#( look we talked about Zack treating her like a girl )

[ad-hawkeye]

a big list of my favorite little alkaid moments

[modern] being found absolutely conked out in the snow on the mountain. that's one way to have a meet cute i guess.

[modern] alkaid's "morning call service" where he calls mc each morning pretending to be a hotel help desk staff member reminding her to wake up... only to keep it short sometimes because he can't bring himself to wake her up

[modern] whatever sort of Beep inside joke they have going on where they pretend to make a reservation or selection for each other

[modern] alkaid requesting to do the ET finger touch thing when talking about aliens with mc

[modern] mc claiming that she's the dangerous one of the two when it comes to her and alkaid.

[modern] beanie and sparkles having cat play dates. alkaid also using "sparkles would like to see beanie" as an excuse to see mc.

[modern] the only time this alkaid had a murderous look in his eyes was when someone tried to hurt sparkles.

[modern] "hey don't feel down! as long as you try your best, you can definitely become a horrible person!" "......! well if you really think so, then i'll give it a try."

[modern] alkaid being a natural flirt to the point where he doesn't even realize he's doing it sometimes, but being unable to take what he dishes by getting blushy or bashful when mc flirts with him instead.

[modern, halloween] alkaid absolutely struggling to put on the angel wings for his costume and needing mc to help him get the second wing on.

[modern, halloween] mc lamenting that she can't resist eating some of the candy she makes and alkaid being like. oh no. no, that's not falling to temptation, that's just taste testing. and it is Totally your duty.

[modern, halloween] alkaid apologizing for being too forward even though all he did was say he liked mc's bouquet for him the most. someone lock this man up, we are NOT safe with him on the streets.

[modern, princess day] alkaid being "deathly terrified of screwing up" bartending for princess day for mc so he practices.. for hours…. and hours…

[modern, love day] if mc chooses to look at the scenic photos alkaid took at the carnival, alkaid will jokingly claim the ones of him and her are now his and yoink them away from her

[modern, love day] alkaid saying mc can act like a cat when she visits his place, only for her to meow at him and step on his foot

[godheim] alkaid asking for a hug before he overexerts his magic and then goofily proclaiming that he's "so scandalous!" before giving mc another side hug.

[godheim] mc and alkaid's banter where alkaid initially says "good girl" to her for keeping her eyes closed during his magical overexertion, only for mc to say "you're being such a good boy" to his frozen body in the carriage, where his eyelids just barely twitch in vague annoyance.

[godheim] speaking of being frozen. he heard and saw everything mc did while he was in that state. so that was definitely him responding to her. he also remembered her kissing him. he refuses to answer mc when she asks if he was conscious.

[godheim] zack calling alkaid out on wearing his old mage outfit simply bc mc likes it. alkaid just smiles and is like hey. quiet. you might wake her up and she'll hear. that's not how you treat the guy who saved your life 🥺🥺

[godheim] alkaid's support for ayn and mc during ayn's route and helping the two of them escape.

[godheim] during the hunting event, alkaid has to be forced into participating by lars' orders. even then he still doesn't participate and proceeds to buy all of the meat at the market place with the money he and mc made off of his magic tricks. he claims this is definitely not cheating. mc agrees.

[eden] there's not a ton for eden since that world's alkaid is the equivalent of a sopping wet pitiful cat, but there's something endearing about alkaid learning all of his social graces and dating etiquette from old books. the prefect had to sit and watch all of this like some sort of long suffering older brother forced to play dolls or whatever

[eden] alkaid panicking and running off when mc asked him to find the missing boy who called for help.

[eden] out of all of the things he could have chosen to wear, alkaid picks out this like. coquette?? pretty boy tuxedo? WITH a cunty little earring? good for him... good for him!

[eden] he also makes a bunch of little model dioramas with houses, gardens and people in them. if he ever went to the modern world he would LOVE michael's.

[eden] in his epilogue, alkaid remade his little lantern with him and mc in it because she was the only one who could stir any kind of feeling in him after losing his emotions. he gets very embarrassed if she finds this out.

[strayheartless]

@salternateunreality2 said that Zack fair was the Steve Irwin of FF7 and now I can’t stop thinking about it!

We talked a bit about how baby Zack used to bring random jungle animals home and got yelled at when the were agressive and/poisonous. Zacks dad having the patience of a saint as he took baby Zack back outside to go set it free and have a conversation about how tree frogs do not make good pets. Mama fair wishes he would grow out of it but at 13 just before Zack ran away he would still burst in with boa constrictors and the occasional jaguar cub that he’d found hit by a Shinra vehicle. He always had dog treats on him for the local strays and Cats seemed to adore him.

When he gets to Shinra it doesn’t get better. Angeal has had to stop too many briefings in the field because Zack has found and interesting (and likely venomous) spider. Genesis refuses to go into the field with him anymore because last time Zack started petting the wererats and feeding them cheese!

He brings home every stray he finds and it’s around the time Zack brings home a desert fox that Lazard gives up policing the issue. Apart from anything else, Zack seems to genuinely know what he’s doing with the animals he finds. He has a bunch of books and audio tapes on zoology; he’s uses all his money to buy the right foods and enclosures; he even has a fail safe of people to go in and check on the critters in his apartment while he’s away.

Kunsal’s his go to guy but Cloud absolutely gets dragged into it too. Both of them are country boys and used to wild animals and Zack only ever keeps the animals until their rehabilitated. Then he travels with them to put them back in their original habitats. Zack does have animals he keeps though

There’s a lot of spiders (Cloud dislikes them intensely),

the lame street dog he built a wheel chair for from Kalm. Zack named her Dude only to find out she was a girl so now she gets miss Dude (she seems to adore Cloud and follows him all over the building)

the two albino cats with wobbly cat syndrome called bink and bonk (kunsals personal favourites)

the angry looking Banoran Cave Toad named Genesis (Angeal’s personal favourite.)

Many many fish all with various stupid names.

That one stick insect named Paul… for some reason.

And a giant wutian planes Rabbit named flop. (Zack happened to “accidentally” register him as a therapy animal who’s main job is sitting on a certain General Sephiroth when he goes non verbal.)

[cottoncandy-cult]

Calmer Days

Zack Foster x LilSis! Reader

I'm finally getting around to transferring a lot of my stuff from Wattpad to here, so here is the first of many to come. Might event transfer my Zack Foster Scenarios book. But that depends, I might save that book and one of my others for my Ao3 incase they're too long to post without multiple parts of just one scenario. Oh how I wish the organization on here was better, and that we didn't have such a small word count limit.

Anyways TW: Lot's of swearing and references to child abuse (If you know anything about Angels of Death or Zack you know his story isn't a happy one.)

Zack was stretched out on the couch in his room on floor B-6, his younger sister was walking around trying to clean up a little. Unlike her big brother she wasn't a blood thirsty killer, just a quiet girl who loved her brother dearly. She had bandages around her right arm and around her waist, she was maybe 5 when Zack had been set on fire, in her attempt to help put him out she had been burned as well. "Why do you even bother? This place is a shit hole anyways, not like we'll be having guests any time soon " (Y/n) only smiled, putting an empty box in a trash bag. She was on decent terms with Danny, so usually when he went out, she'd ask him to pick up one or two things. "Because I'm tired of not being able to walk without stepping on something, besides... I can't help it..." The young girl looked down, Zack only sighed as he got up and approached her. (Y/n) had been abused much like Zack, despite being so young their mother treated her as a maid. She took care of most the chores, and if things weren't up to their mother's standards, she'd be beaten with a leather belt. Zack tried to stand up for her, but then they started using her to punish him.

Zack may not have remembered much about the night he was set ablaze, but she did, and her heart ached. Their whore mother brought one of her John's home, the bastard had slapped (Y/n) because the beer she brought him wasn't cold enough. Zack had immediately stepped up; the fight was verbal at first. But then he drug Zack to the garage, having locked the door that led into the house. But when (Y/n) heard his screams she ran around through the door on the side of the garage, she was horrified at what she saw. She wasn't sure how she caught fire, thinking back she figured when she tripped running into the garage that her arm had touched a puddle of gas. So, when she got close to put him out, she figured that's when it caught fire. Their mother had been the one to put them out, but she simply wrapped them up in bandages and dumped them off at the shitty house that night.

The two were all they really had, so he had no second thoughts of pulling the girl into his chest. He always felt guilty for when they were kids, how often she was hurt just because he messed up. "I promise (Y/n), no one will hurt you ever again. If they try, I'll fucking kill them." His voice was soft but gruff, the girl dropping the garbage bag in favor of hugging him back. Her body relaxed into it, the only time she felt safe was when she was close to her brother. She blamed him for nothing, he did his best and he couldn't help the positions they had been put in. "Thank you, bubba..." Her voice was soft, Zack petting her for a moment before going back to the couch.

(Y/n) smiled, picking up the bag and continuing to clean. She had the best big brother in the world, no one could tell her otherwise. "Hey Zack?..." The girl turned to her brother who flipped through the pages of a magazine, he couldn't read but he liked the pages. "What?" He didn't glance up, but she knew he was listening. "You'll never leave me... Right?" That got his attention, he looked to her with a raised eyebrow. "The fuck you talking about? Of course, I wouldn't leave you stupid." That made the girl giggle and nod, going back to cleaning. Zack smiled softly as he watched, then went back to his magazine. She was his sanity.

[ocean-anchored]

November 23, 23... continued

Saturday evening I went to Grape Fest with Sasha which was also really fun. It was super busy but we had a good time & some good laughs, I enjoy her company a lot, she's a good one. Sunday I went to a new church. I was a bit nervous but I'm glad I went. A girl my age sat beside me & we ended up talking afterwards, I asked if she needed prayer & we exchanged prayer requests & numbers. Later I met up with Daniel at Courtyard for a beer & then we went for nearly a 2 hour walk. It was pretty nice, he's really genuine & intentional. We had really great conversation about life & ended up getting pretty vulnerable. He's a good guy & I'm glad to have him as a friend. Monday I ended up going to Okotoks because Ed canceled our meetings. I told Danny I forgave him which was nice, we hugged it out & its in the past. This guy Braeden works there, I know he's just a young kid but damn he's nice to look at. I went to Anneriekes for late birthday dinner & visit with J. It was good but always all about Steve. It was nice to hear the update at least but man, it's like you try to keep her at arms length but after that night she's texted me like 5 times, sent me a bunch of stuff on IG it's just a lot. I feel bad but I just got to watch myself & my time. Tuesday night I went for sushi with Kamber - finally met up with her since like 3 months ago. I really love that girl too, she's so sweet & we always have such a great time. I'm really glad to have met her & our friendiversary is coming up too in January so I need to find that out. Yesterday I essentially got off for the week since it's US thanksgiving. I had a meeting & cleaned the house etc. Zack started texting me a bunch again. I really did plan to never talk to him again, but I was worried about him again... we ended up talking, went to nose hill & just had a brief talk. I could see it in his eyes. I understand his pain. I understand how much he doesn't want to live like this. It really saddens me. I stood my ground though & my boundary was clear. He knows if he does something again that I'm blocking his number 100% & he will never hear from me again. I think he gets it but who knows. I wonder why I do this. He's my kryptonite. He's that one person that could treat me horribly & I will always come back because I fell so hard. I find him so attractive that I can't not look at him. I hate it. I hate what he does to me, how he makes me feel. But I will keep my stance & I will protect myself. I deserve more & i deserve better, I know. Then Shane came over & we played some switch games. It was nice, chill. He bought me a vegas knights toque & signed Marchessau jersey. I was beside myself.. He does too much. He's too kind. I feel like I trust him but I don't want to hurt him & I know I'm in no place to be seeing anyone anyways, nor do I even want to. He's a good friend though, really does respect my boundaries which I appreciate. Anyways - that's all for now. Im heading out for dinner at the Keg and have a massage tomorrow morning. I'm becoming happier. I'm reading more, including an audio book. I'm spending more time on myself & my self care. Spending more time with nova going out, eating cleaner & have been exercising & working out a lot more, been essentially every day for just over a week now so I'm feeling pretty good again.

[hostiias]

@makoeycd​ ♚ INTIMACY STARTERS

“i promise i’ll be a good girl”

        Snap! The lace of her garter snaps against her thigh as Zack pulls it up and lets go, relishing in the slight red mark it. His mouth follows his hand, leaning down to lick at the red skin--soothing the irritation with his tongue and a pleased hum. “Good, I don’t want to have to punish you if you aren’t, baby doll~.” he hums, fingers dancing along the lace of her stockings and almost purring at how her skin feels like this. Cloud is always surprising him, but this is definitely his favorite one. She’s left her hair down, adding a blend of make-up that he can’t wait to see all over his lips and running down her face. Zack can’t say he likes hurting Cloud, but he loves making her come undone; cry with pleasure until she can’t hardly stand it anymore and begs him. 

            Her waist looks smaller in the corset-style lingerie she’s laced herself into and it takes his breath away. It’s all baby blue and floral; exposing her skin while giving her modesty over the dip between her legs and her chest. There’s a silver angel feather dangling from her ear and he knows; knows it means that she wants to be a girl--that right now she’s the woman of his dreams. Oh and how he loves her for all she is; laced up and whimpering for him. It doesn’t matter to him if Cloud likes to be a girl sometimes; if she doesn’t fit in with societies idea of what gender should or shouldn’t be--of what she is allowed to like or not like. Callouses slip from her thigh (regrettably forcing him to let go of the straps he’d been toying with) to grip at her hips and he digs his thumb into them briefly. 

              They continue their journey up until he can curl his fingers over her waist, gripping the dip of it and rubbing the soft lace over her skin. He’s been teasing her--light touches meant to inspire her imagination into thinking on what he’s going to give her next, but never giving her much. “Oh baby girl look at you...” He catches her gaze and licks his lips before slowly gliding his gaze back down. “I’m gonna eat you up~.” And it’s a promise as he shifts down, hands moving back to her perfect thighs (taking a moment to scrape his nails over any skin that’s exposed) and spreads them, nestling his head against her hip. He nips at the edge of the panties hugging her hips before he finally noses under them and he bites down. It’s not hard enough to draw blood--but enough to leave a nice indent in one of her most sensitive places. He growls low in his throat, stroking his tongue where he just bit. 

                “Do you want that baby~? Want me to dive under these pretty panties that look so good on you and use my mouth on that pretty clit of yours~?” 

[hostelsbigbro]

my opinion on the lookism characters expect i am brutally honest bc these are just little fictional characters !! pixels !! deadass !! do you need to agree? no !! it will not change anything, i am open to hearing your opinions as well !!

daniel most realistic personality wise and i slowly forget more and more about him because we are straying away from the main topic

zack best boy, he might not be everyones favourite but he has always been doing his best to emotionally become more intelligent and aware, he has so much potential and is the most loyal friend ever, i really hate how ptj dumbs him down bc lookism fans obviously go 'oh haha he is dumb!' bitch no he goes out of his way to love people and no one really seems to love him the same way give him a fucking break

vasco i really loved him but the more they show him the more unbearable he becomes like bro the FUCK they make him boring and cold for? dude is on the road of slowly becoming what he hates the most in this world, a bully.. like i know he is dumb but that much? bro

jace he used to be so smart and so sexy and honest to his mistakes but now he is an irritating jay park look alike that pretends he knows what he is talking about !!! he isnt a genius everyone around him is just dumb as hell

mira does she have a personality besides weak, controlling and easy to make sulky if things aren't exactly how she wants them to be?? no?? i thought so

zoe literally best girl she has grown so much as a person i am so proud of her i would kill logan for her <3

mary not gonna lie i dont remember much about her personality besides anger issues, cursing and insecure but she is beautiful and honestly whoever puts up with vinjin for years without going insane deserves a praise i am convinced she is incredibly patient

jerry does this bitch have a personality outside of jake, i wanted to like him but i fr cant whenever he comes in frame it will always turn into a dramatic soap opera about his love for jake and promises

jake actually the funniest AND kindest person bc how does anyone know Jiho and still try to see the good in him? he is better than me for sure because he can see the good in everyone no matter how irritating the person is

samuel my one and only precious lovely diamond baby <333 did it make sense? no ! however i would protect this wounded person with my heart no one ever seems to treat him nicely expect eugene who is a literal monster

johan this is my child and i am convinced he has never done anything wrong not once in his life time every crime he commited was justified, he is just a baby who has been alone for too long !! imagine trying to figure out how to be an adult from age 12 bro that is exhausting he needs a break

eugene a fucking bastard however.. he could manipulate you to love him !!! bro got shipped with his own brother i feel like this fandom is going to hell bc they did the same with jake and samuel anyway eugene is a bitch but one that will make you question yourself

vinjin i want to like him but then he opens his mouth

sally i love her !!! she has so much potential but lately ptj makes her be nothing else other than a weak crying brat!!! i wish they would just make her strong, smart and emotionally intelligent just like when she got introduced!!! still funny tho 10/10

heather fuck this r*pist! I have no sympathy for her

yenna best baby, bet she is kind

eli i want to write a book about my love for him

i got tired tbh thats it

[lexacoolfox]

I saw your bio about angel of death too!! May i request nagito X s/o who's like zack!!:D I hope i don't bothering you and have a nice day^^♡♡

Yes finally! Also your not bothering me, and thank you for wishing me a nice day! Your such a sweet heart adelia-Chan!

Nagito with a S/O like Zack!

Now it is modern time, you probably aren’t a murder but you can be, um…problematic.

You liked to beat people up when the looked to happy or mad. It made you feel good.

You obviously laughed like a mentally insane person when you did.

Now on the first day of school you saw a boy with white hair looking way to happy, he looked like a good target.

He noticed you right away and introduced himself with that smile, he sounded so joyful while doing it. That just made you want beat him up even more.

“Hello I’m Nagito Komeada!”

“Hey Komeada. I’m S/O. You got three seconds to run.”

The last part you said with a dark tone. He looked at you confused.

“Um…why would I need to run?”

“Cause you look way to frickin happy, makes me want to beat you up! I like to give people a fair chance to try to run away. As long you beg or scream for me not to hurt you to bad! I love seeing fear on my victims faces! Gets my blood bumping!”

He softly chuckled.

“Oh I’m not going to run away. I’ll let you do it. Come hit me! An ultimate like you hitting trash like me is an honor!”

You stumbled back and leaned by a nearby trash can and threw up.

“Man is something wrong with you. That’s the most messed up thing I’ve ever heard. You not running away or begging for your life. it makes it no fun. See ya later weirdo, I going to class I guess.”

Unfortunately (or fortunately) you both had the same class.

So you really couldn’t escape him, you had to listen to him insult himself and his thing on hope. Which kinda annoyed you.

You interested him and he wanted to get to know you. Like what your hobbies, your goals, or why do you like to beat up people who look happy.

“Is there a reason why your following me like a lost puppy?”

“Your interest me. Just pretend I’m not here.”

You saw a group of girls. They were laughing at another girl. They poured milk on her and laughed even louder. This brought back a memory from your childhood. A very bad memory.

You feel into a rage. You ran and proceeded to beat these girls to the point where they were knocked out. You turned to the girl who they were bullying you held out a hand for her to grab. You helped her getting up, patted her head then walked away.

Nagito followed close behind. You forgot he was following you. You went somewhere quite with a low chance of other students walking by. Then you grabbed him by the neck and shoved him against the wall.

“You better not tell anyone about anything you saw! Or else your gonna end up worse then those girls!”

“Oh I was never going to tell anyone anyway!”

“You better not be lying! I hate liars more than anything!”

“I’m not lying.”

You looked at him in the eyes. He was completely honest. You let him go.

“I thought it was kinda cool to see you standing up for that girl.”

“I wasn’t doing it for her. I was doing it cause it reminded me of something. Something I’d rather forget.”

“Even though, your speed and strength was amazing to see in action. You also held such passion in your eyes.”

You started angry mumbling not because he was annoying you but your were honestly embarrassed, you weren’t used to hearing much praise.

One day your class decided to have a party, you don’t know how they convinced you. But they did, you didn’t listen to the details just the time and place.

The party was a bonfire party.

Once you arrived you were the last one to arrive, they started off the fire. To where you started internally freaking out. Also frozen in fear.

At some point you were escaped into the back of the woods, Nagito noticed and went to follow you. He heard you near by. You found you punching a tree while yelling. You hade to stop cause of your hands

You wore bandages all over hands, shoulder, arms, and up your back a little, from a incident from a long time ago. You heard a twig snap.

“Who’s there! Show yourself!”

“Oops looks like I’ve been spotted.”

“Ugh! What’s with you and following me!”

“Well I noticed you left the party. I just wanted to know why.

He said sitting on a tree stump. You lean against a tree.

“Don’t tell anyone this. But. I’m scared of fire.”

“Oh. Well, how about we go to a near by gas station. We can get some snacks!”

“I don’t have any money.”

“Don’t worry I’ll pay.”

You weren’t saying no to free food. You guys got a couple of snacks and went to a nearby park to sit on a bench.

You actually had a nice conversation with Nagito. You actually were laughing a lot. For the first time ever somebody smile didn’t want to make you beat them up. Nagito smile made you smile.

You developed a crush on Nagito.

You treated him different from then on.

No threats were thrown his way from you. You didn’t mind when he talked to you. Anytime somebody gave him a nasty look for saying something. You punch your hand against your palm as a sign. You often lean against him when he talks to somebody. Anytime he says an insult to himself, you put him in a headlock and start giving him noogies while saying “why do you keep saying that! Do you got some screws loose Huh?!” You could say it’s tough love. Everbody knew you had a crush on Nagito. But you were to dense to notice your own feelings and Nagito was to oblivious to notice your change in behavior. Surprisingly you and fuyuhiko had a kinda Frenemy thing going on. You two acted like you hate each other, which you do. but you two had a lot in common so sometimes you got along. He’s the one to point out your feelings

“When you going to tell Nagito you like him?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“It’s so obvious you have a crush on him. Which is kinda weird.”

“What’s a crush?”

He gave you a shock looked. Then called you an idiot. He explained a crush and then it made sense to you.

“So…how do I tell him.”

“Just tell him. Unless your a chicken.”

“Shut up! I’m not a chicken! I’ll go tell him right now!”

You stomped away looking for Nagito to tell him. You found him being Ganged up by some guys. You beat all of them up. Some puked from your punches, some passed out, some ran away. You picked up Nagito and threw him over his shoulder and started walking away with him.

“Um s/o can you let me down? I can walk on my own.”

“No.”

You went back to your place and threw him on your couch.

“Thanks for saving me back there. I didn’t think you would save me like that.”

You flicked him in the forehead.

“Of course I saved you. I love you dummy.”

He blushed at the sudden confession.

“I love you too.”

You blushed and pulled him to your chest. You cuddle him, so you guys are now a couple.

Here somethings you do now your a couple

You are always touching him in someway, simple hand hold, hugging, leaning against him, just anything works.

Your like his own personal bodyguard.

He helps you with your bandages when you need to change them.

He comforts you when there’s fire.

You give him random small kisses.

Everybody and anybody is too scared to flirt with Nagito.

When you two are anywhere like a booth at a restaurant. You have you arm wrapped around Nagito shoulder.

After a long time. You told him things about your childhood, which he understood and helped you deal with your trauma.

Bonus: for this to make sense. I ship fuyuhiko and Peko.

You noticed how fuyuhiko acted around peko. You and Nagito decided to play match maker.

Nagito invited fuyuhiko to a cafe to hangout. While you did the same with peko.

They arrived at the cafe both texting you asking where you were. Both of you texted something came up with your significant other so you couldn’t make it. They spotted each other and decided to hangout. Just according to plan. you and Nagito where wearing disguises to watch them. Nagito went up to their waiter after he took their order, saying he’ll pay for them.

When they learned that somebody payed for them and the waiter pointed who. They realized it was you two. You practically grab Nagito and made a mad dash for the exit.

Later that night you got to listen to a mad fuyuhiko, while receiving passive aggressive text from peko.

“Why you so mad? I’m just helping you out. I mean you helped me and Nagito get together. I’m just returning the favor.”

“What?! Are you implying I have a crush on peko! What gave off that idea?!”

“A lot of things gave off that idea. C’mon you like her. Don’t be a chicken.”

“I hate you!”

“The feelings mutual. Just go for it.”

“You don’t tell me what to do-“

You hung up. You put your phone on silent and went to sleep. Luckily it was Friday so you didn’t have school the next day. So they couldn’t bother you about it.

[lyntonier]

A train to Paris

Carmen Sandiego x Gray Calloway

Summary: Carmen is taking a break away from her work — helping out at the Orphanage and fighting crime — and decides to take a trip back to Paris, a location she quite enjoyed. During her journey she meets a familiar face she believed she would not see again.

A/N: This is set after season 4.

"So Carms, I hear you are off to Paris for the week huh?"

I smile into the phone, listening to Ivy's comment.

"You heard correct. Well, assuming nothing goes wrong, that is".

I had gotten a break from working at the Orphanage with my Madre, so I decided to take myself on a little trip. We had finally met about eleven months ago, and I had been helping around as much as I possibly could without a break. Well, I tell a lie, I had a couple days free from working with Madre, though I used those days to check for any crime around. I guess some habits die hard huh, this was meant to be my new start but I can't seem to leave fighting crime behind. It was my choice to work so much at the Orphanage though.

Madre had had enough and told me to take a week away and go someplace, so where better than Paris? The beauty of the city when the sun goes down and the lights come on again, the food, the art and architecture, the history, it's simply something I cannot forget. It's truly a once in a lifetime thing.

"Wow, I'm so jealous! I wish I could be there with you, it would be so much fun- Zack stop! Leave Julia alone. No- She probably does NOT appreciate that, so quit it... Yes, you, who else?!.......... Sorry Carms, it's Zach trying to flirt with Julia again".

Giggling at Ivy's scolding to her brother, I make a mental note to tease him about that when I next see him. He kept flirting with the poor woman, to which she would politely laugh and make an excuse to leave.

"No worries Ivy, it's alright. I must admit though, I do feel sorry for Julia in some respects".

"I know right! Gosh, he's so oblivious sometimes. I love him anyway though, no matter how much of a douche brain he is".

"It would be nice to be able to meet up with all of you again, it's been a while since I saw all of you properly. You'll have to let me know when you two both have some time off and I'll get hold of Shadowsan and Player, then we can all have a nice catch-up".

I hear Ivy sigh wistfully into the phone, light laughter leaving her lips.

"Honestly Carms, that seems like such a good idea right about now. I'm so tired with work, I got called out five times within the past two days, three of which were last night. I've not had a nice snooze in for ages and I could do with one right about now, haha."

"You do sound quite tired. When do you get off shift?"

"Uuuh, hold on....... Forty-five minutes, then I can go home".

"Well, you should treat yourself to a warm bubble bath and a long rest".

"I think I'll take that one and do just that. Ah- I've got to shoot, Cheif is calling for me. I'll call you tomorrow and we can talk more, yeah?"

"Yes, wouldn't miss it for the world. Tell the others I said hello for me? And I'll work on arranging a girls trip between you and me to somewhere, just let me know where you fancy going".

"Oh you're a star Carm, I'll be looking forward to that then. I'll decide tonight and let you know tomorrow, and I'll pass on your 'hellos' to the others. Talk soon Carm".

I smile into the phone, mildly disappointed that our conversation had to end so soon.

"Talk soon Ivy".

With that, I hear the beep of an ended call as Ivy hangs up the line. A sudden wave of exhaustion washes over me as I move my phone down to my lap, checking the time. It was 1:15 in the morning. Raising my eyebrows, I nod at my phone, surprised at how late it was. I should probably try to get some sleep as I'll be arriving at my stop in about seven hours from now and I would much prefer to not be falling asleep at every given moment.

Setting my phone down next to myself, I grab a blanket out of my carry bag and drape it over my lap, removing my jumper and folding it into four before placing it onto the seat to my left. Reaching up above myself, I pull a cord that turned off the lights in my little train booth, engulfing myself in darkness. The only form of light that I had at this stage was the gentle light from the moon, it would be full soon. Laying down, I place my head onto my jumper and pull my blanket up higher, closing my eyes and relaxing my body.

Right as I began to doze off, I felt a strange feeling of wariness make itself known in my gut, enticing me to sit up and evaluate my surroundings. Within a couple of seconds of having my eyes open, I heard a light tapping on my booth door. Someone was there. Averting my eyes to the glass section of the door, I keep my body motionless as I trace the figure with my eyes and their every possible movement.

If I stayed still then they would not see me and assume I was sleeping and most likely leave.

*tap, tap, tap*

"Excuse me, uh, I know you are awake.. can I come in? My booth has no heating and it's really cold out here".

Or maybe not.

Cautiously eyeing the door, I slowly raise myself from the seats and brace my hand into a fist, ready to fight off a possible threat. Standing tall, I cautiously step my way over to the door before grasping the cool metal handle with one hand and undoing a lock with the other. Twisting the handle, I edge the door open bit by bit.

"Hello... Um.. yes you may".

It was a man, not that much taller than me, and Australian. Or perhaps Kiwi. I couldn't see many of his facial features, other than the fact that he had a man bun and a couple bags with him. I wracked my brain for any vocal recognitions, however, nothing matched.

Standing aside, I made room for the strange man to come inside.

"Cheers mate, sorry 'bout how odd this is. I went to the train staff to ask about the heating and they told me that the booth I chose was meant to be closed, though the person on duty of closing it off didn't get around to it, hence me choosing the unlucky booth. They told me I would have to ask to share booths with somebody else seen as though all others are booked, and I saw your light go out, so I came here. Sorry and cheers again".

The man laughed, rubbing what I assumed was the back of his neck. His explanation seemed pretty truthful and his reasoning honest.

"That's no problem, sorry that you got a faulty booth, that must've sucked".

"Hah, tell me 'bout it" He joked.

Smiling, I close the door and return to my seat, watching as he put his bags in the overhead luggage area, leaving out a blanket of his own. Smart man.

"So, what's your name mate?"

"Carmen. And you?"

I see him whip his head around, before shaking it and laughing lightly.

"I had a friend called Carmen, though I've not seen her in a long time. My name is Grah-Grayson. Grayson".

I raise my eyebrow at his stutter, smirking lightly.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Grah-Grayson" I tease.

"Haha, as to you Carmen".

With that, we both fell silent, just basking in the pleasant atmosphere of the booth with the same idea of sleep on our minds.

Slipping back into my 'bed', I pull my blankets back over myself and close my eyes, listening carefully at everything around me. I hear some stuffing around, something dropping on the floor, followed by a second something, more shuffling, then a satisfied sigh. Peering over my shoulder, I see the outline of a body laying on the seat across from mine.

"Did you just take your shoes off?"

"Hm? Ah yeah mate, can't sleep with shoes on, that's just crazy".

Grah-Grayson laughs at his own statement, finding humour in my question.

I feel my lips draw into a thin line as I shuffle my feet around awkwardly, my shoes very much still on.

Am I crazy?

"G'd'night mate, thanks again for letting me in on such short notice".

"No, no, that's fine. Goodnight".

It felt strange saying goodnight to a stranger, though I had most definitely done stranger.

I feel my eyes shoot open rather rapidly, my heart pounding against my ribcage as I scramble to sit upright, taking in my surroundings eagerly before eyeing the strange man in the booth with me. I check the room once again for anything out of the ordinary, before removing the blanket from my body and standing, striding my way over the door and yanking it open silently and slipping out, closing it behind myself. I needed some fresh air.

Making my way to the end of the train, I open a door that leads to a small balcony attached to the carriage. Immediately the wind hits me, blowing my hair to the side.

Sucking in a deep breath of air, I relax my shoulders and close my eyes. I had a nightmare — rather a memory — that Coach Brunt had broken into my booth and tied me up, much like before, and decided that enough was enough and planned to end things then and there.

A pretty sad nightmare, huh.

I enjoy the breeze a little longer before turning around and opening the door, walking back into the train carriage and back to my booth. Opening the door, I am surprised to see Grah-Grayson awake and sat upright, watching out of the window at the scenery. It was early for him to be awake, it was about five in the morning and the sun had begun rising, casting a gentle glow in the booth.

"Ah, mate, there you are, are you alr-......."

The words leave his mouth as he stares at me in surprise, horror, happiness, sadness and recognition... a mix of everything. Exactly what I was feeling.

Tears fill my eyes as I gaze at the male before me. It couldn't be...

"G-Gray?"

"Black sheep..?."

Grah-Grayson stands up, tears in his own eyes as he stares at me intently.

Stepping forward, I feel my arms raising slightly and before I knew it I was lunging for him, sobs wreaking through my lips as tears flowed heavily from my eyes. Engulfing him in my arms, I feel him do the same with just as much ferocity. I hear sobs come from him too, his chest rising and falling quickly and sharply with each gasp of air.

Before anything could be said, I feel anger suddenly wash over me, leading me to remove my arms from around him and shove him away harshly, placing some distance between us.

A confused whimper leaves his mouth, clearly unintentionally, but before he could say anything I let months worth of hurt, confusion, upset and anger form into words and flow out freely.

"Gray where were you?! W-What did you mean 'don't tell her' that you woke up!! Do you know how long I waited for you to wake up in the hospital, unable to see you or hear from you, not knowing that you had long gone?! Do you- Do you know how long I WAITED fOR YOU? Three months Gray- three months that you were gone and I was waiting for you to wake up so that we could start over, so that I could know you were okay!" The words kept flowing out, no matter how much I tried to stop them. Although I didn't try. I couldn't bring myself to try. I started pacing back and forth as I rambled, making sure the emphasis on certain words came out.

"Carmen, let me explain, I-"

I cut him off, anger still clouding my better judgement.

"NO Gray, you don't get to explain until you hear me!! I searched EVERYWHERE for days, weeks, months for you, thinking that something had happened to you, only to be told by Chief that you had requested to not have your condition or whereabouts revealed to me! Why Gray, why..? If you were angry or upset at me and didn't want to see me, you could have just told me instead of making me worry like that! I spent so many nights awake trying to find out where you were with the help of Player, but nothing!! NOTHING!"

I heave out everything that has been resting on my shoulders, the feeling of relief evident on my shoulders as a weight had been lifted.

"Carmen I was never upset at you, more of I was upset at myself. It was my fault that you had been captured and lured in, I knew what was happening and I could have prevented it, but I didn't. I blamed myself for you being brainwashed and hurt, and for myself being hurt. I was such an idiot and I didn't want to do something that could hurt you again-"

"And yet you did.." I remark with a whisper, adverting my eyes as I crossed my arms over my chest, hugging myself and sniffling as I did so.

"I know and I'm sorry... I didn't want to interfere with your life, not after everything that had happened. VILE was caught and disbanded, you had information on your mother, everything was over and you had a fresh start ahead of you and I didn't want to get in the way of that. So, I changed my identity and lived away from the public eye, hidden away where you could not find me. It wasn't just a fresh start for you, it was one for me too... I asked for you to not be told of my departure, even though Cheif strongly suggested against it, the same with that Julia lady. I told them it was my only request, and they allowed it eventually. I now realise that wasn't a good idea and that it hurt you much more than I believed it could or would... I am so sorry Carmen.. I really am so, incredibly sorry.. I can't blame you if you are angry at me, I gue-"

"Of course I'm angry at you!! I finally realised after all of that time that I was in love with you, and I was prepared to tell you, only to find that you were gone! Those three months left in the dark were pure heaven compared to the.. the shitty, crappy, horrible feelings once I found out you were gone!"

I watch as Gray's eyes widen in surprise, as he stutters his next sentence, his face flushed from tears, much like my own.

"C-Carmen.. you- what did you just.. what did you just say?"

"That I realised after all of this time that I was in love with you, so very incredibly in love with you, and that I was prepared to tell you!" I growl.

We both stand there in silence, the cool feeling of my tears drying up on my face present. Sudden realisation dawns upon me at what I had just boldly announced. Smacking my hand over my mouth, I gasp, my eyes widening as the realisation finally sets in completely.

Nothing is said between us as we just stare one another in the eyes, waiting for the other to speak.

"Gray, I-"

I cut myself short as Gray abruptly strides towards me confidently, raising his hands to cup my cheeks as I step back, unsure of what was happening. Staring down into my eyes, Gray smiles gently.

"You always were a cheeky one, sneaking your way into my heart the way you did".

My stomach fills with butterflies at that, a small smile making its way onto my face, accompanied by little giggles. Soon enough, I was laughing uncontrollably into Gray's chest, him onto my shoulder.

The laughter died down soon after, we were just left with warm smiles on our faces.

Moving his hand across my face, his thumb stroking my cheek and his other hand caressed the back of my neck, he looks down at my lips before looking into my eyes.

"May I?"

That one sentence had my stomach doing flips as though I were a schoolgirl who just confessed her undying love to her crush and received the same feelings back, though I guess in some respects I was that schoolgirl, just a little older.

"You may".

With that, Gray leans down, pressing his lips gently against mine and pulling away. I did not feel those fireworks that people would describe a true-loves kiss as, rather I felt complete, safe, happy, joyous, excited, calm, at peace and so many more pleasant things, much better than those so described fireworks.

Leaning in for a second kiss, I met Gray halfway with just as much passion, more ferocity this time, however. Soon though, we had to depart for air, a gentle blush growing over both of our cheeks.

"Carmen, I-"

"Excuse me, are you two alright in there? I could faintly hear you arguing from next door".

Looking behind me, there was an older woman stood in the doorway, a concerned look on her face.

"Yes, we are alright madame, thank you for your concern. Sorry for the noise, everything is sorted now" I explain, turning to face the woman.

"Very well then, there is no need to apologise my dear, as long as you are both okay. Oh, and sorry for interrupting your moment"

The lady giggles cheekily, before making her way back to her booth while rambling on about young love, or something along the lines.

"We should probably close the door, no?"

"Yes, we should. You, mister, have a lot to explain to me, especially what you have been up to since we last saw one another".

I smile as I leave Grays embrace, walking to the door and closing it.

"As do you. We have a while till we reach my destination, so shall we?"

"Hmm... I say sleep and then explain at a later time, on a date perhaps?"

"Friday, 8PM at Au Vieux Paris d'Arcole?" Grey wiggles his eyebrows, a smile on his face as he does so.

Laughter bubbles in my throat as I sniffle, wiping away any tear streams on my face as I nod my head eagerly.

"Call it a date".

A/N: This is my first ever oneshot/story piece that I've done on here and I honestly do not know how good it is, or how bad it is. All I can hope is that it's decent. It was inspired by @wizardsoffthecoast who had mentioned something about this, so here we are. I hope you enjoy it!

(I do apologise for any spelling mistakes!)

[augment-techs]

Aisha: -Is in classes with both Hailey and Violet and finds them both exceptionally gorgeous--even after she found out about Zack's relationship with Violet.

-Bisexual. Only child who is very close with her mom, even though her Ranger duties put a bit of a strain on their once rock solid relationship. -Tried to get a belly piercing the same time as Adam, but for her, the infection rate was higher and she couldn't keep it--though Adam appreciated the effort and helped her through the recovery process with all her favorite treats; and she milked it for all it was worth. -Actually developed a bit of respect for Bulk in the classes they were paired up in because he never slacked off or forced her to do all the work, and they always ended up going to the library to work--and he always brought coffee.

Adam: -Has far more piercings than we see in comics. -Apart from the one in his eyebrow and lower lips, and ears, I hc he also has a belly ring, nipple piercings and a couple piercings on his upper and lower parts of his penis; plus, he has a couple white ink tattoos that he got just after becoming a Ranger--they're protection sigils. -He likes to play the drums, but prefers to play only if Rocky will back him on guitar--when he found out Skull could play the piano (and such) he had a little crush for a tiny bit, but honestly, it couldn't last; he's heard too many stories from the Ranger veterans and got a look from both Billy and Kim when they all played a game of 'Wed, Bed, Behead' and he automatically said 'Bed' when Skull's name came up. -The youngest of the Trio, he was NOT prepared for the Sentry Force Four's Zag finding him attractive; it was flattering, but NO.

Rocky: -In canon, he has two sisters and three brothers; I see him as the oldest. -He has a protective streak that would put Jason to shame, but he only really lets it out when Adam or Aisha get hurt on the field. -He's the guy who throws the ball in his old football team, but since moving to Angel Grove, he doesn't play on field, but rather appreciates the players off the field in the locker rooms. -Once had a crush on Matt, but since finding out he dated Kim, that attraction has dropped dead and he buried it on the side of the road. -Appreciates that Matt's two-thirds Spanish (of Madrid proper) and one-third Italian when Rocky is two-thirds Spanish (of Mexico proper) and one-third Greek--it's how they got through just shit-talking on the football field. -Bisexual with no particular preferences, but was the first of the Trio to lose their virginity.

Skull: -Oral fixation/stimming through biting or sucking on food, straws, his fingers, gum, etc. -Neurodivergent. -Queer. -Has some kind of anxiety and/or self-esteem disorder. -Part of a neglectful/abusive home; has one canon older sibling by the name of Stan Skullovitch that we see only twice in GGPR#3 and then never again. -Applies himself in arts and social classes--with a specialty in music. -Has a reasonably high IQ, not as high as Billy's, but his neurodivergence prevents him from revealing just HOW smart he actually is. -Would have made a wonderful Orange Ranger if Zordon would have given him a chance.

Bulk: -Exists somewhere on the ADHD spectrum, hyper-fixation based on history and as of recently appreciating the Power Rangers.

-Doesn't have a problem with self-image, but also doesn't believe most people like him for himself. -Comes from a neglectful household, parents from the upper-middle class that feed him and try to care about him, but can't show it. -Demi with a preference towards girls, but only if they can kick his ass; with boys it's more about that homoerotic aggression that makes people think, "NOW KISS!" -Would have made a stellar Purple Ranger if Zordon would have given him a chance.

Violet: -Technically never stopped dating Zack, but only because he never said the words and she still has hope. -Is hard on the Power Rangers because of the constant barrage of damage inflicted on Angel Grove that has repercussions nobody can seem to agree on. -Didn’t like Matt before he became the Green Ranger; likes him even less now. -Ended up as tech support in the theater department in her Sophomore year, which lead to her being assisted by Bulk & Skull; which lead to her having a scintilla of a friendship with them. -Is not a virgin, despite all the nasty gossip surrounding her spread by Marleau Eskin that Zack found incredibly demeaning towards her when they started dating. -Teaches ice skating for children and was surprised when Ernie asked her to teach some adult classes at the Juice Bar that Bulk’s ex Hailey ended up in with some exasperation being dragged in by her friend Tasha.

[disfordevineaux]

Hello ! So if you finished watching season 4, could you share your opinion on it ? Did it meet your expectations ? Was the ending satisfying ?

HELLO! Yes, yes I have. Pretty much the second it came out I was watching it. I have pretty much been in a gif making coma for the last 3 days since its release, and I think the fact it's over has now just hit me.

I really liked s4. It was rushed, yes, but that's understandable considering the context. S4 was clearly not the initial plan. Not many Netflix aminated TV shows reach S6 or past that, so I have a feeling they were going for 6 seasons but had to cut it short. It's better than it getting officially cancelled. Which is most likely why season 4 was full to the brim with actions and character development. So I'm not mad at the quick end but I would have loved at least one more season to really flesh the development and plot points. No more so than the Devineaux development in regards to the new Julia and Chase dynamic.

Before I go into that I want to address the solo Chase-ness that was fantastic. Chase got his ass kicked like 5 times this season, once by a chair.

And was clocked by a frisbee for good measure too.

Oh, and landed on his car another time. The pain in his face... I- help this man.

But he got to kick some of his own asses this season too ofc.

Anyway, Chase really stood up and said ‘I am a Himbo’ this season and it filled me with joy. Just look. veryveryveryvery handsome as always I approve of this message.

Enough said.

Let me get on with the big thing I want to talk about. The Chase and Julia dynamic reinvention.

If I’m honest, it did feel quick, due to time constraints, but not out of nowhere. My expectations for Chase and his growth was blown out of the water. I was incredibly impressed with his physical display for admiration for Julia in the end. His way of officially apologising, (as someone said on a rb of one of my posts), Chase is a person of action and his grand gesture of giving Julia the spotlight, as well as a few glowing compliments and a callback and twist of what he used to say, was a great twist on just an ordinary apology. I adore how you can clearly see that he means it.

It was monumental, if a subtle display of respect that clearly struck a positive chord with Julia, and only could have with Julia. Just look at her face in the gif above, PURE. She clearly seemed as though she had decided to forgive his past transgressions after his help in her rescue.

Most definitely helping in her decision to return to ACME to be his partner again. Know she isn't alone and that Chase truly has changed for the best. I love how Chase was complete rapture that she had decided to return, even going for a hug. The guy really went from S1 striving to be stoic all the time, to allow himself to wear his emotions and expressiveness on his sleeves. Just, good vibes right there. It felt like the s4 Chase we got was always there but hidden by his ego and by himself deliberately.

Wholesome stuff my guys. My heart was FULL. I tell you. FULL. I slapped my hand to my chest in awe. He even asked: ‘But your academic career?’ and was happy to be finally able to hunt down real criminals with her, as, and I quote, a family. Adorable.

Don’t even get me started on the fist-bumping. I would throw myself into a pit of fire for them.

And those inside jokes? I could be here all day. Their dynamic now, if not nearly displayed a much as I wanted, was nourishing to my soul. Just LOOK

And that is just one scene.

After the first time jump of 3 weeks, they appeared to be finally enjoying one another company, a true team. Then after 6 months, it seemed even more natural, playful too. They trusted each other's abilities and opinions. Sharing their belief that Carmen was good as well as supporting one another as good partners should, especially Chase. They look so comfortable in each other presence it was immaculate.

They appeared content, and I loved that most of all. Chase was genuinely interested in Julia’s explanations and it was heartwarming to see. Julia appreciating it too. Watching them interact as close friends now was such a treat. The last 2-3 episodes, in particular, Chase even asking her to continue and adding onto her historical divulges. Awesome stuff. And Julia running into Carmen just as she was about to punch Chase’s lights out was pretty sweet too, as well as her getting one in on Cleo, GO GIRL GO. Julia this season had so much more depth. Loved it.

Also, finding out Chase’s name is in fact a self-given nickname was right on theme with the show. So many people with real names we will never know.

Back onto the expressions and his enthusiasm. I mean LOOK. This dude- AND THE CAT JACKET RETURNS!

He just loves his wordplay.

Anyway- The effect Julia had on him was profound and just fantastic to see. He wanted to be better. Chase will no doubt rub off some of his own flairs onto her in due time I'm sure.

Chase working with carmen and the small interaction we got were great as well. Still a little rigid, but full of intrigue.

Chase wanting to go and save Julia, because he earlier felt as though this was all his fault, was precious too. And the whole Tigress and Chase fight scene was amazing. He trapped her inside a casket, iconic. And Chase showing up as Julia is like ‘omfg Devineaux is that you?’ As he just all suave says ‘fashionably late as always’ and pushes his messy hair back like HOOO BOY you lovely little stinker I would die for you. He was ready to fight 1 v 3. No one has the same determination as a Devineaux. For an ordinary guy, he is really able to keep up with the best, if not behind a tad I MEAN UM. DUDE SLID DOWN THE STAIRS AND JUMPED RIGHT INTO A HOLE. No second thought THEN SWUNG HIMSELF OVER NO PROB? Who is this athlete of a man?

Like my man, you are not graceful at all please let carmen do it.

In the end, he really did save them both which was vindication, Speaking of vindication:

Okay, I really went off track and hardly said what I wanted to say. I got carried away with gifs. I think I said what I wanted to say? Right now my brain is still mushie.

To finalize: I was content with the end. Zack and Ivy joining ACME as Carmen has some time to go truly find herself was an interesting idea. The 2 year time jump at the end left a few holes but hey, I’ll take it. Shadowsan returning to his brother was so nice to see, and Player all alone in the restaurant kinda broke my heart. The entire storyline with Chase and Julia was absolutely, revolutionary. It was what we deserved, what they deserved.

I think my love for Chase really made me live for the scenes and moments we got of him alone and interacting with others. Season 3-4 really were his crowning glory. I'm proud of him.

Also, I want to mention the Zack/Turtle scene because I nearly died when I saw it the way the turtle wiggles and the way he rUNS I- okay goodbye.

[wondersofdreaming]

Show Night

Characters: Henry Cavill x female reader

Word count: 1.446

Warnings: Pure fluff. Competitiveness. Blurting. Hidden relationship. A little teasing. Embarassment. 

Author’s note: This is a prequel to Game Night

Thank you @radaofrivia​ for your inspiration, motivation and for guiding me <3

Go read her stories here: Rada’s Masterlist

Divider by @firefly-graphics​

I do not own any characters in this short story, except the reader who is a figment of my imagination.

MASTERLIST

Feedback is appreciated.

“Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special treat for all of you. We have the entire Justice League here with us. Please give a warm welcome to Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher and Ezra Miller.”

The entire audience clapped. There were whistling, some were screaming at the top of their lungs. You were cheering just as loud. Watching your handsome boyfriend walk out and wave to everyone. A relaxed smile spread on his lips when his eyes landed on you.

You were at the Graham Norton show. Sitting on the front row. No one knew who you were except the man who owned your body, heart, and soul, and now also Graham Norton and his crew. The producers had wanted you to stay backstage, but you had been adamant on wanting to sit in the audience and watching the show live. They had relented in the end if you promised not to cause a ruckus, which you had sworn.

Graham starts asking questions about the Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and at some point the engagement ring for Amy Adams’ character ‘Lois Lane’ comes into the conversation.

“Did you in fact choose that ring yourself, Henry?” Graham asked and motioned to the monitor behind him, showing a closeup of the ring.

“I didn’t. I actually have no clue where it comes from,” Henry chuckled, his eyes searching for you. You could see he was a little nervous, as he was fiddling with the hem of his suit jacket. You put your hand on your chest and crossed your fingers.

It was your secret sign for him. A sign of your devotion to him, as you had promised to always be there for him. The idea came to you while watching your favourite anime show ‘Fairy Tail’.

“If you ever become nervous or need a reminder, then look towards me or the camera if I am not there. I will you show you this sign,” you had crossed your fingers over your heart, “Even if you can’t see me, no matter how far away you may be, I will always be watching over you.”(1)

It had been a day where Henry had had a long day filled with interviews right at the beginning of your relationship. He hadn’t wanted to ask you to come, which was the reason why you hadn’t attended, thinking he wanted to work in peace. He proceeded to come home and went directly for your lap, falling asleep in 0.2 seconds, and you had asked him to bring you with him to work, as you, an author, could work anywhere.

“… I think it is about time he finds himself a girlfriend, a woman to spend his life with,” Jason’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts. You looked up to see Henry squirming more than before. His jaw was tense as he was forcing a laugh. You felt his pain and wished you could sit next to him and squeeze his hand in yours.

“I have a lot of single friends, Supes. Say the word and I’ll introduce you,” Jason smacked Henry’s thighs with the biggest grin on his bearded face. It may have sounded like a joke to the audience but Henry knew that Jason wasn’t teasing.

“I don’t think my girlfriend will like that you’re playing matchmaker, brother,” Henry smiled. All the actors’ faces fell, even Jason was gobsmacked as his jaw dropped to the floor.

Then Henry noticed what he had just said. His head turned towards you with a look of utter shock. He had just blurted out that he wasn’t single anymore, without having consulted you. Your heart was racing, your secret had been revealed. In some way, it felt like a heavy stone having been lifted from your shoulders.

You didn’t know whether to scold him for not asking you to make your relationship public or to laugh at the horror he was sporting on that handsome face of his. You opted for the second choice, the people around you followed suit and started laughing and cheering.

“Well, you heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen, Henry Cavill is officially off the market,” Graham announced to the camera. “Now, Henry, you have to tell us how you two met.”

“We… eh… met through mutual friends. They were having a game night, and we ended up being paired together for charades,” Henry smiled at the memory. Looking at you, making you fall even more in love with him. Jason and the others noticed where Henry was looking and started shouting for you to join the group.

“Oh yes, please she must join us for the next part of the fun,” Graham pleaded.

Ray and Ezra both stood and went to stand at the edge of the stage. Each man gallantly offered a hand, which you took and was led towards the sofa. Jason moved to make space for you and was wearing a big grin, his eyes shining with glee.

After the rounds of introduction and you told what your occupation was, Graham went to introduce the little quiz game he had conjured. You were each given a button that made a sound. Yours sounded like a pig snorting, while Henry’s was a howling wolf.

“So, the winner gets to take home whatever is underneath this piece of cloth,” Graham said after he had told you the rules. He motioned to the covered box next to him.

“Everyone ready?” he asked. All the actors and yourself said yes. Henry was leaning a little forward, to be ready to push his button.

“First question: Who are the original members of the Justice League?”

You pushed your button faster than anyone, while Henry pushed his so hard it nearly flew off the table.

“Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash, Superman and Green Lantern,” you told Graham. (2)

“Go girly,” Gal cheered for you. She leaned forward and raised her hand for a high five, which you returned.

“Correct! Question number two: What is the Green Lantern oath?”

*Oink oink*

Again you were the fastest. Everyone watched as Henry let out an annoyed huff, but his face showed nothing but absolute happiness.

“In brightest day, in blackest night, No evil shall escape my sight.

Let those who worship evil’s might Beware my power, Green Lantern’s light. (3)” You quoted.

You felt the other actors starring at you. Jason gave you a side hug and told you that Henry had found not only a beautiful woman but also an impressive one and that he was damn lucky to have you. You had smiled back and felt yourself being pulled back towards Henry’s side. He held a protective arm around you the remaining of the show.

“Seriously, Cavill. Don’t want to compete with your girl?” Jason asked teasingly.

“I’ll gladly just lean back and let her have her time in the light. Besides, I’m already winning because she’s with me,” Henry smiled proudly at you. You heard the entire audience all go ‘awwwwwwwww’, so did the actors and Jason went between you and Henry to hug both of you.

“Third question: In what year was the first Justice League comic book published?”

Again you were quick to push the button.

“Depending on whether you’re talking about the first time they appeared all together which was in The Brave and the Bold #28 (4) and published in 1959, while their very first own comic book series was published in late 1960.” (5)

Henry raised his eyebrows, clearly dazzled by your vast knowledge. 

“Correct again. Seems you know more about the Justice League than the Justice League itself,” Graham joked.

“I didn’t expect anything less from Superman’s girlfriend,” Ben said with an appreciative grin.

You felt Henry moving closer to you, hugging you tighter to his chest. It was the safest you had ever felt, and even though Henry hadn’t gotten one single point, he was still oozing happiness. Happy to have you by his side forever and ever.

“Here is what you’ve won,” Graham handed you the box and removed the cloth. Inside was Funko Pop figurines of every Justice League member.

After the show, you made sure that every single actor signed their respective figure, and you had pictures taken with them to remember the evening.

At home, you arranged the figures with how they look on the poster you had hung on the wall of your office.

“Another win for the team,” you said out loud. Henry walked in and hugged you from behind. He wrapped those big arms around your middle and whispered seductively in your ear:

“I’m the real winner here.”

1. This is a line from Fairy Tail episode 48 by Makarov Dreyar. I changed it a bit to fit the context.

2. Source https://ew.com/books/brief-history-of-the-justice-league-in-all-its-incarnations/ 

3. Source https://greenlantern.fandom.com/wiki/Lantern_Oaths_(Disambiguation) 

4. Source https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/The_Brave_and_the_Bold_Vol_1_28

5. Source https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Justice_League_of_America_Vol_1_1 

[cosmicjoke]

Alright, so onto chapter 2 of “No Regrets”.  

I want to talk a little about these opening panels, when Levi, Furlan and Isabel are being driven to HQ by carriage.  They seem unimportant, but I think they’re actually really important in understanding Levi’s psychology going into this new situation they’re all in.

We see the interior of the carriage, with Levi and the other two, along with an escort from the SC.  Furlan and Isabel are both looking out the window of the carriage, and in particular, Isabel seems incredibly excited and in awe of the passing view.  She’s stood up, with her face pressed to the window.  And in the next panel, we see her looking at a little girl with her mother, dressed nicely and holding a doll.  This really encapsulates everything Isabel herself has probably never had.  A reliable mother to take care of her, fancy clothes and toys to play with.  Essentially, an actual childhood.  We see Isabel’s face in the window, and her mouth is open in wonder, her eyes wide.  Like she can’t believe what she’s seeing.  It emphasizes the depravation and lack of privilege she’s endured all her life.  Meanwhile, by contrast, Levi sits there with his head bowed down, ignoring the passing scenery, looking deeply unhappy, even depressed.  When he does look up though, he sees Isabel looking out the window, and on the close up shot of him, he’s got an almost thoughtful expression, if still extremely dour.  No doubt, Levi is feeling uneasy and uncertain about the situation they’ve all gotten themselves into here, but I’m also sure that he’s unable to ignore the bubbling over excitement of Isabel, her obvious joy in being, at last, on the surface.  I’ll get more into this later in the post, when we see Levi really considering his friends and their dreams, and how it influences and dictates his own decisions.

But first lets talk a little about Erwin and his role in all of this.

Now at the time this series came out, Erwin’s actual, motivating reasons for doing what he does weren’t yet known, so it’s interesting to read into his actions in this story with that context.  I have no doubt that Erwin really DOES care about humanity, and wants to fight for it, and its salvation.  But as we come to learn from the main series, he places his own dream of proving his father right about the existence of human’s beyond the walls above what’s best for humanity, and it puts his actions in this story into an interesting, if harsher light.

No doubt, Erwin is a master manipulator.  He plays both sides expertly against the middle in this story, and I’ll get more into it by the end, when his actual plan is revealed to Levi.  But what I don’t see often discussed is how, exactly, Erwin got all the parts moving in the direction he wanted, to obtain a specific outcome, and how he pretty ruthlessly uses so many people as pawns to do so.  It’s obvious from the context of what we later learn in the story that Erwin first spread a rumor about having evidence against Lovof stealing funds in order to force him into tipping his hand by trying to make a preemptive move.  What I see people miss all the time, or at least, fail to discuss, is how Erwin also, at the same time, made it public knowledge within the Capital, that he would be going after a group of thugs in the Underground who had shown exceptional skill using ODM gear, and that he would be making contact with them as soon as possible to try and enlist them into military service, and how Erwin made these plans public specifically to encourage Lobov into seeking out Levi and his friends for the exact purpose of both implicating Lobov in a crime, and gaining Levi’s and his friends strength for the SC.  One, by hiring a group of criminals to steal from Erwin and attempt to assassinate him, so he could use that as leverage in case he wasn’t able to obtain proof of Lobov’s further criminal activities, thus having two means of getting rid of one of the SC’s biggest threats, and at the same time, also manage to score for the SC the exceptional skill of Levi and his friends through forced enlistment.  He even says to Zackely at one point “I intend to make use of anyone who has even the smallest potential during this expedition.”.  Erwin manipulated and had control of this entire scenario from the start, and from behind these scenes moved all of these people exactly how he wanted to, to achieve his goals.  That’s pretty impressive, but also pretty scary.  Well, I’ll talk more about all of that when we get to it later on.

Back to Levi and his friends though.

We see them arrive at the SC HQ, and a really important conversation happens between Levi and Furlan.  

Furlan seems like he’s almost bitten off more than he can chew here, beginning to express his concern to Levi about what joining the SC actually means, before Levi cuts him off, telling him he’s got no intention of enlisting, and that he only agreed to come along so that he could get closer to Erwin and then kill him.  I think Levi genuinely felt murderous towards Erwin at this point, and really means what he says here, at least about killing him.  Though given the end of chapter 1, with the significant look shared between Levi and Furlan, and Levi’s begrudging acceptance of Erwin’s offer, it’s obvious that Levi also agreed to come because that’s what Furlan wanted him to do, to give them the opportunity they needed.  Levi’s just feeling incredibly emotional here, I think, with the way Erwin treated all of them hot on his mind.  Furlan tries to implore Levi to forget about killing Erwin, that it isn’t necessary anymore because of his own plan, and the almost certainty that Lobov and his people won’t ever try to make contact with them again.  He tells Levi, if he just listens to him and follows his plan, “I know it’ll work.  Trust me, Levi.”  Furlan asking him to trust him pulls a meaningful look from Levi, seeming to break through Levi’s angry insistence on killing Erwin.  This is where the manga improved on Levi’s characterization and motivation by leaps and bounds over the visual novel, because in the next few panels, we see Levi walking away, with Furlan calling after him, concerned, but we get to see Levi’s inner thoughts, and he’s remembering specifically Furlan insisting to him that “one day, we’ll get outta this trash heap and live up above.”  We see Levi thinking about Furlan’s hopes and dreams in these panels, and he has a saddened, and guilt-ridden look on his face, like he feels bad about having dismissed Furlan’s plans back there in favor of his own plans for revenge.  We didn’t get any of this in the visual novel, instead the text there making Levi look like he refused to consider anyones position but his own in this whole situation.  But here, Levi is clearly concerned with and considering Furlan’s desires.  

We go into a flashback then, with Furlan explaining to Levi his plans, telling him that “nothing’s gone according to plan... But with you here we’ll really be able to raise hell.”  Furlan’s trying to explain to Levi that since he now has Levi’s strength to rely on, they can actually get something done once they get into the Survey Corps.  It almost seems like Furlan’s been planning on trying something like this, or at least, had some sort of loose plan about getting to the surface, even before he met Levi.  It’s obviously something he’s been dreaming about for a long time.

Then Isabel comes back, and she’s been roughed up and assaulted, and we learn from Furlan asking her if she went to see those “low-life scumbags again?” that this has obviously happened to her before, that she’s been associating with some bad people and it’s gotten her hurt.  She denies it and lies about having just tripped, but clearly neither Levi or Furlan are buying that.  Levi asks Isabel what happened to her hair, and Isabel reacts badly, running away and hiding in her room.  We get a close up of Levi holding a knife in his hands, foreshadowing his own intentions.  Later that night, Furlan hears Isabel crying in her room, and her chanting to herself over and over that she’s going to “kill you”, presumably meaning the men that hurt her earlier.  Furlan stands there lamenting that he thinks both Levi and Isabel are going “mad”, and that all they can think about is dragging everyone else down to where they are.  He’s obviously terrified that he’s going to lose both his friends to the savagery and ruthlessness of the Underground, that both of them are going to end up becoming lost to their own anger and pain.  He starts to say “That’s why I...” before Levi suddenly comes back in, holding a bloody knife, clearly having returned from exacting revenge on the men who hurt Isabel.  Furlan asks Levi “Did you kill them...?”, and Levi doesn’t answer, but we see a completely resigned, even sad look on his face.  This of course is the world Levi comes from.  It’s the world he was raised in.  A world of kill or be killed.  Levi must have figured, if he didn’t go out and kill those men that had hurt Isabel now, then someday, they would end up going too far with her, and kill her instead.  But Furlan clearly doesn’t understand, and doesn’t relate to that kind of mindset, despite coming from the Underground too.  Of course, Furlan wasn’t raised by Kenny the Ripper either.  This is how Levi was taught to deal with his problems, and Furlan can only see him spiraling into an abyss from which he fears Levi won’t return.

We cut back to the present then, and Levi is sitting up on the roof of the SC HQ, again remembering Furlan’s words about “This is our chance.  Trust me.”.  Getting to the surface and finding better lives for themselves is Furlan’s dream.  The fact that Levi keeps remembering it, keeps remembering Furlan insisting and pushing the idea of the possibility of living on the surface, shows that this is probably something he would talk about all the time with Levi, trying to get him to agree to it, to believe in it.  Once again, Levi is contemplating the hopes and dreams of his friends.  We get another close up of him holding a knife, and it represents, I think, his struggle between his desire for revenge against Erwin, and his desire to help Furlan realize what, to Levi, is probably an unrealistic goal.

We then get Furlan and Isabel joining Levi, commenting on how beautiful the night sky is, and asking Levi how he could keep it to himself.  Levi snips testily at Furlan that him and Isabel are so loud, that he’d be too irritated to get any killing done, and then Furlan looking clearly unsettled by the remark.  But it’s obvious, given the context of the previous panels of Levi’s thinking about Furlan’s dream, that Levi is just being peevish and saying things out of frustration and confusion.  He doesn’t really mean what he says here.  He’s taking his frustration out on Furlan by saying what he knows will upset him the most.  What this also tells us is that Levi is very much aware of how bothered Furlan is by Levi’s willingness to kill.  He isn’t at all oblivious to it, and given his resigned, saddened expression after coming back from killing the men who assaulted Isabel, I would say Levi even understands Furlan’s dismay.  That’s a glimpse at Levi’s famous compassion.

The next panels show the three of them bonding, sitting together and admiring the night sky.  Isabel asks Levi if the stars are as pretty as where he used to live.  I’m just going to chalk the mistake in continuity here up to this manga coming out before, I believe, Levi’s backstory of being born in a brothel in the Underground was established by Isayama.  Regardless of this mistake, this is an important moment between the three of them.  You can see the awe and wonder they all feel, looking up and seeing the sky fully for what has to be the first time in all their lives.  Remember, all three of them have lived literally underground their entire lives, with little to no sunlight, stagnant, stale air, hideously unclean living conditions, etc...  It must be overwhelming to them , just to see nature in all its splendor like that.  It’s after sharing this moment together that Levi tells Furlan that he’s decided he won’t kill Erwin for now.  He looks at him and says “I’m going to trust you.”.  And Furlan smiles at him, clearly happy and relieved.  This scene is really important, because we’re seeing Levi choose Furlan’s dream over his own desire for revenge.  We see Levi place Furlan’s desires over his own, which is totally in line with how Levi is in the main AoT storyline.  He decides his revenge can wait, that it’s not as important as helping Furlan achieve his goals.  What’s particularly remarkable about this, I think, is that it doesn’t appear that Levi ever dreamed of going to the surface himself, and likely that he never even considered it a possibility.  So just like Levi fights, later on, for a world without fear and violence, for humanity’s salvation, even as all his life experiences tell him it likely isn’t possible, we see the Levi doing the same here, deciding to fight for his friend’s dream, even as to him, it seems unrealistic.  It’s obviously a pivotal moment too, when Levi tells him he’s going to trust him, because this ties in hugely with the theme which applies so much to Levi throughout the whole series, of never knowing if it’s better to rely on himself solely, to trust himself, or to trust and rely on his friends and their capabilities.  Levi chooses, here, to trust in his friends, and that will obviously have it’s own ramifications down the line.  Again, this is an area in which the manga improves radically over the visual novel, which had no instances whatsoever of Levi struggling with the question of the choices we make, which is absurd, since it’s one of the driving factors behind who Levi is, and how he ultimately came to see the world as he does.  It was precisely this struggle between choices, between trying to choose correctly, giving so much thought and effort to our choices, and still sometimes coming out wrong, that shaped Levi into being able to accept his lack of control and instead of regretting it, using it to keep fighting.  

Anyway, I’ll get to chapter 3 tomorrow.  

[pizadowa]

generally a lil nervous to ask, buuut, since I’ve seen a few people chat about how Ivy/the sibs would take care of Carmen when she gets sick, but how would Carmen take care of Ivy if she got sick? I curious to see your take on this 👀 (Carmivy intended?)

oh anon don’t be nervous or shy, this is a very benign ask and I like to think I'm not intimidating 😢..😭

but anywhoooo ... I actually have thought about this before, so I felt like whipping up a quick Ivy POV ficlet rather than strictly talk about Carmen ... :)

-- --

Unlike Zack’s sensitive chemical makeup, Ivy's immune system is built like a supercharged ox, and when it comes to sickness she has vastly more experience being other people’s—namely Zack’s—begrudging caretaker than catching anything herself. 

In the nearly three years she’s traveled the world with Team Red, she can count on less than one hand the times she’s fallen ill, and each instance hardly interfered with their capers, not to mention her self-prescribed medicine of “toughing-it-out” has gotten her through even the roughest days. She's not exactly a fan of admitting defeat to a cold, nor being so useless that someone would need to take care of her, especially when that someone is almost always Zack. His questionable understanding of the human body means he's less adept at relieving any real symptoms and more so at keeping her company enough to distract her frazzled, sickly mind. It's not ideal, but it’s the only thing she knows, and it’s better than getting Carmen involved; Ivy would rather their getaway driver catch her sickness than their very important team leader.

So when she wakes up one day in their new HQ to immobilizing muscle pain, a presumably contagious case of the sniffles, and a very concerned Carmen seated at her bedside instead of Zack, she’s more than a little bit freaking out.

“Wh… Carm?” Ivy submerges part of her face under the covers, fearful of spreading her mystery contagion despite their distance. For extra good measure she directs her head away to her night table, taking note of a glass of water and tissues that definitely weren’t there before. “How long have you…?”

Carmen brings one leg onto the bed and curls her palms around it as she speaks, “Not too long. I was actually just wrapping up some sets when Zack ran in screaming like a banshee about you. It’s amazing that didn’t wake you up.”

Ivy’s vision focuses out of its watery haze enough to comprehend Carmen’s tight athletic wear and exposed skin that’s somehow less sweaty than her own. A cold-hot chill sends her into shivers. 

“I’m pretty sure that was the demon in my fever dream." She cringes at the sound of her own nasally voice wreaking havoc on her aching head. "Where is he, anyway?”

“I sent him out to the store and had Shadowsan tag along to make sure he doesn’t go overboard with the anecdotal home remedies.”

The imagery has Ivy falling into laughter that quickly becomes a strained coughing fit beneath her thick blanket. Carmen noticeably teeters away, which only adds to the discomfort in her chest.

“Ugh, sorry for the gross sound effects.”

“Don’t be. I had a feeling you wouldn’t be doing too hot in the morning. You were hardly eating and going to bed earlier than Shadowsan.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yeah. So, all-in-all, I was expecting this.”

“Double ugh.” She buries herself within the bed until the only thing she can see is threaded darkness. The weight by her legs shifts closer, and then there’s a gentle hand on her blanketed bicep. It’s warm even through the fabric.

“Hey, don’t sweat it. Actually, I guess do sweat it if you have a fever. Do you have a fever?”

Ivy’s about to answer when the blanket peels back and the hand that was on her arm presses firmly to her forehead. She blinks past the slender forearm in her view and over to Carmen’s determined face leaning closer with each passing second. For a moment their intense eyes cross paths, lock on to each other before softening completely, and Ivy is overcome with an urge to hold on. To what, she doesn’t know, but one of her hands takes the initiative and reaches up to Carmen’s wrist—which pulls away just as her fingernails make contact with smooth skin.

“You feel warm, but it’s hard to say,” Carmen contemplates aloud and returns to her previous spot on the bed. “We’ll need that thermometer once Zack and Shadowsan are back, but in the meantime, I’m here. Whatever you need.”

Ivy struggles to push a scratchy lump down her throat as she shoves her hand back under the covers. 

She's not used to this. Unless it’s Zack—who’s almost too obliging for his own good—she avoids asking for help as much as possible. She prefers to handle most things perfectly well on her own, and she’s since learned her hard lesson of what happens when you owe a debt to others. The very thought of burdening Carmen with something as dumb as a little cold sets her nerves even more haywire. 

“You shouldn’t be here,” she grumbles weakly.

Carmen shoots her a look like she's just said a profane insult. "I shouldn't?"

"Yeah, I'm all sick and stuff. Wouldn't you prefer to be...not...sick and stuff?"

"Checking your temperature is nothing. And besides, you were probably contagious days ago. If I got it, I got it.” Ivy’s face contorts into a sarcastic pout, but Carmen preemptively interrupts her griping with a raised hand. “I’m just saying it takes a bit more than that to knock me down, and if I’m fine now, I might as well help out. Seriously, I think I get sick even less than you do."

Ivy pauses to consider it, only able to recall taking care of a Carmen who has been downed by injuries and overexertion, not acute illnesses. Not even a little upset stomach from too much delicious food like she and Zack—though mostly Zack—are wont to do.

"Still, I don't wanna risk it." Ivy shuffles on her back to the farther side of the bed. "I appreciate your concern, Carm, I really do, but I'll be fine. Just send Zack in here once he's back."

"Oh." Carmen frowns at her in a way Ivy’s never received before, and for an intense split second she feels a strange pang of guilt. "Sure, but...this is the same Zack who thought the best remedy for altitude sickness was sticking a fan at the front of the tent to magically blow in more oxygen?"

"Uh—" 

"And who once drank a phony herbal miracle cure from downtown that made even his worst food poisoning look like a work of art?"

"Ew-uh, gross!" Ivy scrunches up her entire face, only relaxing it once she sees lightning behind her eyelids. "Okay, okay, I get it. You really don't want Zack taking care of me."

"It's not just that."

With great effort Ivy sits up out of her cocoon for the first time that morning. "What'd'ya mean?"

Carmen twists her torso completely toward Ivy. "You guys are always looking out for me when I'm down for the count. And you, you've been the only one taking care of Zack for how long?" 

Ivy offers a small chuckle of understanding. “Too long.”

"Exactly. So the least I could do is return the favor and pamper you for once. I may not be a doctor but I do cook a mean sopa de mondongo, and that's always helped me when I was sick on the isle."

"I don't even know what that is and I feel better already."

"Wait ‘til you actually try it. Funny enough we actually have all the ingredients, but not the basics for treating a nasty cold, go figure."

"Food is the priority around here."

Carmen snatches a glass of water from Ivy's night table and extends it over the bed to her. "Finish this, I'll go get started on the soup. The guys should be back soon with some medicine. Think you can hold out just a bit longer?"

Ivy takes the glass in her hands and peers down at its fullness with a warmth in her chest that crawls up her neck. “Yeah, yeah I think I can do that.”

"Good."

“Oh, and...I’m really happy it’s you here right now. Like, really really happy.” Ivy pauses. “Don’t tell Zack I said that.”

She peers up from her watery reflection to see Carmen beaming at her in silent affirmation, and she does her best to offer the same expression. She takes a few slow sips of her lukewarm drink, fully expecting Carmen to have left by now, but instead the other girl shifts closer on the bed. Closer into Ivy’s space.

"You know,” Carmen starts, her voice husked low despite not needing to, and Ivy can feel her heart beating across every inch of her body, “I'm told I give amazing massages, in case those muscle aches become too much trouble for you.”

She trails her hand along Ivy's covered thigh before lightly squeezing down her ankle, and the peculiar sensations have Ivy frozen with nothing else to do but gawk at her. She offers an unreadable smirk with lidded eyes that cast her mind further into delirium, and walks out of the room without another word.

When she’s fully registered that she’s alone again, Ivy wolfs down the rest of her water, barely managing to fend off a spell of wheezes, and quickly discards the glass to the empty sheets next to her. With a buzzing in her cranium that ripples throughout her entire body, she flings herself down to her pillows to smother her overheated cheeks with a shaky sigh.

"I should get sick more often."

[dipperdogrpg]

Cloud and Aerith theories/facts and not canon pairing essay

Ended up writing way more then intended lol and thought to share what’s  happening in the FF7 story between Cloud and Aerith. This is a response text I did on my youtube channel where I do commentary as a Cloti supporter. Instead I decided to move it here.

................................................................................................................................

Wahh lol I got carried away! I enjoyed but also felt bad for Cloud having to dance at the Honey Bee thanks to Aerith and her plans. Gosh darn it though Cloud dancing was great and I squealed along with Aerith, but a tinge of guilt hits when I see his troubled face haha. The thing people confuses here is that Cloud pushes himself to do it for Tifa because he was ready to walk away. Instead of busting through the mansion he sucked it up to ensure Tifa’s safety and chose to sneak inside as a woman.

Yes, I’m also very curious how Sephiroth's schemes will develop and how Aerith will try to stop him in Remake. She's much more focused on Sephiroth and stopping him compared in OG. In the other game Aerith originally joined to understand her Cetra abilities, but it feels pretty evident she has new mysterious powers as a Cetra in Remake and her relationship with Sephiroth is more personal. Also, I think Sephiroth and Aerith’s ancestry will have a bigger role and focus on Jenova and the Cetra's relationship/History. I plan to do an Aerith Theory and a character analysis in the future because she is, as the developers describe her, mysterious. 

It's obvious Sephiroth is harassing Cloud mentally then later physically through his clones. He is scheming something big and I look forward how Aerith will try to counter it because she is probably the only one capable to do it as a Cetra. One of the big schemes was removing the Arbiters of fate, but I think they both wanted that. Both Sephiroth and Aerith want to change something that doesn’t fit with the planet’s “destined” agenda.

In Max's commentary he mentioned Sephiroth was intentional with stalling Cloud running into Aerith, which caused a butterfly effect to ruin the events the planet has planned. While it tries to fix itself, the party are becoming aware of the Arbiters of Fate existence and sees it as a problem. At the end the team removes it when Sephiroth had some control in manipulating it. Its been mentioned the three figures you fight are a representation of the three sephiroth remnants from AC, Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo. So maybe we are getting hints of Sephiroth's abilities with the clones and the lifestream which could lead to some complicated trouble. We also get evidence Aerith is already more powerful than her Og counterpart by creating the portal to fight the Arbitors. When the heck did she learn that? 

My theory about removing the arbitors of fate are so the creators can have wiggle room for slight variation in scenes they've considered fixing in the past to improve a more consistent story and of course a new way for Sephiroth to exercise his goal along with Aerith because definitely getting hints those two know more then they should. My theory, they are from the future and traveled to the past using the Life stream and I’m using the OTWTS Novel as evidence when Aerith and Sephiroth talk about their time in the Life Stream. In there they gained new powers. Evidence- Sephiroth talks about it at the temple of ancients and that he gained new knowledge from there, so why not Aerith too. Either way the party will stop him at the end with Aerith's help because her role in the story is to save the world while Tifa's role is to save Cloud. That is a canon statement by one of the developers btw. Aerith and Tifa have their roles to play in FF7 that lead to its success.

Fun fact, but Cloud is not himself with Aerith. The developers did say Cloud truly is himself with Tifa. Why? because love. Now, the cool thing in Remake we are witnessing is Cloud learning how to make friends. A poor social skill set that may have contributed with his insecurity when he was a child. Wanting to join tifa and her friends but instead stayed away. To make himself feel better he makes up a story that he chose not to play with the other kids because he is special. In FF7 we get to witness Cloud learning these relationship skills, which helps develop his character to grow up until we get to the Lifestream sequence. It's after that he can stop pretending to be what he think is the ideal cool grown up version of himself and instead work on his real self with the new bonds of friendship he made who stuck around Cloud regardless of him pretending to act as someone else during their adventure. Cloud is still Cloud. Even with the messed up memories he had. He is not Zack. He is like a little boy picking up traits he likes from other people and mimic them. Very confused why people think he is Zack. He’s not. He is Cloud trying to be cool and does it poorly. That’s a canon thing.

Soldier Cloud is a facade, an illusion of himself he truly believed in until he sorted out his memories and realized "oh I'm not being myself and just mimicking what would Zack do. A friend I look up to"  It's been pointed out Cloud isn't actually grown up mentally and is still a child with insecurity about himself along with 5 years of trauma thanks to Hojo. Poor BABY! This whole copy/mimic theme gets reflected with the kids in sector 8 that mimic Cloud in remake over time during the side quests. Cloud is doing the same thing with Zack. Even Biggs hints that Cloud and the kids have a lot in common. I'm not crazy about Sector 8 but it shows best what Biggs told Cloud before the plate falls. And one more thing I want to add lol. When Cloud gets his red drink from Tifa there's a pause of him looking up and down at the drink and Tifa, before he says beautiful. That moment of pause he thinks to himself what he should do here and then came up with what he believes a confident person/Zack would do. Zack doesn't hesitate when giving a compliment. Confident people don't normally hesitate when they talk. It's why we get moments of Cloud saying some awkward lines when he doesn't give himself time to think and its one of the best moments to watch lol cuz I think that's when real cloud slips out trying to act cool or is at a lost for words. It's canon by the developers that Cloud isn't cool but tries to act it.

Another Fun fact. Most party members and NPCs in Remake mention and hint in game they see past the facade Cloud puts up. Tifa, Barret, Wedge, Biggs, Marle, Jessie and Aerith are some of the characters that see past it and either go along with it, poke fun at his attempt or tell him to his face they know he's pretending to be someone he's not. Basically seeing past the character he pretends to be and can see he has a good heart over the course they spend time with him. Even though Cloud tries to convince others and himself he could care less about them and is only in it for the money.

Now OG is really awkward with the romance honestly from my playthroughs so far. (Follow me on Youtube Dipperdog15 if you want to catch my FF7 commentary when I go live playing OG and Intergrade.) But with Remake it's very clear they are building up Aerith's love story with Zack so we can cry hard later. All of Zack scenes so far is related to Aerith. In Remake and OG Aerith display some of Zack's mannerisms too because people copy/mimic what they do to feel closer to them when in love. She continues to wear the bow Zack gave her and the pink dress in memory of Zack. She's said "gotta move forward not back" in remake and/or that Zack probably moved on with another girl in Og but what if what she said is a lie. We have Cloud as the unreliable narrator so why can't it also happen with Aerith who is likely lying to convince herself to move on to protect her heart. In fact a lot of characters in FF7 lie to themselves and we get character development when they stop and face the truth. It's one of the many themes in FF7 which I think I’ll deep dive into on my podcast channel in the future.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Zack is risking it all to make it to Midgar to see Aerith while risking Cloud's life on this mission, because he promised her. Promise is a big important theme in FF7. Cloud and Tifa are the canon couple and Zack and Aerith are the canon couple in FF7 because these pairings promised each other. I won't disagree about Cloud not caring about Aerith, but he cares for all his friends as said in AC. Also why make it possible the idea to bring Zack back? To create a love square? No. It’s have us the players focus instead the reunion of Aerith and Zack. That’s more attention grabbing because we never got to see it before and I’ll cry when they cry finally getting to be together. If they don’t I’ll cry some more. The developers are pushing for Zerith and their development in Remake/Intergrade. 

Another thing to notice, there are a lot of similarities between Jessie and Aerith's relationship when they are around Cloud. This directive choice, I believe, isn't a coincidence in order to water down scenes that are suppose to be special. It is instead not a “one of kind’ scene. They both get carried bridal style. They both tell cloud My Hero. They both invited Cloud over for dinner. They both ask about who Tifa is. They both got a pikachu face from Cloud when jessie optionally kissed Cloud on the cheek and Aerith wearing the optional red dress. They both have strong personalities that overwhelms Cloud and that is a developer canon statement. They both worked hard to befriend Cloud so he can open up and be nicer to them. Cloud treats them both the same.

Aerith’s relationship with Cloud in Remake is directing us to friendship. In the novel it mentioned she loves Cloud, in what way we don’t know. But we can say for a fact Cloud was living a lie in OG and his real self loves Tifa. In fact his other self loved Tifa too, you just have to catch the moment. Example, Barret teasing Cloud if he is eager to see his baby when you first see Tifa in OG. It happens when you run to the bar, but only if you catch Tifa on the porch before she goes inside. That’s means in both remake and OG, Barret knew something was up with those two. Another moment is the interest Cloud has with what Tifa almost said in the gondola. It was obviously sounding like some kind of confession from Tifa at Gold Saucer. When you get this date the story is more fluid when you arrive at the northern crater and Cloud says “only your opinion matters” to Tifa. Huge RED FLAG Cloud considers Tifa important to him. Meanwhile Aerith and Cloud’s relationship was open for interpretation that it may have been love in OG, but the scenes that helped implied it were removed in Remake. The point system was just for fun because it was a popular thing in the 90s. Plus the points for Tifa, Aerith, Barret and Yuffie’s are their feelings for Cloud not Cloud’s feelings towards them. Then you get rewarded learning a little about the character, but that’s it. FF7 remake/intergrade is not an otome game. Cloud ends with Tifa no matter what. Even if Aerith was to stay alive the Life Stream sequence will always be Cloud and Tifa’s moment to learn about their feelings for each other. The developers have said it is one of their favorite scenes, so they won’t change it. ok now back to Remake. 

Aerith in her resolution tells him not to love her and it’s not real. A deliberate choice of words I think she picked to shoo away the thought they could be a thing for both their sakes and us the players lol. Doing that made it weird now because Cloud doesn’t want to ruin what ever progress he has with Tifa in Remake. Plus Cloud only known her for a few days and if his actions are making her think there’s this growing romance between them he’s not going to encourage it. Those lines raised his awareness to watch himself I bet, so Tifa doesn’t get the wrong idea and you can see the distance he put between himself and Aerith later in game. Meanwhile in Intermission we see Cloud continues to make quick glances at Tifa whenever he can. We get it Cloud. You can’t keep your eyes off her. Ok getting off track. So Cloud and Aerith are instead just friends. Doing this allows Tifa to pick up the role to be there for Aerith. Which will help develop their friendship to be stronger as the two girls encourage each other. because I didn’t pick up on the two being best friends in OG but in Remake it’s very clear. He already looked uncomfortable when Aerith grabbed his arm back at the ghost station in front of Tifa. To include Cloud with this idea of him falling in love with another woman in front of Tifa would leave a poor taste in our mouths after spending several hours watching him develop several intimate moments with Tifa. That freaking hug scene and train roll you guys screamed sexual tension and love. Cloud is not that kind of guy who easily falls in love. His whole hero’s journey is because of Tifa and he makes sure to be nice to her while trying to get her attention. With anyone else he is quite hostile with new people and slowly learns to tolerate them before liking them.  Cloud treats Tifa differently in a special way. He’s been pinning for Tifa since they were kids and even imagined scenarios of Tifa noticing him. That’s right, not all of Cloud’s visions may be accurate. We may see more scenes of kid Cloud imagining moments with Tifa to confuse our perspective they are childhood friends. Again, Cloud is the unreliable narrator thanks to Jenova and 5 years of trauma.  Now back to Aerith. Their relationship definitely felt different when Cloud, Tifa and Barret rescued Aerith. In fact Aerith’s relationship with everyone is different in a better way. The relationship between Tifa and Barret are better fleshed out compared to OG Aerith and I’m for it. Very happy they removed the jail scene. It was upsetting watching Aerith flirt with Cloud while Tifa was stuck in the cell forced to listen and Aerith owing Cloud a date. Which changed also in Remake. Taking Aerith home and spending time her was the date as mentioned in game by Aerith herself. 

When I play through Chapter 8 and 9 I get this feeling Meta Aerith looks uncomfortable sticking to the OG lines of herself but does it anyways so the Arbiters of fate won’t come for her because she wants to hold on to her memories. Something she believes can help her friends I’m guessing. This is if my theory is right lol. What we have now is an Aerith that’s more mysterious than she was in OG. If this is OG Aerith making a return in Remake then I believe she was acting a lot, but then we see hiccups of her mentioning Cloud being a mercenary when he never mentioned it or acting like she knows Tifa for like forever before she actually met her in Remake. And then there was her knowing the plate would fall in sector 7. I’m betting the burden of knowing it was so hard to hide that Tifa picked up that she might be hiding something. 

We are near the end! 

Aerith’s resolution explored further. The resolution helps proves my theory this is OG Aerith that travel back to the past using the Lifestream to help her comrades in the fight against Sephiroth in Remake who also returned to the past. What’s also interesting about her resolution are the things she said are something you want to tell someone before you disappear. It was so sudden in OG that it sounds like Aerith wants to make up for it and also doesn’t want Cloud to suffer in guilt as he did in AC. Cherish the moment. Every one dies. 

Aerith knows the truth with Cloud and Tifa’s relationship hence her stopping herself interfering. Now maybe Aerith did fall in love with Cloud, and maybe while Cloud pretended to be someone else was loving the idea, which is a stretch cuz there are plenty debunking the idea which I can go over later. They both may have been using each other to fill the hurt in their heart not having their true loves instead. Zack and Tifa. In her resolution, Aerith has declared she will not pursue Cloud as she did in OG and we have evidence of that when they rescue her. there were so many opportunities for Cloud to be Aerith’s hero. Instead those moments were replaced with Tifa consoling her and rescuing her.

The Arbitors of Fate are gone, so I believe Aerith’s normal clips of her flirting with Cloud will get removed or changed as many have already. This allows the directors to remove lines that painted Aerith poorly some moments and better her relationship with the team too. Aerith will still have flaws like everyone does. No one is perfect and I’m perfectly fine with that.

Crap if I keep going this will turn into a podcast in writing I think lol. Anywho, yes the arbiters of fate were eliminated, who knows if it's permanent, but as the developers have repeated, FF7 story will remain the same at heart. Iconic moments will remain. If it is not then that's a risky move to say to fans. Aerith will die to protect her loved ones and the planet and will reunite at the church in spirit with Zack perhaps. She can’t escape her role as the last living Cetra. That is her truth which she denied when she was little as shown in a flashback with kid Aerith. The other theme in FF7 is trying to move forward after a loss. Which extends to Advent Children which some of the team members has to deal with survival guilt. Some fans are getting their hopes up that Aerith will live. The developers are using Biggs and Jessie’s possible surviving scenes to prove lives lost can live in Remake. I think they may die later though if that is their fate, but we never actually saw them die in OG either. It was just implied. This is a set up so Aerith’s death scene can be impactful again in Remake, so we can cry again.

This was a lot and little bit everywhere, but I hope you enjoyed it. You can follow me on youtube in the link below where I invite other FF7 fans to talk about the story and Cloud and Tifa’s relationship Or me doing my own Cloud and Tifa commentary and Remake talk while I play the game. Thanks for reading! Hope you check out my channel and sub to check out my videos when convenient for you. Thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/c/Dipperdog15/featured

[elianamarie-blog]

The Things You Give Part 9

A/N: This has been an amazing journey with you guys! Thanks so much!

A few days had passed since Jackie found out and things were going surprisingly well and as for Steven’s dad—well, Kitty tried but would chicken out.

Y/N sat with her mom at the kitchen table, trying to convince her to tell Steven when he got home, which was in ten minutes.

“Mom, he has the right to know,” Y/N said. “You need to tell him now.”

Kitty fiddled with her coffee mug. “I know, but I don’t know how to tell him. He’s gone through a hard time already. I don’t know if this will make things worse.”

Y/N gave her a deadpan look. “Mom. I’m serious, this could make his life better!”

Kitty sighed. “I don’t know. I gotta figure out a way to let him know gently.”

“Have Dad help you!” Y/N suggested.

“Help you with what?” Red asked, entering the kitchen.

“Can you help Mom tell Steven about his real dad?” she asked and got up to stand next to him. “She doesn’t know how to tell him and I thought since you’re so good at telling people things, you can be the one to do it.”

Red opened the drawer, rummaging through it. “What makes you think I can tell him?” He continued to rummage through the drawer. “Kitty, where are the damn keys?”

“On the counter in front of you,” Kitty answered nonchalantly.

“Oh,” he said and grabbed them.

“’Cause you don’t care about people’s feeling and is the most blunt person I know,” Y/N said, returning Red to the conversation.

Red stood straighter, looking at his daughter. “You’re right. I am.”

“Please, Daddy,” Y/N begged, giving him the puppy eyes that she knew worked on him—only when it was reasonable. “It would really help me and Mommy out. You don’t have to say anything, you can just be there for support.”

“Oh, damn,” he said exasperated. “How do I always get dragged into this?”

“Because you love us,” Y/N said and kissed her dad’s cheek. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he grunted, trying to hide a smile.

“Steven should be home any minute,” Y/N said. “I wonder how he’s going to take it.”

“Take what?” Hyde asked suddenly, coming through the sliding door.

“Oh, Steven, honey, you’re home,” Kitty said, jumping out of her chair.

“Yeah, I’m home,” he said, confused. “What’s going on?”

“Uhm… take a seat,” Y/N said, pulling a chair out from the table and moving it in front of her parents. “There’s something we need to tell you.”

Hyde’s stomach dropped at the thought of what was going to happen. They know, don’t they? Oh, God they know. Hyde studied Red’s face, but instead of fire and smoke coming out of his ears, he wore his usual annoyed expression. So, if that’s not it, then what is it?

“Steven,” Kitty started. “There’s no easy way to tell you, but um, when you fell off the water tower a few days ago, I looked into your file and well, um,” she looked at Hyde’s face and knew that she couldn’t tell him. “Red, you tell him.”

“Oh, for cripes sake,” he mumbled and turned to Steven. “Steven, who we thought was your father isn’t your father. We found out who your real dad is.”

It felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. “What?”

“His name is William Barnette and he lives in Milwaukee,” Kitty said. “I understand that you may have a lot of feelings and emotions. Maybe you want to cry.” Kitty pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head, almost with a hopeful expression on her face. “We won’t tell him if you cry.”

“I’ll tell him,” Red said, rolling his eyes.

“Would you please?” Kitty asked feeling frustrated. “Steven, are you okay?”

“Well,” he started, pausing. “I don’t really know the guy who’s supposed to be my dad and obviously, I don’t know this new guy.” He shook his head and shrugged. “So, I-I don’t really care.”

He started walking away and Y/N jumped up to follow after him. “I’ll go talk to him,” she whispered, reassuring Kitty. “Steven you have to care! He could be someone who is way better than Bud. Someone who actually cares!”

They reached the basement, but Steven turned to her. “If he cared, then where the hell has he been for the last eighteen years?” he asked her roughly.

“Maybe he didn’t know,” she said, giving William Barnette the benefit of the doubt. “Maybe your mom was already with Bud when she found out she was pregnant with you.”

Hyde leaned his hands on the back of the couch, back hunched over. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Bud and Edna split on me already, so it doesn’t make a difference that he did either.”

Even though he didn’t show it, Y/N knew he was hurting and confused. Seeing him this way made her heart hurt for him. She went up behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso, forehead resting against his back. Hyde’s head hung low, questions swimming through, making him feel like he was almost drowning.

“You wanna talk about it?” she asked him quietly.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” he said. “He bailed on me like everyone else.”

“Hey,” she said and spun him around. “Just because Edna and Bud left you doesn’t mean that he did.” She wanted to mention how her family took him in and loved him as their own, but she knew this wasn’t about her. “You don’t know what happened.”

She wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling him in a tight comforting hug. “I think you should meet him.”

He pulled away suddenly and jerked his body away from her. “Are you freaking kidding me? No! The guy didn’t bother to come looking for me all these years, why should I go looking for him?”

“Because he has the right to know that he has a son!” she shot back. “You have this stuck in your mind that he abandoned you, but you don’t know that. What if he doesn’t know that he has a son? Or another son he doesn’t know about? He could have other kids too and you’d have siblings.”

“I already have a half-brother that I don’t talk to,” he said and sat down on the couch. “Why would I need more?”

“Oh, c’mon Steven,” she said and sat next to him. “Aren’t you just a little bit curious?”

“No, I’m not,” he responded, feeling irritated. “And will you lay off? I don’t want to talk about this right now. I just found out about the guy not even five minutes ago.”

Y/N backed off and sat back. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” he said and sighed. “I just need some time.”

“Okay,” she whispered and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Take all the time you need.”

She reached an arm across his chest and hugged him. He rested his hand on her arm and leaned his head against hers.

There was a beat of silence before Y/N spoke up. “Steven?”

He hummed in response.

“I think I’m falling in love with you,” she barley whispered, terrified of his reaction.

He froze, his heart beating rapidly. How does he respond to that? No, she can’t. She can’t love him. He’s spent his whole life being unloved and being told that no one would love him. Is she crazy or delusional? Why, why would she love him? Did he love her too? It would explain a lot, but he couldn’t love her. The minute he did, his walls would come down and that’s when all the bad things would start happening again. He wanted to so bad; he wanted to tell her he loved her too, but his mouth ran dry and suddenly it was hard to speak. He knows he told her a few nights before that he thought if he had to settle it down it would be with her, but damn, the thought of it becoming a realty scared the crap out of him.

“Steven?” she asked, lifting her head and looking at him. “Did you hear me?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I did.”

She caught on to his attitude and unwrapped her arms from him, scooting away from him. She mentally kicked herself for opening her big mouth again. But she was also confused. Why would he freeze now when he talked about possibly settling down? “Um, you don’t have to say it back. I just wanted you to know.”

He jerked his head to look at her only to see her looking hurt. Even though she was putting on a brave face, he could see her fighting with herself to hide the hurt. That’s when he noticed a single tear slip down her cheek.

“Oh, c’mon please don’t cry,” he said turning his body fully to her. “It’s just…it’s not that I don’t feel the same way, I just don’t understand why you do.”

She looked at him with blurry eyed vision. “Because you’re real,” she answered fully. “You don’t try to impress anyone or show yourself to anyone because you don’t care. You don’t care what they think. You want something, you go for it. And that shows me that you’re here because you want to be, not because you want something out of me.”

He swallowed hard and kept looking at her sad face. He knew that she was referencing to Zack. And Hyde really did have feelings for her, so why was this so hard? He didn’t respond so she kept talking.

“I know that sounds ironic because, I mean, how we started and everything, but after you stayed with me after Zack and still wanted to be with me after our night together, I knew you weren’t just doing this just because I’m a good lay. I see how you are with me versus every other girl you’ve been with. You treat me better and you’re different than all the other guys. And I love that about you.”

“But you don’t want to love me,” he responded. “I’m not someone that’s easy to love. If I had a nickel every time I heard that growing up, I’d be a millionaire.”

“Who said love was easy though? I mean we are two individual people loving someone who is different from us. Why don’t you want me to love you?”

“Because, man, I …” he paused and rubbed the back of his neck.  “Look, the people I love – they tend to split on me, all right? My dad did it twice. My mom did it. Leo’s freaking gone, too. Why the hell wouldn’t I think you’d be next? I mean, you almost left for Denver. People who say they ‘love’ me, tend to leave. It doesn’t matter who they are.”

A small, hopeful smile slowly broke out onto her face. “Did you just say you love me?”

Hyde looked away from her. “I didn’t say that.”

“Yes, you did,” she argued with a smile.

“Yes…no. Y/N focus!” he said, causing her to smile even more. “That’s not what I’m trying to tell you.”

“I know exactly what you’re trying to tell me,” she said and straddled his lap, cupping his face. He rested his hands on her hips as he stared up at her lovely face.  “I know that it’s scary to love someone when everyone has left. But I’m here to stay, if you’ll have me.”

Hyde closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. He placed his hand over hers and kissed her palm. Her heart rate picked up and knowing that she was the only one who would see this side of him made her feel warm and happy. “The way I feel about you … I’ve never felt about a girl before. Usually I can’t wait for a chick to bail on me. The quicker the better. But you, I want you around.”

Y/N leaned in and kissed him slowly, savoring the moment. When she pulled away, she looked deep into his eyes. “You can trust that I’m not going to abandon you. All I’ve ever wanted was to be loved back. Not like someone to treat me like Zack did. I would never split on you. You give me more than what any other man can give me. You give me a safe space and a home. No other person has ever given me that before, and that’s all I’ve ever really wanted.”

“This isn’t easy for me,” he admitted, his voice weak. “Hearing all this and even having to say my feelings out loud…it feels like I could be sick. Because saying this makes it real.”

“Feeling it makes it real,” she said. “And me saying it to you doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

“I’m starting to believe that you want to stick around,” he said with a small smile.

“I do,” she responded. “Even just the thought of me leaving and hurting you kills me inside. I promise to stay.”

“Then I guess you’ll be hearing me say, ‘I love you’ the longer you’re with me, the more of a chance that kind of thing will slip out. It’s all about odds, man. Like rolling dice. Playing craps. Your number’s gotta come up some time.”

Y/N grinned brightly at his handsome face. “Then I’ve got great odds because I’m never leaving you.”

He placed his hand on her upper back and brought her lips down to hers and kissed her passionately. She pulled back and leaned her forehead against his.

“By the way, I love you too,” she said and he smiled on her lips before deepening the kiss. She brought him closer to her and tangled her tongue with his. The kiss started getting heated and as doing so, Hyde traced his hands down her back to her ass and firmly held them in place.

At that moment, Donna, Jackie, and Eric were coming through the basement door.

Donna in front, Eric in the back with Jackie in the middle, Donna saw Hyde and Y/N embraced in each other who quickly pulled apart and scrambled away from each other. Before Eric could see what was happening, Donna quickly slammed the door, shutting everybody out.

“Uh, Donna?” Jackie asked.

“I think Y/N has a guy over,” she responded, careful not to reveal any information.

“Oh gross!” Eric shouted. “Not on the couch!”

“Unfortunately, so,” Donna responded.

“Great, now I’m gonna have to burn it,” Eric responded. “Well, where are we supposed to go?”

“Let’s just go upstairs,” Donna said and pushed them back up the stairs.

“Were they…?” Jackie whispered.

“Looks like they were about to,” Donna whispered back.

“Thank you,” she sighed as they made their way back up the stairs.

                                               ⧝⧝⧝

Fez and Jackie sat in her room that night, kissing and talking, but mainly kissing. Fez loved the way her lips felt on his, but she wanted to see if that spark would return. She was having a war within herself. She told everyone that she and Fez had decided to work it out, but if she—and Fez—were being honest, it was a lie. They only said they worked things out to put on a brave face for the group. Only so that they could get the others to lay off while they figured things out.

Jackie hummed and placed her hands on Fez’s chest and gently pushed him away, breaking the kiss. “Fez, we need to talk.”

“Talk about how a fantastic kisser you are?” he purred.

Jackie smiled at that and looked at him. “You’re sweet, but no. We need to talk about us.”

He leaned back a little, a worried expression on his face. “Yes, my love?”

She looked into his puppy eyes and wanted to cry right there and then. She couldn’t take living a lie anymore, but she also didn’t want to hurt him. She knew he loved her, he’s always loved her, but why…why did she have to feel like this? Why was she so crazy about him before and now she’s…not? It hurts to feel this way. At first, she thought it was because of her homelife situation and maybe those feelings would return. But then she realized that she should’ve leaned on him more and have their love grow, but it didn’t. Instead she pulled away and didn’t even think about him much.

Maybe she’s messed up like her mom. Which, the thought scares her. She doesn’t want to be anything like her mom. Instead, she wished she was more like Donna and Eric, as gross as that sounded to her. Or even like Kitty and Red. That was a couple she could look up to. They were solid, stable, and stuck by each other through thick and thin. Her mom bailed the second her dad went to prison. She would never admit to anyone how nights she cried herself to sleep.

“This isn’t easy,” she behind and the sadness and worry in his eyes made her want to change her mind, but she couldn’t. “I’m having a hard time with home right now and I know I’ve been kinda distant.”

“It’s okay, I understand,” he says. “I just want you to be happy.”

Jackie groaned. “Fez, you’re such a wonderful, wonderful guy and I am so lucky to have you, but—”

“But what?”

“I can’t believe that I’m actually going to say this, but I don’t think I can juggle my family, my senior year, and having a boyfriend…”

“So, what are you saying?” Fez asked. “You want to break up?”

Jackie’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, Fez. This has been the best year of my life. Because of you, I’ve become a better person. You’ve shown me what truly matters and I will always thank you for it, but I can’t keep going through this relationship pretending to be all in. It’s not fair to either of us.”

“I can’t believe this,” Fez said and stood from the bed. “I thought you said that I was the guy you’ve always wanted.”

“I know, I know,” Jackie said and sprang from the bed to stand with him. “And I know how stupid I’m being for doing this, but I can’t keep doing this to you. I love you, Fez and I don’t want to lose you completely. When everything calms down, I’d like to start things back up again.”

“You’re asking me to wait for you? Are you serious?”

“I’ll wait for you if you wait for me,” she answered and grabbed his hand. “I just need time to figure out my feelings and emotions.”

“No, I know how this goes,” he said, snatching his hand back. “You want me to wait for you but you don’t have to and will start talking to other people. And then when I do, you’ll get pissed at me. This is a controlling tactic and I won’t have it.”

“No, Fez that’s not—”

He struck up a hand to silence her. “I said good day.”

“But Fez!”

Tears started to well up in his eyes. “I said good—” He couldn’t finish the sentence, choking up. Without saying anything else, he turned on his heel and stormed out of her room.

“Fez!” she called after him, but he was already gone.

                                   --Time Skip--      

           Later that night in Y/N ’s room, Y/N spent half the evening with Donna, comforting Jackie. They both held her as she cried into Y/N ’s shoulder and Donna holding her hand. This time was a different kind of cry—a deep hurt cry.

           “I hate that I hurt him,” she said after telling them the story. “I didn’t even want to end it.”

           “I know, Jackie,” Y/N soothed. “But you said it yourself that there were no more sparks.”

           “I know, but I still love him!” she wailed.

           “Do you love him?” Donna asked. “Or are you in love with him? There’s a difference you know?”

           “How?” Jackie asked.

           “When you love someone, you could love them as a friend or family; You don’t look at them as anything beyond that. You want the best for them. You love like you love like me or Y/N , or Hyde or Eric. But when you’re in love with someone,” Donna continued and brushed hair away from face. “It changes your world completely. You sacrifice things for them, sometimes just to be with them. You put them first before yourself and you always want to be close to them.”

            Y/N looked at Donna who then looked at Y/N back. Y/N had a small smile on her face and looked back down to Jackie. She hadn’t told either of them yet.

           “I don’t know,” Jackie sniffled. “I really don’t. I feel like I should be so in love with him like I was with Michael, but for some reason I’m not.”

           “Well, then there’s your answer,” Y/N answered gently.

           “But I hurt him so much,” she said, her voice sounding like gravel. “I normally don’t hurt this much if I hurt someone. Why?”

           “Maybe because you really do love him and you don’t know how to feel about it?” Y/N questioned, not knowing herself.

           “I don’t know!” Jackie wailed. “For years, I thought my mom loved my dad and that’s what marriage should look like, but after she left my dad after he was thrown in prison, I don’t know what real love is like. I thought I loved Michael. And then I thought I loved Steven. I’ve loved the wrong guys, but then Fez…Fez is different. He’s been there for me emotionally and physically.” Her eyes grew wide at the sudden realization. “Oh my God, what did I just do?!”

            Y/N and Donna shushed her comfortingly and hugged her tighter. “It’s okay, Jackie. It’ll be okay,” Donna said.

           Jackie continued to sob. “I’m just like my mom: broken.”

           “Jackie, you’re not broken,” Y/N said sternly and made her look at her. “Just because your mom did awful stuff doesn’t mean you’re like her. It’s okay to be confused. It’s okay to not know what you want. Fez is a big boy, he’ll be okay. Just like you’ll be okay. If it’s meant to be, it’s always will be. It will always find a way. Do you understand? You’re not your parents, you are your own individual person. By feeling that way, you will eventually end becoming like her. If you don’t want to be like her, you have to fight it.”

           She nodded her hand and wrapped her arms around Y/N ’s neck. “Thank you, Y/N. You guys are the bestest friends I’ve ever had. I’m going to go talk to my mom and then find Fez.”

           She got up, wiping at her face, and left the room leaving Donna and Y/N alone.

           “That was really amazing what you told her,” Donna commented.

           “I can say the same about you,” Y/N replied. “You’re very wise about love.”

           “Well, I’ve been in love with the same boy since childhood,” she shrugged and smiled.

           “Yeah, I understand it now,” Y/N said, smiling.

           Donna caught on to this. “No way!”

           “Way,” Y/N laughed.

           “You love him?!” Donna asked. “Did he say it back?”

           “In his own way,” Y/N said and smiled. “He’s slowly bringing down those walls he’s been holding up for so long.”

           “Tell me all about it,” Donna said, grinning.

           “Okay, so, this is what happened.”

                                                                ⧝⧝⧝

           “If you could pick any superpower, what would it be?” Kelso asked as everyone sat around the circle later that night. “I think I would like speed. Like the Flash. So, that I could run around and do it with every hot chick in Wisconsin at lightning speed! Maybe in the entire world!”

          Y/N laughed. “If you do that, women would barley feel anything.”

           “Nuh uh,” Kelso said.

           “And you would probably have every STD known to man,” Donna giggled.

           “Well, what would you guys have then?” Kelso asked defensively.

           “I don’t know,” Donna said in thought. “I think I’d have something like Wonder Woman.”

           “I can see that,” Y/N responded. “Mine would be Spider-Man. Or no! Spider-Woman. Her new comic book just came out last year!” She took the joint from Eric’s fingers and inhaled the wonderful green plant.

           “Hey, that was mine!” Eric whined. “I was going to choose Spider-Man!”

           “No, you weren’t,” Y/N said, passing the joint to Steven who was sitting quietly, listening to the conversation. “You were going to choose something stupid like The Force.”

           “It is NOT—” Eric yelled, but stopped abruptly and placed his finger on his lips, shaking his head and frowning. “It is not stupid!”

           “Listen, Bro, if I had to sit through Star Wars or gauge my own eyes out, I would say hand me the scissors.”

           “How dare you spew that blasphemy!” Eric shouted. “How are you my twin?”

           “We’re twins, not clones,” Y/N laughed along with gang who were enjoying this.

           “You guys are such dorks,” Hyde laughed.

           “Yeah? What would choose Hyde?” Kelso asked.

           “Fire, man!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “Like, my whole body would go up in flames and I can throw fire!”

           “Like the Human Torch?” Eric asked.

           “Man, do you always have to bring comic books into this?” Hyde asked him.

           “Yes,” Eric deadpanned.

           “If I could have any superpower, it would be to go back in time and see why Jackie stopped loving me,” Fez piped up, his voice breaking.

           “Awe, Fezie,” Y/N cooed, her heart breaking. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay.” She went over to where he was sitting and wrapped an arm around his shoulders and held him close.

           “Man, are you going to start crying?” Hyde asked and Y/N shot him a glare.

           “Yeah, if you’re going cry, I’m going to leave,” Kelso said.

           “Will you guys shut up?” Y/N snapped. “Our friend is hurting and you’re not being good friends right now.” Y/N tugged him closer and rested her chin on his head.

           Hyde would never admit it, but he felt kind of guilty.

           “Sorry,” Kelso said sheepishly. “Look, Fez, when Jackie dumped me, I know I wasn’t showing it, I was really sad too.”

           “Man, you freaking cried too!” Hyde said.

           “Shut up! No I didn’t!” Kelso yelled and turned to Fez. “But after I looked in the mirror and saw how beautiful I am, I felt better and realized Jackie was always a bitch.”

           “Don’t you say that!” Fez shouted, standing up. “Don’t you ever say that! Jackie is the woman I love and if you can’t respect that you can leave!”

           “Fez, I didn’t—” Kelso said, but Fez cut him off.

           “Good day!”

           “Oh, Fez, c’mon—”

           “I said GOOD DAY!”

           Kelso looked at him hurt. “I was just trying to help you, man! You don’t have to be such a jerk.”

           Fez refused to look at him as Kelso stood up and walked out the basement. After the door slammed shut, Fez sunk back and covered his face with a hand.

           “I don’t think I’ve ever been this hurt before,” Fez rasped and soon, his shoulders were shaking.

           “Oh, Fez, look, it’s not the end of the world,” Eric said, awkwardly comforting his friend.  “I know you really loved her, but she’s not the only woman in the world who will feel the same about you.”

           “Yeah, man. There are women out there of all kinds of flavors. You just gotta pick up a spoon and try them,” Hyde said, smirking at his analogy.

           “Clever, Hyde,” Y/N said and rubbed Fez’s back. “Listen, Fez, what’s meant to be will be. If you and Jackie are meant to be, it’ll always find a way. Fate will bring you back together one day.”

           Fez wiped at his nose, looking up at everyone with red eyes. “You guys really think so?”

           “Of course,” Donna said gently. The last of the joint had been burnt out and forgotten on the table. “Look, you’re cute and sensitive, smart and funny. Any girl would be so lucky to have you.”

           “You know I’m sitting right here,” Eric said, acting offended.

           “Oh, shut up,” Donna laughed.

           “Would you go out with me?” Fez asked. “You know, if you were single.”

            Y/N nodded. “Maybe. If I haven’t been friends with you for so long.”

           “Same here,” Donna responded and reached across the table, grabbing his hand. “If things don’t work out with you and Jackie, there are still so many women who would be the luckiest woman ever.”

           “Thanks you guys,” Fez smiled gratefully at the girls and looked at Eric and Hyde. “You two suck ass at comforting people.”

           “That’s what chicks are for, man,” Hyde said, a smile playing on his lips.

           “You know, I think I’m going to go home for the night,” Fez said, standing up. “I’m tired.”

           “Okay, Fezie,” Y/N said and watched him leave. “Poor guy.”

           “I know, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone so torn up,” Eric said. “What a pansy!”

           “You know, if I recall, you didn’t get out of bed for three days when you and Donna broke up,” Y/N said, looking at her twin brother. “And then didn’t get over it and bitched about it for a year.”

           Donna giggled. “You even tried to get with that loose blonde during Hyde’s party to make me jealous.”

           “Whatever,” Eric said and leaned back in his seat. “All I know is, Jackie isn’t worth crying over.”

           “Eric! Y/N ! Steven!” Red yelled, coming down the stairs. Everyone scrambled up and quickly got rid of the evidence and Eric sprayed some air freshener around the room. They all returned to their places on the couch and lawn chair, acting as if they had been watching TV this whole time. “You three, upstairs!”

           “Why?” Y/N asked.

           “Don’t ask me why, just do it!” Red barked and went back upstairs.

            Y/N and Eric groaned and trudged upstairs.

           “I think I’m gonna go,” Donna said and gave Eric a chaste kiss and left.

           “No, save me,” Eric whined causing Donna to laugh.

           “You’ll be fine,” she giggled and walked out.

           “What do you think Dad wants?” Y/N asked as they trudged up the stairs.

           Eric shrugged. “I probably screwed up and he wants to interrogate you so that he can get it out of you and Hyde.”

           She nudged him. “I got you bro.”

           “I don’t,” Hyde said.

            Y/N elbowed him in the ribs earning a grunt from him. A small smile crept up on his lips as he rubbed the sore spot.

           As the three of them reached upstairs, Red stood with a frustrated look on his face. “Look, Screwhead, what did you do?” He held up a white envelope. “Another damned ticket?”

           Hyde laughed and smacked Eric’s shoulder. “That’s funny. Hey, Screwhead.”

           “Actually, you’re Screwhead. I’m just called ‘boy,’” Eric said.

           “You wanna explain this?” Red said.

           “Wait, if you think this is Hyde’s problem, why am I here?” Y/N asked.

           “I need you to testify if you were a witness,” Red said.

           “Dad, this isn’t court,” Y/N said. “Just ask him your questions so that we can go to bed.”

           “What is it?” Steven asked and grabbed the letter. “Why am I getting a letter from the D.M.V?”

           “Oh, my God. It’s about the cow,” Eric blurted out, causing Y/N to whip her head to her brother, eyes wide. She stomped on his foot making him wince. “Did I say cow? I meant cow-nt down to better driving!”

           “What he meant to say is, they hit a cow,” Hyde stated.

           “Hyde!” The twins said in unison. “What the hell?!”

           “I have to say, it’s really creepy when you two do that,” said Hyde.

           “Well…we….I had the right of way!” Eric said exasperated.

           “Go ahead, open it hotrod,” Red said calmly, nodding at the letter. “You know, you are the most irresponsible, careless, no-account, undisc—”

           “Oh, it’s a reminder letter to change my address on my license,” Hyde said.

           “Oh, well…uh…welcome home!” Red said awkwardly and walked away into the living room.

           “Is it really an address renewal?” Y/N asked, taking the letter from him.

           “Yeah, for my new speeding ticket,” Hyde answered, chuckling.

           “You’re awful,” Y/N laughed. “Alright, boys, I’m gonna go to bed to prepare for my whole day of nothing.”

           Eric and Hyde smirked as they watched her walk away.

           “Man, she really is something isn’t she?” Hyde asked and went over to the fridge to look for a late-night snack.

           “I guess you could say that,” Eric said and had Hyde grab him a beer. “She’s always had a mouth on her.”

           You have no idea, Hyde thought.

           “When she does it, it’s ‘cute and funny’ but when I do it I ‘have a major attitude problem’ and ��need a foot in my ass,’” Eric finished with a frustrated sigh and sat down at the table. “So, what’s with you and your new chick anyway?”

           Hyde groaned. “I thought we were through with this, Forman?”

           “I know, but like, why haven’t we met her? I’m starting to think she’s fake.”

           “Believe me, she isn’t fake,” Hyde said and flitted his gaze towards the door.

           Unfortunately for him, Eric is smart and caught on to Hyde’s gaze. “Dude, no.”

           “What?” Hyde whipped his head back to Eric.

           “You better not be doing my sister!” Eric stood up from his seat and Hyde’s palms grew clammy, but he remained his cool.

           “How many times do I have to tell you I’m not doing your sister?!” Hyde asked, growing frustrated, but really, he wanted this conversation to end. “Why do you keep saying that?”

           “I find that a little hard to believe,” Eric said, putting his hands on his hips. “I know you’ve had a thing for her for a while.”

           “What makes you say that?”

           “I’m not blind; I see the way you look at her when you think no one is looking. You treat her just slightly better than everybody else. And lately here, you’ve been happier than normal.”

           “Forman, man, will you shut it? I don’t have a thing for your sister!”

           “Hyde, if you can look me in the eye and tell me that you’re not seeing my sister, I’ll let it go,” Eric said seriously. “If you tell me the truth, I promise I won’t strangle you. Or, I’ll try really, really hard not to.”

           Steven contemplated this. He thought he could tell Eric and get it over with. But he knew if he did, it would open the gates of hell with Y/N. And if any Forman children got Red’s temper, it was Y/N.

           He looked Eric in the eye. “No, I’m not seeing your sister. Can we please drop this now?”

           Eric stared at Hyde for a second, darting between his aviator covered eyes and leaned back. “Fine. But if I find out that you’re lying, I swear to God Hyde…”

           “What? You’ll kick my ass?”

           “You don’t know what I can do when I get angry,” Eric warned.

           “Okay Hulk,” Hyde laughed.

                                                 --Time Skip—

           The Next Day

             Hyde and Kelso sat in the kitchen eating a sandwich, Kelso expressing his anxieties about becoming a father.

           “What if the baby comes out dumb?” he asked.

           “Well, Kelso,” Hyde began. “I’m not gonna lie, it’s a possibility.”

           “I’m serious, Hyde!”

           “Yeah, so am I.”

           “Hyde, will you quit messing around for a second?”

           “I’m not.”

           “Hyde!”

           “Okay, I’m sorry,” Hyde laughed. “The baby probably won’t come out moronic like you. It’ll probably come out smart like Brooke.”

           “And beautiful like me,” Kelso said as if he just made a scientific discovery. “Thanks Hyde, you’re the best!”

           “Yeah, sure, man.” Hyde returned to his sandwich and picked up the paper that was lying on the table.

           “Hey, do you know where the peanut butter is?” Kelso asked, looking through the cabinets. “I want a peanut butter banana sandwich.”

           Hyde hummed. “It should be on the shelf behind me,” he responded lazily, not bothered to look up from the paper.

           “Oh.” Kelso rounded the corner and started looking at the shelf for the peanut butter when he noticed a yellow cloth peeking out from behind the curtain, wedged between the shelf. He pulled it out and noticed it was a female’s medium shirt. “Whoa, what’s this?”

           Hyde turned to see Kelso holding Elena’s shirt. Oh no. “Um…what does it look like?”

           “Well, I know what it is,” Kelso answered. “What’s it doing all the way over here?”

           “I don’t know. Maybe it accidentally got kicked over when Mrs. Forman was doing laundry.”

           “That’s kind of weird,” Kelso said and suddenly an idea clicked. “Is this your woman’s?”

           “Uh…yeah,” Hyde answered truthfully. “I had her over a week ago. By the way, this is a very sturdy table.” He shook the table to prove his point.

           “Yeah, Hyde!” Kelso high fived him. “I seriously want to meet her.”

           “Why? So you can try to nail her?”

           “No,” Kelso said defensively. “Okay, well, maybe a little.”

           “Another reason to not bring her over here,” Hyde said, getting up to bring his plate to the sink. “I don’t feel like burying your body in the backyard.”

           “Nuh uh,” Kelso said, laughing nervously. “You wouldn’t do that.”

           “I don’t know, you shot me once and shoved me off the tower. Maybe I want my revenge.”

           “Accidentally!”

           “No, it wasn’t.”

           “Accidentally on purpose!” Kelso defended again.

           “Whatever, man, you’re not going to meet her, so, just give me her shirt so I can give it back to her.”

           The back door slid open, revealing Y/N walking through. “Hey guys,” she greeted. “What’re you do—oh, hey my shirt!” She grabbed the yellow fabric from Kelso’s hands. “I’ve been looking for this for like a week.”

           What happened next, happened in slow motion. Hyde’s eyes widened to saucers, Y/N seeing his reaction, showing confusion which quickly turned to fear and there was Kelso. Who sat there staring at Y/N with his mouth open, refusing to believe it was real, but here was Y/N and Hyde, looking terrified.

           “OH!” Kelso yelled and pointed at Hyde and Y/N. “OH! OH MY GO—”

           Hyde slapped a hand over Kelso’s face and dragged him downstairs to the basement. Kelso’s muffled screams could be heard as Hyde struggled to him down the stairs, Y/N slamming the basement door behind them.

           Once they got to the basement, Hyde and Kelso stumbled and fell onto each other on the couch.

           “Shut up, man!” Hyde hissed. “You need to shut up!”

           Kelso stopped struggling and Hyde removed his hand and stood up. “Yes.”

           Hyde stood on one side of the couch while Y/N stood on the opposite side, wringing her hands.

           “YOU?!” Kelso pointed to Hyde and then pointed to Y/N. “AND YOU?!”

           “Please, Kelso, please I am begging you to keep your voice down,” Y/N pleaded. “Please, please, please don’t tell Eric.”

           Kelso was breathing hard as if he had just ran a marathon. “What—when did this happen?!”

           “It happened in June,” Hyde whispered.

           “IN JUNE?!” Kelso shouted, causing Y/N and Hyde to shush him aggressively. “Well, who else knows?”

           “Donna and Jackie, a-and now you,” Y/N answered and looked at Hyde who looked equally scared. “Nobody else knows.”

           “Oh my God,” Kelso panicked. “Oh my God, I gotta tell someone!” He scrambled to get up, but Hyde and Y/N were quicker and tackled him into the couch.    

           “NO!” Hyde and Y/N yelled as they pinned him down.

           “You cannot tell anyone!” Y/N said sternly. Kelso continued to fight against them, but he was outnumbered and gave up.

           “Kelso, you tell anyone and I’ll kick your ass!” Hyde threatened.

           Hyde and Y/N got off Kelso, who were all now heaving.

           “Kelso,” Y/N kneeled at his knee. “I am begging you to please, please, please, please not tell anyone. This is important.”

           Suddenly Fez walked in, seeing this and became confused. “Uh…what’s going on?”

           “HYDE AND Y/N ARE DOING IT!” Kelso blurted out, running over to Fez.

           “KELSO!” Hyde and Y/N screamed.

           “Kelso, you freaking moron,” Hyde chastised him and punched him hard in the arm.

           “No, they’re not,” Fez laughed. “This has to be a joke.”

           Everybody’s facial expressions showed him otherwise.

           “No,” Fez whispered, covering his mouth with his hand. “No way. You’re the secret hot Y/H/C?!”

           “Okay, yes,” Hyde said and wrapped an arm around Y/N ’s shoulders. “ Y/N and I are dating, and more importantly, doing it—” Y/N shot him a look and Hyde cleared his throat. “But, it’s true. We need you guys to keep this to yourselves.”

           “Well, who else knows?” Fez asked.

           “Well, freakin’ everyone except for Eric now,” Y/N responded. “So, guys, please shut up when Eric is around.”

           Fez and Kelso looked at each other. “Fine,” they said.

            Y/N and Steven sighed out in relief. “Thank you, guys,” Y/N said.

           “I still can’t believe it’s you two,” Kelso said.

            Y/N looked at Hyde who looked down at her with a gentle smile.

           “I know,” she said, smiling and reached up, kissing him. He placed a hand on her hip and pulled her closer.

           “Aw, okay that’s enough,” Kelso said disgusted.

           “Please don’t do that in front of me,” Fez squeaked and Kelso nodded. “It gives me needs.”

           “Yeah—wait, what?” Kelso said. “No. No! Look, just because we know you’re together now doesn’t mean we want to see you two all over each other.”

           “Well, then you guys better leave because you are about to see just that,” Hyde said, shooing the boys away.

           “Normally, I’d want to watch, but this is too weird. Even for me,” Fez said, heading back for the door.

           “Yeah,” Kelso said and turned to Y/N, wearing a seductive smile. “If you want to make it less awkward and a guarantee that I won’t tell Eric, you and I do it once.”

           “Shut the hell up, Kelso!” the couple said in unison as Hyde punched Kelso as hard as he could in the arm.

           Kelso groaned, holding his arm. “GOD!”

Taglist:

@lieswithoutfairytales​

[setoangel01-fanfiction]

Gardening

Fandom: Final Fantasy 7

Pairing: Zack Fair x Aerith Gainsborough (zerith)

Rated: T

Story Summary: Zack brings Aerith a priceless gift, and during so, he's also unknowingly fulfilling many more of her tiny little wishes…she'll just have to think up some more. AKA, flowers get planted and a love flourishes…

...

A03

FanFiction.net

....

Today was going to be perfect.

The fresh scent of topsoil, the earth fragrant and fresh with new life begging to be nurtured under her experienced hands. The small seeds in paper packets and blooming bulbs in trays were nearly enough to bring tears of happiness to Aerith's rich green eyes.

Yet the euphoria she was feeling was nothing but a blip to the full force of the sun that was Zackary Fair.

It was amazing! Her SOLDIER came to visit her at her house rather than her church. Nothing new, but today was different! Instead of only being able to stay for an hour or two before being called off to save Midgar from certain doom, Zack was free to spend the entire day with her - the general's orders! Zack had to even show her Sephiroth's text to prove it and there it was in black and white.

...

"r u sure, seph?"

"For the third and last time, yes, Zackary. I am more than capable of handling things at ShrinRa for one day. Now, instead of continuing to inundate me with fruitless texts, go and have a pleasant day with your female companion."

"but seph! what if u need heelp?"

"That's an order, Fair!"

"...k thanks! see u 2maro! =-D"

"Affirmative. My office for briefing at 700 sharp."

"u got it!"

....

…Wow.

While wanting to reprimand Zack for using such terrible language and grammar to communicate with his superior officer, Aerith completely ignored it to focus on the amazing news! Spending the entire day with Zack was such an exceptionally rare treat she was fully determined to cherish; anting to savor every single, last solitary moment with her handsome blue-eyed boyfriend.

Yet among the gift of his own sunny presence (which would have been plenty enough for her), today, Zack came bearing physical gifts.

Unlike other girls, Aerith had never been someone to care for expensive trinkets to showcase affection such as jewellery, new clothes or purses even if Zack could easily afford it with his First Class paycheck. No, Aerith was far simpler; wanting nothing more than to spend time with him - and she always told him so. The most luxurious thing Zack had bought for her thus far was the bright pink ribbon she scarcely removed from her hair and some delightful floral perfume he mixed himself when they went out on their first date.

Yet instead of some fancy baubles or silk clothing peeking out at her from a large brown box he held out to her was something completely unexpected…

…Zack brought her flowers!

While she grew plenty of her own, Zack had brought her something she could have never found here - flowers cultivated outside of Midgar!

Zack had been deployed on so many missions all over Gaia lately, Junon, Costa Del Sol, and Kalm just to name a few. During these times, they would talk on the phone, text or he would simply send photos to her PHS from locations during his travels. In those small photos he sent, Aerith lit up seeing all the native fauna of the place where he happened to be staying and the flower pictures became a tradition between them. Whenever he'd leave on a mission, he left with a goodbye kiss and a promise to send her pictures of flowers that grew there, and for this past year, he had kept that promise.

But as Zack slowly tilted the box to present her with its contents, Aerith was nothing short of stunned.

Inside were multiple packets of seeds and bags of bulbs. All of the white and brown packaging had his adorably messy handwriting on each with the names of flowers he had sent her pictures of throughout the last year. Deciphering his writing, Aerith noticed the names of more common species from Kalm and Junon but among the packets, there were exotic species from Wutai and even from Banora. Oh! And there were sunflower seeds from Rocket Town!

But…wait, was that -

"...Gongaga?" Aerith asked, noticing the word and glancing up at her boyfriend questioningly.

"Heh. Yeah," Zack chuckled and Aerith noticed his right arm twitch as if he wanted to scratch the back of his head if his hands weren't occupied.

"...Wait, you went to visit your parents? You never told me that! How are they? When did you go see them?" the questions flew out of her mouth at an alarming rate.

Zack just smiled softly (he had such a wonderful smile), "I didn't."

At Aerith's befuddled expression, he clarified, "My mom actually sent them. I wrote her a letter about you - I told her my girlfriend loves to garden and grows flowers and well, the next thing I know, she's sending me back a letter with all these questions along with some seeds from the flowers she and my dad have been growing in the backyard since I was a kid." Zack chuckled nervously as if shy from the information and Aerith felt as if her heart was going to jump straight out of her chest.

Blinking, Aerith glanced back down to the box cradled in his hands, all the work of gathering seeds, drying them and labeling them must have taken forever and he never told her what he was doing!

How he listened so intently as she spoke during the time they spent together this past year, asked questions and was so genuinely interested about her hobby when most times, she thought he was simply indulging her. Yet he was learning so he could give this gift to her… Not to mention the bombshell of him writing a letter to his parents and mentioning her! Proudly calling her his girlfriend and even mentioning her hobbies!

A burning sensation grew in the back of her eyes and she felt a tear slip down her cheek.

"Uh…Aer, i-is everything alright?" Zack's voice broke thorough and she looked up at his adorably nervous face.

"...You really wrote a letter to your mom about m-me?"

"Well, yeah! And my dad too I guess. Uh…I-Is that okay? I thought it would be good to mention it since we've been together for over a year and she's been badgering me about telling her about you when I call, so I figured mentioning flowers would be a safe start-" Zack's voice faded as Aerith lifted her hands and gently cupped his sweet face between her palms. Not mindful of the tears that continually slipped down her cheeks, Aerith couldn't help but smile at Zack, a smile so wide, it made her cheeks ache.

…How did she get so lucky to have this beautiful angel literally drop into her life?

"It's more than okay. It's wonderful…You're wonderful…" she whispered, her thumbs brushing over his cheekbones and tenderly caressing the scar on his jaw.

Aerith smiled tenderly as she felt his cheeks heat up under her palms. Zack's looked positively (and adorably) flustered at her comments; for once, she was the one to embarrass him and she relished it.

"Thanks… So are you," Zack replied, nuzzling his cheek against her palm. Such a sweet puppy…

Zack's face was so handsome and kind and eyes pretty and warm that Aerith simply couldn't resist pushing herself up on her tiptoes to kiss him. But before she even get close to closing the gap, her chest bumped right into the cardboard box and Zack yelped as he managed to catch it before it could fall or the seeds could get crushed between them as she regained her balance.

Zack laughed.

Aerith flushed a pink so deep it matched her ribbon.

Probably noticing how Aerith tensed in mortification of her actions, Zack's chuckling died out and he easily broke the tension by suggesting, "Hey, I'm all for kissing later, but how about we plant some of these first?" he nudged her hip softly with the box.

Aerith's face was still reddened but she flashed him a grateful smile. A deep breath later, the green eyed girl straightened her back and easily played along, "Planting new flowers sounds wonderful! But… you'll do exactly as I say this time? Because, Mr. Zackary Fair, if memory serves me right, I remember the last time you helped me try weeding the church…" she placed her hands on her hips and flashed him her best withering stare (it didn't work, he just bit his cheek to withhold laughter).

The longer she stared, Zack's grew sheepish at the memory of that fiasco, his cheeks a bright coral red against his tan skin, "Uh… well, in my defense, all those green stems look the same to me!"

Aerith's withering glare worked this time.

"Oh! O-Of course I'll follow your orders exactly! After all, you're the professional here! Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it!" he announced with determination and a blinding white smile.

"Yay! Just what I love to hear!" she bounced on her toes and clapped, completely breaking character before jumping right back in it with a stern voice, "Alright, First Class SOLDIER, Zack Fair, I order you to plant some flowers and perhaps do some weeding, but make sure to do it correctly this time! Do I make myself clear?"

"Ma'am, yes, Ma'am! Operation Midgar Full of Flowers, Wallet Full of Money shall commence immediately!" Zack stated loudly, finally maneuvered the box under one arm and gave her a full SOLDIER salute with rigid stance and stern expression.

Aerith just giggled into her palms before pushing at his shoulder as Zack yelped when the box nearly went flying out of his arms again.

.....

Scratch that earlier statement - today was definitely perfect.

A few hours later, the couple were knelt in a patch of soft dirt.

The rich brown loam permeating the air and making the normally rank Midgar air sweet and fragrant with the scent of flourishing life. Aerith was barefoot, boots discarded as she dug her toes into the cool grass and merely enjoyed the soft breeze as her fingers raked through the dirt under her palms. The brown soil staining her fingertips and getting under her nails and most likely staining the white and blue dress caught under her knees, but she couldn't care less.

Looking to her left was nothing short of perfection.

The flowers and grass, soil and the promise of new life with every seed planted didn't much matter compared to the man kneeling right next to her. Aerith smiled softy. Her emerald green eyes tracing over Zack's handsome face as he had his complete attention on the soil in front of him. While Zack was known to have the attention span of a puppy on a sugar rush most times, when he put his heart into something, Zack easily gave 110% of focus on that task like he was right now.

Ever so carefully, the SOLDIER listened to her instructions, following her along as she showed him how to plant the seeds he gave her. Till the soil, dig the holes to make sure they were deep enough and far enough apart not to interfere with the seedling next to them. Showed him how much water to give the freshly buried seeds, the perfect amount as to not dehydrate nor to drown. With each step and seed and bulb that he planted, his confidence grew until he was doing it on his own and Aerith couldn't be prouder of her first student!

Heart hammering as she took in Zack's concentrated expression, Aerith took his moment of distraction to complete what she tried earlier - this time with much more success.

Leaning forward on her knees, Aerith gingerly pressed her palms to his broad chest. The incredible firm large pecs under her wandering fingers inflated with Zack's surprised intake of breath as he looked at her in surprise at her forward action. Still retaining her nerve, Aerith grasped at his leather suspender straps, using them for balance as she eagerly pressed her lips against the corner of his plush smiling mouth.

The SOLDIER smiled warmly at her action. Hands wanting nothing to grab at her waist to pull her closer and kiss her properly but with the dirt covering his fingers, he resisted. Instead, he chased her retreating face, brushing his cheek on hers before letting his lips leave feathery strokes along her jaw before planting the softest kiss by her ear.

"What was that for? You trying to distract me?" he whispered and he bit his lip upon feeling her shiver as she nuzzled her face in his neck.

Aerith whole body felt electrified at Zack's question and his warm breath caressing her throat and loose tendrils of hair hanging by her ears. "No. Not really… What if I said I just wanted to?"

"...Oh really?" he asked, pulling back slightly and Aerith mourned the loss of his warmth for only a second as she caught his coy smile."Because if I didn't know better, I think you're just distracting me from gardening…"

"What if I am?" her mouth spoke before her brain even registered it. The words that left her mouth made her flush.

"Hmm... well, if that's the case, I'd say you win," he affirmed with the sexiest smirk she ever saw but before she could respond, Zack's mouth pressed against hers. His head tilting so he could slot his mouth perfectly against hers; the action had her toes curling against the grass as she bit back a rising moan. Aerith's hands grabbed at his raven hair, fingers eagerly cording through soft strands and desperately grasping at him to pull him closer.

Yet all too soon, Zack pulled his mouth away with a sinful pop as Aerith panted frantically, cheeks flushed and confused and a bit miffed that he dared to stop.

"So, since we're almost finished planting the dahlia's, how about we move over this hill and plant the sunflowers near the bridge?" Zack asked all too naturally before flashing her a devious wink.

Aerith was affronted for only a moment before she glared at him, "Nope. I'm in charge, remember?" with little hesitation, Aerith gently pushed aside the remaining seeds and bulbs and pushed Zack onto his back. The SOLDIER easily caving to her hands as she pressed at his shoulders til he rested among the soft grass, the bright green a beautiful contrast to his dark hair. "And I say that you're not allowed to get up until I say so, am I making myself clear, SOLDIER?

"Oh, yes..." he grunted lightly for show as she plopped down on his stomach guard. "Crystal clear, ma'am," he replied biting back a chuckle before she leaned over him and kissed him for all he was worth.

...After all, the seeds could always wait to be planted later…