#(and by a little birdie i mean the director)

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

final show day…i’m gonna miss this, man 😭

[respectthepetty]

Has anyone checked in on you yet?! If not I’m here to check for your pulse after the heart killers Trailer!!

But also

My nerd is wanting the colour break downs too. Teehee but also I like, care for your health too! But colours 🥹

I'm alive, just triple vaccinated, and a little out of it, but I can't comment on the colors in The Heart Killers because, as I've written before when Joong commented on the colors of the characters, this is a Director Jojo and Cinematographer Rath series, which means we're getting great lighting, but not necessarily color-coded boys in love.

In his interview, Joong said Bison was orange and Fadel was dark blue, but if anything, I think Bison will simply be red and Fadel will be black.

But, then again, this is a family business, so who knows?

Then Joong said Kant felt green,

But if anything, I would say yellow,

Which would make sense that he and Bison would be the warm couple (aka passionate from the start).

But in a show where everyone is pretending to be something they aren't, I don't think they're their actual colors.

Maybe the clothing (and colors) are telling us something like Style is wild child.

Who is also a Slut for Christ!

(Jojo really be making Jesus a character in all his shows)

And Fadel and Style will have the "colder" relationship.

But once again, the only things I'm sure about are Cinematographer Rath will do his job as he always does, and this show's lighting will be spectacular and give us pink = 💕love💕,

And Director Jojo will do his job and give us unhinged boys in love.

But even though I'm on the fence about the colors,

I do know I'm getting my troublesome tykes!

And as a JoongDunk fan first, and a human second, this is all I really need in this life of sin.

[psn-stalling]

We're getting closer to knowing who you are. There are less punishments for just owning up btw. :/

And did you throw a glitter thingy at Amarys? That's very mean, you know. if if you didn't then do you know who it was?

@director-cyrano

Wait what? She got glitter? No, that wasn't me. I'm being deadass here. Also no I do not know who sent it, unfortunately~

Also a little birdie has a picture of the "list"... IT'S WRONG~ HEHEHE~

But I will admit you guys are getting close! Though my little rotom buddy in this phone did skewer a couple things about how far up in the league I am. As mad as I am about Conductor posting, she did mess with Amarys! Maybe I'm farther up that she said! Maybe I haven't reached the elite four at all~

Have fun knowing I'm a week away from finishing the class and I'm completing the course online! HAHAHA!!!

[rgr-pop]

okay my job is Very blue collar, can you talk more about being told to go to a… doctor’s appointment???? for inappropriate workplace behavior? is this common? obv not saying you were actually inappropriate. but if someone was homophobic at your workplace, hr can tell them go to therapy??? like a tumblrina scorned???

yes well i can do my best! officially i can say all this now Technically but dont rb but if you are in the field im happy to speak to colleagues, i had a disciplinary action filed against me for privately correcting a coworker for using the wrong pronouns for a trans girl student. she is on the school board and she works closely with someone who lost a city council race in large part because she had worked with bethany christian services and was discredited. so of course i very innocently talked to our director about how im soooo worried about her possibly being radicalized by this issue on the school board--have you watched the news? no? are you not getting the ALA emails....? so i had a conversation with her about she pronouns, she screamed in front of patrons that nobody can tell her what she has to call them. she called our student a karen. i asked my director to handle this, specifically said if you ask me to handle this i will feel like its undue attention as a queer person in the workplace please have someone else do it. set up a process for pronoun stuff, i found him some training resources, the whole thing. his solution was to force me in a meeting with this person in which she said that pronouns quote reminded her of being enslaved. i was not allowed to leave, cried, made five or six on paper and recorded on video claims of quote homophobic retaliation. the other person filed a complaint against me which means she cant face any disciplinary response. officially my report on paper you can probably FOIA it says that the discipline was for using the word homophobic and transphobic. well actually my discipline was for rude behavior in that meeting plus saying the words homophobic and transphobic but they found in my hearing that i was appropriately apologetic for raising my voice and crying but that i refused to apologize for saying homophobic and transphobic (they didnt ask me to but obviously i would not have. so thats what my report says. a little birdie told me that in the hearing discussion the words quote religious freedom were tossed around. its unofficially prohibited to communicate about someones pronouns in the library until further notice and ive been told they will get a procedure on paper next year. as a consequence for my behavior (saying homophobic and transpobic i face mandatory counseling. can they do this - i think yes but i really think its a legal technicality that has never seemed a winnable fight to anyone. my understanding is that it is probably common. what i believe is typically the case is that employers will partner with something called an employee assistance program. the employee-facing component of these orgs is access to mental health services as a benefit (in the case of me, in lieu of healthcare benefits(. employers partner with these orgs to offer those employee-facing mental health services while contracting the company for other org psych/HR services. here is one of the big companies that does this, based in detroit, who i believe does this work with state of michigan employees (who i am not( - https://hmsanet.com/managed-behavioral-health.html the employer contracts this company to provide employee benefit limited mental health services and also uses their services for various disciplinary, mediation, crisis management, probably also consulting purposes. in my case, im being required to have a counseling session with a counselor through what is described by the company and my employer as a voluntary program, but i have been instructed that doing so is mandatory.

interestingly, in the past when ive worked with union members who got this disciplinary action, it was posed to them as they could choose to go to counseling or have a higher level disciplinary action. i was expecting this to happen to me, but i was not given the false option. mandatory referral through your employer are the words used. im required to sign a release of information allowing the counselor to disclose information about my participation and progress and it appears that this will likely be in the form of a checklist certifying my compliance. obviously what i would prefer is to create an even more complete paper trail of them doing homophobia on purpose so were considering the strategy...

[birdgirl90]

Well preparing for the move is in full swing! Full details below, and thank you all for being so supportive.

I have technically three ish weeks to get everything ready to go, but I want to be done before the week of Thanksgiving so I can spend that week doing nothing except being with my family, so it's more like two weeks.

I've been steadily going down my to do list - stuff for my dog is all taken care of (treats, toys, food and water bowls, etc all for the trip itself), my medications are all called in for 90 days so that I have a few months to figure out insurance and get doctors (parents said they would mail the meds to me if they don't get filled in time), I ordered my contacts for the next six months so that I'm stocked up on those, hotels are reserved for along the way, and so on.

I have a tentative plan for when I get there, but it's still scary as fuck.

My parents are being supportive even though neither of them like that I'm moving so far away. (For reference, I'm in Colorado and I'm moving to Maryland, which I love the east coast and am very excited.) Thanks to my dad helping me out, I was able to get a loan from the bank to pay for my move and living expenses until I get a full time job. Both of them are sad, as is my little sister who is heartbroken I'm leaving, but they all know I have to do what's right for me.

The half baked plan is to take four days to drive cross country with as much of my stuff that will fit in my car as well as my dog, driving about 6 hours or so a day since it's just me. I have my cities picked out to stop in, and I think it's going to be a pretty uneventful drive. I love road trips, so it's great getting to take one on my own tbh.

Then when I get to Maryland, I'll be rooming with my best friend. Once she left her fiance and I got divorced, it was the plan to be roommates, so she got a decent two bedroom apartment last month that she can afford on her own. My contribution when I get there will be to pay for groceries until I work full time and can afford to help with rent too. I figure groceries is the least I can do, and she keeps telling me that I don't have to do anything if I don't want to, which is incredibly generous but I refuse to just be a bum and do nothing.

Once I'm settled, I'll be hitting the ground running looking for work. The job I really wanted I got overlooked for because I'm out of state, so being in state will help for other jobs. So far I'm looking into online tutoring (I have an education degree and I currently work for Sylvan Learning Centers - I've done administrative director stuff as well as tutoring and they have a lot of opportunities) as well as transcription jobs for like court reporting. Both together should tide me over until I find a full time job somewhere, I think.

This whole thing is exciting and also terrifying as fuck. I have never done anything even remotely close to this before, and going out without a job lined up scares me shitless. But as I had it pointed out to me, nothing gets done staying in one place forever, and if I want to make this change, I need to just do it.

Does anyone who follows me live on the east coast of the US? If you do and would ever be interested, I would love to get coffee once I'm settled. I am really looking forward to making friends for once outside of the two or three that I currently have.

Thanks again for everything guys, all of you mean a lot to me.

~Birdie

[raytorosguitarstrap]

Hi!

I saw that ask game in your pinned

And

Js pretend this is all of the numbers except the nsfw ones and the ones you're not comfy answering

IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, I GOT SIDETRACKED AND WHEN I WENT TO GO CONTINUE ALL OF MY PROGRESS WAS. GONE.

0. 5'3

2. 7 in women's (USA size(

3. Nope!! Don't like the smell of it and also I need my lungs 2 be as healthy as possible cuz I'm training 2 b a boxer

4. No but I've tried alcohol on accident and I HATED it.

5. Ibuprofen counts as a drug technically... I only use it 4 cramps tho

6. 15😭

7. Nope, just use the temp ones!!

8.YES!!! I want small little cameos 2 my fave characters!! (Freddy's iconic glove, well. 4 Freddy. A deck of cards maybe 4 theodore? A bass or 'planet pisch' 4 murderface, u get the idea)

9. Yep!!! I have both my ear lobes pierced.

10. I want ANGEL FANGZ!!!!

11. Oof, I don't have any friends at all even😭

12. Single.

15. i HAVE MULTIPLE. Rocky IV, nightmare on elm street, hellraiser, avatar (pandora one), haunted mansion, The dark knight and many more I can't name off the top of my head!! (Mainly slasher/horror ones)

16.(idk if this counts as platonic or whtever), IF U LET ME RANT ABT MY HYPERFIXATIONS/HEADCANONS/FAVE MOVIES/OCS/AND RANDOM STUFF‼️‼️‼️‼️

18.Okay so one time my parents were fighting (not unusual they fight all the time), but it got super heated and my dad started to get physical with my mother. I obv wanted him to stop so I intervened(I was v young at the time), and he punched me instead and gave me a black eye

19. I'm very loud and cringey unintentionally(Its the tism I promise I don't mean 2 b lime that)

22. Plan A: Horror movie director/actor/produce/etc. plan B: Boxer. Plan C: Artist

23. I have a sister that's like 30. Our relationship is alr, sometimes she buys me stuff that I want without me asking her(which is super sweet but she does it too much).

24. Complicated. (Will not elaborate)

25. Driving past/parked next to a cemetery while listening to misfits and mcr while talking abt horror movies and headcanons/ going shopping at Spencer's and or hot topic!

26. When people specifically eat with their mouths open and VERY LOUDLY.

29. To not get cps called on my parents 😭

30. Sometimes it's too quiet, and I hear my own breathing and heart beating and it makes me feel. Funny. (/neg).

32. "We need to talk" "that's so weird" "damn u look like a blobfish" (last one sounds stupid, but it sounds so mean and makes me very uncomfortable and upset when someone tells it to my face😭😭)

33. "You look so pretty!!" "Can you tell me more? I'd like to listen!" "You're artsyle is pretty!"

34. THEIR WOMEN.

36. Waaaaay up in the forest. All alone. In my little cabin. Just staying there for eternity. Peaceful sounds of birdys and animals :3

38. An artist

39. That one stranger things "chocolate pudding" ice cream they have at Walmart

40. Someone happy :)

41. Hanging out with William murderface and listening to him ramble abt his interests

42. A pack of cheeze-itz and coke

44. Whoever read all of that is scientifically proven to be awesome :3

[zhengzi]

Nine people I'd like to get to know better

tagged by @hoodie-sys

Last song: i think it was our last summer - abba

Favorite color: purple

Last movie/TV show: our flag means death s2

Sweet/spicy/savory?: im a spicy and savory boy

Relationship status: very single

Last thing I googled: uhhh checked my history and it was james cameron because i was talking about film directors with my brother last night and we were curious how old he and steven spielberg were in comparison, there was additional context but it'll take too long to explain

Current obsession: bg3, im sure my moots are not surprised by that, but i've been obsessed with unlocking everything in vampire survivors atm as well

Tag Nine People: @1tbls @tetrafelino @starstrike @vibinwiththefrogs @labour-of-moles @little-bolshevik @stickers-on-a-laptop @birdy-bird27 @iberiancadre

[arianatheangel-girl]

Agent Elvis Bloopers, Part 3

Author’s note: Thanks to @prayerstopresley and @loving-elvis for supporting me in my work! I love all of you guys in this community! If you want to see the first two parts, just search the “agent Elvis” tag at the bottom of my post!

Ep. 2 (Part 1):

SCENE: The opening. Elvis is performing “Viva Las Vegas” when he begins subconsciously getting flashbacks to something he knows nothing about. Believing his drummer Ronnie to be an assassin, Elvis attempts to dive for him to beat him up, but misses the jump and lands headfirst into the drum set.

E (muffled, as he’s kicking his legs, trying to get unstuck): Ugh! Somebody! Help me!

The audience begins laughing as Ronnie and some of the backup singers grab Elvis’s legs to try and pull him out.

R: Okay guys, on the count of three. One, two, three!

On “three”, all yank together and manage to pull Elvis out of the drum set, but accidentally yank too hard and end up sending him flying backwards off the stage.

E (rubbing his head in pain): Ow, shit! Guys, what the hell?! You couldn’t have been a little more gentle?

Director: Oh, for the love of...CUT!

****

SCENE: Just after the show. Elvis is walking to his dressing room when he sees Priscilla talking to Birdie.

E: Cilla! You made it!

P: Great show, Satnin! I loved it.

E: And I love you.

As Elvis picks her up, the two kiss. It’s only supposed to be a short smooch, but the two seem to kiss more deeply, before Elvis proceeds to French kissing his wife and the two begin to make out. After a bit, the director starts getting impatient.

Director: CUT! Okay, guys, please try and shorten the kiss next time; we don’t have all day!

E (reluctantly breaking the kiss): What? I mean, we’re married. I gotta make my love for my wife look believable for the audience, don’t I? Not that I gotta act for that bit, haha.

P: Aww, thanks baby! (leans in to kiss him again)

Director: Ugh, Jesus Christ. Okay, I know you two are a married couple and all, but could you please save the rest of the lovey-dovey shit for the end of the day?!

****

SCENE: Elvis’s dressing room. Elvis wipes his face off and stares in the mirror as he’s trying to figure out what’s going on.

E: So what exactly is going on inside that beautiful head of yours?

At this point, Cece is supposed to come out of Elvis’s closet, but nothing happens. Elvis waits, drumming his fingers on the table for a few minutes.

E: Uh...okay; definitely not going to get JUMPED by anyone...Certainly not by CECE!

Cece comes running in from offstage, panting and with her hair looking disheveled.

E: Come on, babe, you missed your cue!

C: Ugh. Sorry, Mr. Big Shot; I was in the bathroom! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get in and out of a leather catsuit? And don’t call me “babe” either.

Director: Oh my god. CUT!

****

SCENE: The spy plane. Elvis is with Cece and meeting Howard Hughes for the first time.

E (whistling): And I thought my jet the Lisa Marie was tricked out.

H: Whoa. Who’s this “Lisa Marie?” She sounds--whoa!

Howard misses a step and ends up sliding down the rest of the stairs, landing on his backside. Cece and Elvis start to laugh as Cece goes to help him up.

C: What the hell, dude?

H: Hey, YOU try walking in tissue boxes sometime!

Director: Ugh, CUT! 

****

SCENE: The airfield. The Commander is talking to Doyle about the whereabouts of Cece and Elvis.

TC: Are they perhaps employing a cloaking device?

D: I’m sorry?

TC: You know, a cloaking device. Is it possible they’re standing right here, but they’re invisible thanks to a new cloaking experimenental--blech! Oh, fuck! That’s not the line, I’m sorry! What is it again? (starts to laugh)

D (laughing): “A new experimental cloaking device”, sir.

TC: Ugh, just try to say that tongue twister. I’m starting to think I need speech lessons after this.

Director: CUT!

****

SCENE: The plane. Bobby Ray has just rescued Cece and Elvis from plummeting to their deaths.

E: Well, Bobby Ray here can drive, fly and ride just about anything.

C: Well, I guess your little Memphis Mafia boys come in handy, don’t they?

E: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Bobby Ray is not--!

Suddenly Elvis starts coughing and grabbing at his throat, as if he’s choking. Looking worried, Cece turns around and tries firmly patting him on the back to help him.

E (after coughing for a minute or two): Ugh--I think I swallowed a bug! (coughs again before sticking his tongue out in disgust).

Director: Oh, for God’s sake. CUT!

[billiethetween]

i mean, to be fair to mattel, i'd probably be trying to fast track a movie about a girl's toy from the only other woman director to come out of mumblecore and have significant experience shooting something with a budget over 10 dollars too. barbie is making a metric fuckton of money, of course they want a knock off, and lena and gerwig have been riding each other's coattails for age. gerwig made little woman and everyone liked that, so lena got to make cathrine called birdy. frances ha is just "what if girls wasn't uncomfortable to watch." it's fine. this is fine.

[hautmondehqs]

⋇ hey, hot new vip, it's time to enter the high society! to gain full vip access, please approve our follow request within { 48 } hours and expect a letter of welcome from the admins upon your grand arrival.

✦ have you seen seojun ‘valentine’ jang around cheongdam-dong these days? yes, the 27 year old executive director of reid automotive who is part of the vieux riche. they're known to be ambitious and loyal but they can be harsh and a workaholic too. they also proudly claim roses by jaehyun as their theme song, i mean talk about a perfect match! i have a feeling they're tempest on esteem.com. they just give me the sole light glowing in the empty office, maybach collecting dust in the garage and lovebirds gazing at each other from separate cages vibes, you know? also a little birdy told me they're actually harbouring a dirty secret, and i can't wait to read all about it!

[paleparearchive]

Laughing While Dancing in The Water

Van Dyck's 2nd initial 3★ story (1/2) ( 1 - 2 )

Location: garden (morning) | Characters: Van Dyck, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Munch, Hubert, Aoi/MC

Munch: The water is soooo cold!!

Van Goghon, Mr. Birdie said he wants some water! Here, hey!

Van Gogh: Woaah!? I'm not a little bird!!

Hubert: I'm sorry, miss director. We were supposed to be cleaning up the garden, but they ended up playing in the water.

Aoi: No, it's okay. I was going to do it on my own at first. You need a break once in a while, don't you think? Hubert-kun, you should go have fun too.

Munch: That's right! Come hereee! Let's play together!

Hubert: Woah!? Don't pull me so suddenly!

Aoi: Fufu…

Michelangelo: Sigh… I just wanna finish cleaning and go back... Must be nice to be a free spirit…

Aoi: Are you going to go and play in the water, Michelangelo-kun?

Michelangelo: I'll pass... I'm not good with that kinda thing… It's still better to be cleanin'.

Aoi: Well then, let's both get this over with quickly. I'd love to have something cold to drink when we're done.

Michelangelo: Okay…

Aoi: (... Hm? Is that Van Dyck-kun?)

Van Dyck: Aaaah, I'm beautiful today as well… It was a good thing I took good care of my skin last night. It looks like perfection itself, even under the sun. The firmness and gloss are totally different.

Munch: Ah, it's Vanny!

Van Dyck: Munch? And Van Gogh, and even Hubert…

Munch: Hey hey hey hey, did you know!? Earthworms are very hard to keep dry!

Van Dyck: Huh? What do you mean…

Munch: Heeeey!

*splash!*

Van Dyck: Aaaaaah!! It's cold…!!

Aoi: Ah…

Hubert: Munch-san…!?

Van Gogh: A-Are you okay, Van Dyck!? You're soaking wet…

Van Dyck: …

Aoi: (Oh no, Van Dyck-kun is in a daze.)

Michelangelo: What are those guys doin'...

Van Dyck: WHAT ARE YOU DOING, ALL OF A SUDDEN!!?? I went through all the trouble of making myself perfectly clean, and now you've ruined it!

Aoi: S-Sorry, Van Dyck-kun. I'll go get you a towel now.

Hubert: Uhm, we were cleaning up the garden, and then we started playing with the water in the middle of it…

Aoi; Munch-kun, you got a little too excited. Go on and apologize.

Munch: It's sooo much fun! Come play with us too, Vanny!

Van Dyck: No way! If I get any wetter, I'll look even less beautiful!

Munch: But whyyyy? It's fun!

Van Dyck: I told you I don't want to get wet…

Munch: Look! When you do this, the water laughs happily!

*splash!*

Van Dyck: AAAAH!?

You did it again... You splashed water on my beautiful face! Twice!!

Munch: You heard the water laugh, didn't you?

Van Dyck: That's not what I'm talking about! I'll never forgive you again... I'm going to pay you back a hundred times more!!

Aoi: Ah… Van Dyck-kun is on fire.

Hubert: No one can stop this anymore…

Michelangelo: Sigh… This is just not gonna end anytime soon…

[pawseds]

I named the comic Rough Beginnings because it came to me while I was drawing the comic, and also because that was how I strongly felt about the comic when I was first drawing it LMAO. I kind of hated it when I started doing the line work, but everything got better once I added colours. Now, I think it's alright!

I still think the ending's a bit rushed, but that can't be helped. It is great how little ghostie birdie Merlin from Sparrow Flight's cover wound up to be very plot-relavent, too. She's definitely going to appear in the comics again!

Major shoutout to @katastrofish for their moral support in the week I drew this and for being my second pair of eyes for proofreading! Sketch/thumbnails and the script(!!) are under the cut.

I wrote the script first and then thumbnailed it. And by thumbnailing it, I mean making the canvas small and sketching on it that way. I sketch on a midtone grey because I don't want to burn my eyes, and because I get to add whites that way! (Also I used my iPad for this) (It's the first time I made a full thing on it!) (it's portability is so great, I get to draw between classes and all)

As for the script: one day I read director cut for Zdarsky's first Daredevil issue, saw his script, and decided to steal the format! It's just that I sometimes go over the top in how I describe pages just because I really like to get my ideas down pat. So lo and behold, here it is!

Page 1 1.1 Wide panel. A shot of HRODWYN’s socked feet as they pit-pat across the floor. 1.2 Tall panel. HRODWYN stands in a doorway, limbs pressed to their side, penguin-like. They’re dramatically zoomed out (unnecessary tension). GAVRILL’s figure is in the foreground, dark. 1.3 GAVRILL, face in shadow, catches sight of HRODWYN. Profile headshot. Make it visible he’s unpacking? 1.4 GAVRILL smiles, face no longer in shadow. Borderless panel? Brighter colours. More zoomed in? GAVRILL: What’s up, Hrodwyn?

Page 2 2.1 HRODWYN’s tight-lipped face. Still zoomed out, looking small? Their hands are clutched together, which they stare at. Side view. HRODWYN: Um. I have something for you. 2.2 GAVRILL smiles and stands, also side view. This panel is actually connected to the previous, but the two are still separated into two panels because whooo symbolism or something GAVRILL: What is it? 2.3 A shot of both HRODWYN and GAVRILL looking down at HRODWYN’s hands. Bottom-up shot from the hands’ POV. HRODWYN: We weren’t able to visit you in December. 2.4 Speech bubble from the previous panel connects to this one. It’s a shot of a crochet sparrow in HRODWYN’s hands, with their big eyes in the background. HRODWYN (off): I was going to give you this for Christmas.

Page 3 3.1 Top-left square panel. GAVRILL scoops up the sparrow in his hands, stroking its head. GAVRILL: Oh, Hrodwyn! 3.2 Not really a panel. GAVRILL hugs HRODWYN tight at the centre of their page, kissing the top of their head. HRODWYN face-plants into GAVRILL’s chest. It’s cute and colourful. GAVRILL: Oh, my sweet sparrow, thank you. HRODWYN: You’re welcome. It matches Merethel’s and Hygd’s. GAVRILL: That's very sweet of you. Always so thoughtful.

Page 4 4.1 Shot of GAVRILL’s face as he leans back to peer at HRODWYN. GAVRILL: What about you? Do you have one, too? 4.2 HRODWYN looks up at GAVRILL, blank faced as always. HRODWYN: They're Christmas gifts, for you guys. I won't make myself a Christmas gift for myself. 4.3 Borderless panel with a little graphic of a sparrow nest and GAVRILL. Somehow convey his tone is childish with some particle effects against a plane background lmao idk what am I writing GAVRILL: You should! We can have a little sparrow nest. One for each in the family, hm? 4.4 HRODWYN’s blank face again as they think of what to say. Solid fill background. Thinner panel (a quarter of the page?). HRODWYN: …

Page 5 5.1 HRODWYN makes a sweet, polite, childlike smile. Have the same particle effects (lmao) against the white backdrop. Slightly less  than half panel. HRODWYN: Maybe, if I have the time. 5.2 Background returns to normal. HRODWYN points at the sparrow. HRODWYN: Mm! I can attach a keychain to it, if you like. I did the same for Merethel and Hygd 5.3 Borderless panel. Medium shot of GAVRILL ruffling HRODWYN’s hair and him returning the sparrow. GAVRILL: Sure! Then I can take the little friend wherever I go. Should I give it back to you? HRODWYN: Mmhm. If it breaks, tell me and I'll fix it again. GAVRILL: Mmhm. Thank you, Hrod 5.4 Third row panel. Same shot (but slightly more zoomed out) of them just staring at each other. GAVRILL looks like he wants to say something. It’s awkward. GAVRILL(thought): So what have you been doing GAVRILL(thought): Can you help me unpack GAVRILL(thought): Do you want to help me unpack

Page 6 6.1 Panel that takes up ⅔ of the page? Kind of square. HRODWYN pit-pats back to their room (towards the camera), leaving GAVRILL behind. Weird perspective that makes the distance look longer than it actually is, maybe. 6.2 Close-up of GAVRILL’s face in the same pose he was in the previous panel. He looks disgruntled and takes a breath in. 6.3 Long panel at the bottom that’s shaded (and so is GAVRILL). He looks down, dejected, as he walks back to his room to the right. But mysteriously, a little glowing orange sparrow (MERLIN) peeks out of his hair. GAVRILL: *sigh*

Page 7 7.1 These are all vertical panels growing in width. It’s of GAVRILL, in shadow, walking into his room. His bag’s shape is in the foreground. MERLIN flies along with him. Her speech bubble is different. MERLIN: Hey, don’t worry. 7.2 Same shot, but GAVRILL’s closer. He bends down to open his bag. MERLIN follows. MERLIN: It’ll take time. You’re doing great. 7.3 Borderless panel. GAVRILL holds a family picture, but his thumb covers the twins. LEYNA’s hair in it glows the same colour as MERLIN. GAVRILL (thought): Oh God, I hope so.

Rough Beginnings

First | Prev | Next About the Flight | List of Stories

This was originally a piece of flash fiction. You can read it under the cut. Enjoy!

---

[444 words, 2 minutes]

7 January 2017 Winnipeg, Canada

A little sparrow pit-pats to the front of their father’s bedroom door. They stand outside, small and penguin-like with how their limbs are pressed to their sides. Inside, their father’s ears perk. Gavrill stops his long-overdue unpacking to look at his child.

“What’s up, Hrodwyn?”

Hrodwyn’s lips press together. Their turquoise eyes fall to their cupped hands.

“...Um. I have something for you.”

Gavrill’s eyes light up with his smile. “What is it?”

He stands to walk over. Hrodwyn’s lips remain pursed, small. “We weren’t able to visit in December. I was going to give you this for Christmas.”

They raise their cupped hands and open them. A small crocheted sparrow sits in their hands and they look up at their father with big eyes.

"Oh, Hrodwyn!" Gently, Gavrill scoops up the sparrow in his hands. He strokes its soft head and back with a finger. "Oh, my sweet sparrow, thank you." He pulls Hrodwyn into a hug, squeezes them, and kisses the top of their head. Hrodwyn is tipped over and their face plants straight into their father's chest. They remain there and smile, speaking with a muffled voice. 

"You're welcome. It matches Merethel’s and Hygd's."

"That's very sweet of you. Always so thoughtful," another kiss on the head before Gavrill leans back a bit to peer at Hrodwyn. "What about you? Do you have one, too?"

Hrodwyn leans back and looks up. "They're Christmas gifts, for you guys. I won't make myself a Christmas gift for myself."

"You should! We can have a little sparrow nest," Gavrill chuckles. "One for each in the family, hm?"

Hrodwyn makes a sweet, childlike smile in polite response to their father's childish tone. "Maybe, if I have the time. Mm! I can attach a keychain to it, if you like. I did the same for Merethel and Hygd."

"Sure! Then I can take the little friend wherever I go. Should I give it back to you?"

"Mmhm," a smile and a nod as Hrodwyn scoops the sparrow back in their hands. "If it breaks, tell me and I'll fix it again."

"Mmhm. Thank you, Hrod," Gavrill says again, ruffling their hair. He stands there looking at his child for a while.

So what have you been doing—

Can you help me unpack—

Do you want to help me unpack—

He doesn't commit to an excuse fast enough before Hrodwyn, with the little sparrow nestled in their hands, pit-pat-pit-pats away to attach a keychain. He watches them go, takes a deep breath in, and sighs.

—Hey, don’t worry, she would say. It’ll take time. You’re doing great.

Оh God, I hope so.

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Michael Sheen about David Tennant, bonding over working on Good Omens and their kids, Season 2 and suprises in S2, and David's bad habits. (MCM Comic Con, 30.10.2022)

Q: Now, I've watched a youtube video, it was a really strange fan video, it was lovely though, and it was about the bromance between you and David Tennant.

Michael: I'm sorry, I didn't... I don't know who you're referring to.

Q: I mean, what is he like to work with, he seems like a joy to work with and you guys get on really well.

Michael: I mean, it's like having and an albatros around your neck, really, he sort of does drag you down a lot of time... no, I feel very lucky, you know, David and I were in a film called Bright Young Things together many, many years ago - [applause] thank you very much, thank you, thank you - but we didn't get to act together in that and we didn't, you know, we didn't really know each other from that and we've know each other 'say hello to' over the years, but it wasn't until we did Good Omens the first series really that we - [another applause] thank you thank you - that we got to know each other and of course we spent a LOT of time together on that, and people were coming in and out, but it was essentially me and David sitting in the tent all day every day a lot of the time. And so we sort of slowly got to know each other doing that and then, actually it was probably doing the publicity for that and the press for that that we really got to know each other and and then because we both had babies within weeks of each other, you know, me and Anna and David and Georgia, you know, we got very kind of bonded then because of over that. And we say that, so David and Georgia's little girl Birdie and our little girl Lyra, we say, Lyra's only got one friend and that's Birdie. And we sort of got very close but we were very lucky, because you don't know the chemistry's gonna be like between you and another actor until you start working together. And, you know, interestingly David and I probably hadn't work together because a lot of time we were up for the same parts, or you know, there was only one David or Michael shaped hole in the cast and only one of us would fill it, so we didn't get to work together. And I've been a big fan of his work for years and years and really admired, you know, what he did, and so then get into work opposite each other, it just sort of clicked very quickly, and I remember when we did the table read for the first series of Good Omens and we were sitting there next to each other and starting to read the lines together and we'd not really talked about the characters much before then or how we were gonna do it abd you could sort of feel the two of us kind of adapting to each other over the first, you know, few pages and then we just kind of, it just clicked, the characters just clicked and we just sort of without having to talk about it we just instinctively understood how they would be together and I remember Neil Gaiman and Douglas the director saying that watching it was like that as well, you saw these characters sort of circling around each other a little bit and sniffing each other out and then bumph you're just suddenly dancing and it's been like that ever since, really. It was such a joy to come back and do the second series together again, and it was like... once we'd put the costumes on again, and we were on the Soho set - we filmed it up in Scotland and they've buil like entire block of Soho, on the first one where they only built a small amount of it and it was in a freezing cold carpark ouside Oxfordshire and it was miserable and this time we were in the lovely, warm soundstage with a whole of Soho built, and once we got the costumes on and I remember our first scene together - because David was a bit ill at the very beginning of the filming, so he wasn't there for the first few days - and then when we did get to our first scene together and it was just a walk across the street or something and it was almost like the costumes were walking for themselves, like they just knew what to do, the characters just sort of took over, weirdly, and we were in that kind of groove again. So it's an absolutle pleasure working with him and spending time with him and it's so lovely that we found these two characters, or these two characters found us, to be able to sort of put everything into, you know, and to feel so comfortable with each other. It's been brilliant and I hope when it comes out next summer I hope everyone really enjoys it, I think there's gonna be a lot of great surprises for people and I hope you enjoy it.

Q: I mean, Michael, that's all very well, that's very sweet, what a lovely story, but I want you to dish some dirt. Tell me, is there something... does he have a bad habit... does he have an annoying habit, that he wouldn't want us to know about?

Michael: About David?

Q: Yes.

Michael: Oh my goodness. David doesn't have any bad habits. Em, what can I tell you about him... I mean, he's a bit good to be true, really. He's always lovely to everyone... oh! I tell you what his bad habit is. He leaves it to me to... when there's a problem and we are unhappy about something, because I'm supposedly the grumpy one, he leaves it to me, so he can be the [imitating David:] 'Oh, I'm so sorry, it's just Michael has a wee problem with this, I don't know... it's not me, I'm fine with it, you know...', but, you know, the two of us have gone, 'Well, that's a bit out of order, innit?' and then I'm the attack dog who has to go out.

[marvelouspeterparker]

pretty special

PAIRING: pornstar!sebastian stan x pornstar!reader

SUMMARY: you shoot your first scene with the acclaimed and widely admired adult film star, sebastian stan.

WARNINGS: cliché porn scenario (dad's friend) + daddy kink + age gap + dirty talk + oral (m and f rec.) + unprotected sex + creampie

WORD COUNT: 4.3k

NOTES: this was part of this fic for tom but i extracted it in case some sebastian fans that don't read for tom wanted to read it, since i'm going to be writing for him now :)

––✧––

You were a bit nervous walking into work––working with one of the biggest stars was understandably a daunting experience. You didn’t want to seem like a complete amateur next to him, especially not when you were working with him. And on top of that, you’d been watching his videos for years now, since you were a teenager, and he never once lost his charm or his spark.

You could see how he’d evolved throughout all of his videos––when he was just a young fresh face that captured the hearts of many, to his long-haired phase, to his short hair and stubble phase, each and everyone one was just as enchanting and seductive.

You’d seen the way he managed to have chemistry with every actress he worked with––how they would all fall under his allurement, get flustered from just one look. If you were being honest, you could see Tom becoming the next actor of that status––he’d already had such a good reputation among the industry and the viewers seemed to love him as well. So the fact that you were going to get the opportunity to be with both of them? Well not at the same time, but if you did, you would most certainly melt on the spot. But even separately––You felt like you were going to combust.

Sebastian was now in his late thirties, but he looked better than ever, his eyes just as smoldering, even through a screen. He kept his hair short now and often let his beard grow out, which you personally loved. Since he had a very promising reputation––and everyone that he’s worked with has only had enticing things to say about him and his skills, you couldn’t say that you weren’t excited and honored to work with him.

The scene you were filming today took place in multiple places, all of which were in a home––so for work today you showed up to one of the many unfinished houses the agency used for filming. Within no time you were dressed and in the makeshift makeup room in one of the spare bedrooms with Olive, the makeup artist, putting the finishing touches on your face. Your look was supposed to be more natural today so it didn’t take too long since you only needed some light coverage.

“You nervous sweetie?” She asked, dabbing the beauty blender under your eyes.

You looked up at her, a sheepish smile on your face. “Of course I am, it’s Sebastian Stan.”

She waved you off, “Oh don’t be. He’s the sweetest thing, really.” She placed the beauty blender on the vanity. “You know a little birdie told me that he asked for you personally.”

Your eyes widened in shock. “What? Are you serious?”

She nodded, pursing her lips. “And he doesn’t do that for just anyone, so he must think you’re pretty special.” She started cleaning up her station. “That should put you at ease, right?”

“I mean…” You looked into the mirror and trailed off when you noticed a familiar face walk into the room. You’d never seen him in person until now, so far only watching him on the screen of your phone in the privacy of your room––but seeing him in front of you was something else.

Olive noticed you trail off and turned curiously before her eyes settled on the man walking towards her. He walked over to your makeup artist, a big smile on his face as he opened his arms. “Olive! How are you?”

She smiled, hugging him back. “I’m good honey, how are you?”

He bit his lip, failing to tame his grin when they both pulled away. “I’m good.” He turned to you, “Especially since I’m going to be filming with this one today.” You got up to walk over to him and he smiled, placing a hand on your waist and kissing your cheek in greeting. He looked down at you and you could genuinely feel yourself drowning in his eyes. How were you going to manage looking into them while he was literally inside of you?

“Hi doll, how are you? It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

“Hi.” You cleared your throat when your voice came out weaker than expected but before you could continue, Olive interrupted you.

“She’s a little nervous, Seb.” You looked over to her like an annoyed daughter, berating her with your eyes as she walked away from you both, a glint in her eyes, but Sebastian’s eyes never left your face. You looked back to him to find a smirk on his face and you smiled awkwardly.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about honey,” he brought a hand under your chin and tilted your head up when you looked away. “I promise I don’t bite,” he leaned in to whisper in your ear. “That is, unless you want me to.”

You felt a shiver run down your spine and he chuckled as he pulled away to look at you. “Seems like you want me to, hm?”

You licked your lips subconsciously and he smiled, taking your hand in his. “Well you know, I asked for you personally?”

You blinked up at him, “Yeah I heard.”

He smiled, rolling his eyes as he pointed his thumb behind him at Olive’s retreating figure. “From that one I bet.” You smiled and nodded and he shook his head pretending to be exasperated, but the smile on his face contradicted that.

“Why did you? Ask for me?” You asked sheepishly, not wanting to come off as rude. But it was a little strange to have such a big star ask for you when you’re not even that established of an actor yet.

His thumb rubbed the back of your hand soothingly but the action was only sending tingles down your body. “Well I’ve seen your work,” he tilted his head. “And I know talent when I see it.” He stepped closer to you so that his breath was teasing your lips ever so slightly, his eyes piercing yours. “I also know a good girl when I see one.”

Your breath hitched, your thighs pressed together and he squeezed your hand playfully. “We’re gonna have some fun today.” He started to tug you along. “Let’s go, okay?”

You nodded, the nerves in your stomach quickly turning to excitement and lust. “Okay.”

–––

You weren’t going to take pictures before the scene today––Sebastian, having been in the industry for some time now, and having made a name for himself, was able to pull some strings nowadays and have more control over what he wanted. He didn’t really like the idea of faking for the camera, so much so that he didn’t take photos before the scenes he shot, he convinced the crew to take action shots while they were filming, so the reactions were real.

The directors knew not to rush him or the actresses he worked with during his scenes, and for that reason, no one that ever worked with him had to hurry up and fake their climaxes for the camera––they were all completely genuine and just as mind-shattering as they appeared on screen.

The scene you were filming today was different than anyone you’d done before. You were playing a young daughter who’s come home from college for the summer, and Sebastian was playing your “father”’s friend. It was a slightly controversial theme and story, but at the end of the day it wasn’t real so.

After greeting everyone, going over a few last minute things, and getting settled, the scene began.

Your “dad” and Sebastian were in the living room, talking while they watched tv for a few minutes, and you waited for your cue to step out. You came down the stairs and the camera followed you as you descended and panned out to show the three of you as you walked past them to go to the kitchen. You could feel Sebastian’s gaze trailing down your body as scripted, the camera focusing on him as he checked you out, your body also in focus as you moved by the lens.

“Excuse me young lady,” your fake father recited his line and you turned back a sweet smile on your face as you looked at him.

“Yes daddy?”

“Don’t be rude,” he chastised, “Say hello to our guest. My buddy from work, you’ve met him a few times over the past couple years, remember?”

You let your eyes fall to Sebastian and your smile widened. “Oh, right!” You walked over to him. “I’m so sorry. So nice to see you again!” You bent down and watched him take a sharp inhale as his gaze fell to your breasts before you wrapped your arms around him in a hug.

He brought his arms around you and squeezed tight, his hands lingering when you pulled away, his voice low. “Yeah it’s really nice to see you too.” He licked his lips before looking back up into your eyes and you felt your stomach flutter from the look in them. “You’ve really grown up since I last saw you.”

You shrugged as well, turning to see your “dad” not paying attention to your conversation before leaning in to whisper in Sebastian’s ear. “Way more than you know.” He bit his lip and you giggled before walking off, feeling his eyes stuck to your ass that was peeking out of your shorts.

You went to the kitchen to get a snack, conveniently walking so that the camera didn’t pick up the unfinished portion of the house, nearby. You followed the script, pretending to look around, a thoughtful look on your face as you picked up random fruits while Sebastian stared at you from the other room. After a minute or two, you turned around and went into the fridge, scanning the almost empty shelves before bending down to look near the bottom.

You felt a pair of hands slide over your ass to hold your waist and a rather impressive bulge press into your backside. “Pardon me.” You could hear the smirk in his gravelly voice as he reached over you, your body still bent over and pressed into his front. He grabbed a bottle from the top shelf before pulling away and leaning against the counter next to the fridge. You looked to the side to see him opening a bottle of water, a cheeky smile on his face as he shamelessly checked you out. “Just getting water.” He sipped from it without looking away from you and you bit your lip.

“Of course.” You closed the fridge and walked up to him as he was tilting the bottle down from his lips. You reached over behind him on the counter, while subtly grabbing his bulge in his jeans. He gasped and looked down at your hand, then across to the other room to make sure your “father” wasn’t watching before turning his head to you.

You bat your eyelashes up at him, teasingly innocent and brought your hand back to show the banana you’d just gotten. “And I was just getting a snack.” You squeezed him harder and pulled away completely, leaning on the kitchen island across from him as you peeled the fruit. His eyes were mesmerized as he watched you lick along the banana, your gaze unwavering. You slowly put the fruit into your mouth as far as you could go and his jaw dropped as you started bobbing your head up and down.

Just as it stated in the script, ever so distracted and preoccupied, his hand “accidentally” squeezed the water bottle and water splashed everywhere and all over the floor. He cursed loudly and your “dad” perked up.

“Everything alright?”

Sebastian looked up, convincingly looking flustered and you turned. “Yeah! We just spilled some water, but it’s okay I’ll clean it up!”

“Okay. Thank you sweetheart.”

You turned back around and grabbed some napkins, getting down on your knees in front of Sebastian and his eyes followed you all the way down. You half heartedly wiped down the tiles before looking up at him. Your eyes trailed down his body and you smirked, grabbing his hand. “Your hand is all wet. Let me get that for you.” Before he could say anything, you swiped your tongue along his fingers. You kept your eyes on his as your tongue made its way around his hand. You slipped two of his fingers into your mouth and he paused before slowly sliding them in and out, almost making you gag and you smiled up at him as you pulled off.

Your hands slid up his legs, one of them grazing his bulge as you made your way up to his zipper but his hand stopped you from going any further. He clenched his jaw, looking ahead before looking back down at you. “Your dad––”

You shook your head eagerly, “He won’t see anything.” The kitchen island was conveniently tall enough to hide you, so you weren’t lying. “You just have to be quiet.” You blinked up at him. “Can you do that?”

He bit his lip. “Shit––” He brought a hand up to rub the back of his head and let go of the hand of yours that he was holding. “O––Okay.” His hand came down to caress your cheek gently and you quickly turned your head to kiss his palm before reaching up and slowly unzipping his jeans. You pulled his pants and briefs down a bit before pulling his cock out and stroking it lightly but he quickly captured your attention again before you could gawk at his size, his hand firmly grabbing your jaw to make you look up at him. “Keep your eyes on me baby girl, got it?” You nodded immediately.

“Yes, got it.”

His grip tightened. “Yes who?”

You tilted your head, pretending to be confused. “Yes… daddy?”

He smiled, cooing down at you. “Such a good girl.” He briefly glanced up to the living room before looking back at you. “Now spit on daddy’s cock. Get it nice and wet for me.”

You nodded, “Yes daddy.” You gathered the drool in your mouth before spitting on his cock and stroking it. You licked along the base before wrapping your lips around his tip, swirling your tongue around it and sucking hard, making him grip the counter behind your head.

He cursed, “That mouth is fucking amazing, doll.”

You smiled as best you could around him, knowing that that line wasn’t in the script––you were just doing a good job and he felt the need to let you know. You felt yourself get wetter in your shorts and luckily enough, your next instruction was to bring a hand down to touch yourself in the scene. Your hand slipped past your cotton shorts and you brought your fingers down to swipe through your wetness and spread it along your slit before rubbing your clit. You hummed around Sebastian’s length and he pulled you into him, a hand around the back of your neck as he shallowly thrust into your mouth, not wanting to hurt you or make you gag too hard.

“God, are you touching yourself baby girl?” You looked up at him, pretending to be embarrassed and he chuckled breathlessly. “Such a filthy little slut aren’t you? Touching yourself, sucking my big cock and calling me daddy while your real father is sitting just in the other room…” He tutted playfully. “What a naughty fucking girl you are.” You whined and his mouth dropped open as you started sucking harder.

“Gonna make me cum. Keep doing that. Yes, just like that.”

Your “father” spoke up, asking Sebastian if he was coming back and Sebastian gulped, looking up at him with wide eyes as you stroked him quickly, your mouth sucking his tip loudly and harshly. He coughed in a useless attempt to cover the sound and looked around awkwardly. “Uh yeah! Yeah, just uh in a minute.”

“Okay but the game’s getting good man! Don’t wanna miss it.” He paused, “Hey have you seen my daughter around?”

You hummed around Sebastian and his eyes rolled back for a second before he straightened out. “Uh no, nope I haven’t seen her.”

“Huh, well I’m sure she’s fine. She knows how to take care of herself.”

Sebastian looked down at you, your hand still between your thighs. “Damn right she does.” His tongue swiped over his bottom lip as he locked eyes with you. “Know how to take care of me too, don’t you?” He nodded, “Mhm, yes you do.” Seeing him above you like that, hearing the praises he was whispering to you in his deep voice were enough to get you worked up. You could feel yourself getting closer and just as your cue came to orgasm, you didn’t have to fake it. You moaned and your back straightened out, your thighs closing around your hand as you came in your shorts. You blinked, snapping yourself out of your reverie and started bobbing your head up and down and Sebastian bit his fist, his hand gripping your neck as he thrusted a few times before cumming in down your throat.

You sucked around him as he throbbed in your mouth and he breathed out roughly as he pulled out. You smiled up at him, showing his release to the camera before swallowing it and showing him your tongue afterwards. He pulled you up and took the hand that was in your shorts, bringing it up to his lips before slipping your two fingers coated in your wetness, into his mouth. He kept his eyes on yours as he licked and sucked them clean, a seductive look in his stare.

Your lips parted in arousal and shock as he pulled away, a smirk on his face. “Delicious.” Your hand fell down to your side and you blinked a few times, looking up at him.

“Come find me in my room so you can return the favor.” You smiled and walked up to your room without looking back.

He tucked himself back into his pants and went after you after a few minutes, excusing himself to use the bathroom upstairs.

The director yelled cut and you had a ten minute break to freshen up before the next part of the scene. You didn’t have a lot to touch up so by the time Sebastian came up you were already in the bedroom for the next part. He came into the room a few minutes before you had to film again, eyes finding you as you sat on the bed.

He smiled softly, licking his lips and you pressed your thighs together which didn’t go unnoticed by him. “That mouth really is something else, doll.” He laughed, “Almost made me forget where I was.”

You bit your lip as the camera crew came in, setting everything up. You looked up at him and smiled sheepishly. “That’s a good thing, right?”

There was a glint in his eyes as he looked at you. “A really damn good thing, yeah.”

Feeling the heat of his gaze, you averted your eyes and you could sense him smile as he walked out of the room, preparing to film the last part of the scene. The crew made sure the lighting was alright and set up the cameras and the microphones before the director called action.

The camera focused on you as you pretended to scroll mindlessly on your phone as the other camera followed Sebastian up the steps. He paused, making sure no one was around before opening your door, slipping in and shutting it behind him.

You looked up and smirked, setting your phone aside. “I was starting to think you weren’t going to show up.”

He pulled his shirt off as he walked towards the edge of the bed. “And miss my chance to taste that sweet pussy? You must be crazy.”

You laughed breathlessly as he climbed onto the bed and pulled you down to his level by your ankles. You smiled up at him and he captured your lips in a passionate kiss and you found yourself getting lost in the feeling of him on top of you. You slid your hands up to tug his hair and he growled, taking your wrists and pinning them above your head, making you gasp as he pressed himself into you and tilted his head to lick along your neck.

You arched your back under him and he continued to rub himself against you, only making you more desperate. After a few moments and a change of camera angles, he pulled your shirt off and slid down to pull your shorts off as well. He spread your legs slowly but firmly, his hands digging into your thighs as he glanced up at you, moving his head to press teasing kisses to your soft skin.

He kissed his way up your leg before licking a long stripe up your heat, his lips soon coming around to leave wet kisses to your slit. You brought your hands down to grip the sheets and he was quick to let go of your thighs and held your hands in his, by your sides.

Normally in these videos, the actors wouldn’t actually eat the actress out properly, only flicking their tongue lightly, wanting to show the camera and the viewers everything––but Sebastian wasn’t a fan of that method, so he buried his face between your thighs, eating you like you were his last meal.

“Taste so fucking sweet.” He smirked up at you when you whined, your fingers squeezing around his hands, as you squirmed under his hold. His tongue was lapping you up loudly but purposefully as he shook his head ferociously, groaning into you as your hips started to buck into his mouth.

“F––Fuck!”

He growled and quickened his pace before he wrapped his lips around your clit and sucking hard. Soon, your head fell back and your mouth dropped open, your back arching as you let out a silent cry. Your thighs tightened around his head when he let go of one of your hands and palmed your breast, tugging and teasing your nipples. He kept going until your legs were trembling, and only then did he pull away, licking his lips as he unbuttoned his pants and hastily tugged them off, throwing them off the bed.

He stroked his cock a few times before getting back between your legs and sliding it through your wetness. He tapped the tip on your clit and smiled when you jolted from the sensation. He then slid into you slowly, bottoming out smoothly, his hands pressing your thighs open so he could see all of you. He thrusted into you a few times slowly before picking up the pace gradually.

His eyes were transfixed on the way your pussy was swallowing him whole, clenching around him but one glance at your blissed out face had him twitching inside of you.

“Look at you. Taking my cock while your dad’s downstairs. Naughty girl.” He pounded into you hard and you moaned loudly. He brought a hand up to cover your mouth, leaning close to you as he kept pounding into you, your pleading eyes looking up at him. “Gotta be quiet baby girl, okay? Just stay there and take my cock like a good girl.”

You nodded, your hands coming up to hold his wrist as your eyes rolled back. He brought a hand down to rub at your clit and thrusted into you faster and you moaned behind his hand, your hips moving of their own accord.

“That’s it. Take that cock.”

In no time, he had you coming around his cock, his eyes watching you as you came undone, your body tensing before dropping back down to the bed gracefully, as if it were deflating. Just as you caught your breath, he pulled out and flipped you over onto your hands and knees.

“You okay baby?”

You nodded, smiling back at him. “Please fuck me.”

He groaned and slapped your ass before sliding back inside your tight walls. He grabbed your hips and fucked into you hard, the sound of your skin slapping against each other loud and enticing. He was moaning and cursing, pulling your hips back into his as he thrusted his cock into your opening. Your walls were tightening around him, coaxing him to tip over the edge.

His movements became more frantic, his fingertips turning white from the force he was using. “Fuck fuck fuck, gonna cum––”

You moaned at the ragged nature of his voice, the desperate pleas falling from his lips as he used you. “Please cum inside me, daddy.”

He cursed and came with a loud groan, his head falling back as he kept fucking you to prolong his high. His pace faltered and he soon slowed down before pulling out and moving aside to let the camera show the cum dripping out of you.

Once the camera got the shot, he slapped your ass playfully and grabbed it before pulling you up to sit on him. “Such a good girl.” He brought his hands up from your ass to your jaw and pulled you in for a reeling kiss. He licked into your mouth languidly, your tongues playing with each other as you both sighed and moaned into the kiss. He slipped a hand back down to play with your ass and you giggled, giving each other two more short kisses before pulling away and looking at each other, your eyes still cloudy with lust.

The director yelled cut and the shoot was over. Sebastian kept his eyes on you for a moment longer, his hands caressing your body. He kissed your cheek and whispered in your ear. “Knew you’d be a good girl for me.”

You whimpered and he grinned pulling back to look at you. “That was fucking amazing, doll. What’d you think?”

You shook your head, a smile on your lips. “I feel like I’m on cloud nine honestly.”

He smirked. “We’re definitely doing this again.”

––✧––

@ marvelouspeterparker 2021 –– please do not repost anywhere

[tartagliove]

I Spy Love ✧ Takami Keigo

Takami Keigo (Hawks) x Reader ✧ 9.9k words

Synopsis ✧ You’ve never gotten along with Keigo. He makes it his job to get under your skin, and the competition you have with him at work doesn’t help either. But when you get assigned on a mission together, you may find that there’s more to your fellow agent than just jokes, pranks, and sarcasm.

Tags and Warnings ✧ Spy au, action romcom vibes, rivals to lovers, fake marriage, cursing, mentions of alcohol, violence, fluff, happy ending.

Note ✧ This is written as part of bnharem’s workplace collab! It was a lot of fun, and I especially enjoyed sprinting with my fellow writers. Check out their amazing works here. A huge thank you to @cellotonin​​ @ererokii​​ @meliorist-midoriya​​ for being my wonderful beta readers, I love you three so much!!

–

Takami "Hawks" Keigo is one of the worst agents you've ever had the non-privilege of working with. He's at least competent, thank goodness, otherwise he'd be at the complete bottom of your list. But he has a talent for getting under your skin like no other.

And surprise, surprise, that's exactly what he's doing now.

Keigo walks into the room, a manilla folder in his hands. You look up briefly at the movement, and are about to return to your work, when his eyes lock onto yours and a smug smile spreads across his face. You groan, eyes rolling. Looks like you won’t be getting work done anytime soon.

“What do you want, Takami?” you ask, frowning as he approaches your desk.

“Nothing,” he replies, voice light, “except to show you this.” He slaps the folder onto your desk, and leans in toward you, pointing a finger down at the folder. “Mission accomplished.”

You raise a brow. “Congrats. You’ve done exactly what you’re paid to do.”

“Sure, sure.” He snickers, unaffected by the disinterest in your tone. He walks toward one of the whiteboards mounted on the wall, picking up a bright red marker and uncapping it. “The best part about completing my mission is…” he pauses to erase a 72 on the board and write in a 73. The marker squeaks as it rubs across the white surface, and you have to hold yourself back from wincing.

“The best part is, I’m in the lead. Seventy-three to seventy-two, looks like you’re slacking off this year! And there’s not much time left, let’s see how you plan on beating me now. C’mon, why don’t you save yourself the trouble and admit defeat already, hm?” His golden eyes are bright, trained on you to catch the slightest change in expression.

But he doesn’t receive the glare he usually gets from you. Instead, an equally smug smile curls your lips as an alert pops onto your computer screen.

“Excuse me,” you say, getting up from your desk. “I have to meet with the Director now. After all–” You raise a hand, fingers pinching a manilla folder. “–I have to file this completed mission.”

Satisfaction fills you as the smile on Keigo’s face turns into a look of sheer astonishment. You walk past him, pausing to pat him lightly on the chest. “Since you’re at the board, why don’t you help change my score? I appreciate it, little birdie.”

All he can do is watch as you strut away, the manilla folder taunting him from within your grasp.

“Ooh, Keigo,” Usagiyama Rumi calls from her desk, having paused in her work to watch the exchange. “I think you’ll need some ice for those burns!”

Keigo flushes and growls, wiping away the 72 on your side of the scoreboard and writing in a 73. “Nobody asked, Rumi.”

–

Both of you spend the next few days filing paperwork for the cases you completed this past year. There’s no shortage of snarky comments in the office, and your other coworkers sit back to enjoy the free entertainment.

One afternoon, you get an email from the Director to go to her office. You brighten up, knowing that this likely means you’ll be assigned a new case. The fact that you’ll be pulling ahead in this little contest you have with Keigo is the cherry on top.

But when you step into the Director’s office, shutting the door behind you, a certain coworker greets you with a cheeky two-fingered salute.

“What is he doing here?” The question spills out of your mouth before you can swallow it down, and your lips press together at being unprofessional right in front of your boss.

Keigo holds back a snicker, though the dancing light in his eyes tells you that he’s laughing at you.

“He,” the Director starts, “is going to be your partner on this new assignment.”

Your eyes and Keigo’s eyes grow comically wide.

“Partner?!” both of you squawk, and your boss coughs to cover a laugh.

“I work better alone!” you cry out. Your voice trembles slightly and you have to force your next words to come out steady as you shoot to your feet, pointing at Keigo. “How am I supposed to work with someone who never takes things seriously?”

“Well,” Keigo retorts, hand gesturing at you as he jumps up too, “how am I supposed to work with someone who never loosens up?”

The Director sighs. “Sit. Down.” The two of you obey, and sit silently as she shuffles some papers before speaking again. She first addresses you. “I know your reservations about working with a partner, and I wouldn’t assign you to this case if I didn’t have to.” Once you nod, she now talks to both of you. “It’s unfortunate that you feel this way about each other. But I need you two on this case. We have reason to believe one of Japan’s high-level government officials is distributing sensitive information about our country to the highest paying foreign government.”

She slides a picture across her desk. You exchange looks with Keigo before leaning in to study the man printed on the page. Greying hair, brown eyes, wrinkles around thin lips turned down in a frown.

“Kiyoshi Suguru, the Minister of Defense?” Keigo asks, surprise in his voice.

“Yes. He booked a room in one of the best hotels in Japan, at the same time a few visiting diplomats are supposed to be staying. The information exchange will take place here, and we’ll need you to catch Kiyoshi in the act for us to arrest him. We’ve booked you a room as close to Kiyoshi’s as possible. You need to depart tomorrow, and be prepared for his arrival for the day after.”

“Director,” you interrupt, “did you say a room? As in one singular room for the two of us?”

Keigo makes a noise of disgust, and you wrinkle your nose at him.

You don’t like the way the Director’s lips twitch, as if she’s holding back a smile. “Apologies, agents, did I forget to tell you? You’ll be going in as a newlywed couple, pretending to be on your honeymoon at the hotel.”

“We’re what?!”

–

You stalk back into the office with a thunderous expression on your face. Quiet footsteps follow you, but you’d much rather ignore your soon-to-be-roommate until you have to face him for the case.

Of all people, why Keigo? You’d much rather be partnered with Rumi, Shouta, Hizashi, or even Touya. But Keigo? It makes you shudder to think about being so close to him for multiple days on end.

He’ll be lucky if he makes it through one night without you strangling him in his sleep.

–

“Put your stuff in the back and get in.” You yawn and rub at your eyes as Keigo pops open the trunk to place his suitcase in.

“How come you get to drive?” he complains, getting into the car.

You glance at him briefly, before turning your attention to the road as you pull out of the parking lot. “Because we all know how you drive, Hawks. ‘Too fast for your own good’ or something. I’d like to make it to the hotel in one piece, thanks.”

Keigo’s eyes roll and he groans at your response. “And this is exactly why I don’t want to work with you. You’re so… uptight all the time. Loosen up a little! Have some fun, especially when it isn’t necessary to be serious! Don’t be such a stick in the mud.”

It stings a little to hear that your coworker thinks of you like this. But his comments only remind you of why you don’t want to work with him. “I’m serious when I’m on the job, even more so when it comes to people’s safety. There’s plenty of time to have fun outside of work, and even in the office, but I don’t turn every moment into a joke, unlike some people,” you spit. “I don’t hate fun, I just don’t agree with your work ethic.”

Your words make Keigo scoff. He doesn’t believe you, and he doesn’t get your distaste for how he works. He completes just as many cases done as you do, and he does them just as well—if not better. But as a spy, he’s sometimes tasked with doing things most people would shy away from, so he chooses to put up a carefree and teasing front while his mind whirls away behind his sharp, golden eyes.

“Disagree all you want, but I’m not the one that’ll put our cover at risk. How are you supposed to be a newlywed with an attitude like that?”

“My attitude will be a million times nicer if you become a million times less annoying. And don’t worry. I won’t be the one to jeopardize our disguise.”

“If you say so,” Keigo replies, though his tone tells you he has no confidence in you at all. “What about our backstory, then? We have tons of interesting options to choose from; take your pick.”

“They already gave us fake profiles with a story and everything. You haven’t memorized it?”

“I looked it over, but it’s bland. Nobody is going to believe us if there’s only two pages of personal history between us, especially since we’re married. C’mon, you must have an imagination in that pretty head of yours, use it!”

“My pretty what?”

Keigo winces.

“First of all, if you say one more thing like that while we’re in the car, I’ll make sure we go too fast for your own good. Have you ever wanted to see what the bottom of a bridge looks like?” You ask the question lightly, keeping a tight rein on your anger.

The quick change of your demeanor is almost unsettling to Keigo, but he pretends to be unfazed. “Nope! Can’t say I have.”

“Hmm, disappointing. Let’s make sure it remains that way, then. And second of all, if you really want a backstory, how about this: office romance. Close enough to the truth that it’s easy to remember, mundane enough that it shouldn’t be too interesting. You were the insufferable coworker that fell in love with me, and somehow wormed your way into my heart.”

“I don’t–”

“Bridge. Remember?”

Keigo sighs and stares out the window. “Fine. Sounds fantastic, prince- uh, partner.”

You smile, all teeth and glinting eyes. “Perfect.”

Silence falls, and lasts all the way to the hotel. You steel yourself for the days ahead, where you and your infuriating coworker will have to get this case done. Keigo muses about your attitude toward him while in the office and in the car, and wonders if it’ll be possible for both of you to play a married couple.

If the two of you can’t manage to settle and focus on the case, this might be the first major mission you fail this year. And regardless of how you feel about Keigo, failure would be unacceptable.

–

You get into the hotel with no issues, except for an ache in Keigo’s foot as a result of him calling you “my sweet songbird” in front of the receptionist. Even he had to admit the stomp he received from you was well deserved.

The hotel room is spacious and well decorated, as expected of a five star hotel in Japan. The only problem is the large bed that’s pushed against one wall of the room.

“I am not sharing a bed with you,” you hiss, jabbing a finger into Keigo’s side as soon as the door shuts behind you.

He swats your hand away. “Then don’t! The couch is right there.”

“Wonderful. Why don’t you take it then?”

“Mmm, no thanks.”

You wrinkle your nose at Keigo. “We’ll discuss this later. For now, we have a few rooms we need to bug.”

Setting your bags on the floor, you pull out a suitcase and unzip it, feeling along the inside until your fingers pass over a few bumps. Moments later, a couple of tiny listening chips rest in your hand.

Keigo takes two from you, leaving two for yourself. His other hand holds the key card for Kiyoshi’s room, given to him by the tech support in the office. “Room 403, two down the hall from us. Ready to go?”

At your nod, he opens the door to your hotel room, holding it for you to exit first. You smile slightly in thanks, and he gives a cheeky wink back.

“See, I’m not a completely terrible person,” he says as you walk down the hall. The coast is clear, so you don’t have to hold hands with Keigo and pretend to be a married couple right now.

“I never said you were terrible,” you protest. “I just… can’t see myself getting along with you.”

“Because I’m someone who ‘never takes things seriously.’”

“Yeah. You’re always joking around. I get that because of our job, it helps to find amusement when you can, but I can’t work with someone who’s like that all the time.” You breathe deeply and look into Keigo’s eyes. “I need to know that my partner has my back, and will take care of what needs to be done, especially when it matters the most. I don’t feel that from you.”

Golden eyes narrow. “It’s because of your former partner.”

“H-hiro.” The name is glass on your tongue as you force it out.

“He hurt you.”

Your eyes are dark with sorrow, and your smile only tells of pain. “Doesn’t everyone hurt others, sometimes?”

He opens his mouth to try and comfort you, or to make a joke, anything to wipe the sadness away–

There’s a ding of the elevator and faint voices tickle at your ears. You’re snapped out of the weird atmosphere, and kicked into action.

Keigo slides the key card into Kiyoshi’s hotel room. The light flicks green, the door swings open, and you rush in after him, taking care to shut the door quietly behind you.

He whistles, low and long. “Damn.”

This hotel room is even larger than the one you and Keigo share. There’s an actual office, a kitchen and bar, and a bathroom with a bathtub big enough for two people. Tall glass windows span from the floor to the ceiling, and a glass door leads out to a balcony that overlooks pale sandy beaches and bright blue waves.

“Bathroom and office,” you call out, moving to those rooms to plant your listening devices.

The cabinet under the sink is the perfect place for your first one. It’s dark and shadowed even with both doors open, so you stick the bug in the back corner. And a few seconds after you stick it down, the device turns into a deep brown that matches the cabinet. You can’t tell it apart from the wood anymore.

You pass Keigo as you move into the office. He’s installing a bug behind the TV, and a small smile makes its way on your face. You would have planted one there too.

After you place your second bug under the desk in the office, you meet Keigo back in the main room.

“All good?” you ask him.

“They’ll never see a thing.” Keigo pockets the key card to this room, and tilts his head to the door. “Now let’s get out of here.”

Right when his hand is about to push down the handle, gruff voices speak right outside the door.

You both freeze. Your heart pounds against your ribcage.

“Boss wants us to do a sweep of the room before he comes up. Get it over with quickly, he has important people to meet.”

Before the person even finishes speaking, you and Keigo are running across the room to the balcony door, unlocking it and sliding it open as quickly and as quietly as possible. You slip out first, head turning, trying to find a place to hide.

There’s two metal chairs and a table—both of which offer no protection. And glass windows stretch from floor to ceiling, so as soon as anyone enters the hotel room, they’ll spot you outside right away.

There’s only one option left.

You look at Keigo, then your eyes flicker to the railing on the balcony.

He groans, rolls his shoulders, and wipes his palms down his pants. “If you don’t know how to fly, sweetheart, hold on tight.” With that, he strides to the side and swings his legs over the rails. Turning to face you, he winks, smirks, and steps off the edge.

Your heart skips a beat, but his hands wrap around the railing at the very bottom, and you can breathe again.

Now it’s your turn.

The cloth of your pants is rough against your hands when you rub your palms against them once, then twice to make sure they’re dry. Your motions are stiff as you step over the balcony railing. You wish you could take your time making sure your hold is secure, but the door to the hotel room is opening up inward, and you know you can’t be seen.

So you step off the ledge. Painted metal scrapes against your palms as your hands slide down the railings. Your body jolts when your hands reach the bottom, shoulders aching from the weight of carrying yourself.

Both of you stay quiet as voices fill Kiyoshi’s hotel room. They’re doing a quick search by the sounds of it, just looking for obvious signs of things being out of place. And thank goodness it’s a quick search, because the longer you hang here, the more your arms start to ache, and the more your palms start to sweat.

“How’re you hanging, partner?”

The whisper makes you snap your head to the side, eyes narrowed at Keigo. “If you make me laugh I’m actually going to fall and you’ll have a big problem on your hands.”

“Okay, okay, no jokes. For now.”

“Thanks,” you grumble. “I’ll be full of suspense waiting for your next one.”

You love the way Keigo’s eyes widen and his lips part in surprise. “I- What- Did you just make a joke?”

You actually snicker, and try to hide your face in your arm so the sound doesn’t travel. “I told you, I’m not entirely against fun.”

“Well, I definitely had to see it to believe it.” Keigo grins at you. It’s a bright and amused smile that makes him look even more handsome and–

You blink hard. Where on earth was your mind trying to wander? “By the way,” you muse, “why on earth are we hanging here when there’s a balcony below us?”

Before Keigo can even completely register the question, you let go of the railing and fall for a few seconds, wincing at the impact. There’s not enough space for you to roll out the momentum, so a slight pain tingles at your ankles, but it’s not bad.

A soft thump signals Keigo’s landing. “The answer to that question is: because I didn’t look down.”

“You’ve never heard of ‘look before you leap?’”

“I’m Hawks, sweetheart. I don’t have to look if I can fly.”

You roll your eyes and swat at his arm. “I still have no clue how you got that nickname.”

“First it was the speedy driving. That’s why people started calling me ‘a man too fast for his own good.’ The nickname itself comes from a drunken dare–”

“As most weird nicknames come from,” you add.

“–a drunken dare from Touya and Rumi. I don’t remember getting to the tattoo parlor, but I definitely remember sobering up in the chair as I’m getting red hawk wings tattooed on my back. So, hawk wings and speed gets you the nickname ‘Hawks.’”

Your eyes widen, then you laugh. “You got a huge tattoo while drunk? I can’t say I’m surprised.”

A smile spreads across Keigo’s face, pleased to have gotten this reaction out of you. “If you don’t believe me, I can show you the evidence anytime. Just say the word.”

“No thanks,” you scoff, though a traitorous part of you whispers maybe a peek. “If you want to get shirtless that badly, you can do that in your free time when we’re not on a case and when we’re not stuck on a balcony. Speaking of which, I think they’re gone now.”

Both of you stay silent for a few moments, ears straining to listen for footsteps or voices from above.

“Let me check,” Keigo says. He steps onto one of the balcony chairs, then moves onto the table. Then he jumps, incredibly high for a man of his height, and his hands wrap around the railing up above.

He looks a little strange from this angle as he wiggles to pull himself up and peek inside the hotel room. You definitely don’t notice the strip of honeyed skin and a smattering of dark blonde hair that is revealed as his shirt lifts a bit higher than his pants.

No, you don’t notice it at all.

“All clear!” He peers down at you. “You coming up or what? Let’s go before the man himself shows up.”

You shake your head to clear away thoughts about him, and get onto the table. With a leap, your hands grasp the railing of the balcony above. Your body swings back and forth as you pull yourself up little by little, before you finally can get your feet on the ledge. Glancing up, Keigo is standing with his back to you as he slides the door open.

You step one leg over the railing onto the safe side. Thankful that the whole ordeal is almost over, you start to relax. But as you’re bringing the other leg over, your shoe catches on the top of the railing and you lose your balance on the one leg you’re standing on.

You’re falling, you’re falling–

A noise of alarm escapes you, and Keigo whirls around, eyes wide. He’s at your side in an instant.

“I got you, sweetheart.”

Warm hands catch you by the shoulders, steading you while you free your foot from the railing. Once you’re no longer in danger of tripping, you look into Keigo’s eyes.

You really mean it when you say, “Thank you.” Not just for him catching you, but for his ‘I got you.’ In this moment, you truly believe that he has your back, and some part of you is growing softer, hopeful that he’ll be there for the rest of the mission.

Keigo nods, seeming to know that you mean more. A moment later, he withdraws his hands, leaving your shoulders cold.

“Let’s go,” he says, walking across the hotel room.

You watch him for a moment, with gentle eyes and a soft smile, then move to follow. He holds the door open for you as you both slip out, and another part of your walls crumble even more.

–

The two of you spend a few hours in the hotel room, checking to make sure the bugs are connected to the laptop, and making sure all your other gear is ready. You also call in to headquarters, where they tell you that Kiyoshi arrived earlier because one of the diplomats has to leave tomorrow.

“No wonder his bodyguards are already here,” you say to Keigo, who sits to your right as both of you stare at the computer screen.

He nods. “So that means we should be able to wrap this up in three days at most. Figure out who Kiyoshi is going to sell the information to, catch him in the act, and arrest him.”

“Exactly.”

“Now that it’s all settled, let’s get some food. I’m hungry.” Keigo stands up from his chair and stretches, reaching toward the ceiling until something in his back pops.

You wrinkle your nose at the sound and stay seated, eyes glued to the computer.

“What?” he asks.

He peers at the screen, resting his hands on the back of your chair and leaning forward, his chest just a breath away from your back. There’s a slightly musky scent in the air—Keigo’s cologne, you realize. The warmth of his body makes you stiffen, knowing just how close he is. And yet he brings himself even closer, one arm stretching out before you, a finger tapping lightly on the screen.

“You know, staring at the screen all day won’t make the bugs pick up anything faster.” His voice is light and teasing, at complete odds with the rigid wall of your back. “Kiyoshi hasn’t even gotten to his room yet; he’s probably been meeting with some of the diplomats. Which means we should be out of this room, and be a happy couple on our honeymoon. Besides,” he adds, more calmly, “you need to eat.”

There’s a few moments of silence, before you nod. “Okay, fine. Let’s go eat.”

“Great!” Keigo steps away, moving to put on his shoes.

Shutting the laptop with a shake of your head, you take a deep breath to clear away your thoughts. Lunch. Right. You can do it.

After slipping on a pair of shoes, you grab your wallet and join Keigo by the door. He looks through the peephole and holds up a finger, signaling that one person is in the hallway.

“Time to put on a show,” he murmurs. “In three, two, one- After you, sweetheart.” He pulls open the door and gestures with his hand, letting you exit first.

You walk backwards through the doorway, facing him as you giggle and pull on his arm. “You’re so sweet. Why did I wait so long to marry you?”

He chuckles. The warm and husky sound sends tingles down your spine. “You tell me. I knew you already captured my heart on week one. Even though– Watch out!”

A tug on your hands sends you stumbling into Keigo’s side, and he’s quick to wrap a protective arm around you. You blink at him in shock, then look at whoever he was saving you from running into.

Your heart skips a beat. But you’re a trained agent, and a good one at that, so you keep up your act and gasp in delighted surprise—instead of in horror.

“You’re the Minister of Defense! I’m so sorry for nearly running into you; my husband was distracting me and I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and I–”

“No need to worry,” Kiyoshi says smoothly, cutting off your rambling. He’s smiling slightly, but his brown eyes are unsettling. “Although I have to admit, I’m surprised that you recognized me.”

“My husband is really into politics. The TV is often on whatever channel is reporting about the latest updates, and he talks about it a lot when we have dinner together!”

“I’m always afraid that I might be boring, but I’m lucky enough to be with someone that can put up with me.” Keigo smiles and laughs, and Kiyoshi chuckles along too. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Minister.”

The two men shake hands, and Kiyoshi nods at you both. “Nice to meet you both, but unfortunately, I have to depart. I have some business to attend to.”

“Oh, of course!” you say. “You must have lots of important things to do. We don’t want to hold you back from that!”

Keigo nods and drops his arm from your shoulders. He bends it and offers it out to you; ever the gentleman. “Shall we, darling?”

You smile at him and rest your hand on his arm. With a small wave to Kiyoshi, both of you continue down the hall to the elevators, where you get in and press the floor for the dining areas. Once the doors shut in front of you, both of you sigh and step away from each other.

“What a coincidence,” you say.

“Sure was! Thank goodness for my fast reflexes, or else you would have run over the Minister, and our trip would be over.”

You roll your eyes. You can’t outright talk about your mission in public, but you know what he’s trying to say. “Hey, you should be thanking me. You got to meet the Minister of Defense, and I know you’re such a big fan.”

He pretends to gag, and you laugh. Then the elevator doors open with a ding, and the two of you step out onto the new floor, hand in hand with adoring looks in your eyes.

It’s time for lunch, and you must continue playing your parts.

–

Lunch is delicious, as expected of a restaurant in a five star hotel. Having a full stomach makes you feel better and ready to return to work, so you return to your room and open up the computer.

Since Kiyoshi has been in his room, the listening devices have picked up audio, so you and Keigo sit down to listen through it. Kiyoshi has made multiple phone calls over the past hour to different diplomats, as they organize a dinner where all of them will discuss their offers.

You look at Keigo. “We need to know what happens at that dinner table.”

He nods, pacing across the room as he thinks out loud. “We need to plant a bug at the table, but there hasn’t been any mention of where they’ll sit. There’s definitely a limited number of tables that will seat so many people, but it’ll be suspicious if we poke around, especially if any of his bodyguards or the other diplomats see. It’ll have to be during the meal—we can be down there earlier to see them come in.” He trails off, before spinning around to face you, face bright as he has an idea.

“How good are you at playing drunk?”

You consider the question for a second, then roll your head back and let out a groan. “I can do it if we absolutely need me to.”

Keigo smirks. “Oh, we absolutely need you to.”

–

And that is why you find yourself stumbling down the hallway after dinner, supporting yourself against the wall with one hand, while the other clutches your wallet.

“H-honey?” you mumble, words slurring. “Where’s the elevator?” There’s no response, but you keep walking forward, until your hand no longer meets the wall and you wobble through a doorway. “Oh!”

The heads of five diplomats, seven bodyguards, and the Minister of Defense snap toward you as all conversation stops abruptly.

You smile and wave, though your eyes cross slightly. “I’m s-sorry–” you hiccup, “–this isn’t the elevator. Oh look! It’s the Minister!”

A thunderous look passes over Kiyoshi’s face, but it’s gone in an instant as he gets out of his seat, offering placating smiles and apologetic looks to the diplomats as he makes his way to you.

“What are you doing here? Where is your husband?” he asks. He places his hands on your shoulders to steady you—much like what Keigo did on the balcony—but his grip is tight and digs into your skin.

“He’s, uh, paying for dinner! I told him- I told him I’d get the elevator, but I found you instead!” you giggle and place your hands on Kiyoshi’s wrist, trying to keep your balance as you sway on your feet.

Some of the other diplomats snicker at you, but you don’t care. After all, you’re doing exactly what you need to do.

“There you are!” Keigo’s voice comes from behind you. “I was looking for you, sweetheart, where have you been?”

You let go of Kiyoshi’s wrists, reaching behind you for Keigo’s hand. His skin is warm and slightly calloused under yours. You tap a finger twice on his palm, and he squeezes twice back. “Hi! I found the Minister instead of the elevator.”

“I can see that,” he says, with amusement and embarrassment in his voice. He focuses his attention on Kiyoshi. “I apologize, we might have had a bit too much to drink during dinner. We’re on our honeymoon, you see.”

Kiyoshi nods briskly and lets go of your shoulders. You sway backward into Keigo’s chest, and his grip on you is so much more safe.

“Enjoy your honeymoon. I must get back to my own dinner, but please return to your hotel room safely.”

“Ah, yes!” Keigo dips his head to the other people in the room. “I apologize for the interruption; I’m sure you all know how lightweights can get. Thank you for your time, Minister.”

He offers his hand for the Minister to shake. Kiyoshi takes it, and Keigo claps his other hand on the man’s wrist, bowing as low as he can go with you leaning against him. A moment later, Keigo withdraws and places a hand on your back, the other holding your hand to lead you out of the room.

–

Kiyoshi watches your departure, brown eyes cold and hard, even as the other diplomats laugh about how silly you were and what a wonderful husband you have. He fiddles with his sleeves, creasing the folds so his cuffs are the exact width he prefers. Then he returns to his seat, saying, “Let us return to the topic at hand. What do you have to offer in exchange for my information?”

–

You stumble into the elevator with Keigo right beside you, a dazed smile on your face as you nod to the other hotel guests.

As the elevator brings you back down to the fourth floor, you continue to play the part of a lightweight. One hand reaches up behind you to rest at the base of Keigo’s neck, and you gently play with the soft strands of his hair. When your nails lightly scrape against his skin, he can’t stop the shiver that courses through him. You feel it, since you’re pressed against him, so you smile at him and giggle.

He rests a hand on your hip and squeezes gently; a warning.

You blink at him with wide eyes, and this time, intentionally run your nails lightly down his neck.

Golden eyes darken into an amber, and the hand on your hip squeezes once again. This time, you shiver too.

The elevator jolts as it arrives at your floor, breaking the tension between you two. Keigo leads you out, nodding to the others in the elevator as you pass by on wobbly legs. You keep up the act all the way to your hotel room, though both of you pick up the speed.

Once Keigo shuts and locks the door behind you, both of you race to the laptop and open it up. The app that is tracking all the listening devices is recording, and you click on the fifth live recording.

Kiyoshi’s voice comes through loudly and crisply, and Keigo looks at you, impressed.

“Where the hell did you stick the thing?” he asks when there’s a lull in the dinner negotiations.

Your smile is smug. “In the cuffs of his sleeve, while he was steadying me.”

Keigo’s face darkens, and he leans closer toward you. “He was holding onto you pretty tightly. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. He didn’t do anything that I couldn’t do to him a hundred times worse. Why?” you ask, voice turning light, “Was the pretty birdie worried about me?”

“Yep I was worried, but only if you were calling me pretty.” He winks, then turns serious again. “I’m all for getting close to attractive people, but only with their consent.”

“I know, Takami. You’re not the type of person to do things to someone if they don’t want you to.”

He nods. Keigo is glad that your view of him seems to be getting better and better with every hour that you spend together on this assignment. It probably helps that he’s not purposely trying to annoy you all the time, and focuses on the mission, especially at critical moments.

Both of you spend the next hour by the laptop, listening to the conversation Kiyoshi has with the diplomats. They talk, and negotiate, and some of the diplomats get more aggressive.

Finally, Kiyoshi makes a decision. He sends the other diplomats away except one, and they continue to talk about the deal. But neither you nor Keigo hear anything about the time or location of the exchange, and you grow more and more antsy.

“What if Kiyoshi noticed something is off?” you ask Keigo. Kiyoshi and the diplomat have separated, and he’s probably returning to his hotel room.

He frowns, thinking, then shakes his head. “Don’t think so. He’ll probably talk in his room and we’ll be able to catch the information. I’ll keep listening; you can go use the bathroom and get ready to sleep.”

“Sleep on the bed, right?”

Keigo scoffs. “As if! I still have to fight you for that. And it’s a fight I plan on winning.”

“We’ll see, we’ll see,” you say with a laugh. You get out a change of clothes and head to the bathroom, and he returns to the laptop with a smile on his face.

–

When you exit the bathroom, Keigo is pacing the room as he’s on his phone. You listen in on his half of the conversation, knowing that something must have come up by the way he’s moving and talking.

“He said seven in the morning, at the abandoned warehouse further down the beach.” A pause as he listens to the other person, before he says, “Yes, it’s an odd place. But that’s what he said on the phone with the diplomat.”

Your eyes widen and you sit in front of the laptop, pulling up a map of the nearby area. A piece of paper rests on the table with scribbles in Keigo’s handwriting—an address—and you type it into the map.

The place is definitely sketchy; a large, concrete building with cracked or missing windows and vines growing up the walls. Nobody would voluntarily go there, unless they were up to something they didn’t want others to see.

That’s definitely what Kiyoshi wants to do.

“We’ll go in tomorrow, before seven. Make a quick loop of the place, put up some cameras to collect proof, and wait until he arrives.

“Fine. We won’t engage unless they see us; we’ll wait for backup for the arrest. Understood, Director. Goodnight.”

He hangs up and looks at you, and you nod. “I got the gist of it, but update me quickly. Looks like it’ll be an early morning for us.”

Keigo tells you everything, and it confirms what you’ve gathered from listening to him on the phone. “Now get some sleep,” he finishes. “I don’t want you to be all cranky in the morning.”

“I’ll be less cranky if I get to sleep on a nice, comfortable bed,” you say. “You’d want that for your partner, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah.” His voice is rather fond, and your eyes grow wide. “You can take the bed, I’ll take the couch. Besides, we’re in a five star hotel, how bad can it be?”

–

As it turns out, even in five star hotels, the couches can be pretty uncomfortable to sleep on.

You can’t fall asleep because of the constant creaking of springs. Each time Keigo turns, probably because he can’t find a comfortable spot, the sound is piercing in the quiet of the night. And you know he’s trying to keep still, but even if he just tries to shift just a little, the squeaking fills your ears.

After a solid hour of this, you sit up. You’ve had enough.

“Takami.”

The couch creaks again as he jolts in surprise, before he sits up too. “Uh, sorry, am I being too loud? This couch has more springs than–”

“Come here.” Your words are a bit more hesitant, but Keigo hears them all the same.

“I– What? Did you–”

“If you say another word I’m taking back my offer, and you know both of us are going to suffer for it. So come here, sleep on the bed, but on your half only.” The words spill out of your mouth as you scramble to put some extra pillows in the middle of the bed. Once you’ve created a soft barrier that you’re pleased with, you lay back down, turn your back to him, and pull the covers up.

“Goodnight.”

Keigo is speechless. He never thought that you’d offer to share a bed, especially not with the way both of you were arguing just this morning. But he’s not going to question it too much, not with the way his back aches from laying on the stiff couch for an hour.

So he gets into bed on his half, trying his best to not shift the mattress too much, and pulls up the blankets. As his eyes slide closed and he drifts off into sleep, he hopes that tomorrow will go just as smoothly as today. And he hopes that when the two of you return to the office, you’ll both continue to get along—with the usual teasing and sarcasm—and maybe one day, you’ll call him by his first name.

–

“Cameras in the north and east are installed and on,” you say quietly. You crouch underneath a window before taking a cautious peek outside. The coast is clear; Kiyoshi hasn’t arrived yet.

A second later, Keigo’s warm voice fills your ears. “South one is installed, I’m on my way to the west one. Start heading back to the office rooms on the second floor, that’s a good vantage point for us.”

“Got it. Be fast, it’s getting close to seven.” You start making your way to one of the ladders, scaling it to get to the second floor.

“Is that concern I hear in your voice?”

“I don’t know, Hawks, is it? There must be something messing with your earpiece.”

He chuckles, then both of you fall silent as you focus on your tasks.

Once you get to the second floor, you look over the balcony railing. This warehouse is built a bit strangely, with multiple walkways that form a second floor, overlooking the main open area below. There are some offices on the east wall, and that’s where you head now.

As you slip through the office doors, something crackles through your earpiece.

You frown. “Hawks? You okay?”

There’s no response. You try again. “Takami? Can you respond?” A pause, then, “If you’re trying to pull something on me, this isn’t funny!”

You’re panicking a bit now, getting jittery as you pace through the offices. He hasn’t left you, right? He wouldn’t have just ditched you as a joke, would he? If he did, you’ll never be able to trust him again–

There’s another crackle of static, then Keigo’s voice finally comes through. You breathe a sigh of relief. But then his words, teasing yet so cold, have you freezing in place. “Woah, woah, woah, gentlemen! You don’t have to be so rough here. Four of you, and Kiyoshi too? I’m not going anywhere.”

Only five people total? Why isn’t Keigo fighting his way out of there then? He’d definitely make it; you know he’s been on missions with worse odds than this.

“Hey, hey! Hands off! I’m just out here for a stroll before I go sightseeing later today. It’s not my problem if you don’t believe–”

A lot of shuffling comes through your earpiece, then a clatter, and a crunch. You can’t hear anything through it anymore.

But you hear plenty when you move to the office door and open it a crack. Voices bounce off the walls of the warehouse, and you can see what’s happening in the middle of the building.

Keigo isn’t even trying to struggle as two bodyguards grip his arms and force him to walk.

You blink, realization dawning. Then you groan quietly. “You idiot,” you mumble. He wants you to continue with the plan, so you can catch Kiyoshi. But since this is a set up—speaking of which, how did Kiyoshi figure it out?—you’ll have to confirm that he stole the information and has it on him, before you can call in to headquarters to make the arrest.

Pulling out your phone, you send off a text to the office. “Hawks is captured, but can continue with the plan. Will notify once evidence is gathered, and arrest can be made.”

Seconds later, you receive a response. The message contains only one word: understood.

So really, it’s all up to Keigo. For now, you’ll just stay hidden and listen, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

–

“I knew there was something off about you,” Kiyoshi hisses. He stands in front of Keigo, who’s tied to a chair.

“You’re on your honeymoon, but you spent so much time in the hotel, and got your spouse drunk while you went off on your own. Then you came back and shook my hand, placing your hand on my sleeve, where I later discovered a listening device.”

Keigo smirks. So Kiyoshi didn’t know that you were the one who slipped the bug into his sleeve, and probably doesn’t suspect you at all. He’ll have to remember to compliment you—or tease you—for it later.

“Punch him,” Kiyoshi commands. He looks to his bodyguard. “I don’t like the look on his face.”

Keigo squawks, offended. “This is just my face!”

But the bodyguard does as ordered, and a large fist collides against cheekbone and jaw, snapping Keigo’s head to the side. His head hangs low from the impact, and he huffs for breath, before slowly looking back up. Pain radiates from the blow, and metal coats his tongue from his teeth cutting into his cheek.

“Damn,” he drawls. “If your bodyguard hits this softly, I bet your punches hurt as much as an ant would.”

“Do it again.”

The bodyguard steps forward to deliver another blow—this time, to Keigo’s stomach. Kiyoshi glances at his watch, forehead creasing slightly, and satisfaction fills Keigo even as pain starts to spread.

He knows what to do to get Kiyoshi to admit to everything.

–

Every time the bodyguard’s fist connects with Keigo’s body, you flinch so hard that your teeth clack together.

You hate sitting here, like a coward, while your partner is down there getting beaten up as he gets the information. You want to jump down and get Keigo out of there so badly, but he wants to continue the mission, so you’ll back him up to the end. All you can do now is hide under one of these office desks, as Kiyoshi’s other three bodyguards circle the second floor as lookouts.

Keigo taunts Kiyoshi every time he catches his breath from the previous blow. You can tell he’s getting tired, and is in pain, but you can also tell that Kiyoshi is losing his patience.

And then, Keigo asks the questions.

“So,” he pants, “what were you planning on doing, huh? Sell sensitive information about Japan to the highest bidder? And if you got discovered, what then? Were you going to run with your tail between your legs?”

The final taunt is enough to make Kiyoshi explode.

“Shut up! Shut your fucking mouth! I have everything planned out, and it’ll work even if you and the rest of you little spies try to stick your nose into anything.

“Even though you caught me, who’s coming for you, hm? By the time anyone realizes you’re gone, I’ll have exchanged the information with the diplomat, and I’ll be on a private plane to a safe house. With the amount of money I’m getting from this deal, I’ll have no problem making Kiyoshi Suguru disappear off the face of the earth, and live my life under a new name.”

Keigo smirks. “That’s an awful lot of trouble to go through,” he says, grin growing wider as he hears faint noises from upstairs, “for someone who’s about to get caught.”

“Oh please,” Kiyoshi sneers, “I have all the time in the world.” He nods toward a bodyguard, and the guard steps forward to punch Keigo again.

But Keigo speaks up. “No you don’t, actually. At the most, you have four hours, because you’re meeting the diplomat at noon. At the least, you have about five minutes before you send your last bodyguard up to find my partner, where the bodyguard will get knocked out, and you’ll be taken down.”

Kiyoshi scoffs, and the bodyguard drives a fist into Keigo’s stomach. The air is forced out of his lungs, and he retches, straining against the ropes that bind him to the chair as he heaves for breath.

“Wait.” Kiyosh frowns. “Partner?”

Keigo relishes the way Kiyoshi’s eyes widen and his face pales. “Oh yeah! Guess I forgot to tell you, but I’m not working alone.”

Thump.

Kiyoshi and his bodyguard turn their eyes up toward the ceiling, as if they’d see the source of the sound.

Keigo doesn’t need to look to know that’s the sound of a body hitting the ground, and the lighter taps that follow the initial noise are made by your shoes as you sprint across the balcony at your next target. He sits back in his seat and rolls his head back, not minding the pain. He’s done his part. Now, all he has to do is play damsel in distress, and he’s more than happy to do that when you’re the one rescuing him.

–

As soon as you hear Keigo ask the questions, you fire off a text and creep out of your hiding spot to wait by the office door. When a bodyguard passes by, looking down over the balcony, you don’t give him time to react, slamming open the office door straight into his back. He doesn’t get a chance to recover as you yank on his clothes to swing him into the office, kicking hard at his back so he runs straight into the office tables.

He blindly reaches behind him, trying to grab onto you. You dodge his arms and leap on the table. With one knee pressing in the middle of his back, you grab his head and slam it against the desk, once, twice, three times. He can only groan in pain as you cuff his hand to the leg of the table.

That’s one down, three more to go.

Kiyoshi is still ranting as you burst out of the office again, looking for your next target.

The bodyguard is running straight toward you, having noticed that his coworker is missing. You pick up speed, not backing down.

He swings his arm, aiming toward your face. Throwing yourself down and to the side to dodge, you smack into the railing of the walkway, but you keep moving past him. Now that you’re behind, you kick the back of his knees, and he buckles, hitting the ground.

He swings at you wildly, and his fist manages to catch your hip, knocking you into the railing once again. Your ribs pulse with every breath you take, but it doesn’t stop you.

As he grabs onto the rails to steady himself, you bring your leg up, stepping down hard on his arm. He throws his head back to yell, but you don’t want Kiyoshi to know that something is going on quite yet. So you swing a fist, punching him in the throat. All that escapes his mouth are wheezes as he struggles for breath, and it’s easy for you to knock him out completely.

His body hits the walkway with a thump.

The conversation below stops.

You pause for a second to catch your breath, before running toward the third bodyguard. It takes a bit longer to take him down, and you get punched in the side and elbowed in the face, but eventually he’s unconscious on the walkway too.

There’s only Kiyoshi and his final bodyguard left, and it’s about time you show your face. You have to end this.

–

You’re climbing down the ladder as fast as you can, when Kiyoshi spots you and orders his last bodyguard to take you down. The bodyguard waits at the bottom of the ladder for you to get close enough.

As soon as you make it within his reach, he lunges for you. Grabbing tightly to the sides of the ladder, you pull your legs in toward you, then kick out behind you with all your strength. Your feet connect with his chest, knocking him back enough for you to jump down to the floor.

He swings a fist, and you duck beneath it, kicking at his ankles and punching his side as you move. He’s knocked off balance but still tries to punch you. This time his fist hits your shoulder. You reel back from the force of it, and follow through with the movement so you’re once again at the ladder.

Jumping up to grab a rung, you swing forward and kick the bodyguard again, connecting with his stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs and knocking him off his feet. His body shakes the ground and you jump down on top of him, one of your feet crushing his hand at your landing.

“Oops,” you mutter, then slam your elbow into his throat, before pressing your arm down hard enough that he loses consciousness.

Once you’re sure that he’s down and won’t be getting back up for a while, you look up at Kiyoshi with rage showing through your eyes.

He’s backing away from you, stammering as he finally recognizes you. “H-how? You’re, you’re h-his–”

“Partner,” you finish for him. Your grin is more of a snarl, with teeth and a thirst for blood in return for the blood of your partner that has been spilled.

Kiyoshi’s face turns deathly pale. He stumbles backward, taking one wobbling step after another toward the doors of the warehouse. You mimic him, stalking forward step by step. Then he’s turning his back on you, sprinting for the doors.

You let him run.

After all, you don’t care about Kiyoshi. As soon as he exits the warehouse doors, he’s surrounded by agents, and he’s cuffed in seconds. Instead, all your attention is on Keigo, who is still bloodied and tied to the chair, head hanging down.

He looks up as you run toward him, and a smile spreads across his face despite the cut on his lip. “Is that concern I see on your face?”

“Stop smiling,” you snap, though your voice trembles. You move behind him to untie the rope, babbling as you do so. “I can’t believe you let yourself get taken like that! You could have fought your way out easily, but you had to go and be stubborn as usual—I can’t stand that about you—and you got hurt, when we could have just left, and I–” You inhale deeply, and it’s almost a sob.

Keigo stiffens.

“If you didn’t– if it was worse–”

“But it wasn’t, sweetheart,” he says gently. Your breath catches in your throat, and you duck your head down to keep picking at the knots.

Keigo continues. “I’m alright, I promise. Nothing that some bandages and a few days of rest won’t fix. I’m more worried about you, though. You went against four trained bodyguards, and I know as skilled as you are, they landed a few hits on you.”

“You were punched multiple times by one of them! Stop worrying about me and take care of yourself!”

The final knot comes loose, and the ropes around Keigo fall slack. You move around to stand in front of him, stepping between his legs. Tilting his face up, you grimace at the bruises you see already forming.

“I still look pretty, right?”

“You look as handsome as ever, Keigo.”

His breath catches in his throat. He thinks he’s never heard a voice say his name so tenderly, and has never seen eyes that looked at him so softly. “Say that again,” he demands, voice hoarse.

“You look handsome?”

“No. The other part, my name.”

“Oh. I, uh–” You swallow, eyes flickering away, before you look back into golden, attentive eyes. “K-keigo. Promise me you’ll be more careful. You can’t throw yourself into danger like that, especially on any cases we’re assigned to in the future. Promise me, Keigo.”

“I promise that I’ll do my best,” he says solemnly. Then he winks. “Now that you’ve had a chance to work with me, you don’t want us to part ways, is that it?”

You whine in annoyance, pushing lightly on his shoulder. “Not if you say something like that!” you protest.

He laughs, and the sound warms you from the inside out. He lifts his hands to cradle your face, and you lean into his touch, heart fluttering in your chest as you stare into his eyes.

Keigo finally breaks the silence. “Will you smack me if I kiss you?”

“I think I’ll smack you if you don’t.”

His smile is brilliant and nearly steals your breath away, then his mouth is on yours, and your breath is stolen away with every brush of your lips against his. The kiss is soft yet passionate, sending tingles down your spine and making heat pool in your stomach.

You rest your arms on his shoulders, fingers playing gently with the short strands of hair. When your nails gently scrape at his neck, he moans into the kiss, and your lips turn up in amusement. He seems to take that as a challenge, and pulls you in even more, tongue brushing against your lower lip. You sigh in delight, and feel his lips curl in return.

“Go get it, Keigo!”

Immediately, you pull away, face hot as you look at Rumi. She grins and winks at both of you, and you know your lips are swollen from the kisses.

Keigo groans and shakes his head, before holding a hand out to you. “Help me up?” he asks.

You nod, and pull him out of the seat. Slinging his arm around your shoulders, you walk by his side, making your way to the other agents. “You know,” you murmur, so only Keigo can hear, “not only would I be unopposed working with you again, I also wouldn’t mind kissing you again.”

He blinks at you, surprised that you’d ever admit that, then grins. “Well, I’m pretty sure I’ll be sent home for a few days to recover. If you care to visit, I suppose I could make some time to give you a few kisses. As for partnering up with you again, I think we could talk to the Director to work something out.”

–

After you and Keigo heal up and return to the office, the number of completed cases on either side of your scoreboard turn from 73 into 74. And by the time the year ends, 74 has turned into 79.

At the end of the year, the Director looks at those numbers with a smile on her face.

Sending the two of you on that Kiyoshi case was the best decision she’s ever made. She has a feeling that you and Keigo will go down in history as one of the best pair of agents to ever work for Japan.

And, she has a feeling that you’ll always be known as the best couple in the department.

[usaigi]

Photo Album

Lunar sys au character cards | Read all chapters on ao3

“All the ones with Randall are here if you want to take a look. I made copies in case you’d rather than them home. I’m not sure if you even want these but they have your mother in them,” Dad says, handing Layla the envelope full of the photocopies. He points out the other two different photo albums on the table, stacked on top of his class yearbooks. Steven and Layla were making through one already, foreign past, simultaneously his and not.  

Birthdays, middle school graduations, Hebrew school, class pictures. A little boy with dark curly hair stared back. His smile appeared more forced after each year until it straight up disappeared. There’s only a handful of pictures scattered in a pool of misery where the little boy looks genuinely happy, free from her grief. Not enough. 

A whole section dedicated to his Bar Mitzvah, one of the few memories at felt wholeheartedly his. Although that thought makes Steven’s heartache, just another happy memory he stole from Marc. 

“Thanks, dad.”

“Marlene’s mother gave me those. The only time you ever willingly posed for a picture was with her,” Dad says when they reach the high school era. Pages filled with pictures of his teenage self, his hair a curly disaster, always wearing plain dark colored long sleeves or jackets and an awkward smile. Marlene appeared in some of the pictures, a colorful contrast to their gloom. 

Steven’s almost surprised to see Marlene, up until now he thought he made Marlene up, the sweet girl who moved back to Mexico with her fam– wait, is that what he made up? 

“These are so cute, did you have a teenage dirtbag era?” Layla asks playfully, awing at pictures. 

‘I guess that's one way to say we were extremely depressed,’ Marc jokes bitterly. 

‘I’m still in my teenage dirtbag era,’ Birdy adds on. 

“Marc and Birdy say yes,” Steven translates. 

They flip the next page to a young Marc? Probably Marc, wearing a black suit and light blue tie, with his arm wrapped around his date. Steven’s almost certain this picture is of Marc; despite the smile on his face. The only picture in the album where his eyes look so… alive. Steven’s glad.  

“Awww, was this your prom?” Layla asks. 

“Amnesia sure is brilliant, how did I never realize I was actually a yank if I went to the bloody prom?”

‘Do you remember that day?’ Marc asks. 

“Not really, but it looks familiar.” Almost like a watch movie, familiar but not… personal. 

‘I do, Marlene taught me how to dance,’ Jake chimes in as Layla flips to the last prom picture. It’s them outside, Marlene's shawl wrapped around both of them, their younger self which Steven suspects is Jake making a peace sign. 

‘Wait, did everyone know Marlene?’ Marc asks, taken aback. Jake, Birdy, and Daniela all nod. 

‘I don’t!’ Kid adds on, raising his hand. 

Marc just sighs, ‘thanks Kid.’

“I wonder what she's been up to…” Steven mumbles out loud, dad merely shrugging in response. 

‘She got blipped. Her movie director husband remarried while she was gone. Big scandal because when she blipped back it turned out she was pregnant,’ Daniela answers. 

‘How did you possibly know that?’ Marc asks in disbelief. 

‘That doesn’t concern you,’ Daniela snubs him.

‘Wait, what the hell does that mean?’ 

‘We can talk about this later Marc.’ Jake says directly.  

‘You too!?’ 

“Steven? Still doing ok? Need a break?” Dad asks, must have noticed his blank expression. 

“Yeah, everyone is just chatty at the moment,” Steven nods, giving him a quick thumbs up before continuing to flip through the pages.

‘That’s me. In that picture, I remember that,’ Birdy says suddenly when they come across a picture of their younger self and dad in front of a slice of cake. Must be at some restaurant, judging by the decor in the background. Their arms are wrapped around them, teary eyes despite the small smile.  

“Birdy says this picture is of her? Was this a birthday?” Steven asks dad. 

“Yes, sixteen. We had to celebrate it almost a month later...” Sixteen…? Oh. Right, sixteen. 

‘Do you like it? We can keep it.’ Jake asks softly, uncharacteristically unsure of the right thing to say, as if unsure if she wants to frame it or burn it. It takes her a minute before she nods, the same tearful smile as in the photograph on her face. 

“Oh thank G-d we did graduate,” Steven breathes when he sees the picture of them in a cap and gown, masking a bitter scowl. Steven notices Dad and Layla sharing a confused look at that comment.

‘Did you think I was lying?’ Marc asks. 

“Only a little. I just assumed that we ran away in the middle of the night or something,” Steven answers.

‘No, I’d been planning it for a while… you’re not super far off, I wanted to leave sooner but I kept pushing it off for some reason.’

‘You were scared,’ Steven comforts him, he was only a child at the time after all.  

‘I guess,’ Marc shrugs. 

‘What made you leave in the end?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘I did,’ Jake answers to the surprise of everyone. ‘I couldn’t take it anymore, I knew if I didn’t act soon you wouldn’t make it. Sorry, probably another thing I should have told you about.’

‘Thanks, Jake,’ they all say sincerely.