scoop of kibble. Max sometimes sleeps under stuff so if you haven’t seen him in a while check under Amethyst’s bed. Let’s see...” Peridot looked over her list to find more urgent stuff.

“Peridot,” Pearl interrupted her thoughts. “He’ll be fine. I’ll read the list, I promise. You two need to get going.”

“Well, okay,” Peridot passed the list of care instructions to Pearl. “Remember, keep an eye on Steven, I always catch him sneaking snacks to Max.”

“Okay,” Pearl pushed Peridot out of the doorway.

“And watch him when he potties,” Peridot’s fretting continued. “Seagulls like to pick on him.”

“I got it.”

“And don’t forget-”

“Goodbye, Peridot.”

“Yes, goodbye,” Peridot said automatically.

Pearl closed the door on her.

“Well that was a bit rude,” Peridot put her hands on her hips.

“She’s right though, rude or not we gotta go,” Amethyst jabbed her thumb at the car.

The couple raced to the back corner of the meeting place so as to be discreet. They weren’t actually supposed to be there.

Not long afterwards Lapis strolled in, then Jasper. Those two looked pretty okay, nervous, but okay.

“Lapis,” Jasper said after taking a deep breath. 

“No, I’m going first,” Lapis firmly stated. She made eye-contact with Jasper, sighed, then said it.

“I’m sorry.” Lapis kicked her foot. “I shouldn’t have taken all my anger out on you.”

“I...” Jasper could barely believe what she just heard. “Um...” That wasn’t part of her plan... “Okay.” She cleared her throat then recalled the script she had rehearsed at home. “I took advantage of you to punish me. I did bad things, and always felt bad about myself and I used your anger to give me what I felt I deserved.”

Lapis looked like she was about to blow a gasket. “What! No! I used you! You were such an easy target. So big and smug, with that stupid nose piercing, you look like a bull, and you got angry back which made it easier for me to yell at you. But then you stopped and I kept going. For once I felt powerful.”

“And I felt like I deserved it so I let you keep going and egged you on, and when you did leave me I tried to get you back, I craved the attention. Nobody ever stays with me, our relationship, as awful as it was, was the longest one I ever had. I didn’t want it to stop and be alone again,” Jasper breathed in, “but it really was bad.”

“You know, you didn’t deserve what I did to you.”

“I know that now, but at the time I truely believed I did.”

“We were really bad for each other, you brought out the worst in me.”

“And you brought out the worst in me.”

“We really shouldn’t be together.”

“Well,” Jasper recalled what Peridot had told her, “we shouldn’t date,” she held out her hand, “but we can try being friends.”

Lapis didn’t take Jasper’s hand. “What if we fall back into our old habits?”

“Amethyst and the peacock will call us out on our shit,” Jasper jerked her head towards where the two she was referring to were sitting. “That’s why they’re here.”

Lapis looked at them. “God dammit, were they here the whole time?”

“Pretty sure.”

“She’s such a worrywart,” Lapis said with a fond smile. “Dumbass.”

“So how ‘bout it?” Jaser offered her hand again. “Wanna try being friends?”

“Sure,” Lapis took the offered hand. “We can try.”

“Hey Amethyst, Peridot,” Jasper called out to them. Amethyst perked up but Peridot looked confused. “You gone deaf, ya little peacock?”

“No!” Peridot replied with a blush, then when her and Amethyst joined Jasper and Lapis she continued, “it was just weird hearing you call me by my name.”

“Been over a year, kid,” Jasper clapped Peridot on the shoulder.

“Wait,” Amethyst crossed her arms with a smirk, “you knew Peri’s name the whole time.”

“I had a good feeling about her.”

Amethyst playfully smacked Jasper’s arm. “You ass. You were testing her.”

“Of course, I don’t want you getting hurt again,” Jasper chuckled at her feisty little sister. “Anybody patient enough to put up with me calling them such a dumb name’s bound to be good. Or at the very least be able to put up with you.”

As the exchange between sisters went on, Lapis looked at Peridot. “How’s condo life treating you?”

“Pretty well so far. I met two of my neighbours. They’re nice. So...” Peridot felt a small tug in her chest, “how’s the roommate search going?”

“Bad. You set the bar too high. I can’t go back to eating nothing but garbage,” Lapis’ cheeks warmed up. “And you’re nice and funny.”

“You know, you can come over any time,” saying this made the tug go away slightly. “I’d like that, and so would Max.”

“That damn mop, miss him too,” Lapis said under her breath then added in a normal tone, “And you swing by whenever. I’m not changing the lock.”

“It slipped my mind that I never gave my key back. I’ve had it for so long...”

“I never asked for it. I know I can trust you.”

“True, but I might scare your new roommate if I just waltzed on in. I don’t need to deal with the police.”

“Yeah, you do look kinda sketchy,” Lapis teased Peridot. “But I’ll just tell her to expect a short big-eared nerd with dumb hair to randomly show up.”

The two laughed.

“But I’m serious Peridot. Come over whenever you want. And bring Max.”

“You too. And I will come over with Max, he misses you too.”

Sensing that Peridot needed a hug Lapis held out her arm. “Come here, you sap.”

Peridot accepted the hug.

And that’s when Lapis realized she needed it too.

After some more talking Amethyst and Peridot parted ways with Lapis and Jasper who also went their separate ways.

“So glad that went as smoothly as it did,” Amethyst sounded relieved.

“Me too,” they arrived at the door of the beach house and Peridot opened it. “I wonder how Max did.”

Peridot looked around for him and and didn’t see him.

“He’s sleeping on the couch,” Pearl said, startling her. “Him and Steven ran and played all day.”

“Max must be pretty tuckered out then,” Peridot said with a laugh. “He’s gonna sleep well tonight.”

Amethyst chuckled. “Yeah, good for you, he kinda fussed a lot last night.”

“He’s never done that before, not even when I first got him,” Peridot sighed. 

“You have to remember, he’s known the duplex for most of his life,” Pearl surprisingly gave Peridot this gentle reminder. “It’ll take time for him to adjust to the new location and not having Lapis around.”

“It’s an adjustment for me too,” Peridot said under her breath.

“That’s natural, I imagine moving from Canada was one too,” Pearl placed a hand on Peridot’s shoulder. “But at least this time you actually know people and have some company. Even if it is of the furry variety.”

Amethyst gave Peridot a crushing hug. “Yeah! And if you ever need non-furry company just give me a call.”

“Thank you, both of you.”

“Well, you can stay for a bit, or if you need to go you can find Max on the couch,” Pearl jabbed her thumb towards the living room. 

“I think I should get going, I have stuff I need to do and groceries to put in the fridge,” Peridot walked into the living room.

And Steven was there. “Hi Peridot,” he said with a smile. “I think Max had fun.”

“It looks like it,” Peridot gave a very sleepy Max a pat. “And I trust you had fun too.”

“I did,” Steven gushed. “I didn’t know he could run that fast.”

“Yep, he’s pretty speedy when he wants to be.” 

“We had races, and played tug, and chase,” Steven listed off all the things the two of them did on his fingers with a big grin.

“Did you know that he knows how to play peek-a-boo?”

“He does?” Steven got starry-eyed. “I need to do that with him next time.”

“But maybe not around Pearl,” Peridot whispered. “He does this cute little bark and I don’t know how she’ll handle that.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind,” Steven whispered back.

“Unfortunately, I have to take him home now,” Peridot picked Max up and he blearily opened his eyes, noticed Peridot, then went back to sleep. She gave him a kiss. 

“Aw, okay,” Steven sounded disappointed. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll see him again before you know it,” Peridot ruffled Steven’s hair.

“And you too, right?”

“Yeah,” Peridot smiled fondly. “And me too.”

Steven gave her a big hug and she left after getting another hug from Amethyst.

Max trotted next to Peridot through the hallway of the condo building. She technically was supposed to have him on a leash but he was well-behaved so it should be fine. And it was, Peridot reached her door without incident, well, apart from a mother looking at the two of them nervously as Max sniffed towards her child.

She’ll just have to get used to them, Peridot figured, only slightly bitterly.

Peridot didn’t finish her unpacking yesterday so when she finished putting groceries away. She started with her action figures because robots in cool poses always lighten up a room. She started with the Labrys Figma Amethyst managed to get her for Christmas.

A knock on the door interrupted Peridot’s reminiscing.

She hurried as fast as she could on her bum knee and prosthetic foot.

“Wait,” Peridot was slightly out of breath and a bit too late. When she got a look at who was walking away she smiled. It was Isa! ...And Jeanne. “Sorry about that, I was unpacking,” she added with a laugh, “and my legs are kind of a mess.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” Isa said, she was momentarily mildly puzzled then remembered the sight of Peridot in shorts. She held out a basket. “Here, a welcome basket.”

“Thank you,” Peridot took it and looked through it. “Ooo, I can make marmalade with this.”

“Marmalade?” Jeanne snickered. “What kinda punk are you?”

“One that’s a marmalade-loving nerd,” Peridot didn’t really appreciate Jeanne’s tone.

Or maybe a slight bias was shining through.

“So, uh,” Peridot awkwardly pointed at her door, “would you two like to come in and chat?”

Isa and Jeanne exchanged glances. 

“Sure,” Jeanne shrugged and Isa nodded.

Peridot led them into her home. “Now, it’s still a bit messy. I had more stuff than I thought.”

“You sure it’s such a good idea to invite strangers into your home?” Of course a Jaune was snarky and picky.

Peridot looked at Max who was still sprawled out on his back. “Well, Max doesn’t have a problem with it so I think having you two over is fine.” She held up her basket of fruits. “I’ll go put these away, make yourselves at home. Do you want tea?”

“No thanks,” Isa replied. “And I can help with the basket.”

“Thank you.”

The two went into the kitchen while Jeanne sat on the couch next to Max. She looked at him for a bit and he looked at her.

“Is your dog friendly?” Jeanne called to the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Peridot called back. “Go ahead and pet him. He especially likes chin scratches.”

While putting fruit away Isa looked in the living room and smiled. “Peridot,” she pointed at the couch, “I think Jeanne and Max like each other.”

Sure enough, Jeanne was smiling as she rubbed Max’s tummy and the pup was loving it.

Isa pulled out her phone and took a picture making sure Jeanne wouldn’t catch her and get embarassed.

And in that time Peridot decided that maybe Jeanne wasn’t so bad. Max is a pretty good judge of character after all.

Putting food away didn’t take long at all, Peridot and Isa joined Jeanne and Max bringing glasses of water.

“So, what do you two do for a living?” Peridot kicked herself for asking such a boring question.

“Get this, me and Jeanne are both lawyers.”

“Jaune’s a lawyer?” Peridot couldn’t believe it, how could somebody with highlighter-yellow hair be a lawyer? “Like, practicing?”

“Yes I’m a practicing lawyer,” Jeanne was understandably annoyed. “And why do you keep saying my name like that and making that face?”

“Oh, I didn’t realize,” Peridot didn’t want to touch on that subject so she stayed vague. “Somebody ruined that name for me. I assure you, it has nothing to do with you.”

Finding this odd, Isa kept it in mind. “Where are you from?” She asked.

“Calgary, Alberta,” Peridot replied.

“Me too,” Isa smiled as she put more pieces in place, especially as she got a better look at Peridot’s face. “Actually, you look kind of familiar.”

“Well that’s odd, I didn’t go to law school. I guess maybe we could have gone to elementary school together...”

Even more pieces fell into place, especially with that unique eye colour.

“Would you happen to know Jaune Diamont?” Isa asked out of the blue.

“What, no way they know somebody that important,” Jeanne waved her hand dismissively but then she noticed Peridot’s off expression. “Wait... do you?”

“Um... uh...” after much hesitation Peridot answered the question. “Yes. She is my mother.”

“Holy shit,” Jeanne said in quiet disbelief. 

“Aha! I knew it!” Isa was far less quiet. “You look just like her! You’re Peridot Diamont-Hōseki!”

“I can’t believe one of your crazy theories ended up being right,” Jeanne still wasn’t over it.

“I remembered that Jaune had a daughter because the lawsuit involving her was the talk of law school,” Isa looked at Peridot who was barely hiding her mild crisis. “Then one day the discussion suddenly stopped. It’s always bothered me. Something big must’ve happened.”

“It got settled out of court,” Max crawling onto her lap helped calm Peridot. “That’s all I can legally say.”

“That’s really suspicious,” Jeanne raised an eyebrow.

“Considering I’m sitting with two lawyers I really can’t say anything more.”

“You know,” Isa’s suspicions about the case had woken a strange new feeling up inside her, but she couldn’t place it, “you can tell your lawyer about it. It’s not official yet, but if you need one you can hire me.”

As much as Peridot didn’t appreciate the subject of Jaune being pushed on, that weird feeling from earlier returned. She... kind of wanted to tell this lady she only just met more about it.

“I’m really uncomfortable going into detail,” Peridot took a breath, in and out, and stroked Max. “But I will tell you this. It was a divorce case and ‘alleged’ child abuse was a large factor.”

Both Zircon’s eyes went wide.

“Oh jesus...” Jeanne was the only one to speak.

Isa didn’t, she had a feeling that was it, but that new feeling made her unusually quiet. After a little bit he figured out what that feeling was.

She wanted to take care of and protect this young woman she recently met.

“I don’t know what to say,” Isa breathed in. “But if you need a restraining order filed or anything, even not legal matters, my door is open.”

“You have my gratitude,” unlike Isa, Peridot still hadn’t figured out what she was feeling. “Oh, and I’ve already filed a restraining order against her.”

“Well I would hope so,” Jeanne loudly said.

Isa realized something. “For the record, my wife’s name is spelled J-e-a-n-n-e not J-a-u-n-e so she doesn’t have the same name as your mother.”

“That’s good to know,” with the bias gone Peridot was actually able to think better of Jeanne.

Though she still found Jeanne a bit rude...

“Moving on,” Isa made a motion with her hands as if she was physically moving something. “I see you like video games. Jeanne was really into them when she was younger. Weren’t you dear?”

“Yep, I was a SEGA kid. I played a lot of Sonic.”

“Ah, I was a Nintendo kid myself, but I did have Sonic CD on the PC.”

“Missed that one, the SEGA CD was too expensive and I didn’t even know about the PC version.”

“It got re-released on a few consoles. I have it on my PS3 if you want to play it.”

Jeanne actually smiled. “Maybe some other time.”

And Peridot smiled back.

The three chatted for a while about their interests and eventually the Zircons had to leave.

Then Peridot got back to her task of unpacking while talking to Amethyst on the phone.

“Whattup Peri?”

“Hey Amethyst,” Peridot couldn’t hold in her giggle. “Do you remember Jeanne and Isa?”

“Yeah, just met ‘em, blue and yellow hair, right?”

“Right. They were just over and they’re actually really nice.”

“Cool, it looked like you didn’t like Jeanne.”

“It was mostly bias since her name sounds like my mother’s,” Peridot answered truthfully. “But it’s spelled differently. The sound still bugs me a bit though.”

“Give it time.”

“I will.”

“So why’d you call? I like talking but we saw each other earlier. It’s not like you.”

“Still feeling a bit lonely I guess.”

“Want me to serenade you to sleep?” Amethyst jokingly offered. 

Peridot laughed. “No thank you. I don’t want to wake up with a dead or broken phone.”

She heaved a heavy box onto the table to sort through.

“Still unpacking?”

“Yeah, it’s taking forever. How’d I amass this much stuff in four years?”

“Dude, I’m the same way. You keep buying these little trinkets and before you know it you look around and think ‘shit, how’d this happen?’ And then you go and buy more stuff.”

“For someone who isn’t into statues I sure have a lot of statues...”

Amethyst chuckled heartily.

The two of them continued to talk as Peridot unpacked.

Peridot looked around her quiet new living room and let out a satisfied breath. She finally finished unpacking.

As her eyes wandered she thought about where she was just four years ago.

At the time, the fire seemed like the end of it all.

She lost her home.

She lost her belongings.

She lost her savings.

She would wear the scars for the rest of her life.

It hurt.

But from that fire she met Lapis, a close dear friend.

Then Amethyst, her wonderful girlfriend.

And of course, Max. Her companion who helped and continues to help with all the stress.

All that loss and nearly dying put everything into perspective.

It made her a better person. And in several ways, it gave her a better life.

Peridot smiled.

That fire was actually a good thing.

[spookysummersmores]

Mind Heist - Chapter 7

Word count: 4,310 (In the words of Grunkle Stan..."HOT BELGIAN WAFFLES!")

Author's note: Ohhh, wow...after two long months of brainstorming, editing, and writing additions to the original...this is it. The final chapter.

I know that, when I posted chapter 6 the other day, I said that there would be TWO more chapters left in the story. And that was originally going to be the case! But chapter 7 felt just...a bit too short to me...? And so I combined chapters 7 and 8 into one and ended up with this...4,000+ word long monster. xP

This one is almost entirely just pure fluff, which is always just...a delight to write. Pines family bonding for life. uwu

Also...stay vigilant. Once it seems like you've reached the end of the chapter...scroll a little further. There's a surprise hidden at the very end...

I'd just like to take the time to thank all of you who have supported Mind Heist - especially @raination and @choc-chip-pancakes - and provided such wonderful feedback. It means the world to both me and my bestie, and you provided me so much motivation and so many smiles throughout this whole process. Much obliged; you're sweethearts, the lot of you. 👍💕💞

The person I'd like to thank most, though, is my partner in crime, @ichipine​. This story originated from summer RP shenanigans between us two. It was you who gave me the go-ahead, it was you that gave me so much cute Mabel dialogue to work with and add onto, and it was you who came up with some of the best dreamscape battle tactics I've ever heard. Without your assistance and friendship, I wouldn't have a complete story. Thanks, big sib. Working with you was a BLAST and a half! ^0^ *MAJOR HUGS*

Well...I guess that's all for now. In terms of future fanfiction, I'll be going solo from now on - unless Kaylee or another good friend ever wants to work with me on a fic again, that is! Until next time...see you later, and I hope you enjoy this final chapter. Stay weird, my friends. ^-^ ❤

(As always, PLEASE do not tag any ships. Thank you.)

Dipper and Mabel were soon jolted out of sleep, and they both gasped as they bolted upright in unison. At long last, both of them were safe and sound in the attic of the good old Mystery Shack, and even THAT seemed brighter all of a sudden. Things were finally NORMAL again.

Well...okay, sort of normal.

Dipper immediately began coughing. "Ugh...well...I certainly didn't miss this..." he said hoarsely, sniffling.

Oh, God...it felt as though his head had been hit with a jackhammer. He hadn't had the time to worry about the effects of a mindscape war with a demon on a summer cold for long while in said mindscape. Now he certainly had something to report to his trusty journal about it once he felt up to it: 'If you're fortunate enough to...you know, not die, you'll definitely feel a heck of a lot worse than you did before going to sleep.'

He pulled his blanket up over himself for warmth and then turned to Mabel, giving her a small smile. "Mabel...you did it. I-if it hadn't been for you...Bill...he would've completely wrecked my mind or...or something worse that I...don't really want to think about." He shivered a bit - half from fever and half from the thought of Bill's twisted games. "The way I was feeling in there...I never would have been able to get him on my own. Thanks, Mabel..."

Mabel smiled wide. "Don't worry about it! There was no way I was letting him pick on my brother EVER again...the big bully. That guy just never learns," she said, hands on her hips. She got up off the floor and stretched out. She happened to notice that, even though it felt as though a whole day had passed them by, they'd only been gone for about an hour in the real world.

When she got a good look at her twin, concern set back in. She climbed up on the end of his bed and sat there. "You still seem...REALLY sick though. Like...more like miss-school-for-two-whole-WEEKS sick now. You doing okay?"

"In all honesty? N-not really..." Dipper started coughing again, and rather harshly at that.

Mabel quickly got his drink for him and felt his forehead. You could have used it in place of a kerosene heater. Bill really HAD done quite a number on him...

Luckily for Dipper, about 15 minutes later, the twins both heard Stan unlocking the front door downstairs. "Honey...I'm home!" he called jokingly from the first floor. He climbed the stairs and knocked on the attic door before immediately entering (which kind of defeats the purpose of knocking), grocery bags in hand. He walked in just as Mabel was changing out the cloth on Dipper's forehead. "Hey, kiddo...how're you doin'?" he asked quietly, sounding an awful lot gentler than usual.

"Terrible..." Dipper croaked out from underneath the covers.

"Yeesh." Stan set the bags down on the bed and sat once Mabel scooted off. "Well...I dunno if this'll make ya feel any better, but you're not alone. Apparently, it's goin' around. In the SUMMER. I was IN LINE with some punk who was practically coughin' his lungs up. Only in this weird hick town..." He sighed. "Okay...so I just about bought out the pharmacy."

"Bought it out, or stole everything?" Dipper whispered with a tiny smile and a sniffle. Even in his haze, he couldn't help but tease Stan just a little.

"Haha...very funny, y'little dork. You'd be gettin' noogied right about now if y'weren't so darn sick," Stan teased back, grinning at the boy. "Here we go now. F'real." He started unpacking the bags, and he'd only been half exaggerating about buying out the pharmacy. "Tissues, cough drops, cold pills-" He nonchalantly put a hand to Dipper's forehead as he spoke, but he forgot to hide his concern and stopped cold, eyes wide, when he felt how high the kid's temperature had gotten in such a short amount of time. "Which y'need RIGHT NOW. I could make an omelet on your head. Be right back. Mabel, keep an eye on 'im, will ya?" He popped out of the room, taking Dipper's juice glass with him.

Mabel flopped down on her own bed. "Oh, gosh...you're in really bad shape, huh?" she asked. "I'm awful glad Grunkle Stan's back."

"Same..." Dipper groaned a little and laid back on his pillow.

"Don't you worry, bro. I'll be by your side keepin' you company until you get better."

Dipper was happy to have her company...but he realized something. "Thanks, Mabel. Just...be careful, okay? Judging by what Grunkle Stan just said, you..." He sneezed mid-sentence. "Could catch it. Really easily. Wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy..."

'Then again, Bill would probably enjoy it. The weirdo,' he thought to himself with disgust.

"I'll try to be careful...don't worry." Mabel gave Dipper a grateful little smile. "And heck...quit worrying about me! You're the one Dad could probably use for a grill right now. Just relax."

Grunkle Stan soon stepped back in the room with a glass of water, cold pills, and an ice pack he'd wrapped in a washcloth. "Alllright, kiddo...get this in you before your head...spontaneously combusts or somethin'."

"Thanks, Grunkle Stan." Dipper sat up to take the medicine and went to pick his UFO blanket up when it fell to the floor. Stan put a stop to that, however, when both he and Mabel saw the child become dizzy the second he stepped out of bed.

"Excuuuse me; where d'ya think you're goin'?" Stan muttered to him, sternly, but gently.

"Aww, Dipper, you're supposed to rest..." Mabel stepped over and put a hand on his shoulder to gently lower him back into bed.

"I-I'm good...I'm good," Dipper insisted, though he immediately coughed again afterwards.

"C'mere, kiddo...thataboy..." Stan tucked the kid back in and gently placed the ice pack on his burning forehead. "Now...when I say don't move from that bed, I MEAN don't move from it. Not a big fan of the sound of ya there," Stan said in his gruff, but well-meaning, way. He backed out of the room with the rest of the grocery bags. "Mabel, keep an eye on 'im while I put stuff away...and if he falls asleep, come downstairs and just let 'im go, okay?"

Mabel nodded. "You got it, Grunkle Stan."

Stan nodded back and smiled at his niece. "Good. Rest up, kiddo," he said to Dipper softly.

Once Stan left, as Dipper laid there in his bed, bundled up in a little blanket cocoon, anxious thoughts popped back into his head...but much different ones than before. He hated admitting it to himself, but he was more than a bit wary about trying to go back to sleep. He knew full well that he and Mabel had just seen Bill disappear into the unknown for themselves. And yet...the thought of him possibly still lurking somewhere nearby just wouldn't leave his aching head. Nervous, he poked a hand out and gently began to pet Waddles, who had sensed Dipper's uneasiness and decided to curl up next to him as if to reassure him.

Mabel turned to Dipper, and without him even saying a word, she could immediately tell that he felt uneasy. "It's alright, bro-bro," she said, patting his head lightly to comfort him. "We got rid of Bill...we watched him poof away, remember? You should be safe now. Just worry about getting better...okay?"

Dipper hesitated before nodding slowly, though he still couldn't help but feel at least a little nervous. "Okay..." He sneezed again and cleared his throat. "I guess I'll try to sleep...my head is killing me. Maybe the meds'll kick in faster that way." He slowly pulled himself into an even smaller ball - he slept more comfortably that way - but turned back around for a second to whisper one last message out. "Oh, Mabel...? Thanks again. For everything."

Mabel smiled. "You're welcome!" She made sure her sibling was tucked in just right. "I'll check back later once you're asleep to see how you're doing, okay?"

The boy smiled a tiny bit and nodded as he watched his sister leave the room. Waddles, who had decided to make himself comfortable where he was, kneaded on the bed a bit like a cat would before spinning around and falling asleep at Dipper's feet. Dipper soon surprised himself by successfully clearing his mind and following the little pig to Dreamland.

For the rest of that day and night, Mabel checked up on Dipper and kept him company whenever she could. She made it her sworn duty as 'chief nursemaid and right-hand man of the renowned Dr. Waddles' to monitor his temperature and keep him supplied with fluids, tissues, and throat lozenges. At one point, late in the evening, once enough of Dipper's lightheadedness had subsided and he was waiting for his next dose of medicine to kick in, the twins even played a game in which they would take turns making up a story by drawing pictures on Mabel's dry-erase board. The town's plethora of oddities - supernatural and human alike - provided them with plenty of material to draw inspiration from, so they spun themselves quite a tale. It was around 10:00 when the twins turned in, and for the first night in almost a week, they BOTH found themselves sleeping peacefully that night.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Stan had come up sometime around midnight. He pulled up a rusty old lawn chair from the bowels of the attic storage, parked himself just outside the kids' bedroom door, and stayed there - occasionally nodding off, but never for long - until he'd heard them begin to stir early the next morning. He then made a break for it as soon as he knew that all was as well as it could possibly be.

Though he still had quite a bad cold, Dipper was at least much less feverish when he woke up the next morning. Mabel was immensely relieved and glad to see him feeling at least a little bit better - and Stan would never admit it out loud, but so was he.

Since Dipper was still confined to bed, Mabel's nurse duties continued well into that afternoon. Whenever she came to visit him, Dipper noticed that she wasn't her usual hyperactive self - in fact, she was being...oddly quiet that morning - but he immediately determined the reason why, or so he thought. He'd found himself in an odd state of mental exhaustion since he and Mabel had returned from their mindscape battle victorious, and he figured that his sister was feeling the same sort of fatigue.

At some point, Dipper drifted off to sleep in spite of himself. The next thing he knew, he was brought out of his impromptu nap by a strange sound - a sound that gave him a bad feeling, though he...honestly wasn't quite sure what the noise was at first. He'd only half-heard it.

Had...had he just heard a cat sneeze?

"Huh...wha...?" he mumbled out as he rolled over. "Mabel...did you say something?" He coughed and picked up his watch so he could check the time. It was nearly suppertime, to his dismay. "Aw, seriously? I slept all day?"

Mabel was seated on her bed, working on gluing bits and bobs to various pages of her beloved scrapbook, as she often did on quiet afternoons and rainy days. "Naww...i-it's okay, bro-bro," she reassured him quietly...though Dipper quickly noticed that she didn't sound quite like herself. "You need all the sleep...you can..." Her sentence was cut off when she sneezed again. She quickly hid her discomfort, not paying it any mind, but she could tell by the way her brother was looking at her that he'd seen her. "W-what? Why're you lookin' at me like that?" She laughed nervously.

Dipper sat up. Something was up, alright. She looked paler than he did, and just as flushed to boot. "Mabel...? Are you okay?"

"...Oh, no," she muttered to herself. It wasn't until then that Mabel fully realized what had happened. At least, she hadn't admitted it to herself until then. "Okay, Dipper...I think maybe I got sick, too.." Having admitted defeat, she groaned and plopped down on her bed.

"...Uh-oh."

'So that's what's going on. Should've known when SHE started being QUIET,' Dipper thought to himself.

He wrapped himself up in his blanket, walked over to Mabel's bed, sat beside her, and put a hand to her forehead. Sure enough..."Aw, no, you're burning up!"

Mabel frowned at the discovery. "Yeah...I feel pretty darn sick..." She began to cough, and she sounded quite awful. "H-how are you feeling?"

Dipper winced a little at the sound of her. "Pff, don't worry about me; I'm..." He sneezed. "Fine." He certainly wasn't fine yet, by any stretch of the imagination, but he was much more concerned about Mabel's well-being at that moment. He handed her the box of tissues that had been sitting beside him. "How long have you been feeling like this? How come you didn't tell me?"

Mabel grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. "N-not too long..." She had actually felt herself coming down with something longer than she liked to admit. "I just...didn't want you to get worried while YOU'RE getting better...you know?"

"Aw, sis..." Dipper sighed. "It means a heck of a lot that you've been taking care of me. I really appreciate it. But just...don't forget to take care of yourself, too. You definitely don't want to end up feeling as awful as I felt yesterday. Okay?" He gave her a caring smile.

Mabel smiled back a little and nodded in response. Sometimes, it was almost as if he took the role of a protective older brother rather than a twin.

"Don't worry. We'll get you fixed up. It's my turn to help YOU out. One sec..." Dipper then got up and tried to call down the stairs for their grunkle. That very quickly turned out to be a mistake, for the fire in his throat began to burn twice as much, and it induced another coughing fit.

"SHHH, careful!" Mabel whisper-yelled to him, sounding worried. "You're still sick too, goofus!"

"Wha- what's that now?" Stan hollered back from downstairs, not having heard clearly. "Dipper? That you? What're you doin' yellin', kid? You're gonna bust your voicebox or somethin', and I'm not bein' held responsible for that..." he called up the stairs as he approached the attic. His head soon peeked through the doorway. "Y'okay?"

"I'm about the same as before; don't worry," Dipper replied, sniffling. "Mabel, on the other hand..."

"Hi, Grunkle Stan." Her voice cracked a bit - something that usually only Dipper's voice did - and she cleared her throat.

Stan raised an eyebrow in concern. He could instantly see that she didn't feel well and began to worry when he saw that clearing her throat caused it to ache. "Mabel...c'mere, sweetie." He put a hand to her head -  "Aw, jeez..." - and immediately went to see if he had a second thermometer handy, one he hadn't already used on his nephew. Dipper stayed beside her with a comforting hand on her shoulder as she waited.

It wasn't long before the thermometer beeped and decided to be the bearer of bad news. 100 degrees even. Stan sighed. "Well, that's not good."

"Aw, man..." Mabel frowned.

Stan took a deep breath, then came out with an idea. "...Alrighty. That's it. The two of yas, grab your blankets and pillows and...pigs and what have ya. You're comin' downstairs," he announced. "At least y'can...y'know, watch TV down there." The real reason he wanted them downstairs was so he could keep a closer eye on them both, but he dared not say it.

Dipper put a hand to his head, but smiled a little anyway. "Sounds like a plan to me." He quickly grabbed his blanket and pillow.

Mabel followed suit, wrapping both herself and Waddles up in her blanket. "I'm ready!" she proclaimed softly with a sniffle.

"All good? M'kay. Here we go..." Stan picked his niblings up and draped one of them over each of his shoulders. "All aboard the Stan Train!"

Very, very carefully, Stan carried them down the stairs. The twins used his shoulders as head rests and felt warm and safe in their grunkle's strong arms. He found himself a bit sore by the time he arrived in the living room, but didn't say so, and honestly, he didn't mind.

"Next stop...couch." He gently plopped them both - and Waddles - down.

The kids smiled. "Thanks, Grunkle Stan."

"Yeah, yeah. It's nothin'." Stan brushed it off, but he smiled a little himself. "Now don'tcha move a muscle. I'll be right back." Off he went to fetch supplies for them both.

Mabel tried to help Dipper bundle himself, but he took it upon himself to help her bundle herself up first instead. "You okay?" he whispered, trying not to strain his voice anymore.

Mabel coughed. "I've been better...but I'm okay." She snuggled Waddles close to her for comfort.

Dipper gave her a little side hug. "Yeah. Sorry that I...got you sick..." Then, the twins ended up sneezing in unison, which they couldn't help but snicker at.

"It's okay...I think I would've gotten sick anyways." Mabel returned the side hug. "I liked taking care of you - it was fun! So...I don't mind," she said softly with a shrug.

Dipper smiled warmly at his sister's kindness, glad to have her by his side.

Suddenly, the twins heard talking outside the door to the living room.

"OUT."

"Aw, come on, man-" "But Mr. Pines-"

"No 'buts' except yours away from this door. This area's been quarantined. Now OUT, b'fore I sic the CDC on yas both!"

As the old door creaked open and Stan stepped through, the twins could see Soos and Wendy squeeze their faces through the opening as fast as they could, determined to get their message across.

"Aw, man...get better, dudes!" Soos called through the door, his voice muffled from squishing in between the door and the wall.

"Feel better, guys! We'll sneak stuff in to you later when Stan's not looking!" Wendy managed to yell to them just before - 'click' - Stan shut the door on them.

Dipper and Mabel couldn't help but giggle at their antics. "Bye, guys," the twins called back quietly, hoping the two of them could hear.

Stan dropped tissues and other such supplies on the coffee table with a sigh. "Alright...you knuckleheads both need meds, and I'm makin' soup. And later, I...may or may not be able to...spare some ice cream." He grinned.

Mabel gasped and smiled. "Yes! Ice cream!" she cheered softly before sneezing.

"Bless you," Dipper said...and then promptly sneezed himself.

Stan ruffled the kids' hair affectionately. "Consider yourselves lucky. I don't go sharin' my stash with just anyone, y'know!" He chuckled a little as he disappeared into the kitchen. He peeked back through the kitchen door, for just a second, to make sure they'd gotten settled before getting to work.

Later on that evening, after the little family had sat down together for ice cream and a movie, Stan unraveled himself from the blanket pile on the couch and left the room for just a minute to grab some coffee. When he came back...

"Hey, kiddos, it's gettin' late...whaddya say we-" He stopped as soon as he saw the kids and smiled warmly. "Ha...wouldja look at this..."

The sight before him was too adorable for words. Dipper and Mabel were fast asleep, leaning on each other for support. Waddles had stretched himself across both of their laps, as if he was determined to guard them as they slept.

Stan chuckled - not only because the sight of the twins sleeping was so sweet, but also because he found his mind wandering to the happier days of his youth. Distant and bittersweet as they now were, he remembered them fondly just then, as if they had only occurred a few days prior. Those were treasured days, worth their weight in gold, where, even if sickness kinda killed a fun weekend, it wasn't as bad when there was a good friend to keep you company.

He silently debated whether or not to move the kids upstairs and soon decided against it entirely. "Eh...just let 'em sleep, Stan," he mumbled to himself. "They're comfortable where they are. No use disturbin' 'em both."

He was about to turn the TV off and depart for his bedroom, but he hesitated. He just couldn't bring himself to leave the kids alone. So, he just sat on the opposite end of the couch - gently, so as not to wake them.

Just as he went to check the kids' foreheads, Mabel suddenly coughed a bit in her sleep, rolled over, and hugged Stan's arm. Dipper murmured something in his sleep, and his head fell over onto Mabel's shoulder.

"Awwww..." Stan put his arm around Mabel. "Sweet dreams, pumpkin." He slowly reached his arm over Mabel's head and ruffled Dipper's hair. "G'night to you too, kiddo."

Mabel smiled in her sleep, as if the message had gotten to her regardless of her slumber. Dipper did as well and wrapped one arm around Waddles, who oinked happily in response and went back to piggy-snoring.

Stan kept his arm around the kids for the rest of the night. He had had no intention of falling asleep, but the cuddle pile had a rather soothing effect, and so he soon joined his niblings in slumberland in spite of himself.

In another couple days, to Stan's relief, Dipper and Mabel bounced back from their colds completely. Almost immediately, the tween sleuths were back to exploring the gigantic oddity that was Gravity Falls, where countless other summer adventures - and misadventures - awaited them...somewhere in the woods...

the end

19-10-14-9-25 25-9-3-6 5-3-11-11-19-6 1-16-15-12-19 25-9-3 21-23-10, 11-19-23-4-22-23-17-5 25-9-3-6 8-23-6-4-25 5-3-6-19-12-25 1-9-10'4 12-23-5-4 21-16-23-10-17-19 1-15-12-12 22-19-17-15-10 1-15-4-16 4-16-19 15-11-8-19-10-20-15-10-17 6-19-4-3-6-10 9-18 23-10 9-12-20 8-23-12 18-6-9-11 4-16-15-6-4-25 25-19-23-6-5 8-23-5-4 5-9-11-19-20-23-25 5-9-9-10, 23 5-16-9-9-4-15-10-17 5-4-23-6 1-15-12-12 18-23-12-12, 23-10-20 15'12-12 4-23-13-19 22-23-21-13 1-16-23-4 15 11-9-5-4 20-19-5-15-6-19 15-18 25-9-3 20-15-20-10'4 1-23-10-4 4-9 17-9 3-8 15-10 18-12-23-11-19-5, 8-15-10-19-5, 25-9-3 5-16-9-3-12-20-10'4 16-23-2-19 5-4-23-6-4-19-20 4-16-19 18-15-6-19

[grubhivemind]

-- decastichAmazifier [DA] began pestering aurulentHuntsman [AH] -- 

DA: sup working man 

DA: there he is, standing post proudly with his boot on a stump, tiddies out, hair billowing 

DA: unless i caught you during the lunch break and you're slurpin noodles while reading this 

DA: no less attractive but entirely different situations though one is decidedly saucier... damn we just found the peak of potential sexiness 

DA: good work team

AH: KAVI! ~}==> 

AH: What a pleasant surprise! Indeed, you have caught me during a moment of respite, so your timing is QUITE fortuitous ~}==> 

AH: I could definitely eat though, now that you mention it... ~}==>

DA: the hunger is real and altogether mutual, but let's work on food first 

DA: guess which handsome guy is having his handsome boyfriend drop by lunch? 

DA: Avalon is a lot of ground to cover and while i'd hate to dump a tracking chip on you i can't help to realize how convenient it'd make dropping in

AH: How inventive! We could exchange tracking chips if you'd like! HAHA ~}==> 

AH: I'm sure that would be unnecessary, however... I am always at your beck and call, of course ~}==> 

AH: For now, you can find me at home ~}==>

DA: there he goes feeding into my bad habits with grace and flourish while also being a sweet fuckin dork, expertly disarmed.. damn 

DA: you can't tell but i'm clenching my fist like a prepubescent anteater... or aardvark ...... the fuck? 

DA: i'm gonna google it on my way over

DA: see you in 10 babe

-- decastichAmazifier [DA] ceased pestering aurulentHuntsman [AH] -- 

KAVI: =It's a home he's well familiar with so don't mind him swoocing on in there... unless it's into one of Auryhn's mechanical servants then really don't mind and please look away from that fumble. He's having a better hair day but with changing from the hot to the cold his curls are all tight and extra sproingy=

AURYHN: -please, he has security cameras everywhere... he sees all. but he will not crush kavi's pride by drawing attention to his blunders. instead he trots out into the hall to greet him with a swoosh of his coat.- There you are! ~}==>

KAVI: =HE WILL HACK YOU.... but not this time because all the toys are away. The coat and scarf are already coming off, Auryhn gets a big smile and a cold kiss on the cheek= it's me, your dream come reality 

KAVI: even more so since i got nibbles, hope you're in the mood for Earth-style Mediterranean 

KAVI: i'm expanding my menu.. trying anyway

AURYHN: It sounds DELECTABLE ~}==> 

AURYHN: You know I'm always willing to try something different ~}==> -winks and places a palm to kavi's back, leading him towards one of his many drawing rooms in the wing that's still private to him, as opposed to being repurposed for his CREW. it's much more casual here than eating in the dining area. he'd rather kavi feel cozy and at home.-

KAVI: =Here's the scoop though, he does feel at home here and most certainly with Auryhn in general. It's kinda scary, very exciting, and exceedingly frightening. Being in love is great but it doesn't really come hard for people like him which sprouds a wariness that he can't shake but, conflictingly, not give a shit to shake.= 

KAVI: nuts, and here i was plotting all kinds of ways to convince you there goes the pre-lunch seduction 

KAVI: which is probably in the best interest of all parties, hummus goes on pita, it's basically law and i'd hate the local authority to catch wind to my wrongdoings =he'd HATE it, it'd be so awful.... but once in the dining area he lays out the food fresh from his sylladex thus fresh from the kitchen= 

KAVI: =A hearty salad with things like chic peas and purple lettuce, falafels and thinly sliced meats and not to mention the hummus and some cucumber sauce he tried to make. Also because presentation is everything he has it looking fancy for his spoiled prince=

AURYHN: -yes, these are two men who truly value presentation. auryhn is eyeing the display with much interest, on the edge of his seat and gathering up his meal.- This is fantastic! And you prepared it all yourself? ~}==> 

AURYHN: -he's such a carnivore, despite half his family being vegetarian, and chomps right into the falafel without a moment's hesitation. it's only kavi around, there's no need to be COMPLETELY refined.-

KAVI: mmhmmmmm, right down to the pita =chinhands while Auryhn tears into his food. Kavi's always been more of a nibbler so that's what he's doing= 

KAVI: nothin but the best for you, sugarcube =and he intends to make it the best... having practiced these recipes for around a week Figaro's had more than his fair share of lettuce and other greens other turtles can only dream of= gotta make sure my man's well-fed

AURYHN: -looks up from his food with big smiles and shiny eyes. so much adoration. kavi spoils him... and he does like to be spoiled, even if he's sometimes a little too prideful to admit. after dabbing at his face with his napkin -- because he's no HEATHEN -- he leans in to give kavi a kiss on the side of his head.- 

AURYHN: It's delicious, Kavi. Thank you ~}==> 

AURYHN: I must return the favor next time... ~}==> -it's been a while since he's done any cooking. it's a shame.-

KAVI: =grins and never ceases the chinhand= anytime babe, i look forward to that 

KAVI: maybe sometime we can cook together, that'd be bitchin =He misses that cooking and also Auryhn in general. All this hero-ing makes him nervous but he doesn't mention it..... much=

AURYHN: -he seems EXTRA excited about that idea.- Egads, that's genius! Why haven't be thought of that before? ~}==> -he's so pleased, he smooches on kavi again... and nuzzles him... he might be a little starved for affection.-

KAVI: we were too busy one-upping each other into oblivion on the smooth factor =smiles at the nuzzles, good excellent. Crosses his legs and leans on Auryhn. Up on him actually for a kiss= 

KAVI: we can make time for it and other shit, multi-tasking if need be

AURYHN:  If anyone has the drive and the capability to achieve that kind of multitasking, it would be us! ~}==>

AURYHN: However, I'd rather not divide up any of my attention when I have time alone with you ~}==> -don't mind him as he abandons his food to touch at kavi's cheek, brush a thumb at his springy curls.-

KAVI: =Turns into that hand and lightly kisses Auryhn's palm, his hair is soft and if it's pulled it'll bounce right back up. Speaking of let's get up he settles in Auryhn's lap, scooting him out from the table a little= 

KAVI: oh you wouldn't be dividing any attention, not from me .... really 

KAVI: hypothetical question: could we or could we not squeeze in a quickie while making a robust stew?

AURYHN: -grinning at this kavi he has bundled up in his lap, resting his hands on his sides... only to short circuit a little at the question.- AH... ~}==> 

AURYHN: THAT SEEMS LIKE IT COULD GET....... Messy ~}==> -wheeze-

KAVI: =shrugs cooly and plays with Auryhn's ponytail, putting it over a strong shoulder then moves to play with his ear= maybe but that's always, if the mess in the kitchen is a big deal there's an easy fix 

KAVI: =Let's it hang in the air for a minute= i mean. i could just turn around

AURYHN: -oh deer, he's quite blue in the face now, his ear twitching under kavi's delicate touch.- That would be... much more convenient ~}==> AURYHN: -hands smooth down his thighs, palming at them with a sudden eagerness.-

Mishroom-04/20/2017

KAVI: =All according to keikaku= KAVI: see, that's what i'm sayin we can be mad efficient =Leans down to kiss Auryhn's collarbone then tips his head up, nosing under his jaw. He can't not grin at that cool blush= we could do a practice run just to be sure if you're still worried though... unless you gotta get back =Which yeah the way Kavi drags his fingers and speaks soft and low under Auryhn's ear that's basically a thing he's gunning to not happen. He will play dirty=

AURYHN: -honestly, he doesn't need much convincing when it comes to any form of attention -- but especially so in this case. he's already long gone and the sweet touches might as well be torture. he grips at kavi tighter.- Well... Haha... Surely if there was any immedi8 threat to 8e concerned with, I'd know... ~}==> 

AURYHN: But who's to stop me from neighing-- STAYING ~}==> -all the heat rushes to his face for his excited slip ups. how embarrassing.-

KAVI: =Neighing... Kavi grins and even though that tighter grip makes his insides roll in excitement he also just-- now directly in Auryhn's ear= (hey how you doin big man lemme knicker in ya ear, you can pun all night baby. wordplay is my second favorite) = snickers and nips at that lobe, dangerous flat teeth watch out.=

AURYHN: -flat as they are, the way they scrape is an entirely different kind of  deadly. between that and the whispers (FILLY as they are) he's shuddering all the way down to his toes, his blunders all but forgotten.- I wouldn't call it... especially clever wordplay... But a slip of the tongue ~}==>

AURYHN: You've got me rather twisted up... ~}==> -reciprocates with sweet kisses to kavi's neck, his hands grasping with more confidence, up under his shirt at the warm skin of his sides.-

KAVI: =A grin spreads over his face feeling Auryhn shudder, good. Excellent.= i'll give you a slip of the tongue, also it's cute 

KAVI: my only thing is be prepared for me to prod you the next century if you're about to bust a trollnut and a pun comes out, i'm just saying it's out of my hands and gives me life while also destroying me 

KAVI: =Mutters through the neck kisses and flexes for the wandering hands and undoes his ponytail gently. Combing fingers through Auryhn's hair to fan it out= before the mocking starts i can help you unwind though.... we.... do have a perfectly good table right here and technically i didn't put out dessert so that can be fixed =presses a kiss to Auryhn's cheek, it's him. He is the dessert. It's a careful, gentle set-up to being boned on furniture. Smooth=

AURYHN: -oh yes, VERY subtle... but auryhn didn't need much coaxing. after moving aside the food on the table, his hands secure under kavi's ass, lifting him with ease and a rumbly purr, silky smooth and contrasting his chastising words.- 

AURYHN: Must you be so crude? I've herdly been given the chance to romance you ~}==> -with that, he plops kavi onto the table, crushing him under more kisses.- 

AURYHN: Or would you prefer to skip that part? ~}==> 

AURYHN: Whatever you desire, your wish is my command...~}==>

KAVI: =The second this dumb chair is out of the way his legs secure themselves around Auryhn's waist. Then snickers against his lips, pausing from slipping up Auryhn's shirt= whoa time out, are you sure? you bathe in pure romance babe, Mr. Flowers-for-no-reason =Bye shirt, folds it and puts it under his head. His now= 

KAVI: oh, rare flowers from the top of mountains not one a wholeassed bouquet nbd KAVI: but i mean.... if it's player's choice then i'm ready for more unbridled spoilage from my super sweet boyfriend =cops cop tiddies=

AURYHN: -these unbridled stallion tiddies FLEX under kavi's hands.- In that case... ~}==> 

AURYHN: -kisses down his neck to his collar tenderly, shifting over him to start pulling his shirt up as well, exposing more skin to cover in more cool, gentle smooches.- Please allow me to worship every inch of you ~}==>

KAVI: =NICE. These are the goods and Kavi's cat is showing because he's kneading them, poses gently as his shirt is pulled up :sparkle: But also.... :eyes: hot diggity= 

KAVI: when you ask that nicely how could i say no?